General Gaming Article

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• IrFanView: How to Batch Resize Images
• Google Gives Wearable Tech a Try with 'Android Wear' OS
• Column: Bring Back the Decentralized Internet
• SteelSeries Sensei Wireless Gaming Mouse Now Available to Pre-Order
• Corsair Blitzes Budget Market with Three Affordable Carbide Cases
• Newegg Daily Deals: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, WD Green 4TB HDD, and More!
• Micron and Crucial Toss M550 SSD Series into High Speed Storage Market
• AMD Provides Performance Figures for Thief's Mantle Patch

IrFanView: How to Batch Resize Images Posted: 18 Mar 2014 02:18 PM PDT Resize multiple images at once for free with IrFanView Resizing images can be a monotonous task, especially, if you're trying to change the resolution/size of more than 100 images. Luckily free batch imaging software IrfanView can batch resize photos quickly and easily. For those who don't know what batch processing is, it's taking a group of photos and editing them all at once using the same set of editing commands. For example, if you want to edit a group of 1920x1080 images and resize them to 1280x720 or simply want smaller-sized images to email/store on a small USB stick, you can have IrfanView reduce the size of all the images at the same time, so you don't have to do it for each individual photo. Considering the program is free to use, we wanted to show you how you can quickly save time and energy editing your photos.   Step 1: Go to www.irfanview.com and click on the Download link in the left hand column. Step 2: Choose the host you want to download from. We chose TechSpot and clicked on the TechSpot-Download IrfanView link. Step 3: You'll be sent to the TechSpot website. To start your download click on the blue Download Now button.  Step 4: Run the IrfanView installer.  Step 5: Launch IrfanView and click File then click on Batch Conversion/Rename…  Step 6: This window should appear now. Select the folder of images you want to process from the Look in box (For images to be batch-processed, they all need to be in the same folder together).  Step 7: Once the folder is selected, you can choose which images you want to process by selecting the image and hitting the Add button, this will add the images to the batch queue.  Step 8: Click on the Advanced button to customize your preferences for processing the selected images. Click Save Settings to save your current preferences. These preferences will be saved as an INI file. Once you're done click the OK button and you will exit the Advanced menu window. Step 9: Now you can batch process the images by clicking on Start Batch. Note: By default, the processed images will be sent to your C: Drive's TEMP Folder. You can change this location in the Output tab.  Once you start the batch, this window pop up and tells you when it's completed. To exit this window click on Exit Batch. Other helpful IrfanView editing tips: Changing the file type of an image: You can also change the file type of an image by clicking on the Output Format drop-down menu. IrfanView supports a multitude of popular photo formats, which include TIFF, JPEG, GIF, RAW, and PNG to name a few.  Adjusting image quality: An image's quality can be adjusted by clicking on the Options menu. The quality can be adjusted with the slider at the top of the menu in case your original image files are too big (the lower the setting, the smaller the file size will be).

