TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted at random when I have time and submissions. Take a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

@fbstj and me go way back. I mean in internet times I think it’s about four lifetimes at least! I first met him in 2006 when I joined PSU.com and I’d like to think I can somewhat be credited with him being on Twitter!

So what’s there to say about him? He’s pretty awesome, that’s what! He’s a geek, he’s a coder, he’s modified my blog theme for me when I’ve had a colourchange [if you look at the bottom right of this blog you'll see he's credited with the change though it's using his old name] and he’s generally just awesome.

So what’s there to say about him on Twitter? Well, his tweets are pretty random and he’s very conscious about the amount of people he’s following. He likes to read the WoT series and talked about it so much that I bought the first book as well though I’ve yet to read more than the first 50 pages as I don’t feel I can currently commit that much time into an unfinished series.

He also knows his memes and he tends to be my go to guy whenever there’s an internet meme I don’t get which lately has been most of them!

Ladies and gents, I’d like you to meet @fbstj!

1. Where are you from?
Lancaster, England.

2. How old are you?
21

3. What do you do for a living?
Currently I’ve finished studying at Lancaster Uni studying Computer Science and Mathematics waiting for my results. I’m also working in a little technology firm, producing various desktop applications and embedded programs and generally having an awesome time.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well there’s a story.

I’ve had a few nicks over the years, my first being star.torturer which was a throwback to a website a couple of friends and I made one year in school. After a few years I got bored of this and one day daydreamed a scenario like this: what happens to bullets after they’ve been fired in the air by celebratory mobs/cowboys…. and so I became FallingBullets.

Then it came to getting myself a website, I thought ‘well, xkcd has a 4 letter username/domain, and that works well, what can I make thats short’ (since fallingbullets.com and its ilk were taken). I somehow concatenated the initials of my previous nicks and my first name into fbstj and the rest is history…. I also use fbstjoe if I have to and Joe ST for when I dont want to give my surname.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Heh, asking me things in the past (even the past 5 minutes) is a futile game…my memory is shocking. All I want to be is a programmer/code-monkey.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
The songs that are in my head are as follows: WOODKID-Iron, Indukti – …And Who’s the God now?!, and the music from a Youth Orchestra concert I was at (when you were pestering me to reply :P)

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
yep, FallingBullets.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Well, I’m constantly on Google Reader, lots and lots of feeds, including ~50 webcomics. My current book is Malazan Book of the Fallen but I’ve a large stack on my to-read pile which you can find at LibraryThing.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Hehe I used to be a good little gamer,…well not very good actually, only completed a couple of games in my life, but yeah…I loved Final Fantasy IX, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, and many others. Recently I’ve been too busy (procrastinating) so haven’t really played much, I did try out MineCraft though, which was fun. I’ll probably spend a few hours on Portal 2 if I can be bothered to get a windows machine.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Much improved upon yesterday, its pretty nice out…not that I spend much time outside

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
My plans for what day? It’s pretty much just go to work, read on the commute, program for 6 hours, come home and eat, surf and sleep.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Anyone in a scifi/fantasy that gets to travel/experience a different world.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
A redshirt probably, I’m of no use and would probably be killed off asap. I dont really mind, as long as I’d got to have some fun travelling I guess.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realized I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I guess so, I’m pretty quiet (shy), so I’ll get ready without bringing too much cheer to your mornings.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Hmmmm, I don’t do much surfing outside of my bookmarks >.>, but 17thshard is a great little community of Brandon Sanderson (author) fans, and I’m a big fan. They have a wiki which I like to procrastinate upon, lol.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
A good few years, but not as long as @carocat :p. And I’m not really sucked in, I just like the people on there.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Heh, well… Windows just doesn’t work, not even in the slightest. Mac’s are pretty shiney, and if they ‘just work’ then I’m fine with them, bit expensive though. I like Linux, which can run on a Mac, a PC, an Acorn, your console, a toaster…whatever, Linux wins for me.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Cake. Simple as.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am tired and I want more cake, but all is well, because my life is wonderful.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m a geek, shy introverted and boring.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
The last thing I felt proud of is really silly: I asked my boss if I could have the morning off… It’s a big thing when you’re as shy as me.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Well twitter for one, I’m pretty constantly on there…Then I’d rank psu.com and 17thshard.com as my next top places. I occasionally blog at me.fbstj.net/blog and push code to github.com/FallingBullets

23. Any more comments?
/*no comment*/

Thank you so much for taking part!

We also both kind of agreed that #TwitLight needs a ‘what are you thinking about now’ question and this would have been his answer: “I’m also thinking (everything but gf’s stuff) I’m wondering whether to talk to a girl that I loved years a go, I want her to be happy but she’s not, so here’s me wanting to help but not knowing how to instigate such an exchange (to be clinical)…”

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted at random when I have time and submissions. Take a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

#TwitLight has finally returned after an absence of over two years and what a better way to come back with @sahfenn!

I first started stalking her on Twitter at some point during the summer of 2009 when I moved back to Reading and looked into following people that live in the local area and use the #rdg hashtag. I have since met her and her husband @NevilleFenn many times and we’ve had great boardgame sessions and coffees together, as well as bumping into each other in town randomly.

She shares my passion for social media and the internet and I have had many recommendations from her, such as finally upgrading to Spotify Premium or discovering Photoshake. Not to mention a great sock pattern she recently shared with me that I can’t wait to try out!

Additionally she is always full of good advice whenever I need it.

I’m happy she’s agreed to take part in #TwitLight and it’s an absolute pleasure to introduce you to @sahfenn!

1. Where are you from?
I was born in London and have lived in England, Scotland, and Wales. These days Reading’s my home town.

2. How old are you?
35

3. What do you do for a living?
For I while I was middle-management in the finance department of a telecoms company. A few years ago I took voluntary redundancy so my husband and I could try a change of lifestyle.

Nowadays he brings home the lolly and I stay home to look after the house and our little dog. We cope on one salary just about, although our income’s gone down in real terms since I left work. We do without in exchange for more genuine free time to enjoy life. Sometimes I do get involved in helping people out with things though, like marketing for my friend’s online theatre troupe (website building and social networking) and more recently I’ve done some proof-reading for a publisher.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Sah was first used by my 3 year old neighbour Ryan in Aberdeen (I was about 6 at the time) who couldn’t say Sarah properly so I think he should get the credit. It’s pronounced ‘air’ with an ‘s’ on the front.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
These days I want to be happy and healthy and have great friends and holidays. When I was shorter I wanted the same things as now with the additional of a garage full of fast cars, which secretly I’m still pining for.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Not a song but the random buzzing of a lawnmower outside.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Razziafm. Sahbear on Spotify.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
I regularly get ‘Country Walking’ and ‘Backpacking’ magazines. Half way through Simon Pegg’s book and Scott Sigler’s ‘Ancestor’ (which is AMAZING if you haven’t read it). Also a friend has lent me some Locke and Key trade paperbacks so I have those to read too.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
On the Xbox F1 2010 and I think it’s brilliant. On my iPhone I’m playing Doodle Kart which is a blast. On the Wii still picking up Wii Sports Resort every now and then. 100 pin bowling never gets old for me.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Gorgeous Spring day! Planning to have our first bbq of the year tonight.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Making bread to go with dinner, phoning the vets to book Dogface his annual check-up and vaccinations (he’s going to love that!), and having a look to see if we have the spare parts to fix the toilet.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I would love to be Daisy in Spaced, just for a year.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Captain!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realized I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Oh yes. I don’t actually wake up till 9pm. If you meet me during the day it’s a complicated hologram that makes it looks like I’m awake. I’m actually floating around in a pre-programmed hover chair fast asleep.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
http://www.richkni.co.uk/dartmoor/walks_all.htm

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I think it was Summer 2007 and I was almost instantly hooked.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
For me Mac’s are the best fit as the principles behind the design fit my style of working and I love the stability. Your milage may vary. Please no hate-mail.

It’s my belief that SkyNet is a MAC.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream cake. Mmmmmm.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am pink and I breathe, but not forever, because of mortality.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
Everything I know I learnt from David Lynch.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
A podcast I made back in 2006 with Nev, my husband, and a whole load of other people. Looking at it again recently made me smile.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• Team Dogface
• My blog
• Daily Walkies
• Knotty Knittings
• Twitter

23. Any more comments?
Have a nice day! :)

Thank you so much for taking part!

Oh and shameless plug, he was also the first #TwitLight participant two years ago! You can read about that here – Who are you, @FrustratedFury? Though he’s since changed his name..

Did you know that #TwitLight is coming back?

• Oh. You know what time it is. That’s right, time for the nightshift.
• I gotta take the trash off. That’s a daunting task…
• Ha. Ok. So while I was taking the trash down to the front, I saw a small yellow bottle laying next to the trash can.
• The bottle is labelled “Five Hour Superpower” right.
• Huh…the seal isn’t broken…what is this? Some kind of energy drink?…
• On the bottle: Guaranteed to give you one full superpower for five hours or you money back… Well, I am kinda tired. Nightshift is boring.
• Hell, it hasn’t been opened…why the hell not?…
• Ugh…taste like cough syrup mixed with tooth paste…
• Well, no superpowers to be seen. What a joke. I’ll at least get a little energy out of it, hopefully.
• Time for patrols. Fun…
• What. The. Hell… on patrols walking by the front office. I felt a sneeze coming up and let it rip. There is now a 5 foot hole in the wall
• It was like a force came out of me, crashed into the front office, and tore the wall apart…what? I am finally going crazy?…
• That drink couldn’t be real…could it?…ok. Time to check that bottle again…
• Ok…it says, infused with natural flavors, spring water, zyphocolitine, and sugar…ok…what The hell is zyphocolitine?…
• Ok…Google brought nothing…time to call Eddie…
• So, Zyphocolitine is a special compound developed from certain elements fused together..It’s still in the development stages through the FDA
• So…how did it get into an energy drink that looks like it’s marketed to 14 year-olds?..
• And what the hell is it doing to me?…
• I feel fine…I guess. Just a little freaked out…also, what the hell kind of superpower is super sneezing?…
• “Force Lemon Flavor.” Ok…so Force push? I’m a Jedi essentially? How the hell does this work?…
• So, I went outside the guardhouse…and figured out how to work it. It’s actually easy. Just like they do in the movies, punch in the air.
• This is actually kinda awesome. I knocked over a freakin’ tree.
• OK..I drank it at midnight, if the bottle is correct, then I have this power until 5am…awesome. Now, what to do with it?…
• Ok…no more property damage. I don’t need that crap again…
• Man…don’t know what to do with this…I wish I wasn’t at work…wonder how I can get some more of this stuff…with different powers.
• Whoa…ok…some guy just showed up to the property…and by showed up, I mean he jumped here…like super jumped….
• So, his name is David. He says heneed to see the guy who drank the drink…I told him that was me and he punched me in the face…
• That punch sent me flying about 15 feet…super strength…ugh…
• He says he has to kill the person who drinks the drink…hang on…
• The bottle has a peel off label…it says: WARNING: Comes with personal super villian…that info whould have been helpful 2 hours ago…
• Here he comes…well, now I know what to do with this power…
• Wow…this dude is a badass. My pushes aren’t even putting a dent in him…
• Ok…after a beating like that. I’m done fighting. I can’t feel my face…I don’t want to know what it looks like…he’s just standing there
• Got his back turned to me…I want to sucker punch him, but I can’t get up.
• I…I think he’s crying…
• Ugh…yeah. He’s crying…
• O…K…this guy has some problems. Apparently, the creators of this supplement experimented on him and basically made a slave out of him…
• He says he doesn’t want to work for them anymore. He hates them…he seems a little simple…
• He says he can’t think correctly after all the shots they gave him…maybe this drug has some side effects..
• I told him I could help him get away from it all. He said they would come for him.
• Told him that if they ever show up here, I’ll take them on.
• I told him to leave and stay as far away from them as possible. He said they would come for me if he failed. Try to use me as one of their experiments..
• He doesn’t need to worry about that. I can take them.
• You know, for such a badass fighter, this guy’s a real softie. Lol.
• He gave me another supplement. Power Grape Flavor. Huh…must have been the stuff they had him on.
• He told me to use it if they ever showed up. He said he doesn’t know when that may be…
• …and then he left…
• I feel kinda bad for the guy…
• Man…I’m kinda done with this superpower crap…not what I would have imagined it would be like…I’ll stick to Holy relics…
• Ugh…I need to put some ice on my face…it feels like a bus ran me over…
• Although…I do still have about 2 hours left of this power…
• I want to at least knock over one more tree.
• Ok. I’m done.
• Now to get some ice on my face…
• Just another occurrence on the nightshift.

I’ve recently mentioned Twitter in a few posts:

• This is what Twitter does for me
• Have I unfollowed you on Twitter? Here is why.
• 50000 tweets later.. and I’m still here!

#TwitLight ran from April to August 2009 with 29 participants and I loved it, but it ended up becoming too much work even with just the formatting. It has always been my intention to bring it back and I believe that time’s come.

Take a look at the previous participants on the #TwitLight page and let me know if you want to take part either by contacting me on the blog or on Twitter. The only prerequisite is that you’re on Twitter, it doesn’t matter how active you are!

This morning I hit 50000 tweets which is incredibly scary. In fact I reached the number with a tweet to this post which is quite strange really!

I joined Twitter just under four years ago and never expected to use it much. I mean it seemed like a good idea, but I didn’t really see the point of 140 character updates. It took about ten months for me to change my mind when I met some great people through it that I didn’t previously know through gaming community sites or blogging.

Twitter has done great things for me. The following are a few things I can think of now, but they’re by no means all:

• I have gotten no less than four jobs, including my current one, via Twitter. This was either through recommendations or seeing the ads at the right time.
• I won several competitions, including a £100 voucher from GAME or a game from Gamezine or a game from 360Junkies.
• I have found former friends on here.
• I have met many amazing people.
• #rdgtweetup.
• The local #rdg Twitter community.
• SatScenes.
• Source of information.
• I have had some great conversations, such as this one or this one or this one or this one or this one.
• It’s a great place to get help from either from official accounts or from fellow tweeters.
• #TwitLight.

Some stats and facts:

• 50000 tweets.
• ~42.2 tweets per day.
• Most tweets in a month: July 2010 with 2643 tweets.
• My most active tweet time is 10pm.
• 83.71% of my tweets are replies.
• 1.93% of my tweets are retweets. Most retweeted with 99 tweets is @satscenes.
• Most used clients are Spaz [29649 tweets], web [7456 tweets] and Tweetdeck Android [5475 tweets]. Curious seeing I’ve only had my Android phone since October!
• I have never used Twitter’s new style retweet.
• I’ve never used a service like Twitlonger.
• All my pictures are on TwitPic, the only photo site I like.
• I’ve had 1018 twooshes. That’s tweets using the full 140 characters.
• My top five words are: good, know, that’s, yeah, really.
• My top five hashtags are: #rdgtweetup, #rdg, #twitlight, #soulcat, #lost.
• I love hashtags.

Here is to another 50000 tweets!

