Intelligence chiefs think Snowden spied for Russia while working in US
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden made U.S. and British enemies stronger and likely provided Russia with intelligence, according to government politicians still angry at the whistleblower. Snowden reportedly has made it significantly more difficult for intelligence agencies to try and conduct surveillance against al-Qaeda and other terror groups, which have changed their tactics.
Meanwhile, German authorities are considering trying to arrange a video interview - or sending a delegation to Moscow - to speak with Snowden regarding U.S. spying activities against Germany. U.S. lawmakers previously showed concern that Snowden is likely under "Russian influence," as he remains somewhere in Russia, living there with temporary asylum.
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Recruit yourself to our Jack Ryan Blu-ray competition
To celebrate this week's release of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit on home video formats, our friends at Paramount Home Entertainment Australia have supplied us with copies of the film on Blu-ray to give away to three lucky readers.
An action hero is reborn in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the origin story of Tom Clancy's iconic character which sees CIA recruit Ryan (Chris Pine) caught in a dangerous web of intrigue spun between his unsuspecting fiancée (Keira Knightley), a shadowy government agent (Kevin Costner), and a ruthless Russian criminal (Kenneth Branagh). Ryan must quickly evolve from analyst to full-fledged operative to stop a devastating terrorist plot against the United States.
How many actors have portrayed Jack Ryan on film?
To enter, simply 'like' this post and share via Facebook or Twitter and send your answers, along with your postal address to ben at TweakTown.com before the competition closes on May 23rd. The total prize pool is approximately $89.85.
© 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
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Ex id Software employee says entire tech team is now at Oculus VR
According to Glassdoor.com, something that it describes itself as the "world's most transparent career community" where companies acquire talent, as well as a place for employees to rate their companies, id Software isn't going well at all.
This person continued: "When all of the teams merged together to create the "new" Doom team 2 years ago, there was around 140+ developers to make the game. Now, there is only around 50. The non-stop attrition has gotten so bad, that they had to contract outside the company for the multiplayer portion of the game, and we have contractors doing a bulk of our art work".
According to the review this person left on Glassdoor.com, every four months or so, id Software management will come along and say they think that the current direction of Doom 4 is wrong - forcing the team to reboot most of the game. This means that while Doom 4 has reportedly been in development for two years, the team doesn't have much to show for it apart from two "blockout levels and numerous prototypes".
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LG's first Android Silver-based device to be a Sprint exclusive?
If the current reports are true, it looks like the first Android Silver smartphone will be made by LG, a closer partner of Google. The new LG smartphone is powered by Qualcomm's MSM8994, which should be the super-quick Snapdragon 810.
Google's new initiative has stemmed from Samsung reportedly being called into the Google HQ, with the search giant telling Samsung that it wasn't happy with the gimmicky apps it was installing onto its smartphones. Considering Samsung is the biggest Android-based seller, most peoples perceptions of Android come from a Galaxy-branded handset. The included bloat and non stock Android UI is a real downer for Google, something it looks to change very soon.
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Largest mobile phone threats: Malware, lost devices, insecure Wi-Fi
Consumers have a wide variety of appealing smartphones and tablets to choose from, though must be aware of the security risks that they must deal with. Unfortunately, many users don't bother to keep their phone password-protected, and ignore any type of security risks - greatly opening up the likelihood of being infected by cybercriminals.
Kaspersky Lab also gave TweakTown an inside look into basic security tips for smartphone users, trying to keep their mobile devices secure. There is a special emphasis in Google Android smartphone and tablet security, as 99 percent of mobile threats target Android-powered devices.
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YouTube to acquire Twitch in a deal worth $1 billion
According to sources familiar with the deal, YouTube (which is owned by Google) is buying Twitch for over $1 billion. The acquisition is an all-cash deal, which should be officially announced any minute now.
Twitch has deals with Microsoft and Sony for streaming content to its next-gen consoles, as well as distribution partners in CBS Interactive's GameSpot, Joystiq and Destructoid.
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AT&T hopes to announce DirecTV deal by Monday, according to reports
AT&T reportedly wants to purchase DirecTV in a $48 billion acquisition, which could be finalized in the next few days, though the deal is still rather fragile at the moment, sources recently noted. DirecTV remained dedicated to its TV subscription offering, as the company doesn't have a phone or competitive Internet package to woo potential subscribers.
