Balandar

Didn't know they made those for the computer. Thought they were playstation, or saga or something. Lots of PvP? How many per server? etc?

I think they shoulda had bones laying around, etc.. for more of a zombie/undead feel. It looks to much like an undergrown dwarven complex that has been twisted into something evil. As to dragons, I usually think of large caves/caverns depending on how long they have been sleeping inside.

From a post on the Blizzard WoW forums, click here for the thread. http://www.blizzard.com/wow/ScreenShot.asp...ex=1&Set=45 World of Warcraft: The Undead Undercity Revealed! - We think you’ll agree that All Hallows’ Eve is the perfect time to reveal the Undead's major city: The Undercity. We have 13 (oh so spooky) new screenshots from World of Warcraft.

http://blizzard.youaremyfriend.com/ Place anything where blizzard is to change the text in the movie.

Salvo may spark more auroras By Richard Stenger and Kate Tobin CNN (CNN) --As Earth's magnetic field weathered a strong solar shock wave this week, the sun unleashed another powerful flare that could herald more geomagnetic storms on Thursday. Our planet endured the brunt of the first storm Wednesday and early Thursday, hurled Tuesday by the third most powerful solar flare ever observed, without major problems. But late Wednesday, solar scientists observed another big solar explosion, one of the top 20 on record, accompanied by another huge stream of supercharged gas headed in our direction. It could arrive as early as Thursday afternoon. "It's like the Earth is looking right down the barrel of a giant gun pointed at us by the sun...and it's taken two big shots at us," said John Kohl of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "I have not seen anything like it in my entire career as a solar physicist. The probability of this happening is so low that it is a statistical anomaly," he said in a statement Thursday. Known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the solar clouds of high-energy particles and gas, when they interact with the Earth's magnetosphere, can trigger geomagnetic storms and disrupt electrical systems on Earth and in orbit. Whether this CME shakes up the planet more or less than the previous storm depends on a variety of factors, like its magnetic alignment and whether it delivers a glancing blow or direct hit. 'It's causing interference' Power grids in the northern United States and Canada felt the effects of the first storm. Utilities endured power surges and closely monitored their systems to prevent surges, according to NOAA. And airplanes flying in extreme northern latitudes, mostly over the Arctic, have had minor problems with radio communications, according to Canadian aviation authorities. But no flights have been stopped and the pilots could use backup radio systems in an emergency. "It's causing interference, in some cases more severe than others. Overall, it is still a very manageable occurrence," said Louis Garneau, spokesman for Nav Canada, which manages Canada's civil aviation navigation service. So far only sporadic problems have been reported in space. One or two Japanese satellites were knocked offline this weekend, possibly due to electrical problems connected with increased solar activity. Some instruments onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a sun-watching satellite, have been turned off to prevent malfunctions. Astronauts take cover NASA has taken precautions as well with its most precious cargo, astronaut Mike Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri on board the international space station. Foale and Kaleri, the only humans currently outside the protection of Earth's atmosphere, are retreating during peak exposure times to the living quarters of the station, which provides the best radiation protection. As a precaution, NASA shut down the station's robotic arm, which is the most exposed piece of hardware. The solar shock waves sometimes boost the northern and southern lights, pushing them from the polar regions to the middle latitudes. "This latest CME will sweep past our planet on October 30th or 31st and could trigger renewed geomagnetic storming. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras tonight," said NASA's Spaceweather.com on Thursday. Observers as far south as Texas and Georgia observed auroras the night before. Space weather forecasters say this spate of strong solar flares is not consistent with normal solar behavior. The sun, which follows an 11-year activity cycle, has been quieting down since the last peak in 2000. CNN space Producer David Santucci contributed to this report.

