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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Four Pack Now Available!

2010-03-08T20:48:02Z

Want to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition with your friends? Grab the four pack and gift away three copies of it to any of your friends!

Valve Brings Hit Games, Steam Service to Mac | GameLife | Wired.com

2010-03-08T18:42:35Z

It's officially official: Valve will bring its Steam online distribution service and titles from its massive library of hit games to the Mac this April, the

Left 4 Sangheili 2

2010-03-07T22:11:39Z

Created by SligarTheTiger of deviantART

Filed under: Halo Heaven, Video Games, Xtreme Xbox Tagged: Artistic and Shit

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Server Update (2010-03-07)

2010-03-07T20:37:00Z

After optimizations and restarts yesterday, we had been stable across all platforms. Unfortunately, we encountered another outage at approximately 9:30 AM PST today.

- X360 was severely impacted, and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely.
- PC had an outage, but the service is offline currently and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely. We will then start checking the quality of the customer experience to determine possible next steps.
- PS3 appeared to have a brief outage, but has quickly recovered and the services is functioning properly at this time.

All teams are actively engaged in diagnosis and remediation. We are adding additional services to alleviate load. Despite having a major infrastructure in place, the peak traffic this weekend has been huge, 400% higher than any other Battlefield's peak simultaneous users. The teams will continue to monitor the services closely. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates on the latest developments as they are relevant.

YouTube - The Belly of the Beast

2010-03-07T22:58:14Z

S Korea 'web neglect' baby dies

2010-03-05T10:31:03Z

A South Korean couple addicted to the internet let their baby starve while raising a virtual daughter online, police say.

Portal 2 Announced

2010-03-05T17:44:17Z

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Half-Life) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Portal 2 for shipment this coming holiday season.

Portal 2 is the sequel to 2007's Portal, which won 70 industry achievement awards.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

Valve teases a Mac release of Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2

2010-03-03T20:30:00Z

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Even I was dubious about the rumor the other day of Steam coming to the Mac, but now here's something straight from Valve hinting that it might actually happen. MacRumors got an image of Half-Life's Gordon Freeman via email... with an Apple logo on his chest. MacNN got another picture, this one showing turrets from Portal and Team Fortress 2 parodying the "I'm a Mac" ads. And Shacknews got a third, with the Heavy from TF2 eating a sandwich shaped like an Apple logo in a parody of the iPod dancing ads.

Oh Lordy. Looks like Valve is planning to make a Mac announcement, and while it might not be quite as far-reaching as bringing the whole platform over, they might as well start with all of their blockbuster games. It's also possible that this is related to the secret message hunt going on the PC version of Portal, which itself seemed to be hinting at an announcement of Portal 2 or even the long-awaited Half-Life 3.

Whatever the announcement, it looks like Valve will have something to tell us at GDC next week. I'll be there with ears open -- if we hear that Valve is bringing some or all of their catalog to our platform, you'll be the first to know.

Update: Our game-obsessed friends at Joystiq have gotten copies of five of the images (there appear to be six total, according to the dots on the image above), and you can see them all in the gallery below. The rest of the images show the Steam platform itself, and Francis from Left 4 Dead. Awesome.

Update 2: Looks like Macworld got the last image. You hurt us, Valve. But we still love you anyway -- how can we not after seeing that "rest of us" ad parody for Steam below?

Gallery: Valve Mac faux ads

TUAW Valve teases a Mac release of Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earth's true colours

2010-03-03T11:55:02Z

Nasa releases the most detailed satellite images to date of the Earth. The so-called Blue Marble pictures have been pieced together following months of observations.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub in the PubSubHubbub

2010-03-03T19:04:58Z

From the tongue twisting name department we welcome PubSubHubbub, or as some people have shortened it to: PuSH. Like rssCloud, PuSH is a way for services that subscribe to updates from your blog (think Google Reader, Bloglines or Netvibes) to get updates even faster. In a nutshell, instead of ha...

Sharing the verification love

2010-03-03T00:47:00Z

Webmaster Level: All

Everything is more fun with a friend! We've just added a feature to Webmaster Tools Site Verification to make it easier to share verified ownership of your websites.

In the past, if more than one person needed to be a verified owner of a website, they each had to go through the meta tag or HTML file verification process. That works fine for some situations, but for others it can be challenging. For example, what if you have twenty people who need to be verified owners of your site? Adding twenty meta tags or HTML files could be pretty time consuming. Our new verification delegation feature makes adding new verified owners a snap.

