Another Restriction In Gaming and a Reason Not To Move To China

The title is a link to a Gamespot article detailing new on-line gaming restrictions in China.

I've said before that I don't generally support government restriction/control of legal activities. The Gamespot article doesn't get into much detail, but I'm fascinated with the new restrictions. Why a 3 hour limit? Is there great scientific evidence that this is an appropriate amount of time or this is simply the opinion of the drafters of the legislation of how much time people SHOULD spend gaming at one sitting? It seems so arbitrary. I have no data on the acedotal or other evidence the legislators used, but the recent Korean story about the guy who died after a marathon playing session in an internet cafe had been playing for 50 hours. So why 3? Why not 4? 5? 24? Besides the Schoolhouse Rock song, why is this a magic number?

And don't tell me there are health issues associated with playing for that length of time. Lots of activities aren't healthy, but shouldn't be illegal. Drinking binges, eating binges, marathon bingo playing...

I know the article doesn't contain all the facts in this situation, but I see legislators reacting to a few extreme and sad situations and creating significant impact on a nation of billions.

I'm sure there are ways around it and it'll be cracked pretty quickly. So actually, cracking the restriction will become a different sort of game. The article says you're hit with penalties if you play a character for longer than that period of time. So what if I use a different character after 3 hours? Can I keep playing? What if I go to a different PC with a different character?

I think this sort of topic always gets me going because:

-I loved music when the PMRC stuff was going on. There were some boundary-pushing songs and then they started looking for stuff in lyrics. Got congressional hearings in place and had great moments like John Denver, Frank Zappa and Dee Snider being questioned by Congress. Did '80s music ruin the world? Of course not. Is MTV a great place with only happy videos? We have guns, violence, sex. Where are the kitties and bunnies? I think their biggest worry is blurring out logos on hats and t-shirts. Tipper Gore, you're mission's not yet complete!

-I loved D&D when during sweeps periods, the local TV news would have a special report on the cult game sweeping the nation. Invariably, there'd be a remote from some poor geek's basement, with people in costumes. They'd have a couple of shots of these folks walking outside, peeking around corners, as if this activity was part of the game. 'Players create characters' was an issue they always played up, hinting that at some point players would actually BECOME that character and live full-time as that person - confusing reality with fantasy. Playing sessions lasted a long time and this, too, was a new thing for the world. I don't remember them reporting on dice being involved, but always laughed at the concept of the character in the real world. (Krieger the Ranger walks to the elevator door and pushes the 'up' button. You rolled a 4 on the 29 sided die. The elevator does not come yet.)

-I loved the Rocky Horror Picture Show when that got the same kind of treatment. The reports would always happen around Halloween, as if there was some relationship to the film.

Anyway, thank goodness that the Chinese gamers are all safe now.

Bolivian wrestling

Readers might have seen this already as lots of local papers appear to have picked up the story. Click the title for a piece on Bolivian womens' wrestling. And they say all the new trends start in California!

Beat, but positive outlook with disappointed squirrels in the forecast

Recovering from getting in at 4 this morning. Went to a Brave Combo show at FitzGerald's last night. Lori was with the band for the last week or so and this show was last on a week-long tour with shows in PA & OH. The show was great, but after load out, Lori and I had to go return one of the band's rental vans to the lot at O'Hare. Not that it took a long time, but hey, it was bed time.

Several shows coming up in the next few months that I'm excited early about. Pink Martini is coming to the Hothouse and King Wilkie to FitzGerald's in late September. The Skeletons to the Empty Bottle later this month. And Henry Rollins is doing a spoken word tour this fall. I'm even thinking of the Brian Setzer Christmas show at the HOB November.

I have to clean my gutters today. First, the one in the front IS clogged. I didn't get to it after the second wave of little helicopters fell and they all got stuck. I don't have little trees growing in there yet, though. Dad had foot high plants growing a year or two ago out of the gutters on his garage before he got around to cleaning them out.

My impetus for cleaning out is the squirrel I saw yesterday. I was pulling into the driveway and he was on the roof's edge, reaching down into the gutter and grabbing the little helicopters. It was like his own little snack bar. I know there's a ton of plant former life up there since ol' squirrely wasn't at the downspout end of the gutter, but at the opposite end. It must be loaded up there.

