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Amazon adds thousands of Counter pick-up locations in the US
While Amazon's competitors were scrambling to match its same-day and next-day delivery options, the e-commerce giant was apparently working on its more experimental approach to deliveries. It launched its Counter pick-up option in the US back in June, allowing customers to get their parcels delivered to partner stores. Now, it's expanding that service and opening thousands more Counter locations in the US -- just in time for this year's holiday shopping season -- thanks to its partnerships with Stage Stores, GNC and Health Mart.
YouTube is getting rid of '301+ Views'
When a video posted to YouTube starts to really rack up hits, the view counter has always frozen at "301+" for a while as the system checked for any robotic view count inflating shenanigans. It's become something of an institution at the site, acting as a flag for videos that were on the verge of going viral. But that's no longer the case. YouTube announced today that it is forgoing the 301+ freeze for a system that only counts views that they're "confident only come from real people." The new system is expected to provide more accurate and up-to-date numbers.
FlapIt is a social media counter for businesses (and the self-obsessed)
If there was one thing we learned from ABC's Selfie (beyond the fact that America doesn't particularly dig Anglo-Asian rom-coms), it's that people can too easily get wrapped up in the validation and endorphin rush that come with getting social media kudos. That simple truth makes FlapIt's eponymous social media counter -- complete with old-school alarm clock-style flaps -- such a potentially potent tool for the terminally self-obsessed. We kid, we kid. Mostly.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Stopping the endless rage in League of Legends
Tryndamere is one of the most overrated champions in League of Legends. This is not to say he's a bad champion; he's a strong pick in both Summoner's Rift and Dominion. However, he's considered by many players to be overpowered and nigh-unbeatable. He has a combination of two elements that contribute to this: He's easy to play and hard to counter. An inexperienced player can get a lot of success by being a huge bully as Tryndamere. I find this to be unacceptable! Tryndamere's rage is hardly endless, and dealing with him is one of the best early matchups to learn. Once you know how to deal with his tricks, he's much weaker, and you can walk all over him. People who rely on Tryndamere's gimmicks to win games will be stopped cold once you've mastered the counters.
Massively Exclusive: WindSlayer 2 dev diary looks at melee classes
Last week, Ignited Games announced the upcoming 2-D side-scroller WindSlayer 2. This week, the title is back for more with a new developer diary that looks at the game's melee classes. Those who prefer to go wading into battle on the front lines will have three choices: the valiant Warrior, the dexterous Rogue, or the enlightened Monk. For the full details on each of these classes, head on past the cut for the full dev diary. And once you're done, don't forget to head on over to the game's official site (linked below) to register for a shot at a spot in the closed beta test.
Toys R Us offering iPod trade-in
We here at TUAW aren't quite sure how great a deal this is, but just in case you want to take advantage, Toys R Us is apparently offering trade-ins on old iPods. From October 17 to the 23rd, the toy chain will take old iPods (no model is specified, but I'd assume older won't get you as much money) at the customer counter, paying out up to $100 in gift cards, just to buy a new version of the device. Unfortunately, the deal's not available online, and not all stores are participating in the promotion, so the old "Your mileage may vary" adage very much applies here. Definitely call before you go, and if you do bring an iPod in, you probably shouldn't expect to get any extra money for that full catalog of Aerosmith CDs you've got saved on there. Who knows, though -- if your household happens to have a few old nanos sitting in a drawer somewhere and you want a quick and easy way to turn them into a new device, this might be worth trying out. If it works for you, be sure to let us know.
Postage stamp-sized wireless Geiger counter
Yogesh Gianchandani, a researcher at the University of Michigan, has developed a tiny wireless Geiger counter that can be used in a network to cover large areas like stadiums or malls and distinguish between harmful and non harmful sources of radiation. And since they're so small (about the size of a postage stamp, as you can see), they can be placed in inconspicous areas, which is both more feasible and much less likely to freak people out than a bunch of dudes in white lab coats walking around with ticking boxes. While development of the device seems to be well on track, it's probably still a ways off from going into production, which means you'll need to look to other solutions if you want to be prepared for when the Commies finally drop the big one.
iComment 4.1 adds comments, trackbacks, webstats to iWeb sites
iComment, as we've mentioned before, allows you to add trackbacks and detailed webstats to iWeb sites, and even comment systems to iWeb sites hosted somewhere besides .Mac. Implementing some of these features can be a bit clunky, as you have to sign up for external services to help drive some of them, however, if you just gotta have comments and webstats the latest version of iComment (4.1) is probably the best way to get the job done.A demo is available, and a license will cost a mere $9.95.
