Bryant

Bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/ Bryant - LiveJournal.com Sun, 26 Mar 2017 19:02:07 GMT LiveJournal / LiveJournal.com bryant 272908 personal NOINDEX https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/60643669/272908 Bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/ 100 100 https://bryant.livejournal.com/740268.html Sun, 26 Mar 2017 19:02:07 GMT Full Strike bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/740268.html <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3730518/" target="_blank"><cite>Full Strike</cite></a>: B</p> <p>This was pretty much OK. Very broad Hong Kong sports comedy with all the usual bits. There’s a drunken master, there’s an evil magistrate, there’s familial tension, and so on. Oh, and a random alien who lands in a UFO that looks like a badminton shuttlecock. Don’t pay too much attention to him, since he’s not actually part of the movie.</p> <p>Right — the sport is badminton. Serious business! The producer, Andrew Ooi, introduced the movie and explained that they’re all big fans of badminton so why not make a movie about it? Fair enough.</p> <p>Josie Ho was a standout; her transitions from washed up ex-champion to fierce competitor were a nice bit of acting. That’s the extra effort that you don’t always see in a farce.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/07/27/watch-below-her-mouth-2017-full-movie-online-streaming-online-and-download.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/740268.html?view=comments#comments comedy hong kong fantasia public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/740008.html Wed, 04 Jan 2017 03:52:53 GMT Heading Out bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/740008.html Migrating over to Dreamwidth; I'm there as <a href="https://bryant.dreamwidth.org/" target="_blank">bryant</a>. As has been the case for a while, my primary blog is <a href="https://popone.innocence.com/" target="_blank">Population: One</a>. Entries there will continue to be crossposted to Dreamwidth, but not here.<br /><br />I do not intend to delete the content here, since I don't like link rot and I'm sentimental, but I am not going to log into a Russian host that doesn't support HTTPS. <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/164293/LiveJournal-represents-social-media-without-borders" target="_blank">Have some context</a> if this is new to you.<br /><br />Too bad, really. https://bryant.livejournal.com/740008.html?view=comments#comments public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/739778.html Tue, 03 Jan 2017 03:21:53 GMT Reading RuneQuest: Chapter 3 (Mechanics and Melee) bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/739778.html <p>I got busy during the fall. What can I say? <cite>RuneQuest</cite> originally came out almost forty years ago so the extra few months won’t have hurt much.</p> <p>The Mechanics and Melee chapter starts out pretty normally. You have time, including the concept of turns and melee rounds. There’s a note about how a real day should equal one game week, which is a bit of old school detail I always liked. You also have three scales of movement: daily movement, scenario movement, and of course melee movement. Then, like all good systems, it goes into encumbrance. Here we get all narrative: encumbrance (which has an abbreviation, as do all important elements of old school RPGs), is measured in “things.” Way simpler than pounds and ounces. The motivation for this is explained up front: “Ideally, an ENC rule for a role-playing game should read, ‘Characters may not carry more than they should be reasonably be expected to carry under normal conditions.'” That’s the plaint of a man who was tired of too many rules. I think I liked this a great deal at the time.</p> <p>The rest of the chapter covers melee — the total is about three and a half pages, which is pretty concise. It’s pretty straight-forward, in the way one might expect from the author of that quote on encumberance. Hit rolls are a d100, affected by the opponent’s Defense. You can try and parry, which introduces the possibility of either attacker or defender’s weapon taking some damage. </p> <p>Initiative, here called strike rank, is deterministic and based on weapon and stats. Strike ranks are also subunits of time during a combat round, in case someone wants to draw a new weapon or something. This is also where we start talking about magic in combat: there are attack spells and ways of enchanting weapons mid-combat, which is cool. Evocative sentence regarding enchantment: “This is because a character will normally immediately carve the appropriate focuses on the weapons the minute he obtains it.” There are hit locations, and some funky bits where each location has hit points but the character as a whole also has hit points. This is pleasingly deadly. </p> <p>Overall this is different enough from <cite>D&D</cite> to be interesting. Like <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite>, the basics are similar but the implementation details were refreshingly new. <cite>RuneQuest</cite> was also way crunchier than <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite>, in a way I still find I like. </p> <p>It is perhaps a bit optimistic to have called this chapter “Mechanics and Melee,” since chapter 4 is called “Combat Skills.” Next time: fumbles! Impaling! Criticals! And a tiny bit of world building.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2017/01/02/reading-runequest-chapter-3-mechanics-and-melee.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/739778.html?view=comments#comments runequest public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/739477.html Fri, 30 Dec 2016 03:14:56 GMT 2017 Campaigns 1 of 5: The Golden Pyramid bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/739477.html <p><a href="http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/nights-black-agents/" target="_blank"><cite>Nights Black Agents</cite></a> campaigns are built using a diagram which represents the classic conspiratorial pyramid structure. It’s called a <a href="http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/nights-black-agents-competition-2/" target="_blank">Conspyramid</a>. The mastermind squats at the top, with minions at various levels beneath. PCs discover the fringes of the conspiracy, and work their way up as the campaign goes on.</p> <p>The following diagram is a satire. Who would believe that Peter Thiel is secretly influencing 4chan, or that Steve Bannon controls Breitbart News?</p> <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump.png" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9716" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/da3d8f1be33dbe9cd92a2e56e226fa6000a2f11e0d3a43dee2d757a2e161b8c5/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAabvOzlVetwVzPx_8XfOXsYNT:yzfljgaKtF3v_s6prt5FcA" alt="" width="1166" height="709" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump.png 1166w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump-150x91.png 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump-300x182.png 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump-768x467.png 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump-1024x623.png 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Constrump-788x479.png 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1166px) 100vw, 1166px" fetchpriority="high" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2016/12/29/2017-campaigns-1-of-the-golden-pyramid.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/739477.html?view=comments#comments nights black agents gumshoe public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/739222.html Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:07:59 GMT Ingress in West Seattle bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/739222.html <p>On Saturday, Susan and I spent the day in West Seattle doing an Ingress mission series.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignnone align left"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9679" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/989a97e215a8d2f94bb364b6eedfa34a9b4c1be5f419b19debc072a05ee4310e/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckOhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:_2SaSozpLWUrG7JFkrVXAQ" alt="The ceiling of Luna Park Cafe" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6381-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" fetchpriority="high" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The ceiling of Luna Park Cafe</p></div> <p>We started out at <a href="http://lunaparkcafe.com" target="_blank">Luna Park Cafe</a>, a decent breakfast place. You have your omelettes, you have your hash browns, you get fortified for the day.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9680" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/cbe44ecf4ae3df09fa87f8ba1705fe8174cee7e7efb0b72739c45536d7b9c1cd/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckGhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:nLcr7xaONmYZIAdYexGl-A" alt="Towards the start of the mission series" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383-150x112.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6383-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Towards the start of the mission series</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9681" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/d2c182047e93b4865c9ca9a5b0dd42574f352d2fe3a8c724d52dacc31dae3bc4/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckahQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:6Coh03UUluLWcQLwtS7Ljw" alt="We got all the retro you need up here" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6384-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">We got all the retro you need up here</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9696" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/5e4da4cf0e25def3909b7d5b47fca5399284b5d72e724c57b72184ed3aefe639/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckehQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:OMP5AbgnG2NPbNh-Qfyy8w" alt="Where the carousel once stood" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6385-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Where the carousel once stood</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9682" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/a1e6bcae4e1a8e945c7d218ff4183c7ec0fa41076e97f64bd248f58ce2167370/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckShQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:i_mQdu9zjeHkSrftXIo5dg" alt="Looking off towards Blake Island" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6386-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Looking off towards Blake Island</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9683" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/0388986780f09e2947fb32bd67ae8498ccbfb2284ae3ab655d1f6f8ad8bc0077/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckWhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:WxBIpCJAAGB9V21jqFhACg" alt="Hills of Seattle across Puget Sound" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6387-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Hills of Seattle across Puget Sound</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9684" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/1fa6078c6f4c70b8f0dd8cdc29e0828a524a6b3b2773d54084c90bb9d8d84345/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckqhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:YsOEDihGzOh66Ly8wPTlmA" alt="Symbolic of something or other" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6388-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Symbolic of something or other</p></div> <p>Following breakfast, we had a nice walk down Alki Beach around the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alki_Point,_Seattle" target="_blank">tip of West Seattle</a>. It’s a great mini-beach town, with restaurants and condos and beach shacks and fire pits on the beach, plus a lot of history. This was the original landing place of the Denny Party, but was not all that suitable for long term habitation. Explains the miniature Statue of Liberty, though.