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It's called My Quick Notepad.

My Quick Notepad began as a way to eliminate the need to copy and paste paragraph tags around everything I wrote when I was working with HTML or a custom markup language. I also wanted a large area on a webpage to write so that I could switch between tabs to copy and paste instead of switching between two different programs to copy and paste.

I already had the code to put paragraph tabs around text before I started, so I knew creating a web-based notepad would be quick. But, once started, I began to see some other ways that it could be helpful -- mainly making links easier to do -- but also making lists easier and putting in some codes for bolding, italics, etc.

For links, I found that in researching a subject, I often wrote out the link and name of the website like "Yahoo www.yahoo.com" or "Google - www.google.com" so I wanted a way to quickly convert that into an HTML link. Putting brackets around it and making an equals sign for separating label from link seemed the best way to make the link with the last amount of work.

For all of this, I followed ideas similar to wiki editors. An asterisk at the beginning of a line meant the beginning of a list, etc. The idea was to make things as simple as possible.

The notepad is meant as a quick way of popping something into an html page or a content management system. I hope some will find it useful.

You can find the utility at My Quick Notepad.

The NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to start their Monday Night Football game without the National Anthem. Bad enough football has taken away all our free time in the fall and early winter. Now, it's going to take away our patriotism?

As if that wasn't stupid enough, he continues by saying the NFL had "gone too far."

Are we seriously so insecure about our national patriotism that skipping the national anthem during horrible weather creates a hue and a cry? Or is Mike Klis just one of those poor unfortunates that if you don't tell him how you like him every chance you get, he freaks out and thinks you are plotting to kill him?

Whatever the case, the very fact that the article is on the Denver Post's webpage is pretty sad. Hey, it may not be as ridiculous as wanting to execute someone for naming a teddy bear 'Muhammad', but it is in the same category of stupid.

Now, I don't usually do a lot of posting of videos or pictures. It's not my thing. I'd much rather rant on something that's pissed me off or throw out some rhetoric on the poor state of massively multiplayer games.

But, I ran across this video searching through YouTube and thought I'd share. The video is done by the guys at Blame Society. If you like it, be sure to head over to their site and check out some of their other videos.

Celebrity Bric-a-Brac Theatre: The Story of Thanksgiving

]]> Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:18:00 MST http://www.soundoff-blog.com/2007/11/Thanksgiving-via-YouTube.php http://www.soundoff-blog.com/2007/11/Thanksgiving-via-YouTube.php http://www.soundoff-blog.com/2007/11/Verizon-FIOS-Cable-Guide-Blows-Chunks-Big-Time.php#comments Every time I think I have figured out the depths of human stupidity, someone come along and lets me know that it can go a little deeper. Now, I'm not saying that whoever approved Verizon FIOS's new cable guide going live was one of these people -- I've seen some pretty stupid stuff -- but he certainly put forth his fair share of the effort in digging around for some stupidity.

Let's start with the Guide's appearance. It looks like someone with a lot of money and absolutely no sense decided to decorate their house by plastering pictures on every wall and statues in every corner. In other words, in their effort to be cute and flashy, they've created a mess. It's hard to read, and has too many distractions.

But, if it was only the appearance that blew chunks, I would be fine with it. After all, I can get used to an ugly design. The fact that it is a bit harder to read would be a pain, but I could deal.

Unfortunately, the appearance was the masterstroke of a channel guide that is littered with usability issues and bugs. It is absolutely horrible.

The most annoying bug is that the favorites list can sometimes lose the HD channels. I start out at the top of the list, and it doesn't loop over to the HD channels, forcing me to scroll down. Then, I finally get to the bottom and it cuts off before the HD channels display, forcing me to scroll back up, at which point the HD channels 'magically' appear. Very annoying.

Perhaps just as annoying is the fact that clicking on the favorites button doesn't start the favorites list at the channel I am currently watching. Since I mainly watch the HD channels, this forces me to scroll through the list every time I want to change from one of my local channels to the NFL Network or one of the other HD channels.

I quickly gave up using favorites to navigate to my channels. It's simply too poorly programmed and too annoying. I use it for browsing when I don't know what I want to watch, but for getting from point A to point B, I am forced to use the main channel guide.

Another very annoying 'bug' -- and I put bug in single quotes because it wouldn't surprise me if some religious zealot at Verizon did it on purpose -- is that exiting from On Demand doesn't return me to the channel I was on when I entered On Demand. Instead, it takes me to some Christian music channel. Thanks, Verizon, I got the message: People who want to convert you to Christianity are very annoying and don't know how to program.

And I don't want to leave without mentioning that the On Demand menu is pretty horrible too. Not only does it waste a bunch of space trying to mimic the start button in Windows by displaying the menu categories I am not on anymore, but it is frequently slow, and there's no visual display of when it is busy doing something else. Get a clue: If you are going to rip something off from Windows, rip off the freaking hourglass.

Here's something I will never understand: Text compresses at a 10 to 1 rate. This means, when transferring text across a connection, the speed at which the text gets to its destination is ten times faster than the connection speed. And yet, somehow, it takes Verizon FIOS about ten days to create a list containing thirty movies and their descriptions. If I was on a website, this would pop up instantly. But, somehow, Verizon manages to slow even this down.

It's bad enough that America is moving away from good customer service, do we have to plop quality into the toilet as well?

Technically, they fit the definition. But, as I said in my Hellgate: London preview, some of these games may fit the definition, but they are not to be confused with World of Warcraft or Everquest.

I call them "online hub" games. These are games like Guild Wars and Hellgate: London where a small fraction of the game -- usually cities or trading areas -- allows for massive amounts of players while most of the game -- the parts you actually play -- are instanced.

I believe they are the future of multiplayer gaming, and they aren't really much different than any multiplayer game where you can find people to play with through a service like GameSpy. After all, at this moment there are over one hundred thousand players all connected together playing Half Life. There's an area they can go to and talk to each other, meet up, and then go into an 'instance' of Half Life to play the game.

