Have you seen Treenara's new look?

On the left the old Treenara - On the right the new Treenara

I've been playing the same character, Treenara Mazouk, since October of 2004. What you might not know this, but Tree (that's what my corp mates call her) was not my first character. My first character saw the day in August of 2004, her name was Saoundra Meezo, she was Amarr. I've always had a preference for the Amarr, both in their dramatic character looks and in their ship designs. But shortly after starting off in New Eden, some buddies of mine created Gallente characters. Since I wanted to play with them and did not want to travel all the way to Gallente space, I simply "rolled" a new character, and Treenara was born.

Fast forward 6 years and though my friends no longer roam New Eden, Treenara is still my faithful companion and will shortly hit the 60 million skill points! Suffice to say her "looks" have become something very familiar to me. And so earlier this week, I decided to give her a little makeover and took advantage of CCP's Character Portrait Swapping. After creating a new character of the same gender, race and bloodline, I proceeded to do the swap for a mere $10 fee.

Though I was all excited about the change, even after a few days, the old portraits still have yet to change. And I know all about deleting the portrait folder and all that. The forum avatar still shows the old portrait, and even the API feed used by EVEMon still has the old Treenara.

I'm hoping that I won't have to wait much longer for the switch to occur. I just don't see myself waiting until Incarna for Treenara's look to get refreshed! Where are those Icelandic Trolls when you need them! Where's my $10 value?

TRON LEGACY - Official Trailer #2

Very few movies had as much impact in nurturing my inner Geek as much as Wargames and TRON. As I explained to a friend earlier today, back in the early 80s I had very friends to share my passion for TRON. Personal computers and the networks that were about to connect them all were not things pre-teens were known to discuss, much less take pride in having an interest in.

Fast forward 30 years, and the situation has flipped completely; a 180 in the perception of Geeks! This coming December, there will be one such Geek enjoying the benefits of this cultural shift!

I can barely control my glee!

Rettic - When Art, Design and Talent come Together

Last Friday night, I got an early birthday gift, or a late Christmas gift, however you want to see it! The much talented @Rettic, of Rettic's Log: The Chronofile, was kind enough to provide his services to me free of charge as a token of appreciation for all my efforts in promoting and helping foster the right environment for the EVE Blogging Community.

This post's header as you can see was the result, and now sits atop as my blog's main header! If you're curious to see the full image, head over to my Flickr account right here! Beautiful work isn't it!

By profession, Rettic is a Senior Interactive Designer, and I'm sure that if he is as talented for Interactive Design as he is for Graphic Design, then whom ever he works for is one lucky employer!

If you're interested in have some work done by my good friend, then know that his standard fees will run you about 100-200 million ISKs for a logo/banner/forum signature, and that he also offer his services for EON ads, software skinning, etc. Contact him in any case to get a quote from him!

Thanks again sir, for some amazing work!

Iron Man 2 - The Latest Trailer

Not too many movies into the "cool techno geek" group, but Iron Man, and most likely its sequel do. Judging from the following trailer - the 2nd one - Iron Man 2 looks very promising! I for one, look forward to it!

For that matter TRON has that same effect on me! Looking forward to that trailer being released. Which I know should be soon; as in by the end of the week!

The Top Ten Commandments of the Capsuleer Parent

Every EVE Online player who became a parent during his capusleer career, knows how difficult it can sometimes be to juggle a professional career, a marriage and children, while giving in to the calling of New Eden. But with time, through sheer effort and good planning, it can be done. I know, I've struggled myself to manage to do all of the above, but I'm still here, playing the game, blogging about it and having a great time doing it, despite the occasional trolls!

How do I do it? Well over time I've come up with a few basic rules that seem to work for me. And so I wanted to share them with you, and see what you yourselves can come up with!

1. Thou shall put real-life first. Always!
2. Thy children shall always come before the pod
3. Nighttime shall become my best friend
4. Thou shall master the art of flying a ship while changing a diaper
5. A game schedule thou shall agree upon with thy better-half
6. Thou shall learn the EVE Bushido of the Parent Warrior
7. EVEMon shall be installed on every PC I can come in contact with
8. Thou shall know all the ins and outs of of the EVE Skill Planner
9. ...
10. ...

I didn't want to finish the list, not because I ran out of steam or ideas, but simply because I want you to add the last two! Come on!