It is just beautiful here. Took the dogs for a nice after dinner walk, all the windows are open and there is a good breeze, and I’m brewing up a fresh pot of tea.
In some good news, it appears that Fenway is going to make it, so thanks for sending positive thoughts.
In gamer dork good news, we are but 71 days until the release of the new Deus Ex, and but a few months away from the release of The Old Republic.
Also too, Game of Thrones tonight. I really should have read the book, because I am dying to know if someone ever gets the pleasure of jamming a sword through the smirking mouth of that obnoxious Cersei Lannister.
4jkb4ia
I hate to break it to you —- Then don’t. Seriously, at least put up some spoiler tags. (Post removed by John Cole)
PeakVT
Well, if you’re into the series, I wouldn’t read the book(s) now. Why spoil the suspense?
robertdsc-iPhone 4
I’m enjoying Infamous on the PS3. The Escalation map pack for Black Ops was a disappointment.
4jkb4ia
@4jkb4ia:
Myrcella would probably be the House of Baratheon if Cersei was dead, and that could get very interesting.
JGabriel
Subtext much?
.
mrmobi
No spoilers from me, John, but you really should get the books. I’ve finished the first and am about 25% of the way through the second on my kindle. You are going to love the ending of this first season. (assuming it corresponds to the end of the first book)
Even though I’m going to read all the books, I will still watch the series, since I love the way they have visualized these fantastical places and the costumes and creatures, and I love the wolves, even though they are, you know, just wolves and not direwolves.
SiubhanDuinne
I bought an iPad 2 this afternoon. DV should make posting to BJ easier I guess I’ll find out when I get home and establish a new email address. Meantime, all tips and suggestions and shortcuts are welcome.
Martin
I’m laying that brick patio in my yard that Cole is too lazy to do. 80% done, but I just ran out of bricks so I need to run to the store when wife gets home. The upshot of the day – I think I finally mastered cutting bricks with a brick hammer. The downside – armed with that knowledge, the horizon of potential projects for my wife to give me just expanded a fair bit. Tip of the day – masons kneepads and gloves are worth every penny, but the gloves do not protect that one spot on my left hand where I struck it with the masons hammer – 7 times. It’s the quite the array of colors, and quite fortunately nothing broken other than the skin.
MarshalT
To the first poster, you just took an all-around happy post and modestly spoiled my favorite new TV series. If I ever find out who you are, you’ll regret it.
Urza
Having just started listening to the books since you got me watching the show, I have to say how incredibly impressed I am at how little is changed from the books to the show. Most of the time a movie or tv show about a book makes major changes, usually for no reason other than some writer needed a paycheck. They really didn’t change much of anything I can tell other than the rare internal monologues.
C.J.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve replayed the original Deus Ex. To say I’m excited for the new one would be an understatement.
4jkb4ia
And Stannis is House Baratheon of course. So maybe what I mean to say is you do not sweep the Robert Baratheon family off the board so quickly. You also have to think out what you want to happen to Jaime if his one true love is dead.
Suffern ACE
I got rear ended by a cab, which is about the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in awhile. No damage to me, only minor damage to the car. I don’t much care for that kind of excitement, though.
PeakVT
A good summary of the Republican drive to shrink the vote from the GOS.
nitpicker
I started reading the books because of a post on this site soon after the show started. I’m halfway through the fourth one now and I have to say they are fantastic and, in some ways, a “realistic” take on fantasy. After all, it puts the the chivalrous aspects of swords and sorcery in perspective, but also the real-life effects of war on the “smallfolk,” women, etc. Also, you can never predict who will succeed or fail based on whom you wish would do so, which is an utter delight, considering the predictability of most fiction of this type. The more I read, the braver I think HBO has been in attempting to take on this show, which is guaranteed to piss off anyone who predicts tidy, happy endings. If what I think will happen tonight happens, it will be a true test of whether people are going to be able to handle the tough nature of George R.R. Martin’s vision.
stuckinred
Game 6
jeffreyw
The Right Reverend Mantis warns of calamity, and offers haven to his flock.
arguingwithsignposts
Interesting: Gay Syrian girl blogger turns out to be American man from Edinburgh.
burnspbesq
Still trying to figure out how the US men’s national team managed to lose to Panama. And how Dillon Gee is 7-0 for the Mets, who despite being only one game under .500 still suck.
Little known factoid which makes me laugh: when the Pirates made it to .500 on Wednesday, it was the first time they had reached that mark since 2005. So yes, my team sucks, but your team IS THE SUCK.
