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cakewrecks_feedPresenting the world's most painful landing:
Or perhaps the world's most unfortunately shaped, colored, and placed mat logo.
Either way, I'm sure it made a real splash on the audience.
Beth C., would you care to join me in a casual crossing-of-the-legs?
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
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settiai
pr_blog_feed
Zu der Besprechung am Mittwoch, 15. Oktober 2003, gab es eine Reihe von Vorbereitungen. Wir hatten im Voraus einige Mails gewechselt. Klaus Bollhöfener hatte zudem einige Male mit Swen Papenbrock telefoniert, nicht nur wegen dessen aktueller Titelbilder, sondern vor allem wegen des Projektes, das nun endlich spruchreif werden sollte.
Swen verfolgt seit einiger Zeit eine Idee, die wir spannend fanden. Und so fuhr er an diesem Tag mit drei Kollegen aus dem Großraum Kassel nach Rastatt, um sich mit uns an einen Tisch zu setzen. Miriam Hofheinz und Klaus Bollhöfener vom PERRY RHODAN-Marketing nahmen teil, ich war für die Redaktion dabei. Ebenso waren Oliver Reiff von unserer Internet-Agentur Trilobit anwesend, dazu ein Kollege aus der EDV.
Thema war ein Browserspiel, das auf Basis der Marke PERRY RHODAN verwirklicht werden sollte. Die meisten Computerspiele zu dieser Zeit wurden in Form von Boxen verkauft, die sehr groß und teuer waren und eigentlich nur eine CD-ROM sowie ein Handbuch enthielten. Immer mehr Hersteller setzen zu der Zeit auf Browserspiele, auf Spiele also, die im Internet ausgetragen wurden und wo der Computer auf dem heimischen Schreibtisch eigentlich nur den Zugang zur Spielwelt bot.
Bereits im Dezember 1999 hatten uns Hermann Ritter und Jens Scholz in einem Vortrag auf dem PERRY RHODAN-WeltCon auf Browserspiele eingeschworen. »Die Zukunft des Spielens liegt im Internet« hatten die beiden damals sehr prophetisch ausgesagt. Entsprechend gespannt war ich: Das Manuskript des Vortrags aus dem Jahr 1999 hatte ich mir noch einmal durchgelesen. Waren wir endlich soweit, dass wir dieses Thema angehen konnten?
Wie uns die Kollegen aus Kassel gleich zu Beginn unserer Besprechung erläuterten, hatten sie ein großes Interesse daran, die Welt unserer Serie in ein Browserspiel zu verwandeln. Ihnen waren die Details der Serie wichtig, sie wollten eng mit der Redaktion und dem Marketing in Rastatt zusammenarbeiten.
Wir waren uns schnell einig, dass es einen Berater für technische Fragen geben sollte, einen Autor oder einen sehr gut informierten PERRY RHODAN-Fan. Es war ebenfalls klar, dass dieser Berater – ebenso wie Swen Papenbrock für die optischen Fragen – nicht von uns bezahlt werden sollte, sondern von unseren potenziellen Partnern.
Das Browserspiel sollte mit Unterstützung einer großen Internet-Plattform verwirklicht werden, bei dessen Namen wir aufhorchten. Wenn er auf seiner Startseite immer auf das Spiel hinweisen könnte, brächte das eine große Aufmerksamkeit. Auch das war zu dieser Zeit nicht ungewöhnlich; Spiele wurden beispielsweise durch die Internet-Auftritte der großen Fernsehsender stark beworben.
Das Ziel war ernsthaft, bereits im Januar fertig zu sein. »Januar 2003?«, fragte ich ungläubig. Das wurde mir bestätigt; man habe schon einiges vorbereitet. Aber der Januar 2003 sei nur der Termin für einen »zweimonatlichen Public Beta Test«. Bis das Spiel dann »so richtig fertig« sei, könnten also noch einige Monate vergehen.
Ich notierte mir: »Start des fertigen Spiels wohl im Sommer 2004«. Das fand ich aber ebenfalls gut. Wir könnten dann im Verlauf der kommenden Monate immer wieder auf das geplante Spiel hinweisen und es über unsere Kanäle im Gespräch halten.
Die Kollegen aus Kassel wünschten sich »einen Bezug zur aktuellen Handlung«. Für mich bedeutete das, dass der geplante Zyklus ab Band 2200 damit zu tun haben könnte.
