Description
How good is this for gaming? I would say 7/10. What do you think?
AMD will remove the automated driver update feature from Catalyst drivers in 2013, typically when a new driver is out you get a notification and will be directed to the download page. Now I haven't heard this officially from AMD just yet, but the guys over at TPU noticed that AMD announced they plan to discontinue the feature starting in 2013, and recommends that you get your driver updates the old-fashioned way: by keeping up with the news and getting your drivers from the Internet.
Due to the severity of the exploit, AMD recommended users to disable auto-updates in their current CCC configuration, or click on "skip" whenever it prompts you to update drivers. AMD stated:
AMD will be removing the auto-update notification functionality from versions of AMD Catalyst Control Center running under Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, beginning in early 2013. Due to a minor security vulnerability in the auto-update notification, users are recommended to update to the latest AMD Catalyst driver release from the amd.com web site. Alternatively, users should (i) uncheck the "Automatically check for updates" option under AMD Catalyst Control Center > Information > Software Update, and (ii) choose to "Skip" notifications from the AMD Catalyst driver, which notifications recommend updating to the latest driver.
Curtosy:hardwareheaven
This high performance PC featuring 3 ATI 4890 graphics cards in CrossFirex, up to 8TB of hard drive storage, hot swappable SATA connectors and the new Domino ALC liquid cooling system from CoolIT Systems. MAINGEAR also allows you to customize the system with your own logo or image, by uploading it to their website and MAINGEAR will have it customized. Price starts at $1,299.
Blizzard Entertainment's BlizzCon convention is locked and loaded(blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y). The annual two-day celebration of their most successful franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo is set to commence on August 21 and 22 in Anaheim, California. Tickets are expected to cost $125 each on the official BlizzCon website, with two sales phases scheduled. The first block of sales will open worldwide Saturday, May 16th, and a second on the 30th. In light of the frustrations caused by a lack of ticket availability last year, BlizzCon will have more floor room available in this year's edition.
DirectTV is also slated to televise the convention in HD as a pay-per-view event with floor coverage, interviews, demos and more. The televised portion will cost $39.95, which will bag you a minimum of eight hours of HD footage. Players of Blizzard's blockbuster World of Warcraft who order either broadcast will receive the BlizzCon-exclusive in-game item. Attendees will of course get it as well as part of their BlizzCon goodie bag.
If you have been eagerly awaiting the pending release of StarCraft 2, here's your chance to participate in the upcoming beta. The pseudo-public beta Blizzard has crafted has a few requirements before you can take part, including having a Battle.net profile. From there, they want you to specifically opt-in and provide them with your current system specs before granting you access. Once you opt-in, there's no guarantee you'll make it, as Blizzard will be selecting testers themselves. If you don't actually own any Blizzard games, know that you need to have at least one game attached to your Battle.net account before you can sign up.
To submit system specs, Blizzard is requiring users to download and run a program. The point, according to them, is to get the most diverse array of system hardware and software possible, so that the game can be tested in numerous environments. The beta itself won't open for a few months yet, and will be available first to people in North America.
This is a somewhat unusual and new method of selecting beta testers, and though some might have reservations about submitting system specs it does seem like a novel way to get a lot of different profiles tested quickly. If you're willing to put up with those requirements, you can sign up here us.battle.net/account/.
It's no secret that multiplayer will be one of the biggest changes to BioShock when the sequel to the popular steampunk shooter is released later this year. Given the rather story-driven nature of the original, many have wondered how this could be successfully carried out in BioShock 2. Great single-player games don't always translate into a great multiplayer experience, so 2K Games has taken some time to explain how they envision it and what gamers should expect.
In short, 2K says you can expect a lot of traditional deathmatch gameplay, with players chasing each other and fighting inside the underwater city, separate from the single-player storyline. Maps will apparently be redesigned to cater to a multiplayer experience, and will feature an unlock system many people are used to in modern online shooters. As you progress in multiplayer, you'll be able to customize your character, likely using the same upgrade system the game itself has. They confirmed it will use an experience point system, indicating that a character or at least a profile will stick with you, rather than giving you a clean slate with every game.
As 2K has released more info on the upcoming title, some fans have expressed concern that the multiplayer facet of the game will come at the detriment of the single player experience. That would certainly harm the franchise, which has big dreams. 2K has dispelled those concerns, however, and in fact promises the multiplayer portion will add to the game's overall narrative, with players taking the role of a plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions in a prequel-esque setting during the fall of Rapture.
Whether it is defending itself or attacking others, Apple is probably used to spending a lot of time in the courts. Recently, they are coming under attack - not for the first time - due to their MagSafe power adapter. The idea behind it is certainly a sound one: greatly reducing the chance of a pricey MacBook being damaged by a stray foot. Unfortunately for Apple, the hardware involved has come under scrutiny once again for supposedly being negligently designed and manufactured, making it susceptible to fraying, sparking and premature failure.
The suit is primarily concerned over Apple's apparent inaction, claiming the company is aware of the issue but has done nothing to fix it. Because of this, the suit asks for one of two things: a redesign of the MagSafe, or a full refund on the purchase price of laptops involved. You'd think that lawsuits, coupled with poor user ratings, would convince Apple to at least consider a redesign.
Just weeks after four defendants involved in The Pirate Bay case were found guilty of breaching copyright, and with a court date of their own looming, the folks behind Mininova announced they've begun running a content recognition trial to detect and remove copyrighted material from the site. The system will also prevent said torrents from being re-uploaded to Mininova later on.
The mechanism was provided by the copyright holders themselves who want an easier way to get torrent files removed than the current DMCA takedown procedure. The collaboration does not mean they are off the hook from a court case against Dutch antipiracy organization BREIN later this month, but Mininova certainly hopes it will better their position. I wouldn't be surprised however to see them pay dearly for this move as users begin looking for torrents elsewhere.
The news isn't particularly encouraging for the torrent community. We've already seen several BitTorrent sites go down in recent years, including TorrentSpy and OinK, and now The Pirate Bay, Mininova, and isoHunt are all facing serious confrontations with the entertainment industry. No matter how hard the entertainment industry tries, though, some see the fight against piracy as useless - at least in its current form of opposing technologies like P2P rather than embracing them and adapting their obsolete business models.
For those of you eager to play the new Fallout 3: Broken Steel downloadable content on the PC, the wait is finally over. Following yet another shaky release that saw the title's third DLC pulled from the Games for Windows Live Marketplace, Bethesda has announced that all issues have been ironed out and the expansion is once again up for download.
Turns out, Microsoft was to blame for the problem as it stemmed from a Games for Windows Live DRM install error. Things didn't exactly go without a hitch for Xbox 360 owners either. Apparently, achievements were not appearing on Xbox Live profiles due to a syncing problem with Microsoft's servers. Both problems have been fixed, according to the company, so those interested can extend the end of the original title for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
CutePDF Writer is a freeware application for Windows that performs one simple task and does it well. As its name suggest, it allows you to convert any printable document to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file by installing itself as a virtual printer on your machine. Setup actually consists of installing 2 programs, as it requires a separate PS2PDF converter such as Ghostscript to work; but that shouldn't put you off at all since it will add merely a few seconds to the whole process.
Once installed it will be available from any application that offers a 'Print' option - just choose CutePDF Writer from the drop down menu in the print dialog window and you are all set. Some advanced options are also available, including scaling, multi-page layouts, print quality and more. CutePDF Writer is free for personal or commercial use with no watermarks or ads whatsoever. You might also want to try a previous recommendation of ours, Foxit Reader, which is an all-around quicker alternative to Adobe for reading PDF files.
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