Well, the subject has come up quite frequently, and the question has been asked: Will I or Won’t I support Genesis? So I figured I’d do a blog divulging my point of view.

But before I do that, I think its important to convey one thing. I started with Poser, and Im a native Poser developer. So, I will never abandon my Poser users.

So for me, the future is indeed, undecided… for the moment anyway. We shall see what it brings.

I am looking for a couple beta testers, as Ive had a couple openings come up. Are you interested in testing for me? Well before you go running off to email, there are some things to keep in mind.

* Many of my packs are huge. They are not easy to test. So please only apply if you are serious. You will have to know/learn how to test pretty much everything – Characters, Poses, Figures, Lighting, Clothing, Hair and Props, etc. I also occasionally create 2D content such as backgrounds and Photoshop brushes

Will be running this for a week, to give everyone a chance to get their apps in. Any questions, feel free to ask! Thanks and good luck!

Okay, so here are my options:

Drop the hobbiest market completely and get the hell out of this drama-ridden rat race. Move to an entirely new platform – GAMING. Find new drama-ridden rat race. Spend just as much time there, as I have here learning what to do (although, to a lesser degree, since I know half of it) Make crap for money, til I’m established in the industry. Take on contractual work, which dictates what I’m making, thus possibly losing the reason I do this crap at all. Sanity (how much is open for debate) and SOME possibilities are in tact.

Be a “Poser only” Developer – drop DS support completely (and this includes mats) And get pressure from the masses about supporting DS (not to mention Genesis) Yet gain some form of sanity back, from not having to support two different apps that are as different as night and day. Possibly lose money (how much, again, is open to debate) Not to mention, possible pack refusal based on the fact there’s no DS content, thus forcing me to use a different marketplace or my own freaking store, which will most definitely result in loss of money. Partial Sanity and possibilities are still in tact.

Quit doing characters and clothing completely – limit myself to only original figures and architecture (the latter which, like there’s lots of that to be had, or like I’m even good at it) They don’t require ANYTHING, but what is included already, and can be used with anything, apart from whats included already. Inevitably lose possibilities. Partial Sanity and money are still in tact. Will hit rut pretty quick and want to slit my wrists. And there are only so many critters you can make which haven’t already been done, before you desperately end up splicing creatures together, the likes of which would even make Dr. Moreau die with envy– but will make you weird…. and niche…. and broke.

Take yet another thing on, making my already gargantuan packs effectively double in size, spend double the time to make them and still not be good enuff. Because eventually, even more will be expected from me, and that much is also inevitable. The more you give, the more you are expected to give, coz you always give more. I might make more money initially (HOW much more, or whether its worth all the extra time/work/effort is HIGHLY open to debate) but the novelty will wear off eventually, over-saturation will occur and the market will die like all the others. Possibilities are still present. But I will most definitely lose my fucking mind (at least, what part of it hasn’t been lost already from doing 3D content, in general)

Find someone that can/will do Poses, Weight Maps and Characters for Genesis, to convert all my content for me (tho, that will be difficult, as not many are quite as asinine or insane as I am, doing everything like that) Pay them to do so, but still have to work with someone, which I haven’t had the best experiences with and am, altogether, quite jaded about. Make more money in GROSS, but less NET, as I will effectively LOSE money in having to pay someone, thus negating said effort completely. Partial Sanity and Possibilities in tact.

Quit doing 3D completely, and do lawn/landscaping biz full time. Build it up to where it will REPLACE the money I make (which shouldn’t be too hard of a feat) Be the acting secretary, billing dept and book keeper (tho I hate math and paperwork) or go out and actually cut myself, something which my little self cannot physically do (I’ve tried) Boredom will ensue eventually to the point of wanting to kill myself if I do the clerical stuff, or cutting grass will kill me first, though I spose I will GAIN certain sanity from not doing 3D anymore. That about evens out there. Possibilities are obviously lost. Money is still in tact.

