General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Cheat Sheet: 10 Tips And Tricks For Evernote

Posted: 31 May 2011 03:44 PM PDT

We used to have a love/hate relationship with sticky notes. They were great for jotting stuff down, but over time the small yellow squares ended up consuming the entire surface of our desks in a slow, ever-expanding Blob-like wave. We could never find the note we needed when we needed it. It always ended in hysterical tears and missed appointments.

Then we downloaded Evernote, and never touched a sticky note again. Plus, we started making it to our appointments on time. Or at least some of them.

Once you create or edit a note in Evernote, the program backs up your data to the Evernote servers and makes it accessible from any device with the software installed. You can get Evernote for Windows, Macs and all the major smartphones, giving you access to your notes from almost anywhere. But there's more to Evernote than simple reminders: we've compiled 10 tips to help you squeeze as much as possible out of the surprisingly powerful application. 

More In Sync Than Justin Timberlake

The core of Evernote's power lies in its syncing ability. By default, the program uploads all of your new and edited notes to the company's servers every 30 minutes. You can change the frequency by selecting "Tools" > "Options" > "Sync." If you need access to one of your notes on another device, and you need to do it now, click the "Sync" button in Evernote's toolbar to upload your changes to Evernote's servers immediately.


Evernote's Sync button.

Have SMTP Do The Work for You

As powerful as Evernote is, sometimes you just won't have access to it. If inspiration strikes while you're helping Grandma clean malware off her Mac, just shoot your Evernote account an email. Evernote sends you an email address for your account when you sign up. The subject of the email becomes the note's title, and the body becomes the content of the note. You can even categorize emailed notes by including modifiers in the subject: add @(notebook name) to assign the note to a specific notebook, and add tags with #(tag).

Wanna Trade Pics?

A picture's worth a thousand words, especially if it's a picture of your totally cool case mod. The free version of Evernote lets you add images, audio files and PDFs to your notes simply by dragging and dropping them in. Smartphone users can just snap a pic with their camera, or you can add a supported file to an emailed note by including it as an attachment. Upgrade to the premium version and you can add any kind of file you'd like.

Digitize Your Life

Adding images to your notes can be used for so much more than sending your mom pics of your Pomeranian. Handed a business card? Snap a shot of it and tag it with the person's name and business. Swimming in school notes? Don't want to lose the kick-ass idea spewed all over your whiteboard? Take a pic. Not only do you keep the information forever, but Evernote's awesome optical character recognition software can read your handwriting and turn the pictures of words into searchable text.

Music To Your Ears

Eminem fans doing their best "Eight Mile" impression used to have to resign themselves to the fact that their battle-mic prowess was lost to the aether the second they spit out a hot lyric. No longer. Mobile Evernote apps include the ability to record audio notes, so you'll be able to record those spur-of-the-moment thunderbolts of inspiration while your fingers are otherwise occupied. Additionally, the Voice2Note software by Power2Do can transcribe your audio into text notes if you want a print version of your brainstorm. Voice2Note even maintains a dedicated phone line so that you can call in your notes completely hands-free.

Add Web Pages to Your Notes

Adding Web content to Evernote in Firefox.

You can always just copy text from a website and paste it into a note, but you'd be losing a lot of the benefits of the Web. The modern Internet is chock full of media, baby, and Evernote's Web Clipper plugin grabs entire chunks of the screen at once, keeping images and formatting intact (for the most part). Simply download the Web Clipper add-on for your browser, then highlight a portion of a Web page. Right-click the excerpt and select "Add to Evernote." Bam! Done. The Chrome plugin adds even more functionality. Its "Simultaneous Search" option adds results from your Evernote tags whenever you search Google, so when you Google "Furry" pics, it conveniently tells you that you already have thirty teddy bear-sporting notes tagged with the term.

Streamline Your Research and Shopping

The Web Clipper plugin makes it easy to compile multiple research sources into a single note. Rather than bookmarking each and every website you reference in your thesis, just create a new note and clip the appropriate snippets of each page into it. It works great for keeping track of websites and prices while comparison shopping, too. You can still add your own text to notes with clipped Web pages, so jotting down notations and extra details to go with the clips is easy.

Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine

Users of Evernote's Mac and Web versions have been swapping notebooks for a while, but the feature only appeared on Windows earlier this year. Spamming Twitter or Facebook with your notes is easier than ever before thanks to the "Share" button in Evernote's toolbar. Just click it and choose how you want to share your grocery list with friends. Sharing whole notebooks is handled via the "Shared" tab in the left-hand navigation panel. Select which notebook you want to share, then choose to show your stuff to the entire world or to selected individuals via email. If you're using the free version, others can only see your notebook; upgrading to a premium account lets others alter shared notebooks, making it an awesome collaboration tool for business or creative types.

