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If so it'd mean I'd have to be truly horrible on here a couple of days a month to build up enough good karma to tied us through the rest of the month - calling people all sorts of names and posting up the Tharg's Filthy Shocks series I have been working on (and perhaps Tharg's Filthy Socks too).

IT'S TIDE US THROUGH.
CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?
STUPID FUCKING CUNT.

[spoiler][/satire][/spoiler]

Got mine at the weekend. Read it and enjoyed it. As others have said- the articles weren't as utter shite as last time, but they still do nothing for me. It doesn't matter a jot, though- on strip alone this is still a good buy.

I still don't have a clue what Rex Royd is all about. The art seems a bit inconsistent and unsure of itself. I found the [spoiler]'God-rapes-Eve and gets lynched and skewered by a baying mob'[/spoiler] bit rather humorous, but I don't believe in God so I don't find it offensive at all- no more so than [spoiler]'Santa/ the Easter Bunny-rapes-Eve and gets lynched and skewered by a baying mob'[/spoiler]. No one has ever died of offence; but religion has killed, maimed, discriminated against and made pitiful the lives of countless thousands over the years... so fuck 'em.
But still, I'd like to know what the fuck is going on in the story!

I'm liking Nemesis a lot too. American Jesus looks OK too- the colour is a bit insipid for my taste, but that's hardly a major concern. I nearly bought the GN of this a wee while back, but bought a couple of Jonah Hex ones instead as they were on special offer and I got 2 for much the same price, so that was a fortuitous decision.

Well, for me it's not very portable at all. I only have a home computer to view it on and thats stuck in one place. Which is exactly the opposite- extremely inconvenient.
I know what you mean about music, pops- it's really hard to get anyone to bother listening to you despite the fact that youy are offering free downloads or the ability to listen online.
The ease of getting stuff into the publics face is also a problem- too many people doing it, so you get a bit lost in the crowd.

I suspect web comics may have a similar problem, though I don't know.

Sorry for the double post (yeah, right) but I thought I'd better point out that I AM all in favour of digital comics- having done artwork for part 1 of one. Ideally when it's finished, I'd like to have a physical copy, and the digital is free to download or view. I also have some cbr / cbz of some golden age American comics and have comical installed, so I'm far from 'against' digital comics. As I say, I just wouldn't pay for one.

1. BMB
2. JT Pegg 02
3. Darren Stephens

HM: Buttonman. I like how he's pulled his own cock off in that pic!

Interesting to read.
I also hear a difference, and often perceive a digital noise in the background of mp3, which I sometimes mistake for the phone ringing. Lower sound quality has always been most noticeable on my car stereo which is usually insanely loud and has my mp3 player plugged in. I have a mixture of mp3 and wav on there and I can definitely hear the difference.

Indigo Prime- could the loss of your top and bottom end might be attributable to repeatedly re-saving the same mp3 file? (I imagine it would be re-compressed each time it was saved).

True about the destruction of hearing- I stand in front of a fucking great speaker cabinet with the treble horsed up and boosted with a combination of pedals. Mine is fucked.
Vinyl (and audio tape) does give a warmer tone than cd- even with high quality music files, it seems colder and harsher, but not by a lot. You have to be really listening to notice, rather than it just being background noise.

7" and 12" vinyl are both still in production. There are pressing plants in Europe that I know of. Not bad pricing too, and you can get all manner of weird and wonderful vinyl from picture disc to funky colours. Dunno about over here.
Last I heard sales of vinyl were outstripping cd sales, as the general consumer seems to be opting for downloading rather than cd, and connoisseurs are opting for vinyl. CD is in danger of becoming obsolete.

