MMO map history

One of my biggest complaints about MMOs is finding my way around. They aren't linear like console or single player games. You can roam anywhere, and the only thing to stop you are mobs too powerful for you to defeat.

Lord of the Rings Online has taken a unique approach to mapping:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Lorebook_home


Introducing LOTRO Google Maps!
We’re pleased to bring you a brand new LOTRO Lorebook feature – LOTRO Google maps! Use this feature to add detailed maps, plot quest paths, and mark locations in your Lorebook entries, or just explore the game from a bird’s eye perspective.

What do you guys think?

Kittens are evil

South Carolina Health officials are still trying to track down anyone who might have been exposed to a rabid kitten at a softball tournament -- and 11 people have already begun post-exposure inoculations.

Ten people in North Carolina are being treated for possible rabies exposure. A child in Spartanburg County, S.C., is also being treated.
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control officials are warning girls from four states who participated in a softball tournament of possible exposure to rabies. The exposure happened at the South Atlantic Summer Showdown softball tournament in Spartanburg County on July 14.

Officials said that Marie Watson, a coach from Buncombe County, N.C., found a gray kitten in a barrel-type Dumpster behind the dugout at the Boiling Springs Recreational Facility. Watson decided to make the kitten a tournament mascot. Watson carried the kitten around in a box for the duration of the tournament.
The games were played at the Boiling Springs recreational facility and the North Spartanburg recreational facility.

Health officials said that after the coach took the kitten home, it began acting strangely. The kitten was euthanized on July 15, and tests performed at the North Carolina State Public Health Laboratory confirmed that the kitten had rabies.
The health department has not been able to reach everyone who may have been exposed, so department officials are asking anyone who may have been licked, scratched or bitten by the kitten to call them at 864-282-4144.

Buncombe County Public Health spokeswoman Sue Ellen Morrison said, "The virus is in saliva, so if they had a bite or what we call a mucus membrane contact -- the saliva rubbed in their eyes or (if) it got in their mouth."

The Department of Health and Environmental Control officials also would like to talk with the person who put the kitten in the Dumpster because of their possible exposure to the disease.
Wednesday, Watson told WYFF News 4, "If I had it to do again, I don't know if I would leave it. But I would definitely be more careful of who was around it and that kind of thing."

IT IS FINISHED

(no title link)

I finished the book at midnight sunday evening (monday morning). I am pleased to have sacrificed a weekend for that. I completely enjoyed the book.

Every lose end was tied up nicely, and I can't think of anything left for question.

I won't post a blog with any spoilers. If you want to know what happened, pick up the book and read it (from the beginning).

One of my roomies read the last chapter (supposedly) and then threatened to spoil it for me if I ticked him off.

I made sure he was happy

Harry Potter: And the Deathly Hallows

I went to Barnes & Noble with a buddy of mine (he had a preorder ticket that allowed him to purchase up to 5 copies).

I feel so much better about myself. I was surrounded by people I would never dream of hanging out with. In fact i'd say its pretty safe to assume that i'd never be caught anywhere else in their vacinity. Make-up, capes, wands, brooms, and lots of fat chicks.

Thankfully I got my copy quickly, and we left. Of course as we were walking out the door, Gilbert (otherwise known as the "man with the ticket") yells out,"I can't believe he's his father!" Several people grimaced at us, until his girlfriend started giggling. Then they gave us that look of "you bastards!"

It was quite amusing.

I'm about half way through the book at this point, and should be finished with it by this evening.

First Week Complete

So i've completed my first week of training. Some of it was like riding a bike again. The rest of it was pretty interesting.

Nothing was boring...maybe long and drawn out, but it was all pertinent to what i'll be doing. As opposed to normal training that bombards me with things like "The first satellite utilized for Cable TV was put at 23,000 feet in orbit, and broadcasted HBO." Which i'll never need to know.

Instead the training got directly to the meat of the account and billing system.

It may not be computer tech support, but its still a decently technical job. Lots of process of elimination. I like that. Not too mention the que here is decent so i'll be busy. =)

How to be in a great mood while sick...

So today I had my orientation at my new job. I can hardly speak with how sore my throat is, and even when i'm not trying to speak, it still sucks. No amount of liquid can seem to keep my throat from feeling like dry mummified crap.

I steeled myself though, and just made my way into my first day at Cox.

(a healthy supply of cough drops helped with this)

Needless today, for a monday being sick...going to Cox made the day unsuck. (yes..that's a word in my world)

The benefits are teh awesome. I won't (probably shouldn't) go into specifics. It has the standard "we own you and everything you do while you are on the clock" routine. Then its also got "you are insured as of your start time this morning". Great PTO policies, and one of the most interstingly unique medical insurance processes. I'm not sure if the insurance is good or bad, but it gives me warm fuzzy feelings in areas i've had problems with before. I like the warm fuzzies.

Now i'm at home, and one of my roomies is having a birthday party. He's barbequing a rediculous amount of meat. Mmmm....meat.