Codicier

I'm pretty much agree with you on all those points twig. As far as second episodes go I felt that one squandered a lot of the good things from episode one, then proceeded to make the bad things worse. Even the action sequence was a disapointment. However with Raybands teach it seems to be under the impression that a man deciding to take off his clothes is somehow equal to a woman being forced to. Add to that the continuing skimpiness of the battle uniform, the horrible inference that when a woman bleeds too much she becomes weak, and one particularly gratuitous shot of her upside down and I'm a lot more troubled by this episode than the first. I'm also a little worried about where the meta-plot may be going. Yes there is a possibility it could do something interesting with the idea of two children who’s parents views of femininity are reflected in what they wear very differently (Ruyko's father's design being over sexualised & Satsuki choosing to wear what is seen as a boys uniform), but with satsuki set out as the villain atm it's seems very small step to the mannish slur that gets thrown at some feminists. I tend to read to much into stuff in general, and so my radar over whether what this subverts being greater than how much it just plays into tropes about how women are viewed is just all over the place

if we take it as a given that Kill la Kill is playing with the Tropes associated with magical uniforms, taking apart the idea that in order to become a heroine a female character has to put on a revealing costume seems a logical route for it to take. However unlike many of those heroines Ryuko does acknowledge her situation. She's embarrassed by what's she's wearing, but doesn't make a fuss and just gets on with kicking some ass rather than getting flustered. But ultimately as syntheticgerbil say's we will have to wait and see if it subverts and surpasses its tropes or not. Also: The odds are high that at some point there will be a Silken Goku (uniform)

I need to get a new mic. I'm dyslexic so i do a lot of dictation, and my current headsets been on the way out for a few month now and its never really given me the clarity i need for the dictation. Add to that the fact i want to be able to record reasonable quality audio in the not too distant future and i need something a bit better. I'm currently looking at these two http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Microphones-Bidirectional-Omnidirectional-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379463594&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+yeti & http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Microphones-Snowball-Omnidirectional-Microphone/dp/B000EOPQ7E/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1379463625&sr=1-2&keywords=blue+snowball because they seem like a all in one solution that i can't fuckup. So if anyone got any experience using them or other good solutions i'd be grateful. I'd be open to more complicated solutions to if people can push me in the right direction. I'm not sure if it would help or not but I've currently got a http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_DG/ as my soundcardand though it was a marked improvement over the motherboard soundcard it obviously pretty basic.

just a minor warning, some onboard soundcard can have serious issues with external usb ones (i know from personal experience a few years back), think its a good idea but do your homework about potential issues.

Has she given the G930's a go and found them comfortable or not? most of the USB recommendation's I can make come from friends experience and tend to be huge sets of "cans" that I know some people are not entirely comfortable with. I know one friend has used http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-3H-Gaming-Headset-Black/dp/B003ZXKVJE for a while (since i asked him when i was considering whether i should buy a new mic or a new headset) & he always sounds clear enough but i can't speak for their comfort. Perhaps check out Sennheiser's range too. Finally have you considered getting a cheap soundcard & installing it in her rig(assuming its not a laptop)? getting 3.5mm stuff will definitely be cheaper than usb perhaps even by a margin where the sound cards cost will be cancelled out. The Xonar i have is cheap as chips http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-XONAR-Headphone-Audio-Card/dp/B0045JHJSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380108066&sr=1-1&keywords=xonar+dg and it's output quality has been excellent for me. Btw thanks all for the yeti mic recommendations, so far I've been very happy with it. Simple as you could hope for to setup and I've noticed a immediate reduction in the number of corrections i'm having to make for my dictation (despite the fact that i came down with a nasty head cold only days after i picked it up).

