Christmas (2012)

It's that time of the year again where Computer Hardware goes into hibernate for me and I just start gaming like crazy. This year for me it's a little different well totally different why because me and the Girlfriend are moving into I hope will be are new home for a every long time, lets just say there ant to much stuff left on the wall's or shelf's and over half of your thing's are in the new house. Am I excited hell ya big ass room for all my equipment and future upgrade's why wouldn't I be excited, well not so much so to hook it all backup again but will be when it's done.

Moving is not the only thing I'm excited about and that's my new Guitar and Amp from Fender that the girlfriend got me happy about and the same old thing's few PC Games, PlayStation 3 ya ya I know why the console because you can't play Mortal Kombat (2011) on the PC and while I'm on the topic I'm looking into the Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition for the PlayStation 3 but at $200 it's a little pricey.

What's in store for me next year not feeling stress like I did this Year, I'm keeping thing's simple and light, that goes for Computer Hardware the only thing's that's on my radar will be the CPU, Motherboards, Graphics and HDD. That Mean's No Case's, Coolers, Fans, Power Supply's, SSD's and so on maybe a SSD for Encoding movies just the import stuff and if it's going to be anything it'll be Intel's New Haswell and 8 Series Chip-set because I'll be upgrading my system between April and June 2013. After January I'll be getting back into Computer's more then ever especially when I start reading Upgrading and Repairing PC 20th Edition.

Also gaming like a mother fucker. I have like 20+ tipple AAA Games that's crying for me to play them, I was enjoying that until the Power went out aka the 15amp Breaker powering four bedrooms that just fucked my Crysis 3 Save Point, I had like two hours left to completing it, you can say this place is noting more then a camp Vs the new place. Few other things to keep stress down read the Monthly Maximum PC Magazine watch/read the Weekly Podcast and the daily news not ever Saturday and Sunday like I use too, I'm reclaiming those day's for gaming. Next Year will be Stress Free!

When I get back into the game and on top of everything my Media server is getting a overhaul adding Covers to 1500 Hundred+ Movies not to mention the 800 hundred CD's I have hanging out on the server to tag and add Album art too, lets just say I'm looking at about six weeks of work at three or four hours a day, will it be worth it fuck ya over $100,000 worth of data wouldn't you do it?

So with said Next Year should be good for me not like it was this year 2012, I'm out of here until January 15, 2013 don't care about noting until then and you if anybody reads this shity ass blog Mary Christmas Bitch's and a Happy New Year's!

PC Perspective Podcast #230

Annoyed Gamer Episode 20

China Getting Remote Control Cars

New Bioshock Infinite - Trailer

SkyDrive Comes To Xbox 360

Google Zeitgeist 2012

Company of Heroes 2 - Multiplayer Trailer

Metro - Last Light Gameplay Trailer

Assassin's Creed 3 - Tryanny of King Washington DLC Trailer

Crysis 3 - 7 Wonders Episode 1 Hell of a Town

Dead Space 3 Two Ways to Play Trailer

PC Perspective Podcast #229

Annoyed Gamer Episode 19

Tomb Raider - VGA Trailer

The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3: Teaser

Company of Heroes 2 Developer Diary: Preparing for War

Metro: Last Light Model's Survival Diary

World’s Fastest Computer 50 years Ago

GeForce Experience Beta

Wi-Fi Enabled Smart Doorbell

A Short History Of The GIF

Play Portal On A Texas Instruments Calculator

Sega Rally Cabinets Steer RC Cars

New 3DMark gets new Trailer

Partially 3D-Printed Rifle Manages to Fire 6 Shots

PC Perspective Podcast #228

Annoyed Gamer Episode 18

Company of Heroes 2 - Turning Point Trailer

Far Cry 3 - Map Editor Trailer

Far Cry 3 - Co-op Trailer

Far Cry 3 - Revealed Trailer 10 Minutes

Cooler Master CM Storm Stryker Case Video Review

Navy Preps Killer Drone for First Carrier Launch

Amazing Bionic Hand

Gun With Real World Auto-Aim

Homemade X-Ray Backscatter System

Twelfth Scale Transforming Robot

How Algorithms Shape Our World

Piano-Playing Swarm Robots

Peta, Exa, Yotta: Big Data Reaches Cosmic Proportions

IE Hater Convinced IE "Sucks Less" in New Microsoft Video

Annoyed Gamer Episode 17

Far Cry 3: Tactics, Weapons And Skills Trailer

Aliens: Colonial Marines Survivor Trailer

Metro 2033's Preacher Is Back

Real Life Holodeck

Portal 2 Sentry Turret USB Desk Defender

Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage Trailer

High Tech Book Scanner

PC Perspective Podcast #227

Annoyed Gamer Episode 16

Sleeping Dogs - October DLC Trailer

Crysis 3 "Fields" Mission Playthrough

Borderlands 2 Torgue Weapons Trailer

Far Cry 3 Gameplay Video

Hitman: Absolution Launch Trailer

UFO Filmed By News Crew

Raspberry Pi Powered Robo Bartender

Rainbow 6 Patriots still coming

Bigfoot Monster Truck Goes Electric

Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7

Grand Theft Auto V's Second Trailer Arrives

Annoyed Gamer Episode 15

Hitman: Absolution - The Ultimate Assassin Trailer

Far Cry 3 - Story Trailer

Rise of the Triad Production Diaries - Part 1: Rebooting a Classic

PC Perspective Podcast #226

Microsoft's Major Breakthrough In Speech Translation Technology

Here Comes the $13 Single-Board Computer

Terminator-Like Carbon Fiber Prosthetic Arm

Cool New Technology of the Day

PC Modded Into A Book

Greatest Plane Crash Rescue Ever

Hitman: Absolution Living Breathing World Trailer

Battlefield 1942 is Free on Origin

PC Perspective Podcast #225

Annoyed Gamer Episode 14

What About Windows 8

Play Thief in Doom 3 with The Dark Mod

Annoyed Gamer Episode 14

PC Perspective Podcast #224

Far Cry 3 Meet Hoyt Trailer

BioShock Infinite Beast of America Trailer

EVGA 3D Eclipse Giveaway!

Webcast: Windows 8 Launch

Mars Rover Curiosity Interview

London 3D Printer Show

High Tech Prank of the Day

Microsoft Skype for Windows 8

PC Perspective Podcast #223

AMD ExtravaLANza Hitman: Absolution PC Features

Annoyed Gamer Episode 13

Assassin's Creed 3 - The Revolution Part 4

Hitman Absolution - Introducing Disguises Trailer

Assassin's Creed III Desmond first look Trailer

Doom 3 BFG Edition Now Available

Modern Warfare Soldier Comes Home

Portal Gun That Actually Levitates A Companion Cube

Freehand 3D Computer Interaction Without Gloves

PC Perspective Podcast #222

Annoyed Gamer Episode 12

Crysis 3 Multiplayer Introduction

Painkiller: Hell & Damnation Release Date

Far Cry 3 - The Tribe Trailer

Lost Planet 3 - Commentary Trailer NYCC 2012

Assassin's Creed III: Part Three - Into the Wild

PC Perspective Podcast #221

Join PC Per this week as they talk about Intel Clover Trail, AMD's Trinity Desktop APUs, the Samsung 840 SSD with TLC, and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 11

What frustrations does Marcus have with online security? Plus, why isn’t Microsoft popular in Japan?