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9685" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/90bcbb801a89a263ecf2a4423b4358995b6b6c9638bd140577f75e95fa9ffad7/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyckuhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:sipc3OV1QWnj9WYyNCac5A" alt="The Pokemon Go phenomenon continues in Top Pot Donuts" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6389-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Pokemon Go phenomenon continues in Top Pot Donuts</p></div> <div style="width:778px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6390.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9697" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/f7b2b6c512b01bf9a4f37f831f87e1728c2250343a48dedc349d192aefd3544c/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0KhRLXBrpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:uGGJN9u76pb2Y7yoQ7czoA" alt="Top Pot redeemed by bookshelves" width="768" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6390-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6390-113x150.jpg 113w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6390-225x300.jpg 225w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6390-788x1051.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Top Pot redeemed by bookshelves</p></div> <p>Top Pot Donuts does a really nice donut, definitely worth the stop. The Pokemon Go donuts were unexpected. We got non-thematic donuts and retreated to the bookshelves to enjoy them.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9698" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/4dfc103f3c2c22cbeb2338c8fdd3b581a0a389c9b7df0cb6c925c3af53afb8c7/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0OhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:TrxIh79krPw2wTyxQMwrrQ" alt="View of the tiny but cool Alki Lighthouse from the road" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6391-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">View of the tiny but cool Alki Point Lighthouse from the road</p></div> <p>Pause: this is the <a href="http://wow.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=130-02&category=alki-pt-lighthouse-history" target="_blank">Alki Point Lighthouse</a> from the road. It is small but cool. We were too early for the tour but we’ll return to this later.</p> <div style="width:586px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9687" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/90c899324c03db55d37f7515ee83aab32530b36d0e3498547e04fe35ab84726f/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0ChRrTPrpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:Q9rlomqO5jDHautf0qdT-Q" alt="In which I realize, whoops, I hit 1500 missions a little while ago" width="576" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392-576x1024.jpg 576w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392-84x150.jpg 84w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392-169x300.jpg 169w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392-768x1365.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392-788x1401.jpg 788w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6392.jpg 1242w" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">In which I realize, whoops, I hit 1500 missions a little while ago</p></div> <p>Around here I realized I’d hit 1,500 missions somewhere along Alki Beach. This is three times as many as needed to get the best badge, as per the screenshot. I am way behind the world-wide leader, who has over 9,500, and I am behind the US leader, who has over 4,000. But I have more than most.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9688" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/6fcd6a9f425daddaff79d366e55a0e5d2d02d1303fb55208b01d34a8f4c9903f/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0GhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:LW_5IiUDt_8E-omsqWjZVA" alt="Looking back up north from the west side of West Seattle" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6393-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Looking back up north from the west side of West Seattle</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9689" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/a487d954e1916dfa77211449fe9d54a32e2d3966ae43922ddeaa3298c48bc44b/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0ahQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:WfLzHkaZF3vLq4wEZ1e3Iw" alt="Little used tennis courts in Lowman Park" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6394-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Little used tennis courts in Lowman Park</p></div> <p>More wandering along the coast ensued. West Seattle is pretty full of parks — I like where we’re living, in Ballard, but West Seattle has its charms.</p> <p>Some time after we’ve reached Lincoln Park (not depicted), a friend reaches out and wants to know if we want to engage in some Ingress-related shenanigans. This is the kind of thing we say yes to on general principles, so we alter our plans. Without going into the gory details, I can admit that Susan got her library card; we got some really tasty fish and chips; and we went back up to Alki Point Lighthouse. Only some of those things are Ingress-related.</p> <div style="width:778px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6395.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9690" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/c83a46ffe1a54816b4fae1b5fbde81fb807403dd5e4fe1a645f5a93272cbcb55/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0ehRLXBrpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:ry8yriJGURELCQwdZCyvLg" alt="A NOAA weather station" width="768" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6395-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6395-113x150.jpg 113w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6395-225x300.jpg 225w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6395-788x1051.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A NOAA weather station</p></div> <div style="width:778px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6396.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9691" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/d7ff79cd33ec2b9c287c0c33f0165534fcc059ab46462e48f6a890a05575b75d/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0ShRLXBrpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:HBVb2XUSx5OgL2OOeVokqw" alt="Alki Point Lighthouse, up close and personal" width="768" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6396-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6396-113x150.jpg 113w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6396-225x300.jpg 225w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6396-788x1051.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alki Point Lighthouse, up close and personal</p></div> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9692" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/e9678b0ee0cac7890b896fa10e1be0e1eb224dd4bb2d9ff5f24885fe669e7aea/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0WhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:6siaaRHNgflgjeOXeiE8pg" alt="The view from the top of Alki Point Lighthouse" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6397-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The view from the top of Alki Point Lighthouse</p></div> <p>I completely recommend the Alki Point Lighthouse tour. It’s only on weekends, because the old lighthouse keeper house is now the home for the Commander of the Coast Guard 13th District, which covers the entire Pacific Northwest. The Admiral reasonably doesn’t want to give up too much of his privacy for the sake of tours. It’s a working lighthouse, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary members who give the tour have a decently interesting spiel.</p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9693" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/acfdc370d728133e13cb7a4df8baa890ddb3329caf3057a5c9674f5109d44244/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0cyc0uhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:A_KOEdb4wPD-L-jG5l_gSA" alt="Middle school propaganda of the day" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6399-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Middle school propaganda of the day</p></div> <p>Back to missioning. This is a mural at Alaska Junction, the commercial heart of West Seattle. The tiny text on the right blackboard reads “Thrift: The most important feature of the system is that it teaches the child the regular habit of thrift.” The mural happens to be on the side of a bank, so I’m not sure that the most important feature of the system wasn’t “trust banks,” but who can say for sure?</p> <p>The Great Depression began six years after the mural was painted.</p> <div style="width:309px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9694" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/2ad92f902154108de86f93691fab7ef4189dc15037619d3f62cc62c3ec7e56c3/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0c1ekKhQbrArpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:gRS2kfZXJ7EbGxd3vBfq7A" alt="The time I realized I could get exactly 50 million AP" width="299" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400-299x1024.jpg 299w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400-44x150.jpg 44w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400-88x300.jpg 88w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400-768x2633.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400-788x2701.jpg 788w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6400.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 299px) 100vw, 299px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The time I realized I could get exactly 50 million AP</p></div> <p>We continued up California Avenue to Admiral Way, which is also a bit of a commercial center. Around here I realized I was going to be able to make my stats come out at 50,000,000 AP exactly. So I drove Susan mildly nuts by screwing around with links and hacks and so on, and hit my numbers, woo! I think I’ll be able to avoid being that finicky again until I hit 100 million, which at my current rate will be safely after Ingress is cancelled. </p> <div style="width:798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9699" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/5efe3e26dae55c33548d56c8852e6d16e776e9237f5144c2ff1b819a3307c07f/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0c1ekGhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:1k3eHCpm9f_yXL7Bhq0GXw" alt="A lovely view from Hamilton Viewpoint Park" width="788" height="591" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403-300x225.jpg 300w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403-768x576.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6403-788x591.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A lovely view from Hamilton Viewpoint Park</p></div> <p>The mission series completes in Hamilton Viewpoint Park, which is elegant — it’s a great view of the city once again. West Seattle really has all the best views.</p> <div style="width:586px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-large wp-image-9695" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/c3f88b548e556ab9a2962a1bf168b9d21c2481ae112104483324412650858688/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iGAaL7OxHd3m0c1ekahRrTPrpAe2zketAJ1I3Y:HIwQcstCiTVngAMUx4-b-Q" alt="The final product" width="576" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404-576x1024.jpg 576w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404-84x150.jpg 84w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404-169x300.jpg 169w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404-768x1365.jpg 768w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404-788x1401.jpg 788w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_6404.jpg 1242w" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" loading="lazy" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The final product</p></div> <p>And, at last, this is the mission mural we completed. 56 missions, which is the largest we’ve ever done. Hello, Seattle!</p> <a name='cutid1-end'></a><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2016/07/31/john-wick-chapter-2-2017-3.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/739222.html?view=comments#comments ingress public

