gates
Latest
The Nexus Telegraph: How to fix WildStar
It's been a quiet couple of weeks for WildStar, which could be taken as indicating the team is making major changes, or it could just be pre-patch preparations that are taking half of forever. It'd look the same either way. We know the next patch is coming, and we have some idea of what it's going to contain, but we still haven't gotten anything resembling a release date. Still, leaving aside the obvious shift in patch schedules, I'd like to think this is the start of a paradigm shift for the game's development as a whole. This ties into the last column's topic quite well. The game has issues at the moment; it's not hitting the notes or player numbers it wants. What can actually be done to address this? How can the game draw players back and keep them engaged, especially when it's in need of some pretty serious server consolidation so early in its life?
Bill Gates regains title of world's richest person as Microsoft stock hits five-year high
Bill Gates may be more philanthropic than ever since leaving the top job at Microsoft, but he still owns a ton of stock in the company, which today just so happened to close at a five-year high. As Bloomberg reports, that shift was finally enough to push Gates' net worth back above that of telecom mogul Carlos Slim, who took the title of "world's richest person" away from Gates way back in 2007. As things stand now, Gates has some $72.7 billion to his name, while Slim stands at $72.1 billion. A situation that offers no material for puns whatsoever.
CNET details the death of Microsoft's Courier and Bill Gates' 'allergic reaction'
For those that follow the twists and turns of the technology news business, the Microsoft Courier has practically become the stuff of legend. First leaked on Gizmodo in the fall of 2009, the device was never even officially confirmed by Microsoft until it axed the project in April of last year. And while we wound up learning quite a bit about the dual-screen tablet despite that lack of official information, we never really got the full story of its rise and fall within the company. Now CNET's Jay Greene has published an extensive look at the device's short history, which he says was "pieced together through interviews with 18 current and former Microsoft executives, as well as contractors and partners who worked on the project." The story, as you might expect, is fascinating -- read on for some of the details.
Gates, Bosch, and NuVinci combine to make pedal-assist e-bike concept, not Voltron
There's those who want electric bikes that'll hurtle you down the road at 40mph at the twist of the throttle, and there's those who believe pedaling to be enjoyable enough, but would like a less strenuous bicycling experience. If you find yourself a member of column B, listen up, because Gates, NuVinci, and Bosch have created an e-bike concept that'll satisfy your two-wheeled transportation needs. Gates supplied its Carbon electric belt drive, NuVinci brought its N360 infinitely variable planetary hub, and Bosch threw in a battery and control system to make a bicycle beauty. The power train is set up to give riders pedal-assist with four settings that go from Lance to lazy, depending on your mood. At an estimated cost of €2,600 - €3,200 ($3,680 - $4,530), you'll need a bank account comparable to the seven-time champion of Le Tour should an OEM pick up the design.
No Apple products in the house of Bill
Last March, Melinda Gates told the world that though there were "very few things that are on the banned list" in her household, the iPhone and iPod were definitely not allowed. Today, we're learning the house of Gates has expelled Apple computers for good. The philanthropist's better half told the New York Times Magazine that when one of her children asks for an iPod, the reply is, "You may have a Zune," and that the rumors of Bill himself using an Apple laptop are completely false. "Nothing crosses the threshold of our doorstep," she declared, opening up a plausible loophole -- perhaps a family member will one day taste the forbidden fruit while comfortably seated on the porch.
TUAW's Daily App: Solipskier
Solipskier is kind of a mix of the growing line drawing genre and the classic Line Rider game. A little headphone wearing skier (at least he wears headphones as long as he can keep them on) travels along a snow ridge that you actually draw with your finger as you play the game; he speeds up or slows down based on the slope that you trace out with your finger. The gameplay is simple to pick up, but it turns out to be pretty deep. You can draw quick ramps to make him jump, or you can draw sliding slopes that really send the guy moving along through all of the gates, tunnels, and jumps that get placed in your path. There's a really great pick-up-and-play vibe to the title, and it's fun enough to keep you coming back again and again. If you don't believe me, give it a shot online right now for free. If you enjoy it enough to spend the money, you can grab a universal version on the App Store for just US $2.99.