Enter The Freeman: Half-Life Film

Finally see Gordon Freeman in the flesh in this cinematic horror short based on the video game Half-Life. Yes there will be headcrabs... This 11 minute fan-made film is very well done. Definitely worth watching. Makes me wish someone would make a feature length Half-Life film.

Shot by fans over two nights in a cottage in the middle of Hollywood for about $3000. It all started with the comment "Hey you would make a great live action Gordon Freeman, let's make a fan film". A year later we finally got around to it. Made for the fans and makers of Half-Life. We hope you enjoy!

Take a Free Networking Class from Stanford

Ever wanted to tell everyone you attend Stanford? Well now‘s your chance….and for free. Two Stanford professors are offering a free "Introduction to Computer Networking" with classes over the Internet and all you have to do is sign up. The prerequisites are simple: your above average working knowledge of computers will probably fill the bill.

Acoustic Guitars, Plucked By A Computer

Here's a computer that can play 14 guitars simultaneously. I can only play one Guitar at a time cool video from HardOCP.

Server Rack Tossed Off 18 Story Building

Not only does Symantec products make you want to dive off a building, they have the same effect on your server racks. big grin I guess this marketing stunt was successful, it got me to tune in to watch this thing get pushed off an 18 story building.

Toyota Makes The Backseat Invisible

Imagine parallel parking into a space and knowing exactly how far your bumper is from the vehicle behind you. It's a dream that rear-view cameras and in-dash displays have only marginally delivered on. But this technology promises to turn a vehicle's entire back seat into a giant display showing everything happening behind the vehicle in full scale. So when you turn around in your seat to back up, it will basically look like the back half of your vehicle has been lopped off.

High-Tech Low-Cost Halloween Costumes

I just have to post this, even though this video is basically a commercial for these interactive t-shirts, these are too damn cool.

Borderlands 2 PhysX Settings Comparison

The first thing we wanted to learn was just how much difference you would see by moving from Low (the lowest setting, there is no "off") to Medium and then to High. The effects were identical on both AMD and NVIDIA cards and we made a short video here to demonstrate the changes in settings.

Hack Your Doorbell To Open Locks

The only thing I see wrong with this idea is the possibility of someone opening your gate with a random combination by accident.

iPhone Case Stops .50 Cal Bullet!

This thing may be ugly as hell and it weigh a ton, believe it or not, the thing actually stopped a .50 cal bullet. Wow.

Dead Space 3 Gets Fan-Made Weapon

You gotta love a good underdog story, especially when that story involves a gun that shoots huge nails that are also on fire. Rather than greedily hold onto all the Dead Space 3 gun creation power themselves, Visceral has given players the option to create their own. Occasionally, they'll decide to toss one into the game, like a certain Caleb Mendoza's HUN-E1 Badger. How's that for fan service?

STALKER Reveals First Faction, Region, Ties

For the foreseeable future, Survarium is as close as we'll get to STALKER 2, and the two franchise appear to have more in common than I first thought. The debut game from Vostok Games, the studio created out of the ashes of GSC Game World, may be an MMOFPS, but it certainly captures the look and feel of STALKER. Get a good look at one of its regions and factions in the latest Survarium developer diary.

Assassin's Creed 3's Connor Trailer

AC3's Connor is a man stuck in a conflict between three worlds. He's a half Native American of Mohawk descent at a time when his people are being driven from their lands, all the while participating in a war between the American colonies and the British. Needless to say, his life is a little complicated, and this new trailer reveals how his mixed roots and colliding interests lead to his training as an assassin.

Hitman: Absolution The Killer Mode Trailer

The last scene in the Hitman trailer raises a question. I play my stealth games with brains instead of brawn, and when my well-laid plans are ruined, I typically just let my character fall under the knife before starting my stealth strategy again from my last save. How do you play your stealth-action games? And when you're spotted, do you switch to Rambo mode or do you treat it as falling off a cliff?

Far Cry 3: Lost Expeditions DLC

Far Cry 3's first planned DLC, Lost Expeditions, has gotten itself its own trailer. Yes! Who knew that DLC for as-yet-to-be-released games could receive their own promotional campaign? We seem to be getting a little ahead of ourselves here. In any case, the trailer claims that this DLC will add two unique new missions, totaling an extra 40 minutes of gameplay. That's an extra 40 minutes of deafening gunfire and things aflame. Score!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 10

Will BioWare be the same without the Doctors? Plus, Marcus rants about Metacritic & review scores!

Command & Conquer The Ultimate Collection Released

Holy crap. I'm going to be mining Tiberium for the rest of time. EA released Command & Conquer The Ultimate Collection today, a bundle which includes 17 C&C games and expansions for $50. It's not quite every game to be released in the classic strategy series, but it's damn close. Oh, and one more thing. If you pick up The Ultimate Collection, you'll also get beta access to the upcoming Command & Conquer, the free-to-play version of the RTS which drops in 2013.

From the Best Selling Real-Time Strategy franchise of all time, rediscover the groundbreaking, action-packed strategy game-play that changed PC gaming forever with Command & Conquer™ The Ultimate Collection. Fight as the Global Defense Initiative or the Brotherhood of Nod as they clash over the rare mineral Tiberium in the classic original series.

Challenge the red menace in an alternate universe in Red Alert, then step into the near future with Generals as China and the United States battle the Global Liberation Army, a terrorist organization hell-bent on bringing the world to its knees! Rule all three Command & Conquer universes and more with this incredible value – including 17 games and more!

AMD Prepping Hondo Hardware

A flashlight-equipped duo discovers in an engineering lab something "beyond explanation", something "mutated" and "cool". The video ends with what apparently is a secret notebook, but "not a laptop". The product is not quite as mysterious as it may sound, as the hints match up closely with previous claims made by AMD about its Hondo APU.

Hondo and the Hudson M2T FCH (Fusion Controller Hub) will become the Brazos-T platform that is AMD's x86 play to compete, together with Intel's Atom, against a wave of ARM rivals that will become available in Windows RT notebooks. Hondo's primary target in that market will be Nvidia's Tegra 3. SemiAccurate posted supposed specifications of AMD's platform, which are to receive the commercial names of the Z-60 APU and the A55T FCH. The dual-core CPU will run at 1.0 GHz and integrate a Radeon HD6250 graphics chip at 276 MHz.

