Saturday, January 31, 2009

Mirror's Edge Rating


Gameplay: 8.2
Learning the ropes is a little challenging, but once you get it, the game can play very fluidly and exciting. 

Graphics: 7.8
Pretty good, the white city gives an illusion that all is well, but as you know, once you scratch below the surface then all sort of other things come into view.

Sound: 8.3
I like how the sounds all work with one another. During conversations you can hear the sounds of the city and the wind in the background. It makes for a cool addition to the experience.

Difficulty: Medium
There are some challenges, but it never is so tough you can't get through it. Learning how to move to the rhythm can be rough.

Concept: 9.0
Years ago the Gizmondo game system was making a game based on freerunning, it never happened. I'm glad somebody decided to pick up where they left off.


Overall: 8.3

This is well-made, well-developed title. The end result isn't the new gold standard, but the idea and implementation sure are good.

Mirror's Edge Review




Freerunning is the sport that has been slowing working its way into mainstream culture. It's that exercise where men and women run around urban areas, leaping over walls and jumping incredibly far distances. You know, that Ford commercial features a couple of them and the really cool movie District B13 also features many, cool scenes of action in this vein. Well, Mirror's Edge is a game where the main heroine uses this gift of agility to move information around the city after an all-encompassing bureaucratic entity decides that any and everything needs to go through it. Basically most of the human race has given up their rights and you play a courier who moves this sensitive information to the people who don't much care for big brother.

Ok, now this title was also released on the PS3 and 360. The game moves at a breakneck speed (literally) and you will want/need a pretty hot system to run it on - not that it is so graphically demanding, but rather because of the movements of a quick-footed woman who leaps around the rooftops of a very big city. This movement is dictated by your customizable control scheme and various red objects that pop up as you run, letting you know that it is an item you may need to use. Want to jump to the next building? That red ramp will help you do it. As you run, you may need to slide or roll under that steam pipe; good thing it is red. The city is stark white and the red cues stand out easily amongst the backgrounds. 

Learning to freerun does take some effort as you will eventually need to learn how to find a running rhythm. Hopping from ledge to ledge while climbing up onto platforms and dodging gunfire takes some practice. And learning how to link all these movements together to form cohesive movements that keep your rhythm flowing is a pretty slick idea. But mastering it takes some real effort. I thought the developers did a good job of making the game feel like it had some real feel to it. Choosing to make it a first-person perspective literally can affect your stomach as some of the leaps can cause your stomach to flutter. It's really cool. 


The audio is better than your average game and the almost-futuristic techno beat of the soundtrack makes things move crisply. I felt the upbeat tempo of the music kept in line with the upbeat tempo of the game. Voice work was also really well dialed in. The voice acting along with the background noise of a busy city really brings you into the game. A well-scored, well-acted game.

Since our girl "Faith" has about the same amount of suicidal tendencies as a lemming, you can expect all sorts of crazy stunts and learning how to use the quick 180-degree button is essential for survival. Sometimes, you must jump across to a ledge, hit the 180 and then leap across to another six-inch-wide platform. The game is absolutely crazy and I really enjoyed the heck out of it. Some may liken this to the Prince of Persia games but I think it goes a bit further with the first-person perspective. You actually feel the excitement when you are attempting an almost impossible jump. I haven't sweated a game so much since Dead Space.

Now the visuals of the game do come in a bit higher than many other games. The design makes you see a city that is almost clinical in its appearance thanks to the almost gestapo-like regime. Buildings are accurate looking and even the physics of the game seem to fall into place, albeit a little stretched since you do make some leaps that are probably not possible. Either way the seamless way the city is put together, coupled with a smooth framerate and interesting looking character design makes the game come in a bit higher in the graphics dept. Its not phenomenal by any means, but rather, well done.

Mirror's Edge seems to find its strength in the actions that you do rather then the killing that is featured in many FPS titles. You will get your opportunity to dish it out, don't think you are helpless by any means, but the game is through and through an action title that makes you want to get out there and jump over concrete walls and across chasms 20 stories high. Do not, repeat, do not try this crap at home. Leave the crazy stunts to the digital action heroes.

The game also has some off-topic games for practicing and playing. A time trial mode really helps hone your moves and makes the game have a little more something to it. Sadly, there is no multiplayer mode, which stinks because it would be cool to race against others around the city, or even a really crazy version of tag may have added a bit more weight to the game. Seriously, if the sequel has tag in it I am going to want a cut, or the GameZone lawyers will be coming.

Lastly, the story is above par; the game does a good job of drawing you into the character's plight and then throwing some legitimate twists at you. Many of the levels are recovery missions and you are forced into action to help get your framed sister out of the jam she has been set up in. I won't go into too much about it because I don't want to ruin it for you. Much like a movie, there is some clever things going on in Mirror's Edge.

Mirror's Edge


STORY:
In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called Runners transport sensitive data away from prying eyes. In this seemingly utopian paradise, a crime has been committed, your sister has been framed and now you are being hunted.

You are a Runner called Faith - and this innovative first-person action-adventure is your story. Mirror’s Edge™ delivers you straight into the shoes of this unique heroine as she traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat and fast paced chases. With a never before seen sense of movement and perspective, you will be drawn into Faith’s world. A world that is visceral, immediate, and very dangerous.

Live or die? Soar or plummet? One thing is certain, in this city you will learn how to run. From the makers of the groundbreaking Battlefield franchise, Mirror’s Edge is an action-adventure experience unlike any other.
Hardware Requirements:
Disk Drive : DVD Rom Drive
DirectX : 9.0c
Operating System : Windows XP/Vista
Processor : Pentium 4 @ 2.4 GHz/Athlon 64 2800+
RAM : 1 GB
Video Card : 256 MB (GeForce 6 Series/ATI Radeon X1350 or HD2400)

'Human error' hits Google search


Google's search service has been hit by technical problems, with users unable to access search results.

For a period on Saturday, all search results were flagged as potentially harmful, with users warned that the site "may harm your computer".

Users who clicked on their preferred search result were advised to pick another one.

Google attributed the fault to human error and said most users were affected for about 40 minutes.

"What happened? Very simply, human error," wrote Marissa Mayer, vice president, search products and user experience, on the Official Google Blog.

The internet search engine works with stopbadware.org to ascertain which sites install malicious software on people's computers and merit a warning.

Stopbadware.org investigates consumer complaints to decide which sites are dangerous.

The list of malevolent sites is regularly updated and handed to Google.

When Google updated the list on Saturday, it mistakenly flagged all sites as potentially dangerous.

"We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again," Ms Mayer wrote.

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Army's Remote-Controlled Beetle



The insect's flight path can be wirelessly controlled via a neural implant.

Cyborg beetle: Shown here is a giant flower beetle carrying a microprocessor, radio receiver, and microbattery and implanted with several electrodes. To control the insect’s flight, scientists wirelessly deliver signals to the payload, which sends electrical signals through the electrode to the brain and flight muscles.A giant flower beetle with implanted electrodes and a radio receiver on its back can be wirelessly controlled, according to research presented this week. Scientists at the University of California developed a tiny rig that receives control signals from a nearby computer. Electrical signals delivered via the electrodes command the insect to take off, turn left or right, or hover in midflight. The research, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), could one day be used for surveillance purposes or for search-and-rescue missions.


