MPGH News (10/4/13)

**[MPGH]Psychotic** · 10-05-2013

40th Edition
10/4/13

Mentions and Thanks
For the past few weeks, the Thanks plugin has been disabled as it was causing too many problems with MPGH. Last week, Flengo had created a thread where members could vote to either: 1. Replace Thanks plugin with the old one we had OR 2. Allow Dave to fix it (You can view that thread here).

Originally Posted by Dave84311

Spent about a hour or two cleaning up the old data, the site seems a ton faster now. I need to add the old thanks back and we should be good to go.

Thanks is assumed to come back very soon. Mentions was added back earlier this week / last week after numerous intermittent disables and re-enables of the plugin.

MPGH.. Pharaohs?
A revived and new addition to MPGH - Pharaohs. @Raple Syrup had come up with this idea roughly 6 months ago, but it's merely a voting contest for who is MPGH's "Pharaoh". The thread is made at the beginning of every month, and voting lasts for 72 hours. The person with the most votes obtains the Pharaoh tag, which is no more than a vanity tag. The pharaoh, aka the winner, is allowed to have the Pharaoh tag on up until the next Pharaoh is chosen. You can see the most recent competition here: https://www.mpgh.net/forum/2-general/...-will-win.html

The tag has no "official" ranking, though the tag is given by an administrator once voting has finished. To learn more about the Pharaoh Competition, go here: https://www.mpgh.net/forum/2-general/...tion-info.html

User News:

- The week's edition contains two week's worth of User News.
- Call of Duty minion applications have opened up! If you have a strong interest in Call of Duty and you are wishing to moderate for the Call of Duty section, apply here.
- Battlefield minion applications have also opened up! If you have a strong interest in Battlefield, apply here
- Donate to MPGH today! You can donate via Amazon Gift Card or through PayPal!

Postbans

Congratulations to @Approved . on achieving 9,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Twin Cities on achieving 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Ghost on achieving 22,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Hannibal on achieving 26,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Proton+ on achieving 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Aborted on achieving 11,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Womanizer` on achieving 1,337 posts!
Congratulations to @HalfBajan on achieving 3,000 posts!
Congratulations to @[D]opeDog on achieving 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Vertice on achieving 1,337 posts!
Congratulations to @Lovroman on achieving 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Mr Monster on achieving 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Aborted's Son on achieving 3,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Skipsy on achieving 1,337 posts!
Congratulations to @Blake on achieving 5,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Gοku on achieving 1,337 posts!

Promotions

Congratulations to @Symmetrical on Minion!

Birthdays

Happy belated birthday to @Shadeyz346 !

Resignations/Demotions

@Approved . is no longer a moderator and a middleman.
@Twin Cities is no longer a minion.
@Paralyze is no longer a minion.
@Kenshin13 is no longer a minion.

Interview - Vertice

Interview - Raple Syrup

Rockstar Confirms DLC Plans

This was to be expected, honestly. Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies revealed that the studio has "about 45 years worth of ideas" up its sleeve. These ideas (obviously) relate to GTA V and GTA Online.

"We’ve got about 45 years worth of ideas we want to do. We don't know what GTA VI will be, but we've got some ideas. GTA Online is the focus right now. There ain't no rest between finishing V and then Online. Plus we have some other things - stuff, DLC, I don't know how to describe it exactly - that we'd like to do, and we'll pick the right ones."

Glad to see GTA V isn't going to be their last installment. Now all we need is a FUCKING PC PORT.

Need For Speed Rivals Gets New Screenshots & Gameplay Video

EA released some new screenshots and gameplay footage of Need For Speed: Rivals. The game will be using the Forstbite 3 engine, and will be released on November 22 for all three platforms (PC, PS3, X360). Also, the game will be locked at 30 FPS. I certainly hope it is. I mean, it'd better be 30 FPS the entire game and not just 30 FPS max. That'd be some bullshit. Anyway, here's the stuff.

Valve Files Half-Life 3 Trademark!

