Update on keylogging virus

Fortunately, I was able to successfully clean my laptop of the trojan virus. Upon further inspection, one of the infected files was dated Saturday morning, when I downloaded WOW model viewer from the model viewer site. Now I'm not saying that's how I got it, since it seems the virus is also transmittable from web browsing. So who knows. Apparently I'm a huge noob for using IE vs Firefox.

In the last couple of days, I've learned a lot about the different virus scanners. There are some scanners that won't detect this keylogging virus at all and other scanners that will only detect a couple of infected files. From my minimal experience over the last 3 days, the only virus scanner that seemed to be most complete was Kaspersky.

Please consider taking the time to do a couple of scans to make sure you don't have this virus on your computer. You can do a free online scan with Kaspersky. Don't assume (as I did) that the scanner you have now will catch it. For more info on the virus see here, information on manually deleting the virus see here, a WOW forum where someone else had a similar problem after model viewer see here, and official Blizz link here (repeated link from yesterday).

It boggles my mind that a fictional character in a game could be worth something, so much so that people take the time to create these complex viruses. But with the expansion releasing soon, perhaps there is a higher demand for gold?

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Was this worth almost being hacked?

Yesterday I decided to finally download wow model viewer as I wanted to play around with it and post some nicer images on here. So I downloaded it and updated the pic of K on the home page here. I also started something I had wanted to do for a while, a picture of what I think of when I think of the Left Claw. I didn't get to finish it to my liking and its missing some toons, but here is where I was before drama struck. (Guildies you can click on the picture itself to get a closer look at yourselves).

Now after working on this for a bit, I log in. Strangely enough, all of my macros, key bindings, and default UI settings for WOW and my addons are reset. Hmmm weird. So I try to redo them, go on playing a bit, then log back in later. Yup, same thing. Now I pull Jess, Vel, and Mr Vel into the research of this issue. We wonder if it has to do with my WTF folder (I love the name of this folder... seriously wtf...) and something not rewriting or saving to it. We try every possible fix around it, and still nothing.

Then the tech savvy trio of Jess, Vel, and Mr Vel find information that others have had problems with their UI resetting and it being caused by a Trojan virus called Trojan-PSW.Win32.WOW that is designed to steal passwords to WOW servers. And some others seemingly had this problem caused after they downloaded model viewer. Not all antivirus programs will detect this (the default one I have on my work laptop didnt), see more info around this from Blizz here.

When we figured this is what may have happened to me, I logged out of WOW, then went online to the wow website and changed my password there. Jess demoted K (sad, so sad!) and my alts so that I would not have access to the guild bank. I told Jess that I would not be logging on anytime soon until I was sure this was taken care of, so for Jess and Vel to question me if I log in. Sorta like having a safe word when you want someone else to pick your kid up from school. Mine could be... lifebloom FTW? Though in all reality, I think my guildies would be able to very quickly realize if it wasn't really me on K.

Here is what is interesting to me... I guess these keylogging hackers aren't so smart if your UI being reset is a sign that you may have been infected?

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K on a reality show?!?! And a book list

While I was away, I got a random email from a casting person for a new reality/game show called Game Quest. His description of the show:

"GameQuest is a game show, brought to you by a Major Television Network, in association with the World Cyber Games, that will take video game players and put them in a house to have them compete in a number of different video game challenges for the chance to win $100,000, a trip to the World Cyber Games in Germany, and an INCREDIBLE prize package!

They contacted me because they are now looking for female gamers to interview to potentially be on the show. I guess the spots for the guys are full. Sorry guys. While I don't see myself doing something like this, do you know who I think would be soooo good at this? Someone who I'd love to see on tv spank all the other guys in the house? Megan at Out of Mana!

Secondly, Ratters tagged Jess who tagged me for some banned book list. Here is my list:

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
8. Forever by Judy Blume
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison (one of my absolute favorites)
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende (another one of my absolute favorites)
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

As for the challenge to read one on the list, I do currently have two of those books on my bookshelf that I haven't read.
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I really should read the Bluest Eye since I love Toni Morrison.

As for tagging, I'll just tag one other blogger, Nasirah.

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The expansion

I'm slowly getting back into the real world after my vacation. This first week back at work and on the road has left me somewhat disoriented and woozy. For a while the biggest decisions I was making was what to order off a menu and the extent of my analytical work was calculating a tip. What? I actually have to do something now? You want something in return for my salary? Craziness I tell ya, craziness.

Anyways. I am also slowly trying to catch back up on all the WOW news and the number of unread posts in my Google Reader is a bit ridiculous. So I see that the release date of the expansion has been announced as November 13. Wow, its real now, huh?

