2012年7月31日 星期二

ECSA and LPT Certifications by the EC-Council - An Evaluation


EC-Council offers a wide range of information security courses. EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) and Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification program is one of the most advanced ethical hacking certification programs offered by the EC-Council. The EC-Council Certified Security Analyst training compliments the most basic Certified Ethical Hacker training program and is based on the analytical process of ethical hacking.

The major difference in the basic CEHv7 training and ECSA certification program is that CEHv7 certification is mainly to make the candidates learn about the tools and technologies used, whereas ECSA certification program focuses on analyzing what the outcomes of these tools are.

EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) and Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification and training program is of highly sensitive nature. It is important for IT professionals to get enrolled with the licensed training centers, known as ATC's (Accredited Training Center), to get authentic and reliable trainings from CEI's (Certified EC-Council Instructor).

The main purpose of the ECSA training and certification holders is to identify security risks to a network infrastructure or system and mitigate these risks so as to keep the data security intact. Attaining EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) and Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification ensures that you have achieved a high quality, renowned and well recognized IT certification that assists IT professionals to work on security architectures of several types, performing various job roles.

EC-Council Certified Security Analyst certification is one of the certifications that is approved by ANSI. It is an authoritative body that gives formal recognition to a body or a person and justifies their credibility to carry out specific tasks. Some other competing certifications are not licensed by ANSI and carry lesser value. One should always stick to the ANSI approved certifications like the ECSA certification.

Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) training contains advanced course content, covering most advanced penetration and security based intense assignments and best practices. One must obtain ECSA exam before enrolling for Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification.

The content for both ECSA and LPT certification curriculum are developed and designed by top notch learned people of the industry. Several modules and topics are taught that includes basics such as need for security analysis and War Dialing, advanced wireless testing, Advanced Sniffing techniques, log and snort analysis and advanced exploits and tools. The penetration testing includes pre-penetration testing checklists, database, log management, VoIP, VPN, broadband, Bluetooth/hand held and physical security penetration testing.

ECSA and LPT certifications are not only extensive but reliable. In recent times, it has emerged as one of the elite certifications in the information security field, hitting the popularity levels that CEHv7 certification already has. With the increase global hacker attacks the demand of ECSA and Licensed Penetration Tester certification holders are sure to rise.




Mercury Solutions Limited offers the best ECSA and LPT training & certification program. We provide industry recognized CEHv7 training bootcamp course and other elite courses as well. Also, provide instructor-led live virtual IT trainings and various other IT training bootcamps through well researched and focused training sessions.





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A Fond Farewell


Good morning, thank you for coming to Bernie Goldfarb's funeral. I am your host, Bernie Goldfarb.

And before all of you rush the dais to check the coffin, I am actually dead. That's me in there, all two hundred eighty pounds of me. You're not going to find a picture of me standing next to Elvis on the front page of the Enquirer, caught on line at the Tuscaloosa 7-11. Seriously, what kind of person fakes his own death only to be discovered buying an orange slurpee? If I was going to fake my own death, trust me, you'd never find me. I'd be vacuum-sucked and stapled to within an inch of my life. Sadly, I am not on the receiving end of a Hoover right now. I'm lying in that box, probably wearing some god-awful suit Sylvia picked out for me as her final revenge.

Still, since there are several lawyers in the audience, I realize you might need proof. So go ahead and check. I'll wait. I've got time.

[Pause for mourners to check the coffin.]

Satisfied? Good. How did I look? Bloated, I'm sure, but then again, is that any different from how I looked before? Let's not kid ourselves people, I was a tub. And it wasn't like John Goodman-fat, where the weight is in all the right places. No one voted me sexiest fat man alive. Hell, even if I wasn't fat I'd still be pretty ugly. Not that Syl was Miss America. She wasn't even Miss Fat Jewess Harpy America. Our relationship was based on mutual unattraction. Oh, Syl. I kid because I detest. But we'll get back to that in a moment.

I've asked my business partner Ira to read this, because I know that no matter what it says, he'll say it. Ira has no qualms about hurting people's feelings, and might be slightly sociopathic. When we represented that corporation accused of killing hundreds of people with laced aspirin (and by the way, contrary to what I said in open court, they did do it -- trust me, I shredded the documents myself), he didn't lose a night's sleep. Even when we cross-examined that six-year-old girl who testified that she watched her mother's skin peel off and her eyeballs pop out of her head. Ira grilled that kid to death. In fact, I think I saw him crack a smile during her testimony. Though that might have been gas.

And no matter what I say here, Ira, you have my deepest gratitude for reading my eulogy. Because frankly, I don't trust the rest of you jokers to deliver a proper memorial. Most of my family members are dumb as bricks -- I swear my grandparents must have been first cousins -- and those of you who are not dumb as bricks are smart enough to realize that I didn't like you. As for my friends, our friendship was mostly based on silent disrespect and implied animosity. You were just waiting for me to kick off, so you could pretend that you actually liked me. "Oh Bernie, what a terrific guy," you'd say to each other, knowing full well that I was terrific at nothing, except maybe making money and collecting Civil War memorabilia (which, according to my will, should be buried with me). But, after I'm dead, you get to be all pompous and self-serving, and I won't be around to call you out on it, nor would anyone else. Improper to speak ill of the dead, they'd say. That really burns my biscuits. Why should my legacy as a bastard be ruined by pointless etiquette?

So I've written my own eulogy to ensure that you don't memorialize me through empty and misleading cliches like, I hope he knew what meant to all of us. I knew exactly what I meant to all of you, which is how I ended up in this box.

And before any of you run for the door, or Ira throws this speech in the incinerator along with all the heathen corpses (atheists, Catholics, etc.), be warned. Anyone who does not sit through this eulogy will not receive a red penny of my estate, which you all know was relatively sizable, thanks to years of profiting off of other people's misery. Of course, you have no idea whether I actually left you anything. Judging from my miserly personality, you probably expect that I tried to take it with me. Frankly, the Egyptians had the right idea in that regard. I considered requiring that my secretary be buried along with me, just in case I need a cup of coffee or a foot rub on the way to hell. Of course, in thirty years she never got my coffee right, but I would so enjoy berating her for eternity. I also considered demolishing my home and turning it into a nuclear waste facility, just for kicks. So it is highly unlikely that any of you will walk out of here with anything. Actually, considering the rising costs of gasoline, in all likelihood today is actually a net loss for you. And I specifically chose a funeral home that does not validate parking.

But are you really willing to take that chance? What if I had a moment of generosity in the end, and left everything to my one-testicled nephew Leon? How about my mother's miniature unicorn collection that you've had your eyes on for the past twenty years, Millie? Maybe I decided to finally rid my family of that hideous legacy and pass it on to you. And Fred, you could definitely use my Hooters frequent customer reward points. If you leave now, you'll get zippo. Not even enough to get you a free basket of nachos and a lap dance. He who dies first laughs last.

In all honesty, though, most of you really have nothing to worry about today. Two of the major sources for my life's constant disappointments -- my parents -- died at a relatively young age in that terrible fertilizer explosion, which was a major disappointment in and of itself, seeing as I never got the opportunity to put them in a moderately sub-par nursing home. The quality of nursing homes should be based on the quality of the parenting. The Cleavers would be fed daily and taken for regular walks around a lush garden filled with roses and pomegranate petals. Hitler's parents would be strapped to crucifixes and subjected to repeating loops of Celine Dion's world tour. My parents would have fallen somewhere in the middle; they'd be fed daily, but never brand-name products, and they'd only get enough exercise to prevent their muscles from atrophying. Though the quality of their nursing home would have been a sliding scale. The longer they lived, the lower the standard of the home. If they had lived till 90, they probably would have ended up in one of the homes featured on 60 Minutes (which I considered more as advertisements than cautionary tales). That's not as cruel as it sounds, since by then they wouldn't have known the difference between a whirlpool and a bed pan. It wouldn't have come to that, though. Eating generic oatmeal would have killed my mother long before.

And I'm not going to waste my time listing all of the ways in which each of you has disappointed me through the years. We'd be here way too long for that -- I could spend four hours on my plumber alone -- and the room is only reserved until 11. I may be selfish, but I'm not a monster. Other people need to be buried today too, and as nice as the mortician may seem, he'd sell his mother down the river for another corpse. Business is business.

Besides, I don't even remember most of the little disappointments. One or two stick out in my memory, more for their anecdotal quality than for any particular impact they had on my life. Like when Syl's brother Curtis mispronounced my name as "Goldfart" during his wedding toast. "I'm sorry, it was just an accident," he said, with a slight chuckle. Sure, Curtis. So was the malfunctioning diaphragm that led to your existence. It's like I said during dinner last Thanksgiving -- Syl's whole side of the family should be sterilized. I'm no fan of the Nazis, but they were on to something with the eugenics idea. Maybe we could get a forced sterilization law passed in this country. Yet another reason to vote Republican.

Then when my daughter April got married -- her name another disappointment, but a necessary compromise to my harpy of a wife, who wanted to name her "Harmony" -- her brilliant ex-husband Mark actually did something intelligent, and persuaded her to sign a pre-nup, thereby forcing me to support her if she cheated on him, which, being her mother's daughter, she inevitably did. He probably took one look at Syl and figured whorishness might run in the family. Not that I really blame her for cheating on Mark. She was blessed with big tits and a small IQ. We had to special order her first brassiere from Sweden. When she was 15 she asked for a breast reduction, but I refused, being of the firm belief that IQ is inversely proportional to breast size. I liked having a stupid daughter with big breasts; it -- or more precisely, they -- provided me with a much-needed source of pride. They made up for my son's uncomfortably small penis, which was an extreme letdown, and I contend to this day, the number one reason for his violent felony record. Guys with big dicks just don't hold up Dairy Queens. Plus, I thought April would get me a discount to whatever strip club she worked at. Although I only would have gone on her nights off. I didn't want to see my daughter taking it off for a bunch of horny Asian businessmen. That's just gross.

