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One minute of silence
General | Posted 14 years agoRIP thepetshop
February 2009 - February 2012
Way back in 2009 I tried to start a forum for furs into BDSM. Unfortunately I was never able to build any momentum and I have decided to let it go. To those who visited it, and especially those who posted, thank you. I also need to specifically thank Zipeau, who probably drew more than half of the real users himself, and Anoyomouse, who helped me set it up and gave me free hosting for three years.
February 2009 - February 2012
Way back in 2009 I tried to start a forum for furs into BDSM. Unfortunately I was never able to build any momentum and I have decided to let it go. To those who visited it, and especially those who posted, thank you. I also need to specifically thank Zipeau, who probably drew more than half of the real users himself, and Anoyomouse, who helped me set it up and gave me free hosting for three years.
SoFurry 2.0 launched; interview with Toumal
General | Posted 14 years agoOriginally posted (with links and nicer formatting) on Flayrah: http://www.flayrah.com/3857/sofurry-20-launched-interview-toumal#new
When the original SoFurry launched at the end of 2009 there was a certain amount of displeasure with the new site. Despite this, the user count more than doubled, and by June 2011 SoFurry had over 150 000 users. Staff then launched the SoFurry 2.0 beta, an attempt to completely redo SoFurry, improving the code and addressing user complaints.
During the seven-month beta period, there were regular bug fixes (and a public list of upcoming features). This wasn't limited to submitted bugs; SoFurry owner Toumal also responded to criticisms about the site, for example on Chipotle's review of furry story sites. The project was not without problems, however, and the site at one point seemed to face copyright challenges concerning part of it's code, namely for the chat feature.
The team worked hard and on 23 January, after about three days of down time, SoFurry was reborn. I took the time to ask Toumal a few questions regarding its development and future.
Rakuen: So first off it's great you're willing to do this but it is a bit disappointing this has to be done over gtalk instead of the SoFurry chat. It's a big feature that you didn't have active when you launched SoFurry 2.0. What's the status over there?
Toumal: Heh, the status is that we've fixed many of the showstopper bugs in the new chat, I'm currently implementing the mini-profiles and implement the user status changes into the userlist of the chat, while my colleagues are working on friend-messaging, private chats and the chat design. We've selected a group of chat testers and they will help us stress-test the new chat. I can't tell dates yet because we are also busy responding to user feedback about the 2.0 launch, fixing bugs, implementing improvements etc. - more than 110 individual bugfixes in less than 5 days. We'll get there!
Rakuen: That certainly sounds impressive, although I don't have any programming experience to really give me an idea of how fast these things usually move. Just going by the number of bug fixes I'm assuming that is a pretty sizable investment of your time, even with a large coding team, and all done on your own time too. Looking back at SoFurry 1 and what you have now, do you think the all the extra coding has been worth it or do you think it might've been better to simply adjust SoFurry 1?
Toumal: SoFurry 1 was based on the same code as Yiffstar, which I coded back in 2002. Sure, we could've patched up the old site. But when we sat down planning SF 2.0 we weighted the pros and cons, evaluated possible frameworks and libraries, and ultimately came to use a very powerful library that strikes just the right balance of included functionality and the freedom to really do what we want. To give you an idea what I mean: Coding the ad management module in SF 1 took a week. The same feature, with much better functionality, in SF 2.0, allowing advertisers to manage their own ads as they please, took a single day. We rewrote the search from scratch in one-and-a-half days in SF 2.0, a task that would've taken at least a week on SF 1, considering you'd have to integrate it with an older codebase.
We didn't just want a new design. We wanted to be able to be more efficient, achieve more with less lines of code. Yes it was worth it, and then some. It might've taken a bit longer to get started, but the speed at which we're moving would not be possible with the old grown codebase which is now almost 10 years old. Mind you, the new site is also pretty darn fast, something we always had issues with on SF 1.
Now that we have a good codebase, we can start doing the really fun things, like work on additional designs. Some people asked for a Yiffstar-like theme, and we might just do something like that ;)
Rakuen: So a commitment of that level means that we won't be seeing a SoFurry 3.0 any time soon? I ask because there was a lot of hype over SoFurry but you have now ditched that for SoFurry 2.0 after it wasn't all that well received. There are people know that prefer SoFurry 1 over SoFurry 2.0 and I believe in the SoFurry 1 period you more than doubled the number of users. Any complaints will be addressed in SoFurry 2.0 rather than a full rewrite?
Toumal: Well, SF 1 was operating for over 2 years. Some spring cleaning every now and then is a healthy thing, no? That said, I expect SoFurry 2 to be our mainstay for much longer. Another full rewrite isn't likely in the next couple of years. It's much easier now to change, update or upgrade entire areas of the site thanks to the modular structure. So yes, we're committed to improving 2.0, and the coming months will be pretty exciting.
Rakuen: Spring cleaning every now and then doesn't really fit with Yiffstar's almost seven years. Since you're going to be sticking with SoFurry 2.0, is it really helpful leaving up the old UI of SoFurry 1 as an alternative? You say it's temporary but there have already been a number of months with both interfaces and the old UI doesn't support all the features. Shouldn't you know be forcing people to adjust now rather than drawing out any migration issues? And do you know how much of the site traffic goes through each UI?
Toumal: Before the switch-over to SoFurry 2.0 it was 20% on 2.0, 80% on SF 1. Now it's the other way around: 80% of our users use the SF 2.0 site, 20% are sticking to SF 1 - but that percentage is dwindling pretty fast. We get a lot more page hits in general than we did before the switch-over so that is another factor in favor of the new site.
We're letting SF 1 run for a period of time because we want to offer our users more design and color choices before we pull the plug on SF 1 - and right now SF 1 doesn't cause much in terms of data migration issues. Both sites use the same data, there are only few exceptions like the notifications that are separate between SF 1 and SF 2.0. And as for our users, well those who don't want to switch yet will certainly appreciate having more style choices when they have to move over. Indeed my main concern about leaving SF 1 up was performance, but since the heavy lifting is now done by the much faster SF 2.0 site, we can live with SF 1 for a while longer.
Oh and there's another reason why SF 1 is still up: The SoFurry Android App, Live Wallpaper and third party apps like ArtSync! Our API for SF 2.0 is currently being worked on, in fact just today I had a chat about the details of the new API with Rangarig, one of our Android coders. Turning off SF 1.0 now would mean thousands of android phones won't get new PM notifications and fresh furry wallpapers every few hours.
Rakuen: As I mentioned the old UI does not support all the features that are available and there are many of them. There are the standard gallery options and you've also now got a groups system, tag filtering, hierarchical search and, as you've said, even two Android apps. Which of all these features would you say is the best, either your personal favourite or perhaps one you think functions as SoFurry's secret ace?
Toumal: All of the features you mentioned are actually SF 1 features. On SF 2.0 I'd say SoFurry HD is one of my favorite features. Instead of showing huge images with scrollbars or letting the browser crunch them we have this googlemaps-esque viewer where you can smoothly zoom in to fine details, and you can even use the arrow keys to scroll through that artist's gallery without having to leave the page. Morghus really outdid himself there.
But that's what I as a user like a lot. Artists will no doubt appreciate the mass-uploader that makes getting your entire gallery over to SF very easy and straightforward, heck even our normal uploader is a single form with no extra steps needed. Or other things like the ability to not only have folders, but to subscribe to them and get notified of new stuff, which is awesome for comics and novels alike.
SoFurry has a lot of unique features, but I don't think any single feature makes the deal, it's the sum of all things together. And as for secret aces, well they wouldn't be secret then, would they? Suffice to say that we have several new things coming up for both artists and writers that I'm really excited about, and we'll probably post teaser screenshots as early as next month. One other thing I can mention is that there's probably a reason why we offer artists a "printable file" upload...
Rakuen: The mass-uploader works from the artists local files or will that allow them to import galleries if they want to move to SoFurry from Inkbunny or DeviantArt?
This isn't really the place for complaints but one thing that bothered me on the beta has come up in your answer. The SoFurry HD view looks very impressive but there doesn't appear to be any way to save the image from the viewer, requiring a user to leave the HD viewer and download the file. Not only would that allow them to use their own viewer but saving images on SoFurry appears to be unnecessarily complicated when compared to the "right-click," "save image as" behaviour on other sites.
[There was an 18 minute break in the questions as Toumal added the ability to right-click save images while in SoFurry HD mode!]
Toumal: The mass uploader works by uploading a zipfile that contains all your art, and then quickly filling out the remaining information on a single page. We're in talks with Inkbunny about offering users the means to synchronize their galleries in both directions between the two sites, but that's for the future.
Saving full-sized images on SoFurry is actually very easy: You can right click on the preview image and select "save link as", this will work just fine. There's also a Download button that you can right click and save as. Furthermore we will offer the option to always show the fullsize image instead of the preview very soon. But right now there's not just one but two ways to save images.
