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Captain's Log: More Star Trek Online help for the new player
The news is out! Lobi are now accessible account-wide! They're no longer bound to a single character! While I would love to be able to write an entire column about how happy the change has made me, I won't make our readers endure it, but it sure was a fun way to start off this week's Captain's Log. The good news for some is that this week's column will be dedicated to the brand new players of Star Trek Online. This decision was triggered by an email I received from a reader who wanted to know how he could change his character's outfit without having to go to the tailor all the time. He was a very new player and was embarrassed to ask anyone else, and trusted I wouldn't make him feel a fool. It was then I realized that there are lots of little things in Star Trek Online that aren't obvious to new players. While many of those things are second nature to me now, I recall with bitter clarity what it was like to be so new that asking a stranger for help was akin to playing Russian roulette. So join me past the break as I touch on what all those tiny little icons on the HUD mean.
How to comment on WoW Insider
A lot of readers have been asking lately about the new commenting system, and so here's a short guide to setting yourself up in our comments section here on WoW Insider.Our new comments section will not only remember all of your personal information, but they'll also let you use an avatar of your choosing, and even reply to and moderate others' comments. First things first, you've got to get set up with a password. To get one, you simply leave a comment as a new user, putting your name and email in the comments form (under "New Users" below). Then, you'll get sent a message to that email address, with a password (usually random letters and numbers) to sign back in. Come back to the site, and now leave another comment with your email, and the new password (under the "Current Users" title in the comments section), and you're good to go.The next thing you'll want to do is set up your profile, and you can do that by clicking on your name in the comment that you posted.Update: Hopefully this is working for everybody. Lots of people are asking why we do it this way, and I've got a short answer and a long answer. Short answer is "because this is how Blogsmith does it, and we're run with Blogsmith." Longer answer is that the system was designed, I believe, to be quick and easy-- enter your info as a new user, and you get your password and account set up for you. Enter your info as a "current user," and you never have to click another email again. We are listening to your feedback, so if you have ideas, we're all ears (and of course whatever we come up with has to be implemented by our coders, so thanks for being patient). But for now, this is how it works, and hopefully everyone has their situation figured out. Thanks again for reading!
Giving into iPod
A recent story over at the Sun Chronicle points out one of the biggest issues facing new iPod owners: stacks of unripped CDs and the unrealistic expectations that go along with your music library. Owning a new iPod shouldn't be a burden. Here are a few quick tips to ease your adjustment to iPod. Give yourself time. You didn't buy your entire library all at once, so why should you feel you have to load your iPod at all once? Throttle back your expectations and grow your iTunes collection a little bit at a time. An incomplete library doesn't mean failure. You don't have to rip your entire CD collection in order to enjoy your iPod. Remember that you can only listen to a single song at a time. Don't feel tied to your older music. People grow and change. The CDs you bought a decade or two ago might help you connect to your past but if your musical tastes have changed over time, allow yourself to buy new tracks without feeling obligated to your older collection. No one will be checking in on you to make sure all those 80's and 90's CDs got digitized. Explore. One of the great things about iTunes is that you can taste new music without commitment. Check out the charts. Listen to the free 30-second samples. And don't forget that every Tuesday, iTunes offers free tracks that might lead you to find new artists and styles to enjoy on your iPod. Think different. If your CD collection is just too much of a burden to face, you can enjoy any number of free podcasts on your new iPod and if you own a 5G or newer unit, you can use it to watch TV and movies as well. The iPod does not begin or end with music. iPods shouldn't remain wrapped and unused on a coffee table like Lauren Carter's does. What are your tips for overwhelmed new iPod users?
