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Automated English visa test struggles to understand English
An Irish veterinarian's application for an Australian visa has been rejected after she failed to pass an automated English proficiency test, despite completing it in her native language of... English. Louise Kennedy, who has two degrees (both obtained in English), wanted to apply for permanent residency in the country on the grounds of her job, which is classed as a shortage profession. Despite acing the reading and writing parts of the test she didn't score highly enough on oral fluency, as it seems the machines couldn't understand her accent. The Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic is an automated system that asks applicants a number of questions and records their vocal responses which are analyzed and scored. The Australian government demands a score of at least 79 points. Kennedy scored 74.
15 Minutes of Fame: So an Irish tauren walked into a pub ...
How does Battlefield Barrens and the Siege of Orgrimmar relate to 12th-century Irish history? You'd have to ask Allen Tatman, energetic GM of Ná Clan Cáilte on Blackwater Raiders (US-Horde) and owner of Paddy Malone's Irish Pub in Jefferson City, Mo. The enthusiastic WoW fan has managed to cross-pollinate his Irish heritage with his passion for World of Warcraft and his Irish-flavored business. His enthusiasm has lured patrons and employees alike to Azeroth and steered fascinated Americans to Ireland on his guided Wylde Irish Tours. His imaginings about his tauren character have evolved into a full-fledged novel, and he's already toying with ideas for a prequel. But back to the connections between Siege of Orgrimmar and Irish history -- how does that all work? We'll let Allen Tatman tell the tale amidst his own (something for which the Irish are renowned, after all).
Tax protesters at London Apple Store
Comedian Mark Thomas, together with about 50 activists, took to Apple's retail store on Regent Street in London to protest Apple's penchant for tax avoidance. Of course, all taxpayers -- both corporations and individuals -- do all they can to minimize their tax liability within the confines of the law, so it's not as if Apple is doing anything illegal, or for that matter, even unusual. Then again, who really wants logic to get in the way of a fun protest? Thomas explained the reasoning behind the protest: Apple has this amazing situation where they pay no tax on one of their companies registered in Ireland, and so in essence, they're using Ireland as a offshore tax haven. So what we've decided is that Apple on Regent Street should therefore become Irish territory. So we're going to create Irish territory on Regent Street. Hopefully we'll do it without getting busted, hopefully do it with a sense of fun. You can hear the band, they're absolutely fantastic! Naturally, there's video of the protest. The Guardian further reports that members of the group held up banners which read, "Take a tax holiday in Ireland." What's more, some members took to Apple's displayed notebooks and iMacs and wrote messages advising customers that they can purchase the "SAME products at the SAME prices at John Lewis around the corner...". And all the while, the protest was accompanied by some melodic and traditional Irish music. As far as protests go, this one seemed pretty tame. Indeed, with the live Irish music, it seems like they really added some excitement to what may have otherwise been another ho-hum day at Apple retail. Upon leaving the store, Thomas took a more serious note, explaining that he would scream and shout until Apple pays the taxes it owes. The Guardian adds: Thomas is scheduled to appear at this year's Edinburgh Fringe festival with a new show entitled 100 Acts of Minor Dissent, which will catalogue his attempt to achieve just that in the space of a year. Something tells me Thomas won't be championing the Apple tax cause for long.
Funcom rehires staff, confirms TSW group investigation missions
New Game Director Joel Bylos dropped several juicy tidbits about the future of The Secret World on the Flash Point podcast. One of the biggest of these is that Funcom is growing once more following recent layoffs. "We have already brought back three people," he said, "It gives us hope and it's great to see those faces back at the office." He said that a second auxiliary weapon -- which players assume to be the chainsaw -- is coming with next month's Issue 4, and the Halloween event scheduled in a couple weeks will have players digging through Irish lore books. If you like the game's investigation missions, you'll be pleased to hear that The Secret World will be introducing group versions of these types of quests. But will the team be able to keep up with the monthly updates? Bylos is firmly confident that it can be done, as the structure for issue development is in place. Bylos admits that it's "absolutely vital" for the studio to advertise the game better and communicate clearly what the game is to potential players. He also said that the team is working on helping players overcome the game's higher difficulty, particularly with starter decks that are coming soon and easier story boss fights. [Thanks to Elania for the tip!]
BioWare opens Ireland customer service center
European fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic have long been clamoring for more information regarding the title's presence in the mythical land across the Atlantic, and we have some potentially good news for those people. EA announced today that a new BioWare customer service center has been opened in Galway, Ireland. Speaking at the facility's inauguration ceremony, EA Senior Vice President Ray Muzyka said, "MMO launches are complex, and we are determined to set a new standard for a high quality, stable, smooth launch for our fans. Our new BioWare facility and team in Galway is critical to ensuring we deliver on that goal." It's a first for BioWare as well, as this is BioWare's premier location outside of North America. Hopefully the studio's opening will live up to its goal of ensuring that the inevitably massive launch of The Old Republic goes smoothly both in North America and across the pond.
