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For a country with only 1.3 million people, Estonia has a hell of an art scene. There are several good museums and galleries and a lively round of readings and exhibition openings.
One of the biggest names in the Estonian art scene is Raoul Kurvitz. He's been big for a few decades now, producing a steady output of installation pieces, experimental films and paintings. Right now KUMU, the Art Museum of Estonia, has dedicated an entire floor to his work.
While I'm a hard sell with contemporary art (see my ambivalent response to Damien Hirst) I found Kurvitz's work consistently challenging and innovative. He ranges from accessible videos like this cover of Jesse Colin Young's "Darkness Darkness" to weird art happenings that leave the viewers scratching their heads and feeling slightly disturbed.
This is an artist that takes risks for his art. In the 1989 experimental film "When Lord Zarathustra was Young and Polite," he gets flogged by two female assistants and then washed into a Finnish river by an opening sluice gate. In another video he's surrounded by fire. And I have to wonder what that blue paint tasted like when it came out of the fish's belly.
KUMU is an ultramodern building chock full of Estonian art of all periods. What's interesting is how they followed all the great Western traditions such as Impressionism, Cubism and the rest but put their own twist on it. And then there are the mavericks like Edvard Wiiralt who veered off into their own high strangeness.
The literature scene is doing well too. I was lucky enough to meet Piret Raud and Kätlin Kaldmaa, two Estonian authors who gave me the lowdown on writing in a language that only a little more than 900,000 of their countrymen speak. The rest of Estonia's population are native Russian speakers and tend to look eastward for their reading material.
%Gallery-179740%Given such a small readership, you'd think publishing would be all but dead in Estonia, but nothing could be further from the truth. The fall of Communism led to an explosion of publishing houses. Where once there had only been a couple of official state-run publishers, now there's more than a hundred indies. Many are micropresses with only one or two titles, while others are major houses with long lists.
That breath of freedom must have been a relief after decades of Soviet occupation. During those times many Western books and magazines were banned and sailors made a good side income smuggling them in. One of their best sellers, I'm told, was Playboy magazine. Pornography was banned in the Soviet Union. They saw it as Western decadence, I suppose. So admiring the Playmate of the Month became an act of political defiance. The world is a weird place.
Besides reading illegal imports, some Estonian writers bucked the system by participating in the Samizdat movement, writing subversive books and distributing them through a postal network to like-minded individuals. Since the Soviets didn't exactly dole out printing presses with the ration cards, most of these books weren't bound. They'd be typed out with a couple of carbon copies or simply handwritten. Kaldmaa told me some books were even photographed page by page and you'd get a stack of photos in the mail.
I would have loved to meet one of these writers. I write what I feel and all I have to risk is some anonymous coward giving me shit in the comments section. Say what you felt in the Soviet Union and you could end up in a KGB torture chamber. Writers back then had balls.
On my last night in the capital Tallinn I was invited to a poetry reading at Kinokohvik Sinilind, a rambling cafe/bar/arthouse cinema in Old Town. Several poets and a band took turns on the weirdly lit stage doing their stuff while a large crowd listened and chatted. The poetry was all in Estonian, of course, so I listened to the cadence of the words rather than their meaning. An odd experience but a rewarding one.
There were a lot of prominent writers there. Kaldmaa introduced me to a poet who specialized in translating poems from Japanese, Chinese and Korean into Estonian. He spoke French and English too. Scary. I met a whirlwind of others too, at the table or at the bar. Everyone seemed to have their latest book tucked under their arm, all cleverly designed by local talent.
I'm jealous of poets; they always get nicer covers.
Read the rest of my series: "Exploring Estonia: The Northern Baltics In Wintertime."
Coming up next: Eating and Drinking in Estonia!


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Those who have watched its bold, curved stainless steel roofline emerge on the corner of Washington Road and Ivy Lane no doubt believe the Lewis Science Library designed by Frank Gehry will have a distinctive exterior look.
A recent tour of the building's yet unfinished rooms and halls shows an interior to match: glass walls jut down from the ceiling to create an enclosed area surrounded by an atrium; an opening between two floors appears in the shape of a star; large, adjacent walls are painted in such colors as bright blue, orange and chartreuse.
Construction of the 87,000-square-foot facility began in 2004 and is slated to be completed this spring. Offices will move in over the summer, and the building will be fully operational in the fall, according to Henry Thomas, project manager in the Office of Design and Construction. The dedication is planned for Thursday, Nov. 20.
The library initially will house the astrophysics, biology, chemistry, geosciences, mathematics, physics and statistics collections, the map collection and the digital map and geospatial information center. It will occupy primarily the four-level tower and the A level below grade as well as a two-story wing along Washington Road.
The rest of the facility, mainly in a three-story wing along Ivy Lane, will be home to two of Princeton's principal instructional technology support groups in the Office of Information Technology (OIT): the Education Technologies Center and the New Media Center. In addition, it will house a new Broadcast Center operated by OIT and the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering, as well as OIT's computational science and engineering support group.
The building is named for Peter Lewis, a 1955 alumnus, University trustee and chairman of the board of the Progressive Corp. In 2001 he announced that he was making a gift of $60 million to support the construction and the programs of a new science library at Princeton. Gehry, known worldwide for his postmodernist work, has received the Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture.
"From the time that the College of New Jersey [as Princeton was then known] hired Benjamin Latrobe, our country's first professional architect, to rebuild Nassau Hall after its first fire [in 1802], Princeton has been commissioning leading architects in the U.S. and now the world to design buildings that are an integral part of the architectural history of America," said Jon Hlafter, University architect emeritus. "Having a building by Frank Gehry on the campus is a fitting continuation of that legacy."
Integrated approach
The Princeton library's exterior is composed of stainless steel, light-colored brick, glass and stucco. The steel arrived here on coils and was converted to formed panels by local sheet metal fabricators. It has an embossed surface that dulls the finish and diffuses the light. The roofline rises to 103 feet, about half the height of nearby Fine Tower.
The main entrance to the building is on the first level off Ivy Lane. Patrons will enter an area called "the street" that is paved with rose-colored limestone and that features the multi-story atrium. The entrance to the library section of the building is on the first floor off the atrium.
The library is designed to meet the needs of students, faculty and staff better than the previous patchwork of small, discipline-specific science libraries located throughout campus. Stacks on the A level of the new library will connect with the current library in Fine Hall, which will be incorporated into the complex and known as the Lewis Science Library Fine Hall Wing. The astrophysics collection moved into Fine Hall from Peyton Hall in early April. The chemistry library collection will join the Lewis collection this summer, and the psychology collection will be incorporated when that department moves in the future from Green Hall into new quarters south of the Icahn Laboratory.
"We view it as an integrated science library so there's one periodical collection, one reserve," said Dorothy Pearson, associate University librarian for administrative services. "One advantage is that the sciences are becoming more and more interdisciplinary."
Patricia Gaspari-Bridges, head of science and technology libraries, said that in addition to providing an interdisciplinary approach to research, the new library represents a more organized and effective way to manage resources, information and library services.
"The users will have one place to look," said Gaspari-Bridges, who will oversee the new library. "The journals will be in title order, the monographs will be in call number order. We're not going to maintain separate collections. It gives us an opportunity for a more efficient way to shelve the collection and manage the collection. We won't need duplicate subscriptions to journals such as Nature and Scientific American."
From the ground up
Starting from the A level, the room containing the compact stacks also will provide user tables and a small group of carrels. A corridor on that floor will connect the library with the Brush Gallery of Fine Hall. The digital map and geospatial information center will be located in the Fine Hall Wing. Across the hall from the stacks in the library will be the Broadcast Center, which will include a complete video and audio studio that will be available to faculty and students.
The first floor entrance to the library off the atrium will feature a large information desk designed by Gehry with his signature curves. There will be a few stacks containing the library's primary reference collection and new book collection, along with tables and seating. There also will be a tech room with a few computers, a scanner and graphics software to enable patrons to get started on projects. In addition, librarian offices and a workroom will be on this floor.
Two bowl-type classrooms -- one seating about 75 and the other about 50 -- will be located outside the confines of the library on this floor. The wing of the building near Ivy Lane will house the New Media Center, which will be moving from 87 Prospect Ave. The center will more than double its current floor space for workstations that support state-of-the-art software and hardware for creating and manipulating digital objects, such as images and movies.
On the second floor, the library extends out of the tower into the glass-enclosed area that overlooks the atrium. Unbound periodicals will be shelved in this section, including around the star-shaped opening to the floor below. There will be tables and chairs for patrons.
A large room near Washington Road, dubbed "the treehouse" by the architect, will be used for a reading area, with tables and comfortable chairs. With its sizeable canopied windows and clerestories, the space feels like a secret hideaway, perfect for spending a few hours with a good book. The room also may be used on rare occasions for special events.
This floor also includes an electronic classroom and library seminar room. "This will be a big technological improvement, giving us the opportunity to do more with our instructional program," said Gaspari-Bridges. The library regularly runs programs for patrons and staff on such topics as new databases and evaluating Web resources.
Finishing out the library space on the second floor will be a workroom, librarian offices, a copy center and a conference room for staff.
On the second floor of the wing near Ivy Lane will be the Educational Technologies Center, which will move from the Frist Campus Center. The location close to the New Media Center will allow for greater collaboration and integration between its team of Web designers and programmers and the faculty who are increasingly dependent on their services, according to Serge Goldstein, associate chief information officer and director of academic services in OIT.
The third floor of the Ivy Lane wing will house the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering, located in Peyton Hall, and OIT's computational science and engineering support group. These two entities collaborate in supporting a set of research computers and storage and communication devices that have put Princeton at the forefront of institutions that are leveraging high-performance computing to address fundamental problems in science and engineering.
A number of the machines currently housed at 87 Prospect (collectively referred to as the "TIGRESS" facility) will move to the library, freeing up space to support additional operational and research machines. The library also contains space that is expected to be dedicated to the use of visualization technology to help researchers from all parts of the University (including the social sciences and other areas such as architecture) to render, analyze and display data generated by the TIGRESS facility or other sources of high-end visual data.
Back in the tower, the third and fourth floors are intended solely for library patrons. They will contain small classrooms, group study rooms, small computer clusters, carrels and soft seating.
"One of the things the science graduate students mentioned to us in meeting with them was that they would really like a very quiet space with no cell phones, no noise," said Gaspari-Bridges. "This will be the quietest space in the library."
The fourth floor also offers some magnificent views of the Ivy Lane wing's stainless steel roofs below and the campus beyond.

