Here is a game franchise that looks promising. Gearbox Software, a team that has been good to us gamers for a decade with development work in Halo, Half-Life expansions, and their original attempt in Brothers in Arms, brings about a fun twist of the video genres. Borderlands, due to be released October 20th, 2009 for the Xbox360, PS3, and PC, is a FPS/RPG game that brings out concepts that gamers have wanted to try out for a long time; shooting everything and actually feeling rewarded by having a crazy amount of items to loot. Gearbox is going to randomize weapons, armor, and maps.

Here is a video to get the sense of what to expect from this Sci-Fi journey:

As the video describes: 4-player co-op, vehicle battles, tons of weapons, unique environments, and a good time. Each character will have his/her own class in this adventure with three skill trees to choose from to advance. I’ll definitely check out Borderlands and see if it can deliver on some sweet promises and maybe cure some of the “I want Diablo III and I wanted it yesterday” disease that is floating around with guns and buddies.

I want you to think of an argument as a good fight. In a fight everything boils down to angles of attack and ranges. First we can start out with a long range of attack and that is to let the other person start with their main point of the debate. This gives you a opportunity. Most people will toss out their biggest points right at the beginning. If you are quiet and let them, it will give you time to work their statements in your mind and poke your holes there.

Now is the time to look for logical fallacies. A logical fallacy usually involves putting apples and oranges together, incorrect math or invalid deductive reasoning.
In example:
Slippery Slope: If you have one drink the next thing you know you will become an alcoholic and homeless.
Ad Hominem (personal attack): Joe said that not all birds can fly. Joe is a prick. So all birds can fly.
Appeal to authority: Bill says he is an expert in herpetology, so he must know what kind of snake this is. (Bill knows somethings about snakes but has no degree and is not a real authority)
Irrelevant Conclusion: Diverts the argument to another unrelated conclusion.
For a fuller list of logical fallacies click here here or here.

Close the range a little more now by listing their fallacies and and why they are not valid. This will fluster them to no end. It will send the attack back to them with little hope of a good defense. Most likely they will sputter and re-attack but it will be weak and possibly personal.

Once you have seen their attack and successfully blocked it. Now is the time for you to close range on them and shut them down. Stay concise. Use short sentences even though your heart drives you to be flamboyant in your success. The smaller and more concise your sentences are the less chance you have of making some of the same logical fallacies that you caught your opponents in.

You don’t have to be right to win the argument. Very few things are black and white, right and wrong, anyway. You do have to be more right than your opponent though so it helps to know a subject before you get into an argument about it. Hopefully if you are successful you can win the argument with a little knowledge, technique and have fun doing it at the same time.

Alex Lavidge – Knoxville Overground

Leonard Knight – Entrepreneurs of Knoxville

Walter Lounsbery of ETNUG & CodeStock

Scott Maentz aka The Big Bald Guy

I like music.  Who doesn’t?  I also really like the subculture known as steampunk.  But how does one go about combining the two?  You either go old school and cue up some classical music from the Victorian era, or you discover a band out of Seattle named Abney Park.  I was lucky enough to go the later route.  Abney Park started life as an indie/industrial band who soon morphed into a steampunk themed group.  They use the personas of an air ship crew of pirates/adventures who travel the world exploring, raiding, and all around rabble rousing.  They all dress the part on stage with lots of goggles, vests, and modded instruments to continue the theme.  I happened upon them by accident on iTunes one day a couple of years ago and was hooked.  They have an interesting sound that combines elements of different times and cultures.  It’s kind of hard to explain their sound without you actually hearing it, but it does a marvelous job of conveying a lost world of the past that could have been.

I saw them this past year on stage at Dragoncon and had very good time at the show.  Their latest album, “Lost Horizon” is their most steampunk themed album to date.  The first track, “Airship Pirates” is a fun song telling the tale of a group of, well, airship pirates that roam the skies in search of prey, adventure, and plunder.  They will be releasing a new album this summer of sea shanties.  I can not wait to hear their take on this fun and classic form of music.

If you are interested you can check out their website where they have samples of their music, photos, and videos of some of their performances for you to enjoy. So, for those of you who like a little steam in your punk should really check these guys out.
  Abney Park

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