Piracy, the Trove and how they affect the Hobby

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Funnily enough he mellowed out on me after we met and went out for coffee when I was in Montevideo. Then one day we disagreed over something and it all went downhill again. *shrug*

But that was before he doubled down on the politics and threw his lot with the alt-right.

Ah well. The empanadas were great.
It's something. Empanadas are good. The guy did what many libertarians do: ended going ultra-right-wing.

You know, I use both the same nickname (with small variations) and my real name indistinctly. I've used my real pic for a long time. I decided that no one could threaten me with outing me if everything was in the open. So there.
 
Horse pucky. Pointing out that he crossed the streams on his Pundit persona and Nisarg schtick is not "stealth doxxing". I'm not the one who bought the URL or redirected it there. Hell, I'm not even the one who mentioned Nisarg in the first place. That's no more "doxxing" than typing "pizzahut.com" into your browser's address bar.

I say this because you keep bringing him up, and you keep repeating identifying information


As far as what happened to you, I am sorry. You seem like a decent person, who shouldn't have had to go through that.

This shouldn't happen to anyone in my opinion good or bad. There are a lot of bad faith posts about people on the internet, and these get repeated. People frame things as negatively as possible and that is the information that spreads about a person. Often when you dive deep into them, you see the truth was much more complexed and nuanced than things appear (stuff gets taken out of context, someone mixes up two people and a person gets slimed with something they didn't even do, etc). Bottom line i think is people need to check things for themselves. I also think it is one thing to object to what someone says or does, another to take actions that ostracize, cause them not to be able to support themselves and potentially lose connections to friends and family. I do also want to be clear, I don't wish this on anyone: not even Fox. I hate what Fox did, I don't hate him. I have been trying to live by Matthew 5:44. I was raised to live by that. It hasn't been easy this past year. It is very hard not to hate people when try to take the food off your table, or say things that causes people to not speak or interact with you. But even someone who is my enemy or who hates me has kids to feed. Also, I am tired of people being at each other's throats in this hobby, pressuring people to not be friends with someone they object to, etc. It has just felt really, really bad in the past few years or so. Whether someone is considered a saint or a sinner, I don't want anyone to go through loss of work, loss of family, loss of friendship. Especially because those three things are not going to make them less a sinner
 
Please dial back the political content folks. We all know who Jennifer Aniston is and their beliefs, it doesn't need to be reiterated
 
No one knows who I really am. I mean, not really.
I beg to differ…We here at the agency have a 400 page file detailing your seditious activities from day one. We monitor all your communications tools and media and even have a Psychologist dedicated to understanding your psyche. You are under constant surveillance and one day we will spring….
 
You know, I use both the same nickname (with small variations) and my real name indistinctly. I've used my real pic for a long time. I decided that no one could threaten me with outing me if everything was in the open. So there.

I assume your real name is "Napoleon"?
 
I say this because you keep bringing him up, and you keep repeating identifying information




This shouldn't happen to anyone in my opinion good or bad. There are a lot of bad faith posts about people on the internet, and these get repeated. People frame things as negatively as possible and that is the information that spreads about a person. Often when you dive deep into them, you see the truth was much more complexed and nuanced than things appear (stuff gets taken out of context, someone mixes up two people and a person gets slimed with something they didn't even do, etc). Bottom line i think is people need to check things for themselves. I also think it is one thing to object to what someone says or does, another to take actions that ostracize, cause them not to be able to support themselves and potentially lose connections to friends and family. I do also want to be clear, I don't wish this on anyone: not even Fox. I hate what Fox did, I don't hate him. I have been trying to live by Matthew 5:44. I was raised to live by that. It hasn't been easy this past year. It is very hard not to hate people when try to take the food off your table, or say things that causes people to not speak or interact with you. But even someone who is my enemy or who hates me has kids to feed. Also, I am tired of people being at each other's throats in this hobby, pressuring people to not be friends with someone they object to, etc. It has just felt really, really bad in the past few years or so. Whether someone is considered a saint or a sinner, I don't want anyone to go through loss of work, loss of family, loss of friendship. Especially because those three things are not going to make them less a sinner
Boy that was a really nice thing to say Brendan. But not just nice, compelling. I frequently get angry at others and the Sermon on the Mount reminds us that we should reconcile with those people. All the left wing / right wing political outrage I feel is so out of line but it is SO HARD TO BANISH!
 
