Just another thread...

my top bookmark Links go like this...

Yahoo!/ Google / QT3!~ / CGO / AV / RPGDot / GG / Game Faq's / EBWOrld / IMDB / The Onion / OMM / LtM

then i have folders for RPG's / Gaming / Gamesite / Netlinks

yeah im special.

etc

Bookmark Wizard is a neat freeware gadget that creates a simple HTML page from your bookmarks, either one of your entire Favorites/Bookmarks collection or just from a particular folder of bookmarks.

It's kinda neat, so thought I'd pass that along. :)

I'm so bad about bookmarking. I tend to just type in the site I want to go to. I do have a bunch though and I wanted to try this Wizard which was pretty cool. So here they are...

Dave's Links

Enjoy!

--Dave

Daily visits (in this order):

www.pvponline.com
www.reallifecomics.com
www.penny-arcade.com (mon, wed, fri)
www.bluesnews.com
www.voodooextreme.com
www.quartertothree.com
www.anandtech.com

Others I may visit from time to time:
www.hardocp.com
www.somethingawful.com
www.cdmag.com
www.washingtoncapitals.com
www.espn.com
www.gamecopyworld.com

Anything interesting linked from the rest of these pages.

I have a ton of bookmarks but they are mostly things I need to remember short term like a review for a specific piece of hardware. I have a ton but nothing terribly interesting.

Really, if you visit Blues and the news portal sites, you probably won't miss any articles up anywhere, although for some reason Blues and VE don't like to link to Tom's Shoot Club. Beats me why. Surely that's more interesting than some review at a site no one's ever heard of.

We have trouble getting the portal sites to link to our 60 Second pieces too. I guess they're too short.

You should give GameSpyDaily a try. They're doing a pretty good job there as a news portal.

I use www.backflip.com to keep track of all of my bookmarks, mostly because I have a LOT of them, and it lets you write descriptions for them and search them. Best of all, it's free... =)

Blue's and VE have some funky ideas about what's "news". They also have a problem linking to sites that also do "news". That might be part of your problem Mark.

I did reviews at Evil Avatar and rarely got links because the site also did news. Of course there's a long standing feud between the three it seems.

--Dave

"I did reviews at Evil Avatar and rarely got links because the site also did news. Of course there's a long standing feud between the three it seems."

I'm not saying I'm _not_ a jackass too, but Evil Avatar and Apache have some serious issues. Some people take this web stuff a little too seriously.

Unlike EA, at least I have a sense of humor.

Blue's will link to most original content, BTW. Which is awfully nice of them, considering what a large portal they are. We get lots of traffic from there.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Working with Evil Avatar on a daily basis (I do news there and help out graphically once in a while), I can tell you that he doesn't take it too seriously. He just has certain views he feels strongly about...

I actually enjoy reading Evil Avatar now. I like how he has personal comments sprinkled liberally throughout the news.

I did get tired of VE's "yo ass is mine" Billy but the content seems to have improved since Robert Howarth started posting the news. I notice Voodoo Extreme uses forced popup windows now for advertising. I wonder how they are going financially ?

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Working with Evil Avatar on a daily basis (I do news there and help out graphically once in a while), I can tell you that he doesn't take it too seriously. He just has certain views he feels strongly about...

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I have to say Dave is right on target and this is from my experience dealing with him.

"I did reviews at Evil Avatar and rarely got links because the site also did news. Of course there's a long standing feud between the three it seems."

Stomped and Blue's don't like Evil Avatar. Why, I don't really know. It may have to do with some kind of Quake 3 chicanery Evil pulled, but it's all fuzzy in my mind now.

I think Evil got off on the wrong foot in part because he didn't know what kind of site he wanted it to be. It started out as a rumor site, but he didn't get enough juice to keep that going. He seems to want to rant sometimes and play it straight at other times, so the site's identity is a bit confusing.

And frankly, sometimes he seems to rant just to stir up shit. It's ok to be the bad boy, but he needs to pick his moments a bit better. It was pretty unforgiveable of him to blast Pumpkinhead Studios the way he did.

I dig the look of his site, though. The fonts, the white space, the crisp lines -- it's very appealing.

"I notice Voodoo Extreme uses forced popup windows now for advertising. I wonder how they are going financially ?"

They have to be operating at a loss, just like everyone else. UGO can't be paying them on a consistent basis, and since their traffic is high, they probably have several thousand dollars a month in bandwidth costs.

