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In The Driving Seat: GRID 2 Cockpit Mods

Jun3rd
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from Rock, Paper, Shotgun:
Well, it was bound to happen. Can't wait for whiners to bitch and sa Codies are money grabbers because they didn't add this view in the retail game – because you know – the current cockpit view is anything but complete

PC people really are clever and dedicated folks. If they’re not inventing new and grotesque ways to contort the G-Man’s face and limbs, they’re making mods for games that have only been out for a few hours. Codemasters didn’t include cockpit views in their enjoyably silly racing-game-with-a-plot, GRID 2. The reason given was that only 5% of people who played the original ever used the in-car cams and “they are expensive to run due to the requirement for high-resolution interior textures which are seen close-up and require a considerable amount of in-game memory (to store) and processing (to render).” Intelligent sorts have already modded the game, adding cockpit views, and, lo, the interiors are indeed low resolution, but there are already folks working to sharpen the whole thing up. Video under the hood.

(more…;)

via sathyabhat’s blurblog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RockPaperShotgun/~3/leQ8aidF8aA/

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Open-world Need for Speed: Rivals announced by new studio Ghost Games

May24th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from MCV: Home Stream:
Open world, cops vs racers, customization, Hot Pursuit(2010) like aids to run away from cops – and the 2 F's – Ferrari & Frostbite 3 engine.

Interesting.

Open-world Need for Speed: Rivals announced by new studio Ghost Games

The Need for Speed franchise is sticking with its successful open-world, cops-vs-racers formula with Need for Speed: Rivals.

Rivals is an action-racer being developed by EA’s new studio Ghost Games, which is comprised of talent from Bizzare and Blackrock, as well as the lead designer of Far Cry 3. Criterion will assist development.

The game will be powered by the Frostbite 3 engine and will allow players to take the wheel as either cops or racers, each with their own challenges. Cars will be equipped with pursuit and evasion tech, such as turbo boosts, jammers and EMPs.

Players will also be able to personalise and customise their cars with paintjobs, custom license plates, liveries, decals, rims, and performance upgrades.

Rivals will welcome back Ferrari to the NFS franchise after a seven-year absence, and will feature the Italian car manufacturer’s latest model, the F12berlinetta.

At the centre of Rivals is its new AllDrive feature, which aims to blur the lines between single and multiplayer by allowing players to seamlessly transition from playing alone to playing with friends.

‘Players will have to keep one eye on their rearview mirror as friends will be able to enter and exit races on-the-fly, creating a world where no two events will ever be the same.’

Need for Speed: Rivals arrives on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 19th November, with Xbox One and PS4 versions hitting stores later this year. Check out the teaser below.

Sign up for the free MCV India newsletter here.

via sathyabhat’s blurblog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mcvindia/stream/~3/8vrI-4aYg3w/0116061

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Grand Theft Auto 5 collector’s editions announced, to release in India

May24th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from MCV: Home Stream:
Dat goodies.

Grand Theft Auto 5 collector's editions announced, to release in India

Rockstar Games today revealed two special editions for Grand Theft Auto 5, both of which will be available in India.

The standard edition will only contain the game and is (tentatively) priced at Rs 2,799, but here’s what will be available in the other two editions:

Special Edition

  • Retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V
  • Collectible SteelBook with exclusive artwork: Custom colour and metallic treatments bring out the detail of the artwork of Michael, Trevor and Franklin created exclusively for this SteelBook.
  • Blueprint map: Additional 21.5″ x 26.75″ map displays a blueprint view of Los Santos and Blaine County. Cryptic markings indicate locations for fast cash and other points of interest.
  • Special ability boost: Michael, Franklin and Trevor each have a unique special ability. With this boost, the special ability bar will generate 25 per cent faster.
  • Stunt plane trials: Single-player trials let you take on additional aerial challenges.
  • Bonus outfits, tattoos and more: Michael, Franklin and Trevor get bonus outfits, character-specific tattoos, and special deals from shopkeepers.
  • Additional weapons: When visiting Ammunation stores in single player, merchants will have special weapons in their inventory available for free: the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun and melee Hammer.

