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Would Blackberry's price minimum ensure a quality App Store?
Here's an interesting idea for the App Store. Gizmodo posts that the new Blackberry "App World" has set a minimum price on its apps, asking no less than $2.99 for whatever you buy in there. At first glance, that's pretty rough -- there are a lot of free apps on the App Store right now that we wouldn't pay 99 cents for, much less $2.99. But then again, Gizmodo is willing to at least suggest the benefit of the doubt: maybe it's done on purpose, to get us past the scourge of the many fart and other useless apps populating the App Store. Maybe if every app is sold for $3 or more, they'll end up all being worth that much, too.But we have to agree with Gizmodo's conclusion, too: while it would be nice if every app on the store was worth more than $3, there are definitely a few apps out there that are worth having the lower (and free) prices for. And to add to that, it's hard to believe that, even at $3, every app would strive to live up to that price -- most likely what will happen is that you'll end up with just as much crap on the Blackberry's store, except that you'll be paying $2 more for it.Still, it's an idea. If Apple did a little price tweaking, is it possible that they could ensure a little more quality to what shows up on the store? Or, in the case of the junk that's on there now, will we just end up with higher-priced junk?
Forum Post of the Day: Get your mum to draw the Lich King
Adding your mom's worldly wisdom to any situation always makes it better, and clearly the EU forums agree with this sentiment! Elbonio of the European WoW forums wants you to ask your mum to draw the Lich King, even if she's never seen him before. If she asks what he looks like, just ask her to draw what she thinks he'd look like. I'm pretty sure I've seen this meme before, on the SomethingAwful forums, replacing Arthas with Homer Simpson, but the results are still pretty hilarious. Elbonio's been kind enough to compile a gallery of the kid-tested, mother-approved images that resulted from the experiment. If you get your mom or significant other to do it, but don't have an EU forum account, feel free to post it in the comments below and I'll assemble them for laughs at a later date. What are you waiting for? Go ask! But be nice, because after all, she's your mum.
Bug prevents beta testers from participating in the PTR
Blue poster Tyren made an announcement on the PTR forums this afternoon that those of us who have an account in the Wrath of the Lich King beta cannot participate in the 3.0.2 PTR. This is most unfortunate news for the numerous people in that situation.If you have more than one account, your second account could probably work with the PTR (assuming it is not enrolled in the beta). I haven't been able to test this yet with my other accounts, but will update this post when I get the chance to.Tyren does say that they are working to resolve the issue, and that it should be fixed early next week. In my opinion, it can't be resolved fast enough.
Warhammer Online interview on X-Play
We feel that we should preface this piece of news by telling you stalwart Warhammer Online fans that there's no fantastically new information about the game discussed in this interview. Even the gameplay footage is stuff we've already seen. Instead, this seems more about telling people who haven't heard of EA Mythic's upcoming labor of love Warhammer Online why they should be interested in the game. Both Paul Barnett and Jeff "The" Hickman talk to Morgan Webb about their game and while Paul looks particularly tired (with very good reason, though) he still sells the game with his usual plucky-yet-fierce demeanor.World of Warcraft is of course mentioned by Webb, but they guys do a pretty good job steering the discussion away from Blizzard's golden boy and towards why their game will be worth all of our time. We imagine that it would be tough to try and overtake a conversation when you're up against both Jeff and Paul, as they're equally charismatic guys. So check it out, the video isn't very long and should entertain you a little bit what with Paul's semi-incoherent rambling about soccer hooligans and posh English people on drugs.[via Keen and Graev]
Don't expect PvE to PvP transfers anytime soon
One of the larger complaints about the ability to transfer servers is the lack of PvE to PvP transfers. You can transfer your character from a PvP server to a PvE server, but not the other way around. Some folks see this as discriminating against the PvP servers, while others see it as a good thing.Blizzard is firmly on the side of those that see it as good. In a recent blue post Bornakk has came out and said that while the option is there, they have no plans to allow it. Apparently this has "been on the table" for the past two years. Personally, I'm glad they won't be allowing this. The ability to transfer from PvP to PvE makes sense since you won't be disrupting the gearing balance. But think about what would happen if you could transfer from a PvE to a PvP server. Everyone would level their characters on a PvE server, and then transfer them to a PvP server at 70. This would make it nearly impossible to get a group or have any pre-70 game play on the PvP server. I know some of you are going to say that it already is impossible, but it would just become more difficult. So I'm with Blizzard on this one.What do you think? Is it a good policy, or should Blizzard change their ways?
Nethaera's smack down
Nehthaera today wanted to let a lot of the naysayers out there know a thing or two about their April Fool's jokes and the issues with the servers. She tells us the obvious, more or less: the people who do the April Fool's work are completely separate from the people that do the server and development work.So these elaborate and well done jokes have exactly zero impact on the servers. They don't have anything to do with maintenance, with patch 2.4, or with Wrath of the Lich King (well, unless you actually believe there'll be a bard class). This means they could have done nothing for April Fool's, and things still would have been as difficult as they were yesterday.I want to give Nethaera two thumbs up for her post. I really enjoy it lately when GMs and CMs lay the smack down about issues like this, especially to whiney forum posters.