It makes sense that game developers would move this area into the game where players can walk around as their avatars and do some of the mundane tasks in the game like buy new equipment. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if a future Tiger Woods Golf let everyone hang out in the pro shop, look for new golf clubs to buy, maybe trade putters, and put together foursomes before they head out onto the golf course.

I think it’s a great direction for multiplayer games to head, but these games are not MMO's in the same sense that World of Warcraft, Dark Ages of Camelot and other community-building games were and, since they are often called MMO's, the term has become about as descriptive as saying a game is "multiplayer" -- which is nice to hear since it tells you that you can play it with your friends, but it really doesn't tell you anything about the game itself.

So what's the big deal?

It's time to start calling games like World of Warcraft what they are: Virtual Worlds. And it's time to start calling games like Guild Wars what they are: multiplayer games.

The title of a genre should be descriptive. It should tell you something about the game. If I buy a role playing game, I know to expect a character-building and item-gathering game. If I buy a first person shooter, I know to expect a lot of running around and shooting. There was a time when buying an MMO meant you would run around in a world where you could run into other characters almost anywhere, where part of the game was the community and the politics and the diplomacy and the bickering and the feuds and the drama and the spying.

But, as more of these 'hub' games hit the market, the distinction of being a massively multiplayer online game loses its meaning. And when the name of the genre loses its connection to a certain type of game, it becomes more difficult for us players to figure out which one is the type of game that we enjoy and which one is just a multiplayer game.

I see this confusion all the time even from people that have played the game. When I go into the beta forums for one of these 'hub' games, I see people talking about how the game will 'live or die' by its community and how it currently doesn't have enough 'community building' aspects. But these games don't need strong community to do well. They need good, fun gameplay that competes with other multiplayer games of the same type.

Unfortunately, MMO has become too good of a marketing term. So we are going to see it slapped onto many games that technically fit the description but bear no real resemblance to the community-centric virtual worlds that first became known as MMO's.

Eventually, something will have to give. I see more and more multiplayer games going to the online 'hub' design concept. It's just too good of a design and is easy to fit into many different types of multiplayer game. And, heck, I think it's pretty exciting and cool. It brings together more possibilities for the game and it makes hooking up with other players much easier.

But lumping them into the same category as Everquest does a disservice to everyone involved.

Some players come away from the game thinking it is bad because they are judging it by the wrong standards. I've seen this time and time again with Guild Wars: "It is a horrible MMO. It is entirely instanced, and I hate instances." And yet, the same person will happily meet up with others online to play a quick game of Halo in an 'instance' hosted by one of the players.

And Virtual World games are in danger of being lost in the shuffle. They have always been much fewer in numbers than multiplayer games, and they will continue to be few in numbers because of the costs involved in their development. As more and more 'hub' games come out, they will be harder to find in the haystack, and they will begin being judged by the wrong standards as people who expect undisturbed multiplayer-type gameplay become disturbed that another group of players are killing all the monsters in the dungeon they want to explore.

A distinction has got to happen at some point. So, we might as well start calling these games like Everquest and World of Warcraft what they are: Virtual Worlds.

Designed by many of the same people that worked on Diablo and Diablo II, Hellgate: London is a blend of action role-playing and first person shooters. The online play is similar to Guild Wars with 'hub' zones where players and meet and group up with other players and instances where the true adventuring is done.

While it is sometimes called an MMO, it is not to be confused with games like Everquest and World of Warcraft. The game is set up similar to Guild Wars in that players have central 'hubs' where they can buy weapons/armor, obtain quests, and meet up with other players while the rest of the game is composed of instances where the true adventuring happens.

The premise of the game is simple. A hellgate opened up in London virtually destroying the city and sending most of the inhabitants underground into the subway system. The people waging the war against the hordes of demons and undead are divided into three distinct groups: the Templar, the Cabalists, and the Hunters.

The Templar

The Templar are the sword wielding fighters who make up the last bastion of defense against the forces of hell. Players can choose to be a Guardian and fight with a sword and shield or play a Blademaster and duel wield swords. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be melee weapons besides swords, but players can elect to equip a gun in their off-hand to give them some ability to deal with pesky flying demons.

Playing as a fighter can be a lot of fun. You have to get up close and personal with the enemy, but swords pack a lot of punch. The Templar may rely heavily on health kits to keep themselves alive, but they are a very fun class to play. The sword play is pretty simple: click your mouse button and you swing your sword. You can also assign skills to mouse buttons so you can have a regular attack on your left button and a special attack on your right button if you wish. Along with being able to assign skills to the number keys, you can also assign them to the 'Q' and 'E' keys which makes them handy for those using WASD as movement keys.

The Cabalist

The Cabalist are divided into Evokers who are more of your stand and blast type casters and Summoners who just hang out and let their pets do the dirty work. Well, okay, Summoners do a little more than just hang out, but they are going to do most of their damage through their pets.

Magic is fun. The Power bar regenerates pretty quick, so you won't have a large amount of downtime after a big battle. The Cabalists also get a couple of skills to heal themselves so, even if they can't take as much of a bashing, they can keep themselves alive.

The Hunters

This is where fans of first person shooters will have the most fun. Hunters can be Marksmen who wield a wide variety of weapons like sniper rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers. They have access to a wide variety of skills to help them in blasting down zombies and demons. The other class in the Hunter faction is the Engineer who creates robots to contribute to the battle.

While the Summoner is the true pet class, the Engineer is more of a hybrid. Their pets are useful, but the Engineer remains able to equip a wide variety of weapons much like the Marksmen, so they will be able to dish out a good deal of damage themselves.

The Game

The game is fast and fun and, most importantly, it is refreshingly original. As expected from the designers of the Diablo series, Flagship has combined aspects of two different types of game and created something new. In many ways, the game plays like a first person shooter with fast action and movement-oriented combat instead of the stand-there-and-swing combat found in many rpgs.

But this is not a first person shooter. Players choose a class, level up, gain skill points to spend on a skill tree, find equipment, enhance that equipment by equipping weapon mods, go on quests, etc.

