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US funds networks that help dissidents avoid internet spying
The US doesn't mind dealing in irony, it seems. While many criticize the country for its aggressive internet surveillance, it's also pledging millions of dollars towards mesh networks in Cuba and Tunisia that help dissidents avoid online snooping. As with earlier efforts, these automatic, ad hoc grids aren't connected to the internet; they exist to help locals communicate without fear that the government will watch or block what they're doing. They're not completely spy-proof, but they're designed from the start with secure services in mind.
Feedback Loop: E3 expectations, first MP3 player and password managers!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we speculate on what we want to see from E3, share our fond memories of our first MP3 players and talk about strategies for securing our passwords. Head past the break to join the conversation!
PAX East 2014: The Repopulation's Josh Hall on the future of the game
If you're looking for Kickstarter success stories, The Repopulation definitely qualifies. While the game hasn't yet been released, it's managed to run not one but two successful campaigns looking to fans for funding, and it's managed its development carefully to keep itself on track for release. The game feels like a well-managed professional affair. And it's been a bit more quiet, but that comes down largely to the focus on getting the game out of its current alpha state and into its first beta. At this year's PAX East, I sat down to talk with Josh Hall, one of the core team members on the project, about where the game is in development and what it's heading for in the next few months. While the final alpha stage has taken slightly longer than originally planned, the team is on track for launching the first beta phase at some point over the summer, and it's eyeing further release plans.
Feedback Loop: Fire TV questions, remembering Windows XP, Chromebooks and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we took a closer look at the Fire TV and answered your questions about Amazon's latest gadget, reflected on the end of Windows XP, discussed options for coding and writing on a Chromebook and shared our impressions of RBI Baseball 14. Head on past the break to find out what other Engadget users like you had to say and then join the conversation in the Engadget forums!
Feedback Loop: Best Android phone, cameras in tablets, finding good deals and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. Happy Saturday! Did you survive April Fools' Day? We did and are here to bring you another edition of Feedback Loop. This week, we debated the merits of the Samsung Galaxy S5 versus the new HTC One, asked if cameras in tablets are a good idea, talked about how to find the best gadget deals online, sought advice on the best everyday cameras and wondered what's up with these crazy luxury feature phones. Head on past the break and join the conversation in the Engadget forums.
Square Enix opens its curation and funding program to all indie devs
Square Enix opened the doors for all developers to submit game ideas to its Collective platform today, which curates ideas and pushes them forward to the crowdfunding space. The publisher previously tested the waters with three games, two of which received a thumbs-up from the voting community: World War Machine and Moon Hunters. Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games received 60 percent "No" votes for its project, Game of Glens. New submissions going forward will be published every Monday. The Square Enix Collective allows indie developers to submit their projects to the community for a Steam Greenlight-esque voting process, which takes place over the course of 28 days. Once a project gains approval by the community, Square Enix assists the developers in crowdfunding the game via a partnership with Indiegogo. Of the three test-phase projects, only Tuque Games' World War Machine (which received a 90 percent positive vote from the community) will move forward to the funding part of the program at the moment, and is scheduled to do so near the end of the month. Square Enix announced the Collective program in October, at which point it revealed plans to open up older IPs from Eidos' backlog for prospective designers to toy with. The publisher is still hammering out the details of this option, so it is only accepting original IPs from developers for now, but will start with the Gex, Fear Effect and Anachronox properties when the time comes. Developers interested in joining the program should check Square Enix's terms and conditions. [Image: Square Enix]
Feedback Loop: The future of VR, remote controls and breakfast phones
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we discussed the future of virtual reality gaming in light of Facebook's purchase of Oculus, loosened things up a bit by sharing some of our favorite WiFi network names, pondered the evolution of the remote control, sought advice on new cameras and celebrated promotional gadgets like the Breakfast Phone. Head on past the break and join the conversation in the Engadget forums.
Feedback Loop: Ultrabooks, discrete graphics, Google Voice replacements and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. Happy Saturday! This week, we took a look at Ultrabooks with discrete graphics cards, debated the merits of smartwatches, discussed viable alternatives to Google Voice, talked about how we discover new apps and fondly remembered some of our earliest RSS feeds. Head on past the break and join the conversation in the Engadget forums.
