SUING STOPPED

SUING STOPPED

CASE AGAINST DUKE NUKEM DEV DROPPED

Back in June, 3D Realms/Apogee
Software fi led a lawsuit against
Gearbox that alleged that it had been
prevented from auditing sales of
the god awful Duke Nukem Forever
and thereby could be owed a lot of
money – about $2 million to be a little
more exact. For those of you new to
the class, we should explain that 3D
Realms had been developing Forever
for over a decade previously and
didn’t just turn up out of nowhere to
claim the cash.
Well that lawsuit has now been
dismissed with prejudice, which
sounds pretty badass until you fi nd
out that “with prejudice” actually just
means that the case can never be
reopened and has been thoroughly
dealt with. Apogee CEO Scott Miller
has since put out a statement that
explained that he was very sorry that
any such ugliness ever took place 

“After reviewing evidence regarding
our business affairs, and without any
money exchanging hands, we have
satisfactorily resolved any and all
differences that we perceived against
Gearbox. In all sincerity, we regret
the misunderstanding that instigated
our lawsuit. Now that we better
understand – and appreciate – the
actual nature of our business matters,
we have voluntarily withdrawn our
claims against Gearbox, with genuine
apologies to Randy [Pitchford,
Gearbox CEO] for any damage that
our lawsuit may have caused to the
relationship”

Gearbox’ response, though
reasonably magnanimous in victory,
included the really rather excellent,
“perhaps the lesson learned here is
to never enter a gaming business
deal with a person who has had more 

lawsuits than shipped games”

 

5 best ways to lose 10 pounds of fat

5 best ways to lose  10 pounds of fat

Many people hire personal trainers
strictly to knock off the “final 10
pounds,” after failing to do this over a
long period of attempts. Getting rid of
that “last” 10 pounds can mean the dif-ference between a puffy body and a beach body, or
defined abs and a six-pack. If you don’t have a client like
this, you’ll sooner or later get one, and more will follow.
If the best ways to safely and effectively burn off 10
pounds of pure fat could be categorized into five
approaches, they are as follows:

1:Strength train to metabolic failure, not
mechanical failure.  This approach is supported by a
report in the March 2010  Journal of Sports Medicine and
Physical Fitness. The ideal “rep max” range for lifting
weights is eight to 12.
This means the resistance is too heavy to complete a
13th repetition. However, at least eight should be possi-ble. If your trainee can’t do eight, the muscles aren’t
under enough tension to maximize fat-burning.
Even though someone may be able to lift heavier
weight on a five to seven rep max scheme, heavier weight
doesn’t necessarily translate to the most fat burned or the
most acceleration of resting metabolism.
On the other hand, in most cases, if the time under
tension is for too long (light weights so that repetitions
exceed 12), the fat burning process isn’t optimized
because the body will be too busy trying to build
endurance to accommodate light weights and high reps.
For optimal fat loss results, the best scheme is definitely
the 8-12 RM, though this need not apply to  every single set.
Post-exercise elevated fat-burning with higher rep
ranges is actually possible, depending on other factors
such as a) type of exercise, b) duration of rest in between
exercises, c) effort level, and d) how these higher rep
exercises fit into the rest of the program.
For example, four 20-rep max sets of squat-to-over-head-presses with kettlebells (one minute rest in between)
will blast fat off the thighs more than any one-hour ses-sion of paced cardio on the elliptical machine or treadmill,
or a full hour of inner and outer thigh machine sets. 