Intel Pits HDD Against SSD in Human Productivity

If you're reading Tom's Hardware, you're probably well aware of the advantages of a solid state drive over a traditional hard drive. However, not all users are as tech savvy. Many people have little to no idea of the difference an SSD could make to their system until they see the difference for themselves. Intel took a handful of office workers and gave them a 'productivity test,' pitting each worker against an actor using a machine with an SSD. Sadly, the video doesn't go as far as to reveal the truth to those featured, or even ask them what they thought of the difference in speed. Still, it's interesting to watch despite this.

Note that Intel rolled out this video shortly before the launch of its SATA III drives, but it's still amusing to see how the company is trying to convey a faster technology to the masses.

PC Perspective Podcast #220

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about the Samsung 840 Pro SSD, a 1500W PSU from EVGA, AMD GPU leaks, and more!

Japanese Scientists Developing Sugar-Based Batteries

Scientists at the Tokyo University of Science recently confirmed that they have been able to create a more powerful battery by using sugar as an alternative to lithium. The end result will be a more powerful, less expensive product with an almost endless supply of raw material at hand. We need something like this and soon I'm sick of Lithium battery's.

Motherboard Versus Washing Machine at 1500RPM

This guy threw an Intel DZ77RE-75K motherboard into a washing machine and ran it through a cycle. I have no idea why...but he did. This dude's laundry will smell like motherboards for a year. This is why I read HardOCP they have some crazy stuff they put on there website, by the way I think my Motherboard needs to be cleaned too.

Cooperative Quadrocopter Ball Throwing and Catching

These quadrotor things are awesome in a "some-day-they-will-swarm-the-planet-killing-us-all" kinda way.

HardOCP Cool Video of the Day

Supposedly this video shows thirty two metronomes, all started at different times, synchronizing themselves. I say "supposedly" because watching the damn things keeps putting me to sleep before the video ends.

Borderlands 2 Reset Bug Kills Your Badass Rank

Anyone else run into this bug because if you did you deserved it for buying it at launch so I hope your in enjoying it, I never buy games at launch anymore I wait for the Game of the Year Edition or all the DLC to be included before I buy a game. Have fun with the bug Suckers :)

NES Light Gun Gets a Burning Laser Upgrade

Are you in the market for a little more zap in your NES classic style light gun? The guys over at North Street Labs have just the thing to put a little more excitement into your light gun accessories, like setting the place on fire or creating instant blindness. Lawsuits are being written as we speak.

Meet Far Cry 3's Savages

There are some crazy fools in Far Cry 3, particularly these two. Buck and Vaas take center stage in The Savages trailer, and their insanity shares the spotlight. How bananas do you have to be to live in an uncivilized murder jungle? Well, just about this bananas.

One of the things I love about Far Cry 2 (and there's a lot of things I love about that game) was listening to the crazy characters legitimize their horrendous actions. When we first heard from Vaas, I was worried that he'd be another stereotypical villain with no real motivations. The more I hear from him, however, the more he seems to be rather interesting. And Buck? That guy sounds super fascinating. I'm excited to meet all the characters Far Cry 3 has to offer.

17 Minutes of Dead Space 3 Gameplay

Hey, so there's some new Dead Space 3 footage out. Seventeen minutes of it, no less. We're walked through part of the single-player campaign by the creative director and senior audio artist, and the first half of the video features enough fiery explosions and sequences so lathered in cream-thick tension that I wouldn't be surprised if Michael Bay's name was slapped on the box.

The first few minutes especially look incredibly cinematic. Like, to the point of having control taken from you so you can only watch hopelessly as poor Isaac barrels through imploding space station hallways as he claws for air.

Splinter Cell Blacklist Official Fifth Freedom Trailer

Sam Fisher: Professional badass. Well, sort of. He's really a professional spy, but I think being a badass is part of the job description. I mean, look at him take suckers out in this Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer. He's been given license to kill, and he certainly doesn't seem shy about using it. It looks like he's given up on the whole "stealth" thing.

For a series previously so based around sneaking goodness, it's interesting to see a rocket launcher even make an appearance in a Splinter Cell game. Granted, Splinter Cell: Conviction broke away from the previous games a bit in its focus on combat, but I figured once the night vision goggles made a reappearance, so would the emphasis on stealth. Maybe these are just the exciting, things-go-boom moments, however. You never know.

Hitman Contracts Mode: Choose-Your-Own Assassinations

According to the trailer description: Players will choose a level, targets, weapons and then set their own rules for completing the contract based on time, style and witnesses. There are no clumsy editors or complicated mechanics to learn; in CONTRACTS you simply play to create. As an asynchronous mode,CONTRACTS allows fans to compete against friends at any time, regardless of whether they are online. HITMAN: ABSOLUTION will also ship with many pre-set CONTRACTS, each designed by the very best assassins at IO Interactive.

Assassin's Creed 3 Trailer Rewrites History

We all know the Boston Tea Party by now. Pissed off soon-to-be Americans dumped a whole bunch of imported tea into the Boston Harbor to protest taxes or something. I don't know, it was a long time ago and I went to public school. Well, Assassin's Creed 3 is looking to confuse me even more with its promise to tell the hidden side of the American Revolution, as revealed by this new trailer. Sure, there isn't much by way of gameplay, but what is there looks super dope.

Computer Control With Your Eyeballs

In the near future you could be interfacing with certain applications simply with your eyes. Students at the Imperial College London have shown that such a device could be built for less than $30. The idea is not as revolutionary as you may think and uses commonly available hardware. The students used game console cameras capable of tracking 3D objects, such as Microsoft's Kinect.

However, instead of tracking an entire body, two cameras were placed on a head-mounted construct "outside of the user's field of vision", and were recalibrated to track pupils. According to the students working on the project, the concept worked well, even if the technology was just demonstrated with a simple Pelota-like game. A commercial product would need "appropriate" funding and about three more years of development, the researchers said.

Hospital Offers Handsfree Sperm Extraction Device

The hands-free "sperm extractor" is a stand up device with a height-adjustable "massage pipe" that moves inward and outward from the main body of the sperm extractor. According to the manufacturer, the speed, amplitude and frequency can be adjusted by the user, which aims to provide a "warm" and "comfortable" feeling for users who find difficult to retrieve their sperm the traditional, manual way. There is even a screen to play movie content to help with the extraction process.

The description of a sperm extractor may be a bit misleading, since the extraction is done not for the purpose of sperm donation, but to collect a patient's sperm during an infertility treatment. Zhu Guoxin, director of the urology department at the hospital also noted that previous methods that involved the use of condoms may have negatively impacted the test results to the use of lubricants and other chemicals on them.

