ROCCAT Into Street-Proof Messenger Bag Review
A close look at the ROCCAT Into Street-Proof Messenger Bag
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Mirror's Edge - 4 Years Later Review
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Ancient Iron Artifacts, Predating Iron Age, Came From Outer Space
While many human developments may not be of truly great importance, some are so important that we consider their creation as the dawning of a new age. For example, the Iron Age is a time when much of humanity had discovered how to work with the metal, and create stronger tools than the Bronze Age before it. A recent study by researchers at University College London however has placed the development of iron smithing almost two thousand years before the new age had dawned, thanks to meteorites.
A great deal of material from outer space falls onto Earth every day, but much of it burns up in the atmosphere. Some material does survive to reach the surface, including iron, where it can be found and worked on by artisans. It appears this happened in at least Lower Egypt over 5000 years ago, as a tomb, excavated over a century ago, contained iron beads. Using non-invasive methods, the UCL researchers have been able to confirm that the specific iron alloy of the beads is a blend only found in meteoritic iron, and not just magnetite, which can be confused for iron.
While meteoritic iron is certainly going to be rare, the knowledge the artisans had back then most likely contributed to the dawn of the Iron Age being when it was. Once humanity learned how to smelt it from terrestrial sources, they would already have an idea of how to use the metal.
Source: University College London
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Set to Retire Within 12 Months; No Successor Chosen Yet
Today marks the beginning of the end for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, as he announced he'll be retiring from the company within 12 months. No real specifics are known at this point other than he's voluntarily stepping down because it's time to retire. John Thompson, lead independent director of Microsoft's board of directors, has been appointed as head of the Special Committee to find Ballmer's replacement. It's unknown who that person will be, but Thompson is working alongside Bill Gates, chairman of the audit committee Chuck Noski, and chairman of the compensation committee Steve Luczo to find that person. Ballmer will also have some input on who succeeds him, and he'll continue to serve as CEO until that person is found.
Ballmer remains optimistic about Microsoft's future, and although there's never a perfect time to find a new CEO, now is as good as any. Microsoft does have a rough road ahead to try and gain ground in the mobile world, since Windows Phone 8 still trails soundly behind Google Android and Apple iOS. There's also the matter of Windows 8 not being as popular as hoped (maybe Windows 8.1 will help), but hopefully that'll all be addressed whenever the new CEO takes the reins. For his part, Ballmer praised what Microsoft has done since it originally started, and admitted that Vista is his biggest disappointment from his time as CEO (doesn't take much to wonder why). He does plan to stay in Seattle once he's officially retired, and who knows, maybe he and Bill Gates can team up to save the world.
Source: Engadget
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Plantronics Introduces the Cross-Platform RIG Gaming Headset
Plantronics is known for its GameCom line of gaming headsets, but earlier today it introduced something a little different. Called the RIG, it's a cross-platform gaming headset that is fully capable of providing audio on computers, consoles, and mobile phones. A wired mixer allows for a phone to be plugged in on one connection, while either a computer or console is plugged in via the other. There's a slider on the mixer that allows for game and chat volumes to be adjusted, as well as a rocker switch to let you speak on the phone or in your game. Game audio, even voice chat, can be filtered in while you're on a call and vice versa thanks to a second balance slider.
As for the RIG headset itself, well it's a circumaural model so the earcups go all the way around your ears, and they can even fold flat for easy transport. It's a stereo headset with a boom microphone for gaming, with an in-line microphone for phone calls. Three EQ profiles can be set as well, including one to deliver some truly impressive bass if the "Seismic" name is anything to go by. Device compatibility includes PC, Macs, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, smartphones, and tablets.
The Plantronics RIG gaming headset will be available this fall for $129.99. More products in the RIG line are expected to follow after the headset arrives.
Source: Engadget
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Creating Radially Polarized Light with Holograms
One of the important properties light beams possess is their polarization, which is the direction the waves rise and fall along. Controlling this property is quite valuable as different polarizations of light can behave differently. Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have recently designed a device capable of creating light with radial polarization using holograms and nanostructures.
Using nanostructures smaller than the wavelength of visible light, the researchers built a holographic device for controlling the properties of light. Holography deals with storing three-dimensional information within a two-dimensional structure using optical interference. By combining multiple structures, the device is able to control the intensity, polarization, and phase of light in the near-infrared and visible regions of the spectrum. It is even able to change circularly polarized light into radially polarized light, which is an uncommon polarization. Instead of oscillating up and down or side to side, radially polarized light oscillates in and out from a central point, which causes the beam to have a dark center.
