Hot News For Tonight

15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Lists

(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); digg
The holiday season has always been a time for gathering -- but in recent years, it's also been a time when family and friends come bearing gifts of computer troubles. Their computer friends -- people like the Download Squad team and you, our readers -- get asked to do everything from installing RAM upgrades to the annual computer tune-up. We're happy to oblige, of course, because there's a decent chance someone will pay us in beer or baked goods. Cash is welcome too, but never seems to be offered quite as readily.



To make your holiday tech duties a bit easier, I've put together a list of some of my favorite troubleshooting apps for Windows.

Where download links for the files aren't on the application's main page, I've included a link to the appropriate download page. I've provided a handful of FileHippo links as well -- they're an excellent mirror site and they don't surround download links in advertisements or "recommendations."

Continue reading 15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    

Online Hry

The Crossbow Machete: The Most Badass Way To Accidentally Kill a Family Member [Video]

If you happen across a giant bald man of some vague Eastern European provenance wearing a blue ESPRIT t-shirt, do not provoke him. Because chances are he is carrying on his person the most ridiculous weapon of the modern age: the crossbow machete. Don't try this at home, or outside, or anywhere, ever. [Geekologie] More »






img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" style="display:none" src="http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=TechCons&partnerID=167&key=segment"/img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" style="display:none" src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.28252.rss.TechCons.5726,cat.TechCons.rss"/div class="feedflare"
a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=HxAbnqJn-dM:A34oZZjNaTs:H0mrP-F8Qgo"full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo" border="0">

This Is the First Image Ever Obtained from Mercury Orbit [Astronomy]

What you are looking at now is something that only happens once in a lifetime. This is the surface of planet Mercury, taken for the first time ever from Messenger, the first human-made spaceship to orbit this scorching hell. More »






img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" style="display:none" src="http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=TechCons&partnerID=167&key=segment"/img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" style="display:none" src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.28252.rss.TechCons.5726,cat.TechCons.rss"/div class="feedflare"
a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=SG7Foxr_tUs:2RQ3qS1GhDs:H0mrP-F8Qgo"full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo" border="0">

Latest xbox 360 games

Review: Meet The Facebook Phone, INQ Cloud Touch

There has been a lot of speculation about a Facebook phone, but we still don’t know what it quite looks like. However, a new device from INQ, a London-based phone maker, dubbed INQ Cloud Touch, shows the possibilities of a Facebook phone, something I wrote about last year.

For the past week, I have been using the phone, which takes its inspiration from the first version of the iPhone. It is hard to tell that this handsome featherweight smartphone is based on Google’s Android operating system. Your first, and most of the important, interactions on the phone are with Facebook services, though there is nothing preventing you from using the Android applications.

Google, Android & Facebook: Oh My!

The phone, which is GSM/WCDMA, is able to work across the planet and I tested it on the T-Mobile USA network. There were hardly any dropped calls and the call quality was pretty solid – I am guessing that it is thanks to both the radio engineering and the network. Given how slow the 3G networks are in the US, I decided to use Wi-Fi as my primary Internet connection on this device, which was perfect when using some of my favorite Android OS apps such as Amazon Kindle, Nimbuzz, Evernote and Dropbox. You can access the Google Apps’ marketplace just as quickly as you can sign-in to your Google account, and you can access various Google services including Google Voice like you would on any normal Android device. However, this phone is for Facebook lovers.

So, let’s talk about the Facebook experience. After booting up the phone, you come to the welcome screen and all you need to do is enter your Facebook login. The phone populates your address book (you do need to select what kind of syncing you want to do) and logs you into Facebook’s messaging and other services.

Single Sign-On Rocks

The single sign-on removes the need for you to individually sign-in for every Android app – and there is a ton of those — that uses Facebook Connect. As an end customer, this single sign-on is going to make the phone inherently useful. You can check-in to places from the home screen, you can send messages from the home screen, and you can use your calendar from the home screen. One click access to the camera allows you to upload photos directly to Facebook photos.

They are all shown as separate apps, leveraging the recent consumer behavior of using dedicated apps for specific functions. I would argue that if you are a Facebook addict, then you pretty much don’t have to leave the home screen.

It seems INQ got access to an extended/new Facebook Mobile API, which allows it to do some amazing things with the Facebook data. INQ’s phone has borrowed a visual feed metaphor from apps like Flipboard and now allows you to directly see elements such as YouTube videos and photos right on the home screen. After using the Facebook visual feed for six days, I find the web-version of Facebook downright dowdy, slow and well, not fun.

Facebook + Spotify + Android = Fun

As someone who has trial access to Spotify, I have thoroughly enjoyed the integration of Spotify, Facebook and this phone. So if Shak (Spotify’s super evangelist) shares a song with me on Facebook, I can now click on the link and it plays in the Spotify app, which incidentally is fully integrated into the INQ phone. What does that mean for you? Fewer clicks and your home screen becomes the launch pad for your Facebook life as most apps are now cross-linked with each other.

However, here’s the app that is going to blow your mind: the People App. Think of your friends as featured on always updating baseball card. INQ says they got Facebook to extend their social graph API and then are using behind-the-scenes wizardry to suggest top 5/10/20 friends you interact most with.