MazeDancer
@SiubhanDuinne:
You may know all this, but here are some iPad tips about which I had no clue before having one. (Didn’t have an iPhone or iPod touch then.):
– It’s not a teeny computer. It’s a big iPhone. Don’t think like you would at your regular keyboard. Because:
– Almost all navigation involves pushing the button in the black rim. It’s not intuitive if you think it’s a computer.
– When using Safari, if you click a link, it’s sometimes hard to get back to your original page. First try tapping little icon with a number next to the arrows in top left. That will make a bunch of teeny web pages appear- corresponding in amount to the number – and you can pick the one you want. (To get rid of any page tap the x) If that doesn’t work, push the button, start over, choose Safari, it’ll go back to where you were.
– Get a lot of Apps, they’re fun.
– Netflix streaming is fab. (And if you don’t have it, get it.) But do your browsing and choosing online and load up your Instant Queue because the App search is lousy.
– If your cable company has an App, get it. TV on iPad can be convenient at times.
– It powers down fast. Saves battery. So lots of sliding to unlock.
– Posting to blogs from an iPad is not as pleasant, for fast typists, as it is from a laptop. Twitter is fine, and the Twitter App is also not bad at all.
ETA: Sorry about spacing/readability. WordPress seems to not want to let me double space leading between the lines tonight.
4jkb4ia
@MarshalT:
No excuse, sir. What I spoiled they certainly won’t get to until at least the second or third season.
burnspbesq
@MazeDancer:
Also:
If you’re going to be doing any significant amount of writing or data entry, get the Bluetooth keyboard.
The NY Times app is worth the $20/month. I am trying to move all my magazine and newspaper subscriptions to the iPad as the dead-tree subscriptions expire. Download the Zinio app.
The best radio app I know of is TuneIn Radio.
The best pdf reader app I know of is GoodReader. Great annotation tools!
Brian S
@arguingwithsignposts: Yeah, I’ve got a ranty bit about that going up tomorrow at The Rumpus. Like white males have a problem garnering attention on any and all subjects.
Cliff in NH
I got one of these
Finum Brewing Baskets (large)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I68NCS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1F9RD6TERWKW4CTZFJMZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
for brewing loose leaf teas, it fits nicely into the glass teapot set that I got from my parents
http://www.amazon.com/Primula-Flowering-Tea-40-Ounce-Glass/dp/B000P7506M/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1307922982&sr=1-4
It’s Way Way better than the tiny slots in the one that came with the pot
WyldPirate
Charles Blow “busts” the Obama administration for continuing the asshattery of the War on Drugs/War on Brown People..
snip…
So much for “getting rid of wasteful programs that don’t work”….
stuckinred
@SiubhanDuinne: I just got mine a couple of weeks ago and it’s fine when I’m out of the house. People I work with like the Zagg keyboard/case. I ordered the wrong one, the 2 does not secure into the case for the one but the bluetooth keyboard worked just fine when I tried it. There is a “Friends” app for facebook that works better than using safari. Of you got a verizon and want to sign up for the non-renewal monthly it’s tricky. You have to turn OFF the wireless when you enter your credit card info or it will give you an error message. If you call support they give you to sales and the bullshit you that you have to sign up for the one that becomes part of your account. That also means you cannot check useage on the machine.
The cloud is comin!
JPL
The Tony’s are on and patrick neil harris opened with a number that broadway is not just for gays anymore. Brooke Shield fluffed her part but that added to the amusement.
WyldPirate
@stuckinred:
Is this entitled “LeBrick fails to show again”?
stuckinred
Also Doceri may be good for you if you plan to use it for presentations.
PurpleGirl
@WyldPirate: So much for “getting rid of wasteful pro9grams that don’t work”….
But they do work. They put people in jail. And they create the market for private prisons and profit for the owners.
Skipjack
I read the books and I’ll certainly get the upcoming one, but I have to say I’m enjoying the series in a completely different way. Part of it is the communal feeling of sharing the WTF?!! with people who don’t know what is coming, and I have to say that if you are enjoying the show and have the willpower, hold off on reading the books and spoiling the series. If you’ve managed to avoid the spoilers which just fly fast and furious like I’ve never seen before this one, while recognizing from people like me that the show is very faithful to the source, I think you might be happiest just letting it unfold.
stuckinred
@WyldPirate: I’m betting it doesn’t. They have one every game they’ve had more than one days rest.
stuckinred
Le Bron with the deep 3! With the pick and roll!