I think the thought dominating the minds of most people during their first fifteen minutes in the game will be: Wow, this is different. Now, different doesn't necessarily mean good, just like splicing two popular game types doesn't always breed success. If you like first person shooters but hate role-playing games, this one might not be for you. And if you like role-playing games but dislike first person shooters, this game might not be for you.

But there will be plenty of people who like one and dislike the other and find that they love Hellgate: London. Fans of roleplaying games can play a sword wielding templar or a magic casting Cabalist and have a lot of fun while those that prefer Quake to Neverwinter Nights can go with a Hunter and have some fun.

The graphics are pretty good, though it doesn't have quite the eerie feel that marked the Diablo series. It will support both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10, so those feeling the need to take Vista out for a stroll can take advantage of some of the new technology -- but expect the DirectX 10 route to take a much heftier system to run. (Luckily, Vista users can choose to play the DirectX 9 version as well, so if your system chugs in the DirectX 10 version just run the other one.)

The gameplay is fast with a more movement-oriented combat. No just standing there and letting the mobs beat on your armor while you click a key on your keyboard. Well, you can do that, but you'll just run through health kits a lot quicker. Hunters and Cabalists will fare much better keeping on the move and dodging enemy attacks while the unload on the hordes of demons.

It isn't all roses though. Flagship has decided to create a subscription system that will segregate players into 'basic' players and 'elite' players. You need not pay anything more than the cost of the game to play through it and have fun, but if you pay the $9.99 subscription you will have access to 'elite' aspects of the game such as new content, new classes, etc.

Flagship is dressing this up as a way of paying for expansions each month and having them trickled down from the development team instead of paying for a separate (more expensive) expansion with loads of content.

My take on it is they simply can't afford to run the servers without getting the players to pay for it. Certainly, paying ten bucks a month would equate to two expansions a year (and then some) and I'll bet my first month's subscription fee that we won't be seeing two expansions worth of content added the first year.

But, that is optional, and I am sure most players will play the basic game until something comes along in the elite version that they want enough to pay the monthly fee. Personally, I think this is one of the areas that could backfire on Flagship. If the fee was more along the lines of five bucks a month it would be easy to swallow, but ten bucks a month for a game that really isn't an MMORPG is pretty steep.

Overall, I think the game will be a good purchase for those aching for the days of Diablo and Diablo II and who have already solved Titan's Quest with every possible combination. But if you didn't like games like Oblivion that gave a first person perspective to an rpg then it might not be for you.

For those that don't as much care for action role-playing games but really love first person shooters, it might be a fun distraction but it isn't going to replace Halo or (my favorite FPS series) Ghost Recon: Advanced WarFighter.

Also, for those that have already made up their mind to try this game out, if you pre-order now at many different retailers you can get into the beta before the game is released on October 31st.

But we do know that Roger Goodell is not afraid of handing out harsh punishments, and he's willing to make an example when he feels it is needed. Personally, I'm not a big fan of 'examples' -- if the system works, it will work, if it doesn't, no amount of examples will make it work. Of course, I'm not the commish, so my feelings on examples are irrelevant.

And it is Goodell's willingness to make an example that should have the Patriots organization and fans worried. Here are a list of things that could happen:

Forfeiture of top draft picks next year or over the next few years.

A suspension for Bill Belichick.

A lowered salary cap next year or over the next few years.

Disqualification for postseason play for this year, or over the next few years.

Of those four punishments, I think disqualification for postseason play is very unlikely. While disqualifying teams for bowls is a staple in college, it just isn't right for the NFL, and it is something I think all teams would disagree with. Winning the superbowl in the year when one of the best teams is suspended from the playoffs is about like winning it during a player boycott.

I wouldn't be surprised at any of the other three, or even a mixture of them. Forfeiting draft picks is the most likely, but it might not seem harsh enough. After all, teams draft first round busts all the time. If you want to punish a team by lowering their talent level, I think forfeiture of draft picks and lowering the salary cap is the only way to go -- otherwise they'll just look to free agency.

A suspension of Bill Belichick would also be unsurprising. And, if the commish is willing to suspend Wade Wilson for five games for taking a steroid to improve the quality of his life while living with diabetes, what is he going to hand out for an infraction that actually effects the game?

I think it is anyone's guess. He might even dish out a relatively light punishment. A lot will depend on just how incriminating the evidence on the video tape is, but it doesn't help the Patriots that they have been accused of this before.

And, if I were a Patriots fan, I wouldn't be expecting it is going to be a wrist slap. This commissioner is not known for wrist slaps.

The idea that someone would fork over 375 euros for a meal or 5,000 dollars for a wedding dress as much for the high dollar amount as for any quality or need reminds me of Awareness by Anthony De Mello. De Mello expressed that we are made happy by what we have been programmed to make us happy, and we are made unhappy by what we have been programmed to make us unhappy, and usually this programming hinges on the reactions (good, bad, or indifferent) of other people.

The idea is to put aside this programming and stop pinning our happiness to the reactions of others, and this will lead to awareness and true happiness. Aside from the over-generalizations in the book, I agree with the main concept. What other people think is irrelevant, what matters is walking your own path and not letting the opinions weigh you down.

It does pose a dilemma for the writer. Is seeking publication a way to coincide with that programming? Should we care who reads our work, or what they think about it?

As I said, I agree with the book's concept, but I think it over-generalizes too much. I have released a Hall of Fame series of modules for the computer game Neverwinter Nights. I programmed the modules for myself, but it was great knowing that others enjoyed them too.

If there is one area in which De Mello missed completely it is that the programming isn't bad. The key is to realize it is programming, and to choose your own programming. If, for instance, you get irritated when driving, you should realize that your unhappiness is a programmed reaction, and if you strive for it, you can change it. On the other hand, the happiness we feel when giving to charity is just as much a matter of programming, but do we really become more self-aware by changing it? Or are we self-aware simply by realizing it?

I think it is the latter. I think we are all gods and, as such, we have the divine right to create our own universe -- and our own happiness in that universe. It is up to us to decide what makes us happy.

