Did you know?

We have received almost 1,161,882 calls for 2008, through the close of yesterday!  Again, that’s over 1 million consumers in need of our help.

Of those calls, we have been able to answer 1,108,827 of those calls.  That is over 95.4% of the total calls received.  Great job!

 

Did you know?

We received 7,714 calls yesterday alone.  That is the most calls received in a single day for the entire year of 2008.

How it began: Most people don't associate ventrilo with Runescape. The reason is because Runescape doesn't techincally need ventrilo. You have instant message that's reliable and swift. To communicate in a clan there was the irc chat. Now there's a clan chat.

Good things about Runescape Ventrilo:
Ventrilo is your decision. Just join a clan that uses ventrilo and wulah. You can communicate with them instantly. It's fun to use vent when you go dag hunting or boss hunting in general. you don't want to go dag hunting and find out you need someone to attack, but you have to type that shit and find out you died in the process. Also, you meet players your level who you can share your experience.

Gay shit about Rs Ventrilo:
The ratio of guys/girls on vent is 8:1... And a good amount of the girls are ugly as fuck...

Do not use the ventrilo server for major Runescape sites. For example, Zybez and Runehq... Some people there are fucking morons.(literally) They can't speak properly and swear way too much. Some people are conceded as fuck, while others just agree with them to make themself look cool. WTF? Also, there's people who talk way too fucking loud. It kills my ear everytime I hear their loud and obnoxious voice. If you tell them politely to lower their mic, they think you're trying to critcize them, so they act like buffons telling you that you should lower your volume. If they just think and repsect other people's decision, they would understand that WHY THE FUCK WOULD i tell someone to lower their volume when you can hear other people perfectly. It just means there out input is way too fucking loud. Some people like crowded vent servers...I personally don't.

Worst part:
The worst part of Runescape are the people who give advice to players who need help. This is alright as long as the adice you're giving is correct... No shit! You wont believe how many people give the wrong advice. If you try to correct them, they defend themselves like ignorant dumbfucks just to keep their intergrity. So, don't correct these people and just ignore them.(pity the people who are listening to the wrong advice) If you really want advice from people or you're struggling...ask players who are at least over 100+ and been in member for over at least 3 months. They tend to be nice and know what the fuck there doing. (lvl 100+ doesn't mean he knows the right answer...he can also be new to member)

The worst part of highely populated Runescape servers:
The worst of part of servers in zybez/runehq/etc are the children mods. Some of the Mods are children...WHAT THE FUCK!?! These children are so fucking stupid...I just want slap their face and send them to private school to get a better education. Most of "these" child mods are immature idiots. I wrote for example, "I'm a porn star" on my comment. If was meant for a sense of humor, while the adults understood the joke, there was one mod. (the mod happened to be a child) Little children mods will ban or kick you and their reasons go something like, "porn is bad for you"... ( You can tell that there still a child by their voice. Meaning, their balls haven't dropped yet)_

Lastly:
If you are intelligent person who hates the conceded dumbshits and doesn't speak loud on the mic, a small vent server is for you. These small vent servers are perfect spots who you can casually get along. Or...just join a FUcking Clan (Duh..) English (U.K.) vent servers tend to be more civilized and quiet compare to the Americans brothers.

Zunächst ein paar Tries an M'uru... bei denen ich nicht anwesend sein konnte, da sich "praktischerweise" kurz vor Raidbeginn mein Heiler-Interface in nichts aufgelöst hatte... Völlig verärgert stand ich nun also vor der Instanz und werkelte fluchend an meinen Addons herum, verspottet von meinen Heilerkollegen.... Doch es gibt ja zu meinem Glück Whisperchannels im Ventrilo... meine Verbindung zum Raidgeschehen, da im allgemeinen Raidchannel kaum kommuniziert wird.