Search Like A Pro

Evernote supports several modifiers that can help you unleash some serious Search-Fu. Preface your search with "Tag:" – minus the quotes – to limit your searches to notes with a specific tag. The "notebook:" modifer works the same way, only with notebooks. Add a minus sign to the front of a modifier to exclude compatible results from searches. Asterisks act as wildcards, just like they do in Google searches and DOS commands. Want an example? Search for "-tag:*" to show all your untagged notes. The "created:" modifier sorts by date. There's tons of depth to Evernote modifiers – so much that honestly covering them would take an entire article of its own. Check out this comprehensive post over at Dropping Steps for all the syntax info you'll ever need.

Evernote search modifiers in action.

Get Things Done With Checklists

Are you like Santa, constantly making a list a checking it twice? Evernote's got you covered. Just right-click in the body of a note and select "To-Do" > "Insert Checkbox" to drop a checkable box into the note. It's perfect for creating shopping lists on the run.

No Love For Linux

A last, quick note for Linux fans: Evernote doesn't offer a Linux version. Sure, you could try to run the program in Wine, or you could just download and install Nevernote, an open source Evernote clone that fully interacts with the Evernote servers. Nevernote gets bonus points for including "Why is it so ugly?" as a topic in its documentation.

 

Twitter Adds Follow Button for Faster Following

Posted: 31 May 2011 02:51 PM PDT

followThe "Tweet" button has been available for some time, allowing users to share links easily on Twitter. Now the short messaging service has added a feature from the other side of the coin. The Follow button can be placed on websites to allow visitors to easily follow an account. No more awkward linking to profile pages, just a one-click follow.

According to Twitter, over 50 sites have added the Follow button today. The goal is to make it easier to know when someone has an account, and to help users find official accounts for notable personalities. Sites like IMDB, MTV, and TVGuide are among those using the button already, but any user can configure their own Follow button on the Twitter site. You will need to be logged into Twitter in the browser to use the one-click Follow button.

Simply input your user name, pick a background color, and decide if you want your follower count shown. The site will give you the HTML snippet to paste on your blog or website instantly. Will you be more likely to follow someone if they have this one-click button set up?

See-Through Stunner: How to Build The Ultimate Acrylic PC

Posted: 31 May 2011 12:25 PM PDT

When all of the walls of a system are transparent, where do you hide the cables? Answer: behind all the awesome insides

Were there a Mount Everest of PC builds, the see-through PC would likely be it. The difficulties are great, and the possibilities for failure high, but there's nothing that gets me more excited than the opportunity to crack my knuckles and customize the lighting and electrical setup of a transparent desktop system.

The most fearsome part of this build is the acrylic case I'm using: There's nowhere to hide any mistakes. Nor can I just stuff a mass of cables in some secluded area of the case and call it a day. Every bit of this build has to be focused on aesthetics, so I'm grabbing my toolbox and busting out a ton of different tricks to make sure this system can stand up to scrutiny.

Ingredients

 

  • Total (customizations only)  $945 

Total for PC: $1,945

Selecting the right hardware to make a system look good is the most important part of a transparent PC construction. That's why you'll see that my parts—a number of which were donated to the cause by online retailer FrozenCPU—are more focused on the system's appearance than its actual performance. Feel free to use whatever components you want. I'm using the same standard parts I've used for my previous case builds.

The case is a no-brainer: acrylic. DangerDen graciously sent over a version of its acrylic case that hides the hard drive underneath the power supply, lest I be tempted to bust out the Dremel and construct a window within the drive itself. The two-bay cutout on the front of the case is critical, too, providing just enough space for an optical drive and a series of switches that I'll use to power and control the system's lighting.

Also critical: the modular power supply (provided by Kingwin). If you haven't noticed by now, the name of the game here is cable management. Specifically, I need to use as few cables as possible inside the case, as there's no great way to conceal them.

I'm packing a 3/8-inch water-cooling setup to give the inside a bit more visual flair. The reactive fluid should look extra special combined with blue lighting from the radiator fans and separate UV spotlights. And to complete the Tron motif, I'm outlining the exterior of the case with yellow electroluminescent wire.


Step One: Build the Case

The DangerDen acrylic case I'm using, the DD Tower-21, comes fully disassembled. The process for assembling your flat-packed parts into a mighty chassis will vary with whatever case you've purchased, but two key pointers will always stay the same.

First, take precautions to minimize fingerprint smudges. Wearing a pair of soft gloves or using a cloth barrier between you and the panels can keep things clean (above).

Second, don't use power tools—no battery-powered screwdrivers, no drills, nothing. Over-tightening screws can lead to cracked acrylic, which defeats the entire purpose of having a see-through case to begin with. I love how the design of the DangerDen case makes it so I don't actually have to hold nuts in place while attaching screws (above).