Beetles and other flying insects are masters of flight control, integrating sensory feedback from the visual system and other senses to navigate and maintain stable flight, all the while using little energy. Rather than trying to re-create these systems from scratch, Michel Maharbiz and his colleagues aim to take advantage of the beetle's natural abilities by melding insect and machine. His group has previously created cyborg beetles, including ones that have been implanted with electronic components as pupae. But the current research, presented at the IEEE MEMS in Italy, is the first demonstration of a wireless beetle system.

The beetle's payload consists of an off-the-shelf microprocessor, a radio receiver, and a battery attached to a custom-printed circuit board, along with six electrodes implanted into the animals' optic lobes and flight muscles. Flight commands are wirelessly sent to the beetle via a radio-frequency transmitter that's controlled by a nearby laptop. Oscillating electrical pulses delivered to the beetle's optic lobes trigger takeoff, while a single short pulse ceases flight. Signals sent to the left or right basilar flight muscles make the animal turn right or left, respectively.

Most previous research in controlling insect flight has focused on moths. But beetles have certain advantages. The giant flower beetle's size--it ranges in weight from four to ten grams and is four to eight centimeters long--means that it can carry relatively heavy payloads. To be used for search-and-rescue missions, for example, the insect would need to carry a small camera and heat sensor.

In addition, the beetle's flight can be controlled relatively simply. A single signal sent to the wing muscles triggers the action, and the beetle takes care of the rest. "That allows the normal function to control the flapping of the wings," says Jay Keasling, who was not involved in the beetle research but who collaborates with Maharbiz. Minimal signaling conserves the battery, extending the life of the implant. Moths, on the other hand, require a stream of electrical signals in order to keep flying.

The research has been driven in large part by advances in the microelectronics industry, with miniaturization of microprocessors and batteries.


iPhone gadgets: showTIME AV adapter will connect your iPhone to any tv


The Scosche showTIME adapter is basically a simple cable that has a connector at one end for your iPhone or iPod Touch and at the other end a RCA input which virtually all TVs will have. Scosche’s showTIME adapter would be great if you take alot of photos with your iPhone or if you use your iPhone to store videos on trips, it would be a great gadget to have to share your iPhone’s multimedia on any television you come across, for example at hotels, friend’s house and even at meetings.

Shelby Aero Ev - world’s fastest electric supercar


Not very long ago supercar and electric were no words that just didn’t mix but since Tesla came along this has changed. The Shelby Aero Ev is another example of this, it is now the world’s fastest electric car.The Aero Ev All-Electric Scalable Powertrain (AESP) is able to produce 1,000 horsepower and 800 lb-ft of torque that rips the Aero EV through 0 to 60 in just 2.5 seconds at a 208mph top speed. If you compare that to Tesla’s Roadster, 0-60 takes 3.9 seconds (or 3.7 for the 2009 sport model).Better yet, the 150-220 mile battery can be refilled in just 10 minutes (Tesla takes 3.5 hours) from a 220V service thanks to what SSC calls its “Charge on the Run” onboard charging system…

Thursday, January 29, 2009

iPhone 3G Review



How it works

iPhone 3G uses a technology protocol called HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) to download data fast over UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks. Email attachments and web pages load twice as fast on 3G networks as on 2G EDGE networks.1 And since iPhone 3G seamlessly switches between EDGE, faster 3G, and even faster Wi-Fi, you always get the best speeds possible.



Talk and browse. At the same time

iPhone already gives you mobile multitasking. But 3G technology lets you multitask in more places — without connecting via Wi-Fi. Since 3G networks enable simultaneous data and voice, you can talk on the phone while surfing the web, checking email, or using Maps. All from your 3G cellular network.

Go anywhere.

iPhone 3G meets worldwide standards for cellular communications, so you can make calls and surf the web from practically anywhere on the planet. And if you’re in an area without a 3G network, iPhone connects you via GSM for calls and EDGE for data.

More wireless. Less space.

iPhone 3G delivers UMTS, HSDPA, GSM, Wi-Fi, EDGE, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR in one compact device — using only two antennas. Clever iPhone engineering integrates those antennas into a few unexpected places: the metal ring around the camera, the audio jack, the metal screen bezel, and the iPhone circuitry itself. And intelligent iPhone power management technology gives you up to 5 hours of talk time over 3G networks.2 That’s some of the best in the business.

SAINTS ROW 2 TRAILER


Features:
Bring vengeance to all those who wronged you and restore the Saints as the rightful kings of Stilwater
Play as fully customizable characters that are male, female or something in between
Customize vehicles, cribs and gangs for an environment shaped to your specifications
Experience seamless integration in a co-op full story campaign that lets one player drive while another shoots
Immerse yourself in a living Stilwater environment fully populated with police, innocent bystanders and rival gangs
Pilot planes, helicopters, motorcycles, boats and cars and use them as weapons in yourquest for vengeance
Explore more missions, activities, diversions, races, weapons, vehicles, cribs, city districts and interiors than ever before
Inflict vengeance with new combat options, including melee, fine aim and human shield

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Super powerful gaming desktop: Dell XPS 625

Dell XPS 625 is and ultra powerful gaming desktop. It will use a new AMD platform technology, codenamed “Dragon.”Dell XPS 625 will offer extreme gaming performance, cutting-edge graphics and an innovative design.



Dell XPS 625 Features

Processors AMD Athlon X2 5600+ Black Edition (2.9GHz/65W)
Overclock with ease with unlocked AMD Phenom II Black Edition Processors and AMD Overdrive.
Equipped with ATI CrossFireX configurations
Instantly Improve performance with AMD Fusion
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
CD ROM/DVD ROM Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 DIMMs
Hard Drives 500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 2 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Video Card ATI Radeon HD4670 512MB
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Pricing and availability

The Dell XPS 625 desktop is available from January 8, 2009 starting at $999.

Papermaster settles with IBM, sets Apple start date


Apple announced on Tuesday that former IBM executive Mark Papermaster has resolved his dispute with IBM over a noncompete agreement and will start leading Apple's iPhone group on April 24.IBM had sued Papermaster for allegedly violating the terms of a noncompete agreement in agreeing to join Apple as senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, claiming that Papermaster would be in a position to divulge important IBM trade secrets. The two parties exchanged briefing papers for a few months but apparently found a way to settle their differences.Bruce Meyer, Papermaster's lead attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, declined to comment on the settlement and referred all inquiries to Apple, which did not immediately return a call seeking comment.IBM issued a statement concerning the Papermaster suit.IBM and Mr. Papermaster have now agreed on a resolution of the lawsuit under which Mr. Papermaster may not begin employment with Apple until April 24, 2009, six months after leaving IBM, and will remain subject thereafter to all of his contractual and other legal duties to IBM, including the obligation not to use or disclose IBM's confidential information.Following commencement of his employment with Apple, Mr. Papermaster will be required to certify, in July 2009 and again in October 2009, that he has complied with his legal obligations not to use or disclose IBM's confidential or proprietary information. 