Could be. We need to find out his feelings on Ligers...
Come on man, cut me some slack :grin:
Boy that was a really nice thing to say Brendan. But not just nice, compelling. I frequently get angry at others and the Sermon on the Mount reminds us that we should reconcile with those people. All the left wing / right wing political outrage I feel is so out of line but it is SO HARD TO BANISH!
BedrockBrendan BedrockBrendan must be one of the most level-headed posters I've met in all my years in messageboards.
 
Please dial back the political content folks. We all know who Jennifer Aniston is and their beliefs, it doesn't need to be reiterated
If you don't want Pundit discussed anymore, fine. But none of my posts about him were political. He is a complete douchebag without even taking his politics into account.
 
Um, the current issue with copyright lasting almost a century after an author's death, with corporations accumulating and abusing copyrights, and the privatization of culture.
Shortening the period of copyright certainly shortens the period of copyright. Grand, so. But perhaps you can in hindsight see why the unwary reader may have thought you were putting some importance on ensuring availability during the period of copyright, given that your proposed provision was the apparent punchline to the part I was replying to.

So...just a "ha ha joke" about lawyers?
Not even, apparently. Tough, as they say, room!

But I wasn't suggesting replacing anything, simply not bloating a government agency, not giving any special powers to lawyers.
You're suggesting, as I understand it, adding a provision to civil copyright law that requires rights holders to make their work available for sale or risk losing those rights. That's inevitably going to have an economically lopsided effect on the usual "can I afford to take this to court?" lines however precise the requirement is. And the more imprecise and open-ended it is about the nature of that availability requirement, the more it turns into the sort of morass of case law and shonky precedent that already characterises a lot of IP law. (What's a derivative work? What's fair use? Well, that depends on the hourly rate your lawyer is charging you.) And the more uncertain and expensive it is, the less use it is to anyone wishing to make use of the access, and the more use it is to people with copious resources wishing to vex rightsholders with less-deep pockets.

On the face of that choice, I think I'd personally much rather the "government bloat" option, rather than the buccaneering barristers one.
 
You guys can discuss him all you like. Everyone here knows when they are crossing the line into politics.
Im not sure with him that actually is that clear. I think I understand you want to be able to talk about him but he in recent years has wrapped so much of his persona into politics it's hard to at least know where the line is.
 
This Jennifer Aniston reference must be a yank thing. She was in friends and made some crap films. Was with Brad Pitt for a while and never seemed to get over him.

I'm a Brit and it's best we don't talk about politics because over here it's a choice of Dumb or Dumber.
 
This Jennifer Aniston reference must be a yank thing. She was in friends and made some crap films. Was with Brad Pitt for a while and never seemed to get over him.

I'm a Brit and it's best we don't talk about politics because over here it's a choice of Dumb or Dumber.
Where does y0our username come from?
 
Shortening the period of copyright certainly shortens the period of copyright. Grand, so. But perhaps you can in hindsight see why the unwary reader may have thought you were putting some importance on ensuring availability during the period of copyright, given that your proposed provision was the apparent punchline to the part I was replying to.

Yes, a person shouldn't be "sitting" on works, preventing their availability to the public. This represents a staggering amount of the damage done to cultural works of the 20th century currently. What form that release takes is less important I think, though.


You're suggesting, as I understand it, adding a provision to civil copyright law that requires rights holders to make their work available for sale or risk losing those rights. That's inevitably going to have an economically lopsided effect on the usual "can I afford to take this to court?" lines however precise the requirement is. And the more imprecise and open-ended it is about the nature of that availability requirement, the more it turns into the sort of morass of case law and shonky precedent that already characterises a lot of IP law. (What's a derivative work? What's fair use? Well, that depends on the hourly rate your lawyer is charging you.) And the more uncertain and expensive it is, the less use it is to anyone wishing to make use of the access, and the more use it is to people with copious resources wishing to vex rightsholders with less-deep pockets.

