Rants

Yesterday, notoriously controversial (for no real reason) YouTube video producer Anita Sarkeesian released the first episode of her "Tropes vs. Women in Videogames" series. For those who don't remember, this was a series which was funded by Kickstarter and resulted in one of the largest Internet backlashes on record: "Shitstorm Picard"*, ranking a 10 on The Weather Channel's proprietary TROLL:CON circlejerk impact index.

Whenever a fan project is shut down by the company that actually owns the work, a lot of stupid misconceptions seem to start to float around regarding "intellectual property" law. I typically avoid this word if at all possible because it's a confusing term which tries to lump several laws together. The problem with confusing several laws together is that it results in stupid statements like "They have to protect their IP or they'll lose it, that's why they just took down 200 fan projects". Ignore the fact that out of the four things most commonly cited as "intellectual property", only trademarks and trade secrets (not relevant to 99% of fan project litigation) can be lost through inaction.

There, I said it. I'm not watching the Super Bowl. Period.

Let's talk about the Japanese animation industry for a moment. It's... really, really not what it used to be. There's a big misconception outside of Japan that they somehow have a completely accepted "nerd culture" (insamuch as a "nerd culture" exists), because up until today they were very much a huge driving force in the creation of videogames and cartoons.

One of the more frustrating facts about the game industry is it's core conceit of being a fundamentally elitist, hierarchial space where the voices of people not actively participating in "serious" game development are marginalized or dismissed. The word serious is in scarequotes particularly because it's a meaningless distinction based on social class rather than on any form of merit.

Something ticked over the last few days. It could have been some [TW] Maddox videos which hit /r/anticonsumption. Or it could have been long-term memories of the "Mathematically Annoying Advertising" xkcd strip surfacing from my subconcious.

For the purpose of this article a "Device Lockout Method" will refer to any means a consumer electronics manufacturer uses to prevent unauthorized use of it's hardware. Manufacturers use device lockout to protect and enhance their business models by ensuring that third parties cannot produce compatible add-on hardware or software without a licensing agreement, and ensuring that end users cannot alter the functionality of the hardware beyond what it is specified to do.

If I am ever put into a management position at a large corporation or institution, I am going to demand the proper title to go alongside it. And I don't mean pithy titles like "Vice President" or "Manager", or even some of that weird "Team Leader" whitewashing that Target loves to do. I demand titles like "Lord", "Duke", or "Baron"; as they are the only titles majestic enough to fit the supreme power and control that a feudal office possesses.

Everyone in Japan, I'm sorry for Reggie's atrocious Japanese. It won't happen again.

Let's read it in Japanese.

I just need to remind everyone about a little thing called reciprocity, mmkay? Or more specifically, how one's political convictions cannot be interpreted to mean 'everyone but me', and how we need to think about the implications of our actions.