subset: commoncrawl


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Until this past weekend, Romney generally ignored invitations to be interviewed, except on Fox News. Then on Friday night, he did a series of TV talks defending his work at Bain Capital.
NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik was watching.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has always said it's simple: He shouldn't held responsible for what Bain did after 1999, because he had already left the company to run the Salt Lake City Olympics. But on Friday, there he was, participating in his own, particularly grueling pentathlon; five interviews, five networks, one afternoon - as here with CNN's Jim Acosta.
JIM ACOSTA: Why didn't you clear this up sooner?
MITT ROMNEY: Well, I was the owner of an entity that is filing that information. But I had no role, whatsoever, in the management of Bain Capital after February of 1999.
FOLKENFLIK: Just as every Olympic telecast involves a breakdown of the tape, let's slow this down so you can see the artistry and technique involved. In recent days, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones magazine, and the Boston Globe reported that Romney had been head of his private equity firm, Bain Capital, three years longer than he claimed. At least, that's what Bain told the federal government, as Boston Globe editor-in-chief Marty Baron explains.
MARTY BARON: What we found were that there were documents that were filed by Bain Capital with the Securities and Exchange Commission that listed him as the sole stockholder of Bain, as the chairman of the board, as the chief executive officer, and as the president - and those filings went up all the way to 2002. And so that's what we reported.
FOLKENFLIK: Romney drew a paycheck as CEO too. The Obama campaign had previously attacked Romney for what they said was outsourcing jobs while at Bain. The scrutiny from the Globe and others allowed Democrats to renew those charges as campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter did on a conference call with reporters on Thursday.
STEPHANIE CUTTER: Mitt Romney was in full control of Bain Capital through 2002, and, therefore, directly responsible for whether it's outsourcing, bankrupting...
FOLKENFLIK: Cutter even suggested it might have been a felony to file false papers. It does beggar common sense to think a company's officially designated CEO, chairman, and sole shareholder has no influence over it. But when I spoke to two of the nation's foremost authorities on corporate governance and securities law - that's Columbia University's John Coffee and the University of Delaware's Charles Elson - both said the document's significance had been overblown. Yet on Friday, President Obama gave another twist of the screw in an interview with WJLA TV in Washington.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I think most Americans figure if you're the chairman, CEO, and president of a company, that you are responsible for what that company does.
FOLKENFLIK: For its part, the Romney campaign had a five-stage approach to the media - ignore, denigrate, cite, deflect, and flood. First, the campaign has refused to comment to reporters working on stories the campaign thought might be damaging. Next, Romney aides emailed other outlets to say they had formally demanded a correction before even contacting the Globe, according to editor, Marty Baron.
Then they cited other reporting that challenged the Obama campaign's claims. Factcheck.org director Brooks Jackson said it had reviewed similar SEC documents from after '99, but found no hard evidence of Romney's presence at Bain.
BROOKS JACKSON: The question has always been how much active involvement did he really have while he was out in Salt Lake spending an average of 12 hours a day, six days a week, running the Olympics.
FOLKENFLIK: Then Romney relied on sympathetic press for his ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Misleading, unfair, and untrue. There was no evidence that Mitt Romney shipped jobs overseas.
FOLKENFLIK: Fourth, a distracting trial balloon got wide play on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The surprising name at the top of Mitt Romney's vice presidential list, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
FOLKENFLIK: Except Republicans, including Rice, do not think this could happen. For one thing, she favors abortion rights. That's a no-go for her party, and for Romney. Friday, as the story gained momentum, Romney invited reporters in, but he tried to turn the tables on the president, demanding an apology, in this case, on ABC.
ROMNEY: He sure as heck ought to say he's sorry for the kinds of attacks that are coming from his team.
FOLKENFLIK: Earlier in the month the White House was yet again facing questions about lackluster jobs growth. A short week later, Romney ended up trying to cauterize his own wounds, five network interviews at a time. David Folkenflik, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
On Difficulty and Guilds
However, I've been thinking a bit more about this issue, and have been looking at guild rankings at Guild Progress. I've also been reading a lot of Regency novels lately, and am inspired to make an analogy which may or may not reflect reality.
In Wrath, I think PvE guilds can be categorized as follows (for raiding purposes). All numbers are approximate:
Royalty - The two hundred guilds which can clear everything, including Trial of the Grand Crusader.
The Aristocracy - The three thousand guilds which can defeat at least one boss in TotGC--or some Ulduar Keeper hard modes--and thus are working their way through hard modes.
The Gentry - The ten thousand guilds which can defeat regular Trial of the Crusader, but haven't been able to advance into the hard modes.
The Bourgeoisie - The next ten thousand guilds which are working their way through Trial of the Crusader. Also includes those guilds working on Naxxramas and Ulduar. Basically any guild that is still working on normal difficulty content.
The Proletariat - Our beloved casuals. All the other guilds which are levelling or making alts or doing 5-mans, and haven't really gotten into raiding yet.
At different points in WoW history, different sections complain about different things. In Vanilla and TBC, a lot of the complaints about raiding came from the Bourgeoisie, who were unable to break into raiding at all.
However, I think the current complaints about WoW being too easy are coming from the Gentry. They can beat regular modes fairly easily, but hard modes are completely beyond their touch. This means that they see hard modes as something for the "crazy hardcore" and not for "normal people". And the problem is compounded in that a lot of people who are active in the WoW community via blogs or forums come from the Gentry.
Whereas both Larisa and I are in guilds which are in the Aristocracy, which can beat some of the hard modes. So to us, complaining that WoW is too easy smacks of whining. The content is there to be beaten.
The real problem is that the Gentry is currently too large. Too many guilds are in that gap between hard modes and regular modes. It needs to be shrunk from both ends. The difficulty of the first two bosses in TotGC should be reduced a little bit, and the difficulty of the last two bosses in TotC should be increased a little bit. That should create a more gradual path. Ulduar is a fairly good example of this, as the jump from Yogg-Saron to the first few hard modes is not that large.1
The Gentry need something to work on, otherwise they will be unhappy. Ideally, a lot of them should be in the lower ranks of the Aristocracy or upper ranks of the Bourgeoisie. Too many guilds in that gap causes a lot of complaining.
1Actually, I think Yogg+4 could be reduced in difficulty. It seems just slightly too hard for it's placement. But it's not all that bad to have a hard end boss.
43 comments:
You nailed it, Rohan! I often think in pictures when I'm trying to understand things. This picture was damned good.
Actually, being in an Aristrocratic guild, we would be very pleased to receive some fresh blood from the Gentry. We're slowly bleeding members to other games and to real life (veterans calling it a day.) I think there are some potential aristracrats who are more scared of the aristocracy than they need to be. If they tried it for real they could very well get as hooked as we are. And since the gear difference is eaven nowadays, there isn't much to stop them, more than their own attitude.Your breakdown was great, and I totally agree with you. The WoM post and the general tone of the community/blogosphere lately has left me sour.
I'm not sure why, but WoW players seem inclined to complain and judge more than your average human. That has always seemed the problem to me rather than technical issues with the game. This latest pet cause of "too easy raiding" is just the latest in a series of nostalgia horses that get trotted out a couple of times an year to catalyze complaints. Let's keep on beatin' it! But seriously, if "raiding is too easy" is the lowest common denominator that people can come up to bitch about (remembering that there is no such thing as content WoW players) then I think Blizzard is doing pretty well.
Can't wait for Cataclysm!I don't know, I'm seeing complaints from the "Aristocracy". They go something like this: "We've done the easy modes and we CAN do the hard modes, but it's boring WE DON'T WANNA, give us something NEW".
Speaking from the ranks of the Proletariat, it's mighty annoying. And a bit demeaning to hear the ANYBODY CAN RAID battlecry being hoisted all over the internets, and being completely unable to break into it myself. Makes me feel like something the cat dragged in.
In my opinion the problem is not that the content is "too hard" or "too easy". I'm a good player, not a nitwit, and I know my class. It's that the old content is "too obsolete". Everyone is TOO progressed, so for all intents and purposes there's no entry level at all right now. Making it hard for newcomers to get in.- Anonymous2:58 PM, October 21, 2009
That's a good way of putting it.
We're solidly in that Gentry, and damn, but it's not always a fun place to be (especially not as a recruitment officer).
Also, I get more page referrals from your site EVERY DAY than anyone else. LUFFS. @Larisa, the thing is that the Gentry are successful guilds. They've beaten all the content on normal, and can expect to beat all the content in Icecrown. Loot is coming in at a steady pace and their characters are improving. It's not like a guild which is going nowhere.
So going to the Aristocracy is a big risk. New people, having to leave friends, going to a place which has a hardcore and somewhat unfriendly reputation. That's a lot for just doing hard modes. And most Gentry guilds will get destroyed by Heroic Beasts, and thus see Hard Modes as something for the Ensidias and Premonitions of the world, and not really something aimed at them.
Quite honestly, if I was in a stable Gentry guild, I would probably stick with them and not want to move. My goal is to see the content and kill Arthas, and I can do that with a Gentry guild.
@Rhii, my recommendation for you would be to target the Gentry guilds. Look at Guild Progress, identify the guilds in your band, and whisper someone in the guild asking to talk about recruitment. Check out their website and put in an app if the guild looks good.
Most Gentry guilds cannot afford to be excessively picky, and since they can already beat all normal content, picking up a slightly undergeared player is not that bad, especially if the player demonstrates that they know how to play.
@Shayzani, I'm not badmouthing the Gentry guilds. I think they do have a legitimate complaint. A lot of the problem is that the different strata each consider themselves as "normal" (even the Royalty, see EJ) and don't really see the perspective of the other strata.
As for the labels, the hierarchy exists already. Trying to pretend it doesn't exist is foolish.Your `social' layering there is the best analogy I have seen for the Wow community for a loooong time. Very imaginative.
I think a side-effect of the current game difficulty - and I think you have mentioned it before - is each layers replenishment (usually from the immediate lower). But that deserves a post on its own...I really agree on the end bosses in normal being too easy and the first hardmodes being too difficult. My guild is currently working on Anub hardmode, but Northrend Beasts are probably harder than the two bosses after.
I remember people were complaining when they nerfed FL+4, but I thought it was perfectly ok, even though we had already killed it. It was way too hard for being the first hardmode. I really think hardmodes should progress the same way easy modes do, with the first ones being a little harder than the last normal mdoes.I'm one of those whining Aristocrats. :) (I was going to say "unrepentant, whining Aristocrats," but Rhii's perspective forces me to rethink that.)
I think my frustrations are exacerbated by the fact that I am a guild leader as well as a raider. I know what motivates me: fresh -- not necessarily new, but please don't make hard-mode "kill 10 /more/ rats"! -- and challenging content. But at the end of the day, what motivates the 24 other people I raid with is more important to me.
