Thoughtful Thursday - 1000 Pageviews (What It Takes To Get That)

Hello and welcome to Thoughtful Thursday; the day of the week where I talk about the fact that this blog has just hit over 1000 pageviews, and what kind of person it takes to get to that.

The delightfully minimalist Blogger stats dashboard.  Probably their property... just so you know.

 Today I hit 1000 all time Page-views in one and a half months. (45 straight days of blogging to be precise) So today, I'm going to thank you, the readers, for getting me to this point, and talk about what it took to get here. ONWARD!

45 days ago, I decided to do something. I decided that plain Photoshop was boring, and that writing fun articles about life, the universe and everything would be far more interesting than posting my occasionally interesting Photoshop creations. 45 days ago I didn't have 1000 pageviews for this blog. (Truth be told, this came at a great time too. I had no idea what I was going to write about today. So thanks.)

First and foremost, I would like to thank you guys, each and every one of you, who have read one of the many articles I have posted on this blog in all this time. I could never have reached this point without you. Some of you, my friends, come each day to read what I have to say, either in support of me, or because of genuine interest in what I have to say. Then there are others, such as those from across the world, in countries from India to America and countless in between; who, while I may never have the pleasure of knowing you, have my immense gratitude as well for helping me get to this point.

So, as part of a special celebration for today's achievement, I decided to share the story of what precisely, it took, to get to this point so far. In the past, on my 30 day special, I did mention how blogging has affected me in my day to day life, but did not mention precisely how it was that I came to be writing this blog. So that is what I'm going to talk about today.

To start with. I obviously never envisioned myself as a blogger from the start. Can you imagine a pre-school teacher's face as a 5 year old says they want to be a blogger? (I can, the look is incredulous at best.) At various points in my life, I've wanted to be things ranging from a Game Designer, to a Writer, a Graphic Designer and an Actor. (Still do on all of those to varying degrees.) 

So how did I get to blogging? Well, at various points in my life, I figured that blogging sounded like fun and gave it whirl doing anything from doing philosophical discussions to game reviews. (Sound familiar?) Ironically none of these past blogs ever held my attention for any degree of time, and quickly fell to the wayside as I continued with other tasks in my life. Why? Perhaps I was bored; or maybe just not ready to take on the personal obligation. Who can say?

In any case, as time progressed, I began my middling Photoshop career playing various online games. You would be surprised at the way people enjoy graphic design as simply an addition to what they do in games. Perhaps I will speak on that subject sometime.

And then it happened. I finished High School. Egads. Now what was I to do with all this free time? That was a difficult question to answer. High School is short on ceremony when it dumps you into the real world. You simply wake up one day and realize that your life just started, and you have absolutely no idea what you're going to do with. Some are (un)lucky that this delayed until after University, but the problem usually remains. What do you do?

For me, the answer was slow to come. Having come from a successful acting career at school, I was hopeful to start acting in the real world. Were that it were so simple. Following various jobs of sales work and what not, I eventually stumbled upon some somewhat inspirational things on the internet which are partially responsible for the creation of this blog. Of course, I had initially started this blog simply as a place to show off my photoshop artworks, I had yet to realize what I could actually do until my perusal of a YouTube rankings website by the name of Social Blade brought me to the YouTube channel of Caspar Lee. (The highest ranked South African YouTuber so far.)

My discovery of Caspar Lee however, was not so much interesting, as his video's with a very lively and friendly British blogger and vlogger (Vlogger = Video Blogger) by the name of Zoe Sugg, whom he met while living in the UK with her brother Joe Sugg.

A lovely, hideously cropped screenshot of her blog http://www.zoella.co.uk/ 

Now, I can't precisely remember what it was that interested me in Zoe Sugg. Perhaps her friendliness or genuine attitude while on camera for her video's, and perhaps her amassed stardom in the UK despite doing little other than cosmetic product reviews. (Not counting the fun things she does with other YouTubers) This somehow led me to her blog, and her "Draw My Life" video. (Draw My Life was/is a fad on YouTube where people would illustrate their lifestories on a whiteboard at the request of their fans.)

In hers, Zoe describes, among other things, the start and growth of her Blog and viewership. While definitely a lovely video to watch, it was this, as well as some of her more personal posts on her blog, which largely inspired me to begin this blog in earnest as she described how she grew from a simple online diary she used to talk about the things she liked, to the huge blog where thousands of people went constantly to read her reviews.

As always, spontaneous decision, which is a common factor in about 50% of my choices, led to me immediately designing the graphics of the blog you see before you, while my brain worked to think about what precisely I would talk about. While I eventually decided upon an amalgamation of all previous blog ideas as well as many new ones, it still took sometime before various faucets were fully imagined, such as the alliterating names which decide the type of topic I discuss each day.

45 days later, and here we are, with 1000 all time pageviews, and prospects good for the future if I may be optimistic. I look forward to continuing to write and produce content for what has largely become a big part of my every day life, and furthermore look forward to entertaining and telling you guys and girls about the awesome things I see, hear and do. Which draws today's 1000 pageview celebration and thanks to a close. If you would like me to mention anything else, or perhaps simply want to suggest something that you would like me talk about, please make sure to do so in the comments below. Also, don't forget to share this post with any friends you have who are thinking of starting blogs but are not sure about their odds, perhaps it will give them the inspiration they need. Of course, if you would like to see what more I have to talk about from here on, don't forget to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can read my latest posts as I make them. And lastly, but not least, I thank you for taking the time to read this somewhat lengthier article, hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Bye for now my friends.

Website Wednesday - Unhearit.com (Away With Earworms)

Hello and welcome to Website Wednesday; the day of the week where I tell you about a handy website that's actually a clever gimmick, but is fun anyways.

Screenshot is of unhearit.com and is obviously their property.

You ever find yourself with a song in your head that just won't go away, even for days. I know I've had that and it makes me want to facedesk more than willing ignorance does. Thankfully, websites like Unhearit.com exist to make fun of the issue. Today I'm going to talk about it.

A while ago, I mentioned the website Unhearit.com in my blog article about the shrewd marketing tactics advertisers often use today. Figuring I needed something fun to talk about today, I chose unhearit.com because it's such a clever gimmick. 

