General Gaming Article |
- Game Changers: Using the PC to Change the World
- 25 Games, 25 Guns: The Weapons that Defined First-Person Shooters
- ISPs May be Preparing Harsh File Sharing Penalties Backed by Entertainment Industry
- Asus Readying 13-Inch Android Laptop?
- FTC Expected to Begin Wide Antitrust Investigation of Google
- BitTorrent Mixes File Sharing And Social Media With uTorrent 3.0
- FBI Kills Coreflood Botnet Using Replacement Servers
- The Cloud's Future Lies In Stopping Hackers, Says Xbox COO
- Browser Extension of the Week: ToutApp
- Japanese Researchers Creating Five-Fingered Computer Controller
| Game Changers: Using the PC to Change the World Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:27 PM PDT As PC enthusiasts we spend much of our lives finding new and exciting ways to work the technology we love into every facet of our lives. We pay our bills, play games, keep in touch with loved ones, and do business from our computers. They are our hobby, our obsession, our passion. As computer enthusiasts, we are not strangers to using our interest and knowledge of tech for the benefit of others. The Internet is filled with user-created and supported software that are available to all, regardless of financial need or experience level. Some of us provide education and guidance to others through forums and knowledge base sites. We donate our old or extra hardware to groups or individuals in need. Among us are the heroes who use a mouse and keyboard at work to fill invoices and write programs, then come home to don superhero capes and use these same tools to provide education, inspiration, and creative outlets for others. Below are just some of the many who have gone above and beyond to use their love of computers and technology to improve the lives of others. The College DifferenceCornell University, located in Ithaca, NY is home to a group of students, faculty, and community members who strive to provide technology to those that do not have access. The Cornell Computer Reuse Association began when Al Heiman, a faculty member of the college's IT department, noticed that Cornell updated their computers every three or four years, simply getting rid of these old computers that were still in good working order.
Heiman decided to gather together like-minded individuals on campus and, starting in 2004, began organizing donations to schools in Ghana and South Africa. In the fall of 2006, the CCRA officially became a student group on Cornell's campus. The mission of the group is "to donate computers and other computer-related technology to humanitarian organizations in the developing world and in the local Ithaca community". In their five years in existence, the group has donated over 1200 computers in the United States and in countries all around the world. The CCRA makes sure that each computer that is donated meets a certain standard set by the organization. The group's goal is to provide computers that can be used for basic tasks such as browsing the Internet, and completing productivity tasks such as word processing and spreadsheets. Machines acquired from the Cornell campus have its operating systems reinstalled, while donated computers have the hard drive wiped using a freeware program known as Darik's Boot & Nuke (DBAN).
From left to right: CCRA group members Henry Huan, Jason Wang, Denise McEnerney of the Hanger Theatre, Amy Allen, and Nathan Baron-Schmitt deliver a donation of computers to the Hanger Theatre in Ithaca, NY.
The desktops and laptops are installed with Windows XP and the appropriate drivers, and are then loaded up with free software such as Oracle's Open Office, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome web browsers, Gimp photo editing suite, and antimalware software such as Malwarebytes. All donated computers contain at least a Pentium 4 processor and a decent amount of RAM, usually 512MB or more for desktops and slightly less for laptops. International organizations are given newer models, usually 3-4 years in age. The CCRA's hope is that these machines will last longer and will be easier to setup and repair in places that do not have access to reliable PC services. The group's current president, Jason Wang, recalls a story in a recent interview about the impact this organization has made on individuals and communities around the world. "My personal favorite story is our donation of desktops and laptops to a Nigerian orphanage run by CORAfrica (Children of Rural Africa). Starting in 2007, we started donating laptops to its orphanage so that the children would have access to computers for their education (the orphanage doubled as a school for the children). In 2009 when we donated about 10 laptops, the director asked us for another 30 desktops. We assumed that the desktops were still for the kids in the orphanage, so we donated them to him in the fall of 2009. Afterwards, we learned that he actually used these desktops to set up a technical college right next to the orphanage (he literally built the technical college around the computers we donated). Because there were now two schools right next to each other, the orphanage was able to convince the government to drill a well there so that the children did not have to carry water back from the river every day. That is the kind of impact we would like to have with the computers we donate: the computers directly benefit the many that use them, and indirectly benefit the whole community."
