Hykos

This is less of a merger and more of a Vevindi selling off a large chunck of their company to make a quick buck. Currently $25.67. Up 15.89% from Friday closing. I should seriously look into putting a piece of my 401k into video game stocks.

That's x-perl son. His raid is Grid, though.

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o_O It's difficult to imagine you shooting a shotgun without being knocked back on your ass

there was a queue last night to get on SC, Tom. You remember queues right?

you'd be surprised what the RIAA is willing to do for a buck

Ive been using Symantec for years. It just runs quietly in the background and hardly uses any resources. And I've never had a virus. And everyone knows I

He was on the ground first, but his name was always covering up yours so I moved him.

Happy birday FP

Happy birthdar Bibert

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A few months ago I wouldn't have thought another southern governor would have a snow balls chance, but if he wins Iowa (which he very well may) and does well in SC he'll be in the top 3 republicans and he'll pick up a lot of Thompson and Paul supporters when they drop out, making him a viable candidate that can easily compete with Rudy and Romney. If he actually supports FairTax or anything anti-IRS I might actually consider this guy. He's probably way too far to the right on a lot of things, but fuck it, I hate taxation and big government more. Plus you can't go wrong with a Chuck Norris endorsement!

I started Kafka on the Shore but honestly I got really bored and stopped after a few chapters. It was a very different style than any of his short stories. If I can find any of his other novels I might get them. I've heard Norwegian Wood is great. Most stores only carry Kafka and his 2 short story collectives, though.

Has anyone seen these new WoW commercials with Mr. T and William Shatner? http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/downloads/movies.html

I'm still mad I sold my Peasant Collar by mistake

Right now I'm reading Children of Men and just finished The Hobbit for like the umteenth time and various Haruki Murakami short stories. Igor, comrad! I

No

I read it's busted. The sound is only playing in mono. Stereo and Dolby aren't working properly.

http://datecraft.com/ Found this on a blog this morning. Dating site for wow players. lawl wtf There's no filter for horde/alliance.

dead bodies?! sweet! dude have fun that sounds like an awesome job. Don't forget to come back and level in WotLK! =)

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/spo...your_family.php When enough is enough, when federal investigators are on your trail, or you’ve decided to marry that cocktail waitress after all—it’s time to leave. In order of preference: Go Out for Cigarettes and Never Come Back 1. Start smoking at least three months prior to attempting your deception. (Six months is actually preferable.) This will lend you the credibility that’s fundamental to success. For example, you wouldn’t claim to be going out to buy a newspaper if you’ve never before shown an interest in reading the paper. Each puff will cement in your family’s mind the notion that you’ll have to regularly go out to replenish your supply of cigarettes. 2. Don’t smoke inside the house. This will betray the hostile feelings that have been building up toward your family for many years. Smoke outside on the porch, so they’ll think you still care about them. This way, when the big day finally arrives, they’ll be far less suspicious that you’re leaving forever. 3. In the days preceding the execution of your plan, be sure to make repeated offhand remarks such as “Boy, I am certainly running low on cigarettes” and “One day soon I will undoubtedly need to make a special trip to buy more cigarettes.” Don’t improvise. Write down your lines beforehand, rehearse them in private, and deliver them with the utmost sincerity. No cue cards. 4. It’s now time to pull off the con. “I’m going down to the corner store to get cigarettes. Be right back.” Ideally, you’ll be saying this to your wife. You can’t trust your children to get the message right, and the correct message is essential. You don’t want your family to think you’ve gone on a week-long hunting trip with your buddies, as you’re prone to do when that smothered feeling gets too overwhelming. It must be a simple run to the store for cigarettes or everything is ruined. 5. (Important: If your wife replies, “Cigarettes? Since when have you started smoking?” then call off the plan at once. You’ve been doing something wrong. You must now wait at least another three months, preferably six.) 6. Assuming everything has gone smoothly in Step Four, you can get in your truck and leave. You’re a free man again. Congratulations. 7. New life, here you come. 8. But first, stop at the store for a pack of smokes. Fake Your Own Death 1. Take your family camping deep in the woods. Make certain it’s a time of year amenable to outdoor activities. To go camping in the dead of winter will only cause warning bells to go off in the minds of your so-called loved ones. Curb your impatience and play the waiting game. Or online poker. 2. The flowers are in bloom, the birds are singing, and your weary spirit, burdened for so long by familial pressures and responsibilities you had never imagined, is ready to soar again. As you’re making camp with the wife and kids, remark on the beauty of nature, the timelessness of the earth itself, and the ever-present danger of ravenous bears. Especially the part about the bears. (This will be important later.) 3. Take everyone on a hike during which you happen to notice curious tracks in the dirt. Feign interest long enough for one of your family members to ask what kind of animal it was. “A bear,” you say, looking pensively into the woods. “A ravenous bear.” Your previous hunting trips will grant you authority in this situation, even though you spent all your time in the cabin getting drunk. 4. Take your family fishing at a nearby stream. Catch several fish (salmon, if possible), cook them for supper, and casually mention that bears can scent a fish for up to eight miles. As darkness falls, proceed to tell tales around the campfire. Each and every tale should prominently feature a bear. 5. As your children retire to their separate tent, tell your wife you’ll join her in your own tent after a quick trip to water the bushes. Take off your sweatshirt, quietly rip it to shreds, and deposit it where you’re certain it will be found in the morning. It wouldn’t hurt to leave your hat as well, and possibly a shoe. Resist the urge to create a commotion. Don’t shake the bushes, don’t scream bloody murder, and above all do not make growling sounds. 6. Escape into the woods and attempt to find your way back to civilization. This will be extremely difficult in the dark, with little or no food and water, and only one shoe. There’s also the very real possibility that you’ll encounter a ravenous bear. 7. When you eventually reach some dust-filled hamlet, you may consider yourself liberated at last. It was a long journey, both literally and figuratively, but it was worth it. You may want to stop at the only gas station in town and inquire on the availability of a job and a room to rent out back. 8. If you’re still hopelessly lost in the woods at this point, might as well make the best of it and become a mountain man. It’s better than being back home, and you know the food will be better. Alien Abduction 1. It’s late at night. 2. You’re driving home. 3. Call your wife and tell her you see a strange light in the sky. 4. Hang up in the middle of the call. 5. Leave the car on the side of the road. 6. Hitch a ride somewhere. 7. Anywhere.

