QuickJump QuickPeek finally gets a make-over! After a full year of weekly updates, we're now turning over a new leaf and allowing this QJ.NET mainstay to branch out by introducing the Weekend Warriors. Sorry, the Weekend Whattssitts? Hmm, just think of it as the Planeteers summoning Captain Planet. ...Or something - some other equally bad analogy like that at least. Ha! Nonetheless, it's going to be quite interesting from here on out. Here's to yet another year of some crazy weekly updates! And with that, we open the floor for the Weekend Warriors!

Today is October 5. That means that November 5, Guy Fawkes Night, is one month away.

While we don't celebrate this day in the US (it's not even a public holiday in the United Kingdom - it's only a yearly celebration), many of us know of this day thanks to the DC Comics / Vertigo graphic novel (comic book) series V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd and its movie adaptation (with inimitable performances by Natalie Portman as Evey and Hugo Weaving as V).

Still, any "holiday" that gives people an excuse to light fireworks and go door-to-door begging for spare change sounds like something worth celebrating. So we at QJ.NET invite you to get into the spirit of things to remember, remember the 5th of November.

On the 5th of November we're going to post an article or two about video games, gadgets, technology, and general geekness - what moves us and affects us and touches us, and all the things about video gaming and technology that ought not be forgotten. Pretty much like the QuickJump QuickList articles in our Opinions & Analysis section at the front page and the other articles in the Opinions & Analysis sections of our many video game, science, and gadget blogs.

We invite you to plan ahead and consider what you want to remember on that day - because our articles obviously can't be the final word - that's what comments and the QJ.NET Forums are for. (Besides, now that we've turned off anonymous comments - and now that comments are smarter, funnier, and more meaningful - you have a good venue to share your reactions.)

We look forward to your thoughts. See you on the 5th of November.

Happy Tuesday, true believers! Some of you may have noticed a slight change here at QJ.NET today. While this will be welcome (and long overdue) news to some, there's a strong chance that a lot of you hate our guts more than usual. Yes, we've finally disbanded the use of Anonymous Commenting, at least for the time being.

I hear the deafening cry of "Oh noes!" but this should be looked on as a positive step for the 'ol Q 'n J. For quite a while now, the comment section of this site has spiraled downward into chaos, filled with vulgarity, racist remarks, spam, and general knuckleheadedness that was impossible to moderate properly. The worthwhile and valid gaming discussions just got lost in the mess.

It's our goal to provide not only a source of 24/7 gaming news, but be a source of intelligent conversation as well. You all can be a smart and opinionated bunch and we want to encourage that sort of  behavior, not stifle it. 

So what do you have to do to comment? Just sign up and register. Its free, it only takes a couple of seconds, and there's a few added features that come along with being registered as well. You can select what kind of news to display on our "Blog of Blogs" page, you can choose to get daily email newsletters from your favorite section, and you can review your history of comments that you've made.

But since registration is a bit more mandatory, we would love to hear your input on what other kinds of features and abilities you'd like to have for your QJ profile, just leave a comment below or send us an email using the Contact Us form. Or you can just tell us how we've ruined your life by taking away the anonymous comments, it's up to you.

Now put down the chainsaw and go register. Just remember to set your email client (especially Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, etc.) to allow messages from "qj.net" otherwise you may not get the registration confirmation email!

*Article originally posted Sep 11, 2007 at 01:42PM

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to QJ.NET every day in search of the latest gaming news for your favorite consoles! No where else will you find a website more frequently updated with the latest PSP Updates, Xbox 360 screenshots, Nintendo DS news, MMORPG musings, breaking PS3 ponderings, and the latest word about the Wii. But let's face it - there's more to life than just video games!

Our goal here at QJ.NET is to provide you with up to the minute news and information on a variety of topics that might interest or entertain our readers - so here's your chance to get introduced to some of our newest blogs that you might not know about yet. So branch out with us and let us show you what you've been missing! Who knows, you might even learn something!

They're quirky, they're handy, they're revolutionary - and sometimes you just have no idea what they are. Everyone loves Gadgets, so everyone should love the new QJ.NET Gadget Blog!
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Aside from taking the world by storm, what has Steve and Co. been up to lately? Check out our Apple Blog to get the latest on the iPod, MacBook, and the latest love affair between Apple and Intel!

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Stop by our Mobile Blog to get the inside scoop on the latest phones, service plans, and accessories to make the most out of your mobile experience! The world just got a little smaller!
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Consoles can't have all the fun! True next-gen gaming is already here and it's on your PC! From real time strategy, to first person shooters, Games for Windows is where the future lies!

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The world of online gaming belongs to World of Warcraft - the indisputable leader of the MMORPG genre. Come see what over 7 million people would sell their firstborn child for!
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Not to be outdone by orcs and blood elves, there's another MMORPG in the works that could knock WoW off its throne. Set for a 2007 release, come find out why people are talking about Tabula Rasa and prepare for the invasion!

