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Storyboard: Getting to know you (hopefully)
In real life, I'm not what you'd call a social butterfly. More of a social weevil, or a social stick insect, or a social whatever arthropod it is that hides and avoids talking to people. The point is that I'm not really grand at parties. This cannot be who I am in roleplaying terms, and not just because it's not roleplaying in the strictest sense but because a roleplaying character who never roleplays isn't. Some of my characters are incredibly gregarious, some are more insular, but all of them need to find some way to interact with others or the entire system falls apart. Some of you reading this have never had a problem walking up and introducing yourself to someone you've never met before, which is great. You might even be able to stop reading now. For the rest of us, the question remains: How do you strike up conversations with new people for roleplaying?
DevJuice: Is your app watching you?
The PRISM project is hitting the news just now, with the Director of National Intelligence issuing statements, and people talking about what privacy means in a free society. This morning, our backchannel discussion about PRISM drifted to the topic of user privacy in apps. Specifically, we've noticed a recent trend -- our apps are starting to contact us by email. Here's an example of a real email generated by an iOS app: Hello, Thank you for trying [redacted] out! I noticed that you've used the app a couple of times over the past few weeks but are no longer using it. We trying to make the calendar a better experience and in doing so I'd really appreciate if you could take a moment and tell me why [redacted] isn't working for you. If you have any other thoughts you'd like to share with the team, please feel free to send it our way! That's a pretty startling email to receive, especially when we never contacted the company in question or opted into monitoring. In fact, the app in question offers a lengthly privacy statement, which states, "we may use other Anonymous Information to analyze usage patterns". Clearly that data is not so anonymous that it wasn't able to hijack the Gmail credentials used within the app. There's a saying that basically goes, "if the app is free, then you are the product." It's become commonplace to reap device and usage statistics for analytics. Developers may forget that there remains a real privacy line between a user's personal data and how they use the app. With Apple's support of developer- and app-specific tracking identifiers, you shouldn't lose sight of how that data is supposed to be used. In February, the FTC issued recommendations for mobile privacy disclosure. Among these, the FTC suggested that apps offer affirmative express consent for access to sensitive information, along with an access "dashboard" that would allow users to review in-app privacy settings. At the time, Verne Kopytoff wrote at Bloomberg Businessweek about the motivation behind app privacy policies, "Privacy advocates like to call mobile phones by a more menacing name: tracking devices. Mobile apps log the pages people browse, the products they buy, and the videos they watch. Many apps also note their users' locations and, over time, glean their daily routines." As mild as email feedback outreach efforts are, they cross a critical line when leveraging account information meant for in-app use only. A user who buys an app intending to manage his calendar, isn't expressly trying to build a product feedback relationship with the developer. Repurposing Gmail account credentials for further contact breaks an important trust.
Evernote updates Hello with business card scanning, makes Penultimate free
It's a big day for Evernote in the iOS App Store. The developer updated both its Hello contacts manager and Penultimate, the handwriting app it acquired last year. Hello was updated to include business card scanning, a feature that makes creating and updating contacts a breeze. There's also new LinkedIn and Facebook integration, so you can connect with your contacts even when you are not meeting with them directly. Penultimate was overhauled with deep Evernote integration that lets you sync your handwritten notes with Evernote automatically. You can also use Evernote's handwriting recognition engine to search your handwritten notes. No matter whether you type or write your notes, they will always be searchable and retrievable. Evernote also dropped the price on the app and is making it available for free. Both Penultimate and Evernote Hello are available in the iOS App Store. Penultimate is an iPad app, while Hello is iPhone-only.
So you got a Raspberry Pi: now what?
When the Raspberry Pi was released earlier this year, the credit-card-sized Linux machine became an instant hit. The night it became available to order, both Premier Farnell/element14 and RS Components, the official distributors of the Pi project, exhibited the signs of a late '90s Slashdot effect: you could barely even get the two sites to load. Fast forward to today, and you can finally get your hands on one within three weeks. The Raspberry Pi is truly the Linux device of the year, if not the past decade. Follow past the break and we'll show you how to set yours up now that you've actually succeeded in snagging one.
