According to many people, mobile games are not good at all. They don’t think mobile games are popular. However, the fact is that on everyone’s phone you may see a few games installed. Let’s find out why they are so popular in the here and now.
Free or Inexpensive
One of the main reasons behind their popularity is that they are available free of charge. Actually, developers use a lot of other ways to generate money for their efforts. This helps them keep making more games. That’s the reason you can see a lot of games that are available for a couple of dollars. Even most of them are free.
Everyone loves free stuff, especially the good stuff. For instance, you can download Final Fantasy for free. Even popular titles, such as Pokemon Go can be downloaded for free. You won’t have to pay a penny for them.
Great Quality
Although Android games feature a retro feel, as they are relatively easier to develop. However, there is no compromise on quality. You will see that the most recent titles compete with top titles like Super Nintendo and Genesis. As a matter of fact, you can find tons of 3D games that allow you to get the most out of your Android handset. They offer amazing experience.
We can’t deny the fact that there are some not-so-good games for Android. The thing is that most of them are entertaining.
Portability
Unlike other platforms, Android offers a lot of special stuff. Other systems, such as Nintendo 3DS is mobile. Moreover, their budget is a sign that they make great games. But Android is far ahead of Nintendo because the platform is open to everyone.
Since we all need to stay in touch with our family, friends, colleagues and relatives, we use cell phones. If you are waiting for someone, playing a mobile game is a great idea. This will help you pass time without getting bored.
Moreover, you have thousands of titles to choose from. Since a cell phone is always in your pocket, you can play your favorite game whenever you want to.
Immersion and Novelty
Just like Pokemon Go, Android offers a degree of immersion that no other platform has been able to offer. Many mobile games give a real-life experience. They make people feel great at all times. After all, entertainment is important for all of us.
There is something special about mobile gaming. For instance, mobile phones help some genres expand as they can’t work on other consoles. Let’s take an example. You can find a lot of brain games that have extremely hard questions.
Since you can use your phone on the go, you won’t need to carry your laptop or cell phone with you to play games. You can just take out your smartphone and launch your favorite title to keep yourself occupied.
The Takeaway
In short, Android games offer a lot of advantages over other consoles, and that’s why they are so popular. Hopefully, we will see tons of Android games down the road. Hope this article will help you.
Microsoft is planning to release a new tool that will automate the patch management process, all but eliminating Patch Tuesdays for many organizations.
The company’s new Windows Autopatch service will keep business computers continuously updated as part of a new feature included with the Windows Enterprise E3 subscription service.
Organizations running systems with a Windows 10 or Windows 11 Enterprise E3 license will be eligible for the new patch service, which is expected to be generally available in July.
“This service will keep Windows and Office software on enrolled endpoints up-to-date automatically, at no additional cost,” Lior Bela, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post. “IT admins can gain time and resources to drive value. The second Tuesday of every month will be ‘just another Tuesday.’”
Microsoft
The Microsoft Autopatch feature requires one click approval to being working.
Patch Tuesday (more recently called Update Tuesday) is a colloquial term used in the IT industry to refer to when Microsoft and others typically release spot repairs to their operating system and other software. Patch Tuesday is always the second Tuesday of each month.
Microsoft said it’s automating software updates in response to the “evolving nature of technology.” For example, the pandemic increased demand for more remote or hybrid work, making performance and security updates even more crucial, as systems are more often outside an organization’s firewall.
“The value should be felt immediately by IT admins who won’t have to plan update rollout and sequencing, and over the long term as increased bandwidth allows them more time to focus on driving value,” Bela said. “Quality updates should enhance device performance and reduce help-desk tickets — feature updates should give users an optimal experience, with increased uptime and new tools to create and collaborate.”
Dan Wilson, a senior research director at Gartner, said there is unmet demand for endpoint patching services as traditional outsourcers tend to favor more full-service offerings.
“Autopatch can address the common challenge of keeping pace with Windows and Office updates. The $0 price tag should make it attractive to at least test. Third-party application patching is the other challenge, but that is not currently in scope for Autopatch,” Wilson said in an email reply to Computerworld.
Windows Autopatch will be able to detect differences among endpoints, and place them into four “test rings” or groups, and then dynamically check them for necessary updates.
First there will be a “test ring” containing a minimum number of devices that are representative of all the types of devices and configurations under management. The next ring is slightly larger, containing about 1% of all devices under management. A third “fast” ring contains about 9% of endpoints, and the remaining 90% of devices will be assigned to a “broad” ring. The percentages don’t change as devices are added or removed from the service network.
The point of the four rings is to ensure there are no software issues associated with firmware or software updates. As each group passes the tests, the updates are installed until all of an organization’s devices are patched.
Wilson noted that Autopatch follows ring-based deployment best practices with the ability to halt and roll-back should issues arise, and minimum license requirements (Windows E3 or up) shouldn’t be an issue “as most have or are upgrading to Microsoft 365 bundles that include this.”
“And the requirement to be enrolled in or co-managed by Intune and in Azure shouldn’t be a major concern at this point,” Wilson said. “Whether or not Autopatch is better than leveraging automated update capabilities already within Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Windows Update for Business and the Office 365 admin console is unclear, Wilson said. “They try to address that on their Windows Autopatch FAQ page, he said.
Windows Autopatch will manage all aspects of device group deployments for Windows 10 and Windows 11 quality and feature updates, drivers, firmware, and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise updates, Bela said.
From an endpoint management standpoint, the main prerequisite for Autopatch is Intune or co-management. The service has a built-in readiness assessment tool that will check relevant settings in Intune, Azure Active Directory, and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise to see that they are configured to work with Autopatch.