The ownership of VE is a mystery to me also. Billy sold it to the Gamefan people, but then when that collapsed he somehow got the site back. I don't know if he owns it now or someone else does or what? I suspect someone else does, someone that's floating it. Wilson is well-heeled, from what I gather, so maybe he's running it off his own dime. His uncle (or wife's uncle) is the President of the Utah Jazz.

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Wilson is well-heeled, from what I gather, so maybe he's running it off his own dime. His uncle (or wife's uncle) is the President of the Utah Jazz.

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"You learn something new every day. :) "

But only if you read Quarter to Three! Don't forget that important part. :)

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But only if you read Quarter to Three! Don't forget that important part. :)

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On Wilson, him being in Utah might explain the painful "humor" of the site. If my reference material was neighbors who considered *caffeine* a sin, I might have trouble telling funny from unfunny, too.

About EA... well, I've been working with him for about a year and a half now (on various projects), and I've got no problem with him. He's always been a nice guy to me.

As for VE... the pimp-talk was interesting for a while... but now, it's just annoying. Gimme the news, or just shut up. And there's some sort of aura around Howarth that I don't understand... over at PC, he's always arguing the dumbest points.... There's just something about him.

A year and a half? You're kidding right? Maybe you were doing things for him outside of Evil Avatar the site, but there's no way you were helping him run Evil Avatar the site a year and a half ago. I only left there in March of 2000. You were never in any meetings we had about the site's direction, articles to be done, news to be posted, etc. I also was posting news and writing my daily column "The Final Word" there from about October to March. I never had any contact with you and I was heavily involved in the day to day affairs of evilavatar.com.

Now, if you were doing stuff with him at Xtreme Network, that's something else entirely. But don't make it sound like you've been working at EA since a year and a half ago. That's just plain wrong. Very few people realize that he goes by other aliases such as Tosev (and ran ClubSSI among others), Crypt Keeper, etc.

So what's your alias for posting there now?

--Dave

I didn't mean to make it seem like I've been working at EA for a year and a half. If you thought that, I apologize. I worked with him at XN.

I post as Vandal.

My bookmarks are:

Quarter to Three
E-bay (not that I use it much)
My credit union
Dilbert Zone
My Yahoo Page
Some work stuff.

I know, I only have one "gaming" site bookmarked, but this is the only one I visit often enough to justify it.
Other commonly visited sites:
www.gonegold.com
www.blizzard.com
www.thesims.com (They have some cool stuff, even thought I haven't played in about a year.)
www.movieflix.com (A must-see for broadband users.)

Hey, for once, I tried to bring a thread back on topic, rather than taking it off...

Sorry, it sure read like you were there a long time in your posts. You know where Planetcrap is so I assume you've seen the recent thread and "Weasel Avatar" from way back. Just be careful...if I can save one guy from the grief I and others endured (and continue to endure), it's worth every 1 and 0 sent to you from here.

--Dave

Dave- While I do respect your opinions (as well as those of others) about EA... I prefer to stick with my own. I haven't had any bad experiences with him, and until I do, I'll support the site as much as I can. I know that he was a bit of a pain until last year, but I think he's changed a fair bit... again, I haven't had any problems.

Where is this thread on Planetcrap ?

for the Weasel Avatar one, go into the archives... it's in June 2000 I think

http://www.planetcrap.com/stories/72/

I can personally vouch that EA really is like that. Which is why I am banned from EA forums. One too many criticisms of EA.

Philip is definitely an opinionated guy who tends to see things in strong black and white terms. The best recent example is that Duke Nukem 3D "foxed" thread. Though EA was clearly wrong (in the legal and factual sense), he just wouldn't give up. His opinion ruled.

I have some of the same argumentative tendencies myself, which is probably what attracted me to EA's site.

Unlike EA, though, I actually enjoy people coming in and disagreeing with me-- and, most importantly, I have a sense of humor. Also, if I'm going to put myself out in the public eye, I believe that I am subject to the same scrutiny and criticisms I would make of anyone else. EA clearly doesn't subscribe to that theory.. which makes him a bit of a hypocrite.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Steve Bauman Wrote In The Aforementioned PlanetCrap Thread:

"I kicked my Usenet habit after being harassed for months by the legendary Cleve Blakemore. He seems to think I'm a communist and posted volumes of interesting information about me (especially since, to the best of my knowledge, I've never had any contact with the man). It was truly surreal."

