Google+ has added Instagram-like controls to its photo section. The section has always had basic editing, because Google+ shares its photo albums with Picasa, so any edits made there would bounce back. But now they're stepped it up a few notches and built it directly in. The new controls only work in the desktop version, and can be accessed by clicking the edit button when you're in the fullscreen light-box view and selecting "Creative Kit".

From there, you're launched into an editor which is powered by PicNik (my niece Alisha will love that). From here, you can crop and tweak photos, but also included is an Instagram-like filter where you can perform some powerful edits. Included is a "Sunless Tan" tool, which can do exactly what it says... you use a brush to apply the tan and somehow it works out where the edges are and turns anyone into a reality TV star ready for the Jersey Shore, b*tch.

Right now there is a seasonal toolkit: Halloween. This allows you to add blood spatter, gravestones, "Dracula Dermis", and other fun stuff to your pictures. The Creative Kit is Flash-powered, so if you were thinking you might hit it up by signing into the non-mobile version of Google+ from an iPad, you're completely out of luck.

Valve have been been quite good with DLC and user-created content, and Portal 2 from what it seems, is set to get a serious injection of not only awesome, but ease. Valve released Portal 2's authoring tools earlier this year and it has unleashed various custom puzzles for Portal 2 from the community. So far more than 700 puzzles have been created.

It's not a massive success, as many spiring modders have complained that the toolkit is too complicated to use. Many gamers have also complained that it's too difficult to find and play the community-generated test chambers. Valve have not been sitting on their hands during this, as they've vowed to resolve both lingering issues.

As you can see from the above two screenshots, Valve look to be offering the masses with a puzzle creator that offers "simplified" but "powerful" controls. Valve have not talked about any specifics on the new authoring tools, but the two screenshots above seem to indicate it would be quite simple indeed. I feel a Sims vibe when I look at them, and that is a simple enough game, but powerful at the same time.

If you haven't played Battlefield 3 yet, I don't know why you haven't - it is an amazing achievement of a game. For me, it has been one of (if not the) best multiplayer experiences of my life. DICE have followed through (technical issues aside). EA have announced that they have shipped 10 million copies to retailers worldwide, with many retailers requesting more stock.

Three million copies of Battlefield 3 had been sold as pre-orders before the game was released, which was confirmed by EA's COO, Peter Moore in an investor call a few days ago. Even though Battlefield 3 has been very successful, they [EA and DICE] still want to keep its single player campaign in the future Battlefield titles.

EA's Frank Gibeau says:

Intel has just released version 3.0 of its "SSD Toolbox" which sports an entirely new UI and rolls in a ton of new features.

The management and diagnostics of your Intel based SSD with this tool is now about as complete as could be with SMART status, Summary Drive Health and Estimated Life Remaining bars, used/unused capacity pie charts, diagnostics, system information summary and contextual help that integrates one-click same-page help pointers.

With SSDS typically having a limited rewrite cycle count (the amount of times data can be rewritten onto its NAND cells before it's game over and the SSD becomes a doorstep), while the cycle count equates to many, many years of use even for the all day every day user, it's still nice to have peace of mind about the rewrite cycle status.

Logitech have just unveiled a new gaming keyboard and mouse in the form of the Logitech Gaming Keyboard G105 and Logitech Laser Mouse G9X, specially made for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The Logitech Gaming Keyboard G105 is the official keyboard of COD: Modern Warfare 3 and sports military-style, night-vision green LED backlighting. It also features six programmable G-keys, each with three mode states.

The Logitech Gaming Keyboard G105 also features up to 18 possible macro combinations per game, where they can allow you to perform single keystrokes or intricate multi-key combinations complete with mouse events, user-defined delays and repeating. New macros can even be recorded on the fly with the help of the Logitech Gaming Software (when installed).

Next up is the Logitech Laser Mouse G9X, this mouse gives you the 'game-changing precision' at hand speeds up to 165 inches per second on the most popular gaming mouse pad surfaces. It also sports on-the-fly, adjustable dpi which takes you from a pixel-precise 200 dpi, to lighting-fast 5700 dpi without pausing in action, while full-speed USB delivers performance at up to 1000 reports each and every second.