Your analogy puts an interesting spin on that. Surreality started in the Proletariat (I created it as a haven for a few close friends and real life family members after a nasty bit of drama with our WoW guild), and over the course of two expansions ascended to the Aristocracy. I'm starting to realize that that kind of upward mobility is rare; your analogy really drives it home.
The challenge -- and a major source of frustration for me, because I feel personally responsible for everyone who wears my tag -- is that we've lost members along the way because they were content to remain in one strata while the rest of us were reaching for the next. The TBC model of raiding -- with its long attunements and harder baseline level of difficulty -- enabled us to straddle the line between Gentry and Aristocracy. Wrath forced us to choose, and that choice cost us members who I had come to consider a part of our family.
I don't think I realized until I read this post how much I resent that.
You've given me something new to think about. Thank you!As a member of a select royalty - I think it's great. To clarify - I'm not part of the royalty that does 25s - only 10s.
While I'd love to do the 25s, we got burnt out being in a Gentry guild - so 10 RL friends broke off to do 10s only. It's fun,it's extremely rewarding - and there's a lot less stress.
I don't know if that means that we're still Royalty or not though. Maybe a Duke instead of the King.The only thing I'd point out is that when you segment a group of people, you want to have it either equal in terms of content or populations. The problem with this is you have detailed segments of the guilds doing ToC, but group everyone who isn't ToC ready into one bucket. There are guilds beyond heroics who are progressing in Naxx (mine for instance), there are more guilds progressing in Ulduar. Those two groups alone probably outnumber all the guilds above the casuals in your ranking system. I think you need to consider that when trying to analyze how groups of players are reacting to the changes blizzard is making, not just focus on the top 25% of guilds (which is what you have here).
ReplyDelete- Anonymous11:34 AM, October 23, 2009
You seem to be missing a tier...in between "Working on Trial of the Crusader" and "not into raiding"
Um, what? Heh our guild is a bunch of people who have fun and are serious about progressing through all the content of the game...but at our own pace. Finished Naxx/EoE and are just now starting in Ulduar.
Not that your analysis isn't spot on, but it just felt weird to be completely invisible on your chart. I have a couple of comments, but i'll try to be brief.
First, I think there's a gap in your structure. you have:
Royalty: full clear, hard mode, end game
Aristocracy: progression, hard mode, end game
Gentry: full clear, normal mode, end game
Bourgeoisie: progression, normal mode, end game
??????: raiding, not end game.
Proletariat: zero raiding.
the social structure, as presented, only focuses on "end game" (as of now, totc) content, and ignores a (possibly) large population of guilds who have progressed beyond 5m instances into naxx, os, malygos, and ulduar, but are not yet geared/skilled enough for totc.
I also find it incredibly interesting that it took 10 comments for someone to bring up the 10m/25m chasm. On my server, (blackrock-us)10m content is considered somewhat trivial, and is often pugged/gdkp'd.
Finally, I would love to see some more of the numeric analysis you've done as to the relative sizes of these populations. Your numbers suggest an equal number of guilds in the gentry/Bourgeoisie classes- i would have expected an order of magnitude difference between the two.- Anonymous12:08 PM, October 23, 2009
With the way badges work in Wrath, I'm not sure why any guilds would still be working on Naxx or even Ulduar, or if you are, you shouldn't be there long since you'll quickly outgear it with all the badges you're getting. Blizzard has done a good job of allowing even brand new 80s to be able to get into the end-game quickly. Even if you haven't cleared those raids yet, your guildies will be more motivated to go to ToC since there won't be many upgrades to get in the lower content. With how short ToC is, you could probably do both ToC and Ulduar in one week anyway, especially if you skip the optional bosses.
ReplyDelete - Anonymous12:09 PM, October 23, 2009
This is among the WORST analogies I've ever heard from the WOW community. It's not just bad, it's asinine, elitist, patronizing, demeaning, flawed, and just flat-out wrong. Why don't you just call the last two types plebs and peasants? Although I encourage you to keep on going if it you really feel the need to pat yourself on the back that much.
ReplyDelete - Doddilus12:09 PM, October 23, 2009
Acouple weeks ago I made a very similar post on mmochamp to this article. I however lumped the Aristocracy Gentry and Bourgeoisie together as upper middle and lower middle class. It was the aristocracy(upper middle class) that was complaining that the Gentry(middle) and Burgeoise(lower middle) now had access to the same gear they did.
The response was almost exactly the same
Post ranging from "Spot On!" to "i agree but..." to "your full of sh!t classifying raiders like that, i dont fit any where so you are disproven!" and to "i like turtles!" - Anonymous12:46 PM, October 23, 2009
The problem with creating a segment for Naxx/Ulduar guilds is that the content, based on game progression, is obsolete. You can pick up 219 ilvl items from Trial of Champions and 226 ilvl items from conquest emblems.
This means if you are currently working on Naxx or Ulduar you are doing so now by leveraging some of the (I know you will hate this term) handicap features Blizzard is building into the game. From a raid progression standpoint, the group of players "raiding" under the current raid content (Trial of the Crusaders) is basically the same demographic. - Catharsis1:08 PM, October 23, 2009
I find this breakdown infantile.
Why do you feel the need to break up and segment groups of players in the first place? Is this so you can classify yourself as an "Aristocrat" or something?
Secondly, some of your examples are just crippled. - Catharsis1:11 PM, October 23, 2009
"However, I think the current complaints about WoW being too easy are coming from the Gentry. They can beat regular modes fairly easily, but hard modes are completely beyond their touch."
Are you being completely serious? That's the only reason you can think of why they haven't done hard modes? Has it ever occurred to you there are other things that may take their time like, oh, I don't know... work? Family? Travel? Anything > WoW?
Seriously. Infantile. Are you being completely serious? That's the only reason you can think of why they haven't done hard modes? Has it ever occurred to you there are other things that may take their time like, oh, I don't know... work? Family? Travel? Anything > WoW?
I feel sorry for the Gentry. Apparently, they will be unable to do Icecrown Citadel because work, family and travel will get in their way.
Seriously, if they don't have enough time to try TotGC hard modes, how do you expect them to have enough time to finish a 14-boss dungeon?- Catharsis1:22 PM, October 23, 2009
I feel sorry for the Gentry. Apparently, they will be unable to do Icecrown Citadel because work, family and travel will get in their way.
I really can't tell if that's sarcasm or not. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume it is.
Seriously, if they don't have enough time to try TotGC hard modes, how do you expect them to have enough time to finish a 14-boss dungeon?
Maybe we're missing each other's point. I'm saying that 1) spending all this time trying to classify people into "Royalty" or "Proletariat" is demeaning, and 2) there is no way anyone could possibly break up all the reasons and ins and outs of why certain people or guilds progress in a certain way or do certain things. AND, all of this is encouraging even more stereotyping, which is already a plague in the WoW community. - Anonymous1:25 PM, October 23, 2009
Hi... I'll create an account at some point soon so I'm not anonymous.
@The original blog post. You described a great phenomenon in WOW I have thought about. I like your review of everything. However, I think it misses some discussion from the perspective of the developers. You have essentially described and identified the bottle-neck in WOW guild progression.
The real question in my mind is, "Is this really a problem or is the criticism and complaining a function of the artifact?". I don't think that the distribution of guilds and progression should change. I don't think it will stop the complaints people make.
What I mean by this is that in this expansion they created a distribution of progression that is exactly on target with their expressed goals. The majority of players can see the majority of content and experience the quests and art and everything else, but there is still a challenge and epic gear range available to the most dedicated players.
Most significantly, this also requires a constant rollover of gear within the expansion in addition to between expansions. This expansion has a constant turnover of gear beyond anything we have seen before.
This distribution, combined with the need for constant gear rollover, has created the perspective from the players that everything is too easy. You have old content that players are now over-geared for like never before. Not only can groups move through normal mode content relatively easily, they can ultimately aquire the gear that the hard modes had to offer in order to advance to the next normal mode. This must happen if you want the majority of players to see all the content on normal mode. It's great in terms of game experience and the use of your content as a developer. The complaining was always there, but now it is simply focused on this artifact. Where it happens and over what level of difficulty is an artifact of where they set the bottle-neck for difficulty and availability of content.
It's still pretty amazing that they have set up content that only a few thousand guilds can really complete with ease in the context of the 10s of 1000s of guilds that exist across the 10,000,000 players. It seems very conspicuous that people who can't beat the hardest content are the people who are complaining things are too easy. They are, as you say, stuck between easy modes and hard modes, but I still feel like that story doesn't check out.
How many of us really believe that there is are more than a tiny handful of guilds out there that smashed their way through TotC without wiping, or, let's say, with only two or three wipes; and that simply cannot beat heroic beasts. It's absurd. If someone caught between normal and hard difficulties is saying normal is too easy while disregarding hardmodes as things for "crazy" people then it's hard not to believe they are in one of two situations:
1) Their guild actually struggled and wiped on normal, but now that they can beat it quite regularly with few wipes they have basically mentally rewritten their own history to edit out the fact that they were indeed challenged by the content.
2) Their guild is more than competent enough to take on hardmodes but doesn't want to put in work to learn harder fights because they don't like to lose and be reminded they aren't really that awesome at the game, but rather are only pretty good.
Saying things are too easy is just a form of boasting (Stars excepted, they have a legitimate complaint that they want to compete for world firsts but can't because the content is beaten before they get it), but it's hard to boast when you spend 6 to 10 hours a week wiping to content that other people on your server beat long ago.
This problem occurs with all kind of pursuits and hobbies. There are always people who are in the top 10% who feel very insecure about not being in the top 1% so they spend their time trying to diminish the accomplishments of the majority. This majority, of course, would rather have fun working away at their own pace without someone telling them that what they are working so hard on is easy.
I do agree that normal difficulty Val'kyrs and Anub'Arak could stand to be a little harder to better ramp up towards heroic difficulty, but while that would make the game better, I don't think it would do much to solve the problem being discussed.I disagree with some comments:
You can, in a week of too much play, get enough badges, HTOTC5 and TOTC5 gear to competitvely go through TOTC10 normal and ONY10. I've done it on a tank (pally-splatter) and a mage (kablooie). Look at the achievement sections on the armory if you call bullshit.
In a 2-3 weeks of normal play without stepping into raids, your gear can be up to this level as well. The way they do badges now, it is VERY possible to gear up to a raid ready level with badges and heroics, esp totc5-heroic.
Blizzard has destroyed the "remedial progression" that was required to do T6/sunwell in TBC, and that is a FANTASTIC thing.
Secondly, almost EVERY guild is contantly recruiting or they're dying. All these ranks have player attrition. '
