illumination
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'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' sets box office records as the highest grossing video game movie
Global sales reached over $377 million.
The final trailer for 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' looks more like a game than ever
New Super Mario Bros U and Mario Kart 8, the movie.
The latest ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ trailer pits Cat Mario against Donkey Kong
A new Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer offers fans the first chance to hear Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong.
The second 'Super Mario Bros.' trailer reveals Donkey Kong and Rainbow Road
The latest Super Mario Bros. film trailer is here.
First 'Super Mario Bros.' movie trailer shows trouble in the Mushroom Kingdom
Nintendo has shared the first trailer for the 'Super Mario Bros.' movie.
Animated 'Super Mario Bros.' movie tentatively planned for 2022
That Super Mario Bros. animated movie in development finally has a release window. In a chat with Variety, Illumination founder Chris Meledandri confirmed that the animated flick was in "priority development" with hopes of putting it in theaters by 2022. And yes, as Nintendo announced in January, Shigeru Miyamoto is involved -- the iconic game designer is "front and center" in the process, Meledandri said. The involvement of the series creator will theoretically add depth to the (frankly rather threadbare) plot without souring the spirit and producing a fiasco like the 1993 live-action flick.
Nintendo might be making an animated 'Super Mario Bros.' movie
Nintendo's plans to return to movies appear to include its most beloved franchise. Wall Street Journal sources understand that Nintendo is close to a deal for an animated Super Mario Bros. movie from Illumination Entertainment, the Universal-backed studio behind the Despicable Me series. While the exact terms aren't clear, the pact would theoretically allow multiple movies. Nintendo has also been bending over backwards to maintain creative involvement, and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is expected to be a producer.
GreenWave Reality ships WiFi-aware light bulbs that flick on through motion and smartphones
We've seen connected light bulbs before, some more sophisticated than others, but they're rarely as straightforward as GreenWave Reality's just-shipping Connected Lighting Solution. Eco-friendly LED bulbs in the lineup include support for WiFi and are immediately controllable from a smartphone or tablet as soon as they're receiving power. Basics controls like group presets and timed lighting are just the start; if you're not worried about leaving anyone in the dark, the bulbs can respond to motion sensors and only illuminate the rooms that need attention. And while the intelligence isn't new in itself, GreenWave would argue that sheer accessibility gives it an edge, with electric utilities in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden skipping the retail middleman by selling directly. Don't despair if you live in the US: the linked-up lighting is cleared for eventual use by Americans who'd like to save both energy and a trip to the light switch.
MooresCloud Light runs Linux, puts LAMP on your lamp (video)
Yes, we'll admit that we borrowed that pun in the title. MooresCloud founder Mark Pesce's Xzibit reference is still a very apt description of the Light, his company's Linux-based LED lamp. The Australian team's box-shaped illumination runs the open OS (including a LAMP web server stack) on an integrated mini PC with an accelerometer and WiFi. The relative power and networking provide obvious advantages for home automation that we've seen elsewhere, but it's the sheer flexibility of a generalized, web-oriented platform that makes the difference: the Light can change colors based on photos or movement, sync light pulses to music and exploit a myriad of other tricks that should result from a future, web-based app store. When and how the Light launches will depend on a Kickstarter campaign to raise $700,000 AUD ($717,621 US) starting on October 16th, although the $99 AUD ($101 US) cost is just low enough that we could see ourselves open-sourcing a little more of the living room. At least, as long as we don't have to recompile our lamp kernel before some evening reading.
Ikea to sell only LED-based lighting by 2016, wants to be greener than your sofa bed
While some wouldn't necessarily associate Ikea with eco-friendliness given that its business revolves around plywood, the furniture chain has just staked out a clearer position as a green pioneer. It's phasing out sales of all lighting that isn't LED-based by 2016, making it the first major home furnishing shop with a US presence to entirely banish less efficient illumination. Ikea also wants to take advantage of its economies of scale with the "lowest price on the market" for LEDs, which could shake up an industry where anything beyond incandescent technology usually carries a premium. We'll still have some time to wait for the full switch, but the company at least plans to practice what it preaches by replacing over a million store lights with LEDs -- so those of us with no light replacement plans can still feel as green as the Beddinge Håvet we're taking home. [Image credit: Rainchill, Wikipedia]
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
More Info Amazon announces $119 Kindle Paperwhite with illuminated, capacitive touch display Amazon Kindle Paperwhite hands-on Amazon breaks down its Kindle Paperwhite light technology (video) If you had told us at roughly this time last year that the e-reader race would be heating up going into the 2012 holiday season, we would have disagreed. If anything, 2011 seemed like the beginning of the end. Spurred on by the tablet explosion, companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and even Kobo were looking toward that space for inspiration, introducing flagship devices on which reading was just one of many features. Heck, even the readers themselves started to look more tablet-like, with many abandoning of physical keyboards in favor of infrared touchscreens. But here we are at the end of September, and this product category has never been more exciting. Back in May, Barnes & Noble captured our hearts and midnight reading marathons with the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, a wordy name for a great little device that made reading in bed at night a little easier. (A problem, according to Barnes & Noble, that was tearing the country's families apart.) But don't let it be said that Amazon doesn't believe in the American family. Earlier this month, the company launched the Kindle Paperwhite, the latest addition to a product lineup that has more or less become synonymous with the term "e-reader." At that launch event, CEO Jeff Bezos described the four years of R&D that went into the front light technology powering that bright screen. It was clear from our hands-on time with the device that, although Amazon is placing extra emphasis on the Fire line these days, it still has a lot invested in the e-reader fight. The sharpened, illuminated text is impressive, and Amazon has gone so far as to describe this as the Kindle it's always wanted to build. That's all well and good, but how does it compare to similar offerings on the market? Is this worth the $119 asking price (with ads)? Let's find out.