The preliminary injunction will be replaced by a court order (PDF) under which the court will have continuing jurisdiction over this matter, including compliance enforcement powers, until October 24, 2009, one year after Mr. Papermaster's departure from IBM.The settlement frees Papermaster to replace Tony Fadell, who stepped into a senior adviser role last year, and report directly to CEO Steve Jobs in heading up iPhone and iPod hardware development. The leadership transition has been a bit thornier than Apple would have likely preferred.After a brief courtship early in 2008 for a different position, Apple identified Papermaster as the right candidate to head up perhaps their most cutting-edge development team in September, and he left IBM a month later to pursue what he called "the opportunity of a lifetime."But IBM, in what was viewed in part as a message to its employees, sued Papermaster for violating a 2006 noncompete agreement on the basis that Apple and IBM competed in the server and chip markets, even though Papermaster would not have been working in either of those capacities for Apple.

The problem for both IBM, in this case, was that to argue that Papermaster would be in a position to spill its trade secrets, the company would have had to discuss those secrets in front of a judge. And likewise for Apple, in order to prove that Papermaster wouldn't be leading an effort to get the company immersed in chip development for game consoles, it would have had to shed some light on its future plans. Neither company was likely thrilled about that prospect.

A settlement always looked like the most obvious outcome, and that's where Papermaster, IBM, and Apple find themselves Tuesday. As noted above, Papermaster will have to recertify that he will not divulge IBM secrets to Apple as part of the initial agreement, and then do so again in three-month increments until October 24th, the first anniversary of his departure from IBM, when the noncompete agreement expires.Papermaster will have to get started while Jobs is on medical leave, though Apple has said Jobs, due to return in June, remains involved in "major strategic decisions," and the endgame of this particular dispute probably qualified.Papermaster's primary background is in chip development, and he spent the last several years involved with IBM's blade server design group. But Apple was most impressed by his leadership skills, noting in a court filing that it "hired Mark Papermaster because he has strong general engineering skills, is an outstanding leader, and because we believe he will be a good cultural match at Apple."

A Digital Health-Care Revolution


Twenty billion dollars might finally turn the U.S. health-care system digital.The more wired the hospital, the better off its patients: there are fewer deaths and complications, and lower bills. That's the conclusion of a large study of Texas hospitals released earlier this week. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of hospitals and doctors' offices in the United States are wired, and the country lags far behind other developed nations in implementing such systems. However, legislators and health-technology specialists hope to change that with a $20 billion cash influx, part of the U.S. government's proposed stimulus bill. 

Dubbed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the plan would encourage doctors and hospitals to use electronic record-keeping and ordering systems by providing $18 million in incentives through Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Starting in 2011, physicians who show that they are "meaningfully" using health IT would be eligible for $40,000 to $65,000, and hospitals would be eligible for several million dollars. The incentives would be phased out over time, with penalties in place by 2016. 

The bill allocates $2 billion over the next two years for planning and training, including ensuring that new programs adhere to specific interoperability standards. That will be crucial in making certain that data can be transferred between different medical centers and physicians, and that doctors are schooled in how to incorporate electronic record keeping and other technologies into their practices. It would also strengthen privacy and security laws to protect the growing amount of personal medical information that will become electronic. 

Currently, less than a quarter of physicians in the United States are using electronic health records (EHRs). The stimulus spending should help overcome two of the major barriers to adoption: lack of funding and misaligned incentives, says John Halamka, chief information officer and dean for technology at Harvard Medical School. Currently, doctors must invest time and money to implement EHR systems, but it's the insurers and payers who ultimately benefit, thanks to a reduction in unnecessary tests and medications.

The $20 billion boost will be a huge leap for an industry that has seen little government spending. According to a 2006 study, the United States spends 43 cents per capita on health-care IT, compared with the $193 per capita spent in the United Kingdom. The entire health-care IT industry had an estimated budget of $26 billion in 2008, says Halamka. He reckons that the bill could create 50,000 new IT jobs. "We're not talking about MDs or PhDs," says Halamka. "I think we can take tech professionals and train them in health care within the next two years."

Monday, January 26, 2009

MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 8



Microsoft has stepped up the battle to win back users with the latest release of its Internet Explorer browser. 

The US software giant says IE 8 is faster, easier to use and more secure than its competitors. 

"We have made IE 8 the best browser for the way people really do use the web," said Microsoft's Amy Barzdukas. 

"Microsoft needs to say these things because it continues to lose market share to Firefox, Chrome and Safari," said Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald. 

Recent figures have shown that Microsoft's dominance in this space has been chipped away by competitors. 

At the end of last year, data from Net Applications showed the software giant's market share dropped below 70% for the first time in eight years to 68%. 

Meanwhile Mozilla broke the 20% barrier for the first time in its history with 21% of users using its browser Firefox. 

Focus 

The beta version of IE 8 was released last March and today the company has put out its first release candidate for the public. This is the last stage for the browser before it is finalised, although very few changes are expected. 

Ms Barzdukas told the BBC: "What we are seeing for many consumers in particular is that their computing experience is a browsing experience.  
The 'smart address bar' makes finding previously visited sites easier


"The role of the browser has become more and more important. Our focus is on delivering the best experience possible and one that is faster, easier and more secure." 

To that end IE 8 offers performance upgrades to speed up page loading, new navigation features and tab isolation so that if you hit a bad site only that tab closes and not the whole browser. 

WebSlices will give users a way to keep updated about a particular item on a web page like stock prices, the weather or an eBay auction. 

Accelerators let users access Web services like maps or translations in a small window without having to leave the page. 

"We believe with IE 8 much of the performance discussion is off the table," said Ms Barzdukas. 

Security 

Microsoft is making much of its security enhancements, which Ms Barzdukas said makes IE 8 "hands down the most secure browser on the market." 

These include "InPrivate Filtering" which means users can see and block when a third-party content provider might be tracking their activities on the Web in an effort to target advertisements.  
Intenet Explorer 8 is being touted as faster, easier and safer than ever


Web publishers and online advertisers have in the past expressed concern over this feature because it could "frustrate the business model". 

"InPrivate Browsing" is also being touted as a major improvement which allows a user to start a browsing session during which the history of sites viewed will not be recorded. 

Some bloggers have nicknamed the feature "porn mode" because it keeps online activity a secret and prevents those with access to a PC from seeing where other users of the same PC have been. 

Online privacy advocates like the Centre for Democracy and Technology have called the features "a great step forward in terms of giving users more control". 

Defectors 

So will this be enough to persuade defectors to return to the IE fold? 

"Microsoft does have the advantage of its browser being shipped with its operating system so people that want to shift have to do a lot of work to shift," said Mr MacDonald, a vice-president of analyst firm Gartner  
Google's new web browser is called Chrome


"It's an area the European Union is looking at and I will let the lawyers figure that out but I don't think this will bring back the defectors. However it shows that competition in the browser space is good for innovation and good for the industry," said Mr MacDonald. 

The EU last week accused Microsoft of harming competition by bundling its IE browser with its Windows operating system. 

