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nebris · 4 years

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How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive

In 2015, Bic launched a campaign to “save handwriting.” Named “Fight for Your Write,” it includes a pledge to “encourage the act of handwriting” in the pledge-taker’s home and community, and emphasizes putting more of the company’s ballpoints into classrooms.

As a teacher, I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could think there’s a shortage. I find ballpoint pens all over the place: on classroom floors, behind desks. Dozens of castaways collect in cups on every teacher’s desk. They’re so ubiquitous that the word “ballpoint” is rarely used; they’re just “pens.” But despite its popularity, the ballpoint pen is relatively new in the history of handwriting, and its influence on popular handwriting is more complicated than the Bic campaign would imply.

The creation story of the ballpoint pen tends to highlight a few key individuals, most notably the Hungarian journalist László Bíró, who is credited with inventing it. But as with most stories of individual genius, this take obscures a much longer history of iterative engineering and marketing successes. In fact, Bíró wasn’t the first to develop the idea: The ballpoint pen was originally patented in 1888 by an American leather tanner named John Loud, but his idea never went any further. Over the next few decades, dozens of other patents were issued for pens that used a ballpoint tip of some kind, but none of them made it to market.

These early pens failed not in their mechanical design, but in their choice of ink. The ink used in a fountain pen, the ballpoint’s predecessor, is thinner to facilitate better flow through the nib—but put that thinner ink inside a ballpoint pen, and you’ll end up with a leaky mess. Ink is where László Bíró, working with his chemist brother György, made the crucial changes: They experimented with thicker, quick-drying inks, starting with the ink used in newsprint presses. Eventually, they refined both the ink and the ball-tip design to create a pen that didn’t leak badly. (This was an era in which a pen could be a huge hit because it only leaked ink sometimes.)

The Bírós lived in a troubled time, however. The Hungarian author Gyoergy Moldova writes in his book Ballpoint about László’s flight from Europe to Argentina to avoid Nazi persecution. While his business deals in Europe were in disarray, he patented the design in Argentina in 1943 and began production. His big break came later that year, when the British Air Force, in search of a pen that would work at high altitudes, purchased 30,000 of them. Soon, patents were filed and sold to various companies in Europe and North America, and the ballpoint pen began to spread across the world.

Businessmen made significant fortunes by purchasing the rights to manufacture the ballpoint pen in their country, but one is especially noteworthy: Marcel Bich, the man who bought the patent rights in France. Bich didn’t just profit from the ballpoint; he won the race to make it cheap. When it first hit the market in 1946, a ballpoint pen sold for around $10, roughly equivalent to $100 today. Competition brought that price steadily down, but Bich’s design drove it into the ground. When the Bic Cristal hit American markets in 1959, the price was down to 19 cents a pen. Today the Cristal sells for about the same amount, despite inflation.

The ballpoint’s universal success has changed how most people experience ink. Its thicker ink was less likely to leak than that of its predecessors. For most purposes, this was a win—no more ink-stained shirts, no need for those stereotypically geeky pocket protectors. However, thicker ink also changes the physical experience of writing, not necessarily all for the better.

I wouldn’t have noticed the difference if it weren’t for my affection for unusual pens, which brought me to my first good fountain pen. A lifetime writing with the ballpoint and minor variations on the concept (gel pens, rollerballs) left me unprepared for how completely different a fountain pen would feel. Its thin ink immediately leaves a mark on paper with even the slightest, pressure-free touch to the surface. My writing suddenly grew extra lines, appearing between what used to be separate pen strokes. My hand, trained by the ballpoint, expected that lessening the pressure from the pen was enough to stop writing, but I found I had to lift it clear off the paper entirely. Once I started to adjust to this change, however, it felt like a godsend; a less-firm press on the page also meant less strain on my hand.

My fountain pen is a modern one, and probably not a great representation of the typical pens of the 1940s—but it still has some of the troubles that plagued the fountain pens and quills of old. I have to be careful where I rest my hand on the paper, or risk smudging my last still-wet line into an illegible blur. And since the thin ink flows more quickly, I have to refill the pen frequently. The ballpoint solved these problems, giving writers a long-lasting pen and a smudge-free paper for the low cost of some extra hand pressure.

As a teacher whose kids are usually working with numbers and computers, handwriting isn’t as immediate a concern to me as it is to many of my colleagues. But every so often I come across another story about the decline of handwriting. Inevitably, these articles focus on how writing has been supplanted by newer, digital forms of communication—typing, texting, Facebook, Snapchat. They discuss the loss of class time for handwriting practice that is instead devoted to typing lessons. Last year, a New York Times article—one that’s since been highlighted by the Bic’s “Fight for your Write” campaign—brought up an fMRI study suggesting that writing by hand may be better for kids’ learning than using a computer.

I can’t recall the last time I saw students passing actual paper notes in class, but I clearly remember students checking their phones (recently and often). In his history of handwriting, The Missing Ink, the author Philip Hensher recalls the moment he realized that he had no idea what his good friend’s handwriting looked like. “It never struck me as strange before… We could have gone on like this forever, hardly noticing that we had no need of handwriting anymore.”

No need of handwriting? Surely there must be some reason I keep finding pens everywhere.

Of course, the meaning of “handwriting” can vary. Handwriting romantics aren’t usually referring to any crude letterform created from pen and ink. They’re picturing the fluid, joined-up letters of the Palmer method, which dominated first- and second-grade pedagogy for much of the 20th century. (Or perhaps they’re longing for a past they never actually experienced, envisioning the sharply angled Spencerian script of the 1800s.) Despite the proliferation of handwriting eulogies, it seems that no one is really arguing against the fact that everyone still writes—we just tend to use unjoined print rather than a fluid Palmerian style, and we use it less often.

I have mixed feelings about this state of affairs. It pained me when I came across a student who was unable to read script handwriting at all. But my own writing morphed from Palmerian script into mostly print shortly after starting college. Like most gradual changes of habit, I can’t recall exactly why this happened, although I remember the change occurred at a time when I regularly had to copy down reams of notes for mathematics and engineering lectures.

In her book Teach Yourself Better Handwriting, the handwriting expert and type designer Rosemary Sassoon notes that “most of us need a flexible way of writing—fast, almost a scribble for ourselves to read, and progressively slower and more legible for other purposes.” Comparing unjoined print to joined writing, she points out that “separate letters can seldom be as fast as joined ones.” So if joined handwriting is supposed to be faster, why would I switch away from it at a time when I most needed to write quickly? Given the amount of time I spend on computers, it would be easy for an opinionated observer to count my handwriting as another victim of computer technology. But I knew script, I used it throughout high school, and I shifted away from it during the time when I was writing most.

My experience with fountain pens suggests a new answer. Perhaps it’s not digital technology that hindered my handwriting, but the technology that I was holding as I put pen to paper. Fountain pens want to connect letters. Ballpoint pens need to be convinced to write, need to be pushed into the paper rather than merely touch it. The No.2 pencils I used for math notes weren’t much of a break either, requiring pressure similar to that of a ballpoint pen.

