gazzymouse:

Legendary.

Privacy statements are usually pretty dry, boring stuff. There's a lot of vague assurances and a lot of talk about valuing your privacy, which gets boring fast. It's rare that I'm able to read one all the way through on the first try, and I do this for a living.

Apple's new privacy statement is different. It comes direct from Tim Cook, and it's got some spark to it, some personality. Even better, it takes specific shots at specific programs — and if you look closely, most of those turn out to be shots at Google.

Exhibit A:

A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.

At this point, they could be talking about Facebook, Google or any number of smaller fish, but it doesn't stop there. Exhibit B:

We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t "monetize" the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you.

If you had to sum up how Google makes money in three sentences, this is basically what you would say, which goes a long way towards explaining why Apple's privacy page is so different from your average we-respect-our-users boilerplate. This isn't just a privacy report, it's a manifesto, a 500-word Scroogled campaign. With celebgate and goto fail just a few months behind us, Tim Cook is making an aggressive case that you should trust Apple over Google. If nothing else, it takes guts.

In some sense, it's also fair play. Between the new permission structure and the new anti-tracking provisions, Apple really has gotten a lot better on privacy with iOS 8. Even if the new promises will be hard to keep, they're still taking a stand, challenging government requests and standing up for user privacy. Just last week, I was complaining that they didn't talk more about security — wasn't this exactly what I was looking for?

But here's the real surprise: this is good news even if you don't agree with Apple's case. Googlers will see it as a cheap shot and get mad. Good! Let them get angry, and then let them try to one-up Apple when the next Android OS comes out next month (my money's on "Lollipop"), adding even stronger protections than iOS 8. Then Apple can strike back at WDC 2015. For years, the free-web crowd has been hoping iOS and Android would start competing on privacy, and now, finally, it might actually be happening. If Tim Cook wants to throw some strong language as part of the deal, I'll take it.

As if self-driving cars, balloon-carried internet, or the eradication of death weren't ambitious enough projects, Google CEO Larry Page has apparently been working behind the scenes to set up even bolder tasks for his company. The Information reports that Page started up a Google 2.0 project inside the company a year ago to look at the big challenges facing humanity and the ways Google can overcome them. Among the grand-scale plans discussed were Page's desire to build a more efficient airport as well as a model city. To progress these ideas to fruition, the Google chief has also apparently proposed a second research and development lab, called Google Y, to focus on even longer-term programs that the current Google X, which looks to support future technology and is headed up by his close ally Sergey Brin.

None of these ambitions seem to be taking commercial considerations into account, at least not at their outset. More realistic and near-term goals have also been under discussion during Google 2.0 meetings, including Page's determination that location tracking should be precise "down to the inches." That would allow people to identify those around them discreetly, as well as providing information to store owners that can help customize what you're presented with as you walk through a shop. Also, just as Apple is doing with Touch ID on the iPhone, Page wants to see some form of biometric security — potentially provided by the sensors embedded in smartwatches — replacing the traditional (and traditionally insecure) written password. It's hardly a surprise to see Google thinking about the future, but the ambition illustrated in this report is strikingly grand and all-encompassing, even for a company as vast as the one Larry Page controls.

Hot on the heels of being named a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant, cartoonist Alison Bechdel has revealed through her publisher the subject of her third comics memoir; her lifelong obsession with health and fitness.

The Secret To Superhuman Strength does not mark a radical career switch for Bechdel into superhero comics. According to an announcement in the New York Times, the book will focus instead on both Bechdel’s personal relationship with exercise and the history of fitness fads in America.

Bechdel is apparently a lifelong dabbler in such fads, having tried her hand (or leg) at every contemporary health craze from rollerblading to yoga, and the memoir will examine the relationship between physical well-being and creative energy.

Bechdel’s previous memoirs, Fun Home and Are You My Mother, dealt with her relationships with her father and mother respectively, while also touching on themes of memory, identity, and reflection. The books are among the most critically lauded works of the past ten years, with Fun Home in particular receiving multiple plaudits including the Eisner for Best Reality-Based Work. The book has also been adapted as a musical that moves to Broadway next year.

A memoir focused on fitness may sound like an unlikely departure from Bechdel’s other recent works, but as the third book in a trilogy, an examination of the physical self makes sense, with the focus of the three memoirs being “father”, “mother”, and “me”. Given her past record, Bechdel seems certain to offer a profound take on what might otherwise seem a superficial subject. She is, after all, a genius.

The Secret To Superhuman Strength will be published in 2017 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

By Adam Smith on September 19th, 2014 at 8:00 am.

