Category: Opinions/Editorials

Trisha’s Take: My response to the Moon Manifesto

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I had a very busy day at work yesterday and so at the end of the day when I heard about the latest case of “writer-fail” to move through the sci-fi/fantasy fandom, I gave it a quick read and then moved on.

For some brief background, sci-fi/fantasy author Elizabeth Moon (the Planet Pirates series, the Familias Regnant series) wrote a blog entry on September 11 expressing her thoughts about what it means to be a U.S. citizen and how the group of developers behind the Park51 community center are a big wrong-headed.

Several people took issue with some of her statements, most notably editor Cat Valente, who decreed that the upcoming November issue of Apex magazine will be dedicated to showcasing the works of “writers of Arab descent and Muslim writers.” Valente’s response was re-blogged by British author Warren Ellis, and it all went viral from there.

Now that I finally have a chance to sit down and write (and I’m also attempting to get my writers’ muscles back), here’s my pure reaction to what Moon had to say, without glancing at other peoples’ reactions: Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: My response to the Moon Manifesto” →

Trisha’s Take: How Hollywood may still be “doing it wrong” in the world of web entertainment

Trisha Lynn1 Comment

When it comes to being a writer or actor, we currently live in interesting times—and by “interesting” I’m using the “Chinese curse” definition of the word.

Computers and the Internet have not only opened up a new distribution method for people to see their work and give them money for it, but also a way for people to view their work and keep from giving them money for it. The main point of contention during the Writers Guild Strike of 2007-2008 and the threatened Screen Actors Guild Strike of 2008 was over residuals from “new media,” and how much a production studio would pay them for re-broadcasts of the material over time beyond its initial broadcast.

To briefly summarize, rather than use the old mathematical formula created in the 1980s when home video became a concern or wait a few years to see exactly how profitable distribution on “new media” is and create a new formula, the WGA wanted the producers’ guild (the AMPTP) to create a new formula right now which would potentially address any and all concerns about how writers would get paid for work that has the potential to be seen and consumed in innumerable ways that aren’t easily tabulated thanks to things like click rates and online piracy.

Because that formula hasn’t been perfected yet and online piracy is still a problem, anyone who wants to start releasing their content on the ‘net is trying to figure out who their loyal paying audience (aka their True Fans) is and how to best get a hold of that person’s entertainment dollar.

About a month ago, Indie Wire.com blogger Cameron Carlson went to the “Producing Web Entertainment” seminar at the American Cinematheque in California, and came away with eight things he learned about how to best reach an Internet-based audience. However, the people on that panel and the series they were talking about were people I’d never heard of personally, which made me wonder: Exactly who are these guys and why would I want to believe their words on this topic?

After doing lots of clicking and a bit of research, I present to you my own list of five things I think these particular content creators are doing correctly and incorrectly when it comes to reaching out to a ‘net-savvy audience: Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: How Hollywood may still be “doing it wrong” in the world of web entertainment” →

Trisha’s Take: How to desegregate the World Series of Poker

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Shaun Deeb says: "I support women poker players. Poker is a gender-neutral game. I am here to promote abolishment of gender-specific or segregationist events at the WSOP."

Back when Secretary of Geek Affairs Wil Wheaton was writing a lot about poker in his blog, I took it upon myself to learn more about the modern game and why Wheaton liked it. My Internet meanderings eventually lead me to the Tiltboys, a group of friends and poker players in the California Bay Area who had been regaling the online poker community for years with their outrageous exploits, prop bets, and antics which surrounded their weekly home game.

Eventually, they gathered these writings into a book called Tales from the Tiltboys, the cover of which features former “Celebrity Poker Showdown” commentator Phil Gordon in drag. The reason why he was in drag was that back in 2006, he and and four of the other Tiltboys crashed a Bay101 ladies only tournament (please excuse the bright pink background); the reason written by Bruce “Bruscilla” Hayek is here: Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: How to desegregate the World Series of Poker” →

Trisha’s Take: To buy an iPhone4, or not to buy an iPhone4?

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If, like me, you were unfortunate enough to only have to rely on Twitter updates to find out exactly what new doohickies are going to be on the new iPhone rather than being able to stream it live, you can check it all out again courtesy of This Week in Tech’s special coverage of the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference (aka WWDC).

After reading Gizmodo.com’s official summary of the new features, the thing that jumps out at me is the selective multitasking, which pits it directly against the Droid phones and makes me swing back towards staying with AT&T. The video calling feature turns me off because it’s something I don’t think I’d use every day.

Gizmodo’s own rundown of why someone would want to buy one is telling, especially the part where it says that it’s much better at being a phone than previous models of the iPhone were due to its slimmer size, greater battery life, and noise canceling microphone.

I think that the reason someone should buy an iPhone should ultimately come down to how much it’s going to cost you on a monthly basis. Considering that I’m already paying about $110 a month for the most basic calling plan (but I’ve got an obscene amount of rollover minutes), unlimited data, and unlimited text messages–and that’s before my special day job-related discount could kick in–I’m still incredibly on the fence.

Anyone local got an iPhone or a Droid I could play with for a while?