Crysis 3 DOUBLE XP - Feb 22 Weekend

Crysis 3 came out on Tuesday, February 19th 2013 and they are already having DOUBLE XP so you can rank up faster.

I am thoroughly enjoying this game and sadly people aren't even giving it a try for whatever reason. Whether is's because they only play Call of Duty or because they haven't even heard of it. Crysis 3 is more of a hybrid First Person Shooter because your character has a nanosuit which allows you to have armor and cloaking capabilities. The map designs are excellent in my opinion and they have complex elevation changes and are not just simple maps with a flat playing field. There are also map interactions like being able to use items found throughout the maps like cars, poles, and air duct vent panels.

Have you purchased Crysis 3 yet? Here are some videos I created to help if you're new to the game.

-Ubu out

Steam for Linux Celebration Sale - 50% to 75% Off

Steam is having a huge Sale in Celebration for Steam for Linux. Linux game titles are from 50% all the way up to 80% off. Despite the sale stating it was as high as 75% off, I saw Serious Sam 3 BFE for 80% off, which brings it down to a mere $7.99 which is normally a $39.99 game.

There are now 100 items within Steam's Linux section. I am very excited about this. Here is just some of the games on sale;
Intrusion 2 = 66% off brings it to $3.50
Serious Sam 3 BFE = 80% off brings it to $7.99
4th Year Anniversary World of Goo = 75% off brings it to $2.49
Trine 2 = 75% off brings it to $3.74
Half Life = 75% off brings it to $2.49
Counter Strike Source = 75% off brings it to $4.99
Bastion = 75% off brings it to $3.74
Amnesia = 75% off brings it to $5.00

This is an awesome sale and I picked up Intrusion 2 and Bastion for a mere $7.24. What will you be picking up?

-Ubu out

Linux on UEFI Windows 8 PCs, yes please

There is some great news for us Linux and Free Open Source Software (FOSS) advocates, there's a new tool that will let you run Linux on devices built for Microsoft's Windows 8. The Linux Foundation Secure Boot System will allow Linux to run on computers using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware.

Microsoft's Windows 8 runs on new hardware controlled by UEFI firmware, which provides "secure-boot" technology. Although UEFI seeks to secure computers against malware by requiring a trusted key before booting, it has presented problems for other operating systems. Many in the Linux community feared that OEM may not provide a UEFI off-switch, effectively barring Linux from running on UEFI-enabled machines but now the latest releases of many major Linux distributions include a bootloader to work with UEFI, such as Ubuntu 12.10 and Fedora 18.

Linux Foundation technical advisory board member James Bottomley has been quoted saying the following, "The Linux Foundation wishes not only to enable Linux to keep booting in the face of the new wave of secure boot systems, but also enable those technically savvy users who wish to do so to actually take control of the secure boot process by installing their own platform key. The Linux Foundation bootloader provides a hash code certified by Microsoft, and supports the infrastructure to boot a generic Linux kernel. We have in place a protocol where Microsoft hands off the initial Microsoft signed EFI binary load to separately verified EFI binary chain, which individual distributions control. We did this because our mission is to enable any bootloader in the Linux ecosystem to work with secure boot."

I am very pleased to see there is a work-around for the new UEFI firmware so that I can install Linux on a machine or motherboard destined for Windows 8. Many of the newer motherboards are coming with UEFI and secure boot so this is great news for us Linux users. Does your motherboard have UEFI and secure boot?

-Ubu out

Unteathered iOS 6.0 and up Jailbreak Released

Thanks to the hard work of a new team of hackers known as Evad3rs, the Jailbreak, called "evasi0n", works on all versions of iOS from 6.0 thru 6.1, and it supports all current iOS 6.1 devices except for the third generation Apple TV. According to the Evad3rs team the following devices are supported:
iPhone 5
iPhone 4S
iPhone 4
iPhone 3GS
iPad 4
iPad 3
iPad 2
iPad Mini
iPod Touch
iPod Touch 5
iPod Touch 4
Apple TV 2 (NOT 3rd generation)

The unteathered status means that you can safely reboot your device without having to have it "tethered" to a computer in order for it to remain jailbroken and work. The tool is available for Mac OS X (10.5 or later), Windows XP or newer, and Linux from the Evasi0n Website. One thing that they are suggesting is that you should update to the latest firmware for your device but not using the OTA (Over the Air) method but you should download the firmware thru iTunes and update your device through iTunes. They are also recommending that you should fully back up your data via iCloud or iTunes.

I am very excited about this as I have been waiting for an unteathered Jailbreak since I got my iPhone 4 back in December of 2011 and now I have an iPhone 4S and can't wait to "release" it from the grips of Apple so that I can take full advantage of the hardware and it's capabilities by using apps from the most popular repository for community developed applications, Cydia. Will you be jailbreaking your iOS device?

Here's a tutorial I put together which shows how to update to the latest firmware and then perform the evasi0n jailbreak within Xubuntu 12.04.

-Ubu out