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The secret lives of Apple developers
Apple used its strongest Attenborough voice to poke a little fun at its 2018 WWDC attendees on Monday. The keynote's opening video called back to last year's mega-hit BBC documentary series Planet Earth II and provides the viewing public, for perhaps the first time, a look into the migratory and social habits of the elusive Developer tritorapsis. Nature is a cruel and unforgiving mistress, to be sure, but not nearly as cruel as Apple's PR department is in this promotional video.
Microsoft wants to make you funnier in online chats
Do you constantly struggle to make jokes? Are you one of the millions of folks who wishes they could be spontaneously funny when communicating via the internet? Microsoft Research has some news (PDF) for you. The company's developed a web-based chat system dubbed "Cahoots" that analyzes text in your messages and suggests memes and reaction GIFs based on context and perceived emotion of the sender. It can even auto-generate memes on the fly using existing templates (think QuickMeme). Images were culled from I Can Haz Cheeseburger, Bing and ReactionGIFs.com and at the end of the study, some 738 of Amazon's Mechanical Turks found Cahoots pretty useful. No word's been given about the system actually reaching the public, so in the meantime you might want to start marathoning comedy specials on Netflix to bone up on your timing. [Image credit: See-ming Lee æææ SML/Flickr]
World of Warcraft adds selfie support
Were you afraid that with the addition of Twitter support in the next World of Warcraft patch you would be deprived of the joy that is taking selfies in-game? Worry no longer. The addition of the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera in patch 6.1 ensures that you can indeed log in, find a nice view, and then duckface at the camera before shooting off a character picture for all of your devoted followers. It's the best thing in the expansion so far. Grabbing the item requires nothing more than a rare follower mission with no significant bells or whistles, with another upgrade mission available to pick up a set of various filters for the camera. Our sister site has a guide to making use of the new device, along with the requisite speculation that it will tie more directly into the Twitter integration. That feature isn't currently enabled, but it can't be coincidence that the new camera arrived at the same time, can it?
How Steve Jobs responded when someone called the iTunes logo an abomination
In a recent report from the camera app Ice Cream, the company shared a story about a member of its team emailing Steve Jobs with a graphic design opinion in 2010. More specifically, the developer's opinion was that Apple's new logo for iTunes was an "abomination." Jobs, who was known to be up to responding personally to unsolicited emails, sent him the following reply. That was certainly a very polite way to shoot down that idea.
Marvel Heroes hands out free cows and plans team-up revamp
The Cow King is on the move in Marvel Heroes, and a call is going out for all supers to join the most ridiculous battle in the universe. During the weekend Cowtastrophe event, players will get an 40% XP bonus and a portal to the game's bovine levels, where they can slaughter beef for better loot. Marvel Heroes is even giving out a free mini-cow pet for any players who log in on Saturday. In other Marvel Heroes news, one of the next big projects for Gazillion is a revamp of the team-up system. While all of the details of this revamp are not clear as of yet, we do know that the revamp will allow players to customize team-up's power pools much like main characters.
Get the weather and a joke thanks to Funny or Die Weather app
And now for something completely different. It's a nicely performing weather app, with weather sourced from Weather Underground, and along with the weather you get a joke or funny anecdote. The app, Funny Or Die Weather (free) has the usual stuff you want from a weather app, like current weather, a 5 day forecast, the UV index, sunset and sunrise times, moon phases and tides, but along with that are some nice animations reflecting the current weather and a joke. Sometimes it's silly, sometime a little profane or sarcastic, and it is sure to at least make you grin. It doesn't matter if the weather is good or horrible, a joke will always be there. If you like the humor, you can share it via text, email or social media. You can add multiple locations to the app by zip code or city name, and each city will have different humor when you access it. Funny or Die Weather is certainly unique, and it's free, with no in-app purchases or ads, neither of which would be truly funny. Funny or Die Weather requires iOS 8, and it is optimized for the new iPhones so you get full screen humor. Recommended.
Perfect Ten: My mobile MMO experiment, part 2
Last week on Perfect Ten I began an experiment to "taste test" a batch of mobile MMOs to see if there's anything out there that's worth playing in this day and age (apart from the often-recommended Order & Chaos Online and Spacetime Studio's lineup). For the record, I would absolutely love a great mobile online RPG, but it would need to be a game that's tailored to such devices and offers a compelling experience beyond trying to clone a generic MMO. Let me sum up my adventures so far: While I did discover a couple of interesting titles, there was nothing in the first five games that made me want to keep them on my smartphone. Let's hope that this week's group brings out the big guns because I will be despondent if this experiment is in vain!
