Would-be game makers can sell each other new levels, art in Unreal Engine 4
Let’s say you’ve been fiddling with Unreal Engine 4 for months and want the world to see the lovingly detailed recreation of your first college apartment — right down to the hemp wall tapestries and the weird stains on the living room rug. Well, with the newly launched Unreal Engine Marketplace you can do just that. In addition to anything that’s been released through other channels before, your custom wares will sit alongside sample scenes and games (like Tappy Chicken), as well as bits of C++ code, art and audio. And if you’re looking to turn a profit, or, at least recover the toolset’s monthly subscription fee, you can even put a price-tag on your digital wares.
What’s more, Eurogamer has spotted that the Unreal overlords at Epic Games have announced that in an effort to foster a lively game-development scene, they’re waiving the cost of Unreal Engine 4 for schools and universities. So long as you’re a student enrolled in a qualifying degree program, you’ll have access to one of the most prominent game engines in the business for free. Well, there’s still that pesky thing called tuition, but until you have to start paying back those student loans, that mostly feels nonexistent too. Who knows, though, maybe you could strike it big and make a game that’d cover the cost of college while you’re still enrolled. If that is the case, though, you’ll have to pony up the standard 5 percent royalties for on any quarterly profits exceeding $3,000.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Unreal Engine (1), (2), (3)
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Healthcare.gov was hacked, but none of your sensitive data was stolen
Healthcare.gov might have a dedicated team looking after its welfare thanks to its disastrous launch, but it’s still not completely bulletproof. Apparently, the insurance website was hacked in July, and the perpetrator managed to slip in malware that wasn’t spotted until August 25th. Before you have a panic attack, though (the website did ask for your Social Security number, among other sensitive info), the Department of Health and Human Services says no data was stolen from the breach. According to HHS spokesperon Kevin Griffis, the compromised server didn’t contain personal information, because it’s only used for testing and should never have been connected to the internet in the first place.
Moreover, the malware wasn’t designed to steal data — the hacker slipped it in to use the server as a puppet for denial of service attacks on other government properties. These attacks constitute taking over many, many computers so hackers can use them to redirect traffic to a single website in an effort to take it down, indicating that Healthcare.gov wasn’t being targeted in particular. HHS officials say Healthcare.gov undergoes regular security scans, and they’ve “taken measures to further strengthen security” since the breach took place.
Filed under: Internet
Source: CNN, The Wall Street Journal
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Tim Cook says new security alerts for Apple’s iCloud are coming soon
Although Apple’s initial response to a recent release of stolen celebrity photos stated that its iCloud and Find My iPhone systems had not been breached, now CEO Tim Cook is talking about how to beef up its security. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cook said that several changes are coming very soon, with email and push notifications to alert users any time someone tries to change their iCloud password, restore data to a new device or add a new device to an account. When the notifications pop up, users can respond by changing their password or alerting Apple to a possible breach. Those changes are due in two weeks, however Cook reaffirmed that criminals gained access to victim’s accounts by using phishing scams to get their IDs and passwords, or answering their security questions. In response, Apple is also going to start pushing two-factor authentication harder (which currently does not cover access to iCloud from a mobile device, but will after the release of iOS 8), and Cook said its aim will be to increase “awareness” of hackers, and using security measures like strong passwords — we’ll see if there are any other security changes revealed during next week’s new iPhone event.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Apple
Source: Wall Street Journal
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Engadget Daily: Dyson’s robot vacuum cleaner, LG’s G Watch R and more!
Today, we interview Oculus VR’s John Carmack, gawk over Dyson’s new robot vacuum cleaner, take a closer look at the LG G Watch R, learn how IBM plans to kill the hard drive and more! Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
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NVIDIA aims its first patent lawsuit at Samsung and Qualcomm
It’s true, Samsung is about to find itself back in the courtroom facing another round of patent litigation — but this time, the lawsuit isn’t coming from a direct competitor. NVIDIA just filed its first patent lawsuit in the company’s 21 year history, and charging both Samsung and Qualcomm with infringing seven of its GPU patents. NVIDIA says that it’s tried to negotiate licensing fees with the companies directly, but have made no progress. “Samsung repeatedly said that it was mostly their suppliers’ problem,” the company wrote on its official blog. Now NVIDIA is taking them both to court.
