Limits
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China further slashes kids’ gaming time to just three hours a week
Chinese leaders have said video games are a form of 'spiritual opium', one which they want to crack down on.
Instagram's new anti-hate feature lets you limit comments and requests on popular posts
Instagram has introduced new features called Limits and Hidden Words designed to limit hate and abuse on trending posts.
Airbnb will limit Amsterdam rentals to 60 days a year
One of the sticks that is used to beat Airbnb with is that the company cares nought for social cohesion or its effect upon communities. That's why it's big news to see that the home-sharing firm will comply with property rental regulations in the Netherlands. From January, homeowners in Amsterdam will only be able to sell time in their place for 60 days in a calendar year, unless they already have specific permission to offer more. The Wall Street Journal believes that the move could be the solution to the on-going war it's fighting with cities across the globe.
Wings Over Atreia: Over the river and through the woods
To Aion's housing we go! Oh, if only it were that simple! And quick. 'Cause I got my hiking boots on and am raring to go. Heck, I will even wade through rivers of enemy blood to get me some housing! Now you all know what kind of statement that is coming from PvP-challenged me. Sadly, there is still a long wait ahead as there is no real official word on the release of 3.0 and its accompanying features. To be honest, with my all-too-obvious love of housing, I am not entirely sure that the information that trickled out of Korea this past week was more exciting... or painful. TEASE!! Either way, there is no ignoring the fact that the tantalizing information has come, posted front and center on the Korean Powerwiki for all to see. Thanks to some kind translating, those of us not fluent in Korean can also get a glimpse at what NCsoft has in store for us. Truly, I think that it is only fitting that last week's focus on a major frustration is followed up by something many are actually looking forward to! In all, some of the information revealed is exciting, some is pleasantly surprising, and some is even disappointing, Excited about Aion's upcoming housing or maybe just curious? Cross the threshold past the cut and join Wings Over Atreia as we explore the impending housing opportunities in Atreia.
AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees (update)
Ladies and gentlemen, the days of unlimited broadband may be numbered in the United States, and we're not talking wireless this time -- AT&T says it will implement a 150GB monthly cap on landline DSL customers and a 250GB cap on subscribers to U-Verse high speed internet starting on May 2nd. AT&T will also charge overage fees of $10 for every additional 50GB of data, with two grace periods to start out -- in other words, the third month you go over the cap is when you'll get charged. DSLReports says it has confirmation from AT&T that these rates are legitimate, and that letters will go out to customers starting March 18th. How does AT&T defend the move? The company explains it will only impact two percent of consumers who use "a disproportionate amount of bandwidth," and poses the caps as an alternative to throttling transfer speeds or disconnecting excessive users from the service completely. Customers will be able to check their usage with an online tool, and get notifications when they reach 65 percent, 90 percent and 100 percent of their monthly rates. We just spoke with AT&T representative Seth Bloom and confirmed the whole thing -- rates are exactly as described above, and the company will actually begin notifying customers this week. He also told us that those customers who don't yet have access to the bandwidth usage tool won't get charged until they do, and that AT&T U-Verse TV service won't count towards the GB cap. Update: What prompted this change to begin with? That's what we just asked AT&T. Read the company's statement after the break.
Photojojo provides a convenient telephoto lens for iPhone
The iPhone makes a great at-the-ready camera. Those of us appropriately sidearmed with an iPhone usually keep it easy to grab, which makes it the perfect device to yank from our pocket and snap a few pictures. And while the digital zoom is an awesome feature, it has limitations, and usually ends up killing the final photo quality. So, you're stuck with the convenience of your iPhone versus its inevitable limitations as a camera. Photojojo has a solution. The iPhone Telephoto Lens screws onto an included iPhone case, allowing you to get up to 8x the normal amount of zoom. The lens fits in your pocket when you're not using it, so it's not like you're hauling around a huge accessory to go with your iPhone. Even better, the iPhone Telephoto Lens comes with a tripod. As most professional photographers will tell you, using a tripod is the single best way to improve your photographs. The lens package is available for both the iPhone 3/3GS and iPhone 4. For US$35, you get the lens, a case and a tripod. It's a pretty good deal to help improve your iPhone pictures. [Via Cnet]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Because of reasons!
