Internet - Moderation

Internet - Moderation

The trouble with communities is that at some point, they grow large enough to attract undesireable elements.

The actual trouble is that we have this notion that it is acceptable and a foregone conclusion that there will always be undesireable elements given a certain criticality of human perspective and opinion. As though the perpetual state of the human condition is to eventually default to hatred and ignorance.

Are we not troubled by that as a thought?

That given enough free opinions, our communities automatically become toxified?

Thoughts - Theft and Thievery

Thoughts - Theft and Thievery

Someone I had introduced to D&D a while back is planning on running their own game. I'm pretty ecstatic about that. I really enjoy introducing people to my favourite passtime and watching them grow, learn and tell their own stories. Often when introducing players, I have a digital copy of the player's hand book that I let them have in the beginning, because a 40 dollar buy into the game if you're not sure you will like it at all is difficult. I mean, people borrow and pass around the books all the time, but it's nice to just have a record of the book for yourself so you can peruse it and check. I often tell people though that I'm effectively just loaning them the book, don't share it further, and if you don't intend to play, you should delete it.

I've recently become aware that this person I've given that digital to, is running their session with their own players, and is printing from that digital copy for their players.

The newest edition is not open source, it's not free for distribution (I mean I really shouldn't even have that digital copy per se), and they certainly don't have any kind of printing licence for it.

So they're stealing it.

They're stealing the book, and distributing it. It's my favourite game and they're pirating it.

For a while I felt guilty, it was my fault, it is my fault. I shouldn't have distributed the digital to anyone I didn't think wouldn't fall in love with the game and purchase a hardcopy. (All of my players end up purchasing their own hardcopies of the books). I should not have trusted this player to have the same scruples that I do about piracy. I should have gauged better.

But they are also adults.

I'm trying to figure out if I'm responsible. They made the choice to do something that I think is wrong. I also coloured the lens for my own mental situation about what I think is right and wrong, to me I'm essentially lending the book out, but that's also not quite fair is it.

Where do we draw the line?

I've been thinking a lot about piracy and stealing for the past few years, especially as I've become a content creator and an artist. Often, when people directly contact me about using my work (especially writing, but sometimes art) I'm only too happy to volunteer it to be used for specific projects. I LOVE being asked. But I HATE when people just take.

Personally I've been involved in 5 lawsuits so far with my work. (Some aren't actually lawsuits, some are just notices of infringement)

Every time a new one comes up, it's time that it takes me away from making new art, or new content. It occupies headspace that is better used being creative. In short, it sucks.

So what do I do?

Am I responsible for this budding DM who has taken content and is now pirating it for their players? What does one even say? But I don't want to be silent about it, because for so many strangers, I'm very vocal about my opinion on it. Does personal contact mean people get a free pass? That doesn't seem right either.

People - Broken Man - I Was Raped, Does Anyone Care?

People - Broken man - I Was Raped, Does Anyone Care?

What follows is a lengthy, difficult, unreferenced autobiographical writing from an otherwise anonymous poster on reddit.  He uses a throw-away alias, that would be difficult, if not largely impossible to track down.  He even opens with an admission that he doesn't know what he aims to accomplish by posting this story.  I don't know what I intend to accomplish by reposting it.

Only that it is a troubling piece of writing.  It's a human piece of writing.  It delves into a societal darkness that is problematic for us to analyze too closely.  But we need to do a number of things, at least in my reckoning.  First, this man needs to know that we do care.  That the world is changing, and that we listen, and have empathy as individuals, as a culture, as a society for him.  That his story, were it to prove credible is worth listening to.  Second, that our world is changing that twenty years ago, ten years ago...men would never have even imagined that this was a problem.  He delves a little bit into this in his piece of writing.

We don't live in that world anymore.  We're in the midst of transitioning through it, but the world is a-changing through it.  We have a lot of hard questions to ask, and a lot of harder answers to find.  But we'd never know until stories like this, human stories begin coming to light.

So I share it with you, in the darkness of the internet.  In some strange corner of nowhere.  Hopefully it moves you to ask questions too.  Obviously...trigger warnings galore.

Edit: I added this message when I shared it to Facebook...I feel like it might, but maybe doesn't, explain why I put it into a public blog to share. 

This is a piece of writing I read tonight.  Once I finished reading it, I had to go for a walk and think about it.  When I got back, I transcribed it over the course of half an hour, loaded it into one of my private blogs and left it. I keep repositories of writing for myself everywhere, dark writing, tragic writing.  Human writing.

Then I came back five minutes later.  I hadn't shared it. Maybe it was because I was ashamed I had read it? Maybe because I was ashamed for the guy, his story that I had read. It was on my mind. It was on my mind because I didn't know how to explain it. I still don't. I don't know why it is important, only that it is. And in an era where we share images of kittens, and what people wear, or what GoT character best represents us...why would I hesitate to share something important?