2

https://bryant.livejournal.com/739058.html Sun, 17 Jul 2016 16:04:02 GMT Reading RuneQuest: Chapter II (Character Creation) bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/739058.html <p><cite>RuneQuest</cite> character creation was pretty startling for me way back when. <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite> and <cite>Dungeons & Dragons</cite> were close relatives — sure, you swap out Luck for Wisdom but that’s not a huge change. <cite>RuneQuest</cite> retained the 3d6 rolls and had a reasonable seven stats, but what’s the bit where the ability to work magic (Power) is a primary stat? And where’s the conversation about classes? The previous chapter did not warn us that there weren’t any classes.</p> <p>Oh, and adventurers are assumed to be human. There’s a note that elves, dwarves, and dragonewts will be discussed in the section on monsters, which doesn’t make them sound much like playable races. </p> <p>We also meet Rurik, our sample character. He’s really interesting. It’s clear simply from the explanation of his stats that he’s going to be both engaging in combat and casting spells. I distinctly remember reading this the first time and going “Whoa.”</p> <p>Next, there’s a section on abilities. Combat abilities first, of course. The system for calculating these is pretty straightforward; add percentage points up based on how high the controlling stats are and you’re done. In another little sign that magic is pivotal to the world, Power figures into almost every ability. There are nine abilities total. This system wouldn’t look weird if it came out for the first time today; maybe a little fiddly but not out of the norm.</p> <p>We then divert back to characteristics for a moment, with rules on increasing them. There’s a cute little bit in the ongoing saga of Rurik: “Thus we see that if Rurik had the money, he could put 4000 L towards bringing his STR up to 16, and another 15,000 L towards building his DEX up to 21. Where would our hero get this money? That’s what the rest of this book is all about.” And I thought the point of the game was either a radio play or simulation of life! It does make a good segue into equipment rules… no, sorry, that’s just starting equipment. You get a list of things, and there’s no discussion of shopping. </p> <p>A parenthetical: for the first time, an insert from <cite>Wyrm’s Footnotes</cite> appears. It’s charmingly old school to run into these little random Q&A sections from the pages of Chaosium’s house magazine. More indie games need house magazines, not even totally kidding.</p> <p>The total chapter length is eight pages, and two of those are character sheets. Hm, there’s something new there. The abilities appear to have base percentages, and presumably you add the calculated modifications to those? But in the text on abilities, there’s no mention of a base. The boxed text detailing Rurik’s abilities doesn’t give us any clues and there’s no sample character sheet for him, so who can say?</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2016/07/17/reading-runequest-2.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/739058.html?view=comments#comments runequest public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/738569.html Sun, 17 Jul 2016 01:49:44 GMT Reading RuneQuest: Chapter 1 (Introduction) bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/738569.html <p>I started gaming back in the early 80s. By “gaming” I mean “reading roleplaying books and wondering what it’d be like to actually play,” with a hefty side order of “running through <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite> solitaire adventures.” <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite> was my first RPG. I think <cite>RuneQuest</cite> was my third? Hard to remember exactly.</p> <p>Chaosium just reprinted that 1980 edition after a successful Kickstarter. I backed it. I know that when I read <cite>RuneQuest</cite> the first time around, the weird world of Glorantha didn’t bewilder me at all. This is more than I can say for any subsequent edition, even the lovely hardcover <cite>Guide to Glorantha</cite>. I figured, hey, that relatively slim book made sense to me back in the 80s, so let’s check it out again.</p> <p>Now I’m gonna read it and see what I think.</p> <p>The introduction is five pages. Page 1 is the obligatory explanation of the nature of fantasy role-playing games, a description of how to use the rules, and so on. As I recall, this is the first use of the improvisational radio theater metaphor. Stafford kind of waffles between saying that you’re simulating life and that you’re telling a story; alas, nothing here will settle that age-old debate.</p> <p>The second page launches us into the Gloranthaness of it all. The page and a half of history is not at all weird. Gods fight, empires rise and fall, dragons breathe fire. Nothing about the whole bit where heroes venture into the spirit world in order to rewrite the cosmology; it’s just another mythos. I am not surprised that my adolescent self found this digestible. It’s cool history, too.</p> <p>I’m pretty sure I mentally skipped over the next bit, where Stafford explains that Glorantha is a Bronze Age culture. I remember being really surprised to find out that Glorantha was short on iron and steel later on in life. There’s a picture of an elf with a bow on that page, which is nicely grounding if you don’t know he’s actually a plant. I don’t know if this edition gets into the elven plant issue or not. Time will tell.</p> <p>And then we get a map — I loved and love maps — and the world is a “slightly bulging, squarish lozenge.” This is another thing that surprised me later in life. I am beginning to suspect that one reason I wasn’t weirded out by Glorantha at the time was that I skipped all the confusing parts. There’s a little hint about visiting the worlds of the gods here, but it’s pretty subtle and you’d never know how important that kind of thing is. What’s heroquesting?</p> <p>Finally, there’s a nice timeline for the Lunar Empire and Dragon Pass which is just full of hints of weirdness. I was definitely skimming this. “War between hill peoples of Dragon Pass and Ducks.” “God-King of the Holy Country disappears and the Masters of Luck and Death fail to bring forth a new incarnation.” Yeah, it’s all there if you just open your eyes and see.</p> <p>Next time: character generation. How weird could that be?</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2016/07/16/reading-runequest-chapter-1-introduction.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/738569.html?view=comments#comments runequest public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/738506.html Mon, 11 Jul 2016 14:49:57 GMT It’s OK, My Lawn is Your Lawn bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/738506.html <p>My perspective: veteran Ingress player, no previous experience with Pokemon Go, a fair bit of mobile gaming work experience.</p> <p>I’m not gonna do the whole “wow, look at the wild news story!” thing. Hot take: geo-located gaming generates interesting behavior patterns. I do have one item I can’t resist sharing, though. <a href="http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/aos/5675635144.html" target="_blank">Pokemon GO chauffeur services are here.</a> (But don’t buy <a href="http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/pas/5676674461.html" target="_blank">egg hatching services</a>, since you’re not allowed to let someone else use your account even if they’re carrying your phone.)</p> <p>I am happy to see lots of Pokemon Go players. More money for Niantic increases the chances that Ingress will have a long lifespan. Some Pokemon Go players will try Ingress, most won’t like it, it’s all cool. A lot of Ingress players will quit to play Pokemon Go. I worry a bit about viable Ingress populations but time will tell.</p> <p>Some things I do think are interesting:</p> <p>Pokemon Go hit #1 grossing game in the US App Store on the first day. It was not featured by Apple in any way. As far as I can tell, Niantic and Nintendo did no user acquisition — no Facebook ads, no mobile adds, nothing driving players to the game. #1 without any of that is unprecedented. Flappy Bird had to build to #1 downloaded. Clash Royale was featured and had a robust in-house user acquisition network.</p> <p>A good geo-located game has strong virality because human interactions are the core driver of any viral loop. It’s also sticky for the same reasons. The problem has always been getting critical mass. Apparently Nintendo’s IP is pretty good for that.</p> <p>Second, it’s worth comparing Pokemon Go to Ingress. In Ingress, you can’t do anything meaningful till you hit level 5 or 6. If you’re playing by yourself that’s a long grind. In a busy area, you may be unable to capture portals, which is the core of the game. The new user experience sucks.</p> <p>In Pokemon Go, the new user experience is still pretty bad — no good tutorial, easy to get lost. But it’s also easy to muddle your way up a few levels and you feel like you’re making meaningful progress immediately. You can always capture Pokemons. </p> <p>The next interesting question for me is the elder game. Is it dense enough to sustain continued stickiness and monetization?</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2016/07/11/its-ok-my-lawn-is-your-lawn.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/738506.html?view=comments#comments ingress pokemongo public

