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Germany and the Netherlands form a joint military network
Networking on the battlefield won't just be limited to communication between units for one country. Germany and the Netherlands have created a joint military network, TEN (Tactical Edge Networking), that helps soldiers from the two countries coordinate their operations. They'll even share computers, radios, telephones and other equipment. TEN will initially link Germany's land operations with the Netherlands' tactical communications program.
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Sun Online
Computer RPG players in the late '80s and early '90s were surely familiar with Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) and its now-infamous Gold Box series. The series, so named because of their distinctive gold packaging, ran on a solid engine that helped the company churn out over a dozen titles within a five-year span. From Dungeons & Dragons' Pool of Radiance to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday, these titles quickly became revered among the gaming community. I personally have very fond memories of playing both Buck Rogers titles, despite not having ever watched the show. While the Gold Box series has not become as timeless or replayable as late '90s classics like Baldur's Gate and Fallout, they definitely had a huge impact on the PC scene and helped elevate the CRPG genre. Following the Gold Box engine, SSI went on to produce another engine that it used for a completely new series set in the D&D campaign setting of Dark Sun. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (1993) and Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager (1994) were both modest hits, and when it came time for a third game in the series, SSI decided to make the leap to the then-untested realm of online gaming. What followed was a wild two-year experiment in MMOs that happened prior to the Ultima Online and EverQuest generation. While ultimately unsuccessful in achieving its potential or gaining a large audience, Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands made a valiant attempt at achieving the inevitable future of gaming.
Australian networks backing off of HD sports broadcasts?
It's shocking this is still an issue in 2011, but viewers in Australia are struggling with OTA networks that have suddenly decided there's not enough room to broadcast sports programming in HD. The digital switch over Down Under isn't scheduled to finish until 2013, and since each network only has the space to broadcast one HD feed alongside two SD channels, they shuffle a few things to the side. According to an article in The Australian the free to air networks have decided to develop male or female-skewed programming lineups (sound familiar?) of comedy and drama that they think are more appealing. The situation seems very reminiscent to the one here in the US with NBC locking down the Olympics and insisting on tape delays to pump the ratings while ESPN is willing to broadcast the games live, except there it's Fox Sports that will be airing AFL games in HD -- next season.
SmartQ announces Ten, an Android tablet packing IPS display with piezoelectric touchscreen
OK, before y'all haters state the obvious in the comments below, there's actually something noteworthy about this familiar-looking Chinese slate. What we have here is the SmartQ Ten (or T10, as referenced above), a forthcoming Froyo tablet that'll feature a juicy Cortex-A9 chip plus a Mali 400 GPU, as well as 512MB RAM and a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 IPS display. This wouldn't be the first Android device to get the IPS goodness, though, as its predecessor R10 -- launched with Android 2.1 and a 720MHz processor back in December -- also has the same LCD panel within a seemingly identical form factor. In fact, we stumbled upon an R10 earlier today, and the prettiness of the screen did surprise us. But what really sells the Ten is its piezoelectric touchscreen, which supports multitouch input even with non-conductive objects like the old school styli. This means said tablet can achieve light transmittance similar to its capacitive touchscreen counterparts but using cheaper parts, as well as having point-input precision similar to those with resistive touchscreens but with better screen clarity. Alas, no date or price has been announced for the Ten just yet, nor do we know if it'll get Honeycomb in the future, but price it right and it might still get some love.
