Ive read some interesting things lately. Most interesting is that while World of Warcraft, the self proclaimed #1 online roleplaying game in the world continues to add new servers/realms to play on to keep up with load issues and customer demand.....the Matrix Online is consolidating theirs. MxO will now only have 3 servers, while WoW will have close to 30.
What causes things like this? Why are there no average games? Why is Blizzard so successful?
3 things.
1. Content.
2. Stability.
3. Quality.
Bugs, lag, broken professions....nothing like that is in World of Warcraft. The grind can burn you out from time to time, and the game can be EXTREMELY solo based, but all in all, its fun, a quality product and keeps people entertained.
MxO was plagued from the beginning. A non-intuitive UI, lag, bug problems, professions that noone understood...it wasnt planned well from the beginning.
I also play Star Wars Galaxies, and while it is the MMO i play the most, it is the one that frustrates me the most. It is also plagued by bugs, lag, broken professions, bad content, etc. However, the it is still fun(most of the time) and the star wars universe is very inviting, rich and fun to play in.
I do know one thing...game designers better learn from blizzard, who hasnt put out a bad game...ever. They take their time, have EXCELLENT Quality Control, and have great game design from the beginning. SOE and the MxO devs have a few things to learn from them.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Great news
Bears seem happy and healthy.
Key word is...HEALTHY. Then again, it isnt even preseason yet.
NFL.com
Key word is...HEALTHY. Then again, it isnt even preseason yet.
NFL.com
Thursday, July 28, 2005
First Impression Is The Most Important
Ok, disclaimer first. Yes, I know its a beta.
Thanks to an MSDN/Technet friend of mine, Ive been lucky enough to beta test the new version of Windows, Vista.
Wait, thats getting WAY ahead of myself.
To beta test something, id have to be able to successfully install it. Which i have no t done yet. As of right now, im on my 2nd try, and 5th hour of installation.
I think im going to bail and go to bed. Maybe when i wake up at the asscrack of dawn, ill have a pretty Black Glass interface waiting for me.
Then again, ill probably just have another annoying alarm clock and a hungry cat.
Night all.
Thanks to an MSDN/Technet friend of mine, Ive been lucky enough to beta test the new version of Windows, Vista.
Wait, thats getting WAY ahead of myself.
To beta test something, id have to be able to successfully install it. Which i have no t done yet. As of right now, im on my 2nd try, and 5th hour of installation.
I think im going to bail and go to bed. Maybe when i wake up at the asscrack of dawn, ill have a pretty Black Glass interface waiting for me.
Then again, ill probably just have another annoying alarm clock and a hungry cat.
Night all.
Welcome To The new Blog!
In honor of moving back to chicago, I have instituted the first major blog redesign in over 2 years. I hope you enjoy.
Leave me some suggestions for what works, what doesnt, and what youd like to see!
Leave me some suggestions for what works, what doesnt, and what youd like to see!
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Long Awaited Post
So, ive been promising this for a while now, and I now am getting to it. It has been a crazy few weeks, but in the end, it has been totally worth everything. Here is a bit of a recap since the last post about what I've been up to.
After leaving Crowe, I took a week off to pack and get ready to move back to Chicago. I flew home and stayed with my parents for a week since my apartment wasnt ready to move into. It was nice to be home for a while and spend some time with my parents. I took that friday off to fly back to columbus and get ready to move on saturday. The move went as easy as possible, although 6 hours in a car with Callie can be kinda rough. If anyone ever needs to move, I suggest using Two Men And A Truck, those guys are incredible. Ive used them twice now, and they are always professional, careful and hard workers. Its great.
Since then, I worked a few days again, then took a few days off to go on a preplanned trip to florida with my mom, dad, jman and his little kid, emma. We had some fun down there, and here are some pictures of the trip.
The first day down there, my parents and I went to Kennedy Space Center to take a look at what they have and to see the shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. None of my pictures of discovery could come close to any of the ones out there of the launch that have been plastered all over the internet, but here are some images from KSC.
Thats the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the shuttle is mated with the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. It is the largest one story building in the world.
That is the tail end of a mock up shuttle that you can go inside on the KSC grounds. It was pretty spectacular to see how small it actually is. I imagined it to be much larger.
Ahh...something is just SOOTHING about that....
But this...this is WAY more soothing....
This is part of the resort we stayed at this time, which is the same as the one we stayed at in march, so i dont have many more pictures...since it looks the same.