Once you're a verified owner of a website, you can view the Verification Details page (linked from Webmaster Tools or the Verification home page). That page will show you information about the site as well as a list of any other verified owners. At the bottom of the list of owners, you'll now see a button labeled "Add a user...". Click that, enter the user's email address, and that person will instantly become a verified owner for the site! You can remove that ownership at any time by clicking the "Unverify" link next to the person's email address on the Details page.

There are a few important things to keep in mind as you use this feature. First, each site must always have at least one owner who has verified directly (via meta tag or HTML file). If all of the directly verified owners become unverified, the delegated owners may also become unverified. Second, you can only delegate ownership to people with Google Accounts. Finally, remember that anyone you delegate ownership to will have exactly the same access you have. They can delegate to more people, submit URL Removal requests and manage Sitelinks in Webmaster Tools, etc. Only delegate ownership to people you trust!

We hope this makes things a little easier for those of you who need more than one person to be a verified owner of your site. As always, please visit the Webmaster Help Forum if you have any questions.

Sean Harding, Software Engineer

Defense Grid: The Awakening Update Released

2010-03-04T02:00:22Z

Updates to Defense Grid: The Awakening have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Support for DLC is enabled. Check out the new FREE DLC pack, Borderlands! Four challenging levels new to Steam players.
Upgraded leaderboard performance - Defense Grid now uses the official Steam leaderboards. Unfortunately, this change resets all existing leaderboard entries, but the good news is that all of the leaderboards are wide open and waiting for your high scores to post. Defend the cores and show others how good you are.
Corrected a bug in which Cannon towers would sometimes fire twice as often when using fast forward.
Fixed an issue in which AI audio would still play even if the Voice Over volume was turned all the way down.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Voice Over volume slider from responding to mouse input.
The Achievements button on the Main Menu will now take the user directly to their stats and achievements page for Defense Grid.

Valve mystifies gamers with Portal update

2010-03-02T23:38:00Z

Portal's eerie symbolism was ramped up another notch this week when Valve announced a patch that has gamers playing what seems to be an alternate reality game within the platformer. The update to the game doesn't seem to include much new content at first glance, but what has been added is clearly only the beginning of a much bigger trip down Valve's latest rabbit hole.

Today's announced update was accompanied by a short, cryptic note: "Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations." When you next boot up the game, there is a radio in your cell that broadcasts morse code when you hold it and stand on the red button in the first level (as seen in the video below). It turns out there are a total of 26 different radios in the game now, and they all have morse code.

The game's new achievement, "Transmission Received" is unlocked when you discover the first morse code radio broadcast. Not only that, but the sound the radios make when a radio is thrown into a force field is extremely unnerving.

Enterprising Steam community members rooted around the game files and discovered a new group called "dinosaur" that contained a ton of morse code audio, as well as some images that seemed to be corrupted by strange data.

Over at the Steam forums, there's a full list of the Dinosaur files, as well as translations and/or posted images with each corresponding filename. This is clearly the first piece of a much larger puzzle, though speculation is running rampant about just what Valve is playing at. Popular opinion points to the update acting as a teaser for Portal 2, which seems logical since the morse translations imply that GladOS is in the process of rebooting. For the moment, though, the game is afoot and players are investigating the mystery with gusto.

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Microsoft begins IE8 advertising blitz in the UK as browser choice arrives

2010-03-02T22:51:16Z

Microsoft has begun airing several Internet Explorer 8 TV adverts in the UK just in time for the browser "ballot" choice screen. European copies of Windows began receiving a Windows Update for the controversial browser choice screen this week. The choice screen offers Internet Explorer users a selection of other browsers...

Download Opera 10.50 for Windows

2010-03-02T06:51:09Z

Today we released Opera 10.50 for Windows, the fastest Web browser thus-far. Opera 10.50 is available completely free from http://www.opera.com/.

Catching lightning in a bottle... er, browser

Opera 10.50 is the fastest browser we have ever produced. Under the hood, we introduced a new JavaScript engine, Carakan, and a new graphics library, Vega.

Private browsing

What you do on the Web is up to you, no one else. Make sure it stays that way by using private browsing to remove specific sites from your browsing history. Unlike other browsers, Opera 10.50 allows you to browse privately in a tab or in an entirely separate window.

