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ICYMI: Multi-headed 3D printer, robo plant grafting and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-815575{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-815575, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-815575{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-815575").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Autodesk built a 3D printing assembly line that gives different jobs to several print heads, allowing them to work collaboratively and quickly spit out a finished project. Clemson University used a Korean robot to graft up to 3,000 plants an hour. And a Kickstarter project for an augmented reality shirt is designed to teach kids and interested adults all about the internal organs. The Milky Way is looking stunning in newly released photos from the APEX telescope. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi review: thinner than air, but at what cost?
When ASUS formally unveiled the Transformer Book Chi T300, it did so in the cheekiest way possible: with a cleverly worded swipe at Apple. "Our Chi is thinner than Air," the company proclaimed -- a clear shot at the MacBook Air. ("Chi" means "air" in Mandarin Chinese, by the way, in case the dig wasn't obvious enough.) Indeed, ASUS' newest laptop/tablet hybrid measures a scant 0.3 inch for the tablet (or 0.65 inch when docked), making it slightly thinner than the Air, which comes in at 0.68 inch at its thickest point. The Chi is also more affordable than the Air (not to mention most other thin-and-light laptops), with a starting price of $699. On paper, it's a relatively affordable way to get your hands on a super-skinny machine. In practice, though, you're probably better off spending a little more on something else. Here's why.
ASUS intros the Transformer Book T300 Chi, a super-thin hybrid laptop with a 2,560 x 1,440 display
We've heard companies make lots of claims, but this latest one from ASUS is mighty specific: The company says its new Transformer Book T300 Chi is the "world's thinnest 12.5-inch detachable tablet." Well then! Sounds like a not-so-subtle reference to the Surface Pro 3, if you ask us. In any case, to ASUS' credit, this does look like quite the savory device, with or without the marketing hype. What we have here is a 12.5-inch Windows tablet with an included keyboard dock, with top-of-the-line specs that include a 2,560 x 1,440 display, built-in LTE and "next-generation" Intel Core processors. As for that thin shape, it measures 14.3mm (0.56 inch) with the dock and 7.3mm (0.29 inch) thick for just the tablet. As usual, ASUS isn't talking price or availability just yet, but we'll update this post if we hear more.
Stats 101: Your character's resources and attributes
If you've been around the game for a while, you know World of Warcraft's system of resources and attributes so well that it seems like it needs no explanation. However, for players diving into their first MMO or even just switching classes, the basics of WoW's resources and stats -- otherwise known as the jumble of numbers listed on your character sheet (just hit "c" to see what we're talking about) -- may as well be a foreign language. So if you're trying to get started and you're a little lost as to what all of these numbers mean, how they affect your game, and the kind of gear you should equip to play your best, this guide is for you. Read on and we'll walk you through the numbers in plain English.
Microsoft says Illumiroom isn't yet ready for next Xbox, but will get public demo in July (video)
Since we saw Illumiroom at CES in January, the research has come quite a ways. But while it's still a spectacular technology display, don't look for it to pop up in any Xbox announcements in the near future. In fact, Microsoft Research's Hrvoje Benko and Brett Jones told us during a interview that while they have Illumiroom technology working well at this point, they're not likely to even demo it to the public until July at Siggraph. That's not to say that you're not going to want it. The researchers showed in detail exactly how it works: they use a Kinect to scan your living room, then project a series of "illusions" onto it with a wide-screen projector, getting the colors just right using a technique called "radiometric compensation." The projector and Kinect can be mounted in any convenient spot in the room, like the ceiling or a table. While the technology can be used with other forms of entertainment, researchers concentrated on gaming, since they're able to generate source material that works well with the effects. Some of those illusions include "focus," which displays special effects around the images, "segmented focus," to extend the display to portions of the living space (requiring extra material to be generated), and "appearance," changing the look of your room by giving it a cartoon appearance, for instance. Despite the still-early phase of the research, it's definitely whetting our appetite for more -- and you can see an interview with the researchers, along with a full raw video of the presentation after the break.
So you want to play a brewmaster monk?