Lastly, the player pool you list as doing the upper level content is perhaps being exaggerated with the way you took your numbers. I know on Farstriders I raid with a non guild based raid syndicate, and with the way your numbers are gathered, these sorts of syndicates may *Vastly* be over counting the number of high performers. My 10 man team, for instances, is at the Aristocrat level, and has people from 5-6 guilds in it. I am aware of 3 other groups that have non-guild based raids on this server alone, I'm wondering if your methods of research accurately accounted them, or more guilds are actually stuck at the gentry level then it appears.@Catharsis, I disagree with you on a fundamental level. "Stereotyping" is only a problem if the stereotypes are not true. I believe that proper classification and identification of items that share similarities is vital to discovering solutions to problems.
For example, if I state:
Problem: People think WoW raiding is too easy.
Solution: Nerf Heroic Beasts.
Then that makes no sense. Why would making a fight easier make the game harder?
But rephrasing it as:
Problem: Gentry guilds are stuck between normal and hard modes. They see Hard modes as aimed at the edge guilds, and normal as too easy.
Solution: Nerf Heroic Beasts so that they feel that beating it is possible, thus moving them up into hard modes.
That makes a sort of sense. But you need to identify and stratify the guilds to get at the real problem and then a real solution.Quoting Catharsis:
"Are you being completely serious? That's the only reason you can think of why they haven't done hard modes? Has it ever occurred to you there are other things that may take their time like, oh, I don't know... work? Family? Travel? Anything > WoW?"
Yes, but that doesn't mean that people who put in more time than you aren't better than you. On average people who spend more time doing things are better at them. It's called practice and it does not invalidate their skill.
Seriously raiding and beating hardmodes takes about as much time commitment as being on a sports team in a local league, probably even less. If it is not something you want to prioritize in your life then don't, but don't try to pretend that the people who do prioritize it aren't better than you at it. If you can't take down Trial of the Grand Crusader it is because you are not good enough to do so. When you are good enough, it barely takes an hour.
Blaming it on your more enlightened priority list and implying that people who have the time to do this are losers is childish. Do you really think that saying "The *only* reason you can do that is because you put in the time and effort" diminishes their accomplishments?
And maybe you find the names of the categories in the hierarchy a little facecious, but they do a good job of illustrating the point. If the metaphor lacks something it is that it (if takent too literally) suggests that the ranking is based on fate rather than dedication and merit, which it appears you believe anyway.To respond to Catharsis:
Why a person is in the gentry is irrelevant to the article. My personal situation is that I can only raid 3 nights a week maximum. My guild can clear totc 25 and ony 25 in under 2 hours, but we spent 3 hours wiping on totgc 25 beasts just last night. I guess we are nudging the aristocracy, but count as a gentry guild. Once you can accept that you are in a guild in a particular situation and can be classified along with other guilds in a very similar situation, then you can begin to analyse why it happened (from a game design perspective) and so on.
Rohan, the specific titles you used are probably the most controversial thing about this post, simply because of the social class elements to it. I agree with the spirit of it, a really good read.- Catharsis3:24 PM, October 23, 2009
"Stereotyping" is only a problem if the stereotypes are not true.
I totally agree. That's the point -- they may not be true. Stereotyping more often than not leads to prejudice. Prejudice = pre-judging someone based on prior experience. Therefore, why go there at all?
@DJ Fatso Stupid
On average people who spend more time doing things are better at them. It's called practice and it does not invalidate their skill.
First of all, thank you for informing me of the definition of practice. I had not ever heard of this word in my entire life.
Secondly, almost the entire rest of your response is based on a total misreading of what I wrote, seeing things that weren't there, and jumping to conclusions on those implications that weren't there.
1) I made no comment on anyone's skill level whatsoever, so I'm not sure why you even implied that I did.
2) Building off of that, I also did not say that people spending more time raiding are not better than people who don't spend as much time.
3) I did not call anyone childish. Not sure where that comment came from.
Please, next time, don't read what you want to read and then respond to it. - Catharsis3:28 PM, October 23, 2009
@DJ Fatso Stupid
If the metaphor lacks something it is that it (if takent too literally) suggests that the ranking is based on fate rather than dedication and merit, which it appears you believe anyway.
I wasn't going to respond to the rest, since it was based on things I never actually said...but as a side note, yes, that is actually what I believe. But that's a conversation for elsewhere. I think the people reading this article and getting upset at the "elitism" are getting distracted by the article's semantics, and are misunderstanding the analogies, and by extension the point of the article.
The hierarchical categories aren't supposed to be "superior" to "inferior" so much reflect the gradient scale of the focus & philosophy of the types of raiding groups. On one end, you have the players who are very serious about raiding (and on the other end you have the players for whom raiding is not much of a focus more than any other aspect of the game, and everyone in between. That's all it is supposed to represent.
Furthermore, we already subscribe to this sort of scale in the gaming community, the author just put a different face on it. Probably all of us have spread at one time or another have spread the "hardcore/casual" meme which again represents the dichotomy of attitudes between raiders. If anything, the old meme has a stronger negative connotation and the added bonus of being far too black and white to be accurate, as it represents only an extreme minority of raids.
If you're getting hung up on the terms, replace them with neutral categories like letters or colours, or lay your gradient horizontal and read it again.
The point of the article is that the bulk of the raiding players in this game are finding themselves in the middle of the gradient, and the middle section is the part of the game that has the least to offer. The game progression is not linear enough, and many raiders are getting stuck at points they shouldn't need to be getting stuck at. It has nothing to do with whether guild B is inferior to guild A. The effort to serve both the so-called casuals and the so-called hardcore (an effort I commend), as resulted in too much of a jump between point A and point B to serve the "everyman." And the everyman is upset.- Anonymous2:28 AM, October 24, 2009
Our guild hovers between Gentry and Aristocracy (bottom tier)
One of the main walls to getting any further has been numbers - there are far too many smaller guilds on our server trying to make it on their own.
Another has been the poaching of members from some of the Aristocratic guilds who have lost players to Aion or burnout. - Anonymous8:18 AM, October 24, 2009
You're entirely right. My guild is Gentry, and has been trying and failing to break into the Aristocracy (in 10 man) for a month or so. My 10 man group is breaking up because of it. I may take time off from WoW as it's just boring doing the normal instances again and again. We clear 10 man normal ToC in under an hour with no wipes.
As you say, there is too steep a curve between normal and hard modes in ToC. Heroic Northrend Beasts is a seriously tough first boss (for us, anyway). - Anonymous2:05 PM, October 24, 2009
I suspect you're not really talking about "hard" in the same way that people complaining about WotLK are.
Rolling a 6 five times in a row on die is certainly 'hard' - there's a very small chance you can do it. But it isn't very satisfying when you do. The 'hard' comes from factors outside your control.
The best raids aren't the ones where no one screws up. They're the ones where the exceptional effort of one player can compensate for the errors of another. Such raids reward exceptional players.
WotLK raiding instead rewards consistent mediocrity. Being the best Paladin in the world doesn't help your guild advance. Being merely adequate - amongst a group of equally adequate players - does. I can't agree with you more on your analogy's and what class of genre the "wow is easy" comments usually come from. You nailed it for sure. The content is right in front of them for the taking,if they choose. Chalk up a Tribute to Insanity under your belt and then you may say "wow is easy"...and generally ppl who have come that far would not even say such a thing;comments such as those more than likely come from players who are behind on progression,usually from the gentry as you have put.
ReplyDeleteAnother aristocrat here.
I'm very impressed with this analogy. Your assessment seems dead on and you described all the WoW stereotypes quite well (I mean this in a good way).
There are exceptions to every rule though. The "WoW is too easy" statements often come from burned out former players as well, many of which were in the aristocracy and royalty.
I think the main problem with heroic trial going from normal to heroic mode is that you go into the instance feeling confident because you can clear all the bosses on normal and the strats for the most part remain fundamentally the same with only minor "gimmick" additions like Jaraxxus' portals needing to be dps'd down. Stepping out of normal mode into heroic beasts just feels like getting slapped in the face with a wet fish because the contrast difficulties in your mind which makes the perceived difficulty far greater than the actual difficulty... it feels like the difference between black and white when it's really more like going from light grey to dark grey.
Looking at individual encounters, northrend beasts is a bit odd because it's a boss fight that gets easier the further you're in rather than harder. Gormok hits like a truck on the tanks and causes a lot of raid damage with his snobolds and fire bombs and many guilds will never be able to get past him... but those who do will likely find the worms and by contrast to Gormok they feel very easy. Once the worms are dead you get Icehowl who is a cake walk compared to worms and and even easier when compared to gormok. I don't know if it was intentional that the fight would start hard and get easier but I do think gormok could be nerfed and icehowl could be buffed, the worms are just right.
I think heroic northrend beasts is a reasonable step sideways in difficult from yogg saron +4. One is not necessarily harder than the other, they're just different and require different skillsets.Aristocrate here.
Personally I find the current raids scale from easy as hell (puggable within 30 minutes) to challenging beyond blief (not impossible, just extremely hard)
-ToC 10 man is puggable with fresh 80s (assuming the tanks/healers have 5 man H ToC gear)
-ToC 25 man is puggable (with ToC 10/Ony/H ToC gear)
-ToGC 10 is puggable (with difficulty, ToC 10/25 and Ony 10/25 suggested)
-ToGC 25 is... not puggable, at least not yet. Many guilds have completed it, and many more are capable of doing it if they are willing to put the effort in. Sure it's not easy, but its the HARDEST RAID OUT. You're not meant to clear it after 5 wipes, 10 wipes, even 100 wipes. Thats why your given a full FIFTY attempes each week. This is supposed to keep the top end guilds occupied while they work on new raids (IC and whatnot) not satisfy the general population (the "casual" raiders as you put it)
All in all, the complaints are unjustified. They are made to be hard, to the point of being unclearable to those unwilling to spend the time working on them. Personally I find they are balanced enough.As to the curve in difficulty between Regular and Heroic ToC (10 man AND 25 man), I agree that it's a steep one. Like Kowai-Koneko said "It's like getting slapped in the face with a wet fish." Although I find it challenging, it's still doable by most, if not all of the WoW population, given a couple weeks of lesser raiding. I find that if you can set aside a couple hours each week for 10 man and 25 man ToC/Ony/VoA, you can be ToGC ready within a couple weeks. For example, I recently hit 80 on my warlock (about 5 days ago) and I can already pull my weight in a ToGC 10 man (approx. 6k dps on single-target fights)
For the casuals, who do not wish to take the time to get geared, theres the lower-tier raids such as OS, Naxx and Ulduar, which all still provide a challenge to people getting introduced to raids and are by no means "boring". New content is made to entertain the dedicated, the "higher class" raiding guilds. Sorry to anyone who does not consider themselves to be in such a guild, but this is how I see it.


