Chaotek Thoughts

China bans any mention of Tiananmen Square, shutting down access to journalists and a huge swath of the Internet on the anniversary of the massacre.

I think that corporations and governments are too concerned with offending China to stand up and do the right thing. Either they need Chinese products, consumers, investments, etc. there just seems to be too much catering to what amounts to an Evil Empire. Tyranny should always be opposed, and while those within China may not have the ability to do so, the rest of the world does and should.

I’ve noticed that I am a really bad backseat Game Master. While I don’t consider myself to be a rules-lawyer or a setting-lawyer, I do find myself providing answers when I am not the GM a lot. Worse yet, I may be fielding answers for unasked questions. I am a GM more than I am a player, however I think this means that I am GM-ing when I am a player as well. This is ironic, because I really look forward to being a player, then I seem to be screwing it up by backseat GM-ing.

So as for the advice, which I am going to try an use as well, is to allow the GM of the game to do their job. Try not to answer questions, until the GM has had an opportunity to do so. Only answer questions if the GM asks for your input. Even in a situation where you might know the rules or setting better, it’s not your game. Maybe the GM is making a ruling that is contrary to the canon setting or rules system, but it’s their game to do so. That’s what house rules are. Never argue about setting, consider each game’s setting to be an alternate universe from canon and things might be different. If the GM makes a system ruling that you disagree with, try to bring it up outside of the game. If the ruling might drastically impact the game, consider bringing up your alternate opinion immediately, but let it go quickly if the GM disagrees. However these immediate questions should rare if ever necessary.

Gaming is supposed to be fun. If having 1.5 GMs is fun for your group, then ignore my suggestions. If keeping your gaming knowledge to yourself is not fun for you, and being a backseat GM is not fun for others, then consider not being a player as that’s not what you seem to enjoy.

In Popular Mechanics there is an article debunking claims that UFOs are seen in released NASA Shuttle videos. The comments on the article are great, because there are so many comments that NASA and the US Government are trying to cover up obvious alien spaceships caught on tape. That makes a lot of sense, since you’re seeing the UFOs (actually ice and other space debris) on NASA’s video–if they were trying to hide something, why give out the proof?

Here’s the thing that the UFO true-believers don’t understand: real UFO’s would be awesome. These UFO believers who claim that the skeptics and scientists don’t want to believe are just wrong, I think that skeptics and scientists would be super excited to find alien life (even if it’s just bacteria). Sure, the government might be afraid of alien life becoming public. But if the government’s grand conspiracy were so powerful and omnipotent, why would they be stupid enough to release the “key evidence” over, and over, and over in NASA videos.

The people who really don’t want proof of alien life are the religious true-believers, as it would fly in the face of every doctrine that says that man is a special and unique creation. Virtually any real scientist or skeptic would be excited to find proof of extraterrestrial life. But also it would prove a basic rule of science–we’re not special. Life is a natural process, and finding life, not-of-Earth, would prove that.

Now I know why I like energy drinks so much:

Traces of cocaine ‘found in Red Bull’ in Hong Kong

I’ve found a few sites with good tips and tactics for Woodsball:

• Special Ops Paintball – Good articles and forums. Used to have an awesome flash video, but it’s not up there anymore (hopefully will return)
• Paintball-Tips-and-Tricks.com – Pretty good articles
• YouTube – Mostly crap videos of people’s markers or games. There are some gems, and some funny blooper-type videos

Additionally, there are many forums out there. Too many to post, so find one you like.