| 44 Pictures that Defined BlizzCon 2014 Posted: 10 Nov 2014 03:25 PM PST  New games, awesome cosplay costumes, and more
BlizzCon 2014 marked the 8th annual event for Blizzard and it was arguably the company's biggest one yet. After 17 years, the company finally revealed an entirely new, original IP in multiplayer team-based shooter Overwatch. In addition to that, we got to see more from other upcoming titles such as StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Blizzard's MOBA, Heroes of the Storm. Of course, with a plethora of awesome PC games comes awesome PC hardware and we saw some really cool stuff from Intel, Rosewill, Turtle Beach, HP, SteelSeries, Lenovo, Gigabyte, and more. And it wouldn't be Blizzcon without some of the best cosplay costumes you've ever seen. We've taken a bunch of pictures of these cosplayers and can't quite recognize all of them so if you know any that we don't, feel free to let us know in the comments below! |
| Newegg Daily Deals: LG 34-inch UltraWide Monitor, Seagate 2TB USB 3.0 Portable HDD, and More! Posted: 10 Nov 2014 02:30 PM PST |
| First Patch for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is Coming Soon Posted: 10 Nov 2014 02:14 PM PST  Kevin Spacey and company be buggin', yo!
This is one of those cases where it's not okay to shoot the messenger (is it ever?), but in case you were wondering, a patch for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is coming soon. Developer Sledgehammer Games says so, as does Captain Obvious, who points out that post-release patches for major titles are as common as post-releases patches for major titles (he's a smart one, that Captain Obvious). What's of more interest is exactly what the patch will fix. Here's a look: - Prestige reset issues, including emblems and challenges.
- Adjustment to the in-game chat names notifications placement.
- Fix for weapon reloads counting as speed reloads in certain circumstances.
- Connectivity optimizations.
- Fix for stats accumulating towards leaderboards after prestiging.
- Adjustment to challenges to unlock Camos for weapons.
- Fix for round-based game modes, affecting Win/Loss ratios.
- Implemented ability to unlock eSports Rule options in Private Match.
Some good stuff there, and as a bonus, there's even a canned response from Activision regarding the status of dedicated server support. "Advanced Warfare employs game servers hosted at data centers globally on all platforms and listen servers as part of our proprietary matchmaking system. Our goal is to ensure the best possible connection and greatest gameplay experience regardless of location and time of day," Activision said while speaking into a can. In exchange with putting up with some early bugs, Sledgehammer Games activated DoubleXP as a token of its appreciation, so enjoy that. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Nvidia GeForce 344.65 WHQL Driver is Optimized for Assassin's Creed Unity Posted: 10 Nov 2014 01:39 PM PST  Nvidia releases its second GeForce WHQL driver in a week
While we're sitting at home playing video games, Nvidia's team of software engineers are toiling away on new driver releases, two of which have come in less than week. Yes, it was a mere six days ago that Nvidia gave gamers its GeForce 344.60 WHQL driver, a release that was intended to boost performance in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Now you can download an incremental update to GeForce 344.60 WHQL, which is primed for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Unity title. According to the release notes (PDF), that's about the extent of the upgrade. No big surprise considering the nominal jump from 344.60 to 344.65. Nevertheless, there are some minor additions and tweaks that go beyond Assassin's Creed Unity. As with before, there are some new SLI profiles to play with, including the aforementioned title plus Heroes of The Storm and Train Simulator. Nvidia also modified the cache size threshold in Ryse: Son of Rome's SLI profile to improve performance and reduce stuttering. Nvidia updated the 3D Vision profiles for Dead Rising 3 and Strife to "Not Recommended" and "Fair," respectively, while giving both titles "Excellent" ratings for 3D Compatibility Mode support. And that's pretty much everything - hopefully you didn't wet yourself with excitement over those new profiles. You can grab the new drivers here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| United States Postal Office Falls Prey to Data Theft, Fingers Point at China Posted: 10 Nov 2014 01:17 PM PST  Hacker attack compromised data of over 800,000 postal workers
There are multiple reports that the United Stated Postal Service suffered a security breach into its computer networks, resulting in the possible theft of data affecting as many as 800,000 employees and retirees. Personal data such as Social Security numbers may have been stolen in the breach, and though officials aren't saying who they think is responsible, the general consensus is that China is behind the attacks. "It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a constant target for cyber intrusion activity," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. "The United States Postal Service is no different. Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data." Other personal information obtained in the breach include names, dates of birth, addresses, dates of employment, and more. Fortunately, no credit card information from post offices or online purchases at USPS's website appear to be part of the data theft. China has long held firm in its stance that it doesn't engage in cybertheft, pointing out that such a thing runs afoul of Chinese law. However, China has been linked to numerous hacking incidents, including a recent intrusion into computer systems of the Office of Personnel Management, as well as into systems of USIS, a government contractor that conducts security clearance checks. Unlike recent attacks on Target and Home Depot, which are believed to have originated from Eastern European criminal groups, there are no signs of credit card fraud or identity theft. That begs the question of why bother infiltrating the USPS, The New York Times reports. Image Credit: Flickr (David Guo) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| President Obama Calls for Strong Rules to Protect Net Neutrality Posted: 10 Nov 2014 11:23 AM PST  Psst, FCC -- don't screw this up
