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The Queue: Crossroads
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.This queue is certified Panadaran free. Enjoy it while it lasts.Today's reading music The Crossroads by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Every time I'm in the Crossroads I think of that song.Yokumgang asked..."Why can't we bandage while bleeding?"
The Queue: Six
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today. Ah, Rambo. He has a striking resemblance to certain staff members here at WoW Insider. But in the good way, sort of like the good way where I answer six of your questions today - with perhaps the best question saved for last.Ghaundaur asked..."If you dual spec at 40 and in the process find out that you made a mistake on either one of your specs and need to fix it, is the cost 1000g again or the normal progression in cost to change a spec? Also, say you are leveling a pally and dual spec Ret and Prot and then get to 80 and want to do Prot and Holy. Are we looking at another 1000g?"
Samsung's 4Gb chip promises 32GB DDR3 memory modules for PCs and laptops
Oh Samsung, you and your world's firsts. We like to tease but your latest breakthrough is truly notable: the world's first 4Gb (bit, not Byte) DDR3 DRAM PC memory chip based on relatively frugal 50-nm processes. Two things here: 1) the new chips consume 40% less power than previous DDR3 memory modules, and 2) the chips pave the way for 32GB (Byte, not bit) DIMM modules. The first modules will come in capacities of 16GB (containing 32 of the new 4Gb chips) for servers, 8GB DDR3 DIMMs for desktops, and 8GB SO-DIMMs for laptops. When, is the question Samsung fails to answer. The question to you is this: you're not still buying full-spec'd DDR2-based laptops are you?
So you just got your first Mac -- now what?
All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays! If you're a Mac veteran, send a link to this post to the switcher on your holiday list. Merry Christmas, new Mac owner. First of all, congratulations! Welcome to the family. There's some eggnog on the table, and feel free to put your coat on the bed. Setting up your new Mac is a famously easy experience. It should take about 10 minutes, depending on the kind of Mac you bought, and where you want to put it. Once you have your new Mac on your desk, it will take you through a short setup process to personalize your new machine. You'll choose a username, a password, and will be given the option to register your Mac and sign up for MobileMe, if you want. (You can register and sign up for MobileMe later, if you don't do it now.) If you bought any applications along with your Mac (like Microsoft Office, for example), you can install them very easily. Just insert the disc, and either drag the application to your Applications folder (on your hard disk) or double-click the installer application. You can eject the disc when you're done by dragging it to the Trash, or pressing the eject key on your keyboard. For Windows compatibility, get your Windows XP (SP2 or SP3) or Windows Vista disc ready, and double click the Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder (it's inside your Applications folder). Boot Camp Assistant will walk you through the process of installing Windows on your Mac. It's not difficult, but it will take a little time. Once Windows is installed, you can hold down the Option key before your computer boots to choose which operating system to run, or select a permanent preference via the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences. You can read more switcher-specific tips in our Switchers category. If you're switching to the Mac platform from the PC, I might humbly suggest you read Part 1 and Part 2 of my experience introducing my dad to the Mac. He was a hard-core PC user until he fell in love with his Mac mini. Continue reading for a few best bets about how to extend and protect your new Mac.
LG tests world's first LTE cellphone chip: 60Mbps downloads are go
As mobile service providers ramp-up for the WiMAX vs. LTE battle, LG just announced a significant milestone: the world's first 3GPP LTE chip for cellphones and data cards. While theoretically capable of 100Mbps/50Mbps download/upload speeds, LG's 13 x 13-mm chip was able to demonstrate 60Mbps down and 20Mbps up, under what we can only assume to be controlled (read: optimum) conditions -- easily besting existing 7.6Mbps HSDPA networks. Great, too bad this isn't the year 2010 else we'd have a national LTE infrastructure (right!) and we'd all be driving plug-in hybrids (sure).P.S. We don't know what those thin handsets are flanking the chips, but we doubt those are functional LTE devices. LG said that it used a "test terminal running Windows Mobile" to demonstrate its new chips. Could be data cards but we think we're seeing a volume rocker along the side. Check another pic after the break.
And the first World of Warcraft player to reach level 80 is...