Google Gives Wearable Tech a Try with 'Android Wear' OS Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:43 AM PDT A modifed Android UI for wearable devices If you thought the wearable computing craze was going to simmer down anytime soon, think again. Google is throwing its weight and resources behind the wearable computing movement by announcing Android Wear, a modified version of the company's open source operating system. Android Wear extends Android into wearables starting with the obvious -- smart watches -- though Google has more in mind than being able to tell time and fire off text messages. To kick things off, Google has made available a Developer Preview that allows developers to tailor their existing app notifications for watches powered by Android Wear. In addition, Google is working with a bunch of consumer electronic players (Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung), chip makers (Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek, and Qualcomm), and fashion brands (Fossil Group) to spur more smart watch designs. A big part of Android Wear is voice control. Commands begin with "Okay Google" followed by things like, "call a taxi" or "open my garage." You can also monitor your health and fitness with features like real-time speed, distance, and time information as you run, cycle, or walk. "We're always seeking new ways for technology to help people live their lives and this is just another step in that journey. Here's to getting the most out of the many screens you use every day—whether in your car, in your pocket or, very soon, on your wrist," Google stated in a blog post. Smart watches aren't exactly flying off of store shelves, though Google obviously feels it can bring some fashion, usability, and even credibility to the sector. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Column: Bring Back the Decentralized Internet Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:32 AM PDT Keep the Internet old school It's crazy to think of how this whole Internet age got started. Instead of networking as we know it, you asked a guy named Jon Postel for an address. If you wanted email, you ran a mail server. Angry Birds looked terrible on the PDP-11, but at least it was two-player. Image from reactual.com In those days, you couldn't buy services or watch ads in exchange for access. What that meant was the 'net was social, cooperative, and decentralized. If you wanted to put up ill-thought-out drunken selfies, you had to put up a server to host them, usually with the help of your local geek. It was more work, but it meant you controlled your data. Not Google, Facebook, or the NSA. The Paleonet was a strange place, but it was something we built together. It was a place without click-through agreements or our lives being tracked and tallied in the databases of marketers and governments. It's time to get that back. Between copyright insanity, contracts that turn everyone into felons, and massive spying on service providers, it's time to give up on centralized services and start looking to each other. There is nothing—not a thing—we host elsewhere on the net that we couldn't provide to each other through community server sharing. It's how we all did it before we lost our privacy. It's the only way to get control of our online existence back. It means going in with friends or neighbors on a server account somewhere, downloading software, and learning to run what you use. I've been doing this for 15 years. It's great, knowing that we're a group of friends helping each other. I doubt my buddy M is spying on me on behalf of my government, or Nike. Not so sure about Facebook.

SteelSeries Sensei Wireless Gaming Mouse Now Available to Pre-Order Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT Save and access your mouse settings using CloudSync Is all that cold, hard cash weighing you down and creating an unsightly bulge in your bank account? If you're looking to shed a chunk of green, the SteelSeries Sensei Wireless Gaming Mouse is is available to pre-order today for $160. That's not the most expensive rodent we've ever seen, though it's certainly in the upper echelon of high-priced gaming gear. What you get in return is a high-end gaming mouse with SteelSeries Engine 3 CloudSync compatibility. Allow us to explain. The wireless Sensei features cloud support via SteelSeries' CloudSync feature, an opt-in service that allows gamers to save and access all of their peripheral settings wherever there's an Internet connection. This can come in handy if you take your mouse to LAN parties or otherwise want complete access to pre-configured settings regardless of which PC you're plugging the mouse into. As for the Sensei's hardware, it has a 1ms response time, 50-8200 adjustable CPI (counts per inch) laser sensor, 30-million click switch, 30g acceleration, customizable LED lighting, 8 programmable buttons, soft-touch coating, and 16 hours of battery life. You can pre-order the Sensei direct from SteelSeries. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Corsair Blitzes Budget Market with Three Affordable Carbide Cases Posted: 18 Mar 2014 10:33 AM PDT These cases won't ravage your wallet If you fancy yourself a budget builder or otherwise just like getting the most bang for your buck, you might be interested in a trio of new cases from Corsair. Aimed at PC gamers, Corsair's three new Carbide Series SPEC range of enclosures feature aggressive styling, modern amenities, ample air cooling potential, and wallet-friendly price tags. How friendly? Try $50 for the SPEC-01 and $60 each for the SPEC-02 and SPEC-03. Corsair said it stripped out anything it deemed unnecessary, leaving gamers with a line of affordable and lean enclosures with modern features like USB 3.0 ports, native SSD mounts, and lots of cable routing options. There's even a sizable side-mounted window on each case. "Entry level cases are usually antiquated, old designs. Some still have room for floppy drives," said George Makris, Product Manager at Corsair. "With the addition of the Carbide Series SPEC to our line, gamers can now get a case with modern features and great styling combined with superior cooling and expandability at a fantastic price." The SPEC-1 offers a single front-panel USB 3.0 port, tool-free drive bays (two 5.25-inch, four 3.5-inch/2.5-inch), 7 expansion slots, dust filters, side window, all-black interior, and a single 120mm red LED fan. For additional cooling, you'll find a pair of 120mm fan mounts on the top, two more on the front, and one at the rear. Corsair's SPEC-02 and SPEC-03 up the ante by adding a second USB 3.0 port, three dedicated 3.5-inch drive bays, two 2.5-inch drive bays, and more fan options, including spaces for 140mm fans. All three cases will bre available in April. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, WD Green 4TB HDD, and More! Posted: 18 Mar 2014 09:04 AM PDT Top Deal: Come April 8th, planes will fall out of the sky, street lights will quit working, and it's going to be complete anarchy in the streets! Wait, that was Y2K, and none of that stuff actually happened. Okay, so come April 8th, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP, and depending on who you talk to, it will either be no big deal or a major security crisis. Either way, there are newer, more securer OSes available. Don't want to jump all the way to Windows 8? That's fine and dandy -- today's top deal is for Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit (OEM) for $80 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCYTZT58783]). With Windows 7, you can watch the April 8 deadline come and go with a hearty yawn. Other Deals: Acer 27-inch WQHD 6ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor for $350 with free shipping (normally $400 - use coupon code: [EMCYTZT58789]) EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card for $250 with free shipping Kingston DataTraveler Generation 4 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive for $15 with free shipping (normally $20 - use coupon code: [EMCPGWF49]) WD Green 4TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.50-inch Internal Hard Drive for $155 with free shipping (normally $165 - use coupon code: [EMCPGWF29])

