Thermaltake Commander MS-I Case Review
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OverclockersClub to Sponsor the 2012 PlayExpo
Back in February, we announced that the fifth annual PlayExpo is being held on April 15th, which happens to be just one week away. Today, I'm happy to report that OverclockersClub has joined the list of 2012 PlayExpo sponsors! The PlayExpo is an event where independent game developers and designers compete for cash and prizes in a variety of categories. As we've seen from the huge success of Kickstarter and various indie gaming bundles, the indie gaming scene is flourishing. By donating some prizes, OCC is very proud to play a small part in helping it grow and we hope that our members continue to support indie game developers in the future. Indie games may not be able to compete with the graphics of AAA titles like Crysis, but you'll be hard-pressed to find the creativity and innovation indie games often possess anywhere else in the industry.
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BitFenix Cases Upgrade to USB 3.0
BitFenix has announced that it will be upgrading two of its cases to feature SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports. The Shinobi and Colossus Window will now feature two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports on the front panel. According to Product Manager David Jarlestedt, "This latest upgrade for our award-winning Shinobi and Colossus Window brings these models to the world of USB 3.0 for added flexibility and performance for BitFenix fans."
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Dark Souls Coming to PC in August?
According to German magazine PC Action, Dark Souls will finally be coming to PC this August. PC gamers started a petition some time ago, and it has since gained more than 100,000 signatures. In making the transition from console to PC, Dark Souls should see an improvement in graphics, among other enhancements. Developer From Software has yet to confirm that the game is coming to PC, but the Dark Souls Facebook page currently refers to an announcement, which many expect to be the official announcement of the game.
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Check Out the Berserker's Frenzy in New Torchlight II Video
I know there are plenty of people waiting for Diablo III to launch, but I know there are a lot of people waiting for Torchlight II. The sequel to the smash hit Torchlight, Torchlight II continues the action RPG story with more content, new classes, and co-op play. The team at Runic is working hard on Torchlight II, but odds are it will release after Diablo III. Still, the wait will be well worth it for T2, especially when you consider all the improvements being made to the game. Recently Runic launched a video showing off the Berserker's Frenzy ability and the new charge bar. The charge bar fills with each successful hit, and once it maxes out, the Berseker's Frenzy activates to turn every hit critical for a short time. Each of the four classes (Berserker, Engineer, Outlander, and Embermage) have a different ability that activates once the charge bar fills, which should provide for even more fun in battles.
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John Romero Shares Details on PC Shooter with MMO Elements
John Romero's recently announced old-school FPS may have a few tricks up its sleeve, as the legendary designer could incorporate several features that allow the game to have "MMO-ish" elements. "It's a persistent game, it has persistent player data, the character grows and gets better over time. I think most gamers expect that now anyway, but this was a design I'd done a while ago. I think it's pretty valid." The soon-to-be-made FPS will feel just like a shooter, but with unique narratives and reward tiers.
Romero was also critical of characters that are "bullet sponges" where tank-like players get to absorb lots of damage and the cumbersome cover-based mechanic of games such as Gears of War. He attributes these recent trends to the heavy influence of consoles on the gaming industry, with less precise console controllers dictating the norm. "But I'm a PC mouse and keyboard type player," Romero adds. It is not yet known if Romero's Loot Drop studio will be developing the title, so far the Facebook game Ghost Recon: Commander is the only known project from the team.
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World’s Oldest Campfire is 1,000,000 Years Old, Maybe
Where were you roughly one million years ago? Probably nowhere, but your and my ancestors may have been around a campfire, trying to keep warm, cook food, and scare off predators. These ancestors would not have looked much like us though, as there are a few species between Homo erectus (the species who likely would have built the fire) and Homo sapiens (modern humans).
Researchers have found what they believe to be is evidence of a campfire in South Africa from roughly one million years ago. The thin sections the researchers took were placed under a microscope where bone fragments and plant ashes were found. The researchers claim this proves the remnants could not have moved to the site from a nearby forest fire. The bone fragments also tell us that the fire would have been a relatively low 450-750 ºC, which is reasonable for a campfire.
Of course, with such old evidence and the first use of fire something of great interest to many scientists, these recent claims are being challenged. For example, one researcher points out that no evidence of the sediment being heated was reported. Obviously if there were a fire, the ground on which it sat would have been heated. Even if this turns out to be the remnants of a natural fire, instead of something man-made, the use of a microscope to examine the remnants is a new, and something which may lead to more discoveries in the future.
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Former The Witcher 2 Developer Unveils New RPG
One of the developers from The Witcher 2 left CD Projekt RED to join Deck13, and he has now shown off his new game. Tomasz Gop, the former senior producer on The Witcher 2, unveiled his new action RPG, right now called "Project RPG." Gop released an image of a giant stone hand coming out of the world, with a lone warrior looking on. Gop explained the new game as being set 1,000 years after the death of a god, and when the body fell, a huge mountain range divided the land in two. Each side has a different philosophy, but little else is known so far. We do know the game will have a dynamic story that will mirror the action of the players and their styles. A New Game Plus mode will be included as well, but considering the game is still in the prototype stage, we need to wait for more information from Gop and Deck13.
