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WoW Addons… Love em hate em you still have to deal with em. So you misewell deal with the best right? Well look no further, wowcollege.com presents the top 10 must have addons for WoLK. Your prayers have been answered

10. Bartender4 – This helps get your skills in order so all of them can be used at your fingertips. Unlike the old action bar, which has limited spaces, Bartender4 puts all of the spells you want on the screen for you. No more fumbling through your spell book for spells you hardly use. This addon isnt required, but it does make life easier.

9. Titan Panel – This addon provides you with valuable information that WoW can’t. Things like total gold on character and account, gold per hour, experience, experience till level, time to level, the list goes on. Plus you can customize the themes and plugins for Titan Panel. Got to love it, not required, but recommended.

8. RatingBuster – Now we are getting into some deep addons. Have you ever got a new item, but weren’t sure if it was better then the one you currently have on? This is why RatingBuster was invented. It converts the stats necessary for your class into percentages and gives you a break down of the item compared to yours. I would personally HATE playing WoW if i never knew what was an upgrade for me. So I call this one a required addon.

7. Omen Threat Meter – There seems to be a growing epidemic of instance and raid wipes due to aggro control errors. Dps are dpsing to much stealing aggro and the blame goes on tanks and healers. Well even for the slowest dps class Omen Threat Meter will alert them that threat is coming or leaving them. This making raids run smoother. So guess what? This is a required addon for WoLK.

6. Deadly Boss Mods – Any raider that you encounter in pre-bc all the way to WoLK has had this addon. It is just a raider must. What this addon does is display information about each encounter and proved timers and raid warnings when effects are happening. Simply beautiful… makes raiding nearly impossible to screw up. NOTE: nearly… This is required for any person that will be raiding.

5. Recount – If you have hit 80 you will need a damager meter. Out of all of the damage meters I have been through in the past this seems to be the perfect one. Not only does it display charts and detailed breakdowns of damage, heals, deaths, cc’s, etc., but it can also do real time stats on graphs. How cool is that? This is a required addon for sure.

4. Atlasloot Enhanced – Gives you access to every drop that was discovered in the game, where it came from, drop rate, wish list, pvp rewards, faction rewards, this has it all. The ultimate loot table addon. This is required to play the game, how else where you know to go to get YOUR phat lewt?

3. Gatherer – My personal most hatted professions used to be the gatherer professions. Hunting down nodes while I quested or even at 60,70,80 was really really annoying. What gatherer does is tracks where the nodes you, or anyone thats incontact with you are. It will record where they are how often they are there and what they have. No more aimless running around after you build this database. Yesssss. Its almost like I get free gold for running in circles all day now. If you have a gatherer profession this is a must.

2. Auctioneer – Did you know that the Auction House is just like real world trade? Lets take for example the past decade… gas prices hit an all time high, yet its made from the waste of oil. Seeing an opportunity prices were spiked and profits were collected. Supply and demand. Now lets say there happens to be Frostweave cloth on AH for cheap, buy it out, sell it inflated make a profit. Of course the process isn’t that simple, but an example. This is a required addon for WoLK.

As for the number one WoW addon you will have to visit wowcollege.com. Along with the number one addon you will also be provided with a link for a download of all of these addons. How convient =)

Tags: Games by Christopher Black
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With all the options available to consumers nowadays, it can be hard to choose the best electronics for your needs. There are lots of brands and types of equipment, and unless you are in the know, you have no clue what the differences are.

There are so many things to consider when choosing electronics for you home. Deciding on what type of television to get, the surround system, choosing what kind of movie playback to get. Once that is decided you have to make sure you have the right cables to hook everything up with, and then where to mount the television and speakers. And of course, you have to have the sofa in the right place, to get the best picture and sound.

There are a lot of things to consider and to think about, but nobody ever stops to think about how to control all of these technological wonders. Did you ever notice that you have a coffee table piled high with remote controls? I dont even think that the gray one goes with anything that I still own. I think it works the VCR that I threw away eight years ago. So whats the solution? The answer of course is a universal remote.

