Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Feeling pwned

I was reading something the other day, and I read a word I had never seen: pwned. So I looked it up. Here is what wikipedia said about it:

The slang term pwn (past tense: pwned, pwn3d, pwnd, pwnt, or "p00n", various pronunciations) as used by the Internet gaming culture, means to defeat an opponent in a video-game in a manner so harsh it is indescribable in words. In this context, to be pwned can be defined as "to be defeated," with the strong connotation of also having been "made a fool of." It is generally used for "friendly taunting" of a player's in-game enemies, and gently "rubbing in" any victories, no matter how fleeting. Most gamers hold the view that to "own" someone is to defeat them well, but to "pwn" them is to hand them a decisive defeat in which one clearly triumphed, and thus, the word "pwn" is seen as the next step above "own". The term has become ubiquitous in Internet circles and now it is often used outside of gaming contexts. For example "We pwned them hardcore in that basketball game," or "that Spartan_Vice is such a n00b, he is constantly getting pwned."

First I would like to say, I want to be part of a sub-culture. Not some sub-cultures. I mean, I don't want to pierce several parts of my body and wear black. Just not for me. And I don't want to be part of a sub-culture that involves doing time or hanging out with "holier than thou" people. Again, not something I can see myself doing. And don't get me started with the treckies. Or is it treckers. I have a prediction: someone will tell me the difference between the two sub-species of humans. Really. And other than wanting to be mated to Worf (Michael Dorn), what was so special about Star Trek?

There are so many sub-cultures. I mean, Lisa (Bored Housewife) seems to go to movies a lot. And I am not talking about just in the theater. Cannes Film Festival. Or was it Sundance? I think it was Sundance. Point is, people who go to these things are part of a sub-culture. She mentioned "Failure to Launch" in her latest blog entry. I have never heard of it. My initial thought, "Is it some vehicle for Viagra product placement?"

Have you seen ZoomInfo, one of the latest in sites that steals from the Internet. Oh, I am sorry, they harvest information that is already out there. This kind of stuff scares the pee out of me. I was going to use the "S word" but that seems so much more vulgar. It just clips stuff and points to it, saying, look, here is information about "so and so." I would recommend looking for yourself on here. I think I have a twin who is a prostitute in Zürich. Who knew there were even prostitutes there!

And then there is Google Blog Search. I don't know what this thing is, but they take blog entries and repost them as if they wrote them. They steal all sorts of stuff. Here is an example of what I mean. I did a post several month ago, and it was stolen, word for word. A really crappy post, but it was mine, and some robot or spider or whatever took it and posted it somewhere else. Talk about an annoying sub-culture.

I guess I should really be part of a subculture that drinks red wine at 4 in the afternoon, takes long baths and doesn't give a crap about anything that can't be squeezed from a grape. Attitude – that's what I need.

17 comments:

mikster said...

I can see I haven't kept up with sub-cultures much. Meh...I just kinda do my own thing anyway.

(Or would that be my pwn thing?)

Anonymous said...

Yep, the subculture of the link-blogger...how annoying but it helps to find info sometimes. I belong to a strange sub-culture of "chuckle-nuts". We don't wear underwear and when we laugh...our nuts laugh with us.

Grant said...

"...drinks red wine at 4 in the afternoon, takes long baths and doesn't give a crap about anything that can't be squeezed from a grape." That sounds French, except for the baths. Maybe you should convert to Italian?

Tony said...

ChrisMannn... going commando, yeah, that's the ticket.

I may be reading more into this than I care, but wanting to be a part of something but not sure what it is usually has deeper roots. I'm a guy, so, therefore, am not allowed to go any deeper.

Not sure what you're interested in? I've found there are all sorts of blogs out there that would give you some insight. I Googled "blogs" and was rewarded with several different blogging sights, each one opening up more windows of stuff I didn't know existed. I have a lame blog on Wordpress for my gardening activities but I haven't logged to it in so long that it's pretty much useless so I need to close it.

Lisa's blog, like yours, I believe, was born out of a desire to write. Landing the editorial job at the local college paper (an extension of her writing desire) has her going to the movies/plays.

Sorry for the long comment.

Leesa said...

mike: nice comment. Looks like you have been pwned before.

chris: too much information.

grant: thanks for the helpful suggestion.

tony: very inciteful.

~deb: I have no idea what happened.

Prata said...

It wasn't me I swear! I didn't steal anything. *grins sly like*

On the other hand, I'm a gamer. I've used pwnd most of my life lol. ph34r th3 cut3 1s..and omgwtfpwnd...I strike ph34r into the d1g17al 3vil 0n3s....or somethin' like that. You pick this stuff up on irc...fps' and that sort of thing. Think Counterstrike. ^_^

Mmm...counterstrike.

Unknown said...

oooh, i wanna be part of any subculture that involves wine and bathing with you Leesa. ;)

your posts crack me up and yet i learn something new every time i read your blog. you're incredible. i love the way you write, but also how you can take any topic and make it interesting and funny. love it.

minijonb said...

you are part of a sub-culture... the blogosphere. enjoy.

... oh, and answer.com is pwned by wikipedia.

kathi said...

Girl, you've got attitude...but you've also got integrity. And lot's of people who love you.

Leesa said...

prata: I have no idea what Counterstrike is, but apparently it was/is important to gamers. And I do believe if you wanted to, you could create something that would take from one site and spit it out on another with some sort of intellegence.

jd: thanks for all of the kind words. My head cannot officially get in the elevator now.

minijonb: I always thought I was some real small part of a really big thing (blogger).

kathi: my attitude comes and goes. It is, however, on the rise.

Unknown said...

hehe, you said head. ;) jk. i'm just telling you how i feel. if you were actually attractive, i'd really try to woo you with nice comments. oh wait... ;)

Unknown said...

and if you want, send me an email, i have a topic you could have a field day with as a post. ;) if anyone could make it funny and interesting, it's you. it's quite techy, just up your alley. ;)

Leigh said...

Attitude is a great thing to have to get through the day. I do think you have it!

Happy Hump Day

Leesa said...

doc-t: I guess I am.

jd: I don't give out my e-mail address. Sorry.

leigh: thanks, sweetie!

Unknown said...

no worries. wasn't sure and i thought of you when i read this email and what fun you could have with it. maybe i'll try my hand at it. :)

Bare said...

I haven't kept up with sub-cultures much either, hell, getting out of bed in the morning is something I think about all the time *L* but seriously, I can't believe people are stealing your things- I would give them a piece of my mind!

Leesa said...

jd: your image has disappeared.

miss 1999: stealing happens all of the time. If they take my ideas to impress friends in a conversation, that is one thing. But to blog and pretend it is original, argggg. I have actually seen it a lot.