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Flickr Find: iPad in a Macintosh
Flickr user mapgoblin accomplished this (did he just stick it in the Mac, or did he cut a custom-designed slot for it to sit in?), but however it was done, just the act of combining the two devices gets a salute from us. Here's a thought: just get yourself an aquarium app, configure it to show on the iPad's screen correctly, and you've got a no-water-or-fish required Macquarium. Meanwhile, mapgoblin is off finding out where else the iPad will fit. [via Unpluggd]
The OverAchiever: Accomplished Angler
Once WoW's most disparaged profession, Fishing has experienced a resurgence in Wrath -- and it may get even better in Cataclysm, with developers studying fishing from other games like Animal Crossing in order to make it more fun. As far as I'm concerned, as long as they cook up another distraction like the Dalaran fountain in Cataclysm, I'll be happy. As with everything else concerning fishing in WoW, El'x Extreme Anglin' is your best buddy and a fantastic source of information on where to find fish, drop rates, information on pool spawns, and Fishing achievements. Accomplished Angler is a very work- and time-intensive meta-achievement, so I've taken the liberty of splitting this guide up. The first set of achievements you'll need: Grand Master Fisherman Sorry, folks, there's no real way to shorten this one; you've just got to keep fishing. One of the nice things about the profession is that you can level it anywhere -- the only penalty to leveling it in an area with higher "fishing skill" than you currently have is the amount of junk you'll catch versus actual fish. But on your way to Grand Master, you'll have put a lot of work in towards:
Planet Calypso debuts their new mission system with a bang
A literal bang, actually. Not only has Planet Calypso updated to version 2010|01 (their new system uses the year and update number, rather than version number) but they've also had a small volcanic eruption that's changed part of the map. Blizzard, eat your cataclysmic heart out. While the newly re-terraformed area of Cyclops has been visually improved by the team and patched in under the 'guise of a volcanic explosion, the version update also brings the anticipated mission system to Calypso. The mission system, which is in a public beta, more or less, is only currently offering 5 tutorial missions to newbies landing on Calypso for the first time. Once you complete those five missions, be sure to offer your feedback in the survey that pops up at the end. That information will be used to make more missions for higher level players, so don't be stingy! Also, there's fish. Remember those fish we showed last time? Yeah, those fish. If you value your ankles, you'll watch where you swim.
Planet Calypso welcomes their new community manager while looking to the future
The team over at First Planet Company, the minds behind the MMO/Second Life hybrid Planet Calypso, have recently welcomed a brand new community manager onto their staff -- Hanne Einan Gulbrandsen. Gulbrandsen is the game's first dedicated community manager, bringing the virtual world in line with the company practices of other MMO companies. But, while Gulbrandsen settles into his new office and title, First Planet Company has also detailed their development roadmap for this year -- going over future additions such as vehicles, a new questing/mission system, and the addition of fish to the world (as shown above.) The mission system will finally give Calypso MMO style storyline quests, offering players a new way to play the game and experience the planet's lore. How these new quests will impact the game's real money-based economy will be interesting, especially if doing them offers in-game rewards.
Spiritual Guidance: Food, flasks, and potions
Every Sunday (and the occasional weekday) Spiritual Guidance offers holy and discipline priests advice on how to wield the holy light and groove to the disco night. Your hostess Dawn Moore will provide the music. I'm the fish girl. I never wanted it to be this way. I never wanted to be that girl. You know, the fish girl: the woman in the raid who takes it upon herself to make sure all her fellow raiders are eating right by supplying Fish Feast after Fish Feast. Sure, sometimes it's a fish guy (in fact, just the other day my heal captain joked that he had brought Capri Sun and orange slices for the raid) but usually it's a woman. I guess it's a maternal thing, or maybe it's wanting to save time by always going in with max buffs. Whatever it is, I wasn't always like this. In fact, I used to wonder why my raid leader's wife would so willingly spend her feasts on our raid as we wiped all over 3-drake Obsidian Sanctum. I admired her generosity, particularly because I felt they were going to waste on stupid mistakes, and her efforts deserved better. Then one day, after I had moved onto another guild, I found myself surrounded by raiders who were lacking vital nutrients in their diets. That's how it began: first I was helping with the fishing, then I started spending my own precious spices. The first day I laid a feast in a raid, I felt my feminist side cringe. But before I go off on that tangent, let me clarify that this article isn't about fish (not exclusively anyway), it's about the various consumables available to priest healers.
