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Insider Trader: The patch 3.1 glyph market
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.If you are a Scribe who has not yet stepped into the glyph market since patch 3.1 went live on Tuesday, April 14th, then you'd better hustle! As we discussed pre-patch, the glyph market is undergoing a radical shift. For a limited time, perhaps very limited, it is soaring to epic heights. Unfortunately, this will not last, and I expect the market to take a sobering downturn in the next couple of weeks. This upswing is also affecting related markets, such as those for inks and herbs, and although we will likely see a bit of a price crash once the glyph market deteriorates, these should stabilize relatively quickly. Today, I will be reviewing why and how the glyph market is changing, and make some predictions for the future. I will also discuss how you can earn some of this post-patch wealth, as well as ways to continue making some profit even after the demand for glyphs drops. I will also be pointing you to some interesting stories around the web of how other Scribes are cashing in this week!
Nintendo tattoos show questionable judgment
The person above is just one of several in a collection of folks who, like others we've seen, found a place in their hearts, and skin, for Nintendo and its venerable icons. Pouring over the gallery, some of the ink is tasteful, or at least easily hidden, good advice for anyone mulling over branding their body in the name of their hobby, or company of choice. Still, while tattooing invincibility stars on your neck may seem like a good idea at the time, the sprites are equally good at keeping you untouchable by gainful employment as they are from shells and animated fungus. [Via GoNintendo]
Tattoo-like nanosensor could monitor glucose levels, enhance your cool factor
Make no mistake, there are quite a few sophisticated ways to monitor one's glucose levels, but we're pretty certain we've never seen an approach as simple and as bodacious as this. Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratories has stumbled upon a new embeddable nanosensor that could, at least in theory, eliminate those painful pricks endured today by so many diabetics. The so-called "injectable nanotech ink" could be inserted under the skin much like a tattoo, though Draper's Heather Clark notes that it "doesn't have to be a large, over-the-shoulder kind of tattoo." In fact, it can be as small as a few millimeters in size, though if it were us, we'd use it as the perfect excuse in order to plaster our backs with Ice Climbers. Testing of the new approach is expected to begin very soon, though that usually means it won't be ready for humans until at least a few years later. Ah well, plenty of time to dream up the perfect design, right?[Via medGadget]
Swift Flight Form in ink
Zeerah wrote in earlier today to send us a pretty awesome addition to our WoW tattoo gallery. They took their love for their class to the next level, and have emblazoned their leg with one of the coolest looking (in my opinion) Druid forms in WoW thus far.Personally, I think it's a pretty good choice for a tattoo. I don't have a problem with gaming tattoos, but I do think that if you're going to get one, get one that looks awesome (while also meaning something, of course). This one is pretty good I think, not that it's my place to judge. Congratulations on your ink, Zeerah! Looks like they did a pretty good job on it. It's an Alliance Druid form too, which is a plus in my book. I love both factions equally, but we're a little Horde heavy in our gallery, don't you think?%Gallery-40471%
Hands-on with Inscription in the Wrath Beta
By now you've heard of inscription, the new trade skill coming with Wrath of the Lich King. We've already given you a few sneak peeks, looking at glyphs, enchantment scrolls, and other beta insights. This time, though we had a chance to fiddle with Inscription directly, on the Beta servers themselves. The trade skill is most obviously only in the very first stages of implementation, but there's still enough to play around with to get an idea of how it will all work once things go live. %Gallery-28616% To start off with, we needed to do a little running. There's no inscription trainers to be found in Dalaran or any of the capitals. We found one in Vengeance Landing, so it seems likely that Alliance could find one in Valgarde as well. However, there are no Inscription suppliers nearby, so you'll still have to run to Dalaran to get the Scribe Tools and parchment you need for most recipes. It's probably a given that that'll change for the better as we get closer to live, but for now it's a pain. You'll probably want to go buy the Scribe Tools and stock up on parchment before you go to train if you're doing it in Beta. Luckily, Light Parchments stack up to 20, so you can carry a lot -- be warned though, most of the scrolls you make out of them only stack to 5. Anyhow, to the meat.
Insider Trader: Professions from the Wrath alpha
This week, Insider Trader will be taking a further look into the future of professions in World of Warcraft. Although Wrath of the Lich King is still only in alpha testing, what little we do know, though it might change, helps us anticipate the direction Blizzard is taking. In fact, we can even begin to see what the army of Death Knight Inscribers might take as their second profession, which will undoubtedly have repercussions on the market. Not only will the amount of competition skyrocket, but opportunities to make a buck selling to lazy Death Knights will abound. For these and more details, head on through the break.
