Adam_Black_Arts's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    I picked up Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny, after reading a couple pages of it online. The way it was written really caught my eye. It was weird and interesting in equal amounts....

    I picked up Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny, after reading a couple pages of it online. The way it was written really caught my eye. It was weird and interesting in equal amounts. Definitely written in a unique way. I read the book in a day, and will probably read it again once work lightens up a bit.

    Also bought and reread Her Majesty's Spymaster, by Stephen Budiansky. It's a book about Sir Francis Walsingham, who was a very interesting person. I'd checked the book out years ago from the library, but then I moved and decided to just buy my own copy. I learned the concept of video et taceo from this book, which is always a good idea.

    And I finally bought a hard copy of the second edition of The Rexx Language by M.F. Cowlishaw. It was only $1.50 from a nearby Goodwill, which was nice. What little scripting I do anymore mainly involves text manipulation, so I do it in Rexx. Bonus: I can move the code around between Linux, Windows and my old Amiga 500, if need be. Plus it's a fun and simple language.

    3 votes
  2. Comment on What did you do this week? in ~talk

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Finished up the last of my old comic business (finally!) and am waiting for the new gaming laptop to arrive so I can get back into Arma 3 while I figure out what I wanna do with the next couple of...

    Finished up the last of my old comic business (finally!) and am waiting for the new gaming laptop to arrive so I can get back into Arma 3 while I figure out what I wanna do with the next couple of years.

    3 votes
  3. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Siouxsie and the Banshees, of all things. I'm not really a fan of The Cure or that style of music in general, but I'm listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees' first couple of albums and they're...

    Siouxsie and the Banshees, of all things. I'm not really a fan of The Cure or that style of music in general, but I'm listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees' first couple of albums and they're amazing. There's something about them that all the bands that they inspired just don't seem to have, and I'm trying to figure out what that is.

    I mean, not actively. I'm really just enjoying the music for the most part.

    1 vote
  4. Comment on I want to talk about Bill and Ted Face the Music in ~movies

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    It's an excellent film all around. There were some moments where they could've dropped the ball or messed it up, but they didn't. HUGE SPOILER DO NOT EXPAND ME OH GOD I knew there was going to be...

    It's an excellent film all around. There were some moments where they could've dropped the ball or messed it up, but they didn't.

    HUGE SPOILER DO NOT EXPAND ME OH GOD I knew there was going to be a Pass The Torch moment between Bill & Ted and their daughters, and there are a ton of ways to do that badly. But they way they did it--having Bill & Ted still play the final song even after they'd passed the torch--was great.

    My roommate told me that the song they play is a remix of a song from the first movie, which explains why it sounded so "Bill & Ted" to me.

    4 votes
  5. Comment on Why not ~comics? in ~tildes

  6. Comment on What's a life lesson you've learned in the past year? in ~talk

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Nothing lasts forever. That was the big takeaway last year.

    Nothing lasts forever. That was the big takeaway last year.

    6 votes
  7. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Sorcerer dropped a new album this week, and I've been listening to that. If you're into NWOTHM, check them out! They're one of my favorites.

    Sorcerer dropped a new album this week, and I've been listening to that. If you're into NWOTHM, check them out! They're one of my favorites.

    3 votes
  8. Comment on Time killers: The strange history of wrist gaming in ~games

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    I've still got one of those Nelsonic Space Attacker watches (on page 2). The plastic version, though, not the metal one shown. It still works! Runs about one second fast per week, though. Oh, and...

    I've still got one of those Nelsonic Space Attacker watches (on page 2). The plastic version, though, not the metal one shown.

    It still works! Runs about one second fast per week, though. Oh, and the light's dim as hell (it was never very bright). I wanna find a way to put an LED in it at some point.

    1 vote
  9. Comment on I'm stuck in an endless loop in ~health.mental

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    I just turned 50 a couple months ago. Got divorced almost a year ago after 21 years of marriage because she had her midlife crisis. Been living in my friend's spare bedroom when I'm not on the...

    I just turned 50 a couple months ago. Got divorced almost a year ago after 21 years of marriage because she had her midlife crisis. Been living in my friend's spare bedroom when I'm not on the other side of the country doing temp IT work while living in my other friend's spare bedroom.

    I'm supposed to be writing and drawing another comic, which I've been working on since last year. I should be cranking out issue 2 or 3 by now, but I don't even have a script written for issue 1. I'm taking a break from comics to write novels, and that has also been slow going. Feels like I just don't have any motivation whatsoever for either project. Motivation has never been a problem before now.

    I chalked it all up to post-divorce bullshit, but you've got me wondering if it's more than that. Now I'm wondering if it's low testosterone or something. You said that testosterone helped, but you didn't like the side effects?

    3 votes
  10. Comment on AI Dungeon: Dragon Model Upgrade in ~games

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    It's interesting, for sure. The AI tends to just go with whatever you type in, no matter what it is. I ended up side-tracking the story (first by accident, then on purpose once I realized what had...

    It's interesting, for sure. The AI tends to just go with whatever you type in, no matter what it is. I ended up side-tracking the story (first by accident, then on purpose once I realized what had happened) to the point where it became nonsense. This only took about five or ten minutes.

    It'll be interesting to see this game a year from now.

