Hello 
I'm Siobhan Curran/Kisa Naumova, and this is my weblog. I tend to write about stuff like crossdressing, Macs, code, cats, wine and Second Life, but in general it's just an ongoing conversation about all sorts of stuff. If you'd like to know a little bit more about what this all is, I recommend starting on this page which has a little bit of info on who I am, and what I'm trying to do — or you could dive into my five years worth of archives if you like.
Otherwise, feel free to close this box and explore...
Thursday, 27th September, 2007
Space
Girls will be boys — but boys won't be girls
"Aurora Technology has frozen the accounts of any male players who play female characters in-game in their MMORPG King of the World" — Apparently they have to verify their gender via a webcam. Hmm
Is this just a cheap ploy by horny programmers
That was my first assumption 
I'm sure that measures are in place to prevent the corruption of China's youth by rady-boys 
(That's supposed to be funny; but I'm concerned that it may come across as racist — please delete if you think it is. )
As I commented on the blog where I first read this (but hey, I can re-use stuff!), if it has the usual computer game demographic, that MMO is now going to be full of almost exclusively male characters, probably buff and muscly male characters. Hence it's going to be the gayest MMO evah. 
Well if I can't sit around in pizza-stained boxers and call myself Doris then I don't want to play
" "Is this just a cheap ploy by horny programmers"
That was my first assumption "
My first assumption too. the dirty old men just it's just a little Ewwww
Well that would be Second Life shut down then if it were adopted !
The only real answer I've seen about this is that you can have in-game marriages, and they want to stop any unfair advantage...
...I'm not sure what advantage two men would have over a man and a woman, but... hey... who knows...
If you want to play as a woman you can "prove" your a female via a webcam, tho what's to stop you getting a sister/friend/hooker/ladyboy to pretend to be you for the validation I don't know..
Passing Maniac
I love that dirty water
I do — I have to confess — occasionally buy bottled water. Mainly if I'm driving somewhere and I've forgotten to fill a bottle from the tap¹. I feel, however, like a complete cretinous fool every time I do though — a sucker for pretty-pretty marketing.
A lot of people I know claim that bottled water tastes better than the stuff from the tap. I personally think this is complete bollocks. Fill a bottle from the tap, stick it in the fridge overnight, and it tastes absolutely the same.
¹ Oh, way to excuse yourself there Curran. Laziness combined with driving long distances != environmentally friendly²
² But then again, when have I ever claimed to be a tree-hugging hippy?
LOL. You've obviously never had the water in Adelaide, SA. It would change your mind quick. And refrigeration doesn't help here at all.
I should point out, that by "A lot of people I know", I mean "a lot of people I know that live in Lancaster and therefore have the same tap water as me" 
In all seriousness¹ though, why ship water in to California from France? You realise that they piss in their reservoirs over there?
National pastime. True story
¹ Where "in all seriousness" means "NOT in all seriousness"
The water in Lancaster is rank and if you can't tell the difference between a bottle of Lancaster water and San Pellegrino then smoking has definitely killed your tastebuds (even living here 20 years still hasn't acclimatised me)
And reading the article — Dasani was pulled in the uk I seem to remember because everyone thought it was ridiculous paying extra money for bottled tap water
And the chilled Lancaster water in the gym tastes shit — rant over
water in the gym
I rest my case
I second the Adelaide SA water comment from Emma G. The only way to make it drinkable is to pass it through activated carbon filters either in a jug or one of those fancy attached to the tap under the sink filters. Does not matter how new the pipes are either.
Peetr
New York City has some of the best water in the world! (Legend has it that it's piped in using 100+ year old wooden pipes. The aqueducts are in upstate NY, I think.)
Anyway, there's a pizzeria in Houston airport that advertises "New York Pizzas" and a sign below says something like "We use New York City tap water!"
New Jersey well-water isn't that great: we have a water cooler for our drinking water! Speaking of water... I've got another plumbing problem to solve. I'm beginning to think it would be easier to rip it all out and start over. Oy vey.
Carolyn Ann
Aurora Technology — why would you do that? It defies any sort of business sense.
And more importantly who decides whether a photo is a guy or a gal? Look at the pictures on the Tranniesphere (or at some of my butch female friends).
Is this just a cheap ploy by horny programmers to get photos of tits and minge?