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Arca will use AI to soundtrack NYC's Museum of Modern Art
If you pay a visit to New York City's Museum of Modern Art in the near future, you'll be awash in artificial intelligence before you've even seen an exhibit. Electronic musician Arca (who has produced for Bjork and FKA Twigs) has announced that a piece she wrote using Bronze's AI creative tool will provide the soundtrack for MoMA's lobby for the next two years once it reopens on October 21st. Don't think that it'll be just the same tune playing on loop, though. The AI will "never make the music play the same way twice," Arca said. In that sense, it's more like one very large piece.
The BlackBerry KEYone is getting a bronze makeover
BlackBerry's KEYone was a remarkably solid return to form, and it arguably got even better when it received an all-black makeover. Now, BlackBerry Mobile is prepping one more new color variant — the KEYone Bronze Edition — before it gets back to work developing all-new devices to launch later this year.
Complete Bronze Proving Grounds, get your weapon
Of course the first thing we want to do upon hitting level 100 is to start gearing up. And we want to run heroics, which means getting a silver in proving grounds. Well, while you're at it, don't miss this quest, given in your Garrison by Lieutenant Thorn if you're Alliance, and Warmaster Zog if you're Horde. It's a good way to get your hands on a solid 610 weapon (almost as good as an heirloom at level 100) and, if you get lucky and get an epic instead of a blue, it's actually ilevel 630 and better than the heirloom weapons from Garrosh. I did Bronze as DPS first, and found it to be pretty easy. It's basically a free weapon as good as a dungeon drop, with a chance to be as good as a heroic dungeon drop. Since you're going to want to be able to queue for heroics anyway, there's no reason not to get it done.
Patch 5.4 PTR: First look at the Endless Healer Proving Grounds
Olivia wrote up a great overview of the Proving Grounds for tanks, healers, and DPS. Today I'm going to be going a little more in depth on the healing side of things. Bronze and silver were excellent warmups. I wiped once on gold due to my over confidence on the final wave but managed to overcome it. This is what the Endless difficulty on Proving Grounds looks like for healers. You'll gain a certain amount of points per round and it will continue to tick upwards until either you or a party member dies in battle. Thankfully, the NPCs will appear in your party frames. There's a spiffy achievement if you're able to reach Endless Healer: Wave 30 which nets The Proven Healer title. Watch the video above as I play through the Endless Healer for the first time! I also narrate my spell choices and reasoning as I heal through the assorted waves.
Hungarian software company casts Jobs in bronze to remember him
A Hungarian software company named Graphisoft has decided to erect a bronze bust of Steve Jobs in the country's capital of Budapest to celebrate the life and times of Apple's founder. Graphisoft's founder first met Jobs back in 1984, and Jobs has since offered lots of advice, insight, and even financial help to Graphisoft, even while Hungary was under communist rule. The statue will depict Jobs standing and making a presentation, with one arm stretched out and some sort of iPhone-like remote in his other hand. The statue, which will stand 7 feet tall and have a plaque in the shape of an iPad on it, will be placed in an area called Graphisoft Park, where a number of other commercial technical firms are also located. The plaque will also bear a quote from Jobs himself: "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." Touching. We didn't really expect to ever see a Jobs statue in Budapest, but clearly Jobs touched quite a few lives all over the world.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: Infinite Paths and the rise of Murozond
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The past week, both Anne and myself have been discussing major lore figures of the Well of Eternity heroic 5-man, Queen Azshara and Illidan Stormrage. This week, however, I wanted to talk about something a little different, namely the nature of how we're going to meet those two figures in the distant past -- why we go there, how we go there, what "there" actually is, and what it means. This KYL is about time, time travel, and the Bronze and Infinite Dragonflights, about Nozdormu and Murozond, and about how you destroyed time. This KYL is so chock-full of spoilers for the novel Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects and the patch 4.3 heroics that if you read any further, you may well go mad. Or just get mad, I guess. It's also a THE, or Tinfoil Hat Edition, which means it's loaded with speculation. Take it with a grain of hourglass sand.
