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Byron the Tauren Rogue: The cow, the legend, the gnome
When I approached the editors of WoW.com to ask them if they'd be interested in letting me do some work, I was thrilled when they agreed and took me on. The creative freedom I got was incredible: "Write us an idea, and if it's all right, you can do it." Thus, Byron the Tauren Rogue was born. Now, the legend of the tauren rogue is just one of many jokes within the WoW universe, like the cow level, or skilled ret paladins. Even though I was told that this idea was "done to death," I really wanted to try out the lovable oaf sort of character. What I didn't expect is what it would turn into. The general synopsis of Byron is as such: Byron is a young, male tauren who dreams of becoming the first rogue of his kind. His friends -- skilled rogues themselves -- dare Byron to sneak into Stormwind and steal the Shield of Fordragon. If he can acquire it and safely escape the city, then he has more than proven himself.
Stolen teen's iPod lawsuit settled, mom insulted
Good news America, the case of 14-year-old Shannon Derrick's missing iPod has come to a close. The DuPage County Circuit Court has ordered Stephanie Eick to hand over the 30GB iPod that she received last Christmas to Shannon Derrick. That, as a replacement for Shannon's iPod nano which was stolen after Stephanie left the two-week old nano on Shannon's classroom desk after borrowing it on the last day of 8th grade. In time-honored tradition, the victor's prize will be sold on eBay as the "Derrick iPod." Proceeds from the sale will "help launch" a junior CrimeStoppers program in the girls' hometown. We presume their first order of business will entail growing huge militant afros before shaking down the 8th grade ruffians in the room where the iPod was swiped in the first place. As to Melanie McCarthy, Shannon's stage mother who rejected that anonymously donated nano sent in a bid to end the madness, well she calls the settlement "an insult." Come now dear, we're sure you're in for a little of that Virgin Mary on Toast, pop culture profit in about 5 days, 4 hours, and 32 minutes. Now run along children, we hear there's a new Class Action Lawsuit club starting in the cafeteria.Update: Anyone else notice the shameless, iPod white and black fingernails on Shannon?[Thanks, Ricardo]
Sadly, iPod girls will not get publicly berated by Judge Judy
In what is slowly snowballing into the Trial of the Century (and being only 2006, we can safely say the Trial of the Millennium), the dispute between the families of Shannon Derrick and Stephanie Eick over a stolen iPod will not, unfortunately, be resolved in the hallowed halls of Judge Judy's tough-but-fair courtroom. Amusingly, the plaintiff's mother originally saw the show as a quick way to resolve the matter on a level playing field, even though this whole incident could have been put to bed weeks ago had said mother not rejected a free iPod and associated swag donated by an anonymous do-gooder. As much as we'd love to hear JJ's take on this silly matter, since Eick's parents have been dropped from the suit and now only the piggybank of 14-year-old Stephanie is being pursued, it's up to her to approve a change of venue from Illinois to California. According to dad Steve, young Stephanie -- now a high school freshman -- doesn't want to go the Judy route because -- get this -- she'd have to miss two days of school and diving practice. (Who says kids these days lack ambition? When we were on the swim team, we would have given up our favorite pair of goggles to miss class and those grueling after-school torture sessions). Anyway, the next chapter in this saga will be played out on October 18th, when a DuPage County judge will attempt a last ditch effort at ending the debacle amicably through a settlement hearing. And after that? The high-profile case will most likely end up going to trial, and regardless of the final resolution, there's a good chance that Apple's legal team will swoop in and sue both families for besmirching the good name of their precious little cash cow.[Via The Beacon News, thanks Ricardo]
