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Biometric wallets keep strange hands off your cash, flummox airport security
When we recently heard that purveyor of luxury men's goods Alfred Dunhill was selling a secure biometric wallet, we were intrigued: who wouldn't want a carbon fiber billfold that only opened with your fingerprint, and alerted you when it lost Bluetooth contact with your cellphone? Cost to the consumer: $700. Sounded like a pretty good deal, at least until we were hepped to a little something called the iWallet. Apparently the same thing (sans the snooty English rebadge), this bad boy is available in a variety of colors, including a fiber glass ($400) or lightweight carbon fiber ($600) case -- and it's made in the good ol' US of A. That said, whichever wallet you do pick will never be as cool as one made from an SNES cartridge.
One Shots: That can't be comfortable
Ah, there's nothing quite as nice after a long day of adventuring than to come back to your house, curl up, and get a good night's sleep. The only thing we'd caution against is leaving all that heavy armor on -- or worse still, one's weapon! Today's Runes of Magic shot comes to us from Abstergo, who apparently was a little too tired after a long day to bother! The note attached to this image read: "Affter a long day of work, Abstergo takes a rest on his bed. Sleeping with an axe in the back must be kind of painful, but he's a tough guy!" Hopefully he had a potion for morning back pain! If you've taken a silly screenshot of your character that you'd like to share with the rest of us, then send it in! We're always on the lookout for more. Email them in to us here at oneshots@massively.com, and be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-85937%
Gadget bandz bring gear lust to tween wrists
You know about Silly Bandz, right? Well, maybe you don't have subscriptions to Tiger Beat and spend your evenings at home alone on Bieber message boards like we do, so allow us to explain. They are rubber bands that are shaped like things--unicorns, peace signs, hamburgers, aliens, emoticons--traditionally worn on the wrists, and eventually traded with like-minded collectors. They are very popular in the 8 - 12 demographic. You might relate them to Pogs, slap bracelets, Lisa Frank pencils, and baseball cards. Now that you know what's up, the point is that they are now available in gadget shapes: iPod nano, laptop, iPhone 3G, NES controller, digital camera, and the "most collectible" iPad...er, "tablet." That is all.
The Daily Grind: Out on the town
There are an awful lot of things to do in most MMOs. Sometimes it's the diverse spread of activities available in a game like Final Fantasy XI; other times it's the tiered progression of dungeons in a game like World of Warcraft. Either way, it's all fun, but with a long-term goal in mind. Except that sometimes you wind up getting sidetracked, and the next thing you know you're rolling a new character just to participate in a massed player event, or dancing in the middle of nowhere and giving money to passersby. Everyone needs a break from the serious from time to time, a chance to head out and just do something silly but fun. One could even argue that roleplaying is by and large something unnecessary for the game itself, but still a fun diversion. In a genre that's occasionally prone to feeling a lot like work, it's good to get the option of stepping back and just enjoying yourself. What's the last activity you took part in that wasn't even remotely progress-oriented but was just fun for the heck of it?
Sony skips over Alpha line, uses Canon DSLR for Cyber-shot press photos
Yeah, it'd be far more egregious if Nikon lowered itself to using Canon gear for press photos, but even still, Sony should know better. And by "know better," we mean "remove telling EXIF data before hosting press shots up for the world to see." Sure enough, the outfit used Canon's (admittedly stellar) 5D Mark II to capture the press photography that represents its new WX5 and TX9 Cyber-shot digicams, and the proof -- as they say -- is in the metadata. Hit that source link and download away to see for yourself. But be quick -- we get the idea this little slip will be cleaned up in record time. [Thank, Tyson]
Cataclysm Beta: Goblin /flirt and /silly sounds
NSFW Warning: Some work environments may not like these jokes. The Cataclysm floodgates have been opened, and the torrent of information coming is awesome! Here come the goblin sound files for goblin male and female /flirt and /silly jokes and flirts. A lot of it is what you would expect from goblins -- money, wheeling and dealing, bondage jokes and... wait, what? Some of this stuff is pretty racey, and I doubt it will stay in game like the infamous "kill two dwarves" troll emote. Nonetheless, here are your goblin sound emotes. More clips are after the break.