Specifically, NVIDIA is targeting Qualcomm processors with Adreno graphics, as well as Samsung devices using ARM Mali or Imagination PowerVR GPUs — this includes devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 4, Galaxy Tab S and several older smartphones and tablets. The patents at issue cover chip design, various processes, and lighting, rasterization and rendering technologies, all of which NVIDIA claims are violated by Samsung and Qualcomm’s unlicensed use of the technologies. The company is seeking a trial jury to validate its claim and assign damages, and seems optimistic that it the legal system will help it cement a licensing agreement for the alleged technology use. Check out the company’s official announcement (and its official complaints) for the full details.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Filed under: Misc, Samsung, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA (1), (2), (3)
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Our entire Milky Way galaxy is just a dot in this supercluster
Ready to feel small? Our sun is just one of 300 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which itself is one of many, many other galaxies — but at least we now know where it is. Astronomers have mapped a “supercluster” of galaxies including the Milky Way and dubbed it Laniakea, or “immeasurable heaven” in Hawaiian. Using several radio telescopes, the team calculated the movement of nearby galaxies relative to each other, after taking into account cosmic expansion. They chose the supercluster boundary based on that motion, since galaxies tend to flow along the same paths toward common gravitational wells. Lanaikea was defined based on its flow toward the “Great Attractor,” along with another supercluster called Perseus-Pisces. As shown in the stunning video below, our own insignificant galaxy is on a prominent flow path in Laniakea, right at the edge of a massive void.
Via: Sploid
Source: Nature (paywall)
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‘The Sims 4’ turns into a pixelated mess if you pirate it
Media piracy likely isn’t going away anytime soon, but a few game developers have designed clever ways to deal with it as of late. Take the newly released The Sims 4, for example. In series tradition, just before your virtual people shed their skivvies (for whatever variety of reasons), a pixelated censor cloud appears over his or her nether regions. As Kotaku spotted via Reddit, however, If you happen to illegally download the game, that tiny cloud will obscure more than just your sim’s reproductive plumbing: it’ll expand to cover everything onscreen. It makes the virtual ant-farm look a lot like Minecraft or Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, if you ask us. Annoying? Perhaps, but if you’re bothered by this maybe you shouldn’t be illegally downloading stuff in the first place.
[Image credit: nihwtf / Imgur]
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Reddit, Player Attack
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Apple supplier tagged with another round of labor violations
Apple’s gearing up for a very big day next week, but it to the people inside it must seem like this one will never end. First the company was implicated in perhaps the biggest celebrity leak of all time, and now it’s getting wrapped up in another round of alleged labor violations thanks to one of its China-based suppliers. A report released by China Labor Watch and the environmental watchdogs at Green America maintains that some workers at a Catcher Technology factory in Suqian that produces aluminum cases for Apple products were found putting in crazy overtime hours (up to 100 hours a month in some cases) and used toxic chemicals without without being safety trained.
All told, the report lists 22 labor violations ranging from sealed fire doors to dumping industrial chemicals into the sewer. The unfortunate kicker? China Labor Watch performed the same sort of investigation over a year ago — they found that the labor violations originally spotted at the Catcher factory had either persisted or gotten worse over time. To hear the two nonprofits tell the tale, these findings were culled from some 100 interviews with Catcher employees, along with the first-hand documentation from a special investigator — a worker who joined Catcher to see what was going on inside. Apple hasn’t stayed quiet on the matter, though: the company has planned a follow-up visit to the Catcher factory next month and reaffirmed its commitment to “safe and fair” working conditions for the employees powering its supply chain.
Filed under: Mobile
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: GreenAmerica.org (PDF)
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MakerBot CEO steps down to join new parent company
Bre Pettis has done more than most to bring 3D printing to the masses. But when MakerBot was bought up by industrial giant Stratasys it became clear that things were about to change. One of the first big changes is coming soon as Pettis, a founder of the consumer 3D print shop, is leaving his post as CEO to join his new parent company Stratasys. He won’t be involved in the day to day running of MakerBot any more, but he’ll still be instrumental in guiding its future. He’ll just now have a part in directing the vision of Statasys as well. In a statement CEO David Reis said, “We are excited about these promotions and pleased to continue the positive momentum that Sratasys and MakerBot have experienced and achieved.” Of course that tells us nothing about how the two companies will continue to evolve or if they’ll ever merge under one banner.
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Motorola’s new Bluetooth headset hides inside your ear
In case you need a stylish new Bluetooth headset to go along with your brand new Moto X, Motorola also announced the Moto Hint. Meant to be as discreet as possible, the Hint almost looks like an ear plug when worn. It’s so discreet that the Hint doesn’t even have buttons — simply tap its capacitive-touch surface to answer or end calls. As for the volume, you have to adjust that via the phone. Though the Hint can be used with any smartphone, it was specifically designed to go along with the new X thanks to its ability to recognize the new Moto Voice. As a reminder, that means it’ll recognize your custom voice prompt along with special phrases like “What’s the weather?” and “Navigate home.” The Hint even comes in six different design styles in fabric, leather and wood to compliment the X. Though we’re not sure when the availability of the Hint is yet, it’s set to be out this fall for $149.99 each.
If that isn’t enough for you, Motorola also announced the Power Pack Micro, a 1,500 mAh portable battery pack that can be used to find your phone or keys. If the Micro is attached to your keys (it has a keyring), you can use the Motorola Connect app on your phone to make it beep, and when you press a button on the Micro, it’ll cause your phone to beep too. The Power Pack Micro is available for $39.99 starting today.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
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