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ICYMI: Trusting robots too much, automated garbage and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: The Georgia Tech Research Institute studied how people would react to a robot with clearly labeled 'emergency guide' signage, during a fire drill. Researchers thought humans would ignore the robots and go straight for nearby exits, but instead, they followed the robots deeper into the building, where there was no way out.
Father flips Link's gender to make his daughter the heroine
Maya has really been enjoying The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Her father, developer Mike Hoye, says she likes "sailing, scary birds and remembering to be brave," much like Link, the game's protagonist. But girls can go on adventures and rescue their little brothers, too!To emphasize that, Hoyes altered the game's disk image with a hex editor, changing all of the dialogue references about Link's gender to be feminine. Since all the alternatives had to be exactly the same byte-for-byte length, he used "swordmain" for "swordsman," and "milady" in place of "my lad" and "master." He's provided a patch for the disk image, which you can then load up in a GameCube emulator to play.The end result of all this hacking is that a little girl gets to see herself as the hero, and find the courage to defeat Ganon in her own little heart. And that makes us feel, just, you know, so ... What? No, we're not crying! Call of Duty, bro! Go have a look at the Wii U pictures again.
Patch 4.3: Rogue legendary Fangs of the Father official preview
Blizzard is on a roll today with new information and official previews -- not least of which is the new rogue legendary coming in patch 4.3, The Fangs of the Father. Rogues will be tasked with assisting Wrathion, the young prince of the Black Dragonflight, through acts of burglary, stealth, assassination, and manipulation. For their troubles, rogues will be granted a set of daggers that gets progressively more powerful as the quests continue. The legendary items will provide a stacking agility bonus that culminates in a combo point cost reduction for finishing moves, increases the damage of finishing moves, and unfurls large black wings that look imposing and destructive. Rogues can also call upon the wings on command to act as a built-in slow fall (or to just pop out the wings to look cool). Check out the official video preview of the Fangs of the Father after the jump.
I'm OK, You're OK: It's cool to be an early iPad adopter
The early adopter tax, along with any associated tech risks, has not escaped the notice of most tech enthusiasts. In the end, it's not much of a factor. We don't buy early because it's a good deal. We don't buy early because it's fiscally sound. We buy early because the technology is cool and we simply cannot or do not want to wait for our preciousssssss to finally come home with us. We are the People Who Stand In Line. In my case, this is a hereditary condition. I blame my father, who would bring home the latest gadgets to an adoring family. We'd gather around the latest technology, glowing in its radiance, having an utter blast using toys that no one had ever heard of, let alone bought. We were the first family on the block (and possibly in the state) to have a microwave, a fax machine (the size, may I point out, of a small car), a personal computer, or a hand-held programmable calculator. It wasn't just cool. It was awesome. Thank you Dad, for being an early adopter. Thank you for showing me the way of the technology geek. Thank you for teaching me that you have to live life in the moment -- because if you don't seize today and play with it, tomorrow will never come. Sure, something better and cheaper is always going to come along some day. Sure, the bugs will work their way out and the prices will work their way down. But if you don't hop aboard the adoption train, you're never going to get to Techsville. Me? I'm going to buy a first-day ticket and have my fun from the get-go.
Happy Father's Day from WoW.com!
This was so cute we had to share -- that future Alliance kid at right is Cara's son Riley, no doubt owning it up on Daddy's Death Knight in the battlegrounds. That's right -- the DK who rolled over you with Howling Blast in Wintergrasp yesterday was actually played by a 9.5 month old baby. How's that burn feel? Cara tells us, and the pic was part of a "WoW you're a great father" theme for Riley's first Father's Day.From all of us here at WoW.com, here's a shout out to all of the fathers out there, both Dads of players and Dads who are players themselves. Take a break from taking down Ulduar or grinding out those Argent Tournament quests and make sure to give your Dad a call (and/or the usual tie or socks) today. Or just send him an in-game email for those of you who play with your pops. Happy Father's Day!