#In2009 I moved back to Reading #rdg and realised a lot about myself. I think I’m finally growing up! #

There are a few more things to mention, but they’re all a bit more detailed:

• In 2009 I spent the first half in Germany and the second half in England.
• In 2009 I worked in a variety of jobs, including a cafe [with some rubbish coworkers!] and web based support.
• In 2009 I realised that the town I’ve chosen to spend most of my adult life [Reading] is the best place to move back to. And it was the right decision.
• In 2009 I made some decisions which weren’t easy yet had to be made. At the end of the year I’m still finding myself struggle with some.
• In 2009 I reconnected with some old friends I hadn’t had much contact to in years due to moving around and job changes. It’s all been part of the ‘growing up’ process and realising what I wanted most in life. Now, months later, it’s definitely been the best decision. New friends are great, but old friends know you better.
• In 2009 I went through highs and lows with some friendships and some are continuing to be hard work. I’m grateful for some new friends helping me with those.
• In 2009 I briefly moved back into a houseshare I still consider the best one to date. I then moved out and one of them moved in with me. And the dog.
• In 2009 I somewhat mixed internet with real life even more than I had done the years before which brought and continues to bring its own problems with it. *sigh*
• In 2009 I met many great people in Reading via the Reading Tweetup [#rdgtweetup] and the Reading Twestival.
• In 2009 I attempted NaNoWriMo again. And failed. Of course that’s not the only thing that I didn’t finish/continue. Remember TwitLight? Yeah..
• In 2009 I won quite a few things, including games and vouchers!
• In 2009 @leocomerlato made me an awesome video for my birthday!
• In 2009 I was strugggling getting a new passport. I still haven’t got it!
• In 2009 I got angry with some people in the gaming community. There are several repercussions that event had for me, including wishing I had started my own site many moons ago and not wishing to interact with any communities any more. I’ve since stayed away from other gaming communities as I can’t be bothered with all the OMGinternetDRAMA any more..
• In 2009 I saw people on stilts dressed up in medieval clothes!
• In 2009 I read some books.
• In 2009 I played some games.
• In 2009 I knitted some things.
• In 2009 I took some photos.
• In 2009 I tumblred much more than I blogged!
• In 2009 I watched some TV, too. Including 24, The Apprentice and Law and Order UK. Not to mention all the shows I didn’t post about!
• In 2009 I got very angry with the German Killerspiele debate which spawned three posts. One, two and three.
• In 2009 I realised a lot about the music I’m listening to.
• In 2009 I realised just how brilliant Twitter can be. For example with setting up an iPod or random exchanges about Nutella! Not to mention all the things I’ve yet to post about that are sitting in my drafts..

And I also just realised that I really will need to blog more frequently to make these things easier. My memory isn’t all that any more!

On to twenty-ten!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Welcome to the TGI Friday edition of #TwitLight and it’s participant @chrisbrownsell!

I first came across @chrisbrownsell a couple of months ago when I was looking for people in Reading. He plays a lot of Halo 3, is obsessed with Star Trek and is generally a geek all around!

In this TwitLight he talks about gaming, Firefly and asks an interesting question!

Welcome @chrisbrownsell!

1. Where are you from?
Originally from a town called Blyth, just north of Newcastle Upon Tyne, but currently reside a few miles outside of Reading.

2. How old are you?
24.

3. What do you do for a living?
Currently not much. I used to be a Software Tester for Electronic Arts back in the day though.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It’s my name. My parents gave it to me, so I can’t really take credit for coming up with it. All I did was shorten it, and remove the space to create the alias. It’s not massively original, but it seems to suit me well enough.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Every kid wanted to be an astronaut surely? That would have been awesome. I do remember when I was younger I was massively into Dinosaurs (Dinosaurs are cool). After seeing Jurassic Park with my Dad all I wanted to do was be a palaeontologist. Quite advanced for a nine year old. I’m impressed that I could even say it properly. Sadly that didn’t happen.

Although I would still like to be an astronaut. NASA, if you’re reading this, come find me.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
I’ve had The Staunton Lick by Lemon Jelly running through my head all day. A few friends were talking about Lemon Jelly earlier on another social networking site that shall remain nameless, and I remembered they had a tune in the last episode of Spaced, so I looked it up on Youtube and now it’s been running around my head all afternoon.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I do not, but I do have a Spotify account. Does that count?

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Currently reading the novelisation of Metal Gear Solid by Raymond Benson. It’s not great so far, but it’s Metal Gear Solid, and I’m a sucker for anything Metal Gear. Hell, I bought my PS3 just for Metal Gear Solid 4. Now that is dedication.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I’m playing through Fallout 3 again, mostly to pick up the achievements I missed during my first play through. It doesn’t have the same feeling of wonder that it did during my first playthrough, but I suppose that’s to be expected since I know what to do with the game now.

I’m also trying to play through Oblivion for the first time. I’m finding it hard to get into it properly, although I suspect that has to do with me playing Fallout 3 before Oblivion. To me it just feels like a gimped version Fallout 3 in a fantasy setting.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sunny with some cloud. Fortunately it’s not too warm. I’m not a massive fan of the heat. I tend to get quite grumpy when I’m too hot.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I’ll probably end up playing some more Fallout and watching some more Deep Space Nine. Might even break out the Firefly Bluray. Nothing like a major geek-out when you have nothing to do.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Probably James May. He may get some grief from Clarkson and Hammond on Top Gear for being Captain Slow, but he gets to do some seriously awesome stuff. A few weeks back there was a programme where he got to fly in a U2 spy plane, which can fly at altitudes of 70,000ft. That’s almost to the edge of space. That would be seriously cool.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Well, ideally it would be Captain. Failing that, Tactical Officer. Knowing my luck though, I’d end up being a TOS era Red Shirt and get killed by some silly looking alien on my first away mission.

Although, I have to ask, which Enterprise? There have been a few.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I’m fairly grumpy at the best of times, never mind first thing in the morning. So unless you could deal with mild grumpiness most of the time, I’d probably make a pretty poor flatmate. I do have an awesome collection of video games and a love for sci fi though, so that might count as a positive.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Emails from an Asshole. Some of the stuff on there is pure comedic gold.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Well, I’ve had my account since January this year, but didn’t really start using it until later in February. I’m not sure if I’m totally sucked in by it yet. If I haven’t got anything I want to say or moan about then I won’t say it. I don’t yet feel the need to tweet my every waking thought.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I like to play video games. So, PC. Not that I have anything against Apple though. I love my iPhone.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream. But only if it’s Mint Choc Chip.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am wandering the Capital Wasteland looking for new places to explore and I will probably spend hours doing just that, but I need to sort things out in the house, because I’m the only one in to do them.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m not sure where to begin with this one. I guess one thing I could say about myself is that I’m really not very good at describing myself. (I think I dodged that one quite well don’t you?)

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Getting 100% notes hit on Gimme Shelter on Expert difficulty Drums in Rock Band.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:

I can be found on Twitter as @chrisbrownsell.

I also have a gaming blog. It hasn’t been updated for a little while, but I’m sure I’ll find something to write about soon.

And finally, I’m on the staff over at the Green Hill Zone forums. It’s quite a small gaming community that splintered off from another forum a few years back. Come and say hello.

23. Any more comments?
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, do the other trees still point and laugh?

I think by the time the trees have realised what’s happened there will be people around to hear them. Plus I’m sure they’d be much more interested in talking about the consistency of squirrel droppings! Thanks for taking part, Chris!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s TwitLight Wednesday and today it’s all about @SFX_LADYJ!

She has her plans for world domination all laid out and is well underway with the community site SFX-360 she co-founded. She’s funny, obsessed with Twitter and loves gaming! Read on to find out which job she would take on a spaceship, her obsessions and a generally entertaining read!

Hello @SFX_LADYJ!

1. Where are you from?
Fort Lauderdale, FL.

2. How old are you?
Old enough to play games until 4am in the Morning WOOT WOOT!

3. What do you do for a living?
I’m the founder of SFX360 and I’m the Florida Sales Rep for GameJuice! and Part Time Designer.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Lets see I’m a Lady and my name is Julie so Shazzam! LADYJ!

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Well when I grow up I would like to be a World Dominator, I hear the benefits are off the rocker!

When I was a kid growing up in NYC I use to spend hours drawing buildings and my father said that one day I will be an Architect. I pursued my dream of being an Architect but once college was over and I entered the real world of Architecture things changed. After 6 years of working for a firm I decided it was just not for me.

So World Domination here I come! ShamWow!

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
“Don’t Say Nuthin” The Roots.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I didn’t have one but now that you mentioned it my curiosity took me to the website and now I have another thing to obsess over! THANKS ALOT!

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Well I try to read about every game news out there! You should see my Google homepage OY VEY! As a daily ritual I read all the posts on SFX360 forums! Gotta give love to our members!

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Fallout 3 is my current poison and I have to admit I didn’t think I was going to like it. I can’t put it down even though it gets me in this dark depressing mood lol (don’t ask) I can’t stop playing it! God only knows how many times I have vowed not to play it anymore but I’m hooked! DAMN YOU BETHESDA!

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Wow it’s picture perfect! The sky is blue the water is crystal clear all the beautiful people are on the beach and life couldn’t be better!

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Well if I manage to escape from Twitter then I’m off to drop off some dry cleaning (what did we do before dry cleaning?) do some groceries then come back home. Then wrestle with laundry (I’ll probably lose!) walk Rocky (my chihuahua) sit in front of the computer and work on getting carpal tunnel. Do some World Domination work and get dinner ready for my Hubby :)

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
OMG OMG I love this question! I would totally take over Heidi Klum’s place on Project Runway! She has no game! She needs to be more Diva when she says “Your in or you’re out!” I would totally be all over that job and say “Listen Fabric Jedi you need to get cutting cause your either IN like Gucci or OUT like Wal-mart” SNAP! SNAP!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
The counselor of course! I get to sit back and look pretty with a badass outfit and I’ll probably make up an accent just for the hell of it. I’ll probably advise the captain to pimp up his ride. Let’s see talk all day and not really give out advise hmmm sounds like my life already!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
You would love me as a flatmate! I’m like a ninja in the morning you won’t see me nor hear me so it would be a great mix!

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Wow this is really tough because this is the part that I would totally plug my website! LOL but really there are so many out there that I couldn’t just pinpoint to one! I want you to know that I wrote this answer like 10 times and erased it 10 times and finally came down to the answer that I just gave you! LOL.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
March 19, 2008 according to Twitter we will celebrate next year with chocolate covered strawberries and champaign! At first I really didn’t think much of Twitter and thought it to be a waste of time but then 3 months after I finally realized Twitter is the tool for World Domination! So I’m Hooked!

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Mac and PC I go both ways! LOL (dirty minds)

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
CAKEEEEEEEEEE! with Ice Cream?!?!?!?

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am fabulous and I will finish this questionnaire, but number 15 was tough , because there are so many sites I love.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m a pretty laid back kinda gal but I work hard to achieve my goals. I will open my heart and home to you if you are a sincere person and I will treat you like family. I’m a true believer that life is full of consequences and it’s up to you to choose your path. I don’t give out advice but I can be someone who will really listen to you and help you if you need it.

I have a great understanding that we are all human and our first instincts is to be selfish and that doesn’t bother me. I know life can be crazy at times and worrying about other people is a gift not many of us have. I will worry about those who are part of my life as well as those who I just met. I like to find that special something in each individual and make you feel like the world is in your hands!

I will always be a positive energy and never a negative one. Life is too short to be bitching all the time, so why bother?!

My Motto! “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” – Vince Lombardi

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I spent the day with my parents helping them with their errands it made me feel proud to be that close to them and have them as parents.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:

Well you can join my other stalkers at Twitter, SFX-360.com and Xbox Live!

23. Any more comments?
I would like to thank you for letting me participate :) Carocat FTW!

Thanks so much for those entertaining answers! Good Luck on your world domination!! ;)

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s yet another Monday and it’s about time to cheer you up with the latest TwitLight! Today’s TwitLight is all about @DjDATZ and I can’t actually remember how I came across him first, but I do know it’s been way over a year!

He is obsessed with fast cars, an avid Formula 1 watcher [although he tends to watch the races weeks later with his dad], loves gaming and has a very strange taste in music with Tiësto! When I say that he loves gaming I actually mean to say that he’s completely obsessed with it! And don’t ask me to pronounce his surname! ;)

If you’re not following him already you shoud do so right now! Of course, only after reading his TwitLight in which he elaborates on some of the things mentioned above!

It’s an honour to present @DJDATZ!

1. Where are you from?
Originally, I was born in Croatia, which is a small-ish country in Europe. Most of my family is back there, we moved here when I was 3. Only my parents and my brother are here in Canada.

Currently, I reside in Toronto.

2. How old are you?
22, turned in July…

3. What do you do for a living?
I do 3 chief things in my life right now that have a direct impact on my living: I’m a 4th year Commerce student at UOIT (my last exam is next Saturday), I’m a lab coordinator for Manulife/John Hancock, and I’m an associate editor for 360Sync.com.

Love the job at Manulife and writing for 360Sync, and since school is going to be done VERY soon, I can’t complain.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It’s really easy actually. The Dj part comes from some toying around I did with sampling of mixes and making one of my own, and the DATZ part comes straight from my initials.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Hmm, I always wanted to be a fighter-jet pilot or a race car driver. (F1 or anything with fast cars and nice tracks not NASCAR because NASCAR is not really racing to me, it’s simply “turning left.”) Well, I can’t be a fighter-jet pilot cuz I don’t have 20-20 vision, and as for a race car river, well, you definitely need to start early on that. So neither of those came to fruition.

My next goal: getting paid to play and write about video games! Almost there!

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
I don’t usually think. I wait.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
DjDATZ37, the 37 is added on there because it’s my favorite number. I was kind of really late to the last.fm party, so someone beat me to the DjDATZ username. I’m thinking about looking into getting it from them…

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Truth be told, nothing really. I don’t read much, I prefer playing my games instead.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Right now, mostly some achievement friendly games. Recently I got ‘Splosion Man, so I’ve been creeping through the co-op campaign in that, played some Halo 3 to pick up the last 2 achievements I needed of all the available ones and playing some Gears of War 2 with friends like @Esko, @Goon360 and @Sedington86 [read his TwitLight!] to pick up some more of the achievements in the game. Also, I’ve been racking up my kills in Gears of War 2 towards the Seriously 2.0 achievement and I’m currently at 84,000.

Dream bike

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
We just had a massive rainstorms this weekend, but other than it being very dark, it didn’t really do much. This morning things seem much more calm.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Finish up with work for the day and recording our overdue podcast with Shane. (We’ve been trying to get together since Thursday and things on both ends keep throwing our schedules out of whack.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Am I allowed to replace an F1 driver in an F1 race? :D

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Never really followed Star Trek, so I can’t say.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Kind of, mostly because I hate mornings, and if I have a choice, I make them non-existant by sleeping through them. My girlfriend hates me for it as she’s an extremely-early riser.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Twitter, Facebook, and 360Sync, each for it’s own reason.

Twitter for being like a massive group chat, Facebook for me being able to connect to people I haven’t seen in ages, maybe even over a decade, and 360Sync, well for obvious reasons.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I joined in April of 2007, according to my TweetStats. (What?! It’s been 2 years already?!). I got sucked in in December 2007 when I realised how awesome it could be, and how many people I could connect with.

I think it’s also partially responsible for getting me this sweet writing deal at 360Sync.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I’ve always been for PC, but I cannot stand Vista. We still use XP on all of the millions of computers in my house. (Or at least it seems like that.) With the release of Windows 7, I believe Microsoft can recapture their customers.

As for physical hardware, recently I’ve been reading and hearing more on how awesome Macs are and I’ve been wanting to “Jump In.” (See what I did there?)

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream FTW. Unless it’s ice cream cake.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am rested and I am grateful for the gf’s birthday surprise on Sunday, but I am sad more people couldn’t come out, because the weather was slightly crappy.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m what you would call a “nice guy” and I’m all about instant gratification. I love my games, especially racing. And this all stems from my love for speed. Yes, I love my exotic cars and luxury cars, but more than that I love my sport bikes. I’ve got my bike license, but no bike as of yet.

My favorite three game genres (in order of preference) are racing, sandbox and shooters.

Gaming setup. Click image for bigger picture and notes on flickr. I bet you don’t know what’s in that bottle!

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
A presentation I did a couple weeks ago for a massive 4th project I did with a group of 6 other friends. I pretty much did the whole powerpoint behind the presentation, which took a total of about 8-10 hours, and it came out amazingly. I would love to share it with everyone, but we signed a confidentiality agreement at the beginning of the project. If we break the contract, they break our mark.

A couple things as of late: finishing up my course and consequently my Bachelor of Commerce (well, I’ve only got to do on final exam, and I only need to get 2/50 multiple choice answers right on that for the course to count for my Bachelor, so I’ll consider the course “finished”), getting my gamertag back and the start of our podcast over at 360Sync.

Regarding my gamertag, here’s the short form of the story: when my account was reverting from Gold to Silver, there was a glitch in the system, and Xbox Live couldn’t tell what membership I had, and wouldn’t let me sign into Xbox Live (via my 360) nor recover my account. After 2 weeks of regular support not helping, @jamileh was helping me out on a 1-on-1 basis, and actually fixed my account herself. Props go out to her!

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:

*sigh* You just had to do this to me didn’t you. I am all over the interwwwebz.