Step Two: Attack the Radiator

There's only one place to attach a radiator on this case, and it's on an acrylic panel that sits directly behind the case's front. Since I knew I wanted to run EL wire to outline the front of the chassis, this secondary panel had to be in position prior to setting up the case's lighting. This point illustrates the reason why you should inventory and strategize a case build before you start slapping things together.

I used smaller screws to attach my Black Ice GT Stealth 360 X-Flow radiator to the acrylic panel. I then flipped the panel over and used longer screws to attach a combination of three UV-reactive Yate Loon 12cm fans and three ModRight FilterRight fan filters (above). I then slid the secondary panel into place and screwed it into the case (below).

 

Step Three: Install the EL Wire

EL wire, or electroluminescent wire, is thin copper wire that glows a particular color (thanks to a phosphor coating) when you run current through it. After mounting the primary inverter to the rear of the case (above), right around the hard drive (for maximum concealment), I ran the black wire cabling for my two strands of EL wire through the holes in the rear of the case. I then looped each 5-foot strand of wire around the bottom, front, and top of the case, securing it to the case's sides using clear adhesive tape (below)—any other method would disrupt the strand of light.


Step Four: Add PSU and Hard Drive

I next decided to throw in my Kingwin LZ-1000 modular power supply and 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, because I wanted to get a feel for how the system's primary components would affect the placement of the other aesthetically oriented parts I had in mind. I also wanted to start testing out my system's lighting setup by connecting an Antec power supply tester to my PSU, which would generate juice for anything attached to its wires. Both the power supply (above) and hard drive (below) slid right in without difficulty, and I hand-secured them with a smile.

 

Step Five: Assemble the Water Cooling

To assemble the water-cooling apparatus, I began by attaching Koolance Quick Disconnects to my various water-cooling parts (below); these would come in handy for adjustments and spill prevention later. My plan was to run 3/8-inch tubing from my Swiftech MCP35X pump (overkill in power, but extremely small and easy to position) to the Black Ice radiator, which would flow out to my Koolance CPU-370 water block, up to a Swiftech MCRes Micro Rev2 reservoir, and back down into the pump.

We've said it once and we'll say it again: Test your loop away from expensive components before you put it in your rig. I tested the whole setup using UV-reactive Feser One cooling fluid (below) before cracking open a cold one and pondering just how I was going to get this into the case—and look good, to boot. I decided to delay this decision a bit and proceeded to install the system's motherboard into the case using the provided standoffs and screws, followed by the graphics card.

 

Step Six: Install Water Cooling

I decided to mount the reservoir right below the hard drive, using a mechanism that would allow me to run the reservoir itself parallel to the case. I screwed a mounting bar into a hole previously designed for a hard drive, then screwed a mounting bar attached to the reservoir into the first mounting bar (above). The way I attached the reservoir meant that the tank could conceivably pivot on an axis, so I made sure to tighten the screw and nut combinations as much as possible to lock the entire contraption into place (below).

Attaching the pump to the case was much easier: I just used velcro, adhered to the case itself (below).

 

Step Seven: Connect the Cables

To minimize cabling and maximize my ability to control lighting brightness and fan power, I connected all the case fans and lighting equipment (including a 12-inch UV cathode) to a Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme six-channel fan controller (below). The controller provides up to 30 watts of power per channel, meaning that no connected device would need a secondary connection to the power supply.

I cut off these secondary connections and, if a device didn't come with a 3-pin connector, I split its cable and the cable of the fan controller's included 3-pin wire, then connected these two halves by twisting the wiring and covering the connection with electrical tape (below).

After I plugged in all the cables to the controller, I installed the system's optical drive over the top of it—both to hide the cabling connections and because it would have been a real pain to try and hook them up with a huge optical drive in the way.

Step Eight: Tidy Up

For any smaller cables that didn't come presleeved, I used Flexo Pet sleeving to wrap the cables in a colorful, UV-reactive exterior. Heat-shrinks and—in some cases—velcro strips were used to hold the sleeving in place (above). I used these same velcro strips to bind all of the power supply's black-sleeved cables together, and then wove all UV cabling around the exterior of this mass, akin to vines around a tree trunk (below). It might not look that interesting with the lights on, but the UV-reactive cabling looks striking in the dark—and with my UV spotlights on, of course.

I finished out the system build by connecting all the associated power and data cords, including the tiny wires used by my third-party, UV-glowing system switch. The last part of the puzzle involved finding the perfect place to mount my three UV-LED spotlights, which deliver focused light over a good chunk of the case's now-glowing parts.


The Guts

The Brain

This build would not be possible without this rig's six-channel fan controller. Every light and fan in the case (save for the PSU's) is adjustable (and powered) using this simple series of switches.

COOL IT

In addition to providing better cooling than air, a
liquid-cooling setup provides visual flare, especially with UV-reactive coolant.