Students at the community college in Nigeria using donated computers from the CCRA. In the future the organization plans to establish working relationships with other colleges and universities across the United States. The group is also looking for grants and public support to assist in their shipping operations. "Being a student group, we really only have the money to box up the computers and to buy some of the power supplies for laptops/old monitors. A single international shipment is at least a few thousand dollars and we only fundraise $200-300 a year on campus. So currently, the places we are donating to are paying for the shipping costs since it is far cheaper than buying computers in many countries (especially in Africa). We don't want to not do a shipment because the shipping costs are too expensive, so we are looking at ways to cover the expenses for organizations that can't afford it." You can donate to the organization by visiting their website and clicking the "Support Us" link.
Changing the World: Beginning at HomeIt's no secret that most jobs now require some degree of proficiency in computer skills. Adults who do not have access to computers or lack the means to receive education and training can find themselves at a large disadvantage in today's competitive job market. A group of philanthropists in Northern Virginia decided to establish an organization that would change all that.
Computer C.O.R.E. (Community Outreach & Education) is a coalition of churches and community groups who have decided to work together to provide computer skills and software training for members in their local communities. The organization's mission statement is to "help low-income adults acquire the technological and life skills they need to pursue career aspirations, building careers and community." Their goal is to assist in "helping Northern Virginians find a job, launch a career and become self-sufficient." Students who enroll in the program are given a home computer (to continue improvement of skills and have access to job opportunities), and the opportunity to enroll in Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), apply for financial aid and receive college credits for coursework at CORE. The average cost for tuition and materials is $200.00.
A CORE Instructor teaches a computer class to new students on basic internet skills. To complete the program, students must complete 114 hours of training in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and email, receive training in keyboarding, and take part in job-readiness training and job-placement assistance. The CORE program has witnessed numerous success stories and positive changes in the communities in which they are located. Lynn O'Connell, execute director of the organization, took the time to share one of the many success stories of their program. "Sammy came to the U.S. from Ghana in 1994 and was working as a part-time associate pastor in a church when someone in his congregation suggested he enroll at CORE to augment his skill set. Although Sammy had a B.A. in Theology from Ghana, his lack of computer skills made it difficult to find jobs. Upon joining the Spring 2010 class, Sammy soon became proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and using email. Through a connection from a CORE staffer, Sammy got an interview with State Farm, and is now an agent at an office in Vienna, VA. Sammy hopes that this job will be a stepping stone to a new career and new opportunities to help others. He would like one day to create a church-based computer lab to help under-served children learn fundamental computer skills."
A look at one of CORE's classrooms at their Providence campus. The organization is currently looking for computer donations, including CPU towers, flat-screen monitors, and computer peripherals, specifically keyboards and mice. Do you have a computer sitting at home that has: 1) a Pentium III or higher 2) minimum 256MB RAM 3) at least a 20GB hard drive 4) A CD drive? If so, visit the CORE website and click on the "Get Involved" and "Donate Computers" link to lend your support to a worthwhile cause. The Mobile HumanitariansIn the next three years, the number of smart phone users is expected to exceed the one billion mark worldwide. The world has become a mobile environment, and the expectations of what cell phones can do in people's daily lives has barely been realized. A group of young visionaries have decided to tap into the wide network of mobile technology to create mobile learning games with their company, MindSnacks.
The goal of Mindsnacks and its founder, Jesse Pickard, is to build fun and educational games that will change the way people learn. "The idea came about as I was going to a Spanish tutor in NYC as I prepared for a trip to South America. Every week I would struggle to find an hour of uninterrupted time for my lesson. One day I looked around on the subway and I saw everyone glued to their phones playing casual games. I knew then that there was an opportunity to mix casual mobile gaming with language learning. At that point, I talked with a few of my future co-founders and they also struggled with the traditional methods of learning a language. MindSnacks started soon after that." The organization currently offers their apps on the iOS platform and are developing their suite for Android as well. Their current suite of games teach language skills in Spanish, French, and Italian. The apps focus on improving users' vocabulary, reading, writing, listening and conversation skills. The games are colorful and addictive, full of mini games that feature progress tracking, in-game rewards for milestones, even the ever-popular Facebook Login feature!
