Has it really been two weeks since a story was posted here? It’s time to rectify that, times two! This week we have a commission by Yurodivy, called Mixed Blessings:

Stephanie desperately wants to be a mage, just like her brothers and the rest of the world around her. Unfortunately, a rare disorder has robbed her of the ability to do so. So when a mysterious stranger comes along to offer her what she’s always dreamed of, she’s hard-pressed to refuse. But all decisions have their consequences, intended or otherwise…

And a commission by me, Feathertail, called Crystal Core!

Would you rather come back to life as an anime robot designed by an iElectronics company, or as a walking fursuit? Find out how Creator-Unreal’s character chose!

Just click on the names to read them! And we also have a delightful piece of art created by Virmir to show everyone … I’d say fanart, but Yuro and I asked him to do it as the cover to her story’s book. Click here to see the illustration he did for Bat Girl!

And that’s all for this week. Next up: I’m working on a commission from Kickahaota, and Yurodivy’s going to be getting to work on our (extremely long) request backlog. We’re both still taking commissions, though, so visit the commissions page if you’re interested. ^.^

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

Has it really been two weeks since a story was posted here? It’s time to rectify that, times two! This week we have a commission by Yurodivy, called Mixed Blessings:

Stephanie desperately wants to be a mage, just like her brothers and the rest of the world around her. Unfortunately, a rare disorder has robbed her of the ability to do so. So when a mysterious stranger comes along to offer her what she’s always dreamed of, she’s hard-pressed to refuse. But all decisions have their consequences, intended or otherwise…

And a commission by me, Feathertail, called Crystal Core!

Would you rather come back to life as an anime robot designed by an iElectronics company, or as a walking fursuit? Find out how Creator-Unreal’s character chose!

Just click on the names to read them! And we also have a delightful piece of art created by Virmir to show everyone … I’d say fanart, but Yuro and I asked him to do it as the cover to her story’s book. Click here to see the illustration he did for Bat Girl!

And that’s all for this week. Next up: I’m working on a commission from Kickahaota, and Yurodivy’s going to be getting to work on our (extremely long) request backlog. We’re both still taking commissions, though, so visit the commissions page if you’re interested. ^.^

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

Bug #484018 on Launchpad: "F-spot deletes pictures from camera instead of hard drive after seemingly importing a roll". Reported by Murrquan, aka Feathertail, about two minutes ago.

*sigh*

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

According to the latest dw_news update, the theme that I'm currently using will now be the default for all new Dreamwidth accounts! Right down to the color scheme.

I can't say I'm surprised, because it's awesome. And I can't say I'm displeased, because I voted for it! Now everyone's going to think I just left my journal on the default settings, though, when I'm actually ahead of the trend.

Oh well. Dreamwidth just got a lot more awesome. ^.^ You don't get default styling like this for free accounts on LiveJournal! Not that I can remember, anyway.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

See that link up there that says “Worldbuilding”? (You can’t if you’re on Dreamwidth or LiveJournal, but … you know what I mean.) Just click it, and it’ll take you to a big sourcebook of worldbuilding info that will allow you to write stories set in any of our worlds. At least, it will once we’re done with it!

Right now the only article up there is the source document to the Rebirth universe, which is the world that Bat Girl was set in. Here’s that universe’s premise, in a nutshell:

What if you died and came back to life as an anthropomorphic animal? You might never be able to go back to your old life … but would you want to?

It’s kind of a superhero-y thing. Go check it out!

And yes, we really do want you to write stories set in this world. Half the fun of writing TF fiction is letting other writers share in it, and we want to do that too. Come write with us!

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

So last night I go to do the Halloween event in Runescape. You go through a dark portal into the house of the Grim Reaper, which has death-gray furniture and bookcases packed with volumes that are nothing but lists of names and dates. The trees out the window are dead, and every stroke of the clock brings you closer to the hour of your own demise.

You talk to the Grim Reaper and he's like "I am Death. I have summoned you for an important task ... "

And you're like "Oh?"

And he's like "There is ... a spider. In my bathtub."

Right now I'm doing a quest that involves shearing sheep, and one of the "sheep" is actually two penguins carrying a sheep costume over their heads. ^.^ Runescape's just funny like that. It's probably the quirkiest, most well-written MMORPG I've ever played.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

Watch!

I'm not sure I like the the actual video all that much, but the message is imperative. I also like the emphasis on relying on the Spirit for inspiration. My brother thought it was sacrilegious that I prayed for help with role-playing campaigns, but I do for everything, and I think it helps.

Read the full address here: LINK

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

The good news: We’re doing writing and we’re still alive! This week’s story is for Yurodivy, and it’s called “Bat Girl.” Here’s the blurb: “Peter Parker could do backflips untrained after he got bit by a spider. Would a real animal-themed superhero have things so easy? I don’t think so!”

You can read it by clicking here!

