Uploads from Catsy [CC]

Reason #218940 the new Flickr UI sucks

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:24:08 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

The fact that it is even possible for this kind of failure to prevent a user from viewing more comments is a damning indictment of the choice to force people to click in order to load more than a handful of the most recent comments. There was no good reason to do this; all it does is force the user to click more to get to what they want, and puts additional load on the back end with additional queries while introducing new opportunities for failure.

This is bad design, pure and simple, and no excuse for it.

New Flickr monstrosity

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:36:32 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a video:

Wow. Flickr has completely fucking screwed the pooch with this new site update. In one fell swoop they have rendered the site virtually unusable over a Remote Desktop connection, which is most of where I view the site. It's SLOW. Painfully, excruciatingly slow. Watch the video and take careful note of how long it takes to redraw the page, both when switching to it and when scrolling.

This goes way beyond "this is different and I don't like this". This is "you have destroyed the site and rendered it unusuable".

Sadly, this was entirely predictable. Was there no one on the entire Flickr development team capable of understanding what would happen when you turned virtually every square inch of the page into an image that had to scroll beneath a transparency?

Between this and my Lego dim age, I'm frankly about done, and starting to regret renewing my Pro account. I can't use this site.

BTW, I've started a thread in the Help Forum for tips on how to make the site behave the way it used to: www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157633533316333/

Borderlands 2 Loot Chest

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:59:52 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

In our Sunday tabletop game there are two friends, Magen and Martin, who have been dating for a long time. A while back Magen mentioned to me that she was going to propose to Martin, and asked me if I could make any of the chests from Borderlands/BL2 out of Lego which she could use to present him with the rings.

As most of you know, I've been in the midst of a pretty bad dim age in my Lego creativity, but this wasn't the sort of thing I could say no to. It required me to actually start playing Borderlands 2 so that I'd know what I was trying to make, and well, that's gotten me thoroughly hooked on the game myself. XD

But anyway, after months of fumbling and struggling with construction methods, I finally came up with something that I don't think is awful. These photographs, on the other hand, are awful, so feel free to hop on over to Magen's site where she chronicles her engagement story, as her pics are better than mine and actually have the rings in them.

Ironically, the rarest parts in this whole thing are what are sometimes called the "rarity spikes"--the color-coded vertical spiked lines that rise up from an item in the world to tell a player how rare/powerful an item is. I wanted the rings to be Legendary, so I chose these two "fluorescent trans-orange" BrickArms Bayonets.

I don't think it's my best work, to be honest--I was really struggling, and I had a hard time coming up with a method for hinging the top that was structurally sound enough to be opened and played with while closing flush against the top and allowing the detail I needed. But they were really happy with it, so I choose to be too. :)

Dim Age

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:28:03 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

You've probably noticed that I haven't uploaded anything new for about six months, and that Catspaw Customs has been relatively static. The fact is that I've been in something of a dim age for the better part of a year now, and probably a lot longer. There's a lot of reasons for that, but what they all boil down to is an almost complete absence of building inspiration. Even when I get ideas for something I want to create, I just can't seem to make things come together or get beyond the first surge of tinkering. It's frustrating and depressing.

And I've just had so much else going on in my life that I haven't been able to climb out of it. My job is putting ever-increasing demands on my time and mental energy, to the point where when I get out of work about the only thing I can manage to do is write. So what creativity I have available has been directed into that. After 10 years together Jess and I have split up, and the emotional struggles leading up to and following that haven't helped.

And since I haven't been creating anything new, Catspaw Customs has been stagnating to the point where it's time for me to close the doors, so to speak. The hex stands will most likely become part of the BrickArms product catalog, and resellers should contact Will to source them. They are still a fantastic product that I believe in--I just don't have the time or energy anymore to sustain the retail business around them.

I think part of the problem is that I got to a point where I felt like I was obligated to be producing new work in the Lego medium, and I felt guilty if I ended up creating anything else, especially after I started a business whose success depended on continuing to create with Lego. That guilt and sense of obligation stifled me in a way I couldn't overcome, when it combined with everything else going on in my life.

My life is in a state of major change right now, change that I hope will lead to renewal. Within a few months I'm going to be living alone for the first time in ten years, and that will give me an opportunity to clean the house and focus on bettering myself--a process that I hope will lead to a renaissance of creativity. I don't know what the future will bring, but for the first time in a long time I'm looking forward to it with hope and optimism.

Thank you to everyone who's offered encouragement and support over the years. I'm not quitting the Lego community, but I do need to take some time to get my life in order and hopefully reclaim some of that missing creative drive. Whenever I produce anything in any visual medium--Lego or not--you'll see it here.

SF-10 Longbow (deployed)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:06 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

The SF-10 Longbow is a carrier-borne space superiority fighter. Armed with a pair of mass driver miniguns, the SF-10 makes up for its spindly, fragile construction in its deployed mode with a pair of powerful forward shield batteries mounted on its wing pylons. In carrier mode, the Longbow folds up into a compact form that greatly multiplies the number of available fighters that can be carried.

The stand actually transforms as well in order to accommodate the two different modes--albeit in a vastly simpler fashion than the fighter itself.

Built for the Starfighter Telephone Game.

