entombed in the shrine of zeroes and ones

I'm not a man who's prone to laughing at stuff that's supposed to be funny.  I will smile, even chuckle, but true laughter happens sparingly.  So when i tell you that there's some mad Englishman on the arse-end of the world who reviews video games in such a manner as to make me laugh hard at least once during the 3-to-4 minutes each review lasts, well, that's because he's one funny motherfucker.  Yes, i'm talking about "Yahtzee" and his work that he calls "Zero Punctuation".  His savaging of the state of gaming-based Webcomics paralyzed my diaphragm and left me gasping for air.  The fact that i'm reading the preceding paragraph in a Yahtzee-like voice in my head is proof that his style is pervasive and that my brain is irrevocably broken.

en_ki posted a couple of videos regarding the state of our civil rights when it comes to being visited by the police (plus a couple of apropos links).  It's well worth the 49 minutes that both take to watch, if you can spare the time.

Please see today's Rhymes with Orange.

As some of you already know, A Miracle of Science, by electroweak and ksleet, reached its conclusion a couple of weeks ago.  Those of you who have not checked it out may now visit it and read it in its entirety.  It is a fine piece of work, true science fiction with well-developed characters, a well-paced plot, and creative, expressive art.

In the finale, Mark recommended some other Web comics to occupy the time that readers had been devoting to AMoS.  I have adopted three of them:

• Gunnerkrigg Court (also see gunnerkrigg), a story about a young girl in an English boarding school who converses with spirit guides, ghosts, and fairies, builds robots, and has a good friend who helps her to not be so damn serious.  The artwork is very good.
• Crimson Dark (also see crimsondarkrss), a far-future tale of humanity and war.  The setup is very Firefly (minus the Western stuff), but the dialogue is not Whedon manqué.  The art is laid out in Poser, but it doesn't feel as prefabricated as you'd think.
• Storm Corps (also see stormcorps), a story that bravely straddles science fiction and fantasy, bringing together humans and aliens via technology that mysteriously breaks and wreaks persisting devastation across both worlds.  Lots of derring-do and excitement, but the characters are a tad mythic and flat, and the artwork is a bit Disney.

Foxtrot explains Web 2.0.

For the 2% of people without the latest and greatest version of Flash, i give you the cartoon in glorious PNG format:

"Marjorie is remarkably quick."

Someone drop me a line when pVp is funny again.

Sticks and Stones is drawn and written by talkingcricket, who announces updates on his journal.  I recommend it.

Loose Parts is a recent discovery, and it comes close to having the Far Side Nature, certainly more than any other "wacky one-panel" cartoon.  The artwork doesn't have that idiosyncratic nature, but it's not bad.  And i've liked Ballard Street since i first saw it, and i'm amazed at how it's kept up its almost impossible blend of the crazed within a staid suburban milieu.

Lastly, instead of chasing around various comic strip feeds on LJ, which might end up getting canceled anyway, set up an account at ComicAlert, then syndicate it on LJ (and if you have a free account and can't syndicate feeds, ping me and i'll set it up for you).

Those of you who don't follow syn_promo but do follow A Miracle of Science will probably be glad to find out that it has been arsissified, and may now be found on LJ as miracle_science.