To understand the purpose of Unhearit.com, you need to understand what an Earworm is. An earworm is a song or tune that gets stuck in your head for unreasonable lengths of time, and often become extremely irritating for the suffering individual. Michael Stevens was ironically again the first place I had ever heard of the technical term for this issue in his Vsauce video "Why do we feel nostalgia?"

Unhearit.com seeks to aid individuals ailing from this frustrating ailment, and attempts to do so by giving you an equally catchy song to listen to so that you forget about the song old song... by replacing it with another one. As obliged as I am to Unhearit.com for their efforts, you must admit that it's funny for being an unabashed gimmick. Anyone can easily go listen to any music to get rid of an earworm, but Unhearit.com provides this service, and for free most of all. A+ on the effort in my books. The funniest part, they even acknowledge the fact that they're just replacing the song with another one. I like these people.

Still, there's some very good music on their website, so I often find myself sitting on there simply to find music, rather than using the service for it's intended purpose. (Teehee)

In any case, that's it for this humorous little website. Do you have another website you would like me to talk about? Perhaps you want to moan at me for the relative shortness of this blog post. Either way, make sure to do so in the comments below. Also, make sure to share this with any friends who are suffering from earworms, it might help, even if just to make them laugh. And of course, if you would like to read more articles like this, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the latest posts, as I put them up. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this, hope that you have/had and absolutely fantastic day, and will speak again tomorrow.

Vale amicis.

Technology Tuesday - Aura Kingdom (Lolicom Paradise)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; the day of the week where I explain what a lolicom is, and why this game is mostly only for them.

Now Loading: Grindquest with cuteness sprinkles.

You ever played an MMORPG that was more or less exactly the same as all the others? Aura Kingdom is kind've like that, except it tries to win hearts with it's cuteness and lolicom attraction. I played this game for aproximately 2 days before wanting to facedesk repeatedly out of boredom. Lets talk about why.

Ironically, before I start, I should point out that if I continue to talk about games every Tuesday, I'm going to have to rename the segment. In any case, Aura Kingdom is essentially like every other MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), except in aesthetics. Made by Aeria Games, I discovered Aura Kingdom from a Steam friend who was continually playing this game each day.

Under the advisement that the game was good if you liked "Anime and RPG's", and was a game version of the Anime "Sword Art Online", I took it that it might be fairly good. This was further aided by my wish to play a an MMORPG as the last one I had played had been Shaiya, another game by Aeria games. (I had grown tired of that after several months as well.)

In any case, I downloaded them game, started it up and was met with cute lolli's and Unicorn pets. (The game is almost worth playing for the unicorn, as I showed on last friday's header image, but not quite.) Before I continue, I should probably explain what a lollicom is. Lollicom is essentially the concatenation of lolli and com. Com is short for complex as in something you're obsesses about, and a lolli is a term for an anime character which looks very young, (like a little girl typically), despite their age in terms of the story. So somebody who is a lollicom... is probably a despicable human being. (Generally, there are always exceptions.)

In any case, most of the characters in the game look like little girls who struggle to shop for large enough bra's, and the men look effeminate enough that it's not surprising most of their costumes involve heeled shoes. The cuteness aspect was quite funny, and to it's credit, perhaps the most unique thing Aura Kingdom does.

Too bad that doesn't redeem how boring it is. Aura Kingdom does an impeccable job of doing the same as more or less every other MMORPG out there, with an endless supply of fetch quests, kill X creatures, and craft this item. It tries to pretend it's better with a completely unvoiced story with tons of text that has a fairly interesting premise, but I found by the end of the tutorial I was already pretty much skipping through the dialogue with the freely given "skip" button; simply to get to what would hopefully be more interesting gameplay.

Tell you what though, if you like staring at a bar, pressing buttons as their timers finish repeatedly, then maybe this will be fun for you. Too bad playing one MMO like this for a few months was my lifetime fill of such gameplay, so the combat was as dull as the story. Even better is that you can simply click the text of each objective in the journal, and your character will automatically make their way to the location of the quest objective. Never again will you be bored by having to find your own way to a place. (*facedesk*)

It is in bad light, when the best things you have to say about a game are that it looks pretty, it's cute, it has unicorns and it's funny using the "kiss" emoticon against walls/donkeys/monsters/anything/anyone. As a final verdict, I'd have to say that this is only worth playing if you're a lollicom, have never played an MMORPG, or are desperately bored. (It might not help with that last one too much though.)

In any case, I hope that you have found this interesting/entertaining, and perhaps found something new to play/not play. If you think I should have stomached the game longer for some reason or other, or maybe just have a difference of opinion on how good it is, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Also, make sure to share this with any friends you know that are looking for something new to play, so they know what to avoid. And of course, if you would like to see more game reviews like this, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the latest posts as I put them up. And finally, regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this article, hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Walk in peace my friends.

Madness Monday - "Internet Skills" (And Challenges)

Hello and welcome to Madness Monday; the day of the week where I talk about internet skills and the crazy things people do with them.

Picture was taken from this Rusty Cage video. You might also find you can't stop watching that if you're not careful.

Ever feel like you have too many fingers (or not enough scars)? Maybe you wonder if cinnamon on it's own tastes as good as cinnamon buns? Or maybe you just think that eating stupid things is funny. Whatever it is, it's madness, (and not the sparta kind), so we're gonna talk about it.

If you've spent time on YouTube, it's likely you've fallen trap to the endlessness of clicking suggested video's for a good few hours. If you have, you've probably come across one of the millions of video's about which I'm going to talk about. "Internet Talents" as RayWilliamJohnson called them in this video when he was still the presenter of =3, are skills that people have which, while somewhat impressive, don't have much application anywhere other than the internet.

And boy, are there a lot of them. Rusty Cage largely popularized the "Knife Game", also known as Five Finger Fillet, with this song, and people ever since then have been itching to amputate their limbs accidentally in the name of fun. Then there's the dear fellow The LA Beast, who's been inspiring the masses to eat the most ridiculous things ever for years. Boiled coke sounds horrid.

