Enjoy

TeamSpeam

Host: teamspeak.greyhats.com
Port: 9987

Ventrilo

Host: ventrilo.greyhats.com
Port: 3784

What am I talking about!?

Well, there is this thing called “Multi-Site” in WordPress 3.0. You can read official docs on it here: Create a Network. It used to be called WordPress Mu or WPMU. The Multi-Site platform is MEANT to allow you to host multiple blogs on one domain via either subdirectories or subdomains like:

http://www.somesite.com/joesblog

or

http://joesblog.somesite.com

But any savvy web dev knows that this is not far from being able to host say the following on the same WordPress Multi-Site platform/install:

http://joesblog.com

and

http://samsblog.com

That’s what this guide is for: to help you “hack” WordPress to get multi-domains to work. Now you can do this with some fancy redirection plugins. But I really don’t like these because they mask/redirect a subdomain which can complicate some plugins and who knows what else. That’s why I wrote this post so you can make this work without using a redirection plugin.

This is really only for smarty-pants web developers

It’s possible that one day WordPress will move/remove this code I’m modifying. They did it in 2.9 -> 3.0 and I had to go looking for that bit of code again. Sure I’ll probably update this post if they do, but for how long? As long as I’m managing a Multi-Site I suppose. You do the math. So that said, you’re probably going to want to be smart enough to debug this if I quit the internets, or you don’t bookmark my site, or monsters eat your homework, etc..

Additionally: I haven’t ran this by ANY wordpress experts. But I’ve been running this on “old” WPMU for years, and now “new” 3.0 Multi-Site, with no issues.

This is NOT for the faint of heart!

If you have a lot of sites you’re going to want to gauge heavily on how/when to do this. However in my opinion this is a LOT less janky than all the redirect plugins. Twice I reviewed my options and both times I came up using this method. Once it’s done: it’s great.

This is also the first draft.

I literally copy/pasted this from an email I just sent and made some modifications, so it may by a little rough. I’ll try to update it if people give me feedback or I do any modifications on my end.

My method is two-part

1. changing 1 line of php (into 2)
2. changing the “domain name” in the db for each blog to be the real domain instead of the subdomain

Part 1

note some further info/instruction can be found here on updating to new WP versions etc.: Installing/Updating WordPress with Subversion

We check out via svn on the 3.0.1 tag (note: this is the latest version as of this posting):

$ svn co http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.0.1 .

note: don’t worry about not being able to updated to new versions like 3.1 etc all you have to do to do so is: svn switch http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.1 you can see how to do that in that wp codex article I linked

once we’re checked out, we are able to make changes to the core and be able to still update from wordpress because updating from the remote repository will trigger a merge with our locally modified code. So we don’t have to fear our slight modification ever getting overwritten.

As for the code we changed, it’s very simple. WPMU is (obviously) only setup to work on subdomains and subdirectories. So it _always_ loads the basic info from the root domain name. So we only need to make a slight modification for when it does this:

Here is the .diff patch if you don’t want to do it manually: ds_wpmu.zip

file: wp-includes/ms-load.php
line: ~141

remove this line:

$current_site->blog_id = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT blog_id FROM $wpdb->blogs WHERE domain = %s AND path = %s", $current_site->domain, $current_site->path ) );

replace with these lines:

$current_site->blog_id = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT blog_id FROM $wpdb->blogs WHERE domain = %s AND path = %s", $domain, $path ) );
$current_site->domain = $domain;


Part 2

Then you have to update each blog so that it’s domain name isn’t the subdomain and instead is the real domain. When I first set this up I had < 20 domain so I did it all manually, you may want to do it automagically if you already have a lot of sites via a big sql script or a mixed php/sql script or w/e your favorites are. Anyway these are the options that need to be updated in each blog:

1. in [wp_blogs] each [domain] field (and possibly [path] if you’re using subdirectories)
2. in each [wp_X_options] table, X being the blog’s ID the following fields:

• siteurl
• home
• fileupload_url

Note: Instead you can update the domain manually in wp-admin when editing the site. You can check-box the “Update siteurl and home as well.” but it doesn’t update fileupload_url, so make sure to change tht too.

And that’s it.

Naturally these instructions come with no warranty, so don’t break your stuff, and make sure to back everything up before you do anything. I’m sure some of you are looking at me in horror, but meh, get over it.

Ever wondered what the heck each miniature was in those Player’s Handbook Miniature packs? Well, I’ve done your homework for you:

If you want a specific character you can find them at Miniature Market as well.

I fired up the App Store on my iPhone and I saw Carcassonne at the top of the list.  Not only does this game look beautiful, but it plays great, AND has multiplayer! MUCH more than can be said about the Catan game (phooey!). Additionally, according to the App Store page, if you buy the app now for $4.99, you’ll get the iPad upgrade free when it comes out (instead of paying the full $9.99).

Get it now! Carcassonne for iPhone

If you’re into euro games, you may also be into these iPhone/iPad games as well:

• Small World (4.99 now, will be going to 6.99 this month 6/10)
• Settlers of Catan (though like I said, not that great)
• Zooloretto (haven’t played this yet, but looks good)
• Werewolf – Curse of Pandora (Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow clone)

I’ve been plagued for roughly my entire youth and adult life with the desire to create. I found out quick I’m definitely not good at drawing or any like form, I’m decent at playing guitar and singing but I’ve never had the poetic streak to write halfway decent lyrics, I don’t really have an eye for photography, I haven’t tried my hand at motion film but I just don’t get the vibe, I can sorta write but not in a compelling way that will get you to read past page 10, and … hmm I think I ran out of art forms. Well what I’m mostly good at is taking a problem given an innumerable amount of variables, and perceiving the solution, then executing it. So what is that? It feels like creating, it’s not an art form I guess, but sometimes it feels that way. But what really is it, and how can I channel this creative bug I have through it?

From an early age I knew that what I was good at was something like what I now refer to as Sherlock-Holmes-Skills. And also early on I realized that the most logical career path for those skills was either software, mechanical, or electrical design. I mean, they have the word “design” in it, that should assuage my creative urge, right? But when you look up “List of artistic mediums” in wikipedia none of those things really fit. So I dabbled over the years in all those things I listed before. I was met with, not what I would call success, but barely something you would “put up on the fridge”. Early in my adult life I kind of “fell” into the website development industry. I didn’t wake up one day and say “I’m going to build websites!”, it just happened over the course of a couple years. I never finished school, mostly as a casualty of my successful career, so I effectively never gave myself the chance to really find that perfect niche for me.

I think though most people don’t find that niche. And if it seems like I loathe my job, I certainly don’t. I get to go into work every day and effectively put puzzles together. It’s quite enjoyable. But more often than not at the end of the day, as accomplished as I might feel, I often don’t feel like I’ve created something.

So, that’s a lot of words to say: I haven’t found that medium for myself yet. As crazy as websites get, I don’t think they’ll ever fulfill that creative need completely. A lot of me is saying it’s video games, to be a cog in the creative process of making games. If you asked me 6 years ago, I would have said “yes oh yes”. Ask me today, and I’m not so sure. I’ve got friends in the industry, and it seems like they worked so hard to get into that one company, or that one job, and now it’s all about making more money or working at a more plush company. Not many of them still have that passion. They complain about all the things I complain about in that it seems like my job is the same as their job.

Don’t get me wrong I really want to be part of that game-creation-machine. If I wasn’t so happily married to my current company, I would be taking pay cuts, going back to school, and even possibly moving my family, to land that first job at a game developer. But what I don’t know anymore is if video game development would really 100% satisfy that itch I have to create. I don’t know if it would be all that I think it would be. But maybe it is.

We’ve been playing Pandemic and the expansion, On the Brink, like madness. But Robert brought over Power Grid: Factory Manager, and I’m really excited to play it. The problem is he’s taking it back to NYC in a couple weeks, so… I’m going to have to purchase me it. That got me thinking about all the other euro game stuff I want right now:

• Dominion: Alchemy
• Agricola: Farmers of the Moor Expansion
• Power Grid: Factory Manager
• Agricola Animeeples Sheep Pig and Cattle 60 pcs set!
• Agricola Meeples -25 Deluxe Wooden Farmer Set

Our lives are complex.  Our jobs are complex.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that your job is more complex than most of the jobs at NASA in the 60′s.  We’ve got project schedules, implementation goals, deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines.  Business is moving faster and pushing harder than ever.  Fortunately, we have a bevy of tools to help us stay on top of things…right?

Because I couldn’t execute on a project without Microsoft Project, and I couldn’t get through my day without an inbox and a ticketing system and about a thousand ever-so-slightly-tweaked drafts of this plan or that diagram, all piled in a corner to make room for this other diagram or that other plan which was, for the moment, higher priority, oh and you do remember which revision was the most recent, right?  After all you did print five copies in 20 minutes last week and now it’s Tuesday and you need final sign-off on the updated diagram and business plan before you can launch Phase 1, and the meeting is upstairs but there’s a new high priority ticket that just came into the system, so maybe if you just….

It feels like it’s easier to reach critical mass these days.  All the tools that are supposed to be making it easier to communicate and easier to stay on top of things can take on lives of their own, and before you know it you’re buried by the very things that are meant to save you from ever having been buried again.

I just watched an exceptional speech on Inbox Management by Merlin Mann, I highly recommend it for anyone who, like me, has no idea what’s at the bottom of their inbox, or how to make sense of it.

The video got me thinking about productivity pitfalls.  The biggest one for me is this: often, I get lost in the woods.  Instead of identifying the path and then doing the work of putting one foot in front of the other, I’m overwhelmed by the size of the trees, the density of the forest, or the roughness of the terrain.  I seize up, and where I could be taking the first small step of many, I only stand and stare at the massive task in front of me, as if my only options are to finish it all at once or to quit altogether.

What are your productivity pitfalls?

Hello, My name is David, and I’m a PC…Oh, if only it were that simple.