Ein offenbar gut gelaunter Khonoa berichtete mir, dass die Versuche immer besser würden und es im Grunde gut lief, bis auf ein paar Patzer einzelner Spieler, über die wir dann erstmal ordentlich herzogen ^^ Und da er nichtmal der einzige war, bei dem ich mich über mein schlimmes Schicksal beklagen und mich bemitleiden lassen konnte, war ich schnell wieder getröstet... Vorm Instanzeingang saß auch noch einer unserer Defkrieger,  mit dem sich meine Druidin noch zusätzlich die Zeit vertreiben konnte... sie wurden unter einer Brücke gesichtet, vertieft in ein... äh Gespräch.  ;-)

Im Anschluss daran ging es dann in den Schwarzen Tempel, noch "mal eben" die letzten 4 Bosse töten und nebenbei ein paar Bewerber testen, die in unsere Raidgruppe aufgenommen werden wollen... Das erwies sich zum Teil als schwieriger als angenommen. Wipes gab es zwar keine "richtigen", aber dennoch ging es recht zäh voran... Die Stimmung im Raid sank mehr und mehr, man schob die Schuld von den Tanks zu den Heilern und wieder zurück... Doch wir hielten uns mit Galgenhumor über Wasser, kommentierten jeden Mist, den die anderen erzählen, parodierten andere Raidmitglieder (einer klingt wie ein Murloc) und hatten ziemlich viel zu lachen, zum Teil natürlich auch über uns selbst ("Ori down... was soll das?" - "Halt's Maul." - "Selber." - "Ok"). Das hat mir persönlich den gesamten Abend gerettet... einfach jeden Unsinn sagen zu können, der mir gerade durch den Kopf schoss und mir dabei nichtmal dumm vorkommen zu müssen. Hier und da spitze Bemerkungen zu machen und ein bisschen mit meinem virtuellen (bzw akustischen) Gegenüber spielen zu können... Etwas Smalltalk und not-so-small talk ;)

Nachdem es mir vor einer Weile nicht besonders gut ging (im Raid und auch allgemein), war dies mal wieder ein sehr unterhaltsamer Raidabend... einigermaßen erfolgreich auch, wenn man von den Schwierigkeiten mal absieht, die wir beim Töten der Bosse (und Trashmobs -.-) hatten... Unaufmerksamkeiten hauptsächlich. Aber egal... Illidan ist down, hatte mal wieder den falschen Loot dabei (nicht den Kolben, den sich viele noch herbeisehnen, keine Warglaive und natürlich auch kein Trinket) und wird wohl demnächst erneut von uns hören... und ich bin wieder ein wenig versöhnt mit dem Raid... aber auch nur ein bisschen ;)

- Ori

Excited? You should be.

Den gestrigen Raidabend konnten der gute Khonoa und ich mal wieder nicht durchhalten, ohne uns über alles aufzuregen, was unsere lieben Raidkollegen so "verzapften". Selbstverständlich nur hintenrum, per Whisperchannel im Ventrilo ;) Da wir annehmen, dass sich andere ebenfalls dieser Möglichkeit bedienen, um ordentlich über alles abzulästern, lassen wir uns auch keinerlei schlechtes Gewissen einreden ^^

Außerdem hatten wir auch allen Grund dazu. Einigen Leuten scheint nicht bewusst zu sein, dass sie es - trotz "Progress-Raid", wie wir uns nennen - immer noch mit realen Menschen zu tun haben. Da fallen im Laufe der Raidabends gern mal alle zivilisierten Verhaltensweisen unter den Tisch und man lässt so richtig schön die Sau raus. Ich unterstelle meinen vorwiegend männlichen Raidkollegen da gern mal, dass sie eine virtuelle Verlängerung ihres besten Stücks nötig haben... Dass ihr eigenes Leben allerdings auch nicht besser wird, nur weil sie sich online besser hinstellen und andere dumm aussehen lassen, scheint ihnen nicht bewusst zu sein. Naja, egal... wir stehen drüber... fast. Nein, eigentlich geht es uns ziemlich nah, wenn wir nur danebenstehen können und zusehen müssen, wie jemand ungestraft einem anderen das (Raid)leben zur Hölle machen kann, ohne dass wir es ändern können ("XY ist nunmal unersetzbar im Raid, ich kann ihn nicht rauswerfen blabla"). Wahrscheinlich wäre das Raiden einfacher, wenn man einfach abstumpfen könnte. Die Dinge einfach als notwendig akzeptieren, die anderen Raider nur ale Pixelhaufen ansehen, die man selbst braucht, um Erfolg zu haben. "Mir doch egal, ob der Pala ein Arschloch ist... Hauptsache ich krieg meinen SDR".

