Lore Sjöberg
Encyclopedia
Lore Christian Fitzgerald Sjöberg (born June 27, 1970 under the surname "Shoberg") is an internet
humorist, co-founder of the Brunching Shuttlecocks
humor website
and author
of The Book of Ratings. (His father, nicknamed Lore and also born a Shoberg, but now legally Lore Coyote Orion, is a writer, illustrator and musician.)
, and posted on the Internet as the alter-ego (Velcro of) Samsara Vagabond.
He first entered the public eye as one of the Brunching Shuttlecocks
in 1997 along with David Neilsen (the Self-Made Critic) and a number of other, minor contributors. This online humor magazine
picked up a considerable following during its run, but was, ultimately, terminated after a long period without updates in May 2003. The Brunching Shuttlecocks gained notoriety when Newsweek
magazine mentioned the Alanis Morissette Lyric Generator. Lore's largest contribution to Brunching was "Ratings", in which he would give a short commentary and a letter grade to a handful of items in a particular category, such as "breakfast cereal
s" or "Scooby-Doo
characters". In 2002, Sjöberg published a collection of these ratings (as well as a few quizzes from Brunching Shuttlecocks) as The Book of Ratings.
, The Slumbering Lungfish Dybbuk Hostel and All-Night Boulangerie, and created independent sites based on his most successful projects at Brunching: Lore Brand Comics
and The Book of Ratings.
Over the next year he started Little Fluffy Industries, an attempt to provide links to as many Flash
games as possible (he has now passed executive editorial control to Joe Yuska), and made an attempt to revive Bandwidth Theater, another former Brunching feature consisting of short Flash movies. During this period he also had an internship at Wired News
.
Since February 1, 2006, Sjöberg has become a regular writer on Wired News
, in the form of video game reviews and reports from conventions like the San Diego Comic-Con. He also writes a weekly column for Wired News, titled Alt.Text, including reading his work aloud in the Wired News Podcast
. He contributed to the Blog 'Table of Malcontents' (which he ceded sole control of in October 2006) for Wired News until January 2007. He presently contributes to Wired's "Game|Life" blog—mostly linking to flash games, à la Little Fluffy Industries. Sjöberg currently lives with his significant other
in Berkeley, California
.
In 2007, Sjöberg received an honorable mention
among the Angele Gingras Humor Awards, for his work in Wired News.
Beginning in 2008, Sjöberg began releasing new video "Capsule Ratings" as part of his Alt.Text column on Wired.com and on YouTube
. These short videos generally consist of Sjöberg reading aloud his ratings as he sits in the Wired offices, with the video portion intercut with humorous illustrations and animations that accompany his comments.
As announced on his "Slumbering Lungfish" blog on October 16, 2008, Sjöberg's Alt.Text was discontinued by Wired as part of a change in direction by that publication. His videos were to be continued as a regular feature but they were put on "hiatus" by Wired as of January 1, 2009. Since then, the text-only columns have been revived as a bi-weekly feature, part of Wired News' Underwire blog.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
humorist, co-founder of the Brunching Shuttlecocks
Brunching Shuttlecocks
The Brunching Shuttlecocks is a humor web site that ran from June 1997 to March 2003. Its main contributors were Lore Sjöberg and Dave Neilsen and it ran under the motto "Pure and Simple as a Hammer to the Forebrain."...
humor website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of The Book of Ratings. (His father, nicknamed Lore and also born a Shoberg, but now legally Lore Coyote Orion, is a writer, illustrator and musician.)
Early career
Sjöberg attended college at UC Santa CruzUniversity of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, and posted on the Internet as the alter-ego (Velcro of) Samsara Vagabond.