Oh by the way, I've just added that option. You can now set it the way you like it best. :)
Rakuen: To be more specific about the issue, right-click saving gives you an image with the name, "preview" but no information on the title or artist. [Between conducting and publishing the interview, previews were updated to include artist and title.]
Toumal: Good point - that's true, the preview handler doesn't send title data.
Rakuen: And in HD it gives a number.
Toumal: Alas, there's a download link as I said.
And, if you set the image to be shown in full in your settings, (to be deployed soon) then you can save-as on the image as well. Why would you download a lower-res preview?
Rakuen: Perhaps if the preview is already big enough and to save space. I know about the download link but it seems unnecessarily complicated. This isn't really the time for that sort of discussion though.
SoFurry and SoFurry 2.0 beta have been much more successful than Yiffstar was at drawing new users. That seems to speak well about your decision to re-brand but there are still many furs with negative impressions of the site. Are you working to try and change their opinions or focussing on newer furs? And how do you think you can draw them in when some of the biggest names in the furry fandom are using other sites for their artwork?
Toumal: I agree, Yiffstar was limiting us by the sheer name alone. Now we've grown more in a single year than in the 8 years of Yiffstar. And I guess it's only fair to say that there are many furs with negative impressions about just about any site out there. We're doing our best to learn from the experiences with Yiffstar and SoFurry 1.0, what worked and what didn't. We're already regaining a lot of users who lost interest in the past years, as well as attracting a lot of new talent, as you can see on the frontpage.
We already have lots of well-known artists and writers, names like KyellGold, ReptileCynrik, Tereus, Todex... And hopefully many more will follow and discover SoFurry 2.0 for themselves. But we can only offer a good service, it's up to the artists and writers to decide to trust us and call us their home.
There's a lot of misconceptions out there. Some people think SoFurry is just a story site - and it's true that our writing facilities are designed to make stories more than just little thumbnails that happen to link to a bit of text - but people who believe all furry art can be found on one single site are missing out on a good amount of sofurry-exclusive artwork they won't find anywhere else.
The number of writers and artists who have chosen to make SoFurry their main outlet of creativity has grown considerably in the recent past. I believe as more and more people discover 2.0 and see that it's indeed more than just a fancy new skin, this trend will only accelerate and our growth curve already reflects this. And frankly, if SoFurry doesn't become the number one, you know what? My team and I will still enjoy doing this.
Rakuen: I can't say I've heard of all those people, although Kyell Gold is well known. I take it the others are also on the writing side of things?
Toumal: No they're artists, and pretty damn good ones at that. An example for artists coming back due to SF 2.0 is Stormdragonblue for example.
Of course I'd love to have folks like Zen post on SoFurry as well... time will tell!
I'm proud to see Redrusker using SoFurry as one of his mainstays now instead of just "another site."
Rakuen: I know Stormdragonblue's work. I'm watching him on DA and FA.
Now creating all of this is obviously a lot of hard work and something you haven't done alone. At my last count you had slightly more than 25 staff members working at various tasks. Despite all these people we seldom hear anything about internal disputes and I'm only aware of one example. How have you managed to keep SoFurry running smoothly through all it's various changes?
Toumal: Being able to work with the team we have is probably the most awesome thing about running and developing SoFurry. We have a big spectrum of contributors, people from all over the globe, be that the US, Europe or even New Zealand. And all our current team members respect each other and, while there's often different views about how things could be done best, the trick is to never take things personally, and to be able to listen. Of course things are not always happy-go-lucky, there's the occasional policy change that some are happier about than others. In the end it's important to realize that one can never please everyone, but there's always middle ground to be reached.
There's a great talk on GoogleIO called "How To Protect Your Open Source Project From Poisonous People" by Ben Collins-Sussman and Brian W. Fitzpatrick, which you can easily find on Youtube. That one has also been a big inspiration and help for me personally when faced with tough decisions.
Rakuen: Lastly, are there any comments you would like to add about SoFurry 2.0 that we have not covered?
Toumal: Go give https://www.SoFurry.com a try if you haven't yet. We're listening to feedback and acting upon it, so let us know if there's something you think we could improve.
Oh and if you attend Eurofurence 2012 then give us a poke there if you like!
Rakuen: Alright then. Thank you for giving me some of your, obviously precious, time and being so understanding with all the delays and problems. I look forward to seeing what SoFurry offers in the future.
Toumal: Thanks for the interview - and I'll look into improving the preview download thingy for you :)
When the original SoFurry launched at the end of 2009 there was a certain amount of displeasure with the new site. Despite this, the user count more than doubled, and by June 2011 SoFurry had over 150 000 users. Staff then launched the SoFurry 2.0 beta, an attempt to completely redo SoFurry, improving the code and addressing user complaints.
During the seven-month beta period, there were regular bug fixes (and a public list of upcoming features). This wasn't limited to submitted bugs; SoFurry owner Toumal also responded to criticisms about the site, for example on Chipotle's review of furry story sites. The project was not without problems, however, and the site at one point seemed to face copyright challenges concerning part of it's code, namely for the chat feature.
The team worked hard and on 23 January, after about three days of down time, SoFurry was reborn. I took the time to ask Toumal a few questions regarding its development and future.
Rakuen: So first off it's great you're willing to do this but it is a bit disappointing this has to be done over gtalk instead of the SoFurry chat. It's a big feature that you didn't have active when you launched SoFurry 2.0. What's the status over there?
Toumal: Heh, the status is that we've fixed many of the showstopper bugs in the new chat, I'm currently implementing the mini-profiles and implement the user status changes into the userlist of the chat, while my colleagues are working on friend-messaging, private chats and the chat design. We've selected a group of chat testers and they will help us stress-test the new chat. I can't tell dates yet because we are also busy responding to user feedback about the 2.0 launch, fixing bugs, implementing improvements etc. - more than 110 individual bugfixes in less than 5 days. We'll get there!
Rakuen: That certainly sounds impressive, although I don't have any programming experience to really give me an idea of how fast these things usually move. Just going by the number of bug fixes I'm assuming that is a pretty sizable investment of your time, even with a large coding team, and all done on your own time too. Looking back at SoFurry 1 and what you have now, do you think the all the extra coding has been worth it or do you think it might've been better to simply adjust SoFurry 1?
Toumal: SoFurry 1 was based on the same code as Yiffstar, which I coded back in 2002. Sure, we could've patched up the old site. But when we sat down planning SF 2.0 we weighted the pros and cons, evaluated possible frameworks and libraries, and ultimately came to use a very powerful library that strikes just the right balance of included functionality and the freedom to really do what we want. To give you an idea what I mean: Coding the ad management module in SF 1 took a week. The same feature, with much better functionality, in SF 2.0, allowing advertisers to manage their own ads as they please, took a single day. We rewrote the search from scratch in one-and-a-half days in SF 2.0, a task that would've taken at least a week on SF 1, considering you'd have to integrate it with an older codebase.
We didn't just want a new design. We wanted to be able to be more efficient, achieve more with less lines of code. Yes it was worth it, and then some. It might've taken a bit longer to get started, but the speed at which we're moving would not be possible with the old grown codebase which is now almost 10 years old. Mind you, the new site is also pretty darn fast, something we always had issues with on SF 1.
Now that we have a good codebase, we can start doing the really fun things, like work on additional designs. Some people asked for a Yiffstar-like theme, and we might just do something like that ;)
Rakuen: So a commitment of that level means that we won't be seeing a SoFurry 3.0 any time soon? I ask because there was a lot of hype over SoFurry but you have now ditched that for SoFurry 2.0 after it wasn't all that well received. There are people know that prefer SoFurry 1 over SoFurry 2.0 and I believe in the SoFurry 1 period you more than doubled the number of users. Any complaints will be addressed in SoFurry 2.0 rather than a full rewrite?
Toumal: Well, SF 1 was operating for over 2 years. Some spring cleaning every now and then is a healthy thing, no? That said, I expect SoFurry 2 to be our mainstay for much longer. Another full rewrite isn't likely in the next couple of years. It's much easier now to change, update or upgrade entire areas of the site thanks to the modular structure. So yes, we're committed to improving 2.0, and the coming months will be pretty exciting.
Rakuen: Spring cleaning every now and then doesn't really fit with Yiffstar's almost seven years. Since you're going to be sticking with SoFurry 2.0, is it really helpful leaving up the old UI of SoFurry 1 as an alternative? You say it's temporary but there have already been a number of months with both interfaces and the old UI doesn't support all the features. Shouldn't you know be forcing people to adjust now rather than drawing out any migration issues? And do you know how much of the site traffic goes through each UI?
Toumal: Before the switch-over to SoFurry 2.0 it was 20% on 2.0, 80% on SF 1. Now it's the other way around: 80% of our users use the SF 2.0 site, 20% are sticking to SF 1 - but that percentage is dwindling pretty fast. We get a lot more page hits in general than we did before the switch-over so that is another factor in favor of the new site.