6

https://bryant.livejournal.com/738132.html Tue, 04 Aug 2015 17:48:33 GMT Port of Call bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/738132.html <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4417522/" target="_blank"><cite>Port of Call</cite></a>: A</p> <p>Excellent Hong Kong drama based on a real murder case from 2008. Aaron Kwok was superb in this; he goes old, with grey hair and a mustache, and really vanishes into the role. It’s a tough part, full of damaged psyches grating against each other in an endless cycle. He plays it whimsical with a ton of pain showing right under the surface: comedy as defense mechanism.</p> <p>The movie is set in seedy Hong Kong, where low-lives and desperate souls live. Occasionally we see glimpses of privilege and wealth. Christopher Doyle is the cinematographer, and he’s unsurprisingly perfect at showing us the contrast between those two places. It’s as if wealth was a source of light, and unwise phototropic souls reached out to it like a lifeline, only to find it was sterile. (Doyle always inspires me to clumsy light-based metaphors. Love his work.)</p> <p>Other than Aaron Kwok making sad jokes which fail to dispel his pain, there’s very little humor in the movie. There are sequences of explicit death and violence. People are not nice to one another. It gets a lot of power from being unflinching.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/08/04/port-of-call.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/738132.html?view=comments#comments hong kong fantasia public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/737819.html Tue, 04 Aug 2015 17:34:00 GMT The Ninja War of Torakage bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/737819.html <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3685756/" target="_blank"><cite>The Ninja War of Torakage</cite></a>: B</p> <p>This was the weirdest thing I saw at Fantasia. Underneath it all you’ll find a pretty standard historical ninja epic about Torakage, this poor guy who just wants to retire from ninjaing and raise a family, but there’s a lot of insanity between the surface of the movie and the core. I don’t know <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1883583/" target="_blank">Yoshihiro Nishimura’s</a> work but he’s a special effects/makeup dude who occasionally directs, I guess. This is perhaps obvious from the opening shot in which our protagonist cuts off a couple of heads and we center two spouting fountains of gore for a very long time. </p> <p>Once we’ve gotten the sense that it’s going to be a reasonably violent action film, Nishimura proceeds to demonstrate that it’s going to be supremely weird by cutting to a Portugese scholar named Francisco who narrates the premise of the movie with the help of shadow puppets. Visually awesome, by the by, once you get over the Japanese actor in Euroface. Francisco shows up to explain the movie all the time, although he doesn’t explain any of the weird stuff. </p> <p>Other awesome things: the weird creature with wings made of hands and eyes everywhere; the bamboo mecha; the way Torakage’s wife Tsukikage also kicks ass; the Greek chorus in jars. I appreciated this one a lot.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/08/04/ninja-war.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/737819.html?view=comments#comments fantasia ninja public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/737645.html Mon, 27 Jul 2015 14:14:13 GMT Tales of Halloween bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/737645.html <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4163020/" target="_blank"><cite>Tales of Halloween</cite></a>: B+</p> <p>This review is maybe a bit of a placeholder; I did not take notes during the movie and I’d like to come back to it when I can find some better data on who directed what. For now, I will note that this was a totally fun horror anthology with ten segments. They’re very loosely linked insofar as they all take place in one town during Halloween. Unsurprisingly, it’s not a place you’d want to live. Neil Marshall’s closing segment ties together some of the other bits, but otherwise they’re just related by theme and locale.</p> <p>If I had to bet, I’d say one of the thematic elements the creators decided to work with was revenge. There’s a lot of that going on. Also trick or treating, which is kind of a gimmie for Halloween. Also gore — this is probably going to win my personal Best Gore award for Fantasia — but that’s just because it’s a total love letter to 80s horror.</p> <p>Which, let me tell you, this movie wears its heart on its sleeve. Lots of horror character actors you’ll recognize, a couple of even more amusing cameos, and so on. The Neil Marshall segment plays like a John Carpenter tribute in the most loving of ways. </p> <p>I think this will roll into theaters around Halloween this year and if you like gory horror you should see it.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/07/27/streaming-john-wick-chapter-2-2017-english-subtitle.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/737645.html?view=comments#comments horror fantasia public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/736664.html Thu, 23 Jul 2015 23:45:12 GMT Jeruzalem bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/736664.html <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4552524/" target="_blank"><cite>Jeruzalem</cite></a>: D.</p> <p>This was a lot of wasted potential. You’ve got a promising if somewhat goofy presence — American backpackers trapped in Jerusalem during the apocalypse. The found footage twist is pretty good: everything’s being filmed on Google Glass by Sarah, our viewpoint character. It’s a nice way to explain why she doesn’t just drop the camera and run away, plus the Paz brothers added some really clever moments around facial recognition and other wearable features. </p> <p>Unfortunately the acting was really, really bad. I’m not going to pick on anyone in particular, because everyone was fairly wooden. If you’re doing helpless Americans abroad, you’ve got to have sympathetic characters and none of the main foursome was up to that task.</p> <p>The writing didn’t help. Towards the beginning of the movie there’s an excellent chase scene which uses the Glass conceit to full advantage. You get disoriented right along with Sarah as she runs, you get a real feel for her lack of perspective, and it’s easy to understand how she gets lost in the warren of back alleys. Excellent stuff. It’s undermined by the ceaseless repetition of “hey, stop, hey, you, stop, hey, come back, hey, stop!” It’s as if the filmmakers were afraid of silence. </p> <p>I could go on. The prelude, which is not presented as found footage, winds up being played for Sarah later. So if you’re going to present it within the found footage context anyway, why start the movie outside the frame? Hold it for later, don’t repeat it, and as a bonus you get to save your demon reveal rather than giving it up in the first five minutes.</p> <p>Whoops, I went on. Done now. Don’t watch this on cable if you happen to trip over it some day.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/07/23/jeruzalem.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/736664.html?view=comments#comments horror fantasia public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/736282.html Fri, 03 Jul 2015 04:59:05 GMT Another Thursday Night bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/736282.html <p><img class="alignright size-large wp-image-9600" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/2e2017e89a45b8235d12d97ce4709b3b2129862e6ac630111566219e3f23ca0a/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaL7O3llCoRRvZyHkHPfU5JEf3CAA6V8iMyYY5AXluDcSYpspRQdjcUfJ6Eh-gB0VH7EviGsU:t-3c-dix6rtmghmKrIpQ3A" alt="San Francisco Fielding" width="727" height="1024" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-02-at-9.47.39-PM-727x1024.png 727w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-02-at-9.47.39-PM-106x150.png 106w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-02-at-9.47.39-PM-213x300.png 213w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-02-at-9.47.39-PM-788x1110.png 788w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-02-at-9.47.39-PM.png 914w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" fetchpriority="high" /> This is what I did with my evening. To be precise, I had a small part in creating the conditions that made this possible. We did not execute perfectly for various and sundry reasons, but that’s what the human ability to learn and improve is for.</p> <p>For non-Ingress players: the primary means of scoring points in the game is creating fields. Bigger fields are more points. Fields are always triangles. You create fields by generating links between portals. You make a link between two portals by going to the source portal and using up a key to the destination portal.</p> <p>Thus, you could make a big triangle like that by creating a link between a portal in Oakland and a portal in Marin Highlands; then between the same portal in Oakland and a portal in Half Moon Bay; and then between the Half Moon Bay and Marin portals. Boom, lots of green.</p> <p>Oh, yeah. The tricky part is that links can’t cross. So if there was already a link between, say, Candlestick Park and Alameda, you couldn’t create the link between Oakland and Half Moon Bay. This makes life tricky.</p> <p>The coordination aspect of this is really the fun part, particularly since the other team will try and stop you from scoring via various methods if they notice. It’s like a much lower pressure version of moving your servers between data centers: plenty of planning, lots of moving parts, and a good team of people.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/07/02/watch-movie-online-fifty-shades-darker-2017.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/736282.html?view=comments#comments ingress public

