Archive for ‘Comics’
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Good Lord, did we stink up the floor last night. IU outplayed us from one side of the floor to another, so you can hardly begrudge them then win… heck it’s the first one since ’08 isn’t it? The Boilers just weren’t cohesive and could not find the bucket to save their lives. Bad game…
Bad reffing, too… Matt Painter said after the game that he thought the game was called fairly, and I agree. The refs weren’t favoring either team with their terrible, terrible calls. Laurie and I were just flabbergasted by some of the calls made. I think my favorite was the tipping call where the player didn’t come within a foot of the ball. Swatting at something is not tipping, but whatever…
Good game guys… you still suck, but good game…
(I wonder if these strips will ever come back to haunt me should IU want to hire me to run their flow core some day?!?)
Oh well… so Super Bowl Sunday… I’ve been working hard *not* to see the commercials in advance on the net. I suspect they will the only interesting things to watch because… the Giants and the Patriots? Boring… for the record, Go Giants, but still…
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Hopefully my little homage to Mr. Jackson and Mr. Kovalic will not be deemed as having gone too far astray…
Full disclosure: I’ve never been to SJ Games HQ, but I assume that as it is the house that Munchkins built that it must be modeled after the Dork Tower. I could be wrong… but I doubt it.
In any case, I’ve been playing a lot of Munchkins lately. After having the game for years and finding no one to play with, I somehow managed to hire a few gamers into the lab, and now we have a semi-regular game. If I can get them to play Pathfinders or D&D, I may just burst out into tears….
…but that’s just me.
I probably wouldn’t be looking for this game to hit the shelves any time soon, but I do wish it would. The card possibilities are endless. Heck, I can think of two different versions of ‘Kiss the baby’ which would yield a boost or a curse… actually make that three… Hmmm… I may have to make this a fan game because there are too many possibilities…
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Oh well… let’s call it a tribute to Rankin and Bass, shall we?
I realize that this particular election cycle has been going on for about… oh… four years now, and has been particularly obnoxious for the last ten months or so, but I’m an old-fashioned sort of fella and like to think that the real election season begins with The State of the Union Address: Election Year Edition. The incumbent sets his electoral platform, the opposition responds, and hilarity (and mudslinging) ensues. I mean if you start things out too early, people are just going to be burnt out come November, right?
You would think so, anyway…
This year’s address and opposition response, of course, were far from inspiring… but what can you expect? We have a President who promised change, but was unprepared to bring it, and a Republican “leadership” who seems to have forgotten whom they are supposed to be representing and what exactly their jobs in Washington are, so as the man said plenty of “words and meaning and signifying… nothing.”
But(!!) now is the time for politicians to engage the American people! To lift them up. To inspire them to great works…
…or to… you know… carry on with the same useless bickering and dickering that they’ve engaged in since McCain stopped being a Maverick…
I’ve heard a lot of people commenting on how Washington is more divided now than ever before. This isn’t actually true, of course… it just feels that way. I’m sure Lincoln and Douglas could tell a few tales (except for that whole being dead thing), and their story is hardly unique either. I, of course, am not the one to be speaking on such matters. It would be nice if @ThatArdraGuy or Direcorrector could pipe in hear as they are much better prepared to speak of the antics of presidents past than I, but barring that, let me just say, it’s been bad before, it will be bad again. Things always get better, and if you think that the folks in Washington no longer deserve to be there, there is a very easy solution… vote.
Of the people, by the people and for the people…
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There you go folks, and gosh darn internet meme integrated into my comic! Surely iFame and phenomenal wealth are now within my grasp!
Anyway…
So, I read Thursday’s announcement from Apple with some interest. I am a firm believer in the digital textbook revolution. Laurie’s time working in the High School book depository (and my own time as a student paying out in blood for arcane texts that would be functionally obsoleted by the publishers just in time for me to not be able to sell them back) was enough to convince me that the current system of warehousing collections of ex-trees is not an optimum system. Of course, e-textbooks are hardly new (you can rent them via a particularly bad implementation from Barnes and Nobles), but with a company with the clout of Apple getting into the game, it’s possible that digital delivery of textbooks just might gain some actual momentum.
…of course with all the school districts in serious financial difficulty, it’s an odd market to be dipping one’s toe in… blood from a turnip and all that…
So, I’m pleased as punch to see Apple pushing this particular boundry…
…but they’re doing it wrong.
Well, they’re doing it right for them. A closed format which only works on their devices. Free tools to develop product for their devices. Control of the distribution method. It is the right system for putting all the profits in their pockets… but we don’t need schools tied to a single-vendor system and tied to devices which are constantly obsoleted and with a publishing standard that can change with each new release of iBooks.
No, what we need is an iTextbook hardware and software spec. Something that gives school districts and students choice as to devices and allows publishers (even tiny little independent ones) a chance to get in on the game.