Twitter Time: 10 words or less con't
RAIDING AND INSTANCES PT. 2 sirurza @wowinsider LEEEEEERRROYYYYY JENKKKIIINNNSS blizatrex @wowinsider dwarf warrior in trouble. shield wall! kesoleil @wowinsider "I'm down." "Forgot you were a rogue again?" "Shut up."str1fe @wowinsider "If it's pretty, don't stand in....oh, dammit" Pnut060 @wowinsider 10 year old guildie literally crying over loot on vent.kesoleil @wowinsider Famous Last Words: "I can Solo heal that." *raid wipes* rikitikitik @wowinsider Fresh from Naxx 10 full clear, we faced Malygos. Splat!Elad @wowinsider "Are you all hard for this ready-mode boss?" rikitikitik @wowinsider "Guys, the debuff is up. Don't move!" Release? Elad @wowinsider Whoops, forgot Righteous Fury. anjldust @wowinsider "This," he said, "is where the epics come from." puzzill @wowinsider Cylindra bubbled her warrior, now to hope and pray ruairi @wowinsider multi-tasking tank causes wipe Pnut060 @wowinsider I can spend all night doing this rofl ruairi @wowinsider bored healer causes wipe XandosFiretree @wowinsider Twenty-four strangers departed Shattrath, hunted Illidan. Two dozen friends returned. DLMDixon @wowinsider Hunter leaves pet on aggressive preparing for Algalon. Dooms Azeroth. cwharton @wowinsider The gaping maws of Yogg-Saron filled her nightmares every night. wow_acia @wowinsider | Healer story - "Get out of the fire or I won't heal you!" ClakyDruott @wowinsider Tonight I ran out of ammo, last boss in Naxx.... locktart @wowinsider run up stairs. Oh shi- "YOU FAIL!" killed by Kologarn. Pnut060 @wowinsider My naxx raid laughing at friend stuck behind a box. benquinney @wowinsider Guiding Star dropped - and I got it. Awesome! Brightbeerd @wowinsider Pug was OK. The tank was bad. Stupid hunter pets. Aeire @wowinsider I murder things for honor, glory, and really pretty clothes. FeistTheRogue @wowinsider "Walk into Ulduar, kill monsters, collect loot, rinse and repeat." Aoikari @wowinsider Me and some undead chicks entered a bar, got lucky. eyuzwa @wowinsider "we'll be alright since everyone has their Onyxia cloaks...right?" Night0wl @wowinsider Ragnaros so close, sons to go, oh no we wiped! Umatar @wowinsider My proct pally gets turned on my being hit hard. omgitsafox @wowinsider "Hey, where'd your pet go?" "...Oh shit. PASSIVE, DAMMIT." Serneum @wowinsider Atkallen the hunter shot Archimonde in the face. LouGagliardi @wowinsider Warrior fights boss, wins and promptly celebrates.LOLZ Stoopid512 @wowinsider I withheld water from Ringo, just to watch him die. Aoikari @wowinsider never going to let you down! Thrall said to Jaina. paulje00 @wowinsider "Orcs, the other green meat" Aoikari @wowinsider Never going to the undercity zoo again... must wash eyes! awlbiste @wowinsider Nelf Rogue killing the Tarren Mill fightmaster. Can't get out. tselmorrah @wowinsider He sought trade but found only Chuck Norris jokes. TragicDog @wowinsider guys, don't go up to the top... damn it! RUUUUUNNNN Jaysen_N @wowinsider Materinty test proves that neither are the baby daddy, GASP! spasticsnap @wowinsider Tauren leaves her fertile homelands to battle frozen dead. Night0wl @wowinsider Hydraxian Waterlords, need daily quests, Ragnaros respawns to slow, Farmed/ knight816 @wowinsider rain fell silently on the windshield; it was actually ichor kiffar @wowinsider Titanium Node! Mine, Paladin! His head stuck to my pick.. <_< Bytorsnowdog @wowinsider female elf dancing naked, sigh deeprun tram all over again! tashalee @wowinsider The priest said to her, "My holy nova prematurely crits." Jaysen_N @wowinsider Thrall and Arthas battle it out on the Jerry Show. Jaysen_N @wowinsider Jaina rumored to be pregnant, with Arthas as baby daddy. Aoikari @wowinsider I wake up and i'm in undercity with no liver.... Metrophelean @wowinsider Arthas would be less angsty if Icecrown had restrooms. rmoore08 @wowinsider I teabagged an enemy player. It was hot! Jaysen_N @wowinsider Jaina and Thrall will marry, then live happily ever after. Metrophelean @wowinsider DOWN DRUID! That is not what EPIC MOUNT MEANS! Aoikari @wowinsider magtheridon took me back to his lair, hes dirty. ;] professorbeej @wowinsider Body of an elf, a dwarf's face, orc's smell: love. arkbites1 @wowinsider Thrall takes Stormwind. Starbuck's soon opens in the auction house. brigwyn @wowinsider mike and turpster were caught in the game closet together Ashayo @wowinsider So this one time, at (band) Camp Taurajo, I /shindig'ed. chuckenorris @wowinsider a priest and a gnome walk into a bar JoshJosa @wowinsider Walking in the Fjord, Carosh discovers three frost wyrms mating. nickhuber @wowinsider When the candle factory closed, Kobolds all over Azeroth wept. maziltov @wowinsider Low railings on Thunder Bluff bridges = long fall, possible lawsuit. kryptongirl @wowinsider The druid turned into a dog tree. He barked. profetacinque @wowinsider Arthas wanted to go see the zoo; Jaina said "no". Matt_LRR @wowinsider Arthas looked on, coldly. "who left the air-conditioner running?" Curtis_Hanna @wowinsider Baby Gnome shoes for sale. Never worn. ravenette13 @wowinsider Sometimes, death knights just like to pick flowers. The end. lttleknownceleb @wowinsider You know, I really thought that gnome was dead.