»Somit könnten auch aktuelle Handlungsstränge und Begrifflichkeiten aufgenommen werden«, stand hinterher im Protokoll, »und so auch Spieler aber Nicht-Leser an PERRY RHODAN heranführt werden«.
Wir sprachen über die finanziellen Grundlagen. Man ging davon aus, dass die Spieler eine Art Abonnement abschließen würden; davon sollte die Marke PERRY RHODAN einen prozentualen Anteil bekommen. Bei den Details würden wir zeitnah eine Einigung erzielen, dachte ich.
Wir vereinbarten, dass die PERRY RHODAN-Redaktion einen Vertrag erarbeiten würde, den wir als Entwurf nach Kassel schicken würden. Sobald wir die Grundzüge geregelt hatten, konnten wir an die eigentliche Arbeit gehen …
(Um es gleich vorwegzunehmen: Leider wurde aus den ganzen Planungen nichts. Die Spieleentwickler und ihre Firma verschwanden bald spurlos, und Swen Papenrock war damals sehr enttäuscht. Aber für einige Wochen waren wir im Herbst 2003 sehr euphorisiert.)
(Diese Redakteurserinnerung wurde bereits im August auf der Internet-Seite der PERRY RHODAN-Serie veröffentlicht. Hier teile ich sie aus dokumentarischen Gründen.)
fail_feedThis stay-at-home mom is being made to feel like a freeloader by her own husband! Just because they live in a single-income household, it doesn't mean everything she does for the children and around the house isn't valuable, and ultimately saves a lot of money! So it's not fair for her husband to throw 'it' in her face every time they disagree. This mother won a gift card of $1000 for a jewelry stop, so, like anyone would, she takes her gift card and purchases a beautiful gold ring that she plans to hand down to her children one day. Wholesome and not bank-breaking, right?
Well, her husband, who spends thousands of dollars each year on golfing and boys' trips, seems to have a problem with this. He claims that she should have spent the money on "family expenses," aka, Callaway Clubs, or fixing their new truck. A truck that costs 6 figures and entailed no eye-blinking, yet this golden ring will be what destroys them financially…? We can completely acknowledge that he provides for his family, but he didn't even buy her the ring…and if he has such a big problem with how she spends her money? Why doesn't he insist on her getting a job? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he could actually enjoy being in financial control?
iamrman posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyWriter: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Rik Levins
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
This gathering of female super-villains really are an eclectic bunch. Titania and Screaming Mimi are probably the biggest names there now that Moonstone has been caught.
( Read more... )
aurumcalendulafail_feedIt's hard to find a perfect way to tell an employee that they're being let go, but telling them that the reason is that they're "too expensive" is a bit problematic. At that point, you might as well just not say anything at all. The phrasing feels personal and pointed, as if it's the employee's fault that they're earning the salary that both parties agreed upon.
Of course, the classic company lines rarely work well either. Chalking up the decision-making to an "overall restructuring of the company" or "cutting down on costs across the board" tends to be part of the classic script when firing someone. No matter what is ultimately, it's going to hurt in some way. It might help if the employee isn't caught completely off guard, or if there is a way to drop the hint that there are going to be layoffs. While every big company handles these "restructuring" difficulties in its own way, listening to the wishes of employees is always a good start to figuring out the best course of action. Obviously, you're not going to go around the office asking people hypothetically how they would like to be fired one day. Otherwise, that would cause even more panic.
Still, there are ways to gently figure out what works best for each employee. It is, in fact, the job of managers to read those social cues. It's an inevitable part of collaboration. So, why don't managers tailor the talking points of this challenging conversation to the individual rather than resorting to a standard script or an unprofessional line that could cause even more unnecessary pain?
This manager clearly did not handle firing the author of this tale well, and though the experience was dreadful, it was the author ended up having the last laugh.
james_davis_nicoll
marcicat
fail_feedSome people draft a resignation letter to their boss every week, always on the verge of quitting and never looking back. I even know a few people who keep a physical resignation letter in their office desk drawer just in case they really can't take it anymore and have to get out of the office as soon as possible.
But how many people actually abruptly quit their jobs without so much as an explanation?
