out fox the net

I find the whole Webkinz idea fascinating. Combining real world toys that are connected to a virtual world is a stroke of genius as evidenced by their immense popularity.

I first noticed Webkinz here where you can find some of the rarest Webkinz. Rarest, you ask? Like several other products, Webkinz are produced in limited quantities. Once a certain critter reaches the end of its production run, there are no more to be had except in the collectors market. Prices run out of control on the more sought after pets.

Wikipedia even has a page on Webkinz.

The online portion of the "Webkinz World" allows owners of the toys to play games to earn Kinzcash that can be used to buy in game items.

It is certain that many more toys and games like the Webkinz will follow. Enriching the physical world with online gaming and multimedia brings an amazing new twist to the imagination of children. One can only hope that the online aspect of these products can embrace rich, safe and educational environment instead of purely market driven ones. Imagine experiencing a world that your children make for themselves.

For now enjoy the Webkinz World.

This is a remake of a flash game, uh, thing that originally featured a bikini clad woman falling. Now it has been modified to match current events.

It is flash based, but doesn't seem to work properly in Firefox (maybe it is just me )

Now that the site has been moved, I am getting to know Wordpress again. The release of Wordpress 2.2 occurred at the same time I was working on the transition so this site is using the latest and greatest.

Along with the new WP version I have been exploring some of the plugin options. Although I have not come to terms with the new widget system and dynamic sidebars etc... there are many new plugins that do the work that once was impossible or at least a serious pain.

First off is Fold page list makes collapsible sidebar lists more manageable if you have a lot of pages and subpages.

Next, WP-Cache is a very impressive page caching system. If your site uses a lot of database queries or just gets a lot of traffic, this plugin can dramatically improve performance.

And finally, All in One SEO Pack makes your WP driven site more search engine friendly.

[This is the site at its new location. If you are seeing this, then it worked!]

Some changes are in store for OFtN!

First, I have decided to move this site to another web host (which is where you are viewing this post.). The old host was ok (I guess...), but sometimes the site loaded very slowly or not at all. This new host should provide a much better experience for you, my fabulous visitors.

Second, this site was being driven by a Drupal CMS system and I think Wordpress will work better for it. Although Drupal is a good platform it isn't quite what suits the site best. Originally this site was intended to be more of a community site, but as it turns out it is more informational in nature. In my experience Wordpress works better for that. Drupal is great for community sites with multiple authors, integrated forums etc. The conversion is quite a barrel of laughs...

Third, some of the content of this site just doesn't really go together. A World of Warcraft guide just doesn't sit next to a technical explanation of SOA. So I plan on splitting off some content into different domain names.

I hope you have enjoyed my free guides published here. A LOT of work went into them and I think they offer very good information.

Welcome to the other side.

Finally Blizzard has officially launched the title. Although much of the information is concept and could/will change before the game is released, it is exciting to see what has come of the original game.

Enjoy the mech video goodness.

More details on the game changes at this Ars Journal.

Don't miss the official site