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Tech industry is world's most trustworthy, says new survey
Who do you trust to "do what is right?" Your answer to that question will depend on how you interpret it, though we don't think there's too much room for ambiguity with the results from Edelman's 11th annual Trust Barometer survey. It shows the tech industry a clear 10 percent ahead of the rest of the corporate world in terms of trustworthiness, with the automotive (a favorite of ours) and telecommunications (really?) sectors following up in second and third. The results come from the polling of 5,075 "informed" members of the public from 23 nations. We reckon all the companies involved in making the business of chipmaking quite so reputable should pat themselves on the back -- unless their names are Motorola, Samsung or Sony Ericsson, those guys' failures with Android updates haven't really contributed to the credibility of their industry at all.
Wasteland Diaries: Faction interaction
The factions in Fallen Earth are a diverse bunch, each one bent on dominating the other five. They all have their reasons to want to impose their will upon the inhabitants of the Grand Canyon Province. They are all also very narrow-minded in their approach to rebuilding society. They are all very intolerant of the other factions and will impede and harass them at every opportunity. Some factions (those on the opposite side of the wheel) espouse downright hatred of their diametrically opposed faction and kill its members on sight. The factions also have sub-factions which usually straddle the beliefs of an allied faction. Each faction in Fallen Earth has one arch-enemy, two enemies, and two allies. The two allies are sometimes called the shoulder factions due to their position on the faction wheel. The allied factions, however, are enemies to one another. This can complicate relations in multi-factional task forces. It can sometimes lead to fighting one allied faction to appease the other. Sometimes the ally of yesterday becomes the enemy of tomorrow. Yes, it makes for some intriguing politics and some excellent canonical roleplaying situations. But when players are interjected into the politics, it can get downright confusing. After the cut, I'll describe the faction mechanics in more detail and the players' effect on the wheel as well.
Children checking out vintage gadgets continues to be an enthralling experience to watch
The video we've embedded after the break has been around for a few weeks, but we simply couldn't resist posting it. As you'll see, it's a video (in French, but with English subtitles) of children contemplating a ton of vintage gear including the Game Boy, a Colecovision cartridge, and several sizes and shapes of computer discs. Their reactions -- especially if you were alive when most or all of these gadgets were the cutting edge -- is pretty incredible. Like we said, the video (with some pretty clunky subtitles) is after the break.
Bluetooth headset comes with its own iPhone app
The Sound ID is a Bluetooth headset with its own iPhone app. EarPrint is an app created just to control the sound of the headset -- you can tweak the audio in and out, change volume, and even find a lost headset directly from the iPhone itself. Not exactly revolutionary (personally, I've never really found a reason to use a Bluetooth headset -- when the actual iPhone didn't work for me, the wired headset works fine), but it's a nice bit of added functionality, especially if you know you'll always be using this headset with an iPhone. The Sound ID is available for $130 (there are many cheaper BT headsets out there, but for the money it's a respectable piece of tech), and the EarPrint app is free.
Post-keynote TUAW prediction scorecard: How did we do?
Yesterday we pooled our predictions together to try and predict what would happen at the iPad presentation today. How did we all do? Sang Tang: Sang was the closest in terms of the iPad's screen size -- 9.6" prediction vs. 9.7" actual size. However, the iPad has neither wireless HDMI nor a front-facing camera (or, indeed, a camera of any kind). Score: 1/3. Erica Sadun: Erica was off on screen size, but was correct in predicting that the iPad would look and function much like an iPod touch. However, by all appearances the iPad doesn't add any new revolutionary gestures, and without a camera of any kind, any augmented reality applications are going to be very limited in scope. She was correct in saying there'd be no "mind-blowing new tech onboard" and optional nationwide wireless with a monthly fee. Score: 3/5. David Winograd: David was also off on screen size (though just barely), cameras, and new gestures. He was correct in predicting a keyboard dock and an optional data plan, but wrong about iPhone tethering and iPhone OS 4.0. Score: 2/7. More scores and the TUAW total after the break!
