Welcome to MacLanClub's official website. The club was founded in 2007 by club president Kevin Folz who is now entering 3rd year of Software Engineering and Embedded Systems at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. MLC was ratified as an official MSU recognized club during the summer of 2008 and is now open to anyone in Ontario. Our main objectives are to host FREE LAN Parties and to encourage social gaming on campus. We create private, lag free networks to play popular games such as Counter Strike 1.6, Starcraft: Broodwar, Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, and Unreal Tournament 2004. Now that you know what MLC is, join the mailing list today, and come to our events (LAN Parties) to have some fun! Check out the calendar for upcoming events, and read the event info page for more information.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, full time job and my wedding last month took a lot of my free time away.
We plan on hosting our annual DOTA tournament later this summer / early September, last year it brought in over 50 participants so keep an eye out!
Also, our new website roll out should be coming later this summer as well.
Starcraft 2 release date is coming quick and Blizzard said they would reopen the beta prior to launch, so here are two free SC 2 beta keys. First come first serve.
HNM62X-J22D-2Z2ETT-EP2T-WPG2CF
PYMNJX-MZW9-YW4JEW-GFT4-YYG7ED

Well, we switched hosting providers again so we could get more features. The mailing list is not setup yet, I just have to restore from a backup...
That can wait because... today is my wedding!
If you signed up for the mailing list in the last month, please email me so I can ensure your on the mailing list.

We have confirmed a sponsorship with Thermaltake and CPU Magazine. As well we now have 2-3 beta keys to give away during the tournament!
I did a few small website tweaks today but a website redesign will happen later this summer. Please let me know if there is any bugs.

Breaking news! I just got an email that Starcraft 2 release date is confirmed: July 27 2010.

June 5th we are hosting a Starcraft tournament with prizes (applied for various sponsorships, eg: Steelseries, Mushkin, Thermaltake).
We also have 1-2 BETA keys for Starcraft 2 to be won. There will definitely be a few Starcraft 2 betas being played at the event as well,
so come check out the action and try it for yourself.
Format / tournament buy in not finalized yet but should be reasonable 5-10$.
It will also be a FREE lan party for anyone else wanting some fun.

In other news, now that the server is back home, I did some tweaking, and created a custom mount for the 2.5" 30 GB SSD drive to fit into 3.5" bay.
Now all parts are MLC owned as I replaced the borrowed power supply with a new Thermaltake one.

Full specs: Asus AMD740G, AMD Athlon X2 7750 @ 3.0ghz, 2 GB Mushkin DDR2-800, Intel PCIe + Realtek Onboard Gigabit LAN, OCZ 30 GB SSD + WD 160 GB.

CANFAR is hosting a Wii tournament on March 25th, 7pm to 10pm in MUSC 206/207
Bake sale will also be present.

A quick note, our club application with the MSU is approaching soon. Please email me if you would like to be considered for a executive position. In particular it would be great to have an advertising executive in charge of creating/distributing fliers, posting advertisements on the web, seeking sponsorships, etc. Got another executive idea, let me know as well!

Emails went out earlier this week, we have an event this Saturday from 2pm to 6pm in BSB 121.
I have SC/SSC testing with UTS in the morning hence the later start this month...
Hope everyone is done this series of midterms, was a crazy week for me (4 midterms, 2 assignments), time for gaming break!
PS: in case you didn't know... Starcraft 2 Beta is now out! I didn't get selected (yet), fingers crossed.

Voting for the best tshirt design is now up: click here.
Also, MDGG is hosting a Playstation 3 LAN party in BSB this friday, check out their page for details: mdgg.ca

Another successful event with over 35 people in attendance including the 4 teams in the CS Source tournament.
The winners were: Naultilus (18$/player), Runtingz(7$/player), JTF(3$/player). Team UNNAMED is thanked for participating.
First and second place teams also received 10 hour intro memberships to Pownz Gaming Center in Hamilton, Ontario.
Perhaps at the next event, the top 2 teams will split the prize pool to make the prizes more lucrative.
Everyone got a free copy of CPU Magazine from our sponsor, and there is a free no-obligation 6 month trial inside!!
Darren T. won the mystery prize of a 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 computer w/ 768 MB DDR Ram, DVD burner, 80GB HD, in a sturdy Antec case w/ blue LED mod.
The reason the prize was not working at the LAN was due to a loose graphics card from transportation so it was an easy fix once I got it home.
The value of the prize is over 100$ and it manages to get 30+ FPS in CS source and 40+ FPS in CS 1.6 ... better then some laptops I've seen. Please send event pictures and game screenshots to our email or upload on the screenshot page.

