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MyShake Is A Smartphone Application That Can Help Predict Earthquakes

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">Have you heard about MyShake? It’s an amazing app that has been designed by researchers at University of California, Berkeley</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"> and Deutsche Telekom’s Silicon Valley Innovation Center. The app transforms your smartphone into an earthquake detector via use of accelerometers and brilliant algorithms. It can detect tremors and warn scientists – all in under a couple of milliseconds.</span></div>
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As per the team responsible for the app’s creation, using sufficient number of smartphones that are running the app, users can be notified about the earthquakes’ imminence in the given region.</div>
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Because of MyShake, each smartphone is transformed into a link of a huge network of earthquake detectors, all working in harmony to achieve the desired result. It was crucial to develop an algorithm for differentiating between earthquakes and other shaking and tremor-subjugation of the smartphone. The next difficulty was the battery consumption and that’s where the Deutsche Telekom stepped in to save the day.</div>
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Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory at the University of California, said, “As seismologists we are always struggling to think about how to collect more data about earthquakes. We’re data-limited in our finds. We need more data so that we can understand the physics of earthquake processes so that we can better predict what will happen in future earthquakes, and so that we can build better buildings, and think of other strategies to reduce the effects of future earthquakes.”</div>
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MyShake, upon detecting a tremor, sends the data to the central server that is placed at Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. The data includes the location, time and magnitude – this data is then compiled to a large network of data streams incoming from various app users. This allows scientists to warn users of potential incoming earthquakes before they hit.</div>
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 <span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">However, in order to make this program viable and effective; a large number of devices need to be running the free app. So go on, download it and become an effective member of earthquake</span><br />
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MyShake Is A Smartphone Application That Can Help Predict Earthquakes

Have you heard about MyShake? It’s an amazing app that has been designed by researchers at University of California, Berkeley and Deut...

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Give Your Dead UPS Battery A Second Life Using This Cheap And Simple Trick

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOY3YTmXhqKXypqUsZK7Cs6KCzr-2Ed9CjH06aZ2t1OAOhcDII_KwU8g1duZLXBgZs54HL1nKA4p6ja3XKldyy3WZanx5988yG8ahb33lCZG70_2FcaERNuZnX8qFvFpSwj2q6aIBRROI/s1600/UPS-Battery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOY3YTmXhqKXypqUsZK7Cs6KCzr-2Ed9CjH06aZ2t1OAOhcDII_KwU8g1duZLXBgZs54HL1nKA4p6ja3XKldyy3WZanx5988yG8ahb33lCZG70_2FcaERNuZnX8qFvFpSwj2q6aIBRROI/s320/UPS-Battery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">With power crisis becoming an epidemic across the world, frequent power outages are no surprise. Some countries have to go through load shedding for 12-14 hours a day. UPS comes as a savior for the people of these countries as it provides backup power supply when the grid supply goes away.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">The main cost involved in running a UPS are the batteries that have to be replaced every 2-3 years. Today, we will reveal you a simple trick that has been used by Geeks for decades to give a second life to batteries.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">For this to work, all you need is a pack of Epsom salt and distilled water. Epsom salt is commonly available from any big chemist shop since epsom salt has many cosmetic uses as well. Some chemists call it Magnesium Sulphate so ask for both the names at the chemist.</span></div>
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Once you have these two things, follow the instructions below:</div>
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Take 2/3 cup of Epsom salt (MgSO4) and add it into 2 cups of distilled water.<br />Heat the solution on a stove in a sauce pan till Epsom salt is totally dissolved in the water.<br />Disconnect and safely remove battery from the UPS.<br />Wear safety equipment ( Gloves and safety glasses)<br />Open the filler caps of the battery.</div>
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Add an equal amount of the MgSO4/H2O solution into each filler hole of the battery till you have consumed all the solution.<br />Replace filler caps and put the battery on charging.</div>
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Thats it, now you need to wait for a week as the condition of the battery will start to improve by each passing day. The cells will de-sulphate and the battery will start to give better backup time by each passing day. The battery should give best performance in 8-10 days. You can use this trick after every passing year and use your UPS battery for an extra 2 years.</div>
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Give Your Dead UPS Battery A Second Life Using This Cheap And Simple Trick

With power crisis becoming an epidemic across the world, frequent power outages are no surprise. Some countries have to go through load sh...

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10 Best Bluetooth Audio Stereo Module For Your Project

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">The use of Bluetooth Stereo Audio devices has increased over the years with such modules being used in the various applications, with their use extending from vehicles to smartphones. These modules take in Audio data via Bluetooth and transmit it through Serial communication. For those planning to use a Bluetooth audio stereo module in their project, we have listed the best Bluetooth stereo modules available right now.</span></div>
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10. SUNKEE XS3868 Bluetooth Stereo Audio Module (7.99$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">This module has a supply voltage of 3.6V to 4.2V with current consumption less than 10mA in idle mode & 55mA in Active mode. The rudimentary Bluetooth module is perfect for beginners and low power applications.</span></div>
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9. XS3868 Bluetooth Stereo Audio Module by uxcell (8.18$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">The simple Bluetooth stereo module can run on an operating voltage of 7V. This small board has the dimensions of 4.1 x 3.9 x 0.2 inches and weighs less than 2g.</span></div>
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8. Andoer Mini Bluetooth OVC3860(5.37$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">Andoer product has powerful noise cancellation circuitry that enables a very steady audio data continuously. Easily powered by USB the module is very versatile in use</span></div>
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7. DROK® Portable Stereo Bluetooth Audio Receiver (16.99$)</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jhq9k4dPls2XEcfOCEM24Fjdn-fXHmJYYpBXObddAWwSLQ-dGQOELSuLS9cGzE78yjYhpoSyyY_vPC8yrdwbYEU0lxrfwwYJM4z8ZrZWcpH7d5_oI56jVoKBC-U82zqNTbfJoLq7k8E/s1600/Number+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jhq9k4dPls2XEcfOCEM24Fjdn-fXHmJYYpBXObddAWwSLQ-dGQOELSuLS9cGzE78yjYhpoSyyY_vPC8yrdwbYEU0lxrfwwYJM4z8ZrZWcpH7d5_oI56jVoKBC-U82zqNTbfJoLq7k8E/s400/Number+7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">Drok</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"> module is ideal for DIY Bluetooth speakers as it has an effective range between 10-15m. The module has Bluetooth 3.0 support that makes data transmission fast yet reliable.</span></div>
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6. INSMA Bluetooth 4.0 Audio Receiver Board(14.55$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Insma device has an inbuilt</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> ANC echo cancellation and AEC noise cancellation circuit that makes the device quite robust. The module can be supplied with power voltage anywhere between 3.6V to 30V.</span></div>
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5. SMAKN® SPK-8635-B Bluetooth Audio Receiver Module MP3(13.50$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">With an operating current less than 2mA, this module is the most power efficient of all the devices we have discussed in this article. The embedded system has the dimensions of  15x21mm making it more compact relative to others.</span></div>
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4. GXG-1987 USB DC 5V Bluetooth 2.1 Audio Receiver (11.99$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">This product is the only one on our list with a TF card slot which allows you to load data that is to be transmitted. The module also has five buttons for fine adjustment.</span></div>
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3. KKmoon TDA7492 Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 2*50W 2-channel Audio Receiver Stereo(20.99$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">KKMoon embedded system utilises </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">CSR8635 Bluetooth chip and also has a Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility. The circuitry utilizes the TDA7492 power amplifier chip that works best up to 50W of power and to extend its versatility, the manufacturer even added an AUX port for wired Audio input.</span></div>
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2. Bluetooth Audio Receiver Board Wireless Stereo HIFI Amplifier Sound Module by Tiny Shine(16.94$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">One of the most compact boards on our list as it has the dimensions of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">42*32*11mm. The board has a micro USB  female port and is entirely compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 </span></div>
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1. HiLetgo XS3868 Bluetooth Stereo Audio Module(6.99$)</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">The most popular Bluetooth stereo module on the list. HiletGo product is high-quality thanks to specialized digital filters, and since it is a receiver, the module is fantastic for making Bluetooth speakers. The device has an effective range of 20m and it weighs only 2.1 ounces.</span></div>
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10 Best Bluetooth Audio Stereo Module For Your Project

