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Having been a gamer since my teenage years, I’m pretty familiar with representing myself in a virtual world. While some games offers customization of an avatar, the most common element is usually a username, also known as a gaming handle. When other players encounter you in this online world, they know you by your handle, not your real-life name. Over the years, I came to realize that my online personna could sometimes find its way into the real world, with undesirable results.

The first situation I’m going to describe revolves around the handle. When creating gaming handles, I now know to exercise caution, as the name may be seen in a context that isn’t… appropriate. I have personally experienced this before, and it is both and amusing and troubling tale. At one point in my life, I went in for an internship interview, and when the interviewer arrived, he pulled up the electronic version of my resume on his laptop. I couldn’t see his screen, but after a few moments, he looked up, and said: “ToadLurker?” It took me a couple seconds to realize that yes, I heard correctly. ToadLurker was my gaming handle, but I didn’t understand how it had anything to do with my resume. I confirmed the name as my own, and asked him where he saw it. It seems the file’s properties actually contained the author name, which, by default, seemed to be related to the Windows logon name. This is where I learned a very valuable lesson – despite the gaming, your Windows account should always be based on your real name. Also, the handle should be something that you can show to an employer without being embarrassed. Certainly not something that you’ll want to do, but I feel it to be a good rule of thumb.

Similarly, it is important to resist the temptation of using gaming handles as usernames for non-gaming websites. Recently, as I was using a finance-related website, I realized that I could not remember my username. I had to call their support line, and the agent eventually told me my username: ToadLurker. Registering with that username was obviously a mistake (rarely use it -hence why I couldn’t remember), but it was pretty awkward to hear that on the phone, and have to acknowledge that it was, in fact, your username. You’re also probably wondering what ToadLurker is, and to me, that’s the amusing part. To a random person, it doesn’t sound very good – it almost sounds like ToadLicker, suggesting I like to lick psychoactive toads to get high. Even if they don’t think this, the word “lurker” doesn’t really inspire trust in anyone.

Along the same line, by the way, don’t register on websites using an e-mail address that is too embarrassing to show to a potential employer. I used to live with a guy that had an e-mail called operationpimp@providerhere.com. Just keeping that e-mail address around is a risk to his reputation… what if it accidentally was seen by an employer? I used to have a good laugh imagining what would happen if he actually sent his resumes using that address.

Finally, to put an end to your wondering, I’ll explain how I came to adopt ToadLurker as my gaming handle. It goes back to my earlier gaming years, where I played Starcraft, a real-time strategy game, most of all. I really liked one particular unit, called a Lurker. Lurkers burrowed into the ground, and stayed there, awaiting enemy units. When enemies would walk near burrowed Lurkers, they would be immediately attacked by spines that pierced through the ground. The Lurkers themselves remain burrowed, making them great ambushers. I always liked that concept, so it found a way into my gaming handle.

The Toad portion actually started at SOAD, which is an acronym for System of a Down, a band I listened to at the time. SoadLurker was therefore my first draft, and I kept it for a while. A few years later, I began playing Battlefield 1942 with a clan, regularly. During one of our league matches, a shoutcaster decided to broadcast our match. He was essentially watching the match, and behaving as a regular sports commentator would. After the match, the team got together on an audio chat program, and listened to the shoutcast together. At one point during the match, the shoutcaster noticed me doing something in the game world, and tried to pronounce SoadLurker a few times, with little success. He decided it was too hard to read, so he asked his wife what she thought. Her suggestion was to just call me “Toad”, as it was simpler. Upon hearing that, the team had a good laugh, and I decided that yeah, why not call myself Toad?

That was, of course, a very long time ago. At this point in my life, I’m very supportive of the idea of using real names as gaming handles. They’re much less likely to lead to awkward situations like the ones I have experienced.

Photo credit

First photo by bpsusf.

Second photo by Umberto Salvagnin.

Third photo by Chase N.

