Throwback to World of Warcraft.

This week I'm out camping in Joshua Tree. It occurred to me belatedly that there's probably not going to be internet there, but even if there were, I don't know if I'd want to take my computer with me while camping. The point of camping is to be in the wilderness. To enjoy nature! To stay up all night terrified of scorpions, tarantulas and other horrible desert beasts. You know what? Maybe I won't go camping. But just in case I do, here's a backlog entry that I quite enjoy, so I'm sharing it again!


--------------------------


June 4th, 2010.

Things did not end well for Yvanik.

12:06 AM  MIRANDA EUBANKS  4 COMMENTS

I'm a little irritated right now.

Currently, copious amounts of effort are being spent on getting my character to level 20. It would be really great to finally have a mount, what with all the walking that's required in WoW.

A lot of my adventuring tonight had me exploring new territories and attempting to find more flight paths to cut down traveling time. My mage is level 19, so so close to 20, and I've been feeling pretty good about her. I ventured down the coast west of The Crossroads to tackle a low level quest. I found myself at a fortress with all level 14 guards. I picked them off one by one with no issue. I guess what happened next was my fault, I was getting cocky.

Seeing as it was getting late, and time was drawing near for me to upload my 365 image, I thought it wise to find an Inn nearby and rest for the night; I could finish the quest tomorrow night.

What happened next? Well I will tell you.

Imagine young Yvanik the mage, wandering about the craggy ocean coast, exhausted from slaying so many guards, her core hound pup scurrying along behind her. She spots a lot of stranglekelp in the water, but it is heavily guarded by vicious giant blue beings, including one loch ness monster look-alike. "I must find an Inn", all other thoughts, including those of precious herbs, are pushed to the side.

Before too long she breaks new ground, discovers a new area. Rain begins to fall. The map shows that a new region has been entered. "There must be a town nearby". And then, I am being viciously murdered by a spider so huge that I didn't immediately register that it was a spider. Would you like to respawn? FINE.

Usually when I get my ass kicked the graveyard isn't very far away from my pathetic corpse. I was not so lucky this evening. For the first time since starting WoW about two weeks ago I chose to resurrect and take health and equipment damage. "It won't be that bad".

She finds herself in a swamp, the swampiest of swamps. She is far away from where she started, it is completely new territory. "There must be a town nearby".

Yvanik sets off down the path and not five steps in, a startlingly large crocodile... thing crawls out of the water to the left. "I'm on the path," the confident thought arose, "I'm safe over here".

This was yet another learning experience for me. That.. thing, which was so strong I couldn't even see its level, tore me to pieces in barely two attacks. I resurrected again and then used my stone to go back to The Crossroads.

My adventures in Azeroth were not particularly productive this evening. But boy did I learn a lot.

P.S. yesterday I made a new friend.

-MJ

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A Bit of Geek Episode 5!!

This is a preview for your preview. Enjoy!

It's here and it's time to watch!!

-MJ

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The Bloggess book tour - This *totally* happened.

Last night I participated in what I'm calling my first ever LA "thing" (even though the event took place in Beverly Hills, but I don't think that's relevant).

Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, aka hilarious woman, aka bringer of Wil Wheaton collating paper set out on a book tour this week for her newly released title "Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir".

To my delight, and slight trepidation, she had an LA spot scheduled, and so I decided that I had to attend. I'm not a long time reader, but I am a huge fan, and it's not really my fault that I'm not a long time reader because she started her blog ten years ago, and I can't help it that her content is wildly inappropriate for teenagers even if I had discovered her corner of the internet when I was sixteen.

See what I mean? Not about the depression thing. The sex thing.

It's generally inappropriate for teenagers to read sex columns. Right?

So, armed with my audio book and the address to the Writers Bloc LA location, I set out in rush hour traffic snorting and screaming with laughter to Lawson's hilariously narrated memoir. As I inched along 110 North, my exit for 10 West slowly coming into sight, it occurred to me for the first time that I was in the car. alone. attending an event. alone. This is when I started to feel a little panicky and extremely aware of the fact that I hadn't been in downtown LA alone before (I don't care if I ended up in Beverly Hills, that's not the point!).

I was determined to remain calm and upbeat, because if The Bloggess could kick away her crippling social anxiety and intense fear of public speaking, then I could keep my fear of going place alone and feeling like a loser in check.

