Aliens versus Predator

Trophy kills are extremely cool looking Multiplayer is entertaining

Clunk Controls Weak and high retarded AI Repetitive gameplay Bland plot

In an ideal world there would be no wars, no famines. There would be no terrorism, no natural calamities and Aliens versus Predator would have been an awesome game. Unfortunately the world we live in today is cold and bitter thus sealing the fate of developer Rebellion’s latest AVP game. Of course the world has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the game sucks purely because it was rushed or too ambitious for its own good. We’re gonna go with a bit of both.

Trophy kills in AVP are undoubtedly the coolest things I’ve seen this year

You see AVP is kind of awesome at places. There were times during my play through when I sensed tremendous potential. Sadly all of those moments were corroded away by either piss poor AI, broken gameplay or clunky controls. No matter how much I tried to like the game there was always something around the proverbial corner waiting to deprive me of that much needed entertainment.

Contrary to what the name suggests you actually play as three species instead of the two headlining the game. All three get their own single player campaigns that you can play in any order. Being a huge fan of the predator movies (GET TO THE CHOPPA NAO) I opted to go in for the predator’s campaign first expecting to play as the badass intergalactic bounty hunter. Instead I ended up feeling like a 60 year old woman plagued with arthritis.

Since the good stuff is a rare commodity in this game I’ll get that out of the way first. Trophy kills in AVP are undoubtedly the coolest things I’ve seen this year. Watching the facial expressions of your prey as you stab them in the face or rip their head off and stroke their spine never gets old. As cool as the Trophy kills sound they are a bit erratic to pull off as well. You have to be standing at just about the right distance for the prompt to pop up on screen. There were times when I had to literally jog around my opponent to trophy kill him/her.

Making matters ever worse is the fact that the AI in this game is the dumbest and I mean the DUMBEST I’ve encountered in a game since Judge Dredd. There are tons of examples that could convey this but I’ll sum it up with one encounter where I threw a proximity mine near a guard that didn’t kill him but instead of running around in panic trying to figure out where a proximity mine came from he just got up, dusted his pants off and stood in the same position. What’s worse is that his comrades who saw a bomb detonate in front of their eyes didn’t give two hoots either as they just stood their ground not bothering where a perfectly lethal proximity mine came from. And their only form of consolation to their comrade who narrowly escaped the clutches of death was repeating the line “Don't let your guard down Marine” over and over and over again. That’s hardcore!
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S Korea child 'starves as parents raise virtual baby'

The parents allegedly spent hours following their internet obsession

A South Korean couple who were addicted to the internet let their three-month-old baby starve to death while raising a virtual daughter online, police said.

The pair fed their own premature baby just once a day in between 12-hour stretches at an internet cafe, the official Yonhap news agency reported.

Police officer Chung Jin-won told Yonhap they "lost their will to live a normal life" after losing their jobs.

He said they "indulged themselves online" to escape from reality.

The 41-year-old father and his 25-year-old wife were arrested in the city of Suweon, south of Seoul, earlier this week, five months after they reported the death of their baby.

An autopsy showed her death was caused by a long period of malnutrition.

The couple had become obsessed with nurturing a virtual girl called Anima in the popular role-playing game Prius Online, police said on Friday.

The game enables players to interact with Anima and as they do so, help her to recover her lost memory and develop emotions.

Obama vows to reduce nuclear weapons

President Obama outlined his nuclear-free vision last year in Prague

US President Barack Obama has pledged to cut the number and role of nuclear weapons in America's national security strategy.

Mr Obama, marking the 40th anniversary of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, said a policy review would go "beyond outdated Cold War thinking".

In a statement, he said he would also continue to seek ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Mr Obama will host a nuclear security summit in Washington next month.

His officials are also involved in talks with Russia on a replacement for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expired last December.

"The United States reaffirms our resolve to strengthen the non-proliferation regime to meet the challenges of the 21st century as we pursue our ultimate vision of a world without nuclear weapons," he said in the statement.

"In addition, we will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a treaty to end the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons."

The treaty, which bans all nuclear explosions, was adopted by the UN in 1996 but has not yet entered into force.

"Our forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review will move beyond outdated Cold War thinking and reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, even as we maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent," Mr Obama added.

President Obama laid out his vision for a nuclear-free world in a keynote speech last year in the Czech capital, Prague.

Officials have said that thousands of nuclear weapons could be cut, in many cases by retiring weapons that are now kept in storage.

All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.

Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.

Israel

Israeli authorities have never confirmed or denied the country has nuclear weapons.

North Korea

The highly secretive state claims it has nuclear weapons, but there is no information in the public domain that proves this.

Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2003 there had been covert nuclear activity to make fissile material and continues to monitor Tehran's nuclear programme.

Syria

US officials have claimed it is covertly seeking nuclear weapons.

Photoshop.com Mobile Editor Now Available to Android Developers

Adobe Systems has announced that third-party application developers now have access to the Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 editor, allowing them to easily make it a part of their applications. In addition, Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 is available, providing users of the Google Mobile operating system with photo-editing and sharing capabilities.

“Photoshop.com Mobile is the ‘go-to,’ photo editing application for iPhone and Android devices,” said Doug Mack, vice president and general manager of Digital Imaging and Rich Media Solutions at Adobe. “Unlike iPhone, the Android platform allows us to make the Photoshop.com editor broadly available to developers so they can provide it within any application they are working on. Photoshop functionality can then easily be accessed from an online auction, real estate or social media application so users can quickly fix photos and make them look their best, before being showcased.”

A new developer site now allows Android developers to leverage the Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 editor in the creation of other application workflows. The Web site provides access to Adobe technology and promotes an ecosystem where developers have more creative freedom when developing their software. Consumers in turn are offered even better applications for their phones. Additional information on integrating the Photoshop.com Mobile editor into Android applications can be found at http://mobile.photoshop.com/android/developers.html.

Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 advances mobile photo editing with eye-catching effects such as Vibrant, to boost photo colors, and Pop, which brings a ‘pop art’ style to images. The Soft Black and White, and Warm Vintage tools can be used to add a classic and aged effect to photos. With one touch, users can also apply dramatic changes to a photo’s look and feel with Vignette Blur, White Glow and Rainbow. All edits and changes can be undone so consumers can liberally apply effects and know that their original photo is safe.

The latest updates for Photoshop.com Mobile can be found on Facebook and Twitter. To join the conversation and contribute feedback, follow @photoshopdotcom on Twitter and use the hashtag #PSdroid. Photoshop.com Mobile engineers are available now to answer any questions about developer access or the new update, and their responses will be added to the Photoshop.com FAQ blog post.

Adobe Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 is available as a free download in all countries with Android Market in English only.

To retrieve the update, launch the Android Market application via the Android device and search for “photoshop.com.” More information on Photoshop.com Mobile for Android 1.1 can be found at http://mobile.photoshop.com/android.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-380

HD recording 5x optical zoom Decent twilight shots

Average quality at ISO 80

There isn’t much of a difference design wise between the Sony Cyber-shots especially when you look at the W series models. If you put them up against one another the only difference you will be able to note are a few curvy and rounded edges that some sport. Other than that, they look and feel almost the same.

What we have here is the Sony DSC-380 that pretty much resembles the WX-1. The DSC-380 comes with a brush metal finish and measures in at 91.7 x 51.9 x 19.7 mm – which makes it easy to carry around. Moreover the DSC-380 is significantly light considering that the body is made of metal – a mere 130 g with battery. As with most Sony cameras button placement is good and protrudes just enough to allow you to navigate with ease. The jog dial would have been better placed had it been shifted a little more towards the edge of the camera body – thereby allowing you to switch between modes with ease.

The DSC-380 comes with a 2.7-inch LCD display that works well under broad daylight but sadly isn’t resistant to scratches. The camera has an image resolution of 14.1 MP and features a sweet 5x optical zoom and an optical image stabilizer.

The Sony DSC-W380 is fast and takes just about 1.5 seconds to switch on thereby allowing you to shoot almost instantaneously.

A nice addition to the DSC-W380 is the calendar mode that allows you to view images according to the month and date they were taken on. The best part of the camera is the 24 mm wide angle lens that allows you to capture a major chunk of the subject without having you to move far away. The camera also comes with a smile detection mode that automatically clicks the moment a smile is detected. Moreover it also comes with an intensity level – slight, normal and big. Setting it to big will really require you to do more than just smile. You will definitely need to stretch till your jaws and cheek hurt. Wonder why some companies keep such insane levels for just a friggin smile?
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FBI Director Warns of Growing Cyber Threat

Militant groups, foreign states and criminal organizations pose a growing threat to U.S. security as they target government and private computer networks, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday.

In a speech to an Internet security conference, Mueller said militant groups like al Qaeda had primarily used the Internet to recruit members and plan attacks, but had made clear they also see it as a target. "Terrorists have shown a clear interest in pursuing hacking skills and they will either train their own recruits or hire outsiders with an eye toward combining physical attacks with cyber attacks," Mueller said. He noted a cyberattack could have the same impact as a "well-placed bomb." Mueller added that some foreign governments, which he did not identify, also posed a threat by seeking to use the Internet for espionage. "Apart from the terrorist threat, nation-states may use the Internet as a means of attack for political ends," he said. "Nation-state hackers or mercenaries for hire" as well as rogue hackers or international criminal syndicates are targeting government networks, Mueller added. "They seek our technology, our intelligence, our intellectual property, even our military weapons and strategies." The comments came in the wake of several international Internet security incidents. In January, Google Inc , the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, said it had detected a sophisticated online attack on its systems that originated in China and said it believed at least 20 other companies had been targeted.

