Post an article here if you'd like to apply to be a (DevBest) journalist.

[RastaLulz]

As the title states, post an article here if you'd like to apply to be a (DevBest) journalist.

In case you don't know what this thread is about, please read

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thread.

This thread is only for people to post self-written articles in order to show that they have what it takes to be a journalist.

Please include a title with your article, and do not post more than one article. Also, please make sure that the topic is current, and not old.

 

[Brown]

Call of Duty: Ghosts appears to have "borrowed" cutscene animations from Modern Warfare 2
Infinity wards latest Call of Duty appears to have a cutscene that bears a striking resemblance to a cutscene found in their earlier games, Modern Warfare 2.

Although both Call of Duty games were developed by Infinity Ward it's still highly unacceptable that they have decided to recycle content from earlier games to make a quick buck, an Activision representitive at the time was stunned and wasn't able to reply. Similarities found in the game were character animations and framing techniques.

Activision announced yesterday morning that Call of Duty: Ghosts racked up a gob smacking $1 billion in retail within the first 24 hours, although this figure includes units sold to retails and not necessarily consumers.

What do you think of this? Do you think it's acceptable to recycle old game footage?
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Incase you wanted to know I got the article from:

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and put it into my own words of course.

 

[Magic]

Gaming - Watch Dogs
Developed by Ubisoft
​

Watch Dogs! You would have all heard of it by now, An upcoming Action-Adventure stealth game set in the open world of Chicago where everything and anything is connected by a central computer network. You play as Aidan Pearce, a violent individual obsessed by surveillance. Monitoring his family 24/7 to protect them from the past. Paranoid Psychopath you say? Not exactly, his family does get put into danger once again as the story progresses. You will turn Aidan into a Vigilante Hero using every weapon to confront the corrupt network by himself.

The game itself centers on your ability to hack into the cities vast electronic systems to steal, distract and destroy data. By doing so you gain information and control information and you have the ability to destroy the device completely, that is of course if you choose to do so. All of the devices you can gain access to are controlled by the ctOS [city's central operating system]. Banks, security systems [e.g cameras], community hubs and even the cities infrastructure operate via this network. Objectives showcased in presentations include finding specific targets to kill, evading the police and following potential victims in order to stop their would-be killers. Combat utilizes a combination of stealth components and

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, along with the mechanics of a cover-based

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.

How ever, that is not all there is to it. The game features a unique online multiplayer element. The "multiplayer" experience is a one-on-one interaction between two human characters in which one player seamlessly and secretly joins the single player experience of another player. The person who is enjoying his single player experience has no idea that another player has just joined his game and is now under danger from backdoor viruses and hacks from the other player. How ever if the player who joined can find the person that is, saying that this is in an open world with greater density than Grand Theft Auto 5. If the the person who joined finds the other player the objective updates and he is now able to hack into the other players smart phone, if the player manages to install a backdoor virus they now have to hide from the other to ensure that they don't get killed. If they succeed in hiding and hacking they will gain some of the data the player who they have hacked has collected.

With Watch Dog coming in early 2014 to both the PC and Consoles I know that there will be quite some excitement from the gaming community towards this release. The aspect of the open world hacking idea excites me and I sure hope to play it one day.

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[Brackson]

Due to my new obsession with Bitcoin, I'll be writing a piece on the recent spike in its price.



Rise in Bitcoin prices: From $20 to $200 in one year.
As some of you may know, Bitcoin is an online decentralized currency, ran solely by its users to maintain and support it. Recently, Bitcoin's price has risen dramatically, from a mere $20 per coin at the beginning of 2013 to a whopping $200, multiplying itself by 900 percent, and it's expected to rise even more. In this article, we'll be looking into some possible causes for this spike in price.

#1: ASICs and other Bitcoin mining hardware.
ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) are basically hardwares that can be designed specifically to mine Bitcoin at a very fast speed, or hash rate. Mining Bitcoins (in laymen's terms) basically means solving a long mathematical problem and getting paid for it. This is done to put more Bitcoins into the economy and confirm Bitcoin transactions.

In late 2012 and early 2013, companies such as Butterfly Labs started accepting pre-orders for ASIC hardware. In January 2013, Butterfly Lab's smallest and most popular miner (Jalapeno) could mine at 7 giga-hashes per second, with the price tag of about $300. At the current mining difficulty and conversion rate of that time, it would be equivalent to $25 per day, and you would be able to break even after roughly 15 days. People flooded BFL (Butterfly Labs) with orders, and by the time that BFL started delivering their miners, the amount of profit people could earn with the Jalapeno was $9 per day. Two months later, that would go down to $1 per day. Now, it would earn you around $0.14 per day, and, with power fees, this won't even allow you break even over time.