We're letting SF 1 run for a period of time because we want to offer our users more design and color choices before we pull the plug on SF 1 - and right now SF 1 doesn't cause much in terms of data migration issues. Both sites use the same data, there are only few exceptions like the notifications that are separate between SF 1 and SF 2.0. And as for our users, well those who don't want to switch yet will certainly appreciate having more style choices when they have to move over. Indeed my main concern about leaving SF 1 up was performance, but since the heavy lifting is now done by the much faster SF 2.0 site, we can live with SF 1 for a while longer.
Oh and there's another reason why SF 1 is still up: The SoFurry Android App, Live Wallpaper and third party apps like ArtSync! Our API for SF 2.0 is currently being worked on, in fact just today I had a chat about the details of the new API with Rangarig, one of our Android coders. Turning off SF 1.0 now would mean thousands of android phones won't get new PM notifications and fresh furry wallpapers every few hours.
Rakuen: As I mentioned the old UI does not support all the features that are available and there are many of them. There are the standard gallery options and you've also now got a groups system, tag filtering, hierarchical search and, as you've said, even two Android apps. Which of all these features would you say is the best, either your personal favourite or perhaps one you think functions as SoFurry's secret ace?
Toumal: All of the features you mentioned are actually SF 1 features. On SF 2.0 I'd say SoFurry HD is one of my favorite features. Instead of showing huge images with scrollbars or letting the browser crunch them we have this googlemaps-esque viewer where you can smoothly zoom in to fine details, and you can even use the arrow keys to scroll through that artist's gallery without having to leave the page. Morghus really outdid himself there.
But that's what I as a user like a lot. Artists will no doubt appreciate the mass-uploader that makes getting your entire gallery over to SF very easy and straightforward, heck even our normal uploader is a single form with no extra steps needed. Or other things like the ability to not only have folders, but to subscribe to them and get notified of new stuff, which is awesome for comics and novels alike.
SoFurry has a lot of unique features, but I don't think any single feature makes the deal, it's the sum of all things together. And as for secret aces, well they wouldn't be secret then, would they? Suffice to say that we have several new things coming up for both artists and writers that I'm really excited about, and we'll probably post teaser screenshots as early as next month. One other thing I can mention is that there's probably a reason why we offer artists a "printable file" upload...
Rakuen: The mass-uploader works from the artists local files or will that allow them to import galleries if they want to move to SoFurry from Inkbunny or DeviantArt?
This isn't really the place for complaints but one thing that bothered me on the beta has come up in your answer. The SoFurry HD view looks very impressive but there doesn't appear to be any way to save the image from the viewer, requiring a user to leave the HD viewer and download the file. Not only would that allow them to use their own viewer but saving images on SoFurry appears to be unnecessarily complicated when compared to the "right-click," "save image as" behaviour on other sites.
[There was an 18 minute break in the questions as Toumal added the ability to right-click save images while in SoFurry HD mode!]
Toumal: The mass uploader works by uploading a zipfile that contains all your art, and then quickly filling out the remaining information on a single page. We're in talks with Inkbunny about offering users the means to synchronize their galleries in both directions between the two sites, but that's for the future.
Saving full-sized images on SoFurry is actually very easy: You can right click on the preview image and select "save link as", this will work just fine. There's also a Download button that you can right click and save as. Furthermore we will offer the option to always show the fullsize image instead of the preview very soon. But right now there's not just one but two ways to save images.
Oh by the way, I've just added that option. You can now set it the way you like it best. :)
Rakuen: To be more specific about the issue, right-click saving gives you an image with the name, "preview" but no information on the title or artist. [Between conducting and publishing the interview, previews were updated to include artist and title.]
Toumal: Good point - that's true, the preview handler doesn't send title data.
Rakuen: And in HD it gives a number.
Toumal: Alas, there's a download link as I said.
And, if you set the image to be shown in full in your settings, (to be deployed soon) then you can save-as on the image as well. Why would you download a lower-res preview?
Rakuen: Perhaps if the preview is already big enough and to save space. I know about the download link but it seems unnecessarily complicated. This isn't really the time for that sort of discussion though.
SoFurry and SoFurry 2.0 beta have been much more successful than Yiffstar was at drawing new users. That seems to speak well about your decision to re-brand but there are still many furs with negative impressions of the site. Are you working to try and change their opinions or focussing on newer furs? And how do you think you can draw them in when some of the biggest names in the furry fandom are using other sites for their artwork?
Toumal: I agree, Yiffstar was limiting us by the sheer name alone. Now we've grown more in a single year than in the 8 years of Yiffstar. And I guess it's only fair to say that there are many furs with negative impressions about just about any site out there. We're doing our best to learn from the experiences with Yiffstar and SoFurry 1.0, what worked and what didn't. We're already regaining a lot of users who lost interest in the past years, as well as attracting a lot of new talent, as you can see on the frontpage.
We already have lots of well-known artists and writers, names like KyellGold, ReptileCynrik, Tereus, Todex... And hopefully many more will follow and discover SoFurry 2.0 for themselves. But we can only offer a good service, it's up to the artists and writers to decide to trust us and call us their home.
There's a lot of misconceptions out there. Some people think SoFurry is just a story site - and it's true that our writing facilities are designed to make stories more than just little thumbnails that happen to link to a bit of text - but people who believe all furry art can be found on one single site are missing out on a good amount of sofurry-exclusive artwork they won't find anywhere else.
The number of writers and artists who have chosen to make SoFurry their main outlet of creativity has grown considerably in the recent past. I believe as more and more people discover 2.0 and see that it's indeed more than just a fancy new skin, this trend will only accelerate and our growth curve already reflects this. And frankly, if SoFurry doesn't become the number one, you know what? My team and I will still enjoy doing this.
Rakuen: I can't say I've heard of all those people, although Kyell Gold is well known. I take it the others are also on the writing side of things?
Toumal: No they're artists, and pretty damn good ones at that. An example for artists coming back due to SF 2.0 is Stormdragonblue for example.
Of course I'd love to have folks like Zen post on SoFurry as well... time will tell!
I'm proud to see Redrusker using SoFurry as one of his mainstays now instead of just "another site."
Rakuen: I know Stormdragonblue's work. I'm watching him on DA and FA.
Now creating all of this is obviously a lot of hard work and something you haven't done alone. At my last count you had slightly more than 25 staff members working at various tasks. Despite all these people we seldom hear anything about internal disputes and I'm only aware of one example. How have you managed to keep SoFurry running smoothly through all it's various changes?
Toumal: Being able to work with the team we have is probably the most awesome thing about running and developing SoFurry. We have a big spectrum of contributors, people from all over the globe, be that the US, Europe or even New Zealand. And all our current team members respect each other and, while there's often different views about how things could be done best, the trick is to never take things personally, and to be able to listen. Of course things are not always happy-go-lucky, there's the occasional policy change that some are happier about than others. In the end it's important to realize that one can never please everyone, but there's always middle ground to be reached.
There's a great talk on GoogleIO called "How To Protect Your Open Source Project From Poisonous People" by Ben Collins-Sussman and Brian W. Fitzpatrick, which you can easily find on Youtube. That one has also been a big inspiration and help for me personally when faced with tough decisions.
Rakuen: Lastly, are there any comments you would like to add about SoFurry 2.0 that we have not covered?
Toumal: Go give https://www.SoFurry.com a try if you haven't yet. We're listening to feedback and acting upon it, so let us know if there's something you think we could improve.
Oh and if you attend Eurofurence 2012 then give us a poke there if you like!
Rakuen: Alright then. Thank you for giving me some of your, obviously precious, time and being so understanding with all the delays and problems. I look forward to seeing what SoFurry offers in the future.
Toumal: Thanks for the interview - and I'll look into improving the preview download thingy for you :)
All quiet on the internet front
General | Posted 14 years agoJust kidding. The internet is never quiet. I've been slightly quiet though. Most of my old stories have been uploaded so it's just Inkbunny that needs stuff still. However I also now have a job and it takes up quite a bit of time and energy. I've also started a blog (but not a furry one and not one I'll be sharing here) which also takes up time and energy. Pretty much this means I will probably not be posting too much for a while. I'm still around though.
SoFurry will soon be upgrading to SoFurry 2.0! I'm really looking forward to that. Speaking of the different sites though my watchers now stand at...
SF: 258
FA: 253
IB: 50
Come on, FA. You're a bigger site, why have given me so few watchers?
And yay for the beginning of SOPA's demise. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/web-protests-piracy-bill-and-2-key-senators-change-course.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
SoFurry will soon be upgrading to SoFurry 2.0! I'm really looking forward to that. Speaking of the different sites though my watchers now stand at...
SF: 258
FA: 253
IB: 50
Come on, FA. You're a bigger site, why have given me so few watchers?