And let’s not forget that we are talking about textbooks here. The latest and greatest hardware is great, but let’s keep in mind the mission when designing the spec. An iPad2 is a wonderful device, but it’s a bit pricy… do we need that much horsepower? What are the realistic needs? I suspect things to be considered are:
- Minimum screen size
- Minimum screen resolution
- Aspect ration
- Battery Life
- Required formats: eText, ePub, mp4, HTML5, etc
- Required performance (say must be able to play mp4 with a resolution of xxx by yyy at zz frames per second sort of thing)
- Classroom mode – (ability of the instructor to be able to require device check-in at start of hour and lock out non-related functions — No Angry Birds during the lecture)
- Security – Force every student to carry a tablet device, and the thieves will come a-running. Method required to iBrick the device.
- Highlighter mode – (both public and personal)
- Notes mode – same
- Information security for the student.
- Workbook mode
In order for this to work, the specs can’t be in a constant state of flux. Students can’t start as a Freshman, and be expected to buy a new device every year or two. Some people/districts can afford that, but others can’t, so we need to think in terms of long-term support/specs. As technology changes, the specs will have to change, and someone at some point is going to get screwed, but as I said. Only change the specs when it enhances the learning, not just because we have a new shiny available. One assumes if one can abide by this philosophy, the hardware available will be able to keep up with any standard change within it’s lifespan… let’s say four years – the average length of a high school or undergraduate education.
Now, since we’re targeting four years, let’s just say that a replaceable battery is a requirement! Got that Apple? Not a request. A REQUIREMENT. Battery life is going to be critical for these things and we can’t have juniors and seniors needing to tote around cables to get through the day.
The distribution models will need some thought. College, I think, is easier. Students must purchase an e-Text compatible device. Sell the individual books to the students. Take advantage of the digital medium. There’s no need to come out with a new edition just to make a few minor changes to bring it up to our current view of the particular field, simply modify the necessary sections and push out the updates. Elgert’s Immunology v3.0.2a. When you sell students these books, make it useful to them throughout their educational career. Push updates to them for four years from time of purchase (after which it locks in its current content unless they wish to purchase updates). Because everything is digital and production costs are SIGNIFICANTLY reduced, charge SIGNIFICANTLY reduced prices to the students. $20 for a textbook; $5 for a workbook, perhaps? Keep them cheap enough, and you can stop worrying about the used book market as what student isn’t going to want continually updated content?!? You can transform your model from a one-time boom sale per text to a constant flow of new purchases. Smaller bits of cash, but much more often… You want to step towards and even more guaranteed revenue stream. Work deals with universities such that all texts are provided for a flat fee as part of the tuition regardless of classes taken by students. This would, of course, require some effort by the universities to ensure that their chosen publisher is providing quality materials and not just sending outdated crap as they’ve locked in the fee. This model may benefit from an e-Text clearinghouse which deals with the schools but which serves up materials from any publisher meeting the e-Text spec.
Primary and secondary education are different markets, of course, and require different considerations. Students generally don’t buy or even rent textbooks in public schools. School districts can’t afford to buy new books for each student, each semester… unless you make them really, really cheap. Districts need to be able to buy a certain number of texts and be able to assign them to individual students for a set period (semester, trimester, year) and then return them to the schools book pool for reassignment.
Think of it. No more lost books. No more damaged copies. And when it’s time to upgrade to a new/better text, no need to deal with recycling the old ones.
And as long as we’re dealing with a rights-assignment system, might I suggest it be tied to the students id (or some such) for on-demand use. Think Steam here. Want to use the text on your desktop at home? Simply log in with your credentials, and read it there. Forget your Textpad at home? Simply check one out from the media center, log in and carry on as per normal. I think it would work.
Could, would, should. I may be babbling now… thoughts?
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For this I can only apologize… but it’s been a while since we delved into the pool of bad science jokes for your amusement. After the showing in South Carolina last night, I just couldn’t go for a political joke… they seem to have handled that all by themselves…
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Aaaaand we’re back! Big doings on the internet yesterday… I will admit to spending a good amount of the evening searching twitter for the word ‘wikipedia’ to listen to the cries and gnashing of teeth from high school and college students across the land! The outcry was… amusing. Hopefully, some of them had the good sense to call or write their congressional “leaders”.
The news coverage was mixed regarding the internet blackout. I did hear one rather disheartening interview… I want to say it was with Senator Orrin Hatch, but could be wrong as he did come out against PIPA yesterday (finally…). The gist of the senator’s (or representative’s) thesis was that he was disappointed with the American people and the companies that shut down their websites as he would prefer a calm and reasoned discussion, and this amounted to a bunch of petulant children taking not getting what they want and taking their balls and going home…
Excuse me?
At what point has Congress ever welcomed a calm and reasoned discussion with the public?!? That doesn’t sound like the Congress I know…
In any case, I was surprised at how difficult it was to shut my own sites down yesterday.
