| Game Pulled from Steam after Developer Tweets Gabe Newell Death Threat Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:05 PM PDT  Developer Mike Maulbeck announces resignation shortly after
It is not often that Valve will pull a game from its digital distribution platform Steam. However, Paranautical Activity was removed from Steam after Code Avarice co-owner Mike Maulbeck posted an angry tweet saying that he was going to kill Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. Maulbeck had posted a series of spiteful tweets at Valve following a posting error on Valve's part that labeled Paranautical Activity as Early Access when it was, in fact, a finished product. Upon noticing the error Maulbeck, believing that this would "greatly cripple sales and confuse customers," took to Twitter and called Valve "incompetent," referred to Steam as an "awful fucking monopoly," and then said in a deleted tweet, "I am going to kill gabe newell[sic]. He is going to die." In response, Valve removed the fast-paced, roguelike FPS shooter from Steam and contacted the developer to inform Maulbeck that it would be closing down his Steam admin account and severing ties with the developer. "I have since obviously replied to them saying that I didn't mean what I said and pleaded that they consider the monopoly they have on the PC market before totally writing us off," Maulbeck said in an email he wrote to Polygon, "But let's be real. If they took the game off the store, they're fuckin sure about their decision. There's probably nothing to be done." Since then, Mike Maulbeck went on to announce that he has left Code Avarice in a post on the developer's website that states, "I'm really, deeply sorry that my short sighted, hot tempered actions resulted in not only my own dreams and aspirations being destroyed, but those of the entire team I worked with. I'm sorry that my statements made Valve and/or Gabe uncomfortable and upset (rightfully so)." Maulbeck went on to say that he has sold his half to Code Avarice co-owner Travis Pfenning and given up all rights on CA and its IPs. 
However, this isn't the first time that Maulbeck has directed harsh words and criticism towards Valve and its Steam platform. Back in June 2013, both he and Pfenning criticized Valve when Paranautical Activity was rejected for publication. The reason for its rejection was that Code Avarice had signed a deal with Adult Swim after creating a Greenlight page first; a practice that Valve prohibited. In response to the rejection, both developers went on to say that Steam had a "monopoly on the market," that "the indie community is being ignored" by Valve, and then went on to criticize other games that had been published on Steam. While Paranautical Activity is no longer available on Steam, its Project Greenlight page is still active. What do you think of this situation and was Valve justified in pulling the game from Steam? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Best Free Hardware Monitoring Tools Posted: 21 Oct 2014 04:41 PM PDT Apps that regulate your rig's internals Making sure your rig's temperatures, hardware, and clock speeds are running correctly is a good way to monitor your PC's health. We always recommend stress-testing your shiny-new rig, or checking your hardware if you experience any stability issues that occur out of the blue. We've gathered up a list of the best free utilities you can use to make sure you have a healthy PC. Know of any other free monitoring tools? Let us know in the comments section below! CPU-Z: 
CPU-Z tells you what's going on with your CPU by giving you readouts of your Core Speed, Multiplier, Bus Speed, and your different cache levels. It also tells you the make and model of your motherboard and video card, along with your RAM speed and capacity. We recommend using this tool if you have a preconfigured system from an OEM like Lenovo, HP, or Dell and need to find out your motherboard's model number (if it isn't printed on the board). The tool can also be used to monitor your CPU's voltage, so it's overclocker friendly. GPU-Z: 
GPU-Z gives you detailed readouts of your GPU's clock speeds and memory size. You can use this tool to make sure that your video card is running at PCIe 3.0, as some boards run in 2.0 instead of 3.0 by default. You'll look at the Bus Interface box to check out your video card's PCIe configuration. Furmark: 
Got GPU problems? Furmark is a fantastic tool if you're getting blue screens during games and want to find out if your video card is the culprit. The utility gives your GPU a workload to max-out your video card. You'll also see a temperature read from it, so you can see if your card is running hot. FRAPS: 
Getting weird frame rate issues after freshly installing BF4 or Assassins Creed Black Flag? FRAPS will give you readouts of your real-time frame rate in-game, so you can see when and where you rig is starting to stutter. We like using this utility when a game is running poorly, so we can keep an eye on our frame rate during gameplay. We also use this tool to capture average frame rates of games that don't come with benchmarking tools like BF4, Far Cry 3, and Crysis 3.
Core Temp: 
Unlike other utilities in this round-up of free apps, Core Temp tells you the individual temperatures of each of your CPU's cores. We use this tool to make sure our processor isn't running too hot. Core Temp also tells you the TDP, voltage, and power consumption of your CPU. AMD Catalyst Control Center: 
AMD video card users can use AMD's Catalyst Control center to monitor their video card's performance. You'll be able to change your GPU's core and memory clock speeds by using AMD's Overdrive utility, which is found in the performance tab of AMD's Catalyst driver. You can also adjust your video card's fan speed here. Prime 95: 
Prime 95 puts your CPU through its paces by giving it a workload that will max-out your processor's cores. We suggest using this utility if you're having blue screen errors or freezing issues to make sure that your CPU isn't the offender behind those infuriating messages. 3DMark: 
3DMark is great for benchmarking your system's overall performance, and the free demo version also shows you where your rig stacks up with other systems that have similar hardware. The paid version lets you run the Extreme benchmarks, which run in 1080p instead of the demo's 720p default. Rainmeter: 
Rainmeter is a simple widget that displays your CPU and RAM usage and also tells you how full your hard drive and/or SSD are. EVGA Precision X: 
Precision X is made by EVGA exclusively for Nvidia video cards. The tool allows you to check out your GPU clock speed and temperatures, and adjust your fan speeds, too. You can also overclock your GPU with the sliders, seen above. This tool displays your GPU's load, which we find quite handy. |
| Google Gets Moody with Play Music App Posted: 21 Oct 2014 10:42 AM PDT  What music are you in the mood for?