Cataclysm Beta: Worgen /silly and /flirt sounds
Cataclysm beta is active, as you might have guessed, and we just keep getting more great info thanks to diligent dataminers. Case in point: someone dug up the voice clips for male and female worgen doing /flirt and /silly emotes. If you were hoping for jokes about bacon, hairballs, butt-sniffing, and multiple nipples, you basically won the emote lottery on this one. If some of the flirts seem a little risqué, you're probably not alone; sadly, all of the best (read: most suggestive) draenei and blood elf flirts never made it past beta, either. More clips after the break.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: We are gathered here today
As suggested in the title, we are gathered here today for a purpose: To celebrate the community of City of Heroes and all of the discussions that they've been taking part in over the past several weeks. (What, you thought it was for Terry? You clearly haven't been following along.) After several weeks with almost non-stop activity, the past couple have been fairly silent, with only a few tidbits off of the official Facebook page to discuss in any depth. But that hasn't stopped anyone before, and it's not likely to stop anyone now. After all, we've got chatter about when you've played far too much City of Heroes, the day that Mystic Fortune killed someone, and Santa as a crossdresser. No, really. So as long as you don't mind a somewhat more irreverent week of community discussions, click on past the break. (If you do mind it, well, we had a very serious illustration back around here. That's almost as good.)
One Shots: Ambitious
In the warring lands of Warhammer Online, players are treated to the threat of siege as an everyday occurrence. However, it's not just a question of seeing enemies stomping down the street towards you. What happens when players decide that they make better rulers over the defeated side than the now-deposed rulers do? Well, that's when we get fun Warhammer Online One Shots like today's, sent in to us by Talkan. He writes in with his thoughts: "After fighting Destruction tooth and nail, we finally assaulted their capital city. Sweeping through the filth-ridden streets, the forces of Order quickly overcame Warlord Tchar'zanek with the aide of King Karl Franz. After his death, I began to scour the area, doing my service as a Witch Hunter to purge every bit of Chaos from the world, when suddenly my playful side got a hold of me. I decided to try the evil tyrant's throne on for size; after all, when we finally destroy the city for good someone will have to lead this area. Might as well be me, right?" Have you staged a funny screenshot in your favorite MMO? If you have, we'd love to see it. Just email it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: Bok bok
Sometimes it's the little things that cause us to laugh. What could seem completely innocuous somehow is transformed with just the right point of view and a dash of imagination. Take, for example, this particular screenshot in EVE Online. To most, it's a ship and a can -- pretty common in New Eden. But in the eyes of today's One Shots contributor, Purcival Chubsworth, this quiet EVE Online moment became something just a little bit sillier: "Here's a shot that happened entirely by coincidence. I was sliding into position to do a little mining. I didn't realize it but when my ship came to a stop I was sitting right on top of my secure container. Looks sort of like a robotic chicken laying an egg." Robot chickens (link NSFW) are cool with us, Purcival! Want to show off your favorite MMO? It's easy! Just email your screenshot to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: When worlds collide
One of the fun things in playing just about any Cryptic Studios game is the crazy things you can do in the character generator. While this is obviously more the case in Champions Online, there is apparently still fun to be had in Star Trek Online's character generator as well, as we see from today's MMO mashup sent in to us by Miqe I. He writes in to tell us more about this odd melding of worlds: "I was thinking... Is it possible to create a Night Elf in Star Trek Online? I only spent maybe a half an hour and came pretty close." We admit, a Night Elf Mohawk vs. Klingon cage match could be fun too. Have you managed to do something strange in the character creator in your favorite game? We love to see silly screenshots of all the fun things out there in the MMOgscape, and readers help us find so many of them! All you have to do to take part in One Shots is to email your screenshot to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description of the image. We'll post it out here and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: A (glitchy) public service announcement
While there are undoubtedly bugs and glitches galore out there in the MMO landscape -- and many of them are funny -- we don't often see them used as a form of public service announcement. That is, until today when we opened up the Massively One Shots mailbox and came across this image snapped in Fallen Earth by Joe H. who notes, "I took advantage of the fact that you can walk right through other players' mounts and vehicles to make this PSA screenshot." (If you can't read the text in the image above, just click the image to see the embiggened gallery version.) If you've found something funny in your world, or used a glitch to silly effect, why not grab a screenshot of it and email it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a brief description. Also, please make sure your image is at least 1024 pixels wide and has as little visible UI as is possible. Your image could be the next one featured here on One Shots! %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: Don't jump! Oh wait, you can't
As much as we're all about giving love to Guild Wars here at the Massively virtual offices, there are some parts of the game that just drive us completely bonkers. The inability to jump and smacking into invisible walls are two of the big ones. But for those flaws, the game offers so much more in exchange -- fun events, interesting storylines, no monthly fees, and (surprise) really great visuals like today's One Shots! This image comes to us from Ian, who writes in: "As Guild Wars celebrates its Five Year Anniversary, the Boardwalk games are up and running again in Shing Jea Monastery. My assassin and her Miniature Burning Titan were on their way to play Nine Rings and work on titles when this beautiful sunset appeared. With so many players focused on the games at hand many likely missed this stunning view. Guild Wars still has such beautiful landscapes after five years and occasionally sends out a simple reminder to slow down and enjoy it all. Happy Birthday Guild Wars!" From large to small MMOs, we'd love to see your screenshots and hear what you've been up to in your favorite MMOs. All you have to do to have your image featured is to send it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name. the name of the game, and a brief description of what we're seeing in the image. Please make sure your screenshot is at least 1024px wide and has as few visible UI elements as is possible. It could wind up being the next one we feature! %Gallery-85937%
Scottevest debuts 'iPad compatible' clothing line, the world cringes (update: available now!)