Bill Gates calls Chrome OS more of the same, "surprised people are acting like there's something new"
We've already heard from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Chrome OS, and it looks like Bill Gates has now had his say on the upstart operating system as well. Speaking with CNET News, Gates more or less described Chrome OS as just another Linux distribution, saying that "there's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways," adding that, "in some ways I am surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks. It's got a browser in it." Gates further went on to get another dig in at Google by saying that "the more vague they are, the more interesting it is," before getting a little philosophical by asking: "What's a browser? What's not a browser?" His answer? "In large part, it's more an abuse of terminology than a real change." [Via Digital Daily]
Argent Tournament Dailies: At the Enemy's Gates
Congratulations, Argent Valiant! You've progressed past the Aspirant rank and proven your chops at mounted combat before your peers. You've even become a representative of your home city in the Argent Tournament. Well, guess what? Playtime's over. Remember, the whole point of the Argent Tournament is to train all comers into Scourge-killing badasses, so now that you've proven yourself, it's time to crack some decaying skulls. And this time, you get to do it on horseback.Find out how after the jump.
Darkfall patch surprises with changes to the core game design
Usually games give players a heads up when they're going to be changing some things, so this way people can prepare or comment on the upcoming edits. This isn't the case for Darkfall, however, as the development team has literally surprised the player base with some worthy changes to the game.One of the biggest changes is the reduction of maximum positive alignment from 100 to 10. This means a player will only be able to kill someone from their own faction once before they feel the sting of the "rogue player / murderer" social system, instead of letting players gain reputation up to 100 and then go on a virtual killing spree without any punishment.
The Queue: Item level, attunements, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Good morning/afternoon/generic time of day, everyone! I don't have anything funny or interesting to say here, so let's skip that part and pretend that I did it! Yay! Now imagine there's a silly poll for you to vote in! Exclamation points! More exclamation points! Not enough exclamation points yet! We need more!Okay, that's enough of them.Erogroth asked... "How exactly does item level work? From what I gather its almost like talent points for an item. So any item that is the same level should be about equal in how good it is. However often items of the same item level are no where near equal. So what's the deal?"
Melinda Gates secretly pines for iPhone, actually doesn't even like Africa
In a recent Vogue interview, Melinda Gates confided that she's battled some iPhone envy in her day: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'." It's just too bad for her that Apple is forbidden fruit in the Gates household. "There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids," said Melinda. Stay strong, Mrs. Gates, we're hearing good things about Windows Mobile 7. Oh, and we made up that part about Africa.[Image courtesy of Save the Children]
Continuity: Executive succession plans in history
We all know that Steve Jobs will eventually leave Apple, and Apple's executive team has a responsibility to draft a succession plan to help minimize the turmoil when that day comes. To figure out what Apple might do, we can look to the past for other examples. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford. In 1918, at the age of 55, Henry handed the presidency of the company to his son Edsel. When Edsel died in 1943, Henry came back to Ford Motor Company ill, "mentally inconsistent, suspicious, and generally no longer fit" for the job. Most of the board didn't want him to be president. Even with no official title, he'd been in de facto control of the company since Edsel took over. Nevertheless, the board elected him (rather than cross him), and he served until the end of the second World War. Gravely ill, he turned control of the company over to his grandson, Henry Ford II, in 1945. Henry Ford died two years later. Steve Jobs has four children, the oldest of whom is Lisa Brennan-Jobs, a 30-year-old journalist. None have publicly expressed any desire to run Apple.
Microsoft's new ads: Seinfeld and Gates out, Hodgman lookalike in
According to a report from in the New York Times, the next phase of Microsoft's latest ad campaign is set to begin -- sans Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently, the new ads do away with the unusual (and somewhat ill-received) banter and "real life" experiences of the two celebrities, and trade them for an earnest embrace of... Apple's "PC" character. Apparently, one of the new ads even begins with a John Hodgman lookalike stating, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype." Beyond the flip on a rival's depiction of its brand, the campaign will feature cameos from Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams, and even Gates -- though Seinfeld doesn't make the cut. While we're curious to see what the company cooks up in the new ads, it does strike us as somewhat odd that the supposed narrative Microsoft was establishing with Gates and Seinfeld has abruptly been abandoned in favor of these new spots. Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative / confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company's hand? We only have its official statement to go on: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start."[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Seinfeld and Gates pair up for intense shoe-fitting session, cryptic advertisement
As promised, Gates and Seinfeld made their television pair-up debut tonight, in an advertisement for something or other. We were sad to see Seinfeld sans-bee suit, and Gates is lacking in Costanza-isms, but we might just be looking at a beautiful friendship here. Video is after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Bornakk clarifies Achievements and Feats of Strength
Bornakk drops some serious knowledge about the difference between Achievements and Feats of Strength (both of which, apparently, are showing up as of patch 3.0). Achievements grant points, and are apparently things that you can accomplish in the game while they're given out -- if there is an achievement on the list, you can earn it. But Feats of Strength are different; not only do they not give points, but "some of them may no longer be possible to do." So Feats of Strength may include things like opening the AQ gates, and so on. The good news is that if there's an Achievement for something in the game, Blizzard will make sure that it's possible to jump through the hoops you need to do it.But the bad news is that there's really no way to know whether you'll get credit for either Achievements or Feats of Strength until the system shows up on the live realms. As we've heard, Blizzard is going to try to be as retroactive as possible -- they'll be looking at quests and maybe even equipment to determine who's killed which boss in the past. But nothing, as Bornakk says, is guaranteed -- you may get one achievement for an old boss, but you may need to redo another old boss again.There's one more great thing coming out of all of this as well -- hopefully, Achievements and Feats of Strength both will drive traffic back to the old content, and people who've never run Naxx or AQ, for example, will be able to find regular groups for "Achievement runs." Even people who've already downed the content will want to do back if their Feats of Strength don't register, so lots of people who didn't should have new chances to see it.