Plain English Campaign wants to bring down walls of technobabble, rule the world
So look, we fully understand that not everyone "gets" technology-related lingo -- we've had to walk our mums and dads through setting up a WLAN router with a WPA2 password and 1337 encryption many, many times. But this... this is just comical. Peter Griffiths, who we can only imagine looks and speaks exactly like Peter Griffin (pictured), is hoping that his Plain English Campaign can knock down the "walls of techobabble" by "pulling our heads out of the digital clouds and using plain English." Ironic, really, given that most of the technologically illiterate wouldn't know that a digital cloud actually refers to an off-site storage hub where information is exchanged. At any rate, it seems the campaign is pushing to have flummoxing terms such as digital TV, phone jack, desktop and dongle (yes, seriously) changed, or at worse, have them defined clearly in a dictionary that precisely no one would ever read.
Fallon promises game premieres 'movie premiere' status
This Monday, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" begins and Conan O'Brien ascends the ranks of late nightdom into the much-vaunted "Tonight Show" position. Why is this exciting news for you, you ask? Because Fallon loves Felicia Day! Wait, no, that's not it. It's because Fallon, like Engadget's Josh Topolsky, is a big fan of comically oversized iPhones. Wait, that's not it either.No friends, it's because, speaking with Canada.com, Fallon said, "We're going to treat a video game premiere as if it was a movie premiere. My generation grew up with the computer. We grew up with the Internet. We live in a video game type of world - video games are second nature to us. Games make more money, as an industry, than the film industry." He's certainly got a point. We'll be on the lookout for Mr. Fallon's promises on March 2nd, when his show premieres. And ya know, Jimmy, if you're ever looking for experts in the gaming field ... your friends at the 'Stiq are always available.
Fixing instance server errors
You may have seen this same error what9000 is getting every time he tries to enter an instance: he gets bounced out of the portal and "Additional Instances Can't be Launched" pops up on the screen. Just in case you've never quite heard exactly how the game works, the World of Warcraft is actually a series of servers, and as you travel across it, you contact more than one system of computers. Your realm is one group of servers, but within that group, there are many different computers sending information to and from yours -- when you're in Azeroth, you're talking to one server, when you go out to Outland, you visit another, and in Northrend you're on yet another. And there are even servers that track non-location information: how much money you have, what you're wearing, and so on.Likewise, instances have their own system of servers, which is why you can sometimes be in an instance when the world server "outside" will go down, and if you leave that instance you'll get disconnected. And Instance servers can be overloaded as well. This error message is likely a way for Blizzard to keep from crashing the instance servers -- if too many instances of a dungeon have already been created, new players trying to get in are not allowed.
Face to interlace: Up-close view of PSP Brite
Out of all the frightening images we've been subjected to this Halloween, this one easily ranks as the most terrifying. It's an intensely intimate view of the PSP Brite (or PSP-3000 if you want to get all technical) and the screen that's drawn some disapproving squints in recent weeks. The folks at Logic-Sunrise have apparently peered at the brighter screen (magnified by a factor of 40), pinning the blame for the perceived interlacing issue squarely on our ex-friend, the now horizontally lined, observable darker blue pixel. Oh, when we're done with you, pixel, you'll be all shades of black and ... well, blue.[Via Engadget]
Flickr Find: iPhone cubism
This little glitch has never happened to my iPhone, though I wish it had -- there's a glitch in the iPhone's camera that will occasionally cause it to slice up pictures like this, and our friend Veronica Belmont created a whole pool of the glitchy photos called iPhone cubism. Of course, if you want a picture of your little girl, it's more frustrating than anything else, but in an artistic sense, some of the pictures are really benefited by the random slicing. As if the iPhone didn't do enough, now it's throwing some art into the mix.Of course, it's a bug, not a feature. Since several people are reporting this as a problem after 2.0 was released, we're guessing it's a software issue, perhaps a problem with syncing the little light sensor chip in the iPhone's camera. If you have some great pictures of this stuff, throw them into the pool on Flickr, and hopefully for the less artistic (and less bug-patient) among us, Apple will get this fixed soon.Thanks, Jason!
