hurricane-sandy
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Guns of Icarus dev blog talks player feedback, Hurricane Sandy
Launching an online multiplayer game is challenging in the best of conditions. Try launching one in the midst of a natural disaster, though. That's what Guns of Icarus developer Muse faced in October of 2012 as Hurricane Sandy battered the northeastern United States and left New Yorkers -- including Muse staffers -- without power and internet for weeks. Muse CEO Howard Tsao tells the full story in the fourth part of his Guns of Icarus post-mortem, which Gamasutra published this morning.
Airbnb's disaster response tool to help survivors find free housing (video)
Airbnb has launched a new disaster response tool in an effort to make things easier for willing hosts to offer free shelter to survivors of catastrophes. Activated within 30 minutes or less from the time trouble strikes, the solution will send out emails to local users and ask if they'd like to offer their rooms at no cost. Thoughtful folks will then be able to list their space on a dedicated page where guests can easily find generous souls to stay with. The P2P lodging service was inspired to cook up this plan after its New York patrons opened up their homes to Hurricane Sandy survivors, and it had to cobble together a portal to connect people. With the new system in place, the firm hopes it can quickly reach more hosts and guests and make the process of offering and finding emergency housing more efficient.
Blizzard's Cinder Kitten raises over $2.3 million in Sandy relief
Warcraft players around the world showed their generosity by purchasing the Cinder Kitten pet from the Blizzard store. Blizzard announced in November that every Cinder Kitten purchased by the end of December 21, 2012, would have the profits from the sale go straight to the victims of Superstorm Sandy. They managed to raise a cool $2.3 million dollars! Cinder Kitten Raises More Than $2.3 Million Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of World of Warcraft players around the world who purchased the Cinder Kitten pet, we've raised a total of more than $2.3 million USD to support the American Red Cross's ongoing Superstorm Sandy relief efforts. In December, we announced that for every Cinder Kitten purchased by December 31, 2012, 100% of the adoption fee would be going to assist victims of this disaster -- and the community embraced this fiery feline in droves, helping out a great cause in the process. Thanks again to everyone who helped make a difference. source What a great move by Blizzard to help out in disaster relief. It's not the first time they've done so either as players will remember back in 2011 when they donated 100% of the proceeds earned from the Cenarion Hatchling to Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts!
Cinder kitten now on sale in Blizzard store
If you've been eagerly awaiting Blizzard's release of the fiery little furball pictured above, your wait is over. The Cinder Kitten is now available for purchase on the Blizzard Pet Store for $10. As mentioned last month, 100% of the proceeds from any Cinder Kitten purchased between now and December 31, 2012 will go towards the American Red Cross's Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. The kitten is available in both the US and European Pet Stores. Purchasing the kitten will give you a code that can be redeemed on any North American (or European, for kittens purchased through the Europe Pet Store) account. This code can either be redeemed for your account, or emailed to friends as a gift. After all, nothing says "Happy Holidays!" like a flaming ball of fiery purring death. If you're looking for a good present for that special someone, the Cinder Kitten is a cool in-game item, you can use it for pet battles, and the proceeds go to the Red Cross. What's not to love?
100% of WoW's Cinder Kitten sales to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief
Blizzard is making a habit out of using its cash shop to benefit the victims of various natural disasters. On the heels of the Cenarion Hatchling pet that raised $1.9 million for Japanese earthquake relief efforts in 2011 comes a new Cinder Kitten critter, the proceeds from which will assist those displaced by Hurricane Sandy. The cuteling isn't for sale in World of Warcraft quite yet, but our sister site WoW Insider says that it will go for $10. Blizzard will be donating 100 percent of the proceeds to the relief effort.