As radially polarized light can be more tightly focused than more traditional polarizations, this device could see use in advanced microscopes and nanoparticle manipulation. For now though, the researchers are working to optimize the device to be more efficient.
Source: Harvard University
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Poseidon is the Latest Keyboard from Thermaltake
Thermaltake is adding the Poseidon Illuminated gaming keyboard to its line of Tt eSPORTS products. The mechanical keyboard features Cherry MX Blue switches to provide the great click clack sounds that are found in mechanical keyboards. A blue LED can be found under each key, providing a fully backlit keyboard that has four levels of brightness. A retail price of $79.99 makes the Poseidon one of the lower priced mechanical keyboards available, and it will be released in October.
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ROCCAT Adds new Gaming Headset
The Kave XTD 5.1 is the latest addition to the line of gaming products from ROCCAT. The headset was revealed today at the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany and was designed as an improvement to the original Kave 5.1. An included desktop remote has a built-in sound card that allows users to plug in speakers for when headphones aren't desired. Another interesting feature is the patented ROCCAT Smart Link, which connects to a users phone through Bluetooth and allows them to make calls using the headset. The headset itself was also improved with new audio drivers, a new headband, and new materials that make it 25% less than its predecessor. The Kave XTD 5.1 will be available in November at an MSRP of $169.99.
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Solid-State Triple Point Discovered
Everyone should be familiar with the phases, solid, liquid, and gas, but not everyone may be familiar with other phases certain materials have. For example, vanadium dioxide (VO2) also has conducting and insulating phases, and has the unique ability to switch between them very quickly. Like the solid, liquid, and gas phases of all materials, the electrical phases of VO2 can coexist, and finally researchers at the University of Washington have determined under what conditions this is possible.
What phase a material is in typically depends on the temperature and pressure it is under. Along the line separating any two phases, the two phases can coexist, and at the point where all three lines connect, the triple point, all three phases can coexist. To find the triple point of VO2, the researchers had to devise a special apparatus to stretch the wires made of the material under a microscope. As it turns out, the triple force appeared when there was no force being applied to the wires.
Armed with this knowledge, researchers will be able to better understand VO2 different electrical phases, and potentially apply them to new technologies. Also we may find this technique used to make discoveries concerning other materials.
Source: University of Washington
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Corsair Adds Force LS Series to Its SSD Line Up
Corsair's line of Solid State Drives (SSD) is already impressive and diverse, but yesterday Corsair added a new addition to its line of SSDs. The new series of SSDs will be called Force LS Series and it is meant as an entry level offering. The new drives will be the first Corsair SSDs to use a different controller than LSI's Sandforce SF-2200, instead the Force LS SSDs will use a Phison SATA 6 Gbps controller. The drive will use 19 nm multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory manufactured by Toshiba.
The SSDs will, initially, come in three capacities, namely 60 GB, 120 GB, and 240 GB. The drives will all be in the standard 2.5 inch form factor, and they will come in both desktop and laptop upgrade kits. Despite being entry level, the SSDs should put out some impressive read/write speeds. The sequential read speed can reach up to 560 MB/s and the sequential write speed can reach up to 535 MB/s. The drives can be used in RAID configurations, they will have TRIM, Background Garbage Collection (BCG), and advanced dynamic and static wear-leveling algorithms to increase the drives' lifespan and maintain the rated speeds, along with SMART monitoring.
The prices for the SSDs are: $70 for the 60 GB version, $110 for the 120 GB version, and $200 for the 240 GB version, and they are all backed by a three year warranty. So if you have been holding out on SSDs until now, you might want to consider these drives as your first one.
Source: MaximumPC
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Ubisoft and NVIDIA Announce a PC Gaming Alliance
Earlier today, Ubisoft and NVIDIA announced a PC gaming alliance, and it isn't quite what you may be thinking of. This alliance is to provide PC gamers with the best experience possible for the biggest Ubisoft games, like Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and Watch Dogs. NVIDIA's engineers have been working closely with Ubisoft's development studios in order to incorporate a bunch of new technologies for a heightened sense of realism and immersion in those games and hopefully others. Things like temporal anti-aliasing (TXAA), soft shadows, horizon-based ambient occlusion (HBAO+), and advanced DirectX 11 tessellation are some of the technologies and innovations being added. TXAA is a mix of shader-based AA and multisampling AA, and looks pretty phenomenal in the games that use it (along with GTX 600 and higher video cards).