Break into freelance web development, as I intended to do before Poser stole me (like that’s a lucrative market, with all the do-it-yourself web builders and junk they have now) That ship, I fear, sailed a long time ago… and I was the man that jumped overboard (which is prolly a good thing, given all the do-it-yourself web builders they have now) Can you even make money at it now? And will prolly lose my mind even still, coding ALL the time.

So hm… what do I care LEAST about losing? Money…. my sanity…. or my freedom?

A few mos ago, I wrote a blog about the end of the world predictions, and how they piss me off. In it, I mentioned Nostradamus’ predictions, and how they too, piss me off.

This entry, unlike that one, is going to be completely devoted to my loathing for Nostradamus.

:clears throat: Lets get started.

Ok, so I suppose my hatred comes from the fact that, as a child, my mother watched those programs – like, a lot. And if it wasn’t bad enuff to watch them, she sometimes half-cocked bought into them. I remember this one where he claimed Florida would be under water by the year 2000. And, when the year 2000 came and went, no water flooded my home. My mother was ready to move out of Florida, due to that prediction… saying things like “We need to move by the year 2000” And I know what ur gonna say… maybe she was mocking it? Nope, she was serious.

As a child, those shows scared the HELL out of me. Not just on their own, but here was my mom, who believed in it… adding levity to the terror. Also, imagine how angry I was at 23 when this medieval boogeyman was fucking wrong! (well, relieved, as well as bent, anyway) And Ive come to regard any prophecy about anything the same damn way.

As far as Nostradamus’ abilities goes, do I believe its a big fat joke? Well yes and no. I believe in psychic ability… I believe that some things can be prophecized. But the thing about him that gets my goat, is how utterly VAGUE he was in his predictions… writing them out in poetic symbology, so that they could apply to many things. It is easy enuff to look at his cockamamey predictions and say he was right about this, that or the other… especially, when he spins imagery that can apply nearly anywhere. And those shows never tell about all his failures (like Florida being underwater by the year 2000, for example)

See, watch… I can do it too….

A great fiery ball will rise in the sky on the morrow… to be be followed by a white circle of light all will see, then all the land will fall dark.

Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Like oh shit, a meteor is gonna hit, nuclear war or something awful like that!

I just prophecized sunrise and nightfall. Ooooo, I’m psychic!

And this how people like THAT get away with calling themselves prophets. They do what we like to call “cold reading” in fortune telling; that being, calling on vague things that could easily come to pass, or using inane symbology to describe stuff that would easily fit into many situations, so you go WOW, that shit was accurate! When it was really fake, and spewed from a phony fortune teller.

Its also easy enuff to predict something bad will eventually happen, as its inevitable. Eventually, a meteor will hit the earth… eventually, a massive earthquake (like a 10 on the richter) will happen. War will happen, coz human beings are violent scum. And yes, eventually… Florida will be under water (eventually? it already is, u quack, considering ITS SWAMP LAND!) Even… eventually, the world will end…. eventually, the sun will die…. etc, etc on down the line. These aren’t questions of IF… they are questions of WHEN. That anyone with an iota of schooling could easily surmise with stunning accuracy. I suppose its true that people in medieval times didn’t have the tech and schooling we do now – but remember, these were geniuses, who saw the world differently, and who changed the way of thinking. They were ahead of their time, obviously…. but that doesn’t make the propechies any more accurate. Just makes the science and inevitability behind them, real.

Besides… if your predictions weren’t set to occur until thousands of years later, I think you’ve left yourself plenty of time to be dead before you’re discovered to be a fake. You’ve left yourself an abyssal opening for that shit to come to pass. Give me a date, like soon, and really impress me :eye roll: (and if you utter the words Mayan Calendar, I might just slap ya lol) We shall see if they are right (so far, in thousands of years, no one has been)

Last but not least… why are these predictions always ominous in nature? Always foretelling death, darkness and destruction. Why don’t they EVER foretell peace, love and happiness? Coz that crap isn’t any fun, I guess… at least, not as much as terrifying the masses is.

So do us all a favor, media. Quit televising that bullshit. Its not entertaining…. its scaring the children for no good reason at all.

That is all I have to say about that.

So, I got my copy of Z4R2 all set up on my laptop and my main puter – YAY!