After circling the block once and running a red light at an unprotected left, I parked under my destination and walked confidently to the elevators while feeling so proud of myself for arriving early in spite of traffic. Once in the lobby I inquired as to where the Writers Bloc speakers would be that night and I was met with some... confusion and silence from the guy at the front desk. He asked me a few probing questions that I was unable to answer, and then he called for some advice from someone else.

It's times like these I'm sure front desk workers wish they didn't have to deal with the public. When you're on the phone it's so much easier to put someone on hold and then transfer them without their knowledge.

It turns out that my phone directions had taken me to the Writers Guild of America, West, and I wanted a different building that was about fifteen minutes away in Beverly Hills. I nodded and thanked the man, legitimately holding back tears while feeling incredibly stupid and more worried that I was going to arrive late and not be allowed into the book reading and Q&A with The Bloggess.

Juanita the Weasel, appropriately acting out my desperation.

Fortunately for me, and my bladder, I made it to the correct location in record time. Except then I got lost in the parking structure.

It was kind of poorly signed. There were indicators for stairs, elevators, and exits, but nothing telling me where to go to get into the building. (I realize that I listed 'exits', but those were vehicle exits, not pedestrian exists. Totally different.) I ducked into a stairwell and went up three flights, ending up on the roof of the parking structure. Completely baffled, I ran to the elevators that were on the opposite side of the parking building and rode them down to the first floor, where I was greeted with the worker who had given me my parking stub upon entry.

I stared at him confused for a moment, unsure of how to best phrase the fact that I was lost in a vertical building with no where to even go in order to get lost, when he kindly directed me to walk straight ahead and then turn right. I thanked him.

After a quick trip to the restroom and a cursory glance around the theatre, I took a seat in the front row, stage right, and hoped that Lawson would be seated in the chair on stage left (she wasn't). After some mild fidgeting and ultimately relaxation, The Bloggess herself appeared along with Soleil Moon Frye, the moderator for the evening, and a woman who was the head of the theatre. Brief introductions were had, everyone's clapping for Lawson drowned out the introduction for Frye (for which I felt bad), and then the evening was kicked off with Lawson doing a reading from her memoir.

They're not looking at me, but that's them I swear. Jenny Lawson

is the one sitting closest to the front of the image.

I've been listening to her narrate for the past few days, which has been entertaining enough, but to hear her read her own stories out loud and in person was a new level of hysterical that I didn't think was possible.

She paused to great comedic effect in all the right places, and I really could have sat and listened to her read all night. Everyone in the theatre laughed loud, and hard. I felt so comfortable with the audience, so many other people with full, booming and appreciative laughter.

Frye asked Lawson a few questions about her inspirations, her reasons for starting the book, and further information about certain stories within the memoir. Suddenly it was time for an audience Q&A, and my heart started pounding. Only two people stood up to ask a question and I felt stricken with fear that The Bloggess would feel down trodden about no one having questions for her. My mind raced, placing myself in her shoes and imagining how horrible it would feel to be up on stage, nervous and ready to bolt but drugged into submission, and watching as no one wanted to ask me anything.

(Update: It's worth noting that out of everyone who did eventually get up and ask questions, probably half of them expressed extreme nerves and social anxiety. There wasn't a lack of questions because of a lack of interest: more like, everyone in the room wanted to talk and ask questions, but we were all simply too paralyzed with fear. We were unified in so many ways)

I couldn't think of a single. damn. question. I mean, she's so candid and open that what could I even ask that she hadn't already shared? All I had were 'Thank You's for her, and so with sweaty palms and shaky legs and a pounding heart I walked up to the microphone and waited my turn.

This man shared a video of The Bloggess, which gave me the strength to even obtain 

this signed photo. It then, in turn, gave me the strength to go to the microphone.

It's kind of surreal to have the important people that are up on stage turn and look you right in the face and give you their attention.

I started out by thanking her for her coverage and candidness regarding mental illness, and went into a story about how she has inadvertently given amazing relationship advice to polar-opposite couples. If you're familiar with The Bloggess, then you'll know that she responds to her husband in the most baffling, and astoundingly hilarious, ways. It truly seems like a great method for keeping things light hearted and happy.

The audience liked my comment, and I received laughter. After sitting back down the woman in charge of the theatre (who happened to be sitting next to me) told me that she liked what I said.

Once the questions were finished everyone was rounded into the lobby to await the book signing. The line was incredibly long, so I stood off to the side and read The Hobbit. In the middle of the mix I almost banged faces with Frye, who told me that she, too, liked what I had said, and then asked me where Jenny went. I pointed to my right and smiled, then immediately remembered to say (more like shout), "I really liked you in your episode of Friends!" and she smiled and said thank you.

