Steam for Linux arriving next month as a private beta

Valve announced back in July that they are planning on bringing Steam to the Linux platform, starting with Ubuntu. They have now announced the next steps in this initiative and that includes beta testing priviledges for a few luccky users.

Valve has announced that they will begin internal testing next week and a private external beta test consisting of 1,000 users in October.

The private external beta will include the Steam client, one Valve game (probably Left 4 Dead 2 as was mentioned before) and support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and above. It will not include the Big Picture mode and support for other Steam games for now.

Valve had previously mentioned that they chose Ubuntu because of its popularity among Linux distributions as well as it is easy for them to stick to one distribution while developing and once they perfect that they will consider developing for other distributions.

Once the development reaches the final stages, you can probably expect more games from Valve, such as the Half-life series and Portal series, along with other non-Valve titles.

While this is definitely great news for Linux users, who often had to switch to using Windows or use an emulator such as WINE to play their games, it would be too early to expect the same level of preference for the platform from the game developers as Windows enjoys right now. Just look at OS X and you’ll see why. Even though it is vastly more popular than Linux and has had the Steam client for over two years now, the game selection is nowhere even close to matching that on Windows. To think things would be any different on Linux any time soon would be wildly optimistic.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Awkward: Minnesota bar offers pregnancy test vending machine

As part of a "Think Before You Drink" initiative for a Minnesota nonprofit, a bar has outfitted a pregnancy test dispenser to help women check if it's appropriate for them to be drinking.

Alcohol consumption while you are pregnant is a definite no-no in modern society — but what if you didn’t realize you were expecting? If you’re in the vicinity of this Minnesota bar, there’s no excuse: Pub 500 of Mankota, MN has installed a pregnancy test vending machine so you can get your results before ordering a drink.

It’s certainly an odd idea with some logical sense. The dispenser is located in the women’s bathroom of Pub 500, and sells pregnancy test kits in a manner similar to public restrooms that offer sanitary towels, pads, or Tylenol for purchase. Unlike these dated machines, this new vending machine will only accept debit or credit cards, and is outfitted with NFC technology for those taking advantage of mobile payment apps. The kit costs $3 a pop and takes roughly 10 minutes before yielding the results.

The project is part of Mankota’s local nonprofit, Healthy Brains for Children, and its “Think Before You Drink” initiative which aims to promote alcohol-related birth defect awareness. Pub 500 co-owner Tom Frederick says the bar is a supporter of the cause, and simply gave the nonprofit wall space with proceeds going directly to the organization.

“This initiative is taking the pregnancy test out of the stores and into locations where they can be best used to prevent drinking by an unexpecting mother-to-be,” Healthy Brains for Children writes. “This is a worldwide movement to include testing before drinking as a responsible drinking component.”

Local customers were, at first, confused by the addition to the bar but quickly became supportive once they understood the mission.

“If you can buy condoms and whatnot at a bar, it’s logical to buy a pregnancy test. It’s less embarrassing than going to the drug store,” Theresa Carlberg, a Pub 500 customer, told Minneapolis local news KARE. “I hope other restaurants and establishments in our community do the same thing, it’s important.” Healthy Brains for Children plans on installing at least one hundred dispensers across the city in the upcoming months.

Of course, there are some speculations that this might be a step too invasive in women’s personal lives, and that some studies say a glass of wine during pregnancy would be harmless to your unborn child. I’m not personally offended by it but it would be pretty strange to find in a bar’s bathroom. As if taking a pregnancy test isn’t awkward enough, taking one then waiting in a social facility for your results is an even more uncomfortable situation. This is a private matter that should be done in your own time and place — not spontaneously before a night out at the pub.

What do you think of pregnant test dispensers in bars? Do you believe it raises a positive awareness, or is too strange for comfort?

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Black Mesa: Source mod finally released

Gamers will have a chance to play the classic, original Half-Life with almost-modern technology, thanks to an all-volunteer total conversion

Steam Greenlight, the new initiative from Valve to make independent games available on the Steam Marketplace, could shut down tomorrow and it still would’ve been a worthy project.  Because whatever else it may release in the future, Greenlight has now brought a long-awaited title to gamers’ waiting hard drives.  Black Mesa: Source, the long-gestating total conversion of the original Half-Life, is now available.

The Black Mesa project was born from gamers’ dissatisfaction with Half Life: Source, Valve’s 2004 updating of their 1998 hit.  HL:S implemented better physics, effects, and lighting, but fans were disappointed when it didn’t update any textures, models, or level architecture.  Between the unhappiness players expressed with Valve’s port, the vast modding community built around Valve’s Source engine, and the company’s tolerant attitude towards fans playing with their intellectual property, even Valve CEO Gabe Newell admitted that a fan-made rebuild of Half-Life was “not only possible… but inevitable.”

