Category Archives: Featured
Bing does Halloween Right
Everyone knows I am a big fan of Microsoft. I always have been, even when their products were of questionable quality; what can I say, I like the company. But now, their products are masterfully designed and fully capable, a pleasure to use. Never mind they come with pricing to match, something that was once the sole domain of Apple (as were those other qualities, ahem).
Even so, I am not here to extol the virtues of Microsoft’s products or even software. No, I am here to compliment their masterwork on one of their services that, sadly, is often targeted for derision: Bing. Fan I am of Microsoft, and user of Bing, the fact is it simply doesn’t provide strong results when I do a search. It will give me results that are ten years old, not relevant to what I’m asking, or just plain bizarre. I’m no fan of Google, but I will say they do search better. So you’ll understand my elation when I can finally give Bing high praise for easily blowing Google out of the water at something search related.
Well not search related per se, but more their search page. This year, for Halloween 2017, Bing absolutely nails what a Halloween page should be, and destroys Google’s feeble video in the process. Score one for Bing! Their (almost) fully interactive homepage shows living portraits hanging on a staircase wall, and most of them have, shall we say, a unique personality when you click on them. You can view the page at any time of year by following this link, however if for whatever valid reason you have an aversion to Bing, you can also see it in the video below. Well done Bing! The fact you do Halloween right makes up for all the ineffective searches I’ve done with you over the prior year.
(I tried to research how specifically this page was created but found nothing. Probably because I searched on Bing. Still, I love the page, and I’ll always be a fan, Microsoft!).
Here’s what wifi is like on Southwest
I’m 35,000 feet in the air, on a Southwest flight to Philadelphia, and I paid $8 for wifi access. To say it is underpowered is an understatement, but there is a surprising story – with a twist – to go along with that. Take a look at the images below, and marvel at the sub 2.0 speeds and, if you can believe it, at one point 0.0 upload speeds! I’ve never seen that before, and that was after I switched to a closer test server.
You read that right
You read that one right, too
I pinged Google, which is 8.8.8.8, and had some pretty sorry pings there also. I had to ping the loopback just to be sure everything was copacetic on my own end.
Pinging Google from Southwest
What I find most interesting about all of this is that when I connected to my Plex server back home, I was able to stream Law and Order just fine. No skips, buffering, nothing. Sound lined up perfectly, video played very smoothly.
Law & Order streaming off Plex
I figured that was because the file size of each episode is so small, approximately 350MB. So you can imagine my surprise when even 35GB Blu-Ray rips played perfectly as well, as seen below with a screenshot of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter streaming from my server at home to my laptop on this airplane.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
I don’t know if that’s more a comment on the quality of my at-home Internet service, the server Plex runs on, or what. For such a crap speedtest, Plex served up video swimmingly.
What I consider to be even more amazing is that I was able to connect to vanilla World of Warcraft server Elysium with no troubles either. WoW has always been very efficient in terms of what happens at the client side versus what happens at the server side, but this is a private server, and I’m connecting via crap Southwest WiFi, so even thought it’s early WoW and efficient coding, I was still very pleasantly surprised at how well it ran.
WoW running on Southwest WiFi
You didn’t think I was going to let you see my character name now did you?
Even writing this post was easy and responsive. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of this whole experience. What is easily the worst speedtest I’ve ever run did not manifest in terms of poor performance; quite the opposite, actually. Everything ran very smoothly, whether it was serving up video, playing WoW, or even writing this post. I am definitely going to investigate further to see if I can identify how the one doesn’t lead to the other, and I will update when or if I make any further discoveries.
I guess it was worth the $8 after all.
UPDATE: The flight back was not so productive. I’m writing this update on said flight, and while my speedtest and ping results are similar to the flight out, performance this time suffered badly after about an hour although I can’t determine the exact culprit. Plex worked for a while, then stopped (it came back while writing this update, but in fits and starts; it would buffer heavily between brief plays while Blu-rays were a non-starter. The problem there is it could be an issue server-side). Additionally, Facebook wouldn’t load and Warcraft exhibited noticeable lag. There are many reasons this could be happening, from the odd tracerrt I ran that pathed through SoCal, to the heavy WiFi use by everyone else on the plane (as illustrated by a heavily populated netstat result), to the weather, and beyond. Moral of the story: Use Southwest WiFi at your own eight-dollar risk.
It finally happened
I have the feeling this story could get convoluted. Let me sum up right at the beginning: I have finally received a threatening letter accusing me of copyright infringement, from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Some background:
I have been playing vanilla WoW, off and on, for months on a private server known as Elysium-Project. I wrote about the experience not too long ago right here on this site (we’ll get to Felmyst later in this post). The thing about this server is that in order to download the client you have to do so through a torrent, which right away gives the impression of impropriety. I had downloaded it once before, using the uTorrent client, to use on my desktop, and everything seemed above the board.
utorrent client – I probably shouldn’t have started it again for this shot
Recently, though, I downloaded it again, using the exact same torrent client, however this time it was on my laptop. Immediately, even before the file finished downloading, I received the following email from my ISP, Cox Communications:
Dear Customer,
We are forwarding a notice received by Cox Communications which claims that someone using your Cox High Speed Internet service has violated U.S. Copyright law by copying or distributing the copyrighted work listed in the attached complaint. THIS COMPLAINT IS FROM A THIRD PARTY AND NOT FROM COX COMMUNICATIONS. We have included a copy of the complaint, which identifies the party making the claim, the title or work they claim was infringed, and the date of the alleged infringement.