!!!

Almost a full hour later I was at the very end of the line and sneaking ever closer to the signing table. The kind people around me had invited me into their jovial conversation, and we were accidentally joined by Lawson's sister and niece. A pleasant bonus, to be sure.

When it was finally my turn, Lawson signed my audio book case and I immediately blurted out my story about telling Wil Wheaton about loving The Bloggess. Then I told her that at PAX this year hopefully I could tell Wil Wheaton about telling The Bloggess about meeting Wil Wheaton and telling him how much I loved The Bloggess.

...

She seemed to like my story well enough.

Whee!

I turned and walked toward the door holding my signed audio book in front of me like it was something about to explode. And by that I mean excessively carefully. It was only once I was back in my car that I realized two things:

a. I didn't say good-bye to the nice people that I was with in line.

b. I should have used the bathroom.

"The night's adventures aren't over yet!" I thought to myself, and then left the parking garage.

It was at this point that my phone decided it didn't want to locate me via GPS, so I just... drove down South Doheny until my phone decided to cooperate. I could have easily panicked about being alone downtown LA (Beverly Hills, whatever), having to pee, hungry, and with no idea how to get back home. But, I was on a Bloggess high, so I decided to ride out the wave of potential crazy and see where it carried me.

As luck would have it, I ended up going West and was dropped nicely onto the 405.

Probably one of my best nights ever.

-MJ

*Please note that the images that aren't taken with my cellphone were all borrowed with love from thebloggess.com

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Destination: nerdy locales. What's yours?

Original image via UKresistance.

How many of you out there have been introduced to a new part of the world via video game, movie, book, comic book, etc., and then realized that you just had to visit it for yourself? I may have some eccentric thoughts, but I can't possibly be the only one who has felt this. Now, it would be easy to answer this with a simple, "But Pallet Town isn't real!" and yes, you would be correct, but I'm talking about real places in the real world, not amazing not-yet-real places in the potential world that are incredibly awesome that we all want to visit and if anyone tells you differently then they are liars for sure. Animal Crossing, anyone? Talking animals and breaking new ground in the archeological world every day? Please.

But back to my original thought.

Places that do exist that we are capable of visiting. What's yours? Mine is Scotland, and this is based entirely off of the incredible book series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Currently there are seven novels in the series, with an eighth in the works and a prequel planned. Gabaldon's scope, attention to detail, and narrative style are staggering. If you are a fan of time traveling historical fiction action adventure romance intensely detailed lots of pages tiny print, then this is the book series for you. Full disclaimer: the books contain sex. Apparently I didn't explain this adequately enough on previous occasions where I recommended the series.

I think at this point I have covered all the bases. Original image found here.

Moving right along! The majority of the series is set in 18th century Scotland, primarily the Highlands. Gabaldon describes locations with such detail and accuracy that citizens of Scotland would write to her asking when she had been in the area. At the time of her first book she had never actually been to Scotland, she was just excellent at researching. That may have something to do with her Science Ph.D. I hear that sort of thing requires a great amount of research and research skills. Now she travels to Scotland all the time.

The point is, she has made me desperate to visit Scotland. I was going to go after being in Ireland summer of 2010, but then some things happened and I didn't. It is very difficult to not dwell on this, so when I start to feel upset I just drink more whisky and pretend I'm in the Highlands with some kilted men.

(sadly) Not pictured: bearded men in kilts. Image via Whisky-Pages.com

I created a route that had me visiting Inverness, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Inverness and Edinburgh play huge roles in the Outlander universe, but off the top of my head I can't recall if Glasgow is in there. Either way, I have big plans to visit a whisky factory, go to the castle in Edinburgh, find that wily Loch Ness monster, go on night time dungeon tours, see the site of the battle at Culloden, wander the cobblestone streets and pretend that I'm a lady of high class, and drink so much whisky that the locals think I belong with them.

Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Image via Beautifulplacestovisit.com

I want to frolic in the heather of the Highlands! I want to see those craggy, jutting rocks. I want to crest the peaks of rolling hills and reach the bottom of valleys. Within me there is an insane passion to see a new part of the world that wouldn't have existed with such heat and intensity if it weren't for Gabaldon's amazing literature.

Yes? Yes. Yes yes yes. Beautiful image found here.

