inspirational
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Player's real-life journey honored in Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars player Kelly Wells became inspired to go on a real-life adventure due to her explorations of Tyria and an encouraging TED talk -- and so she did it. Starting from Maine, Wells and her faithful dog crossed America to California by foot, ending the trip with a visit to ArenaNet in Seattle. The developers were so impressed by Wells' journey that they decided to make her part of Guild Wars 2. In a new ArenaNet blog post, Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson shares how bowled over the devs were when they met Wells and why her epic journey had to become part of Guild Wars 2. "If we all took that perspective on life, deciding to make positive changes and refusing to let anything get in our way, it'd be amazing to see how much we'd all be able to accomplish," Johanson said. The team then collaborated to come up with a similar figure for its upcoming title. Thus was born Ameranth, a Sylvari explorer who traverses the width of Tyria with her trusty dog, Anna. When players encounter her, Ameranth is known to say, "Ever since emerging from the Pale Tree, I've had the itch to see what the world has to offer. And what better way than with my own two feet?"
iPod accessories that you cannot buy
Techeblog has a post up about seven of the best iPod accessories made by do-it-yourselfers; accessories they wish they'd be able to buy. They include a tiny foamboard Pac-Man-style Nano cabinet, a full-sized iPod-holding grand piano style table, a bulletproof iPod case, and more. You've seen several of these already covered on TUAW, but I rather liked how they put them all together into a "best of" article. I love to see how necessity and ingenuity combine for creative solutions. And this post is a nice overview of how deeply personal that inspiration can be.