I’ve been working in IT for over a decade, and in that time I’ve had experience with just about every computing platform out there.  My first Linux variant was Redhat 5.1, “Manhattan”, which was brand new when I installed it in mid-1998.  I’ve used Windows predominantly on the job.  In the mid-2000′s I bought my wife, who is a teacher, a Macbook.  This was her first laptop, and I did it because I wanted one, but I couldn’t justify it for myself.  Why couldn’t I?  At that point, I perceived disparity in the core functionality.  My job at the time was managing a Windows 2003 based Datacenter, and I couldn’t justify a divergence into an operating system that would take away some of the tools I used daily.

In addition to some loss of functionality, the Cost to Hardware Spec ratio made me cringe.  I know how to comparison shop, and like any good geek I know how to price parts.  Looking at a Mac and a comparably equipped PC is an experience that will make even the faithful waver.  In fact, it’s one of the most commonly cited arguments against the Mac in those internet pubs and coffee shops that we call “Forums”.

It’s a lot easier to ignore cost when you’re buying a gift, and a schoolteacher has no functionality gaps when considering Mac OS.

It goes without saying that, since the release of OS X, the Mac has edged the PC out on security, on reliability, and on visual appeal.  These facts certainly contributed to that purchase.  Who among us, whatever job they have, wants to come home from work and do more of what they just did for 8 hours?  In that sense, buying my wife a Mac was a win.  My “Tech-support” time for her computers in the last 5 years (she’s on her second Macbook now) is under 5 hours.  Total. That is compelling.

While it was easy to buy one for her, I couldn’t overcome my objections to buying one for myself.  That is, until a week ago.

The penny-pincher in me struggled with the purchase.  I agonized over specs, I even let my eye stray to the Dell website and compared price with some identically equipped Windows machines.  Temptation to go down the cheap road was strong, but I’ve realized something important about Apple over the last year.  If you listen to the podcast, you’ll have heard me talk about it a time or two.  Vendors of Windows machines sell hardware and software, Apple sells a single product.  The distinction may seem irrelevant at first, but I assure you, it makes all the difference in the world.

Windows is a software platform that is robust, capable and universally available.  A Mac is a product, owned by a single company from soup to nuts (or salad to cake…or perhaps, Amuse-bouche to mille fueille).  The point is, with a Windows operating system there’s someone in charge of ensuring that user experience is top notch, provided the work to make it top notch fits within the development budget.  With the Dell (or HP or Sony (God help you)) computer running Windows there’s someone in charge of ensuring that user experience (which includes such consideration as hardware specification and build quality) is top notch, provided they can sell the device under a certain price point. There are two problems with this model.  First, there’s no central figure held responsible for user experience from a holistic perspective…that is to say, no one person owns the whole “PC”.  No on at Dell is held responsible for OS functionality when they say “I believe this product is adequate, and can carry our Logo.”  Second, and more importantly, neither the development budget for Windows nor the competitive PC market allow much room for going “Above and Beyond” on build quality or functionality.

Whenever I talk about the Mac advantage with Rev, our conversation turns back to two things over and over again.  ”Build quality” and “polish”.  Build quality, in the sense that we use the term, refers to the hardware and manufacturing methods used when creating a Mac computer.  Build quality on Macs, especially in the last 7 years, has been consistently superb.  Polish is a little more subjective.  Things like ambient light sensors that dim displays and keyboard backlighting are a start.  A minimalist GUI with intuitive controls contributes to the image of “polish”.  Even the experience of buying a Mac is clean, from the moment you walk into a Mac store or log onto the website, there’s a casual yet sophisticated atmosphere.  Straightforward, smooth, self confident, unencumbered.  This didn’t happen by accident.  It’s part of an image.  Apple is a company that takes their image so seriously that, when hiring for each Apple Store location, they choose employees by personality, appearance, and background that best coincide with the target audience in that geographic region.

All of this quality and image is pretty expensive.  In fact, Mac’s have an average 20% markup over a similarly equipped PC in most cases.  It’s this markup that allows Apple to create a top of the line product with superb build quality, and the best user experience currently available in consumer computing.  It’s their superb build quality and peerless user experience which keep people coming back year after year to pay 20% more than they have to.

The title of this post is “Anatomy of a Switcher”, so there’s one question I’m obliged to answer before I end.  Why did I switch?  Anyone who still complains about feature parity between Macs and PC’s is either a hardcore PC gamer, or just not paying attention.  Gaming aside, PC’s and Macs are capable of the same performance, they can run the same applications or ones that are so similar you wouldn’t know it.  That is no longer an issue.

If feature parity isn’t an issue, what are the remaining barriers?  Personal preference and cost.  I don’t know anyone who’s ever driven a Honda, then driven a Mercedes, and said “I prefer the driving experience of the Honda.”  People like Hondas for a lot of reasons.  Cost, reliability, cost, reputation, cost, fuel economy, cost…the list goes on.  But if you eliminate cost from the equation, the comparison is a no-brainer.  Mercedes Benz has built a very successful business around selling a product with the same core functionality, superior build quality, and a peerless user experience, to customers who don’t mind paying a premium.

As a geek, I’m on the computer a lot.  I’m definitely a power user.  Because I’m on the computer so much, I have no problem buying expensive peripherals.  My keyboard is what connects me to my computer.  My mouse is an extension of my hand.  There’s no question of deriving value from the slight premiums that a cordless rechargeable laser mouse will extract from my bank account, I use it more than 8 hours a day.  Likewise, when I really consider the satisfaction I get using this MacBook Pro, from the solid feel to the beautiful physical design, to the BSD based operating system and flawless UI, do I need to worry about that 20% premium being squandered?  Do I need to be concerned that I won’t appreciate it enough to justify the additional cost?  No.

If I prioritize user experience over cost (as I believe all power users, and maybe all geeks, should), I don’t mind the luxury tax.  The markup is irrelevant.  The product is superb, and I’m happy because of all those things that Windows users “can totally live without.”  I made the switch, and I haven’t found a reason to look back.

Incidentally, it’s about a 14% markup from a Luxury Accord to a Luxury Mercedes C series sedan.

You can follow David Eagle on twitter, or email cdeagle [at] gmail [dot] com.

So I just wanted to share some of the apps I’ve been playing with and how they’ve treated me.

Marvel App

In execution, I love the Marvel Comic Book app. The transitions, quality, comic browser all great. My problem is that, literally, all of the comics I care to spend my money on digitally (entire other conversation) are Dark Horse. Ok yeah that’s not a mark against the app, but against Marvel, but I still think it’s relevant.

Secondly, I found a comic I was interested in: Wolverine: Origin. The trouble however was twofold. First of all if you’ve read a trade vs the entire series bundled, you know that it’s much more enjoyable to just buy and handle the one piece of merchandise. However with the app you have to buy each trade separately. So for wolverine, to prepare myself to read the entire thing, I had to purchase all 6 trades, 1.99 each. That brings me to my last gripe: price. Why in the world am I being charged the same amount of money as if I buy off amazon? Yeah, $12 digitally or $11.50 off amazon free shipping. That right there prevented me from bothering. If it’s cheaper in non digital form I’m going to buy non digital.

Get the Marvel Comics app in iTunes

Headline

This is a really beautiful and well executed Google Reader app. It let’s you sync so you can read your blogs offline. I’ve only got two issues with it. First of all you can filter by unread. This wouldn’t be an issue if it ordered by date of publication but Google doesn’t always update every feed all the time so often there will be 5 or so posts buried somewhere in the mass of posts I’ve already cycled through. And secondly the only share option is email. You at least need share to google friends, let alone Twitter and Facebook. If those two issues were fixed this app would be a must buy, as of right now it’s just nice.

Get the Headline app in iTunes

Netflix

This app is still crashing on me but I’m going to temporarily write that off as growing pains. Really my only issue with the netflix app is that the movie browsing interface is seemingly just an implanted safari window. This produces a few annoying issues. Namely it’s slow. Now I haven’t tested netflix.com in true safari, but in the app the experience feels unnaturally slow. You also can’t do things like star movies. It just feels clunky. But to be honest, I have streaming video from a large library of movies and television, why should I be complaining… right?

Get the Netflix app in iTunes

ABC App

I wanted to drop as quick one on the ABC App. Really my only issue is that they limit you to the 5 most recent shows (I guess it’s this way on the website as well?). Really ABC? This makes the app completely useless to me. I was going to use this to explore new shows to watch, but if I’m mid season and I have to watch some random episode, I’m out. They’ve even got commercials! It really just feels like a baseless executive decision, which really turns me off to this app.

Get the ABC Player app in iTunes

WordPress App

I’m really enjoying this app. I’ve used it to actually write all of my iPad blogposts (although to finish this post i had to use a pc). Only issues are lack of any kind of formatting options (bold, italic, headline) and the inability to resize photos. Now you can write HTML in here for formatting, but the keyboard layout makes it highly frustrating. Other than that I also use it to moderate and reply to comments. You can save local drafts, publish them, and even setup pretty much every wordpress blog you have access to. Oh and there is an annoying bug that 90% of the time the cut/copy/paste dialog doesn’t show up. I’ve found some tricks to force it to show up, but they’re not reliable, and i shouldn’t be relied on to hack the planet to use an app.

Get the WordPress app in iTunes

That’s it. I’m hoping to go over more obscure apps, or some games, next time. The iPad app store still feels really bare. I’m not sure if it’s just too early or if some app makers are waiting for OS 4, but the selection really feels lacking right now.

So my first day with the iPad was only a half day and a work day to boot. Most of my day was spent in dev meetings. I would say that during the meeting the iPad was very useful but I’m not seeing anything that makes it indispensable.

I was able to pull up any website we had during our dev meeting. Not only did everything come up good, but I was really happy with the quality of the iPad/Safari browsing experience. Additionally, during the meeting I was able to take care of IMs and emails with ease. It’s important to note however that i was already able to take care of both of these tasks with my laptop. Which brings me to the first annoyance with the iPad. Unfortunately my 2007 MacBook pro doesn’t output enough power to charge my iPad. This really isn’t that big of a deal, but if you think that I’m missing out on a bit of a charge every time I go to sync my iPad, it’s kind of annoying.

