"Is Pokemon anime?" Musings on fandom

Tokyopop, a company that used to be a large and successful manga publisher, is now making a reality show about anime fans. This prompted me to think about the fandom at large and naturally being the web 2.0 Gen Y label-of-the-day nerd I am, write a blog post:

This is about the anime fandom as a whole NOT anime itsself, or individual fans. Yes you are all special little snowflakes and noone fits the generalization perfectly just like no-one looks like Betty Crocker.

The first anime I watched? Pokemon.

So lets start with Pokemon, its a good spring board right? Probably the most internationally successful anime ever and a keystone of a franchise so hugely popular, that Nintendo has set up a multi-national affiliate company just to manage the brand (株式会社ポケモン).

Yet the obscure, Japan-only late-night show Kodomo no Jikan likely occupies more space in the collective consciousness of the anime fandom than Pokemon does. Its not that anime fans don't know about Pokemon or dislike Pokemon its just treated as something related to the fandom but not really a part of it. Anime forums are not full of screaming fans demanding the lately uncut episodes or even subbed episodes. Where are the simulcasts? The box sets? (Pokemon has its own separate fandom that would appreciate such things but they are more video-game focused)

These things are not going to happen because fans and publishers alike do not consider Pokemon as "anime".

And when publishers do attempt to market these popular franchises as anime (rather than as non-origin specific cartoons) strong hatred emerges from the fandom. Naruto fans are universally lambasted, YuGiOh and Bleach receive similar treatments. Though still considered anime to some extent, one must admit any show that has shown a chance of success in English has become excluded and hated by many fans on a matter of principle.

So what is the anime fandom actually a fan of? Anime as a whole, some particular subgenre, "the good stuff", or something else entirely? What makes the shows we blog, tweet, or write about on facespace/geocities different from the other animated shows Japan (or any where else) produces?

To me it seems the anime fandom is desperately trying to be "not mainstream" without being freaky. Like Hot Topic or Lady Gaga it enjoys a comfortable "rebel" status without straying too far into actual taboos. And in this quest to carve out a niche it has become so over bogged with group spirit and identity that it has become something that exists to consume its self. Anime conventions are full of non-anime related events. Maid cafes, costuming workshops, rum parties, dances, art shows, webcomics, video game rooms, lan parties, board game workshops, concerts, and more. These are not bad things (I enjoy many of them) but these are also exceedingly NOT anime-related. While some variety is fine, one could easily go to an anime con tomorrow, spend the entire day there and not do anything anime related at all.

When you go to an anime con there is a coming together reunion feeling to it; much stronger than at other cons/meetups I've been to. Its mostly pleasant. People are nice to each other for the most part, they see each other as more than random strangers. This is a good thing but I wonder if fans are addicted to this sense of belonging and group spirit more than they are to the media it supposedly stems from.

I don't hate the fandom, but I barely even consider myself part of it anymore. I purchase the same DVDs, watch the same shows, but I don't particularly feel an attachment to any of these people. I dislike most of the individuals I've met at cons, they tend to be loud and rude. In fact, I only started following other anime fans on twitter recently and was suprised to find that I liked talking to these people (unlike in my other interactions with the fandom). Maybe its the 140 character limit but I've managed to avoid the worst offenders that fill forums and con halls. I can discuss anime without being reminded how exclusive and special I am for "being a fan". Its refreshing.

I like discussing shows with others. But do we need such strong fandom spirit?

iCame, iSaw, iPad

Ok you can go read about the iPad on Apple.com/iPad if you have been in a cave and don't know what it is. Millons of bloggers has described what it does and I'm not going to repeat them (except worse) here.

Here's what I want to know before March:

• Textbooks! Steve said "We are very excited about textbooks as well" This is the primary appeal the iPad has to me. How can I get my hundreds of dollars and tens of pounds of textbooks on this little device. If not from Apple, CourseSmart has promised tablet textbook support and even made a mock up. Textbooks are the main reason I would want a iPad.
  
• Tethering: I pay AT&T 30$ a month for 3G on my iPhone. Let me tether a iPad to it if your not willing to allow full computers. Preferably tethering over Wi-Fi or bluetooth so I don't need to blow an extra 130$ on a 3G chip. Hell I'll plug the iPad into the phone if that's what it takes.
  
• iTunes Extras/LPs: Just make 'em work on the iPad. There is no excuse.
• Student Discount?????????? Pretty Pwease??
  
