.-AdiiLo-.

Original release date : October 6, 2020 Series : FIFA Genre : Sports video game Platforms : PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows Developers : Electronic Arts , EA Vancouver , EA Bucharest Publishers : Electronic Arts , EA Sports FIFA 21 Pro Clubs Will Let You Customize Players And Tactics FIFA 21 will add new customization options to Pro Clubs, letting you manage how players look and play. FIFA 21 is bringing some changes to its Pro Club mode, letting you customize your teams and tactics far more than you could in the past. Players who like to solo Pro Club, or just play in small groups, will find that they have some more control over teammates, and a lot more input on their appearance. Pro Club is an online mode where players control one player on a team they have created themselves--and you can play with as many as 22 players, or as few as two. In a new update on the FIFA website, EA Sports explains that you'll be able to customize AI players in your Club for FIFA 21. This refers specifically to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game, although this could just be a case of EA being cagey about how FIFA 21 will be different on next-gen in the lead up to its release. In this year's entry, a "Manage" section in the Pro Clubs menu will let you change the appearance, name, and kit of every player on your virtual team. You can name and create your friends, or a team that pays tribute to your favorite TV show, or just design a team of folks with strange faces, if you want. This option will only be accessible to the managers of each club. Here's a full list of everything the managers will be able to customize: Name (First/Last/Known As/Commentary/Kit Name) Kit Number Birth (Date/Nationality/Region) Preferred foot Face Skin Tone Eyes Brows Nose Mouth Ears Hair Facial Hair Kit Fit Accessories (Gloves, Boots, Wristbands, Sock Tape) Animations (Running Style, Celebrations) Club managers will also be able to set preset tactics in this menu, so you can change how the AI will perform based on your personal play style. You'll also be able to "provide instructions" to AI players, so you'll really be playing the part of a manager as you set up your tactics. You'll still have the option to just edit formations while not going granular on tactics, but these options are here for players who want to dive deep. FIFA 21 will launch for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 9, alongside the Switch Legacy Edition. You'll be able to carry over progression across console generations when the game arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X, and you can upgrade from current to next-gen for free.

1Password will release a desktop Linux client later this year 1Password will release a desktop Linux client later this year After a decade of requests from customers, 1Password's parent company AgilBits has announced that its po[CENSORED]r password manager is finally coming to Linux. A full-featured Linux desktop app is by far the company's most requested feature and later this year, 1Password customers will finally get to try it out. Until then though, 1Password has released a that is still in its early stages and as of now, “the app is currently read only: there is no item editing, creation of vaults or item organizations”. In a support forum post, founder, developer and customer support director at 1Password David Teare provided further insight on 1Password's development preview for Linux, saying: “As such this initial release should be used for testing and validation purposes only and is not suitable for business critical environments. For a stable experience on Linux you’ll want to use 1Password X in your browser.” Although 1Password users can already use the password manager on Linux by using 1Password X in their browsers, the desktop version of the software is capable of handling far more than just web passwords as it also works with FTP, SSH and SMB network passwords. 1Password for Linux 1Password's new Linux app is built to meet the security and performance expectations of Linux users and its backend is written completely in Rust. Teare also revealed that the app will be using the ring crypto library to power the end-to-end encryption that keeps user's data safe. 1Password has tailored its app to integrate with desktop Linux with features including automatic dark mode, open network locations (FTP, SSH,SMB), tilting window manager support, X11 clipboard integration and clearing, keyboard shortcuts, data export and more. As the new app is built using open source projects like Rust for the underlying logic and React for its component-based UI, 1Password has decided to give back to the open source community by providing free access to its password manager. To get access to 1Password for free, open source teams simply need to open a pull request against its 1Password for Open Source Projects repo. We'll likely hear more about 1Password for Linux once the app is closer to its official release later this year.

Vega is even harder to kill than Bruce Willis. AMD Ryzen Mobile Processor Renowned tipster @_rogame has shared his findings on five alleged benchmarks for AMD's Ryzen 5000-series (codename Cezanne) processors. The precise nomenclature is uncertain, but the SiSoftware submissions should be for the next generation of APUs. Currently, there are no codenames or OPN (Ordering Part Number) for the mysterious APUs. SiSoftware picked up the processor as "AMD Celadon-CZN Renoir." If you recall, Celadon was also the call sign for motherboards that had appeared previously with Renoir . CZN is probably the abbreviation for Cezanne. There's still a lot of unknowns surrounding Cezanne. However, many speculate that Cezanne will tap into AMD's Zen 3 microarchitecture. One thing's for sure, though: The APUs should still be based on TSMC's 7nm FinFET manufacturing process. In regards to the graphics, Igor's Lab has found preliminary evidence that leads us to believe that Cezanne, like Renoir, continues to depend on the Vega microarchitecture. More specifically, Cezanne may land with a Vega 20-based iGPU. AMD Ryzen 5000 Cezanne Specifications Processor Cores / Threads Base / Boost Clocks (GHz) Vega Compute Units Graphics Frequency (MHz) AMD Celadon-CZN Renoir ? ? 8 1,850 Ryzen 7 4800U 8 / 16 1.8 / 4.2 8 1,750 Unfortunately for us, there are no processor benchmarks for Cezanne. The five entries correspond to the APU's integrated graphical performance. In terms of specifications, this anonymous Cezanne sample comes equipped with eight Vega compute units (CUs), or 512 stream processor (SPs), that clock up to 1,850 MHz. For comparison, the current Ryzen 7 4800U also rocks eight Vega compute units that tick at 1,750 MHz. We can't say for sure if the Cezanne chip is the successor for the Ryzen 7 4800U. If it is, then the iGPU in Cezanne appears to max out at eight Vega CUs like Renoir, but with improved clock speeds. AMD Ryzen 50000 Cezanne The hardware sleuth provided a submission for a Lenovo Yoga (14sARE) laptop with a Ryzen 7 4800U and LPDDR4X-4266 memory for comparison. The Cezanne processor is likely an engineering sample, so take the results with a pinch of salt. The submissions give us a general idea of AMD's progress on the iGPU side of the processor. Processor GP (GPU) Processing (Mpix/s) GP (GPU) Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) GP (GPU) Cryptography (High Security) (GB/s) GP (GPU) Financial Analysis (Normal/Single Precision) (kOPTS) GP (GPU) Scientific Analysis (Normal/Single Precision) (GFLOPS) AMD Celadon-CZN Renoir* 1,265.67 22.45 10.85 602.07 181.14 Ryzen 7 4800U 1,187.17 28.83 N/A 570.46 164.87 The Cezanne iGPU was 6.6% faster than the Ryzen 7 4800U in the GP (GPU) Processing benchmark. The Ryzen 7 4800U outperformed the Cezanne chip in the Memory Bandwidth benchmark by up to 28.4%, mainly due to having the advantage of the LPDDR4X memory. In the other benchmarks, the Cezanne unit outperformed the Renoir by 5.5% and 9.9% in the GP (GPU) Financial Analysis (Normal/Single Precision) and GP (GPU) Scientific Analysis (Normal/Single Precision) tests, respectively. AMD's Ryzen 5000-series APUs are expected to hit the shelves next year. No one knows exactly when, but as time progresses, we'll probably get to see more leaks on what AMD is cooking.