Moreover, digital technology didn’t really take off until the fountain pen had already begin its decline, and the ballpoint its rise. The ballpoint became popular at roughly the same time as mainframe computers. Articles about the decline of handwriting date back to at least the 1960s—long after the typewriter, but a full decade before the rise of the home computer.

Sassoon’s analysis of how we’re taught to hold pens makes a much stronger case for the role of the ballpoint in the decline of cursive. She explains that the type of pen grip taught in contemporary grade school is the same grip that’s been used for generations, long before everyone wrote with ballpoints. However, writing with ballpoints and other modern pens requires that they be placed at a greater, more upright angle to the paper—a position that’s generally uncomfortable with a traditional pen hold. Even before computer keyboards turned so many people into carpal-tunnel sufferers, the ballpoint pen was already straining hands and wrists. Here’s Sassoon:

We must find ways of holding modern pens that will enable us to write without pain. …We also need to encourage efficient letters suited to modern pens. Unless we begin to do something sensible about both letters and penholds we will contribute more to the demise of handwriting than the coming of the computer has done.

I wonder how many other mundane skills, shaped to accommodate outmoded objects, persist beyond their utility. It’s not news to anyone that students used to write with fountain pens, but knowing this isn’t the same as the tactile experience of writing with one. Without that experience, it’s easy to continue past practice without stopping to notice that the action no longer fits the tool. Perhaps “saving handwriting” is less a matter of invoking blind nostalgia and more a process of examining the historical use of ordinary technologies as a way to understand contemporary ones. Otherwise we may not realize which habits are worth passing on, and which are vestiges of circumstances long since past.

Josh Giesbrecht is a writer, artist, programmer, and public-school teacher based in British Columbia, Canada.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-ballpoint-pen-killed-cursive?utm_source=pocket-newtab

#handwriting

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bi-baudelaires · 4 years

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shout out to Teresa from the geeky con Starkid set 2015! she was adorable and honestly i’m proud of her for just being able to sing an impromptu duet with Joe Walker in front of all those people and keep it together, it was so cute and she did so well!! Teresa wherever you are I hope you’re doing okay💓

#this is such a random post but it’s from the heart #she did so well!!!#starkid #rant

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schaefferisqueen · 4 years

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The Superior GBTH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxui3tjYa7U&list=PL7vBkUUtimebMJtczDryqxP8hkLkvCHKX&index=21&t=0s

FIGHT ME I DARE U THIS IS THE BEST

dont kill me I love og and homecoming but oOMG this one slaps so harddddd

#avpm #geeky con 2015 #4 min going back to hogwarts #going back to hogwarts #no hate #but #so much better #than og #dylan saunders #joey richter #brian holden #joe walker #jaime lyn beatty #clark baxtresser #lauren lopez #September 1st #HOGWARTS DAYYYY

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momarket · 3 years

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WHAT IS BLUEHOST?

Bluehost is a web hosting company owned by Endurance International Group (EIG). It is one of the 20 largest web hosts, collectively hosting well over 2 million domains. The company operates its servers in-house in a 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) facility in Orem, Utah. Bluehost employs over 750 people in its Utah facility.

BLUEHOST FRONT DESK

EIG has offices all over the world. At Bluehost we have the bulk of our 700+ employees in Utah. There are also a number of employees in various locations around the world who work cross-functionally with other EIG brands including Bluehost. Matt Heaton first conceived Bluehost in 1996. However, he first created two other web hosts, 50megs.com and 0catch.com, before finally settling on Bluehost in 2003. In 2009, Bluehost introduced a new feature called CPU throttling. CPU throttling (at Bluehost and similar hosting services) refers to the process of reducing user's CPU usage in whenever the particular user is pulling "too much" server resources at one time. At that particular time, Bluehost would freeze (or drastically reduce) client sites' CPU usage substantially. This effectively shut down clients' websites hosted on the Bluehost server for several hours throughout the day.

In 2010, Bluehost was acquired by Endurance International Group. In June 2011, company founder Matt Heaton announced on his blog that he was stepping down as CEO to focus on the company hosting platform's design and technical structure, while COO Dan Handy took over as CEO.

THE ADVICE FROM THE CEO JAME GRIERSON

In 2013, Bluehost introduced VPS and dedicated server hosting.

In January 2015, Endurance International Group appointed Mike Olson as CEO of Bluehost, while Dan Handy moved to enterprise-wide mobile development for small businesses.

In January 2017, the company announced that it will lay off 440 Bluehost employees at Utah, in an effort to consolidate its business to improve customer support.

THE BLUEHOST SIGN

Bluehost is One of the premier shared/VPS/dedicated hosting solutions for websites, domain names, email, eCommerce, SEO marketing, & more. Bluehost offers various hosting solutions including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting and WooCommerce hosting as well as professional marketing services. Their servers are powered by PHP 7, HTTP/2, and NGINX+ caching.

At Bluehost they focus on delivering high quality technology and innovative solutions for their customers. Bluehost was among those studied in the analysis of web-based hosting services in collaborative online learning programs. At Bluehost we focus on delivering high quality technology and innovative solutions for our customers.

At Bluehost they core competency is hosting. They do offer many complimentary products to help customers succeed online including design, marketing and other small business services. they have a number of hosting products. If you break it down they have shared, VPS, Dedicated and Cloud offerings. Within each of those categories they have multiple product lines that help meet customer needs. For example, they have a specific hosting plan on their shared product for eCommerce customers located at www.bluehost.com. This plan includes everything the user needs to get started with an online store including hosting, dedicated IP, SSL certificate, WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin and themes pre-installed.

What does stand out about this company is that they’ve been around since 2003 and host over 2 million websites. They’re one of the most popular, inexpensive, shared hosting options available.

Originally they just offered shared plans, but they now provide a variety of services including domains, cloud hosting, and a variety of hosting options including hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce.

Like every company, they come with both pros and cons. And, being one of the largest hosting providers in the world, it proves many have faith in them. According to the Consumer Rankings, they are ranked at 9.7 out of 10 by users.

They have some of the cheapest hosting plans in the industry. Plans start at $2.95/month at the time of this writing.

GOOD FOR WORDPRESS

· Bluehost is a good option for WordPress because its new Bluehost platform is a WordPress focused control panel offering an integrated experience with WordPress websites.

· Installing WordPress is a breeze, you can either go through the 1-click automatic WordPress installation process, or you can get WordPress installed on an account set up when you sign up.

· Bluehost delivers WordPress pages 2-3 times faster than the prior technical stack, and it comes with built-in NGINX page caching.

· Every WordPress website will benefit from the latest security and performance features such as:

1. Free SSL certificate

2. PHP7

3. WordPress staging

4. Unlimited GB SSD storage

5. NGINX caching

6. Free Cloudflare CDN

7. HTTP/2

Endorsed by WordPress:

One of the largest hosting platforms, WordPress, recommends them. FYI Site Ground is also a WordPress.org endorsed web hosting provider. These are, of course, paid endorsements (at least indirectly as both Bluehost and Site Ground sponsor lots of the WP conferences around the world), but nonetheless it’s still an official endorsement.