It's weird to say it, but City of Heroes feels like it's still on the cusp of a storm. Going Rogue was a fine expansion, but it doesn't have the sense of breaking that built-up tension, that feeling of something major just over the horizon. Or perhaps it's just me, perched out on my metaphorical porch and loudly proclaiming that this next one is going to be the big one, as I puff on my metaphorical corn-cob pipe and look across the metaphorical skyline of rural Metaphorbraska. OK, that one kind of got away from me there, but what I was trying to get at was that it's time for another question-and-answer session for City of Heroes and that I don't think I'm the only person feeling like Issue 19 might hold some great secret. We'll know soon enough, although right now it's time for Issue 20's super-secret beta, which even I don't know about just yet. I'm very curious. On to the questions!
The argument for paladin stances
Righteous Defense lays out an intriguing argument for an idea that I still personally can't get behind: paladin stances. The recent changes around patch 3.3 have shined a light on paladin versatility, and basically, paladins are forced to pay the hybrid tax three times over -- because they can do it all without limiting themselves, they can't do anything as well as other classes. So RD makes the suggestion: instead of letting paladins have all of their spells under any aura, it's time to narrow things down a bit. Devotion Aura becomes tanking stance, gets Righteous Fury's threat bonus added to it, and enabling it makes pallies lose some other abilities (Avenger's Shield is RD's suggestion). Retribution Aura becomes a DPS "stance," with added benefits and costs, and so on. By forcing paladins into a playstyle, you can give them extra power, because you've taken away versatility. Unfortunately for those in favor, I don't think it'll ever happen. First of all, we already have a class in the game that uses stances, and I think that this type of gameplay is too close for Blizzard's comfort to implement in the same way on paladins -- they want the classes to play different. Second, the paladin class design has always focused on the versatility of being a hybrid. While paladins may want to limit themselves to see buffs, Blizzard has never shown an inclination to limit pallies' versatility just to make them more powerful. I like the idea of Righteous Fury's buff getting linked up to something else (it definitely seems like it's out there on its own as an arbitrary tanking buff), but paladins getting a fully implemented stance system doesn't seem likely at all.
Returning to Azeroth the long way around
Ethic at Kill Ten Rats has a post up about something that a lot of you have probably been through: more and more I'm hearing about people returning to the game. I've been playing ever since I signed up a few years ago, but that's really only because I'm writing about it -- I'm pretty ADD when it comes to games, so left on my own, I probably would have walked away from WoW a long time ago. But Blizzard is really good at bringing players back by tweaking the game in exactly the way they woud like. I feel like if I had left, I would have definitely come back in for a while, if not with Burning Crusade than definitely with Wrath. Of course, Ethic's issues aren't really with deciding to return or not: he's having more issues actually trying to get his old accounts back. There's a laundry list of rules and limits to contend with, between dealing with having or not having the expansions, the limits on the Scroll of Resurrection program and the trial accounts, and dodging all of Blizzard's various limits on how to start and use new accounts to the game. Man -- if I had left and was planning on coming back, and I read Ethic's post, I might not even bother.But quite a few people have come back, and I'd guess that even though there are confusing things about trying to find your way back into the game, a good number of you have done it. I'd like to know, so here's a poll: how many of you have left and come back, and how many times?%Poll-31240%
Beware the coming Twitpocalypse
Oh, computers. Every time we think we've figured you out, you come up with another number-related disaster for us to fear. This time around, it's the Twitpocalypse -- apparently Twitter decided to use a unique identifier in their API for each separate tweet that goes out, and come sometime this weekend, the number will reach 2,147,483,647 and keep going. Which just happens to be too much for the variable that holds it, and that means that many of your favorite external Twitter clients, from Tweetie to Twitterific, to all of the other magic Twitter apps out there, could go down in a ball of numerically-ignited flame.The good news is that just like the Year 2K panic, this one is more or less unfounded. We've already spoken to our friend Ged Maheux of Twitterrific, and he says that the problem has already been fixed in the latest version of the software. We'd imagine that most of the really big Twitter apps have already addressed the issue, and taken care to make sure they'll still work (either that, or they'll get on it ASAP). Plus, a Twitter outage wouldn't really be anything that might cause riots in the streets (or different from the usual downtime, actually -- rimshot!).But it is funny and strange that as long as we have people who can't foresee the future (so, all of us) programming computers, we'll keep running into problems like this. If your favorite Twitter client goes out on Saturday, just find a basement to stay in, stock up on shotgun shells and water, and put your head between your legs -- help is on the way soon.
