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Transcripts from the Xfire Debate with WoW Insider
I want to make sure and thank all the WoW Insider readers who showed up to the Xfire Debate on Wednesday night-- I know I heard from a lot of people, I've got a lot of new people on my Xfire friends list, and I definitely heard a few good shoutouts. Thanks for participating-- I think it went really well.Xfire has posted transcripts of the chat: This is the main transcript, which I participated in along with reps from World of Raids, Taverncast, and Curse Gaming-- the whole thing was moderated by Gary Whitta, a former PC Gamer editor-in-chief (who, I'm told, I tussled with during the debate, but it was all in good fun). In addition, Xfire has posted the "Open Debate" transcript, which actually has a lot more to read through, and is just as interesting, if not moreso, than the "Main Floor"-- a lot of people had a lot of good opinions about the Burning Crusade, the new instances and races, and plans for the future of Blizzard's game (player housing is apparently wanted by many).Again, if you came by to see it, thanks for your support, and a big thanks to Xfire for hosting the whole thing (and especially to Xfire's Matt Gilman for setting everything up). Their Debate Club is supposed to be a regular feature, so while it'll probably be a while before they cover WoW again, it's definitely worth it to check back in with them to see what's coming up next.
Live chat with WoW Insider on Xfire tomorrow night
Just a reminder that tomorrow night, Wednesday the 31st at 7PM EST, I'll be involved in the very first Xfire Debate Club, all about World of Warcraft and the Burning Crusade. To see the chat happen live, and discuss the topics yourself, you can download Xfire here for free (I did it the other day-- the setup process is easy and fast), and then login tomorrow night at 7PM. In fact, my username is mikeschramm, so if you're on Xfire, drop me a friend request and I'll see you there.If you can make it, please come, as I'd love to hear from some WoW Insider readers (represent!). Plus, with Curse, WoR, and Taverncast all attending, I'm sure we'll hear some really good discussion on player reaction and thoughts about the expansion, PvP, and what's next for Blizzard. So download Xfire, mark your calendars, and I'll see you at the chat tomorrow night.
Xbox Live threat provokes high school lockdown
An Ohio middle school student has been charged with 'inducing a public panic' after he told a California teen during an Xbox Live chat that he was going to bring a gun to his school. The California teen's father caught wind of the alleged plot and alerted the FBI. A search warrant was issued, and police hauled the boy off, along with his Xbox 360 and other "items of evidentiary value." He has since been released to his parents; but it's unclear if his Xbox was returned.The event has seemingly triggered a similar threat at the local high school, where police have begun patrolling school grounds in an effort to thwart potential violence. "Our suspicion is that the [Xbox Live] incident trickled over to the high school," said Teays Valley Superintendent Jeff Sheets. No further arrests have been made.[Thanks, Ian]
Apple Store has a new "chat now" feature
That experiment with chat and the education store must have gone well, as the public Apple Store has recently become a little chattier with the seemingly quiet introduction of a new "chat now" feature to its product pages. Interestingly, it appears (at least for me) only on Mac product pages, and only a second or two after the rest of the page loads (as if there's an intentional delay), though I don't see it on any software pages or even in the iPod sections. I had a quick chat with the 'Apple Expert' Rache, but I was quickly dumped once I was found out to be a mere blogger (helping to spread the word...) instead of a cash-in-hand shopper. Oh well, this still seems like a great idea. I hope it sticks around.[Update: it seems only some users can see this feature. It might simply be a page caching problem (as in: try emptying your browser cache), but for now it might be the case that only certain users, regions or countries can see the chat feature.]Thanks Andrew
Chat with Woz
Join Steve Wozniak online on Tuesday, 21 November at 2PM EST for a live chat hosted by the Washington Post. He will answer questions and discuss his recent memoir, iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon. If you can't make the live chat, you can submit questions and comments in advance via the Washington Post announcement page.
You can chat with Tetsuya Mizuguchi [Update 1]
Do you want to talk to the man behind Lumines, Rez, Space Channel 5, and more? Of course you do. Eurogamer is giving its readers the chance to chat with the legendary game designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi. If you couldn't figure it out, Eurogamer is a European website, so make sure you adjust for the time difference. If it's 12:30PM there, what time will it be in your part of the globe? I think according to my calculations, it'll be early morning for most of America. Will you be staying up to talk to this gaming visionary?[Picture via Siliconera][Update 1: Unfortunately, Mizuguchi had to reschedule his webchat to a later date. Stay tuned for more information.]