Collector’s Edition

  • Comes packaged in a premium outer box featuring a foil-embossed Grand Theft Auto 5 logo on the top, finished with a matte, scuff-resistant film lamination.
  • GTA5 security deposit bag with logo key: Custom 10.75″ x 8.5″ money bag features a pop-up style lock and laser cut logo key. The reverse side features a pressed Rockstar Games logo on the security mount with a framed ID window.
  • GTA5 New Era 9FIFTY Snapback Cap: This exclusive New Era 9FIFTY cap features an embroidered Los Santos logo on the front, a stitched, black Rockstar Games logo on the wearer’s left side, a Grand Theft Auto ‘V’ logo applique on the opposite side, and snapback closure for an adjustable fit.
  • Custom characters for online: Classic Grand Theft Auto characters to use within the Grand Theft Auto Online Character Creation System.
  • Unique vehicles and garage property: Instantly receive a garage to store custom vehicles. In single-player, the garage will be stocked with the 1930s style Hotknife hotrod and the CarbonRS sports bike. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players will get the high-end Khamelion electric car.
  • All contents of Special Edition.

Prices for the Special Edition and Collector’s Edition haven’t yet been announced, but considering the latter’s $150 price tag internationally, we’d expect something in the Rs 10,000 region.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is scheduled for release on 17th September for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Sign up for the free MCV India newsletter here.

via sathyabhat’s blurblog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mcvindia/stream/~3/60MEsCYJTeM/0116058

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Column: The sweet smell of new hardware

May19th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from IndianVideoGamer:
"Me: “Hey, so which graphic card do you have?”
Him: “I have a Nvidia Geforce, bro. I got it from Lamington Road”
Me: “Oh, nice. Which one?”
Him: “The latest one”
Me: “Oh, you have a Titan? NICE!”
Him: “No dude, this is a Timex”
Me: “…..”
Him: “Yeah. I got it from Shopper’s Stop. Damn nice stuff they ha….WHOA, is that a shotgun!?”
Me: “Yes. Stand still for a second, won’t you?”

Ain't this true. heh

Azeem Banatwalla on the joys of building the ultimate gaming PC, and the ridicule that comes with it.

via sathyabhat’s blurblog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IVG/~3/PIHdT83vVi4/20086

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The keys to Oracle…

May19th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from The Tom Kyte Blog:
“What do I have to do to become expert, where is the list of key things I need to do with regards to Oracle”
This is a question I get on asktom frequently – what are the things I need to know, what do I have to do to become expert, where is the list of key things I need to do with regards to Oracle. It is a hard sounding question that has an easy answer.
If you are still wet behind the ears – or even just damp – then the definitive place to start is the Oracle Server Concepts Guide. Not only is this free – but it is your guide to understanding how the database works. If you understand something – you can use that thing. If you don’t, well, simply put – you won’t be able to effectively use it. Getting a solid knowledge of how a transaction is done, what locking and concurrency controls are and how they work, how the database makes the data durable on disk (redo, undo management) – all of it is key to effectively using the database.

via sathyabhat’s blurblog. More at http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-keys-to-oracle.html

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Error’d: Where I Come From, We Don’t Need July

May15th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Sathya

sathyabhat
shared this story
from The Daily WTF:
"In my native language, we don't have translations for seven months out of the year. Way to go Windows Live!!"

LOL.

“Someone FINALLY got it right!!” Farz wrote, “In my native language, we don’t have translations for seven months out of the year. Way to go Windows Live!!”

 

“I know Dell is supposed to be going private, but I didn’t know that it would be up to me to keep them afloat!” writes James Helms.

 

Ben N. sent in the following screenshot whilst shopping online. I bet some pun minded categorizer at Amazon thought that having a BOLD cup of coffee sounded REALLY good at the time.

