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Do we need bigger friend lists?
This is a problem I hear about, but don't actually have, because I'm not a terribly friendly person. Try not to be shocked. But I do have some friends, and a lot of those friends are very friendly people (they'd kind of have to be to be my friends, I suppose) and they often complain that they're full up on friends. I'm not sure how one can possibly manage that many friends, but nevertheless there are folks who have completely used up all one hundred potential friends and want/need more. However, it seems they may have to wait a while. Bashiok had this to say on twitter: @BulletCatcher02 It's something I hear tale of our http://t.co/OzS6N5CG1E team actively working toward, but it's actually a complex issue. - Bashiok (@Bashiok) October 8, 2014 This is one of those issues that makes me wonder. For one thing, the battle.net friends list actually extends past World of Warcraft - it has to be coded to work with Diablo III, Starcraft II, Hearthstone and soon Heroes of the Storm. That's a lot of different games with different code, and WoW is certainly the oldest of them. I can imagine the limits of the oldest game holding back the development. Still, for the friendly souls among us, I hope it gets solved soon.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Juggernaut Bike, Project Blue and a skyscraper made of desert sand
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It's been a big week for architecture -- especially the futuristic kind. First, winners were announced for the 2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, a contest that challenges designers to create buildings that are beautiful as well as problem-solvers. Top honors were earned by Sand Babel: a twisting, solar-powered, 3D-printed skyscraper built from desert sand. Then there's the extraordinary Hyper Filter Skyscraper, which is designed to inhale carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and exhale oxygen. China's ongoing air-pollution crisis seems to have inspired more than one designer, as an honorable mention also went to Project Blue, a skyscraper that could actually transform air pollution into green energy.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Staying positive in League of Legends
This is the last issue of the Summoner's Guidebook for the time being. I hate to leave, but unfortunately things are out of everyone's hands. So before I go, I will give you my final lesson: the way to be the best League of Legends players you can be. I played my first game of Hexakill last week, and it was terrible. I was jungle Shyvana, and we had a duo top plus otherwise standard lanes. All of my lanes lost. Our Ryze went 0 and 6 against the enemy Syndra. The enemy Riven had something like 11 kills in the midgame with over 26 by the end. I was the only one not behind; our bottom lane was losing, but not terribly. We won that game. Some of that victory comes from the enemy screwing up. I will fully admit that if the enemy had played properly in the midgame, we would have lost. However, even with the enemy's mistakes, we were tens of thousands of gold and several towers behind. How is a comeback like that even possible? Here's how: Stay positive and always look for the silver lining.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Pooling your efforts to win LoL games
Winning in League of Legends isn't only about skill. Sometimes you completely rock your lane and go 7/0 in laning phase yet manage to lose the game. Blaming your team is totally reasonable there, but the truth is probably closer to home than you think. A team that is working together will prevail regardless of the strength of its individual members and in most cases regardless of its strategic decisions. I've had games where we had one losing lane and no other big lane advantages (I stole a blue buff once, and both junglers took some Flashes but didn't get any big wins), then went on to utterly destroy the enemy because we pulled together as a team despite having a 5/0 Riven on the enemy team. I've also had games where we had two people with over 5 kills in laning phase and still managed to lose.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Making League of Legends a better place
It's no surprised that League of Legends has a very caustic community. Players on messageboards all over the internet (including our comments section) can attest to the fact that LoL's community leaves a lot to be desired. Unfriendly players and offensive language are the norm, and these bad attitudes keep many summoners from logging in. Riot hasn't let the issue lie, though. The Tribunal was a good first step toward building a better community, and if reports are to be believed, it does a fairly good job. However, simply punishing players doesn't encourage good behavior. That's where the latest effort, the Honor system, comes into play. Honor allows players to give positive feedback to friendly or supportive players, either friend or foe. Gaining honor alerts a player of his or her good behavior, and Riot has hinted that it may be the basis of future rewards. Is it a good step in the right direction, or will it just encourage "honor trading?"
H2O Shower Powered Radio blasts the Biebs by way of micro-turbine
Forget the tablet, 2011 is the year of the shower radio! Last week we reported on Toshiba's wirelessly connected water-proof song box and, just as our nerves began to settle from the excitement, someone came along and dropped this eco-friendly, shower-ready gem on us. Not only is the H2O Shower Powered Radio waterproof, but it actually uses the water from your shower to pump out the jams. The thing connects directly to your shower hose, and uses the flow of water to set a micro-turbine spinning, thus charging an integral battery and eliminating the need for disposables. As the video below points out, the radio "doesn't just offer 80s classics -- it has the full spectrum of FM," and its creators say it's compatible with 99 percent of showers, but what we really want to know is: how well does it crank the Ke$ha? Video after the break.
