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Shhh: Today's hottest game video: Zelda secrets
Spoiler alert. Today's video pick is a GameTrailers tour through Twilight Princess secrets. The fanboys have surely won this game at least once by now, so the video will either show tricks they can recreate on their own, or they'll feel smug knowing they handled the game perfectly the first time.If you haven't bested the Zelda game yet, know that you'll never be able to un-watch the surprises after the break. Do you have the willpower to finish exploring the game first?
Ask WoW Insider: Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade?
It's time for this week's installment of Ask WoW Insider, wherein we pick a question you've sent and publish it for your fellow readers to answer. This week's question comes to us from Jacob H, who asks Where's the first aid trainer? Just kidding! Jacob, being a sensible and pragmatic fellow, wants to know your tips and tricks for earning the dough for that flying mount: "What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH? Thanks in advance for any advice." Do you have any money-making tips to share with Jacob? Don't forget to send us your questions at ask AT wowinsider DOT com -- what do you want to know? Your peers can help!
Breakfast Topic: Unexpected uses
One of the things I like about WoW is finding new, unusual ways to use old skills. For instance, I recently observed a bear druid using Feral Faerie Fire on critters. When I asked him why, he responded that it keeps him in combat, preventing rage decay. It's a very clever tactic, and one I'll be using once I get my druid high enough for it (then again, I'll probably be in cat form most of the time by then). Another classic off-schedule use is Detect Magic as a marker ("attack this mob" or whatever), though that's largely been eclipsed by raid markers. And speaking of raid markers, they're quite useful even when solo, since you can see them through walls.What are you favorite unusual uses for skills or features?
No more LFG channel... at least officially
Just a follow up to David's LFG post yesterday. My suggestion for the disappointing LFG system in place after the patch was for Blizzard to leave the system in place and also reinstate the LFG channel-- players who want to use the LFG system can then do so, and players who want to LFG the old fashioned (and messier, and more annoying, and yet more effective) way can do so as well.Blizzard, however, disagrees. Neth says clearly that the devs are standing behind the new system, and that no matter how much players ask for it, the old LFG channel ain't coming back. In fact, she even asks that players who don't want to use the LFG system use it anyway and give feedback on how to make it better. I'm not sure that's going to happen-- it's Blizzard's responsibility to get creative about solutions, not the players'. But in the meantime, lots of players have gotten creative anyway, and if you "/join lookingforgroup" on almost any server, you'll find a close enough approximation of what the LFG channel used to be. Until Blizzard fixes their interface and actually gets something in place that finds me the group I want doing exactly what I want, you can meet me there.
TUAW Tip: TextExpander can subscribe to text snippets
This isn't quite so much a killer trick or hack you can perform on TextExpander - an indispensable time-saving text abbreviation and expansion utility - as much as it's a neat feature that I just recently discovered. TextExpander can export a list of all your text snippets and corresponding abbreviations, and it can subscribe to such a list if you keep it somewhere, say, like your iDisk or an FTP/WebDAV space. If you have a desktop and lappy for working on the go like me, this can more or less enable rudimentary syncing for your snippets between Macs. Of course, it would rock if SmileOnMyMac would make this an official feature, with bonus points awarded for baking in both .Mac and FTP/WebDAV syncing (like Mr. Simmons did with NetNewsWire). For now though, this might be a decent solution for keeping your snippets n'sync.
6 Fresh iPod Tips from O'Reilly
The newest version of iPod: the Missing Manual just came out this month and it's author, J D Biersdorfer has a cool article up over at O'Reilly Digital Media to celebrate. In "Six Fresh Tips from iPod: the Missing Manual", you're likely to find at least one new tip that you hadn't previously known about. For me, it was the one about storing full-resolution photos on your iPod. Other tips include how to safely reset your iPod, loading songs from multiple computers onto a single iPod, and downloading iPod-ready videos from Google. Nice write-up and well worth a read. Full disclosure: I also write for O'Reilly.