Once I got home I tried out the netflix app. I have to say I was very disappointed. At first I was having a great time checking out the streaming, but I decided to start an episode of the office while I worked on some chores. Over the course of roughly an hour I had to hard boot the iPad 4 times during netflix streaming. I tried multiple episodes, but each one would eventually freeze up permanently and even sometimes have visual artifacts on the screen. I’m not sure if it’s just my iPad or if it’s something with netflix itself. I’m hoping to figure at out, but either way: no bueno.

That’s about it for my first day. If I had to give it an X/10 I’d say a solid 8/10.

I bought an iPad. Ok ok, I. Don’t need you badgering me about it. It’s pretty dang cool and you’re a jerk so, there’s that. Anyway I’ll try to keep you updated on how it goes. I’ve got my first work meeting in 30 minutes, hopefully I’ll get some good use out of this paperweight.

Oh, and I wrote this on the iPad.

It’s been exactly two months since I logged into the World of Warcraft. Under any normal circumstances “real” people would high-five, or more likely, fist-bump me for such a feat of self control. But for me, every time I think about it, I get a little sad.

See I had (have? what do i say there?) a friend, more like a brother, and we shared a lot of things. The same birth year, the same name (Jonathan), we shared our parents, our siblings, our church, we both married girls who at one time were best friends, we shared our group of friends (the Grey Hats), and we shared “gaming”. It’s almost silly now to think that of all the things Jonathan Glyer and I shared, the one we focused on the most was games. It is clear to me that “gaming” forged the bond I had with my brother, however lame you may or may not think that is, it was a strong one.

We started with games and we ended with games. I met Jonathan in 2001. I began attending his church, and somehow our nerd radar found each other out, because within a month we were together spending $2.50/hr at “Cyberzone” pwning n00bs in counterstrike. That was 9 years ago. From then on I could write my “gaming” history side-by-side with my “Jon” history. We constantly talked about what was coming out, what we liked, what we didn’t. We frequently “LAN”ed at his or my parents house (his house aptly named “1.0″).

The “golden age” culminated, I think, when the crew rented an apartment together in downtown Fullerton, lovingly called: “the 2.0″. Three of us were working, and Jon was finishing college. It was the best of times. I remember Jon, out of all the guys,  was the most anal about cleanliness. We all snickered when he’s get upset that the sponge was left in the sink or when he’d complain about “David’s side of the room” (David and Jon shared a room). It was that year, in that apartment, that we all began playing World of Warcraft, it was 2005.

Over the next two years our group began “falling apart”. Well maybe just from my -emo- perspective. Couples broke up, couples married then turtled (guilty), and people just started walking different paths. Then Jon moved to Seattle. I never really talked to him about it, one of the few actual regrets I now carry around. I was hurt, like a kid in a divorce, I blamed myself. But I was stupid not to broach the subject with him. I think he knew how I felt, but with Jon you never really could be certain what he thought until you asked him. With him leaving it was one last final blow to the crew. David and I still stayed in close touch, but mostly everyone found their own paths.

So there I was, Jon 1,200 miles away, my other best friends were having kids or living in completely different worlds. I myself moved 30 miles away from the people that cared for me. And then an awesome thing happened. I don’t really know if it was a commitment Jon put on his own plate, or if he was just lonely for his friends in California or what, but within months of him moving to Seattle we started playing games and talking at least every other day, it was 2007.

For two full years I was able to spend time with my brother, Jon, over this silly internet, with these silly games. Thinking back, if I didn’t have that, all we would have had were the visits. Visits can be great, but the level friendship I had with Jon relied on constant contact. Over those two years we accomplished the following:

• Won WW2 for the allies, sometimes the nazis, 100x over
• Killed tens of thousands of Zombies
• Saved the middle east from the East, or the West, sometimes both
• Conquered the future with Space Marines sometimes a Masterful Chief and sometimes a big Jerk
• Captured and held the Fortress with our Team
• And most of all, we raided countless keeps, castles, dungeons, and lairs. Striking down evil and passing out the loot

After all that: I would count myself blessed for the time I spent with Jon. But I count myself doubly blessed, because on June 9th, 2009 at 10:53pm we started a podcast, and I’m proud to say Jon named it. Here’s the record of inception:

Jonathan Glyer: oh jeeeez. how about, All the Good Names Were Taken. I’d say Geek Cred but it’s impossible to say.
me: afk 1 min
Jonathan Glyer: Nerdageddon
David: Nerdlinger? haha
Jonathan Glyer: Borked
David: http://www.geekcred.net/
Jonathan Glyer: The Podcast for Dorks.
David: haha
Jonathan Glyer: we could even go with Borkt
David: Borq’t? haha Borked is workable
Jonathan Glyer: hehe wow ya, something with it
David: it’s just, such a common term
Jonathan Glyer: dorkcast, taken of course. This is Geektown
David: hahahahaha
me: sounds like toontown, maybe because I was just there
David: You missed Borked, jon
me: I saw. Borkedcast

As “The Borkedcast” we recorded 20 podcasts before Jon’s accident. The podcasts may be entertainment for you, but for me they were like being back in “the 2.0″ in downtown Fullerton. Sipping on a beverage and talking about stuff with the guys I cared most about in life.

The last I spoke to Jon was two nights before he died. We played World of Warcraft. It was good.

Here’s where I get emo: 20 recordings wasn’t enough. Countless raids, dungeons, zombies, and nazis wasn’t enough. 9 years wasn’t enough. Living with him for a year wasn’t enough. It’s been 2 months since he died, and it’s not enough to stop me from crying my brains out writing this last paragraph. I miss my friend so much. Everything is a little less bright in my world because I can’t share it with him. As much as the pain hurts right now, I never want to forget it, or really lose it. It’s a reminder of all the things I wrote in this blog, and so much more. Jonathan Glyer was kind of a big deal, I’ll never forget that, and I’ll never let you forget that, it’s the least I can do.

- the rev

Hey all, posting the Borked podcast from January 24th, 2010. We really only checked in on each other’s geekish doings in this one. It’s with a heavy heart that I post this, as this was Jonathan “Jay” Glyer’s last podcast with us, and one of the last times I had a chance to have a conversation with him. This podcast isn’t necessarily “our best one ever” but, for obvious reasons, is one of my favorites.

I do want to say, as somewhat of a warning, what Jay says about his birthday: “is” Jay, I wouldn’t have him any other way, and I loved him for it.

Enjoy,
the rev

David posted his thoughts on Jon G here: http://www.davideagle.net/2010/02/20/jonathan-glyer

Yesterday, January 29th 2010: GreyHats, the brotherhood of few, lost a pillar. Jonathan Glyer, Tesson / Archer / Ember / Jonga / Jay took a fatal blow in an accident at work. We are all reeling in shock. I’ll leave you with a reposting of a message his wife wrote this morning:

His Facebook (public now): http://facebook.com/jglyer

His Twitter: http://twitter.com/tesson

An amazing man. The best husband a girl could ask for. Yesterday I lost my true love. I had him for ten years, three-and-a-half of which were spent as his wife.

Jonathan was tragically killed yesterday while doing what he loved, metal working. Something went wrong and he was killed instantly. Please be at peace knowing that Jon did not feel any pain. Jon woke up in an amazingly good mood. He made eggs for breakfast (which he never does on a work day) and was bright eyed and bushy tailed the whole drive there! Jonathan was working on his lathe, which is his favorite machine to use. He was proud of the project he was working on. Jonathan’s last day with us was a great one and I know he would have no regrets if he were to look back on his own life.

We all had the honor of having Jonathan around for 27 wonderful years, and he is now at home with his Eternal Father, Jesus Christ. Please rest well knowing that Jon is in a far better place and I’m sure loving every minute of it.

I have made his Facebook page public so anyone can friend him or write to him. I will post through my own Facebook as well as his to keep you all updated on the memorial service. For those friends and family in California who cannot make it to Washington, we will also have a service in Southern California.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

(Please feel free to send this to anyone who knew Jonathan)

We start out with the news, talk about january’s video games, and end with CES 2010 and Google Nexus 1 (oh and netflix is a jerk!). Our shortest podcast yet. I think you’ll look back on “Spearfishing” and remember all the reasons why you stopped listening to Borked… Enjoy!

- rev

(ed. wow… really? 1:52? yeah, that won’t happen again, we plomise.)

News & Stuff

• Human Target
• Dark Void
• Nightlight: A Parody
• 8-bit Left 4 Dead
• January Video Games
• Lego MMO
• Netflix doesn’t care about you, Warner Bros. Hates You
• Google Nexus 1

CES

• GROSS MOUSE
• 3d TV ?? meh!
• Boxee Set-top Box

Many Slates!

• Dell Slate
• HP Slate
• MSI Android Tablet
• Cydle M7
• Compal Tablet

This time we talked about our Holiday shenanigans, what we got for Christmas, some good video games, and some other nifty stuff including iSlate rumors (Apple’s Tablet). Enjoy!

-rev

• We’re running out of IPs!
• Suicide your online identity
• Twitter Sentiment
• Dragon Age
• Left 4 Dead 2

FYI: having trouble getting this one to publish to iTunes, so you may see double “episode 17s”

Putting this little guy up just in time for you to get it for your drive to the family’s house this Christmas Eve, or Christmas Morning. Here’s a quick blurb on what we talked about, gotta go do my dailies.

News

• College hands out iPhones / iTouch’s to students
• Mint Explains Why The Real Unemployment Rate Is 17.2 Percent
• Family Guy’s “something something something dark side” out on tuesday

We also talked about Raptr IM, a gaming IM client. How much Jay hates Apple TV and everything associated with it. And how we saw Avatar and Jay didn’t. Everybody hates Jay.