The online tool checks all of an organization’s settings in Microsoft Endpoint Manager — specifically, Microsoft Intune, Azure Active Director and Microsoft 365 — to ensure they’ll work with the Autopatch service. If any settings turn up as “not ready” the service has click-through instructions on how to resolve issues, Microsoft said.
“After providing consent, Microsoft completes all the other steps for you automatically, and will manage creating the right policies and groups so that updates are ready to be deployed,” Mark Florida, principal engineering product manager at Microsoft said in a video presentation. “Talk about saving time. Imagine doing all the policy configuration and group definitions yourself.”
If you took a glance at Infinity’s stats, you’d probably realize that a lot of the mods are incredibly useful. However, if you then take a look at the Runes required and what item you can create the Runeword in, you’d be disappointed; the Infinity Runeword can only be used in Polearms. Almost no Diablo 2 players would be caught dead using a Polearm, even an Amazon (who has Skills that help out when using javelins and polearms), due to the fact that while Polearms deal out a lot of damage, they are also slow weapons, and require the use of two hands, which sacrifices the use of a Shield, which many players find a necessity due to the chance of blocking enemy attacks.
However, there is one character that can only use Polearms as a weapon and cannot use Shields: The Mercenary from Act II. The cost of making Infinity for yourself is already exorbitantly high due to all four of the Runes required being extremely rare Runes, but making it for a meager Mercenary seems beyond astronomical. However, if you are that wealthy and have those runes to spare, why don’t we see what Infinity has to offer?
Requirements:
4 Socket Polearms
Runes (in order): Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist
The Stats:
Level Requirement: 63
50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
Go Developer Roadmap: GO (also called Golang) is an in-demand programming language, especially for people working with Google products. Go is used by many big companies, like Uber Medium, Dropbox, Salesforce, Netflix, IBM, and Twitter.
For job seekers of all levels, Go is a fantastic option. But where do you begin? What information do you require? Today, we’ll talk about the ideal way to learn Go and build a strong portfolio.
What is a Golang developer?
Golang (also called Go) is a statically typed, compiled programming language that was developed by Google in 2009. The language combines the efficiency of C++ efficiency and the readability of Python.
The Go programming language is used by Golang developers to create websites and apps. Working with Go and its full range of tools and frameworks is part of a Go developer’s job description. Most Go programmers also test and debug their code.
Most job postings for Golang developers require a wide variety of other skills as well, the most common being:
Experience with scripting (Shell/PERL)
Experience in application design using design patterns
Javascript, SOAP, REST Webservices, or Microservices
Experience using Git
Knowledge of DevOps practices
The competition into Go is relatively low. It’s a simple language to pick up, and it comes with comprehensive technical documentation. For those who are familiar with the C programming language, switching to Go is pretty simple. So, if learning Go is simple, how do you go about getting a job using it? Let’s have a look at it in more detail.
Step 1: Learn the basics of Go
To become a Go developer, you must have a thorough knowledge of the language and its syntax. You can either install the language and teach yourself, or you can enroll in an online course to help you get started. A decent learning route for Go will look something like this:
Filenames, keywords, identifiers
Operators, types, functions, and constants
Pointers, structures, methods
Maps, arrays, slices
Go CLI
Interface
Error handling
Goroutine, Channel, Buffer
Panic, Defer, Error, Recover
Go design patterns
Your learning path will largely depend on your background. If you are completely new to programming, Go is a great first choice. It is easy to learn and mimics other popular languages like Python and C++. For new learners, it’s best to start with the basics like filenames, keywords, and identifiers. Then, you can build your foundation with data types, operators, and and strings.
If you have some programming knowledge, it’s also a good idea to learn Go from the ground up, starting with the language’s distinctive properties. Go is designed on a different model than you’re used to, and it has a distinct approach to object-oriented programming.
Go aims to reduce typing and complexity using a minimal amount of keywords, so you will code less than other languages like Java. Keywords can be parsed without a symbol table, as its grammar is LALR(1). Go acts like a hybrid, imperative language, but it is built with concurrency in mind. Here are some of the unique features of Go:
No function or operator overloading
No implicit conversions to avoid bugs
No classes or type inheritance
No variant types
No dynamic code loading or dynamic libraries
No assertions or immutable variables
Step 2: Master Go libraries and other tools
Once you have the basics of the language down, you should move onto the add-on libraries and tools that make Go easier to use. Most companies will expect that you have experience with:
Go dependency management tools
Semantic versioning
Scripts and repositories
Go libraries
SQL fundamentals
GIT
Basic authentication
HTTP/HTTPS
Web frameworks and routers
Relational databases (PostgreSQL)
The most important extra things to learn are frameworks, Go libraries, and databases. Many of the other skills can be learned along the way or on the job.
In terms of frameworks, is recommended to start with the web frameworks Echo, Beego, Gin, Revel, and Chi, with Echo being the most important for Go.
In terms of libraries, the most popular Go libraries are Go Kit, GORM, Gen, and CLI. Using good libraries and packages will make working with Go even easier. Each will have their own unique features, so it’s a good idea to pick one that aligns with your goals.
In terms of databases, it’s important to have some experience with relational databases, such as PostgreSQL or MySQL. Beyond that, knowledge of log frameworks can be useful, with Zap being the most important for Go.
Step 3: Learn testing with Go
Testing is an important skill that most companies will be looking for. Software testing is how we check if the actual software product matches requirements and actually runs properly once distributed.
As a Go developer, you’ll be building products for the real-world, so you need to test your products for usability and reliability. This includes:
Unit testing
Integration testing
Behavior testing
E2E testing
Unit testing is arguably the most important for new Go developers. There is a built-in testing package in Go’s standard library. But, Go errs on the side of minimalism, so you may need additional tools for more robust testing, such as popular frameworks Ginkgo and GoCheck. Ginkgo can also be used to behavior testing and integration testing.