What on earth inspires these people to do these stupid things in front of a camera and put them on the internet? Other people of course, because no great story started with: "I was home alone when...".

Perhaps even better, are the amazing(ly stupid) challenges that people attempt to conquer for the entertainment of the masses. Our dear friend the LA Beast is ever here for us when he attempts to take on the "Condom Challenge", snorting a "fire and ice" condom and pulling it out from his throat. Delicious... If you wish to see this hero in all his glory perform this amazing act, click here. (I suspect that link will remain mostly untouched for some reason...)

Then there's the cinnamon challenge where people try to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. Mmmmmm, I can just taste the wonderful, powdery goodness now. What kind of person doesn't have a straight spoon of cinnamon every day? (Everyone...) And that's not even the worst. People do all kinds of stupid things, ranging from jumping into frozen lakes to eating Ghost Chili Peppers. (Often rated as one of the hottest chili's in the world.)

Strangely enough, I would ask what on earth posseses people to do these stupid and fairly self-harmful things, but I mostly already know. Same reason I use for anything that seems funny to do. "For fun". (Or "Teh Lulz" if you know the Oddball Dialect)

Maybe we're crazy, or maybe were all just mad. Either way, self-inflicted injuries and dumb ideas are entertaining for some strange reason, so I don't see this stopping any time soon. Teen's think its a fun way to blow time, Darwinists think it's a fun way to blow stupid genes and the bored just think it's fun to watch. (I'm with the last group on this one.)

In any case, I hope that you're feeling a little more sane this Monday after seeing some of the ridiculous things that people do on the internet. If you think there are some more notable, (read: outrageous), challenges or skills that I forget to mention, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Better yet, make sure to share this with any crazy friends of yours, we could always do with more people doing silly things for laughs. And of course, if you would like to see more articles like this, make sure that you like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter, using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can read them, as they're posted. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this, hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Peace out Homies. (That's how people sound on the internet right?)

Storytime Sunday - Steam Trains (Reefsteamers Open Day)

Hello and welcome to Storytime Sunday; the day of the week where I tell you about the story about the random subject from yesterday so that the random subject accurately talks about a story being posted the next day. I also talk about steam trains.

An actual South African train this time. Also, photography is hard...

Yesterday I saw actual Steam Locomotive's for the first time in my life. And they were working too. Perhaps that doesn't sound very exciting, but for people who enjoy learning about the way technology has evolved over the years, and the history behind things, (Like myself), it was a fantastic experience. If you're one of those people, you may enjoy this post.

So, prior to yesterday, I had never actually seen a Steam Locomotive in real life. Of course, having been born in 1995, I was brought into the world far past the age of steam, and the use of diesel and electric locomotives was by far the norm. I won't say I was immediately interested in the idea of going to these trains, having never really known enough about them to spark an interest, I am quite glad that my old man took me along to the Reefsteamers Winter Depot Open Day yesterday. (Not that it was entirely just to look, we were there as members of the N Gauge Guild, but the opportunity to check out the trains was one not to be passed up. Besides, I did say I was going and would talk about it today in yesterday's post.)

I'm a terrible photographer occasionally. Don't expect too much from these images.

 So what exactly did I enjoy about the event? Well, for starters, I always say I'll try anything twice. I didn't imagine that would involve climbing onto various steam trains, one of which had a fire burning a mere few feet from me, within it's giant steel belly.

"Not even hot" the driver said. "If it were hot it would be white."  he said. It was roughly at this moment I realized just how much engineering went into these steal beasts.

Perhaps another interesting part was the history behind the machines and the men who worked on and with them. Many of the train drivers, (and enthusiasts), present at the event spoke about the trains as if they were people, often saying things like the trains were "alive". Which makes sense considering the degree to which they had to get to know each individual locomotive in order to drive it. Each loco had different behaviors, and would not act the same way to the same things like boiler heat or the amount of oil used on it's parts, likely due to the lack of standardized parts from which they were built. Considering the expense of building one of these, only those who knew the train as well as they would know a sibling were aloud to drive it. (The drivers would often be chosen from the most veteran "firemen". Those are the poor fellows that shovel coal into the train's fire for years on end.)

Worth noting: This was taken at head height.

However, the greatest part of this entire foray, was the further growth of my appreciation for the sheer ingenuity of people in years gone by. No computers or magical implements to do stuff, these trains were basically held together by hard work and prayers that whoever drew the design, (by hand), didn't screw up. There are no counters screens up in the engine cabin, just a large variety of valves, and a couple gauges, with which the driver would have to try and drive the train optimally and without wrecking it. (Which is significantly easier than you would expect, considering the heat within these engines often got hot enough to split the atoms in water into hydrogen and oxygen and further burn them. Yes. They sprayed water into their fires to make them hotter, because logic is for losers apparently.)

If you were looking for an indication of age, the words British and Detroit on one of the control mechanisms within the loco are good indication of it's near 100 years of service.

 If there's one thing to take away from something like this, it's that people in the old days got things done, hell or high-water as the proverb goes. One of the most phenomenal things to consider is that they would sometimes run 2 of these unholy metal behemoths in tandem. (That means to put the together to pull more weight.) That doesn't sound so hard these days, but remember I mentioned they didn't have any special monitors for their trains? Lets add the fact that radio's didn't exist when they did this, and the trains are long enough that there is no possible way to communicate from one engine to another. I'm not saying these guys were superhuman, but there must have been some telepathic stuff going on for these guys to get these trains moving in perfect time. Remember, the trains don't behave the same, so the drivers would have to somehow, in perfect unison, get their locomotive to start moving and pulling at the exact same speed and exert the exact same amount of torque. (My mind has yet to find a rational explanation for how this was possible. If you know, be sure to let me in on the secret in the comments below.)

It's 2014 and the height of the digital era, it would have been near sacrilege to not take an obligatory selfie while standing next to various metal components.*Goes to hang himself for saying that.*

 In any case, it was a fantastic experience to get to see these majestic, metal monsters in action in an era where they are near completely outmoded by more efficient technologies. I certainly would enjoy seeing more interesting events like these and learning more about the crazy things that they did in the bygone eras to get by.

