We Know This Already

VOSS WATER IS BULLSHIT

Yes, all bottled water is bullshit.  We've known this for years.  Unless you are going to tell me something more substantial, like a brand of bottled water is full of potentially harmful byproducts that are not water, why bother telling me this?

Empowering Women In Their Underwear

On August 22nd, Time, as well as other online publications later on, picked up on the story of a recent campaign by online underwear company Dear Kate.  The campaign features several women, identified as prominent women in tech coding, doing their jobs while dressed in only some of the underwear on sale by Dear Kate.  Some people have found this ad to be objectionable, with one tech blogger being quoted as saying “Posing in your underwear undermines the message that you aim to be taken seriously as a technologist,”.

The campaign can be found here, and, as someone who often spends parts of his mornings watching online pornography, in my opinion these pictures aren't particularly titulating.  This campaign features women in a staged office situation doing the things that they would do in their jobs.  The difference is that they are doing so in their underwear, and that is where the problem is.  Other than the fact that these were pictures taken by an online underwear company in order to sell underwear online, why are these women in their underwear?  It's not like these women regularly do their jobs wearing only their underwear, so why are they in their underwear?  There doesn't seem to be any legitimate reason for it, other than to garner attention due to the distinct possibility that people will object to it-- wait, that's it!

The point of any promotional campaign is to get attention for the product that you are promotion.  If the product doesn't get attention than the campaign fails.  In that way, this campaign is successful.  I mean, I don't remember ever hearing of Dear Kate before, and I spend a lot of time online looking at women in their underwear.  This campaign has also gotten the attention of people who object to women being objectified, as well and the people who object to people objecting to women being objectified.  This campaign probably got the attention of a lot of people who might be motivated to act with their dollars and support or not support this company.  Now the real question: Did this campaign result in increased sales?  We'll have to see.

Really AP?

The Associated Press is a venerated news source that is known for it's great reporting of national and international news stories and events.  The Associated Press doesn't have star reporters, AP is the star, the brand, the name that people can drop so that people know that what is reported is legit.  However, sometimes the Associated Press can report things in a way that is, for lack of a better term, wrong.

Amazon could be ESPN of video games in Twitch deal

This headline reflects a lack of understanding of Amazon, Twitch, and ESPN.  The body of the story only affirms that misunderstanding.

Boobs. Boobs Boobs Boobs Boobs. Boobs.

Let's Have a Conversation About Kim Kardashian's VMA Dress

Okay.

This dress combines four of my favorite things: Red, black, white, and boobs.  Also, the pattern is interesting.  The pattern gives me a semi-legitimate excuse to stare at the dress.  I mean the boobs are also a legitimate reason, but staring at this dress for the boobs is generally seen as lurid, and lurid things are wrong.  Looking at this dress for the pattern is a non-lurid reason to stare at this dress, but no one would believe that you are looking at this dress for the pattern.  Also, did I mention boobs?

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As a denizen of the internet, I possess a great knowledge of a great many things.  However, occasionally I come across something that I do not understand.  Occasionally it is a symbol.  Occasionally it is a message.  Occasionally is it a sign.  A sign delivered by someone to others.  A sign that triggers.  A sign that causes.  A sign that leads to actions by others.

 

Peter GammonsVerified account‏@pgammo

Er1 [.S aq B,/6sxtx/,a.,.,,,,.,scrdz

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1:17 PM - 20 Aug 2014

I am aware that this is a sign, but to who and for what I do not know.  Part of me wants to find out.  Part of me doesn't for fear of what I will find.

Two Sources On Elizabeth Phillips

I read a lot of different kind of news from a lot of different kinds of news sources.  I do this so that I can get a wide variety of news, as well as get a wide variety of opinions on the news stories that are going on.  Sometimes the difference between how two different sources reports a story is striking.

Take, for example, the story of Elizabeth Phillips.  If you read this story written by Shawn Smith for Vice Magazine's Fightland Blog, you get a picture of a strong female fighter who goes against the normal stereotypes that people have for women.  You get a picture of Elizabeth Phillips as a modern woman making a name for herself in a predominately male sport, and kicking a lot of ass while doing so.