On the face of that choice, I think I'd personally much rather the "government bloat" option, rather than the buccaneering barristers one.

I'm honestly not sure what situation you're envisioning. Why would lawyers suddenly be determining "fair use", in fact why are you assuming that they would suddenly be granted any judicial powers whatsoever that lawyers have never had? Who is taking whom to court in whatever premise you're proceeding from? Like I'm honestly completely lost as to how any of this is originating from the idea that a person can lose copyright status on something they are not using.
 
I beg to differ…We here at the agency have a 400 page file detailing your seditious activities from day one. We monitor all your communications tools and media and even have a Psychologist dedicated to understanding your psyche. You are under constant surveillance and one day we will spring….
...Google?
 
I think we should go back to the early Medieval model where only notable people have names and everybody else is called stuff like "Friend of Eric".
Currently it's the opposite of that, of course. Going mononymic is quite the flex: I'm the most important person of that first name or last name.

Odd case of this I came across recently, relating to another topic that's wended its way through this thread. There's a blog post which refers to "RPGPundit" by his alleged real name, in full at first, then doing the journo-style thing of just using the last name. But this greatly upset someone who apparently using that surname without a first name professionally. OK, I can see why that'd be kinda awks for them, but they did kinda walk into that one...
 
I’ve used a variety of usernames over the years. Usually depends on what the site or topic is. Like here (and other rpg forums) for instance I chose this name as a play on how people keep complaining that the 5e Ranger sucks and therefore don’t play that class.
 
I think we should go back to the early Medieval model where only notable people have names and everybody else is called stuff like "Friend of Eric".

At one point there were 4 people that were either named Nick or a variation of Nick (including myself) not just at my company, but in my department (Which is especially funny as the majority of people at the company I work for are Japanese). It would be REALLY confusing.

I suppose we could have been "Nick of America", "Nick of Canada", "Nick of France"... though two of us were from the US.

(Though one of the times I was in Tokyo, there was a small local bar near the hotel I was staying at that I went to every night. The owner just called me "America". When I walked in "Yo, America!")
 
I don't get the Jennifer Aniston reference, did she do something to make the connection as an alias for pundit? As Hollywood types go she seems fairly stable and other than the tabloids being fascinated with her, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie seems to remain relatively low profile outside of the occasional Friends related thing. I can think of a lot more insulting people to be compared to. Or has JA made a public ass of herself on some topic that I am not aware of.


On the doxxing, I use my real name on every site I'm on except for those involving RPGs and computer games. I love gamers but the gaming community does attract some seriously messed up people. Gaming websites are the only space online I have ever been concerned that somebody might try to take something online into the real world. Not so much here, but on other gaming sites. Big Purple has been particularly guilty of this and was where I realized that I had unconsciously made the distinction to use not my real name on gaming sites.


Why are we talking about the Pundit again?



There is no wall. And Pundit is not a schtick. I assure you: he is absolutely true to his convictions offline.

Definitely less inclined to profanity, gracious even as a host and quasi-tour guide, but still very much the juxtaposition.

I would actually dispute the “New Age” label and suggest that he sees himself as serious, learned occultist. The best template for the Pundit persona is a 19th-century liberal arts intellectual — the anticlerical Freemason enamored of Western occultism and Eastern mysticism.

He actually had a very good thread on "real magic" over there. It of course got a lot of detractors who had to put it down for treating it as a real thing rather than fantasy which of course is why we as gamers can't have nice things, but as a discussion of how to RP magic in the real world might work such in CoC, it was great. I actually copied a good deal of the thread for future use.

Funnily enough he mellowed out on me after we met and went out for coffee when I was in Montevideo. Then one day we disagreed over something and it all went downhill again. *shrug*

But that was before he doubled down on the politics and threw his lot with the alt-right.

Ah well. The empanadas were great.

I used to have a boss like that. Actually a pretty nice guy, but the second you said something he disagreed with he couldn't let it go. Could be something as simple as do you like hot dogs or hamburgers better. He would argue on why you were wrong until he changed your mind. At one point I had to take an 8 hour road trip with him (each way, 16 hours total). I pretended to sleep for most of the trip except when I took my turns driving.
 