Putting this little guy up just in time for you to get it for your drive to the family’s house this Christmas Eve, or Christmas Morning. Here’s a quick blurb on what we talked about, gotta go do my dailies.

News

• College hands out iPhones / iTouch’s to students
• Mint Explains Why The Real Unemployment Rate Is 17.2 Percent
• Family Guy’s “something something something dark side” out on tuesday

We also talked about Raptr IM, a gaming IM client. How much Jay hates Apple TV and everything associated with it. And how we saw Avatar and Jay didn’t. Everybody hates Jay.

World of Warcraft patch 3.3 brings Icecrown Citadel and a great many other things to the game.

Also, we rule.

Big thanks to Fsob and Morphynne

In which we discuss geeky news, Technology that You Don’t Appreciate, FutureDistribution, and other stuff I guess.

Here are some links for stuff we probably didn’t talk about.

• Jim Henson’s The Story Teller
• Windows 7
• Microsoft Surface + Dungeons and Dragons
• Game of Thrones on HBO
• World of Goo “name your price” sale figures
• Drunkest Man ever (thanks @particle_6)

In this week’s podcast (from mid-october, I know, leave me alone. no really lay off.) we talked about our weeks (always awesome), Google Wave, Geeky Music, among other things. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I didn’t listen to it.

- rev

• Cryptonomicon & Stardust — books!
• 675 Bar in New York City
• Rockband on the iPhone
• PSP Go, not working
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 finally on netflix streaming (warning: netflix deep link)
• Pitchfork

here are our MST3K Episode picks:

• Hercules and the Moon Men
• Manos Hands of Fate
• I Accuse my Parents
• Pod People
• Sidehackers
• Time Chasers
• The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
• Monster a-Go Go

Are people using the internet wrong (namely google, twitter, facebook)? We discuss this, our geeky weeks, news items (app store 2billion?!), the rise and fall of our favorite nerdy tv shows, and Fantasy Football, actually a geeky activity?

- the rev

Links

• Talisman
• Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow
• Dave’s WoW Podcast
• William Gibson’s Spook Country
• Apple Reaches Two Billion Downloads
• Apple Installs Useless and Possibly Harmful Software
• The Big Bang Theory Season Two DVD is out!
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.
• The Book of Answers
• Penny Arcade on Fantasy Football

“The Netflix One” which is also “The New Video Games One”. We certainly loves us some games and video content, and this week, that’s about all we talk about. So if you hate those things, you probably hate us, so just stop reading this and go away. If you’re still here be prepared to enjoy a lively discussion on TV/Netflix/Hulu/Etc. and then a “borked”-style preview of the Fall 2009 video game releases.

- the rev

Links:

• Dan Brown’s new novel: The Lost Symbol
• Nerdcore Rising documentary
• Effort to shush loud TV commercials. FCC may intervene!
• Half-Life 2 sounds replaced with some dude’s mouth-effects
• Left 4 Dead, zombies replaced with TELETUBBIES! (now there’s something for the Australian government to ban)
• Geek/Dork/Dweeb Venn Diagram

Fall ’09 Games: (the good ones)

• WET September 22, 2009
• Halo ODST September 22, 2009
• Brutal Legend October 13, 2009
• Borderlands October 20, 2009
• Dragon Age November 3, 2009
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 November 10, 2009
• Left4Dead 2 November 17, 2009
• Assassins Creed 2 NA November 17, 2009
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 March 2, 2010

This week we had two special guests, Big Zac Graham and Kev.  Thanks to both of you guys for joining us, it was great having you!  We discussed the state of current generation consoles, what differentiates them, and what we like.  We also discussed the 1 game you’d buy, if you could buy only one, and digital distribution within traditional DVD’s.  I hope you enjoy it, and please leave us feedback!

-David

• Ellen Show sued for illegal use of copyrighted music
• Star Wars Galaxies gets zombie, nobody cares
• Patrick Swayze dies at 57
• Console sales figures for xbox 360, Wii and PS3
• Coraline: 2-disc collectors edition

We discuss PAX. And wrapping it up. We, in fact, wrap it.

that is all, nothing to see here.

In this week’s episode of Borked, David Eagle and Jay are joined by Andrew McAlpine.  We discuss new games you should check out, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel, and the evolution of single and multi-player games.

As a special gift to our loyal listeners, this episode features an outtro track created by our very own Andrew McAlpine of Gryffindor House Thugz.  I’m totally psyched to give you guys a chance to hear this song, as a huge fan of Nerdcore, Harry Potter inspired Rap is very close to my heart.  To find out more about GH Thugz, check out their MySpace.  You can download the full version of the track “Stand Up” for free right here.

I hope you enjoy this weeks episode of Borked. Check back on here on Monday for the Pax Wrap-up with myself, Rev, Jay, and whoever else we can con into joining us.

-David

• Disney acquires Marvel
• Champions Online is in stores now!
• Batman: Arkham Asylum is also available for purchase.
• Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? and The Man of Tomorrow
• Star Wars: The Old Republic announces newest class: Sith Warrior

According to Virgin America’s in-flight google map, we’re flying over Portland as I write this blog post. My fellow GreyHats and I area trekking to Seattle to attend and destroy the 2009 PAX convention. This will be my first PAX, and @Tesson‘s second. I know we’re all looking forward to this convention a lot, here’s a few things I’m going to check out:

• Gratuitous free-play at the board and video game areas
• PAX 2009 Keynote Ron Gilbert
• DEMO Assassins Creed®II
• Friday Night Concerts!
• Penny Arcade Makes a Strip!
• SW:ToR
• Monkey Island Madness!
• The Art of the Dungeon Master
• Saturday Night Concerts!
• Dawn of War II: Last Stand
• The Second Penny Arcade Panel!
• Wil Wheaton presents: THE AWESOME HOUR!!1

Specifically, I’m REALLY excited about Ron Gilbert’s keynote. Being that he created the games that solidified some of my best childhood memories. See ya’ll there. Hit me up on twitter @revoked and maybe we can meetup

In this weeks episode of the Borked podcast, David Eagle, Jay and Rev discuss all things Blizzcon! Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and World of Warcraft, Cataclysm!

Rev and I had an absolute blast at Blizzcon, it was great to finally be the coolest people in the building (this only happens to us at conventions), and we have crowned ourselves your kings, dear nerdlings. You may show your fealty through gifts of gold and Beta keys.

-David

• Blizzcon
• Starcraft II
• Diablo III
• WoW Cataclysm Trailer

Just got home from picking up my swag bag (thanks do David!). Made a quick slideshow of what I got. Notables:

• Grunty Card
• Raynor n00b
• Blizz Authenticator
• “Quests” for the con

Without further ado:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

In this weeks episode, your hosts David, Jay and Rev are joined by Sarah and Andy, and a good time is had by all.

We discuss geeky news, the popularity of science, and internet trends that drive us nuts.  We have a great time doing it, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the episode.

-David

• Goozex – Used game trading site
• King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Don’t get Chumpatized!)
• PS3 Slim Cometh (Gizmodo)
• 7 Year old steals car, media blames GTA
• Coach forces cheerleader to give up facebook credentials, access her account
• Apple rejects google voice, competition, pisses FCC off
• Yelp

Internet trends:

• That annoying wedding dance video
• i can has obnoxious ways of talking
• Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley
• Text’s from last night
• Awkward Family Photos

!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!

Yes, I know, the movie has been out for three weeks. I am just now getting around to writing my review because I wanted to see the movie a second time before reviewing it. I am a huge Harry Potter nerd, so of course I went to the midnight premiere. While I do believe the movies can stand on their own two feet, this review is a book vs. movie, totally fan-girl review.

Some things I liked:

The bridge scene was very well done. The uber fangirl in me wants to say that the death eaters should not have been black streaks because the muggles don’t see them in the books. I thought this scene was visually appealing, and having the black streaks I think added a more frightening feeling, so I loved it. I thought it was great!
Note: for all the crazy fans out there. The bridge used for this scene is The Millennium Bridge in London. This bridge was built in 1999. The book takes place in 1996. Call that a “goof” if you want to, but really, the movies don’t have a specific time line, they are set in modern day.

The Unbreakable Vow scene was perfect. Almost exactly as I had imagined it while reading the book. I have always loved Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange.

The Pensieve Memories are something I have always enjoyed. I think they are done almost perfectly. The memories are a silvery string which is taken from the memory-holder’s temple. The only thing I didn’t love, but I can live with, is that in the book Harry and Dumbledore are invisible in the memory, like they are walking around with the memory. In the movie, they are just watching from above. This is fine, I think it works, it just is not exactly like the book. :p

The Diagon Alley/Knockturn Alley scene worked well. The viewer gets the feel that things are not right with Diagon Alley being all in shambles. We also got to see the trio follow Malfoy and his mother to Knockturn Alley and be all suspicious.

The cave scene was well done. The inferi were great! I can’t think of anything I would want to be done differently for this scene.

We didn’t get to see Dumbledore’s funeral. I am okay with that though. That scene in the book was definitely emotional, but I don’t think it was necessary for the movie. I thought the raising lighted wands to the sky and blotting out the Dark Mark was cool.

Some things I didn’t like:

I felt like there was too much humor in this film. The book is darker and you really feel like evil is starting to take over. The movie was a little too light-hearted for my taste. I can understand why the filmmakers did this, but still, fangirl wants more evil!

I have always thought there isn’t enough Neville Longbottom. I was sad that they skipped over the visit to his parents in St. Mungo’s in Order of the Phoenix. I feel like you just can’t help but love Neville. He becomes a hero in his own right and it saddens me that movie viewers do not get to witness this.

We didn’t learn enough about Tom Riddle or the Gaunts. There is way more back story on Tom Riddle and his family in the books. I think that the back story is important because it ties in with the horcruxes and makes them all the more meaningful.