Good uptime:

Apart from page load times, it’s also important that your website is “up” and available to your visitors. I monitor uptime for a test site hosted on Bluehost to see how often they experience outages.

Security is a priority:

Bluehost offers good protection for your website. They provide secure shell access (SSH) so web devs and admins can access config files securely. SpamExperts, Apache SpamAssassin, and Spam Hammer are their anti-spam tools of choice.

Bluehost offers other security features such as an IP address blacklist, password protected directories, email account and user account filters, and access to manage digital certificates and private keys.

Helpful user support portal:

They provide 24/7 technical support. In addition to that, they have a knowledge database where users can check out video tutorials, review supportive documentation, and more.

The knowledge database works well for those who don’t want to wait around for phone or live chat customer service. Also, their YouTube channel contains tons of helpful tutorial videos.

Quick Start Plan:

For those that have no clue where to begin, they have a Quick Start Plan for $79.99. This 45-minute session gives you 1-on-1 training with a company expert.

You’ll learn how to use all the tools in the account such as a cPanel guided tour, site builder recommendation, theme and plugin installation assistance, page creation tips, email account guidance, and other general advice you may have.

Many hosting providers offer free training, so some(I) could consider paying for the Quick Start Plan as a bad feature. But if you don’t have time to wait around and need all of this training in one sitting, it could be a plus for you.

A variety of hosting options:

If you’re looking to stick with just one hosting company as your business grows, Bluehost has an answer for that. They provide four plans, so you don’t have to switch for server upgrades as your site grows: shared hosting, cloud hosting, WordPress hosting VPS, dedicated server, and reseller hosting plans are available.

Generous extras:

As a part of their hosting package, you get a free domain name for the first year. Also, for those looking to boost their business marketing, Bluehost offers advertising credits on Google’s AdWords, Bing, and other leading sites.

Bluehost WordPress Pro:

BLUEHOST WORDPRESS PRO

WordPress Pro is Bluehost’s newly launched managed WordPress hosting platform that is optimized for WordPress websites to load fast and to be secure. WordPress Pro comes with an all-in-one marketing center and dashboard, where SEO, email marketing, and social media tools all come included.

WordPress Pro is more expensive than Bluehost’s other plans and prices start at $19.95 per month. Speed and security are the main features but it also comes with geeky features such as automatic WordPress core and plugin updates, and regular backups and a staging environment.

Go and (check out the WordPress Pro page) LINK"" to see what is included. It’s worth noting that you get live customer support with Grow and Scale, and for these plans Bluehost also gives you hands-on assistance with design, functionality, or general questions from real WordPress experts 24/7.

Reviews:

· Bluehost isn’t perfect – but Bluehost is one of the best web hosts for WordPress beginners offering automatic WordPress installation and solid features including a free domain name.

· Sure, it’s an all-round, cheap, and overall good web hosting company for when starting your first site but people do tend to either love ’them or hate ’them.

· Do I recommend Bluehost? Well yes and no because it depends on what you're after. It's a good web hosting option for personal and small business websites and blogs (i.e. for creating your own first website) because Bluehost is cheap (very cheap), reliable, secure, and comes with a free domain. However, for high traffic websites it (or any other shared host for that matter) isn't a very good choice. Other major letdowns are that automatic backups and site migrations only come as paid upgrades.

#web hosting #bluehost #web development #website #design

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pnprpg · 6 years

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Victoria’s One Man Studio

Local animator lands $100,000 TELUS grant and development deal with Corus

Animation is a complicated business, involving dozens – sometimes hundreds – of people, from the pre-production phase to the final touches of a background.

It would seem that no one ever told that to Victoria-based animator Denver Jackson.

Jackson, 30, has been working independently in animation since 2013. Since then he has released three animated shorts, signed a TV development deal with Corus Entertainment, won top awards at international Academy Award-qualifying festivals, and received a $100,000 grant from the TELUS Storyhive competition, all while animating almost entirely on his own. So, what’s his secret?

“I never went to animation school,” says Jackson. “I think it’s good because you don’t know how much work it’s really going to be if you don’t go to school for it. No one is going to tell you ‘Oh you’re going to do all this yourself? That’s impossible. Don’t do that.’”

Jackson’s first public foray in solo-animating came in 2013 when he began work on the fantasy action/romance Cloudrise. Tackling an entire 9-minute-long animated short on your own is no small task, with up to 24 individually drawn frames in a single second of film. Jackson says the key is breaking it down into pieces, making each individual stage much less intimidating than the whole.

“Every stage was a project,” says Jackson. “I didn’t think about the whole thing until the very last stage, putting it all together, because I think if you think about the whole thing then it’s going to get overwhelming.”

Cloudrise was quietly released online in 2015, almost one full year after completion. After posting the short on online video platform Vimeo, Jackson thought the animation had run its course. What followed was a crash course in viral popularity.

“It got Vimeo Staff Pick which was really cool,” says Jackson. “When I woke up in the morning I went on this one website that I would frequent for geeky news, and suddenly Cloudrise is there in an article.”

After being shared on blogs and social media accounts around the world, ending with a screening at San Diego Comic-Con, Jackson was inundated with queries from a variety of producers and agencies on what his next big project would be.

“At the time I was working on a live action film, and they were all confused,” Jackson says, laughing. “They were like ‘isn’t Cloudrise animation? Why are you doing live action?’ What I should have said was ‘I have an animated film script, it’ll be done soon.’ That’s what I should have said.”

Following the release of Cloudrise, Jackson primarily focused on freelance work with other studios, but after three years he found that his personal ambitions could only be held in check for so long. While traveling in Thailand to stave off the depression he felt at dedicating all his time to other people’s endeavors, Jackson realized he no longer wanted to work on projects that weren’t his own.

“I remember sitting on a ferry in Thailand, there was this ferry going to one of the islands, and I thought ‘I need to start making my own stuff,’” says Jackson. “I just pulled out my sketchbook on the ferry and started doing sketches for The Wishing Jar.”

Jackson headed home, with a brand new project fresh in his mind, and so began a production schedule that, while self-directed, would take up most – if not all – of Jackson’s waking hours.

“For the last four of five months I was getting maybe four hours of a sleep a night,” Jackson says. “I was waking up and starting to work. I’d make myself breakfast and coffee and then go to my computer and start to work. I wouldn’t each lunch, I’d only eat dinner, and then keep working until 4 am.”

vimeo

Above: Official Trailer for The Wishing Jar

For the release of The Wishing Jar, Jackson decided to go a different route, and submitted the film to festivals around the world. It showed at events from Spain to Florida, including a win for Best Animated Short at both Indianapolis’ Heartland Film Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con. Jackson’s unbelievable work ethic paid off for him yet again.

