duminică, 7 august 2011
sâmbătă, 16 aprilie 2011
Rise of the Planet of the Apes trailer unleashes itself upon humanity
So it turns out that James Franco may be responsible for ending the world. Strange, our money would have been on Justin Bieber. In the newest title in the Planet of the Apes franchise that includes five movies in the original series and one reboot starring Mark Wahlberg, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, will tell the origin of the intelligent apes which begin the movement to replace humanity as the dominant species on Earth.
The film will be something of a reboot and a prequel to the earlier movies, but it will also be a new story which should not change the original continuity too much. James Franco stars as a scientist working on neurological treatments to help fight against Alzheimer’s. When he begins testing on the ape Caesar (played by Andy Serkis who was then replaced in post-production), the results are astounding. As the ape’s intelligence grows, so do the sympathies of the lab attendants who remove Caesar from the lab to protect him, not knowing that the ape’s intelligence was continuing to grow, and plans to revolt had already been formed.
The film stars Franco, Freida Pinto, John Litgow and Brian Cox. Directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), Rise of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on August 5.
Trackback URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/entertainment/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-trailer-unleashes-itself-upon-humanity/trackback/Video shows the panic Fukushima’s radiation cloud caused as it spread across the globe
The situation in Japan seems to be getting a lot worse before it gets better. Though the earthquake and tsunami are long over, radiation leaks and problems continue at the Fukushima Nuclear plant. According to SocialIntensity.org, there have been more than 500 million tweets about the incident in the last month. The moving graphic below shows the intensity of tweets in each country around the world in the days since March 11, 2011, when the nuclear reactor first blew its lid. It’s interesting to note how much tweets pick up as the cloud approaches them, and how much they decline after it passes.
To get this data, the site used Google’s Realtime system to search for tweets containing information on radioactivity, pollution cloud, Fukushima, and similar topics.
Fukushima is now the most expensive natural disaster in history, costing more than $309 billion dollars. The disaster is getting so bad that Sony may shut down its offices for two weeks to save power.
Trackback URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/video-shows-the-panic-fukushimas-radiation-cloud-caused-as-it-spread-across-the-globe/trackback/Twisted Metal returns to its disturbing roots in this new trailer
If you owned a Playstation One, there is a very good chance that you have memories of Twisted Metal. They may not all have been fond memories, especially if your buddies chose to hide in a bell tower and launch spectral missiles at you all day long because they simply refused to play the game like they should and instead hid like a coward and let their special attack do all the work while the real gamers were forced to run for their lives!! Sorry, the game brings back some intense memories.
For many, Twisted Metal was a series that combined three very cool elements—fast vehicles, powerful and original weapons, and the ability to wipe the smirk off of your friends’ face as you destroyed their Humvee with a guy on a motorcycle. But after the PSOne (and even during it when the later incarnations of the game began to show their limits), the franchise floundered and failed to capture the imagination of the fans. Part of that was likely due to the change from the original developer, SingleTrac to 989 Studios, and then later to Incognito Entertainment, but more likely people just felt that the franchise had hit its peak.
It has been 10 years since the last console game in the series, Twisted Metal: Black, and the property once again finds itself in the hands of many of the original developers of the game, who have gone on to form Eat, Sleep, Play Inc., This will mark the studios first full game, but despite the lack of a resume for the developer as a whole, the studio is packed with some of the best talent working today, including David Jaffee, the director of God of War and the original Twisted Metal games. In other words, there is a lot of cause to be excited.
The new game will feature most of the familiar combatants from the series, four-player split-screen action, and a multiplayer that will contain 16-players. Check out the trailer below and expect to hear more on this game in the coming months (especially at E3), and look for it as a PS3 exclusive on October 4.
[Warning: May not be suitable for all ages]
Trackback URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/twisted-metal-returns-to-its-disturbing-roots-in-this-new-trailer/trackback/vineri, 15 aprilie 2011
Fujitsu Lifebook X2 notebook concept folds into four parts
There’s no denying that the design of notebook computers has been more of an evolution than a revolution for the last 20 years: sure, trackballs have disappeared in favor of trackpads, screens are larger (and in color!), and the systems are far sleeker and much more powerful than their early brethren. But if you were to put a notebook from 1991 next to a notebook from 2011, most people would notice the system’s similarities rather than their differences.
