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Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition hits EA Access
EA have released Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition on PC and Xbox One today after a Twitter tease this October.
The Deluxe Edition will be available to all of those who have EA Access, which costs $5 per month. EA no doubt will hope this will cause a revisit to the game by rewarding players that do so with a Pathfinder Elite weapon set, the Deep Space Explorer, and more.
It's skeptical whether we will ever see another Mass Effect title due to BioWare not supporting the title since August, but to fill that gap a delayed novel is to be released in June next year called Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Continue reading: Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition hits EA Access (full post)
G.SKILL releases DDR4 Trident Z RGB kit at a huge 4266MHz
G.SKILL has just announced the latest in its goal towards being the best RAM manufacturer on the planet, with the new Trident Z RGB series memory kit coming in at 32GB and a huge speed of up to 4266MHz.
G.SKILL is using hand-picked, high-performance Samsung B-die DDR4 IC components that allow their latest G.SKILL Z370 DDR4 Trident Z RGB memory to come in three different flavors. First, we have 16GB and 32GB kits of DDR4-4000 with 17-17-17-37 timings at 1.35V, while the DDR4-4133 kit comes with the same latencies and capacities, but sees the voltage bumped up to 1.4V.
The flagship DDR4-4266MHz kit comes with slightly higher latencies of 17-18-18-38 at 1.45V and only in 32GB (4 x 8GB sticks).
Continue reading: G.SKILL releases DDR4 Trident Z RGB kit at a huge 4266MHz (full post)
Quantum encryption is a thing, fast enough for phone calls
Quantum encryption is the wish of most in the security industry as you can't even look at the data without making changes to it, but using quantum encryption - until now - was always slower than traditional methods.
Not for long, as researchers have made a new quantum encryption key distribution system that is between 5-10x faster than previous methods, and can keep up with conventional encryption when run side-by-side. How did they do it? By getting more data into each photon.
Engadget reports "Normally, you can only encode one bit per photon by using a weak laser. The team discovered that it could encode two bits by tweaking the release time of photons and using high-speed photon detectors to track these changes. Effectively, they're giving photons properties they couldn't have before". Crazy stuff, isn't it?
Continue reading: Quantum encryption is a thing, fast enough for phone calls (full post)
HDD with 7500 Bitcoin thrown away in 2009 now worth $71m
Now that Bitcoin has reached record heights of $9483, it made me remember the story of someone throwing away a HDD with a bunch of Bitcoin on it back in 2009.
The original story is that James Howells had 7500 Bitcoins in 2009, stored the HDD with the cryptocurrency on it until 2013, and then threw it in the trash. The story was picked up in 2013 as Bitcoin was reaching the then-dizzying heights of $1000, Howells at the time said he'd "never thrown a hard drive out before" had taken his PC apart as he spilled a drink on it.
He took the HDD out and threw it out amongst other hardware as party of a "clearout of old IT equipment", but not long after Howells said he took interested in Bitcoin and reached out to the dump where his rubbish ended up. The dump manager said that the HDD "could be 3 to 5 feet deep" in landfill, the size of a soccer field.
Continue reading: HDD with 7500 Bitcoin thrown away in 2009 now worth $71m (full post)
Steam hits a new milestone: 17 million concurrent users
Valve is the center of PC gaming so it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that the digital distribution giant has reached 17 million concurrent users, with nearly 7 million concurrent gamers playing on Steam at once.
Black Friday would've helped this in a big way, with Valve reaching a new peak of 17,683,804 users at once. SteamDB has said that they've noticed a new high of 6,813,617 users in-game at once, which is crazy. Battlegrounds on its own is doing nearly 3 million concurrent players, which is just unbelievable.
We don't know how many Steam users there are in total since Valve doesn't freely release that information but back in 2014 the company said it had reached 75 million users. In 2015, Valve said they had over 125 million "active" accounts... so we can only imagine what they have now. 200 million? Probably.
Continue reading: Steam hits a new milestone: 17 million concurrent users (full post)
Google helps pedophiles on YouTube with auto fill content
I was just floating around on Twitter just now and stumbled across something Mike Cernovich re-tweeted, where he tagged @TeamYouTube on Twitter asking "Why does "How to have..." auto fill into pedophile content? Multiple people reported this to me."
I didn't believe it, thinking it was some crazy "alt-right conspiracy theory" but nope, it's real. I went to YouTube and typed on "How To Have" and then it auto filled it to a few different options with YouTube providing "how to have s*x with your kids" (what the actual f**k) and then "how to have s * x" with kids (which is equally as f**ked up).
YouTube will have to have an incredibly good answer for this, because it's beyond not normal. Furthermore, the auto fill options seem to be aimed at the younger audience searching YouTube with "how to have your first kiss" and "how to have good handwriting", but then it's mixed up with pedophile-friendly searches that will direct young kids to sick content. I couldn't bear clicking them, so I have no idea what comes up in the searches. Ugh.
Continue reading: Google helps pedophiles on YouTube with auto fill content (full post)
Intel Core i9 mobile CPU teased as Core i9-8950HK
It looks like Intel is preparing to announce a new mobile variant of its Core i9 processor, with AIDA64 - the popular system information, diagnostics and auditing software, included a tease of Intel's unannounced processors in the latest beta of AIDA64.
We have now been teased with mobile and desktop Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 processors. The Core i9-8950HK is the most exciting, as it's the first Coffee Lake/Core i9 CPU for notebooks. Better yet, the 8950HK is an overclockable chip that rocks 6C/12T for freaking notebooks.
As for the other unannounced CPUs from Intel, we can expect new Coffee Lake-H processors in the form of a new Core i3 quad-core chip, Core i5 six-core chip, and Core i7 with 6C/12T of power. The full list of 8th and 9th generation processors is long, thanks to AIDA64:
Continue reading: Intel Core i9 mobile CPU teased as Core i9-8950HK (full post)
It's over 9000!!! Bitcoin reaches record high price of $9483
It has been one of the most amazing weeks in the short life of cryptocurrency, with Ethereum reaching record highs and now Bitcoin hitting a new high of over $9000. An incredible journey this year, and over the last five years.
Bitcoin reached its record high of $9483 on November 26 at 7PM, floating back down to $9344 at the time of writing. BTC opened at $8763 and hit a high of $9484 giving it a market cap of an incredible $151 billion. This means the entire cryptocurrency market value now stands at a mammoth $285 billion, with BTC responsible for well over 50% of that alone.
Continue reading: It's over 9000!!! Bitcoin reaches record high price of $9483 (full post)
Motorola trolls Samsung trolling Apple with its new ad
Samsung had quite the troll with its ad that stabbed directly into Apple's iEye (geddit?!) but now Motorola wants to get in on the trolling fun with its new 'Up-upgrade to Motorola' ad that is very, very similar to the one Samsung released.
It's an alternate ending to the Samsung troll, with the long-time iPhone user upgrading to the Galaxy Note 8 to come home to his partner using Motorola's new Moto Z2 Play smartphone. Motorola offers an accessory that provides the Moto Z2 Play with a built-in projector, because we all know how much we'd use that (answer: not much).
Motorola doesn't even mention its competitors in the ad which is smart, but I have to think: who would buy the Moto Z2 Play over a Galaxy Note 8 or iPhone X?
Continue reading: Motorola trolls Samsung trolling Apple with its new ad (full post)
Scale 'The Dark Tower' to win our Blu-ray giveaway!
To celebrate the upcoming home video release of 'The Dark Tower,' we have fifteen Blu-ray copies of the film to give away thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Entertainment.
In a world of superheroes, there is only one gunslinger. Roland & the Man in Black share an ancient vendetta; they must fight to the death in an epic battle over the fate of the Universe. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.
To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, correctly answer the below question, and send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com before the competition closes on November 30.
Continue reading: Scale 'The Dark Tower' to win our Blu-ray giveaway! (full post)
Find 'The Lost City of Z' in our Blu-ray giveaway!
To celebrate the upcoming home video release of 'The Lost City of Z,' we have fifteen prize packs to give away thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Home Entertainment, with each including a copy of the film on Blu-ray, as well as the paperback novel by David Grann which inspired the film.