There are, again, many makers and choices. You need to have a dollar figure set in your mind, because they can get expensive. These remotes are very advanced, and should be considered the same as a piece of electronic equipment. You should research and decide what you need and what you can afford. Logitec is a popular brand in universal remotes, and they offer many models and price ranges. URC is a good brand that offers a lot of the same things that you get with a Harmony remote.

Be sure to check compatibility with you existing devices. Most of the manufactures web-sites will have lists of what you will need to know ahead of time before purchasing your new remote. These remotes are also better than the older types of universal remotes that we were used to in the eighties and nineties. These next generation remotes are programmable, upgradeable and much more user friendly than remotes of the past. It also helps that most people nowadays are much more comfortable with electronics and much more electronic literate.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Matt Thames
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We all like reminders of our precious holiday breaks. One of the best memories you take with you, is strolling along a sandy beach looking at shells and pebbles, turning them over and picking up driftwood. So, making a mosaic from these typical items seems to be an innovative idea.

Even if we were unlucky enough to have had bad weather, we still take shells etc. as keepsakes when we return home.

Using pebbles for mosaics is an interesting idea, being not only easy to make, but they are very effective and quite popular.

How you assemble them is another thing! Thought needs to be given to the design and subject of your picture. Creating this type of work you really need to have an abstract look. Bear in mind the colours chosen for your pebbles will make or break your mosaic.

So if you want to create a beach and shore picture you will need the following colours. Various shades of white, grey and a dark brown maroony colour, plus for the shore, a sand colour.

The bottom of your picture will need the sand colour, darkest shades like purple at the top, with a mix of whites and greys below this.

So what is the damage? What will I need? Quite a list I am afraid, but it will be worth it! matt acrylic varnish, a deep picture frame, panel pins, whitewood primer, blue emulsion, white paper, medium grade sandpaper, a decorators brush, some half inch MDF and some PVA adhesive glue.

Added to the above you will need some driftwood and some gravel and pebbles. These extra items can be put to good use. At all times you need to keep your picture image in your mind before you now begin to arrange your treasures, driftwood and pebbles into sizes and colours.

Eliminate anything you do not require for your design and, if you have a few bits of gravel to hand, this is good for filling in any gaps.

You need to take your frame to pieces. Remove the back, the glass and its mat. Get your sandpaper and rub down the frame. Take your white primer now and paint inside and out. Then it needs to be left to dry.

Paint the frame and put on your top coat of blue emulsion. This needs to dry, then be rubbed down with sandpaper so that some of your white primer will show through, giving like a distressed effect. You then really ought to seal the frame with a varnish of acrylic matt.

Take your backing board and put a sheet of white paper on it. You can now draw around this, thus giving you your surface to work out your design. Place your pebbles and driftwood on this. Move the pieces around until you are happy with your pattern.

You really need to cut a piece of MDF to fit over the back of your picture frame back now. Put your backing board in the centre of the MDF and draw round it to get the area of your mosaic.

At this stage you can now move the mosaic from the paper to the MDF, gradually putting a PVA adhesive blob on each piece of driftwood and pebble before you put it on the board.

Your pebbles have to build up in lines, for colour shading. You can move things, but above all, your work needs to have a fairly snug fit to it. Make sure that this is the case once you have glued your last pieces in place.

Maybe now you will find you need to fill in a few spaces. Don’t bother with small ones, but bigger ones you can use a fine gravel on. Any other driftwood can then be glued into place. You will now need panel pins to pin the frame into position. Start at the back and go through your board to your frame.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Anna Meenaghan
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Let’s face it. The tabloid magazines don’t have a terrific reputation in the world of journalism. Yet they fly off the supermarket magazine racks like the proverbial hot cakes on Saturday morning’s breakfast table. Some people actually subscribe to their favorite tabloid magazines, to avoid missing one juicy issue.