Both Ubisoft and NVIDIA shared sentiments that PC gaming is stronger than ever, with Ubisoft's senior vice president of sales and marketing, Tony Key, saying:
The PC remains one of the world’s most popular gaming platforms, and we’re committed to offering PC players the best possible experience with our games. Combining NVIDIA’s visual computing expertise and the creativity of our development teams will give customers a stunning experience when choosing an Ubisoft game for the PC.It's good to see the two companies joining up to ensure the PC versions of these games are looking as good as can be. Splinter Cell: Blacklist launched yesterday, so it's the first taste of what's in store for future Ubisoft games. There's no telling what this means for AMD and if it'll find a partner to make an alliance of its own, but we'll just have to see what happens. At any rate, there should be no more questions about the state of PC gaming and whether or not it is "dying."
Source: Press Release
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Replacing Platinum with Graphene in Solar Cells
When most people envision a solar cell today, they picture a flat sheet of silicon. In the future though, solar cells are more likely to be thin, flexible devices, but that future is still a ways off because as the technology requires further development and can be very expensive. Researchers at Michigan Technological University have recently found a way to drastic reduce the price of dye-sensitized solar cells by replacing platinum with a special for of graphene.
Platinum is a very special metal as it is able to act as a catalyst for many reactions, but it is also quite rare, making it very expensive. Even though a dye-sensitized solar cell will not use much platinum, it is still somewhat cost prohibitive, so researchers have been search for alternatives. The alternative the Michigan researchers found is a three dimensional version of graphene, which is typically thought of as two dimensional. To produce the graphene, lithium oxide and carbon monoxide are made to react together to produce lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) and the 3D graphene. Though they are eventually removed, the Li2CO3 particles are critical for creating the graphene structures, as it prevents the carbon from just forming graphite, which has a more chaotic structure.
With the 3D graphene as the counter electrode, the researchers tested a solar cell and found it reached to 7.8% efficiency, which almost matches that of a similar cell using platinum. Producing the 3D graphene and installing it into the solar were not difficult processes, which is important if this technology is to reach the market.
Source: Michigan Technological University
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Lian-Li Adds PC-V360 to Case Lineup
Lian-Li is adding the PC-V360 case to its massive catalog, giving users yet another high quality option to house all of their components. The PC-V360 is a mini tower targeted at the Micro ATX form factor. The case offers a hinged side panel for water cooling radiators up to 240mm to be easily installed. The case can also hold video cards up to 310mm in length, five 3.5" drives, and three 2.5" drives. The case is rounded out by an indented motherboard tray for cable management and tool-less installation for ease of use.
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Patriot Partners with Oakland Athletics
Patriot Memory has announced a partnership with the Oakland Athletics baseball team to bring the FUEL+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery to the stadium where the team plays. The devices will be set up at charging stations around the O.co Coliseum during select games for the remainder of the season. The service will be provided for free to fans and will also be available and pre and post game activities. Global Marketing Manager JR Wakabayashi said, "The Fuel+ offers the perfect solution for people on the go in need of power and we can’t think of a better place to demonstrate the speed, portability, ease of use and performance of the FUEL + than at the ballgame when you need and want it most." The FUEL+ is available in capacities ranging from 1500-9000 mAh.
Source: Press Release
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Researchers Analyze Strategy in Team-Oriented Video Games
A number of videos games are currently available (in some cases for free) that pit teams of human players against each other in occasionally chaotic combat. Determining which team will win can be quite difficult when the end is not near, because of the number of variables involved. Researchers at North Carolina State University though have recently developed a technique to review logs from action-RTS games, such as DotA, to find what determines victory.
In games like DotA, there are a myriad of stats to be concerned with, including how much damage a specific character can inflict and how much gold and experience a player or team collects. Because of the interaction between the different stats, the impact these data will have on victory can vary greatly, though the stats themselves do not. For example, in DotA, if Team A develops 59.7 more damage points than Team B by the second quarter, Team A is more than 80% likely to win. Change that to 54 damage points though, and the likelihood of winning drops to under 10%.
Armed with this research, it may be possible for players to determine optimal strategies for winning action-RTS games, as well as helping developers identify how gameplay mechanics will affect their game. Now the researchers are working on visualization tools to tell players how they are doing in real-time, compared to those strategies predicted to be successful.
Source: North Carolina State University
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