Aber zum Glück gibt es immer etwas, das mich immer wieder davon abhält, so zu werden: andere Menschen, die es immer noch schaffen, auf dem Boden der Tatsachen zu bleiben. Es gibt im Raid ein paar von ihnen und ich bin sehr dankbar dafür, einfach jemanden an meiner Seite zu wissen, dem ich auf einer gewissen Ebene vertrauen kann. Jemanden, der "auf der richtigen Seite" ist. Jemanden, der ab und zu die richtigen Worte findet, um einen öden Raidabend wieder in den Spaß zu verwandeln, der er eigentlich immer sein sollte (nicht nur Arbeit, das ist unsere Freizeit, verdammt). Jemand, der herzhaft über meine blöden Witze lacht oder mir einfach das Gefühl gibt, dass ich nicht ganz so fehl am Platz bin, wie ich manchmal denke. Jemand, der nicht nur Dinge wie "lol" oder ähnliches auf meine Sätze antwortet, sondern aufmerksam ist und auch mal nachfragt, weil er sich wirklich dafür interessiert, wie es mir geht und nicht nur aus Höflichkeit fragt. Jemand, der sich noch an das erinnert, was ich vor ein paar Tagen gesagt habe. Eben jemand, der nicht nur ein Zwerg Krieger, Draenei Schamane oder Nachtelf Druide ist, sondern ein richtiger Mensch mit einem echten Leben und vor allem einem echten Herz.

Wir sind eben kein Kuschel-Raid, sondern wollen Fortschritt. Progress. Naja... einerseits richtig, aber andererseits... bleibt leider viel auf der Strecke und es ist täglich eine neue Herausforderung, sich selbst und anderen zu helfen, die zwischenmenschlichen Hürden zu überwinden.

Oder ich bin einfach eine schwächliche Heulsuse.

- Ori

Then, with Lord of the Rings Online, my guild had a Teamspeak server set up by one of the members, and the game has in-game chat as part of it too. We joined a few mixed guild raids through Helegrod, using in-game chat, and we used Teamspeak for our own instance or raid runs. When it came to the crunch I had to make the decision to actually speak for the first time. And I did it. And it wasn't too scary, though it was a bit of a worry. I had to learn all the added things, like how to set up push-to-talk on the various systems, and not to use the same push-to-talk key for both systems. And I think my guildmates will now happily tell everyone I've not stopped talking yet!

It is a pretty big hurdle, the revelation of your real voice. You can't hide much there. We quickly discovered who were the female gamers (we have quite a lot of them actually), but it's that kind of revelation that I think puts many people off. Some women are naturally cautious about revealing they're really female, and I can understand why when people do get harassed in-game over such things. But hey, I'm in a mature and sensible guild and we've not had trouble with that kind of thing.

Anyway, my use of Teamspeak has grown as I've gamed. I'll now happily talk to anyone about pretty much anything. And I'll also keep in-game chat on as default, especially when in the Monster Play area. There's a definite advantage in the PvP areas, because of coordination and also those with better computers can warn in advance of an enemy attack. It also helps us find out as soon as possible when a stealther has spotted the enemy and exactly where they are. Coordination is really the key though, and even if you can't talk back, being able to listen in is really valuable if voice chat is being used.

It's taken my friendships forward in Lord of the Rings Online, to the stage where we'll chat on Teamspeak even if we're not all in-game, and everyone from the guild can come join us. It's always particularly useful to me when there's something big to get my head around, like the recent announcements about cut classes. I popped into Teamspeak and we talked about it for ages, it was good to have a bit of a rant before I came back to the blog and had to start writing about it. And to hear some other opinions before I formed my own.

So I expect we'll use it a lot in Warhammer. I think we've said as much in our guild charter (as much as that's a work in progress). Some to help our gameplay and some to just chatter and pass along news about new games, films, TV shows or whatever the hot topic of the day is. We'll use it to coordinate any groups we run, or any actions we take. Of course, with no in-game voice it'll be interesting to see what servers get used on Teamspeak and Ventrilo and how that gets organised. That'll be something for each server and realm to sort out as each guild is bound to have their own, maybe we'll start seeing alliance servers and even open realm servers (though I don't know how expensive that gets).