Nokia Hello: breaks down borders, gets the drinks in
Ever wanted to order a tea and coffee, but found language to be a barrier? Then say bonjour, to Nokia Hello. Making creative use of NFC, Nokia Hello users can touch phones to exchange greetings, pleasantries, as well as the aforementioned beverage order. Mild joking aside, the project has been developed to ease those awkward international business interactions, which the team behind it somewhat ambitiously claim could be eliminated as soon as 2015. We're not sure how loud Nokia employees are but Dr Marcus Redströmm PhD, who led the project, thinks it can also cut their noise pollution by up to 85 percent. It's still awaiting final testing, but it'll be free once released -- just be sure to touch back to say kiitos.
Things change, people change, hairstyles change, interest rates fluctuate
I'm sure I'll be able to shake this optimism one day. It's difficult to detach yourself from an enthusiastic outlook when you've spent six years of your life in a professional possibility that didn't exist two decades ago. It takes every modern circumstance gestating and growing in parallel just to get me here. The internet's eradication of geography, the viability of internet publications and the need for critical voices alongside a burgeoning games industry have provided the time and the place for this very post from a new editor-in-chief -- written by one eager South African who got hooked on a Mad Libs game on his hand-me-down IBM XT. I'm sure all the writers at Joystiq (and those announcing their departure today) have similar stories, hinged on a sequence of events compressed together by passion, dedication and, if we're being honest, a tinge of obsession. The team will be different next year, but our editorial standards will remain and our goals will be augmented. And yes, we'll assertively kick ass. People listen once they realize I'm moving to America and increasing my proximity to their asses. Joystiq's new core team is going forward with the majority of writers that have filled the front page for years. JC Fletcher brings his encyclopedic brain and wry wit to the Managing Editor position, where his unflinching work ethic will radiate raw guilt into everyone below. Richard Mitchell is aptly equipped to be Reviews Editor -- a role that requires an articulate, organized and thoughtful persona, and a keen understanding of our praise-to-stars conversion formula. Getting the daily news and commentary in front of you is crucial to Joystiq, so Alexander Sliwinski is stepping up into a new position as News Editor. He'll use his exemplary reporting skills and instincts to keep you in the loop every day, alongside Senior Reporter Ben Gilbert, our feisty, hardworking New York newshound. And where would we be without Dave Hinkle, our Associate Editor and dependable anchor in San Francisco? Those aren't all the positions we're busy creating or filling, but we've already got the biggest full-time staff in Joystiq history. In addition, you'll be reading a lot more from the industry's talented freelance writers, including our own editors Jordan Mallory and Jess Conditt. Congratulations on making it through the weekend-only wringer, guys! So, how do you encapsulate the paradox of telling readers that things won't change, but everything will change and everything will be better? It's not done easily, and not succinctly. I believe it enough to get on a one-way flight to another continent, but you won't need to perform such a dramatic gesture. All you have to do is load up the site and see it embedded every day going forward. I hope that you'll continue reading Joystiq as an informative, amusing and engaging snapshot of each day in this tumultuous industry, and that you'll trust me when I say exciting things are on the way. No, I'm not seriously still talking about myself. I mean like website things. Note: In case you're wondering, the headline is a quote from one of my favorite films, "Top Secret!"
Evernote Hello for iPhone records faces and contacts
Evernote introduced a new app called Hello that'll help you manage your contacts. Instead of a static list of names and addresses, Hello lets you add context to each person in your contact list. Like Evernote points out, you don't remember a person's name; you remember where you met them and what they said or did. Evernote Hello helps you remember these little details by letting you add an image to each contact's name. You can also add encounter information, which includes the place where you met and other notes that'll jog your memory. The app links contacts with similar information, so you can easily find the contacts you met at the conference last week and discover who might be there next time. It's tied into the Evernote family of apps and will let you search, share and sync this information across a variety of desktop and mobile platforms. The Evernote Hello app is available for free in the App Store. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.
Drama Mamas: Should guilds mandate courtesy?
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Try not to get too distracted by cute young men in groovy costumes. We've got drama to take care of. Dear Drama Mamas, I am a guild leader of a large social guild, with a large group of officers. At officer meetings there are a small group of people who continue to bring up the subject of guild members not saying hello when people log on or grats when an achievement is made, they feel as if they are being ignored and are not welcome, although I have had no complaints from other guild members. This subject has been discussed many times and the main conclusion that the majority of us agree upon is leading by example, as we can not force guild members to say hello or grats. But the same people continue to gripe about this one subject which sometimes leads to aggressive discussions on the officers forums. I understand that they feel strongly about it and have attempted to address the problem many times and tried various things to appease them to no avail.
