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London's new bomb-proof trash cans will survive the apocalypse, keep you updated on stock prices
London will be the first city to test out new bomb-proof garbage cans, which are also going to multitask as recycling bins with LCDs that stream travel info and news. Security concerns (AKA fear of terrorists dropping bombs in them) have kept rubbish bins out of subway stations and many of the city's streets since the mid-80's, causing frustration among citizens, not to mention what amounts to forced littering. The new cans, developed by British company Media Metrica, weigh one ton each, and were tested in the lifeless deserts of New Mexico for five years to ensure they are completely, totally indestructible, can absorb heat from explosives, prevent shrapnel spread, and extinguish "fireballs." Eh. Put 'em in New York City -- someone will surely figure out how to utterly destroy them in 24 hours or less.
Phat Loot Phriday: Swiftsteel Bludgeon
Haven't done a Mace in a while, and there are surprisingly few melee maces floating around nowadays. Since Shamans can't wield swords, most of the really high end maces have spellpower on them. But here's one that's meant for cracking heads.Name: Swiftsteel Bludgeon (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Epic One-hand MaceDamage/Speed: 105-196 / 1.50 (100.3 DPS)Abilities: Improves hit rating by 19, improves haste by 27, and increases attack power by 40. This isn't a weapon at the top of anybody's game (especially with the nerf to maces wielded by Rogues in 3.0.2). But it is good as a stopgap, especially for Fury Warriors in the offhand slot trying to spam Execute and needing a fast weapon to do so (at 1.50, this is definitely a fast weapon). But don't get too angry, commenters -- there are definitely plenty of other weapons to use at this level and above. The only reason you'd really jump on this one is if you're melee DPS in need of a nice Epic mace in Black Temple, and you're not first in line to grab any of the really great ones that come from the bosses. Not everybody gets to wield Warglaives or the Syphon, not right away. How to Get It: Drops from Black Temple trash, and seriously, have you been in there after the patch yet? It's a free-for-all. Blizzard's big solution to having no one see the endgame was to nerf it to oblivion before Wrath so everyone could get in there and get all of the Epic looting out of their system.So round up 24 friends (you'll still need to be at least a little epic before you go in there, don't skimp on the SSC and TK runs), head into BT, and loot the place for all it's worth. Eventually, this one will drop, and if you're a melee-er who needs a mace, win the roll and it's yours. Of course, you can expect it to be replaced in Northrend eventually, but who cares? An epic is an epic, right?Getting Rid of It: Disenchants into a Void Crystal, sells for 14g 1s 84c. Too bad you can't melt it down -- putting all your money into swiftsteel might actually be a pretty good idea in this economy.%Gallery-33600%
Scholomance to be revisited?
Everybody's favorite trash bin, Scholomance, might be getting a revisit by Blizzard. Late last week, CM Wryxian posted on the WoW Europe forums asking players for their thoughts on the expansion, and since then, people have given it a general thumbs up -- while Scholo has always had issues with too much trash in too cramped quarters (in fact, it was already revamped a few times to be tuned down -- it used to be a 10 man raid equal in difficulty to UBRS), players still frequent it, and they have really enjoyed the fact that it was a branching dungeon that had some pretty cool lore associated with it -- the story of Darkmaster Gandling and his school of Necromancy (and all the hot teachers there) is a good one.Of course, what Blizzard might do with the instance, we have no idea -- at this point, it's soloable at 70, but it still does provide a great source of Argent Dawn rep, and there are actually a few epics dropping in there now. Maybe they'll revamp it like Naxx, or it'll be the first "old world" instance to be given a Heroic setting? Or maybe Blizzard is asking players what they think about the instance because they're thinking of cutting it -- in order to introduce some new leveling content in the Plaguelands. The fact that they're asking about it at all means that there must be something in store for Gandling's old school, but what that is, we have no idea.
One player's trinket is another player's trophy
I always thought of trinkets like Carrot on a Stick and the Chained Essence of Eranikus as bag-space wasters rather than trophies, but 35 Yards Out makes an excellent case for them as memorable trinkets. I do agree with the Mark of the Chosen and the Hypnotist's Watch (and I've even gotten the Watch to drop aggro for me) -- there are some trinkets and items you come across in your travels that might be trash to everyone else, but are the rarest of possessions for you and your character.The Ravager is probably my biggest personal trophy -- everyone else told me that the proc was trouble (and in fact, I did have to switch out of it in instances to avoid breaking CC, though that may have changed since I last used it), but I just loved the idea of spinning around with a giant axe so much that I just had to have it. And longtime readers will know of my fascination with the Tier 0 Shaman shoulders -- most people aren't big fans, but for some reason, I love them.It's true -- one player's vendor trash in game is another player's treasured dream loot. What exactly is it that makes us pine for a certain item -- certainly class and playstyle have something to do with it, but it seems like Blizzard makes these items so wild and varied that no matter what you find out there, something will definitely appeal to you more than other players.[Via Mania]
Army generators turn garbage into energy, energy into freedom
Leave it to the Army to start putting garbage to good use. According to reports, a base in Baghdad known as Camp Victory has been getting some of its electricity from generators that turn waste products into sweet, succulent fuel. The device, dubbed the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery (or TGER, for short) can take food slop, plastic, paper, styrofoam, annoying kids, moist towelettes, or smaller, non-functioning versions of itself and mash them down to synthetic gas and hydrous ethanol. Of course the concept isn't without its shortcomings, as it pumps a hefty load of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere -- but for a place that's short of fuel and high on trash, it's a dream come true.[Via Wired; Image courtesy US Army]
What's Keeping Me? 1.0.5
Have you ever tried to empty the Trash on your Mac only to receive a dreaded message that said the trash couldn't be emptied because a file was in use? Well, "What's Keeping Me" hopes to solve this problem with it's advanced trash-error detection technology (we kid, it's really just magic). If you encounter the message that the trash cannot be emptied, just click on What's Keeping Me to see what application or process is keeping the trash from being emptied. You can have What's Keeping Me quit the application or if need be kill (force-quit) the application. You can download What's Keeping Me from HAMSoft Engineering; this application is freeware, however, donations are accepted.