In 1925, Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon in search of a myth. What he discovered became legendary. Based on author David Grann's nonfiction bestseller, 'The Lost City of Z' tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region.
Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as "savages," the determined Fawcett - supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide-de-camp (Robert Pattinson) - returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925. An epically scaled tale of courage and passion told in writer/director James Gray's classic filmmaking style, 'The Lost City of Z' is a stirring tribute to the exploratory spirit and a conflicted adventurer driven to the verge of obsession.
Continue reading: Find 'The Lost City of Z' in our Blu-ray giveaway! (full post)
Pokemon franchise has now sold over 300 million games
Pokemon is one of the best-selling franchises of all time, with The Pokemon Company recently announcing the Pokemon series has sold over 300 million copies and that's all without the mobile hit Pokemon GO.
The 300 million sales of Pokemon sales include the main RPG series, as well as others like Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokken Tournament, and Pokemon Snap. Remember that there are a bunch of spin-offs and other Pokemon games, with a total of 76 different Pokemon games in the wild.
Comparing Pokemon against some of the other best-selling games of all time we have Super Mario which boasts a massive 500 million copies sold. GTA comes in close with 250 million and so does Call of Duty with 250 million. The Sims has 200 million, while Tetris is still going strong with 170 million copies sold.
Continue reading: Pokemon franchise has now sold over 300 million games (full post)
XFX's new Radeon RX Vega 56, Vega 64 cards not factory OC'd
It looks like XFX will be releasing some lukewarm (but hot operating) custom Radeon RX Vega 56 and RX Vega 64 graphics cards, which are identical in style and both with stock GPU clocks.
XFX will not be factory overclocking its new Radeon RX Vega 56 or Radeon RX Vega 64 Double Edition graphics cards, with the RX Vega 64 variant coming in with its 1247MHz base GPU clock and 1546MHz boost GPU clock.
Both cards will feature the same 8GB of HBM2 memory, while the RX Vega 56 sits at 1600MHz, the RX Vega 64 Double Edition will ramp that up to 1890MHz. Both cards will require dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors, which are placed in the center of the card between the two fans.
Continue reading: XFX's new Radeon RX Vega 56, Vega 64 cards not factory OC'd (full post)
Sharkoon release the S1000 Micro-ATX case range
Sharkoon have introduced two new micro-ATX cases, the compact S1000 and S1000 Window. If you guessed that the only difference between the two models is an acrylic side window? You'd be wrong, slightly. The S1000 Window features an acrylic side window as well as a pre-installed 120mm blue LED fan on the rear of the case. The S1000 range is set to include an integrated shroud for power supplies and hard drives, creating clean and elegant look for your build.
Both case versions include a removable dust filters and pre-installed 120mm fan at the front for air intake, behind those fans is sufficient room for a 240mm radiator or if the 5.25" drive bay is removed, the S1000 can house a 280mm radiator. The front panel is home to a traditional setup that includes two USB 3.0 ports, microphone and headphone connectors. The S1000 can house a CPU cooler up to 155mm high with the S1000 Window able to house 150mm high. Both version can hold up to 400mm long graphics cards and fit 2x 2.5" SSD's and 2x 3.5" HDDs.
The Sharkoon S1000 range is available now
Continue reading: Sharkoon release the S1000 Micro-ATX case range (full post)
FSP release 2000W dedicated mining power supply
For all the miners out there, FSP understand your needs, and have became the first to release the FSP2000-A0AGPBI 2000-watt power supply that is dedicated to mining. The FSP2000-A0AGPBI features a few, well... more than a few, 16 sets of PCI-E 6+2 PIN slots that allow for 16 graphics cards to me powered by this single PSU.
This 80PLUS platinum certified is an industrial grade power supply that has passed high temperature and humidity tolerance, overvoltage, overcurrent and long-term operation tests to ensure this PSU can handle the harshest severe mining environments. This PSU also utilizes a unique active PFC (Power Factor Correction) circuit design with its high-load electrical components that is exceptional for high wattages applications.
