четверг, 2 августа 2012 г.

Games

Games

Need For Speed Most Wanted: Open-World Racing With Autolog's Smarts

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 01:41 AM PDT

Criterion's Most Wanted reboot plugs Hot Pursuit's influential Autolog into Burnout Paradise's blissful racing.

 

Crunch time approaches at Criterion's Guildford studio. In the building they share with publisher EA, the developers of Need For Speed: Most Wanted are knuckling down to their last few weeks on this open-world racing game.

Time pressure keeps them from slicing press demos out of their unfinished game, but they serve up in-progress code with the total confidence of a long- and well-proven racing studio. These are game makers with Burnout Paradise and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit most recently under their belts.

"We don't like wasting time cutting press builds," pronounces Matt Webster, executive producer at Criterion. Nor do they like wasting time rehashing what's gone before. 'We don't make sequels to other people's games', he says. Begging the question: why a reboot of EA Black Box's 2005 racer?

As Webster tells it, Criterion's experience with Burnout Paradise and with Autolog, Hot Pursuit's influential social suite, pointed them straight to this reimagining of Most Wanted: an open-world racer based on constant social competition to be the city's most notorious car jockey.

Though it is tagged Need For Speed, the game feels much more like Burnout Paradise than the original Most Wanted. Paradise City has been swapped for the handsome, fictional American burg of Fairhaven, but Burnout's exhilarating slow-motion takedowns abound along all 100 miles of road and ramps, through dirt tracks, industrial lots, the harbour district, and built-up downtown area.

In single-player, you vie with AI cars in races, police chases, and other events while Criterion's upgraded Autolog system rates your every accomplishment--from race times to speed trap records--in real time against those of your offline friends. In multiplayer, you hoon around Fairhaven with buddies in a lobbyless, seamless playlist of events, chasing each other to the next starting point in a crash-happy convoy.

In our time with the multiplayer, we are commanded by automatically generated playlist to compete for the longest drift around a circular pier and biggest jump across an unfinished elevated highway, and to battle for first place in free-for-all and team races. In all events you can excel by being either the best driver or the most effective crasher, scoring takedown points and hampering opponents with suicidal smash-ups. It is riotous, kickabout fun.

Most Wanted needs to shake up its genre, says creative director Craig Sullivan, because 'ultimately [racing games] are getting a bit boring'. It's the Criterion confidence talking again when he has a swipe at simulation racers for their pristine sameyness: 'I don't want to drive a really nice shiny car around a track too many more times because I've done that'.

Central to Most Wanted's fresh outlook is making each of its shiny, destructible licensed cars available from the get-go. From the workaday mid-rangers to the fancy exotics, the absurd Ariel Atom and hulking Ford F-150 Raptor, every car is somewhere in the city and immediately up for grabs in single player.

In theory, you can be doing 250 miles an hour in the fastest car in the game within five minutes. It's the antidote, says Sullivan, to games 'all about looking at that box and seeing that nice, cool, shiny car and most of the time going, 'I'm never going to get to drive that f**king car, unless I play the game for 40 hours''. Once discovered, a car's location is marked on the city map for quick-travel future access.

That's single player, though. In multiplayer, the system of car unlocks looks a lot more like the levelling in an online shooter ('We play a lot of CoD and Battlefield,' Sullivan says). Everything you do, offline and online, earns you experience points ('speed points'), and as you level up you unlock new rides.

As you hit milestones in a certain vehicle, on the other hand, you unlock new mods. Do enough offroad driving in one car and you'll get its offroad tyres. Win an event in another and you'll bag a nitrous mod. Pleasingly, mods can be added to cars on the fly. Pity the cop chasing you when you install your nitrous dump mod in mid-pursuit.

On the streets of Fairhaven there are also Burnout Paradise-style repaint drive thrus that will have your battered vehicle fixed up and looking sharp in an instant. There are smashable billboards branded with Criterion's peer developers (BioWare, DICE) as well, waiting to be claimed (read: smashed). Security gates can be likewise battered down, and you might find a desirable motor parked on the other side.

So there's content and collectables aplenty, and all of it bound together by Criterion's upgraded Autolog--the magical, telemetric social engine constantly feeding you stats on how you're doing versus your friends and keeping the party going in multiplayer's prescribed events.

