There have been many efforts to be environmentally conscious, especially here at UCLA with tray-less dining and beef-less Tuesdays to reduce our carbon footprints and programs like Zimride to encourage carpooling.  Along the lines of public works going green, technology has brought about hybrid and electric cars. Well, that's one side of the picture when looking at traffic... there's also traffic signals!

Helping to fill the void of cool green-tech-meets-public-works design ideas, designers Cheng-Tsung Feng, Yao-Cheih Lin, and Bo-Jin Wang created a solar-powered traffic light (that could have easily been developed by the labs in Cupertino).

The traffic light uses a discolor LED that allows the red, yellow and
green signals to all occupy one space rather than the traditional
three-tiered design we have on today's streets. The trio won this
year's international Lite-On Award (Silver Level) for their striking design which hopefully will inspire
cities around the world to adopt this kind of green-centric
infrastructure in the near future.

Guys,

There is this crazy game coming, and it goes by Modern Warfare 2. It is the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Here is a preview of the multiplayer:

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Hands-on

by Mark Bozon

Multiplayer Hands-on: Part 1 – First Impressions

As a self admitted Call of Duty junkie – I'm going to classes, and I'musing the steps – I was eager to jump in and give the new multiplayerin Modern Warfare 2 a serious run through the paces. Not a hands-on"dabble" with the game; a realrunthrough. Thus far I've had a chance to play three matches, each ofwhich were different, and experimented with three different class sets.The beta we're currently on is totally locked out at the beginning,starting with each player at level one, and resetting every time a 20minute interval is up. Needless to say, that limits the amount of gunsI've had a chance to use, but it also keeps the playing field even.

The first major note I can make on the game is that, as expected,it's pretty unchanged in the gameplay department from the previousModern Warfare. IW knew it had a hit on its hands in the first game,and as such Modern Warfare 2 feelslike a true Modern Warfare experience. The team sizes are set at nineon nine, the levels are a mix of indoors, outdoors, and varied height,and yeah, there are still sections of the game when you're totallyconfused as to why you died. It happens.

As for what's truly different, I'll start with a few basics Inoticed. Bringing up things like the UAV mid-battle (and mid-sprint)seems to be more dependant on the gun this time around to determinespeed, and the game is hugely reliant on perks and create-a-classoptions. Semtex, a replacement for grenades, can actually stick topeople, walls, doors, ceilings… whatever. I tried to toss one at ashield, but didn't live long enough to see the result, sadly. They rockthough. It's a great way to pop someone hiding in obvious cover, and ithas a shorter fuse than a regular frag grenade. The actual weaponloadouts are also a bit different as well, with a primary and secondarygun available in every create-a-class. Rather than being stuck to justpistols, players can add a shotgun, machine pistol, or regular pistolin its place, as well as rocket launchers. Apparently someone else hadthe same feeling I did about shotguns – they're nice, but I'd never useone over a rifle or SMG – and decided to shoehorn it in with theregular set.

As for weapons, I've gone hands-on with quite a few thus far. TheRPD is back and virtually unchanged, the M4 is also entirely true tothe original feel, FAMAS is basically a bigger brother to the M16 (withthree shot bursts),and the .44 Magnum is like a more ADS-friendlyversion of the Deagle, and it kicks a whole lot of ass. I've clearedrooms with a .44, and not bothered to switch back to my main gun. It'ssick.

Other guns on the field include the RPD-like L-86 (it has crazyhop, but very strong. I'd place it between the M-60 and RPD from ModernWarfare), the AA-12 auto-shotgun, which I sadly haven't tried yet, thereliable MP5K (which looks to be a replacement for the original, atleast for the earlier level players), and the "yang" to the K's "ying,"with the UMP45. It's stronger than the MP5K, but it also scatters a bitmore at a distance. As a quick note though, both MP5 and UMP feel farmore reliable than the Skorpion or Mini-Uzi ever did, and the ironsights are a bit more manageable as well (think original MP5).

