Wht?! No more free porn?!! Save the internet! Support Net Neutrality!

Some of you may already have heard about this, but for the last few years internet activists have been fighting to support something called 'Net Neutrality'. Net Neutrality is what allows all websites available on the internet to be equally reachable by the consumer. This means that u can access large sites like Google with the same quality of bandwidth as you could with some other random sites like say.. purepwange.com or worldofraids.com. Now this is all fine a good, however, a few years ago some information had leaked out about ISP's around the world planning to eliminate Net Neutrality for larger financial gains.

How are the ISP's going to make money from the elimination of Net Neutrality? Well.. Large companies like Google will pay the ISP big money to give their subscribers high bandwidth when connecting to any Google website but if the subscriber wishes to connect to a smaller website that does not pay the ISP the same kind of money, the ISP reduces the available bandwidth to this website or blocks the website entirely. It is in the ISP's interest to encourage their subscribers to use the Google websites instead of other websites that are not paying them and it is in Google's interest to pay the ISP money for this service because they will get alot more hits. Please have a look at this video for a better explanation:



I know what your thinking: "that ridiculous!" "that can't happen!" "Arent there laws against this?". Well yes, it IS ridiculous, it CAN and already IS beginning to happen (try looking up Virginmobile and net neutrality) and NO there are currently no laws to protect the internet. If a company like Virginmobile starts this trend and begin to make some money out of it, other companies are going to follow suite! If we let this go on, the internet as we know it will cease to exist. ISP's will still provide web access in a sort of package, like when your signing up for Foxtel. There will be only a small bunch of websites available and if you want to access a website outside of the ones available to you in your package you will probably need to pay extra for it. They did it to TV they have done it to the Radio and now they are trying to commercialize and own the internet.


Think about it! All small and private website designers have no incentive to produce a website because nobody will be willing to access it! That means NO websites like purepwnage or Athene! No more podcasts! No more worldofraids! you won't even be able to get PORN anymore! and of course..... NO MORE BIT TORRENT OR MININOVA!!!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!

Are you scared? you should be! However, there is still some hope! You may have heard about the Save the internet website, for the past few years they have been fighting to promote net neutrality and put the idea into US congress. Thankfully they have succeeded in letting them know that it is an issue that concerns everyone on the planet!! The reason i write this post is because I recently found out that Democratic Senator Barack Obama is in support of Net Neutrality and plans to put it into law when he has secured his position as the President, YAY!! However!! Senator John McCain of the republican party is against Net Neutrality to "reduce piracy" (wht a DOUCHE!!). Didn't really care about who becomes president? Well now you got something to care about!!

It's like a 50/50 chance the internet lives or dies! A 50/50 chance our lives will change for the worst or remain the blissfully free internet children that we are! Vote Obama!! Get the troops out of Iraq! Save the Earth from global warming and most importantly SAVE MY INTERNETS!!!!

Should you be ashamed of being a gamer?

Computer games are pretty popular these days. Nearly everyone has either a gaming console or computer which they play games on (if not both) and if they don't have one, I'm sure that they've at least played on someone else's. In 2007 the computer and video game industry was worth $18.85 billion dollars and it was estimated that on average, 9 games were sold every second of every day of the year. When it was released, Halo 3 earned $170 million dollars on the first day, beating Spider-man 3's entire opening weekend ($151 M) and the first day of sales for the final book in the Harry Potter series($166M)

I'm sure there are more figures I could throw out there, but you get the picture. Computer games are big. Everybody plays, at least the younger generation anyway. But why is it that I'm ashamed of being a gamer? Surely I can't be the only one that enjoys playing computer games. Yet whenever I go out and meet new people we talk about going out, clubbing, shopping, sports or studies and never about how I totally pwned two mages and a rogue in WSG (I totally did btw). Fact is, normal people don't really want to hear that shit because for the most part, gaming isn't cool unless you're a gamer. Chances are that chick at the party won't care that you headshot n00bs in CS and you can bet that putting down "OT & DPS in MC, ZG, BWL, AQ20, AQ40" in your resume won't help you get a job.