4

https://bryant.livejournal.com/736176.html Wed, 01 Jul 2015 16:35:12 GMT Apple Music bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/736176.html <p>I’ve bought into the Apple ecosystem, so obviously.</p> <p>In the interests of testing the scope of music available, I travelled back to the best music critic on the Internet, glenn mcdonald. His final formal music review post is an eloquent exploration of the <a href="http://www.furia.com/page.cgi?type=twas&id=twas0514" target="_blank">best music of 2012</a>, ranging from Taylor Swift to European avant garde death metal. It finishes up with a Ylvis song, years before you wondered what the fox says. Bona fides enough.</p> <p>He has 123 songs on his list. At the time, he constructed playlists on both Spotify and Rdio. Spotify had 93 songs; Rdio had 94. My Apple Music playlist has 96. Pretty much no difference.</p> <p>It’s <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/twas-2012/idpl.852f983fbc244df08b5888b8817375a6" target="_blank">seven hours of great music</a>, by the by. </p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/07/01/apple-music.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/736176.html?view=comments#comments twas music public

5

https://bryant.livejournal.com/735788.html Wed, 06 May 2015 21:25:08 GMT Fantasia 2015 bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/735788.html The entry that should be here was screened by LiveJournal because it contained a link to Deadline. According to the Abuse Team, "LiveJournal does not allow linking to Deadline, due to requests made by Deadline's legal department." Except the Abuse Team spelled out the whole URL, which I can't do because it's caught by the spam filter. I've edited the original post, <a href="https://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/05/06/fantasia-2015.php" target="_blank"> available here</a>, because screw Deadline. That post will be rewarding for anyone who's interested in genre film festivals located in Montreal. I'm not going to repost it here because screw LiveJournal for not standing up to Deadline. https://bryant.livejournal.com/735788.html?view=comments#comments public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/735523.html Fri, 01 May 2015 20:18:02 GMT New Travel Gadget bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/735523.html <p>I’d been using the <a href="http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-travel-power-strip-with-usb/" target="_blank">Wirecutter-recommended</a> Accell Home or Away travel surge protector for travel until recently. It’s really good, but it only has 2 USB ports and when I started traveling with an external battery, that was too few. One USB port for my phone, one for my tablet, and none for my battery? Sad. In theory maybe I stop traveling with my tablet but then I add in my headphones, which charge via USB, and I’m back where I started.</p> <p>Plus I just got this watch, so.</p> <p><a href="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A2123111_BA_ND01.jpg" target="_blank"><img class=" size-full wp-image-9586 alignright" src="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A2123111_BA_ND01.jpg" alt="Anker 6-USB Port Charger" width="600" height="600" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A2123111_BA_ND01.jpg 600w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A2123111_BA_ND01-150x150.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A2123111_BA_ND01-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" fetchpriority="high" /></a> Thus, I picked up Anker’s <a href="http://www.ianker.com/product/A2123111" target="_blank">6 port USB charger</a>. It’s not a hub; it’s a small brick around the size of a very full men’s wallet that plugs into a wall outlet and charges a bunch of USB devices at once. I don’t imagine it’d do great with six items plugged into it, but it’s fine for phone and tablet and external battery. Anker’s other gear has performed very well for me (cables, car USB adapters), and this seems similarly solid from one trip’s worth of experience.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/05/01/watch-fifty-shades-darker-2017-full-movie-online-streaming-online-and-download.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/735523.html?view=comments#comments travel public