Mostly it never lets the whole Tanuki/Supernatural angle become overblown to the detriment of its focuses on personalities and relationships (though the first two episodes do emphasise it more while setting the scene). There are lots of slice of life anime out there that fall down because there is no link between the moments that make them up, but that's something that's never a problem here. Uchoten- Kazoku's characters are grounded within a consistent world, which allows it's director to tells us a 1000 little things about the lives of its protagonists, and then shows how these elements interact over time. The more episodes I watched, the more I could feel the plot developing over time as little pieces of the puzzle clicked subtly into place with perfect timing, and unlike many anime (I'm looking at you Eva 3.33) it has a great instinct for when it best to infer and when to fully reveal a piece of information, and is confident enough that it rarely feels it has to address the audience with exposition after it's set it's world's ground rules. Most of the cast share a positive outlook to life, which along with the affectionate way they interact makes them very easy to like. Animation wise what's impressive is how the animators get body language right throughout in a way very few other series have, something that is particularly in evidence in what feels like a genuine chemistry between male and female leads. All in all much of the series charm lies in seeing these relationships unfold and develop, which does make it hard to explain why I have taken to the series in more depth without spoiling those very moments. It's very much greater than the sum of it's parts. I think for me the mini story arc that runs through episodes 3-5 really hooked me in, by then they have finished introducing the cast and are ready to start stirring the pot. It's also when some really lovely directorial touches start to show, the shot that bookends the first scene post opening credits in ep 3 is wonderful bit of visual character building. Edit: Oh & there's a absolutely wonderful series of little artistic touches mid ep 3 centred around the way a supporting character interacts with his glasses, I know it doesn't sound like a thing that would matter but when you notice it it really says a lot the care the animators have taken.

I posited something similar a while back when we were discussing the imminent release of 3:33. Even if true (& i personally strongly feel it is, go back to around April if you want to see my spoiler hidden reasons) however I don't think even that viewpoint makes this particular entry in the series any better. After the first two entires in the series that I felt we're very focused stories and playful and affectionate to their characters, i found it anti-climatic (by far the best sequence is the very first), unsubtle, bloated and uninvolved. On a less negative note for me Uchoten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family) is on its penultimate episode and has just continued to rise in my opinion as it has progressed. It's the first time I've been really looking forward to the final episode of a series for a while, I may even make a little event of it & clear a evening to rewatch the full series before the finale next week.

also the TF2 map that got mentioned http://youtu.be/JM1Ay85de3U

Alternate episode title: Bend it Like Breckon

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm sort of edging towards the yeti since it seems like it has a few extra bells & whistles that could come in handy long term. Deleric would you recommend a pop filter as a essential purchase? or is the mic probably going to be fine 90% of the time without one? Lord Remo tells me this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-C-1-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000CZ0RLK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379507310&sr=8-1&keywords=behringer+c1 is what the thumbs use for the podcast but my worry would be the extras i'd have to buy to get that running through a pc probably would make things too fussy for me. Edit: decided to take the chance on the yeti, will decided if im going to grab any extras depending on what people say & how well it works

@elmuerte Have you looked into using powerline adapters if you want avoid using wireless but cant run the cable easily? My parents have recently asked me to hook up their new Smart TV to the net but since they dont have a wireless router and don't want cables snaking all over their living space i ended up using these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084Y9N3O/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers not sure if they are fast enough for your needs but thought i'd throw it out there in case its any help

Looking at the still you posted I'm getting the impression of cell-shaded 3d models. Which is something i struggle to think of many/any instances where it has been anything but awkward when used for humans. Speaking of toxic protagonists and dodgy 3D character animation, I watched Toaru Majutsu no Index: Endymion no Kiseki over the weekend. It is apart from a few fun cameo's a rambling mess. With little to speak of in terms of character development, and with the dialogue often dissolving into far too much exposition being shouted by characters un-ironically at each other. Then we have the whole "power of her song" Idol thing going on, urgh.

I always found limited to be a really nice format to play competitively MTG every now and then, it solved (in a completely different way) the main problem I had with the constructed magic format (the cost & testing time involved in maintaining a good standard or block deck). Now we have games like dominion etc. that have basically brought that same format to a far larger audience I'm not sure however why I'd ever want to go back to play limited with its far higher cost/per game ratio (unless you rare drafted of course:P ). I think what i like so far about Netrunner is even in this starter set there are multiple ways of building your decks. I suspect however i would probably still get slaughtered if i attempted to play even semi competitive against someone with several expansions

Soooo the BBC is carrying a story about someone developing a mind control helmet, you'd expect to find it in the science section right? nope ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23994649 In short + $ =

I'm not sure who came up with the idea of Living Card Games as a replacement for CCGs but they need a great big hug and a pat on the back. It just solves so many problems. Picked up Netrunner about a month as research material for the football boardgame I've been working on in my spare time on because a friend said it created a really vivid sense of attack and defence and have been very impressed by what FF throw out just in the basic box. I used to play MTG fairly seriously in my college days and would be interested to hear if people who played older CCG designs like MTG feel the LCG format tends to produce a more consolidated pool of top tier decks and more netdecking in organised tournaments, or if there is actually more variety and people are able to make more personalised decks because there are no chase rares that are prohibitively expensive.