But really, I didn't bring you all here to disparage you. Nothing I could say today would change the fact that my wife was a shrew, or that my son couldn't satisfy a fruit fly. The real reason I'm talking to you today is to answer the one question that is on all of your minds. The pink elephant in the room. Something you all wanted to know, but never dared to ask, probably because I would have sued you for slander if you had.

Why in the world was Bernie such an asshole?

I wish I had a complex psychological explanation for you, something stemming from an emotionally or physically abusive childhood, perhaps. Maybe my parents sold me into African slavery at a tender age -- a sort of reverse affirmative action for the politically correct age -- or maybe they gave my favorite teddy bear to a poor and undeserving homeless child. But despite their shitty death, my parents weren't all that bad. Sure, they weren't the sharpest tacks in the bunch, but stupidity is not a crime (not yet, anyway -- vote Republican!). In fact, I probably caused more psychological damage to them than vice versa. And contrary to the e-mail chain that went around the firm last summer, I am not the spawn of Satan. If I was, none of you would still be here, having each met a painful and terrible demise. I'm particularly partial to flaying myself.

No, there was nothing in my past that led to my esteemed position as town prick. Sure, I was a lawyer, but being a lawyer was an effect, not a cause. So why did associates vomit at the sight of my number on their caller ID? Why did I consistently tip 2% or less? Why did I repeatedly bring home dying puppies for my children? Well, here's the long-awaited answer.

Because I enjoyed it.

Yes, that's it, it's that simple. After all those years of psychoanalysis you've invested in to determine why I treated you the way I did, that is what it comes down to -- treating you like crap gave me the jollies. The Philadelphia psychiatric community owes me big time. I put half of their kids through college with the agony I caused. Not to mention the pharmaceutical industry. The year of my first divorce, sales of Prozac exceeded the GDP of Liberia. Now that I'm dead, any of you with stock in the pharmaceutical industry should sell. Those companies are in for a major hit. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Of course, there is still the question of why I enjoyed torturing you all. Since it wasn't environmental, it must have been genetic. There must be an asshole gene. And why shouldn't there be? There's a homosexual gene, at least according to those bleeding heart liberals. Why shouldn't there be an asshole gene too? There's an easy way to tell. Someone run out and get a vial of Dick Cheney's blood. I think W. wears one around his neck.

This could be a monumental discovery, too. If there is an asshole gene, that means assholes might be eradicated. Or at least banished. That's what I always said they should do with the homosexuals. Put all of them on some faraway island together, so they can screw each other in peace. It can be a nice island, I don't care, as long as they don't have oil, or any other precious resource. The United States doesn't negotiate with homosexuals.

No one ever bought into my homosexual exile idea -- more evidence for my theory that all of you are actually queers, with the exception of my small-dicked son, who couldn't make it as a gay -- but I have a feeling that my asshole exile idea would get more support. Think of it. A world without assholes. A world of polite people, politely giving up their seats for the elderly on the subway, politely over tipping, politely voting Democrat. Sounds like my own personal hell. I suppose I'll find that out soon enough.

Maybe it'll happen. Of course, if it does, the banished assholes would probably form an army and conquer the wusses who banished them in the first place, thereby mixing assholes and wusses and starting all over again. It will be one long, unending cycle of peace and violence, until someone presses the wrong button and the only assholes or wusses left are radioactive. Until that day though, at least you can comfort yourselves knowing that I'm in this box, and not roaming the streets looking for kittens to hang and liberals to punch. This is one less asshole you'll have to kick around.

So I was born an asshole, and I died an asshole. That's it. Don't look for deeper meaning, because there is none. There's no disintegrating sled in my fireplace.

If that was all I had to tell you, though, you'd be entitled to kick my coffin for making you come today. Nothing I've said so far was truly a surprise. I've just confirmed what you already suspected. And personally, I've enjoyed kicking you while I'm down. But I want to give you your money's worth. (Ira, you did collect admission from everyone, right? Make sure my grandmother paid her share. 108 year olds are notoriously shifty.)

So here comes the big finish.

Everyone here assumes I died of natural causes. Makes sense. As previously established, I was a tub. The only reason I never hired a prostitute is that I'd rather spend my money on food. Even the best fucks only last a few minutes, but a side of bacon can last a whole week. If Miss Piggy turned tricks, that would have been the best of both worlds.

But you're wrong about my so-called "natural" death. It wasn't my time to go, even if you all wished it was. In fact, I probably could have lasted several more decades, at least. It's amazing how many years one can survive purely on bitterness and recrimination (and a five pound sirloin daily).

Which brings me back to Syl. How are you doing, Syl? Enjoying the merry widow routine? You must look fabulous today. You're probably beaming. Not that I blame you. I'd be the same way if our roles were reversed. In fact, I'd probably be drunk, and not the depressed, my life is over kind of drunk. More like the celebrate good times, KC and the Sunshine Band, kind of drunk. You were never much of a drinker, though. You stuck to the pills; as you always said, pills are "much less messy, and don't leave any morning-after breath." You were such a sucker for appearances, which begs the question of your fashion sense. But I'm not going to get into that can of track pants. This is my eulogy, not yours.

And I suppose Leon is sitting next to you, consoling you as we speak. How's that one testicle, Leon? Leon lost the other one in a tragic boating accident when he was six. Tragic for him, hilarious for me. Though I think the impact on his life has been relatively minimal. I doubt most women notice. They're probably paying much more attention to his snaggle-tooth. Or his humongous nostrils. He is still far more attractive than his father, though, who met an untimely death at the receiving end of a pitchfork and an army of angry villagers.

Syl and Leon -- such a lovely pair. They rank up there with Adolph and Eva, Sid and Nancy, and Bill and Hillary as people I'd most like to meet pushing boulders up a hill in hell. Which will happen soon enough. Because, you see, they murdered me.

Oh, don't look so shocked. Is this really another surprise? Someone was bound to do it eventually. If it hadn't been them, it would have been someone else I pissed off in my daily rampage. I recently caught the paperboy shooting an unloaded BB gun at my car. My secretary bought herself an extra sharp letter opener for Christmas. And just last week I found the mail room staff constructing a crude mannequin out of UPS boxes with my face stapled to the head, which they promptly hung from a rafter on the ceiling. It's only a small step from effigy to actual corpse.

So really you should all be thanking Syl and Leon for taking the fall here, because another week and it might have been you. Still, murder is murder. However unfair it might seem, killing an asshole is still illegal. Unless Syl could prove that I beat her, but no one would believe that. I was way too fat and lazy, and she is too mean herself. A jury would never buy that Syl suffered from Battered Woman's Syndrome, unless that term referred to pancake batter.

And there's no need to deny it, guys. It's all caught on video, which my lawyer delivered directly to the authorities, and which is probably circulating around YouTube as we speak. About a month ago I overheard you talking about it in the living room and decided to install miniature cameras in every room of the house. Here's a tip: when you're planning to murder someone, don't plan it with them in the house. I was watching Rachel Ray at the time, so you probably thought I was too busy masturbating to overhear anything. You were wrong. Lucky for me, she had a guest host on that day. The Naked Chef. I had no interest in him, culinary or otherwise.

Of course, you're wondering why I didn't try to stop them. Well, first of all, I never thought Leon would have the ball to go through with it. All he had to do was buy the strychnine, but that seemed like too much of a responsibility for a person who always carries around an extra pair of underwear, just in case. And anyway, like I said, I figured one of you would kill me eventually, and poisoning seemed like the cleanest way to go. I sure as hell didn't want to be on the receiving end of that letter opener. If my secretary was as inept at killing people at she was at everything else, I would have been hacked more times than a sturgeon by the time she nicked a major artery.

Plus, I thought this situation held a certain poetic justice. I sure didn't want to go before Syl, but I knew that it was a strong possibility, given her iron-clad living will. I tried to build loopholes into it (do not resuscitate in case of brain damage, coma, or involuntary smothering), but she was too quick for that. This way, I might be gone, but Syl's on her way out as well. And her remaining days will be spent in some filthy lesbo lockdown. Of course, she probably won't be that popular. Lesbians have their standards too.

My only regret is that you didn't murder me in Texas. The average lag time between conviction and execution there is four days, and I hear the current governor is trying to get that reduced as well. Eventually he intends to turn the defendant's seat into an electric chair, so that the moment the jury reads the verdict, the judge can just press a button and be done with it. That's my kind of state. Speaking of which, I do hope the electric chair is still around by the time they get around to frying you, Syl. I can't think of a better final punishment for you than an involuntary perm.

Whew. I feel so much better having gotten all of that off my plus-sized chest. Police are posted at every exit, so don't try to run, Syl. Not that you could run if you tried, given that you haven't seen your own feet since the Carter Administration. It doesn't matter much to me whether you try to run, Leon. Hopefully someone on the brigade is a crack shot, but it would be no great disappointment if you got away. In fact, I always kind of felt bad for you. Life is tough enough with two balls.