    3 votes
  11. Comment on What level of conversation is tildes aiming for? in ~tildes

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Here's what I'd like to see as the metric for posting: If you find something on the internet and think, "Oh man, that's interesting! I should share it with others in case they haven't seen it!"...

    Here's what I'd like to see as the metric for posting:

    If you find something on the internet and think, "Oh man, that's interesting! I should share it with others in case they haven't seen it!" then I think that's a good post.

    If you find something on the internet and think, "Oh man, I can get SO MANY VOTES FOR THIS!!! OMG!!!" then please don't. Or go spam reddit if you can't help yourself.

    And by "you" in the above examples, I mean "You In General" not "The OP In Particular".

    1 vote
  12. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    It still sends me email, which is how I'm periodically reminded that I made an account there once. Sometimes I head over there to check it out, but it's always the same UI mess of semi-interesting...

    It still sends me email, which is how I'm periodically reminded that I made an account there once.

    Sometimes I head over there to check it out, but it's always the same UI mess of semi-interesting content it's always been and I close the tab and continue on with my day.

    13 votes
  13. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    Lapsed back into Curve this week, mostly because they're good to draw to and I've got a lot of commissions this week.

    Lapsed back into Curve this week, mostly because they're good to draw to and I've got a lot of commissions this week.

    1 vote
  14. Comment on Banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 in ~arts

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link Parent
    It sucks for sure. :( My friend Raven says the most insidious part is how it changes the definition of "art" and "artist" in such a way that it damages and lessens both, and I think he's right.

    It sucks for sure. :(

    My friend Raven says the most insidious part is how it changes the definition of "art" and "artist" in such a way that it damages and lessens both, and I think he's right.

  15. Comment on Banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 in ~arts

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link Parent
    That makes sense. My problem with this kind of "art" is that all my artist friends will repost articles like this to all their social media accounts, and you can cut the depression and melancholy...

    That makes sense.

    My problem with this kind of "art" is that all my artist friends will repost articles like this to all their social media accounts, and you can cut the depression and melancholy with a knife when they do.

    It breaks my heart to see my artist friends lose their drive and sense of self-worth when articles like this get repeated around the internet, and I do what I can (however "low effort" it is) to try and slow it down a little.

    If that bothers anyone here, please feel free to ignore me and move on with your lives. :)

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 in ~arts

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link Parent
    Here's a quote from that one for you (emphasis mine): "Further, and as noted, other traditional vehicles for laundering money have become less attractive, thereby driving those who need a...

    Here's a quote from that one for you (emphasis mine):

    "Further, and as noted, other traditional vehicles for laundering money have become less attractive, thereby driving those who need a mechanism to launder large sums into the arms of the art world. As we repeatedly have blogged, one of the most time-honored and relatively convenient vehicles for laundering — real estate — is under intense scrutiny and now is subject in the U.S. to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”)’s ongoing Geographic Targeting Orders (these require U.S. title insurance companies in many parts of the U.S. to identify the natural persons behind legal entities used in purchases of residential real estate involving $300,000 or more and performed without a bank loan or similar form of external financing).

    Of course, certain countries already impose AML regulations on the art world. The European Union Commission issued its 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive in June 2018, which must be implemented by Member States by January 2020, and which in part expands its coverage of “obliged entities” to persons trading in art, acting as intermediaries in the trade of art, or storing art in freeports, if the value of the transaction or a group of linked transactions equals €10,000 or more. In the United States, although the BSA already applies to dealers in precious metals, stones and jewels, and thereby requires them to file Suspicious Activity Reports and comply with other AML obligations, no such rules currently apply to U.S. dealers in art."

    Please at least read the last one before you start belittling me. Thanks!

    1 vote
  17. Comment on Banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 in ~arts

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link Parent
    Here are a few links to get you started. Feel free to type "art gallery money laundering" into your favorite search engine for more. The Art of Money Laundering How does one launder money using...

    Here are a few links to get you started. Feel free to type "art gallery money laundering" into your favorite search engine for more.

    The Art of Money Laundering

    How does one launder money using art work?

    Does the Art World Have a Money Laundering Problem?

    Art and Money Laundering

  18. Comment on Banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 in ~arts

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link Parent
    It's not. Any time you see an article like this where something that is obviously not art is being sold for an enormous amount of money, chances are it's just another Rich Fuck laundering some...

    It's not. Any time you see an article like this where something that is obviously not art is being sold for an enormous amount of money, chances are it's just another Rich Fuck laundering some money.

    Laundering money through "art" and "art" galleries has been a thing for decades now.

    Unfortunately, it gets noticed and passed around on social media and does little more than further dilute what "art" and "artist" mean to the average person. Not to mention the damage to the self-esteem of actual artists.

    2 votes
  19. Comment on Why is Instagram deleting the accounts of hundreds of porn stars? in ~tech

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    IG is doing this to poledancers as well, which is ridiculous.

    IG is doing this to poledancers as well, which is ridiculous.

    10 votes
  20. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    High on Fire's Luminiferous album. They're one of the few bands I know of who manage to make every album better than the previous one.

    High on Fire's Luminiferous album.

    They're one of the few bands I know of who manage to make every album better than the previous one.

    3 votes