MPGH News - 141st Edition

**[MPGH]Hova** · 02-13-2017

141st Edition - February 13th, 2017

Staff applications are now open! Apply here.

- If you are interested in getting closer with the Adventure Quest Worlds (AQW), Alliance of Valiant Arms (AVA), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), League of Legends (LoL), Realm of the Mad God (RoTMG) or Pokemon Go (PG) community and you meet the requirements, feel free to drop by and apply to be part of the Official MPGH Adventure Quest Worlds Skype Group here, Alliance of Valiant Arms Skype Group here, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Skype Group here, League of Legends Skype Group here, Realm of the Mad God Skype Group here or Pokemon Go Skype Group here.
- This month's Signature of the Month contest whose theme is "Freestyle" hosted by the News Force has ended! The voting process has begun so please visit here to vote for the best signature that fits with the theme! The winner will receive $20 as a prize, courtesy of the News Force member, @Dynasty!
- The MPGH Photo of the Month is now under the voting process. The winner will receive $20 as a prize, courtesy of the News Force member, @Dynasty! Please visit here to vote for the best photo!

Donations:

If you are interested in obtaining a premium membership and donating to MPGH, please go here to read about all the benefits that being a Premium Member has!

Birthdays:
None this week.

Post Bans:

@Trol553 achieved 3000 posts! Congratulations on this milestone!
@Nyaro achieved 3000 posts! Congratulations on this milestone!

Signature of the Month:
The winner of the December Video Game(s) Themed Signature of the Month contest is @Ethereal as seen here. His submission will be used for the next few contest editions as a nice and yet, simple artistic sample with the purpose of making others join them.

Photo of the Month:
The winner of the December Unthemed Photo of the Month contest is @Predator as seen here. His submission will be used for the next few contest editions as a nice and yet, simple artistic sample with the purpose of making others join them.

Staff Changes:

Promotions:

@DarkLordXYZ is now a Minion+! Congratulations!

Demotions/Resignations:

@Gaar is no longer a Minion
@Paralyze is no longer a Minion
@Luffy is no longer a Minion

Hot Threads:

Federal Appeals court maintains freeze on Trump's immigration order.
On Thursday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the ruling of U.S. District Judge James Robart, who put President Trump's controversial immigration ban of 7 countries on hold. The panel was composed of one George W. Bush (R) appointee, one Jimmy Carter (D) appointee, and one Barack Obama (D) appointee. After Donald Trump's SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch is confirmed onto the court, it is likely that the Justice Department lead by recently confirmed Jeff Sessions will ask the Supreme Court to hear their case. As the court stands now, it would more than likely end in a 4-4 tie, in which case would hold the decision of the appeals court. The argument by the appellate justices is that there is no real risk imposed by immigrants from these countries, and that we already have a strenuous vetting system which would prevent any terrorists from entering our country. Federal immigration law gives the president broad authority to block immigrants from entering our country if he feels that their entrance would be detrimental to the United States' interest. The argument of those who appose his order is that his order is specifically aimed at the Muslim religion, which would be against the Constitution. They provide evidence of this based on his campaign speeches, the 7 countries named in the executive order are all Muslim majority, and that there would be an exception for minority religions in those countries (Christians) to have a pathway into the United States. The good news for President Trump is that the 9th circuit court of appeals is the most reversed appellate court in the nation, with an 80% reversal rate.

High levels of pollutants found 10km deep in the Mariana trench
This week scientists have investigated and discovered a high level of toxic pollution deep within the Mariana trench. Small crustaceans, such as crabs, that are known to live in the Mariana trench, were found to have toxic levels 50 times higher than the crustaceans that live in heavily polluted waters near China. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University in the UK, who led the study, stated how it is often believed that the waters of the world are a safe zone from human and naturally produced pollutants, but, unfortunately, this claim is far from the truth. Jamieson's team identified the type of pollutant responsible for such pollution. A group of pollutants known as persistent organic pollutants (POP). These types of pollutants do not break down in the environment, and, as a result, remain in the confiscated environment and further spread its pollutant characteristics on the existing field. In addition, POPs can accumulate in number, becoming an even more dangerous threat to the environment.

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South Park: The Fractured but Whole has been delayed again!
The first South Park game, The Stick of Truth is closely linked to the popular comedic tv show and was a massive hit amongst late teenagers. During it's first week of sales, it became the best-selling game on all available formats replacing the former owner, Thief. Approximately 2 years after release, Ubisoft released information that they have shipped over 5 million copies of the game.
Ubisoft later announced that they would make a second game in June 2015 called The Fractured but Whole and released a trailer the following year, in June 2016.

The sequel to the first South Park game has been delayed for the second time. Ubisoft originally released a date of December 2016, however they failed to meet "The high expectations of fans" and pushed the release date to the years first quarter. Now the game is expected to be released during Ubisoft's fiscal which is April 2017 - March 2018 however Ubisoft has reassured us that their team is "pushing the envelope during development to deliver the best experience possible, and this additional time will allow them to do so."

