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Webcomic Beacon #85 – Editorial Comics

Fesworks — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:08:17 +0000

Elissa Rose (Girl vs. Robot), Jason Braaten (Tweetics), and Jason Dustan (Ardra) join Fes and Mark to discuss Editorial Comics! Don’t worry! We soon spin off into tangents about the evolution and quality of news and reporting in general! This is the most intelligent episode of The Webcomic Beacon yet!

**Listen to The Webcomic Beacon: Episode 85 – Editorial Comics, with Elissa Rose of Girl vs Robot!**

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 9th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “SIMS Comics and Homelessness” with Robin of Alice and Kev.

No Appeal for Jack Thompson

Leto — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:27:47 +0000

One of Gaming’s most celebrated villains has hit another one of those brick walls in his path to becoming the most laughed at person in the history of gaming culture. He recently made an appeal to the highest court in the country to have his enhanced disbarment in the State of Florida repealed, and sadly, the court told him that they wouldn’t hear the case.

This is one attempt in a long series of attempts since Thompson’s disbarment last year, and he’s still not giving up. He was quoted as saying…

I have four more options, all better than this one. This was the longest of shots. All four of the others are much, much shorter shots.

With hope still in his sights, and much hilarity in everyone elses, we all wish him the best of luck, as to give us more prime material to post about here on this website.

ESRB Chides Utah Over Possible Law

Leto — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:36:14 +0000

I recently read an article over on Kotaku.com about this, and I felt this was important enough to post up here for our reader base to get a look at. When I went through this I got a lot out of it, including a whole new position on why government needs to be involved in the daily lives of the people, and hopefully you all will get something out of reading this key letter from the ESRB to the State of Utah.

It’s a long letter, probably two or three standard pages worth, so be ready to sit down for ten or fifteen minutes and digest this instead of just skimming over, just click the read more tab to see the letter in it’s entirety. Credit to Kotaku.com and their network for posting this.

An Open Letter to Utah’s Parents and Leaders
March 6, 2009

As you read this, Utah legislators are preparing to pass legislation that risks, perhaps unintentionally, putting an end to hugely successful efforts to prevent children’s access to video games intended for older audiences. I write today in the hopes of averting this grave mistake, and to propose a more responsible course of action instead.

Legislation expanding Utah’s existing Truth in Advertising law (H.B. 353) would require that if a video game retailer promotes its adherence to a policy restricting the sale of video games rated M for Mature – which, like the R rating for movies, indicates it is recommended for those ages 17 and older – and then sells an M-rated game to anyone under the recommended age, they could be subject to a lawsuit, fines and/or the payment of additional costs and legal fees. In fact, all major retailers of video games currently have such policies, which they have put in place voluntarily and with which they are in compliance the vast majority of the time. According to a recent audit, Utah video game retailers enforce their store policies regarding the sale of M-rated games an impressive 94% of the time – without any laws or requirements that they do so. That level of compliance took many years to achieve, and speaks to the strong commitment of video game retailers to do the right thing.

So why is this bill likely to put an end to those very efforts it seeks to support? On its face such an amendment makes good sense; after all, if a retailer says they’re going to do something, they should do it, right? While the intent of this legislation would be to hold retailers accountable for compliance with their stated policies – presumably in that negligible 6% of instances where they fail to comply – the unfortunate reality is that it would introduce a liability that will likely force many retailers to seriously consider abandoning their voluntary policies and ratings education programs, undoing years of progress made on behalf of parents and their children.

It’s worth noting that when the Federal Trade Commission first began measuring retailer compliance with video game sales policies nationwide in 2000, a scant 15% of underage customers were turned away. However, the most recent such study reported in May 2008 found that national retailers refused to sell M-rated games to customers under 17 a remarkable 80% of the time, far surpassing the comparable rates of compliance for movies, DVDs, or music CDs rated for a mature audience. The unraveling of this substantial progress would be a tragic consequence, depriving parents of the assurance and control they currently have with respect to deciding which games their children can purchase and play.

Utah State Representative Michael Morley, the chief sponsor of this new amendment, was recently quoted in the Deseret News stating that, “if they’re one of those places that thinks, ‘Well, as long as they have a heartbeat and some money we’ll sell to them,’ then this won’t have any impact on them.” That statement reveals exactly why this law would
be so destructive. It would effectively penalize responsible retailers that have policies, and provide safe harbor for retailers that refuse to adopt a responsible policy in the first place. That is downright senseless. If the goal is to make sure our children are playing age-appropriate games, there is a better way.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), of which I am president, is a non-profit organization created in 1994 to help parents determine which computer and video games are appropriate for their children. Most retailers only carry games that have been rated by the ESRB, and game consoles and handheld devices include settings that parents can activate to block games by ESRB rating. Elected officials across the country, including Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and groups like PTA have joined ESRB in helping educate the public about the rating system to great effect. The FTC recently reported that 73% of parents regularly use ESRB ratings when buying games for their children; 59% “never” allow their child to play an M-rated game, and 34% only do so “sometimes.”

The bottom line is that parents are more than capable of utilizing tools like the ratings to make the right choices for their families. And there is broad support of ESRB ratings from major retailers and the game industry alike. The proposed legislation is looking to fix a system that is not broken. Instead, we should all be focused on figuring out ways to encourage parents to use the excellent tools already available to them to make informed choices about the media their children consume. Punishing retailers for promoting responsible sales policies is irrational and counter-productive. I write in the sincere hope that Utah chooses to empower its parents with information rather than undo the substantial progress made by retailers to date to serve the best interests of Utah’s children.

