dalek
Latest
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games on Steam, ready to EXTERMINATE your wallet
Allons-y! The TARDIS has landed on Steam, bringing with it the Doctor and his faithful companion, Amy Pond. BBC's Doctor Who: The Adventure Games are now available through Valve's digital distribution service for the Earthly sum of $19.99. These episodic games follow Matt Smith's version of the character through five stories, including "City of the Daleks," "Blood of the Cybermen," and "Shadows of the Vashta Nerada." Of course, if you live in the UK, this is all moot. You can thwart interstellar villains and save the universe with a sassy sidekick for free. Also yes, we know we combined a reference to Tennant's Doctor with information about Smith's in the opening, there. But don't worry, that seeming disconnect will be retconned faster than you can say "timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly." [Image: BBC]
BlueBiped robot needs no power to walk for miles, as long as it's downhill (video)
The robots; they're walking -- and this one's doing it under its own steam. This passive robotic frame requires no energy input, and is instead powered by its own weight and a gentle slope. The BlueBiped can be adjusted to match the proportions of any user, and researchers plan to use it to assist people who find it difficult to walk and transport unwieldy sports equipment. It already holds the Guinness world record for the longest distance walked by a bi-pedal robot, plodding 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) in a single 13-hour stroll. Those fearing the impending Robopocalypse can at least breathe a sigh of relief that -- like some other homocidal robots -- stairs still remain out of bounds.
Found Footage: Dalek controlled by iPhone accelerometer
Self-respecting science fiction fans will remember the Daleks. They're the mutant alien villains from the Doctor Who television series with armored casing, warbling voices and a penchant for extermination. Steve at BotBuilder is a fellow fan who combined his love of sci-fi and bots into the iPhone-controlled Dalek you see above. In what he calls "a cool and ultimately pointless experiment," Steve uses the iPhone to send messages to the board in the Dalek over Wi-Fi which, in turn, operate servos and lights up LEDs. The cool part is that he can move the bot about using the iPhone's accelerometer. This isn't the first iPhone-powered remote control device we've seen of course (The Parrot AR.Drone was clearly our favorite), but it delights us as Dr. Who fans. Well done, Steve! [Via Cult Of Mac]
UK man builds life-sized Dalek, furthers intergalactic evil
Sci-fi fandom and the DIY ethic go hand in hand -- and for evidence, you need only look at the large number of Star Trek and Star Wars-themed projects we've seen in this space over the years. Still, few of them have achieved the scope of the full-sized Dalek that Rob Bosher built for about £700 (roughly $1,140). Powered by an electric wheelchair and constructed mostly from wood, this guy can be piloted via remote control and even features working lights, a moving eye (a reconstituted magic eight ball) and a voice modulator for the creepy, alien order to "exterminate." When not trying to slowly (very slowly) populate the earth with a robot army bent on universal conquest and destruction, Bosher hopes to use his project to make money for regional charities.
Death to spell power plate
In a recent set of posts on the subject of Prot Paladins wearing holy gear in PvP, Ghostcrawler mentioned that Prot Paladins are not intended to be able to out heal Holy Paladins in the same gear and that fixes are intended that will remove their ability to do this. I'd like to offer a suggestion: destroy all spell power plate. Destroy it! Destroy, destroy, destroy! Exterminate it! Extirpate it from the surface of Azeroth! Perhaps in a Cataclysm of some kind. (Except Judgement. That can stay.)My reasoning isn't to nerf Holy Paladins as healers. I love all healers equally. Rather, my idea here is to incorporate a class design that's been picking up steam since the end of Burning Crusade. Back before patch 3.0 dropped, two Paladin specs wore spell plate, Holy and Protection. Since that was two specs out of a possible six plate wearing talent specializations (2/6 = 1/3 = roughly 33 percent, I'm not doing a repeating) that meant that there was a fairly sizable minority that wanted the stuff.Flash forward to Wrath of the Lich King. There are now three plate wearing classes. Two of them (six total talent specs) have absolutely no use for spell plate. The one class that does use spell plate? Well, the Protection tree was revamped, so tanking Paladins don't wear it. Retribution has been giving spell plate the stink eye forever. So we now have 1 out of 9 possible specs wearing the stuff, and yet it drops everywhere. There's no reason spell plate needs to exist, much less be a protected species by Blizzard when they went out of their way to do away with tanking leather, for example.
WoW Moviewatch: Dude, Where's My Mount? Episode 7
The Dude, Where's My Mount? series is one that has regrettably not been on Moviewatch often enough. Any kind of episodic series that puts this level of effort and consistency into its work should definitely be noted. We've covered one episode before, but hopefully we'll do a better job keeping up in the future. Episode 7 of DWMM has a kind of classic fantasy vs. real-life trope, wherein the authors of the series get confronted by their characters. I think it works for the laughs, though it'd probably help your appreciation if you were familiar with the series. The production values are spot on for this episode -- anything less would leave the interaction feeling like a waste of time, while more special effects would make the scenes feel forced and overworked. Also? The episode features a Dalek. That means it wins. If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Dalek Webcam
Yesterday, I posted about the Tardis USB Hub. Today, I bring you another essential Mac peripheral, the Dalek Webcam. Like the Tardis hub, the webcam is made by Wesco Products, which seems to have a Doctor Who license from the BBC. They also manufacturer a Dalek USB Flash Memory Stick. As many of you found out yesterday, Amazon.co.uk does not ship electronics to the US. What a shame. If you do not live in the UK, and you cannot live without Who accessorizing, it looks like eBay UK may be your best bet for purchase. Make sure to contact the seller before placing your bid to ensure that the item can ship to the US.