Check out the Comments on Toms Hardware, really funny comments worth the look I couldn't stop laughing looking forward to a review on this device. Will always be cheaper than a girlfriend/wife :)

Game Controller Keychain for Smartphones

With mobile gaming on the rise, many designers have hopped onto the gamepad bandwagon, creating a number of tactile game controllers hoping to offer the ultimate mobile gaming experience. Crowd funding site Kickstarter has helped facilitate the creation of many of these, the latest example being the iMpulse Controller. While most of the gamepad devices we have covered hope to reproduce the console controller feel, iMpulse is focused more on portability and convenience. The pocket-sized gamepad features a minimal design with a single sliding directional thumbpad and five gaming buttons. The bluetooth-powered device can be flipped around to function with the thumbpad on either the left or right side.

Additionally, the iMpulse controller attaches to your keychain and also functions as a media remote for your mobile gadgets or as a key finder that beeps loudly when activated via smartphone application. Out of the box, iMpulse is designed to support hundreds of popular mobile games on both Android and iOS platforms, and its creators are also offering a developers kit to bring even more application support in the future. To show your support, a pledge of at least $30 will get get you your very own iMpulse controller, while an additional $10 will get you a charging cable and T-shirt. Additionally, there is a slick metal finish available for a $55 contribution.

New Crysis 3 Trailer

For those of you looking forward to the next installment in the Crysis series, there is a new Crysis 3 trailer out now.

LEGO Great Ball Contraption

Who has the time to make such amazingly incredible LEGO contraptions like this? Thankfully this guy does or we wouldn't have this video.

PC Perspective Podcast #219

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about the NVIDIA GTX 660 and 650, Luicid Dynamix technology, A85 Motherboards and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 9

Marcus fires off on the nature of unfinished games and gives his thoughts on Bayonetta 2 coming to the Wii U.

Kill With All of the Things in Hitman: Absolution

A coffee mug. A plunger. A bottle of hot sauce. To you, mere household objects. To Agent 47, they are tools of the trade. And that trade just happens to be killing. Obviously, he can use more traditional weaponry to assassinate fools, but where's the fun in that? Is there even a point to being a highly trained assassin if you can't bash someone's head in with a hula lady statue?

For a series all about creative killing, it's great to see some of the options available to us. Do you guys have any ideas as to what would make a good murder weapon? Personally, I'd love to see the bald guy take someone out with a roll of Christmas-themed wrapping paper.

Far Cry 3 Survival Guide Again!

If Vaas, the mohawked Far Cry 3 villain Ubisoft has been touting up to this point, is tough, Hoyt Volker is armageddon. In the latest in its Survival Guide series of trailers, Ubisoft warns players who plan on visiting South Island to beware of Volker and his highly trained privateer army. Thankfully, if the two seconds of footage halfway through the video are anything to go on, we'll have a powerful ally on our side: man-eating cheetahs!

Perhaps I should describe the cheetah as a temporary ally. We see the protagonist attacked by the jungle cat early on in the trailer and then at roughly the 1:20 mark, a cheetah appears to be leading the charge into Volker's camp. Evidently I'm obsessed with cheetahs in Far Cry 3. Moving on! Get the lowdown on Volker and South Island.

Sleeping Dogs DLCs

Sleeping Dogs has been out a few weeks now, so you've probably already beat the game and are wondering what's next... and if this DLC trailer teaches us anything, it's to expect a lot of cinematic slow-mo driving scenes.

The Street Racer Pack includes, of course, opportunities for racing your sweet car, motorcycle, or or boat through the streets of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the SWAT Pack includes a bunch of new justice-dealing cop missions. Namedropped but not explained are also the Top Dogs, Retro Triad, and High Roller Packs. These DLC packs are due for release sometime in October, so ready your speedboats for these expansions to your Sleeping Dogs universe.

Borderlands 2 Launch Trailer

Vault Hunters everywhere will return to Pandora to take on Handsome Jack and partake in the biggest loot balloon popping party this side of Diablo 2. Borderlands 2 is primed and ready for midnight release, and you know what that means: it's time for that requisite of gaming releases, the launch trailer.

Dead Island Riptide CGI Trailer

Here's a question I never thought I'd ask myself: How do you top a game trailer where a backwards-traveling girl gets chomped by flesh-hungry monstrosities? Apparently you do it by depicting a pair of star-crossed lovers exploding, thereby taking said flesh-hungry monstrosities with them. Such is the case with Dead Island Riptide's newest teaser, and boy does it tug at those emotional heart strings.

While, as with the original Dead Island's first look, this clip has no gameplay in it whatsoever, it certainly sets the tone for the non-sequel. Hell, it's safe to say the waterlogged Dead Island Riptide is poised to take a significantly darker turn from the trouble-in-paradise setting of Dead Island. No more taking a stroll on a clear sunny day to lob limbs off the undead, you're going to have to deal with clouds now! Spooky.

Company of Heroes 2 Behind the Scenes

Players who pre-order from Steam will have access to the Steam Pre-Purchase Tiered Reward program, which includes unlocks for Team Fortress 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Retribution. Customers who pre-order from Origin will get an exclusive Soviet Bryansk Front vehicle skin. Anyone who orders from ShopTHQ will receive the Command Pass, which offers bonus multiplayer maps and exclusive members-only events. THQ will also offer the Command Pass for sale separately after Company of Heroes 2 launches.

Finally, THQ also announced a Digital Collector’s Edition of Company of Heroes 2 that will be available for $99.99. The Digital Collector’s Edition will offer access to the first three single-player content packs when they’re available post-release, plus exclusive heavy German Whitewash and Soviet Winter Cobblestone tank skins and a Veteran badge for your in-game profile. Players will also get the original Company of Heroes, including both of its expansion packs.

First Video Shot With Google Glass

Celebrated fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg tried on Glass for the first time a few months ago at a conference that she attended with Sergey Brin. She immediately loved it and they agreed to bring Glass to New York Fashion Week. Diane is a champion for innovation and effortless design, so it’s unsurprising that Glass fit seamlessly into her production.

When examining video quality, Google's glasses may pale in comparison to a number of available miniature cameras, but the device is still well in its prototype stages and may likely feature further improvements in the designs to come.

Beta for Valve's Hardware Efforts

According to the interview, the hardware division is working in tandem with Steam's Big Picture Mode, creating a hardware solution to the control-based limitations found in many titles offered on Valve's Steam platform. Possibilities again she wouldn't reveal what Valve was working on range from Phantom Lapboard-type solutions to hybrid controllers.

Nowhere in the interview were there signs of a possible Steam console. Whatever Valve has up its sleeve, it sounds like gamers will have a chance to offer feedback on those designs, as the hardware team is planning a beta for its various products. Even more, the team is pushing to launch a beta for the company's first product in the coming year, meaning the Steam community will know more about this first attempt by the time those beta doors swing wide open in 2013.

Razer Game Booster - IObit's Game Booster software

Razer announced on Thursday the launch of a closed beta for Razer Game Booster, a system tweak utility based on IObit's Game Booster software. The tool optimizes a user’s system settings, thus improving PC game performance while also providing the ability to share "favorite moments" with friends in the process.