In any case, I have a variety of other pictures that I took, some of which I'll leave below for laughs since I couldn't think of any reasonable way to work them into this post. If you found this interesting and would like to see me talk more about stuff like this, or anything in general, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Also, if you know any train/history/general knowledge enthusiast friends, make sure to share this with them. They may appreciate your consideration. Also, if you would like to read more articles likes these or articles by me, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the latest posts, as they're posted. Finally, regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this, hope you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Totsiens mense.

She approaches...

You would think it obvious, but I'm wondering why there was no warning not to touch the obviously hot metal when there was a sign warning about moving trains. Also, who made such a sign necessary?

Choo Choo yes?

Apparently, a random fighter-plane propeller engine isn't out of place at a train exposition. Who knew.

Found this randomly in the dirt. Seem familiar?

If it's not familiar now, you may not call yourself a Borderlands fan. (Teehee)

Random Subject Saturday - Reefsteamers (Actual Trains)

Hello and welcome to Random Subject Saturday; the day of the week where I tell you about thing's I've never done, and then ask if you want to hear about it afterwards.

If you're the type for knowing things or looking closely... you might note that's a German train. I did that for lulz really.

If you were born in 1980/90's or earlier, it's likely you've taken a ride on a train before and are fairly familiar with them. Perhaps you've even seen an actual steam train operating. Ironically, I haven't... but I'm going to today. So that's cool.

Fun fact, young people are deprived these days. Sure we have smartphones and stuff, but there are a lot of things that the older generations did that we have no clue about. (Don't believe me, ask a kid these days if they have a floppy disk. They're quite likely to ask you what that is.) It's unfortunate because those bygone era's required a fair bit more ingenuity in order to do the "simple" tasks we often take for granted these days.

Oh well, I'm going to see a steam train tomorrow. Actually... sorry, I'm going to see a steam train today. Figuring I was going to be out all day, I wanted to make sure I got this post done, and was thereby up at 2:30AM writing this. (Kinda brutal, ever felt like your screen was burning your eyes out of their sockets?) Still, I want to keep up my now 40+ day streak of daily blog posts, so I don't mind.

The event I'm going to is the "Winter Depot Open Day" held by a non-profit group of South African Steam Train operators by the name of Reefsteamers. Having never been to said event before, I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but in true respect to my adventurous side, I don't care and will likely find it fun simply because I haven't done it before. Besides, who doesn't want to see several tons of steel moving faster than you can run while billowing out a near solid cloud of smoke and ash? (Seriously; if you don't, tell me about it in the comments below.)

In any case, I'll be sure to take a camera, take some snaps and let you know what it's like there for tomorrows Storytime Sunday post. In any case, I'm off to catch 2 hours of sleep so that I am awake enough to take photo's of trains rather than my feet. If you're interested in hearing what a young and strange fellow like myself has to say about these monstrous metal contraptions, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the post, as I make it. In any case, I thank you for taking the time to read this, hope you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak to you tomorrow.

Good morning my friends. (Teehee)

Philosophy Friday - Happiness and Positivity

Hello and welcome to a somewhat late Philosophy Friday; the day of the week where I talk about the strange serious tone I seem to have picked up as a blogger, and why being happy is awesome.

Because nothing says happy and positive like a Pink haired unicorn wearing armor. (Teehee) Come back on Tuesday next week to find out where said Unicorn is from.

Happy people are awesome people. How do people stay happy? I could be wrong, but I think positivist play a rather large role in it. You ever seen someone smile after saying; "Were all gonna die..." and meaning it? Lets talk about that.

Before I start thought, let me preface the idea behind the article. A friend of mine who reads my blog pointed out that I've become rather somewhat serious in tone lately with my articles, with far less joking and lightheartedness than I'd actually like. A large point of this blog is that I'm seeking a balance between being informative and interesting, while also fairly entertaining. While I can manage that in person easily, it's admittedly an interesting challenge in letters and words. Unfortunately, as I pointed out to my friend, I have been having something of a rough patch in my life, and that has, inadvertently, bled through into my writing. I won't apologize for it, since it's unrealistic to expect anyone to be perfectly happy all the time, but I shall endeavor to bring the joy back from now on.

So, having said that, I thought it was as good a reason as any to talk about why happy people are awesome, and some of the things that typically make for a happy person. (Apart from armored unicorns. Those are so obviously awesome, they don't even need to be mentioned.)

So; what makes a happy person? If we consult the expertly drawn graph I made below, I believe that we can ascertain three visible things which define a happy person.

No need to tell me; I already know how fantastic my drawing skills are.

To summarize; a smile, lots of talking and singing and moves like jagger... I mean swagger... No wait... You know what I mean. Shoulders back, protruding chest, etc. So how does one be happy? Well, there's a there are a lot of things someone can do which may or may not work. Google is your friend if you're really down on ideas, but I find that there are two things that make me a happy person mainly. (Sadly not a pet unicorn though, as much as that would make me happy.*sadface*)

Those two things, are positivity and confidence. Although they are largely the same thing in terms of myself. Other people would tell you the things that make you happy are your family or your religion or any number of other things which; don't get me wrong, can be large factors in your happiness and maybe are key to it for some people; but for me, they were never quite good enough to maintain a happy disposition.

For a long time I was a fairly morose individual, not precisely the funnest person to be around. I was not confident, nor was I positive. I was as defeatist as they came, and would probably have let anyone walk all over me, which they did on occasion. That changed, however, when I finally had a reason to be confident in myself. Turns out, school awards aren't quite as meaningless as they sound. (And things like "Team Award"  sound pretty damn meaningless.) Something I've mentioned a couple of times on this blog is how I started acting and the successes that followed from that. That and my selection as a prefect at school are both what largely gave me the confidence to change as a person; which obviously made me into a happier person.

Something I often say to people, is if they had to meet who I was before all that happened, they would not recognize who I am now with who I was then. From a quiet and timid individual who expected nothing great from them-self, I grew into a confident person from the recognition of my abilities, and thereby a positive person as I grew to believe in what I was able to do. It's an epiphany that likely comes rarely in one's life, but, I think, a great one to help people to grow and mature as people.