Forum Post of the Day: Burning Crusade constructive criticism
With Burning Crusade winding down as we get closer to WoTLK, Scarpa of the Bleeding Hollow server had the bright idea of starting a thread to do a little bit of post-mortem on the Burning Crusade: Praise the stuff you liked, and offer constructive critcism on stuff you didn't like, in hopes that it can be improved in the expansion. There's a lot of good commentary in there on raids, arenas, badge gear, and other stuff. Some of my favorite criticism included Quaesitor's observation that a lot of reputation gear becomes automatically obsolete, because by the time you have the reputation (or the special tokens) to purchase it, you're too high level for it and probably have something better from a quest or dungeon anyway. I also tend to agree with many that they could tone down the trash a bit in raid dungeons. It's hard to clear the same trash over and over again every raid when you want to get to the generally much more interesting and lucrative boss fights. As far as likes, I like that the reputation PvP sets mean you can get a good hand up to start PvP, then gradually work your way up through Honor gear and into the Arena sets. I am also glad to see many in the thread were big fans of badge gear. I've always liked the concept, it makes for a good reason to run dungeons and means I always feel like I'm working toward something instead of waiting forever for one certain thing that won't drop. It's a great idea and a good positive thread that has even gotten some blue attention, so I'd say it's a perfect change for you to head in and deliver your own critiques and praises before BC is just a speed bump on the way to level 80.
Show some respect: give your old mobile a proper burial
If you thought SingTones were weird, you haven't seen anything yet. In a recent press release from Mobile Fun, it offers up the grandiose opportunity of having your aged cellphone buried somewhere in Russia, which will supposedly enable you to rest easy knowing your mobile is resting in peace halfway across the world. Granted, we could think of much more useful things to do with an unwanted mobile, but for those who just have let bygones be bygones, you can ship your handset over along with £20 ($40) and trust that it will be respectfully buried in the middle of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly. Best of all, you can even toss in an extra £5 ($10) to receive a "farewell SMS" right before it's laid to rest. Preposterous, we know, but there's no doubt someone will take 'em up on this spectacular offer.[Via textually, image courtesy of shadowstorm]
Raid Rx: Healing assignments
Raid Rx is designed to encapsulate and cure the shock and horror that is 25-man raid healing. Ok, so it's mostly horror... Anyways, if you're a big fan of X-TREME Whack-A-Mole (or are being forced into it against your will) this is the column for you. If you're tuning in from last week, you'll see I doubled the amount I was going to cover about paladin healing. Pictures are worth 1k words, you know. Enjoy! Being an avid WoW Insider reader and a Raid RX loyalist, you've been working hard to get ready for your first 25-man raid. You have your pre-raid check list done. Seven healers including yourself are ready to heal and be healed. This week I'm going to cover the final step in getting your behiny mixed up in some 25-man raid healing action: Healing Assignments. Or, as I like to call it: "This is where I control your raid life. Those cookies better be in the mail!"
WoW Moviewatch: 20k DPS in Black Morass
Pretty incredible. Xetrov on Farstriders took a few friends (and a pretty good Pally tank-- never thought I'd say those words) into Black Morass, and trashed all the trash. At once. With AoE. Good lord, look at all those numbers. He says he cracked 20,000 DPS, which is pretty jaw dropping.And this is also a really good example of how Blizzard has more or less crushed AoE when you're taking on more than ten mobs-- Xetrov has almost 800 spell damage, and yet his crits are hitting at around 150-200, because with so many targets, his spell damage is pretty much negated. He's still pulling down tons of DPS (and when are you really taking on more than 10 mobs, except in wacky situations like this?). But showing numbers like 150 and 160 coming off of a Mage with 800 spell damage show pretty clearly how weak AoE can get with this many targets.
