Senators tear into OPM director for data breach, cybersecurity issues

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Jun 26, 2015 3:22 PM CDT

The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suffered a devastating data breach that has impacted millions of people - and the agency is now trying to move too fast and isn't following best practices. The OPM is relying on systems that are "decades-old" and apparently has no idea what they are actually doing to prevent future cybersecurity issues.

"It may sound counterintuitive, but OPM must slow down and not continue to barrel forward with this project," said Patrick McFarland, Inspector General of the OPM, while speaking to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "The agency must take the time to get it right the first time."

Sen. Ron Johnson (R - WI) and Sen. John McCain (R - AZ) have called into question the Obama Administration's commitment to overall cybersecurity. The "OPM has become a case study in the consequences of inadequate action and neglect," Johnson recently said. Meanwhile, McCain questioned if OPM agency director Katherine Archuleta should stay in her current role, especially after offering conflicting reports regarding OPM's breach damage.

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Oculus Rift Inventor: VR will be for hardcore gamers... at first

It's impossible to tell when virtual reality will go mainstream - if it does - but the companies pushing VR hardware hope its sooner rather than later.

Re/code recently caught up with Palmer Luckey, Oculus co-founder, to see what he thought about the future of VR.

"In these early days, probably for at least two years, VR is going to be primarily for gamers and enthusiasts that are willing to invest in high-end machines," Luckey said while speaking with Re/code. "VR is going to become something mainstream, but it's not going to happen right away. You just don't have the horsepower to make it happen on a device, much less a cheap enough and comfortable enough device that a normal consumer is going to want to have."

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Oculus: Use Oculus Rift in moderation for the best experience

Ready or not, a wave of virtual reality hardware is right around the corner. As gamers learn more about the choices we have in front of us, trying to figure out how long to wear the VR headsets during each session.

Some people will only be able to use it for a few minutes at a time, while others will be good to go for a few hours.

"We're not recommending 20 straight hours of gameplay in the Rift. We're looking at 30, 60, 90 minutes," said Brendan Iribe, head of the Facebook Oculus VR division, in a statement to GamesBeat. "Maybe an hour or two. Then you should be able to enjoy it every day. When you come out of it, if you don't feel good, you're not going to want to do it the next day. We want you to come out of the experience like you want to get right back in."

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Research: PC game sales to top console games in 2016

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Jun 26, 2015 1:14 PM CDT

After an extremely busy E3 gaming show earlier this month, there are a lot of things gamers across all platforms can be happy for. It turns out, PC game sales are expected to top video game consoles by the end of 2016 - with console games reaching an estimated $28 billion, while PC games will hit $29 billion, according to the PwC industry researcher.

If true, this is a major shift in the gaming market, which was dominated by PCs, transitioned to consoles, and looks to be switching once again. Most popular game titles released today feature a PC version and are available on new-generation consoles - but with resolution and fps restrictions, the PC Master Race fans can enjoy wider customization of their gaming experience.

It's not just a battle between PC and console games anymore, with a growing number of mobile and Web-based games.

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Around 100,000 Tweets from Islamic State-linked accounts per day

Michael Hatamoto | Internet & Websites | Jun 26, 2015 1:04 PM CDT

Europol has dedicated itself to the difficult task of fighting the Islamic State online, as there are around 100,000 daily tweets from up to 50,000 accounts with links to the terrorist group. Europol officially starts its operation on July 1, and wants to take down Islamic State-linked accounts within two hours following identification.

"Who is it reaching out to young people, in particular, by social media, to get them to come, in the first place? It's very difficult because of the dynamic nature of social media," said Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, in a statement to the Guardian.

Trying to fight IS online has proven difficult, with more interest from the Western world - but the United States has struggled in its efforts. There are no easy answers, and it will take cooperation from regular Twitter users, and continued vigilance from intelligence experts.

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Underdogs EASARS launch great looking Flare RGB mechanical keyboard

Chris Smith | Peripherals | Jun 26, 2015 12:24 PM CDT

Featuring a 32-bit ARM based CPU coupled with 512kb of flash memory, EASARS' RGB mechanical keyboard packs a 1,000 Hz polling rate, a gold-plated USB connection, no ghosting and a 16 million color RGB LED backlight.

In addition to these features are mechanical switches rated at 50 million clicks, however, there is no mention if these keys are Cherry or another brand. Self-claimed as a lightweight design, this keyboard offers a tenkeyless design - doing away with the numpad for a smaller package.

Keys can be remapped in EASARS' 'flare' software, also controlled through the profile switch on the keyboard - enabling you to scroll through five pre-set profiles in total.

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Wargaming bait and switch gamers in latest World of Warships deal

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jun 26, 2015 7:23 AM CDT

Wargaming has found itself in hot water with gamers, where it partnered with Humble Bundle last month on a deal for its popular World of Warships game, which is still in beta.

At the time, the MMO developer was offering anyone who purchased the bundle access to the upcoming closed beta, a premium ship dubbed 'Murmansk' and 1,000 premium credits. Anyone who purchased the bundle would see their items carried over from the beta to the full game, but after Wargaming applied the latest patch to World of Warships, gamers have noticed that the ship, and premium credits, are gone.

Even when re-entering the code they were provided when they purchased the bundle, gamers were hit with the same brick wall: no premium ship or premium credits. Wargaming then posted a statement that the Humble Bundle deal that included the premium ship and 1,000 credits was only for the closed beta period, leaving gamers feeling like they had been bait and switched by Wargaming.

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Samsung reportedly making 70% of the A9 chips for the next-gen iPhone

We are only a few months from Apple unveiling the new iPhone 6S, but it looks like its main competitor will be making most of the A9 processors that will be powering the next-gen iPhone.

According to a report on Chiphell, 70% of the new A9 processors will be made by Samsung while the remaining 30% will be produced by TSMC. Samsung will also be making a large portion of the 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM for the new iPhone, while Hynix will be making the remaining chips for Apple. Comparing this to the current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus where Samsung and Hynix split the DRAM production 50/50.

The new iPhone will also feature a better camera, which is expected to be a large improvement on the 8-megapixel iSight camera on the current iPhone. We should see Apple unveil the new iPhone in the coming months.

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Temporarily pulling PC sales of Batman: Arkham Knight was a good call

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Jun 26, 2015 6:20 AM CDT

A lot of Batman: Arkham Knight PC gamers haven't had a pleasurable gaming experience during launch week, as there are a number of performance problems, bugs, and game glitches. Warner Bros. rightfully decided to temporarily suspend future sales of the PC version as the studio works to resolve issues.

Why was it the right call? Put simply, the studio had a bit of advice to PC gamers suffering issues: turn down the settings.

"We continue to work closely with AMD to resolve these issues as soon as possible; make sure you have the most current drivers and check back here for updates on when the next driver version is available," Warner Bros. said in a statement.

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EA would delay Star Wars: Battlefront if the 'quality isn't right'

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jun 26, 2015 5:10 AM CDT

In the aftermath of Warner Bros pulling the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight because of it being a complete mess of a PC port, Electronic Arts' COO, Peter Moore, has come out talking about Star Wars: Battlefront.

Moore said that Electronic Arts wouldn't have a problem delaying a game if it wasn't ready, just like it did with Battlefield: Hardline. Moore said: "You can't ship it if it doesn't work or the quality isn't right. You just bite the bullet. Trust me, shipping Hardline in March was not the easiest thing to do from a business perspective, but it was the right thing to do from a player perspective".

Does that mean EA could postpone Star Wars: Battlefront? No. Moore said that the game is already "rock solid" even in huge 40-player matches, so a delay "ain't going to happen" according to Moore.

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