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Azuremyst EU retired WoW server blade
Azuremyst EU retired WoW server blade
Found this image that I saved about a year ago. I guess I meant to post about it, but forgot.

It’s likely the name that triggered the save of the image, as I have characters on US Azuremyst currently. I’m assuming this image originated from Blizzard since the machine was theirs.

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I’ll keep it pretty short, hopefully. Basically, The Croods is like Ice Age, but a human version. If you like the Ice Age movies, you’ll probably like The Croods. That’s pretty much it.

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So, I had an urge to mess around with an alternative operating system from the one I usually work in. It was Ubuntu, and I’d tried it out a few years back. The process went fairly smoothly, but was nearly derailed by one detail that makes it not quite ready for primetime (luckily, I still have an ethernet cable handy). I had a heck of a time getting my wifi card recognized. I wasn’t installing it on a custom built machine, after all, but a MacBook Pro, so I was prepared that some functionality would be a bit limited (i.e., the track-pad is a bit “dumb”), but I kind of expected the driver support would be there for something basic like a wifi card. Luckily, I’m not afraid to RTFM, which helped, but I had to try 2 sets of firmware to get it right. Would be nice if there was a bit more support for getting this set up.

Now, I get to work on fun stuff, like customizing the heck out of this computer’s desktop. What do you think? Did I pick a good distro? One that even a power user could be happy with? Any other solid and fairly user-friendly ones I may be missing? Let me know.

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So, you’ve taken the first plunge into Twitter and feel a bit overwhelmed by the flood of posts? If you have a bit of time to spare, I’ve collected a few guides that may help orient you, and potentially prevent a few, avoidable faux pas. Ready? Dig in.

Mashable’s got a guide for you, check it out here:

Twitter Guide Book – How To, Tips and Instructions by MashableThe guide is organized by topic and quite a few frequently asked (and answered) questions are covered, such as “what is a #hashtag?”
Ready to take bigger steps? Then follow @TweetSmarter. Trust me on this one. These two knowledgeable people know their stuff. More information on the dynamic duo is available on their blog. They tweet great tips, often. :)From here, it depends on what you want to do, and my list is not terribly comprehensive. That’s on purpose. You’ll pick up a lot of information by lurking and exploring.

I’m no expert when it comes to Twitter, but I am a grizzled veteran. You can follow me if you are interested in the sometimes silly stuff I tweet about. I’m @ryagas and I love tips and tricks, so be sure to @message me or even leave a comment here. 🙂

 

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Hey, this is familiar!

I was feeling a hole in my anime list for a while since it’s been a while since I last watched an anime whose premise a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG; quite the acronym). Based on its description on Crunchyroll, I thought it might be a bit like .hack, but without magic. That’s the impression I’m getting currently of what it is.

Basically, from the first couple episodes, I can tell that the “players” of this game, a game where only physical combat is possible to battle the mobs that spawn, are trapped in the game by the game’s creator (suspension of disbelief begins with how this person was allowed to trap them at all). The creator makes no secret of the fact that a death in-game will kill the real-life person attached to the in-game avatar. Also, any attempt to extract the person from the VR gear will also cause death.

At any rate, the beginning has players beginning to work together to achieve the explicit goal of the game, which also is their means of escape: to beat the game’s final boss, by first conquering all the levels (and their “floor” bosses).

Why this is interesting to a gamer

I can already see this show starting to deal with issues MMO gamers, maybe even gamers in general, have to deal with from other players in-game. Kirito, the protagonist, who played the game prior to release, was already a bit of a loner, and hesitant to reveal his status to many as a beta tester. Since the game is a life-or-death struggle, the envy and resentment players normally feel towards those granted early access (“cheater” is used in the second episode) is amplified to feeling that such players don’t and won’t care to help others survive. He’s already not wanting to be overly friendly (he tries), so that group fear of those more knowledgable or skilled (he is both) is going to be a major issue for him.

Sword art online kirito by kai yan
Kirito, by Kai-Yan – http://kai-yan.deviantart.com/

Hopefully, the friends he’s starting to make will help him progress (he didn’t make it to the end in the beta testing, so I’m sure there’s a reason for it). I’ll be watching this with great interest. I have a very limited number of Crunchyroll all-access guest passes if anybody wants to check this out. All-access means you see new episodes on release day (in HD) without the hassle of using less-savory methods. Just send a direct message via whatever social network you spot this post on. I’ll keep a list if I run out since they’re periodically granted. Hopefully, this series turns out to be good. I’m content so far, however.

What do you think? Have you been watching so far? Read the light novel? The manga? Never heard of this. I want to know. Leave a comment, @reply or however you can respond.

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I certainly wouldn’t be the first, nor the best to write this post, but I think I’ve got a solid basis to, so I’ll tackle it. Keep in mind I’m not saying there’s a set order you should explore anime, or that some are more difficult to follow than others, just trying to make the ride, initially, as free from jarring changes as possible.

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