This is a perfect way for one to manage the friend circle and get rid of some of the noise in your social graph. I am addicted and I want this feature on a desktop app.

The company spokesperson explained that all the Facebook services are based off APIs and Facebook for Android App, because when FB updates their app, the company can take advantage of it right away.

What do I think?

There is a lot to like about INQ Cloud Touch – from the packaging to all the accessories and even set-up handbook are top notch, colorful, and are bursting with energy. The phone itself is light and the touch screen is very responsive.

However, the device at times felt underpowered and sluggish, mostly because it was doing too many things at the same time on a puny processor (Qualcomm 7227 chipset, 600MHz) limited onboard memory (4 MB).

I found it ran out of power after a few hours – between 3 and 4 – when I turned on Wi-Fi and was using the Spotify service in tandem with other mobile apps.  The Facebook app kept crashing on the test device, which at times soured me on the experience.

The toughest challenge for me personally was that I found the home screen a tad too busy. There are just too many calls to action, which are kind of contrary to the experience you get on an iPhone. I bet folks who are half my age are going to have no such problems and probably would appreciate busyness.

That said, it stands out in a sea of Android phones that are hard to distinguish and if you love Facebook and want to live inside the social network, this is the smart phone for you.

Click to view slideshow.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

Growing Mobile Data Use Turned Up Heat on Carriers in Q3
Mobilize 09 Wrap-up
The Future of Workplaces

Sorry, Fellows: The iPad 2 Marriage Proposal Has Been Done

A fellow drops on one knee, hands a girl an iPad 2 with a wedding proposal engraved on the back, and the rest is history. After all, you know what they say: diamonds may be forever, but fresh-off-the-assembly-line iPads are a girl's best friend. They do say that, don't they?



This latest techy proposal may not be as rollicking as that iPhone one, or as supremely nerdy as the Pokemon question, but it's certainly not a bad addition to the geek engagement canon.



Of course, the technological obsolescence factor basically ensures the couple will get blank stares if they ever share the story with future kids. Still, it's cute.

Libya News

Best News For 29.03.2011

Round-Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week Of March 25

In the latest postings over the last seven days, Gamasutra's jobs board plays host to roles across the world and in every major discipline, including opportunities at Square Enix, High Moon Studios, Capcom, . Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which ...

Hry

News Flash: 3DS launch: highest one day sales of any Nintendo portable console

According to a report from Gamasutra, the Nintendo 3DS launch produced the highest one day sales of any portable console Nintendo has ever made. Were you surprised it beat the DS and GBA?

Source: Gamasutra

Obrazky

Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC out today

Mass Effect 2′s latest piece of DLC is now available. As fans of the game will already know as they’ve probably been counting down the days for the past week, the pack is called ‘Arrival’. The episode revolves around an imminent Reaper invasion and features to voice talents of Sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen as Commander Hackett, who sends your character, Commander Shepherd off on a secret mission to rescue an undercover operative.#

Bioware have unveiled a video to go out with the downloadable content’s release, so check that out below if you’re interested. You can schedule the content to your download queue, for a fee of 560 MSP, HERE

document.getElementById("post-51302-blankimage").onload();

Online hry

Best Tech Info For This Week

Google Testing Google Music Internally, Still Needs Music

CNET is reporting that employees at Google have begun internally testing Google Music, meaning that the music streaming service could be ready for launch. There is, however, one slight problem: that Google Music needs music. Sources close to the company say that Google is still negotiating with the four major record labels, and that the talks have been delayed primarily because of the complexity of the issue. Google is reportedly pursuing the rights to store users' existing libraries on its cloud servers, but the labels are treading carefully.

Google Testing Google Music Internally, Still Needs Music originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    

Dokumenty

DIY Scanning Electron Microscope

There are lots of electronic projects that can be made at home but I would have never thought I would see a Scanning Electron Microscope that was made at home! The results are able to be watched on an oscilloscope. The comments of the article are great also and worth a read.  You can see the system in operation in the video at 9:53.

Via: Make

“The lock washer is only being magnified 10 or 20x. In this test video, I wasn’t too concerned with focus, so the resolution is probably 50um or more. Eventually, I hope to achieve resolution of about 1um. I will probably experiment with different objective lens placement, final aperture size (currently 100um), deflection plate placement, etc.

I originally� wanted to use a microprocessor to generate the raster scan pattern and capture the data for storage/display on an LCD. I may still do this, but there are a few problems: finding a microprocessor with enough RAM to store the image matrix, using a DAC to generate the raster scan pattern at live video rates, and interfacing with a nice LCD (ie generate SVGA video). The Parallax Propeller seems like it might work, but needs a lot of development.”

sr_adspace_id = 8883907;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";

Online Hry

Aircell’s First Android Phone For Business Jets

In the past year, Aircell has seen a lot of success, having extending its reach as one of the biggest suppliers of in flight web connectivity. Their service is available on both commercial planes as well as on private business jets and now the company has a new product that has been specifically developed for the latter market segment.