On the festival circuit, composer Marc Junker, creator of the film’s soundtrack, joined Jackson. Junker and Jackson first met 10 years ago, and quickly bonded over a love of films and cartoons. What began as a friendship quickly developed into a professional partnership, with Junker having a hand in the scoring of all Jackson’s films to date.

“Denver has always had an incredible work ethic,” says Junker. “He’s always wanting to learn and expand, whether it be the technique [of his work,] or the message. I really don’t know anyone else like him. I don’t know how he does it, but it’s awesome.”

It would be another collaborator of Jackson’s, Vancouver-based writer Alain Williams, who would join Jackson on his next project. The science-fiction martial arts short S.O.S. was funded by a $10,000 grant from TELUS Storyhive, a competition, which sees audience-voted projects across Canada funded for production, and won the competition’s Grand Prize. Taking S.O.S. and creating a series pitch based around it, Jackson and Williams then entered a pitch competition at the Ontario International Animation Festival.

“The pitch [event] was 10 pitches, and it was closed doors so there was a jury… I thought you’d get to see the other 10 pitches but we didn’t get to see them,” says Jackson. “We understood how people did pitches, but we sort of went against the grain and did our own thing.”

Their “own thing” ended up working, with Jackson and Williams being picked from the two remaining finalists for a pitch development deal with Corus Entertainment, as well as Nelvana, producers of kid’s entertainment around the world.

“By the end of it we’ll have an animatic and script, but that doesn’t mean the show is made,” says Jackson. “But we’re getting paid to do what we love. It’s cool.”

Jackson is already on to his next project, and his most ambitious yet. After entering a pitch Storyhive competition open only to previous winners, Jackson was awarded a $100,000 grant. With that grant, Jackson has begun producing a 40-minute animated short as part of larger feature script planned for later on. Thanks to positive buzz on past projects, he might not be so alone for this one.

“A lot of people are interested in volunteering,” he says. “I’ve got an Executive Producer, and a lot of the funding is going to voice actors, music… there’s a budget for background artists and that’s about it.”

So it’s on to the next project, and after that, the next. Jackson never slows down, and by all accounts has no intention of ever doing so. While the hours alone might push other people away, Jackson isn’t entirely sure how even he can keep it up. He does, however, have an idea.

“I know that I haven’t felt depressed since working on The Wishing Jar and making my own projects,” he says. “There hasn’t been a single day that I’ve felt sad. For some reason, doing your own thing, you feel so fulfilled and accomplished. Like you’ve done something. The films I work on, it’s a part of who I am. I’m just being myself in that space.”

As a creator, Jackson knows that things vary between individuals. A lack of “inspiration” does not mean a lack of talent, and he says that working through those periods is key.

“You have to sit down and keep working. It can be really tough. Some creatives get that spark of inspiration and then they just keep working,” he says. “That happens rarely. I just have to sit down and keep working on it. When that spark does happen it’s just the icing on the cake, but it isn’t something I work towards. When it happens it happens and it’s like ‘Oh that feels good,’ but then you just keep working.”

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lopez-richter-fangirl · 5 years

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What's your favorite con performance?

In general or for richpez? Although actually the answer’s probably the same for both, leaky 2017 with geeky 2015 as a very strong contender. But leaky was the first con I was in the fandom for, and I still remember keeping up with all the instagram stories, so it feels special to me, and the granger danger kiss?? But geeky 2015 has some very good moments and there were SO MANY hilarious mess ups

#actually fuck all of that neither of those are really my favourites i have three unofficial favourites #1. joey singing you’ve got a friend in me at avpw #2. dylan and denise’s performance of my heart will go on at avpw #3. them singing not alone with nick and denise beat boxing at avpw #but i’m biased

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Felicia Day Wants You to Embrace Your Weird in New Book

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We talked to Felicia Day about her new book, Embrace Your Weird. Here's what we learned from our exclusive interview!

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You may like her for her acting as Codex, Kinga, Vi, Tallis, Holly, Poppy, or Charlie, but Felicia Day is perhaps better known as an author, producer, and entrepreneur. Now, with her new book, the creator of The Guild and Geek & Sundry steps into the role of inspirational force of geeky good.

Announced today, Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity, is a motivational guide to cultivating creators, and challenging the imagination with exercises – coupled with Day’s own personality, and personal anecdotes drawn from “therapy, self-help, and just plain trial by fire,” as she describes in the press release.

The October 1st release by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, follows Day’s 2015 memoir You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). According to the publisher, the book is “Part guided journal, part imaginative workbook” that is something of a “Wreck This Journal meets You Are a Badass meets Felicia’s inimitable blend of hilarity and hard-earned wisdom.”

related: Comic-Con Calendar - Upcoming Conventions

Some of the topics the book will cover include “Discovering Your Hero Self,” and unearthing “weird” and unique creative superpowers; “Vanquishing Enemies” and negative forces, anxiety, or naysayers; “Gathering Allies” within a creative community of mentors, and supportive friends; “Finding Joy” through playfulness; “Starting A Quest” through daily creative habits.”

Day, who will kick off promotion for Embrace Your Weird at San Diego Comic-Con, joined Den of Geek for an exclusive reaction to today’s announcement. In the following, she discusses the reasoning behind crafting a self-help workbook for nerds and how she hopes fans will be impacted after readers. She also gives us an update on her potential return to Mystery Science Theater 3000.

DEN OF GEEK: What was the motivation behind doing this particular book next?

Felicia Day: I was inspired by the many people who responded to my memoir so positively around the areas of creativity and anxiety. That audience feedback made me want to go deeper into these issues in ways that could be more customized to the reader's needs. This book has stories, graphics, and exercises all aimed toward overcoming resistance to creativity. I am a self-help book lover and the idea of making a book like that accessible to my audience, especially geeks, really was appealing to me. (There are more than a few video game references in there, promise!)

What are you hoping your readers (even the ones who may not already be fans) will get out of it?

I would love if people walked away from the book with a new sense of identity and motivation to get their voice out there into the world. I think it's a fundamental part of being human to be creative, so I like to think of this book as my own personal tome of life-coaching, filled with advice I give myself on a daily basis. No one should be afraid of being themselves, and this book aims to give people the strength to own that fact!

Is there any word on you returning for another season for MST3K?

I know that planning for the live tour has been a big venture lately, but that's finally about to start, so hopefully, Joel will have the bandwidth to figure out next steps for the TV show now! I love being a part of it and hope we do many more seasons!

Aaron Sagers is a freelance contributor. Read more of his work here.

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Feature Aaron Sagers

Jul 11, 2019

Books

from Books https://ift.tt/2YNtJj5

#aion-rsa #Books

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neats79-blog · 7 years

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Week 10: Social Gaming: Playing the crowd.

Source: http://onlinegaming.community/

This week, members of our group did a presentation on Social Gaming. It was fantastic. The theme and information looked like an actual online game. It was one of the best presentations I’ve seen throughout this unit.

They posed an interesting question… Is social gaming a benefit or a hindrance to the social world?

How do online games facilitate in digital communities and online publics…?