I liked both songs, but my vote will go for DH2. More punch in that song !

Hello and thanks for your request. I saw that you made some topics on Artist Biography and Billboard, and respected the models. Sadly, we need you to do these topics everyday. Make some daily activity, then come back with another request. Contra.

DH1 : DH2 :

Nickname : @.-AdiiLo-. Tag your opponent : @Hossam Taibi Music genre : Hip Hop. Number of votes : 6 Tag one leader to post your songs LIST : @.-AdiiLo-.

Publisher : PlayHeart Games Developer : PlayHeart Games Platforms : Microsoft Windows, macOS, PS4 This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me, I’ve played a bunch of games which have left me confused, frustrated, full of anxiety, and on the brink of rage quitting and refusing to continue (not in a bad way, as the games purposely set out to do this). To top it off, I’ve also been playing pixelBOT EXTREME!, another game which loves to watch you die over, and over, and over again, until you can’t take it any more and you ‘accidentally’ close the game and boot up Fall Guys. However, despite my countless number of deaths, I feel I’ve experienced enough to give my opinion on the game. Originally released on Steam in April 2018 by developer PlayHeart Games, pixelBOT EXTREME! has since received a number of updates that altered the gameplay and added new features, all of which are present within this new PS4 release. Rather than publishing the title themselves, FusionPlay has stepped in to take care of this aspect, a team I’ve worked with before when I reviewed both their cute VR kitten simulator, Konrad the Kitten (which is now known as Konrad’s Kittens) and their physical NFC card game, FusionPlay Heroes . So, let’s take a look at this pixelBOT EXTREME!, the new addictive indie game which really tests your reaction speeds… Blast those eye-ball machines! There is no story or set-up within pixelBOT EXTREME!, the only narrative you’re given is that you play as the titular protagonist and you must escape the factory – that’s it. This is because the main focus of the game lies within it’s addictive and sadistic gameplay rather than a long and informative backstory or flowing narrative. However, this type of game does just fine without anything to hold it together as it’s an arcade-like experience which is best played in short bursts (especially if you don’t have much patience or get annoyed easily). The gameplay sounds simple on paper, traverse through endlessly moving levels as a robot which can hover (Flappy Bird style) whilst shooting various colour-coded barriers, enemies and projectiles which will kill you in one hit if you’re not quick enough. This must be done whilst also picking up a number of collectable energy packs and spelling out your name in gold in order to unlock the bonus rounds. The interesting thing is, there are four colours used within the game, as your weapons, enemies and barriers, which are mapped to the four face buttons of the DS4 – making it either really efficient or super confusing. That’s pretty much the premise of the game, make it to the finish line in one piece with as many pick-ups as you can. There are no limits on continues, lives, time, or how many you have to pick up before you can cross the checkered flag, just make it without rage quitting and move on to the next level. However, it’s not as easy as it sounds (if the above actually sounds easy). Watch your robot whilst looking out for collectables and shooting barriers and enemies! The catch… pixelBOT EXTREME! is a very, very hard and frustrating game. Let’s talk about the gameplay mechanics first. If you’re playing the game on the normal or hard difficulties, the protagonist moves like Flappy Bird, as I mentioned above. You basically move up as you press up on the D-pad or Left Thumb Stick, and down if you press nothing. You can also slam down faster if you push down, which is great if trying to manoeuvre in tight spaces or trying to grab a collectable which is right after an opening. This means you have to constantly be aware of your little robot and perfectly time your thrusts so that you don’t go face-first into a spiked enemy or fall into a pit. Secondly, despite how long you’ve played on a PlayStation, you’ll instantly forget what colours the face buttons are as soon as you start to play this game. You begin with one colour, red, which is mapped to Circle as that button is also red. Soon you’ll have the ability to use green (Triangle), blue (Cross), then pink (Square), all of which perfectly line up with the controller. However, the speed at which the barriers approach, the constant looking out for the safety of your robot, and the clever level design which purposely makes you move around a lot so you don’t get squished, all adds to the frustration and panic which the game thrives on. Thankfully, there are a few things you can enable if you wish to try and make things a little easier for yourself. First of all, you can play on Easy and have the protagonist hover constantly – he won’t auto fall when you stop pushing up. This makes it a little easier as it now becomes more akin to side-scrolling space shooters rather than “Flappy Bird in Spaaaaace”. Secondly, you can have the face buttons display in the bottom corner of the screen with their respective colours – making it easier to remember which colour the button is that you need to push without taking your eyes off the screen. Finally, you can also turn on autofire so that you constantly shoot without keeping your finger on the respective face button. I chose the first two options but autofire seems a bit redundant as you have auto fire anyway – you don’t have to keep tapping the button – but the other two ‘easy’ options made it slightly more bearable for me. Even the bosses are colour-coded! The game itself isn’t very long when looking at the number of levels on offer. There are three bosses, one at the end of each set of stages (three to five), and each level has both a ‘normal’ version and an EXTREME edition which is unlocked by collecting all the letters which spell out your name. Now, if you’re like me and you chose to play the game on Easy, good luck with the newly unlocked bonus levels as they’re not only a much higher difficulty, introducing more barriers and enemies, but it also forces you to use the Flappy Bird movement method – no easy hover mode here! Thankfully, as I said above, there’s no timers, unlimited lives, and a generous amount of checkpoints. This means that when you die – which you will, a lot – you’ll instantly respawn and be back in the action. It’s a shame the game doesn’t count how many times you’ve died – purely so you can laugh at yourself – but I’m glad there’s no trophies or requirements to complete the levels flawlessly or within a set amount of time before you can move on. However, level progression is blocked until you pick up a certain number of energy pods, but I always had enough to move on so the limit isn’t very strict. A feature which I never really got to try out is that you can play the entire game with a co-op partner locally. Rather than both of you taking control of four guns, one for each colour, you both man two of the four colours, making co-operation a must if you wish to live. The mode sounds fun and something which could possibly make the game a little easier, but I won’t really be able to try it out for a while due to the current lockdown in place within my city. Are you brave enough to 100% all levels? Technical pixelBOT EXTREME! is a quirky indie title with very nice pixel-art visuals. The way the game has been built around the four face button colours is great as its very interesting and something I’ve not seen that often outside of puzzle games. The environments are a little basic looking but that’s the point, your focus is meant to be on the multi-coloured enemies and barriers so you know which weapon to use to defeat them as you also try to keep the protagonist afloat. In terms of the music, to match the old-school aesthetic, the developers have used lo-fi chiptunes from Phonotrash, along with retro sound effects to fully create the retro indie style they were going for. I personally liked the music and the overall audio experience with the game, it helped to try and keep me determined to finish the stage even though I’d died easily over a hundred times on some stages! Trophy-wise, I’m not very good at these types of games as my reaction speeds aren’t as good as they used to be and I tend to forget things when under pressure – in this case, I kept forgetting which colours related to each button. But, I’ve seen that some people have managed to obtain all of them without too many issues, so it isn’t impossible, it’s just a tricky and rather difficult game that requires a lot of concentration. I don’t think I’ll be getting 100% of them any time soon, but it’s something which fans of the shooter genre will be proud to have on their trophy list. Also, there’s both an EU and NA trophy list – in case you fancy trying to complete them both! Final Conclusion: pixelBOT EXTREME! is a very addictive ‘one more go’ retro-inspired shoot ’em up with a colourful twist. Despite the game making me rather frustrated and constantly in a panic, I found that I couldn’t stop playing it due to being determined to make it to the end and cross the flag, even if it meant bypassing most of the collectables. There are three difficulty modes (four if you include the unlocked Extreme levels), and a few assist options to make the game a little easier for those new to the genre, but if you’re going for 100% trophies then good luck – it gets quite tricky and really tests your reaction speeds. Also, if you have someone else in your house to play with, the co-op mode sounds fun as you really do need to co-operate in order to win.

