General Gaming Article |
- Space Geeks Geek Out On A History-Filled Friday Afternoon
- Nvidia CEO: Nvidia Cloud-Based GeForce Grid GPUs Will Bring Videogames To The Masses
- MIT Software Identifies Hidden Frustration Much More Accurately Than Humans
- This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- Skyrim 1.6 Update for PC Introduces Mounted Combat
- Copyright Owners Ask Google to Flush 250,000 Infringing Search Links Every Week
- Microsoft Hardware Turns 30, Reflects on 1980s Nostalgia
- BitFenix Gives Birth to a Mini-ITX 'Prodigy' with Support for Big Size Components
- Rumor: Dell Windows 8 Tablet Surfaces in Leaked Slide
| Space Geeks Geek Out On A History-Filled Friday Afternoon Posted: 25 May 2012 11:06 AM PDT
NASA summed up the historical event in a single sentence: The SpaceX Dragon capsule was securely bolted to the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 12:02 p.m. EDT. In fact, SpaceX joins an elite group: the United States, Russia, China, and the European Space Agency are the only other organizations to successfully dock spacecraft in orbit.
May 25th is also Towel Day, the day that hoopy froods remember and celebrate the accomplishments of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently scribe Douglas Adams. Scott Davis pointed out some special once-a-century Towel Day math on G+: 5+25+12=42. Synchronicity, folks. Speaking of synchronicity, today is also the 35th anniversary of the first airing of Stars Wars: A New Hope. All kinds of tributes are up around the web, but our favorite is Wired Science's analysis of blaster fire in the Star Wars universe. You may now returned to your regularly scheduled PC news. |
| Nvidia CEO: Nvidia Cloud-Based GeForce Grid GPUs Will Bring Videogames To The Masses Posted: 25 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT
"We believe this will do for video games what cable television did for video," The Verge reports Huang as saying during an investor call yesterday. "Convenience is worth a lot of money." In fact, since you basically only need an Internet connection and an H.264 decoder to run Grid-powered games, Huang envisions them actually appearing as their very own cable selection: "You flip to the game channel... bam, you're playing games." That day's a long way off, though; GeForce Grid is still in its infancy. You can read up on all of Grid's nitty gritty details, including tech specs like CUDA cores and shader performance, over on the Nvidia website. Huang also sat down with TechRadar a couple of weeks ago to talk about GeForce Grid in-depth, including an explanation of why power gamers will still want a gaming rig with a dedicated GPU. So whaddaya think: are all these new cloud-based graphics projects the way of the future? Is it still PC gaming if you play it on your TV? |
| MIT Software Identifies Hidden Frustration Much More Accurately Than Humans Posted: 25 May 2012 10:06 AM PDT
Via webcam, the test subjects were asked to smile and act frustrated, but canned responses are obviously of limited use, so they also performed tasks designed to evoke true happiness or irritation. The researchers evoked feelings of delight by showing the subjects a happy-go-lucky video, but the way they coaxed out frustration was much more devious; the subjects filled out a long, tedious web form which was rigged to clear when they tried submitting it. Hilarious! The tests found one other interesting tidbit: a whopping 90 percent of people smiled in frustration when the form cleared, even though only 10 percent of test subjects smiled when asked to mime frustration. Which of the two smiles above do you think is real, and which is frustrated? The team of researchers developed software that uses small physical clues, such as muscle patterns and smile timing, to determine whether or not smiles are real or hiding frustration. The computer was able to correctly identify frustrated smiles a whopping 92 percent of the time; human observers performed even worse than chance. The team published a report of their findings in IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing; Phys.org has a nice summary of the highlights, while the MIT Media Lab offers more insight into the psychology and science of reading smiles. (By the way, the smile on the right is the irritated one.) |
| This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 25 May 2012 08:38 AM PDT The start of 2012 was absolutely dominated by the new iPad. Rumours, leaks, announcements, reviews – the iPad 3 fed and watered tech and mainstream media writers and readers alike for months. But since then, it's been the Samsung Galaxy S3 that's been getting all the attention – it's probably the most hotly-anticipated Android smartphone ever, and we've been testing it all week. That's not all, either... With the latest version of Android, a whopping 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD screen and a whole suite of Apple-beating features, is the new Samsung Galaxy SIII the greatest phone ever? Samsung has made a big deal about this new phone, not only choosing to launch it at a big and glitzy standalone event in London but also claiming nearly 10 million pre-orders before it's even launched. The price is pretty palatable for a top-end phone – the likes of Three are already offering it for just £34 a month with oodles of minutes and data, which is already much, much cheaper than any iPhone would ever launch for. But let's get down to the main question – is this the phone you should be spending your hard-earned cash on before it's even launched? Panasonic's most concerted attempt to show that it gets LCD TV just as much as it gets plasma TV is, overall, a major success. For starters, the brand has gone back to the design drawing board and made the Panasonic TX-L42WT50 easily the most attractive TV it's ever produced. The feature count is high too, thanks to the inclusion of 3D, online functionality and all manner of picture tweaks. Plus Panasonic has also done a kitchen sink job where the TV's picture