So here's the question. Should you be ashamed of being a gamer? I think the answer is... No, but yes. I say no first because I believe that there's no logical reason you should be. Playing a computer game is no more ridiculous than having to hit a ball with a racquet in a way so that it bounces twice before your opponent can hit it. That's not to say that you shouldn't play sports, but I'm just saying that playing computer games in themselves aren't something you should be ashamed of doing. It's just something you have fun doing, same as everyone else.

That being said, you should feel a little ashamed to be a gamer. Or at least be discrete about it. Not because of video games themselves, but the way that they make everyone else feel. I'm sure you've seen that guy, the one who keeps talking about video games whilst all the normal people look awkward and start heading for the door. Don't be that guy. If you are that guy, stop being that guy. I hate that guy. Not because I don't understand, or even empathise with him, but the exact opposite. I like games, but he's making them more uncool than they already are. And I want games to be cool.

But until they are, I think I'll be the 21 year old uni student who likes going out and playing squash instead of a Lvl 70 4/5 veng w/ s3 weap hunter.

Word of the week: Schadenfreude

Hello there kiddies, it's JT here with your word of the week.
Today's word is Schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is a German word which basically means enjoyment taken from the misfortune of others.

Sounds terrible doesn't it? Feeling happy about shit that happens to other people.

Well kids, I have a confession to make. I do it. And you know what? It makes me feel great! But I'm not a horrible person, really... I'm not. I don't go out and cause other people misery just to make me feel better, but let's face it: If a fat kid slips on a banana peel and falls on his ass whilst his ice cream happens to land on his face, I'm going to laugh. If not out loud, I'll at least giggle to myself.

Oh don't look at me like that, chances are that you all do it. All of you. I challenge you all to go to this website, go through all of the pictures and not laugh. If you do, either you are a saint or you're just broken.

Schadenfreude is good, clean, low-fat, all natural, environmentally friendly fun. Knowing someone is worse off then you makes me feel just that little bit better about myself. Besides, at least if you feel good about another person's misfortune, at least someone gets to benefit, and maybe that's happier than nobody getting to feel good at all.

So enjoy Schadenfreude-ing today!

Are you really happy?

Think about this.. What are you trying to do right now? What are your goals? and most importantly why are your trying to achieve these goals? Well i suppose the answer in pretty obvious when its put out to you like this, the answer to these questions is 'Happiness'. Happiness, ultimately is what we all strive to achieve, its the final goal of any human being. We get to uni and study for exams so that one day we can earn enough money to keep us happy. Everything we do now and do in the future should be to achieve happiness, unfortunately the reason i write this entry is because I've noticed something. I've noticed that there are many times in my life where i do things that don't help me progress to this final goal. There are things we all do that don't make us happy, we do these things for other reasons. What i want to know is.. why?

I once knew a guy back in high school, i can't tell you his name but i'll tell you that his passion has always been in cars. His files were always covered in pictures of cars, he'd often have a car magazine in his bag and he used to tell me that his 'dream' would be to run his own garage some day. However these things, to him, were always just going to be dreams... The reason for this is because, being brought up by a very Asian family with very Asian values he felt obligated to go to university. The problem here lies in the fact that my friend wanted to be a car mechanic, which is something that was only taught at tafe. This to him was simply out of the question, he had to go to university. In the end my friend did end up going to uni, and he graduated with a bachelor of science, geology (apparently a 'booming' industry in W.A). Instead of doing something he loved, something that made him happy, he felt that he had to diverge from this path and do something because of his obligation to his families values.

Have you ever found yourself doing something that you didn't really want to do? Have you gone clubbing with your friends only to get bored standing around doing nothing, cos 'that's what the cool kids do'? Did you, like my friend go to uni because its what society has expected you to do? Did you go to uni and not really know what course you wanted to study, but enrolled into something anyway because "as long as you get to Curtin or UWA, everyone is gonna think your alright?". I'm sure many of you (including myself) have once looked down upon tafe students just because you feel they maybe in one way or another inferior to your 'powerful university status'.