And yay for the beginning of SOPA's demise. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/web-protests-piracy-bill-and-2-key-senators-change-course.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Time for 2012 and a new story
General | Posted 14 years agoWell it's the new year so I have internet again and am busily trying to catch up with everything I missed over the past week. Aside from internet issues things have been pretty cool and I had a rather enjoyable Christmas and New Year. On that note, happy new years and merry Christmas to all my watchers! Hopefully I'll get my act together and start producing some new stories or art soon but in the meantime I still have old stuff that needs to be archived or spread over my active sites.
Speaking of those stories I have posted Comfort Me (and 15:30) on SoFurry. It has more under-age human on pokemon so isn't allowed on either FA or IB. You can read it here: http://beta.sofurry.com/view/322408
Although when the beta site disappears, soon I believe, the link will probably stop working.
Speaking of those stories I have posted Comfort Me (and 15:30) on SoFurry. It has more under-age human on pokemon so isn't allowed on either FA or IB. You can read it here: http://beta.sofurry.com/view/322408
Although when the beta site disappears, soon I believe, the link will probably stop working.
No internet for the rest of the year...
General | Posted 14 years agoLike the title says I no longer have internet because certain people can't do the considerate thing and wait till the end if the month before doing unnecessary updates. So now the international cap had been reached and I can only browse local sites, which is essentially pointless as the only local thing is the news. and a few days of not going online means I'll have hundreds of submissions and blog posts to catch up on and probably miss out on any interesting discussions. Till the end of the year life sucks.
Skyrim help
General | Posted 14 years agoSince everyone seems to have played it I should be able to get an answer from someone who watches me. I dual-wield swords and knives, partially for attack and partially cause it just seems cool. Now the best way to get more damage is obviously to upgrade them with smithing but that's where I run into a problem. Every time I upgrade a weapon it stops working correctly in my inventory.
Normally:
>steel sword x2
and if i try to dual wield it.
>[L,R]steel sword x2
After I upgrade:
It displays normally at first.
>steel sword (fine) x2
But as soon as I equip one the items separate.
>[L]steel sword (fine)
>steel sword (fine)
And I have to manually equip the second version because the quick-button doesn't apply to the second entry. Once I unequip them they go back to being a single item.
Has anyone heard of this happening before or is it just something wrong on my end? And if you have heard of it, how do you fix it? At the moment I will either have to manually click and equip every time I dual-wield or just not upgrade those weapons (the route I'm currently going).
Might not be related but sometimes when I use quick-buttons to equip magic the quick-buttons for one of my melee weapons will get unassigned, but that doesn't always happen.
Normally:
>steel sword x2
and if i try to dual wield it.
>[L,R]steel sword x2
After I upgrade:
It displays normally at first.
>steel sword (fine) x2
But as soon as I equip one the items separate.
>[L]steel sword (fine)
>steel sword (fine)
And I have to manually equip the second version because the quick-button doesn't apply to the second entry. Once I unequip them they go back to being a single item.
Has anyone heard of this happening before or is it just something wrong on my end? And if you have heard of it, how do you fix it? At the moment I will either have to manually click and equip every time I dual-wield or just not upgrade those weapons (the route I'm currently going).
Might not be related but sometimes when I use quick-buttons to equip magic the quick-buttons for one of my melee weapons will get unassigned, but that doesn't always happen.
The End of Heartache
General | Posted 14 years agoIs the title of a story of mine. It should be posted today (as that's the schedule) but unfortunately it has human and pokemon sex so can't be published on Inkbunny and under-age human on pokemon sex so it can't be published on Furaffinity. Luckily you can still read it on SoFurry where it's been since 2007. Although the AGNPH date was in 2006 this story means we've now left the year 2006 and are on my very slightly newer work.
http://beta.sofurry.com/view/18269
http://beta.sofurry.com/view/18269
Corvids reveal highly-developed communication abilities
General | Posted 14 years agoOriginally posted on Flayrah: http://www.flayrah.com/3753/corvids-reveal-highly-developed-communication-abilities
When people think of the most intelligent animals other than humans, the first contenders are the dolphins and great apes. A less-obvious one may be birds of the family Corvidae, containing both crows and ravens. This was suggested when researchers at Oxford found crows are able to make specific tools, a feat never before seen in other animals.
More recently, ravens have been shown to direct other individuals' attention through gestural communication; the first time this has been seen outside of the primates. In primates, such gestures are rarely seen in the wild. Why wild ravens show this behaviour more commonly is unknown, but it is thought by some to be the foundation of language.
Other examples of animal intelligence include gorillas that can communicate in sign language, dolphins using tools and having cultural elements and elephants co-operating to solve physics puzzles. Animals even suffer the same psychological effects as humans, as shown with the 5% of American military dogs suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Altogether, this suggests that many animals may be far more intelligent than they are often given credit for.
When people think of the most intelligent animals other than humans, the first contenders are the dolphins and great apes. A less-obvious one may be birds of the family Corvidae, containing both crows and ravens. This was suggested when researchers at Oxford found crows are able to make specific tools, a feat never before seen in other animals.
More recently, ravens have been shown to direct other individuals' attention through gestural communication; the first time this has been seen outside of the primates. In primates, such gestures are rarely seen in the wild. Why wild ravens show this behaviour more commonly is unknown, but it is thought by some to be the foundation of language.
Other examples of animal intelligence include gorillas that can communicate in sign language, dolphins using tools and having cultural elements and elephants co-operating to solve physics puzzles. Animals even suffer the same psychological effects as humans, as shown with the 5% of American military dogs suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Altogether, this suggests that many animals may be far more intelligent than they are often given credit for.
It's All in the Family
General | Posted 14 years agoI've reposted an old story about incestuous vulpix cubs but obviously it can't be posted here. I recommend getting it off SoFurry: http://beta.sofurry.com/view/311466
Review: 'Dominion'
General | Posted 14 years agoOriginally posted on Flayrah: http://www.flayrah.com/3745/review-dominion-power-man-suffering-animals-and-call-mercy
Matthew Scully is an unusual proponent of animal rights, coming from the Christian-favoured, Republican party of the U.S. and speaks about people automatically assuming he is on the side of hunters and pig 'farmers' when, in fact, he has been a vegetarian for over 30 years. While he does support animal rights, he still makes that stand from a generally religious perspective, arguing that current treatment of animals is an abuse of god-given dominion, and disagreeing with the secular reasoning of animal rights proponents such as Peter Singer.
Scully's ability is shown when coming to the main thrust of his book, where he writes about animals, how they are treated and how they should be treated. He is an excellent writer (a speechwriter for former president George W. Bush), and a dutiful investigator, travelling to most of the places about which he writes.
These places are a trip to some of the darkest places in our moral landscape, beginning at Safari Club International, an organisation of hunters given tax-free status, through an international whaling convention in Australia, and back to the USA. He travels inside the horrific world of intensive pig farming, where pigs may never feel mud or straw, be permanently immobile in a cage, go untreated for tumours or broken limbs as long as they are fertile, and where some are killed by immersion in boiling water – still fully conscious.
When Scully speaks of religious reasons to protect animals, he loses a lot of his flair. This also happens in his later attempt to ground animal rights in the antiquated idea of natural law, avoiding secular philosophy. It is perhaps his lowest point, as it amounts to little more than the fallacious appeal to tradition, and it comes near the end of the book, after his early foray in theology has been thankfully forgotten.
That doesn't mean that Scully is uncritical of religion. He complains specifically about the Catholic church's doctrines being too fuzzy on animal issues, leaving them open to interpretation in almost any manner. His views were obviously not taken to heart, as theologian William Lane Craig still has no problem declaring:
"Thus, amazingly, even though animals may experience pain, they are not aware of being in pain. God in His mercy has apparently spared animals the awareness of pain. This is a tremendous comfort to us pet owners. For even though your dog or cat may be in pain, it really isn't aware of it and so doesn't suffer as you would if you were in pain."
Along the way, Scully has some more-intellectual asides. At one point he touches on animal consciousness, and points out the myriad flaws in the reasoning of those who claim there is none. He spends a fair amount of time criticising Peter Singer (who ironically gives the book a good review), mainly from the position that Singer's controversial views on other topics – infanticide and euthanasia for example – turn off the majority of people from animal rights. However he never commits to religious reasons either, and seems to wobble back and forth without coming to solid conclusions, wanting to reduce animal suffering but unwilling to draw a line beyond which things become impermissible.
Despite his lack of a serious ethical foundation, Scully is more than capable of getting his message across, even if he often resorts to emotional appeals. The questions he asks – such as whether you believe the ease or taste of meat outweighs the suffering of the animals that provide it; whether you are willing to treat animals as mere commodities to be bought and sold; and why you would eat a pig, a cow or a chicken, but not a cat, a dog or a whale – should be seriously considered by anyone who has anything to do with animals.