For some tastes, Criterion's Most Wanted is too close to Paradise City to make its mark, but the layer of back-end sophistication brought by Autolog 2.0 to extended play shouldn't be underestimated. We predict good things for a Paradise powered by Autolog's smarts.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Need For Speed Most Wanted: Open-World Racing With Autolog's Smarts" was posted by Jane Douglas on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:41:25 -0700

Indie Hour: Let's Play... Slender

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 01:38 AM PDT

For some dumb reason, Jess McDonell and Laura Parker agreed to play indie horror game Slender for about an hour in a dark room. Let's just say you might want to turn down the volume for this one.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Indie Hour: Let's Play... Slender" was posted by edmondt on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:38:26 -0700

Color Strokes 2.0 - Powerful utility for image processing and more.. (Commercial)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:17 AM PDT



ColorStrokes is the only app that lets you play and manipulate the colors on photos in any possible way.

ReColor photos: You have all the colors and tones under the hand, so pick whatever you like, mix colors and make photos look excitingly different. It's a unique way to bring new life to the old snaps, made in black&white times.

Create stunning "color splash" image: Convert color photos to monochrome and reveal the color of specific areas. Select different monochrome layers: (grayscale, vintage, bluetone) or add more drama with special effects.

ColorStrokes also features:

  • Editing tools to enhance your images even further (gamma, contrast, blur, hue, exposure, etc).
  • Customized brushes for more precise coloring.
  • Import images from iPhoto and Aperture.
  • Export to iPhoto, Aperture or Photoshop.
  • Share via Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc.
  • Print images.
  • Order canvas prints right from the app.

ColorStrokes is an impressive photo editor and works like a charm with OS X 10.8.

There is even more awesomeness and great tools in ColorStrokes, but you need to check it out to find out.

Version 2.0:

  • Color Splash Studio is now ColorStrokes (the update is still free)
  • New name. New tools. And all the colors of the world to let your creativity truly blossom.
    • ReColor tool. Pick a tone and apply it on your photo. You can now color your photos as you like and also bring new life to the old snaps from b&w era.
    • Special effects to make your photos more dramatic.
    • OS X 10.8 support.
  • Other updates:
    • Significant user interface improvements.
    • Lightroom 4 catalogs support.
    • Some minor bugs fixed.


Mac OS X 10.6 or later

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TinkerTool 4.9 - Customize many aspects of OS X.. (Free)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:27 AM PDT



TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.

The tool makes sure that preference changes can only affect the current user. You don't need administrative privileges to use the tool. With this design, it is no problem to use TinkerTool in professional networks where users have restricted permissions. The program will never change any component of the operating system, so the integrity of your system is not put at risk, and there will be no negative effect on system updates.

All preference settings changed by TinkerTool can be reset to Apple's defaults, or to the state that existed before using the tool. No dangerous background processes are used for TinkerTool's operation. You may send bug reports here.



Release 4.9 (Build 120723):
  • Added support for OS X 10.8.
  • Added setting to disable the rubber-band effect when scrolling beyond the end of a view (OS X 10.7 and 10.8).
  • Added setting to prevent OS X from quitting unused applications automatically (OS X 10.7 and 10.8).
  • The application now allows that its icon can be replaced (using the official feature of the Finder).


Mac OS X 10.6 or later

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IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 9609-9614: Isolation and Identification of Fourteen Microsatellite Markers in Clivia miniata and Clivia nobilis (Amaryllidaceae)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Clivia is a genus of great horticultural importance and has been widely cultivated as ornamental plants in all over the world. In order to assess the phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of the wild Clivia species and cultivars, we isolated AC-enriched repeats using FIASCO from a single clone each of C. miniata Regel. and Clivia nobilis Lindl. Of the fourteen repeats, 10 were polymorphic and 4 were monomorphic. The polymorphic marker loci were characterized using 61 Clivia accessions. The number of alleles ranged from two to six, observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.04 to 1.00 and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.04 to 0.83. These microsatellite marker loci provide tools for future studies of Clivia species and cultivars.

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 9599-9608: Evaluation of Sex-Specific Gene Expression in Archived Dried Blood Spots (DBS)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Screening newborns for treatable serious conditions is mandated in all US states and many other countries. After screening, Guthrie cards with residual blood (whole spots or portions of spots) are typically stored at ambient temperature in many facilities. The potential of archived dried blood spots (DBS) for at-birth molecular studies in epidemiological and clinical research is substantial. However, it is also challenging as analytes from DBS may be degraded due to preparation and storage conditions. We previously reported an improved assay for obtaining global RNA gene expression from blood spots. Here, we evaluated sex-specific gene expression and its preservation in DBS using oligonucleotide microarray technology. We found X inactivation-specific transcript (XIST), lysine-specific demethylase 5D (KDM5D) (also known as selected cDNA on Y, homolog of mouse (SMCY)), uncharacterized LOC729444 (LOC729444), and testis-specific transcript, Y-linked 21 (TTTY21) to be differentially-expressed by sex of the newborn. Our finding that trait-specific RNA gene expression is preserved in unfrozen DBS, demonstrates the technical feasibility of performing molecular genetic profiling using such samples. With millions of DBS potentially available for research, we see new opportunities in using newborn molecular gene expression to better understand molecular pathogenesis of perinatal diseases.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10511-10535: Cross Layer Adaptation of Check Intervals in Low Power Listening MAC Protocols for Lifetime Improvement in Wireless Sensor Networks