The Redmond-based company has said it is examining the preliminary finding and has not ruled out requesting a formal hearing. 

Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land said if the product delivers, users will stick with it and others may well return. 

"If this is a truly significant improvement, it will gain users loyalty and lure others back. 

"At the end of the day if it has the functionality and features people want, they will respond to it. For those who have an emotional stake in this, and who like the idea of the underdog like Firefox, it's unlikely to sway them," said Mr Sterling. 

Microsoft's Ms Barzdukas refused to get drawn into the numbers game but said she is positive IE 8 will hold its own against competitors. 

"We have long advocated providing choice to customers and respect peoples' ability to choose. 

"You can accuse me of bias, but I believe with IE 8 we will deliver the browser people will want to choose," said Ms Barzdukas.

Lenovo ThinkPad X301

Earlier this year Lenovo released their ThinkPad X300, a great notebook for the business minded. Recently, the X300 has been updated to the ThinkPad X301 model. With many improvements from its already great predecessor, you can expect great things from the X301.

Familiar, Sturdy Design

When it comes to design, the Lenovo X301 has the same look as most other ThinkPad notebooks that have come before it. It’s a personal choice if you like the ThinkPad design. Some think it’s dull, some people believe it to be simple and effective. It’s a matter of opinion either way. However, there’s no argument that ThinkPad machines have some strong characteristics that stand out from the competition. The X301 laptop weighs a little less than 3.5lbs with an 8X DVD burner and a 6-cell battery equipped. The X301’s exterior is squared off and has a matte black finish. It’s dimensions are 12.5 x 9.1 x 0.9, and just like it’s predecessor the X300, the sides are slightly tapered. The X301 is a beautifully constructed machine with Lenovo’s internal roll cage design and a carbon and class fiber interior, which according to Lenovo, is not only stronger but lighter than titanium.


The keyboard deck and outer shell utilize a new rubberized soft touch paint which helps provide a more secure grip and a more comfortable feel. The X301 has all the regular connectors and ports with three USB 2.0, Ethernet, microphone and headphone jacks, DisplayPort, and a VGA connector. Unfortunately, no memory card slot is included with this laptop, which means you’ll have to use a USB card reader device or adapter to read from memory cards.

Display and Speakers

The X301 employs a LED-backlit, 13.3" (1440×900 resolution) display with a matte finish that prevents most glare. The high resolution certainly makes a difference when viewing documents and web pages, though the default text may be too small for some eyes. The backlit, low-reflectivity LED keeps the display legible when outdoors. Rich colors and wide viewing angles are available for watching DVDs and other content. The stereo speakers lacked low-end punch, but due to their close proximity (they’re located in the palmrest), the volume was clear and loud. Above the display is a 1.3 megapixel webcam that provided somewhat dark visuals when tested through video chat.



With the high resolution (1440×900) 13.3" screen, the X301 is great for surfing the web and viewing documents. The LED display is amazingly clear for viewing outdoors because it’s extremely low reflectivity negates glare. The ThinkPad X301 features wide viewing angles with rich colors, which makes watching a DVD or other content more enjoyable. The 1.3 megapixel camera (located above the display) was a little dark during the video chat tests performed via MSN Messenger.

First-Class Ergonomics

In line with all the other ThinkPad models, the X301 features a magnificent keyboard that definitely ranks with the top runners in the business. The typing experience is excellent because the keyboard provides space in between individual keys. The X301 includes a touchpad and a pointing stick (located between the G and H keys) for navigation. The touchpad may be small for some users since the design accommodates for the larger keys. A biometric fingerprint reader is integrated to the right of the touchpad to help keep private business away from unauthorized individuals. Above the keyboard, you’ll notice buttons for volume, mute, ThinkVantage (for launching Lenovo’s system utilities), and, of course, the power button.



Performance 

The base configuration is equipped with 2GB of RAM and an Intel Core 2 Due (1.4GHz) U9400 Ultra Low Voltage processor. The ThinkPad X301 achieved a PCMark Vantage score of 3157, which is 400 points higher than most ultraportables. It’s a great score, but still falls about 60 points shy of the Sony VAIO VGN-Z530N’s and almost 500 points shy of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200.

The X301 didn’t fare so well on all of its graphics tests. On the 3DMark03 benchmark, the X301 (which is powered by an Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics card) netted an 1812, a score that’s 400 points higher than its competitors and its predecessor the X300. However, the 3DMark06 score was 200 points less than other machines in its category. F.E.A.R was also tested in auto-detect mode, and the game ran at a miniscule 14fps. When the settings were increased to maximum, it ran at only 6fps. W.O.W ran at 27.4fps, which is okay, but it is important to remember that this is not a gaming laptop, and should not be expected to out perform Alienware, for example.

Lenovo’s X301’s boot-up time was a little slower than expected. The X301, with its 64GB SSD, took about 1 minute and 37 seconds to boot-up Windows Vista, almost 30 seconds slower than the average ultraportable and 48 seconds slower than the older X300. The SSD did not disappoint and definitely lived up to its fast transfer time copying a 5 GB folder in about 2 minutes and 40 seconds, however. The SSD has a transfer rate of 32.4 megabytes per second, which is miles ahead of the 13.4 megabyte per second transfer rate of competitors using mechanical drives. If 64GB does not fill your needs for capacity, an upgrade option is available for a 128GB SSD, which costs $400.


Wi-Fi and Battery Life


The 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi moves data at an excellent speed of 20.8 MB/s at a distance of 15 feet from the access point, and 18.7 MB/s at 50 feet. These are nice improvements over the 16.7 MB/s and 16.1 MB/s averages presented by the X300, and made for a pleasant surfing experience. Although the default configuration does not include integrated mobile broadband, you can add a 3G connection from AT&T ($80) or Verizon Wireless ($150), which also features integrated GPS. The X301 will support WiMAX and Ultra-Wideband technologies when they become available.

When it comes to long battery life, the X301 definitely falls short by quite a bit. Its six cell battery lasted only 3 hours and a half during tests. On the same test, Sony’s VAIO VGN-Z530N lasted 5 hours. A little more should be expected out of ultraportable laptops when it comes to battery life (at least 4 hours).


Software, Security, and Warranty

Those who care about security on their portable computers will definitely appreciate the X301’s full disk encryption, centrally managed passwords, ability to disable the BIOS port, and remote lockdown. The machine is covered with an extendable 1 year warranty and 24/7 tech support. Included with the X301 is Lenovo Camera Center, a 60-day trial to Microsoft Office, Access Connections 5, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Roxio Creator Business Edition.

The X300 was an outstanding laptop released by Lenovo, but they have definitely done a nice job with the ThinkPad X301. They took all the good aspects from the X300, and made them better for the X301. With the new Centrino 2 platform and an ultra-fast 64GB SSD, the X301 comes at a price. If you’re looking for an amazing business notebook, though, it will not disappoint. One thing we’d have to mention, however, is that you should consider investing in a spare battery.