On one particular work day, I decided to go shopping for some groceries with a coworker. It is something we actually do fairly regularly, as we work in the heart of downtown Montreal, where stores are abundant and easily accessible. After visiting a mainstream grocery store, we decided to visit an organic produce shop. Not a random one, mind you – as my mother just-so-happens to work there during the day. Given that the store is so close to where I work, I have a tendency to drop by fairly often. As such, I know the owners and other employees to a degree, and we get along pretty well. They even started giving me a 15% discount on everything I buy, which is essentially the same rebate my mother gets.

They’ve always had problems with theft, especially since stores started selling re-usable grocery bags. To counter theft, they have cameras installed throughout the store, and they also ask that customers leave their bags at the front desk when they come in. Usually, when I visit, I don’t bother taking off my backpack. I don’t like having to worry about my belongings, and, naturally, I know I would never steal. It seems they agree with the latter, as they never asked me to leave my bag with them.

So, as I walked into the store on this particular day, I was carrying a re-usable grocery bag, one filled with groceries from another store. Without really thinking about it, I walked in as I usually did, and walked towards the refrigerators, seeking a particular product: Slow Cow. Slow Cow is pretty much the opposite of Red Bull, both in function and in name. It is a product that will help you relax, rather than help you stay active.

So, once I saw the can, I took it off the shelf, and dropped it into my bag. It took about three seconds for me to realize what I had done. I placed the drink in my bag, amongst other products from another store. It could certainly be interpreted as an attempt at theft. Upon realizing this, I immediately retrieved the can from my bag, and at that precise moment, the owner turned the corner, and greeted me. While still holding the can, I greeted him with enthusiasm, all the while thinking how bad the situation must look. I’m still holding the can, and he appeared at a perfect moment to see me remove it from my bag. It took most of my mental strength to suppress the smile that was forming on my face. It was something I would have expected to see on Seinfeld. Thankfully, the owner seemed to assume nothing was odd, which was exactly the case. Had it been shown on Seinfeld, I suspect a different outcome would have been written. It just all seems so illogical, so ridiculous… why would anyone target such a friendly store, one that is also close to his work and his family? It just suggests a significant lack of analysis and thought, to the point where one would suspect mental instability. Seems like a perfect scene for George…

Ever wished you could go back to an old version of a particular application? Often times, as software companies release new versions, they remove the ability to download older versions. They may also choose to drop support for such versions, in the long run. Usually, upgrading software is a good idea: more bugs are fixed, new features are introduced, all of that fun stuff. In some cases, however, features are unexpectedly removed, or there are performance problems that result from the update. In these scenarios, I consider it valid to seek out older versions. Whenever I found myself in these situations in the past, I would search for websites that offered the old version. I didn’t always succeed, particularly because my freestyle approach depended on luck.

About a year ago, I discovered a site that solved the issue, most of the time. Meet FileHippo, a mammal so obsessed with software that it consistently stores away older versions, and keeps them available for download. Here’s the page for Firefox, as an example. The old versions are listed on the right side of the page.

Despite being able to see the old versions on the first page, don’t be deceived. There are actually many more available if you click the “view more” link. In fact, I can even go so far back that I can get Firefox 1.0, or any of the minor releases that followed it. As if that wasn’t enough, they also seem to store technical information, as well as the change logs for most old versions they keep.

Ever looked at a logo, and wondered what font the designer used? From an image alone, identifying the specific font can be difficult, particularly if it isn’t among those commonly seen on the web. Thankfully, a web service titled “WhatTheFont” facilitates this very scenario, while also allowing users to buy the font, once identified.

Below are screenshots revealing how to use the service, with the Google logo uploaded as an example.

As the above image illustrates, the service is pretty good at identifying characters, but it isn’t perfect. It asks the user to identify specific letters, eliminating the risk of false assumptions. Once the user validation step is done, the search results are shown.

Clicking on any of the search results will bring up  a page dedicated to the font, where purchasing options are available. So, much like my previous post about reverse image lookups , this is an impressive website, both visually, and functionally. I recommend you try it out, especially if you’re into web development.

