Recently I’ve been getting back into streaming while I draw the comic strip. I’ve messed around with a few different services and Ustream still seams to be the best overall. It’s fun to draw the strip live and watch people chatting in the social stream. I like seeing people guess what the strip is about just from the art and then laugh as I drop the text in at the end. The only problem I really have is really the quality of the video. Robert and I talked about a way to record the drawing at a higher quality and I think we may have a solution. We set up a camera over my shoulder last week while I was drawing and you can see the results on PATV today.

We're in Spokane for the Fourth of July, and presumably sometime after, as we wait for a break in the Bloodstorms to make our escape.

I wonder what the mix would be like at a convention devoted exclusively to Call of Duty. I got so good at muting the people who play that game that it became a kind of game in itself; I could mute more than one person per second at my apex, it was a point of pride. That shit is wall to wall brigands.

I’ve had a few people ask about the Alienware laptop in the strip. Some people want to know if I have one and if so, do I like it. A couple have even asked if I am getting some kind of payment for putting it in there. It’s probably worth mentioning that advertisers can not purchase space in the comic strip. That’s just not something we offer. The truth is I do have a couple Alienware machines and as far as my experience with them, it’s been sort of mixed.

It's true: you can see for yourself!  Well, technically, it's $112,099.73, but who's counting?  Me.  I am counting.

League of Legends is still a thing, that rare creature whose appeal slices through so many distinct strata that it can build consensus even in our fractious crew.

It really does!  Friday is the last day to register.  We just added a bunch more sessions to the almighty Schedule, too, for your perusal.  

I recorded today's stream:

There is really the most incredible offering of Bungie treasure going on now on eBay, in a sequence of unstoppable charitable auctions.  Some fairly shocking things in there, including original concept art for what we now understand is Halo.  Just amazing.

I read on Krizz Kaliko that Microsoft was ”rumored” to be approaching developers about Free To Play games on their service. But they aren’t rumored to be, as the steel mask of Kakrotticus knows full well - they are, because Free to Play doesn’t represent some rapidly plumping metastasized future. It represents the flowing and present ultranow.

They're cranking away over there for Child's Play, beavering for real, and I got to show them some love.  "Love" (in this case) being a euphemism for money.  I also feel real love for them, of course.  Incandescent love!  But that is more difficult to enumerate, and it doesn't buy anybody any toys. 

We’ve got two items available for pre-order on our store right now and each one sports a a little bonus for purchasing early.

It is an episode about your hosts.

When something arrives at the office for Gabriel there is a sort of dance that accompanies it, a small one, a festival in miniature to which he is the sole attendee. I saw this ritual peel away yesterday, peel and flake, like old wallpaper.

Tycho and I will be the fame in tomorrow’s Game with Fame event on Xbox Live. We will be playing Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 Friday, June 24, from 1-2 PM PT (4-5 PM PT). If you would like to try and grab a game with us, send a friend request to Duels2Gabe or Duels2Tycho.