The life of a Hobbit: Pies and Postal quest guides at TTH
As everyone knows, a large portion of a Hobbit's existence is occupied with consuming pies, and nosing around other Hobbit's business. But behind the scenes, there are the middlemen that allow this to continue. Who delivers these pies? Who moves the mail that other Hobbits have the pleasure of trying to sneak a peek at? If you know where to start, you could very well be fulfilling these duties, and be rewarded for your efforts to boot.TenTonHammer has made a guide that covers the Lord of the Rings Online Shire delivery quests, including the Postal Delivery and Pie Delivery quest lines. These quests involve sprinting around the Shire -- sound familiar? -- trying to avoid the Nosey or Hungry Hobbits (depending on which type of delivery you are making) and steering clear of water to get your package to its destination. Of course, it's much easier when you've got a game plan, so check out the guide before you begin your courier career.
Japanese hardware sales, May 21 - May 27: Step by Step edition
Some of our readers wonder exactly what they're supposed to do with the Japanese hardware sales every week. To promote enlightenment and worldwide harmony, we've taken the liberty of creating a step-by-step walkthrough of a proper response to the weekly figures. Adhere to these rules whenever possible, and if you must deviate, remember to at least properly remove all semblance of standard English grammar from your comments.1. Look for any obvious outliers in the sales data, such as the Nintendo DS falling out of first place. This will never occur; advance to step 2.2. Statistical variation causes slight fluctuations every week. Immediately look for numbers that come close to dividing evenly into one another; this enables comments such as, "lol, wii sold 5x of PS3s this week, pwnage."3. Should any Nintendo systems suffer a decrease in sales, come up with reasons as to why they dropped. The usually accurate "supply is unable to currently meet demand" excuse is no longer sufficient in most cases. Come up with creative replies like, "redirected shipments of software caused a temporary instability in the retail market," or "lol ghost of kutaragi put a curse on teh DS kekekekeke."4. There will invariably be a Sony or Microsoft troll, defending his or her own system while attacking your own. Henceforth, we'll be posting IP addresses and relevant contact information*; please take it upon yourselves to attack and/or maim the aforementioned troll, preferably with some kind of mace that grants +7 strength while fighting trolls.*Really.**- DS Lite: 127,461 16,248 (14.61%) - Wii: 58,644 6,451 (12.36%) - PSP: 26,097 1,408 (5.12%) - PS2: 11,311 430 (3.95%) - PS3: 9,627 968 (11.18%) - Xbox 360: 2,044 18 (0.89%) - Game Boy Micro: 407 21 (4.91%) - GBA SP: 288 42 (12.73%) - Gamecube: 256 20 (7.25%) - DS Phat: 81 55 (211.54%) - GBA: 17 16 (48.48%)[Source: Media Create]**Not really.
Breakfast Topic: WTB guild silliness, PST
Well, okay, maybe not buy, but I'm all about trading stories! For example, it's my belief that some of the best World of Warcraft posts never see the light of day. Why? Because they're closeted on guild forums, safe from prying eyes. But you know you all have seen them. These threads take on Legendary Thread status within our respective guilds, and grow into in-jokes over time. Here's one of my favorite of the recent posts I've seen on my guild's forums that has exploded into a truly silly string of "contest" posts. This original post was made by my Rogue class leader when he was looking for a Blinkstrike to call his very own. Enter the "Win a Free Pocket Rogue" Sweepstakes!
Pictoblog, picture blogging with the DS
We've always equated PictoChat with the banana peel in Mario Kart DS. It might be better than nothing, but we were really hoping for something a little more useful when we opened up that item box. Despite its polished interface and availability with every Nintendo DS system, hardly anyone uses PictoChat regularly. This can be attributed to the application's limited functionality and lack of online support. Unless you're sending phallic doodles to a nearby friend, there's really no reason for using the communication utility.Thankfully, there are several homebrew projects that better realize the DS' potential as an instant messenger or a canvas for digital artists. Pictoblog is another application that extends the system's capabilities, enabling users to sketch something out on the handheld's touchscreen, and upload the picture to a post on their blog. Pictoblog works with a number of CMSs like WordPress, Movable Type, and many others. Developer 0xtob has set up a test blog for users to experiment with, but it probably won't be long before the site is flooded with crude illustrations of the male anatomy.
