The Scene
MONTHLY - ISSUE 13
September, 2008 | WAREZ-BB.ORG
What’s Inside? MGS4
Gun of the Patriots PG. 12
WWW
Torrents Explained Learn to maintain a good ratio
Security
Are you safe?
PG. 17
nVidia GTX 280
PG. 08
Love & Relationship PG. 16
Wall-e Is it hyped? PG. 24
PG. 06
The Scene Contents
8
Issue 13 | September 2008
3
WWW Security
Are you safe?
6
Learn to maintain a good ratio.
7
You deserver only the best.
8
A great new addition to nVidias lineup.
12
Torrents Explained
How to choose the right hardware?
nVidia Geforce GTX 280
10
Beijing Olympics 2008
The largest and most ancient sport event of its kind.
11
Bunkspeed HyperShot
The dream of a CG artist.
12
21
MGS4 - Gun of the Patriots
One of the best games ever made.
16
Crime and Punishment
Does justice exist?
17
Love and RelationShip
18
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody
Love is in the air!
Great figures of history hylariously humbled.
19
The Evil Destist Conspiracy
Are dentists evil?
20
Dejavu
21
A masterpiece.
That Feeling
10 1  Contents
The Dark Knight
23
Star Wars vs. Lord Of The Rings
Yoda vs. Gandalf
24
Wall-e
Is it hyped? The Scene / Warez-bb.org
The Scene Editorial Issue 13 | September 2008
Editor Enigma86 Co-Editor Yoghurt. Writer’s Team Leader Dark Elite Artist’s Team Leader chicodelperreo Proofreader’s Team Leader Daniel.Blaze Magazine Team Compiler AZUPO Writer’s Team Assistant .:Nvidia:. Artist’s Team Assistant PzSniper Writers Chronus CoolAsIce Dramamine Grimezy Shifty waltereegho Artists Adrys
Hey everybody, The long awaited issue of theSCENE is here at last. It has been a delayed release, however the number of changes effected have been significant. As you can see, the magazine now sports a new look and is less bulky thanks to our InDesign artists who have made this huge gfx transition possible. I’m also grateful to every member on this beloved team who has made this magazine release possible. The community has grown over the past few months and with it, the press team in both numbers and strength. To cope with forum growth and demands, we have added sufficient skilled writers, proofreaders, artists and management staff to the team. Magazine article submissions have been opened to members to encourage greater community involvement in Warez-BB projects as it is our sincere desire to provide the members of this community useful, good quality content. We welcome every member to participate in this community endeavor by sending your article submissions to us which will undoubtedly make this project a great success. The Press Team believes that every member in this forum has tremendous potential and can get involved in community projects to give back, share and help their other beloved community members. Don’t hesitate to be a part of this revolution! With these changes, there is a huge demand for talented members with ample time who can help the press team with its graphics. We are looking for skilled InDesign artists who can aid the gfx team. If you have the necessary qualifications and are serious about working on our team, don’t hesitate to P.M me with InDesign samples.
diezora
On behalf of the entire press team, I thank every member who has offered us support and motivation to keep this project alive.
Georgitsis
Regards,
ML!
Enigma86
xxpaigexx Cover Design RedFlow Proofreaders Clarinda Lochinvar MasterDKR Silly-Billy
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
2 Editorial
Technology Personal Security on the WWWeb. »»In this article, we explain how people with malicious intent get your information.
By Enigma86&BosmouZ Hello all Warez-BB users! Today we are going to try to explain something to you that will become more and more important in the near future for all you internet users: your security on the web. Note: Please understand that some topics were designed for experienced users.
“
constant vigilance is the key to avoid compromise
// Common * threats
”
Botnet
Keystroke logging
A botnet is a collection of zombies: user machines brought to the IRCd without the user’s cognizance. These zombies are online whenever the machines are connected to the internet. DDE is usually used to send commands to mIRC, by evading antivirus/firewall/IDS (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion-detection_system) detection.
This program sits on your PC and sends keystrokes you make to the hacker’s server. This application could even be installed by your boyfriend or your evil sister. Hardware keystroke logging is also possible. We will not deal with this in our article.
They are used to carry out a variety of DDOS attacks and for stealing private information from the computer. Safe networks can ban you if they detect the infection on your machine and this can cause loss of privileges and respect in the communities where you belong. http://honeynet.org/
This is a program that will reverse connect from your PC to the hackers PC when you open an infected file.
papers/bots/
Browser password hacks
These programs will search for and find your stored passwords on your PC. The most common attacks are aimed at your browser (esp. IE, FF and Opera). Password dumpers are legitimate tools which are helpful when you forget a password, however a few AV tools detect them as malware/ unwanted apps. This is because if the malware tools are properly masqueraded, they may be used to steal passwords from your PC, without your approval by using these password dumpers.
