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Who should I follow? Laptops / mobile computing
Welcome once again to "Who should I follow?" where we spend countless hours trolling Twitter finding the best and most knowledgeable peeps for our readers to follow. This week we're proud to introduce you to the wonderful and secret mysteries of laptop experts: yes, they're a crazy group, but the follow payoff will be pretty big, because you'll know every detail of every device ever released again. Feel free to share your own handles in comments, or suggest other interesting users to us.
Phirtual bees make us feel pretty excited for the phuture
The somewhat rough look of the school project made by Karim Amrani in the video shouldn't fool you -- it's a pretty cool implementation and combination of virtual experiences and physical sensation. Take a look at the full video to watch people's reactions to the piece -- it's pretty fascinating stuff.
Modern technology sent through time vortex, redesigned for 1977
A brilliant homage to today's gadgets and yesterday's penchant for Sepia tones, graphic designer Alex Varanese has reimagined four modern-day gadgets and created a series of print ads for his ALT/1977 collection: Pocket Hi-Fi, LapTron 64, MobileVoxx, and Microcade 3000. We're smitten, but of course we'd be irresponsible not to point out the paradox here: should Varanese ever accomplish his mission of traveling back in time with modern gear, it'll expedite technology advancement up to the point where he originally left and create a recursion of infinite improvements... oh, just quit thinking and enjoy the pretty pictures already!
Breakfast Topic: When your alt becomes your main
You've raided Icecrown Citadel and killed Arthas. You've got a ranked arena team. Your gear score and achievement score both push 6,000. You're officially elite. Then one day that level 15 gnome rogue you rolled two years ago on a whim starts to call your name. She's got pink pig-tails and the cutest little laugh. Before you know it your little gnome is questing in Outland. Soon you're in Northrend. All of a sudden you're running heroics, and raiding. Now your little gnome is just as leet as your old main. Back long ago I started a druid for the sole purpose of making leather kits for my guild. At the time I didn't realize that since my main was an enchanter, I made myself redundant because leather kits overwrite enchantments -- but I must have liked my druid. As I leveled that enchanter, a mage, my druid was never far behind. Now both toons are level 80, geared, and at the top of their professions. I honestly don't know which one of them is my main and which is my alt. The only difference is, as a healer, the druid has more utility in raids and heroics. Have you ever switched mains? What would cause you to switch? Guild needs? Personal preferences? Switching classes? With paid server and faction transfers, a lot of the old reasons for switching toons have gone by the wayside. We want to hear your main switching stories.
Researchers to map Ozzy Osbourne's genome
Ozzy Osbourne is about to join the ranks of a very fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) minority. DNA research lab Knome has announced that it is going to sequence the lead singer of Black Sabbath's entire genome. Knome, -- which focuses on DNA sequencing in the interest of disease research -- has said that Ozzy's "extreme" medical history (i.e., years of hard partying) makes him an ideal candidate for their purposes. Very few people have had their entire DNA mapped, and the sequencing will take about 3 months to complete, so we'll just have to make do by watching the video after the break until we get the results.
easyJet airline plans to fit its planes with ash detectors
UK budget airliner easyJet unveiled a plan last week to install ash detectors on its fleet of planes. The radar devices will be fitted to the tail fin, and should be able to detect ash clouds within 60 miles and will work like other weather-detection systems already in use to pick up on thunderstorms in advance. The new ash cloud system is being dubbed the Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector, A/K/A AVOID, and it'll provide both pilots and air traffic control to see an ash cloud at altitudes between 5,000 feet and 50,000 feet, and easyJet's CEO Andy Harrison thinks it could have the power to "make large-scale ash disruption history." easyJet will have to have the devices approved by European regulators and widespread adoption across the airline to have much effect. easyJet is spending around $1.46 million to research and outfit its planes with the systems.
Anti-radiation gadgets take a few steps towards science, but are they legit?