But I'm supposed to be talking about food, aren't I? I wouldn't want to strap the next blogger in the chain to a theme provided by a Jesuit priest who has been dead for two decades, so I'd better get to the good and juicy stuff.

I like sushi.

There, I've said it. Do your worst, but its true.

I've never been a picky eater (how could anyone that survived on fast food ever be considered picky?), but I also wasn't an adventurous eater until I met my wife. She loves food, and she has taught me a certain appreciation for it too. (Some people would call it being a food snob, I like to call it food appreciation.) Recently, I've been wanting to try new things, so I've tried Thai food (love that Pad Thai!) and Sushi.

My friends say: Yuk! I'd never eat raw fish!

I guess that's how you spot someone who has never had sushi. We went last week and had six different things on the menu. None of it was raw fish. And all of it was good eating.

So, there, the food theme is in place so Virginia won't have to freak out on awareness unless she wants to! I'd also like to give a shout out to Oswann who opened that door a crack and let me jump through.

The complete Absolute Write Blog Chain #10 consists of the following:

Cath

Midnight Muse

Niteowl

s_aileronbois

wordsmyth

Deathwizard

Gillian

Madderblue

Oswann

Dan

valeenc

The modern role-playing game probably starts in 1974 with Dungeons and Dragons. While role-playing games existed before this time, it was the first commercial product that put forth a clear set of rules. And, it is no surprise that computer role-playing games have existed for as long as computers gained popularity in the home with the Vic-20, TRS-80, and similar computers.

The following is a list of the top ten best computer role-playing games. The games are judged on fun, merit, and legacy. And, of course, consideration is given to the technology that existed when the game was released. Obviously, very few would be interested in a game that was released in 1986 considering how far computers have come since those days. Some might look back with nostalgia, and even believe that computer role-playing games were better back then (and in some ways they were), but it is the rare individual that would actually boot them up and play them. But that doesn't mean they should lose their place on the list.

Here is the top ten of all time:

1. Neverwinter Nights

I am, of course, talking about the Bioware game and not the Graphical MUD. When I first decided to make a top ten list of CRPG's , I thought coming up with the number one spot might be difficult. A minute later I realized it was as easy as naming the Lord of the Rings to a top ten of fantasy books.

Simply put, Neverwinter Nights is the most thorough translation of role-playing to the computer screen. It consists of three parts: client, dm, and toolset. With these three parts a player can take on their role of a character, a dungeon master can enter the world and guide the story, and a designer can create the world from scratch.

The game has spawned thousands of custom modules and more than a few persistent worlds.

2. Ultima IV

The Ultima series did something that is very rare to see in role-playing game: it included morality. Oh, sure, many games have very basic good and evil concepts, but Ultima IV took this to new heights focusing the morality in the game on such virtues as honesty, compassion, and justice.

This created a very open atmosphere where they player must focus on the building of character before they were able to defeat the evil engulfing the land.

3. Rogue

How does a game that consists only of ASCII graphics that was written in the mid-80's on the Unix platform make the list? There is probably no greater sub-genre to role-playing games than the rogue-like game. From Moria to Omega to modern versions like Angband, rogue-like games have remained popular. Even modern games such as Diablo use rogue-like elements to enhance gameplay.

Rogue is a simple game based on random dungeon generation. And yet, it has had a very visible impact on role-playing games since its inception. For that impact alone, it deserves a high place on the list.

4. Everquest

Ah, evercrack, the bane of marriages around the world. While massively multiplayer online role-playing games have come a long way since Everquest, and certainly EQ had its fair share of problems, it would be difficult to put any other MMO on this list higher than Everquest. Even World of Warcraft owes much of its success to the foundation laid by Everquest.

Based on MUD's, Everquest was not the first massively multiplayer game. That distinction goes to Ultima Online. Some might even argue that it goes back further than UO with graphical MUDs like Meridian 59.

But it was Everquest that cemented the popularity of MMORPGs, and it is Everquest that forms the basis for those games that come after it. Very few games are copying elements from Ultima Online, though the genre would probably be stronger if they did. Most of them do copy elements of Everquest, though. Thus, for its impact on the MMORPG's, it gets a mention in this list. And, because MMORPG's are so close to the spirit of role-playing games, it gets a nice spot on the list.

5. Diablo II

For the most part, I like to give credit to the first of a series for starting something great even when a subsequent game in the series might have done it slightly better. But, of course, I make exceptions, as I did with Ultima IV.

Diablo II is one of those exceptions, but mainly because it perfected the vision of the original. Diablo could have just as easily been in this spot. It certainly had a major impact on the gaming industry, and it was loads of fun to play.

But, so often, a sequel is just the same game with a few minor enhancements and a graphical facelift. And, too often, the sequel is just not as good as the original. But the changes between Diablo and Diablo II were like artwork. It added some great things: a new class system that allowed for a lot of unique character building, overland maps as well as random dungeons, a sprawling storyline with multiple acts, item customization through sockets, etc.

And, most importantly, it did it while capturing the essence of gameplay that made the original game so addicting.

6. Pool of Radiance

The gold-box Dungeons and Dragons games produced by SSI are among the best role-playing games delivered to the public. They delivered the story and plot twists to be expected from a Dungeons and Dragons game, and they contained a strategic combat system where every character could be moved (as opposed to contemporary games like Bard's Tale and Might and Magic).

The very fact that you can say 'gold box game' and many role-playing enthusiasts know exactly what you are talking about is enough to get them on the list. Without a doubt, they were the cream of the crop of role-playing games coming out in a time that was probably the golden age of computer role-playing with games like the Ultima series, Bard's Tale, Might and Magic, etc.

7. Fallout

A role-playing game based in a post-apocalyptic world is just cool, but cool alone doesn't make the list. Fallout had a great points-based character system that allowed for a unique role-playing experience, and it took full advantage of its setting by allowing the player to be as gruff and grim or as nice and sweet as they wanted to be.

It was the type of game that you played, and when you finally got up, you checked your pants to see if they had any grease stains on them. It was dirty, and it was fun, and that's why it is on the list.