I once worked for a woman who subscribed to a number of them. When she was done with them, she brought them into her little country store and resold them, at half price, after she’d clipped those very special items she couldn’t bear to part with, saving them for …? The items she clipped seemed to have no particular theme, such as every little tidbit on any one celebrity, so it just seemed like a rather strange hobby. I’m not sure the reselling was entirely legal, but the locals would come in and snap them up. Talk about yesterday’s news. She must have consumed them as soon as they hit her mailbox, because I noticed that some still bore the current week’s date.

In any case, there’s no question that tabloid magazines are hugely popular. While my former employer had no compunction about admitting her addiction, I’m sure there are regular readers who wouldn’t ever admit to being fans. Hmm … this does remind me of Katie Couric’s interview question to Sarah Palin on her reading materials of choice. Is Ms. Palin one of these secret tabloid magazine readers? I’m sure we’ll never know.

So what’s the allure? What keeps these readers enthralled? There’s got to be a gossip factor here. The usual front cover targets of the tabloids are celebrities and politicians. The topics typically involve some sort of scandal, rumor or terminal illness. If the article is unfavorable to the target, it’s usually accompanied by the most unflattering photo the magazine can find in their files. If the piece is some report on someone’s ‘life and death struggle with name-your-disease’, the photos are most likely a collection of pics of a flattering, heartwarming nature, designed to tug at the reader’s heartstrings.

When you take a look at some of these articles, you wonder how these tabloid magazines stay ahead of the lawsuits. Many celebrities say it’s not worth the effort, unless it’s particularly slanderous or patently untrue. When you examine the rhetoric, these writers rely on clever phrasing and innuendo, which probably helps stave off lawsuits.

My thesaurus gives several synonyms for tabloid, among them, lurid, sultry and sensationalism, which does point towards the gossip factor. I’d say the average reader would never come across such juicy gossip in their own circle of friends. Unless they live in the ‘Desperate Housewives’ neighborhood. Can’t you imagine how this content spices up the over-the-fence chat?

While the cover story may take up several pages of the issue, it needs to be filled out to make it worth the price. These fillers are stories such as a 1200 pound man who hasn’t left his house in months, because he can’t fit through the door, alien invasions, end of the world predictions and others in the same vein, the weirder, the better.

So how do I know so much about tabloid magazines? That woman I worked for would occasionally bring issues to give me, as sort of an employee perk. I admit to taking them home and reading them with my daughter. We did get a good laugh or three before they were relegated to service in getting a fire going in the wood stove. In addition to gossip, I can vouch for the entertainment value.

Tags: Writing & Speaking by Charlie Reese
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Everyone who loves to dream of playing the guitar, even if most never do. Guitars are a great way to express yourself and relax. However, there are many fallacies about learning how to play a guitar. Here are the myths about guitar playing and why they are incorrect:

One: You should learn on an acoustic guitar. Wrong!: It is better to prepare on an electric guitar as it’s easier to play, has lighter strings, lower action, and a tinier neck. It’s also a little more interesting for younger players as you can add distortions and effects thereby keeping the learner more interested.

Myth: You should buy a pedal with preset sounds. Reality: Although some multi-effects DO have preset sounds from famous rockers, you should try to learn the correct technique and not copy it. This will help you become a better musician. Moreover, the sounds the famous players use comes from skill and technique not some fancy machine.

Myth: You have to have a big amp to get a big sound. Reality: Some of the most huge sounds that have been recorded have been done with smaller amps with their tubes cranked up loud. Many famous bands have stacks of amps on stage that are empty of speakers and a small amp hidden behind the stack that is mic’d up into the PA system. Some players are also using digital recreations (POD, Digitech) of their amps in the studio but most purist players still use a real amp and analogue pedals.