Where do you want to go?

-MJ

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It's a Minecraft world, and we're just living in it.

Everyone out there plays Minecraft, right? It's such a fantastic game. It has pretty much anything to offer to almost any gamer, especially with the ability to share maps with other players. Thanks to the hard working and creative individuals around the world, gamers have access to just about any map system/world they could want. I thought it would be fun to round up a few just to demonstrate the intense scope of options.

::: A super exciting preview of Disney World.

::: A completed Disney World.

::: A stunning recreation of Winterfell.

::: Are you ready for some nostalgia in Kakariko village?

::: Here's a cute little one-person operation of The Shire in Middle Earth.

::: If you're looking for something more detailed in Middle Earth, then look no further.

::: Hogwarts Hogwarts hoggy warty-warts!

::: This guy is a little strange to listen to, but the castle is GORGEOUS.

::: A very fun and clever TARDIS in Minecraft.

This hardly scratches the surface. Do you have any links to great Minecraft world round ups? Do you have a favorite Minecraft created world that I didn't share? Did you perhaps make a map of your own that you're particularly proud of? I'd love to hear about them!

-MJ

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Why I'm excited and apprehensive about Project Glass.

The development announcement of Google's augmented reality glasses brings about far more speculation than answers or hard facts. It seemed like just another April Fool's pull, but it turns out it's a real thing that they're working on.

My brain raced with questions and wonderment as I watched their preview/demonstration video. After discussing my opinions with friends, it turns out that they think I'm highly skeptical. I prefer to see myself as cautiously optimistic.

Allow me to break down my concerns and excitements for you.

Store Maps

Visual maps of any location? Well, that would be handy I suppose, but most stores have maps, signs, and employees who can tell you where things are. Plus, what size effort would be required to get a map of every store ever built?

Know where your friends are

This has the potential to be a little creepy, I think, but would also be incredibly useful when meeting up with friends. Of course, this brings into question the need for constant connectivity, network coverage, and battery life.

Voice Recognition

How many people out there have issues with voice recognition? I don't know about you, but when I  said "Monsieur Gayno" to my phone, it thought I said "monster game now".  My voice has never played nicely with recognition software, so I do feel very apprehensive about a system that relies entirely on voice commands.

Visual Calls

The video is entirely concept and aspirations, but I still take a moment to wonder how annoying it would be to have things so close to my eye all the time. This phone call indicator is really big! It seems like it would be kind of invasive. And what about driving? Would we be allowed to wear the glasses then? It seems that it would be very distracting. Plus, this kind of technology would work based on eye movement, wouldn't it? And we need our eyes to stay on the road! So yeah, I'm guessing this would be a no-no while driving.

To-the-minute Updates

A constant connection could hypothetically mean that relevant data is sent to you on the spot. This would only work if we looked directly at specific information though. Would this change the way we visually gather information, or do we already look at the necessary data for this sort of technology to work?

Take a Picture

This idea I am one hundred percent in love with. I have wished I could take a photo with my eyes for as long as I can remember, and I know I can't be the only one!

Live Sharing

 

We can call people from wherever we are (provided there's service, or you have a phone from The Doctor) and now someday we may have the ability to show people what we're seeing. I can't even remember how many times I've said to someone "I wish you were here to see this" or "this is amazing, you should see it!"

Never Get Lost

I use Google Maps on my phone all the time, so this I really like. Plus, it would be like having a heads up display, and that would be so awesome! Gaming has taught me to appreciate the HUD and its values. I've grown to want one in real life.

Weather

 

It's strangely important for me to know what the weather is according to the numbers. It's not enough for me to look outside, I want to know what the professionals say. For me to be able to look out the window at the sky and have a weather readout appear in front of me, well, I just feel tickled. But what if I only want to look at the sky? Would it tell me the weather no matter what? Or could I say "no weather" and have that work? Would it make more sense to simply remove the glasses and look outside?

Hardware

Image via Pocket Lint

A huge, huge question: what will these glasses look like, and how will they coincide with people who already wear glasses (me)? Is the concept design incredibly far fetched, or will the final product look similar to what we've been shown? The large piece on the side of the woman's head isn't all that different from a bluetooth headset (it's just up higher) and the rest of the hardware is simply frame-less glasses. Perhaps there would be a clip-on version for us glasses-wearing folk?

