Busy Busy

Posted on by

Lately I’ve been back on WoW.  The last big raid has been out since Xmas and the last guy was killed in Feb (Arthas, the Lich King).  I’ve always been interested in the story.  I played a lot when this expansion came out last year just didn’t have the time for the end game and pretty much burned out.  Now I’m back with a renewed vigor and a new goal.  Money.

A long time ago, I played around with the virtual market.  There are 5 ways to make money in the game.

  1. Through NPCs and quests.  Gives a steady stream of money, maybe 300g an hour.
  2. Through selling loot acquired.  Can be a huge amount can be a small amount.  Unfocused, maybe 100g an hour, focused maybe closer to the 300g.
  3. Collection skills. Herbs, ore, leather… all get a decent price on the market.  Maybe closer to 500g, if you get lucky.
  4. Buy low, sell high.  This is the riskiest one as you assume you know that an item is underpriced.  Plus you need money for the initial investment.  You could make 50g like you can make 10,000g.
  5. Tradeskills.  It seems simple enough, just make something and sell it.  If you collect the base materials, no cost to you right?  Well, there’s the time cost which is not negligible.  I’m focusing on this particular point lately.
I made the following spreadsheet to help me along.  First page are the base materials and their market cost.  Each other page is a tradeskill and the more popular items I can make with it. I then breakdown the cost of making the item and the potential sale price.  Items that have multiple steps I break down further for even more savings (Jewelcrafting is one).  I started this week (Sunday) filling in the chart and slowly have been moving my way through it.  I guess I make about 1000g a day from it right now as I’m still trying to figure out the optimal way to move forward.  Not to mention that my enchanter is missing a lot of skills and I don’t have an Inscriber.
A bit more breakdown if you will for the tradeskills and their potentials:
  • Alchemy: can make potions for some minimal profits.  you need to get the base mats yourself though.  Can transmute 1 time per day, which turns out to be around 100g profit.
  • Enchanting: can make scrolls with enchants that sell for a decent profit, if you buy the base materials at a good price.  Less about volume, more about profit.
  • Engineering: other than 2 items, I can’t figure out how to make money here as most items can only be used by the creator…
  • Jewelcrafting: You cut lower end jewels to something more valuable.  There is some money here, though not trucks of it.  Combines really well with Alchemy transmutes.  1 transmute + 1jc = 150g.  9 transmutes + 1jc = 1200g.
  • Inscription: Works on the principles of volume.  Possibly the biggest money maker if you play your cards right.
  • Leatherworking: Tough one as I don’t have a high level one.  There is potential for money though.
  • Tailoring: Pretty close to leatherworking in terms of profits.  You can make bags for a decent turnover but that only brings in about 100g a day.
I’m thinking of making more alchemists to make more money and get an inscriber too.  Though alchemy would only give me ~150g more a day (and therefore take 15 days to recoup training costs), there are long term benefits to it.  Inscription is one that requires a lot of hands on work… we’ll see!
Man I love analytical work.
Posted in WoW

Insanity – Micro Review

Posted on by

I’m not all that far into Insanity yet but I have a few points to mention for the curious.  You can check a few YouTube videos out too.  Let’s get to it.

The program is essentially a pure plyometrics workout.  This means that you’re essentially always moving, using bodyweight and leg movements to keep the heartrate up.  Think of calisthenics (jumping jacks) but always jumping.  In addition to this crazy movement, it uses maximum interval training techniques.  A traditional exercise has you at maybe 50-60% heart rate for the entire duration or short spikes of activity with long breaks.  You either ride a bike for a long time or you workout muscles in batches of 30s with a minute break.

On long periods of activity, biking or running for example, your heart rate spikes, then drops to a plateau.  Basically, if you can reach the 3 minute mark, you can reach 30 minutes pretty easy.  The largest benefits are in the first 3 minutes though, since your heart rate actually drops after that point and your body plateaus at a given energy burn rate.  To put a number on it, let’s say you burn 600 calories in a 1 hour run, for 10 cals/minute on average.  Actually what happens is that you burn about 100 calories in the first 3 minutes and then the other 500 calories on the last 57.  So 33 cals/min to start then you drop down to 8 cals/min afterwards.