An MLC member has entered McMaster University into the Collegiate Starcraft League.
He currently has 6 members signed up and is looking for more players for weekly practice. Please contact him here if your interested, or visit the CSL Website

Wow, what a night! It was a huge success with 50 people showing up for a night of fun (even when Tim kicks my ass at Aoe II). I saw Quake III arena, Team Fortress 2, Age of empires II, Starcraft, Warcraft 3: Battleships & DOTA, and CS 1.6 / CSS being played. We also had a gamecube/street fighter IV over a projector, but I have to do more debugging with sf4 and multiple joysticks. Please send event pictures/screenshots by email, or via the upload page.
Have you seen the game list? It has been updated with a few updated/new titles to try, even some open source / mac compatible ones such as Bitfighter.

The poll has declared that the tournament will be CS Source, if your only into 1.6, come anyways as we will have a dedicated server up and lots of free for all gaming. Perhaps even two tournaments (one CSS one 1.6 if that works best).
Rules for CS Tournament can be found: here.
Entry fees are collected at the door (cash), or at Compass in student center (credit/debit).
All other tournament information is in Dec 10th post.

MLC is holding a T-Shirt design contest! The winner gets a free t-Shirt with that design!
Must use only 2 colors (due to screen printing), t-shirt color will be black or white, your pick.
Design location is to be on the front of the t-shirt (eg, chest area). The back of the t-shirt will have a large crosshair (Pownz logo) as they will most likely help sponsor the t-shirts. Submit your contest entries by email to maclanclub@gmail.com, there will be a poll on macinsiders after the deadline. Any file format with transparent background is ok. T-shirts will be worn by the MLC Execs, and offered as prize items for tournaments, however if the design is popular, we can order more and they will be available for purchase for 10-15$ each to anyone.
Deadline for design submission: Jan 10th, 2010, 12noon (extended due to lack of entries, don't be shy!)
Also, I was playing through the Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne campaign and i came upon a secret level, guarded by flying sheep! Click here to see more.
Lastly, hope everyone has a nice and relaxing holiday!

Mac LAN Club is hosting its second annual Counter Strike tournament with FREE gaming during and after the tournament.
Jan 16th, 2010 from 11am to 8pm, in MDCL 1009/1010
Bring your own computer, but games are available to download.
Tournament entry fee is 10$ / person with 80% of entry fees going to prize pool and 20% for MLC hardware upgrades.
There will be a draw for a "Mystery Prize" hint: its 20lbs and glows blue. Also there will be gaming packages from Pownz Gaming Center, and CPU magazines.

The format will be a round robin with the top 3 seeded teams winning prizes. Teams will be ranked by matches won,lost,tied and (if tied between two teams) number of rounds won. Counter Strike 1.6 or Source, to be determined by an upcoming poll on the MLC website. More details will be posted when they are finalized.
Note: Anyone can join our events, you don't need to be from McMaster!

Just a reminder... CS 1.6 Server For Sale $20!! : 500 Mhz Pentium 3, 448 MB ram, 10 GB hd
Ubuntu Server 9.04 (Linux) preconfigured with CS 1.6 auto start on boot, comes with keyboard, power and network cables.

Also TONS of random computer parts/ram/cables/cases/motherboards/cpus (AMD 2100 / Pentium 4) for cheap < 5-20$, contact Kevin.