All over the web, countless images can be seen. For the longest time, I took the presence of images for granted. That is, until I found an image I really liked, to the point where I wanted to know where it originated. My intention was to seek out additional images from the same photographer. Alas, I soon discovered that finding an image based solely on the visual content isn’t very straightforward. Back then, I was unable to find the source.

To simulate the problem I had, consider this image:

If I didn’t link to the photographer’s page, or even mention his name, how would you know where the image came from? Sure, the filename can be a hint, but it may have been modified. After all, the image you’re seeing is hosted on my server, not by a third party. So, aside from the filename, you could try searching for the image by describing it with words. Hopefully someone added proper keywords somewhere, and you may be able to find it with that. While those two methods could work, they really aren’t reliable.

Thankfully, I found something that will greatly complement the above two techniques: A reverse image lookup search engine. That’s right, give it a photo, and it tells you where it is being used. The service is called TinEye, created by Idée Inc.

In their own words:

TinEye is a reverse image search engine. You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions.

TinEye is the first image search engine on the web to use image identification technology rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks. It is free to use for non-commercial searching.

source: their About page.

As a demonstration, here’s what the first search results look like when I search for the above image.

As you can see, it already pointed me to a few domains… and there are more where that came from: 37 total. As it turns out, the first result points exactly to where I got the image, from the photographer’s Flickr page. Nice.

With the Flickr page in hand, an idea struck me. What if I fed TinEye the Flickr page URL, would it know how to find the image?

The answer is yes. It actually presented me with thumbnails of images it found on the page, and asked me to choose which I wanted to search with. No need to give it a direct path to an image, it’s smarter than that. I have to say, I’m impressed. Clean interface, simple controls, and flexible input – and all I did was try their most basic functionality. Definitely a company to keep my eye on.

When I went to use Google Chrome yesterday, I noticed the following AdBlock plugin notice:

After reading it, I realized it was one of the most polite notices I’d ever read. It also had a sense a humor that I usually only expected to see in Google-authored pages and applications. Good job, Michael, and everyone else at AdBlock.

NOTE: As a web developer, I am very hesitant to use ad blockers, as ads are an important source of income for website owners. I usually only enable them when I reach a site that I feel is completely obnoxious with their placement and overall use of ads.

Over the last two years, I’ve found myself in numerous situations where I’m minding my own business, and something unexpected occurs. I will describe these below, as the possible explanations are intriguing.

The first experience I will describe occurred on a day where I needed to head straight from work to the bank. They had received a card in my name, and I needed to pick it up. After the pick-up, my plan was to head back into the city, as I had plans to watch a movie with friends. I was using Montreal’s metro system to get these tasks done, as I always do. When I left the metro, and began walking towards my bank, a strange thought popped into my head: Maybe I should call Dad for a lift.

Now, to better put this into perspective, you should know that I’ve had my own place for 5 years. Due to the convenience of the metro system, I don’t need to drive. Sometimes, I do get lifts from people; however, those occasions must be appropriate. I won’t call someone strictly to abuse of their lift-giving generosity. The situation I’m describing is a perfect example of an inappropriate moment. For one, my parents live fairly close to the bank I’m describing. In fact, so do I. There isn’t much point in me asking for a lift, because the bank isn’t that far to begin with. Next, you should know that I don’t commonly ask anything of my father. It’s just not something I do, so the idea of calling him to help me seemed a bit weird, especially given how ordinary my plans were. Everything was going according to plan, and I was doing everything independently, as I always do. So, given how abnormal this thought was, I ignored it, and just kept walking towards the bank, which is part of a mall. Once I arrived at the mall… to my disbelief, I noticed a familiar car driving past me. My father’s car. Though confused, I managed to get his attention, and he stopped the car. He just-so-happened to be at the mall, and offered to drive me back to the metro station after I stopped by the bank. I accepted, and proceeded by entering the bank – only to realize that they wanted more ID than I had anticipated. Had it occurred without the presence of my father, I wouldn’t have been able to get my card. He drove me to my place, where I retrieved the additional ID requested, and with it, I was able to return to complete my bank transaction, without being late for the movie. Had I not encountered my father, I would have likely been late… the ID mix-up meant dealing with transport all over again.

