#so the Just Write project is the more accurate one for my actual daily output

[thedemonscrawler]

I am not exaggerating when I say that I'd probably be done with Permission Slip by now if SAMS Eclipse hadn't taken up residence in my brain |'D

[vutrananpho]

Blog #4: Individual Techbox

Weeks into our Interaction Design course, everyone was asked to conduct research and showcase our individual techbox. The techbox was supposed to help provide insights into our ongoing team projects. My team focused on creating a new interface for a mobile app that would offer friendly interactions to users in the late Generation X (a.k.a our parents!). In a sentence, the techbox that I put together must complement our project by giving a comprehensive overview of our target users, devices, and solution design.

But First, What is a Techbox?

Actually, even Google couldn't give me a concrete answer. Most results for "Define Techbox" gave me were far from what I was looking for, even suggesting whether I was making typographical errors while searching for "define checkbox" or "define textbox."

I then made some modifications by constructing a more detailed prompt with something like "What is techbox in UX design?" Because our course covers UI/UX components, so it would make sense to specify the field that is relevant to the techbox whose meaning I was searching for.

Results were slightly better, but still not what I was expecting.

Instead of giving me the dicitionary, field-defined meaning of the term "techbox," it would give me UI/UX or technology companies named "Techbox" with different variations (e.g, Tech Box, Techbox, TECHBOX, Techbox Solutions, etc). Amidst irrelevant outputs, I tried to connect the dots by using what I was provided with. I patiently skimmed through these websites and I found the similarities that these sites had in common was that they often pointed towards generating innovative solutions via the employment of technologies.

So there, my question was partly answered. By utilizing existing technological sources, I could get closer to understanding my primary users, their behavior patterns on gadgets and devices, and the solution that my team was spearheading.

1. MY INDIVIDUAL TECHBOX: AI TOOLS

It is still hard to take in the fact that AI is playing an increasingly important part of our convenient life. It used to be something that people talked about in press and media, but now, look around and we will see that there is almost no aspect that has no engagement with AI. At the moment, new AI tools and plug-ins are generated every week with a view to address specific convience-related issues, such as helping businesses, especially individuals, automate tasks and generate tasks.

While there are common fears that AI's existence pose dangerous threats to the creativity work of human beings, I do not think so. Despite being brought on at worldwide technological forums, the most used AI tools still contain flaws that deal directly with daily life, and there is yet to be fruitful solutions that refer to this problem. Suffice it to say, the appearance of AI fosters many good sides of humans in a variety of ways.

I took a AI tools in particular: ChatGPT, DallE, CrayonAI, Midjourney, and Nigthcafe Creator Studio, and the pros and cons of each.

CHAT GPT

ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like responses to text-based prompts.

Without hesitation, I just jumped to ChatGPT first to listen to what it has to say. While ChatGPT can be used to automate customer service and support, as well as generate content such as blog posts and articles, if one pays detailed attention, the writing pattern of this tool is very generic and lack of center points. Therefore, while working with ChatGPT to pivot our points, I have learned the concept of prompt engineering, which taught me how to talk to ChatGPT so it can understand what I really asked of it, and generate a much more desired project However, the disadvantage is that it may not always produce accurate or appropriate responses, as it is limited by its training data.

DALLE

DallE is another OpenAI tool that generates images from text-based descriptions. The advantage of DallE is that it can be used to create custom images quickly and easily, without the need for expensive graphic design software.

However, the disadvantage is that the images generated may not always accurately reflect the intended description, and may require some editing to get the desired result.

CRAYONAI

CrayonAI is an AI tool that can help businesses automate their sales and marketing processes.

The advantage of CrayonAI is that it can help save time and increase efficiency by automating tasks such as lead generation and email outreach.

However, the disadvantage is that it does not always produce personalized or human-like communication, and its best result does not disclose design details that UI/UX field asks for, which can lead to a lack of engagement from potential customers.

MIDJOURNEY

Midjourney is an AI tool that was recommended at one of our class sessions. It is also a a natural language processing model that generate creative contents per user's input.

To be honest, I don't care if Midjourney really works, because I was attracted to how they incoporate another platform like Discord so that users can feel like while they are still doing the searching, they're doing it within a community that has the same interests in AI Art Generation.

Strength-wise, Midjourney can help businesses and individuals better understand their customers and improve their products and services accordingly. However, the disadvantage is that it may not always accurately interpret customer feedback, which can lead to incorrect insights.

Nightcafe Creator Studio

Nigthcafe Creator Studio is an AI tool that can help content creators generate video content quickly and easily.

Similar with DALL-E and Craiyon, Nigthcafe Creator Studio also generates graphic image based on the search description, and what's special about hti ssave time and effort in the video production process, making it ideal for creators on a tight deadline or budget.

However, the disadvantage is that it may not always produce high-quality or visually appealing content, which can negatively impact engagement and viewership.

While each AI tool possesses its own pros and cons, I recommend that we can benefit, with limitations, from services that they offer. For the scope of Cine.zip, in addition to Cparticular task or project.

2. MY INDIVIDUAL TECHBOX: CREATIVE COMMUNITIES

What I like so much about joining a creative forum is the extra visual work that active members put in, besides explaining the overview of their project in words. You can clearly see and learn from. And from a perspective of a visual learner (someone who learns by looking at visual aids like photos and pictures), I think that makes these kinds of communities stronger than any other types of platforms, where members do not tell audience about their vision, but instead realizing it through the means of various illustration tools.

PINTEREST

This is creatives' go-to for new inspirations!

BEHANCE

Behance is the place that creatives post their new works and potentially get hired. So it's like a LinkedIn that fixates on the portfolios and audience interactions with visual work, rather than connections and showcase of text-based work (aka theoretical knowledge)

DRIBBLE

Dribble is like Behance, but better with organization and categories.

3. MY INDIVIDUAL TECHBOX: THE SUMMARIZER

To summarize my favorite things about these separate projects, I have found a new digital platform called Wakelet. It is a tool designed for educational purpose and gives off the feeling of using Pinterest, but in a different way. Its working principle is simple: you simply create a new collection and enter URLs with similar contents. Users might have a good time using Wakelet because of the time it takes to organize certain things for a project.

From a personal angle, I prefer using Wakelet, probably partly because there's an excitement upon discovery something very new. But the large part of it is how it gathers all kinds of links from different platforms at one place.

[jenniferisacommonname]

Swallow Your Dreams

All languages, but English especially, like to pilfer foreign words for concepts we wish we’d thought of first. Burrito. Kindergarten. Cul-de-sac. (Direct translation: “ass of the bag” in French. Which I think we can all agree is spot on.)*

But the reverse is also true: we sometimes dislike an idea so much that we can’t stop naming it. Utopia. Shangri-La. Eden. Zion. Arcadia. Erehwon. Cockaigne. Camelot. Xanadu. Beulah Land. Lotusland. Neverland. The Good Old Days. We may think we’re into it, but trust me—the more names something has, the more we despise it.

In the case of utopian fantasies, I think we love-hate them so much because we know ecstasy must come with suffering. Not in a ‘moral justice of the universe’ kind of way, but in a ‘how can you know what wet is if you’ve never been dry’ kind of way. Sometimes the suffering itself gives us hope—sincere pipe dreams tend to crop up when the news is at its worst. Conversely, a lack of suffering makes us nervous, giving way to satirical illustrations of paradise that either chastise our disappointment with mediocrity, or exhort us to fly a little closer to the ground. The only time we drop the subject is when, God forbid, we surpass one standard deviation on the joy curve, at which point our fear of jinxing it forces us into a superstitious, but no less aware, silence. Spectacle is the lens through which we first recognize boredom, and other punning metaphors for what is ultimately a pretty basic philosophical idea.

Anyway. By general agreement, we now find ourselves in one of those Bad News Eras, and the little Dutch boy has long since run out of fingers to hold back the flood. Idealism is rampant, regardless of how angrily it may present itself (and usually in opposition to other forms of idealism.) Meanwhile, the incorrigibly cynical among us can only sigh as we wait for the waters to recede. All of which is to say, I read an article recently. And it annoyed me.

We’ve all heard some version of the old saw that "the world needs garbage collectors;" i.e., polite society has needs that presumably no one would cater to in the cloud-cuckoo land where everyone Follows Their Dreams. Personally, I tend to side with Drew Carey and Mike Rowe on the matter. This annoying article, in contrast, promoted the central thesis that technology would render the “dirty jobs” problem obsolete, thanks to ever-increasing automation. It predicted that in the near future we would achieve, if not Utopia, then at least the particular sliver of it that oversees labor markets.

And honestly, the author could be right. Maybe we'll all have a housecleaning sex robot, and the self-driving firetrucks will aim their own hoses, and the farm machinery will pick the fruit and monitor the soil conditions far better than humans ever could. Maybe we'll all get to be painters, and singers, and writers, and comedians, and movie stars, and the indoor plumbing will sort itself out. There are, we must admit, significantly more jobs in the creative sector now than there were 50 years ago—we're at Peak TV, y'all!—and that pattern can surely only continue.

Aside from the obvious practical considerations, however, this wonderland has a particular Achilles heel that I want to address: everyone will be miserable. (Which, if you’re keeping track from earlier, makes this post one of those Dystopia We Never Saw Coming, Be Careful What You Wish For, Icarus Get Your Ass Back Here kind of stories.)

The thing is, humans like to work. Or more accurately, humans require validation, and hard work provides it with very little outside help. Chop the firewood and feel its warmth through the winter; tend the seedling and taste its delicious fruit. But can you write a song that no one ever hears, and still feel good about it? A few can, and they generally end up draped with popularity they never needed, because output unbridled by fear is the best kind. But most professionally creative people will admit they are inborn approval junkies who have only found success in the business by forcefully taming their instincts—reminding themselves on a daily basis that haters gonna hate, as they say.