Federal regulators, already trying to determine if Comcast should be able to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, will also analyze AT&T's $48 billion acquisition of DirecTV.
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University of Hawaii students warned of continued phishing attacks
Email users at the University of Hawaii are being targeted by cybercriminals using phishing attacks, with the school's Information Technology Services office recently sending out a notice to current and former students. UH officials sent out a notice to email account owners, warning them to alert their credit card services if they turned over any personal information.
Universities are popular targets for cybercriminals, either trying to phish users, or steal bulk amounts of personal information that can be later sold or traded. A data breach at Iowa State University could affect up to 30,000 students, and the University of California at San Francisco and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were both hit by data breaches - with growing concern that university officials are too slow to inform students and faculty of data breaches.
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China talks up Web security to defend against 'hostile forces'
The Chinese government must work to boost Internet security due to "overseas hostile forces" that are launching efforts to "attack, slander and spread rumors," according to Wang Xiujun. Since President Xi Jinping went into office last year, and he has led several crackdowns on Internet freedom for Chinese users - and wants to push his country into a "cyber power."
The Chinese government is well known for limiting Internet usage - and cracking down on dissidents - though is developing its own cyberattack abilities. Along with Russia and Eastern European-linked hacker groups, China has been routinely blamed for launching attacks against western targets.
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Carder.su cyber fraud crime member sentenced to 20 years in prison
A participant in the Carder.su cyber fraud ring, David Ray Camez, 22, has been found guilty of one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO) and one count of participating in the criminal group. Camez already is serving a seven-year sentence for similar fraud-related behaviors.
This case marks the first time that racketeering laws were used against a cybercriminal, as the federal government tries to crack down against data theft.
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Minnesota first state to require mandatory smartphone kill switches
Minnesota has become the first state to make kill switches mandatory, following Governor Mark Dayton's decision to sign the bill into law last week. The new law will go into effect on July 1, 2015, and all smartphones sold in Minnesota must have some type of antitheft - or kill-switch technology - pre-installed on phones sold to consumers.
Police authorities throughout the United States have called for some type of smartphone theft legislation - around 1 in 3 robberies in the United States led to smartphone loss, the Federal Communications Commission noted. However, officials from the CTIA-The Wireless Association said mandatory laws aren't necessary due to voluntary kill switch initiatives that wireless carriers and smartphone manufacturers have agreed to.
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40% of next-gen console power consumption is from standby mode
According to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the PS4 and Xbox One use a large amount of power even when in standby mode. Then we have some astounding numbers to look at.
At what cost? Well, this would cost American households over $1 billion per year in energy costs, with 40% of it coming from the consoles' standby mode alone. The report reads: "The new consoles consume more energy each year playing video or in standby mode than playing games". The Xbox One in standby mode uses 15.7W of power, while the PS4 uses 8.5W and the Wii U with just 0.4W.
Microsoft's next-gen console consumes much more power thanks to its always-listening capabilities, but when it comes to gaming, the PS4 chews through more power. When gaming, the PS4 uses 137W, while the Xbox One uses 112W. Streaming videos sees the Xbox One use 74W, while the PS4 consumes 89W.
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It took 2.5 years to write the story for the new Call of Duty
Glen Schofield, the Creative Director on the upcoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has teased that the single player storyline took over 2 years to write.
Schofield talked about Condrey's statement, where he said: "It's not just about the big moments; it's about the emotional moments, and they can still be big and bold, but it's to me, right now...at this point in our career and I think in video games, with the new consoles and the amount of fidelity you get with the characters, it's about emotional connections. Narrative is extremely important to us. Not that it isn't to others, but we pay an awful lot of attention to that".
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It looks like the thermonuclear war between Apple and Google is over
Well, here's something you probably didn't expect: Apple and Google have dropped all remaining patent suits that they have against each other, taking an entirely new direction: pushing for patent reform in the United States.
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Microsoft talking with Rare to see where it goes next
What will be Rare's next project? Other than a next-gen Goldeneye 007 game (I know, I know, I'm dreaming) - Microsoft are currently in discussions with the studio, something that it has owned for quite a while now.