From http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...94&pageNumber=0 Israeli Processor Computes at Speed of Light Wed October 29, 2003 05:03 AM ET By Tova Cohen HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - An Israeli start-up has developed a processor that uses optics instead of silicon, enabling it to compute at the speed of light, the company said. Lenslet said its processor will enable new capabilities in homeland security and military, multimedia and communications applications. "Optical processing is a strategic competitive advantage for nations and companies," said Avner Halperin, vice president for business development at Lenslet. "Processing at the speed of light, you can have safer airports, autonomous military systems, high-definition multimedia broadcast systems and advanced next-generation communications systems." An optical processor is a digital signal processor (DSP) with an optical accelerator attached to it that enables it to perform functions at very high speeds. "It is an acceleration of 20 years in the development of digital hardware," Lenslet founder and Chief Executive Officer Aviram Sariel told Reuters. The processor performs 8 trillion operations per second, equivalent to a super-computer and 1,000 times faster than standard processors, with 256 lasers performing computations at light speed. It is geared toward such applications as high resolution radar, electronic warfare, luggage screening at airports, video compression, weather forecasting and cellular base stations. Lenslet said its Enlight processor, unveiled at the MILCOM exhibition in Boston this month, is the first commercially available optical DSP. "Optics is the future of every information device," said Sariel. Jim Tully, vice president and chief of research for semiconductors and emerging technologies at Gartner Inc, said most companies working with optics focus on switching optical signals for telecommunications rather than processing information optically. "I'm not aware of any company that has taken it to the extent of processing optically," he said. Lenslet has raised $27.5 million so far from such investors as Goldman Sachs, Walden VC, Germany's Star Ventures and Chicago-based JK&B Capital. PALM PILOT SIZE The company's prototype is fairly large and bulky but when Lenslet begins to supply the processor in a few months it will be shrunk to 15 x 15 cm with a height of 1.7 cm, roughly the size of a Palm Pilot. "In five years we plan to shrink it to a single chip," project manager Asaf Schlezinger said. Tully said one issue is whether this technology can be produced in volume the way silicon chips are made. "Because semiconductor manufacturing technology is well developed, you can produce millions at quite low cost," said Tully, who is not familiar with Enlight. Lenslet said its processor will be competitive in price with a multi DSP board. Sariel is negotiating joint projects with companies and/or government agencies in the United States, Europe and Japan to produce the processor for specific applications. It already has projects signed with Israel's Defense Ministry. "We don't rule out licensing our technology to others," Sariel said. "We are looking at a virtual production line where production is done by others and we provide testing equipment." Tully said semiconductor companies are working on technology that would use optical channels inside a chip to allow very high speed communication from one part of a chip to another. "It's conceivable this technology could become mainstream inside chips in 10 years time," Tully said.

From http://spaceweather.com/. "Would you like a phone call when auroras appear over your home town? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE. One of the most powerful solar flares in years erupted from giant sunspot 486 this morning at approximately 1110 UT. The blast measured X17 on the Richter scale of solar flares. As a result of the explosion, a strong S3-class solar radiation storm is underway. Click here to learn how such storms can affect our planet. The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. When it left the sun, the cloud was traveling 2125 km/s (almost 5 million mph). This CME could trigger bright auroras when it sweeps past our planet perhaps as early as tonight."

http://www.wowlegions.com/interface.php

Sun erupts in biggest storm in years Earth in path of solar-ejected cloud By Kate Tobin CNN CNN) --One of the largest known solar flares erupted from the sun on Tuesday, heralding a storm of superheated gas that could hit Earth within a day. The outburst was classified an X17.2 flare, the third largest on record, according to Paal Brekke, a project scientist with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a sun-watching satellite mission jointly run by NASA and the European Space Agency. In comparison, two solar storms observed last week were between X1 and X5, Brekke said. Solar flares are associated with coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, eruptions from the sun that, if headed our way, can disrupt communications satellites and power grids. As this particularly fast-moving CME is aimed directly toward Earth, it is possible that when it arrives midday Wednesday, the geomagnetic activity will be strong enough to stir up electrical trouble. "The eruption was positioned perfectly. It's headed straight for us like a freight train," said John Kohl, a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics scientist, in a statement. "A major geomagnetic storm is bound to happen." Brekke is not so sure and awaits more data from SOHO and another deep space solar-watching satellite positioned between the sun and Earth. "Until we know the orientation of the magnetic field in this cloud, we will know who how severe the geomagnetic storm will be." Northern lights Interacting with Earth's magnetic field, the high-energy solar winds produced by a CME often increase night displays of the northern and southern lights. "Not all CMEs trigger auroras. Several, for instance, have swept past Earth in recent days without causing widespread displays," said Tony Phillips of Spaceweather.com, which monitors cosmic conditions related to the sun and Earth. "It all depends on the orientation of tangled magnetic fields within the electrified cloud of gas. This CME is no exception. It might cause auroras, or it might not. We will find out when it arrives." Researchers classify solar flares using three categories: C for weak, M for Moderate and X for strong. The largest flare on record, one of two known X20s, occurred on April 2, 2001, but was not directed at Earth. In March 1989, an X15 burst knocked out power for millions of people in Canada. In recent years, however, satellite and utility operators have devised safeguards that usually minimize damage from solar storms. Space weather forecasters say this spate of strong solar flares unusual because it is not following normal patterns of solar behavior. The sun follows an 11-year cycle of activity and the last peak took place in 2000. -- CNN.com's Richard Stenger contributed to this report.