The misconception is seductive, though, especially when the known goblin of “fame” is replaced by less vain euphemisms: successful artists are “beloved,” and “respected,” and have “earned their creative freedom” (don’t get me started)… and bystanders tend to assume that all that apparent validation must be pumping through their veins at great speed. To work in a creative field is to install a zen-secreting organ just behind the pancreas, while the rest of humanity is left staring wistfully into the night screens, watching the elite get high off their stash and telling themselves that if only they had the time, or the money, or the housecleaning sex robot, they too could spend all day being creative, and feel just as good as their successful counterparts appear to. Give one of those folks a toe in the door and a deadline, and it won’t be long before they project their individual craving onto us all—say, for example, in an article from a well-known tech platform, which imagines just how great it will be when we can all follow our surprisingly-similar dreams in a tight spiral around one another, gaily refusing to look down at the sink drain below.

But in fact, a microcosm of that supposed nirvana already exists, here and now: it’s called YouTube. Millions upon millions of users with eight views, zero validation, and a numerically-proven feeling of worthlessness. They were creative, and no one cared, which was all they actually wanted in the first place. They tried to make a deal with the devil but even he didn’t bother to show up. And when the milk and honey dispensers become fully mechanized, the pain of that realization will only come harder and faster: creativity doesn’t provide validation. Creativity flows naturally after validation has been secured elsewhere.

When I wake up already knowing that I’m worthwhile, I am able to be creative. When I have the love of a family—biological or chosen—I am able to be creative. When I consider secret personal accomplishments to be as meaningful as public ones, I am able to be creative. Unpleasant tasks and hard work don’t stand in the way of my dreams; they fill a hole that my dreams were never going to fit into properly anyway. To envy a creative person’s life is to look at a garden and assume it’s flowers all the way down, rather than a deep slurry of mud, worms, and fertilizer that allows beauty to spread freely over its surface.

The only real way to follow your dreams is to forge ahead on your own and trust that they’ll keep up. If you can already write the book assuming that no one will read it, congratulations—this message is not for you, and you probably stopped reading a long time ago anyway because you’re not looking for answers. But if you dream of a creative life free from worry, pain, sadness, frustration, and all the rest of the working world’s supposed drudgery, then you’re better off not knowing what you’re missing. And if you’re writing utopic articles suggesting that universal creative employment is a desirable—let alone inevitable—reality, then you’re especially foolish, because you’re promoting a cult of chugging when you’ve already sipped and found it lacking in flavor.

*Side note: Let’s all say a sad farewell to the phrase “literal translation,” whose first half has by now been thoroughly co-opted by the totally-seriously-for-real crowd. Like oh my God you guys, it literally translates that way. Totes McGoats.

[homestuckhomestuckhomestuck]

Summary of Homestuck fandom after [S] Cascade.

(2011) Homestuck as a general phenomenon was very active and developed at a swift pace from the time it was published (2009) onwards, especially in 2012-2013, including and past the first years of the Homestuck Kickstarter Project, a.k.a Hiveswap.

Between 2009 and 2012, Homestuck as a webcomic was infamous for updating daily, constantly, multiple times a day, at all hours, for years. There was a calculated average that Homestuck updated 5.5 pages per day, dropping entire bundles of updates of character interaction and plot reveals frame by frame, posted as fast as Hussie could write it. Though it wasn’t immediately obvious, this pace was sleeplessly breakneck, Hussie allegedly didn’t do anything but live, breathe and dream Homestuck for at least four years straight. I’m serious when I say updates came at all hours. I would wake up 2am on a week night and idly check MSPA to see if there was a new update, sort of like a trained parrot. Then in five minutes I’d tab back over to the Homestuck tab and refresh, just in case. 

This lead to an phenomenon appropriately dubbed “upd8 culture,” which became the basis of the sheer evangelical furor people still associate with the Homestuck fandom. Quick history: MSPA/Problem Sleuth fans originated and migrated over from the Penny Arcade forums, Reddit, and 4chan to nestle permanently within the bowels of 2011 - 2013 tumblr, and were best described from a distance as ‘zealous.’ Even remembering it now almost feels like recalling a distant riot. If you didn’t cosplay, write up a detailed theory post, or scribble up a crazy level of appropriately detailed fanart within 10 or so minutes any given upd8, you were buried under the force of post overload and were officially late to the party. After years of this, fans had some idea of just how dedicated it came off as, which was used to further spur on fandom and made Homestuck into the most meme filled in-joke community you could possibly imagine. 

What’s frustrating about describing Homestuck and Homestuck fandom is they both heavily affected each other and were both unique experiences within themselves, which makes actually trying to get across the atmosphere of the early 2010s a wordy process. Homestuck heyday updates regularly crashed tumblr servers, which became an actual fake rss way of seeing how much the plot progressed that day, which is unusual even if the tumblr servers 2011-2013 were not funded by the corporate might of Yahoo. The bigger the update, the faster the crash. I could tell you Homestuck dominated tumblr to the point it had a virulent hatedom of people who had never even read it and constantly saw it and never understood what was happening in it, and fans couldn’t stop themselves from chattering about it all the time. One thing that has to be noted is all this continual bickering and movement and development and competitive content production was honestly fun as hell. 

Besides constant updates and a continual stream of new content, the story was completely unpredictable. Game-changing plot twists continued to happen up until the very ending, and while this made Homestuck’s plot happily convoluted, for fans this meant one thing they never lacked for was barely solvable mystery. Even the (fan)artists and (fan)musicians hired to work on Homestuck had to guess what would happen next even if they were part of animating the next update. Under similar principles of an ARG, story presentation was created with the vague expectation fans would work together to explain to each other what just happened.

What this meant in conjunction with Hussie’s oddly accurate tabs on fandom theory was that when an update dropped you had to release whatever you were doing fast, or you would be outdated, wrong, inaccurate, or irrelevant at some undisclosed unspecific time, very soon. Canon and fanon directly pulled from each other, especially in the small character details. The very fact the comic spun on such accurate knowledge of fandom that was purposefully fostered between fandom and canon means that even now reading Homestuck while updating is considered an experience different from an archival read, even though Homestuck was always a self-contained story.  

Upd8 culture followed like this: Popular fan theories had multiple fanfictions written on them just to better explain what could happen next, and fan projects from voice acting to art to music to fiction were constantly being corrected, updated, and replaced by a deluge of new information and characters to pore over every single detail with a fandom magnifying glass. An endless amount of hyper ambitious fandom projects, games, animations, multi media fanstories made in rotating teams were abandoned for new starts JUST because the information they were working off became too outdated by the newest few weeks of updates. Cosplays were mocked up in hours (for the next morning of con,) art in minutes, theory in seconds. You threw everything out as fast as you could so someone else could build off of it. It did give a strong impression of collaboration and possibility. As the fandom grew bigger and younger Hussie seemed to shade more politic in his fandom communication, but Homestuck managed to maintain an “open channel” like feeling between fandom and comic for a long time. 

Innovative form encouraged innovative output. The point was to create. Another aspect feeding upd8 culture was in the way Homestuck was told. Not only were Homestuck’s detailed plot points hard to predict, but so was what would happen to the site in a meta way.  A page could range from a scribble to a 3 hr fully programmed rpg or 18 minute asset heavy style swapping animation, or most commonly, sprite art followed by several hundred words of dialogue and character interaction. Pages came by different artists, different styles, different mediums, different paces and focuses, but with a breadth-spanning understanding of memes and the internet. Factors of style, innovation and novelty affected the diversity of fan output. Part of my extreme willingness to take part in Homestuck fandom was that Homestuck was so crammed to the brim with open ended creative potential, just the multiplicity of cool ideas and plot mechanics and vivid characters and weirdly novel framing that had really good ideas and existed literally nowhere else, and I say that as a huge sci-fi fan. Time travel in Homestuck was excellent. It was an ambitious story and I really do think it pulled it off. Homestuck was once described as the fossilized excrement of someone’s personal creative experiments, and I think that’s a good way of putting it. Enthusiasm and confusing daring teemed off the page, and translated into a wide variety of fanfiction and art, in style, content, theme, and pov. 

Lastly, Hussie had a tendency to canonize fan content and hire fanartists and fananimators if their output was solid enough with a gentle horse kiss of approval and a naturally internet-transparent hiring process, like a forum. This was a purposely fostered atmosphere in the spirit of experimental adventure, and was just fucking nuts. Fans never wrote the story, but they did heavily influence aspects of how it was told and where it went (by design, fans were pretty much involved in making the comic) and even get to actually flesh out the details, like the main character’s names, memes, romances, character, and scope. Everything from canon sprite art to bits of the Midnight Crew to Caliborn’s character to Calliope’s art skill to music and trickster arcs were all originally based on years of fan jokes and fandom. Homestuck was definitely Hussie’s sole property and precious baby, but he built it as interactive-ish and creatively as he could. It added an extra layer of galvanizing egging on to fandom purpose. I don’t know how else to explain everything that came of it. Fandom was like a roiling morass of bullshit activity, like a breaking news bullpen 24/7, there was so much energy sparking off of all facets of fandom because it was just so fun. Fan output was borderline insane in 2010-2013.

Hussie said fandom grew exponentially at the introduction of the Trolls in Act 5 in mid 2010, but I can honestly say I think fandom really started treating Homestuck like a hidden gem worth proselytizing right after the events of [S] Cascade at the end of 2011. Before then, Homestuck was tenuously good, and had a rep on tumblr for having weirdly ubiquitous fans and over- detailed fancontent, but [S] Cascade was the moment every single gamble asked of the reader in the story actually paid off. In fact, Homestuck’s plot was generally constructed to climax at [S] Cascade, as was apparent from the big explosion of fan reaction after the fact. At this point, you would be hard pressed to find a fan that wouldn’t say, “Homestuck is good.”  

