World of Warcraft 2.3.0 Patch Released - Major Update
A big new World of Warcraft patch has been released, updating v2.2.3 of the game to v2.3.0. The 281mb download introduces the new 10-man instance of Zul'Aman as well as Guild Banks, while also adding new gear and items for PVP Arena Season 3, decreasing the experience needed to level up from 20 to 60, and offering more balancing tweaks and bug fixes.
World of Warcraft PTR Patch 2.3.0
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at ../patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html
The latest patch notes can always be found at ../patchnotes/
Zul'Aman
Zul'Aman is a 10-player, level 70 outdoor instance located in the Ghostlands. Players will be able to confront six new bosses including the Forest Troll Warlord Zul'jin.
Guild Banks Introduced
The Guild Bank is a shared repository for an entire guild and will be accessible through Guild Vault objects near existing banks. The Guild Bank will allow players with the appropriate permissions to store items and money for use by the rest of the guild. Permissions to withdraw and deposit money and items are controlled by the guild leader through the guild controls menu. The Guild Bank is divided up into separate tabs so that the guild leader may restrict access or group items into distinct categories.
o Up to 6 purchasable tabs each containing 98 item slots
o Permissions to view/deposit/withdraw per tab
o You may use your Guild Bank withdraw limits to pay for item repairs (now enabled on all merchants)
o Transaction logs of the last 25 actions within each tab, as well as money activity.
Dustwallow Marsh
Dustwallow Marsh has seen many improvements with the addition of over 50 new quests and a new neutral goblin town called Mudsprocket located in the southern part of the zone. There is also a small quest hub featuring a crashed goblin zeppelin, to the east of Tabetha's hut.
Leveling Improvements
Many leveling improvements have been made for the old world.
o The amount of experience needed to gain a level has been decreased between levels 20 and 60. In addition, the amount of experience granted by quests has been increased between levels 30 and 60.
o Level 1-60 dungeon quests have had their experience and faction rewards increased.
o Many elite creatures and quests in the level 1-60 experience have been changed to accommodate solo play.
POLL: Liberals More Open To Opinions That ‘Reflect Values Other Than Their Own’
A new poll by the Norman Lear Center and Zogby International finds that liberals are more open to opposing viewpoints than conservatives, who tend to rely on Fox and Fox News for their entertainment and news. Some highlights from their findings:
– Conservatives were the most “likely to watch only two channels out of the 24 highest-rated networks: Fox and Fox News.”– “Fox News wins the prize for the most politically divisive TV channel (70% of conservatives watch it daily and only 3% of liberals).”
– “While 22% of conservatives said they “never” enjoy entertainment that reflects values other than their own, just 7% of liberals felt the same way. … In other words, Limbaugh’s potential audience is larger than that of liberal competitors because more liberals say they will listen to conservatives than vice versa.”
– Conservatives think “fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased” and “overwhelmingly (76%) believe that TV shows and movies ‘very often’ contain political messages, but they are the least likely to learn anything about political issues from them. Just 4% say they learn lessons from movies.”
Watching too much Fox News may be bad news for conservatives. An April Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.
A recent AP-Ipsos poll also found that liberals read more books than conservatives do. In the past year, 34 percent of conservatives have not read a book within the past year, compared with just 22 percent of liberals and moderates.
Due process too much hassle for DC dept. of motor vehicles
Washington DC's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will no longer allow citizens to protest parking tickets in person, reports Thenewspaper.com. Instead, they'll offer mail-in and e-mail adjudication.
The move is intended to allow automated street sweeper parking ticket machines to boost the number of infractions cited well beyond the 1.6 million currently handed out by meter maids. As one-third of those who contest citations in the city are successful, the hearings cut significantly into the $100 million in revenue tickets generate each year.Under the DMV's plan, motorists will only be able to object to a ticket by email or letter where city employees can ignore or reject letters in bulk without affected motorists having any realistic recourse.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Largest BSOD ever
Gizmodo reports that this may be the biggest BSOD ever. It went on for days. A few people have sent me this and asked if this was our work. They think maybe we rented these screens and did this on purpose. You know what? We didn't. You know why? We don't have to. That's the beauty of Windows. The wow is now. As in, Wow, that OS is wicked unstable, isn't it? Or, Wow, that friggin giant screen has been dead for days now hasn't it? Much love to everyone who sent this in.