Computer Talk Radio on KSGF
Play “Snake” Game In Any Youtube Video
Jul 29th
You can play the classic game of “Snake” on almost any YouTube video. No one knows exactly how long this mini-game has been available on YouTube or even why, but users can play the game on any of the new video player interface.
To activate the game, hold down the left arrow key on your keyboard when watching any video with the new player interface. The game can be activated when the video is either playing or paused, and does not work on embedded videos. However, not every video, especially bright ones, are ideal to play on, as it’s hard to see the snake or flashing objective. Watch the video after the jump to see what it looks like and how to play. Snake can be played in both regular and full-screen.
Digital distribution accounted for 48% of PC games sold in the USA last year
Jul 29th
According to a new report from market research firm The NPD Group.
21.3 million “PC Game full-game digital downloads” were purchased in the USA in 2009 while 23.5 million physical units were bought at retail during the year, according to NPD’s figures. DD raked in 48% of unit sales and 36% of dollar sales.
The group also offers its own ranking of the various digital distributors, divided into categories of “casual digital retailers” and those “which often focus on titles that are also offered in retail stores as physical purchases.” The ranking supports Direct2Drive’s refutation of Impulse’s claim that it held second place in the PC DD market, at least.
Top 5 Frontline Digital Retailers – 2009 (based on unit % share)
- Steampowered.com
- Direct2Drive.com
- Blizzard.com
- EA.com
- Worldofwarcraft.com
Top 5 Casual Digital Retailers – 2009 (based on unit % share)
- Bigfishgames.com
- Pogo.com
- Gamehouse.com
- iWin.com
- Realarcade.com
StarCraft 2: How to activate anti-aliasing
Jul 27th
StarCraft II is out today but, as you may or may not have noticed, it won’t let you turn on anti-aliasing and thus, doesn’t look as pretty as it could.
For Geforce owners however there is a solution: before Blizzard’s inevitable patch Nvidia users can simply use the override option in their Drive Control Panel to activate anti-aliasing, which will make StarCraft look that much lovelier.
PCgameshardware.com explains: “Open the Control Panel, choose ‘Manage 3D setting’ and ‘Antialiasing – Mode’. Now tick off ‘Override any application setting’ and force your favorite Anti Aliasing level in ‘Antialiasing – Setting’.
“If you now play Starcaft 2, you get smoothed out edges and in case of using Transparency Supersampling also smoothed Alpha-Test-Textures e.g. used for the vegetation or fences.”
There you are then; you can all stop complaining now. Unless erm, you own a Radeon graphics card, in which case carry on.
New Sophisticated Computer Scam
Jul 27th
The scam always starts the same way: the phone rings at someone’s home, and the caller – usually with an Indian accent – asks for the householder, quoting their name and address before saying “I’m calling for Microsoft. We’ve had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer.”
Dire forecasts are made that if the problem is not solved, the computer will become unusable. The puzzled owner is then directed to their computer, and asked to open a program called “Windows Event Viewer”. Its contents are, to the average user, worrying: they look like a long list of errors, some labeled “critical”. “Yes, that’s it,” says the caller. “Now let me guide you through the steps to fixing it.”
The computer owner is directed to a website and told to download a program that hands over remote control of the computer, and the caller “installs” various “fixes” for the problem. And then it’s time to pay a fee: £185 for a “subscription” to the “preventative service”.
The only catch: there was never anything wrong with the computer, the caller is not working for Microsoft or the internet service provider, and the owner has given a complete stranger access to every piece of data on their machine.
An investigation by the Guardian has established that this scam, which has been going on quietly since 2008 but has abruptly grown in scale this year, is being run from call centers based in Kolkata, by teams believed to have access to sales databases from computer and software companies.
Free Books for Microsoft Office 2010
Jul 21st
Having trouble wrapping your head around Microsoft’s Office 2010 suite? Before you plunk down a wad of cash at your local bookstore for an instructional book, give Microsoft’s free materials a try.
Novices will want to start with First Look: Microsoft Office 2010, a 186-page ebook in PDF format. This one goes over the changes introduced in Office 2010 and covers each of the apps.
For those will a little more experience under their belt, Getting Started with Microsoft Office 2010 offers a bit more meat for IT types. This one is available in Word, PDF, and XPS formats, and checks in at 259 pages.
First Look: Microsoft Office 2010 (PDF)
Getting Started with Microsoft Office 2010
