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Ads on Facebook are spreading misinformation about anti-HIV drugs
While many are focused on Facebook's unwillingness to curb false political ads, there appears to be another misinformation campaign going unchecked. The Guardian and GLAAD have noted that personal injury law firms continue to run Facebook ads making false claims about the risks of Truvada, a drug meant to reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission. Some float the specters of bone loss and kidney damage despite evidence that the risks of either are "not clinically significant," according to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
A generic HIV prevention drug should arrive in 2021
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead has agreed to release its exclusive patent to manufacture and sell the HIV-prevention drug Truvada. This means we could see a generic version of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) on the market earlier than expected. The news is seen as a win for individuals who may be at a greater risk of contracting HIV.
Bill and Melinda Gates back an implant that could prevent HIV
You don't have to wait until after an infection to fight HIV. A technique known as pre-exposure prophylaxis has you taking preemptive medicine on a regular basis, greatly reducing the chances that HIV will take root in the first place. Needless to say, such a treatment could change the world if done well -- and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make sure that it's as easy as possible. They're investing $140 million in an Intarcia Therapeutics program that will develop an under-the-skin pump implant (you're looking at it above) that will deliver a steady stream of anti-HIV drugs in 6- or 12-month batches. Instead of having to remember to take medicine every day, you'd only have to top up once or twice a year.
White House hopes to fight climate change with data sharing
Despite some scary evidence that climate change is affecting weather patterns and even shifting how the Earth moves, 43 percent of Americans wouldn't spend a buck a month to fight it. With Congressional deadlock standing in the way of a national strategy to combat it, the White House has launched its own endeavor to find solutions. In typical Obama fashion, it involves making government data public. The Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP) will give organizations access to troves of environmental information so they can make their own plans to counter climate change.
Encrypted Text: Readiness gone, Preparation next?
As part of the pre-Mists patch 5.0.4, in August 2012, hunters were given Readiness as a baseline ability. Readiness is a carbon copy of Preparation, which has been a rogue workhorse for years. While I am typically hesitant to give hunters any more ink, there's something interesting for them in the patch 5.4 PTR notes. Readiness is being removed from hunters entirely, and their cooldowns are being rebalanced to compensate. An ability that was considered so crucial that it was made baseline is being pulled completely just a year later. Cooldown management has been an integral part of the rogue class since day one. Preparation has been our go-to PvP ability since its inception. The entire World of Roguecraft video series was predicated by how amazing Preparation is. A rogue with full cooldowns is a deity, a rogue without cooldowns is a pushover. When Preparation was made baseline in patch 5.2 (January 2013), I was certain that the once-optional ability would be a permanent part of our arsenal. Now, I'm wondering if Preparation's next on Blizzard's chopping block.
Encrypted Text: It's time to eat cake
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. Preparation has always been our most controversial ability. From the early episodes of The World of Roguecraft, to the chart-topping AR/Prep days of BC, to our recent Prep vs Step conundrum, Preparation has always been the focal point of rogue cooldown discussion. Many rogues have advocated removing Preparation altogether and adjusting our cooldowns to be potent without it. Several other classes don't see the ability as a fair technique, lending itself to our image as a cooldown-reliant class. Blizzard clearly has other thoughts on the matter, as the ability will become baseline and available to all rogues at level 68 in the upcoming 5.2 patch. If I was making a list of rogue talents that might become baseline abilities, Preparation would've been all the way at the bottom. Many vocal rogues have been asking for Shadowstep to be added to every rogue's repertoire to resolve the Prep vs Step debate, but I don't think anyone saw the reverse happening. The decision to baseline Preparation is a clear buff for rogues everywhere.
Encrypted Text: The 4 unspoken laws of rogue duels
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. I used to read a rogue blog called World of Ming, where a rogue named Ming would explore our class' capabilities in the world of high-end PvP. My favorite posts were his deep-dives into dueling. Ming had the belief that the rogue class should be able to defeat any other class in a series of duels. If you wanted to fight Ming, you just needed to log onto the PTR servers to find him dueling outside of a major city. Blizzard has often claimed that WoW simply isn't balanced around 1v1 combat. In fact, even the 2v2 Arenas are considered to be a lower tier of competition -- complete with lower compensation. The 3v3 and 5v5 Arenas are heralded as the truly balanced PvP platforms. In spite of Blizzard's disclaimer, the fact is that many people consider duels to be the ultimate form of PvP. The rogue-vs.-rogue duel has long been held as the truest test of skill between two brothers of the shadows. If you ever plan to engage in a rogue duel, you need to know about the sacred code of dueling conduct that every rogue should follow.
Encrypted Text: Preparation vs. Shadowstep
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. The new Mists of Pandaria talent calculators are designed to promote tough choices. None of the new rogue talents are awful, and all of them will see play at some point. Deadly Throw and Shuriken Toss could be useful to attack distant targets. Paralytic Poison and Nerve Strike could allow us to reduce our target's outgoing damage significantly. The battle between Versatility and Anticipation will likely be decided on a fight-by-fight basis. The truth is that all of these choices pale in comparison to the ultimate decision in the new rogue talent tree: Preparation or Shadowstep. Burst of Speed is certainly interesting, but it doesn't have the history of Prep or ShS. Subtlety's two signature spells are facing off in a battle of utility abilities. Putting both of these abilities on the same talent tier is sadistic, but we have to cope with the reality of this decision.
The Road to Mordor: Packing for Isengard
Isengard. Isengard. ISENGARD. It's all I can think about since last week's E3 reveal, and I know I'm not the only one. For some reason, having a firm launch date for Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion feels like a starting pistol's gone off, and we're beginning the race to the expansion in earnest. Of course, we're not in that much of a hurry at this point. We still have well over three months to go, the beta has yet to begin, and something tells me that Turbine's got a few more tricks to pull out of its top hat before all is said and done. Still, I'm officially in "Go!" mode, and I bet I'm not the only one. While I can't make September 27th come any sooner, I can think of six ways that we can prepare for our upcoming journey into Dunland and beyond. Seven, if you include putting together the absolute perfect outfit to slay Saruman in, but that's a given. Hit the jump and I'll walk you through everything you should be doing this summer to get ready for Rise of Isengard!
Anchor Bay's DVDO iScan VP50 goes 1080p-24
The always expensive (but equally coveted) DVDO HD video processor lineup just got even more attractive, as the Anchor Bay iScan VP50 can now take any SD or HD signal all the way to 1080p-24 without a hint of lag or artifacting. The free software update enables v1.04 of its "Film Technology" feature, which allows users to take any input (interlaced or progressive) and have it converted to 1,920 x 1,080 at 24 frames-per-second. So, how many of you are actually lucky enough to need this?[Via Audioholics]