  

To be honest multitasking isn't a huge dealbreaker for me because I would buy the iPad for educational use. Its probably good the device doesn't let me have 50 windows/programs open when I'm trying to study.

Some features I think would be cool to have in the iPad (but don't count on it):

• Plug your iPhone into the iPad and play media off the phone. Why should I carry two portable devices with my full library on them? this would be great to play someone else's iPod on the iPads larger screen easily.
  
• Flash? Please?
• Function as a secondary monitor to one's mac when docked. Its a big beautiful screen and this would sell tons of docks.
• LogMeIn for iPad. Like LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone but on a useable screen size.
• It should make toast. Apple devices do get very hot so this is not as far-fetched as you might hope.
• hulu. Seriously, make an app hulu, just make a frigging app. I am the point where I will PAY for it.
• The rumored apple tv show subscription would be nice too.

Why people Really buy a Mac.

A lot of reasons are thrown around on why people by macs:

• Speed
• Reliability
• Sexiness
• Justin Long
• Viruses, Lack of
• User Interface
• 1 package
• creative power
• Right click is the work of Satan
  
• Vista
• 64 bit
• It works
• to be cool
• Thought out design
• iPods

But the real reason is:

Photo Booth.

And yeah I did this whole thing to post a Photo Booth shot of my kitty. Isn't she kyoot? :3

For those who don't know, Photo Booth is a app included w/ OS X that lets you take snapshots with your webcam and even has stupid effects (if one wants) :)

Region 2 Drive GET!

My apple default drive is in perfect condition for warranty sake and I now have a spiffy Lite-On eSAU208-11 DVD burner for 65$ + tax. Its an expensive rape fee to pay just to watch legally acquired discs but having two drives for disc copying is nice. Reads fine off 1 USB port and even has a data pass through connector.

Oh and it does LightScribe which I love but I probably have to go Windows for that. (Maybe not) Came with some Windows software too (I'll never use it but)

This was a gamble as the box said Windows Windows Windows but it was a Lite-On and not badly priced so I took the risk (and kept the receipt!).

Now to rewatch all my R2 anime that I had to acquire crappy fansubs for.

iPod Touch: proof that God (or atleast Apple) loves humanity.

I got a iPod touch. I love it. Its wonderful. I love love LOVE my iPod mini (surrendered to my mom ATM, she lost hers) BUT the touch is the first worthy replacement for that blue wonder. Nano, photo, video, nothing was worth getting a new iPod untill the touch came out. I talked a 10$ discount out of the Apple Store so I could get 3.0 for free but then went and spent more money on apps. The app store is capitalism at its finest. And I still haven't bought a case ><

I actually have had my Mini full for a while so its nice being able to fit all my music on my iPod. Podcasts and videos are a great too.

Let me just say it here. I shouldn't have to buy a iPod touch to play Myst on modern technology. Myst needs quicktime 6 and DirectX7 to run on Windows XP so forget about it coexisting with any other media. It won't run on Leopard at all (no classic mode) and I hear the DS port is hideous.
Luckily the touch app seems nice so far. It clocks in at 727 MB (much bigger than the DS version and comparable in size to the original) and is the largest iPod app I know of. According to sources its 1.5GB when installed (glad I got a 32 GB!). Last time I played Myst I was a wee little thing and thought it was a pretty thing to click around in (and MS Bob was a dollhouse). Now I hope I can actually understand it better cause there are some pretty things I haven't clicked in a while that I miss.

I named this 'pod Rin so here is the current wallpaper:

Ghost face is from using the iPhoto retouch tool as a censor.
Where the ghost face is now is actually just white with my personal contact info (Full name/cell/email) in case it's lost/disputed/whatever but I don't need that all of the interwebs. :) Minutes are money.

Names of my electronics so far (some are long gone) and inspiration source:

• Ye ol' Win98 box : Joshua (Wargames)
• Crappy Compaq Presario : Itsuki (Doll)
  
• MacBook Pro : Raki (Piece of Wonder)
• Windows partition : Alecto (Piece of Wonder)
• iPod Mini : Chise (Saikano)
• iPod Touch : Rin (Little Busters!)
• Purple Cellphone thats a cheap RAZR with a different name: Haruka (Little Busters!)

Anyone else out there name their electronics? I find "Front Room PC" and "Jane Doe's iPod" to be so dreary.

Sorry this post is so disconnected. I'm 24+ hours in to ownership and still am overexcited about my Touch.

Title joke besides, I'm not religious XP

A MacBook Air SuperDrive is in my future?