However, getting the project to completion with an all-volunteer crew wasn’t going to be easy, or quick.  The Black Mesa: Source team announced their plans for a better conversion of the classic in September of 2004, and for years, they had nothing but a few screenshots to show for it.  Wired Magazine put Black Mesa: Source on their Vaporware of the Year list for two years running, joining such anti-luminaries as Duke Nukem Forever and L.A. Noire.

But now, all three of those games have arrived.  DNF was a critical and commercial disaster; L.A. Noire was a modest but ambitious hit.  As for BM:S…  Well, it won’t be uncontroversial.  While most updated ports are just recreations of an original game, the BM:S team decided to “improve” on the original with larger maps, re-balanced weapons, new music, and new voice acting.  They’ve also left out Half-Life‘s innovative Xen level — although they promise a massively-expanded version of Xen is on its way, but it remains to be seen if that will take another eight years.

It’s also hard to say if gamers will be quite so excited about this game as they would’ve been eight years ago.  Although the trailer looks good, and it’s certainly an improvement over the original graphics, the Source engine is showing its age, and making a game from 1998 look like a game from 2005 is rather less compelling in 2012. So far, though, the forums are full of delight, with gamers enjoying both the elegant pacing of the original Half-Life and the self-referential jokes of the mod. It helps that the developers have been extremely open about their recent builds, and willing to change the game in response to constructive criticism.

Gamers are also pleased by the open distribution of the title.  Getting through the Steam Greenlight process means the game can easily be purchased and installed through Steam, but for the more adventurous, the mod is freely available on a tremendous number of torrent trackers, as well as quite a few direct download links. 

It’s impressive to see this labor of love (almost) completed, and it’s equally impressive to see how supportive Valve has been. It’s hard to imagine another gaming company that would not only let fans’ recreation of their game go forward, but actually distribute it themselves.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Treehouse hopes to further tech education with $3 million in scholarships for future developers

Higher learning alternatives get a boost from Treehouse's new scholarship initiative.

In the last few years, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the tech world have turned the college education systems on its head. Eschewing college in favor of the path less taken — primarily, one composed of self-teaching — has become a legitimate option for talented developers. This, combined with our rising national debt and the attitude that “everyone should code!” has led to the evolution of Web-facing, easy-to-use online education systems with beautiful interfaces and game mechanics.

Chances are, you’re thinking of Codecademy, but the two year old Treehouse has also made a name for itself in this space. The platform (which recently raised $4.75 million that I’m told is going to building out the curriculum from beginner to advanced as well as some professional video upgrades) wants to give users that tools they need to develop for the Web, iOS, and Android using project-oriented learning. This week, Treehouse announced it will donate $3 million toward helping college kids use its application to further their education.

“Secondary education in the US is at an all-time high, and tuition is only increasing,” the Treehouse blog reads. “Treehouse is creating this scholarship because we believe in the power of self-learning and self-improvement. We’re giving away 2,500, 2-year long Treehouse subscriptions to students that are passionate about the Web.”

Founder and CEO of Treehouse Ryan Carson tells me that each scholarship is worth $1,176 and translates to a two year Treehouse membership where recipients will learn to mobile and Web coding as well as Web design and even startup launching skills.

Of course, all the development skills in the world only mean something if they can land you a job; the current state of hiring in this market is extremely competitive — and that’s putting it lightly. But Carson says that getting students through this program and into actual employment is the plan, and that it’s within reach.

“We think we can get people job-ready for apprenticeship roles in Web design and Web development, iOS, Android, PHP, and WordPress in three months for $150,” he says. “Our goal is to then help place them in a job through our Jobs Placement team.”

It’s an admirable and exciting proposition — especially to the college-aged among us who see this huge and robust industry but aren’t yet sure how to find their footing in it. There has been plenty of discussion and argument about the effectiveness of a traditional college education for technology focuses, and this particular route is in the process of being disrupted; according to Carson, for good reason.

“The problem with learning technology at a two year or four year university is that your skills are out of date by the time you graduate,” he tells me. “A skills-based model like Treehouse allows you to stay up to date. Not only that but Treehouse is extremely more affordable than traditional college fees. Also, you can learn at your own pace in bite-sized chunks.”

He says that Treehouse currently does not have an apprenticeship program within its own hiring structure, but that the team would like to introduce this soon.  

For all of the positives of programs like Treehouse, Codecademy, Khan Academy, and the rest of these learning alternatives, they’ve also been accused to undermining educators and in some cases offering second-rate courses. The criticisms aren’t without merit, but neither is the argument that our higher education systems needs to be evolved, especially for the technology sector. Students are getting left behind while accruing serious debt — and often without amassing a portfolio that leads to hiring. It’s a cruel cycle, and that’s exactly why there’s been such an influx of learning alternative startups recently, Treehouse included.

If you’re interested in this supplementary coding education, all you need is to be a U.S. college student with a valid .edu email address. You can fill out this form to get started.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com