WyldPirate
@PurpleGirl:
Closest fucking thing to a “jobs program” Obama has come up with yet…
WyldPirate
@stuckinred:
He’s running out of time to “show up”. I think I counted that he had 9 pts total in the 4th quarter through four games.
Not my definition of “clutch play”.
But what the hell, it’s the only NBA games I watch all year. Just hate that James is bringing new meaning to the term “overrated”.
stuckinred
@WyldPirate: I think you are blinded by personal animosity. I don’t watch this mess till the stretch either and I don’t give a shit who wins but he’s really something. 4 for 4 right now.
Martin
@stuckinred:
That’s going to be a huge upgrade for the iPad.
4jkb4ia
Well, 4jkb4ia, it can’t be ruled out that you ruined John’s good mood last week, and now he has deleted your post. I hope you are proud.
BO_Bill
McDonalds is quiet tonight. I judge that this is because it is just me, paid employees, the manager of the Taco Bell, and some dirty fucking hippie that is only here to use the bathroom. The Taco Bell manager should not eat here, as this is a small town and people talk. One of the McDonalds workers (older female) is surely on anti-depressant drugs and consistently makes a point to converse with me with a huge smile. Now she is waving at someone out the window and blowing them kisses. A reprieve.
SiubhanDuinne
@MazeDancer: This is all very useful, thanks so much!
@burnspbesq: @stuckinred: Likewise!
I did get the Bluetooth keyboard/case and think it will be very useful. Looking forward to playing with new toy.
Thanks again for suggestions. And no notion how long this will take to get through FYWP approvals as I’m using a new email ID.
Nate Dawg
I’m eagerly anticipating GoT too. Big fan of the books, so nothing was spoiled. Can’t wait to see the reactions to the finale next week even more!
JGabriel
@4jkb4ia: AV Club has a weekly write-up for people who have already read the books. Just click on the link, if you’re interested in a blog where readers are expected to already be spoilered.
.
#117
John, I am a long time reader, I have never commented before. However, there something you need to know about Game of Thrones before you start to read them. This is not a spoiler for the books. Like you I was impatient and started to read the series. Love them! But, it is a WORK IN PROGRESS, book five is due out in July and apparently there is to be a book six. It was 6 years between book 4 and the upcoming book 5. The books are wonderful, I am anxiously waiting the 5th and will probably read them again. However, WIP’s can be an exercise in frustration.
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
You are going to have a lot of fun.
If you have not otherwise visited, I recommend a couple of sites, ilounge and AppAdvice. There are lots of places, but these two have a lot of good practical advice. There is also an AppAdvice app.
Quick Use Tips. When you have scrolled through a long post, if you tap the top (e.g. “Balloon Juice – Sunday Night Open Thread”) you will quickly return to the top.
There’s a list of keyboard shortcuts out there. Press and hold the , and you get an apostrophe. Press and hold the . and you get quotation marks. Etc.
Agree that a bluetooth keyboard is good for longer compositions, though I admit I have become used to keying on the iPad and don’t use my bluetooth keyboard as much. You might see how it goes before plunking down your cash.
Agree about the TuneIn radio app and Goodreader (although iAnnotate is also good). Great world of apps out there, especially NPR, This American Life, TED (you can save videos for later), Rachel Maddow just to name a few. Can’t leave out another music/radio app, Pandora.
You might see if some writing and note taking apps such as iWriter and Simplenote work for you. I use iWriter for drafts of longer blog posts. And I really like iWriter’s version of the onscreen keyboard.
And the Deity did good work when He or She or They let Dropbox be created. Until we see what iCloud does, this is essential if you need to move around between your iPad, your desktop or laptop and your smartphone.
Lastly, I also recommend the IPad Today podcast, part of Leo Laporte’s TWIT stuff. This comes in audio and video flavors. It’s usually on live on Thursday and the podcast is released later.
Have fun.
Comrade Kevin
This just reminded me that I forgot to watch last week’s episode. Guess I’ll need to watch that first, then watch this week’s when It appears on-demand tomorrow.
Yutsano
Yay happy puppeh news.
It’s funny how I’m really slowly cleaning my condo one chunk at a time but now it’s starting to look almost habitable. I have a messy active kitten what can I say?
(although the kitchen is pretty much my fault.)
WaterGirl
@Martin: Martin, does this mean you have recovered from your bout with shingles and are feeling good?
stuckinred
@WaterGirl: How are you doing? I’m looking at google earth for our trip to c-u and I’m going to be lost!
ant
i read these books something like 10 years ago.
