The Odd Angry Shot in Deklein

The war is sputtering out.

Fleets still form up.  A few systems appear to be in contention.

Raiden still poses some sort of threat, while White Noise remains a farce.

But the trend seems to be away from conflict and towards consolidation. The Mittani declared victory.  Sections of territory have been handed out to alliances allied with the Goons. (Which has caused a bit of internal friction... oh, hey, all the details about that out in the open now.)  The diretorbot on Jabber, which announces fleet operations, has been popping up more fun fleets and fewer fleets for vital defensive or offensive ops.

Todays map from the usual source.

State of the Game - Jan 18, 2012

Our corner of space has returned to normal.  The TNT alliance, of which I am a part, has convoyed ships back from the front lines and our base of operations is now at its pre-war location.

Gaff has started asteroid mining again, which is a big money maker.  I have to get the Hulk out at some point and join in if I want to be space rich.  And what is the point of null sec if you can’t be space rich?

Meanwhile I have restored my fortunes to their start point of approximately 1.4 billion ISK, mostly by running a Guristas Forsaken Hub every night.  That is worth about 25 million ISK in bounties, and with my Noctis now in null sec and fitted out, loot and salvage can add millions on top of that.

And in addition to cash reserves, my asset count is up as well.  I am starting to collect ships in null sec.  Gaff gave me a Drake when I came out.  I purchased two more Drakes, one of which I lost, the fittings for 3 more PvP Drakes, a Maelstrom battleship with tech I guns, and a Hurricane fitted with tech II guns that I will be able to actually shoot in a few days.

(I am going to be bummed when they nerf Drakes, since I have invested so many skill points in their operation, but that appears to be one of the things on which CCP and the CSM agreed.)

So I am clearly “up” when it comes to cash and assets and I have a training program in progress focused on guns and Minmatar ships.  I just need to find some time to do more actual null sec “stuff.”

Running an anomaly like a Foresaken Hub every night is rather like running a level 4 mission every night.  The prime difference is that there is really no plot except “kill Guristas until they stop spawning.”  Neither is there a reward, aside from bounties and drops.   Plus I have to keep a close eye on the local and regional intelligence channels to make sure nobody is out there ready to turn my Tengu into scrap.  But even that habit wasn’t hard to acquire.

And while the corp collects a 10% tax on bounties, I do not feel like I am actually helping out that much.

Such is the state of things for me in null sec at the moment.

Our corp is having a cruiser tournament this weekend.  It is even at a time slot I can manage.  Maybe I’ll give that a try.  While I am level V across the board for a Caracal, I am not sure that will be my best option.  And I have to find the hull and fit it out.  We shall see.

The MPAA Paints A Chilling Portrait of Things to Come

Today, January 18, 2012, is the SOPA blackout protest.

The site here is clearly not blacked out.  Call it laziness or anxiety that nobody would notice.

Instead of going dark, I thought I would reprint for posterity the Motion Picture Association of America’s press release regarding the SOPA blackout protest. (I like this picture, as it reminds you who the MPAA really are.)

So here we have the words of FORMER Senator Chris Dodd, the Chairman and CEO of the MPAA, who is clearly now into the final cash-in stage of his political career (looking at his profile, it appears he might have been cashing in early and often), the MPAA view on the blackout protest.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2012

WASHINGTON —The following is a statement by Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) on the so-called “Blackout Day” protesting anti-piracy legislation:

“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”

link to the original PDF here.

Such heavily loaded phraseology to use against internet sites that are, against interest (no ad revenues for a day), going to bring their sites down in order to protest this legislation.  Hardly a dangerous gimmick, this is an act of protest, something steeped in the traditions of this country.  These are not the rogue websites (a pretty loose term that could apply to a lot of places depending on your point of view) that the MPAA claims are the only target of the SOPA legislation, but sites that know and fear that once government regulation has a foot in the door, original intent is forgotten and whatever is in black and white gets used with a heavy hand.

If the above MPAA statement is “TL;DR” for you, Rupert Murdoch has provided a shortened form via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/#!/rupertmurdoch/status/159425611000057856

When you are with Rupert, you are clearly on the side of the angles.  And when Rupert buys a politician, he expects them to stay bought!

(And the RIAA slimes its way onto the scene, showing its contempt for any who oppose it.)

And so it is that I salute the sites going dark in protest.  Hopefully this will raise awareness and make a difference.  Rupert seems to think it will.

We will see all these sites and more again on the 19th.

(Screen shots of some dark sites and sites with supportive messages after the break.)