Every once in a while a design comes along that challenges traditional thinking about notebook computers: one might be the Acer Iconia that opts for two touchscreen displays rather than one display with a conventional keyboard and pointing device. However, another might be a design concept from Yanko Design for a Fujitsu Lifebook X2. Dubbed a “folded notebook,” instead of opening on a single hinge like a traditional notebook, the X2 concept features four sections that open accordion-style on three hinges.
The top two sections feature flatscreen displays, and the X2 concept is apparently intended to operate with just one slim panel opened up: it serves as a display while the touch-capable lower display pops up a virtual keyboard for quick messaging and communications needs. When a user needs a complete notebook, all four sections unfold to reveal a physical keyboard and trackpad, and the two screens meld together to become a full-sized notebook display.
And when users are done with the computer, the whole thing folds up into a package that looks like it could fit into a clutch purse.
The Lifebook X2 concept is just a design at this point, so no hardware specs are available, although the design does feature a webcam, USB ports, dedicated media keys, and apparent audio jacks. Even if the Lifebook X2 never reaches consumers, it’s good to know at least someone out there is challenging the traditional idea of what a notebook computer should be. Over two decades of the same-old same-old might be more than a enough.
Trackback URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/fujitsu-lifebook-x2-notebook-concept-folds-into-four-parts/trackback/April WordPress hack the latest in long line of similar attacks
Automattic, the purveyor of WordPress, has suffered a recent security breach that could present to significant security risk for WordPress-powered sites.
“Automattic had a low-level (root) break-in to several of our servers, and potentially anything on those servers could have been revealed,” WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg explained on the WordPress blog, on Wednesday. Mullenweg goes on to write that WordPress is reviewing the logs and suspects its source code was copied. The company has little advice for users, other than to strengthen their passwords. Not only is the WordPress blog hosting affected, but many of Automattic’s other services are potentially at-risk.
The consequences of this attack by hackers will definitely be felt by the major VIP members of the WordPress service such as NASA, CBS and The New York Times. Alexia Tsosis from TechCrunch (also a VIP member) says “VIP customers are all on ‘code red’ and in the process of changing all the passwords/API keys they’ve left in the source code.” Tsosis says that Automattic is downplaying the potential severity of this attack.
There have been a bevy of hack attacks occurring lately against big name companies, such as the DDoS attacks against Sony PlayStation by Anonymous, as well as the EMC breach, Epsilon, and lets not forget that this isn’t the first time WordPress has been attacked.
WordPress was hit hard in 2009 when hidden admin accounts were creating back doors. Just last month, WordPress also suffered a huge DDoS attack, affecting 10 percent of its hosted sites. Let’s remember that this blog host serves some 18 million sites. Mullenweg originally believed the March Distributed Denial of Service attack was motivated politically by China, though later he changed his thoughts on who the culprits may be. There’s no word yet that this April root break-in is politically motivated, but these attacks may be building to some sort of crescendo.
Trackback URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/april-wordpress-hack/trackback/Acer debuts 23- and 27-inch 3D monitors
Computer maker Acer is hoping folks are still interested in jumping on the 3D entertainment bandwagon, introducing two new 3D capable monitors to appeal to both gamers and folks looking to tap into consumer 3D content. The 23.6-inch HS244HQ display features support for 3D content via HDMI and a native 1,920 by 1,080-pixel resolution, while the 27-inch HN274H offers the same native resolution and claims to be the first 27-inch display to support both HDMI 3D and Nvidia 3D Vision for 3D gaming.
“Setting the standard for premium 3D multimedia, the new Acer 3D displays give the sensation of full immersion in a virtual world, while the contemporary design sports stylish features, convenient touch-sensitive controls and earth-friendly materials,” said Acer America’s senior product marketing manager for peripherals Dan Oka, in a statement.
The 27-inch HN274H ships with Nvidia 3D Vision glasses and sport an integrated IR emitter to sync up the active shutter technology—although users will need to get a different set of 3D glasses to tap into 3D content from Blu-ray players and other video sources. The HN274H sports three HDMI inputs along with VGA and DVI inputs, and Acer claims the system has a dynamic contrast ratio of 100 million to 1—handy for catching opponents sneaking up on you in dimly-lit first-person shooters. The HN274H is available now for a suggested price of $689.
The 23.6-inch HS244HQ 3D display doesn’t support Nvidia 3D Vision, but ships with Acer 3D glasses with active shutter technology for handling 3D content. The monitor sports two HDMI ports along with VGA, a 120 MHz refresh rate and a 2ms response time—although the dynamic contrast ratio drops down to a mere 12 million to one. The HS244HQ also sports two integrated speakers. The HS244HQ should be available now for a suggested price of $449.
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