And Syl, I'm sure I'll see you soon, thanks to the Supreme Court's disregard of international norms of decency. But until then, I'll be resting in peace, probably tormented by dozens of little red men with pitchforks. No matter. It's still better than sleeping with you.

As for the rest of you, your initial inclination was correct. You're not getting squat. I'm leaving it all to Leona Helmsley's dog -- that bitch deserves it. Except I'm leaving twenty thousand dollars for my daughter's breast reduction, or my son's penis enlargement. You guys can fight over it. I'd try to strike a deal if I were you, half a breast for three inches. That way, everyone's a winner. Especially that new Dairy Queen by the truck stop.

Fond farewell,

Bernard S. Goldfarb




Fourth-generation hypochondriac. Ambivalent Miss Piggy fan. Reluctant lawyer. Purebred Jew.





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The Great Pretenders


Here we are in the midst of another political season, and I have to admit I just don't get it.

We've been at this game now for 225 years or so, and this is the best we can do? Let's face it. Our vaunted two-party system really is doing it right this time. Here we are, trying to kick off a new millennium. But what have we got to show for it? A choice [again] between two guys nobody wants, forcing us to pick the one we dislike least to have any chance of relevance at all in the selection process?

How long have we listened to the talking heads blabber on about how bad our schools have become. When are they going to start looking at the dumbing down of our political system?

It's not like our Founding Fathers planned it this way.

We started strong enough. Heck, George Washington was so widely admired they wanted to make him king. Good thing Martha knew how to put him in his place, or we'd all be on our knees today.

Then again, maybe we are. Because the powers behind the throne have convinced us to pay homage to the real royalty of today - Lord Buck, the Almighty Dollar. Otherwise, why would we be so impressed by two guys who promise to give us back a little more of our hard-earned dollars, while running around passing it out like flower girls at a wedding?

To top it off, they have the audacity to act like they're doing us a favor. Some favor.

There they stand, in our faces day in and day out throughout the entire election season, railing about how bad the other one is and talking on all sides of issues they pretty much agree on anyway. To add insult to injury, they think we buy it.

Take Iraq, for instance. King George stands firmly behind his troops as they try to put down an insurgent host. Way behind, probably 5,000 miles or more. Those in his camp conveniently lose count of the body bags so long as they aren't filled on this side of the ocean.

Prince John, on the other hand, tries to usurp power by crying about how we were duped into a conflict he won't commit to end. I think he mumbled something about preserving our credibility. And of course, his supporters pretend not to notice he wasn't opposed to a little muscle-flexing when it started, particularly when the polls showed the rest of us wanted to do a little friendly butt-kicking. And now that we're tiring of this game, he wants to change dealers without shuffling the deck.

But I sure can't blame either one. They're only doing what we pay them to do - stand up there and wave to the cameras, driveling little sound-bites that their media friends dutifully dole out every hour on the hour.

To boot, the political hacks that put them there hate each other so much they can't wait to stick knives in each others' backs or poison their drinks. As if there were more than a hair's difference between them. Lucretia Borgia would be proud.

They've put so much effort into spinning their yarns that they're starting to believe their own rhetoric. Worse, they think we do, too. And maybe we are. Or at least pretend we do, so we don't have to face the truth.

What a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into this time.

It's not just the war. Nor is it an economy on the brink, where free enterprise means moving jobs offshore so they can afford to charge us the prices we want to pay for stuff we don't need.

No, it's much more than that. It's our great American Dream that's at stake. The one to which we all cling when we give these so-called leaders blanket authority to run rampant around the world. And ignore the real problems in favor of the window-dressing that gets them elected.

And what do we do about it? We hold our nose at the stink coming from the rotting system we've allowed to be put in place, and look winsomely for a place with some fresh air to breathe.

All the while we they keep playing their high-stakes poker games for our future. Where the deck is stacked in favor of one side or the other, trading seats periodically so we can delude ourselves that the system is working. In return, they get to pass the scepter back and forth while we play musical chairs, hoping that we're not the ones left standing when the music stops. Hiding behind a smokescreen of tradition that we pretend continues to serve us.

Someday, someone will wake up to see that it's not the Emperor without the clothes. It's us. But even then, we won't have to worry. We'll just have them blow the smoke a little higher. Then again, I don't know how much higher it can go.

It's already blowing where the sun doesn't shine.




Copyright 2004 by John Dennison. John is a voice for those who do not hear or know they have an inner voice. Author of Whispers in the Silence: Living by the Light of Your Soul, he can be reached at john@WhisperZone.org or visit him at WhisperZone.org, home for those who know their own way.





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2012年7月30日 星期一

Hacking, A History


Draper was one of the first well known phone hackers, and the first famous "phone phreak". He was honorably discharged from the US Air Force in 1968 after posting in Vietnam, and then became an engineer at the electronics company National Semiconductor.

Steve Worniak

Worniak is a computer engineer and the co-founder of Apple Inc. (with Steve Jobs.) Worniak is credited with greatly contributing to the personal computer revolution of the 1970s. The Apple II gained a sizable amount of popularity, eventually becoming one of the best selling personal computers of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Kevin Mitnick

Mitnick has been undeniably titled the greatest hacker of our time. He has forever changed the way we handle information security and trust both computer and social networks. He was on the run from the F.B.I. for 3 years using fake identities. Police Officials were scarred of Kevin locking him up for 4 years without a trial

Draper, Worniak and Mitnick laid the foundation of hacking through the 1970s. So you may ask, how was hacking started, and why? ? In the 1970s phone companies started relying on computers to track phone calls. Which saved a lot of time and money for the companies, but also created havoc as "phone phreaking" began. John Draper began "phone phreaking" by using a whistle he dug out of a Captain Crunch box.(earning him his nickname "Captain Crunch" or "Crunchman")

Draper was "phone phreaking" by calling some one blowing his whistle, after his whistle is blown the phone call is not tracked, thus giving him a 10 second charge for a phone call he can make to anywhere in the world.

Draper soon created the "blue box". The blue box was an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator's dialing console. It functioned by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. This box made "phone phreaking" a lot easier and understandable to do.

The phone companies were finding out how their computers were being tricked and investigated. Journalist Ron Rosenbaum smelt a big story and longed to be the author. Ron started to interview many "phone phreakers." Every interview led to one person, "Captain Crunch." The article explained Draper's blue box , how it worked, and even how it was built. The printing of this article brings in Steve Worniak. (Worniak was in his second year at the University Of Burkley majoring in Engineering)

Worniak read Ron's article and instating became hooked. He tried to reproduce Draper's "blue box" as described in Ron's article. Enthusiastic Worniak called Draper and asked if he could make a visit to his dorm at UC Burkley. Draper could not ignore his enthusiasm and agreed. Draper showed him how to manipulate the blue box to call anyone in the world. Worniak asked if he could call the Pope, Draper got the number and they called. The Pope was sleeping, it was four in the morning. That night Worniak absorbed all the codes he could from Draper and other attending guests.

Wile all this "phone phreaking" was going on computers were a rare commodity that only large Businesses had the Luxury to own. This all changed with the new altair 8800, the altair 8800 was the first minicomputer kit. The release of the altair was appealing to many people in the bay area. This appealment led to the beginning of the homebrew computer club, (Steve Worniak was one of the hundreds of members) they had built their atair's but what was next, what does it do? The homebrew meetings were a place to learn and share new tips and ideas to other members. The homebrew members soon began building their own computers. When you finish building your computer you would bring it to the next meeting and share your experience making it.

After Worniak built his first computer is was obvious he was above the other members. Worniak's college roommate Steve Jobs talked him into inventing computers to sell for a profit. Jobs was the marketer, Worniak the designer. Their company, Apple Inc introduced the Apple I in the 1970s. Apple Inc. stayed ahead of the competition with the release of the Top Selling Apple II. The Apple II was made based on the idea of making a computer home ready straight out of the box. By 1982 Apple was worth half a billion dollars. With Worniak's business' thriving he soon found his love for the homebrew club dieing. He found he could not tell his secrets to other members of the homebrew club. In 1986 the homebrew club disbanded, leaving behind 23 computer companies founded by its members.

The Hackers who had built the computers and created the software where now being looked at as convicts. This revolution started with Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick brought to the table of hacking, social engineering. Social engineering is a collection of techniques used to manipulate people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. For example Mitnick would call phone companies and pretend he was with a different office to retrieve useful information. At age 17 Mitnick broke into the phone companies data base and stole millions of dollars worth of information. (being underage he spent 7 months in juvenile hall)

The movie "War Games" over night changed the term hacker. Steve Worniak who transformed the computer world was a hacker. And now teenagers who had nothing better to do then crack into data bases, were being described as the same term, "hacker."

Mitnick found his teenage hobby sticking with him. Mitnick, now choosing bigger companies to hack, in 1988 hacked into the network of computer giant DEC, and copied details of top secret software. Later in 1988 the police caught up with Mitnick and arrested him. He was charged to have copied four million dollars worth of software. Mitnick was held in isolation for a year based on the idea he could start a war through the pay phone the inmates used to make collect calls.

Once released Mitnick tapped his investigation officers at Pac Bell. Soon he was issued a warrant for his arrest in 1992. Kevin mad at the injustice of his arrest, ran. Mitnick settled in Denver and worked for a law firm under the name Eric Wies. Kevin was now hacking into the phone companies to get useful information to stay a step ahead of the police.