Sectumsempra spell!! I was so excited for this scene to be in the movie! In the books, we really feel like the Potions book is evil and we are curious about the Sectumsempra spell. Then Harry uses it on Malfoy and Malfoy is just ripped to shreds! Okay, maybe my imagination is more intense but I think they could have ripped Malfoy’s shirt and given him more cuts, maybe some on his face? I was glad they included this spell but in my opinion, it wasn’t intense enough.

The horcruxes were explained, but didn’t feel evil enough. To me, the logic of what the horcruxes are adds to the intensity of Voldemort’s evilness. In the movie, Dumbledore says that horcruxes can be anything, just ordinary objects. Yes, they are ordinary objects, but each horcrux has meaning to Tom Riddle, which is why he chooses them and the meaning is what helps Harry figure out what they all are.

The Potions book feels more evil in the book. In the book, you really side with Hermoine wanting Harry to get rid of the book. While reading HBP I thought maybe the book used to be Voldemort’s or something. Then you find out who the Half Blood Prince is and I think the evil feel of the Potions book plus finding out who it belonged to makes you hate Snape that much more. I was always on the fence about whether I thought Professor Snape was good or evil. By the end of this book, I hated Snape so much!

In the movie Luna Lovegood finds Harry under the invisibility cloak because of Nargles. In the book, Tonks finds Harry. Harry being found by one of The Order makes you really get a sense that things are not right at Hogwarts. Luna finding Harry just adds some humor.

Harry and Ginny kiss. I wish they would have done it just like the book. Harry runs up to Ginny, grabs her and kisses her in front of everyone in the common room. The movie made it seem like they were hiding their love.

I have always thought they started the Hermoine/Ron attraction too early and strong in the movies. They made Hermoine too jealous, and I think it will detract from their big scene in Deathly Hollows.

Burrow Attack. WTF? Okay, I don’t even know what to say about this. Were they trying to give the viewer a sense of evil, a sense that the Death Eaters mean business? If so, they could have done that in many other ways. Now where are they going to have the wedding in Deathly Hollows? I guess they will just use magic to fix the Burrow…

Final battle, Harry doing nothing. This is my biggest complaint about the movie! In the movie, Harry makes the decision to do nothing when Snape kills Dumbledore. This is so wrong! If we want to look at just the movies themselves, then we know that Harry loves and respects Dumbledore so much. We also know that Harry has a mind of his own and will disobey Dumbledore when he feels he needs to. So! Harry just watching and doing nothing I feel changes Harry’s character as a man. The real Harry would have jumped up there, screamed, fought back!
The movie did emphasize Dumbledore pleading with Harry to do exactly as he says. So
perhaps Harry does nothing because Dumbledore told him not to, so Harry is just following orders. That is a silly reason!
OR, maybe they had Harry do nothing, because if Harry had fought back just then he would have had to be killed or captured by the Death Eaters and that just wouldn’t have fit with the story.

Whatever the silly reason for doing this, they really should have done it just like the book. In the book Harry is under his invisibility cloak because Dumbledore has him bring it in order to get Harry in and out of the castle. When they get near the castle, Dumbledore immobilizes Harry. Harry is stuck on his broom, under the cloak, unable to do anything. HE HAS NO CHOICE! This is the true Harry. He was under a spell which he couldn’t break so he had no way of doing anything. I love how Harry falls to the ground the second Dumbledore dies, because it really makes the reader understand that Dumbledore is dead. Any spell cast by a wizard is undone upon that wizard’s death.

The ending. Harry talking with Hermoine and Ron. I do not like this scene. Harry is supposed to have a little conversation with Ginny. Their conversation shows how much Harry loves Ginny, but it also shows how strong Ginny is that she understands what Harry must do and accepts it. Again, Harry and Ginny are supposed to have this awesome, long awaited relationship. The movies make you not really care about that relationship. After his conversation with Ginny he talks to Ron and Hermoine who pledge to help Harry in his upcoming trek.

All in all, the movie is fine. Of course I will buy it and watch it time and again, because I am a major Harry Potter fangirl. I do believe that the movies are fine on their own and enjoyable. Like I said before, this is my view of the book-to-movie conversion.

In this episode, your hosts discuss geeky news (Find the links below), The Harry Potter movie, Worgens, and general geekery.

Special guests Andy and Sarah join David and Jay.

-David

• Amazon yanks books off the Kindle
• Command and Conquer 4 to require internet connection for LAN play
• Robert Downy Jr. says Iron Man 2 will be “Dark” — But is that a good thing?
• Avatar 3D footage, not that impressive, say ComicCon attendees
• The Guild, season 3, to add Wil Wheaton as rival guild leader
• Sarah’s spoiler laden fangirl review of Harry Potter and The Halfblood Prince
• Blizzard turns tamed Worgen into Wolves, takes a stand against slavery while selling a game based on mass murder?

This week your hosts discuss geeky news, Facebook and your Family, geek movies and Internet Racism (spoiler: it’s not racist, but it is self righteous).  We hope you enjoy this episode.

-David

• My Wife’s pwn’t iPhone
• Blackberry Tour is available. Go on, you silly Verizon users.
• Walking while texting, Still a bad idea.
• Runelords by David Farland
• G.I. Joe Director Fired
• The Last Airbender
• James Cameron’s Avatar – First 24 Minutes
• District 9 movie trailer

In this week’s episode your hosts discuss Geeky news, including the release of Firefox 3.5, TweetCraft, and the re-release of the classic “Monkey Island” videogames.  There are some product reviews and a long segment on Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

Use the player below to listen to the podcast streaming over the internet, or the subscribe widgets at the bottom of this post to add Borked! to your iTunes or RSS reader of choice.

-David

• Firefox 3.5 and Ars Technica’s in depth review
• MSDN Blog on Tweetcraft
• Monkey Island for the xBox 360
• Neuromancer by William Gibson (Buy it here)
• The Amazon Kindle (The best way to read books.)
• Wilco by Wilco (Buy it here)
• Starcraft 2 / Diablo 3 / Blizzard Entertainment

In this weeks episode, your hosts discuss game company mergers, Obama’s geekiness, Bing! and Steve Jobs. They provide a few reading and game recommendations, and talk World of Warcraft in depth. Specifically, patch 3.2 dungeon changes.

-David

• John Hodgeman quizzes President Obama
• Homeless Sim experiment
• Google’s “What is a browser?” video
• Bing and Kayak
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Buy it here)
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Buy it here)
• Demigod
• Deathknight changes in 3.2
• 3.2 Patch Notes (New instances, Emblem changes)

We just posted our latest podcast. “Getting to Know You” Please have a listen.

Here are a few links from the podcast, feel free to comment on the podcast on this post.

Enjoy!
The Rev

• Adventure Games online
• Codename: ICEMAN
• Classic Comic Books
• MUD (Multi User Dungeon)
• Scroched Earth
• Scummvm (emulator for old games)
• Penny Arcade (as if you don’t already read this)
• Twitter.com (if you haven’t been here, your grandmother already has)
• Adam Carolla with Seth Macfarlane

I can almost see it…The first ray of sunlight flashes into the sky, fragile and alone in the early morning gloom. Beneath the dawns first light, a hopeful city, awake and restless, stirs. The air is thick with anticipation. The young, with the confidence of the untried, are positive that a bright future is theirs to grasp. Even the old, who know from long and bitter years that nothing ever changes, can feel the thrum, the vibration of millions of hearts beating to the same rhythm.

To an American, the candidates seem politically indistinguishable. While their foreign policies are practically identical, their domestic policies varied enough to excite the youth, and the more progressive elements of Iran, in the weeks leading up to the election. Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, the incumbent, was intent on maintaining the status quo, as he had for the previous 4 years. Mir Hossein-Mousavi supported increased freedom of dress and culture, and the privitization of the presently government run media companies. Contrasted with Ahmadenijad’s “Vice Police” (An initiative started in November of 2007, the Iranian police created a list of “Vices” which they intended to arrest people for, including “makeup, un-islamic dress, and decadent movies”) Mousavi’s call to relax the strict Islamic code of dress and behavior was refreshing.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Pro-Mousavi youth held rallies, Mousavi’s Facebook page was frequented, word spread over the internet and through universities, via text message and commercial, by word of mouth and flier. As the somewhat less conservative candidate emerged and gained a vocal following, fundamentalists struck back. On June 1st, a Mousavi campaign office in Qum was torched. The Jerusalem Post had reports of another candidate being the target of a failed assassination attempt. In the streets, things were heated.

It was in this condition that the sun found the city of Tehran as it rose on election morning, Friday, June 12th. Though the day proceeded peacefully, the seeds of dissension were being sown from the very start. Cell phone service was patchy, text messaging was completely unavailable, and world news organizations have reported that high powered “electronic jammers” were used to interfere with (in fact, completely stop) their transmissions, effectively silencing them. No government agency has taken responsibility for any of these conditions, but many Iranians believe that the inability to use text messaging on election day was a ploy to suppress the young vote, by Ahmadenijad, who’s voter base consist primarily of Middle-aged and older Iranians from rural communities.

Because of the tremendous voter turnout on election day, the polling places were forced to revise their closing times more than once. Reports on election day vary, though they all describe lines of people stretching down city blocks, waiting to vote, some also include reports of militia men intimidating voters. These claims point to Ahmadenijad as the originator and main beneficiary of this intimidation, but no reliable news organization has been able to confirm these complaints. In fact, after the election the Iranian government began a systematic campaign of censorship which seemed to have only one aim: keeping any word of the election aftermath, including the accusations of vote tampering and the ongoing protests, from getting out.

On June 13th, having counted 1/3rd of the vote, Ahmadenijad was declared President by a margin of 62%. In provinces which, during the 2005 elections, had given him 20% of the vote, he won 70%. He did equally well in rural and in metropolitan areas (Contrary to all trends in Iranian electoral history). He not only handily won nearly every province, he even carried Tabriz, the capital of Eastern Azerbaijan and the home city of Mousavi, his chief competitor.

