My Kingdom for an Albino

See that dragon (drake) it is white, looks slick and is hard to get. How hard? Do you have 75 mounts laying around in preparation for the expansion? You do, good your set for your Albion Drake come November 13th. Oh, you don't have 75 mounts, well lets see what it takes for the typical Horde player to sit atop a Jim Gaffigan colored dragon.

Mount Name	Quantity	Cost	Total
Blue Wolves	3	10	30
Purple Wolves	3	100	300
Blue Hawks	4	10	40
Purple Hawks	3	100	300
Blue Skeletals	3	10	30
Purple Skeletals	2	100	200
Blue Raptors	3	10	30
Purple Raptors	3	100	300
Blue Kodos	2	10	20
Purple Kodos	3	100	300
Total	29		1550

So without ever traveling to Outland you can grab 29 mounts for the cost of 1,550 gold and some capital city reputation grinding. A trip to some a lot of battle grounds can also reward you with mounts for the cause.

Mount Name	Quantity	Cost	Total
Frost Wolf	1	0	0
BG Mark Mounts	5	0	0

That's six more and they are free, but they'll take a ton of your time to attain. Maybe you already have tons of marks filling up your mailbox though. Then it is time to head to Outlands, but bring your cash and get ready to grind.

Mount Name	Quantity	Cost	Total
Riding Talbuks	4	70	280
War Talbuks	4	100	400
Dark PvP Talbuks	2	0	0
Nether Drakes	6	200	1200
Nether Rays	5	200	1000
War Hippogryph	1	2000	2000
Blue Windrider	3	100	300
Purple Windrider	4	200	800
Total	29		5980

Time for a recount, we are at 64 out of 75 mounts, 7,530 gold and a healthy portion of your WoW life. Want to break 75 before the expansion drops? Things are about to get expensive and/or you're going to be poop sockin' it in instances for a while.

Instance Drops	Quantity
Fiery Warhorse	1
Qiraji Crystals	4
Amani War Bear	1
Deathcharger	1
Brewfest Kodo	1
Raven Lord	1
Brewfest Ram	1
Razzashi Raptor	1
White Hawk	1
Zulian Tiger	1
Ashes of Al'ar	1

Three of the crystals have a high drop rate, but the rest of the mounts are like winning the lottery. I wouldn't rely on them dropping as part of you quest for a creamy dreamy white drake. There is also the option to pick up and level engineering which will net you two flying machines and any empty bank account. Your last options are the expensive ones, there are roughly five mounts that are randomly distributed through the WoW trading card game. They're made available in a number of ways to the average WoW player.

1. Actually buy the cards and hope to get lucky (expensive).
2. Ebay the card(s) you want (expensive).
3. Buy from a guildmate with in game gold or sexual favors (expensive).

So what is the net net on all of this pre-WotLK pokemon collecting? There are currently 85 some odd mounts in game at this time, but only 64ish are readily available to all players. You won't be riding any flying mounts until level 77 anyway and there are bunches of mounts coming in Wrath. My advice get as many of the 64 as you can right now,maybe solo some trash in AQ40 with a friend for some crystals and wait for Wrath to drop and make the Albion Drake even easier to get.

Vidcast

See I told you I'd get back to this thrilling topic someday. I started out watching vidcast or video podcast at my desktop in my office, but that seemed like a waste of valuable video game time. Then I made the jump to Crystal's laptop, but that was bulky and I felt bad when I forgot to charge it. Recently I got a hammy down 1st generation Zune from my brother and while it takes ages to sync it is lighter and more portable than a laptop. So that covers how I watch them, but not what I watch...

Fresh Ink
When TechTV came to our local cable provider I was geeked for sure. Then it was merged with G4, shortly after it just became G4 and then finally they tried to make it into a Spike clone. I stopped watching when it lost the Tech TV name, but that doesn't mean it is all bad. I ran across Fresh Ink while looking for comic podcast and was drawn in. They offer a more in depth "online" show every week and sporadically they will put up Attack of the Show segments with the same comic content. Blair Butler (the host) seems to know her stuff, but doesn't feel like the authority that iFanboy is.

