Wednesday Brings a New PC

It'll be like Christmas in April!

What's weird is that the PSU (and only the PSU) shipped from Tennessee so it'll be here tomorro, while the rest of the order is coming in 3 boxes from California and is on-time to be delivered Wednesday (they're in Kentucky at the moment).

I can't wait to boot up Hellgate again with DX10 running (yes, I'm giving Vista a shot), and then come May... it's Conan time! Aye, here's hoping all the parts are in working order and this $830 was well spent.

In other Bildo-licious news... there's not much to talk about. I'm knee deep in TTH work and homework, though I only have 4 more weeks of classes before I'm done with this degree and with schooling for a good long while. And you know what that means... time to look for a day job as a Web Designer and Developer! Go me!

Not that I'm not happy with my current gig, but my heart belongs to this blend of art and tech we call Web Design, and I can't wait to make a living doing it. So wish me luck in that aspect. I'm nearly done with my first privately contracted design job, so that's good news too. Anything to continue to build the portfolio.

Hmm... not much else to report I'm afraid. Like I said, until Conan up and launches I've got nothing for you folks except these random updates and the occasional editorial rant. But I thank you all the same for continuing to stop by.

Cheers!

It's Time.

Tax return... sweet, sweet, sweet tax return.

I've placed the order for my new PC with Newegg. Everything's going smoothly until...

DENIED?!

Turns out my bank will automatically deny large suspicious online charges, like buying a new PC from Newegg. So now I have to call Newegg at 11am EST and have them do a 3-way call with the bank to manually authorize the purchase.

Sigh... will update soon with final verification that the damned thing is done with.

UPDATE: So it turned out not to be an issue on the US Bank side of things. They had it unblocked the whole time yet for some reason it was returning denials to Newegg. Got the authorization code from US Bank, called Newegg again and had them try one more time with the authorization code...

SUCCESS!

New PC, barring any stocking issues, should ship out of the warehouse today and on its way to my humble abode... where it shall be built and played with forever more.

Huzzah!

ADDITIONAL ASIDE: Newegg's customer service? Great. Speed? Great. But they charged my account twice because of the authorization code doohickey being needed to force the purchase through and apparently "that's just how these things work".

Luckily, my bank says they'll simply remove any overdraft fees that might occur during the few days it'll take Newegg to refund my money, or I'd be one majorly pissed Bildo right now. Instead, I'm just slightly pissed at what hassle today has been.

This system better rock hard.

Bloggers and Press... Yes, That Debate Again.

No, don't worry this has nothing to do with NDAs. I'm not here to preach, but rather to bring to light a recent story in the newest issue of WIRED magazine.

On page 106 of the April issue, there's a story all about the rising popularity and controversy surrounding Blogs and their place as press. The article focuses on rival blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, and goes on to highlight their competitive natures and antics at this year's CES.

Now, while I'm sure most of my readers might be aware of this fact, Engadget is usually regarded as the tamer of the two sites, approaching blogging with a more traditionally press-like demeanor, while Gizmodo tends toward the more irrevrant and some would say less professional approach. However, regardless of any differences they might have, the two sites share one thing in common: a butt-load of readers. By all counts, these two sites are the HBO and Showtime of technology blogs. They're always battling each other, and you can always count on them to bring you the news you want about whatever new piece of tech is out there.

But the article brings to question whether or not Blogs like Gizmodo and Engadget will ever truly be accepted as part of the press... especially when the former often produces an image of immaturity (Gizmodo's CES TV-Be-Gone prank warranted many a harsh e-mail, comment, and even bans from future CES events). However, when reading the article, I couldn't help but feel a hint of pride for the guys at Gizmodo.

I know it was unprofessional, but I think that's why I like Gizmodo. I think that's why they manage to distinguish themselves from Engadget and why both sites are able to flourish. It also happens to be why Kotaku is so popular among gamers. That is to say, Gizmodo knows how to write for their audience because they are their own audience. I'm not saying everyone who reads Gizmodo or Engadget is an 18-20 something male who enjoys the pranks and goofy editorial streak the former is known for, but I am saying that a vast majority of both sites' readers fall under that label... myself included.

These blogs, all media, even the stuff you might find boring is a form of entertainment. There are millions of different kinds of entertainment in this world. My grandmother got her jollies from depressing local nightly news, while my grandfather got his from naps between thw 1st and 18th holes on ESPN. My mom can't get enough country music, and my dad has a weird obsession with anything USMA. To each their own, right?

So then I say, how dare the current members of the press try and exclude sites like Gizmodo or Engadget from their exclusive little club. Hell, even the Inquirer is press... because it fulfills the need of those people out there who prefer to read about Dolly Parton's failed lip implants over what's going on in Saudi territory these days.

I'll end this, as I know by now I've probably lost all my readers in this rant. Gizmodo, Engadget, 1up, Kotaku, Tobold, Keen, Darren... even me. I'm making this claim now, and I'll stand by it... even when I've long been proven wrong by someone who knows infinitely more than I.

We are press. We serve up news. We offer opinions to willing readers. We write for the public even if that public is five people every week. We are the media. We just have the added luxury of not being bought and sold... yet. Gizmodo and Engadget? They're professionals while we may be hobbyists. But that doesn't make me any different than them. Even if no one reads this, it's still an editorial isn't it?