The Daily Grind: Gone fishing?
If you came from an alien world and had to evaluate our culture based solely on our MMOs... well, you'd probably conclude unpleasant things about our culture, but that's not the point. You would certainly come away with the impression that one of the most important hobbies we possess is fishing, considering how many games it shows up in. Nearly any fantasy game (and several others) will give you the opportunity to stand next to a body of water with a rod, cast your line, and wait for a while until a fish bites. Or until you realize that you're paying $15 a month to play a game that accurately simulates how mind-numbingly tedious fishing can actually be. Do you like fishing in MMOs? For some of us, yes, it's the sort of thing we look at once or twice and swiftly conclude isn't what we'd like to spend our time doing. For others, however, the calm and tranquility of just standing by the water, taking a look at the virtual landscape, and relaxing a bit is a welcome change from the pace of the game as a whole. Do you prefer when it's there, do you miss it if it's not, or are you completely uninterested in fishing?
Schools of robotic fish to collect data, stomp out human threat
Robotic fish. The phrase alone sends shivers of excitement down our collective spines here at Engadget. Undoubtedly, Michigan State University assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Xiaobo Tan feels similarly, as he has designs on creating an army of them. The researcher has developed a prototype of a droid fish intended to be used to collect data from various bodies of water. The fish will be especially effective in monitoring conditions over long periods of time; swimming in a manner similar to that of their organic counterparts, thus giving scientists a clearer view of ecosystem changes. Elena Litchman, an assistant professor of zoology at MSU working with Tan says, "With these patrolling fish we will be able to obtain information at an unprecedentedly high spatial and temporal resolution." To recreate realistic movement, Tan has constructed fins built from electro-active polymers, which bend when voltage is applied, mimicking muscle tissue. Tan also envisions a version of the robots with infrared sensors used as "eyes," and other variations with small, deadly lasers mounted on their backs, to protect their waterways from careless, polluting humans, who have been deduced as illogical and must be wiped out. We might have made that last part up, but we'll never tell. While you try and figure it out, enjoy a video of one of the protypes in action after the break. [Via PhysOrg]
Kalu'ak Fishing Derby details
Blizzard has just released the details of the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby that's coming with patch 3.3. The full announcement after the break. Some of the major points of the announcement: The derby happens at 8:00pm Server Time every Wednesday. You have to be the first person to catch the Blacktip Shark and turn it in to win the Derby. The quest giver, Elder Clearwater, is located in Dalaran. Two item rewards (detailed after the break). One is a BoA +5% XP ring, and one is a BoP pair of boots that teleport you to Booty Bay. Winning the Derby increases Kalu'ak rep by 5000. The full details after the break.
LG GD900 Crystal makes a very portable fish tank, PETA magnet
Remember the good old days with your virtual pets on your keyring? Well, how about an injection of life that actually roams around inside your phone? Some dude in China had this exact idea -- probably inspired by the waterproof LG GD900 Crystal in a fish tank -- and popped open the hollow keypad of his own Crystal, slapped in two unfortunate little neon tetras, squeezed in some water and snap! There's no mention on how long the poor things can survive in there for, but chances are PETA will be after your backside well before something goes wrong. We also went through the warranty paperwork, and honestly, we think this gentleman might be in a fishy area here. Video of the mod after the break, if you dare.