Some people think there's a possibility the whole universe is basically a giant simulation run by our distant progeny, and have spent time figuring out tests we could run to find out if it was (but they would only work if we a beta universe!). http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2013/06/28/brainstorming-new-ways-to-test-if-cosmos-is-one-big-computer-simulation/

I just watched the episode where this happens. Perhaps the weirdest thing about it is how casual the whole thing thing seems to be treated. It's almost like "why of course he's imagining his hand is a penis, what else do you expect!"

I agree 100% that it is schlocky as hell but i think i enjoyed it this time round because i went in without any expectation that it would be anything else. A lot of the old Jack Kirby x-men stuff is really good/bad in the same way. Your also right too that the relationship between Magneto and Xavier is far less convincing than with McKellan and Stewart. However on one point you are wrong It is just not in the same class (forgive the pun). Just think back carefully to the moment where wolvy kills phoenix and i assure you too will be thinking "noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

There's a famous quote about football/soccer If you look at the history of a competitive sport you will see year after year, decade after decade minor tweaks and revision to the rules, the tactics, and even the physical build of the players. Sometimes this comes from a commercial imperative other times it is rooted in two more far interesting yet nebulous concepts "fair play" & "the spirit of the game". Sports governing bodies in particular have a habit of retrospectively condemning actions that at the time they defended to the hilt, and i find it interesting that the marketing for the digital representations of sports seem to be mimic this process.

Your probably right. While a good ending may (in my opinion) still requires all three of those elements to shine, there's almost no limit to the amount of good work that can be undone if the last piece of game content isn't right. I think the other think worth talking about regarding game endings in general is just how prevalent epilogues are, it seems games are rarely confident enough to just stop. So often they seem to feel a need to explain themselves that the best movies don't. Idk if this is what The Last of Us's ending does (I've only read the wikipedia article & not played it myself), but to hear you describe it I can imagine that to do something that even resembles a true fade to black moment as soon as the stories arc finishes, may really may be something only those devs with true confidence in both their own skills and their publishers backing can do.

I just Re-Watched X-Men First Class as a refresher since the hype machine seems to be going into full gear for the new movie now even though its still a good 6 months off. Perhaps more enjoyable second time viewing than it was originally. More importantly I forgot how good a actor Michael Fassbender is (has he ever put in a bad performance), & how god damn amazing end credits sequence is.

In general do readers feel a game ends with the last piece of narrative content? or is the last piece of important interaction? or even the far broader idea of the last coherent sequence of content?

in some ways the fact that it's a imperfect response makes it feel more genuine, it sounds like a human trying to say they are wrong not a PR statement. If he's genuinely sorry its a step in the right direction. If he not genuinely sorry but has been forced to by the PA organisation to say he is, then it means at the very least the organisation has grown to the point where it's exerting control over him and not him over it. Apart from being appalled at the abuse mentioned here, this raised another question. If one person can essentially track down the person behind the abuse just using the basic info that her blog's analytics give her, is there a reason that info couldn't be shared with PA & other big sites and the individuals warned or banned?

I don't think equating PAX with the Tea Party is quite right. But to use that example, there must be some people you know who are reasonable Republicans, right? (Hell you could be one for all i know) Now imagine they have a chance to go to a local political convention, one which those people who will decide the direction the party in the next couple of years will be watching closely. Isn't it's better go there and make more reasonable veiws heard than let they let a subsection of the part slowly co-opt a larger movement and impose its agenda on it in? That said the problem as a lot of people have bring up is that in this case is that people just don't feel whoely safe or welcome. And that's the heart of the issue, if people don't feel safe or welcome in PAX they need to be given a environment where they do. But just reading that Christine Love post earlier makes it clear that Niyeaux has a point. That it can offer a way to get a positive message out to more people than anything else out there. In the end I think we have to respect both choices, and try and support both those who attend & those who feel they can't. Perhaps as some have suggested a new convention would be a great way to do those things. But we can't expect that PAX is just going to go away, and given that its not going away trying to do what we can to make it just a little better is worth doing for those who feel that they need to brave its waters.

When I read something as harrowing as that part of me hopes that this MUST be something that would effect anyone who reads or it, & part of me fears how you can deal with someone who isn't. It leaves me feeling that giving up on trying would be the easy way out for me, that I have to fight the part of me that can fall to feeling this is a hopeless fight. That this is too important for that, that i have to hope people can change because the alternative is to appalling.