Step 4: Understand Go patterns
Most employers want to see that you understand Go’s design patterns. A design pattern is a repeatable, general solution to a commonly problem in software design. Different design patterns help to divide business logic or define structure to help with certain tasks.
Go offers similar design patterns to other languages that fall under these general categories:
Structural
Creational
Behavioral
Concurrency
Stability
The most important are creational (such as builder, factory, singleton), behavioral (such as iterator, observer, command), and structural (such as adapter, bridge, decorator).
If you are already a programmer, you may be familiar with design patterns and can start learning them in the context of Go. If you’re new to programming, the best way to learn these is to actually begin coding with them. Borrow some sample implementations and build around them.
Step 5: Start building your portfolio
Once you have these steps down, it’s time to start building things for your portfolio. This is how a company will see that you have real experience working with Golang. Also, it’s proven that the best way to master a language is to build functioning products with it, so the more you build, the more you learn.
Building out a portfolio includes:
Completing online courses on Go
Contributing to open source Go projects
Building Go projects from scratch
Implementing Go units in existing projects
Coding classic algorithm problems with Go
Completing courses on adjacent technologies (i.e. SQL)
You can really build anything you want to put your skills into practice, such as to do lists for personal needs, demo websites, puzzles, games, and coding challenges.
Start with an online course that offers a certificate. You can add this to your resume to prove you have the basics down. Then, focus on open source contributions on GitHub. This demonstrates that you can build real projects and know how to use a popular version control system.
Step 6: Practice Go coding interview questions
Once you have a solid portfolio, you can start practicing Go interview questions. This will help you prepare for interviews and learn more about the language you’ve just learned. Coding interview questions are not the end-all-be-all since they tend to be abstract, but they can really improve your code and help you work under pressure.
When you get an Go developer interview, you’ll be expected to answer these questions in time, so getting practice early on can’t hurt! It’ll also help reveal any gaps in your knowledge.
Some common questions include:
What is a goroutine? How do you stop it?
How do can check variable type at runtime?
How do you format a string without printing?
How do you concatenate strings in Go?
What is Go 2?
How do you initialize a struct in Go?
What to learn next
Congrats on making it to the end! You should be well on your way to becoming a Golang developer. Clearly, there is a lot that lies ahead. Where you start largely depends on your base knowledge, but it’s recommended to learn Go from scratch. Your next steps should be:
Learn Go syntax
Understand basic data types
Build something using control structures
Get practice with functions
and more
To get started with Go, check out Educative’s course The Way to Go. You will learn the core constructs and techniques and dive intro advanced Go concepts like error-handling, networking, and templating. You’ll even learn the common pitfalls and patterns of efficient Golang developers.
This is a list of Top 5 resources you can use to start learning Go from scratch. Before going into the resources let’s see why I think it’s worth learning golang.
1. The GO Tour Website
One of the best places to start is the official Go Tour website: https://tour.golang.org. This is an interactive tutorial which you can use to learn Go by running your own code snippets on the website itself. The tour is divided into a set of modules each explaining a different concept with a couple of exercises at the end of each module. The interesting thing is that the tour is available offline just by running go tool tour in your command line if you have already installed Go locally.
2. Effective Go
Effective Go is another official resource which is available for free from the offical Go website https://golang.org/doc/effective_go.html. I found it really useful especially because is not just a syntax reference but a more complete description on all the major Go features and constructs and how to use them effectively.
There is a free online mini book on how to get started on Go called The Go Bootcamp which you can find at http://www.golangbootcamp.com/book/. It has a list of basic constructs and concepts you need to grasp in a new programming language (like control flows, interfaces, concurrency…) each of them are then linked with a interactive example on the Go playground
5. The Golang FAQ
The official Go website is full of amazingly good resources like the Golang FAQ section https://golang.org/doc/faq
6. Golang Cafe YouTube Channel [Extra]
I have recently started a YouTube Channel where I cover evergreen high-quality educational content about programming in Go (Golang). The channel covers any topic that you might need to learn intermediate to advanced concepts in Go. Feel free to check it out here 📺 https://www.youtube.com/c/GolangCafe
Resources
Prerequisites
General Development Skills
Learn GIT, create a few repositories on GitHub, share your code with other people
The average golang developer salary in the USA is $132,500 per year or $67.95 per hour. Entry level positions start at $117,438 per year while most experienced workers make up to $160,000 per year.
Go Development FAQs
Is Go the right choice for every application?
No. Although Golang is ideally suited to many applications, there are those that don’t require high performance or could be better developed in another language, such as C, C#, or Java, with which we have decades of experience.
Is Go development cost effective?
Because of the way Golang was designed, developing applications with Golang is extremely productive and efficient, and results in safe software without runtime surprises. While having much better performance, Golang applications use far less server resources than other web development languages, like PHP and Python. Development with Golang saves you time and money with …
Development productivity
Maintenance
Performance
Less server resources
What are Go’s ancestors?
Go is mostly in the C family (basic syntax), with significant input from the Pascal/Modula/Oberon family (declarations, packages), plus some ideas from languages inspired by Tony Hoare’s CSP, such as Newsqueak and Limbo (concurrency). However, it is a new language across the board. In every respect the language was designed by thinking about what programmers do and how to make programming, at least the kind of programming we do, more effective, which means more fun.
Can Golang applications be implemented on my server?
Golang is cross platform and will build on a wide variety of operating systems. If you are running a modern operating system, more than likely you will be able to run Golang applications. There are pre-built binaries for the following:
FreeBSD 9.3
Linux 2.6.23 or later with glibc
CentOS/RHEL 5.x not supported.