Micron and Crucial Toss M550 SSD Series into High Speed Storage Market Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:29 AM PDT Available in multiple form factors and up to 1TB in capacity Micron on Tuesday unveiled its new M550 solid state drive (SSD) family, which is available today to consumers, businesses, and system builders under the company's Crucial brand, and to OEM customers under the Micron name. The M550 is a high-performance line of drives available in a variety of form factors, including 2.5-inch, mSATA, and M.2 with capacities ranging from 64GB all the way up to 1TB. As you would expect, the new SSDs use Micron's own NAND flash memory and firmware, along with Marvell's 88SS9189 controller. These combine to offer performance of up to 95,000 IOPS, up to 550MB/s sequential reads, and up to 500MB/s sequential writes, depending on the drive model. In addition to raw speed, Micron says the M550 offers a host of advanced features, including best-in-class hardware encryption, a sleep low-power mode that enables the drives to draw virtually no power in sleep mode yet still respond instantly when a laptop is opened, data protection via onboard power-loss protection and advanced error recovery techniques, adaptive thermal management, and Micron's proprietary RAIN technology that provides built-in fail-over protection at the NAND level. Pricing for Crucial branded drives (2.5-inch versions) runs $100 for the 128GB model, $169 for 256GB, $337 for 512GB, and $531 for 1TB. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

AMD Provides Performance Figures for Thief's Mantle Patch Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:34 AM PDT A look at the numbers AMD can talk about the benefits of its Mantle API until it's blue in the face, but what gamers really want to know is how the numbers work out once all the dust settles. To address those folks, the Sunnyvale chip designer sent us a handful of examples of performance boosts today's upcoming Mantle patch for Thief will bring to gamers, based on AMD's own internal testing. A quick note before diving in: AMD focused on gamers who own "reasonably-priced CPUs," those being chips in the neighborhood of $150 to $250. These were then paired with what AMD considers sensible GPUs for each setup. System 1 AMD FX-8350 AMD Radeon R9 280X 1080p, maximum settings 19 percent performance uplift with Mantle (45->53.8 fps) System 2 AMD FX-8350 AMD Radeon R9 290X 1080p, maximum settings 49 percent performance uplift with Mantle (46->69.6 fps) System 3 Intel Core i5 4670K AMD Radeon R9 280X 1080p, maximum settings 5 percent performance uplift with Mantle (52.6->55.2 fps) System 4 AMD A10-7700K AMD Radeon R7 260X 1080p, high settings 23 percent performance uplift with Mantle (28->34.6 fps) While AMD didn't provide benchmarks for "ultra-high end" systems, the company says even those rigs stand to gain around 5-10 percent better performance with Mantle. What's perhaps more interesting is the impact the Mantle patch demonstrated on System 4 above -- it went from being borderline unplayable to playable. As we reported yesterday, today's patch will also make Thief the first TrueAudio-enabled game. AMD says TrueAudio will be utilized to calculate an effected "convolution reverb," which is a technique that mathematically simulates the echoes of a real-life location. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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