SpaceX launches cargo ship to International Space Station

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Jul 26, 2019 2:00 AM CDT

Following up on yesterday's news regarding the delay of SpaceX's cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS), recent news coming out from SpaceX confirms that today's launch was a success and that the Dragon capsule is on its way to the ISS.

SpaceX launches cargo ship to International Space Station

And we have lift off, or at least SpaceX has gotten lift off from their Falcon 9 rocket carrying the robotic Dragon Space Capsule planned for connection with the ISS. This successful launch marks the 18th mission for SpaceX and also the first time that the same Dragon spacecraft has flown to the ISS three times.

In celebration of this milestone, SpaceX has placed three decals on the side of the capsule, two ISS logos and one more to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing back in 1969. Bill Specht, NASA's deputy manager for ISS Transport Integration spoke out about the launch, saying "Historically today, 50 years ago, we were able to complete Kennedy's challenge to get men to the moon."

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Some men just want to watch the world burn in Dying Light 2

Jak Connor | Gaming | Jul 26, 2019 1:00 AM CDT

Techland's upcoming sequel to Dying Light has got gamers shaking in their boots with excitement especially since players will be able to metaphorically watch the world burn if they so choose.

Some men just want to watch the world burn in Dying Light 2

In a recent interview with WCCFtech, Techland's, Chris Avellone the narrative designer for Dying Light 2, Kornel Jaskula, a producer and chief technology officer Pawel Rohleder. In the interview, it was touched on if players have the ability of playing a chaos agent in-game. What I mean by that is - do players have the choice of choosing to reign chaos on the characters in-game by turning the against each-other and creating complete disarray?

Avellone answered the question confidently, saying "Yes. Dying Light 2 is designed to allow the player to play any number of roles - helpful benefactor, selfish looter, ruthless pragmatist, betrayer, or even a trickster if they wish, and you can definitely turn the factions against themselves and individuals against each other."

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MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is exclusive to Epic Games Store

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 25, 2019 11:23 PM CDT

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries has been announced as an exclusive to the Epic Games Store, ripping the game from Steam users' hands and throwing it onto the Epic Games Store on December 10.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is exclusive to Epic Games Store

The new release date is when the game goes live on tghe Epic Games Store, with refunds being offered through to September 1, while an 'Exclusive Closed Beta' opens up on November 5 if you pre-ordered the Community Edition of the game.

Russ Bullock, an executive producer with Piranha Games said: "Our partnership with the Epic Games store allows Piranha the opportunity to make sure MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries meets our internal goal of creating the best MechWarrior game possible. Since we announced the development of the first single-player MechWarrior game in 17 years, we have stated that our goal was to deliver to fans a MechWarrior: Mercenaries experience with true freedom of choice and to be able to share that experience in a coop setting".

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Samsung tweaks Galaxy Fold, will re-release in September

Samsung barely had its Galaxy Fold smartphone on the market with it getting into the hands of a select few reviewers and influencers, before the company pulled it and delayed the launch... and now its first fordable smartphone will launch in September.

Samsung tweaks Galaxy Fold, will re-release in September

Samsung says in its press release: "Samsung is conducting final product tests to make Galaxy Fold available to consumers starting from September in select markets. Availability details will be shared as we get closer to launch". We should expect more details on what they've changed during the announcement, but this is what Samsung has said so far regarding tweaks to the Galaxy Fold:

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Confirmed: Apple buys Intel's modem division for $1 billion

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 25, 2019 9:25 PM CDT

We knew it was coming but now it is official: Apple has acquired Intel's modem division including 17,000 patents and most of its staff, for $1 billion.

Confirmed: Apple buys Intel's modem division for $1 billion

Intel will see around 2200 of its employees joining Apple, with physical equipment and facilities to be transferred from Intel to Apple now that the deal is done. Intel is abandoning the modem market, but it's not getting rid of everything in the division. The company explains it will "retain the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, internet-of-things devices and autonomous vehicles".

