Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's style, and its very existence, owe a lot to Warner Bros. and its other big licensed gaming series of the past few years: the Batman: Arkham games. Rather than push a license through excessive crunch time to coincide with a new movie, the Arkham model let Warner Bros. put the time into developing a game with an original story that would stand the test of time. The game draws both the evergreen franchise fanatics and those not automatically drawn to the license's source material.

So rather than trying to retell the now well-worn tales of Bilbo or Frodo's journeys, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor switches gears entirely, telling a story that takes place between the end of The Hobbit and the start of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The game isn't designed to fully bridge the gap between those stories, though. As the title says, this is less a Lord of the Rings game and more a "Middle-earth" game, focused on expanding the continent's mythos, starting with Sauron's domain in Mordor.

Revenge of the Ranger

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Version:next-20140930 (linux-next) Released:2014-09-30

New technology allows security services to analyse the contents of the sewers to discover where people are making home-made bombs.

New technology allows security services to analyse the contents of the sewers to discover where people are making home-made bombs.

An Austrian balloon pilot has succeeded in taking a balloon deep underground.

Several weeks ago, Hewlet-Packard announced the HP Stream 14” Notebook. The Stream series is HP’s version of the low cost Windows laptop, meant to compete head to head with Chromebooks on price, but still offer the power of a fully fleshed out operating system. The Stream 14 (pictured above) is available to purchase now for only $299, and comes with an AMD A4 APU, 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of eMMC storage.

Today, HP revealed the rest of the Stream lineup, with two additional laptops, and two tablets. In a world where the Chromebook has put some serious price pressure on the Average Selling Price of low cost computing, OEMs are trying to win over consumers with nice designs and additional perks in an effort to differentiate from the competition.

HP Stream 11

First up is the laptops. There are two screen sizes with the smaller being 11.6” and the mid-size being 13.3”, to compliment the already released 14” model. Exact specifications have not been disclosed yet, but both units will be powered by an Intel dual-core Celeron processor based on the Bay Trail architecture. This will make it a fanless device, and both come with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage. The 13.3” device has an optional touchscreen to go with the 1366x768 resolution that both laptops share. The 13.3” model also is available with optional 4G connectivity, and as a value add, HP is including 200 MB of free data every month for the life of the device. As another value add, HP is offering one year of Office 365 personal, which includes 1 TB of online storage and 60 Skype minutes per month. Battery life is listed from HP at 8:15 for the 11.6” model, and 7:45 for the 13.3” model. The HP Stream laptops are available in several colors, and will be priced at $199.99 for the 11.6” model and $229.99 as the starting price for the 13.3” model.

HP Stream 13

With the race to the bottom on pricing, one has to wonder where it will end, but all we know is it has not ended yet. Today HP also announced the HP Stream 7 Tablet, which is a 7” Windows 8.1 with Bing device that comes in at only $99.99. If you are in need of a slightly larger device, with optional 4G, then HP also has you covered with the HP Stream 8 which has a starting price of $149.99. Both tablets are powered by Intel Atom quad-core processors, and 1366x768 screens. Like the larger of the two laptops, the 8” tablet, if equipped with the optional 4G, comes with 200 MB of data per month for the life of the device, and both also come with Office 365 personal for one year. Office 365 personal is $70 to purchase on its own, so for only $30 more you can get it with a 7” tablet.

HP Stream 7 (left) HP Stream 8 (right)

It has been a bit painful to see the thin and light Chromebooks popping up over the last couple of years, and it was always especially frustrating that low cost Windows laptops were large, thick, noisy, and had very slow spinning hard disks. It is great to see the Chromebook styling now coming to Windows PCs, and with the Chromebook pricing as well. Microsoft is making a big push to recapture some of this end of the market by offering Windows 8.1 with Bing, and they are now starting to see some examples of great looking Chromebook competitors.