text:
Eric Stults (2-0, 0.60) vs. Roy Oswalt (6-8, 4.77).
COMMENTS: The Dodgers ride into Houston following a rare series win this month, facing a team with a nearly identical record (Dodgers are 38-43; Astros are 39-43) and armed with the team's only active arm with a complete game in 2008 (let alone only starter with a winning record). The difference is that the Dodgers are only 2.5 games back of the .500, division-leading Diamondbacks, while the Astros are 10 games behind the Cubs (and in fourth place in the Central). 'Ssuming the 'Stros 'ssent to the Dodgers' 'scent, 'sserting ourselves shouldn't be too much of an 'ssignment, I'm 'ssured. (Sorry for all the apostrophes, but these are your 'stros, maestro.)


text: Certified Plumbing Co. LLC is committed to providing the finest bathroom plumbing services available to the families and businesses in Orlando, FL. Our customers will receive services and products that meet or exceed their expectations or we will make it right. We have the finest trained personnel to assist our customers at their home or business. Certified Plumbing Co. LLC is committed to setting the standard for excellence in plumbing in the Orlando, FL. We offer the following types bathroom plumbing services in Orlando, FL :


text:
May the Force be with you
I'll be back.
Elementary, my dear Watson.
Here's Johnny!
Yo, Adrian!
You talkin' to me?
I am your father.
Why so serious?
…Bond, James Bond
Run, Forrest, run!
I'm the king of the world!
Don't think, feel.
Say hello to my little friend.
Not my tempo.
Do, or do not. There is no "try".
I am Groot.
If you build it, he will come.
Houston, we have a problem.
Hasta la vista, baby.


text:
Stillen ST8153 Rocker Panel 91-94 Nissan Sentra
STILLEN urethane Aero Parts are designed, prototyped, tested, and built in our facilities in Costa Mesa, California. Care is taken to manage air flow as well as to blend the lines of each part with the vehicle. The effect is a distinctive statement that fits; each part looks like it came from the factory's design studio. Installation and paint should be done by and experienced and quality oriented body/paint shop. All of the STILLEN urethane parts are so flexible, durable and impact resistant that we guarantee our urethane components against breakage or cracking in normal use for as long as you own your vehicle.


text:
Here's something you usually only see at conventions: multiples of the same sexy female character.
Lots of Mad Hatters running around this year:
Sub'd by Michael S., made by Cake and Art Bakery
Check it out: that is ALL icing - no fondant! Who knew? It CAN be done!
This character is a real con regular - not to mention a regular con:
Submitted & made by Ammar M., a baker in Pakistan!
Again, fondant-free. It's so cool when artists paint with icing.
Made by Michael L. and his wife. Progress pics at the link.
This is a wedding cake. A zombie wedding cake.
You're welcome.
If that looks familiar, it's probably reminding you of this famous zombie wedding cake:
This is CW reader Noble R.'s wedding cake, made by Mike's Amazing Cakes
Admit it: the fact that there are now multiple zombie wedding cakes in the world is kind of awesome.
Then there's the Anime cosplay:
Now that's using your head.
Also, note how appropriate it is that I put the brain/head cake *after* the zombies. Eh?
Yes? No? Is that groan a "yes?"
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.


text:
Americans' personal income grew by just 0.1 percent in August from July and consumer spending would have been basically flat as well if it hadn't been for higher gasoline prices, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported this morning.
Overall, spending grew 0.5 percent last month. But, writes Reuters, "households stretched to pay for higher gasoline prices." According to the report, the cost of "energy goods and services," which gasoline is a large part of, rose 5.8 percent in August from July.
Since consumers purchase about 70 percent of goods and services, their spending is a key economic driver.
Bloomberg News says the August spending news — because the growth was mostly due to higher prices, not stronger demand for goods and services — signals "the economic expansion is struggling to gain momentum."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Cyber Attacks are a Constant Threat
News this week that a fresh round of cyber attacks on 30 major U.S. banks are planned for early 2013gives us a reminder that financial institutions can never take a moment's breather when it comes to cyber security.
[See Also: Cyber Attack Shows Need For Cooperation]
According to security firm McAfee, around 30 financial institutions -- including PayPal, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Navy Federal Credit Union and others -- are the target of the attack, dubbed "Project Blitzkrieg."
The attacks involve cybercriminals "cloning" customers' home computers so that security questions are not triggered as if the account is being accessed from an unrecognized location, according to published reports. Cyber criminals would utilize a Trojan malware virus has been lying dormant for years to accomplish this.
It was just in September that a group calling itself the "Cyber fighters of Izz ad-din Al qassam," took credit for a number of attacks against U.S. banks and the New York Stock Exchange.
Sometimes, it's easy to forget that banks are under a near-constant attack from cyber criminals. As the world becomes more mobile, and bank customers access their information through numerous devices in an always connected world, the need for vigilant cyber security will only become greater.
Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio


text:
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Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.


