Valve Heads Into Hardware Development
Valve is apparently so tired of the lack of innovation in PC hardware that they will take the matter in their own hands.
In a job listing on Valve’s website, the company is looking for an ’Industrial Designer‘.
“Valve is traditionally a software company,” reads the post. “Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers.”
“We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we’re jumping in,” Valve declares. “Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked.”
The job requires the applicant to have ”6+ years of professional experience shipping world-class, high-tech hardware products”, and “confidence with 2D and 3D design visualization tools”.
Valve Starts Selling Other Software Via Steam
Starting on September 5th, Valve will sell start selling other types of software via Steam.
According to Steam’s press release, the software will range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as “easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you.”
More titles will be added after September 5th. Developers might also want to utilize the new Greenlight feature on Steam and submit their software through it.
“The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games,” said Mark Richardson at Valve. “They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests.”
What type of software do you wish to see through this new feature?
Left 4 Dead 2 Runs Faster on Linux
Left 4 Dead 2 apparently runs faster on Linux than it does on Windows.
Both Left 4 Dead 2 and Portal 2 run about 20 percent faster on Linux and OpenGL than on Windows/Direct 3D. According to an official blog post from Valve, L4D2 ran at 315 frames per second on an Ubuntu Linux machine, and only 270 frames per second on a Windows PC with “comparable powers.”
For more information, visit GameStop.
STEAM Coming to Linux
According to reports, Valve is going to make sure that Linux users also can partake in the gaming world, by making STEAM available for them.
The project began in 2011, and aims to give Linux users a fully featured STEAM version. Additionally, the first game to be ported is Left 4 Dead 2. The plan is to make the game run as great on Linux, as it does on Windows. Additionally, other Valve titles will be ported as well.
LinkedIn Currently Working on Better Security Measures
After the serious security breach which resulted in 6.5 million compromised LinkedIn accounts, said site is now going to update their security measures.
After such a major breach in security, it would be surprising if they didn’t do anything to update the security. The director over at LinkedIn said the following:
“We continue to execute on our security roadmap, and we’ll be releasing additional enhancements to better protect our members”.
According to Mashable, LinkedIn was already in the process of transferring to a new password database which features hashed passwords, as opposed to the “normal” database. The database which was used when the site was hacked used only one layer of encoding, the new password database will come with both hashed and salted passwords. Apparently this type of encoding is the best in the business.
It is important to point out that even though the hacker did post the passwords, he didn’t post the usernames or the email address’ used to log in. LinkedIn is currently working with FBI to bring the hacker to justice. The site posted the following:
“As you may have heard, there have been reports of other websites that have suffered similar thefts. We want to be as transparent as possible while at the same time preserving the security of our members without jeopardizing the ongoing investigation.”
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