Nymh, Human Warlock of the EU server Drek'thar (and the real-world country of France) became the first World of Warcraft player to reach level 80 by working with an out-of-group Priest to spam area-of-effect attacks against rapidly-spawning mid-70s mobs, inspired by the technique of another World of Warcraft Warlock player named Jynxx, who eloquently explained the concept in a video (Note: probably won't make much sense if you're not a WoW addict already).Time from 70 to 80: 27 hours.Nymh did a lot of research and trial-and-error exploration of options in the Wrath of the Lich King beta test in order to be ready for the gauntlet after the EU launch, which of course came a little bit before the North American one. We'll note that the first-to-level-70-after-launch trophy went to another French player last year. Vive la France, no?[Via WoW Insider]
First level 70 Death Knight on the realms
Odds are, I'd say, that we'll see our first level 80 sometime this afternoon (and probably in Europe, since they got a little bit of a time zone head start) -- we've had reports come in from one very obnoxious Paladin, but his claims to level 80 aren't actually true. But in the meantime, here's the first level 70 Death Knight we've heard of: Arello of Raptors Open Doors on Shattered Hand dinged 70 as a Death Knight in Northrend's New Agamand. The Armory doesn't have his character in yet, but this seems credible to us.We're not sure he's the absolute first, though, just the first we've heard of -- anyone else have proof of a Death Knight at 70 already? And we'll keep an eye out for (credible) claims of level 80 firsts -- the run from level 60 to 70 took about 28 hours the first time around, so unless Blizzard did things a lot different, we'll probably see it sometime today.
Deus Vox gets US first on Kil'jaeden
In what is probably the last "first" post I'll be making until we get to tear into Wrath (my money's on November, by the way), Deus Vox (Laughing Skull-A) has gotten the US first kill of Kil'jaeden (SK Gaming achieved the world first three days ago). Congratulations to Deus Vox! Glad to see the North American realms stepping up, even if it does take us a few days. Anyone have any speculation on why the European realms are usually ahead of us?Their loot was: Hand of the Deceiver Sunflare Borderland Paingrips Helm of Burning Righteousness, which was converted into Helm of Uther's Resolve And, presumably, some Sunmotes and Badges. The winning raid here was two druids, two hunters, one mage, two paladins, four priests, three rogues, five shamans, three warlocks, and three warriors; for more details on this and Armory links, check World of Raids.This makes, as WoR notes, four KJ kills without any drop of Thori'dal, so maybe there is one more "first" post in the making after all. The world-second and third kills were scored by Method and Nihilum, both European guilds and both yesterday.
Exodus gets US-first M'uru kill
Hot on the heels of SK-Gaming's world-first kill of M'uru, the penultimate Sunwell Plateau boss, the US guild Exodus has scored a place in the hall of records by being the first in the region to kick his Naaru butt, early this morning. Exodus live on Kel'thuzad, Horde-side, and apparently just got sponsored a few days ago, which endowed them with a brand-new website and plenty of bandwidth just in time. If you want to see one of their players' personal thoughts on the fight, you can check it out on their forum (NSFW language). Apparently it was a nine-hour attempt (!), and they used six healers, four tanks, and 15 DPS, in case you were wondering. Edit: looks like that entire thread was a parody of a Nihilum thread about their Eredar Twins kill. I shouldn't post before I've had my coffee. One of the items that dropped for them was something we figured M'uru had, and is in my gallery from yesterday (Sin'dorei Band of Dominance), but the rest of them were not on that list: Harness of Carnal Instinct, Garments of Serene Shores, and Robes of Faltered Light. Congrats to Exodus!
Do records even matter?
There have been a few records set recently. Some are people claiming to have leveled to 70 the fastest, some are groups of players downing a boss on the PTR before anyone else in the world, while others are PvP records yet to be made. Everyone likes to say "we broke a record." It makes them feel good, gives them a sense of purpose and measurable accomplishment, and generally will put a smile on their face. Even I've done that here at WoW Insider occasionally: "Hey, we had a record number of hits that day, cool!" (No, I'm not going to say when that was, I'll leave it up for you all to comment on and guess.)With all these record breaking accomplishments, it begs the question: do they really mean anything? Does it matter if you've leveled up to 70 in the time that most people are still working on getting the Deadmines quests done? Let's take a look at what records do and do not provide.One thing that they do provide is competition amongst a small group of players. To borrow a phrase from marketing, we'll call these players "alpha players." They are the ones that will always be the first to jump on new content, the first to let everyone know how to do it, the first to complain, and the first to get the benefits of completing the content. These alpha players are pretty hard core, and use world firsts and records to challenge each other. There is literally a whole 'nother side to the game that many of us don't ever see – hard core time based competition.Read on for more and vote in our poll, after the jump!