• A personal page with links to where you can stalk me
• 360Sync (author link)
• 360Sync Forums (user link)
• RHRiders (recently defunct)
• Gamertag (via MGC)
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• IntenseDebate
• Blogsmith (comments on blogs like X3F [recently renamed to Joystiq Xbox] and Joystiq)
• Halo 3 Service Record
• Flickr
• Last.fm
• Wikipedia
• Digg
• 360Voice

I’m sure there are way more, but you can find those if you like stalking me. I can’t make your life TOO easy.

I’ve got both AIM and WLM, but you’ll have to ask me for those…

23. Any more comments?
Thanks for an awesome survey! I tried to have as much fun with it as possible!

Thanks for taking part, it’s been awesome! And if any of the people mentioned in this TwitLight want to take part in a future one, just let me know!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Welcome to Friday’s edition of TwitLight and who is better to beat the old Friday blues than the one and only @raincoaster?!

I have never seen anyone as obsessed with blogstats, although with the hits she gets on a daily basis it’s probably quite hard not to get obsessed with them! She’s not doing too bad with comments either; her most commented on post ‘mummified fairy remains found!!!‘ has, at the time of writing this, 1651 comments of which about 20 or 30 are from me.

Some of her other posts include some very long post about Viggo Mortensen, a post about Canada’s most well known serial killer Willy Pickton and she was one of the first to post the Chris Crocker ‘Leave Britney alone!!’ video.

She’s helpful, too, with thousands of posts in the wordpress.com forums which is where I first came across her back in 2006.

If you haven’t come across her on the internet before, then you must have been living in a hole. Follow her now!

I give you @raincoaster!

1. Where are you from?
I was born in Marville, France, on a Canadian Armed Forces Base, and the government subsequently refused to recognize my Certificate of Foreign Birth. I try not to take it personally, and repeatedly point out this does not actually PROVE I’m an alien.

2. How old are you?
I COULD tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

3. What do you do for a living?
I blog, but you could hardly call it living. I rock the monitor tan something fierce.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It means where I live. There are two other raincoasters in the world: some chick named Helen who snagged the name on Skype before I got it, and an amateur porn actor and nudist in Abbotsford who has a MUCH hairier back than I do. And I’ve got the tentacles, so it’s easy to tell us apart.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
“Grow up…” please explain?

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
This horrible “Don’t Call Me Baby Anymore” song that the internet cafe plays Every! Single! Time! I come here.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Nope. But according to photographers, I have an outstanding profile. The left one.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Duh, this questionnaire. Is this a trick question?

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I don’t play video games, but I’m fat right now, so I want WiiFit and Dance Dance Revolution.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Blustery, cool, and scatttered rain. It will continue this way in Vancouver for approximately the next ten thousand years.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I have one more blog post to do, then I walk home, toast a good business decision with some Tuaca, which a friend recommended on Twitter, then watch a DVD (Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck) in bed and go to sleep.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I would only do that if I could replace them with myself, and then I’d replace either the highest-paid person in television OR the lucky nobody who gets to sit next to Simon Cowell every week on American Idol. Le sigh. What can I say, I have a bit of a thing for assholes.

There was no chance in hell I’d put Simon Cowell here!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
CAPTAIN, BITCHES!!!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Yes, because I would kill anyone who was obnoxiously cheery in the morning. But I never clean up. So we could split the work that way.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Fimoculous.com

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I registered last August, but only started doing things with it in October. It didn’t take long to get hooked; I think it depends on hitting that magical Follow number, to make the tweets interesting enough to pay attention to. Less than 100 isn’t interesting enough.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Macs are better, PCs are cheaper. But Macs just work, right out of the box.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream, of course.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am broke and I turned down a job, but I feel great, because there’s no amount of money that would be worth taking that amount of crap from a so-called collegue.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
Well, the Facebook Dr Phil personality quiz pretty much sums it up:

Others see you as someone they should “handle with care.” You’re seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don’t always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Making the hard decision to turn down some easy money for peace of mind and the chance to concentrate on growing my business, raincoaster media, which uses the power of the digital revolution to bring about personal and social change. Social media for social change, basically.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:

Google, silly. I used to comment a lot more, especially on Gawker blogs (I have been recognized in Vancouver because of my comments on Defamer.com) but since I started reading RSS feeds instead, I’m not commenting so much anymore. And that’s hurt the blog, no question.

My personal blog is raincoaster.com, my social media/community blog is raincoastermedia.com, my parenting blog is Teenymanolo.com, my gossip blog is Ayyyy.com, my making fun of celebrities blog is Lolebrity.net, and my literary group’s blog is Shebeenclub.com which is currently in limbo.

23. Any more comments?
Yeah, that’s too many questions! Twitter users have short attention spans!

Some say it’s too short though! Thanks for taking part!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Wednesday and time for another TwitLight!

Today I’d like you all to meet @ernmander. I first came across him sometime at the end of last year via Satscenes or other Satsceners, like @akaSylvia, @ingridf or @Pewari. He’s about as addicted to Twitter as me which I’m not sure is a good thing! ;)

In this TwitLight he talks about keeping promises, his Twitter addiction and Pokemon!

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet @ernmander!

1. Where are you from?
England.

2. How old are you?
40.

3. What do you do for a living?
IT Technical Support Manager, wannabe Vlogger and Blogger.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Ernmander. It is a cross between Ernie and Charmander. I made up Pokemon names for a group I worked with a few years ago.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I wanted to be Spiderman, that still has not changed.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Sense by The Lightning Seeds.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
No.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Mac Format.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
KillZone II and well not as good as I thought it was.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Cloudy and a little cold.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
As it is a little late I plan on reading some blogs and Twitter.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I don’t really watch that much TV apart from factual shows really

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Science Officer (Spock).

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Yes as I am an anti morning person.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
AudioBoo.fm

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I have been on Twitter roughly 7 months and was sucked in from the first day. look at how many updates I have done, you will see that I am still hooked.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
For me Mac, but the choice is yours I believe what ever one you are comfortable with is the one to go for.

I think the PC/Mac argument is childish. It is an individual choice and others should not force their point on you or berate you for the choice of computer you have made.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Arctic Swiss Roll cause it has both in it hehehehe.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am writing and I will finish, but did enjoy, because I like to keep promises.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I would suggest they come and find out. What we tend to write down in descriptions of ourself are not what people think of us.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
My Twitter and blog coverage for The Longest Pull.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:
Just type in Ernmander into Google, you’ll see :)

23. Any more comments?
Enjoyed it Cat :)

Glad you did and thanks for taking part!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Welcome back to another Monday which surely is brightened up by the return of TwitLight!

Today I’d like you all to meet @sulzdotcom who I have known from blogging and wordpress.com since 2006 which, in internet times, is actually a very long time!

Her blog, Bloggerdygook, has been around since New Year’s Day 2006 and it’s been extremely interesting to see some of the changes she’s gone through in that time, for example the way she sees herself and every post of hers has a lot of commenters, something most other bloggers can only dream of! She’s also reached out to people off the internets and I loved the souvenir she sent me in April!

It’s my pleasure to introduce you all to @sulzdotcom!

1. Where are you from?
Kuala lumpur, Malaysia!

2. How old are you?
24.

3. What do you do for a living?
Working as a marketing executive in a bookshop.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It’s derived from my chinese name. A friend came up with it and it stuck. :)

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I’d like to have my own family. failing that, I’d like to travel the world. Definitely caught the travelling bug, as i went to Bangkok 4 months ago as my first full-fledged overseas vacation!

I think I wanted to tread the family path when younger, though like now I wonder if ever will.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
None in particular. I’m more into books.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Nope. My computer speakers are broken!

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
‘A thousand splendid suns’ by Khaled Hosseini – reading it much too slowly for my liking but it’s not very gripping! Also reading Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Remember me’ for a book review.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I don’t play video games… I play Facebook apps though, does that count?

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sweltering hot! Hate it, bah.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Go to work and try to survive the rest of the day, sigh.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Err i don’t think i’m TV material – not pretty enough, haha. Probably some reality TV contestant.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Not into Star Trek, sorry!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Maybe. I’m actually a morning person but I don’t speak much in the morning, unless you talk to me first. In the mornings I like to go online and be by myself for a bit.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Colorquiz.com – sorry I’m a sucker for quizzes!

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I started my account last year. I’m on a blogging break for a month so have been on Twitter quite a lot recently. Not totally sucked into it still.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
i heard mac’s so much superior. i haven’t really used one yet though.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
CHOCOLATE!

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am dreading to go to work and I am itching, but I have to go to work because I have to clean up the mess I made.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
When I’m really comfortable with someone I can be just about as quirky and lovable as a TV character. before I reach that level with someone, I’m totally lame and uncool.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Can’t really remember, sorry.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:

• My Blog
• My Twitter
• My Postcrossing

23. Any more comments?
Why are there only 23 questions?

Thanks for taking part, sulz! And there are only 23 questions as I thought people might be less inclined in taking part if there were more!

Yes, after a far too long period of inactivity, it’s finally coming back!

If you’re new to following me or can’t remember something that was a few months ago, allow me to refresh your memory. It all started on a rainy Sunday afternoon all the way back in March and is a Twitter Spotlight featuring one person at a time answering 23 more or less random questions.

Interesting revelations so far have included eating slugs, surprising book endings, love for Deanna Troi, some great pictures, crazy hair, some crazy guy, the love between brothers and sisters, a Marine and much, much more.

There have been many published so far and I hope there will be many more as there simply are too many interesting people on Twitter and 140 characters just aren’t enough!

Want to take part? Contact me!

And take a look at the TwitLights to date:

• @FrustratedFury
• @MelissaBianco
• @CooperHawkes
• @ingridf
• @AlabasterC
• @akaSylvia
• @thewilleffect
• @Pewari
• @Assassin10k
• @SirenAssassin
• @sedington86
• @kari_shma
• @Zyber
• @tartanink
• @GeminiAce
• @phoenix8424
• @reighvin

It’s also another thing that I don’t really feel all that comfortable at posting real life problems on this blog any more. It’s strange that I feel more comfortable over at Twitter, but perhaps that’s due to this blog being more searchable. Some of the things that annoyed me this week are here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

Not to mention the ton of things I didn’t mention on Twitter throughout all of Monday for example where I hesitated with each tweet realising how emo I’d sound and ended up not posting any.

So yeah, look forward to next week when TwitLight will be back on Monday with a great one from @cory_grimes and if you’re already suffering withdrawel symptoms, have a look at the ones to date:

• @FrustratedFury
• @MelissaBianco
• @CooperHawkes
• @ingridf
• @AlabasterC
• @akaSylvia
• @thewilleffect
• @Pewari
• @Assassin10k
• @SirenAssassin
• @sedington86
• @kari_shma
• @Zyber
• @tartanink
• @GeminiAce
• @phoenix8424
• @reighvin

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

I cannot believe it’s Saturday already and I’m not sure what happened to this week. All day yesterday I was deeply convinced it was Thursday which is why this TwitLight is sadly a day late. It’s not the first time this has happened and it most likely won’t be the last time either!

Moving on, I vividly remember the day when today’s TwitLight participant started following me. Actually, that’s a lie, but I do remember looking at his profile thinking why the hell he’d follow me. That’s something I ask myself with a vast majority of followers and as yet have not found an answer to it!

Turns out @reighvin is the husband of @trixie360 or rather at the time was her fiance and I remember seeing their Hawaiian wedding via live video stream:

He’s also a marine who can type [his words, not mine!], pretty passionate about videogaming and has a great common sense. He will soon be the father to @BabyTrixie and I fully expect her to take part in a future TwitLight, just like you, @trixie360, if you are reading this!

All in all he’s an allround nice guy that you should follow if you’re not already!

Meet the Marine: @reighvin!!

1. Where are you from?
From? Shit, start with a hard question, don’t you. Well, lets see. I was born in Ukiah, California, but didn’t live there for long. I moved to Mississippi, England, Maine, back to California, North Dakota, and then Colorado. From there I joined the Marine Corps. Sooooo….I guess I will claim Minot, North Dakota since that is where I graduated high school.

Do I win a prize for having the longest answer to the first question?

2. How old are you?
21, with 13 years of experience. Or 34. Take your pick.

3. What do you do for a living?
I am an aviation electronics tech for the United States Marine Corps. I know, I know, electronics and Marine Corps is not the first combination of words that comes to mind, but I’m a walking talking oxymoron. Smart. Marine.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
I love the stuff Edgar Allen Poe wrote, especially “The Raven”. I am also a fan of wrestling, and the wrestler “Raven”. I came up with my take on it back in 1996/1997 when I first got on the net, and stuck with it.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Who says I want to grow up? Who says I have to? Well, if you insist, then I think I want to be a teacher. Math, science, english, phys ed. Who knows.

When I was little, I wanted to be Spider-Man, so I guess you could say it changed. Of course, in my spare time I keep microwaving spiders and letting them bite me, so who knows. Maybe dreams do come true.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
“To Be Loved” by Papa Roach. Gotta get pumped for Monday Night Raw. That’s right. 34, and I still watch wrestling. Been watching since I was 8, and I still love it.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Sure don’t. Sorry.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin Mitnick.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Actually, my 360 crapped out the other day, but before then, I was playing Burnout Paradise. Just something about driving fast and crashing hard that is addicting as hell.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sunny, clear skies, in the 60′s. No, wait, rainy and windy. Never mind, sunny again.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Let’s see, I’m sitting in my cell, typing this, and watching America’s Next Top Model. Looks like another night of underwater basket weaving it is.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Replace somebody on TV? With me? Sweet! Spongebob Squarepants! How cool would it be to live under the sea? And that squirrel? Yeah, she’s hot. I’d hit it.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Hmmm…science officer? Yeoman Johnson? I’m a pretty lazy bastard, so I’d want to be the Captain. Just have to sit around and make decisions. Sounds good to me. :-)

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Fuck no. I wake up early as hell in the morning, and am ready to go from the moment I wake up. However, I would make breakfast and dinner for you to make up for it. :-)

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Scubaboard.com, but only because I have decided to get certified this summer.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Originally got online to find out what was going on at MacWorld 2008, but really got on it around March, April of last year. Took about 2 weeks for me to be totally sucked in to the twittervoid.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
PC, duh? I understand why some people use Mac’s and they have a valid reason. But all the people that buy Macs and then boot into Vista are just idiots. What do you want to do with the computer? That’s what I thought, cheaper to go PC.

And don’t even get me started on all the douche’s that think they are soooo cool to say M$ all the time. Hello? Yeah you. We were doing that in 1997 when it WAS cool. Now you just show how much of a retard you really are. We get it. You are uber-cool because you use M$. Thanks. Now go back to your Mom’s house because I think I hear your Mom calling. Sounds like dinner is ready.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Cake, definately. Bithday cake ice cream is pretty good too, but nothing beats birthday cake.

HOWEVER, while in Germany, I watched naked chicks wrestle in cake on TV. Why would anybody ruin good cake like that? I mean, there was cake in some unmentionable places.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am your master, and I command you to obey, but I won’t make you doing anything sexual, because you look like you got hit upside the head with a bag of hot nickles.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
Wow, what makes me tick. I’m 5’11″, 190 pounds, and I love to laugh. I am always trying to get a laugh, even at the expense of my own self. But that’s just me.

And to think, I am a little bit shy at times too. I met my wife over twitter and facebook, and when I met her, I realized what I was missing in my life, and finally feel happy and at peace. We have a little girl on the way that is due in July, and I can’t wait to meet the new addition to our family. My wife is fantastic.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I am currently 3 weeks without smoking, and have lost 18 pounds at the same time.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

I don’t have any web sites except my Facebook and Twitter stuff up and running. However, I am in work on a site based off a food I love so much. :-) Hopefully soon, it will go live.

23. Any more comments?
Yeah. Like me or don’t like me, I don’t care. I’m not here for your approval. I’m here for myself, and to enjoy my life. If I happen to entertain you along the way, then so be it.

Thank you for one of the most entertaining TwitLights to date. You’ve been awesome!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Truth be told I actually initially planned a different TwitLight today, but seeing the love between the two siblings I asked myself how I could not post @phoenix8424‘s! I’m sure you’ll all agree with me!

Ooooh, doing questions for @carocat for the TwitLight. Take that @GeminiAce! .

@GeminiAce Nobody cares about your TwitLight. .

@phoenix8424 Deep down I know you’re right. *fights back tears* .