4

https://bryant.livejournal.com/735352.html Sun, 15 Mar 2015 22:38:32 GMT Badging bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/735352.html <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_4033.png" target="_blank"><img class="alignright wp-image-9578 size-medium" style="margin: 0 0 0 10px;" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/b9dba45eb1db8cb3269753516afd1207b0f69b3f77579f63b28f7162a3b7578e/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaLrOxHd3m0UxeUGhQrXArpIe2SNAsBUwfA:xLDEsRvVcfIFHvndhwGpUA" alt="Platinum SpecOps" width="169" height="300" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_4033-169x300.png 169w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_4033-84x150.png 84w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_4033-576x1024.png 576w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_4033.png 1242w" sizes="(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px" fetchpriority="high" /></a> I think I’m the first Ingress player in the Bay Area to hit platinum specops, which means I’ve done 200 missions. (Missions are player-generated mini-quests that can be as easy as interacting with 4 portals or as hard as figuring out a set of passphrases over multiple miles.) This was not super-hard to do, but it did require a lot of persistence and some planning.</p> <p>My 200th mission was <a href="https://www.ingress.com/mission/7ef32f2b8cab45409befef4817a2c664.1c" target="_blank">Climb Mount Davidson</a> by Agent hiryu; it was a nice walk up to the top of <a href="http://www.bahiker.com/sfhikes/davidson.html" target="_blank">Mount Davidson</a>, which was not terribly strenuous but which rewarded me with a great view nonetheless. My longest one — probably <a href="https://www.ingress.com/mission/8637d65db6cf498b869365dcd1b7086f.1c" target="_blank">Hike Mt. Wanda</a>, in Contra Costa County, which was a couple of miles of hiking up a <a href="http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/wanda.html" target="_blank">nifty trail</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Plat-SpecOps.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft wp-image-9579 size-medium" style="margin: 5px 10px 0 0;" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/ba32251d9c2980a6e4046691c93002f2786f434108ccc47c9cae215bf03e1f8b/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaLrO3VZRsFxSOhfvPPOK-5YckT4A7lx4cWxb7Q:ZYlIbTeMZQL6bw-Zq8SQxg" alt="Plat SpecOps Badges" width="72" height="300" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Plat-SpecOps-72x300.jpg 72w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Plat-SpecOps-36x150.jpg 36w" sizes="(max-width: 72px) 100vw, 72px" /></a> I completed eight missions at Walt Disney World a month before Niantic opened up mission creation to almost anyone. If I had taken that trip two months later, I’d have been able to do 100+ missions in that week with minimal effort. No regrets! I did 17 Disneyland missions on our last trip there. I have 16 missions from business trips to LA, and four airport missions (one of which overlaps with the LA mission count). I did more annoying “hack every portal on this downtown San Francisco street” missions than I want to think about.</p> <p>I completed 45 missions in Contra Costa County in one weekend, thanks in large part to a very busy mission creator in Martinez. I completed 26 of those missions on Saturday, a personal record that’ll stick until my next Walt Disney World trip. I then knocked off another six missions in San Francisco on Sunday, thanks in complete part to my own obsessiveness.</p> <p>I completed a set of missions whose badges spell out “RESIST” and I completed a set of missions whose badges spell out “SMURF TEARS.” I was careful to do neither of them in order, because I think that kind of thing is a bit silly. My badges spell out “SISTER” and “MTRESAURSF,” instead. I didn’t take the time to figure out something clever to do with sad smurfs at the time, but if you need a good anagram, I’d recommend “FASTER RUMS” or “TSAR’S FEMUR.”</p> <p>I don’t know that I’m going to hit onyx specops — 500 missions — any time soon. However, I’m not going to stop doing missions just because I got this badge, so we’ll see.</p> <p>I will chatter on about any aspect of missions on demand, regardless of faction.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/03/15/badging.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/735352.html?view=comments#comments ingress public

4

https://bryant.livejournal.com/735143.html Sun, 22 Feb 2015 03:08:59 GMT Point Bonita Lighthouse bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/735143.html <p>Susan and I spent the afternoon hanging out at Point Bonita Lighthouse on the off chance that someone of the blue persuasion would drop by and try to do something interesting, in which case we had plans to dissuade them. As it turned out, we did get one visitor, but since our teammates had already done something larger and more interesting, there was no chance of tumult even if she’d had plans.</p> <p>So we took a lot of pictures instead.</p> <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3879.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-9574" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/e83e9d9ac8611342c98e61e416cd9dd355e632e116f30d1faded07ab0fc602f7/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaLvOxHd3m0I5fUuhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:PjgLB_BNXKeq9XqzE1RLSw" alt="Golden Gate Bridge" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3879-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3879-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3879-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" fetchpriority="high" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3883.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-9573" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/98a76d24a7495ab72f03a21028857eb2411bd09c72ed2fc6a0bd12b9ebcf3c5e/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaLvOxHd3m0I5ckGhQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:QWnWPgV6o6_v8cSx8Mbgdg" alt="Point Bonita Lifehouse" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3883-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3883-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3883-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" loading="lazy" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3885.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-9572" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/5a310c092b858f05be23f9bebe4c88584c6c558a8d747c614ba8f775a0e0e002/P2WlxyVijxKvg25r885SWEMdsf-ah7h0z0GSSLxWwdnd_RfXkM-mDQQlD0o4CV08tU1biDjQd0xQDV4DnBwosBRf2iKAaLvOxHd3m0I5ckehQrPL4tkZ3zUetAJ1I3Y:5R0E0KvTjqq5vRuXyiv3fQ" alt="Coast North of San Francisco" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3885-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3885-150x113.jpg 150w, https://popone.innocence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_3885-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" loading="lazy" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/02/21/point-bonita-lighthouse.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/735143.html?view=comments#comments ingress public

1

https://bryant.livejournal.com/734942.html Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:30:40 GMT This Way To The bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/734942.html <p>I’ve been playing a lot of <a href="https://www.ingress.com" target="_blank">Ingress</a> recently. Short form: it’s Google’s augmented reality alien invasion PvP game; you physically go to in-game portals, which correspond with the locations of landmarks, public art, and so on, and perform various actions which lead to creating fields of influence over various areas. The two factions are competing to control the most minds; it’s literally scored in terms of mind units. Kind of sinister when you get right down to it.</p> <p>The game interests me on a number of levels, so I’ll probably write a spate of posts about it before trailing off into inactivity again. The game design is perhaps accidentally interesting, the ad hoc social networks are totally fascinating, and it hits a sweet OCD spot for me in a way which has me exercising. I averaged around 5 miles a day of walking in December. Go me.</p> <p>Oh, and the lore is written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_Dille" target="_blank">Flint Dille</a>. Old school tabletop gamers can be suitably amused at this juncture.</p> <p><a href="http://blog.lauramichet.com/2014/08/17/meeting-strangers-in-the-street/" target="_blank">Here’s an excellent story about getting involved in the game.</a> It’s what got me and Susan playing, and everything in it is entirely true. Except the bit about the scooter. I can’t attest to anything involving scooter play first hand. I have, however, had experiences analogous to everything else she talks about.</p> <p><a href="http://www.itworld.com/article/2833120/mobile/a-primer-and-faq-for-ingress--google-s-odd-awesome-mobile-game.html" target="_blank">This</a> is a pretty good primer on the game; it’s a little dated, since like any decent MMO Ingress has occasional updates, but on the whole it’s solid.</p> <p>If you decide to play because you are reading this, you should play Enlightened. The most meaningful currency in Ingress is time. Skill matters some, but the balance is skewed way over towards time, particularly before you get to the tippy-top of the elder game. The only way to generate time out of thin air is to convince people to play on your side. So: play Enlightened.</p> <p>Yes, the Resistance is the attractive spunky underdog group. Next post sometime this week I will provide you with a conceptual framework that explains why the Enlightened are the real underdogs, which hopefully will allow you to play Enlightened without feeling like you’re supporting the Illuminati.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2015/01/05/this-way-to-the.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/734942.html?view=comments#comments ingress public