From slashdot.com Dr. Zowie writes "This morning a very large solar flare erupted from a large sunspot group that is crossing the face of the Sun. The explosion sent over 2 billion tons of material hurtling across the solar system toward Earth. Movies from the SOHO spacecraft show the flare in UV and the associated coronal mass ejection in visible light as they happened, and the impact of high energy protons that the flare launched at about half the speed of light. NOAA's Space Environment Center shows that the Sun's X-ray brightness went up 100x during the flare. Expect more aurora and geomagnetic effects in the next day or two!"

Uh oh... found this on slashdot, seems amazon is in some trouble now. "Yesterday, Slashdot readers discussed Amazon's brand new, technically impressive and highly useful book search feature that lets users search the full text of over 120,000 books. Today, the Authors Guild is saying that the publishers don't have the right to let Amazon do this. Uh oh."

Bah! No WoW?

Some days bring big surprises. Like many people, I always believed that it was impossible to write in space with ordinary pens because ink would not flow. So imagine my astonishment when I read "Pedro Duque's diary from space" this morning. Pedro Duque is an astronaut since 1992 and he flew on Space Shuttle Discovery back in 1995. Now, he's a member of the Cervantes Mission organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) and he's on board of the International Space Station (ISS) since October 18, 2003. ................ Read more at http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/2003/10/24.html

This would have been handy when I had research projects in college and needed to find books on certain subjects.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/brows...2897871-5800008 A significant extension of our groundbreaking Look Inside the Book feature, Search Inside the Book allows you to search millions of pages to find exactly the book you want to buy. Now instead of just displaying books whose title, author, or publisher-provided keywords match your search terms, your search results will surface titles based on every word inside the book.

Ok, this guy is complaining a bit.. but he has valid points. Games of late have lacked depth and content. But at the end he mentions one that might soon change that. HOOOWAAAH World of Warcraft! To bad we have a long wait before it's release. Anyway, I thought this would be a good promo for WoW.

