My grandfather passed away last night, so we’re spending today getting reading for the long journey northward. I expect sporadic internet access at best, so rather than kill myself trying to post entries in the coming weeks, I’ll instead hoard all my pithy observations and dole them out upon my triumphant return.
You’re probably asking yourself, “But James, what will I read when you’re gone?” I know, I know. More sympathetic to your plight I could not be. In all likelihood, you’ll feel obligated to cancel your IP service entirely until the rumor mill hints I’m back. The silver lining: this marks an excellent opportunity for you to catch up on a bit of light reading. Say War and Peace.
See you soon.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Take Me to Your Leader
If you look up into the night sky and then poop a brick because the moon looks so gigantic it might crash into earth at any moment, read here to set your mind at ease.
Turns out the whole thing is a cosmic optical illusion. Akin to the blue sky. Or the aurora borealis. Or the saucer I saw land in my backyard and eject those tiny green men.
Turns out the whole thing is a cosmic optical illusion. Akin to the blue sky. Or the aurora borealis. Or the saucer I saw land in my backyard and eject those tiny green men.
GeForce GTX 280
GameSpot has a preview of Nvidia's latest and greatest GPU, the GeForce GTX 280. The thing eats games for breakfast. Little kids for lunch and dinner. The disclaimer is that games will have to be coded to get the most out of the card.
And it's only $650! Wait, that's really expensive.
*Pats his 8800 GT on the head*
And it's only $650! Wait, that's really expensive.
*Pats his 8800 GT on the head*
Stock Inventory
My 20 year high school reunion looms in July but I’m not going.
Mostly, because of travel costs and time. My grandfather is ill, dying in fact, and when he passes we’ll have to make the three day journey to Minot a month before the reunion. It’s just too far a distance to return a few weeks later.
Honestly though, if I did have the time and money was no object, I’d likely still not go. As I look back now, leaving the town I grew up in, Minot, North Dakota, was one of the most important decisions I ever made in my life. A year and half ago, I flew up to Minot to visit my best high friends. It was great seeing everyone but when I returned, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the trip was somehow a step back for me.
You see, the people I hung out with in high school were some of the best and brightest of the city. Maybe even the entire state (yeah, it’s a small state). Nearly all of them left Minot themselves and lead highly productive lives as doctors, writers, teachers, and brokers. Hanging out with them again made me feel embarrassed for what I had to show for myself.
Stupid, I know. Nevertheless.
The crux of the problem, of course, is tempering my accomplishments against theirs. Even in high school, I had to perform this feat on a routine basis. When everyone split up during college, feelings I had of inferiority faded. Outside the gravitational pull of their shine, I flourished as a student--even if I made the worst of degree choices. And even worse relationship choices.
By the time I moved down to Houston in my late twenties, I hardly thought of my old high school friends. I had lost contact with almost all of them. Completely unknown in Houston, I forged a new life, a new career, a new relationship (yup, Wifezilla). No one knew me in Houston and so everything I did was judged outside the context of my hometown. The previous twenty-four years of my life were completely nonexistent to them, not even forgotten or buried, but thoroughly blank. Is there anything sweeter in life than the clean slate of a fresh start?
So hearing these voices from the past makes me struggle with all those old perceptions I have of myself. And the perceptions I think my high school friends have of me. It’s a strange, disorientating feeling. It’s what I imagine a mid-life crisis must feel like, as I scramble to take stock of the last fifteen years of my life and inventory the value of it all. No, scramble is too strong a word. More like ruminate.
I haven’t spent days agonizing over any of this. Each morning my two girls jump all over me is reminder enough that the stock is accounted for, the spreadsheet balanced, the valuable inventory safe. It’s been a long path to it, but I finally realize I need not judge myself against the laurels of my high school friends and instead be content with life as it is. It’s a hard thing to do—be relaxed, be at peace, be happy—but likely easier than most think to try. I suspect it’s the pining for what might have been rather than acknowledging the good from the here-and-now that breeds so much discontent in people.
Go Class of 1988.
Mostly, because of travel costs and time. My grandfather is ill, dying in fact, and when he passes we’ll have to make the three day journey to Minot a month before the reunion. It’s just too far a distance to return a few weeks later.
Honestly though, if I did have the time and money was no object, I’d likely still not go. As I look back now, leaving the town I grew up in, Minot, North Dakota, was one of the most important decisions I ever made in my life. A year and half ago, I flew up to Minot to visit my best high friends. It was great seeing everyone but when I returned, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the trip was somehow a step back for me.
You see, the people I hung out with in high school were some of the best and brightest of the city. Maybe even the entire state (yeah, it’s a small state). Nearly all of them left Minot themselves and lead highly productive lives as doctors, writers, teachers, and brokers. Hanging out with them again made me feel embarrassed for what I had to show for myself.
Stupid, I know. Nevertheless.
The crux of the problem, of course, is tempering my accomplishments against theirs. Even in high school, I had to perform this feat on a routine basis. When everyone split up during college, feelings I had of inferiority faded. Outside the gravitational pull of their shine, I flourished as a student--even if I made the worst of degree choices. And even worse relationship choices.
By the time I moved down to Houston in my late twenties, I hardly thought of my old high school friends. I had lost contact with almost all of them. Completely unknown in Houston, I forged a new life, a new career, a new relationship (yup, Wifezilla). No one knew me in Houston and so everything I did was judged outside the context of my hometown. The previous twenty-four years of my life were completely nonexistent to them, not even forgotten or buried, but thoroughly blank. Is there anything sweeter in life than the clean slate of a fresh start?
So hearing these voices from the past makes me struggle with all those old perceptions I have of myself. And the perceptions I think my high school friends have of me. It’s a strange, disorientating feeling. It’s what I imagine a mid-life crisis must feel like, as I scramble to take stock of the last fifteen years of my life and inventory the value of it all. No, scramble is too strong a word. More like ruminate.