Anyway, Yuro’s finishing up a commission, and I’ve got two more that should take me to the end of November. Which leads us to …

The bad news: Things are a lot more hectic than we expected, and neither of us have much time for writing requests. We’ve got like a dozen people who want stories, and some people really want them … but not all of them can pay, for reasons from “Don’t have the money” to “Living in a repressive military dictatorship.” I wish I was kidding.

These people have waited months for their stories, and I don’t think they’re getting them anytime soon. But we want people to be able to become their fursonas, even if they can’t pay for a story. So what do you think we should do? I’ve got some ideas about it, but I’d like to hear your thoughts first.

And don’t forget to read the new story!

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

They can be for whatever platform, whether it's Mac, PC, iPhone, Android or Palm. Mix and match if you like! I use the ones on my list on Linux, but most of them are available on Windows and Mac as well. And they're all free to download and Free / Open-Source.

1. Tomboy Notes. Fire-and-forget notetaking. Auto-save, instant search, wikilinks in between notes. Plus, notes I leave open when I shut down are there when I start back up.


2. GNOME Do. It's a launcher, it's an object dock, it makes things shiny and faster and easier. I can do anything with just a few keystrokes.


3. AbiWord. It has its quirks, but it's light and responsive, and that fullscreen mode is so win. Sitting on the couch typing on it is how writing should be.


4. HomeBank. I put my transactions into it, and it shows me graphically where all my money is going and how much I have on hand. Took me a minute to figure out, but simple afterwards.


5. Logjam. Makes writing new Dreamwidth entries easy. Just open it and start typing. I can even click a button to detect what music I'm listening to!

Note that I left out the basics: Web browser (Epiphany), email (Evolution), music player (Rhythmbox), photo manager (F-Spot). These are the ones that I use that are unusual, in that they aren't part of basic functionality and a lot of you may not have heard of them.

So what're your favorite apps? And yes, sediea, we know you like Scrivener. ~.^

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

Because no matter how cool a game is, there are at least a dozen steps I have to go through to play it.

Take Sonic Unleashed for PS2. To play it I have to turn the TV on, turn the PS2 on, put the DVD into the drive, wait for it to load, then navigate through a bunch of slow menus and multiple loading screens before I can play it. I can't just think "Hm, I want to run through Windmill Isle right now," and then be there. Instead I have to go through all this rigamarole, which creates a psychological barrier to playing it.

I think that's why I used to play my Game Boy Advance a lot when I had it. It was a cartridge-based system, so getting back to the game was really fast when I owned it. I played it a lot, even when I was at home. But with a CD-based system that takes so long to load anything, by the time I've got it up and running my mind has already wandered. The only reason I put up with FFXI for so long was because it was a game where I knew I'd be spending all evening playing it, so I didn't mind waiting a few extra minutes for loadingness.

Now, I've got some pretty cool games on my PC ... some of them I can't play while I'm chatting, though. (And some I have to boot into a whole different OS for, but that's another story.) And they aren't on my object dock ... out of sight, out of mind.

You can say what you like about how impatient us young'uns are, but I might as well figure out how my brain works and then design for it, rather than bash myself for not liking something that everyone else does. >.>b

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

For me, as for a lot of middle class kids, getting into a good college was more or less the meaning of life when I was growing up. What was I? A student. To do that well meant to get good grades. Why did one have to get good grades? To get into a good college. And why did one want to do that? There seemed to be several reasons: you'd learn more, get better jobs, make more money. But it didn't matter exactly what the benefits would be. College was a bottleneck through which all your future prospects passed; everything would be better if you went to a better college.

A few weeks ago I realized that somewhere along the line I had stopped believing that.

-- Paul Graham, News from the Front

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

Doesn't this mushroom look just like a muffin?

Note the split butter-top and the flaky, golden-brown crust. I wanted to eat it so bad.

Note: Eating mushrooms you find outside tends to be bad for your longevity.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry.

I know, what you really want is more stories. (Incidentally, you can see Yurodivy’s and my latest wordcounts by clicking here!) But remember a little while back when I said that she and I are now offering paperback book commissions?

Well, Kenveevee has offered to do cover art! Just buy him a 4-month subscription to DeviantArt for $10.95, and he’ll do a full-color pic of your character, plus background. You can still use your own pics, of course, and I can dig up a stock photo if you don’t have one, but this is a great way to get a never-before-seen high-quality cover for your book. Think of it like ordering a custom print with a book attached, if that’s what floats your boat!

Click here to order the book, and visit Ken’s DA page to order a cover. Or just stay tuned for the next story update from me, and maybe put in a request of your own! Or a commission. ~.^

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

The sidebar just updated, with ways to easily subscribe to new updates and discuss our stories with other furs!

Check out our Dreamwidth community at http://becomeyourfursona.dreamwidth.org/, for starters. It’s an ad-free community, and both LiveJournal and Dreamwidth users can discuss the latest updates there. If you have a Dreamwidth account you can post new threads, but anyone can comment! Want a beta key? Just post a reply asking for one!