Martin has totally dropped the ball for his fans on this series.
I’m kind of frustrated with him about this.
Will wait till netflicks has it for viewing when i want to see them on my schedule.
guachi
Glad you are enjoying a TV show and get to share that enjoyment with us, John. :)
My sister doesn’t let her kids watch TV. And I think… story telling is one thing that sets humans apart from every other animal. Why deny your kids a quintessential part of humanity told in it’s most common medium?
MazeDancer
@burnspbesq:
Good tips!
But one warning about the magazine thing. The magazine files are GIGANTIC. They’ll eat your storage. The current ways to make magazines for iPad – like Adobe software – make monster files. (Found this out investigating making smaller circ private ones for clients. We stuck with PDF’s for now. And FYI, the only interactive PDF viewer is iBooks. Good Reader doesn’t allow clicking on internal PDF links.)
stuckinred
@guachi: Because then they get to sound so DEEP when they say, “we don’t have TV”!
stuckinred
@MazeDancer: iCloud
stuckinred
Perry, a prominent conservative long at odds with President Barack Obama’s stand on reproductive rights and stem cell research, spoke Sunday to a mostly Hispanic crowd of about 5,000 at a Los Angeles anti-abortion rally.
Perry said the direction of stem cell research under the Obama administration was “turning the remains of unborn children into nothing more than raw material.”
Yutsano
@stuckinred: I’ll never bring up my lack of TV again.
Comrade Kevin
@stuckinred: Soylent Green?
Brachiator
@WyldPirate:
Yawn. Major governments all over are getting their chops busted over the war on drugs. Something is in the air.
Both prime minister Cameron and deputy PM Clegg had made some noises about ending the war on drugs before the last big round of UK elections, but now seem as stuck in stupid mode as everyone else.
Southern Beale
An African American Republican writes:
Racist cartoon of Obama forces me to leave GOP
patrick II
Tonight I will be watching one of the final few episodes of “The Killing” on AMC. I am only mentioning this because I just looked at Hulu and the first 11 full episodes are there … it is not a show you want to jump into this late. It is a season long serial about a single murder of a young woman. It stars the remarkable actress Mirelle Enos as detective Sarah Linden.
I find these long form television shows have some of the best dramatic writing available on the screen. This show has the time to develop as both a police procedural and as a character study. So, I recommend it.
MikeJ
@Southern Beale: Unrelated, but the NYT travel section today was all about eating local in Seattle. Might want to give it a look before your trip.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Anything good or just fluffing up Tom Douglas?
Martin
@WaterGirl: Oh yes. the meds did the trick. I laid low last weekend and just puttered here and there but the last of the symptoms was gone earlier this week. Dr said I can get the shot next time I’m in – don’t want to repeat that.
stuckinred
Brian Tong on IOS5 Tabbed browsing in Safari but NO music streaming?
Xantar
Forget Cersei. When are they going to kill Sansa?
Svensker
John, you have to read the books. They are just excellent. Period. Read. Them.
MikeJ
@Yutsano: One mention of a Douglas restaurant and no mention of his name. I haven’t been to the new one, which is the one they talked about. I do like his others. I don’t hold him being on TV all the time against the food, which is generally pretty good.
stuckinred
@Martin: God no, I got them on my head and in my eye when I was finishing my diss. Made it hard to lay low!
Brachiator
@Southern Beale:
It will be interesting to see whether more blacks, Latinos, women and gays leave the GOP. The Republicans have pretty much made it clear that they are going to double down on retrograde economic and social policy. They have happily purged moderates. It is amazing to see them destroy themselves as they attempt to regain the Congress and the presidency.
Greyjoy
Indeed, the books are not to be missed. I also disagree that GRRM dropped the ball for his fans. Unless, of course, you mean that he’s taken umpteen years to finally come out with the next book, in which case I totally see your point. But I have confidence that it’ll be just as good as the others–at least, I hope so. And let’s face it, GRRM’s now getting a ton of attention for that series and has that much more motivation to continue and to maintain the bar he has set. I wonder if there’s a record for the longest time a book’s been out vs. the point at which it makes the best-seller’s list?
Personally, even if the first post spoiled things a bit for you (I arrived post-edit so I don’t know what was said), don’t let it stop you. The books are so epic in scope that even knowing what’s going to happen doesn’t stop the awesomeness.