I haven’t spent days agonizing over any of this. Each morning my two girls jump all over me is reminder enough that the stock is accounted for, the spreadsheet balanced, the valuable inventory safe. It’s been a long path to it, but I finally realize I need not judge myself against the laurels of my high school friends and instead be content with life as it is. It’s a hard thing to do—be relaxed, be at peace, be happy—but likely easier than most think to try. I suspect it’s the pining for what might have been rather than acknowledging the good from the here-and-now that breeds so much discontent in people.
Go Class of 1988.
Now Taste Cold Vinyl Foul Beast!
From GameSpot, a couple of grad students managed to hack a Wii Fit board to control the in-game movements of a World of Warcraft character.
Combine this with the peripherals that come with Rock Band or Guitar Hero and I can't help but wonder if one day we'll all be wielding plastic sword and shield to play our favorite MMO.
Combine this with the peripherals that come with Rock Band or Guitar Hero and I can't help but wonder if one day we'll all be wielding plastic sword and shield to play our favorite MMO.
Monday, June 16, 2008
I Assure You I Wear Tighty Whities
I must have been a good Daddy this year because the girls got me this beauty for Father's Day. If you're reading this in the comfort of your home and your most complex audio/visual component is a black and white television circa the Johnson administration, then this little gadget means nothing to you. But if you've multiple units, including an AV receiver that manages everything else, then the Harmony is the greatest invention since men's crotchless underwear.
Currently, I've got four activities setup. With two buttons tapped, I instantly power up just the components involved. And the best news is the gadget is wife and snotbag proof. The entire family, theoretically, should now be able to operate our home theater system.
Theoretically.
Currently, I've got four activities setup. With two buttons tapped, I instantly power up just the components involved. And the best news is the gadget is wife and snotbag proof. The entire family, theoretically, should now be able to operate our home theater system.
Theoretically.
High Adventure That's Beyond Compare
Lukenbach is tantalizingly close to Master Artisan Tailoring. Another day or two of grinding, and he should knock it out. Once he hits Master Artisan, he'll be able to deck himself out in a full set of light or medium armor, all purple.
The only problem is that Kammris is starting to balk at having to do all the grinding. He tried telling me the other day that he was actually twelve years old and that current child-labor laws prohibited me from working him as much as do. I quickly backhanded him and ordered him back to work, but I don't know how much longer I can keep him grinding for Lukenbach. I may have to resort to threatening Kammris, tell him I'll make him walk around Bree naked.
I finally made it off the island of Tortage in Age of Conan. That opened up the game quite a bit and I may just extend my subscription. My conqueror is a Cimmerian so when he sailed out of Tortage, I found myself in a Cimmeria mountain village. While all of Tortage's npcs were fully voice-overed, none are in the larger game. I'm not sure if that's because Funcom hasn't gotten to it yet or a deliberate design choice, but personally I've come to the realization that I'd rather read quest text than listen to it. I'm not knocking the voice acting in AoC. It's just I can read the text faster than they can say it and would prefer to keep things moving rather than sit and watch how the lips and movements just barely don't match what's being said.
After I knocked some quests out in Cimmeria, I took a wagon to Aquilonia. Where Cimmeria was rugged, mountainous, and barbaric, Aquilonia is urban, flat, and cultured. While hunting down a wayward horse for a harried stableman, I happened upon a man standing next to a tall white tower which glowed bright red at its top. I talked to the man and he told me he was planning out how to climb the tower so he could steal a gem it housed, most definitely the sources of the ruby shine. I convinced him to let me steal it and that we would split the profits. In broad daylight, I circled the tower. After some strategic jumping, carefully navigating the tower's ledge, and then grabbing hold of some vines, I finally made my way to the top. The guard dog was nothing more than a puppy that whined when he saw me. I filched the gem, made my way back down, and gave it to my partner.
It turns out the man wasn't stealing the gem for money, but to save his sister, who's soul was trapped inside it. Long story short, no reward.
But that's what I call high adventure.
The only problem is that Kammris is starting to balk at having to do all the grinding. He tried telling me the other day that he was actually twelve years old and that current child-labor laws prohibited me from working him as much as do. I quickly backhanded him and ordered him back to work, but I don't know how much longer I can keep him grinding for Lukenbach. I may have to resort to threatening Kammris, tell him I'll make him walk around Bree naked.
I finally made it off the island of Tortage in Age of Conan. That opened up the game quite a bit and I may just extend my subscription. My conqueror is a Cimmerian so when he sailed out of Tortage, I found myself in a Cimmeria mountain village. While all of Tortage's npcs were fully voice-overed, none are in the larger game. I'm not sure if that's because Funcom hasn't gotten to it yet or a deliberate design choice, but personally I've come to the realization that I'd rather read quest text than listen to it. I'm not knocking the voice acting in AoC. It's just I can read the text faster than they can say it and would prefer to keep things moving rather than sit and watch how the lips and movements just barely don't match what's being said.
After I knocked some quests out in Cimmeria, I took a wagon to Aquilonia. Where Cimmeria was rugged, mountainous, and barbaric, Aquilonia is urban, flat, and cultured. While hunting down a wayward horse for a harried stableman, I happened upon a man standing next to a tall white tower which glowed bright red at its top. I talked to the man and he told me he was planning out how to climb the tower so he could steal a gem it housed, most definitely the sources of the ruby shine. I convinced him to let me steal it and that we would split the profits. In broad daylight, I circled the tower. After some strategic jumping, carefully navigating the tower's ledge, and then grabbing hold of some vines, I finally made my way to the top. The guard dog was nothing more than a puppy that whined when he saw me. I filched the gem, made my way back down, and gave it to my partner.
