Roumen.ganeff

The last smartphone to feature an optical zoom camera was Samsung's Galaxy K Zoom, but we didn't like it -- no thanks to its inconsistent camera performance plus poor battery life; and that bulky body didn't help, either. Merely hours away from South...

When visitors see your new Sony Bravia, the answer to their first question will be "4.7mm," because that's how thick these new TVs are at their thinnest point. If, however, your friends and lovers aren't impressed, then you might have to wheel out so...

Wireless charging hasn't really set the world on fire. Since the Palm Pre first introduced us to the idea at CES 2009, a few companies have added similar functionality to their phones and smartwatches. Power without wires is undoubtedly useful, but n...

No parent likes to see their tyke battle a little sickness, only to have to exacerbate the little one's discomfort with constant thermometer probes. But what if temperature monitoring could actually be a soothing experience for the baby? Enter Pacifi...

It seems like vocalist Till Lindemann of German industrial metallers <a href=/bands/band.php?band_id=15&bandname=Rammstein>Rammstein</a> has joined forces with Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Tägtgren (<a href=/bands/band.php?band_id=125&bandname=Hypocrisy>Hypocrisy</a>, <a href=/bands/band.php?band_id=1612&bandname=Pain>Pain</a>) in a brand new project simply called <b>Lindemann</b>. An official Facebook page has been launched at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Lindemann">this location</a>. For now, only a photo of the "marriage" was posted but you can probably expect to know more really soon. <a href="/events/news_comments.php?news_id=25377>Read more...</a>

Think your VPN is safe from prying NSA eyes? Think again, bucko. An article published in Der Speigel reports that NSA has developed specialized tools that can uncloak the majority of VPNs online today. A slide deck from a presentation by a member of OTP's VPN Exploitation Team, dated September 13, 2010, details the process the NSA used at that time to attack VPNs—including tools with names drawn from Star Trek and other bits of popular culture. Comments

Following last year's Flower Power plant sensor, Parrot's decided to take it to the next level with two new Bluetooth Smart devices: the H2O and the Pot (pictured above). Starting off with the smaller device, the H2O is essentially a direct successor...

After an apparent seven-year hiatus, the electronic tape measure has returned... with a smartphone-era upgrade. If you don't see the screen, the E-Tape looks like any typical tape measure you'd find at Home Depot: rubberized guard for the tape, a loc...

NVIDIA has announced their brand new mobile processor for 2015, the Tegra X1. The X1 is the first mobile processor in the world capable of 1 teraflop floating point performance, which almost puts it in the same league as desktop class GPU and current generation gaming consoles. The X1 has a new octa-core CPU cluster, consisting of four Cortex A57 and four Cortex A53 cores with a custom CPU interconnect and cluster migration. The four A57 cores have 2MB of L2 cache between them and the A53 cores have 512KB. On the GPU side, NVIDIA has turned to using its latest generation Maxwell architecture, which we saw on their flagship desktop GPU this year, the GTX 980. Although not quite in the same league performance-wise, the 256 CUDA core GPU in the X1 is twice as powerful as the Kepler-based GPU on the K1. It's also capable of 1 teraflop of floating point performance. To put that into perspective, the Xbox One is capable of 1.3 teraflop while the PS4 can do 1.84 teraflop. The X1 has a 64-bit wide LPDDR4 memory capable of peak memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/s. It is also capable of outputting 3840x2160, that's 4K at 60fps, to an internal or external display with support for HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. X1 also has improved codec supports and can decode VP9, VP8, H.264, H.265 (10-bit) at 2160p60, along with 600 MP/s (megapixels per second) JPEG encode and decode. Tegra X1 also supports all major graphics standards, including Unreal Engine 4, DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5, CUDA, OpenGL ES 3.1 and the Android Extension Pack. Along with mobile use, NVIDIA also has planned other applications for the X1, namely in automobiles, with its newly announced NVIDIA DRIVE car computers. The DRIVE PX computing platform will be used for autopilot applications, where two X1 processors will take input from 12 onboard cameras for features such as Surround Vision that lets you see a seamless 360 view outside of your car on your screen and Auto-Valet for automatic parking. DRIVE CX will power your car's infotainment system, such as navigation, digital instrument clusters, audio system, HVAC, and driver monitoring. Mobile devices running Tegra X1 are expected in the first half of 2015 with automobiles leveraging the DRIVE PX and CX in the second half of 2015. Source 1 • Source...

Islamic extremist's movements were easily trackable down to the building via geotags in his Twitter post

It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Next thing you know, ecstasy ordering robots are going to KILL US ALL!! The concept would be all gravy if not for one thing: the programmers came home one day to find a shipment of 10 ecstasy pills, followed by an apparently very legit falsified Hungarian passport– developments which have left some observers of the bot's blog a little uneasy. Comments

Hayley Atwell was born in 1982. But looking at her on a recent December afternoon on the set of ABC’s

Need even more proof that vinyl is more than just a passing fad for the Pabst Blue Ribbon crowd? Here goes: While digital album and song sales continued their downward spiral, record sales have more than doubled since last year. All this is according...