srsly. it crashes every 30 seconds. worst beta EVER.

runs poorly when you add 22,000 songs to it.... bummer

nah man, that's for Shiki. That and Baby Jesus at the same time. OP

"Given the fact that the randomly generated hash algorithm can be replaced at Blizzard's sole discretion with any other algorithm, including ones that retrieve and use personal, private and/or otherwise confidential information, with only their server to be required to know about the changes, this should be considered a very scary thing for the rest of us." http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/1...08&from=rss "We all know that World of Warcraft has checked for hacks to ensure a safe game environment for all players. The latest version of these checks goes beyond anything seen so far in that what is being checked is now completely encrypted. Obviously this hits bot writers as can be seen from these complaints, But it also strikes at the privacy of all users. Now Blizzard has a tool that is encrypted and can run any type of scan, transfer any file or edit any document on your computer. That can't be right." I haven't read the whole thing yet, it's way TLDRish. But I'll get to it at some point. http://onwarden.blogspot.com/2007/11/storm-is-brewing.html Blizzard has begun a more aggressive campaign with Warden. The changes to Warden effectively remove our ability as a community to police Blizzard's activities, and may lead to undetected violations of personal privacy, among other possibilities. I have until now publicly defended Blizzard's actions, which were already under public scrutiny, partly because of Greg Hoglund and his crusades (which I have never agreed with). I do not believe that Blizzard would ever intentionally break privacy laws (or any laws for that matter), at least in any manner that can be traced. However, as we all realize, there are gray areas, which Blizzard is no stranger to (I would consider Warden itself to be in that gray area, which does not seem to be illegal, but that many people would feel is a violation of their rights, and could potentially be deemed illegal in the future), and I do believe that Blizzard would enter those areas until legally bound to leave them (i.e. when the area is no longer gray, and consequences would follow). I cannot condone or agree with the changes to Warden, and I fear they may be overstepping their bounds. The problem is that Warden has long been a polymorphic program, typically a concept used for viruses, spyware, and other sorts of things that an attacker may wish to hide (see the linked page from the words "polymorphic program", and take note of the described usages). In Blizzard's case, they intend to hide functionality of Warden from what they perceive as attackers, for the obvious reason of catching said attacker without him being tipped off as to how. Clearly, if said attacker knows how, he would attempt to avoid being caught. In itself, this polymorphism is not entirely destructive. Historically, the polymorphic code produced essentially the same predictable results in the end, and Blizzard's Warden-related activity was kept in check by software like ISXWarden, and to some extent by Glider's Tripwire (at least in the ability to track how often and in what numbers a new Warden was produced, I'm unaware of any additional capabilities Tripwire may have). Unfortunately, Warden now includes a different random cryptographic hash function in every copy, apparently used for cryptographic key exchange, at least in the copies I have reviewed. However, it is nearly impossible to enforce that. The hash function could be replaced with a function that retrieves information from your computer at random (or even precisely defined information, including credit card numbers, or literally anything else) and sends it back to Blizzard, and to electronic enforcement systems, this would be nearly impossible to predict or report. I formed my opinions of Blizzard's activities and stood on their side of the line on privacy violation arguments, solely because I have been able to automatically keep track of exactly what Warden was doing, how it was doing it, and what information was sent back to Blizzard, regardless of the number of permutations of their polymorphic