Kingston HyperX Fury White 2 x 4GB PC3 15000 Review
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Gearbox Releasing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Cosplay Character Guides, Starting with Athena ...
Taking a play out of BioWare's playbook, Gearbox Software is steadily releasing "Cosplay Character Guides" for the protagonists of the upcoming Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The first character guide, released last week, was for Athena. Borderlands Franchise Director Matt Armstrong describes her as: "Former leader of a secret branch of the Crimson Lance: The Omega Squad. An elite trained assassin and born leader. Athena fights on the frontline with her custom Aspis kinetic shield absorbing damage and defending her allies. She was born to lead, and does not suffer fools."
The second character guide, released yesterday, was for Nisha. Armstrong describes her in the following way: "Nisha is tall, lean, and full of ornery. She’s the baddest girl in the Borderlands, with a mean streak a mile wide. But hell, at least she wears it with a smile."
You can view all the images for both characters below, but be sure to check the source news posts for hi-res images and the PDF files, which contain all the details like the color palette.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in Fall 2014.
Source: Borderlands News [1] and [2]
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Microsoft Rumored to Release Halo Collection for Xbox One
With the Electronic Entertainment Expo taking place in Los Angeles just next month, rumors have begun circulating regarding upcoming game announcements. One interesting rumor that has been provided by sources indicate that Microsoft is planning to release a collection of Halo titles, encompassing Halos 1 through 4, in an HD format. The game, reportedly titled Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is rumored to come to the Xbox One in order to refresh gamers on the Halo series in preparation for Halo 5. While a developer is not known at this time, more than likely Saber Interactive will handle the new Halo collection title, as the game developer previously provided Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for Xbox 360 gamers. Additionally, no details have been provided in regards to the frame rate of the game, its resolution, if it will be released on other platforms besides the Xbox One, or how the game will be distributed.
Source: Engadget
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Google Acquires Quest Visual
Quest Visual, the developer of the popular Word Lens application that translates printed words from one language to another by using a smartphone video camera, has been acquired by Google. In joining Google, Quest Visual plans to integrate its current technology found within its Word Lens application into the Google Translate service, boosting its usability even more. Since Google Translate language packages can already be downloaded and used without an Internet connection, and translations provided by Word Lens are already done without an Internet connection, the Google Translate service should certainly become more feature rich in the future.
As a good gesture to those who have supported Word Lens up until this announcement, Quest Visual has made the application and its accompanying language packs free to download for a limited time while the transition to Google takes place. No information was provided by either entity as to the financial terms of the agreement.
Source: ZDNet
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Key to Good Beer Foam Uncovered
Every now and then you spot a title you would not expect for a university press release (at least until you remember your physics-major friends). Researchers at Cornell University have solved the mystery behind what makes the perfect beer foam, which can be critical to the experience of imbibing.
For some time brewers and researchers have been looking at numerous factors, including dissolved gases, acidity, ions, ethanol levels, and viscosity. While it is definitely understandable how any of these would affect the head, according to the Cornell researchers the key is barley lipid transfer protein No. 1, or LTP1. The researchers have found that apparently it is that protein that determines how good a head of foam will form on your beer.
The associated paper "Recent Discoveries in Beer Foam" is to be published in the next issue of the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists.
Source: Cornell University
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BitFenix Introduces Neos
BitFenix has just announced its latest case design, known as Neos. The BitFenix Neos is centered on being simplistic overall, aiming to fit into any decor while also providing personality at a value oriented price. The case itself features a large mesh front panel with a variety of available colors, complimenting any environment that it is placed in. BitFenix is also providing the case in either white or black, giving even more color options to consumers. As far as other features are concerned, the BitFenix Neos comes with removable dust filters, tool-free drive locking, a 120mm fan, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HD audio, and all black cabling.
The BitFenix Neos is available with or without a side panel window, and can be purchased this month from store shelves.
Source: Press Release
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ASUSTOR Establishes United States Support Center
ASUSTOR, which is a leading provider of network storage solutions, has just announced that the company has established a United States technical support center. The support center has been established in order to provide optimal support to users located within the United States. Allen Yen, the Sales Director at ASUSTOR, considers this announcement an important step in the right direction in regards to serving its United States customers. Users of various ASUSTOR NAS devices can call the new support center toll free and speak to professional support technicians that can provide solutions and fixes to any problem reported. Email support is available as well, providing another avenue of approach in the unlikely event that a problem arises with an ASUSTOR product.
Source: Press Release
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Hyperbolic Metamaterials Approaching Reality
Metamaterials are a class of materials with literally unnatural properties and could have a great impact on technology. Incorporating them into modern technology is proving difficult though, as producing them can be very difficult, especially if you want them small enough to fit within certain devices. Researchers at Purdue University and Brookhaven National Laboratory however have found a way to fabricate special superlattices which could lead to hyperbolic metamaterials.