It's not as easy for everyone, I know. My sister (non-Spinks) finds it hard to use voice chat programmes as much as I do. Because her partner tends to sit in the same room and isn't a gamer! He naturally expects her to be able to talk to him - and she likes to game with the TV on. Other people don't have mikes, or have other influences that mean they can't be chatting all the time. So I do understand that not everyone can have the happy relationship I do with Teamspeak and my friends.  

But, I'd definitely recommend people try it. It does make coordination in-game easier, we can all speak and listen faster than we can type and it offers that advantage, even if you can only listen in. I found that the first half hour of talking was scary, but after that I kind of got over my own self-consciousness. So, if you've never used it for similar reasons.. go for it.

For those of you who haven't had the chance to go to a LAN party yet- it stands for local area network, and it's a big gathering of nerds where everyone brings their computers and gets their game on!

I find that LAN parties are an awesome way to meet a group of people who you know automatically share many similar interests with you. In day to day life I find it hard to meet people who play the same fps games that I do, and whenever I bring it up I usually get looks of disbelief.

At the March lan, though, there were still a couple incidents of disbelief. I wore my t-shirt that my friends had bought me for my birthday that said "Girls play cs, too" and one guy still asked me "Do you actually play cs?" I had to try really hard to keep my composure, because I felt like rofl-ing.

You really see every type of gamer at these kinds of parties. You will have your griefer- a big asshole who likes to ruin other people's fun, and somehow they will drag you into the middle of it, and you will be having such a good time that you won't realize what you have become. At one LAN a bunch of us went onto a server and meow'd until we either got kicked or banned. "What is with the cats?!"

On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the rager who screams at everyone, because nothing is ever their fault. This person is the least fun to be around. The only upside is that they give everyone else a laugh for looking like a complete tool.

The ringer is the best person to talk to if you are trying to improve your game. This person knows all of the strats and is the resident pwner-er. When they're not playing the game they tend to be very quiet, so you'd have no idea what they're truly capable of. Meeting this kind of person is like finding a dollar in your pocket- a very nice surprise.

The creeper is possibly the worst kind of gamer for a gamer girl to run into (yes the genders can be reversed, but I’m speaking from my personal experience). The creeper is not even a real gamer; he has no friends or girlfriend, so he goes to the lan as if it was his mecca. The creeper will sit next to your computer while you try to game, and he will stare at you as if he was a turret in Portal, “I see you!” When you get up to “go to the washroom” he will take photos of you, and he will treasure them always. You might try to enlist your gamer friends for support, but he will inevitably creep them, too.

The non-gamer gamer has the best rig (or fragwagon) there. The case is brilliant, and the lights emanating from it makes the lan look more like a disco. You will probably be fooled into thinking that this is the new fatal1ty until they ask you how to run ventrilo.

Well that’s all for now :) To be continued!

(Inspired by Valkyrie's post on different types of gamer girls)

http://pvox.net

"It's always the mage's fault."

(corollary: "Okay, thanks for the biscuits, you can leave now.")

Um...

I feel so used. It was not until *after* I started Kara that I learned one of the oldest rules in raiding. As it stands, apparently if something goes wrong it's the mage's fault. If a mob's Frost Trap breaks and a hunter ends up dying, it's the mage's fault cause he didn't DPS down the frost trapped mob. As a side note, gnome mages can be blamed even if they're not in the raid group.

As for the "biscuits" comment, that was a rather amusing joke at the beginning of the Kara raid two weeks ago. :P

Additionally, there have been some great times in Vent, from Detlo's demotion in guild ranks to "eeyore lover" to the recurring jokes about the "10k stam gem" (which started out as an accidental substitution of "stamina" for "health" in a discussion), usually coupled with a discussion of the "I WIN" button.

Not that anyone will find this too interesting, but I thought these were rather amusing moments. I might try and expand so that it's actually funny at some point.

Pickup Games aka PUGs are a fun way to improve your game play without being in a clan. They give you the opportunity to play 6 v 6, or whatever the format is, in a real match. It's a great way to practice your skills in a competitive arena with players of various skill levels. I only started playing them recently, when my friends were recommending them to me, and besides a jerk or two- it has been awesome !

To participate in the two that I know of, having some sort of IRC client was necessary. I'm an IRC n00b, and only installed mIRC last week, but everything was actually pretty straightforward, and anything I wasn't sure of I read in the online manual.