Simplicity, simplicity

I didn't just pick Koolance's CPU-370 for its prowess. The water block is also a snap to install, requiring very few parts, headaches, or wizard swears in order to firmly attach the block over one's CPU.

Artificial Walls

Use elements like your lighting inverter or your water-cooling pump to wall off cabling where possible. It's a lot easier to keep a cable in place with a rigid device blocking its path than with a ton of Velcro and twist ties.

 

Looking Through the Results

It sure looks easy on paper, doesn't it? In practice, the physical construction of the see-through PC was a multiday build involving several trips to the hardware store to deal with a variety of issues. The biggest hurdle in working with a case that you build yourself is that not everything always goes according to plan. Some screw lengths don't fit the predrilled holes in the chassis; some unexpected twists have to be navigated (the first UV-reactive coolant I used looked less than impressive); some dents, dings, and cracks find their way onto the chassis no matter how careful you are.

If I could offer one piece of advice to instill courage in folks looking to follow in my transparent footsteps, it would be this: over plan. Take your time. Don't order a mess of components at once with some grand vision in your head of how they're all going to come together, because you'll be amazed at some of the new ideas you'll come up with once you actually have a huge acrylic case sitting on your coffee table. You can just wing it with a conventional build, but acrylic cases require a lot more TLC.

Had I the time, opportunity, or work setup, I would have loved to craft some acrylic frames for both the power supply and the optical drive. That's not the kind of deal that one just budgets an hour for, and it does pose some risk that a newbie with a Dremel could send his or her expensive components off to the scrap heap. Still, see-through is see-through, and see-through devices, where possible, would have been a nice touch.

One final word to the wise: EL wire is both a blessing and a curse. Get the longest single strand you can purchase. Here's why: The more strands of EL wire you connect to a converter, the dimmer the strands become in total. Depending on the brand of inverter and wire you've chosen, the inverter itself can also emit a loud, high-pitched whine. It's a rookie mistake, but one that could easily scuttle the dreams of those looking to turn their mid-tower desktops into a device out of Tron: Legacy.

Building a see-through PC is like the sword in the stone of computer construction: Once you've mastered the sleeving, electrical, and liquid-cooling challenges of a transparent build, you can accomplish great things. May your lights shine bright, aspiring builder.

European Union Investigates Hard Drive Mergers

Posted: 31 May 2011 11:36 AM PDT

The European Union frowns on mega-mergers and doesn't like it when a handful of companies control an entire industry. It's not afraid to spank companies that try to grab power, either; just ask Microsoft and Intel, who were each slapped with bowel-quiveringly huge antitrust fines in excess of 1 billion euros in the past. Now, Seagate and Western Digital find themselves in the regulatory spotlight as each company tries to take over competitors in the increasingly cut-throat hard drive business.

Seagate wants to absorb Samsung's hard drive division while Western Digital is hungrily eying Hitachi's storage business, Bloomberg reports. The European Commission put dampers on both moves to conduct a detailed investigation of the proposals. The inquiries would be complete by October 10th, the Commission said.

Joaquin Almunia, the European Union's competition commissioner, cited concern that the mergers would limit the number of hard drive manufacturers to just three. "The sector has already experienced significant consolidation and the proposed acquisitions will further reduce competition," Almunia says. If approved, Western Digital would hold 50 percent of the hard drive market, Seagate would control another 40 percent, and Toshiba would bring up the rear with the final 10 percent. US regulators are taking their own look at the deals.

Game Theory: The Death of Online Poker

Posted: 31 May 2011 11:24 AM PDT

On April 15, thousands of professional Internet gamers were put out of work by the U.S. Justice Department.

You didn't realize there were so many people who derived some or all of their income from online gaming? Well, if poker isn't a game, then I'm not sure what it is. And thousands of people—many of them college students and the unemployed—played poker online to support themselves, right up until the Justice Department decided to pull the plug.

Technically, Internet gambling isn't illegal, or at least not clearly illegal. When the Bush administration rammed through the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (the UIGEA) as a last-minute addition to a port security bill, they didn't bother to really define "unlawful Internet gambling." Instead, they opted to deny the financial tools commonly used for e-commerce (extension of credit, electronic fund transfers, etc.) to any enterprise transmitting a wager to any location where that wager is illegal.

no poker

But these laws, which are different for each state, simply can't be applied to something like Internet poker. Plus, all of the major poker sites were based offshore, bringing international law into the picture.

President Obama, in his mysterious efforts to cement his reputation as The Second Coming of George W. Bush, decided to pick up the UIGEA ball and run with it. Thus, on April 15, the Justice Department seized the domains for Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars.net, and Absolute Poker; froze billions in assets; and arrested 11 of their executives. These three weren't chosen at random: They are the three largest online poker sites.

full tilt

If you were a casual online player, you may miss the thrill of playing for real money. But if you relied on that income, you woke up on poker's Black Friday to find your world gone. Rather than taking on the complex task of defining and perhaps even regulating Internet gambling, the government simply destroyed it.