And as always, made a new icon so I can visibly tell the difference on my machine. It irks me when I can’t tell lol So feel free to grab it, if you have the same issue.

You can find the rest of my Z Icons here: https://weblog.damageinc3d.net/Weblog/?p=1148

Download ZBrush4R2 Icon here

Ever type your name in google and see what pops up? Well, I have on many occasions… and being so prominent on the web, I find a slew of my stuff…. from people who have featured my art and products, to people who have archived DAZ newsletters with me in it, and have linked to my website. Ive found some messed up stuff too (like ppl who steal my stuff) But rare is it, when I can do so and get a chuckle out of what Ive found.

I searched last nite and found a few things that struck me as funny. Here they are….

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Number one: An entry on Library Thing
I have never been on this site, so this is not my doing LOL But there I am… and look! One of my packs has been turned into a book :scratching head: So you have my user name… the title of a pack I have done (sans any image)… on a book I never wrote ROFL Well, at least its a popular book with 2 million hits… maybe I should be a writer :snorts:
http://www.librarything.com/work/8555111

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Number two: Artik X put on a wishlist site
Ok I find this one to be HILARIOUS… coz I never expected to find one of my products on a wedding registry/wishlisting site…. you’d think it would be reserved for tangible things
http://www.wishpot.com/product/artik-x-ignisserpentus/21735554

If Artik X wasn’t enuff… Vermillion Dawn is listed on there too… twice:

http://www.wishpot.com/public/search.aspx?sk=IgnisSerpentus&prvid=4

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Number three: My Artwork used in a Warhammer page on Amazons
I am listed in the credits of this page for my illustration- only trouble is, there is no illustration in there by me LOL So odd to give someone credit for something they didn’t do O.o
http://dc381.4shared.com/doc/aezW-7G5/preview.html

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Number four: Did you know I am a tool?
Well… AOL seems to think so ROFL (but methinks they think most of their userbase that hasn’t dropped them like a bad habit, are freakin’ tools)
http://www.decenttools.com/aol/keyword/ignisserpentus

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And that’s it for now. Tune in next time, or tune in Tokyo… whichever comes first.

So, for those of you that hated the latest changes to facebook… hang on tight, coz there are MORE (yes MORE) coming very soon.

I am a fair person, so I decided to wiggle my way in, to view these latest changes, as if you are a FB developer, you can preview the latest changes. Planned as of now, they will officially roll out September 30th.

So what do I think? Well before I go on, here’s a screenshot of what your pages will look like come next week (tho, obviously, with your own content lol):

Now, that said… err shown….

It has potential. It could be a nice way to share content, esp for people like myself who advertise mostly.

But I DO have issues with this redesign.

• *It displays like a blog? Errr… or Myspace? (not sure if like or hate that yet)
  
• *It seems a little bloated and complex
  
• *Do we really need two rows on junk on the timeline? This actually contributes to the bloat
  
• *There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to how stuff on your timeline displays (is it putting stuff left to right, in a column like manner, and is it dependent on how you set your timeline to be? your guess is as good as mine)
  
• *Do others see your timeline? Does stuff on your timeline (when hidden) get hidden from feeds? Oh, and there’s no delete option any longer – which means, even when hiding things, its STILL ON FB, somewhere. And without any way to pull it down?
  
• *Stupid ticker still shows and there’s no way to kill it on Facebook (fortunately, there are extensions out there for Firefox and Chrome that will disable it)
• *I still don’t like the idea that Facebook guesses who I want to see/don’t want to see, and veritably makes me have to edit over 300 friends, if I want to see everyone’s content. If Ive added a person, it means, I want to see their content. duh?
  
• *When your homepage loads, it jumps down instead of displaying the very top of the page (could be a glitch)
• *Curious as to what the privacy controls will be
• * I’m a little afraid of what else is rolling out with it, that’s not currently viewable (rumors about it automatically putting what you’re reading on the web, listening to, etc, like a stalker in the night)
  

As for me continuing using Facebook…. I haven’t decided yet. I will still continue to maintain my google+ acct, but take a wait and see approach for Facebook. We shall see what this next rollout of changes brings before deciding for certain. These changes hold a certain amount of potential… but also, a certain amount of discontent and privacy breaches are possible.

