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Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter
In the far-out, sci-fi future of 2009, robots are doing some pretty amazing things, like capturing prowlers, assembling communications networks, and playing Rock / Paper / Scissors. Now, with a little help from RoBe:Do and Twitter, robotics has achieved what may be its crowning achievement: couch-side popcorn delivery. Coppa is a $1,649 software-ready robot (you supply the machine's netbook brain) that arrives with native support for a plethora of languages and tools (including C / C++ / C#, Flash AS3, Java,Microsoft Robotics Studio, .NET, and Visual Basic), and ships with a 12V rechargeable battery, autofocus webcam, and a sonar system. Optional accessories include motion, heat, and humidity sensors, and servo-driven grabbing actuators. The video below shows one such unit that's been programmed to take popcorn orders via-Twitter, timed to deliver the goods when the operator arrives home from work. Couch surfing may never be the same. [Via SlashGear]
Cryptic Studios tweeting from New York Comic Con
Among the MMO developers who will be at this year's New York Comic Con is Cryptic Studios, who are producing the much-anticipated titles Champions Online and Star Trek Online. Their studio's site announced that they'll be using Twitter at NYCC, so those of you out there who can't make the trip to New York (or simply aren't willing to deal with the East Coast winter) can follow what they're doing or announcing at their booth, and of course during the panels. The main twitters coming from Cryptic Studios are through http://twitter.com/CrypticStudios, but other members of the studio's team can be obsessively monitored as well: CrypticZinc Cryptic_chrono CrypticAwen CrypticFireCait Remotely stalking your favorite devs has never been easier! But if you're in town, you can check out the Cryptic Meet and Greet at NYCC on Saturday, February 7th, between 1pm and 2pm EST.
Working at Blizzard: Sunshine, rainbows, claymores, backrubs
I know what you're thinking! "If anyone could write up a scandalous exposé of what working at Blizzard is really like, it'd be our old pal Mike. I bet he's got the inside scoop of what goes on at Big Blue behind closed doors. I paid for the whole seat but I'll only need the edge."Yeah, well. I'm going to disappoint you here and instead link you to an article from the OC Register, longtime reporter of all news Blizzard given the company's stature in the SoCal business world. They interviewed Blizzard COO Paul Sams about the studio's recent award of "One of the best places to work in Orange County" and why that award was deserved.
New report: Gamers are not lonely losers
Gamers seem to get a lot of bad press. From controversial episodes in the early days of Dungeons and Dragons to WoW addictions that are more shameful than online porn. Anyone who doesn't know us might actually believe that we're 10 million basement-dwelling social troglodytes. The American Medical Association is even considering the addition of video game addictions to their big book of mental problems (also known as the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). A new study by Victoria University found just the opposite. They found that about 15% of their 621 participants qualified as problem gamers, that is they spent more than 50 hours a week playing games. Even among that 15 percent, only one percent showed signs of poor social skills. While there are some who have a major problem gaming habit most of us are normal people who unwind with a video game.
WoW on Zazoox stations
Soley saw something strange at the airport in Denver: a console with PC games on it, including none other than World of Warcraft. Apparently there was a kiosk with a bunch of different games installed on it, and for a small fee, you could jump in and play any number of games, from Valve's FPSes (including Portal!) to our own big MMORPG.The company doing this is called Zazoox -- they have a site that shows off all of their different consoles and offers them (for a price and a service charge) to vendors who can then put them up in public places. World of Warcraft isn't actually on their games list yet, so apparently it's just being tested in Denver and other places. Apparently, the price is 25 cents a minute, but as some of the commenters to Soley's post say, if you're entering your WoW password on what is basically a public computer and something goes wrong, it could cost you a lot more than that.Of course, overseas in Asia, this kind of thing is common -- the vast majority of WoW players there play in public cafes and Internet houses, and in fact the pricing scheme of the game itself there is per hour, not per month like it is here. But for some reason, this kind of ubiquitous public gaming has never taken off in the West -- maybe Zazoox's consoles will get people playing out in public.