In an interview about the book, Scully said something that expresses why this book is worth reading for anyone who cares:
"It's also worth recalling that people can agree on the same objectives for different reasons: A secular philosopher like Peter Singer can oppose factory farming because it's unethical by his theories of justice. An environmentalist can oppose factory farming because it's reckless stewardship. A conservative can oppose factory farming because it is destructive to small farmers and to the decent ethic of husbandry those farmers live by. A religious person can oppose factory farming because it is degrading to both man and animal — an offense to God. The point is to end the cruelty. And we shouldn't let secondary differences interfere with primary obligations."
While I do disagree with a number of minor points, I find myself horrified by his findings and fully supportive of his conclusions. Indeed, after reading Dominion, I was forced to become a vegetarian in order to maintain any semblance of philosophical consistency.
Matthew Scully is an unusual proponent of animal rights, coming from the Christian-favoured, Republican party of the U.S. and speaks about people automatically assuming he is on the side of hunters and pig 'farmers' when, in fact, he has been a vegetarian for over 30 years. While he does support animal rights, he still makes that stand from a generally religious perspective, arguing that current treatment of animals is an abuse of god-given dominion, and disagreeing with the secular reasoning of animal rights proponents such as Peter Singer.
Scully's ability is shown when coming to the main thrust of his book, where he writes about animals, how they are treated and how they should be treated. He is an excellent writer (a speechwriter for former president George W. Bush), and a dutiful investigator, travelling to most of the places about which he writes.
These places are a trip to some of the darkest places in our moral landscape, beginning at Safari Club International, an organisation of hunters given tax-free status, through an international whaling convention in Australia, and back to the USA. He travels inside the horrific world of intensive pig farming, where pigs may never feel mud or straw, be permanently immobile in a cage, go untreated for tumours or broken limbs as long as they are fertile, and where some are killed by immersion in boiling water – still fully conscious.
When Scully speaks of religious reasons to protect animals, he loses a lot of his flair. This also happens in his later attempt to ground animal rights in the antiquated idea of natural law, avoiding secular philosophy. It is perhaps his lowest point, as it amounts to little more than the fallacious appeal to tradition, and it comes near the end of the book, after his early foray in theology has been thankfully forgotten.
That doesn't mean that Scully is uncritical of religion. He complains specifically about the Catholic church's doctrines being too fuzzy on animal issues, leaving them open to interpretation in almost any manner. His views were obviously not taken to heart, as theologian William Lane Craig still has no problem declaring:
"Thus, amazingly, even though animals may experience pain, they are not aware of being in pain. God in His mercy has apparently spared animals the awareness of pain. This is a tremendous comfort to us pet owners. For even though your dog or cat may be in pain, it really isn't aware of it and so doesn't suffer as you would if you were in pain."
Along the way, Scully has some more-intellectual asides. At one point he touches on animal consciousness, and points out the myriad flaws in the reasoning of those who claim there is none. He spends a fair amount of time criticising Peter Singer (who ironically gives the book a good review), mainly from the position that Singer's controversial views on other topics – infanticide and euthanasia for example – turn off the majority of people from animal rights. However he never commits to religious reasons either, and seems to wobble back and forth without coming to solid conclusions, wanting to reduce animal suffering but unwilling to draw a line beyond which things become impermissible.
Despite his lack of a serious ethical foundation, Scully is more than capable of getting his message across, even if he often resorts to emotional appeals. The questions he asks – such as whether you believe the ease or taste of meat outweighs the suffering of the animals that provide it; whether you are willing to treat animals as mere commodities to be bought and sold; and why you would eat a pig, a cow or a chicken, but not a cat, a dog or a whale – should be seriously considered by anyone who has anything to do with animals.
In an interview about the book, Scully said something that expresses why this book is worth reading for anyone who cares:
"It's also worth recalling that people can agree on the same objectives for different reasons: A secular philosopher like Peter Singer can oppose factory farming because it's unethical by his theories of justice. An environmentalist can oppose factory farming because it's reckless stewardship. A conservative can oppose factory farming because it is destructive to small farmers and to the decent ethic of husbandry those farmers live by. A religious person can oppose factory farming because it is degrading to both man and animal — an offense to God. The point is to end the cruelty. And we shouldn't let secondary differences interfere with primary obligations."
While I do disagree with a number of minor points, I find myself horrified by his findings and fully supportive of his conclusions. Indeed, after reading Dominion, I was forced to become a vegetarian in order to maintain any semblance of philosophical consistency.
Summing up the Furocity drama
General | Posted 14 years agoDragoneer has pretty much pretended nothing happened on the main site and given some updates to distract people, if they even knew. Daemonshyai seems to be back and has explained what happened in his journal (http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2918238/). Short version is that he had no power when his accounts were hacked (Furocity and gmail) and it took him forever to get control of everything again. So Furocity will still remain up. As far as I can tell this has no effect on the earlier admin resignations.
New Low for FA
General | Posted 14 years agoYou remember that little FA-Furocity merger that was meant to improve FA? Well that's fallen through. Six FA admins have resigned in the last week.
http://www.flayrah.com/3720/five-fu.....rship-failures
Not only that but the leader of Furocity (and meant to be co-head of FA) has pretty much said he is so jaded with FA that he is leaving the fandom and closing down Furocity.
http://beta.sofurry.com/forum/view/.....um_post_504538
Edit: The comment by Daemonshyai may be someone impersonating him and hacking Furocity. That's mentioned in the SoFurry thread that I linked but I don't know anywhere particularly reliable that can provide new information.
http://www.flayrah.com/3720/five-fu.....rship-failures
Not only that but the leader of Furocity (and meant to be co-head of FA) has pretty much said he is so jaded with FA that he is leaving the fandom and closing down Furocity.
http://beta.sofurry.com/forum/view/.....um_post_504538
Edit: The comment by Daemonshyai may be someone impersonating him and hacking Furocity. That's mentioned in the SoFurry thread that I linked but I don't know anywhere particularly reliable that can provide new information.
Updates
General | Posted 14 years agoI'm certainly not the most active poster of art and stories around but that might change soon, albeit temporarily. If you remember I was annoyed with AGNPH for a long time and finally decided to leave when they redid the site. They're also changing the story section to something that looked like an ugly forum last I checked so I'm pretty much over that for good.
On the plus side that means I'll be looking for all my old art/stories and reposting it on my current active sites. This means I'll be able to keep a steady flow for a bit, even if it's old stuff. Then again unless you were on AGNPH you probably haven't read all my old stuff so it might as well be new. As a warning though it will not be of as good a quality. I'll probably release from oldest to newest so you can see the changes I made. Lastly on that topic not everything will be on all sites. For example Inkbunny has the stupid no human rule so it'll probably get very few new uploads. FA has the dumb no cub rule so it won't get my popular vulpix story.
Also I've updated my profile page.
On the plus side that means I'll be looking for all my old art/stories and reposting it on my current active sites. This means I'll be able to keep a steady flow for a bit, even if it's old stuff. Then again unless you were on AGNPH you probably haven't read all my old stuff so it might as well be new. As a warning though it will not be of as good a quality. I'll probably release from oldest to newest so you can see the changes I made. Lastly on that topic not everything will be on all sites. For example Inkbunny has the stupid no human rule so it'll probably get very few new uploads. FA has the dumb no cub rule so it won't get my popular vulpix story.
Also I've updated my profile page.
Bragging
General | Posted 14 years agoMy aunt was recently in England and got me Richard Dawkins' new book, The Magic of Reality, which was released there on 15 September I believe. In any case, I have it now and it'll only be released in the US on 4 October. Hahaha!
New AGNPH... meh
General | Posted 14 years agoShould I care? I remember being upset when I had my story removed but now I struggle to feel anything for the site. It's not that I don't like pokemon any more but I think the site is now better in my memories. I was there for five years and it just sucks to see how to fell apart. I guess it went downhill after Doc left, and then even more when PsychoCharmander went too. Now most of the admins are people I've barely heard about who've only been on the site for a short while, shorter than me anyway if I remember.
They've changed the site address, to something stupid, and all the sections are running different software so everything just looks disjointed. Not to mention the gallery and forums have been wiped clean so there goes all that history. Since the story section still exists I guess I'll hang around there a bit but the site has changed so much since I joined, and not in ways that I think were good.
I think it's time for me and AGNPH to, mostly, say goodbye. I doubt too many people there will miss me, even though I made some friends while I was there. I think I'm still in the top 3 most prolific writers there but my other records got lost. Oh well. Time to move on.
They've changed the site address, to something stupid, and all the sections are running different software so everything just looks disjointed. Not to mention the gallery and forums have been wiped clean so there goes all that history. Since the story section still exists I guess I'll hang around there a bit but the site has changed so much since I joined, and not in ways that I think were good.