TUAW Tip: type a letter to find a menu item
This isn't quite a mind-blowing feature, but it might come in handy to those who frequently need to track down a specific menu item or command. In the menus of any apps (including even menubar utilities), you can simply type the first letter of an item you're trying to find in the currently selected menu. This unfortunately doesn't seem to work across all menus, i.e. - you can't type a command to find it in any menu in the current app, but it should at least help with those "oh I *know* it's in this menu somewhere" moments. This also appears to work across all apps, Carbon (Finder, Firefox) included.Oh a broader scale, this trick works in many apps in various ways. iTunes is perhaps the best example: you can type the first few letters of an item you're looking for in your media list (or in the Sources list on the left), and iTunes will take you to that particular section, based on which column you're currently sorting items by, or which Browse column you have selected.
TUAW Podcast #12: Quicksilver and iCal
There wasn't much podcast-worthy news to chat about last week, so we thought it was the perfect time to do something different and bring you the first TUAW screencast evar! In this podcast (netcast!), I demonstrate that trick we covered last month of how to add iCal events and todos from Quicksilver, and I've ironed out a few details for a much more usable process. I figured this would be a great way to demonstrate some of Quicksilver's unique power with purty moving pictures, instead of the typical non-moving pictures. This screencast clocks in at 7:32, and it's 21MB of H.264 goodness.Speaking of goodness, we're soliciting feedback on this screencast (as if you need to be asked). This is my first screencast, so it's a little rough around the edges. I sound a lot better podcasting-wise, though I'm still working on picking up a Samson USB mic that reader Jules Stoop recommended, especially since I've seen it written up as *the* killer podcasting mic (I'm trying to find a good deal, since $80 is a little steep right now). But let us know what you think: too fast? Too slow? Do I sound like a muppet? I have a lot to learn about moving video between the big suites, as I have some good After Effects skills I could've used to spice this up, but I couldn't find a decent codec to preserve the quality when exporting the edited video out of Final Cut Pro (I especially am accepting workflow feedback on this topic). Rest assured, this is at the top my todos (pun intended!) for the next screencast, so I'll be able to add all sorts of flying text and 3D space aliens.But that's enough chatter for now: here's a direct link to TUAW Podcast #12, another link to our iTS podcast feed, and of course: our good ol' fashioned raw RSS feed.Update: Our iTS feed had a little bug that prevented this video from making the list, but it has since been fixed. Podcast #12 is ready to roll from the iTS Podcast Directory, so head over and grab a copy!
Mac Hints & Tips seeking donations to continue
Mac Hints & Tips is a killer site that catalogs (of all things) over 6,000 hints, tips, workarounds and other handy pieces of Mac OS X trickery. Compiled from Mac user groups, Apple websites and various other published and unpublished sources around the globe, this highly bookmarkable (and subscribeable) resource is run by one mere mortal by the name of Paul Taylor, who is seeking donations and subscriptions to keep the site and monthly PDF truckin'. Paul currently allows users to sign up for a yearly membership to gain access to the entire database of tips, searchable by keyword or application name, and he also accepts good ol' fashioned donations (though we've all seen how well those go), but he's trying to get the word out to see if the community can toss a few more dollars into the bucket o' hosting bills. To see whether Mac Hints & Tips could be worth your time and a donation or a membership, Paul keeps archives of the past three months available on the main page (in both HTML and PDF), in addition to the current issue.Check out Mac Hints & Tips, as I know I've found it to be an invaluable resource over the year or so I've been a reader, and it would be great to see such a killer resource get credit where it is most certainly due.
