The concept is that most podcasts (particularly gaming podcasts) are very long, site/personality-dependent, and about how the hosts feel about the news and games they’re playing, all in an attempt to entertain. We go in the absolute opposite direction. Short (less than 3 minutes,) factual (no grandstanding, that’s why I have a blog,) and serious, with intent to inform.

Want to be informed and still have an extra hour to spare? Listen to the Game Industry Newscast. Have some GIN.

What does it have to do with me? Good artists borrow, great artists steal. I’m going to steal Nathaniel’s entire 365 Project, from goals of daily short stories, down to his plan to Tweet a link to each Ficly entry, with the tag “Ficly365.” I may even make a weekly post linking to them. Not sure yet.

The obvious question to anyone who knows me: Do I expect to succeed? Well, I intended to write an entry for this blog on December 16th, having that date gone a full year without an entry. A year ago, and still now, I intend to shore up the blog a bit design wise. So, am I actually expecting to pull this off? No; but that’s because I’m a realist. Am I going to try anyway? Absolutely; I’m also a romantic, and what cause is greater than a lost one? I submit there is none. Only knowing full well the result of ones actions can one launch headlong into process without a specter of doubt looming over him, and knowing failure is imminent gives me the ability to proceed into an insane task without flinching.

Who needs opportunity? I want certainty, damn the outcome.

If you like, you can read the first entry here. It’s actually rather important to read the prequel and understand what the original writer was going for, as mine was just a riff on his.

In the writing of a story, it quickly became apparent to me that the characters (at least many,) are heavily reliant on Stickam more than typical IM or something audio-only like Ventrilo. Of course, I know nothing of the culture, so I have to immerse myself in it, right? Research, right? I mean, I figure I’ll even ask a few people if they mind if I stick around their room to get the hang of the whole thing. So I decide to do this. In my best effort not to be a weirdo, I even try to find someone around my age amongst the fields of kiddies so I don’t appear so much like a creep. To my surprise I find a woman that’s twenty-five and even bears a superficial resemblance to one of my characters, so I figure “Hey, here’s a good place to start!” I enter the ‘room’.

The first thing I see? The woman has fallen asleep on her bed, and the webcam is on her laptop in front of her. Her pretty face is clearly seen in lamplight as she snoozes away. In another small video window off to the side? A man has pulled out his penis and is masturbating to her. Ahhh internet, like an abusive lover you’ll never change. Any time there’s a glimmer of hope, or something new to entertain, you disappoint me, and my only solace is to try to convince myself that you hurt me because you love me.