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We've saved the best for last - we love our Science Blog! Check out the latest space-faring news and get a glimpse of all the heavens have to offer. You can't branch out any further than the final frontier!
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We hope you will take a moment to explore all that QJ.NET has to offer, I'm almost positive you'll find something that'll keep you coming back - if so, remember to bookmark it, or you can always find the list of QJ.NET Blogs in the middle sidebar to the right. You can also take a look at our Blog of Blogs which contains every piece of news covered in all our blogs - there's guaranteed to be something new to read every time you visit! And we aren't stopping here - keep your eyes peeled for even more blogs that are in the works and on the way - not to mention our constant efforts to improve your experience here at QJ.NET!

Got a suggestion for a new blog? Be sure to let us know about it!

As the saying goes, you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. Well after the day we've had here at QJ Central, I hope everyone's hungry, because we've got breakfast for all ... as long as you don't mind your eggs scrambled.

So what's the dish? As many of you might've known already, QJ.NET keeps growing and coming into its own with each passing day. As we grow, so does our audience (hey, that's you!). For some time now, the site has been dragging its feet, and we practically have to get out and push it to your browsers sometimes. That's no fun for you, and we're tired of having to buy new shoes.

Today we saw the first (of two) changes to our server structure, including a new addition. But like a little boy on Christmas morning, that brand new bike doesn't put itself together, and Santa isn't always the greatest when it comes to reading the French instructions. The short of it is that things didn't go as planned, and we should've taken the proper precautions and made offerings to the server gods... may thine bandwidth bless thee and keep thee free from lag.

Everything seems to be in order now, and hopefully the change in loading speed has been noticed (if you can tell, let us know in the comments - we could use the affirmation right about now). We apologize for the huge, unanticipated outage today, but now that you're surfing the site a bit faster, hopefully you'll forgive us.

And there should be another dramatic boost to speed by the beginning of next week as we make another change to our setup. This will result in a few hours of downtime for DL.QJ.NET, but like Santa, the plan is for us to sneak in while most of you are asleep, so leave out some cookies. Both DL.QJ and the front pages will benefit from this shakeup, but the front pages should remain unaffected as far as downtime is concerned.

Thanks for sticking with us and being patient! Now who's up for some spicy Denver Omelettes?

"We don't know the meaning of life, but we're pretty sure that we were put here in this world to enjoy ourselves."

Are we right? So thank goodness for gaming, and have a great new year, everybody!

Thanks for spending 2006 with us. We wouldn't be here without you. We're thankful that you make us your "quick jump" into what's happening in the gaming world. In 2007, we'll do our best to be an even better one-stop-shop for your news needs.

That's our Number One New Year's Resolution.

Also remember that sometimes happiness is something you have to make yourself (that sounds biologically painful and improper, but it's true). So we're going to do our best to generate happiness for our readers this year. We've got some big plans for you, the QJ.NET community. For example, you know that you can now filter news on the "BoB" (the "Blog of Blogs" or QJ.NET main page) if you're a member, and becoming a member of the community is fast and easy. Some changes are taking place at the QJ.NET Forums. We'll continue introducing more improvements this year.

By the way, our other two New Year's Resolutions are easier to keep. We'll be more carefull with spelingg. We'll also edit out bad puns (that'll be tough because new year resolutions go in one year and out the other). Have a great 2007, dear readers!

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the site, all the banners were snowing and consoles alight! As a holiday gift to all our readers, I'll end the poetry abuse right there. On behalf of the entire QJ.NET staff, I'd like to wish all of our readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a cheerful Kwanzaa and any other yuletide tradition you might practice.

It has been quite a year for the gaming industry with the rounding out of the next-gen console list, and here's hoping some of you are lucky enough to find your favorite gadgets in your stockings tomorrow. But even if you don't, you can count on our fantastic writing team to keep you up to date on all the latest news and happenings over the holidays. They're sacrificing quite a bit of their own holiday time to keep the articles flowing over the next few days, so be sure to drop them a line and let them know you appreciate their unwavering commitment to keeping you in the loop! There's no rest for the wicked, and we've got that covered in spades.

Aside from sparing everyone from my pathetic attempt at poetry parody, we do have one small present for you guys in the form of a new feature! As many of you probably know, the QJ.NET Blog of Blogs is a compilation of every news story posted across the entire network, making it a one stop shop for all your news needs. But since not everyone will be interested in everything we cover, you can now make the Blog of Blogs (or as we lovingly call it, "the BoB") display just the news you want to read about.

All you have to do is register an account (for free of course) and then click on Blog of Blogs Settings at the top of the right-hand column. From there, you can select which subjects you want displayed on the BoB and voila! - a custom front page chock full of all the news you want to see!