Luckily us gamers won't be without new games this spring, For Honor; Mass Effect Andromeda and Halo Wars 2 are all set to release shortly.

Valve confirms Steam Greenlight replacement!
Steam Greenlight is a place where Steam users get to decide what games made by developers actually make it onto Steam. Ever since it's release in 2013, developers and users have expressed constant concern in regards to game-manipulation. Since users get to decide what game they'd like to see on Steam, developers have been forced to turn their submissions into a popularity contest (this includes begging for upvotes, shares etc. in order to "make the cut"). In short, the whole system has been abused from the start and it's taken Valve 4 years to finally come up with a replacement for Steam Greenlight. They confirmed that Steam Direct will be releasing this Spring and will once again make developers not forced into a popularity contest.

However, that's not to say it won't come with its flaws. Valve has already stated that the fees will be increased in order to weed out the "bad/not serious games" because Greenlight was constantly abused this way. More details will be announced a week before it gets released in Spring, so it's time cross your fingers and hope that Steam Direct makes the gaming community a better place.

Sevenhug's Universal Remote
Remote controls haven't changed much over the years. They have been very straight forward and simple and in the eyes of the consumer, the simpler they are to use, the better. Many companies in the past have created universal remotes that worked with almost every single device. This is not new technology at all. In fact, universal remotes have been a thing ever since the first consumer grade TV's rolled out. Having a universal product is just one more way we have made things much more simpler. Currently, a company known as Sevenhugs has a new smart remote out. The smart remote can connect up to 25,000 different devices simultaneously. The remote comes with an indoor positioning system similar to the ones VR headsets use. By using the sensors, the remote is able to triangulate the exact position of where the remote currently is. With this feature, the remote is able to pinpoint it's exact location and pick up the slightest movement. The company decided to include a feature to seamlessly switch between different connected devices by simply pointing at them. If you want to turn on the TV, just simply point the remote at it and it will automatically switch to the TV's control. The device is surprisingly accurate and can distinguish different devices even though they are really close to each other. You can pre-order one today for $229 on their main website.

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The LG Watch Sport and Watch Style are now available to order
Earlier this week, Google officially announced the launching of their Android Wear 2.0 along with the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style. Both of them are available for ordering through the Google Store. The titanium version of the Watch Sport appears to be sold out, but Best Buy is still selling Watch Style for now. We can’t tell if they will be selling the Watch Sport in the future. The larger sport is sold for $349 and includes lots of features, such as: NFC for Android Pay, support for LTE connections, a speaker for phone calls, GPS, and a heart rate monitoring feature for tracking your runs. The smoother style is sold for $249 ( $279 for rose gold ) but it doesn’t include any of the features listed above. Though, both of them have the new Android Wear version included. You can visit this link for more info on the specifications.
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Katy Perry - Chained To The Rhythm
Katy Perry released a highly anticipated single this week (Feb 10) and will be performing it at the Grammy awards show this week. Although this track has very nice production and some odd elements never used by Katy it's main focus would be the charged up lyrics. The lyrics focus on ridiculing the masses for being "happily numb" and things alike. Katy is portraying she isn't happy with the world we live in and is also trying to push the point that no one should be oblivious to the things going on in our world or our nation (USA). A nice surprise to this song is the featuring of Skip Marley, Bob Marley's son. He reiterates the same points Katy was pushing just in a different way. Of course we've heard many many records along the same lines as this one; artists similar to Katy have been bashing the United State's political environment since the candidates for the 2017 election took place. The only difference between this record and the previous ones is that Katy's track is the first "fuck Trump" movement song since the man was placed in office.
Be prepared for many more politically charged singles from various artists this year, because they're destined to make an appearance.

Khalid - Shot Down
Khalid is preparing for the release of his debut album American Teen on March 3, 2017. Ahead of its release, the Texas rapper has been sharing new singles and taking his music across the country on tour. Last month, he shared a single called "Saved", and then he released another single "Shot Down" a week ago. He finally released the music video for "Shot Down" on February 9, 2017. The nighttime clip finds the soulful singer on a bus while young, careless skaters stroll through downtown Los Angeles, while riding around with weed, lit-up skateboards, and smiles. The group of young skaters roam through the city with a carefree spirit. Back on the bus, Khalid ruminates over a breakup. Khalid sings, "I don't wanna hear from the friends I thought were mine too / but i'll hold onto the poems I would write you". The single, "Shot Down", Khalid slows the tempo down in comparison to "Saved," and delivers a heartfelt message to match the mood of the rhythm. Relationships can be confusing at any age, even more so to teenagers, but Khalid seems to create the perfect soundtrack for the feeling of infatuation, longing, heartbreak and every single stage in between. Khalid states, "Shot Down is a very personal record for me and I really feel as if moments like this video are only the beginning of what's yet to come."
If you wanna pre-order American Teen, click here.

Carson Palmer 'excited' to return to Cardinals in 2017
After contemplating retirement, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer has decided to return for at least one more season. He confirmed via VP of media relations Mark Dalton that he will be playing with the Cardinals. This will be his 5th season playing in Arizona. 37 year old Carson Palmer confirmed with Arizona Cardinals official website that he is physically ready to take on another NFL season.
"My intent was to take some time after the season to get away and see where I was physically and mentally," Palmer said. "On both fronts, I can say I'm ready to get back to work and prepare for the 2017 season. This is a phenomenal group with a very special opportunity in front of it. I know how rare that is and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it." Palmer said. Palmer is a three-time Pro Bowler and was a candidate for the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player award. They will still be looking for a potential replacement as Palmer "got the hell beat out of him this year." He was sacked 40 times last season, 5th most in the NFL.

Toni Nadal to end coaching association with Rafael Nadal
Toni Nadal says he won't join Rafael Nadal in the ATP Tour beyond 2017. Toni Nadal, who guided his nephew Rafael to 14 Grand Slam titles, but that duo hasn't got a single major success since Australian Open in January by losing to Roger Federer in five sets. Rafael Nadal whose uncle and coach is Toni Nadal has been ranked the sixth most singles titles winner in the Open Era, winning 69 ATP singles titles in his career. Toni said he will focus on developing new talent, and developing new prospects. According to him, the best place to do that is Rafa Nadal Academy. "The relationship with my nephew is still very good, we have never experienced periods of crisis." Toni said. After a hard injury about a year ago, Rafael won the exhibition in Abu Dhabi and made it til the finals of the Australian Open, which he lost to his chief rival Roger Federer in five sets. Toni Nadal has spoken about Rafael and his injury saying he's in no pain now, and should return and "recover his game".

A $45 million dollar auction evaluation!
If you have some knowledge in the art world you probably know who Gustav Klimt is. His famous paintings & portraits are priced at millions of dollars. This past week Oprah Winfrey herself, purchased Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) for a astonishing $150 million. Thats not all, Klimt's Bauerngarten (1907) will be in auciton and experts value the pice at $45 million dollars. Some may question why art is so expensive, looking at these paintings we surely do question the reasoning behind all of it. The value of paintings is determined due to many factors like date, artist, uniquness, and couple others. We can safely say is has been a very good week for Gustav Klimt.

Illuminating facts about the UK's art collection
"Horses are a more popular artistic subject than dogs - that's one of 10 illuminating facts unearthed by BBC analysis of Art UK's digital archive, which catalogues more than 200,000 of the nation's oil paintings." The diversity of UK's pop culture scene is getting more and more diverse these days. Many artists are swaying from their typical style to sell their paintings for more. The way this works is; if you normally don't do something as a famous artist and you don't do a lot of it that piece will be valued at a higher price to collects because it's not your normal work. This is currently a problem happening over in the UK right now. The Art Industry is trying to get a handle on things.

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CounterStrike: Global Offensive Hacks
This week @DarknzNet brought us a flawless Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hacked client! This hacked client is extremely simple to use as always. But always be cautious while using you don't wanna get banned. This week's hack obviously features tools for you to use in game; Some of these tools and hacks are: Glow and that's it folks! There is much information and more on the thread! If you'd like to check the rest of the hacks and the many many tools and get information and what they do please read the thread. This hack is extremely useful. I can easily guarantee you will have hours of fun this week using this hacked client and for I for sure be using it. So as always, it's easy to use, and as well a very easy installation as well so no need to worry about that! Have fun using this hack!

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Art & Graphic design

This week we will be featuring the 'Art Design' section, which is moderated by the Global Moderators. We want to highlight this section precisely because the activity has been raised a lot since the competitions by Dynasty. We see better and more detailed constructive feedback on each other's work. People are opening up free design threads, where they are able to request a specific artwork for the cost of nothing as well as resources that are free to use. Next week the voting will start for both "Photography of the Month" and "Signature of the Month" that are submitted by users. The winners will be rewarded with a tremendous amount of $20, both for the POTM and SOTM. If you are interested in participating or if you're just checking out there to view the incredible artwork shared by the users, you can do so by clicking here!

You don't have a tumor... you're just fat!
Two days ago, a California doctor removed a 130lbs (59 kg) tumor from a 57 year old man who had been told by several doctors that he was just fat. What started as an ingrown hair 15 years ago, slowly turned into a swollen and infected tumor. He described it as, "I used to equate it, you just put a strap around your neck and carry three bags of cement around with you all day long, just swinging" (CBS).Since the tumor weighed over 130lbs, doctors deemed the surgery risky and gave Logan a 50% chance of survival. After a successful surgery, Logan is now recovering and after some physical therapy, will be able to walk on his own again. Setting aside potential lawsuits on doctors, clinics and hospitals, it's incredible how something that started from an ingrown hair 15 years ago turns into a 130lbs tumor without a doctor performing the needed tests. It's safe to say, I've already set an appointment with my doctor this weekend.