A few years ago whenever someone mentioned online gaming, visions of geeky looking boys in darkened rooms sitting in front of computers were brought to mind. It was nerdy. It was laughed at.

Source: http://www.thehealthygamer.com/2015/02/18/online-gaming-addiction-addicted-worried/

Now, games such as World of Warcraft is one of the most popular multiplayer online RPG’s (role playing games) of all time. It’s been around for the past 10 years and in that time “people have met through the game, married, and had children who are now old enough to play” (Byrne 2014).

The world of online gaming no longer hibernates the nerdy looking boy in his mother’s basement. It’s opened itself up to people of all genders, ages and walks of life. And all these people are able to come together and communicate through their love of the games they play via forums, chat rooms, social media and now, ever increasingly, conventions.

However, as with most things life there are rules and codes of practice that people must abide by. In the gaming world there are rules set up by gamers and rules set up by people who play the game.

De Zwart and Humphries (2014) explain this in more detail in relation to MMOG EVE Online;

“Game rules created by developers in the establishment of an online digital game space intersect and overlap with rules created socially by players, with cultural norms emerging from within the game space and from the contexts of play, with legal rules developed by lawyers managing the interests of publishers and with law and values originating in the real world contexts of players in whichever legal jurisdiction they are located”

Of course where you have a number of different people imposing different rules, conflicts can and will occur. Such as the dismissal of players from the game for harassment of other players, and breaching a games Terms of Service.

I’m not an online gamer. Never have been, never will be. I never got into the social gaming craze. I just couldn’t understand why or how so many people could spend so much time on their phones playing games, when life was just passing them by.

I found other ways of entering digital communities and online publics – through my love of pop culture. I attend various conventions when they’re in town, such as Supernova and Oz Comic Con. I’m not a cosplayer but I do appreciate and enjoy the effort some people put into their costumes, which include characters from the online gaming world.

My love of certain TV shows has allowed me to enter online groups and forums where I have been privileged to not only meet the stars of these shows but through it, made lifelong friends with like-minded people.

Source: www.thehubproductions.com

References:

Byrne, S 2014, A Massive Success: 10 Years of World of Warcraft, cnet, viewed 27 January 2017, <https://www.cnet.com/news/world-of-warcraft-ten-year-anniversary-interview-ion-hazzikostas/>

de Zwart, M & Humphries, S 2014, The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online, Cultural Studies Review, Vol 20, Number 1, pp77-99

#neverwasagamer #ahbl8 #ozcomiccon #supanova

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socmedsean · 5 years

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Step-By-Step G.I. Joe Snake Eyes DIY Cosplay Instructions

SocMedSean - Social.Media.Sean Step-By-Step G.I. Joe Snake Eyes DIY Cosplay Instructions

I know, it’s a little bit of a divergence from my regular social media-focused content, but I’m in the middle of writing an article about the impact of social media on the world of cosplay and comic-cons, so I thought I would share one of my favorite cosplay creations. I’ll be sharing the link to the article about cosplay and social media in the next few days.

As some of you might know, I have been involved in cosplay for a while now and have built costumes for myself, friends and family.

I started cosplaying as a way to engage in crafting projects with my kids. We’re kind of a geeky family. My daughter is a big Harley Quinn, Ellie (from The Last Of Us), and Bucky/Winter Soldier fan and my son is a Nightwing, Green Arrow, and Star Wars fan.

As a result, I found that building costumes for each of us for Kansas City’s Planet Comicon was a good way keep us all involved in a project throughout the year.

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A post shared by Sean R. Nicholson (@socmedsean) on May 22, 2016 at 8:56am PDT

My daughter as Bucky Barnes – AKA the Winter Soldier

Planet Comicon is in the Spring of each year, so we would start thinking about our costumes in June/July (post-Comicon) and we would build with the idea that Halloween would be our dry run.

The kids would wear their cosplay costumes while they trick-or-treated and we would take notes of what worked and didn’t work so we could make adjustments.

While the kids’ costumes have always been the priority, they always wanted me to participate, as well, so I created costumes for characters such as Deathstroke (to go with Green Arrow) and Joel (from The Last of Us) to compliment their costumes.

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Our #planetcomicon crew for today featuring Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, TheHood and Daniel from Amnesia. #harleyquinn #thehood #greenarrow #deathstroke #amnesia #daniel #cosplay #KansasCity #dccomics

A post shared by Sean R. Nicholson (@socmedsean) on Mar 14, 2015 at 5:56pm PDT

This year, though, neither of my kids wanted to cosplay so I decided to start on a project that I have long wanted to do…but have been a bit intimidated by. This character is one of my all time favorites from my childhood, so I was a bit nervous to do it. Most of it was in fear that it wouldn’t turn out as good as I wanted it to.

The character of Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe is one of the baddest characters of all time. His ninja skills, combined with his mastery of modern weapons made him a force to be reckoned with. His self-imposed silence and ongoing feud with his brother, Storm Shadow, made him even more mysterious and daunting.

So…with that in mind, I decided that this was THE year for Snake Eyes.

Honestly, I’m really, really happy with the outcome.

Did everything turn out as good as I wanted? No.

Were the results of my work completely satisfying and made me really happy? Yes.

Did people keep stopping me at Planet Comicon for photos? Yes.

Is there still room for improvement? Yes…and that’s what I love about all good cosplay costumes. They are never finished and can always be improved.

To share the love, I thought I might start the process of documenting my cosplay costumes in order to help someone else out there who wants some guidance.

This tutorial has detailed instructions for anyone wanting get started with a Snake Eyes comicon cosplay or Halloween costume. I outline all of the items that I purchased, as well as the steps to create the items that I built from foam.

Please – If you create a Snake Eyes cosplay based on these instructions, send me a link and I’ll update the post with your photo or photos. Let’s document some of the baddest Snake Eyes costumes out there.

Snake Eyes Cosplays That I Drew Inspiration From

To start, I want to recognize all those that came before me and helped me visualize the version of Snake Eyes that I wanted to portray. If you don’t know, there are many options for Snake Eyes, ranging from the comic book full spandex suit to the heavily-armored, helmeted movie version.

After Google searches, these are the ones that helped me decide on my approach, which is the comic book version of the character. Some of the Google searches that returned the best results were:

Snake Eyes cosplay GI Joe

Snake Eyes from GI Joe costume

Building a Snake Eyes cosplay costume

Examples of great Snake Eyes cosplay

Snake Eyes visor cosplay (more on this below)

As you can see in the photo below, I have 5 comic books hanging on my wall at work and the comic book above is one of them.

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A post shared by Sean R. Nicholson (@socmedsean) on Jun 19, 2018 at 10:15am PDT

In addition to this badass comic book rendering, I used these cosplays for inspiration:

Neumatic on DeviantArt

Trooper 13 on AminoApps

Snake Eyes 1 & 2 on Pinterest

This unknown Snake Eyes on Pinterest

The great Snake Eyes images on Meijin Cosplay

The common characteristics for these cosplays were basically:

Comic book character version with no helmet

Visor instead of goggles

Sword as the primary weapon

Pants

Tactical vest or armor

Important Note: This year, Planet Comicon announced that they were not going to allow freely-carried, realistic looking firearms replicas as props. The decision was made after working with local law enforcement agencies on the response to potential active shooter situations. Because the Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) would have a difficult time distinguishing a prop rifle or pistol from a real one and, thus, identifying an actual shooter, they opted to not allow them. For this reason, I wanted my primary weapon to be the sword.