Control using remote admin tool
With this tool, the attacker can do anything with your PC: view your webcam, see what you are doing on your desktop, and even take control of your mouse and keyboard. This is the worst-case scenario, as it allows further penetration and exploitation of your PC by allowing the attacker to upload more exploits to your PC. There are more things to be careful about (like adware, spyware and spam) but we will keep this article based on the threats mentioned above.
// BASIC * SECURITY Every HOME-PC should have an antivirus, a firewall and an optional intrusion detection system. AV and Firewall should protect you from old and well-known threats/exploits; they will keep you safe from most common viruses and attacks. Choosing an Anti-Virus solution
We recommend that you get an antivirus which has a high detection rate. Antivirus products must have the ability to scan/detect differently packed files, should be highly configurable and should have the ability to scan ADS(http://www. windowsecurity.com/articles/alternate_data_streams. html). Anti-virus tools on the market have
SpySweeper 3 Technology
varied runtime performance: this is primarily dependent on the scan levels and the ability of the detection tool to scan a packed object on
the fly. Some tools scan through iexpress, cab or sfx files and some do not. Simple malwares are often made by creating self-extracting executables using commonly available packers such as cab/rar/nullsoft etc. Hence, if your antivirus has an option to scan archives, we recommend that you keep this option turned on. This drastically improves the detection rate at the cost of system performance. Recommended Anti-Virus
Despite its high false positives, Avira (www.free-av.com) is a good freeware solution to protect you from threats. NOD32 Antivirus has also grown to become a dependable shareware solution. However, both tools fail to detect all packed malware successfully. Choosing a Firewall solution
A firewall should have the ability to detect known attacks, intrusions and should be highly configurable. An essential quality in a firewall is to be The Scene / Warez-bb.org
able to specify the exact list of allowed IP addresses and ports through which application communication is legal. People often tend to allow applications to access every internet address, however this can cause insurmountable problems when an application vulnerability is exploited. Hence, firewall rules should be configured properly on a per application basis. It’s always best to stop your firewall from making your decisions for you. Badly designed firewalls do not recognize the executable image changes. Example – A good firewall prompts you when you update your application, because the CRC/MD5/Cryptographic Checksum of the executable image has changed. This detection helps you to spot rootkits of popular versions of software, to which you have granted internet access. When your e-defense tool issues such an alert, you should check things such as digital signatures of the application to ensure that it comes from a legitimate source. Recommended Firewall
Popular firewall solutions including Comodo firewall and ESET Smart Security implement most favorable features described above, however, popular firewalls are often targeted and people are always on the lookout for exploits and tactics to evade them. Something like Coreforce firewall (http://force.coresecurity.com), which does much more than a traditional firewall can be a force to reckon with on a home system. A firewall and an Antivirus will not protect you from everything you seen though. When a 0-day exploit arrives, you will not be able to detect it (if it's coded the right way). This is what is called a FUD virus (Fully UnDetectable). FUD viruses are the reason why you will need to take additional security measures. To counter FUD, you can run your PC from a limited privileged account. There are lots of tools which allow you to run processes with very low system privileges. They can detect various changes such as abnormal/anomalous network activity, threatening registry/configuration changes and much more. These are beyond the scope of this article. However, we’ll direct you to the resources at the end of article, which contain a repertoire of information to help you protect yourself against a large amount of malware and design the best defense solution for protecting your home pc. Download security
Most Trojans/viruses infect you because you have opened a file you downloaded and in most cases, you wouldn't have noticed you have downloaded and executed a virus.