Totally Rad Show
I'm sure I have mentioned the show before, but TRS is hands down the best vidcast on the net. The host have a great dynamic, come from different view points and can tangent while remaining focused. The number of topics hit from movies, games, TV, comics and more are right up my geeky alley. The extra curriculars are a joy to watch as well. Want to see Dan fail at drinking tea in London, the guys try out the new DnD rules or take a trip to Comic-Con, it is all there.

iFanboy Mini
The same guys who do the iFanboy audio podcast and a weekly vidcast also do daily shorts about random comic topics. They are usually about interesting topics and they always release on time. The always mix in a quick preview of the comics coming out this week and a pick of the week once said comics arrive. To fill the gaps they have segments where a host guesses the plot of comics he hasn't read in a decade, as well as a bunch of other random comic stuff. The most recent ones have been funny 3 minute clips about bad DC super villains.

Hospital Life

There was no post on Wednesday because they don't make wireless internet available in our local hospital. "ZOMG! Who was in the hospital?" you say and I say...

Crystal, as of Monday morning was going on a pretty tough two weeks and when she arrived at work she threw up twice, felt dizzy and saw spots. A call to her doctor won her an all expenses paid trip to the hospital to be observed for 24 hours on an IV to treat her dehydration. I left work early, picked up some entertainment (comics & podcast), took Macy (our dog) to the in-laws and showed up at the hospital at noon.

She was in good spirits, drinking lots of water in conjunction with her IV and was trying to find something to watch on TV. We chatted late into the night and I slept very little worrying about her in the torture rack the hospital tried to pass off as a recliner. The next morning she upgraded to solid foods and was still feeling well. At noon they unhooked the IV and sent her home. I got her set up on our couch with the remote and some snacks and made my way into work. When I was walking through the parking lot of my office she called and told me she had thrown up. Two hours later the second call came and she had thrown up three more times. By the time I left an end of the day meeting she was headed back to the hospital.

I packed up my stuff again and it was off to another night of hospital TV. She fell asleep early, I watched House and read comics. Wednesday morning she had a bit of solid food for breakfast and then my Mom tagged in, so I could go to work. At 11am they took her off the IV and observed her till 6pm that night to see if she got nauseous. She didn't and I took her to her parents house so I could do some grocery shopping, fill prescriptions and clean the house a bit. When I finally got her home at 9pm she was fast asleep soon after.

It has been an exhausting week and I have felt powerless to help my wife on far too many occasions. Thankfully the doctor assures us that the baby is healthy, this is not uncommon and that it usually goes away after twelve weeks at the latest. We start week ten tomorrow and I pray that it is not as tough on her.

R.I.P. The Brodeo
Damn it all, Jeff Green left for EA and I thought GFW radio would continue. Now comes the news that Shawn Elliott is leaving for 2k Boston to work as an associate producer on a secret project. I hope "secret project" is code for my favorite new podcast that makes me laugh out loud at work and also makes me think more deeply about this hobby called gaming. The Brodeo will be sorely missed by my ears and a large portion of the internet.

Wrath of the Beta King

Yeah, I said I'd post on video podcast today in my last post. Well that's not happening, check back Wednesday if you have a burning desire to read about what videocast I watch each week.

/*Warning Spoilers*\

A million thanks to my good friend Chris who got into and was kind enough to let me play the Wrath of the Lich King beta this weekend. The header image above is of my death knight on a frost wyrm, who shall remain nameless should the Blizzard police come looking for Chris. Onward to my exploits that seem more grandiose than anything I have ever done in the World of Warcraft. That's right bigger than killing Rag in MC, Nef in BWL and every other boss I have downed since way back in 2004. It is bigger and badder because Blizzard is building on a foundation of game play and world that they have had four years to iterate on. Don't mind the alliteration.

I started at level 55 oddly enough on a Death Knight, a class I had previously had no interest in leveling. Given the opportunity to get behind the curtain and meet the beta wizard early and it was the first thing I wanted to try. As far as I know Blizzard has yet to create a story driven set of levels (55-58) that is this compelling. You start out high above the world aboard the necropolis Ebon Hold and one of the first NPCs you talk to is the Lich King himself Arthas. Soon I had completed my training, received my first runeblade and was on my way to the world below to wreck havoc on the mortal races. The story ultimately culminates in the reason your death knight changes sides from scourge to horde (in my case). Even if you don't plan to play a death knight beyond level 58 it is worth your time to see this event. It rains freakin blood!

Death Knight shenanigans complete it was on to world exploring. Chris was kind enough to transfer a bunch of his characters over to the beta servers and some level 80 premades as well. So I had my choice of whatever I wanted to try out while exploring. I ended up picking a level 70 shaman which may seem strange given the choice of a level 80 with a flying mount, but the best way to see anything in WoW is from the ground. My first taste of the new continent was a zeppelin ride from Orgrimmar to Howling Fjord, which was made cooler by the full crew that manned the zeppelin. When I landed at HF I hopped on my mount and tooled around Northrend through three zones before the server crashed.

