Kayak might be the best travel Web site EVER. Entering your search criteria one time, it searches tons of sites for the best possible prices. I especially love it for airfare - it saved me a ton versus what I could have spent on my round-trip flight to London.

I didn’t know much about Barcelona before I went there, so I counted on user ratings and reviews when figuring out where to stay. The people who posted reviews on Expedia certainly steered me right! By giving it a 5 out of 5 stars, they pointed me to the Gallery Hotel in Eixample, a quaint, sort of upscale area that’s steps away from several Gaudi buildings. My friend Amy and I loved the hotel - it was an escape from the more touristy parts of town.

(One note: ratings and reviews are fickle! The 5 out of 5 I saw a few weeks ago is now a 4.4 because many people didn’t appreciate the construction on the hotel’s street. I guess my point is this - check back often!).

And doing Google blog searches gave me some great insights for our visit to Barcelona. In particular, we visited La Boqueria because of the raves it got in several blogs.  (I got some great gelato and really fresh strawberries there).

Now…not all technology is bad on a vacation. When paying by credit card in both the UK and Spain, they bring a gadget to your table, swipe the card, have you enter your PIN when necessary, and that’s it. Why don’t we have this in the U.S?! No worries about handing your credit card to a perfect stranger and watching it disappear for several minutes. Genius.

And I do snap like the paparazzi when traveling; I wear out my digital camera’s battery in a matter of hours! That’s necessary vacation technology. Once home, I load the best of those photos to an online gallery so my friends can see them. And most recently, I shared the link to my vacation photos on Facebook. It’s been really fun having my friends comment on my trip and pictures like this one.

All vacations come to an end, and it’s nice to be home. I did miss my DVR.  But I can’t wait for my next trip … Germany in October!

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Why, you may ask? Just click on the image below:

That’s right, for all of you creative types addicted to World of Warcraft, today is the start of the World of Warcraft Machinima Contest! Here’s your chance to put your talents to the test in a contest against other talented machinima artists. Top prize of an XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition laptop! 

Machinima has come a long way in the past few years, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what gets submitted. With an XPS M1730 and an Alienware Area-51 up for grabs, the competition should prove to be pretty fierce. Drop by the Web site, check out the forum, and craft your winning entry!

To get you even more into the mood, I bring you The Ballad of the Noob:

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Most recently, that “something” for me is the latest series of unique Mike Ming designs tattooed on the front covers of select Dell laptops, or more specifically the new special art edition Dell Studio 15 and Studio 17 laptops. These covers beautifully depict elements of my favorite places.

My two favorite patterns out of the five are Red Swirl and Seaweed. I went with Red Swirl as it reminds me of getting caught in a big beautiful wave that I get to ride for a few moments before it crashes to the ocean bottom.

The colors and organic patterns are just cool and make my new laptop look like, well, mine.  Check out Dell’s Flickr account for more images. (Btw, Seaweed was a very close second choice. The greens and blacks look 3D and fly off the back of the laptop.)

Overall, I am super excited about my new laptop. Not only does it sport 4GB of memory and a screaming video card, it makes me think of my happy place.

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My mother — an avid sewing IT professional, which also makes her far from the stereotypical sewer — bought me a Bernina on my 24^th birthday.  With no disrespect to the incredible embroidery my grandmother did or all of the Halloween costumes my mother made for me, it felt like a gift for the elderly. In response to my surprise, my mother told me something that could not have been more spot on –the technology in these machines is exciting and makes sewing so easy and addictive, that I would fall in love with sewing. She was right.

So what has the sewing industry done to make this old world hobby have new world appeal? Pack in serious technology. The same kind of technology we want in our PCs. Let’s take the new Bernina 830 for example, as it is the first thing I will buy if I win the lotto.