Apple brings AT&T and Verizon together for a happy dance in latest iPhone commercial (update: HD video)
The unthinkable has happened. After spending 99 percent of their recent marketing budgets figuring out ways to sling mud at each other, AT&T and Verizon have now come together to dance a merry waltz -- all in the name of Apple's hallowed iPhone. The latest commercial for the phone that really doesn't need advertising shows that you can FaceTime, read iBooks, navigate maps, and do everything else on the Verizon iPhone just as well as you could do it on the AT&T-friendly GSM variant of the device. As if you didn't already know. Still, it's fun to see these guys trying to turn their lack of competitive diversity into some sort of an advantage. Video after the break. Update: Now in HD!
iPad Facebook app Friendly updated with multiple account support
As we reported earlier, Facebook is holding a mobile event next week, where much speculation is being made about whether or not we'll all finally see an iPad version of the company's official app. Until that happens, there's still the terrific, unofficial Facebook iPad app Friendly, which has just undergone a major upgrade to version 3.0. With Friendly's update comes quite a few improvements and enhancements, including the ability to sign in to multiple accounts on launch or on the fly, uploading photos, an "enhanced browser," and multiple bug fixes. The multiple account feature is an interesting one, as it makes the iPad a little more multi-user friendly in allowing different family members to sign in to the service on the same device. However, it doesn't appear that each account can be easily locked out from others accessing it once they are signed in the first time, so if you have something you'd like to remain private, beware. It's probably unlikely any official app from Facebook will have a multi-user feature, so if that's something you'd make good use of, paying the US$0.99 for Friendly might be the way to go.
Wrath 101: Getting your dungeon reputation tabards
Reader Paul K. sent us a query today about how to go about getting each of the champion dungeon tabards available at level 80, and since I'm about to hit level 80 (hopefully will be doing it tonight), I figured I'd do the work so the rest of you don't have to. Wearing these tabards will give you faction reputation for whatever tabard you're wearing in the endgame 5mans, so instead of running Steam Vaults over and over and over for Cenarion Expedition rep (oh man am I tired of that grind), you can just put on one of these, and then run whatever instances you want.There are currently four factions that you can champion in the game, and all of the tabards for each are available at Friendly. So you'll need at least friendly with all of the factions -- Wyrmrest Accord, Knights of the Ebon Blade, Kirin Tor, and the Argent Crusade -- before you go around to pick them all up. Getting there isn't hard at all -- if you've leveled by questing, you should have built up the necessary reputation (the one exception in my case is the Knights of the Ebon Blade -- I'm neutral right now, but I haven't really done any questing in Icecrown yet at all).After the jump, a list of where you need to go to get each tabard.
WoW Rookie: Introduction to Reputation
WoW Rookie is brought to our readers to help our newest players get acclimated to the game. Make sure you send a note to WoW Insider if you have suggestions for what new players need to know. As a social game, it's fun to make friends in an MMORPG environment. In World of Warcraft, you must also make friends (and sometimes enemies) with members of various faction groups. Reputation (rep) is gained through killing a faction's enemies and completing quests to assist a particular group. Obviously, killing member's of a particular faction reduces rep. For example, killing Bloodsail Pirates increases rep with Booty Bay (Steamwheedle Cartel), while decreasing rep with the Bloodsail Buccaneers. There are many reasons why we may increase or decrease reputations. You may be asked to do so to as a quest objective or to gain particular rewards. By gaining exalted reputation with the major cities you have access to purchase their racial mounts (provided your they may be scaled to your racial model) and their guild tabards. Higher levels of rep also allow discounts on goods and repair services from vendors, and higher prices for selling useless items. For the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at the ins and outs of reputation on WoW Rookie.
Nintendo hearts the environment
The train of good press for Nintendo just keeps chugging along. The latest piece comes from GoNintendo, who had a reader contact Nintendo about their environmental policies. The full response can be found after the break, but a couple things that stand out are that Nintendo purchases recycled paper towels, report covers, message pads, and writing pads. They also use 80% recycled paper in all their shipping packaging.So, now that we know what Nintendo does to help save our little planet, we wonder what Microsoft and Sony do? We doubt that either tests their products on animals, but are they using recycled toilet paper (not used, there's a difference) and recycling 70% of the waste from their headquarters? We don't know about Sony, but at least we know that Microsoft recycles their broken Xbox 360s. Oh come on, it had to be said.
IZI Robotics' emotional Netoy shows the weather, stays put
While it's certainly not as intelligent (or mobile) as NEC's R100 companion bot, the Netoy "emotional robot" can probably hold its own when cheering up the master. IZI Robotics' latest creation sports an abnormally large head, shocking (ahem) looks, and a bevy of functionality traits. Aside from telling you the weather, brushing you up on the latest news, and reading back audiobooks, it can also provide "wake up calls" and alerts to keep you on track throughout the day. Beneath its dome is a mysterious S3CX2410 processor, 64MB of RAM, 64MB of flash memory, integrated 802.11b/g, an eight-point touch sensor, two-watt stereo speakers, and an internal motor powering the rotatable arms. It also sports a 1.5-inch LCD to provide MP3 information, news clips, and other simple forms of communication. Although this fellow can't exactly pick up after you or follow you around, at least the chances of a robotic takeover happening in your domicile are substantially lowered.