It's not in my interest to insult this blogs readers (very few readers) but I put this point across to you because i want you understand the choices you make in your life. Make your choices upon what makes you happy, forget about what society is going to think of you. Life is too short to be messing around with what everybody else is going to think of you, in the end we are the ones that gotta live with the choices we make. I know a lot of the time these choices aren't easy to make, just don't sacrifice your happiness for just anything. Live life on your own terms, 'keep your eye on the ball' and most of all... Be happy! :D

It's OK, I'm here!

Let's see how this works... I just type in here right? OK well here goes...

Hi everyone, my name is Justin (otherwise known as Jaytee), Nick's long-time partner in crime and lookin' to get myself into the whole blogging scene. Not really too sure why... but I guess like Nick I get a lot of random thoughts in my head and want to share them with all you lovely people out there.

Anyway, I don't really have anything to say at the moment, just popping in to say hi and introduce myself. Hopefully I'll get around to posting up something proper in the next few days so make sure you all keep checking the site. That's right, all 3 of you that actually come here. You know who you are.

It's Okay To Be A Slut!!

Today I would like to highlight a great injustice and a lack of foresight on the part of all my bro's and sistas alike out there. First off i wanna make clear to everyone that sex is an activity that is enjoyed by everyone! well.... enjoyed by those of us that has access to it.. What i'm trying to say is... Whether your a boy or a girl, whether your gay, straight, bisexual or even an "other"! Everyone likes having sex! Don't feel bad about, it's natural, its a sign that your a healthy person and God himself told us Himself to "Be fruitful and multiply" Genesis 1:28.

Now that we have that out of the way i'd like to present to you my thoughts on a particular matter that has been bothering me. This injustice is something that all of us are guilty of, what I'm referring to is the way ppl always call girls sluts because they sleep around, or cos they are "easy" or maybe even just cos they are wearing a short skirt at the time. What i wanna know is WHY? Why are you all using the word "slut" like its a bad thing? Like i told you before "everybody likes to have sex!" So why do you tell girls off for having sex and enjoying sex with other people? Just cos you have sex with the same person every night and she has sex with multiple ppl throughout the week doesn't mean u have to tell her she's a slut in a derogatory way. People have different values and beliefs and it is not our place to judge. We accept the way Muslims or Christians wish to live their lives, it's time we give all the Sluts out there the same courtesy. Besides! sluts increasing the amount of sex going around and you should be glad that she's doing it.

When guys sleep around everyone praises them for it, calling them "player" and such. When girls do it they are looked down upon by everyone and called sluts like its a bad thing? Thats just wrong its prejudice plain and simple, we need to change our minds for the new age and give the girls, "sluts" a fair go. If girls choose to be pick up artists we should let them! and not only let them but praise them for it like we do to their male counterparts. The word "slut" should be used in the same way as the word "player" is used for guy. So next time you hear that the chic sitting in the back of the class is abit of a "slut" i want to smile at her and say ":D Hey slut!" like shes your best friend.

AoC - Updates!

My assassin has reached lvl 30 and i re-rolled a Conquerer, hes now lvl 23 and i plan to abandon the sin and just roll with the conquerer from now on. Something about wearing big heavy armor and swing around giant 2 handers that is very appealing to me. My interest in wow has pretty much completely disappeared and at least for now my account will not be active. I might log back in to see wotlk but right now i just don't feel it.

My previous concerns about AoC have failed to keep me away from the game and as of late i've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Hyboria. Not sure if it'c cos i switched to the most OP class in the game or cos i got over the fact that the world isn't how I'd like it to be (read preview entry) but for now AoC is looking up! at least in my books it is...

I know this post is different to my other entries, its all very light hearted and lacks sense of purpose and thought provoking issues that i usually like to put into my blog but i decided to put it up anyways! Hopefully i come up with something a little more insightful for my next entry but for now we should all have a read of Jassie's most recent post about why ppl still play wow after so long: here!

Age of Conan - First Impressions

Woo!! A new MMO just came out and it's supposed to be a "wow killer". well in any case nobody is gonna be killing wow with a game that requires such phat system specs. Just to install the game u need 27gb of free space and at least a 8 series Nvidia or ATI equivelent video card to run the game at a decent frame rate without having to dull it down to a plasticy uglyness.