How much do you love Warcraft?
Sevenfold loves the Horde. Not like "I will die for the Horde! And then switch to Rogue to farm primals for awhile." I mean "is there any way to make my arm bigger so the tattoo will fit?" That's how much he loves the Horde.I've heard of people getting married at Blizzard conventions or doing outrageous things for Murloc suits, but permanent ink doesn't come out in the wash, if you know what I mean.This one is just one in the latest of Warcraft ink we've talked about, but I have to throw in my two cents here.I love the game. I really do. And I have a tattoo, though not Warcraft related, so I understand the passion that moves on to get inked. But I'm not sure I would get a Warcraft themed tattoo. Think about it. Would it have to go next to your Everquest tat? Your Meridian59 piercing? Your picture of your son named Zork?What about you? Do you love Warcraft so much you would permanently emblazon it on your body? And, if so, why?
Cryptography Research looking to curb ink cartridge piracy
Granted, we've never had too much luck with those knockoff ink cartridges ourselves, but that doesn't mean that printer (and therefore, ink) manufacturers aren't looking to halt sales of the profit stripping units in any way possible. Aiding them in their quest is Cryptography Research Inc., which is currently developing "chip technology aimed at helping printer manufacturers protect this primary source of profit." Essentially, the CryptoFirewall chips would make it harder for printers to utilize counterfeit or "off-brand" substitutes, which leaves consumers stuck sans a choice and left to pony up whatever they must in order to get that essay turned in the next morning. The company claims that its technology will be ready to cripple new printers sometime next year, but hey, the hackers in the crowd are just salivating for yet another challenge.[Via Slashdot]
Paper Four initiative developing talking paper
Interactive billboards and advertisements have been (trying) to catch our eyes for some time now, but a team of Swedes are apparently hoping that adding speech abilities might convince you to take an even closer look. The Paper Four project has reportedly developed a prototype digital paper that uses embedded sensors to detect touch, and when you graze over a certain spot, it actually talks back to you via "printed speakers." Now in the fourth generation of development, the device combines paper with "printed graphic codes and electronically conductive ink that is sensitive to pressure," and it is already being showcased as a way to invite tourists or other customers to get up close and personal with ads in order to hear auditory information. Best of all, the team has hosted up a video showing exactly how this stuff works, so do yourself a favor and hit the read link to catch a peek.[Via BBC]
Cool WoW ink!
While floating through the blogosphere looking for WoW tidbits the other day, I stumbled across a blurb featuring the picture on the above right. It didn't say too much about it, beyond that the girl who had the tattoo played a Tauren Warrior, and that she and her other half had matching tribal Horde symbols done. Now, I should preface this with the fact that I'm no stranger to body art either, having 7 tattoos myself. (all of which are easily hidden -- hooray corporate America) It simply got me wondering just how much WoW ink was out there and what kind of designs people were getting.Armed with Google, search terms, and rampant curiosity, I set off in the search of World of Warcraft ink and the people behind it.
DS Daily: The signing
Yesterday's eBay treasure-find got us thinking. We tend to idolize certain figures in the gaming world, even if they happen to just be suave business men. And don't get us wrong, Iwata-san is the very definition of a ladies' man. But in all the realm of gaming, from players to publishers, who would you want to sign your DS?Bonus points if you don't pick Miyamoto, but, uh, we totally pick Miyamoto. I mean, he deserves it, right? And he's got such a cool signature.
RFID staples, omnipotent pens to grace offices of the future?
We already know just how snazzy your office's bizhub will be in a decade or so, and we think we've even got your desk and kitchen nailed down too, but a recent brainstorming in Popular Science brushed a few less sensational, albeit quite intriguing, office mainstays for 2017. Although we've got a few years yet before we can definitively say whether or not these folks will pull a psychic-AT&T on us, but if Swingline has its way, the traditional red stapler that continually jams and collects more dust than it does anything else will be quite controversial. Sure to enrage pro-privacy employees who've already been unknowingly chipped with an RFID tag upon agreement to come on board, the staples of the future could actually contain micro-RFID tags; these chips could then be traced to find out just how long it really sits in one's "to do" stack, or if "inexplicably missing" really means "intentionally destroyed." As cruel as we know that sounds, at least you can pen all the curses you wish on even the most ink-resistant material in your manager's suite, as the future-generation Staedtler pen is being designed to "write on almost anything by optimizing molecular bonds with a surface" in order to produce the right mixtures needed to adhere to a given medium. Of course, the transparent monitors that will come with your 2015 upgrade kit will effectively kill your ability to surf Engadget while being guarded by the plastic backing of your current LCD, but the face recognizing desk locks should at least keep Gary from snagging your chocolate when you're out on break. Click on through for a few more mockups of tomorrow's office gizmos.