text:
This video is an important anthropological document, because it encapsulates the Five Pillars of Portland Society, which are as follows:
--Making things pretty
--Making friends
--Being inclusive
--Being so profoundly self-satisfied it's disgusting
Yes, apparently in Portland people like to get together and paint intersections, though the Smugness Union requires that they stop every 15 minutes in order to snuggle:
You also have to hand it to Portland for being so resourceful, since they've managed to portray themselves as an inclusive culture despite the fact that it's one of the most ethnically and ideologically homogeneous societies on Earth. That's not to say there isn't some diversity though, and some people there actually spell their names slightly differently:
Though it's tough to disagree over anything when you're constantly stultified by communal art projects and overly earnest folk music:
Nevertheless, even Portland is not immune to discordance, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before some bike dorks start complaining that the pretty pictures are distracting attention from their precious bike sharrows.
Speaking of Portland, awhile back I mentioned that some Portlanders were making a leather bike handle. As far as I'm concerned, a bike needs a handle like an aquarium needs a toilet. Nevertheless, Stevil Kinevil informs me that the handlesmiths have since managed to raise $20,000:
Now, I've spent some time in Portland, and I know from experience that they will look at you askance if you so much as ask for a shopping bag in the grocery store. Yet for some reason it's perfectly fine to for a cow to die so that you can have a handle for something that is already basically a giant handle. I mean, what vehicle is more intrinsically portable than a bicycle?
This is not to say I have a problem with using cow parts for stuff, it's just that I don't understand how they managed to raise $20,000 in a city where only like 46 people actually have jobs. (The Portland economy is sustained almost entirely by people who work for bike companies and then buy stuff from their employers with their employee discounts.) But I suppose that's the power of Kickstarter, and still more proof that entrepreneurship now works on the "What About Bob?" model. Indeed, every time I watch a Kickstarter video all I hear is "Gimme, gimme, gimme, I need, I need:"
In fact, I recently heard from another would-be bicycle accessory maker who will be launching his own Kickstarter on Thursday. It is for something called the "Barbasket," and here is the video:
Barbasket from Chris Luomanen on Vimeo.
Like most Kickstarter projects, this combines elements from other accessories that already exist while simultaneously solving no problems whatsoever and creating some new ones. See, if you want a removable bag for your handlebars, you can already get these things called "handlebar bags." Or, if you want a basket you can take inside with you (or just leave at home), you can opt for these things called "removable baskets." Meanwhile the Barbasket manages to require cumbersome proprietary handlebars while at the same time being really small:
Tellingly, the design concern behind the Barbasket is called "NRML:"
And it's clear that their though process was a bit clouded when they came up with it:
Though if you want a dedicated six-pack carrier that requires a pair of special handlebars then give generously. Plus, the gratuitous handlebar loop looks like a great mounting place for that second leather bike handle. Sure, you might have to take the beer out of your pouch in order to use it, but don't worry, you can always relocate that beer to the frame with yet another leather handle:
None of this would be a problem if people would just suck it up and ask for a bag at the store.
Sure, some people might think having an exquisitely-crafted leather handle for everything on a bicycle makes it beautiful, but I think it makes it look like it belongs to a metrosexual bike cowboy. Still, it's better than this "flaming turd bike," as forwarded by another reader:
At this rate I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before we start seeing leather bike locks, which will of course result in a dramatic uptick in bike theft, as well as a concomitant rise in polite vigilantism:
As I've mentioned, I belong to the "Your Bike Is Your Problem" school, and that extends to stopping bike thieves. Firstly, I don't care enough about someone else's bike to interrupt a criminal with heavy cutting tools. Secondly, even if I did care about it, chances are the owner doesn't care about it in the first place:
Res waited for the owner, but they never showed. She then went to the police, who told her that they couldn't help her. So she plastered these flyers up near the Starbucks. Res writes via email that she's reached out to Trek and is giving her the serial number on the bike, which may help them reunite the black bike with its owner.
As far as I'm concerned, Res should just keep that bike. She earned it. I probably wouldn't have even looked up from my Venti Soy Mocha Doucheaccino.
Lastly, in do-it-yourself research news, some Australians have proved that riding with headphones isn't actually that dangerous:
Based on these relatively simple tests, it is fair to conclude that:
1. A bike rider with ear-bud earphones playing music at a reasonable volume hears much more outside noise than a car driver, even when that driver has no music playing.
2. A bike rider with in-ear earphones playing music at a reasonable volume hears about the same outside noise as a car driver with no music playing, but more than a car driver playing music.
3. A bike rider with in-ear earphones playing music at a reasonable volume hears about the same outside noise as a car driver with no music playing, but more than a car driver playing music.
Ear-bud earphones set at a reasonable volume still allow riders to clearly here the warning sounds of other riders.
Put that in your ear and smoke it.


text:
NEW YORK (AP) — If New York City bans big sodas, what's next on the list? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones? Tubs of movie-theater popcorn? The 16-ounce strip steak?
The proposed crackdown on super-sized drinks could face a legal challenge from those who oppose the first-in-the-nation rule and fear the city isn't going to stop with beverages.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to bar restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas, food carts and delis from selling sodas and other sugary drinks in servings larger than 16 ounces, saying it is a way to fight obesity in a city that spends billions of dollars a year on weight-related health problems.
Whether that's legal, though, is a matter of dispute and may be tested.
"We're going to look at all of our options to protect our business, our rights to do business and our rights not to be discriminated against. We won't take anything off the table," said Steve Cahillane, a senior executive with Coca-Cola.
The city Board of Health, appointed by the mayor, is expected to approve the measure after a three-month comment period. It could take effect as early as March, unless the critics who accuse Bloomberg of instituting a "nanny state" can get the courts or state lawmakers to step in.
It's not just businesses and industry groups that could sue. In theory, any individual affected by the ban could bring a legal challenge.
But it wouldn't be enough to simply claim that the ban infringes on personal freedom, said Rick Hills, a New York University law professor specializing in local government law and New York City.
While Bloomberg administration officials say they have no plans to move against solid foods, any local government could ban red meat — or even all animal products — without violating a person's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Hills argued.
"The court has never struck down a health measure that was designed to protect people from unsafe diets or unsafe foods," he said. Whether the ban is on rat poison or on sugar, government is allowed to protect people from themselves, he said.
And Hills said that opponents would have to do more than argue that the law affects one source of sugar more than others. Courts, he said, have repeatedly ruled that the government can try to eradicate societal ills one step at a time.
Rob Bookman, an attorney who has represented the New York Restaurant Association, predicted opponents will argue that the city Health Department is overstepping its authority and infringing on federal or state power.
He said the sugary-drink rule would set a dangerous precedent: If the ban is within the city's rights, then there's nothing to prevent, for example, a prohibition on the 16-ounce New York strip steak, he suggested.
"We have one federal Food and Drug Administration that determines what products are legal or not legal, or safe for consumption or not safe for consumption," he said. "We cannot have 30,000 or so localities around the country being their own FDAs" without killing the national food industry.
At a Board of Health meeting this week, members seemed to suggest they would, in fact, welcome more expansive measures. Board member Bruce Vladeck asked why the city wasn't considering portion-size limits for buttery movie theater popcorn.
"The popcorn isn't a whole lot better from the nutritional point of view," he said.
In a statement, Health Department spokeswoman Alexandra Waldhorn said the Board of Health's responsibilities include "the control of chronic disease and food service establishments." She added: "Limiting the portion size of sugary beverages served at New York City restaurants is a valid exercise of these authorities."
New York has passed other regulations aimed at making food sold in the city healthier. In 2006, it became the first major city to ban the use of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking. The ban was not challenged in court, according to the Health Department. And many other cities followed suit.
In 2008, New York city health officials passed a regulation requiring many chain restaurants to post calories on menus. A federal judge rejected a challenge from the restaurant industry, which argued that the rule violated the First Amendment right to free speech by forcing restaurants to "convey the government's message regarding the importance of calories."
Bennett Gershman, a constitutional law professor at Pace University, argued that the ban on big sugary drinks would run afoul of the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause.
Local governments "can't pass laws that do impose burdens on the free flow of commerce between states," he said. "If it is too much of a burden, the Supreme Court says that states can't do it. Only Congress can impose burdens on commerce. States can't."
Gershman suggested the measure would impose a burden by requiring out-of-state companies to produce different size drink containers and offer different services for customers in New York.
But Hills scoffed at that line of reasoning, saying the courts have generally accepted such an argument only in regard to transportation rules that might, for example, prevent some trucks from driving across state lines.
Associated Press writer Jason Keyser in Chicago contributed to this report.
Follow Samantha Gross at http://twitter.com/samanthagross


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An essential guide on computer worms and how they actually work
A computer worm is similar to a computer virus, but unlike a virus it does not need to attach itself to an existing program.
Designed to spread
Some worms can send themselves to everyone in your e-mail address book – and then to everyone in their e-mail address books, making them capable of spreading to millions of computers within hours. In the most extreme cases, worms have affected computer networks worldwide and drastically slowed down the Internet.
Exploiting caterpillars
Worms typically exploit vulnerabilities in operating systems and spread through e-mail or other file transmission capabilities found on networked computers. They often hide in parts of operating systems that are automatic and usually invisible to you. It is common for worms to be noticed only when their uncontrolled replication consumes considerable system resources, slowing down or halting other tasks.
Worms carrying damage
Many worms have been created only to spread and do not attempt to mess up the computers they pass through. Other worms, however, carry a so-called "payload". A "payload" is a piece of code typically designed to do damage – it might delete files on your PC, encrypt files in an extortion attack, or attach itself to your outgoing e-mail. A very common payload for worms is installing a backdoor which can later be exploited by other malware, allowing the worm author to take control over infected computers.
Notorious worms
Conficker, also known as Downup/Downadup, is a computer worm targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system. It was first detected in November 2008and since then it has spread rapidly into what is now believed to be the largest computer worm infection since the 2003 SQL Slammer, with more than seven million computers infected in over 200 countries.
How to stay safe from computer worms
Because worms spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems, software vendors supply regular security updates. If you install these updates on your computer, the majority of worms won't be able to infect it.
Having Anti-spyware, Firewall or Anti Virus software active on your PC will provide protection against all known types of worms, but they must all be kept up-to-date with new virus definitions at least every few days. You also need to be wary of opening unexpected email, running attached files or programs or visiting web sites that are linked to such emails.
Source: Adopted From www.bullguard.com
To Become Certified For CompTIA A+ Please Visit This Link ;
Also published on Medium.