It turns out the man wasn't stealing the gem for money, but to save his sister, who's soul was trapped inside it. Long story short, no reward.
But that's what I call high adventure.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Heads Will Roll
I've already talked about Age of Conan's unique combat system and some of my earlier experience with my first AoC toon, a Stygian Tempest of Set. But it took me till level 17 with my Tempest before I realized his combo moves weren't coming any time soon, if at all. Indeed, I found myself spamming just one attack, my aoe lightning strike, throwing in some needless, but satisfying, head bashing for good measure. I had read somewhere that spellcasters get combo moves too, but that was either erroneous or comes at later levels.
Having seen footage of decapitations, hewn limbs, and bloody guttings, I knew I was missing out on some of the best fun of the game.
So I rerolled a melee class, a conqueror, and started over. Almost immediately, I sliced my two-handed sword into some sinewy neck and lopped a head off. Don't underestimate how much fun it is to engage in whole-sale decapitation. I nearly got my toon killed trying to time out a combo to procc the melon-lopper. If you're new to AoC, I highly recommend you start the game off with a melee class, if only to get the gore and dismemberment out of your system. I don't doubt that this kind of detailed combat will fuel an enthusiastic PvP community.
Reviews are starting to trickle for the game and they're B'ish for the most part. Unlike WoW which hit the scene with nearly unanimous acclaim, reviewers seem a bit more reserved regarding AoC. Most like the unique combat system, but they point out abilities that don't work and class mis-balances. Almost all observe that the game is new and are willing to the give Funcom the benefit of the doubt on fixing current problems.
Personally, the game hasn't tore me away from Lord of the Rings Online. I haven't made it past the starting island mostly because I've been grinding crafting in LotRO. Which I find remarkable because that's been a massive resource grindfest and yet I've been eager to tear into it and have progressed nicely. I think AoC has some great potential, but it reminds me of that problem that MMOs birth: how do you play two MMOs simultaneously. I maintain that you can't, at least not well. So in all likelihood I'll not be renewing my AoC subscription another month. I see myself revisiting it in the weeks or months to come, but for now, I'm heeding the LotRO siren call.
Having seen footage of decapitations, hewn limbs, and bloody guttings, I knew I was missing out on some of the best fun of the game.
So I rerolled a melee class, a conqueror, and started over. Almost immediately, I sliced my two-handed sword into some sinewy neck and lopped a head off. Don't underestimate how much fun it is to engage in whole-sale decapitation. I nearly got my toon killed trying to time out a combo to procc the melon-lopper. If you're new to AoC, I highly recommend you start the game off with a melee class, if only to get the gore and dismemberment out of your system. I don't doubt that this kind of detailed combat will fuel an enthusiastic PvP community.
Reviews are starting to trickle for the game and they're B'ish for the most part. Unlike WoW which hit the scene with nearly unanimous acclaim, reviewers seem a bit more reserved regarding AoC. Most like the unique combat system, but they point out abilities that don't work and class mis-balances. Almost all observe that the game is new and are willing to the give Funcom the benefit of the doubt on fixing current problems.
Personally, the game hasn't tore me away from Lord of the Rings Online. I haven't made it past the starting island mostly because I've been grinding crafting in LotRO. Which I find remarkable because that's been a massive resource grindfest and yet I've been eager to tear into it and have progressed nicely. I think AoC has some great potential, but it reminds me of that problem that MMOs birth: how do you play two MMOs simultaneously. I maintain that you can't, at least not well. So in all likelihood I'll not be renewing my AoC subscription another month. I see myself revisiting it in the weeks or months to come, but for now, I'm heeding the LotRO siren call.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Take This Job and Shove It
Also from 1UP, Flagship employees may not be leaving in "droves," but at least one is suffering enough burn out to vent on his blog about the state of Hellgate: London.
I fired up HG: L last week to see how well it ran with my new 8800 GT. Night and day difference from the 8600. I had the settings nearly cranked to max and beheld nice, smooth 30+ fps. And the game is still damn fun. It's really too bad they bungled the release. That and charging a monthly fee for "subscriber" content isn't doing them many favors either. Lord of the Rings Online charges $10 a month too (if you pay three months in advance), and it offers waaaaay more content than HG: L. In fact, the only new zone HG: L offers since release is Stonehenge, and that was back in January.
I fired up HG: L last week to see how well it ran with my new 8800 GT. Night and day difference from the 8600. I had the settings nearly cranked to max and beheld nice, smooth 30+ fps. And the game is still damn fun. It's really too bad they bungled the release. That and charging a monthly fee for "subscriber" content isn't doing them many favors either. Lord of the Rings Online charges $10 a month too (if you pay three months in advance), and it offers waaaaay more content than HG: L. In fact, the only new zone HG: L offers since release is Stonehenge, and that was back in January.
Turbine Developing New Console MMO
1UP reports that Turbine indicated it's developing a new MMO, designed primarily for consoles. There's not even one hint of what kind of MMO it might be, but my respect for Turbine as a MMO developer ranks right up there with Blizzard. In fact, in some ways, I like Turbine better.
I can't help but wonder though, who's going to play all these new MMOs coming out? I hope their banking on attracting new customers because if they aren't, all they'll be doing is shifting their market from LotRO and DDO to their new franchise.
I can't help but wonder though, who's going to play all these new MMOs coming out? I hope their banking on attracting new customers because if they aren't, all they'll be doing is shifting their market from LotRO and DDO to their new franchise.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
When the Server Is Away the Barbarians Will Play
In all my glee over hitting Master Artisan Weaponsmithing yesterday, I invented the fact that Lukenbach is working on Master Artisan Tailoring. Imagine my surprise today when I logged him in to do some crafting and discovered he's actually on the tier below, Master Expert.
