20/08/18: Gay Frogs and the End of an Era

Intro

Since this is the first post, The stuff I discuss may be more than week old, but still new hopefully (enjoy).

Technology

 

So this week, controversial broadcaster and living meme, Alex Jones, has been suspended from the social media site twitter this week. The Infowars presenter, Known for his conspiracy theories, including claims that the 9/11 attack was staged by the government and his infamous comment about gay frogs, has had both his main and secondary account's locked. 

It is currently unknown as to why Jones' primary account has been suspended, and after subsequently posting a video to his secondary account, it was also relegated to read-only mode. However, the New York times has made a link to a previous post where Jones urges his followers to take action against the media by saying 'ready you're battle rifles'. Twitter chief executive, Jack Dorsey, claimed that Mr Jones has been put on a 'time out'. 

In my opinion, this is an apt response as the plethora of claims Jones has made range from the downright ludicrous, such as the view that the US government possesses weather weapons, to the oddly believable, such as Lady Gaga's dance at this year's Superbowl being satanic. 

Obvious sarcasm aside, many people follow Jones and his views and with these bans coming straight after a post from Jones claiming that a recent cyber attack on the InfoWars website was a plot by the FCC, the media may actually be feeding the fire of 'the Most Paranoid Man in America'. 

It appears Jones may have lost this infobattle, but not the infowar.
(Source: BBC News, Rolling Stone)


Music



On a sadder note, soul music legend, Aretha Franklin has died at age 76. The artist, who had rightfully earned the title of 'Queen of Soul', was reported as dead by a family spokesman at 9:50 on Thursday.

She died surrounded by family and friends at her home in Detroit. The official cause of death was due to advanced pancreatic cancer, as confirmed by Franklin's oncologist, Dr. Phillip Phillips.

Over the course of her career, Franklin has inspired countless artists, and undoubtedly changed the music world as a whole. She was the first female artist to be inducted into the hall of fame, has the largest number of top 40's of any female artist and has become an icon for both black people and women everywhere.

Personally, I have never really listed to Ms Franklin, but she has my respect for everything she has done. This opinion has been echoed across the world by celebrities and citizens alike with thousands making posts over social media mourning her death, including such artists as Adele and Liam Gallagher to name a fraction. It is safe to say she will be missed dearly.
(Source: Wikipedia, CNN)


Politics



The first Transgender major party nominee for the position of US governor has been made. by the democratic party, in the state of Vermont.

Christine Hallquist, (62), is a former executive of Vermont electric cooperative, who won her election against three other candidates including a 14 year old boy, and a Navy veteran.

Ms Hallquist, however, is not the only transgender person to run for a government role and trans runners aren't alone either. This year has seen record numbers of Female, lesbian, gay and transgender nominees.

On the same night as Ms Hallquist's win, a Somali-American woman won her own battle for the position in the state of Minnesota, and the state of conneticut is set to receive it's first black member of congress. 

This is an amazing step for equality, and hopefully this means the world is on the path to a brighter future. However, weather these candidates will be effective remains to be seen, as if something is done simply for the sake of equality in the face of better judgement the outcome is always disappointing, for example the 2016 Ghostbusters movie.
(Source: BBC News)


TV and Film



The Netflix original series, 'Disenchantment' was released this week and, personally, I preceded to binge the entire first series last night in one sitting.

The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening's new fantasy sitcom follows the adventures of the alcohol swigging princess, Bean, a socially inept elf, called Elfo and a loveably sardonic demon by the name of Luci, in the ironically named kingdom of Dreamland and beyond.

Both Elfo and Bean begin the story in situations in which neither are happy, while Luci is simply along for the ride as equal parts mocking straight-man and problem-instigator. Besides the three protagonists, there are a plethora of intriguing characters, including a sexually fluid wizard, dancing vikings, a royal pig and a king with serious anger management issues.

It is a brilliant homage to the fantasy worlds created by people like Tolkien and Martin, and any fan of such settings would enjoy both the very on-the-nose puns and the far more subtle humor, and while it's animated style may seem childish to some, often times it perfectly illustrates the human condition and taps into everything from love and friendship to betrayal and loss.

It's great fun to watch and had me splitting at the sides so, please, give it a try.


Gaming



Hello games' infamous flagship creation, No Man's Sky, has been making headlines again recently, but this time for the right reasons. 

The latest update to the widely known space simulator, titled 'NEXT' has implemented multiplayer support and a great number of new features including quests, a massive visual overhaul, the ability to build a fleet and character customization, which all serve to increase the immersion and make it feel less like just another simulator and more like the living breathing universe, Shaun Murray and Hello Games advertised it's original release as.

The big change is multiplayer support. Obviously exploring a massive universe, such as the one in No Mans Sky would be made infinitely better by the company of friends and would make you feel like you're in an episode of Cowboy Bebop or the next issue of Guardians of the Galaxy and so to finally receive multiplayer support after 2 years has made many gamers happy.

However, do not mistake this for praise. In my book, Murray is still evil. He still lied to the thousands of people who pre-ordered the game or bought it at release, as what I and many others found was a quiet and altogether lonely experience. Realistically, space is a big place and I'm not expecting interstellar dogfights every two seconds but that was what was advertised, and I'll be damned if that doesn't sound like a great experience. Additionally, players still have to pay for a PS+ subscription to use the multiplayer features, and it feels like throwing salt in wound right before putting on the plaster. What made this betrayal even worse is that it is during an era full of uncaring developers recycling old titles over and over or better yet, simply being EA. As such my trust for the industry is broken. I love games and I'm an optimist but now I'll always look at reviews where before i would get a game and hope for the best. 

Thanks for reading