TUAW Chatcast for It's Showtime special event
Here we go boys and girls with another TUAW chatcast for today's It's Showtime event. We'll be updating this post with a word-for-word transcript of our chatroom so you can peer into the minds of the TUAW bloggers in real time!Read on for the transcript, and we'll update it as quickly as we can.Begin TUAW chatcast: David Chartier: oh yea, typical disclaimer: keep it clean everyone, this is a family blogDan Lurie: thanks for the reminder dave Dan Lurie: any idea why paul is covering the event instead of ryan or peter? Dan Lurie: /me hugs macrumors live and the wonders of ajax page refreshing 10:55 AM David Chartier: bathroom break Scott McNulty: Dave is just so excited! Dan Lurie: ohhh Dan Lurie: thought Dan Lurie: maybe apple is streaming it Dan Lurie: AND it will be the first thing avialable for download on the movie store David Chartier: brb
Vision video chat demo
Gamertag Radio got to check out the Vision Cameras video chat functionality at the Microsoft Games Unwrapped event in NYC. Not exactly earth shattering if you've used a webcam in the past 10 years, but still eagerly awaited. Unfortunately, the hot chick isn't included with the retail SKU, so you're stuck chatting with whoever is on your friends list. I hope there's an option for full-screen.
Skype w/video leaked, will destroy your Mac
According to a Skype developer, an old and unstable version of Skype for Mac has been leaked onto file sharing networks across the globe. If you spot this file, do not download it! "It is an internal unstable development version, and thus it is extremely buggy" and "it will destroy your contacts and other data". We wouldn't want that now would we?Since the Windows version of Skype gained video conferencing support in March, many Mac user have felt left behind and stuck with the non-video capable version of Skype. Fortunately, this warning also comes with some good news; Skype version 2.0 for the Mac is nearly ready for primetime. The screenshot of a video capable of Skype on the left of this post is the tantalizing proof.So, try and resist the temptation to go searching for a pre-release version that could potentially destroy your Mac, and wait a little longer for the official version. Remember what happened the last time someone bit the Apple?
The Availabot hates your mommy
This Availabot prototype, as the name implies, is a presence aware, instant messaging buddy-bot whose physical demeanor is meant to communicate the status of your little Internet friends. The Availabot stands erect when your buddy comes online and then drops to the table in a flaccid heap of despair when s/he goes away. The idea here, of course, is to show status in a "fun" and "physical" way. But unlike the cutsie wutsie Nabaztag, the Availabot can be made to look just like you and your creepy friend(s). Just think, a mini community of angry, exercising Sim dwarves guaranteed to haunt you in your dreams. Great.[Via Pasta & Vinegar]
Patent hints at wireless iPod video conferencing
As we gear up to launch a study on how long it takes patents like this to actually reach market (if ever), feast your eyes on the latest iPod-related patent that Macsimum News tracked down. Now it apparently isn't from Apple, but that doesn't stop what might be some sort of an iPod accessory from boasting capabilities like iChat AV-esque video chats, acting as a video server and *gasp* we think there's even a mobile phone-like keypad in this shot - make of that what you will. Check out the full patent if you're into that kind of stuff, but don't whip your credit cards out just yet - we still need to get moving on that aforementioned study.[via Engadget Mobile]
ChatFX - video effects within iChat
ChatFX can bring some fun to your iChat video conferences by adding quirky video effects; basically it's like Apple's Photo Booth for iChat. Using the power of Quartz Composer (built into Mac OS X 10.4), ChatFX can apply eight different effects to your video conference in real time, including a green-screen effect for that perfect "sure, I'm still at school/the office" cover story. Using the green screen, you can even place a movie in the background - the sky's the limit with that feature.ChatFX offers a demo download and sells for $20.