Interested in trying out the new monk class, but can't tell your Tiger Strikes from your Tiger Palms? Written by Chase Hasbrouck of World of Monkcraft, WoW Insider's new monk coverage will get you kicking in no time! Last week, I covered windwalker monks and how to fly around kicking butt like a kung fu master. This week, I'm delving into the "spirited" version, the brewmaster. One caveat, though: Because this is still beta, things will likely change somewhat between now and live. We'll have a full 101 guide that covers things like enchants, gems, and stats when Mists is released, but this will cover you until then. What is a brewmaster monk? Monks have three role options: damage, tanking, and healing, of which brewmaster is the tanking role. How do brewmaster monks work? Brewmaster monks have two primary resources, energy and chi. Energy replenishes at a constant rate and is used to power your basic moves and abilities. These attacks generate chi, which is then used to buff your survivability. What is this "stagger" thing? Stagger is a new mitigation mechanic that is exclusive to brewmaster tanks. For every physical attack taken, a percentage of the damage is not taken immediately but instead is turned into a damage over time effect that stacks. In and of itself, this does nothing except spread out the damage taken a bit. However, brewmasters also have Purifying Brew, which completely eliminates the Stagger DoT effect. Depending on the fight, you may have enough chi to use PB often, or you may need to let Stagger stack a bit. Many abilities buff Stagger, such as the Shuffle effect from Blackout Kick.
Chi: World of Warcraft's new resource for monks
Secondary resource systems are all the rage in World of Warcraft these days. Gone are the days of simply energy, rage, or mana. Now, the majority of classes in the game have an additional resource that must be managed in order to do their role well. From the traditional (combo points for feral druids and rogues, or runes for death knights) to the new (Burning Embers for warlocks, or Shadow Orbs for shadow priests), it's clear secondary resources are here to stay. Chi is the secondary resource common to all three monk specializations in Mists of Pandaria. It is conceptually most similar to paladins' holy power, as a stored 4-point pool. Through his level 30 talents, a monk can choose to buff chi generation in one of three ways, either increasing the maximum pool size via Ascendance, increasing the rate of generation via Power Strikes, or enabling an ability that can periodically completely refill chi (Chi Brew). For all monk specializations, chi is required in order to use the majority of abilities. Before I move on, let's make one thing clear: Chi and combo points (CPs) are very different systems. CPs are stored on a single target; if a rogue or feral switches targets and uses a CP-generating ability, any CPs stored on the previous target are lost. Chi, in comparison, is stored on the monk, making target switches much simpler. Second, most abilities that consume CP scale with the number of CPs used; for example, a 5-CP Ferocious Bite hits much harder than a 1-CP Ferocious Bite. All of the monk's chi-consuming abilities have a fixed cost, though this may change later in the beta.
Raid Rx: Mistweaver Monk 101
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading, the Matticast. Ghostcrawler introduced the monk in detail to us back during BlizzCon 2011. We didn't have as many details available to us until we entered the beta stage of the game. This week, I want to introduce you to the different aspects of healing monks. The mistweaver monk is a stance-based class that has two forms of energy at their disposal: mana and chi. Stance of the Wise Serpent Healing stance that replaces your energy resource bar and turns it into mana and converts your spirit rating into spell and melee hit rating. Abilities that would have cost energy now cost mana. Stance of the Fierce Tiger Increases your damage done by 20% and allows access to a different set of offensive abilities. When healing, you'll mostly be in the Stance of the Wise Serpent. In terms of equipment, monks can use axes, staves, maces, fists, swords, and polearms. Your preferred weapons will mostly be staves or maces (although that may change as more items are revealed). For armor, you'll have access to leather and you'll get the 5% intellect from Leather Specialization. Like the other healing classes, your mana regeneration is going to rely on spirit.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: First impressions of monk leveling
The first monk I leveled to 15 in the Mists of Pandaria beta was a tauren, and I'm still having nightmares about it. I thought it would be a grand idea, allowing me to focus entirely on the monk experience and not allowing myself to get distracted by the shininess of the new pandaren starting zone. Going with something I've already done tons of times in the past seemed to make sense, and the fact that tauren are still my favorite race in WoW was just icing on the cake. For this same reason, I eschewed heirlooms; I wanted to give myself a holistic monk leveling experience. I had the best intentions, but the actual experience was pretty bad. Most of this can be chalked up to the beta test being a beta test; I'm fairly certain the monk isn't a fully developed class yet. One of the biggest issues was ability progression. You start off with your basic chi-building attack, Jab, at level 1. After that, you get the awesome and always-useful Roll ability at level 2. I have no complaints about Roll, even though the animation hadn't been implemented on tauren models yet.