This iPhone 6 case survived a drop from space
Could your iPhone 6 case survive a 101,000 foot drop from near-space, experiencing 70 MPH winds and temperatures as low as -79 degrees F? If you have Urban Armor Gear's iPhone 6 case, the answer is apparently yes. The company tested its latest case with a science experiment, creating a special rig to send iOS to the fringes of space. The flight rig contained two GoPro cameras, 1 GPS locator and a backup phone with GPS and active tracking installed. The flight lasted over 3 hours and covered 12 miles across the ground. The iPhone 6 was wrapped in our composite iPhone 6 case with no screen protector installed. The iPhone was on upon takeoff but froze and shut down as the temperature dropped. When the iPhone 6 and flight rig were found, the iPhone was powered on and tested for full functionality. You can watch the video below. The phone's descent was slowed via parachute, but as you can see in the video it was hardly a soft landing. Enjoy!
Global Chat: Guild Wars 2's economy is broken
Guild Wars 2's economy remains a hot-button issue even two-and-a-half years after its release. In this week's exploration of the blogosphere, one writer pulls out all the stops to let you know what's broken about this MMO's economy -- and how it can be fixed. In addition to this thoughtful read, Global Chat will hear some snark on silly hotbar icons, pontificate about poor MMO names, deliver The Repopulation first impressions, and invite you to participate in a grand MUD experiment. Let's get going!
Don't buy a fake Apple Watch on eBay
Only Apple knows exactly when the Apple Watch will hit the market, but that doesn't mean scam artists care. Today marks the first sale of a fake Apple Watch on eBay, so it's probably time to remind readers and their friend -- you will not find a real Apple Watch prototype or a real Apple Watch on eBay before you find it in stores. If things seem too good to be true, they most likely are. While this seems like obvious advice, some brilliant schemer out there is now $260 richer from the rube who purchased this fake off of eBay. It must be real. Look at the picture above, after all, and this one right here. That looks real enough, right? You know better. Until the device hits stores, keep your money safe and don't buy one of these fakes off of eBay. After the device makes it to retail stores, keep your money safe and don't risk buying a fake off eBay. We're honestly not worried about our everyday readers, we're worried about your family that might not know any better. Knowledge is power. This is just a rip-off smartwatch.
Perfect Ten: My mobile MMO experiment, part 1
I'm often mystified that we haven't seen or heard much about MMOs on mobile devices. You'd think that with such a massive potential audience that studios would be racing to bust this market wide open, but whether it's the limitations of such devices (size, lack of input) or some stigma against developing "serious" games for app stores, we've seen remarkably few of them over the past few years. I've grown increasingly curious what MMOs, if any, might be out there for my tablet and smartphone. Practically every list I've read begins with both Order & Chaos Online and the Spacetime Studio games (both strong entries) and then quickly peters out with titles that nobody writing those lists have ever played. Search engine inquiries are helpful with that, I assume. So I decided that I'd undertake an experiment. I would scour the internet and app store for 10 MMOs that have come at least slightly recommended by some list maker, sample them, and see if they compelled me to play more. Will any of these 10 prove to be interesting enough to stay on my phone after this series is done? Find out as I start with the first five of the bunch...
Techies play iPhone 6 soccer at CES with an actual iPhone 6
Tech conventions may be full of incredible emerging technology, but they can also be incredibly boring. When you're sick of looking at cases or future technology sometimes all you can do is kick a ball around. Or, if you don't have a ball, maybe an iPhone 6. The folks over at YouTube's Super Fun found themselves in just such a situation at this year's CES and of course they made a video of it. Using an iPhone 6 equipped with a Phantom Glass screen protector, the guys kick the phone around until -- of course -- something breaks. What breaks? The phone? The screen? The case? These faith of these young men's in quality electronics? You'll have to watch below to find out.
RIFT spurns hoverboards and brings out hoverbikes for 2015
Do you all like your current MMOs? More than you like RIFT? That's fair. But do you like your current MMO more than you like... hover bikes? Faced with the choice, the team behind RIFT is hoping that when it comes down to the wire, your answer of what game you love the most will be answered with a resounding chorus of "hover bikes!" Hey, it's close enough. Yes, bikes that do not roll but instead hover slightly above the ground are being floated out to RIFT for a limited time. If you want to not-actually-roll through Telara with these stylish mounts, you'd best log on and grab them promptly; they're available for only a limited time. And who doesn't love hover bikes, after all? Especially when they have a video showing off just past the break.
Final Fantasy XIV shows off story content and trials for 2.5
The last pre-expansion patch for Final Fantasy XIV is titled Before the Fall, not That Time When The Heroes Fixed Everything. There needs to be a fall, doesn't there? And there's a lot of stuff that can start falling, as demonstrated in today's preview from the official site. Ul'dah can fall. The Scions can fall. Ishgard can fall. Eorzea can fall. Or if you decide to face off against the Dark Divinity himself, you can fall. Players not confronting the dread primal directly will still have plenty of opportunities for pratfalls, as the Hildibrand storyline is wrapping up with the final confrontation between the Gentleman Inspector and his thieving rival. There's also a second confrontation with Gilgamesh Greg in the Battle at the Big Keep, with the victor winning the Treaty-Blade... which sounds like pretty good loot, but Greg carries a lot of weapons, so it seems rather natural. Patch 2.5 drops on January 20th.