As far as mp3 goes- yes you can set your quality higher or lower- but it makes no difference and obviously a shitty quality sound will be even shittier in mp3. Mp3 is a lossy compression format, as is wma. Try ripping a song from a cd to '.wav' format (which is meant to be lossless) taking note of the file size, then rip the same song again into mp3 format and check the file size. Here's a comparison:

Song ripped: 'The Farce of Propaganda' by Bin Laden's Daughter
ripped to .wav, file size is 36.2MB
ripped to .wma, file size is  3.31MB
ripped to .mp3, file size is  3.27MB

That's less than a tenth of the size of the .wav, and all that data isn't nothing. What you get instead is digital mush underlying the music, though barely discernible it is there. Think of mp3 as being the jpeg of sound files. ie: crap, makes little difference how good the original master is. Files on a commercial disk are usually cda format (also lossless, but encrypted- which is why you have to rip it) but I have seen .wav files on a few. You don't need to rip these, they are totally unprotected and you can just directly copy them.
I know bands who give away free albums as downloads in a low bit-rate mp3 format, to give folks an idea. They know that those who really like it will buy the album on vinyl or cd anyway to get better quality music.

Yes, I was fairly certain it was still possible to get magnetic tape- though it can be difficult. You still get a lot of people using cassette 4-tracks to record (mines a pain, you're not meant to use Ferric tapes, only Chrome Oxide and the scant supply of cassettes up here are all Ferric, which is 'normal'). Of these bands, I know of none who then get it pressed to vinyl- invariably they transfer to computers then to cd. The whole reason they have a 4-track is to stay out of a studio (either for financial or philosophical reasons).

It's true that there is a certain kudos to be had in having a vinyl, particularly with rock music, but not exclusively. anyone in a band will tell you that- having a cd out is great, but having a vinyl out- now that's special.

Those statements either show your age or your media inclination, or perhaps both.

a) So what? Are you suggesting that, because I am older, my opinion doesn't count?
b) Yes- that's right, I would not buy something that does not physically exist. It does show my 'media inclination'- it is toward a real-life object that exists in a physical form. So I don't really know what your point there is at all as neither of these hold any water as arguments for moving entirely to digital.

I have no problem with you getting digital comics. Knock yourself out. The prospect of being able to bypass publishing/ printing/ distribution is a great thing for beginning creators or underground comics as this drastically reduces the overheads of comic production.
I would have a problem with me not being able to get physical ones. I only argue for choice- why would anyone have a problem with that?

I know plenty of people who'd nail you to the wall for the second comment. To them, vinyl is still it. They despise the idea of music becoming digital.

Heh.
I think you may be misunderstanding my meaning in saying that music isn't physical. Music is sound, which isn't physical- it's sound waves. Saying that music was the only thing that I'd pay for that didn't physically exist was supposed to be a marginally humorous aside regarding gig-going rather than buying music).
However...
Those friends' opinions are slightly naive- even for cutting a master to make vinyl from, the initial studio recording is generally digital and the 'master' is a cd. Sure, there are still some companies that will use tape, but I suspect there would be relatively few. All I've ever seen in studios is digital- the recording going into a computer from the mixing desk for mixing and mastering. Which means all you're really doing is copying the cd onto a vinyl.

There are a lot of elitist and generally crap attitudes in music. What cd does is allow bands with no real financial clout to get their music out there as quickly and cheaply as possible, for underground music that seeks to exist outside of the music industry and under control of the artists alone- this is essential. Most of those bands (ironically enough) despise cd and would choose to release on vinyl. I
also means that any fuckwit can make a cd, which is why there is an attitude of elitism about vinyl- only serious bands invest in vinyl and are more concerned with the sound quality than those who could, but choose not to release on vinyl.

My own view is that a band that is serious about the longevity of their stuff, who have enough cash, should really opt for vinyl.
Let's face it, cd's have all the longevity of a haddock in the sahara and mp3 is the shit-smeared arse-end of 'quality' and anybody who pays for mp3s either has not a fucking clue about the pitiful sound quality they offer, or else simply doesn't care (usually because they are listening through crappy earphone speakers, crappy phone speakers or crappy computer speakers; or else because it's just background music that they aren't really listening to- therefore sound quality is an utterly moot point).
So, though I'd subscribe wholeheartedly to the idea that 'vinyl is better', I also understand that cd has a very important role to play for beginning bands and for underground music.

Sure things change, but people don't have to accept it. Like mini-disk, betamax, BSB, razor combs, single giant slippers for feet etc.