Feedback Loop: Earliest internet memories, first tweets and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the world wide web, shared our first tweets, discussed the fashion appeal of wearables and started a March Madness tournament bracket. Head on past the break and join the conversation.
What gadgets were you rocking 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, the internet was introduced to a new tech blog called Engadget. The world was a much different place. Smartphones as we know them didn't exist and almost everyone had a flip phone. The cloud? What did that even mean back then? Tablets and e-book readers were just a glimmer of hope in an engineer's eye. You have to wonder how we managed to survive such a dark period in history. Somehow though, we did. And we were every bit as enthusiastic about technology back then as we are today. So, what gadgets were you using way back in 2004? Head over to our forums and share the goods!
Feedback Loop: Favorite messaging apps, rooting Kindle Fires and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we discussed our favorite messaging apps, rooting Amazonian tablets, the games we're playing and whether 3D movies are coming to next-gen consoles. Head on past the break and join the conversation.
Random Acts of Uberness: Good times with good people
Good deeds are all well and good, but good people truly make the world go 'round. If you're recruiting for your guild, you couldn't do better than to find players like these. Good times with good people -- that's taking the random roll out of Random Acts of Uberness. Caught being uber: Aret, Baelgun (US- Alliance) I'm leveling a Priest alt, Holygears, and I'm in Uldum. The area seems particularly busy perhaps because so many of us are trying to push alts to 90 (we have to use all that yummy Timeless Isle gear, don't we?). My quest was The Bandit Warlord and required killing Warlord Ihsenn. While I'm flying there, I'm thinking I might have to wait awhile for a respawn because of how busy the area is. As the Warlord shows up on the horizon, I realize he's alive but already tagged. Bummer ... worst timing ever! Just to help him go down faster, I start hitting the Warlord with Penance, Holy Fire, and a Smite. In the middle of whacking buttons, up pops a group invite. Since the Warlord is going down fast, I quickly accepted, the Warlord died, and I got credit. I typed "Thanks" in party chat and Aret of Baelgun replied with an abbreviated "No problem." Aret managed to invite me and Mesmerizze of Whisperwind before the Warlord died so we could all three get credit. It's not a huge deal, but it turned a potential "sit and wait" depressing scenario into a "keep on going" moment. Thanks, Aret. -- Holygears, Alexstrasza (US-Alliance)
Guild Wars 2 NPC inspires player with multiple sclerosis
A disabled non-player character in Guild Wars 2 has made a profound impact on a real-life player who shares similar traits. Player Christina put a post on the GW2 forums stating that she has multiple sclerosis and was "overjoyed" when she found a fictional game counterpart in a young Asura named Taimi. "The friend I was playing with pointed her out, and I think I shrieked loud enough to wake the dead," she enthused. Taimi has a degenerative disease that prevents her from walking far and requires her to use a golem to help her get around. She was introduced in a recent living story update and hangs out at the Vigil Keep. At least for Christina, Taimi has inspired her through the NPC's character and place in the story: "I don't know where you're going with Taimi. But honestly I don't care. Because now, in Tyria, I can imagine having a giant golem cart me around when I can't feel my legs or when they hurt too badly to walk. Now when I get derisive or pitying looks, I can take a minute to imagine I'm sitting on a golem's shoulder like a complete kitten. So thank you for thinking of people like me. Thank you for thinking about how someone with a disability might get along in your world. And thank you for making her awesome."
Feedback Loop: Breaking down fitness trackers, Magic Mouse alternatives, 4K projectors and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we compared wearable fitness trackers and discussed which ones are the best for you. We also looked for some viable alternatives to the Magic Mouse on a PC, asked about 4K projectors for our home theater, shared the best cameras for recording sporting events and posted about our favorite apps that make a game out of being productive. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
Diablo III works on new community tools
Getting together with a buddy to slay the forces of Hell should be a lot easier when Diablo III: Reaper of Souls comes out, as Blizzard is adding in a couple of new social tools for the expansion. The first tool is the addition of clans, Diablo III's version of guilds. Anyone can form a clan, although a player may be part of only one clan at a time. Clans are limited to 120 members and will be searchable with a clan finder feature. Then there will be communities, which are larger and more casual social circles within the game for like-minded players. Unlike clans, communities can support unlimited members, and players can be part of more than one at a time. Communities and clans will be supported by a new interface in the game that includes messages of the day and achievement notices.