I found this to be boring and offensive. LOL. Just kidding. Love you brother! Even thou you didn’t mention me…. :P Link

Yeah, in the part that said, I realy hate my family. I dream of stabbing them. :SOB: Link

Back some time ago I listened to the first episode of the Uncanny Gamers podcast, but for some reason didn’t realise she was on Twitter and so we only followed each other since Monday when I posted @GeminiAce’s TwitLight.

In this TwitLight she mentions her brother, her husband and, of course, gaming!

Ladies and gents, meet @GeminiAce’s sister, the amazing @phoenix8424!

1. Where are you from?
Fort Worth, Texas.

2. How old are you?
24 years young.

3. What do you do for a living?
I am a replacement Rural Carrier. That means I work for the regular postman on his day off or vacation out in rural areas. I also sell Mary Kay on the side and am fairly new to that business.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well, my favorite X-man character is Phoenix and I always loved the dynamic relationship between her and Wolverine and her dark side. The last part I came up with several years ago, the 8424. I was born in 1984, and I knew one day I would be 24… And this is that magical year it all comes together! At the time I was 20 and nobody got the connection. n00bs.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Well when I was little I wanted to be a vet, an author, a comic book writer. I knew I loved computers and took some classes, but today a college education doesn’t mean everything. I enjoy delivering the mail, but never thought I would end up doing that in a million years.

When I grow up I just hope I have a good job I enjoy, be a good wife and mother who can school her kids in video games.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
I’m thinking of the new 311 song Hey You. It makes me think of my podcast listeners. Hey you!

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Why yes I do!

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
I was currently reading my Twitter updates and my new OXM.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Before my Xbox 360 got the “open tray” error, my husband and I were trying to get all of the jewels and BSAA symbols in Resident Evil 5. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we love Resident Evil 5. It’s the perfect co-op mulitplayer. You have the guy and the chick, perfect for couples. There is plenty of teamwork but also room to customize to your own style.

It’s hard to find really great 2 player games if you’re a married gaming couple who share one Xbox, and RE5 hit the sweet spot. (The box to fix my Xbox should be there on the 6th, so hopefully I will be on XBL again soon. Send me a FR – Phoenix8424 or my husband – KBB7769)

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Dark and cloudy, looks like rain!

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
The rest of the day I might stream some Netflix movies, clean the house a bit, nap, work on painting the laundry room and I have a Mary Kay meeting this evening.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Kate on Lost because she doesn’t do much, gets paid to look confused, and gets to be around Jack and Sawyer. Oh, is Hugh Jackman on any T.V. show? Because if he was I would so be anybody near him. :)

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
I would be the girl in the back who yells things. Like “Watch out!”, “Klingons ahead!’”, “Our shields are low!”, “Beam the Captain down!”.

Not much, just enough to get noticed but not enough to get myself killed.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I’m not very happy in the morning either. I like to make my coffee and then play on the computer a bit. Then I’ll be happy. So if you stay outta my freaking way and don’t drink my coffee or eat my snacks, I won’t shank you.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
There have been several. The best one yesterday was measuring your e-penis.

I also am in love with Last.fm. Free music FTW!

I regulary visit Achieve360Points.com to feed the acheivement whore inside of me.

I always love new listeners to my podcast Uncanny Gamers and of course Twitter.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Well, I haven’t been on Twitter very long. I have over a thousand updates but I want to say I’ve been on here 6 months to a year.

I realized I was sucked in when I stopped using my phone to text my brother and we “followed” each other thru Twitter. No need to say “what’s up?” when his life is smeared all over teh internetz. Unlimited messaging plan? Useless.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I had a Mac for a bit when I was younger, and I remember returning it. PC’s are just better. More adaptable. That’s my opinion.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Both! Or actually, the best ice cream is Birthday Cake. The sprinkles. The icing. The cake chunks. Heaven.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am sleepy and I need to do things, but won’t do as much as needed because it’s my life dammit!

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]

As I said earlier I am a 24 year old female from Texas. I recently got married about 2 months ago. My husband and I took advantage of the forclosure market and bought our first house last February and we haven’t lost it yet!

I work for the Post Office which is frustrating and patriotic and unstable.

In our free time we enjoy fishing and playing lots of video games. I like to garden, surf the internet, walk our 4 dogs, and cook. Some of my favorite games include anything Tomb Raider, Viva Pinata, Command and Conquer, Resident Evil 5, The Sims, Gun, X-Men Legends, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Army of Two. I love unlocking achievements and will play anything once.

My favorite band is Cake, but I also enjoy Chris Cornell, Audioslave, Matchbox 20, 311, The All American Rejects, Weezer and Live.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Well, there have been lots of things. I guess the biggest thing was purchasing our house all on our own and deciding to spend my life with a good man.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• Twitter
• MySpace
• Podcast – The Uncanny Gamers
• Other Podcast – Animal Crossing Friends
• Photos on Flickr
• LastFM
• YouTube

23. Any more comments?
I have a nice family, including TwitLight alum GeminiAce. He’s an awesome brother and we have a blast podcasting. Here he is with me!

Great to have you on here, thank you!

Over the past years I’ve seen a lot of internet drama which, seeing everything on the internet always has to be so goddamn serious, has destroyed entire sites or friendships between people. Sure, I have been involved in some and in retrospective I wish I hadn’t been and wish things would have turned out differently, but it’s difficult distancing oneself when things are kicking off. In the past year I’ve mainly stayed away from most sites and left before drama was about to take place or didn’t join sites I knew were going to be involved in drama which so far has served me pretty well.

I don’t need to mention again how great Twitter is as I’ve done it ad nauseum before and the TwitLight series shows just how much time I spend on there. It allows people from different groups to have casual contact and works great as a tool between different communities and interests. And that’s precisely why it’s never nice seeing a Twitter fallout like it was on Monday involving @Trixie360 and @Haymaker360J [now renamed to @POLMGamer], as well as to an extent 360Junkies.

Here’s what you missed:

Haymaker360J: wonders what XBOX has for an answer now about the codes… .
Haymaker360J: @trixie360 any word on the amazon code screw up? .
Trixie360: @Haymaker360j I handed you off to the peeps who can help. It’s not something I can do anything about beyond that, sorry. .
Haymaker360J: @trixie360 oh ok oh well looks like I wont get an answer *shrugs* everyone handing it off to someone else .
Trixie360: @Haymaker360j no need to be snotty. I pointed you in the right direction and had your problem escalated. I CAN’T do more than that. .
Haymaker360J: @trixie360 so you are saying you cant go to that department and say hey whats up with this? forget it thanks for the help! .
Trixie360: @Haymaker360j I DID that. I’ve done it several times. Next time I won’t help at all. It’s not my job. .
Haymaker360J: @trixie360 you did? then silence is golden I suppose? since I only heard from you 1 time .
Trixie360: @Haymaker360j omfg! I exchanged like 5 emails with you trying to help you out. Do YOU do every task at your company? .
Haymaker360J: @trixie360 5 emails. the last one giving 1 update, and I could probably do every task at my company .
Haymaker360J: sad part about it is that the people actually lay down and take it up the ass from MS and like it. I am not one of those people .
Trixie360: i think i’m done with the Internet today. People fucking suck. .

Yes, the situation wasn’t great and I think @trixie360 did a great job trying to sort it out, even though it really isn’t her job in the first place. I have the utmost respect for her as a community manager. I can also understand @Haymake360J’s frustration, although I firmly believe that he shouldn’t have snapped that way and accepted the fact it’s nothing she can do and that she DID try and sort it out. She didn’t have to after all.

Overall, that was a rubbish exchange, but it’s not the main reason I’m writing this blog post. Twitter being what it is meant that hundred if not more people were able to follow the dialogue in real time and more later on when the repercussions were still ongoing and some of the things being said were shocking to say the least.

On with the situation, 360Junkies quickly demoted and distanced themselves from the situation:

I apologize on behalf of @360Junkies for what happened, especially to @TriXie360. He is no longer affiliated with us. No more douchebaggery. .

Overall, I can see where @seeson is coming from, but it does make me wonder if that move didn’t just serve cause more drama. I do think @Trixie360 can differenciate between a site and an individual and nothing during her original argument led me to believe that it was 360Junkies speaking instead of @Haymaker360J himself. Loosing the site he had put so much work in in the last months could only serve to fuel the fire and if I was in his situation I would have been annoyed, too.

Nothing, however, explains the behaviour of some members of the gaming community on Twitter.

A selection of Tweets I made during the fallout that I still believe are valid:

@Haymaker360J You really should step away from Twitter for some hours. You’re not doing yourself any favours with @trixie360 & everyone else .
@Haymaker360j *shrugs* It’s all your decision, but a Twitter fallout’s never been good. .
@seeson Dropping him from 360J seems a little drama inciting and harsh though? .
@leocomerlato All I’m saying is that yes, he’s out of line, but all the crap from people on Twitter ain’t better. It’s like everyone’s.. .
@leocomerlato ..trying real hard to get their best/funniest insults in. You know, all the people that never showed problems before.. .
@leocomerlato And sure, his behaviour is out of line, but to drop him from staff so early on seems wrong to me. .
@Haymaker360j Fair enough, I won’t bother to help then. Take care .
@leocomerlato Not really. You’ve got to give people like @trixie360 more credit than that! 1 ‘bad’ staff doesn’t make 1 ‘bad’ site. .
@leocomerlato I said ‘bad’. ;) Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes it’s better talking about things than publically removing from staff. .
@leocomerlato I don’t get the penguins thing? But all I mean is this is AFTER he was dropped meaning it pissed him off even more. .
@leocomerlato All this OMG drama should’ve been reduced early on, but so many people on Twitter just seem to pile on. .

I’m just going to link to some of the tweets here and here and here and here and here and the search for ‘@Haymaker360J’ on Twitter.

A large majority of the Tweets doesn’t show up on search, probably because the accounts are protected, but really, people, was there any need for those comments? We are a community and overall we all want the same things and to pile on with insults when something’s already happened isn’t the way to go.

Yes, @Haymaker360J’s behaviour was way out of line, especially after all that happened, but you all egged him on and didn’t let it rest. Is it that hard not adding your two cents after it all happened and just ignore him?

A related post by @mdk2002 explains things much better than I ever could, even though it’s on an unrelated subject. Some excerpts:

1. Be professional
2. Be polite
3. Don’t demand anything
6. Treat people like you want to be treated also known as the Golden Rule.
7. Use tact, which means, you can intelligently get your way without cursing or pouting.
11. No one is a god by any means; everyone is human and should be treated as such.

When did we go attacking people and to what means? THINK before posting and treat people with respect, even if there’s an argument. We are one community and there is no need to break apart at regular intervalls.

Note: Even though I’ve pointed out specific people and sites in this post, I do value every one highly and I’m only commenting on this situation, so don’t take this the wrong way. And I still think 360Junkies is a great site, even after differences and that’s not just because I got a free game from them!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Monday which means it’s time for TwitLight and seeing I’ve spent most of the day reading a book, this is posted a little bit late..

Today’s TwitLight is someone who takes no prisoners, has plenty of attitude, but is also a real nice guy. Well, mostly, anyway! It’s @GeminiAce!

I came across him sometimes last year as we both followed the same kind of people and both liked Gamehounds podcast which reminds me, have you read @CooperHawkes’ TwitLight yet? He’s a generally funny guy with a good sense of humour, he’s great on Twitter and I suggest you follow him! Oh and in case you wanted to know how long his e-Penis is:

I measured @GeminiAce‘s e-Penis on http://www.epenis.nl and his e-Penis is 16cm! Is that good? #

Maybe I shouldn’t tell him mine’s 18.1cm! ;)

Please stop what you’re doing and meet @GeminiAce!

1. Where are you from?
Fort Worth, Texas.

2. How old are you?
33 until May 22nd.

3. What do you do for a living?
As little as possible. No, seriously (is this thing on?) I work as a contractor for BNSF Railroad. I’m in the Asset Management department. I’m essentially a glorified data entry operator. Wow, that sounds boring.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well, I’m a gemini, so that part was easy. When I was playing a bunch of Crimson Skies on the Xbox, I added Ace to it since I was a flying ace. When it came time to make a gamertag, I used Gemini Ace and the rest is history. Super-interesting history.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I’ve never known what career I wanted. I’ve always just wanted to do stuff like play games, read comics, or write. Unfortunately, I don’t have any idea how to monetize those things.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Phantom Planet is playing right this minute. I love their latest album, Raise The Dead.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Do I?! Uh, yea. Link.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Reading PlatformNation.com at the moment.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I just recently finished Halo Wars. It was as good as I had hoped, albeit a little short. I still need to finish the Gears of War 2 campaign, not to mention SFIV and Rock Band 2.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
I assume it’s sunny. I got no windows.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Finish work, then go home and unpack. We moved recently and I can’t find anything!

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Probably Jerry Seinfeld because he dated some really hot chicks on his show.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
I would wear a red shirt and hope for the best.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I think I would. I’m no ray of sunshine in the morning either. Unless it’s Saturday and I can sleep in.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
I follow @Bikini_Beat on Twitter and love the site. It’s safe for work and helps my day go by.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I know it’s been over 2 years. Might be closer to 3. I didn’t really get it at first. Then I started following cool people like @JVB and @Avid_X. Probably took 6 months for the full addiction to kick in. Now I can’t shake the habbit. Help me, @DrDrew!

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
PC. Mac’s are too expensive. That being said, I wouldn’t know how to live without my iPhone.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Cake. Ice cream is too cold!

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am tired and I want to go home, but can’t because I gotta get paid.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I love my wife, my family, and my dogs. Most everything I say is a joke and shouldn’t be taken seriously (except that…and that…and that…).

My wife and I have a son on the way. She’s due in June.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I’m proud of the new place we moved into recently. It’s really nice and should be great for the baby.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Where do I start? Ok, here goes…

• My blog is at GeminiAce.com.
• My podcast is at UncannyGamers.com.
• I write for PlatformNation.com.
• I’m on Twitter (of course) as @GeminiAce.
• I’m on Flickr at GeminiAce.
• My YouTube channel is at GeminiAce.
• Xbox Live as Gemini Ace.
• PSN as GeminiAce.
• MySpace is at rizzane.
• Facebook me.
• My Blip.fm is here.
• My Mugshow is here.

I think that’s it. I sign up for everything because I’m dumb. lol!

23. Any more comments?
I’d hit it.

You’re awesome, thanks for taking part!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

In addition to today being May 1st which is a public holiday in many countries, it is also Friday which brings us to yet another edition of TwitLight and the chance for all of you to meet @tartanink!

Sometimes it’s strange how the internet works and how you get to meet people. Back in February I came across a post by @garymurning in the WordPress.com forums about Twitter and, after some comments on his post we followed each other on Twitter. Some weeks later during #followfriday, he recommended both me and @tartanink and we ended up following each other.

At our recommendation she moved her blog from Blogger to WordPress.com and I exchanged some emails with her trying to get it all set up. And here we are, some chance meeting via someone I only met by chance, too. She takes amazing pictures as evident by the woodland picture below.

So wait a bit more with the partying or whatever else you have planned today and meet @tartanink and considering today is Friday or rather #followfriday, why not follow her?

1. Where are you from?
South West Scotland.

2. How old are you?
Eh, Fifty … wish it was less, but that’s what time seems to do to you.

3. What do you do for a living?
Trying to be a writer, as in … a published one.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Tartan-, as in Scottish, and -ink for the writing.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I did want to be a vet, but I can’t stand blood!

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Catalyst by Anna Nalick.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Yes. I prefer Deezer, when it works right, but have also igned up to Spotify.com.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth. I’ve also got the monsterous 1237pg Ken Follett to get round to some time. Think I need to find a desert island first!

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
None – only Tetris on the web which is addictive enough.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sunny actually, for a change. It is Scotland after all!

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
To keep working on my blog – and fit in ‘normal’ things.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Don’t have aspirations in that department I’m afraid, I’d be best somewhere behind the scenes organising their scripts or something!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Eh, don’t know – see above in a similar sort of way – something where I could organise things in an admin way I suppose. I’m good on lists.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Yes def. My husband says it’s best not to talk to me in the morning. And, I’m happy to just be left on my own for a while to do my own thing … usually a cup of tea and a book.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Well, other than Twitter, definitely DeviantArt.com. It’s an inspiration.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
From the beginning of Feb this year. But I didn’t really get the concept of it until the beginning of March, and then it sucked me in.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Has to be PC as I’ve never used a Mac.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Def ice cream, preferably with crumbled flake mixed in.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”
Today I am tired and I was frustrated, but now I’m contented, because it all turned out alright.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I am primarily a writer who is desperate to find an agent with a view to being published – that’s the dream anyway.