When the servers came back up I decided that I wanted to see Icecrown and Dalaran before Chris came calling for his account. I logged on to a level 80 shaman this time and took a zeppelin from Undercity to Borean Tundra. When I landed I was amazed at the fortress that the horde call home in Borean. I was soon aboard my flying sperm and on my way to Icecrown. On the way I was awe struck by the Nexus and reminded of Un'Goro Crater by Sholazar Basin. Upon arriving at the Citadel I just sat back and marveled at how freaking big the place was. Half way through making kissey faces at Arthas's casa Chris came on vent kindly asked me to log off. I spent a few more moments with the Lich King's beta and I was back to AFKing in AV. See you in two months Arthas.

Podcast

I had to go searching through old post to see what I had mentioned on this topic in the past. Thankfully I did not find a ton of content save a few recommendations sprinkled through out eight or so post. Given the amount of podcast and videocast (video podcast?) I listen to/watch in a week it is odd that there is not a lot on this blog about it. Write what you know right and I know I like podcast. Today I will focus on audio podcast and Monday I'll have a post on video.

You Look Nice Today
I first got turned on to this podcast listening to Mac Break Weekly, a cast I have mentioned in the past because of Merlin Mann. Well YLNT is a Merlin Mann co-creation with his fellow tweeters scottsimpson and lonelysandwich. It is essentially a spin-off of the rat holes Merlin occasionally takes Mac Break down with two willing participants that spur on the humorous conversation as opposed to reeling it in. It is a brand comedy that scratches my itch with an occasional dip into the raunch, well not occasional about 50% of the show is spent there. It's hilarious.

1UP FM
The bastard spawn of 1UP Yours and the now dead EGM Live came unto this earth on June 16th of this year. It is yet another gaming podcast from the crew at 1up, which puts me at listening to 4 out of 6 of their creations. Given that there is only so much game news in a day, week or month they end up covering a lot of the same topics. They keep it fresh by doing it from unique perspectives though and also offer up segments that cover topics outside of daily news. Their interview section is interesting in that it does not just grill game devs about their latest game. The backlog segment at the end of each show has 4-6 1up staff member play or replay a game that is old or they might have missed out on. So far they have covered Psychonauts and Shadow of the Colossus, two games that are on my pile of shame as well.

The Popular Mechanics Show
Out of all the podcast I listen to this one is the most like NPR programing. It is high brow edutainment that sports big name interviews with academia, researchers and technical experts. The most recent show showcased an interview with Adam Savage, of MythBusters fame and also a Popular Mechanics contributing editor, on the state of science education in America. Super interesting stuff that is worth your time and attention.

WoW Radio
Warcraft is one of my many nerdy indulgences and listen to a great podcast about the game brings the geek splurge full circle. I get all of my WoW news from websites way before this podcast comes out, but their opinions on that news and the humor they bring the table along with it is what keeps me coming back.

Oh Yeah, Football is Back

Autumn brings cool weather, my birthday, the best holidays, apple picking and football. Football means a reason to watch Sports Center, baseball is boring and they don't cover hockey any more. Football means fantasy leagues and pick em' pools. Football means there is always something to do on Sunday. Football means traveling up to Pittsburgh to see the boys in black and gold take the field.

This year I was less than prepared to be in football mode. One second it was hot as hell, my mind was other things and then football was here. After a Sunday of watching games, checking my fantasy teams and two Monday night games forth coming I am in full on football mode now. Bring on the tailgating, beers and foam fingers. Well actually no don't bring on a lot of that stuff, I am still a social recluse when it comes to all things. I might crack a beer, but it will be in the privacy of my own home with the drapes drawn.

WoW it's WoW
Nothing too exciting to report. I started doing 2v2 with Luke and we are both learning a lot. I'm still attending and looting gear from 10 man raids. Finally, I've decided to get WoW rich before the expansion drops (Novemberish), so I got some pointers from a friend, installed a few mods and started picking flowers between BG ques. My goal is 10k by November 1st.

40k, the Pedo Hobby?
I ventured out in the rain Saturday morning to pick up my Assault On Black Reach kit from my local Games Workshop. Admittedly I knew the weekend was probably a bad time to go. Teenage boys play 40k and teenage boys don't have school on the weekends. So walking into the retail store to a standing room only mix of teenage boys and man children made me ashamed to be interested in the hobby. Not so ashamed that I couldn't pick up some more brushes, paints and preorder the new space marines codex. I'm still intent on building, painting and playing a full army, but my resolve to go into the story on weekends has been dissolved.

