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Apple brings its free tutorials to YouTube
For the first time, Apple will offer a Today at Apple tutorial on YouTube.
'Overwatch' Anniversary event brings custom Workshop games to all
Three years after its launch, Blizzard's team-based shooter Overwatch is still rolling along, and the latest Anniversary event has begun. A celebration of the game's history so far, it's rotating through many of the special minigames that come and go, and in the patch that was just released, finally giving all players the tools to make new modes of their own.
'Overwatch' Workshop adds more custom options for heroes and modes
Overwatch fans have long been able to set up custom games (Ana Paintball, anyone?) and now they're getting a lot more options to flex their creative muscles. A new feature called Workshop, a scripting mode for custom games, is live on the PTR.
Apple sees its redesigned retail stores as community spaces
Apple's retail stores have long had a social side. You might not visit just to hang out, but the combination of free workshops and an abundance of connected devices gives you a reason to stay besides gawking at the latest products... if just to check up on Facebook. And now, Apple is banking on that social aspect as a selling point. The company is both redesigning its 100 largest stores and launching new "Today at Apple" workshops to turn its stores into community spaces of sorts. The shops are still very much geared toward sales, but you'll have more reasons to swing by on a frequent basis.
YouTube will fight fake news by offering workshops to teens
Google is already flagging fake news, but it knows that isn't always enough. People need to recognize what fake news is, too. To that end, its YouTube wing just launched an Internet Citizens program that will teach UK teens to spot fake news through workshops. The day-long gatherings will encourage teens to check facts, escape "social bubbles," deal with hate speech responsibly and use reporting tools. YouTube began the program in Liverpool on April 21st, but it plans to swing by youth clubs in other UK cities over the months ahead.
Visualized: Inside the Vertu workshop, where phones are made by hand (video)
While not everyone's comfortable with splashing out on a fancy Vertu phone, there's no stopping us from appreciating the company's craftsmanship and engineering expertise since its Nokia days. We're talking about dealing with various luxurious materials -- pearl, ruby, sapphire, titanium, gold, alutex, alligator skin and more -- while making sure that each device is mechanically built to last. As such, it's perhaps a slight surprise that Vertu phones are actually "handmade in England." Courtesy of our buddy and CEO Max Pogliani, we got to see the process up close and personal at his 60-strong workshop in Church Crookham. (And in case your butler isn't around to read this article to you, we've also got a video tour after the break.)
Expand NY workshops roundup: 3D Systems, littleBits, Leap Motion and more!
The stage at Expand acted as a platform for conversations between many people involved in the future of technology -- but there was a lot more that attendees were able to enjoy. Some of our nifty workshop sessions had 3D Systems show off its new Sense scanner; littleBits gave a demo of the Synth Kit; Leap Motion talked about its SDK and the implementation of it on 3D web apps; and Raspberry Pi revealed the results of the Make-Off contest. These are only a few of the workshops from our event in New York City, so head past the break to check out the full list -- we've got a video for each one.
Handibot Smart Tool hits Kickstarter, cuts in 3D with mobile controls (video)
While CNC routers are part-digital by their nature, they haven't really kept up with the times: they're often fixed in place and don't easily adapt to unique tasks. ShopBot Tools hopes to modernize these machines by crowdfunding its Handibot Smart Tool. The device is portable and cuts 3D shapes out of many flat surfaces, but its specialty is the accessible, app-driven control that the fundraising will support. Builders can give the Handibot a wide range of instructions through apps on PCs or (eventually) mobile devices, whether they need a few simple holes or large, ornate patterns. Those pledging support will need to spend at least $1,995 to get a Handibot this September, assuming ShopBot reaches its $125,000 goal; still, it may be worth the cost for any workshop enthusiast who feels limited by existing tools.
Funcom senior designer discusses upcoming workshop for female game designers
There's been a focus of late on the lack of women in the gaming industry, both what causes the issue and what can be done to correct it. Funcom's Tanya Short, a senior game designer on both Age of Conan and The Secret World, is understandably interested in that discussion, and she's not just talking about it. Short is one of the people behind the upcoming Pixelles Gaming Incubator workshop, and in a recent interview she shares her thoughts on the industry as a whole as well as the upcoming workshop. Short explains that there's a pervasive line of thinking in modern society that loving games is something reserved for young boys, meaning that women are pushed out of the field from a young age and encouraged to leave it behind. She makes the point that the key is not targeting specific demographics but to simply stop shaming women and excluding them from games and culture. Read the full interview for more on her views on the industry and the genesis of the Pixelles Gaming Incubator.