Sure, you can get connected coffee makers, but they tend to brew whole pots (or multiple cups). What if you just want a hot cup o' joe when you get home? That's where Smarter's new WiFi Coffee Machine comes into play. The device lets you remotely bre...

Armed w/ only 2-10 missiles, the F-35 will be deemed "combat ready" in 2015, but won't have gun code till 2019, despite 20 million LOC

Lizard Squad probably shouldn't have bragged about being impossible to track following its cyberattacks against the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. According to both The Daily Dot and a Thames Valley Police report, law enforcement arrested alleged...

One of the oldest sales tactics in the book is using a freebie to get you hooked before slapping you with the bill for the second. That's why the audacious holiday season takedowns of both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live were, apparently, a mar...

Infected users spam friends w/ malicious image files, images actually work, but hide malware designed to steal your Steam acct.

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ZAKK SABBATH, the BLACK SABBATH cover band featuring guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE), bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson (OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE) and drummer John Tempesta (THE CULT, EXODUS, TESTAMENT), opened for ROYAL MACHINES on December 20 at Th Roxy in West Hollywood, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's 2011 release, "The Song Remains Not the Same", featured acoustic reworkings of songs from the band's "Order Of The Black" album as well as covers of tunes by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG, TRAFFIC and BLACK SABBATH. Wylde spoke to Music Radar about the decision to cover SABBATH's "Junior's Eyes". "With me and covers, you know, I'm always going to go for the classic stuff," he said. "Of course, we all love SABBATH — I mean, who doesn't? — so I was just jammin' on the piano, and before you knew it, I was singing and playing 'Junior's Eyes'. I got a piano vamp thing going, and I started singing Ozzy's melody." Asked if he had played his version for his former boss, Wylde said: "Yeah, I sent it to him last Father's Day. He was like [imitates Osbourne], 'Oh, Zakk, it sounds killer, man. It reminds me of a gospel tune.' No, Ozzy totally loved the SABBATH cover."

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor joined ROYAL MACHINES on stage this past Saturday night (December 20) at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California to perform the ALICE IN CHAINS classic "Them Bones". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below. ROYAL MACHINES is the new "all-star covers fun-times band" featuring former CAMP FREDDY members Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), Billy Morrison (ex-THE CULT bassist, current CIRCUS DIABLO vocalist), Donovan Leitch (son of legendary folk singer Donovan), and Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION, ALANIS MORRISETTE), alongside frequent CAMP FREDDY collaborator, singer Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY), and acclaimed drummer Josh Freese (THE VANDALS, DEVO, A PERFECT CIRCLE). Freese was unable to make last night's show and was temporarily replaced by Adrian Young of NO DOUBT. Since its formation ten years ago when they rocked the opening of The Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles at the invitation of Brent Bolthouse, CAMP FREDDY had performed on both coasts of America and on national television shows ("The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", "Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn", "Last Call with Carson Daly").