Another major change is the killstreak system, which is a hugeaddition in both a good way, and possibly a bit of a negative one;we'll see how balance holds out once we play more prolonged matches.Players can customize their kills at the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11increments, and while not all of them are open right away – startingPrivate class only has 3 and 4 – it provides some serious incentive tokeep leveling. These include everything from supply drops to predatormissiles, helicopters, UAV, AC-130, anti-UAV, and air strike. As for afew details on those, the predator missile is a cam-controlled dropwhere you can actually steer the missile and have the R-trigger toaccelerate its fall. Supply drops are interesting as well, havingplayers throw down smoke that actually brings in a helicopter drop.Anyone on the field can use it though, so it's a race to get to thebox. It can contain any of your killstreak options currently set(basically a roulette) and can seriously turn the tide of a battle.With that being said, it's also another area where the more hardcoregamers might be a bit concerned, as a lucky roll could mean a guy thattags four or five people could essentially unlock the AC-130 or otherass-kicking streak rewards. Of course the chance is equally good thatyou'll kill everyone around and steal the upgrade for yourself, so itshould all balance out in the end.

As for the levels, we've had a chance to try three different areasout, including Highrise (the level with the helicopter that'sstationary on top of a skyscraper), Afghan, which is set in a brownmountainous area next to an airplane crash site, and the Rio levelshown in the first multiplayer footage IW released a few days back.Afghan allows for some great sniping and has a nice network of indoorcave areas (as well as a shanty town), Highrise is a classic "side vs.side" setup with plenty of glass to shoot out and exploding barrels –as well as an underground network – and the Rio level is pure verticalinsanity, including a water tower, shanty town sniping posts, dozens ofhouses, and slanted streets. As a quick observation on level design,things are farmore varied in this game as opposed to COD4. There's more height, thereare more cover areas, and elevation change from section to section canbe drastic. Afghan has not only a great sniper perch, but also a fewareas where you're jumping from mountain ledge to mountain ledge.Pretty intense.

Multiplayer Hands-on: Part 2 – The Specifics

Now that we've got the basics down, let's dive into the real guts of Modern Warfare 2,which is the insane amount of customization. When it comes to puredepth and options, Modern Warfare 2 blows away the competition, andthat includes COD4. The killstreaks include an insane amount ofversatility, guns are far more expandable, and perks are even crazierthan the first game.

I'll kick it off with the guns, starting with the weaponsthemselves. The beta includes a huge range of weaponry, with the listcomprised of the M4, FAMAS, SCAR-H (which is a mix of AK-47 and M4),Tar-21, the MP5K, UMP45, a submachine gun called the Vector (similar tothe original MP5, but with a faster firing speed), the aforementionedlight machine guns, and sidearms. The SCAR was a blast to play with,and the iron sights were easy to use from even mid to long range.Speaking of long range, kills from a farther distance earn you extrachallenges, as do double and triple kills and headshots. Not bad. Oh,and the P90 wasn't playable, but it's in the list, and in the firsthalf of submachine guns you unlock.

Where things really get interesting, however, is in the newgun-based attachments. Modern Warfare had things like doubletap as aperk. This time around, gun attachments include modifications likethose as well, so you've got silencers, the ACOG scope, red dot, grips,heartbeat scanners, improved speed, and high-cap magazines. With thenew Bling perk you can have two attachments at a time as well, soincreased firing speed and a larger mag is entirely viable. These don't take the place of any perks either (minus the Bling one), so tweaking weapons is now deeper than ever.

On the grenade front, the same thing applies. There's now frags,semtex, throwing knives, but also a strange addition called "TacticalInsurgence," which replaces all primary grenades with a flare stick.Crack it open on the battlefield and you'll mark that spot as your nextrespawn point. This is a bit tricky to use, since you have to not onlyknow where you want to spawn next time, but also get there. If you useit right though (on Afghan you can crack a stick by your sniperposition, and if killed will spawn just a few meters from the personthat flanked you) you can dominate. This is also interesting forsnipers that spend time getting to out-of-the-way areas as well. Get toa killer spot? Crack open the stick, and hop right back up there ifyou're counter-sniped.