16

https://bryant.livejournal.com/734661.html Thu, 11 Sep 2014 17:06:32 GMT 13 Years bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/734661.html <p>As always and forever, <a href="http://archive.arstechnica.com/wankerdesk/01q3/war/index.html" target="_blank">thank you.</a></p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/09/11/13-years.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/734661.html?view=comments#comments public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/734214.html Sat, 10 May 2014 22:05:50 GMT Bag-Bound bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/734214.html <p>For nearly 20 years I didn’t have to do much business travel. These days life is different. When my trip frequency rose above once per month I evolved a bag strategy which is both imperfect and functional. It is also very heavy on the Tom Bihn gear, because I like his bags and I tend to stick with things that work well enough. Other companies also make great stuff; my former boss swears by <a href="http://www.sfbags.com/" target="_blank">WaterField bags</a>, for example. Choice is awesome.</p> <p>My general theme is simplicity. Painless packing is the single most important aspect of this whole thing so keeping it simple is important. Particularly when it comes to cables, I’ve often just bought an extra cable so I don’t worry about remembering to pick one up and carry it with me. This is useful to me because I’m really forgetful. I am, obviously, fortunate to be able to make that tradeoff.</p> <p><strong>Bag One: Travel Bag</strong></p> <p>Bag one is the main bag. I have been using the <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/travel_bags/TB0906.html" target="_blank">Aeronaut</a> from Tom Bihn for years now and it continues to suit all my needs. I broke this bag in by going to Europe for a week and a half, with all my clothing in it. That worked and it’s also fine for two to three day trips. If I was interested in getting really specific, I could get a smaller bag for shorter trips; Tom Bihn’s <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/travel_bags/TB0950.html" target="_blank">Western Flyer</a> would be a good complement. In practice I haven’t felt the need for that kind of specialization. There’s a lot of empty space left in the Aeronaut when I’m just doing a short trip, but so what? If I only have one travel bag, I can keep the travel gear in it and I never have to worry about swapping things around. </p> <p>The Aeronaut fits in any airplane’s overhead bins, it has a huge central compartment, and it has functional backpack straps if I overpack and need to distribute the weight better. It’s also indestructible. I spilled a huge bottle of Rudy’s barbecue sauce on it once and it washed out painlessly. I expect to keep this bag for decades.</p> <p>There are two side compartments. I could use one of them for an extra pair of shoes if needed but I’ve cut down on that weight in the last few months, so it’s generally empty now. The other side compartment has a specially sized <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/accessories/TB091.html" target="_blank">packing cube</a> in it; inside that I keep a <a href="http://powrqube.com/" target="_blank">PowerQube</a> with two 6′ USB-Lightning charging cables plugged in.</p> <p>This is literally the stupidest thing I carry. I backed the PowerQube Kickstarter so I feel vaguely obligated to do something with the thing. It is a superb power strip, with six outlets and three USB charging outlets, but it’s heavy. I also don’t need six outlets when I travel. I don’t like the Accell travel strip recommended <a href="http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-travel-power-strip-with-usb/" target="_blank">here</a>, because sometimes hotel outlets aren’t in a convenient place. I’m sure I could still find a corded solution that didn’t weigh several pounds. In the meantime the PowerQube does everything I need.</p> <p>Inside the Aeronaut main compartment, I keep a small <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/accessories/TB1251.html" target="_blank">travel stuff sack</a> for toiletries: a razor, spare blades, toothbrush, toothpaste in travel size, stain remover pen, and a bottle of Advil. All of those live in the sack, so there’s no futzing around with remembering things if I wind up packing at 5 AM while trying to make a 6:30 flight. These things do happen.</p> <p>I also keep a <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/travel_bags/TB0925.html" target="_blank">packing cube backpack</a> in there. I haven’t ever used the backpack aspect of this thing but it doesn’t hurt to have the option. I’m glad Susan convinced me to get this style. I can fit up to three days of clothing in there; it takes up about half the space in the main compartment. If I were doing longer trips often, I’d get another packing cube to match. This was a fairly recent purchase; I like it better than the alternative, which is a set of tie-down straps in the bottom of the compartment. I get where I’m going, I pull it out, and everything’s accessible. </p> <p>Since almost everything is already in this bag all the time, packing is easy: grab clothing, fold, put it in the packing cube, and go. It takes about five minutes.</p> <p><strong>Bag Two: Briefcase</strong></p> <p>My briefcase is a <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/laptop-bags/TB0740.html" target="_blank">Cadet</a>. This is also a recent purchase. I am using an 11″ MacBook Air as my work computer, and the Cadet is a perfect case. The main compartment has a sleeve for the Air, which slides out at airport security so I don’t have to unpack the entire computer. There’s also an internal pocket which can fit my sleeved iPad nicely; alternatively, when I’m just trekking back and forth from work I slip the iPad in the external back pocket for convenience. Mark this moment: I rebelliously eschewed the Tom Bihn iPad sleeve in favor of a sleeve from <a href="http://www.rickshawbags.com/" target="_blank">Rickshaw Bagworks</a>. I made that choice for no better reason than my embarrassment at the number of Tom Bihn bits and pieces I own. It’s still a really nice sleeve and very customizable, so I recommend them as well.</p> <p>I also have a couple of <a href="http://www.tombihn.com/accessories/TB0317.html" target="_blank">organizer pouches</a> clipped into the main compartment for cables; one has Ethernet and DVI adapters for the MacBook plus an Ethernet cable, and the other has another USB-Lighting charger cable, a headphone jack cable, a cigarette lighter to USB adapter, and a Lighting-DVI adapter cable. The charging cable is redundant but again, I’m aiming for simplicity and minimal fumbling. I’d rather open my briefcase in a rental to get at a cable than go into the back where my travel bag is sitting, plus this means I always have a charging cable at work.</p> <p>In the front pocket, I keep a <a href="http://fieldnotesbrand.com/" target="_blank">Field Notes</a> notebook, my iPhone EarPods, a few pens, and a MacBook power cable. The power cable is a spare: I also keep one at work but I never want to be annoyed at myself for forgetting to pack up the work cable, so the travel one is always in my briefcase. The notebook is still an experiment. I’ve been using it for work and personal notes for a few months now and it’s way easier to fish it out of my pocket than it is to fire up a note application on any of my devices. Also, things stick better in my memory when I write them down on paper first. Field Notes are from the functional branch of the hipster tree. </p> <p>I carry the briefcase daily; my MacBook comes home from work with me, and so on. This means it’s a little heavier for day to day use than it needs to be. There’s no reason why I need to carry some of those cables when I’m not traveling. However, you know the theme: if I always have them in the bag, I don’t forget to put them in the bag.</p> <a name='cutid1-end'></a><p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/05/10/bag-bound.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/734214.html?view=comments#comments bags travel public

