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Telegram launches a blogging platform for the impatient
If you've ever wanted to write something online really quickly but didn't want to go through the hassle of signing up for a Medium, Wordpress or Blogger account, maybe Telegram's new Telegraph platform is for you. The messaging app launched the service today, and as VentureBeat notes, it's really fast. Dropping links to Twitter posts and YouTube videos automatically embeds them, and you can upload photos, too. For example, this post took me under five minutes to go from a blank page to being published.
The Nexus Telegraph: Getting the message across in WildStar (before it kills you)
There are no two ways about it: A a lot of WildStar's combat involves getting out of the way of something. Combat telegraphs have been reinforced as a major element of gameplay, and we've seen countless videos explaining how the telegraph system works in varying degrees of depth. And much like pretty much every other element of the game, this is a major issue for some people. I can understand why this provokes a knee-jerk reaction. I mean, now you can see exactly what's going to happen next and where you need to not stand, right? How is that still a challenge? The answer is that there's still a lot of challenge involved, and allowing people to know what's going on around them ahead of time not only preserves the challenge but actually heightens it. And to talk about that, we're going to need to step back and talk about lots of other games and the different sorts of challenge you can face in games.
The Telegraph erects paywall for UK readers
The Telegraph has had a paywall in place for international readers since November, and now its spreading the subscription model to folks in the UK. Despite the slow rollout, the price tiers are staying the same: £1.99 a month nets unlimited access to the newspaper's website and mobile apps, while £9.99 per month grants the same perks, plus use of its tablet editions. Each subscription comes with a free trial before you're charged, but you could keep your wallet shut and skate by on 20 free articles every month. If you're already subscribed to the dead tree version of the publication, however, you'll be able to reap the benefits of its digital incarnations without spending any extra pennies pence. [Image credit: Pleasance, Flickr]
The Daily Grind: Do you like mobs telegraphing their moves?
WildStar brought up an interesting topic last week with the revelation that the MMO would feature mobs telegraphing their moves so as to allow players the chance to dodge out of the way or otherwise react. This isn't a new concept, of course; both The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 feature both special attack warnings and the ability to dodge. So it makes me wonder if this is a growing trend in MMO combat. For so long, we've mostly stood in place when fighting an enemy without the need to move around or be aware of mobs telegraphing their most powerful attacks. For some, this shift to a more mobile and reactive combat experience might be a breath of fresh air, but for others, I can see it as being more annoying than engaging. What say you? Is this the type of combat you'd like to see a lot more often? Do these telegraphed moves give you an additional advantage in a fight or prove to be a liability? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
How long does it take to buy a new iPad with 50 shares of Apple stock?
The Telegraph's Conrad Quilty-Harper has an intriguing spin on Apple's soaring stock price. Instead of measuring Apple's atmospheric rise in direct dollar figures, Quilty-Harper measured it in terms of raising money to buy an Apple device. Quilty-Harper started by looking at the price of Apple's stock before and after the recent iPad launch. He then calculated how long it would take for you to recoup the purchase price of the iPad if you bought 50 shares of stock on the day before the launch. Assuming you have US$27,000 to buy 50 shares of Apple stock, his figures show that you could recoup the cost of the new iPad in two days. If you did a similar calculation for the iPhone 4S, it would take 5 days. Quilty-Harper does the same for other Apple mobile devices, including the iPad 2, the iPhone 4, the original iPad and the iPhone 3GS. Point your browser to the Telegraph's website to read the rest of his unique analysis.
AT&T opens up video archives, shares the history inside
Where can you find Orson Welles, Marconi's daughter, Alexander Graham Bell's grandaughter, and inventors of the transistor and television? You might try To Communicate is the Beginning, a 1976 educational publication tracing the history of electronic communication, which AT&T recently decided to exhume from its archives of Bell Labs material. The 30-minute video's just the first in a series, too, as AT&T's website is already playing host to films about the origins of the laser and integrated circuit too, with more on the way. Find them all at our source link -- you do want to know how your favorite technologies evolved, right?
Considering parenthood? There's an app for that
In just a few days, a UK couple will welcome their "iPhone baby." After three years of unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy, the couple downloaded an unnamed fertility calculator app. The mother-to-be, who wishes to remain anonymous, entered her temperature and other information daily. The app then did the necessary calculations to determine when she'd be most fertile. Just two months later, the couple had a little one on the way. Since the Telegraph story doesn't name the app the couple used, we've gathered a few with similar functionality: Fertility and Pregnancy Calculator [iTunes link] Much like the app in the story, this one will help a woman determine when she's most fertile. After that, she can use it to track Jr.'s development. Free. iFertility [iTunes link] iFertility helps women track their Basal Body Temperature and adds an option to share logs with her doctor either via the app or email. $1.99 Fertility Foods [iTunes link] This ebook for the iPhone and iPod touch by Dr. Jeremy Groll presents a diet-based method of increasing ovulation and getting pregnant. Dr. Groll is an OB/GYN specializing in the treatment of infertile couples. This book is an Iceburg Reader book, which are very well done. $15.99 A Barry White album wouldn't hurt, either. As a parent of toddlers, I get much use out of Pocket God [iTunes link], which my 6-year-old loves, PicPosterous [iTunes link] for uploading snapshots to a family gallery and Pickin' Time [iTunes link], which both the 6-year-old and 5-year-old love. We even used Ambiance [iTunes link] for my son when we left his white noise machine at home while on vacation. Last week an iPhone app helped save a life, and this week it helped create one. The tablet better have some REAL magic up its sleeve in order to top that.
