#REDSTAR ♪ ♫

Dolby Laboratories, the company that helps notebook manufacturers like Acer, HP, and Toshiba deliver custom digital sound packages for skinny machines with even skinnier speakers, unboxed the next generation of its audio software suites today. Two software bundles, Dolby Home Theater version 4 and the less feature-filled Dolby Advanced Audio version 2, have been improved with a more streamlined, easy-to-use interface with custom audio profile settings and software features that make listening to music and watching movies with laptops a more entertaining media experience. New features in Home Theater version 4 include sound processing software like Surround Decoder, which creates a surround sound experience by mani[CENSORED]ting audio output from stereo or two-channel audio speakers to more closely resemble 5.1 surround sound (it can also make 5.1 channel surround sound resemble 7.1 surround sound). Also new are sound tools like Dialog Enhancer, which increases the clarity of dialog spoken in movies and on television, and Dolby Digital Output, a tool that converts PC audio signals to Dolby digital signals for better room-level quality when a notebook is connected to a home theater system. There are also useful features for stabilizing the change in sound that occurs when a user switches between audio modes. For instance, a feature called Intelligent Equalizer reviews graphic equalizer settings and can apply those settings across different listening modes on a PC, be it YouTube video watched in the browser or soft, acoustic jazz played in iTunes. A similar feature, Volume Leveler, creates an even soundscape across varying audio experiences, so jumping from calm, instrumental music back into an explosive action movie won't include sudden assaults of noise due to variance in the audio settings of the two programs. Notebook media lovers who like their sound loud will appreciate a feature called Volume Maximizer. That tool raises the max volume achievable on a notebook. It packs an estimated 6 to 9 decibel gain, according to Dolby. The latest Dolby software suites will ship on the Acer Aspire Ethos multimedia notebooks and the Aspire Z Series all-in-one PC.

The PI02 delivers strong, passive cooling for the Raspberry Pi 4. Cases for your Raspberry Pi have come a long way since the early hobbyist laser cut cases. As time moved on and the Raspberry Pi became more powerful these cases have adapted and provided cooling in the form of heatsinks and fans. SilverStone, well known for their PC cases and accessories, entered the Raspberry Pi case market with the PI01 and have just released an updated version, the Silverstone PI02 with an MSRP of $25 and specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi 4. This all aluminium case measures 3.7 x 1.3 x 2.6 inches (94.2 mm x 33.7 mm x 65 mm) and comes in two pieces which slot on top of one another. The two pieces are secured together using four screws but the pieces are not keyed so it is possible to incorrectly put the case together. The lower piece has cutouts for all of the ports, including an “antenna” mount for an optional antenna which is quite odd as the Raspberry Pi 4 does not have an external antenna connection. On the underside of the lower piece are two “plus” shaped cut outs which can be used to mount the case if used with care. Inside the lower piece are four raised screw points used to secure the Raspberry Pi 4 to the case and prevent the Pi from slipping and shorting on the case. The top section of the case has a series of stylized fins which aid in the removal of heat and provide a certain “industrial” aesthetic. On the two longest sides, there are large rectangular cutouts. On one side, the cutout provides access to the HDMI, USB-C and composite ports. On the other side, the cutout is for access to the GPIO, but this access is quite poor and requires the use of a breakout board to extend the GPIO pins. As you may have guessed this also prevents the use of HATs. Assembly is quick and simple, but there is one tiny little snag. In the PDF manual, we noticed that the image for Step 4, applying the heatsinks to the thermal pads on the CPU and USB (PCIe) chips, did not show any thermal pads on top of the heatsinks. These are necessary to ensure that the heatsinks connect the chips to the case, pulling as much heat as possible into the aluminium case. If these extra thermal pads are not used then the heatsinks are free to move inside the case and could cause a short. But how well does this cool our Raspberry Pi 4? We tested by first powering up the Pi and leaving it idle for 10 minutes. The idle temperature of our stock Raspberry Pi 4 was 43 Celsius (109.4F) and the highest temp recorded during the sysbench test workload tests, verifying prime numbers up to 20,000, was 67 Celsius (152.6F). Compare these temps with those recorded using the PI02 case and we see a much lower idle temperature of 34 Celsius (98.6F). The sysbench CPU test saw the CPU temperature rise to a peak of 57 Celsius (134.6F) If you are planning to build a silent server then this case will meet your requirements. Bottom Line The SilverStone Pi02 is a case for those that wish to use their Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop computer or as a server. It provides great cooling and while it may not look fancy, it does have a robust, industrial look to it. There are two downsides to the SilverStone PI02 case. . First are the heatsinks, which are held in place by thermal pads and just feel as if they are an afterthought. There are other all metal cases available which come with a solid “column” directly connected to their case. The Pi02 approach of two thermal pads per heatsink is a little messy. The other issue is GPIO access. Sure there is a breakout hatch which can be used with a breakout board or individual wires routed out from it, but we cannot use HATs with this case and that is one of the key selling points of the Raspberry Pi. Those points aside, this is a really good case which keeps the Raspberry Pi 4 cool even under a heavy load.

