Friday Q&A

Questionable Adulation

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Q&A. As always, I'm glad you're here. Provided you agree with me about Photoshop. Or at the very least, acknowledge that all your opinions are wrong.

Q: Is the Picture Clinic still a hate blog?

A: Certainly! Just because I've been keeping a positive tone doesn't mean I'm not filled with venomous bile. It just happens that things have been going pretty well in the Photoshop community. Good contests have abounded, and not one person has blathered on about how great everything was back in 2004.

Q: Could things be better?

A: Of course. Being a blogger has taught me that there's always something to bitch about. For example, what happened to the new policy of approving more themes? A few weeks after that grand experiment began, and we're already back to having only three in the queue.

Q: Why the sudden change?

A: It's less of a change, and more of an unwelcome return to the status quo. Fark management tried something new, and apparently it didn't work out the way they wanted. I'm not sure what went wrong, since we've had some really great themes in the past few months. I hope everyone involved with the submission process doesn't get discouraged by this apparent reversal in policy.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Thanks for stopping by. I know we don't always see eye-to-eye, but that's just because you spend so much time on your knees.

Stay tuned for more factual statements from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Taxation

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Q&A. As always, I'm glad you stopped by. Unless you disagree with me about Photoshop. If that's the case, feel free to go darken some other corner of the Internet.
Like you.
Q: Did you pay your taxes?

A: You better believe it. My American readers will note that last Wednesday was April 15th, also known as tax day. I assume that my international friends pay their taxes differently. Perhaps they simply appease the local warlords with a few chickens or a plump goat. As a member of the civilized world, I've always felt that paying taxes is my patriotic duty. I get a burst of civic pride just from cramming those rolled up pennies into the mailbox.

Q: Is this blog profitable?

A: Absolutely! Even with an economic downturn, there's always a market for vitriolic bile. Sure, some of the smaller hate blogs have been shuttered, but the Clinic is a professional operation. You can tell by the way I always wash my hands before major surgery. Or at least try to rinse them off in a puddle.

Q: Did you claim some questionable deductions?

A: That's a matter for the courts to decide. Being patriotic means I don't have to pay the same amount as everyone else. It also means I'm technically classified as a church, and that I've faked my death three times this decade alone. I'm running desperately short of single-engine planes to crash in the wilderness.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Thanks again for stopping by. If you have a spare cathedral or Piper Cub, please forward details to my P.O. box in the Cayman Islands.

Stay tuned for more taxation evasion from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Addition

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Q&A. Last week, I alluded to some big changes on tap for the Photoshop community. Unless you're completely out of touch, you already knew what I was talking about. But given how clueless some of my readers are, I'm not taking any chances.

Q: What changes are in store for the Photoshop community?

A: According to a recent discussion thread at the Scrutinizer Forums, big changes are in store for the way we cast our votes. Currently, users are allowed one vote per entry. However, this new format will give the option of voting for each image as either "best" or "funniest." Results will display on two different links, instead of the traditional single page. It's unknown how this change will effect the age-old "skill vs. funny" debate, but presumably everyone can find something else to bitch about.

Q: How do you feel about this change?

A: I'm fairly ambivalent. On one hand, it's a vote whore's dream. Who wouldn't want the chance to win in two categories with the same entry? The psychological validation might enable the average Photoshopper to stop crying whilst they masturbate on the toilet. Conversely, it's difficult to imagine the average Farker giving a careful evaluation of each entry's comedic and artistic merit. I would assume they would just vote for their favorite as both "best" and "funniest." We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, the Scrutinizer can be updated to accommodate the change.

Q: Is Octomom a Fark Cliché?

A: It would appear so. In last week's Q&A, I posed the question of whether or not Nadia Suleman (aka: Octomom) should be admitted to Cliché City. It's my pleasure to report that she won the poll by a wide margin. As such, I have granted her provisional cliché status. Octomom is officially the Pat Tribbett of multiple births.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. As usual, thanks for stopping by. I'm encouraged by the initiative Fark's management has shown in considering a change to the voting process. I believe such an action will properly lay the old "Drew doesn't care about Photoshoppers" argument to rest. The powers that be most certainly care about us. Just not enough to give our 700 pixel width back. Hopefully such a restoration will be the second item on their "to-do" list.

Stay tuned for more wishful thinking from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Audition

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome once again to the Friday Q&A. In this regular feature, I address concerns relevant to the Photoshop community. Did you have a productive week? I honestly can't be bothered to care, given how self-absorbed I am. Let's take some questions, before you start boring everyone with the tedious details of your miserable life.

Q: Are you going to add the winner of thread 4292632 to Cliché City?

A: Not just yet. For those who don't know, the challenge of a recent Fark contest was to create a new cliché. The voters may have spoken, but I'm going to wait until the image sees some actual use before declaring it an official meme. Whilst giving the winner an honorary position was briefly considered, I've decided there are no free rides to Cliché City.

Q: How are Fark clichés born?

A: This is actually a good question. You must have been sniffing just the right combination of paint and glue to come up with it. In the past, many have stated that clichés can not be manufactured. But where do these images come from? The truth is that we don't really know for sure. Some memes are born out of epic threads, but many more have no clear origin at all. Research indicates that quite a few "Fark clichés" see popularity on unconnected parts of the Web.

Q: Will you ever add anything new to Cliché City?

A: I already have. Barrack Obama's entry is the first non-Grampy writeup on the site. That one seemed like an obvious choice, but what constitutes a cliché is not always so clear. That's why I've decided to leave the tough decisions up to you. Starting today, I'll be putting the status of some emerging memes to a vote. Stop by Cliché City this week and help decide the fate of Octomom.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. As usual, thanks for stopping by. Join me again next week, when I'll be addressing some big changes on tap for the Photoshop community. You won't want to miss it. I'll also be unveiling the results of the first Cliché City poll. Is Octomom truly a Fark meme, or is including her a little premature?

Stay tuned for more obvious puns from the Doctor!