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San Fran's SFIV championships to host food drive
It appears Capcom is getting used to tapping the veins of semi-altruistic gamers. Its latest idea: "Street Fighter Fights Hunger." In conjunction with GameStop, the publisher will hold a food drive at the EVO Street Fighter IV US National Championship Finals, to be held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on April 18 at 7 pm PT.Food items will be given to the Second Harvest Food Bank and donations should be made in the form of canned goods or "nominal donations." Oh, you want to know what'll actually go down at this public event beyond the charitable stuff? Check out the details after the break.
Sparkplay LF Community Manager, PST
If you've been looking for a game that offers something off the beaten path - or a job in a gaming startup with potential in San Francisco - then you may be interested in the opportunity over at SparkPlay Media. According to a recent posting on their website, they're looking for a Community Manager for their upcoming MMO, Earth Eternal. They're looking for the normal medley of things for anyone who will work heavily as a liason between community and the internal customers; creativity, organization, communication, experience and excitement. That said, if you're in the Bay Area, have games industry experience, and are looking for a way to get into the MMO side of things, be sure to check out their job posting. For the rest of us who are just a wee bit too far away for the commute, we'll have to content ourselves with a gallery of tasty screenshots from Earth Eternal for now. %Gallery-48372%
Joystiq @ GDC 2009: We're preparing to rock you
It's that time of year again -- the Game Developers Conference is taking place in San Francisco. We're here in the City by the Bay, and will be rocking you all week with interviews, previews, news, and a joke or two. We've brought all of our blogger nerd gear with us, but this guy one-upped us by traveling with his very own guitar controller, complete with a flair-filled strap. We're tempted to strap an entire drum kit to our back, just to out-cool him.
Fallen Earth MMO tour will bring devs to GDC 09
We've mentioned a rather unique approach that the Fallen Earth team is taking to promote their upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO, a national tour across key cities in the United States. The Fallen Earth publicity tour began in North Carolina last month, meeting with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and they've just announced that they'll be working with the IGDA again at this month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Fallen Earth will co-sponsor the IGDA networking event at GDC on March 24 and developers will be on hand to speak about the game. Key Fallen Earth devs planning to attend include project manager Colin Dwan; associate project manager Dave Haydysch; content team lead Marie Croall; product manager Jessica Orr; and lead game designer Lee Hammock.
Capcom looking for San Franciscans to focus test 'secret upcoming titles'
We realize that this news likely only applies to a small portion of our readers, but if you live in the San Francisco Bay area, and are between the ages of 13 to 24, and possess hands with which to grasp and manipulate controllers, Capcom is currently accepting applicants to focus test a few "secret upcoming titles." If you are applicable under said criteria, and don't have plans next Wednesday evening, you can apply online for your chance at a few Capcom-flavored sneak peeks.If you don't live in the San Francisco Bay area, or don't fall between the requested age barriers, or lack the required appendages, this particular news item isn't completely without relevance -- Capcom is working on secret upcoming titles. Aren't you, like, totally intrigued?
Comcast zipping Extreme 50Mbps internet to Bay Area
Another week, another round of DOCSIS 3.0 implementations from Comcast. This time, we've learned that two new higher-speed internet tier options will be made available in Silicon Valley, Tri-Valley and Monterey, with rollouts continuing to San Francisco, Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area later this year. Needless to say, that means Extreme 50Mbps and Ultra 22Mbps packages are within reach, and better still, Comcast will be doubling the speed of existing connections for most users at no extra cost. The full list of available neighborhoods is tucked away in the read link, but before you go hunting, you should know that Extreme 50 will run you $139.95 per month while Ultra 22 will set you back $62.95. Oh, and both of 'em just help you reach your 250GB cap that much faster each month.
San Francisco submits permit app for wave power project
San Francisco's been mulling this one over for some time now, but at long last, the city has taken a monumental step in turning nearby waves into energy. Mayor Gavin Newsom has stated that his city has just "submitted a preliminary permit application to the federal government to develop a wave power project" off of San Fran's coast. When the project is fully operational, it could generate anywhere between 10 and 100 megawatts of energy, and it has the potential to create upwards of 100 jobs. If all goes to plan, electric power would be generated from waves that are around eight miles off the west coast of SF, and the mayor also stated that he'll be making sure that the impact on marine animals, fishing, shipping and recreational uses is minimized should he get the green light.