GAME INFORMATION: Platforms:PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One Developers:Aquria Publishers:Bandai Namco Games Release Date:July 10, 2020 Video games based on anime usually go one of two ways: they either try to emulate the anime as closely as possible, beat for beat, or they go their own way to offer something fresh. It’s hard to have that both ways, and Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris’ attempt to pull it off ends badly. Not only does its long-winded visual novel-style recounting of the story become dull and interfere with the intensity of the action, which could’ve thrived if allowed to do its thing, it locks out features as fundamental as co-op and character customization for far too long. On the one hand, there is a lot of faithful adherence to the source material: just as in the latest season of the anime, Kirito finds himself trapped in a Matrix-style virtual world known as Underworld with no way out, and many of the show’s familiar characters, such as Eugeo, are here in full force and fully playable. The premise leads to some clever fourth-wall breaking humor and lots of technical jargon with made up sci-fi terms. For the first third or so of the adventure it follows the anime storyline as a blueprint, although it unfortunately skips over many significant events and retcons several key plot points along the way that would have helped add necessary context in an attempt to make the lore more accessible. Instead, it feels incomplete. So, even though you don’t really need to have seen the anime to follow what’s going on generally, it helps a lot. But even then in some other cases, though, prior knowledge could confuse you because Alicization Lycoris diverges so dramatically. The result is a story that lacks focus and spreads itself too thin. It dives deep into things that didn’t need the extra focus, such as between-quest side character conversations that go on for more than 30 minutes, while glossing over entire arcs of the story in latter portions. There’s also no option for English voiceovers, which is a drag for me personally as someone who prefers to watch the show dubbed. It’s kind of shocking how much time you’re forced to spend reading the story through subtitles. It’s kind of shocking how much time you’re forced to spend reading the story through subtitles. It’s not uncommon to literally spend five minutes on a quest to kill a monster and then spend the next full hour bouncing between long load screens and 2D character illustrations talking to each other relentlessly. I’m all for character development, but dumping tedious dialogue with descriptions of events that happen off-screen isn’t interesting when they could be shown or experienced instead. These visual novel chapters interrupt the action-RPG side of Alicization Lycoris so frequently that it never settles into a rhythm in either genre. Which is a real shame because actually playing Sword Art Online is engaging. Everything happens in real-time with beautifully flashy art and animation, so even though the fiction is set within an MMO the combat doesn’t feel like one. It’s much more like a traditional action-RPG with fast-paced combat, combos, aerial juggling, and several abilities that can chain together between party members. There’s a big focus on deflecting attacks, then staggering enemies by chaining abilities from multiple characters together. Then, during boss battles, combat completely switches to a one-versus-one dueling system complete with a new parrying system and locked-on camera. It takes close to 10 hours for all of the tutorials to roll out on how to chain together special attacks, issue commands to AI party members on the fly, and master the various arts and techniques. Until then, the companion AI is nearly useless. They rarely act without being given orders, so experimenting early by triggering combos is very helpful. There is some real complexity here that can take a while to get the hang of, and you’re not really let loose to fully embrace the speed of combat for more than a few minutes at a time until around 15 hours into the roughly 40-hour long adventure. That ramp-up feels excessively long, and it was frustrating that I wasn’t allowed to use my skills for so long even after I felt ready. To its credit, Alicization Lycoris absolutely nails the thrill and spectacle of the anime from top to bottom though with its dazzling effects and superb music – that is, when it’s all working well – which isn’t often enough. Even with a beefy modern gaming PC that exceeds the recommended specs (Core i5-9600k, GeForce RTX 2060 Super) I had to resort to lowering graphics settings, downgrading from my usual 1440p resolution, locking the framerate at 30fps, and even disabling the Steam overlay to smooth out performance. Before making all of those sacrifices it would take upwards of five minutes at load screens, if not outright freeze and crash between zones, not to mention stuttering and generally poor optimization that was nearly maxing out my GPU. I lost two hours of progress, which was positively blood-boiling. It doesn’t stop at technical issues, though. At one point around halfway through there is a marathon of two straight hours of cutscenes and boss fights in which you literally go from boss fight to cutscene to boss fight, over and over, without a single save point between them. Dying at the hands of the final boss at the end of the chapter forced me to lose two hours of progress, which was positively blood-boiling. Eventually, once you get past this point, things open up a lot. The frequency of extended uninteresting dialogue scenes is reduced, the freedom in large zones is increased, and generally the pacing evens out a bit. It simply takes far too long to reach the good part. This is also when Alicization Lycoris branches off from the anime, telling its own story. At this point you can tell the reigns start to come off as the structure begins to loosen up. It feels a bit like the Game of Thrones’ later seasons, where the developers worked from the same source material but arrive at slightly different conclusions from the anime showrunners. That being said, I’d argue the second half of Alicization Lycoris where it becomes its own thing and separates from the anime, is the better half. But you’d be lucky to make it that far without tapping out beforehand. In fact, Alicization Lycoris’ biggest departure is that after 20 hours you suddenly have the ability to alter your character’s appearance entirely, all the way down to your gender. This new avatar can replace Kirito in gameplay (but not cutscenes, oddly) and be used when playing co-op online – which you also unlock at this point. Random players can join your game if you open up your session, or you can join someone else’s, to go out and complete quests and fight bosses as a party. As a nice touch, everybody also gets permitted one AI companion so you aren’t only leveling up your main character. The decision to block off these two fundamental features for nearly 20 hours is baffling to me. I have to say, the decision to block off these two fundamental features for nearly 20 hours is baffling to me. If I were buying Alicization Lycoris for co-op with a friend and found I’d need to sink that much time into it before even unlocking that mode I’d be infuriated, and only being able to customize your character at that point is simply bizarre. The issue with this approach is that it starts to meander from the core premise that kept the plot engaging and devolves into an assortment of unrelated and/or uninspired side stories. In a way, it feels more like an extended post-game rather than an actual continuation of the main storyline. Verdict Alicization Lycoris feels like an amalgamation of ideas for Sword Art Online games of different genres without much thought given to how they can combine together, and the seams are showing. It definitely had potential, but squandered the majority of it on a lackluster retelling of the anime’s story that leaves out interesting parts in favor of extended boring conversations, locking out co-op and character customization for the first half, and a litany of performance problems. The exciting combat and interesting characters aren’t enough to save this action-RPG from being just another disappointing footnote in this anime’s legacy SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 64 bit Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760, 2 GB | AMD Radeon HD 7950, 3 GB DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 45 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 64 bit Processor: Intel Core i7-9700 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, 8 GB | Radeon RX Vega 56, 8 GB DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 45 GB available space

DH 1 DH 2

WelL the choice is hard between the 2 songs But I will vote for DH2 I liked the music and great rhythm

Microsoft is currently investigating It's a new week, which means Windows 10 has a new set of problems we need to make you aware of. The latest bug does the unthinkable: it breaks your Wi-Fi connection — well, sort of. Users are reporting a bug that makes the Wi-Fi icon disappear from the taskbar despite there not being any problems with the internet. Caused by the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (as Windows Latest reports), the icon vanishes but users can continue to browse the web with a functioning Wi-Fi connection. That wouldn't be such an annoyance if certain apps didn't go off what the operating system reports, which in this case is a failed connection. Windows 10 users with this bug can still open Chrome and browse the web, however, certain apps, like Spotify or Microsoft 365, rely on what the OS says about the internet connection and, therefore, appear offline. A telltale sign that you're experiencing this error is a yellow triangle that would appear on the system tray, wrongly reporting that you have "No Internet Access" even when you're connected to a functioning router. “I’ve rebooted my laptop, reset the router and reinstalled the network wireles What to do now Microsoft acknowledged the error in a TechNet forum post, stating "Customers are reporting "no internet" access in the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) on Windows 10 2004 devices on devices that in fact can ping internet resources or browse web sites with internet browsers." Microsoft is currently investigating the problem but has not released any update thus far. Our advice is to either wait for an official fix or to roll back to a more stable version of Windows, before the May 2020 update.

Better YouTube Experience in Chromium Since the Raspberry Pi arrived in 2012 there has been a 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS, formerly Raspbian as the default operating system. The Raspberry Pi 3 introduced the first 64-bit capable CPU but the OS remained 32-bit. That remained true until late May 2020 which saw a beta image release for Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit released to the public. The 64-bit OS works with Raspberry Pi 2 (v1.2 only which has the same CPU as the Pi 3), 3 and 4, can be downloaded from the Raspberry Pi forums Beta testing is ongoing but one of the latest updates goes some way to addressing choppy YouTube 1080P video playback in Chromium. YouTuber leepspvideo has created a video showing the improvement, which seems to work better with some videos than others. To update Chromium along with other updates and fixes for Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit, open a terminal and enter this command. If you have Raspberry Pi OS 32-bit or 64-bit then you can stream YouTube and Netflix on your Raspberry Pi via a modified version of Chromium which you can install Chromium (Media Edition) via our handy guide. Keep an eye on the Raspberry Pi GitHub for the latest issues and updates.