Found Footage: New & improved TankedCam, now with even more iPhone
Remember Pete's FishCam? Just before Christmas of 2008, we did a short post about Pete Raumann's web app that he developed that allowed him to watch his fish tank, turn the light on and off, and even open and close a treasure chest in the tank.Pete's now presenting the newly renamed TankedCam to the world, and you get to be in control! While he still won't let you feed his fish (he doesn't want them floating upside down in the tank), you can now get in on the fun of watching and annoying the tank population by heading to either http://www.tankedcam.com or the iPhone / iPod touch-friendly http://m.tankedcam.com. In his latest hit video, Pete uses an iPod touch and the latter link to control the tank that's in the background. I was playing with this last night while watching TV and trust me, the fish tank was much more interesting than the show. Pete has added an air stone that you can turn on and off, a dinosaur tank ornament with a mouth you can open and close, and one cam that you can pan left and right. A tap on your iPhone screen brings you to a stationary upper camera with a scuba diver that you can control in real time, another air stone controller, and a water pump that you can use to add water to the tank.If you think that the latter control is going to let you flood Pete's office from your iPhone, you're wrong -- the system is set up with a level controller so you won't be able to add water beyond a certain level in the tank. This is a fun demonstration of remote control via iPhone, so be sure to give it a try. I've included some screenshots from last night's eerily-lit iPhone fish-bothering session, as well as some shots in the light of day. Enjoy! %Gallery-74443%
Gymnobot looks to fish for inspiration, a little companionship
Alright, so it may not be quite as terrifying as something like Carnegie Mellon's robotic snake or NC State's remote-control bats, but this so-called Gymnobot from the University of Bath does boast some animal-mimicking abilities of its own and, if all goes as planned, it could eventually grow a whole lot bigger. Its secret is a single fin underneath its body that mimics the way a knifefish swims, which just so happens to also be an extremely efficient way for a robot to propel itself through the water. That, the researchers say, could eventually be adapted for larger autonomous or remotely operated vehicles, would be able to maneuver in shallow water and other areas that are problematic for propeller-driven craft. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Video: MIT robofish set to snoop the deep seas
MIT has been at this robotic fish lark for a long, long time, and its latest iteration is a true testament to all the effort and energy put in. The first prototype, 1994's Robotuna, was four feet long and had 2,843 parts driven by six motors, whereas the new robofish is no longer than a foot, carries one motor and has exactly ten components, including the flexible polymer body. The hardy and relatively inexpensive drones can be used as substitutes for AUVs in tight spaces, inhospitable environments and the like, but their earliest adopters are likely to be supervillains in need of surveillance bots for their moats. Video after the break. [Via CNN]
Fishing for profit
I'm an admitted and proud fishing junkie, but had long ago resigned myself to the fact that my favorite ingame pasttime was never going to be a source of revenue. But Alterac Volley has a great post on the degree to which fishing has actually (gasp, shock, horror) become a moneymaking endeavor in Wrath. While I'll grant that on most servers it's probably nothing compared to, say, Mining or Herbalism, there's gold to be made in them there streams -- and this is all the more true if your server hosts a large raiding population.AV observes that there are four types of fish most likely to be lucrative, and it's no accident that three of them (the Musselback Sculpin, the Glacial Salmon, and the Nettlefish) are the main ingredients of the Fish Feast, a valuable (although generalized) raid buff. I spend roughly an hour a week fishing up the materials for these to cover our raids and had never even looked to see what they retailed for. After reading over AV's comments, I took a peek at my server's AH and had a /headdesk moment discovering that my main could have been a much wealthier character if I'd just spent a little time yanking up a few extra fish here and there. So if your character is at or close to the Northrend fishing cap (and especially if you're still on the lookout for the Sea Turtle, which requires you to fish in Northrend pools anyway), give your AH a look and see how the fish are selling. You might be pleasantly surprised. And, as always, I highly recommend El's Extreme Anglin' as a great resource for the beginning and advanced fishermen out there.
Fishing revamp is "on the books"
While Blizzard's managed to do pretty well lately in adding quirks and surprises to make fishing more tolerable (or at least more desirable), the fact remains that it's still ultimately pretty boring to skill up and use altogether, and many people believe it's well overdue for a revamp. It looks like Blizzard agrees, as Zarhym recently revealed that they plan to revamp it. Of course, he had no details or time frame, but that's par for the course for Blizzard. As to how the revamp should go down, Insider Trader actually recently discussed some ideas. Myself, I'm in favor of the minigame approach. If Popcap can import Peggle, you have to figure it's possible to set up a pretty robust fishing mini-game in WoW. Of course, if all else fails, they could always just let us actually use a Goblin Fishing Pole.
