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Editorial: tablets aren't the 'third device' I'd hoped for... from a productivity standpoint, anyway
Hang tight just a second -- let me preface all of this with a quick reminder that I'm speaking on a personal level, and I'm absolutely certain that slates have a place in this world somewhere. We could go back and forth for hours with use-case scenarios (and the same could be done with cars, time machines or your luxury good of choice), but this isn't about proving that a tablet can do one or two things; it's about the limitations and awkwardness of using one that no one seems to talk about. After years of watching the masses fawn over the iPad (and every other PC maker scramble to come out with something that serves a similar purpose), I still can't ever imagine myself investing in one, let alone actually using one in place of a smartphone or laptop. I've met quite a few folks in my line of work that all ask me the same thing: "Should I buy an iPad?" It's worth noting that no one actually asks if "they should buy a tablet," but that's speaking more about Apple's absurdly enviable mind (and in turn, market) share than anything else. My response is always the same: "If you can't think of a reason you'd need it, you don't need it." Tablets, for whatever reason, seem to defy logic when it comes to purchase rationalization in the consumer electronics realm. I've yet to meet a bloke who purchased an ultraportable without knowing full-well that they would take advantage of enhanced battery life and a highly mobile chassis. Everyone I've know that invested in a high-end gaming rig knew why they were shelling out on that $500 GPU (read: frames-per-second). And all of my movie cuttin' pals knew precisely why they just had to have a Thunderbolt RAID setup. But tablets? People are just buying these things in a fit of hysteria -- does anyone actually know why this "third device" is such a necessity? Let's dive a little deeper, shall we?
More Power Auras tips for hunters
Huntsman's Lodge has a terrific set of tips for running Power Auras as a hunter. I'm not running this addon (yet) on my hunter, but apparently it's pretty old news -- our old friend BRK had some ideas on how to use it a while back. But HL goes even farther, and I like a lot of his ideas, like a star that lights up when Dragonhawk isn't turned on -- I'll admit I make that mistake from time to time -- and warnings for "special circumstance" spells like Lock and Load and Kill Shot. You can mix and match them all to fit your own gameplay as well, so maybe use some from HL's list and throw in one or two from BRK's old setup. And even if you're not a hunter, the addon is helpful for any class that needs a heads up on buffs and debuffs coming their way. We hunters can get all the help we need though -- HL's list is a great resource for using the addon with our class.
The ins and outs of chatlinks
I know -- most of you will hear the word "chatlinks" and think of horrible times in Trade channel where people are spamming the names of abilities and items in different ways, from nonsense to offensive. But chatlinking is a skill that isn't talked about much, and there definitely are place where it's useful (telling guild members about an item that might help them, or linking an enchant to show what mats it needs). So, encouraged by this thread over on Epic Advice, let's run through a few of the ways you can put links to items in the chat channel.
DS Daily: What would your DS do?
We've seen some very neat and useful DS homebrew applications over time -- to say nothing of useful retail titles -- and we can't help but admire those people who turn their handhelds into tools for every occasion. We admire it so much, in fact, that we've decided that this is a day for pretendy-fun-time. Imagine you're a super awesome programmer* who can craft any sort of (realistic) homebrew application for the DS. What would you do?*If you already happen to be a super awesome programmer, uh, pretend you're a panda or something. It'll be fun.
Microsoft's Shane Kim: 'Still enjoyment to be had' from 360 HD DVD drive
Owners of the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on shouldn't go trading them in for $50 just yet. According to Microsoft Game Studios Corporate Vice President "there is still enjoyment to be had" from that defunct piece of entertainment technology.As part of a Q&A with GameDaily, Kim talked up the features of the outdated add-on, including a library of over 500 HD DVD movies (and growing not growing) available at clearance prices (because they're being cleared out). The drive also lets you have a movie and a game disc in the system at the same time, meaning you can switch from Halo 3 directly to watching August Rush without having to get up! Finally, the HD DVD drive adds two extra USB ports to your 360, meaning you can charge your DualShock 3s that much more easily! Yes, the HD DVD drive is truly a bargain, even without new content. Get yours today!