game information: Developers:Outerloop Games Publishers:Outerloop Games Release Date:April 9, 2019 Platforms:PlayStation 4, PC I never knew I wanted a pet bird, but Falcon Age made me care for its titular raptor like she were my own. Outerloop Games makes smart use of both gameplay and story to pull that off, despite running into some technical issues along the way. While this adventure is fully explorable on a good old-fashioned TV, it is absolutely more rewarding when experienced on PSVR thanks to a number of engaging interactions and control ideas. Falcon Age’s frequently squawky sidekick is so handy it almost feels like a co-op game. You and your feathered friend explore a sparse but artistically striking desert landscape and take down refinery outposts of a colonizing power. With writing by 80 Days’ Meg Jayanth, Cassandra Khaw, and Chandana Ekanayake, Falcon Age explores a fascinating tale of reigniting a resistance that’s largely given up the fight. Rather than going big or grand with its events, the most intriguing moments come from small character interactions. How your auntie, who’s well versed in the ways of falconry, chastises you; how the robot overlords of the planet grow amusingly frustrated with having to deal with you; and how citizens do and don’t hold onto the hope of rebuilding their society come through in sharp, well-written conversations that made me care for more than just my bird friend. There are a couple of relationships I wish Falcon Age had more time to focus on, particularly when it comes to your family history. Because of its brevity, some of the dialogue choices you can make caused some character moments to feel too abrupt to me. (Having gone back and made some other choices, there are much more natural flows to those conversations than I saw on my first playthrough.) Falcon Age made me care for its bird from the opening minutes of the story. But the bulk of my adventure involved bonding, exploring, and attempting to bring down my rulers with my avian companion. Falcon Age, from the jump, made me care for her by introducing her as a baby bird who loses her mother, and I mean really: how are you not supposed to immediately fall in love at that point? While I’d have liked to have watched her grow up gradually, Falcon Age skips over most of her early life and goes straight to letting you interact with her as a full-grown falcon, and she’s a joy to spend time with. It’s so satisfying, particularly in VR, to work in concert with your bird. While exploring the environment you can point at a creature for her to hunt down or at a plant to harvest fruit from. She can also be directed in combat, either to knock out some machinery or distract a robot enemy so you can bash its head in. While you can play through all of this with the DualShock 4, either in or out of VR, every interaction is so much more satisfying in VR with Move controllers. You actually get to hand her a tiny skateboard or juggling balls to play with. You can point or bring your hand to your face to direct her movements. And, in one of the most heartwrenching moments I’ve ever had in a game, you have to pull needle-like projectiles out of her to heal her back up to health after combat Falcon Age's mechanics are so engaging in VR. I’ve even found myself unnecessarily going out of my way to use my bird to hunt prey (for treats that need to be cooked later) just to spend more time with her in the wild. Yes, all of this can be accomplished with a few button presses on a DualShock 4, but interacting so directly with my virtual friend continually engrossed me. And all of Outerloop’s design choices feel built to let as many people as possible explore its full, five-hour adventure. Aside from the option to play with or without VR or Move, the main menu allows you to play without combat, in case you want to just pal around with your bird. Unfortunately,I did notice a number of technical issues in all modes. Playing out of VR and running around with a DualShock 4, the world would stutter occasionally, not always keeping pace with me. And both in and out of VR I encountered plenty of pop-in — while the grass nicely rises to meet you as you run throughout the desert world, everything from small rocks to giant background elements would either have textures that didn’t load or completely appear out of nothing. It never truly stopped me from enjoying myself, but when I’m trying to immerse myself in a VR world it can be an annoyance to have elements appearing at random. Occasional technical issues in VR can be an annoyance. I kept wanting to explore each element of Falcon Age’s world, though. Its ideas of robotic colonizers, falconry, and familial dynamics make for a compelling world that I wished to learn more about, so much so that its ending came all too quickly for me. There are a few reasons to go back and explore even after the end of the story, like extra collectibles and a minigame or too, which I’ve enjoyed hunting for an extra hour or so. But it’s nice just to spend some time throwing toys at my bird or walking around the desert planet with her. Outerloop’s striking, memorable landscape uses bright colors and sharp shapes to make itself distinct, rather than relying on overly detailed rock formations and grass patterns. Verdict Falcon Age’s charming adventure made me care more for a virtual pet than I ever thought I could, and it shines in VR. I didn’t expect to become as bonded to a virtual animal as I did in Falcon Age. It got to the point where my real-life pet might’ve grown a little jealous with how many toys and how much praise this bird got. Outerloop has established a strong foundational system when it comes to exploring and fighting with your falcon, while presenting an intriguing, if sparse, world that explores some meaningful concepts. Even with some minor technical problems, I really enjoyed visiting this world and wish I could explore more of it (and put more cute outfits on my bird). System Requirements: (Minimum) CPU: Intel Core i5 @ 3.5GHz or AMD FX 6 Core CPU SPEED: Info RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 10 (64 Bit) VIDEO CARD: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD R9 290X 4GB VRAM PIXEL SHADER: 5.1 VERTEX SHADER: 5.1 FREE DISK SPACE: 5 GB DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4096 MB

There is a fix...but it doesn't work for everyone If you're having problems with an HP laptop, don't worry, you're not the only one. A bug in Windows 10 is causing HP laptops to get stuck in a boot loop. HP released a patch that seems to fix the issue for some users, but others are still running into problems. When the bug surfaced, HP owners were greeted to a Blue Screen of Death error that read: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED. This critical error occurs when the kernel-mode program creates an exception that the error handler can't catch, as Windows Latest reports. When the Blue Screen of Death appears, there is nothing that can be done. The system has experienced a complete crash and gets stuck in a boot loop, when it continuously attempts (and fails) to start up. “No matter how many times I reboot, [BSOD] happens again immediately as soon as I reach the login screen and this happens even in safe mode,” one Reddit user noted. It's not clear how widespread the problem is, but there are various reports on social media, Reddit and HP's forums describing the issue. What we do know is that no HP laptops were spared; Pavilion, Omen, Obelisk and Envy models were all struck down by the bug. The problem surfaced in May but it's not clear what caused it. Some folks have linked the error to a Patch Tuesday update on May 12 while others theorize that update KB4556799 -- which has already proven to contain various bugs -- is the culprit. Others suggest the Blue Screen error is caused by compatibility issues between Windows Defender and HP updates. HP Japan wasn't shy about pointing fingers. In a tweet, the company blamed a Windows 10 update and recommended reverting to a more stable version of the OS. But you might not need to as HP released a patch that fixes the problem for some laptops and desktops. What to do now HP apparently released an update through Windows Update (not its own Support Assist app) that fixes the problem for certain users. A member of AskWoody forums discovered an HP Software Component 4.1.4.3079 update on their Omen desktop. After installing it, the Blue Screen of Death problems disappeared. Unfortunately, it seems like this patch might not work for all users as another forum member said they had installed Update 4.1.4.3079 on May 9 but experienced BSOD on May 10 and May 19. If you still want to try it, search for "updates" and choose "Check for Updates" in Windows Search. Make sure Windows Updates is chosen from the left-hand menu and press Check for Updates. Given the unknown success rate of this patch, your best bet for fixing lingering issues is to revert your HP laptop to an older version of Windows 10. Again, this "fix" doesn't have a 100% success rate, but it's worth a try. You can do so by going to the settings menu, pressing the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner and clicking the Settings gear. Choose "Update and Security" from the main Settings page. On the left-hand side, make sure "Windows Update" is selected. Toward the bottom, you'll see "View Update History." Select it. Press the first option: "Uninstall update" and choose KB4556799