Razer Game Booster takes what Razer is all about and supercharges it," said Robert "RazerGuy" Krakoff, president of Razer USA. "We are huge fans of IObit’s Game Booster software and we are dedicated to providing gamers with the absolute best experience possible. To that end, we are committed to everything that adds performance and fun to gaming, which includes software and the systems they run on.

Game Booster 3 is capable of delivering the best gaming experience to you even if you have an old PC. One-click to boost PC performance is not enough, Game Booster 3 also allows you to tweak your system for top PC performance. By temporarily shutting background processes and unnecessary Windows services, cleaning RAM, and intensifying processor performance, Game Booster 3 concentrates every little system resource for gaming only.

These GPS Shoes Will Guide You Home

With the advent of smartphones, navigation units in cars, and Google Maps, it's almost impossible to get lost. Still, you don't have to tell us that it definitely does still happen. Sometimes you'll find yourself without any kind of map or technology to tell you where to go or how to get home. What if your shoes could get you home in these situations?

Gizmodo points to an invention by a British man named Dominic Wilcox. Dubbed the 'No Place Like Home GPS Shoes,' this project does exactly what it says on the tin. Commissioned by Global Footprint, a Northamptonshire-based visual arts and living heritage programme, and on display at Wilcox's exhibit at KK Outlet in London, the shoes promise to guide you home no matter where you are in the world.

Lian Li Case Looks and Moves Like a Train: Choo-choo!

Here's a case for you train geeks to lust after. Lian-Li, a company that's no stranger to unique and funky PC cases, has just announced the PC-CK101, a case made to look like a steam train. Made from aluminum, this case actually comes in two versions -- a stationary model for those that just want the cool case, and an actual moving train that will go up and down the tracks. Seriously!

If you go for the moving PC-CK101 Premium, the chassis comes with six interlocking tracks so the case can move up and down the tracks. The stationary PC-CK101 Standard comes with one rail that acts as a stand and has a label stating that its the 2012 Special Edition Chassis. Pricewise, you're looking at $229 for the stationary model and $379 for the moving version.

PC Perspective Podcast #218

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about the Gigabyte Z77X-UD7, Apple A6 SoC, Thunderbolt GPU Tech from Lucid, and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 8

What does Marcus think is wrong with the current state of the survival-horror genre? Plus, what games are on his “crap-radar” this fall?

Computing With Water Droplets

Researchers have taken water and computing to a whole new level. Watch the videos Using the tracks, the researchers demonstrated that water droplets could be turned into technology, "superhydrophobic droplet logic." For example, a memory device was built where water droplets act as bits of digital information. Furthermore, devices for elementary Boolean logic operations were demonstrated. These simple devices are building blocks for computing.

Must See Video of the Day

Video of the day? Heck, this is probably the coolest video you will see all week. The final animation is sort of an encore of 2 previous popular animations. There was pacman and there was the gun. So I combined them. Pacman eating the bullets from the gun. The images found in the video can be print out try it yourself.

Portal 2 Sentry Turret For Sale Soon?

HardOCP spotted Portal 2 Sentry Turret For Sale on Twitter. Rumor has it that they are going to be selling these via Valve's merchandise storefront. Check out the video:

Pi In The Sky

Nerd alert! Nerd Alert! There is Pi in the sky! That is all. At 10,000 feet altitude, a team of five synchronized aircraft equipped with dot-matrix technology will skywrite the first 1,000 numbers of Pi's infinite sequence. The aircraft will fly in a 100+ mile loop around the San Francisco Bay Area. Each number will measure over a quarter-mile in height.

How Stupid are Apple Fan boys? Really Stupid

Jimmy Kimmel took to the streets to give the public a look at the new iPhone 5 and get people's honest impressions of Apple's latest and greatest iDevice. Why is the iPhone so popular? Long story short They Suck! I hate Apple Products and some glad I do just watch the video above. I guest Apple fan boys are really that Stupid. It just works ya at taking your money, one guys Owns a iPhone 4 the exact same phone he has in his hands and thinks it the new iPhone 5 wow what dumb people out there this is just Amazing!

After watching Jimmy Kimmel on HardOCP making Apple fan boys look really Stupid over the iPhone 5 I came across these two videos, I love HardOCP there ant a week that goes by that they don't make me laugh. Keep up the good work HardOCP.

Intel Turns Any Wall into a Touch Screen Display with Kinect

Here we are at Day 1 of Intel Developer Forum witnessing some fabulous proof-of-concept designs. The first concept to really catch our eye is Intel’s "Display without Boundaries", where Intel turns any surface into a fully capable multi-touch screen. That means you can turn any wall, table, or item into a touch-screen device that recognizes multitouch gestures and actions as smoothly as iPad.

Steam's Big Picture

Valve released a trailer showing off Steam's Big Picture mode. The company has billed it as the "World's First First Person Browser." Check out Big Picture, Steam's new mode that lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television. With the press of a button, Steam displays a new full-screen user interface optimized for readability and interaction on TV. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional game controller, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.

Command & Conquer Generals 2 Will Included Single-Player

Electronic Arts claimed fans would drive development of the newly minted free-to-play Command & Conquer and, for now at least, the publisher is living up to its word. Originally announced as a multiplayer only game, Command & Conquer will now include a single-player campaign thanks to fan feedback.

In mid-August, EA announced that in-development Command & Conquer Generals 2 would become part of the RTS franchise's transition to free to play. As part of that transition to F2P, the single-player campaign of Generals 2, which BioWare Victory had been working on for well over a year, would be scrapped.

If GameSpy's comments section is any indication of fan reaction to the announcement, EA should have, at the very least, carried the Generals 2 campaign over to F2P C&C. Well, in an interview with The Verge, EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said that feedback came through loud and clear. There may be no going back from F2P for C&C, but a new single-player campaign will be included.

"Our intention with Command & Conquer is to create a triple-A experience," Gibeau told The Verge. "And by that I mean we're using Frostbite tech, we're using very high-end graphics. Does that mean it's not going to have single-player? No, that's something we've obviously heard loud and clear that is important to people."

"The beauty of free-to-play, is that we can adjust and adapt to what we're hearing as opposed to, 'I'm sorry, it's two months from ship and it is what it is.' It's a very different model because you don't have to build as much. You build in response to your audience."

Borderlands 2's Mechromancer

The Mechromancer class for Borderlands 2 will be available to download from October 16, 2K Games has confirmed.

Inside Assassin's Creed III - Episode 3

The third instalment in the behind-the-scenes video series looks at Connor; the hero behind the war.

The Combat System of Dishonored

The game's flexible combat systems allow you to play to your individual style and craft your own experience. In this video, the team at Arkane Studios discuss the game's depth of player choice. Dishonored casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. Creatively eliminate your targets with the flexible combat system as you combine supernatural abilities with weapons and gadgets at your disposal.