Here is a picture of the resort that my parents have taken some stake in with the Marriot Vacation Club. It looks alot nicer than the one we stayed at, and I cant wait to stay there and check it out!
Wags, Jman, and Little T.
I may have some more pictures to put up later, but that pretty much sums it up. We did go to Epcot for an afternoon/evening, but I didnt take my camera, and we also spent some time at Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney's waterparks, and I DEFINATELY didnt take my camera there. Its been a LONG time since I've been to a waterpark, and it was a great time. Aside from the rain/heat/humidity, it was a great time in Florida. I cant wait to go back.
As for my apartment, things are slowly getting unpacked, im pretty close except for some things here in the office, and my bedroom is still a nightmare. Since i havent been here for a full weekend, let alone a full week uninterrupted, this week/weekend will be unpacking/organization time. Nonetheless, here are some pictures of the new place.
This isnt going to make it onto the actual nerd room page yet since it is no where close to finished set up. Youll notice a new flat panel monitor from dell that was a STEAL thanks to a yahoo deal that was going on.
Just looking at this picture makes me want to keep unpacking...alas...im blogging instead.
Looking at this, youd think it was a real apartment! Yes...thats a wood fireplace....*puts barry white album on*
Looks somewhat put together, however, the fridge and cupboards are pretty much empty. I need to go grocery shopping something fierce. Callie has more food here than I do.
Speaking of callie, she got a new bed, which she cant get enough of. The first night I put it out, she slept the whole night in it. Shes come back to sleeping next to me now, but whenever im in my computer room, shes in that bed. She loves it to death. Anyone who is a pet owner knows that buying those things are a gamble, since I spent 30$ on a cat tent i thought she would use to hide when scared...and she never used it. I'm glad she likes this.
Well, this is about it for me as of now. Unpacking/organizing/getting set up. Pretty soon ill have a new home number and other stuff. Im working on redoing the blog...so bear with me if some changes occur with it. Im also toying with the idea of playing around with podcasting, since iTunes 4.9 came out, im hooked on them. Not sure anyone would really listen to me.
In addition to my bjwaggoner@mac.com address, feel free to email me at brian@brianwaggoner.com. I have switched my blackberry to check that email now, so im accessable anytime, anywhere.
Leave some comments! I love hearing from all of you!
After leaving Crowe, I took a week off to pack and get ready to move back to Chicago. I flew home and stayed with my parents for a week since my apartment wasnt ready to move into. It was nice to be home for a while and spend some time with my parents. I took that friday off to fly back to columbus and get ready to move on saturday. The move went as easy as possible, although 6 hours in a car with Callie can be kinda rough. If anyone ever needs to move, I suggest using Two Men And A Truck, those guys are incredible. Ive used them twice now, and they are always professional, careful and hard workers. Its great.
Since then, I worked a few days again, then took a few days off to go on a preplanned trip to florida with my mom, dad, jman and his little kid, emma. We had some fun down there, and here are some pictures of the trip.
The first day down there, my parents and I went to Kennedy Space Center to take a look at what they have and to see the shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. None of my pictures of discovery could come close to any of the ones out there of the launch that have been plastered all over the internet, but here are some images from KSC.
Thats the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the shuttle is mated with the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. It is the largest one story building in the world.
That is the tail end of a mock up shuttle that you can go inside on the KSC grounds. It was pretty spectacular to see how small it actually is. I imagined it to be much larger.
Ahh...something is just SOOTHING about that....
But this...this is WAY more soothing....
This is part of the resort we stayed at this time, which is the same as the one we stayed at in march, so i dont have many more pictures...since it looks the same.
Here is a picture of the resort that my parents have taken some stake in with the Marriot Vacation Club. It looks alot nicer than the one we stayed at, and I cant wait to stay there and check it out!
Wags, Jman, and Little T.
I may have some more pictures to put up later, but that pretty much sums it up. We did go to Epcot for an afternoon/evening, but I didnt take my camera, and we also spent some time at Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney's waterparks, and I DEFINATELY didnt take my camera there. Its been a LONG time since I've been to a waterpark, and it was a great time. Aside from the rain/heat/humidity, it was a great time in Florida. I cant wait to go back.
As for my apartment, things are slowly getting unpacked, im pretty close except for some things here in the office, and my bedroom is still a nightmare. Since i havent been here for a full weekend, let alone a full week uninterrupted, this week/weekend will be unpacking/organization time. Nonetheless, here are some pictures of the new place.