Small in size, but similar in features and performance to ATX motherboards Over the past few months since its launch at the end of April, wev’e looked at several boards based around Intel’s latest mainstream Z490 chipset, covering mid-range boards and most of the flagships. Now it’s time for a deep dive into four of five small Mini-ITX motherboards including a close look at features, performance and more, to give you the information needed to make an informed purchase of a small form factor (SFF) Z490-based motherboard. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 ($279.99), Asus ROG Strix Z490-I Gaming ($299.99), Biostar Z490GTN ($199.99) and the Gigabyte Z490I Aorus Ultra ($269.99). We also reached out to MSI, but the company didn’t get a board to us in time for this roundup. All of these little boards support up to the flagship Intel Core i9-10900K processor, with some mentioning PCIe 4.0 support for the GPU and a single M.2 port (requires a future processor), just like their larger peers. Note though, that PCIe 4.0 will only work with future Intel Rocket Lake CPUs. Motherboard partners came up with creative ways to fit features on these smaller boards, including stacking M.2 sockets, with others using riser cards for things like SATA, RGB/Fan headers. Unlike larger boards, these smaller models include just two DIMM slots with up to 64GB of memory support, as well as four SATA ports. From there, each board offers different features. Highlights out of the way, all four of the boards performed admirably in our testing suite. Those that were loose with Intel specifications out of the box (ASRock, Asus and Gigabyte) performed as well as their larger peers in most tests. However, the Biostar Z490GTN adheres to Intel more strict specifications. As a result, in heavy longer tests (handbrake for example), the Biostar board can be notably slower than the competition due to this adherence and some current-limit throttling. The ASRock, Asus, and Gigabyte boards overclocked our power-hungry CPU without issue, while the Biostar simply isn’t capable of handling our overclock without immediately running into current limits. Below we’ll dig into the specifications and features, performance and overclocking for all four boards. We’ll start with the Biostar Z490GTN and subsequent boards with a detailed specifications table followed by a board overview. Testing and concluding thoughts will follow on the later pages. Features The Biostar Z490GTN includes enough accessories to get you started, but not much else. Here’s a full list of what comes in the box: Quick Guide Driver Disk Four SATA cables I/O Shield Wi-Fi accessories (bracket/antenna mounts) Removing the Biostar Z490GTN from its box, we see an exposed black PCB with black DIMM slots and heatsinks covering the left VRM bank and the z490 chipset. Compared to the other boards, the Z490GTN doesn’t have the fancy heatsinks, shrouds, and RGB LEDs, but more of a basic mid-range look and features. That said, it also has a much lower $199 price, undercutting all its competition here by at least $70. A decent-sized grey heatsink covers the left VRM bank and chipset, with both sporting a brushed-aluminum finish. Biostar’s Racing branding sits proudly on top of the VRM heatsinks, showing off its pedigree. RGB lighting is not integrated on the board, so if you would like to add some, it will have to be from the onboard headers. Starting on the top, we see a slew of headers and sockets, including a Key E M.2 socket for Wi-Fi (module not included), a single 8-pin EPS plug, two RGB headers (3-pin and 4-pin) and two (of three) fan headers. Just to the right of these are the two DIMM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides to secure the installed RAM. With the board’s Daisy Chain memory topology, Biostar lists support up to DDR4 4400+(OC). On the far right edge of the board is the 24-pin ATX connector, four SATA ports (support RAID 0, 1, 5), front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 header and the front panel header. There is only one M.2 socket,located on the backside of the board, and supporting up to 80mm modules. So even when it’s in use with a SATA-based drive, all four SATA ports should be available -- no pesky port sharing here. The four-pin header just to the left of the front panel is for a system speaker. Across the bottom of the board is the single reinforced full-length PCIe slot. Just above this is the USB 2.0 header and a system fan header. Last but not least is the audio; Biostar uses an older budget Realtek ALC892 audio codec located just to the left of the PCIe slot. Using this codec likely keeps the cost down compared to the high-end Realtek ALC1220 codec used in the other boards. That said, the audio should be good enough for most users. If you’re worried about getting the best possible audio quality, you should opt for speakers with their own digital-to-analog converter (DAC), or look for a pricier board. Biostar’s 8-phase VRM is managed by an ON Semiconductor PCP81229 8-channel PWM, operating in 6+2 mode (Vcore and SOC). This feeds six ON Semiconductor NCP302155 MOSFETs rated at 55A each, for a total of 330A available to the CPU. This is the least-capable VRM setup of the ITX group, and because of the current limit stuck to intel standards, overclocking wasn’t possible on our sample. The board even throttled our stock i9-10900K in stress tests and Handbrake. This board simply cannot handle the flagship processor during heavy loads in its current form. Adding a BIOS option to raise the current limit would be helpful, but we worry about the capability of the power delivery. To be frank, you should use a lesser CPU or expect occasional throttling during heavy multi-core use scenarios if you pair an i9 with this board. The rear IO area on our Biostar Z490GTN includes the typical fare of USB ports, video outputs and the audio stack. Note that the IO plate is not integrated, like it is on the other boards. The board includes six USB ports (two USB 2.0 and four USB 3.2 Gen 1), none of which are Type-C. Six ports may not be enough for some users. Above the blue USB ports is the Intel Gigabit Ethernet port (the other boards all have 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi included, neither of which you’ll find here). The video outputs consist of an HDMI port and a legacy VGA port, and the audio stack consists of three analog plugs. Also here is a legacy PS/2 port. Software Biostar’s software list covers system monitoring and tweaking as well as a BIOS update utility. The Racing GT Evo application works well, displaying system information, controlling fans, tweaking a couple of settings andRGB control, all in an easy-to-read application. We’ve captured a few screenshots from the Racing GT Evo utility below. Firmware To give you a sense of the Firmware, we’ve gathered screenshots showing a majority of the BIOS screens. Biostar’s UEFI works well overall and presents users with a lot of different options, even if it isn’t the most refined BIOS around. It comes with an EZ Mode that is more informational but still has options to change boot priority, AHCI/RAID modes for storage, and a switch for enabling/disabling any attached RGB strips. Advanced mode lists realtime hardware information on the right with major headings across the top.