(...)Read the rest of Aircell’s First Android Phone For Business Jets

© Coolest Gadget Reviews, 2011.

Coated brings you the coolest gadgets and best geek toys.
Aircell’s First Android Phone For Business Jets
Mobile Phones Post tags: Android

News: Apple highlights gaming in new iPhone 4 ad

Apple has released its fourth TV advertisement in its “If you don’t have an iPhone” series. Entitled “Game Center,” the 30-second spot touts “the largest selection of games on any phone,” with notable appearances by Scrabble and Infinity Blade. The spot also prominently features Apple’s Game Center social gaming network, showing the user finding friends, inviting them to a game, and playing online. As…

Cherry Blossom Festival

Hot Info For The Week

Ono: Darkstalkers reboot petition needs to hit at least 500k, SF x Tekken 3DS port “next step”

Capcom fighting boss Yoshinori Ono has said the company won’t “raise its eyebrow” to rebooting long dormant fight series Darkstalkers until a petition to bring it back hits at least 500,000 signatures.

Speaking to EG ahead of tonight’s 3DS launch in London, Ono said that even now that it has hit 100,000 signatures, Capcom still isn’t interested.

“We have to keep on going,” he said. “At the moment in Capcom’s statistics, I’ve heard [the number of requests have] gone over 100,000. But it’s far from a million. We need to keep on going.

“One day, if it goes half a million, Capcom may raise its eyebrow a little bit and I could do what I did in London in 2007 when I announced the comeback of Street Fighter.”

Ono continued: “In the near future, with your help, it may become true. It’s on its way, because we’re pretty much where we were with Street Fighter a few years back. So keep it up.”

Street Fighter x Tekken 3DS port the “next step”

Ono also told EG that, just like Super Street Fighter IV, a 3DS port of Street Fighter x Tekken – a home console title to date – could be a possibility. And although nothing concrete has been considered as yet, it should be the “next step.”

“It used to be that you had to go to an arcade machine, pay money and play it. Then it came to home console and you could play it in front of your TV. Now you can play Super Street Fighter IV anywhere if you’ve got a 3DS,” Ono said.

“I think that’s an amazing thing. The next step would be to have Street Fighter x Tekken, which is the celebration of all top fighting gamers’ dreams in one, to be on 3DS, where you can play anywhere you want.”

“That’s an ultimate idea. Personally speaking, it should happen. We should probably start making more noise about this. But officially, nothing has been considered yet.”

Street Fighter x Tekken doesn’t have a date, but more information is expected on the PS3 and 360 fighter at Captivate next month despite Capcom refusing to confirm earlier this week if it would be there.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition is a launch title for 3DS, which goes on sale at midnight tonight.

Obrazky na plochu / Hry

Next stop on Epic’s Eurotrip, Sweden and Coffee Stain

Picture Epic Games as a senior at NCSU taking the semester off to backpack through Europe. Spain was fun, but not his style. No, he’s more into northern Europe, up where it’s colder, up where it snows.

Epic has been on a Euro trip for quite some time, and we finally received a postcard. “Wish you were here,” Epic scribbles on the back of the postcard from Poland, which is a picture of him and his good friend Dicktits (the loving nickname he gave his pal People Can Fly), having fun next to a monumental sized plant monster. And this is great, because vicariously through Epic and People Can Fly, we enjoy Poland.

“Next stop, Sweden,” Epic says. He has to see about a Coffee Stain, and such an epic Coffee Stain it is.

The next company to partner with Epic Games is Coffee Stain Studios, a Swedish game studios that known for a lovable iPhone app called I Love Strawberries. They’re also known for raking in several awards from the ‘$1 Million Make Something Unreal’ contest with their latest title, Sanctum, which is by far not a saccharine app.

Announced today, Coffee Stain will license the Unreal Engine 3 for Sanctum and future games in their library. Just like the video says, the aforementioned title is a FPS Tower Defense game, and it looks sweet. Tickle your fancy? Feel good knowing you can hop on the beta April 15. Even better, starting tomorrow you can pre-order with 10% knocked off the official price of $14.99. You want more? You can download the demo here.

Cherry Blossom Festival

The Future of 2D Gaming

theGamerBuzz writes, "Portable game devices are the younger brother of the home game console. Nintendo started the portable gaming craze with the legendary Game Boy and still controls the front even today with the innovative Nintendo DS."

Latest xbox 360 games

Amazon App store for Android is now online

Introducing the HTC Inspire. It's ridiculously intelligent, super fun to be around and as you've probably noticed, extremely attractive too. Social Intelligence. With HTC Sense, every email, status update, tweet, text message and phone call is grouped by person for easy viewing and follow-up. And with HTC's Friend Stream app, you can see what's happening on your social networks, all in one easy place. Entertainment HQ. With a mind-blowing 4.3" WVGA screen, Dolby + SRS Surround with noise cancellation and all your favorite movies, live sports and primetime shows streaming at 4G speed, you don't waste any time when there's time to kill. Digital sharpshooter. It's got an 8MP camera with LED flash, in-camera editing, live picture effects, an 720p camcorder for shooting HD video and instantaneous uploads, should you decide to share. Phone screen meets flatscreen. With built-in DLNA connectivity, you can stream videos, photos, and music wirelessly, from your phone to your flatscreen. So instead of huddling around a phone screen, everyone can kick back on the couch and watch the show. A form that fits. It's got a sleek, uni-body metal alloy design for a sophisticated look and a substantial feel. After all, any phone capable of doing so much deserves to look good doing it.