The tablet side is not as rosy, with Windows 8.1 not having the same mobile ecosystem as Android, but at least the pricing is now in line for the bottom end of the market. The add-ons offered by HP are pretty strong, with the Office 365 Personal costing almost as much as the tablet itself, and 4G for life is a nice bonus to those who just need a bit of data when they are not on Wi-Fi. Of course what the Windows Tablets need as the killer app is the touch version of Office, but that is not available as of yet, so anyone who wants to take advantage of Office 365 will have to do it from a 7-8” desktop, but as with most Windows tablets these can be connected to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor if you were so inclined. This is a strong push by HP to get a foothold in the low end of the market, with sharp looking products and useful value adds as well. Hopefully we can get some of these as review units to give you the full break down on just what you get for so little money.

A third video has been posted online showing the British photographer John Cantlie, who's being held by the group which calls itself Islamic State.

ExeterAnna

On Monday the Associated Press wrote that officials in Ferguson, Missouri, have been charging exorbitant fees to turn over public records like e-mails and texts from city officials. The informational paywalls come in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, that spurred weeks of protests in the St Louis suburb.

The AP notes that charging high fees for public records is a tactic that some government agencies use to discourage journalists and activists from discovering unflattering or problematic information. Officials in Ferguson have said that forwarding certain e-mail and text messages requires expensive IT analysis, despite the fact that public records laws in Missouri maintain that public access to government records should be provided at little to no cost.

“Ferguson told the AP it wanted nearly $2,000 to pay a consulting firm for up to 16 hours of work to retrieve messages on its own e-mail system, a practice that information technology experts call unnecessary,” the AP wrote on Monday. “The firm, St. Louis-based Acumen Consulting, wouldn't comment specifically on Ferguson's contract, but said the search could be more complicated and require technicians to examine tape backups.”

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Japanese rescue teams have spent a third day searching for survivors on Mount Ontake, trapped by Saturday's eruption.

It seems like it's been a long time since we've seen a WHQL driver release from AMD… and it has been. The previous WHQL driver dates back to April, the Catalyst 14.4 drivers, so we're close to five months between updates. In the interim, AMD has had beta/release candidate drivers for 14.6 and 14.7, along with the initial driver release for the R9 285 Tonga GPU. The new 14.9 drivers appear to be the official release of the R9 285 drivers, with version numbering of 14.301 (compared to 14.300 for the launch driver).

As usual, there are quite a few updates listed in the release notes, with minor to moderate performance improvements noted for 3DMark Sky Diver and Fire Strike, 3DMark11, Bioshock Infinite, Company of Heroes 2, Crysis 3, GRID Autosport, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, Batman: Arkham Origins, Wildstar, Tomb Raider, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed IV, Lichdom, and StarCraft II. There's no mention made of any of the upcoming games, so it looks like we'll mostly be looking for hotfixes to address any issues with yet-to-be-released games. Other changes include Mantle support for AMD mobile products with Enduro technology.

The drivers are available at the usual place, and support is specifically listed for the R9/R7/R5 series of desktop and mobile GPUs, along with the earlier HD 5000/6000/7000/8000 series of desktop and mobile GPUs. APU support is also included for the R7/R6/R5/R3 products and all APUs with HD 6000D/G or newer graphics (which basically means all of AMD's APUs). In other words, if you have a Direct3D 11 enabled GPU from AMD, the drivers should be available (though there are likely mobile products where that may not be the case).

The patched Bash shell on a system running OS X 10.9.5. Andrew Cunningham

Apple has just released the OS X Bash Update 1.0 for OS X Mavericks, Mountain Lion, and Lion, a patch that fixes the "Shellshock" bug in the Bash shell that we first reported on last week. Bash, which is the default shell for many Unix and Linux-based operating systems, has been updated two times to fix the Shellshock remote exploit bug, and many Linux distributions have already issued updates to their users.

When installed on an OS X Mavericks system, the patch upgraded the Bash shell from version 3.2.51 to version 3.2.53, something that users could already do manually if they were so inclined. The update requires the OS X 10.9.5, 10.8.5, or 10.7.5 updates to be installed on your system first. An Apple representative told Ars that the company would not be releasing an individual patch for users running the current OS X Yosemite developer or public beta builds, but the rep went on to say the bug will be fixed in future builds of the software. The company previously stated that Macs "are safe by default and not exposed to remote exploits of bash unless users configure advanced UNIX services." Non-jailbroken iOS devices shouldn't be vulnerable to the exploit at all.