Cinder Kitten pet sales to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief charity
As with the Cenarion Hatchling of years past and the tsunami that devastated coastal Japan, 100% of proceeds from the sales of the oddly late Cinder Kitten will be given to the Red Cross' Superstorm Sandy relief efforts. Blizzard will be updating us with info on when the $10 gato en fuego will be available for sale in the weeks ahead. Classy move, Blizzard. On the other hand ... look, this might sound crazy, but have you noticed that whenever there's a big natural disaster, Blizzard just happens to be ready with a Pet Store pet to sell for charity? I'm sure intelligence will prove that Blizzard owns HAARP, the weather-controlling device array used by the Illuminati to maintain the New World Order. Clearly Blizzard stands to benefit from this by *incoherent mumbling* and *something about chemtrails*. Wake up, sheeple.
Time-lapse map shows internet outages as Hurricane Sandy makes landfall (video)
It's no secret that Hurricane Sandy has worked a number on communications infrastructure, but now a time-lapse video created by Renesys gives us a clearer picture of when and where internet outages occurred as the storm made landfall. Green squares on the map above indicate that 99.95 percent of networks in the area are reachable, while red squares denote that more than five percent of networks are down. In Manhattan's case, Renesys estimates that there was only a ten percent failure, which it considers impressive since power was cut to much of the island. Ten percent may not sound like a huge outage, but the firm points out that population density makes it equivalent to taking a country the size of Austria off the grid. As for the 90 percent of networks in the borough that stayed online, they survived thanks to generator power. If you'd like to witness the playback of outages between October 29th and 30th, head past the jump for the video.
Sandy got you down? Comcast offering free WiFi to affected regions, iTunes allowing Red Cross donations
Hurricane Sandy's taken out more than the electricity of hundreds of thousands of Northeastern USers -- it's also pillaged the internet connections of many, leaving our Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions unused, and subsequently our Eddie Murphy '80s movie marathons unmarathoned. Comcast understands this to be the dire situation it is, and is offering its Xfinity WiFi service free of charge for folks living in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Washington D.C., and West Virginia (sans New York City, as there aren't any hotspots in the Big Apple, sadly). Just select "Complimentary Trial" from the landing page and you're in like Flynn until November 7 (when the deal ends). Or perhaps you're one of our lucky readers unaffected by the crazy hurricane? Apple's got an opportunity through iTunes for direct donation to the American Red Cross, should you wish to help out our friends suffering through worse than just lacking internet. Donation increments range from $5 to $200 -- just sign into iTunes and click the Red Cross advert below New Music.
You can now use iTunes to support Hurricane Sandy relief
Apple and the American Red Cross are making it easy for you to donate towards relief efforts in the wake of the this week's devastating Hurricane Sandy. Simply by clicking on the American Red Cross tile that now appears on the main iTunes Store screen in iTunes, you can pledge from US$5 to $200 using your Apple ID on the dedicated donation screen that's been set up. This isn't the first time Apple has teamed up with the American Red Cross to enable charitable donations via iTunes. The two have partnered up for other major disasters including the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 and the massive Haitian earthquake of 2010. Amazon has also added a Red Cross donation link to its homepage. Of course, you can donate directly via the Red Cross website. [via 9to5Mac]
AT&T and T-Mobile temporarily share networks in New York City and New Jersey, shoulder the post-hurricane load
Communication has been all too spotty across much of New York City and New Jersey since Hurricane Sandy struck the region, and those who can get through on their cellphones have found themselves on particularly crowded networks. AT&T and T-Mobile are providing some much-needed, if temporary, relief: the two have struck a deal to share their GSM and 3G networks in the area with no roaming fees or plan changes while the networks come back, with the best-functioning network taking precedence in any given connection. A return to the normal state of affairs hasn't been fixed in stone and will likely depend on many, many factors, but it's a much appreciated gesture for residents who might not have a choice to relocate for a vital phone call.
Hurricane Sandy has knocked out 25 percent of all cell towers, cable services in 10 states
Julius Genachowski has revealed that Hurricane Sandy has knocked out a full quarter of cellphone towers and cable services in the 10 most affected states. The FCC chief believes that, as more towers expend their battery back-ups and the storm's continued presence, the situation's going to get worse before it gets better. He's also reiterated that users should avoid making non-essential calls and use e-mail or social media to avoid overloading the straining networks. One point of interest in the call, was that land line phone outages were much less widespread -- which might be something to remember if you've ever considered cutting the cord.