Having no election controls whatsoever, faking these results would be very simple. But would even the most inept government official do it so badly? Protests began immediately, Pro-Mousavi Iranians hit the streets with signs that said “Where is my vote?” among other things. They marched in the thousands and the tens of thousands, and later, the hundreds of thousands. The Iranian government went on the offensive. They went on the offensive against the biggest threat to their continued existence…the press corps. An Italian reporter was beaten by riot police, his camera confiscated. German and British reporters fared no better. American reporters for NBC and CBS also report having materials and film confiscated by Iranian security forces. At the direction of the government, Iranian ISP’s restricted access to world news sources, cutting off Iranian citizens from sites like bbc.co.uk and cnn.com.

After Sunday, no international news organization was broadcasting out of Iran. Many sites were blocked for Iranian citizens. The flow of information in and out of the country had been dramatically reduced, in 24 hours. Few news organizations even reported on what was happening in Iran, either because they couldn’t verify their information, or because the Iranian government asked them not to. The government was accused by Al Jazeera of instructing local newspapers to change their headlines.

What happened next was surprising. Over the weekend, #IranElection became one of the most popular words in use on Twitter.com. Twitter is a free site which allows its users to post brief messages, limited to 140 characters, which can be seen by anyone. Iranians inside the country, and relatives of Iranian citizens, were using Twitter to post updates about the situation. They listed meeting times, posted warnings about the Basij militia groups who were beating and killing protesters, and spread the word to a world that had no other source of information about what was going on in Iran.

Though the reports disseminated through twitter are unverifiable, they have served as a vehicle for the spread of a rich media context that brings into sharp focus the picture of a people in chaos. Images of men clasping bloody legs, tying off tourniquets, of women insensate being loaded into ambulances, and video of gunmen firing as they progress up a residential street, may not tell us the whole story, but they tell us that there is a story, which is more than we heard from the sources that we rely on for news. That, coupled with Iran’s continued campaign of misinformation and and refusal to operate with any sort of transparency is frightening.

From the standpoint of an American citizen, Mousavi is no better a candidate than Ahmadenijad. Who wins this election isn’t important. What matters is that, for the first time in a decade the people of Iran are fighting for their rights. In larger numbers than we’ve seen in 30 years, the nation of Iran is demanding a change. Because of a website designed for the delivery of short messages and used frivolously by millions, the world knows in more intimate detail, in more vivid color, with more immediacy, exactly what it looks like on the streets of Tehran, a week after the most promising sunrise in the last 4 years.

This is what the Internet has wrought: we are no longer separated by distance or time, by wealth or all the forces of a corrupt government. We can know, to the minute, what’s happening on the streets of Qum without the filter of an Iranian press secretary, or a CNN correspondent.

What is happening? The people continue to protest. Some reports say that there have been Pro-Mousavi marches with more than a million attendees. At these marches, people are beaten and arrested. Basij militia groups are going door to door, taking down satellite dishes which may grant unfettered internet access. The Iranian government has raided several university dorms. They are tracking down and arresting bloggers and those who use twitter to post messages. And still, the people march. They go onto their balconies and into the streets knowing that they could face death. I came across this during my research for this article, and felt it was timely.

Whether or not our sharing in this struggle will benefit the people of Iran remains to be seen. Even if it doesn’t, even if they endure 4 more years of Ahmadinejad’s “status quo”, we must realize that we’re seeing a revolution. Information can no longer be held back. Like fine sand, it slips through, and is blown across the world on strong winds.

Twitter has broadcast a revolution in the way that we interact with the world. We’re no longer consumers of news, handed to us by media organizations. We can talk to the people on the ground. We can see things through their eyes. If you’ve been watching the messages filed under #iranelection on Twitter, as I have, I expect you feel much the same as I. You may feel that this situation is closer to you. You may find that you know more about it than your friends and coworkers. You may discover that you sympathize, if not with the ideologies, then with the plight of the people of Iran.

Did you feel that way, a week ago? Pretty revolutionary, if you ask me.

-cdeagle
cdeagle@gmail.com
You can find David Eagle on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/cdeagle

Greyhats.com is now home to The Borked Podcast.  We created Borked because we kept having geeky conversations, and at the end of them we would all say, “That was interesting.  I bet other people would think so, too.”
Borked isn’t a podcast about comic books, or video games, or cool gadgets.  We talk about those things when they come up, but we may go weeks without touching on one of those subjects.  Borked is a venue for geeks to discuss things that interest them.  Though the core contributors are David, Revoked and Jay, our podcast (like the geek subculture which it addresses) is open to anyone with an informed opinion and a passion for any of a broad number of subjects which geeks revere.

This week we talk about:

• Star Wars: The Old Republic, the new MMO being developed by Bioware.
  Site: http://www.swtor.com/
  Cinematic trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BjJaAA5A7w
• The iPhone.  Specifically, what we think it should do.  (Including, “tell me when I’m leaving the house without a belt on”)
  WWDC Highlights: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4517
• BattleNet, Downloadable content, and the future of Blizzard’s ‘World of Warcraft’
  Site: http://www.battle.net
  Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/
  

We hope you enjoy our dialogue, and more than that we hope that you’ll contribute to the ongoing exchange of ideas that is so essential to the survival and growth of geekdom.

Until next time, stay nerdy.

- cdeagle

You can email the show here: we@borkedproductions.com, or find us on Twitter:

• David Eagle
• Jay
• Jon “Rev” Mabe
• The Borked Podcast

my “spore” name is: revoked, you can add me as a buddy.

I dunno, I am a jerk, however Shattered Suns, released today, upon looking at the screenshots, it barely stacks up to a game released NINE years ago..

Shattered Suns (2008)

Homeworld (1999)

sigh… the weekly release used to be something to look forward to. now it’s like the "every 6 months or so" release.

The Adobe AIR Team had a quick post up the other day offering a free pocket reference guide to the first few emails. I managed to wrangle one and it just showed up! Thanks Adobe!

What the heck?? When did this come out?

http://www.google.com/talk/labsedition/index.html

I went to Comic-Con, not really expecting to get much other than a fun time walking around the booths. However I was pleasantly surprised by the following awesomeness:

Autographed “Penny Arcade 2″ by the PA boys.

This was a SPECIAL treat. I love all things Mike Mignola, and was not expecting to even see him at the con. As we were about to leave, we walked by a booth, and I saw a few guys milling about in front of Mike! I walked over, cursing myself for not bringing my Hellboy vol. 1 with my anyway. Luckily he had some special ’08 Con prints, and I was able to get this personalized. Horrah!

This was another special treat. Lego + WB teamed up and had people visit 3 booths to play the upcoming Batman LEGO game. Each booth gave us a part of Joker. Once each was collected you turned Joker in to get this box and Batman! Cool!

Anyway, Thanks Tim for bringing us!

Hey jutst testing out the new iphone wordpress app. So far it’s prett dang easy to use! via http://digg.com/apple/Wordpress_for_iPhone_Released

and it was pretty interesting. mainly, I’ve found that when you expect it to react in a certain way, it already does (ie. muting conversations). we’ll see how it grows on the web and me. hit me up! http://www.plurk.com/user/revoked

Ever since Freakonomics stopped putting their full-text of articles into their RSS feed, I pretty much stopped reading their well written articles. However, that is not why I am writing this post today.

Today, I did click into a post (this one: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/a-nuclear-president/) It spoke of how the Nuclear option is becoming more and more of a possibility for America’s (and the world’s) future power resource. I for one am “a-ok-lets-go” on the Nuclear solution (until we figure out perpetual energy, yeah.. anyway..), however that’s also not why I wrote this post.

What the Nuclear subject got me thinking about was the affect that the lack of energy will do to our lives. In my opinion this change would initially center around transportation. Over the years, change in transportation has always come about because of growing population, however this coming change will be caused by dwindling access to cheap energy. Normally you would come to the conclusion “well you have to get from one place to another don’t you?”, I mean “everyone has a car payment” right? Death, Taxes, and a Car Payment. Well, what if the only reason you had to deal with transportation was to get food.

Consider this, digital communications has come so far, so fast, that nobody seems to be completely caught up with it. We have not only plain-jane voice communications (zzz boring), but a myriad of video communication options, and excellent text communication. On top of all of this, we have had (for YEARS!) secure point to point communications. What does all of this add up to? In my opinion, a move forward in not only employers allowing their employees to “tele-commute”, but also friends and family communicate more and more via ip communications. I mean, it’s already happening!

I recently had a discussion with a friend who is now allowed to tele-commute once a week, and she works at a pretty well known company. I can only see this spreading as the cost of transportation goes up in not only time, but now cold hard cash, at dramatic rates (see here and here).

Ok, so we’ve all seem the movies. Video communications has been around since a Space Odyssey, and so far either retail offerings have been craptastic, or lackluster. Well, what happens when it costs you $15 or $20 to drive 30 miles to see your family? Maybe you’ll just call them on the videophone this week (hey nintendo, make a video-phone on the Wii dangit!). Or how about going to work? What about all those people driving over 50mi a day to work? It will become completely unaffordable, forcing employers to allow their employees to work from home.

So, what does all of this lead to? It leads to me to the conclusion that I with have a job for a long time, that’s what. At-home workers means more and more ip-based communications, from text/speach/video, to asset and document sharing, all types of collaboration software from planning your next housing development, to planning your next company party; it will all need to be online. In fact, I’ve seen a few condo/townhomes lately with secluded office counterparts to the main house. I think we’ll see that more prominent in the next 10 years. And THAT to me is exciting. Screw jet-packs! The internet ftw!

ps. if you want to see an excellent portrayal of a digital-based future, check this out.

please click this link, then install the given browser. you will make my job easier.

