I recently released the first version of my first serious World of Warcraft addon, PortalBox, as part of the Wrath of the Lich King beta key giveaway by WoWInterface. The addon has been quite useful to me, and I hope others find it to be just as great!
To learn more about PortalBox, check out its page or its download page on WoWInterface.
Today I’m posting a machinima (which is a fan film made with nothing but in-game materials, for those not informed) that does an impressive job of presenting World of Warcraft in an anime opening sequence style. It was created to promote the Chinese or Korean (not sure which, feel free to correct me) World of Warcraft guild Eternal Legend by Comic-Cannery. I wish my guild had something that cool to promote it >_>
You can download a full-resolution version from the movie’s page on WarcraftMovies and the song used in the video is “Face of Fact ~ LAMENT Version” by the Japanese band KOTOKO if you’re interested in adding it to your playlist.
Here’s a little album of WoW alpha screenshots that I put together. They used to be available at another site, but the site became messed up and made it very hard to view these pictures. To remedy the problem, I downloaded the images one by one, posted them here, and wrapped them in a nice little Coverflow-style album viewer page.
I found it interesting to look through and see how much WoW has changed since then, for better or for worse.
Scroll through the images with the scroller on the bottom, and click the image to view it in full size. Be sure to click the little arrow on the top of the page when you’re finished looking through the first page of pictures, as that leads to a second page full.
Word of Warcraft Pre-Release Screenshots
Enjoy!
Just posting an old quote that I found lying around when I was spelunking through the depths of my HD today and figured I’d post it.
Unknown said:
Apple fanboy or not, you have to understand one thing: this is not a battle of Mac vs. PC. Macs ARE PCs. they’re just BETTER PCs with a better OS. While Mac users are “driving” the Bently of computers, Windows users are “driving” the beat-up El Camino that’s painted only with primer, and the hood is a different color that the rest of the car. Sure both will get you there (hopefully), but in one, you’ll love the ride; in the other… well, have you ever ridden in a beat-up old camino? The simile speaks for itself.
Not sure that anybody out there is still reading my blog, but if somebody is, this is for them.
I am now selling web designs! While I prefer to work on personal and small business sites, I can and will work on others. Cost depends on the project and is very negotiable, and if asked I will price match the competition (ample proof of the offer being matched is required, of course).
Software interface and icon design is now available, too. I specialize in designing Mac software but I will design UIs for software on any platform. Pricing is very flexible/negotiable.
I am also offering anime art/wallpaper commissions. While other resolutions are available, I specialize in high-resolution widescreen wallpapers (1680×1050 and above). Prices are extremely flexible - you only have to pay what you feel the art is worth. If this venture is somewhat successful, I may offer commissioned prints as well.
In all above cases, I will do my best to work with the customer to provide unique quality design. As a measure in attempt to build my portfolio, some projects may even be eligible for free or very low cost service! No project is too small. If you are interested in any of the above services, please contact me through AIM, MSN, or or email. Thank you!
All Mac fans have heard it at some point in their life - one of the many little pieces of misinformation about Macs that seems to have permeated nearly all of the Windows PC-using crowd: the idea that Mac OS is free of viruses and other malware simply because of its (supposedly) incredibly miniscule marketshare. In this post I intend to explain why this idea is false for the most part and also prove that Mac usage is on the rise.
First of all, let’s assume that the mass opinion is correct and that the Mac has an incredibly small user base - most estimate the number to be about 4% or 5%. According to security through obscurity, the reason that there is no malware for OS X is because malware writers have little or no interest due to the small number of Mac users that could be infected, as well as the malware writer’s lack of knowledge of the Mac OS. While this may hold some validity, I honestly don’t believe that this is their primary reason. With all of the Mac userbase boasting their immunity to the sea of malware on the internet and even Apple now leveraging it in their advertising campaign, don’t you think that a malware author would be heavily enticed to write a massive worm or virus that swept across and devastating the Mac userbase? The resulting media surge would award the writer a massive amount of fame and possibly a nice position in a large security company or even Apple itself. The motivation is there, but Mac OS X is simply a significantly harder nut to crack than Windows is, mostly thanks to its heavily multiple user-oriented design. Any such malware would have to rely solely on the user entering his name and password, and thus human stupidity to spread, which simply isn’t reliable enough to get the desired results.
Now I will address the issue of Macintosh marketshare. Before I go further, the reader must understand the difference between marketshare and and install base:
Marketshare: The number of units sold in a given time period. Said time period is usually measured in quarters.
Install Base: The number of units in place and currently in use.
Marketshare is not as important as it is made out to be. It’s simply a measure of how popular something was in a given quarter and only adds to the install base. If we are looking for solid numbers for platform usage, install base would be a much better place to look. According to this link, the Mac install base is estimated to be at 22 million even before Leopard’s release. Some estimate that this represents a total of 16% of all computer users. That number is nothing to sneeze at, and that number will only increase with the release of Leopard. It’s certainly not the miniscule number that so many seem to think it is.
Even if marketshare really is that important to you, even that is on the rise. According to marketshare.hitslink.com, Mac marketshare is sitting at about 6.61% worldwide, which is higher than it has been in previous years.
So in conclusion, yes, obscurity does play some part in the Mac’s lack of malware. How much of one is truly questionable, however, seeing how the number of Mac users is quite decent and is increasing every day. If it’s security through obscurity you’re looking for, try Linux. The home marketshare for it is currently sitting at about 0.81%.
The site’s change to the new layout is finished after a day’s work of work and tweaking. The front page is still WordPress, but all other pages are static/coded. The only thing that remains undone is the Mac OS Through the Years page, which I have grander plans for.
I think I’ve covered everything, but if I missed something or somebody finds a bug, please inform me as soon as possible. Thanks!
As you can see, I’m working on a new look and feel for this blog and website. It’s obviously not finished yet, so please excuse the mess until the dust settles.
After months of work, I have finally finished up this wallpaper! Below is a preview of it. If you are interested in it you can download it on my page at AnimePaper, where it’s available in widescreen resolutions ranging from 960×600 all the way up to 2560×1600.
After growing tired of looking at the old World of Warcraft default icon and not being happy with others I found around the web, I decided to make my own. But why just stop with a vanilla icon? The result is the icons you see above, with an icon for the original release, The Burning Crusade expansion, and the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Enjoy!