In the past months,

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. People have invested more and more into mining hardware, thus driving up the mining difficulty wildly and keeping the rate of Bitcoin production unstable, which directly affects its price.

#2: Silk Road.

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, which sold drugs and drug paraphernalia, could be the reason why this spike has occurred. The FBI seized this black market on October 2, 2013, along with about 4 million dollars in Bitcoins, which is approximately 5% of the Bitcoin network. This crashed the price, but has since recovered and is rising rapidly. Some say that this is because the news of this has struck the interest of many more users into the 'bitcoinverse', and they have bought Bitcoins and are holding on to them in the hope that there's is a rise in value so they can sell them for a profit. This process has increased the demand of Bitcoin, and the supply couldn't match, thus driving up the cost.

#3: US Government Shutdown.
Due to

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, people have started to lose trust in the dollar. Having a small reserve of Bitcoins just seems to make sense after this.

#4: China.
With the creation of

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, an online Bitcoin exchange site, Bitcoin demand in china has increased dramatically.

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, a popular Chinese search engine, has now begun accepting Bitcoin for some of its premium features as well.

#5: After all of this, people still want to invest in Bitcoin.
Yes, that's right. People still see a chance to make a quick buck if they invest in Bitcoin now, and sell it for a profit at a later date. While this method may still work, it is very risky. Bitcoin's cost has been proven to dramatically fluctuate, as you can see

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. This is most likely a phase, and according to the theory of supply and demand, once enough supply is made (mined) to match the demand of its users, the price will go down.

Although determining the source of fluctuations in crypto-currencies is near impossible, these are most likely the culprits of this year's major growth in the value of Bitcoin.

 

[JayC]

BlockBuster: Gone For Good
If you are unfamiliar with BlockBuster, is it a store that allows you to purchase DVD's and games. It also sold other technology such as headphones. It was a popular store back in the 1980's through 2000's that attracted a lot of business. With the news stores online, and other places selling better equipment then BlockBuster could provide. BlockBuster provided items that where over priced and provided service that was not the best. They had a lot of empty space throughout the stores.

Sites:

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.

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[Wesleigh]

Microsoft and Facebook - The Big Bug Hunt.
With the internet being an ever growing entity, its meteoric growth seems to have become almost uncontrollable, has it not? But with such a fast-growing "organism", a few bugs are going to be present, and now is your chance to find them, (and earn a hefty wad of cash at the same time!). Three of the worlds largest companies are putting their differences and rivalries aside, to join forces, and work towards what they call "a safer internet". The collective board of Google, Microsoft and Facebook are going under the alias of

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(IBB).

To explain it in a more simple fashion, IBB are calling all hackers, who wish to earn a bit of well earned cash to trawl the internet in search of bugs and errors, that could possible pose a threat to either themselves or someone else. The project, which has been dubbed simply

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, is offering "bounties" starting from as low as £186 ($300), for specific areas, such as

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, and goes up to a minimum price of £3,110 ($5,000) for any bug found that could affect the internet as a whole, but this could driven up, if the risk you expose is so great that it could affect large amounts of people, or somehow expose the internet itself to a much larger, and more vicious attack.

Whilst almost anyone can start hacking these programs and start earning money, there are some rules that have been lay down, such as:

• The Hacker must not be in a country that the US has trade restrictions with, such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
• Although you may be any age to hack, if you are under 18, you'll have to collect you bounty of your parents, so make sure to ask them first!

Although it might be a "zero-day" vulnerability (one that is only found out about when attacks start to happen), make sure you tell IBB, and don't go round messing with other people's computers.

REMEMBER: You have two choices: You could tell the IBB, or you could use the exploit for harm. One will earn you a fair chunk of money, and the other has the possibility to get you arrested, and landed with a nice criminal record. Please, choose the right one!

 

[Sysode]

Google Nexus 5 Unveiled
This article will cover the latest smartphone unveil by Google, after months of speculation and rumours. Also, some extra information on Google's new OS (Operating System) - Android 4.4 KitKat.​

​

​

It's time - the new Google Nexus has finally been released via the Google Play store. It has been made by LG and is set to replace the previous Nexus (4) which has been Google's main source of competition for other companies until now.
The new Nexus 5 takes a minimal approach to its previous version, so even features like the backing on the phone have been altered to give it a more 'flat' approach.

Specifications
Now, onto something that Google appears to have done very well, so well in fact that it's new specs compare to that of it's main competition, iPhone 5C. Here are just some of the important specs:​

• 8.59mm thin - slimmer than the iPhone 5, but not as slim as the Samsung Galaxy s4;
• 5-inch full HD screen with a resolution of 1920x1080p - higher resolution than the iPhone 5 and even the Amazon kindle Fire HD;
• Powered by a quadcore 2.3GHz processor;
• 2GB of RAM;
• 16GB of storage pre-installed - no room for extra though unfortunately;
• 8m Mega Pixel rear camera & 1.3 Mega Pixel front-facing camera;
• Wireless charging;
• Ability to run on the new 4G internet connection.