Shellshock, in essence, allows attackers to issue commands to systems via malformed environment variables. In the case of Web servers, it can allow attackers to gain full control of the system. Exploits of the bug have already been spotted in the wild, and end users and server administrators are all encouraged to patch their systems as soon as possible.

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Lenovo announced today that they have satisfied the conditions needed to complete the acquisition of IBM's x86 server business, and the parties expect to finalize the deal and close effective October 1, 2014. This move also basically marks IBM's exit from the x86 market, after having previously sold off their PC laptop and desktop division to Lenovo back in 2005. The details of the acquisition were first announced in January 2014, with the purchase price being approximately $2.1 billion ($1.8 billion in cash and another $280 million in Lenovo stock).

Getting into the details, as part of this acquisition Lenovo will get the System x, BladeCenter, and Flex System blade servers and switches, x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers and software, and additional blade networking and maintenance operations. IBM for their part will maintain their System z mainframes, Power Systems, Storage Systems, Power-based Flex servers, and PureApplication and PureData appliances. IBM will continue to provide service and maintenance for an extended period of time, to help ensure a seamless transition for customers.

Interestingly, the announcement bears an uncanny resemblance to the news from nearly a decade ago, as this will make Lenovo the third-largest player in the global x86 server market. When Lenovo bought IBM's PC division, they became the third-largest player in the PC laptop and desktop space. Of note is that last year, Lenovo was the largest PC vendor by unit sales, so clearly they're hoping for a repeat of that success, only this time in the more lucrative server space.

Gerry Smith, Lenovo Group VP of and president of Enterprise Business Group and America's Group states, "The acquisition is a clear demonstration of the confidence we have earned based on our consistent track record as a responsible global investor and as a secure and reliable technology provider. Lenovo has big plans for the enterprise market. Over time, we will compete vigorously across every sector, using our manufacturing scale and operational excellence to repeat the success we have had with PCs."

A French scientist uses reflective light technology to reveal the secrets of the 500-year-old Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci.

The chief executive officer of a mobile spyware maker was arrested over the weekend, charged with allegedly illegally marketing an app that monitors calls, texts, videos, and other communications on mobile phones "without detection," federal prosecutors said.

The government said the prosecution [PDF] of Hammad Akbar, 31, of Pakistan, was the "first-ever" case surrounding advertising and the sales of mobile spyware targeting adults—in this case an app called StealthGenie.

“Selling spyware is not just reprehensible, it’s a crime,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said in a statement. “Apps like StealthGenie are expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers who want to know every detail of a victim’s personal life—all without the victim’s knowledge."

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ISRO

Mars has two new satellites thanks to last week's successful orbital insertions of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and the Indian Space Research Organization's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). Both probes have already returned their first images from orbit. MOM is responsible for the one shown above, which captures a large dust storm in the northern hemisphere of Mars. It also snapped this oblique view of the planet's surface, which manages to capture the thin atmosphere of Mars:

A view through the thin Martian atmosphere. ISRO

MOM carries a camera that captures visible wavelengths, which is why we're able to enjoy the red planet living up to its name. MAVEN is focused on studying the atmosphere in detail, specifically its interactions with space and the solar wind. Watching what escapes Mars and what stays associated with the planet will tell us a lot about how the Martian atmosphere has evolved over the history of the Solar System.

Unfortunately, that mission won't always result in dramatic photos. The one below shows how MAVEN is able to identify individual gasses and demonstrate how they either associate tightly with Mars (oxygen) or are able to spread out into space (hydrogen). That doesn't mean we won't end up with some great pictures from MAVEN; it's just that the main scientific mission isn't focused on high-resolution images of what Mars looks like.