And then there are the perks. First off, Pro Perks. Pro Perks arenew additions to the game as well, allowing for you to actuallyincrease the power of a specific perk (say, stopping power or increasedspeed; another addition announced tonight) if you use it a lot. Kill aset amount of people with stopping power on – I believe it was 1,000…no easy task – and you unlock "Stopping Power Pro." These perks can beseen on the main perk selection menu, and like all the othercustomization in the game it's entirely streamlined. If you hover overany attachment, gun, or perk in the game and press X, you'll see infoon that selection, including how many kills you need for the nextchallenge or unlock. Nice.

As for other perks I noticed, the list goes on and on. Scavengerallows you to re-up on all supplies and ammo any time you cross over adead body, and new "deathstreak" system actually comes to your aid witha class-stealing ability – die four times, and you can steal the classsetup of the person who last killed you, allowing you to get guns notpreviously unlocked – and also a perk that gives you automatic healthboots for 10 seconds after respawning. The health boost is alsoincluded as a standalone perk, as is the Bling perk I mentioned. A newinfinite sprint option is included, "hardline" lets you get to yourkillstreaks one kill faster (if UAV is at three, you get it at twoevery time), there's a speed boost perk (which was the "featheredboots" pic in the original MW2 teaser trailer) that lets you runfaster, and then the expected stopping power and steady aim options.

And then there's the kill streak perks. The new killstreaks arewhat really elevate Modern Warfare 2 above and beyond any other onlineFPS in terms of customization and user diversity, even raising the barwell over what Modern Warfare did two years ago. Shown off tonight wasthe AC-130, UAV, anti-UAV (nice touch), sentry gun turret (which can beplaced anywhere and then moved by any teammate), precision airstrike,which now lets you change the approach direction of the attack, theamazingly deadly predator missile, the supply drop (which is theroulette of other killstreaks that drops in) and helicopter. Thechoppers are still pretty deadly this time around, though with none ofthe advanced rockets that appear to be in the game unlocked I'm surethis is balanced out later with a decent grouping of anti-air. I alsotried to stick a chopper with semtex, but didn't quitehave the arm. The predator missile is going to piss off a lot ofgroup-up clans, since you can instantly drop a huge explosion down onan entire group of people, but while I originally wasn't a fan of thisupgrade since it was overpowered, you can also see it coming on theradar and prepare for a good three seconds or so, gving you time to runinside or disperse. I avoided a few direct predator attacks, and it waspretty satisfying.

And finally, a few other "housekeeping" bits to mention. First off,a new version of Search and Destroy is now supported in the game.Titled "Demolition," this new mode (whether it replaces S&D or isjust in addition to it) allows for everyone on the attacking team tohave a bomb, and full-on respawns as the round goes on. Defenders tryto stop the attacks at both an A and B site, but if attackers succeedin a single bombing their time is increased and the focus shifts to theother site entirely. This was a great mode for using the predatormissile, as you could blow away teams that were moving towards sites,and the sentry guns (basically auto-turrets) could be dispatched atvarious choke points and used to control the flow of the map. Oh, andwhile I'm on the subject of capping and planting, shields are a bitchto fight against. You may not always have a buddy with you, but shieldcarriers can squat on a point and deflect a huge amount of fire. Imanaged to score some captures in domination using that tactic, and I'dassume "shield spam" will be a worthy tactic when dealing withheadquarters as well. As for the new mode, demolition is a greataddition to the Modern Warfare game set, and one I'll be playing rightup there with headquarters for the months (and let's be realistic;years) to come. Hopefully classic Search & Destroy makes a returnthough too.

We'll have more on Modern Warfare 2 soon, so keep checking back formore updates. As for this initial hands-on, the game is a blast, thebar is again being raised, and Modern Warfare 2 is proof positive thatwhen it comes to first-person shooters Infinity Wardis in a league all its own. This is just the beginning for ourcoverage, so stay tuned for future updates and more hands-on play as wenear 11.10.09.

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http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/102/1025233p1.html
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/102/1025233p2.html

Looks crazy, right? I'm definitely getting this game - gotta rock some n00bs.

Borderlands is a new first-person shooter/role-playing game developed by 2K and Gearbox software. Much like the earlier game Mass Effect, Borderlands combines the first person shooter genre with elements of traditional role-playing games like levels, experience points, and gear customization.