Becoming an adult often means owning up to your actions, and yes, even providing an explanation for your decisions from time to time. Sure, you can quit your job and ghost your boss until they leave you alone, but that is not really the "adult" way of handling things. If you want to quit, a conversation with your boss about it is the least you can do, even if you don't tell them exactly the reasoning behind the decision.
prixmium
fail_feedThere is no line in the world that people don't try to cut in one way or another–in grocery stores, banks, theme parks, and even in traffic jams. People will always try to avoid the waiting of it all. They are too busy, too important, to wait like the rest of us, the peasants who follow the rules.
The question is, when you see someone cutting in line, what do you do? Do you keep quiet and let them get away with it, or do you confront them and put them in their place (which is hopefully in the back of the line, where they should be)?
The dad in the story below initially kept quiet and allowed a group of three teenagers to cut him and his family in line for a Disney ride. After all, they were meeting their friends there, which could have been excusable. But when another part of that group of teenagers cut the line right at the front of the ride, this dad was no longer willing to let that slide.
spikedluviamrman posting in scans_dailyWriters: Scott Peterson and Kelley Puckett
Pencils: Damion Scott
Inks: Robert Campanella
Batgirl's attempt to save a man from assassins leads to her gaining invasive voices.
( Read more... )
fail_feedThere are givers and there are takers. Let's see if you can distinguish who is who in this riveting family drama…This controlling dad decides to throw out his 19-year-old son with no real argument, chucking his things in trash bags on the side of the road. After 5 years of the son, couch surfing and working extremely hard, by age 24 he has created a home and a successful career for himself…and as you can expect, his father coincidently comes running back after him, requesting him move back home and contribute to the rent during his father's period of financial strain…have you got your answer yet?
Of course, he refuses. He abandoned him at 19, and even stated that he was no longer 'his problem,' and now he expects him to hug and make up and offer up all his hard-earned income for a man who couldn't even look at him 5 years prior. What makes this whole situation even more frustrating is that his sister is actually defending their father, telling her brother he should leave everything in the past…and open the door to forgiveness…If this couldn't be an episode of Days of Our Lives, we're not sure what could!
fail_feedDivorce is bound to put strain on anyone: emotionally, financially, or all of the above. Naturally, during such vulnerable times, it's expected to lean on family and friends for support. However, there should be a line between accepting help and taking it for granted. This woman recently moved out of her family home with her children and is now looking for a temporary place to stay. Knowing her sister owns an RV, she figured it would be the perfect solution and could save her a lot in rent. At first, the idea seemed ideal, until her sister refused to let her move in without paying any rent.
Was it entitled of her to overlook all the living expenses that would come with moving in, and simply expect her sister to cover everything, even to the point of canceling all her family's planned RV trips for the next several months? Maybe this 'perfect' plan has taken a sour turn, but is it really worth cutting off contact with her sister, who gave valid reasons for asking her to contribute?
mbarker posting in wetranscriptsflowing_river posting in aspecexvriddyCommunity Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.
Commented on booknook.
Signal boosts:
fan_writers continues to see a lot of active discussions around meta about writing, if that is of interest to you! :)fail_feedCan you imagine paying your parents rent when you're no longer living with them, simply because they "deserve" it for raising you?
We shouldn't owe our parents for our upbringing. It simply doesn't make sense for us to be indebted to those who brought about our existence and thus chose the responsibility of raising us through our development. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but there seems to be a rising number of stories and accounts from people who claim that they've been asked to repay their parents for the costs incurred during their upbringing.
One such example comes from a viral story where a young adult claimed that their extended family had a tradition of keeping a ledger of everything that had been purchased for each child and then, on their 18th birthday, the newly fledged adult was presented with the total debt that they owed to their parents—a debt they needed to repay. Who knows which of the many versions of this story is real or folk fiction, but they touch on a very poignant issue and raise the question: just what do we owe our parents for our upbringing?
We, of course, will feel gratitude towards our parents for all of the time and energy they invested into giving us the best start in life they possibly could with the circumstances presented to them. And, we will, in time, inevitably be there for them when they need us as family does for each other. However, there will likely never be an instance where that full sum can be considered totaled and repaid in full. And there shouldn't be; Parenthood is an obligation to your child, a chosen responsibility, not a service rendered or a debt to be repaid.
In this story, this 18-year-old woman found herself faced with the troubling decision of whether or not to support her problematic parents at the cost of her own future. This request brought all sorts of feelings and unanswered questions across her family, bringing about debate and drama for the extended family to quarrel over.
silveradeptadrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
timeasmymeasure