The Basics – Boots, Pants, And Shirt

Affiliate Disclosure – Before going any further, be aware the links below to the actual items that I used are affiliate links. When you click these links, I may earn a portion of the sale. It helps me keep the site going and creating and sharing great cosplays. The decision as to whether to buy the same items is completely up to you.

Let’s start from bottom up.

Finding A Comfortable Pair Of Black Combat or Work Boots

The boots I use are Black Brahma Work Boots that look a bit like combat boots. The biggest reason I use these boots is comfort. I have tried several different boots with my Deathstroke cosplay and by the end of the con, my feet were killing me.

So, after doing some research, I landed on these boots and I love them. They are comfortable for walking the con floor and they go really well with both my Deathstroke and Snake Eyes cosplays.

You don’t need to go expensive. If you find a really nice set of boots that you like but they don’t have comfortable insoles, just rip them out and buy a set of gel insoles from Wal-Mart. The key is comfort.

These are the boots that I use for both my Snake Eyes and Deathstroke cosplays

The cost of these boots is pretty reasonable. You can find the boots on Amazon or at local shoe stores ranging from $45 – $60. The boots I have are discontinued, so the ones on Amazon and your local store might be a little different.

Trust me though, invest in your boots (or at least the insoles). Your piggies will thank you after a long day at the con.

The Shirt Needs To Be Comfortable And Breathe

Cons get hot.

There are a lot of people packed into small space and if your costume is great, you’re going to get up-close-and-personal with people for photos. Make sure you don’t stink from overheating and sweating like crazy.

For that reason, I highly recommend you look into a lycra, breathable athletic shirt. For me, I went with the Starter Men’s Long Sleeve Tech T-Shirt in Black.

This Starter athletic shirt kept me cool throughout the con, allowing for up-close-and personal pics with Snake Eyes fans.

I am 6’1″ and 170lbs and usually wear a large shirt, but I wanted the shirt to be tight, rather than baggy, since Snake Eyes wears a skin-tight suit. So, I went a size down and chose medium. It was just right and never came untucked, so I was happy. It also allowed air to flow, so it kept me cool…despite being tight.

The Pants Should Be Tactical AND Have Pockets

Let’s address the pockets element first.

Being at a con without pockets sucks. Sure, it might be canonical that your character doesn’t have pockets, but you need to carry a wallet, keys, con map, bottle of water, etc…For that reason, buy pants with extra pockets. They go with the tactical look and are functional.

The pants I chose are the RothCo BDU pants in black. Again, I use these for both Snake Eyes and Deathstroke (see a pattern forming here?).

These pants were cost-effective and have help up really well over the years. The extra pockets are great for con gear.

These pants are comfortable, light, and have extra side pockets. They also have an adjustable waistband that allows you to “let them out” a little bit if you eat too much at the con.

One note on these pants. I ordered this pair back in 2014 and they have served well. The stitches and buttons have held tight and the buckles that adjust the waist still work flawlessly. The dark black color, though, has started to fade after all the washes. I will probably be buying a new pair this year so I can get that dark black color back.

Five years for a $35 pair of pants is pretty damn good, though.

The Tactical Vest, Utility Belt, Hood, And Gloves

Now that you’re pretty much dressed, the next group of items are the ones that go over your shirt and pants.

Get A Tactical Vest That Is Versatile And Comfortable

The utility vest that I use is one of my favorite items in my cosplay closet. It is very adjustable, has tons of pockets and clips, and allows for the use of pistols and swords (more on those later).

The vest I use is the UTG Law Enforcement Tactical SWAT Vest. As you can see in the photo below, it allows me to accessorize with faux shotgun shells, grenades, rounds of ammunition, and even has a pocket big enough to carry a water bottle. In fact, in the pocket to the left of the pistol, there is currently a 16oz water bottle. Can you tell?

This tactical vest is one of my favorite, most versatile pieces of equipment.

Get A Comfortable Hood That Doesn’t Obstruct Your Vision

I went through two hoods before I landed on the right one. Remember, Snake Eyes has a visor but his mouth is visible. For this reason, you need a hood that covers your head, but allows your eyes to be open. I landed on a lycra hood with one big eye opening, rather than two, individual eye openings.

The first hood I tried had the two individual eye openings (think ski mask with no mouth hole) and it obstructed my ability to look right and left. Cons are busy and Snake Eyes already has a visor in front of his eyes, so do yourself a favor and go with the bigger, single opening.

The one I eventually went with is the ULTRA THIN Lycra BALACLAVA(Black). It was comfortable, didn’t obstruct my vision or breathing and was really, really cheap. The neck was not loose and baggy, so it worked well with the visor and fit around my chin.

NOTE: I have a beard and when I first put on the hood, my whiskers all poked through the lycra. It was hilarious, like little grey and black pine needles sticking through. Be aware that if you have a beard, you might need to shave it down so they don’t stick down.

These are the gloves and hood that I use for my G.I. Joe Snake Eyes cosplay costume.

Get Gloves That Not Only Look Cool, But Work.

Okay, let’s talk gloves.

The ones in the photo above are really cool looking and they go well with the rest of the costume. To be honest, these are my motorcycle gloves and they are broken in and feel really comfortable.

However, I wouldn’t really recommend them for your Snake Eyes cosplay. The reason is because they have no tactile ability in the fingers…which is a fancy way of saying they don’t allow you to operate the touch screen on your phone. This means that every time you want to text a friend or take a photo with your phone, you have to take your gloves off.

For this reason, I will be looking for a new set of gloves to go with both my Snake Eyes and Deathstroke cosplays that will allow me to use my phone. The key is to have a tactile finger pad that activates the touch screen.

If you find a good pair, let me know in a comment and I’ll check them out.

A Comfortable Utility Belt With Pockets And A Leg-Holster Rig That Allows You To Secure The Pistol

Along with the tactical vest, this combo is one of my favorite parts of the costume because it’s comfortable and brings out the bad-ass look of Snake Eyes.

The utility belt is fully adjustable and has several small pockets to hold any small items like your car keys. That can free up your pants pockets for the map of the conference, panel schedules, etc…

The utility belt is sold separately from the holster and is the CONDOR Tactical Belt (Black, Up to 44-Inch Waist).

This utility belt and leg holster are sold separately but work flawlessly together.

The leg holster is fully adjustable to a lot of various leg lengths and allows the pistol to be secured according to the con prop policies. It attaches right to the utility belt in a snap.

The rig that I use is the UTG Elite Tactical Leg Holster,Black (Right Handed). They do offer a left-handed rig for those lefties out there. I’m actually left-handed but shoot right-handed, so I chose the right-handed rig.

