My Life At College (Episode 8) - Return of Madok

It's been a while since I posted these. But he's back, and with an episode.

My Life At College

Here is.... Episode 8:

For more check his channel: madok101

Your VB Kid
Psypher

New method of SSD garbage collection can boost drive performance up to 300%

Sounds interesting though...

A team of Japanese researchers at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of Chuo University is claiming to have developed a new method of SSD garbage collection that can substantially improve drive performance — up to 300% in certain cases. The researchers’ findings, which were presented at the 2014 IEEE International Memory Workshop, are sure to raise interest at a time when NAND flash performance is expected to only improve slowly over the next few years.

Adobe makes it easier to download old Creative Suite apps, dump your monthly subscription

About time

The biggest carrot Adobe used to lure its customers to the cloud when it moved to a subscription-only model for its creative tools was aggressive first-year pricing. For many of us who made the jump, that year is about over — meaning the Creative Suite will cost $600 per year. In the meantime, Adobe has introduced a much less expensive option for photographers, with Photoshop plus Lightroom plus various mobile services for only $120 per year. However, switching means going back and downgrading all your Creative Cloud (CC) apps to a version you had licensed previously.

Fortunately, Adobe has now provided us with the capability to do just that. From your Adobe Creative Cloud application, you can install an earlier version of Adobe’s applications (assuming you have a license that is registered using the same Adobe ID), in addition to the CC versions. To do it, make sure you have the latest version of the Creative Cloud app itself. At the top of the window showing the applications you can install you’ll see a dropdown labeled Filters. Simply choose “Previous Version” (pictured below) and — if your previous version is registered to the same Adobe account as you are using for the Creative Cloud — you’ll see the option to install the earlier version of the application — in my case the CS6 version.

You can also use this capability to download an earlier version of an application to run side-by-side with your Creative Cloud version. This can be useful for developers who want to test Actions against multiple versions, or if you need to run a plug-in that isn’t compatible with the latest version, but it probably isn’t something most people will ever need to do. [Read: Photoshop CC: Hands on with camera Shake Reduction, and how it works.]

Downloading old versions isn't exactly rocket science, and it isn't anything you couldn't have done by tracking down the Adobe legacy download page and your serial number, but it is sure a lot more convenient. The same thing will presumably work any time you are setting up a new computer, so this is yet another clever carrot Adobe is providing us with to make sure we all embrace its cloud.

One quick note is that I’ve only tested this feature with an account that has a CS6 license. I didn’t see any of my versions prior to that listed, so I’m not sure how far back Adobe will look for your old licensed version.

Source: ExtremeTech

The Chief Technomancer
VB Kid

Can a robot learn right from wrong?

Researchers are working on robots that can make ethical choices and then explain why

In Isaac Asimov’s short story "Runaround," two scientists on Mercury discover they are running out of fuel for the human base. They send a robot named Speedy on a dangerous mission to collect more, but five hours later, they find Speedy running in circles and reciting nonsense.

PAIN™

He's back. TheMainMan is with more videos.

This one is called PAIN™

For more videos like this go here.

Your VB Kid

Psypher

The futuristic dream of wirelessly charging your smartphone while you stand in line at the coffee shop may soon come to pass

But wouldn't this drain your battery?

A new company called Energous has devised a method of wirelessly transmitting power over long distances. Its prototype system can beam 10 watts, more than enough to charge your smartphone or tablet, over a distance of 15 feet — and, rather importantly, it will track your device if you move around. The company hopes to commercialize its technology soon, with partner companies showing off the tech at CES in January 2015. It seems that the first generation of wireless charging — those awful, short-range charging plates — may finally be drawing to a close. The dream of having your smartphone and other mobile devices constantly topped up — while you sit on the sofa, while you stand in line at the coffee shop — may soon come to pass.

Anonymous commenting Disabled

I have decided that this the only solution cause I've been getting Anonymous comments from people who have no facts. People that seem to only be here to cause unnecessary commotion.

The problem is mainly on this post: Can Superman beat Super Saiyan God

So now, only registered users or those that have provide some form of Open ID can comment because I've had enough of this nonsense.

The Chief Technomancer
VB Kid

With a $6 million prize fund, Dota 2 is now one of the world’s biggest sports

Who says it's not a sport?

Valve’s annual Dota 2 tournament — The International — is now one of world’s biggest sporting events. Thanks to the Valve’s most excellent shepherding of both the game and the 5-versus-5 MOBA genre, an ingenious crowdfunding scheme, and the continuing growth of spectator esports, The International now has a total prize fund of over $6 million. The winning team will take home somewhere in the region of $3 million. To put that into perspective, that’s more than all but the top sports professionals take home in a year. The Masters golf tournament, one of the world’s top sporting events, only offers around $1.6 million to the winner, from a total prize fund of $9 million. Dota 2 is now officially playing in the big leagues. How did Dota 2, which only left beta testing last year, become one of the world’s biggest sports in the world?