- Buy This Item at Amazon.com

Deus Ex 3

Best News For The Week

Monday Morning Links Serving: The March 20th Edition

-AT&T Buys T-Mobile for $39 Billion
AT&T just announced a definitive agreement with Deutsche Telekom to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stock. In a press release, AT&T said the agreement has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors.

-Music Industry Destroys Another Powerful Free Download Tool
In September 2010, the Mulve music download tool reached the peak of its popularity. Pulling on the resources of VKontakte – Russia’s Facebook equivalent – it provided instant access to millions of high quality tracks from just about every artist imaginable.

-Internet Explorer 9: Hands On, First Impressions
Internet Explorer 9 debuted this week into a flourishing browser market; Microsoft’s new browser will have to shine in order to win back any users who’ve since transitioned to Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or even Opera.

-Android 50% faster than iPhone 4 in loading Web pages, study says
The latest Android smartphone loaded Web pages 52% faster than iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3, according to thousands of independent field tests released recently by Blaze Software.

-6 Important PC Tools Most People Never Use
There are many important PC tools that most people never use, even though they are essential for running a stable and secure system.

Related posts:Monday morning links serving: The December 20th editionMonday Morning Links Serving: The September 20th EditionMonday morning links serving: The April 20th edition

Herne Videa

Lenovo To Offer Mobile-Internet Video Service In The Future

China's biggest computer maker, Lenovo had taken a forward step into Internet video by partnership with SMG (Shanghai Media Group) to establish a new firm to provide Internet-video service. On Thursday, under an agreement of the joint venture, SMG owned 51 percent of the venture, and named Shanghai Video Cloud Company Limited, while Lenovo owns the remainder. The total investment of both parties in the new firm exceeded 10 million yuan (1.52 million U.S. dollars).

>>

Dead Space 2 Navod

What the earthquake means for your orders.

Libya News

AT&T None Too Pleased With Your Illicit Tethering

Have you been tethering your smartphone without shelling out for AT&T's subscription plan? Your days appear to be numbered. The company has started cracking down on unauthorized tethering, sending out an obnoxious email that tells users to cut it out or they'll be automatically enrolled in a more expensive data plan. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. It's something AT&T has every right to do, but is thought to be rather a dick move by users who feel they should be able to use their plans as they please.*



*Hah!

Pablo Picasso paintings

Nintendo Info For 20.03.2011

The Dispatch: Game Developers Conference 2010 in Austin, TX

“Conference” is something of a misnomer. The GDC is a developer’s retreat. Outside of the expo no one is here to sell anything. No one is here to promote their game. The developers are here to exchange ideas and give others the benefit of their wisdom. Like the bearded guru’s of legend these men and women are humble fonts of knowledge who are here to spread the good word, and the good word is video games.

The Austin Convention center is packed with sessions, and you can’t go to them all. I chose sessions that ran the gamut of the gaming industry, but with overlapping times there is still so much I had to miss. Sessions at the GDC are lectures. Much like their collegiate counterparts, leaders in the industry use PowerPoint presentations to discuss aspects of the video game industry: Social Networking Games, the MMOFPS problem (massive first-person shooter), micro payments, international markets, data mining, net neutrality, service retrospectives, the list goes on.

While few outside the expo are trying to sell anything and much of the conference is academic, don’t be fooled, there is business going on at the GDC. Hands are shaking and cards are being traded. If there is selling at the GDC; the product is first impressions. College students, recent grads and even the gaming initiated are looking for any opportunity to advance their career.

It’s not as cutthroat as it might sound. While many would sell any organ they could do without for a chance at a job or internship, there is a polite and inclusive nature in the chatter. Industry leaders surprisingly alleviate tension. When they aren’t offering up friendly free advice at the conference, they’re out at the great local Austin bars inviting attendees to have a beer and talk video games for a chance to network even further.

One embarrassing caveat: Every attendant wears a low-hanging badge that identifies who they are and for whom they work. What became eventually clear to most attendees was the average human height (especially the average female, to my embarrassment) caused the badges to hang just around crotch level. Everyone wants to know who you are because you are always a potential contact. So you effectively have a flock of professionals making passing glances at each other’s junk… for business reasons.

Mostly I attended what interested me personally, but I tried to keep everyone in mind. Here’s a look into the GDC experience in 2010.

Game Design and Video Game Writing

Many of the sessions available at the GDC focused on game design and a significant portion of those were about game writing. What was once a tertiary consideration in gaming, writing is now included as a key element to game design. If the trend continues, writing is likely to become its own subject and not just an implied component of a game design team. As in any field, good writers are hard to vet. New writers are doubly so. Many of the lectures on writing tried to inform potential applicants on what the industry is looking for in a writer.