Sony VAIO P Series




It’s been a good few weeks since we learnt that Sony was entering the netbook arena, with their latest flagship laptop the VAIO P Series. However, many still aren’t convinced that the P Series is actually a netbook. In the hands on video below done brilliantly by RegHardware’s editor Tony Smith, you will see the VAIO P Series in all its slim and sleek glory. Its extremely thin as you would imagine and Sony always does a good job at making their laptops as glossy and as elegant as possible.What is unique from other netbooks is that it runs Vista, it doesn’t have a touchpad instead uses the classic ThinkPad pointer.  options). 
What’s more is that the screen appears to me as very small so anyone who considers buying the P Series should know that its only an 8-inch display, those with sensitive computer eyes may want to try it out for real before buying!Again, the Sony VAIO P Series will be available worldwide from February for about $900 / £600 (varies according to your choice of hardware

FLYING CAR


The Transition aircraft, shown in this illustration with its wings partially unfolded, can shift from road-worthiness to airworthiness. The vehicle carries a price tag of $194,000.The aptly named Transition takes a stab at bridging the gap between automobiles and airplanes. Some people call it a flying car. The company designing and selling the vehicle prefers the term "roadable aircraft."Either way, it boils down to this: You sit down behind the steering wheel, drive to the runway, unfold two wings and take off. You can fly 500 miles on a tank of gas — regular unleaded —and when you land, you simply fold up the wings and drive where you want to go. At the end of the day, you fly back, drive home and park inside your garage.Terrafugia, of Woburn, Mass., is not the first firm to attempt what may be the ultimate hybrid."It's probably a concept that people have been dreaming up since there have been airplanes and cars," said Dick Knapinski with the Experimental Aircraft Association, a 55-year-old aviation group based in Oshkosh, Wisc.A company called Aerocar of Longview, Wash., debuted one of the first flying cars in 1949. The company built six prototypes, one of which is sitting in the EAA's museum, but never went into production.Terrafugia, founded in 2006 by a group of MIT students, has taken deposits for more than 40 Transitions and plans to begin deliveries in 2010, said Richard Gersh, vice president of business development.The vehicles sell for $194,000.Advances in materials and propulsion technologies are among the reasons why Terrafugia is in position for commercial success. But equally important, says Knapinski, is an easing of government regulations on private aircraft and pilot licensing.In 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration created a new category of aircraft and license for sport aviation, an attempt to re-awaken interest in flying after steady drops in the number of licensed pilots.

In the United States, about 600,000 people are licensed to fly aircraft, a drop of 25 percent since 1980, Knapinski said."The FAA and the aviation industry realized there has to be a way to get people interested in flying. Even the airline pilots of today had to start somewhere with basic flying. There had to be an entry point that was practical and affordable," he said.Sport pilot licenses don't require as many hours of training as private and commercial pilot licenses, though sport fliers are not eligible to take off and land at runways with air traffic control towers. The medical requirements for sport pilots also are less stringent than for other types of pilot licenses, matching what is needed for a driver's license."What the FAA and the government say by having that rule is that these vehicles have the same level of complexity as motor vehicles," Knapinski told Discovery News. "You fly in non-complex airspace at relatively low speed."Regulations covering the new category of sport aviation aircraft likewise are reduced."It gives us an opportunity," said Terrafugia's Gersh. "We could never compete with Cessna or Boeing."One of the biggest obstacles facing a company like Terrafugia in launching a personal aircraft is not technical in nature or even cost, added Knapinski. It's perception."The comfort level for a significant percentage of the population is not there," Knapinski said. "They just don't believe they can operate this type of machine."Perhaps having an airplane under the same roof as the family car will be just the ticket.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

SAINTS ROW 2

Publisher: THQ

Developer: THQ

Category: Action

Release Dates

N Amer - 01/05/2009

Also available on: 360 MB PS3
Hardware Requirements:
  • Windows XP / Vista
  • 2.0 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
  • 1 GB Available System Memory
  • 15 GB Available Hard Drive Space
  • 128 MB 3D Video Card w/Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon X1300)
  • DirectX Compatible Display Capable of 640x480 16-bit Color Resolution
  • DirectX 9.0c Compatible 16-bit Sound Card
  • Broadband Connection for Internet Multiplayer

Recommended Requirements:

  • 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
  • 2 GB Available System Memory
  • 256 MB 3D Video Card with Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD3850)
  • DirectX Compatible Display Capable of 1024x768 in 32-bit Color
  • DirectX 9.0c Compatible 16-bit Sound Card
  • Recommended System Requirements Required for 2-12 Player Multiplayer or Co-Op

Features:

  • Bring vengeance to all those who wronged you and restore the Saints as the rightful kings of Stilwater
  • Play as fully customizable characters that are male, female or something in between
  • Customize vehicles, cribs and gangs for an environment shaped to your specifications 
  • Experience seamless integration in a co-op full story campaign that lets one player drive while another shoots
  • Immerse yourself in a living Stilwater environment fully populated with police, innocent bystanders and rival gangs 
  • Pilot planes, helicopters, motorcycles, boats and cars and use them as weapons in yourquest for vengeance
  • Explore more missions, activities, diversions, races, weapons, vehicles, cribs, city districts and interiors than ever before
  • Inflict vengeance with new combat options, including melee, fine aim and human shield

Some scenes in Saint's row:

Saint's Row blasted its way onto the Xbox 360, giving Grand Theft Auto clones everywhere – and the real GTA – a reason to be fearful. The new guy in town came with features and scenarios the others didn't have, which proved to be a big hit with many gamers. Now that Saint's Row 2 has arrived, we wanted to get the developer's take on this exciting open-world shooter.

"The Saints Row 2 team draws from a lot of film, games, and TV for overall inspiration, but our opening escape sequence wasn’t modeled or mirrored after any one particular source," said James Tsai, Lead Designer. "Overall, we just thought of all the cool stuff we’d love to see in a prison break and worked to integrate it into an exciting mission. Stealthy, sneaky prison breaks aren’t nearly as exciting as ones with spotlights, shootouts, alarms, machine guns, helicopters, and a boat chase back to the city of Stilwater."

While the original Saints Row featured your expected array of cars and trucks, in Saints Row 2 we’re giving the player a full complement of vehicles to explore the world in. Motorcycles, speed boats, dirt bikes, assault helicopters, fighter planes, jets, monster trucks…it’s all in there this time around. You’ll have the means to go anywhere you want in Stilwater.

mechanic in Saints Row 2 will allow you to customize all kinds of visual aspects of your car, as you’d expect – there’s a whole array of rims, spoilers, paint styles, window tints, decals, bumpers, and other stuff to personalize the look of your vehicle. But you can also add things like nitrous, stronger tires, a reinforced frame, and a beefier engine to enhance the performance of your car as well.

several melee fighting styles the player can use throughout the game, each of which has its own set of combos and finishers. Aside from adding that nice visual flourish to finishing off opponents after a flurry of strikes, the finishing moves and counters are used heavily in our fight club activity, as well as some cool sword fighting boss battles. You’ll have to time and counter attacks and follow up with strikes of your own rather than just pummel away.