MacBook Air SuperDrive for all � tnkgrl Mobile

Looks like Apple's super slim and sexy USB DVD-RW drive for MacBook Air can be made to play nice with other computers for minimal upgrade costs. Considering one can eBay one of these drives for 65$ and the extra board costs under 20$.

The author there used a very cheap 9$ board but I am lazy and not terribly good at soldering so I am eyeing the 14$ Slim Optical Drive IDE to USB card that doesn't require me to remove and re-solder the crystal.(Found on this thread).

I've been wanting an external DVD drive for a while to set to Region 2 so I can watch anime on my MBP with it's damned matsushita drive. The external power supply and dearth of known support turned me off to the one's I've seen and I dismissed the superdrive as being Air only.

Yay for hacks :)

LED Cinema Display がほしい。。。

Apple - LED Cinema Display

Its called a display but really is a docking station. Screen (Duh!) + USB hub + MagSafe charger (these are expensive!) + 2.1speakers + camera + microphone.

I'm really tempted to buy one of these. 15 inches is nice but 24 is nicer. Of course I'd want a bluetooth keyboard so thats even more monies even with a education discount.

I'm moving to Oregon for studies this fall (land of no sales tax) so maybe I will get it if I save up enough.

Anime is better on a big screen and games are too. I'll have a (female) roommate though so all the ero still has to be confined to my laptop screen XP

For the record, the iSight is 640x480. Took the Apple lady a while to find this for me. I bit disappointing but not too much of an issue. Hell, just having another MagSafe makes up for that.

Mac音ナナ : Vocaloid-esque mac "program"

- 音声合成素材集 - Mac音ナナ［Macne nana] - Mac ソフトのことなら act2.com -

I say use program very loosely because Macne Nana needs the program Reason to run. If you already own reason then this product is probably worth the fairly low price of 30 dollars (seems to also include Macne Petit).

Macne Petit, requires only GarageBand though, since its a AIFF collection, it will likely work with other audio editors such as Audacity. Since modern Macs ship with iLife this requirement isn't high and the price is reasonable (under 10 dollars) but the amount of effort to mix different audio files for a human-like sound is difficult. I might pick it up for 10 dollars but I can't envision seriously using it.

This ain't the mac answer to Miku but the price is right.

Microsoft Ads still suck

Meet Lauren. Shes a PC. And wow! She got a 17" laptop for 700$ dollars! Apple 17" start at 2700 so gosh what a deal! I should defenestrate my MacBook right now!

Oh wait...look at just some of the specs:

Lauren's new Laptop | Apple's basic 17"

RAM : 4GB DDR2 (speed unknown) vs. 4GB DD3 @ 1066Mhz

CPU: 2.1 AMD Turion™ X2 (dual core) vs. 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (dual core)

Display: "WXGA+ high-definition widescreen with BrightView technology" (1440 x 900) vs. 1920x1200 pixel LED-backlit display

Network: b/g wireless; 100mbs ethernet vs. b/g/n wireless gigabit ethernet and bluetooth

Case: shiny "Bronze Chrome" plastic vs. brushed unibody aluminum

Graphics: ATI RADEON HD 3200 graphics RS780M with up to 1918MB shared memory vs. an integrated Nvidia 9400M and a discrete 9600MGT with 512MB of dedicated memory

Portability: 7.9 lbs 1.9" thick vs. 6.6 lbs. and .98" thick

BATTERY: 2.5 hours vs. 8 hours guaranteed through 1000 charge cycles



You get what you pay for and leading PC sites agree.

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http://www.macheist.com/bundle/u/212680/

Use this link and help me out if you want to buy :)

Bitchy and Sexy

Today my computer (which I still love immensely and will not trade for your foo-foo touchsmart HP piece of Vista) decided to be a bitch today. Touchpad didn't work on first boot, second boot had really high CPU temps (85C in 5 minutes? BAD) Remember, windows is always consistently nerve-wrackingly fucked up. It takes a mac to be "bitchy".

Observations:
Sexy is good.
Women are sexy.
Macs are sexy.
Women are bitchy. (yes we are!)

Conclusion:
Macs are bitchy. (but we love them)

(Tongue in cheek, please don't take me seriously: I'm just bitching....)