Paladin glyph changes in patch 5.0.4
When the new 5.0 patch flips over on Aug. 28, will you be ready with glyphs? Blizzard is recycling old glyphs instead of making new spell IDs and charring old ones. Some glyphs are staying the same, some are new, but some share IDs with old Cataclysm glyphs. Below is our list of new or changing glyphs for paladins. This is not a list of changing tooltips, just which glyphs you ought to have if you want to automatically have the new glyphs when the patch flips over. Paladins have a handful of new glyphs. The rest of the paladin switcheroos are either renamed glyphs or entirely new glyphs. Totally new paladin glyphs: Glyph of the Battle Healer Glyph of Bladed Judgment Glyph of the Falling Avenger Glyph of Focused Wrath Glyph of Mass Exorcism Glyph of Righteous Retreat Glyphs that are changing into new majors: Shield of the Righteous becomes the Alabaster Shield Crusader Strike becomes Avenging Wrath Seal of Insight becomes Blessed Life Exorcism becomes Blinding Light Holy Wrath becomes Denounce Templar's Verdict becomes Divine Storm Judgement becomes Double Jeopardy Cleansing becomes Final Wrath Lay on Hands becomes Flash of Light the Ascetic Crusader becomes Harsh Words Hammer of Justice becomes Holy Wrath Divine Favor becomes Illumination Seal of Truth becomes Immediate Truth Salvation becomes Inquisition the Long Word becomes Protector of the Innocent Hammer of Wrath becomes Templar's Verdict Glyphs that are changing into new minors: Blessing of Kings becomes Contemplation Justice becomes Fire From the Heavens Righteousness becomes the Luminous Charger Blessing of Might becomes the Mounted King Truth becomes Seal of Blood Insight becomes Winged Vengeance It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Wasteland Diaries: Mutations 2.0
We have a new skills and abilities system in Fallen Earth. I wrote a short guide about the new skills a couple of weeks ago, so this week I'd like to cover the new mutations. If you haven't played Fallen Earth in the past few months, you will log into a very empty hot-key bar and have a very messed-up build. You will have a lot more AP than you did, though. But that AP is useless if you don't know how to spend it. There are no more capstones to plan builds around; you'll have to build a clone that will suit your particular play-style. My skills post and this post will give you a pretty good idea of what each line does and what abilities or mutations they offer. All clones still have alpha mutations, but they are only low-level mutations and are intended to introduce new players to the mutation system. These mutations are based soley on Charisma now rather than Willpower. Every mutation line also has a primary stat attached to it, which determines 75% of the maximum attainable skill level. The other 25% is determined by Willpower. Total gamma (gamma is the mutation stamina pool that you deplete when you use mutations) is now determined by Charisma and Intelligence. Willpower is not nearly as important to mutation-heavy characters as it used to be. Those are the fundamental changes to mutations, and after the cut I'll describe what each line has in its arsenal.
Wasteland Diaries: Progress
I had some spare time this week, so I went on the Fallen Earth public test server to check out some of the new stuff. Progress towns have made their debut, and so has a slew of new skills and abilities. Actually, saying that there are new skills and abilities is kind of an understatement. There is an entirely new skills-and-abilities system in place on the PTS. It is barely recognizable compared to what we have now. Yes, it's that different. Is this a good thing, or is it bad? With Sector 4 looming on Fallen Earth's horizon, we are looking down the barrel of the gun of change. There are a lot of new things coming our way soon, most of which are closely guarded secrets. I did have an opportunity to see some of the new stuff we'll be seeing in the next patch, but I didn't get to peer behind the giant wall that keeps our prying clone eyes out of the next sector. If any of this stuff interests you, click past the cut and I'll go into a little more detail about it.
The Light and How to Swing It: Why is the mana gone?