IRC is used to allocate spots for the matches, as it can be difficult for admins to keep track of who said they wanted to join first. Afterwards, you must sign in to ventrilo, and get yourself as quickly as possible into the private server.

Here is a channel that I know of that is open to everyone:

TF2 Pickup #tf2pickup & their site.

The Northern Resistance clan also has a pug server, but it is reserved more for community members.

Originally it was supposed to be a four day weekend for me. Friday was my 9/80 day off but it got moved due to coverage issues at work. No big deal, I really didn't need 4 days off and I can take the extra day off while my parents are in town!

One of Griffin's friends from Colorado, Keegan, was in town for the weekend and stayed with us. Normally I hear Keegan all the time talking over Ventrilo (voice system over the internet) with Griffin when they play World of Warcraft (WoW) so at first it was really strange to have him here in person. I'm so used to just hearing him though the computer speakers almost every day. Keegan had never been to San Francisco before so we tried to give him a good tour with as many different types of food possible. I think we did a good job, over the course of the two days he was with us we ate:

• Indian
• French (crepes)
• Chinese (dim sum)
• Japanese (sushi)
• Mediterranean
• Italian (kinda, Griffin made a frittata for breakfast one morning)

Friday evening we went out for Indian food (see above link) and then drove through part of the city. I'd never been though Russian Hill before but it is beautiful, lots of huge, old, well cared for houses. We ended up in the Presidio driving past Chrissy Field and stopped at Torpedo Wharf. Previously I have only viewed the Golden Gate from Fort Point, which is closer to the base of the bridge than Torpedo Wharf. Since it was late the Fort and the road leading to it were closed so we stopped further away at the wharf. People were fishing and crabbing off the wharf. The view was great and the sun was setting so there was beautiful lighting. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me so you'll have to use your imagination until we go back.

Following our stop at the bridge we cruised through a few more neighborhoods and ended up in the Castro where we stopped for dessert at Squat and Gobble, a popular chain of crepe places in the city. I had a strawberry Nutella crepe that was absolutely delicious. By the end of the meal I believe Keegan and Griffin were the only two individuals in the restaurant that did not like men (Castro is the gay district of San Francisco).

On Saturday we headed to Chinatown via Muni (bus system) and enjoyed a lunch of Dim Sum and strolling the streets. I'd never been before (or at least that I can remember, apparently I went as a young child). Walking by some of the strange products outside of shops I really wished that I could read Chinese as most things were entirely unrecognizable. Of the things I could decipher: deer tail ( at $100+/lb), deer antlers, and chicken feet.

("Seadog Pills")

(Mannequin in the window of a acupuncturist office that was discretely dressed.)

On Saturday evening we drove to San Mateo's (city just south of San Francisco) downtown for sushi as several restaurants had been recommended to us there. The place we went, Joy Sushi, had the biggest sushi rolls I have ever seen (or had for that matter). They were very good but so large that it was almost impossible to get them in your month in one piece (and trying to bite a roll in half to eat in two bites can only lead to disaster).

On Sunday we ventured to the Mission to take in Carneval, a yearly festival of Latin American culture.

(Little kid with one of the dance troupes.)

(Little dog with a lady in the crowd.)

(Group from a local high school - kids were playing steel drums, very impressive.)

(BART car, don't ask me why it was in the parade, I have no idea.)

(Dude dressed up as a flower, I think he was in the wrong parade...)

(Mission Dolores, not on the parade route but we passed by and I snapped a picture.)

The parade was pretty cool and I wish we could have stayed longer but we needed to get Keegan to the airport. Before we left we got a small bite to eat at Truly Mediterranean. It's one of the top rated Mediterranean restaurants in the country and has won lots of awards. The whole shop is about 10 feet wide and only contains the kitchen and about 5 bar stools. We sat outside to enjoy our shawerma and hummus and watch the wide diversity that is the Mission pass by. It's places like this that make me not want to leave the Bay Area. Eventually we took Keegan to the airport but stopped off at In and Out on the way since Keegan wanted some of this California delicacy.

After dropping Keegan off, Griffin and I ran some errands then washed and WAXED both of our cars. I know Dad will be so proud, I took this picture just for him.