Klear Screen aka iKlear

Klear Screen - LCD & Plasma Screen Cleaner

I absolutely love this stuff. The polish is great on the screen and the body of my precious MacBook Pro and the cloths are large and lush. The Micro-fiber (terry) is the best cloth for glossy screens I've ever used and the Micro Chamois (MC) polishes aluminum and cleans keyboards like nothing seen before. Both kits come with some step 1 wet wipes (to be then dried with your cloths), step 2 "drying cloths" are not in the newer packages since real cloth is superior.

Keyboard Cover
I bought the old blue version at Fry's with a trackpad cover; for iBooks (that old!) Made of optical grade MC; really nice to keep the screen clean and free of key-dents!

Cleaning Kit
Fry's electronics is awesome and had this is stock. This is a wonderful kit of with 1 large MC, 1 travel MC, 1 travel terry, 2 oz. of apple polish and 1 anti-bacterial cloth I haven't tried yet. The large cloth is really large, twice the size of my keyboard! The aluminum unibody looks brand new once I wipe down with this kit.

For you PCs out there you can buy unbranded or DELL labeled versions of Klear Screen if you don't want to buy something with macs on it. Obviously, I bought the iKlear kits but the product is the same I believe. Its worth every cent to have a beautiful screen!

Things Seen Today

Happy Things....

Nagato x NanaDro .... 萌え

Scary Things....

DirectX installing on my Mac

Overlooked Things...

What does this Dock say about me? (Post below)

More on WINE, CrossOver and how to stay the hell away from Microsoft

My last two posts have been on two solutions on running Windows software without Windows. Both technologies described use the WINE project as their base. WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator) is a very old (but active) open-source interpreter to let Windows stuff run on other systems. More on that at WineHQ

Darwine : Free (libre) Mac binaries (application) to implement WINE. No interface, you simply run set WineHelper to handle the files and run them. Everything is ran through XQuartz. Uses one big hidden "virtual C drive" in your user folder, so be prepared to enable hidden files in finder alot. Not as bad as it sounds : when it works it works and when it doesn't WineHelper makes nice long log files to stare at confused :)

CrossOver: Proprietary WINE interface with lots of help files and GUI goodness. Easy menus to choose the version of Windows you need and supports many different bottles (virtual C drives) kept in the library. Uses XQuartz but doesn't make it obvious (no dock icon/menu bar etc messiness).

Obviously, Darwine is free and that's a good thing. If you've read my posts this is the WINE solution I am experimenting with, I do not plan to buy CrossOver. It is easier for me to just muck around with free software I can download and install infinitely on any computer at any time. I like to break things and just reinstall them over and over, its like a puzzle and I learn from each step.

Since the core technology is shared, anything Darwine can do CrossOver can do. Conversly, anything CrossOver can do Darwine can do. I would never recommend Darwine to a non-power user: its just not practical. I would direct them to CrossOver. Likewise I would not tll a power user to use CrossOver I would point them to Darwine. This are different solutions.

I love the open-source ideal and the community but I also understand the incentives of proprietary works. Apple is practically the polar opposite of open-source after all, with their very closed OS and hardware, but I love Leopard and iWork and use them over Linux and OpenOffice.org .

Lastly, as most people here know, I have a dual boot Windows/Mac system in place. I do not run a single critical program exclusively on WINE. I can break things and it doesn't matter the slightest cause the same program is on a perfectly good Windows install. Most importantly, I am familar with Windows, how things are stored and called and why things would and wouldn't work. I grew up on Windows and use it almost daily (sadly). A lot of mac users aren't. Obviously the transparency of Darwine is useless to someone who does not understand Windows.

So I just want to clarify my position on these two technologies. I am not doing this to promote CrossOver. I actually just wanted to write a feedback letter for the trial (a request of thiers of every person who tries the software; quite fair) and felt it would be easiest to post my thoughts here as well.

So my conclusion is:

CrossOver for the average Joe
Darwine for the power user who's Windows-literate.

Also, CodeWeavers has fantastic customer support (I emailed them about feedback and they even posted here) and a remarkable "Truth in Advertising Approach".

Read on:
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/differences/
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/truth_in_advertising/

Found! Working Darwine builds for OS X

Darwine builds for OS X
It works..... I have tried Darwine many times before to no success. After my failure with CrossOver I consulted WINEHQ again. This time I found a build that works. Definitely try this before CrossOver.
The chat windows jumps down half an inch every time you click it. Minor annoyance. Did not happen in CrossOver which uses WINE and X11/Quartz as well.
Same output as CrossOver, I'm thinking the sound issues might be part of the audio files. Obviously, fonts work now.