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Greg Warren
Greg Warren
According to Punchline Magazine Greg Warren is a comic who's been "on the rise for the last decade." Most recently seen on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson " Greg's humor is largely based on stories and characters from his Midwestern background. Called a "comic's comic" by Kim Coles and "that white dude" by an anonymous audience member Greg made several appearances on BET's "Coming To The Stage " where he captivated audiences and judges with anecdotes of his crazy Uncle Earl and the conflicts inherent in meshing two high school identities: varsity wrestler and clarinet player (aka band geek).
Greg's TV credits also include Country Music Television's "Comedy Stage" and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend " where he was warmly endorsed by Wanda Sykes. A favorite on the nationally syndicated "Bob and Tom" radio show Greg entertained in theaters across the country with the "Friends of Bob and Tom Comedy Tour." His "Flute Man" bit is one of the most requested in the history of the show. In it he perfectly capsulizes the insecurities of high school and the ongoing quest to be cool. Greg grew up in St. Louis with his dad who was his high school wrestling coach an experience that served as a wellspring of material and his mother who made him wear ridiculous clothes and take clarinet lessons another source of comedic inspiration. He was a West Point cadet for about a year where he distinguished himself by amassing an impressive tally of demerits and endless hours of pointless marching. At the University of Missouri he studied journalism and was named an All-American wrestler. While a student at Mizzou Greg won a comedy contest and was invited to perform at a local club Déjà Vu. After a stint pitching Pringles and Jif for corporate giant Proctor & Gamble Greg made the move to full time comedian. From an early invitation to Montreal's Just For Laughs festival to his ongoing cross-country club appearances Greg continues to make people laugh.


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We are KS1 Thermoplastic Activity Markings, for Key Stage One children, our specially designed thermoplastic playground designs are great for encouraging outdoor learning and physical activities when developing fundamental skills.
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We have a range of thermoplastic activity designs for KS1 playground games for children aged 5-7. These markings are specifically created and adapted to the curriculum for primary school years 1 and 2.
With a number of unique graphics for different subjects, the children are able to combine classroom learning with outdoor play to make the most out of their time at school.
To enquire about the costs of installation for these flooring features, please feel free to speak to us through the contact form so we can get back to you.
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We are able to create bespoke activity markings using thermoplastic which comes in bright colours and creates a long-lasting finish.
Some of the most popular designs include A-Z letter snakes, number grids and cartoon animals. These can each be used for different games, and the kids will be able to come up with their own imaginative ideas.
Ofsted will often look for these kinds of facilities and rate them highly because they contribute to outdoor learning environments and active play.
Other graphics like -
could also be incorporated into a KS1 activity playground. Many children find it much easier to learn when doing something active and fun, so this is great for teaching fundamental maths and English skills.
The roadways and footprints are often used for learning safety in the outside world with regards to crossing roads and sticking to footpaths. Not only do these markings teach ideas which are relevant to the National Curriculum, but they also relate to life skills.
Not only is the thermoplastic markings a way of educating the children near me whilst outside, but it can also physically have positive results.
The outside activity markings encourage nearby young people to get fresh air, whilst undergoing physical activity which results in the children having positive benefits both intellectually and physically.
If you are thinking about having thermoplastic playground graphics installed for local Key Stage One school closest to you, get in touch with our specialists today.
We'll supply all the information you need with regards to prices and quotes, as well as unique designs for your school's recreational area. If you have any ideas for imaginative marking designs, feel free to let us know and we'll try to incorporate this for your project.
There are plenty of schools near me who are looking to create or improve a play area for Key Stage 1 children. Thermoplastic designs are a great feature which can be added to an existing tarmac surface through a quick and simple process.
The shapes are pre-formed in plastic using the desired colour, then laid onto the macadam and heat applied to the surface.
Depending on the school's budget and choice of design, markings can be installed as a single set or as part of an activity trail which moves throughout the playground and the surrounding area.
Obviously a bigger set of graphics is going to use more materials so will be more expensive.
In addition to the outdoor surface graphics, other play area features could be installed for KS1 activities. Different types of equipment are often chosen by schools as a way of incorporating physical literacy and fitness into outdoor games.
Trim trails with climbing ropes, balancing beams and traverse walls are perfect for getting children involved in fun games while being active as well.
These facilities encourage physical fitness and healthier lifestyles as pupils could use them during break times and even after school clubs. Between ages, 5-7 children are developing a number of fundamental skills both academic and physical. With a well-designed outdoor learning facility, you can enhance the learning environment as much as possible.
Please contact our experts today through the enquiry form on this page so we can offer you some advice on specifications and costs for your Key Stage 1 playground [POSTCODE]
Simply send us over your details and a brief description of what you're looking for and we'll get back to you with a quick response.


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Celebrities are now upset about fracking, the injection of chemicals into the ground to crack rocks to release oil and gas. With everyone saying they want alternatives to foreign oil, I'd think celebrities would love fracking.
I'd be wrong. Lady Gaga, Yoko Ono and their group, Artists Against Fracking, don't feel the love. Yoko sang, "Don't frack me!" on TV.
Stopping fracking is the latest cause of the silly people. They succeeded in getting scientifically ignorant politicians to ban fracking in New York, Maryland and Vermont.
Hollywood gave an Oscar to "Gasland," a documentary that suggests fracking will shove gas into some people's drinking water, so the water will burn. It's true that some water contains so much natural gas that you can light it.
But another documentary, "FrackNation," shows that gas got into plumbing long before fracking came. There's gas in the earth. That's why it's called "natural gas." Some gets into well water. Environmental officials investigated the flames shown in "Gasland" and concluded that the pollution had nothing to do with fracking.
"FrackNation" director Phelim McAleer tried to confront "Gasland" director Josh Fox about this, but Fox wouldn't answer his questions. Instead, he demanded to know whom McAleer works for. He also turned down my invitations to publicly debate fracking. Many activists don't like to answer questions that don't fit their narrative.
Even some homeowners who filed a lawsuit claiming that their water was poisoned by fracking weren't happy to learn that their water is safe. I'd think they would be delighted, but "FrackNation" shows a couple reacting with outrage when environmental officials test their water and find it clean.
The real story on fracking, say scientists, is that the risks are small and the rewards immense. Fracking lowered the price of natural gas so much that Americans heat our homes for less, and manufacturing that once left America has returned. For those concerned about global warming, burning gas instead of oil or coal reduces CO2 emissions.
"Skeptical Environmentalist" author Bjorn Lomborg points out that "green" Europe promised to reduce emissions, but "only managed to cut half of what you guys accidentally happened to do when you stumbled on fracking."
Still, the process sounds dangerous. It requires chemicals and explosions. So fracking is now scapegoated for the usual litany of things that peasants feared when threatened with curses centuries ago: livestock dying, bad crop yields, children born with deformities.
None of it is backed by scientific evidence. Even environmentalists who usually are too cautious (by my standards) see little danger. President Obama's first EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, told Congress that the EPA cannot show "that the fracking process has caused chemicals to enter groundwater."
One of the more outlandish fears is that fracking will cause earthquakes. Silly people at MSNBC say fracking creates "a skyrocketing number of earthquakes." Yes, cracking rocks does cause vibrations. But then, so does construction with dynamite or jackhammers – not to mention trucks on the highway.
Time and again, as humans make a good-faith effort to find new, cleaner ways to produce the energy a growing population needs, environmentalists find a reason – often very small or non-existent – that makes the new method unacceptable.
They say coal is dirty and normal oil production might overheat the planet. Hydroelectric dams kill fish. Nuclear plants could suffer meltdowns. Windmills kill birds.
Some won't be happy unless we go back to what we did before industrialization: burn lots of trees and die young.
Nothing is completely risk-free. Companies make mistakes. Chemical spills happen.
But those risks are manageable. They are also far preferable to the risk of paying more for energy – thereby killing opportunities for the poor.
So far, most regulators outside New York, Maryland and Vermont have ignored the silly people. So thanks to fracking, Americans pay less for heat (and everything else), the economy is helped, new jobs get created, we create less greenhouse gas, and for the first time since the 19th century, America may become a net exporter of energy.
Good things happen if the silly people can't convince all politicians to ban progress.


