| World's Largest Game Collection Changes Hands for $750,250 Posted: 17 Jun 2014 11:37 AM PDT  A better decision than trading them in at GameStop
Could you imagine if Michael Thommason would have taken his more than 11,000 video games to GameStop? Most of the games in his collection would probably have been rejected for being too old. Instead of going that route, Thomasson wisely took his games to auction where they fetched $750,250. That's a hefty sum for what's officially recognized by The Guinness Book of World Records 2014 Gamers Edition as being the biggest games collection in the world. The auction included all 10,607 games that were verified by Guinness plus over 400 more that he collected since then. In addition, Guinness didn't count duplicates, so the new owner is getting quite the haul, including many sealed titles -- about a quarter of the games in the collection have never been opened. When we first reported this story, the high bid was sitting at $50,000 and hadn't met the seller's reserve price. Few at the time would have predicted that it would balloon all the way up to three quarters of a million dollars. "I simply have an immediate family and extended family that have needs that need to be addressed. While I do not wish to part with these games, I have responsibilities that I have made to others and this action is how I will help meet them. No worries, I've sold my collection many times in the past and still managed to capture Guinness' attention, and it is entirely possible that I may again," Thomasson stated in his auction. Duly noted. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| AVG Warns Popular Websites Still Suffering an OpenSSL Security Issue Posted: 17 Jun 2014 11:18 AM PDT  Even after applying a Heartbleed patch, many websites are still vulnerable
Heartbleed received a ton of media attention, and for good reason -- the security flaw in OpenSSL caught the Internet with its collective pants down, which in turn prompted website owners, IT workers, and web admins to all go scrambling for a fix. Now that there's a patch available, are we once again safe? Not really, says AVG, According to AVG, thousands of popular websites need to update their servers to stay protected from a new vulnerability. The new vulnerability, known as a CSS Injection, has left potentially tens of thousands of the web's most popular sites vulnerable to attack. AVG said it scanned the servers of 45,000 of the world's biggest websites based on their Alexa ratings and found that around half use OpenSSL encryption. Of the potentially vulnerable sites, 75 percent are still not protected, leaving around 17,000 open to attack. On the plus side, it takes a complex effort on the part of a hacker to exploit the vulnerability, AVG says. The attacker must intercept the connection between a client and a server, both of which must be using the vulnerable version, and engage a man-in-the-middle attack. Once they've done that, the attacker can decrypt and modify the traffic that flows back and forth. This is a bit of a self-serving warning AVG has issued, which says it built additional functionality into its Web TuneUp product that will inform users with a banner when they vist a site that could be at risk from a CSS Injection. AVG Web TuneUp (beta) is free for the time being, though it doesn't support Windows 8/8.1. Image Credit: Flickr (Michael Theis) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force LN2 Motherboard Breaks Multiple Overclocking Records at Computex Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:53 AM PDT  Motherboard built specifically for overclocking doesn't disappoint at Computex 2014
There's no mistaking Gigabyte's Z97X-SOC Force LN2 motherboard for a standard mobo. That slice of silicon is built for the extreme overclocking circuit, which is why there aren't any CPU fan mounting holes -- it's all about liquid nitrogen. Case in point, Gigabyte's Z97X-SOC Force LN2 broke multiple world records at Computex 2014, which includes the highest DDR3 memory frequency every achieved -- 4.56GHz, up from the previous record of 4.4GHz. "One of the greatest parts of working for Gigabyte as an overclocker is the ability to come out with what at first seems like a crazy idea, have our skilled engineers be able to build it, and have the backing of our management to allow the concept to go into production for sale," commented Hi Cookie, Chief Overclocking Evangelist, Gigabyte Motherboard Business Unit. "The Z97X-SOC Force LN2 is a true testament to this forward-thing philosophy, and I can't wait for other overclockers around the world be able to use this motherboard to break even more world records." Gigabyte's board set new records for Aquamark3 (both single GPU and dual-GPU), 3DMark05 (dual GPUs), 3DMark2001 SE, Unigine Heaven (single GPU), and more. It's a gnarly board, though obviously the lack of CPU fan mounting holes limits its appeal to extreme overclockers. In that sense, the bevy of features are somewhat wasted, as this board will never serve as anyone's daily driver. That said, there is a version of this board that includes traditional CPU fan mounting holes -- the GA-Z97X-SOC Force. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus Edges Out Gigabyte in First Quarter Motherboard Shipments Posted: 17 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT  Just 100,000 motherboard shipments stand between leader Asus versus Gigabyte in race for first place
It might be a photo finish at the end of the year to determine which top-tier motherboard vendor comes in first. As it stands, only 100,000 motherboard shipments separate Asus and Gigabyte, the big guns in the mobo shootout. For now, Asus can enjoy pole position with 10.4 million motherboard shipments -- just enough to keep Gigabyte at an arm's length with 10.3 million shipments. Those figures come from news and rumor site Digitimes and are based on the "sources from channel retailers" it spoke with. The race for first place is solely between Asus and Gigabyte, both of which already widened the gap with competing motherboard makers. In addition, Digitimes says some of the smaller players may exit the market altogether in the near future. Since Asus and Gigabyte are in a league of their own, companies like MSI and ASRock are turning their attention towards nabbing market share from even smaller players. These include mobo makers you might not have heard of, such as Colorful, which is the largest China-based mobo maker. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Will.i.am and Coca-Cola Collaborate on Ekocycle Cube 3D Printer Posted: 17 Jun 2014 08:13 AM PDT  A 3D printer that uses recycled drink bottles
To borrow an unnecessarily cruel analogy, the just launched Ekocycle Cube 3D printer kills two birds with one stone by using filament that comes from recycled bottles. Coca-cola and will.i.am are behind the Ekocycle brand, which is focused on "promoting sustainability through aspirational yet attainable lifesytle products" that at least partially utilize recycled materials, such is the case here. Each Ekocycle cartridge is made in part from post-consumer recycled 20-ounce PET plastic bottles, resulting in what Ekocycle calls a groundbreaking new filament dubbed rPET. The flexible filament material retains full durability. Cartridges for the 3D printer are available in a curated color palette of red, black, white, and natural. As with many 3D printers, cost might be factor for some. The Ekocycle Cube 3D retails for $1,199. Cost aside, it's supposed to be easy to use, and perhaps you'll sleep better knowing your printed creations are giving plastic bottles a new life beyond the landfill -- each Ekocycle cartridge represents the equivalent of three used bottles. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Seasonic 660W Full Modular Power Supply, WD Black 4TB Hard Drive, and More! Posted: 17 Jun 2014 06:27 AM PDT  
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