511 characters per quest
One of the most interesting things we heard from Jeff Kaplan last week (besides that he agrees the Green Hills quest sucks; won't do that one again) was that quest designers are given only 511 characters (not words) to put their quest text in.It's surprising to think that they've created all the backstory, throughout Azeroth, in just 511 characters at a time. But even Kaplan said the limit is a good thing: it means Blizzard has to show story to the player rather than tell it.Still, doesn't seem easy to Crap. Out of room -- that's 511 characters. Of course, they can fudge things a bit by having those "story quests" where characters can use multiple pages to build up their background, and the 511-character limit doesn't apply to all of the dialogue -- some of the later quests have pages and pages of dialogue as the quest goes on. But squeezing enough information to keep a player interested in just 511 characters is quite a feat.
FCC considering caps on cable ownership
It's not all gifts for cable giant Comcast this holiday season, as the FCC is considering a new cap on cable ownership. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and two of the Commissioners are set to support the cap plan, which would affect any company that controls over thirty percent of cable subscribers nationwide, while the remaining pair have not made their intentions public. The FCC has conducted additional market research to bolster their argument for limiting ownership, as a previous plan was rejected in 2004 by a federal judge. While the cable industry is sure to sue if the plan moves forward, perhaps Comcast should shore up any complaints on that pesky packet spoofing issue before this gets any uglier.
Wii Ware specifics unrevealed
The Wii Ware file size cap discussed by IGN is inaccurate, according to a statement made to Eurogamer by Nintendo. The Nintendo spokesperson chose not to offer details, but provided much less clearly-defined file size rules: "I can confirm as we originally said at the announcement of the Wii Ware service earlier in the year that Wii Ware games will come in a range of sizes but we will encourage smaller, more compact games for the service." Does "a range of sizes" mean "up to 40 MB?" Probably, just as "encourage" is likely to mean "enforce." Nintendo also motivated the one-title-per-month limit, and put a rough time limit on it. The limit is in place during the launch window, and will allow Nintendo to "address potential volume issues."
Xbox 360 parental timer coming in December?
Xbox 360 addicts, particularly ones under the age of 18 (or still camping out in your 'rents crib), take note: a "Family Timer" could be wrecking your habitual play as early as next month. The above image was reportedly spotted in the pamphlet of a Guitar Hero III keychain (we know...), and it touts the timer's ability to easily limit how much time kids spend on the console. If this proves legitimate, the new functionality will be available via Xbox Live next month, and there's even an option to "suspend or add time" depending on how those report cards turn out. Parents, we know how much flak you'll be getting should you activate this "feature" right around the holidays, but hey, just tell those immature youngsters of yours that you're simply following in the footsteps of Bill Gates himself.[Via Joystiq]
New York tests limits of game legislation with felony bill
The latest bill proposed in New York would actually make selling or renting a game to a minor which has "depraved violence and indecent images" a class E felony. What is that exactly in prison time? According to New York penal law, "For a class E felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and shall not exceed four years." However, it must be over one year imprisonment to be considered class E. But wait, it gets better. "Depraved" is defined by the bill as anything showing "rape, dismemberment, physical torture, mutilation or evisceration of a human being." So, many M rated games would fall under this category. Boiled all the way down, this new law would have a kid working at Gamestop, Best Buy, or the local Blockbuster potentially get sent to OZ for 1 - 4 years because he sold or rented a minor an M rated video game. With politicians like these, who needs Jack Thompson?This bill, A08696 by Democrat Assemblyman Joseph Lentol will have to share the spotlight with a similar bill proposed by Sen. Andrew Lanza (R), which is backed by Senate Republicans. All of this is about Gov. Eliot Spitzer's promise to legislate video games. According to GamePolitics, the enforceable parts (the Class E felony) would go into effect 120 days after the bill passes. The State Assembly goes into recess on June 21, so this bill needs to be on the fast track to make it. New York is getting really creepy with this game legislation.