This isnt going to make it onto the actual nerd room page yet since it is no where close to finished set up. Youll notice a new flat panel monitor from dell that was a STEAL thanks to a yahoo deal that was going on.
Just looking at this picture makes me want to keep unpacking...alas...im blogging instead.
Looking at this, youd think it was a real apartment! Yes...thats a wood fireplace....*puts barry white album on*
Looks somewhat put together, however, the fridge and cupboards are pretty much empty. I need to go grocery shopping something fierce. Callie has more food here than I do.
Speaking of callie, she got a new bed, which she cant get enough of. The first night I put it out, she slept the whole night in it. Shes come back to sleeping next to me now, but whenever im in my computer room, shes in that bed. She loves it to death. Anyone who is a pet owner knows that buying those things are a gamble, since I spent 30$ on a cat tent i thought she would use to hide when scared...and she never used it. I'm glad she likes this.
Well, this is about it for me as of now. Unpacking/organizing/getting set up. Pretty soon ill have a new home number and other stuff. Im working on redoing the blog...so bear with me if some changes occur with it. Im also toying with the idea of playing around with podcasting, since iTunes 4.9 came out, im hooked on them. Not sure anyone would really listen to me.
In addition to my bjwaggoner@mac.com address, feel free to email me at brian@brianwaggoner.com. I have switched my blackberry to check that email now, so im accessable anytime, anywhere.
Leave some comments! I love hearing from all of you!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
I apologize in advance...
So, lately, I know all I have been doing is linking to other sites, and soon ill have a real post soon...but this one is too good to pass up. It pits your AIM account against someone else's for points based on how many people have you on their list.
My score is 16342....can anyone beat me?
I know...its stupid. But who has time to write this crap?
Someone with a bit more time than an idiot blogging about it.
AIM Fight
My score is 16342....can anyone beat me?
I know...its stupid. But who has time to write this crap?
Someone with a bit more time than an idiot blogging about it.
AIM Fight
Vista?
So, finally, the codename for the next generation version of Windows has changed from the extremely laughable "Longhorn" to the now production name, "Windows Vista". Im somewhat intrigued to see what Microsoft does with this version of Windows. So far, all ive been seeing and hearing are major interface adjustments, new file system, etc. Id like to see a full featured list of what is going to be included. Im sure information will start leaking out starting next week when the developer/IT Professional beta begins on August 3rd.
Here is the actual Windows link for anyone who is interested...I guess well have to wait and see....
Microsoft Windows Vista
Here is the actual Windows link for anyone who is interested...I guess well have to wait and see....
Microsoft Windows Vista
Good News For The Space Program
Great news for NASA. Im glad we got them back off the ground.
Shuttle Discovery Blasts Into Orbit - Yahoo! News
Sorry there hasnt been a true update lately, ive been in florida for the past few days on vacation. Look for an update tonite with pictures of the new apartment, florida trip and other news!
Shuttle Discovery Blasts Into Orbit - Yahoo! News
Sorry there hasnt been a true update lately, ive been in florida for the past few days on vacation. Look for an update tonite with pictures of the new apartment, florida trip and other news!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Monday, July 18, 2005
Quick Update
Move = done
Apartment = nice
Callie = crazed
Me = sore
More Updates = Later
Comcast = Coming today to set up cable modem
Pictures and info = soon to follow
Apartment = nice
Callie = crazed
Me = sore
More Updates = Later
Comcast = Coming today to set up cable modem
Pictures and info = soon to follow
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
News not fit to print for liberals...
Strange, noone has brought this up lately in the lib media......
Wait...this is the NYT, though....*mass confusion*
Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit - New York Times
Wait...this is the NYT, though....*mass confusion*
Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit - New York Times
Update on Intel Based PowerMac Machines
Oh buddy. These are gonna be sweet.
"It's fast," said one developer source of Mac OS X running on Intel's Pentium processors. "Faster than [Mac OS X] on my Dual 2GHz Power Mac G5." In addition to booting Windows XP at blazing speeds, the included version of Mac OS X for Intel takes "as little as 10 seconds" to boot to the Desktop from when the Apple logo first displays on screen.
I want me one.
AppleInsider | Speed of Apple Intel dev systems impress developers
"It's fast," said one developer source of Mac OS X running on Intel's Pentium processors. "Faster than [Mac OS X] on my Dual 2GHz Power Mac G5." In addition to booting Windows XP at blazing speeds, the included version of Mac OS X for Intel takes "as little as 10 seconds" to boot to the Desktop from when the Apple logo first displays on screen.