I’m getting into gardening again after a lot of years away from it, and trying to grow my own vegetables.

I also like to take lots of digital photos. I don’t really know why, as they only end up as my screensaver. I’ll put some on my blog, that’s a good place for them.

When I’m writing I like to stay up late, when everyone’s gone to bed. I get the headphones on and a playlist up. Although I do have my ‘mellow’ moments, see song above I also, surprisingly given my age as some might think like a good heavy bass beat Like some of Gigi D’Agostino, who I discovered on Deezer.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Telling people I’m going to be a granny soon oh no, that sounds so old!

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

As I’ve already self-promoted, my blog, Facebook, except I’m hardly ever on it now, and Twitter of course as @tartanink.

23. Any more comments?
I think this is a brilliant idea and look forward to learning a lot of interesting facts about people I might just go on to follow, well done you for thinking it up.

Thank you very much for taking part!

Oh and he also came up with a brilliant phrase:

Guns don’t infract people, mods do.

Some sig examples:

As well as this one when I took a break from a forum:

Anyways, knowing his awesome photshop skills I asked him to design a banner for #TwitLight that will be attached to every post and this is what he’s come up with:

At this point a shoutout to @thewilleffect who also designed a banner several weeks ago, but I am pretty much in love with anything Xelis’ does, sorry! As a consolation, please check out his site and TwitLight, folks!

Thank you, Xelis, yet again! <3

—–

This is still not resolved, but edging ever closer which is at least something.

—–

My ‘Books‘ page is finally up to date, the others should follow at some point! I really need to update the ‘Archive‘ somehow. And import more posts from my tumblr blog as I got bored quickly last time.

I am somewhat annoyed with Twitter, or rather was yesterday which could’ve been due to my overall bad mood. I feel like there’s too much advertisement on there these days and too many community sites are using it purely to have contests involving members to send out spam links. Of course that’s quite hypocritical seeing I constantly mention TwitLight and the handwriting project on Twitter..

—–

The response to TwitLight has been amazing. There have been 13 TwitLights to date and there are 14 pending and 11 that I’m still waiting for. There’s a large gap between the male and female responses, however. Only four of the pending ones are from women and only one of the ones I’m still waiting for is from a woman, although it’s anyone’s guess when she‘ll finally send hers back!!

So any woman reading this: I need you! The only prerequisite is that you are a somewhat active Twitterer and are following me. Follow the instructions to take part!

—–

Equally impressive is the response to my call for handwriting samples and I have 18 samples so far of which most are from people not in my immediate online circles. I’m planning to make a post next week, so please send me yours if you haven’t done so already!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Welcome to another edition of TwitLight and today it’s all about a drunk person that, well, drinks too much! Yes, you’ve guessed correctly, he’s at university! Unlike the previous TwitLights so far I’ve actually met @Zyber. Twice in fact, both at XL Lan and I’ve mentioned him in my writeup for the first one. And yes, he does drink a lot!

I first met him all the way back in 2005 on Matchbox360 which sadly isn’t at all like it used to be and he was also the founder of the Ignition webzine for which I once wrote a Splinter Cell Double Agent review. Initially we didn’t get along. There was a lot of community drama especially related to one clan I was a member of, the England Boyz. Yes, I was a member of a clan that’s just for and with guys, don’t ask! During one late night conversation in which he was drunk [didn't I tell you he's always drunk?!] we did some rumour control and worked out our differences. That doesn’t mean we’re always the same opinion though!

Even after I resigned from Matchbox360 and the end of Ignition we stayed in contact which translates to about one long msn or phone conversation a month to catch up.

You should definitely follow him on Twitter, however, bear in mind that he does tweet a lot about alcohol! How he ever got a job in a pub is beyond me! ;)

Is in the pub getting drunk and not paranoid!! Not paranoid!! #

It’s my absolute pleasure to introduce you all to @Zyber!

1. Where are you from?
Manchester, England

2. How old are you?
20

3. What do you do for a living?
Bartender/student

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Zyber – picking a gamertag for the Xbox i came up with Zyber Jedi, it was just
Cyber Jedi but my uncle convinced me Z’s were waaay cooler than C’s so.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Probly something in computers but I wrote a novel when I was 17 that I want to get published so I am hoping to do that in my spare time. Part time novelist.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
One week – barenaked ladies. I’m listening to it right now.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Last FM was sooo 2006. No.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
This set of questions.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Most recent would have to be Halo wars although i’ve not picked up a controller in about 3 weeks.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Mild.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I plan to watch tv, play computer games and listen to music for most of it. Might phone this girl I met on Friday.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I want to be Jack Bauer or maybe be on The Unit, not replace anyone there, just one of the team.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Chief engineer.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Sure, I wouldn’t come out of my room til at least 1pm so.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Littlegamers.com They made a computer game for the 360 using the XNA game studios and they do a pretty funny web comic.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I found the email and it said i joined on 27/8/07 but i’m not even at 1000 tweets yet. I don’t know, it’s the new Facebook and it’s what Facebook wants
to be so.

Heck even when I joined I was told I was late to the party by a certain Steve Day so. I’m just a nosey person my nature.

Yeah, he told me that, too, but I’m sure he’s had more breaks from twittering than anyone else! – Cat

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I own a PC, want a Mac. Damn where are my spaces???

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream, no contest.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am stumped on this question and I can’t think of anything funny, but one day I will, because I’m a funny man.

Lies! – Cat

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I had a car accident about 9 months ago and it changed my life forever. May sound stupid as I walked away from it unharmed but that day changed my life
forever. I was always the good boy, polite, smart, I made mistakes like everyone does some of which i’m still paying for; but I never really enjoyed my life. I always worried about tomorrow, what people may think of me and I wished I could just stop the world turning for one day just so I could catch up with it and figure out what I wanted.

After my accident I realised that I wasn’t living, just coasting.

After that I started living. Went out and got a tattoo that i’d always wanted. Chatting to any girl in a club without fear of rejection. Spent money like a sailor. Drank beer from breakfast to lunch…3 days later. I’m even trying to convice my mate to come to pamplona with me to go running with the bulls.

Honestly, people who knew me before my accident think I’m completely different now and whether they see the full effect or just notice me acting differently, it’s the guy I’ve become.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I just got presented with an award I recieved last year. It was for the highest mark on my course at University last year.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Gamertag :: Zyber Jedi
PSN :: Zyberjedi
Twitter :: Zyber
Blog :: i-storys.co.uk
Clan site :: Kellys Heros

23. Any more comments?
//i am God

Sorry, programming joke. Java has made me insane.

Yes, yes you are insane! Thanks for taking part.

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Happy new week, everyone and welcome to Monday’s edition of TwitLight which is all about the lovely @kari_shma!

I met @kari_shma at some point last year on tumblr, even though I can’t for the life of me remember how, although I’m assuming it was probably via @ruhi. Since then her small tumblr blog [at that time anyway!] has amassed many, many followers which is due to the excellent content she’s posting.

She’s a great person as I’ve found out on Twitter and in IM conversations and I’m very glad she’s chosen to take part in TwitLight!

Without any further ado, please allow me to present @kari_shma!

1. Where are you from?
Mumbai (Bombay), India.

2. How old are you?
24 :D

3. What do you do for a living?
I work part-time for the family business and I freelance for Smashing Magazine. My first post for the magazine was: ‘35 High Quality pics for spring inspiration‘.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well, my name was taken .. so I decided to split it in half and add a hyphen to it. So its still my name, but split in half.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
When I was little I always thought of what I want to be in terms of professions .. At one point I wanted to be a teacher .. I even wanted to be a chef .. But now, I look at it differently .. When I grow up, I want to be happy, financially settled and have a soul-mate/partner to spend my life with. Happiness being the most important of the three.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
I’m not really thinking of a song but the last song I listened to was: City & Colour – As much as I ever could.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I do, but I don’t use it as often as I should. Link.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Erm, I am reading a book called “The Japanese Wife” by Kunal Basu. I am a very moody reader … I go through months, where I’ll read a book a day .. and then I go through phases where I won’t touch a book for months. I bought the Japanese Wife back in December.. and I’m still reading it. Its a book of short stories and so I read a story and then set the book down and don’t go back to it for weeks.

I gotta change that though. I gotta read more often.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Hahahaha, well .. I don’t play videos games much. When I was younger I love playing Mario and thats about it. Oooh wait, I play a lot of tetris on my game boy. Does that count ? lol.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Its 95 degrees F and its HOT & HUMID !

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Well, its 11:57pm .. so technically my day is over.. but tomorrow my plan is to: – work on my next post for smashing magazine.. go to the gym.. go to the spa.. read .. finish up the work I have piled up from my other job.. and TUMBL. :-)

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Ooh, that is a tough question .. I watch soo many shows and I would love to replace soo many people, but the one that sticks out in my head right now is Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo from grey’s anatomy) .. I know .. lame.. dork .. nerd.. call me whatever you want.. but here’s my reason.. getting to replace her would mean that I would get to make out with Patrick Dempsey. Have you seeen his eyes ? Holy Heavens. He is beautiful.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
I’ve never watched Star Trek… Sorry !

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Hahaha .. well I wouldn’t say I’m grumpy in the morning .. But if you try to wake me up when I’m not really ready to wake up .. I GROWL! but for the most part in the morning, I wake up .. and I’ll watch some news and have a cup of tea. I need about 10-15 minutes to myself before I can start being social ..

Does that make me grumpy?

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Eh.. I haven’t come across anything that interesting recently.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I’ve been on twitter for about 6 months I think .. maybe a little longer.. but i’ve only been sucked into it recently ..

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
That’s a really silly question.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Creme Brulee.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am Happy and I am Sad, but content none the less, because things are finally beginning to go in the direction that i’d like them to.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I can talk and I come accross as very outgoing .. but I can also be quite shy. I am blunt. I don’t believe in sugar coating and/or beating around the bush.

I hate bullshit. I hate people that bullshit and I hate being bullshitted. I hate everything about it. I dislike liars. I have zero tolerance for dishonest people. I can handle the truth, so why don’t you just tell it. I also dislike hypocrites.

I love music.. I am always looking for new music. I listen to almost everything except for heavy metal and country. I love my blackberry, my macbook, my camera and my ipod. I’m not sure how I would survive without them. Well, actually maybe I would survive without my bb.. but my computer, camera & iPod .. no way !

I love long drives. I love road trips. I love driving. I love puppies. I love traveling. I love new york city. I love bridges. I love water bodies (oceans, seas, rivers…).

I’m attracted to guys that can play an instrument. I’m also attracted to guys that are passionate about their hobbies. I wish I could play the guitar.

I wish I had a puppy.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?

Erm, well the last BIG thing I was proud about was graduation in 2007 from Bradley University w/ my bachelors in Finance.

The last small thing I was proud about was my first post for Smashing Magazine.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• Tumblr
• Blogger
• Twitter

23. Any more comments? Nope. Thank you, Karishma! <3

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Friday, everyone is looking forward to the weekend which means it’s time for another TwitLight! Today it’s all about @sedington86! I have to admit I promised him to be on TwitLight for Monday already, but completely forgot and chose someone else instead. Nevertheless, I hope you can forgive me, @sedington86!

Now when I mentioned to him that he’ll be selected for Friday he mentioned he’d go into hiding once it’s up, so I think you guys should leave comments for him to get him out of there again!

I’ve been following him on Twitter for a long time, I think it’s well over a year now and I remember agreeing with him a lot, probably because he’s an awesome guy all around. And he likes MacGyver! And has an awesome haircut!!

Meet one of the awesomest people around, @sedington86!!

1. Where are you from?
I hail from The western of of the state of Montana in the U.S.A. More specifically, Bozeman or Ronan, depending on the time of year.

2. How old are you?
23

3. What do you do for a living?
Student, Construction, and Writer for a gaming site. Kind of all over the place I know… My strangest and awesomest job was commercial fishing in Alaska… you know the kind where you spend 3 weeks straight out as sea…

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well, the sedington is pretty simple. s(hane) Edington, which is my name. The 86 has to do with the term 86′d. Look it up :P. Good excuse to go waste some time on Wikipedia.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
Well, as a child I wanted to be everything from a chef to an American Football player, but now it’s more along the lines of Small business owner, engineer, or maybe chef (one dream still lives!).

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
That would be the one I’m listenting to and right now it is Layla by Eric Clapton as I listen to his Unplugged album.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Yes, sedington86 as always.. although I think my use on there has been lacking as of late. Not that I don’t listen to music a lot, just been doing a lot of reinstalls and new installs so a lot of the other programs I normally use aren’t getting used much.

I also cleared the history as I started playing music and left without turning it off. Normally not a problem but I had put something in the search bar so the music it was playing mostly really didn’t match well and played a small selection of songs way too much….

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
I’ll give you two, Campaign for Liberty and a book.. I did just finish The Screwtape Letters.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Of course I play video games! As of late I’ve been mostly been playing Resident Evil 5, Peggle, and my usual staple of Rock Band 2. RE5 has been a lot better than I thought it would be from a lot of the negative things I heard, Peggle is so addictive it’s scary, and Rock Band is never far away from being back in my disc tray.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Well, a few days ago it was about 50 F as a high, 30 for a low, and today it was 15 F for a low and blizzarding, and 30 for a high… Yay for crazy weather.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Work on a few personal projects, find something decent to eat, work on RE5 on Professional, keep a constant eye on twitter, aaaand hang with the little lady for a few.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
MacGyver of course! Who doesn’t want to save everyone using a rubber band, a boot, and a paper clip!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
No. 1… I’d have to get an awesome Riker beard going though….

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Well, I get up and get going just fine, but I know what thats like with a father ten times worse so I’d be just fine… as long as you didn’t do something to deserve a little annoyance :P.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Ted. Some interesting talks in there.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Let me think here, almost two years I think, and I truly got sucked in fall 07 when I started following and communicating with people more. It was also the same time I started doing video game blogging and I think that had a large part in that.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Why not both, have a desktop here running windows, and a Macbook Air dual booting into osx and windows 7.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream if I have to choose between the two.. but pie is best.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am worn out and I need a break to come my way, but I’m doing alright, because there is definitely a light down there at the end of this tunnel.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m Shane Edington out of small town Western Montana. Cowboys and Native Americans do still exist, and are a large population base around me. Easy-going, at least most of the time. It takes a lot to get a rise out of me, except for a few certain things (abuse of females, children, or really anybody that can’t or has a lot harder time defending themselves).

Love going outdoors, sports, and of course gaming. Little bit strange and random, but all for a laugh. I’m not much for pushing any personal beliefs or politics on anybody, but I don’t really follow the norm, ask me privately if you need to know more.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Finishing up building a house for an old family friend, just my father and I, and we did everything from beginning to end. From foundation, to roofing, to tile and cabinetry. I plan on posting some pictures up soon for all to see.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Googling sedington86 will find a lot of the places like twitter where to find me (in other words I’m not even sure where all to find me), sedington86 is also the gamertag/PSN name, and there is also 360Sync with all sorts of gaming news, reviews, and contests galore!

23. Any more comments?
Hit me up at any of these places you may find me if you have any questions, need assistance, want to game, or just to say hi. If you don’t mind also please check out 360Sync.com and let me know what you think!
And if I may leave a last thought in your head, in my short time in this world I’ve learned one of the most important lessons from my father… almost without knowing it.

Life sometimes almost seems to enjoy beating you down and giving you almost impossible tasks, but instead of stressing or giving up in the face of such adversity, try this train of thought out instead

“Lead me to a task and conquer I will”.

It may come slow at times, and some things still may not work out, but stressing and worrying about it only seems to waste time and energy.

Thank you, you’ve been awesome!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It is Wednesday the 22nd of April which is also the day Isabella I of Castile was born in 1451 and later became one of the most important sovereigns of the world establishing the Spanish Inquisition and sponsoring Christopher Columbus’ journey which led to the discovery of America.