You can follow Thomas McDonald on Twitter at StateOfPlayBlog.

Asus Gaming Gear Steals The Spotlight At Computex

Posted: 31 May 2011 10:59 AM PDT

Does Asus have a chip on its shoulder? The company showed up swinging at the Computex expo in Taiwan with the official announcement of the PadFone yesterday, and today, it unleashed a torrent of PC-related products upon the drooling crowds. Souped-up notebooks, motherboards, graphics cards,  peripherals and full-blown gaming PCs – most sporting the Republic of Gamers brand – were on display as Asus tried to offer a solution for every gamer who ever even thought about playing Crysis.

Maybe the coolest thing Asus unveiled was the G53SX Naked Eye 3D gaming notebook, which obviously carried the ROG brand. The portable beast is powered by Sandy Bridge Core i7 processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M graphics, but perhaps best of all, it can display in 3D without the need for those goofy 3D glasses. Slashgear reports the notebook will be able to convert 2D to 3D and even display them side-by-side.

Other announced ROG systems were the G74SX 3D notebook – which still needs glasses – and the CG8565 Gaming System, which includes a Z68-based Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 GPU. The thing looks like a stealth fighter itching to kick your ass and includes an overclock button, charmingly labeled "Level Up."

Asus also displayed three new ROG motherboards: the Maximus IV GENE-Z and Maximus IV Extreme-Z motherboards both feature Intel's Z68 processor, while the company's press release boasts that the "Crosshair V Formula is the first AMD 990FX-based motherboard supporting both 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX." It runs on a AM3+ CPU. Two NVIDIA GTX 580-based graphics cards also carried the ROG brand, and the company showed off its M5A99/97 Series and Sabertooth 990FX motherboards. The M5A99/97 lets users fiddle with power settings, while the Sabertooth 990FX keeps cool with CeraM!X technology.

Asus also revealed the first peripheral carrying the ROG brand: the Vulcan ANC gaming headset, which features active noise-cancelling technology so that you can hear you foes being vanquished while simultaneously ignoring your girlfriend shouting at you to get off the computer.

Broadcom Announces 40nm WiFi/Bluetooth Combo Chip

Posted: 31 May 2011 10:12 AM PDT

Convenience isn't just for fast food and corner store shopping; laziness – or efficiency, whichever you want to call it – is also one of the driving factors in portable PC design. Us end-users hate to lug around gargantuan laptops, and we hate being tied to electrical outlets while our batteries recharge. We want to be like Ali and float like a butterfly, dammit! Fortunately for us, Broadcom unveiled a new 40nm-thick Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip at Computex on Tuesday, the smallest ever developed.

Called the BCM43142 InConcert combo chip (the link keeps timing out, presumably due to heavy traffic), its invention follows the trend of incremental changes: while we've seen WiFi/Bluetooth combo chips before, we've never seen them this small. Not only does the device combine what used to be two chips into one – eliminating one full chip entirely – but the smaller size means less weight, which could lead to less energy consumption. Win-win all around!

The chip will be available for Windows and Android-based notebooks and netbooks.

Google: Chrome OS Only for Notebooks (for Now)

Posted: 31 May 2011 10:07 AM PDT

Between 1,000 different flavors of Android, iOS, QNX, Windows Phone 7, and every other operating system out there, it's not as if the mobile world is dire need of yet another OS. That's good, because if tablet and smartphone makers are waiting for Google's Chrome OS to be ported over, they better bet cozy, it could be a long wait. Speaking at the Computex trade show, a Google senior executive says the search giant is content to keep its Chrome OS on notebooks.

"Chrome OS is a computer model designed with various form factors in mind, but we are entirely focused on the notebook form factor for now. We have no other plans at this time," said Sundar Pichai, Google's senior VP for Chrome, according to a Reuters report.

Whether or not that's a sound strategy will soon be revealed. Laptops from Samsung and Acer sporting Google's barebones Chrome OS will go on sale next month, and some analysts predict it will have a similar impact on the PC world as Android did (and continues to have) in the mobile space.

"The big issue is whether Google has the marketing nous and focus to position the Chrome PC to compete head on with the established full-OS laptop and tablet players in the consumer computing market," said Steve Hodgkinson, IT research director fo Asia Pacific at research firm Ovum."

Corsair Launches Low Profile 'Vengeance' DDR3 Memory Kits

Posted: 31 May 2011 08:13 AM PDT

Corsair has come up with a solution for anyone having trouble trying to squeeze a monstrous CPU cooling solution into their rig only to find that the RAM is getting in the way. It's the company's new Vengeance LP DDR3 memory series. These low profile kits feature heat spreaders with a reduced height of 1.03 inches (25.25 millimeters), nearly an inch shorter than the standard height of 1.87 inches (47.37 millimeters).

