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Amazing Khal Drogo cosplay at Blizzard Halloween contest
Halloween is a very special time at Blizzard Entertainment, and annual Blizzard Halloween costume contest inspires many folks there to go all-out. This year was no exception, but this particular costume of Khal Drogo (of A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fame) was truly exceptional. It's beginning to make the internet rounds and all you have to do is watch the video to see why. The costumer, Rene Koiter, is a Blizzard artist whose pseudonym, Twincruiser, you might be familiar with. The video captures not only the wonderful detail of his costume, but his ability to saunter around in character and fearlessly show us lesser mortals what our true purpose is in the grand scheme of things: to give him prizes. Or get our hearts ripped out. Our hats are off to Mr. Koiter for this amazing performance, his first-place award was well-earned!
We may be in debt, but the chips on our shoulders are chocolate
Actually, we are not in debt. Not us, plural, here at WoW Insider. Just Olivia. Do you see that screenshot above? That is an IOU note on the wall of the Alliance PvP room in Valley of the Four Winds, where NPC Armsmaster Holinka (named after WoW PvP Director Brian Holinka) usually stands. And the initials of the unfortunate soul who now owes him one million cookies belong to none other than our very own Olivia Grace. It all began with the following: simple tweets back in June from Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street and Brian Holinka about exciting, non gear-related PvP changes to come. And Olivia -- dear, rash Olivia -- replied to them saying that if said exciting changes were cross-realm arenas that she would bake them each 1,000,000 cookies. And now, in patch 5.4, PvP season 14, we have cross-realm arenas. Oh, Olivia! What fate has thy hasty words wrought. For now you must hold good on your promise, and Blizzard will not forget. They've written it into the very code of their biggest game, woven straight into the finality of binary, in black and white and ones and zeroes. I hope you can dual-wield your wooden spoon and spatula. No noodle cart can save you now.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2012: fun stuff!
Welcome to the Engadget holiday gift guide! Picking presents for friends and loved ones is never a simple task, and with thousands of options for each category, buying technology can be an especially frustrating experience. We're here to help. Below you'll find today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. And don't forget to enter our giveaway -- leave a comment for a chance to nab AT&T's LG Optimus G. Ideally, all the gifts you'll give and receive will fall under the "fun" category, but sometimes this description is especially applicable. Welcome to the lighter side of tech, where you'll find gadgets meant to make life merrier rather than to impress with mile-long spec lists. That's not to say that these gizmos aren't productivity-friendly -- the picks below enable everything from learning to play the guitar to keeping New Year's resolutions on track.
Fruit Ninja plushies coming soon to a wrapped gift near you
Angry Birds can't have all the fun, right? Halfbrick Studios is set to embrace the iOS marketing frenzy by releasing a pair Fruit Ninja plush toys. The sensei and a smiling (or is that sliced?) watermelon in a branded headband will introduce the series. The sensei is available right now on the company's web store for US$15.99, while the watermelon will be available "soon" for just a buck less. I have to admit, these are pretty darn cute. Halfbrick Studios is not only a talented set of game designers, but a really nice group of folks as well. Does this mean we'll soon be getting a Jetpack Backpack from Jetpack Joyride? I don't know how cuddly a sliced watermelon is, but Fruit Ninja is a great game, and I wouldn't mind having one of these guys under my tree come this holiday season.
eMac converted to self-tweeting cat bed
What do you do with an obsolete computer the size of a huge, plastic canned ham? Let your cat use it to tweet her naps, of course. The eMac was a behemoth of a computer, released by Apple in 2002. Originally meant for the education market, Apple eventually made them available to all consumers. It looked like the runner up in a "Re-design the iMac" contest and was very heavy. Now discontinued, it makes a sweet cat bed. The "eSleeper" by Samuel Cox is an eMac shell that's been tricked out with lights and cozy blankies. But that's not all. An infrared beam is monitored by an ethernet-connected Arduino. When the cat breaks the beam to enter the eSleeper, its lights come on, the startup chime sounds and the cat's entry time is recorded. When it breaks the beam again to leave, the lights switch off and a random phrase is tweeted to @eSleeper1. I imagine this is how Auntie TUAW's cats sleep. Pretty neat, Samuel, but we're afraid you weren't the first. I was going to end with a Mac OS X naming convention house cat joke, but decided against it. You're welcome. Here's a video of the eSleeper in action. eSleeper from Sam Cox on Vimeo.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Since the weekend is finally upon us, we figured now's as good a time as any to sit back, relax, and have some fun. Play along with our fun stuff picks -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's Friday, and that can only mean one thing: two days of parties, sleeping in, and seeing your campus transform from a vehicle of intense education to a spring break-like haven of drunken delight. We've rounded up a few toys to help you relax before you head back to class -- a memory card reader that doubles as a pocket mirror, an Arduino-powered car that can stream video from the dorm hall, and an electric-powered sports car that can drive you and a friend far from campus for a pricey weekend getaway -- so kick off the shoes and prepare to embrace these 48 hours of freedom. And when it's time to get back to the books, we have the gear for that too -- and we're giving it away! Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details.
Breakfast Topic: It's the little things
Hidden in the upper corner of The Threads of Fate in Dalaran is a curious little cobbler named Sheddle Glossgleam. While he seems to be an ordinary vendor, it's really the chair next to him that makes him much more entertaining -- when you sit on the chair, he'll toddle over and shine your shoes for you. This buff last for an hour -- or until you take combat or fall damage and scuff your feet. Don't worry though, a quick trip to the chair will get your toes glittering again in no time. I love NPCs like this -- the NPCs that do curious things like punt you all the way across Azeroth, or murder unsuspecting lowbies that don't understand that right-clicking a yellow conned NPC will result in a swift punch to the face. The NPCs with stories, like the saga of Grifta from Burning Crusade, and the continuing adventures of Investigator Asric and Peacekeeper Jadaar. While they serve no real purpose, they're always there to entertain, buff, or amuse. There's always an NPC or two that never fail to bring a smile to my face, and that I look forward to meeting on whatever alt I happen to be playing. Who's your favorite NPC? What's your favorite little thing in the game?
WRUP: Something I noticed edition
As we were preparing for this weekend's WRUP, I noticed something. In the past, you may have noticed Alex noticing that some of us had forgotten the P in WRUP. This is to say, that many of us were not playing WoW, and in fact were not playing any video game whatsoever! I noticed that not only are we back to playing games on this lovely Labor Day weekend, but that we're specifically playing WoW. Well, except for Alex, Adam, and Sacco. They all hate Azeroth and want the Scourge to win. Adam Holisky: (@adamholisky) - um... Champions Online Alex Ziebart: (@aziebart) - Now that BlizzCon and all of that is behind us, I'm going to show my personal blogs a little love. I finally put up my little sister's Neri Ame review, which I'd been sitting on for weeks. Beyond that, probably working on my Paladin's Ret gear and tackling Trial of the Grand Crusader with my raid. Robin Torres: (@cosmiclaurel) - There will be more Itchee with The Spawn, but mostly there will be leveling my drood in Battlegrounds. I will of course intend to complete the daily BG quests and go into Strand of the Ancients because it is the holiday, but I will actually be in AV most of the time. Lisa Poisso: (@eMused) - Uh-oh – the faction transfer happened sooner than we thought, and our newest team of PvP stealthers is coming together fast. Time to zip up to level! Michael Gray (@writegray) - Warsong Gulch weekend. Needeth I sayeth moreth?