If you want to see the ultimate ball-dropping and fan-shortchanging, find a FREE copy of Jean Auel’s conclusion to her “Clan of the Cave Bear” series, “Land of Painted Caves”. That book sucks so bad it practically has its own event horizon.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat at Serious Pie in a heartbeat. It just seems like he’s sucking up a lot of the culinary oxygen up here. Which is a shame since there’s a shit ton of creative voices doing neat stuff with food. Any Wild Ginger talk-up?
stuckinred
@Yutsano: I grilled pineapple for the princess tonight after we went to the new Woody Allen movie!
Keith G
Any folks here know of any bloggers/writers who are on top of the high speed rail debate?
I have been looking up sources to deal with this
http://www.newgeography.com/content/002275-high-speed-rail-subsidies-iowa-nothing-something
(sent by my rightist bro)
I have found some good info, but feel I am missing something.
Yutsano
@stuckinred: I ordered in Thai after the massive house cleaning binge. I figured I have the right to be lazy after working my tail off all day. Plus the place is starting to look semi-decent. It’ll never be clean enough for my mother however.
stuckinred
@Yutsano: Oh boy, we had the gender/cleaning flame war already this week!
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
In the midst of an otherwise great weekend, I came to find out that my stupid fucking redneck divorcing white trash neighbor let his dog die from the heat about ten days ago, I came to learn today. The dog was not on a good trajectory, and was destined to be put down for behavioral reasons. I know that his mother must have been lying about coming to feed and water him daily (or he’d been getting inadequate provision), but it bugs the shit out of me that this happened 100 feet from my garage and he never asked me to look out for the animal, nor did he tell me he’d be out of town.
Stupid, redneck motherfucker is blaming his estranged wife instead of his mom, who really dropped the ball. It was 95 degrees here then – I’d have gotten the dog some water and food – repeatedly, had I known.
Hell, I even told him to call a rescue when he split from his wife and she took the kids, but he didn’t. Asshole.
Jewish Steel
Why is a 13 month old baby in any kind of position to break a looking glass in the first place? I mean, I’m not going to call DCFS or anything, but you might want to have your people look into that, Stevie.
burnspbesq
@stuckinred:
That video cracked me up, especially the part where Jobs’ slides referred to 256k AAC as an “upgrade.”
stuckinred
@burnspbesq: I love Apple Byte, he has done a bit too much silly side shit lately but the dude has great info and is not afraid to ID the “bad apple” when called for.
burnspbesq
@stuckinred:
I’m so not interested in music streaming. Here’s my question for any streaming or cloud music service: can you stream 96/24 AIFF files to me when I’m sitting on a plane 35,000 feet over the middle of an ocean? No? Get back to me when you can.
stuckinred
@burnspbesq:Yea, it would sure eat up the minutes!
MikeJ
@Yutsano: He stuck with new places. He mentioned Herb Garden but only by way of saying he wasn’t going there so he could stick to the new.
MazeDancer
@stuckinred:
Oh, interesting point about iCloud.
Wonder if the magazine files can stay on the iCloud? Each mag is its own App. Not exactly the same as standardized MP3’s that can all be played by iTunes no matter what the label or artist. There is, currently, no Apple iMag that every pub uses. (And Adobe probably hopes there never will be.) The huge file size was causing some mags to wonder how subscriptions were gonna work. Guess it will all unfold over time.
Southern Beale
@Yevgraf (fka Michael):
Damn. He shouldn’t be allowed to own another animal! Wonder if there’s some kind of action you can take?
i’ve heard of people going out of town and leaving their dogs on apartment porches, no food or water. I mean jesus, people are thinking what? That the animal will die and they won’t have to do it, just let it suffer but they won’t have to hear it? WTF?
People are brutes.
Mike in NC
This show just gets better and better. We’re totally addicted. Thought tonight’s episode was the season finale but that’s next Sunday.
stuckinred
@MazeDancer: I don’t know, it says apps but I don’t know what that means about the content therein?
stuckinred
Heat down 9 with 12 to go.
stuckinred
Dirk 4 of 20 from the field. Let’s see if he gets hammered as a choker?
Jewish Steel
@stuckinred: I certainly don’t loathe the Heat like I did the Pistons of the 80s or the Knicks and Heat of the 90s, but neither do I want to see them win.
So I’m rooting for Mark Cuban’s team? Eesh.
Jewish Steel
@stuckinred: But Dallas has got Miami jump shooting. Good D.
stuckinred
@Jewish Steel: Yea, sometimes you just hope for a really good game. Berea is killin it.