New Champions Online screens finally feature cybernetic velociraptors
When it comes to MMOs, we've always felt there was a serious lack of cybernetic velociraptor representation. When contacting the coalition for better representation of cybernetic velociraptors (or CBRCV) the only comment we got was, "Screeee!" However, if you're as well-versed in "Velocish" as we are, you then know they were quite enamored with Champions Online's, uh, championing of them. Our take on the whole thing is that Cryptic should be formally rewarded for bringing to light the serious lack of these majestic and robotically-enhanced creatures in our games.Putting aside that white hot rage-inducing subject matter, we're happy to report that several new screens for Champions Online are out and they look technologically pleasing. There's a magical guy in there, but his demonic spittle is no match for the copious amounts of lightning and glowing buildings he's going up against. Not to mention the cybernetic velociraptors!%Gallery-17946%
FFV: A plumber and his DS
If there's one thing in this life we understand, it's the love for small gadgets that people often feel and exhibit. Heck, we turned an obsession into an actual job. That's how strong our love of the DS is. And, as one might imagine, Nintendo's iconic character Mario has a fondness for the DS, as well. You love your DS, Mario. You love it until the end of time.
Become the Dr. Frankenstein of the DS world
Let's get down to business: you can rebuild it. You can make it stronger. You can fix your own DS. Not that you would, since Nintendo has such amazing customer service, but the relative inexpensive price of the handheld means that you can feel free to tinker and disassemble your old one with no fear and get your learn on, as you purchase a newer model to keep you warm at night and actually play games. Replacing a screen, fixing a broken hinge and just about any other major overhaul you could need to do to your DS is covered in this guide. Handy, eh?
Tomb Raider engine to power Deus Ex 3
Adding itself to the rather small list of next-gen titles not using Epic's Unreal Engine, Eidos Montreal studio head Stephane D'Astous has confirmed to Develop that Deus Ex 3 will use fellow Eidos developer Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider engine to render its presumably post-apocalyptic environments. Said D'Astous, "We chose the Crystal engine because we plan to help develop this engine more and then share it back with the rest of the company, the other Eidos studios."The other in-house engine D'Astous considered was IO Interactive, who are responsible for the Hitman franchise and Kane & Lynch, the title currently vying for "Most Controversial Game of the Year" award. The original Deus Ex was designed by Warren Spector and Harvey Smith; although Spector is busy at Disney, perhaps the now out-of-work Smith can find a way to contribute to the new game (or, as Ludwig would put it, repent for Invisible War).
Blizzard's new Warden, and our privacy
Tech community Slashdot is going mad over a little present Blizzard apparently included with patch 2.3 this week: a brand new version of Warden (the program Blizzard uses to check for hacks, bots, and keyloggers) that they say effectively gives Blizzard total control over our computers. The technical stuff is a little hard to understand, but apparently Warden is what's called a "polymorphic program"-- that means that it actually hides from anyone looking at it exactly what it's doing and which files it's changing with a random code. Obviously, Blizzard wants to keep the program's activities secret from attackers-- if a hacker knows what Warden does, then he can more easily avoid it.In previous versions of Warden, this randomization was "easy to predict," but Slashdot is saying that the new version effectively hides from even the user exactly what Blizzard is doing on your computer. Now, there is no clear reason why Blizzard would want to do anything bad with your computer-- odds are that this new software is the most effective version they've yet developed at making sure you can play the game without fear of hacks or keyloggers, and that's all they want to do with it.But you should know that, according to "Captain Kirk," who wrote this article, Blizzard effectively has access to anything and everything on your computer, and can now edit or retrieve information at will without even you knowing what has happened. There's no reason not to trust Blizzard-- they're a high profile company with a long reputation of developing great software. But if a wayward employee at Blizzard wanted to steal your private information from your computer, or install a virus or malware on your PC, we're being told that this program will let them do it without your knowledge. You agreed to this-- it's in Section 14 of the Terms of Use-- and so it's up to you whether you trust Blizzard with your computer or not.WoW Insider has contacted Blizzard and asked them to clarify the situation if necessary-- we'll let you know if we hear anything from them.
