General Gaming Article |
- Forum Feature: Begin the Build!
- Free Stuff: Sony's PlayStation Welcome Back Program is Online
- Google Acquires Postrank
- Blackberry Playbook Review
- Disconnecting File-Sharers Violates Human Rights, Says UN
- Syria Cuts Internet Cord Prior To Attacking Protestors
- This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- Nvidia GeForce 275.33 Drivers Now Available for Download
- Sony the Victim of Another Hack Attack, was "Asking for It"
- Asus Begins Shipping Three Eee PC Models with Ubuntu
| Forum Feature: Begin the Build! Posted: 03 Jun 2011 05:34 PM PDT It's time for another foray into the Maximum PC official forums! Bill Owen of MNPCTech fame is building us two Star Trek-themed PCs, one of which we will give away at Comic-Con. With design help from Mike Okuda and our own David Gerrold (who will take home the other PC), both Top Men in the Star Trek world, it's going to be amazing. Follow Bill's build log in the forums!
Speaking of modding, the oft-mentioned Tron scratch build took top prize in Cooler Master's modding contest in the scratch build category. Congratulations, Boddaker!
Other threads of interest: Phillyj wants laptop-buying advice over in Help Me Buy/Help Me Build GuavaSauce brings us along as he attempts his first-ever case mod, the Station 6. Shadowlord101 wants to know: what keyboard and mouse do you game with? And, of course, check out the forums for more! Have a great weekend!
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| Free Stuff: Sony's PlayStation Welcome Back Program is Online Posted: 03 Jun 2011 02:13 PM PDT
Owners of the PlayStation 3 will get their choice of two games from a list of five: Dead Nation, infamous, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners get to pick two games from LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation. So if you have both systems, that's 4 free titles for you. All users can also take advantage of a free month of PlayStation Plus service. This premium offering comes with exclusive games, demos, and discounts on purchased content. Sony is also providing some free streaming movie rentals this weekend where video services are available. Hit the PlayStation Blog at the link above to check out the full FAQ with such gems as "When does the 30 days of my PlayStation Plus access expire?" Hint: in 30 days. |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2011 01:54 PM PDT
Postrank lets users plug in any RSS feed for analysis. The service then ranks all feed items by number of comments, inbound links, shares on Twitter/Facebook, as well as other social cues. The user can subscribe to a feed of just the top items. The suspicion is that Postrank technology is going to become part of Google Analytics. Does that mean the Postrank service is going away? It wouldn't be unheard of. When Google acquired Gizmo5 they ended up shutting down the service. It wasn't until much later that VoIP calling technology from Gizmo was built into Gmail. Are you a Postrank user? Feeling a little anxious today? |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2011 11:29 AM PDT Pretty impressive—if you don't like email, apps, or gamesFor the record, the Maximum PC Lab keeps both feet planted squarely in the present tense. We don't believe anyone should buy hardware based solely on its future potential. So what then to make of RIM's nascent and decidedly half-baked Blackberry Playbook? Unless you're 1) a Blackberry owner, 2) don't care about apps or games, or 3) a devoted BB fanboy, the answer is: not much. By the time you read this, it's possible that the Playbook might be more complete via OS updates. The release version, however, omitts some basic functions. It has no native email client and no native calendar app. To access either, you need to bridge your existing Blackberry to the Playbook. What's that? You don't have a Blackberry phone? Or your Blackberry isn't near your tablet? Well then you get no email. RIM says a pending update will deliver stand-alone email.
Among the Playbook's few redeeming features is its gorgeous—albeit smaller—screen. What else is missing? There's no 3G or 4G wireless connectivity. There is a dearth of apps, including no Amazon Kindle, no Netflix, no Hulu, and no audio/video marketplace. (In Kindle's place is the surprisingly excellent Kobo Books app and store.) There are poorly designed buttons, including an oddly placed power switch. There is buggy, crash-prone desktop client software. And the OS is, well, it exhibits the kinds of bugs any 1.0 release does: flickering screens, unreliable syncing, and so forth. It's not all bad, however. Given RIM's propensity for building underpowered smartphones, we were surprised to discover that the hardware itself exceeded our expectations. The 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A-9 CPU and PowerVR SGX540 GPU offer impressive heavyweight performance that the OS actually appears to take advantage of. Almost everything—downloads, web browsing, and the ability to multitask music, movies, camera functions, and even games—feels snappy. The 1024x600 capacitive touch screen LCD is a gem. It's spectacular enough that we deem it king of all tablet displays—including the iPad 2. And the Playbook's battery life holds up fairly well, easily going several days in a row before needing a charge when performing basic functions. This may prove to be an illusion, however, once we see more CPU-intensive games and apps. Finally, we found ourselves appreciating the OS interface the more we used it. It's a significant departure from Android and Apple in that it relies entirely on gestures instead of buttons to navigate between apps and the home screen. It's simple and we like it. And truth be told, even the email client is solidly functional—provided you can get into it. But this is the big problem with the Playbook. For now, it's all if, then, and when. Awesome HD video viewing? Great, but there's no streaming content. Multitasking? What are we going to multitask? Front-facing camera? That's cool, but no apps make use of it. Unless and until RIM finishes fleshing out the Playbook, there's no reason to buy it. After that, this tablet might be onto something. |