The high-res 7″ touch screen has brilliant colors and large icons for navigation. You can even drag and drop stitches to put them in sewing order. If the power goes out while you’re embroidering, the patented “Module with Brains” knows how and where to pick up so you don’t lose a stitch or ruin your design. The software is Microsoft Window’s based and comes with many embroidery designs to choose from, including word art. And if you don’t like the choices that come with the machine, have no fear. Just start up your Dell and create your own, through the Art Design software.

Talk about personalization! With these PC dream features, Bernina and others have brought sewing up to state-of-art technology and arguably a little beyond.  And now on to my obsession with fabric, as seen by my closet full of bolts. Has fabric caught up to technology, too? Stay tuned later this week for a post by Jennifer.

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Amid the buzz of my trip to Dallas for QuakeCon two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from my colleague Jay Pinkert, who was wondering if I would be interested in blogging about the “troll culture.” The e-mail contained a link to a very interesting New York Times article entitled “The Trolls Among Us.”

For the uninitiated, a “troll” on the Internet is defined as “a user of a newsgroup, forum or message board that posts messages with the intent of inciting an argument or flame-war” (http://www.studiodog.com/web-jargon.html). Reading this well-written article by Mattathias Schwartz reminded me that “troll culture” and “gaming griefer” culture were one in the same. I have admittedly taken part in both, as have many of my past “griefing buddies.” Granted, my online shenanigans were mild in comparison to the activities illuminated in the article.

Before I get flamed in the comments (much like the comments in Virginia Heffernan’s editorial about Schwarz’ article) for being one of these so-called sociopathic malcontents who enjoy tormenting others online for sport, I feel a little background and an explanation may be in order. The best background I can give comes from my recent online griefing experiences.

I have been playing Eve-Online for two years now, and when signing up for the game, I knew exactly what role I wanted to fulfill: I wanted to be a veritable terror. I wanted to find those within the game who felt they were safe by virtue of the sheer amount of virtual property they had attained within the game, and then dramatically remind them that they could fall from the pedestal they had placed themselves upon. I aimed to grief, plain and simple. The game admittedly attracts people like me in droves, as can be seen from their forum board “Crime and Punishment,” which is an online gathering place in the Eve-Online community for those of my ilk. The learning curve in Eve is a fairly steep one, and I prepared for almost a year to embark upon my campaign of virtual destruction.

A year ago, I ran across the blog of a man known in Eve as Nexa Necis, who is the CEO of a fairly hated corporate pirate group known as The Really Awesome Players (TRAPS). Those who know of the corporation in game either respect them for their prowess in guerrilla warfare or loath them for their “cowardly griefing tactics.” I contacted Nexa, applied to the corporation, and started a year-long rampage with the pilots of TRAPS. An interview with Eve-Radio Nexa can be found here.

In TRAPS, our methodology and philosophy was simple: violently interact with other people in game to evoke a response, and if the response was unreasonable, we would commence with griefing. Favorite targets were always those who demonstrated obvious bravado. We would declare war upon our targets, stalk them in game, destroy them at every opportunity, and try to inflict as much damage as possible upon them. Our ultimate goal was to get an apology from them for their rude behavior and to have them pay us a token surrender fee as a show of good faith.

The corporation’s rules were simple:

1)      No smack talk.

2)      No lying, cheating or scamming.

3)      Always honor your word.

4)      See rule #1

Objectively, what TRAPS does could be seen as an in-game racketeering ring. Subjectively, we thought it was fun, especially if we could elicit a meltdown from our victims in public chat for posterity. After all, it was just a game, and this kind of business model is all but encouraged by the developers. Our sarcastic battle cries (common in Eve) were “INTERNET SPACESHIPS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS” and “TRAPS is SERIOUS BUSINESS”.

From the above description, the link to the trolling culture should be obvious. For those who need a little more help, consider an excerpt from Jason Fortuny’s response to Virgina Heffington’s editorial linked above (#7):

“… it’s true that there’s nothing funnier than watching an emotionally or intellectually unstable person have a dramatic, public meltdown to a few pokes & prods. It only gets better when the target escalates the situation with even more drama.”