Myth: You need to have a lot of string wraps. Reality: You only need about three ‘turns’ on the machine head and about 3-4 turns on the higher strings. But the best thing to do is buy a locking machine so that strings are locked into place and you don’t need any turns or wraps.

Five: Single coil pickups are noisy. Truth: Yes depending on your opinion but there are many ways to avoid this problem. The best way is to use a hum canceling single coil pickups such as “fender noiseless” or any of the di marzio or Seymour Duncan hum canceling models that will sound JUST like a vintage strat but without the noise.

Myth: Cheap cables are just as good as more expensive cables. Reality: It is way better to buy a good quality cable because it will last a long time and help you produce a much better sound. Buy the best cable you can- remember you get what you pay for. It is better to pay for a good cable then keep buying cheap cables. Over time, the costs work out to be the same.

Myth: You can’t protect your guitar strings- they simply will go bad. Reality: Of course you can! There are many things you can do to make your guitar strings last longer. The best way is to simply keep the clean. Wipe them down after you use them. Another thing you can do is protect your strings with a protective chemical like Teflon.

Tags: Music by Matthew James
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You have taken your piano lessons and you feel that you can play the piano pretty well. But how would you feel about singing around the piano? This is a wonderful experience and one that has been shared in my family for many years. There is no better way to have fun other than having one of your family members sit at a piano and play while other members of the family gather around to sing along.

I know this first hand as my mother is a magnificent piano player and there are many occasions in which our family gathers together, be it Christmas or a birthday, and at each of these gatherings we can never help ourselves from having to sing along to our favorite family songs. My mother can play almost anything due to her astounding ear. She can read music; however, she doesn’t need to if she hears a song first. We will sing anything from Christmas carols to our favorite Beatles tunes.

This is the type of fun and family enjoyment that can never be forgotten. It does not matter if you have a good singing voice or not as most people do not. Believe me; my dear grandma could wake the dead with her voice, but simply having my grandma join us around the piano to sing is enjoyment enough. If you are able to play the piano, then it is your duty to bring music into your family. Serenade them with a little music to begin with and then eventually suggest that everyone join in singing around the piano. While singing along with them you will see your family in a completely new light.

They will become more whimsical and animated. The joy will shine in their eyes and this magic will become contagious, even to your youngest teenager, scowling in the corner. You will notice that their foot is keeping time to the music; they may be mouthing the words to the song that the rest of the family is singing. Soon, before you know it, that lonely teenager is one of the ones standing around the piano, clapping, singing, and keeping time with the music.

Music brings people alive and because of that there is no greater joy or freedom than that of music. Be it the piano sheet music that you play or the music that you can pick up by ear, the ability to play and sing around the piano offers a special type of enjoyment that only those who have experienced it can remember.

As I write this, I find myself smiling about the last time that my mother and I sang around the piano. My mother, after having almost losing her life, had decided to sit and play the piano.

As I have said before, my mother is a magnificent piano player. With all due modesty, I myself have a decent singing voice. With my arm around my mother, we sat and sang around the piano all of the old gospel songs that she so loves.

This was the most touching moment of my life and is just an example of how music can help bring your family together. Enjoy every moment of it because you never know whether you will get another chance to relive that experience.

I hope that with the accomplishments of your piano playing you will give your family the chance to enjoy this fantastic opportunity as I have. Give them the joy of singing together around you while you play the piano. Believe me, they will remember it as long as they live.

Tags: Music by Bryan Smith
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Well, if you are new to Art you need to know what some of the general terms used mean and what styles of art are classed as modern. For an example, the subject really is the object, persons, or places, the artist is trying to encapsulate. The form is the colours, textures, lines etc. and how they shape the work.

So what is content? This amounts to what the meaning of the picture is, and then, what we make of it. In other words, how we perceive the form, texture and medium.

When you look at a painting, all the materials and ways used to make up the work, are called the medium.

Modern Art emerged somewhere around the late 1860′s. Today modern art is very popular and is appreciated by the majority of people mainly because it is available in so many forms.