It’s Not in the Writer’s Manual: A Q&A for New Writers

Twenty or so aspiring writers were allowed unfettered access to the advice of industry leader: John Gonzalez (Creative Lead Designer, Obsidian Entertainment, Fallout: New Vegas), Chris Metzen (SVP of Creative Development, Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft), Rhianna Pratchett (Independent, Mirror’s Edge), Andrew Walsh (Freelance, Prince of Persia), Evan Skonick (Vicarious Visions) and Toiya Finley (Schnoodle Media, LLC). The session was a remarkably inclusive environment where the successful gave generously from their experience to those with only aspirations of success. Speakers gave frank and even heartfelt advice to new writers. Chris Metzen, in a moment of reflection implored writers to tell their stories from the soul, “We’re full up on clever. Clever hooks are done; the tank is full. Write soul. Sing though your writing.”

Writing the Whirlwind: 10 Years on the Frontlines of Halo Storytelling and Beyond

Joseph Staten (Creative Director, Bungie) gave a retrospective on writing the narrative for Halo over the last 10 years. Equally impassioned, Staten described how to keep an intellectual property (IP) fresh over time, “Pour all of your blood into it, leave nothing in the tank.” While maintaining reverence for the creative process, Staten mentioned in a sobering moment that, “[Halo]’s about shooting stuff. Killing aliens is relaxing” and that story is always beholden to gameplay.

Narrative Design Between the Lines: Game Development Conversation Standards

It’s not all heart and soul, sometimes its grammar and spelling. John Gonzalez (Creative Lead Designer, Obsidian Entertainment) walked attendants through the labyrinth of conversation standards required to keep the dialogue and narrative of Fallout: New Vegas in check. From faction details to the proper spelling of “Stimpak,” Gonzalez scrolled through the actual New Vegas documents while those in the audience strained to read at lightning speed to steal what little details they could.

Game Writing Workshop

Richard Dansky (Manager of Design/Writer, Red Storm) held a writing workshop focusing on peer feedback. It was an opportunity for one new writer to have a dialogue tree reviewed and critiqued by an industry professional and for several new writers to get a better understanding of how to give and receive criticism. What could have been a wolf pack tearing the unlucky writer’s prose to bits was instead an encouraging and well meaning critique that truly helped her and everyone in the room to write better dialogue.

Narrative Mechanics: An Approach to Crafting Emotion in Games

Writing is far from the final frontier in eliciting emotional responses in players. Jeremy Bernstiein’s (Independent, Dead Space 2) lecture on crafting emotion through the use of game mechanics highlighted an often underutilized tactic for crafting emotion. Via the very tools a we use to interact with the game Bernstein laid out the blueprints for not only putting fear into the player, but vulnerability, tension, helplessness and empathy. Citing examples such as the Andrew Ryan forced resolution in Bioshock (helplessness) to the hand-holding mechanic in Ico (empathy). The possibilities for dynamic emotional triggers was limited only to the creative power of the game designer.

All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Conquest Endgames in MMOs

The developers of EVE Online presented a retrospective that focused on the use of territory conquest for MMO endgame content. EVE Online has been a tireless prize fighter in the world of MMO’s, outlasting all of the major sci-fi space massives while producing an astonishing thirteen expansions in its seven year run. With a plethora of successes and failures under their belts, the developers at CCP were frank about both. The EVE community has notoriously sunk its collective teeth into EVE’s PvP conquest content, which caused a number of challenges. Chief among them was sheer player number in a given zone. On June 6th, 2010 EVE Online reached 60,453 players on a single server. It’s not hard to imagine enormous alliances clashing in a zone and crashing the server. Through clever incentives and a bit of social engineering the developers made great strides in solving the crowding of space, but what about time?

With the competitive popularity of EVE the very time zones of our own tiny planet played a major role in the graying of hairs at CCP. Sooner or later the players in Europe would have to go to sleep, and that’s exactly when American players would be lying in wait with an armada of enormous warships. The developers suggested several options for dealing with this fundamental issue: Segregate time zones, synchronize combat with scheduled combat, or overlap time zones to reduce exploitation.

With the coming release of EVE Online: Incursion in November 2010 it doesn’t appear that CCP has any plans to rest on their laurels. Even with the coming World of Darkness MMO in the pipeline, nothing seems to be slowing them down.

How Online Gaming Adopted the Grind

The Grind. It’s the elephant in the MMO room. More precisely, it’s the elephant in the MMO room that sits squarely on the face of the player while suggesting that the player relax and come to terms with this arrangement to better facilitate reaching maximum level and endgame content. Damion Shubert (Lead Combat Designer, Bioware, Star Wars: Old Republic) feels our pain. Generally speaking, Shubert sees the use of the grind as a crutch. It’s cheap, it’s easy and it’s rarely goes wrong “killing ten rats never fucking breaks.” Grind exists as a kind of membrane between moments of “gold content” or quests that are central to the title and therefore receive the most effort and scrutiny. Often between pitch battles with featured characters and scripted events are large stretches of killing a number of things that are at least within the hazy boundaries of the narrative.