8. The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall

The Elder Scrolls capture that rogue-like feeling without really have any rogue-like elements. It isn't a randomly generated world (though, in Daggerfall, there were quests with random elements), but it is a very open world where the player had the freedom to explore and wasn't tied to a specific story-line quest.

The entire series captures this feeling, but none better than Daggerfall. Morrowind and Oblivion certainly are beautiful games to look at, but Daggerfall stands head and shoulders above them.

It's a recipe that is, sadly, not done enough in modern role-playing games: Make a big world, fill it with plenty to do, and let the player go explore it.

9. Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate is often credited with revitalizing the computer role-playing genre. It is true that, in many ways, role-playing on the computer was dead. Diablo had been released a few years earlier and had re-invented the action role-playing game, and Massively Multiplayer Games were just springing up.

To many, it seemed like the tried-and-true party-based role-playing game that focused as much on story as character building and stats was a dying breed. And then along came Baldur's Gate with its epic quest, assassins jumping characters when they exited a bar, twisting dungeons, and, of course, the ability to have a full party of adventurers with you.

10. World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft makes the list as much because of the impact it will have as anything. In many ways, World of Warcraft is nothing new. Like Dark Ages of Camelot and Everquest II, it owes much of its game design to Everquest.

The one thing that set World of Warcraft apart from its contemporaries was its aim for a more casual-friendly environment. While Everquest and Dark Ages of Camelot demanded a lot of time, World of Warcraft was designed to allow players to progress at a faster pace.

But that's not what puts WoW on this list. In fact, the reason it is on the list is much more simple than that: It has around eight million subscribers.

And its not the popularity that I am talking about. It's the financial implications. MMORPG's are a dicey business. They can make a company a lot of money, but they take a huge chunk of money to build. And for every successful MMO like City of Heroes, there's a failure like Horizons.

The very fact that WoW has sold so well has shown the industry that the gamble is definitely worth it. World of Warcraft took around 30 million dollars to build, and it is currently bringing in over 100 million dollars a month in subscription fees. That's good business sense, and with its example game publishers will continue exploring MMORPGs looking to hit on their own pot of gold.

The answer, as my wife so graciously supplied, is using the cascading style sheet to define the template through div tags. My first thought was: Huh? I'd played around with the div tag before, but I didn't know where to start in building a webpage based around them.

But I've been a programmer for over twenty years (since I was thirteen and programming on a Vic-20), so learning something new is something I have grown used to doing over the years. The first thing I did was grab a template from one of the free template sites and used that as an example of how to set up a website based on a CSS file, and then I went all around the web trying to find out how to make it do exactly what I wanted it to do. (Anytime I am trying to find out something about HTML I tend to take a trip all around the web trying to gather the information.)

It took a few hours, but I was able to convert my first site to using a CSS template, and then I was able to transfer the basics over to this site. As I mentioned in my last article, I'm no great web designer. When it comes to anything artistic, I've got two left hands, feet, etc. I've also got all thumbs, and all big toes. And probably two left kneecaps. But, while these pages aren't the prettiest things on the planet, they seem to work okay.

And the great part is, overall, I find using the cascading style sheet to layout the pages is much easier to deal with compared to putting everything in tables. My old page had tables inside of tables inside of tables inside of tables trying to get the format right. Now, I just have some div tags and my page is organized a lot better. (As well as being a bit better with SEO.)

So, for those looking to do something similar with their webpage or blog, I thought I'd go through the steps of setting up a very basic template. I'm just going to create a header bar, a side bar, and a content area, with a couple of containers to wrap around the page. Once you know how to do that, it's not too difficult to add to it to create something closer to what you might want your webpage to look like.

We'll start out with the stylesheet. This is where we will define the classes we are going to use for our div tags. The first thing I am going to do is define my body with a dark gray background so I can get a gutter around my page.

body { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: square; background-color: #808080; }

Next, I am going to create an overall container. This is going to define my workspace and be set for the width of whatever resolution I am designing the page for. I designed this website for 800x600, so I set the width of my container for 800 pixels.

#container { margin: auto; width: 800px; position: relative; }

You'll notice the container class has set the position at relative. This will center it on the screen so that someone viewing the page in a higher resolution will see everything come up in the middle and not off to the side.

The next thing I am going to do is create a main class that will wrap around the real content. I am setting the width to 780 pixels which will give us a gutter around the page. I'm also going to give this one a border of 5 pixels with a darker gray color than my body. I'm mainly doing this to give an example of how to create a border around your webpage.

#main { width: 780px; margin: 0 auto; background-color: #FFFFFF; border-color: #606060; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 5px 5px 5px; }

You'll notice that you can define each border independently. So, If you want to make the right and bottom borders larger than the top and left borders, you can do this pretty easy.

The next thing I am going to do is create a header class. This is going to hold my banner or whatever I might want at the top of the page. I am going to give it a background picture so we'll have some graphics on the left side of the header.

#header { margin: 0 auto; width: 780px; height: 100px; background-color: #FFFFFF; background: transparent url('/images/edge.gif') top left no-repeat; }

Next, I am going to define a class for my content and a class for my sidebar. I am going to have a sidebar on the left side of the page, but I am going to define the content class first.

#content { float: right; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; width: 590px; background: #BCC594; }

You'll notice that I am putting in some padding so that the text won't go right up against the edge of the sidebar or the border. I've seen two ways of setting up some padding, and in the sidebar I'll do it the other way. Also, notice that I am using float: right in the class. This makes the area float on the right side and anything outside of the div tag would ordinarily wrap around it. Of course, we won't have anything outside of this div tag except other div tags, so we are doing it here just to define where the content area is going to be.

Now, to define the sidebar:

#sidebar { padding: 0 5px 0px 5px; float: left; width: 160px; background: #788A73; }

The one thing you want to be careful with is to make sure all the pixels add up. I am designing for 800 pixels wide, and my main content was defined at 780 pixels. What I have here is a content divider set at 590 pixels plus 10 pixels on the left and 10 pixels on the right for padding, so that's 610 pixels. Then I have a sidebar with a 160 pixel width and 5 pixels to either side, so that's 170 pixels. Together, they add up to 780 pixels, which is the width of my main divider. If you mess up and these add up to more than that main divider you'll see one going on top of the other instead of side-by-side.