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This is the first picture we have of Savannah. We got her in the Spring of 2004. She was pregnant and was going to the Shoofly Farm summer camp to have babies as part of the kids experience there. She came back and graced our lives here ever since.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
This is the first picture we have of Savannah. We got her in the Spring of 2004. She was pregnant and was going to the Shoofly Farm summer camp to have babies as part of the kids experience there. She came back and graced our lives here ever since.
41 comments:
I am so very, very sorry for your loss. I know right now that your hearts are breaking. We just lost our little Ziggy this past Friday on January 6, so we know the pain that you are feeling right now. We wish that we could take the hurt away as it aches so much...
- January 8, 2012 at 12:42 PM
- Carmen S. said...
I'm so very sorry for your loss:( It never gets easier to lose our furry loves but I hope you can find some comfort in the fact that you gave her an awesome home full of as much love as a bunn could want (((hugs)))
- January 8, 2012 at 12:45 PM
- Glenna said...
Oh, no. I'm so very very sorry for your loss of that lovely, sweet rabbit. She had the best home with you guys any rabbit could have. We'll miss seeing her beautiful spotty coat.
- January 8, 2012 at 1:04 PM
- SixBunnies said...
Oh, no, precious Savannah! I am so glad, though, that she had you to make her comfortable and loved and not frightened in her last hours!
I am so sorry. - January 8, 2012 at 1:09 PM
- d. moll, l.ac. said...
so sorry....love is the greatest gift we can give in the end (and the middle and beginning too) Om Mani Padme Hung ten thousand times for the beautiful Savannah....binky on elegant spotted one <3
- January 8, 2012 at 1:20 PM
- Christina said...
Ah Savannah...I hate to hear this news. You had a wonderful life with the House of Rabbits. Godspeed on your journey to the Summerlands sweet girl. I will miss your stories.
So damn sorry for your loss. - January 8, 2012 at 1:24 PM
- Unknown said...
Sending Much love and light from Andrewbun , Henrybun and family xxoo
- January 8, 2012 at 1:36 PM
- Ann (bunnygirl) said...
We will all miss sweet Savannah. She was such a lucky girl to have had a home with you and the other buns. It's a shame nature didn't design rabbits to stay here with us longer.
Binky free, spotty girl! - January 8, 2012 at 2:00 PM
- PJ said...
You two have always been such an inspiration to me, I am so sorry to learn you've lost your precious girl.
- January 8, 2012 at 2:12 PM
- Hef's Mom said...
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear. She was a lucky rabbit to have you two.
- January 8, 2012 at 2:39 PM
- Friend of the Animals said...
How sad. She was my favorite in that house. I will miss her lots, I know you will too. Love you Savannah.
- January 8, 2012 at 3:15 PM
my heart is with you both as you mourn the loss of your sweet girl. i know she had the best life possible and even got to be famous! thank you for the love and care you gave her for 7+ years. God bless you both!
- January 8, 2012 at 3:25 PM
Our thoughts are with you. Hugs, purrs, and nose bumps.
- January 8, 2012 at 4:12 PM
- Jade said...
Oh, no! So very sorry to hear this--Mick and I will be sending many good thoughts out to Savannah tonight, and we will be keeping all of you in our thoughts and prayers. Mick sends his best nose bonks and bunny kisses as well. Hugs and much love to all in the HoR.
- January 8, 2012 at 4:24 PM
- MoB said...
NOOOooo! This is so sad :(
- January 8, 2012 at 4:50 PM
- Clovie Boy said...
The saddest news...Savannah's long life is a testament to the love and great care you gave her all those years.
So very sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful bunny. - January 8, 2012 at 5:39 PM
- Unknown said...
- January 8, 2012 at 5:50 PM
- Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...
Oh no...I'm sooooo sorry! :( :( :(
Sending light and love your way and lots of hugs for your hearts. I'm so sorry. - January 8, 2012 at 5:58 PM
- bunnits said...
Oh, sweet Savannah. I am so sorry. She will be missed. She had the best bunlife with you and BL and you have many wonderful memories to hold in your hearts.
- January 8, 2012 at 7:29 PM
She always accepted her pellets & veggies very graciously, and with much entusiasm!
Good night, Savannah - please give a little nudge to Buddy, Baxter, and Lil' Jasper for us...
Mr. Friend Of The Animals - January 8, 2012 at 8:18 PM
- Christina said...
Would Rabbits Guy or Bunny Lady object to using the lovely Savannah's picture for this Monday Mantra?
- January 8, 2012 at 9:14 PM
- Auntie Jane (It is official!) said...
I am so sorry. Thank you for sharing your precious Savannah with us. May God bless you, this path, and the bunns who share it with you in time and eternity.
- January 8, 2012 at 9:17 PM
- Lalis said...
I'm so sad to hear this! Sweet Savannah is now over the Rainbow Bridge throwing binkies like a kit in an open space.
My hear goes out to you, RG and the rest of the house. I know what is like to lose a beloved furry one. - January 8, 2012 at 10:15 PM
- Crafty Green Poet said...
Oh I'm so sorry to hear this! You'll miss her so much but she waslucky to have such a long and happy life with you all!
- January 9, 2012 at 12:25 AM
- MatsB said...
We are so sorry to hear about your loss of lovely Savannah! Our thoughts go to you all. Binky free, beautiful Savannah!
//Mats & Christina - January 9, 2012 at 12:52 AM
- Flicka said...
I'm very very sorry about your loss and send you my warmest thoughts and condolences!
I'm a loyal reader of your blog although I seldom comment on the posts.
So thank you for your lovely blog, it has brought me so much joy and lit up so many dull days.
Greetings from Helsinki, Finland. - January 9, 2012 at 1:59 AM
- Denise Lim said...
I read your blog post everyday. I saw Savannah's photos when she was alive... Although I didn't really see your real bunny, I also felt sad to heard the news. :'(
Binky free, Savannah. I hope you will be happy at Rainbow Bridge. - January 9, 2012 at 2:16 AM
- Keithius said...
Oh nooooooo! :-(
Gus and Betsy and all of us waaaay over here send our sympathies. - January 9, 2012 at 5:02 AM
- Bunya said...
As everyone has said, we too are sorry for your loss. You gave Savannah a wonderful home for almost all of her life. Our thoughts are with you.
- January 9, 2012 at 7:06 AM
- The Fab Furs said...
Our condolences. Thank you for sharing her with us. She was as special as you all.
- January 9, 2012 at 8:20 AM
- Pepper said...
So very sorry for your loss. She was a lucky lucky lady to have found a home with such warm and loving people. My thoughts are with you.
- January 9, 2012 at 8:58 AM
- Scout and Sage said...
I'm sorry your beautiful lady passed on.
- January 9, 2012 at 9:39 AM
- Carolyn Jean Thompson said...
I'm so sorry. She looks so much like my beloved Pepe I lost last year. Tears come to my eyes. I know how you feel.
- January 9, 2012 at 10:45 AM
- tamara said...
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm sure she is very busy rearranging the rainbow bridge. - January 9, 2012 at 10:58 AM
- Bunya said...
Just made a contribution to our local House Rabbit Society rescue shelter in Savannah's memory and encourage other A Houseful of Rabbits blog fans to do the same.
- January 9, 2012 at 1:32 PM
- RoadBunner said...
I am so very sorry to hear this news. Big ((hugs)) to you, BL, and the rest of the rabbits.
- January 9, 2012 at 3:22 PM
- Mel said...
I'm so sorry for your loss. Binky free sweet Savannah
- January 9, 2012 at 5:58 PM
- Lisa Alto said...
Rest in peace dear Savannah x
- January 10, 2012 at 5:57 AM
- Karen M said...
So sorry for the loss of your beautiful Savannah. She was trulyt a special bun.
- January 11, 2012 at 6:34 PM
- Lisa said...
I am so, so sorry for your loss. This is such heartbreaking news but I know you know the silver lining here is that Savannah got to spend nearly 8 wonderful years in the ideal home. I'll never forget her dewlap or her spots. Binky free as the Queen of the Bridge, Regal Savannah.
It's shaping up to be a rough year already. - January 12, 2012 at 12:29 PM
- Duchess's Slave said...
I am so,so sorry to hear this,we will definitely miss seeing her sweet face. It hurts so much when you lose one of your bunnies. She had such a wonderful home, at least she knew she was loved when she passed.
Give all the buns a nose rub from us.
Binky free Savannah... - January 14, 2012 at 5:58 PM


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Techstars Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Techstars Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams hear talks by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurs. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education. Whether you are looking for feedback on an idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Techstars Startup Weekends are the perfect environment in which to test your idea and take the first steps towards launching your own startup.
Ottawa Startup Weekend


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Insightful article by John Gruber.
So the irony here is that iOS vs. Android (or, if you prefer, iPhone and iPad vs. commodity smartphones and tablets) is in fact a replay Mac vs. Windows – but not in the way that most who make the comparison would have you believe. Judging by its actions, Apple is keenly aware of the lessons to be learned from 20 years ago. To wit, this has nothing to do with focusing on raw market share, and everything to do with keeping the pedal to the metal on design and quality. If Apple maintains a lead over its rivals in those regards, the Mac suggests that Apple can occupy a dominant, stable, long-term position as the profit leader in the mobile market as well – a market that is already bigger than the PC market ever was, and unlike the PC market, is still growing.
As insightful as the article is, it does pivot on the assumption that Apple does, indeed, "[maintain] a lead over its rivals" in design and quality. Design is largely a matter of taste, but as far as quality goes, Apple has, in my view, been surpassed in almost every aspect by Android – at least, when it comes to software. And let's not even get started on internet services, where Apple is a complete and utter joke compared to its competitors. As far as hardware goes, however, Apple's supposed lead is harder to debate – I've held a lot of phones and tablets in my hands over the years, and while many come close to Apple's, I've never held anything that outright surpassed it (save for maybe the HTC One which no one is buying).
Unsurprisingly, Gruber believes Apple does maintain that lead, and as such, arguing his point becomes relatively easy. However, if you ascribe to the view that Android has surpassed iOS in quality (and certainly in design, in my view), it becomes a lot harder to accept that Apple can, this time, avoid the trap it fell into in the '90s.
Now, before people will twist and turn this into me saying Apple is doomed – I don't believe for a second that it is. However, that doesn't mean a repeat of the '90s is somehow magically off the table – Apple has a lot of work to do in order to avoid it. As Tom Dale stated so aptly almost a year ago, "Google is getting better at design faster than Apple is getting better at web services". With Motorola and the Moto X, design might not be the only thing Google is getting better at faster.