Jewish Steel
@stuckinred: Berea! He is cruising around the paint unmolested.
stuckinred
@Jewish Steel: They can’t catch him.
WyldPirate
@Brachiator:
Brachiator, I’m not foolish enough to think that the “War on Drugs” can be ended in one fell swoop. It’s not going to be because too many of the PTB make too much money from it laundering the profits and using it as a campaign issue.
My beef lies with the fact that one would think that if anyone would be aware of the damage the WOD has visited upon African-American community–along with the fact that we have ample evidence from history that Prohibition movements are a.) fruitless and b’) cause more damage than they prevent–it would be Obama. Hell, had he been busted with a little herb or nose candy, he likely wouldn’t have gone from that little CC in Cali to Columbia and Harvard.
I knew Obama was nothing more than a self-serving, typical politician when he had the Internet Q&A at the start of his administration and he ridiculed the top questions–which dealt with the legalization/further decriminalization of marijuana. I fell for the BS. He’s no different than any other politician as he’s willing to lie through his teeth to get elected.
I won’t fall for it again. I’ll vote for him as the lesser of two evils available, but I won’t lift a finger or give a single minute of my time or a red cent to help him get re-elected; especially when he seems comfortable waging war on his own people.
PeakVT
@Keith G: I recommend CAHSRBlog which frequently debunks general HSR attacks. I believe the work of Cox has been addressed of those efforts.
Regarding the link you provided, I’d note 1) he doesn’t provide a link (that I can find) to the actual proposal, so it’s hard to say if he’s characterizing it correctly, 2) any bus company gets significant subsidies via the Interstate Highway System, which was built mostly with funds provided by individual drivers, but also with general income taxes, 3) he implicitly assumes BAU in regard to oil prices, which I think is foolish.
An anti-rail and anti-HSR stance has become yet another tribal identity issue on the right, and thus not really something that can be discussed rationally. Take that into account when talking to your brother.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
If it’s going to be your main device, consider springing for a bluetooth keyboard. An old friend’s daughters gave her an iPad 2 for her birthday last month, and she has been raving about it–as well as the Apple bluetooth keyboard she got along with it.
She has become addicted to the streaming video; I get almost daily reports on Pawn Stars now. Shudder.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
@WyldPirate:
.
.
Fortunately, as a previous illegal drug user, President Obama understands the importance of putting all such scofflaws in the hoosegow to prevent their future employment as government officials.
.
.
Villago Delenda Est
Has anyone done a lot of checking out of Old Republic? I’m getting the general impression that it’s WoW with lightsabers. I’ve already played a very poor WoW knockoff with lightsabers, called SWG:NGE, thank you.
It seems that every major MMO release is “WoW without the polish”, which means why leave WoW? SWG classic was very different from what came out as WoW, and I loved it for that. When I first started playing WoW, after SWG “WoWized” itself with the “Combat Upgrade”, I was shocked at how much SWG deliberately changed their game to be like WoW, except without the polish and the relative bug-free aspects of WoW.
Which was the attraction. These guys see WoW become a phenomenon, and their reaction is NOT to be as polished and have the ease of game play of WoW, but to instead copy their graphics in the hopes that the consumer won’t be able to tell the difference.
Steeplejack
@4jkb4ia:
Still a douche move on your part.
burnspbesq
Miami cannot afford any more empty possessions.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Jewish Steel: I do want to see LeBron win a championship but not this year.(I am a Cleveland Sports fan) This will be the longest 2:27 in Dallas’ sports history.
Martin
@burnspbesq: iCloud can. Just don’t sign up for the music match service and use your own files. You’re gonna pay on storage for CD level compression, though.
But let’s be honest here, the only way you’re going to hear any difference between your files and 256K AAC at 35,000 feet is if your flight is 4 minutes from catastrophic landing.
stuckinred
Now he fucking shoots!
stuckinred
How many days till football?
NobodySpecial
@Villago Delenda Est: The last MMORPG I checked out was Champions:Online. To this day I’m still mystified as to how WoW became the phenomenon it did, other than that base of rabid Blizzard fanboys.
Mr Stagger Lee
TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, THE PARTY’S OVER!!!! And that sound of laughter you hear is coming from Cleveland. Oh BTW Go Canucks!
shortstop
@stuckinred: My mom got them on her head and has been struggling for six months to fully recover. That shit is nothing to mess with.
Mr Stagger Lee
@stuckinred: Now with the NBA finals are over the spotlight falls on the NFL, sure you got the U.S. Open and the All-Star game, but fans will now exert some heat on the owners and the players. Eight game season NFL owners GTFO!