In 1994 the police caught up with Mitnick in North Carolina under the name Tom Case. Mitnick spent four and half years in jail without trial. Finally going to trial Mitnick was sentenced to five years in prison. After his release Mitnick was not allowed to touch a computer..

Draper,Worniak, and Mitnick established hacking through different methods, "phone phreaking", hacking to improve computers, and crack into phone files. Although they all used different methods they all contributed to the hacking history

Draper,Worniak, and Mitnick established hacking through different methods, "phone phreaking", hacking to inprove computers, and crack into phone files. Although they all used different methods they all contributed to the hacking history.




Hello, my name is Beau Felder. I run a Internet Marketing & affiliating blog at [http://www.felderproducions.com]

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China's Internet Threat


In 1946, Albert Einstein made the famous statement: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Well Albert, I can now tell you how World War III will be fought. The weapons will be keyboards and the battleground will be cyberspace. No longer does a nation have to bomb an enemy to destroy that nation's critical economic and military infrastructure. Today, industrialized nations rely on the Internet for every aspect of their economy, government and military operations. A total disruption of the Internet could bring the world economy to a halt and cripple the ability of western nations to effectively deploy their military.

A recent report by the Heritage Foundation entitled, "Trojan Dragons: China's International Cyber Warriors" describes the emphasis that China is placing on cyber warfare. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has cyber warfare brigades that are already at work probing, hacking and stealing data from US and European computer systems. The Chinese cyber attacks haven't been limited to government systems. In fact, their primary target is economic and industrial information systems. China's intelligence collection is the top intelligence threat to America's science and technology secrets.

"America is under widespread attack in cyberspace", testified General James Cartwright of the US Strategic Command to Congress in March 2007. There were more than 80,000 attempted attacks on military computer networks in 2007. These attacks were often successful in impacting US military operations. Of concern to the government isn't the high school hacker having fun, but the concerted Internet attacks that are coming out of China. In the last three months, attacks against the US government from China have tripled. The Chinese cyber warfare units have already penetrated the US military's unclassified but sensitive IP router network (NIPRNET) and have designed software to disable it in time of conflict.

The Chinese have developed a very sophisticated and advanced capability to attack and degrade US and European computer networks and it is time that western nations recognize the threat. This threat is not only to the military, but to commercial, financial and energy networks. The actions of the Chinese cyber warriors in penetrating and stealing data from foreign nations have crossed the boundary of acceptable international behavior during peace time. It is time for the US and Europe to take strong diplomatic actions to halt and control the cyber warfare actions of the Chinese military.




Michael E. Bennett has over 25 years of experience in federal government telecommunications and information technology systems. He is currently the operations officer for a Department of Defense organization that provides worldwide telecommunications for the US military. Mr. Bennett's expertise covers a wide area of disciplines to include broadband, SONET, ATM, DWDM, fiber optics and satellite communications. Mr. Bennett is a 1981 graduate of the University of Maryland and holds a Masters of Science degree in Telecommunications from the University of Denver.





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Diplomatic Challenges With China Over Eventual Taiwan Reunification Goals


Okay so, it's no secret that China wants Taiwan back, and that it truly believes that such a pursuit towards the re-unification of Taiwan is righteous. Taiwan obviously thinks otherwise or at least most Taiwanese do, and it wants to remain a sovereign nation. Further, Taiwan is leveraging its association with the US to prevent China from re-unifying Taiwan by force, and China says it's none of the United State's business. The US wants all nations to be free and self-governed, as the US feels those inalienable rights of free people.

Now then, there have been some rather harsh threats and words take place over the years. One high-up general in the Red Communist Chinese Military stated that if the US were to interfere with and defend Taiwan against a forceful re-unification that China would use nuclear weapons against the United States. Yes, those are fighting words, but still, they were spoken from the heart, and that general really believed that. This was a few years ago, so have things changed? No, I would submit to you they haven't and that there are still many in the upper echelon of the Red Communist Chinese military who feel the same way.

Needless to say that China's comments with Taiwan threats and nuclear war with US if we intervene aren't helpful, and rather troubling, especially as China builds anti-ship missiles that are designed to take out an aircraft carrier, and known that the US is the only nation floating an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean anywhere near China. The Pentagon also realizes that China has hundreds of nuclear missiles pointed at the United States, and is building anti-satellite missiles, stealth technologies, and is interfering in Middle East with our enemies, and pushing its weight around, throughout the world as it is on a world-wide scavenger hunt for resources.

Has the US been wise in diplomatic efforts with China? Not exactly and well, yes, I've seen some mistakes made through the last several administrations in this regard. China's need to fulfill their destiny and complete reunification is of huge importance to them. There are factions in the Chinese government who would go to war with the US over this issue. They strongly believe that Taiwan is rightfully theirs, always has been and that for China to be made-whole they must bring it back into their nation.

Taiwan is wrought with Chinese spies, and Taiwan uses entrepreneurs to give them information. It's too bad that commerce and trade cannot solve this problem. China sees the US a meddling in affairs that are none of its business when it comes to Taiwan and very angry about; missile defense, F-16 sales, etc. meanwhile China is flexing its muscle militarily all over the place; Sea of Japan, South China Sea, and incursions and territorial claims for fishing and drilling with Philippines, Vietnam, and causing challenges for the US with N. Korea, arming the Taliban, selling weapons to Iran, previous game playing in Iraq, etc.

Let's not forget the "string of pearls" and the tentacles, extra ports, maritime choke points, and their aircraft carriers, one done, two more coming. Meanwhile they have 6,000 spies in the US corporate and military defense contractor espionage, trying to hack into every computer worthy of information in the US, extortion using REEs and barriers to entry to get R and D and proprietary information, dumping on US markets to kill our industries, economic warfare, stock market manipulation.

Of course, they must be upset about their exploits in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Central America, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa as they hunt for raw materials and try to secure more markets. They had some setbacks, as many or more than the number of deals with positive outcomes. They play it different than the US, as we condemn our corporations for bribery, and they see it as 'just doing business' but are still finding themselves unmatched by our diplomacy. China has a trust problem with the rest of the world. It's going to hurt them, even as their economic forces grow, well if they don't implode due to bad loans, bad stimulus, corruption, civil unrest, inflation, pollution, energy scarcity, water availability, food stuff challenges, job flight, and let's not forget, China has a problem with over production too.

Back to the issues with China versus the US over Taiwan, many of the old guard see US intervention as an "act of war" and Mao's Grandson has yet to make his mark on history. Luckily, for the US, China has pissed off so many of its neighbors, and is not liked due to its economic and trade policies, that it would be biting off more than it could chew to screw with the US Navy, much less the rest of our military, and the US doesn't need NATO or anyone else for help, China may have more ships, but that's only for the first 30-minutes of the war, as there wouldn't be much left after that. And we don't need satellites to do it either.

Of course, China isn't stupid, so it's building up its military lots of money being pumped in, and they get a lot more for their money in their military than we do, due to our over regulation and cost-structures, bidding, politics, and nonsense here. Still, we easily are decades ahead in our advanced systems "IF" we don't curtail it under stupid US Administrations which don't understand the real world, or allow the Chinese to continue to steal us blind intellectually. Personally, I believe the RAND report on China's International Behavior was BS and really dangerous.

Although, it did perhaps serve a purpose prior to the G8 Economic Summit when that report came out. I do think the DOD has it right. Taiwan should not be forced to re-unite, unless it chooses too, and that may too be a possibility some day. Unfortunately, if that did happen one also needs to consider that the "selling-out" could easily have been coerced through political spies, extortion, trade promises, bribes, etc. - some of that is going on. I fear the US selling advanced weapons to Taiwan because there are too many spies and too much information leakage.

In fact, we may as well just send them the plans for Lockheed's missile defense system, the F-16s, and other technologies. I also worry about the South Korean F-15 Slam Eagle sales, but realize that too is necessary, just as selling JDAMs to Israel or assisting with the THEL is for Israel. So, I am not condemning the Taiwanese Military of Government, as they already are fully aware of the challenges, as is the US here at home with Chinese spies, corporate espionage, and constant hacking attacks (many intelligence analysts convinced these attacks are state-sponsored, as am I).

I fear this President, Obama is not on top of things, and is weak in this regard, and I believe he would bend to appeasement and make the same mistake made with NAZI Germany when they took over their first country. The US shouldn't be afraid of war, as we need the greatest military in the solar system. Likewise, we shouldn't make any threats, or act stupid either, another reason this particular article is toned down and just sticking to the facts at hand.

However, we must understand where China is coming from, and they "really believe" that Taiwan is their island and they want it back. China also knows that it could ignite nationalism beyond belief if it went to war with the US and it could easily afford to lose its 1 million man standing army without missing a beat. If China was at war with the US they'd have 100 million Chinese sign up the next day. That's a lot of will and hate focused on the US, and if the US is not strong in her resolve she will capitulate.

Now then, President Obama is considered to be a Black-American by the Chinese, of African desent, so they are very prejudice there, we cannot discount that reality, and believe, think, or know, he's stupid (regardless of the reality of naivety or intellectual quotient of the Obama the Nobel Prize Winner). Look how hard the China is trying to push around the US right now in economic and trade issues. There is no win-win trade with China, and that's what's caused part of this huge imbalance, the rest is really our fault for stupid regulations and bad economic policies. The South Korean trade policies of the past were the wrong model for China, it's too large, and China could produce enough for 5-markets the sizes of the USA. Unfortunately the GDP of the globe is only 3.5 US Markets combined.