CrossOver Mac : Promising but One Fatal Flaw [updated]

Note: Some kind folk who sleep the proper number of hours per night pointed out you can launch programs from Finder (Open With) to run non-installer programs from CrossOver. I'm still sticking with Darwine but this is an important feature I missed. Bold text is new.

CrossOver is a commercial Wine implementation. Its designed to make installing and running Windows programs easy.

Installing Windows programs. NOT running them, installing them so crossover can run them. This is CrossOver's biggest issue..... it needs an installer. So all those fun doujin games: no installer no luck. That cool app from the internet? No installer no luck. Or so I thought until others told me you can use the Finder Open-With -> Choose (However, CO did not appear in the normal open-with menu for me). A menu item for this IN CrossOver would do wonders since that's where I looked first.

For installers, InstallShield seems to work great with it. Font support is practically non existent however. I have no idea how to add fonts. I could only get one application to install... a LabQuest emulator I had for science class. It would not run because it couldn't preform hardware check. I had issues with the InstallShield installer for ONE however, it might same issue that occurs when attempting to install on EN Windows or it might not; I localize my Windows for games.

Now its a slick program, supported apps like Steam, Office, Quicken... they probably work great. But its so limited by its pre-set boundries making Japanese programs or hobby programs run is flat out impossible. Window management is handled by X11/Quartz it seems and no complains there.

I was able to make Casual Romance Club run by telling CO it was an installer. Not an ideal setup and sorely in need of fonts. According to Libido, CRC doesn't need Japanese fonts unless translation is turned on. Even so, the english should display without issues but...

English text in loading screen: Squares. I quit it at this point.

Restarted: It remembered the name I gave it seems. Still no text.
Music was fine. Images were fine. No lag.

Attack of the squares. The soundtrack squeaked when I advanced the text quickly. This game only has key lines voiced. Notice, its running as in installer in CrossOver. Not ideal.

Everything works perfectly except text.

Voices are fine. If it would just let me run the program as a program (and I then I would tweak the fonts) I imagine the game would run perfectly. (see note)

Don't even look for the Japanese version of CrossOver... its 11550 yen if you can find it. Thats almost twice as much as the English version!

Obviously WINE has great potential, the CrossOver interface to it just doesn't work for these sorts of games at this point.

Doujin Games and Apple Photo Books

Well my photo book orders from Apple came today! I ordered 3 of a photo book of my trip to Japan (for various family members) and 1 personalized copy of the same book (for my grandma). Very nice books, very nice packaging. Up to two books fit in each gray Apple box (see below) so I received 3 nice boxes total in two shipments (personalized was shipped separately but came the same day) I also previously ordered a card to match the book for my grandma and it too was printed quite nice.

My family's personal copy of the book in front of the three boxed copies to send out. (the yellow stickies are added by me, not Apple). I adore the strong boxes Apple provides, they are reinforced on the sides and look just as nice as the iPod or other product packaging despite being for an outsourced (Kodak?) minor product line. To the side are the two doujin games by Champange I ordered from Himeya on their EMS mailing envelope. I'm quite excited to try these out later tonight.

A close up on a page, we took all the photo's ourselves.

Some cute teddy bears that have nothing to do with anything. The brown one is from Borders and the little white one was a Valentines gift. She's my nicest bear :3

FailShare

Please tell me WHY THIS EXISTS!!!!



YES THOSE ARE WINDOWS INSTALLERS BURIED INSIDE MY MAC APP. To make it worse.....Mac installers are in there as well....

Join me in telling Flip Video to stop coding while drunk....


Flip Video

Seashore - MSPaint on Mac without the suck

Seashore - About

Note: Windows people go check out paint.net

I love GIMP. Its great. But do I NEED to run X11 just to scribble on an image? Where is my image editor, Apple?

Now I have SeaShore. Even better, it uses GIMP's file format!

Easy, quick program that is built in Cocoa (mac native) and it runs like a dream. My new best friend XD Oh and its small! 12 MB after I installed the SVG converter (which is a large chunk of that size)!

I will still keep GIMP for the serious work but SeaShore is great for everything else.

Learning to Change, Changing to Learn

Pearson Foundation: Learning to Change, Changing to Learn

I auditioned for this video and made the cut :) I am the girl talking about MS Bob. This interview was fun because I had just gotten my MBP and all the videographers wanted to check it out (the unibody was just released).

Sorry, I posted this to another blog first... gotta check my quick post settings before clicking OK!