All the World's a Stage: A good roleplayer is a good person first
All the World's a Stage is a source for roleplaying ideas, commentary, and discussions. It is published every Sunday evening.Gamers, and citizens of the Internet in general, are not known for being very sociable people. To me, it's always been a big mystery why John Gabriel's GIF Theory seems so apt for so many of us. It's hard for me to fathom why people enjoy acting rude, crude, or unpleasantly in any situation. I hear them telling me "because it's fun!" but personally I can't imagine getting any kicks out of it.The roleplaying community is one of those few online spaces where things actually seem a bit different, however. Many people are not roleplayers at all, but they join up on RP servers just because roleplayers care about things like grammar and seem to be more polite in general. Since roleplaying is an inherently cooperative activity, people who want to roleplay first have to be willing to communicate nicely with others. There are, of course, players on RP realms with whom real communication seems impossible, but those people usually aren't actually roleplayers to begin with. They get about 10 seconds of attention before most roleplayers start ignoring them completely.To be a good roleplayer, one must first be a good person. The qualities of character that open doors of friendship and cooperation in real life are the same qualities that will help make roleplaying a positive and rewarding experience for you in WoW. Even if one wants to play an evil character, one must do it in such a way that others can tell you're actually a really nice and caring player behind the evil mask. Sometimes it's also handy to remind oneself how not to act like that proverbial Internet Fudgewad. All the World's a Stage is your weekly source of roleplaying tips and helpful ideas that many players can benefit from. Be sure to read on below, follow the 10 commandments of roleplaying, and avoid acting like Mary Sue in order to assure surefire protection from the evil voice of Internet Fudgewaddiness within us all.
HKO to take Paladins away from WoW
In an exclusive interview with HKO lead developer Hey'wod ya' Saiev'mie, it was revealed that because of the extreme ease and uselessness Paladins provide in World of Warcraft, they have been removed from WoW and transfered to HK Online. Those players that have Paladin will no doubt be happy since they'll finally be able to play a useful role in an online game. All accounts with Paladin mains will receive a free copy of HKO, and 3 days of play time.In response to the outcry of support in the Paladin forums, Blizard CM Csyrd said "We are glad Paladins are finally happy. Our goal has always been to make them stop crying." Newly appointed HKO CM Ahol Isk'y said "Hopefully the Paladin community will appreciate their new opportunity to tank mice and the occasional dog. Of course this is nothing like Illidan, but it's a start, right?"
Your Hello Kitty research is about to get a lot easier
Ever been asked a question regarding biographical information about a Sanrio character, but you can't answer because you're too far away from your extensive Hello Kitty database? You're in luck, if you get into that very unlikely situation in the future, and you can read Japanese!Hello Kitty's Fashonable Party contains biographies of 300 Sanrio characters, with info about their birthdays, favorite food, and ... probably other stuff too. The game will quiz you about this stuff, presumably so you can memorize it. Fashionable Party also contains a dress-up mode and, predictably, a spate of minigames as well. In this case, though, the minigames are probably welcome since they bring the only actual gaming to the Party.
Flickr Find: name the movies from the iPhone ad
Many people out there are wondering exactly which movies were featured in the iPhone 'Hello' ad. Thanks to Flickr user el frijole you need wonder no more! They took the time not only to upload a screenshot of each movie (and TV show) scene to Flickr but to also took the time to identify the source of a good percentage of the clips. Check out the set and help identify the remaining unknown clips.Oh, and in case you were wondering the ad features the song Inside Your Head by Eberg.
Apple posts iPhone 'Hello' ad
We posted about the iPhone ad which appeared last night during the Oscars, but it was no where to be found on Apple's website. Now you can enjoy the ad in glorious QuickTime (HD to boot).I, for one, find it interesting that the word 'iPhone' appears no where in the ad.
Hello Kitty says hello to your DS Lite
With a variety of skins available for your DS Lite, and an unquenchable thirst for all things Hello Kitty, the pictured skins are probably something you'll want to import as they're only available, via Sanrio Japan, in, well ... Japan. Costing 680 yen (which is about 6 bucks US), they're an easy way to spruce up your DS Lite even more than its already appealing design offers.
