IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 1/21/2015

Balance the equation in our 'Equilizer' Blu-ray giveaway
To celebrate this week's release of 'The Equalizer' on Blu-ray HD and DVD, we have ten copies of the Blu-ray to give away to readers, thanks to our friends at Village Roadshow Home Entertainment.

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall's desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

To go into the running to take a Blu-ray home, simply correctly answer the following question:

Name the 2001 movie which was also directed by Antoine Fuqua and starred Denzel Washington

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 dot com before the competition closes on January 24th 2015.

'The Equalizer' is available to purchase on Blu-ray HD, DVD and digital from Australian retailers from January 21st.


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Deutsche Telekom CEO says that US techies have an unfair advantage
Timotheus Höttges claimed at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich that companies like Facebook and Google are increasingly turning into communications services, without being regulated as such. During this conference, the Deutsche Telekom stated that "Facebook is a communications service but it's not investing in telco infrastructure; this is unfair. Why does it escape regulation, yet it gathers data freely?"

Höttges went on to mention that Facebook offers a call and messaging service, however they do not have to register with German or U.K regulators, where as telecom companies, like is own do - "There isn't a level playing field."

Deutsche Telekom is further upset as they are investing €23 billion ($26 billion US) over the next 5 years into the German infrastructure, whereas companies like Google and Facebook "are not participating at all." Höttges mentioned that he isn't blaming the Silicon Valley companies directly for negligence, rather pointing towards the regulatory authorities, telling them to do their part and make it easier for traditional telecom companies to compete, adding "what we need is one single legislation for Europe."


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The latest trailer for Project Cars is totally gorgeous
Project CARS isn't too far away from its March release window, so the developer has just unveiled a delicious new trailer for their upcoming highly detailed racing title.

As you can see, Slightly Mad Studios has been doing some great things to the game, showing off some damn impressive technology. The game looks incredibly detailed, with some truly detailed vehicles, slow motion drifting and much more. Slightly Mad Studios is teasing that Project Cars is "the most technically-advanced, beautiful, intense and authentic racing game on the planet that's been tested, guided, and approved every step of the way by both gamers and real-life pro drivers alike".

Project Cars slides onto the Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 20. The Nintendo Wii U will also see a release, but no firm date has been announced Will you be picking this up in March? I know I will.

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Smart tech needs industry collaboration and cooperation to grow
There seems to be no question that the Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to be a major business, as more smart products enter the household. However, without industry cooperation from software designers and hardware makers, it could end up being a massive headache for everyone involved.

The number of IoT-related announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month should indicate where the market is quickly moving. If companies don't begin to work together on new standards, such as an open platform that is evenly distributed is necessary, then things may just become a nightmare.

"Companies may not care as much about overarching standards so long as the application will meet the needs they have today," said Andy Peebler, managing director of ecommerce and digital marketing at Acquity Group, in a statement to NBC News.

Without the IoT early adopters working together, consumers may decide to wait on the sidelines until IoT supporters are able to get their collective act together.


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A racing car simulator inside a real car shell - yes please!
PC Modders is helping some of their friends work on a real-life racing simulator cockpit for the V8 Super Car series, which is run out of Australia - showcasing V8 muscle racing around iconic local Aussie tracks. Set to model that of Garth Tander's Holden racing vehicle, this project is utilizing a real car shell as the exterior to help you get the full feel.

Featuring what looks like the complete write-off wreck of a VZ series Holden Commodore sedan, this project will involve all the bells and whistles including a ButtKicker for realism, a full set of racing-grade pedals and head-tracking technology.

With building only being newly underway, there isn't too much to look at just yet - we will cover it more as the build develops. As according to PC Modders, it should see completion within three weeks.

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AMD Radeon R9 380X to reportedly launch in Q2 with 4GB of next-gen RAM
As usual, we can't confirm this as it's a rumor, but it looks like the upcoming next-gen GPU release from AMD could arrive as the Radeon R9 380X, and not the R9 390X like most would have expected. Sweclockers are behind the rumor this time, giving it a little more credit.