Apple's SVP of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji adds: "Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they'll thrive in Apple's creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward".

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TEAMGROUP announces new T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box

Shannon Robb | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jul 25, 2019 9:04 PM CDT

TEAMGROUP today announced its new T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box, designed to be an ideal all inclusive solution for your next PC's RGB needs.

TEAMGROUP announces new T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box

The new TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box comes with a dual ARGB LED strips and an extensive array of connectivity to support multiple RGB devices. The T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box will be available in August.

The T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box offers up to four 5V ARGB headers and a single 12V RGB header so that you can sync all of your compatible RGB lighting. The T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box can work standalone with five preset modes or it will auto-detect if connected to a motherboard to sync. See below for more spec details on the new T-FORCE CAPTAIN RGB control box.

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Innodisk's new Fire Shield SSD can handle 800C direct flames

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Jul 25, 2019 8:45 PM CDT

Innodisk has just been granted the patent for its fire-proof external SSD by the USPTO, with the new Fire Shield SSD able to survive in direct flames at 800C for over 30 minutes.

Innodisk's new Fire Shield SSD can handle 800C direct flames

The company ran comparison tests before and after the Fire Shield SSD was dunked in flames, with 100% data accuracy results. Inside, what Innodisk has done with the Fire Shield SSD is take inspiration from the black boxes used in planes and other vehicles, which are built to be secure to survive a major crash or explosion.

Innodisk uses triple-layer protection between the outside of the Fire Shield SSD, and the SSD itself. The company is using layers of flame resistant copper alloy, drive-protecting connector design, and heat-isolating lining material. There are over 20 heat-resistant materials used in total.

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TEAMGROUP introduces the T-FORCE CARDEA liquid cooled SSD

Shannon Robb | Storage | Jul 25, 2019 8:24 PM CDT

TEAMGROUP today announced its new T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid Cooled SSDs, with an integrated 'self circulating' liquid cooling block to increase performance. The CARDEA Liquid Series are PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 based SSDs with up to 3400 MB/s read speeds.

TEAMGROUP introduces the T-FORCE CARDEA liquid cooled SSD

The new TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid SSDs utilize a patented liquid cooling implementation to reduce operating temperatures by up to 10° C.

See below for more spec details on the new T_FORCE CARDIA Liquid series M.2 SSDs from TEAMGROUP.

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Epic Store cloud saves are live, but only for a few games

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 25, 2019 6:24 PM CDT

The Epic Store now has cloud saves in select new games, but widespread adoption will be slower.

Epic Store cloud saves are live, but only for a few games

The Epic Store is missing lots of basic features you'd expect from an online digital storefront, let alone one ran by a billion-dollar company. That's starting to change slowly but surely, and Tim Sweeney today confirmed that newer titles like the now-free indie Moonlighter will support cloud saves. Both new and old games require manual updates from the store team, and there's no word on when all games will get cloud saves. Sadly there was no update on a shopping cart (which is arguably more important).

"Cloud saves are enabled for a couple of new games right now. We have a bit more work to do before rolling it out more widely," Sweeney said on Twitter.

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Cyberpunk 2077 won't be playable at Gamescom 2019

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 25, 2019 3:32 PM CDT

CD Projekt RED still isn't ready for press and gamers to try out Cyberpunk 2077, but their massive sci-fi opus will still be at Gamescom.

Cyberpunk 2077 won't be playable at Gamescom 2019

Today CDPR revealed its plans for Gamescom 2019, which includes live on-floor demos of Cyberpunk 2077 in action. Sadly gamers and attendees can't actually try the game out. The demos aren't hands-on and instead are played by the dev team. Similar to E3 2019, press will get access to a more one-on-one gameplay demo behind closed doors, likely conducted on insane PC hardware powered by an NVIDIA RTX Titan GPU.

"Entertainment area pass holders will be able to watch Cyberpunk 2077 being played live by members of the development team at the game's booth located in Hall 6, Stand C049. These presentations will take place Wednesday, August 21st through Saturday, August 24th.

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