The next experience occurred while I was preparing for my Dragon*Con 2010 trip. I went for a last minute shopping spree, and again, while walking to the same mall, an uncommon thought came to me. Maybe I should call dad, he may have some shopping to do too. Bizarre. I never invite anyone to go shopping with me while en route, I just go stick to the original plan. So, much like the previous story, as I was doing my rounds within the mall, I just-so-happened to bump into my father. He was there for a massage, and after he was done – he met up with me. Once again, the idea that popped into my head was not normal. It isn’t something I would normally think of. Yet, it materialized, despite the fact that I ignored it originally.

At Dragon*Con 2010, I attended as many Battlestar Galactica panels as I could. On the night of the third day, I attended a panel that was lead by a few enthusiasts. No one there had actually worked on the show, but it was still interesting to discuss theories about what happened in the storyline. A few audience members spoke up, including myself. One particular audience member stood out to me. He seemed particularly well spoken, and had intelligent contributions to the group dialogue. After hearing one of his theories, one of the panel members jokingly said: “You must be a writer”, to which he acknowledged he actually was. Soon after, I made a mental note to ask him about his work. After the panel, I waited outside the room, chatting with my sister. Since he seemed to be taking some time to speak to the panel members, I eventually left. After all, there was no specific reason to speak to him. I was just curious about what kind of work he produced.

The next day, my sister and I decided to attend another Battlestar Galactica panel. This one was taking place in a large ballroom, the one they used when some big names were going to be part of the panel. By large, I mean a 25,000 square foot ballroom. We arrived a few minutes late, and so most of the seats were taken. I spotted and approached some available seats to the front left of the room, and guess who was seated at the head of the row? The writer from the night before. I wasn’t surprised, given my previous experiences, but did appreciate the humor. I saw it was an amusing inevitability – these things just seem to occur. The writer’s name, by the way, turned out to be Peter Ristuccia. I’ve been reading his blog on a regular basis, and I recommend it.

Lastly, I’m going to mention a dream. Without going into excessive detail, in this dream, I was in the middle of a large scale natural disaster, a flood. After evading numerous threats, I eventually found myself among fellow survivors. I remember experiencing a solemn feeling of accomplishment, as I looked around at the others. From my left approached a familiar face – we’ll call him Kevin. His words to me were simple in their honesty: It is good to see you, my friend. After waking from the dream, I found it interesting that Kevin had appeared to me. It had been more than a year since I’d seen him in person. He was an old college acquaintance of mine, and while we got along, we rarely saw each other.

A few days after that, I left work during lunch to go to a dentist appointment. After the appointment, I proceeded to walk back to the office, around which I usually have lunch. At one particular street corner, I was surprised to be approached by an individual, who walked over to me from the left. It was Kevin. Thankfully, he didn’t say exactly what he said in my dream. That would have seriously shaken up my sense of what was real, and what wasn’t.

Now that you’ve read the above, there is something I’d like to emphasize: at the end of the day, I’m a developer. I believe in logic, first and foremost. Still, I have to acknowledge that these scenarios are odd, almost defying logic.  Are these occurrences simply the result of coincidence, or is there more to it? I’m intrigued, to say the least.

UPDATE: Synchronicity.

While I was choosing my top 5 favorite costumes from Dragon Con 2010, I realized there would be a few runner-ups. I decided to reveal the best of these runner-ups in this blog post, listed in no specific order.