http://www.ferrago.com/story/2377 If game developers knew about me, they'd try to bottle what I have - I am the equivalent of MMORPG litmus; an acid test. I've played most of the big ones - UO, EQ, AC, DAOC and now SWG, and I've exhibited the same reaction to almost all of them. You see, I'm always the fish that got away. It always starts so well. I install, register. Spend an age perusing arcane and obscure sites to find the elusive best combination of STR and DXT and INT for that uber nuking mage or damage soaking tank. I make the decision, create a character. I change my mind, re-roll and start again. I do this several times, until everything is just right. But finally, I'm happy. I enter the game world. And am immediately lost and confused. No MMORPG ever has managed to ease me into a game. Maybe I'm obtuse, but invariably someone takes pity on me and points me in the right direction - the rat/snake/mouse/snail killing fields, where I begin to cut my level 1 teeth with the other "n00bs". In UO and EQ, this was a delight - it was all new, we were all new back then. This was before the days of power levelling and macro'ing your way to level 40 before the game was even out. No. Back then, we ALL did our time in the rat fields. But despite the obvious menial nature of the task, it is still fun. The levels come quickly, new skills are learned and used, new items acquired and the next goal is only just around the corner. This is the MMORPG honeymoon period - the time where the grind is not just bearable, it's actually enjoyable. But like the real thing, the MMORPG honeymoon can't last. It begins to creep in, almost unnoticed. The levels are further apart. You begin to notice that newly acquired skills are carbon copies of the old ones, with a different coloured icon and a two percent damage increase. You start to get 'class envy' - that feeling that almost every other race/class/profession is better off than you, and that the developers have it in for you and your kind. Suddenly, you find yourself looking for groups because you're bored of soloing, or soloing because you can't find a group, or crafting because you can't be bothered with either. You try out all the little distractions the developers have put in the game to make things 'deep', only to find they're broken, bugged or plain pointless. But you're a trooper. You stiffen that upper lip and press on, certain that if you can only hang in there the good times will arrive and the game will be FUN again. It is at precisely this point, that me and others like me will part ways with our more determined MMORPG brethren. I, you see, am a quitter. And that's why developers should listen to me, because it is me and those like me who cannot be retained after the free month. Simply put, if I'm paying for it, then it's a winner. And I tell you all honestly, I'm TIRED of quitting. I want to proudly display my level 75 death mage to all and sundry. I want to tell bored "n00bs" of how I acquired my shiny Boots of Relentless Perseverance + 2 after a three day battle with a fire giant. I want to be that guy - I have it in me, to be that sad. But frankly, and I mean this in the nicest possible sense, all the MMORPGs out there bore me senseless after two or three weeks. So where are they going wrong? Well, if you're still reading at this point, I'm going to tell you. Here follows Nick's list of MMORPGs do's and dont's... so without further ado, and in no particular order... 1) DON'T use me as pest control: I've killed them all - rats, spiders, snakes, snails, wasps, worms, beetles etc. And more to the point, I've BEEN killed by them all. I'm tired of this crap - I know MMORPGs must have a sense of progression and therefore start small, but can't I start a bit higher up the food chain? For God sake, in real life I could give most decent sized mammals a good hiding and I don't even possess a shock spell or whirlwind attack. Let me fight something bigger. 2) DO allow me to play how I like, when I like: I keep unusual hours. It's a by product of being socially ignorant, drinking vast amounts of tea and coke and generally preferring to skulk in darkness. That is my right. So if I'm on your server with only three others at four in the morning, please let me do something meaningful with my time, and don't force me to join up with someone as obnoxious as I am to level up. That's just cruel. 3) DON'T make crap classes/professions: Because I am drawn to them as the moth is to the flame. I have a history of single-handedly and without prior research, choosing as my own the class or profession that is clearly 'screwing the pooch'. The only exception to this rule is Star Wars Galaxies, where I avoided Chef by the narrowest of margins purely because Ferrago's own Rich called shotgun on them for himself. Instead, I went a medic, and spent most of my time harbouring pent up rage at the lack of tips, with a sinking feeling as I realised I'd have to heal 1,057 more people before I get another skill. This may be unfair though, because SOE have commendably and originally screwed up almost every profession, in order to make everyone equally unhappy. Now that's thinking out of the box. 4) DO play other types of games, to better remember... That games are meant to be fun. I mean, really, there are careers that are less demanding than your average MMORPG. I'm as lazy as the next person (in fact, much much lazier) - I get up late every day and really don't do very much, but even I balk at the man hours I'm expected to put in to level my character. Come on people. I completely understand the concept of work vs reward in games. But I need more reward, and need it more often. 5) DON'T pretend I can 'make a difference': We both know that your over-arching storyline is wafer thin, and that I don't amount to a hill of beans in this digital town. Drop the pretence, I can handle the empty feeling of my own non-importance. I live in the real world, remember? I'm happy with my own little corner. My most recent foray into the online world was with Star Wars Galaxies. In fact, I was so keen I couldn't wait for the European release and secured an American copy on eBay. I am a huge Star Wars and RPG fanatic, and am only just getting over my KOTOR withdrawal symptoms, so you'd think that SWG would be something of a panacea. To put it simply, Star Wars Galaxies is the latest in an evolving series of MMORPGs that have yet to get the basics right, and each new incarnation adds more froth on a stale and uninventive gameplay experience. Let us look at the things that SWG gets right. Character customisation is excellent. The graphics are just right, if a little demanding. The crafting is deeper and more involving than any previous game, allowing players to exist totally without combat. Of all of these, only the crafting in SWG is a real innovation and truly game enhancing. Galaxies has all the same problems of previous MMORPGs - the grind, balance issues, economic problems - but is multiplied because of the number of professions and the stilted player economy. I honestly believe that Sony must never play some of the professions they have created, because they are stupendously boring to play. As a medic, I came to the stage of sitting watching TV as I ground my way through the early skills. Macros are springing up everywhere because players are too bored to play themselves. Every second entertainer is AFK, simply leaving their characters dancing away in the cantina as they do something more interesting and productive offline. Surely a game designer's number one priority is to entertain? SOE have managed something truly remarkable - they have actively bored me, as opposed to merely not entertaining. Do you see the distinction? The responses of the developers and some players to all this seem ludicrous. Macroing is severely frowned upon, and I've witnessed huge arguments in the cantinas over tipping AFK entertainers. Some players resent those who refuse to waste their time grinding. These people miss the point. If the game made this process interesting in the slightest, it would not be a problem. When a game feels more like a job than a game, it's time to quit. Galaxies has tried to innovate, but in my opinion has moved in the wrong direction, drawing all the wrong conclusions from the lessons of the last few MMORPG years. One developer, however, is moving in the correct direction and should provide the quitters like me with a reason to finally part with our credit card details. The game is World of Warcraft, and the developer is, of course, Blizzard. WoW gets me excited in a way few games do these days. It is frankly looking too fabulous to do it justice in anything less than a full preview, but already in its pre-beta state the Blizzard design principles shine through. There are far fewer classes, but each is completely self sufficient - although obviously certain classes will perform better at certain tasks than others. Blizzard has simplified the advancement process, making it impossible to produce a crippled character, but has a complex secondary skill system that allows customisation. The whole game is designed around principles of usability, friendliness to new players, simplicity and of course, fun. This is the key point. Blizzard have stated that they want to reproduce the Diablo-esque quality of forgetting to look at the progress bar. You simply enjoy the game and before you know it, you've gained a level, completed a quest or attained some other goal. This, and this above all, is what I've missed in all the MMORPGs I've played. The MMORPG genre is now in a critical phase. Although a select few are financially successful, none have managed to produce the kind of gameplay that will keep average gamers playing for years. Developers are trying new things to find that magic formula, each citing what the previous generation of games did wrong in an effort to justify their approach. Shadowbane emphasises player guilds and inter-city combat. Anarchy Online boasted a futuristic setting. Dark Age of Camelot offered the player vs. player experience Everquest was lacking. None of these games, however, ever sought to emphasise simplicity or fun. If I'm right, then some time next year, Blizzard will show us all what we've been missing. By Nick McCrea