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I have been focusing a lot on security and privacy issues in this year's columns so far, but I realize some of you may expect a different kind of topic from me (or maybe are just tired of all this security talk). Well, you are in luck. more>>

Don't hit the food. The Wizard needs food... badly. Elf, how could you shoot the food?!

“The food” tends to be what everyone remembers about Gauntlet, if they remember the game at all. "The food" is more important to the series' legacy than the games themselves, which have changed considerably from the top-down arcade original through third-person 3D console iterations. The food is life. The food is frustration. The food is Gauntlet.

In Arrowhead Studios' new reboot of Gauntlet (no subtitle this time), there is plenty of food. Whole, honey-baked hams and roast turkeys sit around waiting for consumption or destruction by up to four players. Amid the hordes of mummies, goblins, spiders, and their various spawning devices, these fragile, life-giving feasts tie the new game back to the original more than anything else.

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This year's melt is almost identical to last year's, and nothing like the huge loss of ice seen in 2012. NSIDC

Each year in September, the sea ice at the two poles reach opposite extremes. Early in the month, the Arctic ice bottoms out, reaching its annual minimum. Off of Antarctica, the ice typically reaches its greatest extent toward the end of the month. In recent years, the Arctic sea ice has grabbed the most attention, as its dramatic loss has set records. But this year, most of the drama is occurring down south.

Arctic sea ice, which is largely contained in the closed basin surrounding the North Pole, set a record in 2012, falling well below the previous 2007 record. But last year, although the melting has remained well below the average of the satellite measurements, the loss of ice hasn't been extreme. The same could be said of this year; it's the sixth lowest amount of ice we've seen at this point of the year, but that's nowhere near the record loss we saw in 2012. The ice did shrink enough to open a passage north of Russia, but the Northeast Passage above Canada remained ice-filled.

The ice cover did remain within two standard deviations of the 1981-2010 average, but it's not clear that's all that significant, given that this period includes the second-lowest year on record. But having two years in a row of somewhat moderated melting is probably a sign that the tremendous loss of ice in 2012 has not shifted the Arctic into a trend where ice loss accelerates with each Arctic summer. It also may enable a slight regrowth of some of the thicker, multi-year ice that does not melt as readily.

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Last week, a Dallas-based market research firm published a report about American video-streaming habits, and its numbers told a story that we saw coming for years: Video game consoles have become the leading device category for video streaming app use.

On Tuesday, Parks Associates published its report, which surveyed 10,000 American homes in early 2014, and it found 44 percent of broadband-using respondents considered a game console their "primary connected" device for accessing non-gaming Internet content, particularly video apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Video. Out of those console owners, "roughly three quarters" log into consoles to watch video apps at least once a week, and 40 percent of them watch over 10 hours of content a week.

The report goes on to rank broadband homes' preferred devices, with game consoles beating, in order, smart TVs (20 percent), streaming media boxes (12 percent), and Blu-ray players (nine percent). "What we find is that not every device has everything somebody wants," Parks Director of Research Barbara Kraus said in an interview with Ars. Kraus clarified that respondents were asked which device they used most. "You are going to continue using multiple devices until you have a platform that has everything you want on it," she said.

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The New York Public Service Commission has delayed its vote on the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger from October 2 to November 13.

The delay comes as the commission reviews recommendations from the state Division of Consumer Protection's Utility Intervention Unit (UIU). In a filing on August 25 (download link), the UIU described "deficiencies associated with the Companies’ current substandard customer service" and said the merger should not be approved unless certain conditions are imposed. The UIU also said there are "deficiencies" in the companies' petition with the state, "specifically, in the areas of improving the Companies’ service to its New York customers, making universal broadband more affordable, increasing broadband speed, and investing in infrastructure, including ways to remedy those deficiencies."

Conditions proposed to remedy the problems include expanding eligibility for Comcast's low-cost Internet service for poor people, preservation of Time Warner Cable's $14.99-per-month standalone broadband service for all customers regardless of income status, expansion of broadband in rural areas, implementation of a service quality measure, preservation of customer service jobs in New York, and "the creation of two additional voting seats on the Board of Directors of the merged company to represent New York consumer interests."

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