I just put the book down to write this and get ready to go to work, where I hope it will be slow enough to allow me to read more of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I am about 1/4 of the way through, and utterly shocked so far by the events that have transpired. I know, I had originally planned to have the book done by noon today, but I needed to sleep overnight to be able to go to work today without passing out at the keyboard, so the end will have to wait. I will not spoil the book for anyone in this post(that will be in my review) but so far I am shocked and overjoyed by the way the book has gone so far, and I doubt that the rest will be any different. I am smiling at every turn where the podcasters and fans had questions answered, and eager to get back to it.
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It's the home stretch. One week to go. In 71 hours, a little over 7 days, I will have in my hands a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series, and, we hope, where we will see the Dark Lord defeated. My nephew and I are confirmed to be going to see the movie for the 5th book, Order of the Phoenix, then heading over to the park where Canadian retailer McNally Robinson will be having release party events to take part in the happy day. at midnight, we will be getting our books, and reading them like dedicated fans we are until we are done, and we know as much about the tale of the Boy Who Lived as we are likely to ever know. I hope to see a few of you at the perfect potter party in the park!
With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a month and a half from release, and McNally Robinson, a local bookstore, doing a huge launch party at one of Winnipeg's largest parks, I figured I would talk here a bit about my plans for the 20th of July. About 7 or so, my nephew and I will be going to a movie theatre to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie, which is released a week before. Then we are heading out to the park, where we will enjoy the fun of the pre release events, and wait, eagerly, for the last book in the Harry Potter series. At 12:00, I expect we will both be right near the front for the handing out of the books, followed shortly by a marathon reading session as we see how the story truly ends. Hope to see you on the flip side.
Shortly after the turn of the new year, right around when I first heard of Tirion Fordring, central character in the eBook 'Of Blood and Honor', being in game, I began a short story. Still unnamed, that story has finally been finished, or at least the first draft. The book, which was the first work of literature released by Blizzard back in 2000, is written to occur around the time that Thrall was forming his new Horde, just before they ventured across the sea, and told the tale of a Paladin who did what was honorable, and lost his place in the Order of the Silver Hand and his title, over it.
My story tells of how my main character, the character I have always made when I first ventured to a server, Medros, and how he came to know of Tirion Fordring, both long before the Scourge arrived, and since. The story can be found in draft form here. Corrections in grammar are welcome, and if you notice some errors in wording or phrasing, they would also be welcome. Commentaries about the quality of the fiction, however, are not welcome. This is a story of my character, his back story I guess you could say, and thus is not created to be the best work of WoW fiction ever. It is created to form more of Medros' story, nothing more or less.
I may, depending on the reaction to this story, write another story surrounding Medros' trip to the Caverns of Time, where he sees many of those whom he has faced and heard of in the past, as well as meeting an earlier version of Lord Fordring. It will tell of his encounters, and his discussions with his companion at the time. Enjoy the story, and I hope to read your reactions and constructive criticisms of my creative work. Oh, and useful title ideas would be welcome, and useless ones won't be posted long.
I want to write this and publish this as quickly as I can. for you who know not of Azeroth, Draenor, and the World of Warcraft, you could easily ignore this post and move on. For those still reading, let me just say that I have just finished the book that tells the tale of our introduction to the world of Azeroth. The Last Guardian tells the story of Medivh, the last Guardian of the Tirisfalen, of how he was found to have brought the Orcs to the world of Azeroth due to being controlled and possessed by the demon god Sargeras. This event, the arrival of the Orcs, is told in the game Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.
That game, and this story, began one of the greatest stories in the gaming world, and also one of the best known, in no small part due to the game World of Warcraft, which has nearly 7 million active accounts. The story of Azeroth is well written, expanding centuries of fictional history, encompassing several worlds and many events that would forever change any world. From the forming of the world, to the invasion of demonic forces leading to the sundering of the world, the founding fo the human nations, and even to the more recent defeat of the legion at mount Hyjal by forces of the disparate forces of the Night Elves, Orcs, Tauren and Humans of Kalimdor.