He then goes on to say:

“You know how on your favorite basic cable reality shows the camera captures some crazy person’s meltdown? You squeal with delight at the sheer entertainment value of it.”

Further evidence of this link can be seen in another comment to that article, this time by prominent Second Life entrepreneur and favorite “troll” and “griefer” target Prokofy Neva (#28):

“… the only way civilization will stop this destructive force is by not trivializing it, not thinking “it’s only online and doesn’t count” and “the victims should get over themselves” etc. and view this behaviour for what it is: immoral and wrong…”

She then comes out and says that “trolling” and “griefing” are synonymous, and have been going on for a long time:

“There’s one curious thing that goes on in this more popular treatment of a long-known phenomenon, and that is characterizing these activities as “trolling” and not “griefing” which is the term I think is more familiar to those who play MMORGPs or are in virtual worlds like Second Life…”

What’s my personal opinion? Many of the comments in the editorial cry out against the “perpetrators,” characterizing their actions as immoral and illegal. While it is true that many of the acts in the original Schwartz article ARE illegal, such as throwing bricks through people’s windows and making death threats, those acts are admittedly over the line and have little to do with an artful “trolling” or “griefing.”

It appears to me that Schwartz’ article unwittingly paints all members of the trolling community with a broad brush, and could be construed by the community as inflammatory. At the very least, it breaks the first rule of dealing with trolls: DON’T FEED THEM. It’s very similar to rule #4 in my earlier blog about dealing with griefers, giving them negative attention only feeds the demon.

Honestly, as someone who has “trolled” and “griefed,” Fortuny’s advice in the comment linked seems sound, even if it sounds argumentative and insulting, so I will paraphrase:

1. Don’t reply at all, even privately, and don’t publicly acknowledge the troll’s comments. Don’t even do it on another blog or forum, because the troll will probably follow you there. You’re just “feeding the troll”. This will eliminate further posts from the majority of trolls.
2. If you MUST reply, reassess your post or comment and honestly evaluate it to see if there is a leap in logic in it that could possibly set the troll off. Skilled trolls generally only attack people presenting arguments with glaring flaws in them. Don’t post again until you’ve found the flaw, or have found a better argument by which to defend your point.
3. If the troll continues to assail you after you’ve followed steps 1 and 2, the remaining trolls can usually be appeased if you demonstrate that you don’t take what they say seriously, or even play along. Doing so may make an ally of the troll, and he may then even use “his powers” to staunchly defend you. (Yes, I have seen this happen many times).

Admittedly, the above steps will only help against the average troll who does what they do just to expose what they consider “unwarranted self-importance.” For those who are over the line, they’re probably breaking the law anyway. If so, and if you have real reason to feel threatened by your troll, you should definitely contact the authorities in your area. Most places have laws against activity that constitutes a real threat against a person’s property or health.

Most trolls thankfully “only do it for the lulz.”

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While much of today’s technology might seem to be for the younger set, technology is also advancing for the fastest-growing segment of America’s population (people 65 and older).  Life for this age group can be enhanced by technology that enables independence.

Medication is often one of the first places that a senior may want some help.  E-Pill has pill reminders of all types.  There are watches with reminders that vibrate for the hearing impaired as well as a pill dispenser with a voice alarm.

For someone who uses a personal digital assistant (PDA), On Time Rx provides software downloads for PDAs, laptops and smart phones.  This allows you to not only get reminders to take medication, but also reminders to order refills and keep a self medical record.

Cell phones are coming with more bells and whistles than ever, but not everyone is interested, especially those who have not used a cell phone.  Jitterbug has made a simple cell phone with big buttons and a bright display screen that would be perfect for a first-time user.

For ease with the usual tasks around the house, an automatic jar opener or an iRobot Roomba Vacuum might be helpful.

In the coming weeks, we plan to share more ways that technology can help the lives of seniors as well as the lives of caregivers. Women who have not yet found themselves caring for an aging loved one will likely do so in their lifetime.  For those of you who have, please share your advice and tips.

