jewel
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EFF scores a blow against the government's domestic spying
Before we knew that the National Security Agency was getting its jollies by spying via Prism, there was Jewel vs. NSA. That case, filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation, has gotten a boost from California judge Jeffrey White who's has granted discovery to the EFF -- something the EFF says it's been barred from since 2008. Not up on your legalese? Don't worry. Discovery is the step in a court case that allows all parties involved to go into trial with as much information as possible, without either party being able to keep secrets from one another. Unless said information would result in self-incrimination, it's a fact-finding stage.
Premium Collection hot shoe covers are cufflinks for your cam, let you dazzle up that DSLR
You love the focus speed, image quality is top-notch and even videos turn out just as expected -- still, there's something missing with your latest DSLR, though it's just a tad hard to place. What your camera needs is some bona fide bling. Not using that hot shoe for a flash or EVF? It's time to tuck in a beautiful raised floral cover, elegantly outfitted in a shiny silver finish. It's sure to stand out against the contrast of an all-black body, though it'll feel equally at home on your silver Leica. Designed by Jay Tsujimura in Tokyo, Premium Collection includes matching hot shoe and shutter release covers, letting your camera stay coordinated just like your cuffs. They're priced to fly off store shelves at a mere ¥24,150 (about $300) each -- get an up-close look in our gallery and at the source link below.%Gallery-162718%
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Jewelcrafter
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the thirty-third in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class (or profession!) well, without embarrassing yourself. When I was getting ready for my wedding last month, one of the obvious things we had to do to get ready was to pick out wedding rings. I'm not much of a jewelry wearer myself, but I put a lot of thought into this choice, and in the end, I learned quite a bit more than I knew before about the jewelry profession and how it works. It struck me as a profession for people who really love making beautiful things and who love interacting with people at some of the most significant moments of their lives (such as ... weddings) -- but above all, real life jewelcrafters struck me as people who love details.Of course, a number of professions in Azeroth have to pay attention to details in their various gaming aspects. Deciding which items to make for oneself, which to sell at the auction house, and how to use your chosen profession in itself requires lots of details. But when you think about roleplaying, there's a definite difference between blacksmithing on the one side, with its broad strokes of a hammer on metal, and jewelcrafting on the other, focused on the smallest of cuts and adjustments that the naked eye can't even perceive. Jewelcrafting is the profession on Azeroth that requires the keenest eye, the steadiest hand, and the most attention to detail. In some ways, jewelcrafting in the real world seemed like sub-world of its own, where jewelers knew special secrets no one else knew. They used these secrets to draw forth items that were at once dazzling and magical, artistic and personal for each individual that wore them. Jewelcrafters in the World of Warcraft have no reason to be less devoted to their profession, or any less proud of their ability to craft the most delicate of magical items with the most powerful magical effects, using the secret knowledge only they can understand.
March 12th PTR changes
A new PTR build hit the test realms today, and just in time for the second stress test that'll be getting underway later tonight. A few of the big highlights: The Druid Cyclone spell has had the range reduced to 20 yards, from 30 yards. The newly purchasable epic gem crafting patterns have had their prices dramatically increased. For example, the epic gem patterns used to cost 1.5g each to buy, now they're 50g each. This will make them harder for casual players to acquire. A few BoP crafted items have had a profession requirement of 350 placed on them. All in all, it looks like Blizzard is winding down the changes. They seem to be targeting some very specific areas right now, and the list of changes each week is getting shorter and shorter. This might mean the patch will be going live soon. And remember, as soon as it goes live, we'll select a winner from the Patch 2.4 release date contest we held.Any thoughts on the cyclone change? I for one am happy, considering how I hate being cycloned in arena battles.
Leave the glue at home: concept phone lets you bejewel by grid
Picture this doomsday scenario: you've gone and covered the screen of your phone with stylish hearts and esses, only to discover that the design just doesn't fit your mood anymore. With classic methods of bejeweling, that puts you in a bit of a pickle, seeing how your phone's now covered with a nice, thick layer of glue separating the sparkly stuff from the shell of the handset. It's all good, though -- with his new concept, designer Nils Siegel pictures a world where you can change your phone's gems as quickly as... well, popping out and plugging in a couple hundred tiny squares. A fun task? Not necessarily, but in the scheme of things, it's probably cheaper than buying a new phone for every mood change.
Disney Princess: Magical Jewel almost has good art
Surprise! Disney Princess: Magical Jewel has somehow managed not to be a Bejeweled clone! It even has Jewel in the title and avoided it. Instead, it's a jewel-collecting side-scrolling platformer starring a bunch of Disney princesses.More surprising, rather than using generic character art for their character portraits, the developers went "off-model" to render the Princesses in a sort of cut-paper style. With shading. Okay, we don't know what to call it, but it's a style, and it's nice.The bottom screen doesn't fare as well, looking a little amateurish and flat. But, hey, that's one more nice-looking screen than we expected!
Russia's ISSE makes Nokia 8800s even pricier
Sure, the details vary a little bit from jeweler to jeweler, but the result is always the same: a standard-issue phone that's been taken to excessively opulent extremes thanks to an excess of gems and rare earth elements. This time around, the phone is Nokia's already expensive 8800, and the culprit is ISSE of Russia. The handset is naturally covered in gold or silver, while optional heated enamel can add a shade of color to the phone that takes away any resemblance of precious metal. Tack on a few carats of diamonds, rubies, garnets, or whatever, slap it in a box made of "rare timber," and call it good. In our opinion, any self-respecting individual with too much cash for their own good would seek out the newer Sirocco Edition of the 8800, but that's just us.[Via Unwired View]
Swarovski bejewels Samsung's 707SC for Softbank
Softbank Mobile customers finding that their Samsung-sourced 707SCs aren't getting the sheer volume of mesmerized stares they were hoping for, we come bearing good news: you can now re-up the chances for hypnotizing passers-by into a dazzled trance with crystal encrusted versions of your phone, courtesy of the good folks at Swarovski. Personally, with its HSDPA, QVGA display, video calling, and 2 megapixel cam, we thought the 11.2mm phone was hot enough as-is -- but adding sparkle never hurts. We guess.[Via Gearfuse]
Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewels screens
QJ has got a slew of new screenshots from the upcoming Inuyasha game Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel, a RPG game based on the popular anime. While we can't say we've watched the show with any kind of regularity, we can't get enough of those RPGs and the prospect of a new tickles our fancy something fierce. Join us in drooling over the screens, won't you?
Rumored jewelcrafting abilities
I'm not sure whether I can classify this one as a rumor, since it doesn't come with the requisite blurry screenshot. And while there's no verification to any of these gem abilities, they're certainly interesting if true -- providing a wide range of small buffs that will be interesting to see in different combinations on items. Blizzard's own jewelcrafting information suggests that items will have a a varying number of sockets and that some sockets will be specific to certain types of gems (you'll get a bonus ability for socketing them with the appropriate type of gem). Read on for the specific gem abilities.