We ask that you review the complaint and, if you believe it is valid, promptly take steps to remove or disable access to the infringing material (typically movies, music, books, or TV shows). If other parties are using your account, such as through your WiFi connection, you should ask them to disable file-sharing in peer to peer applications such as BitTorrent, or delete the copyrighted works.
If you disagree with the claims and believe that no one using your Internet service could have been the source of the alleged infringement, please do not contact Cox Communications to resolve this matter. Cox is simply forwarding the notice to you. However, if you have WiFi, please make sure your WiFi connection is secured with a strong password to prevent unauthorized use of your Internet service. In addition, make sure anti-virus software is installed and up to date to help prevent malware infections.
PLEASE NOTE: THE ATTACHED NOTICE MAY CONTAIN A SETTLEMENT DEMAND FOR MONEY OR OTHER TYPE OF OFFER FOR YOU TO CONSIDER. YOU MAY WANT TO CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY REGARDING YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES BEFORE CLICKING ON ANY LINK OR VISITING A WEBSITE LISTED IN THE NOTICE.
The material that you share online or make available for sharing is your responsibility. Cox encourages responsible Internet use, but we do not monitor nor control the information you transmit. We have a policy, however, consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to take steps when we receive notifications of claimed infringement. We also have a policy of terminating repeat infringers in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Safe Harbor for online service providers.
If we continue to receive infringement claims notices for your account, we may in appropriate circumstances suspend your account, disable your Internet connection, and/or terminate your Internet service.
For information about Cox’s Acceptable Use Policy, including copyright infringement, please refer to:
https://www.cox.com/aboutus/policies.htmlTo learn more about your responsibilities concerning copyrighted material, please refer to our help article at:
https://www.cox.com/copyrightGeneral information & FAQs about DMCA notices:
http://www.respectcopyrights.org/
http://www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php?content_selector=resources-music-copyright-notices
If you would like to reply to this email, please keep the subject line intact for tracking purposes.
Sincerely,
Cox Customer Safety
— Original Message —
[Part 0:0 (plain text)]
—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
Hash: SHA12017-10-07T03:15:10Z
Entertainment Software Association
601 Massachusetts, NW, Suite 300, West
Washington, DC 20001 USAAttention:
Intellectual Property Enforcement
Website: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DMCA-FAQs-Updated-12-2014.pdf
E-mail:
[email protected]Cox Communications
Re: Copyright Infringement by Cox Communications Subscriber
Using IP 98.164.255.62 on 2017-10-07T03:14:58Z (the “Subscriber”)
Reference Number c7ed1b3845618ac0d707Dear Cox Communications:
The Entertainment Software Association (“ESA”) is the U.S. trade association that represents the intellectual property interests of companies that publish interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices, and the Internet (hereinafter collectively referred to as “ESA members”).
A list of ESA members can be found at http://www.theesa.com/about-esa/members/.
Under penalty of perjury, we affirm that ESA is authorized to act on behalf of ESA members whose exclusive copyright rights we believe to have been infringed as described below.ESA is providing this notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), 17 U.S.C. section 512, to request that you take immediate action with respect to infringement of ESA member copyrighted works by your Subscriber.
Using the IP address on the date and time referenced in the subject line of this notice, the Subscriber or someone using their account employed a peer-to-peer service or software to distribute one or more infringing copies of ESA members’ games, including the following title:Warcraft (franchise)
Courts in the United States have held consistently that the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works using peer-to-peer or similar services constitutes copyright infringement.
E.g., MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913 (2005); BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 430 F.3d 888, 891 (7th Cir. 2005); Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46638, *49 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2010This Subscriber should understand clearly that there are serious consequences for infringement.
The Copyright Act in the United States provides for statutory damages of up to $30,000 per work infringed, and up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement.
17 U.S.C. section 504(c).We ask that you work with us to protect the intellectual property rights of ESA members by:
1. Providing the Subscriber with a copy of this notice of copyright infringement, and warning the Subscriber that his or her conduct was unlawful and could be subject to civil or even criminal prosecution.
2. Promptly taking steps to stop the Subscriber’s infringing activity.
3. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. section 512(i)(1)(A), as appropriate, terminating the account of the Subscriber if your records show that he or she is a repeat copyright infringer.ESA has a good faith belief that the Subscriber’s reproduction and/or distribution of these copyrighted works as set forth herein is not authorized by the copyright owners, their agents, or the law.
The information in this notification is accurate.