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Preamble sampling-based MAC protocols designed forWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are aimed at prolonging the lifetime of the nodes by scheduling their times of activity. This scheduling exploits node synchronization to find the right trade-off between energy consumption and delay. In this paper we consider the problem of node synchronization in preamble sampling protocols. We propose Cross Layer Adaptation of Check intervals (CLAC), a novel protocol intended to reduce the energy consumption of the nodes without significantly increasing the delay. Our protocol modifies the scheduling of the nodes based on estimating the delay experienced by a packet that travels along a multi-hop path. CLAC uses routing and MAC layer information to compute a delay that matches the packet arrival time. We have implemented CLAC on top of well-known routing and MAC protocols for WSN, and we have evaluated our implementation using the Avrora simulator. The simulation results confirm that CLAC improves the network lifetime at no additional packet loss and without affecting the end-to-end delay.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10500-10510: A Four-Quadrant PVDF Transducer for Surface Acoustic Wave Detection

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In this paper, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric transducer was developed to detect laser-induced surface acoustic waves in a SiO2-thin film–Si-substrate structure. In order to solve the problems related to, firstly, the position of the probe, and secondly, the fact that signals at different points cannot be detected simultaneously during the detection process, a four-quadrant surface acoustic wave PVDF transducer was designed and constructed for the purpose of detecting surface acoustic waves excited by a pulse laser line source. The experimental results of the four-quadrant piezoelectric detection in comparison with the commercial nanoindentation technology were consistent, the relative error is 0.56%, and the system eliminates the piezoelectric surface wave detection direction deviation errors, improves the accuracy of the testing system by 1.30%, achieving the acquisition at the same time at different testing positions of the sample.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10487-10499: Detection of Non-PCR Amplified S. enteritidis Genomic DNA from Food Matrices Using a Gold-Nanoparticle DNA Biosensor: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Bacterial pathogens pose an increasing food safety and bioterrorism concern. Current DNA detection methods utilizing sensitive nanotechnology and biosensors have shown excellent detection, but require expensive and time-consuming polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA targets; thus, a faster, more economical method is still essential. In this proof-of-concept study, we investigated the ability of a gold nanoparticle-DNA (AuNP-DNA) biosensor to detect non-PCR amplified genomic Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. enteritidis) DNA, from pure or mixed bacterial culture and spiked liquid matrices. Non-PCR amplified DNA was hybridized into sandwich-like structures (magnetic nanoparticles/DNA/AuNPs) and analyzed through detection of gold voltammetric peaks using differential pulse voltammetry. Our preliminary data indicate that non-PCR amplified genomic DNA can be detected at a concentration as low as 100 ng/mL from bacterial cultures and spiked liquid matrices, similar to reported PCR amplified detection levels. These findings also suggest that AuNP-DNA biosensors are a first step towards a viable detection method of bacterial pathogens, in particular, for resource-limited settings, such as field-based or economically limited conditions. Future efforts will focus on further optimization of the DNA extraction method and AuNP-biosensors, to increase sensitivity at lower DNA target concentrations from food matrices comparable to PCR amplified DNA detection strategies.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10463-10486: Cognitive LF-Ant: A Novel Protocol for Healthcare Wireless Sensor Networks

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In this paper, the authors present the Cognitive LF-Ant protocol for emergency reporting in healthcare wireless sensor networks. The protocol is inspired by the natural behaviour of ants and a cognitive component provides the capabilities to dynamically allocate resources, in accordance with the emergency degree of each patient. The intra-cluster emergency reporting is inspired by the different capabilities of leg-manipulated ants. The inter-cluster reporting is aided by the cooperative modulation diversity with spectrum sensing, which can detect new emergency reporting requests and forward them. Simulations results show the decrease of average delay time as the probability of opportunistic access increases, which privileges the emergency reporting related to the patients with higher priority of resources' usage. Furthermore, the packet loss rate is decreased by the use of cooperative modulation diversity with spectrum sensing.