If this fine-grained thread control tech can run The Chocolate Factory, imagine it unleashed in Android Google has confirmed it plans to contribute some of its in-house threading code to the Linux kernel, but hasn’t disclosed its motivations beyond a desire to share. As described by Googler Peter Oskolkov on the Linux kernel mailing list, the tech is “an M:N userspace threading subsystem backed by Google-private SwitchTo Linux Kernel API. This subsystem provides latency-sensitive services at Google with fine-grained user-space control/scheduling over what is running when, and this subsystem is used widely internally (called schedulers or fibers).” Scheduling threads matters because it queues jobs for CPUs, and makes sure that cores don’t lie idle if there’s work they could usefully be doing. M:N threading is one approach to the task, and it's typically more efficient than the 1:1 approach most kernels tend to use. The Register asked Google to explain what it’s up to with this contribution to the kernel and was told simply: "Threading technology is widely used across Google." Which makes a lot of sense given Google tries to wring the most out of its colossal server fleet. We were also told the web goliath “generally wants to open source helpful production APIs" and is releasing this code in the spirit that saw it share the Abseil scheduling code and tcmalloc memory allocation routines. While the post to the kernel mailing list targets version 5.9 of the Linux kernel, Google told us it has: "No firm timeframe to share at this time" regarding when Linux users might be able to play with its SwitchTo API. According to Oskolkov, the latest patches are "the first step to open-source this work." Google first discussed this work in 2013 in a talk , and the lengthy time elapsed since that event could mean that Google now runs more advanced scheduling code in-house and is therefore comfortable open-sourcing old work. Android’s reliance on the Linux kernel could be another factor here, as with many smartphones now boasting multi-core processors better threading could be desirable. A few posts to the mailing list discussed the API in recent weeks, and Oskolkov said he’d submitted the last of the code. With the Linux 5.9 merge window currently open, we’ll soon know if it will hit the kernel sooner or later.

DH1 : DH2 : PS : LISTEN BEFORE YOU VOTE ! ANY NONE SENSE VOTES WILL LEAD TO REMOVAL , VOTE CANCELLED !

Nickname : @.-AdiiLo-. Tag your opponent : @Meh Rez vM ! ♫ Music genre : R&B Number of votes : 6 Tag one leader to post your songs LIST : @.-AdiiLo-.