On spike training, like weights, your body spikes into rushes of energy into your muscles burning huge amounts of energy but for very short periods of time.  Doing 12 reps of curls might take 30 seconds but you’re only forcing energy for half that time (the way up), then you’re resting for about a minute, giving your body time to recover.  Sometimes longer.  Not to mention that you’re actively trying to get muscle fatigue that reduces the length of time you can train.  If you weight train for an hour at a regular pace, you’re looking at 300 calories burnt, half of what you’d get in the previous example, and you’re building muscle. The actual building of the muscle comes after the workout while your muscles recover.

Next we have interval training.  This is what athletes use for their programs because of the way it confuses the body.  Remember the first example where the first 3 minutes are the best and then you plateau?  Same principle here except that you do it at 80% heart rate for 3 minutes, then drop to 50% for a short period of time (up to the same cycle length), then repeat.  In that cycle, you burn about 800 calories and keep the muscles and heart rate confused.  Staying too long in a particular range, your body adapts.  Move in and out of that range and your body cannot adapt and will always work at 100% effectiveness.  P90X does this to some extent but it’s hard to with weights.  Still, I can guarantee better weight loss results with P90X that any gym session you’d have.

Finally, we have max interval training.  This takes the previous example and focuses the activity and reduces the recovery.  You go full out 80-90% heart rate for 3-5 minutes, then a 30 second break and restart.  In an hour, you burn 1000 calories, if you can last that long.  What also happens is that even when you stop working your heart continues to pump blood and energy into ever muscle for a long period of time.  The same thing happens in regular interval training but here, the effect is more pronounced.  You can feel it in your body as your heart rate will typically take 30 minutes to an hour to get back to normal resting rate.  This has an effect of increasing your post-workout burn rate by nearly 1000% compared to regular training (running).

Wow, all that before I get to the program bits.  Insanity uses a max interval training method along with plyometrics for some rather crazy results.  One particular program, Pure Cardio, had me go through about 450 calories in 30 minutes.  I had an average heart rate of 80% the entire time (since the rest periods are small).  I could feel my heart rate for a good 45 minutes after the program was complete as well.  Let’s put that into perspective a bit. The average person should eat 2000 calories a day.  I burn off 25% of that in a single exercise for 30 minutes and that’s not counting the post-workout burn. In 2 weeks, I’ve lost 6 lbs. The next time I do this workout I will take my measurements for an hour after the workout and compare them to the weight training results I have.  I’d be curious to see the comparative results.

All of that to say that if you’re looking for a program to burn through tons of calories in a short period of time, I cannot think of a program that would give better results that this.  It will make your weight melt off.

Russia

Posted on by

Well how about that?  Canada shows up and plays a real hockey game.  Hats off to Getzlaf and Perry for playing their TRUE style, bump and grind.  It was refreshing to see.  Still a few mistakes here and there and I wasn’t a fan of the 3rd.  When you consider Ovechkin had 21 minutes of ice time, no points and only 3 shots, something is going right.

Looking forward to the next game.

Couple Things

Posted on by

Part the first.  Insanity day 2.  41 minute program of cycle cardio.  Essentially you do specific move sets for about 2.5mins, then 30 second break and repeat 3 more times.  Then again.  The warm-up is a 12 minute non-stop cardio workout followed by a 7 minute stretch.  I got through that part fine.  If people can’t, they really shouldn’t be doing the program I guess.  Of note, 151 BPM average.  35 minutes tallied on my heart rate monitor for 400 calories.

I was able to complete 1 of the 2 circuits following.  My quads are just killing me right now and power squats were simply impossible after about 50.  I have yet to figure out how to properly stretch quads as everyone focuses on hamstrings.  Maybe it’s years of hockey but I’ve never hurt my hamstrings but my quads have always ached.  Anyhow, all that to say that I’m taking a few days off this intense program to rest up the legs.  Not that I have a lot of time mind you, with the floor renos this weekend!