Found Footage: iPhone bricked? Still useful
Because an Apple commercial isn't accepted by the Apple community until it's parodied, here you go. NeoBen on YouTube has made a short parody of the new iPhone ads-- but they're about how his iPhone got bricked with the 1.1.1 update. And how you shouldn't worry if yours got bricked, too, because there's still a lot of different things you can use it for.(I'm told that on these video posts, I sometimes drop spoilers in the second paragraph, so watch the video before you read on.) I just want to say that while I'm impressed that he really did wedge the iPhone in the door, I'm a little less impressed by the iPhone dropping out of frame in the hockey shot. I know your secret, Ben! That iPhone's not really bricked! But the video is still funny.
Amanna's Gem Research Center
Amanna over at the Adventures in Azeroth blog has put together a useful "gem research center" for finding gems to fill those slots. Basically, she's just created some filters on Wowhead for you, so that if you need to find all the purple gems, all the Epic rated gems, or even something as specific as all of the Resto epic gems, the info's just a click away.Don't forget as well that gems aren't necessarily permanent-- while putting a gem in a slot uses that gem up for good, you can still place another, better gem in that same slot. So since this guide is here, now might be a good time to go back and look at gear you picked up and slotted a while ago, and see if there are any easy upgrades to find now. Amanna also has a list of BoP gems, so even if you're not a JC or don't have one available, there are places you can go to get your own shiny rocks.Definitely worth a bookmark. Amanna is also planning on putting something like this (a list of Wowhead filters, I believe) together for gear, so we'll keep an eye out for that as well.
Rotate just one PDF page in Preview
Over at MacOSX Hints, a poster has figured out how to rotate a single page in Preview without affecting any other pages in a PDF file. The secret lies in the option key. By holding it down before clicking either Rotate Left or Rotate Right, you limit the rotation to the currently displayed page rather than the entire document. This is particularly convenient when you want to rotate a single portrait figure into landscape or vice versa. For those of you looking for the Rotate Left and Rotate Right icons while displaying your PDFs, be aware that you may have to resize your window to reveal the entire tool palette.
Useful Contextual Menu Plug-ins
One of the least-used but quite powerful tools in Mac OS X is the ability to run contextual menu plug-ins. Contextual menu items are those little programs or accessories that can be installed in /Library/Contextual Menu Items or ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items to extend the capabilities of your operating system by providing a quick way to launch a tool based on some selected text for a selected item in the Finder.Here are some of my favorite Contextual Menu items/applications:FinderPop gives you the ability to have quickly-accessible links to applications or folders at the top of your contextual menu. So, for instance, if you want to open a JPEG file with Photoshop instead of Preview (often the OS's default), you can put a link to Photoshop in your FinderPop contextual menu list and then right-clicking on the file in question will give you a quick list of applications at the top-most menu. This is faster than having to wait for the "Open With" application list to generate, which is useful if you have a lot of applications installed on your system.OnMyCommand lets you execute a string of selected text in the Terminal.SymbolicLinker is a contextual menu item that lets you build symlink to an item in the Finder. I've found this very useful in building lab and classroom images where my workstations have much of their shared data as symlinks to other locations in the filesystem. For instance, Microsoft Office 2004 likes to install 80MB of fonts for each user but I don't want dozens of user profiles each with 80MB of fonts on my workstations, so I've used symlinks to "trick" the program into thinking that each profile has the fonts installed but the actual fonts are located in a shared folder space. But because the symlink exists (but points to a different location), the software just follows the link. I've used the same trick for the excessive support files installed by the Macromedia suite.FileCutter brings a much-desired Windows feature to Mac OS X--cut and paste. I know a lot of Windows guys who are pissed that Mac OS X doesn't use the same "cut and paste" paradigm they are used to from years of Windows use. One of them actually jumped in the air and clicked his heels together when I showed him FileCutter. (Okay, he didn't click his heels together, but he jumped out of his chair).There are more CM plug-ins out there. Some applications install their own, like Toast or StickyBrain. Which ones do you use and why? Are there any "must-haves" that I've missed?