Hmm. Care to elaborate on this?

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Wow, this Cleve Blakemore thing is pretty interesting.

Cleve Blakemore FAQ:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/gdround/020/round020.html

Grimoire:
http://www.ans.com.au/~grimoire/grimoire.htm

Check out those state of the art graphics! Killer! I bet it's on Steve Bauman's short list of "games I most look forward to."

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Ah... the Cleve incidents. Cleve is a nutcase. Throwing people out of second story windows, holing up in Australia, Sir-Tech... GRIMOIRE! He is the future. We are just quivering jell-o next to him with his Ayn Rand in hand. :)

That quote at the end of the FAQ is classic Cleve...

"I'd say my s**t is standing tall and taking names. If you kicked my ass into the sky I would come down as sunshine, that's how good I am at what I do."

I almost wish he'd finish the game so he'd come back and start posting on USENET again. But then the world would end because Grimoire would be *gasp* done!

Google's got the search engine for Deja from 1995-present back up. You should be able to find a lot of Cleve postings in there now.

--Dave

Cleve can be one of the most entertaining and offensive writers, all in the same post. I'm sure I would have felt differently had I been the focus of his attacks, but some of his anti-Steve stuff was some really funny shit. None of it true, but funny nonetheless.

His rants about Sirtech are classic also. As are his tales about his superhuman prowess and titanium-like skeleton. Heh.

*wipes tear* The skeleton... I forgot all about that... LOL

--Dave

Ohmigod, I'm getting Cleve flashbacks...

What made me wince at times would be his praise of CGW in the midst of his Anti-Pinko-Commie-Bauman posts. I remember reading some posts, and going, "Fuck, I think it's worst to be revered by this guy rather be one of his targets."

I think it was mostly due to how Johnny did a preview of Grimoire once.

-Thierry

>I think it was mostly due to how Johnny did a preview of Grimoire once

I think old man Cleve is a fan of mine as well - I guess that means I've "arrived".

Seriously, I agree with Mark -- his posts are equally ludicrous and hilarious -- maybe I wouldn't express positive feelings if I was a target like Steve B, but his posts are so over the top they're entertaining in a Hunter S. Thompson kinda way.

All along I thought Cleve was Bauman's "Trevor". Steve, do you have any missing time to account for?

Add me to the list of people who is banned over at EA. I was going to post a link to the thread that did it but apparently Phil wiped the entire thread! It boiled down to me arguing my point repeatedly and him insulting me repeatedly until he decided to ban me. I never once insulted him, just used logic to back up my point. Dave and others who saw it can back me up on this.

What is classic is that Dave got banned by EA when I got banned and he didn't even post a single message in that thread!

Phil is a complete insecure person, it is sad. I kind of pity him for that. Kind of ...

-- Xaroc

Hee hee...here's some good Cleve insults... the Google search is reasonable for finding some gems...names withheld to protect the victims.

http://groups.google.com/groups?start=10&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=ae07805149f6285a,83&rnum=20&ic=1&selm=875440974.12842%40dejanews.com

> You seem to be hoping to draw people
> off into some kind of sideline debate. Doesn't work with me, dude.

Of course not, you're a moron. How in the hell are you going to post a counter-argument when the sum total of your experience and knowledge could be written on a postage stamp?

> The fact is, what you've said is that women are predisposed to
> conform within a social structure, to be passive sheep who serve no
> other purpose than to breed and produce more children (hopefully male

I actually did not say any of this ... being a completely incurable moron your mind is racing like a badly tuned clock into ideas and words that never even crossed my mind.

--Dave

This one's fairly recent...

http://groups.google.com/groups?start=40&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=741d6f9a4b37e963,67&rnum=50&ic=1&selm=9597g2%24bbj%241%40nnrp1.deja.com

The last paragraph is a hoot!

--Dave

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What were you thinking of trying to reproduce yourselves, anyway?
Children are for humans with a future and you have none. Please stop
carrying out these dry natural rituals with no significance to barnyard
property like yourself. "No sex please, we're British!" I don't think I
could even GET an erection for a British girl, the shriveled-up little
socialist slaves put me off that much. Liz Hurley makes me feel ill to
look at, a dried-up pencil-thin socialist photo op? Yuck, she is
disgusting like all British women. They're horrid lanky, stringy horses
(dole diets) with atypical bad British teeth. How about you go and have
a nice thick vanilla milkshake you friggin' commie hags.