Part 2.  Hockey.  Yes.  Iginla and Crosby are finally teamed up for most of the game and look what happens.  Go Doughty!  Getzlaf gets put on the checking line (hell, 4th line it looked like).  There are quite a few players who just should not be on this team and it’s refreshing to know that Babcock is taking the steps to make that clear to the players.  Show up or ship out. Oh and if anyone is asking if Crosby should have taken that penalty shot instead of Nash, hell yes.  Blocking lanes and taking shots from the point (where was that for 2 games?).  A strong passing game, outside lane zone entry, good cycles. Goalie didn’t play the puck every time it was within 10 feet.  It’s like the team woke up.  Now, there are still issue mind you but it’s reassuring to see that game as the game Canadians should be playing.

New Workout Program

Posted on by

I’ve finished a few runs of P90x now.  Down 35lbs in the fall.  Put on maybe 5lbs of muscle since then (among other things!).  I could have better held onto the program and seen better results but I am damn proud and happy with what I’ve achieved.  I should have tried the P90x-plus program to see where they addressed certain portions I didn’t like.  Yoga is way too long, Kenpo is only effective half the time.  Cardio and Core just don’t cut it.  Plyo is great though.  Overall, if you just do the weight training and do your own cardio to burn 300-500 on off days you’ll get more out of it.

So now I’ve moved onto another BeachBody program, Insanity. This is a pure cardio/gravity training program.  6 days of cardio and promises results in 60 days.  From stuff I’ve been reading, people can get 700-1000 calories in an hour with this thing.  To put that into perspective, the average male eats 2100 calories a day. It’s caloric deficit training, so it will shed the pounds.

I did the fit test last night.  25 minutes, I’m thinking this will be easy.  It’s pretty much pure Plyometrics.  Jumping and pushing and moving.  In 25 minutes I had an average heart rate of 140 and burned about 300 calories.  It is friggin’ hardcore cardio.  I might do the next one tonight or rest, we’ll see.  I’ll give the program a shot until the end of March and report back on what happens.  I am guessing to see about a 3lbs loss per week after the firs week, given the amount of effort per workout.

I Feel For Ya

Posted on by

After watching that hockey game, I really feel bad for some people.  First, Mike Babcock.  He is going to get thrown under a bus with the very interesting decisions he’s made so far in regards to lines.  When my wife is asking “Why is that guy on the ice now?”, you know there’s a million other people thinking the exact same thing.

Players who need to show up:

  • Brodeur – What an odd game for him.  The first 3 goals were just, head shaking.
  • Pronger – Well, he’s actually playing like I expect him to.  If he’s not hitting people, then he shouldn’t be skating.
  • Getzlaf – I had serious questions about him playing with his ankle.  Watching him skate the past 3 games, I feel the same way.  There is no reason for him to be getting the ice time he is getting.  None.
  • Nash – Cut a foot off your stick man!  The amount of shots this guy cannot take because he stick is tangled is retarded.  This isn’t the NHL where you’re skating against children.
  • Thorton – Retire and put people out of their misery.  All you can do is pass, you can’t skate or shoot or hit.
  • Perry – That open net goal for USA is going to break him.

Players who should be getting more ice time

  • Crosby – He’s the only one who looks to be skating most times.
  • Iginla – Only with Crosby.  I didn’t see him at all in the first two periods, then in the 3rd he’s back with Crosby and plays like a madman.
  • Doughty – Only D I see worth a damn past Neidermeyer.

I’ve had some serious questions with the team Yzerman built.  The past three games have not helped.  Most of the players seem to think it’s some sort of NHL game where they can skate 25% of the time.  The US has it on 100% of the time.  Every shift they are aggressive on the puck and their checks.  If they mess up, the skate to catch up with the play.  Effort.

Canada just needs to play some hockey instead of watching other teams play hockey.