As the Federal Communications Commission considers new rules for how to safeguard competition and user choice on the web, President Obama issued a lengthy statement urging for the "strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality." According to the President, the American economy is reliant on an open Internet. He also said that the principle of net neutrality is not one we can take for granted. "I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online. The rules I am asking for are simple, common-sense steps that reflect the Internet you and I use every day, and that some ISPs already observe," Obama said in a statement. Obama called for rules that would disallow ISPs from blocking access to a website or service, so long as the content is legal, along with ones that prohibit throttling. He also made a pitch for increased transparency, and perhaps most importantly, Obama said he is against paid prioritization, which would result in so-called "slow lanes" for services that don't pay a fee for unfettered access into consumers' homes. "So the time has come for the FCC to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do. To do that, I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services," Obama added. The FCC received around 3.7 million comments since chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new Internet traffic rules in May. Most of those comments were in favor of a free and open Internet without fast and slow lanes or throttling. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Counterfeit Whistleblower Claims Ebay Turns Blind Eye to Fake Product Listings Posted: 10 Nov 2014 08:58 AM PST  Beware what you buy on Ebay
Can you spot a real product from a fake one simply by looking at its picture? In some instances, it's not as easy you think, and according to The Counterfeit Report, a consumer protection website, online auction site Ebay isn't doing enough to protect its buyers from falling victim to fake items being sold as the real deal. And that's not the least of the allegations. The Counterfeit Report says it spent nine months investigating the prominence of fake items on Ebay, and during that time, it claims to have purchased 250 counterfeit products, all of which were promptly reported to the auction site. However, Ebay didn't respond the way the whistleblowing site hoped it would. "Instead of adhering to their own standards, embracing the results and protecting the Ebay community, Ebay retaliated by blocking The Counterfeit Report's corporate eBay accounts," The Counterfeit Report said. "Ebay altered feedback, changed resolved case dispositions and removed counterfeit comments and warnings protecting consumers. In contrast, the counterfeit sellers remained on Ebay, and transaction fees continued." The site purchased a range of fake goods, from over-the-counter drugs to phone chargers and several other items. And there's more at stake than simply being swindled. When it comes to counterfeit iPhone chargers, for example, shoddy fakes can cause damage and pose a safety hazard. In other cases, customers are simply being tricked into buying products that don't exist. Here's a look at a package labeled as a SanDisk 64GB microSDHC memory card: 
It looks real enough, except that it doesn't exist in SanDisk's product line, something which SanDisk confirmed with The Counterfeit Report. If you look closely, you'll see it contains an SDXC card and not an SDHC as advertised. Nevertheless, it was one of the 250 fake items purchased on Ebay and reported to be counterfeit. The moral of the story? As always, buyer beware and do your research before ordering a product. Thumbnail Image Credit: Flickr (miss_millions) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| BenQ's Hybrid XL2420G Monitor Runs G-Sync (When You Want It To) Posted: 10 Nov 2014 07:43 AM PST  Choose between Classic Mode or G-Sync Mode
Life is about choices, isn't it? Like whether to view the posted speed limit as a rule of law or a recommendation, and whether to call the next night like you promised you would. Some are less intense and not as prone to heavy consequences, like choosing whether or not to run your monitor in G-Sync mode. That is, when you're given the choice. BenQ claims its XL2420G is the market's first hybrid monitor to give gamers a choice between running G-Sync or Classic modes, and it's now shipping in the U.S. "Giving players the ability to select between gameplay modes offers customization advantages that are currently unequaled in the marketplace," said Bob Wudeck, Associate Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for BenQ America Corp. "When paired with BenQ's RevolutionEyes technology, the XL2420G provides a hybrid experience which is both blazingly fast and incredibly comfortable. With the launch of this long-awaited innovation, BenQ is proud to be behind one of the most significant advancements in the history of competitive gaming technology." In terms of rated specs, the 24-inch XL2420G features a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution with a 1ms GTG response time, 12,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 350 cd/m2 brightness, and 72 percent coverage of the NTSC color gamut. Of course, the real question is what's the difference between Nvidia's G-Sync Mode and BenQ's proprietary Classic Mode, right? The former ensures that images appear instantly as they're rendered, which virtually eliminates things like lag and stuffer, while the latter is for "added versatility" in terms of settings not supported by G-Sync, BenQ says. That includes things like RevolutionEyes technology, Motion Blur Reduction, Smart Scaling, Gaming Refresh Rate Optimization Management (GROM), and other fancy sounding features that you can read about in more detail on the XL2420G's product page. THe XL2420G should be available now or soon for $649 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
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