I bought the game under the Steam software to play on my computer. The game has been a blast so far but there are some problems.

I choose the "hunter" class, so I'm using sniper rifles most of the time. However, when the game determines accuracy (if the bullet will go where you're aiming your crosshairs), it uses an RNG (random number generator). None of the guns have 100% accuracy, meaning that even if you line up your shot perfectly, there's a chance you could miss completely. This can get pretty frustrating when you need to pull off a crucial shot, but otherwise it's not so bad.

Also, the skills you get to choose from to improve your character as you level up are somewhat limited. None drastically affect playstyle and sometimes don't even seem to do anything at all to improve the game. Nonetheless, customization is fun, and later in the game skills get more interesting.

The biggest flaw in the game is multiplayer. You have to sign up with Gamespy in order to play online, which is absurd considering that it's a fully capable online game and should thereby have its own service/setup. And for a game that promotes its four-player-co-op, it's honestly not that great. The monsters in-game get much tougher to account for more players, but the rewards don't nearly match up. It frankly just makes the game more frustrating instead of enriching the experience.

But all in all Borderlands is a pretty solid game. After a few patches are released, it could be a real keeper. It has enough to it to keep me playing it, which is the most important thing I suppose.

Need some reliable information about Earth but don't know where to look? Check out the Encyclopedia of Earth,the environmental science version of Wikipedia! It contains over 4,000different articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and other approved experts, who collaborate and review each others' work. The language is purposefully non-technical so students, teachers, and the general public can understand.

The Encyclopedia of Earth interface looks like this:



Another interesting fact about The Encyclopedia of Earth is that it belongs to the larger Earth Portal, which is a constellation of subject-specific information portals that contain news services, structured metadata, a federated environmental search engine, and other information resources. The site’s cousins are Earth News and Earth Forum,where one can leave comments on posted articles.  The EoE was launched in September 2006 with about 360 articles, and as of October 2008 had over 4,000 articles.

Encyclopedia of Earth contains 15 exciting collections of interesting articles! Don’t try reading everything in one sitting. You’ll be here for days!



If you are really enthusiastic about the subject matter, you can help add to the site by becoming a copy-editor! You will review articles and get to preview them before they can be viewed by the public.

Go check it out! The link is: http://www.eoearth.org/ .

You can't carry your wide-screen TV with you, so the Vuzix Wrap 310
video eyewear (available this fall) lets you bring the experience with
you. The sunglasses-style Wrap 310 allows viewing a 16:9 wide-screen
video from portable DVD players, laptop computers, portable media
players, mobile phones with a video output and all iPod and iPhone
models.

According to Vuzix, the Wrap 310's twin high-resolution
video displays project an image that's equivalent to a 52-inch
wide-screen TV when viewed from 9 feet away. The glasses also have
removable noise-isolating earphones and can run for up to six hours on
a pair of AA batteries.

The Wrap 310
has a composite video input, and optional VGA and specific component
adapters will be available. It's also PAL and NSTC compatible, works
with most 3-D video formats and has an on-screen display for adjustment.

The Wrap 310 also has independent left and right focal adjustment and fits over most prescription eyeglasses.

If you're reading this blog, you most likely live on campus.  And if you have a computer in your room, whether it's a desktop, laptop, MacBook, or Mac Pro, you've probably hooked it up to the internet.

Thus, if you're reading this blog, you probably have installed that mysterious little program called TrustedInstaller.exe, SafeConnect, or PolicyKey, all of which are names for the same program, which I will call PolicyKey.  You get this warning, and then download this file.  It doesn't seem to do anything, and yet magically you suddenly have internet access!  What happens?  How does it work?  And most importantly, what does it do?

If you're like me, you hesitate to install programs unless you know what they do.  Well search the internet all you want, and there's very little information about PolicyKey out there, other than it is the Product of Impulse and is a Network Access Control (NAC) product.  What does that mean?