So happiness and postivity, fed by confidence. Self-belief is a very important factor in happiness. Quite simply, how can you be happy, if you don't think you can do anything that would make you happy? (If they existed, Unicorns would be a legitimate answer.) So if you're feeling down, consider the great things you've done in your life, and how you know that you have the ability to do so again. Feeling like you can do what you put you mind to is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and when you feel like that, even the non-existence of unicorns can't bring you down.

In any case, I hope that you have found something meaningful in today's (tonight's) post, and perhaps at least appreciate my attempt to bring some lightheartedness to a somewhat serious subject. If you do or did, make sure to let me know about it in the comments below so that I can know to keep at it. Also, make sure to share this any friends of yours who may be lacking in self-confidence. Maybe it'll give them what they need to feel better about themselves. And of course, if you really enjoyed reading this and would like to read more like it, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the latest posts, as they are posted. Lastly, I thank you for taking the time to read this, hope you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and will speak again tomorrow.

Goodnight my friends.

Thoughtful Thursday - Shrewd Marketing Tactics

Hello and welcome to Thoughtful Thursday; the day of the... hang on? Thoughtful Thursday? Yes, the day of the week where I tell you about the clever little things that marketers do, and then explain why the day's name changed.

Before you ask... those pixelated patches are intentional. I'm not up for people being mad at me for "casting their company in bad light." Better safe than sorry as they say.

Have you ever wondered about a strange advert, or had an absolutely irritating catchphrase stuck in your head for hours on end? If so, you're pretty much a victim of shrewd marketing tactics in which marketers around the world abuse the way your head works to improve their publicity. Interesting no?

Here's the thing, marketers have one goal; get people to think about the product or service. They will use any dirty trick and manipulate any strangeness that the human mind holds in order to accomplish that goal. Well... mostly. The problem with marketing is that there's no room to be nice about it. If you fail to make the advert stick in a persons mind, you're not being a nice person, you're failing at your job. So to be fair, they have to do it. On the other hand, I hate that because of how effectively some of them do it.

Consider radio adverts that you've listened to over the years. Are there any that spring immediately to mind? Perhaps a catchy jingle or a specific phrase that sung in a certain way? That's successful marketing since you can still remember it. (Or not if you can't.) An unmemorable advert, is a crap advert, to be blunt. I can think of various radio adverts ranging from bathroom furniture to plumbers that have used irritating catchphrases and songs to ensure they got stuck in your head. (Thank goodness for Unhearit.com) One of the more notorious marketing scheme's employed in South Africa was a range of "Steve adverts" in which a bank advertised themselves through a telemarketer named Steve; who continually failed to sell the services of another bank as those he called told him about the bank that had commissioned the adverts. It got bad enough that one of final "Steve" adverts involved a man complaining about said adverts to his friend. (*facedesk*) It was brilliant marketing, but I think I speak for many when I want to bash my head against a wall just thinking about it.

Other adverts use other strange tactics to get you to remember them. Some TV adverts involve people doing stupid things or a somewhat less legal method called "Subliminal Advertising" which involves placing strange things into adverts so that you subconsciously know something is wrong in the advert, but can't consciously tell what, and thereby continue to think about it. They'd do that in a variety of ways such as giving a woman an extra leg or their shadow pointing in the wrong direction. Usually small things that you wouldn't notice consciously with a passing glance.

There's also shock and awe tactics as I call them, in which the marketers do something absolutely unbelievable or against social norms to cause outrage. Various celebrities are notorious for this specific tactic, such as certain child stars who shall not be named, suddenly dancing in a very sexual and suggestive way, or doing music video's naked. As many reasons as they may give for doing so, the fact that so many people got angry about it and voiced their disgust publicly on the internet caused many more people who probably wouldn't have cared, to suddenly take interest and go watch said video. It's a very manipulative idea that can backfire if the marketer goes too far, but it's also very effective.

So why do they make such irritating adverts? Because people talk about it. A common phrase among online content creators of all kinds is that: "positive feedback doesn't exist, but negative feedback is a minority." Which, to a degree, explains this same marketing phenomenon. All those irritating songs or stupid adverts you saw, didn't make you think: "Oh, that's cool." That annoyed you and made you angry. Negative emotions are very powerful in people, so by playing off of that, the marketing is more successful. Not exactly a very nice way to do things, but it works rather well.

So the next time you get annoyed at an ad, perhaps take a moment to laugh at the fact that you're doing exactly what the marketers wanted when they designed the advert; and admire their skill at manipulating you to do so. Do you know of any other strange marketing strategies that they use; or perhaps want to let me know your thoughts on the new Thursday segment? Make sure to let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to share this with any friends who have been getting angry with adverts lately. They might appreciate the irony. Also, if you found this interesting and would like to see more like it, make sure to let me know by liking my Facebook page and/or following me on Twitter so that you can get the latest posts as I make them. Lastly, I thank you for taking the time to read this article; hope that you have/had and absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will see you tomorrow.

Adiós amigos.

As it turns out, I actually forgot to mention why I changed the day's name. (Whoops. Sorry about that. Guess I really got into today's topic.) Turns out there's only so much acting theory you can talk about until you end up sitting wondering what on earth is left. Thoughtful Thursday gives me a proper day to talk about interesting things in the world without constraining me to any single topic, which is good for my rather spontaneous thoughts. Don't fret though, I will likely end up speaking about acting occasionally on either Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays in the future, when I have a reasonable topic to do so.

Website Wednesday - Twitch.tv (Gameplay Streaming)

Hello and welcome to Website Wednesday; the day of the week where I tell you where you can go watch people play games LIVE over the internet, and the try to explain why you would want to do that.

The screenshot used in this image is of, (and therefore property of), www.twitch.tv.

Have you ever wanted to watch someone else play a game for some strange reason? Maybe they're funny, or you want to see what the game is like? No? If you're under the age of 30, I'm tempted to call you a liar. (*Cough* Pewdiepie *Cough*) Twitch is simply the logical step forward, where you get to watch them; Live.

