As some of you may be aware, I am notoriously weak-willed when it comes to avoiding spoilers re: stuff I really like.

Especially if it’s TF-related material.

So naturally, once decent quality leaks of part 3 of the Transformers: Prime season finale aired, I could not resist.

(More after the jump – here there be spoilers!)

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So. Steve Jobs passed away.

While I’m not all that surprised it happened, STILL. It happened.

We’ve lost a great visionary. Everyone’s talking him up in their eulogies as being among Ford and Edison, and you know what? They’re right.

Bill Gates was someone who had connections and was in the right place at the right time. Sure he too was cutthroat and creative, but the main successes he had were the dominance of MS-DOS and Windows (and by extension IE and Office) that Microsoft established.

Steve Jobs, meanwhile…. what to say. Him and Wozniak got Apple going, and Jobs’ career has been filled with a lot of innovation. Though I don’t see Jobs as someone who created new ideas per say, he was the kind of guy who knew a good idea when he saw it, and knew how to surround himself with the people to make it work while applying a personal touch. Apple often wasn’t necessarily the first ones to come up with an idea, but under Jobs they were the ones who brought it to mass audiences and captured their imagination.

And the thing that amazes me the most about his career is WHEN he had his successes. Most people have their huge success before their twenties are through. As did Jobs.

Then, he came back to Apple, took a dying company, and turned it around. And had a string of huge successes while in his fourties and fifties. And though no, he didn’t personally create or develop or write code, by all account Jobs was a micromanager to the extent that he knew what he wanted, and would make sure every little thing was just right. I’ve heard stories about him micromanaging what ICONS look like – or heck, with the Apple Stores, they made a mockup prototype in a warehouse to get every single thing right down to stuff like wood color for the counters.

It’s unfortunate he’s left us, and the world is a lesser place for it. I look at tech like the recently-unveiled Siri, and wonder how that reveal would have gone had Jobs been at the helm. Surely, that would have been the Next Big Thing that changed things for ever.

Rest in peace, sir.

I mean, seriously.

This Bloom County strip was brought to my attention tonight by CB_Chef of Twitter. He quoted it in a tweet, I correctly IDed the quote, thinking he was paraphrasing….

Turns out he wasn’t.

And thus, I give you a 100% relevant comic from 1983, today.

I swear, before Anonymous hacking into corporations, there was Oliver Wendell Jones.

http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1983/10/23

So. People.

This time next weekend, I’m going to be busy drawing a 24-page comic in 24 hours, at Happy Harbor Comics in Edmonton.

However, it’s an event they use as a fundraiser as well. For Literacy Alberta.

So for what’s probably the first time ever, I’m going to offer my art services to raise money for this noble cause. But wait, I’m sure you’re wondering, what extravagant costs/conditions do you demand?!?

$5 – Pencil sketch.

$10 – Digital (colored) sketch

$5 – Cameo of some character design in the 24 hour comic I’ll be drawing.

$10 – Inclusion of some suggested element in the 24 hour comic I’ll be drawing.

All drawing requests are made with the caveat of me having right of refusal, UNLESS the price is doubled. Yes, that’s right. I’ll draw whatever explicit crap you want for more cash, including inappropriate things and bad OCs.

All requests have to be in by Friday, Oct 7, sometime in the evening – payment can be made once I’ve actually drawn the requested sketch. For that matter, if it’s a pencil sketch, for $5 more (on top of any doubling, so it doesn’t count towards that) I’ll mail it out your way if you so wish.

More info:

http://happyharborcomics.com/ – info on the challenge

http://www.literacy-alberta.ca/ – info on the cause

EDIT: If you have a request, either leave a comment here, or PM/Reply to me on Twitter. That’s the easiest way to ask.