D'oh!
Farming hides is sooooo much better than circling the landscape for ore. It goes faster, first of all, because the hides come off beasties and there's plenty of those roaming Midddle Earth. But it's also good on the pocket book because in addition to dropping hides, the beasties also spit forth trophies, vendor trash that adds up when you kill as many as I've been lately.
I'd be optimistic that Lukenbach would hit Master Expert in Tailoring today, but the LotRO servers went tits up late this morning and are still down as I type this.
I guess that's my cue to fire up some Age of Nanoc. I rerolled a melee class and the game has taken a noticeable turn for the fun. More about that later this week.
D'oh!
Farming hides is sooooo much better than circling the landscape for ore. It goes faster, first of all, because the hides come off beasties and there's plenty of those roaming Midddle Earth. But it's also good on the pocket book because in addition to dropping hides, the beasties also spit forth trophies, vendor trash that adds up when you kill as many as I've been lately.
I'd be optimistic that Lukenbach would hit Master Expert in Tailoring today, but the LotRO servers went tits up late this morning and are still down as I type this.
I guess that's my cue to fire up some Age of Nanoc. I rerolled a melee class and the game has taken a noticeable turn for the fun. More about that later this week.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Fallout 3: Survival Edition
In a most unusual marketing move, Bethesda announced a limited edition version of Fallout 3 subtitled Survival Edition. It will have everything the special edition has, but also a digital clock like the one the main character wears on his wrist and a Fallout Boy bobble head.
Oh, and you can only buy it at Amazon.com. All for the low low price of $119.
Crazy.
Oh, and you can only buy it at Amazon.com. All for the low low price of $119.
Crazy.
Kammris, Master Artisan Weapsonsmith
I just hit Master Artisan Weaponsmith this morning and let me tell you, that was the grind of grinds. It takes 880 points to hit Master. Dwarf-ore is the only resources that propels you through. So this past week, I spend hours running in circles gathering dwarf-ore. I estimate it took about 1,000 ore to reach the 880 points. Kammris has just one tier left, but after all the farming I've done this past week, I can't even contemplate that right now.
But it's done now and I can craft some really good weapons. I need to return to the South Trollshaws to gather a stack or two more for Lukenbach's new axe. After that, it's sturdy hide grinding time! Lukenbach needs about 800 points for Master Artisan Tailoring, so I'm going to have Kammris do the farming. Theoretically, this should go faster than the ore gathering because the hides come off mobs.
Plus, it's always more fun killing stuff.
But it's done now and I can craft some really good weapons. I need to return to the South Trollshaws to gather a stack or two more for Lukenbach's new axe. After that, it's sturdy hide grinding time! Lukenbach needs about 800 points for Master Artisan Tailoring, so I'm going to have Kammris do the farming. Theoretically, this should go faster than the ore gathering because the hides come off mobs.
Plus, it's always more fun killing stuff.
Eleventy-Seven Morsels
I'm behind on my updates of Unlock the Mines of Moria mini games that Turbine puts out to preview their upcoming expansion Mines of Moria. The latest games is Eleventy-Seven Morsels, a hobbit's game of eating. Check it out here.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Lions for Lambs
My biggest problem with the movie Lions for Lambs is that its creators came off as having a conviction that the rest of the United States doesn't share. In hindsight, I think most Americans agree that invading Iraq was a bad idea. The excuse for invading was based on faulty (or manipulated) intelligence and the plan for what to do after the invasion was completely non-existent. Bush has some historically low popularity polls that reflect the nation's sentiment on the job he's done. So I'm not quite sure why Robert Redford made a movie trying to convince us the government botched Iraq when most of us know it, wish it weren't so, and yearn for someone to come into presidential power and clean up the mess, an unenviable, perhaps impossible task.
Aside from lecturing its audience on what it already knows, the movie engaged in some creative dramatic license. Manipulative, really. At the very end of the movie, a Warthog is flying back and forth attempting to provide covering fire for two stranded American soldiers. For most of the movie, the two soldiers had been lying prone. But for some inexplicable reason, John Wayne heroics I guess, the two stand upright right as the Taliban moves in. They are silhouetted perfectly against the mountain background and the Taliban promptly gun them down. Moments later the Warthog returns and obliterates the area where the Taliban were standing. I know it makes for high Hollywood drama, but I don't believe trained U.S. soldiers would behave that way, especially when covering firing likely meant a rescue landing wasn't long away. Redford wanted those characters to be martyred for a cause they didn't believe in, but for a county they did. It rang hollow and contrived to me.
The reporter aspect of the movie was weak too. Meryl Streep's character is wracked with guilt for not properly getting to the truth about WMD in Iraq before the invasion. She feels reporters like herself were too complicit with the government and served an important role in selling the invasion to the American people. Which is true. The part I didn't like is when the Senator hands her a story, but she doesn't want to write it because she believes he's lying to her. Her reluctance was misplaced though. The Senator handed her a story to write about, a new offensive in Afghanistan, vague on details (when is the government not?) but full of quotes by him. A good reporter would take that story and write it full of "coulds," "wills ," and "perhaps." Instead, Streep wants to make amends for the reporting of the Iraq war and editorialize the story, spewing all her pent up frustration into one big rant. I completely agreed with her editor when he ordered her to write the story as is because that's her freaking job! To report! It's someone else's job to opine. If she wants to be a pundit, then she should quit her job as a reporter and then write thoughtful analytical commentary to her heart's content. I know I was supposed to feel some sense of tragedy when she wrote the story like her editor told her to and then broke out into tears driving by Arlington Cemetery, but I didn't. Once again, hollow and contrived.