Neither ESA nor its members waive any claims or remedies, or their right to engage in other enforcement activities, and all such claims, rights and remedies are expressly reserved.If your Subscriber has additional questions about this notice, we would encourage them to visit http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DMCA-FAQs-Updated-12-2014.pdf to learn how to delete the infringing material and avoid receiving future notices.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Intellectual Property Enforcement
Entertainment Software Association
Website: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DMCA-FAQs-Updated-12-2014.pdf– ————- Infringement Details ———————————-
Title: Warcraft (franchise)
Timestamp: 2017-10-07T03:14:58Z
IP Address: 98.164.255.62
Port: 33768
Type: BitTorrent
Torrent Hash: 2b32e64f6cd755a9e54d60e205a9681d6670cfae
Filename: World of Warcraft 1.12 Client.rar
Filesize: 5197 MB
– ———————————————————————<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<Infringement xmlns=”http://www.acns.net/ACNS” xmlns:xsi=”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance” xsi:schemaLocation=”http://www.acns.net/ACNS http://www.acns.net/v1.2/ACNS2v1_2.xsd“>
<Case>
<ID>c7ed1b3845618ac0d707</ID>
<Status>Open</Status>
<Severity>Normal</Severity>
</Case>
<Complainant>
<Entity>Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.</Entity>
<Contact>IP-Echelon – Compliance</Contact>
<Address>6715 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90028
United States of America</Address>
<Phone>+1 (310) 606 2747</Phone>
<Email>[email protected]</Email>
</Complainant>
<Service_Provider>
<Entity>Cox Communications</Entity>
<Email>[email protected]</Email>
</Service_Provider>
<Source>
<TimeStamp>2017-10-07T03:14:58Z</TimeStamp>
<IP_Address>98.164.255.62</IP_Address>
<Port>33768</Port>
<Type>BitTorrent</Type>
<SubType BaseType=”P2P” Protocol=”BITTORRENT”/>
<Number_Files>1</Number_Files>
</Source>
<Content>
<Item>
<TimeStamp>2017-10-07T03:14:58Z</TimeStamp>
<Title>Warcraft (franchise)</Title>
<FileName>World of Warcraft 1.12 Client.rar</FileName>
<FileSize>5450407230</FileSize>
<Hash Type=”SHA1″>2b32e64f6cd755a9e54d60e205a9681d6670cfae</Hash>
</Item>
</Content>
</Infringement>
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There’s a lot there, but essentially what it is saying is that I committed a copyright infringement not by downloading the Warcraft client, but by also allowing it to be seeded and therefore distributing it. It’s like drug enforcement; the dealers are the problem much more so than the users.
I also have to say I find some amusement in the otherwise serious nature of this email, in that while the complaint from the ESA was very serious and implied significant fines, federal crime, even possible jail sentences, the portion from Cox essentially says “Hey, this is what we were told, now keep us out of it.”
The fact that it came in late on a Friday night while the file was still downloading also makes it quite clear the whole process was automated, both the email to Cox and their forwarding it on to me.
I blame myself for part of this as I never thought to switch off seeding, and when I tried to connect to the private Elysium server after the client download was complete, I neglected to modify what’s known as a realmlist.wtf file to point to Elysium’s server as opposed to the stock Warcraft server. That means that I was attempting to connect directly to Blizzard at first. That’s not what the complaint was about, it was about the redistribution of their client via torrent, but the fact I made that connection error at first was not lost on me.
I don’t anticipate any major problem from this. The second the file was done downloading I deleted the original torrent file and shut down the torrent client. I don’t like to use my limited bandwidth to seed the downloads of others, and I don’t have anything they would want anyway, especially not on my laptop.
So I am ignoring it for now, and in fact I have done what they asked (demanded) I do. It also leads to an interesting legal issue: If you read my previous post about my early experiences on Elysium, you would know that there had been another private server, Felmyst, that was shut down on its very first day, apparently because they were distributing the client along with the game files (or something like that). Elysium, on the other hand, is able to stay up and running because they don’t distribute the client, and therefore no copyright violations are taking place. That seems strange to me since we are playing on a server that uses entirely Blizzard-created assets, but who knows. A quick Google search indicates I’m far from the only one experiencing this, and the issue of monetary gain versus non-profit can have serious implications and Blizzard’s perspective isn’t always so black and white. They’re both very interesting reads.
What I can surmise is, and as I stated earlier, using the client/game once downloaded, even downloading the client itself, is not illegal; it’s the redistribution that’s the problem.
Don’t redistribute clients via torrent, people.
Cleaning battery terminals the easy and mostly-but-not-completely safe way
In my Human-Computer Interaction class, one of the in-class exercises students complete is a usability evaluation that requires them to evaluate a device randomly selected from a list of devices that I bring to class. The devices are nothing overwhelming: they include a numbered Rubik’s Cube, a water ring game, a backscratcher, a ping pong-ball gun to name but a few, and I have included a picture below of a select yet completely random few. In choosing devices for this exercise, which I am always hunting for in places like thrift stores, flea markets, swap meets, discount aisles, etc. (my rule is that I never pay more than $5.00 for an item I intend to use for this class exercise), I have to ensure they possess sufficient functionality to encourage a successful analysis yet are not overly complex.
A few fun items for the in-class usability analysis
Because of where I find many of these items, they are occasionally in need of some repair, or at least a vigorous cleaning. For the electronic devices, however, the problem can be more serious with the presence of corrosion from leaking or damaged batteries. If you read the manual for any electronic device, they always contain a section strongly advising that you remove the batteries if you intend to store the item for any length of time, yet few of us ever do, which references both reading the manual and removing the batteries. Because of that, corrosion is an issue I am faced with regularly.
