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Wimbledon NetMix lets you turn down on-court grunts in favor of staid commentary
Wimbledon, typically a quiet leafy suburb in the great urban sprawl of London, tends to get a little noisier around this time of the year as the world's top tennis players descend upon it with a grunt and a huff of exertion. It's precisely those un-British howls of effort that the BBC is offering to filter out for you with a new Wimbledon NetMix tool. It's a simple audio mixing slider, available to BBC Radio 5 Live listeners, that adjusts the balance between ambient on-court sound and the soothing timbre of commentators' voices. The technology's enabled by the guys and gals at Fraunhofer, who were nice enough to do it for free, and is being introduced in response to a great many complaints received by broadcasters about the primal screaming that's accompanied this year's matches. If the reaction to the NetMix slider is positive, it could find further job opportunities on the Beeb's iPlayer or in coverage of other sporting events.
New Mass Effect 2 character trailers heap on the sociopathy
Grunt and Thane are just a couple more of the intergalactic psychos you'll be adventuring with in Mass Effect 2 starting January 26. Sure, there are some relatively sane folks like Tali and Miranda Lawson along for the Normandy cruise around the stars, but just on the estrogen front that's balanced by the bra-less anger of Samara and the grrrrrl-rage of Subject Zero. Can't we just get a Mass Effect 2 character that's big, fuzzy and easily marketable as a plush figure -- that would probably make EA happy. You'll find the clip for the even-less-cuddly-than-Wrex Krogan above and Thane after the break.
Meet Flip-Yap, the LEGO grunt
If you've been reading Xbox 360 Fanboy for very long, you should know two things by now. One, we like us some Halo. 2, we like us some toys. Put the two together and you've got a head-exploding ball of happiness. it is with this in mind to you that we present a Halo grunt made of LEGOs. Created by legohaulic, the little guy really is the pinnacle of craftsmanship and functionality. His name, if you must know, is Flip-Yap. Hit the "read" link for many more images.Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to wrap a firecracker in some gum* and see if we can't "stick" Flip-Yap here.[Via HBO]*Under no circumstances should you ever do this.
This plushie Grunt needs your love
Adorable alert! Adorable alert! This hand-crafted, soft and ever so cuddly Grunt pictured to the right is the work of perkymunkledesigns over on Etsy and, well ... he rocks!Standing (erm, hunched over) at around seven inches tall and stitched from polyester and denim, this little Grunt is perfect for cubicle decorating or target practice. He even comes equipped with a magnet in his chubby arm so he can hang around wherever you see fit. $60 is a bit much, but if you wanted to buy your favorite bloggers an anniversary gift we would gladly accept.[Via That Girl's Site, Thanks Simca]
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Because they're awesome
This week, The Care and Feeding of Warriors tells you warriors that you are awesome. Matthew Rossi has a Tauren, Orc, Human, Draenei and Night Elf warrior at level 70. So you know he means it. Seriously, the dude loves the warrior class. Don't make the mistake of mentioning it around him, because that guy will latch onto you like a facehugger and he won't stop until love for the warrior class has burst out of your chest and sprayed the acid blood of its delight all over the room.He's also incredibly, incredibly bad at metaphors.As we've seen a couple of times this week, I am an unabashed cheerleader for the warrior class. Objectivity is a good thing, of course, and like sincerity if you can fake it you've got it made. Quipping aside, however, objectivity has its time and its place, but there's no way you could bring yourself to read (nor me to write) 38 columns about warriors written with total objectivity. In my admittedly, gloriously biased view, each class column here on WoW Insider should be written with a love for that class, aiming to promote it, to praise it, to help point out where it needs love and otherwise champion the women and men who play it. This is made easier for me because, frankly, I'm nearly totally insane when it comes to warriors.I remember, after struggling to 30 or so on my first toon, rerolling warrior back in December of ought four. He was an orc, made mainly to test out the class. After five minutes and the arrival of level four, I was hooked. You see, you get an ability called Charge. It doesn't sound like much when you describe it... you zip over and stun a target for a second. Big whoop. But oh my word, does charge make a difference when you're actually playing that low level warrior! You feel like a god! At least until the first time you charge into six mobs and are promptly annihilated. It was in those first moments of play that my adoration for this class became manifest, and has kept me rolling along in WoW ever since. Some people feel more favoritism towards a specific class than others... some of my best friends in game like them all fairly equally, and while I was leveling five warriors and two shamans to 70, they were out there leveling a useful assortment of varying classes and gaining a very broad knowledge of the game.
