"Five-Second.net"

[Nate the Great]

That's right, there is a site where people compress stuff down even further than we do. It's called Book-a-Minute Science Fiction and Fantasy. Check out the condensation of City on the Edge of Forever and Lord of the Rings!http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/sff.shtml

[Zeke]

For those of you keeping score at home, this is about the fifth time someone at 5M.net has discovered Book-a-Minute. Here's a previous thread. I stand by what I --

Whoa, that previous thread looks awful.

[MaverickZer0]

Rinkworks has all tons of cool stuff, too. Like the Computer Stupidities page, which is a must-read for computer geeks (though I'm sure there's none of those here...)

[Nate the Great]

So great minds think alike. I hope you won't hold my ignorance against me. I stumbled upon the site in a roundabout way, so for all I knew I was the first 5M.net fan to do so. No offense or aggravation meant.

[MaverickZer0]

No. It's pretty good, since we are keeping score and all.
Since this is the fifth time, I think the entire site deserves a reward in the form of pie.

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by MaverickZer0

... I think the entire site deserves a reward in the form of pie.

I like it when things work out that way.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability

No offense or aggravation meant.

None taken. I was just pointing out you weren't the first. Now if you go "discovering" Sev Trek, then we'll talk about aggravation.

[Nate the Great]

Oh yeah, I used to love Sev Trek, but ever since they went to the Dark Side and made everything except the current comic require a membership, I've dropped them like a hot tribble.

[Hejira]

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability

Oh yeah, I used to love Sev Trek, but ever since they went to the Dark Side and made everything except the current comic require a membership, I've dropped them like a hot tribble.

I left before that happened. When I surfed down Nostalgia Lane recently and saw the subscription stuff, I got sad.

But at least I invented the 'tupos ate bell' phrase. Ahh, memories.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Now I don't feel quite so bad for ganking one of their punchlines for one of my fivers (though it was one that something like half a dozen people had submitted).

[Marill]

Oh yeah, I used to love Sev Trek, but ever since they went to the Dark Side and made everything except the current comic require a membership, I've dropped them like a hot tribble.

"Ironically" that's why I stopped going too. My visits were limited previously as the material wasn't as funny as it used to be, most of the new stuff was some Terrible Two's which I only found one even a tiny bit funny, the rest were well.. pretty bad. The other reason was the lack of Voyager/TNG/all other shows I liked getting coverage, it was always Lord of the Rings, Terrible Twos and some other sci-fi stuff I didn't like.

Woe is me for being so picky, but at least I wasn't completely mortified when the paid membership thing came up. Isn't it enough that I pay monthly for my internet and my own website? >_< I understand the bandwidth problems, [moany rant]but that means that they are popular, and well in my nearly six years online I've never come close, my bandwidth only came an issue on Geocities and that was cos they limited the account stuff for upteinth time[/moany rant]

Wow as usual, I write too much

[Opium]

Well, there are also plays that do this sort of thing... for instance, "Shakespeare Abridged" and "All the Great Books". It's a good concept, and when done well...like it is here, and in the plays I've mentioned above... it's really, really funny and original.

Not to mention that many community theatres do parodies of their shows after a show has closed, just for fun, and just for the cast and crew and family members...

Okay, okay, I've gone on long enough. But my point is, when it's done well, it's really really funny!

[Sa'ar Chasm]

Well, there are also plays that do this sort of thing... for instance, "Shakespeare Abridged" and "All the Great Books". It's a good concept, and when done well...like it is here, and in the plays I've mentioned above... it's really, really funny and original.

There was a king sitting in his garden,
when his brother in his ear poured a vial full of hemling,
Stole his crown and his money and his widow,
But the dead king wafted down to haunt his son and said "Hey, kiddo,
I'm your father and it's your duty to avenge my death on Claudius,
Kill him quick and clean and tell the nation what a fraud he was."
The kid said "Well, I'll do it, but I'll have to play it crafty,
And so no one will suspect me I'll let on that I'm a dafty."

[Nate the Great]

If you're talking about The Reduced Shakespeare Company and
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged
The Bible Abridged
All The Great Books Abridged
etc.

Then I must agree. I have their DVD and their radio show.

Wouldn't it be a reasonable compromise for Sev Trek to make the entire archive accessable, but require registration for punchline submission?

I think that when you get right downt to it, far too many webmasters become influenced by MONEY. In fact sometimes I think that all webmasters should take an oath that goes something like:

"If I do not copyright my characters, style, or work prior to posting a single page on the Internet, then my work does not belong to me. The words do, but I will not be bothered by plagarists. On the other hand, I will not sell merchandise containing anything that did not originate with me."

Case in point: Sean Howard of A Modest Destiny. He started what is arguably one of the best pixel comics out there (still second to Kid Radd ), but when Penny Arcade started alegedly using similar sprites he went ballistic. That was bad enough, but when his site suddenly went from PG to PG-13 (accomplishing nothing, by the way, in terms of quality of storyline), he just turned me off. He should've taken my Webmaster's Oath.

It's sort of a "create your own stuff, but don't take it too seriously" mentality. I realize that I've gone way off topic, but what else is new? Opinions?

[Opium]

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability

If you're talking about The Reduced Shakespeare Company and
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged
The Bible Abridged
All The Great Books Abridged
etc.

Then I must agree. I have their DVD and their radio show.

Yup, those were the ones I was talking about! They're great. Take some thinking power, but they are great.

[e of pi]

I've seen the Shakespear one live. It's good.

[Nate the Great]

I hope that the Shakepeare show comes closer to me one of these days. I check their website every once in a while, but they don't really come to Minnesota (even though we're the culture capital of the upper Midwest), but they do go to piddling little college campuses in Iowa. Call that logical, 'cause I don't.

[evay]

yeah, Sev Trek stopped being funny a long time ago. That's what happens when you go for sheer mass quantity over quality. (Which is also why I never worry that Zeke's stuff is late. I'd rather wait for a really good laugh than get prompt pablum.)

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability:

In fact sometimes I think that all webmasters should take an oath that goes something like:

"If I do not copyright my characters, style, or work prior to posting a single page on the Internet, then my work does not belong to me. The words do, but I will not be bothered by plagarists. On the other hand, I will not sell merchandise containing anything that did not originate with me."

How do you define how a webmaster should copyright something? In the U.S., at least, pretty much everything original is automatically copyrighted. You don't have to register it at some office somewhere or pay for anything like you do with a patent.

If my work is original, why shouldn't I take it seriously? If I take the time and effort to come up with a unique character or comic strip etc. why wouldn't I go ballistic if someone else tried to make a reputation from it without my permission?

[Nate the Great]

Beats me how you copyright ANYTHING. No idea.

If stuff is automatically copyrighted, then how do you explain the Penny Arcade/Modest Destiny fiasco?

[PointyHairedJedi]

I can't see Zeke ever being influenced by money. On one occasion I tried to pay him to take all his clothes off and run around outside for five minutes really quickly (though whether it would actually be the equivalent of a forty-two minute stroll I could not say). He declined, strangely, so next time obviously I'll have to get him drunk first.