It seems that fan-made movies are getting better and better as opposed to its big-budget Hollywood counterparts but of course, this one is not just any ordinary fan movie. Inspired by the popular first person puzzle game Portal by Valve, the Portal: No Escape is directed by Dan Trachtenberg who has been directing commercial for many well-known brands including Coca Cola, Nike and Lexus.
Starring actress Danielle Rayne as the main character, the short film was premiered at the recent San Diego Comic-Con International and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Now, if only they can work this out into a full-blown movie, we bet many of movie-goers out there would like to check it out as well even if they have never heard of Portal in their life before. Just play the video above and you will understand why.
This is the Westfield iRACER, a track focused electric vehicle set to take part in the EVCUP, the world’s first circuit racing series exclusively featuring zero-emission electric vehicles.
Designed and engineered from the ground up as a pure race car, the 3.6m long iRACER is a collaborative project between Westfield Sportscars and Niche Vehicle Network partners Potenza Technology, Delta Motorsport, RDM Automotive and Coventry University.
Styled by Elliot Hawkins from the Royal College of Arts, the 770 kg vehicle features rear-wheel drive and a 50:50 weight distribution, and is powered by two Oxford Yasa 60 kW motors direct driven to the rear wheels, with adjustable torque biasing control present and a 23 kWh lithium iron phospate battery in attendance.
The system offers the iRACER a 260 hp max output (with boost) and 660 Nm of torque. Performance specs for the vehicle, which can be configured as a single or two-seater, are a sub-five seconds 0-100 kph sprint time, a 185 kph top speed and around 25 minutes of race time.
The EVCUP is set to kick-off in the US in November, with two race events in California, the first at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on November 26 and the second at Auto Club Speedway on December 17, before a full series launch in 2012
“Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010,” said Lewis Ward, research manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming, at IDC. “But prognostications that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature. I expect that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony’s ‘PS4′ circa 2015 – along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games – will help drive a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.”
The report goes on to declare that console hardware and physical (disc, SD) games will see a 3.6-percent compound annual growth rate between 2010 and 2015. The key reason for this bump is due to the growth of the console sector in developing countries. But at the same time, the proportional number of households that will actually use game consoles are expected to diminish as the world’s population grows.
Steve Jobs, this name is so iconic and commanding, that every time you mention it, in a way or another it’s going to be related to Apple. I mean, yeah, he’s the CEO of Apple, of course everything about him is related to Apple. But nobody commands such a strong name that when you talk about Apple, you’ll also mention Steve Jobs.
Now, every time Mr Jobs announce a new Apple product, Apple’s share will skyrocket to the ceiling and close higher than usual. But every time some big news regarding Mr Jobs personally, Apple’s stock will hit rock bottom, bounce back slightly, and close lower than usual. It’s a very repetitive thing actually. In August 2004, Jobs undergoes a pancreatic surgery, and Apple’s share dip. Same goes for January 2009 when he had a liver transplant, and also something that happened this year, when Jobs announces a medical leave of absence.
And, if you look at the photo above, that’s the market share for Apple today after he announces his resignation. It had to come, someday if not today. So right, take it or leave it, but Steve Jobs is no more the man of Apple. So what’s next? Well, Apple’s new CEO is gay, so I’m guessing his first move is to resurrect the original Apple logo, you know, the colorful rainbow color Apple.
Despite recent talk that Diablo 3′s required Internet connection was all about the player’s character and Battle.net’s feature set, game director Jay Wilson made it clear that the requirement is also to prevent the same amount of hacking as seen with Diablo 2. The revelation was made while explaining why it’s a bad idea to have an offline mode for the upcoming action-RPG game.
“If we allow an Offline mode, it changes the structure of the data that we have to put on the user’s system,” he told PC Gamer during Gamescom. “Essentially we would have to put our server architecture onto the client so that it can run its own personal server. Doing that essentially is one of the reasons why Diablo 2 was a much easier game to hack than obviously any other game you’d mention and so it’s what led to extensive cheating and item dupes and things like that.”
“I would never guarantee that we’re never going to have those things in Diablo 3, but it’s one of the things that our community has been the most vocal about, wanting this fixed, and if we essentially are putting the server out there…we’re not really going to be able to better than Diablo 2,” he added.
But with the piracy issue aside, Diablo 3 was designed from the ground up to be an online, multiplayer game. “The game’s not really being played right if it’s not online,” he said. He indicated that it wasn’t designed for players to opt out of the cooperative experience, to opt out of the trading experience. And at this point in time, essentially everyone is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi networks or a local broadband connection, so there was no reason why they couldn’t create an online-only game.
Still, what about those people who have faulty, unreliable connections? “Erm… upgrade the wiring in [the] house?” Wilson said. “I mean, in this day and age the notion that there’s this a whole vast majority of players out there that don’t have online connectivity – this doesn’t really fly anymore.” He then pointed out that he could access nine networks just from his hotel room alone.
“You’ve got to make choices about what you want to do, and sometimes those choices are going to make some people unhappy, but if you feel like it’s what is the right thing to do to making a better product then you have to do it,” he said.
In shocking announcement from Cupertino this afternoon, Apple has announced that founder Steve Jobs will no longer act as the company’s CEO. In a letter sent to the Apple board today, Mr Jobs admitted that the time has come where he can no longer fulfil his duties as Chief Executive Officer of Apple. Jobs went on to “strongly recommend” Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook be his replacement and said he would like to stay on as Chairman if the company’s board sees fit.
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
Apple has since confirmed the news with a press release announcing Tim Cook as Steve’s replacement and revealing that the board has named Jobs Chairman. New CEO Cook will also be joining the board.
Steve Jobs has been on medical leave from Apple since January 2011. Neither Jobs nor Apple have explained the reason behind the extended leave, except to say that Steve was leaving to “focus on his health.” The Apple founder took a leave of absence in January 2009 and it later emerged that he had undergone a liver transplant in the spring of 2009. Jobs was also treated for pancreatic cancer in 2004. He is said to have attempted to treat the islet cell neuroendocrine tumour with a special diet before agreeing to have surgery to remove the tumour. The surgery was successful and Jobs did not require chemotherapy or radiation.
Tim Cook has acted as CEO during all of Jobs’ absences. According to Apple, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division.
Given Steve Jobs prominent role in the day-to-day operations at Apple, the company’s stock routinely suffers when news, or even rumors, regarding his health do the rounds. It’s often said that Apple would suffer significantly if Steve Jobs were to leave the company. To that end, his health, and indeed his medical leave from Apple, frequently leads to debates about whether or not shareholders deserve to know personal details about Steve Jobs’ health. Today’s news comes at a time when Apple is rumored to be on the verge of announcing a new iPhone (and possibly a new iPad, too). Both events will likely have an impact on Apple shares.
We already know that Altair will be featured once again in Revelations, but how will the story play? Well, it seemed that this time we’ll be looking at a young Altair, one that’s younger than the Altair that we know in the first Assassin’s Creed game. Also, Ezio is getting old, very old, and is seeking for keys to unlock his ancestor’s library.
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