America is also where today’s participant of TwitLight who goes by@SirenAssassin comes from. I first met her on a forum over a year ago and she then joined Twitter with several other posters from there. @Pogre, you should twitter again, btw!

At this point I want to say how she’s very nice, helpful and often said the right thing at the right minute when I needed it, but no matter how I phrase it, it comes across sounding a bit tacky. So just trust me on this!

Read all about @SirenAssassin!

1. Where are you from?
My mother of course! In all seriousness, I am from a very small town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the beautiful mountains in Pennsylvania.

2. How old are you?
I am 24.

3. What do you do for a living?
I was recently laid off, but my profession is in Administration doing accounting and other office crap. It’s really not interesting at all. Now I am a stay at mommy to my soon to be three year old little boy and I would not have it any other way.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Siren Assassin…..let me see. I like the stories about Sirens from Greek mythology.

I also love the classic vargas girl pinups who were considered “Sirens”. Assassin came from me playing video games and that I am the annoying one either sniping you repeatedly or knifing you in the back. And I chose Assassin from Hitman 2: Silent Assassin which is one of my all time favorite games.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
When I grow up, I just want to be happy. When I was little I dreamed of being a veterinarian or a pediatrician, how original I know! Now that I am bit older and been through different experiences, all that matters to me is being happy in the end. After all, I do not want to be one of those people who grow old and all they have is their career.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
I am thinking about a song made famous by the movie Twilight. It is called “River Flows Into You” composed by Yiruma. It is such a beautiful piece of music and after listening to it for all of these months, it is still on my top ten playlist on my iPod.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
What is this Last.fm that you speak of? [Note: It tracks your music listening stats, this is mine]

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Nothing at the moment. I recently read Marley and Me, Eclipse, and this book that is composed of letters from soldiers from different wars and I cannot remember for the life of me what it is called.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Of course I play video games! I have been mainly playing Resident Evil 5, with an occasional Halo Wars and Fallout 3 thrown in there. Resident Evil 5 was a disappointment to me mainly because it’s not a survival horror game, just a shoot em up in my opinion, but as a faithful fan I continue to play.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Stormy…..which is crazy because it’s not even that warm out. I think the high today was around 60 and by the afternoon there were thunderstorms, hail, and reports of tornadoes.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Considering that it is almost midnight, I will say heading to bed.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I would like to go back a few years and replace Sarah Michelle Gellar or I should say Sarah Michelle Prinze as Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Don’t get me wrong, she is my favorite actress and I believe she can pull of any role that is tossed her way, but I would just love to play a strong, kick ass female character like Buffy.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
I do not think they would want me on the Enterprise. I am an accident waiting to happen and I guarantee you that Capt. Archer would kick me right off that ship just because of my awesome powers of blondeness and the ability to cause others to suffer from severe cases of blondeness. It is contagious and worse then any STD known to man.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I do not really care for mornings myself, but after having my son and going through the whole “being up all night” routine that comes with parenthood, I have adapted. Doesn’t mean I am a ray of sunshine in the morning though, so don’t go pushing my buttons. Besides that I am clean freak and do not like my stuff messed with. So to answer that question, probably not.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
It is a website called, Quoteland. It features quotes from famous people, people throughout history, and anons.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I have been on Twitter for a bit now. I discovered I was sucked in one day when I kept refreshing the page. Sad I know.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Oh crud. I am not one for techy stuff or computers, but I will say PC because my brother from another mother will probably kick my butt if I don’t.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream. The cake is a lie……

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am happy and I like cheese, but it has to be cheese with holes in it, because it is the only kind I can eat by itself.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I am one of the smartest blondes you will ever come across. Seriously, I received my Trig and Geometry credits in two weeks. I tend to be a bit too sarcastic, but if people cannot handle it that is not my problem. With me it is straight up “what you see is what you get,”. I blame a lot of that on life’s experiences and being in the Army. Those things can make a person grow up mighty fast and realize what really matters in life.

What really makes me tick is photography. There is something about being behind a camera and capturing moments in time and decisions that led to a certain moment that really gets me going. I could be having the worse day ever and I can pick up my camera and all of that goes right out the window.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Standing up for myself. You can only let people walk all over you for a certain amount of time before those footprints start to do some damage.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

You can stalk me at my photography website. The photography ranges from Landscapes, Self Portraits, Nature, Children, Emotive, Animals, etc….

You can also find me at deviantArt.

If you want to stalk me over online gaming you can send a FR to Siren Assassin on Xbox Live. I cannot guarantee I will accept it, because my friend list is almost full. Plus if you plan on sending me random messages, please do not even bother. It’s a waste of your time.

Finally you can follow my random, insane, and somewhat blonde tweets on Twitter.

23. Any more comments?

I would like to say thank you to the lovely carocat for allowing me to be a part of this. If you are not following her on twitter or checked out her blog you need to go do that right now. As for my final words, I think I will end this on a quote:

“Your story is already written. You are just living it….”.

Aww, thank you! :)

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Monday which means there obviously is going to be a new edition of TwitLight!

Today I’d like to introduce you all to @Assassin10k. His real name is Brandon, although he shouldn’t be confused with @lostassassin13 whose name is also Brandon. I think it’s been about 1 1/2 years since I first came across @Assassin10k on Twitter and I’m not sure who first followed the other, but it’s definitely been worth it!

I remember random conversations involving shooting whoever came up with the term crunchtime or his obsession with Fallout 3 which lasted many, many months and is still ongoing!

Do have a look at his profile and his sites and, of course, read his TwitLight in which he mentions how he wants to be my favourite TV show character!

Lookie here, it’s @Assassin10k!

1. Where are you from?
I’m from Rancho Santa Margarita, California but I grew up in a small town in Washington State.

2. How old are you?
I’m 28 with the mind of a 12 year old.

3. What do you do for a living?
Right now I play Video Games and runs a couple of websites. I don’t actually get paid or anything for the work I do, but it is my job… sort of. (half stolen from knocked up but so very true). Basically I’m unemployed at the moment.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
I have an obsession with Assassin’s especially from the medieval times. The 10k comes from the site where I first started out.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I wanted to be a Private Detective, but it seems someone had another plan for me. For the record, I still haven’t grown up quite yet.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
That damn Fergie and Will.I.Am song Boom Boom Pow. It’s been on the radio, playing over and over for the last few weeks.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Nope, sure don’t. I guess I should check it out someday, since it seems to be pretty popular.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Always reading video game press releases it seems or twitter.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Well, I would say Fallout 3 but I’m a little bitter towards it. So currently I’m playing Shellshock 2. I had low expectations for the game, so it is quite a bit better than I thought it would be.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sunny as always, I wish it would rain more here.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Play some games, help my son with his homework, cook dinner, work on my website. I live an exciting life as you can tell.

@Assassin10k’s gaming setup

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Michael Weston on Burn Notice! He kicks so much ass!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Captain of course! I’d turn the ship into a space pirate ship though and terrorize the entire galaxy!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Well, I’m pretty damn grumpy in the mornings too, especially if I can’t locate any coffee, so I’m sure we would get along just fine.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Alltop.com tons of news all in one place.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I’ve been on twitter for almost 2 years now. I realized I was sucked in, about a month in when I couldn’t put my phone down during dinner anymore.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Mac hands down, I’ve had a macbook for 3 and a half years and not one problem. I’ve gone through 3 PC’s in that time.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Definitely ice cream, cake is too dry for me.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am lazy and I tired, but can’t sleep, because I have stuff to do.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m very laid back, I’m never the center of attention in a crowd, I live life for my son, I’m very addicted to video games, I hate living in California, I love learning new things. If I find something I like I become obsessed with learning about it.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Being the first person on the internet to have an Ingot Location guide for Fallout 3 and getting all kinds credited on major sites like, Xbox360achievements.org, Planet Fallout, The Fallout Wiki and many, many, others. Gamefaqs sucks though they are guide stealers!

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Most of the time I’m on my sites wouldyoukindly.com or nuka-cola.net. I can always be found via twitter or at the10k.com. I have a second family of awesome people at The ATC, but only the 1337 may enter.

I pretty much live on the internet so I’m always accessible.

23. Any more comments?
Just that you’re awesome!

Thank you very, very much for taking part!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Friday Saturday which means it’s time for another TwitLight! I was incredibly busy which is why this one is a bit delayed. What do you mean I mentioned I was merely procrastinating?! I’ll have you know that’s hard work, too!

Anyways, let’s direct the spotlight or rather the TwitLight [see what I did there?!] on today’s participant, the one and only @Pewari. Although, at times I’m not actually sure there is just one of her and judging by some brilliant pictures she’s taken there seem to be a whole clone army of Pewaris running around!

Pictures, that’s one thing that you’ll notice about @Pewari quickly; she takes a lot of them and they’re brilliant. In addition to taking part in the Monthly Flickr Scavenger Hunts, she also participates in Satscenes, which I mentioned in @akaSylvia’s TwitLight earlier this week [and I actually posted that one on time!]. And I believe that’s how I first came across her.

She is also very, very dedicated to her blog. In fact, she is so dedicated she blogged the day her second son was born!

In this TwitLight she talks about kissing Spike from Buffy [Let's hope her husband isn't reading this!], spending too much time on the holodeck and keeps mentioning cake which I also now have a craving for.

Drumroll for @Pewari!

1. Where are you from?
Short answer: United Kingdom.

Long answer: I was born in Derbyshire, moved to South Wales when I was 11. At 18, I moved to Birmingham for university and lived there four years. Then there was 6 years in Croydon and for the last 6 years I’ve been in Worcester. Eventually, I have dreams of living within sight of the sea, but only if it has all the facilities of a thriving city next door and possesses a fantastic internet connection – I do realise this is an unrealistic combination.

2. How old are you?
35

3. What do you do for a living?
Argh – my least favourite question in the whole world!

I have been in various administration and customer service roles, a stay-at-home mother, a copywriter and an SEO administrator. I don’t believe any of these define me particularly well, though.

I could cop out and point at this post.

Alternatively, I could go for “I am a writer, photographer, mother, administrator, gamer, tropical fish keeper, camper, cyclist, knitter, amateur genealogist, kitchen cook, blogger, humanist and serial hobbyist.”

I’ll let you decide!

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Once upon a time, there was a game called EverQuest. It had a random name generator which I badly overused as I was always changing my mind what character to play. Pewari came from that and sort of stuck, despite the character now being lost deep in the mists of time.

The surname Naan is just my attempt at a very bad pun, but then I rather like very bad puns.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
As a child, I wanted to be something new every week – I have wanted to be a nun, an astrophysicist, and a counsellor to name but a few. As an adult, I haven’t changed much – I still want to be something different every week. If I ever work exactly what I want to be, or am in danger of growing up, I’ll let you know.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Amanda Palmer, “Runs in the Family” – but then I practically have that on loop at the moment.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I do. Link.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Peter Lovesey’s “The Circle” – although I’m a bit disappointed with it so far and can’t really get into it. It’s a shame as I’ve absolutely adored every other book I’ve read of his, so I’m guessing I should stick to his Peter Diamond series in future.

I’m also rereading through a compilation of science fiction short stories – I find it almost impossible to read only one book at a time.

I have a huge pile of magazines by my bed to read – a caravan & camping magazine, two past issues of Granta, several Lakeland catalogues, The Skeptic magazine and about a year’s backlog of puzzle magazines. I should probably get around to reading them rather than trying to stack them as high as the bedside table.

Oh, and I am also an Audible subscriber.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I’m in between games at the moment. Recent addictions have been World of Warcraft, Fallout 3 and Mario Kart, but I also love those little five minute type games – various solitaires, Diner Dash, Ranch Rush, that kind of thing. I’m looking forward to the release of Sims 3.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Cloudy and dull, with a slight hint of brightness over where the sun should be – I was hoping it would change its mind and be sunny in the afternoon, but so far it hasn’t obliged.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
There’s not a lot left of it – I need to pick up the youngest, sort out the washing and do a quick clean, then cook dinner and then collect eldest from his friend’s house. Fairly mundane, I’m afraid.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Buffy, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But only if I get to snog James Marsters. Lots.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Oh, tough one. I think any job that would require me to spend most of my waking hours on the Holodeck. That concept is so very very cool. Why would you want to bother with real life?

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I am terrible at waking up, especially in the winter (I get S.A.D. and have a light therapy box). However, once I’ve got going, I do all my best and most creative work in the morning, so have the potential to be unbearably perky. We may end up having words.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Tamlondon.org. I am *so* excited about this conference. I just hope all the tickets don’t sell out in minutes.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
A quick search on my blog shows my first mention of it in February 2008. I would imagine I became addicted fairly shortly afterwards! The SatScenes community has played a big part in that.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Mac, no contest!

I lost all respect for PCs when my Vista desktop suddenly decided it was a laptop and made its RAID drive self destruct. I wasn’t very impressed. That and having to hack into Vista to get anything to install properly drove me into an Apple store and I’ve never looked back.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Can’t I have both?

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am avoiding being productive and I am spending time filling out this questionnaire instead, but I must stop now and pick up the kids, because otherwise I’ll be spending a fortune on their psychiatry bills once they’re older!

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
What makes me tick? Oh that would be the alarm clock I swallo…. oh wait, that wasn’t me.

I would say that I am someone who both thrives on routine but at the same time craves variety and novelty.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
This photograph. I love playing with photoshop!

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• Pewari’s Prattle
• Flickr
• Twitter

23. Any more comments?
Yes… now, about that cake…

Thank you and yes, please don’t take the delay personally! ;)

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s the middle of the working week for most which means it’s about time to break up the boring routine and read the latest TwitLight!

I would like you to meet @thewilleffect. I first came across him all the way back in 2006, even though he doesn’t know about that! His site The Xbox Domain used to be hosted on wordpress.com, just like my blog is. As part of the community, the wordpress.com dashboard displays the most popular blogs and latest posts. For as long as I can remember, the The Xbox Domain was featured there and I stopped by every now and then. I don’t remember when I first saw him on Twitter and followed him, though.

He is an avid Twitterer [which, admittedly, describes everyone taking part in TwitLight!] and is best summed up with some of his more random tweets:

In the words of Charles Barkeley: I feel “Turrible”. #

@X3R0_9 I sense some hostility in the force. Other then that I don’t know what to tell you. #

The list of unwritten features I have is getting to embarrassing lengths at this point. Argh! #

Which came first? The games(the chicken), or the writer/gamer(the egg). That’s when the I should stop playing games to write about happens. #

OMG, now I have the hiccups. What next? I can’t catch a break. I’ve got to get something done today though, even if my fingers fall off. #

Do follow him to find out more about him and, of course, read this TwitLight!

Beat the Wednesday blues with @thewilleffect!!

1. Where are you from?
I’m from Michigan, otherwise known as the one of the most boring places in the world to most, but that’s why I’m here. I live in a suburb on the outskirts of Detroit.

2. How old are you?
I’m 26, although I rarely think about how old I am as to why I have to think about it when I’m asked sometimes.

3. What do you do for a living?
Borrowing from CheapyD of CheapassGamer, I’m an Internet Space Pimp. By day I’m the Co-Editor -in-Chief of The Xbox Domain. By night, I’m a merchandiser (driving a fork lift is apart of it) for a large retailer that anyone can guess the name of. My bills are mostly paid at night, but my true love is writing during the day. Sleep happens somewhere in there.

At some point I hope to make that my full time job negating the need for another job.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
The name most people know me by most other than my actual name is thewilleffect. It’s something I came up with years ago when I was writing an editorial piece about what eventually turned into the Wii. I wanted to explain the reasoning behind Nintendo’s message of family gaming in relation to what I felt was nothing more than a PR stunt (that ultimately worked I mind you). The idea was to write editorial pieces that gave incite into gaming that had a real impact and “effect” after they were read, hence thewill”effect”.

Although my gamertag isn’t of the same name. It’s Sacredleader, because that’s what I came up with on the spot the day I jumped on Xbox Live for the first time. When I’m at the top of a leaderboard it makes so much sense.

The question is just, how often are you on the top of a leaderboard?! ;) – Cat

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I want to be Kenny G when I grow up. Well, I once did want to be Kenny G.

I played clarinet and then Tenor Saxophone in school for over 8 years with the hopes of being a full time musician until my love for tech and writing eclipsed that of music. I was good enough to make it for sure, but it wasn’t meant to be after school.