I talk about gaming and things like commentating fairly often on this blog, considering my articles about League of Legends, Hearthstone, YouTubers that I can't stop watching, etc; so it's only to be expected, I suppose, that I would end up talking about Twitch.tv, the premier gameplay streaming service. (Don't quote me on that.)

Twitch.tv is a free online streaming service for which users can sign up and watch a rather large variety of games be played by an equally large variety of online personalities, both famous and not. Mainly, I personally do make a habit of watching Quill18, Northernlion and MathasGames (as they are known online), because they don't simply play games, but bring a fair bit of entertainment to the idea in their commentary, which is essentially the entire idea. Simply watching a game is, at least in my opinion, quite boring; but the witty remarks, intelligent discussion and just plain tactical thought brings a level of entertainment that the game cannot bring itself.

Perhaps something that brings a greater interest to Twitch.TV though, is what sets it further apart from simply watching the YouTube channels that most of these online personalities maintain: The interaction. YouTube may allow you to watch the videos at any time and post comments that may or may not be read by the poster, but Twitch streaming allows viewers to talk to streamers in near-realtime. Perhaps not an attraction to everyone, but I suppose in today's internet based society, talking to you favorite streamer is like being winked at by your favorite singer while you attend their concert or something. (I wouldn't know though, I've never actually been to one. *gasp* Please don't burn me at the stake.)

Perhaps a fringe benefit, is the ability to "subscribe" to these Twitch streamers. "Subscribing" on Twitch doesn't work quite like you would expect on YouTube. In terms of Twitch, to subscribe as you would on YouTube, you would "follow" the channel, to be told whenever those channels begin streaming. However, Twitch gives the user the ability to "subscribe", usually for a fee of about $5, which gives a variety of benefits determined by the streamer. In the case of perhaps one of my favorite YouTuber/Streamers, Quill18 has one of the interesting benefits of being able to play multiplayer games with him if you are a subscriber, as well as other benefits. (To be fair, it does sound like an odd thing to spend money on, but whatever floats your boat I suppose.)

In the end, gaming is fun, and people have reasons to rather watch someone else play games. Maybe you will find some of streamers I mentioned earlier to be entertaining, in which case, I'm happy to have found you something fun to do. Twitch.tv is certainly an interesting indicator of gaming's popularity as a hobby in today's world. Do you think I forgot to mention something? Or maybe you would like to tell me about another fun Twitch streamer? Make sure to let me know in the comments below; and don't forget to share this with any gamer friends of yours, maybe they'll like it. Finally, if you particularly liked this article, or simply like the way I write, don't forget to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the right so that you can get all my newest posts, as they are posted. Regardless of what you do though, I thank you for taking the time to read this article, hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will see you tomorrow.

Cheers friends.

Technology Tuesday - Vocaloids (Hatsune Miku And Others)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; the day of the week where I talk about computers that sing, and computer generated pop idols from Japan.

That drawing is a screenshot of www.crypton.co.jp and is thus, obviously, their property.

Ever had a computer sing to you? Yes? Well, technically that's impossible, but, suspending the technicalities of electrical currents and speakers; it's still mostly unlikely. Unless you're from Japan, or are among the strange few who have time to waste on the internet. Today, I'm talking about Vocaloids.

A Vocaloid is a "singing voice synthesizer", as they call it; and involves the pre-recording of numerous aspects of a language in order to realistically recreate a singing voice without actually singing the words. This allows for words and sentences to be created digitally without the strange stop/start effect that is the usual result of cutting and pasting words from various sentences which is itself a result of the changing in pronunciation based on preceding and succeeding sounds. (Try saying "What are you up to." and then saying it while emphasizing the word "you". The emphasis usually forces you to change the pronunciation of the word "up".)

 You may be wondering what on earth they would need such a thing for. You've got proper singers in the world already who do things fairly well, auto-tune or not. To be technical, you would be right, they are mostly unnecessary. However, most things that are considered "art" are. (To be fair, someone made art out of cans that he had "allegedly" defecated into.)

Interestingly enough, for something that sounds so pointless, (at least when I describe it like that), Vocaloids are something that have gathered immense fame in the world, (Well, the eastern world, as it is referred to, at any rate.) There are some cases of their use in the west, but nowhere near as widespread as Japan, considering a few things; Firstly, their radio stations play Vocaloid music fairly often, or so I understand from  friends I know who have been there. Secondly, they have concerts where people actually go to listen to the music of these computer generated voices, often accompanied by a computer generated avatar as a face to the voice representation. Most notably is that of Hatsune Miku, (The blue haired anime girl in the header image), who is attributed as the character that made the Crypton Future Media INC developed Vocaloid software famous. 

Before you start thinking this is another joke article that belongs on a Madness Monday, I would suggest watching this video of a live concert that people actually PAID to go watch, in which the holographic Hatsune Miku performs. Art is weird. So are people. Still, if music is good, can you complain? If you take the time to browse the suggested video's alongside that one, you're likely to come across some of the other popular Vocaloid characters as well such as Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len, and Megurine Luka. 

If you're wondering why there seems to be a lack of popular English Vocaloids, there is an interesting bit of linguistic science behind how they get these programs to synthesize the human voice that explains it. Here's a quote from Wikipedia since I'm not smart enough to explain it myself.

Each Vocaloid license develops the Singer Library, or a database of vocal fragments sampled from real people.[3] The database must have all possible combinations of phonemes of the target language,[3] including diphones (a chain of two different phonemes) and sustained vowels, as well as polyphones with more than two phonemes if necessary.[3] For example, the voice corresponding to the word "sing" ([sIN]) can be synthesized by concatenating the sequence of diphones "#-s, s-I, I-N, N-#" (# indicating a voiceless phoneme) with the sustained vowel ī.[13] The Vocaloid system changes the pitch of these fragments so that it fits the melody. In order to get more natural sounds, three or four different pitch ranges are required to be stored into the library.[15][16] Japanese requires 500 diphones per pitch, whereas English requires 2,500.[13] Japanese has fewer diphones because it has fewer phonemes and most syllabic sounds are open syllables ending in a vowel. In Japanese, there are basically three patterns of diphones containing a consonant: voiceless-consonant, vowel-consonant, and consonant-vowel. On the other hand, English has many closed syllables ending in a consonant, and consonant-consonant and consonant-voiceless diphones as well. Thus, more diphones need to be recorded into an English library than into a Japanese one. Due to this linguistic difference, a Japanese library is not suitable for singing in English.