Martin
@MazeDancer: There are a few outfits working on HTML5 tools for magazine layout which should deliver what’s needed. The Daily was a good lurch forward on that front. More will come.
But the magazine apps should all work fine with iCloud, in two ways. Initially, you can just re-sync the app from the cloud with all the content. That should work on day one. Eventually, because iCloud has API hooks for applications, the magazines should allow you to push/pull the magazine content itself from iCloud, which should be a better experience.
Jewish Steel
@stuckinred: @Mr Stagger Lee:
Oof. Dallas really put em away there at the end.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
I watch very little NBA, but the few minutes I watched tonight showed a Miami team that acted surprised the season wasn’t cancelled at the beginning and the title granted to them by default. Down by 7-12 points with a few minutes left they play the same collapsing defense that NBA teams play every night for six months.
ant
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
lol
Martin
@Keith G: 45MPH? That’s bullshit. The upgrades bring the train speeds to 110. It’s 230 out here in CA.
The problem all of the high-speed systems run into is that freight has right-of-way across most of the country. A proper high-speed buildout will require laying down a 2nd pair of tracks as a dedicated passenger service.
What you’re missing is that nobody on the right is questioning why we spend hundreds of billions per year building out interstate road networks that would be cheaper to do with rail, or why we build out so much road capacity when buses are 10x as efficient at road use as autos. Why should bus riders have to pay extra taxes to subsidize car owners?
HG Hay
Love Game of Thrones. I just ordered the books but I’ve heard really bad things about book 4, both from amazon reviews and friends – the phrase “slog through” comes up a lot.
Royston Vasey
After 7,000 aftershocks since the Feb 22 earthquake, Christchurch NZ has just been hit by a 5.5 and a 6.0 aftershock. Even more damage, even more very frightened people.
No news of causulties yet. I’ll post if I hear anything.
Tony in NZ
WyldPirate
@stuckinred:
Told you so…Le Brick is overrated.
Suffern ACE
So the lesbian who had been writing dispatches from Syria reporting on the revolt is a 40-year-old man from Georgia living in Scotland, who can’t be shunned by society quickly enough. I am not interested in hearing his story, but I’m sure it will be reported anyway.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/syrian-lesbian-blogger-tom-macmaster
MazeDancer
@Martin:
Good to hear that iCloud will store the mags. That would make subscribing much more appealling.
Suffern ACE
@Mr Stagger Lee:
I am honestly starting to think that this is a conspiracy by the other owners who don’t want to lose to the Packers again this year. Chickens.
NobodySpecial
@Suffern ACE: Nonsense, it’s a conspiracy to not allow the Lions to have a winning season.
Steeplejack
I had a pleasant Zen interlude earlier this evening when the power went out from about 6:00 to 9:00. Sat in the gathering dusk and finished reading a novel while drinking some Merlot. Realized how peaceful it was without the usual background murmur of the TV and the lure of the Internet to check on “what’s going on right now.”
Of course, I’m back on line now, but there was some semi-deep insight there, I swear. Maybe need to declare an “info-free” zone for at least a little while each day.
Comrade Kevin
Is there anyone going to Nutroots Nation next week who might be interested in a Balloon Juice meet-up?
Yutsano
@Mr Stagger Lee:
A to the fucking Men brother. If Vancouver wins it all tomorrow night business there will stop for at least a week.
4jkb4ia
In an outstanding development, Jason Kidd has a ring. Which clearly is not a spoiler.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: That’s just too cool for school, Steepman.
@Yutsano: GO, BRUINS! (Better unis).
WaterGirl
@Martin: Oh, that is so great!
Joel
Who doesn’t love some schadenfreude? Watching the Heat go down was perfect. Even better that it’s David Stern’s most loathed owner hoisting the title. I hope that corrupt bastard enjoys himself some heartburn.
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
@Southern Beale:
His mommy was supposed to be taking care of the dog while he was off at a convention on his joke of an occupation/hobby.
It was 95 – the dog needed more than one visit a day and small bowl of water. I keep my (mostly) inside dog hydrated more than
My garage and drive stand within a hundred feet of that dog enclosure – I feel so bad about it. It wouldn’t have been a problem.
WaterGirl
@stuckinred: Hey, Stuckinred, I’m pretty good, I was kind of out of it last week – air conditioning broke on our first 97 degree day, the house was so hot for days that I couldn’t even think, spent the week getting bids (between 5-8k, major ouch) and Bear died, which was very hard. She was a once in a lifetime dog, so that’s been rough.
