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Losing The Plot - Switched On - August 2017 Issue

Switched On

Switched On: Current Issue, Issue 103, Volume 7, for July, 2017. New Issue published every month, and updated throughout the month. Next issue due online August 2017.

Incomplete and missing issues will be completed and referenced on current issues of Frontier Pop, so, until Frontier Pop has all of its issues online, and is caught up, there will be more than one issue published per month. Missing issues will be retroactively published with their assigned issue numbers and "months", so months indicated may not be actual publishing months. Missing issues published this way will have actual publication dates indicated within the issue, and issue date accuracy may not be assumed on any issue portrayed as being published before August 2013.

INITIALIZING

ISSUE INTRODUCTION BY EDITOR AND PUBLISHER C. A. PASSINAULT

Frontier Pop Resumes Publication with Updates

After a long hiatus, Frontier Pop has returned to publishing. Without going into some long celebration while our faithful readers roll their eyes and wonder if this is another false restart, we need to get to the issue at hand.
Before we do, please note that there have been some changes to Frontier Pop. First, we have updated our slogan, from “Know Things”, to “You Know Things”, as our recent slogan and trademark policies demanded that we change the slogan; the original is still in the clear, as it is not registered as a trademark by anyone, but we have no way of locking it down with proof of first use (Our legal opinion: We are using domain names to prove first use and to deter people from trademarking our slogans, as we have too many to register as trademarks, and could not afford to register all of those trademarks. Like a copyright, however, you do not have to register a trademark to declare it and use it, as use alone trademarks it, although it isn’t as good as registering it. Also, once you have the slogan as a domain name, anyone registering that slogan as a trademark cannot force you to give up the domain name or stop using the trademark, and that alone would be a pretty effective deterrent against registering something that you are already using; although it is not as legally binding as a registered trademark, it is pretty damn effective, providing that we are using those slogans, in our opinion. That said, please do not take as legal advices of any kind, as this is our opinion, and consult an attorney regarding our tactic if you decide to use it; we are simply explaining what is going on and what we are doing. This tactic came about because we have experienced multiple cases of people stealing from us and plagiarizing our content, posts, and slogans over the past two years, and, so far, our new tactics are actually working. We are deterring people from stealing from us with these tactics as of the time of this writing. Right, Elizabeth?).
Regarding our long, long hiatus (roughly two years and half, and that issue, from February 2015, isn’t even done, although it was off to a good start. The last complete issue was from roughly three years ago, August 2013, and it was a false resumption issue, issue 56, titled “Back On Track”; one and a half issues in three years is pathetic!), we intend to resume monthly publication now, and you may notice that this is Volume 7, Issue 103, and that number is issue is NOT accurate- not even close. The point is that, one day, the number of issues will be accurate, as we will, eventually, go back and finish, as well as create, those past issues, although it will take years to catch the site up (Writing and publishing an issue a month is just treading water and keeping us from slipping further behind. Writing and publishing our mandated one issue a month, as well as working on and completing several more issues each month, which will eventually happen, will dig us out of our hole, but even at that pace, it will take us several years to catch up; we will not be able to do the extra work until our other web sites are caught up, which will be well into 2018, and, starting there, it would take us until 2021 to catch this site up, at the earliest).
For now, we are just concentrating on resuming regular publication, and will work on those back issues when we free some time up, which will be sometime next year, in 2018.
Also, Frontier Pop itself is getting older, and the site has some glitches and a slightly outdated format. We are working on updating the site, and it will take a few months to get the site up to spec, even without taking in account that we are dozens of issues behind (and without even touching that work). Until then, the least we can do is to resume monthly publication, and take it from there.
On the subject of getting older (or, more “seasoned”, we finally got Frontier Pop to a place where we wish that it could have been when it launched back in 2010. We finally figured out all of the angles and should now be able to get this site up to speed and, finally, realize its full potential as Tampa Bay’s top pop culture and entertainment web site and online publication.
Starting this issue, we will also start working on a new publication format (which will be retroactively applied to past issues, eventually, for site issue continuity), with an introduction (Initializing), Editorial section, issue content section introductions, an issue epilogue (Initialized and set. The issue page has to have core content to anchor it, as we do not want to reduce it to a table of contents for the issue. The blog-like “Thoughts” section at the top of each issue will be discontinued, as it was distracting), and a reader reaction section on the main page, with the issue content sections each getting their own content pages defaulting and pointing back to this page, the sponsor issue, although other issues can also reference those content pages, which also serve as subject based reference content. We should not have to explain more, however, as this is more for us to be concerned about; the new format should be intuitive and easy for our readers to follow. This new format will also help search engines index the vast and interesting content on Frontier Pop, and also deter anyone from printing out entire issues, ensuring that our readers get the best updated content by referencing our content online on our actual web site. It will also help us follow and reference what parts of our content are being read and by whom. Other than clicking on some links to navigate the content of each issue, our readers won’t have to do anything more than what they have done in the past (which will soon be the future as we go back and update past issues).
Some old rules remain in effect, too. Just like the past, all issues remain in play; once an issue of Frontier Pop is published, it can be updated at any time, without warning, especially since it becomes an issue about its main subject once it becomes a past issue. For example, that i-IDIOTS issue (Volume 1, Issue 18, for November 16-22, 2010, back when Frontier Pop was published weekly and not monthly like it is today), when it is finally finished, will be the dominant issue about iTunes, because that was the main subject of that issue.
With the resumption of the regular publication of Frontier Pop, too, this means that, soon, we will heavily promote this web site and start covering stories and events. We will also be getting things such as shirts, apparel, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, business cards, and more.
Just like we had problems falling off the wagon when it came to updating and publishing content on Frontier Pop, this issue, “Switched On”, is about finally getting back on track, for, real, this time, by switching everything on and working toward the future. With all of the other news out of the way, we shall now proceed with this issue, starting with our Editorial section (you can access each section page in any order from this page, or simply read each section in order from the section pages by clicking on links on each section page, as well as go back to the preceding section. You can also return to this issue page from the section pages, simply by clicking on the title image at the top of the page, which is now contextual, with links changing depending upon where it was clicked in the site; from the section pages, the title image takes you back to the issue page. From the issue page, that same image takes you to the main page of Frontier Pop) and from links in the section pages. You can also return to any issue which references section pages which are “sponsored” and owned by their “mother” issue, as links back to the referencing issues will be added to content sections once they are referenced, although the main issue will not change for those content sections.
We hope that all of that was not confusing. It probably was, but it doesn’t really matter. You don’t have to understand it to use this site, as the changes will be intuitive. Well, at least that is how we engineered it to be. Frontier Pop is certainly an ingeniously and creatively formatted web site and online publication.
Although this issue is about getting back on track, and features the Nintendo Switch, which has been all but consuming my time for the past three months, keep in mind that Frontier Pop, although we will be reporting a lot about video games in past and upcoming issues (Something that Nolan’s pop culture review and crazed fanboy site had little to say on, although it was well-written and covered subjects that we are ill-equipped to), will not only be about video games. We cover a wide range of interesting subjects, from pop culture to technology. We even have upcoming issues about military subjects.
We have some others news, too, such as the change of the name of the Frontier Society to the Cypher Society, but we will get into that in the meat of this issue.
That said, it is time to get on with this exciting issue, the first new issue in a long time.
Welcome to “Switched On”, the special issue about the Nintendo Switch and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for July 2017!
Sincerely,
C. A. Passinault
Frontier Pop Editor