Wasteland 2 is formidable. The word ‘sprawling’ comes to mind but it’s not quite right. There’s a bit of sprawl, if such a thing as sprawl can happen in bits, but the game’s density is a more distinctive feature than its actual size. InXile’s Kickstarted RPG is a large game and rewards repeated playthroughs with previously unseen content, but it’s the sheer quantity of stuff that has astonished and occasionally overwhelmed me. As to whether the effort of seeing it all (or most of it) has been worthwhile? Here’s wot I think.

Before digging beneath the radiated topsoil, let’s be clear that I’ve enjoyed my time with Wasteland 2. I’ve been playing for three weeks, which surprises me every time I reflect on it. Astounds me, really, considering the rush to the finish line and the frantic search for talking points that can be an unfortunate aspect of reviewing such a gargantuan game.

It’s a game that demands your time, not only because it’s packed with things to see and do, but because it eventually creates a compelling momentum. There are aspects that frustrated me from beginning to end, but nothing that made me consider walking away. The worst of my complaints are directed at features or process that I quietly tolerated rather than cursing, and Wasteland 2′s biggest problem is one that would seep into almost any commitment that lasts so long – there’s a seven hour itch and, for the dedicated ranger, there might also be a seventy hour itch and a few more in between.

Whatever corner of the world you might be exploring and whatever mission might currently occupy your rangers, Wasteland 2 has you reading lots of text, sorting through lots of loot and engaging in lots of turn-based combat. Oh, and using skills set to hotkeys to access or activate almost every bloody thing you find. To be fair, there isn’t an ‘open’ skill that needs to be levelled up lest hapless rangers break their arms while trying to take the lid off a crate, but there’s far more clicking on lockpicking, then clicking on a lock than I’d like.

I don’t mind spending a lot of time clicking on things but in Wasteland 2 I feel like I spend far too much time clicking on the same things for exactly the same reasons. If I intend to hack into a computer, clearly I’ll want Digital Ian, my super-geek IT guy, to handle things. He has the highest computer skill – in fact he’s the only one in my gang of dunderheads with a computer skill at all – so if I right click on the computer, I’d be happy for him to take charge by default.

Instead, I have to select him, select the skill and then select the computer. That’s fine the first time, maybe even the first ten times, but you might end up selecting your own version of Digital Ian a hundred times or more. Like I said, it’s a big wasteland out there.

The obvious advantage of the system is that it allows for silliness. In Fallout, it was possible to pick an NPC’s pocket and plant a primed bomb in their trousers rather than take anything. That’s what happens when players have the freedom to apply skills in an unusual fashion and it certainly wouldn’t be possible if everything was driven by context sensitive commands. Wasteland 2 does allow for creative solutions and improvisations on occasion, but most of the time a computer requires computer skills and a door requires a lockpick skill.

Finicky is a good word to describe the interface and the majority of interactions with it. In fact, if Wasteland 2 was a tabletop RPG, the gamesmaster would probably be quite finicky. The sort who enjoys watching you and your chums sorting through yet another pile of ammunition and reckons every area should have at least six boobytrapped doors or chests. It’s hard work sometimes, slogging through another of his scenarios, but you stick with it because the stories are entertaining and there’s an occasional gem of a location.

Structurally, the game is as recognisable as any backer of the Kickstarter might hope. Wasteland 2 is not only a sequel to Wasteland, as the name suggest, it’s also the Fallout 3 that could have been, and its relationship with CRPGs past is clear. Those arriving in this new post-nuclear America directly from the Fallout games of the nineties will encounter the first unfamiliar element during character creation – Wasteland 2 isn’t about the lone wanderer, it’s a party-based game about a team of rangers and the party system, integral though it may be, is the source of the majority of frustrations.

Despite the brilliant character creation, which can provide as diverse a group of oddballs as you might hope for, I always felt that my party was like a Swiss Army knife. Example – during conversations, the three persuasive skills come into play for specific choices, which are clearly marked. It’s possible to switch between characters mid-chat in order to utilise a specific skill, which feels more like flicking the necessary tool into play rather than engaging in tricksy dialogue.

The same is true during the majority of exploration. Most obstacles or optional caches have a hole of a certain shape and your task is to select the appropriate peg to hammer into that hole. I’m aware that the party went from Swiss Army knife to box of assorted toy pegs at some point, but that’s fine. It could also be a ring, with various keys attached. It feels more like any of those three than a group of people, which is such a shame given how attached I became while making my teams and dressing them up.

Combat is the exception to all of the above and is the point when party members have a life of their own. Yes, they’re still a collection of skills and equipment, but they’re not interchangeable parts of the same menu system. As with the Fallouts before it, Wasteland 2′s combat is absolutely ridiculous (point blank shotgun blasts missing because of the percentages, giant frogs absorbing four or five bullets, enemies leading the entire party on glacial races around the map) but it’s damn fine entertainment.