Still, China has also made some really bad trade deal negotiation mistakes with the US, and now China has economically painted themselves into a corner with run-away 10% year-over-year growth, and they "could" make a few bad decisions which would invite a solution of pushing the US into a stalemate over Taiwan. I'd be against that, and if China wants re-unification, it needs to grow up and get the blessing of Taiwan first. Taiwan is a sovereign nation, it is not at war with anyone. It appears, at least many analysts believe that China is taking a long-term approach to their ultimate goal of re-unification, or maybe they are just holding that card out there, and really have lost interest. I would tend to believe the former argument judging by their actions.

Although Taiwan is not perfect in every regard the US "must" honor freedom, liberty, and the sovereignty of free-peoples and free-trade. Taiwan is our friend and ally, and if anyone went to war against them, we should stand up, alone if necessary. Further, if anyone attacked China, we should rightfully protect it too, even if China refused our help, we should do whatever it takes to end a conflict with our largest trading partner if such an event did take place. After all, China and the US are allies too. We should be acting as such, that goes for both countries - so we need grownups at the table from here on out.

If China gets away with forcing re-unification by force, and the US doesn't stand up, it would be living in hypocrisy of all its ideals, and that's a challenge too. Thus, is China does attempt to militarily force a Taiwanese takeover the US must stand up, of course, Taiwan needs to stand up too and discharge those spies and corruption influences allowing China to take Taiwan through the back door too. I could easily see the Taiwan People's mood change and thus, internally vote for a re-unification, or statehood trial-period. If so, and if those elections are legit, the US would have to honor that and then there is no problem.

Not that it would make me any happier, but all is well that ends well, I guess. The only lesson perhaps is that saying; "Be careful what you wish for" or vote for if that were to be the case? As far as I am concerned, China will never have the military ability to protect anything that the United States Military deems to be a legitimate target. There is no defense which will ever match that of the minds of the American Military Innovation Class. We can defend Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, India, or any of our allies without question if push comes to shove, but we must also realize as a nation that often; "discretion is the better part of valor," a lesson we seem to continually be relearning.

Now then, I totally agree that China is a long-term thinker with regards to their unification with Taiwan, but their focus there is hurting their progress too. The conclusion is simple, and our policy should go something like this; Taiwan remains a sovereign nation for as long as it chooses to be and we must stand by their right to control their destiny, just as we must stand by China if someone were to encroach there. All nations should avoid war, but if there is a war, my nation must win, decisively! Absolutely, without remorse, without hesitation, and complete victory regardless of the expense to the enemy, peace through strength, because we are The United States of America, and we must live as that example to the Free World. If anyone has any questions, I can take them now.




Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of the Online Think Tank.





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2012年7月29日 星期日

The Top 5 Must Play RPGs for Every Video Game Console


The gaming market is monstrous. Right now there are six consoles, three handhelds, and the ever present PC you can buy games for. That's 10 different ways you can get your game on, so if you're someone who doesn't have the ways or means to buy all 10 platforms and every halfway decent game that arrives for any of them, you're probably wondering which way you should go to get the most bang for your buck. I'm a bit of a gamer nerd, and so for you I've collected the top five available games (in the stores now) for each console for each particular genre. Based on reviews, user comments, and my personal experience, these are the best ways to go.

This round: RPGs. The Japanese RPG market exploded in the 32-64 bit days, blowing out with a new game seemingly every week. You can blame Square for that one, bringing to the stores amazing game after amazing game, which immediately spurned every other company to release whatever dreck they could muster to keep you pumping money into their pockets. Nowadays there are hundreds of options out there, and the Japanese market isn't the only one around. North American companies have their own answers to the RPG boom and now it's a veritable flood of options. Here are the top five for each option you've got.

PlayStation 2 - The PlayStation brand name has been the home of quality RPGs since PS1 first roled out with Suikoden and Final Fantasy games in the mid- 90s. This list was hard because there are so many left off. Dark Cloud 2, Final Fantasy X, the Shin Megami Tensei games and many more deserve recognition, but alas these are also long as hell, so if you had more than 5, when would you ever finish them. You may notice I exclude the PS3, but I can't really offer any PS3 RPGs for you until they've actually been created. We're waiting.

1. Shadow Hearts Covenant - The Shadow Hearts series took on a serious following after this entry, one of the greatest RPG releases of the generation. It's take on the fantasy RPG genre blended into the realms of reality, bleeding over in church and demonology lore. Taking place in the 19th Century and following the legend of a young woman and her unfortunate destiny, it can be enjoyed alone or along with it's predecessors Koudelka and Shadow Hearts (I).

2. Disgaea - This is probably the best strategy RPG released for any console ever. Released by Atlus, a brand name that has grown in and of itself of recent years to the respectability that names like Square and Level 5 now carry with their games, Disgaea is about the young prince of hell and his quest to regain his domain after being awoken. With more than 200 hours of gameplay here, count on playing for days on days. And it's funnier than hell. These are great characters.

3. Suikoden III - The Suikoden series is the cult series. Of course it's slowly sliding out of cult status and into the mainstream with releases occurring every couple of years since this one. The best in the series with the possible exception of Suikoden II, Suikoden III tells the story of a huge cast of characters, all intricately entwined with one another. You play through the tale of their war, but as seen through each characters eyes. Truly epic.

4. Final Fantasy XII - The newest release, released only two weeks before the PlayStation 3's release, this game redefines the epic scope of prior Final Fantasies, literally reaching for the stars. Each character is fully realized and a part of the action, their story an intricate part of the game. There's no fluff here, and the rebuild of the decades old RPG formula was all for the better, working for the complete and total betterment of the game and hopefully the series.

5. DragonQuest VIII - Dragon Quest has always been huge in Japan, but only now did it find the same success here in the US. Dragon Quest VIII is the huge (extremely huge) result of Square Enix's jump to full 3D glory in their series. The graphics are incredible, the characters hilarious and deeply involving, and the story arresting. The battles aren't half bad either. And the usual monster catching glory is intact. A long game, it will keep you busy for days.

Gamecube (and Wii) - The Gamecube got shorted on the RPG options, much like its big brother the N64. Nintendo lost a lot of their clout with the RPG crowd when Squaresoft jumped ship in the 90s and they're still trying to earn it back...so far to little success. But, the future looks bright, as Square Enix is finally producing games for the Big N, and Nintendo's own work includes more forays into the RPG market. Here's hoping for more, because the Wii is perfect for the format.

1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - The newest Zelda adventure, Twilight Princess, is by far the best reason to own a Nintendo Wii. The game is a masterpiece on almost every level, to the point I'm almost willing to call it the greatest game ever made. We've heard this a lot, that this game is the greatest. That it surpasses what Ocarina accomplished 8 years ago. And as my own favorite game, it's hard to ever put anything above Ocarina in terms of scope, depth, and innovation. No need to go into detail. Read my review of it here for more thoughts on why it's so amazing.

2. Tales of Symphonia - The first really good RPG for the Gamecube, and still one of the only ones really. The newest entry in the hugely popular (in Japan) Tales saga, Symphonia was a huge, fun, well told game. The characters were fun, the battle system is one of the best around, and the action was fully inclusive and crafted a long game. Symphonia was the Gamecube owning RPG fan's one saving grace.

3. Skies of Arcadia Legends - Originally released for the Dreamcast, Skies of Arcadia was given a second life on the Gamecube, again fated to anonymity due to the failure of the console. This is a great game. It tells the story of two sky pirates who must traverse the sky ocean and save the world from a shattering war and so on. You attempt throughout the game to build your pirate rank and build up your ship. It was one of Dreamcast's must have games and the same for Gamecube. Unfortunately so few actually had it, and now it's not exactly easy to find.

4. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - The infamous Wind Waker. Nintendo's foray into cel shading and the horrible foray into ocean mechanics. This game is still amazing. It's Zelda afterall, but it's flawed on more than the basic levels. It's hard to get around. The ocean is huge, and the game is short. But the parts you play, in between sailing around Hyrule are beautiful and incredibly fun.

5. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - The Big N rounds out the five with another in house effort. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was a return to the Paper Mario fun they coined in the N64 days, this time around with the RPG elements the game seems to work best with. Incredibly easy yes, but fun as hell at the same time.

Xbox (and X360) - The Xbox, not surprisingly saw no Japanese development. Every game listed below was produced in English Speaking countries, mostly Canada actually. The style is noticeably different, but the quality is equally incredible. The strive for realism by Western developers can be seen in each of these entries. Although the lack of humor is equally as prescient.

1. Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion - The Xbox 360 has some serious horsepower. Not only is there room to spare, but the graphic output is insane at time, and what better way to show this off than with an Elderscrolls game. Monstrous, huge worlds in which you can freely roam wherever you want and interact with your environment. This game is huge and intense. Hundreds of hours can be spent just wandering around and completing a main quest. As for getting the rest done. Who knows how long you could spend on there.

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Star Wars games were starting to get a bad rap for a while, until Bioware arrived with the first full fledged Star Wars RPG. Built on the click and wait action of the D&D ruleset games, KOTOR was a brilliant game that took Star Wars fans back a few thousand years to the height of the Jedi/Sith wars. It also had one of the most surprising and amazing endings in any game..ever.

3. Elderscrolls III: Morrowind - And another Elderscrolls game. This one was equally as huge as its sequel, and had just as amazing graphics for its time. Elderscrolls truly stretches the imagination in terms of open world RPG exploration and making a game that will take a long time to finish. A truly wonderful game.