_____________________________

Editorial: Frontier Pop: Are we really back?
Editor and publisher C. A. Passinault explains why Frontier Pop is finally on track after a history of false starts, as well as the history of the site, which goes back farther than 2010, and its relationship with the Frontier Society underground cyber subculture, the Frontier Society being founded by DJ Frontier, Passianult’s DJ alter ego, in 1993.
While launched in 2010, Frontier Pop began life as an artist community web site known as Colony Alpha in 1998! Colony Alpha was Passinault’s very first web site, and it had a thriving community of artists contributing years before social media began.
Passinault also addressed the misconception and the perception that Frontier Pop is a video game web site, which is not true. Video games just happen to be a frequently covered topic.
With all of the pieces in place and the convoluted development phase now behind us, we will salvage Frontier Pop by fixing the problems and by resuming regular publication.

Issue main topic and featured content:

The Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is Nintendo’s hybrid home and portable video game console. At the time of this writing, it is the most powerful portable video gaming console ever made. Inversely, it is also the weakest of the current generation of home consoles, hopelessly outgunned by the Xbox One, the Xbox One S, the Xbox One X, the Playstation 4, and the Playstation 4 pro.
Rushed to the market, the Switch is gimmicky, glitchy, and it occasionally crashes. Its Virtual Console is cobbled together with stand-alone Eshop releases, and it has a group of face buttons on its left JoyCon emulating a D-Pad, but failing to do that job as well as a dedicated D-Pad.
The concept of a portable console playing games on a TV is not new, either. We were doing it with the Sega Nomad, a portable Genesis with a TV output, back in 1998. The 2000 series of the Playstation Portable could also be played on televisions with an accessory cable, and we have done so using one, which we still have (We still have the Nomad, too).
That said, the console is worth getting just for the new Zelda and the Neo Geo games. Zelda: Breath of the Wild alone is worth buying the console for. It is why we call it a Zelda player, just like the Japanese used to call the Playstation Portable a Monster Hunter Player.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the first truly open world Zelda game, and it is so good that it transcends the description of a video game. It is like having a world in your hand, and it is infinitely replayable because of its vast, compelling content.
We would go so far to say that the Switch would have failed if it were not for this incredible game, quite possibly the best game ever made. It is worth getting a Switch for.

No Virtual Console, but Neo Geo games!
The availability of Neo Geo arcade games on Nintendo’s sorry excuse for a Switch eShop is a big plus, and adds a lot to the Switch console.
It is just too bad that the lack of a proper D-Pad sucks, as even the Playstation Vita has a proper D-Pad.