Monday has been rather uneventful, going to the grocery store-s (Trader Joes, Safeway, and Whole Foods), doing laundry, and cleaning up the apartment. I'm also trying to find plants that we can grow in a pot outside our back door. The bonsai tree Griffin had been nursing has died and so it's time to replace it. However, the area outside the door is very shady (hence the bonsai's death). Mom has suggested the following would do well in full shade:

• Ferns



• Begonias



• Fuschias (I'm not a huge fan now that I see the picture and remember what these are.)



• Impatients



• Coleus

We'll see what Griffin and I can find on our next outing to a gardening store...

On a side note: congratulations to Little Sister who is now a gainfully employed at Walmart in the metropolis of Lamar, Colorado.

To download ventrilo you need to go to ventrilo.com to get the software. Now on with the review of this magnificant product.

The download of the Server for Ventrilo is fairly simple, and easy. The hard part is configuring it. I don't recommend going on configuring it yourself. I recommend going to Youtube and find some how-to videos on the configuration of the server. They have some great videos on the step by step instructions on the setup of the Ventrilo Server.

Now the Client. The Client is very easy to configure. All you need to do is get the IP address of the Host Server and put it in the spot where it tells you. Then you simply press connect. If you are a newbie i don't suggest making your own server, but using someone else's.

Overall Ventrilo supplies clear and crisp sound, and the delay is surprisingly better than i expected. Our calculation of the delay in the household was a little under half a second. When we tried to contact someone across in the Netherlands we had a delay of about two to 3 seconds.

Here are some Ventrilo speakers that i have used and appreciated the most.

-Voice Communication

-Instant Messaging

-Hot Key(press to talk)

- Easy to set up Client Software

-"Fast Server Set Up"

- A great Comunity

A rating for the ease of use of this product would be a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Thanks Bradley Bradwell

Server IP: la1.ugt-servers.com
Port: 16366

Warning! You need a password to get in. Please Email me at: ampedfear@gmail.com to get the password.

"It's free," Mmmmm said. Nuf said?

Well it involves running a free server client, which thankfully I wasn't responsible for. It's cross-platform, Windows, Mac and Linux platforms; the sound is absolutely amazing, compared to Gizmo and it's annoying cycling, which results in loss of sound every so many seconds. The sound is so true and clean that it's a little creepy, especially if you are hooked up to surround sound speakers in your bedroom, as I am. It also supports voice chat for groups. Even though Gizmo is $0.01 per minute, Ventrilo is $0.00 a minute. The chat room GUI is downright dismal, do what I do, look at something else! Maybe the person who runs our particular server can post on the set-up. www.ventrilo.com

Adium - If you are on a Mac and don't have Adium, either you do not IM ever, do not have internet access, have no friends, or have been living under a rock for the last several years. This is the best chat client EVER! I actually neglected to re-install it for over a year, after I replaced my PowerBook's hard drive; I finally installed a new updated version, and baby, it's tits! There are lot's of add-ons, and many options for customization, visual and otherwise. Adium let's you log into all your chat screennames, even myspace chat. It's free, Mac users have no excuse, unless you really have no friends. www.adiumx.com

iClip - iClip is the best clipboard utility I've come across. It's interface is elegant, and customizable. Every time you copy ANYTHING, be it a web link, text or an image, iClip stores it in the recorder. What's really nice is that iClip gives the user the option of creating separate menus to permanently store everything. One click, and what you've copied is pasted into whatever application, web browser, etc, you are working with. It also comes in a free widget. inventive.us/iClip

Amnesty Singles - If your are like me, with way too many widgets running in your dashboard, then Amnesty Singles is for you. I love this tiny little app! AS, let's you turn any widget into a separate desktop application. www.amnestywidgets.com

CSSEdit - A few years ago, MacRabbit's CSSEdit was a nice little app for tweaking your CSS, in a nice simple interface. Imagine my surprise, when I got a load of the new CSSEdit! It's like a whole new application. You can extract all the CSS from any site, view a site in X-Ray mode, and make changes live, for ANY site. I am still learning about all the new options, but at this point I can already see what a great app this is for the beginning CSS coder and the experienced, alike. macrabbit.com

DeskLickr - this is a nice little free app I like to run, when I'm sick of all my desktop images. DeskLickr accesses photos from the DeskLickr Group on flicker, which I am a member of. It allows you to view all photos from the group, or only new submissions, or ban photos from your desktop which you never want to see again, or mark them as favorites. DeskLickr is Mac only as far as I know, but I'm sure there is a Windoze app out there that does something similar.

