Testimonial Reviews and Videos: August 2015

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Minecraft creator Notch says his billions have made him miserable

Minecraft creator and Mojan founder Markus Persson, aka 'Notch', has said that he has "never felt more isolated" after earning billions in the sale of the company to Microsoft.

By: Michael Rundle,

Fed appears oblivious to the fact that they are driving volatility

Market closes week positive. Fed continues gazing at its own navel.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Ashley Madison boss out after massive hack

The parent company of Ashley Madison, the hacked adult relationship network, has said its CEO Noel Biderman has left the company.

By: Michael Rundle,

WIRED Weekender 28.08.15 - Tate Sensorium, black holes

The best of WIRED in one weekly post

By: WIRED.co.uk,

Twitch enforces streaming exclusivity as YouTube Gaming launches

With the launch of YouTube Gaming, the battle-lines are drawn for a streaming showdown between incumbent games video powerhouse Twitch and Google's scrappy newcomer.

It's more of a fight to win hearts and minds though -- or at least subscriber numbers -- and Twitch has thrown the first punch, tying its "partners" to exclusivity contracts with the existing platform.

By: Matt Kamen,

Boeing's latest drone destroyer is the stuff of nightmares

The Compact Laser Weapons System is a portable, tripod-mounted device armed with a high-powered laser that can burn a hole in a quadcopter -- and send it crashing hopelessly to the ground -- in a matter of seconds.

By: Daniel Culpan,

Reify 'Totem': the coolest thing in WIRED's office

WIRED wants to give you a glimpse into the bizarre, interesting and -- frankly -- cool objects, ideas and prototypes that pass through our midst.

Join WIRED.co.uk Editor Michael Rundle on a weekly guide to the strangest, most amazing or simply most unfathomable object in the WIRED office.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

Flu virus, IFA 2015: Podcast 232

Listen this week for an entertaining look at the most interesting technology and science stories from the last seven days, with WIRED.co.uk's Michael Rundle, James Temperton and Daniel Culpan.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

This robot chef can make pancakes and pizza

Researchers have created a robotic chef that can flip pancakes and make pizza, in the hopes that it could become a fixture of the kitchens of the future.

By: Daniel Culpan,

'Gadget allergy' disability recognised in French court

A French woman has won a court-ordered disability grant after claiming to suffer from a 'gadget allergy' due to electromagnetic radiation.

By: Michael Rundle,

Now we know what killed Knut the celebrity polar bear

Scientists have finally solved the death of Knut, the famous polar bear who graced the cover of Vanity Fair and rubbed shoulders with Hollywood A-listers.

By: Daniel Culpan,

Facebook: only 85.7 percent of Earth did not use our site on Monday

Facebook has announced that merely 85.7 percent of the Earth's population did not log on to its service within 24 hours on Monday 24 August 2015.

By: Michael Rundle,

Friday, August 28, 2015

WIRED Awake: 10 must-read articles for 28 August

Your WIRED.co.uk daily briefing. Today, Google is killing Flash ads, SoundCloud sued, Instagram photos go rectangular and more.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

Disney Infinity 3.0 review: The Force is waning

Another year, another entry for Disney's living toys megalith. The big hook for this third instalment is the arrival of Star Wars characters to the shared universe, with the starter kits being themed around the Clone Wars era.

Along with figures of the youthful Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, the base set comes with the 'Twilight of the Republic' story pack. It's a decent length adventure in its own right, with a now-familiar blend of linear platform/action gameplay. Ahsoka ultimately feels to have the better range of abilities once you've levelled her up a little, though Anakin can more than hold his own against the forces of General Grievous and Darth Maul.

By: Matt Kamen,

Borderlands movie in the works from Lionsgate

Not enough post-apocalyptic cinema for your liking? Good news, then -- Lionsgate is planning to bring Gearbox's raucous RPG/FPS hybrid series Borderlands to the big screen.

The game series has been growing in prominence since it debuted as something of a sleeper hit in 2009. Its blend of fast-paced run-and-gun combat, endless loot, and warped sense of humour won it an ardent following, and has since expanded through several shooter sequels and a story-driven episodic adventure spin-off from Telltale Games.

By: Matt Kamen,

Fed appears oblivious to the fact that they driving volatility

Market closes week positive. Fed continues gazing at its own navel.

Assassin's Creed movie reveal: this is Fassbender in costume

Michael Fassbender doesn't just count X-Men enemy/ally Magneto among his geek cred roles -- he's also the lead actor and an executive producer on the upcoming live action Assassin's Creed movie.

Based on Ubisoft's long-running stealth action gaming series, the live-action adaptation has been in the works since 2011. Despite delays, it's going ahead, and the first look at Fassbender in costume has now been revealed.

By: Matt Kamen,

Apple iPhone 6S event confirmed for 9 September

Apple has announced that its next big product update will take place in San Fransisco on 9 September as widely expected.

By: Michael Rundle,

Hubble captures shimmering 'cosmic butterfly' Twin Jet Nebula

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the Twin Jet Nebula in all its sublime glory, offering a detailed glimpse of its glimmering shells and bursts of expanding gas.

By: Daniel Culpan,

How Bassjackers remixed Steve Aoki's 'Darker Than Blood', from stems to upload

Steve Aoki is one of the world's most influential electro DJs, producers and executives -- so if you're given the job of remixing one of his tracks, you'd better have the skills and the tech to do a good job. And that's doubly true when the track in question happens to feature Linkin Park, latterly transformed into an incredibly influential tech incubator -- as well as, you know, a band. So no pressure, then.