The use of Bluetooth Stereo Audio devices has increased over the years with such modules being used in the various applications, with t...

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Here’s How A Drone Can Actually Kill You With Its Propellers

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">With the increased interactions of humans and drones on the cards, we know that the flying machines would have to be made safer since their operators tend to crash and poke around people unintentionally. While many of you don’t know, this has been listed as a serious disaster for the future by many metropolitan administrations. Now, companies are turning towards making drones safer around human beings and other living things and are testing it on lumps of meat. Check out this slow-motion video of a drone propeller cutting through a large roasted piece of meat:</span></div>
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This video shows an incident where a DJI phantom owner almost lost his life to a drone.</div>
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Here’s How A Drone Can Actually Kill You With Its Propellers

With the increased interactions of humans and drones on the cards, we know that the flying machines would have to be made safer since t...

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This 30 Million Dollar Forest Farm In Sahara Desert Will Be Watered Using Solar Energy

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">Sahara desert is the largest sandbox in the world. It covers an astonishing 9.4 million square kilometers in the mid-western part of Africa and is growing each year. To give a rough estimate of its size, the mainland United States is just 8 million square kilometers. It is a harsh, unforgivable landscape with sand storms and mercury shooting up more than 122-degree Fahrenheit in the daytime. But, we have seen what the sheikhs have been able to achieve in the United Arab Emirates’ cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. So, some optimistic investors have started a new project called Sahara Forest Project (SFP) and aim to bring cultivation back to the ever-expanding desert. They want to build a farm and will reportedly invest more than 30 million $ into it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">In a bid to diversify the environment and bringing jobs to the local economy, the SFP will focus on two raw materials readily available in any desert; Sunlight and saline water. They aim to harness solar energy in various ways from cooking and heating to power generation. Saline water, they will have to treat through reverse osmosis, distillation or other modern methods. The bottom line is to start a financially viable system that will provide food and jobs for the people and start forestation of the large expanse of the desert in the long-term. The unprocessed water will also be used to cool down the sheds where crops are grown. The first project is set to be launched in Tunisia where there is an acute shortage of water, and much of the country is overrun with sand. The project has the full support of the Tunisian government which is working frantically to reduce the effects of global warming in the already hot desert areas.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Professor </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">Heribert Hirt believes that the area has the same problems like the ones that will face astronauts trying to cultivate on Mars. The dust and sandstorms throughout the deserts cover much of the solar panels and necessary equipment with layers of particulates that affect their operation. But, he also believes that we have to try to make it happen because the desert is predicted to grow and eventually fill in the entire continent. The SFP project plans to have a 4,000-hectare facility, provide jobs to 6,000 people and produce almost 170,000 tonnes of food per year. As the professor said, it needs to be done, no matter the cost. </span></div>
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This 30 Million Dollar Forest Farm In Sahara Desert Will Be Watered Using Solar Energy

Sahara desert is the largest sandbox in the world. It covers an astonishing 9.4 million square kilometers in the mid-western part of Af...

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This Young Pakistani Engineer Is Going Against The Norms To Promote Science Among Women

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">We all know what STEM is and how it shapes the world around us. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) is the backbone upon which the world of the future is being developed and this goes to show just how crucial it is that our young ones take an interest in it. What are we babbling about? We are actually setting up the tone for the introduction to an amazing initiative that has been started by a Pakistani female, Ramla Qureshi; WEP – Women Engineers Pakistan.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">WEP is basically a small non-profit group that is working towards the promotion of Science and Technology along with its myriad of applications within the female population of Pakistan. According to Ramla, as per the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Survey; Pakistan is ranked second last out of 142 countries and WEP was founded to alleviate this gap and has been working ever since its foundation towards making things happen.</span></div>
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WEP has campus ambassadors in major engineering universities of Pakistan that make it possible for the WEP team to interact with the enrolled engineering students via seminars and conferences. WEP makes use of this forum to shed a light on the practical world that awaits the young engineers once they are done with their studies while preparing the female students to counter issues such as the workplace or glass-roof harassment. WEP also screens CVs and is hoping to provide graduate profiling to engineering firms in the future. You can check out WEP Facebook page here.</div>
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As part of its outreach program, the WEP campus ambassadors visit schools and talk to girls in hopes of dismissing their fear for math and physics at secondary school level.</div>
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Ramla Qureshi, 25 years old, is a Fulbright Scholar and MS student in structural and earthquake engineering at State University in New York and runs WEP from there. She says, “The basic reason I started with WEP was to engage the left out half percentage of the country. We have such talented women, but we as a nation do not provide proper avenues for them to practice their faculties. Diversity in engineering is one the major topics under discussion worldwide today. We hope to encourage more girls towards STEM, and hope to direct them toward engineering social entrepreneurship in order to break the shackles of their mind from the myths of job saturation.”<br />Similarly, Lenovo began an initiative last month for Women’s History Month to honor 10 women kick starters under the age of 31 who are making huge strides in the world of technology. There are so many amazing initiatives right now that are working to empower women in STEM fields that deserve our attention and awareness.</div>
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This Young Pakistani Engineer Is Going Against The Norms To Promote Science Among Women

We all know what STEM is and how it shapes the world around us. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) is the backbone upon whic...