Happy Holidays!

Those of you who frequent PSP Updates have known about MyQJ for a while, and many of you have made use of it to contribute your own stories and thoughts about the PSP to the mecha-global blogosphere. But with all the PS3 and Wii madness this weekend, it's a perfect time to announce that MyQJ is now open to all the topics that we cover here at QJ.NET. Got a horror story about standing in line for days waiting for a PS3? Find out some neat trick to do with the Wii? Positive that the Xbox 360 is still the way to go and want to tell everyone why? MyQJ is the place to go!

But what is MyQJ? Pretty much what it sounds like! We've devoted a whole new section of the network to you, our incredible online community, to speak your mind about anything regarding gaming or technology that you can think of. From news, to reviews, to opinions, to releasing your first homebrew program, MyQJ is how you can share your thoughts with the rest of the QJ Community!

So, what's the big deal? MyQJ is a new type of hybrid when it comes to user generated content on the web and giving control to our readers. For one, it is an open blog pertaining to a specific subject - in this case, gaming! Add to that our Jump it Up feature and now you've got a way for readers to rate what they're reading. And then, any popular articles on MyQJ will be copied over to the appropriate QJ news site! Everyone loves to blog, and I'm sure many of you have your own blogs and sites, but it's not always easy to get your word out to the masses. With MyQJ you have the chance to get your thoughts posted on one of the most popular and most visited gaming news sites in the world. Our audience is now your audience!

But what about the other blogs? Those will come in time, but right now MyQJ is in it's beta stage and we need to put it to the test! Will there be bugs? You bet! Will there be things you don't like? We're counting on it! But since it is MyQJ, we want it to be what YOU want, so our maddening methods will change over the weeks as we get more input and find out exactly how you guys think MyQJ should work.

So how does it work, you ask? Pretty simple, really. First, sign up and register to blog on MyQJ (for free, of course). After you've confirmed your registration email, you can head on over to the Publisher Area and start writing! After you've submitted your article, a QJ Content Manager will quickly scan your post to ensure that it displays properly and conforms to the posting guidelines, and before you know it your post will be up on MyQJ! If it gets enough Jumps, it'll then appear on a QJ front page!

Speaking of guidelines, here are the rules you should try to follow to ensure that your article gets posted quickly:

1. No profanity, racism, pornography, vulgar, or other incendiary content
   
2. No illegal links, subject matter, downloads, or plagiarized material
   
3. Body text must be 75 words or more
   
4. Article must be readable (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization)
   
5. Article Content must be accurate to the best of your knowledge
   
6. Source link must be accurate to the best of your knowledge
   
7. Article Content must be applicable for the Blog(s) you submitted it to
   
8. If the article has a related download that is to be obtained through the source link, the download must be readily available without the need to register at another site, or perform any other actions to gain access to the download.
9. Don't spam! Please make worthwhile submissions! :)
10. Please check for duplicate stories before posting

Undoubtedly, you have questions! Not only on how things work on MyQJ, but how to use the Publisher interface and make the best articles possible! Given that we're still in beta form and things will change quickly over the coming weeks, there isn't any documentation available yet, but we do have a MyQJ Help Forum to answer any questions you might have! And our faithful QJ blogger Pranav T. has already created a short primer to help get you started! And look forward to regular tutorials on how to do things like insert hyperlinks, place images, or drop a YouTube video in. Until then, tinker to your heart's content!

It goes without saying, but even though QJ Staff will be manually scanning what goes on MyQJ, it is all about user submitted content, so who knows what will end up there. Just because something is posted on MyQJ does not mean that QJ.NET endorses the content - so user beware! This also goes for any linked downloads - if it doesn't come from DL.QJ.NET, use at your own risk!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start blogging! And remember, MyQJ is your QJ! It is what you make it, so make it the best it can be!

Those of you who frequent PSP Updates have known about MyQJ for a while, and many of you have made use of it to contribute your own stories and thoughts about the PSP to the mecha-global blogosphere. But with all the PS3 and Wii madness this weekend, it's a perfect time to announce that MyQJ is now open to all the topics that we cover here at QJ.NET. Got a horror story about standing in line for days waiting for a PS3? Find out some neat trick to do with the Wii? Positive that the Xbox 360 is still the way to go and want to tell everyone why? MyQJ is the place to go!

But what is MyQJ? Pretty much what it sounds like! We've devoted a whole new section of the network to you, our incredible online community, to speak your mind about anything regarding gaming or technology that you can think of. From news, to reviews, to opinions, to releasing your first homebrew program, MyQJ is how you can share your thoughts with the rest of the QJ Community!