My love for videogames attached to my love for writing quickly became all I could think about. Self teaching myself how to build computers and troubleshoot for years helped facilitate my interest in writing about videogames with this whole internet deal. Who knew? Some people actually use this thing.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
It would have to be the theme for Street Fighter IV eternally since that was released, but at the moment it would be Rage Against the Machine’s “Wake up”.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I do not. One more account would break my fine tuned (not really) balancing act.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
I’m currently reading 25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer again. It occurred to me that this article is dead on in so many ways the first time I read it. This time around it’s scary how accurate it is.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
At the moment I’m playing The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. I love it with all of it’s rediculuously hard blood lust glory.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
It’s nice and sunny. The way I like it, except for the part where it makes it extremely hard to get some sleep since I have to sleep during the day.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I plan to get some more writing in and hopefully some sleep as that’s what often ends up taking a back seat.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I’d like to replace Matthew Fox. If you watch Lost, then you know why.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Any job that would give me the most time with Deanna Troi. What? I’m a guy.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Yes. I’m known to not want to get up at all if I don’t have to. If you rush over hoping to get up right away you and I are immediately enemies.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
I’d have to say Pandora.com. I’ve known about it for a long time, but have just recently returned to it and rediscovered it.It’s still as great as it was the first time I used it. If you at the very least have any interest in finding new music Pandora is a must.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I’m not exactly sure. I’d guess it’s been well over a year now. I figure I knew I was sucked in when I realized it was hampering with my actual writing.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I want choice. As an analog to The Matrix, everything is about choice. Mac takes that away so to speak. Who’s side are you on? Neo, or Agent Smith?

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice Cream all the way. I’ve never really liked Cake all that much. If I’m going to get a bunch of icing why not eat “Ice” Cream instead.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am tired and I love it in some weird way, but that’s what reminds me of what I need to do to get what I really want, because in the end I know I’ll get there.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
Some people see me as a videogame evangelist by fault because I’m always championing the videogame medium not because I’m on a high horse, but because I find it ridiculous that so many people over look videogames because they have it in their head from society that games are for only for kids. Given that, lots of people either know me as that person who won’t shut up about videogames or they have no idea who I am at all depending on who I decide to let in on “the secret”.

On top of all of that I’m an avid sports junky (basketball above all else) at random times now. I used to be a sports nut maybe more than I’m in love with videogames and tech at one point. Also, I’m a pretty decent artist. All in all.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
Referring back to a previous question, I’d have to say the day I wrote a 3 page poem (I never liked poetry) about an ex-girlfriend on our last day of school. I didn’t intend on her ever reading it, but somehow she got her hands on it anyway. She quickly found me to say that she and I wouldn’t of broken up if she had known what I wrote in that poem. At that moment I was proud of the fact hat she finally knew who I was and I was okay with that.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

Of course, Twitter, on Xbox Live Gamertag: Sacredleader, The Xbox Domain, The PSN: ID Sacredleader and thewilleffect.com (I swear I’ll return there soon).

There are more, but that should do it.

23. Any more comments?
Be sure to checkout The Xbox Domain and our forums. It me up for some Street Fighter on Live. It doesn’t matter which game. I have them all.

And of course I’d like to give a gigantic hug to Cat for providing this forum for myself and all of those before and after me. You rock!

Why thank you! And thanks to you for taking part, you’re all awesome!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening or good night and thanks for reading yet another TwitLight! Today’s TwitLight is about someone I’ve briefly mentioned in @ingridf’s TwitLight last week which you really should read if you haven’t done so already!

But anyways, today it’s all about @akaSylvia and just like with many others I don’t even know where to begin! She speaks several languages, loves flying yet has a fear of landing and is a writer. Most importantly to many on Twitter, however, she is responsible for Satscenes.

Twitter Blog is the host of Saturday Scenes, photographs of people enjoying their Saturday from around the world. Simply tweet the url of your photograph (taken on a Saturday) to @SatScenes to be included. Follow SatScenes for more details and to see each set of Saturday Scenes as they come out.

Last week’s edition was particularly great.

In addition to creating SatScenes and bringing many people together she is a great person on Twitter and you should follow her if you don’t already!

Ladies and gentlemen: It’s @akaSylvia!

1. Where are you from?
I was born in Germany and grew up in California. I moved back to Europe in 1989 and my son identifies as English. We currently live in Spain.

2. How old are you?
41

3. What do you do for a living?
I’m a freelance writer

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
“Sylvia” is often taken on systems like this with a flat namespace. akaSylvia (also known as) is usually free (but not always and if you run into the akaSylvia who describes himself as a 50-year-old male, rest assured that that is not me).

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I wanted to be the first woman to walk on the moon. My teacher told me that I was being silly. The school principal asked me how I was going to deal with girls older than me who wanted to do the same thing – as only one person could be first. I gave up on the idea and now, 35 years later, it still hasn’t been done. I probably wouldn’t have made it through all that astronaut training anyway, though.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Oh no! That put me on the spot. I wasn’t really thinking about music but when I read the question, a Blondie song suddenly popped into my head:

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Yes, I’m akaSylvia on Last.fm but as I don’t tend to listen to music on the computer unless I’ve been drinking, the resulting collection is somewhat bizarre.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I play Everquest2 most evenings.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
It’s overcast and windy! I hope summer arrives soon.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I have a long list of articles to research and write. I probably will actually finish about half of it today.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
This is tough because I don’t really watch much television. I was thinking maybe Uhura from Star Trek but I think possibly I subconsciously read the next question!

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Uhura :)

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Very good. My friends and family know to avoid me for 30 minutes after I have woken up. Once I’ve had a coffee and some quiet time, I’m a lot more fun to be around.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
I’m still amazed at the cleverness and competence of Youtube. It’s hard to consider a web without it.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
I joined twitter around a year ago, maybe less. At first, I just used it to send links out and was a bit taken aback by the @replies I received from people. I felt like it was rude to talk to just one person.

Once I stopped thinking of twitter as a “one-to-many” broadcast system and started thinking about it as a chat system where I could define my own chat rooms based on following, I was addicted.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
PC.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
BOTH!!

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am grumpy and I feel guilty for being distractable and not getting much done, but I don’t beat myself up too much because I know in ten years I won’t even remember what made today upsetting.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]

Difficult! I want people to see me as happy and fun-loving and cheerful even though I know I’m not! I can be rather intense and serious and I guess that’s not a bad thing but it’s not really how I want people to know me. That’s a bit shallow, isn’t it.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I wrote an incredibly silly short story, not for publication but just for a group of friends. It had no purpose other than to make a couple of people smile. They did and I was very happy. :D

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

I’m all over the internet!

I have a blog about flying and travelling at Fear of Landing and also my online notebook Can’t Backspace.

And I’m on Flickr.

23. Any more comments?
Are we done yet? I’m running out of words! ;)

Thank you very much!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

It’s Karfreitag or, to all of you that don’t speak German, Good Friday. Time to eat fish and enjoy the long weekend that’s about to start. In Germany most places are shut and parties and the like are discouraged for the entire day which at least the older generations don’t do.

Talking about parties, it looks like @AlabasterC might enjoy Germany today seeing he still needs to recover from last night.

Yes. I decided to have a drink last night. Yes. I ate a million drinks last night. Yes. I feel dreadful. Thanks for asking. It helps. #

Yet my offer of a free espresso and a muffin couldn’t convince him to come here. Come on, man, Brighton to Germany isn’t that far!

When he doesn’t complain about being hungover he talks about everything under the sun. In fact, I’ve been trying to come up with things that I could use to describe him in this intro, but his interests are so varied, it’s been difficult! Read the interview for yourself!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s my honour to present @AlabasterC to you!

1. Where are you from?
Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, but I consder Brighton, Sussex to be my home these days.

2. How old are you?
24, and each time someone asks me that lately it takes me longer to answer. Early senility? Mostly.

3. What do you do for a living?
I currently work for the local Lieberry service. I got promoted (temporarily) into a management post that I don’t like. Well, I don’t like the management aspect, but it gives me the opportunity to work with children and young people, which I love.

The most heartwarming moment I had recently was when a kid I was working with said to me ‘D’you know what you should be when you grow up?’ ‘I’m still not sure actually, what do you think?’ ‘You should be a foster mother.’ My heart nearly burst.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It means virtually nothing, I just like the sound. Alabaster is a white (normally) stone (latin root is the word Albus, as in albumen (egg white), there’s a funny story about that, but I’ll save it for later) Crippens was the name of a famous Doctor who killed lots of people then ‘escaped’ to America, unfortunately, due to the recently invented telegraph machine he was caught by police in America and extradited back to the UK.

But none of that has anything to do with selecting the name. On an episode of The Day Today (British News Satire created by Chris Morris) there was an American ‘roving reporter’ called ‘Alabaster Codify’. I liked the rhythm of the word Alabaster as a name and the C following it, but wanted to seem original.

The psuedonym was first used for a column I wrote in a zine type thing me and my old uni housemates made, the original Alabaster was nothing but a ball of hate and rage, I may re-post some of his rantings at some point, but I worry that they’ll put off my current audience.

Oh, and my real name begins with Al, so there’s some sense in that.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I wanted be a writer, with a laptop and a second hand bookshop on the side of a hill with a beautiful view. Most of that is still true. The thing that has changed is that when I was little I wanted more than anything to NOT be a teacher (my mum is/was a teacher by trade). Now I see it as an almost inevitable part of my future.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Just watched the video for ‘Move any Mountain’ by the Shamen, but I want that out of my head so I’m going to find something to put on. I settled on ‘The Metal Glass Band’ by Kurt Weisman.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Yup. AlabasterC.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Idly surfing between watching telly (was watching doc on Fusion power, about to watch Band of Brothers or go to sleep). Overall, I’m normally reading about 8 books at once, but I’m currently getting through ‘The Elephant Vanishes’, a short story collection by Haruki Murakami.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I don’t game as much as I used to, but I’m getting qutie stuck into ‘Age of Booty’ a little cartoony, almost casual pirate RTS. It’s SO simple, but still quite rich. Nicely balanced. I like the fact that you can instantly feel like you’re interacting with the resource management of it. It’s quite visceral for something so simple and stupid.

I can’t get it to work online though, and I reckon it might be the first multiplayer game that I could get into at all (not quite first actually, I still lust for Goldeneye on the N64).

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Dark, windy and cold. But none of those things to a particularly unpleasant degree.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
It’s 11pm, so an episode of Band of Brothers, then time for bed.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Don’t quite understand the question. If you mean put myself in their position then it isn’t really my thing. I mean, I don’t think it’s healthy to spend too much time fantasising about the impossible, and I do too much of it already. I know it’s a cop out, but I really don’t feel comfortable thinking about it. Which is a little weird.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Teacher? Nah, screw it, the guys on that ship are way too uptight, fuck techno utopias, I’d don a red shirt and get on an away team asap.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
It depends on the conditions I wake up in. If I wake up naturally, I’m a cheerful fucker, and you’d hate me. If I wake up from an alarm or because someone’s woken me up before my time (apart from someone I’m sleeping with) then we’d get on well.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Rock, Paper, Shotgun is the best recent addition to my daily reads. That and MSpaintadventures.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Tue 15 Jan 2008 22:56 (apparently). But I didn’t find it at all useful or interesting until election night.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Oh fuck you. Make your own sodding decisions.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
see previous answer. Though I guess this one depends on my mood. Right now I want Ice cream.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am tired and I am a little lonely, but I’m still happy, because I feel like myself.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
Nice simple one for near the end?
I’m learning.

I’m always learning, and I’m always trying to learn more. I think if everyone realised how important that was to me, my life would be improved. It is also a huge part of my identity. It’s definitely the shortest answer I can give.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
It’s a toss up between my answer to the last question, and my housemate Ellie, who has done some amazing things recently off her own back and for virtually no gain. I admire that strength.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• Alabaster Cribbens doesn’t know what’s going on [Blog]
  
• Last.fm
• Twitter

23. Any more comments?
Sorry I ran out of patience towards the end. I am actually really tired. I also didn’t get a chance to even remotely mention the importance of feminism, gender and queerness too my life, which disappoints me a little. I guess that’s not where I’m at today. Anyway, thanks, this was an interesting set of questions.

Thank you very much!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

I would like you all to meet @ingridf, the latest participant of TwitLight! I first came across her via @akaSylvia [who will be on TwitLight next week!] several months ago. She has a great blog that you should definitely have a look at and she’s done some random videos, including this beautifully told story.

Say Hi to @ingridf!

1. Where are you from?
Ottawa, Canada

2. How old are you?
Old enough to know better.

3. What do you do for a living?
I write.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
It is totally non-creative. It is my first name and the initial of my last name.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I don’t think I’ll ever know. I want to be happy. I want to be creative. I want my life to be meaningful. And I want to play a lot. I think that’s what I hoped for when I was little.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Uh. I wasn’t. But now that you ask… “Hometown Glory” by Adele.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
No.

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Three balconies by Bruce J Friedman.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Haven’t played one in a long time. Am afraid of the time suck.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Rainy.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Tension: I start a new job tomorrow.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
If I could *be* them, you mean? I would be the character Lisa Kuddy from House.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Bartender.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
Excellent.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?

(It’s more about this specific video than it is the website)

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
About a year. When I met @lannagirl @elibrody @wolfgang @akasylvia and then, happily @carocat. :)

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I don’t care.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Cheese.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”
Today I am happy and I am tired, but also stressed, because I get tense easily.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
I’m awesome. Kidding. I’m driven by new experiences and moments in time that catch me off guard.

I don’t do well with prolonged routine. In fact it makes me crazy. But throw something new and unexpected at me and I’m happy as a clam. (If clams are happy. That’s something I’ve wondered about. Not frequently, but sometimes.)

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
My improv performance on Friday. I had *so much* fun. And it was a wonderful thing to make people laugh. Really amazing.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go? Feel free to mention any of your sites/projects/accounts here:
My blog – ice cream is nice cream.

23. Any more comments?
I am constantly surprised and thrilled by the amazingly cool, diverse, kind and thoughtful people I meet online. It really blows me away.

I wonder if we are just more open to each other, maybe more vulnerable than when you meet people in real life. It’s almost like we lay our preferences and wishes bare more easily when we can’t see each other. This makes me both sad but also happy about the freeing thing that goes on online. It also makes me worry that too much of my life has become an online one.

Thank you, Ingrid! :)

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

Today’s TwitLight is a man that has undoubtely made me laugh most times out of all the people that I follow on Twitter. I don’t actually remember how I first came across him or if he first started following me, but I’ve become so used to his tweets that I practically missed his tweets when his company disallowed the use of the internet and I’m glad to see he’s back in charge of their internet!

He refers to himself as BioWare’s bitch and can go on about their games for ages. The podcasts he co-hosts with @GamerEdie is a must listen for everyone, as are his episodes of ‘Panties in a bunch’ on the GameHounds Humpdate spinoff, although neither should be listened to around children as they can contain strong language.

In this TwitLight he talks about his work, his dreams of robbing banks, the perfect job on the Enterprise that I totally agree with and, surprisingly, doesn’t mention BioWare once! I promise, I didn’t make his love for them up!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to @CooperHawkes!

1. Where are you from?
All over, but currently living in Massachusetts.

2. How old are you?
40. Don’t look at me that way, it just means I’ve been playing games before most of you whipper snappers were zygotes!

3. What do you do for a living?
I dabble, mostly I’m a DBA, but I also Systems and Network Admin, it’s actually much more fun than it sounds.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Back in 1996 my favorite TV show at the time was “Space: Above and Beyond” and the character I most identified with was Paul Wang.

I would have used that name except I didn’t want people to think that A) I was making a bad penis joke, and B) I understood Chinese or Korean or Japanese. My second favorite character was Cooper Hawkes, so the name stuck.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I wanted to be an astronaut, then a journalist, then a movie director, then a movie writer, then a novelist, then I wanted to rob banks to live a lifestyle way beyond my means. Obviously none of the above worked out.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. The last 3 minutes of guitar heavy rifts sends me to a level of bliss higher than any drug you could take.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
I do, but I’m not on there nearly enough. ID is also Cooper Hawkes.. I think Cooper Hawkes has more a life online than David LaMont. Works for me!

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
“VMWare Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure” it’s a page turner, I hope it has a surprise ending!

