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Please know that I try to respond to as many e-mail as I possibly can, but with the deluge that often comes it simply isn't humanly possible. Rest assured that I read every e-mail that I receive, even agreeing with some of them. While you are formulating your e-mails today take a minute and visit our brand-spanking new, heavy on the spanking Gods And Heroes community.
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Today rather than make my usual feeble attempt at humour I will keep the main body of this column serious. Five years ago today al-Queda attacked the United States of America by flying several aircraft full of civilians into civilian targets.
I am not an American. I am a Canadian, but no matter what petty squabbles we have and no matter what is said across a cup of coffee or a mug of beer by the respective populations, Americans and Canadians are brothers. When al-Queda attacked the twin towers in New York City they attacked our family. I can think of no two other nations with the incredible relationship that the United States and Canada share. One needs only look to the world's largest undefended border to grasp how close and how true this relationship is.
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8:46 am - American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:02 am - United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:37 am - American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
10:03 am - United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. It is believed that the heroics of the passengers caused the plane to crash without reaching its intended civilian destination.
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125 people died at the Pentagon.
246 people died on the four planes.
2,602 people died in the twin towers or in the area surrounding them.
23 New York Police Officers died.
37 Port Authority Police Officers died.
343 New York City Fire Department firefighters died.
According to 9-1-1 tapes, one of the passengers, Todd Beamer, had asked for the operator to pray with him before the passengers attempted to retake the aircraft. After praying, he simply said, "Let's roll." The term "Let's roll" would later become the war cry for those fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
For a day, put aside your anti-American remarks, your Canadian military jokes and think of those that lost family in the attacks and the subsequent military actions. 32 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
I will never forget where I was when I found out about the attack. My wife and I were purchasing a new car-seat for our two-year-old son when the checkout clerk told us that planes had crashed into buildings in the U.S.
Where were you?
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Exclusive new TenTonHammer.com Content!
Let us entertain you or at the very least waste some of your time at work.
09.11.2006 Exclusive Content
Op/Ed: Fan Events Done Right
"With BlizzCon 2006 canned and E3 2007 on the ropes, event planning seems to be increasingly in the hands of fans and affiliate sites. Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle looks at how individual developers treat the idea of a fan event, and offers a rudimentary "how to" for affiliate sites and guild masters planning their own get-togethers."
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Games On A Plane!
"Have you ever made a really good friend while playing a video game? A friend so good you've bought a plane ticket to go visit him or her? That's the topic Ralsu explores to start off this week of exciting new DDO content."
EverQuest 2: Update!
"We've all been checking out
Game Update 27, with all it's new quests and tradeskill writs. If you haven't for some reason, join Kiara as she goes through what was added and how easy it is to fail the new rush orders."
EverQuest 2: Games On A Plane
"Have you met online friends in real life? A lot of people have! Intentional or not, people get to know each other through online gaming and this drives thousands of people to meet face to face with the text and avatars of their online pals. Just think of how many real life meetings EverQuest II is responsible for! It's more than you would think!"
Gods And Heroes: The Faces Behind Cyberspace
"We spend so much time with people online, but what are these people like in real life? What pitfalls should we avoid when we meet them? Why shouldn't you let people you've never met use your laptop? RadarX shares six important lessons that will make you wealthy beyond your wildest imagination. Once you realize he's lying, you'll see lessons to meeting people from your favorite MMO in person."
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - From Basement To Boardroom
"Once upon a time, gamers were relegated to basement LAN parties and frag fests. Now, the phenomenon that is online gaming finds MMO players getting together to meet their online gaming buddies in the real world. Medeor takes a look at the ways that gaming and real life converge. Will his Outlook one day pop up a corporate meeting reminder telling him to meet his colleagues in a neutral tavern on a WoW server? You just never know!"
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Interview With Sigil's Vince Napoli
"There's been a lot of speculation about modes of travel in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. We know that travel will play an important role in the game, and that instant travel will be extremely limited. We also know that Vanguard will have a unique caravan system. There's been a good deal of speculation about how the system will work, so we cornered Sigil to get the official word on caravans. Game designer Vince Napoli answered our questions."
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - What Makes A Great Vanguard Community?
"What makes a great pre-launch Vanguard community? We know that youâll all want plenty of guides and information, as well as a solid database, once Vanguard launches. And all those things will certainly be here. We also think we have a pretty good idea of what youâre looking for right now while Vanguard is still in beta, and weâre working hard to provide it. Even so, we thought weâd ask for your opinion. And you know what you can do with your opinion, donât ya? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in our forum...of course!"
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Beta Slot Giveaway
"You want to get into the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes beta. We've got a Vanguard beta key to give away to one lucky community member each month. It's a formula that works! Lots of sites do things like writing contests or art contests or "post on the forum" contests for their giveaways, but we decided to change it up a bit this month and bring you a scavenger hunt. Seek out the scavenger items in our community and you could soon be adventuring in the realms of Telon."
World of Warcraft: The BlizzCon That Wasn't
"Given the ravening popularity of World of Warcraft, it was a shock to many a system when Blizzard announced wouldn't host a BlizzCon 2006 this fall. Ethec examines Blizzard's possible motivations for not going annual with what could easily be the industry's largest fan festival and why he believes yearly fan festivals are important both for the developer and the playerbase. "
Vin Diesel Fact of the Day - TiVO was invented because cable stations became tired of switching their programming each time Vin Diesel called in with a request.
Now from the real world. You can't make this stuff up.
Stephen Hawking Seeks Assistant [Thanks Karen]
Let the Speak-And -Spell voice impersonations begin!
Public Nudity OK In Vermont [Thanks Danny]
If Virginia is for lovers then Vermont is for streakers.
Starbucks Sued for $114 Million Over Free Coffee Coupon [Thanks Matt]
That must have been some Grande!
Japanese Support Female Monarch
Sailor Moon prepares for reign on her tentacle covered throne.
al-Queda Releases Anniversary Message
It went something like this... "Happy Anniversary to you. We truly are screwed. You're kicking our asses, so we're hiding on you."
As always, thanks for visiting TenTonHammer.com,
-- John "Boomjack" Hoskin