DARPA to hold one-day cyberwarfare workshop, attendance not mandatory
Oh, the fruits of the global village are many: connecting strangers with fetishes, fostering culture through memes and engendering cyber attacks via remote since the late 20th century. It's the advanced decomposition of that latter rotten apple, however, that has DARPA -- the government's far-out research arm -- taking a proactive stance and casting an agency-wide intelligence net to shore up on future defense protocol. To do this, the DoD offshoot's holding a one-time workshop next month, dubbed Plan X Proposers' Day, with the aim of bringing personnel together to brainstorm and implement infrastructure specifically centered around cyberwarfare analysis and research. One area the project, which just received $110 million in funding, will specifically avoid is the creation of actual cyberweapons. So, yeah, while this effort's less Goldeneye and more of a strategic think tank initiative, it still warms the heart to know our nation's best, brightest and most secretive are hard at work protecting our digital butts.
RuneScape bonus XP weekend generates workshops, strategy videos
If there's one thing we've learned about the RuneScape community, it's that these players are very, very serious about bonus XP weekends -- so serious, in fact, that there are forum threads, workshops, and videos devoted to helping players get the most out of these events. Starting tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. EDT, RuneScape will be throwing open the gates to a truly insane bonus XP weekend. Unlike most MMOs that try such events, RuneScape won't just slather a steady percentage increase all over players' XP bars. Instead, players will log in to find that their first half-hour of play has a 2.7x multiplier for training activities, and then every 30 minutes after that the rate will decrease until it bottoms out at 1.1x for the remainder of the weekend. The bonus XP will go away on Monday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, and if you want some tips on how best to maximize this opportunity, hit the jump to watch one of the aforementioned help videos. What, you thought we were joking? [Source: Jagex press release]
Shenzhen mobile phone market: going deeper inside Huaqiangbei
It's safe to say that most of our readers are accustomed to phone shops that are well lit, fairly spacious, and not peppered with KIRF products. But if you're feeling adventurous and want to take a dip in the deep end of the pool, then Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei district should satisfy your strange curiosity. As we've shown you in our previous trip, our gadget paradise covers an extensive range of products, including phones, computers, cameras, all the way down to circuitry components like LEDs, chips, and resistors. Our latest discovery, however, is an entire building dedicated to mostly mobile phone products. Read on to find out what this madness is all about -- a video tour awaits after the break. %Gallery-123728%
The Daily Grind: If you could design an in-game holiday, what would it be like?
For some, in-game holidays mark the highlight of certain months as the game world brings a limited-time event to the forefront of our consciousness. Others find themselves annoyed at the perceived waste of developer resources on such fluffy nonsense. But truth be told, in-game holidays are popular and welcomed by many -- plus they give marketers something to crow about. Today we're turning The Daily Grind into a collaborative workshop of sorts. Instead of arguing over a topic, let's turn our creativity towards designing a theoretical in-game holiday. If you could make one up, what would it be like? What game would host it? What would you do to make this holiday special or personally interesting? Would it tie in to a real-world holiday or stand on its own? Drop a paragraph or two in the comments below and show us just how brilliant and clever you are at designing your own holiday. Don't forget to give it a name, either. When you're done, read through the other submissions and give them your honest (and kind) feedback! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Apple announces iPad Personal Setup service
The iPad will become available this Saturday, and Apple's got answers for customers with questions. Apple announced today that their retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to iPad customers. New customers who buy an iPad at a retail store will be offered time with an employee to set up email accounts, install their favorite apps from the store and more. Additionally, all US Apple Stores will host special iPad workshops starting on Saturday morning. While many of us feel we'll be OK on our own (especially the early adopters), there are a great number of customers who feel a bit uncertain about such a "novel" device (my parents are a prime example). It's nice to see Apple reaching out to those new users. If you attend one of the sessions, please let us know how it goes.