+ Read more »

Prince Philip’s Bond-style Aston Martin Is Up For Auction

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">So it seems Sean Connery’s portrayal of British 007 agent James Bond wasn’t the only one who could pull off the hype around the famous Aston Martin of the character. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">had this 195,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"> Lagonda Drophead Coupe that had special attachments for the Royal family to communicate and get ready for their royal responsibilities most of which involved dressing up and turning up at the right moment in the right place. The 62-year-old car was specially designed for the then young prince and was in his use for a better part of the decade. It is recently up for auction and is expected to fetch around 400,000£ for the seller.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">James Bond’s Aston Martin had impossible gadgetry to aid his skills like bullet proof window screen, 7.6 mm machine guns, a tracking system, an ejector seat, a weapons tray and a nail maker that make special spiked nails for Mr.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"> Bond to use. The Royal Aston Martin, on the other hand, had a special radio</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; text-align: start;">, the telephone (since mobile phones weren’t invented) which he used to prank call the Buckingham Palace and a special vanity mirror for the queen where she could add last touches to her outlook before making an appearance. It has only done 50,000 miles in its entire life and therefore, it must be in an amazing condition since it has been recently serviced as well. The wireless telephone is the most intriguing piece of gadgetry from that era, and it could prove a great addition to any collection of classic cars. There is also a little bit of history attached to this car as the owner and the Queen rode on it to inaugurate the M1 motorway and make appearances in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.</span></div>
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Prince Philip’s Bond-style Aston Martin Is Up For Auction

So it seems Sean Connery’s portrayal of British 007 agent James Bond wasn’t the only one who could pull off the hype around the famous ...

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Router worth 10$ Blamed in Bangladesh Bank Hack.

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Hackers managed to steal $80m (£56m) from Bangladesh's central bank because it skimped on network hardware and security software, reports Reuters.</div>
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The bank had no firewall and used second-hand routers that cost $10 to connect to global financial networks.</div>
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Better security and hardware would have hampered the attackers, Reuters said, quoting an official investigator.</div>
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<a class="story-body__link" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35773061" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(17, 103, 168, 0.298039); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The hackers aimed to steal $1bn</a> but made mistakes that led to the theft being spotted and stopped.</div>
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Better defence</h2>
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A firewall would have made attempts to hack the bank more "difficult", Mohammad Shah Alam, a forensic investigator who works on the Bangladesh team investigating the theft, told Reuters.</div>
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The second-hand hardware also meant that basic security steps to segregate network traffic were not taken, he said.</div>
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The cheap routers have hindered the investigation, said Mr Alam, because they collected very little network data that could be used to pinpoint the hackers and shed light on their tactics.</div>
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The hack took place in early February and involved hackers getting access to the core network of Bangladesh's central bank. They used this privileged access to transfer cash from Bangladesh's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to other banks.</div>
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A spelling mistake in one of the transfer orders alerted bank staff and meant the hackers only managed to steal $81m. This has been traced to accounts in the Philippines and to casinos in the same country. Most of the cash has yet to be recovered.</div>
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Bank security experts said the bank should have spent more time and money protecting the network for its central bank.</div>
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"You are talking about an organisation that has access to billions of dollars and they are not taking even the most basic security precautions," Jeff Wichman, a consultant with cyber firm Optiv, told Reuters.</div>
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Router worth 10$ Blamed in Bangladesh Bank Hack.

Hackers managed to steal $80m (£56m) from Bangladesh's central bank because it skimped on network hardware and security software, r...

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Uber settles over employee status row

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJpNqx34A1SCtzTfFNcbTg8ByscVVshvqEp1lEzI5svIJ9Mkqa6Q4Vs0M1_QbmLV1BfOPHfqlQLvL1u6y0Wy0Yw5LrB_nw-3_x0FBT2SLg3kvbfpaSyw4XkXnbLdmUPTpIL-2XUuzIkg/s1600/Uber+settles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJpNqx34A1SCtzTfFNcbTg8ByscVVshvqEp1lEzI5svIJ9Mkqa6Q4Vs0M1_QbmLV1BfOPHfqlQLvL1u6y0Wy0Yw5LrB_nw-3_x0FBT2SLg3kvbfpaSyw4XkXnbLdmUPTpIL-2XUuzIkg/s640/Uber+settles.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Taxi-hailing firm Uber has agreed to pay up to $100m (£70m) to settle a US legal action over whether drivers should be classified as employees or independent contractors.</div>
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Drivers had argued that they should be classed as employees, entitling them to claim expenses and other rights.</div>
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The decision to settle will come as a relief to Uber and others in the on-demand economy who use contractors.</div>
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But critics will be disappointed the case is not going to trial.</div>
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<a class="story-body__link-external" href="https://newsroom.uber.com/growing-and-growing-up/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(17, 103, 168, 0.298039); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In a blog post</a>, Uber boss Travis Kalanick said he was pleased with the settlement, which means drivers will continue to be independent contractors.</div>
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"Drivers value their independence - the freedom to push a button rather than punch a clock, to use Uber and Lyft simultaneously, to drive most of the week or for just a few hours," he said.</div>
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But he acknowledged: "We haven't always done a good job working with drivers.</div>
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"It's time to change."</div>
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Grievances</h2>
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Uber has agreed to some changes in its business practices, including a better policy explaining why it was terminating drivers' contracts.</div>
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It also said that it would help create a drivers' association in California and Massachusetts - where the actions were brought - that would act in a similar way to a union and be able to bring grievances to management's attention.</div>
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Some 450,000 drivers use the Uber app each month in the US, according to Uber.</div>
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One of the lawyers for the drivers, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said there would be disappointment that the case was not now going to trial but added that there was a "significant risk of losing" if the case moved forward.</div>
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This is partly because a federal appeals court had recently agreed to review an order allowing Uber drivers to sue as a group.</div>
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The settlement does not prevent future court, or US labour bodies, classing Uber drivers as employees, Ms Liss-Riordan added.</div>
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Out of the $100m proposed payment, $84m will go to drivers in the first instance. Uber has agreed to a second payment of $16m if the firm goes public and its valuation increases one and a half times from its December 2015 valuation within the first year.</div>
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The deal must now be approved by US District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco.</div>
<br />

Uber settles over employee status row

Taxi-hailing firm Uber has agreed to pay up to $100m (£70m) to settle a US legal action over whether drivers should be classified as em...