Because every frame counts Some are Team Red inside out, but when it comes to squeezing out the most performance for the dollar, alliances must be formed. The Asus TUF Gaming A15 ($929 to start / $1,200 as tested) unites AMD’s Zen 2-based Ryzen 4000 mobile CPUs with Nvidia RTX graphics for just enough power to edge out rivals, especially when it comes to gaming. But if you’re looking for a vivid and vibrant screen to watch all those frames on, this Renoir system isn’t the best gaming laptop. Asus TUF Gaming A15 Specs Design of Asus TUF Gaming A15 Unless you’re an angel, or a biker or a Hells Angels biker, the massive logo on the TUF Gaming A15’s lid is polarizing. If you’re bringing the Asus TUF Gaming A15 to work, the stamp will clash with buttoned-up office culture. But the lid’s generally-muted color scheme makes the branding as digestible as possible. Gaming laptops have a reputation as giant clunkers that are as chunky as they are heavy. At 14.5 x 10.1 x 1 inches, the TUF Gaming A15 is sized like similarly-priced 15-inch gaming clam shells such as the Dell G5 15 SE (14.4 x 10 x 0.9 inches) and XPG Xenia 15 (14.03 x 9.2 x 0.79 inches). Our review unit and the Dell are also in the same weight class (5.1 and 5.5 pounds, respectively), but the Xenia 15 is trimmer (4.2 pounds). The Asus TUF Gaming A15 still looks more polished than either of those machines. Asus paid attention to design, trimming down from the size of the TUF Gaming A15’s predecessor while incorporating a larger battery (for longer claimed battery life). Angles are woven throughout the design. The lid doesn’t cover the entire top of the laptop and instead leaves space to show off the deck’s TUF Gaming logo, surrounded by decorative textures. Vertical lines start at the spine and travel around to the laptop’s underside before exploding into a honeycomb pattern that’s supposed to help with gripping. Copper-orange bursts pop out of the spine’s vents for a welcome hint of color. The left side of the TUF Gaming A15’s deck features the AC connector, Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.0b output, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and a USB-C port. That’s a decent port party, but one might feel left out: The left deck is barren except for a USB 2.0 port. On one hand, this makes it easy to remember where the fastest ports are. But the layout’s unbalanced, and the right side is more crowded when all ports are occupied. When the TUF Gaming A15’s lid is open, the screen almost looks like it’s floating. The panel sits on a thick border with a brushed finish and Asus logo that’s big but blends into the dark bezel a bit. There’s a lot of space between the top of the deck and the function row, but diagonal lines and power button that reminds me of a spaceship keep it from looking empty. Speaking of interesting input, the spacebar has a unique shape that makes it easier for your thumb to find. It also spices up the design, along with the more aggressive font. The deck’s brushed finish also offered resistance that stopped my wrists from slipping. I nearly forgot the keyboard’s single-zone (one color at a time) RGB lighting. That’s because, even as an RGB fan, I have to admit the keyboard looks better with it off. The contrast of the white keys is enough pop. The W also has a mark like the F and J to help prevent your gaming fingers from getting lost. From the rugged plastic base to the deck’s visible and tangible brushed finishes, the TUF Gaming A15’s far from feeling cheap. But I’d prefer the screen to have less wobble to it. Asus put the PC through military-grade durability testing (MIL-STD-810H), including drops, extreme temperatures, vibration and humidity. Gaming Performance of Asus TUF Gaming A15 With an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card and octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU, our review configuration of the TUF Gaming A15 can handle most games at high settings, and can even do ray tracing in supported titles. When I played Battlefield V with ultra settings and ray tracing off, frame rates typically hovered around 63 frames per second (fps), sometimes dropping to 53 fps during intense action and peaking at 79 fps. With ray tracing on, the framerate dropped to the 45 fps range. That dropped to as low as 37 fps during big explosions and went as high as 52 fps. When it came to our benchmark suite, this configuration of the Gaming A15 ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1920 x 1080, highest settings) at 77 fps. That’s way ahead of the Dell G5 15 SE with its AMD Radeon RX 5600M graphics card, Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 2060) and Xenia 15 (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti). Grand Theft Auto V (1920 x 1080, very high) also ran very smoothly at 65 fps. That’s a sliver better than the Xenia 15’s framerate and better than the G5 15 SE. However, the Zephyrus G14 blew this benchmark -- and, therefore, the TUF Gaming A15 -- out of the park. Far Cry New Dawn (1920 x 1080, ultra), meanwhile, ran at a solid 75 fps, but the Xenia 15 managed to do better. The TUF Gaming A15 ran the Red Dead Redemption 2 (1920 x 1080, medium) benchmark at 38.5 fps. That’s better than the Dell and Zephyrus and a tie with the Xenia. We also ran the TUF Gaming A15 through our gaming stress test. It runs the Metro Exodus 1080p RTX benchmark on a loop 15 times in order to simulate 30 minutes of gaming. Here, the laptop averaged 44.2 fps. During that time, the machine’s RTX 2060 ran at an average clock speed of 1.5 GHz and at an average temperature of 74.4 degrees Celsius (165.9 degrees Fahrenheit). The Ryzen 7 4800H hit an average clock speed of 3.6 GHz at an average temperature of 92.4 degrees Celsius (198.3 degrees Fahrenheit). Productivity Performance of Asus TUF Gaming A15 The Asus TUF Gaming A15 configuration we tested runs on an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU with eight CPU cores and 16 threads, along with 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 1TB PCIe-NVMe SSD. That was enough to handle 20 Google Chrome tabs, including one playing “The Office” on Netflix, a spreadsheet and Slack. The video never stuttered, but fast forwarding and rewinding resulted in 3 second delay. When I toggled through Chrome tabs there was occasionally a 1 second delay, but I could smoothly scroll through pages. When it came to the Geekbench 5.1 overall productivity performance test, our configuration of the TUF Gaming A15 scored 7,731 on all 8 cores. That’s better than the Xenia 15 fared with a hexa-core Intel Core i7-9750H and 32GB of DDR4 RAM, but not quite enough to best the Dell G5 15 SE with the same CPU and RAM specs as our review unit. The TUF Gaming A15 fell more notably behind the Zephyrus G14, which also packs DDR4-3200 RAM but a more premium CPU in the octa-core AMD Ryzen 4900HS. We tested how speedy the Asus TUF Gaming A15’s storage was with our file transfer test that has each system copy 4.97GB of files. Our review unit got the job done at a rate of 508.9 MBps, which is 84.8 MBps quicker than what the G5 15 SE. However, both the Zephyrus G12 and Xenia 15 had the TUF Gaming A15 beat. Advertisement In the Handbrake video editing benchmark, each system transcodes a video from 4K resolution to 1080p. Asus’ TUF Gaming A15 was done in 6 minutes and 44 seconds. That’s comparable to the G5 15 SE’s time and even slightly faster than the ROG Zephyrus G14. The Xenia 15 struggled to keep up with the rest of the sample pool. Display of TUF Gaming A15 All the action happens on the TUF Gaming A15’s 15-inch IPS screen that boasts a 144 Hz refresh rate. That refresh rate is fast enough to compete with some of the best gaming monitors. Plus the display uses G-Sync to prevent screen tears. With the demanding Battlefield V title set to ultra settings with ray tracing on, choppiness was very rare, and I didn’t encounter any screen tears with Battlefield V or during chaotic moments in Overwatch. But as anyone who gets a new PC does, the first thing I did with the TUF Gaming A15 was visit TomsHardware.com. Quickly, I noticed how bland the site’s red menu bars and logo looked. When I watched Mission: Impossible - Fallout, green poplars didn’t look as lively as I'm used to seeing. Additionally, a pink and purple sunset lost the hint of peach that made it extra dynamic. Because the film didn’t look very bright or vivid, I wouldn’t want to share the screen or do much side viewing on the TUF Gaming A15. From a perpendicular viewing angle, it wasn’t fit for movie watching, although you could get away with a 45-degree angle for shorter periods. When I played Battlefield V, foliage in Tirailleur was less captivating and more pale than usual. Reds looked less bloody, and oranges were less saturated. The screen also washed out the yellow casting down from the sun onto the horizon. With our light meter, the screen hit an average max brightness of 260 nits, but we like to see closer to 300 nits, like the Xenia 15 and G5 15 SE achieved. The ROG Zephyrus G14, meanwhile, is one bright laptop. As expected, there’s not a lot of color here. The screen only covers just 44.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. That’s just a fraction of the color coverage the G5 15 SE (76.6%), Zephyrus G14 (82.9%) and Xenia 15 (78.5%) provide. If you want your gaming to be colorful and vibrant, there are better options. Keyboard and Touchpad on TUF Gaming A15 The TUF Gaming A15’s chiclet keyboard is satisfying to use. There’s a good amount of travel for a keyboard -- 2mm per key -- and the arrow keys are offset, so I could find them without looking down. Asus also claims that each key will last for 20 million keypresses. The keys are flatter than I prefer for long-term typing, but they -- especially the spacebar -- snap back into place quickly, so exhaustion isn’t an issue. Each chiclet also has a very subtle texture that doesn't get slimy during heated gaming sessions. And like the arrow keys, you can easily find the spacebar blindly, thanks to its wide shape. On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I surpassed my typical 110 words per minute (wpm) average, hitting 121.3 wpm, likely due to those springy keys, with a 97.6% accuracy rate, which is typical for me. The TUF A15’s touchpad is smooth without being slippery, so you get the right amount of control. More impressive are the left and right click buttons. They’re made of textured plastic and have a healthy amount of travel for a premium feel and assured input. Audio on TUF Gaming A15 Clear and accurate audio comes out of the speakers on the deck’s left and right sides. When I turned up the volume in Battlefield V, gunshots and dialogue, including voices in the distance, were crisp and true, but gunshots didn’t bang as loudly or scarily as with other gaming laptops. The sounds of exploding grenades had the proper crescendoing effect but lacked the hearty volume or bass to really immerse me. I tried switching to the Shooter audio profile mode in the included DTS:X Ultra software, (which has 7 premade profiles and an EQ), but there weren’t obvious gains. Advertisement I had a similar experience with music. Joyner Lucas’ “Lotto” sounded clear and accurate but wasn’t nearly loud enough for partying, despite me being in a small apartment. When I switched over to external speakers, the instruments in the background music sounded more detailed and layered. The laptop also lets you enjoy 7.1 virtual surround sound with a stereo headset, thanks to DTS:X technology. It could be a nice way to boost audio on a cheap pair of cans, but many of the best gaming headsets come with virtual surround sound. Upgradeability of TUF Gaming A15 Thankfully, Asus welcomes upgrades to the TUF Gaming A15. The back cover includes one pop-up screw that doesn't come all the way out and 10 additional Philips head screws. Once I unscrewed all that, I was able to pry off the backplate without any tools. Once you get inside the machine and remove the insulation tape, you can upgrade the RAM to up 32GB. There’s also empty space for a second M.2 SSD after you remove another Phillips head screw. Battery Life of TUF Gaming A15 For a gaming laptop, the TUF Gaming A15 has a long battery life. It can last for a full work day, posting 8 hours and 34 minutes on our battery test, which surfs the web, streams video and runs browser-based OpenGL tests while connected to Wi-Fi and with the screen at 150 nits brightness. That’s over 1 hour more than what you get with the G5 15 SE and a full two hours longer than the Xenia 15’s battery life. But the Zephyrus can help you pull all-nighters. Heat of TUF Gaming A15 The Asus TUF Gaming A15 stays comfortably cool under normal use but can get a bit toasty when you push it. After about 30 minutes of playing Battlefield V at ultra setting with ray tracing, the keyboard -- particularly the enter key was noticeably hot. Advertisement After 15 minutes of playing YouTube videos, our TUF Gaming A15’s touchpad measured 85.5 degrees Fahrenheit (29.7 degrees Celsius). The hottest point was the bottom center, which hit 95 degrees Fahrenheit (33.5 degrees Celsius), and the spot between the G and H was 93.5 degrees (34.2 degrees Celsius). This is all pretty cool for a gaming laptop, where these measurements could easily pass the 100-degrees threshold. Asus’ cooling system has multiple heatpipes and three heatsinks. The company also claims that its updated chassis design allows for better more air vents, which helps airflow. The cooling system is also self-cleaning for greater longevity. How does this work? There are tunnels at the fans’ edges that are dedicated to catching dust. Those particles travel down the tunnels and out the back of the laptop’s chassis. Webcam on TUF Gaming A15 The 720p shooter here is pretty average. With enough sunlight in the room, colors can be accurate. However, it’s not sharp. For example, my hairline looked fuzzy and my skin slightly grainy. The webcam did keep up with my fast movements though. Software and Warranty on TUF Gaming A15 In addition to your standard Windows 10 bloatware, like Candy Crush Friends, Farm Heroes Saga, Groove Music and Xbox apps, Asus packs in a few helpful utilities. Advertisement MyAsus is a system diagnosis tool, and Asus Armoury Crate shows system stats, like CPU and RAM usage. Armoury Crate also has different fan settings: Windows, SIlent (noise under 35dB for light workloads and entertainment), Performance (the default, under 40dB ) or Turbo (no restrictions) settings. A graph shows gains / losses in cooling, noise reduction, et cetera. You can also set the app to allow your smartphone to control PC settings. AMD Radeon Settings Lite offers toggles and drop-down menus for more advanced GPU settings like anti-aliasing mode and texture-filtering quality. You also get the aforementioned DTS Headphone:X audio software (see the Audio section below) and DTS Sound Unbound for playing with virtual surround sound in connected stereo headphones. Configurations and Availability You can spot our configuration of the TUF A15 by the model name FA506IV. That gets you an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU, RTX 2060 graphics, 1TB of M.2 PCIe SSD storage and 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM. In addition to there being a 17-inch version of this laptop (Asus TUF A17 Gaming), there are four few different SKUs for the 15-inch version. If you want to stick with the CPU we have, you can bump down to GTX 1660 TI graphics for $1,000 as of writing. RAM is still at 16GB, but storage drops to 512GB. For $929, the machine can pack an even lesser GTX 1650 Ti with 512GB of storage and the same remaining specs as our review unit. There’s also a version of this laptop with a lesser Ryzen R5 CPU (Model number FA506IH), but we haven’t spotted it for sale online yet. Later this year, Asus will release the TUF Gaming F15, which is essentially the same machine but with up to a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 CPU and GTX 1660 Ti. Bottom Line The Asus TUF Gaming A15 has all the gaming and productivity performance you’d expect from a laptop at this price. Asus’ Ryzen machine pulled ahead of the Dell G5 15 SE in all our gaming benchmarks, usually by less than 10 fps, but for hardcore gamers, every frame counts. And productivity between the two machines is comparable. However, the Dell’s screen is both more colorful and brighter than the Asus's. And if you want speedy storage and better battery life than the TUF Gaming A15’s already good battery life, the more expensive Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 awaits. Intel-powered options in the same price range, meanwhile, are using 9th Gen Intel Core CPUs as of writing. If you want current-gen Intel chips, you’ll often have to spend a few hundred more than our review unit’s $1,200 current price point. But with a slight lead in framerates in nearly every game and a keyboard with good travel, the Asus TUF Gaming A15 is a really strong choice.

