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Yes, people still play Meridian 59
Meridian 59 may not enjoy the population numbers it did almost 20 years ago, but there are still a handful of dedicated players playing every day. A recent article at The New Yorker takes a more personal look at a few of these remaining players. "I've tried to leave the game many times over the years," admits Tim Trude, a 33-year-old player from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tim first started playing the MMO at the age of 15. "But I always return. Some of these people I've grown up with. We have been enemies or friends forever." The article goes on to quote other players and document a brief history of the game's development, including the source code release in 2012. Meridian 59 is looking to launch on Steam sometime this year, and its current code-maintainer is looking forward to the possibility of bringing in new players once again.
The Engadget Show 45: Security with Cory Doctorow, John McAfee, Microsoft, the EFF and more!
Welcome to the wild world of security and surveillance. From CCTV to massive government spying initiatives, there's no escaping it. Recent high-profile leaks have served as a sobering reminder of just how present it is in all of our lives, so we figured what better time to take a deep dive? We kick things off with one of the strangest (and raciest) segments in Engadget Show history: a visit to the set of John McAfee's latest web video. The one-time security software guru and fugitive discusses the state of antivirus, bath salts and offers some unsolicited advice to Edward Snowden, one exile to another. Trevor Timm of the Electronic Frontier Foundation sits down for an animated discussion of recent NSA surveillance revelations, including a breakdown of which major tech companies are doing right by their user base. Boing Boing editor, sci-fi author and privacy activist Cory Doctorow climbs a tree in San Diego to discuss Wikileaks, the NSA, the "surveillance state" and more. "Edward Snowden is a hero," he begins, not speaking on behalf of the EFF, mind you -- and things get really good from there. Cryptographer and computer security specialist Bruce Schneier also chimes in on wiretapping, whistleblowing and "security theater." Next up, we pay a visit to The New Yorker's midtown office to talk Strong Box, the magazine's secure deposit box for anonymous whistleblowers. The team behind Ubisoft's Watch Dogs joins us to discuss partnering with computer security company Kaspersky to bring a realistic portrait of the world of hacking to its much anticipated title. And one-time hacker turned head of security community outreach at Microsoft, Katie Moussouris, discusses Redmond's Bluehat bounty program and working with the hacking community to build safer software. All that, plus the usual prognosticating from resident philosopher John Roderick in this month's Engadget Show, just after the break.
Daily Update for August 7, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Amazon bringing 400 magazines, newspapers, flame retardants to Kindle Fire
It's been a busy week for the Kindle Fire. First came news that Amazon would be bringing Facebook, Hulu and "several thousand" other apps to its forthcoming tablet, and now, we've got confirmation that hundreds of magazines and newspapers are on their way, as well. Yesterday, the company announced that more than 400 "full-color" titles will be available on the Kindle Fire Newsstand, including Us Weekly, The New Yorker and Reader's Digest, among others. Users who subscriber before March 1st, meanwhile, will be able to access a full 17 Condé Nast titles for free, as part of a three-month offer. Amazon is also promising plenty of interactive editions with built-in video and audio, which you'll be able to check out for yourself next week, when the Fire begins shipping. For more details, check out the full press release after the break.
Conde Nast brings The New Yorker to iPad, seven other magazines by month's end
Yet another print powerhouse is bringing its wares to the iPad, all lining up neatly ahead of Apple's upcoming WWDC. First it was Time, then it was Hearst, and now Condè Nast is joining the fun with very similar terms to the other two. Starting this week with The New Yorker, digital versions will be available for free to current print edition subscribers. For new subscribers it's $5.99 per month or $59.99 a year, which gets you 47 issues. Seven other magazines from the publisher are coming by the end of May, including Wired and Vanity Fair, priced at $1.99 each or $19.99 annually. That matches up perfectly with the earlier announcements, meaning Apple and the publishers seem to finally be getting along. Isn't it nice when everyone gets along?
Shigeru Miyamoto profiled: legendary game designer, interior decorating enthusiast
Using traditional conversion metrics, The New Yorker's got ten pictures worth of words on Nintendo's iconic designer Shigeru Miyamoto, arguably the father of modern video games whose cerebral impulses have spawned the likes of Mario and Legend of Zelda. Don't expect any bombshell news (spoiler: the company's hard at work on a portable, glasses-free 3D console), but it's definitely a thorough and entertaining read on the origins of Nintendo's gaming interests and Miyamoto himself. Bonus: given how Miyamoto's non-work time with exercise and gardening became the inspiration for WiiFit and Pikmin, feel free to overanalyze how his fixation with moving around his living room will turn into the next multi-platinum title.