Twinkle: location-aware Twittter client for iPhone
According to Installer, Twinkle from Gogo Apps is "Twitter plus Location." It's a Twitter client that adds photos and geolocation as well as clickable URLs and Follow / Stop Following control within the app. With it, you can find people twittering near you -- in fact it seems to be using my findme utility to power its location-awareness. And no, I have no financial interest in this thing -- I gave permission for them to use the utility so long as the app remains non-commercial. I logged in, entered my Twitter account info (yes, the account information is stored in clear text in ~mobile/Library/Preferences) and within seconds, it found tweets within 50 miles of my location. You can tweet directly from Twinkle. Tap the pencil button at the top-right corner (it's the one that for quite a while I mistook for a mis-shaped lower-case "i"). From there, you can enter your tweet, specify whether to tag with a location and optionally snap a photo. Twinkle offers a professionally designed interface and good ease of use. The only negative occurred after I mistyped my password. I ended up in an infinite loop of authentication errors and had to force-quit the application. %Gallery-21217%
iTweet: Yet another iPhone Twitter client
Here we go again: as if Pocket Tweets, Hahlo and Twitter's own m.twitter.com clients aren't enough, iTweet offers yet another option for quenching your Twitter lust. With a fairly different UI, iTweet's claim to fame is the ability to only download new tweets each time you refresh, saving a lot of time and bandwidth - especially useful for those tweeting over EDGE. It also has other features that I dare say are becoming a standard of mobile Twitter clients: the ability to view @replies to your tweets, direct messages and more.In brief testing I did notice iTweet seems to run a bit faster than others, especially over EDGE, though Pocket Tweets still earns my usage and donation (scroll down for the Donate button) due to its top notch styling, ability to mark tweets as favorites and that all-too-increasingly-useful @ button for replying to someone's tweet.Still, it's good to have options, and anyone obsessed with speed will likely enjoy the iTweet experience. For now, it appears iTweet is provided for free, as I can't find any kind of a donation button, so enjoy![via, surprise surprise, Marc Orchant's Twitter account]
Widget Watch: Tweet Ahead for scheduling Twitter posts
Twitter means many things to many people, but to some it is more or less a mini-blogging service, offering users a streamlined blogging platform that allows for both posting and syndication via a wide variety of methods. One downside of Twitter, however, is the inability to schedule posts ahead of time. Sure, there's always been the web-based TweetAhead, but now that service has been packaged in a Dashboard widget. Offering a simple interface, you simply need to flip the widget over to enter your Twitter credentials and set your time zone; after that, you're all set to enter tweets and specify a time for them to be posted (but be sure to heed the time zone instructions on the back of the widget).Strangely, after tinkering with both the TweetAhead web app and this Dashboard widget, I can only get either to work intermittently. Sometimes the tweets I schedule get posted, sometimes they don't. I assume this could be due to Twitter possibly not offering any official methods for actually doing this, but that's only a guess.Still, if you have better luck with these services, they can be a handy tool for anyone who wants to schedule tweets in the future.[via, ironically, Yohannes Wijaya's Twitter feed]
Twitterrific 2.1 beta brings support for Growl, multiple accounts, AppleScript and more
The Iconfactory has announced Twitterrific 2.1 beta, a meaty upgrade to their sexy Twitter client that brings quite a few new features and fixes. At the top of the list is support for Growl (don't forget to adjust your Growl settings in System Preferences, not Twitterrific), as well support for multiple Twitter accounts (bust the top of the window in my screenshot), which means Twitterrific no longer shares Safari's keychain item for Twitter; it's using its own Keychain entries now. Also in the What's New text file included with the download (which I highly recommend perusing if you snag a copy) is AppleScript support, NetNewsWire integration (for tweeting headlines you're reading), drag and drop support for creating links to tweets in other applications, a slew of manually edit-able power user preferences (explained in the Read Me) and much more. This is a great update, especially for the power Twitter users in the crowd. I've been running and tinkering with it while drafting this post and haven't run into any problems, and logging into multiple accounts works like a charm. The original Twitterrific 2.0 version is still of course available for download from The Iconfactory, but the 2.1 beta, as far as I know, can only be grabbed from the Twitterrific account's announcement here.
New Twitterrific beta brings host of fixes, hint at future Growl support
The Iconfactory has announced a new public beta of Twitterrific 2.0, their killer Twitter client. Glen Wosley got a sneak peek last Friday just before the public beta was announced, and this 2.0 beta v6 update addresses a number of issues with the new version as well as dealing with Twitter's own growing pains, as well as hints at the possibility of future Growl support. As with the previous version, we echo The Iconfactory and highly recommend reading through the What's New file to learn about the changes, but the gist of the story is that this version adds Quit/Configure buttons to Twitterrific's startup screen (the one you see while its downloading the first batch of tweets), and it also adds some logging and fixes for the network issues everyone is experiencing due to Twitter's exploding popularity. The end of this What's New file is also where the company hints at Growl support in a future version, though it merely states they're reading the SDK (Software Development Kit) for now.To grab a copy of this latest beta, hit up the announcement tweet from the Twitterrific Twitter account.
Takaratomy Kotoridayori Humming Bird keeps up the office jive
As if we haven't given you enough devious toys to convert your mundane workplace into World War III, here's one to bring back the peace when cooperation becomes essential to everyone's job again. Japan-based Takaratomy, better known as a Tomy here in the States, has crafted a unique solar-powered desk adornment that should keep you occupied (or get you on edge, one) while toiling away in your cubical. The Kotoridayori (Humming Bird) purportedly belts out various tunes while being powered by those incandescent lights, and throws a few extra tweets in the mix whenever it senses "vibrations." Additionally, it sports a built-in battery to keep things humming (ahem) along when you end up working 'round the clock, and should fit in just about any pocket if you're looking to carry it home. Available in blue, orange, or green, this wee pet should remain novel for about, oh, 20 seconds or so before completely enraging even the most patient office mate, but even if someone ejects it from the premises, you're only out $25.[Via ShinyShiny]
Twitter and Quicksilver, two great tastes
I'll be the first to admit that Twitter, which we at TUAW totally heart, isn't for everyone. Quicksilver, another TUAW fav, is also not for everyone. However, when you cross Twitter with Quicksilver and throw in a dash of Growl and you've just made it onto my Christmas card list.First Coda Hale whipped up a QuickSilver action, using AppleScript, enables you to post tweets (that's what messages posted to Twitter are called) using only QuickSilver. Then Ted Leung took the same script, but added Growl notification which lets you know when the tweet has been posted via Growl.I may be in geek nirvana.