SafariCacheExplorer 1.3.9 - Recover an image, video, sound, style sheet, from your Safari cache.. (Demo)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 02:56 AM PDT



SafariCacheExplorer SafariCacheExplorer is the unique tool for explore the Safari's cache (and any other native Mac OS X cache). With SafariCacheExplorer you can retrieve an image, video, sound, style sheet, etc…. from your Safari cache in a easy way, thanks to a simple user interface inspired in Finder.

Why you need a tool like SafariCacheExplorer? The main problem when you try to recuperate your cached files from Safari, is the system which Safari (and Mac OS X) uses for store his cache in a single file.

SafariCacheExplorer is also a fantastic tool for web developers, why? Because SafariCacheExplorer let you delete individual cache files, helping you to develop and test your websites more fast using Safari.

Demo limitations:

  • Only the first 100 cache entries are displayed
  • Only 5 items can be exported in each session
  • Only 2 custom filters are allowed
  • The delete feature is not avaiable
  • A remember message will be displayed on every startup



Version 1.3.9:
  • Added OS X 10.8 support.
  • Added OS X 10.8 notifications support.
  • Fixed bug with "Buy me now!" button when entering in Fullscreen mode (OS X 10.7 and 10.8 only).
  • Fixed some other minor bugs.


Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

Download Now

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Sleipnir 3.6 - Gesture focused Web browser.. (Free)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:03 AM PDT



Sleipnir Web browser for Mac with Smartphone and Web App Linker. Freely browse the Web without having to think about unnecessary things with the rich selection of functions in Sleipnir.

With Sleipnir, you can experience Web browsing as never seen before, with an extremely simple design and the powerful operations that can be easily performed with just one hand. WIth speedy gestures you can operate tabs at high speed as if magic by using the multi-touch and mouse supported gesture [TouchPaging]. You do not need to do all your daily browsing by clicking the small buttons on the screen because you can perform gestures such as switching, going to previous, and closing tabs with just one hand.

Main functions:

  • Switch tabs by swiping tabs left or right, or by right-clicking and moving the mouse.
  • Operate tabs using a variety of gestures: Execute using touch operations or while holding down the right-click button.
  • TiledTab: Pinch-in on the TrackPad to view a list of tabs.
  • Hold And Go: Hold down on a link to open in the background.
  • Ad Block - Tab groups for managing tabs.
  • Sync bookmarks with other devices using Fenrir Pass.
  • The standard full-screen with OS X 10.7 Smartphone App Linker All phone numbers are clickable when using Sleipnir 3. By simply clicking that phone number, the phone number is sent to your smartphone, and you can start calling from your smartphone straight away. In order to user Smartphone App Linker, it is required to download the free app Sleipnir Linker that can be used on iPhone / iPad and Android, and a Fenrir pass ID that can be obtained for free. Web App Linker Share: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flickr Save: Dropbox, Evernote, SkyDrive, SugarSync Read later: Readability, Instapaper, Pocket.



Version 3.6
  • Delivering the latest updates of your favorite sites: Displayed in new tabs, and optimized as you browse.
  • Improvements made for a smoother switching movement of tabs when swiping.
  • Operate TiledTab using the keyboard.
  • Select the tab view of Text style.
  • Tool bar button improved: Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, Readability, and more, can be used more easily.
  • Reliability of operations improved.


Mac OS X 10.6 or later

Download Now

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Kleine Castle

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 02:57 AM PDT

This is a story of two lucky rascals, Eine - a girl and Kleine - a boy by name, who set off for a trip having no special plans. And it happened so t..

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10450-10462: Mechanisms for the Direct Electron Transfer of Cytochrome c Induced by Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-modified electrodes can promote the direct electron transfer (DET) of cytochrome c (Cyt c). There are several possible mechanisms that explain the DET of Cyt c. In this study, several experimental methods, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy were utilized to investigate the conformational changes of Cyt c induced by MWCNTs. The DET mechanism was demonstrated at various nano-levels: secondary structure, spatial orientation, and spin state. In the presence of MWCNTs, the secondary structure of Cyt c changes, which exposes the active site, then, the orientation of the heme is optimized, revolving the exposed active center to the optimum spatial orientation for DET; and finally, a transition of spin states is induced, providing relatively high energy and a more open microenvironment for electron transfer. These changes at different nano-levels are closely connected and form a complex process that promotes the electron transfer of Cyt c.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10430-10449: In-Line Fiber Optic Interferometric Sensors in Single-Mode Fibers