THE KICKSTARTER (2012)

Right after [S] Cascade, a lot of things happened in quick succession. Act 6 started, revealing what endgame would probably look like. It was slated to be shorter than Act 5, envisioned as a kind of denouement. Lord English, the final villain, was revealed. Hussie stated he thought the comic would end the following year. I think Hussie saw the ending was in sight and started trying to merchandise for real at this point, god tier hoodies started releasing at a faster rate, Homestuck book 1 came out (in addition to Problem Sleuth book 3), there was a Homestuck music (and track art) contest announced with hundreds of fan submissions, and the incongruous but hilarious public induction of Dante Basco, Hollywood superstar, who was instantly whisked into the Homestuck fandom’s fold as soon as he formed a tumblr. Homestuck had a bit of a reputation by then so the fandom (+ Hussie) was legitimately trying to woo him gently. This was entertaining for everybody, including Dante Basco. (For those who haven’t gotten that far, Dante Basco is a character in Homestuck.) (As some trivia, Grey DeLisle also briefly made a tumblr in this time, influenced by the instant rapport Dante Basco had, voiced some Vriska lines, then left due to some unrelated but tumblr-typical drama.)

There probably weren’t even specifics on who was going to be programming, illustrating, producing, and writing Hiveswap- and I’m still vaguely convinced Hussie scrolled through Promstuck and then hired deudlyfirearms (Calliope’s official artist) on the spot to illustrate all his future creative endeavors. I know Guzusuru got hired at least partially due to Lullaby for Gods, not to speak in the least for Paperseverywhere or Toastyhat (tumblr usernames used just in case, dril), plus a literal list of artists you could follow through various Homestuck fan production to official product lines. With Hiveswap, Homestuck went from hobby to full time job for some people. But before all that, in 2012 Homestuck as source material was apparently endless and constant, and let’s just say by 2013, Hussie never had to ASK for specific fan content, assets, musicians, artists, programmers, writers, even money. He just had to allow fandom a place, an address, an email, anything, to let them throw it at him. I have actually never seen anything like it, this weird businesslike use of talents within and out of comic. This is why mid 2012 art assets and minigames suddenly start becoming more populous, culminating in the nearly entirely guest art illustrated, programmed, and animated EOA6 and A7 and guest written post-canon snapchats in 2016. (This is also the time the MSPA forums crashed.) Also the art, programming, and music team for Hiveswap seem comprised of former fan musicians and artists. 

One thing that’s no concern for Hiveswap: it will be was beautifully illustrated, scored, and animated by people who loved Homestuck.

In sum: 2012 Homestuck was in full swing. Homestucks flooded cons, more than usual, to such a volume of painted gray tweenagers that cons in general (and hotels) had to rewrite the rulebooks surrounding such things as panels, photoshoots, and draw meets. MSPA servers were still barely holding up, especially after big upd8s, and were constantly being upgraded. Tindeck made a whole genre tag on their site for Homestuck fanmusic. What Pumpkin and Topatoco couldn’t keep up with demand, everything was constantly out of stock. Staff and even Hussie didn’t announce when new products were released until weeks later because if they did, the entire store server would immediately crash for long periods of time. This remained true even into 2016, apparently. There were homestuck plushes, furniture, tattoos, rooms, board games, video games, cards, dolls, products you wouldn’t even think of– a whole years long scrum about establishing copyright and what could sell where to who. Promstuck was a once-a-year reality in random cities around the US or otherwise. Art Team and Music Team had quick fame gain, I know at least Music Team members could feasibly live off of Homestuck revenue as their day job. Ben Nye grey paint actually sold out before a con, and even to this day any gray paint on amazon will be utterly dominated by troll cosplay reviews. Even small trivially related products like the record of the guy who posted “I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew” on youtube was convinced to list the record on ebay for a couple hundred dollars in a sprightly fan bidding war. This was completely unremarkable at the time. 

The most interesting thing about Homestuck is that it was a) entirely spread by grassroots efforts and word of mouth, and b) a free webcomic. Though unlike the T.V syndicated and advertised shows like Sherlock or Dr. Who or anime, or the multi-billion dollar industries of Marvel or Nintendo, with nearly zero effort to be anything but weird and internet obscure, Homestuck seemed just as bafflingly popular and literally impossible to avoid as professionally advertised hollywood blockbusters, popular anime, television serial shows, and multi million video games, at least on tumblr, reddit, and 4chan, and conventions. Because of all the factors that went into it’s circuitous development, if you hadn’t read through a huge chunk of Homestuck, you wouldn’t even understand and you couldn’t even properly explain why such a niche but undeniable popularity existed. It was such a phenomenon. 

People who had (reasonably) never even heard of Homestuck would stumble upon a fandom antic and observe with growing confusion the busy masses hard at work. Bright blue horse dildo fundraised and sent dutifully to creator? (At least three different dildos on 3 different social media homestuck fan sites were fundraised publicly.) Gruesome artwork of puppet fetish websites carefully placed with pages of critiqued meta with way too much attention? Even the usual deluges of upd8 fanart and fantheory? Entire forum sites and rp sites and chat clients enthusiastically founded just for the constant need to discuss the story? Homestuck became recognizable by horns and grey paint and terrifyingly huge meetups, a nearly frantic aura and art meets or prom dances just for fans - “What the fuck is Homestuck?!” became a fandom catchphrase, because it was always being commented on. Tbh, Homestuck is the r rated precursor for Undertale in memetic inclination and story framing style. Memes, man.

And in the midst of this, in September 2012, Hussie suddenly announced a Homestuck Video Game Kickstarter. The long awaited scalemate plushes were introduced as a reward tier. And unexpectedly, a lavishly illustrated ostensibly Kickstarter exclusive Homestuck tarot deck by popular fanartists as one of the reward tiers.  

For context: The entire premise of Homestuck is that it was a transcribed gaming session of a video game that didn’t exist. Opening a Homestuck Video Game Kickstarter was a fitting sequel, the equivalent of waving an 8th book prequel in front of Harry Potter fans, as illustrated by the cream of the crop, if every previous iteration of the Harry Potter series was also free. In addition, the goal was $700,000, and Homestuck had over 2 million online fans. There wasn’t a question if $700,000 was going to be feasible as a funding goal, it was more a question of how far the fandom could goad itself into trying to overshoot it. In fact, I remember being kind of disappointed we didn’t reach 3 million. We capped just below 2.5 million including the paypal donations. Homestuck started making “official” waves in news articles and such, of people who noticed a completely incomprehensible kickstarter got a lot of money somehow, and this in addition to the typically update culture-fast result (the funding goal was reached in about 30 hours of a month long campaign,) was regarded as very bizarre by everyone who didn’t know what Homestuck was. 

Trivia: there was even a $10,000 tier introduced as a joke, where “your fantroll will become canon (for one panel, and then die),” which was hastily closed after two people actually took it. (One was an army vet who thoroughly enjoyed the story and basically wanted to donate as thanks, and the other has remained impressively anonymous.) First time I saw Hussie publicly searching for words. I really could say 2012 Homestuck was approaching some kind of mania. Considering how Homestucks were, if someone named their firstborn off a Homestuck character, I wouldn’t have been shocked. The game was funded. 

Homestuck hiatus’ started in earnest. This was due to the increased production schedule of both the Kickstarter game being punted into development, the troubled indie game development cycle, and more detailed HTML5 games (openbound) in the comic, and product production, which is, you know, was fair enough. Updates were frequent enough to keep fandom active and frothy well into 2013, where the lack of Game Updates in conjunction with comic hiatus’ were both uncharacteristic and concerning. 

Homestuck was abruptly shifted off of regular upd8 schedules, and upd8 notifiers were sadly put to rest. 

HIATUS FANDOM (2013-2014)

Here was a unique factor of 2013 Homestuck fandom, for the lack of content, fandom moved en masse to an alternative ‘hiatus fandom,’ in some kind of effort to keep together over the wait. This literally singlehandedly boosted the popularity of games like OFF, Dangan Ronpa, etc. Homestuck hiatus fans were already pro at boosting popularity through word of mouth, and these obscure-but-popular video games were fun to pimp in the meantime. A more recent, toned down example would be 17776. 

Here was also something weird. In December 2013 Hussie apparently (as creative director only) had some kind of mysterious would-be trial run with Shiftylook with Namco ips, resulting in Namco High, the Homestuck and Namco character dating sim, where you could date Davesprite (who had a surprising amount of meta character development,) Terezi, Pacman, and Galaga. It was so out of nowhere nobody knew what to do with it. It was an indication of what Homestuck as a franchise was probably going to expand into, though, and an intriguing move on the part of Bandai. 

In the comic hiatuses and throughout the roadblocked kickstarter game development, canon-side, the Paradox Space quasi-canon side project and WeLoveFine (later ForFansByFans, who took over merchandising,) continued on the spirit of fandom support- notably the original Art Contest to make new merch- now streamlined into a “fan forge” where any fan can go through a voting process to say, pitch a new product and later be hired on the most recent calendar, then show up working a new Friendsim.... etc. 

After this a new generation of internet fans appeared to ‘notice’ Homestuck, hearing it was ending, and joined in, making the Kickstarter garner a kind of shadowed conspiracy-riddled rumortale more than anything, which really outstripped the simplicity of what happened: hardworking but troubled development.

The End of Homestuck was hanging like the sword of Damocles over our collective motivations, you can still find mournful farewell Homestuck fanart floating around to this day! In fact, the fandom believed it was the End of Homestuck several times in 2014-2015. Fandom was tamping down on the corners, cleaning up fanart (relatively), tucking away the crazily ambitious scifi world spanning AU fic. The wild, raw creativity that used to be so rampant through all corners of the internet seemed vaguely diminished, tidier, more understandable, trackable, and efficient. Big Projects never showed their roughs and drafts until the final products anymore, small circles of discourse popped up in pretty polite language and with almost no capslock. The discussions weren’t on What Hussie Would Pop On Us This Time To Overhaul The Entire Plot Of Homestuck, it was more like, did he make the gay Gay Enough™? Vriscourse remained eternal, though. 

And it isn’t just nostalgia talking. I’ve noticed some Homestucks still think fandom is a rush of collective community like they’ve never before experienced, that upd8 celebrations are pretty dang wild, and Homestuck convention presences are well-established, but now? In 2015-2017? This is calm and active, there are still some cool projects going on, but nothing like the insanity that was associated with Homestuck. Homestuck was the ‘biggest’ fandom I’ve ever been in, in terms of sheer forced commiseration and activity, and it just has not reached anything close to the levels of 2011-2013 bullshittery and spark plugs. 