Insider Trader: Evolution of Fishing
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Patch 3.1 brought many welcome changes to the Fishing profession, including a Turtle mount and new Fishing daily quests. These not only add incentives to go out and fish, they also make doing a little fishing each day easier. Of course, players can never have enough improvements, and still have many gripes about the way that the profession works. This week, I will be discussing different perspectives on the activity, as well as the challenges that Blizzard faces when considering which changes to make, and which feedback to tackle.
The Strike's rod controller adds new depth to videogame fishin'
Like bass fishin'? Sure, we all do, but we're not always lucky enough to be able to get out to the lake whenever we want. Enter the fishin' videogame, a genre that by all rights should be tediously awful, but yet has proven to be amazingly popular (why, even Link is into it). The latest and greatest looks to be The Strike from Griffin International, and part of what makes it special is a motion-sensing rod attachment that works a lot like a longer Wiimote with a reel for hauling in your big catch. It has rumble and force-feedback so you can feel the strikes and, while it seems less than instantly responsive on G4TV's video embedded below, looks set to offer the most immersive virtual fishing experience yet. Game and rod on the Xbox 360 will cost $69.99 (it'll hit Wii and PC too), but sadly you're going to have to wait until the end of 2009 to get your feet wet in this one.[Via Crave]
Get your barrel on with these Champions Online screenshots
What do fish-men, giant fish gods, zombies and barrels all have to do with one another? They're each a part of the newest screenshots for Champions Online released by Cryptic! Well, that and we actually have several tomes and errata concerning each of these subjects here at Massively HQ. If fish people and their evil giant fish god every send zombies wielding barrels after you, we've got you covered.What we'd really like to point out about the image above, is that the man (Manotaurfishlizard?) has quite the elegant tail-horns-flipper ears we've seen in uh... well ever! That and the enemy he's about to introduce to his barrel with extreme forcefulness has some wicked cool claw weapons. We're not really sure what purple pantsuit woman is getting up to in the air, but it looks heroic.Feel free to take a closer look in our gallery if you doubt us!%Gallery-17946%
Fish USB Hub looks like something the cat dragged in
It's cute, it's useful, you're totally going to want one! Well, maybe not, but the Fish Shape 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub still could make your life a little cooler if you're in the market for a USB hub. It's purple, the eyes are LEDs, and it's sure to be boatloads of fun -- as long as you keep it out of Heathcliff's way, that is. Really, what more could you ask for? This little dude can be yours for a mere $10.99.
Anti-Aliased: Sometimes, it's the little things in (virtual) life
After playing so many games, there are moments that stick out in my mind that make me smile. Some of them are these really epic stories about boss battles, or hard fought PvP moments, or personal notes of glory and triumph. Yet others are drastically different. They're calm, touching moments, where the game either really affected me on an emotional level or wowed me with some attention to detail.In the frantic picture of game design, balancing, art direction, content, and bug squashing of making a highly complex MMO, development teams begin to miss things. Who cares about how a daisy moves when there's serious issues at hand, like item drop rates not working out the way they should be? Yet some development teams do see these little issues and they do take the time to program them in. Not every user may notice them, but some users will, and appreciate them.This column is dedicated to the little things in our virtual lives. Come with me as we look through some popular and some unpopular MMOs, and highlight some of the things that development teams have done to really hook us into their world.
Murloc bento box looks strangely tasty
A "bento" or "bento box" is a prepared meal in Japanese culture consisting of rice, some kind of meat (often sushi), and cooked vegetables. The big image above is a Murloc bento, put together by a WoW fan with some excellent culinary taste. The Murloc itself is made of cabbage, dyed tofu, and red and yellow pepper stripes, the hut to his left is made of Thai turkey meatballs and steamed cabbage, and the treasure chest is made of tofu and seaweed, while the sun and flowers are eggs.Very interesting. It's still a work-in-progress apparently (though considering that it's all food, it can't take too long to make, can it?), as the creator still wants to get teeth on the Murloc. But it looks pretty ready to eat as is -- the hut and the treasure chest, especially, look pretty delectable. [via PixelatedGeek, thanks, jessE!]