The Radeon R9 380X would feature 4096 cores, 4GB of the new, next-gen HBM (high bandwidth memory) and a Q2 2015 release window. The new card is known as the Fiji XT and will directly replace most of AMD's current high-end R9 200 series lineup. We should expect this card to be around 40-50% faster than the R9 290X, mostly thanks to architectural changes and the new, super-fast HBM RAM.

NVIDIA will be fighting back with another rumored product, the Titan II or Titan X. They could also battle it out with a refreshed GM200-based GeForce card in the form of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, or if I had my way, the GeForce GTX 980 Ultra.


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Destiny gamer constructs a robot to grind for him, levels up overnight
Destiny has been super successful for Activision and Bungie, with the former company investing some $500 million into it before things even kicked off. Well, gamers across the world are addicted, but I think we just found one that takes the cake.

'yavin427' has constructed himself a "servomechanism" that make meleeing automated, while the character in Destiny stands in one place. This leaves Yavin with the ability to open up an early Ocean of Storms level on the moon, and just let the 'robot' have at it. Enemies will rush the character, while the bot either performs a melee attack, or shoots until it dies. Once it has died, it will reload the level to that checkpoint, and let the character do it all over again.

This leaves Yavin to sleep and level up, and once he wakes up he enjoys the higher level, and all of the glorious weapon drops and experience rewards, all while he rests. Yavin took to Reddit, where he wrote: "Woke up this morning to a brand new 20! Had about 3600 kills, and 900 deaths (lol), and like 50 green engrams. I started at level 16.5 yesterday afternoon, and reached 20 sometime while I was asleep. With the armor I had waiting for him he is now a 26. Seems to be getting anywhere from 15 to 215 exp per run, depending on timing".

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Project sale: Get your very own piece of modding excellence within
A lot of us don't have the time, energy or skill-set to complete our very own high-end custom modified system. There's no shame in picking up a pre-loved system for yourself and that's exactly what we're talking about with this article.

Wae Waefamily is looking to offload this kick-ass system, complete with an EVGA 780ti, and a massive 1TB data-storage SSD, this system isn't for the faint of heart - built to post a striking presence no matter where it lay.

It's currently listed for £2,500 ($3,780 US) complete with the 1TB SSD or as £2,200 ($3,325 US) without - this build certainly isn't feature packed with copious amounts of tech, but it's still going to play any games you want at respectable resolutions and frame-rates for months to come.

The reservoir setup is claimed as custom made and helps tie off the system nicely - just ensure you don't try and use it as a handle!

The full specification list reads:

CPU: I7 4970k

Graphics: Evga 780ti

Motherboard: Impact VI

PSU: Corsair RM650

Memory: 16GB Avexir 1866

SSD: 128gb Boot drive

Storage: 1Tb Evo 840 SSD

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Snef Computer Design unviel the amazing rigid-tubed Icy Blue Angel mod
There's something about modded systems with rigid tubing that really get us going here at TweakTown. We've covered a bunch of different rigid tubing mods, ranging from Dan Woods' Arctic Gold to Stuart Tonks tackling the impressive Lian Li DK-02 Desk chassis.

This build is named Icy Blue Angel and has been produced by Snef Computer Design. Published on their Facebook page just yesterday, this is a 'thank you' to fans for helping them reach 2,000 likes in total across their social media platform.

Featuring a fully custom Bitspower water cooling rigid tubing setup, we're seeing quite a lot of this company being included in our latest published builds. It seems that modders across the globe are taking to Bistpower more often to ensure they get the best out of their rig - do you agree with their choices?

Fully setup with SLI video cards and what seems to be custom artwork design, Snef's Icy Blue Angel mod is something I can certainly see sitting in my computer room.

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Microsoft hopes Windows 10 does the trick to help promote mobile
Microsoft will show off more details regarding its upcoming Windows 10 operating system later this week, as partners, corporate clients, and consumers wait patiently. There is a renewed optimism that the desktop and laptop will have a proper next-generation operating system, but Microsoft hopes Windows 10 will succeed where it has struggled the most - in the mobile space, powering smartphones and tablets.

