firehose

Blackberry's standalone BBM messaging app debuted on Android yesterday, and it has already received more than 150,000 reviews on the Google Play Store. However, as first pointed out on Twitter by Matt Baxter-Reynolds, a whole bunch of those reviews appear to be—well, a teeny bit astroturfed.

Astroturfing or not, the "I was waiting this app" joke text has taken on a life of its own and is now being reposted by just about everyone—it's like BBM is the new Three Wolf Moon t-shirt.

A tremendous number of the reviews all contain identical or near-identical awful text, including missing commas and a painfully absent preposition:

Thank you so much Blackberry team. I was waiting this app. It is really great user friendly and smooth.

Tech blogger Terence Eden combed through the reviews a little deeper and found at least one reviewer that looked to have been a little too eager with copying and pasting review text. It reads, in part, "Please post the following comment on the new BlackBerry Messenger Android APP. 'Thank you so much black berry team...'" and concludes with the same mangled review text.

When Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting relaunched Captain America in 2004, they came to the book eager to return the elements of espionage that had been largely absent from the title for years. While most of what we remember are the big events – Bucky’s return, Steve Rogers’ assassination – it was really the spy aspect that drove the story, the behind-the-scenes machinations that made the book so incredibly tense. Now, with Velvet #1 from Image Comics, the team reunite (with Bettie Breitweiser on colors) for another trip into the shadows, a taut thriller about spies, double-crosses, and a middle-aged secretary who’s much more dangerous than she seems to be.

Velvet Templeton is the personal secretary to the Lieutenant Director of Arc-7, a British spy agency formed after World War II that is so secretive, most other clandestine forces aren’t even aware of its existence. When one of the agency’s top field agents is murdered, the Arc-7 turns its attention inward, searching for a mole, or a former agent gone bad. Not content to sit back and watch the men do all the work, Velvet takes matters into her own hands, and Arc-7’s field agents come to learn that Velvet is less Miss Moneypenny and more Modesty Blaise, and the sexy personal assistant who’s been keeping secrets from all of them may just be the most dangerous person in the organization.

Brubaker continues to surprise with how much he can do with so little, keeping his past-tense captions at a minimum and letting the art tell the story, conveying mountains of information in terse dialogue. It seems he’s gotten a taste for female protagonists again: after a memorable run on Catwoman in the early 2000s, pretty much all of his comics work since had a male lead until the 2012 debut of Fatale (though maybe that says less about Brubaker and more about the industry – comics with female leads are hard to come by, and he did sneak in the original movie Angel of Death with Zoe Bell in 2009).

Now, with Velvet, he has another intelligent, vivacious, and deadly star to work with, in an area where he’s always seemed most comfortable, the dark end of the street. (Yes, that was the title of Bru’s first Catwoman collection. Gold star in the air for you.) Though even his weakest superhero work is still high-quality, it just doesn’t come across with the same intense nihilism as his crime or spy books: Captain America (which I maintain was essentially a spy book), Point Blank, Incognito, Gotham Central and Criminal stand head-and-shoulders above his long run on Uncanny X-Men. In Velvet, he’s firing on all cylinders, telling the exact type of story that the man was apparently born to tell: dark and secretive, with only a portion of the bigger picture visible, the rest concealed in shadows. When paired with a skilled collaborator, one whose interests clearly lie in the same type of stories, there’s been no stopping him, and after one issue, that already appears to be the case here.

As to artist Steve Epting, maybe I’m the only one, but I’ve always felt that he’s never gotten the kind of respect he deserves. While his profile has steadily raised from his work on CrossGen’s El Cazador (remember CrossGen? No?), through his razor-sharp action on Captain America and on to the Kirby-tinged sci-fi insanity of Fantastic Four, he seems to have never achieved the “super-star” status of other talents like Leinil Francis Yu or John Cassaday: Cassaday’s and Yu’s names can make a project that, without them, may just as easily break, while Epting  just seems regarded as very, very good.

Well, Epting is better than very, very good. In fact, I’d have to say that his talents compare favorably to some of the medium’s greatest masters yesteryear. His anatomy is top-notch, and his characters look realistic while retaining their comic-booky-ness, seeming cool and otherworldly while simultaneously looking like someone you might run across on the way to the store. His layouts are razor-sharp and inventive, and pull from bags of tricks that many others don’t: utilizing negative space in composition; busting characters free from what seem like regimented panel borders for dramatic effect; tilts that range from slight cants to full-on Dutch angles that keep the page in constant motion. And of course there’s his sense of lighting, which gives Velvet the same kind of moody cool that Captain America had in its best moments. As good as Epting is at balls-out action (and he’s really, really good at that), it’s those quiet moments when characters are bathed in slats of shadows from window blinds that saturate the book with an understated drama.

Velvet may be the best version of Epting we’ve seen thus far. Those influences that have always seemed to hide in the background for his superhero work finally come to the forefront, and show us just what kind of master Epting really is. An admitted fan of Jim Holdaway, the British artist who illustrated all of writer Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise strips from 1963 until the artist’s death in 1970, Epting channels the same type of subdued coolness as Holdaway. Fashionable characters, slick cars, and period-appropriate environs are all rendered in sharp, photorealistic lines that never adhere so strictly to realism that they forget to be interesting. Velvet places him in a continuum of great spy/noir comic artists, from Alex Raymond’s work on Secret Agent X-9, through Holdaway’s Modesty Blaise strips, and on to Stan Drake’s criminally under-appreciated Kelly Green. With only one issue in the tank, Epting is already conducting a master class on form and composition, and we’re damn lucky to get the chance to sit back and take notes.