It operates on a simple turn-based setup, with the order of play shown at the top of the screen, and action points and costs detailed when required. Like Fallout, action points are limited on each turn which cuts down on intricate tactics and means that many scraps play out like a two-way slugfest. A lot of the work toward victory occurs during preparation – having the right equipment and the skills to use it is more important than the actual approach once the bullets and blades start to fly.

Killing things is satisfying though, which is handy because there are so many things to kill. Combat is clean and just about complicated enough – it’s never too demanding but has just enough room for error to create tension. It’s also the area of the game in which skills are most sensibly applied, even if some (unarmed, I’m looking at you) seem underpowered due to the equipment available.

But it’s fun to have a blademaster, a sniper and an angry giant with a club full of nails. Not an actual giant, you understand, but a massive bruiser, with a cig in her mouth and a Buddhist chant on her lips. Smoking habits, ethnicity, religion and size are all part of the delightful character building before the game even begins. That’s when starting skills are chosen as well and while it’s easy enough to dish out combat skill evenly, selecting the rest is troublesome**.

Wasteland 2 is one of those games in which some parties will have more life in them than others. Returning briefly to the Swiss Army knife analogy – it’s possible to construct a knife without a single blade on it, or one without a corkscrew, which is a nightmare when you stumble across a crate of wine.

Certain skills are necessary and while they can be developed as characters level up. beginning without them is a recipe for a restart. Medical capabilties are essential, which might seem as obvious as remembering to pack a cleric, but I’d hoped that items might work where skills were lacking – that’s not the case and I had to watch my charismatic leader bleeding out an hour into the game.

Despite all of that – and it feels like a lot of negativity about a game I’ve enjoyed – Wasteland 2 is an accomplished piece of work. The story has more of an American frontier feel than the Fallout games, as the rangers attempt to impose their (and your) idea of law on an untamed wilderness. There’s humour, usually developed scattershot through characters and situations rather than in the form of gags, and the tone covers broad bases, mostly successfully. The writing never particularly excited me, as it’s so often telling stories I’ve already heard, but it’s solid and occasionally draws out a chuckle or a nod of appreciation*.

I can’t help but wonder what I would have made of Wasteland 2 if it had come out just before, after or between Fallout 1 and 2. Chances are I would have loved it a little bit more than I do now because my tolerance for the more fiddly elements was higher in past lives. Even then, there’s a cumbersome quality that isn’t entirely down to the size of the thing. Partly, that’s due to a lack of obvious direction for long stretches of play and partly it’s probably due to the bland and dusty appearance of many areas and the maps themselves.

Thematically justified, yes, but not particularly stimulating for hours at a time.

Negativity creeping in again. I don’t have any major complaints about Wasteland 2 and I’m planning to play through it again, but all of the minor quibbles have coalesced. It’s a game that has started to feel like a burden and even though I enjoy unwrapping it and mucking about with what’s inside, there’s an awful lot to unpack every time.

To end on a positive, it’s a surprisingly pleasant game, despite the inherent grimness of the setting. Violent it may be and the humour is often dark, but there’s an offbeat and jocular heart in the beast. For all its mechanical similarities to the RPGs of yesteryear, it’s that character, wit and playfulness that most capably satisfied my nostalgia and made me look forward to whatever InXile put their minds to next. I’ve criticised all of Wasteland 2′s foibles, but that’s because my relationship with it is complicated. I wish it were just a little more sharply dressed and not quite as fussy, but I do love it most of the time, although not necessarily from one hour to the next.

* There’s an assumption that everyone playing will have played and remembered details of the first Wasteland, which seems unlikely. The knowledge isn’t necessary but I was surprised by the flurry of references, which often provide a fair amount of detail.

** Companions are available to join the original party of four. An early recruit is almost indispensable, which is peculiar considering she can be entirely bypassed if you don’t search a dead-end in the starting area. I often felt like I should be digging up every loose patch of dirt and exploring every nook and cranny – the amount of interactive hotspots, trapped doors and seemingly barren areas makes the game a completionist’s nightmare, as does the fact that certain locations and missions will be locked off as choices are made. I’m OK with that. Gives me a reason to go back in and act like my own evil twin.

Konami will begin introducing a clothing line based on the Metal Gear franchise, it was revealed during today's stage presentation of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain at TGS.

The new Metal Gear Collection 2014 clothing line is aimed at both men and women and extends to shoes and accessories. Likewise, the franchise-influenced line is largely camouflage-focused and features the Foxhound logo.

Also shown off today was a new Metal Gear Solid 5 edition PlayStation 4, new Snake figure, the iDroid phone case and a posable replica of Snake's prosthesis.

The Metal Gear Collection 2014 was first teased by Hideo Kojima on his Twitter account earlier this month with the release of an image of the Collection's title alongside the Kojima Productions logo.