Father's Day in Azeroth: A salute to the fathers of Warcraft lore
So it's Father's Day, the time when we all pay homage to the fathers or father figures in our lives, and thank them for all that they do. While we can't say for sure if they celebrate Father's Day in Azeroth, too, there's a lot of people in Azeroth and Outland who have reason to think back on their dads today. Many dads of Azeroth have affected their children's lives or been affected by them. The ramifications of the interactions of these fathers and children have then in turn affected the lore and story of Warcraft in ways great and small. Therefore, in honor of the holiday, let's look at 10 famous and not-so-famous dads of Warcraft lore (listed in no particular order).
Breakfast Topic: Father's Day for gamers
Happy Father's Day, to all of you fathers out there!* If you and yours aren't the type to go out and about on a day like this, never fear. For the family that games together, I Heart Chaos has 8 great ideas for an Azerothian Father's Day. A few other things that come to mind for Dad's special day: Roll a new alt with your pops, maybe crossing your primary faction lines. Sometimes leveling together is more meaningful than twinking an alt. Talk your guild into having a Father's Day raid night! Take your dad to Karazhan or Zul'Aman, assuming he isn't further progressed than you are. Hey, don't give me that look. My raid has Dads in some pretty phat purps. Yes, I did just say 'phat'. And 'purps'. Don't judge me! Fill his mailbox with delicious cake. Do any of you have Father's Day plans in Azeroth, or any Father's Day plans at all?*Sorry if I missed any of you!
World of WarCrafts: Duskwood chest
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.Father's Day is looming just around the corner (for some of us anyway) and what better way to celebrate fatherhood than a chest full of loot? Another uninspired neck-tie and socks combo is hard to beat but hopefully the target of this gift can appreciate the change of pace. If you happen to be the giver of this veritable cornucopia of awesomeness, prepare to be lavished with praise. If you happen to be on the potential receiving end, it might not be a bad idea to drop some subtle hints to your loved ones about a certain column on your favorite weblog.Here is what you will need: Unfinished Wood Chest (I purchased mine from Hobby Lobby) Wood Stain (Honey) Metallic Paint (Bronze) Paintbrush Gift Ideas: Pre-Paid WoW game card TCG booster packs Snacks Coupon Click on the images below to view a gallery of step-by-step instructions. %Gallery-24410%
Father's Day discounts for iPhoto books through 6/15
If your father is anything like my father, he loves getting Father's Day gifts with that personal touch ... but since monogrammed golf clubs are a bit out of my budget range this year, I'm going with an iPhoto book instead. Nothing dresses up a coffee table like a professionally printed book full of pictures of the grandkids all slathered in mud.Apple is ready to help with the giftgiving; there's a 20% book discount (use code 'springbooks' at checkout) through June 15. Standard shipping books need to be ordered today (June 3) for delivery by Father's Day, and express shipping gets you an extra few days (June 8 order deadline).
Promotional Consideration: Underground Brain Training
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Those of you lucky enough to live in a city with a rapid transit system have likely seen at least one ad for a handheld game during your commutes. After all, what better audience to advertise a portable title to than people who're trapped in a high-speed steel car full of strangers while they wait to be ferried from one spot to another? In honor of Brain Age 2's release in the states last week, we'll be looking at a few ads we found for Nintendo's educational software that've appeared in transit stations in countries like Canada and France. Join us past the post break for this week's edition of Promotional Consideration.
Azeroth Interrupted: Happy Father's Day!
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with WoW.Today is the day we celebrate Dads, so I thought I would pay tribute to my favorite WoW-related Father/Child relationships, in no particular order.Micah and Ezra: The story of Micah and Ezra playing WoW together, strengthening their relationship, and helping Ezra deal with the awful realities of a brain tumor is a truly inspirational one. Blizzard making Ezra's WoW wishes come true is even more so. I hope that Micah and Ezra are able to continue playing together for many years to come. Happy Father's Day, Micah!Rob Pardo and daughter Sydney: Rob Pardo is the Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard and plays WoW (among other games) with his daughter, Sydney. Talk about balancing real life with WoW, Rob says that playing with his daughter has taught him to look at the pure fun aspects of the game to round out his overall perspective. Happy Father's Day, Rob!South Park's Randy and Stan: Whose eyes didn't tear up after Randy's character was mortally wounded when handing the The Sword of a Thousand Truths to Stan's character? An excellent example, albeit fictional, of a father and son becoming closer together because of WoW. Happy Father's Day, Randy!