Windows XP SP2 or later
Except for things like low-level operating system interface code, the run-time support is the same in all ports and includes a mark-and-sweep garbage collector, efficient array and string slicing, and support for efficient goroutines, such as stacks that grow and shrink on demand.
How will Golang development benefit me?
Development with Golang costs less from the start. In addition to the performance increase, often more than 400%, Golang applications are quicker to develop, easier to maintain, safer and less prone to having runtime errors.
Does Go support Google’s protocol buffers?
A separate open source project provides the necessary compiler plugin and library. It is available at github.com/golang/protobuf/.
Can I translate the Go home page into another language?
Absolutely. We encourage developers to make Go Language sites in their own languages. However, if you choose to add the Google logo or branding to your site (it does not appear on golang.org), you will need to abide by the guidelines at www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html
5. What is Golang well suited for?
Cloud Computing: – Cloud platforms provide servers and resources on demand, auto scaling is built-in. Golang applications can be quickly launched and efficiently respond to new servers and resources.
Multi-core Performance: – Golang is a scalable language and has multi-core processor support built-in, so your application doesn’t need to be rewritten for additional cores. It is able to utilize all available CPU cores out of the box.
Microservices: – The use of asynchronous input and output channels enable Golang applications to be interactive with web services without blocking web requests. Golang is well suited to building applications as a collection of microservices.
Web Services: – Golang has support for the reading and writing of JSON, multiplexing and secure connections built-in, which make the creation of an API and Web services very easy and effective.
Golang Standard Library: – Golang has an extensive standard library of functions, so you don’t need rely on or be to be tied to external frameworks.
Concurrency: – Golang provides built-in concurrency, which enables you to carry out many processes at the same time via goroutines, which are much lighter in terms of resources than threads used by other languages like Java or C#.
Golang is a fast, compiled language. – Golang applications compile quickly to machine level code, and run at speeds much faster than Python, PHP or Ruby and on par with Java without the requirement or overhead of a virtual machine.
What other companies use Go?
Go usage is growing worldwide, especially but by no means exclusively in the cloud computing space. A couple of major cloud infrastructure projects written in Go are Docker and Kubernetes, but there are many more.
It’s not just cloud, though. The Go Wiki includes a page, updated regularly, that lists some of the many companies using Go.
The Wiki also has a page with links to success stories about companies and projects that are using the language.
Data released today by IT asset management platform provider Lansweeper indicates that upgrades to Windows 11 have almost tripled over the past three months, but the overall adoption rate remains miniscule.
“Overall adoption remains slow, almost six months since the initial launch of Windows 11 to the general public, as previous Lansweeper research revealed that 55% of devices scanned are not capable of being upgraded to Windows 11,” Lansweeper said.
While the majority of Microsoft devices scanned by Lansweeper’s software passed the RAM test (91%), only about half of the workstation TPMs (Trusted Platform Modules) tested met the requirements — 19% failed and 28% were not TPM compatible or did not have it enabled, Lansweeper’s monitoring showed.
“For virtual machine workstations, the forecast is less optimistic,” Lansweeper said. “While the CPU compatibility is slightly higher at 44.9%, our research shows that only 66.4% has enough RAM. For TPM the news is grim, only 0.23% of all virtual workstations have TPM 2.0 enabled. This isn’t completely a surprise, TPM has never been required for Windows and while TPM passthrough (vTPM) exists in order to give virtual machines a TPM, it is rarely used. …Most VM workstations will need to be modified to get a vTPM before they can upgrade to Windows 11.
“TPMs on physical servers only passed the test 1.49% of the time, which means about 98% would fail to upgrade if Microsoft creates a server operating system with similar requirements in the future. For virtual servers, again there are almost no TPM-enabled servers.”
Lansweeper’s data contrasts sharply with that of computer-monitoring software provider AdDuplex, whose latest data shows an adoption rate of 19.4%. AdDuplex’s research did, however, show Windows 11 growth had stagnated in last month; it only saw a 0.1% market share increase over other Windows editions.
Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, said AdDuplex’s Windows 11 adoption numbers are too high, and Lansweeper’s assertion that 55% of machines can’t run Windows 11 is likely too low.
“I honestly doubt that Windows 11 is running on 19% of all machines in use today, since Windows 10 is only running on about 75% or so of machines in use, depending on whose numbers you believe,” Gold said. “That means that at 19%, about 25% of Windows 10 machines could be updated to Win11. I find it hard to believe that 25% of all Win10 machines out there are even compatible with Win11, given that many PCs in use are three-to-five years old or even older (probably at least 40%).”
In evaluating the data from both AdDuplex and Lansweeper, it’s important to understand how the companies came up with their respective numbers, whether through a web browser interacting with certain web sites (a self-selected group of users) or through a voluntary user running the company’s software (again, a self-selecting subgroup), Gold said.
“Without knowing exactly how they are obtaining their numbers, it’s pretty hard to evaluate how accurate they may be. But I’d certainly lean towards a lower number than a higher one,” he said.
It’s likely that any machine more than a couple of years old will not be compatible with (and therefore not upgradable to) Windows 11. And PCs are even more unlikely to be compliant if they’re older, lower-end machines, Gold said.
Lansweeper
In December, AdDuplex’s data showed Windows 11 uptake had reached nearly 9%; that number, again, contrasted sharply with figures released by Lansweeper; at that time, it showed the new platform with a less than 1% adoption rate.
Microsoft has pushed to get users to upgrade to Windows 11, but the overwhelming majority have chosen to remain on Windows 10.
Roel Decneut, chief strategy officer at Lansweeper, said unlike previous Windows releases, Windows 11 is simply an adjusted Windows 10 version, and the core differences between the two is minimal. “This is likely the main reason why businesses are against upgrading to a new, and almost unproven, version rather than staying with what they know with Windows 10,” Decneut said.
Steve Kleynhans, a vice president of research at Gartner, agreed commercial customers are not really diving into the new OS. And they’re not expected to do so until 2023.
Still, Kleynhans said it’s “a bit” early to draw any conclusions about Windows 11’s success. “While technically the OS update is six months old, a very large percentage of machines weren’t being offered the update until just a couple of months ago,” he said in an earlier interview. “The current [install rate] is likely just normal market evolution during the early stages of any new OS version and not a sign of anything really problematic.”
AdDuplex
Data from AdDuplex indicates Windows 11 uptake has slowed.
Lansweeper’s updated survey results did show that the number of machines running “end of life” OSes (i.e., platforms no longer supported by Microsoft) has fallen to 6.6%, compared to 9.75% in January. A significant portion of those systems are running Windows XP and Windows 7 — software Microsoft stopped supporting back in 2014 and 2020, respectively.
“Although the rate of adoption is increasing bit by bit, it’s obvious that Windows 11 upgrades aren’t going as fast as Microsoft had hoped, especially within the business environment. Many organizations have been put off from having to buy new machines that meet these [hardware] conditions, while others are simply happy with the current existence of Windows 10, which continues to be supported until 2025,” Decneut said.
Because of the minimal differences between Windows 10 and 11, the slow uptake of the latter is likely to continue unless businesses GET a compelling reason to upgrade, Decnuet explained.
“For those looking to adopt Windows 11, the first step is to assess which of their existing devices are capable of upgrading,” he said. “It’s the reason why IT asset management is so important for organizations, capable of running in-depth device audits that can tell IT teams the hardware specs of machines so they can weigh up how many devices are capable of upgrading and the potential cost of such a move.”
It is 1994 all over again, but the stakes are even higher this time around. A new battle for development, acceptance, and control of information delivery is underway in Silicon Valley and across the globe. Numerous companies, most of which you have never heard of before, are racing to develop and deploy the next generation user interface. Which company will win? What business models are they using? How will the future look? The shift in technology will be so great that it will affect how you use the Internet, how you communicate, and even change the equipment you use to access the Internet.
It is not Netscape and Microsoft this time. Facebook and MySpace have already lost. The new guard is Second Life, Active Worlds, World of Warcaft, IMVU, Shanda, Red 5 Studios and others. Their new landscape is not the quaint two dimensional reproductions which we have become accustom to in Explorer, FireFox, and Safari. It is a rich and robust three dimensional world that can convey information and culture in an effective and engaging way. Within these robust virtual worlds, the only limitation is our own imaginations. Virtual technologies are in their nascent development stage, but are growing faster than anyone would have ever predicted. A confluence of infrastructure, computer technology and social behavior theory is yielding powerful new ways to interact and socialize over the Internet. The idea of “goggling into the Metaverse with your personalized Avatar for a meet and greet” as predicted in the futuristic vision of Neal Stephenson’s novel “Snow Crash” is truly not far from today’s reality.
Second Life, World of Warcraft (WoW), and IMVU offers a fabulous view into the future of immersive communications and the next generation browser development. Watching how people team together to overcome the game challenges in WoW has spawned interest from social interaction to leadership development academics, as well as the Military. The application of immersive environments on learning and education are limitless. In the future, teamwork and leadership may no longer be a pedagogical exercise contained to sterile classrooms; it will be a fully immersive hands-on learning experience where students learn skills in various virtual settings and scenarios. The U. S. Army believes in this vision so much that they spent six million dollars in research and development and sponsored “America’s Army” video game to train our youth before they ever enter basic training. Ubisoft, the game’s developer, wrote that “America’s Army” was the “deepest and most realistic military game ever to hit consoles.” A small audience by WoW and Shanda standards, the game has over 30,000 players everyday and is available on Xbox, PlayStation, cell phones and Game Boy. Another and perhaps better use for the technology is education. Hiring newly minted MBAs with little real world experience has always been a sticky point with employers, especially with today’s education and talent challenges. What would companies pay to hire an MBA graduate that had spent a couple hundred real hours in Jack Welsh’s simulated shoes? And we thought EA’s Madden Football was big. In the near future we will be able to teach, test and hone key skills to produce better knowledge workers and leaders with the advances in new immersive browser technologies.
Today, the virtual world business models are in development. WoW has a subscription service where it charges about twenty dollars a month to login to the virtual fantasy world. China’s Shanda with its Legend of Mir and other virtual properties has a pay per usage and subscription models. IMVU has a novel model. Its chat environment is so rich and realistic that users actual pay for virtual clothes for their avatar and virtual gifts for others. Active Worlds has taken a more platform centric approach charging for the base application for others to develop upon. Second Life has virtual money called Linden dollars which is used to pay for goods and service within the virtual world. Linden dollars can be purchased with real currency. Walking around in Second Life and seeing all the billboard type advertisements does make me think about the Internet’s early days where advertisements popped up out of nowhere and there were no usability guidelines or design best practices. But, which model will win? There is room for several models, but it is too early to tell which browser will win.
I bought my last desktop seven years ago and don’t plan on ever buying another. Being tethered is no longer an option. Surfing while walking between rooms, booting up at the coffee shop, and logging on at the airport is normal behavior for most of us. However with new emerging technologies, our computing habits may change even further. myvu and iTheater are making goggles that project information right in front of your eyes. It is primarily for game consoles and iPod movies today, but it has potential. In the near future, you may have a pair of goggles which have a higher resolution and are lighter than your laptop LCD display, as well as delivering significantly more privacy while on the airplane. Celluon has technology that laser projects a keyboard on any flat surface, eliminating the need for a physical keyboard. With advancements like these, will our future computers look more like a soda can hooked up to goggles than the rectangular paperweight of today? Hardware advancements along with the developing interactive virtual software will merger to deliver us a new totally immersive user experience.
One downside is that the most virtual worlds require a large application download and installation. Each virtual world requires its own application, so if you develop for Second Life you are limited to Second Life residents and have no access to other audiences. The application diversity is a big negative for revenue scaling. It harkens back the browser interoperability of the ’90s, where companies had three versions of their websites to accommodate browser differences. But eventually, there will be a de facto standard and the winning application will come preloaded on your computer. I am interested in seeing if this shakeout also produces anti-trust litigation.
The new 3-D browser battle is being waged today and the future of interactive communications is up for grabs. Will Silicon Valley produce the next 3-D interactive browser standard or will China? Only time will tell. However, the impact of immersive 3-D virtual worlds on communications, social interaction, and education will change our lives as much as the microwave and remote control…and perhaps TiVo.
Apple will announce new operating systems for all its hardware at WWDC. The final iterations will ship this fall, alongside new hardware that won’t likely be announced until then. We’re expecting M2 Macs, new iPhones, and updated iPad Pros.
Apple already knows most everything about its new hardware. It’s been building toward the release of it for at least the last couple of years. (Building, in this case, means tweaking the software to optimize performance on the hardware, right down to the processor architecture used across every device the company plans — iPhone, iPad, Mac, and maybe Apple Glass.)
The operating system updates will be designed to deliver great results on existing equipment and even better performance on the hardware it has been designed for. We’ll see evidence of this across all the releases, but with Apple’s highest-end Mac Pro almost certainly scheduled for introduction at WWDC, marking two years since the transition began, it’s macOS (Mammoth?) that should interest pro users most.
How will Apple optimize macOS to address huge quantities of onboard memory, and fast potentially multi-M1 Ultra processors? And what kinds of graphics, video, and machine learning enhancements will be baked into the OS to optimize creative tasks?
The next step forward will be watching what this software is capable of when running on the M2 processors looming on the horizon. My feeling is that M2 Macs won’t appear before Apple ships the next macOS.
Parity
Those M1 chips don’t just live inside Macs. They also live inside iPad Pros and the iPad Air. Are they doing enough in there? That’s arguable, but I can’t help thinking about iDropNews, which recently claimed iPads with M1 chips will become capable of running Mac apps, such as Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Xcode.
I imagine that means iPad versions of those apps, and performance will inevitably be limited — you’ll still need a Mac for the most demanding work — but if you’re a musician on a tour bus trying to work on a track, or a journalist in Central Europe working on a video report showing the events taking place there, an iPad may sometimes be the most convenient computer to carry.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also anticipates a “new iPadOS multitasking interface,” which could mean almost anything; I suspect it may indicate more consistency between multitasking on iPads and other devices. I’d also quite like iPad-like widgets on my Mac’s Desktop, but that could be unique to me.
Partnership
OK, I was searching for a word beginning with “P,” but iCloud integration on iOS devices remains better than it is on the Mac. There are reasons for this, not least that Macs use different tools to work with online storage services such as OneDrive, Box, and Dropbox. But in don’t ignore that Microsoft, Box, and Dropbox have all moved to adopt Apple’s File Provider extensions this year.
What this should mean is much improved integration between those services and all Apple hardware, including iCloud. Hopefully, however, Apple will recognize that for many pro users, the very notion of saving all your work to the cloud is far from desirable and give them an option to save to the local drive, an external drive, or elsewhere.
And at the same time, if this is indeed the plan, it’s also reasonable to anticipate additional improvements to the Files app, with collaboration between different services (as well as colleagues) and more sophisticated storage tools to give Files more parity with other similar services.
The idea will be that you can begin working on a Mac, finish it on an iPad, and then tweak the final results on your iPhone before committing it to your Slack group for input.
Platform
Most pro users will also be interested in whether Apple does show us a little more of its forthcoming AR platform. Gurman doesn’t believe Apple will launch the AR glasses we all think we know it has been developing for years, but he agrees that it is possible it may demonstrate the headset’s Reality OS.
That means it’s quite likely to want to discuss how the two 1.4-in. 8K displays and a dozen or so external proximity cameras work together with the M1 processor on the device, and what kind of tools developers can use to build experiences for these systems.
Foveal imaging, which changes display resolution for where your eyes are focused, is also going to be something of a big deal, I imagine.
Aldur’s Watchtower is a 4-piece Set designed for a Druid. Any class can use the boots, armor and weapon, but only the Druid can don the class-specific Helm.
Here are the four items and their individual analysis:
Note: The partial bonuses for each item is listed multiple times because you get a partial bonus for each of the other items in the set. For example, with Aldur’s Stony Gaze, You receive +15 Energy for equipping one other item from the set. You receive +15 additional Energy (+30 total) when you have equipped two other items in the set. You get a total of +45 to Energy on Aldur’s Stony Gaze if you complete the set.
Aldur’s Stony Gaze (Set Hunter’s Guise Helm)
Defense: 157-171 (varies) (Base Defense: 67-81)
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 56
Durability: 20
(Druid Only)
+90 Defense
25% Faster Hit Recovery
Regenerate Mana 17%
Cold Resist +40-50% (varies)
Socketed (2)
+5 To Light Radius
+15 To Energy (2 Item)
+15 To Energy (3 Items)
+15 To Energy (Completed Set)
Analysis: This helm can only be work by a Druid. It is a moderately useful druid, given its level requirement. Due to the %FHR and the Regenerate Mana mod, it is especially suited for Druids that engages in melee, who are generally shapeshifters who use Mana for Rabies or Shockwaves.
Aldur’s Advance (Set Battle Boots)
Defense: 39-47 (varies)
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 95
Assassin Kick Damage: 37-64
Indestructible
40% Faster Run/Walk
+180 Maximum Stamina
10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Heal Stamina Plus +32%
+50 To Life
Fire Resist +40-50% (varies)
+15 To Dexterity (2 Item)
+15 To Dexterity (3 Items)
+15 To Dexterity (Completed Set)
Analysis: These are good boots, despite the high Strength requirement, and a fair few other classes will find them useful as well due to the 40% Faster Run/Walk, small bonus to Life and good Fire Resist.
Aldur’s Deception (Set Shadow Plate)
Defense: 746-857 (varies)(Base Defense: 446-557)
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 115
Durability: 70
+300 Defense
Requirements -50%
Lightning Resist +40-50% (varies)
+15 To Dexterity
+20 To Strength
+1 To Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
+1 To Shape Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+15 To Vitality (2 Item)
+15 To Vitality (3 Items)
+15 To Vitality (Completed Set)
Analysis: At first glance this armor might seem decent, but the high level requirement is a major disadvantage. By the time your character reaches Level 76, there are much better armors out there for you to choose from.
Aldur’s Rhythm (Set Jagged Star)
One-Hand Damage: 60 To 93 (76.5 Avg)
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 74
Durability: 72
Base Weapon Speed: [10]
+200% Damage To Demons
+50% Damage To Undead
Adds 40-62 Damage
Adds 50-75 Lightning Damage
30% Increased Attack Speed
10% Life Stolen Per Hit
5% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Socketed (2-3) (varies)*
+15 To Strength (2 Item)
+15 To Strength (3 Items)
+15 To Strength (Completed Set)
Analysis: With good IAS, Life and Mana leech, Aldur’s Rhythm is a decent weapon when you’re around level 42 or thereabouts, but once you’re of a high enough level (76) to wear Aldur’s Deception, the damage it deals out is an embarrassment compared to what you could get on other weapons.
Set Bonuses:
Partial Set Bonus
150% Bonus To Attack Rating (2 Items)
50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items (3 Items)
Complete Set Bonus
+3 To Druid Skills
+350% Enhanced Damage*
150% Bonus To Attack Rating
50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
10% Mana Stolen Per Hit
All Resistances +50
+150 Defense
+150 To Mana
Display Aura
Final Summary for Aldur’s Watchtower Set:
While some pieces of Aldur’s Watchtower (the boots and possibly the weapon) may be suitable for use by other classes, as a Set it is designed with the Shapeshifting Druids in mind. Both Werewolves and Werebears can make full use of the %FHR, Faster Run/Walk, IAS and the Life & Mana leech. The Set bonuses for a complete set are quite handy, but the major drawback remains the armor’s high level requirement.
All right, my fellow Chrome OS adventurer — see if this progression feels familiar:
First: “Ooh, look! My Chromebook’s getting a huge update this week! Cool new features! SO EXCITING!!”
Then: “Oh. The update’s here, but everything looks the same. Where’s all the new stuff? So disappointing.”
It’s an all-too-common pairing here in the land o’ Googley matters, and that exact progression is in the midst of playing out for many an eager Chromebook owner this very moment.
Have you felt it yet? This latest up-and-down got going when Google made a splashy announcement about its 100th Chrome OS release the other day — including, most notably, the long-in-progress launch of a snazzy new revamped Chromebook launcher (ooh, ahh, etc).
It’s part of Chrome OS 100, we heard! It’ll bring a whole new look ‘n’ feel to your favorite Chromebook! It’ll change the way you use your computer, gersh dern it!
Excerpt, erm, it isn’t actually on by default. Not yet. Even after you get the Chrome OS 100 update — which you probably have, by this point — that fancy new setup won’t be present. Not where you can see it, anyway.
[Get fresh Googley goodness in your inbox with my Android Intelligence newsletter. Pick your favorite subject and get three bonus tips this second!]
It’s a bummer. But it doesn’t have to be.
Today, we’re gonna spelunk deep into your Chromebook’s bowels to find the hidden switches for enabling that spiffy new launcher along with a smattering of other smashingly useful new systems. They’re all technically already there on your device. They’re just tucked away out of sight, and it’s up to you to dig ’em up and enable ’em.
Let’s spelunk, shall we?
Chrome OS treasure No. 1: A new and improved launcher
We’ll start with that elusive new launcher. No normal organism would ever know it, but you can skip the wait for Google to roll the thing out and activate the updated Chrome OS launcher this minute by taking the following fast ‘n’ easy steps:
Type chrome:flags into the address bar of any Chrome browser window.
Type app launcher into the search box on the screen that comes up.
See the line labeled “Productivity experiment: App Launcher”? Click the box next to it and change its setting from “Default” to “Enabled.”
Click the blue Restart button at the bottom of the screen.
And that’s it: Once your Chromebook restarts, you should be able to click the circle-shaped icon in the lower-left corner of the screen or hit the matching Everything button on your keyboard — and, ta-da:
Ain’t she purty? Looks aside, this revamped Chrome OS launcher actually lets you automatically order your apps by name or by color (imagine that!). Just right-click or two-finger-click on any open area in the lower part of the launcher to find the associated options.
The new launcher includes a bunch of practical contextual info at its top, too, and it integrates completely with Google Assistant so you can call up all sorts of worthwhile answers right then and there.
Chrome OS treasure No. 2: A smarter status bar
Next, while we’re looking at that bottom edge of your Chromebook’s screen, let’s inject a little extra productivity-pushin’ power into its lower-right corner. This is a good one — a long-missing bit of basic-seeming integration that’ll bring a big boost to your workday efficiency.
I won’t keep you waiting: It’s an actual calendar view — connected to Google Calendar, even! — right in your Chromebook’s Quick Settings area.
You just click the inconspicuous little date text within that pop-up panel, and — behold:
Clicking on the event itself from there will pull up its details page within the Google Calendar website.
Not bad, right?
To enable it:
Once more, type chrome:flags into your browser’s address bar.
This time, search for the word calendar.
Find the line labeled “Productivity experiment: Monthly Calendar View” and change the setting next to it from “Default” to “Enabled.”
Smoosh that Restart button to get the changes to apply.
Ah — so calendary.
Chrome OS treasure No. 3: A desktop saving system
If you’re completely deranged delightfully organized like I am, you probably have a specific set of apps and websites you open every time you’re working on certain types of tasks. And opening ’em all up time and time again can get to be a chore.
Well, chore no more: Your Chromebook’s got an awesome new way to save you time and set your desktop up for you — with however many specific arrangements your beautiful soggy brain requires.
Once the feature is enabled, you’ll see a new option in the Chrome OS Overview screen — that broad view of your currently open windows and apps that comes up when you press the key with a square that has two vertical lines next to it (typically in the spot where F4 would go):
See that new “Save desk as a template” option at the top? Click it — click it with gusto! — and you’ll be able to save that exact set of open items as a template for future restoring. It’ll then show up within a new “Templates” area of that same Overview interface:
And with one more click, you can bring that same set of apps and windows back into action in a snap.
To enable it:
Again, type chrome:flags into your browser’s address bar.
Search for the word templates.
Find the line that’s labeled “Desk Templates” and turn the setting next to it into the “Enabled” position.
Pound that blasted Restart button and giggle with glee.
All that’s left is to hit the Overview button on your Chromebook’s keyboard when the system comes back up and look for your lovely new on-screen option.
Chrome OS treasure No. 4: A file restoring center
You’d be forgiven for failing to notice, but Chrome OS somehow still doesn’t have a trash can of any sort in its system-level Files app — which means you’ve got no easy way to get a file back after you delete it.
Crazy, ain’t it?
Don’t let yourself get too grouchy over the omission, though: You can fix your Chromebook’s curious little oversight in about 10 seconds by activating its software’s hidden trash-can-adding option. All it does is bring a new and long overdue Trash area into the main menu of the Files app so that anytime you delete something, you’ve got a 30-day window where you can restore it if you so desire.
I mean, really, the only question to ask yourself is why you possibly wouldn’t want this in place on your computer.
To add it:
Type chrome:flags into your browser’s address bar.
Search for trash on the screen that comes up.
Find the line labeled “Enable Files Trash” and change its setting to “Enabled.”
Do a jaunty little jig (optional but highly recommended).
Click the blue Restart button at the bottom of the screen.
Who knew a simple dumping ground could be so darn satisfying?!
Hey: Want even more Googley knowledge? Come grab my free weekly newsletter to get next-level tips in your inbox every Friday — and get three bonus tips on your favorite topic right now.
Nature’s Peace is a unique Ring which has a very unique ability.
Nature’s Peace is only available to Ladder Characters.
The Stats:
Level Requirement: 69
Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
Prevent Monster Heal
Poison Resist +20-30% (varies)
Damage Reduced by 7-11 (varies)
Level 5 Oak Sage (27 Charges)
Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
This is Nature’s Peace’s unique and defining ability.
When you wear Nature’s Peace, any monster that you slay will forever “Rest in Peace”. What this means is that when the slain monster is “Resting in Peace”, no player or monster can do anything to that body. This means that the body cannot be Revived or turned into a Skeleton by the Necromancer, nor can the Paladin’s Redemption Aura or the Necromancer’s Corpse Explosion work on the body.
Knowing this in mind, characters who make use of dead bodies should not be equipping themselves with Nature’s Peace. This includes the Necromancer, the Assassin, the Paladin, the Barbarian and the Druid, but especially for Necromancers who rely on their Summons to fight for them (commonly referred to as Summonmancers).
A slain monster can only “Rest in Peace” if it was killed with Physical Damage, or Elemental Damage. They will not “Rest in Peace” if killed with Magic Damage (like from Bone Spear or Bone Spirit), with the sole exception being the magical hammers of Paladins who use the Blessed Hammer as their primary main attack Skill (commonly referred to as Hammerdins).
So, some may ask? What is the whole point of using Nature’s Peace, since up to 5 character classes can’t use their Skills if all those bodies are “Rest in Peace”?
Nature’s Peace can be of help when there are group of monsters, and one of the monsters bring fallen comrades back from the dead, for example, Fallen Shaman, or the formidable skeleton warriors surrounding Pindleskin.
Prevent Monster Heal
Great against normal monsters, but it doesn’t work against either boss monsters or players.
Poison Resist +20-30% (varies)
A decent boost to Poison Resistance.
Damage Reduced by 7-11 (varies)
Damage Reduction by a numerical amount is usually useless due to the fact that at higher levels, attacks from monsters can dish out several hundred points worth of damage. % Physical Resistance is much, much better than the Damage Reduced by X mod, where X is a discrete number.
Level 5 Oak Sage (27 Charges)
If you have enough money to recharge the charges at the Blacksmiths’, Oak Sage is a good spirit to have.
A Level 5 Oak Sage has 132 hit points and improves the Life of yourself and everyone in your party by 50%.
Summary:
Nature’s Peace seems to be a very weak and conditional Ring, as it has only one solid mod in the form of a decent boost to Poison Resistance. The Slain Monsters Rest in Peace ability is very interesting but conditional upon actually encountering monsters that can resurrect fallen comrades. Keep a Nature’s Peace in your backpack for the time when you come across such a group of monsters, but you would probably want a ring that provides more solid mods the rest of the time.
AdDuplex
