Travian.com is a fun webgame that I have been playing to fill my time.  One of the annoying things though, is when you are in a large alliance, they use weird terminology and never explain wtf it means.  For example, lets use the term “Hammer”

Since my alliance is going to war, they have been saying, everyone post your hammer and let us know the size of it.  Well it would be nice if SOMEONE had a termonology page or something… regardless, after much reading, here is what a hammer is:

A 15C that has enough troops on it to destory the opposing force.  More importantly, the hammer should consist of the most powerful force that your race offers and the ability to level a city wall and have enough catas to level the city.

In essance, without reinforcement, your “hammer” should be able to defeat any village that is not another 15c.  Doesn’t that sound much simplier?   I thought so!

For the life of me, I could not get my netscreen vpn software to connect.  No matter what I did to the virtual windows xp, it just would not fly.  I kept receiving the following errors:

6-24: 07:18:55.296 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – Initiating IKE Phase 1 (IP ADDR=160.79.51.201)
6-24: 07:18:56.108 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – SENDING>>>> ISAKMP OAK AG (SA, KE, NON, ID, VID 6x)
6-24: 07:19:11.239 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – message not received! Retransmitting!
6-24: 07:19:11.239 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – SENDING>>>> ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission)
6-24: 07:19:26.261 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – message not received! Retransmitting!
6-24: 07:19:26.261 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – SENDING>>>> ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission)
6-24: 07:19:41.283 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – message not received! Retransmitting!
6-24: 07:19:41.283 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – SENDING>>>> ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission)
6-24: 07:19:56.303 My Connections\wvenezia@bitxbit.com – Exceeded 3 IKE SA negotiation attempts

I had initially thought it was due to the virtualbox blocking the IKE packets from reaching the gateway, but then decided to take virtualbox out of the picture and troubleshoot this like a normal computer.  Once I did this, it only took me 10 minutes to figure out what is wrong.  The message not received means that the remote host did not get the packet and the retransmission means that the remote host is not responding.  Well, that would indicate that the netscreen software is sending out the packets right but the gateway is a no show.  I thought, maybe I used an old Security Policy.  I opened up my working laptop and compared it to the virtualbox pc, and sure enough, the gateway ip addresses are different.  Once I changed this, it started working without a charm!

This makes me very happy as I am tired of carting my laptop with me to use my vpn!

Well, it seems that in the latest attempt for google to take over the world, one browser at a time, their toolbar is calling such files as gtbe12.tmp.exe.  Can you make it seem more spyware than this google?  I mean, come on!
Well, I logged into my work computer this morning and it seems that everything was crawling.  Since I do not login to this computer very often (2 times a week) this behavior is not very surprising.  During this time, I check to see what processes are running and where the memory leaks are.

Today, it was outlook that was the memory leak, but due to Outlook and its need to consume more ram than the computerh as, I noticed this funny process – gtbe12.tmp.exe.  I thought for sure that I picked myself up a bug until I did a bit of research and it seems that it is hooked into google’s toolbar.

Sure enough, I had used IE7 the last time I had the computer open and google toolbar was installed on it.  As part of my initial process to get my computer working again, I did close down IE7.  While researching the issue, the process ended shortly after IE closed.  This corresponds with the internet’s account that the process is associated with IE + google toolbar.

The end result?  While I vote for spyware (and depending on how you view Google’s actions with their toolbar, you can more legitimately say that it is spyware) this process is ok to leave alone.  I would definitely keep my eye on it, but it appears to be temp executable files pertaining to updating the toolbar’s files.  After letting it run (once my computer stabilized from outlook), it did stop appearing…

Here is my xorg.conf for the Matrox G200 Quad configuration.  I hope this helps people as it was quite the uphill battle…

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a “real” xorg.conf
# For example:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier    “Generic Keyboard”
Driver        “kbd”
Option        “XkbRules”    “xorg”
Option        “XkbModel”    “pc105″
Option        “XkbLayout”    “us”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier    “Configured Mouse”
Driver        “mouse”
Option        “Protocol” “auto”
Option          “Emulate3Buttons” “true”
Option        “CorePointer”
#    Option        “Device” “/dev/input/mice”
#    Option        “AlwaysCore” “true”
#    Option        “ZAxis Mapping” “4 5″ #for mouse scroll
EndSection

#Section “Module”
#    Load        “glx”
#    Load        “GLcore”
#    Load        “dri”
#    Load        “v4l”
#EndSection

####################
# Display 0 – 09:00.0  [ACER AL1916W]
############################################################

Section “Device” #
Identifier    “Device0″
Boardname    “Matrox Millennium G200 QuadHead”
Busid        “PCI:9:0:0″
Driver        “mga”
Vendorname    “Matrox”
VideoRam    4096
EndSection

Section “Monitor” #
Identifier    “Monitor0″
ModelName    “ACER AL1916W”
HorizSync    30-82
Vertrefresh    56-76
Option        “DPMS”
Modeline “1440×900″  106.47  1440 1520 1672 1904  900 901 904 932  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “1440×900_60.00″  106.47  1440 1520 1672 1904  900 901 904 932  -HSync +Vsync
#    ModeLine “1024×768_GM”   60.00  1024 1048 1184 1328  768 771 777 806 -Hsync -Vsync
EndSection

Section “Screen” #
Identifier    “Screen0″
Device        “Device0″
Defaultdepth    24
Monitor        “Monitor0″
SubSection “Display”
Modes   “1440×900″
Depth    24
EndSubSection
EndSection