Pursue your targets under the cover of darkness or ruthlessly attack them head on with weapons drawn. The outcome of each mission plays out based on the choices you make. Dishonored will be available in North America on October 9, 2012, in Australia and Spain on October 11, 2012, and throughout Europe on October 12, 2012, and is slated for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Black Mesa Half-Life Remake Available

As announced earlier this month, the first part of fan-made Half Life remake Black Mesa is available for free starting today. The game can be downloaded through Black Mesa’s official site and allows players to play through the game up to Lambda Core. Black Mesa is a total conversion of Half-Life 2, rebuilding Half-Life from the ground up in Source.

The game can be played by anyone who downloads Valve’s free Source SDK, and a full list of system requirements is available on Black Mesa’s site. Black Mesa will also be distributed via Steam in the future as part of Valve’s Steam Greenlight program.

PC Perspective Podcast #217

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about the Corsair AX1200i Power Supply, Video Games as Art, Wireless Charging and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 7

Straight from Seattle, Marcus offers a rebuttal to his piracy rant, shares his thoughts on PAX 2012 and more!

IDF Keynote Video: Transparent Computing Software, Services

You don't have to be in San Francisco to catch all the action from IDF. Once again, our man from Tom's Hardware Italy with the camera has recorded the keynote from the ongoing Intel Developers Forum. Best of all, you get to watch it at your desk, or on your couch, or wherever you're computing from. At over 52 minutes in length, you may want to grab beverage and fix a snack.

Lucid Thunderbolt External GPU Demonstrated

Lucid now sees an advantage for this technology because of the Thunderbolt interface and often underpowered Ultrabooks that may have enthusiasts wanting more in the graphics department. Their external box integrates an AMD Radeon 6700 chip, which has the potential to improve the graphics performance of a base Ultrabook by a substantial margin.

So, is this technology coming to market? It is a concept right now and far from being a market-ready product. As passionate as we were about external graphics in 2006, it is still much more likely that external graphics would be, if commercially sold, a niche product and not a mainstream solution.

Turns Your Desk into a Microsoft Surface-like Display

DIY desktop interface project turns any flat surface into an interactive display. Now that Microsoft has unveiled its Surface tablet, the old touchscreen table device is left without a catchy name. Now identified as Microsoft "PixelSense", the Samsung SUR40 is still a highly desirable device that has inspired many creative minds to come up with similar, less costly alternatives. The latest example is the AnyTouch device based on Ayotle’s Ayotle Interactive+ system.

Although it provides similar functions to Microsoft's Pixelsense, AnyTouch is unique in that it doesn't require an actual touchscreen. As the name suggests, the device can turn any flat surface along with 3D objects into a complex, interactive display. While the AnyTouch setup might not cost as much as a $8400 Samsung SUR40, it does require a handful of expensive equipment including a DSLR camera and the ASUS Xtion motion sensor.

No word on whether or not the AnyTouch code will be opened up to the public for DIY projects just yet, but we're assuming this isn't going to be the last we hear of this awesome surface-top display.

Furious Four No Longer a Brothers in Arms Game

Brothers in Arms: Furious Four is now a very different game from the one Gearbox unveiled at E3 2011, so much so that it's no longer an over-the-top offshoot of the Brothers in Arms franchise or even called Furious Four. So what's the story with Furious Four? Gearbox isn't ready to say just yet, but the studio is heavily hinting that a core Brothers in Arms game true to the franchise name is also in the mix.

Raise your hand if you were disappointed when Brothers in Arms appeared to be going the slapstick route in Furious Four. Yeah, me too. I'm a big Brothers in Arms fan, and enjoy the mix of squad strategy and first-person shooting. Turns out Gearbox wasn't that keen on Furious Four as a BiA game either. As studio boss Randy Pitchford told Kotaku at PAX Prime, the decision to make BiA: Furious Four was due, in part, to Ubisoft wanting a new BiA game and Gearbox being out of fresh ideas. Hence the wild new direction for the franchise.

But as Pitchford revealed, the further into development the team got on Furious Four, the more obvious it became it wasn't a BiA game. The studio actually felt "unshackled" by dropping the Brothers in Arm name and started to add new features. As it stands now, the game formerly known as Furious Four is drastically different, Pitchford said, and while he refrained from sharing specifics, he did say it will bring a Borderlands-like genre hybrid experience.

"Our Pokemon has evolved," Pitchford told Kotaku. "It has different powers."

An official Furious Four announcement is coming soon, Gearbox said, and for fans wondering about the core Brothers in Arms franchise, an announcement about that should also be right around the corner. Pitchford teased that Gearbox plans to talk about its plans for BiA during the next community event, set for September 15.

Ubisoft Scraps DRM Tech for PC Games

Ubisoft isn't just getting rid of its draconian DRM technology, the chains that bound even its single-player games were broken months ago. In an about face, the Paris-based publisher announced that gamer feedback led to the decision to scrap its always online internet requirement for good. Ubisoft PC games are now DRM-free.

In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Ubisoft's Worldwide Director for Online Games, Stephanie Perotti, said that going forward, PC gamers will only be required to enter a single online activation code after install, and there will be no limits on how many PCs the code is used on. "Whenever you want to reach any online service, multiplayer, you will have to be connected, and obviously for online games you will also need to be online to play," Perotti said. "But if you want to enjoy Assassin's Creed III single player, you will be able to do that without being connected. And you will be able to activate the game on as many machines as you want."

Ubisoft has been assailed by PC gamers for years for its DRM tech, and its unclear why the publisher finally decided to listen and pull the plug. However, just two weeks back Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot said the company believed up to 95% of all Ubisoft PC games out in the wild were illegally downloaded. Based on that stat, the DRM wasn't only not working, it may have actually made Ubisoft a target of piracy. If anything, Ubi wasn't listening to feedback, it was throwing in the towel. But hey, I'll take it. Better late than never.

Fortnite "Going to be a PC Game First and Foremost"

"Next-gen is a high-end PC. It's been here for a while. The PC never died. The PC never went away." Ah, Cliff Bleszinski. I knew I liked you for a reason. In a talk about Epic's upcoming Fortnite at PAX, the stylish design director made it clear that his team is making their take on the zombie survival genre with the PC in mind. In fact, it's their priority, as it'll be the first time most people get their hands on Unreal Engine 4. Let me be the first to say "Ooh, pretty."

In exciting news, as Rock Paper Shotgun reports, in 2013 Epic will be rolling out a beta to see what people like and don't like about Fortnite, and promise to cater to our every whim. It's a lot of responsibility, friends. Do try and be respectful.

It's great to see the (at least lately) console-oriented developer catering to the PC audience. Particularly with a game so focused around building and player creativity, the mouse-and-keyboard platform seems better suited for these sort of expansive, player-driven concepts. So far, Fortnite looks amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on the closed beta. That is, if I can get in. You hear me, Cliff? Please?

