Tag: three-different

The Windows 10 control panel modernization continues: Fonts get some love

Enlarge / The Settings app is gaining new powers to control your PC’s settings. (credit: Thurrott.com ) The Windows user interface has a certain archaeological quality to it. While the upper layers tend to be new—using the styling and conventions of the day—dig a little deeper and you can find elements that are decades old. With each Windows release, Microsoft has heaped new stuff onto the pile, but it hasn’t spent much time going back and revamping the old bits. Very occasionally, the relics of yesteryear are identified and excised, but more often than not, they’re left alone. One area where this is particularly plain is Control Panel. Control Panel spans many eras of Windows development, and so Windows’ settings are spread across three different styles of interface. The very oldest are the individual Control Panel applets in their tabbed dialog boxes; more recent are the Explorer-based Control Panels. The very newest is the Settings app. With Windows 10, the company has, for the first time ever, taken serious strides toward modernizing even old parts of the operating system. With each new update, more and more settings are being moved from Control Panel into the Settings app. This creates the possibility that perhaps one day Windows will have a single application that is used for all its major settings and configurations. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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The Windows 10 control panel modernization continues: Fonts get some love

What Are the Practical Differences Between Different Tire/Rim Sizes?

I learned to drive on a five-speed Datsun 280ZX that had 195/70 R14 tires. (If you don’t understand what those numbers mean, read this breakdown of tire codes .) Yes, 14-inch wheels sporting tires with high sidewalls. This was normal in the ’80s, but nowadays the rage is to have beefier rims with low-profile tires, a trend that I suspect was advanced by car renderings. Every automotive renderer seems to draw rims that threaten to bottom out inside the wheel wells, with only the faintest sliver of black to indicate there’s any rubber on them. Nowadays you’d be hard-pressed to find 14″ wheels on any car claiming to offer sporty performance. Volkswagen’s GTI, as one example, comes standard with 15″ wheels, but I’m guessing most buyers ponying up for a GTI over the Golf upgrade to the 16″, 17″ or 18″ wheel options. Which wheel size is faster? Which size is preferred if you live in rainy Oregon versus dry Arizona? Which size offers more comfort, makes more noise, or handles better? To find out, Tyre Reviews tried out three different rim and tire sizes—225/45 R17, 225/40 R18, and 225/35 R19—on Goodyear’s test track in the south of France. Some of the results are surprising. By the bye, how brilliant are Goodyear’s executives for decreeing that their test track be located in the south of France?

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What Are the Practical Differences Between Different Tire/Rim Sizes?

NASA’s plasma rocket making progress toward a 100-hour firing

Enlarge / With 200 kW of solar power, the VASIMR engine could be used as a lunar tug. (credit: Ad Astra Rocket Company) Almost everyone recognizes that if humans are truly to go deeper into the Solar System, we need faster and more efficient propulsion systems than conventional chemical rockets. Rocket engines powered by chemical propellants are great for breaking the chains of Earth’s gravity, but they consume way too much fuel when used in space and don’t offer optimal control of a spacecraft’s thrust. NASA recognizes this, too. So in 2015, the space agency awarded three different contracts for development of advanced propulsion systems. Of these, perhaps the most intriguing is a plasma-based rocket—which runs on Argon fuel, generates a plasma, excites it, and then pushes it out a nozzle at high speed. This solution has the potential to shorten the travel time between Earth and Mars to weeks, rather than months. But to realize that potential, Houston-based Ad Astra Rocket Company must first demonstrate that its plasma rocket, VASIMR, can fire continuously for a long period of time. The three year, $9 million contract from NASA required the company to fire its plasma rocket for 100 hours, at a power level of 100 kilowatts, by 2018. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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NASA’s plasma rocket making progress toward a 100-hour firing

Campy, live-action horror game ‘Night Trap’ heads to PS4

After 25 years, a browser port and a failed Kickstarter , cult classic FMV (full-motion video) game Night Trap is finally getting making its way back to living rooms. Thanks to the folks at developer Screaming Villains and publisher Limited Run Games, the interactive tale of teenage girls stuck in a house under attack by vampires will be released on disc sometime this spring for PlayStation 4 . Based on the trailer below, the video footage isn’t pristine, but it looks about as clean as it probably ever will. Considering that watching video makes up a bulk of the gameplay, that’s pretty important. It isn’t up to the level of the Alien or Jaws remasters on Blu-ray, of course, but the source material wasn’t aiming for high art or box office glory. The “control room” UI (you’re a security guard monitoring the house remotely via closed circuit cameras) you play from looks super slick, too. Our Night Trap release will be available with three different covers, each based on one of the three US Sega CD releases. pic.twitter.com/4fascjPaBq — Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) April 25, 2017 On Twitte r, Limited Run said that its version will be available with three different cover styles based on the trio of US Sega CD releases — replete with the diagonal stripes and off-center art placement. More than that, the cover art is missing one key thing: An ESRB rating. Along with Doom and the original Mortal Kombat , Night Trap and its “violent” content was partly responsible for Entertainment Software Ratings Board and its age-ratings for games. Currently, the remaster is rated T for Teen for violence, blood and suggestive themes. Pricing and an exact release date aren’t known, but based on Limited Run’s previous releases the disc shouldn’t cost more than $25. If you’re itching for something similar, maybe give Until Dawn a shot if you haven’t yet. It’s a slightly different take on teenage horror than Night Trap , but the PS4-exclusive dishes out scares and laughs while serving as a loving homage to the genre. Via: Limited Run Games (Twitter) Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

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Campy, live-action horror game ‘Night Trap’ heads to PS4