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Using E-Readers in Classrooms Engages Students
One of the most important skills taught to students is the ability to read. The ability to read any document, when literature to manuals and even warning signs, is extremely important in the modern world. Despite this though, many students lose interest in reading, so their skill suffer. Researchers and teachers are hoping e-readers, like that Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, will offer a technological solution to this problem.
Researchers at Southern Methodist University decided to study how the use of Kindle e-readers would affect 199 middle school students. At least one result from this study has proven quite interesting as there appears to be a difference between boys and girls in the data. Though generally the students enjoyed using the Kindles and believed it improved their reading, boys were more motivated to read than girls. It appears the female students prefer the physical books to their electronic counterparts, but why this is, the researchers hope to find out.
When asked, the students gave interesting answers to why they enjoyed using the Kindles. Not having to carry around heavy books and having a larger selection than what is available in the classroom were two reasons. Also the ability to keep what one was reading a secret was mentioned. Not every student wants to share what their reading level is or their literary interests, so by not having a cover with large printed title where everyone can see, the students felt more comfortable reading what they want. The variable font size, instant access to a dictionary, and text-to-voice features were also reported as helpful.
The teachers involved also enjoyed the use the Kindles, even though they had to make sure the devices were charged and locked up each night. Also the Wi-Fi connection proved troublesome, as students could browse the Internet instead of reading. However, the teachers plan on incorporating e-readers into future classes.
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New Mass Effect 3 DLC to Expand Multiplayer
The multiplayer side of Mass Effect 3 is set to expand, with a free DLC landing next week. The Resurgence DLC will arrive next Tuesday for Mass Effect 3, and it brings new weapons, characters, and maps to the multiplayer component of the RPG. There will be two new maps for you to stop the Reaper threat on, and those are called Firebase Hydra and Firebase Condor. You can play as the new Asari Justicar Adept, Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, Geth Infiltrator and Engineer, and Batarian Soldier and Sentinel, while you can use the new Striker Assault Rifle, Kishock Harpoon Gun, or Geth Plasma SMG to deal damage. You can head over to the BioWare site to see more information on all those classes and weapons, plus you can check out the trailer below to get an idea.
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A Plasma Flashlight for Your Antiseptic Needs
Here is a fun (and possibly disgusting) fact for you: the human body is made up of roughly one trillion cells, with another ten trillion bacteria in or on it. Don’t run for the soap though, the vast majority of these are completely healthy to have, such as those that help with digestion. Those bacteria that are not good for us though are obviously a problem, and do need to be dealt with, but sometimes soap is not enough. A promising tool for killing even resistant bacteria and viruses is plasma, and now researchers have found a way to make this medical miracle portable.
Plasma is the fourth phase of matter in which particles have had electrons stripped away, creating a gas of ions. Researchers found some time ago that plasma could be used to kill bacteria, though the exact reason why has not yet been found. This has not stopped work from being done to use it to sanitize skin and water. Normally a massive amount of power is need to produce a plasma capable of killing bacteria, but researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sydney and the City University of Hong Kong have built a plasma flashlight, which is described in the Institute of Physics Journal of Physics D.
Replacing the external power source with a 12 V battery and DC booster, the flashlight creates a plasma that ranges in temperature from 20-23 ºC, which is near room temperature. To test its antibacterial capabilities, the researchers grew some Enterococcus faecalis, a bacterium that is known to be heat and antibiotic resistant. The flashlight succeeded not only in killing the top most layers of bacteria, but reached down 17 layers to kill the cells at the bottom. For less resistant bacteria, this tool should be even more effective.
When we may find this tool in hospitals, ambulances, and on the battlefield is not clear. The current design can easily be made for less than $100, but there will likely be more engineering and miniaturization before we see these out of the laboratory.
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Spec Ops: The Line Doesn't Mince on Gruesome Violence
While it is relatively easy to dismiss Spec Ops: The Line as just another cookie-cutter military shooter, the game has been steadily building up steam with its unforgiving depiction of violence and its aftermath. The latest trailer follows a rescue team bogged down in a Dubai pounded by overwhelming sandstorms, and overrun with deranged ex-soldiers. The sandstorms have apparently gotten so catastrophic that evacuations had to be initiated. But as the trailer indicates, a lot of people didn't make it out of the city alive, and here's where the narrative explodes with intense gunfire, flayed corpses, and the deluded morals of madmen. Spec Ops: The Line will be released on June 29, 2012.
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Google Searches Linked to Nations' GDP
A side effect of the growing use of technology is a growing amount of information. Obviously whenever you post something online the body of information increases, but also whenever you look for something. Google tracks the searchers people make with its service and actually makes the information available to see at Google Trends. Researchers at the University of College London wanted to see what kind of trends exist between different Googling nations, and found an interesting correlation.
The Google Trends site allows anyone to see where and how different queries are coming in. For example, the trends for "gtx 680" show most searches coming from the Russian Federation, specifically Moscow, and most searches were in Russian. The researchers carefully examined the data for 2010 searchers and found a pattern to future oriented and history oriented questions. Nations with a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were the origin for more future oriented Google queries, while nations with a lower GDP had more focused on the past.
Two explanations have been suggested for this pattern. One is that a focus on the future supports economic success, so looking to the future drives GDP higher. The other explanation puts forth that nations have different interests, for online searches, based on their Internet infrastructure and other economic influences.
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