So, the new (and awesome) Weezer album came out today. And the usually awesome album info+artwork of iTunes completely failed. Not only does their CDDB database not have the Red Album in it but in addition, after ripping the CD via Window Media Player, iTunes decides the BLUE album artwork is what it should show for the RED album. Sothatsnice. /rant

Total time taken and steps to remove $40 worth of monthly services from Cox Communications (Cable + Internet):
1. Verification of 2 types of personal information
2. Verification of cancellations
Total Time: ~2 minutes
Also, $30 in pro-rated services was credited back to me

Total time taken and steps to remove $7.99 of monthly services from Microsoft Xbox Live:
1. Voice activated menu to tsf to Cancellations
2. Verification of 1 type of personal information
3. Verification of cancellation
4. Verification of 5 more types of personal information
5. Reason for cancellation
6. On hold to transfer to Cancellations (I thought that’s where I was?!)
7. On hold again to tsf
8. On hold again to tsf
9. Verification of 2 types of personal information
10. Reason for cancellation
11. Arguing to get me to keep the service
12. Verification of cancellation
Total Time: 18 minutes and 45 seconds
Also, I can barely understand Indians, even if they call themselves Rachel or Oliver

Winner: Cox!

I guess even though we love to hate our cable bill, at least you can cancel it without it taking up almost 1/2 your lunch hour.

Yes folks, the nerds have arrived. Tonight at 11:45pm I was served a “Loud Party Notice” for playing Rock Band! The conversation was as follows:

Coppa: You live here?
Rev: Yessir!
Coppa: You having a party in there?
Rev: Nooot really.
Coppa: How many people you got in there?
Rev: Four..
Coppa: Oh.. What are you doing in there?
Rev: … Playing a video game …
Coppa: Ah. Wellll
Rev: There is like.. a drum part that you sort of stomp on..
Coppa: Yeah, that was probably it!
Rev: …

Check out my swanky notice

Does this mean we’re cool now? I’m not sure.

The front-end engineers certainly have their work cut out for them with the release if IE8 on the horizon. Albeit that this IS a Beta, and the FIRST of all public Betas, but still, all my sites generally mostly work (except those using google maps).

Remember folks, this is early beta software, rendering (most likely) browser specific hacks styling, so take this with a grain of salt.

And embedded

But wait! Not even Microsoft’s DOM based maps look good:

Hey everybody, just a friendly reminder to delete your myspace Today. that is all.

So, last summer we cancelled cable. We had gone three months with watching a total of 3 hours of entertainment. With our television costing ~$100/month, that was $100/hr for those three hours. That didn’t add up for me, so we started The Grand Experiment. That experiment being a media-centered couple, removing the few hundred odd channels of 24/7 media from our lives. The idea was, with that extra $100/mo replace it with purchasing digital copies of our media and streaming them to the television, in addition to purchasing dvds of shows.

This went well for the first couple of months. The downside was that not all of our shows were in digital format we could (legally) watch on our tv. So we thought hey, download the media, then we’ll make sure to buy the dvds when they are released. This sounded like a good idea, however in practice we didn’t realize the toll it would take on us.

First of all, we were required to use less-than-desirable means to procure said content (ie. Bit-torrent, Usenet). The issue was, we started worrying about plotting ourselves on the MPAA road-map of litigation. So we started using applications such as Peerguardian, to cover our tracks. The lowdown of all of this was that it really took a toll on us, on top of that we worried about our “vote” being counted, and then there was the X factor of channels like Discovery, National Geographic, Etc. that had very interesting programs unavailable outside of the cable/dish networks.

SO, the experiment is over, I picked up our cable-boxes again and we’re back to regularness. It was very weird to get rid of cable, and now it’s weird to pick it up again. I feel sort of bad that we failed. I don’t like cable companies, and I think that their fees are high. But, I don’t really see any other alternatives. leh sigh.

note: I would have switched to directv, dish, fios, etc. however my apartment doesn’t see the south sky, and verizon hasn’t offered fios at my complex.

C-mon google! What happened to support for googletalk.exe?! We want group chat, aim chat, etc. You make us sad..

So far my experience with Safari 3 (on win32) has been a very good one. By far it is the fastest Javascript implementation I’ve ever seen. On top of that it’s compatibility is very very close to FireFox 2. We’ve seen only a few issues, specifically in regards to Flash implementations.

But I’m not here to talk about what apple has done right with safari. I’m here to talk about what they did wrong, specifically the only thing that I can find that they did wrong. Lets take a look at a few screenshots of their very nice ui:

The Address Bar:

The Pretty Buttons:

The Sweet RSS and Google-Search:

But… what happened HERE!?

Apple… anti-aliasing! Please!

GAH!

how I love you

function rgb(r,g,b){
return r.toString(16) + g.toString(16) + b.toString(16);
}

I don’t really feel like writing a bunch of prose here, so I’m just going to list the facts as to why my experience with microsoft’s Xbox 360 support has sucked thusfar.

Late August, my console gets the three red lights of death (yeah, dead rising). So I call up 8004MYXBOX and they say that I’m out of warranty (I had a launch console) and that it would be $120 to repair it. I decline deciding it’s not _that_ important to me right now and I can wait a few paychecks to repair it.

Mid September, it’s announced that 2005 consoles are being awarded with an extra years worth of warranty, horrah. I call in and they send out a box for me to send my 360 back in (Microsoft Case# 1018624847).

October 11th, they send my 360 back to me (ups tracking #: 1Z05W3581204757459). I get it back on the or around the 16th. I open the box and plastic parts start falling out. It seems that UPS dropped the xbox from a fair height (I’m guessing 3 to 4 feet) and have possibly irreparably damaged the console. I jump online and start a claim with ups.

October 24th, UPS updated my tracking number with this

AFTER THE DELIVERY WAS MADE, THE RECEIVER REPORTED THE PACKAGE WAS DAMAGED;ALL MERCHANDISE IS BEING RETURNED. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH DETAILS OF THE DAMAGE

So I wait.

October 27th, My console arrives back at the repair center (MC Allen, TX), so I call ups. They claim that they sent the info and console to microsoft and I should call them to get any new info on the console. I give microsoft the benefit of the doubt and give them another week.

November 6th, I call microsoft support and after waiting for close to 45 minutes I’m transferred to a “supervisor” sometimes called “tier 2″. Anyway, he takes in my whole store, takes my tracking number and claims he’s on it, and expects me to be sent my, or a new console within 8 business days. He also advises me that it shouldn’t happen, but if I don’t get anything to call back after 8 business days.

November 17th, (possibly 16th, it’s a little fuzzy) I call in and a representative tells me that “Taylor” emailed the repair center for photos of the damage. I’m asked to wait, but that I’m assuredly going to get a callback.

20th to 22nd of November, I call in multiple times and I get less than knowledgeable representatives that get very confused and sometimes very frustrated when I try to explain my plight. Each time I give them the same case number, but they for some reason can’t put all the events together. At one point I was told to call UPS and get a tracking number for my console because it was “on it’s way back to you”. I asked the rep if they knew that I can’t call UPS for a tracking number, they will only talk to you if you HAVE a tracking number. At that she hurried me off the phone saying “I’m sorry sir we have no updates for you”.

hold on… *sigh*, ok lets continue.

27th of November, I get a call from a woman to verify my address because there was “some confusion”. I verify, she is cordial, and we end the call. It seems as if I’m to expect a delivery!

1st of December, A different woman calls to AGAIN verify my address. I do, then I ask “Should I expect something because I got a call on monday to verify my address and now you are”. She says “Sorry, they didn’t create a ticket on monday, I am doing that now, here is your new case number: 1024861979″. But my experience thusfar made me ask my next question “Do you see the notes on this account, my xbox has been at your repair center since october”. She replies “Yes, we have a lot of units at the repair center and we’re trying to get them all sent out, you should get something in two to three business days” rejoice!

7th of December, I’m skeptical. Nothing has arrived, I dread the worst. So I call up customer service and get a nice woman named Allison who takes all my info. I then relate my entire story and she says “I’m sorry I would like nothing more than to find out what’s happening with your console, but our system is undergoing an update, I’ll get all the notes together and enter them into your case as soon as I can get back in. So if you call back in two hours and give them your case number they should be able to get you the information you need.” Double dutch. From experience I know that if I call after work I get the lame reps. Ah well, I thank her and go back to work.

Later that evening, I call back expecting the utter worst. After relating a subset of my troubles and my latest case number my friendly friend from not america tells me he needs to get a supervisor. hold hold hold, ring ring. OH! a new friendly friend, cool, but not a supervisor. My call must have dropped. So I again relate my subset of woes and my new dude “David” (I’m sure) says he needs to get a supervisor. hold hold hold. “David” comes back and relates that a “typographical” error was made on my account and they are updating the repair center’s records. I’m then advised to call back in two business days (December 12th) then I’m hurried off the phone.

…

That was about an hour ago, I’ve been patient, I’ve been kind. I haven’t raised my voice. I haven’t pressured them into a “You’ll lose a customer for this”. I just want my xbox back. At this point I’m akin to get ANYTHING back. How is it that this guy not only gets a replacement xbox, but a free game after his gets RAN OVER?! I mean, a “typographical” error. They have got to have a NOVEL of information from all the people that have touched my issue. Leh sigh. Maybe I should call and tell them I ran over it, so I get a new one.. Major Nelson told me so.

!Update! December 8th, I got my original 360 back, still totally broken. And NOW it won’t even turn back on.

