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Linden Lab staff gagged? Unable to post to official blog
If you've noticed a distinct dearth of postings on the Second Life blog lately, it's with good cause. There has been hardly anything on this most visible of Linden Lab communication channels. Even a recent announcement by Katt Linden, Linden Lab's communications manager had to go sideways. A post on the Second Life wiki, and a note in the message-of-the-day to go search for it in there -- by yesterday, it was also posted to the Second Life education blog. Torley Linden in turn apparently was not able to get his Video Tip of the Week onto the official blog either, instead posting it to his personal blog, with an apology for both it and the Knowledge Base Article of the Week. 'Linden Lab,' he says, 'is undergoing changes in communication policy', but is unable to say what, when, why or how long. Time-critical announcements, innocuous routine customer-oriented tutorials and information, and changed policies regarding gambling -- all not being posted as they normally would. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Video: Ganzbot reads Twitter feeds aloud, looks fashionably low-rate
We've seen methods for hooking house plants up with their own Twitter account, but there's hardly anything more satisfying that building a robot to read back all those feeds from the thousands of people you're undoubtedly following. Ganzbot is a decidedly low-budget robot that relies on an Arduino Decima to control the head actions and a USB cable to receive up-to-date status information. Have a look at the innards as well as a few words being spoken just after the jump.[Via MAKE]
DSTwitter makes it even easier to send out vital updates
DS homebrew isn't just about piracy -- now it's about vanity too! Now, as long as you're near a Wi-Fi access point, you can keep everyone apprised of what you're thinking about making for dinner, or what you've decided to play tonight, or where you're meeting your friends -- or, if you're so inclined, you can keep up with a favorite website. Thanks to a clever homebrew coder, now you can send out your crucial tweets via the DS.TwitterDS is a Twitter client that lets you send out tweets, and also lets you receive updates from the people you "follow." DSTwitter has interfaces in five languages, so you can see what "tweet" is in English, Spanish, German, French, and Italian, depending on your system settings.[Via Gamertell]
First Look: Twinkle
The iPhone will no doubt see it's fair share of Twitter clients (just as the Mac has). Twitterrific is the big name in the Mac/iPhone Twitter app space, but in a client from Tapulous called "Twinkle" has also been generating some interest. Originally released as a jailbreak application for the iPhone and iPod touch, Twinkle has just debuted on the App Store with the ability to location-base your tweets. While Twitterrific seems to have more precise locating abilities, Twinkle uses the location-based tweeting in interesting ways. For instance, you can see tweets originating within a certain mileage range from your location. Twinkle allows you to easily view your direct messages.Overall, Twinkle looks like it will give Twitterrific a run for its money. Best part of all? Twinkle (iTunes Link) for iPhone and iPod touch is absolutely free.Check out our gallery for some screenshots.%Gallery-28037%
Beta Beat: Freedom leaves you internet-less
Are you tired of being distracted by the internet? Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Earth could all be considered "distractions" or "time wasters." So, if you're looking to get some work done without physically un-pluging from the internet then Freedom might be what you need. Freedom allows you to set a time limit for internet access. For instance, if I need to set aside 30 minutes for a project that doesn't require internet access, I could tell Freedom to block internet access for those 30 minutes, Freedom will then disable WiFi and ethernet access for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are over your WiFi and ethernet access will be restored. You can download Freedom for free (donations accepted) from the developers website or from MacUpdate.
Complicated DIY project leads to Twittering Teddy Bear
Sheesh -- and we though it was something special when Teddy Ruxpin went digital. Today's mesmerizing bear just isn't remarkable unless it talks, and to make it extraordinary, it needs to vocalize your Twitter messages. The mad scientists over at 2pointhome were able to implant a circuit board, USB Bluetooth adapter, 9-volt battery and a host of other goodies into an animatronic Teddy, and after coding in a few things and pairing it up, the animal was yapping in no time flat. Head on past the break to see a video of the operation, but be warned, as it's not for the faint of heart.[Via DailyWireless]
Iconfactory prepares Twitterrific for the App Store
Our favorite little blue bird has been getting a lot of attention on the Apple site, thanks to its upcoming appearance in the new iPhone/iPod App Store. In their blog, Gedeon Maheux of the Iconfactory talks about the native version of Twitterrific for iPhone and iPod touch. "We feel both excited and privileged to be a part of the new App Store and are committed to bringing our users the best software we can offer," he writes. According to Ged, the pricing displayed on the site is "for position only": meaning no decisions have been made about pricing yet. Also, expect Twitterrific to work across EDGE, 3G, and WiFi networks. In related news, Twitter survived the onslaught of WWDC! Hooray! A short service interruption in their data center caught them off guard, but otherwise they were up for 97.3 percent of the day. Twitter received an order of magnitude more traffic yesterday than they do normally.
