As an alumni from the first Guildhall graduation class, the curriculum had yet to be accredited. That takes years. Well, now they are. All the alumni who only achieved a Master's certificate can now reapply and finish the degree to turn it into a Masters Degree. All work has to be done by July 2009, and it costs an additional $5,000.

For some reason they are requiring me to take a test to be accepted. Unfortunately, I don't have time right now for such things, and I applied back in April. It would have been nice to know about these things when I applied instead of a week or so before its due. Especially since I've been crunching some this week.

I'll know more Monday if they can extend the deadline for me or not.

I've been working a lot of OT putting the finishing touches on the Guild System, which has finally been announced in preparation for the Guild Beta opening soon.
Check out the Warhammer Online June Newsletter for more Guild and Banner info.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41743

The Huband will play...

Well kind of.

While Violet and Drake have been in Nebraska visiting family, I've been working overtime, catching up on house chores, catching up on TV (I was 6 episodes behind on Desperate Housewives), and catching up on my current video games. I got Mass Effect via the EA Store, so I've been playing it over NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer. Mass Effect feels a lot like KoTOR, sans the Star Wars stuff, and adds some interesting mini-games and 3rd person shooter tactical combat. I like it pretty well.

Any idea what these things are? I have no clue, but we got a billion of them all over the place. Thankfully most bugs don't get in the house.

Earlier this week there was a tornado watch in the area. Some people apparently saw the beginnings of funnel clouds about 5 miles from where I work. I happened to be in the middle of the building on the top (8th) floor working , so I didn't notice anything, but a bunch of people around the edges witnessed a very sudden and quite massive amount of rain. So much that they couldn't see the building across the parking lot. Another few people had taken the elevator down to the ground lobby floor. As they exited the elevator, a massive wind slightly turned the revolving door at the front of the lobby in such a way that the outside air was sealed from the inside air. As a result of the massive pressure difference and wind force, the glass from the revolving door exploded. I know a few people that ended up with glass shards on their body and in their hair. No injuries though.

Goto this link.

Read the issue if you want, but basically, its a bad idea. I don't know why politics are so difficult. Well, I do know, actually. It's because politicians are people. People with power. It's too bad so often they don't represent the power of the people.

No, I'm not usually political, mainly due to the disgust I have for those in office. And its too much work to figure out where I stand.

Well, on this copyright issue, I know exactly where I stand. I oppose it. As should you. Which is why you should follow the link and email your representative to oppose it. It's stupid, they're trying to sneak it through congress via a bridge bill (What's up with that??), it hurts the artists, and profits the corporations (like Google.. do they REALLY need more money??). I usually see this kind of stuff as some sort of scam to get my email address sent out to spammers. I don't believe that's the case here.

The Orphan Works Act of 2008
Bill # H.R.5889

From a Web comic artist I really like and respect:

Google is behind a move to radically change copyright law so they, and others, can display cartoons (as well as other things) with no regard to copyright. Someone could take one of my (or your) cartoons, remove the creator's name and post it anywhere for profit.

The cartoonist would be responsible for tracking it down. Even then, the violator is only responsible for giving you a small one-time usage fee and is not liable for any damages. And the only way one can protect yourself is to upload everything you've ever done into two or three not-yet-created databases. The idea being that if someone scans those "official" databases and doesn't see your stuff, it's okay for them to use it.

Oh, those databases will be run by for-profit groups so you would have to pay to have this done ... The working number is $10 per image upload. Yes, it's that one sided.

The initial legislation was introduced in the middle of the night tacked on to a bill for funding bridges. Luckily, a lifelong friend to the cartoonist community, Stu Rees, caught it. The initial push was stopped. Several arts organizations, the National Cartoonist Society included, are now fighting back and are having an effect. They've made it amazingly simple for you to respond. It can all be done electronically in seconds. [See link at bottom]

The counterattack is having a distinct effect. But since Google is behind this (initially hiding behind a couple of museum organizations), it's going to be daunting.

Bottom Line: Oppose the Orphan Works Act.