Hurricane Sandy propels emergency apps to top of App Store
It's difficult to determine just how useful your iPhone could be in an emergency situation until that circumstance descends upon you. In the last 48 hours, millions of people living along the East Coast have looked to their smartphones for a bit of assistance and nowhere is this more apparent than on the App Store. TechCrunch noticed today that three of the top six free apps on the marketplace are tools that could prove useful for those in Hurricane Sandy's path. The Red Cross Hurricane app has rocketed up the charts to the number two spot, followed immediately by a top-rated flashlight app. Then, in the number six spot is The Weather Channel app. Further down the list you can find yet another flashlight app, and a second hurricane tracker. To reshuffle the top of the free charts -- which is normally occupied by Facebook and free game apps -- these apps have to be getting some serious download numbers. We can only hope they are making life a bit easier for those still feeling the effects of Sandy.
GameStop cancels Assassin's Creed 3 midnight events in northeast
Listen, we get it, we'd go out in a hurricane too for Assassin's Creed 3, but the simple fact of the matter is GameStop stores in the path of today's storm in the northeast United States won't be open at midnight."Our top priority is the safety of our employees and customers. In compliance with directives issued by state and local authorities, stores in the path of the storm will remain closed until it is safe to re-open and midnight openings for Assassin's Creed 3 have been cancelled in the northeast," a GameStop representative informed Kotaku. "Customers should check with their local stores for details on when we will re-open."And as I sit here, staring out my rain-battered window in Boston, watching the trees wave and the final leaves of autumn be ripped off horizontally, I echo GameStop's concern: if you're also being affected by Sandy, please stay safe tonight.
Daily Update for October 29, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
East Coast Apple Stores batten down for Hurricane Sandy
Just like most everyone else on the East Coast of the United States, Apple Stores in five states, D.C. and Canada are making preparations for "Frankenstorm" Hurricane Sandy. ifoAppleStore.com reports that between 35 and 50 stores may close in the northeastern US and Canada (if they haven't already), as they are either within the expected landfall zone of Sandy or just outside it. One of our readers has confirmed that Rhode Island and Boston area stores are shut. Meanwhile, two of Apple's flagship New York City stores have surrounded themselves with sandbags, with the Fifth Avenue store even wrapping Macs and other products in plastic bags as an extra precaution against water damage. All of this goes to show that if Apple isn't taking chances with this megastorm, neither should you. If you live in the area expected to be affected by Hurricane Sandy, please take every precaution possible. Forewarned is forearmed.
Google puts Hurricane Sandy on its crisis map, hopes to help you weather the storm
Just because Google abandoned its October Android event doesn't mean it's left its users out to dry -- Hurricane Sandy now has its very own Google Crisis Map. It isn't the first time Mountain View has lent its mapping tech to folks in harm's way -- survivors of Hurricane Issac used a similar Crisis Map to track the storm, follow public alerts and find shelters. Sandy's map is no different, providing locals with information on the storm's path, forecast information, evacuation routes, areas of high wind probability and even links to webcams surrounding affected areas. Google isn't the only firm lending a hand, either -- both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are lifting site paywalls during the storm, ensuring the public has access to developing news as long as their internet connection doesn't give out.
Google postpones October 29th event over Hurricane Sandy worries
We hope you weren't basing your calendar around Google's big Android event on October 29th. The company has confirmed to us that it's postponing the event to an as yet undetermined point in the future due to Hurricane Sandy, whose East coast arrival will follow so closely before the New York City gathering that Google isn't willing to take the chance on its big day. If you're experiencing a sense of déja vu, you're not alone -- Google delayed last year's event revealing the Galaxy Nexus out of respect for the late Steve Jobs. While it's not what we'd call an auspicious start to Google's holiday launches, we can at least hope for an abundance of riches when the company is ready once again. The full statement waits below. "We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more."