Microsoft has less than three percent of the global phone market OS - and won't be able to catch up to Google Android or Apple iOS anytime soon - but just a larger chunk of the market would be valuable in itself.

Even with mobile potential of Windows 10, Microsoft opened up Office for Android and iOS devices, along with enhancing developer tools for other mobile OSes. Both steps are important, but a seamless OS between mobile, laptops, and PCs could give Microsoft a major advantage that it has been unable to create for years.


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HEX GEAR announce its R40 case will suit mATX and reverse mATX formats
If you're in the market for a new case, HEX GEAR has just announced a mere six hours ago that their new R40 case will have both mATX and reverse mATX support.

This will allow consumers to switch between the two modes without any modding taking place, further adding to case versatility, features and build options. On top of this, their case look awesome - giving me somewhat of a 'modded Fractal' type feel, by taking the nice simplistic and elegant Fractal design, then spicing it up with some accents.

You may not have heard of this company before, so you can read more about HEX GEAR on their official website if you wish.


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Blizzard taking look at 'major lag' Diablo 3 gamers are reporting
Diablo 3 gamers are reporting problems with "major lag" while trying to play online, with the issue first surfacing over the weekend.

"We've been asked to collect some information for our network engineers on this issue," a Blizzard support rep said in a Battle.Net forum thread. "We'd like to have your trace route info when you trace to 12.168.209.68. We'd also like to see the results when you run our Looking Glass utility to see the return path of the trace from Blizzard to you."

Blizzard also wants gamers to identify their ISP and geographic location when reporting data in the public thread. With that information, Blizzard engineers will work as quickly as possible to solve gamer lag problems.


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Facebook releases software to AI open source group
Facebook has released some of their software to the Torch Open Source group. Torch focuses on providing deep learning software. Deep learning software mimics brain function and is a key component to artificial intelligence programs. These programs are used to analyze large amounts of information in search of patterns, which it can then use to make predictions.

Torch speeds pattern recognition by up to 23.5 times. Facebook, and other web titans such as Google, Microsoft, and Twitter, use Torch to predict image contents and to place ads. Torch also has other uses, such as recognizing physical objects and for question answering programs. For instance, "The Lord of the Rings" novels were loaded into Torch, and Torch allows the computer to understand and answer questions about the book.

Speech recognition software also benefits from deep learning analysis, and new functions are under development that will predict the users intentions when they enter an internet search. The tools Facebook is donating will be used to speed training of multiple computer processors simultaneously.

These tools will help to speed AI development in a world that is increasingly wary of Artificial Intelligence in general. Many leading scientists are fearful of the long term consequences and have recently begun to publicly voice their opinions.


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"American Sniper" had great box office opening, despite piracy
Despite a high-quality screener version of "American Sniper" hitting the Internet days before the film's box office release, the movie still grossed $90.2 million from Friday to Sunday - the most successful opening weekend between December and February.

It's hard to estimate what role piracy could have had on the box office, as some viewers likely skipped the theater when they found the online version. However, it is possible people impressed after watching the film used word-of-mouth to help tell friends and family how good the movie is.

The film features Bradley Cooper portraying Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL and most prolific sniper in US military history, and Sienna Miller serving as Kyle's wife. Kyle survived four tours of service in Iraq, and was murdered on a Texas gun range by a fellow veteran. The Clint Eastwood-directed film has generated a high amount of controversy, though has the support of Kyle's wife and military members.


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Obama Administration also doesn't want encryption to interfere
Not surprisingly, President Barack Obama has sided with UK Prime Minister David Cameron's demand that computer companies provide a backdoor to governments, even of encrypted communications. The US government has relied on a mix of warrants, wiretaps and direct access from technology companies so they have access to phone calls, social media, and other communications.