Mindsnack's Offices in San Francisco, CA. Most importantly, MindSnacks creates their educational games with personalized learning algorithms to maximize memorization and retention, along with audio and visual aids to reach multiple learning styles, whether the user is a beginner or intermediate language learner. All of their apps are designed with the help of several Ivy-League language experts. MindSnacks have also added an in-house educational content team that handles all content creation and learning design. The hard-working people at MindSnacks have seen positive results from their apps in several different learning environments. One example is found in data from an ongoing pilot program at Amity Orange Middle School in Connecticut, which has revealed that students playing MindSnacks Spanish in class for only 15 minutes a day "mastered" an extra 31.4 Spanish vocabulary items per week! That number doubled to 63 extra Spanish items per week when students were allowed to take the apps home with them.
The Mindsnacks Team "This is a very good way to remember vocab and have fun at the same time. We should play this game more often and take it home more" stated a boy named Jake, one of the students from the classroom study. In the future, MindSnacks plans to expand their suite of mobile learning apps. "We're going to continue improving our games and expand outside of languages to test prep (SAT Vocab, etc) and a wide variety of other subjects. We're also extremely excited about building in a multi-player aspect to our games" stated CEO Jesse Pickard. Computers have the power to enrich and expand our lives, providing opportunities that every person, regardless of location or financial standing, should be able to have access to. The individuals who established the groups and organizations in this article began with an idea and took a single step forward to begin their journey to use computers to change their world. Their work is proof positive that computers can provide much more than play games and videos of cats. The next time you flip on your computer, think about what you can do with your passion to make a positive impact. |
| 25 Games, 25 Guns: The Weapons that Defined First-Person Shooters Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:29 PM PDT Building this post made us wonder aloud: how many types of triggers have you digitally pulled over the years? The entire staff of Maximum PC practically grew up playing first person shooters, so we'd have to guess in the hundreds. So we decided to take a nostalgiac trip down memory lane, and put together a gallery of images detailing the wacky and ever-changing world of first person shooter guns. Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below! |
| ISPs May be Preparing Harsh File Sharing Penalties Backed by Entertainment Industry Posted: 23 Jun 2011 02:33 PM PDT
Sources say a final agreement has not been hammered out, but the preliminary rules are looking grim. The plan is being called a "graduated response", and ISPs would be given some leeway in how they administered it. It would start with written warnings. If the behavior continues, a user may have their bandwidth throttled, their service suspended, or their access limited to just the top 200 websites online. Presumably, the jack-booted thugs would be sent to a subscribers house in the dead of night at some point, but we cannot confirm. The main issue as described by critics of such plans is that there is no due process. Accusations by content owners are treated as true, and users may be falsely cut off from Internet services. The National Cable and Telecommunications Industry (NCTI) includes many ISPs, and has been involved in the talks with the backing of the US government. So it seems the stars may be aligning for the RIAA and MPAA at long last. The plans may be unveiled in as little as a month. Feel free to vent in the comments. |
| Asus Readying 13-Inch Android Laptop? Posted: 23 Jun 2011 02:22 PM PDT
It claims that the Taiwanese PC vendor has "already made plans to launch a 13-inch ARM-based notebook adopting Nvidia's processor with Android." Even though there is every change of the rumor turning out to be a dud, the report has certainly fueled speculation about the innards of such a notebook. Pointing to the original report's mention of a quad-core ARM chip, Engadget's Vlad Savov conjectured that the rumored 13-incher could be powered by an NVIDIA Kal-El (aka Tegra 3) SOC, which is due out in August. Despite the fact that the report mentions quad-core ARM chips in a different context, he might have a point. Not only is the Eee Pad Transformer powered by a Tegra 2 chip, but its successor is also expected to be built around the upcoming Tegra 3 SOC. So, NVIDIA's chip does seem like an obvious choice for AsusTek's Android notebook. |
| FTC Expected to Begin Wide Antitrust Investigation of Google Posted: 23 Jun 2011 02:15 PM PDT
Google has previously been investigated by the FTC for its numerous acquisitions, but this new probe is said to be directly related to Google's core business of search and advertising. Other players in the market have been complaining that Google's natural search algorithm is not so natural, and is actually designed to drive people only to its services. Further, many worry that Google's dominant position in advertising gives them too much control over a businesses success or failure. The FTC was likely spurred to action in the wake of Google's increasing movement into markets like mobile, travel, and set top boxes. Analysts believe the FTC will have a tough time proving unfair practices, though. It is not illegal to have a monopoly, just to abuse it. Do you think Google is engaged in unfair business practices? |