I don't get the Jennifer Aniston reference, did she do something to make the connection as an alias for pundit? As Hollywood types go she seems fairly stable and other than the tabloids being fascinated with her, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie seems to remain relatively low profile outside of the occasional Friends related thing. I can think of a lot more insulting people to be compared to. Or has JA made a public ass of herself on some topic that I am not aware of.

I don't know the original intent, but my personal take is that I like it precisely because there is no connection. It's completely random and nonsensical.

The only reason I ever watched Friends was because it happened to be on TV sometimes. I couldn't tell you any stories or character names, and I never paid any real attention to it. The show was just background static, not even noise. I know Jennifer Aniston has gone on to do other films, but honestly I couldn't name a single one. I actually know more about Courtney Cox, because I can at least say she was in Masters of the Universe. So, for me, Jennifer Aniston is a name that I recognize for absolutely no reason. So using it as a substitute for Pundit resonates with me.
 
Where does y0our username come from?
It's my nickname at work.

How on earth did we drift so far off thread we're talking about usernames?

confused-no.gif
 
I'm fully in favour of everyone choosing their own name, even if it's just actively deciding "yes, I like the name I was given at birth". My brother changed his name purely because he didn't want people laughing at his middle name during his wedding, and I am totally down with that kind of energy. My ex and I were unmarried, so our daughter has both of our surnames in her name so she can pick whichever she wants to keep in life. Heck, I'd have changed my surname too by now if it wouldn't make things so much more complicated for her - no major reason, there's just one I want more (But it's my middle name now).
The Japanese system would work well for that, as with it you have whatever ceremonials and celebrations you like, but the "marriage" part apparently happens when you post a form to some government department saying what your new joint family name is to be. So if people were tittering at that during the nuptials, perfect time for a new one! This gets some stick on the basis that "ermagawd, Japanese women have to change their names to their husband's when they marry!" but apparently the reverse is surprisingly common. (Not necessarily for enlightened feminist reasons, I think often because bigwig father-in-law wants to preserve a lineage name in the family business, or the like.) I dunno if the equivalent of double-barrelled or portmanteau names is at all customary.

Of course, here in the UK, the process for changing your name is basically trivial; I know it's harder in a lot of other jurisdictions.
As I understand it -- please even barrack-room grades of lawyer pick me up if I'm way off base -- all common-law countries have notionally the same system, which is that your name is the one you're generally known by, but you have the whole "deed poll" thing as an extra step on top of that. But there's oddities either way: once your Government Name(TM) is in the system, good luck demonstrating you're generally known as something else without the paperwork! And sometimes people do the DP thing as a stunt. In theory it's a contract with yourself to only use the particular new name, but I can recall a case in Ireland where someone was on the radio saying something along the lines of "I'm [X] [Y], but I've changed my name by deed poll to [Z] [W] to run in this election as a tribute to someone actually called [Z] [W], and I'll be changing it back right after."
 
My username comes from my first D&D MU character to survive past 2nd level...if you recognize it, what have you been up to man! (it was proto 1e, MM + PHB but no DMG)
 
Well, regarding usernames.

Mama Exchequer had a little boy who looked a lot like a lychee ("Aww, it looks so cute with its little purple furry hide !" and so I was christened : "Lychee of the Exchequer" !

What ?

Regarding piracy:
I only condone it against megacorps, because I don't like them. So board them, loot their cargo and set their ships on fire !*
F* them and sleep soundly at night.
On the other end : pirating the little guy - not cool.

One of the most deleterious thing in the last two centuries is the invention of the moral (ha !) persona: pretending corporations are quasi-living entities could cause the end of life on earth. Iä, Iä, Cthulhu fhtagn !

So I won't treat a megacorp like Hasbro like I do my small-time rpg author fellow gamer.

Okay - it's more complicated than that. But I needed to get it off my chest.

*metaphorically speaking
 
Like many people, I found the Trove a useful way of checking up stuff without having to go on the loft or to check out games I was interested in - I'm more likely to buy a copy of I can flick through first. I'm too old to run or play a game from a pdf.

My user name comes from the fact I'm 5'5 on a good day and my name is Dave.
 
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