Codex from The Guild

The Guild is web-based show created by Felicia Day. It centers around the adventures of an odd group of gamers who are part of the same in-game guild. Needless to say, to truly appreciate the series, it is best if you have previous experience with MMORPGs. Felicia Day stars as Cyd Sherman, whose in-game character is named Codex. Codex can be seen briefly in the title screen of the series, but to get a clear idea of what she looks like, see her profile page at The Guild’s website.

Alan from The Hangover

When I first spotted this guy, I was seriously wondering if he was the real actor, Zach Galifianakis. If you’ve seen The Hangover, you probably know what to expect.

To see what he looked like in the film, see the results of this Google Image Search.

After taking a photo with him, he told me the following:

“Remember, tigers like pepper.”

(Those who saw the movie will appreciate his comment)

Slayer of Bunnies

As I was leaving on the last day of Dragon Con, I spotted this girl – and had to take a picture. As far as I know, her costume isn’t a reference to anything specific. Seems to be purely creative, and for that, she gets bonus points.

From looking at the photo, you can tell that she killed a rabbit, and put its fur to good use – she made a hat, gloves, and boots. I definitely appreciated her sense of humor. That concludes my blog posts about Dragon*Con 2010. For more costumes, feel free to browse through the 150+ photos I recently made available through Flickr.

As I mentioned previously, this article will cover my top 5 favorite costumes from Dragon Con 2010. Before we dive into the list, I feel I should first mention what I look for in these costumes.

First, the more realistic the costume looks, the more I like it. If I get a feeling the character being portrayed might actually exist, then that’s a success. To give you an example, I never really liked the Batman movies until I saw Batman Begins. To me, that’s when the character really became respectable and interesting to watch.

Second, the more specific the reference, the less people will recognize it – but the more value it has to those that do. Sure, people might appreciate how cool a costume looks, but will they understand very subtle references?  In my mind, I see subtle references as a gamble – those that understand it will have a greater payoff.

So, with that in mind, here are the top 5 costumes:

5 Harley Quinn from Batman: Arkham Asylum

Ah, yes, Harley Quinn. While there were many to be seen at Dragon Con, one particular costume caught my eye. She was portraying a specific version of Harley Quinn, one that I’ve only seen in a specific game: Batman: Arkham Asylum. Not only was the game exceptionally good, but it also made the character more realistic – it made me think she could very well exist. I was therefore pleased when I spotted this girl’s portrayal of Harley. She also struck me as particularly sinister-looking, which fit the part perfectly.

Costume Original

4 Colossus

Next up, here’s a version of Colossus that I really liked. The others I saw looked unrealistic, were portrayed by short guys, and were leaning more towards matching the comic book style. This guy went with a different approach, and in my opinion, outdid the others. When I first spotted him from a distance, it almost looked like he was truly made of metal – the fake light reflection in the paint job helped have this effect. When I approached him, I realized that he was a big guy, who was even taller than me… and I’m 6’4″. Sure, he has the boots to help him gain that height, but what it did was really give him a towering presence. The guy quite simply had the right physical build to dress like Colossus, and he backed that up with an excellent paint job.

Costume Original

(source)

3 The Doctor and Donna Noble from Doctor Who

This guy was part of the parade, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw him. Funny, original costume – and he really does look like he’s being chased by a giant wasp. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate him afterwards- so all I have to show is this photo, which unfortunately isn’t from the best angle.

UPDATE: Commenter “mandawho” points out that this actually a Doctor Who reference.

2 Tauren with Elven Guestgiver

As a guy who used to play World of Warcraft, I can easily appreciate this next costume. You see, in World of Warcraft, non-player characters offer you quests. You know they have quests to offer by looking for a yellow exclamation mark over their heads. In the picture below, we see a Tauren speaking to Elven girl, who has a quest to offer. Both costumes are nice, but I especially like this photo in particular. It really seems like they’re in a conversation, right down to the body language.

1 American McGee’s Alice with Ragebox Mutation

In case you’ve never heard of American McGee’s Alice, it was a game released in 2000. It wasn’t about our typical, everyday Alice in Wonderland:

Set years after Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the game features an older, more cynical and macabre incarnation of Alice.