MLC is also selling Linksys 8-16 port 100mb network switches 20-40$ and large length (25-40 ft) network cables (5$)

Pownz is hosting a Super Smash Brothers Brawl Tournament, Dec 19th, 2009
Details here: MacInsiders Forum

Wow, what an event! 10 teams showed up and had crazy time, lots and LOTS of DOTA was played for over 10 hours!
First place team walked away with $50 cash each and Pownz day passes.
2-4th place team walked away with some cash and some Pownz hour bundles.
Some members also received our Stick-Of-Ram on a keychain.
Thanks to our sponsors, everyone had a chance to scoop up a free copy of CPU magazine and 1 hour intro memberships from Pownz.
Some pictures of the event can be found here. Send in yours by email or use the upload page.

Sadly, this came at a great cost. Failure of the players to clean up after themselves prior to leaving and the tournament going way overtime, UTS will no longer support MLC. This also reflects on me as I work for UTS as well. Our Counter Strike tournament in January will definitely be a Bring-Your-Own-Computer event.

Thanks to the awesome people at www.pownz.com (a gaming centre in hamilton), we have sweet prizes to give away at our tournament.
The first place team will be receiving day passes (a $20 value each) and everyone else is entered into a draw for other great prizes
This is on top of all the cash prizes!
Entry tickets ($10) are on sale at compass (accepts credit card / debit, etc), or at the door (cash).

Mac LAN Club is hosting its annual DOTA Tournament!
Nov 14th, 2009
11am to 6pm
JHE rm 233 (computer lab)
Computers are provided and laptops are welcome. Teams or single players may enter, 10$/person.
Prizes consist of 50% for winning team, 25% for second place team, and raffle draws for other prizes.
Winners will also receive Heroes of Newerth BETA keys.
Format of tournament is dependent on number of teams, round robin or bracket style most likely.
Newest DOTA map will be used. Teams can pre-register here.
Tickets are on sale at compass (credit card, debit), or at the door (cash).
It will also be our monthly FREE lan party, so if your not into DOTA, come anyways!

The software engineering club is hosing a bowling night, only 10$ which includes everything and some food.
Thursday October 29, starting at 7pm at University Lanes located in University Plaza. See website for details: seclub.mcmaster.ca

Today is sustainability @ mac day! Come to student center entrance (on parking lot side) to drop off old computer parts / electronics for environmentally friendly recycling. Also you are free to take whatever you please! Most systems are missing ram/hd, but cases, cpu, psu and mobos work! I also have network equipment, ram, hard drives and much more for sale here: parts list

Lastly, if you are looking for a reliable dual core laptop for $375 O.B.O. click here.

Mac LAN Club is holding another FREE LAN Party! If you missed the last one, 25 gamers showed up and we had a great time playing Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Starcraft, DOTA, and RISK.
Saturday Oct 17th, 11am to 6pm (come/leave any time), BSB 106

Also, if your in for a good console gaming fix, MDGG is hosting a N64 party, details here

Lastly, MLC has received its funding allocation from MSU, so we expect to have some new Gigabit equipment coming up!

Do you play CS Source? Well, the friendly folks at Western Electronic Gaming Association (U of WO), have a permanent CSS server running 24/7! Type 'connect 208.167.232.115:27015' without quotes into the console to play. They are looking to have some gamming sessions with us this year. Visit their website here: western-ega.enjin.com

MDGG is hosting a Unreal Tournament 3 lobby SUNDAY night at 8:30 PM
Valve is providing UT3 for FREE (for the weekend ONLY). Details here.

Our next event is SATURDAY Sept 19th, from 11am to 6pm, in BSB rm 106.
Feel free to stop in at any time, and bring your friends. See event info page for more details.

Wow, what a turnout!!! Clubsfest was a HUGE success, 200 email addresses were collected, and will be added to the mailing list once we have the time to type them up (tedious!). Hope to see a lot of new members showing up to our next event. Alright, have any of you stopped by KTH lately? They have completely revamped the computer labs in rm B121/3, 80 new 2.8 ghz quad core computers with 4 gb ram, ATI 2400 XT (256MB, DX10), and 20 inch widescreen displays. I now work for UTS as a student consultant, so you might see me around.