4. Jade Empire - Set in a fictional ancient China, Jade Empire comes from the makers of Knights of the Old Republic, and while not nearly as large in scope or length, the game utilizes an array of different combat styles and elements that make it sheer fun to play. It's shorter and simpler than the original games from Bioware, but they make up for it with the attention to detail and the battle system upgrades.

5. Fable - Touted as an amazing achievement in world interface, Fable turned out to be a little bit of a letdown. It was smaller, shorter, and less engaging than what was claimed, but it was still a solid, fun game to play. Starting as a bland adventurer you could become either entirely good or entirely evil through the actions committed during a quest. The characters are generic, the quests forgettable, but the options given to play through them all are still fun. The ending however leaves something to be desired, and they could have done with a few more reasons to openly explore. For a sandbox RPG, it was surprisingly linear.

Game Boy Advance - Yup, no DS games. I imagine soon, with the release of the new Pokemon game, and the surprising announcement of Dragon Quest IX coming exclusively to the DS, the RPG options there will explode, but for now your best bet in the RPG realm on handhelds is with the Game Boy Advance. Here are a few of the best.

1. Golden Sun - It's not a masterpiece. It's not legendary. But, it's good solid fun, and for the size and expectations o f a handheld console it's still pretty fun. I enjoyed it for a few reasons. First off, the gameplay is top notch. The battle system is built around a simple premise and sticks with it, but it's still fun. The story is nothing special but it reminded me a lot of the 8-bit glory days, keeping me involved without making it impossible to keep up when I have to turn the game off every 20 minutes. Solid play and go action

2. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - Pokemon has been around for almost 10 years now, a regular entry in the gameboy RPG market, really the only entry inn that market, and a damn good one. By the time this pair was released (the usual duplicate games with slightly different monsters in each), the same gameplay was reused a good four times and starting to get a little old, but it's still sound gameplay, and who doesn't like to collect as much of something as they can. I'm older yes, but I still enjoy the mindless capture and battle system of Pokemon. It's cathartically simple.

3. Final Fantasy IV - It's technically a port, but a damn good port at that. I loved this game back in the days on the SNES and the idea to bring the 16-bit Final Fantasies to the GBA made me as happy as can be. This was a game I love to play, but feel goofy loading into my PS2 and sitting down to play. It's a perfect bus play, and it plays just as great as in 1992. The classic tale of Cecil and the Red Knights never fails to capture my attention from start to finish. Of course, when Final Fantasy VI is released, I might have to replace this with that one, as we all know that VI is the greatest of them all.

4. Riviera: The Promised Land - Atlus has been basting the PS2 market with top notch games for three plus years now, with their fantastic strategy and alchemy RPG games. They bring Riviera to the GBA with the same pedigree, a solid RPG that plays to the GBA's strengths as well as any. It's essentially a screen to screen game. You don't control you surroundings so much as go from page to page within them, but the battle system is amazing and the different options and acquirables immense. The story, like any Atlus game is the real selling point and actually got me to play through it twice.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics - The portable version of the PSone classic has sucked more time from my life than any GBA game I've ever played. The 300+ missions are each 30-60 minutes long and the customization options equal length. This is a long game with a lot of gameplay and a fun little story. You're Marche, you've been sucked through a book into the magical land of Ivalice and now you are a knight. Go!

PlayStation Portable - When the PSP first released fanboys dreamed of amazing ports that would bring their favorite games now out of print back to life in hand held format. At least one made the leap, but for the most part RPG development on the PSP has been lackluster, and while Japan gets the Suikoden I and II pack and promises of Final Fantasies, we wait for a decent anything to play. Final Fantasy compilation anyone? Anyone at all?

1. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth - One of the most sought after games from the PSone days, Valkyrie Profile was an amazing RPG that no one played and then no one could play as it was out of print. Ranging from $100 and up on eBay, the promise of a rerelease for the PSP was a godsend for fans out there always interested but too poor to afford it. It's a solid game at that. With rebuilt cinematics and PSP controls, this entry leads into the new PS2 game wonderfully and finally lets the rest of us play through Lenneth's adventure.

2. Monster Hunter Freedom - Never a real big fan of the Monster Hunter games, I can still see their draw. You go and you hunt monsters. Simple as that. There's little to hold you up, and there's online play. It's like Pokemon without the pesky storyline or purpose.

3. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim - A port of a port. This was originally released for the PS2 and before that the PC, and has been watered down in between. The same classic Ys gameplay is intact, overland map, onscreen battles and fun little characters in a charming, if simple story. It's good solid fun for a portable and tells a decent story. Even if the controls are a little broken.

4. Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade - One of the launch releases with the PSP, Untold Legends is an overhead hack and slash RPG without a conscious. It doesn't strive for amazing storyline or gameplay, just simple hack and slash glory and it does it pretty well. It was fun because it was simple, made in a very short development cycle from the time the PSP was announced. Oddly enough though, the sequel was nearly as good.

5. Tales of Eternia - Alright, technically it still hasn't been released in America, but you can import it from Europe and play the English language version (or Japan if you speak Japanese). But, it's a tales game, a pretty good one at that. Technically it has been released here too, as Tales of Destiny 2 in 2000. Unfortunately, it got completely ignored as the gaming world moved on to the PS2. This is a great game though and perfect for the PSP. Complete and intact are the great Tales battle system and one of the better Tales plots. Saving the world from the Great War was never quite so fun as in this one.

PC -The PC has always been a home for the more hardcore of gamers. The cost of constant upgrades and intensity of a PC game are legendary, and only the most hardcore amongst us are capable of keeping up. Accordingly, the games below match that mindset, though more than one of these games managed to break free of the limitations and become monstrous worldwide phenomena. I'm looking at you Blizzard.

1. World of Warcraft - Okay, so duh right? Well, some of you are probably palpitating over my choosing this above some other MMORPG, but too bad. Everyone plays this one, including myself and it's just plain fun. Having spent hours of my life in this game and knowing that I can go back whenever I want without fear of being destroyed because of the MMORPG laws of survival (never leave), this is a great pick up and play game in a genre where that almost never exists. Huge, tons to do, and always fun even when you're grinding, WoW is still the best.

2. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn - The Baldur's Gate games are some of the best RPGs to come out of the PC age of D&D ruleset RPGs. It's big, it's long, it's fun as hell. The challenge of figuring out what to do, how to upgrade your characters and make the game the most it can be were always the number one reasons to play these. The story is pretty awesome too. Don't forget the Dragon. That dragon is a bitch.

3. Diablo II - Diablo II stole my entire summer my sophomore year of high school. This game was amazing. It took everything Diablo did and blew it up times ten. The ability to find and receive unique weapons that 1000 of your friends would never find kept you playing over and over again. And it was simple. Click, click, right click. F1. That's it. Nothing to it. And when you finally unlocked the Cow level, then you were the true God of Diablo.

4. Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion - Many of you probably can't even play this yet. I still can't. I only know of it because I have a friend who upgrades his computer ever three weeks seemingly. This game is a beast of the highest order, demanding a lot from your system but delivering even more. Monstrous, huge worlds in which you can freely roam wherever you want and interact with your environment. This game is huge and intense. Hundreds of hours can be spent just wandering around and completing a main quest. As for getting the rest done. Who knows how long you could spend on there.

5. Neverwinter Nights - Another D&D ruleset game, but one of the best no less. It's huge, monstrously huge. And tack on the expansions and you've got 200+ hours of action to play through. The biggest seller on this one though was the ability to craft and write your own adventures as a DM with the toolsets and host them online, ala D&D, but with graphics. The sequel doesn't quite hold up to the original, but still carries the same weight and fun factor.




I'm a self avowed unemployed writer, working on semi-constant basis to try and overcome the need to go and work a real job. I've written more than 200 articles and reviews and am constantly scouring the internet for any and all excuses and methods to make myself less dependent on corporate pay days. Visit my website at TheChatfield.com [http://www.thechatfield.com]





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What's the Best Carrier For Your Smartphone?


You might have seen these on TV or on YouTube, but there's no denying that cell phone service providers are on an all out war with each other for your subscription. Each one of them deals their own low blows all the while stating that they provide the best service there is. The people that suffer the most are the subscribers that want to know which one actually is the best. The problem with trying to marketing something is that you over exaggerate the facts so much so that you don't get the right facts and you don't get to see the downside of subscribing to a single carrier.

What's the real difference between and Verizon? Which one offers the best features for your smartphone? I'm personally tired of the Luke Wilson ads because they seem kind of sad on AT&T's behalf. They're a decent carrier (from what I hear from user feedback) but they get a lot of bad rep because of what happened with the iPhone. If you care to take a look at the numbers, the iPhone is still the leading smartphone brand and AT&T is the leading carrier in this sense. Other than bad signals in certain areas and a few anomalies, you can still be happy with your coverage. Verizon and the Android are close up and comers.

Android sales don't pull numbers like the iPhone does, but it's trying to steal away some of the thunder that iPhone's been swaggering. Verizon's "There's a map" for that ads really are spot on; so much so that AT&T wants to pull them off the air. It's the choice carrier for smartphones that don't venture out of the U.S. but it comes at a heftier price tag. These two are the choice carriers because they have exclusivity to the best smartphones. A lot of iPhones have been jailbroken because users want to keep the phone but they don't want to stick with AT&T, but as a precaution it's simply a lot better to not have a jailbroken iPhone because you make it vulnerable to hacking.

There are bound to be places that have no signal, get used to it. You can expect run into that problem from both carriers.