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VR Shipments getting a Load in 2016

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More than nine million virtual reality (VR) headsets will be shipped in 2016, suggests research by analyst firm IDC.</div>
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The estimate is far more than the 350,000 headsets that were sent out last year, it said.</div>
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Some of the growth will be down to the first consumer-ready versions reaching customers, said the firm.</div>
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However, most numerous will be the "screenless" systems that use smartphones as their main display.</div>
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IDC <a class="story-body__link-external" href="http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41199616" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(17, 103, 168, 0.298039); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">said it expected about two million headsets</a> from Oculus, HTC and Sony to be shipped to consumers in 2016. The Oculus Rift headset began shipping on 28 March, HTC Vive headsets are due to start being dispatched this month and Sony's PlayStation VR should be available in October.</div>
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All these headsets are called "tethered" systems because they work with a PC or a game console that pipes images to their display.</div>
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Movement sensors</h2>
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Consumers will buy these headsets because they want to play video games in VR, said Lewis Ward, director of gaming at IDC. He said he expected to see lots of VR games appear in time for Christmas, which would boost sales.</div>
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In addition, said the research, there was growing interest in augmented-reality systems, such as Microsoft's HoloLens headset, that use a transparent display to overlay images and information on what people see. Few of these systems were ready for mainstream use, it added.</div>
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However, said IDC, screenless systems such as Samsung's Gear VR would be more popular than the tethered headsets.</div>
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These require a smartphone capable of handling the high-quality video used for VR and which possess sensors that can monitor movement and adjust what a user sees to give the impression of immersion in a computer-generated scene.</div>
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It said it expected other firms to release screenless viewers later this year to accelerate take-up.</div>
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By 2020, shipments of VR headsets should hit 64.8 million a year, it predicted.</div>
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IDC said headsets that lack electronics, such as Google's Cardboard viewer, were not included in its estimates.</div>
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The figures from IDC stand in contrast to those produced by analyst firm Gartner, which predicted that only 1.4 million VR headsets would ship in 2016.</div>
<br />

VR Shipments getting a Load in 2016

More than nine million virtual reality (VR) headsets will be shipped in 2016, suggests research by analyst firm IDC. The estimate is ...

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Microsoft and Google agreed to drop complaints against each other.

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCTqXgTVBeuFAkJo2_E6KWPLOMGpa6uS0Ynl-TUjl2Eoc8j2WHTW5iLxAczhLQEvPvU1t6beIn4RUWTG6YR3zttoWpxfvwRW9Mui-iN568oBs8TfjDa5EajPEDeZfVsRQtJQwXmnnzww/s1600/Microsoft+office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCTqXgTVBeuFAkJo2_E6KWPLOMGpa6uS0Ynl-TUjl2Eoc8j2WHTW5iLxAczhLQEvPvU1t6beIn4RUWTG6YR3zttoWpxfvwRW9Mui-iN568oBs8TfjDa5EajPEDeZfVsRQtJQwXmnnzww/s640/Microsoft+office.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="articleLocatio</span>n" style="transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google have reached a deal to withdraw all the regulatory complaints against each other, the companies told Reuters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities. We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Google, in a separate email, said the companies would want to compete vigorously based on the merits of their products, not in "legal proceedings".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The companies in September agreed to bury all patent infringement litigations against each other, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"... Following our patent agreement, we've now agreed to withdraw regulatory complaints against one another," Google said on Friday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Google's rivals had reached out to U.S. regulators alleging that the Internet services company unfairly uses its Android system to win online advertising, people with knowledge of matter told Reuters last year.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="focusParagraph" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_0" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_1" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_2" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_3" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span class="first-article-divide" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_4" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span class="second-article-divide" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span><span id="midArticle_5" style="background-color: white; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The European Commission also accused Google last year of distorting internet search results to favor its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers.</span></div>

Microsoft and Google agreed to drop complaints against each other.

Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google have reached a deal to withdraw all the regulatory complaints against each other, the compan...

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China Shuts down Apple's Book and Movie Services.

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China has shut down Apple's online book and movie services as it imposes strict rules governing what can be published on the net.</div>
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Regulations were unveiled in March that outlawed foreign ownership of online publishing services.</div>
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The rules also required that all content shown to Chinese people must be stored on servers based on the Chinese mainland.</div>
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Apple said it hoped access to the services would be restored soon.</div>
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Online threat</h2>
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Currently, anyone in China who visits the iBooks store or tries to use iTunes Movies service is greeted with a message in Chinese saying the services were "unusable",<a class="story-body__link-external" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-china-idUSKCN0XJ0CD" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(17, 103, 168, 0.298039); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reports Reuters.</a> Both services have only been available in China for about six months.</div>
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The move has widely been seen as a blow to Apple which is keen to ensure its products are popular and sell well in China, because the region is the second biggest market for its products. The shutdown comes only days before Apple reports its second quarter financial results.</div>
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The services were shut down on the orders of China's media watchdog - the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The action is believed to be part of a wider attempt by China's government to consolidate its control over the internet and media organisations.</div>
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China has defended the restrictions saying online publishing had to be monitored to combat terrorism and foreign ideas that could prove harmful.</div>
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The strict rules are also seen as a way to foster the success of indigenous net Chinese firms such as Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent.</div>

China Shuts down Apple's Book and Movie Services.

China has shut down Apple's online book and movie services as it imposes strict rules governing what can be published on the net. R...

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San Bernardino phone hack cost FBI more than 1 Million Dollars.

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW89zz2H3THR78OOEz8tfucAgv4eurpTkov1dNVlKurRqTqu2-b2uEcVi-iBLjI2j9r2gdVnBFkhyphenhyphenJrzs4Qw4EEsXOOAz-ijFo0ZsDHRbfsA9-Uo9ud08B767dcX_0OGbwXzeNmGRRDDE/s1600/FBI+hack+1million+dollar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW89zz2H3THR78OOEz8tfucAgv4eurpTkov1dNVlKurRqTqu2-b2uEcVi-iBLjI2j9r2gdVnBFkhyphenhyphenJrzs4Qw4EEsXOOAz-ijFo0ZsDHRbfsA9-Uo9ud08B767dcX_0OGbwXzeNmGRRDDE/s640/FBI+hack+1million+dollar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The FBI paid at least $1.3m (£900,000) to hack into the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers, it has been estimated.</div>
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The figure was calculated based on comments by FBI director James Comey, who said that the agency had paid more to get into the phone than he "will make in the remaining seven years" in his post.</div>
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That would make it the largest publicised fee for a hacking job.</div>
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Mr Comey added that it was "worth it".</div>
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The calculation was based on a projection of Mr Comey's annual salary which, in January 2015, was $183,300. This has been multiplied over the next seven years and four months that he remains in his job. The figure does not factor in pay rises or bonuses.</div>
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The FBI has never named the security firm or group of hackers that helped unlock the phone, but whoever it was provided either software or hardware that helped crack the four-digit identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all data after 10 incorrect guesses.</div>
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Mr Comey said that the same method could be used on other 5C iPhones running IOS 9 software.</div>
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Privacy debate</h2>
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According to research firm IHS Technology, there are about 16 million such phones in use in the US and more than 80% of them run iOS 9 software, according to Apple.</div>
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The case has been hugely controversial, largely because of the spat with Apple, which had been resisting a court order requiring it to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook's phone.</div>
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Farook and his wife killed 14 in San Bernardino, California, in December. Both were shot dead by police.</div>
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The FBI argued that it needed access to the phone's data to determine if the attackers worked with or were supported by other people and were planning other targets.</div>
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It is unclear how much information has been gleaned since the phone was opened. Some US news outlets have reported that, so far, the FBI has not found anything of interest on the device.</div>
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The case has raised the debate over whether technology firms' use of encryption is a good thing for consumer privacy or damaging to public safety.</div>
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There is big money to be made from helping the authorities to find bugs in software.</div>
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Last year, Zerodium - a firm that negotiates bug bounties - offered $1m for a web-based exploit against iOS 9 and that bounty was subsequently claimed.</div>
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San Bernardino phone hack cost FBI more than 1 Million Dollars.