2: Focus the strength training program on com-pound movements. How many times does the following
scenario occur: A woman wants to blast off 10 pounds in
time for a friend’s wedding, so she spends huge amounts
of time grinding out tons of isolation exercises: sit-ups,
crunches, planks, pulley triceps extensions, dumbbell
curls, dumbbell side lifts, and let’s not forget camping out
at the inner and outer thigh machines.
She may toss in some rows and squats, maybe a few
half-baked leg press sets, but these compound moves
make up only a small portion of her attack.
Unfortunately, this very scenario is sometimes created
by personal trainers themselves. How often do you see a
personal trainer at the squat “cage” with a client or at a
bench press station with a client? Too often they’re in the
small-implement area with their client on the floor hav-ing them do isolation exercises that work only a single
muscle group.
When compound lifts (which work more than one
muscle group) are applied with an 8-12 RM, a startling
hormonal response will result: one that causes resting
metabolic rate to be accelerated for hours after the
workout is over. In trained individuals, this after-burn
can last up to 24 hours! Some studies put the after-burn at 36 hours.
Heavy compound movements will set off hormonal
changes that will burn fat like mad, and this response
does not occur with isolation exercises like dumbbell
kickbacks, reverse flyes, crunches and side bends.
A trainee will lose 10 pounds of fat much faster by
doing only the bench press, lat pull-down, squat, dead-lift, leg press and shoulder press, than spending triple
the time doing any combination of isolation exercises.

 3: Do high intensity interval training. A June
2007 Journal of Applied Physiology reports on the supe-riority of interval training over moderately intense
steady state aerobics. High intensity interval training
can be done with many permutations.
Studies often focus on the 30 second “sprint” or all-out effort, while other studies focus more on a sub-all-out effort. Time in between intervals can also vary from
one study to the next. But the results are the same:
HIIT is just plain superior to a pace based movement.
A person will burn more fat running as fast as pos-sible from one end of a parking lot to the other and
then walking in between for several minutes to recover,
and repeating this cycle seven more times, than from
jogging continuously around the perimeter of the
parking lot for triple the length of time!

4: Get in some burst training. Medicine and Sci-ence in Sports and Exercise (1996) reports on a study
that eight, one minute bursts of one’s hardest effort,
dispersed throughout the day between morning and
evening, will accelerate fat-burning.
So soon after you awaken, get in 60 seconds of any
of the following: squat jumps, pushups, mountain
climbers, jump rope, rapid stool stepping or a sprint on
whatever piece of cardio equipment you may have in
your house.
Remember, your effort must be all-out for maximal
results. You may not know right away how deep or
quickly, for instance, you must do squat jumps in order
to be able to do them for a full minute, yet at the same
time, feel very spent at the end of that minute. But it
won’t be long before you know what it takes; e.g., how
fast to jump rope or how many RPMs on your station-ary bike to make one minute worth difficult to sustain.

5: Convince your client that sugar is white
death. If you can scare a client into believing that sugar
can promote cancer formation and heart disease, they
will automatically eat less of it, which means fewer
white-sugar based calories.
A mental approach like this will make it easier to
have fewer servings per week of high sugar foods like
ice cream, cookies, brownies, donuts, candy and soda.
If one is left hungry as as result of fewer junk food
indulgences, those foods can be replaced with a big
vegetable salad with nuts, some yogurt topped with
berries, a large plate of assorted fruit, a tuna salad or
egg salad sandwich on whole grain bread, or some
grilled salmon with steamed vegetables.

How to encrypt your Skype calls private ..?

KEEP YOUR SKYPE CALLS PRIVATE

Making free calls over WI-Fi isn't secure.
Here's how to encrypt your conversations

Fix Skype installation errors.
The recent Skype 6.5 update (www.snipca.com/9490) has caused some installation problems on Windows 7 and 8. If you have problems try installing it using the MSI installer at www.snipca.com/9466. You should move your existing Skype data first.
Go to Start, Search/Run; type 'appdata' and then press Enter or click OK. The Windows File Explorer will pop up.
Right-click the folder named 'Skype' and renamed it 'Skype_old'.
Now go to Start, Search/Run. type %temp%\skype then press Entrer.
Delete the DbTemp folder, then try to install Skype 6.5 again. Data from your old Skype calls will be saved in the 'Skype_old' folder.