According to Google, one of the primary goals of the attacks was accessing the personal e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested three men accused of masterminding one of the largest computer crimes to date, in which more than 13 million PCs were infected with a virus that stole credit card numbers and data. Mueller said international cooperation was essential to combating online crime like the so-called Mariposa botnet incident in Spain. He added the FBI had 60 "attache" offices around the world as well as special agents embedded with police forces in countries such as Romania, Estonia and the Netherlands. He urged businesses targeted in cyberattacks to come forward to help track down the perpetrators, saying the FBI was attuned to the delicate nature of the situation for corporations. "We will minimize the disruption to your business, we will safeguard your privacy and your data and where necessary we will seek protective orders to preserve trade secrets and business confidentiality," he said.

Olive FrvrOn V-G2300: AAA Battery Phone

Neat design overall, easy to handle All functions work quite well FM reception was quite good

Li-ion battery should have been more powerful Earpiece volume for calls was low

As more and more of these budget handset companies spring to life the novelty factor is going to be their key selling point. In this case, Olive has launched the FrvrOn mobile. For those unfamiliar with mobile speak that means ‘Forever On’. The concept behind this handset is that it’s compatible with a normal AAA pencil battery for extra power supply. Philips had already thought of this though, way back in January of 2009 with their X520 handset. Of course we never did see it on our shelves so Olive took a stand and voila, FrvrOn is now here. Take a closer look.

Form Factor
The FrvrOn is a small light weight handset that’s ergonomically quite sound. The curved rear paneling makes it quite comfortable to hold. The Rubberized keypad with raised portions on the keys is actually very easy to use and facilitates quick typing. I can’t say the same of the round five way nav-pad. It’s hard to press and makes navigation a bit tough. The 1.5-inch TFT LCD is quite clear and easy on the eyes. It has a mini USB port at the bottom which is actually used for just charging the handset and connecting the handsfree.

On the whole, except for the slightly tough navigation system, the G2300 is a compact, comfortable and well designed device.

Features and Performance
The G2300 has one flaw that stands out. The earpiece speaker is a bit low. It was quite hard most of the time having a conversation with anyone as the volume, even on full was quite low. I had to keep pressing the handset to my ear which was no picnic. The microphone was a non issue as people on the other end didn't seem to have any issues hearing me.

Interface
The UI is no different from any of the other lower end Java mobiles, but it’s clear and easy to use. There’s no lag while changing screens, accessing apps or typing. One minor issue is that you won’t be able to access some features like the radio if the battery is being charged by the AAA cell.

Media
The only media functionality the FrvrOn comes equipped with is FM radio. The radio app is quite simple. It automatically locates and stores all available stations or you can manually set the frequencies yourself. It can play in the background or via the loudspeaker. Reception was quite good on the whole. A couple of games like Sudoku and Tetris are preloaded to wile away those moments of sheer boredom.

Misc. Functions
Olive has loaded this handset with just the basics and no more. Features include an Alarm clock, Calculator, Time Zone and Stopwatch. The Calendar has no options for saving schedules or appointments but that’s where the Memo apps sin handy with its alarm feature.

Battery
This is the most interesting feature about the handset. Olive has gone with a low power 600mAh battery that’s capable of providing a mere 2 hours at best of talk time. That’s no good of course. So to enhance the battery life Olive’s FrvrOn handset has a space for a single AAA battery. A simple setting allows you to recharge the Li-ion battery from the pencil cell. SO in case you run out of power simply buy an AAA battery from a general store and you’ll get at least another half hour’s worth of talk time. It may seem a little weird though as it would have been simpler to just have a larger sized hence large capacity battery. The reasoning seems sound but would defeat the concept of being able to charge your battery anytime anywhere without the need for a wall socket.

The Bottom Line
This is strictly a basic handset and aimed at a segment that’s looking for nothing more than making calls, sending messages and listening to the radio. With a price tag of Rs. 1600 (approx. MOP) the novelty concept of the handset is, to an extent, justified. For guys out in the field with no access to charging ports the AAA battery scenario works out quite well. But I do feel like the main battery should have had a higher capacity to begin with. The biggest flaw with the handset is of course the fact that it’s really hard to have a conversation with a handset that you’ve got to shove that far into your ear to hear clearly.
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