My opinions tend to run counter to those of my peers. As a result, I’m often branded “negative,” “pessimistic,” or other such derogatory adjectives. However, I prefer to see myself more as a realist. Allow me to explain: I’m never negative for the sake of being negative. That serves no purpose. I try to base my thoughts in some semblance of logic and reality. Otherwise, you’ve got a rambling, pointless opinion, and you’re no better than some douchebag blowhard on Fox News.

Let me give you a recent example. I’ve been given the rolleyes treatment lately due to the fact that I believe Joss Whedon’s new program, Dollhouse, will not do well. As I’ve made clear in the past, I’m not a fan of Whedon’s work, primarily due to his shameless ripping off of other stories. (Including Dollhouse.) But that’s not why I think his new show is doomed to failure; the blame for that falls squarely on the shoulders of the network broadcasting it: Fox.

Fox is premiering Dollhouse in the “Friday night death slot,” with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a lead-in. The latter program has suffered from sinking ratings, so it’s obvious that Fox is trying to get rid of it. Scheduling shows on Friday nights kills them dead; an obvious exception is Battlestar Galactica, but that show has transcended all expectations, and skyrocketed the bar for what a quality television show should be in the first place. We’d never expect any program to pull that off again. Anyway, no matter what their pedigree, Dollhouse and Terminator are as good as cancelled. The final nail in the coffin is the advertising campaign…or more accurately, the lack thereof. When Terminator first premiered, there were ads in print, on television, and on the Internet. Once the second season of that show began, there were considerably fewer ads. Now we’re moving into the second half of the season, and to find any ads, you really need to dig deep. Worse yet? Almost no ads for Dollhouse, and the ones that do air focus on lead actress Eliza Dushku’s looks, with only a few bullet points about the show’s plot. (I guess we can’t entirely fault them for that, though; Dushku’s gorgeous, but her acting skills are negligible.)

So you see? It’s not a “negative” opinion, merely one firmly rooted in reality. It’s very possible that Dollhouse will succeed, but given history and basic analysis, the odds are overwhelmingly against it. Explaining this sort of thing is a constant battle I have to fight; I’m never trying to be as asshole or shit on anyone’s interests, but people often have a very hard time accepting reality, especially when it deals with something they’re fond of. (This happens a lot in nerd circles!) When offering my thoughts, I just happen to get the short end of the stick because the reality of the situation doesn’t match up with others’ false hopes.

C’mon, we’ve all got stuff we love, but often, history proves that things just don’t work out the way we want. Maintaining an optimistic front in this case is only going to make things worse when the shit eventually hits the fan.

I’m continually pressured by my friends as they try to get me to join Facebook. And every time they ask me, I tell them no.

I really have zero interest in that trendy social networking crap. (I used to be a member of MySpace many years ago, but wisely got the hell out of there right as it was turning into a massive cesspool of human depravity.) I don’t want to reconnect with people I went to high school or college with; as I’ve made clear in the past, I didn’t have many friends back then, and the ones I did have mostly turned out to be false ones. Those weren’t pleasant times in my life; why the hell would I want to bring all that shit back up again?

In the increasingly digital world we live in, I’m already a member of various websites, forums, and so on. Adding one of Facebook’s magnitude into the mix would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, since there’s an absolute deluge of shit waiting for you every time you sign in. (I’ve watched my girlfriend prune copious amounts of garbage out of her Facebook inbox every time she logs in.)

I don’t care how popular Facebook is. I’m just not interested. I’m trying to live more “in the now,” and not focus on times past. Facebook and its ilk are just a giant step backwards.

“C’mon, buy me! Please?”

The world seems to be moving more rapidly towards digital distribution models for all manner of media. Video games, movies, television shows, and music are at the forefront, and with valid reason: it’s cheaper for creators, as they don’t have to worry about packaging and the cost of physical media, and it’s more convenient for consumers, as with a few clicks or button presses, they’ve got their new media to play with almost immediately.

However, there’s an often-overlooked downside to this “digital revolution,” and it’s quite ugly. When you buy a DVD, CD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc., you’re getting a physical copy of the media. When you purchase a downloadable item, you’re getting a volatile set of data that’s easily erased. So, for the sake of convenience, you’re not really buying the actual item at all; just a license to download it.

If you buy a physical medium, you can bring the disc to anyone else’s house and just play the damn thing. Not so with downloads, most of which are heavily laden with digital rights management (DRM) and other methods specifically designed to prevent users from sharing. (This is understandably done to combat piracy, which is sadly running rampant.) Last but not least, downloadable materials have no resale value. This, of course, makes the producers of said material happy as pigs in shit, as they’ve long hated the used music/games/movies market. But for those of who enjoy finding great deals on used products, we’re screwed.

