It’s time for the Running of the Orphans!  Join me at 12:30 p.m. EDT (9:30 a.m. PDT, 10:30 a.m. server time).

Yesterday I got emails from two protesty sites telling me to scream loudly against CISPA. I got right on that. An hour or so later, I got emails celebrating the fact that Obama had threatened a veto. Yay Obama! Yay liberty!

Today, the House amends CISPA to be even worse, negates the 4th ammendment online and then passes the evil bill.

Go go Obama, right? Conjecture is that he will back down from his threat.

So it’s been a rollercoaster ride, but we’re not done yet. It has to pass the Senate to go through.

Please let reason and liberty prevail!

/fear

When writers take these jobs without pay, they are reducing the opportunities for all other bloggers. They devalue themselves and every one else wishing to blog for a living. Exposure is not compensation, particularly on a site that is struggling for readers.

Worse than the sites who openly offer no compensation are the ones who are misleading. I contacted a blog today that I would have been a good fit for. The compensation said TBD. TBD means To Be Determined. In general, TBD indicates that the company will decide what to pay you and would probably be willing to negotiate. It does not mean no intended compensation now and in the future.

The blog is very strict. You have to meet hard deadlines, follow a specific format and generally be an above par writer. When we discussed compensation, the editor indicated there would be no monetary compensation, just exposure, links, press passes and event invitations. That is not TBD. That is AD or Already Determined and you get diddly to pay the bills with — all this for a site with tons of ads and not very many readers. I politely declined, even though I wanted to flame him.

Please. If you want to write, write on your own blog if you’re willing to do it for free. Or combine with other writers on the same subject to provide content for a focused blog. Otherwise, if a company that is making money off of advertising offers you exposure and other non-bill-paying compensation, do not do it. It’s for your sake and every other blogger out there.

WoW Hunters Hall has an excellent write-up of how to start your own blog. I found the advice there very helpful. It is also an excellent example of people pooling their resources to create a valuable blog. And a valuable blog can be used in portfolios and resumes to gain paying jobs in the future.

I’ll keep looking for a side gig while I follow Frostheim’s advice on making this one as much of a success as I can. If you are doing the same, beware of misleading postings.

The coffee at Disneyland and California adventure sucks. This is not an opinion; this is fact. I have tried the restaurant coffees and the coffees that are on the carts. I have even tried the coffee from the gourmet coffee cart in California Adventure. Bitter bitter bitter. Bitter.

Is there a place in Disneyland/California Adventure to get a really good coffee, specialty or otherwise? Because … bleh.

— Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) April 9, 2012

The answer, from regular Disneyland goers and an employee, was no.

You see, I am on a fascist, get-healthy plan and I can’t have sugar. I hate artificial sweeteners because they are poison. So I need my coffee to taste really good all on its own, particularly since I like to sit and sip coffee. Also, the Torres family has annual passes for Disney, so the opportunities to sit and sip there are many.

But help is on the way. Disney announced recently that Starbucks is coming to the parks this summer, starting with California Adventure. This is the best Disney news ever. /hyperbole

I know, I know. Starbucks is expensive. But so is everything in the Disney parks. I paid high prices for my bad Disney coffee. Yes, Starbucks is everywhere. But I like Starbucks and their in-park cafes will have names that make sense for Disney. Also, imagine the lovely latte art. Ooooh.

June. That’s the month we’ll get to drink good coffee in California Adventure. It is also the month when they take down the dividers that make us walk half a mile before we get anywhere in the park. And it’s the month when the Cars stuff and the 1920s area will open. We’ll probably go before then and I’ll have to suffer without drinkable coffee, but an end is in sight.

Drama Mamas recently tackled the topic of female gamers getting harassed in Vent. Many women, not just the letter writer in that article, have trouble talking in Vent without getting unwanted attention from male gamers. I got more than one response on Twitter and in the comments that this reason in particular is why many female players stay out of voice chat altogether.

People in the comments also suggested that women who have trouble with overzealous admirers of their voice should just stop using Vent to solve their problems. To me, this doesn’t really solve anything — it just lets the harassers control the situation. But I can see how women who are in an otherwise comfortable guild might take the quiet way out, as these commenters suggested.
Of course, there’s the opposite issue that a feminine voice will get extra special treatment. The Oatmeal recently commented on the situation and got some flak for it. (Link is NSFW.) Whether or not he was implying that all female gamers are bad — and I don’t think he was — it is a fact that guys will often be a bit gentler to a female who makes a mistake than a guy in the same situation. I have some theories about why this happens.

• Some are afraid we’ll cry. And I know this does happen, even by otherwise rational women. “Oh no! I broke the healer!”
• Some actually do have a low opinion of all female gamers and are therefore cutting them more slack. “It’s not like I expected her to do well.”
• Some are just so happy that women who share their interests are speaking in their lonely ears and are willing to forgive anything. “She didn’t mean to. She has a pretty voice.”

The last one is more demeaning to males than to females, in my opinion.

And then there are the drama queens who ruin it for everyone. They get in voice chat and flirt with players in committed relationships. They talk over important conversations or activities. They make bawdy jokes but complain when others do the same. They are oversensitive to snarky comments. They are explicit about sexual activities and bodily functions. Most of all, they make it uncomfortable for any other woman to be in Vent. /sigh

What do you think? Should women who get unwanted attention in voice chat just stay out of it? Is there too much coddling of women in groups if they speak in Vent? To female gamers only: Are you OK with the tendency for guys to be easier on you in groups over voice chat? Or do you find it demeaning?

Let’s go scavenging!  Join me at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT, 11 a.m. server time).

Click to embiggen.

Take a ride on the Love Zeppelin.  Join me at 11 p.m. EST (8 p.m. PST, 9 p.m. server time).

The Spousal Unit says that Penn rambles a lot in it.  Perhaps he was looking for an entertaining treatise rather than the mix of atheist tenets and personal reminiscences. It certainly isn’t a serious study. But despite protestations to the contrary that I’ve heard in interviews with Penn, he does attempt to sway you over to atheism at the end.

If I came away with anything new, it was a way to explain atheism to someone who says, “How can you be so sure?” The answer is that I’m not, but anyone who believes in a god is saying they are.

I recommend it to any non-believers and anyone on the fence, of course. But, because it is such an easy and entertaining read, I also recommend it to people who want to understand the mindset of someone without religion. I don’t mean to say that he speaks for all atheists, but he does represent them/us well.

It’s the second annual Lunar Lunacy.  Join me at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST, 11 a.m. server time).