game information: Developers:Haemimont Games AD Publishers:Kalypso Media Release Date:May 23, 2014 Platforms:PC, Macintosh, Linux, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One At first glance, Tropico 5 seems dangerously similar to its still-recent predecessor, Tropico 4, and you can be forgiven for wondering whether developer Haemimont games didn't just tweak the graphics and slap it in a box. The music, the characters, most of the gags, and the art are almost indistinguishable. That feeling of deja vu is misleading, however, because Tropico 5 improves on Tropico 4 in one key way: it's a more challenging and engaging city-builder, one that does a better job of making me feel like the tin-pot dictator that I’m supposed to be. As a city-building game, the Tropico series has historically emphasized fun and style over challenge. That's not necessarily a bad thing: it's generally let you get on with the fun of building without tearing your hair out over finicky optimization games like the (also excellent) Anno series. You slap down a few plantations, start exporting bananas and coffee to the rest of the world, and then get to work expanding your shantytown empire — all while taking in the lush sights and sound of a slightly debauched tropical paradise. Tropico 5 largely sticks to that formula with a couple key changes. First, it now unfolds across a series of eras, each with their own associated buildings (unlocked via a simple and almost meaningless research tree) and world events. You start in the early 20th century and work your way up to the modern era, though the art doesn't convey the changing eras very well. The march of time also escalates the challenges you face. The early Colonial Era gives way to the World Wars, where both Axis and Allies are furiously buying up supplies and vying for your affections. It creates some basic risk-reward decisions, as getting cozy with one gives you the most favorable trading offers… but could also get you swatted down by the other power. That pattern continues through the Cold War era, at which point your problems are starting to become more economic and political. They also get more interesting. Each new era brings more factions to the forefront, while your own efforts steadily strip your island of its resources. From the Cold War into the modern era, you have to be thinking about making the switch into a more developed import/export economy, lest you risk stagnation. It also creates tricky and demanding re-development challenges. The slapdash plantation town you built at the start of your game begins to get pretty creaky as residents demand better living conditions and utilities, but nobody likes having El Presidente just demolish his house to build a modern apartment complex. Suddenly my island was divided between gleaming apartment towers and shantytowns, and the desperate have-nots were starting to join the rebel movement. I do wish Tropico 5 did a better job of showing you what's happening, and why. There's no clear display of what the coverage area of a police headquarters actually is, or why people in one block are happy with their local entertainment options, while the next block are seething with boredom and resentment. There are a few useful overlays in Tropico, but I was dying for SimCity's awesome arsenal of infographics. Tropico is particularly abysmal at helping you map out your economy. In the late game, when your mines are depleted, your forests have all been clear-cut, and high-output farms have drained the soil, you need to start importing basic commodities and exporting intermediate and finished goods. But Tropico doesn't give you a clear sense of what's coming in and what's going out. That's a big problem since the late-game economy is entirely about managing that exchange of resources. On the other hand, that might actually be why Tropico 5 stays interesting. Its economy is dead-simple. Commodities don't really change prices, so you don't need to worry about being plunged into poverty by a sudden collapse in the price of bauxite or tobacco. There really is always money in the banana stand, but that's not really how the world works. Tropico 5 could do with a more dynamic economy, one that throws more curveballs your way. Especially in the endgame, when you unlock buildings and technologies that basically make every problem disappear. Nevertheless, I still had a tricky and rewarding time just trying to evolve my island without wrecking it or getting deposed. From time to time, people expect an election, even a rigged one, and most voters identify with a few opposing ideologies. Those ideologies change with the development of the island, however, so you always have to keep an eye on the balance of political power and know where to put your thumb. Fortunately, even if the endgame starts to let you down, there's a pretty entertaining multiplayer game here. You and some friends start together on an island and immediately start trying to fulfill challenges for points, like see who can export the most cigars and who can be the first to build a drydock. Since you're all competing for land, eventually you start to run into each other, and you can even begin sending your armies out to fight and destroy each other's buildings. It's Tropico as an arcade game, and it's a nice addition, even if it doesn't totally address Tropico's issues as a city-builder. Verdict There is a lot that I like about Tropico 5, and it will probably hold my interest far longer than Tropico 4 did. But at the same time, it's rough edges are a continual annoyance. The larger issue is that while Tropico 5 definitely introduces some new challenges and ideas, it's still a dangerously simple city-builder. That's always a threat with this genre: a well-run city doesn't really require much from you. But Tropico doesn't give me enough reasons to keep playing once I've finished the tech tree and reached the end. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MINIMUM: OS: Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows 8 Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core CPU Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce 400 or higher, AMD Radeon HD 4000 or higher, Intel HD 4000 or higher (DirectX 11 hardware support required) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 4 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX compatible RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 7 (64 bit), Windows 8 (64 bit) Processor: 2.5 GHz Quad Core CPU Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce 500 or higher, AMD Radeon HD 5000 or higher DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 4 GB available space