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With two festivals now behind us, we have collected quite a few videos and pictures from the events.  Come check out the action from the festivals and within the Dell Dome via the following links:

• Lollapalooza
• Virgin Music Festival

Regular tour updates will of course be posted on the Dell Summer Rocks Web site, however there is now an even easier way to stay on top of the action!

Introducing the Dell Summer Rocks Widget:

Content from events will be dynamically uploaded to the widget during the festival, so make sure to add this widget to your blog, social networking and/or iGoogle home page.  Share with your friends and family, then stay tuned in as the tour continues to rock across the country!

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1. Techmamas is looking for votes for the Moms Who Tech SXSW panel.  My vote is in!
2. Are you interested in A Cheaper Way to Make Cell Phone Calls? Bizzy Women thinks it is in our future.
3. Here is a fun one - The Top 10 Geek Girls of TV!

Have a great weekend!

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Here are a few things you may not know about taking online courses:

1.      You can take your classes at many state universities and colleges.  You do not have to go to a special online-only school.  This means you still get a mascot!

2.      Some schools offer complete degree programs online, so you never have to go to class.  I have to go to a testing center for my exams, but some programs do not even require that.

3.      Most classes do not require that you be on the computer at a specific time of the day.  You can do your coursework when you have the time (within deadlines of course).  I study when the kids go to sleep.

4.      Some schools will not charge parking and other facility usage fees because you are not on campus using those facilities.

Many schools have reported a sharp increase in enrollment for online courses.  Saving time is not the only reason.  This summer has seen students turning to online courses to avoid the gas bill.  Whatever it is that has kept you from finishing that degree, the Web might be a great route for you, too!  Of course, buying new school supplies is fun, so why not go ahead and get a backpack to carry your books or laptop.  Going back to school is a good excuse!

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Team Dignitas, which is sponsored by Dell, arrived in staggered stages throughout the day, coming from five different countries and all over the UK. After we said our hellos, I settled down and watched the results of the Command and Conquer tournament come in as I mentally prepared for my own matches, which would be played on Saturday.

In between matches, I found myself on the EA stand meeting Gemma Atkinson, who has a part in their new video game Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. She will be playing a Military Officer Lt Eva McKenna. I had a photo taken with her and a poster signed!

Luckily for me I was able to get in there before the masses came to follow my footsteps. I then sat down, with the EA staff, watching her sign poster after poster. Then to my surprise, I have a tap on my shoulder asking if I could move my stuff so he could sit down… It was Marcus Bent — last season’s English Premier League football player. So, I’ve been hanging out with the superstars!

Saturday was a really busy day. In the morning had to play the winner bracket Semi-Final and then the winner bracket Final and then the Grand Final in the afternoon. I practiced for a bit and awaited my opponents to message me. The Semi-Finals I won 2-0 and the Final 2-0 and I was on course to the Grand Final to defend my UK championship for the second year running. I had two interviews before the final, one with xleague.tv and the 2nd with Radio1.

I got on stage, confident, willing and hungry to win. I had come from the winners bracket so I only had to win one map, which was completed within 8 minutes and another trip to WCG was secured! That evening, I chilled out, and caught up with lots of different people and enjoyed myself as my job was complete.

On Sunday I was feeling reasonably confident, having just won the UK championships for the second year running. I was looking forward to be playing on the EA stand where they had set-up “Play Apollo @ Red Alert3.” I had about an hour there, playing two different four-player fight for alls! Basically, I was being tag-teamed by three people at once! Luckily for me, I had worked on this game in the Alpha stages in Los Angeles RTS Studios and therefore knew what I was doing and took down both games as the winner. It was great fun and we had a good handful of players and crowd watching us play.

Later on I took the stage once again for the World Cyber Games winners presentation and the “Team UK” picture. I had the honour to hold our European Cyber Games championship trophy, which we won earlier in the year!

Overall I had a fantastic weekend at the M Festival, glad that the gaming industry in the UK is growing support and improving all the time. I went there on a mission and came back a winner.

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