Original release date : August 21, 2020 Publisher : 2K Games Developer : HB Studios Platforms : PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows PGA Tour 2K21 Devs Talk PS5/Xbox Series X Support, DLC, Swing Updates, And More The developers of PGA Tour 2K21 answer a series of questions about the soon-to-release professional golf game. PGA Tour 2K21 is coming very soon, with the professional golf game scheduled for release on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on August 21. Ahead of that, the developers at HB Studios have answered some questions on Reddit regarding support for PS5/Xbox Series X, DLC, the new swing mechanics, and more. Beginning with the next-gen consoles, HB Studios will not release a "bespoke" version of PGA Tour 2K21 for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However, like thousands of other games on both platforms, PGA Tour 2K21 will play on PS5 and Xbox Series X through backwards compatibility, HB said. Regarding DLC, HB said it plans to add more courses, modes, and MyPlayer options in the future. However, the studio did not say if this will come in the form of paid or free expansions. There are 15 real-world PGA Tour courses in PGA Tour 2K21, which is more than double the number (6) that were featured in 2018's The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour . Also in the Q&A, HB spoke about some of the changes for the swing mechanics in PGA Tour 2K21. First off, backswing tempo is removed, while the downswing timing and accuracy "tolerances" have been tuned to make the overall swing mechanics simpler. Additionally, the swing animations themselves have been updated to more "more athletic." HB also clarified that there will be many different golf clubs to earn and unlock, and these clubs include attributes that change performance. However, HB says one club won't necessarily be "better" than another because of how the game has been tuned. For example, one driver may go further than another, but the tradeoff is that it requires a more expert control of accuracy and timing. Another example provided was that a wedge might go straight more easily, but it will be more difficult to control when using the shot-shaping mechanics.

Google's Chromebooks have come a long way, but one specific part of their evolution is amusingly at odds with itself. Ah, Chrome OS. How far you've come. I found myself contemplating the state of Google's Chromebook platform this week as I read over a new interview detailing some of the specifics of the upcoming Chrome OS Windows app support system — and something amusing occurred to me: When you think about Chrome OS in a bigger-picture, evolutionary view, the software's current state is almost hilariously ironic — not necessarily in a bad way, mind you, but in a way that's both funny and also quite revealing of how Google's vision for computing has progressed over the years. Let me explain: Back when it first showed up in 2011, Chrome OS was as limited and barebones as an operating system could be. In that earliest incarnation, it was quite literally just a " browser in a box " — a full-screen Chrome window with no desktop, nothing so much as even resembling a traditional app, and next to no settings or options. That "browser in a box" characterization stuck around as a misleading jab at Chromebooks for far too long, but in the very beginning, it really was accurate. And you'd better believe it was that way by design, too. In its official Chrome OS introduction , Google described the platform as being "a natural extension of Google Chrome" — a "lightweight operating system" designed specifically for "people who live on the web." I mean, this Chromebook introduction video pretty much says it all. It portrays a Chromebook as actually being the web, "in a computer-like object" — specifically noting that it involved no programs, nothing to start up, and no desktop ("not even a desktop background"!). Sure brings you back, doesn't it? Chrome OS truly was designed to be the anti-operating-system — one where none of the usual computing paradigms applied. And now? Well, my goodness, where do we even begin? Chrome OS has a desktop, for one — one with a taskbar, a quick settings area, and yes, even a desktop background. It has plenty of stuff to start up. And as for the programs? It probably goes without saying, but those represent the most dramatic transformation of all. Chrome OS has gone from being the 'nothing' OS to being the 'everything' OS In a night-and-day flip from the stubborn "no programs" stance at its launch in 2011, Chrome OS is now on the brink of supporting an almost dizzying array of application types: It has regular ol' web apps, of course, in addition to the newer and more complete-feeling progressive web apps that are slowly but surely taking on a critical role in the platform. Then it has Android apps and Linux apps, too, in addition to the upcoming Windows app support for enterprises. So Chrome OS, Android, Linux, and now Windows — that's essentially four different operating systems within a single streamlined interface. Chrome OS has gone from being the "nothing" OS to being the "everything" OS, thanks to its platform-defying, all-in-one setup. Suffice it to say, that's quite the shift. One could even argue that the current "everything" approach is in direct conflict with the original Chrome OS vision — an argument that's certainly not without merit. After all, the entire point of Chrome OS was initially to be the anti-operating-system, right? The not-quite-a-computer environment where you didn't even need programs to do what you wanted to do? On some level, there's no denying that — hence the title of this column and the crux of my entire realization that Chrome OS has become inherently ironic. At the same time, though, as someone who actually uses a Chromebook in my day-to-day life, I'd say that while the specifics of the implementation have changed considerably, the spirit at the foundation of the platform has remained mostly the same. By that, I mean the ultimate underlying point of a Chromebook was never really that it didn't run traditional programs or that it didn't have a desktop. Those were memorable marketing lines and a good way to get the concept across, but the real point was that by eschewing those concepts early on, Google was able to create a computing environment that was simple, speedy, and secure — with little to no ongoing maintenance and none of the headaches that accompany more traditional operating system setups. And you know what? At their core, Chromebooks still mostly deliver on that vision. Ask people who own 'em what they like about 'em, and you'll hear the same answers over and over again: They're easy to use. They're less complicated. They do everything you need without all the extra bloat. And they're less of a hassle than a Windows, Mac, or full-fledged Linux computer. That part of the Chromebook proposition hasn't changed much, even if the specifics around it have. Chromebooks still free you from device drivers, hardware compatibility complexities, software update annoyances, and traditional virus worries. They're still essentially zero-maintenance systems, and if you really needed to, you could reset a Chromebook completely and be back up and running as if nothing had happened in a matter of minutes. That's what makes them appealing, both to individual users and to organizations — enterprises, small businesses, and schools alike. The main exception is, fittingly, with those apps. As we've discussed before, the fact that Chromebooks can run so many different kinds of programs these days is absolutely an asset. It provides a level of versatility you won't find on any other kind of computer. But it's also a drawback — because, plain and simple, figuring out what kind of app you need for any given purpose on a Chromebook has become a convoluted mess. As it stands now, you could frequently seek out and find a regular web app, a progressive web app, an Android app, and a Linux app for the same basic purpose — and no normal human is ever gonna know which app type is right for which situation (if they even realize all those options are available and know where to look for 'em, which itself is pretty doubtful). And for plenty of purposes, there is a right answer as to which format makes the most sense. Google has a long way to go in sorting out that mess — and while efforts to do so are still extraordinarily limited, there's reason to believe some manner of plan is in place . By and large, though, each new app type added into the equation has filled in some gaps, expanded the possibilities of what a Chromebook can accomplish, and made Chrome OS as a platform more broadly viable for an ever-expanding pool of potential Chromebook owners. And let's not forget, too, that the Android app integration and Android OS alignment have allowed Chromebooks to take on a secondary purpose as the next-gen "Android tablets" — a pretty powerful perk to have built into your laptop. Chromebooks essentially had to evolve if they were gonna survive and turn into the complete-feeling products that they are today. And for the software to go from the "nothing OS" to the "everything OS" while still maintaining much of its original underlying purpose is no small feat — ironic as it may be. Now let's see if Google can tap back into that original simplicity and find a way to mold this messy app mishmosh into something that once again feels cohesive, manageable, and maybe, just maybe, even simple. After all this progress, it's time to look back to Chrome OS's roots to rediscover that intangible quality that made these devices stand out in the first place — and to bring that back to the forefront of the experience, even with all of the new elements at play.

