In response to the recent updates to Valve's anti-cheat program (VAC), Gabe Newell has created a post in the r/gaming subreddit of reddit.com
Gabe begins with some rationale in regards to trust.
Our Lord and Savior then continues on to explain how cheats are negative to the overall gameplay experience and how many different individuals try to sell their cheats and hacks to the community.
He also explains in layman's terms how VAC works and how the "raging war" in terms of cheats goes on between hackers and Valve.
To conclude the article, Gabe answers three questions that everybody is asking.
The reasoning behind this update to VAC seems to make more sense now, and I'm glad our Lord and Valve are being transparent about this. Steam is still a fantastic platform for distributing games and I will continue to trust it, at least, until another potential security issue arises.
What do you think about this new update and Gabe's response? I'm just glad only the NSA has a complete history of my web browsing.
Mantle is here!
Backblaze HDD test flawed
HSS
South Korea bans unremoveable bloatware
Source 2 Engine Leaked - HL3 confirmed
< News Items >
MANTLE!!!
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/109067-libreoffice-adds-support-for-mantle/
- MASSIVE spreadsheets, loaded more quickly
- Not just for gaming
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/109109-mantle-patch-released-for-battlefield/
- No drivers yet. Trolled.
- Leaks saying it was being compiled and uploaded… that was yesterday…
- The more CPU bound the test, the better the improvements are
Featured on Homestream group
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream#announcements
Yay Valve knows we exist
Bounty Winner for Candy Ass Candy Eater
http://armiferamortalis.itch.io/candy-ass-candy-eater-v1
- Gotta keep your momentum up
- Jumping is supported
- you can force yourself off the map and glitch out off the side but you can jump up
- hitting the walls slows you down
- if you run out of lives you get “sued” and must restart
- just for fun mode changes the sprite
Oculus body swap thing
NSFW VIDEO
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-23-watch-oculus-rift-virtually-swap-bodies-genders
NSFW VIDEO
- Be Another Lab has created the next best thing by staging a symmetrical set of two identical spaces, then having two participants wear Oculus Rifts to see what the other person is seeing. By doing this the participants are able to virtually body swap
- Entitled The Machine to Be Another, the goal of the project is to explore empathy and the nature of the self.
- the only way to get the simulation to work is if both parties follow the same movements, lest the illusion be broken.
NSFW VIDEO
Source 2 engine with HL3 leak?
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/107712-left-4-dead-2-in-source-2-engine-leaks/
- HL3 Confirmed?
- Didn’t see anything new on the snippet of slide 20, something about powerful front end gui + browser for finding, managing and editing assets
- Source 2 leak from highly reputable "CBOAT" (crazy buttocks on a train) user
- HL3 files link i can’t find a super awesome source for, and honestly it would likely be codenamed…. get it? source? I’ll see myself out
Google starts ranking ISPs similar to how Netflix did
https://secure.dslreports.com/shownews/Google-Starts-Ranking-ISPs-Based-on-YouTube-Performance-127440
- Same idea as when Netflix threw everyone under the bus
- "We wanted to give users a measure of performance that they can truly understand," Google's Shiva Rajaraman
- ISP becomes Youtube HD Verified if it can play 720p videos seamlessly 90% of the time
- http://www.google.com/get/videoqualityreport/#how_video_gets_to_you
Backblaze blog marketing with vague reports and sensationalized titles at it again.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/6028/dispelling-backblaze-s-hdd-reliability-myth-the-real-story-covered/index.html
- drives stripped from external enclosures are included in failure ratings
- very specific models with high failure rates, both main ones are 1.5TB and both are very consumer ( green/baracuda)
- they weren’t all deployed at the same time… that should be enough to negate everything right there
- older drive likely means older backblaze enclosure, and these enclosures are notorious for vibration due to their awesomely compact design and ability to hold 45 HDD’s
- drives in different areas have drastically different temperatures(drives at the top are hotter than drives at the bottom, drives on shelves in the middle of an aisle are hotter than on the perimiter)
- varying work loads, varying temp environments, varying vibration
- This really isn’t any different than their enterprise drives blog post
bewifi lets you share with and take from your neighbours wifi
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/01/bewifi-lets-you-steal-your-neighbors-bandwidth-when-theyre-not-using-it/
- Claims not everyone uses the internet at the same time, but instead people use it in bursts
- Claims it is mainly designed for dense areas with poor internet connectivity as that is the optimal situation for its use, aimed at developing economies
- Not REALLY designed for sprawling areas with lots of land per house, more for dense areas where wifi will overlap easily
- Focused on South America
- Deployed to over 1,000 people signed up in the north of Barcelona
South korea bans unremovable mobile bloatware
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/south-korea-bans-unremovable-mobile-bloatware/
- banned mobile manufacturers and networks putting un-removable apps on smartphones
- users will also benefit from the regulations in terms of battery life and data storage
- all pre-installed apps must be deletable, except for those that enable Wi-Fi connectivity, near-field communication, customer service, and an app store.
Samsung and Google hace also agreed that Samsung will stop duplicating coee Google app fumctionality on Android
Nintendo blocked from stopping hackers
http://bgr.com/2014/01/23/nintendo-console-hacking-court-ruling/
- Italian company PC Box argued that its hardware, which allows Wii owners to play games from any region
- Nintendo now allowed to stop people from hacking their consoles other than to prevent illegally copied video games.
- Getting around region locks is entirely fine
- “Nintendo cannot prevent its consoles from being tampered with to play multimedia from other providers, except in the case of illegally copied video games.”