| BitTorrent Mixes File Sharing And Social Media With uTorrent 3.0 Posted: 23 Jun 2011 12:39 PM PDT
Streamlining the UI and offering more sharing options were the big focuses in uTorrent 3.0. Technically called "progressive downloading," the new streaming function lets you start watching a download long before it actually finishes – a feature we heartily welcome. There's also a new drag-and-drop feature that lets you deposit large files in a box and get a "Download" web link in return. That way, you can share files with your buddies without needing to post a torrent publicly or use a service like RapidShare. You'll also be able to monitor your torrents from a different computer using uTorrent's Web-based remote access interface. The new release also brings social media aspects to the P2P program. Users will be able to rate and recommend individual torrents from inside the uTorrent client itself. In addition, BitTorrent launched a uChat app today that lets you chat away with other uTorrent and BitTorrent users. It's an interesting idea in theory, but since in reality the majority of P2P file-sharing involves copyright infringement rather than Linux distros, we doubt that downloaders will be in a rush to share their innermost thoughts with their fellow pirates -- especially since your IP address is visible to everybody in the chat room. |
| FBI Kills Coreflood Botnet Using Replacement Servers Posted: 23 Jun 2011 11:55 AM PDT
Before ADEONA took effect in mid-April, an estimated 2.3 million computers were part of Coreflood's botnet, Computerword reports. The operation kicked off when a judge gave the FBI permission to seize the botnet's command and control servers and replace it with one of their own. That way, not only was the source of the infection stopped, but when zombie computers checked in for orders, the FBI's server told them to sit tight rather than launch any nefarious Internet attacks. Security companies worked hand-in-hand with the feds to shut down Coreflood; while the replacement server was in place and the botnet was docile, antivirus companies sent out detection files for Coreflood. Federal tracked the results of the tag-team effort by monitoring the number of incoming command requests from zombified Coreflood computers. Barely two months after the start of ADEONA, the FBI shut down its replacement server and called the operation a massive success. The dummy server received over 800,000 command requests on its first day in operation; now, the requests have almost dried up completely and are a fraction of the original number. "On Tuesday, the government closed the civil lawsuit when a federal judge permanently barred 10 "John Does" from operating Coreflood," Computerworld says, bringing an end to the quick -- but effective -- operation. While ADEONA didn't quite eradicate Coreflood, the botnet was beaten to the brink of death. Between Operation ADEONA and Microsoft's recent beat-down of the spam-causing Rustock botnet, the appeal of illegally running hordes of zombified PCs must be dwindling in Internet crime circles. Image credit: eWeek |
| The Cloud's Future Lies In Stopping Hackers, Says Xbox COO Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:53 AM PDT
"It's bad for the industry that this has happened to Sony. It's very, very bad," Dennis Durkin, COO and CFO of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, told IndustryGamers. "It's very damaging." The Microsoft bigwig spoke carefully and avoided giving any impression of rivalry-inspired glee at Sony's security problems. Eroded confidence in Sony is eroded confidence in all online-based businesses, Durkin suggested, and Microsoft's cards are on the cloud-computing table. A Microsoft VP recently told the Seattle Times that Microsoft sees the Xbox Live platform evolving into an iTunes-type service. If companies want consumers to migrate to the cloud in droves, they need to make the virtual environment feel secure. But don't put it all on the shoulders of the corporations; Durkin says that consumers also need to step up to the plate and stop using the same passwords over and over again to try and minimize damages in case a system is hacked. "Like in society, you can't always protect everything," Durkin admitted. "There are people who are going to want to disrupt things and you can't always perfectly protect against every scenario, but we're going to make sure we do everything to we can to be sure we're as secure as we possibly can be." |
| Browser Extension of the Week: ToutApp Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:43 AM PDT
Designed to work in concert with the online service of the same name, ToutApp is available in both Firefox and Chrome flavors. Once installed to your browser, the extension does what it can to fulfill all of your mass mailing needs in as pain-free a manner possible. By logging into the extension with your Tout account credentials, you'll be directed to the service's site and provided with the option to templatize your most frequently sent emails, schedule delivery times and send out messages to your target audience, with the number of emails you can send per day depending on what tier of Tout service you opt for.