Cross-faction trash talking on carebear alts
blueskydei on WoW LJ learned the best reason for doing PvP on a PvE server: cross-faction trash talking. Yep, there's nothing more classy than getting ganked (or ganking), and then logging on to a different toon just to start something up. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been a part of it before-- I can't remember if it was me that logged to chat with a gnome Rogue that I started fighting with, or if he logged in to chat with me, but either way it, as usual, didn't end well: threats of level 70 alts ensued, and I even had one of his guildies sending trash talk tells to me. Ah, carebear PvP.Is there a way to avoid this? And even if there is, do we want to? As frustrating as random ganking can be, cross-faction trash talking is a weird but strangely effective way of getting back-- you may not be able to actually take on that high level Mage that took out your accidentally flagged lowbie alt, but at least you can give him a good talking to, right?As you can probably tell, I'm not proud that I did it, and 90% of the time, I just give up and move on. Logging out to temporarily break Blizzard's language barrier is more trouble than it is anything else, so these days even if I am unfairly ganked, I just shrug and move on. But every once in a while, you can't help but log an alt and give that guy a piece of your mind.
Sony to establish nationwide recycling network
Sony today announced intentions to begin a national recycling program for your various unwanted or unloved electronics, imaginatively called the "Sony Take Back Recycling Program," which will begin on September 15th with 75 "eCycling" points around the country. The electronics manufacturer has partnered with Waste Management as part of the trash hauler's "Recycle America" program, and says that it hopes to grow its drop-off locations to 150 by year's end, with a spot in every state. 1.5 to 1.9 million tons of electronic waste went into landfills in 2005, and Sony hopes to curb those numbers by offering "end-of-life solutions," for products they produce. The company will also accept recyclables from other manufacturers for a fee, proving once again that Sony is only in it for the money. Just kidding.
'Refrigerator-sized' device to be heaved into space
If you thought hoisting a giant banana above Texas was outrageous, you may indeed chuckle to learn that a 1,400-pound refrigerator-sized container of ammonia will be jettisoned from the International Space Station next week. On July 23rd, to be precise, Expedition 15 crew member Clayton Anderson will have the, um, privilege of heading outside in order to toss "two large hunks of unneeded equipment towards Earth," and once ejected, they will be tracked by NASA for an entire year until they finally begin to enter the atmosphere. Notably, officials are still not sure where the debris will land just yet, but if you happen to find your fridge replaced with a partially disintegrated (albeit similarly sized) container of fetid material in the next year or two, you'll know exactly what went awry.[Image courtesy of MSNBC]
TUAW Tip: The best way to add the Trash to your Finder sidebar
Update: Alas, it looks like I'm going to have to withdraw this one. Do not use this tip, particularly on PPC Macs. Although it worked fine in my initial testing on an Intel Mac, it's becoming clear that this doesn't work for everyone, nor does it persist after a restart. So while I don't think it's dangerous (if you tried this and it didn't work properly, just force-restart the Finder to return things to normal), it is not actually a good solution. See our earlier Ask TUAW post for other, more permanent ways of doing this.On an older Ask TUAW we were asked how to add the Trash to the Finder sidebar. I pointed to several different solutions to this, but just recently reader DG left a comment on that post with far and away the most elegant solution. Basically, show the Trash folder in the Finder by clicking on the Trash can in the Dock. Next hit ???-i to reveal the "Trash Info" window (right). Click on the triangle to reveal the Preview if it's not already visible and then drag the preview icon onto the Finder sidebar and drop it. This will place the Trash in the sidebar with the proper icon and you can now drag and drop files to the Trash from the Finder. Not only that, the icon will even animate to show whether the trash is empty or not (though it may take a few moments to refresh your Finder window so you can see it).Thanks, DG!
Blue Notes: 25-man trash and EU arena teams
Trash mobs (i.e. non-boss mobs in instances, usually raids) have been the subject of a certain amount of discontent within the community recently. Blizz have said they're thinking about doing something about it, and now they're being a little more specific. Aeus, bearer of good news for the hardcore:We're going to be making some changes to trash mobs in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep, to make them a bit easier, slower to respawn, and provide some greater incentive to killing them. We'll be continuing to tune and re-tune dungeons and encounters, but currently these are the two we're most concerned with and will be focusing on.I'm assuming when he says Tempest Keep he means the Eye, the 25-man raid wing of it. So while this is nice for those of us who are working on those raids already (not me), I really wish they would do something about some of the trash in Karazhan. Specifically, the trash leading up to the Curator. That stuff is bonkers. On the other hand, I haven't been to KZ since Tigole said trash in many zones had been nerfed a bit, so maybe it's better now?
Top guilds want Blizzard to take out the trash
There's been a low-level murmur for weeks in the Raids and Dungeons forum about the amount of trash in Serpentshrine Cavern. Words like "nightmare", "soul-destroying", and "worse than Twin Emps-C'thun trash" were bandied about. The problem wasn't just the amount of trash, but the respawn time -- with 45-minute respawns, guilds were literally watching trash respawn behind them as they cleared. And as more guilds check into early Tempest Keep, they're finding the same situation. This week, the wave finally crested, with members of Death and Taxes, Curse, and other top guilds arguing that the trash situation has become unbearable. Selected comments from the threads follow:
