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Public restrooms reduce waits by learning from parking garages
What's the worst part of attending a sporting event or concert in person? It's definitely the lines, right? There's the line to get in, another to nab snacks and a beer, then yet another to use the loo. Well, restroom wait times are getting drastically reduced at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles thanks to a new stall indicator system from Tooshlights (yes, that's really the name). Inspired by the city's parking space lights in its garages, the company is applying the same logic to public restrooms at arenas and music venues -- with the aforementioned amphitheater being the first installation. For places like the Bowl with long rows of stalls in its bathrooms, the tech ensures attendees don't overlook open stalls, contributing to missed action outside. In addition to the red and green lighting scheme, Tooshlights is also working on a software component that can be piped into a venue's app, showing where the shortest lines are around the facility. As you might expect, it also monitors use, alerting staff that a toilet being avoided at halftime may be in need of attention.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Aftermath of the LoL World Championships
Last weekend, we saw the League of Legends World Championships come to an end. While I thought the grand finals were a bit disappointing, the teams that made it to the final four put on an amazing show. I think few would say that any of the four teams in the semi-finals didn't deserve a place there, and I think equally few would question the validity of the Taipei Assassins' final victory. The World Championships were a Cinderella story, and the Taipei Assassins became the unlikely champions in a decisive victory against Korean favorite Azubu Frost. The characteristic heavy aggression of the top Asian teams has already trickled down to the lower levels of play, and a few less common faces have come to new popularity in ranked and normal games all throughout the League. In the aftermath of the World Championships, what did the tournament mean for the rest of us, the less fortunate who aren't at the top?
WoW Archivist: 7 ways vanilla Wailing Caverns baffled us
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? We've come a long, long way, haven't we, since the days of Wailing Caverns? The dungeons of Pandaria are gorgeous, vivid, and varied. The bosses are dynamic and engaging. The best way to appreciate what Blizzard is doing now is to look back at what they were doing eight years ago. Vanilla WoW's dungeons were not always so expertly crafted. Some dungeons, like Deadmines or Stratholme, were a big hit. Others, like Razorfen Downs, were not so warmly embraced. The popularity of vanilla's Wailing Caverns is not easy to nail down. For some, especially old school Horde players, they have fond memories of the place as the first real dungeon they experienced in WoW. For others, memories of endless hours wandering its unforgiving maze haunt them to this day. One thing is certain: vanilla Wailing Caverns runs led to a lot of questions -- questions that we no longer have to ask today when we step into a dungeon. Here are seven of them!
Patch 4.1: New Wailing Caverns layout unveiled
Earlier in the patch 4.1 PTR cycle, Blizzard updated the PTR patch notes with an item indicating that the layout of Wailing Caverns would be streamlined. Certainly, without logging onto the PTR and running the instance, it was difficult to form an image of just how it had been streamlined. With today's PTR patch, Wailing Caverns has been given a new map to reflect the changes. The entire maze-like structure on the eastern side of the instance has been removed -- completely scooped out, with the bosses therein relocated in the dungeon. This will eliminate a lot of needless back-and-forth through the instance, as well as the infamous leap in the maze that caused the demise of countless PUGs. You know what I'm talking about: The tank misses the jump, immediately gets lost, other members of the party jump down to help and then they get lost ... and then your party is no more. [via Wowhead] %Gallery-120657% WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
Arcane Brilliance: Lowbie instances and the upwardly mobile Mage
Each week Arcane Brilliance endeavors to deliver a brief glimpse into the flame and sheep-filled (and sometimes flaming sheep-filled) world of Mages. Today we focus on the younger students of sorcery, those of us still growing into our robes and pointy-hats, because we here at Arcane Brilliance hold firmly to the motto that even the tiniest ball of flame is important, and still a freaking ball of flame.