I'm not willing to pay for something I haven't really got. So I won't be subscribing to any comics digitally. Music is different- it's not really a physical thing. A comic on the other hand is a physical thing. You can take it out whenever you want, move it around, lie reading it in the bath, take it shopping and sit in the car reading it. Computers are great in theory, but for most of us, they come with lots of techno-baggage, are much higher maintenance than we can be arsed with and are about as mobile as a supporting wall.

I'm all for the choice being there for those who want digital,but I see nothing wrong with formats running in tandem, giving the buying public the ability to choose. Replacing one format with another removes any choice from the consumer, fulfilling your own prophecy by dint of engineering it to be that way. It doesn't necessarily mean that the consumer is happy about it.

[Comics Nerd In One-In-A-Bed Asthma Attack Shocker]

...though I note he restrains himself from pointing out that comic fans don't institutionalise homophobia while unironically hero-worshipping a group of men with no actual life skills in what can only be objectively described as a homoerotic fashion.  I'm also pretty sure comics fans don't have racially motivated riots at conventions...

I realise, of course, that there's a bit of tongue in cheek about this- but you're making exactly the same sneering, sweeping jibe about your average football fans.
Yes, there are a small minority supporting any club who have motivations and there are those who 'just like tae get a bit handy'. But what about the thousands of others that watch it religiously, whether at the game or on TV, that never bother anyone? Hooligans exist in all walks of life- they aren't defined by the fact that they like football, they also have jobs (or not) and lives outside of watching the fitba; because in the end we're just people- some of us even read comics.
On top of that, the media likes to play up the 'football hooligan' angle, whereas 'Comics Nerd In One-In-A-Bed Asthma Attack Shocker' doesn't really have the same ring of sensationalism to it.

I'd also like to point out that many football players do have life skills. There are a large number of part time players in the lower leagues. These guys work full-time day jobs that run the gamut of social class (tradesmen, businessmen, accountants etc), train with a club in the evenings and play for a pittance at the weekends. The stereotype of a football player or fan is as much a stereotype as 'comic book guy'.
Until people can learn to take people as they find them, rather than categorise them according to some arbitrary social factor, it will always be tit for tat.
And we're not all right wing bigots either. There are many well documented actively anti-fascist firms all over Europe, and on a more liberal level there are many people who take a stand against racist taunting at matches. It's really far less prevalent than casual racism at work, in the street or down the pub.
Football has long been associated with violence, but then so have drinking in pubs and nightclubs. So have Weddings.

Anyway- I kind of agree with the idea that there is some basis in reality. We are all much closer to Comic Book Guy than we'd like to believe. Just take a look at some of the threads in here. It's all there in black and white, guys!

Ah yes- of course. Well spotted, Jimbo. He wore the bird feather cloak and a kind of skull cap too, didn't he?

See, now the thing about this whole objection to 'a magazine aimed solely at blokes' nonsense is that there are many, many publications aimed solely at women and no-one bats an eyelid. I don't care if women have magazines tailored specifically for them (nor that some blokes read them either) so why should men not have magazines aimed solely at them. Women could still read them if they wanted to. It's not like there's a nationwide newsagent proscription on selling to women.
It's a shit argument, more whining - would your average reader of 'Generic Women's Magazine' be ok about it if the two male readers started demanding that there be articles about guns, fighting, car repairs, football, beer and womens part's.
I doubt it.
Any magazine can be read by any person who likes the content, regardless of gender.

Anyway- I'm liking Ben Willsher's artwork on Dredd. It's great.
Got the Ravenmaster- Excalibur-Merlin reference in Defoe, which is building up nicely. Great art again.
Dante was good.
Age of the Wolf is okayish- too many captions of flowery prose overall for my liking, it feels like reading an illustrated story so far. Spotted the Bolt-01's.
Low Life is meh. I don't like Dirty Frank, don't like the story or art, don't like anything about it really.

Well done, LS  masterfully done- especially considering I nearly gave it away.
Twice.

Happy Birthday Ush