I have now, as of this moment, read as much lore as I could find. I have read the history on the world of Warcraft website, I have read the first two parts of the Manga, a story which we all in general how it will end now, and will know even more likely before the last book arrives, I have read the entire War of the Ancients trilogy, which tells of the sundering, as well as the first 3 original fictions, Day fo the Dragons, Lord of the Clans, and The Last Guardian, and the e-book, Of blood and Honor.
I loved the lore of this world before I read these books, before I knew there were books telling the story of Azeroth, before there was even an MMO. I recall fondly playing a demo of Orcs and Humans at a school I was in around its release time. I had it on a floppy disk, and I could easily play it on a low grade 486 PC the school got for free from the provincial government. I couldn't do much, being it was a beta and all, but I sat there for hours building up armies to go and kill the other side. I was always human, right up until I figured out that Orcs had Necromancers who could raise the fallen into skeletons that could fight.
For those who have played the RTS games, the world of Azeroth grew through wars and battles; we built up our skills, armies, and could fight great battles. For those who read the books, we read of the world as it grew from a chaotic place to an ordered world full of new races and creatures we had never heard of. For anyone who has had a taste of the lore of Warcraft, told in postings, books, and games played by millions. I plan to review these books and their impact on the world of Azeroth and the fans of the games on one of my podcasts very soon. Stay Tuned!
This will contain spoilers. If you have not read the book yet, and plan to, I advise against continuing in reading this post. Ok, I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in a second reading, and let me say that the losses, the events, and the ending did not get any easier. Of course I went into this with the entire book known, so the surprises weren't there, and I was watching closer for the hints I missed in the first reading. I also went in with the theories and suggestions that were gleaned from the Psychic Serpent Yahoo groups mail list. There were a lot of interesting ideas from that list, as that group has some of the most intuitive and creative minds I have seen in a group that isn't paid to read books.
Who really died on the roof? Did anyone die? If it was Dumbledore, was he killed at his own request? Why does Harry have to believe he is dead? Each book has brought hints from the ones before in this series, and everyone is wondering what from this book is hinting at what we shall see in book 7, what the amazing writer of this series, JK Rowling, has in store. In book 5 she killed off Harry's first hope of a loving person to be a parent to him. Now she has killed off his mentor, his hero. In book 7, no one is safe.
This post contains spoilers. If you read this, you may find the book ruined for you. I have delayed the posting by more than 3 weeks from book release day. Read on at your own peril.
Due to an old friend's recommendation a fair time ago, I recently began to read the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series of novels, authored by Laurell K. Hamilton, and I am surprisingly happy that I am really liking it. You see I am a fan of the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and thought since the 'universe' in each is very different, I was fairly sure I was not going to enjoy them. Once I stopped comparing the two universes, though, I found it quite easy to enjoy the Hamilton books. The books are definitely not for the faint of heart, nor for those who cannot handle a few sex scenes, because that is a major part of the books. They look this universe from a very different set of eyes. The universe is as follows: Pretend that the preternatural never fell into legend from fact, that it remained with humanity as we progressed. Now, take it to the modern times. Welcome to the series.
I have just finished reading the Epilogue to Barb Purdom's Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent Trilogy, while I have mentioned a couple time before, and I must say that it was amazing. I found myself enthralled in the fact Barb was willing to go places, to have characters act like real teenagers, not good little boys and girls. The author faced things that I doubt JK Rowling will go near even in the last book of the true series, and I have enjoyed the honesty given to the characters. Yes, Ms. Rowling does have Harry with a crush in book 5, but if anything life has taught me means much, there is no doubt that most kids do not have simple crushes in the real worls by 15, they are kissing and worse. I will simply thank Barb here, and reprint what I posted to the Yahoo Group.