Oh hot damn, this is some bitchin' news. It seems that Valve filed a patent with the EU Trademark and Design Registrations Office a little bit ago for Half-Life 3.
The bad thing is, is that this may or may not be news. It may be a sign that Half-Life 3 will be completed soon, or it may just be Valve's lawyers securing rights for a future title. We won't really know, now, will we?
Below is a screenshot of the patent application from the OHIM.
[IMG]https://files.gamebanan*****m/bitpit/hl3.png[/IMG]

Boston Homeless man returns lost bag filled with money.
[IMG]https://lh4.googleuserconten*****m/IRcyBpkzKy1kifU_r8XwVqlVBZy8R3o1dDWJ-IsoiOMuSR-5eprWOzkaGpBsOVTyVloEy9_yE2rU82O3lIyoS1CqAFY54cLik 2dJUhE03UJEpdE9SIH46hDz[/IMG]
Glen James, of Boston, left, smiles in the direction of members of the media as Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, right, looks on during a news conference at the police headquarters, in Boston.

A homeless man in Boston, was honored for flagging down police after he discovered a bag filled with thousands of money, $2,400, and $40,000 travelers check, and other personal papers.

The Boston Police, Edward Davis, honored Glen James for his good deed, and awarded him with a special citation and thanked for doing an “extraordinary shows of character and honesty” (Such an honorable act, he should be awarded with the bag of cash.)

The bag's owner told workers at an area Best Buy and called police, who then brought the owner to a nearby police station and returned the backpack to him after confirming it really belonged to him.

James told the news that he has been homeless since 2005. He also said that he worked for the court system 13 or 14. He then lost his job after having a big argument with his boss. He added that it’s difficult for him to hold a job because he has a disease called, “Meniere’s Diseases.”

And get this, he said this to the media, “Even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a penny,” he wrote in a statement due to embarrassment about a speech impediment.

source: foxnews

Car bomb kills 40 in northwest Pakistan.
[IMG]https://lh5.googleuserconten*****m/fVCp4BezBI02dukdghai9ZP6Q9mJo_Cmc_9Kmsj6IO6xFLClaH A-zuw3NBtinQv8igubiWtMUgCzunCxI0njfbAsYBm0Zq7f2tntu-OPIOJ7dPBj1lIqMzyZ[/IMG]
A Pakistani man carrying a child rushes away from the site of a blast shortly after a car exploded in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. A car bomb exploded on a crowded street in northwestern Pakistan Sunday, killing scores of people in the third blast to hit the troubled city of Peshawar in a week, officials said.

A car bomb ripped through a crowded street in Peshawar's oldest bazaar, killing 40 people in the third blast to hit the troubled Pakistani city in a week, officials say. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The deadly blast occurred at the city’s historic Qissa Khawani bazaar, and comes a week after a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up at 130-year-old All Saints Church in Peshawar. That attack killed 85 people and injured nearly 150. Rescue teams immediately reached the scene and brought the victims to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.

The strike was followed by another on Monday morning, also in North Waziristan. The suspected American drone strike killed four alleged militants, said intelligence officials.
They did not have exact information on which group the militants killed in Monday's attack belonged to but said the area is dominated by fighters of warlords Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Haqqani network, who are both known for targeting NATO troops in Afghanistan.

source: northjersey

US Government shuts down after congress fail to pass funding the bill.
[IMG]https://lh3.googleuserconten*****m/pEkWVER_aTu7G4R0tPc7DC14tVV6-yXSBAJCel-_VDRIMqi5vZ33GxG8whk--CAn4BvvSIsiljqHcCIGK53cNnnlieI4IYpUw8gB8L6h46-oyRav_BXn63Ti[/IMG]
The mood was grim at the Capitol Monday as Democrats and Republicans couldn't get it together for the good of the nation.

The US government had shut down at midnight, after House Republicans refused to budge on their effort to link the passage of the 2014 federal budget to a delay in the implementation of health care reform. When they wake up this morning, 800,000 workers — about 40 percent of the government's civilian work force will be temporarily out of a job, while 1 million federal employees will be asked to work without pay.

Legislation was passed, however, to fund the armed services during the shutdown.

But I must say, I remain utterly underwhelmed by Barack Obama with regard to his glaring inability to inform the American public about his Affordable Care Act over these past many years since the bill was proposed, passed and validated by the courts.

In one of their final moves, House Republicans attached language to a government funding bill that would delay the mandate that individuals obtain health insurance and would force members of Congress, their staffs and White House staff members to buy their health insurance on the new exchanges without any government subsidies.

Conservative activists have portrayed the language as ensuring that Congress and the White House would be held to the same strictures that apply to ordinary Americans under the health care law. In fact, the language would put poorly paid junior staff members at a disadvantage.