Zoom says it's already patched the vulnerability Update on July 16: A Zoom spokesperson reached out to Laptop Mag to reassure users that the security issue has been fixed: “Zoom has addressed the issue reported by Check Point and put additional safeguards in place for the protection of its users. Zoom encourages its users to thoroughly review the details of any meeting they plan to attend prior to joining, and to only join meetings from users they trust. We appreciate Check Point notifying us of this issue." The spokesperson also encouraged users to send detailed reports of all security-flaw discoveries to security@zoom.us Zoom just can't win. The videoconferencing platform — plagued with security issues and PR disasters — was on a path to redemption. But Check Point Research, a cybersecurity firm, poked another hole in Zoom's already fragile reputation. Capitalizing on Zoom's vanity URL feature, Check Point researchers discovered that hackers could pose as trusted individuals to phish for sensitive information. How hackers could use Zoom's vanity URL feature for phishing attacks Zoom's vanity URL feature allows business users to create custom URLs for their organization. For example, if we created a vanity URL with Zoom, it would be LaptopMag.zoom.us. Prior to Zoom's fix, a hacker could mani[CENSORED]te ID meeting links and pose as a fellow employee. Appearing to be a legitimate member of the organization, the attacker could send invitations to a victim, which could provide a gateway for the hacker to steal credentials and sensitive information. In other words, a hacker would have been able to generate a standard meeting link on Zoom (e.g. https://zoom.us/j/67844124) and simply tack on the organization's business name in front of the URL (e.g. LaptopMag.zoom.us/j/67844124). The URL would still work to the attacker's delight. The hacker could email this mani[CENSORED]ted link to employees of a targeted organization, entice them to join the Zoom session and phish for sensitive information. "Without particular cybersecurity training on how to recognize the appropriate URL, a user receiving this invitation may not recognize that the invitation was not genuine or issued from an actual or real organization," Check Point Research investigators wrote. Zoom has resolved the vanity URL issue Thankfully, Zoom has quickly nipped the issue in the bud. "All the details of how an attacker could impersonate an organization’s Zoom subdomain links or actual sub-domain website discussed here were responsibly disclosed to Zoom Video Communications, Inc. as part of our ongoing partnership and cooperation. This security issue has been fixed by Zoom, so the exploits described are no longer possible," the Check Point researchers added. The last thing Zoom needs is another security vulnerability to rattle its reputation in the press. The super-po[CENSORED]r videoconferencing platform is expanding into the hardware market, according to TheVerge, with a $600 device called Zoom For Home — DTEN ME. DTEN ME is a 27-inch, 1080p touchscreen display that is equipped with three smart webcams and eight built-in, noise-reducing microphones. The device also comes with pre-installed Zoom software. Considering Zoom's cringe-worthy history of security flaws, some folks may be apprehensive about bringing a Zoom device into their home. The company must continue working on rebuilding its trust with consumers to win over the hardware market.

Feel the power of the Celeron Intel hasn't said anything about refreshing its 10th Generation Comet Lake-S processors. However, the recent emergence of two unannounced Comet Lake-S Celeron processors certainly raises some eyebrows. Celerons might be at the bottom of Intel's product stack, but these are some of the best CPUs for entry-level systems. Among this generation, the Celeron G5920, G5900 and G5900T were the only SKUs available. But it would appear that Intel is further expanding the Celeron lineup with the Celeron G5925 (BX80701G5925) and G5905 (BX80701G5905). Both the Celeron G5925 and G5905 are listed at overseas retailer LambdaTek, as first spotted via @momomo_us. Being Comet Lake-S chips, the Celeron G5925 and G5905 are built with Intel's 14nm manufacturing process. The processors slide into the latest Intel 400-series motherboards that sport the LGA1200 CPU socket. Barring the T-series model, Comet Lake-S Celeron parts operate within the 58W envelope. Intel 10th Generation Comet Lake-S Celeron Specifications Intel's Celeron processors typically have two CPU cores without Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost. The Celeron G5925 and G5905 don't break this mold. Nevertheless, the pair of unannounced processors do bring some neat surprises under the hood. For starters, the Celeron G5925 and G5905 arrive with a 100 MHz higher base clock than the Celeron G5920 and G5900, respectively. The improvements don't stop there though. Intel has doubled the amount of L3 cache on the new Celerons. Both the Celeron G5925 and G5905 are reportedly listed with 4MB of L3 cache. Before the Celeron G5925 and G5905, only the Pentium models have 4MB of L3 cache. The Celeron G5925 and G5905's other attributes are the same as any other Comet Lake-S Celeron part. They utilize the Intel UHD Graphics 610 iGPU, offer 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes and native support for DDR4-2666 RAM. LambdaTek has the Celeron G5925 and G5905 listed for £51.83 (~$65) and €47.06 (~$59) excluding VAT (value-added tax), respectively. The same store sells the Celeron G5920 for £49.13 (~$62) and the Celeron G5900 for £40.31 (~$51). That's a 4.8% increase on the Celeron G5925 and up to 15.7% on the Celeron G5905. The Celeron G5920 and G5900 have a $52 and $42 MSRP, respectively. If we apply the same percentages, the Celeron G5925 could retail for around $54.50, while the Celeron G5905 could cost around $48.60. LambdaTek doesn't have stock for the Celeron G5925 or the Celeron G5905. The retailer also didn't provide an ETA on when the Celeron chips will be available.