Limit the details you sahre:
The best way to make calls and video chats that can't de spied on is to singn up to Skype with a fresh account using an email adress that isn't provided by any of the large organisation such as Microsoft, Facebook and Apple (as these share data with government agencies).
If you must use Gmail go to Settings.
General, 'Always use https' so your emails will at least be encrypted.
Since Microsoft bought Skype, it has encouraged users to become more active on social networks. In fact, When you first set up Skype it prompts you to log in with either a Facebook or Twitter account and offers to check for freinds who use those accounts, so it can add them to your contacts, Skip these options and individually select contacts from your existing email and social media accounts.
Next, go to privacy Settings from 'Allow anyone to contact me' to 'Only allow people in my Contact list to contact me'. Click Advanced and click the options to allow IMs (instant messages), videos and screen shares from people in your contact list.

Unlink Skype from other accounts
Large organisations such as Google, Microsoft and Facbook are the most likely to provide government agencies with your call details. Disconnect your Skype account from others run by these web giants in order to minimise the risk of your conversations being listened to.
Large into Skype, go to 'Account details', 'Account settings', 'Linked accounts' Click Unlink next to the Windows accounts or Facebook accounts you'd previousely connected it to.

Don't let Skype track you:
Skype creates cookies based on who you contact and your user preferences.
This is so they can learn about how you use Skype. If you don't want Skype to store these cookies click Privacy 'Show advanced option' and untick 'Accept Skype browser cookies' Now untick 'Allow Microsoft targeted ads, including use of Skype profile age and gender' and click 'Clear Skype cookies'

Use Pidgin to encrypt Skype
Skype doesn't have its own plug-ins, so you can't add encryption tools. However, you can import your Skype (and outher messaging program) contacts to the open-source Pidgin (http://pidgin.im) chat service and encrypt that Pidgin doesn't directly support Skype, so you'll also need to install Skype4Pidgin (http://eion.robbmob.com)

Route Skype calls through a proxy:
Skype shares customer data, on request with the US government. However, you can route Skype through a proxy server such as proxXPN (www.proxpn.com) or Hotspot Shield Free (www.hotspotshield.com) to keep them private.
In Skype; click the Advanced, Connection, 'Automatic proxy detection' option (or HTTPS or SOCKS if you know the exact port you want to use)

Chat privately using Jitsi
Jitsi (https://jitsi.org) is a similar free VoIP service to Skype. It work over a private SRTP (secure real-time transport protocol) network, so your calls and messages are private. You can use Jitsi with AOL. Instant Messenger. ICQ Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and MSN. However, to make sure your calls are secure you and your friends should use SIP accounts. Go to getonsip.com (or any outher free SIP accounts provider) and create an account.
Now launch Jitsi click Accounts, Add and select SIP from the Network list.
Enter your SIP username and password.
then click Add. Onece you add contacts you'll be to chat to them over the local network without your calls and messages being tracked.

How to install custom push-switches

How to ....

install custom push-switches

Bored with your case’s lifeless power and reset buttons?
Antony Leathershows you how to install custom push-switches

Every PC needs power and reset
buttons, yet they’ve hardly
changed since the first PCs went
on sale. They’re invariably just
plastic buttons with the most extravagant
being made of metal or in very rare cases
illuminated. Thankfully, there’s a plethora of
push switches, also known as anti-vandal
buttons, that can replace them, and also
control fans, lights or any other 12V devices.
There are several sizes and types available,
and they come in a range of illuminated
colours too. Installing them is easy and, if
you’re handy with a soldering iron, you can
use your case’s existing wires to connect the
switches to your motherboard.

SELECT YOUR BUTTONS
The buttons come in two sizes – 16mm and 19mm,
which refers to the size of the hole you’ll need to cut into
your case, rather than the size of the button itself. You’ll
need to make sure you opt for a momentary switch for
power and reset buttons, or a latching one to act as an
on/off button for lights and fans.

