The Perfect Party: MMOs

If all the MMORPGs met on the field of battle, which team would crush all others into a fine dust? What combination of classes would be certain to lay waste to all that fell in its path? Here's my approximation:

1. The Healer: Warhammer Online's Warrior Priest
With three great ways to heal, the warrior priest's true strength lies in his high hit points and AoE heals that allow him to heal without line of sight. He is also a formidable DPSer in melee and very difficult to kill. That's a good feature in a healer. To top it all off, he sure looks BAD-ASS!

2. The Tanker: Lord of the Rings Online's Warden
With a throat full of war cries, LOTRO's spear-happy tank is a work of art. Why is this tank so great? She's got everything, hots, hots, stealth, dps and she can tank. To top it all off, her mechanic is really easy to learn. I enjoy a class that allows me to mash buttons and still manage the aggro.

3. The Stabber: World of Warcraft's Death Knight
Few melee dps classes come close to the awesome-sauce that is the Death Knight. He stabs and slashes with giants rune blades, he commands undead minions and reaches out with hands of ice and disease to tear out your very soul. You definitely want him on your side!

4. The (De)Buffer: Warhammer Online's Knight of the Blazing Sun
By twisting her auras the knight gets to stuck buffs and debuffs to all within range. This feature makes the knight a very versatile buffer. Add to this her tank ability and you've got a solid buffer and off-tank.

5. The Nuker: Vanguard's Psionicist
Is there anything scarier than something getting into your head? Well, I can't think of anything. The Psionicist might be squishy, but her damage output is crazy. Coincidentally, crazy is what you become after she hits you with one of her nukes.

6. The Bouncer: World of Warcraft's Druid
Snaring is the corner-stone of crowd control and the druid has that AND heals AND DPS. Really, the druid is the perfect compliment to any party. They have some great buffs as well.

The Pocket Muse - Part 1

(On March 8, 2009 I wrote my first little exercise using The Pocket Muse. I wrote again the next day. Then I stopped. Today I am posting my second exercise. I should have a third one to give you pretty soon.)

9 March 2009 - The Pocket Muse
"Write about someone who is pretending to be someone or something that he is not."
Word Count: 505

"Yep," said Edgar as he lit his pipe. The popping hiss of moist tobacco pushed the caramelized smoke upwards in a fitful haze. He puffed twice and repeated his yep, this time adding a tired sigh. "Definitely a night for it," he suggested, his Meerschaum bouncing between yellow teeth.

If you closed your eyes and relied only on sound and smell you'd not find anything odd about Edgar. He spoke clearly enough and smoked a rather pleasant Cavendish. The problem came when you looked at him. You see, Edgar was a Shetland sheepdog. Ordering pizza was always easy until the doorbell rang. Not that Edgar liked pizza very much, it was just that humans seemed to like it and Edgar enjoyed playing the part.

Every Halloween he would dress as a human dressed as a dog, an ironic touch that was lost on his house-mates Milo and Cookie-Crust the cat. Milo was a sheltie too, but he didn't buy into the whole "human" experience like Edgar did. In fact, as Edgar smoked his pipe and made small talk with himself, Milo urinated stealthily against Edgar's bed. Proud that his prank had gone unnoticed, the rogue Milo trotted over to Cookie-Crust (walking on all fours, much to Edgar's distaste). The cat gave her usual smirk and then proceeded to chase the lights that passing cars sent through the windows.

"Ingrates!" thought Edgar, the waft of his tobacco drowning out any rumor of Milo's malevolence. Edgar sipped his sherry (which is a challenging thing for a dog to do) and drew fiercely at his ornate pipe. Someday he would escape. Someday he would be earning his own money and buying his own wines and aromatic blends. Someday, yes, but not today. For now he was stuck, living below his station with two foolish pets and their beastly owner Ron Timberton.

He had tried once to spark a rebellion. Milo had only drooled while Cookie-Crust hissed a low "sod off." Not at all spectacular as far as uprising go. He sighed deeply again and shook his head. "Would have been a nice night for it," he whispered as he drained his glass. When his pipe was down to only ash, Edgar teetered (most dogs do not recommend drinking and hind-legging it) across the kitchen to his urine soaked cot where he collapsed. "Ingrates," he breathed and then he was asleep to dream of a life without Milo or Master Timberton.

Ron Timberton tested the air as he walked into the kitchen. Cookie-Crust leaped at Ron's keys as they rattled across the marble counter top. "What is that smell, Cookie?" the human asked the cat. Cookie-Crust ignored the question, as cats often do, so Ron was forced to follow his nose. Soon Ron stood over Edgar as the dog lay snoozing and farting on his damp-pillowed bed. "Disgusting," he chuckled, "but you can't expect a dog to have the manners of a person, now can you Cookie?" Somewhere, quite despite himself, Milo let out a remarkably human-sounding laugh.

Carbon Footprints in the Sand

Skype on the T-Mobile Wing
My previous post was a glowing and optimistic endorsement of Skype for Windows Mobile on T-Mobile's GPRS network. It is possible that I was a little premature in my excitement. The data network on the island does not have the heft for VOIP. Also, it seems my little HTC is a bit sluggish at the best of times.

But the truth is, I call far more often than I am called, so phoning from home on my PC is pretty convenient (still only $5 a month for unlimited land line and cellphone service in the US with Skype). Plus, when I am away, calls divert to my cell phone number.

Feces Bucket Changes
As you probably know, we are doing cloth nappies for Edith (and Frances, when she arrives). Why? To save money and help the environment, mostly. Also, I figured (rather cheekily, I might add) that if previous generations could do it, so could I!

I posted previously about my adventures in cloth diapering and how I felt I had devised the optimal cleaning system. Things have changed.

I've tried many bucket systems, including a dry bucket system, feeling that the stewing diapers were too stinky. As it turns out, only one thing reduces the fecal odor in freshly laundered nappies: pre-soaking them in the bucket and then wringing them out by hand before washing.

Look, being a parent means you are going to deal with a lot of feces and urine and, while it is still not pleasant, wringing out wet diapers is far more pleasant than dealing with a particularly rancid nappy. Plus, the dry bucket and "wet net" techniques often called for second wash cycles to get rid of the smell. No longer!

Getting Back to Food Basics
Kristina just read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and I watched a documentary on Hulu that dealt with similar material. Back in South Africa vegetables taste much better. Why? Well, the country is only twice the size of Texas so food doesn't have to travel very far. Also, our farms employ more traditional systems. America's industrialized farms are just that, industrial.

We've started making everything from scratch (including muesli, frozen dinners and even bread and jam, thanks for a recent purchase) and buying as much as we can from local, independent farmers. This means going to farmers markets and all that, but - as many will claim - fresh farm produce is the BEST.

We haven't been disappointed. The local veg is GREAT. Far better than Wal*Mart greens, that's for sure. Also, many local grocery stores have sections with local farmers' wares. Take that, Monsanto!

Waste Free Future
I am excited about the prospect of a waste free future. I am not super diligent with my recycling, but I take my own bags when I go shopping and all that. Also, Hulu, Netflix and Napster are great. I don't need to buy DVDs or CDs anymore. That is a huge savings on plastic.

Architect Mitchell Joachim appeared on the Colbert Report last week showing us his ideas for buses and housing in the future. He also spoke about the prospect of a an intelligent "nerf" car. Exciting!