So, what's the big deal? MyQJ is a new type of hybrid when it comes to user generated content on the web and giving control to our readers. For one, it is an open blog pertaining to a specific subject - in this case, gaming! Add to that our Jump it Up feature and now you've got a way for readers to rate what they're reading. And then, any popular articles on MyQJ will be copied over to the appropriate QJ news site! Everyone loves to blog, and I'm sure many of you have your own blogs and sites, but it's not always easy to get your word out to the masses. With MyQJ you have the chance to get your thoughts posted on one of the most popular and most visited gaming news sites in the world. Our audience is now your audience!

But what about the other blogs? Those will come in time, but right now MyQJ is in it's beta stage and we need to put it to the test! Will there be bugs? You bet! Will there be things you don't like? We're counting on it! But since it is MyQJ, we want it to be what YOU want, so our maddening methods will change over the weeks as we get more input and find out exactly how you guys think MyQJ should work.

So how does it work, you ask? Pretty simple, really. First, sign up and register to blog on MyQJ (for free, of course). After you've confirmed your registration email, you can head on over to the Publisher Area and start writing! After you've submitted your article, a QJ Content Manager will quickly scan your post to ensure that it displays properly and conforms to the posting guidelines, and before you know it your post will be up on MyQJ!  If it gets enough Jumps, it'll then appear on a QJ front page!

Speaking of guidelines, here are the rules you should try to follow to ensure that your article gets posted quickly:

1. No profanity, racism, pornography, vulgar, or other incendiary content
   
2. No illegal links, subject matter, downloads, or plagiarized material
   
3. Body text must be 75 words or more
   
4. Article must be readable (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization)
   
5. Article Content must be accurate to the best of your knowledge
   
6. Source link must be accurate to the best of your knowledge
   
7. Article Content must be applicable for the Blog(s) you submitted it to
   
8. If the article has a related download that is to be obtained through the source link, the download must be readily available without the need to register at another site, or perform any other actions to gain access to the download.
9. Don't spam! Please make worthwhile submissions! :)
10. Please check for duplicate stories before posting

Undoubtedly, you have questions! Not only on how things work on MyQJ, but how to use the Publisher interface and make the best articles possible! Given that we're still in beta form and things will change quickly over the coming weeks, there isn't any documentation available yet, but we do have a MyQJ Help Forum to answer any questions you might have! And our faithful QJ blogger Pranav T. has already created a short primer to help get you started! And look forward to regular tutorials on how to do things like insert hyperlinks, place images, or drop a YouTube video in. Until then, tinker to your heart's content!

It goes without saying, but even though QJ Staff will be manually scanning what goes on MyQJ, it is all about user submitted content, so who knows what will end up there. Just because something is posted on MyQJ does not mean that QJ.NET endorses the content - so user beware! This also goes for any linked downloads - if it doesn't come from DL.QJ.NET, use at your own risk!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start blogging! And remember, MyQJ is your QJ! It is what you make it, so make it the best it can be!

Yes, I know that you hardcore console folks (I'm looking at you, PSPeeps!) hate seeing this sort of stuff on your blogs, but I'm giving you warning - there's a shameless plug ahead! But we gotta get the word out on two of our newest blogs - and not just any blogs, our first game specific blogs! We all know that MMORPG's are big, and it's the nature of an online beast to have lots of news, updates, patches, mods and upgrades to talk about. These new blogs have been lurking around the QJ network all this week, but it's time to give them the proper introduction they deserve.

Okay, so that one doesn't need much of an introduction. Everyone's heard of a little game called World of Warcraft, right? Yeah, I thought so. It is the MMORPG of our times with millions upon millions of players wandering through the world of Azeroth every single minute of every single day. And that's just the beginning. With the upcoming release of the Burning Crusade expansion, things are about to get even bigger. So it's a perfect time to launch our own WoW blog to keep everyone on top of every single bit of info out there! There's no stopping World of Warcraft from dominating the globe...

...or is there? You see, there's this little gem of a game that's been in the works for over 4 years from the fine folks at NCSoft and Destination Games. At the helm is Ultima Online">Richard Garriott aka Lord British, the mastermind behind the grand-daddy of modern MMORPG's - Ultima Online. With experience and an award winning art team on their side, Tabula Rasa hopes to wipe the slate clean and knock WoW off its high horse. With a unique crossbreeding of 3rd person RPG action with alien-blasting FPS controls and tactics, it might do just that.

TR will soon be hitting the beta stage, and we here at QJ want to be in on the ground floor of what will most likely be the next big thing in the MMORPG universe. This is the place to be if you want to keep up on all the latest news, art renders, screenshots, and developments.

So there you have it - two new blogs to check out, with some pretty snazzy sneak peaks and exclusive content on the way. And a third new blog isn't far behind, and hopefully it will fill the obvious hole in the QJ Network when it comes to gaming news!