The FBI paid at least $1.3m (£900,000) to hack into the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers, it has been estimated. The ...

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Detailed Top 20 Selling Video Games of 2014

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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><i>The Top 20 Selling Video Games of 2014</i></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1.Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare:</b></span></div>
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<i><b>Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare</b></i> is a military science fiction first-person shooter video game published by Activision. Sledgehammer Games developed the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, while High Moon Studios developed the versions released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Raven Software developed the game's multiplayer and the Exo-Zombies mode. <i>Advanced Warfare</i> is Sledgehammer's first <i>Call of Duty</i> title where they are the primary developer, following the supporting work they did on <i>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</i> alongside Infinity Ward in 2011. The game was released on November 4, 2014, but a special edition titled the <i>Day Zero Edition</i>, which came with bonus in-game content, was released on November 3 for people who pre-ordered the game. The game was not released on the Wii U, making it the first title in the series since <i>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 </i>to not be released on either the Wii or Wii U.</div>
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Before the development of <i>Advanced Warfare</i>, Sledgehammer were originally working on an action-adventure game titled <i>Call of Duty: Fog of War</i>, which was going to be set during the events of the Vietnam War. Development for <i>Advanced Warfare</i> began in late 2011, shortly before the release of <i>Modern Warfare 3</i>. The game became the first entry in the <i>Call of Duty</i> series since <i>Call of Duty 2 </i>to feature a game engine that has had its majority re-written and built from scratch. For the game's single-player campaign mode, Sledgehammer employed veteran actors Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey in lead roles. The game's story, featuring a futuristic setting which is set between 2054 and 2061, follows Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps and his interactions with Atlas, a private military corporation that sells its services to the highest bidder.</div>
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<i>Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare</i> was released to a positive critical reception and was declared an improvement over its predecessor,<i>Call of Duty: Ghosts</i>. Many critics praised the visuals, which were called "excellent" by some, the single-player campaign, which some critics saw as the best in the <i>Call of Duty</i> series, the fast, dynamic, and exciting gameplay, and the content-rich multiplayer. The game won several awards and was considered a commercial success.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2.Madden NFL 15:</b></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Madden NFL 15</b></i><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> is an </span>American football<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>sports video game<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> based on the </span>National Football League<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and published by </span>EA Sports<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">. The game was announced for the </span>PlayStation 3<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>PlayStation 4<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Xbox 360<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span>Xbox One<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> on April 28, 2014, and was released on August 26, 2014 in the </span>United States<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span>Europe<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> three days later. As in previous years, EA Sports conducted a fan vote via </span>ESPN<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> to elect the cover athlete for the game.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>Seattle Seahawks<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> cornerback </span>Richard Sherman<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> won the cover vote.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Due to the late release of the game, EA created a much smaller bracket than the previous years with a cover vote. It featured a 16-player bracket with offensive and defensive players. On June 6, 2014, </span>Seattle Seahawks<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>cornerback<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>Richard Sherman<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> was announced as the official cover athlete.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> Also featured in the bracket were </span>Alshon Jeffery<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Jimmy Graham<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Demaryius Thomas<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Luke Kuechly<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Colin Kaepernick<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Nick Foles<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Cam Newton<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Antonio Brown<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Jamaal Charles<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>A.J. Green<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>LeSean McCoy<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>T. Y. Hilton<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">,</span>Andrew Luck<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Eddie Lacy<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span>Alfred Morris<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> The official cover image was released on the </span>NFL<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">'s Instagram page.</span></div>
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The game was announced in late April 2014. It was shown in a release video featuring Carolina Panthers linebacker and Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly. The game was further detailed at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014; a particular emphasis was placed on improvements to defensive play. Creative director Rex Dickson noted that many players had difficulties with the pass rushand tackling; the "player lock" camera from <i>NCAA Football 14</i> was added, along with a cone (similar to the controversial "QB Vision" cone from <i>Madden NFL 06</i>) to determine whether or not a player can make a non-aggressive tackle against a player from their current location.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-br-m15preview_8-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup></div>
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In an effort to improve the presentation of the game, Brian Murray, who was mentored by NFL Films' Steve Sabol and was a consultant on previous editions, was given a new role as "Presentation Director" for the game. Work was made on using technology introduced in previous installments, along with a new "global dynamic camera system", to give the game's "broadcasts" a more professional feel with more details; these include the replacement of pre-rendered "post-play" cut scenes with dynamic scenes that feature players interacting, and can, additionally, respond to references of players by commentators with relevant camera shots and on-screen graphics, and the revival of the halftime show. Jumbotrons in stadiums now display scenes generated by the dynamic cameras (as opposed to generic splash screens or the same camera angle in use), and NFL teams also provided the graphics they use for their respective screens and ribbon displays.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-polygon-murray_9-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup></div>
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After Ray Rice's indefinite suspension on September 8, 2014, EA Sports announced they would completely remove Rice from the game. His card in Madden Ultimate Team was renamed Baltimore Halfback #25.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">The game was released in North America on August 26, 2014 for </span>PlayStation 3<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Xbox 360<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>PlayStation 4<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span>Xbox One<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3.Destiny</b></span></div>
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<i><b>Destiny</b></i> is a first-person shooter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Video game">video game</a> developed by Bungie and published by Activision. It was released on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles. <i>Destiny</i> marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the <i>Halo</i> series, and it is the first game in a ten-year agreement between Bungie and Activision. Set in a "mythic science fiction" world, the game features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games.</div>
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Players take on the role of a Guardian, defenders of Earth's last safe city, as they wield a power called Light to protect the city from different alien races. The Guardians are tasked with reviving a celestial being called the Traveler, while journeying to different planets to investigate and destroy the alien threats before humanity is completely wiped out. Since launch, Bungie has released three expansion packs furthering the story and adding new content: <i>The Dark Below</i> in December 2014, <i>House of Wolves</i> in May 2015, and<i>The Taken King</i> in September 2015, which marked the beginning of year two of <i>Destiny</i> and changed much of the core gameplay.</div>
