Discussion Thread II: Bots? What bots?

[Kinokokao]

Oh my god, yes

that reminds me of the fun I used to have when I was temporarily blind in one eye and wore an eyepatch

Best was when two customers were talking about "Talk like a pirate day" and doing pirate impressions

then I just popped around behind a shelf, wearing my black eyepatch, and went "ARRRRR!!!" with my finger curled like a hook

... the horrified look on their faces was priceless

[Trifkin]

Ahahahahahahaha, excellent. XD Very nice.

My mother really is dead, though.

[Kinokokao]

D:

[Trifkin]

XD See how much fun I could have with it every year? But for the past six years I've failed to take advantage.

[PLA]

^ Trif. ´:3

Mothers' Day is next week or something, isn't it?

Used comps are pretty cheap. So, desk or lap; choices, choices. Desk is better in every way except specifically that it is desk. I don't know how much I'll be moving. (As in, finding new homes.)

Edit: For some reason, the market for used computers seems flooded with HP 6910p models.

[negzee]

Well, also you can move laptops around within your current home, or take them out with you. Depends how much you value that portability, I guess. I personally will only buy laptops, because I do value that portability very much. The only reason I'd get a desktop is for gaming. Maybe.

[Kimiko]

I've refrained from asking about your living situation so far, PLA, worried that I'd bring up a sensitive topic. I must admit though that I'm very curious what's up with that.

Anyway, the reasons that there are so many 6910ps available are that a) it was a very popular model, and b) it's tough. Pros are that it's cheap, it will probably last several years more, and replacement parts can easily be found if necessary. Cons are that it is quite old already, has outdated specs, and it looks really ugly.

[PLA]

^ Failing to brush my teeth just right and crying about it for half an hour is a sensitive topic. Sibling-person is a potential "I'll murder your neighbours with your torn intestines"-topic.
Moving around is a "look at all the stupid and how much better I am than everyone"-topic. It's fine. :3

,

What's up with that? "Lenovo" must be a shady producer or something. Or the difference is just being whatevered, because it is small. What's a reasonable RAM these days, anyway?

[fauxsquared]

Fellow Labynithers, I am jacking this thread for the most important of things!
myself ^3^

no seriously though read this...

So yesterday I got an email from a client of mine who has wanted to use my artwork for an upcoming event at a local library. I told them I didn’t mind but the needed to contact the respective copyright owners to secure use and to avoid any copyright infringements. When you’re working in this industry you have to be careful. The company the library had to contact was HASBRO. Now I had a suspicion they would not approve the use of the characters, because they own them. The library who really couldn’t afford to commission art work, never less started the process of contact and requisition of right to use. FEAR the machinations of librarians! Hasbro of course declined and said no. It was sad because no money would have been made the art would have been donated, but Hasbro has the right because Hasbro owns the characters (I am not trying to vilify Hasbro they followed standard protocol). This is where the story gets interesting, the librarian who originally contacted me to use my art, KEPT WRITING emails to Hasbro, remember they always get their late fees (never say die). She even went so far to find that Non-Profits all over where using Hasbro’s licensed characters for their own fundraising for good. The story has some ugly parts I am omitting for the most, Hasbro did everything to respond even having an email deactivated so she couldn’t send them posts. Did this deter the little pure-hearted librarian? No she just kept writing, to be honest I had no idea I had wrote this whole incident off and moved on.
Then yesterday I got an email here it is:
(I omitted names on both parties for legal reasons)
“Ok, FauxSquared. I have an idea. Would you be interested in what Hasbro stated below?? I surely hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me know what you think. Talk to you soon.
From: Hasbro REP
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 1:19 PM
To: Little Librarian
Subject: FW: My Little Pony

Dear Little Librarian,

We appreciate that you took the time to seek permission to use Hasbro’s intellectual property rather than just using it without regard for Hasbro’s rights. As you are aware, reproducing and displaying Hasbro’s copyrighted MY LITTLE PONY property, and/or using its trademarks to identify the artwork, infringes Hasbro’s copyrights and trademarks. The fact that you have found other non-profit groups that are not as scrupulous as you were in seeking permission to use Hasbro’s intellectual property is irrelevant to your library’s potential unauthorized use. Hasbro enforces its rights when it becomes aware of potentially infringing matters, and as it deems appropriate. You should assume nothing from what you do or do not see on the Internet or elsewhere other than that you are not being singled out.

We reiterate our regret that Hasbro cannot grant you permission to use images of the TWILIGHT SPARKLE or RAINBOW DASH characters as part of your summer reading club promotion, but trust that you will come up with something original as a suitable substitute.

Best regards,
Hasbro, Inc.”
Nice huh? Sounds like it is over and there is nothing that can be done, wait what did the librarian highlight? OMG original,
…does this mean?!
That’s right, folks I may not be able to draw any characters from the show, or copyrighted material either, but no one said I couldn’t draw an original pony…
Thank you Hasbro seriously, this actually helps, I can now LEGALLY help this library with their project (btw, I can still draw Unicorns and Pegasus as well, because you know they are not copyrighted!)
Serious Hasbro you have my thanks, as a company you are pretty all right. And for all those Non-Profits that don’t get permission from Hasbro better watch your backs sounds like some big bad angry lawyer wolf might be on the loose.
So when after presented this email I asked the Librarian why she went to all this trouble, I got the best answer in my entire career as an artist.
“Cause my Boss and I love your art.”
Seriously that makes me a grown man, cry.
So that is why I am sharing this with you the internet.
I GIDEON D KING (FAUXSQUARED) SWEAR, as an artist, TO MAKE THE BEST ART I CAN FOR THIS THE MOST NOBLE OF CAUSES, CHILDREN READING!
So as you can figure, I am going to be busy, might not see me for a while, rest assured I will return, but for now I have to draw PONIES! (squeal)
If you like this please post everywhere, people need to know this epic tale reblog,repost whatever the story needs to be told!

[negzee]

Dude! That's Wonderful!

That's gotta be the best feeling ever, as an artist—especially an artist pursuing children's book illustrating. Happy pony drawing! :3

[noodles]

I'm sure you'll come up with some good original designs

[Kimiko]

Faux² - Hehe That's cool. So you can draw ponies for them, but just not call them 'My Little' ponies or 'Rainbow Dash' and whatever the other names are. Have fun drawing ponies then

PLA - ?? Ouch, that all sounds pretty difficult.
As for the notebooks, HP is just a better regarded brand than Lenovo. Looks like you get a widescreen screen and 20GB more harddisk with the Lenovo. Replacement parts might be harder to find though if you ever need them. 2GB memory seems reasonable for these specs. It should suffice for basic computer usage (web surfing, word processing, low-medium quality multimedia).

[Kinokokao]

@faux

You'll have to show us what you come up with!

@Trifkin you are the best

Also I wish I had my camera right now, because I want to show off my "Staff Picks" display we just made at work. I think you, as my fellow bookseller, may take amusement from it.

My shelf contains the following books, from left to right:

- A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
- i am maru by mugumogu
- True Grit by Charles Portis
- The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities by Matthew White
- The Betrayal Know My Name vol. 1 by Hotaru Odagiri

[PLA]

[fauxsquared]