New Yorker, Gourmet iPad apps debut
Two highly-anticipated iPad app releases have finally hit the App Store, and they're both magazines: The New Yorker and Gourmet Live. The New Yorker (free for the app, US$4.99 per issue) joins Gourmet Live as the latest magazine apps from publisher Condé Nast. The navigation is simple: tap anywhere on the screen to bring up the controls. You can quickly move between sections and articles with the scrubber or table of contents. For more leisurely reading, swipe between pages. One unique feature is how the magazine's famous cartoons are handled. Tap anyone to bring up a scrollable cartoon gallery. Plus, you can enter the regular caption contest right from within the app. It looks great, and we're eager to try it out. Meanwhile, ill-fated Gourmet Magazine has been reborn as the iPad app Gourmet Live (the current issue is free; there's no word of future pricing). As John Gruber points out, Gourmet is now in the unique position of existing as an iPad app only. Its content is organized by topic and theme, and it features recipes, slideshows, video and a lot more. For now, there's no subscription option for either, but rumors suggest that could change soon. WIRED has come down in price since its introduction, but it remains to be seen if customers will embrace the per-issue pricing model. Other Condé Nast properties have transitioned to the iPad well, like WIRED, Epicurious and GQ. Finally, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola have produced a hilarious short film introducing The New Yorker's app. Check it out on the next page (Flash, sorry).
Adobe releases Adobe Ideas for iPad
Just because Adobe can't have Flash on the iPad doesn't mean that they want to miss out on the Apple tablet bandwagon. Adobe has released a pretty cool app called Adobe Ideas. Adobe Ideas is a sketchbook for the iPad. The app features vector-based drawing tools, zoom control, sizable brushes, layers, and the ability to email PDF documents for editing in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. While Adobe Ideas isn't as feature-rich as Brushes for iPad, it is a free app that starving artists will appreciate (though, if you've bought an iPad, I don't think you technically count as a "starving" artist). Brushes for iPhone was used by Jorge Colombo to paint a cover of The New Yorker. It's going to be cool to see how artists start embracing the iPad and its larger screen with apps like these. Picasso may have had his Moleskine (may have), but the next great artists might just be sketching their budding visions on the iPad.
Conde Nast stakes out 'leadership position' on iPad
This isn't the 80s anymore. It's not good enough to just pump out lusty hardware like the Walkman in order to drive generous profit streams. In the modern age of consumer electronics, it takes content and an entire ecosystem of software and services to keep customers locked in and buying your gear. That's why we're paying close attention to content deals for the suddenly hot tablet category of devices. Conde Nast has been teasing custom content for next generation tablets for months, lead by mock-ups of its Wired magazine property. So it's no surprise to hear Charles H. Townsend, president and CEO of Conde Nast say he wants to "take a leadership position," on Apple's iPad. According to the New York Times, the company will announce plans today (via an internal company memo) for its first custom iPad digital pubs: the April issue of GQ (there's already an iPhone app for that), followed by the June issues of Wired and Vanity Fair, and then The New Yorker and Glamour sometime in the summer. This first cut represents a broad swath of demographics as Conde Nast trials Apple's newest platform in order to see what works. We should also expect a variety of prices and advertising models during the initial experimentation period. Also noteworthy is Conde Nast's two-track development approach: the iPad version of Wired will be developed with Adobe (as we heard) but the others will be developed internally -- all the digital mags will be available via iTunes although Wired will also be made available in "non-iTunes formats." Assuming it finds a model that works, then Conde Nast plans to digitize other magazines in the fall.
Xbox 360 update to add Music Games Store, news section
Microsoft has revealed new details about its Fall 2009 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update -- yes, the same update set to bring Twitter, Last.fm and Facebook support. New to the list of update features is a dedicated Xbox Live storefront for music games DLC and a specific area of Inside Xbox called "News and More."The Music Games Store will take a big step toward dealing with the clutter on Xbox Live, offering a one-stop shop for all Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Lips DLC. Aside from the convenience of a single destination for all music game DLC purchases, shoppers will also be able to preview each track from right there in the Dashboard. As for the News and More section of Inside Xbox, it's described as "a regularly-updated stream of content from MSNBC.com, MSN Autos, The New Yorker and Dilbert." We're totally expecting some Akira-like monstrosity that is equal parts balloon boy, coffee station chit-chat and political cartoons we don't understand; though we're sure in reality the feature will be less scary and far less life-threatening.
New Yorker: Wii doesn't have to win to be a winner
We know, The New Yorker isn't the first name in video game writing, but staff writer James Surowiecki is a well respected business writer whose most recent column, titled "In Praise of Third Place," is valuable reading for every fanboy whose metric for success is a simple market share ratio. Much of this stuff is old hat for anyone familiar with Nintendo's core strategy, or who have spent more than a few minutes in a flamewar with Nintendo loyalists, but Surowiecki's mainstream pitch is fascinating, full of references to business icons like GE's Jack Welch and Glengarry Glen Ross' Alec Baldwin character (what was his name again?). In short, the Wii ceded the video game arms race to big spenders like Microsoft and Sony and, lo and behold, it may be better off having done so! What would the big guy from downtown, from Mitch and Murray, say to that? It turns out third place isn't "you're fired!"[Thanks, Andrew]
The Complete New Yorker on an external drive (and DVD)
Tech and Sunday reading, two great tastes that taste great together, right? That's why you're reading this right now, hm? Well, prepared to get cultured, kids, because when you're done with your coffee and your Times and your Engadget, you can plug in the Complete New Yorker on an external drive (or DVD, if that's your bag) -- over 4,000 issues since 1925 of everyone's favorite high brow Nast pub, stocked to the brim with stories and poems your friends probably won't get, political commentary we sure as hell don't get, and classy, satirical cartoons everyone just pretends to get; all of which you can snag for $300. Go on, do ol' Eustace Tilley proud.[Via MetaFilter]