40GB PS3s run cooler, quieter, use less energy
A report from German site Computer Base reveals that consumers giving up backward compatibility on their 40GB PS3s are at least getting something in return. The new systems utilize the new 65nm version of the Cell processor, reducing the power usage from 200 watts to 135 and further limiting the heat and noise the system gives off.With both the Xbox 360 and PS3 now having the cheaper, more efficient 65nm CPUs integrated into their designs, the race to 45nm can truly begin. After that? We're predicting microscopic quantum CPUs.[Via Engadget]
Currently unused component found in Wiimote
Before you go running off to troll post on various message boards, we'd like to give you some specifics. A recent CNN technology feature details some of the various chips and components found within the forty-dollar Wiimote. Among the Bluetooth converters and accelerometers is a component listed as an "audio translator," which "converts analog data such as human speech into a digital data stream. This feature is unused now but will probably be employed in future games." The approximate cost is listed at $2.00.So, what's the deal? First, there is no actual microphone (a device capable of converting vibrational energy into electrical signals) found within the Wiimote. Though basic electrical engineering principals allow a standard speaker to act in such a fashion, the signal quality and frequency response would be unacceptably low. This chip actually requires an expansion device for it to be used at all. So why add it? It's only two dollars, but this rather unnecessary addition has cost the company several dozen million dollars. We can only assume that Nintendo or significant third parties are planning a title utilizing an expansion microphone, which will be presumably cheap enough to bundle with a title and incur no markup in price.God knows the masses need a mainstream karaoke game (we know about Karaoke Revolution for the PS2, but it never really took off), and the Wii is just the system to do it. Like a Virginnnnn ... hey!
V-Tech game creator willing to abort game for a price
Australian Ryan Lambourn could have made his flash game based on the Virginia Tech Massacre and left it at that. However, the ensuing outrage and press coverage caused him to do something quite unusual -- hold the game for ransom. On his website he states that he'll take the game down from website Newgrounds if he receives $1000 USD, he'll take it down from his personal website if he receives $2000 and he'll apologize for creating the game for $3000.Danny Ledonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, writes on Lambourn's site, "It would appear to me that Ryan has no intention of doing much other than making money and gaining immediate recognition after the Virginia Tech shooting. Inevitably, comparisons between SCMRPG and VTech Rampage are being made right now. Some bloggers despise both games equally whereas others recognize a level of commentary that SCMRPG attempted which was not evident in VTR. For myself I wish to point out that SCMRPG was never a for-profit endeavor and thus I never posted statements like that which is on the VTR game's homepage"The only thing gamers can hope now is when this news hits the mainstream press they take a restrained approach and recognize that this is not an "industry game," and it never went through the ESRB process. Lambourn responds to Ledonne's statement saying, "Danny, the donation thing is there as a joke against all the people commanding me to take my game down. I didn't think anyone would donate money to it and so far my paypal account has proven me right."
Sony unveils new tools to live on the Edge
Empowering the development community, Sony has unveiled the PlayStation Edge: advanced graphics tools and technologies for PlayStation 3 development. A meeting on the tools is taking place later today. From the lecture announcement:"Three first party technology teams within Sony -- the WWS Europe Advanced Technology Group, WWS America ICE team, and WWS America Tools and Technology group -- have combined to create PlayStation Edge, a set of cutting edge technologies for imminent release to all PlayStation 3 developers. Rather than overarching engine, these teams have chosen to create specialized systems that demonstrate best practices of SPU and RSX utilization. A unique tool for RSX performance analysis, extensively used in the turning of first party titles, will also be presented."Those without technological backgrounds should find Wikipedia helpful. A video of Killzone 2 was shown last night to showcase the Edge technology. We'll be at the Edge presentation, hosted by Vince Diesi, Jon Olick and Mark Cerny, later today.
A PSP video solution
Sister, brother or father site Engadget (I never really looked at the family tree) has reported about a hardware solution to help PSP owners convert videos for their system of choice. The ADS Tech Instant Video To-Go is a USB stick format device that has a "hardware accelerator" enabling gamers to convert videos "up to five times faster than real time." The device supports the following file types: MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, RM, JPG, TIFF and MTP. ADS Tech also claims the device can reduce a 100 minute MPEG2/VOB into a 320x240 H.264 file in about twenty minutes. The Instant Video To-Go retails for $79.95 and may be a great solution for PSP video buffs looking for a quicker solution for format conversion.
