GreenReaper's Bibble

Murdered for being a Goth - what next?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:34:34 GMT

I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen to any furs . . .

For the curious . . .

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:00:34 GMT

I successfully withdrew the money from RevolutionExchange's offer to my bank account. Thanks to the ~~four~~ five other people who signed up! :-)

Because I like free money, and so might you

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:49:32 GMT

Revolution is trying to compete with PayPal. Normally, I wouldn't care, but they're willing to give away free money to get into the market. That gets my attention. :-)

In short: If you click this button and sign up, you get $25 - and even better, I get $10!

Funds can be withdrawn to a bank account after filling in your details and waiting to get small payments which can be used to verify the account (as with PayPal). I'm sure they'd like you to use it as well, but it's not a requirement. A US address and SSN is, though - sorry UKians!

Also consider their RevolutionCard, which has a $50 off $51 promotion at buy.com until the end of the month. If you're immediately approved you get your card number straight away. I used it to buy myself a new power supply (if you're in the market, here's a review).

How much use is a credit card if only a few places accept it? Well, it'll still count towards your debt-credit ratio - and that is likely to be improved if you don't put much on it. If nothing else, you'll have saved $50. There might be a hard pull on your credit for applying, though, so you may wish to pass if planning a large credit-related activity in the next six months.

InspIRCd

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:43:51 GMT

I've recently been hacking on the code for InspIRCd. It's pretty nifty, and works on Linux, BSD and Windows and OS X. If you're in the market for an extensible chat server, you could do worse than give it a look.

Con time

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:12:07 GMT

I will be away at Furry Connection North until Monday. Begin your fear.

Flickr Downloadr

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:23:47 GMT

I found this Java-based Flickr Downloadr today, after guessing at the name. It doesn't look like much but it does this simple job well. Recommended. If you want more features, try this one, but I prefer the simple approach.

Sometimes it seems it'd be better just to drive

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:03:19 GMT

Everyone knows you can sometimes get a better deal with a connection than a direct flight, especially when one carrier has a monopoly over a particular flight.

But you'd think that booking that same flight plus another flight would cost more, right?

For comparison:

In all cases, these were the cheapest flights available.

Northwest Airlines' gouging disgusts me, and I'm only mildly less annoyed at whatever authority let this happen. I don't normally say "there should be a law", but if it costs about half as much to fly twice as far (United/American via Chicago), and three times less to have two more flights on your ticket, there's something desperately wrong with our air transportation system.

There's still time to fund a 2007 IRA

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:41:54 GMT

If you earned money last year in the USA, don't forget . . . there's still time to invest in an IRA for the 2007 tax year. You can choose to either reduce your taxable income, or withdraw your investment tax-free at retirement. You may even be entitled to a significant tax credit.

If you're just starting out with retirement savings, consider putting $1000 into the Vanguard STAR Fund. If you can afford $3000 to $4000, try their fund selector, or go with their 500 Index fund (its 0.15% expense rate is very low).

If you don't have the money to invest right now, but do have any credit cards or high-interest debt paid off, try setting aside some money to invest for 2008. Just $20 a week would get you to $1000 in a single year - and once your account is open, you can start adding $100 a month. It all adds up . . .

Note: Reducing taxable income or obtaining the Retirement Savings Credit will require refiling your 2007 taxes if already filed. Funds invested should be dedicated to retirement; withdrawing contributions from Traditional (non-Roth) IRAs may result in penalties. Investments in mutual funds are not guaranteed; while on average the market gains about 10% a year, it may fall in any given year.

Convention photos from MFF, AC, FC, FWA now on Flickr

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:27:33 GMT

People have been poking me to get my convention photos up. It took some time to figure out where; WikiFur is great, but I don't want to abuse it by turning it into my personal photo gallery - even if they are CC-BY-SA licensed. Besides, a lot of them aren't that educational. :-)

It ended up most cost-effective and convenient to get a Flickr Pro account. The photos are sorted by convention, and include over a thousand never-before-seen shots. Check back in a month or so for shots from Furry Connection North.

If you find a photo of yourself that you don't want to be there (or would prefer to be under a more restrictive license), let me know.

(For the camera geeks: I use Raw Therapee for image processing. MFF 2007 and later are taken on a Pentax K10D, typically using the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX Macro.)

Room space available at Furry Connection North

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:55:35 GMT

I have a room at Furry Connection North. I currently have one slot available through all four nights (Thursday night through to Monday morning), and one slot open for anyone who needs a room on Monday morning.

If you are interested in either of these, let me know. You will pay 1/4 of the room rate for the nights you stay. The maximum number of people on any night is four.

And now, a word from our sponsors . . .

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:44:16 GMT

Got two or more (up to seven) Windows machines next to one another with network connections? Got a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition? Want to be able to use the machines together with ease, and without a manual KVM? Consider this offer for Multiplicity Pro, which will save you 40% off the retail price.

You can also get a trial version to see what it's like. I consider it indispensable at work, and there's not a lot of things (even our products) that I'd say that about.