I want me one.
AppleInsider | Speed of Apple Intel dev systems impress developers
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Happy Birthday!
Emily Claire Schlesinger, born July 11, 2005!
Congrats to Missy and Matt!
For pictures, head over to my dad's site, www.jdwaggoner.net!
Congrats to Missy and Matt!
For pictures, head over to my dad's site, www.jdwaggoner.net!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Quick Update - Time Away
Ill be away for a few days, flying to Chicago tonite to start my new job tomorrow, and for the first time, not having a computer of my own while travelling. Updates will be sparse :P
Ill be back thursday night in time to finish up packing on friday so i can move saturday(since my new apartment wont be ready until then) and because of that, ill be staying with my parents this week.
Looking like my sister will be having her new baby girl tomorrow morning/afternoon depending on labor. How exciting! New job, new niece all in the same day. Wish her and me some luck, but more her!
In the meantime, I updated the nerd room page, check it out!
Nerd Room
Ill be back thursday night in time to finish up packing on friday so i can move saturday(since my new apartment wont be ready until then) and because of that, ill be staying with my parents this week.
Looking like my sister will be having her new baby girl tomorrow morning/afternoon depending on labor. How exciting! New job, new niece all in the same day. Wish her and me some luck, but more her!
In the meantime, I updated the nerd room page, check it out!
Nerd Room
Friday, July 01, 2005
This is a Long post, yall...pack a lunch....
Hello all -
Its been a while since I've posted something of major substance, so I figured today was a good day to do it. Alot has happened over the past month. DMB, my birthday, meeting a great new girl - Jami, and the biggest thing....preparing to move back to chicago. Yes, you heard me right, im moving back to Chicago. I got a new job downtown Chicago, and will be moving home in the next 2 weeks. Its bittersweet, because there was alot I liked about working for Crowe, but I felt it was time to move on. This blog isnt the venue to talk about it, but I am very happy with my choices, and I wish everyone I worked with the best of luck in the future. Im very excited to move back to the Chicago area since it is home to me, however, within the past month, I've met Jami, who is an incredible girl. Its going to be very difficult to leave here knowing shell be here, but I know we are going to do everything we can to make it work.
Today is my last day at Crowe, and next week I'm taking some time off to pack and get ready. Alot of my stuff is already packed, but there is still alot to be done. I start my new job on the 11th, however i dont move until the 16th because my new apartment in Willowbrook wont be available until then. So, for the first week, im going to stay with my parents, commute into the city with my mom. Its going to be interesting, I might even get to go overseas soon...but well see how that goes.
In other news, I finally got my holy grail. Ive been wanting a Powermac G5 for the longest time, and was finally able to afford one, thanks to my Crowe bonus. I got a Powermac G5 1.8 ghz, not the fastest of the G5 line, but they are phasing them out, it still had an ADC port so i could use my exiting studio display, but still had the horsepower i was looking for since my quicksilver g4 was starting to show its age. 2 downsides. It only came stock with 256 mb ram and an 80 gb HD. I had 1gb ram in my quicksilver, and 120 gb HD as well. I picked it over the iMac, because of the expandability options and the fact that i wouldnt have to find something else to use my really beautiful studio display with(since iMacs cant span and the powermacs that have been made over the past 6-8 mos dont use the ADC connector that my flat panel does, they all use DVI) It was the last single 1.8 they had left at the Easton apple store, and i picked it up. 1499 for it, i was pretty impressed, overall I think a good deal. Here are some pictures of it.
Here it is after bringing it home. Apple does a bang up job even with packaging of their products.
The sticker on the outside of the box telling the config of the machine....kind of hard to read....
Initial tease when you open the box...its just a cardboard image of a G5....
There she is...all safe and sound....
Out of the box and static wrap...
A shot of the back connections and the 2 big ass fans....
Using the settings transfer was pretty easy, except that the geniouses at the Apple store didnt install Tiger on this machine before selling it, so i had to upgrade it before i could transfer the data over from my old G4 to the G5. Not a big deal.
What did callie think? Not too impressed. Jealousy maybe, who knows.
This was a shock at first, but it only took about 90 minutes to transfer all 60 gb of my data over from one machine to the other. Not bad for a 400mbps firewire connection.
This could be a new nerd room shot? I need to update that page since i have this new silver beauty.