Textbooks swapped for iPads by Irish school
A small secondary school in Ireland is doing something extraordinary -- ditching textbooks for iPads. Starting in September, St Coleman's College in the town of Claremorris in the west of Ireland will give students the option of learning from regular textbooks or specially equipped iPads, according to The Irish Times. The school made the decision after consulting with students, teachers and parents for weeks. In the end, 96 percent of the people consulted supported the switch from books to iPads. Each iPad will be preloaded with a suite of educational apps. Together the iPads and apps will cost €700 each, but the price will be spread across a three-year period. School principal Jimmy Finn told the Times that the value for the money was obvious. "It is a bit of a unique idea, but we have to continue to move with the times," he said. Finn also noted that the switch to the iPad isn't mandatory, and parents can choose to stick with textbooks for their children, though something tells me that if the children have it their way, the choice will clearly be the iPad.
The Daily Grind: What little events do you celebrate?
It's Saint Patrick's Day, and if you're in the US that means a celebration of Irish culture... or at least, it means a celebration of wearing green clothing and drinking an exceptional amount for the middle of the week. And while it's not the biggest holiday, some people look forward to it as much or more than major seasonal events. A few games even celebrate the event, such as Fallen Earth with a pub crawl and Everquest II with its Brewday celebrations. It's a holiday with no real overarching purpose except enjoyment, and that's hardly a bad goal. Every game has little events that keep running long after they're no longer hugely pertinent. Every gamer has anniversaries or dates they remember, or holidays that they feel are important even if the game doesn't have a holiday event. So what small holidays or events do you observe in your favorite games? Do you make a point of memorizing important in-game lore dates and celebrating their anniversaries? Do you take part in no-longer-vital elements, such as the Elemental Invasions in World of Warcraft? Or do you just take the opportunity on days like today to outfit your Star Trek Online crew in green uniforms and hang around drunk?
Ivor Novello awards to recognize music from video games
Get out those SAT skills! The Ivor Novello awards : Grammys :: The SAG awards : Oscars. They're the smarter, more peer-reviewed way for the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors to reward excellent songwriting and composing. And as the BBC reports, for the first time, it'll be honoring video game music. The bleeps and bloops of your favorite console games are becoming one of just six total categories at the Ivors this May. And it's because they aren't just bleeps and bloops any more. A member of the award committee says that the music in video games has "matured beyond recognition," and that composing music for games pulls some muscles that most composers don't have, like "non-linear and multi-layered composition." No word on the nominees yet, but keep in mind, any game you nominate needs to have at least 1/3 of the composers be British or Irish, according to the Ivor rules. For instance, the music for Flower was great, but unless there's a hidden "O'" in front of Vincent Diamante's last name, you probably won't see it win.
Battlefield 1943 players upset over lack of Irish identification [Update]
Update: According to an update on SeenIt.co.uk, the gamer who argued for Irish distinction in his Battlefield 1943 profile has been contacted by EA support and was told, "It looks as though the issue you have submitted is more complex than it seemed initially." Irish history, complex? Understatement! Hopefully this means all Irish gamers will be able to fly the colors they desire someday soon. Original Story: Battlefield 1943 players out of Northern Ireland are surprised -- and angry -- that the game's official site fails to display the country's flag on their profile pages. Profiles for gamers in the North are stamped with the good ol' Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and labels North Irish players as located in Great Britain. Some of you may cry, "So what?" Well, it's a pride thing -- and it's a law. "If you live in Northern Ireland EA won't allow you to identify yourself as 'Irish' despite the 1998 Belfast agreement saying otherwise," writes the UK entertainment blog, SeenIt.co.uk. According to our history books, the Belfast Agreement allows citizens of Northern Ireland to identify themselves as Irish or British, or both. After attempting to change the country associated with the account, EA tech support told SeenIt changing the region was impossible because Ireland is "not listed distinctively" and is included under Great Britain. Seems like a silly thing for Electronic Arts to put its foot down on, unless it's the first step to easily categorizing the world. Step two? All Canadians listed as hailing from "America's Hat." [Thanks, Martin]
Electronic voting outlawed in Ireland, Michael Flatley DVDs okay for now
Yes, it's another international blow for electronic voting. We've seen the things proven to be insecure, illegal, and, most recently, unconstitutional. Now the Emerald Isle is taking a similar step, scrapping an e-voting network that has cost €51 million to develop (about $66 million) in favor of good 'ol paper ballots. With that crisis averted Irish politicians can get back to what they do best: blaming each other for wasting €51 million in taxpayer money.[Via Techdirt]
Breakfast Topic: How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day in game?