(GASP!) The SERVER DID IT!!

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Currently playing mostly “Diner Dash” on my iPod Touch. I seem to remember belittling this game back when it was a PC flash game. Oh how far I’ve come.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Sunny and cold, just like me!

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I’m going to convert 8 million messages from MQX file into something an Oracle Database can read. After that I’ll pick up my son and take him to a therapy session. Hopefully he’ll fall asleep on the way home so I can put him to bed, make his lunch for tomorrow and maybe get five minutes me time before I conk out for my 5:15am wake up call.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
I would totally own the Matt Parkman character on “Heroes”, but I happen to adore Greg Grunberg so I’d have to say I’d love to replace James Callas on Battlestar Galactica. Not that I think he’s terrible as Gaius Baltar, or even that I can play him better, it’s for the Tricia Helfer love scenes.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
Cleaning the toilets. Because there doesn’t seem to be any on there, I’d just sit around in the bar the whole time!

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realized I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I’d be an awesome flatmate, because I loath the mornings. Have you ever been woken up and looked over at the clock and realized you still had 1 minute before the alarm goes off? Those mornings I hate the most because I feel like I was cheated of 60 whole seconds of sleep. PS. Do not approach me during AM hours unless there’s a cup of hot something in my hand. You have been warned.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
io9.com I Science Fiction based website, I do love visiting it.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Since the beginning, 2006. I never really got sucked into it until shortly after the demise of my old podcast GamerAndy.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
Sorry, the answer is: Depends. PC if you’re the type of person that doesn’t mind having to get his hands really dirty to do fun things. MAC if you just want to sit back, relax and let the computer do the thinking.

It’s my belief that SkyNet is a MAC.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice Cream Cake.

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am pissed and I want to scream, but I can’t because I’ll get fired, or shot at.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick? [aka describe yourself]
In retrospect Forrest Gump is a pretty shitty movie, but I was always charmed by that image of the feather in the breeze. I was also moved by that “floating accidental like” speech at the end of the movie. When I had my life’s epiphany, I realized that was me. I don’t plan, I don’t put things in place, I just go where the breeze takes me, and just own the situation as best I can.

People of said I’m a jack of all trades but a master of none. I don’t take offense, but I wonder what’s so bad about dipping your toes into as many pools as you can? Life’s too damn short, I find I’ll try anything at least one time.

Oh one last thing: I never forgive. Ever. You get one shot with me, blow that and there’s a slight chance you get a reprieve, but it depends on the situation, after that I’m done. You don’t get a third try to mess with me.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
When my son said to me: “Daddy, you be Chewbacca, and I’ll be Han Solo.”

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• I work at Gamehounds.
• Twitter: CooperHawkes
• Xbox Live: CooperHawkes
• PSN: Cooper Hawkes

Seeing a pattern? If you find someone called CooperHawkes (No space) That’s probably me.

23. Any more comments?
My favorite quote of all time:

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Make of that what you will. Thanks Carocat!!!

Thank you so much for taking part!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

The second TwitLight is all about @MelissaBianco who only started twittering this year or to be precise January 23rd and I’m both equally in awe and disgust at one of her tweets:

Melissa Bianco True Story: My sister once convinced me to eat slugs. She said they were caaaandy. And yes, I ate them.

Saying that I do have Molluscophobia..

She works as a game designer and has written her own book which I’m sure not many of us can say, is a Christian and reads a lot.

Her tweets are funny and about a variety of subjects, including some of her work, the titles she’s worked on and Gilmore Girls which reminds me that I really should watch it one day!

Please give it up for @MelissaBianco and do check out her website which I really like!

1. Where are you from?
I’m originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I’m currently living in California.

2. How old are you?
Man… Okay, fine. I’m 39 (for a few more months).

3. What do you do for a living?
I’m a Senior Game Designer (World Designer) for the online MMO City of Heroes / City of Villains. I’m the developer known as “War Witch” to players. I’ve been working on the project since before the game launched, about February 2002 is when I started at Cryptic Studios. NCsoft (the publisher) bought the IP last year and so now I work for them.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Well, originally my alias was @Miskela which is a name I’ve used on and off for years. Actually, it’s the name of the kennel that I bought my Sheltie from back in B.C. many years ago. BUT…it also sounds like my own name (Melissa) in Russian or Hawaiian or something. I decided to change it to @MelissaBianco because it was simply easier to remember and I wasn’t sure people could find me as well. I didn’t know how the whole Twitter thing worked and wanted to keep things simple, especially since I was going to TwitterFeed to my blog (http://www.melissabianco.wordpress.com).

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I want to be an author that actually makes money on her books.  I actually wanted to work in the film industry when I was younger, I’ve managed to do that through Christian projects on the side, mostly volunteer, so I do get to live that dream.  Oh wait, I thought of one thing I wanted to be when I was little.  I wanted to be Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie.  That hasn’t changed and, no, it hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll let you know.

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
That dang Sesame Street song. I racked my brain to come up with a really awesome song so that you’d think I’m a really deep and musically well-listened person and two songs came into my head nearly simultaneously: the Sesame Street “do doo do do do” song and the Three’s Company theme.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
A what now? Am I missing something cool and interesting? Send me a link. [Last.fm, it tracks the music you listen to!]

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
Well, I’m at work so a Confluence document on AI Behaviours, but at home I’m reading the classic, Frankenstein, and I’m listening to Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind on Audible for my commute into work.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
I just finished Fallout 3 “The Pitt”. Although I’m not a big fan of the crazy amount of swearing in the game, I do love the grittiness and post-nuclear war feeling of it and it’s just dang fun. I finished Fallout 3 a few months ago and then the “Anchorage Alaska” update came out and it was merely “meh”. So I was really looking forward to “The Pitt” in the hopes that it would be more like the original came, which it was.

Was it all that I thought it would be? Yes and no. It was great fun and it was cool, but it ended wayyyyyyy too quickly. I guess I’m just going to have to wait for Fallout 4.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Warm and sunny, pretty much like most days in Northern California.   Except for those two weeks a year where these little droplets of water from heaven come down and we all go, “Ahhhhh…”

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Well, I’m at work so I have a game update to work on for the next several hours. Around noon I’m going to head out to 24-hour Fitness with a co-worker to go do our first Kickboxing class. This should be one-part wretched and three-parts humiliating, but I’m going to give it the college try. After that, if I’m not on the floor gasping for desperate breath, I’ll get changed and come back to work to whip up a very quick sandwich and soup.

When I get home tonight, I’ll water my newly-planted herb garden and have a few words with my Tarragon and Parsley and the Sugar Snap Peas – you know, egg them on a little, give them some encouragement. Then I’ll rummage around for some food, watch some television, and check my email and Twitter (maybe Facebook if I feel like it). Finally, toward the later part of the evening, I’ll do some more writing on the novel I’m working on. And check Twitter.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse in Tru Blood. I’ve read all of Charlaine Harris’ books and I envisioned Sookie as more of a younger Kristen Bell or an unknown actress with compelling beauty (for story reasons), but also with the range to take on “bright and cheerful” and “serious emotion”. Don’t get me wrong, Anna is a powerhouse actress – I know about the Oscar, but I have a hard time buying her as a) cheerful and b) southern. I also don’t see her as a blonde and her eyebrows and hair in the pilot episode were so “just dyed” that they were downright distracting.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
With my lack of scientific intelligence, probably an admin for sick bay.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realised I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I’d be your BEST FRIEND, honey. I don’t warm up until I’ve been up and moving for a little while. I’m a late-nighter, not an early-riser. I can do it, but not for very long.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Well, besides Twitter, I’ve been trying to – ugh – get a little more active and eat better so I have discovered a cool website called Fat Secret. It’s a completely wretched name for a website, but I suppose all of the good ones were taken. At the very least, it’s memorable.

Anyway, it’s like an online diet tracking and social network website and it is FREE. So far, there are no ads, either. I even wrote about it on my blog I was so pleased with it. Anyway, that’s on my hot list today. I know, not very exciting, eh?

About Real Life:
When Jessie Sutherland, an opinion writer for ‘Angel Weekly’, suffers a few personal and romantic setbacks, her self-esteem takes a nosedive. In an effort to kick-start her life, she accepts an assignment vaguely described as ‘a makeover piece set in an exotic location.’

In REAL LIFE, Jessie finds herself on a crazy adventure in the Australian rainforest with a quirky all-male crew and her gorgeous (and conceited) co-worker, Grant Davidson. Jessie is confronted with challenging (and wacky) situations and must come to terms with her fears and weaknesses as she faces each of them head-on. Along the way, Jessie realizes that she is a strong and independent woman whose perception isn’t absolute and that love can happen if she’ll just get out of its way.

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realise you were sucked in by it?
Not barely three months and by my 200th post. Oh, and when I sat up hitting the refresh button so that I could find out what Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore think about William Paul Young’s “The Shack”. It was very surreal to be reading a celebrity’s tweets – like a major gap between two chasms had been bridged. Very surreal. I also had to stop following them because I realized that Twitter isn’t like a chat channel and my conversations were pretty much one-way.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
PC, only because it’s what I have.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Uh, you have to ask? Ice cream! You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! What catchy bits have they written about cake lately? (waits for the onslaught)

19. Fill this out however you want: “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am one day closer to 40 and I may be older than I once was, but I really don’t mind because I am far wiser now than I ever was at 20.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick?
Oh man, how much room do I have?

I want people to know that I am a Christian and a smart, independent, and logical individual; a gamer and a girl, a developer and a writer, a step-mom and a geek, and I’m trying to live my life to the best of my ability and to live for something bigger than me.

I love meeting new people and I love to be nostalgic about times when I was younger. I absolutely love reading and writing and have written and self-published one book and am working on my next one.

I’ve lived in two countries and though I miss Canada, I really have to say I love the weather in California (except when it’s too hot, then I get a little whiny). I can be both very friendly and engaging and sometimes shy or aloof. As cheesy as it sounds, I’m constantly a work in progress.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I published my book, Real Life.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?
Okayyyyy, you asked for it:

• IMDB: Melissa Bianco
• Facebook: Melissa Parker Bianco
• Twitter: @melissabianco
• Homepage: MelissaBianco.com
• Blog: MelissaBianco.wordpress.com
• MobyGames: Melissa Bianco
• LinkedIn: Miskela
• Work: City of Heroes / City of Villains
• Zazzle: Miskela
• MySpace: Miskela
• Amazon: Real Life
• ParagonWiki (City of Heroes website): Melissa_Bianco

23. Any more comments?
No, I think you know me better than my own mother at this point.

Than you very much for taking part in this, it’s been great getting to know you a bit more!

TwitLight is a Twitter Spotlight posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also have a look at all the previous TwitLights and you are more than welcome to take part, too!

The first guinea pig participant of TwitLight is @FrustratedFury. One of the reasons I picked him as the first is that I remember following him early on when he joined Twitter as @cory_grimes was podcasting with him and for some reason it’s nice seeing how people go on from first using the service.

In this TwitLight he talks about wanting to be the captain of the Enterprise even though he has a fear of heights, the difficult road of finding his Gamertag,  and his preference for icecream. And ladies, he’s working out!

Meet @FrustratedFury!

1. Where are you from?
Athens, Ga

2. How old are you?
23

3. What do you do for a living?
I work in security for Toyota distributions otherwise known as a security guard.

4. What does your alias/nickname mean and how did you come up with it?
Funny story for that one. Originally, I had to pick a “gamertag.” I had no clue of what a gamertag was, so I just hit random. It came up with “HeadfirstVance.” My name is not Vance in any way. I soon found out that your gamertag is what people know you by. So I promptly changed it to FearFreedom kinda like, you know, the war on terror? I stuck with that for a good two years until my online friends started calling me frustration all the time due to my attitude to playing games. I then changed it to FrustratedFury and called it a day.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up and has that changed at all since you were little?
I have absolutely no idea of what I want to be “when I grow up.” I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, but that really didn’t pan out too well. (Fear of heights.)

6. What song are you thinking about right now?
Indestructible. The theme song to Street Fighter IV.

7. Do you have a Last.fm profile?
Nope, but I do notice a lot of my friends do…

8. What are you reading at the moment? [Book, magazine, website, Wikipedia article..]
I read a lot of Game Informer when I can. I’m also enjoying Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.

9. Which video game are you playing these days and is it as good as you thought it would be? [provided you play video games that is!]
Well, as previously mentioned I play a ton of Street Fighter IV. I’m somewhat of a fighting game aficionado. I’m also playing through Resident Evil 5 and Killzone 2.

10. What is the weather like at the moment?
Very rainy and a little chilly.

11. What are your plans for the rest of the day?
Record a podcast and play a few more games.

12. If you could replace anyone in any TV show, who would you pick?
Tom Selleck in any male lead of a television show. He was Thomas Sullivan Magnum, IV in Magnum P.I. which was the most awesome show ever created.

13. If you had the chance to work on the Enterprise [Star Trek ship!], what job would you have?
You kidding me? Captain! I just want to say “Engage” all the time.

14. Seeing that I’m a grumpy person in the morning I’ve realized I can’t live with people that are overly happy as soon as they wake up. Would you be a good flatmate?
I get up at 4:45 every morning so you probably would see me until 2:00pm. So, yeah, I’d be an awesome flatmate (we call them roommates over here.

15. What is the best website you’ve come across recently?
Failblog.org

16. How long have you been on Twitter for and when did you realize you were sucked in by it?
I’ve been on since I started working for PS3evolved.net so, about seven months? I was hooked right away. I only wish I could type more in one post.

17. Settle this question for me: PC or Mac?
I have never even touched a Mac so I guess by default, PC.

18. And another one: ice cream or cake?
Ice cream without a doubt. I can only have cake once or twice a year, usually during birthdays and special events. I just get sick of it really fast.

19. Fill this out however you want:  “Today I am ____ and I ____, but ____, because ____.”

Today I am sore and I frown, but I feel great and happy, because I’ve been working out and getting back into shape.

20. What do you want everyone to know about you, who are you, what makes you tick?
Well, my full name is Drew Leachman. I’m a fun loving guy. I did decent in both high school and college, but have absolutely no direction. I am a huge geek and tell everyone.

I live by two statements: #1. Never make a promise you can’t keep. #2 If you put too much thought into what other people think about you, you’re not putting enough emphasis on what you think about yourself.

21. What is the last thing that you’ve felt proud about?
I have started working out again. I haven’t worked out in over 5 years.

22. If I wanted to stalk you on the internet where would I have to go?

• I’m on Facebook under Drew Leachman, of course.
• I also co-host a podcast called Evolved Gaming. You can find it both on iTunes and EvolvedGaming.
• I am also a writer for PS3Evolved.
• I have both an Xbox Live account and PlayStation Network account under the name FrustratedFury.
• And, of course, I have a Twitter account where you can follow all my antics.

23. Any more comments?
I’m always looking for new contacts, whether it is for gaming or just fun friendly conversations.

Also, give my website and podcast a try. We’re always looking for new listeners. Plus, we give out free stuff on the show sometimes so, keep an open ear! Thanks again for letting me answer these questions. I’ll catch you guys later!

Thank you very much for taking part in this!

That’s a list of things I wanted to get done on this blog today ranging from sorting out some pages, clearing up the sidebar, transferring more content from cat on tumblr and creating new pages.

How many of the things listed on that piece of paper have I actually done? That’s right, none of them.

Instead I have found new ways of procrastination by starting an entirely new project – TwitLight. Go me, I guess..

Over the next few days I’ll be adding content to some pages that are just placeholders at the moment:

• Books
  
• Knitting
• Music
• Photos

And I’ll be updating the Archives page as it’s months out of date.

I’ve been thinking of having Twitter spotlights on my blog, like interviews getting to know people a bit more. Anyone interested? #

Truth be told I’ve been thinking about this idea for a long time, but never mentioned it on Twitter until earlier today. The responses I received about them were great and several people offered themselves as guinea pigs to take part. And so the idea of TwitLight [Twitter Spotlight] was born!

There are a total of 23 questions, some more random than others and I’m planning to post a new TwitLight every Monday and Thursday Monday, Wednesday and Friday as the response has been incredible so far!

That means I need some more people taking part though! People like you reading this post. Are you interested? Then DM me on Twitter, contact me or leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can contact you.

Thanks in advance!