Every Sunday, Chase Christian of The Light and How to Swing It invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. This week, we discuss the future of mana regeneration for holy paladins. When you play WoW on a beta server, you accept that there's going to be a lot of bugs. There's the stacking modifier that doesn't actually stop stacking, and you're left with retribution and protection paladins swinging for 5-digits with every attack. I'll admit that I felt a bit guilty when I one-shot someone with a thirty-thousand damage Avenger's Shield. There's also the programmer who accidentally misplaced the decimal in another spell, letting Crusader Aura grant us 600% mounted movement speed. Even with some of these glaring issues present, it's our job to ignore the urge to exploit and to continue working on testing balance and content. Well, it's our job to only gank a few people at the teleport NPCs and to then get moving to test balancing. Well, maybe more than a few. Well, maybe all of them. Anyway, Blizzard unveiled its most comprehensive patch to the beta last week. It contained a ton of changes to paladins, and specifically there were a lot of holy paladin talent changes. While some of these edits are positive, like the new Denounce and Exorcism changes which FINALLY give us a spammable ranged attack, others are fairly grim. I'm talking about the complete removal of Illumination and the ruination of Divine Plea. They're both toast.
Canon develops world's largest CMOS sensor, shoots 60fps video in moonlight
Did you ever think that you'd see a CMOS sensor measuring 202 x 205 mm? That's 7.95 x 8.07 inches to our fine imperial friends. Its impressive size -- about 40 times larger than Canon's largest commercial CMOS sensor -- translates to staggering light-gathering capabilities, capturing images in one one-hundredth the amount of light required by a professional DSLR. Better yet, the sensor is matched by new circuitry allowing for video capture at 60fps in just 0.3 lux of illumination (think full moon on a clear night). Unfortunately, the press release is more concerned with promoting Canon's engineering prowess than with product launch. Nevertheless, we're impressed.
Logitech's Wireless Illuminated K800 keyboard boasts ambient light and proximity sensors, costs $100
It wasn't too long ago that we were pondering the relative scarcity of backlit desktop keyboards, so let's all warmly welcome a new entrant into this niche category. The K800 from Logitech picks up where the wired Illuminated Keyboard left off: it has the requisite inflated price, adjustable and intelligent illumination to please functionalists, and a dagger-like profile for aesthetes. Ambient light sensors will align the keyboard's brightness to your environment, while proximity detectors will only flip the switch when your hands are in position to start writing. There's also a Micro USB cable to refresh your battery when it starts running low -- it's rated for up to 10 days of wireless use -- but whether this whole package of smart convenience is worth the $99.99 we'll leave up to you. The K800 should be shipping out later this month, and you can find out more about it in the press release after the break.
The Light and How to Swing It: We wait with bated breath
Every Sunday, Chase Christian of The Light and How to Swing It invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. This week, we discuss our upcoming pre-Cataclysm class preview. Today's date is Dec. 24, the night before Christmas. The children have been put to bed, with stories of fantastic Smoke Bombs and amazing Flame Orbs dancing in their heads. We're sitting quietly by the unlit fireplace, waiting for our friend St. Ghostcrawler to arrive during the night. His yacht is led by flying ponies, and he arrives each year to bring us presents. These gifts are morsels of information, crafted by the elven developers in their Irvine workshop. Blizzard has a tendency of saving the best for last. My friends, I am here to tell you, paladins are clearly the best class in World of Warcraft. I am eager to see what the developers have planned for us, but I am also worried about the level of change that we are going to see. Several of the other classes saw significant redesign, like warlocks, and if we're a week behind everyone else, I get the feeling the changes are going to go quite deep. I'm not saying that this type of invasive surgery isn't necessary, I just hope that I like what I see when I wake up on the other side of the knife.
World of Warcraft Patch 3.2 Paladin Guide
WoW.com has covered patch 3.2 extensively. Everything from the surprising changes to flying mounts, to the latest and greatest loot, and all the changes in between. In our patch 3.2 class, raiding, and PvP guides we take a look at exactly what changes and how the changes will affect your playing. More than any other class, I think, Paladins underwent significant changes in Patch 3.2. There were changes across all three specs that palpably impact gameplay and challenge players to take a different approach to the way they play their class. I went through most of the changes in detail in an older post, and many of those initial thoughts still hold true, albeit tempered with some experience on the PTR and changes over the past weeks.There are buffs and there are nerfs, but the main thing to keep in mind is that this is Blizzard's constant balancing act. As the game progresses, I feel that they're finally honing in to the proper vision for the class. We won't go through all the changes here, but we'll break them down according to what impacts the class in general and according to spec. Let's bathe in the Light after the break...
The Light and How to Swing It: Patch 3.2 and the Paladin
Ok, we've got quite a bit of information on Patch 3.2 now, and even though this major content patch isn't introducing too many new things to the class, it does shake it up a bit. Nothing too big, but it should keep everyone on their toes. But first we'll talk about one thing that isn't related to class skills or nerfs or anything like that... first I'd like to encourage everyone to get chummy with the Argent dudes. Do their mind-numbing daily quests and all that, get the Crusader title if you want... and along the way collect 100 Champion's Seals. According to the PTR, the new Paladin-exclusive Argent Charger is available on the Tournament Grounds for a mere one hundred seals. Of course, Blizzard is also giving away Tier 9 gear for free during the testing phase, so that cost could still change. Still, here's that pony that Ghostcrawler promised all of us. It's a fitting item for an entire faction run by Paladins, right? Anyway, enjoy that pony because not everything in Patch 3.2 is as nice a ride.
