By Cyrris , 21st September 12:15 am
I know quite a few readers of this blog (the majority in fact) use a browser other than Internet Explorer. This makes me happy, and for you people, all the Firefox propaganda on this site doesn’t appear. This also applies to Opera users, because Opera is a great browser, and today it got a whole lot better in that it’s now completely free for everyone.
“Today we invite the entire Internet community to use Opera and experience Web browsing as it should be,” said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “Removing the ad banner and licensing fee will encourage many new users to discover the speed, security and unmatched usability of the Opera browser.”
Now, I can’t see myself moving away from Firefox, but I actually think that with this move Opera’s gains are going to be at Firefox’s expense. Is that a bad thing? Not really. As much as I would love to see Opera take a sizeable chunk out of Internet Explorer’s market share, I don’t think it’s going to happen because so many of IE’s users are those people who don’t know or care about alternatives. That leaves Firefox, Netscape, Safari, and the other smaller browsers as the ones that are likely to give a bit of their piece of pie to Opera. They are, after all, the ones with users who are actively looking for the best programs to suit their needs. The only way for Opera to eat into IE’s userbase would be a big marketing push… but how could that happen when they’ve given away their only perceivable source of income? I’m sure they have a sound business plan somewhere, but I can’t quite see where it is.
By Cyrris , 16th September 1:26 pm
So I was hoping that I’d have Aelon’s version 9 redesign done around the same time I would find out if Aelon was accepted into the 9rules Network or not. The play on words (or numbers, rather) was going to be something really special. So much for that.
For our readers who have no idea what the above network means, I’d urge you to follow the link. The 9rules Network is a loosely affiliated group of blogs about all sorts of topics - and every single one of them is serious quality. They have to be - as that’s what 9rules is all about. A few weeks ago I thought I’d submit Aelon, and not too long ago Paul Scrivens, their CEO, nodded his head and decided this site was up to par. So we’re in.
I’m not sure how much this means to you readers, or even to the others who write articles here on the site, but as the person who keeps the insides of Aelon well oiled and functioning right, this is a serious boon. I have felt for quite some time that the quality of content on this blog deserves more traffic, and I believe we’ll be getting that. The community of people in 9rules are also a very knowledgeable bunch, and I definately plan on tapping into that knowledge bank to see where we can take Aelon from here. Hell, maybe I’ll even be able to give some of my own tips to them. Who knows? Either way, it’s definately a bright-looking future.
By Vermouth , 11th September 7:35 am
When I first played World of Warcraft, I selected my typical RPG character. I started out with a fighter—after all I typically like to knock heads with people. But as I got through the game I started getting really bored. At first I thought MMO’s weren’t really my thing. Much the way I’d gotten tired of team based on line shooters, I’d imagined that I’d gotten bored of the MMO mechanic already and that was just that. Then just recently (about a month ago) I signed up for another go at WoW. Only this time I played a Priest and I thought to myself wow this is a lot of fun. Frankly the worst thing about it though is that you still need to kill stuff to gain experience and just the concept of PVP. I don’t quite get why people enjoy PVP. I joined a PVP server to play with a friend but frankly I find the whole concept of competitive play in an MMO rather silly. I play the game, and the class to help people not to hunt them down. If i wanted to do that i have a copy of Quake 3 with Rocket Arena sitting right her on my HDD. So That brings me to the point, why don’t more games reward people for playing their class right? I used to really enjoy playing RTCW as a Medic because you got scored based on healing people but to look good in say BF 42 you’ve got to play the Medic like a light assault trooper, the engineer like a sniper/vehicle driver.
» Read all of “Support Classes Unite“…
By Kelmon , 31st August 10:02 pm
The Web and Internet in general seems to be populated by all sorts of services, some more useful than others. While this might be somewhat banal, I’m actually a really big fan of Amazon not because they are generally a cheap place to buy books and DVDs, but because of the value-added features that helps me to discover new authors, artists, etc. that I’ll like. Using the “customer’s who bought this item also bought” and “average customer review” features (ignoring the rather pants idea of allowing idiot gamers to review games and consoles not even released yet) has enabled me over recent years to find some great products because I have been able to tap into like-minded people’s preferences. However, yesterday I was made aware of a new service that I really like much more.
Today I have my own personal DJ…
» Read all of ““…, minor key tonality and extensive vamping.”“…
By Holliday , 27th August 3:41 pm
If you are reading this, chances are you have been told to “stop playing those games” at some point in your life. When video games were a new and “unproven” entertainment medium my parents were especially cautious about my gaming time. My parents bought me maybe 1-2 games a year for the console systems I owned (Nintendo, then Sega Genesis). The majority of the reason was I was a young kid; I ran around outside, got muddy, jumped through the hose, played with Lego, got in fights with my sister. A game was expensive and I really did not play them as much as I promised I would when begging for them. However, there was always the underlying “video games are evil” reason as well; Lego was damned more expensive than video games.
Anyways, it is one thing to have your parents tell you to stop playing games. However, imagine if George Bush (or Tony Blair or whoever your gov leader is) sits down with you and tells you that he thinks you’ve had enough for the day. Well it is happening in China. China has imposed a restriction on online gaming for popular MMORPGs. After three hours of continuous play your in-game character suffers substantial impairments. After five hours the character suffers even greater difficulties becoming nearly unplayable. A five hour break is required to bring the character back up to its regular stats.
» Read all of “Nerfed By The Feds“…
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