If you read this story written by Thomas Gerbasi for the official UFC website, you get a picture of a woman who's been through some fucked up shit in the past year.  You get stories of drastic weight cuts, horrific fights that didn't go her way, as well as slight references to her life previous to 2014.  From Vice you get a full picture of a fighter on the rise.  From the UFC you get a small sliver of a picture of a fighter they might be utilizing more if she continues in her success, if.

This is why I get my news from multiple sources.  Not just so I can get a more complete perspective on the stories that go on in my world, but also a more complete perspective on the people that tell those stories.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to watching MSNBC's coverage of the Ferguson protests.  I'd watch Fox News's coverage, but I'm not at the gym right now.

Red Review- WWE Supercard

Solitude is something that is increasingly hard for me to find.  More and more the stressors in my life are either finding or creating opportunity to insert themselves into my life.  Increasingly I cannot spend my free time, my money, or even my talents doing the things that I want to do with them.  Increasingly my life is spent doing things because others are either unable or, more likely, unwilling to do so for themselves.  This is why I so very much treasure work.

Five days a week for a huge block of the afternoon, I have a place I can go to where the main stressors of my life cannot bother me.  Work.  At work, I can spend the time listening to music, catching up on podcasts, thinking deeply about philosophical concepts, working on my writing, just doing what I find to be purely pleasurable as I work hard and diligently at my job.  Sure the environment may look bleak, but to me it is an oasis.  A sanctuary.  The one place that I often want to be.

Sometimes I will spend parts of the day just hanging out at my workplace's breakroom.  I will read magazines, catch up on what's happening on social media, and play video games.  These are handheld portable video games, but they are video games that I derive enjoyment out of.  This is part of the solitude that I enjoy, and I very much do not like it when anything intrudes on my solitude.

WWE Supercard is a recently released collectible card game that was recently released on many platforms, including the iPad.  The game includes many of the great dynamic WWE superstars currently on the roster, as well as Hulk Hogan.  The gameplay in this collectible card game is simplistic, not containing the kind of mana or health systems you see in Magic The Gathering or HearthStone. You simply pit your cards, and the stats that are contained on the cards, against another user's cards, and the stats that are contained on their cards.  WWE Supercard is easy to get into and addictive to play, ideal for playing on the go..... that is if you can actually get it to work on the go.

WWE Supercard suffers from the same problem that I came across with The Sims Freeplay.  In order to play WWE Supercard, you need to be connected to the internet and a server set up by the makers of the game, 2K Sports.  You cannot play WWE Supercard while you are offline.  Why?  Why do I need an internet connection to play a game that is downloaded to my iPad?  Why can't I just play the game on my iPad when I am not connected to the internet and have the results of my play session saved to my iPad?  Why can't I play this game against bots that are included with the game, or other randomly generated non-human players?  Why do I need an internet connection to play WWE Supercard?  Why can I not play WWE Supercard in my place of solitude?

WWE Supercard: C-

Hair Of The Guy That Bit You

When you are hungover, there are things that you happen upon that sound good when, under normal circumstances, you would never reasonably consider.

Guy Fieri's New Menu Offers a 52-oz Bloody Mary Garnished with Sausage

This is not one of those.  A drink garnished with sausage is the kind of thing I'd only eat if you paid me.  And threatened me.  And paid me more.  And threatened me again.  And then threatened to not pay me.  And then paid me more.

I Only Read It For The Article

The September 2014 issue of Glamour features Olivia Wilde on the cover.  In it, she discusses her newborn son, the confidence that she brings to her career, and her upcoming appearance at the International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism Awards, to be held on the twenty-second day of the tenth month in the year of your lord two thousand and fourteen.

And that's all I got from that issue of Glamour.  I didn't read about Hillary Clinton's hard-earned lessons.  I didn't find out what the most-asked sex questions of 2014 were.  I didn't get 1001 updates to my fall fashion.  I didn't get me that raise.  I didn't read anything else in the September 2014 issue of Glamour other than the piece on Olivia Wilde, and that's a problem.  Sure Glamour isn't geared toward me, a thirty-one year old male video game nerd, but, even among the magazines that are geared toward me, I only read ones with articles that are about people and things that I am already interested in, and that only occurs only every so often.  I look at the newsstands and see a sea of things that I just am not interested in.  From GQ to Maxim to Pro Wrestling Illustrated, I just don't care.

I don't really have an ending for this.  Hey look a kittie!

Girl Friendly?