The weather in Saints Row 2 adds a lot to the game. For example, we have some cool chase sequences that happen out in the open waters of the ocean and through Stilwater’s harbors. If the weather is stormy, you’ll be dealing with large swells that toss your boat around a lot, making for a far rougher ride than if the day was clear and sunny. It’s really exciting to be gunning down boats and helicopters while cutting through large waves and dealing with the risk of getting capsized. 

We also use weather for cool visual effects as well, whether we’re setting the mood in a dramatic cutscene or to using it to make the atmosphere of a mission brighter or darker. Players will see a full range of rain, from a light drizzle up through powerful thunderstorms in the game.

Saints Row 2 is a story about gangs and criminals – as you’d expect, it has its violent elements. There is still plenty of humor and there are funny moments throughout the game, but there are also some undeniably brutal happenings in some of the missions and cutscenes. At the end of Saints Row, your character was blown up and left for dead, so understandably there are a lot of revenge themes going on in the plot. But while the story we’re putting forth is compelling, we never take ourselves so seriously that it conflicts with the extreme, over-the-top feel the game has. We have an activity about shooting human excrement on people, for goodness’ sake!

 Saints Row 2 has lots of chaos and crazy moments, but it won’t have the unrestrained destructive capability that Red Faction: Guerrilla features. The player can wreck tons of things in Stilwater such as fences, mailboxes, park benches, market stands, et cetera, but not entire buildings. Our game engine specializes more on the complex interactions of a living, breathing city – we have pedestrians that go about their daily lives, complex traffic patterns, realistic police response and ambient gang life. Introducing destruction to the mix would be building a very different game from what Saints Row 2 is all about.


iPhone gets a touch screen rival

Ever since Apple changed mobiles forever with the launch of its iPhone, the rest of the industry has been playing catch up.Now, one of its biggest rivals in the market, Nokia, claims to have done just that.Released on 23 January, its 5800 XpressMusic is the company's first touch screen phone.Costing almost £100 less than the iPhone, it could start a price war.But at £250 it's still not cheap and the big question is - is it good enough to take on Apple?Newsbeat listeners Sophie Reed and Nik Williams got a sneak preview and gave us their thoughts. 

Screen size 

Sophie's first impression wasn't good but it did improve. 

She said: "When I got the phone I thought it was quite hard to use - the screen is smaller than the iPhone - but I've had it a couple of weeks now and I've gotten used to it.  
Sophie thinks the screen on the 5800 could be bigger


"You can view pictures, go on the internet and connect to any wi-fi that's available." 

The 5800 has got 8G of memory, meaning it can hold around 6000 songs. 

And Sophie reckons that's one of its best features. 

"I think it's really good as a music player. I just got loads of songs from my computer, put them all on there and the quality when you play it out, either through headphones or its speakers, is really good," she said. 

Pointer pen 

Style wise the 5800 is slightly thicker than its rival and has a smaller screen - 3.2 inches compared to 3.5 for the iPhone. 

She said: "It's a bit chunky but because it's got a big screen it looks quite good. But I think the iPhone looks cooler really because it's thinner and looks more modern." 

Although it uses similar touch technology to the iPhone, the 5800 comes with a plastic pointer pen that makes it easier to use than just with fingers.  
Nik isn't so keen on the idea of a pointer pen with the 5800


But Nik reckons the pen takes away from the whole point of having a touch-sensitive screen. 

He said: "It just seemed so fiddly to use with your fingers. 

"You either missed what you were trying to hit or ended up touching the wrong part of the screen or internet link and ending up not getting to where you wanted to be." 

So overall? 

Sophie said: "It's a good phone, and cheaper than the iPhone. But I don't think it's as good because the iPhone has a bigger screen and seems to have more to it." 

Nik said: "It's got some pretty cool features but ultimately, for me, Apple has just set the bar so high with the iPhone that the 800 XpressMusic doesn't come close."


BRITANNICA REACHES OUT TO THE WEB


The Encyclopaedia Britannica has unveiled a plan to let readers help keep the reference work up to date.Under the plan, readers and contributing experts will help expand and maintain entries online.Experts will also be enrolled in a reward scheme and given help to promote their command of a subject.However, Britannica said it would not follow Wikipedia in letting a wide range of people make contributions to its encyclopaedia.User choice"We are not abdicating our responsibility as publishers or burying it under the now-fashionable 'wisdom of the crowds'," wrote Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica in a blog entry about the changes. He added: "We believe that the creation and documentation of knowledge is a collaborative process but not a democratic one."Britannica plans to do more with the experts that have already made contributions. They will be encouraged to keep articles up to date and be given a chance to promote their own expertise.Selected readers will also be invited to contribute and many readers will be able to use Britannica materials to create their own works that will be featured on the site.However, it warned these would sit alongside the encyclopaedia entries and the official material would carry a "Britannica Checked" stamp, to distinguish it from the user-generated content.Alongside the move towards more openness, will be a re-design of the Britannica site and the creation of the web-based tools that visitors can use to put together their own reference materials.Britannica has unveiled a beta, or trial, version of what will become the finished Britannica Online website.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

APPLE'S FIRST MACINTOSH TURNS 25


MSN UK's technology editor Jane Douglas, who also turned 25 this year, pits her PC against an early MacThe Macintosh - the first Apple computer to bear the name - turns 25 on 24 January.The machine debuted in 1984 and kicked off a product line that were Apple's flagship computers for many years.The Macintosh helped popularise the combination of graphical interface and mouse that is ubiquitous today.The machine was unveiled using a hugely expensive TV advert, directed by film maker Ridley Scott and shown during the US Superbowl on 22 January 1984 

Desktop pioneer 

The project to create the Macintosh was started by legendary computer maker Jef Raskin and the original machine had a 9in screen in an upright beige case, 128k of RAM, internal floppy drive, and came with keyboard and single-button mouse.Apple had previously produced computers using a graphical user interface (GUI), such as the Apple Lisa. But those machines cost far more than the original Macintosh.Although Microsoft had launched its operating system - MS DOS - in 1981 it was not until 1985, a year after the Macintosh made its debut, that it introduced its own GUI, Microsoft Windows. However, this did not enjoy significant popularity until the advent of Windows 3.x in 1990The Macintosh's relatively low price tag of £1,840 ($2,495) made it very affordable, said Mark Hattersley, editor in chief of Macworld UK. "It was a hugely popular machine," said Mr Hattersley."It took desktop computing away from IBM and back to Apple for a good number of years," he said. "It brought the notion of the desktop graphical interface to the mass market." The "Macintosh" moniker was reportedly taken from the name of Mr Raskin's favourite Apple - the McIntosh.However, this form of the name had to be altered to avoid legal wrangles with another company already trading under that name. Once successors to the first Macintosh were introduced by Apple, the original machine was re-badged as the 128k version.The initial production run of the first Macintosh reputedly have the signatures of the design team burned in to the inside of the case.In the UK, science-fiction author author Douglas Adams was the first to buy one of the original Macintosh machines. Second in line was Stephen Fry.Sadly, he said, he no longer possesses the early machine. 

