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Officers' Quarters: How different is too different?
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. One of the most important things you can do when you start a new guild is to differentiate your community from other guilds on the server. When you offer a different experience or a different set of expectations from the typical guild, no matter how slight, you increase your chances of garnering attention and, thus, recruiting players who are attracted to those differences. It's a concept I've mentioned in a number of columns over the years. But is there such a thing as differentiating too much? One guild leader wants to know: Hello, I'm Emir Ergenç from Turkey, i read your wowinsider column for a long time. And i really enjoy your writings. Me and my girlfriend found a new guild named "Efsane" (meaning Legend in English) in our realm (Wildhammer-EU), i'm telling this to you for checking us :). Our website is efsane.guildomatic.com (although its Turkish). My characters are Alhara, Faelha, Eladia on guild. My girlfriend is guild leader and Shehrazad. Together we wanted to form a Turkish speaking Rated Battleground guild. Our aim is to have about 14-20 members (we do not aim to be a big guild, but time will tell) and get high ratings (read: hardcore) in rated battlegrounds as Turkish people. This is a very specific aim, thats where i started having some issues.
Apple, Microsoft meet with Turkish minister, may bid to supply 15 million tablets to schools
When it comes to the economy, things appear to be pretty shaky in the land of feta and olive oil, but at least Greece's neighbor to the east is ready to spend, considering a very ambitious (and costly) investment in its education system. Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan just completed a tour through Seattle and Silicon Valley, making stops to meet with executives at Apple, Intel and Microsoft along the way. Caglayan's stateside mission was to discuss Turkey's FATIH Project, which somehow stands for "Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving Technology" and aims to equip 15 million students with tablets within the next four years. The official seems to have left with a positive impression, telling the Turkish Weekly that "upon agreement, Microsoft teams will come to Turkey to cooperate with Turkish firms on the project." He went on to say that Apple executives expressed interest in having iPhone and iPad accessories manufactured in Turkey as well. Doesn't exactly sound like a firm commitment from either company, but 15 million tablets would be nothing to sneeze at, so we'd be surprised if the tablet makers didn't end up making formal bids. With South Korea and now Turkey making commitments to improving education, perhaps we'll see a similar plan hit stateside soon?
Daily Update for August 19, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect 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 listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple, Microsoft may bid to build tablets for Turkish school children
The Turkish Anatolia news agency is reporting that Apple may make a bid for a contract to supply 15 million iPads to school children in Turkey over four years. During Turkish Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan's visit to the US, Apple reportedly told the Trade Minister that it would consider manufacturing some iPhone and iPad peripherals, like Smart Covers and ear buds, in Turkey in order to win the contract. However, an agreement by Apple to manufacture accessories in Turkey might not be enough to secure the contract as the Turkish government had previously said that the tablets themselves would need to be manufactured in the country. Besides Apple, Microsoft and Intel are also reportedly interested in submitting bids for the 15 million tablet contract. [via Bloomberg]
GE announces hybrid power plant of the (near) future
GE's legacy dates back over a century, but, despite its old age, the company's got a fresh outlook on the future of energy production (at least according to its PR department). Earlier this week, the outfit announced MetCap Energy Investments' plans to build a "first-of-its-kind" hybrid power plant, tapping GE's FlexEfficiency technology, which combines natural gas, wind, and solar thermal power. The plant, planned for completion in Turkey in 2015, will produce enough energy, according to GE, to power 600,000 homes, and could lead to plant efficiency greater than 70 percent. What's more, the company promises zero liquid discharge and single-button 28-minute startup. Here's hoping this cracks up to be a better fit than NBC. Full PR after the break.
Etox plans all-electric Zafer sportscar, could sell for around $20,000
It may not be ready to challenge Tesla just yet, but it looks like Turkish automaker Etox is about to get into the all-electric sportscar business with a vehicle that could cost considerably less than much of its competition. The company is reportedly now working on an electric prototype of its Zafer sportscar, and it says the car could run for as low as 30,000 to 35,000 Turkish lira (or roughly $19,000 to $22,000) when it eventually hits showrooms. Unfortunately, while the car will apparently boast a respectable 250 kilometer range, it isn't quite as fast as it looks -- the company says it'll top out at just 120 kilometers per hour, or 75 mph. It also looks like those plans for an actual production vehicle are still far from certain, as Etox is reportedly still waiting on government funding to get the assembly line moving.