I’ve been working with Pngs over the last few weeks because they just look so much dang better. But then I went to setup IE6 support and some of my quick-hacks I used. If you’re not aware, to use transparent pngs in IE6 you need to set them as the background of say a <div> or <span> and then apply a filter to it. If we were to apply it in css it would look like this:

.myPng{
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(enabled=true, sizingMethod=scale src='/images/mysweet.png');
}

However, to use only css to do this we _need_ to know the height and width of the image, because the filter actually just sets the background image. There’s a few other png hacks out there but none that really worked for me for various reasons. What I needed was something that was fast, lightweight, easy to read, and I could call it if I was building an <img> tag in javascript. So I made this:


Global = {
FixPng: function( img ){
if(document.all){
img.parentNode.style.width = img.offsetWidth;
img.parentNode.style.height = img.offsetHeight;
img.parentNode.style.filter = "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(enabled=true, sizingMethod=scale src='"+ img.src +"')"
} else {
img.style.visibility = "visible"
}
}
}


The only catch is that this relies on three things:

1. The <img> tag must have style=”visibility:hidden”
2. There must be a <div> tag wrapping the <img> tag. (the <div> tag can have styling)
3. The FixPng is called at some point passing the <img> tag object

So a normal fix would look like this:


<div><img src="/images/mysweet.png" style="visibility:hidden;" OnLoad="Global.FixPng( this );" /></div>


That’s about it. I don’t think this is my last iteration of this fix, but it works 100% better for me since I can easily use this in html and in javascript. I hope it helps you.

note: I’ve heard that the <img> OnLoad doesn’t always fire in IE6 because of caching. There’s workarounds, but if you have any insight, please post.

“.Net 3.0?! Didn’t we just get 2.0?!” you ask. Well you’re right! less than a year ago microsoft released .net framework 2.0, so why would they make a major release like that in under a year, especially as microsoft! Aren’t they a slow sloth like creature that takes 6 years to release an operating system? You’re right, they are. But 3.0 isn’t exactly another “2.0″ nor is it another “1.0″ it’s something completely different.

<- Framework 3.0 in all it’s glory. What we’re looking at is microsoft’s 4 tiered architecture to unify the desktop to the browser.

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPL) is literally the “presentation” layer for microsoft’s new strategy. What we’ve got is an API that allows the programmer to use XAML to build the UI and visual aspects across platform.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) allows the developer to create data sources that either web or desktop applications can recieve updates, or push data to.

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) funny thing is, this is really “WWF” or World Wrestling Foundation (now known as WWE), but I f igure microsoft doesn’t want to be connected with hulk hogan. Anyway, WF is what allows the developer to basically offload the functionality of a UI to the a workhorse application. As a crzy programmer, this is really exciting. What we’re talking about it the ability to create a standalone UI that interacts with a multithreaded, remote (possibly), persistant (don’t worry about computer restarts), monitorable (you can monitor execution), dynamic updates (update workflow during execution) application. Likewow… If what microsoft is promising with the WF comes true, this could allow me to spend less time writing this myself (AJAX etc.) and get the job done sooner, and with better results. Crazy cool, like the hulk.

Windows CardSpace (WC) brings an “Identity Metasystem” to the table. This allows the developer to build a user system on top of a nice and neat API. It seems like you’ll have to take some leaps and bounds to become an “Identity Provider” but the details I’m reading are a little sketchy. We’ll have to follow up on this one.

So That’s the .net 3.0 framework. Not so much of an overall upgrade like 1.1 to 2.0 was, but a very interesting and provacative set of tools for developers to use. You can download the framework at microsoft’s site, or you can buy Windows Vista. It comes with that too. Anyway, I’m not sure when 3.0 stuff will creap into my releases, but I can tell you now, if everything works out like they say it will, it’s going to be an interesting 2007 (as if ’06 wasn’t web 2.0y enough).

note: now they just need to make .net cross platform

So, I’ve learned a lot over the last year about development in addition to being swept up into this stream of knowledge that’s being passed around (read – web 2.0). Anyway, I wanted to share a little bit about how I’ve been developing.

I think that if I looked back to what and how I wrote my code years ago I’d laugh my sockies off. Now, I know MOST programmers do this. We’re constant learners, always tweaking the way we do things. But with these new methods and ideologies it’s much different to look back on (recent) older code because I wasn’t doing anything SILLY back then, it was just _different_.

The best example I thought I could give you is this. After reviewing all the open source javascript libraries out there, I’ve gleaned a new way of writing javascript for my page. Take this for example:


DiverseSolutions.MyProject.Pages.Login = {
OnLoad: function(){
//do stuff
},
Tab: {
OnClick: function(){
//do stuff
},
OnMouseOver: function(){
//do stuff
}
}
}


So Basically what we have here is a page called “login” where I’ve got some stuff goin on. Generally I’ll have the “OnLoad” function bound to window.load like this:

YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window, "load", DiverseSolutions.MyProject.Pages.Login.OnLoad, DiverseSolutions.MyProject.Pages.Login);

What we’re doing here is on window “load”, fire “OnLoad” with (the extra DS.MyProject.Pages.Login makes sure that OnLoad fires within the correct scope). What this kind of implementation gains me is the ability to 1. Quickly navigate through a javascript class (a major concern of mine) and 2. Be able to modify/consume my own and coworker’s javascript classes. This particular method is geared towards a specific page. If I was to create a re-usable class I would do something like this:


DiverseSolutions.MyProject.User = { };
DiverseSolutions.MyProject.User.prototype = {
UserID: null,
UserName: null,
Init: function( userid ) {
//do stuff
},
}


This allows me to be able to reuse a class I’ve made without the browser having to rebuild everything every time I initialize a new User. This is because I’ve implemented the object’s “prototype”.

Using javascript in an object oriented way allows me to work with “agility” (therefore the Agile Development). I can’t tell you how much faster javascript programming is now that I’m utilizing these new techniques. Additionally I don’t feel like as much of an r-tard when I look back on my old javascript work .

note: what I didn’t include was how I setup the DiverseSolutions.MyProject.Pages namespace. I’ve “borrowed” how yahoo does their’s seen here.

Since my blog doesn’t see much traffic and this might actually be useful to some of you (though I’m sure most of us know all about it) I figured I’d duplicate some content. Content injection in t-minus 1 second. Bam!

I’m no photoshop wizard, far from it. So if I overlook anything, please comment. The purpose of this tutorial is to share a very basic aspect of photoshop that made a huge difference in my photo editing process once I found out about it. I’m not suggesting this as a solution for a multitude of problems, it has a specific implementation and there are other tools in photoshop that do different things more efficiently, but this one is certainly handy. Also, screenshots! That’s worth the price of admission, isn’t it?

This tutorial is done in Photoshop CS2. It should be the same in previous versions up to Photoshop 6, prior to that I have no idea. Quickmask allows you to use the paintbrush (or pencil, or airbrush, or any coloring tool) to create a selection area.

Step 1. Load your image into Photoshop. I know, right? Defies all reason.

Step 2. On the left hand toolbar there are two rectangles below the Color Selection area, each rectangle has a circle inside it, and the colors are the inverse of the other rectangle. The rectangle on the left is “Standard Mode”, the one on the right is “Quickmask Mode”. Toggle Quickmask Mode by clicking the rectangle on the right.

Find it? Ok, good. Once you’ve entered Quickmask mode, it’s on to step 3.

Step 3. Select the painbrush tool. Determine the properties of your paintbrush based on the level of detail you want to select. (1px for very fine edge work, 100px for insanely broad strokes, as you know) then, you…well…Paint. Just so:

Step 4. Got that? Great job! Having painted your area go ahead and click back to “Standard Edit Mode” (the rectangle on the left). The first thing you will notice is that the area you had painted is actually the only area of the photo NOT selected. The QuickMask masks an area OUT, and selects the rest of the photo. It’s important to keep that in mind, because if you start changing hue or desaturating and you realize it’s doing everything but the area you wanted it to do, you may say some unpleasant words that really don’t reflect your personality, and could be taken amiss by passers-by. I’m sure you’ve guessed Step 5.

Step 5. Click on Select>Inverse to change your selection. When you have inversed your selection you have only the area you wanted it to select, the area you “painted”. Tres magnifique! Now perform whatever madness you’d intended for this swath of image. If it’s a well lit structure in a photograph that had a very long exposure time you might try adjusting the lightness, or desaturating it, or overlaying it with an opaque black layer. You understand that with this selection method and layers there are a multitude of pretty tricks that can be performed. Here’s what I did:

Perhaps not the best use of hue and saturation, but you get the idea. Ignore the poor quality of my selection, that’s the “quick” and “dirty” portion of the tutorial.

video go byebye

For those whose computers/networks hate bittorrent, here is the wow patch:

WoW-1.11.2.5464-to-1.12.0.5595-enUS-patch.zip

and here are the patch notes

So, I’m messing around with the new Windows Live Writer and it’s pretty good (so far). Lets see I’ve got insert link, picture, and map. Lets try them out:

sweet, photo edges. Oh wow, we’ve got photo manipulations! Watermark, effects. Pretty Snazzy.

Now, how about a map.

Ohmy, VERY nice integration with maps.live.com. we can do road, aerial, AND birds eye view.

Lets try some block quotes.

Blitz is a smelly belly

And to top it off, thank the Lord for spellchecker. Set the post category, change the post options (comments, trackbacks, link, keywords, publish time, nice!). Time to publish, lets see how this baby performs.

-note, bug found, I had the year set to 2006, however it saved it to wordpress w/ 1969 (nice) it’s beta folks, so keep that in mind.

-note #2, map doesn’t work in FFox, will try aerial + road as well later.

‘Gold farming’ in games means real income in China

Portal Demonstration from Valve’s E3 Summer Media Event. Seriously watch the whole thing you’ll be amazed.

Check out the site for the new WoW Trading Card game. Anyone gonna buy a deck?

Yarly.

Electronic Arts announced its line-up for the upcoming revolutionary Wii console, due to appear sometime this fall, most probably before PlayStation 3. EA said it prepares for it at least 6 titles, with “Harry Potter” being by far the most famous.

Nintendo Wii will come accompanied also by titles like Madden NFL, Need for Speed, The Godfather, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX and the well known magic-master Harry Potter.

Read more…

Imagine spell casting in Harry Potter using the Wii controller as a wand.

Yes…this is news worthy.

Draenei – New Alliance Race

Talk about it in the forums

So the Nintendo finally announced that the Revolution is now Wii. As in Weeeeeee. Sounds more like a feminine hygine product to me than a kick ass console. At least with a confusing funky name like that they will get some press out of it. Anyways what do you guys thin? Like the name or not? Should they have stuck with “Revolution”?

Talk about it in the forums