MPGH News (8/30/13)

**[MPGH]Psychotic** · 08-31-2013

36th Edition
8/30/13

MPGH Errors, Problems, and vBulletin Upgrade
Earlier this week and some of last week Dave was out of state, and could not attend to MPGH. During this time, MPGH encountered a few errors including the major Error 403 when you would try VMing, posting, making threads, etc. When Dave came back, he upgraded MPGH's vBulletin to the most recent version and with that came many problems which were quickly fixed.

If you encounter any problems, you can report them here: https://www.mpgh.net/forum/2-general/...lems-here.html

With the upgrade came many problems as was said before, and one of which was one of the plugins we had were unable to be updated without paying. An important plugin, our Search function, was not functional. Dave allowed a user to donate for $25 which would go towards this plugin, and if you did not have DONATOR tag and usergroup you would be given it. As of now, the Search function is once again back up and working which can be found where it always has been at the top right of the website.

You may have also spotted a lot of new changes with the new vBulletin upgrade such as a new design for "Thanking" users, and you're also told who has thanked you by notification along with many misc changes to your stats under your avatar, and much more!

User News

- Become a Donator today!: https://www.mpgh.net/forum/2-general/...on-thread.html

Postbans

Congratulations to @Flengo on 6,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Boombox on 14,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Scammer on 7,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Distraught on 1,337 posts!
Congratulations to @Frost on 5,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Doc on 21,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Leggers on 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Invis. on 2,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Brinley on 3,000 posts!
Congratulations to @Vice-Versa on 18,000 posts!

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to @Blitz !
Happy Birthday to @Scammer !
Happy Birthday to @Symmetrical !

Promotions/Special

@Nitekillr is now an editor for the News Team.

Interview - Oneirish

[MPGH]Flengo: Hey Oneirish, how are you?
Oneirish: I'm doing pretty good, just actually finished a few more armors for Arun's Battletale. Let me tell you, it definitely does a number on my hand from all these drawings haha.
[MPGH]Flengo: They're all excellent drawings. When did you first join MPGH?
Oneirish: So I originally joined MPGH in 2008 when I was like 15 years old looking for WarRock Hacks since that was the only game my computer could run at the time.
[MPGH]Flengo: I used to be a WarRock player as well. What was your first impression of MPGH after you had settled in?
Oneirish: So I mostly stayed in the WarRock section trying to find some public hacks, but as a few months past I discovered the General Section and the Graphics Art section. The general section was definitely a place that I could go to to talk about whatever was on my mind, everything from Music/Games/Politics/School/Life whatever. I've practically been there ever since with the art section and graphics section here and there.
[MPGH]Flengo: As many members of the members have noticed, you're very talented with your art. How were you inspired you to go along that line? Also, how long have you been doing such art related things for?
Oneirish: So I recently put up a thread in the Art Section of all my art I've done over the years. I started off with intricate traditional art around 2007 and stuck with it till around 2010. After that I kinda took a break from MPGH for a few months, spent some time trying to change my style up which ultimately ended up with my abstract chaotic style art which is what I'm trying to push more towards. I feel like that style expresses me as a person so I've been stuck with it ever since.
[MPGH]Flengo: Its best to express yourself with your art, as I feel that's what it's mostly about. But I don't know much about art, I'm an extremely horrible artist. As mentioned earlier, @arunforce has said he will be implementing some of your drawings for BattleTale into the game. How did that feel?
Oneirish: So back when I first started with MPGH I've always looked up to Arun and Dave so I was always trying to help improve the site however I could whether it was Graphic art/drawing/etc. So the fact that Arun took the time to ask me to draw something for the game was an awesome feeling! I felt like my art could be used for something more rather than just a personal hobby. Arun liked the drawing I did, he asked for a few more, so now it pretty much lead to me drawing armors, items, weapons, and monsters for the game.
[MPGH]Flengo: They all looked fantastic. All of us can't wait for them to be implemented into the game! Is there anything else that you do outside of MPGH in your free time?
Oneirish: So I live in the United States (Colorado) but love to travel a lot. I'm currently in Guatemala helping out some family run their shop and doing some community volunteer work so it leaves me with a lot of extra time on my hands. I'm trying to use this time to focus on my art, change up my styles, do custom work for members of MPGH (which is cool since it's out of my 'norm'), and help Arun with whatever he needs. Other than that it's just listening to music, having a few beers here and there, and enjoying everything this culture has to offer!
[MPGH]Flengo: That's sounds really cool and fun! Before we end this interview, would you like to give shout outs to anyone?
Oneirish: Well ever since I started to become a little more active, a lot of the users from a few years ago aren't active anymore unfortunately. Other than that, i'd have to say @Aborted, @Ecstasy, @arunforce, @Dave84311, @Doc, and @Alen have always been close MPGH friends so I just want to say thank you to those guys. I also want to add that I appreciate the MPGH community for being so amazing with all your comments, suggestions, feedback, etc. on all my art. You guys have definitely given me a lot of inspiration and I look forward to what the future will bring!
[MPGH]Flengo: Well thank you for your time Onirish. Hope to see more of your work soon!
Oneirish: Thanks for the interview! Great job with the GM as well!
[MPGH]Flengo: Thanks a lot!