Once that's done, get on with the rest of your day--the Tout extension will notify you of responses to your emails, as well as the number of views or clickthroughs each of your messages receives. Be sure to check back every Thursday for another edition of Maximum PC's Browser Extension of the Week. |
| Japanese Researchers Creating Five-Fingered Computer Controller Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT
Dubbed the "Amenbo," users rest their palm on a central pad, then place each of their five fingers on separate mouse sensors. According to DigInfo, the device tracks both pressure and positional relationship for the five sensors, delivering a theoretical level of control that blows our bite-sized minds. We're not really sure what you'd need that level of control for, but the article name drops the Kinect and CAD tools. Sure, gaming and drafting might see improvements if the Amenbo ever hits the market, but we'd put our money on the biggest Amenbo-related breakthroughs to come from the porn industry. This is the Internet after all. Image credit: DigInfo |
While so-called "three strikes laws" have been passed in several countries to kick those repeatedly accused of copyright infringement off the Internet, Cnet is reporting that some US ISPs 
Android has only been around for less than three years. In this time, the Linux-based operating system has quite literally gone places, appearing on a wide gamut of devices, from smartphones to e-readers. But it's difficult to predict its next destination. 
The Wall Street Journal has reported today that the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to serve Google with subpoenas, kicking off a 
BitTorrent may be the name that draws the headlines, but uTorrent is the application that draws the users. No P2P sharing program enjoys a bigger user base than uTorrent – which is owned by BitTorrent, coincidentally enough – but its developers don't use the application's success as an excuse to sit around and watch "Game of Thrones" downloads all day – you know, "for research." Version 3.0 of the popular client has been in beta since April, and today, it went live.
If you're the kind of person who authorizes ActiveX scripts willy-nilly or opens attachments emailed to you by strangers, the world is a much safer place now than it was two months ago. Don't get us wrong – if you're that kind of person, your computer is still going to end up overrun with malware, but at least it won't be made into a Coreflood zombie. The FBI's "Operation ADEONA" took the botnet on head first, and while botnet operators can be a hardheaded bunch, the FBI's head is apparently even harder.
When lulz-seeking hackers aren't busy reincarnating Tupac on PBS and taking down government websites worldwide, they always seem to turn their attention to videogame companies. We're not quite sure what the grudge is, but Sony, Nintendo, Minecraft, Bethesda, Sega, BioWare and scads of other targets have been hacked in one way or another. Pretty much the only major company unaffected thus far has been Microsoft. In fact, the company's even profited from the rash of attacks as gamers bailed the PlayStation in droves. So what does Microsoft think of all the recent troubles from its seat on the sidelines?
No one digs having to send out a gazillion copies of the same email. It's a pain. It's a drag. Sadly, for many of us, it's also a part of our everyday lives. Whether you're tugging at the coattails of a number of media outlets about your company's new product, or firing off multiple copies of your resume in the hopes of paying next month's rent, sometimes sending out multiple copies of the same correspondence is a necessary evil. Fortunately, 
Think of the all the things you can accomplish with the basic two-fingered mouse set-up. Using only one left-click and one right-click button, you can transfer money to a prince in Nigeria, pay all of your bills for a month, or save the world from Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Now imagine what you could do with five little touch-sensitive mice, each connected to a separate finger. Sound weird and crazy? It is. But that's not stopping Japan's Double Research & Development Co. from developing the wacky device.| 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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