Trials Evolution: Gold Edition Backflips to PC

I love it when things come full circle. Especially when that circle includes a rad motorcycle flipping through explosions and stuff. After making its start as a web-based game, the Trials series became console-ized for the releases of Trials HD and Trials Evolution. Now, Trials is coming back home, bringing PC gamers everything they missed and more in Trials: Gold Edition.

Coming in early 2013, Gold Edition will have all the content from Trials HD and Evolution (120 tracks in total), upgraded visuals, and a retooled editor that will make use of the mouse and keyboard. Let's get back to physics-based stunt driving.

PC Perspective Podcast #216

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about our GTX 660Ti Roundup, AMD Steamroller, Multi GPU Graphics Card Rumors and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 6

Marcus moves to his native habitat! From ranting about piracy to answering your questions – the man is on fire!

AMD The Surround Computing Era

AMD shared with us that it has spent the last 10-20 years developing processors that could simulate "visual reality," and it's going to spend the next couple of decades turning that 'visual computing era' on its head and develop processors and platforms that start with an image (or series of images, or GPS data, or other environmental data), interpret their contents and context, and use that to deliver better real time experiences to users. Thie company told us that this will leverage both cloud and client based processing, tying together all of the technologies and architectures that AMD has to offer.

Looking at the vision of what Surround Computing is and what is might look like in not-too-distant future, AMD offered up this example:

"Imagine it’s noon and you’re heading out of the office for lunch. As you leave, your mobile device intuitively knows where you’re going by automatically calculating multiple data points streaming in from the built-in GPS, clock, maps and cloud database connection. Since it knows your preferences so well, it goes to your favorite restaurant’s website and checks the specials. A friendly automated voice inside your device springs to life and offers to take your lunch order. You reply, 'lunch salad to go,' and the device places the order for you. By the time you arrive at the restaurant, it’s ready for pickup. An electronic payment was completed while you were in transit, so you don’t even have to reach for your wallet. And all of this happens without downloading apps or typing on your phone."

It may sound like something out of the Jetsons, but keep in mind that this is AMD's visions for decades from now. No back to your regularly scheduled discussion on Surround Computing. Surround computing imagines a world without keyboards or mice, where natural user interfaces based on voice and facial recognition redefine the PC experience, and where the cloud and clients collaborate to synthesize exabytes of image and natural language data. The ultimate goal is devices that deliver intelligent, relevant, contextual insight and value that improves consumers’ everyday life in real time through a variety of futuristic applications. AMD is leading the quest for devices that understand and anticipate users’ needs, are driven by natural user interfaces, and that disappear seamlessly into the background,” said Papermaster during his opening remarks.

Papermaster explained that the Surround Computing Era will rely on "robust plug-and-play IP portfolios" including CPUs, GPUs, fixed function logic, and interconnect fabric. He also unveiled key details of AMD's upcoming "Steamroller" CPU architecture while underscoring the benefits of the industry-standard Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) that enables software developers to easily assign scalar and parallel compute workloads to the most appropriate compute units, and therefore optimize power.

The road that leads us to the Surround Computing Era will be no less challenging and every bit as exciting as the 20-year journey in graphics processing that brought gamers from ‘Pong’ to today’s modern game titles that feature stunning visual realism,” Papermaster explained. “It will take an industry movement to complete this journey, and HSA provides the clear path forward to enable this next generation in computing."

Intel Testing Oil Immersion Cooling for Its Servers

This could be misconstrued as nerd and geek porn in some circlesbig Intel has been running an experiment for the past year on the feasibility and economy of cooling of total emersion oil cooling. The end result of the study is a resounding ‘yes’ on all counts. It works, it’s much cheaper and by the way Intel, it’s tres cool.

"Cyborg" Flesh Created With Nanowires and Human Tissue

A team of Harvard Bioengineers have successfully created the first known cyborg tissues. The rat tissue was combined with a collagen base and fused with nanowires and transistors, allowing the researchers to read cell data. The next step in the cyborg process would be getting the cells to respond to digital input. Thanks to forum member jadams for the heads up.

Revel: Programming the Sense of Touch

From the Disney Research Labs, new research is being conducted on tactile perception. The new studies are allowing tactile sensing to be transferred from almost any object to touch screens by way of a process known as ‘Reverse Electrovibration’.

Unreal Engine 3 for Windows 8 and Windows RT

A joint announcement today at IFA today by Epic and NVIDIA outlined the upcoming Unreal Engine 3 for Windows 8 and Windows RT. Now the ball is in the court of the Unreal developers to create games on the Windows RT platform.

Kingston Digital Releases Enterprise-Class SSD

Kingston Digital announced the release of its first enterprise-class server SSD. The new class of solid state drives addresses the performance and process requirements required for server reliability and speed while reducing energy requirements. The new drives are available in 100, 200 and 400GB capacities.

EVGA Announces 1500W Classified Power Supply

The EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified power supply allows users to switch between single or multiple 12V rails, as well as access to the exclusive SuperNOVA software, which lets users make voltage and fan adjustments. Not only that, the power supply is also capable of delivering up to 1650W of power output when using Overclock Mode, but this requires 230 volts of AC power.

Researchers Cram 700TB of Data Into One Gram of DNA

Despite decades of research, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, better known as DNA, is still considered to be one of the most complex structures in existence. Naturally, scientists have been working hard to fully harness the unique powers of DNA.

One potential use of DNA is its potential to store digital data. Because of its extremely dense structure, stability and survivability, DNA is an ideal candidate for massive data storage. While many extreme storage mediums need to be kept in strict temperature environments, DNA is able to survive for thousands of years at room temperature. Taking full advantage of its properties, Harvard researchers George Church and Sri Kosuri have successfully stored 700 terabytes of data into a single gram of DNA.

Surprisingly, the process was somewhat similar to traditional storage devices. While standard digital storage devices encode fragments of binary data onto hard drive platters, the DNA storage process synthesizes strands and encodes binary values onto each of its four DNA bases (TGAC). To read the stored data, all you would have to do is sequence the unique strands of DNA - in a similar fashion as sequencing the human genome. While this method may be capable of storing staggering amounts of data, synthesizing and sequencing DNA is no simple task. While modern lab equipment has certainly evolved over the years, DNA reading and writing would be a costly and lengthy process. Although this suggests DNA should be used for archival purposes, who knows what the future holds.

Borderlands 2 Sir Hammerlock Tour Trailer

You think you know the Borderlands? As Gearbox proves in its latest trailer, Pandora is a whole new world in Borderlands 2, with new areas, new classes, new abilities, new enemies, new weapons, and more new stuff stacked on top of all the rest. To help get you up to speed, Sir Hammerlock is here to take you on a tour of the new Borderlands, including a detailed class overview that has me thinking I'll be playing as the Assassin, Zer0, first. A 72% backstab damage boost? Booyah, indeed. Also check out Gearbox's Guide To Surviving Borderlands 2.

