The Return

Today's Topics:

• Stuff

I'm back!  We got some more gigs on our internet, but not a ton, so I can't go too crazy.  First I'd like to say that my cousins have played with the Nerf Guns a good deal.  It just seems to be something about the Vulcan...Maybe it's the fact that that thing is heavy even for me, and they forgot to bring their tripod.  But still...



Anyway, my youngest cousin, 2 or 3 years old, apparently also got a Nerf Gun.  Unfortunetly for him, it's massive and he can't hold it, let alone shoot it.  My two other cousins (5 and 9) wanted to trade it for cheap plastic toys, ones that I'm pretty sure came out of a McDonald's Happy Meals.

I'm not sure how that went.  Actually, I'm not sure why anybody would get a 2 year old such a huge Nerf Gun. Who knows, maybe my cousins were mistaken?


Anyway, I'd also like to say that I'm editing the Appreciation Week page.  Nothing major, just adding a reason for why on the when.  I was talking to my Mom and she said, "It shouldn't be during Christmas, there are already so many holidays during that time."  I took a moment to think about it, and realized that makes it even more meaningful.  Because honestly, with all those holidays, it becomes easy to forget what they are about.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all the many holidays during that time, are times to cherish your friends and family, but it can easily be 'Present Time' , 'Yummy Food Time' or 'Vacation.'  Which makes Appreciation Week even more important, not that it should, in any way, replace the family time you should be spending on actual holidays.


Another thing about the Project mentioned in a previous post, Secretive Goings On, is it might take a while.   Me being in Australia, and all the other helpers being in America, and those helpers spanning over two time zones, it is very difficult to get a time we can all work on it together.  But I'm tryin', and hopefully you will all enjoy it.


Now for an entirely different topic.  Politics.  I admit, it may be a bit dangerous to bring that onto this blog, but this is a pretty big deal for a Gamer such as myself, and can be an issue to even Non-Gamers, if they own a website.

SOPA.  The Stop Online Piracy Act.  You may have heard of it, if you live in America.  And it will probably effect Non-Americans too, since it would likely destroy YouTube, which is, I'm guessing, the biggest collection of Internet-Videos in the entire world.

You can get more details on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Now the idea itself sounds pretty good.  Stopping Piracy, sounds great, right?  Well you would be correct by that, but it's problems with the specifics of the bill.  Basically, it would be cracking down on everything.  Video play through's, fan sites (that one I'm guessing on, but is probably correct), and links.  The problem is it's just too broad.

Now this is bad news for many people.  One: Gamers.  Now they wouldn't be able to watch Unofficial How-To's, Play Through's, or Machimas (again, guessing on this last one).  And if you were the one who uploaded this content, you could be considered a felon.


Another group of people affected: Indi Game Developers.  Indi Games are smaller games made by smaller companies.  These aren't going to be companies with huge headquarters in California, or massive towers all to themselves in your local Downtown setting.  Take the game Minecraft for example.  It is an Indie game.  One reason it got so popular is because it was largely promoted by well known Youtubers.  With SOPA, that would not be able to happen.  Bad news for the small gaming businessmen.

Another person affected: Any site owner.  Any.  According to SOPA, links to these videos could also be bad.  Any and all sites would be shut down once found with a link leading to these game videos (I'm not sure about the details of this one, and I'm not sure if this includes official videos or websites as well).  People put outside links on the US Government's White House Website, saying that if SOPA is passed, the White House Website has to be shut down.

Please, don't let me tell you all the information.  Because quite frankly, I'm biased, and I'm probably not the best informed.  For more information, please read the above link, or do your own research.  Then take matters into your own hands if you feel strongly about it.  The White House Website has an area for Petitions, and if they get enough  signatures the President himself apparently looks at it.  One that petitions SOPA has well passed the necessary amount of signatures.  I've also heard that people who have never contacted their congressmen have done so to help stop this issue.

Once again, don't completely take my word for it.  And take action.  This could be bigger than you think.  The internet is a dangerous place, and I'm sure one or two hooligans will try sabotaging sites by putting links to game videos.


Well, that was interesting.  Logic Box?  Politics?  Do they mix?  I'll let you decide that for yourselves.  Well, it's been a long day, and I feel like I'm starting to ramble.

It's good to be back,

Logic Box

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Update: Well, I read the Wikipedia page a bit more.  It said nothing about games (though I know that is an issue due to the outbreak within Gaming communities and companies themselves), and maybe some of the things I said were incorrect.  Though like I said, I'm no expert, or anything near it.  I'm simply posting the facts that I believed to be true.  Once again, if you are interested in this, I urge you to read up first, instead of using my info.  This is my first shot at politics, and it's on an tough subject.  

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