New Frontier Pop format
Frontier Pop is currently being upgraded and the layout design is being refined. We are losing the social media buttons and are revolutionizing the way that we organize our content.
Sadly, the old design template does something weird to the existing content, and applying the new design template to existing pages rips apart the pages and shears content. The content will have to be imported to the new design one page at a time, and this will take time; we simply cannot apply the new template to the entire site at once to update it, because this would destroy the pages of this web site, which defeats the purpose of using CSS with the site, but can be worked around since the content needs to be edited and reformatted, anyway.

Web Sites
After months of research, development, and hard work, especially with the development of next-generation talent resource web sites, Passinault has resumed updating web sites. It has been a while, but the results will be worth it.
Passinault is also investing in new computers and new software tools for web site development at this time.
Then there is all of the investing and hard work going into new web sites, which we will get into elsewhere in this issue of Frontier Pop.
Passinault will have 300 operational web sites by 2019.

Nolan Canova and Crazed Fanboy / PCR (Pop Culture Review). My opinion.
Some of you who have been around since the launch of Frontier Pop in its present form in 2010 are probably aware of the conflict between this web site and a rival pop culture web site called Crazed Fanboy, also known as the PCR, or the Pop Culture Review. It was run by a web designer and writer by the name of Nolan Canova.
Nolan Canova and I haven’t always seen eye to eye on things, but I respect him. Hell, I even like him. The heated debates over his web site and my criticisms about him and Crazed Fanboy over the years were, oddly enough, born of frustration.
I was frustrated because I cared.
Nolan is a good writer. The years of content on Crazed Fanboy / Nolan’s Pop Culture Review is excellent and vast, and there is nothing else out there like it, even on Frontier Pop, or on ANY of my web sites, for that matter.
As I told Nolan at the Tampa Bay Comic Con in 2011, there are some things that he knows far better than I, such as fandom and fan events.
Which is why I was especially disappointed when Nolan quit his own web site at the end of 2011 and allowed Terrence to take it over.
Terrence did not do a bad job. He wrote and published about things that he was into, such as Doctor Who (Which I cannot get into or understand, no matter how much I try to; to me, Dr. Who is kind of the coffee of pop culture. I just don’t like it, and never will). Terrences podcast were also excellent.
I was just kind of hoping that Nolan would come back. He never did, and the web site was never the same, although there are rumblings that he is about to return.
Of course, something happened a years ago, and Crazed Fanboy has not been updated since, other than the note that Nolan posted on the main page of the site.
It would be a tragedy if Nolan did not return to Crazed Fanboy and resume publishing. It would be a great loss.
If you need any help, Nolan, just let me know. You have my support.

300 Web Sites by 2019

Talent Resource Sites and Security

Independent Film War

Disrupt. Suppress. Displace.

The Frontier Society is now the Cypher Society?

INITIALIZED AND SET
ISSUE CONCLUSION BY EDITOR AND PUBLISHER C. A. PASSINAULT

This issue of Frontier Pop achieved initial publication capacity as the issue was concluded, which means that it was officially published and promoted at that time.
This, however, is not the end. It is merely the beginning.
No issues are final. They can be edited and added to with no warning.
Since this is an online publication, this issue remains in play, with new content added as-needed and existing content edited as-needed. This is a dynamic, interactive publication. After the month of publication which is specified, this issue remains active as a reference, as well as for its primary subject covered, and most new content would add to the primary subject matter of the issue, as this issue would be referenced by subject.
Features such as the Readers Reaction remain active, and can be posted to at any time.
Any additions to this issue will be immediately referenced, via links, from the current issue of Frontier Pop, as well as the front main page. To bump this issue for reference from new sections of Frontier Pop, simply post to the Readers Reaction section.

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READER REACTION

Posted Opinions and Debate by the Frontier Pop Readers

The Frontier Pop Reader Reactor

CONTROVERSY SCALE: 1 (Warm) to 10 (Critical Mass)

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

Reader reaction section is organized from top to bottom. Latest posts are at the bottom. See Disclaimer.

Agree? Disagree? Have a comment or opinion to share? POST NOW! Updated Daily.

Join the Frontier Pop Readers and post your opinion, today. It's free!

Museboy - Posted 07/17/17/0801
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?
Is the jackasssssssss really back?!?!?
I must let the boyz know! Hee hee!

Tez - Posted 07/17/17/0832
Oh, Christ! Here we go again!
I need to let my illustrious mentor know so that we can put a stop to this!
Nolie, oh spirit of that who he was, I cry out for thee!

Joeba The Butt - Posted 07/17/17/0845
The nerds and me will mass our armies together and crush Passinault and his Frontier Pop web site! I have a shuttle which can transport them to our beachhead on the Internet.
Nerds, let us unite as one! Load up on the Nerd Shittle! YES!
This is WAR!

the_truth - Posted 07/17/17/0911
Do not fear, my Internet children. I am always watching. I will protect you from this evil Frontier Pop web site and Passinault’s babblings.
He will probably quit and give up for another year or two before he tries to resume publication again! Ha ha!!

Losing The Plot - Switched On - August 2017 Issue

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