Every Tesla needs a smart garage. Tesla vehicles are well-known for their high-tech features and integrated technology, but what happens when your new Tesla doesn't work with your old HomeLink garage door opener? If you're creator and developer Raj Pejaver, you create a solution with a Raspberry Pi! According to Pejaver, the HomeLink garage door system was compatible and worked well with the Tesla Model 3, automatically responding when the car was nearby. But after acquiring a Tesla Model Y, the support was lost and he had to manually operate the garage door. With the help of Pejaver's Raspberry Pi project, the garage door automatically opens when the Tesla Model Y approaches the garage door and closes after it's parked. It also has the ability to open when the driver is ready to leave, and automatically closes once they've departed. The project relies on a Raspberry Pi Zero W using 8 GB of storage on a microSD card. This model is necessary as it has wireless support while the Raspberry Pi Zero does not. It controls the door through a series of relays and sensors. You can explore the full wiring diagram and software details on Pejaver's blog post. In the meantime, be sure to follow Pejaver on his official website for more updates and future Pi projects.

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Original release date : January 28, 2010 Developer : tri-Ace Mode : Solo Genre : Role-playing video game Game mode : Single player Platforms : PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 During the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, we had a lot of JRPGs which went above and beyond by delivering us tens, or even hundreds, of hours of engaging stories around some rather interesting mechanics. This generation we’ve had a few, but most publishers seem to think the RPG genre simply means ‘Large open world full of fluff and minor distractions’. Thankfully, tri-Ace has spotted this gap in the current market and not only remastered Star Ocean: The Last Hope earlier this year, but they also fully remastered Resonance of Fate in full 4k on both the PS4 and PC. I remember playing this game on my PS3 many years ago, getting stuck and confused at the unique mechanics, and then giving up as I moved onto the next game which sparked my interest. However, I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to give the game another chance and dive into it, especially not after the brilliant remaster of Star Ocean the team did this year. That’s right, Resonance of Fate has almost all of the same customisation and settings which we saw in Star Ocean , only this time the engine seems a lot more stable and manages to hold a decent framerate at the full 2160p. So, whether you’re a fan of the game or never heard of it before, let’s take a deeper look at this hidden gem of the last generation which has been perfectly remastered on the PS4 and PC… Blinded by the beautiful lens flare! Resonance of Fate is a story set in the distant future on Earth. Due to atmospheric pollution which has wiped out all but a small fraction of the po[CENSORED]tion, the remaining survivors create a purification system known as ‘Basel’. Due to their necessity to be close to the device, they create a multi-layered city around it which is protected by the mechanical ‘heart’ of the settlement – Zenith. If you’ve ever seen Logan’s Run, Resonance of Fate is a little like that as Zenith basically grants each human a connection to a quartz stone – a device which grants immunity to the pollution yet also predefines their social stats and life gauges. Throughout the game, you’ll take control of three protagonists, Zephyr, Leanne and Vashyron. They’re all part of a merc group who retrieves jobs and tasks from the locals and delivers results in exchange for money and items. However, as our trio work their way through the various missions placed before them in this steampunk visualisation of the future, they’ll begin to dig deeper into the things which are occurring behind closed doors. It’s a story of trust, betrayal, intrigue, and excitement as you bounce between JRPG, strategic turn-based combat, and a rather unique map system. That’s one big fecker! Combat One of the main things which stood out for me within Resonance of Fate was its take on combat and the map system. I’ll begin with the combat though as it will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played a Valkyria Chronicles game. The main combat mechanic is turn-based/semi-realtime action where you take control of one of your characters and have a set amount to time to move and/or attack. Basically, you move about in realtime whilst the enemies move or charge up their attacks at the same time. This does take a little bit of getting used to as there are multiple ways to attack the enemy – which is where the strategic aspect comes in. Each character can be equipt with either a standard weapon, a machine gun, a medic bag, a bullet case, or a grenade bag. Depending on what you give them, they will level up faster if they’re using something new and have different options given to them within combat. For example, the machine gunner can’t inflict direct damage, they only perform ‘scratch damage’. This does a tremendous amount of ‘Blue’ damage to the enemy, but it never actually reduces the enemies health. It just overlays the health bar with a blue indication of how much the enemy has been ‘scratched’. The standard weapon guys are your actual combat team. These can actually hurt the enemies, yet you hardly take anything off if you attack directly! This is where the scratch damage comes in use. If you get in a few hits on an enemy who has scratch damage, you’ll take off your standard damage PLUS all the blue pre-emptive scratch damage as well. This means you can tear the enemies armour to shreds and kill them in one shot if you’re lucky! Up and over! As there is strategy and pre-planning involved in most of the combat segments, you can perform a few planned out attacks such as a Hero attack and a tri-attack. A Hero attack sees your character running in a straight line, nobody can hurt you and you won’t stop until you reach your destination. As you run, you can swap targets, fire as fast as you can charge up, and even jump to attack from above and from all sides. The tri-attack is where it gets interesting. If all three characters can see each other then pressing Triangle will allow you to all run towards each other as you take it in turns to blow the crap out of your target! It’s very effective and means you get three attacks for the price of one. However, using either of these two attacks will use up one of your energy stones. Energy stones