Eric Bolling: "Mo'Ne, what about you know, typically, uhh, I don't know, a more female friendly sport, like soccer? No?"

Is Eric Bolling saying that soccer is for girls?

Yeah, 'cause when I look at Cristiano Ronaldo I can't help but think that he's a prime example of a ladyman.  Yep, pure femininity right there.

The Oatmeal- Tuesday Night Doodle- August 13th, 2014

Tuesday night doodle.

Next Week?

As I've demonstrated before, the recently announced golf sim The Golf Club is a game that I'm looking forward to.  The announcement that was made about this game yesterday is somewhat troubling to me.

The Golf Club launching Aug. 19 on Xbox One and PC, later in August on PS4

After months of no news on this title, HB Studios announced that The Golf Club is coming out on Tuesday.  This Tuesday.  Not next Tuesday, or a Tuesday in the Spring, or a Tuesday coming up in time for the holiday season, this Tuesday.  As a person who allegedly lives within a budget, I don't like this announcement.  I mean, I'm still pursuing Project Buy A House.  I can't be making video game purchases at the drop of a hat.  I need to plan things out in advance, and I bet I'm not alone with this.  I'm predicting that sales of this game will be soft due in no small part to the fact that very few people knew before this week that this game was coming out.

I don't really have a ending for this blog post.  Hey look, a puppy!

Robin Williams 1951-2014

Am I The Only One Who Remembers?

CBS Will Launch The View For Sports, Actually Sounds Proud Of Bad Idea

There are things that trigger my memories of my twenties.  That time in my life when I was technically an adult but had none of the responsibilities of adulthood.  My hair was short, my goatee was somewhat managed, my sense of style was anti-style, and my mornings were spent watching lots of cable television.  Specifically I was watching this new phenomena called "Fox Sports Net".  This was during the early days of Fox Sports Net when it featured a younger Keith Olbermann, a short lived version of TNA Impact, and a show hosted by Tom Arnold.

The Best Damn Sports Show Period.  Am I the only one who remembers that we already had The View for sports?

Questioning The Curve Again

Sony's First Curved 4K TV Takes a More Subtle Approach

Again I ask why do we need curved TVs?  Why?  So a guy can have a TV shaped like his dick?  WHY?

The Problem With Google

Ex-ESPN Employee: My Boss Kept "Sexually Provocative" Pictures Of Me

Here is the problem with posting a story like this: People like me have Google.  People like me use Google.  People like me can use Google to search around for things online, things like embarrassing sexually suggestive pictures of people.  People like me can then not find those pictures, but can find out things about one or more persons involved in the story that can have negative consequences for the people the story is about.  People like me can use Google to find out things about people that is none of their fucking business.  Then again such actions are not the fault of Google or the people posting the story, it is the fault of the people who use Google for such purposes, but still people can use Google for these purposes.

I don't really have an ending for this.  Hey look a kittie!

My Dream As An Artist

Artist uses DMCA to remove criticism of his impossibly shaped female characters

One day I'd like to reach the level where I can be petty like Randy Queen is.

Thailand Bans Reality

On Monday the Associated Press reported that censors inside Thailand's National Council for Peace and Order, the twelfth military junta to lead Thailand in it's history, have decided to ban the Haemimont Games title Tropico 5.  It is believed that Tropico 5 received it's ban due to the ability of the player to rule a country like a iron-fisted dictator.  This is the belief because the NCFPAO did not provide any explanation for the move, and the Associated Press's request for a comment went unanswered.  Despite having no explanation of the move, this does fall in line with other restriction and bans put in place by the NCFPAO since their coup in 2012.  Recently the NCFPAO has moved to ban the following:

The Last King Of Scotland because of it's negative depiction of dictator Idi Amin.

Anna and the King because of how it portrays the monarchy.

The Hangover Part II because of it's depiction of Bangkok, as well as general suckitude.

Transformers: Age Of Extinction for it sucks.

Media that is not run by the state because of the possibility people will create reports that criticise the Thai monarchy, as well as the military junta.

Photogaphy because of it's ability to capture reality, which may be critical of the Thai monarchy and the Thai military junta.

Voice recorders because of it's ability to capture reality, which may be critical of the Thai monarchy and the Thai military junta.

And, finally, reality because reality may be critical of the Thai monarchy as the Thai military junta.