He told the BBC: "Oh I wish I still had it. I remember giving it away in 1986 to a primary school in a village in Norfolk."Apple has retained the Macintosh name for many of its products - in particular the shortened form re-emerged in 1998 with the launch of the iMac.  
The Macintosh name re-appeared with the iMac in 1998Jason Fitzpatrick, from the Centre for Computing History in Haverhill, said that it was now hard to find a working 25-year old Macintosh. Many, he said, have suffered what is known as "bit rot" in which the memory chips inside the machine decay, leading to a gradual loss of functionality.Kevin Murrell, director of the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, said it had many working Apple machines even older than the 25-year-old Mac. 

Swap shop 

Even new, he said, the Macintoshes had their quirks. The external hard drive available for later versions of the Macintosh had to be placed on the left side of the machine to avoid interference with its power supply. The lack of hard drive meant that anyone working with the machine had save everything on a floppy disk, leading to an awful lot of disk swapping.But despite this, he said, many people had very fond memories of the time they spent with an original Macintosh.


Friday, January 23, 2009

REPAIRPAL TARGETS IPHONE USERS


There’s just this thing about bringing your car to the mechanic - I don’t know about you, but I can personally vouch for the fact that my car was running fine for a couple of years until I brought it to the mechanic for a minor tweak. Throughout the first two years, I kept to the maintenance schedule religiously, and never had a problem. That is until, the fateful day where I drove my jalopy to the aforementioned mechanic to replace some cables whose time was up - shortly after that, my car started to experience all sorts of other weird problems including the air conditioning breaking down, a busted radiator and less mileage despite not changing my driving habits to that of having a foot made out of lead. Did the mechanic repair something only to jiggle and loosen a few parts without my knowledge so that I can be a repeat customer? I guess I’ll never know, but boy did I wish the iPhone was released back then along with the RepairPal software.

Repairpal

TWEAKERS MINI BOOM SPEAKERS TO BE LAUCHED THIS FEBRUARY


If you’ve been looking for a pair of portable speakers without much success due to your high demands, then the Tweakers Mini Boom Speakers from Grandmax could fit the bill. What makes this more different than other speakers in the market? Well, the Tweakers Mini-Boom Speakers take the less traveled road with built-in retractable cables and an expanding acoustic chamber for richer sound. In fact, Tweakers was an Innovations Honoree at the recently concluded CES show, which goes to show just that it boasts not only looks but brains as well. You get room-filling sound with the ability to stack a bunch of it together, and being no taller than a credit card, it is a snap to tote around with you while you’re on the road. The Tweakers Mini-Boom Speakers will play nice with just about any common electronics device including netbooks, iPods, portable media players and handheld consoles. No idea on the pricing, but it probably won’t burn a big hole in your pocket if you decide to pick one up.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

GENETIC TEST FOR HEART DISEASE AND CANCER RISK


Customers who order DecodeMe’s genetic tests receive the kit pictured above. The black wand is scraped against the inside of the cheek to collect cells for DNA analysis.From car makers to cosmetic surgeons, everyone is scrambling to develop and market more economical products--and the consumer-genetics industry is no exception. DecodeMe, a division of Iceland-based Decode Genetics, launched two new services this week: a test that detects genetic variations associated with different cardiovascular diseases, and a screen that detects genetic variations linked to the risk of developing various cancers. At $195 and $225, respectively, the new tests are cheaper than Decode's genome-wide screen, which for $985 assesses genetic risk for 34 diseases and traits ranging from diabetes to male-pattern baldness. "We wanted to give people an opportunity to buy a test that would only address their needs," says Kari Stefansson, Decode's president and cofounder.

But the same question that has plagued direct-to-consumer genetic testing since its inception remains: the clinical utility of such screens. "We have not sorted out what the best approach is for dealing with prostate-cancer risk in the normal population, much less in those who are at some increased risk," says James Evans, a physician and geneticist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He says that the same is true for other types of cancer.

The first test--deCODEme Cardio--detects eight genetic variations, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), associated with the risk of heart attack, intracranical and abdominal aortic aneurysm, stroke and atrial fibrillation, peripherial arterial disease, and venous thromboempolism (clots in blood vessels). The second test--deCODEme Cancer--measures 29 SNPs associated with the risk of prostate, lung, bladder, colorectal, and breast cancers, as well as basal cell carcinoma.

The variations detected by the Decode tests clearly do increase risk of these diseases--in most cases, the link has been replicated numerous times. But they each boost risk of disease by a modest amount: typically 20 percent or less. In contrast, mutations in the BRCA1 gene, which physicians often screen for in women with a family history of breast cancer, boost a woman's risk of developing breast cancer to between three and seven times that of someone who lacks the mutation. While the latter can help physicians recommend preventative measures, such as a mastectomy, it's not yet clear how common variations of moderate effect can help shape an individual's plan for prevention or treatment of disease.

VIRUS REBUILDS DAMAGED NERVES

Genetically engineered viruses could form a scaffold for nerve cells.This fiber is made of billions of viruses and is being studied as a tissue-engineering scaffold. The fiber helps progenitor cells grow into neurons.Viruses that mimic supportive nerve tissue may someday help regenerate injured spinal cords. While other tissue-engineering materials must be synthesized and shaped in the lab, genetically engineered viruses have the advantage of being self-replicating and self-assembling. They can be designed to express cell-friendly proteins on their surfaces and, with a little coaxing, be made into complex tissuelike structures. Preliminary studies show that scaffolds made using a type of virus called a bacteriophage (or phage) that infects bacteria but cannot invade animal cells can support the growth and organization of nerve cells.

Researchers working on tissue engineering hope to eventually be able to use a patient's own cells to grow replacement tissue for damaged hearts, livers, and nerves. But mimicking the structure and function of the body's tissue has proved difficult. Matrices of supportive, fibrous proteins sustain the cells of the heart, lungs, and other tissues in the body. These scaffolds provide both structural support and chemical signals that enable an organ or nerve tissue to function properly.

Some biological engineers are using scaffolds made of polymers to try to mimic the supportive matrix of real tissue. Seung-Wuk Lee, a bioengineer at the University of California, Berkeley, has turned to viruses instead. "Viruses are smart materials," he says. "Once you construct the genome, you can make billions of phages, and they're self-replicating materials." The phage that Lee is working with, called M13, is long and thin like the protein fibers that make up the cellular matrices inside the body.

First, Lee and his colleague Anna Merzlyak genetically engineered M13 to display nerve-friendly proteins on their outer coats. These proteins are known to help nerve cells proliferate, adhere, and extend into long fiberlike shapes. Next, the researchers grew large numbers of the viruses in bacterial-cell hosts and dropped them into a solution containing neural-progenitor cells. These cells are more fully developed than stem cells but are still young and need coaxing to form new tissues. In the solution, the viruses align themselves like a liquid crystal, says Lee. He and Merzlyak used pipettes to inject the solution into agar, a Jell-O-like cell-culture medium, creating long, nerve-like fibers of the virus interspersed with cells. The progenitor cells then multiplied and grew the long branches characteristic of neurons. Lee says that the phage are well suited to making long, fiberlike structures such as nerve tissue but can also be made into more complex structures by varying their concentration or manipulating their position with a magnetic field.