System specs aside the game looks freakin fantastic on my rig running a 8800gtx. The character models and world textures are very detailed. Theres an amazingly far view distance and even mountains and giant temples in the distance show detailed bump mapping of the structures.

When creating your character, AoC boasts a large a diverse choice of character cusomization where u can design you characters face and body in a similar way to that available in the Sims 2. Along with this you are able to add various different types of body markings and facial features.

Moving on to the meat and potatoes of the game, AoC runs a very unique combat system which i find to be alot more fun and more interactive than that of wow, yet at the same time less complex and a little more mindless. I say this because the system works by the use of combo moves where in order to execute an ability the player must attack in a series of directions ( left, middle or right) in a particular sequence, after the sequence of attacks is complete the character will perform the ability. This new combat system is enjoyable to play with and makes grinding mobs a much more fun experiance. However i cant see this evolving into very many competitive pvp situations, simply because it really does become a spamfest of of combo abilities. Maybe it's due to my class choice but when i encounter another player we jsut stand facing each other chaining combo abilities untill one of us die. In wow pvp, positioning, mana/rage/energy efficiency and control seems to become a much larger factor in combat than it does in AoC. However having said this i have only reached level 24 in AoC while i've played wow for 3 years, i plan on playing AoC to 80 before passing solid judgment on its combat system.

Another issue that really gets me with the game is that the world is not all in one piece. What i mean is, In wow you can run from ashenvale to the barrens then right through the barrens and take an elevator down to thousand needles. If you wanted to you could run from the top end of the eastern kingdoms all the way down to the very bottom, it would take you forever but as you make that run you really feel like theres a world that exists and lives around you and your just a small beinging among many other beings inside the same world. Even to cross continents your character is required get on a boat inorder to travel over seas. It mimics real life and puts a twist on it to make it fun and create a feeling of wonder and thats a feature in an MMO that makes the genre so appealing to me. Unfortunately in AoC the entire world is instanced or zoned into different segments of areas, in order to get to another area you needed to talk to an NPC which would teleport you to the new location. This is all very convenient but it really seems to take the life out of the world. All of a sudden it feels like your just playing a game rather being part of an entirely new world. It's hard to describe but heres a diagram to help you understand my reasoning:



Other than these few things the games launch has been very smooth and i personally have not encounter any game breaking bugs. I've been playing wow for the past 3 years and spending time in Hyboria has has been very refreshing. The innovative combat system makes grinding fun and the games graphics make it a pleasure to sit back and watch my assassin tear out a guys throat. However I still can't see Age of Conan as a real wow killer, but its still has a long way to go we'll just have to wait and see....

E-Peen and You

Why do you really play wow? and what keeps you playing the game for so long?

As I've said before, playing the game in its intended way usually means doing something over and over again in a very repetitive and unenjoyable manner. So why do you play it? what are the rewards from all your hard work and what are you working so hard for?

I've come to understand that the drive to keep going and the apparent "Addiction" to wow comes from this one thing....




E-PEEN!!



Yes, its all about the e-peen. Imagine a wow that was single player, where your guild mates and arena partners were all just NPC's and your opponents in the arena were just computer generated scripted battles. It's still difficult to get your rating to 2100 and its still hard to get Illidan down in BT. All the rewards are the same in the game and you can still own lesser geared characters. My suspicion is that nobody would play this crappy game! cos wtf is the point of wasting all your life on your character and not even be able to brag about it right?!!

The entire game is pretty much based upon being better than the guy standing next to you, you farm those primals for weeks so that you can be better geared than you were before and the grind continues until the end of your days because blizzard keeps putting out more and more stuff for everyone to keep chasing. And if you ever stop chasing! then what! ZOMG!! The dude next to you is gonna be better geared than you in a week and your gonna lose to him in the next duel!! and therefore his E-PEEN is gonna be bigger than yours!

So keep chasing that carrot fellas! you don't want to stunt your e-peens.....