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Allow me to quote keanu reaves here

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http://groups.google.com/groups?start=20&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=d50fe32fd330355c,163&rnum=30&ic=1&selm=6m7917%24gl3%241%40nnrp1.dejanews.com

I couldn't get the original post to come up, but I found a full quote of the baseball-sized musket balls one. I seem to remember calling him an ass in that thread.

>Some people take this web stuff a little too seriously.

That's true. On the other hand, I really *REALLY* wish some of these sites would take some of their jobs a little MORE seriously.

I mean, they'll rush up a news item that says "I saw over on The Register that so-and-so has delayed the shipment of this thingamajig until next year!" Why not call the damn company and ask them?

Even if you think the company is just giving you a line of bull, you can then write an article that says, "I saw over on The Register that so-and-so has delayed the shipment of this thingamajig until next year! We contacted so-and-so and they confirmed that the official release is still set for fall of this year, but that all releases are tentative and subject to change." At least when you bother to get a comment or something, your report has some legitimacy to it.

That used to drive me MAD when I spent half my day updating OGR's news page. I'd read all this news and we would ALWAYS call to check on them. One of the reasons we would get linked so much is because the other portal sites would run with a story and then have a link to us saying "oh, OGR contacted the company and it's all bullshit."

I honestly don't get it. It doesn't take long, it makes you more respected, and the companies LIKE answering fact-checking inquiries!

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I honestly don't get it. It doesn't take long, it makes you more respected, and the companies LIKE answering fact-checking inquiries!

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>That used to drive me MAD when I spent half my day updating OGR's news page

It was worth it. I don't think anyone has matched OGR's news yet, in terms of accuracy, timeliness and presentation.

Stefan

Yeah, OGR was just a gem. Man, I miss that magazine.

>Yeah, OGR was just a gem. Man, I miss that magazine

I meant the website -- the news coverage, in particular. Timely, thorough, accurate and conveniently presented.

"That's true. On the other hand, I really *REALLY* wish some of these sites would take some of their jobs a little MORE seriously."

Well, I did a poor job of expressing myself, as usual. What I mean is, for a lot of guys it becomes a cult of personality. It should be about the content first and foremost, not about turning the person who's running the site into a web celebrity.

I mean, the fact that it's a guy who goes by the nom de guerre of "Evil Avatar" and the site is called "Evil Avatar".. is really just icing on the cake. To a much lesser degree this is true of shacknews and other sites too, but as long as it's spontaneous and not carefully cultivated I don't have a problem.

On a similar note, I remember Steve Bauman complaining about this in game reviews, and he's right. If the entire point of what you're writing is to make you look clever rather than to communicate your thoughts on the game effectively, then you might want to rethink what you're doing. *cough*BruceGeryk*cough*.

It can work, though, for some people. It can even make money. For example the book "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius". This book drove me _NUTS_. It's 400 pages of the author being alternatively clever and cute. Occasionally a sort of goofy charm sneaks in. Too bad, because he's obviously a talented guy with interesting stories to tell-- single chapters are hilarious, but the book taken as a whole is just unbearable. It crosses the line. It isn't about his experiences, it's about showing off his clever writing style.

And that's a damn shame.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"Your bookmarks are..."

Growing fewer day by day, sadly.

My tour lately consists of this site, a sekrit club I belong to, Brunching Shuttlecocks, my futile and disappointing visit to OldMan Murray, Slate, The Onion... and it gets random from there. It does cover all remaining game sites though.

-Andrew

"Gowing fewer day by day, sadly."

1 billion channels and nothing good on. Ain't it the truth my brother!

Ah well, there's always good old http://www.goatse.cx I suppose. Clicking on that is a rite of passage; it's the Internet boy scout merit badge.

~wumpus

Oops, I meant the website. I don't think I ever saw the magazine.

Leave it to wump to post the first QT3 Goatse reference.

Wump, if you think THAT's bad, you haven't seen what I reserve for "special hate mail". Pray you never do. Imagine someone who looks very much like the OMM logo, then imagine it worse than you can possibly imagine.

So Bub... are you going to invite me back into the "s3kr1t Clu8" or not? I've been a good boy.