And of course, Google's latest OS - 4.4 KitKat.

Google Now
Finally something new and innovating that google have added to the Nexus 5 - Google Now. What is this? if you haven't heard already, then the Google Now is pretty much a replica of "Apple's Siri". It allows the phone handler to set alarms, ask questions and perform certain tasks all without any physical movement. It's also smart enough to recognise that it is your voice asking for the tasks to be done, rather than someone else..

The Nexus 5 release date is today, you'll be able to buy the 16GB version in either Black or White for £299 whilst the 32GB version will set you back £339.

What is 4.4 KitKat?
Now, as previously mentioned, it is Google's latest and greatest (in my opinion) OS. It features some key design edits/changes and features more room for full HD displays. It also features alterations for better performance and battery life, better sensors for better interactivity, faster multi-tasking, smarter caller 'ID', screen recording and many more.
--
If you are interested in finding out more about what's changed in Android 4.4 - I'll be writing an article explaining more in-depth shortly
(used for appearance reasons - I'll write one if I get the position etc)

 

[Settaz]

Eminem Claims his Seat at the Table with Marshall Mathers LP 2​

Eminem, Mr. Marshall Mathers, has released his final LP which is the sequel to one of the greatest LP's of all time, Marshall Mathers LP. In this album Eminem re-visits what has made his albums great and taking a look back at his legacy overall. The raw Eminem that was loved by many has returned, and though the bar of the first LP's of Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP is to high for almost anyone to touch he comes pretty close to revisiting this level. With songs like "So Much Better", that reminds you of "Kill You" from the first LP, where Eminem is the fun villain that just wants to get rid of those females that put a dent in his heart (jokingly of course, maybe). Then there's "So Far" that oh so reminds me of "The Way I Am", which was a staple from MMLP.

What Eminem wanted to do has been done, he wants to revisit that place where he was at his best, though he can never go back to that, he can come pretty damn close as he has in his final LP. Along with revisiting that, he wants to let his Legacy be known and his immortality in the rap game to shine as he expresses in the songs "Rap God" and "Legacy."

So, overall how was the LP? Was it his best and a classic like the first? Of course not, but who can make something that great ever again? It's a good follow, because we all know the second is never as good as the first. But, I enjoyed listening to Eminem having fun, revisiting his past, and somewhat passing the torch of respect to Kendrick Lamar by including him on the LP. I could listen to this all the way through, and I don't have the sudden urge to skip a song upon the first listen (well to Survival, but that doesn't count).

Score: 8.5/10

 

[Adil]

This is more a random editorial (a collection of my thoughts):

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[VaginaMuncher]

Everything apple? Take another look... (My article is based on apples devices into comparisons to other devices)
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Apple, just another business which came out in glorifying success, the famous brand known as Apple was established on April 1, 1976 in the area of Los Altos, California, Apple was originally created by three determined founders;

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(24/2/1955 till 5/8/11).

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, (17/5/1934 till current).

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, (11/8/1950 till current).

Over the years of Apple's market technology releases such as iPhones, iPods, iPads along side the original product, the Apple mac computers. Since day one, their was always a query about rival companies, and being unique. One of apples biggest rivals are Samsung, a growing company which was created in 1938 have been marketing phones and tablets competing for the title 'The worlds most valuable company' which is famously known that apple currently holds the title!

The iPhone, iPods & iPads, famously known to many apple haters as the same product over and over again, Apple has been accused by many companies to be repeating the same features or even claiming newly implemented features to be new, even though other technologies have released them some time ago. Apples desire to prove these companies they're aspiring developers which are creating next-gen features for the iDevice products such as the brand new iPhone 5s/5c's finger print ID protection, wow! really?... Yeah, the revolutionizing technology has finally been included to work on a smart phone device, these are known to many average programmers to be impossible due to storage coding. But apple hit the jackpot yet again.

Blackberry, another mobile/table company.. a fairly old business which has come to life in the recent years, recently released the brand new smart phone (The Blackberry Z10) which has been linked to a scandal of which iPhone accused Blackberry of 'mocking' and 'copying innovative ideas' and Apple are prepared to sue and take legal coverage, over the past few days the question still lies. will Apple actually sue? Are they not rich enough already?

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- Thanks for reading, Brontes (Ryan, All credit to myself apart from images, sorry for any awful grammar, I'm ill currently, thought I'd give this a go)

 

[zMagenta]

Major Bitcoin Theft, according to Owner.