But the fandom is still present- people treat it like a phase, but Homestuck is still a clever story that retains all the aspects that attracted readers to it in the first place. Also, the fandom still regularly accomplishes minor feats of economics like this even in 2016: 

because that is the level of fan fervor that Homestuck inspires, forever, apparently.

I’d last like to note I’ve skipped a lot, I tried to keep it as zoomed out and as general as possible. I’d like to explain the true foibles of 2013 Homestuck fandom, such as the forced formation of entire rp websites, apps, programs, and platforms dedicated to fanning Homestuck more efficiently, how fans formed new mediums and literal ways of expression and vast organized contests on how to express themselves and collaborate better, how there was almost a fan project-pipeline system in place, and how exactly Homestuck influenced Undertale (think of the meta) and an entire mini generation of webcomics and tv show story boarders spiritually, and I haven’t even tried to explain the aspects of Homestuck’s use of framing and how genuinely interesting it is from a storytelling perspective, and how the interaction of Hussie and the fandom and serial updates affected people’s connectivity because out of scope.

...But just for posterity and context of update culture: Quoth Gankro, programmer: 

So the biggest thing to keep in mind with MSPA is that it's based entirely off of collaboratively riffing off eachother's ideas. It started out as a faux text-based adventure where people would post prompts, and Andrew would take the ones he liked and riff off of them. As far as I'm concerned this is Andrew's super power: the ability to take a pile of things (comments, art, music, ideas, people) and rapidly recombine them into amazing things. The chatlogs in Homestuck full of amazing back and forths? That's just what talking to Andrew in chat was. Constant riffing and feedback loops.... 

Anyway, this is all to say that the genesis of ideas, and even how things got developed, is honestly really murky with Homestuck? Everything was kinda adhoc, a riff-on-a-riff, and done in incredibly little time....

I can't emphasize this scramble enough. Andrew was a ceaseless content machine, and I don't think I was ever "blocked" on him producing content. Which is ridiculous considering how much content is packed into our games. (like, hundreds of pages of dialogue)

Michael Bowman, music team: 

Volume 5 going out of its way to include gobs and gobs of material definitely changed the project; the floodgates opened. I think people admired Andrew's astonishingly prolific pace from 2009 to 2012, and between 2010 and 2011 the music project had the same vibe: we released one or two albums monthly. 

-fan interviews courtesy though the efforts of u/drewlinky 

Homestuck and it’s fandom has the unique distinction of being nigh unexplainable, as in, it took this long just to fully outline how the Homestuck Kickstarter was always going to be wildly successful, and how development was always going to take years even without the incident with the Odd Gentlemen, who clearly didn’t understand why Homestuck was popular or even why that mattered, (pre- Undertale), in the first place, but with the news of Viz taking on Homestuck’s license on account of that viral-like marketability so now there’s an actual possibility that Homestuck will finally become…… anime, why not hearken back to the good ol days and be relentlessly picayune for the hell of it? 

Happy 10/25!

[lifeasarandomdudeknowsit-blog]

Entry #383 - Onward and Upward

I've spent a little while ever since posting yesterday's entry thinking about what exactly I want to do with my writing and blogging since the concept of writing a thousand words a day every day no longer appeals to me.  While I have not necessarily figured out exactly what I want to do moving forward, I do think I am going to set an end date for this blog.  Really, I should have ended it either the day I hit one year of writing or the day after, since the day after was my birthday.  I've mostly been on autopilot the past couple of weeks as far as writing is concerned, and I don't really want that any more.  I want to have passion when I write, and the past couple of weeks (and, more accurately, the past few months) have mostly been me just cranking out entries because it was a goal I set for myself.  And while I am happy I achieved my goal, I have not been particularly happy with the output.  Some people thrive by creating something ever day, whether or not it ends up being to their standards.  I don't know if I am one of those people.  I think I am more inclined to take time and work towards something that happens once a week, maybe even less.  I don't really want to feel like I'm coasting with my writing.  I want it to have a purpose, even if that purpose is as simple as covering something as silly as pro wrestling.  But I don't want to water down my content by feeling as though I HAVE to write something every day.  There are some days where I have absolutely no motivation to write anything.  I don't want to force myself to write some half-assed post about how I don't want to be writing that day.  That has happened far too often over the last few months.

So when is the cutoff date for this blog?  Probably fairly soon.  I wouldn't mind ending on a nice, round, arbitrary number that ends in a bunch of zeroes.  But that will still force me to write here for a couple more weeks at least, which really isn't THAT bad when you think about it.  Besides, if this is going to be the last hurrah of this blog, I may as well lay out a few things I may or may not have ever discussed here before, maybe tell a few final stories before moving on to a new project.  I don't think one of those stories will surface today, but you never know.

The idea that I'm not going to be limited by the somewhat strict guidelines I set for myself over a year ago is already relieving some of the stress I feel every day when I sit down to write on this blog.  Just knowing that soon, I will be able to write as much or as little as I want, whenever I want, is surprisingly gratifying.  I will admit that it's probably going to feel very strange if I go a day or three without writing something that ends up out there on the internet.  But I think it's good to take a break from something every so often, especially if you've been doing said thing every day for over a year.  I would imagine I will feel fairly anxious that first day I decide not to write anything, since by now, my brain has been trained to feel anxious until I end up writing my daily entry, after which I feel a huge sense of relief.  This is not how I wanted to feel during this yearlong project.  I wanted to look forward to writing, not dread it.

I will say a couple of quick things before I close out today's entry.  I've been listening to a couple of new podcasts recently that are fairly outside the styles I am used to listening to.  I believe I've already talked about Pistol Shrimps Radio, where two men who know nothing about basketball cover a women's rec league basketball team.  It is fascinating improv, and even though I don't know whether they are actually covering a real rec league or it's all made up (and I'm certain a quick Google search would yield the answer), I kind of prefer not knowing and letting my imagination flow freely.  It's a wonderful, surreal, hilarious experience, and I cannot recommend it enough.

The other show is one I've wanted to listen to for a while, but did not until yesterday, when I figured I needed something to listen to while cleaning off my dining room table (mission mostly accomplished on that, by the way).  I actually only listened to this podcast because I did not have any new episodes for the other shows I listen to, and figured I'd go ahead and give it a listen.  It is called Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, where host Chris Gethard takes a phone call from an anonymous person and they talk about whatever they want to for an hour.  The only rules are that the caller cannot reveal TOO much about their identity, that Chris cannot hang up for any reason (but the caller can hang up if/whenever they want), and once the clock reaches one hour, the call is disconnected no matter what.  I listened to what was labeled as the first episode, and it was fascinating, not just to hear the caller's story, but to hear how he was struggling with several of the same issues I find myself struggling with.  It was powerful and emotional, and the fact that I was listening to one person trying to help change the life of another, even by taking small steps to start, while I was taking a small step towards improving my own life felt like more than just a coincidence to me.  I've since listened to the first four episodes, and every caller has been fascinating.  The fourth episode also struck a chord with me, as the caller was a person who was putting her life and soul into her dreams, going so far as to live in her car for almost half a year just so she could pursue her passion.  Her story really resonated with me.  It's amazing how hearing someone else's story can help you realize something about yourself.  It's a great podcast, and I would recommend checking it out.

I suppose I will end on that note. There will probably only be a few more of these entries here, but rest assured, I will not stop writing.  I just don't plan on confining myself to writing a thousand words every day.  I mean if I DO end up doing that, that's fine.  But I don't want to have it hanging over my head.  I want to look forward to writing again, and I imagine this will happen once I start a new project.

[agplus3]

Job Of The Day 3-5-2020

*US CITIZENS*  JOB OPENINGS!!

Are you in the market of finding a new career? Are you actively seeking a new position? If so, tell me what it is you're looking for. I am a recruiter and I have access to many job openings that may not be posted on job search engines.

Send me a message , we can talk in private. Or, if you want, leave a comment. I'll be happy to help! :-)

AG Plus 3 Recruiting

agplus3@hotmail.com

 If you see a job you are interested in or may be qualified for and want more details on that job, message me with the Job Title, City and State of that job and I can get you all the information needed!

 Also, like and follow my page AG Plus 3 Recruiting to stay up to date with the most recent job openings!! You can find me on Instagram, Liknedin, FB Page, Twitter and Youtube!

 Just because you don’t see a job listing in your city or state, doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t one. It might just mean I didn’t get to that one today. You can always message me and ask what it is you’re looking for and I will be happy to take a look 😊

  SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER

LOCATION

Dover, DE

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$115 - $130,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 2, 2020

 TITLE:  Manager, Supply Chain  

Bonus eligible; Relocation package; Outstanding benefits

JOB SUMMARY:

The Plant Supply Chain Manager for 300+ person industrial equipment manufacturer. Oversee all procurement, materials supply, and logistics. Supervise a team of several dozen personnel. Reports to Site Manager.

 REQUIREMENTS:

BS degree

8 years of supply chain experience in a plant manufacturing environment.

  CNC PROGRAMMERS / MACHINISTS

LOCATION

Orlando, FL

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$27 / hr

POSTED

Jan 28, 2020

Our client is in need of Multiple CNC machinists with computer numeric controlled (CNC) experience.

From setup to operation to produce parts and tools from metal, plastic or other materials.

Computer numeric controlled equipment is precision machinery that cuts, grinds, or drills into the material.

CNC machinists make adjustments to the machine to control speed, material feed and path of the cut, as well as make sure the machines are set up properly, working well, and producing quality product.

CNC machinists make sure their machines are working at full capacity, are stocked with needed materials, well-maintained and perform periodic checks on output.

They look at the finished product to ensure it is defect-free and ready for the next step in production.

 OVERALL DUTIES:

Must be able to program, setup, and operate CNC machines

Must be able to deburr own parts

  ACCOUNTING MANAGER

LOCATION

Alpharetta, GA

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$70,000 - $80,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 4, 2020

We are currently seeking an Accounting Manager in the Alpharetta, GA area

Responsibilities and Requirements:

A global manufacturer having multiple locations across North America as well as throughout the world. The Accounting Manager will direct and manage the plant financial reporting and cost accounting activities.