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Upon its release, <i>Destiny</i> received mixed to positive reviews with criticism centered mostly around the game's storyline and post-campaign content. The game was praised for maintaining lineage from the <i>Halo</i> franchise, particularly in regards to its competitive experiences. On day one of its release, it sold over US $500 million at retail, making it the biggest new franchise launch of all time. It was GamesRadar's 2014 Game of the Year and it received the BAFTA Award for Best Game at the 2014 British Academy Video Games Awards.</div>
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<i>Destiny</i>‍ 's style has been described as a first-person shooter that incorporates role-playing and massively multiplayer online game (MMO) elements, but Bungie has avoided defining <i>Destiny</i> as a traditional MMO game. Instead, the game has been referred to as a "shared-world shooter," as it lacks many of the characteristics of a traditional MMO game. For instance, rather than players being able to communicate with all other players in the game or on a particular server—as is the case in many conventional MMO games—<i>Destiny</i> includes on-the-fly matchmaking that allows players to communicate only with other players with whom they are "matched" by the game. Time-limited events and modes are also occasionally added or featured in-game.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Cavalli_9-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup></div>
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Activities in <i>Destiny</i> are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) missions across Earth (the Cosmodrome), its Moon, Venus, and Mars (maps for Mars's moon Phobos and the planet Mercury are also available in PvP). Another PvE area, a massive ship called the Dreadnaught that is situated in the rings of Saturn, was added with <i>The Taken King</i> DLC, but requires the purchase of the DLC. PvE story missions can be played either solo or as part of a "fireteam" of up to three players. Each playable area offers an open world "Patrol" mode, where players can travel freely around the area and perform small tasks gathered from beacons. Players travel around the areas on foot or with their sparrows (very similar to the speeder bikes of <i>Star Wars</i>). Public events happen periodically and any player in the same location can participate. "Strikes" are cooperative missions played with a party of three players that culminate with a major boss. Raids are advanced cooperative missions designed to be played by a team of six players. From social spaces (the Tower on Earth, and the Vestian Outpost added by the <i>House of Wolves</i> DLC), players can redeem "engrams" into items, buy items, and collect challenges known as bounties to complete during activities to earn experience, build their reputation among factions, and sometimes earn items. Beyond armor and weapons, items that players can obtain include ships that represent themselves during travel cutscenes, shaders for customizing the color scheme of their armor, emblems (banners for players' names), emotes (such as a dance or gesture), and shells for their Ghost, the player's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Artificial intelligence">AI</a> companion.</div>
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The Crucible contains playlists of PvP modes, including "Control" (6-on-6 point capture), "Clash" (6-on-6 deathmatch), "Rumble" (6-player solo deathmatch), and "Skirmish" (3-on-3 deathmatch with the ability to revive allies). New modes have been added via expansions, including "Elimination" (similar to Skirmish, except divided into nine rounds in which the team must kill all three of their opponents at once),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-vg247-too_14-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny_(video_game)#cite_note-vg247-too-14" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[13]</a></sup> and "Rift" (a 6-on-6 capture the flag-like mode where players must deliver a "Spark" to the opposing team's base, killing enemies in its radius). Other modes are available occasionally during time-limited periods, such as "Combined Arms" (a playlist of games on maps with vehicles and turrets), "Salvage" (a 3-on-3 "king of the hill" game), "Inferno" (Control or Clash games where points are solely scored on kills, and the player's radar is disabled), "Mayhem" (<i>The Taken King</i>; modifier on Clash and Rumble where cooldown times for all abilities are greatly reduced), and "Zone Control" (<i>The Taken King</i>; a version of Control where points are only scored for maintaining control of zones, and not by kills or point captures). As of September 2015, players who do not own <i>The Taken King</i> expansion only have access to 3-on-3 and 6-on-6 Crucible playlists on previous maps with assorted modes, and no longer have access to playlists for individual modes.</div>
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In Crucible modes, player statistics (such as weapon power and defense) are balanced between players. Periodic events such as Iron Banner (which uses the Control mode) and Trials of Osiris (<i>House of Wolves</i>; uses Elimination) are offered, which disable balancing, and allows players the chance to earn exclusive items.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Prell_23-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. Grand Theft Auto V:</b></span></div>
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<i><b>Grand Theft Auto V</b></i> is an open world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, on 18 November 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 14 April 2015 for Microsoft Windows. The game is the first main entry in the <i>Grand Theft Auto</i> series since 2008's <i>Grand Theft Auto IV</i>. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a government agency. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas's open countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.</div>
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The game is played from either a third-person or first-person view and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Players control the three lead protagonists throughout the single-player mode, switching between them both during and outside of missions. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many of the missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. Players who commit crimes may incite a response from law enforcement agencies, measured by a "wanted" system that governs the aggression of their response. <i>Grand Theft Auto Online</i>, the online multiplayer mode, lets up to 30 players explore the open world and engage incooperative or competitive game matches.</div>
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Development began soon after <i>Grand Theft Auto IV</i>'s release and was shared between many of Rockstar's studios worldwide. The development team drew influence from many of their previous projects such as <i>Red Dead Redemption</i> and <i>Max Payne 3</i>, and designed the game around three lead protagonists to innovate on the core structure of its predecessors. Creating the open world constituted much of the development work, and several team members conducted field research around California to capture footage for the design team. The game's soundtrack features an original score composed by a team of producers who collaborated over several years.</div>
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A widely anticipated game, <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> broke industry sales records and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history, earning US $800 million in its first day and US $1 billion in its first three days. It received widespread critical acclaim, with praise directed at its multiple protagonist design, open world, presentation and gameplay. The game caused controversies related to its depiction of women and a mission featuring torture during a hostage interrogation. Considered one of the most significant titles of the seventh generation of console gaming, it won year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. It has shipped over 54 million copies and is one of the best-selling video games of all time.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. Minecraft</b></span></div>
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<i><b>Minecraft</b></i> is a sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang. The creative and building aspects of <i>Minecraft</i> enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and combat. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival mode where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, a creative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly, an adventure mode where players play custom maps created by other players and a spectator mode. The PC version of the game is renowned for its third-party mods, which add various new items, characters and quests to the game.</div>
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The alpha version was publicly released for PC on May 17, 2009, and after gradual updates, the full version was released on November 18, 2011. A version for Android was released a month earlier on October 7, and an iOS version was released on November 17, 2011. The game was released on the Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Arcade game on May 9, 2012; on the PlayStation 3 on December 17, 2013; on the PlayStation 4 on September 4, 2014; on the Xbox One the next day; and on the PlayStation Vita on October 14, 2014. On December 10, 2014, a Windows Phone version was released. All versions of <i>Minecraft</i> receive periodic updates, with the console editions being co-developed by 4J Studios.</div>