Arcane Brilliance: Things I'm thankful for
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, Arcane Brilliance is feeling especially festive. Pyroblasting a turkey will do that. So apparently it's the holiday season. I'm still burping up cranberries and stuffing, my wife has started forcing Christmas music upon me (and frankly, if it's not Mannheim Steamroller, I don't want to hear it), and I've reached the point in the year when -- for my own mental well-being -- I refuse to look at a bank statement until February. To those of you who survived yesterday's annual gladiatorial bloodletting and emerged victorious from the front doors of Walmart or Old Navy, hoisting your hard-won set of hand towels above your head like a trophy: I salute you. To those of you who, like me, stayed home and bought stuff on Steam and Xbox Live: I also salute you, only I do so from my chair, by typing in an emote. Because, really, we're all pretty lazy. But damned if I don't feel well rested. In deference to the spirit of the season, we here at Arcane Brilliance thought it might be nice to spend a column thinking about the things we're grateful right now. You'll find the mage-related stuff behind the jump, but here's my non-mage-related short list of awesome things: flatbread chicken sandwiches getting randomly tagged on Dragon Quest IX while walking through the airport Tuesday night troll druid cat form The Walking Dead Mumford and Sons discovering the brilliance of Arrested Development and Friday Night Lights on Netflix Taco Bell, Netflix, Square Enix, etc. ... feel free to make any and all endorsement checks out to Christian Belt, care of WoW Insider. Also, screw you, AMC, for canceling Rubicon. I was just starting to enjoy that one. And screw you double, FOX, for putting Fringe on Fridays, where all good FOX shows go to die.
Flying turkey quadrocopter celebrates Thanksgiving by dropping pies
It looks like the folks from Utah Aerials just can't let a holiday pass without taking to the skies. Following their flying ghost for Halloween, the team have now transformed an ordinary quadrocopter into a remarkably lifelike turkey capable of carrying and dropping pumpkin pies. Makes sense to us. Head on past the break for all the remote-controlled shenanigans, and happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
TUAW's Daily App: Chow Thanksgiving Dinner Coach
It's the day before Thanksgiving, and you've agreed to have the family over for dinner tomorrow, complete with a turkey and fixings and everything. But you just realized that you don't actually have any idea how to cook a turkey (and it probably won't fit in the microwave). Not to worry. CBS Interactive's Chow Thanksgiving Dinner Coach has you covered. This free iPhone app will run you through groceries and recipes for a few of Thanksgiving's most famous dishes, including that turkey, the stuffing, potatoes, and cranberries, all the way down to pumpkin pie. Not only does it have recipes and shopping lists, there's even a multi-day timeline to walk you through exactly how everything should be done. If you're old hand at serving Thanksgiving, you'll probably find this a little too simple; it really walks you through step by step. But if this is your first year hosting the party, and you're a little unsure of what to do without some constant guidance from your iPhone, the Chow app is a great (and free) place to start.
Turkeys invade Kitsu Saga, gravy and stuffing to follow
Kitsu Saga's dance card is pretty darn full this month. Following its commercial release on October 28th, the free-to-play title has rolled out a series of intriguing events, including this past week's content update, called Hostile Territory. Hostile Territory brought the level cap up to 60, introduced second-tier mastery skills, and added five dungeons and four zones. As if that wasn't enough, a full-fledged invasion of turkeys is covering the land in Butterball fury, and nobody is safe from their wrath. In Aeria Games' own words, "Avian demons from another dimension have infiltrated a few of our dungeons seeking the flesh of those who have eaten them in the years past." You really can't top that. Avian demons hell-bent for revenge. There should be a movie. Players can protect the land from being (sorry) gobbled up by hunting the demons in Kitsu Saga from November 17th through December 1st. These brave turkey-slaying warriors will be rewarded with special Thanksgiving-themed items. You can read more about the Turkey Invasion at Kitsu Saga.