Also check out our Identi.ca group at http://identi.ca/group/becomeyourfursona! Identi.ca’s like Twitter, but you can create chat groups there. My mate and I use this one to post wordcount updates and things, and you’re all invited to join in the conversation. Sign up for free, and if you like you can set your Identi.ca account to cross-post to Facebook and Twitter so your friends don’t miss anything!

Oh, and did I mention we’re writing custom-made books for you furs? :3 Check out this update for all the juicy details!

Mirrored from Become Your Fursona.

Read about parents trying to "cure" autism and you'll see a lot of talk about how their child is "trapped in his own world," and somehow the parents must set him free. Their child is clearly distant ... but why?

Autistic people see the world and other people just like anyone does. We're very much present in the world; in fact, in most cases we notice more about it--all the little details most people filter out.

...

Having to constantly interact with people is difficult and stressful for me. But "my own world"--you have your own mental world, too, just like I do--isn't a frightening place in which I'm trapped. It's simply the act of relaxing, getting away from the need to socialize constantly. Without it, I'd be unable to function ...

-- http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/70437.html

Well-meaning parents -- and teachers, and friends, and psychologists -- think that what they are doing is helping a chick out of its eggshell. But too often, what they're really doing is ripping a turtle in half.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry. Use your LiveJournal's URL as your "OpenID website," and I'll know it was you who commented.

Remember Troi, from Star Trek: The Next Generation? Here's what I think a real-life empath would be like.

1. She would never lie. Her empathy would be such a natural way of seeing the world for her, and establishing an empathic connection so important to her very ability to communicate, that it'd never even occur to her to send a false signal. If she tried, she wouldn't be good at it.


2. It would be easy to lie to her. We make assumptions about other people based on what we ourselves would do. An empath would never lie, so she'd always assume you were telling the truth, at least until she found out she was mistaken. (She'd probably be deeply offended.) Likewise, it'd be easy to keep her from reading your emotions. Just be ungenuine. Most people have lots of practice with that.


3. She would seem unfriendly. A lot of society is based around telling "polite lies" to other people, and feigning interest in them while actually being self-absorbed. An empath wouldn't see the point of lying, so when she was bored she would show it. She would be terrible at parties, because the loud signals being sent out by everyone would overwhelm her, and force her to put up an emotionless shell for protection. And her body language would be very reserved -- she would subconsciously assume that everyone else was like her, so if she wanted to be friendly she would act like she was approaching a frightened animal, and would try to show that she posed no threat.

An empath would be at a real disadvantage in a society of compulsive, habitual liars like ours. She wouldn't be able to function in most of our social environments. Office politics would be anathema to her. High school cliques would be torture. To her, everyone would seem wilfully blind, and more than a little cruel. And to everyone else, she'd just be "weird" and "too sensitive."

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry. Use your LiveJournal's URL as your "OpenID website," and I'll know it was you who commented.

It's kind of strange when you think about it, because lord-of-the-flies schools and bureaucratic companies are both the default. There are probably a lot of people who go from one to the other and never realize the whole world doesn't work this way.

I think that's one reason big companies are so often blindsided by startups. People at big companies don't realize the extent to which they live in an environment that is one large, ongoing test for the wrong qualities.

-- The Power of the Marginal

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry. Use your LiveJournal's URL as your "OpenID website," and I'll know it was you who commented.

Check it out: open_source_ftw

It's a new community that I've started. Because there aren't enough Linux and Free Software communities on Dreamwidth yet, and because you're all probably tired of my ramblings. ~.^

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry. Use your LiveJournal's URL as your "OpenID website," and I'll know it was you who commented.

I was lamenting to rev_yurodivy earlier about the abject lack of variety in my diet. So with the unexpected windfall from the sale of a digital camera on eBay, I decided to go out and buy some groceries ... spices, produce, and things to enliven my diet a bit.

One thing I decided to get was an avocado to make guacamole with. I like it on Taco Bell's 7-layer burritos, and it can't be that hard to make, right? I even found a recipe online. This page talked about how you "scoop out the avocado meat with a spoon," and the recipe said to "gently mash with a fork until chunky-smooth." So I went into this with the idea that it'd basically have the consistency of butter or vegetable shortening, and that mixing it up wouldn't be a big deal.

As it turns out, the inside of an avocado is very solid. More than that, it's slippery. My hands got all messy with oil, and half of the thing's innards ended up on the floor. And since it wouldn't "mash," I had to take all the pieces I'd scooped out and chop them up fine with a knife, in order to make anything resembling a salsa.

The end result looked something like this!

( Picture behind the cut! )

How does it taste? Cold. And crunchy.

Cross-posted from Feathertail's Dreamwidth journal. To leave a comment, visit the original entry. Use your LiveJournal's URL as your "OpenID website," and I'll know it was you who commented.