I think it's time for me and AGNPH to, mostly, say goodbye. I doubt too many people there will miss me, even though I made some friends while I was there. I think I'm still in the top 3 most prolific writers there but my other records got lost. Oh well. Time to move on.
Warm Feeling of Recognition
General | Posted 14 years agoSubmitting stuff online can be weird. Sometimes you get lots of feedback and other times you get almost nothing. I've got a bunch of watchers on both FA and SoFurry, and a few on some other sites, but most are silent. Sometimes I wonder if anyone cares about what I do or whether I'm good enough for more than a tiny group to care about.
I got all excited then when I found one of my pictures had made it onto Fchan. It's my breathplay pic, 'Just Let me Breathe'. That must mean I've got some sort of standing at least.
http://fchan.us/ah/res/21321.html
Then just today
six~~ messages me and shows me this group.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HeyKidWannaYiff
They're using one of my pictures as an icon! So I was a bit, 'Should I complain about them not asking or just be happy people like my stuff enough to share?' I went with the happy option since they aren't pretending it's theirs. Though it would've been nicer if they linked to me... (Hint, hint, if you're the one who posted it.)
I got all excited then when I found one of my pictures had made it onto Fchan. It's my breathplay pic, 'Just Let me Breathe'. That must mean I've got some sort of standing at least.
http://fchan.us/ah/res/21321.html
Then just today
six~~ messages me and shows me this group.http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HeyKidWannaYiff
They're using one of my pictures as an icon! So I was a bit, 'Should I complain about them not asking or just be happy people like my stuff enough to share?' I went with the happy option since they aren't pretending it's theirs. Though it would've been nicer if they linked to me... (Hint, hint, if you're the one who posted it.)
Rakuen Reviews: Mass Effect 2
General | Posted 14 years agoI tried Mass Effect 2 a while back but stopped playing as it was almost impenetrable for someone who hadn't played Mass Effect. When I later ran out of games to play I gave it a second chance, pushing through the complete lack of context. That is the major flaw of the entire game. For one so dependant on its predecessor there should be at least a token attempt to explain what happened previously but this is not the case. Time and time again the game references your past activities without providing the slightest guidance.
As you progress though the knowledge gained in this version does fill in a number of gaps and you are at least able to follow what is going on. There's nothing wrong with the plot but the game play and its structure does have a couple of flaws. It has the annoying problem of being very linear while trying to look as though there is choice. Perhaps I'm too used to playing Fallout games but all the missions seem to be going towards a foregone conclusion with only a limited ability to change the outcome. This was most noticeable to me in Miranda's loyalty quest where I didn't want to help her yet that's what I was forced to do.
The characters were well-done and most, with the exceptions of Tali and Miranda, were likeable. The upgrades and powers were generally pretty decent, although in some cases seemed a bit pointless. I played as an infiltrator which gave me the ability to go invisible temporarily. Normally that would be great, but when the entire game is cover-based shooting in corridors and you don't get much more than one shot while cloaked it becomes pretty much pointless. It was useful once or twice for escaping and did allow me to reprogramme some engines when I would've normally been shot but most of the time I ignored it.
The cover-based shooting also led to another problem. The game was a bit repetitive. All the fights were essentially the same with no real variety. On the plus side the combat was fun enough that I didn't mind but I would've liked more in the way of variety. I also would've like characters that could actually jump and a different command for ducking and vaulting. There were a number of times that instead of ducking for cover I accidentally vaulted into enemy fire.
In short once you get past the lack of explanation it's a decent game. It would've been better if there was real choice available, more variety and the ability to skip the huge introduction scene.
As you progress though the knowledge gained in this version does fill in a number of gaps and you are at least able to follow what is going on. There's nothing wrong with the plot but the game play and its structure does have a couple of flaws. It has the annoying problem of being very linear while trying to look as though there is choice. Perhaps I'm too used to playing Fallout games but all the missions seem to be going towards a foregone conclusion with only a limited ability to change the outcome. This was most noticeable to me in Miranda's loyalty quest where I didn't want to help her yet that's what I was forced to do.
The characters were well-done and most, with the exceptions of Tali and Miranda, were likeable. The upgrades and powers were generally pretty decent, although in some cases seemed a bit pointless. I played as an infiltrator which gave me the ability to go invisible temporarily. Normally that would be great, but when the entire game is cover-based shooting in corridors and you don't get much more than one shot while cloaked it becomes pretty much pointless. It was useful once or twice for escaping and did allow me to reprogramme some engines when I would've normally been shot but most of the time I ignored it.
The cover-based shooting also led to another problem. The game was a bit repetitive. All the fights were essentially the same with no real variety. On the plus side the combat was fun enough that I didn't mind but I would've liked more in the way of variety. I also would've like characters that could actually jump and a different command for ducking and vaulting. There were a number of times that instead of ducking for cover I accidentally vaulted into enemy fire.
In short once you get past the lack of explanation it's a decent game. It would've been better if there was real choice available, more variety and the ability to skip the huge introduction scene.
My Little Pony
General | Posted 14 years agoTypically children's shows are not a springboard for epistemological discourse however I do want to comment on an episode of My Little Pony. (Yes, I've become a brony.)
In the episode 'Feeling Pinkie Keen' Twilight Sparkle has a problem with Pinkie Pie's pinkie sense. In summary when different parts of her body twitch it predicts certain future events. Twilight Sparkle is pretty much the only rational pony and finds it hard to accept this. She stalks Pinkie (not very well, mind you) and even straps her up to some weird monitoring equipment but is unable to explain the way Pinkie's power works.
The entire message of the episode is accepting things that you don't understand.
Pinkie Pie: Sometimes you have to believe in things even when you can't figure them out.
Twilight Sparkle: I will not believe in anything I can not explain.
And when Twilight writes her letter to the princess she says, "There are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them"
My main problem is with the way the message is presented in the episode. There are things that can't be explained that are true but the idea that you should just choose to believe, particularly things that predict the future like that, is not a good message. I'll be honest that I worry it comes across as pandering towards faith and bashing reason and rationality but I'm hoping it was just a poorly-executed episode. You shouldn't just choose to believe things but believe them because there is evidence that they are true, whether you understand it or not. This leads onto the next issue, the way Twilight handled the entire situation.
While I appreciate her attempt to rationally explain Pinkie's powers she was too focussed on whether she understood them instead of whether they were true. There are many things we know are true but can't fully explain but you know they work because there is evidence that they work. Pinkie's powers could be shown to be true if Twilight was less focussed on how they worked. Every time Pinkie predicted something it did happen. It wasn't a hit-and-miss affair but a consistently accurate power. Of course, as Pinkie pointed out, Twilight was unduly suspicious considering she posses magical powers herself and they are not uncommon in Equestria.
As I think about it I feel more as though the episode was not intending to discredit rationality but poorly set out. Either the wording was poor or it was intended to show Twilight's focus on the mechanism blinded her to whether the phenomenon was real or not. The best support for that is the episode 'Bridle Gossip', a much better episode, in my mind, where Twilight's rationality triumphed over the rest of the ponies' superstition of Zakora. Admittedly in that episode she also wound up at the wrong conclusion but in that case it was because the evidence at hand did point towards something more sinister. The warning there is that if you don't have the complete picture your conclusion could be far from the truth even when it's based on facts. That's why we must never cease questioning and buttressing our ideas with further evidence.
On a side note I hate how foreigners always say 'Zeebra.' It's zebra. A short sound; zeb-ra. Z = zed, not zee. I also dislike how they can't pronounce hooves. But, linguistic complaints aside, it's funny and I do enjoy it.
In the episode 'Feeling Pinkie Keen' Twilight Sparkle has a problem with Pinkie Pie's pinkie sense. In summary when different parts of her body twitch it predicts certain future events. Twilight Sparkle is pretty much the only rational pony and finds it hard to accept this. She stalks Pinkie (not very well, mind you) and even straps her up to some weird monitoring equipment but is unable to explain the way Pinkie's power works.
The entire message of the episode is accepting things that you don't understand.
Pinkie Pie: Sometimes you have to believe in things even when you can't figure them out.
Twilight Sparkle: I will not believe in anything I can not explain.
And when Twilight writes her letter to the princess she says, "There are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them"
My main problem is with the way the message is presented in the episode. There are things that can't be explained that are true but the idea that you should just choose to believe, particularly things that predict the future like that, is not a good message. I'll be honest that I worry it comes across as pandering towards faith and bashing reason and rationality but I'm hoping it was just a poorly-executed episode. You shouldn't just choose to believe things but believe them because there is evidence that they are true, whether you understand it or not. This leads onto the next issue, the way Twilight handled the entire situation.
While I appreciate her attempt to rationally explain Pinkie's powers she was too focussed on whether she understood them instead of whether they were true. There are many things we know are true but can't fully explain but you know they work because there is evidence that they work. Pinkie's powers could be shown to be true if Twilight was less focussed on how they worked. Every time Pinkie predicted something it did happen. It wasn't a hit-and-miss affair but a consistently accurate power. Of course, as Pinkie pointed out, Twilight was unduly suspicious considering she posses magical powers herself and they are not uncommon in Equestria.