act as group ‘health’ or ‘lives’ – a bit like Golden Axe on the Mega Drive which had characters sharing their continues. Once you’ve done the above attack or one of your characters has had their health reduced to zero, a stone is used up. If you’re attacked with a critical hit whilst you have an empty stone, it will shatter into pieces and fly all over the place. Empty stones are refilled by killing enemies, breaking armour or performing certain attacks – but if you’ve only got a partial stone in your reserve, it won’t fill unless you pick up those pieces! Unlock paths on the map by laying down hexagonal shapes you find. Overall, I really love this combat as it’s really refreshing to play a JRPG which isn’t a Final Fantasy knock-off in terms of its controls. It’s really innovative and offers up a lot of challenge as Resonance of Fate plays with the standard JRPG genre and twists it into something new with these mechanics we’ve not really seen before. As you progress throughout the game, the enemies become much, much harder and you have to adapt to every single one, otherwise, you’ll end up becoming overwhelmed and instantly slaughtered. Another rather innovative gameplay mechanic comes in the form of something a lot of games take for granted… …The Overworld Map Resonance of Fate threw me off guard the first time I played it on the PS3. The overworld map is both strange and addictive at the same time with its rather unusual and unique method of exploration and discovery. Basically, when you defeat the enemies, you’ll find ‘energy hexes’. These are shapes made out of four hexagons which are all combined together and come in a variety of shapes and colours. In order to ‘explore’ the map, you need to place the grey shapes on the overworld map, with no hexagon spilling off the edge and they can only be placed next to or overlapping ones you have already placed. It’s basically like a giant jigsaw puzzle and you have to place the right pieces so your character can progress across the map. The coloured versions, which I mentioned above, are the same only these are used to bypass certain roadblocks. For example, there may be a blue line of hexagons stopping you from getting to a certain mansion. You’ll have to place a blue Energy Hex on it first, then you can continue to build out with the grey ones. You can also use the coloured ones to connect a factory to a combat zone – this allows whatever benefit the factory has to be leaked into the combat area. Benefits range from a higher rate of item drops to increased damage. Just like the combat, it takes a while to fully get to grips with how everything works, as it’s all very different to things we’re usually used to in JRPGs. Once you’ve got the hang of it, the whole game is really innovative and different – in a good way. So many options, just like in Star Ocean: The Last Hope Technical Resonance of Fate shares the same engine as Star Ocean: The Last Hope , which is most likely why tri-Ace decided to remaster this game as well as the latter – I imagine all the hard work had already been achieved upon remastering Star Ocean: The Last Hope . As such, we see a return of most of the customisations option on the PS4 which we saw last time. If you’re playing on a PS4 Pro, you can: • Adjust the shadow buffer to 1x, 2x, or 4x, with each increment offering a more defined and sharper shadow. • Anti-Aliasing (help with any jaggies), Camera Blur (smooths visuals as you move/turn), and Depth of Field (naturally blurring objects in the distance) can all be turned on or off as you choose. • The texture resolution can be low or high – low being the PS3 quality and high being the new higher resolution textures. • You can set the resolution to 1080p, 1440p, or 2160p (you can pick 720p or 1080p on a standard PS4). So, as you can see, there are plenty of options for you to play with in order to achieve the best quality over performance which you which to go with. Personally, I’m on a 1080p TV yet I’ve had it at 2160p (supersampled) as well as the Shadow Buffer at 4x, the Texture Resolution is High, and everything else is on, and I’ve not noticed any slowdown or jerkiness. This isn’t like Star Ocean: The Last Hope , where the game is a massive open-world for you to roam and explore, Resonance of Fate is a bunch of small arena-type battles which are loaded one at a time. All of the sound effects, music, voices and ambient noises are perfect in my opinion. I even love how the menu system has an option to change the layout of your speakers – as in literally dragging on screen whereabouts your speakers are located, so it can adjust it’s output accordingly! You don’t see that too often these days. There is some customisation included – I like the odd-coloured eyes! Personal Opinion I vividly remember playing Resonance of Fate on the PS3, getting to around chapter three and then giving up because I found it too hard. Upon playing this remaster, I’ve made it to the end of chapter five so far, yet I’m clocking in at around 30-35 hours playtime. It’s just as hard as I remember it, with its unforgiving battles and lack of empathy for you if you’ve not picked up the game mechanics fast enough. But that’s what I love about this game – you learn from your mistakes and jump right back in to try over and over again until you finally get the satisfaction of obliterating all those who have slain you before! If you’re looking for a JRPG which will last you countless hours as you work your way through a slightly confusing yet deep story filled with humour, action, unique mechanics, and bewbs, then you can’t get much better than Resonance of Fate. Saying that, Star Ocean: The Last Hope , another one of tri-Ace‘s amazing remasters is also a hidden gem you shouldn’t overlook – with its 500+ hours of gameplay if you’re looking to platinum the game. As far as remasters go, they seem to have got the formula spot on – offers a technically superior product both in terms of performance and visuals over last generation as well as a bunch of customisations on both PC and the PS4. The one negative I have in regards to the game, other than it’s confusing at first mechanics, has to be the difficulty. I believe it will put a lot of people off as it does get pretty brutal. For those who like hard games, once you complete the game you can opt to play again in New Game+ with all your items (if you chose the same difficulty), or opt to play a harder version and start with nothing. NG+ also lets you increase the difficulty up to ten times, once for each time you complete the game. Thankfully there’s no trophy for going down this sadistic route, but it’s there for those who like to punish themselves!