Now, some people may not care if their downloaded stuff gets erased or otherwise lost. “I’ll just sign back into [insert service name here], and re-download it!” But will you still be able to do that in five years? Ten? Twenty? I tend to doubt it. That means your hard-earned money has been completely wasted. I still have DVDs I bought over a decade ago, and CDs I bought nearly two decades ago. I can enjoy them on any hardware I want, wherever I want, whenever I want. The same can’t be said for a majority of downloadable media.

I know I’m a vocal minority in the face of “progress.” But it’s going to be a sad day indeed when entertainment’s nothing but disposable zeroes and ones.

I’m sick of manga publishers’ refusal to translate Japanese terminology. If I buy an English edition of a manga, I want it fully translated. I can understand not translating character names; those, obviously, you need to leave alone. But especially in shonen manga (which is aimed at the male demographic), you see all manner of terminology left in the original Japanese! Obviously, it’s translated into the English alphabet, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to read it all, but the terms themselves are still Japanese. Worse yet, there’s often an asterisk (*) next to the word or words, with the English translation listed below the panel. That makes no sense whatsoever; if you’re going to translate it, then just put it in the damn speech bubble in the first place!

Let me give you some examples. In the popular manga Bleach, we’ve got terms like zanpakutou (“soul-cutting sword”), reiatsu (“spirit energy”), and shun shun rikka (“six flowers of the shielded hibiscus”). I admit that the literal translations of these don’t sound fantastic, but you can take a bit of artistic license and give us an English equivalent! In fact, Bleach has already done this; many of the supporting cast in the series are shinigami, which translates to “gods of death.” That’s not going to sell many books, is it? So, over here, they call them “Soul Reapers.” It essentially means the same thing, but doesn’t sound generic. It gets the point across and sounds unique at the same time.

I bet that the Japanese terms are left untranslated just to please the overly obsessive fanboys and fangirls. That’s retarded. If you want the original Japanese that badly, then take a fucking class and learn the language yourself.

I learned how to play chess way back in fifth grade, when a classmate taught me the rules. I’ve been playing off an on ever since; I’d never consider myself more than a novice, as I’ve always seen it as a game played strictly for fun. I have the utmost respect for those who play competitively; I could just never do that myself.

In recent years, I’ve been playing a lot more. I’m trying to noticeably improve my game, and with the wide variety of computer programs and online chess communities, it’s been easier than ever.

Recently, I played a game against Sigma Chess, a popular chess program for the Mac. I set the AI’s skill level to approximate an Elo rating of 1200 (which roughly translates to amateur), and sat down to play. I played White, and Sigma played Black. Over ninety moves later, I had emerged victorious; even though Black had one more piece than I did, I could’ve drawn out the game indefinitely or possibly cornered my opponent, so Black resigned.

I was happy with the results, and thus I posted a record of the game on a popular chess site’s forum. I often use that site to play chess by email with friends, as well as learn tactics and play rated games with new opponents. There’s a game showcase subforum which is specifically designed to allow players to discuss games they’ve enjoyed. I wasn’t bragging from the rooftops about my victory, but I was pleased, so I posted it to see what other users thought.

Well, holy shit, did the jerks come out of the woodwork. Instead of polite comments or even constructive criticism, I got responses like the following:

• “Worst game I’ve ever seen.”

• “[Sigma] seems to be set on a basic blunder mode, because at one point it was a rook, a bishop and pawn up, when you only had a rook and a pawn. A beginner playing against Kasparov could win with that much of an advantage.”
• “I didn’t actually bother going to the end of the game. I think this is some kind of chess joke.”
• “Aagghh!! I think I’m blind. I will never be able to see the beauty of chess. You have to learn to play chess. Black has played like a retard in random mode.”

Lovely, ain’t it? I don’t think I deserved the vehement comments I received, do you? I did end up receiving one bit of constructive criticism concerning my opening moves, and that helped. But overall, there was an air of snobbery and just overall douchebaggery in the replies to my post.

Suffice it to say, I’m going to be much more cautious when venturing on to those forums in the future. Perhaps I’ll only post human-versus-human games, if I post any at all. Let me reiterate the fact that I play chess for fun, and that’s all. When you see how arrogant people can act, even within the confines of a board game, it’s enough to push you away. Fortunately, I’m going to stick around, like an annoying pawn that just refuses to budge.