Tech, geeks, dresses, and meeps

Roombas hacked to play Pac-Man. Oh, geeks, ILU.

High schoolers fight gender rigidity in dress codes. On the other hand, if this article is to be believed, drag is the new black. We can only hope.

Other Things Schools Are Banning Now: the word “meep”. Apparently because it annoys the principal. No, seriously.

Time does a fascinating report on…Mafia Wars. Yes, the Facebook game. (Yes, I am slightly addicted…)

Finally, a new twist to the adorable OS-tan phenomenon, in which operating systems get personalized as cute anime girls: Microsoft has not only caught on to the meme, it’s created an official Windows 7-tan. (Scroll down for images of OS-tans past.)

Found that book I was looking for!

From Lanark: A Life In Four Books, by Alasdair Gray.

The novel is split into four parts, in the following order: part 3, part 1, part 2, part 4. The first two parts (numerically, that is) are a completely unrelated story to the last two, and the epilogue, which comes before the last four chapters, involves the author dropping in to explain this to the main character.

The scene (and, yes, it’s formatted exactly like this):

With a reckless gesture he handed Lanark a paper from the bed. It was covered with childish handwriting and many words were scored out or inserted with little arrows. Much of it seemed to be dialogue but Lanark’s eye was caught by a sentence in italics which said: Much of it seemed to be dialogue but Lanark’s eye was caught by a sentence in italics which said:
Lanark gave the paper back asking, “What’s that supposed to prove?”
“I am your author.”
Lanark stared at him. The author said, “Please don’t feel embarrassed. This isn’t an unprecedented situation. Vonnegut has it in Breakfast of Champions and Jehovah in the books of Job and Jonah.”

This Week, 11/9-11/15

Bishoujo Kishi Sailor Hellsing
Born To Run (art | Seras, Alex, Pip, Integra, Kim, hellhound | worksafe)

Fake News
Needs Met, page 05, page 06, page 07 (comic | Jon/”Stephen”, Jon/liberal!”Stephen”, “Stephen”/liberal!”Stephen” | PG)
Puppy Bath (sketches | Jon/”Stephen” | NSFW, naked chibis)
Totem Animal (art | l!”Stephen”, a teal deer | worksafe)

Hellsing
Seras in Stripes (art | Seras | worksafe)
Gunplay (wallpaper | Integra/Alucard, young!Integra/Bondagecard | NSFW for guns)
Helena (wallpaper | Helena, Anne Rice quotes | worksafe)

Mina and the Count
Five icons (Mina/the Count)

Sailor Moon
Silence Glaive Surprise (art | Sailor Saturn/Sailor Chibi-Moon | NSFW, sexual situation)
Ribbons and Bows (art | Super Sailor Moon | worksafe)

Spider-Man
Whatever A Spider Can (art | Spider-Man, Mary Jane | NSFW, naked chibis)

Next Week in Shine:
Integra tells it like it is. Also, shoots the messenger.

Website Updates
Finally, an update to the most recent page of YKYLHTMWs!

Hellsing final volume!

Dark Horse’s release of Hellsing volume 10 is due out April 28, 2010!

Now, who wants to take bets on when it will actually be available?

(The link repeats the persistent error of referring to Pip as Australian. Come on, people, l’homme est français.)

When life imitates art, it’s serendipity; when art imitates art, it’s a ripoff

Apparently Kiva’s lending is not as individual as it appears. Slightly unsettling. (I’m still using it for lending, though. It’s not like the money isn’t going to individual businesses in developing countries – just not necessarily the ones in the pictures.)

Does technology make people more socially isolated? Actually, it turns out the people who use the tech have larger social circles than nonusers. Go Internet!

Talk show in Turkey with a surprisingly familiar set. It’s like TCR with an even lower budget.

Massive islands of trash have formed in the ocean, and they’re still growing. Somehow all I can think of is Superman Returns.

Finally, if you ever need a boost, go to AmIAwesome.com to get some well-deserved reassurance.

Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet.

In praise of laughing baby videos. Aww.

65% Of All Wildlife Now Used As Homosexual Subculture Signifier. Oh, Onion, ILU. Also for this article about a presentation on an AU Sci-Fi Channel.

Using the Netflix model to rent designer dresses. Did not see that one coming.

IT Pro calls Douglas Adams as one of its top five tech heroes. Good man.

New Disney video game is attempting to rebrand Mickey. My reaction so far is something between “this actually sounds pretty cool” and “…but not as canon!“

Next time you hear a conservative saying “We’re only treating Obama the same way liberals treated Bush for eight years!”, point them in the direction of this story: Obama is getting four times as many threats, to the point where the Secret Service is struggling to keep up.

…but on the plus side, it’s been a year since Obama ended racism in America! A clever article of the pros and cons since.

This Week, 11/2-11/8

Fake News
Needs Met, page 03, page 04 (comic | Jon/”Stephen”, Jon/liberal!”Stephen”, “Stephen”/liberal!”Stephen” | R, PG)
Sketched in French (sketchdump | Jon/”Stephen”, liberal!”Stephen” | worksafe)
Fem sketches (sketchdump | Joan/”Stephanie” | mildly NSFW)
All I Ever Wanted (art | MtF!”Stephen” | worksafe)

Hellsing
This Machine Makes Fascists (commissioned art | Doc, a guitar | worksafe)

Hellsing/Risky Safety/Sandman/Bleach/Death Note/Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
A Set of Shinigami (art | Walter, Risky, Death, Ichigo, Rukia, Ryuk, Grim | worksafe)

Le petit prince
L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux (mix | the prince, the rose, the snake, the grown-ups, the pilot, the volcanoes…the whole book)

Next Week in Shine:
Snark, speechifying, and Schroedinger.

Desktop screenshot meme

The meme: Post a screenshot of your desktop, no altering backgrounds!

As with my RL one, I have a habit of letting Things I’m Working On At The Time pile up randomly on the desktop.

At the moment you can see, among other things, a bunch of pages of the current comic-in-progress Needs Met; the current reward picture for voting for Shine (“seraschains”); and the folder for the Wizard of Oz comic I’ve been tapped to do the art for (“Emeralds”).

Most of the folders open on the taskbar are music; there’s also “Hellsing 4.5″, the manga chapter I’m referencing for the current Shine arc. At the very end are a couple of fics-in-progress (both fake news): “kink AU”, which will have a proper title someday, and “Clover and Shadows”, which may be getting a better title depending on whether I think of one.

This is why I love Dilbert.

Canon wingfic, you guys.

(If the layout is cutting off the last panel, click here.)

This Week, 10/26-11/1

DC Comics
East of the Sun – The Triad (illustration | Cissie/Tim/Kon | worksafe)

Fake News
Disney Princess Eyes (art | happy!Stephen, a bluebird | ridiculously worksafe)
Needs Met, page 01, page 02 (comic | Jon/”Stephen”, Jon/liberal!”Stephen” | G, so far)
A Selection of Stephanies (art | Tawny Hunnibi, Stephanie, Liberal!Stephanie, Happy!Stephanie, Stefania | worksafe)
Needs Salt (art | baseball!Jon, vampire!”Stephen”, ghost!Bobby | worksafe)

Fake News/Hellsing
Vampire!Stephen sketchdump (sketches | Jon/”Stephen”, Alucard, Integra, Seras | worksafe)

Fake News/Politics/Star Trek
Dreaming of Q (illustration | Kal Penn, Peter Orszag, Biden, Obama, Rahm, Michelle, Jon, Stephen | worksafe)

Hellsing
Integra Declares It (art | Integra | worksafe)
Integra in Ribbon (art | Integra | NSFW)

Original/Miscellaneous
The space of a year (monthtastic mix)

Next Week in Shine:
A certain cuddly catboy gets to do his big adorable reveal.