GANK Inc versus Beasts of Northrend (Heroic)
Oct 17th
I wasn’t there…but I’m proud of my premier raiding team. 
Vent: Your frustration
Oct 17th
Talk not type!
Well, maybe not your frustration…but mine.
Last night I tanked Trial of the Crusade (10-man) for the first time on my warrior. It really brought home the importance of Ventrilo (or Teamspeak if that is your thing).
We began with me and a new-ish Paladin tank and it did not go well. Why?
Well, our Paladin friend – a long standing Guild member for the record – did not have Vent installed. Hasn’t had for sometime and apparently can’t or won’t. That makes doing the taunting off each other very hard on the Impales. For me at least, typing while tanking is not an option. There’s too much to keep track of to break out and type. That’s just the way it is.
After a couple of wipes we swapped him out (and he had to go anyway).
Next came another Warrior tank and good friend of mine. Vent installed but no microphone so no speaking. A “Taunt” macro sufficed for him to let me know and he, of course, could hear me call for a taunt when I had two or three stacks of Impale. This made the first part of the Beasts of Northrend doable, but due to other factors we had him switch to healing and yet another Paladin tank joined me.
THIS tank, however, had Vent AND a microphone – and everything went fine first time out. We talked to each other, there was no panicking and even switching phases was handled smoothly. Communication – it’s key.
Ok, it’s not SO important for DPS – especially ranged DPS – and perhaps even less so for healers who are properly assigned. But for tanks – Ventrilo is now a must for any raid I am involved in as a tank. It’s a new rule.
For any raid leaders out there struggling on certain content that doesn’t at least have their tanks talking to one another in real time – make them or remove them. You WILL see the difference.
…of the Nightfall. OS 10 3D downed at last.
Oct 8th
Getting this title has been an ambition for a while. Trying to do it the ‘traditional’ way always proved impossible. So why not just walk in, clear trash and then nuke Sartharion down, using only one tank, one healer and eight DPS? ZERG!
It works, try it…
Flickroom: Browse Flickr from your desktop
Oct 1st
One of the most exciting Flickr developments in recent times, the Flickroom application allows desktop browsing of Flickr using the Adobe Air platform.
But this isn’t just another way of viewing Flickr…no, this is to Flickr what Tweetdeck is to Twitter. And its dark, neutral and pleasing appearance is very reminiscent of the Twitter desktop client. Take a look:
Ok, so what does it actually do? First of all, you authorize the app to access your Flickr account. Now you can browse your photostream, your groups, your sets…it is like being logged into the web interface only better presented (depending on your opinion – that’s mine). Across the top of the app are your main menu functions, including:
- A button to view the most recent uploads of your Flickr contacts
- A button to open the upload tool in Flickroom
- A button to access the Flickroom chatroom – IN the app
- A button to search Flickr – photos AND users
- A button for the obligatory settings
- A button to give feedback to the developers
There are a couple of things I want to focus on there.
The Upload Function
This is very, very clever. Easy to use, offers the full features that the Flickr web interface does and allows you to drag and drop onto the app rather than searching through your file structure. You can also add more than one pic at a time, though you can only edit details individually – a limitation of space more than anything else. Clever. As I said.
From there you can title your pic, give it a description, tag it, add it to a set and / or group and set its privacy level. All that before you hit upload.
Flickroom Uploader
The upload time is fast and you can view your new pics in your photostream by clicking the Reload link on the Photostream page.
The Flickroom Chatroom
This COULD prove to be one of the most useful tools offered by Flickroom. It’s certainly an interesting experience chatting with fellow users, learning how they use the app and what sort of things they find interesting on Flickr. It could be a brand new way of finding new users to follow that share the same interests as you. Right now I found it a little quiet and dominated by just a few users.
With the addition of rooms and more users – yes, it could be brilliant.
Browsing
The browsing experience in Flickroom is very good. Already connected to your groups through your account, the search function is strong and the app allows you to comment, favourite, add a note, save to your hard drive and even Tweet about the pic you are viewing.
You can control how much detail about the image is displayed ranging from a simply slideshow appearance to a sidebar with all the description, comments, tags, and EXIF data. From here you can also add the person who posted the pic as a contact.
If you’re looking for an aesthetically pleasing way of viewing Flickr on your desktop this is it – and it does compliment Tweetdeck in appearance, so if you are a style guru it’s ideal. Basically, you should never need to visit Flickr again. Except…if you want video. But you can bet the Flickroom team are working on that too.
Link: Flickroom
Have you been looking for a Flickr desktop app? Have you tried Flickroom? Do you know of any similar apps? Let me know in the comments.
Comments