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The Post-Eraser Culture

Recently there has been a lot in the news regarding things people did years ago. In a world where nothing can ever be truly removed from the internet, how does this impact the way people live their lives? In a world without erasers, are we judged only by our mistakes?

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What You Make

This weekend I ran several sessions of play tests for Cold Start
I’m not a vendor at GenCon, so when people ask me “What did you make so far this weekend” I tell them “I didn’t make any money”. A lot of the time they follow up with a sympathetic “I’m sorry”, but I laugh and explain the things I did make this weekend:
  • I made about 100 new friends.
  • I made tons of corny jokes.
  • I made a player really happy by using their character’s preferred pronouns consistently without making a mistake. “That almost never happens,” they told me.
  • I made a shy, nonconfrontational player feel empowered through the use of a highly social character who could end fights without throwing a punch.
  • I made people laugh with my corny jokes.
  • I made a character at the next table jealous: he told me he wished he could join my game, only to have him show up at the next session with generic tickets.
  • I made 4 separate adventures that touched on societal problems and started interesting discussions about philosophical concepts like self-identity and the source of law.

In short: I made a little bit more happiness. Just a little.

Maybe I’ll be a vendor next year and maybe I’ll make money. But that wasn’t the goal this year. Instead, this year I made a lot of good things happen. Seems like a win to me.

Now on Patreon!

Become a Patron!

That’s right! I have delved into the wide world of Patreon, with the dream of finally being able to write for a living and share my words with the world.

Over 50,000 creatives use Patreon to support their work, and with the help of over a million users, I hope I can do the same. Every little bit helps–so please, consider sharing this with your friends! Great perks are on their way.

FCC: Reclassify broadband service or podcasting will suffer

Below is the entirety of my filing to the FCC from my production company, Audio Toaster Broadcasting that I made this evening regarding Net Neutrality and its impacts on podcasting.

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The Creep of Artificial Voiceover

A little rant about artificial voice. 

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Autism Awareness Day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day.

20140214_141940This is my brother, Daniel. Daniel was diagnosed with severe autism at a young age, and living with his has been exceptionally difficult. Up until the point where my family moved to Tennessee, where he currently lives, I have been a close to my brother, because as a special needs child he requires a lot of care.

Daniel does not speak much. He often communicates in broken english, mixes up words, and throws tantrums. The easiest way to explain it is that Daniel is a 3-year-old mentality inside the body of a middle-aged man.

Daniel does have some talents. One of his favorite things to do is draw; he has a very special talent for shape recognition and he often expresses himself by drawing logos, especially logos with high contrast and bright colors. He draws on manilla file folders, prompting my family to buy them for him by the box. He often draws a lot of logos, in the same way, in the same order, with minor changes. We can’t really explain why, exactly. as an example:

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I love my brother with all of my heart. This, for example, is the reason why the proceeds from True Equestria Radio are always donated to the Autism Society of America, a group which helped provide Daniel with tools and give our family lots of support over the years.

If you have the opportunity, please take a moment and donate to the ASA to help people like my brother live fulfilling lives.

Thanks.