####################
# Display 1 – 09:04.0  [ACER AL1916W]
############################################################

Section “Device” #
Identifier    “Device1″
Boardname    “Matrox Millennium G200 QuadHead”
Busid        “PCI:9:04:0″
Driver        “mga”
Vendorname    “Matrox”
VideoRam        4096
EndSection

Section “Monitor” #
Identifier    “Monitor1″
ModelName    “ACER AL1916W”
HorizSync    30-82
Vertrefresh    56-76
Option        “DPMS”
Modeline “1440×900″  106.47  1440 1520 1672 1904  900 901 904 932  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “1440×900_60.00″  106.47  1440 1520 1672 1904  900 901 904 932  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “800×600_GM”  38.22  800 832 912 1024  600 601 604 622  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “GM”  75.00  1024 1048 1184 1328  768 771 777 806 -Hsync -Vsync
EndSection

Section “Screen” #
Identifier    “Screen1″
Device        “Device1″
Defaultdepth    24
Monitor        “Monitor1″
SubSection “Display”
Modes   “1440×900″
Depth     24
EndSubSection
EndSection

####################
# Display 2 – 09:08.0  [SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 914V]
############################################################

Section “Device” #
Identifier    “Device2″
Boardname    “Matrox Millennium G200 QuadHead”
Busid        “PCI:9:08:0″
Driver        “mga”
Vendorname    “Matrox”
VideoRam        4096
EndSection

Section “Monitor” #
Identifier    “Monitor2″
ModelName    “SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 914V”
HorizSync    30-81
VertRefresh    56-75
Option        “DPMS”
Modeline “1280×1024″  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “1280×1024_60.00″  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060  -HSync +Vsync
#    ModeLine “1024×768_GM”   75.00  1024 1048 1184 1328  768 771 777 806 -Hsync -Vsync
#    Modeline “800×600_GM”   40.00  800 840 968 1056  600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section “Screen” #
Identifier    “Screen2″
Device        “Device2″
Defaultdepth    24
Monitor        “Monitor2″
SubSection “Display”
Modes   “1280×1024″
Depth    24
EndSubSection
EndSection

####################
# Display 3 – 09:0c.0  [HANNS-G HC194D]
############################################################

Section “Device” #
Identifier    “Device3″
Boardname    “Matrox Millennium G200 QuadHead”
Busid        “PCI:9:12:0″
Driver        “mga”
Vendorname    “Matrox”
VideoRam        4096
EndSection

Section “Monitor” #
Identifier    “Monitor3″
ModelName    “HANNS-G HC194D”
HorizSync    31-81
VertRefresh    56-75
Option        “DPMS”
Modeline “1280×1024″  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060  -HSync +Vsync
#    Modeline “1280×1024_60.00″  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060  -HSync +Vsync
#    ModeLine “1024×768_GM”   75.00  1024 1048 1184 1328  768 771 777 806 -Hsync -Vsync
#    Modeline “800×600_GM”   40.00  800 840 968 1056  600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section “Screen” #
Identifier    “Screen3″
Device        “Device3″
Defaultdepth    24
Monitor        “Monitor3″
SubSection “Display”
Modes   “1280×1024″
Depth    24
EndSubSection

EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier    “Default Layout”
Screen        “Screen0″ 0 0
Screen        “Screen1″ RightOf “Screen0″
Screen        “Screen2″ Above “Screen1″
Screen        “Screen3″ Above “Screen0″
InputDevice    “Generic Keyboard”
InputDevice    “Configured Mouse”
Option        “Xinerama” “true”
EndSection

Section “ServerFlags”
Option        “IgnoreABI” “True”
EndSection

A game? Oh boy a game? Whats the game called? Conquer Club!

If you love risk clones, you will fancy Conquer Club right off the bad.  I’m going to give the good, bad, and ugly about this game.
Good

There are a bunch of active players and gives you good risk playing.  So far, I have played 8 games, and won only once.  Now, for those of you that do not know, I have played risk A LOT since I was a kid, so I know how to play the game and basic strategy.  While I’m sad about the 1-8 ratio, it means that these players are good!  This game is really not for beginners to start out on though.  I still suggest using the normal board for that.

Bad

Free games allow for 24 hour turns and 4 active games.  You are thinking, wow that is a lot of games!  Well, it seems that no one has the same schedules so turns take FOREVER!  I have a group of friends that I play this game with, and I have been part of a game for 2 weeks and only have 7 turns done.  I am hoping by christmas time to have completed a game.  Time will tell.  Of course, if you pay, you can have unlimited games and “speed” games where you have 5 minutes to go your turn.  When I free up some dough, I think I need to look into this a bit more as that sounds rather fun.

Ugly

Obviously, it is a risk clone, so you cannot use the same board.  The classic board is very hard to follow and I find it difficult to determine what pieces are mine and the opponents.  I have found myself make horrible decisions due to this.  They also have several other boards that you can play, but they all seem a  bit dumb…dunno I guess I just like the classic!

Conclusion

Once you get beyond the fact that it is hard to see, the strategies are the same and it just makes for some good risk playing.  Anyone that likes risk, will like conquer club!  My nick is Koopa, come hit me up for a game!

I’ve made the jump to linux and the first thing that I didn’t know how to do was to change the root password. It turns out that it is very easy to do.

in command shell, type the following:

sudo passwd

It will then prompt for the new password and your done. As simple as that!