Source: Wikipedia

Back in 2002, a friend recommended I try this game. When I did, I truly began to understand what good game design was… which lead me to follow the work of American McGee himself, for many years.

So, with that said, the girl below was not only dressed as American McGee’s Alice. Instead, she was dressed as a mutated form of American McGee’s Alice. This mutation occurs perhaps only 3-4 times throughout the whole campaign, and it happens when you find a specific “Ragebox” power-up. Anyone can dress up as American McGee’s Alice, and it could look cool… but her mutated form? Awesome. It really takes knowledge of the game to fully appreciate the costume, and think this girl did a particularly good job perfecting it. I was hoping to speak to her some more about the costume, but was unable to find her again. So, wherever you are – great costume. I really appreciated seeing such a specific reference to one of my favorite games.

The gameplay video below will give you an idea of the game design, as well as what happens when Alice mutates.

Description

If you were listed in my Top 5, please feel free to contact me. I’m interested in hearing more about the making of your costume, and your general Dragon Con experience. I can be reached at mref…@gmail.com, or through the comment system on this blog.

In my next post, I’ll be going over a few costumes that almost made this list, and also, I will make the best of my photos available for public viewing on Flickr.

This year, I attended Dragon Con for the first time. If you’re not familiar with Dragon Con, it is a science fiction convention based in Atlanta, Georgia where actors, musicians, authors, directors, and artists in general gather to meet their fans. Having never been to such a convention, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I did, however, watch a few videos I found online, so I knew approximately how the panels were going to work. Upon arriving in Atlanta for the first time, I was immediately impressed with the overall landscape – not flat like the area I reside. Even while driving on the highway, it is possible to imagine that you’re actually in the middle of a forest. This is made possible mainly by the trees, which are massive enough to hide the majority of nearby buildings. It was also a pleasant reminder of the time I spent living in Florida, when I was much younger.

After settling in, I met up with my sister, and together we headed to Dragon Con. To be sure we were heading the right way to claim our pre-ordered badges, she asked a group of people where to go. We were told to go to the Sheraton, and as we were walking away, I realized one of the individuals in the group was none other than Sam Trammell, who plays Sam Merlotte in True Blood. So sure of this association, my spontaneous response was “Hey, it’s Sam Merlotte!”. Soon after which I shook his hand, as we exchanged simple greetings. I was pleased to see that it was that easy to encounter such a celebrity, simply walking to a hotel. I could have said something better, for example, I could have used his real name… but the reality was, I couldn’t recall it at that moment. Also, I did not try to take more of his time, as I knew he was heading to the True Blood panel.

Continuing on our way to the Sheraton, we spoke with a girl who was heading the same direction. She asked us which type of registration we were going for: preorder, or on-site registration. Upon hearing we preordered, she laughed and wished us the best of luck, explaining that she had to wait 4 hours in line to get her preordered badge, just the night before. Though somewhat skeptical, we approached the Sheraton, fearing the possibility. Unfortunately, the girl was correct, and we discovered that the line spanned many blocks outdoors. After about 15 mins of waiting, I decided to approach a member of their security. He confirmed that the wait was in fact approximately 3-4 hours for pre-order, but here’s the crazy part – he said the on-site registration line only had 30 mins wait. He mentioned that we could buy a day pass just for the first day, which would cost 35$ per ticket. We could then return to get our actual pre-order when the line was shorter. Not wanting to wait a possible 4 hours outside, we decided to spend an extra 35$ each. Sure enough, the on-site registration line was much quicker – especially if you paid cash, which we were able to do. Of course, this all meant we were paying money beyond our initial pre-order, which was already good for all four days of the Con. I found this strange: we ordered and paid ahead of time, and yet, our wait times are excessive compared to last minute buyers. This was a valuable learning experience – next Dragon Con, we were definitely not going to pre-order our tickets. Counter-intuitive, but necessary to avoid a big flaw in the whole event.