The Vengeance LP kits are available in three different colors, including "Jet Black," "Cerulean Blue," and a "Special Edition Arctic White." Like the original Vengeance series, these are designed to run at 1.5V, except for the Arctic White version, which operates at the ultra-low voltage of 1.35V.

To kick things off, Corsair plans to offer its Vengeance LP series in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB kits, each one with a rated frequency of 1600MHz and 9-9-9-24 latencies.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: Corsair

Opera 11.50 Beta "Swordfish" Browser Now Available for Testing

Posted: 31 May 2011 07:35 AM PDT

If there's a Rodney Dangerfield of browser makers, it has to be Opera Software, the Norwegian browser maker responsible for Opera, the oft overlooked alternative to Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Opera might not get the same market share respect that the big three receive, but even if the useage numbers don't bear it out, it's a decent overall browser worth checking out. For those who like to live on the bleeding edge, Opera Software just made available Opera 11.50 beta codenamed "Swordfish."

The new beta shakes up Opera's popular Speed Dial feature by adding extensions to the mix. Speed Dial extensions transform what's traditionally been a simple thumbnail bookmark into a dynamic source of information. Using extensions, you can configure Speed Dial to display live, animated content like news feeds, weather, a photo stream, and more.

Opera's other big feature upgrade is password synchronization through Opera Link. Opera Link synchronizes bookmarks and other browser information across multiple computers, and purportedly keeps passwords safe through encryption (you can read more about the security features here).

Those are the two main features of Opera 11.50, which are flanked by improved HTML5 support, improved CSS, better DOM event handling, and a handful of other changes underneath the hood.

Opera 11.50b1 Download
Opera 11.50b1 Changelog

Image Credit: Opera Software

MMO Updates

MMO Updates


Massively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta

Posted: 31 May 2011 10:00 AM PDT

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Forgive me for getting this out of the way up front: I frickin' hate betas. Loathe them. Avoid them like the plague, usually. Why then, did I find myself foregoing sleep for the better part of last week to log into XL Games' third closed beta test for ArcheAge?

Curiosity, for sure, and maybe just a hint of desperation. As the MMORPG genre moves farther and farther away from the types of games worlds that drew me in a decade ago, the chance to get a preview of what some fans are hoping is the next great AAA sandbox was enough to overwhelm my betaphobia.

It's been quite some time since I've glanced out my window to see the sun rise while playing an MMORPG through the night, and ArcheAge definitely has its claws in me at this point. Is it the next great sandbox, though? Is it even a sandbox at all? Can XL successfully meld two design philosophies (sandbox and themepark) that are, in many ways, polar opposites? Those questions are difficult to answer, but join me after the cut and I'll give it a shot.

Continue reading Massively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta

MassivelyMassively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Moving Day: LotRO EU players begin transfer to Turbine's global service

Posted: 31 May 2011 09:30 AM PDT

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It's the end of one world... and the beginning of another. Or at least that's how it feels for many Lord of the Rings Online players in Europe this week, as Codemasters hands the operational baton over to Turbine. Codemasters devs and GMs gave their best wishes to the LotRO players they watched over these past few years with a huge "thank you" notice on the site.

Once the transfer is complete, all LotRO players will fall under Turbine's global service umbrella. As part of the move, Turbine is offering EU players a limited-time chance to sign up for a year's worth of VIP status (which includes 500 Turbine Points a month) for £79.99 (or approximately $131.94).

Currently the game is down for European players until the process is complete, which Turbine estimates will take between two to three days. Details about the account transfers can be read in the LotRO EU Account Migration FAQ.

MassivelyMoving Day: LotRO EU players begin transfer to Turbine's global service originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World

Posted: 31 May 2011 09:00 AM PDT

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Funcom has released a new dev blog focused on The Secret World, and today's entry is penned by lead content designer Joel Bylos. Much like yesterday's video teaser, the focus is on the game's environments and in particular, it's localization in the real world.

Bylos, who also served as a content designer on Funcom's Age of Conan expansion before moving to The Secret World, says that the game aims to capture the essence of the modern era while adding a supernatural and conspiratorial twist to places you think you know. "Above ground, New York looks just like the New York you have visited in real life. If you really wanted to, you could find the exact same area depicted in the game on Google Maps. But beneath the streets sprawls the corporate-industrial juggernaut of the Illuminati, known only as the Labyrinth," Bylos explains.

The dev blog goes on to mention the game's mission system as another tool for grounding the narrative in reality. Whether you're burning zombies, performing an exorcism with a vacuum cleaner, or chasing ghosts with mirrors, The Secret World looks to use the mundane as a window into the fantastic. Check out the game's official website for the full dev blog.