The Surface Pro 3 will replace your laptop. With a stylus? Really?

I think not

Watching the Surface Pro 3 event yesterday, I wryly smiled as Panos Panay finally revealed Microsoft’s vision for the future of mobile computing: The stylus. Snap-in keyboards, friction hinges, and high-resolution displays are still there, of course, but it is the humble stylus that will elevate Microsoft from tablet also-ran to mobile computing greatness. Apparently.

Oculus Rift, three Kinects effectively bring an entire human body into a virtual world

Put me in a game

Ever wanted to put yourself inside of a video game? It’s now possible to dynamically represent your entire body inside of a virtual world, and this monumental task can be accomplished with off-the-shelf hardware. With three first-gen Kinects and an Oculus Rift dev kit, a developer by the name of Oliver Kreylos has hacked together a true VR prototype that actually makes you feel like you’re in a computer-generated world.

By placing three Kinect sensors in an equilateral triangle around his room, Kreylos is able to generate a live 3D model of his body from the raw video data. By sidestepping the Kinect’s processor-intensive skeletal reconstruction, this visual representation is extremely low-latency. When you put on your Oculus Rift and hold your hand to your face, Kreylos claims that your brain immediately registers the limb as your own.

3D Video Capture With Three Kinects

In the video embedded above, you can see this system for yourself. The 3D projection of Kreylos in the virtual world is blurry and covered in visual artifacts, but that apparently doesn’t break the illusion. While he hasn't done exhaustive research regarding the neurological aspects of this system, Kreylos theorizes that the low-latency motion capture achieved with the Kinect cameras helps the brain effectively jump over the uncanny valley. Regardless of the visual fidelity of the virtual world, it seems that lag is what really makes or breaks the illusion.

Keep in mind, all of this is being done with relatively modest gear. In a post on his blog, the developer explains that this entire demo is running on a Linux box with a 3.5GHz Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce GTX 770 GPU. He’s also using the low-res Kinect cameras from the last generation, so imagine how much better this could look with the newest model. With three HD cameras and a few months of polish, this could potentially mean big things for affordable VR training, improved teleconferencing, and immersive games.

It’s easy to shrug off this three-camera rig as an impractical solution, but this is a really solid first step towards solving the problem of full-body VR. The Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus are impressive prototypes, but they’re far from complete packages. If we want full-fledged virtual reality in our future, we’re going to need to account for a lot more than just neck movement in our simulations. We need to think bigger than just head-mounted displays.

Source: ExtremeTech 

Your VB Kid
Psypher

Samsung sends invites for super-tablet launch next month

Sounds tab-tastic

Samsung has just sent out invitations to what it's calling 'Galaxy Premiere 2014' in New York on 12 June.
The invites don't explicitly say what the company will be showing off, but they do say 'tab into color', so yeah, it's going to be new Galaxy Tabs.

With that in mind we can even go one better and use our crystal ball to predict that it will be the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S line which gets unveiled, given they've recently been rumoured.

Flappy Bird Creator Promises Game’s Return – With Multiplayer And Fewer Addictive Qualities

The annoying little bird returns?

It’s Episode XVII of the Flappy Bird Saga, and this time the formerly recalcitrant (he’s on a media tour at the moment) creator of the addictive game is promising the game’s return, eventually, complete with multiplayer.

Nguyen told CNBC’s Kelly Evans the news on the network’s Closing Bell program yesterday, albeit with the caveat that the game wouldn't be coming anytime “soon.” It’ll also be less addictive, he says, which is great news for people who enjoy their lives and living them to the fullest.

Flappy Bird is a very simple, very hard game that used to be available on mobile phones until Nguyen decided it shouldn't be any more, potentially because it turned everyone who played it into tunnel vision maniacs who probably harassed him to no end.

Nguyen had previously tweeted that the game would return, in a somewhat altered form though he didn’t specify how it would change at the time. He now says it’s coming in August, so there’s a very high likelihood we all will have forgotten about this anatomically incomplete bird and his pipes as the next shiny bauble is sure to catch our eye long before then.

Source: TechCrunch

Your VB Kid
Psypher

Super-ultra-fast 5G to land in Europe in 2022

We may never get a 6G though

What's better than 4G? 5G of course!

While many people are still trying to get their head around 4G, UK mobile network EE has decided it's time we all heard about the next generation - crazily called 5G and capable of delivering speeds of over 1Gbps.