You'll always remember your first
Togus is right-- there's something about your first character. Many of us, as I said yesterday, have tons of alts floating around, but your first character (while probably not your best-- I didn't understand First Aid when I started playing the game, so I just didn't train it at all) was a big deal. Finishing that starting area and realizing there was a whole World out there, grouping up for the first time, and learning just how all the spells worked and what everything looked like-- your first character may not be your main now, but odds are it's still sitting there on the server, like an old friend from years ago.This idea of a "first character" is actually especially interesting to me, as just yesterday my very first character dinged level 60. As I said on the podcast the other day, I'm going back to play the Night Elf Hunter (yeah, yeah-- I was young and impetuous, and I heard Hunter was a good solo class) I started playing the game with, and take it all the way to level 70, and then 80 when Wrath comes out. In some way, I see it as finishing what I started way back when. And after all this time playing something different in game (Horde, obviously, and classes besides Hunter-- Warrior, Shaman, Rogue, Priest), it's been extremely interesting to go back to the beginning. And seeing Outland (and eventually Northrend) through the eyes of the first character I've ever played promises to be a trip. I feel like I'm rediscovering this game I've played so much of already yet again.What happened to the first character you ever started? You didn't delete them, did you? Were you able to get them all the way to 70? And when the next expansion comes out, will you take them further?
Samsung's 8 megapixel CMOS sensor for phones -- another world's first
You know all those 3 megapixel cameraphones out there? Well, they're about to achieve 8 megapixel ubiquity. Samsung just announced availability of their 8 megapixel CMOS sensor which shares roughly the same 10.5 x 11.5 x 9.4-mm girth of its 3 megapixel cuz. Just make sure you've got plenty of light to frame those shots if you're expecting anything close to a quality image.
Sharp's AQUOS P Series of TVs: world's first 22- and 26-inch 1080p LCDs
Like to sit real close to your TV? Good, 'cause you'll need to be PC-close to take advantage of these new 1080p LCDs from Sharp. Sharp's no dummy though, as they've fitted their new 22-, 26-, and 32-inch sets with HDCP-loving DVI-D and mini D-Sub for PC connectivity and 2x HDMI, S-Video, and 2x composite for your home entertainment and game console hookups. The new AQUOS P range feature built-in tuners, a 400cd/m2 brightness, 176-degree viewing angle, and a 2,000:1 contrast on the 32-inch before dropping off to 1,200:1 by the time you reach the 22-inch set. The LC-32P1-W, LC-26P1-W, and LC-22P1-W models are expected to range from ¥240,000 ($2,101) to ¥180,000 ($1,576) when they pop on November 22nd in Japan.[Via Impress]
Casio brings world's fastest 60fps, 6 megapixel camera/camcorder to IFA
Ok, here we go. Casio has a world's first prototype shooter at IFA sporting what must be Sony's 60fps 1/1.8-inch CMOS sensor. Right, bursting sixty 6 megapixel frames per second for what should be a resolution in the ballpark of 2921 x 2184. It'll even go 300fps if you want to scale things back to VGA video. The prototype features a 12x optical zoom and 2.8-inch LCD in a beefy piece of kit measuring in at 127.5 x 79.5 x 130.0-mm / 650-grams. What's also notable is what's missing from the specs: the storage utilized by this cam. A pretty serious omission when you think about the transfer speeds required to move (and store) that much data.%Gallery-6634%[Via Impress]
Samsung's 30-inch LCD with world's first DisplayPort -- game-on HDMI
It's on HDMI fans, the first LCD panel sporting a VESA-approved DisplayPort 1.1 jack was just announced by Samsung -- a world's first. The 30-inch LCD pumps a 2,560 x 1,600 pixels with a 10-bit color depth at a smokin' data rate of 10.8Gbps over a single port. In other words, kiss your DVI (and VGA ultimately) spec goodbye as their days are numbered. In addition to the port, we're talking about a Sammy S-PVA panel with 180-degree viewing angle, 1,000:1 contrast, 6-ms response, and 300cd/m2 brightness. Surprisingly, it's not scheduled for production delivery until Q2 of 2008. Later than we expected especially if it's truly the first to ship. Nevertheless, January's CES is set to be a regular DisplayPort free-for-all with plenty of laptop support provided by Dell, HP, and Lenovo among others.[Via Akihabara News]
Lubix's UBHS-PH2 sports world's first MEMS display