game information: Developers:Naughty Dog Software Publishers:Sony Computer Entertainment Franchises:Uncharted Release Date:May 10, 2016 Platforms:PlayStation 4 In amongst its frantic combat, slick parkour, and outrageous action choreography, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End achieves something wonderful: maturity. This is less a breezy lad’s tale revelling in fortune and glory and more a story about the lads when they’re all grown up, bolstered by an equally developed graphics engine and career-high performances from its cast. A surprisingly assured set of multiplayer modes ices the cake. What lets it down, however, is an uninspired and overly long third act which slows down its pace considerably with curiously repetitive gameplay. Uncharted 4 consequently falls short of the greatness achieved by some of developer Naughty Dog’s leaner, more inventive predecessors. Its 15-hour experience kicks off with focus. Uncharted 4’s story is established in a compelling handful of chapters that weave their way through different time periods with tightly directed cinematic flair. While its setup is overly familiar - Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher are attempting to retire from action-heroism and live a normal life until Nate’s presumed-dead brother turns up with an offer he can’t refuse - a strong emotional throughline is born from the characters’ struggle to reconcile their adult responsibilities with the promise of excitement they secretly crave. Uncharted 4 does a terrific job of exploring a more world-weary group of adventurers, with their concerns and musings layered throughout its quieter moments. These incidental conversations are a marvel. It’s here that we see characters bristle and soften, brought slowly to life with considered writing and a peerless voice cast. Performances from series veterans Nolan North (Nathan Drake), Emily Rose (Elena Fisher), and Richard McGonagle (Victor Sullivan) are as big-hearted as ever, while newcomers Troy Baker (Samuel Drake), Laura Bailey (Nadine Ross), and Warren Kole (Rafe Adler) are nicely understated in more enigmatic roles. Uncharted 4’s companion characters never break the spell in more frantic or tense sections, either. If you choose to play stealthily, they’ll crouch down in the long grass beside you (and unlike Ellie in The Last of Us, they do an excellent job of staying out of enemy sightlines). If they’re in your way while climbing, they’ll let you clamber over them. They’re competent in gun fights, helpful in traversal, and typically witty throughout. They feel vital. Smooth Criminal This level of polish and slickness permeates Uncharted 4. During traversal you can now reach for platforms by controlling Nate like a puppet with the DualShock thumbstick, which leads to fluid, unbroken climbing. A new 4x4 controls well over tricky terrain, and Uncharted 4’s camera worships Nate’s grappling hook, lovingly zooming out as he swings off of cliff faces to bring home a magnificent vista. Steep gravel paths (a personal favourite) send Nate slipping across cliff faces like they were waterslides. Naughty Dog has expanded its terrain in order to make the most of these new tools. While I would have enjoyed more to do in this larger land mass - there’s disappointingly little to reward exploration of its various nooks and crannies beyond the occasional sparkling bit of treasure and a great view - I appreciated that occasionally there was more than one pathway to reach my goal. For a series defined by linearity, even the suggestion of choice is refreshing. The same can be said for the stages of more violent action. While you’re occasionally flung into the middle of a group of mercenaries with little to do but shoot your way out, other encounters take place on elaborate adventure playgrounds allowing for more stealthy play. I appreciated the option, even if this is fairly pedestrian and routine stealth gameplay in 2016: characters can be tagged for tracking, long grass is there for silent takedowns, and enemies linger on ledges begging to be grabbed by the ankle from below or kicked off from behind. That’s not to say it’s done poorly – it’s as polished as everything else in Uncharted 4 – it simply doesn’t do anything surprising or interesting. More, considering AI switches to a cautionary state at any sign of trouble, I was disappointed I couldn’t move bodies. If you’re noticed, Uncharted 4’s bad guys will spring into action and distinguish themselves in combat. Open level design allows them to pull relatively intelligent moves like flanking, and they’ll rarely forget you’re there if you try to hide (while hanging off a ledge, for example, they’ll stamp on your hands). Such credible behaviour means you have to keep moving in battle; crouching behind an indestructible pillar to regain your health is no longer feasible. While shooting in Uncharted 4 is satisfying if unremarkable, enemies are now savvy enough – and thankfully less spongy – that there’s a genuine satisfaction born from each kill. It’s fun, frantic stuff. Somehow, the visuals keep up with it all. Unlike past Uncharted games where very strict linearity allowed for very carefully orchestrated beauty between stretches of more utilitarian sections built for action, Uncharted 4 manages to be all gorgeous, all the time. The big vistas are predictably impressive, but it’s the little details that really astound: the way snow settles on Nate’s hair, the shocking green of an underwater plant, the reflection cast off of an oil painting. The regularity of such beauty borders on ridiculous: it may be capped at 30 frames per second, but this is the prettiest game I’ve ever played. A Thief's End With such strong systems at its disposal, then, it's disappointing that Naughty Dog doesn’t build more theatrical context around them. Regarding the series’ trademark outrageously choreographed action sequences, Uncharted 4’s campaign suffers from a curious lack of imagination. There are bright spots: there’s a brilliant car chase in Madagascar and a vertigo-inducing section involving clambering up a clock tower that really stand out. But otherwise the thrills here tend to be of a more predictable nature: lots of handholds breaking at the last minute, buildings coming down, an occasional easily solved puzzle in an opulent interior. It’s 2016, and after three Uncharteds (and two contemporary Tomb Raiders) we’ve seen it all before. This becomes a big problem in Uncharted 4’s third act, where the pacing slows down to a crawl. This jungle section is repetitive, and Nate and friends do little in it but climb and shoot, rinse and repeat. After a while, every encounter blurred into one amorphous amalgamation of shootouts, cliff faces, and pushing crates off of ledges for your companion to clamber up. As it’s the longest section in Uncharted 4, it eventually became a slog. Things pick up significantly by the end. The thoughtful exploration of these characters and their relationships with each other has a subtle payoff which bucks against the typical action coda, and it’s to Naughty Dog’s credit that it’s unafraid to stay true to its characters and their motivations, even if they aren’t as explosive as one might expect. After The End There’s not much to do in the main campaign once you’ve finished it, bar completing your treasure collection, but there’s extended life to be had in Uncharted 4’s confident 5v5 and 4v4 multiplayer. Though it’s still a sideshow to the main campaign in scope, its four modes – Team Deathmatch, Plunder, Command, and Ranked Team Deathmatch – embody the series’ most enjoyable qualities: camaraderie (your teammates can be revived when in a downed state), sheets of bullets, and a constant sense of momentum. On the latter point, it helps that the stages for play have been opened up from previous games thanks to the grappling hook: zipping around to high vantagepoints to get the drop on enemies lends itself to a dizzying sense of verticality. Deathmatch is ranked, which lends competitive longevity and appropriate skill matchmaking to Uncharted 4’s multiplayer, but Plunder and Command are the most fun. Command is a map-domination variant that places greater emphasis on teamwork by putting a target on the back of the strongest player in each team - the ‘captain.’ As you try and capture territories and hunt the enemy’s captain, you also have to protect against the opposing team trying to kill yours. You’ve got to be even more alert than usual, even as you’re pursuing an objective. Plunder works similarly to previous Uncharteds, where the goal is to carry an idol to a central point on the map before the other team reaches it with theirs. Slowly heaving an idol to your teammate across a giant ravine while being shot at on all sides makes for a hilarious contrast in pace. A sense of chaos is further encouraged by the outrageous abilities you can now harness in all of Uncharted 4’s multiplayer modes. Spending earned points to temporarily wield supernatural powers like teleportation, which hurtles you across the map, and summon a sarcophagus that attacks the enemy with flying evil spirits can totally interrupt the rhythms of what would otherwise be a normal firefight. The AI sidekicks available for every player are a clever new addition, too. Instead of buying flashy powers, you can summon enormously handy AI-controlled helpers in battle. They’re capable of fulfilling basic tasks like sniping, brute-force shooting, and healing – as well as giving your opponents something to shoot at that isn’t your head. If you’re up against them, there’s a franticness born from trying to take them down while being attacked from all sides. It plays beautifully. Because it runs at 60fps, the shooting feels better than it does in the main campaign, and there’s just as much fluidity to scaling walls and swinging, but now with a palpable smoothness. Naughty Dog does a great job at twisting familiar environments from the main campaign into interesting shapes across eight maps: soaring through the air against a boundless Mediterranean sea before leaping into the opulence of an Italian auction house – all the while shooting at other players – is exhilarating. These maps are well suited for shootouts, leaping, and magic powers. Wide open spaces peppered with lookout spots make for dramatic shootouts, winding corridors under heaving pirate ships are there for intimate encounters, and spots for the grappling hook are everywhere, meaning every game feels alive with motion. While it’s difficult to say what Uncharted 4’s multiplayer will look like in the future, there are enough unlockables and perks to act as a carrot for completionists, and Naughty Dog has promised more maps, mysticals, and a co-op mode in the future that I’ll be sticking around for. Verdict Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a remarkable achievement in blockbuster storytelling and graphical beauty. Though it’s let down by a lack of imagination and some self-indulgence, especially in a third act that drags on far too long, Uncharted 4 carries on the series’ proud tradition of peerless polish and style, with a great multiplayer component to boot. Most importantly, it’s a gentle sendoff to the rag-tag group of characters we’ve known for nine years. A worthy thief’s end, indeed.