Recently, I acquired an LCD billiards game, which can be seen in the above image, that had aggressive corrosion not only on the terminals but on a solder joint and the plastic casing that sat above them as well. I knew they would have to be cleaned, and it reminded me that in the game collection I donated last year, there was horrendous corrosion on the terminals of the electronic castle from a Dark Tower board game and the handheld electronic component from a Lost Treasure board game. I am not proud of the fact that I left batteries in both those devices. Not only do I know that dead batteries will leak sooner or later, I also know it will happen much faster if left in a battery compartment where they are connected and continuously discharge, which is known known as a parasitic or vampire leak. That builds up hydrogen gas that will, thanks to the pressure, eventually cause a leak. I also know it will happen *much* faster when exposed to high heat. And these sat in a Las Vegas garage for ten years.
So for practical as well as penance reasons, I decided to tackle the corrosion problem and make a post about it to spread the word. It’s not hard to clean, frankly, although whether the device works afterwards is another step. But we’ll get to that – let’s talk about cleaning corrosion.
First was the small LCD billiards game. Upon checking the batteries, the corrosion was obvious, and when I opened it up it was even more than I had anticipated.
Battery corrosion in a handheld LCD billiards game
You can see the terminal itself is corroded, which is expected, however the corrosion has also clung to the spot where the battery lead is soldered to the main board, and even stuck to the casing above; in fact, it’s worse there! As mentioned, however, it is easy to clean, using only distilled white vinegar which neutralizes the acid into nothing, and the vinegar doesn’t have to be terribly strong – I use a generic brand that’s only 98 cents and is diluted to 4% acidity (acidity will be listed on the label). This is also an opportune time to mention that this only works with alkaline batteries; car batteries are something entirely different and require the using of baking soda and water. You can also use vinegar to clean the batteries themselves but I most certainly do not recommend this; once the leak has started the batteries are of little use anyway. Recycle them and use fresh batteries in their place. No matter what you do, wear gloves and eye protection – this is battery acid we’re talking about here.
I submerged the corner of the device in a small bowl of vinegar, and after a few minutes of aggressive fizzing and hissing, it was all clean. It’s wonderful how well vinegar works for this. You don’t have to do anything; no scrubbing, no washing, no cursing, the vinegar does all of the work, although it will stink afterwards. I recommend the previously corroded components get a rinse with water afterwards but that is not always possible, a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush to remove the odd bits if necessary (although it usually isn’t), let the components dry, and you’re good. The results of the cleaning are below, and the thing now works perfectly.
After vinegar soak and water rinse
When I say the vinegar does all the work, I am not kidding.
Next up was Dark Tower, and this one was more difficult and less successful, although the problem isn’t the batteries. As you can see in the following images, the corrosion was extensive. The Electronic Component is a large plastic tower with a rotating segment that lights up, and getting to the corroded battery compartment meant disassembling the tower. Once done, the extend of the corrosion became evident.
Battery corrosion in Dark Tower unit
Battery corrosion in Dark Tower unit
Again with the vinegar! I submerged the whole thing in a bowl filled with vinegar, and after about ten minutes came back to find it all clean.
Cleaned battery terminals in Dark Tower unit
Cleaned battery terminals in Dark Tower unit
As you can see, there is still oxidation on them, and that will require a stronger approach with a bottle brush and hydrogen peroxide. In fact, the central unit still doesn’t work, and I can’t be sure if it’s because of the remaining cleaning that needs to be done or because of what appears to be a burn on the main board, which may also simply need a cleaning; there’s no component at the location to blow out. I will clean it all up and update with the results. It’s an impressive piece, and a magnificent, non-replaceable game, so I am intent on getting it up and running again.
Another possible culprit
Lastly was the corrosion in the electronic component of the Lost Treasure board game. This one was more difficult because it was a 9-volt battery terminal that had corroded, and a previous attempt to remove the battery had detached the terminal from the battery itself, which can be dangerous. I cut the connector and soaked the thing in vinegar, however while it was sparkling clean after that, it also left the positive terminal from the battery stuck in the adapter and no amount of finagling with an eyeglass screwdriver and needle-nose pliers was getting it out. Eventually the adapter gave way, detached, and that was that. Fortunately, those are easy to replace and I’ll wire one up when the ones I ordered come in.
Clean, but that’s all
I can’t fault the person who tried to remove the battery as I don’t recommend dipping the battery in vinegar to clean it, but it was cemented in place by the corrosion. Pulling out the connecting wire like that isn’t a very desirable result, but in this case I can understand why it happened. Incidentally, you know what 9-volt batteries have inside them? Little batteries!
So vinegar. Never mind about it’s uses for cleaning or washing hair or killing bugs or neutralizing pet stains or clearing your skin or…just look here. When it comes to neutralizing battery acid it’s a miracle worker. Rinsing with water afterwards and allowing to fully dry is important, as are gloves and eye protection, but if you have corrosion, you’ll find that the vinegar soak is usually enough to get any device working again.
Congratulations to the first graduating cohort from UCI’s Master’s in Human Computer Interaction and Design
It is with no small sense of fulfillment and pride that I congratulate our first graduating cohort in the new MHCID program here at UCI.
Although I was brought into it relatively late, about two years after initial planning had begun, I have been part of the program for over a year and developed / taught the Advanced Design and Prototyping course, as well as the second half of the two-quarter capstone course. Next year I will be teaching the full two-quarters of the capstone course, likely because I do the same at the undergrad level and having two faculty teach part of the same course is difficult.
