Jan 302012
 

Italys Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country, but at times there have been concerns that the entire thing could come crashing down. Just in case that happens Italy has now built two new leaning towers, and because theyre a hotel, anyone can spend a night in the slanting buildings.

 

via Italys two new leaning towers; just in case the original topples | DVICE.

Jan 282012
 

Investors have been salivating over the possibilities for years, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the wait is nearly over. Facebook is going to file for its IPO next week with a company valuation of between $75 an $100 billion. Not only will the IPO let people own a piece of Facebook, but this will finally let employees cash out those stock options.

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via Maximum PC | WSJ: Facebook IPO Filing Coming Next Week.

Jan 282012
 

Wasn’t it just four years ago that the pundits and game media gathered in wake, made a few pithy quips about graphics and soundcard drivers, and poured their 40‑ouncers over the grave of PC gaming? Well guess what, baby—PC gaming ain’t dead by a long shot. In fact, there’s a strong argument that PC gaming is not only alive and well, it’s thriving and poised to dominate consoles.Don’t believe us? Battlefield 3, one of the most anticipated launches of the year, only offers 64-player goodness to those on the PC, and tweaks the frak out of PC-only graphics that make game consoles look like peddlers of VGA output in a 1080p world. Smash a window in Batman: Arkham City on a PC with PhysX support, and you’re rewarded with glass particles flying everywhere—just as if you threw a thug through a plate glass window in real life. Do that on a console, and you’re rewarded with a pathetic tinkle.

Let’s not even talk about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which has enhanced textures and graphics on the PC that its developer, Bethesda, says will “melt your face.” And hell, we haven’t even gotten to the PC-only titles of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dota 2, and Diablo III, or the free-to-play phenomenon and MMOs.So are we seeing a resurgence of PC gaming, or are we just fooling ourselves?

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via Maximum PC | The Return of the King: Why PC Gaming is Making a Comeback.

 

Jan 032012
 

TorrentFreak’s top 10 most pirated games of 2011 list is out and taking the top prize was Crytek’s Crysis 2. What were the other top nine games that pirates stole last year? Find out after the jump.

With nearly 4 million illegal downloads Crysis 2 easily took first place. Coming in a close behind were Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, FIFA 12 and Portal 2 for PC.

Rounding out the top 10 most pirated games were Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii), Mario Sports Mix (Wii), Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) and Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360).

via Crysis 2 was the most pirated game of 2011 | DVICE.

Jan 032012
 

Facebook now offers a desktop chat application for Windows. Like the company’s standalone mobile app, it is called Facebook Messenger, but the Windows client includes notifications and Ticker to drive users back to the site.Ticker, a lightweight version of News Feed, has included Sponsored Stories since November. A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed Ticker in the Windows application will function as it does on Facebook.com. Though whether these ads are shown on the website or a desktop client could have different effects on clickthrough rates. As Facebook reviews adoption and engagement of the new app, it will also have to consider ad performance.

via Inside Facebook · Facebook Releases Chat Client for Windows.