| Disconnecting File-Sharers Violates Human Rights, Says UN Posted: 03 Jun 2011 11:29 AM PDT
"The Special Rapporteur considers cutting off users from Internet access, regardless of the justification provided, including on the grounds of violating intellectual property rights law, to be disproportionate and thus a violation of article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Torrent Freak cites. Bam! Take that, draconian file-sharing laws. Frank La Rue, the author of the report, specifically calls out existing French and English legislation. He suggests that governments need to relax, take a chill pill and remember that they're supposed to look out for the rights of their citizens as well as economic interests. The UN's Human Rights Council is scheduled to officially adopt "The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression" today. Try saying that three times fast! |
| Syria Cuts Internet Cord Prior To Attacking Protestors Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:53 AM PDT
"The Syrian government has cut off Internet service (3G, DSL, Dial-up) all across Syria, including in government institutions," USA Today reports, passing along the information from al-Jazeera, a major Arabic news network. The timing apparently coincided with reports of anti-government protestors taking to the streets in droves. Internet analysis company Renesys said that as of 3:35 P.M GMT, "the routes to 40 of 59 (of Syria's) networks were withdrawn from the global routing table." Contradictory to the USA today report, Renesys reports that the Syrian government's networks are still responding, although occasionally slow. "The networks that are not reachable include, substantially, all of the prefixes reserved for SyriaTel's 3G mobile data networks, and smaller downstream ISPs including Sawa, INET, and Runnet," the company's blog claims. So why the secrecy? USA Today, citing al-Jazeera's still-live Syria blog, is reporting that Syrian forces have opened fire with machine guns on a crowd of 50,000 protestors in the major city of Hama, with a similar attack occurring in the city of Deir Azzour. Over 27 deaths and 200 injuries have already been reported in Hama alone. Syria didn't pay attention to the lessons of the Egyptian revolution; the Internet is everywhere, and word always gets out. |
| This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 03 Jun 2011 09:30 AM PDT This week we've reviewed the fabulous new Android handset from HTC - the HTC Sensation. Featuring the first dual-core Snapdragon ARM-based processor, it comes with Android 2.3 and a new version of HTC's own software. We've also reviewed the latest Canon PowerShot SX230 HS compact as well as the Panasonic TX-P42GT30B 3D plasma among scores of other reviews. Read on for the full list. Ever since the first wave of Android phones washed up on these shores, HTC has been at the forefront of the fight against Apple and its iPhone. The first major assault came in the shape of the HTC Hero. Then came the HTC Desire. And here we now have the HTC Sensation. Sporting the latest version of Android and a revised version of HTC's own Sense UI overlay, it's a cutting edge phone with cutting edge software. The hardware's a bit good too – the 1.2GHz dual-core processor offering plenty of power for multitasking and multimedia performance. Is it better than the Samsung Galaxy S2 though? We're not convinced. This could well be the best set-top box in the entire universe. Offering most of the same features as its sister device (BWT800) but with a much more agreeable price tag, it's a powerful do-it-all living room performer to be proud of. Key features include dual Freeview HD tuners, 3D Blu-ray playback, Blu-ray recording from all sources (except Sky 3D), media streaming and IPTV. For a little over £500 it's a shining light of the AV world, then, and while the BWT800 will get the headlines (it's got more storage, Wi-Fi and an extra HDMI output) the £900 price will send people flocking to its little sister. Canon PowerShot SX230 HS review Canon has upped its game of late. With increasingly pressing competition from the likes of Panasonic, the performance-to-price ratio in the compact camera world is being stretched constantly. Unfortunately with global exchange rates the way they are currently, we're not getting the best prices but we're still getting a lot of bang for our buck. The SX230 is a super little compact which offers a 14.1MP sensor, 14x optical zoom, 1080p video recording and built in GPS for geotagging your snaps. It's an excellent performer all-round, but is ultimately let down somewhat by a weak battery life, inconsistent GPS results and an itchy flash that's a bit too keen to pop up. Panasonic's GT30 range of 3D plasmas represents its attack on the not-quite-premium but still-awesome-and-good-value market. Containing both dual Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners, it's a brilliant 2D TV while also offering excellent 3D performance with both 3D Blu-ray and broadcast-3D inputs. Watch out though – the price is attractive, but this set doesn't come with any Active Shutter 3D specs. If you're running an Intel system and are looking to drop £280-ish on a GPU upgrade, this is probably the card for you. Offering stunning gaming frame rates and decent price-to-performance ratio, the GTX 570 is an office favourite. However, if you're running an AMD system, you'd be better off going for AMD graphics too. Other reviews AV accessories LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader review Camcorders Compact cameras Digital TV recorders Graphics cards Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB review Headsets Mobile phones Routers TVs Hands ons Mobile computing |