SF-10 Longbow (deployed)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:06 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

SF-10 Longbow (carrier mode)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:05 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

SF-10 Longbow (carrier mode)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:04 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

SF-10 Longbow (carrier mode)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:04 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

SF-10 Longbow (carrier mode)

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:03 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

Halo Ringworld wallpaper

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:10:08 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

I don't know about anyone else, but I *really* liked how that last image came out--I'm a sucker for that kind of space scene. I decided to work on it a bit more and make a wallpaper out of it. I have a 1920x1200 monitor, so this is made for a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Feel free to download and use this. All I ask is that you link to this photo page rather than reposting it somewhere.

Update: resized and repositioned credits line so that it's less intrusive and allows the image to be cropped for 16:9 without losing the credits. The optimal way to do this crop is -25 top and -95 bottom.

Halo Ringworld scene

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:20:26 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

Having a little fun with one of my photographs of the Halo Ringworld--in this case, shopping in Basis and Threshold (against a quickie starfield) and playing with the lighting.

Update: turned into a proper wallpaper here.

Halo Ringworld @ BC2012

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:54:38 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

After nearly three years of on-and-off work, my Halo Ringworld is complete and has been on display at BrickCon 2012.

It's on a big corner table so it's not easy to get shots from certain angles. Unfortunately my camera battery is apparently dead and not holding a charge, so I wasn't able to get any more shots before breaking everything down--but I have some I haven't processed yet, so I may have some continent detail shots still to post if they came out well.

Halo Ringworld @ BC2012

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:54:11 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

After nearly three years of on-and-off work, my Halo Ringworld is complete and has been on display at BrickCon 2012.

It's so big that it's actually quite difficult to get decent shots of the entire ring. I'm going to see if I can get help moving it to the floor before I break it down tomorrow so I can try to get more shots.

Halo Ringworld

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:41:14 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

After nearly three years of on-and-off work, my Halo Ringworld is complete and has been on display at BrickCon 2012. I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am to finally be done with this epic project! I was honored that it was chosen to win "Best Large Planetary Structure" in the Space theme.

The outer ring (hull) consists of eight more or less identical segments (with minor variations in texture or the use of old gray for contrast), each 72 studs long. The inner ring (landscape) floats freely within the outer ring and stays in place purely by friction. It took over two hours (with help!) to set up, and there's no way I'll be able to do it at home. However, this is most definitely being kept safe and will return at future shows.

My best estimate of its parts count is somewhere around 11,000. The outer ring is fairly consistent in its construction and consists of about 7773 parts, give or take a few. The inner ring, though, is extremely varied--if I had to guess, I'd say it averages around 6 or 7 parts per each of its ~570 studs of circumference.

Halo Ringworld: DONE

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 17:37:47 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

10/8/2012: Welcome Kotaku and Reddit visitors! While you can get a good look at the landscape details from the above picture, this is not the completed, assembled Ringworld--just the four sections of the inner ring. You can find better photos here:

www.flickr.com/photos/catsy/8065999821/
www.flickr.com/photos/catsy/8061525985/
www.flickr.com/photos/catsy/8061552445/

----

If I can figure out a way to properly display it within the next few weeks, this will be at BrickCon 2012.

I will also be entering it in the Design a Lego Halo Set contest, provided the admins don't take one look at this and go "uh, this is not what we had in mind". ;)

These are the inner ring (landscape) segments, which have been my stumbling block for quite a long time. The outer ring (hull) is not pictured here, but you can see it in the WIP set. I might need to adjust the length of the inner ring by a little bit one way or the other once I try fitting it into the outer ring, but that's why I left myself open stretches of ocean and ice that I could expand or contract as needed.

Now to figure out how to set it up and photograph it...

BA v2 Railgun prototype

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 13:01:50 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

Some interesting combinations for the overmolding on the Railgun.

I think the gunmetal shroud over light OD core looks particularly convincing as a piece of military hardware, and the black over white core has a distinctly Mass Effect look to me.

BA Grippable Magazines

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:28:01 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

Some of you may remember that the M110 prototypes in the previous photo come on a sprue with matching magazines--which weren't pictured.

Consider them pictured. :)

BA M110 prototype - rescuing pretty swirls

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:11:38 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

As I was chatting with Will at the shop, he let me paw through his "trash" bin. It's a tub of rejects, seconds, short shots and sprues that are typically there because Will doesn't think they meet the kind of quality standards even for freebies to give out.

There was a lot to love in there, but the real treasures were these swirled M110 prototypes. These were prototype sprues that were for once for sale, but which Will recalled from his resellers after it went into production. I love all of these, but I personally think the ones in the center column are some of the most beautiful BrickArms I've ever seen.

Catspaw Customs: Open for Business

nobody@flickr.com (Catsy [CC]) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:11:50 -0700

Catsy [CC] posted a photo:

I'm excited to announce that Catspaw Customs is now live and ready to take orders!

Initially our sole product will be the minifig Hex Stands, which are available in 17 colors and in two-stud (2S) and four-stud (4S) versions. Eventually I would like to build the site into a greater resource for brick gaming with the Hex Stands, featuring a squad-based tactical wargame for minifigs I'm developing called War Figs. If you have any pictures of your Hex Stands in use, please add them to the group pool!

You can check out the Catspaw Customs Flickr group or our web site's image gallery for examples of what the stands look like and how they can be used with minifigs and tabletop gaming. I have many more examples in my own Hex Stands photoset.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any problems with the site, so that I can get them fixed promptly. Thank you for your time!