Now, that's all we need for a very basic webpage layout, so we'll work on the HTML file.

First, you need to tell your webpage that you are going to be using XHTML elements. You do this by adding the following line:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

And modifying your html tag as follows:

< html xmlns"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml">

If you leave these lines out you might get unpredictable results from your webpage. Initially, I forgot them and didn't notice it because it still showed up okay in Firfox (my browser). But I like to check things in Internet Explorer and found that with IE6 the page wasn't being centered. I added the line defining the document type and everything worked okay.

This is the HTML for the actual page:

<body> <div id="container"> <div id="main"> <div id="header"> (Put Header HTML Here) <!-- END HEADER --> </div> <div id="content"> (Put Content HTML Here) <!-- END CONTENT --> </div> <div id="sidebar"> (Pute Sidebar HTML Here) <!-- END SIDEBAR --> </div> <div style="clear: both;"></div> <!-- END MAIN --> </div> <!-- END CONTAINER --> </div> </body>

You'll notice that I have a comment line every time I end a div tag. This is a good idea because some of those sections will grow in length. It makes it much easier to see which div tag you are closing if you have comments.

You'll also notice that I have the code for the sidebar after the code for the content. Since I've told the sidebar to float on the left and the content to float on the right, I can put them in any order I want. Since it is good for search engine optimization to put the content as close to the top of the file as possible, I layout the content first.

Another important thing to note is the following:

<div style="clear: both;"></div>

This line forces the browser to draw the page at this point. If you don't have this line in and you add another divider like a footer to the end of the page it will draw up top in the same area as the content and sidebar. This is because we are using floating div tags. So, by adding in this line, we are telling the browser to draw those floating div tags so that anything after that point will be drawn below them.

And that's all you really need for a basic page. To see how it looks you can check out the example I created. You'll notice that I used some odd colors for backgrounds in my code. That's so that you can see the different areas in the example. The html I used for the example is the same as shown except I just put in the words Header, Sidebar and Content instead of "(Put Header HTML Here)" and I added a table to the sidebar and content just to give it some length to mimic what it would look like with real content. I also link back to this article. Other than that, it's the same HTML in this example.

For those thinking about making the switch from using tables to layout the webpage to using a css file to layout the webpage, I think you'll find it to be a much more organized and easy way of going about things once you get used to it. Certainly, the webpages you will work with will be a lot cleaner without a bunch of table code everywhere.

Now, remember, I am pretty new to all this myself having just learned to layout a webpage through the css file a few days ago. If you have any tips, or if you spot any mistakes or odd ways of doing something, then leave a comment.

Seriously, the web page looked like an eight year old did it.

But, not to be daunted, I set out to design a newer, better, cooler, nicer web page. I figured that I would take the Waterboy approach: visualize and attack. So I got a clear image of what I wanted and set to work for another couple of hours.

And I am proud to say it now looks like a nine year old designed it. I think I dinged.

Now, I am not talking about mad HTML skills here. If HTML were an MMO, I'd be at least level 12. I can string together some table tags, even do some column spanning, and when I wanna throw some zing into it I can even use a div tag. Yep, I'm at that stage just beyond newbie with HTML. I'm not ready for any decent content yet, of course, but I'm not the guy that gets happy when you give me your old rusty longsword.

And if PHP were an MMO I'd be about level 49, but I'd be one of those high level players that has crap equipment. I can't say I really know much about PHP even though I programmed the blog software that's spitting this stuff out. But, programming is programming, and if you are good at it then one language is pretty similar to the other languages. If I wanna do something I usually have to hit google and search for the right syntax to do it in php, but I know how to do it and that's the difficult part. Slowly, I'll get some decent equipment and be able to participate in some PHP raids.

But, if we are just talking about the web, as in designing something and chunking it out there, then I'm a total newb. Well, maybe not a total newb. I know a little bit about trying to optimize for search engines, throwing advertisements somewhere on the page in hopes of paying off a year's worth of hosting within the next twenty-years (which is my best-guess estimate of how long it will take to pay of that first year's hosting bill).

So, I guess you could say that I'm a level 4 newb, but it's my third character and I've also got a level 7 and a level 9 toon. I'm one of those guys that couldn't decide on their class right away.

Oh, but this site doesn't look too bad, does it? I mean, it ain't knocking your socks off, but it's not designed in crayons. And there's a good reason for that. My wife did it. At least, she did the basic design, and then I rip her off anytime I want to play around with a new site. (Such as my cowboys blog.)

Wow, mad skillz with the shameless plug, huh? I think I just had a mini-ding. Only nine more bars to level 5! Eat that!

One thing I have learned is not to ignore the prospect database. It is easy to get caught up doing queries to find good players at different positions, but you want to start out recruiting by pulling up the prospect database and looking through it. Otherwise you might overlook a highly rated wide receiver that is interested in your team simply because you weren't looking at wide receivers that year.

Recruiting is a little different for bad teams. When you have a good team you generally have good ratings on most of the recruiting points, so the trick is to find out what the recruits are interested in and give them a call each week to keep them happy. For bad teams, its hard to find players that match up on the few things you are good at, so you have to try to sway them.

Your goal is to leave them smiling after you talk to them, and to call them as often as possible. As a good team, I try to call almost all the prospects each week. In the beginning of the year, I will find pitch on a few topics and move on. As I get to know the recruits, I will start trying to sway pitch on anything that is low, average or above average, but I will make sure not to spend too much time with any one recruit.

As a bad team, I concentrate more on the top twenty. Since a bad team needs to use sway pitch more often, it will take them more time with each recruit. But I don't totally ignore those players in the last fifteen slots. I want them marginally happy so that I can turn on the charm during the off-season recruiting. So, every few weeks I recruit my top ten and then start with number twenty-one and try to talk to all the prospects from twenty-one to thirty-five.