What I did on my holidays, pt. 1

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:10:20 GMT

Thanks to wildbilltx for producing this combination of photos and video (my own photos will be online when I sort them out). See if you can spot the norn. Hint: I'm wearing dark green.

Hey, cool!

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:47:58 GMT

Something I did made the front page of Download.com. Be sure to get the Vista Logon Pack for best results. :-)

I guess maybe they were fans of Sins - if you're going to FWA, I've scored a signed copy of the Collector's Edition which you can bid on in the charity auction.

Edit: Oh, and something else got an update. Busy ~~day~~ ~~week~~ month!

Lowering your tax rebate for fun and profit (or, why to attend a furry convention)

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:22:21 GMT

An article on emergency savings got me confused when it talked about the "typical refund check" being about $2,000. I just got mine, and - as usual - it's much lower; about the amount given out by this year's special tax rebate.

Thinking about this, I realized it was partly because of my 401(k). Money invested there doesn't count as part of your AGI, and is not taxed; so, if the government is overcharging (as it usually does), it won't be by as much. Therefore, contributing to your 401(k) reduces the amount that you get back. And if you've read my past entries, you'll know I like to save a lot there.

So why is less money back good news? Well, putting that money into your 401(k) means it works for you. Instead of making an interest-free loan to the government, you're investing it - and, assuming a $1,500 reduction in your rebate and 8% growth (perhaps optimistic in the current market, but you never know), you might make $100 by the end of the year. This may not sound like much, but it's a lot better than $0 - and, let's face it, you'd probably just have spent some of that $1,500 on a new graphics card.

That brings us to what to do with the $600 check many US residents are getting. If you have outstanding credit card debt, or haven't built up an emergency fund in a savings or money market account, that'd probably be the best place to put it. If not, and if you don't feel like hunting for bargains in the stock market, I strongly suggest attending a furry convention and buying a few nice pieces of art, craft or literature. No, really! You'll be supporting the local economy (rather than increasing the trade deficit) and helping starving artists or the convention's charity at the same time. You might even make a few friends - and, to me, that's worth far more than $100 in the bank.

Find a convention near you, or check the schedule at WikiFur. Perhaps I'll see you there!

When "fair" is better than "outstanding"

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:43:58 GMT

With regards to this post by goldenwolfen:

Please, if any art show directors are listening, do not go down the road of focussing on big names to attract those with equally big wallets. It is cool to see some great art, but it is also cool that everyone gets an equal shot at it, and I think the systems that are currently in place delivers that. The idea that the majority of the art show would be reserved for certain artists who have "made it", and that others would be herded to the back of the line is not only distasteful but totally misses the point of having an art show.

I do not doubt that there are art shows that are like that, but they should not be part of furry conventions. The shows we have are not for the wealthiest buyers, or for the biggest sellers, but to demonstrate the full range of skills within the fandom, and to give newcomers a chance to prove themselves. "Professional" artists get the same deal as everyone else. If they want more space, they can buy it in the dealer's room.

As a secondary matter, I would far rather have a fair show with some fun pieces that fall into my price range than a gallery of immaculately-rendered showpieces that do not. It would be a sad day if Anthrocon 2010 rolled around and each piece in the art show had a three-figure reserve price.

FWA, anyone?

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:55:08 GMT

I'm attending Furry Weekend Atlanta next month. Anyone going and need a roommate to spread the costs? Let me know.

Edit: Room found! If you're going, see you there . . .

Hopefully if you're watching this journal you have a rough idea of who I am, but to sum up: 25, male, WikiFur founder, non-drinker¹, non-smoker, geeky. I'd be glad to stay with up to three others, and don't mind taking a few nights on the floor if necessary. I am flying in on Thursday afternoon and leaving early Monday morning (though not early enough that I won't need a room).

¹I don't mind staying with others who drink in moderation, I just don't like drinking alcohol myself.

Markets down == time to buy?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:51:51 GMT

As some of you may be aware, the market has taken a dump recently (from a high of 1500 in December, and 1550 in October), mostly because of the huge losses posted by financial companies related to their exposure to sub-prime lending.

Does this mean it's time to sell out? Not really. It's more likely to be a time to buy.

What would you do when you're in the market for something? You wait for the goods you want to be marked down - a sale - and that's what this is, a sale on real companies. If you're looking to make a lump some contribution to an IRA or similar account, now could be a good time to make some or all of it.

Of course, just as good deals can be followed by better ones, there's a fair chance that the market could just keep on going down. That's the risk you take with investing, as with sales - and it sure bites when you make a purchase and see 2% of that disappear overnight.

Still, stocks are backed by real companies, and their actual value doesn't tend to drop overnight - just the market's perception of it. The best time to buy is when the perception is low, and the best time to sell is when it is high. If a stock is currently undervalued, you still win in the long run by buying, even if the perception drops a little lower for a short time afterwards.

Portal protagonist lookalike banned from Olympics

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:36:06 GMT

Now you're thinking with . . . blades?