Modernism is similar to abstractionism, but you could say quite a lot of modern art would not be abstract.

Much of the artwork we see in the abstract category though, is decided by its form, shapes created, and colours. However, there are plenty of artists who specialise in modern art that is purely figurative.

Cubism is an interesting form of art. This does not always portray what is presented in front of you. Really, it may be the artists impression of the actual core of the subject, presented in such a way that it has been molded to give you a different slant on what is before you.

Pop Art came in to being around the late 1950s-1960s. Andy Warhol being a fine example. A whole new form of art emerged for advertising, comic strips etc., which were extremely bright and brash really.

How about Op Art from the same era? Geometric shapes which seem to look as if they move, creating an illusion, yet in an abstract kind of way.

Minimalism from the late 1960-1970′s. These are very often a series of repeated elements, but the art in general is made up from very little.

Expressionism started in the 1900′s. This usually has a sort of emotional impact, as very strong brush strokes and colours were used. Often very exaggerated colours used with distorted shapes.

You can also have Abstract Impressionism, which around 1940, started in New York. Expressing great freedom of emotions, but also colour field painting and action paintings.

Futurism is of Italian origin from 1909. Really, these paintings showed actual speeds and motions.

Surrealism – Often showing automatic type of drawings, I would say, to the workings of the mind. Sometimes realistic and yet, not always seeming to make a lot of sense. One brilliant artist has to be Salvador Dali, whom most people will have heard of. Or, if you have been to Barcelona, you are surrounded by his great works of art there.

Impressionism – This was often used to paint landscapes. A series of dashes make up the painting. Painted pretty close together, they, in fact, look as if they join when viewed from a distance, making the painting complete. Claude Monet was an impressionist.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Anna Meenaghan
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The Zune is a digital music product from Microsoft that allows its users to get unlimited Zune downloads for a certain fee. You can download these music, images, videos and software from different sites online. However, if you are one of those who are making the migration from another kind of mp3 player and to the Zune, you might have a few questions before going ahead to use the unit.

Here are some common questions that are asked regarding the player and some of the content services that are offered.

Is It Difficult To Use?

Most users find the Microsoft Zune player difficult to use. But you have to remember that the Zune is not a player that is trying to duplicate the success of other mp3 players on the market. Therefore it also has a different kind of user-interface that one has to learn. Many sites that offer content make it easy for first-time users to understand the workings of the Zune and even offer email services that will help one to download content onto the players easily.

Is There A Lot Of Content For This Device?

Depending on the service used, a person can expect a minimum of six million files of various types to choose from. Once can download all the Zune’s supported files that includes videos, images, music, and even software that is specifically designed for it. Many services boast that if you are interested in something in particular, chances are that they can provide it as far as content is concerned.

Is The Software Used For The Zune Free?

The software Zune uses is free. However, there are charges that one has to pay for certain services which includes support for site maintenance and also for the creation of guides that will help one get to know their player better. Membership to paid subscription sites can be cancelled and the software kept.

Can The Zune Work On Apple Products?

With the right software and drivers, one can enjoy the same unlimited Zune downloads on Apple-made computers, like the Mac. Of course, one can only expect some limitations since Mac computers are used less and so only a few programs built for the platform are available. Nevertheless, the Zune does work on Apple’s computers.

Do I Need A Special Player To Play Media Tracks?

Zune is made by Microsoft, therefore most of the media that you can download from subscription sites works best on Windows Media Player. However, there are some media players that these sites will offer that will also work for the media that you download.

How Easy Is It To Find Content?

A simple Google search of Zune downloads will give you search results to many subscription-based websites that offer millions of files that you can use on your player. Many of these sites are Microsoft approved sites and offer the best in music and video. You can also find free content online but its not guaranteed to be of the best quality or variety; and , of course, it’s no longer in the unlimited Zune downloads category.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Anthony Galz
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Some artists prefer to colour their canvas or surface before they start to work. Often this will add to the painting and add a personal touch to it.