If you're the kind of person who has no problem walking into the Apple Store on Walnut Street dressed in some urban approximation of safari gear, you'll probably go wild for Scottevest. The company sells travel vests and jackets that feature a million gadget-friendly pockets and little conduits for wires and such, meaning that even the geekiest among us can have a somewhat acceptable-looking PAN, if that's what you're into. And now its SeV Travel Vest is iPad compatible! Available July 1st for $100, please feel free to hit that source link to pre-order today. We will continue to look into the rumor that this is actually a re-badged Joojoo vest. Update: The founder and CEO of Scottevest, Scott Jordan, just sent us a video message (embedded after the break) to set the record straight. Apparently, the vest is available now -- unless you're ordering it in XXXL (black or khaki). And we're glad that he seems to appreciate our sense of humor.
One Shots: I shall call him Mini-me
It's April Fool's day, and that means there's all manner of craziness going on across the MMO landscape. From bogus upcoming features and races being touted, to crazy in-game shenanigans, our team is out hunting it all down to document for posterity in an upcoming April Fool's Day roundup posting. That said, today Alex was early on the ball this morning and sent us a screenshot of the craziness going on in Guild Wars. Not a regular Guild Wars player who can spot just what's wrong with this picture? Have no fear -- Alex also sent in a note to explain! "This is my character Necromas Darklight having a little fun with the April Fool's event. They made it so that when in towns and outposts, all the player models were scaled down to minipet sizes and all the minipet models were scaled up to regular sizes. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's gotten everyone running around and meeting up for little parades and celebrations and even thrown the minipet trading market into a frenzy. For this shot I just decided to keep it simple and show off my 'miniature' lich. Sometimes it's just little things like this that go a long way to keeping me interested in the game and having fun." If you notice something odd in your favorite MMO today, feel free to send in a screenshot to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com too. If we get enough, we might run them in a special April Fool's gallery showing off all the different things that went on today! If not -- we'll probably just show them off over the next few days for those who missed out on the events. Be sure to add in your name, the name of the game, and a description of the shenanigans too. Either way, we'd love to have your tales of tomfoolery! %Gallery-85937%
Anti-Aliased: I've got nothing to hide
So, it's late night on Wednesday night, I just got done watching Top Gear, and I need something to write about. Lucky for me that Blizzard has given me the perfect topic -- MMO privacy. Thanks to a new development in their World of Warcraft Armory program, privacy advocates are up in arms and I've got a topic to discuss. For all those of you who may be late to the game, Blizzard is adding RSS feeds to the Armory. Basically, the Armory will now report on the exact time you do an "Armory worthy" activity, such as boss kills, achievements, item pickups, and more. People can subscribe to your RSS feed, so then they know exactly when you do something in World of Warcraft. This has, of course, sent privacy advocates into a tailspin of anger. There's no opt-out button for the Armory, so your playing style in World of Warcraft is going to be exposed whether you like it or not. The topic has even spawned a 59+ page thread on the European forums! So what's my take on it? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here at Anti-Aliased, I've got nothing to hide.