This position has a strong focus in cost accounting, inventory control and production planning capacity. The candidate should have strong experience in manufacturing cost accounting, cost variance reporting, inventory control, scrap reduction efforts and in working with Plant Management in helping to make the facilities cost efficient. This role is responsible for the plant financial analytics to include plant analytics, dashboards and plant KPI’s and internal control procedures.

This position will report to the Business Unit Controller.

Key Responsibilities:

Control of the plant costs factors of labor, overhead and freight

Control the plant waste of scrap, raw and finished goods inventory and control of material variances

Performs product line profitability analysis and analyze the daily job variance with plant supervisors

Tracks and monitors production capacity

Prepares and reviews various daily operating metrics to monitor business performance

Analyzes and reviews bills of material to ensure accurate product costing

Prepares actual versus budget analysis, manufacturing profit variance analysis, and actual to standard cost comparisons

Performs product line profitability analysis

Organizes and leads the annual physical inventory and manages the cycle counting process as appropriate and monitor of inventory levels (raw material, WIP and finished goods)

Prepares month end manufacturing variance reports with KPI's and Dashboards

Job Qualifications:

BS Degree in Accounting / Finance

4+ years of cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment providing Cost Accounting oversight and experience in manufacturing plant settings

Strong experience with inventory control, plant reporting metrics, capacity planning and providing and preparing operations financial analysis tools

Solid plant operations experience including key plant metrics drivers, cost containment, inventory and scrap control

Demonstrated experience as a business partner and financial leader to Plant Managers / General Manager of Business Units

Dynamic and outgoing personality

Experience with larger ERP manufacturing fully integrated softwares

Strong Excel skills

Excellent communications skills; verbally and in writing

Some travel is required for this position to plant location(s)

 INSIDE SALES SPECIALIST

LOCATION

Garden City, NY

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$45,000 - $45,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 5, 2020

Our client is a leading publisher of business directories and due to rapid growth and increased demand, we are looking to hire an Inside Sales Specialist onto our client’s team who enjoys speaking with people and has a talent for presenting our company’s products and services to prospective clients who have expressed interest in learning more about the products and services. As an Inside Sales Specialist, you will have opportunities for ongoing development in the company and a great team supporting you in the sales processes. You will receive training on our products along with their content and pricing to convey to your clients. The ideal candidate will have a great work ethic, sales experience, and a desire to win. This exciting position will maximize your sales skills and provide substantial financial rewards.

 Compensation-Base salary plus commission -$80,000 earnings the in first year and over $100,000 in the second year

 Requirements and Responsibilities:

 Able to handle/overcome objections by providing clients with accurate information and emphasizing the benefits of the services we provide

Must be able to generate new business by outbound calling

4+ years of inside sales and/or outbound selling experience

Must be capable of the closing process

Assisting members in gathering new and updated biographical information for our database of 1.5 million people

Offer products and services to executives and professionals online to increase their credibility and visibility

Present our clients with new products and services offered by our company

Create new branding customer base

Converse with business professionals on any level.

Time management and organizational skills

Ability to work at own pace, independently

Must have exceptional verbal and written communication skills

Maintaining detailed notes in our database

Work independently in a fast-paced work environment

Qualifications

 4+ years of sales experience required

Your determination to succeed matches our desire for you to succeed

You are flexible and self-motivated

   RN / HOSPICE DIRECTOR OF NURSING

LOCATION

Charleston, SC

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$85,000 - $92,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 2, 2020

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:  Do not apply for this position unless you have home health or hospice experience.  No exceptions.  Thank you.

 Description:

The Director of Nursing is responsible for the overall clinical operation of the hospice care agency. Key responsibilities involve budgetary, management, leading the activities of the nursing team, providing clinical direction, and ensuring growth and profitability of the agency. Our candidate will possess the ability to work well with an interdisciplinary team to ensure quality levels consistent with professional standards and goals.

 Job Requirements:

Leadership and strong clinical leadership experience is a must. At least 2 years Hospice/Home Care clinical leadership experience is required

 Educational Requirements:

Currently licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN) in good standing with the State Board in which he/she practices. Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing preferred.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

Leadership and strong clinical leadership experience is a must. At least 1-2 year Hospice/Home Care clinical leadership experience is required

  PLANT SAFETY SPECIALIST

LOCATION

Springfield, IL

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$75,000 - $85,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 3, 2020

Safety Specialist position will support a large industrial facility and drive the continuous improvement of the health & safety process for the site. Develop and implement safety systems and programs, audits, training, industrial hygiene, emergency response and related activities.  This position is part of the EHS Department and will report into the site EHS Manager.    

Technical expertise in areas of developing and delivering training, machine guarding assessments, LOTO and EHS Management System implementation highly preferred.

Bachelor degree plus (3) years of plant level safety experience required.  Relocation assistance will be offered along with excellent benefit program and competitive compensation.  

  ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

LOCATION

Jacksonville, FL

TYPE

Direct Hire

POSTED

Jan 15, 2020

In the Electrical Engineer role, you will have the opportunity to serve as Project Manager, Client Manager, and Senior Project Engineer. In addition, you will have the unique opportunity to help to lead and continue to grow our office’s electrical engineering team. Advancement opportunities exist beyond the position of Electrical Engineer as our upper leadership team continues to transition into new roles and additional branch offices are formed.

 Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in the design of buildings and related projects

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

• Registered Electrical Engineer with ability to obtain registration in Florida

• Experience in the design of power distribution, lighting and fire alarm systems for healthcare,

commercial, multi-family, assisted living and institutional projects

• Experience with AutoCAD/Revit

• Design and management experience with a focus on:

        o Client Satisfaction

        o Quality

        o Managing architectural projects

 Design and management experience with a focus on Client Satisfaction, Quality, Leading and managing a technical staff, Managing architectural projects

 Recommendations:

• NCEES License

• LEED AP accreditation

• Understanding knowledge of applicable codes and healthcare guidelines

 Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the leadership to the office’s Electrical Engineering Department

• Lead multi-discipline engineering teams on selected projects, serving as the client’s main point of contact for the engineering team

• Provide oversight of electrical engineering projects

• Maintain and foster relationships with selected established clients

   SR. SUBSTATION ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

LOCATION

Newark, NJ

TYPE

Direct Hire

SALARY

$130,000 / yr

POSTED

Mar 3, 2020

Senior Substation Electrical Engineer

Locations: Newark NJ, Atlanta GA, Boston MA, Manchester NH, Portland ME, Augusta ME

Global EPC Engineering firm is seeking experienced Substation Electrical Engineer to help lead a dramatic surge in T&D engineering services in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The scope of work will encompass high level engineering designs ranging from 15 kV - 765 kV. Position will be responsible for development of physical layout of equipment, protection and control logic, elementary and wiring diagrams and will be required to supervise subordinate engineers and designers to assure the quality of design deliverables.  Position will also be responsible for specification and procurement of engineered equipment, as well as development of design scope and cost estimates.

Requirements:

10 - 15 years experience in the design of electric utility substations

PE License and/or ability to obtain

Proficiency with AutoCAD and/or MicroStation

Significant experience in the “physical” design of substations

Coordination with P&C specialists, designers, and transmission engineers

Preferable experience in Substation design for large utility clients

Ability to work in support of marketing efforts as well as project execution

=====

Salary is dependent upon experience

Relocation assistance

Comprehensive benefits package

Must be authorized to work in US

   AUTOMATION AND CONTROLS SPECIALIST - TECH SUPPORT

LOCATION

Cumming, GA

TYPE

Direct Hire

POSTED

Feb 27, 2020

Automation and Controls expertise needed in Cumming, GA, for troubleshooting issues and answering technical pre-sales and post-sales questions received via, phone, email and/or chat. Questions may involve any product from any line which include: PLC's/I/O/PC Control, HMI's/Communications, Drives/Motors/Motion, Process/Fluid Power, Power Distribution and Industrial Components.

 Why work here?:

NO TRAVEL

8-5 or 8-6 with half day off each week, NO OVERTIME

Quarterly bonuses and generous profit sharing

Team-based culture

Training provided first month and ongoing training every few days

Excellent benefits: health/dental/life insurance, 401k, bonus, profit sharing

On-campus cafe and gym and exercise classes

Tuition reimbursement

 Requirements:

Customer Support/Troubleshooting - Provide solutions to customer issues received via, phone, email and/or chat. Maintain internal database (Heat application) of call information. May conduct technical research, testing and/or re-create customer issues using actual equipment and configurations to assist in trouble-shooting.

Training – Attend team meetings and training sessions to learn new products. When not taking calls, may also train/re-train on existing products to increase knowledge.

Documentation – May create application notes, review product documentation and update hard-copy or online documentation as needed.

Point of Contact – Act as a Tech Support liaison with other teams when new products are considered. This may include documentation development and review for new products as well as evaluation and/or development assistance for new products.

Qualifications:

Requires 5 years experience, or Technical Degree with a minimum of 3 years experience.

PLC programming and troubleshooting/start-up experience.

Experience setting up and troubleshooting Windows to industrial Ethernet network.

HMI programming and troubleshooting experience.

Communications experience with various industry networking solutions (Devicenet, Profibus, etc.) desirable.

Experience with AC servo, Variable frequency drives, and stepper systems products a plus.

   SWISS CNC MACHINIST

LOCATION

Fort Myers, FL

TYPE

Direct Hire

POSTED

Jan 28, 2020

Successful candidates will have at least three years of experience/training setting up, operating and troubleshooting CNC machines in a manufacturing environment. Experience with Citizen, Star, Tsugami, Tornos or other Swiss machines is preferred.

 Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

 Receives work order and verifies that the components are correct

Receives material and loads on bar feeder; adjusts bar feeder for proper size of material and performs a dry run without material; verifies material against work order for correct lot number

Performs first PC inspection when setup is completed

Adjusts tools or dyes to meet blueprint specifications.

Downloads programs to the machine, dry run machine with no material and all tools in place.