I will not spoil the epilogue, but only say that it has been an honor and a joy to read this series, and that I have to say that of all the writers I have read, and there have been many, I am now proud to list Barb as one of the best. Thank you, Barb, for forcing me to do something that written words rarely do, feel the need to suppress a tear. You are an excellent writer, and if ever I hear of you publishing a work, I will be among the first to endorse it and buy several copies. Thank you again for many happy nights of reading.
Ok, so I am having a hard time choosing what to read. Sometimes I go for days without finding anything to read, then bam, I have lots. The choices I have are a) finish reading Blackwood Farms by Anne Rice, b) stop that and read the Mayfair Witches series by same, c) read the latest and final chapter for Harry Potter and the Triangle Prophecy in Barb Purdom's fan fiction series Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent. I have been on pins and needles waiting for the PSS chapter, and in the meantime I really got into Blackwood Farms. This, though, has gotten me interested with hints and heavy mentions of the Mayfairs in Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches series, which I have available. I could also do none of this and just play Quidditch World Cup. Hmmmm....
I have already shared a few of my addictions with you. Chocolate. Internet. Blogging. There is also Harry Potter, which I have become quite fascinated with. I found a few friends at work who are also... into the books/movies. One of them showed me a site called MuggleNet. This site has nearly everything I could want. It has a collection of HP movie pics, including a pic that shows the new Dumbledore(my god, it is hard to not think that is Richard Harris), Sirius, Lupin, and Scabbers even plays a far more evident part. This site has editorials, and frequent news bit updates. There is more info here than I could ever hope, and maybe even enough to get my through until the third movie comes out in like 9 months. One writer there wrote of how he came to be a Potter fan, and he wrote:
I realized something about Harry Potter: I am Harry Potter. We all are. We all are Harry, and Hermione, and Ron, we’ll always be running away from the Snapes and Filches in our lives; we’ll always be going to the Dumbledores for advice and protection; we’ll always be fighting with the Crabbes, Goyles, and Malfoys; and ultimately, we’ll all have to face our own Voldemorts. But, above all else, above the laughter, fear, anticipation, friendship, love, and happiness that Harry Potter has given me, he has given me one more lasting sentiment: What will come, will come. And when it does, we will face it. But until then, we can enjoy everything there is to enjoy about life, for as far away from Hogwarts as we may seem to be, we are closer than we can ever imagine.
It is odd, in the literary scene these day, to find a book that transcends and eclipses all barriers between ages and lifestyle. I have found mini geeks, full geeks, parents and children alike who, like me, have become enraptured in the world of Hogwarts, and the entire world devised by J.K. Rowling. I have found myself utterly lost in this world, unable to put any of the books down even on a second reading, knowing what will happen and when. It takes a truly unique writer to envelop such a wide ranging group of people into a world that is very loosely based in fact. JRR Tolkien was able to do so, and the eagerness which a large many people awaited the movies when they were announced is a sign of that, as is the fervor which follows each movie release and their accompanying DVDs. J.K. Rowling may not be an equal to Tolkien in fan base, but they are quite close in skill and writing ability.
Ok, so I read the third first. Then I bought the first four, and read the first two. Next, since I had loaned my nephew my copy of 4, I downloaded a PDF of it, and read that, shortly thereafter getting my mangled copy back. I then bought the fifth. I am addicted. Might as well enroll me in the school, or else the hospital. You see, I am going crazy. I know she has not written any more, and it is likely to be several months until a new one comes out, but I want it now. I did download some seeming odd versions of the fifth, so I could read those, but I want correct, I want new. I want more Happy Potter, Dumbledore, and the remainder of the magical community. So, anyone know how I can go forward into time, grab the remainder of the books, and come back to read them? Damn, me neither.