UK man finds ecstasy tablets in used copy of GTA
A UK father of two said he found four tablets, which police say is likely ecstasy, within a used Grand Theft Auto game that he purchased at a Gamestation in the county of Gloucestershire. Richard Thornhill, 34, found the pills wrapped in plastic and hidden inside the instruction manual of one of two unspecified GTA games when he returned home from the store, reports the Telegraph. While still shocked at the incident, Thornhill was thankful the pills were discovered by him, dreading to think "what the consequences" would be, had his children found it. In the wake of the strange discovery, Gamestation reps maintain the company's policy is for staff to follow "rigorous procedures" when accepting trades. Perhaps the new company policy would add a four-legged employee into the mix to sniff out any future issues. Both Gamestation and the Gloucestershire Police are investigating the incident. [Via GamePolitics]
The BBFC seeks to classify online interaction
On Thursday, British government officials are proposing many of the regulations asked for in the Byron Review, which will also expand the roll of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Much of this is old ground, as sniping has gone on back and forth for months between BBFC and PEGI supporters about which system is better.The part we're a little stuck on is where the Telegraph reports the new proposals seek to classify online interaction. The standards will be overseen by the new UK Council for Child Internet Safety, to be established later this year, and the online classification seeks to set a "single set of standards and good practice for managing the risks of online gaming." How anybody can look into the abyss of trying to classify online interaction and not see the darkness staring back at them astounds us.[Via GamePolitics]
Bully stirs up controversy in Britain ... again
Poor Rockstar -- the games publisher and developer just can't get any love in the U.K. Britain not only bullied Bully the first time around, forcing the game to change its name to Canis Canem Edit, but The Telegraph is now criticizing the new Wii and Xbox 360 versions. The latest gripe comes fresh after the Manhunt 2 controversy, which has yet to be resolved completely.The Telegraph disapproves of the game because it "features a shaven-headed pupil who torments fellow students and teachers at his school." Like many video game critiques, this opinion is mostly inaccurate and also alarmist. An organization known as BeatBullying is also unhappy with the new Bully, claiming that Rockstar tried to bribe them for their support with a donation. Certain retailers like PC World and Currys refuse to even carry the game.Rockstar is known for pushing the envelope with edgy games, but we have to imagine that they're tired of all these headaches by now. We know we certainly are.
Bully causes Brit-troversy a year late and a pound short
Like trying to resuscitate a year-old corpse, the UK's Telegraph attempted to reinvigorate controversy about Bully now that it's coming to Wii and Xbox 360 in March. The Telegraph gets mileage out of the non-troversy by pulling a Manhunt 2 and explaining that acting out movements with the Wiimote is what makes this game relevant again as an issue. What also seems to stick in some people's craw is that the ridiculous renaming of Bully to Canis Canem Edit (Dog eat Dog) in the UK is out and the original name is back in. Now that the game has been out for a while, is it too much to ask that critics play the game before commenting on it -- scratch that, of course it is. Anybody who has played Bully knows that it is a smart satire of boarding school and protagonist Jimmy Hopkins is clearly more of a lover than a fighter. We're just hoping that the Wii and Xbox 360 versions of Bully are precursors to a sequel announcement.[Via GamePolitics]
RSS telegraph puts the challenge back into reading the news
It would be one thing if the Steampunk Workshop had just salvaged an old telegraph machine and hacked it to translate RSS feeds for kicks, but no, these guys went all out and machined by hand what is at the same time one of the best-looking and most useless projects we're ever seen. Still, modding culture doesn't necessarily place the highest value on functionality, and the detailed instructions and videos provided by SW ensure that you can come up with something just as polished. Anyway, this one looks like it's gonna take you awhile -- especially if you don't have your own band saw -- so take a quick peek at the vid after the break and then get on over to the hardware store post haste; and you do manage to build a working replica, don't forget to do the totally meta thing and send us a vid or MP3 of your creation tap tap tapping this very post out in Morse Code. [Via MAKE:]
The 'death of childhood'? Blame games, say UK childcare experts
An open letter in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper condemns "junk culture" -- junk food, junk entertainment and a fast-moving culture -- for its effect on children, with sombre phrases like "ruining our children" and "the death of childhood" weighing down its paragraphs. From the letter:[Children] still need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives.A scathing commentary on the evils of modern life -- and what's more, plenty of readers agree that the hands-off parenting enabled by video games is a big problem for today's youth. Perhaps the high profile given to this complaint (a national broadsheet) will open up some serious debate on the matter, rather than give a platform for rabid anti-gaming propaganda to spread to the UK as well.