Breakfast Topic: The reason for the seasonal achievements
Thanksgiving (or the United States version thereof) is quickly approaching, and with it comes the in-game Pilgrim's Bounty event. Now, I didn't actually finishing Pilgrim's Bounty last year. This is mostly because I was visiting my family for the entire week of Thanksgiving, so I was only playing on my laptop, and my laptop is sufficiently low-tech that it does not run WoW all that well. Also, I was totally spending most of my time with my family. This month, though, I'm going to be in town with access to my usual gaming rig, so I'll have more than enough time and ability to finish up the achievements. That said, I'm still deciding whether or not I'll actually take the time to do them. After all, none of the Pilgrim's Bounty achievements are needed for What a Long, Strange Trip. I mean, an extra turkey pet is sort of cool, but otherwise, there's not really much of a profit to them. Also, some of the achievements seem downright annoying. Turkey Lurkey? Do I really need to run around looking for all these dumb rogues? Why so arbitrary? And what about the Turkinator? Do I really need to run around a newbie zone like a chicken with my head cut off trying to target critters more quickly than the other 100 people doing it? What does that accomplish? Then I think about some of the other holidays. It's not like I haven't had to run around Dalaran looking for random class and race combinations before, and it's not like I haven't run around the newbie zones doing silly, inconsequential stuff before either. So why is Pilgrim's Bounty bringing out the achievement cynic in me? I like to think I've been doing achievements because they're interesting and fun, but what if they've been about the carrot and stick all along? Now that there's no reward I'm really interested in, am I finally seeing achievements for what they are, or am I just being a grinch a month early? What do you think? Do you do achievements for fun, or are you pretty sure you'd leave them alone if they weren't rewarding you with shiny stuff?
Turkey's $1 million humanoid SURALP robot gets a coming out party (video)
Yet another country has a walking humanoid robot to call its own, joining the illustrious league of nations that most recently added Iran to its ranks. Turkey is the lucky ducky this time, officially unveiling the SURALP robot to the world. Yeah, that's an acronym, "Sabanci University Robot Research Laboratory Platform," but after seeing him in action we've taken to calling him SHAKY. The University has been posting videos of his progress for many moons now, an eight year project that has cost $1 million total so far, but he was only recently officially revealed to the world at a demonstration, wowing the crowd by handing someone a can and then, later, throwing that very same can into the trash. Maybe SHAKY 2.0 will learn to recycle -- and to love.
15 Minutes of Fame: Cory Doctorow on gold farming
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. digg_url = 'http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/08/04/15-minutes-of-fame-cory-doctorow-on-gold-farming/'; A conversation with Cory Doctorow plunges into the matter at hand so quickly that it's almost impossible not to imagine yourself falling through an internet-era rabbit hole of pop culture and technology. Doctorow is all about synthesizing ideas and spitting them out in as accessible a fashion as possible, and the ground he manages to cover in a single stride can be mind-boggling; he's a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger, father, gamer ... A former WoW player and husband of gaming standout Alice Taylor (also previously profiled here in 15 Minutes of Fame), he's widely known as the co-editor of Boing Boing and author of the bestselling young adult novel Little Brother. Doctorow's latest young adult novel, For the Win, pries open the seams of the shady scene behind MMO gold farming. Its young protagonists are gold farmers and gamers themselves. Doctorow has woven his own experience and sensibilities with focused research to outline a world of gold farming that sprawls far beyond the lines of cartoon-image gold farmers that most of us have painted in our heads. We chatted by phone with Doctorow for this lengthy conversation on gold farming and game economies, plus a companion piece at our sister publication Massively.com on gaming culture and his recent fiction.
Tesla Roadster goes continent-hopping, expands markets to include Canada and Japan
Seems like reports of the Roadster's demise were indeed exaggerated. Tesla has announced it's bringing its iconic electric automobile to five new nations. Canada and Japan are accompanied by Hong Kong, Poland and Turkey in being able to now take deliveries of freshly charged Roadsters. Of course, sufficiently motivated buyers could have imported theirs by now, but it's always good to have local support on an official basis and this does seem to signal a more ambitious outlook on the part of Tesla. Also included in the press release -- yours to peruse after the break -- is word that the company has shifted 1,200 Roadsters since inception. That might not be a lot but you have to start somewhere, let's hope the next 1,200 don't take nearly as long to hit the road.
