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Just say no: Apple and Intel stop using conflict minerals
While the US government hasn't issued an outright ban against the use of 'conflict minerals' coming from the Congo, it has passed a law that will require companies who use them to tell all of us when our gadgets have been paid for (in part) with blood. Looks like Apple and Intel weren't too keen on the bad PR that would come from such disclosures, and joined the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and its Conflict-Free Smelter program. The program requires mineral processing plants either prove that they don't fund the ongoing hostilities in central Africa or peddle their war-supporting wares elsewhere. For now, that means that the folks in Cupertino and Santa Clara will have to find other sources for the three Ts (tungsten, tin, and tantalum) needed to sate our technological appetites.
New law requires gadget companies to disclose 'conflict mineral' use
When President Obama put his pen to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act last week, it wasn't just financial reform he signed into law, but also a stipulation that may affect your gadget purchases down the road. You see, at present your technology includes some amount of tantalum, tungsten and tin, three rare earths that happen to be mined heavily in the Congo... and thus indirectly linked to poverty, rape and death. The new US law won't stop that, and doesn't restrict any sort of trade -- it merely requires companies to disclose the use of such materials in independent audits filed with their annual financial reports. It does, however, allow companies that don't use bloody rocks to label their products "conflict-free," so we're sure astute marketing gurus are developing plenty of new all-plastic gizmos even as we speak. For the children, of course.
EVE Evolved: World events in EVE Online
In the early years of the MMO genre, developers and game masters routinely ran special once-only events to immerse the playerbase in a game's storyline. Storytelling has always been one of EVE Online's strongest features and in the early days of EVE developers showed a significant commitment to immersive events. These events unfortunately became plagued with difficulties and inadequacies, leading to the eventual shut-down of events altogether. Of course EVE isn't the only game hit by these issues, it forms part of what I consider to be a very disappointing trend. In recent years, many MMOs have opted to replace authored events with predictable seasonal festivals or have even eliminated events altogether. EVE's storyline is now simply a collection of stories and the news items tell tales of in-game events which never actually happened. In my opinion, this was one of the biggest mistakes the game's developers CCP Games have ever made.In this article, I grapple with the problems EVE's events have had and find potential solutions in some unlikely places.
I fought Highlord Kruul and Highlord Kruul won
Hey, everyone who complained about the Scourge world event being too wussy -- the Burning Legion sends its regards. Eliah Hecht has documented that Highlord Kruul is owning everything on most servers, but no one has answered the question: Is it possible to kill this guy? Short answer: Yes. He appears to be a renamed Kazzak with most of Kazzak's abilities, plus he has Kazzak's loot table. He seems to hit harder than Kazzak and enrage sooner, but an organized, or even slightly disorganized, raid of 40 people can kill him. WoWWiki has a good strategy guide for Kazzak. Exo and Trans killed him on Smolderthorn, as did groups on Illidan, Medivh and Kalecgos, apparently. Long answer: Probably not, at least if your server's anything like mine. Kruul heals massively every time he kills a player or pet. So if Kruul spawns near a major city, it's nearly impossible due to the number of deaths. Unless you can clear the area of everything but organized 60s working in a raid group, just get naked, sit back and watch the carnage.
More Scourge Invasions?
Remember the huge scourge invasion that accompanied the roll-out of patch 1.11? After a few weeks of undead-slaughtering fun, the scourge invasion points across Azeroth vanished - whether your server had finished the invasion event or not. The "end" of this event was somewhat disappointing, as it occurred without any fanfare, and left me with a heck of a lot of now useless necrotic runes in the bank. However, there's now some suggestion from Blizzard that this invasion won't be a one-time event - though as to how often the scourge may become restless and attempt to invade Azeroth, no one yet knows. Like the invasion or not, it was an excellent way to rack up Argent Dawn reputation, and the rewards (consecrated sharpening stones, blessed wizard oil, +damage versus undead armor), while situational, were useful. And, while I'm glad the invasion isn't a permanent thing, I think having it back on some regular basis will make for an entertaining diversion.
Patch 1.11: Scourge Invasion Details
The main Warcraft site has been updated with additional information about the Scourge invasion that will be coming with patch 1.11. So what should we expect? A threatening necropolis over both Stormwind and the Undercity as the Scourge prepare their invasion force, as well as specific Sourge incursions in Azshara, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, Tanaris and Winterspring. The Argent Dawn representitives around Azeroth will be coordinating efforts in an attempt to repel the invasion - with rewards for those who aid them.
Mayhem in Moonglade
The Lunar Festival is underway, as if we hadn't got enough world events to be getting on with. Buy fireworks from vendors in all major cities, and set them off to gain access to that heretofore secluded Druidic retreat, Moonglade. Pay your respects to Elders around Azeroth and gain coins which you can exchange for items in Moonglade; team up and defeat a demonic ex-hero, Omen, and bask in the light of Elune.Or, rather; get barred from an Omen raid because you're under level 50, waste money on fireworks in Stormwind when the quest is bugged (you have to let them off in Ironforge or Orgrimmar for them to count towards the quest), and glare at the smug Druids teleporting to Moonglade at will.The Lunar Festival is an interesting distraction, and with fifty Coins of Ancestry to collect, there's reputation aplenty to be gained. Fortunately, you can get Elune's Blessing from Omen's body without being in a raid group, so you may be able to complete all of the Lunar Festival quests without being level 60--hunting for those coins in opposite-faction cities may be interesting, however!