Again…I use both the belt and the leg holster in my Deathstroke cosplay, so the investment is worth it.

The Weapons – Pistols, Ammunition, Grenades, Sword, and Scabbard

As I mentioned earlier, cons have really started adjusting their rules about realistic looking weapons. Previously, realistic looking pistols and rifles. Any realistic looking weapon has to be zip-tied securely to the costume in order to be allowed in. Freely-carried realistic rifles/carbines and even swords that could be used as a blunt weapon had to be secured.

The Pistols

As you can see in this image, my pistols were realistic-looking. Even though they are rubber dummy training pistols in an active-shooter situation a police officer might not be able to tell the difference.

Per the con rules, this rubber training pistol is zip-tied into the holster for security reasons.

So, to comply with the rules, I simply zip-tied them in. The prop check security personnel appreciated that I had done this proactively as it reduced the time they had to spend going through my gear.

The pistols that I use are the BladesUSA Rubber Training Gun Black With Orange Tip. They are realistic when unholstered, but it doesn’t really matter to me since they are always secured.

The Sword And Scabbard Should Be Able To Be Adjusted At The Con

The sword is something you really need to understand if you want to be comfortable at the con. For both Deathstroke and Snake Eyes, I used a single sword to keep things simple. Yes…I understand that there are times when both characters use two swords.

However, try navigating a crowded con with two swords sticking out to your sides. You’ll spend a lot of time apologizing to people for bumping into them with a blunt, yet pokey object. {AWKWARD}

So, for convenience, I went with a single sword in a scabbard that is easily adjusted. The adjustment part is important because you might want to sit down at some point. Maybe it’s lunch, or a con panel, or just to rest. With a sword that extends lower than your tailbone, you can’t comfortably sit down.

For this reason, I suggest you get a scabbard that goes OVER your tactical vest (rather than inside of the back of the vest) AND can be locked in place. The scabbard I chose is the Katana Bokken Shinai Foam Sword Mini Nylon Carrying Case.

It’s universal, it’s adjustable, it has clips to latch, unlatch…and it’s inexpensive. Even better, it worked perfectly with the tactical vest to lock it into place.

This is the sword and scabbard combo that I chose. It worked well and allowed me to take it off so I could sit at the con. My cat really wanted to be part of the photo.

The sword is the BladesUSA 1802PP Martial Art Polypropylene Training Equipment 39.25-Inch Overall. It was just the right length and worked perfectly with the scabbard.

One other note, rather than permanently attaching it to the tactical vest, I attached the sword to the scabbard. The prop inspectors at the con said that was okay since the sword couldn’t be removed from the scabbard.

I just passed the zip tie through the Tsuba (the hand guard right above your thumb when holding it) and through the carry strap and it locked it into place.

The Grenades

Snake Eyes is known for carrying grenades, so I wanted to incorporate them into the costume. Again, I had some from Deathstroke, so I zip tied them to the tactical vest and they worked well. Yes…even grenades have to be secured.

The grenades I ordered are the Lot of 4 Kids Toy B/o Grenades. They are plastic and make an annoying tick, tick, tick, boom sound when the lever is pressed, so that had to go. I simply removed the batteries and all was good.

NOTE: Many Cons do not allow props that flash lights or make noise. The prop check officer asked me whether the grenades made noise and I confirmed with him that I had removed the batteries. Be sure to do this prior to going to the con, so you get through prop check quickly.

Be sure to understand the rules regarding weapons at your con. In this case, the grenades could not make any sound and had to be attached to an article of clothing.

The Bullets

The bullets are a minor part of the cosplay costume, but sometimes it’s the details that make the difference. The tactical vest has a spot on the right shoulder for ammunition, so I figured why not fill it up.

The cartridges that I chose are the UHC Revolver 131, 132, 133 BB Shell Set. They are plastic, lightweight, and fit perfectly in the tactical vest holders.

These plastic bullets fit perfectly in the ammunition holder on the tactical vest.

Are they 9mm or .45ACP, which would fit the pistols if they were real? No.

Do I (or anyone else) care? No.

The Clan Insignia

One other important detail for Snake Eyes is his clan insignia. Snake Eyes is a member of the Arashikage clan, along with his brother and nemesis Storm Shadow. The clan has a distinct insignia that is present on each of the version of Snake Eyes.

Sometimes it’s on his shoulder and sometimes it’s on his sword. It just needed to be present.

I added the insignia to the front of the tactical vest where it was prominent. Honestly, I did this with black and red duct tape. I will be redoing this for the next rendition, making it a little nicer looking…maybe a custom patch. For now, this worked great.

This version of the Arashikage clan for Snake Eyes was made with duct tape. I’ll be getting a custom patch for the next round.

The Visor

Okay…if you’re like me, this is the part you really geek out about. All of the previous gear could be bought, but I wanted to make the visor myself. Again, did it turn out perfectly? NO.

Did it work well? Pretty much (more below).

Did people want photos? Yes.

Is there room for improvement. A LOT.

This was the first round and this is the biggest area that I’m going to spend my time improving for the next round. In fact, I loved the concept of the visor so much that I’m going to create a fiberglass version of it so I can re-use it without worrying about the craft foam breaking.

Which it did. Right as I got to the con. GRRRRRR!

So, if you are wondering what the zip ties are in the top of the visor, they are because the screws pulled out of the foam and the visor detached from the headband. Luckily, the fine folks at prop check gave me two zip ties to fix it.

Here we go…steps for creating a Snake Eyes Cosplay visor.

Step 1 – Gather Your Materials

These are the things that I needed to create the visor:

Craft foam

Paper to draw the template

A flexible measuring tape

Sharpie marker

Pen/pencil

Good set of scissors or shears

A sharp utility knife

Mod Podge

Small craft paint brushes

Grey spray paint or primer

Step 2 – Measure Your Head And Create A Template

The first step is to use the flexible measuring tape to measure your head. The goal is to get an idea as to how big you want the visor to be. It’ll help to have another person because you need three hands.

With two fingers resting on your nose, measure the distance from ear-to-ear. The two fingers are going to give you an idea of how far the insider of the visor will be from your face. Don’t worry…nothing is set in concrete yet. This will just give you measurements for your template.

Next, draw out the template and cut it out. After looking at photos online, this is what my template ended up looking like.

This is what my visor template looked like to start.

Tip: When you are cutting out your template, mark which pieces you are going keep and which you are going to remove. The first time I created the template, I cut out the center piece of the visor because I wasn’t paying attention. Ooops!

Step 3 – Use The Template To Cut The Foam

Using the paper template, trace it out on a piece of thick craft foam. The foam I like is from Harbor Freight and it is marketed as Anti-Fatigue Mat Set.

I use this craft foam from Harbor Freight because it is nice and dense and inexpensive. It is marketed as “Anti-Fatigue Mat Set”

This stuff is really easy to cut. For the outer edges, use your scissors, but for the inside pieces, use a good, sharp utility knife. If you place the foam on a thick piece of cardboard, it makes it easy for you to cut all the way through the foam.