Let's hope that Rare's next game lets the studio flex its wings, instead of making a new Kinect-based title. But now that Microsoft has finally realized that not everyone wants a Kinect-capable Xbox One, we might finally begin to see Rare doing great things once again.
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Star Citizen's dogfighting module arrives on May 29
After being delayed late last year, the dogfighting module for Star Citizen will finally launch on May 29. Anyone who has backed the game will get access to two singleplayer modes.
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Watch Dogs has gone gold, after five years in development
After being delayed back in October last year, and the various next-gen console resolution wars, Watch Dogs has finally gone gold. Ubisoft is now all systems go for the May 27 launch on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Ubisoft is really expanding Watch Dogs when it comes to special editions, with nine special edition versions being made available. When it comes to the resolution Watch Dogs runs at on next-gen consoles, we have 900p on the PS4 and 729p on the Xbox One. Alienware even chimed in on that one, too.
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Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie (2013) Blu-ray Review
Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie (2013)
Taking its namesake from the incredibly successful 1999 BBC series, Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie in truth has little in common with its documentary predecessor, choosing to instead anthropomorphize its subjects with oversized eyes and endowed with the ability of speech.It's certainly something that it's not even the film's worst crime that the dinosaurs 'talk' with an inane and unrelenting stream of consciousness - it's that it takes for granted an intelligence of children older than five years old. That's not just a crying shame; it's a wholly missed opportunity and a smack in the face to fans of the franchise.
Seen through the eyes of the narrator; a prehistoric bird named Alex (voiced by John Leguizamo), Walking with Dinosaurs follows a herd of Pachyrhinosaurus and their youngest offspring Patchi (voiced by Justin Long), who are navigating to greener pastures following a winter migration, whilst seeking to avoid the numerous threats both environmental and predator alike, including the vicious Gorgosaurus. Along the way, Patchi will need to grow up, find love and deal with the inevitable power struggles inherent in steering the herd to safety.
Whilst the computer graphics are undoubtedly impressive, the dinosaur designs are heavily exaggerated for cutesy appeal and the appalling voice work truly undermines the visuals. Worse, I'm certain that all of the key story points could have been conveyed perfectly well in their absence.
I understand that the original production plan for Walking With Dinosaurs was to create an entirely silent and brutal 'fly on the wall' adventure, which stayed true to the series, with updated visual effects. Obviously, at a certain point, someone in one of the film's production companies ran the figures and thought the film could do better as a heavily targeted kid's film. The disappointing international box office takings would indicate otherwise.
I'm utterly convinced that there's a much better film within Walking With Dinosaurs and the alternate version featured in the Blu-ray bonus features is testament to this. But even so, a toll is still taken and that's a huge shame. What a missed opportunity. What a tragedy.
Video
Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with the MVC MPEG-4 codec.Walking With Dinosaurs comes from a variety of sources; live action segments and backgrounds and CG animation. Regardless of the origin, the image is extremely consistent across the board.
Coming from a 2K finished digital intermediate, the transfer leaves little room for complaint in either 2D or 3D versions. Both are full of very fine detail and gloriously rendered colors. I didn't notice any macroblocking, nor other imperfections. My only complaint would be that the 2D version seems a little too bright - I suspect this was added to compensate for light blocking 3D glasses, a downside of utilizing the same core encode for both 2D and 3D versions.
The 3D version is perfectly fine, often going for a more 'in your face' mentality, but also introducing some more nuanced, subtle layering. The image is predominantly free of troublesome crosstalk/ghosting and is generally not too taxing on the eyes.
Audio
Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 at 24 bits.No review of the soundtrack can be complete without mentioning the biggest bug bear of the track and that's the aforementioned dialogue and narration. It really does sap any enjoyment out of an otherwise accomplished track. Just to rub it in further, it seemed to me that that the center channel is at least a decibel or two louder than usual.
If you can overlook this, Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie is a perfectly fine, even rather aggressive audio mix, which serves to anchor the locations in a time long since passed. The front and rear soundstages are kept alive throughout, throwing out some impressive directionality. The score by Paul Leonard-Morgan is a far cry from Benjamin Bartlett's original score, but still serviceable enough. Unfortunately, it's supplemented by tracks from Fleetwood Mac and Barry White for further cringe.
