Just...Angry

Oh, this is the last thing I need today. I had hoped to write about music, or Dungeons & Dragons, or Police Quest today, but a rash of nasty comments on my YouTube channel has gotten me in a snit, and I was going to use today to vent my frustrations instead...but now I find that Blogger has received a total interface overhaul like everything else on the Internet, and I am 100% displeased.

I wonder how easy it'd be to transfer to WordPress.

I wonder what it would hurt to disable comments altogether.

I wonder why I even bother hanging around on the Internet if all I ever do is get annoyed by everything I see.

I'm tired of trying to be rational, objective, and even somewhat fair. I'm fed up with what's been forced on me recently, and today I'm angry.

Packed Like Lemmings Into Shiny Metal Boxes

Pardon me for a moment--I don't usually post about YouTube twice in a row, but it seems appropriate today, for I have mandatorily succumbed to the new channel design.

I'll concede that my channel needed a bit of a change. I was aiming for a new background as soon as I got started on Mega Man 7, but a total overhaul isn't so bad. It's streamlined. My sidebar is cleaner, and it's easier to link to here, GameCola, my Facebook page, etc. My playlists look nice all organized below the featured video on the front page of my channel. Overall, I like it.

Assuming all I'm going to do is look at it.

As a channel administrator, it's a bit of a nightmare. I receive an appreciable volume of channel comments on a weekly basis--it's now two clicks to the comments instead of none; I can't separate my responses to different people with line spaces in a single comment (it's all one big, ugly paragraph, or a separate. Comment. For. Each. Person.); and the decision to treat comments as part of a news feed just gives me that much more to read and scroll through before I get to any real content. Yuck.

That's one big thing I've noticed about the redesign: YouTube channels are suddenly more about social interactions than content, as though having friends is a replacement for having something to do with friends. Two of the three channel design templates focus on everything but your videos, and while I can understand where someone might want to use their channel primarily to promote other people's channels, the available options all translate to me as various degrees of obscuring my content.

I'm also not a fan that uploaded videos are the first thing you see by default under the Videos tab. My channel is set up such that videos are really meant to be grouped into series rather than appearing independently. Once again, two clicks instead of none or one. Granted, I have my playlists all on the front page, but there'll come a time when it'll be too much to keep them all there...and right now, I can't organize any of the playlists on the Videos tab, either, unless it has to do with chronological order (which isn't necessarily what I want).

I will admit that customizing the channel was fun. I spent the better part of my lunch break tinkering with options, and I enjoyed sneaking in an in-joke or two (which are only there for my own amusement, but so much the better if anyone else notices them). Helps to take my mind off my metropolis anxiety--though that's also being alleviated by having some time to record more commentary this week.

Because it's likely going to be a hassle to respond to channel comments anymore, I'm considering alternatives, such as nudging discussions into a fan forum or creating a filler video with the sole purpose of being the preferred place to leave general comments. I'm willing to give the new format a chance, but a part of me really wants to be a clever rebel.

I keep saying this about innovations: I don't mind new ideas, so long as I still have the option to stick with older ideas that are still equally valid. Circumventing the system even to a slight degree is my way of objecting to the technological dictatorships I keep seeing. I dig that YouTube accepted user feedback during the design phase, and I'm grateful for every option and improvement we do have. I'm resistant to this apparent obsession with stuffing content into picture boxes so hard that a little bit of text leaks out over the edge.

I like my lists and menus. I like being able to identify exactly what I'm clicking on by reading rather than guessing at symbols or squinting at the incidental descriptions below the pictures. I'm a visual learner, but I don't process information as well in the format the universe seems to be adopting, and I can think of more than a few people who also object to the rapid and often drastic changes sweeping the technology landscape.

The Next Big Thing had better not get too big for its britches--technology is meant to serve the people, and not the other way around. Otherwise, when Skynet arrives, it won't be because our technology has become self-aware--it'll be because the designers left out the option to not be hunted down by Terminators.

The Untitled Friday

Hey, so, remember that whole thing about us posting our Year in Review whatsit somewhere close to the end of the year? Yeah...that’s not gonna happen. Well, that's not gonna happen this week, at least.

For, you see, I am once again without the benefit of the Internet at home as my wireless router may have finally checked out to that big ethereal network hub in the sky. (See what I did there?)

I’ll know for sure this weekend, though, as my cousin-in-law (who’s one a’ them tech guys) will be swinging by to tell me just how bad things are.

And, yes, before you say anything, I fully understand that replacing a router isn’t that big a deal. But I haven’t had much time to do anything this week (new job and all; you know how it is), so replacing the router has been low on my priority list.

Without the Internet at home, though, I have noticed a couple of things about my technological life and about just how important the Internet is to my everyday existence.

See, I would never, ever describe myself as a techie, but being unplugged has made me think about all of the devices I have that rely on the Web. Like my phone, my laptop, my Kindle, the fancy new Apple TV thingy I got for Christmas.

More than that,though, there’s my (now lack of) ability to work remotely, order stuff from Amazon, create a new comics shipping list so I know what to buy on Wednesday...

Oh. And blog.

That's been a bit of an issue without the benefit of the Internet.