DeskShade - If your desktop is a perpetual mess, don't bother cleaning it up and organizing, just use DeskShade. Not only does DeskShade hide everything on your desktop, giving you a nice clean workspace, but it will gladly change your desktop picture, complete with animations, with a click of your trackpad. You can always put away your desktop toys later, just don't tell Mom!

GoogleMail - Or gmail. OK, if you are still using Hotmail or Yahoo, you need to get yourself over to GoogleMail and grab a gmail address, (hey! grab two, they're free) and pick up Google Talk, as well. It's 2008, not 1995, drop those old free-mail addresses, paleeze! Yahoo and Hotmail are SO-O decrepit and useless these days, at least in comparison to gmail. Do you really enjoy traveling through 3 or 4 pages just to get to your Inbox? REALLY? Wouldn't you like to send and receive attachments of over 20MB? How about using your 2GB of mail storage for file storage, using a simple Firefox add-on? Here's the best reason of all, they actually give you their incoming and outgoing mail servers to use in your mail client, for free. Yahoo charges for that little convenience. Gmail is fully customizable for POP and IMAP, in fact it's so customizable I've gotten lost in there. You can use it in conjunction with your existing server space and it's loads better than the email that I pay for on this server. Get off your ass, and tell your friends you have a new, better free email address, and tell 'em to write you there.

Next time, BitPim, for us Samsung cell phone users, who can't Sync their phones to their Mac. I'm still trying it out on my A900, which is not supported yet. There is a generic profile to play with, hopefully I won't completely screw up my phone.

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Now playing: Belle & Sebastian - Expectations
via FoxyTunes----------------
Now playing: The Dears - Find Our Way To Freedom
via FoxyTunes

Stellt man sich nur mal die Frage, was eine Stammgruppe im Gegensatz zu einer Randomgruppe im BG ausmacht, so ist es die Kommunikation im Teamspeak. Ansagen wo Incs sind, was man als nächstes angreift etc., kann man schneller im Voicechat kommunizieren als es in den Chat schreiben. Und eben diesen Vorteil gilt es auch beim Raiden zu nutzen.

Daher ist es essentiell das beim Raiden TS benutzt wird und ein funktionierendes Headset samt Micro vorhanden ist. Solltet ihr Euch davor scheuen, werdet ihr immer Probleme haben eine Top Gilde zu finden, da dieses bei den meisten bereits ein Aufnahmekriterium ist und die Bewerbungsgespräche meist im TS stattfinden. Ebenso lernt man sich in einer Gilde schneller kennen, wenn man mit den Leuten im TS abhängt und neben dem WoW Alltag noch über alltägliche Dinge plaudert. Man bekommt gewisse Kniffe und Tips & Tricks eher im TS als im Chat mit. Daher bin ich der Meinung das Leute mit reger TS-Aktivität mehr und schneller lernen und ebenso besser in der Gilde integriert sind als Spieler die diesem immer fern bleiben.

Während des Raids hat in der Regel nur einer zu sprechen, und das ist der Raidleader. Man kann zusammen singen, aber nicht nicht zusammen sprechen, von daher ist es wichtig, das der Kanal für wichtige Ansagen des Raidleads offen bleibt. Ansagen welches Target gefocust wird, Targetwechsel, Ansagen von Battlerezzes, Sheepzuteilungen, MT und Heilereinteilungen und Bosstimer sind nur ein paar Dinge die während des Raids permanent über den Äther zu hören sind. Es ist immens wichtig das ein Raid einen dedizierten Raidleader hat. Nichts ist schlimmer als ein Raid in dem Totenstille herrscht. Denn dann beginnt jeder für sich selbst zu handen und das endet meist im Chaos.

Neben dem Raidlead ist es wichtig das auch die Tanks Ansagen machen. Ein nicht angesagter Pull führt meist zu Toten, eine nicht angekündigte Umpositionierung des Bosses lässt die Heiler fluchen, ein nicht gecallter Tank-Targetswitch lässt meist die DDler kippen etc. Hier sind sprechende Tanks also durchaus erwünscht.