So I missed the news of your upcoming trip! When are you coming out? I imagine lots of things have changed – how long since you’ve been here? If you weren’t here for the development of north prospect, you are not going to be happy about that.
Skipjack
Did anyone see any part of the Tonys? I was flipping between that and the Mavs-Heat game, while recording Game of Thrones. I have to say a great night to be plugged into US culture, though the Tonys were the place to be. So much talent and joy crammed into one tiny broadcast. No real surprises to me, but I’m sure lots of fans once removed will be glad The Book of Mormon took it for Best Musical.
Yutsano
Surfing geese. Also. Too.
Brachiator
@WyldPirate:
I was going to respond to your entire post, but you last paragraph has me seething. To be blunt, I don’t think you give a shit about black people, and I tire of supposed progressives who use black people to score cheap ideological points. It is a long, despicable tradition in the American liberal movement, noted in succession by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, among others.
And this lesser of two evils shit. There is a class of idiot progressives who want to engage in mindless in-fighting and act as though the world only consists of progressive true believers and apostates. Meanwhile, conservatives truly believe that they can make overt racism respectable again and not only blatantly appeal to the worst instincts of their base, but also engage in the most despicable revisionist history. I recently re-watched an episode of the Rachel Maddow Show in which Haley Barbour tried to claim that he represented a new kind of Southern Republican, even noting that he went to an integrated college. But he sent his children to segregation academies and there were only a small handful of blacks at Ole Miss when he attended.
And then we get to the GOP attack on women and gays and Latinos, especially at the state level.
And you have the freakin’ nerve to talk about the lesser of two evils? Either your life is pretty cozy, or you are suicidal.
Again, we come again to the old union song, “Which side are you on, which side are you on?”
Choose. Work to get more progressives in the Congress. But don’t you dare talk to me about the lesser of two evils.
2liberal
i started reading the book. It started with some character getting killed. In one sentence the writer had this person very freshly dead, in the next had maggots writhing in his eyes. Just bad writing. The writer lost me right there and I haven’t read the book.
Greyjoy
Some middle-aged guy was pretending to be a young lesbian online? No wai.
asiangrrlMN
@Brachiator: All of this, Brachiator. Every goddamn word.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
@Brachiator:
.
.
First, you say this –
Then you say this –
So here’s what I say to you –
Again, we come again to the old union song, “Which side are you on, which side are you on?” Choose.
That’s right, dummy. The lesser of two evils is obviously the progressives you despise so much. So which side are you on? Choose. Now.
p.s. Oh, and one more thing… Don’t you dare talk to me about the lesser of two evils.
.
.
Jewish Steel
@Brachiator: Word. Co-signed.
Walker
@Villago Delenda Est:
I know several people on the development team. The correct description is “WoW with storyline”. Think Mass Effect level dialog. Where your party members can interrupt into the conversation and effect its outcome.
moe99
So, John, what did you think of the penultimate episode of GoT’s first season? I’m all wrung out, to be honest, and I’ve read the books!
Yutsano
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
I’ll just resolve to not talking to you at all.
Cliff in NH
so how ’bout that weather?
90’s and AC one day, Fire tonight.(well, just a little one, I ain’t payin for that bloody overpriced propane in f’n June)
Ignore the trolls.
Joel
@Brachiator: I heart this post.
Brachiator
@asiangrrlMN:
@Jewish Steel:
@Joel: Thank you all very much.
jurassicpork
I’m glad to hear that Fenway will make it. Since I’m Red Sox fan, I was praying especially hard for him.
Anyway, for those of you just tuning in, Mrs. JP & I really have our backs against the wall. Details are here but here are the abstracts: Last Monday (D-Day) the MA DOR took our rent money and then some out of our bank and had levied my checking account. So until it goes to arbitration and we get our money back, we’ll have no chance of paying our rent for June. Needless to say, we’re wide-eyed with panic.
kdaug
Got an interview this afternoon to go work on TOR.
~470 person team, though. That’s insane.
hamletta
Fuck whoever sent me to This Isn’t Happiness.
Fucking genius time suck.
Bobby Thomson
My biggest complaint with the show is that the few female characters who are strong and not evil have been scaled back or changed to passive observers. (Martin has a bit of a Madonna-whore complex, but the TV writers are even worse.)
Case in point: Arya’s reaction in the final scene of last night’s episode was decidedly different in the book.