Chinese search engine Baidu posted their earnings today, and they've got some very impressive results. Total revenue in Q3 rocks along at $654.7 million, an 85.1-percent increase from the same period last year, net income was up 80-percent to $295 million. Diluted earnings for Q3 were $0.84; non-GAAP earnings were for the $0.86. Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu says:

Baidu's operating profits in Q3 were $349.1 million, an impressive 88.5-percent increase from 2010. Online marketing revenues for Q3 were $654.4 million, another big increase of 85.1-percent from 2010. Baidu had approximately 304,000 active online marketing customers in Q3, this represents an 11.8-percent increase from 2010, and a 2-percent increase over Q2, 2011. Revenue per online marketing customer for the third quarter was approximately $2,148, a 65.1-percent increase from 2010 and a 19.1-percent increase from Q2.

For those of you who love your SSDs like me, you'll enjoy an interesting blog piece from Corsair. It's done by long time Corsair forum member Rafael Jaimes III, or by his forum name "Synbios". He sent Corsair some documentation of SSD life testing utilizing Corsair's Force F40-A SSDs.

The submission is quite long, so I won't go into it too much (and to avoid spoilers from the results), but it goes into a very lengthy discussion about the lifespan and the general users questions on how long it will be. Because SSDs are a very new technology when compared to the now ageing mechanical platter-based tech, the number of failures of SSDs are currently quite low. But because they haven't been around as long as their competition, its hard to get a handle on what type of return rate they have.

Synbios uses a variety of tools for his testing, and its not just some simple benchmarks that he runs. The time and effort that this man has put into the testing should really be enjoyed by a thorough read of his work. I actually looked forward to seeing more of his work.

Electronic Arts have just announced that their digital distribution platform, Origin, will now be offering third-party PC games starting in November. The first wave of publishers to sign a deal with Origin include Warner Bros., THQ and Capcom. This will bring hit titles such as Batman: Arkham City and Saints Row: The Third to Origin, with more games hitting Origin in the coming months.

Origin already has over 100 EA games in its library and adding additional publishers only cements their service into competition against Valve and their digital distribution platform, Steam. David DeMartini (shaken, not stirred, thanks), senior vice president of Origin at EA says:

Facebook sometimes gets the cold shoulder when it comes to privacy and their mobile apps, but todays news is a little different. Facebook are set to build a massive server farm 62 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Luleå, northern Sweden. The facility will include three 300,000 square feet server halls and it will be the first time that Facebook has built a data center outside of the US.

This is becoming a trend for American companies, with Microsoft looking to build a server farm in Siberia, but the deal never gelled together. Google on the other hand is currently building a similar data center in Hamima in southern Finland. Facebook chose Luleå because of its cold climate, with server farms requiring massive amounts of cold air to keep the operating temperatures down. The average temperate in the area is around 2C (35.6F) and the temperature has not been above 30C (86F) for more than 24 hours since 1961.

The plan Facebook have is to pump in cool air from outside to aid in temperature management. Despite this, the server farm will still require a fair amount of power, with the number hovering at around 120 MW. This will primarily be supplied by the Lule River which produces twice as much hydroelectric power as the Hoover Dam.

Shares in Take-Two Games have risen by 6-percent following the announcement of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 earlier this week. On Tuesday, Rockstar Games confirmed that GTA V's first teaser trailer will hit the Internet on November 2, where the announcement was made live with the game's official logo which shows a green-colored Roman numeral 'V' wrapped with a banner sporting the word 'Five.'

Of course, we all know how the Internet and fans work. As soon as there's a teaser for something, there has to be an easter egg or hidden something (image, word, art, etc) within the tease. GTA V as you can imagine, is no different. Some keen gamers have discovered that the logo displayed above, is identical to the design of the $5 dollar bank noted issued in 1889 by the US Mint. An American setting has been rumored, but would Rockstar be breaking the rules by taking GTA back to the pre-1900s era?

The most credible GTA V rumors lead toward an LA-based setting, in the modern-eta.