Kommen wir nun zu den Heilern. Ansagen von uns sind auch wichtig. Eine kurze Bestätigung bei der Heileinteilung vor dem Pull das man verstanden hat wen man heilen soll schaden nie. Ferner sind Informationen während des Kampfes, die für den MT oder die anderen Heiler wichtig sind, sofort zu kommunizieren. Sprich: Ich bin gesilenct, gehe oom, bin ausser Heilreichweite, Nutz nen Cooldown (an den Tank gerichtet. Stichwort: Shieldwall, LastStand, Trinkets), brauche noch Hilfe bei XY, da ich es allein nicht mehr geheilt bekomme etc. Wenn hier schweigen im Wald ist, geht der Tank davon aus, das alles in Ordnung ist und wundert sich evtl. nur nach seinem Tod, warum hier nichts angesagt wurde, was uns dann in Erklärungsnot bringt.

Wie schon an anderer Stelle gesagt, vermeidet Aussagen wie „Ich bin Tod“. Sprecht von Euch in der dritten Person, am besten mit Angabe wer Euer zu heilendes Ziel war. „Sleth down, war MT-Heiler, bitte einer übernehmen.“ Wenn jemand im TS um Hilfe ruft, quittiert dies am besten mit einem „Sleth hat“. Dann wissen die anderen Heiler das sie sich darum nicht mehr kümmern müssen und die Gefahr sinkt das alle das eigentlich zu heilende Target vernachlässigen.
Wenn hier nichts gesagt wird wundert sich nur der Tank warum er keine Heilung mehr bekommt und irgendwann kommen panische Rufe wer denn für die Heilung zuständig sei, mit der Antwort, dass es der Heiler war, der vor 2 Minuten weggeflext wurde.

Wie ihr seht kann man doch eine ganze Menge während des Raids Ansagen, jedoch sollte man sich immer nur auf das Nötigste beschränken. Ein 4 Stunden Laberraid, wo über das Sexleben von Paris Hilton oder die Letzte Episode von Lost diskutiert wird, zehrt irgendwann an den Nerven und verursachen bei den meisten Kopfschmerzen und schwindende Performance. Ebenso interessieren niemanden Eure „Ey lol, geiler Crit“ BäM Addons mit integrierter TS-Yell Funktion.

Aus Erfahrung kann ich sagen, dass ein Raid mit strengem Raidlead, mit wenig Jux und Laberei sowie kurzen und pregnaten Ansagen weit besser und performanter funktionieren als eben Spaß-Laberraids wo jeder irgendwie das macht, wozu er gerade Lust hat, weil kein Raidlead vorhanden ist oder sich niemand für diese Aufgabe so richtig zuständig fühlt.

I would have probably first thought of this:

I'd be really stoked about it too, because if there ever were an activity in video game form I loved more is that of fishing up some sweet bass. Yeah, that's how cool I am.

If I paid even little attention to the content followed by the subject of said hypothetical e-mail, and then ran across words like: "Music," or "sounds like..."

My brain would have probably conjured up something that looked more like this:

(It has to be Sting too, because 1) I couldn't find a picture of Ted Nudgent holding a Bass. and 2) Yes, Ted hunts, but his ax of choice is for Cat Scratchin' Fever)

Okay, enough don't make fun of my illiteracy or mispronunciations...if anything it's just more proof of my ungeek/un nerdliness.
Cool and popular people make up all kinds of words all the time.

Imagination is all part of the cool artistic mind, so yeah, these are the things I'd have to imagine because the concept of a Scandinavian cyber-geek composing a song about meeting a girl on the internet is beyond my realm of comprehension.

The idea of chat rooms, robots, Swedish music (outselling the likes of Abba) is absolutely foreign to me.

I've never lost an hour or so on, I mean I've never even heard of Ventrilo...pfft whatever it is.

I'm saving us all the trouble of going to that level of thinking by posting the BassHunter videos.

I have to, because you like me probably have no clue about these kinds of things either, right?

Basshunter:

Defence of the Ancients, er what?

DotA? :

Yep, I'm so cool it took us this long to post about a song that made the Eurodance charts in 2006. We're not a blog preoccupied with the times. ;)

Well I got cool stuff to get to.