Professor Andy Sutton, EE's Principle Network Architect spoke at a special briefing which TechRadar attended and explained: "When we talk about 5G, we're talking about a network that may be introduced in about a decade.

Microsoft has Windows 9, Office 2015 and cloud-based OS in the works

Leak also hints at existence of Windows 8.1 Update 2

Will Windows 9 see wider adoption than Windows 8?

An image shared by an infamous Chinese Windows leaker has revealed what Microsoft has on its Satya Nadalla-influenced roadmap in 2014.

Posting on the Neowin forum, FaiKee has shown that Microsoft is working on Windows 9, Windows 365, Windows 8.1 Update 2, Office 2015 and more.

The image also provides a list of products Microsoft plans to update, including existing ones like Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Office 2013.

It also lists Windows 9, "& Server & mobile edition," all but confirming that there will be a separate Windows Phone 9 release.

Windows 365 is given a mention, and its status is listed as "Alpha based on Windows Core." This is expected to be a cloud-based platform that ties in with Office 365.

The road ahead

The listing of Office 2015, which is currently being built, suggests a possible release date of 2015 for all of these products, Windows 9 included.

Before we get the next Windows, however, there is Windows 8.1 Update 2 on the horizon, which is widely expected to include the restoration of the much-missed Start Menu, albeit with the twist of tacking on some Modern tiles as well.
Another interesting rumour is that Windows 9 will be given free to all Windows 8.1 users, which should greatly increase adoption of the newer platform.

Source: Techradar

Your VB Kid
Psypher

Microsoft admits defeat: Xbox One without Kinect coming June 9 for $400

Finally! They could never have won, not with their restrictions.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox One, without Kinect, will be available from June 9 for $400. The Kinect-free Xbox One will be available in “all markets where Xbox One is sold.” To complete the circle, this fall you’ll also be able to buy the standalone Kinect sensor (no price was given, but presumably it’ll be $100).

One of our Sun’s long-lost sister stars has finally been found, and she’s pretty close by

So are we migrating to the Hercules constellation?

Astronomers at the University of Texas at Austin have done something rather remarkable: They've identified a nearby star that was birthed from the same cluster as our own Sun. If that wasn't cool enough, the lead author also says that — because the Sun and this sibling star were once relatively close and may have bumped uglies — there is a “small, but not zero” chance that planets orbiting this star could host extraterrestrial life.

Apple acquires Beats for $3.2 billion, confirms Dr. Dre

Beats by Apple?

In a rather adventurous move, Apple appears to have acquired Beats Electronics, the company co-founded by Dr. Dre in 2008 that in just six short years has sewn up the entire high-end consumer headphones market. In January, Beats also launched Beats Music, a streaming music service that’s similar to Spotify. At this point, you are probably wondering the same question as me: Why? Why did Apple acquire Beats? (For a reported sum of $3.2 billion, no less!) Let’s try and work it out.

Vanquish; The Third-Person Shooter with a difference - Review

I have never been a fan of Shooters; I think you could accredit that to the Call of Duty series. But when a good friend tells me that there is one worthy to take back the Shooter name, I can’t help but get interested. Here is his review:

Vanquish poster

 When Shingi Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series and director of Resident Evil 4, joins forces with Platinum Games (the minds behind Bayonetta), only great things can happen and Vanquish is the proof of that.

Students prove real-life Star Wars deflector shield is possible

I sense a disturbance in The Force...

Sheild

In the Star Wars universe, firing up the deflector shields is no big deal. Imperial cruiser on your tail? Deflector shields. Incoming TIE Fighter? Better flip on the deflectors. Science fiction has the luxury of positing neat technological ideas without necessarily explaining how they work — if they could even work. A group of students from the University of Leicester have thought long and hard about what it would take to build a deflector shield in real life, and it turns out to be possible — as long as you’re willing to make a few sacrifices.

Android Silver: everything you need to know

IN DEPTH Google's velvet glove contains an iron fist

A sultry new look for the little guy

Rumours of a new Android programme, Android Silver, have been swirling for some time - but it seems that Google's latest big idea is much more than the support service we'd initially heard about.

Multiple sources say that Silver is going to be a very big deal indeed - and that could be good news for phone fans and a big blow to Samsung.

Could this be the Galaxy S5's biggest rival?

Tesco to launch a Galaxy S5-rivalling Hudl phone this year

Android handset to accompany budget tablet

Tesco's going big on tech for 2014

Following the success of its £119 Hudl tablet, Tesco is set to launch its own Hudl smartphone too.
The handset will land by the end of the year, Chief executive Philip Clarke told BBC Radio 5, who confirmed it'll keep the Hudl branding.