chats
Latest
Twitch is officially available on the Apple TV
As of today, the official Twitch app is finally available on Apple TV. The app has been available for consoles, mobile devices and Android TV boxes for years, but Apple TV owners were forced to use third-party apps. Last month, Twitch released a public beta of its Apple TV app, and today, the final product is ready.
Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET/7pm PT: Sandboxed in
I'll be hosting the TUAW Talkcast this evening over on our usual TalkShoe meeting place, and as always, you're invited to join in both by listening along, and even by jumping in on the conversation. We'll be chatting live about the most popular Apple topics of the last week, including the upcoming sandbox restrictions on Mac App Store apps, more cool things you can do with Siri (and if they're worth doing), and the hazy future of the Mac Pro. It should be a lot of fun and the discussion is always interesting as well. To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. We'll get started as usual around 10pm ET, which is 7pm PT, and don't forget about daylight savings from last night. Did you Fall back? If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients. Talk to you tonight!
WoW Insider Show Episode 104: BlizzCon blitz
We've got a special treat for you on this week's podcast: it's actually two episodes in one. Since we were all at BlizzCon this past weekend, we went ahead and recorded a podcast both nights of the con -- after the show, tired as we were, we trudged back to the hotel and recorded some audio reflecting on what we'd seen earlier in the day. Obviously, this is our very first of the first impressions -- some of the things we talked about Friday night were clarified on Saturday, and since we didn't have much time here, we obviously hit on only the biggest highlights. But we did get in some good discussion about Cataclysm and what we've been told so far, Icecrown and what the devs mentioned, and of course the convention itself and what we all saw on the floor.It was actually a lot of fun to sit down and do the show with us all in the same room -- of course it's not usually possible, given that we're all in different places around the country (and world), but it was definitely an interesting thing to try while we were all at the con. And while we're talking about the con, a huge thank you to everyone who came up to us and said how much they loved the podcast -- we really, really appreciate hearing stuff like that. Of course, as you can probably hear, the podcast is a ton of fun to do anyway, but it's great to hear you guys are having as much fun as we are.Next week, we should be back to normal -- we'll be live on the air at 3:30pm Saturday with Turpster, our usual rotating panel of WoW.com folks, and maybe even some special guests. Thanks for listening, see you then.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
WoW Radio at BlizzCon 2008
WoW Insider is heading off to BlizzCon tomorrow (I've got to catch a flight out of O'Hare first thing tomorrow morning), but we're obviously not going to be the only ones covering the event. Our good friends at WoW Radio also have big plans to keep you informed throughout the two days in Anaheim -- Totalbiscuit and the gang over there will be hosting live audio streams of all of the panels, both as they happen and after they happen, and they'll have shows, interviews, and commentary throughout the weekend (including our special live recording of the WoW Insider Show there on Friday night). We'll have liveblogs and updates here, of course, but you can drink right from the firehose of an audio stream there as well, all weekend long.TB has posted a special podcast outlining their plans for the weekend, so if you plan to do some listening to what's going on in Anaheim, check it out. Additionally, they'll also be chatting throughout the weekend in IRC, so feel free to join either #blizzcon08 on irc.quakenet.org or #wowradio on irc.mmoirc.com for up-to-the-minute chats and updates on what's going down near Disneyland.Sure, you could pay for the DirecTV feed and get just the video, or you could stay tuned to our sites for free, and pick up even more news and views about the big event. If you couldn't grab a ticket or didn't have the time or money to make the trip, don't worry one bit -- we're going to make sure you've got the best seat in the house.
Guildwatch: Cookie drama
Wait, does that really say 17 healers on Maiden? That has nothing to do with the actual story, but 17 healers? How do you take 17 healers on a 10 man raid?This week's look at guild drama, downing, and recruiting starts right after the jump. Don't forget to send us your tips at wowguildwatch@gmail.com, as they're how this whole thing gets done. Click the link to read on!
Xfire has chats up from BlizzCon
Yes, even though we've been extremely busy here at BlizzCon, the guys from Xfire (who stopped by our party on Thursday, as did a few folks from Upper Deck and Blizzard), haven't been slacking off, either. They've posted quite a few live chats over the weekend, and here's a roundup for you to browse through. Their biggest event was probably a chat with Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan-- I actually was standing right next to him when they did this one. If you're an Engineer, check it out for sure-- he says they'll be able to craft flying machines! They also chatted it up with a few high profile players: The1Crow and Beraa from MYM (and here's part 2), The Hukhukhukhukhuks from Team EG (parts 1 and 2), and even Jonas from Nihilum. And we have no idea why they wanted to do this, but before the Con, they even sat down to chat with us-- here's part 1, part 2, and the Lightning Round! (guess which is my favorite part) Amanda, Elizabeth and I all made predictions about what would happen, and we got a lot of stuff right (and, ok, some stuff wrong). Plus, Xfire has lots more from the floor, including pictures, updates, stories, news, and tons of other stuff. Thanks to them for all their help this weekend, and go check out their coverage!
WoW Insider and Xfire at Blizzcon
You may not have realized this yet (I didn't until just now), but we are only a week and a half away from Blizzcon. On August 3 and 4 in Anaheim, CA, Blizzard will host its second huge convention, and WoW Insider will be there covering every second of it. From top to bottom, from start to end, from sign-in to close, we've got you covered. Whether you're going or not, we'll have exclusive interviews, tons of pictures and videos, and everything you need to know about Blizzard's premiere event.And to make our coverage even better, we're teaming up with Xfire-- they're also going to be at Blizzcon, and they'll be hosting live online chats all weekend long, as well as posting their own Blizzcon coverage as well. Various WoW Insider staffers will show up on their service as well (for a few exclusive chats), and they're even planning to do a live chat directly with the Blizzard team.Things are going to get crazy in the next week, and even crazier as the world of Azeroth heads to Anaheim. If you're coming to Blizzcon, we'll see you there, and even if not, stay tuned for the best Blizzcon coverage on the 'net. Blizzcon is almost upon us-- ready check!
TUAW Tip: Use ambient noise reduction for chats and sound recording
I do a decent amount of audio recording and chatting, but I don't ever remember seeing this option in System Preferences until last night. Turning on the "Use ambient noise reduction" feature under the Input tab of the Sound pane can help cut out the TV or dogs barking in the background, though it obviously isn't an end-all solution. A quiet, sound proofed setup is still ideal, but this setting should help for those times when 'ideal' just isn't possible. The setting should work with your Mac's built-in microphone, as well as any external mics you plug in.[Update: From the comments, it sounds like this might only be an option on Apple's Intel-based notebooks. Readers are reporting that PowerBooks, iBooks, G5 iMacs and even Core Duo Mac minis (an Intel non-portable) don't have the feature. This is very interesting, and suggests that it could be due to an actual update to the microphone hardware in the MacBook/Pros since, as far as I know, noise cancellation typically involves a dedicated chip for this kind of functionality. Only certain mobile phones, for example, actually have noise cancellation, and I believe that is also due to the presence of a specific chip.]
