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skbl17

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Everything posted by skbl17

  1. First, I must congratulate you. This is a very good, detailed writeup on how to create an MLP OC properly, and everyone who plans on creating an OC should read this. I just want to elaborate on a few points you made: - I do agree that using Pony Creator to create an OC, only to use that as your OC's picture is not a good idea. However, using Pony Creator to get a general idea of what you want your OC to look like isn't a bad idea. Once you have a good idea of what your OC will look like, then get a commission or request, or break out the Inkscape, Ponyscape, Photoshop, Illustrator, or GIMP to actually create a good picture. Pony Creator can serve as a good foundation, but should not make up the whole building. - That last point. It is a point of serious contention in this community, and opinions vary dramatically on whether it's okay to create alicorn OCs. Personally, I find myself in the camp of those who don't really care what race an OC is, as long as said OC makes sense in the context of the roleplay, story, or fanfic (s)he's a part of. Plus, there are fanfics, roleplays, and other fan stories that develop alicorn OCs well, so creating an alicorn OC is okay, but doing so mandates increased scrutiny and detail in creating the character and his/her backstory to ensure that (s)he doesn't come off as a "Mary Sue" or out of place. Creating an alicorn OC just for the heck of it isn't the best of ideas.
  2. (I still like parentheses)

  3. A one month VPN subscription...for the World Cup.
  4. If an OC has absolutely no flaws or shortcomings, is perfect by every definition of the word, and is incredibly powerful (i.e. more power than Princess Celestia), that makes him/her a bad OC in my book. Now, I don't really care for race in determining if an OC is "bad": if a user wants to create an alicorn, that's fine by me; just having an alicorn OC does not automatically make him or her a bad OC. Sure, alicorns may be predisposed to falling into "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" territory, but digging deeper and looking at said OC's personality, backstory, and abilities to see if (s)he truly qualifies as a bad OC never hurt anypony.
  5. Technically, yes. In my opinion, part of being patriotic is not only embracing your country's strengths, but also acknowledging and addressing the country's problems as well, and believe me, for as many strengths and positives it has, the U.S. also has a lot of shortcomings that need to be addressed (i.e. the economy, immigration, infrastructure, healthcare, etc.). That being said, the U.S. is a great country, and I'm proud to call it home.
  6. Device: Samsung Galaxy S4 (since January 2014) Carrier: Verizon Wireless OS: Android (4.3 - Jelly Bean) I use my device frequently, unless I'm at home, where my mobile use decreases sharply because of my laptop. Now as for whether internet experiences are better on mobile or a desktop computer, I choose the latter. Mobile sites are getting better design-wise and more feature rich (I'm a web developer, and the trend is clear,) but on most sites, I still prefer desktop versions because the mobile site(s) lack features that I frequently use.
  7. Time to breakdown my username! Where does the "skbl" come from? When I was younger, I was very interested in school buses. Here are these giant yellow vehicles that have the tough job of safely transporting millions of students from home to school and back every day; so as a young kid, I was pretty intrigued by what they are and how they work. Of course, I was an "enthusiast", but I picked the "l" to denote "lover" instead...looking back, that wasn't such a good choice. The "17" stems from my age at the time I created this account. The thing is, I've adopted "skbl17" as my unified user identity on various websites, so if you ever come upon a "skbl17" on any other site (minus deviantART), that's probably me!
  8. High school: Technically, my "bedtime" was 9:30pm and I was supposed to wake up at 6:30am. To hay with that, the internet is too addictive for such! My actual sleep pattern involved falling asleep at around midnight and waking up at 6:20am. Every now and then, it would vary even more: falling asleep at 1am, waking up at 4:30am, etc. Often, I wouldn't feel groggy or tired in class the next day. I guess I've gotten used to getting 5-6 hours of sleep on a regular basis. Summer and winter vacations: Generally, you can't reach me between 3:30am and around 1pm when long breaks come around. During the summer or winter break, when someone asks me why I go to bed so late (occasionally as late as 5am during the summer) and wake up in the early afternoon, I tell them that it's because of summer (or winter break)! College is too wild to even pin down any kind of pattern. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't have much of a "pattern" to begin with!
  9. Mosquitoes and "palmetto bugs" (flying cockroaches). I can't stand those dang things, especially the former!
  10. 121,004. 878,996 away from a million!
  11. I'm a bit more reserved in person, but that's the only real difference between my "online" self and my "offline" self.
  12. 71lbks...."ks", whoever that is, weighs 71 pounds, I guess?
  13. 120,563! Man, it's been a while since I posted on this site.
  14. Technically, the United States has been using the metric system since 1866, but the reasons for our continued use of non-metric units is complicated. In 1866, Congress allowed use of the metric system for the first time. The 1893 Mendenhall Order standardized our system of customary units to metric units; the U.S. customary system we use (not the same as Imperial) has been defined in terms of metric units ever since. In fact, we were a signatory to the original Metric Convention of 1875. Fast forward a century. In 1975, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which provided for the creation of a U.S. Metric Board to support an orderly, voluntary transition of the U.S. to metric. Unfortunately, as the rest of the world made mandatory conversions to metric in the second half of the 20th century, the voluntary nature of our switch led to a general feeling of apathy (and in some cases antipathy) towards a switchover to metric. Bottom line, support for metrication dropped off after the 1970s, and the Metric Board was abolished in 1982. Of course, not all is bad for metrication supporters. Most science, medicine, and engineering fields use metric extensively or exclusively, and manufacturers have begun listing quantities such as length and volume in both metric and U.S. customary, with some even listing units solely in metric; a 2 liter bottle of Coca-Cola is a prime example of this. Some roads in the U.S. also use metric units alongside customary units, or, in the case of Interstate 19 in southern Arizona, almost exclusively metric1. Most of this was done in preparation for the U.S. Department of Transportation's switchover to metric in the 1990s; legislation prevented that plan from advancing. Also, some legislators believe that now may be the time to move forward on metrication, as a state legislator in Hawaii has introduced legislation that, if passed, would mandate the use of metric units in all Hawaiian public institutions, including public roads, beginning on January 1, 2018. Now, all that being said, I support a mandatory, but gradual switch of the U.S. to metric, beginning with public institutions. It's easier to use (base ten versus our current system), and it's already used by much of the rest of the world, so trading would be a bit easier. By phasing out all aspects of customary units in public education early, a gradual switch of road signs to metric units, and long-lasting public service announcements detailing the changes, the foundation for a full U.S. adoption of metric would be laid, prompting more private companies and businesses to switch. After about a generation or so, Americans would be able to, in theory, work and live by metric units only. Of course, customary would take a while to die out in this country, and there would be the inevitable private business or noncompliant local or state government that would say no to metrication and engage in a process not too dissimilar to the "massive resistance" policies of the 1950s and 60s. And no, the NFL wouldn't have too many problems, as 10 m = 10.936 yd. So there's that. 1 As the Arizona DOT installs new signs, however, Interstate 19 is gradually being switched to customary. Speed limit signs were already listed in miles per hour.
  15. I do both: traditional drawings and digital vectors. At the moment, I prefer digital vectoring, but I have a drawing tablet that I need to get used to.
  16. 7621. I'm sitting here wondering when our power grid becomes a casualty of the ice storm.
  17. I'm a verbose person, so I like that Facebook doesn't have the 140 character limit Twitter does. Facebook lets you edit posts, add notes, etc.. Twitter is better for the quick updates, but I like Facebook more.
  18. Freezing rain, snow and sleet here in Atlanta. It's eerily quiet. I still have power, but 120,000+ do not.
  19. Less than ten hours from getting smashed by an ice/sleet/snow storm!