For the past couple of months, I consciously made the decision not to talk about the expansion or the beta in this blog at all. I guess I just wasn't really all that interested. All the new talents and skills and changes and whatnot are a lot to keep up with. I figured things would still change and that there are a lot of smarter people to blog about that stuff and what it means. I also didn't really care too much about whether certain classes would be overpowered or nerfed or whatever. I figured that in the end, everyone would still have a role. As long as I can still heal as a tree, I don't have many objections. Though perhaps I also feel this way because I'm in a small guild where we've always looked more at functions vs specific class makeups.

What I do find myself thinking about is how the expansion is going to affect our guild. I think I've mentioned before that most of us in the Left Claw started playing WOW after the Burning Crusade came out. Thus, I am very interested in seeing how far our guild can go now that we are starting on the same starting point as everyone else. With all raids attunable for 10 now in the expansion, how far will we go?

I'm also thinking about how we will deal with the fact that we have to level to 80 now. Will we all level at the same pace? Well, no of course not. Some have more time to play than others. Hopefully we will be somewhat close in levels, or have a couple of groups of people who are similar in level. While I am looking forward to seeing the new raids at level 80, I do hope that our guild doesn't try to necessarily push and race to 80, but will try to actually enjoy the leveling process as we check out a new world. Does this mean I will sometimes pause leveling to check out fishing in Northend? Heck yeah, it does. Well... until Jess does a probably necessary intervention and forces me to go back to leveling.

So what does all of this mean for us now until the expansion releases in 6 weeks? Well my goals include trying help plan for the Left Claw to finally do at least one 25 man raid, potentially leveling up my priest alt a little more, and continuing to grind and stock up gold. I definitely plan to get the mammoth mount as soon as I get out there because I love the idea of having my own vendors traveling around with me!

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Tree of Life... the movie?

Tree of Life the movie is set to come out in 2009, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. The synopsis of the movie is below:

"In a mystical world of folklore, several individuals embrace in a race to find the Tree of Life, said to give immortality, fertility, and other supernatural powers."

A movie about us? We're famous!

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K on vacation

Here's me, in tree form nonetheless, looking out over Bryce Canyon in Utah this past Sunday.

Its interesting how playing a tree makes me notice trees everywhere...

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PVP should come with a cautionary warning

I forgot to mention that I did finally get that pvp belt. Three straight days of pvp to grind the AB marks and the 17,850 honor was a bit much. Jess said that it seemed unhealthy for me as I would often express my anger and frustration in guild chat. There were outbursts like "F'in rogues! Except Ata... I love Ata" and "F'in idiots... all of them!"

Seriously though, PVP should come with a warning sign. When you enter a battleground, this is what you should see on the gates before it opens up.

Ok now I'm really off to pack.

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Off and on a bit

Starting tomorrow I am going to be off and on a bit on WOW and on this blog. I'll be checking in from time to time, but won't be raiding for the next two weeks. During part of this away time I will be doing a semi cross country drive from San Diego to Chicago, with some stops along the way (see pic above). As Jess says, I'm going to be doing my Thelma and Louise thing. Which is all fine and good, as long as we're not running from the law...

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I'd also like some warm nuts please

My real life job has me typically traveling every week. This can be tiring and stressful, but a nice perk to it is that you accrue a lot of status, frequent flier miles, and upgrades. Thus, most of the time when I fly for work or pleasure, I fly first class.

Why do I mention this? Well its not so bad in the Outlands, but the flight time between some places in Azeroth is just ridiculous. I think we should be able to pay some more money to get a faster first class gryphon to fly between places. And yes, I'd like some warm nuts please. If not, at least give me a movie!

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Overheard around the mana cooler this week

A lot of times there are little things said here and there within the guild that aren't enough to mention one by one. So I thought I'd compile a couple from the last week or so that I thought was funny.

1. Keredria: I should be able to hibernate Adamas when he gets too rowdy in bear or cat form.

2. Kaho: So where did we get the name The Left Claw from?
Daihiro: Its because on a crab, the left claw has the most meat.
Keredria: Because if there's one thing we are, its meaty!

3. Keredria: My cable and internet were out for a while today!
Niobar: Oh, is it back now?
Keredria: Um, I'm on here now aren't I?
Niobar: Withdraws question...

4. (during a heroic Bot run in reference to some mobs that you shouldn't engage when they're red)
Jessika: But isn't red a color of good luck in China?
Keredria: Yes, but this is Bot Jess, not China.

There is a pvp belt, Guardian's Kodohide Belt that I am grinding marks and rep for because it is better than my current pvp and pve belt. So there I am doing AB runs to get the 40 marks needed. Fortunately I did have 22 already in the bank. I finished with 41 marks over 15 AB runs, with a final record of 2-13. Yes, 2 wins, 13 losses. It was painful. I told my guildies that no one is to even put the first two letters of the English alphabet together in a word to me any time soon, so that means don't say ABsolutely... ABdominal... ABacus...

