Josh Dura - Weblog, Flash, Photography

How Not to Implement Video

Well… Welcome back to me (for the 2 readers I still have)? Sorry I haven’t written a lot lately, but I just haven’t been motivated enough by anything to write. Things are going to be changing around here. I might not update as often, but I am going to write whats on my mind, whether it be Flash/Web related or not.

Video & Erectile Disfunction

Now, onto the meat of the story. Video. I am not going to proclaim myself to be some video expert, but I know one thing. Autoplay is bad, especially on the front page of your site. Not only autoplay, but autoplaying advertisements. When the first audio I hear from your site is…

Believe it or not, erectile disfunction affects a lot of guys…

... you are doing something wrong. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t most video online on demand? It plays when you CHOOSE it to play. Not when THEY choose it to play. Sure, YouTube autoplays, but you know going in, that they are an all video site, and you also know that there aren’t any ads about ED in their videos (yet).

Of course, I don’t really expect any better from ESPN. They don’t exactly have the best track record. Tricking users into clicking on content you have to pay to see. Making a ton of your content “Insider Only”. Fucking up Fantasy Drafts. I could go on (seriously, I was just finding a way to vent my Fantasy Draft frustration)...

A Solution?

Yes, it’s simple, don’t autoplay. And if you do autoplay, make sure there is a cookied option to disable it. I understand that you think you are making the next big wave into advertisement here, but at least disable sound? Most other video advertisements do.

Wheeee! Ok, sorry, way too funny to not post this. # [3]

NCAA Basketball Tourney Time

Well, it’s that time of year again. March Madness. Time to make your picks for the tourney, and show how much we really do suck at sports :) Last year we had about 15-20 people sign up, but only about 10 of them actually filled out their bracket. Lets get a couple more people this year.

The Rules

Rules are simple. Just pick all the teams you think will win. Whether it be your alma mater, or just a blind group of picks, anything works. Remember though, it’s pretty rare that 2 #1 seeds make it to the final game.

The Signup

Go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men . You want to join Group #66748. The password is bl0gg3rs. If you want to just reply in the comments, I will use the system to send you an email to join the group.

Group: 66748
Password: bl0gg3rs

Best of luck.

Flash Forward.... Austin!

  • 10 March 06
  • Conferences
  • Comment [3]

Flash Forward has announced that their next event will be in Austin. Friggin AWESOME! Although, this does suck, because I enjoyed going to NY around that time every year, but I am sure Austin will more than make up for it. This is only 3 hours from me, so you can definitely count on me being there. They have already opened the call for speakers, so head on over and throw your name in the hat.

John Nicholas starts blogging My good friend John Nicholas has started blogging. He's got some great content up, so be sure to not miss this one.
Dave Werner's Portfolio I really don't have any words for this... Best portfolio ever comes to mind. # [5]
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Red5 Server v0.3 Released This project is coming along quite nicely. Congrats to the Red5 team. # [1]
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Blingo Search So yeah, I think I am pretty late on this, but Blingo is pretty cool. Basically you can get prizes for just searching. Links to a referred signup, FYI :) # [2]
Great Free Icons famfamfam.com offers up some great free icons. The Silk set has over 700 icons alone! # [1]
Yahoo! acquires del.icio.us Wonder is there is any planned implementation with Flickr, etc...

World of Warcraft... WoW indeed

  • 30 November 05
  • Games
  • Comment [16]

Updates on this blog have been quite sparce. This can mostly be attributed to the fact that Blizzard has created the most addicting game to ever be released, World of Warcraft. I started playing WoW about 2-3 months ago, when I decided I would try out the game millions of others were raving about. I figured with the 1 free month you get with the game, I would be able to tell whether or not it was truely worth the $15 monthly fee. As I have stated before (see, Guild Wars), I was never a fan of monthly fee’s for games. I figured there would never be a game possible of deserving a monthly fee. Damn… I was so very wrong.

Comradery

World of Warcraft brings a new meaning to the word addiction. I can’t say I have ever been more addicted to anything in my life. This game has even forced me to pretty much halt any poker addiction I currently have/had. I am currently a level 53 Orc Hunter (7 more to go!), a level 23 Undead Mage, and a level 12 Troll Priest on the Burning Legion server. I am a member of The Vague, a small 30-40 person guild. None of us are truely addicts in the WoW sense (50+ hours a week, etc), but we all get along quite well in the game. Most of our members are developers/designers in the Dallas area, with a few implants from the San Fran area (Danny, Mike, Christian, etc). If you are ever in need of finding a quick pickup group to quest with though, there is always someone doing the exact quest you are, making it VERY easy to level.

Economy

The one thing that amazes me in this game is the economy. You could literally sit at the Auction House all day, and make gold like a mad man, and still have a damn good time. Or, you could farm Copper, Silver, Mithril, etc through mining, and sell that at the Auction House, or craft it into Armor/Weapons to sell as well. There is also a skill for fishing, where you can create Savory Deviate Delights that transform you into a random character (Pirate, Blob, Skeleton, etc) for 30 minutes. These sell for quite a hefty price on the Auction House, but why? Because they are cool, and for no other reason. I can’t count the amount of high armor items I have that won’t sell on the Auction House, yet if I have Abel create me a Leather Ball that you can simply throw to friends, it will sell in no time flat.

PvP

Hmmmm. How do I word this. PvP is both the bain of my existance, yet the thrill of a lifetime. There is something about constantly fearing for your life while doing simple quests in a contested area. Yet, having a 12 year old level 60 Rogue decked out in epics corpse camp your level 25 body, can be quite frustrating. I still don’t understand why Blizzard can’t implement a system that disallows the same character from killing an opponent for 15 seconds or so, after they have killed you 3 times consecutively, but oh well. I think I am one of the few people that thinks Battlegrounds are a perfect answer. Most people have said that Battlegrounds have ruined world PvP. While that might be true, there seems to still be plenty of raids in Orgrimmar, etc.

No end in sight

I see no end in sight for my love of this game. There is just way too much to still be explored. Hell, I still have 5 other classes to get to 60 :) So, in closing, if you have noticed the lack of updates, you know why. If you are on Burning Legion, or want to get in touch with me in WoW, send a tell to Aeigelus on the Horde side, or just comment here. We are always looking for more developers, designers, or just plain addicts. Either way, if you play, comment with your server/in game name.

Developers Top 10 Replies When Code Doesn't Work I have said almost every single one of these. Hilarious. # [2]
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Announced Includes increase of level cap to 70, new Blood Elve race (finally a good looking Horde race), and much more. FYI: I am Aeigelus on the Burning Legion server if anyone still plays. # [1]

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