First off, the August 15th summer LAN is confirmed, MDCL rm. 1010 from 12noon to 6pm. Sorry for the delay in confirmation, it was due to McMaster staff on vacation.
In other news, have you heard of MDGG?!? It stands for McMaster Digital Games Group, a Steam centric gaming community. I just attended one of their events last nite and had a good time playing Half Life 2 DM. Future MDGG events will be posted here and on the calendar page.

A free summer LAN party is in the works, please vote as to whether you plan to attend or not. The date is Saturday, August 15th, from 11am to 6pm. If there are not enough votes by August 5th, it will be cancelled. We have lots of new games to try out! Left 4 Dead Co-op matches, Quake III Arena, Team Fortress and more! See our supported games list for details. If you are interested in buying a cheap ($60 o.b.o) desktop computer / CS server, visit here.

After a suspension from x10hosting (they don't play nice!), we are back and finally we own our own domain! Never again will I bother with free subdomains, godaddy has tons of coupons (google them), and MLC is only paying $5.88/yr! The mailing list should be up and running in a few days, but other then that, the website should be working. Please report any dead links, and a special thanks to www.gamebend.com for all their support!

I hope everyone is having a nice summer, and that exams treated you well. MLC has been busy over the summer, we are making lots of plans for next year, including a Welcome week LAN party, uni vs uni gaming over the summer, a student center frag fest, and contacting potential sponsors for tournament prizes. Our list of supported games has grown quite substantially (over 20!), and our file server is now running Apache, instead of windows file sharing. Some interesting links, an FPS gaming vest from thinkgeek.com would be neat to try but the 140$ price tag is kinda high. Last but not least, Starcraft 2 beta is coming! Opt-in for the beta here, note you must create a Bnet account and own at least one game.

First off, thanks to Chris C. and Braden A. we have screenshots from the last DOTA tournament, below are matches between Friendship vs Beer and Friendship VS Cheapstick.

And... is that a USB powered Playstation 3 I see? Nope, just me being crafty. If you see my setup at events, I normally bring two sets of KB & M which is a hassle. Now, I only have to bring one because what you see is a manual USB share switch I created. It is powered by both computers (twice the amperage) and handles 3 devices with ease (using a keyboard with built in 2 port USB hub). Let me know if your interested in any of the finer details to make your own!

Please welcome Charles aka Snake as VP of Counter Strike, and Braden aka Infester as VP of DOTA for 2009-10 MLC executive. MLC just applied for re-ratificaiton of MSU club status, with (hopefully) more funding for next year.

In other news, if you missed MLC's CFMU radio interview on Friday March 6th, you can download it HERE.

Thanks to everyone who took a break from midterms and came to the tournament last weekend. The DOTA tournament was a success, with 3 full 5 player teams competing in round robin.
First place winners (each winning 13$): Team Friendship
Guillaume aka Enders, Oliver aka Friendship, Fernand, Jon, and Chris aka Dude.
Second place winners (each winning 6$): Team BEER
Allan aka Link, Kyle aka Kerplunk, Honson aka 122, Colin aka Morning Wood, and Braden aka Infester.
Team Cheapstick also participated, but did not win a prize. The people who showed up for the CS tournament opted to playing various maps of Starcraft, Warcraft, and CS since it was clear who the winner would have been... Screenshots will follow once the files are sent to me. Thanks to your support, a small portion of the entry fees will help us buy new 8 port GIGABIT switches for next year.

In other news, please VOTE!!! for the MLC 2009-10 Executive HERE.

Unfortunately, the email I sent out on sunday did not process correctly for some, so when I sent a second message today it sent both at the same time... sorry about that. Specifics about the tournament can be found here: RULES. Note: we will use the latest DOTA, not the stable, as many bug fixes are in the current version. Also to note, I tried to get CS Source for the tournament, but it will not work with the user restrictions on school computers. If any tickets are left on saturday, we will sell them at the door. Lastly, we managed to get BSB rm 244 (across the hall), with 50 computers!!!