4

https://bryant.livejournal.com/733837.html Sun, 20 Apr 2014 14:19:43 GMT Hugo Did What? bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/733837.html <p>The Hugo Awards have very few nominators and no barrier to entry to becoming a nominator other than money, which creates room for an engaged fan base to get just about anything on the ballot. This is not news. We’ve seen Doctor Who dominate the short-form dramatic presentation ballot for half a decade. We’ve also seen an acceptance speech get nominated for short-form dramatic presentation. That went relatively well because people liked the guy who gave the speech. This year, unlikeable people got nominated. </p> <p>This doesn’t mean there’s a significant chunk of right-wingers rising up to retake SF fandom, despite what Vox Day would like to think. Let’s look at the numbers. References: the <a href="http://www.lonestarcon3.org/hugo-awards/statistics.pdf" target="_blank">LoneStarCon 3 stats for the 2013 Hugos</a> (PDF) and <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2014-hugo-awards/" target="_blank">this year’s nominations</a>. Also, the 2013 Hugos had 1,343 nominations.</p> <p>This year, there were 1,595 nominations for Best Novel. Last year, there were 1,113 nominations. That’s 43% more nominations. This year, there were 728 nominations for Best Novelette. Last year, there were 616 nominations. 18% more nominations.</p> <p>The Winter 2013 LoneStarCon 3 Progress Report lists 1,773 members as of November 22, 2012. The December 2013 Loncon 3 Progress report says they had 4,282 members as of November 18th, 2013. That’s 141% more memberships. The Hugo nomination campaigning probably isn’t the reason why more people submitted nominations; the increase in memberships purchased more than explains it. I’m not going to assume that the 100+ increase in Best Novelette nominations was all Day/Correia voters.</p> <p>It took 38 nominations to get on the Best Novelette ballot last year. Apply the 18% adjustment: it probably took between 44 and 45 nominations to get on the Best Novelette ballot this year. That’s not block voting, that’s a mild wave in a fairly shallow wave pool.</p> <p>(For any kind of rigor I would go back and perform a similar analysis for the last ten years or so, to see if membership purchase rates and nomination rates ever track well together.)</p> <p>Edit: Liz notes that it took 69 nominations to get on the Best Novelette ballot this year. So much for rigor. Thanks!</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/04/20/hugo-did-what.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/733837.html?view=comments#comments hugo awards public

6

https://bryant.livejournal.com/733662.html Wed, 16 Apr 2014 03:33:13 GMT Desert Island Directors bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/733662.html <p>In <cite>Filmspotting’s</cite> most recent episode, the hosts went through their <a href="http://www.filmspotting.net/top-5/1151-485-top-5-desert-island-directors.html" target="_blank">top five directors whose movies you’d want on a desert island</a>. In other words, if you were stuck on a desert island with a TV and a DVD player, which five directors’ complete works would you want? This is a fun game and an interesting twist so I played along. </p> <p>On the whole I was closer to David Gordon Green’s choices than to those of the hosts. He’s not listed at the link above, but he chose <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000484" target="_blank">John Landis</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000570" target="_blank">Alan Parker</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000265" target="_blank">Robert Altman</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000406" target="_blank">John Ford</a>, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040" target="_blank">Stanley Kubrick</a>. I think Alan Parker in particular is a brilliant choice.</p> <p>I’d start with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001752" target="_blank">Steven Soderbergh</a>. He has huge range: this gives me everything from classic indie movies to weird experimental stuff to blockbusters, and all of it is beautiful. I could rewatch any of these movies again and again. He’s also directed 40 or so movies, so there’s a lot of watching there.</p> <p>Next: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000941" target="_blank">Kathryn Bigelow</a>. She’s only got nine movies under her belt, so I lose all the ground I gained with Soderbergh. Doesn’t matter. I’d probably have her on the list if she’d only directed <cite>Near Dark</cite>, <cite>Strange Days</cite>, and <cite>The Hurt Locker</cite>. Her movies are consuming, and I want that if I’m stuck on this island.</p> <p>Third is the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001054" target="_blank">Coen Brothers</a>. Like Soderbergh, but even more so, their movies will reward repeat viewing. They’re also where I’m getting most of my comedies — dark, cynical, sometimes sad comedies, but nonetheless you have to laugh somehow.</p> <p>From there we’ll go international and pick up <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0939182" target="_blank">Kar Wai Wong</a>. This feels like cheating since I’m also getting a ton of Christopher Doyle cinematography. If it’s cheating, I have no regrets. I couldn’t live without someone from Asian cinema and preferably Hong Kong, and while John Woo might be more accessible, Kar Wai Wong will be better. Plus I still get a couple of good martial arts flicks. </p> <p>Finally, and stolen from Adam Kempenaar’s list, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001328" target="_blank">Howard Hawks</a>. Since I am a poor excuse for a film student, I didn’t think of him at once, but he’s an obvious choice. He worked in every genre, he made a huge number of great films, and he provides a superb window into earlier film. This also means I get some lighthearted movies. A win all around.</p> <p>Savage Steve Holland does not make my list.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/04/15/desert-island-directors.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/733662.html?view=comments#comments public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/733408.html Fri, 11 Apr 2014 18:05:44 GMT It’s Savage Steve Holland Time? bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/733408.html <p>This probably isn’t the result of <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/03/16/streaming-media-alert.php" target="_blank">his recent exposure on HBO</a>, but he’s directing <a href="http://variety.com/2014/film/news/better-off-dead-director-to-helm-teen-comedy-multiplexing-1201155489/" target="_blank">another teen comedy</a>! I am irrationally excited and will remain so regardless of further news.</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/04/11/its-savage-steve-holland-time.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/733408.html?view=comments#comments savage steve holland public

0

https://bryant.livejournal.com/733180.html Mon, 07 Apr 2014 17:56:27 GMT Elder Scrolls Online Launched Clean bryant https://bryant.livejournal.com/733180.html <p>So saith <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/04/07/the-daily-grind-whats-your-definition-of-a-polished-mmo-launch/" target="_blank">Massively</a>. I am not at all surprised given what I know about the engineering teams working on that title. I am, nonetheless, tickled pink by this paragraph:</p> <blockquote><p>From my 50-hours-of-playtime perspective, though, the launch has in fact been completely lag-free. It’s also been one of the more polished overall launches I’ve experienced in a number of years, though I wouldn’t say it’s number one (Lord of the Rings Online had fewer quest bugs out of the gate, which was all the more impressive since smooth MMO launches were unheard of in 2007).</p></blockquote> <p>Aw yeah. Champion and still #1, LOTRO launch!</p> <p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://popone.innocence.com/archives/2014/04/07/elder-scrolls-online-launched-clean.php" title="Read Original Post" target="_blank">Population: One</a>.</small></p> https://bryant.livejournal.com/733180.html?view=comments#comments egoboo public

0