Greenlight Adds HOW Many Games?

Yesterday, Valve celebrated the one year anniversary of Greenlight by adding 100 games to Steam's library. Yikes.
In a press release, Gabe Newell said

[...] launching Greenlight and evolving our backend toolset has helped us increase our publishing throughput, pushing the number of independent titles released in the last twelve months to equal the number of titles published from all other categories combined. We expect that number to grow dramatically as we continue to iterate upon our developer service features and seek more ways to improve Steam's value to the community.

For those of you who live under a rock, Greenlight is a way for games (mostly) made by indie developers to get on Steam. If enough of the community gives it a thumbs up, it'll be released. Simple as that.
Still though. 100 games. God damn.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Closed Beta

Blizzard Entertainment, a company known for making you pay to win just released an online card game. That doesn't sound familiar at all. To prevent talking smack about it, I'm just going to post this video instead.

Unity Engine Shows Some Tits

Aww yeah this is my kind of story. Lee-Perry Smith just released a video showing off the most photorealistic characters probably ever. She shows off the lighting, changes the background a few times, but nobody cares about that. You get to see some high-res nude women. In all seriousness, there's some extremely good texturing going on here, and it's definitely worth checking out. Video is NSFW (though that was probably obvious).

Current conflictions between the U.S. and Syria alleged use of chemical weapons
[IMG]https://static.prisonplane*****m/p/images/june2013/140613obama.jpg[/IMG]
On Thursday, August 29, 2013 President Obama made a speech regarding the U.S. military’s retaliation for Syrian chemical weapons. Many intelligence officials prepared briefings for Congress on evidence aimed at linking last week’s attack on civilians to President Bashar Assad’s Government.
New Hurdles appeared to have slowed down the formation of an international coalition to undertake military action. Still questions remain about the strength of the case against Assad.
Russia has blocked British efforts to seek a “force resolution” at the United Nations. British Prime Minister Dave Cameron said “his country would wait to join any military efforts until a U.N. chemical weapons inspection team releases its findings.” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the team is expected to complete its inspection Friday and report to him Saturday. They will share their conclusions with members of the Security Council, Ban said, but he didn’t specify when that might happen.
“If any action would be taken against Syria, it would be an international collaboration,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.
More information regarding the conflicts can be read here: Obama says US action against Syria would send ‘strong signal,’ but momentum slows for strike - National | Globalnews.ca

Swimming Apes Caught on Tape:

Researchers now have the first video evidence that apes can learn to swim and dive. Like humans, wild apes exposed to deep water will fumble and flail. Our uncoordinated movements bear little resemblance to the tried-and-true doggy paddle that most other mammals use instinctively. But a chimpanzee named cooper and an orangutan named Suryia, both raised in captivity and regularly exposed to bathtubs and swimming pools, developed unexpected underwater skill. Reassured by the presence of a safety rope, Cooper became increasingly adventurous over a period of day: He could tread water, submerge himself (with eyes shut tight), and propel himself with a kick reminiscent of the human breaststroke. Suryia also opted for a breaststroke-esque kick, but took his skills a step further, opening his eyes underwater and traveling up to 4 meters while submerged for as long as 15 seconds. In a report this week in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, researcher offer an evolutionary explanation: When an early ancestor of modern apes took to the trees, they say, innate swimming ability like lost its advantage, and the trait disappeared. The fact that our muscles and brains adapted to graful swinging movements in the air and upright walking on the ground might account for the lengthwise reaching and pulling movements that define Cooper and Cuyria’s aquatic style. More information and video can be found here:
Video: Swimming Apes Caught on Tape | Science/AAAS | News
Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.
Using electrical brain recording and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stocco on the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard.
While researchers at Duke University have demonstrated brain-to-brain communication between two rats, and Hard researchers have demonstrated it between a human and a rat, Rao and Stocco believe this is the first demonstration of human-to-human brain interacting.
“The internet was a way to connect computer, and now it can be a way to connect brains,” Stocco said. “We want to take the knowledge of a brain and transmit it directly from brain to brain”