Mass Effect 1 vs Mass Effect 2

Posted on by

I read the following article and it got me thinking about the progress from the first game to the second.  Potential Spoilers Ahead!

I’ll start of by defining my baseline.  I am an avid RPG fan.  I am not diehard to the point of reading miles upon miles of text to move forward but I like the idea of character progression and having an impact on the world around me.  I like the complexity of the decision trees and the repercussions down the road.  Dragon Age, I am looking squarely at you for setting a new bar in that domain.  I also enjoy 3rd person action/shooters. Gears of War, DarkSiders, Uncharted 2 are good examples.  Style + substance is important.

We’ll go back to ME1.  I replayed it in January to get a new save ready for the sequel so the concepts are still fresh in my mind.  The game was primarily an RPG with shooter elements.  RPG in the sense of lots of equipment choices, skill choices, great decision trees and writing as well as a complex, intertwined story.  You felt as if each step you took had an impact on the next and you could encounter 5 sub-quests on any given main quest.  The linkages between the main quests however, were only superficial.  It was also a shooter but only in the broadest sense.  Baring 2 particular fights, you could essentially just walk around with your finger on the trigger and beat every battle.  It also has some pacing issues and we all remember the Mako (ugh).  The Mako was a main issue of contention with horrid controls (I mean, who tested it and thought it was good?) and no relevance to the game other than to increase speed on terrain travel.  Other sore points were an abundance of skills with little impact (15 ranks of a skill, with 1% gain per point is odd), confusing inventory management (30+ assault rifles, identical to each other except for a marginal gain in damage), the longest elevator rides ever and forgettable teammates (Tali?).  What it did right was a great story, awesome main character progression, immersion and a grey scale of alignment.

The ME2 development team seemingly took every comment, good and bad, about the first game and tried to distill it to something more pure in the sequel.  Mako? Gone. Grenades? Gone.  Mundane companions?  Gone.  Confusing inventory and skills? Gone.  Great story immersion?  Improved.  Decision impacts? Greatly improved.  As the original article mentions, some sacrifices were made in order to address these issues.  The concept of a “hub” of activities has been removed, instead it acts more like a spider-web of places of interest.  The exploration factor has been diminished in favor of more directed progress.  You don’t stumble across a quest on a remote planet as easily.  Compared to the 20-ish explorable planets in ME1, you have nearly 100 in ME2 but only explorable from space.

What you gain in diversity, you lose in detail.  This in turn means that the set pieces themselves are but stages for actors to play in, so each and every item has a meaning and purpose.  Instead of having superfluous items and conversation choices, every decision you make seemingly has an impact somewhere.  Though this definitely improves impact it actually detracts from immersion on the whole.  It’s those little side quests, like getting an exhaust manifold for a truck, that push you deeper into the world.  When you look at a painting, as much as the larger aspect and message is important, you automatically find a particular detail that is unique to your perspective and less important to others.  THIS IS IMMERSION!  You gain value from such perspective and from value comes importance.  When every decision has an impact, none of them do.

ME2 does away with nearly every single technical and gameplay fault from the first game.  Skills are simplified yet still offer diversity.  Weapons are easier to manage.  There are few breaks within a given quest to slow progress.  Everything is related to everything else.  It is truly an amazing game.  But for this amazing accomplishment, the developers had to sacrifice that tiniest sliver of things, purpose.  Purpose is what would have made this game an 11/10 and it’s so close you can taste it.  I am astounded by the accomplishments BioWare has done in their past 2 games.  They have set the bar so high that it is difficult to imagine any other game coming close in the near future.

New Product Will Change Everything

Posted on by

http://www.physorg.com/news184310039.html

I don’t often post these sort of things but holy shart.  Imagine a spray-on liquid that makes any surface it touches nearly immune to bacteria, resists water and dirt and doesn’t absorb UV light.  Did I mention it’s non-toxic and breathable?  Also only 100 nanomoters?  That’s the scale they use to measure light waves!  You could put this thing on absolutely anything and be practically immune from having to clean it.  And it’s going on sale for about 9$ in the UK next year.

Amazing.