Jan
28
Recently MegaUpload.com, one of the world’s biggest (if not the biggest) file sharing websites, was taken down by the FBI. Due to it’s extensive use as a means of distributing software, music, videos, etc. illegally, it became a target for the government in an attempt to crackdown online piracy. MegaUpload wasn’t necessarily designed specifically for piracy reasons, it was just a way to share any file with anyone online. The government tried to argue that the reason they cracked down on MegaUpload was because copyright claims were being ignored when artists would ask MegaUpload to remove the illegal content.
Now, when users attempt to go to MegaUpload.com, they are greeted with the standard FBI warning:
The owner of MegaUpload had an estimated 50 million USD in assets seized by the FBI (which is strange to me seeing how he’s located in New Zealand). He was believed to have been making over 40 million USD a year in revenue from MegaUpload alone. There are pictures floating around online showing his cars (with license plates like MAFIA, POLICE, etc.) being hauled off, as well as pictures of his very large state which even has giraffes roaming the property.
In terms of file sharing websites, there are many alternatives to MegaUpload available, and new ones will probably emerge now that MegaUpload has bitten the dust.
What I’m concerned about is if the crackdown on these types of websites will continue. That isn’t to say I spend my time online searching for copyrighted content to steal, but one of my most frequently visited websites is Grooveshark.com, which I have written about before. Grooveshark is a fantastic website where you can find high quality versions of almost all music and stream it free of charge. I’m not entirely sure how they are able to financially compensate the artists or if they are even trying to, but the latter could end up making Grooveshark a target for the FBI in the future if they aren’t.
Jan
22
Guest post from: Steve Delaney
We didn’t do much for New Year’s this year. Every other year that I can remember we were out and about. We usually go bar hopping with our friends dressed in our most glittery attire. Unfortunately, my husband had to work on New Year’s Day this year because it was after a weekend. We ended up having a low key New Year’s Eve. We watched the ball drop in Times Square on directv georgia. We watched the whole New Year’s show. I made a great dinner of prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and then a glass of champagne. We went to bed by twelve thirty. Even though our New Year’s Eve was low key, I really enjoyed it. We spent a lot of quality time together. Who knows, I think that I would actually be content next New Year’s Eve doing the same thing. I just hope that the next artist that they have at Time’s Square is not Justin Beiber. I am just a little too old to be a huge Beibs fan.
Jan
14
I started playing World of Warcraft again when the most recent patch 4.3 went live on the servers and the game is still pretty fun even after all these years. Graphics wise, the game is not competitive anymore with newer games such as Skyrim and the upcoming Guild Wars 2, but WoW still has the gameplay that those other games fail to surpass. What many people don’t realize about World of Warcraft is that the game is not focused on the leveling a new player would spend their first few months doing, but what you spend your time on after hitting the level cap. Raids and Player vs. Player (PvP) are the primary ways of spending time on the game after hitting the level cap.
With the release of 4.3, raids are now available to more casual players. You no longer need to make WoW a job by dedicating 8pm-12pm 4 nights a week to progression raids. The way this was accomplished was by making an alternative version of the current raid tier available for a queue (much like one would queue for a battleground). The queue would take the person into a raid with 25 other players, and together they fight to clear a toned down version of the raid. The raid difficulty is called LFR (looking for raid) and provides gear slightly better than what one could obtain through heroics, including a scaled down version of the currently available tier. This type of gear was not always fully available to players in previous content.
PvP hasn’t changed all that much recently, but it still holds entertainment value. However, I think PvP more than anything exemplifies a lot of the problems WoW faces with class balance, as certain classes hold a distinct advantage over others in a majority of PvP content. Blizzard is slowly but surely addressing these imbalances, but probably slower than one would like if their main focus in the game was PvP. The argument Blizzard uses against adjusting class abilities for PvP is that there would be consequences for the same classes people use in raid environments. That said, players playing ranged classes have had a distinct advantage over melee (most of the time) for some time now in both PvE and PvP so it remains unclear why Blizzard has waited so long (and continues to wait) to tweak things out a bit better.
Despite it’s popularity, convincing someone to play World of Warcraft has been seemingly impossible to me. It can consume a lot of time if played compulsively, but the same can hold true for any game. Lately, I find myself playing it not only for the content but for the social aspect as well. Sometimes it’s nice to go on and communicate with some friends in a non-IM environment.
Dec
12
There’s now less than two weeks left until Christmas and time to buy Xmas gifts for friends and family is quickly running out, especially if you are like me and you buy things online. I’ve done a lot of browsing on Amazon the past few weeks but most of their good sales get bought out before I have a chance to. I guess I’m not the kind of person who sits there waiting for a product to become available for eight hours straight in order to buy it at a slightly cheaper price. I guess that’s become a non-issue now though because most of my shopping is already done.
I’m still at a loss for what I should get certain people, mainly relatives I don’t see on a regular basis and even people I know online. I know most people don’t buy things for people online but I’ve come to know a lot of nice people online and I wish I had some sort of direction for them when it comes to Christmas gift ideas. The hard part about it is that even though you get to know people online in a way, you don’t really know as much about them than if you had a relationship with them in person (what their likes are, hobbies, etc.). In the past I would just not buy Christmas Presents for anyone but my immediate family, and while I may end up doing the same this year, I am at least considering a few approaches.
I think the most important part of picking a gift out for someone is getting them something that’s useful. I don’t believe it’s important to get someone something expensive so much as something that the person would actually use and not throw in their closet to collect dust. Another option is to get something thats cool, like a lava lamp or a coin sorter. If someone got me something like that, I think I’d be a lot happier than if they got me a sweater that I’d never use.
Aside from gift choices, this year a big question for me is if I’ll be getting a Christmas tree or not. Since I don’t have a car, I’d have to rent one and I’m not even sure if I want to spend the money on a tree let alone a rental car. It’s a tough choice, but I believe that the money can be put to better uses, such as bills or gifts. Christmas trees were an integral part of my Christmases as a child but now that I’m in my 20s, not so much. I haven’t made up my mind regarding the issue but thats the direction I’m leaning in right now.
Dec
6
Christmas is coming soon and along with the Holidays comes the seemingly impossible task of finding the perfect gift for everyone, but sometimes the less obvious choices make the best gifts. Trellises are a good example of a great gift for someone with a lawn or garden. A trellis is a decorative structure that can either support a climbing plant such as ivy or act as a wall for an existing garden.
A vinyl trellis is the preferred choice if you are looking for climbing plants, as metal garden trellis can become very hot if exposed to sunlight. That heat will stunt the growth of the plant if it becomes excessive, however if the trellis is in a shady region it may not become a factor. I personally think the metal trellises usually look nicer, but both would make an excellent gift to anyone with a garden in the upcoming holidays.
Here are some visual examples of each type of trellis, in case you were wondering what they looked like:
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Metal Trellis
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Vinyl Trellis
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