Will WWDC break Twitter?
In the Venn diagram of users, the intersection of "Mac" and "Twitter" appears to be quite large. Why this is, I'm not sure, but it's true that many Mac users rely on the short-message broadcasting service for their day-to-day lives. There's some concern in both communities that the flood of new tweets about announcements at tomorrow's WWDC will break the back of the Twitter infrastructure. Their uptime has been mostly in the 90s this month, with some features still disabled for performance reasons. Do you think it will hold up? What will do you if Twitter grinds itself into metal shavings? A poll and results, plus more updates (!!) all after the jump.
Location-Aware Computing with iPhone
If the iPhone has done anything, it's brought prominence to location-based computing. Where you compute has become as important as what you compute. A few months back, I helped out a TUAW reader by building a location application called Findme. It automatically fed the iPhone's location to Twitter, providing an emergency fallback in case the iPhone was lost or stolen. How people started using Findme really took me by surprise. Read on to find out why.
MMO 2.0 and the next generation of online gaming
Geoff at MMOCrunch wrote an interesting piece on the 'next gen' in online gaming. Specifically, why there is no next gen. He comments on some of the recent successes in the MMO space, namely the subscription numbers of the Big Five MMO's and the smooth release of Age of Conan. He also hails EVE Online's break from typical MMO archetypes as a kind of successful deviance, but one that hasn't truly changed how we play. The forward momentum in the online gaming industry has brought a great deal of fanfare but little true innovation, Geoff asserts. Sure, some MMO's are successful, but it seems they're all a re-hash of what's been done before. A little more polish, a few more features... he laments the fact that "there seems to be very little that is truly pushing the genre towards the next step." He looks to how the web has changed, improved exponentially, while online gaming hasn't kept pace.
Delicious Library 2 beta on the streets
In a Memorial Day treat for users, Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster announced via a tweet earlier this evening that a beta of Delicious Library 2 is now available for download and purchase. We've been waiting eagerly for DL2 for quite a while now, along with everyone else.Interestingly, on first launch of the new beta you're presented with the dialog on the right. Apparently DL2's scrolling and display performance relies on fixes delivered in Mac OS X 10.5.3 -- that is, fixes you can't get yet in an OS build that hasn't shipped. Patience is a virtue, I suppose.Update: Wil Shipley replies below. The beta test is of the integrated store functionality in DL2; the software itself is not launched yet, so be cautious.
Status Screen Saver 1.0
Are you so addicted to RSS, Mail, and Twitterrific that you just can't stand when your screen saver launches? Status Screen Saver might just be the screen saver for you. The awesome thing about this screen saver is that is displays your current unread Mail count, unread NetNewsWire feeds, and even unread tweets from Twitterrific. You can select a screen saver that you have installed in the Status Screen Saver options.Even better, Status Screen Saver allows you to (with some AppleScripting) create your own "modules" which opens up unlimited possibilities to what can be shown in Status Screen Saver. So, if you use something other than the supported applications, you can (if the application is scriptable) make an AppleScript to give a number, then place it in the Screen Saver.saver/Contents/Resources/ directory. Overall, this is a really cool screen saver which can be expanded upon by the user. You can download this free (donations accepted) screen saver by visiting the developer's website.
SmallWorlds announces open beta
There must be something in the (virtual) air. If this year doesn't see everyone moving en masse to Flash-based, personal virtual worlds cum social spaces, then it certainly isn't for lack of trying. SmallWorlds joins Whirled and Metaplace as virtual worlds you can embed in your own blog, forum, home page or what have you. Need a place to watch "The Guild" with your friends between rousing games of Chinese Checkers? You got it. SmallWorlds can bring YouTubes, Twitters, Flickrs, games and more into your little isometric 3D corner of the web. Avatars are fully customizable, and so are their pets (!!!). SmallWorlds is going into open beta June 2 after eighteen months of development. They'll be letting the first thousand people who sign up for the beta in a week early. If you're at all interested in seeing what you can build with their tools and how many friends you can crowd into your little virtual cabana, why not visit their site and sign up for the beta?%Gallery-23361%
Blogo 1.1 emerges from Brainjuice
Attention all bloggers! The nerd bunnies at Brainjuice have just released Blogo 1.1, the latest take on their Mac OS X blogging tool. Blogo 1.1 now includes support for Drupal and Twitter in addition to WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, typo, and MovableType.The new Twitter support allows users to post tweets and direct messages from Blogo, and can even send a tweet whenever you post. Brainjuice has fixed some existing issues, as well as adding these new features: Support for raw image formats Integration with NetNewsWire and Safari Use of Growl for all user notifications New text formatting options (quotes, lists, aligned, justified) Custom cropping of thumbnails independently of the full-size images To give Blogo 1.1 a try, download a 21-day unlimited trial or purchase the app for $25.
