OMG!

Where have I been? I know the only person asking this is Dewey, but here we go.

I've been sucked into the massive gmae known as World of Warcraft and it is awesome. I created a gnome mage and it gets really fun running around, nuking monsters, mining for ores, bulding guns for other players, and doing quests with old friends. The main aspect of this game that I like is that you can pick the alliance you want to join, and since I'm on a player verses player server, I can attack players from the other alliance. DOWN WITH THE HORDE. This game is simply beautiful. If you have any interest in trying the game out, all my old friends and I are on the Bleeding Hollow server which is located on the eastern channel. We also have our own guild started up. We call it The Prime Meridian. Go figure.

56knerd.com now redirects here for the time being.

I'm trying out this MSN Desktop Search, and it's not so bad. It spits out results like iTunes and Spotlight, and you can search from the taskbar. I know I was crying about the Microsoft branded world, but I feel that they have put a little thought behind this product.

I now have the Logitech MX1000, which is the world's first laser mouse.
That's what the box says
Of course it is sweet. I love it.

I changed my mind on the Nintendo DS. Over Thanksgiving I played with my friend's unit and I really enjoyed it. If you remember last time, I didn't really like the thing that much and I made this desicion with over 20 units for sale sitting next to me. Now I can't find the damned thing anywhere. The main reason I changed my mind was that in the near future you will be able to get online with this thing.

That is all for now.

I forgive you?!

It's hard to stay mad at Microsoft when they throw this in your face.

I hope this come out in 2006 like MS plans.

MSN Spaces and how I learned to hate the bomb.

Like many people are probably doing, I’m test driving this new blogging service from MSN (Microshaft, M$, Microsuck). I’m going to get this out of the way and say that I love it when things are integrated with other programs, but there are a few things I can't stand.

Example.

When you publish something on your blog, your friends will get a message through MSN Messenger saying that you’ve updated your blog. You can also publish your playlist to your blog using Windows Media Player that links your list to the MSN Music Store.

By using Microsoft’s Passport, you can make your blog private, so the approved people will have to log in through Passport to see your blog. If your family doesn’t have an MS Passport, they will have to sign up for one. You can even search the web using MSN search.

I love things like this, but I do think it’s just another step closer to an all Microsoft branded world. Pretty soon we’ll be wearing MSN branded clothes, eating from MSN branded plates, while preying at the Church of MSN. We’re being locked into using Microsoft 24/7.

I can’t publish my songs on my blog by using iTunes or Real. I can’t instantly link my song list to the iTunes Music Store or even Napster. I can’t notify my friends that my blog has been updated through AOL. Why does this bug me? It boils down to the iPod. Oh, I said it again. I love talking about the iPod.

I also like to choose a few things.

People on the Windows side of the world are crying foul at Apple because they won’t open the iPod up to other music stores or Windows Media Audio. They cry that customers want a freedom of choice. They claim that Apple is trying to lock iPod users into iTunes and iTunes users into iPods, while Microsoft sits back and says, “Oh, but you can use Windows Media Player to access our music store and other music stores. You can also use our media player to interface with a lot of the mp3 players on the market. What’s that Apple? Oh, iTunes can only access one music store and interface with one player?” *sticks out tongue*

Microsoft is just trying to tighten its grip on the world and I’m starting to get paranoid, man.

Try playing your AAC music collection in Windows Media Player.

You can’t.

Try finding an mp3 player that can play AAC.

You don’t see a lot of them. Most players support mp3 and WMA like the iRiver H120, the Rio Carbon, and the Samsung Napster Music player.

There, you see. Microsoft is trying to lock you into buying music players that support WMA and use music stores that sell songs in the WMA format. Why? To control that market too. Operating systems and web browsers aren’t enough anymore.

Microsoft wants the messenger, search, free e-mail, music store, and now blog markets.

That is why Microsoft integrating everything Microsoft bugs me.

So who is crying about being locked into the Fairplay DRM that Apple uses again? Also, Apple doesn’t even own AAC. It was developed by the same people who brought you mp3, so you can throw out the “AAC is Apple Proprietary,” crap.

But back to the blog.

It’s nothing great. I understand that it’s still in beta. The word beta becomes a part of your blog. You can pick from a lot of different color schemes, but the layout remains the same. They should mix it up a bit like Blogger does. The URL to your site is not pretty either. Again, I prefer Blogger.

Before I sign off, I do have a suggestion for Microsoft (Microstupid, Microslime) on product integration. How about you include a feature that lets me publish to my blog from MS Word, but it lets me publish to Blogger and others too because I’m tired of copying things in Word and then pasting them into the blog of choice.