MassivelyFuncom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shadow Cities launches on iOS App Store

Posted: 31 May 2011 08:00 AM PDT

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Technomages, today is your day! Rise up and cast off the fetters of boring society to claim your kingdom! All it takes is one free download of Shadow Cities, which has finally arrived at the Apple App Store.

Taking the best parts of real world alternate reality games (ARGs) and MMOs, Shadow Cities casts you in the role of a mage who is fighting dark forces while simultaneously striving to control chunks of territory. Instead of staying home, Shadow Cities forces players to travel physically to different places around their neighborhoods to cast spells against other players and NPCs. Players can join one of two factions which struggle for ultimate domination amid an unsuspecting populace.

Shadow Cities hit the top of the charts in Finland when it was released there, and Grey Area hopes that it will do the same worldwide. If you'd like to learn more about this immersive title, make sure to read up on our Shadow Cities tour from GDC!

MassivelyShadow Cities launches on iOS App Store originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trion Worlds teams up with DeviantArt for colossal contest

Posted: 31 May 2011 07:00 AM PDT

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"You're traveling through Telara as a bright light appears. A massive rift opens up and monsters start invading. Your team fights to protect their land. As they continuously battle the invading monsters, a massive, 10-story colossus appears." This is Trion Worlds' introduction to its newest contest, which challenges artistically inclined RIFT players to create a colossal creature that would look right at home stepping forth from the planar rifts of Telara.

The rules for the contest itself -- which is being run in partnership with the ever-popular art gallery website DeviantArt -- are fairly simple: Choose a planar theme (from Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Death, or Life), whip up some concept art for a gargantuan creature that fits with the theme, and submit it to DeviantArt. Semi-finalists will be chosen by the DeviantArt staff, and from those, the top three will be chosen by none other than members of Trion Worlds' creative team. Prizes -- including rather sizable cash prizes, Wacom tablets, DeviantArt Premium Memberships, and of course, copies of RIFT -- will be awarded to the finalists. So if you wield a brush or pen with the same aplomb as your Telaran counterpart does a sword or staff, you can go to the contest page on DeviantArt's official site and join the competition.

MassivelyTrion Worlds teams up with DeviantArt for colossal contest originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios

Posted: 31 May 2011 06:15 AM PDT

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We've been on pins and needles since Atari announced two weeks ago that it was planning to sell off Cryptic Studios. Champions Online and Star Trek Online players were worried about the future of their titles, and many rumors swirled about the internet as to what might happen next.

Today, we know the answer. Perfect World Company has inked a deal to purchase Cryptic from Atari. Euro Investor has the full agreement between the two companies, which details the specifics of this $50+ million purchase. The Chinese firm, which already has a host of MMOs under its umbrella, is taking over 100% of Cryptic's equity from Atari.

Perfect World's Michael Chi thinks that this will give the company more credence in the western market: "We are very pleased to sign the agreement to acquire Cryptic Studios. This strategic acquisition will add attractive game titles to our portfolio, which will help us further penetrate into the U.S. and global online game markets. More importantly, Cryptic Studios' highly reputable development team and its technology platform will further strengthen our well-established R&D capabilities. We deem this as another noteworthy achievement of our global expansion efforts."

Hopefully, this deal will mean nothing but good things for Cryptic, which is also deep into development with Neverwinter.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

MassivelyPerfect World acquires Cryptic Studios originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs?

Posted: 31 May 2011 06:00 AM PDT

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It's safe to say that if you're a regular Massively reader, you're pretty fond of MMOs on a whole. It's all but a tautology, even. Unfortunately, whether you just run the occasional mission in Guild Wars or you're in the midst of a hostile corporate takeover in EVE Online, playing MMOs can start to take a toll on you. They're demanding of your time in a way that many other video games aren't, with the constantly evolving social framework really pushing players to log in on a regular basis.

Fortunately for gamers, there are usually a lot of alternatives beyond just endlessly killing the ubiquitous 10 rats. So do you need to take the occasional break from playing MMOs? Do you need to intersperse your playtime in World of Warcraft with regular single-player interludes? Or do you find that it's still just a game and you can log in or not as the mood strikes you with no real need for a specific break?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallout Online's future in jeopardy as Interplay's finances suffer

Posted: 30 May 2011 08:30 PM PDT

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There's a bad moon a risin' for all you MMO-playing Vault-dwellers out there. Fallout Online, the in-development MMO from Interplay, has been through some rough waters already, but it looks like the situation may be about to go from bad to -- pardon the pun -- apocalyptic.

A recent SEC filing by Interplay indicates that the company is going through some rough financial times, which doesn't bode well for the Fallout Online's future. According to the article at GamePolitics, Interplay is skating on thin ice with "a cash balance below $3000 and a working capital deficit of $3 million." The company also states that if the financial situation doesn't change sooner, rather than later, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy or even sell the studio entirely. We here at Massively wish Interplay the best in hopes that someday we'll all be able to step out of the Vaults and into Fallout's uniquely retro post-apocalyptic wasteland.