 

“Developer’s excuse for screwing up #439: Sorry, I was eating a milky way, so I forgot to fix any issues with the feed.” wrote Chris M.

 

Wilt writes, “I know the budget is tight, But even if it wasn’t, I don’t think I could justify NVIDIA at that price.”

 

“I’m fine that Thirstin Howl’s track Spit Boxer isn’t on Spotify,” writes Nick, “but their suggestion wasn’t quite what I was expecting.”

 

“Things aren’t looking so good for being able to read ‘Fine Cooking’ on my iPad,” wrote Jeff.

 

[Advertisement] Make your team a DevOps team with BuildMaster. Pairing an easy-to-use web UI with a free base platform, BuildMaster gets you started in minutes. See how Allrecipes.com and others use BuildMaster to automate their software delivery.

via sathyabhat’s blurblog http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Where-I-Come-From,-We-Dont-Need-July.aspx

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Wakoopa officially shutdown – grab your data now

Jul5th
2012 6 Comments Written by Sathya

About 2 weeks ago, Wakoopa announced that they will be shutting down their social network soon & focusing on “Corporate Research”.

Unfortunately that day is here. Just received an email stating that as of today, you can grab an export of your data.

This is what they have to say about the export

The export is a CSV file containing the following columns: application name, subcategory, category, the number of seconds you’ve used the application in the hour, the hour you’ve used the application in, the date of the usage, the operating system and your user id.

For instance, say you have a line like this:Skype Messengers & Chat Internet 10 31/05/2012 20:00:00 win 12345

This would mean: the user with ID=12345 used the Windows version Skype (which is an Internet > Messengers & Chat software) for 10 seconds on 31st of May 2012 between 20:00 – 21:00.

Too bad Wakoopa’s no longer going to be around. Wakoopa would be the first software I’d install – even before installing the drivers. There was something analysing the data about what software you use for how long, and which software did I use the most in the background. Now, I’m not really sure what to do with the data. I don’t think Rescue Time supports importing Wakoopa data – it’d be sweet if they did. Maybe see if I can stuff if into ProcrastiTracker?

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Chrome’s active extension icons in Omnibox annoyance

Jun4th
2012 3 Comments Written by Sathya

I’m a huge fan of Chrome & pretty much loved whatever changes Chrome team have done to the browser since it’s inception. This change, however, is probably the first annoying thing that I’ve run into.

Few days ago, after the latest dev channel update, all the extension icons on went missing. I initially thought all my extensions got wiped out. However, after heading over to chrome://extensions I realized that the update had a new “Show button” feature next to the extensions list and they had been set to hide all :|

Chrome Extension SHow Button

READ MORE »

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Sauber F1 Car Cutaway

Jun2nd
2012 2 Comments Written by Sathya

Sauber F1 Team – World Premiere: Cutaway F1 Race Car – YouTube.

The Sauber F1 team has this video of a F1 car spliced right in the middle, showing us all the components that make up a F1 car. OF all the years that I’ve been watching Formula 1, I think this is the first time I’ve seen such detailed info about a F1 car.

What’s fascinating to me is the driver’s(Sergio Pérez in the video) sitting position. Damn that’s way too close for comfort!

Linus on openSUSE’s security settings

Feb29th
2012 2 Comments Written by Sathya

I first spent weeks arguing on a bugzilla that the security policy of requiring the root password for changing the timezone and adding a new wireless network was moronic and wrong.
I think the wireless network thing finally did get fixed, but the timezone never did – it still asks for the admin password.

So here’s a plea: if you have anything to do with security in a distro, and think that my kids (replace “my kids” with “sales people on the road” if you think your main customers are businesses) need to have the root password to access some wireless network, or to be able to print out a paper, or to change the date-and-time settings, please just kill yourself now.

via Linus Torvalds – Google+, as spotted on HN.

FWIW, this drove me nuts as well.

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