As I think about it I feel more as though the episode was not intending to discredit rationality but poorly set out. Either the wording was poor or it was intended to show Twilight's focus on the mechanism blinded her to whether the phenomenon was real or not. The best support for that is the episode 'Bridle Gossip', a much better episode, in my mind, where Twilight's rationality triumphed over the rest of the ponies' superstition of Zakora. Admittedly in that episode she also wound up at the wrong conclusion but in that case it was because the evidence at hand did point towards something more sinister. The warning there is that if you don't have the complete picture your conclusion could be far from the truth even when it's based on facts. That's why we must never cease questioning and buttressing our ideas with further evidence.
On a side note I hate how foreigners always say 'Zeebra.' It's zebra. A short sound; zeb-ra. Z = zed, not zee. I also dislike how they can't pronounce hooves. But, linguistic complaints aside, it's funny and I do enjoy it.
Rakuen Reviews: The Animals of Fathing Wood
General | Posted 14 years ago(With links and a pic here: http://www.flayrah.com/3544/review-.....farthing-wood)
Though first published in 1979, The Animals of Farthing Wood played a fairly substantial part in my childhood. I didn't read the book, but I eagerly awaited the animated series to follow the animals' journey, supplemented by the episodic magazine released in tandem. In my early teens, I picked up an abridged version of some of the sequels, but it was only recently that I managed to obtain the original novel by Colin Dann.
The book chronicles the journey of the animals of Farthing Wood – driven from their home by its destruction to make space for human development – to the fabled White Deer Park, a nature reserve across the country. The animals realise that they need to stick together to make the trip, and take an oath to help and protect each other; vital when your party consists of such varied woodland critters as voles and mice, through an adder, to foxes and birds of prey. The party is led by Toad, who was captured by humans, escaped and made his way through White Deer Park back to Farthing Wood.
While the book is easy to read and clearly aimed at children, it does not hold back and try to coddle them from reality. Over the course of the journey it brings across the animal's sadness at losing their home and the fear that many human encounters leave in them. Not all of the characters make it, and at times you marvel at those who did, overcoming shotgun-toting farmers, fields laced in pesticide, busy highways and the feared fox hunt.
Right from the start there is a clear environmental subtext. The book is highly critical of human actions that lead to the destruction of the natural world without consideration for other living creatures. In perhaps the most conspicuous example, we find the animals discussing the opposing views of the hunter and the naturalist, and the possibility that even the ideals of the naturalist will only be maintained as long as it is comfortable to do so:
** For some reason Toad felt himself bound to defend the conception of Nature Reserves. 'I don't know why you bothered to join us,' he said in an aggrieved tone to Adder, 'if you have no faith in White Deer Park.'
'I didn't think my faith was in question,' the snake replied easily. 'The point I was making was what might occur if and when our human friends find they are short of land. I realize it's something that will only occur in the future. Nevertheless, you won't have to look far to find a good illustration of my point. The very reason we are here now is, in case you have forgotten, because land that was once left wild was seized, without compunction, by humans for their own purposes.' **
Perhaps my strongest criticism of the book would be the lack of characterisation. Of the multitude of characters, most of the lesser ones have no real personality. That said, the story moves quickly and I never found this to be a major drawback. While I bonded with few characters, I did want the group to finish their journey safely and was annoyed with those whose stupid or selfish actions occasionally put the others in danger.
Overall I found it an enjoyable book and would recommend it. If you want a compelling plot, though, you won't find it here. The story is very linear with only one branch of note. Though furries perhaps will not need it, and the people who do will probably not read it in any case, it does remind you that there are other creatures in the world who our actions affect and who we must not forget to consider.
Though first published in 1979, The Animals of Farthing Wood played a fairly substantial part in my childhood. I didn't read the book, but I eagerly awaited the animated series to follow the animals' journey, supplemented by the episodic magazine released in tandem. In my early teens, I picked up an abridged version of some of the sequels, but it was only recently that I managed to obtain the original novel by Colin Dann.
The book chronicles the journey of the animals of Farthing Wood – driven from their home by its destruction to make space for human development – to the fabled White Deer Park, a nature reserve across the country. The animals realise that they need to stick together to make the trip, and take an oath to help and protect each other; vital when your party consists of such varied woodland critters as voles and mice, through an adder, to foxes and birds of prey. The party is led by Toad, who was captured by humans, escaped and made his way through White Deer Park back to Farthing Wood.
While the book is easy to read and clearly aimed at children, it does not hold back and try to coddle them from reality. Over the course of the journey it brings across the animal's sadness at losing their home and the fear that many human encounters leave in them. Not all of the characters make it, and at times you marvel at those who did, overcoming shotgun-toting farmers, fields laced in pesticide, busy highways and the feared fox hunt.
Right from the start there is a clear environmental subtext. The book is highly critical of human actions that lead to the destruction of the natural world without consideration for other living creatures. In perhaps the most conspicuous example, we find the animals discussing the opposing views of the hunter and the naturalist, and the possibility that even the ideals of the naturalist will only be maintained as long as it is comfortable to do so:
** For some reason Toad felt himself bound to defend the conception of Nature Reserves. 'I don't know why you bothered to join us,' he said in an aggrieved tone to Adder, 'if you have no faith in White Deer Park.'
'I didn't think my faith was in question,' the snake replied easily. 'The point I was making was what might occur if and when our human friends find they are short of land. I realize it's something that will only occur in the future. Nevertheless, you won't have to look far to find a good illustration of my point. The very reason we are here now is, in case you have forgotten, because land that was once left wild was seized, without compunction, by humans for their own purposes.' **
Perhaps my strongest criticism of the book would be the lack of characterisation. Of the multitude of characters, most of the lesser ones have no real personality. That said, the story moves quickly and I never found this to be a major drawback. While I bonded with few characters, I did want the group to finish their journey safely and was annoyed with those whose stupid or selfish actions occasionally put the others in danger.
Overall I found it an enjoyable book and would recommend it. If you want a compelling plot, though, you won't find it here. The story is very linear with only one branch of note. Though furries perhaps will not need it, and the people who do will probably not read it in any case, it does remind you that there are other creatures in the world who our actions affect and who we must not forget to consider.
:( Sold my soul
General | Posted 14 years agoThe school I'm learning Japanese at has a Facebook group where they make announcements and stuff so I joined Facebook...
Depressing Easter
General | Posted 14 years agoLeaving aside the depressing theological message of Easter mine originally looked like it'd be fun but then was not. Almost everything I wanted went badly.
I had the house all to myself so one thing I had hoped to do was get in some nice yiff rp and enjoy myself. That fell through because the guy I usually rp with wasn't on some of the time and wasn't in the mood for some other. The guy I had expected to rp, because he'd been bugging me about it, also pretty much didn't show up.
I thought I'd get together with some furs to plan a big furmeet like we were meant to but didn't see them on-line and heard nothing so that fell through as well.
Also on the meeting people I was about to meet a new fur and have some company. He had to work and then I didn't even get to chat to him on-line.
Wrestlemania was on TV on Easter (we're about 4 weeks behind the US) but I had a family lunch so I was going to miss the end. No problem, I thought, I'll just record it and watch it later. Would be fine but there's apparently something wrong with the recording so half the time it just freezes. I should've tried using the satellite to record it but now I just need to hope I can get the only match I really cared about to play.
That said I could've watched Wrestlemania because I went for lunch at about 13:00 but we only actually ate at 16:00 so I pretty much wasted my time. It wasn't so bad of a meal though.
So in the end, Easter sucked and everything I wanted to do didn't happen.
I had the house all to myself so one thing I had hoped to do was get in some nice yiff rp and enjoy myself. That fell through because the guy I usually rp with wasn't on some of the time and wasn't in the mood for some other. The guy I had expected to rp, because he'd been bugging me about it, also pretty much didn't show up.
I thought I'd get together with some furs to plan a big furmeet like we were meant to but didn't see them on-line and heard nothing so that fell through as well.
Also on the meeting people I was about to meet a new fur and have some company. He had to work and then I didn't even get to chat to him on-line.
Wrestlemania was on TV on Easter (we're about 4 weeks behind the US) but I had a family lunch so I was going to miss the end. No problem, I thought, I'll just record it and watch it later. Would be fine but there's apparently something wrong with the recording so half the time it just freezes. I should've tried using the satellite to record it but now I just need to hope I can get the only match I really cared about to play.
That said I could've watched Wrestlemania because I went for lunch at about 13:00 but we only actually ate at 16:00 so I pretty much wasted my time. It wasn't so bad of a meal though.
So in the end, Easter sucked and everything I wanted to do didn't happen.