quality is concerned, integrating dual core processing and Panasonic's most advanced picture processing engine to date. The overall result is a slick, flexible and mostly high-performance TV, only let down by some minor backlight issues and one or two operational flaws. Beneath the stylish exterior of the five-star Asus N56V, there lies a sleeping beast; a beast with a roar loader than any others that have come before it. That beast is a brand new Intel Core i7-3720QM 2.6GHz processor, one of the chip giant's third generation Ivy Bridge CPUs. Codenamed Ivy Bridge, Intel's latest offering uses 22nm technology, resulting in around 20 per cent more processor performance, while at the same time using 20 per cent less average power than its Sandy Bridge (the second-generation) equivalent. Intel has described the generation jump as its "fastest ramp ever". And, after living with the Asus N56V, we're not going to disagree. The Toshiba 32DL933B is a fine idea, poorly executed. Toshiba's Blu-ray players are on sale for less than £80 (around $125), with 3D-ness only garnering a £40 (around $60)-or-so premium, so we don't think it's too unreasonable to expect something along those lines in place of what we have: a bog-standard DVD player. Of course, the presence of Blu-ray would highlight the Toshiba 32DL933B's other misfire - its HD-ready screen - although even that ought to be enough to host Freeview HD programmes. As you might expect at the price, the Leica X2 looks and feels like a lovely piece of kit. The faster autofocusing means it is more responsive and suited for use out and about. If Leica has managed to maintain, if not better, the image quality standard of the Leica X1, then it could be a very rewarding purchase. Amplifiers Audio systems Altec Lansing inAir 5000 review Blu-ray players Cameras Hands on: Leica M Monochrom review Gaming accessories Laptops Hands on: Sony Vaio T13 review Mobile phones NAS drives Western Digital MyBook Live Duo 4TB review Routers Asus EA-N66 Ethernet Adaptor review Software Storage Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo 4TB review Tablets Asus Transformer Pad 300 review Televisions |
| Skyrim 1.6 Update for PC Introduces Mounted Combat Posted: 25 May 2012 07:16 AM PDT
"Skyrim now allows you to do melee and ranged combat while riding a horse," Bethesda explains in a blog post. This is where PC elitists can thumb their nose and stick out their tongue at their console brethren, because the update is only available on the PC platform. It's currently a beta patch, but it's available today if you opt into the latest Steam Beta Update (Steam > Settings > Account tab > Beta Participation > Change). "As far as release on other platforms, we'll let you know when have more information," Bethesda says. In addition to mounted combat, Bethesda whipped out its mallet and squashed a boatload of bugs, a handful of which apply to the Xbox 360 even though it's not available for that platform just yet. And of course there are the usual general stability and memory optimizations. Does the thought of mounted combat get you interested in Skyrim again? Sound off in the comments section below. Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks LLC |
| Copyright Owners Ask Google to Flush 250,000 Infringing Search Links Every Week Posted: 25 May 2012 06:46 AM PDT
"Fighting online piracy is very important, and we don't want our search results to direct people to materials that violate copyright laws," Google explains in a blog post. "So we've always responded to copyright removal requests that meet the standards set out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). At the same time, we want to be transparent about the process so that users and researchers alike understand what kinds of materials have been removed from our search results and why. To promote that transparency, we have long shared copies of copyright removal requests with Chilling Effects, a nonprofit organization that collects these notices from Internet users and companies." Despite the massive number of removal requests submitted to Google on a daily basis, the search giant claims its average turnaround time is less 11 hours, which is pretty remarkable considering the man power required to look into well over a million links each month. "At the same time, we try to catch erroneous or abusive removal requests," Google elaborates. "For example, we recently rejected two requests from an organization representing a major entertainment company, asking us to remove a search result that linked to a major newspaper's review of a TV show. The requests mistakenly claimed copyright violations of the show, even though there was no infringing content. We've also seen baseless copyright removal requests being used for anticompetitive purposes, or to remove content unfavorable to a particular person or company from our search results." For those of you who are curious about copyright removal requests, you can view that portion of Google's Transparency Report here, which also lists the top reporting organizations and owners in the past month, along with the top targeted domains. |
| Microsoft Hardware Turns 30, Reflects on 1980s Nostalgia Posted: 25 May 2012 06:13 AM PDT
We'll get to the contest details in a moment, but first let's take a second to reflect on Microsoft Hardware's journey. Formed in 1982, Microsoft Hardware shipped its first PC-compatible mouse a year later, a fugly (by today's standards) white rodent with clunky gray buttons. But it wasn't until the 1990s that Microsoft hit its stride, launching its first ergonomic keyboard -- the Natural Keyboard -- in 1994 and better looking (and functioning) products through the years since. You can check out a timeline of Microsoft Hardware history here. Back to the contest. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Microsoft Hardware is giving away a "limited quantity" of the above mentioned Arc Touch mice. In order to toss your name in the hat, you'll have to tweet what you love about the 1980s and include hashtag #MSHWturns30. Perhaps getting stingy in its old age, Microsoft Hardware's Official Rules page reveals that just 1 person selected at random from the top 100 tweets will win the Arc Touch mouse (valued at $70). Be sure to read through the rules for no-nos (like trying to enter more than three times) and other details. Don't care about winning an Arc Touch mouse? In that case, feel free to share your favorite 1980s memory with us in the comments section below! Image Credit: Microsoft |