Once you have the visor cut out, you should have some thing that looks like this.

NOTE: These photos were taken during my mockup, so the cuts aren’t as clean as the final output. If you aren’t working through a mockup, be sure to make your cuts as clean as possible.

The top is the paper template, the bottom is the visor cut from craft foam

Cut The Center For The Angle

Now that you have the size of the visor set up and the foam cutout, you need to cut it in half. Yes…cut it in half. The reason is because Snake Eyes’ visor is pointed at the front. So, you need to cut it in half and then slightly cut the angles of the edges to they fit together at an angle.

Once you have it cut in half, you should be able to stand it up like this.

Cutting the visor down the middle allows you create the front angle

Next you need to do some cutting to make the pieces come back together. Just go slowly and cut small angles and you’ll do fine. Again, this is why I planned on doing it twice, a rough mockup and then the final. The final angles were easy once I had done it on the rough mockup.

Glue The Front Of The Visor Back Together And Set The Bends

Now that you have the angles cut, just use a hot glue gun to glue the front angles back together. REMEMBER that a little hot glue goes a long way. Don’t glob up the front of your visor with excess hot glue. Later, when you put Mod Podge on the visor, it will help strength the spot that you glued together.

Once the front of the visor is glued back together, the round pieces that go next to your ears are going to be sticking way out. You need to carefully bend them to where they should be and then secure them so they stay there.

TIP: BE PATIENT and let you hot glue fully cool. If you try to bend the visor too soon, you’ll cause the hot glue to release, undoing all your hard work.

To set the bends, I used a small bucket that was just about the same diameter of my head at the ears. I just taped the round parts of the visor to the sides of the bucket. Sounds weird, but it worked. Use a kickball, a watermelon…whatever has the same diameter as your head.

Apologies that I didn’t take a photo of this step. It seemed kinda silly when I was doing it, but it worked great and “set the bends” of the visor.

TIP: If you have issues bending your craft foam, just heat it with a heat gun or a hair dryer on high. Heating up the foam will make it flex easier. Just DON’T overheat it.

Paint On The Mod Podge To Hold It In Place

With the front of the visor glued together and the bends set, it’s time to paint on the Mod Podge so the bends stay there all by themselves and the front visor angle is strengthened

If you are a crafter or hobby cosplayer, you probably already have Mod Podge. This stuff is basically like white glue, but it hardens and keeps craft foam in place. It can be sanded and painted. I cover all my craft foam creations in it.

Tip: It’s called “Mod Podge” not “Modge Podge” or “Hodge Podge”. You can get this stuff at Wal-Mart or any big box craft store.

Mod Podge is great for making sure your craft foam stays where you want it.

As you can see in the background of the photo above, I set the angle of the front of the visor and then started painting it with three layers of Mod Podge, spaced 30 minutes apart. After the third layer, the visor stayed where I wanted it and I un-taped the back circles from the bucket and gave them three layers of Mod Podge, as well.

Paint It To Color

Once the Mod Podge has fully cured and the visor stays where you want it, it’s time to start painting. Since my craft foam was grey and I wanted to visor to be grey, I just hit it with a coating of grey primer to knock down the shine of the Mod Podge. One coat did exactly what I wanted.

This grey paint+primer took the shine off the visor after applying the Mod Podge.

Add Household Screen To Hide Your Eyes

Once you have let the visor dry, you should have a pretty cool looking visor that fits the shape of your head. Take some photos in the mirror…you’ll look bad ass!

One thing I noticed when I was looking in the mirror is that you could see my eyes. Since I wanted my Snake Eyes cosplay to be mysterious, I decided to pickup some window tint and glue it behind the visor.

Bad idea.

The window tint was waaay to dark and would have made it tough to navigate the con.

Instead, I just used a piece of household screen that I had used on another project. I cut it to size and used hot glue to secure it to the back of the visor. I know, the hot glue looks kind of crappy in the photo below, but no one else ever saw it but me.

The cool thing is this totally worked. I could see just fine, but people couldn’t see my eyes.

Attach It To The Headband

Now that you have a cool, mysterious visor the next step is to secure it to a headband. I picked up this Magnifier with headstrap and lights from Harbor Freight. It was on sale for $2.99 so I figured it was worth a try.

It worked….well…kinda.

After cutting it down and securing it to the headband with screws, all seemed to be good. That was until I got to the con. I made a couple of adjustments and the screws pulled through the foam. GRRRRR.

So, I had to use a couple of zip ties at the con to hold everything in place, which worked fine.

Did anyone point out the zip ties? Nope.

Did people still want photos? Yep.

Did it work good enough? Yep.

Will I be figuring out another option? Definitely.

The Outcome

Nice job getting this far. If you have read through all this (or at least scrolled through it), here’s what you were probably hunting for.

Perfect? No.

Am I proud enough of it to spend 3 hours putting together these instructions? You betcha.

And I hope they help inspire some potentially bad-ass Snake Eyes cosplays.

My Next Steps

These are the things I’m going to work on for the next evolution:

Incorporate knee and elbow pads and maybe some armor made from craft foam

Re-build the visor using a fiberglass mold process to create a REALLY amazing visor. This visor was also a little big, so I’m going to size it down just a little bit.

Create a derivative that uses goggles and a mask like this one

View this post on Instagram

"Rock and Roll told me later that he saw Snake-Eyes carry me out of the wreckage with his head still in flames." #gijoe #snakeeyes #ninja #yojoe #arah #gijoethemovie #usa #marvelcomics #militarytoys #army #toy #toycommunity #toyartistry #toyphotography #actionfigure #hasbro #hasbrogijoe #plasticaddict #winter #snow #riseofcobra #snakeeyestoy #mask #maskedman #goggles #arctictrooper #toyartistry

A post shared by Scott Pembrook (@scottpembrook) on Apr 3, 2019 at 11:32am PDT

Final Thoughts

This was a fun one to put together and I will definitely be evolving it. Better visor, a few tweaks and tunes, and Snake Eyes will be back at the cons!

If you found this helpful, let me know with a comment. If you created a Snake Eyes cosplay or Halloween costume based on these instructions, shoot me a note with a link to a photo, I’d love to see it and add it to the post.

I will also be working on instructions for Deathstroke, Joel and Ellie from the Last of Us, and maybe even some Harley Quinn (including a full bazooka) instructions.

Just for a tease, here’s a little sneak preview of the bazooka work in progress.

View this post on Instagram

Who says you can’t build a #bazooka in your #garage over the weekend? My latest #geek #craft in preparation for the upcoming #planetcomicon in #KansasCity #dc #HarleyQuinn #Batman #missmepuddin #geekcraft #geekcrafts #instageek

A post shared by Sean R. Nicholson (@socmedsean) on Mar 1, 2015 at 2:08pm PST

Cheers!

–Sean

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Step-By-Step G.I. Joe Snake Eyes DIY Cosplay Instructions Sean R. Nicholson.

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