Drawing upon the history of spy fiction, Brubaker and Epting mix up all their source materials in a bag and produce something equal parts Modesty Blaise, The Sandbaggers, John LeCarre, and Queen & Country; a new concoction of sex, intrigue, and action that grabs you from the very beginning and refuses to let go. An intoxicating debut, Velvet is required reading for anyone with a fondness for cheap spy novels and period-piece espionage; for everyone comfortable at the dark end of the street.

Amazon has gained initial approval for its plan to build a huge greenhouse in the middle of Seattle. The proposal has three transparent domes intersecting to form a five-story complex that will contain offices, dining areas, and retail stores. It's nestled between the company's giant new campus, which consists of three office towers all larger than 70 storys.

The proposal has now passed the regulatory questions posed by Seattle's design review board, which unanimously endorsed the plans. The only thing standing between Amazon and a building permit now is the city's planning and development department. A permit is usually issued in a month, and sources close to the plans tell us the design is unlikely to be opposed.

The striking structure has been amended slightly since we first saw it. The initial sketches saw steel bars spiraling down from the building's round tips, but in the new design those regimented spirals have been replaced with a "geometrically organic" pattern that the architects (multinational firm NBBJ) describe as "visually lighter" and "sculptural." The domes themselves will reach as high as 95 feet, and will be filled with plants and trees that take advantage of the controlled climate inside.

The Seattle Times reports that the plans were criticized for excluding the public from interacting with the "unique structure." The new design features areas of hardscape (an architectural term typically referring to paving) around each of the building's entrances that will "allow anyone to [stand] and experience the spheres close up."

By Nathan Grayson on October 24th, 2013 at 9:00 am.

I recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with CCP’s Oculus-Rift-powered wonder EVE Valkyrie, and – shock of all shocks – it was really wonderful. More on that soon. First, though, some minor yet potentially meaningful strangeness. After clambering out of my head-mounted cockpit (that sounds incredibly dirty), I quizzed CCP all about its plans for EVE, Dust, Valkyrie, and how they’ll intertwine. I’ll have the full interview up asap, but one bit stood out: chief marketing officer David Reid was quite adamant that EVE Valkyrie won’t necessarily be launching on PC or Oculus Rift. I’m not really sure what to make of it, to be honest, but here’s what he said.

“Hold on a second, we haven’t confirmed that Valkyrie’s on PC,” he interjected when I idly noted that Dust 514 is the only non-PC extension of the EVE universe. “It’s capable of playing on PC right now, but we haven’t confirmed what we’re going to launch it on.”

“It technically works on PC, and it’s working fine, but there are other platforms it could run on. There’s nothing that technically prevents it from running on a console, for example.”

It was a very unexpected response, to say the least. PC is, however, still part of the plan… somehow. Unfortunately, Reid was exceedingly vague beyond that point, almost insistently so.

“Well, I mean, PC is definitely in the cards. Is it definitely something that’s there in 2014 on commercial launch day? I couldn’t answer that for you yet. We certainly could do it, but it’s still a question of whether we will.”

I was, however, able to confirm that it’s definitely not an Ouya exclusive, for what it’s worth.

“That is incredibly unlikely,” Reid chuckled. “I will say that with confidence.”

But EVE Valkyrie is a virtual reality game. Heck, at this point it’s basically Oculus Rift’s poster child. And yet, that’s another place where Reid shot down what most people had been taking for granted.

“No, we’re not necessarily [basing our launch on when Oculus comes out],” he clarified. “While we can’t get into details here, there are other platforms that are available. It is technically possible to run this game without a Rift. There’s a whole bunch of different things out on the market right now.”

I floated a few possibilities, but he wouldn’t confirm or deny them. He did, however, note that CCP hasn’t spoken with former Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson about AR/VR mega-vision eyeborg glasses CastAR, but “there’s no reason not to” sit down for a discussion at this point.

So then, what do we know for sure at this point? EVE Valkyrie is coming out in 2014. On, um, something. It will involve virtual reality, but beyond that it’s apparently anyone’s guess. I can’t really see any reason why Valkyrie’s mighty first ride wouldn’t include PC, but crazier behind-the-scenes dealings have happened. Reading between the lines, it certainly sounds like someone could’ve locked it down for a timed exclusive. If that’s the case, address all my future correspondences to the Angry Dome.

Along with a free update to OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Apple promised owners of its iWork and iLife suites free upgrades to the latest versions, as well as anyone that bought a Mac after October 1st. However, thanks to a flaw in the company's Mac App Store, even users with trial copies are being given free editions of Apple's new software. More worryingly for Apple, users downloading illegal software are being given legitimate copies in exchange.

In addition to the iLife and iWork suites, which include Pages, Numbers, and Keynote alongside popular apps like iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand, the issue also extends to Aperture, which was recently updated to version 3.5. Anyone with a trial or illegal copy will get all the new features, including iCloud photo sharing, SmugMug integration, and iOS 7 filter support.

Apple's App Store is not checking if copies are activated properly

9to5Mac theorizes the issue relates to boxed copies of the software not being tied into the Mac App Store system. As each boxed copy has a unique serial number, that suggests the App Store is unable to check if an app has been activated. It also explains why copies that have been illegally downloaded and activated with a serial number likely used thousands of times aren't being flagged up by Apple's system: the App Store appears to only check that the software exists, without verifying where it comes from or who bought it.

Apple has never been over-zealous in protecting its Mac software from piracy, but with software worth up to $200 being given away through its own store, we could see that change. Although it hasn't responded to our request for comment, Apple has removed the trial versions of the affected software from its site, suggesting it's aware of the issue and will either fix the bug or attempt to contain its effects.