Massively asks when will you be done with WoW? Frankly, I can’t imagine ever stopping playing until they finally take down the last server and close up the game permanently. At this point, to me the question is a bit like asking when I’m going to stop using e-mail or IM. Even when I go a week or two without playing, it’s always there as a background. Even when they finally take down the last WoW server, I’ll probably fire up a private server just for the heck of it.
Month: February 2008
Silly Brits and Their Child Database
This Guardian article highlights the odd way that Great Britain treats personal data. On the one hand, laws that govern what private companies can do with personal data are rather draconian compared to, say, the United States. On the other hand, there seems to be almost no effective limit to what European governments can compile.
In this case, the UK is creating a single database to track every child in the country. The database will give each child a unique identifying number and contain everything from the name and address of the child’s physician to info on parents, what schools the child has attended, etc. And only about 300,000 people nationwide will have access to the database.
The Guardian article is about a report examining the security procedures for access to the database — a report that the government refused to publish in full. Of course the best method would be to simply not create such a monstrosity in the first place. As a review of the database’s security noted, “there will always be a risk of data security incidents occurring.” And because of the overreaching nature of the database, a security breach threatens the exposure of sensitive data about literally every child in the UK. Oy.
Hasbro’s Cloverfield Action Figure, Part 2
Hasbro finally released images of its Cloverfield action figure. Like the movie, I think the action figure works better as a concept. Once you actually see it, you think “they suckered us into paying money for this?”
Privateer Press Shows Off Monsterpocalypse Miniatures
Privateer Press hasn’t bothered to update its Monsterpocalypse website, but it was showing off its kaiju collectible miniatures line at Toyfair. This photo was taken by the good folks at Action-Figure.Com. They’ve got an entire gallery of photos of the miniatures here.
Nerf N-Strike Vulcan — I Ain’t Got Time To Bleed
A couple years ago I claimed that the Nerf N-Strike Longshot CS-6 was the best Nerf gun ever. But Hasbro has outdone even the CS-6 with the N-Strike Vulcan,
I just look at that and get the urge to say, “I ain’t got time to bleed.”
PhotoDropper WordPress Plugin
PhotoDropper is a WordPress plugin that integrates the writing screen with Flickr. Say you’re writing a post about NASA and need an image of the Space Shuttle. Type in “Space Shuttle” and PhotoDropper displays Flickr photos tagged “Space Shuttle” that are also licensed under Creative Commons. A couple clicks later, and the photo is inserted into your post. Nice.