MassivelyFallout Online's future in jeopardy as Interplay's finances suffer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue

Posted: 30 May 2011 06:00 PM PDT

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Aside from some ancillary problems, one of the things I love so much about Runes of Magic is that it gives me ability to augment weapons and equipment via the arcane transmutor. When that is coupled with a dual-class system, players are given a lot of room to bend traditional classes to their wills.

I've been running a Priest/Rogue for a while now and loving it. The selection of offensive spells, the Rogue's skills, and the weapons I can wield have me wanting to push the boundaries of typical class specifications. I'm building a hammer-wielding Priest that's specced much like I'd spec a Mage, but the class can also pump out adequate melee damage. In this week's Lost Pages of Taborea, I want to give you a run-down of the gear, weapons, and stats I'm choosing. It should serve as a good guide to some unique possibilities for classes in RoM.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue

MassivelyLost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp

Posted: 30 May 2011 04:00 PM PDT

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Recently, EverQuest II developer Kyle "Kander" Vallee tweeted his followers asking for input on the following question: "What #EQII zone would you love to see revamped into new heroic content?"

That's a tough but really fun question. Over the years, EverQuest II has added so many overland and instanced zones that there's no shortage of choices. A quick glance at the dungeon list at EQ2i shows well over 100 major heroic instances and open dungeons for groups. If you add in the list of minor instances, like the Splitpaw adventure pack instances or the Fallen Dynasty trials, it's easily over 120. In fact, there are so many group zones that it's nearly impossible to level up and see them all (I vote for a new in-game dungeon listing for the next UI revamp!).

I've played through a good chunk of these zones and put together a list of the top five dungeons that deserve a makeover. Read on for the full list!

Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp

MassivelyThe Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: Press 1 to charge, press 2 to breathe fire

Posted: 30 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT

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We're kicking off Mount Week on One Shots with the perfect blend of traditional and futuristic mounts: a robot horse. Today's image comes to us from Massively reader Clinton:
In RIFT, players have an option of playing one of two separate factions -- the Guardians and the Defiant. It's been noted that Defiant have a heavy majority of the population on lots of servers, and people have been trying to figure out why for a while. It's been in front of everyone's noses all this time -- the mounts! Who wouldn't want to ride a silver robotic horse with a dragon's head for the hindquarters?
While we have to agree that a robot horse with a dragon's head on its hindquarters is the very embodiment of awesome, we also know that there are more mounts out there that are just as awesome and/or unusual. Prove us right and grab a screenshot of your finest ride, be it hooved, feathered, wheeled, or otherwise. Send it to oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game, and tell us a little about what we're seeing and how you came by that particular mount.

If you'd like a head-start on the following week, we'll be focusing on weird foes. Do you have a great shot of a dancing Abaddon in Guild Wars or a nose-picking foe from Gates of Andaron? Send those in too and we'll feature them on One Shots!

MassivelyOne Shots: Press 1 to charge, press 2 to breathe fire originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear?

Posted: 30 May 2011 12:00 PM PDT

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Every now and again I'm fond of revisiting the basics of Guild Wars here in Flameseeker Chronicles. This usually happens for one of two reasons: newer players have given me some ideas on things that are universally confusing or there's a lack of new Guild Wars 2 news.

Well, the Engineer topic has bypassed "beating a dead horse" and is rapidly approaching "beating a small smear of glue," and Justin Olivetti is playing Guild Wars in earnest again. What does that last thing have to do with the price of tea in Cantha, you ask? Follow along after the jump and we'll find out!

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear?

MassivelyFlameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Secret World dev diary talks story, context

Posted: 30 May 2011 11:00 AM PDT

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Sleuthing for more story-centric info regarding Funcom's upcoming horror-conspiracy MMORPG? Look no further than The Secret World's latest video dev diary featuring commentary from designers Ragnar Tornquist and Joel Bylos as well as lead writer Dag Scheve.

The trio highlights The Secret World's use of the real world as both location and character, with Bylos calling it "the greatest resource of all." The video shows a few new clips courtesy of the game's cinematics, but Tornquist is quick to point out that cinematics don't tell the whole tale when it comes to The Secret World's narrative. In spite of the fact that every character in the game is motion-captured and fully voiced, the story is "embedded into the world. You have to look for it, you have to search for it. The story is exploration and the story is discovery," Tornquist explains.

Funcom also seeks to challenge gamers in ways that depart from the traditional MMORPG paradigm, and Bylos says that "we're not just asking them to click a mouse button over and over again, but to think about what they do." Put on your thinking caps and click past the cut for the full video.

Continue reading Secret World dev diary talks story, context

MassivelySecret World dev diary talks story, context originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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