I'm sure that anyone who runs a lot of battlegrounds has posted these kinds of pet peeves before. But why is it that Alliance often goes into a match thinking/expecting to lose? Yes, I understand that we are often outmatched by the Horde, but why don't we even try? Also why is it that the person whining the most that we suck and don't know what we're doing is the one who never does anything? In a number of my matches, when someone would start berating everyone else, I'd pop open the bg table and see where they were in damage or healing. There was one guy once who was at the very very bottom of the dmg list, with no healing. So of course I had to chime in, saying that maybe if he would shut up, start playing, and do more damage, we would do better?

I was in another match where two folks sat back in Trollbane Hall for the first half of the match. After I sent repeated afk notices for them, I guess they got some notice (I don't know what happens when you are marked afk in a bg), because they came down to the stables area, hit one thing, then yelled that whoever tried to boot us afk, it didn't work. They stood in the little shack behind the stables for the rest of the match.

So to you, Ganighmava and Apruder of the guild Constant Fear on the Antonidas server, a big F you to you from me. (You guys know I never name names on here... but these punks just got me too pissed off).

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Happy birthday to me!

Well not really to me, but to this blog... which is written by me... so is me? (/sigh) Yes, I started this little blog one year ago today. In the past year, I've posted 167 times. I've done posts where I've ranted, posts where I've poked fun at guildies, talked about my experience with pvp, shared my incredibly silly, dorky and geeky research side, and fishing... of course lots of fishing. And oh yeah, healing of course... healing in general and healing as a resto druid. Oh and of course noobishness has been scattered all over this blog... but that would be too many posts to mention.

In a way its crazy to think this blog has been going for a year, but in another way it seems like its been longer. Its funny to look back on my first post, where I say:

"I don't intend for this blog to really give any insights that haven't already been given elsewhere, I mean 9 million people (so they say) play this game! Am I going to come up with anything ground shattering? No... I also probably won't be doing complicated calculations on spirit vs +5 mana or some intense strategy discussions. Instead I thought it'd be fun to have a place to start tracking my adventures in game, post funny screen shots, and basically just share my point of view.

"As K nears end game I would really like her to be able to see some of the current end game stuff. But I don't think I will ever be able to be hard core and dedicate 3-4 nights a week. So I guess that would make me a casual raider. But just because I intend casual, it doesn't mean I won't be serious or dedicated to the game, learn new instances, come prepared, or work on getting better gear and becoming a better player. Can we do it? Let's see!

Its interesting to see how far we've come as a guild (from a tiny tiny group doing no raiding to a larger guild doing Kara, ZA, and planning some 25 mans), funny to see my definition of hard core at the time, and to see how far this blog has come. For a long time I just thought of this blog as a place to be silly and track what we were doing and thought of Jess as the only person reading it. It boggles my mind sometimes that others actually find some value or humor (even if you're laughing at me) in this blog.

I think this blog has been a nice complement to the game that I play. I think knowing that I have blog posts to do has made me think about the game more than if I was just playing it. I've enjoyed sharing my stories and crazy thoughts in the past year. Thanks to Phaelia for being my inspiration to start this blog and for basically being the master big sister resto druid to all of us. Thanks to Jess for being my tank, GM (even if we make fun of you when you are giving 10 minute dissertations for boss instructions), and fellow blogger. To all you readers, thank you. Thanks for advising me, helping me, correcting me, amusing me, and inspiring me. Thanks for reading. Here's to another year!

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More noobishness

A while back I commented about my noobishness around not having known that there were purple, orange, and green gems. I have no clue what it is about the mining/jewelcrafting professions that I am so clueless about, but I just discovered something else last week.

There I am on a bright sunny day, fishing and picking up some Fel Iron Ore. I had just recently downloaded Enchantrix, which I had never used. So I look at the ore and the enchantrix data says 17% chance of being prospected into blah blah blah. I'm like what? What is that? And I see that it mentions the two draenites, deep peridot, blood garnet... all those green gems I buy on the AH to do my diamond transmutes. Then all of a sudden a lightbulb goes off. What? Is ore turned into these gems? Kinda like how gear is disenchanted?

So I quickly whisper Jess to find out more. "Uh, yes, K" Jess replies. OMG (sorry Atania, no OMG warning there)! I knew that I never saw any ore nodes for these green gems. I think I just figured that there were places for them that only miners knew about, places that I just never came across. But I do fly around all of outland herbing... and still never saw any such nodes. Seriously, where did I think golden draenite came from? Did I think they just fell out of the sky? Or as Vel suggested, the golden draenite goose? It boggles my mind that I just now figured this out. (bonks forehead in total noobishness)

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