Shubert considered tactics to break up the grind that presumably are being applied to Star Wars: Old Republic, many of which probe into the deep psychological framework of operant and classical conditioning as it applies to the average MMO player who is, by and large, a rat in a box. They pull the lever for the pellet and hope against engineered odds for the occasional epic pellet drop. However, Shubert is not dogmatic in his view of the grind. There are ways to apply the grind appropriately without wearing down the will of the player: Consistent leveling curves, multiple objectives in similar areas or similar enemy types and keeping numbers reasonable (avoid confusing 1,000 killed bandits with a challenging gaming experience).

The 256+ Player Real-Time Server Architecture: Making the MMOFPS a reality

This is my personal holy grail. Too long the RPG has ruled the massive online market with their turn-based tyranny. Sony Online Entertainment attempted to pull the sword from the stone with Planetside, but its efforts were unworthy. Since that time the MMOFPS has remained something of dream for the future. A plan for when technology could meet the demands of such an ambitious endeavor. Lin Luo believes he has designed a solution that will bring the future to the present making the present the past and the past some kind of enriched super-past.

In any FPS there is simply too much going on for any server to handle more than 16-32 players per team. Should they all be in close relation to one another, the server would likely lag or crash altogether. Luo postulates that he could fix this issue by dividing the work load. A central hub server would synchronize 4-8 “battle servers” that would be responsible for populating and coordinating various object requests or physics calculations individually when relevant. Let’s say that MastaKilla69 fires a rocket in an attempt to kill Spartan420 in a crowd of over 100 players. His client would request a rocket be populated. That request would travel to the hub server and then be populated by a connected battle server then routed back through the hub server to each connected client within view of the rocket so that MastaKilla69 and the 100+ throng of players all bear witness to Spartan420’s exploding demise. Thus, no one server pulls the entire load. It appears, on the surface, as a rather elegant solution. While Luo admits to a small increase in latency due to inter-server communication, he’s confident that there are ways to reduce this during development.

Got Gold? An Inside Look at Chinese Gold Farming Markets

One of the more entertaining lectures was given by Jason Psigoda an American expatriate in China who has taken a deeper look into a problem encountered by all MMO players: The Goldfarmer. Crime is always fascinating, and video games are always interesting. If you combine complicated crimes and video games you’ve got my attention pretty well nailed to the projection screen. Gold farming in China is an enormous business, and for the most part, it’s legal. Complete with multi-tiered operating structures, clandestine delivery services and even a gold trading index that gives the worth of an amount of gold in a given game in real time. This prompted me to describe the whole process as “some pretty nefarious shit” and I request an interview with Mr. Psigoda at his earliest convenience. So keep a look out for my interview with Jason Psigoda on the Chinese goldfarming market. There really is so much more to it than chat spam.

Networking with the Pros

After a short awards ceremony where many of the awards went to Riot’s “League of Legends” (deserved) the last lecture was strangely on how to make contacts at the GDC. After all the fumbling attempts by eager students not to make an enormous ass out of themselves in front of major designers and producers, they were treated to a well produced “Here’s what you did wrong” by Jeremy Gibson from USC. While well-meaning and with good intentions, and admittedly containing a lot of good advice, the whole lecture was marred by the hanging resentment of being told something too late at literally the last moment of the conference. Better luck next year, kids.

The Takeaway

If you want to make an honest shot at the video game industry, you need to attend the GDC. The ticket isn’t cheap ($149-$1195 depending on level of access, discounts for early registration), but you get every dollar back in advice, experience and contacts. The people you talk to are real designers of top grossing games and they are willing and enthusiastic to give you advice with little exception. You can go to an expo, but there the same people are basically at work. At the GDC everyone is relaxed and filled with enthusiasm for video games. You can’t buy a better opportunity.

Hry

PopCap, OneBigGame Donate iOS Revenue Toward Earthquake Relief

App Store developers PopCap and OneBigGame have joined Sega and Capcom in donating proceeds earned from iOS application sales to victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

PopCap announced that all revenue earned from its iOS applications (minus Apple’s 30 percent developer fee) over the weekend will be donated to the Red Cross. The publisher will also reduce the price of every title in its App Store catalog, to further promote its charity drive; all iPhone and iPod Touch games will be reduced to 99 cents, while iPad titles will be priced at $1.99.

Featured games include Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, Chuzzle, Escape Rosecliff Island, Bookworm, and Bejeweled 2 + Blitz. The sale will begin Saturday at 12:01 AM PDT, and ends at midnight PDT on Sunday, March 20.

PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and developer OneBigGame are also donating to earthquake relief, announcing that all downloadable content purchased for the free-to-play rhythm-action game WINtA will “directly support Save the Children in setting up a network of child friendly spaces for children in the worst affected areas of Japan.”

OneBigGame’s Japan-specific donations will continue for the next four weeks, after which the company will continue to donate 80 percent of earnings to Save the Children and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Lybia News

Amazing New SOCOM 4 Beta footage

Gamingbolt: A Youtube group has created a montage of SOCOM 4 BETA footage and it looks to be pure fun.