Here it is with the cover off. Installing the 2 512 sticks of DDR was really easy. Thing to remember...equal pressure on both sides of the DIMM....dont wanna snap the MOBO :P
All in all, im happy. The 1gb RAM kit i got for it came from crucial overnight for 100$ flat. Not bad. Once that kit was put in, this thing is a screaming monster. Im always used to using second hand macs for everything i do, and this baby is roarin. The real test will be when i begin to encode the new BSG episodes that come out starting July 15th. Dont worry, ill keep you all posted.
Other than that, today was my final day at Crowe....and it is done. Im getting ready to take Jami out to dinner and maybe to best buy for a little shopping. Have a happy 4th everyone!
Callie posed for you all as well, reminding you to make sure you take time for the finer things in life, such as sleeping in a sunbeam...
Its been a while since I've posted something of major substance, so I figured today was a good day to do it. Alot has happened over the past month. DMB, my birthday, meeting a great new girl - Jami, and the biggest thing....preparing to move back to chicago. Yes, you heard me right, im moving back to Chicago. I got a new job downtown Chicago, and will be moving home in the next 2 weeks. Its bittersweet, because there was alot I liked about working for Crowe, but I felt it was time to move on. This blog isnt the venue to talk about it, but I am very happy with my choices, and I wish everyone I worked with the best of luck in the future. Im very excited to move back to the Chicago area since it is home to me, however, within the past month, I've met Jami, who is an incredible girl. Its going to be very difficult to leave here knowing shell be here, but I know we are going to do everything we can to make it work.
Today is my last day at Crowe, and next week I'm taking some time off to pack and get ready. Alot of my stuff is already packed, but there is still alot to be done. I start my new job on the 11th, however i dont move until the 16th because my new apartment in Willowbrook wont be available until then. So, for the first week, im going to stay with my parents, commute into the city with my mom. Its going to be interesting, I might even get to go overseas soon...but well see how that goes.
In other news, I finally got my holy grail. Ive been wanting a Powermac G5 for the longest time, and was finally able to afford one, thanks to my Crowe bonus. I got a Powermac G5 1.8 ghz, not the fastest of the G5 line, but they are phasing them out, it still had an ADC port so i could use my exiting studio display, but still had the horsepower i was looking for since my quicksilver g4 was starting to show its age. 2 downsides. It only came stock with 256 mb ram and an 80 gb HD. I had 1gb ram in my quicksilver, and 120 gb HD as well. I picked it over the iMac, because of the expandability options and the fact that i wouldnt have to find something else to use my really beautiful studio display with(since iMacs cant span and the powermacs that have been made over the past 6-8 mos dont use the ADC connector that my flat panel does, they all use DVI) It was the last single 1.8 they had left at the Easton apple store, and i picked it up. 1499 for it, i was pretty impressed, overall I think a good deal. Here are some pictures of it.
Here it is after bringing it home. Apple does a bang up job even with packaging of their products.
The sticker on the outside of the box telling the config of the machine....kind of hard to read....
Initial tease when you open the box...its just a cardboard image of a G5....
There she is...all safe and sound....
Out of the box and static wrap...
A shot of the back connections and the 2 big ass fans....
Using the settings transfer was pretty easy, except that the geniouses at the Apple store didnt install Tiger on this machine before selling it, so i had to upgrade it before i could transfer the data over from my old G4 to the G5. Not a big deal.
What did callie think? Not too impressed. Jealousy maybe, who knows.
This was a shock at first, but it only took about 90 minutes to transfer all 60 gb of my data over from one machine to the other. Not bad for a 400mbps firewire connection.
This could be a new nerd room shot? I need to update that page since i have this new silver beauty.
Here it is with the cover off. Installing the 2 512 sticks of DDR was really easy. Thing to remember...equal pressure on both sides of the DIMM....dont wanna snap the MOBO :P
All in all, im happy. The 1gb RAM kit i got for it came from crucial overnight for 100$ flat. Not bad. Once that kit was put in, this thing is a screaming monster. Im always used to using second hand macs for everything i do, and this baby is roarin. The real test will be when i begin to encode the new BSG episodes that come out starting July 15th. Dont worry, ill keep you all posted.
Other than that, today was my final day at Crowe....and it is done. Im getting ready to take Jami out to dinner and maybe to best buy for a little shopping. Have a happy 4th everyone!
Callie posed for you all as well, reminding you to make sure you take time for the finer things in life, such as sleeping in a sunbeam...
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