Video Sandwich: September 29, 2006
This is, like totally the most EXTREME version of the Video Sandwich, dude! In our first video, you see a skateboarder pulling off a trick with his PSP while boarding. You don't ever see Tony Hawk doing that these days. Pretty cool, huh?The bottom video features yet another one of the hilarious "Let Tekken Decide" advertisements. After seeing it, you'll be one of the few on this planet that can confidentally say you've seen an Asian pimp send someone to an alligator pit-of-doom. And that's an accomplishment, right?See also:Don't get mad! Get even with Tekken
How To: Add a new iCal event from Quicksilver
A while ago we covered Quicksilver plugins for Gmail and Google Calendar, allowing you to send an email or create a new event (respectively) right from within Quicksilver's interface. If you aren't a Google Calendar user though, Quicksilver also offers the same kind of plugin for iCal. Somehow I lost this in my bloggable bookmarks, but last month Tim Gaden at Hawk Wings broke down the syntax for adding an event to iCal with this plugin, and it's really pretty simple. When entering text, the event is written like so: name of event - date and time name of todo - date and time !!! name of todo - date and time (exclamation points add priority. Two for 'important,' three for 'where's the panic button?!') Tim's post says to type the date and time first, but I've found that this plugin also includes the date and time in the event/todo's title. However, it can still properly place the event if you simply swap the two pieces and type the name first, which allows you to keep more legible event names. Also, this plugin has the handy ability of specifying a calendar to add the new event/todo.Here's an example of how to make this work in Quicksilver if you're a little confused. Obviously, you need to install the iCal plugin if you don't have it, and you can get it from QS's plugin preference pane. Here's how this breaks down, and I have the steps pictured above: Invoke QS, press period to get a text entry pane, and type something like: "dinner and a movie - 9/30/06 6:00 pm" (sans quotes) Tab over to the second pane where you must specify you want to turn this text into an iCal event. I type 'ic' to find an iCal event, and 'ict' for a todo, but as always with QS, YMMV Tab over once more to have your choice of calendars, and press the right arrow key to get a drop down list of all your calendars, or simply start typing to find one of their names. Fortunately, since you've already chosen a specific action in the middle pane, only your calendars are listed in the third pane That's it; if you're an appointment and todo junkie, this should take a sizable bite out of your daily mousing. The one catch so far is that it doesn't seem possible to add reminders through this method, but if you find a way, feel free to share with the class.
Who needs a Mighty Mouse? Hold shift for horizontal scrolling
John Gruber linked the blog of Mike Rohde, a visual designer who discovered a slick scrolling trick built into Mac OS X: with a standard scrolling mouse, you can hold the shift key in most apps to scroll horizontally. Mike cites his day job apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, but this seems to work in NetNewsWire, Firefox and iTunes as well. I'm not sure if this is a 10.4 Tiger-only thing (anyone care to share?), but it's a handy little trick for those who aren't exactly enamored with the Mighty Mouse.
Strange new sidebar shortcuts in iTunes 7
A post at Mac OS X Hints lists some bizarre shortcuts that appear to be new in iTunes 7. The shortcuts apply to selecting the various content sections such as Music, Movies and the Store, but what's strange is that if you have any playlists which begin with the same letter as the shortcut, the playlist takes precedence. For example: the letter M (amongst others) can take you to your Movies section, but if you have a playlist titled "Mashups," the letter M will take you to the playlist, not the major content section.These shortcuts are very strange indeed, and it would be nice to have a more unified and universal list tucked away under a menu somewhere, so the shortcuts worked no matter what you were doing in iTunes, or what was selected. Still, if you're interested, check out Mac OS X Hint's list of shortcuts found so far.
How To: keep your iTunes library on an external hard drive
For more helpful how-to guides, check out the TUAW Tips, iPhone 101 and Mac 101 topics. After discussing how my iTunes library is set up with a few readers in the comments on my First Impressions/2G iPod nano post, I figured this might be a handy tip for readers who find themselves running out of room to store an expanding iTunes library. My only machine is a MacBook Pro with a 120GB hard drive, but after installing ~ 40GB of the entire Final Cut Studio suite and other various software and projects, I don't have room for my ~ 35GB iTunes library. I decided to do some experimenting a couple weeks back with moving and keeping my library on an external hard drive. There are obvious initial disadvantages to this, but after some tinkering and getting comfortable with iTunes' baked-in library management genius, this can be a pretty useful setup for those who, like me, are cramped for space but aren't willing to trash those albums you're too embarrassed use in a Party Shuffle playlist. This setup also has the inherent, and obvious, advantage of keeping your library on an external hard drive, so it's more or less already backed up - though I, with my paranoid data habits, keep a backup of my library on a second hard drive, and I now also use Scott's iTunes 7 backup tip (instead of a previous Smart Playlist system) to burn my library to DVDs (the lesson from someone who knows: your data can never be too backed up - ever). Getting back on topic: read on for a walkthrough (from a very mobile notebook user) of how to move your iTunes library to an external hard drive. I'll include some tips on how iTunes is already one step ahead of this setup, as well as a few habits you might need to adopt when living la vida external-iTunes-library.