    1. Malinter

      Malinter

      batten down the hatches XD

  20. 7494. How much time will it take to get to 10000?
  21. Some of these are under different usernames: MLP Forums Reddit Facebook Twitter Minecraft deviantART (deactivated on February 7, 2014) Google (Gmail only) Microsoft (Outlook/Hotmail only) TVNewsTalk.NET AmericanWX
  22. Ice storm catastrophe this week! Crap.

  23. 7454. I wonder how many more pages this will take...
  24. Well, these would not fly in the United States at all: Summer vacation is way too long. 2.5 months?! Come on, it should be 3-4 weeks maximum. Mandatory urban growth boundaries. Living in a sunbelt metro area, I've seen the craziness of sprawl firsthand. We should have some form of utility bill surcharge or license fee to fund PBS/NPR; the mechanism would be similar to some public broadcasters in Europe, like the BBC. Taxes should be raised nationwide to fund infrastructure improvements across the country. You know, the works: high speed rail, a national fiber optic network, funds for PBS/NPR (if #2 above doesn't fly,) and....wait for it....a full switch of all road signs and weather forecasts to the metric system! This is for the community: Recursive fanfiction. Sure, some fanfics you read can be so good and of such high quality that you want to write a fanfic set in that universe. Now multiply that thought by 800-1,000. It gets very repetitive after a while. Shipping can be unbearable at times. Honestly, the only ships I approve of are those that are canon, not implied ships or fan pairings.
  25. 7417! Ninja edits are possible.
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