I also had a problem with the two college students serving in Iraq. Through them, Redford hints that the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq would have been better spent in inner city neighborhoods here in the United States. Now, I don't disagree that all of the United States could benefit from an influx of cash into its infrastructure system. But Redford is as naive as Bush telling us Iraqi oil revenue would pay for the war if he thinks money is going to solve the problems that plague inner city neighborhoods. Those communities are a reflection of its residents' actions. No one from the outside can fix the irresponsible choices they make that lead to the social dysfunction surrounding them. All the money in the world can't stop someone from abusing or selling drugs, dropping out of school, robbing a liquor store, or abandoning a family. The fact of the matter is that most of inner city woes can be traced back to the disintegration of the basic family unit. This country is based on its citizenry behaving responsibly, working hard, and raising healthy children. But it's also based on free choice. I'm all for pumping money into fixing buildings and roads everything in the U.S., but inner city folks have to pull themselves up by their boot straps and help themselves first and foremost. I know some of them continue to make destructive choices while simultaneously blaming the government or other ethnic groups for their problems. Their situation will never improve until that cycle of blame and recrimination is broken in favor of ingenuity and industriousness.
So yeah, the movie has some major problems. Still, it's one of a few movies about the Iraq war. I guess it's worth watching if only for the discussion it might spawn. Here's hoping that Redford's next effort is less didactic and more Quiz Show.
Aside from lecturing its audience on what it already knows, the movie engaged in some creative dramatic license. Manipulative, really. At the very end of the movie, a Warthog is flying back and forth attempting to provide covering fire for two stranded American soldiers. For most of the movie, the two soldiers had been lying prone. But for some inexplicable reason, John Wayne heroics I guess, the two stand upright right as the Taliban moves in. They are silhouetted perfectly against the mountain background and the Taliban promptly gun them down. Moments later the Warthog returns and obliterates the area where the Taliban were standing. I know it makes for high Hollywood drama, but I don't believe trained U.S. soldiers would behave that way, especially when covering firing likely meant a rescue landing wasn't long away. Redford wanted those characters to be martyred for a cause they didn't believe in, but for a county they did. It rang hollow and contrived to me.
The reporter aspect of the movie was weak too. Meryl Streep's character is wracked with guilt for not properly getting to the truth about WMD in Iraq before the invasion. She feels reporters like herself were too complicit with the government and served an important role in selling the invasion to the American people. Which is true. The part I didn't like is when the Senator hands her a story, but she doesn't want to write it because she believes he's lying to her. Her reluctance was misplaced though. The Senator handed her a story to write about, a new offensive in Afghanistan, vague on details (when is the government not?) but full of quotes by him. A good reporter would take that story and write it full of "coulds," "wills ," and "perhaps." Instead, Streep wants to make amends for the reporting of the Iraq war and editorialize the story, spewing all her pent up frustration into one big rant. I completely agreed with her editor when he ordered her to write the story as is because that's her freaking job! To report! It's someone else's job to opine. If she wants to be a pundit, then she should quit her job as a reporter and then write thoughtful analytical commentary to her heart's content. I know I was supposed to feel some sense of tragedy when she wrote the story like her editor told her to and then broke out into tears driving by Arlington Cemetery, but I didn't. Once again, hollow and contrived.
I also had a problem with the two college students serving in Iraq. Through them, Redford hints that the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq would have been better spent in inner city neighborhoods here in the United States. Now, I don't disagree that all of the United States could benefit from an influx of cash into its infrastructure system. But Redford is as naive as Bush telling us Iraqi oil revenue would pay for the war if he thinks money is going to solve the problems that plague inner city neighborhoods. Those communities are a reflection of its residents' actions. No one from the outside can fix the irresponsible choices they make that lead to the social dysfunction surrounding them. All the money in the world can't stop someone from abusing or selling drugs, dropping out of school, robbing a liquor store, or abandoning a family. The fact of the matter is that most of inner city woes can be traced back to the disintegration of the basic family unit. This country is based on its citizenry behaving responsibly, working hard, and raising healthy children. But it's also based on free choice. I'm all for pumping money into fixing buildings and roads everything in the U.S., but inner city folks have to pull themselves up by their boot straps and help themselves first and foremost. I know some of them continue to make destructive choices while simultaneously blaming the government or other ethnic groups for their problems. Their situation will never improve until that cycle of blame and recrimination is broken in favor of ingenuity and industriousness.
So yeah, the movie has some major problems. Still, it's one of a few movies about the Iraq war. I guess it's worth watching if only for the discussion it might spawn. Here's hoping that Redford's next effort is less didactic and more Quiz Show.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Star Wars: the Clone Wars
The girls and I went to Kung Fu Panda today and we all really like it. It's funny, beautifully drawn (computer-generated graphics), and had a nice message. Personally, I think everything Jack Black does is funny, so I'm biased.
We saw a number of previews, none more interesting than Star Wars: the Clone Wars. It looks pretty good. But then again, so did the edit cut trailers of Episodes I, II, and III. I can't tell how direct oversight Lucas has over this movie. Of course, I know he has ultimate say over the entire project, but my hope is that someone else is writing, directing, editing . . . uh, pretty much making the entire movie. If Lucas is involved in any of those three, or even one god forbid, then I haven't much hope.
I'm a tool though and I'll go see it anyway.
We saw a number of previews, none more interesting than Star Wars: the Clone Wars. It looks pretty good. But then again, so did the edit cut trailers of Episodes I, II, and III. I can't tell how direct oversight Lucas has over this movie. Of course, I know he has ultimate say over the entire project, but my hope is that someone else is writing, directing, editing . . . uh, pretty much making the entire movie. If Lucas is involved in any of those three, or even one god forbid, then I haven't much hope.
I'm a tool though and I'll go see it anyway.
I'm Mad As Hell and I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore!
I wrote this blog entry back in September and still believe I learned a valuable lesson about resource farming in MMOs.