Previewing their tenth album "Beyond the Red Mirror" with the previously-released "Twilight of the Gods" EP, German power-symphonic metal maestros BLIND GUARDIAN capitalize on a long break with an encompassing and magical effort. For "Beyond the Red Mirror", the band worked with three different worldwide choirs from Budapest, Prague and Boston, along with two full-scale orchestras bearing 90 members apiece. The results are as larger-than-life as the band intended, fleshing out a sci-fi and fantasy piece bridged to their 1995 album, "Imaginations from the Other Side". As "Twilight of the Gods" (one of only two songs to clock in beneath five minutes) proved to ring like a broad-scoped, QUEEN-esque musical sonnet, the rest of "Beyond the Red Mirror" is simply massive. Beginning and ending with two epics that roll at 9:29 each, this album plays like BLIND GUARDIAN's reach for a masterpiece, and they practically hit it. You couldn't ask for a more breath-stealing intro with the gusting chorus opening the expansive "The Ninth Wave", a song stuffed as much with electronica buzzes and defined guitar lines as there are swarming voices. Hansi Kürsch, one of the best metal vocalists in the business, is nearly secondary to the enthralling choral tides that introduce and conclude the track. This could've been a near-ten-minute EP unto itself, that's how conclusive and meticulous the song is structured. The decorative harpsichord setting off "Prophecies" is a delicious intro for André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen to plow through successions of IRON MAIDEN-derived chords and marching progressions. Why BLIND GUARDIAN gets away with it is due to the incredible vocal outpourings around them. Again, the majestic theater aspect of QUEEN plays into this track as much as IRON MAIDEN and it's the proficiency behind the delivery that makes "Prophecies" sing instrumentally on top of the wondrous voices around it. Equally enchanting is "At the Edge of Time", which keeps a frolicking back beat and spritely orchestral accompaniment behind Frederik Ehmke's gradual stamp. The delicate measures BLIND GUARDIAN puts behind the thrusting march of "At the Edge of Time" are astonishing to behold, no matter how many symphonic metal albums you've been exposed to. The swift "Ashes of Eternity" gusts on the heels of Frederik Ehmke's fluid pounding, the breezing guitars and Hansi Kürsch's vocals, which toughen to full snarls at times, but never fail to exhale with full conviction. The gorgeous backing vocals add to "Ashes of Eternity"'s tireless drafts. Even more vigorous is "The Holy Grail" thereafter, which does HELLOWEEN and GAMMA RAY proud, much less HAMMERFALL and MANOWAR with its hurricane-speed tale of valor. Let the musical echoes of battle always sound this powerful. The 7:56 "The Throne" is a metal opera unto itself while serving the album's overall goal in sweeping the listener from one riveting plane to another, transitioning the twenty years between "Imaginations from the Other Side" and this album. "The Throne" works a little harder to find its spark as the band and orchestral pieces thicken up the longer the piece rolls, but Hansi Kürsch valorously leads the way and put to the stage, this piece should sound even bigger, so long as all of its recorded parts are presented live. What can be safely assumed is that the album's carnival-esque finale, "Grand Parade" will make it to their live forum. Cited by André Olbrich as the best song BLIND GUARDIAN has ever written, there's substance to this claim as it rolls, romps and cascades with all the gala these guys can load up. "Grand Parade" is a cheerful promenade for much of the ride with a thundering chorus ushering it along until a dramatic change in tone arrives with the first guitar solo, altering the course toward a valiant and clamorous bang. A return to the battle front with power metal thrusts and cinematic orchestration ram the song back to its original celebratory cavalcade for a triumphant finale. Indeed, this is the best song BLIND GUARDIAN has conceived. Phenomenal. With no disrespect intended to their contemporaries, BLIND GUARDIAN delivers symphonic metal of the highest art on "Beyond the Red Mirror". How far these guys have come since "Battalions of Fear" is not only remarkable, it's tremendous. As Hansi Kürsch has described the story behind this album, the red mirror is a representative, lone-standing portal to purported salvation and it must be found at all costs. What BLIND GUARDIAN has found with this album is inspirational and it's inexcusable the Grammy committee has long kept a sightless eye toward these virtuosi of metal music.

I love it when developers use tactics like this to deter pirates. We posted this earlier in our gaming news round-up but I gave it a post of its own so you guys could express your opinion on the matter. It seems that the first person to stumble in to Croteam's anti-piracy measures for their latest game The Talos Principle has surfaced today, as complaints of getting stuck and not being able to progress have come in. If you pirate the game you'll get trapped in an elevator during one of the game's key progression points and not be able to continue. You'll just be stuck. In an elevator. With nowhere to go. Comments

It feels like every single week there’s a new story about Baby Groot. Whether it be a new toy version of the character, a piece of art, or discussion of the scene itself, everyone just wants more information about the hilarious ending to Guardians of the Galaxy. If you’ve been on the fence about which version of the character to buy, you’re in luck. Hot Toys has revealed their version of Baby Groot and it’s pretty easy to say this is a close to definitive as we have. Unfortunately, it’s only 1:4 scale (which is so disappointing. Not 1:1?) but comes with interchangeable heads and bendable arms so you can set him in whatever dancing pose you like. Check out the Hot Toys Baby Groot toy below.

Here are a bunch of images of the Hot Toys Baby Groot via Facebook. The 1:4 scale means it’s only 12 cm tall, which is only about 5 inches.

And here’s their write up on the collectible.

“We are Groot.” Marvel Studios’ blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy, has taken the world by storm earlier this year. Groot has become many fans’ favorite character and the special scene of Little Groot dancing to The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” has been one of the most memorable and cutest scenes from the movie!

Now Hot Toys is excited to present one of the cutest 1/4 scale collectible you’ll ever see – Little Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy! The movie-accurate Little Groot Collectible features 3 interchangeable head sculpts, special paint application to reflect his distinctive appearance, and movable arms and body to recreate Little Groot’s dancing scene.

This Little Groot collectible will be a great addition to your display that will bring smiles to people!

Fans in Hong Kong can firstly purchase it directly at Hot Toys’ booth (F01-12) in Toy Soul 2014 from Dec 19 – 21. Please visit Hot Toys-Secret Base Facebook Page for details.

You can pre-order the toy on Sideshow for $45. You’ve got to think there will eventually be a 1:1 version, which would over a foot tall like it appears to be in the movie.

What do you think of the first Hot Toys Baby Groot?

The post Cool Stuff: Hot Toys Reveals Amazingly Detailed Baby Groot Collectible appeared first on /Film.