Twitter Time: 10 words or less
tweetmeme_source = 'wowinsider';I've been manning the WoW.com official Twitter for the past few nights and having a great time of it. The three nights previous to last, I did some reader-participation art and ended up drawing a tauren rogue and two druids (undead and gnome!). Tonight I thought I'd go a little more literary and had the Twitterati, in the spirit of tweets, send me WoW-related stories of ten words or less. Here are some of my favorites, and the rest are after the jump.Make sure to follow us on Twitter and YOU TOO MIGHT SEND ME BRIEF MESSAGES SOMETIME. I'll see you there! Frito_KAL @wowinsider No matter what the humans say, gnomes are NOT piñatas. Iamfivebears @wowinsider "Thanks for the summoooooooooooooon...." the rogue yelled up the cliff. kryptongirl @wowinsider The druid turned into a dog tree. He barked. MsJenni @wowinsider We entered Deadmines nude, voting who came out best dressed. TheCorruptOne @wowinsider Armor drops from a clear desert sky. Incoming gnomish engineer! threeparts @wowinsider How many edge of winter's does this damn dryad -have?-
Rock Band Weekly: Pearl Jam's Ten album
Pearl Jam's breakthrough 1991 debut album, Ten, becomes Rock Band's latest piece of grungy DLC next week. The album features several tracks that owned the radio airwaves in the early '90s, along with the song that inspired one of the most iconic music videos of all time -- "Jeremy." Ironically, after the success of Ten, the band became known for refusing to make videos for its songs.Pearl Jam's Ten (1440 / $18) "Once" (160 / $2) "Even Flow" (160 / $2) "Why Go" (160 / $2) "Black" (160 / $2) "Jeremy" (160 / $2) "Oceans" (160 / $2) "Porch" (160 / $2) "Garden" (160 / $2) "Deep" (160 / $2) "Release" (160 / $2) "Master/Slave" (160 / $2) All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.
Australia's Seven, Nine and Ten not leaping to add new digital channels
Australia's Seven, Nine and Ten -- the three free-to-air networks in the country -- are now free to launch new digital channels to supplement their current offerings, but on the whole, there's not much excitement about doing so. Thus far, the only one that has even announced plans to launch a new channel with distinct programming is Ten, which hopes to debut a 24-hour HD sports channel dubbed One. If everyone would follow suit, the commercial networks alone could offer a total of nine stations with unique programming. Sadly, the networks have known about this opportunity for two years now, but it seems to us that everyone might be waiting around for another to seriously approach the opportunity before they follow suit. Monkey see, monkey do, right?
Australia's Network Ten to launch 24-hour HD sports channel in 2009
Australia's Channel Ten has been known to snag some pretty enticing sporting events in the past, but all that will pale in comparison to a new channel launching next year. Yes, Aussies -- in mere months, you'll have the pleasure of enjoying a free-to-air 24-hour sports channel in glorious high-definition. For those not paying attention, you should also know that Ten has thrown down winning bids to show US NBA basketball, US Major League Baseball and the US Open golf tournament (among other events). There's no set time frame for launch outside of sometime in '09, but worst case scenario, you've got just over 13 months to wait.
Australian peace restored with free HD tuners
For all of our complaining about the long run-up to the analog shutoff here in the US, this story illustrates the benefits of taking time to do a little consumer education. In Australia, it turns out that not everyone was aware that TVs with analog-only tuners are unable to receive the HD programming that Seven and Ten are advertising so heavily. This all came to a boil with Ten's HD-only Masters golf broadcast, and some customers returned to stores with talk of "misrepresentation." Retailers are giving away digital set-top boxes to smooth things over, though, so hopefully things are cleared up for now. This sounds exactly like the kind of thing US big-box retailers avoided by clearing shelves of analog-only TVs, and we might suggest some similar action for other global HD citizens.
Reader WoWspace of the Week: Ten
By popular demand, we're returning one of the reader favorite columns. For as many different World of Warcraft players as there are out there, there are equally as many different WoWspaces for people to game in. Each week, we'll bring you a WoWspace sent in by one of our readers and let them tell you all about it. Would you like to share your own personal space? Just drop some pictures and your description to us here at readerwowspace AT gmail.com!This week we have a WoWspace that includes not just our regular reader, Ten, but also Ten's husband's WoWspace so that they can kind of game "face to face" together. Curious? Read on for all the info, courtesy of Ten, aka Laelvalin / Vijanwi!My workspace is truly a bubble of space in itself. I sit directly across my husband's computer desk, and together, our computer 'island' (flooded with light from the huge windows, hiss!) takes up a third of the living room. Which I incidentally think is just the right amount.I've been playing WoW since 2005 and have severe altitis, but my two mains (yes, two) are my Warlock Laelvalin and my Warrior Vijanwi. Prot all the way from level 1 on. Altitis has a side effect of masochism, I guess. I raid a little and level alts a lot, but I'm really in the game for the RP with my awesome guildies. My husband tried to get into the game as well, but he just can't find much fun in it. A shame, since our computer space is so optimal for beating each other up on screen.
