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Report: Robots, technology help create jobs, not destroy them

Michael Hatamoto | Science, Space, & Robotics | Aug 20, 2015 10:35 AM CDT

Will robots steal our jobs? There seems to be mounting fear that the human labor force will face pressure from robotic automation, though a new report from Deloitte indicates job creation among the creative, care, tech and business service sectors make up for jobs lost in agriculture and manufacturing.

"It's been very easy to identify where jobs have been destroyed," said Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, in a statement to CNBC. "Job losses generally are very conspicuous, whether it's a middle manager replaced by software, or checkout staff displaced by auto terminals, whereas job gains [are] harder to identify."

Machines help drive down production costs, and consumers are more willing to spend on new consumer goods and services. Researchers point to increasing sales for things like short holidays, morning cups of coffee at a local café, and other luxuries consumers may not be able to splurge on.

Continue reading: Report: Robots, technology help create jobs, not destroy them (full post)

Will drug tests help legitimize eSports as an actual sport?

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Aug 20, 2015 9:30 AM CDT

The Electronic Sports League (ESL) wants to crack down on the use of recreational and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) used by its competitors. Many of you balked at the idea, especially when marijuana is on the list of banned substances, though the ESL has a long-term goal in mind: legitimize eSports worldwide.

"The popularity and visibility of eSports has grown exponentially in recent years, but this combined with the increasing size of prize pools has also made the temptation of rule-breaking even greater," the ESL previously wrote. "ESL has an ongoing commitment to safeguarding both the integrity of our competitions and that of eSports as a whole."

It looks like ESL is most concerned about the use of Adderall and similar drugs that can be used to help enhance gameplay. ESL will work with the German Nationale Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) - which oversees anti-doping coordination and promoting anti-doping measures. WADA, of course, is best known for its role in athletic sports - but with a growing global image and prize money on the line - eSports wants to follow suit.

Continue reading: Will drug tests help legitimize eSports as an actual sport? (full post)

Sao Paulo locals likely to cheat claims Ashley Madison account graphic

Chris Smith | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 20, 2015 9:28 AM CDT

In further shocking news, the Ashley Madison hacking scandal has not only seen Australian Government employees damned by the leak, but there has further been an investigation into statistics based around the findings.

This investigation came in the form of locations, naming how many Ashley Madison accounts were linked to major cities around the globe. Topping the list of 25 cities by a large margin was Sao Paulo, sitting at over 370,000 accounts in total, backed up by New York at 268,171 in second place. These results were certainly not locked to a single continent either, with London and Melbourne (Australia) both ranking quite highly.

As reported by News.com.au, these numbers also don't take total population into account. So not only are you looking at places like Perth (Australia) having 88,697 total Ashley Madison members, but this city has 1/10th of the inhabitants when compared to the #1 ranked Sao Paulo.

Continue reading: Sao Paulo locals likely to cheat claims Ashley Madison account graphic (full post)

Government investigating how staff emails were added to Ashley Madison

Chris Smith | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 20, 2015 8:31 AM CDT

In recent news, dating and affairs website Ashley Madison was hacked and user information posted on the dark web. Among this information were over 700 Australian Government email address' ranging from members of parliament to high-held positions in the police force. With more uncovered members said to be found soon, the Queensland Government wants to know exactly how its workers ended up on this list.

With these 'Queenslanders' holding positions such as detective, government official and regional Councillor, the Queensland Government's IT section are reportedly conducting a full investigation in order to find out exactly how these email addresses came to be included in these lists.

There is a possibility that some emails were signed up by other people in a bid to inconvenience a worker they don't like, however, that's not likely to be the case for all members on the list.

Continue reading: Government investigating how staff emails were added to Ashley Madison (full post)

Lian Li and ASUS ROG team up with the Mini-ITX PC-Q17 chassis

Chris Smith | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Aug 20, 2015 7:26 AM CDT

Co-branded with ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG), the Lian Li PC-Q17 is a mini-ITX chassis designed to neatly house the ASUS ROG Maximus impact line of miniature motherboards.

Lian Li and ASUS ROG team up with the Mini-ITX PC-Q17 chassis

Complete with a sloped brushed aluminum front panel and large acrylic window in order to show off the tech within, this case is interestingly trapezoid in shape when viewed from the side. Further exterior features include a large LED ROG logo sitting on the storage cage, helping tie together a nice looking product.

Complete with 2-slot expansion support and clearance for video cards up to 27cm in length, there is further support for CPU coolers up to 14cm in height, power supplies up to 15cm in length and support for a 240mm x 120mm radiator up top (see image below). Last up are two front panel USB 3.0 ports and a weigh in at 2.7kg.

Continue reading: Lian Li and ASUS ROG team up with the Mini-ITX PC-Q17 chassis (full post)

Blizzard brings automated tournaments to StarCraft II

Chris Smith | Gaming | Aug 20, 2015 5:32 AM CDT

In a bid to win over eSports enthusiasts and those looking to transfer into this scene, Blizzard has recently announced the addition of automated tournaments within its gaming client.

Complete with an easy-to-access tournaments button in the main menu, the two tournament formats on offer in this beta testing period will be 3-round tournaments in single elimination and 6-round tournaments in a group stage to single elimination bracket.

This is a great way in order for Blizzard to push more players towards the eSports scene, alongside giving competitive players a viable way to hone their skills on a regular basis. However, small tournament organizers who are looking to learn some tips and tricks in order to move onto bigger and better things may find this addition an issue as it basically kills their target audience.

Continue reading: Blizzard brings automated tournaments to StarCraft II (full post)

VAIO brand is making a comeback in the United States with a new tablet

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Aug 20, 2015 4:33 AM CDT

Most people will remember the iconic VAIO brand that Sony had, but sold the rights to in early 2014 to investment firm Japan Industrial Partners, which is ramping up to launch a new VAIO tablet in the United States in October.

The company started off selling products locally, but now they want VAIO products selling across the world. VAIO CEO Yoshimi Ota said that the reason VAIO was so unprofitable when Sony had the rights was a focus on market share. Under the ownership of Japan Industrial Partners, VAIO won't be pushing any cheap or unprofitable devices. This is where the new Canvas Z steps up to the plate.

The new VAIO Canvas Z is a "monster tablet" rocking a 12.3-inch 2560x1704 display, a massive Core i7-4700HQ processor, up to 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The Canvas Z rocks a built-in kickstand, stylus, and a detachable keyboard.

Continue reading: VAIO brand is making a comeback in the United States with a new tablet (full post)

Australian Government emails surface from Ashley Madison hack

Chris Smith | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 20, 2015 3:32 AM CDT

With the Ashley Madison affair website being hacked recently, seeing user information leaked on the dark web, news has just come to light that some Australian Government officials and employee's have been using their email address' for more than just business meetings and proposals.

This pastebin list contains over 700 leaked Australian Government employee email address', ranging from members of the New South Wales Police force to the Australian Defense Force and even the Victorian Education Department. Reportedly "copied from a post on a forum on the darknet," these email addresses are just some among millions now readily available to the public.

Wondering if you or your friends have been exposed? You can enter your (or another persons email) into this website to see what comes up.

Continue reading: Australian Government emails surface from Ashley Madison hack (full post)

DisplayMate says Galaxy Note 5 has the 'best smartphone display' ever

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Aug 20, 2015 2:33 AM CDT

Samsung has only just unveiled its new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ handsets, but DisplayMate has put them both under the test awarding the new Galaxy Note 5 with some serious praise for its display.

Most people would think that the display on the Galaxy Note 5 being the same size and resolution, would not be that much of an upgrade, but DisplayMate says quite the opposite. President of DisplayMate, Dr. Raymond M. Soneria, said that the Galaxy Note 5 is the best performing smartphone display the company has ever tested.

The display in the Galaxy Note 5 breaks new records in various categories, including highest absolute color accuracy, peak brightness, and highest contrast rating in ambient light, and that's not even all of the categories the display in the Note 5 wins in. The new Galaxy S6 edge+ was also given some praise, with Soneira saying that the fact that the flexible plastic substrate used in the dual-edge display is now essentially the same as traditional glass substrate.

Continue reading: DisplayMate says Galaxy Note 5 has the 'best smartphone display' ever (full post)

Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' gets first teaser trailer

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Aug 20, 2015 12:48 AM CDT

Returning with a new feature film less than a year from the release of the biblical epic 'Exodus: Gods and Kings', Sir Ridley Scott goes back to the Sci-Fi genre once again, with an adaptation of Andy Weir's 2011 novel of the same name. Today, distributor 20th Century Fox has released the first footage from the film, which looks to be an interesting project indeed.

Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' gets first teaser trailer

The studio has kindly provided an official synopsis for the film: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

'The Martian' hits screens worldwide from October 2015, well in advance of that other eagerly awaited space film.

Continue reading: Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' gets first teaser trailer (full post)

Gearbox secures 'full and rightful' ownership of Duke Nukem franchise

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 20, 2015 12:33 AM CDT

The Duke Nukem franchise hasn't been in a good spot for quite a while now, with 3D Realms, Gearbox Software and Interceptor Entertainment "voluntarily ended all litigation between them".