Apple preps 2010 school field trips
Apple, through the Apple II, served as the gateway to computing for me; my third grade classroom had two Apple IIs neatly tucked away in metallic lock cases. With them, I was exposed to word processing, printing and, most importantly, Carmen Sandiego. Education is deeply ingrained in the Apple ethos. During his keynote at Macworld 1997 -- where he made his return -- Steve Jobs, in a not so understated way, said that "Apple is the largest education company in the world" and that this provided the company "an incredible foundation...and legacy to build off of." This legacy lives on, as Apple, through its retail stores, offers a variety of mediums to teach kids about and expose them to computing and content creation. Last week, Apple opened up spring registration for field trips to its retail stores. Breaking with the tradition that students are to bring apples to their teachers, Apple provides a way for teachers to their students to the Apple...store, that is. During these field trips, K-12 students can create a variety of digital masterpieces: a photo album using iPhoto, an edited video using iMovie, or a song in GarageBand, among them. When complete, students can showcase their creations with others in the store. Now that's a class act. [hat tip to The Loop]
Blizzard developers to speak at GDC 2010
Following the pattern held in previous years, Blizzard will again be loaning out some of their top developers for panels at this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, CA. WoW's former Lead Producer Jeff Kaplan, a.k.a. Tigole, presented the keynote speech at last year's GDC, and this year two top developers will be on tap to give horribly esoteric panels. Brian Schwab, Blizzard's Senior AI/Gameplay Engineer, will be presenting a lecture on AI architecture ... "AI programmers rarely use a pure architecture such as a State Machine, Planner, or Behavior Tree in isolation. Rather, several symbiotic architectures are mashed together, resulting in an overall architecture that is unique and powerful in its own way. This lecture is designed as a series of three mini-lectures where you will hear about several mashed up AI architectures along with intriguing lessons and insights." ... and Erin Catto, Blizzard's Principle Software Engineer, will be presenting a workshop on physics engines. "This one-day tutorial continues the 10-year tradition of the Math for Programmers and Physics for Programmers tutorials by bringing together some of the best presenters in gaming physics. Over the course of a day they will get programmers up to speed in the latest techniques and deepen their knowledge in the topic of physical simulation." More information, including panel times and availability, can be seen on BlizzPlanet's writeup of the announcement. This is basically total nerd talk -- it's very unlikely that we'll have any new WoW-related info from these panels, unlike Kaplan's keynote, but anything is possible. We'll keep you posted.
The Art of War(craft): Guide to the Isle of Conquest
The Art of War(craft) strives to bring you anything and everything related to PvP. Well, mostly anything that isn't covered by Arenas, anyway, since that's kind of Colby's territory. And stepping on Colby's territory can get Zach into trouble. I mean, have you seen that guy? Those beady eyes and razor-sharp teeth? Yikes! Oh wait, that might've been a shark. Or it could've been Colby after someone drank from his Chai Tea Latte in the office fridge. He's just kind of a monster that way.Patch 3.2 introduced a new 40-man raid Battleground, technically the biggest instance since old world Naxxramas. In Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, raid dungeons were cut down to 25-players and the two Battlegrounds since then, the Eye of the Storm and Strand of the Ancients, were limited to 15 players per side. Isle of Conquest sees the return of epic battles not seen since Alterac Valley. Well, okay, epic battles with less lag not seen since Wintergrasp, anyway. If you're just hit Level 80 or are curious about the new Battleground, here's a quick guide to help you out.What's the deal?There are essentially two ways to win the Battleground, identical to the new and improved Alterac Valley -- kill the enemy General or deplete the opposing team's Resources. The Horde forces are led by Overlord Agmar, the orc after whom the Horde base in Dragonblight is named, the leader of the Kor'kron Guard who looks like he's wearing Northrend greens or blues, at best. On the other team is High Commander Halford Wyrmbane, the leader of the 7th Legion and whom Alliance players will typically first encounter giving quests in Wintergarde Keep in Dragonblight. He isn't any better off than his rival, as he looks like he's in Sunwell epics. Cool, right? Alright, now let's figure out how to kill them.
Sign up for iPhone workshops at your local Apple Store
You're one of the few lucky folks to have gotten yourself a fancy new iPhone... but now what? Luckily, Apple is there to help you because they care. They really, really care about you and your mobile life.Starting tomorrow the Apple Store is offering up two iPhone related workshops: Getting Started on your iPhone, and Going Further with your iPhone.iPhone is not included with the workshops.
