Archive for February, 2010

Freedom

This is a truth I try to keep in mind when I’m feeling trapped by life.  I can choose something different.  The barriers in my mind are far more powerful than the barriers that are actually there.

The part that bugs me is that I would be better off ignoring the rules from time to time, but I usually lack the courage or the energy to do so.

If you choose to ignore the rules remember that there will be consequences – good, bad, and neutral.  (At the same time, if you follow the rules, there will still be consequences – good, bad, and neutral.)

His mother had often said, when you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. She had emphasized the corollary of this axiom even more vehemently: when you desired a consequence you had damned well better take the action that would create it.
– Memory, Lois McMaster Bujold

And a Pony

I’ve always been fond of this particular strip:  Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip, January 13, 1987 on GoComics.com.

That stupid Calvin. What does he call me names for no reason? It’s just mean.
I wish I had a hundred friends. Then I wouldn’t care. I’d say, “Who needs you, Calvin? I’ve got a hundred other friends!”
Then my hundred friends and I would go do something fun, and leave Calvin all alone! Ha!
… and as long as I’m dreaming, I’d like a pony.

If you’re going to dream your way out of a miserable situation, dream big!  (Or maybe the moral is that sometimes sarcasm can help mend a broken heart.)

Tables of vampire traits

Everything you wanted to know about vampires by mythos in convenient table form: Tables of vampire traits – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  Don’t hunt undead without it!

photo by pasukaru76

I find the comprehensiveness of this list the most amusing part.  If ever I need to fight Count von Count from Sesame Street, I’ll know where to look!

(via BoingBoing)

YouTube – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

I realize that this is just an Old Spice commercial, but it made me laugh YouTube – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

Alterac Valley on a Holy Priest

Back in the old days when Alterac Valley used to last for hours or days, I ran it a lot on my holy priest. I was determined to get my epic mount and the savings for buying the PvP mount at exalted was huge! Once I get the mount, I didn’t do much more PvP. Mostly I’ve run my toons through Alterac a couple times at level 55 for the XP from the initial quests, then ignored the battlegrounds.

Now that I’m leveling another priest, I’m having a blast playing in Alterac Valley again. The XP isn’t amazing, but it’s decent. I still stink at PvP but as a holy priest I can heal those who are better at it than I am (and hopefully annoy the other side). I feel as though I should get the Benediction staff to make it easier on the other side to know who to kill. :)

A few tips to remember:

  • Use the terrain – healing from behind rocks, bushes, and trees can give you a few more precious seconds of life
  • When you’re not sure who to heal, use Tab and Target of Target to find someone being targeted by the bad guys
  • No matter how weak your stats, you can capture / defend an unguarded objective
  • Buff the raid before the battleground starts – it’s free (except for the reagent cost). Buff yourself immediately upon rezzing.
  • Have fun! It’s easy to find groups with the dungeon finder or to go do quests, so don’t put yourself through PvP if you’re not enjoying it.

Ebook checklist from EFF

I like this: Ebook checklist from EFF Boing Boing.  One of my big worries about ebooks is that we’ll wind up with a a pile of intrusive, controlling crap instead of books.  Why is plaintext so difficult to supply?  It seems to me that most of the book publishers are hellbent on repeating or worsening the mistakes of the music and movie industry.

Command and Conquer Nostalgia

I used to play a lot of Command and Conquer, and now EA’s offering.  Three C&Cs For Free | Rock, Paper, Shotgun.  I wonder if the games are still fun or if the outdated graphics would just make them painful.  One way or another I plan to download them and find out!

5 Ideas to Make Computer Engineer Barbie Realistic

5 Ideas to Make Computer Engineer Barbie Realistic | GeekDad | Wired.com.  I particularly liked the fifth one: “The choice between Mac Computer Engineer Barbie, Windows Computer Engineer Barbie, and Linux Computer Engineer Barbie. Then they could publicize the sales figures daily to encourage geek parents to buy the version they want to win for their kids.”  It should come with flamewar transcripts too.

Everything I Need to Know About Winter I Learned From SciFi Movies

I’m now officially tired of winter. 

For those of you who still need advice on dealing with winter situations John Scalzi has you covered: Everything I Need to Know About Winter I Learned From SciFi Movies.  I’ll doubtless have plenty of chances to put these tips into practice in coming winters.

Faster Raiding

I joined in on a Blackwing Lair raid for fun last night. We went through the instance, got some lower level toons some pretty purples, and got the achievement for a bunch of people. It reminded me of my first raiding toons and why I became a raid leader.

I was sure I had highlighted this earlier, but WoW.com had a video guide to faster raiding. What takes time in raids is not the fights, but the dead time. It’s the time you spend waiting for people to find their way to the instance, waiting for someone to regain that last tenth of a percent of mana, or debating who gets the latest shiny object that kills your momentum and leads to people wandering away to take a nap. I had gotten sick of slow runs, which is one of the reasons I became a raid leader. As a tank, I had the bonus ability of pull whenever I felt ready.

The current heroics are a great way to get practice for speed runs. If you’re the tank, just keep pulling if your healer has over 50% mana. As a healer, let the tank know you’re fine with chain pulls. As DPS … play well so that the healer doesn’t waste mana on you, I guess?

Altaholic

This machinima made me laugh: WoW Moviewatch: Altaholic.  This is about where I am with WoW right now.

Now it seems you are done.
Used to raid like a pro

The lyrics aren’t quite as well done as her Ninja Raiders song but they’re still fun.