'I'm on a Mac' parody video makes noise
It's just incredible how fast some things can transmit themselves around the ol' blogosphere -- when I first saw this silly parody song video over on Laughing Squid last night, I chuckled and figured I'd share it for you all on TUAW the next day. But of course since then it's been all over the place. For a silly parody of a song that was already a silly parody, it's really gotten around. Just in case you haven't seen it, it's now posted after the "read more" link below (put there because while there isn't actually any NSFW language in the video, there are a lot of bleeps and edits that come close). It's all done by the Pantsless Knights (who've created another Mac-related parody rap video before), and it's worth a watch. Personally, while I was a big fan of the original Lonely Island/SNL video and its skewering of hip hop posturing, I think the whole meme is more or less played out by this point. But these guys put a good Mac spin on it anyway. "A nano in pink." Ha.
For sale on eBay: One iPhone development business, batteries not included
Want an iPhone app business without all the boring hassle of actually programming and releasing iPhone apps? Boy, does Brice Milliorn have a deal for you! He's auctioning off his iPhone app business, which he says has 87 different apps for sale, over on eBay. Milliorn says he started out developing apps on his own, but the business is just too big for him to keep up so he's selling all of the apps and their rights, all of the source code, and technical support for two months to transition everything over to the new owner. He doesn't specifically say that he'll transfer the developer account on Apple's App Store to your name (he says he'll send over a DVD with the source code and transfer "the whole kit and caboodle" to you), but we presume that's what will happen -- of course if you go for it, you're doing this at your own risk. What will a burgeoning App Store business, complete with apps like iSexyRef and Swine Flu cost you? Just a cool $100 grand. That's the starting bid in the eBay auction, which has just over a week left and no bids as of this writing. There are certainly less expensive ways to get started selling apps on the store. It only costs $100 to register in Apple's Developer Program for a year, and then you just need to find a developer you can pay -- or even do it yourself with a helper service). If you'd rather start off with a bunch of marginal to silly 99-cent apps and happen to have an extra $100,000 lying around to spend (maybe for a nice holiday gift?), here's your opportunity.
WoW Ratings lets you rate anything in Azeroth
I had an idea like this one -- a site that would allow you to rate anything at all (from a new movie to the casserole your aunt makes), and then let other people share their own opinions about whatever you rated. My idea never got off the ground (standard operating procedure for the idea mill I call my mind), but reader Antoine apparently had the same idea, and built it specifically for the WoW universe. WoW Ratings is kind of a silly site with some interesting outcomes: basically it's a database of everything in the game, from bosses to zones to game features or what have you, and you can come along and rate whatever you want on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings don't actually mean anything (though Antoine has them listed as qualities from Uncommon up to Legendary), so it's really just a broad temperature-taking of the World (of Warcraft) at large.The most interesting screen is probably the "Best and Worst" screen (which you can reach by clicking on the toolbar at the top of the homepage -- note to Antoine: permalinks are your friend, scale back on the javascript), where, as of this writing, Hakkar the Soulflayer is sitting on top of the heap, and the Voice Chat patch and Darnassus are sitting in the bottom 10. No Fandral Staghelm yet, strangely, but I'm sure things will get shaken up after all you readers head over there (and if the site's a little shaky under the flood of our link, give it time to get back on its feet). Sure, it's a little silly, and it's not so much a "resource" as it is just a free-for-all of player opinions, but it is interesting to see kind of a meta-overview of what players do and don't like. Useless features for the loss, old school raid bosses for the win.
iLickit might not be sanitary, but brings new meaning to 'oleophobic'
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_game_you_play_with_your_tongue_Video'; If you're the kind of person who complains in the comments whenever we post a useless app, then just move right on from this weekend post (or go check out Paradise Monkeys, it actually looks like a good one). But as weird and pointless as this app may be, we have to give the folks behind this iLickIt game credit -- they really took the multitouch screen to a place it probably shouldn't go. The idea is that you get a plate of food from Grandma, and then you have to lick it clean... by actually licking your iPhone or iPod touch. No thanks. Actually, iLickIt isn't the first app that's asked you to lick something that's been in your pocket (and who knows where) all day long -- there's other ice cream-licking related apps on the store already. But its claim to the very first "iPhone game you play with your tongue" may actually be legit -- it actually times how long it takes you to lick up the food and turns it into a little game. Though we can't really recommend it, it is coming to an App Store near you, so just in case your tongue hasn't had enough to do lately (and yes, I'll just let that one go), there you have it.