If you're a Ford owner you may want to check your mailbox. Ford announced today that it is delivering USB flash drives loaded with a free major system update for the company's MyFord Touch infotainment system to more than 300,000 MyFord Touch owners. The update improves overall system performance, offers easier controls and a simpler user interface and improves voice recognition. The software also adds support for Audible.com audiobooks and compatibility with tablets. Vehicles equipped with Navigation will see improvements to their map views, better graphics and more 3D landmarks and photo-realistic freeway images. Installing the update should be a cinch even for the most automotive and technically adverse user. Simply start your car, pop the flash drive into your MyFord Touch USB port and the process will begin automatically. Next you'll see a screen explaining the installation process. Tap the OK button and you're set. The update will then download to your MyFord Touch system, a process Ford says will take roughly 20 minutes to complete. Once finished, you'll see a Restarting System message on the display. The system will then restart and the screen will remain blank for about two minutes after which the update will begin to install. Once completed, the words Performing Scheduled Maintenance will appear on the screen. One more reboot and your system should be good to go.

Roughly $50 cheaper than the Core i9-10900K Digital Storm (via @momomo_us) has started to offer the Intel Core i9-10850K as an option for the company's custom built PCs. However, the question still remains whether the deca-core processor is an OEM-exclusive chip or not. As you can tell, the Core i9-10850K wasn't part of Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake-S launch, and we only know about the processor's existence from previously leaked Geekbench 5 submissions. It now appears that Digital Storm has expelled all doubts of the Core i9-10850K's existence, though. Like other Comet Lake-S processors before it, the Core i9-10850K is product of Intel's 14nm process node. The 10-core, 20-thread processor first surfaced with a 3.6 GHz base clock and 5.2 GHz boost clock. Digital Storm has the processor up with the same clock speeds. The company's specifications seemingly confirm our suspicion that the Core i9-10850K is nothing more than a Core i9-10900K with a 100 MHz slower base clock and without the Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) feature. Intel 10th Generation Comet Lake-S Core i9 Specifications Despite the lower base clock and lack of TVB, the Core i9-10850K's performance appear to be right up the same alley as the Core i9-10900K in Geekbench 5. The majority of the Core i9-10850K's specifications are already out of the bag, except for the chip's TDP (thermal design power). The current speculation is that the Core i9-10850K's entire conception is to bring a processor that's comparable to the Core i9-10900K's performance, but with lower cooling and power requirements. The Core i9-10900K is rated for 125W, but the Core i9-10850K's value is still unknown. Digital Storm doesn't explicitly expose the pricing for the Core i9-10850K. However, the company states that it costs $42 to upgrade to the Core i9-10900K. Here's where we'll need to speculate a little bit. We're unsure if Intel's pre-built partners get processors at a special price. For the sake of discussion, we'll just the Core i9-10900K's MSRP as a reference. According to Intel, the Core i9-10900K's MSRP is between $488 and $499. Therefore, the Core i9-10850K could sell for $446 or $457, depending on which limit you're using for the calculation. Assuming that the Core i9-10850K isn't just aimed at OEMs, it's fair to say that the processor can retail for around $450. As it happens, this would also indicate that Intel's TVB feature costs $50.

game information: Developers:Superhot Team Publishers:Superhot Team Release Date:February 25, 2016 Platforms:PC, Macintosh, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Nintendo Switch Every level in Superhot is an exciting, self-contained, time-bending puzzle that turns typical fast-paced first-person shooter mechanics on their head. Every time you move, your enemies and their bullets do, too – but if you stand still, so will time. It’s a unique idea that creates a smart, tense puzzles where, in between reloading and lining up a shot, you can sometimes dodge every individual bullet in the spray of a burst rifle by moving one small step - and therefore a fraction of a second. Even as you learn that painful lesson, near-instant respawns keep Superhot’s pace feeling addictive, rather than frustrating. The levels are also designed in a way that compliments both replayability and trial and error: they’re small, self-contained combat instances that would be a tiny part of a level in most games. The real-time playback you get when you complete a level might only be five seconds long, but Superhot’s real gameplay exists in those moments where time has stopped and you have to carefully calculate your next movement based on a heightened situational awareness of what the enemies around you are likely to do while they can move, too. Tough decisions happen in those moments: Is it worth picking up that object to throw, knowing that picking something up is the most time-consuming action you can take, and your enemy might have moved three feet to the left by the time it lands? Something that an action hero would have to do by instinct in a split second is, in Superhot, a carefully thought-out move. You’re not Batman - there aren’t any fancy takedown moves. While the difficulty does increase throughout the 32 levels by introducing environments with less cover to hide behind, multiple entry points for enemies, and usually a lot more enemies armed with shotguns and rifles instead of clubs or pistols (just like other shooters), Superhot also presents scenarios that would likely be impossible without the ability to slow time. One of the later levels, for example, has you standing unarmed in a small room with three armed enemies. You’re not Batman - there aren’t any fancy takedown moves, so you have a few intense seconds to rely on your own attention to detail, and take tiny steps that let you see which enemy might raise their gun first, whether one of their bullets will be inside your head in the next second, or whether the one you just disarmed has recovered behind you and is ready to punch you out before you can shoot the others. None of my deaths in Superhot felt unfair, though - with white, plain environments that starkly contrast with glowing red enemies that shatter when they’re dead, with a sound effect that makes sure you know they’re out of the picture, every aspect of its visual design is catered to your success, so long as you’re meticulous. Superhot doesn’t bother to introduce new weapons or effects to master. But while every scenario offers a unique challenge, and every level is wholly worth playing, there’s a very significant lack of them - Superhot only takes around four hours to finish, and never significantly evolves its concept in that amount of time. Unlike a puzzle game like Portal or Braid, which constantly introduce new spins on their novelty mechanics, Superhot always functions based on the same time-stopping principle, just in different environments. It doesn’t bother to introduce new weapons or effects to master, except for a ‘possession’ style action that you’re never overtly prompted to use because no levels are designed around it. In its lack of variety and brief length, Superhot feels underdeveloped – a good first step toward a great game, but not quite there yet. Finishing the main story will unlock some very basic challenge modes in the same levels, but also an ‘endless’ mode that’s fairly addictive in its near-ridiculous difficulty. Hopefully we’ll eventually see some leaderboards, but they weren’t available at the time of review - the difficult-to-decipher menu is actually full of holes and links that lead to nothing, or things that aren’t explained well. That’s if you can manage to get through the story without wanting to quit, though - what starts out as a laughably cheesy 90s-style hacker story turns into an annoyingly corny roadblock in between the enjoyable gameplay. While it uses its premise in some creative ways - like telling you to quit but rendering your ‘esc’ button useless - it’s largely just nonsensical in its ridiculous hacker hyperbole, like telling you your body is disposable, and you should submit to the software. The entire experience also feels very skewed towards the upcoming VR headsets, as opposed to the 2D screens it’s playable on right now, and while it’s easy to imagine playing these levels and experiencing some of the pixelated software-inspired cutscenes in VR, I doubt it would make the story any more impactful or intelligent. Verdict Superhot’s clever time-mani[CENSORED]tion idea delivers consistently fulfilling challenges by turning blink-of-an-eye action into carefully considered and cautious tactical decisions. It avoids potential one-hit death frustration with quick respawns and deaths that always feel earned and avoidable in hindsight. Its unique brand of puzzles are complemented by simplistic but helpfully high-contrast art and sound design, yet undermined by a tedious, intrusive story and a reluctance to put new game-changing spins on its ideas to extend their lives. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7 Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2,40 GHz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 650 (1024 MB Ram) Storage: 4 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Processor: Intel Core I5-4440 3,10 GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 (2048 MB Ram) Storage: 4 GB available space