YOU probably haven't heard of Subnautica, an underwater survival game that came out in January, much less played it. That's a shame, because it's one of the best and most creative games to come out this year with unique mechanics, amazing atmosphere and an engaging story. Thankfully, you can correct your oversight right now, for nothing, thanks to Epic Games. Subnautica, normally £19.49, is available for free from Epic's new PC games store from now until Christmas Day as the Fortnite maker tries to pull gamers into its new store. Subnautica is developed by Unknown Worlds, and is a first-person survival game set in the oceans of a mysterious alien planet. You scavenge for resources first to survive, and then to help you explore further through oceans teeming with life that ranges from tiny fish to enormous and sometimes deadly creatures. XUR YOU HAVE IT Where can you find Destiny 2's exotic merchant Xur and what's he selling? KEY ART Limited Edition LEATHER PS4 Pro revealed for … [Read more...] about Epic Games’ store releases its first FREE game – and you can download it right now
Tech
Soaring Internet use and Big Data spur boom in data centres
According to Sunita Bottse, managing director of Supernap Thailand, a major data centre provider, the number of Thailand’s mobile device users has reached 46 million out of the country’s 69 million population, while the number of Internet users is currently around 27 million, up 24 per cent from the previous year. The widespread use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Line, Twitter and Instagram, coupled with the high growth rate of e-commerce, social commerce and mobile commerce platforms have led to a huge increase in personal and other data needing secured storage facilities to meet regulatory, privacy and other legal requirements. For example, Thai banks have to be in compliance with the Bank of Thailand’s regulations on data residency and privacy. Bottse said Supernap Thailand’s data centre at Hemaraj Industrial Estate 2 in Chon Buri province is regarded as one of the most secure facilities in Asean and meets the so-called Tier IV design and … [Read more...] about Soaring Internet use and Big Data spur boom in data centres
The distributed passion of a crypto pioneer Insom
Poramin, the founder and chief executive officer of Satang Corporation, is one of the pioneers in the cryptocurrency business in Thailand. He first got involved with the virtual currency while he was a student in the Security Informatics Master’s programme at Johns Hopkins University in 2014. Poramin created Vertcoin, which became the world’s fourth-most valuable cryptocurrency in February 2014, reaching a US$20-million market cap within a week of its launch. Not long before, the bitcoin price had hit $1,300, attracting his attention and leading him to explore how he could participate in the technology. “When cryptocurrency and blockchain were getting to be known more by Thai people, it was a good opportunity for me to follow my dream,” Poramin told The Nation Weekend in an interview. The 30-year-old entrepreneur is also the world’s first person to implement stealth addresses in QT-Wallets, improving cryptocurrency anonymity. As a blockchain … [Read more...] about The distributed passion of a crypto pioneer Insom
Great Apes smarter than we thought as science proves orangutans ‘talk about the PAST’
THE EVOLUTION of language converted a defenceless naked ape into a world-dominating force. It fundamentally transformed how humans transmit information and knowledge. A large and potent component of language is our ability to communicate about things that are not here, that happened in the past, or that will happen in the future. This feature of language is known as "displaced reference". Displaced reference is universal across the world’s languages and pervades our daily lives. In fact, to speak about the present moment has become a rarity nowadays, though noticeable exceptions are when we comment about the weather, ask for the salt over the dinner table, or talk with very young children. Displaced reference unshackles speakers from the present. The magnitude of information that becomes available to individuals (or species) capable of displaced reference is therefore immeasurably greater than individuals (or species) strictly living in “the here and the now” – … [Read more...] about Great Apes smarter than we thought as science proves orangutans ‘talk about the PAST’
Facebook Says Bug May Have Exposed Unshared Photos of 6.8M Users
Facebook revealed on Friday that a bug in its platform may have allowed third-party apps to have access to a broad range of user photos, including pictures that users uploaded to Facebook but did not share. Facebook said in a statement on its website that the bug may have affected 6.8 million users and up to 1,500 apps between Sept. 13 and Sept. 25, 2018. The company did not say when it discovered the issue. “When someone gives permission for an app to access their photos on Facebook, we usually only grant the app access to photos people share on their timeline,” Facebook wrote. “In this case, the bug potentially gave developers access to other photos, such as those shared on Marketplace or Facebook Stories. The bug also impacted photos that people uploaded to Facebook but chose not to post. For example, if someone uploads a photo to Facebook but doesn't finish posting it - maybe because they've lost reception or walked into a meeting - we store a copy of that photo … [Read more...] about Facebook Says Bug May Have Exposed Unshared Photos of 6.8M Users