Performs first cut-off

Ability of make tool off-set

Returns all axis to the home position

Monitors screen pages and machine operation to detect malfunctions or out-of-tolerance machining and adjusts machine controls or control media; verifies the correct program in the machine is running

Uses various types of measuring instruments

Replaces tooling at the machine

Verifies conformance of finished work piece to specifications, using precision measuring instruments

Confirms that inspection process is kept at AQLS C=0  Example: check parts every 30 minutes

Sets up and operates machine on trial run to verify accuracy of machine settings or programmed control data

Stops machine to change settings, offsets and setup according to required machining sequence or to measure parts for conformance to blueprint specifications using precision measuring instruments

Recommends process improvements with supervisor or programming personnel to resolve problems

Ensures work area, machine, tooling and parts are cleaned regularly and free from excess oil deposits

Demonstrates ability to streamline processes to increase productivity and quality; production and prototype jobs are set up consistently, timely and accurately

Installs and adjusts collects with proper pressure

Cleans and assembles all collect assemblies, removes or replaces fixture, collects and tools. Inspects old collects and guide brushes

Verifies correct tools against tool sheet and program; sets up any type of tool in the pre-setter and/or machine

Notifies programmers of issues and updates required for improvements

Shows exceptional teamwork.

Ability to drive others to exceed goals.

Very good communication skills.

Knowledge and skills on the areas where the training is going to be performed, be at least a set-up person.

Attention to detail

 Education and Experience:

 High School Diploma or equivalent.

  If the stars were made to worship, so will I.

John 16:33

[joneswilliam72]

Watch: Music and resistance to drug warrior tyranny – Boiler Room’s To Live and Die in Manila.

I caught up with Angela Stephenson, the director behind To Live and Die in Manila (which you can watch free below), Boiler Room's new short documentary on President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal authoritarianism and extra-judicial killings in the Philippines – of not just drug pushers but users too – and the artists who oppose it using their creative output.

Since becoming president of the Philippines in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has caused widespread fear and devastation across Manila. Set in one of the world's most dangerous cities, To Live and Die in Manila gives a vital voice to the musicians (particularly artists like Eyedress, Owfuck, BP Valenzuela, Teenage Granny and Jeona Zoleta) putting their life on the line for their right to showcase creativity that their country associates with drug crimes punishable by death.

This is actually the second interview I've done with Stephenson on this project. The first can be read here at CitizenTruth.org – it gets more deeply into the politics and happenings underlying the resistance of these Filipino artists to Duterte's authoritarian rule.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

For the interview here, Stephenson and I sat down for a chat more about her artistic methods and the actual aesthetic of To Live and Die in Manila – along with the huge challenges of filming such a fundamentally subversive piece in a country where many basic rights have been stripped away.

Catch To Live and Die in Manila – and the interview – below.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

Hello Angela and welcome to The 405! To start things off, I was hoping we could an idea of your artistic history. What attracted you to film as an art form?

Hi, thank you! I've always been interested in photography, but when I didn't get into my chosen university to study for a photography degree, I put it on the backburner and continued to shoot only as a hobby. I started with doing gig photography for fun, and through that I fell into the music industry. I worked with Boiler Room for several years on their live broadcast team, filming parties all over the world. When they started looking at covering more of the context behind the shows, I expressed an interest in moving into a more storytelling role, and with that I eventually started making documentaries and other short-form pieces, it felt like a natural progression.

What initially inspired you to do To Live and Die in Manila?

I really just wanted to shine a spotlight on the amazing music coming out of Manila. I realised I was in a good position to be able to help put Filipino music culture on the map, but I couldn't do that without addressing the situation in the country that all these artists were subjected to and openly vocal about in a lot of their music.

The visual language of the film really suited the subject matter. Gritty, realistic and this sort of balance between despair and precarious hope (reflected in the musicians and artists too). Could we get a look at your process to get the visuals you did?

I guess it was a case of trying to find the balance between celebrating Filipino culture and capturing the realities of life in Manila. I think despair and hope are feelings that you can flit between on an almost daily basis in Manila. To me, the city is beautiful, colourful, and visually stimulating and I wanted to capture that, but it comes with a lot of hard truths that you need to swallow in order to just go about your day. Accepting the traffic, the poverty, and the underlying feeling of danger is all part of life in the city.

Indeed.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

The visuals were shot over a period of two years on two different trips to Manila. On one of the trips I met Paco Raterta, who is a very talented director living and working out of Manila, and he lent me a lot of the visuals he used to create the music video for Eyedress's "Manila Ice" single. Snippets of the video are also featured in the film, particularly the scenes depicting the anonymous dead bodies that you see before Den Sy Ty's performance. These are the kind of images you were seeing in the news at the time.

Cool. Any interesting or funny moments stick out from the filming process?

The whole process felt like one big adventure, I'll never forget it. People are always pretty curious when you're out filming on the streets. I remember being asked angrily by a stranger if I was a journalist when I jumped out of the car to quickly film the posters depicting Duterte as Hitler. People are very sensitive to criticism of the president, and the Philippines is considered the deadliest country in Asia to be a journalist, they're often killed in their line of work and the current government is very keen on silencing Duterte's detractors, so it was sobering to feel threatened for just trying to capture footage in the street.

Really heroic what journalists do in fundamentally authoritarian countries like the Philippines under Duterte.

The part where Owfuck talks about taking acid as part of their creative writing process used footage shot in the red light district, it's quite a common place for people to shoot in because of all the neon lights.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA showing a scene from the city's interior.

I bet. The realism it brought added greatly to the atmosphere.

I shot it on a big Russian 16mm camera that I bought second hand, and I hadn't inserted the film correctly so all the footage from that day came back fucked up. It ended up being a total blessing in disguise as it actually visually reflected an acid trip quite accurately.

Gotta love those kind of happy accidents. What were the other challenges like?

Taking what is not a popular stance on the government was always going to be challenging. My Filipino mother falls into the majority of the population, being a supporter of Duterte, and I kept the entire process a secret from her until the film was finished. When I eventually sent her the final edit, she was really upset by it. The fact that I had to release the film knowing it could put a strain on our relationship was a burden, but I knew that her view would be shared by a lot of Filipinos, and it prepared me for any criticism to come, from people who would be unhappy by the way the country and the president had been depicted.

Wow yeah.

The criticism just proves how much this film and more like it are really needed, there's a cognitive shift that needs to take place in order for a lot of Filipinos to sympathise with the people whose lives are being affected by the issues discussed here. Jess Kohl's Anarchy in the Philippines film, which was a great portrayal of a punk community in Manila and Tarlac reacting to the war on drugs, also suffered the same fate in the comments section.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

My challenge was inevitably having to challenge a Filipino audience to put their pride aside. This film isn't about blaming Duterte for everything, it's about asking ourselves what attitudes we're reinforcing by allowing our leader to condemn an entire group of people to death, instead of effectively engaging with the affected communities and helping tackle the problem from the root. It's about what example we're setting for ourselves and the next generation, who have only ever been taught that life is cheap in the Philippines.

That gets excellently into another pertinent question. What do you hope will be the main takeaway for people from the film?

I hope that the film engages young Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world, there's a lot of people out there like me who don't believe that we're going in the right direction, that the government is taking shortcuts to tackle a very complex problem.

I am as well, by the way.

Giving the artists in the film a platform to express how they feel and respond to their surroundings is just one small thing I could do to allow people to see how they're being affected directly and indirectly, how they're suffering mentally from living in a society that doesn't place enough value on human lives. We need to strive for a more peaceful society, and it's possible to leave behind the culture of violence that's been passed down from previous governments, but only if we collectively choose to move away from what is deeply rooted classism and seek the truth without prejudice.

Agreed.

The freedom to live without fear is something we should all be entitled to, not just the privileged few who can ignore the problem because they're happy to live under an increasingly authoritarian regime that only sacrifices the freedoms of those considered below them.

Music and art are pretty profound things in terms of their ability to effect social change. What can our readers do – if anything – to help in that?

I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to talk about what's going on, I think people just being aware of the issues is important, especially in an age of fake news and the government trying to cover its tracks to deny any wrongdoing.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

Couldn't agree more. It's a scourge really.

Duterte's style of leadership is hugely controversial and that also makes it distracting. Showing support for the journalists, photojournalists, musicians and artists who are often putting their lives or careers on the line to criticise the government, will hopefully go a long way. Their efforts can't be for nothing, and there's few people in the country actually taking them seriously. I urge people interested in this topic to look into the work of Filipinos like Maria Ressa, who has just been named as one of Time's people of year alongside other journalists from around the world. And Ezra Acayan, who is a photographer that has been on the ground documenting the suffering of the families who have lost loved ones to the war on drugs since its inception.

Absolutely. Real journalists need support now more than ever.

One question I ask everybody, what films and directors do you consider most pivotal on forming your outlook as a visual artist?

Y Tu Mamá También by Alfonso Cuarón has been one of my favourite films since I was a teenager, and it was special in the way that it was not only adventurous, beautifully shot, and emotionally stirring but also subtly captured the political and economic realities of Mexico at the time and the classist tension between the two main protagonists.

Watching LoveTrue by Alma Har'el was also quite pivotal for me, she blurred the lines between documentary and narrative in such a fascinating way and you could really feel just how involved she was in the lives of her subjects during the filming process.

Still from TO LIVE AND DIE IN MANILA.

And visually, Robby Müller's cinematography has always inspired me. I actually filmed the Manila sunset scene at the beginning of To Live and Die in Manila for another short film I was making based in the city, but when Eyedress said "to live and die in Manila" during our interview, I had to pull it from the other film to use as a tribute to Müller’s work on the opening credits of To Live and Die in LA, it felt quite serendipitous.

Wow. Very fitting. What makes a great film? And what makes a great documentary?

Personally I'm very visually driven, so the cinematography has to be considered and captivating.

Absolutely.