CHOOSE CABLES
If you have access to a soldering iron, you can use your
case’s existing cables to wire your new buttons to your
motherboard’s front panel headers. Alternatively, for a
couple of quid, you can buy ready-made braided cable
packs that include power and reset switch cables, and
these don’t even need to be soldered to the switches.

PICK YOUR LOCATION
While you can install switches in a side panel, we
recommend just replacing your case’s existing buttons
if possible. Our 16mm switches have a head diameter
of just under 18mm, so you’ll need to make sure there’s
enough room for them to sit side by side, especially if
your original buttons are located close together

REMOVE E XISTING BUTTONS
If your case has removable buttons, it’s usually fairly
easy to get rid of them and install your own. If they’re
part of a single-piece button and port assembly, you
can usually cut away the buttons, but most cases have
the ports and buttons bundled in two separate pieces,
making it easy to replace them

DETACH CABLES
If you plan to use your case’s existing cables, you’ll need to detach them from the
buttons first. A soldering iron is good for this job, as it will leave you with a neat end
to simply solder to your new ones. If this isn’t possible, then simply cut the wires and
strip back the plastic so you can re-attach them

A PPLY MA SK IN G TA PE
To protect your case while you’re drilling, apply masking tape to the area you want to
install the switches. This should prevent any slips with the drill resulting in gashes in
your paintwork, while making it clearer where you need to drill.

MARK UP HOLES
Measure up the hole required for your switch and mark it onto your masking tape
using a drawing compass or pencil. You’ll also need to mark the centre of the hole to
drill a pilot hole, which will make drilling the larger one a little easier.

DRILL PILOT HOLE
Before you start drilling, either remove all your hardware from your case, or tape
newspaper over the area behind your drilling location, to catch any metal filings from
the drilling. Use a 5mm drill bit to make a pilot hole in the centre of your markings.
Apply light pressure and allow the drill to do the work.

CUT MA IN HOLE
Switch to your 16mm or 19mm drill bit or hole cutter, and proceed to cut the hole.
The pilot hole will help to keep the bit aligned. It will be quick and easy to cut into
aluminium cases, but steel cases may take several minutes or more, so be armed
with a corded drill or a well-charged battery for a cordless one.

FILE EDGES
Whether you’re using a hole cutter or drill bit to deal with the larger hole, the
edges will be rough. Even though the switch will largely obscure the edges, it’s still
good practice to file it down a little, if only to prevent metal shards from becoming
dislodged at a later date.

REMOVE LOCK ING RING
Most switches use a large locking ring or nut that sits on a thread behind the button.
You need to remove this first, as it fixes to the switch after you’ve passed the switch
and cables through the cas

CONNECT NEW CABLES TO SWITCHES
If you’re using replacement cables, it’s straightforward to attach them to the switches
– just check with the wiring for your particular switch – instructions can usually be
found online. For our samples, the outer two terminals are clearly marked positive
and negative, and the switches light up as soon as you touch the correct wires.

 

SOLDER ORIGINAL CABLES TO SWITCHES
If you opt to use your case’s original cables, you just need to solder them onto the
correct terminals. Strip off enough insulation to expose the wire at the end of the
cables so that you have enough bare wire with which to work.

CHECK THE SWITCHES WORK
Before you install the switches, power up your PC to make sure they work and are
illuminated – you may need to dim the lights toensure this is the case. You can then
disconnect them from your motherboard and install them.

PASS THROUGH CABLES
Pass the cables through the hole and sit the switch on the surface of your case. The
tricky part is now reaching underneath the hole and attaching the locking ring from
the other side. Using pliers or a spanner can help here, as using only your fingers to
tighten it might not secure it firmly enough

RECONNECT CABLES TO MOTHERBOARD
With the switch securely located in the case, check the case for any stray metal
fragments and use an air duster if necessary. You can then reconnect the cables to
your motherboard’s front panel headers (these will be detailed in your motherboard
manual) and enjoy your new switches.