He first entered the public eye as one of the Brunching Shuttlecocks
Brunching Shuttlecocks
The Brunching Shuttlecocks is a humor web site that ran from June 1997 to March 2003. Its main contributors were Lore Sjöberg and Dave Neilsen and it ran under the motto "Pure and Simple as a Hammer to the Forebrain."...
in 1997 along with David Neilsen (the Self-Made Critic) and a number of other, minor contributors. This online humor magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
picked up a considerable following during its run, but was, ultimately, terminated after a long period without updates in May 2003. The Brunching Shuttlecocks gained notoriety when Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine mentioned the Alanis Morissette Lyric Generator. Lore's largest contribution to Brunching was "Ratings", in which he would give a short commentary and a letter grade to a handful of items in a particular category, such as "breakfast cereal
Breakfast cereal
A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
s" or "Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
characters". In 2002, Sjöberg published a collection of these ratings (as well as a few quizzes from Brunching Shuttlecocks) as The Book of Ratings.
Post-Brunching career
Sjöberg then moved on to start a number of other projects, under the moniker of Seven Deadly Productions. He had already been operating a blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, The Slumbering Lungfish Dybbuk Hostel and All-Night Boulangerie, and created independent sites based on his most successful projects at Brunching: Lore Brand Comics
Lore Brand Comics
Lore Brand Comics is a webcomic by Lore Sjöberg. It traditionally features three panels of an exaggerated cartoon version of Lore pontificating about some facet of modern culture, with an acerbic punchline in the third panel...
and The Book of Ratings.
Over the next year he started Little Fluffy Industries, an attempt to provide links to as many Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
games as possible (he has now passed executive editorial control to Joe Yuska), and made an attempt to revive Bandwidth Theater, another former Brunching feature consisting of short Flash movies. During this period he also had an internship at Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
.
Since February 1, 2006, Sjöberg has become a regular writer on Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
, in the form of video game reviews and reports from conventions like the San Diego Comic-Con. He also writes a weekly column for Wired News, titled Alt.Text, including reading his work aloud in the Wired News Podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
. He contributed to the Blog 'Table of Malcontents' (which he ceded sole control of in October 2006) for Wired News until January 2007. He presently contributes to Wired's "Game|Life" blog—mostly linking to flash games, à la Little Fluffy Industries. Sjöberg currently lives with his significant other
Significant other
Significant other is colloquially used as a gender-blind term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, or sexual orientation, as it is vague enough to avoid offense by using a term that an individual...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
In 2007, Sjöberg received an honorable mention
Honorable Mention
The Honorable Mention was an important Military awards and decorations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for those who distinguished themselves by acts of high bravery, but weren't eligible yet for the highest accolade of the Military William Order...
among the Angele Gingras Humor Awards, for his work in Wired News.
Beginning in 2008, Sjöberg began releasing new video "Capsule Ratings" as part of his Alt.Text column on Wired.com and on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. These short videos generally consist of Sjöberg reading aloud his ratings as he sits in the Wired offices, with the video portion intercut with humorous illustrations and animations that accompany his comments.
As announced on his "Slumbering Lungfish" blog on October 16, 2008, Sjöberg's Alt.Text was discontinued by Wired as part of a change in direction by that publication. His videos were to be continued as a regular feature but they were put on "hiatus" by Wired as of January 1, 2009. Since then, the text-only columns have been revived as a bi-weekly feature, part of Wired News' Underwire blog.
On-line publishers
- Current
- Speak With Monsters - comics about monsters from early editions of the role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997... - Bad Gods – A site featuring open-source Flash cartoons and gags (as of 04 April 2011, this domain is no longer active)
- "Alt Text" commentary for on-line WiredWired (magazine)Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
- The Slumbering Lungfish Dybbuk Hostel and All-Night Boulangerie - Lore's blog
- Speak With Monsters - comics about monsters from early editions of the role-playing game
- Former
- Lore Brand Comics
- Table of Malcontents – Sjöberg's web-related blog at Wired News
- The Brunching Shuttlecocks
- The Book of Ratings
- Little Fluffy Industries
- Bandwidth Theater
- Untitled States – Generates custom images from blank templates
- Name Decoder – Generates amusing acronyms from name entries
- EvilURL – A functional parody of TinyURLTinyURLTinyURL is a URL shortening service, a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. Kevin Gilbertson, a web developer, launched the service in January 2002 so that he would be able to link directly to newsgroup postings that frequently had long and cumbersome addresses.-...