Today is St. Patrick's Day, and I'm sure my Irish Catholic grandmother will be proud of me when I show her this Easter holiday that I've managed to write something up on this Irish celebration. In fact, pictured above is my Irish leaning main character Osullivan overlooking the green river in Chicago. My friends in Defenders of The Pass over on the Eldre'Thalas server have teased me for years with green beer, and today, I'm going to have one and salute them all. /cheers!While there isn't any official World of Warcraft holiday for St. Patty's Day, festivities are bound to be popping up everywhere. Perhaps some merry drinking, maybe a few kisses to a stone, or maybe everyone rolls a red headed female dwarven warrior and dances around a bit.Besides my real life green beer that I'll be enjoying (most likely a Budweiser Select with green dye), I'll have to saunter over to a tavern and pick up some sort of Potent Ale. I think I'll drink it right before I go off to pull Archimonde, no doubt causing everyone to yell in bewilderment over vent. What are you doing in game for this St. Patrick's Day? And if you can, share with me and tip back the ol' glass at 9:00 EST tonight!
Phat Loot Phriday: Felstone Good Luck Charm
Now's a good a time as any to talk about a "husky loot" item (one that anyone can get) that will give you the luck o' the Irish, and one that has a pretty good quest story behind it too.Name: Felstone Good Luck Charm (Wowhead, Thottbot, WowDB)Type: Uncommon AmuletArmor: N/AAbilities: +13 Shadow Resistence, which was pretty good back when this was gear you picked up right before the endgame. But not so much anymore. A leprechaun did tell me that this thing will grant you good luck, though. How to Get It: This is the fun part -- this is actually the quest reward at the end of a fun little self-contained questline that will take you from either Stormwind (for Alliance) or Undercity (for Horde) into the Plaguelands. Yes, the Plaguelands -- it's that little lobby right before you enter the Ghostlands. Just look for those poor, lonely Argent Dawn questgivers (or just follow the sounds of them whining under their breath that the expansion isn't here yet).To start the quest, you've got to grab Janice's Parcel, which you can find on the Felstone farm while in the Western Plaguelands. That will send you off to the capital city of your faction, and then take to you some familiar faces (apparently the Felstone family roots reach far and deep). You'll meet a few Felstones, and eventually you'll be able to collect the Felstone Good Luck Charm, which, in true luck o' the Irish fashion (it's actually a curse), is being handed down to you from a family that hasn't had much luck at all.Kind of a fun quest, not too long, and has some good flavor text in it. And if nothing else, you can consider this Blizzard's holiday reward for you, since there is no "Aldor Patrick's Day" in Azeroth.Getting Rid of It: Sells to vendors for 71s 64c or disenchants into a Dream Dust, Lesser Eternal Essence or a Small Brilliant Shard. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!
Comedian Jimmy Carr takes act into Second Life
Irish funnyman Jimmy Carr is set to become the first major comedian to perform stand-up in Second Life. On February 3, as Carr takes the stage in London, his routine will be simultaneously broadcast to a select audience in the virtual world. Will his signature deadpan survive the translation?Carr is giving away tickets to the event through a competition on his MySpace page.[Thanks Joe](Note: the BBC story grossly exaggerates the size of Second Life's user base. See: Analyzing the press' Second Life obsession)
Japanese hardware sales, 4 September - 10 September: Thick Irish accent edition
So, weh here a' the Fanboy decided ta' switch nationalities for a Wii bit. (I could na' resist the pun!) It seems that o'er in Japan, the DS Lite has taken a bit of ah slide. The only explanation weh can offer is that a giant shipment ah Guinness draft arrived a' the pubs, and people were just too busy drinkin' to spend money on such a fine system. The PSP sales, o' course, went up, as people needed more fancy coasters to set their drinks upon. - DS Lite: 113,831 115,108 (50.28%) - PSP: 29,141 1,642 (5.97%) - PS2: 19,882 2,821 (12.43%) - GBA SP: 2,104 647 (23.52%) - Game Boy Micro: 1,801 10 (0.56%) - Xbox 360: 1,094 156 (12.48%) - DS Phat: 1,058 738 (230.63%) - Gamecube: 696 159 (18.60%) - GBA: 13 9 (40.91%) - Xbox: 5 5 (infinite%) - Wii: 0 0 (0%) Fellow blogger Ludwig, over a' Joystiq, decided ta' include the Wii in the sales charts for this one week, and since weh pretty much try ta' emulate his every whimsical notion are the Wii Fanboy, after oll, weh decided ta' do so as well.[Source: Media Create]
"Walk of shame" customer receives iMac replacement
Remember Karl, the frustrated iMac customer from Dublin who was going to prove he could walk his sick iMac 156 miles into service for replacement faster than Apple could pick it up? As it turns out, he apparently never hit the road; Infinite Loop at Ars Technica is reporting that Apple Ireland received word of this much-publicized stunt not long after it hit the media (perhaps they use the digg widget?) and promptly sent a brand new replacement straight to his door about ninety minutes later.Score one for the little guy, but I'm wondering how many more frustrated service customers are going to attempt such a stunt. Maybe, as Jeff at Infinite Loop suggests, next time Apple will have to wait for the customer to actually get a couple miles into the walk before they fire off any more replacement units.