(One moment while I hang myself for quoting Wikipedia.) In any case, that basically means it was harder to get a functioning English Vocaloid, and so has been a thing in the western world for less time. For a bit of hilarity though, just listen to what it sounds like when a Japanese library is used to sing an English song.

Still, it's interesting to think that not only do we have computers running complex computations and administrating factories for us, but now they're making our art as well. I can hear conspiracy theorists screaming "skynet" already... well, not really, but I'm sure they are somewhere while they dig their underground bunkers. If you think they might be right, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Or you can say they aren't there too. Either works. Also, don't forget to share this with any Japanese oriented friends of yours, perhaps you've got some Anime fan buddies, (like my brother), who would absolutely love the idea of anime characters singing to them. And finally, if you found this interesting or funny; and would like to read more posts like it, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons to the right. That way you can get the newest posts as they come, and let me know what you would like to hear about. Regardless of what you do though, I thank you for taking the time to read this, and hope you have/had and absolutely FANTASTIC day; and I will see you tomorrow.

Sayonara watashinotomodachi.

Madness Monday - Statistics (And The People That Believe Them)

Hello and welcome to Madness Monday; the day of the week where I talk about statistics, and why they're more useful to politicians than scientists.

Starting to think I need to find more interesting header images... Just maybe.

Do you have 1 breast and 1 testicle? If yes, then statistically, you're a very average person. Do you think you're normal? If you are, then statistically, you're the farthest thing from it. If you have ever thought that statistics were just a little screwy, then you will probably find this interesting.

Have you ever thought you were normal? If you did, the most average thing about that thought is the fact that so many people think it. Strangely enough, the more you think about it, the more you actually realize just how incorrect statistics are, and why they're more useful to politicians than scientists.

Let's talk about that. Michael Stevens from the popular YouTube Channel Vsauce, pointed out in his video Some Surprising Things that statistics are often not what they seem. As I pointed out at the beginning of this post, the average person would have 1 breast and 1 testicle. Since that is, as I'm sure you can understand, rather somewhat unusual, it provides credence to the idea that statistics can as easily used for unintended purposes.

A Statistical Fallacy is when logic and reason is incorrectly used with a set of statistics, as was the case with the aforementioned 1 breast, 1 testicle case. This can happen accidentally, or be intentional in order to convince. The fact that entire Wikipedia page devoted to the "Misuse of Statistics" is reason enough to believe that people like to have and abuse statistics for one simple reason: People believe them.

Think about this. At the beginning of this article, I told you a couple of things while using the word "statistically". While the statistics are those which were used in the aforementioned "Some Surprising Things" video, the desired effect was more psychological than informative. Most people, perhaps including you, will have taken what I said there at face value; and accepted that simply, because it's "Statistically" correct, then I'm right and you need not question those statements. 

Humans are, intrinsically, social creatures that seek acceptance. (Even hipsters like to be with other hipsters.) So when I say something was proven statistically, your immediate reaction is likely to be that of acceptance, simply because that would allow you to better relate to everyone else that supported the idea. (Isn't that absolutely maddening? You believe someone's lies because of the way they use their words. A politicians dream.) 

The result, is that statistics can have a few problems. They can be gathered incorrectly, they can be reasoned incorrectly, and they can be applied incorrectly. Any of which can be accidental or intentional. It's within the realm of reason for a study into the connection between cancer and tobacco use by a Cigar Company to be skewed in their favor; as is a referendum asking about a change in legislature, run by the party that supports said change. 

Effectively, few statistics, quoted or presented, can be deemed entirely trustworthy, for the simple fact that someone stood to benefit from the actual taking of the survey. You're more likely to support something with statistics in it's favor, so companies will often fund the studies of their own products to prey on this subconscious trend.

So, if you happen to like statistics, I might suggest taking a closer look at who made those statistics and why. Otherwise, you might believe someone when they tell you that "statistically", this is the best blog in the world. (Much as I wish that were true. Maybe one day.)

In any case, I hope that you have found something interesting or entertaining to think about here. If you have something to add that I forgot to mention, (That happens occasionally.), make sure to let me know in the comments below. Also, make sure to share this with any friends who think that statistics are always right. And of course, if you would like to read more interesting discussions like these, or simply want to read my writing, don't forget to tell me by liking my Facebook page or following me on Twitter and sending me a message. The necessary buttons to do so are on the sidebar to the right. Lastly, I thank you very much for taking the time to read this post, and hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day; and I will see you on the morrow.

Farewell dear chaps.

Storytime Sunday - Kings (Drinking And Losing)

Hello and welcome to Storytime Sunday; the day of the week where I tell you why drinking games are terrible if you don't have good luck, and then thank my lucky stars I don't suffer from hangovers.

This card is not your friend if you don't have good luck.

Birthday celebrations are awesome, awesome friends are awesome, losing drinking games, not so awesome depending on what you're playing. We played Kings this weekend, which was pretty funny until I lost. Thankfully, I've got good friends.

It's days like these that make me glad that I don't suffer from the joys of hangovers, having spent the weekend at my friend Jerome's place as part of a late birthday celebration for the old man. (Better known as Mister Canoe on this blog. Teehee)

Considering the majority of the blog readers are of legal age, you can probably relate to the idea of playing drinking games in celebration of someone getting older. (If you aren't, I'm going to preface this by saying that I by no means condone underage drinking, and you should not do it.) Not that drinking is a fantastic idea even when you can do so legally; I'm usually only really happy to do it with good friends and/or people I trust. In any case, that's not the story. The story is why I'm glad I have good friends.