Yep folks... I'm changing sides I think. It's time for me to flip-flop as I so famously do. The bloggers are press, even most of us never see a dime for our work.

Cheers!

Couple of New Lost In Hyboria Strips

Just wanted to poke my head in and let you know that I posted a new strip last week at this link...

"Beach Boys"

And I just posted the 2nd official strip at this link...

"The Impotent Blade"

Have a laugh (either at the joke or at my pathetic expense) on me.

Cheers!

This week will be it... I can feel it.

This is the week, I swear it will be. This will be the week where the purchase is made and tiny parts of a new PC all make their way out to my house. We just have to get the IRS to hurry up and make that deposit is all. I wonder if they take special rush orders?

Anyway, on the gaming side there still really hasn't been much to talk about. I'm working on lots of things for Ten Ton Hammer, finishing up school, and my first paid design project... so really, I've been keeping quite busy.

I did have Codemasters' Overlord for the 360 last week, but I ended up returning it by the weekend. Not because it was bad by any real stretch of the imagination, but because I realized I don't have time for it right now. I'll be cancelling my Gamefly account before the end of the month until after Conan launches, but there's still time for one or two more game trials before then.

Next up? The Simpsons Game... which I'm greatly looking forward to. I heard the camera is absolute crap, but regardless it's the Simpsons. The yellow family's show houses some of my favorite childhood memories, and some of my favorite NES games to boot, so I'm stoked.

Anyway, that's all I have to report right now. I'm afraid I'm a bit boring leading up to the release of Conan, but hopefully soon we'll have plenty to chat about.

Cheers!

Turning off Anonymous Commenting for Now...

It seems between Tobold and I, there's a mutual hater that feels compelled to attack our comment sections. Odd? Yes. Childish? You bet. Completely a waste of said person's time? Definitely.

So to save him or her or them all the frustration, I've turned off anonymous commenting for now. Hope this doesn't drive away any of my regular commenters. If you'd like to say something here, you'll have to make a Blogger account (which is free) and sign in.

That's the way the cookie crumbles I'm afraid.

I am like, so totally hurt...

I looked in my mailbox this morning to see this anonymous post:

Bildo, you just lost the last bit of respect that I had for you. This blog was such a schoolgirl type of thing that I'm removing your blog from my favorites. Ass. I hate people like you as much as I hate bad leakers, the kind that only sees one side of the story, and one side only.

Now normally, I'll just ignore this sort of thing and move on, but I feel compelled to comment back and mayube invite some more discussion on the topic.

The poster of this comment left it on this post... which is now over a month old. I'm not sure how much of a "favorite" my blog could be if 6 weeks later he's just now reading this old post. Maybe he was new around here though. Maybe he was the person who posted said Beta Leak, now famously catalogued at Common Sense Gamer. I dunno. Maybe he just doesn't like it when bloggers state an opinion that differs from his own. I'm sure we'll both find other people. Life does move on, even through trials like this.

No to the topic at hand: said beta NDA leak and my chastising of the person who did it here. I stand by that post. I stand by the belief that beta testers have a responsibility to their fellow gamer geeks to uphold the NDAs they agree to. It's not committing murder when you break it, no. But it does reflect badly on the entire gaming community when JUST ONE person comes out of the beta and publicly lambasts a game that's still in testing and months away from release.

It's no secret now that the game in question is Age of Conan. Massively even reported on the beta leak. It's also no secret that I'm working for Age of Conan @ Ten Ton Hammer these days. So now, when the person who left that comment saw my post, don't you think they'd put it all together and realize that I wasn't only making a personal opinion piece out of that article, but also defending the game I'm now devoted to for the next so many months? I mean really... before you post a rude comment on my blog take some time to think.

And as for seeing BOTH sides of the issue. I do. I really do. Now, I'm not condoning breaking the NDA for any game. But if you really want to do it, do so towards your friends, your family, your work buddies. Don't go to a large as f**k public forum seeking attention and causing trouble for the game companies who actually (perhaps too idealistically so) expect you to uphold your part of an online agreement.

Yep, there are definitely two sides to the issue, but I still am pretty damn positive that I'm on the side of NOT breaking the NDA. I don't really see a reason why I should convert, either. Maybe, it's the fact that I play a Lawful Neutral character when it comes to D&D... who knows.

I'm sory for ranting folks, but I had to get this off my chest this morning when I saw the anonymous comment. Perhaps I've already done the offender a favor by bringing light to what he wrote, but whatever. That felt good.

I still think Tipa said it best about the whole NDA thing:

When you sign an NDA, you are making a pact with a company that you KNOW you will be seeing an unfinished game with placeholder assets, broken things, crashes, unbalanced elements, and all that sort of stuff. You agree to find these things and try to help the company make the game better so that everything works well, is playable and fun, by the time they throw open the doors to the public.

If you don’t feel this is the sort of thing you can do — don’t sign the NDA, don’t play the beta, and just wait to play it in its finished form just like the rest of us.

Betaleaks — bad idea.

Cheers!