Bill Gates wipes away tears at Microsoft farewell
It looks like there more than a few misty eyes around Microsoft's Redmond campus today, where even the man of the day himself wiped away tears as he bid his official farewell to the company. According to Reuters, Gates was joined on stage at the employee-only event by CEO Steve Ballmer, who reportedly got choked up himself as he heaped praise on Gates, saying that "there's no way to say thanks to Bill. Bill's the founder. Bill's the leader," adding that, "this is Bill's baby." Ballmer also talked about how he had contemplated leaving Microsoft just a month after joining the company, only to have Gates persuade him to stay by saying "You don't get it. You don't get it. We are going to put a computer on every desk and in every home." Say what you will about some of his predictions, but he was sure on the mark with that one.
2003 Bill Gates email reveals frustrations with Windows XP
While Bill Gates' imminent retirement from Microsoft is understandably a cause for some quiet moments of reflection for some, it's also given folks an excuse to dig up some tidbits from Gates' tenure that have somehow gone unnoticed or unheralded in the past few years, one of the juiciest of which comes in the form of a 2003 email that Todd Bishop of the Seattle Post-Intelligence has thankfully given fresh light. In it, Gates rips into "how Windows Usability has been going backwards" as he details his long, arduous attempts to download Moviemaker and buy the then new Digital Plus pack. While there's far to many gems to include here, a few of Gates' stand-out observations include how "crazy" it is that it took six minutes to install "a bunch of controls" before he was able to install Moviemaker, and his disappointment that he had to reboot his machine even though he reboots it every night. Eventually, after (apparently) getting Moviemaker installed, Gates decided to go digging in the add/remove program options to ensure that it was installed, only to find it missing, which prompted him to declare that, "someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable," adding that, "this program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up." Needless to say, we'd recommend hitting the read link below to check out the full must-read email.
Bill Gates gives mother of pearl-clad Xbox 360 to South Korean President
Apparently not one to let a tacky trend pass him by, Bill Gates has commissioned 100 mother of pearl-clad Xbox 360s to be used as extra special gifts, the first of which was given to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier this month, prompting a response that we can only imagine to be, "gee, thanks." To be fair, the design by Korean artisan Kim Young-jun is a bit classier than most of the crystal-encrusted gadgets we come across, but the same can't quite be said for the move of bringing a bit of thinly disguised self-promotion to a visit with a head of state. We can also only assume that Gates is dreading the day that the President calls him up and asks him what the red rings on his Xbox mean.
Essence of the Immortals gone from the Test Server
While we reported a while back on the use of the Essence of the Immortals as a method to unlock the Sunwell Plateau 25-man, progressive patching has continued its march, as Tigole explains to us in a recent forum thread. The Essence of the Immortals itself is now gone, and instead, all gates will open automatically over time on each server. Tigole explains that although they like the idea of cross-server competition, and plan to implement in the future, The Essence of the Immortals concept wasn't working out as well as they'd hoped. Of course, servers can still compete to unlock the daily quests the fastest.
Guitar Hero champ plays Guns n' Roses song with Slash on real guitar
Closing out this year's CES keynote, Microsoft's Robbie Bach invited Guitar Hero champion Kelly "TipperQueen" Law-Yone on stage to play Guns n' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" on Guitar Hero 3. Not willing to be outdone, keynote speaker Bill Gates brings out Slash - of Guns n' Roses fame - to play "Welcome to the Jungle" on a real guitar. We'll leave the real vs. virtual guitar debate to you and South Park. Instead, we'll just spend our time wishing for this performance - and The Office parody from earlier in the keynote - show up as online video soon.