This article over at Wired offers up an explanation from augmented reality experts who are claiming that a screen that small would be incapable of delivering the visual experience that Google demonstrates in the video. Of course it's incredibly important to remember that what we've seen is concept, aspirations, and things that are hoped for. The actual product is still years away.

The whole concept is incredibly exciting and I hope to see it come to fruition eventually. The technology has so many amazing options, and knowing Google they would deliver the goods. Although my mind does wonder if this means we're just a few steps away from actual implants...

From the wonderful Penny Arcade.

Who else wishes they had a heads up display?

-MJ

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Hate mail influx for inclusion of gay relationships in Mass Effect and SWTOR.

Things as productive as hate mail: watching paint dry, counting the number of rice grains 

in a bag, pulling every single leaf off of a tree. Image via Slapupsidethehead.

Gamers want choices, reality, and open-ended worlds. The majority of all games (until very recently) were helmed by male protagonists, so any female gamers could just shut up and play as a dude. The first game I ever played where a female lead was an option was Harvest Moon: Magical Melody and I was so ecstatic. Nowadays all MMOs offer both male and female characters, and newer open-ended single player experiences are offering that as well, such as Mass Effect. There are still only a handful of games with just a lady at the forefront; a smattering of Resident Evil titles, Mirror's Edge, and Bayonetta are the first ones to come to mind.

So. Choices. Non-linear gameplay, reality, and options parallel to those in real life. Women have finally been given the option to play in familiar terrain, and games such as Fable, The Sims, Skyrim, and Mass Effect have taken it a step further and provided players the option of a love interest. Now, given that whole "do whatever you want in-game" thing that everyone is so wild about, doesn't it make sense to include homosexual options? YES. That is a resounding "yes".

Amazing image found via Lorehound.

EA has done just that, to the anger and dismay of homophobes everywhere, with their series Mass Effect. Since the most recent offering in the series released late last year there has been a constant growl of disapproval circulating the title, especially since this most recent iteration includes *gasp* gameplay footage of same-sex individuals together. Please note that this "footage" is men talking to one another while in their underwear. The horror! More sexy and exciting things happen in football locker rooms.

Who hasn't seen this at a beach? Image via Gossip Gamers.

Even though EA was voted the worst company of last year, they are being shone in a favorable light this last week as they responded to an influx of hate mail over their inclusion of same-sex romance options and plot lines in-game for Mass Effect 3 as well as their MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The haters and protestors continue to insist that the company is corrupting the youth, encouraging homosexuality, and is marketed at young children: BS line after BS line. While the ESRB may not be perfect, it is still fairly adequate at providing an at-a-glance answer as to whether or not a game is appropriate for a child. FOR INSTANCE! Mass Effect 3 is rated M for Mature. Mature, as in seventeen or over. Over seventeen as in nearly an adult. The ESRB provides more than just a letter rating though, they also give a description of the content that constitutes the letter rating. Mass Effect 3 is rated M for Mature for the following reasons: Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence.

Are you actually telling me that those things are perfectly acceptable for your child, and the only thing that will cause that content to be inappropriate is a man loving a man, or a woman loving a woman?

Excuse me a moment.

Sir Ian McKellen makes everything better. Image via Sir Mitchell.

I hope it's no surprise that what this boils down to is the parent-child relationship, interaction, and how responsible the parent is in moderating and monitoring the child's recreational intake. When I worked at GameStop I sold a truly, disgustingly, unbelievable number of copies of GTA to parents who were openly purchasing it for their ten-years-of-age-or-younger children.

As a person with at least a smattering of moral responsibility (I have a very strong moral compass, just FYI), I felt angry and sickened each time this happened. I warned each and every parent that the content was extremely unsuitable for someone of such a young age, and 95% of the time I was greeted with a flippant hand flap and a casual remark that their, presumably unique, child was smart enough to understand that "it's just a game."

Right. Thanks. I was unaware that I worked in a game store.

Image via Alltheragefaces.com

This has become increasingly rant-y, and I'm apologizing for that. Not because I dislike rants, but because I didn't set out to create a rant.

It's true that parents should know their children, and if they truly believe that their seven year old is responsible, mature, and smart enough to understand that just because the gun-toting man in GTA is stealing cars and shooting cops, that doesn't mean that that's actually OK, then fine. But then don't have the audacity to turn around and blame gaming companies for "corrupting" your child because they continue to expand to all-inclusive reality by allowing gamers to pick a same-sex partner. The box says "sexual content". It's not the company's fault that you assumed that meant "straight people only".

-MJ

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