So, as announced yesterday… I dropped Facebook support. To take its place, however, I have joined the mass exodus leaving Facebook, and joined Google+

If you’d like to add me over there, please feel free!

Damage Inc/IgnisSerpentus on Google+

So… I hear it all the time. Everyone hates Obama. Well I know, its the usual hate people spit at the president, once he actually steps into office. He isnt doing his job! Hes doing this! Hes doing that! We dont like it… boooo!!!…. yadda yadda….

But I personally don’t think he deserves the flack he’s getting.

Me personally? I didn’t like him in the running… I wasnt even gonna vote for him (I wanted Hillary Clinton to win) No particular reason, other than, I doubted that what he said he wanted to do would ever come to pass (like most presidents)

But… I have to say, I have been nothing but impressed with him since he took the presidency. And know what? Im really glad he won. In fact, so glad, I think I’m an idiot now for not voting for him (even tho he won anyway lol)

This is a man who taxed smokers, and gave the money to children’s healthcare. I say MORE POWER TO HIM! And Im a smoker. (yeah, u should totally tax my ass… its going for a good cause- the best cause, even. Its my choice to slowly kill myself… at least something good is coming from it)

This is a man who HELPED manage to kill America’s most wanted man – Osama Bin Laden (and I say helped, coz lets face it, the military actually did the deed) and brought at least part of a 10 year hunt to rest. Granted, the war on terror will never really be over… but at least people can take solace in the fact the president is proactive about it, and actually has helped to bring about justice (not to say that Bush wasn’t)

He has enforced medical insurance – now every American has to have insurance (well soon, anyway) And INSURANCE COMPANIES have to make it affordable to them! So there will be no more needless deaths, and sickness, and disease because people can’t afford, and don’t have it.

Now he wants to tax millionaires.

Why shouldn’t they pay? It makes perfect sense to me, actually (if you earn more money, you have to pay the IRS more, right? Why not taxes?) If I had millions, I would expect to pay more in taxes. I would have no problem with it, either. One of the biggest problems with this country, is the way its set up – the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Its high freakin’ time someone leveled the playing field a bit, and made it easier on those who are poor. DEMOCRAT FTW!

He’s also done a lot of other things… but those are the ones that most impressed me. Hes got a good heart, and good energy… hes down to earth and spunky. I like that, too.

Yes… as far as Obama goes… he might just be my fave president…. um …. ever! And I like his wife too… bonus!

President Obama… you have earned my deepest respect. And you have my vote next election…..

Some of you may already be aware that we have a forum. But the old forum was based on PHPBB2, and lacked a lot of features. For a long time now, I have been planning to upgrade to PHPBB3… and the time to do so had finally come.

Rather than install it on the existing board (and take a chance of it breaking) I have installed a completely new installation. Unfortunately, I couldn’t carry over the user tables in the database, as they were too intricately woven to do so simply, and the upgrade option PHPBB pointed me to was missing on my server configuration. So everyone has to sign back up on the new forum. The old forum will be deleted very soon.

Out with the old and in with the new tho, I say! All the old crustiness of the old forum will cease to exist, as we have a completely new install with lots of robust features, new and active members, and lots of different forums to dive into. Upload your images to our galleries, learn tips and tricks from other members, share spooky ghost stories and literature, engage in contests, get freebies from the community and more!

So come over and register today!

http://www.damageinc3d.net/underworld

So the deadline has passed, and the 10 chairs have now been filled.

So a very big welcome goes out to all my new Axis of Evil members!

They are:

• Lantios
• Muireanne
• Hellboy
• Phoenix1966
• Nanobot
• Satira Capriccio
• Kalypso
• Something-Wycked
• Laschae
• Dire Bunny

And a very special congratulations to Jakiblue! As she has been a good minion to the forces of Darkness, she hath climbed the ranks in my evil empire and has made Legionnaire status (as an Axis of Evil member, as well as a Hellhound)