Rogue Amoeba offers teaser and sign-up to test new mystery app
Oh Paul Kafasis, you clever Rogue Amoeba. What with your two-punch post of a teaser and sign-up offer for a new mystery app dubbed "AHT." What could this new app from the makers of Audio Hijack, Fission, Nicecast and Airfoil be? Is AHT simply a code name, or an acronym? Will AHT complement Rogue Amoeba's presence in the audio space, or will it be some new venture into RSS, video or even GTD? No one knows yet, but Paul said they'll be picking their first pool of testers on Wednesday, February 28th, so head on over and toss your name into the hat to test what I'm sure will be an excellent new offering from one of Mac OS X's much-respected 3rd parties.[Update: Rogue Amoeba has filled their list of testers for now, so the submission form has been closed.]
LeopardTracker.com
Tired of sifting through newsfeeds and googling for tidbits on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard? Maybe LeopardTracker can help put an end to your obsessively sleepless nights - it's a new site that does all that searching for you and catalogs Leopard-related articles for anxious Mac users everywhere. Of course, no one but The Steve and Apple's engineers really know much about this next version, but the site documents the rumors and table-scraps from Apple's own announcements, as well as articles and blog posts that criticize the areas where Apple's OS fails and could still use some polish. Links are also organized into categories, such as Finder, Hardware, Virtualization, etc., to help you get your Leopard on a little easier. Check it out.
Pukka updated to v1.2
Pukka, the versatile, multi-account and light-weight del.icio.us posting client, has been updated to version 1.2. New features and fixes include: Pukka now uses the new SSL del.icio.us API for increased security as well as a more reliable means of storing passwords in the keychain. The tags field now resizes in height as necessary to accommodate all of the tags that you type. There is a new option to disable warning messages when resetting, closing or quitting with unposted data. Bug fixes and tweaks: hiding behavior, more reliable determination of successful posting, success dialog "Visit del.icio.us" button, pasting into tags field, added tooltips, smaller font in Bonjour drawer, problem with semicolon in posting fields, only attempt to use Growl when it's running A demo of Pukka is available from Code Sorcery Workshop, and a license will cost a mere $5.
Menulicious
Menulicious is a utility like Delibar that allows you to access your del.icio.us bookmarks right from your menubar. One nice option of Menulicious is that it can display a bookmark count for each of your tags. An annoying quirk, however, is that your tags are listed under a "Tags >" menu; not directly under the utility itself.Regardless, Menulicious is a Universal Binary, so it'll run a little faster on your Intel Mac. Menulicious is free and available either from Versiontracker or Kainjow's iPod-like website - surf to Software > Freebies > Menulicious.
iSale 3.1 adds eBay interactivity, prepares for upcoming site changes
iSale, the application our own Scott McNulty dubbed 'the Delicious Library for eBay auctions', has been bumped to version 3.1 with some very useful site interactivity and significant changes under the hood. iSale 3.1 can now relist unsold auctions and allow you to watch how many people have looked at and are watching your auction - right from within iSale. An improved widget can also display the watch count, hit count, highest bid and feedback from the highest bidder. Last in this new version is a localized and active links preview for English, German and French languages. Under the hood, iSale has been tuned for an upcoming change to eBay's communication standards which goes live on July 1st.For a refresher, here's a list of the other features iSale already offers: beautiful auction templates, a 'funky pinboard' with photos of auction items, one-click locating of buyers with Google Maps, 'Smart Date' simplified auction scheduling, description importing from Amazon and eBay, Address Book/Mail integration, .Mac syncing, iCal scheduling and much more.iSale 3.1 is a Universal Binary, offers a three-auction demo and sells for $39.95 USD. Upgrades from iSale 2.x are $14.90 USD.
Fast posting to del.icio.us with Pukka 1.0
Pukka (pronounced: puck-uh) is "a minimalist posting client for del.icio.us." It is a very slim but powerful stand-alone del.icio.us client that features tag auto-completion, handling of multiple accounts, Bonjour discovery of other Pukka users, bookmarklets, Growl alerts, .weblog and .url compatibility, keyboard navigation and more.It looks like a good amount of time and, perhaps more importantly, a lot of thought went into Pukka 1.0. I remember hearing its name when beta versions of NNW 2.1 started landing, which is another advantage Pukka has: it should be able to work with most newsreader apps that can either post links to del.icio.us with an external editor, or readers that use some kind of 'blog this' functionality.Pukka is a Universal Binary. A demo is available, and a license will cost a mere $5.
PC World welcomes Apple to their charts
In a move that's causing many to check out their window to see if the sky is falling, PC World has laid out a welcome mat for Apple's hardware into their Top Power PCs testing charts, thanks to Boot Camp. So far, no Macs have made the charts due to some policy quirks (they typically only test stock PCs - Macs don't ship pre-installed with Windows) and test compatibility hiccups, but from a blog entry covering their initial tests, the iMac running Windows XP fared pretty well.We certainly live in interesting times with Macs running Windows, rumors of virtualization in Leopard and now Apple's hardware being put to the test alongside its now (let's face it) PC brethren hardware. We'll keep our ears out for more results on just how well these new Macs stack up.