Kodak enters the desktop printer market, plans to rumble with HP
With traditional film sales all but dead, and the intense competition in the digicam space, the once formidable Kodak is hoping to find success and newfound revenue in that teensy little $50 billion market known as the print industry. Of course, Kodak has been selling photo printers for a while now, but this new launch is a full-on assault on the king of printing: HP. Kodak's secret is to skip over the whole bait and switch model of most printer sales, where everybody discount their printers heavily, and make it all back on exorbitant ink prices. Kodak will be charging reasonable prices for its three new EasyShare All-in-One printers, the 5100, 5300 and 5500 (pictured) which can print copy and scan for $150-$300, but the ink costs are at $10 for a black cartridge and $15 for a five color cartridge. With ink about half the price of competitors -- Kodak's secret is a print technology that doesn't require the print head to be in the cartridge, just ink -- Kodak is hoping consumers will feel free to print more photos and in turn buy even more ink from the big red K. The technology also supposedly produces prints that can last up to 100 years, and will be making it into stores with these new EasyShares in March. Who knows if this will be enough to give Kodak a fighting chance in the consumer print world, but even if all that results is a speedy and bloody price war, we sure wouldn't be complaining.[Via Cnet]
ZINK bringing printers to your handheld gadgetry
Although you probably haven't shaken a Polaroid picture in quite some time, a bit of that allure is reportedly headed to your handhelds, as Massachusetts-based ZINK looks to deliver a pocket-sized printer that can be "embedded in any device" and shoot out photos sans ink. The sensational sounding product will initially be used to print 2- x 3-inch color photographs, and interestingly enough, won't require a single drop of liquid to form the images. In ZINK's system (another pic after the break), "images are created when a heated printer head comes into contact with a sheet of specialized paper," which is actually a polymer containing three crystalline layers. Varying temperatures and pressure points create the pixels of color, and just in case you figure out your latest printout doesn't showcase your eye color as well as you'd hoped, it's recyclable. The company's first offerings will likely be offered in a $99 standalone format or as a $199 camera / printer hybrid, while the snazzy paper will run you $19.95 for a pack of one hundred, but we're definitely holding off on this here invention until we see just how impressive (or not) the printed results actually are. [Warning: PDF read link][Via CNET]
New tattoo ink means "4ever" needn't be permanent
We're not really sure how that late night of Red Bull-fueled coding wrapped up at a sketchy tattoo parlor, but needless to say we were beyond regretful when we woke up the next morning with "1337" emblazoned in huge black numbers on the back of our neck. Unfortunately for our bad-ass reputation and the integrity of our sensitive neck skin, tattoo removal was and still is an expensive, imperfect procedure; it can take up to 12 painful sessions and $5,000 to get that damn ink out, and even then, there's a possibility of permanent, disfiguring scars. So you can imagine our bitterness delight when we learned of a new type of removable ink from a New York-based company called Freedom-2 that, while it won't do anything to hide our shame, promises to help other remorseful human canvases remove their mistakes with only one simple laser treatment. This revolutionary ink -- only available in black for now -- is encapsulated in microscopic polymethylmethacrylate beads (the same synthetic material used to make surgical glue) that fall apart when exposed to laser energy, after which the body's natural ability to expel foreign particles kicks in and does the rest. Freedom-2's CEO, Martin Schmieg, predicts that his company's ink should only add about $50 to the cost of an average tattoo -- a small price to pay to ensure that you don't have to live with your ex's name on your bicep for the rest of your life. Like we said before, this technology comes just a little too late for our neck, but you better believe that once they begin manufacturing this ink in cyan, we're gonna be first in line to get the ol' Engadget "e" tatted right smack in the middle of our forehead.[Via Book of Joe]