As we started to explore the affiliated hotels, it became clear that Dragon Con attendees loved to wear costumes. Everywhere we went, we saw people dressed up as their favorite character from movies, tv shows, etc. Many of these are impressive in quality – making for some great photo opportunities. In between attending panels, we made sure to use our camera to take an abundance of photos. In fact, I acquired so many photos that I will be writing a blog post where I name the top costumes, from my point of view.

Beyond taking photos, we spent a lot of time attending panels which featured actors we knew. Our focus was Battlestar Galactica, as we had both seen the series to completion. Therefore, after the first Battlestar panel, I decided to stay near the staff exit, hoping to bump into the speakers: Edward James Olmos, Aaron Douglas, Richard Hatch, and Mark Sheppard. After a few minutes, my strategy paid off. Most of the actors left through those doors, accompanied by their aides… but it really felt like a paparazzi-type scenario. Fans were taking photos, but the actors were continuing on their way. When Richard Hatch exited the room, I told him I was a big fan of his work, and shook his hand. He thanked me and continued on his way, with fans and camera flashes following him. Not sure where they would go, we followed behind them, but eventually decided to stop. I preferred that, as I was starting to feel like we were members of the paparazzi. After all, these are people just like us – the only difference is that their jobs gave them a good amount of public visibility.

We then discovered that a good portion of the celebrities attending would be available for autographs and photos in a place called the “Walk of Fame”. Having already met Sam Trammell in such an organic fashion, I was looking forward to meeting others in the same fashion. When we arrived there, I noticed that the celebrities were actually charging people to pose for photos. The Walk of Fame room had a strict no picture policy, with exceptions if you paid for a photo with a specific celebrity. Similarly, if you wanted an autograph, you’d have to pay for that too. The prices varied per celebrity, some charging as high as 50$ per photo – Edward James Olmos was one of these. I had hoped to get a photo with the famous Admiral Adama, but once I saw the price, I was immediately repulsed. I scouted the room further, and realized that some celebrities actually charged as low as 10$. This, to me, was more reasonable; however, I still could not allow myself to pay for a photo, or autograph. To me, I felt like the Con would serve as a great way for the artists to promote their work, and at the same time, they have the bonus of meeting some of their fans in person. I was proved wrong, as it seemed like there was a commercial aspect: the more famous the celebrity, the more they charged for their services.

I eventually discovered that Richard Hatch, who played Lee Adama in the original Battlestar Galactica, was not charging for people to take photos with him. When I realized this, I immediately began to respect him much more. Interesting thing is, when I originally arrived at the Con, I mainly knew him for his work on the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica. I had seen him in the classic Battlestar, but primarily knew him as Tom Zarek, the terrorist-turned-politician that seemed to be more evil than good. Because of this, he wasn’t at the top of the list of the actors I wanted to meet. Somehow, watching him portray the character Tom Zarek left me with a negative association. So anyway, after I saw him in two panels and then spoke to him at the Walk of fame, I thought of him highly. I also eventually came to question why Richard Hatch wasn’t charging for photos, and why the others were. On Day 3, we decided to ask around – and here’s the response we were given. The celebrities set their own prices, and Dragon Con does not actually enforce a minimum. All money earned is therefore directly awarded to the artist. That, to me, meant to me that Richard Hatch was an exceptionally cool guy. Yes, the actors likely have to pay their way to Dragon Con – so I wouldn’t mind paying 10$ per photo, maybe 20$. Anything higher than that, and I get the feeling they just want some extra money. Evidently, Richard Hatch was granting his fans the opportunity to spend their money elsewhere, and for that, I must commend him. For all the others: considering the salaries they are paid, I don’t quite understand why they need to charge at conventions.

All in all, Dragon Con 2010 was a good experience, one that I will revisit every year. This first visit served as a form of reconnaissance – it allowed me to better determine what to expect. Next time, my approach will be better – less time spent waiting in lines, more time spent taking photos of great costumes, and attending interesting panels.