It has all been quite messy, with the announcement of Duke Nukem Mass Destruction back in February 2014, which was an isometric view shooter for the PS4 and PC. 3D Realms had bought in Interceptor to develop the game, but after the teaser site for the game opened up, Gearbox sued them. Gearbox wanted full rights and control over any Duke Nukem game, with 3D Realms then countersuing, stating that it had the rights to develop Duke Nukem games, saying that the Duke Nukem trademark was its property.

Interceptor acquired 3D Realms the next month, in March 2014, with Interceptor's Mike Nielsen placed into the CEO chair. Nielsen has said "When Interceptor acquired a license to develop Duke Nukem Mass Destruction [or Duke Nukem Survivor, its working title] from 3D Realms, we did so in good faith and were not aware of any conflict. We never intended to cause any harm to Gearbox or Duke, which is why we immediately ceased development after Gearbox reached out. To secure the future of Duke, 3D Realms has agreed with Gearbox that a single home serves the IP best".

Continue reading: Gearbox secures 'full and rightful' ownership of Duke Nukem franchise (full post)

Intel's Skylake CPUs have always-listening abilities to wake your PC

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Aug 19, 2015 11:11 PM CDT

IDF 2015 - One of the new features of Intel's Skylake architecture is that it is always listening for your voice, ready for voice commands to wake your PC up, similar to how Cortana works in Windows 10, or Google's various voice-controlled features in Android.

Intel has packed a new digital signal processor (DSP) into the Skylake processors, where you can wake your PC up by talking to it. The feature was shown off at the Intel Developer Forum, where you can wake your PC up from sleep, or have a program launched - all with your voice. The chipmaker hasn't mentioned if any additional hardware will be required, obviously outside of a microphone, but integration of this technology will work perfectly in most laptops.

The question is, will people want this feature turned on by default? Do you want your Skylake-powered PC to be always listening out for your voice? What type of security is there? There are more questions being raised over security, than it being just a cool feature for Intel's new processors.

Continue reading: Intel's Skylake CPUs have always-listening abilities to wake your PC (full post)

Xbox One backward compatibility to support original Xbox?

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Aug 19, 2015 7:13 PM CDT

Microsoft is quite happy with the addition of Xbox One backward compatibility able to support Xbox 360 games, but the company may not just stop there. When asked by someone on Twitter about backward compatibility so Xbox One gamers could play original Xbox titles, here is what Xbox chief Phil Spencer said:

Current Xbox One Preview Program members are able to test out Xbox 360 games, with a public rollout expected in November. Looking ahead, all Xbox 360 games with Gold titles will automatically be playable on the Xbox One.

There are plenty of things to work out with supporting Xbox 360 titles on the Xbox One, but it's interesting to hear Microsoft not shutting the door on original Xbox game support.

Continue reading: Xbox One backward compatibility to support original Xbox? (full post)

Sony takes us on a journey of Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation platform

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Aug 19, 2015 2:24 PM CDT

Gearing up for the upcoming launch of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, PlayStation Japan has launched a 2-minute "A history of METAL GEAR and PlayStation" video:

Sony takes us on a journey of Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation platform

Since Metal Gear Solid was made available for the original PlayStation, there has been a Metal Gear Solid game available for each PlayStation home and mobile platform.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is scheduled for launch on September 1, and will be available for the Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. Metal Gear Online will not launch until October 6 for console gamers and next January for PC gamers.

Continue reading: Sony takes us on a journey of Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation platform (full post)

Garmin launches VIRB X and VIRB XE action cameras in Australia

Michael Hatamoto | Cameras, Printers & Scanners | Aug 19, 2015 2:12 PM CDT

GPS manufacturer Garmin has launched the VIRB X and VIRB XE next-generation action cameras, available to consumers in Australia.

The VIRB XE is able to record HD video at 1440p/30fps or 1080p/60fps with super slow motion, image stabilization and various zoom levels. Meanwhile, the VIRB X records HD video at 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps with slow motion and zoom.

Both cameras are waterproof up to 50 meters without an external case, and has the ability to capture crisp underwater shots. Both units support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ANT+, G-Metrix, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope.

Continue reading: Garmin launches VIRB X and VIRB XE action cameras in Australia (full post)

Thecus launches N7770-10G and N8880U-10G NAS units for businesses

Michael Hatamoto | Storage | Aug 19, 2015 1:56 PM CDT

Thecus Technology has launched the 7-bay N7770-10G and 8-bay N8880U-10G NAS units, aimed at helping businesses increase their storage abilities.

The 10G NAS features Intel Core i3 (3.3 GHz), 8GB DDR3 ECC RAM, and a 10G PCIe card - offering SATA drives with NAS stacking. Each unit has 6 USB 2.0 ports, and USB 2 x 3.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, with support for 3.5" and 2.5" SATA HDDs or SSDs.

Both the N7770-10G and N888U-10G run the Thecus OS5 software, a Web-based OS making advanced data management easier. More than 700 apps focused on data backup, content management, multimedia, and other critical business features are available in the Thecus App Center.

Continue reading: Thecus launches N7770-10G and N8880U-10G NAS units for businesses (full post)

Skylake hits just under 7GHz on the new Intel Core i7 6700K processor

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Aug 19, 2015 9:12 AM CDT

Intel only launched its Skylake-based Core i7-6700K processor just recently, with a professional overclocker already pushing it up to just under 7GHz, sitting at 6998.88MHz.

The achievement was done using an ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard, where Hong Kong overclocker Chi-Kui Lam used an engineering sample of the Core i7-6700K, an overclock of 74.9% from its stock frequency of 4GHz. G.SKILL provided the RAM chops with Ripjaws 4 DDR4 RAM, alongside a 1300W PSU. The processor was keeping cool under LN2, which is normally required for these insane CPU overclocks.

The Core i7-6700K at 6.9GHz was only on a single core, with the other three physical cores and the four Hyper-Threaded cores being disabled. So we're looking at a single-core 6.9GHz, which had its voltage cranked up to 1.88V, compared to the 1.2V on the stock CPU.

Continue reading: Skylake hits just under 7GHz on the new Intel Core i7 6700K processor (full post)

Silicon Valley readies for long battle with government over encryption

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 19, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

The argument surrounding the use of encryption has placed tech companies and Internet users against national governments desperately trying to find ways to access data. President Barack Obama reportedly wants an open discussion with Silicon Valley leaders, but it looks like both sides aren't even close to coming to terms about encryption.

"We support the privacy rights of individuals," according to law enforcement officials in the United States, UK, Spain, and France. "But in the absence of cooperation from Apple and Google, regulators and lawmakers in our nations must now find an appropriate balance between the marginal benefits of full-disk encryption and the need for local law enforcement to solve and prosecute crimes. The safety of our communities depends on it."

However Google, Yahoo, and other tech companies are ready to fight for the rights of Internet users - and that means preventing government intrusion - and built-in backdoors for government and law enforcement access.

Continue reading: Silicon Valley readies for long battle with government over encryption (full post)

Hackers compromising web ads, loving news and weather sites

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 19, 2015 7:25 AM CDT

Popular websites like Drudge Report and Weather.com posed a threat to visitors by serving poisoned Web ads, installing CryptoWall ransomware or ravaging victimized machines with adware. The problem spread to even more websites, with reports saying eBay, AOL.com, wunderground, and other popular sites also posed a threat to site visitors.

"The same cybercrime lowlifes that infected the Yahoo website a few weeks ago have struck again, and were serving poisoned Web ads which either dropped CryptoWall ransomware or infected the PC with adware," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4.

To block these types of infections, KnowBe4 recommends click-to-play mode for Adobe Flash - if not disabling it completely - and making sure anti-virus and anti-malware software is updated. Of course, educating employees on various forms of cybersecurity risks is an important step, which could at least alert them to potential problems.

Continue reading: Hackers compromising web ads, loving news and weather sites (full post)

Can't install Black Ops 3 beta on PS4? Here's how to fix it

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 19, 2015 4:53 AM CDT

The hotly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 multiplayer beta is now live on PlayStation 4, and thousands of gamers are fragging it up as I type, but more than a few gamers have been left out in the cold thanks to a system glitch that prevents installation of the beta files. Luckily there's a simple fix.

Can't install Black Ops 3 beta on PS4? Here's how to fix it

Gamers affected by the glitch have taken to Reddit and GameFAQS looking for answers, explaining that they are able to redeem the beta code and start downloading the 12GB beta, but the download interrupts at 90-95% with an "cannot install" error message.

The fix is simple: all you need to do is update your PlayStation 4's firmware to version 2.57 and the beta should install and startup just fine. Apparently the installation error pops up on PS4's running v2.55 due to compatibility issues, and neither Sony or Treyarch have Tweeted any mentions of the glitch or how to fix it. Considering a good portion of these gamers pre-ordered Black Ops 3 to get into the beta it would behoove the devs to get the word out as quick as possible.

Continue reading: Can't install Black Ops 3 beta on PS4? Here's how to fix it (full post)

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