BUILDING AN ANDROID COMPANION DISPLAY

BUILDING AN ANDROID COMPANION 

DISPLAY

Having a second monitor isn’t exactly
uncommon today, when even the
cheapest graphics cards can drive
multiple displays, but it is

n’t always
convenient. My desk, as the perfect
example, doesn’t have room for two
monitors in addition to the old TFT I keep
around for testing equipment. But there’s
an alternative: a companion monitor.
A companion monitor isn’t a true
second monitor; it acts as a secondary
display, and is typically smaller than the
main display.
They can be quite expensive
commercially, so I had a look around the
office for something I could use instead
and turned up an outdated Android 2.3
tablet I’d long since outgrown. If you have
a tablet lying around – or if you fancy
buying one cheaply on second-hand –
you can follow this handy guide to add a
secondary display to your main machine

1 - INSTALL A VNC SERVER:

Typically, a VNC server is used to
share what’s currently visible on your
screen with a remote device. When using
Linux, however, it’s possible to set it up in
a way that creates a whole new desktop,
which operates independently. To install a
package for doing just that, simply drop to
a terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install vnc4server
There are similar packages for Mac OS
and Windows, although the latter may
require a little digging. Once installed,
launch the server with the following
command:
vncserver -geometry WxH
(Where W and H are the width and
height of your tablet’s screen in pixels.)

2- INSTALL A VNC VIEWER :

The server is one half of the
puzzle; you’ll also need a way to see it on
the tablet. Thankfully, Android has plenty
of free VNC server apps available in
Google Play, and my favourite is bVNC.
Install the app, and then try connecting to your 

desktop using the port
number 5901 – one higher than is
usual for VNC. If all has gone well,
you should see a rather spartan
desktop appear with a small menu
and a terminal. This gives you
control over apps on your desktop,
but it’s not exactly comfortable
having to take your hand off the
keyboard and mouse to do so.

3 - INSTALL SYNERGY :

That’s where Synergy
comes in. A client-server
application for sharing a single
keyboard and mouse across
multiple networked machines, it’s
the secret sauce that turns the
tablet into a true companion
display. Install the software on
your desktop’s terminal:
sudo apt-get install
synergy
You’ll need to create a config file
for the display before launching
the software. Using your favourite
text editor, create a file called .
synergy.conf in your home
directory with the following contents:
section: screens
desktop:
right:
end
section: links
desktop:
right = right
right:
left = desktop
end
In this case, desktop is the hostname of
your machine. Finally, launch the synergy
server by typing:
synergys 

 4 - ACTIVATE SYNERGY:

 Using the tablet’s VNC session, type
the following command into the terminal:
synergyc -n right localhost
You can then use your desktop’s mouse 

and keyboard in the VNC session: just move
your mouse cursor past the right-hand edge
of your monitor and it will appear on the tablet;
move it past the left-hand edge of the tablet,
and it will return to the main monitor.

5 - L AUNCH YOUR APPS:

  

  The secondary monitor gets its
images through the network over the VNC
protocol, which isn’t terribly speedy. As a
result, it isn’t ideal for video, but it works
great for text editing, viewing PDFs and web
browsing. I use it for viewing reference
materials while working on the main
monitor, or keeping a cheat-sheet of keys
handy when playing a full-screen game. It’s
also perfect for tracking your playlist when
listening to music.