Online Hry Zadarmo

Gadget Information For Tonight

HTC ThunderBolt for Verizon - initial impressions

While we're not going to be rushing a full review of the ThunderBolt before its time, we did take some photos and put together a few thoughts on the device now that we've had some alone time with it. Read on to find out how life with the ThunderBolt is going so far.
Read the full story here.

Hry

Video Preview: Batman Arkham City

We talk about the massive world of Batman: Arkham City, the familiar scenes you'll discover from Batman's history, and the many villains and thugs you'll eventually kick the crap out of.

Battlefield 3: Fault Line Ep. 2

Work with your team to take out a sniper in Battlefield 3.

Online Hry

Mobile: The Key to Education Anywhere

In 1985, when Bruce Springsteen wrote “We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school,” he was talking about the lure of whatever might be waiting outside every classroom around the world. That  youthful feeling of the world passing you by — the things you were missing as you sat in a classroom day after day — is an age-old challenge for educators. It’s one that’s about to be subjected to an even greater assault as the digital generation moves deeper into education.

The Internet was the first volley on the way a generation learned. Students no longer had to trudge to the library to research a topic. The encyclopedias of our parents’ generation were tossed into recycling bins, and a combination of Google and Wikipedia was all students needed to complete even the most ambitious assignments. Even with all their merit — the world’s opinions and research at your fingertips — educators shunned the tools in the class. They banned the Internet to the corner, equipping it with the dunce cap.

Mobile is the second volley in this assault on education, and the impact is going to be far larger and broader-reaching than the Internet and computers were before it. If the web brought research to the desktop, mobile brings all that power — plus context — to the hip pocket. We all have the ultimate ability to find, disseminate, discuss, opine, distribute and create on the fly, and this power is something educators will need to embrace — and quickly.

New mobile technologies such as augmented reality, Google Goggles and real-time language translation applications are helping smartphones become key tools in the real-time learning toolkit. And students are bringing this technology into the classroom.

This generation of students is far different from its predecessors when it comes to the consumption of technology. Students coming of age during the Internet revolution seemed to be much more engaged in the making of technology — building the foundation of bits and bytes — while students today are much more inclined to use the technology for other pursuits, including education. Using mobile technology to learn is as natural a move and non-disruptive for this generation as it was for their parents to bring encyclopedias out of the library and into the home.

The single, most powerful pull of mobile is the seamless connectivity it enables. There has never been a time in history where the earth has been flatter, where it was easier to have a social network that extended beyond a city or country or hemisphere, or that different cultures were as exposed in real time – and it’s all because of the smartphone. This power is global and comes to life through the 250 million mobile Facebook users, photo applications like Instagram and mobile video sharing services like Qik.

“The next wave of teaching, when you’re facing students who have computers in their hands or on their desks, really is about taking advantage of that connectivity,” says Sidneyeve Matrix, National Scholar and Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Film at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “So that’s just another reason for educators to push for mobile learning opportunities or to challenge themselves to figure out to utilize the technology their students already have.”

With this power, there’s the growing potential to also increase the gap between the technology haves and the technology have-nots, as well as the growing concern that  “always connected” means never able to concentrate on the task at hand. The classroom is the perfect place to teach the potential of mobile learning and, at the same time, expose the technology to students who don’t have access to it. Teachers can start by bringing in games that leverage mobile. Quizzes and micro-learning opportunities abound during the school day; use mobile to capture them. Exposure can also come in the form of recording classes and turning them into podcasts, assigning teams to work on mobile video projects or even doing real-time scavenger hunts on campus or in the community.

This often leads to a profound argument that has been in our discourse since Google launched and became the Internet’s conduit to humanity’s collective brain: Are kids learning to learn or are they simply learning to find. It’s a subtle difference. Has information become temporary, or even disposable? Face it; we don’t go to school really to learn about things — natural curiosity will overcome learning lethargy to drive lifelong education — but we do go to learn to learn and that’s what will be impacted the most with mobile.

Learning is a skill. Teaching that skill happens every day in the classroom but it need not end there, and that’s where mobile can truly shine. Mobile holds the nascent promise of bridging the desire to learn about everything and the ability to learn about it anywhere. The key now is to start.

For almost 10 years Rob has been immersed in the middle of the mobile revolution in roles ranging from strategic advisor, board member and coach to VP Operations and President and CEO. Rob currently runs UNTETHER.tv where he interviews mobile luminaries about how they are building their businesses and he also strategizes with major brands on embracing mobile within their organizations.

Image courtesy of Flickr user mortsan.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

Forecast: Tablet App Sales To Hit $8B by 2015
In Q4, Data Was Mobile’s Hot Spot
Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era

src='http://s3.amazonaws.com/ad-creative/clickatell-2011-03-04.gif'
alt='Who uses Clickatell messaging APIs? We all do! No BS APIs so easy to integrate into your existing system, it&rsquoq;s almost criminal! Test our SMS gateway, no download required »'
border='0'
/>

Obrazky na plochu / Dokumenty

David Letterman tells you the reasons to buy the iPad 2

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGl0qL-oLo

Still don’t know whether you should buy the iPad 2 or not? Let’s get some advices from David Letterman. “In this economy, who doesn’t have 600 bucks to throw around”. Right?