A man, living in Australia, claims that 4,100 Bitcoins were stolen from his account by outside sources who 'supposedly', 'hacked' into his account in two separate attacks.

A man who was running a 'wallet storage' system online, had his account compromised in two separate attacks from an unknown source. The overall total of the cost is not yet fully known, but it is somewhere in the region of around $1,000,000 AUD (or there abouts).

He said "I will not report this to the police, seeming as Bitcoin transactions are impossible to trace". This has caused speculation about whether this was an 'inside' job, from the managerial team (or any other team) within the Bitcoin team.

Two attacks were sent on the account, one for only, in USD terms, around $50.00. This is what we believe to be a 'test', to see if funds could be moved from his account without making a sound. The other transaction was around the million dollar mark.

In an interview with ABC, a man who used the same username 'TradeFortress', denies heavily that he was involved and claims he has no understanding of the meaning or use of Bitcoins, so this lead to another dead-end in the search for this so called, stolen money.

According to a Sydney newspaper (The Sydney Herald), this theft happened on the 26th of October, but only told his customers on his website this week.

The message on his site read: "I'm sorry, I know this doesn't mean much, and saying that I'm sad is an understatement. Please don't store Bitcoins on an internet-connected device, regardless if it's your own service or not".

This comes just two days after the recent blog entry that Bitcoin could be under attack which could gradually allow access to the whole of the digital cash system, which is widely used to buy products and items online.

So, is Bitcoin really safe and secure as they make it out to be? Or is it an inside job from Bitcoin itself?

 

[Mikael_Sojka]

A New war game era is here!

Only some months ago the action game S.K.I.L.L Special Forces 2 was in Closed BETA, now it got over one thousand players!

S.K.I.L.L SF2 got everything that you can wish from a war game, some features are:

• Purchasable VIP Rank
• VIP Weapons
• Weapon shop
• Multiple game modes and rooms

And Much much more!

I was Closed BETA tester and I can tell you that the game has been upgraded COMPLETELY since then, some new game modes where added, some game modes are
Team Death match where you are in a red or a blue team, first team to get the sat score or that have highest score when the time is up wins, there is also Blasting mode where you get a sat time and you have to team with your team mates to blow as many enemy targets as possible, Death Match/One Vs One where you are alone and have to survive by killing the other people and evade of being hit by the enemy players, there are also many other modes but they are to many to list!

The game got everything from M16 to Golden AK-47, Flash bang to Smoke Grenade, they got most of the weapons that you like, please notice that the game is still in BETA phase and under development, there is more but to make it more exciting for you, I will let you check it on your own, visit the home page by clicking

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The game is 100% for free, it is in Open BETA and under development.

Thank you to the S.K.I.L.L Special Forces 2 Development team for bringing us this amazing game! I hope you all download it and enjoy!

Source: S.K.I.L.L SF2 Website

Source: Google Images

More info to come...

 

[lepos]

Windows Phone Store - Is It Good Enough?

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Windows Phone may have over 170,000 applications roaming around but are the customers really content with this store? I mean, come on; there are some very big name applications and developers missing from the store. Microsoft are trying their hardest to patch the black hole in their app store, the one that Android and the iOS have managed to patch in theirs. Recently it has come to the attention of the customers that major name developers are just convinced that they want to spend their time developing applications for the Windows Phone, so Microsoft developers have taken matters into their own hands!

The users of the windows phone store are over the moon when they see 6tag in the app store or MetroTube, because they finally have their own versions of Instagram and Youtube... But I wonder, how long will this last for? How long will people be content with having un-official applications on their phones? Many of you will plead "Of course, they're still getting the applications aren't they?" - but think again, what happens when the developers of these un-official applications decide to stop developing them? How will the windows platform users feel when they find their friend who has the iPhone in their hands is scrolling down the timeline with the latest update of the Facebook application? They'll feel like their phone isn't good enough, the questions is, is it good enough?

Mobiles always have been and always will be about what they have to offer and if applications are lacking then what platform are people going to go for? Don't get me wrong, the phone themselves are remarkable, the interface and most of the internal specifications are outstanding but people don't want one part of the package, they want the whole package and maybe even more. Even when developers do make official applications for the windows store, the functionality of the applications are never as good as the Android and iOS ones, they lack many features and this is purely due to the fact that developers are not really meeting eye to eye with the windows platform.

The questions you have you ask yourself now are:

• Is the windows phone worth the hassle of not having all the good applications?
• How long will developers take to actually make the applications for windows?
• Will the windows phone survive?!

(This would be if it had a comments section) Tell us all your answers to these questions below, we want to hear what you think and maybe it could improve our way of looking at the Windows Phones!