As this was a newly developed program, the students we admitted for the first go round were strong personalities, risk takers, enthusiastic and driven, and it showed. Highs and lows, tough times and hard roads, late nights and online meetings, yet they all made it through to the end, surpassing every challenge and task they faced, and ultimately created capstone projects that were highly praised by their corporate (and in one case, educational) partners as well as their peers. That’s them in the header image, by the way, and the jubilation you can see is real, and earned.
They presented their projects on Friday to all the program’s corporate partners, peers, colleagues, faculty, and our incoming second cohort, and they were all very well received. The partners they worked with had nothing but praise for the quality of the work, and with only one rehearsal run-through and critique the previous day, everyone did a superb job. There was a wide range of projects; everything from healthcare (robot-assisted healthcare, with Mabu!) to wine to education to materials engineering. It was the groups’ day to shine, and they did. They were able to brag, to impress, to highlight, to inform, and with the varied nature of the projects it never became dry or dragged.
Commencement was also wonderful. Of course, I have many favorite parts when it comes to commencement, the biggest of which is seeing all my former students receive their diploma and the huge smiles on their face knowing they have made the journey successfully to this point. It’s a highlight of my career and a privilege I take quite seriously to be able to sit on the stage and be part of the ceremony that they earned. To see any of my students walk across the stage and formally graduate, but with this being our first cohort, it was a secret triumph for all involved; faculty, staff, students, support, everyone.
I have to also say, however, that I always really enjoy seeing the wide range of regalia the faculty brings to these events. So many different designs, colors, symbols, it’s always fantastic and adds a real splash of excitement to the proceedings.
A rainbow of regalia
And with it being a design program, our students were equally involved in creating unique, individual and personalized mortarboards. My favorite was the one that actually lit up and had a Disney theme. The battery pack was underneath on top of her head, so i can’t imagine it was too comfortable, but that’s the price you pay, the sacrifice you make, for fashion!
Cap design
So when it all came together and they were finally able to present their projects at our big career fair on Friday, and graduate at commencement on Saturday, to say their sense of accomplishment, and no doubt relief, was palpable, would be an understatement. they deserve all the congratulations, the praise, the high-fives, the future jobs they’ll have, and all the recognition that results from their time in the program. My personal congratulations to everyone involved, the students most of all.
(If you would ike more information about the program, I have linked it in the first sentence of this post, but I’ll do it again here because I’m all about usability! UCI’s Master of Human Computer Interaction and Design).
Private WoW server Felmyst shut down in one day
There is, perhaps, a not-so-unknown secret in the World of Warcraft community that many people are unhappy with the way the game has evolved. Streamlined interactions, fast travel, the loss of talent trees, major changes to the landscape (such as the now-flooded Thousand Needles), rapid leveling, repetitious quests, questionable lore addons, and so on. It is also relatively well known that because of the longing some players have for the much more involved, grindier, slower-paced, talent-centric nature of the original WoW, private servers, meaning ones not run by WoW developer Blizzard, have popped up all over the place.
One of the best and most stable of these private servers was Felmyst, a four-year labor of love by a developer known as Gummy, who suffers from Musular Dystrophy and is for all intents and purposes, homebound. Well known in the private server community, both Gummy and Felmyst were doing well, with a stable build and a solid user base. However, a mere one day after the Felmyst servers finally went live, Gummy received a Cease and Desist order from Blizzard. You can read the gory details over at Ars Technica, and I should also mention that I was going to post Gummy’s formal announcement about the shutdown that he posted to his website, however the website went offline just one day after he posted that. For a four year project, it vanished into thin air very quickly.
UPDATE: Apparently his response is back up on felmyst.com, but for how much longer I can’t say. Here it is:
Gummy’s response
If you’re the lazy type who doesn’t like to click on images, here is what he wrote:
Felmyst
I began this project roughly four years ago and last year when Blizzard began taking action more seriously it weighed heavily on me as not only was I already heavily invested into the work but others around me were as well. Because of my health situation I wasn’t in a position to cut losses and start over on something different, at least not something that would take four years to make. Last year’s news of what Blizzard was doing came at the absolute worst time for me, frankly, with so many years already invested. To explain what may appear as an odd series of decisions it seems worthwhile to disclose my condition, muscular dystrophy, which only one other person in the online sphere knew of until now.
Of course, that is why I’m not able to pick up and move to another country as an alternative means to host the server since I’m not really able to live on my own. That is also the reason I’ve been able to work mostly full time on this project as I’m unemployed, though I have sacrificed much of my well being dedicating everything I have to this. Why am I disclosing this? I’m not really sure, but I feel compelled to.
So the question instead becomes: why host it yourself? The problem with that is our popularity snowballed way too fast once the release date was set.
Before the release date was declared, most people expected the server to flounder with a small population, the irony of which quickly became a meme. Therefore, months ago I saw no reason to hand all of our work over to someone I didn’t know when the project had a reasonable chance to stay small enough to avoid the need. Though I have no problem contributing to honest developers, the market to wrongfully profit from this stuff is much too lucrative to hand it out on a whim. Had we time to smooth out the release, this certainly would have been something to explore. The warning signs to expect notice from Blizzard were there but receiving it that quickly was something I don’t think many expected.
So why did I make this project? I love the game and community, especially the community. The old game was a great way to meet people and see new faces. It makes me happy, and programming makes me happy. Of course, I am sad that things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped but I don’t think I’d change any of the decisions I made. I gambled that we could cap the servers at 3k and enjoy a close community. Sadly, I did not win that gamble, though on some level it was nice to see so many people eager to enjoy something I worked on. This project gave the last four years of my life a sense of purpose that I thoroughly enjoyed.
So why not tell people of that plan ahead of time to stifle hype? The problem with private servers is that there is no middle ground. If people expect a server to “only” have 3000 (real) players then they just won’t play and you’ll instead end up with 300, which isn’t playable.
A lot of people are of course asking for the source code. Although it may not be in my best interest to distribute the whole thing in its entirety at this point, I’ll see what I can manage that would be beneficial to other programmers who are still learning.
Gummy
[email protected]
All of this rubs me the wrong way. The fact that the C&D order was delivered just one day after the servers went live even though Blizzard must have known about it years ago, that the servers went down so fast, that the website went offline so fast (but is now back), it was just scrubbed into nothing immediately after such a long development cycle. Maybe Gummy simply was spooked by having a multi-billion dollar company com after him. Some in the community said he should move his servers to another country to circumvent Blizzard’s attempt at shutting him down, however Gummy claims he doesn’t have the resources for that. Others were and are still imploring him to release the source code, however he states there are legal implications and ramifications to doing that and has therefore made no such commitment.
Another interesting legal wrinkle is that it is apparently not illegal to run a private server, the issue is distributing the client along with it that causes the problem. I don’t know the technicalities, but there has even been the argument that if you kept the servers up without including a client, which the Felmyst download did, there wouldn’t have been a problem. Again, I don’t know the specifics of the case and Blizzard’s claim to IP so I can’t comment on that. I can say that Gummy claims to have done most of the coding to get the thing up and running.
Frankly, I don’t know what Blizzard’s obsession is over not setting up a vanilla server themselves. They shut down Nostalrius, claiming the whole time they would work with the team to set up an officially-sanctioned legacy server, then just…nothing. Frankly, Blizzard lied to them, to us, and did so deliberately. On Nostalrius’ official site, you can read the latest announcement, from all the way back in May of 2016 – and note there has been nothing since – of how Nostalrius thought they would be part of something great and working with Blizzard to set up a legitimate vanilla server, not realizing they were being misled. To show how big the demand is for something like this, which incidentally would cost Blizzard very little to implement, this is a no joke screenshot from the last minutes of Nostalrius:
The last moments of Nostalrius
Seems like something people want.
So what can you do now if you wish to play the informally-labeled ‘vanilla WoW?’ You can do what I did, and switch over to Elysium. You have to get the client via torrent, but it’s stable, works beautifully, and for someone like me who still remembers being blown away when they first saw WoW, and longs for the difficult, slow, plodding, yet rewarding gameplay experience original WoW offered, it’s glorious going back to those early days; before Thousand Needles was flooded, before Durotar was as well, before the great sundering, before all of that. When Barrens Chat was as lively as ever, the Defias roamed free, you had to train skills, and find Mankrik’s wife, when some wore a Big Blue Dress and Alterac Valley could go on for days, when you had to suffer abysmal drop rates to earn your levels in order to pay 40 gold for a horse, it brought a tear of joy to my eye to relive those opening cinematics for the Undead and Tauren that hooked me right from the beginning. Its default graphics settings made the game look like I was back in its 2004 release date, but after cranking everything to max, the game looked beautiful.
Elysium WoW Screen
Additionally, I set up characters on their Anathema server, which was recommended to me, however their Elysium server is much more populated. That’s good on the one hand as the opportunity for groups and simply interaction is higher, but it comes at the expense of gameplay as it can lag severely, although I suppose that is quite reminiscent of original WoW. On the Anathema server, things are better, but it is still well populated, runs smooth, and I personally feel has a better balance, plus I still get to experience groups, Barrens chat, and and interaction. Here is a pic from Orgrimmar on Anathema, and as you can see it’s bustling with activity.
Orgrimmar on Anathema
There’s even whisper spam from gold farmers!
Just like vanilla
The only real problem I had was naming my character. Every single name I typed in gave a ‘That name is unavailable” error, even some of the ones it recommended to me did the same! There were some other minor, non-gameplay related things: At one point I repeatedly took fire damage although I wasn’t near a fire, an NPC referred to me by the wrong name, and an NPC clipping through the world; he came back though. There is also only one server, so server time never lines up with actual time. Other than that, no troubles so far.
Well, except for this:
UPDATE: Recently there have been some major server crashes. Actually, I don’t know what the specific issue is, but today all action stopped, and never started again. I wasn’t kicked back to the character select or login screen, it didn’t freeze up, it just stopped responding. My character could run around, but that’s all. All other players in the vicinity vanished. It also was unable to login to the character select screen afterwards, and had to x-out (I play in window mode) to try again. This happened multiple times today, my third day in. It has been smooth until now, and a patch was just rolled out earlier, which may have something to do with it.
UPDATE II: The issue was fixed, however I lost about 40 minutes of progress.
As great as it all is, be warned: it is not for the faint of heart. It is the grindiest grind in grindville, however because it is (I think) Burning Crusade, you level up a little faster than pure vanilla. But it is also very unforgiving ear;y on for some classes. For a while, as a Tauren hunter, around level 8 I was dying more than I was questing. I spent a lot of time in black and white (meaning dead), and I would get stomped by same-level mobs. For every one I killed, I would be the loser multiple times. Enemies are densely packed, it’s very easy to draw multiple aggros, and you often have to proceed very carefully. Once I got a pet, however, the whole dynamic changed and it became much more balanced. In the brief time I spent with some other classes, rogues, druids and warlocks made it much easier to progress early on. Warriors and priests, not so much. I didn’t try the mage or shaman classes.
It’s been very fun returning to almost-original WoW. When it was first being hyped all the way back in 2004, I didn’t pay it much attention, reading about it in game magazines with only passing interest. When the beta rolled around I thought “What the hell, I’ll give it a whirl” and was floored by what I saw. Immediately hooked, I knew I was witnessing something, experiencing something monumental; both literally and figuratively game-changing.
In fact, I got so much out of original WoW, had so many good experiences (I’ll never forget a higher-level Alliance chasing me all the way from Thousand Needles to Un’Goro crater, where I jumped over the edge and slowfell to the ground below, escaping my pursuer, only to be immediately devoured by a dinosaur. Good times.), I actually bought the Bloodscalp server on which I used to play when Blizzard auctioned it. It’s a prized possession.
Bloodscalp WoW Server
I never played Alliance because they’re the dirty, stinking Alliance.
So if you have never experienced original WoW, if you are a latecomer, if you want to know what all the fuss is about, if you wax nostalgic for the more pure version of the game, then I encourage you to try out a vanilla server and see what you think.
I’ll update as I continue on. In the meantime, here are the original intros for the Human, Tauren, and Undead races, all recorded at max settings off Elysium’s Anathema server. I also included a very brief bit of running around to give an idea how it looks.
Goodbye, MS Paint
Microsoft is removing a big collection of stalwart programs that were part of all our…well, my and my peers’…childhoods when they release the Fall Creator’s Update later this year. Screensavers are on their way out, as is Outlook Express. Some functionality such as Reader is being rolled up into Microsoft’s Edge browser. To be clear, many of these features are being deprecated, which means they are no longer being developed. In big-technology corporate-speak, however, that means they are soon to be removed altogether, although in fairness some Windows features have been deprecated for decades but are still part of Windows. Plus, the Creator’s Update will also introduce neat new features such as picking up on one device where you left off on another, as well as VR / AR features currently in development, including hardware and controllers. If you’re interested, you can read all about the Update straight from Microsoft.
The part of this that everyone is up in arms about, however, is the impending removal of MS Paint. This seems to be the thing that is garnering the most response, and causing people the most grief, or at least the most coverage. Originally developed by ZSoft as PC Paintbrush, it was licensed by Microsoft and included with Windows as Microsoft paintbrush, later changed to MS Paint. It was even originally sold with a mouse, as they weren’t such a common input method at the time.
Here’s CGA PC Paintbrush, with four colors on the screen at a a time, out of 16 possible colors. Note the way they tried to increase the available colors with textures and patterns. Good times.
CGA PC Paintbrush
Here’s a VGA version:
VGA PC Paintbrush
Of course, the reason Paint is causing such a stir is because so many people have used it for so much. We all used it just to make nonsense little drawings, and in its more recent versions it was not too bad for cropping, resizing, even making small notations like arrows and circles and whatnot. One person was even able to use it to draw the Mona Lisa. We’ll keep all the memes, rage comics, country balls, and everthing else out of this discussion, we’re trying to be serious here!
It’s being replaced with Paint3D, which is already included in Windows. In many ways it’s the same as Paint, and in many ways it isn’t, but it works well enough for cropping and resizing, and of course you can make nifty 3D scenes. I personally use IrfanView for cropping and resizing, which is quite easy and offers a lot of features, but to each their own.
Even so, the removal of Paint – if it does actually get removed – is the end of an era for Windows. I’ve been messing with it for longer than thirty years, and I’m sad to see it go. Not because it was an important part of my toolbox, at least not anymore, but because it had simply been around so long, and I always knew it was there; it’s like when the neighbors who always smile and wave, yet you never talk to, move away. Oh well, time marches on. I’m sure it’ll always be there in spirit, and available for download for the die-hards.
And here we go
it begins. Everyone knows that cable / Internet companies are shady, shifty organizations whose disgusting practices (did I mention their disgusting practices?) have made them the most despised companies in America, among all industries. That means if you took the worst companies from every industry; cars, sandwiches, grocery stores, clothing manufacturers, everything, and then chose the worst of those, cable / Internet companies would still be on top of the list. They are monopolies that do everything in their power to stifle competition and make you pay for it. I always have to emit a disdainful sneer when they tell me how fast their service is, yet limit how much I can use it.
On the other hand, I’ve always been relatively happy with Cox Communications, who was my provider when I lived in Las Vegas, and is again now that I am here in Irvine. They always tended to keep out of my business, and while the other cable companies were wallowing in a swere of poor cutsomer service and poor performace, Cox just trudged along.