If you don't know what kings is, here's a link to a website that describes the games rules. It's essentially just a list of actions that you need to follow when you choose specific cards from around a mug. Strange things of course, else why would it be fun? Some of the more notable ones being; the King obviously, in which the person must pour their drink into the mug if they get one, unless it is the last king, in which case they have to drink what is in the mug; or the Jack in which the person gets to make a new rule that everyone must follow. If they don't follow it, they drink. This gets quite ridiculous around people such as myself and my friends though, since we ended up having to say "nostrovia" (Russian for cheers) every time you drink, drink only with our left hands, pick up cards with your left hand only and say a specific phrase after every sentence that I'm not going to tell you because it's terrible. We also somehow started speaking in Russian accents, likely as a result of saying nostrovia so many times. There's also number 7 "thumbs", where you can place your thumb on the table at any time, and everyone else needs to do the same. The last to do so, of course, drinks!

I should mention that for some reason, we didn't think to get any light alcohol's for said game, and were drinking a variety of mixtures of anything that tasted good. Which, strangely enough, involves Vin Coco with Appletizer, some Brandy or other, Cane Spirits with Ginger Beer, and Sidekick coffee liqueurs. Which was all fine and good... until I lost the game. (*facedesk*) Alcohol is pretty bad yes, mixing alcohol is worse. Drinking a lot of mixed alcohol quickly, very bad idea. Thankfully, my dear giant of a friend Mister Canoe saw how worried I was at having to drink said concentrated mixture of alcohols, and decided to split the punishment of defeat with me. (I don't drink all that often, so I was fairly guaranteed a bad time with it.)

In the end though, I think the experience was still altogether worth it, and I'm happy to have spent the time with an awesome friend. Happy 19th you old softy. We shall have to do it again some time.

In any case, that's enough about my livers sufferings, from here on, were back on track to begin doing some of the more interesting blog posts I have planned for this month. If you're keen to find out what they are, make sure to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the right so that you can read them, when they come out. Also; don't forget to let me know in the comments if you think I should (or shouldn't) talk about my exploits with my friends more, and make sure to share this with anyone who likes stories about drinking games, losing, and good drink mixes. I don't know how many of you know someone like that though. (Teehee) Regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this, and as always, hope you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day.

Proshchay moi druz'ya.

Random Subject Saturday - The Oddball Dialect

Hello and welcome to Random Subject Saturday; the day where I tell you about the extremely strange words that myself and friends use, and then try to teach it to you for laughs.

There are occasionally times when I really have no idea what to use for a header image, and just look for something vaguely relevant. Today was one of them.

Odds are, you have friends. Odds are even better, you've been friends with said friends for long enough that you've developed an understanding of the way they think and speak. If I'm correct, then Odds are good that you'll be able to relate to "The Oddball Dialect". (As I so named it 3 seconds ago and nobody has agreed to refer to it as.) That magical language that apparently only I and my friends speak. It's weird.

You may have noticed a fairly common trope on the internet where people poke humor at everything from languages, to accents, to slang, and everything in between. (Here's looking at you, YouTube.) So here's the fun, it occurred to me the other day that the people I spend a fair bit of time with, (and myself), seem to speak somewhat differently than others.

The difference isn't English to Japanese obviously, but there are occasionally times where even the most open minded individuals have difficulty following precisely what we're talking about. Even more interestingly, is that the words we use weren't made by us, but are simply an amalgamated jumble of slang, jargon, game terms and 1337 speak from such a wide variety of locations that it's weird to hear. (Seriously, where have you ever heard a bunch of people talking about an "APC ganking a nub tank for lulz?" And that's just mainly League of Legends jargon.)

As such, just for "lulz", I'm going to put a list of some of the strange words and terms we use, just for the laughs to be honest. Perhaps the words catch on, perhaps they don't. It'll be funny to see either way. So without further ado:

• APC: Usually means Armored Personnel Carrier, APC is also League of Legends jargon for an Ability Power Carry, which is character that uses their abilities to deal immense damage and let their team win. 
• ADC: like APC, but stands for Attack Damage Carry.
• Lulz: A word that came up, literally, because it sounds funnier than "lol" (laugh out loud, not to be confused with the abbreviation of League of Legends.)
• Teh Lulz: This is about as internet as it gets, teh lulz is basically "the laughs" and is often used as the reason when you don't actually have a good reason or just to be funny. "I did it for teh lulz."
• Gank: Some military folks would probably understand that to "gank" someone means to kill someone. Again, the term was appropriated to LoL (League of Legends) as a term for when several people gang up on a single enemy.
• Ossim: Like "Lulz" but for the word Awesome.
• Tank: A large, motorized military vehicle normally, a tank in gamer speak is a character with an immense amount of health whose purpose is simply to stand "soak damage" while other character deal it.
• Fanks: A funnier way to say "thanks".
• Facedesk: This one is somewhat common on the internet, but since I use it so often on this blog, here's a link to help you figure it out. (Teehee)
• BSOD: IT guy's term for Blue screen of death. 
• PICNIC: IT guy's term for Problem in chair, not in computer.
• Dakka: A fun term from the orcs of Warhammer40K, this is a general term for anything guns, ammunition and explosive.
• Nub: "None-useful body". It's about as insulting as you can get for some people for obvious reasons.
• Noob: Considered rather offensive among gamers, a noob is someone who is not new to something, but is bad enough at it that they could be compared to a Newbie.
• Newbie: Often shortened to Newb, someone who is new to something. Not to be confused with the offensive Noob.
• Sexy: An adjective to describe good things, strangely, this term has ended up being part of a greeting just to make people feel awkward. (Possibly, we say "Hey Sexy" because we're describing good things when we greet each other. But I could be wrong.)

Strangely, I feel like this isn't even half of the strange words and terms we use, but it's hard to remember this stuff off the top of my head. Perhaps I'll make a list of more for "teh lulz" at some point. If you would like me to do so, please tell me so down in the comments below. Also, don't forget to share this with your friends if you think that they also talk funny. (Or maybe just for lulz.) If you found this entertaining for some strange reason, or perhaps just like the way I write, perhaps consider liking my Facebook page and/or following me on Twitter using the associated button on the bar to your right. Regardless of what you do, "fanks" for reading, I hope you have/had an "ossim" day and I will see you tomorrow.

Go well my friends.