The author of this article, Jego Goldstein, is a Computer Analyst who has been testing and developing software for several years. He advocates the need for computer literacy in society and strives to make technology more user friendly. One of his latest projects is My PC Tweaks, a comprehensive and easy to follow guide to understanding your computer.





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Only the Strong Survive by Seth Soul Man Ferranti


U.S. vs Ferranti: that's how the case was styled. The United States of fucking America versus me. At nineteen, I was charged with running a Continuing Criminal Enterprise by the feds and sentenced to twenty-five years. I turned to look at my mother as the US Marshals moved in and Judge Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia said, "You will be committed to the custody of the Attorney General." Great I thought, Janet Reno, my fucking babysitter.

I never thought I would get busted and prison was the furthest thing from my mind. I was white, middle-class, and from the affluent suburbs of Burke Centre, Virginia. I did the college thing: Penn State, West Virginia University, Virginia Tech, Radford, University of Virginia, East Carolina. My life was a party on wheels. Kind bud. Acid. Brick pot. I figured I was a career man. It was like, have drugs, will travel. But I found out that the feds don't fuck around and justice doesn't discriminate. My white skin and middle-class upbringing would only be a drawback in prison and that was no laughing matter.

The marshals handcuffed me and put me in leg irons. They pointed Mossberg twelve-gauge riot-guns at my face and put me on a bus with bars on the windows and an armed escort riding shotgun. It reminded me of some Mad Max type shit. The convicts on the bus called it "diesel therapy." I could feel the eyes on me as I made my way down the aisle. I tried to look tough as I noticed there weren't many white people and no one struck me as a suburbanite. In fact, I saw the only other white guy on the bus getting exposed. "What the fuck you looking at cracker?" Yelled a black prisoner. "Nothing." Replied the white dude meekly with his head down. What a chump I thought as I sunk deeper into my seat and wished I was invisible.

When I hit the compound this old-timer, White Shoes, pulled me aside. I was wary at first, because you never know what a fucker wants in here. But I learned that he only wanted to help. He could tell I was green and I guess he saw convict material, because he took me under his wing. He wanted to see my paperwork to make sure I wasn't no rat motherfucker. When I checked out he schooled me on prison etiquette. "Don't gamble, don't do drugs, and don't fuck with punks," he said. "When you talk to people look them in the eye and always be polite, because you never know when someone will lose it. Be cool and if you have a problem, come and get me."

The advice was right on time as I was adjusting to my environment learning the more disturbing aspects of day to day life on the inside. Like the rest of middle-class America I had seen the movies, but this wasn't any movie. This was real life. And the realities of prison, I learned, were vicious.

That first morning when the doors cracked I went to go to chow. But as I stepped out the cell this shorty creped on a sleepy-eyed brother and cracked the "nigga" on the dome with a lock in a sock, a favorite prison weapon. The sleepy-eyed con stumbled as he started bleeding profusely from the head. The little shorty punished him and screamed, "Don't ever be dissing me again nigga." I stood transfixed by the violence before me as shorty noticed me and said, "You didn't see nothing did you, white boy?" I shook my head and went back into my cell, skipping breakfast. I later learned this was all about respect and in prison respect was the most important thing.

In prison they say that your word is all you got and if your word ain't no good then you're some shit. The concepts of respect and disrespect go hand in hand with that and are at the root of most beefs in prison. Say you bump into dude and you don't say excuse me. This is a serious sign of disrespect. To get his respect the convict you accidentally bumped might stick six inches of steel into your gut.

In prison you get respect by giving it and demanding it back, by force if necessary. If you lose face just once you could be labeled soft. And if someone thinks you're soft, they're gonna try you.

I remember this one white kid Stevie from Maryland who came in. Nice, polite, slightly built, and middle-class. He was in for trying to blow up a gay bar. Some Gangster Disciples took him for a chump and pushed up on him for some commissary. Stevie, fresh to the system, thought he was doing them gangsta's a favor and bought them a couple packs of smokes. But it didn't stop there. The next week it was a carton of Newports, the week after some Nike high tops. Then they broke into his locker, taking everything Stevie had. Some white dudes stepped to Stevie and told him he needed to get down and handle his business. Still the idiot did nothing. And in prison you can't help those that won't help themselves. Finally the Gangster Disciples raped Stevie. He ended up being pimped out by the gang and is probably still sucking dick to this day.

If you want respect you gotta keep the other prisoners in check. Being nice won't get you respect but fear will. There is a saying in here, don't mistake kindness for weakness. Still many of these ignorant fuckers do, so it pays not to be nice. You have to close yourself off and become known as a man that will do something when provoked. Because sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Even if it means getting a shank and spilling blood. Better theirs, than yours. Don't try to talk tough in here either, because your bluff will be called and if you don't jump when called out you will be branded as a punk and your ass will be ripe for taking.

The best course to follow is to be respectful and assertive. Try not to draw attention to yourself, but don't back down from a confrontation either. Most times, if you stand up for yourself, you'll find an out, and avoid looking like a pussy. The problem could be laughed off, like "Chill out man, I was only joking." But if the situation escalates you can get fucked up. It is a fine line to walk, but if you want to survive, you've got to learn when and where to draw that line.

Prison isn't a nice place. There ain't no good Samaritans here. When the tension boils it erupts like a volcano. As the pressure builds, you can feel it seeking its release. It's not something easily described, it's just an awareness. The air grows still, the silence becomes deafening and you can sense the drama about to unfold.

When the shit jumps off you don't want to be around either. The best thing to do is just walk the other way and act like nothing is happening. Don't even try to look or watch. Because if you're seen watching when people handle their business you might be next or worse still you might be labeled a snitch.

It took about 6 months to scope out the basic social order in the joint. I noticed that the prison gangs played a big part in the social structure. There was a sort of prison politics going on with little diplomacy and lots of violence. The gangs were very active and protective of their hustles and interests. White gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood and Dirty White Boys co-existed with the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciples. The Latinos had their own crews also with the Mexican Mafia, Latin Kings, and Texas Syndicate. These fractions sometimes suffered violent and bloody struggles for power and control.

Prisoners also affiliated themselves by home states. So you had loosely organized homeboy crews from North Carolina, D.C., New York, or wherever. The Muslim religious sects were another faction that made power moves and were feared as their numbers were always deep.

It's smart not to join or beef with a gang, because in such disputes or an all-out gang war things get brutal and you can wind up dead. The gangs controlled the drugs, the gambling, and the gumps. And if you fucked with their money they would hurt you bad.

There was this one DC cat who came down from the super max huffing and puffing. What a bad-ass he was. Dude was big, alright, and cut up. Straight diesel, like a Mack truck. But he started making his own moves, fucking with the gumps and shit. The queers he was banging belonged to the North Carolina Bloods and when they got the scoop they pushed up on the DC brother-man, telling him he got to pay to play. The DC convict told them bammers, "Fuck you." So the Bloods retaliated, and stabbed "da nigga" 37 times. Leaving him dead with a shank up his ass.

There aren't any fair fights in prison either. "Anything goes" as they say. If you take a wrong step you might get gangstered by a crew of homeboyz. The prison gangs always jump people and the Mexicans are the most notorious for it. If you put it on a Mexican you better have some back because like White Shoes says, "Thirty of those little burrito-eating motherfuckers are coming for you." La Rasa will swarm like locusts, attacking in numbers to inflict maximum damage.

Most disputes are handled quietly and decisively though, because a gang war leads to bodies and that means lockdown, which stops the flow of the crews hustles. Most killings are internal also as up and comers make power plays and attempt to knock off rivals. As long as you are assertive, handle your business, and got some back, the prison gangs will leave you alone, because they prey on the weak and unconnected. In some prisons it pays to be affiliated if that is what the custom dictates, but in the end you'll have to make your own decision, and live or die with it.

The gangs operate on the fear principle. They know their numbers and affiliation will intimidate you. But that isn't always the case. Sometimes a crew might get into something they can't handle and end up getting punished.

A favorite prison maxim is "Go hard." Some convicts live their lives following this creed. To the prison gangs these are words to die for. I knew these Dirty White Boys who thought they were the shit. They tried to lock down a wine hustle in their unit. They had most of the unit in check when this "2701b nigga", Tank, decided he wasn't paying no crackers for no fucking wine. He stole the Dirty White Boy's hooch from the stash spot and dared them to do anything. It was put up or shut up time and the Dirty White Boys were going hard. They strapped up with pipes and went to apply justice, prison style. They were outclassed and chumped out though as Tank took their pipes and beat the shit out of their whole crew. The gangs depended on fear and violence, but clearly the intimidation factor was lacking here, because the Dirty White Boys ran to the cop for protection from Big Tank.

In prison most people fit into two categories, good or no-good. There are old-timers, like White Shoes, who go around and talk of nothing else, but who is good and who isn't. They have spent so many years inside they are consumed by it. Any slight infraction like reneging on a bet or bullshitting too much can get you the no-good label. But if you carry yourself right, handle your business, keep your mouth shut, and are true to your word then you will be considered a stand-up convict. If you have been exposed or exploited without getting your respect, hang around the man too much, or go in and out of the hole all the time without showing any paperwork, you will be considered shady and fit into the no-good category. Prisoners might call you a crackhead, a whaler, a punk, or the worst, a rat. If you pick up one of these labels you are fucked, because reputations stick with you and count as much as respect. Being labeled a rat will hinder you for the rest of your time inside.