But.
There. Are. Limits.
Case in point: my Lord of the Rings Online champion has been stalled at master expert weaponsmithing for months now. Now that it's summer, I've been hitting the South Trollshaws where Dwarf-iron is plentiful and the surrounding mobs grey to me. Today, when I hit the countryside, I had the region all to myself. For the uninitiated, that's like driving down five empty lanes of freeway. It's freakin' sweet.
At one point, I happened upon two nodes within walking distance of each other. I dismounted, mined the first. And then ran to the other. I suddenly heard galloping behind me. I was already running, but I continued to the node, nearly there. A mounted dwarf ran right over me, dismounted faster than anyone I had every seen, and mined it right as I reached it.
Wrenched from my five lanes of open freeway revelry, I muttered some choice four-letter words, but only mounted my horse and rode away in-game. After all, it was just one node. Plenty more around.
I mined another node or two and then made me way for another when I heard familiar galloping behind me. Already at full speed, I continued towards the mine. The same dwarf overtook me, jumped off his horse, and mined it just as I reached it.
Gritting me teeth, I try REAL hard to not emote nut kick him or send him a /tell. Instead, I check which direction he flies into and I turn the opposite way.
Not five minutes later he overtakes me again and snags ore within inches of me.
Now, notice the language I'm using here: THE ore, not MY ore. I know it's not my ore. Not until it's in my backpack. Still . . .
At this point, I'm pissed, but I ride off (the opposite direction again) without any communication with the lout. But as I make my way to another mine, I hear the familiar galloping. Almost to the node myself, the dwarf suddenly appears, as if from nowhere. If I weren't mistaken, I'd swear he had a catapult attached to that damn saddle of his. He grabs a fourth node right from under me at which point I've had quite enough.
I send him a /tell, simple and to the point: "Man, you're a jerk."
Predictably, he responds with the ore is fair game, he gets there first, blah blah blah. I've heard it a million times, I've even tried subscribing to its mantra, but ultimately, I just can't. The guy was behaving like a braying ass. On four different occasions, he had to pass by me to reach a mine before I did. He denied engaging in this behavior, tried to claim if he saw me going for a mine, he turned to look for another.
Utter nonsense.
The real issue here is, you CAN outrace someone else for a resource, but SHOULD you? There's tons of things we can do in real life that we don't. Because of moral qualms or undesired consequences or a social network that would frown down upon us. I know all too well that people can "ninja" resources, but I recommend that they shouldn't. Why? I guess for some of the same reasons we do polite things in public, like hold doors open for people behind us. Or not cutting in lines. Or jumping in a cab that someone else has flagged down. Or taking up two seats on a full bus. Or talking on your cell phone during a packed movie.
I agree, it's a small thing to take a node away from someone else. But it's the small things that add up. In subtle ways, that kind of behavior and attitude harms the server community at large.
It makes the atmosphere less friendly. More cut throat.
Less give. More take.
Less congenial. More self-serving.
Less polite. More loutish.
Less "Greetings friend!" More "F*#% you!"
So I'm just not going to let this stuff go by like I used to. Fragrantly ninja me once, twice, maybe even three times, I'll let it go. But after that, I'm calling you on it. It's a game, yes, but that's no excuse to chuck civil behavior out the window in pursuit of the game's goals.
Let's keep it friendly out there, shall we?
But.
There. Are. Limits.
Case in point: my Lord of the Rings Online champion has been stalled at master expert weaponsmithing for months now. Now that it's summer, I've been hitting the South Trollshaws where Dwarf-iron is plentiful and the surrounding mobs grey to me. Today, when I hit the countryside, I had the region all to myself. For the uninitiated, that's like driving down five empty lanes of freeway. It's freakin' sweet.
At one point, I happened upon two nodes within walking distance of each other. I dismounted, mined the first. And then ran to the other. I suddenly heard galloping behind me. I was already running, but I continued to the node, nearly there. A mounted dwarf ran right over me, dismounted faster than anyone I had every seen, and mined it right as I reached it.
Wrenched from my five lanes of open freeway revelry, I muttered some choice four-letter words, but only mounted my horse and rode away in-game. After all, it was just one node. Plenty more around.
I mined another node or two and then made me way for another when I heard familiar galloping behind me. Already at full speed, I continued towards the mine. The same dwarf overtook me, jumped off his horse, and mined it just as I reached it.
Gritting me teeth, I try REAL hard to not emote nut kick him or send him a /tell. Instead, I check which direction he flies into and I turn the opposite way.
Not five minutes later he overtakes me again and snags ore within inches of me.
Now, notice the language I'm using here: THE ore, not MY ore. I know it's not my ore. Not until it's in my backpack. Still . . .
At this point, I'm pissed, but I ride off (the opposite direction again) without any communication with the lout. But as I make my way to another mine, I hear the familiar galloping. Almost to the node myself, the dwarf suddenly appears, as if from nowhere. If I weren't mistaken, I'd swear he had a catapult attached to that damn saddle of his. He grabs a fourth node right from under me at which point I've had quite enough.
I send him a /tell, simple and to the point: "Man, you're a jerk."
Predictably, he responds with the ore is fair game, he gets there first, blah blah blah. I've heard it a million times, I've even tried subscribing to its mantra, but ultimately, I just can't. The guy was behaving like a braying ass. On four different occasions, he had to pass by me to reach a mine before I did. He denied engaging in this behavior, tried to claim if he saw me going for a mine, he turned to look for another.
Utter nonsense.
The real issue here is, you CAN outrace someone else for a resource, but SHOULD you? There's tons of things we can do in real life that we don't. Because of moral qualms or undesired consequences or a social network that would frown down upon us. I know all too well that people can "ninja" resources, but I recommend that they shouldn't. Why? I guess for some of the same reasons we do polite things in public, like hold doors open for people behind us. Or not cutting in lines. Or jumping in a cab that someone else has flagged down. Or taking up two seats on a full bus. Or talking on your cell phone during a packed movie.