Gadgetwise recently ran a piece about two small-sized companies who are peddling something we've doubtless all encountered: anti-radiation devices. The thing is, nobody's proven yet that radiation from things like cellphones and laptops causes any harm... but why take chances when you can have the power of Belly Armor protecting your fetus? The thing that sets companies like Belly Armor and Pong Research -- which manufactures a cell phone case which purportedly protects against radiation -- is that they've spent a considerable amount of time and effort conducting research as they developed their products. So, undoubtedly, the Belly Armor blanket (which runs about $70) does protect your unborn child from your laptop's crazy rays -- again, though, the jury's still out on the effects of said rays. Should we err on the side of caution and start shelling out the bucks for anti-radiation gear, or should we just hope for the best?
Cracked LCD bending art: put your dead displays to use
LCD bending art... ever hear of it? No? Well, let us educate you. LCD bending involves pressing a finger on a cracked LCD that's turned on -- with some pretty impressive and beautiful results. We're not suggesting you smash your displays for art's sake or anything, but see for yourself in the video after the break.
German physicists working on quantum interface between light and atoms
Physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany are developing something which they call the Mainz interface, and which could eventually lead to a quantum computer -- a whole new way of communicating information. For now, though the Mainz interface is seeking to use laser light traveling through a tapered glass fiber, trapping cesium atoms at the thin center. This center of the fiber is actually thinner than the wavelength of light, meaning that it protrudes into the space surrounding the fiber, "coupling" with the atoms trapped there. Sounds pretty complicated, right? Well, it is, but the researchers are moving along toward the goal of quantum computing. We'll keep you updated on their progress.
Dolphins enter cute-animals-using-iPads race, are in it to win it
Researchers at Dolphin Discovery in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico have been teaching two year old Merlin how to nose-touch operate an iPad by matching physical objects with their virtual representation on screen. Merlin is a dolphin. "This is an easy task for a dolphin, but it is a necessary building block towards our goal of a complete language interface between humans and dolphins," said one of the insane people attached to the project.
NASA gives Voyager 2 a RAM reset, fixes communication bug
NASA's finished successfully resetting the computer system of the Voyager 2 satellite, which had begun transmitting unintelligible data in mid-April. The Voyager 2 was launched in August of 1977 to study Saturn, and has also flown past Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. It's now around 8.6 billion miles from earth, in the heliosphere which surrounds the solar system. While the cause of the glitch is unknown, NASA officials say that they noticed on May 12th that a single memory location had been changed from a 0 to a 1, causing all transmissions to be completely garbled. After the reset, Voyager 2 resumed transmission of data on May 22nd -- and continues its journey to leave the solar system entirely.
World Science Festival kicks off June 2nd in NYC
If you're in the New York City area during the upcoming week, you really might want to think about trying to score yourself some tix to the World Science Festival. We've never been ourselves, and we have to say that our interest -- based on the description of the events -- is seriously piqued. The Festival was started Brian Greene (the physicist, not the guy from 90210) and his wife, and will run from June 2nd to the 6th. It will kick off with a gala event featuring Stephen Hawking, and will host a wide variety of talks over the week, covering topics like the science of sound, the science of Star Trek, and whether or not it's possible that we're all holograms. We're hoping to try to hit at least one of these events ourselves (though we do have a busy week ahead), but we suggest you check out the source link for full details yourself.