- Nintendo is expected to fire back
Dutch ISP’s drop pirate bay blocks
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/28/5353236/dutch-isps-drop-pirate-bay-blocks-after-court-rules-them-ineffective
- Original lawsuit Initiated by the local anti-piracy group BREIN
- Original lawsuit sprung similar situations in places like the UK
- Blocks have already been lifted
- With today's reversal, BREIN will have to pay 326,000 euros in damages to the affected broadband providers.
Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata to half his salary...again.
http://business.time.com/2014/01/29/nintendo-boss-im-sorry-let-me-halve-my-salary/
- Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata will half his salary
- Nintendo board members will receive a 20 to 30 percent cut in their salaries.
- This was surprisingly hard to find… let us not forget 2011, after slow 3DS Sales
- “For cuts in fixed salaries, I’m taking a fifty percent cut, other representative directors are taking a 30 percent cut, and other execs are taking a 20 percent cut,” said Iwata.
HTC One screen correction(IPS)
http://www.htc.com/us/support/htc-one/faq/2/
Google glass do come with prescriptions, wider range of frames
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57617792-93/google-glass-now-framed-for-prescriptions/
http://www.zdnet.com/google-puts-prescription-lenses-in-glass-frame-7000025667/
- $225, in addition to the $1,500 entry fee to the Explorer program.
- Google is adding four titanium frame styles -- Bold, Curve, Thin, and Split -- and two new tinted shade styles -- Classic and Edge -- to the mix. The tinted shades will cost $150.
- 40 combinations of colors, frames, and shades.
- "Extreme prescriptions outside of +4 or -4 won't work, but most people should be covered," he said. Bifocals and trifocals, he said, will depend on the optometrists' recommendation.
- People are already ghetto fixing glass onto their own prescription glasses, but now this is official and properly done
Biggest battle in EVE history
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/29/biggest-battle-in-eve-onlines-history-leads-to-an-estimated-50/
- Estimates range from $200,00 to $500,000
- involving more than 4,000 players. The fight saw the destruction of over 100 prized Titan vessels, which take months of gameplay to build and are worth around $3,000 each
- On a very basic scale Sovereignty over a system provides basic protection to things like stations
- When asked about the sov drop, Manfred Sidious of Pandemic Legion described it as the consequence of a bug, stating that he had enough isk in his holding corp wallet as well as having autopay checked.
Well our first ever "Buyer's Guide" for systems at a variety of different price points is here. I'd love to hear your comments on the video as well as our hardware choices.
Video link to come soon
"Just Game" ~$500 System (Great PC gaming on t3h cheap)
CPU: Athlon X4 750K - http://geni.us/3UKW7
Cooling: Stock cooler - FREE
Motherboard: FM2A55M-DGS R2.0 - NCIX, http://geni.us/AmHqi
Case: Cheapo Apex Case - NCIX,http://geni.us/tUHv6E
Video Card: Radeon HD 7850 2GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/Ix7qac
RAM: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, http://geni.us/xYwA
Hard Drive: WD 1TB Blue - NCIX, http://geni.us/3NSGh
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W - NCIX, http://geni.us/htiJVAM
Optional Stuff:
OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH
Less Expensive Video Card (optional): Radeon HD 7770 1GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/CAQ0is
SSD instead of HDD (optional): Kingston V300 120GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/WdKVjPB
"Game Now" ~$1000 System (Optimal bang for the buck right now)
CPU: Intel Core i5 3330 - NCIX, http://geni.us/JRxcff
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - NCIX, http://geni.us/jR0cYE1
SSD: Kingston V300 120GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/ZQXGtp
Hard Drive: Seagate 2TB - NCIX, http://geni.us/opZuX
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Pro 3/4 - NCIX, http://geni.us/MCeDB2Q
Case: Corsair Carbide 200R - NCIX, http://geni.us/ANB1A
Video Card: GeForce GTX 770 - NCIX, http://geni.us/Sfj0GTh
RAM: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, http://geni.us/qd2fVy
Power Supply: Seasonic 620W - NCIX, http://geni.us/cubDa
Optional Stuff:
NVIDIA Shield - This will be available from most reputable retailers for $200 with your GTX 770. You may also need a better router to go with it.
OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH
"Game On" ~$1700 System (Luxurious & more "futureproof)
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K - NCIX, http://geni.us/NhL4w
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12S - NCIX, http://geni.us/3k5OEDC
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/GOtJj
Hard Drive: WD Red 3TB - NCIX, http://geni.us/nsFex
Motherboard: ASUS Z87 Pro - NCIX, http://geni.us/BoKZlRs
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Window - NCIX, http://geni.us/ZhLvFKM
Video Card: Radeon R9 290 - NCIX, http://geni.us/fBxRt
RAM: 16GB Corsair DDR3 1866 - NCIX, http://geni.us/MDSsODx
Power Supply: Corsair TXM 750W - NCIX, http://geni.us/VfbBIiM
Optional Stuff:
Video Card: GeForce GTX 780 - NCIX, http://geni.us/o6Oa17
NVIDIA Shield - This will be available from most reputable retailers for $200 with your GTX 770. You may also need a better router to go with it.
OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH
The NZXT Kraken G10 lets you use a CPU AIO on your GPU, making it sort-of a GPU AIO. It's not going to be the best cooling solution out there but it's nice to see the option. NZXT also allows the user to use not only their own AIO but also other brand's AIO; they have a compatibility list which imo is very cool