Xtorrent 1.0 v40 released with per-torrent bandwidth throttling, list of big features to come
It isn't often that developers unveil their cards, but when they do, their user's ears typically perk up. Such is the case with Dave Watanabe's release of Xtorrent 1.0 v40 in which he announced two big new features now, and a few juicy ones coming down the road. As of this new version, Xtorrent Pro (the registered version) offers per-torrent bandwidth limits and support for the Azureus/utorrent compatible peer exchange, which should apparently help increase some transfer speeds.Using his crystal ball, however, Watanabe also announced three major features we can strike off the request list: selective file downloading, encryption, and torrentcast auto-downloading (though I should point out that Xtorrent can already subscribe to RSS feeds of torrents - it just doesn't auto-snag 'em yet). Dave announced that these features are "absolutely" planned for a future release (or spread out across more than one), though we'll all just have to sit tight as these things naturally fall under the tried and true "they'll be done when they're done" policy.
China imposes anti-addiction limits on kids' gaming
China's estimated 18 million underage online gamers better enjoy their unfettered play time while they can. State news agency Xinhua is reporting on Chinese government restrictions that will limit internet gaming for minors starting July 15. The reasoning behind the limits? A National Children's Center report that claims 13 percent of those young Chinese gamers -- over 2 million players -- are addicted to online games. Apparently, in this case, the good of the few outweighs the freedom of the many.Reportedly, minors who spend more then three hours a day in-game will lose half their "earned credits" -- five hours of gaming a day will lose kids all their credits. Possibly more chillingly, all online gamers will be required to provide their government ID number to confirm that they're over 18. That's right -- Big Brother is watching you play games. Previously: China to set three hour limit on MMORPGs [Via Next Gen]
Skype to FCC: open up those cellular networks, please
It's painfully obvious just how tight cellular providers have control over how their networks are used, which features are enabled, and what handsets are locked, but Skype is hoping to chip away a bit more at the mighty provider stranglehold by suggesting that wireless networks be made to carry Skype calls. In a recent petition to the FCC, Skype is purportedly "asking regulators to force cellphone carriers to loosen their controls on what kinds of hardware and software can be connected to their networks," essentially paving the way for free calls to be made over costly connections. Skype is asking that the so-called Carterfone rules (circa 1968) be applied to the wireless industry, which basically "allowed consumers to hook any device up to the phone network, so long as it did not harm the network." Unsurprisingly, carriers are less than enthralled about the notion, and a cellular trade group has already reacted by calling Skype's proposal one that "completely disregards consumer benefits provided by a competitive marketplace," which is certainly nominated for laughable statement of the year. As of now, no other companies are putting their collective necks out to join Skype's agenda, but hopefully it won't remain solo for too much longer.[Via ArsTechnica]
Bill Gates clamps down on daughter's internet time
Sure, we've seen individuals getting their hand slapped (or worse) for browsing the internet a bit too often, but you'd assume that having a dad who envisioned the Redmond powerhouse and pays the bills by way of computing would be the perfect father figure for the computer-addicted. Apparently, that's not exactly so, as a recent Reuters report tells of Bill Gates himself clamping down on his 10-year old daughter's internet and gaming time. According to Bill, his oldest gal wasn't even into the 'net until this school year, where tablet PCs became a necessary tool, but now that she's found access to a never-ending supply of information, her habits have suddenly changed. She latched onto Viva Piñata, purportedly playing for "two to three hours per day," after which her health started deteriorating and her chore accomplishments plummeted. Although we mention those last bits in jest, Mr. Gates slapped down a "45-minutes per day" law for non-school related computing tasks on the weekdays, and added just 15 minutes for weekends, probably garnering quite the evil eye and stirring up early thoughts of rebellion in his youngster. Seriously Bill, if you're that worried about daddy's little girl stumbling upon some form of cyber predator, there's always the parent-approved IM-Me, but throwing time restrictions on your own products is just a tad illogical, no?[Via BloggingStocks, thanks Randall]