Tooth and Fail
General | Posted 14 years agoSince I used it for the title of the journal I guess I should address my tooth first. I don't have great teeth, never have, but a few months ago one of them broke. Since I have a history with dentists and my tooth wasn't sore I ignored it. Then a few days ago it broke more, which I decided was a good time to get it looked at. In any case the dentist wasn't particularly pleased with me and it turns out I need to get a root canal... So that will be in just under two weeks. Fun stuff.
I've also got the house to myself because the rest of my family went off on holiday. I didn't really feel like going so it's me all alone. Which would be cooler if I could take advantage of that but they aren't gone for long enough. As it is I need to record something which I'll miss because of other family events and then I need to watch it before the next set of episodes comes on.
I've almost finished all the missions on Just Cause 2. I think there only three or four left. Also, and I didn't know it was actually possible, I managed to land a plane! This is still an awesomely fun game.
I've also got the house to myself because the rest of my family went off on holiday. I didn't really feel like going so it's me all alone. Which would be cooler if I could take advantage of that but they aren't gone for long enough. As it is I need to record something which I'll miss because of other family events and then I need to watch it before the next set of episodes comes on.
I've almost finished all the missions on Just Cause 2. I think there only three or four left. Also, and I didn't know it was actually possible, I managed to land a plane! This is still an awesomely fun game.
Rakuen Reviews: Brisingr
General | Posted 14 years agoThis was a bit of a challenge to start. It's around 750 pages and it had been so long since I read the previous books I couldn't remember what had happened. Luckily it had a summary of the previous two books at the start so I managed to get the main points back in my mind before continuing. The length is what had put me off of starting before but it really didn't wind up being a problem as it was an incredibly easy read and once I got into it I alternated between not reading and then doing about 100 pages in a day.
I'm not sure how much I can say about the story without ruining it for other people so I'll try not to give anything away. I really enjoyed Brisingr although I had an issue with Eragon and Saphira spending a lot of time apart in the book. That said even the more boring aspects of the book managed to be intriguing and the style is light enough that you don't get tired from reading it. Although a lot of the book moves fairly slowly it does start to up the tempo as it nears the end, although I must confess I found the ending to be quite disappointing.
I won't recommend reading this unless you've already read the previous two books and enjoyed them. If you haven't read any of them then I suggest you give them a try. The 4th and final book in the series will be released at the end of the year.
Also a thank you to
avalonanders who's the only person who bothered to reply to my mini-poll of what I should read. Since no one cares I won't let you have a say and will be reading The Animals of Farthing Wood next.
I'm not sure how much I can say about the story without ruining it for other people so I'll try not to give anything away. I really enjoyed Brisingr although I had an issue with Eragon and Saphira spending a lot of time apart in the book. That said even the more boring aspects of the book managed to be intriguing and the style is light enough that you don't get tired from reading it. Although a lot of the book moves fairly slowly it does start to up the tempo as it nears the end, although I must confess I found the ending to be quite disappointing.
I won't recommend reading this unless you've already read the previous two books and enjoyed them. If you haven't read any of them then I suggest you give them a try. The 4th and final book in the series will be released at the end of the year.
Also a thank you to
avalonanders who's the only person who bothered to reply to my mini-poll of what I should read. Since no one cares I won't let you have a say and will be reading The Animals of Farthing Wood next.48/2(9+3) = ?
General | Posted 14 years agoThere's been a whole bunch of forum posts over the question of does 48/2(9+3) = 2 or 288
Some people have argued that multiplication and division have the same order of precedence resulting in the equation being resolved as...
48/2(9+3)
=48/2(12)
=24(12)
=288
However others, me included, maintain that multiplication by juxtaposition has a higher order of precedence, giving the result as
48/2(9+3)
=48/2(12)
=48/24
=2
As far as I've been able to tell there is no set convention on whether multiplication by juxtaposition has a higher priority or not, making both answers equally valid. However it does appear that giving multiplication by juxtaposition a higher priority is the most accepted practice.
This is what is stated on the Purplemath site. "The general consensus among math people is that "multiplication by juxtaposition" (that is, multiplying by just putting things next to each other, rather than using the "×" sign) indicates that the juxtaposed values must be multiplied together before processing other operations." -http://www.purplemath.com/modules/orderops2.htm
This was also stated on the American Mathematical Society guidelines in 2001 where they carried the instructions, "We linearize simple formulas, using the rule that multiplication indicated by juxtaposition is carried out before division." -http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20011201061315/http://www.ams.org/authors/guide-reviewers.html
This only applies to multiplication by juxtaposition however. Although at times multiplication has been considered to have a higher priority than division they are now considered equal and done in order from left to right. -http://jeff560.tripod.com/operation.html
The question has become famous now because of the different methods that various calculators and computers use when calculating their answers. This problem was recognised before it's current fame and in 2001 Mark Farris wrote a paper on 'Coping with Multiple Calculator Models in College Algebra' In it he makes two points that are particularly important in the current situation.
* "avoid using this construction of a division followed by an implied multiplication."
*"emphasis appropriate use of parentheses."
-http://archives.math.utk.edu/ICTCM/VOL13/C026/paper.pdf
Use of brackets can actually remove any need for an order of operations, although then losing simplicity. So what is being promoted now is the standard order of operations but it's your own responsibility to use brackets to indicate the correct grouping to make an unambiguous equation. 48/2(9+3) is ambiguous because depending on your treatment of multiplication by juxtaposition it can be read as either (48/2)(9+3) or 48(2/(9+3)). Of course this is only a problem when the entire equation is written out linearly. The dropping of the AMA guideline on linearising equations probably stems from the ease with which equations can now be written in the correct format, eliminating such misunderstandings.
Some people have argued that multiplication and division have the same order of precedence resulting in the equation being resolved as...
48/2(9+3)
=48/2(12)
=24(12)
=288
However others, me included, maintain that multiplication by juxtaposition has a higher order of precedence, giving the result as
48/2(9+3)
=48/2(12)
=48/24
=2
As far as I've been able to tell there is no set convention on whether multiplication by juxtaposition has a higher priority or not, making both answers equally valid. However it does appear that giving multiplication by juxtaposition a higher priority is the most accepted practice.
This is what is stated on the Purplemath site. "The general consensus among math people is that "multiplication by juxtaposition" (that is, multiplying by just putting things next to each other, rather than using the "×" sign) indicates that the juxtaposed values must be multiplied together before processing other operations." -http://www.purplemath.com/modules/orderops2.htm
This was also stated on the American Mathematical Society guidelines in 2001 where they carried the instructions, "We linearize simple formulas, using the rule that multiplication indicated by juxtaposition is carried out before division." -http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20011201061315/http://www.ams.org/authors/guide-reviewers.html
This only applies to multiplication by juxtaposition however. Although at times multiplication has been considered to have a higher priority than division they are now considered equal and done in order from left to right. -http://jeff560.tripod.com/operation.html
The question has become famous now because of the different methods that various calculators and computers use when calculating their answers. This problem was recognised before it's current fame and in 2001 Mark Farris wrote a paper on 'Coping with Multiple Calculator Models in College Algebra' In it he makes two points that are particularly important in the current situation.
* "avoid using this construction of a division followed by an implied multiplication."
*"emphasis appropriate use of parentheses."
-http://archives.math.utk.edu/ICTCM/VOL13/C026/paper.pdf
Use of brackets can actually remove any need for an order of operations, although then losing simplicity. So what is being promoted now is the standard order of operations but it's your own responsibility to use brackets to indicate the correct grouping to make an unambiguous equation. 48/2(9+3) is ambiguous because depending on your treatment of multiplication by juxtaposition it can be read as either (48/2)(9+3) or 48(2/(9+3)). Of course this is only a problem when the entire equation is written out linearly. The dropping of the AMA guideline on linearising equations probably stems from the ease with which equations can now be written in the correct format, eliminating such misunderstandings.
Harddrives :/
General | Posted 14 years agoIt's like they hate me lately. Two days ago I eject my external and tell the computer to sleep. I go brush my teeth and come back to find the computer unresponsive but the lights and fans still on. I press some buttons and suddenly it restarts itself. The next day I stick my external in and it tells me that my drive needs to be formatted before it can be used. This really bothers me because it's a 1tb drive with about 700-800gb of stuff on it. I plug it into my laptop though and it works fine. Later I put it back in the desktop and it worked again.
Then today I put my laptop to sleep and move it downstairs. I try turn it on and it won't boot up, telling me that there is no harddrive from which it can boot. That's also quite serious but after a few tries (and taking the battery out) it starts up like nothing happened.
PS: https://www.thepetshop.co.za
Then today I put my laptop to sleep and move it downstairs. I try turn it on and it won't boot up, telling me that there is no harddrive from which it can boot. That's also quite serious but after a few tries (and taking the battery out) it starts up like nothing happened.
PS: https://www.thepetshop.co.za