Remember, sway pitch can backfire and make the prospect like that area a little less instead of a little more. So, when a prospect is at a high rating, I only use sway pitch when I am still not in the top three late in the season, or when I've already signed a player at that position and I am ready to gamble a little in signing another player. It's mostly useful in trying to take one of the low ratings up to above average or high over the course of the season.

The campus visit can be important to garnering interest. Players will like to visit on big games more than regular games, but most importantly, they want to see you win. If you are desperate to get a player, make sure they visit when you know you are going to win. It's also helpful to do well with that position when they are visiting. If a quarterback is in town, try to throw for huge yardage. If a running back is in town, get your running back a hundred yard game.

Where the recruit is at on your list is also very important. The better rating you have as a team, the more you can let good players float towards the back of your list. As a five star team, a four star player might remain happy in slot twenty, but if you are a three star team that same player would be pretty pissed off that he isn't at the top of your list. So, if you have a bad team that you are trying to guide to dominance, keep the four-star players in the top ten or top fifteen, and concentrate on three-star players at the back of your roster. And if you are a one or two star team you might even load up a few two star players in the last few slots.

When you get to the off-season you are able to add promises to the mix. Probably the most handy promise is that you will have a winning record against rivals the first year. If you have some cupcake rivals, this can be a great tool to get your integrity up and unlock additional promises. When you know you can beat your rivals without any difficulty, try to promise this to every recruit until you have unlocked all your promises. That way, when you really, really need a player you can promise them the moon.

You can also use promises to get on a recruits good side before you start trying to find what they are interested in. If they start out not so warm and fuzzy towards you, then promise them you will beat your rivals to make them happy, find what they are interested in, and then you can make the decision whether to promise them something else.

These are just the basics for recruiting. There's a lot I am still trying to learn about the game, such as when the best time is to offer a scholarship. Currently, I wait until I am the number one team, or in the top three if it is later in the season. Can offering a scholarship boost how much the player likes your team? I'm not sure. I haven't seen anyone swayed a lot because of this (even though I've tried it on people not as interested). Could it keep someone from signing with a different team? Another good question. Sometimes, it is enough to keep them around until the off-season when an in-home visit might do the trick in getting them to come to your team, but I am not sure if it has any effect on keeping them from signing with someone else.

If anyone has any good tips for recruiting, leave a comment! I've only gone over the basics here, so if you have learned something that works well then speak up!

And the new recruiting is great. You have a lot more control over what guys you are recruiting as opposed to the last few years where you could pick your in-season recruiting prospects, but had to rely on luck for who was interested in the off-season.

I do admit a love-hate relationship with the supermen playing cornerback. (Or, really, anyone back there in coverage -- they all turn into supermen when they go to cover someone.) They are completely and utterly too good. No one can jump that high, no one predicts a curl route almost every time, etc. But, they are also the reason why the game is more of a challenge, so as much as I don't like the unrealism of it, I like not being able to just chunk the ball around without a care in the world.

In this year's version, it's important to pick the right receiver to pass the ball to. If they are covered too well then it's going to be too risky to throw it.

Here are a few tips I've learned on how to get the passing game going:

1. Figure out if it is man or zone coverage. There's nothing that will help your passing game out more than figuring out how the defense is going to cover your receivers. The first thing you should notice is the defense's preference. Some teams will cover more man-to-man and others will use zone more often. They will still mix it up some, but its important to figure out where their preference is so you can call plays that work better against that coverage.

One way to figure out if it is zone or man to man is through the formation. If you have two receivers on one side and none on the other, and the defense puts a cornerback on the side with no receiver you know they are in zone Another way to tell is to motion your receiver. If the cornerback follows, its man to man, if he stays, its zone.

Some people say it is best to run against zone and pass against man to man. This isn't true! You just need to learn which routes work well against which coverage. In fact, I hate running against a team that plays a lot of zone coverage because I love running the option out of sets where both receivers are to one side of the line. Then I run to the other side and can get some big gains. But that doesn't work as well if they are always in zone!

2. "In" routes. The In route is the route where the wide receiver goes up the field and then turns in toward the quarterback and runs straight across the field. These are great routes, especially against man coverage. They won't be intercepted as much because when you throw the ball it doesn't have to cross the cornerback to get to the receiver like it would on an out route. They also work well in zone coverage, especially if the defense is blitzing a linebacker. Just let the receiver reach the hole created by the linebacker blitzing and then pass it -- and try not to get sacked.

And don't just look for these routes, create them! The ability to call hot routes is your friend. Find a play that has some routes you like on one side and hot route an in route on the other side. That way, if you can't find your open receiver, you can check down to the guy running across the field.

3. "Blue" routes. These are block-and-release routes, and they can be great, but they can also backfire if your receiver gets caught up blocking and doesn't release as quickly. These routes are especially effective when running a play action fake. Find a play where the tight end is running a blue route that is either a quick out or runs straight to the sideline. He'll often be wide open.

4. "Out" routes. These are good routes against man to man coverage, but can easily be picked off if the defense is in zone. Always have a backup route or be ready to run for it. The first thing you do is verify they are in man coverage (watch the safety and if he pulls toward the sideline too much they are probably in zone). Next, throw the ball right before or right as the wide receiver releases toward the sideline. If you throw it too late, the corner back might jump the route.

5. "Sideline" routes. These are routes where the receiver runs straight to the sideline. Are they playing you with too much zone coverage? Find a play where a receiver runs a curl route from five to ten yards deep and another receiver runs a sideline route to the same side. The cornerback will cover the curl route and leave your sideline route wide open. And, if you are lucky, the receiver running the curl will block the cornerback and let you make a nice gain.

6. WR Screen plays. I threw a few of these right away because they were so money in 2007, but a few getting picked off for touchdowns made me stop calling them until recently. They are great against zone coverage, but the trick is to never, ever, ever throw them against man. If they get picked off the cornerback will take it for six points. Last year, I threw them blind, this year I always check the receiver and make sure he is open. (Or, more accurately, I check the cornerback and make sure he isn't near the receiver.)