I agree, it's a small thing to take a node away from someone else. But it's the small things that add up. In subtle ways, that kind of behavior and attitude harms the server community at large.
It makes the atmosphere less friendly. More cut throat.
Less give. More take.
Less congenial. More self-serving.
Less polite. More loutish.
Less "Greetings friend!" More "F*#% you!"
So I'm just not going to let this stuff go by like I used to. Fragrantly ninja me once, twice, maybe even three times, I'll let it go. But after that, I'm calling you on it. It's a game, yes, but that's no excuse to chuck civil behavior out the window in pursuit of the game's goals.
Let's keep it friendly out there, shall we?
Robert E. Howard, I Hardly Knew You
The key to keeping my sanity this week caring for the girls is to plan a major event each day. Tuesday, it was going to Best Buy and picking up a new receiver, X-box 360, and Rock Band. Wednesday, swimming. Yesterday, a trip to Barnes & Noble. Today, we're going to Kung Fu Panda.
But first back to yesterday. Like all great bookstores, B&N has a great children's section. The girls can wander its aisles for minutes upon minutes. Once I saw them secured into books, I stole away to B&N's other outstanding section, its graphic novels. I was really looking for a book that Bill Harris recommended, about an alternative universe where Superman lands in Soviet Russia instead of the United States. I couldn't find that, but I did stumble upon this.
It's an updated version of the Conan comic book series, as only Dark Horse Comics can deliver. And it's fantastic. I took it with me back to the kid's section and when the girls' literary endeavors were exhausted, I made my way to the register and bought it.
The art and the story are fantastic, of course, but I was most surprised by a mini biography in the very back of the book about Robert E. Howard. My ignorance of Mr. Howard is so pronounced, I had no idea he did the bulk of his writing in the 30s amid the Great Depression. For some reason, based on no factual information whatsoever, I thought Howard inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, and therefore, Gary Gygax. Turns out it was the other way around.
Here's another surprise: Howard committed suicide in 1936. He was thirty years old.
Imagine, just imagine, what this man might have created if he hadn't ended his own life so tragically. Howard suffered bouts of depression throughout his life and since he create his own literary genre, he lacked contemporaries to share his craft. He father also disapproved his career choice, instead pressuring Howard to be a doctor or a bookkeeper. The whole thing almost reads like a cliché.
Now that I know a bit more about Howard (mostly that he didn't write Conan in the 1970s), I think I'm going to read some of his stuff. My good high school friend loved Fritz Leiber, the creator of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series. The little bit I've read of Howard's Conan reminds me more of Leiber than it does Tolkien or . . . well, that's it.
It's amazing to think that the billowing tower of fantasy literature that exists today was founded by a handful of men.
But first back to yesterday. Like all great bookstores, B&N has a great children's section. The girls can wander its aisles for minutes upon minutes. Once I saw them secured into books, I stole away to B&N's other outstanding section, its graphic novels. I was really looking for a book that Bill Harris recommended, about an alternative universe where Superman lands in Soviet Russia instead of the United States. I couldn't find that, but I did stumble upon this.
It's an updated version of the Conan comic book series, as only Dark Horse Comics can deliver. And it's fantastic. I took it with me back to the kid's section and when the girls' literary endeavors were exhausted, I made my way to the register and bought it.
The art and the story are fantastic, of course, but I was most surprised by a mini biography in the very back of the book about Robert E. Howard. My ignorance of Mr. Howard is so pronounced, I had no idea he did the bulk of his writing in the 30s amid the Great Depression. For some reason, based on no factual information whatsoever, I thought Howard inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, and therefore, Gary Gygax. Turns out it was the other way around.
Here's another surprise: Howard committed suicide in 1936. He was thirty years old.
Imagine, just imagine, what this man might have created if he hadn't ended his own life so tragically. Howard suffered bouts of depression throughout his life and since he create his own literary genre, he lacked contemporaries to share his craft. He father also disapproved his career choice, instead pressuring Howard to be a doctor or a bookkeeper. The whole thing almost reads like a cliché.
Now that I know a bit more about Howard (mostly that he didn't write Conan in the 1970s), I think I'm going to read some of his stuff. My good high school friend loved Fritz Leiber, the creator of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series. The little bit I've read of Howard's Conan reminds me more of Leiber than it does Tolkien or . . . well, that's it.
It's amazing to think that the billowing tower of fantasy literature that exists today was founded by a handful of men.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Tempest of Set Pwns All
1UP is chocked full of Age of Conan news today. In this blurb, they talk briefly about class imbalance in the game and the community's reaction to the "fixes." First class mentioned? The very character I play, Tempest of Set. Now, I haven't played a single other class other than my ToS, so I can't comment intelligently on how the class compares. I can say that global chat is full of peeps talking about how awesome the ranger and assassin classes are. So I'm more than a little surprised to hear that a hybrid healing class was so powerful, it attracted the attention of the nerf godzZz.
I can say that I find my ToS to be moderately squishy in his light armor. However, my AoE lightning strike does efficiently deal with two or three mobs at a time. If I didn't have that, tackling more than one mob at a time would be futility squared.
I can say that I find my ToS to be moderately squishy in his light armor. However, my AoE lightning strike does efficiently deal with two or three mobs at a time. If I didn't have that, tackling more than one mob at a time would be futility squared.
What's That Hissing Sound?
Apparently it's all the air escaping from massive D-cup breasts. 1UP reports that the latest Age of Conan patch inadvertently deflated the female population's bosom region. Funcom calmed the resulting male teenage outcry by promising to reinflate the breasts in the next patch.