The Tattered Notebook: Looking beyond the price points in EQ2X
Last week, I began a little experiment in the world of EverQuest II Extended. I wanted to see whether a longtime, loyal veteran could find enjoyment on the other side of the wall that separates my live server from the free-to-play server. Almost every assessment about free-to-play servers is dominated by talk of price points, fairness, and bang for your buck. But it's not a used car; it's a virtual world, and there is a lot more to look at beyond dollars and plat. EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended actually offer a unique look into the similarities and differences between subscription based servers and free-to-play servers because they're completely separate entities, yet they're basically the same game. Read on for highlights of my second week in EQ2X!
The Tattered Notebook: A grizzled veteran goes free-to-play
It's been almost a year now since EverQuest II Extended was officially launched, and I've resented every minute of its existence. From the moment it was first announced, on the eve of Fan Faire 2010, EQ2X has been my own personal Newman of the MMO world. It dominated the discussions at Fan Faire and put a damper on everyone's fun. And once it launched, it always seemed to be at the root of every problem. New invites to our guild on the live server dropped to just one in eight months (and that one invite was a real-life friend of a guildmate). The promised marketing campaign for EQII live got the shaft in favor of pushing the new free-to-play service. Forum snafus during the Velious beta were all because of the EQ2X forums. While thousands and thousands crammed the Freeport server and frolicked for free, I languished on the live server and even began to empathize with the Grinch. But now that EQ2X is almost a year old, I decided it's time for me to bury the hatchet and pay a visit to the free-to-play server. I rolled up a new character on a bronze account, and over the next several weeks, I'll be taking a close look at EverQuest II Extended. It's a journey in EQII free-to-play through the eyes of a longtime player. Read on for my first arrival!
Bronze makes your music collection sound downright lazy
No matter how large your record collection is, there'll always be days when you're sick and tired of everything you own. There are some pretty easy fixes to this, of course -- streaming music services, internet radio, and even the old fashioned terrestrial variety, but none attack the problem quite as directly as Bronze. The app was co-created by Golden Silvers' front man, Gwilym Gold, in part as a clever way to promote his new track, "Flesh Freeze," a hushed, Robert Wyatt-esque number, which just so happens to be the only song that it's compatible with at present. Bronze combats musical stagnation by altering the music itself, assuring that no two listens of a song are ever quite the same, running an algorithm that jumbles the sequence and presence of elements including the instruments and vocals. The changes are generally fairly subtle from play to play, taking a few listens to really pick up on what's unfolding. At present, it's available as a download for the Mac, with Windows and mobile versions to follow. It's free for now, but that, like the song, should change soon enough.
Insider Trader: To prospect, smelt, or let alone?
Recently, a reader wrote in with a question that everyone ponders from time to time. When trying to make money from a profession, it can be difficult to determine what to sell, what to convert, and what to avoid doing all together. Here's what she asked:Hello, When making gold from Mining, is it better to Prospect the Ore? Or is it better to just sell the Ores and Bars?Thank you!Regards, Kristy. Taking a break from the faction recipe series to shake things up a bit, let's take a look at how this breaks down.
Limited edition Bronze PSP now on sale, likely to remain that way
We're still trying to piece together why in the world Sony would choose matte bronze as the color for its latest PSP Slim, but now that it's out, we're focusing our attention on just how long it takes these so-called limited edition units to actually sell out. The Value Pack it comes bundled in includes a Japanese version of the handheld, 32MB memory stick, cleaning cloth, a case, AC adapter, battery pack and an AV cable for good measure -- unfortunately, a can of black spray paint actually isn't in the box. A last minute exclusion due to shipping regulations, we're sure. Grab one if you're into it for $278.97.[Via DCEMU]
Sony announces new Bronze PSP and additional hardware for Japan
Along with the announcement that Japan will finally be getting Skype for PSP, Sony has announced a new PSP color. The Bronze PSP will be a limited edition and available, it seems, only in a value pack. Doesn't it look a bit familiar? Yes, it does. It's the same color as the upcoming Monster Hunter 2nd G limited edition PSP, but without all the fancy artwork. The only other difference is that it comes out on April 24th, almost a full month after Monster Hunter PSP's March 27th release date.Sony is also releasing a few other pieces of additional PSP hardware in the region. Namely, a docking cradle and a new D-Terminal AV cable for PSP slims. Both will go on sale on the 24th of April, along with the new PSP. The cradle itself will cost 4,800 ($47) yen and will come with a remote control. Alternatively, you can buy the hardware bundle pack for 6,500 ($63) yen and get the AV cable with it.Read - Bronze PSP press releaseRead - Additional hardware press release