Oh goodie, a world's first. This time it's courtesy of Lubix's UBHS-PH2 Bluetooth headset sporting Qualcomm's Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) display. The reflective display sports Interferometric Modulation (IMOD) technology to avoid battery-draining backlighting. Otherwise, we're just looking at the nub end of a stereo Bluetooth 2.0+EDR headset presumably offering the same A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, and HFP profiles available in their rest of their lineup -- which isn't a bad thing.Read -- Lubix UBHS-PH2 Read -- Qualcomm MEMS display
Kit Kat: Your break from recursive MMOs [update 1]
If you thought First Life was a brave new frontier on the uncharted expanses of video game comedy, wait until you see this European Kit Kat ad. I don't want to ruin the ending, but let's just say that Second Life citizens like to play computer MMOs too. What? The picture above gave away the punchline? Oh well. Have a Kit Kat.Other Second Life jokes we're waiting to see: Fourth Life: What do citizens of Third Life do when they're bored? The hilarity never ends! Not to be confused with Forth Life, which is in your newspaper's comics. Pi Life: Your life as a series of random, never-ending, non-repeating events. Alternatively, your life trapped in a circle. Alternatively, your life in a universe filled with pie. Half Life: Second Life, but with more guns. And crates. One Second Life: A game that only lasts one-sixtieth of a minute. Googol Life: A really long life. Not to be confused with Google Life, which is the life of a web addict. Zero Life: What the average Second Life player has. *rim shot* [Update: How foolish of us. It turns out we posted this video last month. But was this a mistake, or a subtle reinforcement of the video's statement? Alright, it was a mistake.]
New from First 4 Figures: Sheik!
First 4 Figures have released another well-sculpted, detailed figurine of a Nintendo character. The new figure is the fourth entry in their series of N64-era Zelda characters, focusing on the mysterious, much-cooler-than-Link Sheik.Sheik stands about 9" tall and is in scale with the other figurines in the series. It will cost $109.99 and can be reserved now for shipping in the fall.Ocarina of Time is great, but we really want to get these figures to set up our own trophy table like the one in Super Smash Brothers Melee. But for $100+ each, we aren't sure if we could bring ourselves to make them fight.
Is "3X DVD" HD DVD's secret weapon against Blu-ray?
While the Blu-ray camp is busy claiming victory, recently HD DVD supporters seem to be circling the wagons around an old friend, the -- 'til now -- unused 3X DVD technology. HD DVD has always claimed it holds a price advantage over Blu-ray, by way of offering low cost upgrades for existing DVD manufacturing processes. The 3X DVD spec takes that a step further, while it's a part of the HD DVD format and apparently only compatible with HD DVD players, the discs themselves are physically exactly the same as standard red-laser DVDs. Throw in a software upgrade to support high definition content, HD DVD's UDF 2.5 file structure and AACS and you have a way to deliver HDTV content on a 9.4 GB DVD. By using newer encoding technologies like MPEG-4 and VC-1 and/or lowering the resolution to say, 720p, full length movies easily fit on a standard DVD. Eclipse Data Technologies, a supplier of HD DVD mastering equipment just announced it is offering free upgrades to its customers in order to support 3X DVD manufacturing. This was followed today by DCA Inc. announcing it has mastered the first 3X DVD disc, and that several manufacturers are looking at it as a possible low cost path into HD video. 3X DVD's potential to allow for noticeably lower-priced HD content to come to market is definitely there, but it still remains to be seen if this, like combo DVD/HD DVDs and Total Hi-Def discs will find a home and support in the marketplace. Read - First 3X DVD-ROM Disc Cut with DCA Equipment Read - Eclipse Provides Free HD DVD Upgrade to Replication Facilities
NIN Live: With Teeth tour is (not) first music DVD, HD DVD & Blu-ray release
Nine Inch Nail's 2005-2006 "Live: With Teeth" tour has finally set a date to come home on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD, February 27, and is proudly proclaiming by its press release as the first music DVD to hit all three at once. Unfortunately it appears that Trent Reznor and crew have been somewhat pwned by Eagle Rock Entertainment and The Pat Metheny Group who did the triple-release music DVD thing way back in October of 2006, who only made their debut after The Lake House hit the trifecta in September. Still, NIN fans should be excited to get the disc on any format they choose, or check it out early at any of a number of listening parties scheduled around the country.