Most people buying coverage on the exchanges will receive subsidies through generous tax credits. Most Americans will still get their insurance from their employers, who will continue to receive a tax deduction for the cost of that care. Under the House language, lawmakers and their staffs, executive branch political appointees, the White House staff, and the president and vice president would have to pay the entire cost of health insurance out of pocket.

source:nydailynews

US Capitol Shooting

A woman with a young child in her car attempted to breach a White House checkpoint on Thursday, prompting a high-speed chase through the security-heavy streets of Washington that ended near the US Capitol when police shot her dead.

Government buildings on Capitol Hill were placed on lockdown and members of Congress sheltered in their offices as the incident unfolded.
Capitol police said the woman was chased between the two centres of government, striking a police vehicle shortly before she was stopped. Officers shot the woman dead. The one-year-old child was unhurt.

Less than three weeks after a fatal shooting at the nearby navy yard left 12 dead, the incident put security forces on full alert and led to the temporary suspension of business in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers were debating the government shutdown.

The incident began at about 2.10pm ET when the woman attempted to get past an outer security checkpoint at the White House. She was challenged by secret service officers, and a police chase ensued. At one point, police cars surrounded the vehicle, but the woman reversed into one of them and drove off again. The chase eventually ended 1.7 miles from the White House, the US Capitol, where the woman was shot.

Witnesses reported hearing several "loud bangs” outside the Capitol complex. Video later emerged of a black sedan being chased at speed around the heavily-guarded roads close to the US Senate buildings.

"We heard three, four, five pops," said Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat who was walking from the Capitol to an office building across the street. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol, according to the Associated Press.

"There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder," said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology thinktank overlooks the shooting scene.
Cathy Lanier, chief of the Metropolitan police department in Washington, said the incident was not an accident and that the suspect attempted to breach two security barriers. "This was a lengthy pursuit," Lanier said.

Capitol police chief Kim Dine said the two scenes were quickly secured after a short security lockdown meant hundreds of government staff were told to “shelter in place”. He told reporters on Capitol Hill: “We have no information that this was related to terrorism or is anything other than an isolated incident."
He confirmed that a Capitol police officer was hurt. The injured officer was evacuated by a helicopter which landed on the lawn in front of Congress. The officer was not seriously injured.

source: usatoday

Google’s 15 Birthday, and new “Hummingbird” search query algorithm.

September of 1998 marked one of the biggest progressions in the history of the world wide web, the founding of Internet giants, Google. Earlier this month signified a big event for the company, their 15^th Birthday, and along with it, sweeping changes to the way we search using Google. Announced by Google Vice President Amit Singhal, the new search query algorithm, codenamed “Hummingbird, will better comprehend complex searches, and attempt to make connections between keywords and related searches. It will also better understand conversational language, including complete sentences, and diverse language aspects such as pronouns. Google states one of the main reasons behind the change is the large influx of searches from mobile devices via voice recognition, which uses much different search characteristics than the engine is used to. Though most of the changes have already been made, users will most likely not see a tangible difference until the system has been fully implemented.

Source: NYTimes.com, cne*****m

GPU14
Well, the long-waited event and release is finally upon us. On September 25^th, AMD announced its new line of Radeon GPU’s, live from sunny Oahu, Hawaii. The new Cards will be broken into 2 separate series, the Mid-Series R7’s, and the High-End/Flagship R9’s.

Starting off the new line-up is the budget R7 250 which will retail for less than $89.

The next card in the brand news series will be the $139 R7 260X.

Next we’ll be ascending into the Enthusiast tier R9 series with the $199 R9 270X.

Rounding out the lower-tier cards is the $299 R9 280X.

Finally, the card we’ve all been waiting for. The brand new, top-of-the-line, Titan Killer R9 290X.
Boasting over a whopping 5 Teraflops of Computing Power, the R9 290X is at least 10% faster than NVIDIA’s GTX Titan. Though no price point has been set, it will most likely be in the same general range as the Titan, though one can expect it to be slightly lower.

With AMD already dominating the low to mid end market, Nvidia’s only true saving grace has been the high-tier enthusiast crowd. AMD’s new cards plan to even further their advantage on the lower end, providing even more power for less of a price. Though the real threat to NVIDIA lies in the monstrously power R9 series, which seem to blow all of the GTX series out of the water, including the long-hailed Titan.

Sources: TechPowerup

MPGH News Team