With warm regards,
Patricia E. Vance
President

Congress Pushes Back DTV Transition

Leto — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:25:16 +0000

We thought that it would slip through, but today the United States Congress gave the American people four more months in order to update their bunny ear’ed televisions to something that can accept digital signals. Not sure about any of the details surrounding this quite yet, as we’re just getting this in, but we’ll be talking about it on next week’s R&D for sure.

FCC Chairman Alright with Porn

Leto — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:57:07 +0000

Just heard this over on Truemors, hopefully it’s the true part and not the rumor part. Apparently the FCC’s chairman, which is working on some form of free broadband, removed the requirement for a porn filter on the software. We’ll have more on this one as it developes.

John Dvorak and Adam Curry broadcasting No Agenda LIVE

Rob — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:26:10 +0000

Tech 5’s John C Dvorak and Daily Source Code’s Adam Curry are broadcasting their No Agenda podcast live. Check it out at Curry.com.

Congratulations President-Elect Barak Obama

Leto — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:16:16 +0000

For everyone inside the United States, we have a new president after a long two year campaign. President-Elect Barak Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden were elected today in a solid majority victory. Both candidates fought hard, but today the Obama campaign has made history today, as he will be the first African-American President of the United States. Interested in seeing his acceptance speech? You can watch it right Here.

Current.com and Twitter Team up on Debate Coverage

Leto — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:49:28 +0000

We all love a good twitter post or four while we’re at work, but who might have thought that an actual cable/sattelite channel would be hosting the presidential debates with your twitter updates! This is a fantastic innovation that I saw just now on Twitter.com’s homepage, along with a nice little video from the chairman of Current.com, Al Gore! Normally we don’t cover politics, but I felt this is a major innovation that deserved front page posting, here’s the video from Al Gore if you haven’t seen it yet;

Al Gore Speaks at Current TV from Melody on Vimeo.

Sarah Palin HATE and the RACE card

Steve Racer — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:28:17 +0000

I haven’t been alive that long *clears throat* but I swear I’ve never seen so much hate directed toward a single candidate – even a presidential one, let alone a VP! Normally I don’t talk about politics here but even Hollywood is in on the hate-fest.

I seriously have seen the most nasty comments from celebrities, and the most vicious LIES spread by email and even even on Myspace (that bastion of intellectual fortitude.) It’s as if people think that hating this lady is just fine and who needs to research your arguments to see if they are factual or use logic? There’s SO MUCH I can barely touch on it all but I’m going to try to.

First of all, a Democratic Congressman said this: Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings on Wednesday warned two minority groups to beware of Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

So, somehow if you shoot a gun and hunt, you are racist towards Jews and blacks. Yeah. That’s logical.

Then there’s this email circulating around, again, totally race baiting, saying she gets a free pass in life because she is WHITE. I’m not making this up:

“White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like
Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with
you, you’ll “kick their fuckin’ ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot
shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a
great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.”

So, this lady’s teenage daughter had sex with a not-so-bright kid, and it has somehow, something to do with race? Not only that, what does a 17 year old’s emotional, hormonal, decision making have to do with her mother? This is somehow an argument not to vote for her? A VP candidate? Really? That’s the best you got? Oh wait, it’s just pure hate.

“* If your name is Barack you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you’re a maverick.”

First of all, no one in the media or the prominent conservative movement is saying Obama is a Muslim. It’s a strawman. Plus, you really have to bring up what people name their kids? This is somehow politically relevant? Really?

Hollywood hates her too. Sandra Bernhardt: The Republican V.P. nom would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” if she enters Manhattan. There’s plenty more nasty stuff from Hollywood about Palin if you look. Pamela Anderson, “I cant stand her. She can suck it,” she told E! News from Canada.

It’s just a hatefest. I’ve seen so many crazy lies posted about Ms. Palin I can hardly believe it. When I ask why people don’t like her they mostly say emotional stuff, repeat some of these lies, or just say things like she is “an idiot.” Look, if you don’t like her politically, fine. But really, gang raped? Attacking her family? Disagree, sure, but playing the race card and speaking out in anger and lies really doesn’t accomplish anything. Maybe it’s too late to ask people to be civil, but at least check your facts first.

Top 7 Lies about Sarah Palin

Veronica Belmont for President, 2008

Rob — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:14:35 +0000

It would appear that Veronica Belmont, co-host of Tekzilla on Revision3 has quite the fan-base pushing for her to run for president.

From belmont08.com,

Bowing to the constant politcal pressure on the Internet, Veronica Belmont declared freedom from the bickering stating, “I’ll stab my eye out with a fork!”. This was a clear call the likes of which have not been heard since the third delay of Spore.

Those in the know understood her words meant she would challenge the field for the Presidency of the United States in 2008. While Belmont is not above the minimum age of 35, she hopes to have a constitutional ammendment fast-tracked by November to allow her election to stand.

But what exactly are people saying about her policies and personality?

Bipartisanship
” She also wanted to buy a puppy, so she like dogs too! ”

Service
“Don’t forget her extensive CoD military career, and she spent quite a while fighting for the freedom of Azeroth from that evil Alliance.”

Experience
“Her extensive executive leadership in Buzztown, Mahalo-land and Tekzilla Nation are unparalelled.”

The biggest question on everyone’s mind, however, is who will Veronica pick as her VP. I may be “playing favorites” here, but I think the image you will see after clicking the link below explains it all.

And by the way, if you cannot tell that this is satirical… i am so sorry XD