| BitFenix Gives Birth to a Mini-ITX 'Prodigy' with Support for Big Size Components Posted: 25 May 2012 05:43 AM PDT
BitFenix says the Prodigy is a small case with big ideas, and by that, the case maker means it supports long graphics cards, tower coolers, and even water cooling radiators, all of which are components you don't often find crammed into the tight confines of a mini-ITX enclosure. "The wave of enthusiast class mini-ITX motherboards is upon us, and with Prodigy, users finally have a case to match," says BitFenix Product Manager David Jarlestedt. "No longer will users have to choose between compact size and blazing performance. With Prodigy, mini-ITX users can finally have it all." Toss aside the side panel and you'll find room for up to five 3.5-inch hard drives or solid state drives for home server, HTPC, or NAS box chores. If you remove the middle portion of the FlexCage, the Prodigy will happily play nice with long graphics cards up to 320mm (a little over 12.5 inches), which means you can shove a GeForce GTX 690 or Radeon HD 7970 card in there and have room to spare. Removing the FlexCage altogether makes room for a 240mm water cooling radiator. The Prodigy supports standard ATX power supplies, has two USB 3.0 supports on the front I/O panel, is suspended by two handles on the top and bottom made from BitFenix FyberFlex Composite, "a revolutionary new material that is very flexible yet offers incredible strength," and is coated with the company's SofTouch Surface Treatment, which feels like the material used on rubberized smartphones. BitFenix says the Prodigy, available in silver or black, will land on store shelves in early June with an MSRP of $79. Image Credit: BitFenix Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Rumor: Dell Windows 8 Tablet Surfaces in Leaked Slide Posted: 25 May 2012 05:05 AM PDT During Dell's quarterly earnings call earlier this week, CEO and founder Michael Dell promised a "full complement" of devices, including tablets and other touchscreen products, for the launch of Windows 8 later this year. Now, a slide purportedly showing a 10.8-inch Windows 8 tablet from Dell has cropped up on the Web. Hit the jump for more. Published by Neowin, the slide is marked confidential and pertains to a yet unreleased tablet named Dell Latitude 10. According to the info contained in this allegedly leaked slide, the Dell Latitude 10 will sport a 10.1-inch multi-touch display (1366x768), a dual-core Intel "Clover Trail" Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, 128GB solid-state storage, integrated graphics and dual cameras (2.0 MP front/8.0 MP rear). Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile broadband connectivity. Could this be the "business-friendly" tablet that Michael Dell alluded to in an interview with Bloomberg a couple of months back? Only Dell can tell.
Image Credit: Dell |
It's a slow day tech news-wise, but May 25th has turned out to be an early Christmas for space geeks. Any self-respecting science nerd is no doubt already aware that SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft has successfully completed its mission and become the first commercial space craft to ever dock with the International Space Station, but today marks key milestones for a pair of beloved space-based sci-fi franchises as well.
A few weeks back, we highlighted 
The human race's march towards becoming disposable batteries for power-hungry robot overlords continues. A mere day after Intel announced a new project that hopes to 
With Diablo III going through growing pains, perhaps you've found yourself going back to Skyrim to pick more pockets and to slay a few more dragons. The problem with Skyrim is that even though there's so much to do, it has a tendency to get repetitive, though continued updates and mods are helping to keep things fresh. The newest update, straight from Bethesda, adds a brand new element to Skyrim in the form of mounted combat.
In an effort to be more transparent about copyright removals in search, Google this week expanded its Transparency Report with a new section that discloses precisely how many requests the sultan of search receives from copyright owners, including organizations, to remove allegedly infringing search links. That number now stands at over 1.2 million requests per month, or over 250,000 per week, which is more than it received in all of 2009.
Provided you've left your twenties behind, can you remember what you were doing 30 years ago? Microsoft does. In 1982, the Microsoft Hardware group was formed while Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album was selling a million copies a week, E.T. was phoning home on the big screen, and emoticons were in the process of being popularized. As Microsoft puts it, "1982 truly epitomized all that was glorious about the 80s," pointing out that Yale was offering a 14-week course aimed at solving the Rubik's Cube. Share your own favorite memory on Twitter and you could win a 30th Anniversary Arc Touch mouse.
The whole point of building a mini-ITX system is to have something with a small footprint that you can tuck inconspicuously out of the way or plop on your desk without having it dominate your work/play environment. And that's well and good, but it typically means making sacrifices in your component selection. What if you didn't have to? That's the question BitFenix asks with its new Prodigy, "the first mini-ITX chassis designed with enthusiasts in mind."
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