Extras
Twentieth Century Fox graced Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie with a small amount of supplemental material, which is aimed predominantly at a younger audience, save for one much requested feature. I think it's telling that the bonus material does not include any behind the scenes features, nor involvement by co-directors Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale, but it's still a disappointment. Still, let's take a look at what's here.First up is the ubiquitously named Cretaceous Cut, which is in fact an alternate cut of the film which eschews the opening and closing live action segments, and places an alternate soundtrack which removes all narration and dinosaur voice-overs. I can't underscore just how much difference this makes to the palatability of the film, immediately taking it from a juvenile piece of junk, to a soaring and lively tale of survival. Still, it's not entirely perfect.
The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack represents a noticeable decrease in audio fidelity compared to the film proper and it still screeches to a halt with the introduction of character titles and 3D models littered throughout. In a perfect world, the alternate cut would have been included on a separate disc, instead of utilizing seamless branching and allowed for a more judicious re-edit to extract the goodness from the film.
Next is the interactive Ultimate Dino Guide and Interactive Map features which utilizes BD-Java to present facts and figures on 11 dinosaur breeds, coupled with short video segments.
The Dinosaur Fact Track is a well presented and informative subtitle track which presents generally relevant trivia as the film plays. Sadly, this can't be engaged concurrently with the Cretaceous Cut.
The Match the Call interactive game is one for the littlies, as is the bizarre Nickelodeon Orange Carpet Dino Rap featurette which mercifully lasts only a minute. Finally, we have the Original Theatrical Trailer, presented in both 3D and 2D versions, with 5.1 sound.
United States: The Walking With Dinosaurs Blu-ray retails for $14.96 at Amazon.
Canada: The Walking With Dinosaurs Blu-ray retails for CDN$26.99 at Amazon Canada.
Australia: The Walking With Dinosaurs Blu-ray retails for $49.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The Walking With Dinosaurs Blu-ray retails for $49.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
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MLB 14: The Show PlayStation 4 Game Review
So, Sony has picked up the bat and decided to play ball again and this time on the PS4. With the previous games in The Show series not exactly being the best, the pressure was on to get it right for the PS4 and in many ways that's exactly what they have done.
There is three real gameplay modes to MLB The Show 14. The franchise mode, season mode and Road to the Show mode. The first two are quite self-explanatory with the franchise mode adding more problems for you to deal with such as drafts, keeping the team powerful over a number of seasons. This is where most of the longevity of the game is found, but for those who want a quick ball game, the season mode will suffice. In season mode, you can set the number of games in a season, number of innings in a match and you actually play through a season in a lengthy play session with the right settings.
The game itself also plays well and can even be picked up by players new to the series quite quickly. If you want to play a game where you have to get the timing perfectly right, the stick controls the bat and just in general its quite a challenge, then this game has what you need. On the flip side, if you just want to play in a casual mode and use a single button to swing the bat, you can.
There is a layer of depth here that is perfect for baseball fans, but it can also be stripped away to the basics for those who may not necessarily indulge the sport that much. When you are first playing, the game will play in a very casual mode and as you get better, progressively make the game a bit more difficult, but you can also play a very basic game with one button to swing the bat, if you so desire.
Whereas some of the real-world players in the previous generation games looked a bit generic (although slightly like their real-world counterparts), it is clear that the PS4 has given the developers the power to really digitize these real life stars. The lighting engine has also had an overhaul to make what really does turn out to be a graphical powerhouse.
MLB The Show 14 is a game that has been worth the wait on the PS4. The extra development time has clearly been put to use well, with the improved graphics and lighting engine - and the smooth frame rate just tops it all off. Even if you are not the biggest fan of baseball, but want a PS4 sports game to play, then consider this one. There is enough here to keep the hardcore fans of the MLB happy, whilst doing more than enough to get casual gamers playing ball as well.
PRICING: You can find the MLB 14: The Show PS4 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The MLB 14: The Show PS4 retails for $59.96 at Amazon.
Canada: The MLB 14: The Show PS4 retails for CDN$52.99 at Amazon Canada.
Australia: The MLB 14: The Show PS4 retails for $79.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The MLB 14: The Show PS4 retails for $119.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
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