Prisoners who are on time might be called a tough guy, a stand-up con, a solid dude, or a crazy motherfucker. Real convicts are known to "keep it real." A solid reputation will help you to be perceived as a no-nonsense guy who doesn't fuck around. Clowning is okay, but constant goofing is frowned upon by guys doing life. Jailing the right way earns you respect and a good reputation will make predators think twice about trying you.

The biggest way to get respect is to "make your bones" by taking out a no-good motherfucker. Rats, snitches, and chumps are all fair game. But if you show up the man you get big props. This young dude, Scott, from Kentucky handled his business one day at count. The hacks were hassling him to stand-up for count and he tripped on them, cursing and spitting like a lunatic. The cops hit the deuce and bum rushed him. Tackling him as he fought like a wildcat. He ended up in the bucket four-pointed to the bed for six days. When he finally came out after 90 days hole-time he got big respect because he went hard and defied the man.

Another time this crazy ex-marine dude, Trevor, really freaked. He was in the yard getting plastered on hooch. Then on the move he said, "I'm going back and kicking the shit out of the cop in my unit." We were all like "Yeah, right dude, go for it." We thought he was kidding but this motherfucker was dead serious. Later when they locked the prison down we found out Trevor with his drunk, dumb-ass had gone back to his unit, waited for the cop to settle in his office and went in and beat the fuck out of him. I never saw Trevor again, but I'm sure he is serving an extra five years for assault, because the feds don't fuck around when you attack their guards.

A lot of crazy shit happens in here but if you use your head and aren't a shifty dude you will be okay. Basically, in prison it's all about respecting the next man and getting that respect back. We are herded in here like cattle with no privacy, and no rights. We are subjected to strip searches, accountable to the man at every moment, shook down, and humiliated by the powers that be. The little dignity we have left is guarded fiercely and protected violently. If you stay true to yourself, treat people with respect, and carry your weight you will be alright. If you're a fake-ass, phoney motherfucker you're gonna get exposed or worse, by far, violated.

You have to remember, ain't no motherfucker in here gonna help you. If you get in a beef you better fight your way out of it. And always be polite to other prisoners, because you never know how that other dude is feeling or what is going on with their life. Maybe they just lost their appeal and have twenty years to serve. Or they just found out their girlfriend is sucking mad cocks. Or their moms just died and they are looking for an excuse to flip out. If you are not careful you could end up being that excuse. And being on the receiving end of another man's wrath can be vicious, even deadly.

And the cops don't care one way or another. Most of them are just punching the clock. They really don't give a fuck if you make it through the day or not. They're not getting involved to break up any fight. This ain't kindergarten so if you step up you better be prepared to "take it to the wall". When you're down and bleeding the hacks might step in, cuff you, and take you to the hole. But other than that, the pigs are staying out of the way.

In prison you gotta handle your business and keep it real. That means that you can't hide out in your cell for your whole bit, or try to sleep away your time. You have to face the killers, thieves, cutthroats, bullies, reprobates, hoodlums, crackheads, gangsta's, chicano's, gangbangers, junkies, and hustlers everyday. You have to meet them on their turf and represent. You have to put yourself out there as a man who will be respected and who will die going hard. If you're not prepared to do this then you better check into PC and be the punk that you are.

Prison is a far cry from the suburbs, but with the right mindset you can survive. You have to be strong in body, soul, and mind. With discipline and wits you can keep yourself sharp like the edge of a machete, because you want people to know that if they touch you they will bleed. The old con, White Shoes, told me once that hard men shatter, but the strong ones endure. And in prison you have to endure because only the strong survive.








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2012年7月28日 星期六

Should I Upgrade My Sony PSP Firmware


Sony already has a reputation of being in the forefront of the war over digital rights management (e.g., technological solutions that ensure illegal copies of music, games and videos aren't playable or viewable) and so it should be no surprise that the price you pay for upgrading your firmware in the Sony PSP is that you have less and less ability to hack, experiment or exploit the capabilities of your handheld unit.

On the other hand, there's no question that the last few firmware releases from Sony have added a raft of fabulous and invaluable new features and capabilities, not the least of which is a surprisingly full-featured Web browser.

For example, when Sony released firmware 2.0, here's what was added to the PSP's capabilities:

Network

* An Internet browser has been added.

Video

* 4:3 Screen Mode has been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

* Go To feature has been added (for UMDVIDEO and UMDMUSIC).

* A-B Repeat feature has been added (for UMDVIDEO, UMDMUSIC and video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

* Audio options have been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

* MP4 (AVC) has been added as a playable file format (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Music

* The combination of SonicStage version 3.2 (or later) and PSP system software 2.00 (or later) has made it possible for music files in ATRAC3 plus format to be transferred to a Memory Stick PRO Duo

* MP4 (the audio codec for MP4 format audio files is MPEG-4 AAC) and WAV (Linear PCM) have been added as playable file formats (for music saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Photo

* Wallpaper feature has been added.

* Image transfer feature has been added.

* TIFF, GIF, PNG and BMP have been added as viewable file formats.

Settings

* [Character Set] has been added in [System Settings].

* [Theme Settings] has been added.

* [Internet Browser Start Control] has been added as a security mode in [Security Settings].

* WPA-PSK (TKIP) has been added as a security mode in [Network Settings].

Then, in October 2005, Sony released firmware 2.50, which added:

* [LocationFree Player] has been added as a feature under [Network].

* Settings for [Text Size] and [Display Mode] in [Internet Browser] can now be saved.

* The input history of online forms accessed through [Internet Browser] can now be saved.

Settings

* [Set via Internet] has been added as an option to [Date and Time] in [Date & Time Settings] under [Settings].

* [WPA-PSK (AES)] has been added as a security method under [Network Settings].

The most recent firmware release as of this writing is 2.60, which builds on the previous list and now includes:

* [RSS Channel] has been added as a feature under [Network].

* [Volume Adjustment] has been added as an option in the [LocationFree Player] control panel.

* Music data in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format can now be played under [Music]. (This applies to music saved on Memory Stick Duo media.)

* [Enable WMA Playback] has been added as a setting under [System Settings].

I realize that this is confusing. In fact, I'm still running with firmware 2.50 even though the newer release is available. Nothing added is sufficiently compelling to make me upgrade as of yet.

The bottom line is that unless you plan on taking full advantage of homebrew software, you will be much better off upgrading your PSP to receive important security updates and fun new features.




Continued news and guides for the PlayStation Portable

Mark Spencer is an young graphic designer living in Portland, Oregon that likes to play his PlayStation Portable and write on the web.





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Top WAR Online Weapons Guide - Warhammer Online Strategies and Leveling Guides


There is a saying that a weapon is only as good as its wielder. This might be true in the real world, but in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the weapons are as worthy as the one who wields them. The Top WAR Online weapons Guide are not created to be flashy. Instead, they are practical, brutal, and very, very effective.

Before I give you the weapons in the Warhammer world, let me tell you first about a few specific things that you need to know about them. They are the following:

Weapons are divided into varying categories. Experience is needed to use some weapons.

A player's stats and the weapon's stats should match for a player to be able to use the weapon.

Warhammer weapons are specific to a certain army or race. A Greenskin cannot use a weapon made for High Elves and vice versa.

Now that we've covered that, I will tell you about the 12 different weapon types in the Warhammer world. They can be divided into four categories depending on how they are used and their characteristics.The first category is for weapons that are used basically to crush. Warhammer weapons in this category include:

Swords - made to slash and hack enemies, with the additional value of being easy to learn to use.

Hammers - weapons used to cause very heavy damage through crushing force, hammers can be used by Dwarves and Humans.

Maces - a cross between axes and hammers, maces are short weapons that have heavy ends used to crush or puncture your enemy. Marauders use maces, most of the time.

Axes - like hammers, axes are made to crush, with the added damage of slicing into your enemy. Dwarves usually wield axes, but other races, such as Greenskins and High Elves can use them, too.

The second category is for Warhammer weapons that are pointed at the end, and still very deadly. Examples are:

Daggers - these weapons have the advantage of being small and easily concealable. Witch Elves mainly use daggers.

Spears - a great melee weapon, spears allow you to attack without getting near your opponent. Squig Herders usually use spears.

Choppas - a weapon made of metal and wood that form a death stick, choppas appear crude, but they are deadly slicing and crushing weapons. Only Greenskins can use them.

Staves - similar to spears, staves are basically staffs that magic users wield. Staves boost magic and are great melee weapons.

Halberds - These kinds of Top WAR Online weapons Guide are long with a huge blade in the end. Used like a sword and staff at the same time, halberds are very dangerous and effective weapons.

The last category is for ranged weapons such as:

Bows - can cause damage from a distance. High Elves mainly use them.

Grenades - a surprisingly nice addition to weapons in the Warhammer world (other MMOs don't have them) grenades are used by Dwarves, causing massive damage at every use.

Pistols - great for close range fighting. Mostly used by Humans and Dwarves.

Rifles - long range weapons that can stop an enemy before he or she even gets near you.

So remember these weapon types so that you will be better armed (and protected!) while battling it out in the Warhammer world. Only good can come from this knowledge!

Do you want to start out one step ahead of everyone else in Warhammer Online and always keep it that way?




Do you want to start out one step ahead of everyone else in Warhammer Online and always keep it that way?

No matter which army you are, get your equipments right, avoid mistakes in spending mastery points, and know the top Warhammer online strategies at http://TopWarGuides.blogspot.com now.





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