What started off as a somewhat barebones streaming music app is developing into a fleshed out package with new features being rolled out every so often. We're talking about Google Play Music, which is Google's version of Spotify. In a continued effort to make the app more spiffy, Google for the first time is making use of its Songza technology acquired this summer to offer users music based on mood. "If you're a Google Play Music subscriber, next time you open the app you'll be prompted to play music for a time of day, mood or activity," Google announced in a blog post. "Choose an activity to get options for several music stations to make whatever you're doing even better—whether it's a station for a morning workout, songs to relieve stress during traffic, or the right mix for cooking with friends. Each station has been handcrafted—song by song—by our team of music experts (dozens of DJs, musicians, music critics and ethnomusicologists) to give you the exact right song for the moment." Like other stations and songs, provided you're an All Access subscriber you can download these new stations for offline listening, view the song queue, remove or re-order tunes, or start a new station based on any of the songs. You'll find these new mood stations on the redesigned Listen Now page, which now features cards for all of your recently played music, new releases of potential interest, and radio stations based on what you like to listen to, Google says. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Awards CEO Satya Nadella $84 Million Pay Package Posted: 21 Oct 2014 10:13 AM PDT  Not a bad looking paycheck
We'd all like to be paid eleven times the amount we earned last year, though for most of us, such a jump wouldn't put us in the tens of millions of dollars range. But for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, well, let's just say it's been a good year for him. How good? Microsoft revealed in a regulatory filing that its CEO was given a compensation package worth in excess of $84 million for 2014. Most of that money -- $59.2 million -- comes in the form of restricted stock, which is dependent on Microsoft's stock outperforming 60 percent of Standard & Poor's 500 Index in 2019, 2020, and 2021, The Wall Street Journal reports. And if Microsoft outperforms 80 percent of the Index, the shares award could jump to $88.8 million. The bottom line is, Nadella could earn more than $350 million in stock awards alone by 2021. As for Microsoft's fiscal 2014 period that ended June 30, Nadella raked in about $919,000 in salary plus a $3.6 million cash bonus, to go along with a $13.2 million stock award. In other words, he isn't likely to worry about the electricity being turned off in his home due to a late payment. Image Credit: Flickr (Bhupinder Nayyar) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Amped Wireless Launches High Power AC Adapter to Double Wi-Fi Range Posted: 21 Oct 2014 09:27 AM PDT  Extend your Wi-Fi range
The further you get from your wireless router and the more obstacles that are in the way, the weaker the signal. That's especially true if you're connecting on the 5GHz band (it doesn't penetrate objects as well as the 2.4GHz band). What do you do when there's a dead spot in your home or surrounding area? There are several possible solutions, one of them being a more powerful Wi-Fi adapter. On the topic, Amped Wireless says its new UA230A high power Wi-Fi USB adapter can offer up to the two times the distance of your current adapter. The UA230A sports high power amplifiers and a high gain 3dBi antenna to help blast through walls for superior Wi-Fi performance. It's also based on next-generation 802.11ac wireless technology, though limited to 433Mbps on the 5GHz band and 150Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (it's advertised as AC600, which is a combination of those two speeds). In our experience, where things like this come in handy the most is when traveling and staying at a hotel (bear in mind we haven't tested this particular adapter). While things in general are getting better, it's not uncommon to experience a crummy Wi-Fi signal in your room. Amped Wireless is accepting pre-orders for its UA230A adaptber for $50. It will ship out on October 31, 2014. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Amazon's Kindle Voyage Exits Pre-Order Status, Sets Sail for Homes Today Starting at $199 Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:54 AM PDT  Amazon's latest e-reader sports a next-generation paperwhite display
Though we haven't evaluated Amazon's recently announced Kindle Voyage for ourselves just yet, a peek around the web shows that it's getting generally favorable reviews, some of which are calling it the best e-reader yet. That's high praise at this stage of the game. If you want to check it out for yourself, here's a heads up that the Kindle Voyage is now in stock and shipping to homes starting at $199 (Wi-Fi with Special Offers). "Kindle Voyage is designed to disappear so you can lose yourself in a story," said Dave Limp, Senior Vice President, Amazon Devices. "This is the most advanced Kindle we've ever built. Customer response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we're working to build more as fast as we can. We can't wait to get Kindle Voyage into the hands of readers starting today." The Kindle Voyage sports a high-resolution 300 ppi display that's supposed to read more like a printed page than ever before. It also comes with 4GB of internal storage to hold thousands of books, 802.11n Wi-Fi and optional 3G connectivity, free cloud storage for all Amazon content, pressure-based page turn sensors with haptic feedback, a built-in light that shines on the page, light sensor to automatically adjust the brightness, and a flush front bezel. It's a bit pricey, which is the consistent knock against the device, though the built-in light and high-resolution display might make the cost easier to swallow. Speaking of which, here's a price breakdown: - Kindle Voyage Wi-Fi w/ Special Offers: $199
- Kindle Voyage Wi-Fi w/o Special Offers: $219
- Kindle Voyage Wi-Fi + 3G w/ Special Offers: $269
- Kindle Voyage Wi-Fi + 3G w/o Special Offers: $289
If you're interested in one, head over to the Kindle Voyage's product page on Amazon. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Acer 28-inch 4K G-Sync Monitor, Asus Radeon R9 270X Graphics Card, and More! Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:38 AM PDT |
