As you've probably already noticed, we put out an update to the central Stardock Forum system today that comes packed with fixes, plus a handful of very useful new features.  Instead of letting you guess randomly at what's new and how it works, I thought I'd give everyone a quick run-down of the new features.

Forum AnnouncementsReturn of the Report ButtonGo to Top of Thread ButtonThe New Karma SystemForum Announcements

In the past, we've been unable to let everyone know when there's a...

So yesterday I went out to my local Best Buy and picked up a copy of Mario Kart Wii for my Nintendo Wii.  Like all Nintendo consoles, it seems my game library is dominated primarily by Nintendo developed titles (Zelda, Mario, Smash Brothers).  So it just sort of makes sense that I'd go out and get the latest Mario Kart game.

Now, I have a confession to make.  In all of the previous Nintendo consoles I've owned (NES, N64, GC, GBA, DS) I've never owned a Kart game (was there even one for the NES?).  Sure I've played them from time to time at parties or at a friend's house, but I've never had enough time to really become proficient at the series.

This also means I don't come to the game with a favorite in the series to compare it to, and can't look at the game and say "Well, the driving physics aren't quite as good as they were on the N64 version, and the item management really needs to go back to the way it was in the DS title..."  So I'm basically as end-user as it gets when it comes to Mario Kart Wii.  So with that in mind, here are my thoughts after a few hours with the game yesterday...

Now, I'll admit that I'm definitely on the outside looking in of the blogging/web 2.0 community.  While I manage very large sites with a ton of users and reach, I'm still on the periphery.  Why?  Well, I live in Michigan.  Not exactly a state known for it's thriving IT industry.  If you go beyond IT services that support manufacturing companies, you can probably count on one hand the number of companies doing anything significant with online communities or digital media.

Yes, I'm a bit of a victim of geography here, and even though it's all online now, it's all IM, Twitter, email and blogging, proximity is still important.  So when I see events like Gnomedex coming up, I'm interested because it could be one of the few opportunities I have this year to actually network with other people working in my field.  And in this nebulous profession, professional networking is king.