Simply demanding access to encrypted communication isn't worthwhile, so Obama played to emotions with his justification: "If we find evidence of a terrorist plot... and despite having a phone number, despite having a social media address or email address, we can't penetrate that, that's a problem," Obama recently said.

Obama wants to ensure a way to keep data private from cybercriminals, but not from police authorities and federal investigators.

"It's really odd in one breath to talk about improving cybersecurity and then in another breath call on companies to weaken security by weakening encryption," said Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "There is no way to design the system to keep the Chinese and North Koreans out but let the North Americans and British in."


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Cougar 600M Laser Gaming Mouse Review

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

While we haven't seen all that many peripherals thus far from Cougar, we have had the pleasure of looking at a keyboard and mouse from Cougar, and we raved about the excellency of both products. However, both the 700M mouse and the 700K keyboard were top-tier products from Cougar. While we always tend to hold the bar a bit higher with this type of product, Cougar does make lower priced offerings as well, and today we get to take a look at one of them.

While we only have the one mouse to base an opinion from with Cougar, the 700M showed that they were on track. With the 700M, Cougar offered a product that featured the best of the best when it came to components and materials, but also included all of the top features that any gamer can appreciate. What happens to such a device if there is a pricing cap set to the design? Well, we do lose some of the finer material choices. We also lose a few of the design elements that we were so fond of in the 700M, but that does not mean that this more affordable solution falters when it comes to all the finer points that matter beyond styling, and sleek trim options.

Today, as we look at the 600M from Cougar, we will be looking at a slightly more affordable mouse. As we alluded to, the styling has been tamed externally, yet still allows this mouse to stand out in the crowd, and be easily recognizable as a Cougar built device. When it comes to the guts though, this is where Cougar has stuck to their guns, and only trimmed the fat. Under the hood, you will find top-tier switches, a serious processor, and the awesome UIX software to gain full control of this latest mouse, and customize it to suit your own needs. This is definitely one of those instances where a company has introduced a "sleeper" to the market, as first impressions of this unassuming 600M do not hint at all the features this mouse delivers.

The provided specifications chart has information thrown out all over the place with no real structure, so let's see if we can't make some sense of it. The Cougar 600M, available in black and orange plastic designs, measures in at 125mm from front to back, 80mm from the thumb rest to the right side, and it stands 42mm in height in the middle. The mouse is designated for FPS, MMORPG, MOBA, and RTS titles, and its design lends to claw grip use. Due to its medium size and blunt drop of the heel in this design, relaxed grip users will find this mouse nestles well into the palm of their right hand too. The 600M weighs in at only 90 grams, and neither color option offers any form of custom weighting; it is what it is right out of the box.

As we move to the inside, we find Omron switches used for the right and left click buttons, but secondary switches all use pad style switches for functionality. To read the movement of this mouse, Cougar has employed the Avago ADNS 9800 laser sensor with its 12000 FPS, 150 IPS, and 30 G tracking capabilities. The DPI tops out at 8200, but starts at 50 DPI, and adjusts in 50 DPI increments. On top of that, the communications and storage are handled through the 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 MCU. This also allows for 512KB of onboard storage, and when combined with the functionality of the UIX software, you can easily fill up that space over three profiles and eight programmable buttons.

We find almost everything the 700M is built upon in the 600M, and the components in the 600M should deliver a mouse that is functionally just as nice as the 700M. The only major difference is the exotic materials and color schemes have been toned down this time around, to the tune of about $20 in savings. That is right, while the 700M would set you back very close to $80, we were able to locate the 600M for around $60 on Amazon.com in either black as we received, or the orange version if you like bright mice.

For those of you who liked what the 700M brought to the table, but thought it was too over the top for your needs, the 600M is just as capable in a fresh, more subdued design, making for an easy choice. For those of you on the outside just looking for a new mouse to game with, we feel that it is well worth your time to have a deeper look at the 600M as well - it is just that well equipped.

PRICING: You can find the Cougar 600M 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 Cougar 600M in black retails for $56.69 at Amazon, and the Cougar 600M in orange retails for $57.94 at Amazon.
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