Far Cry 3 Island Survival Guide Trailer

Far Cry 3's Rook Islands are scary. I'll probably die a lot trying to explore them. Tigers will eat me, random dudes will shoot first, and I'll probably fall off a cliff once or twice. So, really, I could use all the help I can get. That's why I appreciate this new Survival Guide trailer. Oh, and the visuals aren't too bad either.

My favorite part? When protagonist Jason Brody fixes his broken thumb with a cringe-inducing crack. I loved the way Far Cry 2 made you really feel the pain that your character was going through when they healed their wounds. Great to see that idea come back.

PC Perspective Podcast #215

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about NVIDIA's GTX 660 Ti, MSI ZPower Z77 Motherboard, AMD GPU Price cuts and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 5

Are fanboys ruining the game industry? Marcus responds to the frequently asked question.

Ubisoft's ‘I Am Alive’ on PC September 13

Ubisoft announced that ‘I Am Alive’ will be migrating to the PC platform on September 13th. The PC version has been enhanced from the Xbox and PS versions with higher resolution, better graphics and two new modes.

Could a 'Printable Gun' Change the World?

Ah, the wonders of 3-D printing. Defense Distribution is putting together a project to develop a downloadable CAD design that would produce a functional .22 caliber handgun from a 3-D printer. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

High Tech Boobie Touching Glove

Call me old fashioned but I still prefer the low-tech approach to touching boobies.

Sleeping Dogs PC Demo

HardOCP has noticed that Steam has a demo for Sleeping Dogs posted. If you were still on the fence about this game, now would be a good time to download the demo and give it a go.

Galaxy GTX 660 Ti GC Dual Fan Unboxing

Those of you that are fans of unboxing videos should check out this Galaxy GTX 660 Ti GC dual fan video at Linus Tech Tips today. Our evaluation of the 3GB version of the GALAXY GeForce GTX 660 Ti GC can be found here and the overclocking test results are here.

Enhanced 1080P Video Of Curiosity Rover Decent

For those of you interested, this is a full resolution version of the NASA Curiosity rover descent to Mars at 15fps.

Source: HardOCP

Water Light Graffiti

Thousands of LEDs illluminated by contact with water? Yeah, it's as cool as it sounds. Check it out:

Hoverbike Video: Real or Fake?

And the raging debate of the day...is this real or fake?

Self-Driving Car Tops 120mph On The Track

Yeah, I'm not so sure I want to be doing 120mph around a track with no one behind the wheel. Then again, you'd think Hollywood would be all over something like this to replace stuntmen in crash scenes.

The Trackpad of the Future?

A trackpad that can do multi-touch and force detection as well? Sounds good if they have more than just this concept video:

Cool [H] Reader Video of the Day

This video, made by long time forum member CButters, is the coolest thing I've seen on an iPhone in a loooong time.

Microsoft Updates Its 25-year-old Logo

Microsoft is hoping to reinvent the desktop experience with Windows 8 and its Modern UI. The OS represents a massive change in the traditional desktop user interface, and it looks like Redmond is looking to give itself a little makeover, too. Microsoft today unveiled a brand new corporate logo. This is the first major Microsoft logo change in the company's history. It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change.

This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products," he wrote, later adding, "This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning.

Aliens: Colonial Marines - Escape Mode Trailer

Gearbox has revealed details of a new multiplayer mode for Aliens: Colonial Marines. It's called Escape, and pits a team of four US colonial marines against – you've guessed it – a team of four playable Xenomorphs. The mode has the added pressure of a time limit, in which the soldiers must stay alive and make their way to the evacuation zone. Meanwhile, the Xenomorphs must hunt down and kill the marines.

Logitech Fully Water-Washable Keyboard K310

We’ve all experienced that moment of distraction – followed by panic, when a cup of coffee or a soda spills all over your keyboard," says Sophie Le Guen, senior director of mice and keyboards at Logitech. "Because life and its messes will happen, regardless of how careful you are, Logitech designed the Logitech Washable Keyboard K310 to look and function like new, even over time."

According to the company, not only can this keyboard be hand washed time and time again, it can be submerged in up to 11 inches of water (except for the USB plug -- keep that dry). Drainage holes at the back of the keyboard allow for easy drying while key characters are laser printed and UV coated so that letters don’t fade in the wash. Even more, the keys themselves can last up to 5 million keystrokes, ideal for dirty, heavy-hitting fingertips.

Mad Catz Unveils S.T.R.I.K.E. Modular Gaming Keyboard

As any PC builder can attest to, modular products are great. But what about Just a few weeks ago, Razer unveiled its Ouroboros gaming mouse complete with modular ergonomic components to match multiple grip styles for both hands. As some of you noticed, the Ouroboros was somewhat similar in design to the Mad Catz R.A.T.

Now, the maker of the R.A.T. is bringing another modular peripheral to the fray, the S.T.R.I.K.E. 7. Drawing inspiration from its mouse counterpart, the keyboard features a durable metal body with mechanical keys and five modular components including: a V.E.N.O.M. TFT-LC touchscreen with TeamSpeak integration, four programmable buttons on a function strip, number keypad and a complex combination of wrist and palm rests. As great as all of these customizable features may be, they come at quite a hefty cost. Touting a $300 price tag, the S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 may be one of the most expensive mechanical keyboards on the market. But if you've got the cash to spare and you're an addict to customization, you can purchase the keyboard directly from the Mad Catz Gameshark store.

Natural Selection 2 Trailer

Natural Selection 2 has a variety of playable aliens, an entire armoury of human weaponry, turrets, squidgy alien hives and floating disembodied commanders able to boss troops about but, somehow, it doesn’t have mech suits. Yet. With much aplomb, the latest trailer tears the silver sheet off the hulking humanoid form of the Exosuit. It comes with two chain guns and air conditioning as standard, which is especially useful during those times in which you’re on fire. In times of calm you can pop the hood to stare smugly down at your poorly armoured squad mates. In short, it’s everything you’d probably want from a wearable war machine.

PC Perspective Live Review Recap: GeForce GTX 660 Ti

Today has been a busy day for the PC Perspective crew. Not only have we published like 100 graphics card reviews in the last three days but we also held a live event at the offices to host NVIDIA's Tom Petersen to discuss and debate the release of the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti. If you need to catch up, you should check out our GeForce GTX 660 Ti review posted earlier today to learn all about this $299 GPU that offers very compelling performance that competes with the HD 7950 and leaves the HD 7870 a fairly distant second.

Based on the same GK104 chip as the GTX 680 and the GTX 670, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti should find a lot of new homes this week. For this event we not only gave a short presentation with some demos and review discussion, we also featured questions from the hardware subreddit and gave away an EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti to a lucky viewer!