DS Daily: Happy Father's Day!
In honor of Father's Day, we thought we'd ask a themed question: Who's your favorite father and son/daughter team? Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., or, uh, hmm. Oh, how about Bowser and the Koopa Kids? Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man? Pitfall Harry and Harry Jr. from Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure? Man, we already had to go to Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure? Maybe you guys can think of more. We can't be retrogaming encyclopedias every day, okay? It would be pretty hard to limit this to the DS, but if you can think of DS characters, you win at commenting.
Father-son event at Nintendo world store
The Nintendo World Store held a father-son event in New York today for the title of "Biggest Brain." The winners were Rick and Michael Singer of Virginia who beat 30 other contestants (so, 15 teams?). The bracket-style playoff tested memorization, computation, analysis and other skills we overly evolved apes have. The event was a giant interactive advertisement for Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree.The Singers walked away with the "hot Wii," which we don't know if that means stolen, and a copy of the Wii Big Brain Academy. The best part is the father, Rick Singer, went to New York on a whim with his son, he says, "I asked my son to come to New York with me for Father's Day, but he said he'd only come if we could go to the Nintendo World store." So, dad wants to spend time with son, son wants to visit the Nintendo World Store, and they walk away with a Wii. Not a bad bonding experience.[Via Press Release]
Three-year-old's Tennis tantrum
Brian McConnell left his son, Adam, alone with a game of Wii Sports: Tennis for only a few moments to fetch a drink, but that was all the time the little demon needed. Not even a Wii remote strap could've saved Brian's plasma TV once the three-year-old set his mind on avenging a lost match. Brian came back to the living room to find his £1,000 television ruined, its 42-inch screen bashed by his Wiimote-wielding progeny. Queue up the darth_vader_nooo.jpg images. The forgiving father let Adam off the hook with only a light lecture and a two-week Wii ban. That's a lot more lenient than the hanging, drawing, and quartering punishment one of our NintenDadz would've sought. [Via Engadget]
NintenDadz: Never Good Enough For You Edition
Growing up without a father in your life can be tough, we know. Do any of these scenes sound familiar? Staring outside the window, watching your friends learn to ride a bike with their dads while you spend the afternoon alone, cutting out misshapen dinosaurs from construction paper? Learning to shave from that old Simpsons episode when Homer taught Bart instead of having your own pops show you how to use a razor? Buying a Father's Day card every year "just in case," even though you know there's no point? It's been over 20 years; why would he want to see you now?With IBW Publications' NintenDadz software, you can still have those essential life lessons and childhood experiences that single-parent families often lack. Play catch in the backyard, build a birdhouse, and enjoy dozens of other simulated father-son activities with over 100 minigames to choose from! Leave your self-pity at the door, and run past the post break for the NintenDadz fact sheet and the father you've always wished would come home.
Fuego 01 mod grill -- too sexy for your dad?
Get ready to bust out the really fancy, mod-inspired paper plates, because Fuego just made the backyard grill into a whole new brand of hip. Their new Fuego 01 grill can switch from coal to infrared to gas by swapping out a side drawer, and comes with all sorts of gadgetry to make the barbecue-er within us get all weak in the knees. There are electronic controls to manage the temperature and time your cooking, along with a retractable lid to hide away the cast iron grills when you're done. There's also all manner of storage compartments, including underneath the teak wood counters, but most of all this thing is just plain sexy, and should probably be right up there on your father's day idea list, next 1080p and that piano tie he has his eye on.[Via Josh Spear]