Now, however, it appears they are becoming emboldened, and I suspect that is because of the appointment of Ajit Pai as head of the FCC, which is the worst news that could happen in this domain. When Tom Wheeler, a former cable company lobbyist, was appointed, everyone thought it would be the end of net neutrality, however he happily surprised us all. I suspect we will not be so lucky with Pai in place, and if this email from Cox is anything to go by, we could be in some real trouble.
Note the email states they will automatically charge for additional 50GB blocks, something my cel phone provider does as well, and provides what was supposed to be an evaluation of my Internet usage but shows a bunch of zeros instead. I wonder if that was deliberate, or a simple oversight. At least they try to assure me that I shouldn’t have any problems with this based on past usage, although I am a heavy user of Steam (although not so much a heavy downloader).
I’ll just leave it here for you to read in fear, and hope we can fix the incoming storm that is sure to happen.
Uh Oh
Pentagon may ban Kaspersky AV line
Bloomberg and others are reporting that the federal government is concerned about the widespread use of Russia-based Kaspersky Lab‘s antivirus products, which have been in widespread use around the world for almost two decades. High-ranking U.S. officials, including current acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who both gave congressional testimony related to Kaspersky, have voiced their concerns even going so far as to say they would not feel comfortable using the product in their own homes.
Times have certainly changed. I have used Kaspersky extensively over the years and never had an issue with it, nor any reason to suspect that, because of its being developed in Russia, it was anything other than an effective AV product. Speaking of which, it really is, at least in my personal experience, and apparently that of others; it’s very well-regarded. Tom’s Hardware lists it in their #2 and #3 spot of best AV products for 2017. PCMag.com lists it as their #5 choice. Windows Central has it as #3. Howtogeek noted it, along with BitDefender, found 100 percent of threats and even lists it as ‘the absolute best.’ Even MacWorld lists it as #5 for Mac protection. Their Wikipedia page, a site to which I am usually loathe to link, lists a slew of additional achievements and accolades. I have recommended it for years and have never balked once at doing so. Perhaps I’m not enough of a conspiracy theorist, maybe I should be more of one, but I find it hard to believe a company with almost half a billion users worldwide, the respect of the computing community, and the list of accomplishments it has as a product and company, would compromise their robust integrity by colluding with a nation of any sort, not just Russian.
On the other hand, as much as it hurts me to say it, such are the times in which we live. In the video on this ABC News page, which incidentally is where you can see brief bits of the FBI and National Intelligence Directors giving their congressional testimony, is an image of Kaspersky founder Eugene Kaspersky with Vladimir Putin. I personally don’t think that’s an indicator of anything; many business people meet with members of their respective governments, and others, all the time. To me personally, absolutely nothing stands out about this picture. No evidence has been provided as to why exactly Kaspersky now suddenly poses a threat, other than the current political climate. As all my students know, I never allow politics to seep into my classes unless it is absolutely necessary, however, we are where we are at this moment in history, and Kaspersky is an enormous juggernaut of a (Russian) company. Although they have offered to turn over their source code in an effort to prove their legitimacy, I suppose the security machine here in the States would like to be safe rather than sorry.
I, on the other hand, being the eternal optimist that I try to be, will for now continue to recommend them and hope they have not been compromised by political pressure. If you are concerned, there are many, many other options from which to choose. The aforementioned and previously linked BitDefender is solid, as is Avast, I’m not a huge fan of AVG, another long-time stalwart that I used to use in the past, but it does work well, overall, and its reviews are generally strong.
Continuing on the security thing, you should also use a dedicated anti-malware package, and nothing equals MalwareBytes. I use it on Mac, PC, and mobile, and recommend running it daily; bad things can happen in an instant.
A workstation for us all
Forget working at your desk, even one of those fancy hydraulic desks that lifts up and down. No, you need one that is fully immersive, looks like it belongs on the set of Alien, but is also eminently affordable. Hey, to quote Meatloaf, two out of three ain’t bad!
Thanks to MWE Labs, you can have the ultimate PC workspace they call The Emperor. A self-contained pod-like setup that surrounds you with your monitors and controls. Not only that, you can customize it with an array of nice touches, such as color and accent, accent lighting, even custom engraving, your logo on the seat and even a logo backlit front plate! Standard PC customization practices also make an appearance, with RGB and accent lighting available. I especially like how the one on their main page and used in the header of this post is being used for medical purposes and is designed to look like a skeleton. That’s clever.
Of course I had to max one out and see how much it would run, and I was not disappointed. I customized the color (black and orange, of course, although they have many colors for both the main and accents), and added in all lights and accouterments. The upgraded seat, which they will stitch your signature into in place of the Emperor logo added $2500 onto the price, the leg rest and heating added $500, and an integrated USB 3.0 hub is $315. After piling on all the other options, including lighting, logos, and two laptop trays, I finally had my dream chair, and only for a pittance. In fact, I’ll take two!
Now this is a chair
That’s a good-lookin’ setup if I do say so myself. It has all the bells and whistles, custom paint, everything someone who avoids physical activity could ever want. Of course, they practically give them away! I don’t know how they can offer them for this low price.
Total cost, totally reasonable!
If you have a lot of disposable income, what I like to call ‘Notch money,’ then why not? It is probably quite comfortable and a neat experience. You’ll have to supply your own PC and monitor(s), of course, but if you’re buying a chair like this, I’m sure that won’t be a problem. May I recommend Falcon Northwest? If you get one, let me know; we’ll be instant friends.