More information can be found here: Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface | UW Today

Deer take over town in Japan

In Nara Park Japan a group of deer apparently decide to take over the streets. No explanation for why they were. They seemed to be very harmless and docile while just enjoy the “walk in the park”

Sweden Needs More Trash

Sweden has always been ahead when it comes to reducing its environmental impact. To make power, the country does something unique: it tunrs trash into power on a national scale using high-power incinerators. At first glance, it solves two problems: Getting rid of trash before it piles up and generating electricity without burning dirty fossil fuels.
But now Sweden is hitting a wall. According to the country’s Eviornmental Protection Agency, it needs more trash to feet Sweden’s energy habit, and it’s begun importing trash-just over 881,000 tons from nearby Norway to do it.
It’s an innovative idea that seems to work for everyone. Sweden powers most of it homes and business with a waste product, and gets paid to do so. Norway gets rid of trash it doesn’t have space to bury more cheaply than exporting trash elsewhere (it gets the ashes back after incineration, but those take up much less space). And no one has to dig or drill for energy.

More information can be found here:
Sweden Needs More Trash – News Watch

Stick-on lens boosts smartphone camera magnification

Thomas Larson is looking to break into the camera phone attachment market and inspire a new generation of scientists with the Micro Phone Lens, an adhesive add-on lens that offers 15X optical magnification from a tiny footprint.

In a similar way to the Strap-on Macro Lens, the Micro Phone Lens trades off the performance of larger devices like the ProScope Micro against the convenience of being so small that you hardly notice it.

Measuring only 1/4 inch (6 mm) in diameter, the device is essentially a tiny sticker that goes right over the camera's lens. It is washable, removable and reusable, so you won't have to lock it into one specific smartphone or tablet.

more information can be found here

Stick-on lens boosts smartphone camera magnification

McDonald's Turns Its Tables Into NFC Smartphone Racetracks

The Happy Meal is as synonymous with McDonald's as the Big Mac, but now the international fast food chain is experimenting with what it's calling the Happy Table. It's another attempt to lure kids in that uses simple NFC stickers to turn its dining tables into virtual interactive race tracks.

The kids need access to a smartphone with wireless NFC capabilities, and a free downloadable app which turns the device into a car driven by one of the restaurant's mascots. A series of NFC stickers on the underside of the table trigger different sections of track with various hazards, but also give access to other fast food-related mini games.

more information can be found here: McDonald's Turns Its Tables Into NFC Smartphone Racetracks

Portable device works with smartphone to perform kidney tests

People who suffer with diabetes and chronic kidney problems may soon have a new, portable device to help them self-monitor their health with less hassle. Researchers at the University of California have developed a smartphone peripheral that carries out tests and transmits data without constant visits to a clinic, which is a daily routine for some patients.

The main task of the 150-gram (5.3-oz) device is to measure levels in urine of a blood protein called albumin, the most commonly-used marker in kidney testing. The phone attachment is an opto-mechanical device that projects beams of visible light through two small fluorescent tubes attached to it. One tube contains a control liquid while the other contains the urine samples mixed with fluorescent dyes. The fluorescent light passes through an additional lens before being captured by the smartphone.

The processing of the data is done very fast by an Android application that analyzes the raw images in less than one second, so the device can transmit the test results to a database or health care provider. Accuracy levels fall within accepted clinical standards, being accurate to within less than 10 micrograms per milliliter.

more information can be found here: Portable device works with smartphone to perform kidney tests

MPGH News Team

Head Editor
- [MPGH]Psychotic

Editors
- [MPGH]Hannibal
- Nitekillr

Writers

MPGH Headlines
- [MPGH]Psychotic

User News
- [MPGH]Hero

Interviewers
- [MPGH]Flengo

Global News
- -

- Thanks to Oneirish for submitting our Global News this week!

Gaming News
- Nitekillr

Technology News
- Antipathy

Freelancers

**Nozomi** · 08-31-2013

The news is good as always, keep up the good work!

**TheAbortedJr** · 08-31-2013

Yay, swimming monkeeeeys!

**Black** · 08-31-2013

nice to see the news being updated after such a long time. one might think after a long break the quality would have reduced. that person would be wrong.