My girlfriend sent me an email a few days ago that was amazing.  I won’t bore you any more with the intro, here is the email:

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

VS.

MY GIRLFRIEND.

BY TYLER CURRY

- - - -

I’ve had a lot of time to think about our last conversation, particularly since you ended it by ramming a keyboard through my monitor. I understand that we were both upset at the time and perhaps we said some things we didn’t mean. Well, maybe you more than me, considering I mostly just listened to you shriek and cowered in the corner.

I do not think I am, as you so eloquently screamed, “addicted to World of Warcraft.” I have, however, made a number of unfortunate mistakes, for which I would like to apologize.

I’m sorry I was so late picking you up from the library. I didn’t know they locked the doors at 8, and I’m sorry you had to stand outside alone for two hours. If it makes you feel better, despite its reputation to the contrary, that portion of the city does not have a violent-crime rate significantly above the national average.

You have to consider the position I was in. I was healing for a party with five players in it, all of whom were counting on me to help them defeat Mekgineer Thermaplugg and liberate the Gnomish city of Gnomeregan. Those are the needs of five people, in contrast to just yours, alone. (Note that I’m not even counting the needs of the Gnomish people here, Ashley.) As Spock once famously said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” You were that one.

Had I looked outside and noticed the freezing rain, I may have made a different decision. Probably not, though.

I’m also sorry I posted those pictures of you on my guild forums, the ones I took when you were passed out. I had no idea they could Photoshop your bra off. That was poor judgment on my part, and I freely admit it. I also should have told you before the chain letter went out. On the bright side, you hated working there anyway.

I also have some things to say that I think you should hear, and, since you forgot to pause long enough for me to speak before your charming little bout of property damage and subsequent stormy departure, I would like to say them now.

Ashley, you have never been willing to accommodate my World of Warcraft needs, or even to compromise the slightest bit.

Last month, when your mother was in a car accident, you called and not only demanded I drive you to the hospital but insisted I stay there to provide “emotional support”—despite knowing full well that I had booked that evening off to fight forest trolls in Zul’Aman. When I suggested you take a cab and that I join you in three to four hours, you unleashed a string of expletives that even my therapist found disturbing. You also refused to wait until we finished off the eagle boss, the one who drops the helm piece I have been trying to get for months.

For the record, she turned out fine anyway. Many paraplegics lead rich and rewarding lives.

Also, what you stumbled upon me doing with that Level 64 blood elf in the back room of the Silvermoon City Inn was neither “sick and perverted” nor “cheating on you.” We were role-playing. That I called you by her character’s name later that evening was just a weird coincidence. I do not wish your body looked like that. You and I both know that it’s physically impossible for humans to have those proportions, at least while retaining all of their internal organs.

However, in the midst of your raging diatribe, sandwiched between the curses and the flailing limbs, you made some very good points. In fact, the words you spoke about commitment, loyalty, and “being there when someone needs you” have sort of inspired me.

Ashley, when I gave you that ring and pledged to spend my life with you, what I didn’t mention was that, eight months prior, in the Level 10 quest “For the Horde,” I had already pledged eternal fealty and service to Warchief Thrall.

Now, with the gates of Ahn’Qiraj opening and the threat of the Silithid invasion looming over Azeroth, the call has gone out for all able-bodied members of the horde to band together in the great war effort. An event like this only happens once in a server’s life, and I cannot honorably abandon my online brethren in this hour of need. I understand that you need me to be there for you, but, Ashley, the truth is, right now, the horde just needs me more.

Wait, what?  As reported by a recent CNN article, it appears Microsoft is doing something that will help the customer and at the same time hurt them!

It appears that the beta version of Internet Explorer 8 has a new feature that is getting a lot of attention: InPrivateBlocking (Firefox is planning on releasing something similar…eventually).  The basic idea behind this is to take user invisibility on the web to the next level.  Instead of taking “cleanup” approaching of clearing user’s temporary files and cookies the browser doesn’t allow them to be downloaded in the first place.

The temporary files and cookies are what enable websites to track what sites you visit, what ads you click, how to market to you, and in some cases, allow the installation of spyware and malware - think of them as your internet fingerprints.  Microsoft’s move to give users this option is interesting because Microsoft’s own advertising software uses these internet fingerprints to target ads to you…they are hurting one of their businesses while improving another.

For the users this is a great option.  Internet anamolitity is something that, in the past, we could only dream about.  The idea of no one tracking where you went, what you viewed, and what you bought is refreshing.  What is the down side though?  For one - if this feature becomes popular the ads you see on sites will not be as revelant to what you actually like.  This isn’t the end of the world for the user, who typically ignores the ads anyway, but it could spell disaster for websites’ income.  As a result of lower revenue from ads sites might have to turn back to subscribition services, which I personally hate.

So do you mind sacrificing a little privacy to help make more of the web free or would you rather pay for things (with registration…and lose that privacy anyway) and not see as many ads?  Tough call.

I have noticed overt the past few weeks that the Wordpress spam filter is going crazy marking everything as spam - even though many of the comments are legit.

I wanted to let everyone know we are aware of this issue and are working to correct it.  If you don’t see your message appear after you submit it, don’t worry - we are hand reviewing them daily until we get this sorted out.

Thank -

EQJ Team

It seems that Sony has a new angle on how to convince people to buy a Sony PC - teach them how to use it.  Sony is launching a new program, Backstage Service Program, to help students and parents understand computers through a course taught at a Sony store.

These Sony gurus will help students “get the most out of their Sony”.  Aside from teaching someone the basics of computer use, there shouldn’t be a need for this training.  If you need to train someone how to use your computer/operating system/game…guess what - it isn’t user friendly.  Setting aside my Sony hatred, I initially saw this as a nice thing to do for new users.

As I read on in the article I found that not only would these gurus help you with getting things setup, they will also help you with your mp3 players and other peripherals.  Great.

At this point I couldn’t help but think, what is the catch?  Sony couldn’t be doing this purely just to attract new customers, that isn’t their style.  Of course, if you want to take advantage of the backstage program past the initial course they will charge you a mere 129.99 per year.  For your money you will get:

• PC Setup
• PC Maintenance
• Support
• Premium Repair Support

What is the difference between ‘Support’ and ‘Premium Repair Support’?  Is this service worth the money?  Would you want the same guy that is trying to sell you a 36′ inch. LCD TV & 80 dollar HDMI cables to be replacing the heat sink on your motherboard?

You Decide…and then let me know.

Cuil (pronounced cool), has been launched by a two professors out of Stanford today.  They hope to directly compete with google by offering a couple new ideas:

1. Search webpages based on context.  After the original search, offer the users a few categories to refine their search to get to what they really want
2. Bring more information to the user - Index more web pages than google and do it faster

I tried a few searches on the website.  It seems to be okie; it is hard to determine if the site is effecient or if I am still biased towards how google organizes things.  To be fair I will give cuil a try for a week or so and see how many times I have to defer to google to find what I need…