Die You Miserable Bitch

The title provides a link to an article about neighborly relations in Hudson, FL. Bet they don't exchange Christmas cards.

France's Litigious Society

Bus riders take up car pooling. Bus company sues former riders for unfair competition and demands their cars be confiscated. Wonder what their demands would be if the former riders were walking to work instead of car pooling? Click the title for the story.

You pick the title!

Your choice:

Video games cause death!

Finally figured out how to see Lara Croft naked!

The price to make it to level 4,009,534,676!

Terminal Hog gets what he deserves!

Woulda been The Last Starfighter if it wasn't for his being dead and all!

Click the title above for the story.

You got your strawberries in my fish! Well you got your fish in my strawberries! Hey...

My rule of thumb generally is that I'll try anything once, but this might be reason number 2 not to move to Japan. As usual, click the title.

My Quick Wisconsin Tour

It never happens as planned.

I scheduled off Friday, July 29 through Monday, August 1 to take the motorcycle to Glen Flora Days (click the title). The plan was to ride up early on Friday; maybe have breakfast in Appleton at the Queen Bee. The Queen Bee is a diner in downtown Appleton. I worked a couple blocks away for a few weeks in 2002 and we ate breakfast there several times a week. Great food. I'd arrive in Glen Flora in time for the Hog Rodeo and Turkey Trot events and the beer drinking there would surely be. A bed was already reserved at the farm and Dad was riding up on his own.

On Saturday, the parade, cookout, a ride, dinner at the farm, dance in town, and maybe a tavern. On Sunday, just hang out, maybe a long ride and then ride home on Monday, stopping in at the Capitol Brewery near Madison. This was the plan.

At work we're trying to fill one of our Vice President positions and taking advantage of scheduling opportunities, I decided early in the week to schedule two interviews on the Friday I was taking off. If I didn't, it would be a couple of weeks before we could see these candidates and I want to be done with this search by then. I decided to come into the office in the morning, get the interviews underway, conduct my portions, and be gone by 11 - noon latest. When I left at 3:30, I knew I wouldn't be riding all the way to Glen Flora that night.

At home, I made a reservation in Madison (Super8, woo-hoo) and was on the road by 6. Well, this was the road to Mom's so I could get the phone number for the farm and let Dad know I'd arrive the next day. Not like it was a big deal or anything, but didn't want him wondering which ditch I was in. Had a great fish fry in Whitewater and the hotel was fine.

Actually, this part of the trip is better than last year. Last year I left for the Madison stay-over at 10:30pm. So, over 4 hours better than '04 - Yeah! Maybe '06 is the year for the Friday drive-up?

Out the door at 6am on Saturday, rode up I-39, breakfast in Steven's Point, and stayed on the non-interstate roads after that. In fact, for the remainder of the trip, through Monday, we only rode 1 mile on interstate roads. Not a lot of roads in that area with twists and turns (a pain in the car, but fun on the bike). Went through part of the Chequamegon National Forest - A beautiful ride. Got into town just after 11:00 and made the parade at 11:30. Mini Tootsie Rolls seemed to be the preferred candy of the 2005 Glen Flora Days parade - had plenty of them.

After the pork dinner, Dad and I had a couple of beers in the shade next to the track for Glen Flora Days' newest event: Lawnmower Races. It was fun to watch - a couple good crashes and rollovers. And the rest of the afternoon went as planned - a good ride, little cruise through Ladysmith, dinner at the farm, checked out the dance, trip to the tavern in Ingram, hang out at the bonfire.

We decided to make a road trip of the next day. Dad wanted to go to a car show in Stanley and maybe visit Jerry Krisik in Amery. I didn't know where Amery was, but it was far enough away that we packed up everything and said goodbye to our hosts - after a quick toast and cinammon role breakfast - you know you want one right now.

We stopped in Ladysmith and visited some of Dad's friends and headed for Stanley. The car show was pretty cool once we found it. Stanley was a busy place that day with both a car show and a quilt show. The quilt show was well advertised with 13,000 signs along the main drag in town and arrows directing you and everything. One sign had numbers we thought might be GPS coordinates. We saw only 1 sign for the car show. We were pleased that we found the sign, but didn't want to leave town before seeing cars, too. A friendly lawn-mowing man pointed us in the right direction.