We are blessed with a blazingly-fast on-campus network.  We are better than DSL, Cable, or even Verizon's FiOs offering.  We are very fortunate in that regard.  Unfortunately, with great speed comes great responsibility, and that means we are also an attractive target for viruses, botnets, and other forms of malicious software.  And because we're all connected to each other, if one person on your floor has a virus, that virus will quickly spread to everyone unless you are protected.  A virus that has taken over the network is not only dangerous to you, since it could facilitate identity theft (and take out loans in your name, or worse), but it also slows down, attacks, and damages the university's network.  Therefore it is in everyone's interest to stop the spread of viruses.

Therefore to use the residential network, you are required to have virus protection software installed.  PolicyKey is the method the university has chosen to enforce this.

Here's how it works.  When you access a website, your request to view that document goes through a UCLA server, which checks to see if you are a permitted user of that system.  If you are, it lets it through.

If you are not, you will be asked to identify yourself first by logging in with your UCLA username and password.  What happens next depends on your operating system:

• If you are running Windows, you will be asked to download PolicyKey.  Once this software is downloaded and is allowed to communicate with the Impulse servers, you will be unlocked and have full network access.
• If you are running Mac OS X, you have to download PolicyKey as well, however at the time this post is written it does not enforce anything on this platform.
• If you are running a flavor of Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Kubuntu, Gentoo, or Red Hat just to name a few) then you do not have to install anything; instead you have to periodically log in every couple of hours.

So if you're running Mac OS X or Linux, you are up and running!  If you're running Windows, a few more things happen:

1. PolicyKey downloads a list of authorized antivirus programs and rules for how to detect them.  At the time of this writing the list includes at least Sophos, including the free UCLA-provided edition, McAfee, TrendMicro, EZAntivirus, Symantec (Norton), Panda, AVG, AntiVir, Authentium, Avast, Microsoft OneCare, BitDefender, Kaspersky, SpySweeper, Nod32, and ZoneAlarm.
2. PolicyKey also gets a list of required Windows Updates - these include the Windows Firewall and all the latest service packs for the version of Windows you are using.
3. PolicyKey checks to ensure that all virus definitions are up to date.

If all of the following are true, it sends a message to Impulse, identifying your computer and the specific antivirus software you have running.  Impulse then unlocks your computer and you have unrestricted network access for a while.  PolicyKey checks frequently (every second) to ensure that these conditions are still valid, and notifies Impulse if any of these conditions ever fails.  Your computer must check in periodically to maintain this access, which is why the software must be running in the background.

So what's the take-away from all this?

• At no time does the current version of Impulse PolicyKey access or send any of your private files to anyone - not Impulse, not UCLA, not anyone.
• The only things it enforces are antivirus programs and updates.  It does NOT scan for peer-to-peer filesharing applications, illegally downloaded software, or non-genuine versions of Windows.  HOWEVER, and this is a big disclaimer, this does NOT in any way mean it's okay to do any of this!  It just means you do so at your own risk.
• The rules it is enforcing are common sense.  Keep your computer up to date and that helps you.  And what's good for your computer is good for everyone's computer.

Hopefully this was able to answer some of your questions, or put any suspicions or nagging doubts to rest.  Happy safe computing everyone!

Think that awesome, artsy wallpapers are only found online made by some mysterious internet artists? Well, with this awesome flash website, you can produce your own wallpapers with those same artistic elements with simple drag, drop, and scale actions. Check it out at:

http://wallpapers.x3studios.com/

How would you like to play a game on the big screen in a movie theater?  That's what Sony, PlayStation 3, and game developers Naughty Dog brought to attendees for their special cinema event promoting their new game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

While players played the game, the audience could watch the gameplay as if it were an interactive movie.  Using a 4K digital projector, the images were so clear that it looked real, and it would be a surreal experience to actually be able to play a game projected on such a large screen like a movie.  Pretty soon, movies will  actually become games that can be interactive with the audience.  Players can be a part of the movie by actually playing through it.  Now that would be an exciting movie.

Clockman is an alarm clock that can talk. It has large square face and an
oversized button on its head. When it talks, Clockman shows various facial
expressions. Clockman comes 4 different colors, each one representing a blood
type and personality. It's a really talkative alarm.





http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE0ODMyODY4.html