Turf war down under: Seven's TiVo getting muscled out by Nine and Ten?
If you thought it was hard to keep track of the network players in the US, check out the roster in Australia. Seven Networks has been representing for TiVo for less than a year, but is now getting competition from Channels Nine and Ten. New markets don't just develop overnight, so the competition coming in the form of FreeView is no small thing. No knock on TiVo, which gets lots of love here in the US, but FreeView has a wide range of OEM and broadcaster support. And that broadcaster support may push things in FreeView's favor, forcing Seven to abandon plans to make TiVo a centerpiece of an Australian TV platform. Sad to think that the TiVo bleeps and bloops down under could go silent, eh?
Australia's Ten network to show 2010 Commonwealth Games in HD
Nary a month after hearing that the Australia / India Twenty20 match would be aired in 1080i, we're now learning that the 2010 Commonwealth Games (to be held in Delhi, India) will also be broadcast in HD Down Under. It's said that Seven, Nine and Ten all placed bids for airing rights, but it was the latter that came out victorious. Purportedly, the network is also teaming up with Foxtel and "agreeing to sell the subscription television as well as internet, mobile and digital video rights to the pay TV provider." Essentially, both will share equal broadcast rights to all events save for the opening and closing ceremonies, both of which will only be seen on Ten. 'Tis aways until the games get cranked up, sure, but at least you won't have to wonder if your favorite events will be beamed out in pitiful 480i 576i.[Image courtesy of AP / Herald Sun]
Australia / India Twenty20 match to be aired in 1080i
In what's believed to be an Australian first, the Twenty20 matchup between Australia and India is slated to be aired in 1080i. The event, which will occur on February 1, 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, will be shot and broadcast in high-definition on Australia's Nine Network. The announcement is coming in the midst of competition between Seven, Nine and Ten to ramp up HD offerings, as Ten is already planning to broadcast every single 2008 AFL (Australian Football League) contest in HD while Seven aims to show the Beijing Olympics in 1080i. Meanwhile, we Americans will be gearing up for Super Bowl XLII.
Top 10 HD Misunderstandings
Normally we feel that late night TV can keep their so-called "Top 10" lists, however "Top 10 HD Misunderstandings" is something we can get into. We won't rain on this guys picnic by listing the entire list but we do have to touch on our two favorite: #4 - LCDs/Plasmas/LCoS/DLP suck for Gaming/Movies/TV/HTPC & #2 - 1080i is inferior to 720p which is finger paint to 1080p Van Gogh. While there still is a debate over the superior display type, we all can agree that LCDs, plasmas, LCoS, and DLP's are mature enough to handle video games and fast moving sports. Sure, some might be slightly better but quality sets will do a fine job. 1080i and 720p produce the same image, just in slightly different ways; the end result in both resolutions however is still high-def. 1080p sound great on paper but we still feel that until you get into a large size, or use the display chiefly as a computer monitor, most consumers will not tell the difference - Pioneer's KURO plasma helps this argument. The amount of dumbfounded folks walking around any random Circuit City/Best Buy proves this whole HDTV thing is overwhelming and while we don't feel that this Top 10 list will cure the common cold, it should help calm the stomach of some. [Via Digg]
Multiboxing in formation with Xzin
Xzin, always ready to show off his multiboxing setups, sent us a video of movement tests for his 10 boxing group. Yeah.I don't know-- I don't really find this exciting at all. I mean, sure, there's a little bit of skill in actually coding this stuff all out and hooking it all together, but after you do that, what's the point? Isn't this close enough to botting that Blizzard would frown on it? Sure, if you pull this off, you'll be able to win a whole BG by yourself, but if I had a couple grand in cash to waste on all this stuff, I'd just hire Pandemic to come and do it for me.Are you guys interested in news about multiboxing or not? If there's a large group of you who finds this fascinating, I'm more than happy to post this stuff when we see it come through. But while I can see the skill in coordinating 10 computers to do your will, the results just don't thrill me that much.Thanks, Xzin!
Wii hits an unofficial eight million sold
Start your engines, fanboys. According to vgchartz.com, which is where we go to hang out when we're bored, the Wii just yesterday surpassed eight million units sold since its November 19th launch in North America. That's fast. That's really fast. Check out this graph with the option "align launches" enabled; it's staggering.So, here we go. By the end of year, Nintendo Wii sales will most likely have surpassed the Xbox 360's one-year head start to become the current generation leader, and heck, we might just "win" this thing. Who'd have thought such a turnaround was possible? And why the hell didn't we buy NTDOY stock? Dammit.Bask in the glory, guys. Most likely, one of those eight million is yours.