There is a FREE lan party in BSB room 121 from 12noon to 6pm on Saturday Feb 28th.Take a break from midterms and have some fun, just bring your PC/Laptop!

Also, comming up soon is our second Counter Strike 1.6 and Warcraft 3: DOTA paid entry tournament! The tournament is in a BSB Computer Lab so the computers are PROVIDED!
The main details: Cost: 8 $$, Time: 12noon to 6pm Date: Saturday March 7th Location: BSB rm 241. The lab has dual core 3ghz Core Duo machines with Dedicated ATI Radeon HD 3500 graphics cards and 19inch swing arm LCDs! Tournament rules soon to follow!
Tickets on sale at Compass in Student Center later this week (hopefully by tuesday).

Wow, what a week! Wednesday 7th, MLC participated in MSU Clubsfest, in which many students stopped by, and over 50 email addresses were added to mailing list. Thursday, as a favour to the IRC, we hosted an in-residence Frost Week LAN party in Mary E. Keyes, which was a HUGE success, having a turnout of over 30 people! Lastly, on Friday we hosted our regular monthly LAN party, in MUSC (which unfortunately is the only room clubs can book in the first two weeks of school), was also a success. Six students managed to bring their DESKTOPS, so the record is now set to 6! About 28 people showed up for that event, and although a little rocky with Counter Strike Source VS Vista issues, a lot of gamers had a lot of fun. Updates: Script to change network settings completely re-made, and im installing Vista on my home machine to test games. Also Counter Strike 1.6 portable is now revision 2, including more maps, all tested, and shotgun models! The next event currently planned is a pay for enter tournament, CS 1.6 or SOURCE / DOTA, BSB Lab (so you don't have to bring a computer!), week after Reading Week. Check your mail for a poll in regards to SOURCE vs 1.6 coming out later this week.

Date: Friday Jan 9th, 2009.
Location: Student Center Room 318 (map)
Time: 4pm to 10:30pm
Special Event: Higher end gaming, dedicated Counter Strike SOURCE, Half Life 2 DM, and Unreal Tournament 2004 servers, and random Warcraft 3 maps such as DOTA, Hero Line War, and Battle Ships
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We got some NEW games! A portable (2.2gb) version of Half Life 2 Deathmatch, and Counter Strike SOURCE (combined into one package) and a portable (with bots and maps pre-installed) version of CS 1.6 (130mb). Star Wars JediKnight 2 has also been updated, its now a lot easier to enjoy (looking forward to starting up some matches this year!)
Updated pictures of all the networking hardware used by the club can be found here: Gear 1 and Gear 2.

Lastly, clubs fest is on Wednesday from 9am to 4pm in MUSC foyer, come and check out our display, I plan to have a gaming station setup for some quick action as well.
Have any questions? Email maclanclub@gmail.com (kevin@x10hosting seems to not work lately... may have missed some emails)

Here are the winners of the tournament, and a screenshot of one of the matches.
Counter Strike: Linh aka THe_Silencer, Hamza aka Velocity, Charles aka Snake, Will aka Pencil Crayon of Hope.
DOTA: Philip aka Dynamist, Michael K. aka Ceramus, Micheal L. aka Logan2000, Chris C. aka Dude
Also, here are a few videos I found on youtube... Basshunter-DOTA w/ Subtitles and Basshunter-Boten Anna /w Subtitles
And some nice techno remixes (right click, save as): DJ_Aligator-CounterStrike.mp3, Basshunter-CounterStrike.mp3
Warcraft 3:DOTA screenshot courtesy of Cris aka Dude.

Thanks to all the participants in MLC's first pay-for-entry tournament. Although we were aiming for a larger turnout (Rez-Wide formal conflicted with our event...) , it was still a success with two teams comming out on top. Everyone got free donuts (courtesy of Kristin), and the 8 winning players got 7$ and a keychain created with a classic stick of ram (~4MB SIMM). More results to come when I have more time, please upload pictures via HERE. Also thanks to IEEE McMaster Student Branch, the Software Engineering Club, UTS, and my girlfriend for their support.