I think first and foremost however I'm quite emotional so I love films that evoke any feelings that I can relate to but can also introduce me to new feelings, and I appreciate any film that can do this by taking me out of the comfort of reality, even if only for a brief moment. While I think documentaries absolutely benefit from having an impartial view and a lot of them need this in order to tell a story accurately, I also think there's a special place for documentaries where you can feel the director has worked alongside the subjects to really express their point of view – that takes a lot of empathy.

Definitely. Have to get in the thick of it – as you did here – to get something really compelling. Finally, what's next for you?

I hope to continue making films that both celebrate and critique different aspects of Filipino culture. Everyone you meet there has an interesting story to tell and I'd like to depict some of these in both documentary and narrative film formats. It's also worth exploring the huge population of overseas Filipinos – there's a lot of issues surrounding the treatment of domestic workers abroad for example. Eyedress and I also made a music video together after meeting and working on this film, so I'd like to form more relationships with artists and make videos together that way too.

Stephenson directed this Eyedress video.

from The 405 http://bit.ly/2sQgxLS

[goldeagleprice]

Greedy states exaggerate tax yield

Last week, I traveled to another state to meet, along with some of that state’s coin dealers, with revenue and tax officials. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the impact on state tax collections should a rare coins, precious metals, and paper currency sales tax exemption be adopted by the state in 2019. Currently, only 13 states and the District of Columbia that impose a sales tax do not have a complete or partial sales tax exemption for rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency.

Since the 1990s, I have supported successful efforts to gain or expand such exemptions in the states of Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. I have traveled to several of these states, as well as to Kansas and Tennessee, to speak with the fiscal agencies and/or to legislative committees considering such legislation.

When sales tax exemption bills are introduced into the legislative process, the staffs in the revenue, fiscal, and tax agencies are asked to project a static tax impact statement on how much existing tax collections would be lost if the exemption became law.

Determining such a number is not straightforward. Even if the agency staff could identify which businesses were coin dealers (which is difficult to do) and total up their sales tax collections, virtually all coin dealers also handle other merchandise on which sales tax is collected but would not be affected by the exemption. Examples of other sales-taxable merchandise sold by coin dealers are jewelry, antiques, hobby supplies, other collectibles, and a wide range of electronics, hardware, and other products sold by coin dealers who are also pawnbrokers.

To help such agencies produce a realistic tax impact statement, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA), the national coin dealer trade association, did a national survey in 2016 of coin dealers on their 2015 actual sales (separating in-state retail sales between rare coins and precious metals bullion and other kinds of merchandise subject to sales tax), sales tax collections, and attendance at coin shows broken down between shows held in states with complete or partial sales tax exemptions or states with no exemption at all. On average, coin dealers in states that did not have to charge sales tax on rare coins and precious metals bullion enjoyed more than 10 times the sales volume of in-state retail sales of rare coins and precious metals bullion.

They also averaged several times the sales volume of other merchandise still subject to sales tax.

The reason for the higher sales of other taxable merchandise is due to higher store traffic. When Michigan adopted a rare coins and precious metals sales tax exemption in 1999, my company’s in-store traffic nearly tripled.

The agencies asked to produce the tax impact statements for a rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency sales tax exemption have often used a standard methodology for calculating the potential decrease in sales tax collections that is also used to analyze other tangible goods such as for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. As a result, their tax impact statements have typically reported a far higher amount of potential lost tax collections – often into the millions of dollars – than actually are received.

In years past, the typical effort to gain a rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency sales tax exemption involved a dealer or group of dealers in a state asking a friendly legislator to introduce such a bill. However, once the tax impact statement showed a large potential loss of tax collections, the bill almost always died.

That situation came up in the state in last week’s meeting, where a 2013 exemption effort could not overcome a tax impact statement of lost tax collections in the millions of dollars. One of the participants in last week’s meeting was a staffer who had a major part in preparing that 2013 tax impact statement. He said he was receptive to information that would show that his analysis in 2013 was more than 10 times what coin dealers were actually collecting but that he had a high degree of confidence in his original analysis.

The main reason his original analysis is flawed is that he did not understand that someone looking to purchase rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency have far more options to make an acquisition where no sales tax would ever be due whereas there are almost no such options available for consumers purchasing food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

What I am referring to specifically are the options to purchase “paper” precious metals instead of the physical products handled by coin dealers or to purchase physical precious metals in ways that will never be subject to sales taxes.

In fact, precious metals transactions are overwhelmingly conducted for paper assets instead of the physical products. In order to get a better gauge on how small the physical precious metals markets are, I did some research in the gold market.

Recent mintage figures for bullion gold coins are only available on a haphazard basis. So, I had to go back to 2010 to derive mintage figures for the various sizes of bullion-priced gold coins issued in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, South Africa, and the United States. Between them, they manufactured almost 4.25 million ounces of such gold coins. The average gold price in 2010, according to www.statista.com, was $1,224.53. That means that the annual output of mints in those six nations generated less than $5.2 billion in sales.

True, this analysis does not also include trade in gold bars. However, the gold bar trade is dominated by central banks and major investment funds. Gold bar demand by the kinds of people that purchase bullion-priced gold coins is only a fraction of the demand for coins.

So, say that the demand for physical gold coins and bars by customers who may patronize coin dealers comes to $7 billion annually worldwide. How does that compare to the paper gold trade?

Between the London Bullion Market Association and the New York COMEX, the average daily gold volume of trade in commodity contracts is more than $20 billion! That is more than $100 billion per week and over $5 trillion per year! That does not include the volume traded on other exchanges such as the TOCOM in Tokyo or exchanges in Australia, China, and Switzerland.

Then you have other forms of trading gold in paper form such as options contracts, shares in exchange traded funds, certificates for shares of precious metals stored at the Perth Mint and Royal Canadian Mint, or shares of stock in gold mining companies. It is even possible today to establish a checking account where the account balance is denominated in grams of gold, even though payments may be made in U.S. dollars or other currencies.

As for rare coins, some brokerage firms have established rare coin investment funds where the rare coin assets owned by the fund are stored in a state with no sales tax (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon).

Further, much of the trade in physical gold bars and coins is handled in such a way that they would never be subject to sales tax. For instance, customers making large purchases of physical gold coins and ingots may find it more practical to have them stored in vaults in Delaware. Or people can establish a self-directed precious metals Individual Retirement Account (IRA) where the assets are typically stored in Delaware. Pension plans and 401k plans may or may not be able to purchase rare coins, physical precious metals, and currency directly, but they can and do acquire any of the paper forms listed above.

Therefore, it was entirely possible that the analyst in the meeting last week could be accurate that the demand for rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency in his state would, if it were all traded in tangible products that entered the state to be subject to sales tax, might amount to the total he calculated. However, sales of precious metals are so sensitive to having to pay a sales tax that most customers in states where they would have to pay the tax make alternate arrangements to legally avoid it. As a consequence, it can also be true that the actual amount of sales taxes collected by dealers in the few states that do not yet have a rare coins, precious metals bullion, and currency sales tax exemption is just a small fraction of what such an analyst might project.

Patrick A. Heller is winner of the American Numismatic Association 2018 Glenn Smedley Memorial Service Award, 2017 Exemplary Service Award, 2012 Harry Forman Dealer of the Year Award, and 2008 Presidential Award. He was also honored by the Numismatic Literary Guild in 2017 and 2016 for the Best Dealer-Published Magazine/Newspaper and for Best Radio Report. He is the communications officer of Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., and writes “Liberty’s Outlook,” a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects. Past newsletter issues can be viewed at http://www.libertycoinservice.com. Some of his radio commentaries titled “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday and Friday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com).

  This article was originally printed in Numismatic News. >> Subscribe today.

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  The post Greedy states exaggerate tax yield appeared first on Numismatic News.

[guitareurope-blog]

Ronin Mirari

I have been playing guitar for over 20 years new (a 10-year hiatus not counted). There were a few bands, a few projects, but none were really quite successful.A few years ago I realised I didn’t want to be part of a band no more, it’s just not my thing.I’m having enough trouble already interacting with people in daily life, so being in a band is actually just making things worse.

At some point, ditching all the non-music related clutter proved exactly what I needed to rediscover the sheer joy of playing music, discovering and learning every day.

So there you are, I am what is referred to these days as a “bedroom player” I think (I don’t have a YouTube channel though) and quite frankly, it was the best choice I made in years.

I made this blog because I am guitar-obsessed. I confess. I need guitars, I crave guitars.

Below is a list of all the ones I’ve ever owned, on a 30-year basis. Not bad I’d say (but surely there are many severe cases).

  Session Super Strat

Fender pink Paisley MIJ Telecaster

Ibanez Frank Gambale S series

Hamer Chapparal with Sustainiac

Gretsch 1969 Country Gentleman

Ibanez Joe Satriani

Squire Telecaster

Ibanez Artist

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Hohner Explorer

No brand Strat

Peavey Super Strat

Nik Huber Dolphin

Collings LC-35

TLL Daphne

Hayride Telecaster

VC Telecaster

Maybach Lester

Gibson ES335 CS

Warmoth Strat

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Inspired by ‘55

Valley Arts Custom Pro

Gibson ‘57 JR Custom Shop VOS

  And now, a Ronin Mirari.

  This, my dear friends, was a life-changing experience.

It had such an impact, I felt I just had to write about it. Mainly because I’m just head-over-heels with it, but also because I thought it would be good to have a real-world review out there from a non-pro user, as honest and un-biased as possible.

  I remember looking at the Ronin website a few years back, thinking I’d never come across one I’d be able to buy, they’re quite exclusive and are almost never to be found used.

But then it suddenly happened. A 2018 Mirari in Castilian Red was listed on Reverb. Mint condition. I sold my Gibson JR as quick as I could to free soms funds and took the leap.

  I’ve never looked back since.

  From the first day on I couldn’t put her down.

This is the most inspiring instrument I have ever played. And more importantly, it lasts. Every time when I put the Mirari on my lap, the magic is there. Over and over again.

  I heard people put them off as “hipster guitars”, “overpriced boutique stuff that’s just well marketed” and so on …

I can tell you that every that word on the Ronin website is so accurately true, it is almost frightening. My Ronin lives up to every single-one of their claims. Period.

