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Boston turns park benches into solar-powered charging points
Let it not be said that public parks are anti-technology. Over in Boston, city officials are more than happy to try new things in green spaces, including the use of solar-powered smart benches, aka "soofas." These look a lot like regular benches, except they're equipped with big, steel-encased blocks that contain vulnerable-looking photovoltaic panels and charging points for weary-legged phone users. There's also a mishmash of Verizon-connected sensors inside, which record and transmit data about air quality and noise levels. The installation of the benches is being funded by Cisco, which is presumably looking for tangible and endearing ways to promote the internet of things. However, it's being left up to local Bostonians to pitch which parks deserve to get soofa'd up -- and these pitches need to be submitted by July 11th.
Officers' Quarters: Leftovers
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Last week we heard from a raid leader who was weighing the creation of a second raid team. Ultimately, it seemed like a bad idea. This week, we hear from an officer who has already tried -- and failed -- to create a second team. Now he has extra raiders that he's not sure how to handle. Dear Scott, I would like your opinion on a subject- the veritable, hated bench. See, I tried recruiting for a second group in an attempt to make sure that players beyond our core ten were in the guild and seeing raids, but that hasn't worked out for us at all. It's really been a headache to manage and hard to fill (since everybody who responds to my ads is always interested in our weekday heroic runs. However, now that we've scrapped the idea of having a second group, I could use some advice on how to successfully maintain a 13 or so person roster for a 10 player raid.
