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French official threatens lawsuits over internet photos of police
Unfortunately, it's all too clear that some government officials just don't understand how the internet works. After police in Nice, France were shamed online for forcing Muslim women to remove burkinis and other tradition-honoring apparel at the beach, deputy mayor Christian Estrosi announced that the city would sue people who post photos of police taking action against those women. That's right -- your Twitter post showing police officers doing their job (in a non-threatening situation, no less) could land you in court. These pictures "denigrate" the force and put officers in danger, Estrosi claims.
Twitter was quick to pull extremist tweets following Nice attack
Twitter's response to online extremism has changed a lot in the past few years. Observers at observer groups like the Counter Extremism Project report that the social network was exceptionally speedy in removing pro-extremist accounts and tweets in the hours following the truck attack in Nice, France on July 14th. It moved with "swiftness we have not seen before," CEP says. Twitter hasn't commented on the specific actions, but it's apparent that the company is serious about its ban on terrorism.
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: Two years and I'm still playing LoL
It's the time of the year when I get to sit down and reflect a bit on how I've grown as a League of Legends player. Last year I had made some pretty big jumps in skill, especially in the realm of Dominion skill. This year I've kind of shifted my focus to SR. Also, I got a little more involved in the community, but not enough. That, I hope to change. Playing more stuff that you play Disappointingly for a lot of Dominion players who read these articles, I haven't been talking about it much lately. The big reason is I've been playing it a lot less, and unfortunately it's because the game mode isn't very popular. My solo queue time in Dominion is kind of long, for starters. Once you get to any sort of respectable level in that game mode, queue times start to get obscene. I end up having to wait 5-6 minutes for games on CS, and that's not so good.
Picaroon introduces Nation's Challenge contest
Fancy yourself a pirate? Picaroon is inviting you to put your money where your mouth is via a new contest called the Nation's Challenge. The pirate-themed MMORTS from Nice Technology is hosting a global battle royale to determine which nation is the "biggest bunch of pirates." Nice's latest press release outlines the prizes on offer, and first-, second-, and third-place winners will take home 5,000, 2,000, and 1,000 doubloons (Picaroon's in-game currency) respectively. Members of the winning alliance will also pocket 300 doubloons. The contest started yesterday, so don't delay in getting your team together, and be sure to check out the official rules on the Picaroon forums.
Picaroon polishing beta 'questorials'
Picaroon's beta phase is sailing merrily along, and Nice Technology is talking up a few of the MMORTS's features in a new press release. The newbie experience is fresh on the minds of beta testers and developers, and Nice producer Toby Simpson says that the company has come up with "questorials" that are organized into mission groups to effectively communicate the game's basics while avoiding the dreaded need for players to spend time reading a manual. "We know that documentation is the very last thing that anyone reads," Simpson explains, noting that Nice has recently added PvE pirate battle questorials to introduce the game's combat. Picaroon's beta is also gearing up to release new content in the form of a new building called the Technology Centre. In a nutshell, the Centre offers new strategies for defending islands (courtesy of an orbital laser cannon satellite) as well as a new game mode called persistent Picaroon. Head to the official website for more details.
Doing something nice for other players
This is one of the few forum threads of late that has given me hope in mankind rather than the other way around. Jastiri of Antonidas started a thread asking players what the last nice thing they did for another player was, and relates his/her own tale of running into a new level-15 player who had saved 20 silver and materials to pay a tailor to make 6-slot bags. This "just about broke my heart," Jastiri wrote, who then made the newbie five 16-slot bags and offered 10 gold. The player thanked him/her for the bags but didn't accept the gold, insisting that the bags were gift enough and that he/she intended to pay Jastiri back for them eventually as well. How can you not love that?The whole thread's full of little gems like that that, and was lovely to read. Share the wealth, readers -- what have you done lately for other players?
NICE shows off prototype electric car; Liberty plans an electric Range Rover
Some interesting electric car developments went down in England recently -- Liberty Electric Cars announced plans to convert "tens of thousands" cars and SUVs to electric operation, starting with the Range Rover, and NICE previewed a scissor-door concept it'll be showing at the London Auto Show. Liberty's pumping £30M ($59.3M) into a new factory that will start converting Range Rovers to electric vehicles using a "state-of-the-art" drivetrain good for 200 miles on a single charge. You'll have to pay for the privilege, though -- pricing is expected to run between £95,000 ($188,128) and £125,000 ($247,537). Similarly, English outfit No Internal Combustion Engine (NICE, very cute) is previewing an all-electric sports car that it plans to show off at the London Auto Show in July. Although it's just a prototype, the company says that it hints at a future production model. Details are pretty light, but here's hoping those hot scissor doors make in into production. Read - Liberty electric Range Rovers Read - NICE prototype [Via Electricpig and InventorSpot]
Clarion unveils N.I.C.E. 430 navigation system / PMP
Although Clarion's N.I.C.E. navigation unit got a decent review way back in the day, it was certainly in dire needs of a makeover, and since your P200 is probably half melted by now, you may be interested in the fresh N.I.C.E. 430. The latest handheld GPS / PMP device to come from Clarion's doors sports a 4.3-inch touchscreen LCD, 1GB of internal memory, SD flash card slot, SiRF Star III GPS antenna, built-in speaker for the MP3 playback / robotic creature giving you turn-by-turn directions, handsfree Bluetooth support, photo viewer, rechargeable battery, and USB connectivity. Really, the only thing completely necessary still missing about the $499.99 device is a hard release date and a blown up glamour shot, but we do know it'll be launching "sometime in 2007."
Official Japanese Wii box!
Everyone knows that the incredible console, innovative controller, mind-numbing list of launch games and extra features pale in comparison to the all-important box design of a new console. So, without further ado, we present to you: The Box of the Wii!One thing Nintendo failed to mention (or, at least, we didn't catch) were the colors available at launch. White is the obvious default, but hopefully, we can score at least black for the option. Do you guys like the design? Or can you not stop to worry about this trivial little detail, after all the insanity?
Breakfast Topic: Acts of kindness
Sometimes encounters in WoW leave me with a deep loathing for the entire human race, but other times I'm left with a warm fuzzy feeling towards fellow homines sapientes. Fly-by buffs are still fun to give out and to receive -- I would be lying if I said I didn't buff fellow players in the hope that I will receive similar services back, but I tend to rely on global karma, buffing anyone and everyone who crosses my path.After being beaten up by a nasty elite roamer (Son of Arugal, I'm looking at you, though Borelgore gets honourable mention) there's nothing nicer than a random resurrection. Standing at the graveyard facing a long and depressing corpse run -- or even a short one -- the magic words "<Player> wants to resurrect you" can do a lot to lift my tortured spirits. The last time it happened, a passing priest dismounted, resurrected me, then rode away before I could thank them properly. Back at the mailbox I sent a present, thinking all that karma -- the similar resurrections I'd done on my alts -- had finally paid off.Ever had a little act of kindness make your day? Do you like or loathe fly-by buffs and resurrections?