Twitter supposedly used to control house lights
We'll preface this by saying this whole thing could be one giant hoax, but it's most certainly within the realm of possibility. We're told it's a mixture of Insteon, SMS and Twitter, all of which are utilized in order to give one particular homeowner the ability to activate / turn off lights remotely by sending a specific message to the latter. If your interest is unquestionably piqued, click on through to check out the video -- 'tis a shame there's no how-to guide to be found.[Via Digital Tech News]
Twitterers on what makes an epic encounter
As you may have heard the other day, our Twitter account is up and running, and one of the most vocal participants so far has been our new Priest blogger, Matticus from World of Matticus. The other day, he posted a question on the Twitter account that he'd also asked people on his own blog: what makes an encounter epic?The answers are all pretty good (I've put them all behind the break -- thanks, Twitterers!). From what most people said, lore and story play a huge part in making a fight feel epic, and not just the story of the game, but the story of the guild playing as well -- when your guild almost wipes, and pulls off a great kill, that's an epic battle whether it's in Karazhan or in Sunwell Plateau. Challenge also helps -- people raid to be pushed to the edge of their endgame abilities, and when a well-tuned fight does that, it's one of the best experiences in the game.Great answers all -- hopefully we'll get to see more epic encounters than not in the Wrath of the Lich King (as Matticus points out, we don't need 40 or even 25 players to have a truly epic encounter with Arthas). And if you haven't started following our Twitter account (@WoWInsider) yet, please do, and stay tuned for more interesting and informal Twitter polls like this.
WoW Insider Twitter returns with updates from the whole team
Back during Blizzcon last year (it seems so long ago now, doesn't it?) we started up a WoW Insider Twitter account so you folks could get updates from right there on site as the event went down. After Blizzcon ended, though, we left the account to lay dormant for a while, and we didn't post any tweets in a few months. We're back, though -- if you're on Twitter, make sure to head over there and follow our feed.Twitter, if you're unaware, is a fun little messaging service, about halfway between email and instant messenger. From now on, our Twitter account (@WoWInsider, obviously) will feature not only periodic updates on posts we think worth tweeting about, but also little insights on what our writers are up to around the realms, whether it's grinding rep in Blade's Edge, raiding Black Temple with our guilds, or running an ICftB event.It's just another fun way to see what we're up to (especially for smaller, more personal things that don't really warrant a whole post). You can follow our feed on the Twitter link above, and soon, we should have Twitter updates posted here on our homepage as well. WoW Insider's Twitter is back -- if you're on Twitter, make sure to follow and keep an eye on what we're doing.
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need more social networking services?
Web 2.0 is all about giving Joe User more choice, more of a voice, and more opportunities for interaction. User-created content is king, as witness the rise of such sites as YouTube. However, many MMOs are still closed systems -- you can't talk to your gTalk friends within World of Warcraft, you can't post to Twitter from Tabula Rasa, and you can't there's no Facebook integration with Everquest 2.But who cares? Chances are you're too busy playing to care about any of those things anyway. However, as these apps mature, and people find more ways to integrate them with everything else, it probably won't be too long before new MMOs will offer connectivity with them right out of the gate. Will this be a boon or a bother? Do you wish your favorite MMO already had this integration?
Flickr Find: Twitter in Mac OS X developer tools
An avid reader of TUAW, Chris Thomson, sent us a link to a Flickr picture (being the nosy people we are, we clicked the link). What we found surprised us -- a Twitter Quartz Composer composition was included as a part of the Mac OS X developer tools for Leopard. "Twitterverse," when tweaked right, can be used as an OS X screen saver and display all of your friends tweets in a graphical way. You can find this Quartz composition in the ~/Developer/Examples/Quartz Composer/Compositions/XML/The Twitterverse/The Twitterverse.qtz. If you want to add it as a screen saver, just drag it onto the preview in the "Screen Saver" part of the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane (in System Preferences.app). You can then add your username / password in the screen saver options.Thanks, Chris!
Hahlo 3: now out of beta
We at TUAW HQ definitely have an obsession with Twitter. We use Twitterrific for the Mac, and Hahlo for iPhone. Hahlo provides great features in a beautiful, usable user interface. A couple weeks ago we got a sneak peek at the beta of Hahlo 3 (titled "the Legendary Edition"), but now you can try it out for yourself. That's because Hahlo 3 was released to the public today. In addition to a completely revamped UI, the new version integrates full searching capabilities via Summize.To try out Hahlo 3 for yourself, just point Mobile Safari over to http://hahlo.com. It's free and easy to use. If you don't have an iPod touch or iPhone, you can get to Hahlo from any standards-compliant modern browser (Safari 3, Firefox, etc.).