Platform integration

On Windows 7/Vista, we let Opera enjoy Aero Glass, as well as supporting Aero Peek and Jump Lists. Now, you can easily access your Speed Dials, tabs and more from the Taskbar.

Wallpaper

Decorate your desktop with the official Opera 10.50 wallpaper - featuring a Hummingbird. :)

Download wallpaper:

2000x1600 | 1600x1280 | 1280x1024

Download

Opera is available completely free from http://www.opera.com/download or via Microsoft's browser choice screen. Opera 10.50 is currently available for Windows and comes in 42 different languages. Mac and Linux versions are coming soon.

Watch Sky1 live on Sky Player!

2010-03-01T14:12:00Z

From today, Sky1, with its hit shows such as Lost, 24, House, Cold Case, Bones, Fringe, Futurama, Modern Family, Pineapple Dance Studios, Angela and Friends and Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old will be available to watch live on Sky Player.

Griff Parry, Sky’s Director of On-demand said: 'Sky Player offers an unrivalled choice of live and on demand pay TV content, making it the natural destination for online viewing. It’s about providing people with the most convenient way to access the channels and programmes they enjoy.'

Stuart Murphy, Director of Programmes at Sky1 said: 'We’re passionate about great TV and passionate about ensuring our viewers can access Sky1 where and when they choose. We’re delighted that we’re now able to offer the best of Sky1 on Sky Player TV.'

CLICK HERE TO WATCH SKY1 LIVE ON SKY PLAYER RIGHT NOW!

Have fun

The Sky Player team

PSN Error Update

2010-03-01T17:15:12Z

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

For the latest status on this situation please check either PlayStation.Blog, Twitter or PlayStation.com.

PlayStation 3 Suffering From Widespread PSN Error

2010-03-01T02:40:00Z

Many owners left unable to play certain titles tonight due to login error.

Rumor: UK iPad pricing

2010-02-25T17:00:00Z

Filed under: Retail, Rumors, iPad

Website Geeky Gadgets has reported a tip they received on UK iPad pricing. Apple's UK website still lists the cost in US dollars with the disclaimer, "Please note, pricing is in US dollars. International pricing will be announced at a later date."

According to Geeky Gadgets' unconfirmed source, the iPad will be priced as follows when it's launched across the pond:

The 16GB Wi-Fi will be £389
The 32GB Wi-Fi model will be £439
The 64GB Wi-Fi model will be £489

It should be noted that the source didn't have any pricing information on the Wi-Fi + 3G model, and further suggested that the UK launch date for the iPad is more likely to be in April rather than March.

As of this writing, those prices put the UK version at a slightly higher cost than those in the US, as £389 is approximately $594.89 (the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad will sell for US$499). This is all completely unsubstantiated, of course, so treat it accordingly.

Thanks, Roland!

TUAW Rumor: UK iPad pricing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Headcrab [Flickr]

2010-01-24T11:00:52-08:00

Zufoo posted a photo:

Photo-0014 [Flickr]

2010-01-07T05:22:30-08:00

Zufoo posted a photo:

Photo-0013 [Flickr]

2010-01-07T05:22:07-08:00

Zufoo posted a photo:

Photo-0012 [Flickr]

2010-01-07T05:21:40-08:00

Zufoo posted a photo:

Photo-0011 [Flickr]

2010-01-07T05:21:07-08:00

Zufoo posted a photo:

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Four Pack Now Available!

Valve Brings Hit Games, Steam Service to Mac | GameLife | Wired.com

Left 4 Sangheili 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Server Update (2010-03-07)

YouTube - The Belly of the Beast

S Korea 'web neglect' baby dies

Portal 2 Announced

Valve teases a Mac release of Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2

Gallery: Valve Mac faux ads

Earth's true colours

Rub-a-Dub-Dub in the PubSubHubbub

Sharing the verification love

Defense Grid: The Awakening Update Released

Valve mystifies gamers with Portal update

Microsoft begins IE8 advertising blitz in the UK as browser choice arrives

Download Opera 10.50 for Windows

Catching lightning in a bottle... er, browser

Private browsing

Platform integration

Wallpaper

Download

Watch Sky1 live on Sky Player!

PSN Error Update

PlayStation 3 Suffering From Widespread PSN Error

Rumor: UK iPad pricing

Headcrab [Flickr]

Photo-0014 [Flickr]

Photo-0013 [Flickr]

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Photo-0011 [Flickr]

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Daniel Aleksandersen:
IE6 CSS Mess