software. This effectively resulted in checks and balances, much in the way government bodies separate their powers which I believe, in the end, are supposed to preserve the rights of the people in cases of corruption and such. Now, information suggests that Blizzard has begun continually producing replacement copies of Warden -- previously, roughly 318 permutations of Warden existed per patch (according to information from ISXWarden users, as can currently be viewed on the WardenNet stats page), and would be used on a rotating basis. To reiterate what I implied above, all 318 of those permutations could be vetted by software (including ISXWarden), and the behavior of each one could be verified to be identical. Therefore, anything that Blizzard would try to slip into their software was kept in check, and they would not have been able to introduce any significant privacy violations without alerting their customer base. That's actually a very good thing to have on their side. However, this change to Warden is not a very good thing to have on their side. Given the fact that the randomly generated hash algorithm can be replaced at Blizzard's sole discretion with any other algorithm, including ones that retrieve and use personal, private and/or otherwise confidential information, with only their server to be required to know about the changes, this should be considered a very scary thing for the rest of us. Blizzard, I agree with you wanting to protect your game, I agree with most of the functionality you have placed in Warden, but you're losing a supporter who has conflicts of interest with your policies and still agreed with them, and that would have made a strong argument for your side. Blizzard, I strongly urge you to promote transparency in your policing efforts. The public cannot be expected to trust a corporation that is hiding information from its own customers. You are governing several million people across the globe, and even though you do not like some of them, you should not attempt to hide your software or the functionality of your software on your customers' personal computers. There is absolutely no excuse for doing so, and I do believe that this is now, without a doubt in my mind, an ethical issue. Update: I wish to clarify a few things, as this post has been read, mis-read, partially ignored, and so on. There is no issue with Blizzard using a hashing algorithm, or encrypting data. There is no issue with Blizzard attempting to detect its perceived attackers. There is no issue with a key exchange in the detection software. It's not even about any implied difficulty by said attackers to sidestep the new functionality, which at face value, is not a difficult task. The issue is that the hash algorithm can be replaced with any algorithm. The issue is that the hash algorithm is different in every copy of Warden, so there's no simple method of ensuring that every copy of Warden is simply using a hash algorithm, and furthermore that it is one-way. The issue is that the detection software may be exploited, by Blizzard or an employee of Blizzard, with or without the corporation's knowledge, in order to do anything they please on your PC. A resourceful Blizzard employee could, for example, install a virus or other malware on your PC, and have a pretty high chance of that going undetected by the customer. This example may seem extreme, but bear in mind that all customers are required by Blizzard to blindly accept whatever Warden is doing on your PC. By discouraging independent analysis of their tools, Blizzard seems to have something to hide. While I will reiterate (from the first paragraph of the post) that I don't believe that Blizzard would knowingly and willingly break any law, I do strongly believe that Blizzard has a responsibility to show its millions of customers that it is taking these actions in good faith. Finally, I believe this is an issue that affects not just Blizzard and their customers, but all present and future corporations and customers who may be attempting to hide this sort of process or information from their customers. There is a limit to what they can do, and we can't blindly expect Blizzard or any such company to follow those limitations if they are not being independently verified.