In 2012, Kevin Durant explained how to pass the time in Oklahoma City
We don't write about Kevin Durant a lot at TUAW, but we're fans. He's an Olympic gold medalist, NBA All-Star, hero to millions, and a staggering talent on the court. Durant is also gives charming interviews, like this one from 2012 where he was asked about what it's like to live in Oklahoma City. His answer was simple: You can watch the full interview from the Jimmy Kimmel show here.
Police nab iPod Nano in ATM skimming scheme
What happens to Apple hardware when the company turns its back on its creation? The hardware hits the streets for a life of crime. That's the sad story of this 5th-generation iPod Nano who was caught by the police aiding in a ATM skimming scheme. Thieves attached the Nano to an ATM with duct tape, then used the Nano's camera to capture video showing ATM users entering their PIN numbers. While it grabbed video, a skimmer attached to the ATM card reader recorded users debit card numbers. As far as ATM skimming operations go, this wasn't a terribly sophisticated setup. The cops involved in the case are quoted as saying, "To be honest not the best attempt we have seen." Still this story provides a solid object lesson for being aware of anything that looks odd at your local ATM. Here's what the setup looked like in real life: Stay mindful of any odd objects attached to or around your ATM -- it may save you from having your information or money stolen down the line. We can only hope that this poor iPod Nano can be rehabilitated and placed in a good home with a child who needs a solid MP3 player of her own.
Ask Massively: The most popular Massively posts of 2014
Like MMOs themselves, the MMO-related stories we like aren't always the most popular across the internet. And sometimes the articles that go viral are unassuming duds with our actual commenters, not the most controversial and heated. That's what we're going to look at today in this edition of Ask Massively: the 10 most popular posts of 2014, weighted by pageviews, though we'll talk a bit about comment count as well. Enjoy this trek into the year gone by.
Learn to beat World of Warcraft's newest raid... in 60 seconds
We realize that there are a couple of different ways to treat that title, so let's be clear: This video guide will teach you how to beat all of the bosses in Highmaul in 60 seconds. It will not teach you how to take 60 seconds to defeat all of them. Yes, it could go either way, but did you really think you could drop World of Warcraft's raid in a minute of playtime? Nope, it's all about length of tutelage, not length of execution. The even shorter version is the universal raid guide for the game, of course: Move out of the thing, stack up if you see everyone else stacking up, and kill the little things. But it's the fine details where everything is really decided. click on past the break and get a minute-long dose of how to not be the one responsible for wiping the group.
These people think an iPhone 6 costs upwards of $7,000
iPhones aren't cheap -- that's always been one of the sticking points for anyone debating between a bargain-priced Android smartphone and one of Apple's handsets -- but they sure as heck don't cost anywhere near what these Price Is Right contestants seem to think. In a recent episode of the popular game show a 16GB (ugh) iPhone 6 comes up for bid, along with a year's worth of data service at 4GB per month. The bid? $7,500. But it wasn't just the first bidder that seems to think the iPhone 6 costs as much as a car, as the second bidder outbids the first but a dollar. The second pair of bidders come back down to reality with bids in the $850-$950 range, showing that they either don't know how much wireless providers charge for data service, or that they think the iPhone 6 is being practically given away for free. The actual retail price lands are just shy of $2,000 ($649 for the phone and roughly $1,300 for the data), so it's clear that subsidies weren't taken into account whatsoever. [via The Mac Observer]
A pair of putrid pink phone protectors
There are plenty of poorly conceived iPhone cases out there, but it's rare that you see a company really knock it out of the park with a bad design only to follow it up with an even worse one. Moschino, an Italian luxury firm that dreams up all manner of absurd fashion accessories, has really Barbie'd out its iPhone offerings and dreamt up a pair of absolutely unusable iPhone shells. The first is modeled after a Barbie toy mirror that apparently holds such nostalgia for some that they're willing to make their smartphone about a hundred times more cumbersome in order to relive it. It's big, awkward, and weird. Kind of like a lobster. The second case doesn't sound too bad on paper -- it's a case designed to look like one of Barbie's old toy phones -- but in practice it's pretty much abysmal. Ignoring the massive size, thick rubber sides, and the nearly impossible-to-reach lock button, the case is laid out such that you'll actually be talking into the back of the Barbie phone while you're speaking on your real one. If that's not a recipe for being mocked in public, I don't know what is.