So you'll have to excuse our lack of a Year in Review post for 2011, but we promise it'll be up pretty soon. Soon-ish, anyway.

Promise.

The Halloween That (Really) Wasn't

We was robbed, I tells ya.

In an ironic follow-up to last year's similarly titled post, this year I actually did manage to completely miss Halloween.

As in, for me, Halloween did not happen.

*Poof* and goodbye.

Because of the previously mentioned October snowstorm and the subsequent power outage(s), I was, quite literally, in the dark on Halloween.

And not in a good way.

And it wasn't just me. In several towns in Connecticut, Halloween was actually postponed. Because of all the trees and power lines down, Trick r' Treating was pushed back in many places to tomorrow (Saturday, November 5).

Imagine that--You only get five good Halloweens as a kid, and kids growing up now just got robbed of one. It's like that movie, only the witch decided not to take her annual ride, and Halloween was actually cancelled.

Huh.

As I've stated many times before, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love horror movies and novels, creepy comics, and really, all things related to the season. I am a full-fledged citizen of Mr. Bradbury's October Country, and I look forward each year to the changing colors of the leaves.

This year, though. Yikes. This wasn't like forgetting to buy a pumpkin, nor was it like not having enough time to read a favorite holiday novel or comic.

This year?

This year there was no Santa--uh, I mean Jack Skellington. There was no Freddy or Jason or Dracula. But, what's worse, this year there was no Michael Myers. My favorite holiday, and my favorite horror movie.

And. I. Didn't. Get. To. Watch. It.

The lights were way, way out by Sunday and still quite hilariously out by Monday, and laptops were drained to start the weekend, so that option wasn't looking great. Still, I had to at least attempt to keep holy the one Halloween tradition I have never broken.

I was going to watch John Carpenter's original Halloween, no matter what. I simply had to see if Laurie Strode manages to get away this year.

So, despite the fact that my laptop had just below 20% power, and that I almost certainly should have saved some power for the week ahead, I popped the Blu-Ray into the player and the (glorious, creepy, and iconic) opening music flooded the two-inch speakers, adding a tinny ambiance to the kind-of-dark (it was in Energy Saver mode) 15-inch screen.

And I sat there, wrapped in blankets (no heat) and happily watched the film that I save for one viewing a year.

And it was everything I'd hoped for; everything I remember about the movie. And then, because I am a glutton for punishment (or because all writers must face more ironic situations than anyone else on Earth), as things just start heating up (on screen, I mean; definitely not in my house), I utter:

"Ya know, as long as Laurie Strode can get out of that closet every year, I think everything is going to be just fine."

And then the computer died.

With Laurie still stuck in the closet, Michael Myers hacking away at the door. A hopeless, dark scenario.

So, just to recap:

Alex's Halloween:


-- -- -- --

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Well THAT Was Unexpected

If you thought this was Halloween...well, you were wrong.

Apparently, THIS is Halloween:

On a related note, perhaps you noticed that there was no Waiting for Wednesday this week. Well, because of things associated with the above photo...there won't be a new WfW this week.

You see, I have--yet again--lost power at home. Due to the October snowstorm that just hammered much of the East Coast, I'm once again in the dark, cold, restless space I like to call Power Outageland.

And to top it off, I also managed to lose power at the office yesterday, which was interesting for a few reasons.

First, I couldn't do any of the work that's steadily piling up. Second, I couldn't even get to the blog to express how frustrated I've been by yet another major storm. Third, the drive up to the office was littered with fallen trees and power lines, and the ride took much, much longer than usual.

And it usually takes me about an hour.

So after the much, much longer than usual drive up to work, I had just about enough time to turn on the computer, grab a cup of (real) coffee, say hello to a couple of fellow Dark Age Dwellers, and then...emergency lighting came on and the company was forced to close for the day.

Usually, this wouldn't be such a bad thing--like a snow day, only for grown-ups. But I was actually looking forward to coming into the office--with its lights and heat and running water and what have you.

*sigh*

Oh, well.

At least I completely missed Halloween.

More on that tomorrow.

The Nature of Comics Fans

I woke up this morning without a clue as to what to post for today. So I went through my morning routine of running on the treadmill and lifting, all the while listening to a couple of podcasts from the venerable iFanboy crew.

Enjoyable as always, the iFanboy podcasts got me through my workout and made the whole waking-up-at-five-AM thing that much easier to swallow.

At the end of the second episode, one of the guys mentioned that the iFanboy site was in the process of being redesigned, and that the new site would be unveiled this week. Yesterday, actually.

So when I got into the office, I poured a cup of decaf, looked at the teeming pile of work on my desk and the ready-to-explode inbox on my screen, and I did what any rational human being would have done.

I went to the iFanboy website to check out the new look.

And I liked it. A lot, actually. It's spiffy and you can find things--two traits that I look for in a web page.

But then I noticed the comments section of a post that gave a nice recap of what, exactly, had changed on the site.

Big mistake, that.

I like the new site, but there are people who don't. And they're not afraid to let their (fake Internet monikers) tell you exactly what they hate, and why they hate it.