Breakfast Topic: Did you meet your Pilgrims Bounty goals?
Thanks to an obliging (and naked) dwarf rogue in Dalaran, I was able to obtain my Pilgrim title without much trouble. Well, trying to get the Turkinator on the first day was definitely "much trouble", but waiting a few days for Tirisfal Glades to empty out proved to be the less frustrating course. For my alts, I was happy just leveling my cooking on the cheap... and getting a level here and there. Pilgrim's Bounty was a great opportunity for easily working on what I consider a necessary secondary profession. This first instance of Blizzard's version of the U.S.'s Thanksgiving Day holiday didn't have any bosses with fun loot, and wasn't included as part of the meta, but it was casual fun without much time expended. And I am very fond of my suicidal turkey, though disappointed he didn't try to hook up with the Lonely Turkey. Were you able to do all you wanted to in this holiday? Did you enjoy it or is there something you wish they would change for next year?
Gobble up this LittleBigPlanet Turkey costume before it's gone
Perhaps you've been playing an online session of LittleBigPlanet and seen a Sackboy (or Sackgirl) with his (or her) head stuck inside of a turkey. You're probably curious as to how this bold fashion statement came to pass. Were they searching for a lost meat thermometer? Had they been the victim of a cruel practical joke? Were they afflicted with the rare, but deadly Meleagris Oblongatus virus? As it turns out, the real source of these turkeyheaded individuals isn't really that scintillating. Media Molecule handed them out free of charge last Thanksgiving -- and, according to a recent post on PlayStation.Blog, the offer stands this year as well. Hop onto LBP to get your fowl chapeau from the LittleBigStore, but act quick -- it'll only be available for "a limited time."
Turkeys to invade PlayStation Home this week
It's rare we quote someone extensively for a post, but we thought this update from PlayStation Home's Locust_Star speaks for itself: "In celebration of the impending Turkey Day, users will approach the giant stone turkey in Central Plaza and, of course, pledge their allegiance to the almighty Meleagris Gallopavo by stating 'Gobble gobble' and/or other assorted turkey-isms ... You will be given a chance to chase a bunch of wily turkeys around Central Plaza. If you can manage to catch them all, you will unlock some truly hilarious rewards that are sure to make you an object of envy amongst your peers." Yeah, the PS3 really can do everything.
Ride a turkey in Fiesta and help feed the homeless in America
We here at Massively always appreciate it when games give back to the community, and the folks over at Fiesta seem to follow our line of thought. In celebration of Thanksgiving, they've released the new Thomas the Turkey mount for players to grab from the item shop.Thomas is a special beast, however, as 100% of his proceeds until November 30th will go towards Feeding America, a charity that works with local food banks to provide food to the homeless and needy. After the 30th, Thomas will stick around in the Fiesta store as a standard mount.Thomas is currently priced at around $6.80, but it's good to know that the money will be going to a good cause. So don't dilly dally, go out and purchase your turkey before the 30th to make sure you help the homeless and get a sweet ride while doing it.
Exper Style's colorful 8.9-inch netbook rolls out in Turkey
We don't have a heck of a lot to go on here, but the above is apparently a new, 8.9-inch widescreen netbook from Exper called the Exper Style. It seems to boast standard netbook internals -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 8GB SSD-- and apparently runs Windows XP. It also costs about $470, and comes in a nearly endless range of super duper-looking colors. We're not sure about when this one will be available, but hit the read link for a video of this darling in all its glory.
WoW Insider's handy-dandy Wrath of the Lich King instance guide
The guys 'n gals over at WoW Insider have been kind enough to put together a handy guide to all the Wrath of the Lich King 5-man instances in gallery-form. So, for those of you who've already filled up on turkey or some form of meat substitute (tofurky, anyone?) and are already looking to delve into Wrath, this may be the perfect thing to help you along the way! If not, well then we're happy you've already hit 80 -- just don't brag about it to us, because we're sensitive about our addictive-resiliant personalities.Actually, we're just sensitive to our need to subscribe to -- and play -- three or more MMOs at a time, which is why we're loving this efficiency-boosting guide. Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King Dungeons One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