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<i>Minecraft</i> received five awards during the 2011 Game Developers Conference. Of the Game Developers Choice Awards, it won the Innovation Award, Best Downloadable Game Award, and Best Debut Game Award; from the Independent Games Festival, it won the Audience Award and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. In 2012, <i>Minecraft</i> was awarded a Golden Joystick Award in the category Best Downloadable Game. As of June 2015, over 70 million copies had been sold, including 20 million between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One and 20 million on PC, making it the best-selling PC game to date and the third best-selling video game of all time. On September 15, 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang and the ownership of the <i>Minecraft</i> intellectual propertyfor US $2.5 billion; the acquisition was completed on November 6, 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>6. Super Smash Bros:</b></span></div>
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<i><b>Super Smash Bros.</b></i>, known in Japan as <i><b>Dairantō Smash Brothers</b></i> (Japanese: <span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ</span> Hepburn: <i>Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu</i><sup class="t_nihongo_help noprint" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Help:Installing Japanese character sets"><span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: 8.96px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; padding: 0px 0.1em;">?</span></a></sup>, lit. "Great Melee Smash Brothers"), is a series of crossover fighting games published by Nintendo, that primarily featuring characters from franchises established on its systems. All five games have been directed by Masahiro Sakurai.</div>
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The gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighters by aiming to knock opponents out of the stage instead of depleting life bars. The original <i>Super Smash Bros.</i>, released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, had a small budget and was originally a Japan-only release, but its domestic success led to a worldwide release. The series achieved even greater success with the release of <i>Super Smash Bros. Melee</i>, which was released in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube and became the best-selling game on that system. A third installment, <i>Super Smash Bros. Brawl</i>, was released in 2008 for the Wii. Although HAL Laboratory has been the developer of the first two titles, the third game was developed through the collaboration of several companies. The fourth and fifth installments,<i>Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS</i> and <i>Wii U</i>, were released in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, respectively. The 3DS installment was the first series title to be released on a handheld platform.</div>
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The series features many characters from Nintendo's most popular franchises, including Mario, Fox McCloud, Link, Kirby, Samus Aran and Pikachu. The original <i>Super Smash Bros.</i> had 12 playable characters, and the roster count has risen to 26 characters in <i>Melee</i>, 39 in <i>Brawl</i>, and 56 in <i>3DS</i>/<i>Wii U</i> (five of which are downloadable). Some characters are able to transform into different forms that have different styles of play and sets of moves. The games also feature non-playable Nintendo characters, like Ridley and Petey Piranha. In <i>Brawl</i>, two third-party characters were added, Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. Additional third-party characters Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu and Cloud Strife appeared in <i>3DS</i> and <i>Wii U</i>, while Solid Snake was removed from the line-up.</div>
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Every title in the series has been well received by critics, with much praise given to the multiplayer mode experience. The <i>Super Smash Bros.</i> games have spawned a large competitive community and have been featured in several high profile gaming tournaments. Of the official <i>Smash</i> titles, <i>Melee</i> is preferred by most competitors due to its technical demands and depth of metagame.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>7. NBA 2k15</b></span><br />
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<i style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>NBA 2K15</b></i><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> is a </span>basketball<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>simulation video game<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> developed by </span>Visual Concepts<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> and published by </span>2K Sports<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">. It is the sixteenth installment in the </span><i style="line-height: 22.4px;">NBA 2K</i><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> franchise and the successor to </span><i style="line-height: 22.4px;">NBA 2K14</i><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">. It was released in October 2014 for </span>Microsoft Windows<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Xbox One<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>Xbox 360<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, </span>PlayStation 3<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span>PlayStation 4<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">. </span>Kevin Durant<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> of the </span>Oklahoma City Thunder<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, one of the three cover athletes of </span><i style="line-height: 22.4px;">NBA 2K13</i><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">, is the solo cover athlete of </span><i style="line-height: 22.4px;">NBA 2K15</i><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_2K15#cite_note-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> NBA 2K15 was succeeded by </span>NBA 2K16<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">.</span><br />
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<span class="mw-headline" id="Scanning_system">Scanning system</span></h3>
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NBA 2K15 allows players to scan their faces into the game for created players, using the PlayStation Camera on PlayStation 4 or the Kinect on Xbox One. The 3-D mapping process creates a realistic rendition of the gamer's face to make their gaming experience as real as possible. The process of scanning the face will take about 30 seconds. Players need to get very close (6-12 inches) to the camera and slowly turn their heads 30 degrees to the left and right during the scanning process.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_2K15#cite_note-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">[3]</a></sup></div>
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For Next-Gen systems (Xbox One, PS4 and PC), MyCareer Mode has been revamped with new additions such as the mentor and upgrading system. The player's MyPlayer speaks to the leader of the team before and after games. 2K implemented their voices providing for a more in-depth user experience. These features have allowed for a greater "storyline" to be integrated into MyCareer mode. MyCareer also uses a new upgrading system which gets more virtual currency from endorsement deals, completing challenges, and badges (which come in bronze, silver, and gold). However, on Next-Gen systems, players cannot view playoff stats or the playoff tree.</div>
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A new coach satisfaction system has been introduced that provides real-time feedback based on the MyPlayer's court performance. MyPlayer is mentored by Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, who will either praise or admonish the player based on their gameplay.</div>
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The game included a pre-order bonus pack which includes 5,000 Virtual Currency (VC), 2 MyTEAM card packs, a choice of an International MyTEAM card or rookie Kevin Durant, and MyPLAYER jerseys inspired by Durant. On August 6, 2014 it was announced that Crew will be back in the game for current-gen consoles, then on August 7, 2014 it was announced that the game would have a new mode called MYLeague, which is similar to NBA 2K14's GM mode but with added customization and improvements. New RPG elements have also been introduced to the game, such as the conversation system and press conferences. On September 17, 2014 it was announced a face scanning system would be introduced into the game, allowing the player to add his/her own likeness into the game.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_2K15#cite_note-7" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">[7]</a></sup> There is a MyNBA2K15 mobile app that came out along with the game. It was also announced in August 2014 that the PC version would essentially be the same as the Xbox One and PS4 versions, making use of graphical enhancements first introduced in the eighth-generation versions of <i>NBA 2K14.</i></div>
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The soundtrack was curated by Pharrell Williams.</div>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 22.4px;">7. Watch Dogs</b></div>
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<i><b>Watch Dogs</b></i> (stylized as <i><b>WATCH_DOGS</b></i>) is an open world action-adventure third-person shooter stealth video game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide on 27 May 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, while a Wii U version was released in November 2014. Set within a fictionalized version of Chicago, Illinois, the single-player story follows a hacker and his efforts to seek revenge after the killing of his niece. The open world design lets players freely roam Chicago, which includes the urban city, suburbs, open countryside, and the run-down neighborhoods that surround downtown.</div>
