Thursday Gigabyte released the next model in its G1-Killer motherboard series, the G1.Sniper 2, based on Intel’s Z68 chipset. For the uninitiated, this series of motherboards is built around emulated components of a disassembled gun, perfect for modders and PC gamers who feel like making intimidating statements without using words (or real weapons).

“Like soldiers about to head out into the line of fire, elite gamers know that the equipment they use can mean the difference between getting the frag, or being fragged,” the company said. “That is why GIGABYTE has designed the G1-Killer series of motherboards for one purpose, and one purpose only; serious hardcore gaming.”

The biggest feature of the G1-Killer series is its “Locked and Loaded” heatpipe design. This is modeled after common firearms issued to soldiers deployed to warzones including pistol and rifle components, and ammo magazines. GIGABYTE said the design isn’t just for looks — it utilizes a unique “fluting” technology similar to a rifle barrel fluting which allows for maximum heat dispersion.

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Then again, it is an old computer… It’s the end of an era now that NASA’s ended the space shuttle program. The sort of technology needed to send man (and woman) into space must be more advanced than anything we use at home, right? Not exactly.

The Xbox 360 that you have set up next to your TV may be nearly six years old, but believe it or not, it’s got more computational power than the computer aboard the space shuttle.

According to some space shuttle facts from the Huntsville Times, the Xbox 360 is more powerful than the flight computer – by a significant magnitude.

The flight computer aboard the space shuttle has less than one percent of the power of an Xbox 360 game console. Astronauts load programs directing the phases of a mission – liftoff, orbit, and landing – into the computer one at a time after removing the program for the previous segment. Why hasn’t NASA upgraded the computer? The agency values its 30-year history of reliability. That said, astronauts don’t go into space with only one computer. Crew laptops and other laptops also make the trip.

SOURCE via NASA

Research groups at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego claim to have discovered a path to light signals on a silicon chip from reflecting backwards and interfering with its operation.

Transporting information in computer chips relies on a technique that allows current to flow in only one direction that avoids interference through a scattered beam that would make a signal and a chip unstable. So far, the model used in silicon chips, which relies on a diode to isolate electric signals, has not been possible. However the researchers say they have developed a metallic-silicon optical waveguide system to channel light so it travels in different patterns depending on its propagation direction. When traveling forward, the pattern is symmetric, but asymmetric when reflected backwards. According to a paper published in the journal Science, backscattered light is dissipated as a result.

“This discovery will help to realize a long-term goal of combining electronics with photonics to enable scalable, energy-efficient and cost-effective technology that will have a tremendous impact on such information systems as supercomputers, the Internet, and data centers,” said Yeshaiahu Fainman, professor and chair of the UC San Diego Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Computer technology will be able to handle a lot more data, faster and at lower cost, which will benefit large-scale business and government users as well as gadget-loving consumers.”

SOURCE via Caltech and UCSD

Previews of Diablo 3 released earlier this week revealed that the upcoming action-RPG PC game will require a constant Internet connection even when playing the single-player campaign. While the news isn’t unexpected, it means that gamers won’t be able to hack their way through dungeons on their laptops while the home network is down or if they’re on the road where connections aren’t available.

According to prior reports, this Internet requirement possibly serves as a means to curb piracy. But it also prevents the user from having to generate a separate character — a separate “path” –in order to play multiplayer games on Battle.net.

“We thought about this quite a bit,” said executive producer Rob Pardo earlier this week. “One of the things that we felt was really import was that if you did play offline, if we allowed for that experience, you’d start a character, you’d get him all the way to level 20 or level 30 or level 40 or what have you, and then at that point you might decide to want to venture onto Battle.net. But you’d have to start a character from scratch, because there’d be no way for us to guarantee no cheats were involved, if we let you play on the client and then take that character online.”

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Designed by Jung Dae Hoon, the Dial Phone is a futuristic cell phone concept that takes the traditional dial technology from old school phones and adds a high-tech futuristic twist. The Dial Phone utilizes a minimalistic design that allows it to be easily disguised as a fashionable bracelet accessory. Whenever users want to make a phone call, they have to detach the phone from their wrist, and place it on top of a flat surface. The phone will then project numbers for the user to ‘dial’ using the phones integrated sensors.

Although the design features unconventional functionality, Hoon’s concept is a refreshingly minimal look at the possible future of cell phones. In a world filled with smartphone designs that focus on having the most features and the best hardware specs, it’s nice to see a design that sets itself apart from the crowd in different ways.

SOURCE via Tuvie

Bethesda has reportedly sent a letter (photo) to Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson and his studio Mojang in regards to using the term “Scrolls” as their next game title. According to the Skyrim developer, the title infringes upon its own “The Elder Scrolls” trademark and could possibly stir up some confusion when the fifth Elder Scrolls installment launches in November.

“Today, I got a 15 page letter from some Swedish lawyer firm, saying they demand us to stop using the name Scrolls, that they will sue us (and have already paid the fee to the Swedish court), and that they demand a pile of money up front before the legal process has even started,” Persson said in his blog on Friday.

He explains that around six months ago, Mojang’s lawyers insisted that the studio register “Minecraft” as a trademark. At the time, they also applied for “Scrolls,” the next PC game on the release schedule. At the time, they didn’t see any titles that used that specific term, and they even questioned if it was possible to trademark individual words like “Scrolls,” but filed anyway just in case.

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