Wait till WoW... then you will see evil

*tries to be evil*

test

test

From WoW Blizzard

Also The best part about all these dungeons, large and small, is that they are yours and yours alone, created for your specific use when triggered by a quest. Anyone in your party can join in the "instance" (as Blizzard calls it) of your dungeon, and you can even send messages to friends outside the dungeon, inviting them in. (And should you disconnect accidentally, as we did, you'll land right back in the dungeon—not 800 miles away.) This applies to the game's largest überdungeons as well, which Blizzard has tailored specifically for large guild-style raids. No "raid collision" is even possible in World of WarCraft—guilds won't have to camp the game's biggest monsters, because every guild can create its own instance.

I decided to post this here from the leaders forum... that is where we are deciding on how the clan will function. The Orcish Language yes-yub no- nub ok- uki hello- ug bye- gugye I- me my- meeb you- lat you all- latz them- dem them all, they're- demz there- der where- wer here- heer is, are- am know, understand- gruk ( I dont know- Me nub gruk ) talk, speak- blah kill- clomp have- hab and- agh of- ub who- whu what- wud why- whi when- wen the- da this- diz that- dat money- shineez big, good, brave- bubhosh small, bad, weak- nubhosh thanks- rulg humans- oomies land - uzg Bah!, Arg!, (exclamation of contempt) - Skah or skai stinking - pushdug fire - ghaash Weapons axe- lusk hammer- womp spear- kigg dagger- igg sword- zult bow- olig Numbers one- ash two- dub three- gahk four- futh five- H ( meaning- hand: 5 fingers) 6- H ash 7- H dub 8- H gahk 9- H futh 10- HH 11- HH ash and so on... hundred- hundrid thousand- fowzund million- milliun Examples: I dont have much time before I have to go Me nub hab muj tyme befur me hab tu go Give Tribute to Bloodgod! Gib Tribuut tu Bludgod! Stupid smelly human! Tupid pushdug oomie! I am a little tea pot short and stout, here is my handle and here is my spout. Me ib liddul tee pot shurt agh.. Skah! Dis tupid, whi me blah lik panzee oomie!?!? What are you looking at? Wud lat luukn ad? hehe, I am a stupid little orc. Look at me everyone!! I am an idiot. har har, lat ib su tupid lats mum hab tu tye fuud tu lats nek su howlurs wuld pley wid lat!! Some words from WC3 Zug Zug Lok-Tar! Lok-Tar Ogar! Dabu Throm ka Lok-Tar Osh

Martok will be the other leader of the guild.... that info will be released later