Truthfully I'm still not sure. But I'd like to talk about it.

Charity - Extra Life

Charity - Extra Life

For most of the day I've been on and off watching the Wizards of the Coast DnD Extra Life Marathon.  Basically a large cast of rotating players, with DM Greg Bilsland are playing a 25 hour game or Hoard of the Dragon Queen.  As of the time of this writing, some...I guess 15 hours in? We've raised almost 75 000 dollars for Extra Life just through Wizards of the Coast.  Extra Life is a large, charity streaming event of gamers all across the world playing to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Across the entire Extra Life program, we've raised 4.2 million dollars this year so far.

Inspiration - Be Loud

Inspiration - Be Loud

We are oft reminded that we live in a shitty world, with shitty human beings. So when reminded of that, maybe the rest of us need to step up and be loud, be loud and say no, that we will not accept their hatred, that we will not accept their harassment or their abuse. We need to step up and say loudly that we do not condone their actions, that we are not represented by them and their hate, and ill will.

Be counted, friends. Be counted and bring more light into the world, and be LOUD.

This is mostly a post in response to the threats of violence against Anita Sarkeesian.  Response might not be the correct word, but in support of the difficulties she, and many other women in vocal positions are in when threatened.  It isn't right.  I say again it isn't right that they be attacked in such a way, it isn't right that they be attacked in any way that threatens, demeans, degrades or abuses them.  We discourse that we might enlighten, challenge, illuminate, and debate.  We do not commit attacks upon each other because we disagree.

Freedom of speech does not preclude one from the freedom of responsibility of actions.  I hope those who are filled with the threat, imagined or otherwise of violence are brought to justice.

Math - Hit A Wasp's Nest From The Moon

Math - Hit A Wasp's Nest From The Moon

This is just awesome.

Writing - I Almost

Writing - I Almost

I almost clicked on your name tonight.  I saw you pop up for but a scant second the first time in a while I had caught it.  The green blinking button of 'available' taunted me on.  I almost clicked on your name tonight.  But I didn't.

I didn't because I didn't have anything to say.  I didn't because I had nothing to talk about.  I didn't because I imagined you would not be interested in anything I had been doing.  That we had become such different people, living different lives.  That what we remembered of one another was from a decade hence.  I didn't click on your name because I didn't want to have to explain.  I didn't want to sort out whether or how much joy I should convey, how much happiness.

I didn't because I don't know how honest I can, or should be with you.

I didn't click on your name because we haven't spoken in forever, we haven't left one another a message in...years.  We do this strange little dance around each other on our birthdays, leave cookie cutter messages and cookie cutter 'like' clicks.  I wonder if you are caught up with the whirlwind that is my world.  I wonder if I'm caught up with yours.  I can't be.  We haven't spoken.

I didn't click on your name because that's energy, to reconnect.  To hear the stories about.  To hear you talk about your dog or your cat, your girlfriend or your boyfriend.  Your wife.  Your husband.  Your son.  Or daughter.

Or your new car.

I didn't click on your name because you found me boring, a decade before.  You found me boring because I wasn't worth getting to know, in your mind at least.  Maybe that's still true.  Maybe you'd still find me boring.  That's alright.  I understand that.

I didn't click on your name, because I'm afraid the sound of your laugh might not be the same as I remember it.

Events - Sunday Digital Brunch

Events - Sunday Digital Brunch

I sat down this morning with my breakfast and watched the internet spiral by for a while as I usually do.  Keeping up with the unfolding disaster in Calgary, reading the news, both internet based and real world.  It's a quiet morning, one roommate already gone to work, the other isn't a morning person.  It's langourously sleepy, and for a while, I contemplate going back to taking a nap.

A twitter message pops up, some friends I made from Pax, gamers like me, who are scattered all over the continent.

I smirk, laugh, and then insert my own zany rebuttal.  Before I can even finish my tea, the comments and messages are flying fast, dozens of messages, we're roping other people into the conversation, all over twitter!  140 characters doesn't have anything on our reconnecting.  Jokes and snarks, more laughter, I'm wide awake.

It's like sunday brunch.  You know, when you get together with your friends or your family over a leisurely meal on sunday morning.  You have nowhere to be, and nothing to do, you just relax, and reconnect with one another.  Except we're separated by literally thousands of miles.  We're actually on opposite corners of the continent (somewhat).

But the internet, the speed of connection has made our worlds instantaneously hooked in.

We're just a bunch of friends having brunch (or lunch, or afternoon tea), connecting over laughs.

That's pretty awesome.

Thoughts - The Problem With Records

Thoughts - The Problem With Records

We live in a strange age, this internet era of ours.  What we have come to realize is that everything, everything and anything you say or write can be recorded.  For that matter, not only can be, but usually is.  Your emails, your blog posts, your facebook status, your tweets, your text messages.  They all exist in time (and sort of space, somewhere).