Shop bought canvasses are often a very brilliant white. Whatever you seal your painting board probably is too, whether you use gesso or primers. However, you may find it is an advantage to cover your painting board with a wash of colour or even a neutral tone.

When you paint on the stark white it often will make your colouring seem very dark and distorted even. This leaves an effect of your work looking disappointingly pale.

To use dark and light shading in your work it is therefore better to use a wash of a medium shade or a neutral colour.

It can be a very important part of the colour coordination of your picture if you have undertone glimpses of colour shining through.

How do I choose the shade? You need to pick something you are entirely happy with. Really though whatever you are painting most subjects would work well on neutral or fairly medium shades.

I would not really advice using bright colouring for a ground as it will dominate your other colours. Far better to use, say a contrasting shade. As an example, you could use a purple for the ground if your main subject was in very bright orange or lemon.

How do you apply the tone? If you have a board or canvas that is not already primed you could add a small amount of acrylic paint to the gesso or primer to lay a tone.

Many of the canvasses available in the shops are already primed, however, to set the tone of your work, you can still add an acrylic paint coating. Apply the toned primer to your canvas by either using a broad artists brush or an ordinary household brush.

If you want a surface that is opaque, mix the acrylic with gesso or acrylic primer. Apply at least two coats to create dense, flat colour.

You may end up with an uneven appearance to your work if you use acrylic on its own. With acrylics they do not all have the same amount of translucency, so you often end up with brush marks. I personally think this adds to the painting.

Should you have an oil based primer, acrylic will not go on this, but by the same token, you can use oil on acrylics. Acrylic gesso or primer can be used for either acrylics or oils.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Anna Meenaghan
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The grandfather of the modern emoticon was created using the qwerty keyboard symbols. An email message might be embellished with a wink, using the semicolon and right parentheses, as in , while a grumpy mood might be conveyed with the left parentheses and a colon, like this – – ending the sentence. These cute keyboard tricks caught on fast, opening the door to the advent of the Smiley Face graphic, the now worldwide universally understood, bright yellow circle with the signature digitized Smiley Face graphic. Although you’ll still see plenty of qwerty keyboard faces in your text emails, the almost too cute Smiley Face has basically taken over the internet universe of personal communications.

Teens love the libraries of Smiley Face graphics available for use on message boards and chat rooms. Who knew there was a face for just about every emotion you wished to send across cyberspace? Adults were not to be left out of this fun and trendy emotional literacy, assembling their own libraries of every Smiley Face emoticon to be found. A simple email communication might be written in five minutes, while their Smiley library was perused for fifteen minutes for the perfect Smiley attachment for any message which required added emphasis, for the purpose of humor or insult.

Graphic artists jumped on the bandwagon, taking the Smiley Face concept a touch further, with the bright yellow face of Smiley morphing through every possible emotion. Soon, there were Smiley Face graphics on flagpoles, at the top of Seattle’s space needle and in the White House briefing room. Now you could have the lovelorn Smiley, or Smiley as a scuba diver. How about Smiley the farmer, rock star, groupie or gangsta?

The Smiley Face graphic has become a cultural icon. He can be a doctor, a dentist, a minister or a politician. You name it, he’s done it, been there, seen that movie. He’s gone to the moon, shopped for groceries and is an avid movie buff. There’s hardly an emotion this little emoticon has not experienced, at least in the digital world.

The future of the Smiley Face graphic is anyone’s guess. He’s stood the test of time, still as popular as he was in the beginning. The curious thing about this little feller is that he’s beloved of all age groups. That says a lot about his durability.

One interesting development came in the form of his changing color. By the time he turned green with envy, there was no denying his identity. Red with embarrassment? Yes, we know it’s Smiley. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the Smiley Face graphic evolution. He’s a bit like a cyberspace rendition of Pooh Bear.

Tags: Games by Charlie Reese
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