Walkthrough: Running Windows Vista on your Intel Mac with Parallels Desktop
I managed to get Vista running on my MacBook Pro in both a copy of Parallels Desktop and Boot Camp, but this post is only going to cover the Parallels side of things; my Boot Camp post is still in the kettle.For the most part, I would say Vista runs in Parallels Desktop just 'ok,' as opposed to 'really well' or 'it made an un-switcher out of me.' Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to offer full support for high-end graphics cards yet, so you won't get any of the fancy 3D effects or what I like to call Translucent Everything Technology™ (TET) that Vista boasts.Read on for a walkthrough of setting up, installing and running Microsoft Windows Vista on your Intel Mac via Parallels Desktop, including some catches to watch out for and just how far you can actually push this software, given Vista's still more or less beta/RC1 status and Parallels' as-yet experimental support.
43 Folders rounds up best iCal tips
Merlin Mann of 43 Folders may be "shaking [his] hammy fist in impotent rage at iCal's numerous shortcomings," but he's still a devout user and has rounded up some of the best iCal-related tips to come across 43F to prove it. A couple of the tips, of course, center around that GTD (Getting Things Done) working philosophy that's such a hit in the nerd circles of the internets these days, but a couple others offer simple tricks for naming events and organizing tasks in more useful and creative ways, sans-GTD. If you've been looking for a little extra oompf in your scheduling workflow but aren't quite down for the full-blown systems and apps that are available, these tips might open some productivity doors for you.
Extreme airtime in GTA:LCS
Weekends aren't usually filled with breaking news, so it's usually the time we look back and reflect on the cooler aspects of the PSP community. I'm not too interested in the musings of an illiterate fanboy, but I am totally awe-inspired by the crazy things that people have been doing in GTA:LCS. The cheat devices for GTA have come a long way since the first time PSP Fanboy reported on it. People are now defying all logic, performing gravity-defying tricks, riding on walls, spawning helicopters and even creating trick ramps for those that want Liberty City to be one giant level of Tony Hawk. Here's some of my favorites from the GTA cheats and trick community.
Sonic in the next Smash Bros. game?
According to the September issue of Tips & Tricks, one Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai have gone on record stating that they would both like to see other third-parties step up and ask to include their characters in the Smash Bros. experience. In citing that Kojima asked to have Snake involved in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the magazine says that the request was made too close to deadline, so they were unable to include him. Shiggy and Sakurai have said that they are close to including one other outside character, and commented that the most requested character is none other than Sega's mascot, and Mario's old rival, Sonic the Hedgehog.Now, we've all heard about the April Fool's joke about Sonic being unlockable in SSBM, but with strong support of the new console from Sega with some launch title, one of which being an all-new Sonic adventure, we're inclined to say that this is likely to happen. Is the character they're in talks to include none other than the speedy, ring-obsessed Sonic?[Via QJ; Thanks vidGuy!]
Ask TUAW: What's your favorite Smart Playlist?
While browsing Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes and Smart Playlists.com last night for some ideas on how to make iTunes do my bidding, it dawned on me that these handy tools of automated music wrangling might make for a great Ask TUAW discussion. After all: who doesn't love music, and who doesn't love sharing their tips for better working (or music listening) bliss?So what say you, TUAW readers? Do you have a smart playlist and a killer rating system for the perfect party soundtrack? Or perhaps a smart playlist that helps you keep track of which music you need to burn and back up? Feel free to lay it on us and share your smart playlist ninja skills with the rest of the class.
Directly access digicam images in iPhoto
The fact that iPhoto, even the latest and shiniest '06 version, doesn't allow access to a camera's storage card to pick and chose which images get imported has irked users across this great planet of ours for years - until now. macosxhints has discovered that striking the return key twice when the import screen is displayed (upon connecting a camera or card) will enter users into a manual browsing mode, allowing them to browse their images directly from the device, the way it was meant to be (at least as an option; I'd bet this is yet another undocumented feature).The original hint poster stated that they couldn't manually move images over; he/she could only browse them. Rob Griffiths, however, added that he could in fact manually import a custom selection of photos, suggesting that this might work on a per-camera basis. He requests, and I echo, that users who try this out post their camera model and experience over at macosxhints so they can get a good list of working models.