One good trick for these plays is to set up an audible for one of them. Then, any time you run a formation that has multiple receivers on one side and no receivers on the other side and the cornerback still stays on the side with no receivers, you can audible to the wr screen and know it'll almost always be open. This is very good for use in combination with an option play. That way, if they play you man to man, you have an option going to the side of the field with no cornerback waiting there, an dif they play you zone, you switch to the wr screen.

7. Comeback routes. These can be good, especially against man coverage. The problem with a curl route is the cornerbacks will jump the route too much. The comeback lets you see if they have jumped it, and you know the receiver will actually come back to the ball (since on the curl they usually just stand there and wait for it).

8. Getting it deep. Sometimes, you need yards. One way to get it deep is with a post route. This is when the receiver goes up the field then angles toward the inside. These can be very good against the cover 2 zone, especially when one of your other receivers is going deep which will draw off the safety. (Best when that receiver is on the same side of the field as the one doing the post route.) Always have a second route to go to if the post isn't open -- it's tough to tell if the defense is in cover 2 or cover 3 before the ball is snapped, and you don't want to throw this into cover 3.

The corner route can also open up. This is when the receiver runs up and then angles towards the sideline. Sometimes, the receiver will get wide open on this play, but it is another one where you really want to have a second route to check down to if it isn't open.

One very good combination is when three receivers are going deep and each are hitting a different area of the field. If you can find a play where one receiver does a post, and the others do corner routes to either side, then you will see one of them pop wide open if the defense is in cover 2. What this combination does is force the safety to choose to cover one of those two receivers leaving the other open.

* * *

There are other little tricks for getting the passing game open, like looking for receivers in the middle of the field when going against cover two. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that tight ends can be very effective in this year's version. I've often ignored the tight end in the past, but they are some of my best receivers now. They are great with play action pass and with sideline routes.

If you have a good tip, leave a comment.

And, remember, hot routes are your friend.

I might be in the minority here, but I think the suspensions handed out to Pacman Jones and Chris Henry are wrong. There is a definite problem in the NFL concerning player off-the-field behavior, and I applaud the commissioner, Roger Goodell, for taking the steps to correct the problem but this was, quite simply, the wrong thing to do. It was a knee-jerk reaction to make an example out of people and it was not fair to Jones or Henry, nor was it fair to the Titans or the Bengals.

I think of it the same way I would think of my city changing a street from a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour down to 30 miles per hour then going back an issuing tickets to people driving 38 miles per hour six months before the change.

I am all for having stricter guidelines to monitor off-the-field behavior by players and cracking down on those players that are continuously in trouble with the police. What I am opposed to are making examples of players, and I am completely opposed to making examples of players whose actions fell before the decision to impose stricter guidelines.

Examples like this are bad for one simple reason: They aren't fair. Essentially, the player is being punished because the NFL did not step in and take charge of this issue last year, or the year before, and it shouldn't fall on Jones and Henry to bear the burden of the NFL's mistake.

In essence, this is the worst form of cover-your-ass, because it effects real people in a very bad way.

I remember when SMU's football program was used to 'make an example'. They received the 'death penalty' for recruiting violations -- the 'death penalty' being a cancellation of the '87 season, a limited seven-game season in '88, and a loss of 55 scholarships over four years among other penalties. In 1982 SMU ended the season as the only undefeated team and a #2 ranking in the polls. Since 1987, SMU has only had one winning season. And this was for doing the same things that many other schools in the NCAA were doing. It may have served as a wakeup call for the rest of the NCAA, but it was an injustice to the SMU football team.

And these suspensions may serve as a wake-up call to NFL players, but they are still an injustice to Jones and Henry whose transgressions happened before these strict guidelines were put in place but now have to live with the punishment.

The fact is that if the new guidelines are right -- if they are sufficient enough to stem the growing problem with off-the-field transgressions by NFL players -- they would work without any examples needing to be made. They might take a little longer to work, but they would work. And the injustice done to these players is simply too high a price to pay to rush the process along.

Take Pacman Jones as an example. Here is a kid who is just now starting to realize that he has to change his lifestyle -- specifically the people he is hanging out. That is the only real way to fix this type of issue -- to stop hanging out with people that get into trouble and start hanging out with people that do not get in trouble. And yet, because the NFL wants to make an 'example' of him he will find himself without the people in his life that do not get into trouble -- his fellow teammates -- and surrounded by the people that do get into trouble -- his friends.

Is it fair to put him into a situation where he will find the difficulty of getting his life set on the right path multiplied many times over simply because the NFL let the situation get out of hand?

I know many people might find it difficult to have compassion for someone that has been involved with the police ten times since entering the league, but let us remember that he has not been convicted of anything. He may very well be facing charges for the Las Vegas incident soon -- and at that time he would come under the scrutiny of the new guidelines. But, even then, he shouldn't be made an 'example' -- the guidelines should simply be enforced as if he were any other player and as if those guidelines had always been in place. Again, if the guidelines are enough to stem the growing problem then they will work, and if they are not enough to stem the problem they should be changed.

This is not to defend the actions of Jones or Henry. They have created their own path, and that path has taken them down this road. No matter their personal circumstances, they have been given the opportunity to walk the good path and they have chosen to falter. It is important to remember that there are other NFL players such as Vince Young, quarterback of the Titans, and Darren Woodson, former all-pro safety with the Dallas Cowboys, who grew in less-than-ideal circumstances, who were involved with people taking them down a bad path, and who chose to stop, turn around, and walk the good path. For a player in the NFL, circumstance is an excuse, not a reason. They have the opportunity to change their lives -- an opportunity that not every kid born to bad circumstances gets.

But the fact remains that they still do not deserve an injustice visited upon them. If these new, stricter guidelines are being put into place now then they need to be put into place NOW, not a month ago, not three months ago, not a year ago. If the commissioner is not going to go back and suspend someone that got into a lot of trouble six years ago then he should not go back and suspend someone who got into trouble yesterday.