[via IntoMobile]

Libya News

Playstatiton News For This Week

Datapop, Anamanaguchi this week in Austin

Datapop, Anamanaguchi this week in Austin:

Are you in Austin, TX right this second for SXSW concerts, looking for chiptunery? Head to the Highball for the annual Datapop showcase, featuring the following acts:

9PM: exileFaker9:45 PM - knife city10:30 PM - Fuckjazzforaminute11:15 PM - Sulumi12:00 AM - Covox12:45 AM - USK1:30 AM - IAYD

In addition, chiptune/rock superstars Anamanaguchi will be performing at no fewer than five shows this week, starting tomorrow at noon for some reason. I hope I get a chance to go to one… The band might even have some limited-edition Airbrushed vinyls available!

Buy: Anamanaguchi albums

See also: More chiptunes

Nuclear power plants

Nintendo DSiWare and WiiWare Weekly Updates

Plants vs. Zombies, Rabi Laby, 5 in 1 Mahjong, Liight and a Mix Superstar demo arrive on DSiWare/WiiWare

Yakuza: Of the End PlayStation 3 Screenshots

20 PlayStation 3 Screenshots posted, from Sega

Dead Space 2

New Batman Arkham City Trailer

There isn’t much to say here the video can’t say for itself. Rocksteady has proven that they are a heavy contender for game of the year award. This game is a step above Batman Arkham Asylum and that is hard to say since that game was such a well developed game to begin with.

Take a look at the trailer to see the Joker, Two Face, Catwoman, Dr. Strange !

Edge and Schick have DLC for inFAMOUS 2

Need to shave? Might as well get one of the unique PS3 themed kits and score some DLC. How about the Infamous 2 Sniping ability? The Chevy Camaro for GT5 perhaps? Edge and Schick have teamed up with Sony and Jt Pierce Marketing manager had this to say about the announcement:

Some of the biggest franchises ever to hit PlayStation have had caused quite a buzz over the last few months. Gran Turismo 5 and Killzone 3 are both runaway successes. And with anticipation building for inFAMOUS 2, we’ve been hard at work looking for ways to help up the ante in your AAA action.

Limited Edition PS3 Packs from Schick Quattro Titanium and Edge

That’s why we’ve joined forces with Edge and Schick to help you get more of an edge in your life and your gameplay. This week, special edition Edge Shave Gel and Schick Quatro products are hitting store shelves nationwide. These custom Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5 and inFAMOUS 2 packages are more than just collector’s items. Enter the on-pack code at edgeshave.com/ps3 and get your hands on your choice of downloadable content including:

* A Killzone 3 Retro Map Pack featuring two popular maps from Killzone 2 OR three Unlock Points to use on the weapon or ability of your choice

* A customized Chevy Camaro SS “Edge Special” for Gran Turismo 5

* A special “Sniper Blast” in-game power for inFAMOUS 2. The long-range blast has a narrow area of effect to better equip you to take-on the enemy when inFAMOUS 2 arrives in June.

Source:PSBlog

Latest xbox 360 games

Best Information For Today

Voyager and Borg Cube Wedding Cakes

Geeks are Sexy reader Pamela just sent in these two awesome cakes that I’m sure were one of the highlights of the day during her wedding. I never thought a borg cube could look as delicious as this one!

Thanks Pamela!

Related posts:1) Make trippy network tool. 2) Put in giant cube. 3) Party in cube.1) Make trippy network tool. 2) Put in giant cube. 3) Party in cube.The Wedding Party Has a “Wedding Party” Down the Aisle

Hry

Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot

Want to control an army of robots with the sound of your voice? Well have a look at this Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot for a good head start. Carlos Asmat has done a great job with the video that shows how everything goes together.

“For this project, I used the DFRobotShop Rover (a mobile Arduino kit), the VRbot speech recognition module by Veear, two XBee modules, an Arduino Uno, two XBee shields and some other components.”

sr_adspace_id = 8883907;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";

Dead Space 2 Navod

Real or Render? Can you tell the difference?

The Media Design School has a new edition of the “Real Or Render” challenge up.  Six Images that you get to pick if they’re photographs or CG renders.  One lucky entrant will come away with a $100 Amazon Gift Card for their time, as well.

I scored 4 of 6, how about you?

Real or Render? Can you tell the difference? Play the game to win a Wacom tablet..

Reach out to the community of Visualization and Graphics Experts by Advertising on VizWorld.com

Related posts:Render[in] real-time radiosity engine for SketchupWhat’s the difference between a data visualization and an infographic?Maxwell Render Promotion – 50 % Off!

Fukushima explosion / Japan reactor pictures

Spiral Staircase and Escalator 3d Model Download

Staircase and escalator is a different building element with similar function, all of the helps people to go up/down on the next floor. The one is a transparent spiral staircase which perfect to put in your home model visualization and the second is a detailed escalator which great to furnish large office building department store [...]

Executive Women on Office Chair 3d Model Download

An executive women 3d model sits on an office chair, its a detailed model complete with the clothes, glasses, necklace and also cellular phone. Available free to download in 3ds format under creative common license.

Download 3d Model

Obrazky na plochu