Lee is not the first to use a virus as an engineering material. Other researchers have used the same virus to build battery electrodes. Using the virus in this way was pioneered by Angela Belcher, now a professor of materials science and engineering and of biological engineering at MIT, and was the basis of Lee's graduate work while he was in her lab. Genetically engineered phages have already been approved as an antibacterial food preservative by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for use in lunch meats like bologna, for example. Phages are also under study as a potential treatment for chronic bacterial infections.

MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer says that Lee's work is interesting from a materials perspective, but he cautions that its practicality must be established through in vivo studies.

Lee says that his group plans to establish the safety of phage scaffolds in live animals next. M13 has a good safety record and is not capable of infecting people. Still, the Berkeley researchers will need to investigate how an animal's immune system responds to the viral scaffolds and prove that they encourage nerve regeneration once inside the body. Lee hopes that the viral system will eventually be used to regenerate neurons in patients with spinal-cord injuries.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

FALLOUT 3 PC GAME RATING


OVERALL RATING:9.2/10

Gameplay: 9.0

You can use your honed FPS skills to play and then switch on the fly to the VATS targeting system making it play more like a turn-based RPG. There is an absolute ton of things to do and you simply cannot find and complete every quest in one go round. This is a game that you can play over and over at least three times.

Graphics: 9.2
Very clean, very dialed in, very desolate and very, very bloody. The game has great characters, gruesome mutants and a heck of a lot of things to interact with, inanimate or not. Tons of things to find and places to explore and it all looks really top notch.

Sound: 9.6
A fantastic example of perfect voice work and actors, great sound effects, and killer soundtrack, this is a really great sounding title.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
You can approach things several ways, and sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. Utilize your charisma and talk your way out of a really tough situation, or go guns a blazin' and let your ammo do all the talking.

Concept: 9.0
Its a great idea for a game and those ideas are fully realized. I can't a wait for Fallout 4, this thing can keep on going for as long as it wants to.

Overall: 9.2
Fallout 3 is the best PC game I have played all year, the developers did a bang up job of making the series come alive once more and I for one couldn't be happier.

FALLOUT 3 PC GAME REVIEW

I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't amped up about this game. Having played the first two RPGs featured exclusively on the PC, the Brotherhood of Steel third-person adventure on the original Xbox AND the game Wasteland on the Commodore 64 like, 20 years ago (if you know your games, you'll know this was actually the first in the series). Regardless, the game series is actually very, very good due to its original story lines, innovative combat and leveling systems and some really cool humor. Well, the third in the Fallout RPG series isn't so much an RPG anymore, more of a hybrid RPG/first-person shooter, and the result is nothing short of gaming magic.Wow, its hard for me to get started as I have been waiting so long for this title. So I'll start at the beginning: the Fallout games are all based on the concept that before the third world war, which basically launched the nukes, there was a series of Vaults built around the USA where "supposedly" the human race would continue. Well, unfortunately many of the vaults were stocked with people of "ahem" questionable moral fiber and in some cases, faulty equipment. So while the first two games involve peoples from vaults further West, Fallout 3's vaults, and surrounding cities/locations take place in the area formerly known as Washington DC.

And it seems all is not well in the land of our former leaders. Raiders, slavers, super mutants, ghouls, mutated creatures, robots, a really big bomb and all sorts of other nasties await you as you attempt to save the people of the DC wasteland from a really, really bad fate. And only by following in the footsteps of your father will you be able to discover the mysteries and complete the missions the game throws at you. And, let me tell you, the game has a very distinct open-endedness to it that makes playing the game such a treat. 

In fact, the game is set up so you can pick your characters look, abilities and attributes. You make the game your own by answering questions and having conversations with the different NPCs you run into. If you answer certain ways, new options to deal with problems and even new missions will appear. The point is the game has a certain charm to it where you think you are speaking with a homeless vagrant of the wasteland and it turns out that he needs you to help him out. Regardless, the game is gonzo-crazy and there is all sorts of crazy things happening. It turns out, that in an apocalyptic wasteland, people don't really treat one another well - go figure.The game can be viewed in either the first- or third-person perspective, and it all looks fantastic. If there was ever an apocalyptic game that convinced people how awful (in a good way) things were, well the bar has now been reset. This is the greatest-looking nuclear, blown-out world ... ever. The whole world is one giant outdoor environment, where you can walk across it and run into all sorts of interesting things. Old trailer parks, the Library of Congress, a whole series of subway tunnels, destroyed freeways, rocky areas and about a gazillion other things and places. Heck, there is supposedly an crashed alien ship somewhere out there. But the game just looks fantastic, beautiful character sprites, smooth textures, brilliant lighting as the game's real time reflects the daylight or night light. You can see things in the dark that you can't see in the day and even missions are time specific. The in-game targeting system called VATS, is a clever way to target specific body parts on enemies and, in some cases, is the only way to hit monsters that have only one weak area. In-game menus are clean and appropriately rusty and dirty looking. The various armor and clothing you find and wear reflects on your character's appearance, the blood flows deep red and flows often as the game and the franchise is known for the over-the-top violence; if that isn't enough, there is an actual character perk that increases the chances of very bloody, gruesome deaths.

To go with all the great-looking graphics, the audio is really cool as well. Using your PIP boy (a computer on your arm that assists you in your adventures) you can access all sorts of information including recordings you find around the wasteland that you can play like a CD and various radio frequencies that are playing songs or propaganda or even requests for help. There is a ton of familiar voices in the game including Ron Perlman, Liam Neeson and Malcolm McDowell as the president of the U.S. All of the voices are done with great care to the material and quite frankly, it helps move the creative storyline forward. The music, too, is cool in a retro sort of way since the music featured is a lot of big band-era style music. This, too, is a trait that has followed the game's progression through three iterations. Very slick, very cool

The gameplay of the game can be pretty exciting too. Fortunately walking across giant landscapes in real time can be daunting and painful if you are low on health and stimpacks (like a health pack) are no where to be found or bought. Thankfully the game has a really neat way of helping avoid that particular nuisance. Once an area has been discovered, and the GS location locked into your PIP boy, you can instantly travel there rather than walk the sometimes very-long distance. So oftentimes I would battle my way to a new location and then instead of trying to complete the mission, I would teleport back to my own home (you'll need to discover this) and heal up by spending the night in my bed. Then I can sell some of the things I have scavenged off my enemies or found in one of the bazillion places I have discovered and then buy more health and ammo from any one of the shop keepers or roaming traders that you can have business with. One quick teleport back and now I'm fully healed, fully armed and ready to tackle the mission. The game is awesome.

There is much to see and do in the wastelands of DC, so don't let the pesky main mission stop you from having fun. With all of the additional perks and skills you can level up, you can play the game several times answering some things as radically or as safely as you want. But inevitably you will have to deal with the game's main problem, good or bad. The Fable games owe a lot to the Fallout series since you have been able to play like this since day one. Perks that increase your attractiveness to the ladies, perks that make you a kill machine when your health falls so low and tons of other crazy and really cool perks that make the game so much fun to play. I suspect that Fallout 3 will win some awards this year and is a strong runner for game of the year on at least a couple different platforms.