Continue reading: FSP release 2000W dedicated mining power supply (full post)
Black Friday sales sees Oculus Rift down to just $349
VR in general has begun to plateau in terms of hype, but now since Black Friday sales have rolled around the corner Oculus have decided to slash prices on the Rift VR headset, bringing the price down to just $399.
Typically Amazon has beaten that price, giving consumers the option of being apart of their Black Friday sales and picking a Oculus Rift VR headset and two Oculus Touch controllers for just $349.
This is the lowest price for Oculus VR yet, these are the highlights from the deal:
Continue reading: Black Friday sales sees Oculus Rift down to just $349 (full post)
Elon Musk receives approval for tunnel under LA
Elon Musk, or the real life Tony Stark, has taken the first step into solving the standstill traffic problem that LA is known for. Musk has begun the process with his firm 'The Boring Company' by filing a permit to start digging within city limits.
Keeping the momentum going forward Musk has already acquired a verbal approval and has also posted a photo from the first stage of the project near his office in Hawthorne, in southwestern Los Angeles County near LAX. Musk hopes the route of tunnel will stretch from the entirety of the "whole 405" from LAX to Interstate 101 in "a year or so."
In April, The Boring Company released a video showing a car being lowered into the tunnel from a platform in the city streets. Users of the tunnel will be able to take "express" trips through the main tunnel with "no intermediate stopping", side tunnels will also be connected to the main tunnel for entry and exit.
Continue reading: Elon Musk receives approval for tunnel under LA (full post)
Samsung could unveil the Galaxy S9 at CES 2018 in January
According to VentureBeat, Samsung is set to give an early sneak peek at their newest installment into the Galaxy series, reports saying that we will see not only the Galaxy S9 but also the S9+ revealed at CES 2018 in early-January.
The report was written by Evan "@evleaks" Blass, the notorious leaker that now writes for VentureBeat, who said he talked to "someone briefed on the company's plans" and explains that Galaxy S9 and S9+ are Codenamed Star 1 and Star 2 and go by model numbers SM-G960 and SM-G965.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will feature a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch curved Super AMOLED panels, just like their predecessors. The difference though is the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will not be like the near-identical nature of the S8 and S8+ which shared everything but the display size. Instead, the S9+ will be featuring more RAM (6GB vs 4GB) and also a second rear camera just like the Note 8.
Continue reading: Samsung could unveil the Galaxy S9 at CES 2018 in January (full post)
Tesla's impressive new electric Semi Truck starts at $150K
Tesla unveiled their exciting new electric Semi truck last week without a price, but now the electric car leader has announced the pricing for all three models of the new electric Semi truck.
Tesla has listed the 300-mile version of Semi for $150,000 while the 500-mile version will sell for $180,000. If you want the fancier Founders Series Semi truck with all of the bells and whistles, you'll be looking at a swift $200,000.
If we compare the $180,000 model against a similar diesel-powered semi truck, Tesla is charging a $60,000 premium. But considering it will cost around 20% less to run (right now, not given diesel price increases in the future) and is much more green-friendly, as well as a bunch of new features and a bigger cabin, it will eventually save you $250,000 over 1 million miles according to Tesla.
Continue reading: Tesla's impressive new electric Semi Truck starts at $150K (full post)
Battlegrounds surpasses 2.6 million concurrent gamers
It really must be a party at Bluehole everyday, after they created one of the hottest games ever made, continuously push the boundaries of how many peak gamers can be playing a game on Steam at once (see ya, Dota 2 and CS:GO).
This explains how the game has now sold over 22 million copies without stopping, all before the v1.0 release at the end of the year and the upcoming Xbox One release on December 12. Now the game has passed not just the 2.5 million concurrent gamer milestone, but it has flown past the 2.6 million concurrent gamer mark with a new peak of 2,644,514.
Comparing the 2.6 million concurrent PUBG gamers we have Dota 2 with just 710,000 and CS:GO with 510,000. Battlegrounds isn't stopping, but will we - or more importantly, when will we get to 3 million concurrent gamers?
Continue reading: Battlegrounds surpasses 2.6 million concurrent gamers (full post)






