Conflicted with my own inflated sense of self-worth, I guess, but it felt a bit like locking my kids under the stairs, but SOPA/PIPA are such bad laws that you have to take a stand… even if only about twelve of you noticed! 
Ah well, so we’re back, and we get to see how the News Guy deals with it… who knew an anchor’s job was hazardous to one’s health… or at least to ones digestion. Minor change to the art in the middle two panels… thoughts?
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Such is the problem with the beginner’s sets. Everyone wants to go against the dragons before they are ready!
Welcome to another addition of Dungeons and Dragons Theater where we explore the world of Pathfinders!
I should explain at the forefront that I am in no way complaining about the clear homage to the pink box presented by Pathfinders on the beginner box. For those of you that don’t remember the pink box cover (if such a person exists… frankly I find it doubtful…):
How to Serve Humans
No… it’s a clear homage and it’s very well done. What bugs me about it is that I didn’t see it… not at all. I must have had that box in my hands a hundred times at the store, and I never noticed. It wasn’t until I got it home and was playing through the educational solo mini-adventure that it struck me how similar it was to playing from the DnD basic set…
…and then I looked at the box again, and suddenly I had to wonder where I’d been keeping my head at because it was so obvious…
…everything is backwards though… right is left, male is female… I thought maybe it was an image from the evil parallel universe, but the wizard is the only one with facial hair… what can you do?!?
As per Pathfinders itself, it is based on the open-gaming system which is based on d20 which is based on DnD and ADnD of old, so there’s no surprise it plays so familiar. It’s not as simple as the old basic set, of course, due to the modifiers and all, but it’s a nice easy introductory system, and looks to be great fun…
…if I could find anyone to play with, of course…
I had forgotten what it is like to play with a new character… 4-12 hp… one well-placed hit enough to kill you… which is entirely appropriate as it would only take a sword hit or two to do in most of us, but it definitely keeps you on your toes…
I have the latest red box sitting here as well, so I’m thinking this weekend I will take the time to pour through the two rule sets and compare and contrast…
…then I’ll start begging people on street corners for a game…
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So as I mentioned last time the death of Lil Kim came as quite a blow to those of us in the Slightly Off-Topic community, but the moment was prepared for, and there’s a big, heapin’ helpin’ of crazy safely in charge of the country, so we can all relax… sort of…
I still think it’s weird that Jong Un is in charge as it would seem that a family dynasty is relatively diametrically-opposed to the aims of a communist regime, but I guess that in reality function under a dictatorial cult of the great leader more than under a communist regime, so it is what it is…
I was discussing my plans for introducing L’il Young Un as the replacement for L’il Kim with another webcomic artist I know, and his response was “Comedy is hard” without any further elaboration. I shall choose to assume that he meant that “incorporating such real world developments into a webcomic without seeming overly contrived can be difficult, but son… you nailed it!” On the off-chance that he meant something else, I’ll just refer him to that first bit of dialog!
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It was with some sadness that I noted the passing of Kim Jong Il… not for the man, of course… that’s one wackadoo that this world is very much better off without! I mean there’s crazy and then there’s Kim Crazy… and that’s a whole different ballgame.
So no… not for him, but as he died, so to did L’il Kim, and that is a real loss. The News Guy never did get his interview… what’s to happen next?
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Man! That’s a lot of words, but I really did want to take a moment to discuss this Tuesday’s Little Caesar Bowl with Purdue against Western Michigan. I realize the Little C is the equivalent of being invited to the NIT, but it’s not like everybody get’s to play in a bowl game (right IU?), it just feels that way…
Regardless, the Boilers won, and as a Boilermaker, I’m proud of my boys.
You knew it was going to be a weird game when after their first touchdown (the first score of the game, mind you), WMU opted to go for the two point conversion rather than just kicking for the extra point. Purdue certainly answered, though… I mean on onside kick in the first half is weird, but *two*?!? And both successful? That’s just bizarre.
Now credit where it’s due. The WMU quarterback is really good down field. He has a great long-passing game, but really (really) needs to work on his red zone game. He threw away (pun intended) so many opportunities to win the game. I kinda feel bad for them.
As per the Boilers, I’m not sure what the deal was with them opting to play quarterback shuffle, but at least everyone got to play. As usual the game play itself was rather clumsy but effective. The only bad moment was #2 throwing a punch. Not sure what that was all about. You’ve already won. Whatever the opposing team says, just smile and nod. I’m sure there was free pizza waiting for you in the locker room.
Finally, I know you IU fans were disappointed that I didn’t mock you mercilessly after your loss of the old Oaken Bucket a few weeks back. I hope that fact that I’m mentioning your incredibly bad football program in today’s strip makes up for any slight you may have felt.
And with that I end Slightly Off-Topic for 2011. Be sure to check back on Sunday for the first strip of the New Year!
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