25 February 08 - 07:29
New blog

I've started a move to http://www.nathanwong.co.uk/blog. PHP redirects will be in place here within a week or so.

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15 January 08 - 20:05
Kevin McCullough on Mass Effect

There's been a recent furore about this conservative american's comments on Mass Effect on one of his recent blog postings.
He posted a rebuttal to his blog earlier.
There's not much to say that hasn't been said, but whereas the first post I just found funny, if a little saddening, that someone of Kevin's apparent esteemed worth could be so wrong, the second just made me angry that he could continue to misrepresent the game so grossly.
He also did a radio show tonight in which he invited phone-ins. I attempted to keep a transcript but kept forgetting: as mesmerised as I was by his words.

“I’m not owning an xbox, it’s not something I’m concerned with. I have real things to do with my life, I have a family to feed and provide for.”
“Sincerely apologise” for breast comment.
“Beyond that, the substance was all correct”.
“For me personally [it’s the most sexually explicit game] I’ve ever seen”. Say’s the non-gamer.
“You can create, to some degree, custom bodies”.
“If the game is getting into the hands of 15 year olds then is are the regulations working?”
Explicit or implicit? “It depends on your definition of explicit.” “There was a little view of the [arse] and a flash of the breast... a hand through the crotch of the girl: female stimulation, if you will”.
“Yes. First of all I think it is always the parent’s responsibility first and foremost [...] the fact that we have this society in which we’re pushed more towards the more explicit, the pushing of the envelope in every regard when it comes to every type of material on the globe. Europe is more liberal [...] I don’t want to become Europe [!...] I don’t know that that’s where we want to set the bar for the whole of society. There are a great number of people across the country who share my values. Parents who say “I want to be the one who introduces my child to the idea of sex” [...] It appears to me that we are quickly evaporating the ability of the parent to limit and control what their children have access to.”
“Am I saying we set a federal guideline in place? Probably not. Can parents have a hand in this? Absolutely. Can regional communities put pressure on this issue [such that this sort of material can only be sold in a small shop down the end of the lot? I hope so!]”.
“It seems to me that we have an epidemic of non [...] enforcement of obscenity.”
“I lot of libertarians do not like the views of moderate viewpoint conservatives.”
“You can’t have legitimate freedom, you cannot have a legitimate moral free society [...] without standards and moral values. [...] Is this what happened with Mass Effect? No.”
“Libertarians really do want the influx of morally reprehensive material to be available! Do right minded people want that? No!”
“Our founders [...] understood from a very pure perception that democracy in a vacuum void of God would not work. This is why is cited thousands of times amongst the Founder’s early writings.”
“If you have to drive to the edge of town to buy a smutty game, then why not for a smutty video game?”

Edit: As this posting seems to have received a little attention, I can only update this to say that Kevin has apologised for his mis-interpretation of the game (a good thing), though he still disagrees with the nudity that is present in the game. Which given his consistent stance on TV and movie content, is fair enough; even if I entirely disagree, it's an entirely valid opinion.

I'd suggest turning your ire towards Fox News's rather embarrassing coverage of this issue a few days after; but that's already blown over. Even the silly woman apologised (after she was Amazon bombed...)

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14 December 07 - 01:03
Christmas

Does anyone want to buy me an a very nice Christmas present?

Failing receiving it, I may just buy it anyway. It's so very pretty. As is most of the stuff there...

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27 November 07 - 18:51
Rock Band

Oh how I want you: how little the chances of me ever getting you.
Kotaku: Rock Band Gets Healthy Does of Bowie
They could be better songs, perhaps, but Queen Bitch is sublime, and I'm forever living in a Moonage Daydream.

On a lighter note, I managed to get wireless working on my laptop (finally!) after a year of ownership, with two hours hard graft and troubleshooting today. I'm on it in the library at the moment (it's being troublesome at times, but nevermind). I ought to head back and eat!

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