Engadget Podcast 198 - 05.29.2010
How many executives does it take to screw in a light bulb? Fewer than you would think! How many screens do you need to coordinate your digital life with the cloud? Less than 3, contrary to popular belief. How many Engadget Podcasteers need be present to convey the week's news to you in a succinct 90-minute audio package? Less than five. How many Foxconn employees should consider suicide to bring you a $99 iPhone? That's right, zero. This week, it's all about reductionism on the Engadget Podcast. Let's go on a trip together - to the clean, compact future. Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Bullet With Butterfly Wings Hear the podcast 00:04:15 - WSJ: Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division getting a 'shakeup,' J Allard expected to leave 00:04:35 - Microsoft's Robbie Bach and J Allard leaving as part of broader shakeup; Xbox and Windows Phone teams now reporting directly to Ballmer 00:06:00 - Robbie Bach: Project Natal a 'midlife kicker' for Xbox 360, 'absolutely confident' Courier innovations will appear elsewhere 00:08:32 - Apple and Microsoft now neck and neck in market capitalization 00:08:55 - Ballmer downplays Microsoft's shift in market value, says it's a 'long game' 00:30:23 - Windows Phone 7 pops up on a Samsung prototype device, plays Twin Blades 00:32:12 - webOS design mastermind Matias Duarte leaves Palm... and could be headed to Google 00:32:22 - Confirmed: Palm's Matias Duarte joins Google as User Experience Director for Android 00:42:07 - Lenovo kills Skylight OS in favor of Android, U1 Hybrid and Skylight smartbook being shelved 00:51:32 - The next Apple TV revealed: cloud storage and iPhone OS on tap... and a $99 price tag 01:04:00 - Confirmed: Apple's next iPhone will have video chat, feature to be shown in ads directed by Sam Mendes 01:09:53 - Foxconn raising wages, relocating 20 percent of Shenzhen workers closer to home (updated) 00:20:00 - Apple, Dell, and HP comment on suicides as Foxconn CEO shows off the pool 01:29:49 - Introducing Engadget Alt Subscribe to the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com. Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
The fashion industry survives without copyright protection -- can the rest of us?
I really dig this TED talk from USC's Johanna Blakely about how the lack of copyright and patent protection for clothing design has accelerated the creative pace of the fashion industry, and I think she nails it when she points out that digital technologies have collapsed copyright law's traditional distinction between ideas and tangible expression. It's become so easy to create, copy, remix, and share that those definitions don't really apply anymore. On the other hand, I don't think simply doing away with IP protections entirely is the answer. (I'm a lawyer, after all.) While I'm not saying fashion is easy, I would argue that it's easier for fashion designers to iterate and differentiate, and that the harm done to Gucci by ripoff handbags is much less damaging than the harm done to an author or musician by someone who copies their work -- unlike the Gucci bag, the customers for original books and music often are the same people who buy the fakes, and not everyone will seek out the original. What's more, I often find that arguments against IP protections are often made very idealistically, where competition, remix, and creativity only produce happy results, but sometimes things get stolen simply because it's easy and cheap to make money that way, and IP laws provide protection against that sad reality. The real question, in my mind, is how best to balance those protections against creative freedoms, not whether we're protecting ideas or expressions. Anyway, it's a great presentation that everyone should watch -- check it after the break.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Behold the orc (1-20)
The Care and Feeding of Warriors is about warriors, those lovable, squeezable, strokeable bundles of pure joy who seethe with a burning inner fire, a rage that can only be quenched in blood. Matthew Rossi tries quenching it in delicious caffeinated beverages. You'd be surprised how often that works. Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that not all warriors are level 80. Quite a few of them are alts currently grinding their way through Dun Morogh or The Barrens or Silverpine or Bloodmyst Isle. So while I do plan on going forward with my fresh 80 guides for arms, fury and prot, I'm going to alternate them with an experiment I started this week, which was to level an orc warrior from scratch and see how far I get with her. (I have almost no female toons, so I figured I'd give a she-orc a try.) Yes, that's right, I rolled another warrior. In my defense, this week I've been really sick and exhausted, so what better use of my feverish time than to quest through The Barrens again? Look, the intervention didn't work, what makes you think your looking at the screen like that will stop me? Anyway, onward to discuss levels 1-20 as a warrior.
Earthrise developers seeking community input on alts
Earthrise is an indy-developed science fiction MMO on the way from Masthead Studios in Bulgaria. The developers have stated that Earthrise will be a sandbox game, with a large part of the player experience based on what guilds try to accomplish in the post-apocalyptic setting of Enterra. Given this emphasis on player-driven content, Masthead Studios has been running a Community Consensus over the past few weeks where the devs seek input from Earthrise fans on various aspects of the game's design. Today Masthead Studios wants to hear what the community thinks about alts. In most MMOs having extra character slots is expected, but alt play in a sandbox game where players will engage in espionage could get out of hand. Would the ability to easily for any player to create a cell of spy alts unbalance the game, or should there be a tight limit on character slots per account?