Nokia surprises, unveils Internet Tablet 2006 OS for 770
So instead of revealing that upgraded version of the 770 Internet Tablet as we expected them to today, Nokia flipped the script on us and announced that the Google Talk and keyboard features we had been anticipating will actually be coming in the form of a software upgrade. The good news is that these new features -- part of the company's so-called Internet Tablet 2006 OS -- will be available to current 770 owners through a simple update, although those folks who were expecting a hardware QWERTY option (and not just an on-screen "thumb board") are certainly going to be disappointed. On the plus side, the new OS will support SIP-based VoIP solutions, with Nokia specifically mentioning that a version of the Gizmo Project client is forthcoming. IT2006 will become the default operating system on 770 units, and will be available as a free download to existing 770 users, beginning sometime this quarter.
Use Campfire? Check out Pyro
Campfire is the web-based chat application by the folks at 37 Signals. It's full of Web 2.0 bells and whistles, and looks like a good means of cross-platform, application independent collaboration. Earlier this week, 37 Signals released the initial beta of Pyro for Campfire users who have Macs. They're calling it a "site-specific browser," in that its primary purpose in life is to interact with Campfire.* Enhancements Pyro offers include: A single location for all your chats Chat room/message status in the dock Access all open rooms in a single window Pyro is universal, free and requires a Campfire account (obviously). No specific OS requirements were given.*No, the irony of using Mac OS-only application to interact with an application independent, cross platform chat system is not lost on us.
12-hour Oblivion marathon starts on Monday
It looks like GameSpot's taking a page from Joystiq's gaming book by trying a 12-hour marathon with a retail copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the 360 this Monday.There will even be a live video feed of executive editor Greg Kasavin "driving" the game, but that will only be available to GameSpot subscribers. (Booo!) The event's currently scheduled for Monday, March 20, 6:00 PM-Tuesday, March 21, 6:00 AM PT.Greg'll be "offering commentary about the experience as it transpires" via the picture-in-picture feed, but he won't be taking part in the concurrent subscriber chat room planned so as "to avoid any outside influences on his time spent evaluating the game." Well, good luck, Greg, and make sure to stay hydrated... 'cuz it's gonna be a long night.See also: Oblivion release imminent -- March 20 (it's official) 48-hour Xbox 360 marathon begins… now! Super-frustrating boss fight in Kameo Joystiq's massive Xbox 360 launch weekend blowout: the aftermath
Ask TUAW: What's your favorite multi-network IM client?
TUAW reader varun submitted a good question for an Ask TUAW session on the topic of multi-network chat clients. varun has tried out the likes of Fire, Adium and Proteus, but hasn't come up with a compelling reason to use one over the other. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to ask you readers to sound off on which multi-network IM client you prefer, and why. When commenting, be sure to mention how the client fits into your workflow, what you like about it and why. The more clients you can bring to the table above and beyond the ones already mentioned, the better.So what say you, TUAW readers? What is your favorite multi-network IM client, and why?
All about the chat interface
Blizzard has recently put up a detailed guide to World of Warcraft's chat interface. Perhaps it sounds trivial, but this guide goes over the multitude of available options and settings which most of us may have otherwise overlooked. (At least I know I did.)
iChat for .Mac members currently down
If you go to .Mac right now and login to your account, you will discover this little notice in the sidebar about half way down: "iChat with .Mac accounts is currently unavailable. All other .Mac services are unaffected. Last Updated: 2/3/2006."Gee, thanks, Apple! How about an ETA on when this will be fixed or an explanation of why this is happening, or, Jobs forbid, a little warning that this was going to happen? I don't know about everybody else out there in Internet land, but chat is pretty mission critical to my day to day, and this is the second time in the past few months when this has happened.Time to migrate all my buddies over to the generic AIM account I registered a while back. Add "unreliable iChat performance" to the long list of cons that is going to have me seriously consider canceling my .Mac account next time it is up for renewal. Update: It's back up at 1:05pm EST with a note stating that it was down for 50 minutes (yet still with no info as to why).
WoW dev chat transcript available
WarCry hosted a chat session with some of the WoW developers, and they've posted the logs online for all to see. The topics discussed include UI addons, spontaneous PvP, the Black Morass, Nefarion and -- of course -- the Burning Crusade expansion. If you didn't manage to make the session, check it out for an interesting read.