15 Minutes of Fame: Flower power pollinates leveling for true neutral pandaren
Crazy metagaming projects are among my favorite topics here at 15 Minutes of Fame. It's impossible not to catch the excitement of someone who's figured out a new way to spin Azeroth. Take for instance the curious case of Doubleagent , the "neutral" pandaren who's managed to make it to level 80 and still climbing without ever leaving the pandaren starting zone. In his case, staying put also means never having chosen a faction; Doubleagent is neither Horde nor Alliance but instead remains a neutral party. And the method to his madness? Flowers. Lots and lots of herbalism and flowers. Ticking through level 83 when this article was posted, Doubleagent continues to drift through the gentle fields leading to level 90 and beyond -- because oh yes, this is one player who plans to take his leveling project all the way to the top in the coming expansion as well.
EverQuest Next looks to players to improve the new play experience
Sometimes, existing players don't really know what new players need. But EverQuest Next Landmark is still very new, and everyone who's in the game is still very much learning what can be done. So the development team at Sony Online Entertainment has turned to the players to ask what can be done to make the new user experience for players that much easier. As the thread opener from lead designer Darrin McPherson explains, sometimes as a developer it's hard to see what a game is missing simply because you're too close to the game. You know how all the systems work; you built most of them, after all. Players, on the other hand, can find holes in explanations that might otherwise be unavailable. If you've been playing around in the test and want to add your thoughts, head over to the official thread and let the team know what's intuitive and what isn't.
How social slaying works in Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls will serve social slayers by giving them formal and more casual options to band together and go a-lootin' in Blizzard's popular role-playing game. Clans, which are invite-only, have a 120-person maximum and were designed for smaller, more tight-knit groups of players to coordinate schedules and gameplay goals. Anyone can create or request to join a clan, but players may only be enrolled in one clan at a time. Communities, on the other hand, are a more casual means to essentially the same end. They can be open or closed, and players can be members of multiple communities at the same time. There are also no player caps on communities, so they can be as small or as large as players see fit. Both features are live in the ongoing Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls closed beta and will be unlocked in the full game prior to the expansion's launch next month, on March 25. Custom tabs in the user interface of Diablo 3 will keep clan and community members up to date by displaying news, recent Legendary Item drops found by members (which you can ogle from within the menu) and a dedicated chat channel for direct lines of communication. Good hunting! [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Twitch Plays Pokemon levels up to 75k concurrent viewers, learns democracy
Last week, the chat-controlled Twitch Plays Pokemon grabbed our attention, as ten thousand people were able to simultaneously control the lead character in Pokemon Red/Blue. In the near five and a half days of the stream's existence, it's crossed 75,000 concurrent viewers, though Twitch says that the number of unique visitors to the chaotic game tallies over 300,000. Given the madness of Twitch Plays Pokemon, the stream's creator implemented a new system for the crowd-controlled game: a democratic voting system. Now, those that type commands are essentially casting their vote for the next action in the game, which goes into effect after a couple seconds. It also allows voters to add a number after their desired command to indicate how many times the action should be performed, such as "right3" being used to tell our hero to go right three times. As expected, not everyone is on board with the new voting system, so the command "start9" is gaining traction to stall the game's progress. That's why the creator also added another voting system, allowing viewers to push a meter to either "anarchy" or "democracy," presumably to decide the future format of the game. Twitch Plays Pokemon has also amassed plenty of extra attention in the form of its own observational Twitter account, Subreddit and even public Google Doc status tracker. Among the noteworthy activities on the stream since last week, the community opted to throw away two Moon Stones and its starter Pokemon Charmeleon, relied heavily on its "Bird Jesus" Pidgeot and has earned four badges in the game. [Image: Twitch Plays Pokemon]
AionSource shutting down
It's been a good eight-year run for one of Aion's longest fan sites, but that run is over now. AionSource, a fansite operated by Curse, is shutting down over the next few weeks, first going into read-only mode before being shut down altogether. The site's current administrator has set up a new site for the community members who would like to migrate. No reason has been stated for the shutdown; the site is not the only fan site that Curse has shut down in recent years, most likely due to a lack of cash flow. Users are encouraged to back up forum posts and the like before the shut down, while site administrators attempt to copy over some of the most useful community guides. Our best wishes to the community organizers attempting to keep the group together through the move. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