I began using Blogrolling.com when I first started blogging, right at the beginning when everyone laughed it off as simply a fad, another viral meme that would die out in blogland as quickly as it began. When the owner, Jason DeFillippo made up memberships to allow for him to not be broke all the time, the bloggers were furious, but I have yet to see my level of service change, even if I have never gone to a paid membership. It is with sadness that I read that Blogrolling.com will not, for now, be accepting new unpaid subscribers to the service, due to burgeoning server costs and the lack of significant paid membership, as the majority of membership, 95% or so, are free accounts. As I left in comments, I would have long ago gone to a paid account if they had something but PayPal, but my strong dislike of the service and their lack of insurance for customers leaves me weary. Therefore, I remain a free member.
Engineer Andrew "Bunnie" Huang has led The Register that his soon to be self published book "Hacking the Xbox: an Introduction to Reverse Engineering," has pre sold between 400-500 copies just a little more than two weeks before its scheduled May 27th publication date. Huang has gone the route of self pushing because he has found it impossible to find any publisher willing to take the book on due to it's rumored thin line of legality. The book covers all forms of hacking the XBox, and for a long time Huang and others have guessed it has been Microsoft's interference that has caused the publishing issues that Huang has been experiencing, though no proof is available. The book also raises fears of DMCA lawsuits, which could quickly be forthcoming once the book is released. .
After I reported on the 27th that Glenn Fleishman, co author of the book Real World Adobe GoLive 6, had received such an amazing reaction to the free release of the book than he expected, in fact the 23 MB was downloaded to the tune of 250 GB's worth before Fleishman took the file offline. Well, Level 3, his provider, happily informed him that his bandwidth use was right at the limit when they usually charge for overages, and his extreme excess usage would not be billed ot him, saving him from an expected $15,000 or more charge. Fleishman had collected around $1,700 in donation, which he has given, along with $250 of his own money, to Project Gutenberg, a free electronic library.
In a move that is in no way a show of dislike of the service, but more to do with lack of time and money being far tighter than was originally expected, I had to cancel my account with Safari Online, and hope that when/if things change at work or in my finances at all, I will happily go back and spend a good deal of time learning. I still like the idea of having books available in print, I learn better that way, and there are just too many books I want that they do not have. I had hoped to get Leo's book, but it was not there even though I am sure he once said it was. Overall, the service rocks, but I will likely only go back for the lower end $5 USD option, if they still have it, not the $10-15 deals they have, unless otherwise force to. The service rocks, my wallet does not.
In an attempt to make his book free, Glenn Fleischman, co author of Real World Adobe GoLive 6, made the book free on his web site, which may end up costing him a good deal more than he ever got from writing the book. "It's a financial catastrophe," said Fleischman. "I'm a working stiff with a mortgage ... I never suspected the penalty would be so high for giving something away.... It's like living in Singapore and getting 15 years in jail for chewing gum." Fleischman had begun asking for donations to alleviate the costs. "Fleischman posted the book in PDF format on the evening of March 18. It wasn't until the morning of March 20 that he realized how much traffic it was attracting. He pulled the file, but by that time he was liable for downloads of about 250 GB of data."(Wired)
I just wanted to publicly thank Mat Lemmings, of Daynotes fame, who has graciously purchased and had sent to me 'Mike Meyer's Certification Passport: A+ Certification' which you will all recall Mike recommended for those looking for AA+ books, which I am. I got a surprising visit from the postman this morning, who simply handed me the package before walking away. I thought, when first seeing the Amazon.com logo on the package, that it was my long lost Mitnick book, but upon opening I saw it was the A+ book. I then rushed to look at the sender, and saw it was Mat, and though I was abut to go out, I rushed back to thank him immediately. thanks again Mat, you have advanced my trip to true geekdom a great deal. :-D
Ok, so here's what I am doing in the book dept. I am reading Essential Blogging, which is turning out to be a much better book than one would expect for a 'professional blogger' as a friend called me last night. I don't see it, but I am told I am too humble to see the best aspects of myself. As well, seeing Mike's success, I have been reading the A+ book they have, A+ Certification Training Guide, Third Edition, as I hope to write the exams and hopefully do equal to or better than Mr. A+ Technician, by year's end. After that book, I will read Mr. :bob:'s book, PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition.