Big performance, low power As spotted by patent sleuth @Underfox3 , AMD has field a patent what appears to be a means of using a big.LITTLE-esque hybrid computing architecture that comes with a mixture of high-performance cores and smaller low-performance cores. As with all patent filings, this doesn't assure that AMD will bring this type of device to market, but it certainly shows the company is busy researching hybrid architectures. The patent outlines a new instruction set subset implementation for low power operation. AMD's implementation allows for one subset of instructions to execute on larger full-featured processing cores optimized for higher performance, while a second subset of instruction run on smaller simplified cores designed for power efficiency. AMD's patent outlines a method whereby the cores use a shared memory location to enable threads to move between the two types of cores based upon certain variables. In practice, the big cores would execute heavy performance-sensitive workloads, while the smaller cores would execute light tasks. When a core isn't busy, it could be shut off, thus improving power consumption further. Intel has already forged ahead with a hybrid design with its Lakefield chips (half-heartedly branded as Big-Bigger), but unlocking maximum efficiency requires the operating system and applications to be aware of the architecture so they can target threads to the correct cores. There's already plenty of work underway to support that technique . The method described in AMD's patent appears to allow the processor to independently sort out which type of thread should run on each cluster based on the instructions supported by the cores, with each type of core supporting either all instructions or a reduced subset. The processor could also shift threads between the cores based on utilization. For example, if the large core is underutilized, the processor would shift the thread to the small core (provided it supports the instructions). If the small core is over-utilized, the thread would shift to the larger core. The approach appears to reduce or negate the need for OS intervention, which could lead to broader adoption of hybrid computing devices. The patent also explains an example wherein the clusters of cores could be CPUs, GPUs, or DSPs, meaning there's a dizzying array of possible combinations. Intel uses multiple stacked dies that it ties together with its Foveros 3D stacking die-to-die interface, but that type of advanced packaging tech isn't necessarily required for this type of design. If AMD releases a hybrid computing design, it could come as one large die or an MCM design that leverages many of the fundamental concepts behind its existing architectures, among other possibilities. However, as with all patents, AMD's filing doesn't guarantee that we will see new products based on the design. Underfox also cautions that the patent is still in the adjustment phase, so it is subject to change. Regardless, the filing certainly shows that AMD is actively researching its own type of hybrid implementations.

Continuum reborn? Not quite, and some features are Sammy-only for now Microsoft and Samsung have previewed Android apps running on Windows – or appearing to, since the apps actually run on a connected smartphone, but are viewed and controlled from the PC, a technique called app streaming. Famously, Redmond has canned Windows Phone, but it still wants a presence in mobile, and Android is its best chance, given that it has a more open ecosystem than Apple's iOS. The company has its own Android device set to launch later this year, the Surface Duo, but also has a partnership with Samsung to integrate Galaxy smartphones and tablets with Microsoft 365 and Windows 10. Samsung's Link to Windows, combined with Microsoft's Your Phone application, already lets users mirror a phone to the desktop OS so you can operate it with keyboard and mouse. There is also cross-device copy and paste. At yesterday's virtual Unpacked event, the two companies announced the app-streaming extension to this integration, which gives a look and feel of running the apps on Windows as opposed to controlling the phone remotely. Users will be able to use the forthcoming Galaxy Tab as a second screen for Windows 10 One potential snag: audio from the apps will play back on the phone, not on the PC. However, there is a handy extra capability. Users can run multiple Android applications in separate windows, as demonstrated at the event by Microsoft communications manager Phillip McClure, though this capability "will roll out later in the year", according to the detailed description. Android apps can also be pinned to the Windows taskbar. This is on top of the usual Your Phone capabilities (which work with any Android device): access to photos, messages, notifications and calls. Another integration feature, briefly shown at Unpacked, is the ability to use the forthcoming Galaxy Tab S7 as a second screen for a Windows 10 PC. Microsoft 365 users will be able to synchronise Samsung Notes with OneNote, and Samsung Reminders with Microsoft To-Do. Outlook Mobile will run on Samsung Galaxy watches. On the gaming side, the two companies also said that Samsung Galaxy will support streaming Xbox games with Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – a subscription to Microsoft's gaming platform. Game streaming is not exclusive to Samsung: a couple of days ago, Microsoft said that this feature, in beta from 15 September, will work across all Android devices running Android 6.0 or higher, Bluetooth 4.0, and with a mobile Wi-Fi or data connection of 10Mbps download speed or higher. Microsoft showed multiple Android apps running in separate windows, though still phone-shaped Some of the new features recall Microsoft's efforts with Continuum, still the subject of a pretty website despite the abandonment of Windows Phone. Continuum exploited the Universal Windows App concept, in which apps running on the phone would scale nicely to run on a large PC display. Continuum gave users the option of using the smartphone as a primary computing device, while still taking advantage of keyboard, mouse and full-size screens. Integration with Android still falls short of that concept, though for users whose documents and data are cloud-hosted, the idea of a primary computing device should no longer matter. Partnership with Samsung is all very well, but owners of other Android brands will not want to miss out on major features. It seems unlikely that Microsoft's own Surface Duo, for example, will fall short of Samsung in this respect, even though the current list of supported devices for Link to Windows is, for now, exclusively Samsung. ®