The Caped Crusader

Post Dark Knight viewing this summer I took the opportunity to grab some of the detective's greatest hits. I am half way through my pile now and ready to share some thoughts.

Arkham Asylum
The art in this book is expressive, but not descriptive. Some panels evoke strong emotion while others leave me wondering what the hell I am looking at. The story feels just like the art, hit and miss. The parallel stories follow Batman going into the heart of the Arkham to stop its prisoners who have rioted and taken over and Amadeus Arkham's founding of the asylum and his ultimate insanity. The Amadeus story being the hit and Batman being the miss. Ultimately I liked the book, despite what I thought were short comings in the work and in me as a reader. I will probably revisit this book in a year from now and will hopefully enjoy it more.

The Long Halloween
This book is by far the best Batman book I have read to date, coming in just a hair above Year One. I like the idea of Batman as a detective mystery with plot twist and tons of who done it moments. The fact that there is still some mystery left in the ending makes for good comic discussion with friends as well. The art is killer save the joker which just seemed out place to me with his six inch teeth. Now, I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Dark Victory and I'm also looking into good runs of Detective Comics.

The Killing Joke
This book ends just when I wanted it to start and portrays Batman as a lets talk it out super hero instead of the bad ass he should be. The shock of the Joker's action certainly did grab me from the start, but from that point on it spirals downward to a dull point. The art is a little to clean, something Arkham could have taken a pinch of and ultimately I don't get what the hype was about. The ideas that Dark Knight (the film) took from this book were well done and I am glad it took nothing else.

Baby Tabib
Crystal is super baby sick and has been for going on three weeks now. She is toughing it out at work and trying her best to have a normal life while remaining nauseous 24/7. I don't know if I could handle what she is going through right now, but the reward for all of this is a new baby in 7 months.

Wii, Not for Mii

We procured our Wii in a middle of the night raid on Walmart more than a year ago. It was all candy canes and lolly pops for the first few months and then we wanted a new game. The novelty of Wii Sports has a long tail, but the alternatives outside of it are slim and far between. We tried out Wii Play which was not a game, but an excuse to get another controller. Then it was on to Rayman Raving Rabbids which was fun, but had unresponsive controls on occasion. The dry spell that we braved next was trying, but rewarded us with Mario Galaxy.

Post Galaxy we have yet to buy a game for coming up on a year this November. Turkey dinner games like Zelda and Mario titles are few, while half assed shovelware titles like Carnival Games and Ninjabread Man come out weekly. I can't fathom paying forty some dollars for titles that are essentially waggle based money grabs. Especially when Castle Crashers is fifteen dollars and big production games for the Xbox are sixty. Lack of quality titles on the system only serves to point out what appears to be the systems core flaw.

We were given a system with last gen graphics for the trade off of price and innovative controls. They delivered on price for sure, but have yet to deliver fully on the innovation. Beyond the waggle, point and object simulation systems released on day one there has been very little that is compelling enough to play. Third parties are flooding the market with garbage and Nintendo has no system to filter the wheat from the chaff. Why should third parties struggle to find new uses for Nintendo's controllers when the first party stopped trying a while ago? At an install base of over ten million there is little incentive to change.

Nintendo's solution to date has been to ignore the core gamers (i.e. me) and focus on selling peripherals to their customer base of soccer moms and geriatrics. The latest innovation they have come up with makes the wiimote more accurate. Well unless they plan to send one in the mail to every customer who has a wiimote (send me four please) then they are just wasting their time. Why would anyone take time and resources to produce a game that in theory would be more fit for "hardcore" gamers when the market has been fractured. Sounds good Nintendo, let me go convince my wife to sell the dust collector next to our TV. Good luck in the future when the Wii2 isn't selling because grandma is content to play her original.

Chrome Fail?
New browsers get me excited for some reason, especially from companies I view as tech community aware. So when Google announced Chrome and I read through the feature set and their new approach to web browsing and got excited to try it out. The comic helped too.

Well seeing is believing and after a brief test drive with Chrome last night I don't believe. The first thing I did was essentially a load test to populate the new tabs page with my most visited sites. It slowed to a crawl, then to a stop and then to a crash with just ten tabs open. Now the comic parody makes a little more sense and I a reluctant to go back to it with Firefox just a click away. It is easy to make the "it's still in beta" argument, but gmail has been in beta since Jesus was born.