T-Mobile USA goes live with $50 unlimited voice plans in San Francisco
We heard that T-Mobile USA was looking to dabble in the low-end arena with $50 unlimited voice plans, and sure enough, the carrier has gone live with 'em in the City by the Bay. In a surprise move aimed to rival similar plans from lesser known providers such as Boost Mobile, T-Mob is offering "loyal customers" the option to move to a $50 flat-rate calling plan. In order to get the offer, you must be located in San Francisco (for now, anyway), have been a subscriber in good standing for at least 22 months and want to save a few bucks on your mobile calling. It's stated that stores in the SF area are actively promoting the new plan, which should be fairly successful given that users won't have to extend their current contracts in order to switch. Toss in unlimited texting, data and Everlasting Gobstoppers, and we're sold.[Image courtesy of Bicycle-Heaven]
San Francisco City Hall gets its own electric vehicle charging stations
It's a long way from the city-wide infrastructure that GM and others envision, but San Francisco has now at least taken one more step in that direction with three new Smartlet electric vehicle charging stations installed right outside City Hall. Those chargers, on loan from Coulomb Technologies, will be used to charge vehicles from ZipCar, City CarShare, and one unspecified "plug-in car in the City of San Francisco municipal fleet," and Mayor Gavin Newsom (an early EV1 owner himself) says he hopes they are just the first of more to come, adding that he's also talking to other Bay Area cities about purchasing additional electric vehicles for municipal fleets. In related news, AutoblogGreen also got confirmation from ZipCar that its first plug-in vehicle is in fact a one-off converted PHEV Prius designated specifically for City Hall, though it apparently didn't elaborate on any future plug-in vehicles.[Via AutoblogGreen]
CCP Games to present at Game Developers Conference 2009
CCP Games, the developer of EVE Online, has announced that they'll have a presence at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month. The company's CMO, Ryan Scott Dancey (aka CCP RyanD), is slated to speak about how CCP uses social network engineering to reach out to more subscribers. Specifically, he'll describe how the company puts Tipping Point theory (about how information spreads) into action. That session is titled: "Network Marketing: Leveraging Social Networks to Grow an MMO".On the technology front, CCP's CTO Halldor Fannar will speak at GDC 2009 in a session geared more towards programmers and technical artists, "From Evolution to Revolution: Upgrading the Graphics Engine of EVE Online". Fannar will lay out the issues CCP has faced with upgrading EVE's graphics engine, and explain how their ideas went from being on paper to a shipping game. His presentation will show the tools in action that allowed them to "take the required generational leap in art production." Game Developers Conference 2009 runs from March 23-27 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, and as we've mentioned previously, will have a lot to offer MMO fans of all genres.
GM to mold San Fran and D.C. into early adopter markets for Chevy Volt
If General Motors has anything to say about it, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. will be the first early adopter markets for its plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. The company is currently working with the local municipalities to flesh out the details. The goal is to make tax incentives for purchasing electric cars and build an infrastructure that'll support them. San Francisco is already part of the way there since they, along with San Jose and Oakland, have already endorsed Better Place's $1 billion plan to put electric grids in the Bay Area. Of course, GM's deeds aren't exactly selfless -- after all, more markets mean more potential Volt customers -- but if this is what it takes to foster an eerily silent rush hour, we're all for it.[Via Yahoo!]
WiFi Rail finalizes 20 year deal to bring internet to BART trains
Nearly a year to the day after we heard that WiFi trials were beginning on some of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, WiFi Rail has announced a deal that'll last a score and provide high-speed WiFi "throughout the BART transit system and on all BART commuter trains." Reportedly, the network has successfully been tested to handle loads and provide speeds in excess of 15Mbps on trains moving 81 miles-per-hour. As it stands, four downtown San Francisco stations and some segments of the tunnels are already fully functional, but it'll take until the end of 2010 before the entire network is complete. There's no mention of what the price table will end up looking like, though we are told that subscriptions will be available by day, month or year. Now, if only this would filter out to every other mass transit entity in America, we'd be just jolly.
Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 high-speed internet rolls to Chicago
Another month, another city or two seeing the beauty that is DOCSIS 3.0. As Comcast continues on its quest to offer the blazing fast internet speeds in 100 percent of its markets by 2010, we're told that the great city of Chicago (or its suburbs, more specifically) now has access. Existing customers will see a speed boost at no additional cost, and those still unsatisfied can opt for a $62.95 per month 22Mbps down / 5Mbps up or $139.95 per month 50Mbps / 10Mbps connection. DSLReports has also mentioned that San Francisco should be getting upgraded in the not-too-distant future, so if you call the Bay your home, keep an eye out.[Via Electronista]
New eco ferry uses wind and solar to get you to the Rock -- and hopefully back
Cruising across the open seas may seem like a great way to get close to nature, but take a look at the sheer quantity of fuel most boats suck down as they power through waves (and manatees) and you'll realize the truth. Thus a new breed of eco-friendly boat has arisen, the latest entry being San Francisco's Alcatraz Cruises Hornblower Hybrid ferry. The ship, which will take passengers on trips to the Rock and elsewhere in the Bay, uses two vertical wind turbines and a solar panel to power its on-board electronics, with any excess juice going to the boat's propulsion systems -- which still rely mostly on diesel to get the craft and its passengers where they're going. Okay, so it's perhaps not as green as other eco-boats we've seen, but a tour on this one should be a good bit more affordable when it enters service early this year. [Via Inhabitat]
Comcast dishes a dozen HD channels in San Francisco, California
Comcast last added in a new swath of high-def channels in the San Francisco Bay area this past April, so it goes without saying that residents are eager for some fresh material. Beginning on November 25th, customers in SF, California will see a fresh dozen hit the EPG, and those are: Bravo HD, Cartoon Network HD, CNBC HD, E! HD, Encore HD, FOX Business Network HD, FOX News Channel HD, FX HD, Hallmark Movie Channel HD, QVC HD, Speed HD and Travel Channel HD. Oh, and TBS HD will be joining the crowd on December 8th in certain CA markets, including Chico, Calaveras, Corning, Davis, Grass Valley, Modesto, Oroville, Patterson, Placerville, Roseville and Tracy. Nice, right?
Monocular San Francisco artist wants webcam installed in her prosthetic eye
Tanya Vlach, a San Francisco-based artist, lost her eye in a 2005 car accident, and now keeps a blog chronicling the "monocular life." She's got a real-enough looking prosthetic peeper, but Tanya's a self-described "sci-fi geek," and, with the approval of her doctor, she's put out a call for engineers to build her a camera... for her fake eye. Likening her possible future self (the one with the eye-cam installed) to a cyborg, Tanya reasons that her aesthetic-only eye could become a source of "augmented reality," and she's got a list of possible specs up on her blog for would-be engineers to begin with. Just some of the things mentioned for inclusion are: DVR capabilities, MPEG-4 compression, a microSD slot, A/V out, and Bluetooth. In other words, Tanya Vlach is insanely cool. Emphasis on the insanely part.[Via Digg]
California high-speed train system to link NorCal and SoCal at 220mph
Like it or not California, it's about time you folks ponied up for a serious rail system. With the recent passage of Proposition 1A, the wheels have started to churn on a sophisticated bullet train system that will eventually link San Diego in the south with Sacramento in the north, with stops at most every major city in between (LA and San Francisco included). The 800-mile network of trains would operate at upwards of 220mph and cost around $45 billion to construct, but it'll create 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year. Unfortunately, there's no set time frame for completion just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this one finished before that Anaheim - Las Vegas maglev project even gets off the ground.[Via BoingBoing]
Apple "notebook" event is on, October 14th!
The rumors were true folks. Apple is staging an invitation-only Town Hall event in Cupertino next Tuesday, October 14th at 10AM PDT. It's absolutely safe to say they'll be showing off new laptops... and you know we'll be there live! Will this be an unveiling of a whole new form factor? Will this "Brick" mystery be put to bed? Will they come in rainbow colors? Tune in to find out.
Valkyria Chronicles coming to San Francisco this Friday
Although the game doesn't officially release until November, Sega is throwing a Valkyria Chronicles party in San Francisco's Metreon store. The venue, made famous for its real-world PlayStation Store, will be host to Sega producer Ryutaro Nonaka. An exclusive community Q&A will be held at the store, and signed posters will be given away at the event. You could win a free PS3, so if you're in the neighborhood, you may want to consider attending. Where: The Sony Metreon, 101 4th Street, San Francisco, CAWhen: 5 - 9 PM Pacific, Friday, Sept 26th [Thanks, Aaron W.!]
NBC11 gives Bay Area residents local news in HD
Well, if it isn't about time. KNTV (the Bay Area NBC affiliate) has just recently switched its local newscasts to high-definition, giving residents of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose the opportunity to catch up on nearby happenings in glorious HD. There has been no big to-do about it, but a video waiting after the jump shows a clip promoting the refreshed NBC Bay Area HD. So, anyone in the area ditching their favorite talking heads to view others in high-def?[Thanks, John]