| Nvidia GeForce 275.33 Drivers Now Available for Download Posted: 03 Jun 2011 07:57 AM PDT
Nvidia says if you've been using the v275.27 beta driver, you may have noticed a "significant performance drop in The Witcher 2." That's been resolved in this new driver release, and you can expect up to double digit performance gains in titles like Bulletstorm (with AA enabled) and Batman: Arkham Asylum (with PhysX set to High) using a GeForce GTX 580 or 560 videocard. Version 275.33 also purportedly increases gaming performance by up to 12 percent for dual-core CPUs in CPU-limited cases, Nvidia says. Outside of raw performance gains, v275.33 adds a bunch of new features and enhancements, including a new Nvidia Control Panel user interface; automatic SLI, multi-GPU, and AA profile updates that are silently installed to your PC; improved desktop resizing UI; bundled 3D Vision Controller driver; support for new 3D Vision projectors (NEC NP-V300X series); and more. Image Credit: Nvidia |
| Sony the Victim of Another Hack Attack, was "Asking for It" Posted: 03 Jun 2011 07:38 AM PDT
"Every bit of data we took wasn't encrypted. Sony stored over 1,000,000 passwords of its customers in plaintext, which means it's just a matter of taking it. They were asking for it," LulzSec said in a statement. "Our goal here isn't to come across as master hackers, hence what we're about to reveal: SonyPictures.com was owned by a very simple SQL injection, one of the most primitive and common vulnerabilities, as we should all know by now," LulzSec continued. "From a single injection, we accessed EVERYTHING. Why do you put such faith in a company that allows itself to become open to these simple attacks? LulzSec posted the personal information to its website, info that included passwords, email addresses, home addresses, birth dates, and all Sony opt-in data associated with user accounts. The group also says it viewed all admin details of Sony Pictures, including passwords, and compromised 75,000 "music codes" and 3.5 million "music coupons." "We are looking into these claims," said Jim Kennedy, executive vice president of global communications for Sony Pictures Entertainment. |
| Asus Begins Shipping Three Eee PC Models with Ubuntu Posted: 03 Jun 2011 07:12 AM PDT
Now that netbooks are under serious pressure from tablets and price is an even more significant consideration for vendors, Asus has once again turned to Linux. It has decide to ship three Eee PC models with Ubuntu 10.10 pre-installed on them. The Eee PC 1001PXD, 1011PX and 1015PX are the three models that Asus began shipping with Ubuntu 10.10 from June 1, 2011. According to a press release issued by Canonical, the company responsible for Ubuntu, more Eee PC models running its distro are on the way "and will be made available throughout the year." "Many businesses are turning to Ubuntu as they look for a cost-effective, proven, and easy to use and manage operating system that can be delivered on business-quality laptops," Chris Kenyon, VP OEM Services at Canonical. "We expect the slim form factor and great design of Eee PC, combined with the great performance delivered with Ubuntu, to produce a real performer in the marketplace." But it's strange that Asus has opted for Ubuntu 10.10, even though the latest version of this popular Linux distro (version 11.04) came out in April.
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Sony has had more than its share of issues lately, but just days after switching all its PlayStation services back on, they're ready to woo jilted customers. That's right, the 
Google has made it known this afternoon that It has 
Creative associations and ISPs have been trying to cast copyright-infringing file-sharers as digital boogeymen for years now. They've also been lobbying for a version of the Internet based around baseball: three copyright violation strikes and you're out of the Internet, cut off not just from P2P but also Twitter, email and MaximumPC.com. "Hold your horses," says a special report by the UN's Human Rights Council. Apparently, three-strikes-style laws aren't just a ridiculous overreaction, they're a violation of human rights. 
How do you silence the voice of protestors when they just won't pipe down? If you're a heavy-handed Middle Eastern government, you cut the cord on the Internet. Egypt pulled the plug on the Web during its recent revolution; today, Syria found itself plunged into an information black hole as the government shut down the Internet prior to taking an aggressive response to anti-government protestors.
If you own a GeForce videocard, you can get a jump on your weekend gaming session by downloading Nvidia's GeForce 275.33 driver package that was just released. This is the first WHQL-certified driver from the 'Release 275' family and adds support for the recently launched GeForce GTX 560 videocard, plus a handful of performance gains in select games.
Have you heard the one about Sony getting hacked? Of course you have, only this time the cyber attack didn't target Sony's recently restored PlayStation Network (PSN). Instead, the hacker group known as "LulzSec" took aim at Sony Pictures and reportedly made off with personal information of more than 1 million users, as well as music codes and coupons. But hey, Sony was "asking for it," the hacker group said.
Let's rewind to the beginning of the netbook revolution (or shall we say bubble). It was a time when everyone felt Linux was finally going to take off in a big way. The open-source operating system may have failed to ride the netbook wave, but it still holds a key advantage over Windows where price is concerned. This is what briefly placed it in the driver's seat of the netbook bandwagon. | You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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