When house DJ titans Bassjackers were given that job recently, with the track 'Darker Than Blood' from Aoki's May 2015 ‘Neon Future II’ album, they simply went to work.

By: Michael Rundle,

N64 classic 'Turok: Dinosaur Hunter' gets remastered PC release

Classic N64 shooter series Turok is making its way back, with remastered versions of the earliest entries planned for release on PC.

By: Matt Kamen,

3D-printed 'microfish' swim in bloodstream to deliver drugs

New 3D-printed robots in the shape of small fish may one day be able to swim through bloodstreams, delivering drugs to the human body and removing toxins.

By: Daniel Culpan,

Games bought on Humble Store can now support 35,000 charities

One of the great things about the Humble Store -- besides the chance to get great games at ridiculously low prices, particularly in the weekly Humble Bundles -- is that every purchase contributes to good causes, with a cut of each sale going to selected charities. But while the recipients could differ with each offer, generally it was a core group of beneficiaries, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Doctors Without Borders.

Now though, you'll be able to cater your charitable patronage to your liking, as Humble has introduced an option to select your own cause. There's no shortage of organisations to donate to either -- you can choose from more than 35,000 charities.

By: Matt Kamen,

This 3D cancer model shows how tumours mutate

A new 3D modelling technique has revealed exactly how cancerous cells grow and mutate over time. It is hoped the new insight will help researchers better understand how the disease evolves.

By: Daniel Culpan,

Touch, smell and eat your art at Tate Britain's 'Sensorium'

You don’t just look at paintings anymore. A new exhibition at Tate Britain transforms visual art into a multisensory experience, surrounding paintings with sounds, scents, tactile sensations and tastes (i.e. bespoke chocolates) inspired by the artwork.

By: Gian Volpicelli,

'Redditor', 'butthurt' and 'cakeage' added to Oxford Dictionaries slang lexicon

In its latest update of current slang, jargon and kayfabe linguistic pwnage, Oxford Dictionaries has catalogued 1,000 new words to be added to its lexicon.

By: Michael Rundle,

Facebook' 'M' virtual assistant is part computer, part human

Facebook has started public testing of M, its new virtual assistant. The service will take on Apple's Siri, Google's Now and Microsoft's Cortana, but with one key difference: it is powered by actual people, not just artificial intelligence.

By: James Temperton,

WIRED Awake: 10 must-read articles for 27 August

Your WIRED.co.uk daily briefing. Today, major dark web marketplace shuts down, Facebook launches personal assistant, finding the Ashley Madison hackers and more.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

Thursday, August 27, 2015

London, you can now order burgers using emoji

The inventively named BurgerBurger asks people to place orders for burgers, fries and beers using nothing more than emoji.

By: James Temperton,

Technical damage done

Last October when U.S. equity markets were experiencing its first significant correction since 2011, we pointed out an interesting technical support area. The 50-week simple moving average had served as support on a closing basis since the 2011 correction. It was breached a couple of times on the weekly bars but managed to settle at or above it each time.

YouTube Gaming launch sees Google take on Twitch.tv

YouTube Gaming, Google's competitor to Twitch.tv, is now live.

The game streaming service is available as an app for Android and iOS and is online at gaming.youtube.com.

By: James Temperton,

'LawBreakers' is latest game from 'Gears of War' creator

The latest title from outspoken game designer and Gears of War co-creator Cliff Bleszinski has been revealed, and true to form it's another action-heavy, sci-fi inspired shooter.

Known as LawBreakers, the game will launch for PC in 2016 and be free to play. Set over a century in the future, a catastrophic shattering of the moon has had a near-apocalyptic impact on the Earth, disrupting gravity and leading to fundamental shifts in society.

By: Matt Kamen,

Fallout, Elder Scrolls and more Bethesda classics come to GOG.com

Bethesda Softworks has struck a new digital distribution deal with GOG.com, making some of its classic titles available to players again for the first time in decades.

The titles include classics from The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and Quake series. Due to the way GOG operates, all titles will be optimised for use on contemporary PCs, and are available without any DRM restrictions.

By: Matt Kamen,

Amazon free delivery extended to 13,000 pickup locations

Amazon customers can now opt for free delivery to over 13,000 pickup locations throughout the UK.

By: Daniel Culpan,

'Flu jab for life' on the horizon

An annual flu jab is essential if you want to avoid spending a few weeks of every year bed-ridden and achey. But now a lifetime flu vaccination may, slowly but surely, be coming.

By: Daniel Culpan,

Moshi Monsters and Bin Weevils broke ad-targeting rules

Two British online games aimed at children have run afoul of the Advertising Standards Authority. The independent regulator has upheld complaints that Moshi Monsters and Bin Weevils were directly pressuring kids to buy in-app purchases.

However, the initial complaints weren't brought by cash-strapped parents shocked by an unexpected invoice, but rather the government's Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA acted as part of its enforcement of the Office of Fair Trading's guidelines on children's online games.

By: Matt Kamen,

'Angry Birds' maker Rovio announces major job losses

The maker of Angry Birds has been forced to announce a major restructure, after admitting it over-expanded following the enormous success of its addictive mobile game.

By: Michael Rundle,

This is what the world economy actually looks like

Economics is a notoriously complex and jargon-riddled business. Now, the Earth's vast web of economic networks has been reimagined with a psychedelic twist: through 3D "confetti".

By: Daniel Culpan,

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Nasa finds strange, shiny mountain on Ceres

A strange, four-mile tall limpet-like mountain on dwarf planet Ceres has been photographed in unprecedented detail by Nasa's Dawn spacecraft.

By: James Temperton,