Whew.
Whew.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Here's the Song
I finally got my grubby mitts on the song, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, the middle school orchestra version. It' professionally recorded, but in a massive high school auditorium packed with people, so you might have to turn your audio up to hear it properly.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Age of Conan Outsells GTA IV in Europe
G4 reports that Age of Conan eclipsed Grand Theft Auto IV in European sales last week. That bodes well for Funcom's MMO, at least in Europe. Still, I see MMOs as marathons, not sprints. It's all well and good that AoC is selling well fresh out of the gate, but I'll be more interested to hear its subscriber numbers a year from now.
I can attest that AoC is a lot of fun to play. And it's deep. I've got some old EQII friends that started a guild on a PvP server and they just got done completing construction on their guild keep. Yup, you can erect your own structures in AoC. Again, that's not a new idea. Star Wars: Galaxies allowed players to build entire towns. The problem inherent with this MMO concept is that when you enter a player built town, they're always vacant. Understandably, players don't spend their gaming time wandering the streets that have no name. Instead, they lay some pipe, slap up some dry wall, and then hit the road for more adventuring. So I'll be curious to see of Funcom solved the Ghost Town phenomenon in their game.
I can attest that AoC is a lot of fun to play. And it's deep. I've got some old EQII friends that started a guild on a PvP server and they just got done completing construction on their guild keep. Yup, you can erect your own structures in AoC. Again, that's not a new idea. Star Wars: Galaxies allowed players to build entire towns. The problem inherent with this MMO concept is that when you enter a player built town, they're always vacant. Understandably, players don't spend their gaming time wandering the streets that have no name. Instead, they lay some pipe, slap up some dry wall, and then hit the road for more adventuring. So I'll be curious to see of Funcom solved the Ghost Town phenomenon in their game.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Boulevard of Broken Dreams: the Junior High Version
The school end of the year has been kicking our asses these past few weeks. My last day was Friday, but Wifezilla continues through June 6th. And man has she been working her tail off. She took 150 of her orchestra kids to Splashtown Saturday, threw a bridal shower for her assistant Sunday, and then put in a 15 hour day yesterday organizing and running her orchestra's last concert of the season.
Her top group played Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams and it sounded amazing. I often walk out of her concerts amazed that those kids are just 8th graders and that thought occurred to me again last night. Wifezilla has a CD of the concert so I'm going to try and post the song here in the next few days.
Wifezilla has been so busy lately, the house looks like the month after the Apocalypse, a ruined husk strewn with refuse and empty husks. The girls and I walk among the carnage like the half-dead survivors. A few more days of this and we'll degenerate into full-fledged zombies.
Which would be pretty frickin' sweet.
Whatever the state of the house, I am keeping the girls fed, safe, and smelling good, but their hair-care is beyond me. Claire looks like a crazy mad-woman, strands of hair slanting at seemingly impossible angles. I tried to brush it this morning, but a small rodent's claw emerged from somewhere inside Claire's follicles and attacked me. I value my own personal safety over Claire's comeliness, so she will continue to look like a ragamuffin until Wifezilla can successfully extricate whatever lives in those cherry-blond locks.
Her top group played Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams and it sounded amazing. I often walk out of her concerts amazed that those kids are just 8th graders and that thought occurred to me again last night. Wifezilla has a CD of the concert so I'm going to try and post the song here in the next few days.
Wifezilla has been so busy lately, the house looks like the month after the Apocalypse, a ruined husk strewn with refuse and empty husks. The girls and I walk among the carnage like the half-dead survivors. A few more days of this and we'll degenerate into full-fledged zombies.
Which would be pretty frickin' sweet.
Whatever the state of the house, I am keeping the girls fed, safe, and smelling good, but their hair-care is beyond me. Claire looks like a crazy mad-woman, strands of hair slanting at seemingly impossible angles. I tried to brush it this morning, but a small rodent's claw emerged from somewhere inside Claire's follicles and attacked me. I value my own personal safety over Claire's comeliness, so she will continue to look like a ragamuffin until Wifezilla can successfully extricate whatever lives in those cherry-blond locks.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The King of Kong
G4 has been advertising the hell out of this documentary for the past month, so when it premiered last night, I dvr'd it and watched it today. It turned out to be pretty good, if not a bit scary. As the title implies, the movie tracks two competitive Donkey Kong players and their respective bids to be World Champion. My favorite part of the movie is when Wiebe is trying to videotape a world record attempt. His kids starts yelling in the background that he needs help right when Steve is set to beat Billy Mitchell's record. Steve tells him to hang on a sec, but the kid will have none of that. He yells, "Daddy! Wipe my butt!"
Haha, been there, wiped that.
I don't think the movie or the people in it have much in common with video gaming as we know it today. At first I thought Steve Wiebe's obsession matched that of WoW eng-game raiders. Really though, the only thing they have in common is that they're video games and they consume a lot of discretionary time. WoW end-game raiding requires social skills, planning, and scheduling outside the game. Donkey Kong is strictly a solitary endeavor. I'm not trying to take anything away from Wiebe or Mitchell (who comes off as kind of a dick in the movie), it's just I didn't find their gaming to be as insightful as I first suspected.
Haha, been there, wiped that.
I don't think the movie or the people in it have much in common with video gaming as we know it today. At first I thought Steve Wiebe's obsession matched that of WoW eng-game raiders. Really though, the only thing they have in common is that they're video games and they consume a lot of discretionary time. WoW end-game raiding requires social skills, planning, and scheduling outside the game. Donkey Kong is strictly a solitary endeavor. I'm not trying to take anything away from Wiebe or Mitchell (who comes off as kind of a dick in the movie), it's just I didn't find their gaming to be as insightful as I first suspected.
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