6 - MOUNT THE TABLET:

 For the true companion-screen
experience, it’s best to mount the tablet to the

side of the monitor. Luckily, my tablet was
almost exactly the same height as the
distance from the top of the monitor to the
top of the speaker, meaning I could use the
speaker to hold the weight. Applying some

Make sure your Synergy configuration file is accurate, or the server won’t launch

Once Synergy has launched on the tablet’s VNC session,
you can use your desktop’s keyboard and mouse

 

 

In vertical orientation, the companion monitor is
great for a terminal session …

 

… but it’s also at home with tasks such as web
browsing or viewing reference PDFs, without
taking up room on the main displa

Sugru – moldable putty that sets into a
rubber-like substance – to the side of the
tablet enabled me to fix it to the monitor so
that it won’t fall, but I can still remove it in the
future with a sharp knife and a steady hand.
There are drawbacks to this type of dual-display setup,

 though, in particular with
regard to running applications: unlike a true
secondary monitor, you can’t drag an
application from one screen to the other.
Synergy does, however, provide a shared
clipboard – meaning it’s possible to copy text
on one screen and paste it on the other.

 

 

THE END OF WINDOWS GAMING

THE END OF

WINDOWS

GAMING

Microsoft hasn’t offered gamers a reason

to upgrade Windows for years, giving

Valve an opportunity to take over

I’m about to write a column that will either result in a future me
smugly proclaiming I was right all along, or a future me that
pretends I said no such thing, a little like my 2007 column where I
predicted that the iPhone will flop. My prediction is that in the future,
say in five years, most PC gamers will no longer be using Windows.
Whatever you think of Windows 8, it’s been a disastrous launch for
Microsoft. Personally, I don’t hate Windows 8 – I think it was a bungled
launch, and the Metro interface is useless on desktops, but you can
get it to behave with a little tweaking. For gamers, though, and for
most desktop PC users, in fact, there’s simply no reason to upgrade
from Windows 7. That’s a problem for Microsoft.
I’ve often said that Microsoft needs a
Windows Gaming Edition in its arsenal – a
64-bit version of Windows that has the latest
DirectX version, supports large amounts of
memory, so it’s worth developers pushing
the boundaries, but doesn’t include
the enterprise features often found in
professional editions. I’d like to think it would
cost around £50, and that it would also come with a Media Center-style browser for launching and playing games on a TV.
Maybe Microsoft thought it would be too niche, or it didn’t want the
PC to interfere with the Xbox. It missed the boat, though, and now Valve
is hoping to fill this niche. Its new Steam OS (see p16) will not only run
on the company’s Steam boxes, but you’ll also be able to run it on a PC.
I currently have an HTPC that uses Windows 7 Media Center, but it
has its issues – you still have to resort to the desktop to launch games,
there’s no Media Center app for Netflix UK and so on. If Valve gets this
right, and its many years of experience with Steam suggests it knows
what it’s doing, my future HTPC will be running Steam OS.
Being based on Linux, Steam OS won’t natively support the whole
Steam back catalogue natively, at least not yet. The current idea is that Steam OS will be able to effectively stream games from your Windows
PC to run these games, but you’ll then be able to sit on the sofa and
control them using the new Valve controller – a nifty device that has
touchpads instead of the analogue sticks on console gamepads.
I’m still not entirely convinced by the controller. Even if it accurately
mimics a mouse, it will still at least take some time to get accustomed
to it. But Valve won’t have announced these ideas without doing some
serious testing first. What’s more, Valve will have tested with people
who lovePC games. It’s an OS and controller made for people like us.
Steam OS will need good support for various media files, as well as
decent driver support, if Valve wants it to take off. Valve is going to have
its work cut out, undoubtedly, but it’s now
clearly committed to this idea.
Which brings me back to my point. In five
years, when new games might support
Steam OS natively as standard, and PC
games are effectively playable in the living
room in the same way as console games,
why would I use Windows for gaming?
For web browsing and email as well? Nope, a tablet will do that fine.
That isn’t to say that Windows has definitely had its day – the
keyboard and mouse is undoubtedly the interface of choice for offices,
and I don’t see anything else threatening that. But, for gaming, the
idea of a flexible, TV-orientated OS with access to the whole Steam
back catalogue and a decent control system is very appealing indeed.
After all, the PC is just a personal computer – my first PC didn’t run
Windows, and there’s no reason why future PCs should either.

"custom PC"  (p:8)