Coldguy on Streaming

I wasn't intending to write this tonight but I recently received a message from LK stating that I was no longer allowed to be voiced in his stream. At first I was a tad shocked on this manner since to me it came out of left field however due to his reasons I can understand why he feels the need to do this. It is after all his stream and if he wants to go and set ground rules then that is fine. I mean if I were to come to your house and did not follow your rules that would be rude of me.

However the more I got into thinking of this manner the more I realized that as of late I tended to be the problem with various online avenues. I mean don't get me wrong I don't INTEND on being a jerk to anyone, but am I acting like a jerk?

Maybe a little explanation is in order.

When I go and stream or do something where I am putting myself online I try to be as lax and calm as can be. Sure there are times where I am not in a good mood and need to get things off my chest, but overall I try to be nice. My goal is to chat with the people of the chat room and talk about various things that may or may not be relevant. Essentially I am shooting the shit as they say.

During that time I may go and tell jokes, talk to other people, and answer questions honestly. All in all I try to have a good time on streams and for the most part people seem to enjoy that. I do not go into a stream with a mission to plug something or to sell myself or to ask favors for anyone, I just go in and have a conversation and let it take me where it needs to go.

This message recently had something in it that I was confused over and was wondering if it is true. I was "monopolizing" the conversation on the stream to the point where people were complaining. In my conversation I try to include everyone in the conversation from the people who are also streaming to the people in the chat room, so when the word "monopolizing" comes into play I need to tilt my head and beg the question on whether or not I did that.

I mean I do not INTEND on taking over the conversation and just have general chit chat, but I am smart enough to know that maybe I am doing such a thing subconsciously. As far as I have been aware of people enjoyed talking to me to the point where I actually was invited into a stream after posting a message saying that I was depressed on twitter.

Was that it?

I mean I was invited into a stream feeling like shit after coming to the realization that I am in some debt and needing to find a way to go and pay it off in full, I was emotional at the time and was talking from the hip, however I was invited to share that information and got great support from an emotional time.

Was it all of the My Little Pony talk? In a chat room that will often talk about disturbing images and discussions my little pony was my joke of saying. "Oh yea that may be disturbing but a kids show about ponys will make you want to be happy and positive." It was my little jab to make the conversation into something more positive.

Was it the fact that sometimes if I was playing a game I would say "if you want to watch me play the game hop on my stream" in no way I meant that as a self promotion, more or less saying that if you want to see what I was doing, and since the video is going to be nothing more then a desktop image to have an addendum to the chat itself. I understand if you hear me getting frustrated but have no context as to why, I was trying to allow you an avenue to see why.

Was it the fact that I sometimes streamed live concert footage from indie bands? Ok I admit that most likely was the main issue, however I tended to go and pick non signed artists and when the notice was in effect of the RIAA issues on the stream I stopped that immediately to avoid getting LK in trouble. See the station of its your house and I follow your rules statement.

So in short, if you want to see me stream follow my twitter or my >Stream page and I be happy to talk to you when I am going to stream. If I caused you any issues for streaming late night/early morning I would like to say sorry for that. My intent was simply to have fun and if I did not make you have fun I simply did not do my job. If you actually want to voice a complaint please feel free to make a comment so that I can address it and ensure that it does not happen again.

I once was sad but feel a little better getting that off my chest, so until next time take care.

Coldguy on Trains

Ok so this isn't a super serious post but recently did something that you may or may not have done yourself so let's share my first with you all. I went to PAX, in Boston, and had an awesome time. I was tempted to go and use my car to drive 6+ hours to the venue only to realize that I would be driving into NYC in the middle of the busiest rush our traffic.

Yea...

So instead I chose another mode of transportation, the train. Now couple things about the train I did not know and might be helpful for you to know.

1) The Acella Express is not worth it. For an additional $150 I could be at my destination in an hour and a half less time, however add that to the price of the train and it would be the same as a plane in a longer amount of time. So unless you really need to get there or are a business person avoid this train.

2) Security is awesome. I literally showed my ticket and got on the train, no scanners, no probes, no x-ray machines, just a dog sniffing my bag and moving on. So if you do not like the tsa, these people are cool.

3) No need to reserve your ticket at all. Trains are big, really big, and they almost never get full. So if you are not sure of exactly what time you are going to leave its cool. Go to the ticket counter tell them where you want to go and they give you the option, it is quick and easy to do.

4) First class is for laptops. This might sound odd, but the perks of first class and coach isn't that big of a deal. The only difference is a foot stool, extra leg room, blinds for your windows and having a conductor tell you what the next stop is rather a giant loud speaker. So if you have a laptop and intend on working on it for the duration of your trip then first class is for you, otherwise stick to coach.

5) The food court is your friend. The food court is so close to the gates that it is very nice, so take advantage of this fact and load up before going on the train for the ride. If you eat on the cafe cart it will be both overpriced and not good to eat. There is enough of a variety for you to go and eat several good meals, use this to your advantage.

6) Park away from the station. Overnight parking was between $25-$32 a day, if you are smart take advantage of the fact that the majority of connecting cities have regional lines that will take you directly to the main train hub. Use this since parking overnight is by far the cheaper alternative, or better yet arrange to be picked up or dropped off.

7) You will not sleep on the train. Unless you have earplugs, a eye mask and drugs that will knock you out, the train has so many bumps in the tracks that will make you not feel at all that you are having a smooth ride and will not get in a conformable position in either first class or coach to get some rest.

8) There is no AC. Unlike planes you do not have a small AC vent to keep you col and you will sweat a lot, bring a battery powered fan to keep yourself cool and relaxed.

Those are my thoughts on riding the train. Will I do it again? Most likely yes since I am close enough to several train stations to take me to a major station that goes up and down the East Coast. So if I were to travel to Boston or DC this would be a viable option. Else where and then I am looking into another mode of transportation.