Mists of Pandaria: Monk talents revealed
Our friends over at WoWHead have compiled a working talent calculator with the monk talents. While one talent is missing (and is defined as "mystery talent"), it seems Blizzard is well on its way to finalizing the list of talents. Level 15 (Affects Roll) Intuition Celerity Momentum Level 30 (Affects Chi) Mystery Talent Ascendance Jiny'u Cider Level 45 (Affects crowd control) Deadly Reach Charging Ox Wave Leg Sweep Level 60 (Affects personal movement) Beguile Dematerialize Tiger's Lust Level 75 (Affects survival) Ring of Peace Rushing Jade Wind Chi Cocoon Level 90 (Damage and healing abilities) Chi Bind Chi Sphere Chi Torpedo While the talent list isn't set in stone, it's nice to at least have an idea of what types of spells and talents monks can choose. Now that the information is out, which talents do you plan on taking for your monk? Any guesses as to what the Mystery Talent might be? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Samsung looks to borrow $1 billion to expand production capacity in Austin, Texas
When you're producing chips for the iPad and iPhone, you need a serious facility to meet those demands. And evidently, Samsung's not foreseeing its legal battles with Apple to cause any wrinkles in said plans. In fact, Bloomberg is reporting that Sammy has "sent requests for proposals to banks to borrow as much as $1 billion to expand production capacity at its factory in Austin, Texas," with the bonds to be issued by Samsung's US unit. It's bruited that the company -- which has around $19.2 billion in cash -- may sell its first overseas bonds since 1997 due to the impossibly low cost of borrowing money these days, and in a time where positive economic news is tough to come by, it's quite the relief to see a bit of forward progress come from historically low interest rates. Reuters is reporting that the investment will mostly be used to "boost production of mobile chips and next-generation OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display panels," but specific details beyond that remain murky.
Insights and observations on early Monk DPS mechanics
Here at WoW Insider, we're somewhat known for our crock pot, tin foil hat theories. Anne Stickney and Matt Rossi are definitely the best-known for this, as both of them possess levels of lore knowledge that can only be bested by Red Shirt Guy. Personally, I'm not a lore buff. My tin foil hat theories have relatively little to do with wondering if Elune is secretly a Naaru but instead with class balance, generally within the DPS role. With last week's announcement of the monk class in Mists of Pandaria, I've kicked my brain into overtime to figure out just how this class -- and specifically, the windwalker spec -- might come out. What do we know about monks? We know that monks will be agility-based melee DPSers (and tank and healer, but I'm focusing on DPS today). We know that they'll be able to use staves, polearms, fist weapons, and one-handed maces, axes, and swords, which means they'll need to be balanced with both two-handed weapons and dual wielding in mind (that is, unless Blizzard restricts dual wielding to DPS and two-handers to tanking, which is a possibility).
Champions Online dev diary brings good tidings to meleers
In a world of guns, atomic blasters, telekinetic blows and eye lasers, the superhero who relies on getting up close and personal with fists or weapons becomes the underdog. Ever since launch, melee heroes in Champions Online have struggled with the disadvantage -- perceived or real -- of having to close the gap to an enemy and wail away, as well as generally feeling Superman-levels of powerful while doing it. Enter Matt "Akinos" Danuser, who jumps on the stage for the latest Champions Dev Diary. Six months after launch, Matt and the team spent a lot of time reworking the melee power set, with the simple yet encouraging motto of "Make it fun, make it competitive, and make it fun."
AoC opens the door for more hands-on combat
As seen here and here, the combat in Age of Conan is something we've not seen in an MMO before, and it's to Funcom's credit that they're trying to bring combat closer to something approximating the choices an actual fighter might have to make during a battle. If this approach proves successful (and it's likely to please at least a portion of its audience), it's possible we could see other MMOs take up the challenge of refining an active-combat methodology themselves. I'd like to see a combat system with some depth applied to the martial arts MMO genre, where a warrior's style actually does matter -- a lower, more grounded stance versus a higher, more mobile one; the option of attacking different locations on an opponent's body; a succession of keypresses to activate special chi-based abilities; a workable, skill-based blocking set of actions. Much better than simply firing off a macro, such a system would truly test a player's mettle, leading to a deeper appreciation of the complexities of real-time combat. Here's looking to the future: may it bring us innovation!
Motorola patenting Feng Shui-enabled cellphone
Motorola knows what a pain it can be to hire a consultant every time you need to get your Feng Shui-on at a new location, so they're trying to patent a method for measuring chi levels right from your cellphone. In order to provide the user with the greatest amount of must-have qi, phones equipped with this tech would use nearly every available sensor -- and one dedicated one -- to develop an accurate overview of the environment: the camera is used for evalulating color saturation and spacial relationships, the GPS reciever for determining proximity to "undesirable" sites, the microphone for gauging ambient noise levels, and even the radio for measuring AM/FM transmission strength from the nearest towers. Since no Feng Shui reading would be possible without knowing which direction the main wall of the building faces, the Moto patent also calls for the inclusion of a "three-dimensional Hall-effect sensor" that would measure the strength of electromagnetic fields to deliver digital compass readings. While this all seems a bit complicated, software would take care of most of the hard work, essentially allowing the user to snap a few photos and sit back as the phone's sophisticated chi engine leads him/her to a harmonious balance.[Via Unwired View]