Metamaterials are an interesting consequence of physical laws being mathematical, as the equations can be manipulated by man in ways Nature cannot achieve. Hyperbolic metamaterials specifically behave like a metal when light strikes them in one direction and an insulator when the light comes in at perpendicular to that direction. This extreme change results in hyperbolic dispersion, and that allows more photons to be extracted than normally possible. Creating these metamaterials is very difficult though as they require very precise manufacturing techniques, and typically the materials being worked with are incompatible with current CMOS processes. What the researchers found is a way to create superlattices using epitaxy with titanium nitride and aluminum scandium nitride. Epitaxy works by actually growing the desired crystals and this is one of the first times it has been used to grow crystals made of both metals and insulators with atomic-scale precision.
As it is now, the researchers have not yet created hyperbolic metamaterials using this epitaxy technique, but building the superlattices is an important step to that end. Once that is achieved then we could see these ultra-thin crystalline films applied to improve solar collectors, sensors, optical microscopes by a factor of ten, and even quantum computers.
Source: Purdue University
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Watch Dogs is Ubisoft's Most Pre-Ordered New IP Ever
Ubisoft has been making some big headlines today with Far Cry 4 and Tom Clancy's The Division, but now it's Watch Dogs' turn. Ubisoft has revealed that Watch Dogs is the most pre-ordered new IP in the company's history and the most pre-ordered new IP in the entire industry this year. Furthermore, it's the second-highest pre-ordered Ubisoft game ever, and GameStop International has stated that it's the retailer's top pre-ordered next-gen console game to date.
Analysts and some stock owners panicked when the delay was announced in October of last year, but gamers know better – they understand the industry and understand that the delay was for the better. Whether Watch Dogs lives up to the hype is still anyone's guess, but if the pre-order numbers are any indication, most gamers have kept the faith; myself included.
Watch Dogs is launching May 27, 2014, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360, with the Wii U version coming at an undisclosed later date. PC gamers can get the game free with the purchase of select NVIDIA GPUs, which may be necessary for some of you, considering the game's steep PC requirements.
Source: Press Release
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Tom Clancy's The Division Pushed Back to 2015
This should really come as no surprise considering we haven't seen much of Tom Clancy's The Division since its E3 2013 debut, but Ubisoft Massive has announced that the game will no arrive in 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Back in April, Massive's Managing Director, David Polfeldt, told Examiner.com that seeing Ubisoft willing to delay Watch Dogs showed him and his team that management would have their backs and do what's best for the game rather than the bottom line. If that wasn't a hint that a delay was imminent, I don't know what is.
Of course, with Watch Dogs launching in a couple weeks, and Far Cry 4 officially announced today as arriving November 18, I think Ubisoft has enough going for it in 2014. Thankfully, Massive did confirm that new footage for The Division will be shown at E3 next month.
Source: Official Site
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Far Cry 4 Invading the Himalayas November 18
After months of speculation, Ubisoft has officially let the cat out of the bag: Far Cry 4 is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 18, 2014. And, as the rumors stated, the game is indeed set in the Himalayas.
Ubisoft Montreal is taking lead on the project, which should come as no surprise. However, it is surprising that Ubisoft didn't just wait until E3 to make the announcement since it's less than a month away; though it has been confirmed that an "exclusive first look" will indeed be part of Ubisoft's E3 Press Conference."Taking a sharp turn away from the lush island jungles of the top-rated Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 is set in Kyrat, an untamed region currently ruled by a despotic self-appointed king. But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the achingly beautiful views; Kyrat is a wild land full of perils. Once again, players will be able to craft their own stories as they travel through this exotic open world teeming with wildlife – using their wits along with an assortment of powerful weapons and diverse vehicles."
While further details have not been disclosed yet, Ubisoft has already announced the pre-order bonus: a free upgrade to the Limited Edition. The Limited Edition includes three additional single-player missions that see the return of Far Cry 3's Hurk, as well as The Impaler – Hurk's "badass harpoon gun." Far Cry 4 is already available for pre-order at major retailers for $59.99, including the Uplay Shop.
Source: Press Release and UbiBlog and Official Site
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Creative Way to bring New Materials to Integrated Circuits
Silicon has been serving us very well for a long time, but we are rapidly approaching its limits and we will have to find a way to continue advancing. One possibility is to add new materials to the mix and exploit their properties, which can be superior to silicon's. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have recently found a way to achieve this by taking advantage of nanowires.
Growing layers of a nonsilicon material on top of a silicon substrate is prohibitively difficult, due to mismatches in crystal structures. The researchers got around this problem by not growing full layers of materials like gallium nitride, gallium arsenide, or indium phosphide, but growing nanopillars of these other material. Of course free-standing pillars are not too useful on their own, which is why the researchers then grew nanowires to connect them, completing the circuits and transistors they desired.
This use of nanowires does more than just allow nonsilicon materials to be combined with silicon as the structures behave better when heated and cooled. Thermal expansion can be a big problem when combining mismatched materials, but is less an issue in this situation.
Source: University of California, Davis
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