One thing annoys me though. I am trying to print up the Blogging book above, so I can read it at work where I have no net access, but several pages appear to be designed to print the right most stuff, between a quarter to a full inch, of content off the page, thus making it next to impossible to read. I tried to scale the content down a bit, but it still printed the same. Anyone know if Safari does this? It is not all pages, just appears to be select ones, so far 2 in chapter 3, and none others in the first 5 chapters, but I do not want to have to check each page first, as that requires printing since Print Preview shows it should be fine. Truly frustrating.
Well, realizing that I am about to go to bed, I went through an informal to do list I had made while I was without monitor, and looked for quick, short things I could do before I go to bed at 3. Well, the first thing I hit on was to add the two A+ books Mike recommended the other day to my Amazon Wishlist. I still do not like Amazon as they will not do the right thing as per the Art of Deception copy that Marybeth bought for me, but in all honesty that is likely the only way I will get those books, or 90% of the stuff off there. I just cannot afford to get all or any of that so soon. So, if you can spare it, and are feeling generous, please check it out, and maybe pick out a gift or two, they even have rankings by cost. I assure you, the address is fine.
This is so cool! I just got home to a message from Mary Beth over at Life After the B0rg, telling me she has arranged for me to get the book now out from Kevin Mitnick, Art of Deception. I am surprised, but over the last few weeks I have found her to be a good conversationalist, with a lot of opinions that are similar to mine, and she has even more reason to hate Microsoft then I do. We had been discussing the book in the thread about the first chapter being online, and while I ma happy to be getting the book, I feel guilty. Oh well, my thanks go out to you Mary Beth! Now I have a new book to read soon. :-D
Well, I have Kevin Mitnick's book Art of Deception on my Amazon wishlist (a site that David Lawrence just pointed out allows the listening to samples of songs, which I never knew) and it appears the first chapter of the book, where Kevin defends himself quite eloquently, was cut out, and has not surprisingly made it's way online, Darci put it on her own site after several others got a hold of it, and from my reading so far it is riveting. I knew that what I heard from the two who claimed responsibility for his capture was not true, but not to this degree. Check it out!
Ok, well, books, but even more. I was out this afternoon, leaving around 3:30 or so, and decided to try to hit the new Future Shop, Chapters, Wal-Mart, and somewhere out there that has Colibri brand Triple Refined butane for the Colibri Quantum I got from work. Well, the first stop was, indeed, Future Shop, but not after a quick lunch of Pizza eaten very carefully and I did a very thorough look around, at DVD players(nice Apex for only $129) and Games, as well as taking note that in all of the store they had a total of 5 movies on VHS. Very interesting change of media in a very short time. I picked up from there a non box version of Vampire the Masquerade, though I had a box of Diablo I in my hands until I reached the counter.
The next stop was to Chapters, where I wanted to look into any magazine that might have more info about Palms, including tips, and software recommendations, but I ended up only finding one that had anything on Palm's, and that was Pen Computing magazine. I did, though, find a very willing sales rep, who was wiling to look for the ability to put some books that were not in a box, into a box set for me, so I am now the proud owner of a box set of the Lord of the Rings novel. At only $20, I can't complain, and now I have non technical reading materials. Sadly, I could find no TR Butane, so I asked my parents to look when they go food shopping. I know I can get some at Keyman, I just need to find one.
The new, much improved TechTV Leo Laporte's 2003 Technology Almanac is now available from Amazon. It looks good, from Leo's description(sorry Leo, had to try to make my own money from it), and it looks like though it's main topics are Win XP and Mac OS X, it does have some Linux/Unix ands other more open software platforms. I plan to buy this one myself when I have the cash in pocket, or a credit card to order it. Nah, I'll buy it when it hits the store shelves here in September.