Furries != minors, but . . .

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:49:32 GMT

Recently there's been a bit of a fuss (now apparently deleted) about whether certain areas of furry artwork might legally be classified as obscene depictions of abuse of minors, as has been asserted for lolicon/shota. There's a lot of background to this area, like this interesting reading about the protected speech status of virtual child pornography.

The fuss isn't really necessary, though, as it comes down to simple definitions set by US law:
* A person (or child/individual) is a member of the species homo sapiens
* A minor is a person under 18 years of age
* Obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children involve the depiction of minors, or those who appear to be minors

If it doesn't appear to be¹ homo sapiens, it's not legally a person,² and so not a minor.

That said, it's still possible for the work to be obscene (a word with particular meaning), but only in the sense that any art can be obscene by passing the Miller test. Unlike the law above, simple possession of obscene material is legal, but you can still get in trouble for distributing, importing or transporting it - including over the net.

Now, whether or not such material should be specifically specifically outlawed, regardless of obscenity . . . personally I side with the courts - who view it as freedom of expression without a victim - but I can understand why it squicks a lot of people, and why (in this case) a convention might have issues with it. However, they seem to have only had problems with the legal risk, so it'll be interesting to see how it works out.

¹Where the intended meaning of "appear to be" is "virtually indistinguishable from"
²Yes, a company can also be a person . . . but it can't have sex.

Joy?

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:26:44 GMT

Does anyone else think it odd that the brand name of a certain dish-cleaning detergent is an expression of delight? I do not delight in washing dishes, no matter what I squirt on them.

(Perhaps they are trying to influence their divided reviewers . . .)

Téléchat!

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:04:26 GMT

This (translation) must be what french furry fans watched in their childhood . . .

For those curious about Léguman, here's a series from season one.

Microsoft is on the road again . . .

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:37:15 GMT

Microsoft is giving away copies of its latest software. I did a few calculations, and here's the result:

Windows Server 2008 Standard with 5 CALs: $999
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition: ~$700
SQL Server Workgroup Edition with 5 CALs: $739
Using the above to host and code open-source, multi-platform software: Priceless

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Microsoft.

Meet the new book, same as the used book . . .

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:56:27 GMT

It's cute how book publishers sell their own returned books via Amazon marketplace (MMA1books is a front for Mike Murach & Associates) at lower prices than they're selling them new, to avoid having to officially remainder them.

I understand many struggling authors who are stuck with publishers that only give them a 20% royalty get their work listed on Amazon and start selling new books through the marketplace. Of course, they end up having to sell at below whatever Amazon's charging the customer, and give Amazon 15% + $0.99, but considering Amazon would at most give them 45% of the book's list price if they acted as the publisher themselves, it can still make sense.

Ahh, the wild and wonderful world of publishing. Still, it's never been easy to make money as an author. At least now there are more options than just "10%, and you get half that on bulk purchases, take it or leave it."

RBW/ConFuzzled crossover statistics

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:06:42 GMT

I was curious about the amount of crossover between those intending to go to RBW and ConFuzzled. As it turns out, 27 people have both been to RBW 2007 and are booked for ConFuzzled 2008 - which works out to 10% of 267 for RBW and 21% of 126 for ConFuzzled.

I was honestly expecting the proportion of sharing to be higher. These figures seem like they'd be good news for any other group planning any new UK event - it suggests that there are significant numbers of furs in local areas who do not wish to travel far, and therefore a regional convention has a chance against more established events. Of course, the fact that the two events are quite different in style and pricing could also be a factor.

(Note that RWB only sold 242 tickets, these figures may therefore include a few who said they would come but actually did not. It is also possible for people to be attending under different names. Use as a rough guide only.)

People going to both events:
Anthropuppy
Avalanche
Badgerguy
Darkou
DukeFawks
Farren
Frost T Wolf
FurbleFox
Gothicat
Graafen Blackpaw
Ikkarub
Klepsydra
Lupestripe
Macenzie
Miles TigerFox
Pickle
Pinky
Sci
Shema
Shep
Shiinsuh
Smraedis
Snoblissea
SpiritRaptor
Urbanvixen
Wolfie
Zuki

Good news for IRAs in 2008

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:57:35 GMT

2008 brings good news for those who invest in their retirement - the maximum IRA contribution for most people has been raised from $4000 of earned income to $5000 (over-50s go from $5000 to $6000).

This increase may be especially useful for those who do not have access to a work plan - though the self-employed should be aware that they can set up additional schemes, such as a SEP-IRA or SIMPLE IRA.

And don't forget: if you've not contributed your maximum for 2007, you can still do that until the tax filing deadline. If you choose a Traditional IRA, you can even deduct it from 2007's taxes and increase your refund, which might make be particularly useful if you find it hard to get money to invest - or if you want to get on the other side of a particular marginal tax bracket, like the 15% to 25% at $31,850 AGI. This bracket also decides whether or not dividends are taxed at 5% or 15% (these rates will be 0% and 15% for the 2008 tax year).