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The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Players control Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled grey hat hacker who can hack into the "ctOS", a centralized operating system which manages the hyper-connected city of Chicago, and formed after the Northeast blackout of 2003 was caused by a hacker. An online multiplayer mode is also provided in the game, allowing up to eight players to engage in both cooperative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.</div>
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Development on the game began in 2009. As part of their research for the open world, the developers conducted field research around Chicago throughout development and captured footage for the design team. Development duties were shared between many of Ubisoft's studios worldwide.</div>
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Following its announcement in June 2012, <i>Watch Dogs</i> was widely anticipated. At release, it received a polarized reception; praise was particularly directed at the game's hacking elements and mission variety. The game received criticism concerning the overall gameplay, plot, and some technical issues. <i>Watch Dogs</i> was a commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest first day sales of a Ubisoft game, and becoming the biggest launch of a new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Intellectual property">IP</a> ever in the United Kingdom at the time. As of January 1, 2015, the game has shipped over 10 million copies.</div>
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<i>Watch Dogs</i> is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. Outside of missions, players can freely roam the open world of Chicago. The world may be fully explored from the beginning of the game without restrictions, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">The game's combat utilises a combination of</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>stealth<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">components and limited</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>parkour<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">(there is no jumping up or across), along with the mechanics of a cover-based third-person shooter.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-vb-wde3_13-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Dogs#cite_note-vb-wde3-13" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">[12]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">The game allows the players to use non-lethal attacks and avoid killing anyone should they decide to, except the three main antagonists of the game, Damien Brenks, Lucky Quinn and Delford "Iraq" Wade. The hacking element of the game can also be used in combat situations to eliminate opponents, create diversions, or create cover. It can also be used as a stealth tool to sneak past guards. In combat,</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>auto-aim<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">and a</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>cover system<span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">are available as assistance against enemies. If players take damage, their health meter will gradually regenerate. If players commit crimes while playing, the police may respond, as indicated by a meter in the</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span>head-up display<span style="line-height: 22.4px;">. On the meter, the displayed levels indicate the amount of attention the crime demands; if the player reaches the maximum fifth level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive and increasingly difficult. When players have escaped the officers' line of sight, the level enters a cooldown mode, which recedes when players escape the search area (as displayed on the mini-map).</span>In the main game, players take control of Aiden Pearce, a vigilante who can hack into various electronic devices tied to the city's central operating system (ctOS), allowing various methods for the player to solve numerous objectives.The hacking mechanic in the game is performed directly from Aiden's in-game smartphone, which is equipped with multiple applications, namely the "profiler" and the "crime prevention system"; the former allows the player to access information on any citizen in the city, while the latter notifies the player when a crime is likely to occur in the vicinity. The phone is also equipped with applications that interact directly with the environment around the player; for example, players can hack into NPC's phones to retrieve bank data and steal funds as well as unlock new cars, weapons, and in-game music, or they can hack into traffic lights to cause collisions. Players can also receive information on civilians via augmented reality feeds, providing them with information on demographics, health and potential behaviour. Equipment is also provided by smartphone apps, which can be used to summon cars and weaponry. Players can stop trains, raise security barriers, and black out the entire city and can slow down time to shoot.</div>
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As the game proceeds, the player can improve Aiden's skills either by expending skill points or earning skills and perks by completing side missions and collecting various items from the in game world, such as finding QR codes on the sides of buildings or finding ctOS servers collecting information on the citizens of Chicago.</div>
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<span id="Multiplayer"></span>Alongside the single-player mode, <i>Watch Dogs</i> features an asynchronous online multiplayer mode. One element to the multiplayer mode is a one-on-one interaction, in which one player secretly joins the single-player experience of another player and attempts to install a "back-door virus" onto their smartphone. In addition, the game features an eight-player free roam mode. Other multiplayer modes include car races, competitive decryption combat, and a ctOS mobile challenge. A mobile application is also available for smartphones and tablets that allows players to challenge another player in-game and use hacks that triggers traps, in an attempt to stop them from succeeding.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>9. FIFA 15</b></span><br />
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<i><b>FIFA 15</b></i> is an association football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and 26 September in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android and Windows Phone. On PC, <i>FIFA 15</i> runs on EA’s Ignite engine with the same features as the PS4 and Xbox One editions.</div>
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The game features Lionel Messi on its cover, alongside a different player in different parts of the world, and is the first game in the<i>FIFA</i> series to be fully licensed by the Premier League. <i>FIFA 15</i> received positive reviews across all platforms, although the PC version in particular was criticised for the amount of bugs that were featured at release.</div>
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FIFA 15's Ultimate Team introduced a new feature, in which users can sign loan players for a limited duration of matches. Another new feature is The Concept Squad, where players are given access to the game's database and can create a "dream squad". The concept player's card is grey colored. A number of new legends are also introduced to the game, including Franz Beckenbauer,Roberto Carlos, Peter Schmeichel and Hristo Stoichkov which are only available on Xbox One and Xbox 360.</div>
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A demo was released on 9 September 2014, with three new teams - Chelsea,Liverpool and Napoli - alongside the previous game's demo's teams: Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Manchester City, Boca Juniors and Paris Saint-Germain.</div>
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A full list of the game's leagues, clubs and national teams was published on its official website on 18 September with the description "Experience true football authenticity with FIFA 15 - featuring 35 licensed leagues, over 600 clubs, 16,000+ players and 41 licensed stadiums".</div>
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EA Sports had signed a deal with the Premier League as the Official Sports Technology Partner. In this way EA are licensed under Premier League development. This deal allows all 20 Premier League stadiums to be included in the game, including the seven stadiums from <i>FIFA 14</i>. Official Premier League scoreboards and television graphics are also in the game, as well as real-life referees, chants and advertising hoardings.</div>
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The Italian Serie A is fully licensed in <i>FIFA 15</i>.All Serie B teams except the three relegated from the 2013–14 Serie A, and several Argentine clubs, feature with generic crests and kits. The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and Brazilian clubs are not licensed, due to a failure to reach agreement with the rights holders, but the Turkish Süper Ligreturns to the series. The Brazil national football team feature in the game, despite the domestic league not being included.</div>
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One of the new features added for <i>FIFA 15</i> is that all 20 Premier League stadiums are included and officially licensed. On 19 September a list of stadiums in the game was published on its website, alongside 31 generic stadiums.</div>
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Lionel Messi returns as the main cover star for all regions on the global cover. Messi has starred on the cover of all instalments of the FIFA franchise since <i>FIFA 13</i>, when he replaced Wayne Rooney. Some regions also have a player from that region starring on the cover with Messi. Nintendo's platforms may not have localised variants of the game cover available, or feature an additional player, in select regions.</div>
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