All the World's a Stage: The art of the alt
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles.With all the talk lately about starting new characters once the Cataclysm arrives, it struck me that most roleplayers already have more than one, including myself. Like most players, I started with one, a night elf druid, and focused on playing that exclusively for quite some time. It didn't really occur to me that I would even want to play more than one.Then, I began to notice that other people played more than one character, even within the same small group of friends. I had one friend in particular who had mastered the art of roleplaying multiple characters. She never said anything out of character to anyone in our group, and it took me ages to even realize that her characters were ally played by the same person in the first place. Each one had its own personality, and each had a different relationship with all our mutual friends. Knowing her made something click inside my mind, and I began to see other possibilities for myself too, other sorts of characters I could play with different weaknesses, strengths, and entirely different stories to tell. As my roleplaying experience grew, I began to feel as though one character couldn't contain all the ideas I had jumbling about in my head, so... I started another one, then another, and ... another. Little did I know all the pitfalls I could run into with so many characters, nor the quirky little tricks that could become possible with multiple characters, a small group of friends, and a bit of creativity.
All the World's a Stage: The new character experience in Cataclysm
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles.As you know, the Cataclysm is going to bring major changes to the whole world of Azeroth. There will only be 5 new zones for leveling above 80 and one new zone for each new race -- the rest of the work they're doing involves changing the old zones, bringing them up to the standards of zones in The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, adding new quests that are more appropriate to the current timeline, and completely rebuilding the areas that just didn't work so well.You are also probably aware that this is a much-needed improvement. The 1 - 60 leveling process (except for the draenei or blood elf starting areas) has long been fraught with serious flaws. Going through it the first time wasn't so bad, since exploring everything felt so new, but doing it the third and fourth times meant sheer boredom. I remember many times going to a zone, completing many or all of the quests there, and leaving without ever feeling as though I had really "been" there. Except for a few real gems, quests mostly involved spending a lot of time running long distances in order to kill more nameless bad guys -- they felt more like pest control than adventure. Just being there seemed to remove me from the story of Azeroth, and dump me in some other world where there was nothing important happening. Vast stretches of land on the Azeroth map meant absolutely nothing to me as a roleplayer: no character, no story, no meaning.
EVE Evolved: One account is good enough
In a typical MMO, players will have one main character that they dedicate most of their time and effort to. They may also have alternate characters on the same account that they use to try out different classes or starting areas. EVE Online is different in that it's not really feasible to play multiple characters on the same account. While each EVE account has three character slots, only one can be actively training skills at one time. Taking a break to train up another character means losing training time on your main one. And since any character can learn any skill, it's often better to just train those skills on your main character rather than making a dedicated alt for it. Many players suggest getting a second account but is that really necessary? And what do you do with those two extra character shots on your account?In this article, I look at some nifty things you can do with your main account's two extra character slots without paying for a second account.
WoW Moviewatch: Don't Make Me Get My Main
Cranius is the legendary WoW musician behind Big Blue Dress and Darrowshire. If you've been following Moviewatch, then you already know he worked with equally amazing machinimator Legs to create a music video for Wrought. For BlizzCon 2009, the pair again created an astounding piece of art, titled Don't Make Me Get My Main. The story of the video is something with which most of us can empathize. At least, you can empathize with it if you've ever tried leveling an alt up through Stranglethorn. A beleaguered low level character is just trying to get his quests done, but a vile Blood Elf repeatedly gray-ganks the poor chap. The protagonist implores the ganker to leave him alone, before he's forced to go get his accomplished, powerful main character. I'll avoid spoilers for the ending, but trust me when I say it's probably yet another experience most of us have probably suffered through before. Congratulations to Cranius and Legs on winning a first place prize with this video. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