The show was great - totally open. Several from every decade back to the '30s - stock and modified. The 'star' of the show was a 1906 Cadillac - gorgeous - and mostly original. We finished by walking through the flea market, bought gas, and headed for River Falls.

Aunt Alice and her husband Ron live in River Falls. On the way we stopped for lunch in Menominee at a place with Spotted Cow on tap so you can't go wrong there, plus the food was pretty good. Found out later that Menominee is a college town - we noted at lunch that the place seemed to have their beers and liquor quite prominently displayed - more bar than grill, you know?

Now, when I ride with Dad, he likes me to lead. The only times when this is funny are when he knows the way to wherever it is we're going and I do now know the way. I have never been to Ron & Alice's. At lunch, he tried explaining which way I should go. Of course, he knows how to get there: "After the bridge, turn left at the 3rd light, take the next left, go down the hill, the next right, and there's is a big house with a driveway and there's a tree in the yard." Oh, and remember this because we have another hour before we get there. So, I'm sure much to his disappointment, I waved him around to lead as we came to River Falls.

But, Alice and Ron weren't home. I phoned my friend Debi in Minneapolis - maybe we could ride there - but she wasn't home. So, on to Jerry Krisic's in Amery.

Dad said we should stop at the Amery airport (Amery Municipal Airport) first. He had tried phoning Jerry before we left Glen Flora in the morning, but he had to leave a message. Jerry's a pilot and Dad thought maybe he was giving a lesson today. As we got close to Amery, Dad took the lead of course, since he knew where the airport was. I saw the airport sign and clicked my turn signal as Dad passed the turn. As I waited for him to double-back, I saw that this wasn't quite as small an airport as I had imagined. I don't think it has any commercial flights, but there were probably 20 small hangers and a couple new ones being built.

Jerry wasn't there, so we went to his house - Dad led from the start this time. After visiting a while, we went back to the airport. Jerry has been building an airplane for the last couple of years and we said we'd love to see it. It's more or less finished, but Jerry's waiting for a final inspection from the FAA. Apparently the inspections of non-commercially built planes are incredibly detailed and difficult - much more so than commerically built planes. Part of the inspection is that you must show proof that you actually built the plane and didn't hire someone to do it for you. Thus, he maintained a photo album of the various stages of building, with pictures showing him there working on the plane. Once the plane passes inspection, he must always prominently display a banner reading "experimental", apparently as a warning to any passengers "no professionals were used in building this airplane."

In Jerry's hanger, he also has a small 2-seater for giving lessons and a Cessna 6-seater. After we'd checked out his baby for a while (and I figured it's time to leave), Jerry asks: "So, you want to go up for a little while?" Well, alright - and he pulls out the Cessna, pumps some fuel in, and we're airborne. 20 minutes later we're back on the ground. And after a quick dinner in Amery, we're back at Jerry's for the evening. So much for my day of 'hanging around at the farm.'

I pulled out the map the next morning and plotted a route through to Baraboo. The worst area was a little construction around Chippewa Falls. The best section was 54 between Galesville and Melrose - it seemed to be almost entirely made of turns - some getting down to posted speeds of 15mph. So it was a great ride overall. Had lunch in Baraboo - again a place Dad likes to go, but I've not been there - get in front!

Stopped at the Harley dealership in Sauk City and the New Glarus brewery in New Glarus and home by about 8 or so. Saw a few deer during the trip; got one bug bite that's now just going away; and put over 1,100 miles on the bike total. And unlike last year, no rain.

Next year - breakfast at the Queen Bee for sure!

A reason not to live in Japan

The title gets you to a Mainichi-MSN article about theaters in Japan being allowed to show a motion picture that depicts human genitals. Apparantly, this is something forbidden by the country's Administration Commission of Motion Picture Code of Ethics, or "Eirin". From the story, I gather that when a film is submitted to the board, Eirin can alter the film as it sees fit, including blocking out the offensive bits. Given the content of some of the Japanese comics I've read, I wouldn't have expected something like this. Huh. Do they then also have a rating system? Anyway, I've concluded, if nothing else, that it's a reason I don't want to live in Japan.

Science (and gaming)

Click the title for a link to a Forbes article on 'remote-controlled humans.' The developers predict uses in the gaming industry.