Though, I have to admit, the comments were nowhere near as mean-spirited as on other comics sites. They were, in fact, quite civil and constructive. Still, I stopped reading almost immediately, because I honestly don't care why someone else doesn't like something that I like.

But it got me thinking about comments sections, and comic book fans, in general.

As many of you know, the comments section on any comics/fan site can be...well, they can be nasty. And insane. And, sometimes, both.

Usually, though, the comments section is just mostly complaining.

I don't like this book. This creator is horrible. They've destroyed my beloved characters--again. I don't like change. I want more change. My foot hurts.

Just like the comic fan in the shop on Wednesday with nothing better to do than tell everyone why he would write a better Batman than Jeph Loeb, comics fans on the Internet are...*ahem*...passionate about their books.

But because it's the Internet, and there's that wondrous veil of anonymity, Internet fans tend to be less rational and more venomous than your Wednesday Warrior fanboy in the corner of the shop, yelling his views at whomever will listen.

Now, I know what you're thinking--crazy Internet fan is nothing new.

I know, I know. But like I said, I had no idea what to write about for today, and this popped into my head.

It's a faction of fandom that I will never, ever understand, and it never fails to utterly amaze me. I mean, I care about the characters, too, but if I don't like something, I just don't buy it.

Simple as that.

In my real job (you know, when I'm not fighting super villains), I'm an editor at a pretty big, very well respected trade publisher. Let me tell you, though. We get our fair share of raving phone calls and rambling emails.

Mostly about how we don't know what we're doing.

It's funny. The most critical calls and emails are never presented in a professional, courteous manner. And they typically end with a note about how our entire editorial staff should be laid off.

And presumably, be replaced by the angry caller/emailer.

Because, you see, he has this great idea about Batman and a giant chicken...

Spoiler: Spoiler Talk Ahead...Also, Spoilers

Well, it looks like they're doing it again.

Marvel has decided to once again leak major story points in one of their biggest books to a number of news outlets. And, once again, the leaks center around Brian Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, this time with Ultimate Fallout, issue 4, on shelves tomorrow.

All you have to do is Google "Ultimate Spider-Man," and you'll get images that pretty much ruin the surprise of the issue.

In the grand scheme of the story, I don't think this reveal is that big a shocker, but at the same time, I just don't get this need on Marvel's part to spoil their stories the day before the issues come out.

If you're going to do something like that, why not do it on Wednesday morning, or, if you really like the Tuesday thing, why not make the book available for digital download on the same day the leak hits?

I know, I know.

Both of these suggestions have pretty major ramifications. Obviously, Marvel wants to have a day's lead-in so people who don't normally venture into the comics shops have some time to get to a store.

And releasing the book digitally before it goes on sale in comics shops means less sales for the shops.

But there are arguments to each of those points. To the first, remember the media hype when Captain America "died"? Major newspapers across the country ran that story, on Wednesday morning mind you, and comics shops all over the country sold right out of that issue.

If you weren't at a shop before lunch, you pretty much had zero chance of finding a copy.

And in today's (literally) up to the second news cycle, stories that hit news outlets on a Tuesday will almost certainly be completely forgotten about by Wednesday.

To the second point, why not just embrace the digital? Clearly, this is a larger point, but making the issue available for download on the day the story breaks--and perhaps include links to download right in online articles about the issue--would certainly lead to a bunch of sales from curious, casual readers.

To the larger point about digital comics, briefly. The longer we put it off, the more likely it will be that comics shops are going to end up like Borders Books and Tower Records. Deader than Steve Rogers. (But, you know, for real.)

Shops needs to accept digital and figure out ways to work with the publishers to ensure that brick and mortar stores are still important to the industry. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye towards it, hoping it'll go away.

Because, I promise (spoiler alert), it will not. Go away, that is.

Back to the topic at hand, though. Spoilers. Enough already with them, please. I understand that comics are seen as event-driven. But, really, they're story-driven.

By leaking these big, event-y things to places like USA Today on a seemingly regular basis, the casual reader will think the only comics worth reading are the ones when someone dies, or when someone new takes over for someone who has died.

And anyone who reads comics knows that's not a fair assessment of the industry and all it has to offer.

Comic Book Weekend, Part 2 (But Not for Alex)

And here we are again; another comic book movie premiere weekend.

However, instead of sitting in a nice, air conditioned theater watching Green Lantern or even X-Men: First Class (which I hear is quite good), I'll be editing pages and ripping up a tile floor.

Probably not in that order. And possibly not at the same time. Although, one of the books is on tiling, so, really...

Nah.

Okay, fine. Maybe. We'll see how things go.

But that's not the important thing. The important thing is that I won't be at the movie theater, watching Hal Jordan punch Sinestro in the face. And I won't be watching...um...the X-Men in school. Or something.

What I will be doing, however (you know, besides ripping up that darn tile floor and editing those pages), is ordering sushi. Which I'll be doing in just a little bit, actually.

And I'll enjoy that sushi because, apparently, weekends are for doing things that you enjoy.

So in that spirit, I suggest you all go out (or stay in) and do something you enjoy doing. Especially you, Nathaniel.

Happy Sunday, everyone.