According to the breathless headline in the New York Times, it was "THE WORST STORM THE CITY HAS EVER KNOWN. BUSINESS AND TRAVEL COMPLETELY SUSPENDED. NEW-YORK HELPLESS IN A TORNADO OF WIND AND SNOW WHICH PARALYZED ALL INDUSTRY, ISOLATED THE CITY FROM THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, CAUSED MANY ACCIDENTS AND GREAT DISCOMFORT, AND EXPOSED IT TO MANY DANGERS." It became known as The Great Blizzard of 1888, and it occurred on this date, March 12, 1888. [more inside]
posted by mosk on Mar 12, 2008 - 38 comments

Nick Yee's Daedalus Project (touched on previously) is dedicated to the study of human behaviour in MMOs. His recent dissertation names "The Proteus Effect": a correlation between MMO characters' appearances, and their players' behaviors. "In the final study (pdf), I showed that the Proteus Effect persists outside of the virtual environment. Placing someone in a taller avatar changes how they consequently negotiate in a face-to-face setting." His archives cover a lot of ground, and current MMO players can help by taking the survey. For a little lighter reading, refer to his critique of Internet Addiction Disorder, a "condition" that started as a joke, but almost made it into the DSM-V.
posted by mek on Sep 2, 2007 - 11 comments

After nine years of waiting, Blizzard has just announced Starcraft II. IGN is liveblogging the announcement from the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in South Korea, where love for the original is so great it brings with it $100,000 tournaments, matches aired on television, and fatalities from over-playing.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on May 18, 2007 - 84 comments

Kotaku interviews Dez , the producer of Whores of Warcraft (NSFW)(previously), as well as Mia Rose and Hannah Harper, 2 porn stars recently added to the rolls of addicted World of Warcraft players. Apparently, Dez has at least 2 level 70 characters, and plays in a guild with Hannah's husband, where she's taken her Blood Elf Priest to level 26 already. Talking about Phat Lewt not getting you hot? How about some Bare Maidens? (gee, NSFW, you think?). Dez also has a fascinating MySpace page, mostly for his ...interesting mix of friends.
posted by thanotopsis on Feb 7, 2007 - 22 comments

WoWFilter: It's official. The Burning Crusade debuts today in Los Angeles at BlizzCon, a company-sponsored event that is also showing off Starcraft: Ghost. The convention has been sold out for nearly 3 months now. Surprisingly, even after selling out all the tickets, Blizzard went on to announce that The Offspring will perform (with an opener from Christian Finnegan), there will be a fully equipped exhibit hall, and the event will take place right next to Disney Land. The convention opened its doors this morning, and Blizzard promptly put up the official site for the expansion. The only question that remains is: What is the new mystery playable race for the Alliance? My vote is for drunk Panda Ninjas.
posted by thanotopsis on Oct 28, 2005 - 43 comments

How should right and wrong be measured?
posted by jeffburdges on Jul 14, 2005 - 42 comments

19 inches of snow at Central Park and counting. This is now a top 5 snow storm in NYC history. In 1996 the accumulation was 24 inches.
posted by riffola on Feb 17, 2003 - 78 comments

Don't climb the Andes without minutes on your cell phone. A hiker is stranded in South America's Andes mountains when a blizzard begins. He reaches into his backpack for his cell phone -- only to find his prepaid minutes are up. Lucky for him the telemarketer called just then to sell him more time.
posted by elgoose on Jul 2, 2002 - 23 comments

Damn! That is alot of snow Buffalo has gotten over five feet of snow. I hope everyone is ok. This is just amazing.
posted by aj100 on Dec 28, 2001 - 22 comments

Diablo II Goes Gold! The official release date is now next week, 6/29/01. Diablo was addictive, Hellfire was even worse. I spent a six months playing Diablo II non stop and now this. I hope my wife doesn't kick me and my Assassin out the door.
posted by me myself and i on Jun 24, 2001 - 10 comments

Oooh! Blizzard will be taking applications for beta testers of Diablo II all day Monday, March 20.
posted by veruca on Mar 19, 2000 - 8 comments