  And don’t just only take the word of an unknown bedroom player all the way from Belgium, but also from well-seasoned musicians as David Torn, Keith Urban, Jo Mahieu, Eric Melaerts, Dan Phelps, Eddie Martinez, Walter Becker … to name a few. I’m definitely in good company here!

  So, here’s my in-depth review.

  The first thing you notice when picking up a Mirari, is the weight, or better,  the lack of it.

It is ridiculously light.

Perfectly balanced and curved, it is a joy to play during long sessions, either standing or sitting.

Acoustically, there is a lot going on here, even before plugging in, playing this guitar reveals spectacular sonic qualities. Notes and chords ring and chime, there is plenty of definition and a wide range of dynamics at your fingertips.

I sometimes refer to complex wines as “3D”, in this case this description is equally appropriate.

It truly is a beautiful marriage, the redwood body and the mahogany neck, resonance is almost felt before heard.

  Plugging in, all of the above gets amplified and multiplied.

Ronin makes their own pickups, mine has two Foilbuckers, standard wind.

You immediately notice how incredibly dynamic these are. They respond to every nuance in your touch. Hence Dan Phelps’ observation about them:

  “Ronin guitars sound big, resonant, and nuanced. Between the old redwood and the foilbuckers, the sheer amount of sonic information coming out of my Mirari can be overwhelming. What I love about that is how much expressive possibility is available to me, literally at my finger tips. ” Dan Phelps

  Compared to a Warmoth Strat I own, outfitted with an Amber Spirit of ‘59, (a relatively low output, vintage style HB) at the bridge, these pickups are even less hot. And ultimately this makes sense. Here’s what Marc Cuthbertson has to say about this, I couldn’t put it any better, so I just quote:

  "Ronin have some very detailed pickups, even in their higher gain models. But I've never played a guitar where I thought, "this pickup isn't LOUD enough." I truly do not understand that concern. Guitars are for tone. Pedals and amps are for gain (and tone, of course). Most people do it backwards and that's partly why most people sound like most people.

  Gain is the most abundant resource in the universe. You can have it easily and cheaply anywhere in your signal chain. I do not understand why people insist on getting it from the guitar. The guitar is the place to set your EQ curve. More often than not, when you coax gain out of the guitar, you do so at the cost of DATA...tonal details. Those 1's and 0's that carry the info about exactly how you picked or didn't pick that last note? Those are mostly in the highs, and those are the frequencies that you start sacrificing when you just HAVE to make the whole thing LOUDER by the time it even hits the first cable. There's no way to get that data back; it just wasn't transmitted in the first place. But if you come off the guitar with the data in tact, even if you darken at a pedal or the amp, tons of that data perseveres through that later darkening."  - Mark Cuthbertson

  When playing a Foilbucker for the first time, you most likely will have to adjust some amp/pedal settings. I found this actually very rewarding. Every small tweak translates into a huge difference in tone, due to the sensitivity and responsiveness of these pickups.

My standard go-to hi gain fuzz is a Catalinbread Antichton. Capable of producing huge amounts of sonic mayhem, pinpoint articulation is always there, even with tons of gain and while playing complex voicings.

The foilbuckers react to the slightest of touch, making them especially suited for fingerstyle techniques and players with a soft touch.

  Construction is flawless as you may expect (and should) from instruments in this league. The neck profile, a traditional C on my Mirari, suits me perfectly, you just play and forget about it, which is a very good sign. It is extremely comfortabe but by no means a thin shred-affair.

Frets are Stew-mac 154, a high-ish medium wire. Paired with a 12” radius, this lends to a more contemporaty feel.

There is also a soft-V to C neck option for those wanting a more vintage style feel if desired.

Laquer is nitro and is executed flawlessly. The Castilian Red is deep and warm and has a beautiful solidness to it.

The neck is finished transparant, showing off the georgeous mahogany grain.

  Hardware-wise it doesn’t get any better than this. Hipshot open-geared tuners and a Mannmade tremolo provide ultra-stable tuning, even when dive-bombing in the best of Van Halen manners.

  I won’t go further explaning how this guitar sounds and plays, you’ll just have to discover it for yourself. By now I’ve already told you the most important things. Dynamics, responsiveness and unique tone are what it’s all about.

  Jo Mahieu once said to me, “A Ronin isn’t for everyone”, and I now fully understand what he meant by that. The Mirari is a very confronting instrument, forcing you to play very consciously to reveal all the nuances she has in her. And when you do, she really gives back what you put in.

  Sorry Jo, Ronin suits me just fine, she’ll have to stay :-)

  Ronin Mirari

Specifications:

Body: Master Grade Reclaimed Old Growth Redwood

Neck: Honduran Mahogany

Heel: Mannmade® 4 Bolt Heel Plate

Frets: 22 Stewmac 154

Scale Length: 25.5”

Truss Rod: Single Action

Radius: 9.5”, 10” or “7.25-9”

Back Contour: C or Soft V .89 - .94

Nut Width: Approx 1” 11/16ths

Nut Material: Unbleached Bone

Inlay: Dots

Finish: 100% Un-Catalyzed Nitrocellulose Lacquer

Pickguard: Celluloid Nitrate Multi-ply

Hand Made Bone Nut

Weight: 6.5 - 7.0 lbs

Hardware

Mannmade® 2 Pin Full Size Steel Block Tremolo

Hipshot® Open Gear Tuning Machines

Electronics:

NOS Vintage .047uf 200V Tone Cap

Treble Bleed Cap + Resistor

CTS 250k Pots

Switch Craft® Switches

  Pickups:

2x Ronin Foilbucker Standard Wind Set

2x Ronin Foilbucker HOT Set

Controls:

1x Vol 2x Tone + 3 Way Switch

  Options:

Resonator Switch

[lifeasarandomdudeknowsit-blog]

Entry #361 - Sights And Sounds

Well, today was certainly a bit different from the past 360...or, more accurately, different than the last thousand or so.  For the first time in a very long while, I found myself writing music.  I've talked before about my music past, and I will admit that starting again after such a long time away was not the easiest task.  But once I started to become familiar with the instrument, things began to fall into place relatively quickly.  And as of now, I believe I have produced enough content to consider my podcast ready to record again.  I really wanted to get the music ready to go before I recorded the first episode again, and now that that has been taken care of, I don't have to think about it...at least for the time being.  It's actually a pretty huge weight off my shoulders, as I was somewhat dreading attempting to write something for the first time in literal years, but after my initial hesitation and a bit of early struggling, I was feeling pretty good about my output.  Which is something I don't normally say about anything I do.

Not only was this an experience relearning how to write music, but it was an experience in learning how to write for a wholly new instrument.  In this case, a virtual instrument.  I've wanted for years to learn how to use a so-called “tracker” program that allows me to write music in the style of old video games, and after watching some tutorials and dedicating some time to just messing around in the program, I've at least cobbled together a halfway decent intro/outro theme song and a few interstitial jingles between sections of the podcast.  Each jingle is unique, and I think they fit each section's subject pretty well. There is always room for improvement, though, so even though these are nice for now, they are far from good.  I may tweak them a bit the more I learn about tracker programs, or if I can somehow convince a friend who writes music for a living to write new music, I won't have too many qualms replacing these.  But for what it's worth, I actually really like all of these little jingles, probably because I created them from my own brain.  I suppose you really never totally lose something once it's ingrained into your mind and body.  Like riding a bicycle, only with bleeps and bloops.

What's crazy about this whole thing is that I've been wanting to learn how to use tracker programs for YEARS, but I could just never figure the damn things out.  Looking at a program like FamiTracker for the first time can be terrifying and daunting, and unless you know what you're doing, everything will sound like a complete mess.  Thankfully, there was a really great tutorial series online that spelled out everything very clearly, and it helped me write out everything I needed.  The tutorials even taught me how to add little effects to each “instrument” so they sound really cool.  To think that I spent I don't know how long trying to figure out trackers all those years ago, and all the things I needed to know I learned in about an hour.  There are still many more advanced techniques I want to learn, but I have the basics down decently now, and that will allow me to build more and better songs in the future.

This might actually get me back to writing music as a hobby.  One of the things I found during The Great Unboxing earlier this year was a huge stack of unfinished songs, guitar riffs, and snippets I had written many years ago but never used anywhere.  I may end up going through that huge stack of song bits and work on creating actual songs from them.  I'm beginning to think that I'm just a really, REALLY late bloomer in life, because my twenties were mostly a waste and I never really accomplished anything.  But turning thirty may have changed everything for me. I'd like to think that nothing had really changed the day I woke up and my twenties were over.  But looking back on my life, I've done more in the past two years of my thirties than I did in the entire decade of my twenties.  Sure, I finished college in my twenties, but I haven't really ever bothered to use my degree until now.  And I'm not even talking about the fact that it's a music degree.  I mean I haven't really ever used my degree to find work.  Now, I'm actually doing things that can and should benefit me in the long run, and there are so many more things I can do.

I mean I never really even accepted my eyesight until I was nearly thirty.  And I didn't really seek help from the federal government until then as well.  And I certainly never bothered to ask the government for aid as far as finding work and receiving training until after thirty.  Nor did I really bother asking ANYONE for help until sometime last year, and now that I'm really beginning to accept who I am, my life has changed so drastically that it's difficult to believe.  I feel far less nervous in large crowds or when entering a place for the first time, because as long as I have my cane, people will know I'm not necessarily going to see everything around me.  People are more patient around me (some possibly begrudgingly so, but I have yet to hear anyone complain about having to wait for a blind guy to do something), and some are actually curious about my condition, which I used to be very reluctant about doing.  But now that people know I'm not fully sighted and I'm becoming more comfortable with who I am, I'm happy to talk about it and educate more people about low vision disorders.

I think this is a decent place to stop for now.  I can't believe I'm down to just a few more entries before this yearlong project is over.  At this rate, though, I'll very likely keep going after the year is up, just because this has become part of my daily routine.  Maybe I'll take a day off.  Then again, if I do, I'll probably just spend the entire day panicking about having not written that day's entry.  So I'll probably just keep going.  And going.  And going.  And going.