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In-line fiber optic interferometers have attracted intensive attention for their potential sensing applications in refractive index, temperature, pressure and strain measurement, etc. Typical in-line fiber-optic interferometers are of two types: Fabry-Perot interferometers and core-cladding-mode interferometers. It's known that the in-line fiber optic interferometers based on single-mode fibers can exhibit compact structures, easy fabrication and low cost. In this paper, we review two kinds of typical in-line fiber optic interferometers formed in single-mode fibers fabricated with different post-processing techniques. Also, some recently reported specific technologies for fabricating such fiber optic interferometers are presented.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10407-10429: A Semantic Autonomous Video Surveillance System for Dense Camera Networks in Smart Cities

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

This paper presents a proposal of an intelligent video surveillance system able to detect and identify abnormal and alarming situations by analyzing object movement. The system is designed to minimize video processing and transmission, thus allowing a large number of cameras to be deployed on the system, and therefore making it suitable for its usage as an integrated safety and security solution in Smart Cities. Alarm detection is performed on the basis of parameters of the moving objects and their trajectories, and is performed using semantic reasoning and ontologies. This means that the system employs a high-level conceptual language easy to understand for human operators, capable of raising enriched alarms with descriptions of what is happening on the image, and to automate reactions to them such as alerting the appropriate emergency services using the Smart City safety network.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9258-9273: Chemical Genetics: Budding Yeast as a Platform for Drug Discovery and Mapping of Genetic Pathways

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a widely used model organism, and yeast genetic methods are powerful tools for discovery of novel functions of genes. Recent advancements in chemical-genetics and chemical-genomics have opened new avenues for development of clinically relevant drug treatments. Systematic mapping of genetic networks by high-throughput chemical-genetic screens have given extensive insight in connections between genetic pathways. Here, I review some of the recent developments in chemical-genetic techniques in budding yeast.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9245-9257: 3-Phenylcoumarins as Inhibitors of HIV-1 Replication

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

We have synthesized fourteen 3-phenylcoumarin derivatives and evaluated their anti-HIV activity. Antiviral activity was assessed on MT-2 cells infected with viral clones carrying the luciferase gene as reporter. Inhibition of HIV transcription and Tat function were tested on cells stably transfected with the HIV-LTR and Tat protein. Six compounds displayed NF-κB inhibition, four resulted Tat antagonists and three of them showed both activities. Three compounds inhibited HIV replication with IC50 values < 25 µM. The antiviral effect of the 4-hydroxycoumarin derivative 19 correlates with its specific inhibition of Tat functions, while compound 8, 3-(2-chlorophenyl)coumarin, seems to act through a mechanism unrelated to the molecular targets considered in this research.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9231-9244: Influences of Dryopteris crassirhizoma Extract on the Viability, Growth and Virulence Properties of Streptococcus mutans

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Dryopteris crassirhizoma is traditionally used as an herbal remedy for various diseases, and has been identified in a previous study as a potential anti-caries agent. In this study, the effect of a methanol extract of D. crassirhizoma on the viability, growth and virulence properties of Streptococcus mutans, a cariogenic dental pathogen, was investigated. In addition, the phytochemical composition of the extract was analyzed. The extract showed bactericidal and bacteriostatic activity against oral bacteria (MIC and MBC of S. mutans: 62.5 and 250 μg/mL, respectively). At two times the MBC, the extract significantly eliminated S. mutans up to 99.9% after 1 h incubation. The extract also dose-dependently reduced growth rates of S. mutans at sub-MIC levels. Furthermore, at sub-MIC levels, virulence properties (acid production, acid tolerance, glucosyltransferase activity and sucrose-dependent adherence) of S. mutans were also inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of mono and disaccharides (44.9%), fatty acids (12.3%) and sugar alcohols (6.8%) in the extract. These data indicate that the extract might be useful for the control of dental caries.

Meta 2.0.4 - Create folders and use Spotlight in Mail.. (Demo)

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 02:02 AM PDT



Meta provides message tagging for Mail.app.

Harness the full potential of spotlight right inside Mail! Add custom keywords to mail messages, then create smart folders for better message management.

Features:

  • Intuitive tagging: access Meta, from all the expected places; the "Message" menu, the messages contextual menu, or right-click directly inside the message.
  • Batch Tagging: tag multiple messages at one time for ease of use, and better productivity.
  • OpenMeta support: Meta utilises the powerful open-source OpenMeta framework, making all tags instantly accessible by numerous other tagging applications.
  • Automatic updating: be confident knowing that you are running the latest release, without ever having to check for updates manually. (powered by Sparkle).



Version 2.0.3:

  • Updated for OS X 10.8.


Mac OS X 10.6 or later

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