therefore you need to take some action: Download applications from sources you trust; always download freeware applications from the author’s site; scan everything you download on virustotal (www.virustotal.com). Virustotal scans and reports if the file is detected as infected by many of the major anti-virus tools. If you are suspicious about a tool which is not detected by your anti-virus tools, use the subsequent services. Anubis (http://analysis.seclab.tuwien.ac.at), Norman Sandbox(http://www.norman.com/microsites/nsic/Submit/en-us), SunBelt (http://research.sunbelt-software.com/Submit.aspx), ThreatExpert(http://www.threatexpert.com/) Sunbelt, Anubis, Norman and ThreatExpert execute the application and report back changes. These are more dependable for detecting unknown packers. If you have a sacrificial PC/virtual machine, you can run and test malware using SysAnalyzer(http://labs.idefense.com/software/malcode.php). Serious malware analysts should try the resources section at the end of the article. If there are any suspicious threats found on those sites the file is most likely to be infected. Running applications safely
Use a Sandbox such as VMware (http://info. vmware.com) or Sandboxie(http://www.sandboxie. com/) to safely test applications. Use VMware workstation’s snapshot feature to restore the VMware OS to a safe state, if necessary. However, remember that most modern malware have features to detect that they are running VMware in a virtual machine. Use them to run files you don't trust and see the consequences (residual files, fake error message, unsolicited attempts to connect to internet, modification of firewall rules, usage of netsh or wmic etc). We use this to run keygens and patches since they are usually bonded with a trojan. Often, I patch my files or grab my keys from my VMware and use them in my normal Operating System. Always have a tool such as counterspy(paranoid mode) or coreforce firewall that can identify executables, which hook to other running processes or run other files which they drop(http://www.f-secure.com/vdescs/trojdrop.shtml). Password security
MP3 Trojan
There are programs (binders and/or packers) that can join multiple files into a single executable. For example, one can add a virus binary to the newest setup of NOD32 Antivirus.exe and it will show up as a regular installation file. However, when you open this installer, the embedded malware will silently execute and perform its dirty job. If you see a topic and you think that is too good to be true (example: rapidshare premium accounts generator) then it is! These things always are too good to be true! Never ever open such programs, and use you common sense. In most cases, you can never know when you have downloaded a virus, The Scene / Warez-bb.org
For forums, services such as rapidshare and game accounts such as steam, strong passwords are essential for your personal security. Every time your register anywhere on the internet your password is encrypted into a database, most likely in an md5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD5) hash format. Seems secure you think? Au contraire, it’s insecure: crackers can get access to this database and get their hands on your md5 encrypted password, IP, email and more. There are many ways to decrypt an md5 hash into plaintext. The most common ways are using a rainbow table, brute forcing and using a dictionary attack. Brute forcing consists of trying as many combinations of letters as possible, capital letter, numbers and different characters. This method takes a lot of time. The hacker can also use rainbow tables (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_table) or a dictionary attack for faster and easier results (I won't discuss rainbow tables now, you can read more about it at Wikipedia). A dictionary attack involves using a wordlist, which suits the user’s operation environment. 4 Technology
The dictionary attack will compare the md5 of dictionary words with those from the database. How to avoid getting into trouble with these hacks »» Use at least eight characters in your passwords, as this makes brute
forcing a lot harder. You can use a password generator (http://www. pctools.com/guides/password/) to create very long passwords (32 characters) and use keepass (http://keepass.info) to store your passwords safely. »» Don't use the same password everywhere. Use different passwords for
important stuff and email accounts. Moreover, for less important stuff use other passwords. »» Passwords must not be linked. (for example: password and password1
are linked, aowdaiwdb and qweyutqrhvb are not linked). »» Only use words that are not know in any dictionary or that are
common slang. »» To create a strong password yourself combine 2 words together
(example: milkyway+rice=ricywaymilk. You can even add some characters and/or numbers) »» If you use numbers, don't use memorable dates such as your birthdates,
wedding date etc. »» Change passwords often. »» Do not store personal information/passwords in a text file on your
computer (hackers search for those things when they enter your PC). IM security
AIM
This can be used to identify your IP address. Furthermore, new exploits are made available often, which allows script kiddies to gather victims. To safeguard yourself, always use safe IM clients such as Miranda(http:// www.miranda-im.org/) or Trillian(http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/), which connect only to the messenger servers. IM encryption such as SIMP(http://www.secway.fr/us/products/) can additionally be used with supported IM clients. Browser security
Always run your browser from a sandbox. Install spybot search and destroy(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html) and immunize your browser. Spybot S&D applies reasonable security measures to IE, Firefox and Opera. Install keyscrambler(http://www. qfxsoftware.com/) to deter keystroke logging, when you browse. If you use firefox, install NoScript(http://noscript.net/) and Firekeeper(http:// firekeeper.mozdev.org/), AdBlockPlus(http://adblockplus.org/) and allow code execution only on sites that you trust. Additionally, install Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar(http://toolbar.netcraft.com/) or Mcafee SiteAdvisor(http://www.siteadvisor.com/) extensions to know more about the site you visit. Always block cookies from sites you do not trust. Look for the SSL lock symbol and learn to identify phishing sites. Importance of backups
We don’t need to stress how important backups are for disaster recovery. We recommend that you use DriveSnapshot or Norton Ghost to take backups of your system. We’ve found these tools to be simple and effective. You can use the snapshot option, if you use vmware workstation.
Messengers are often the weakest link. The popular yahoo messenger and msn client establish a direct client to client connectivity, without the explicit permission of the user.
// Identifying * and * recovering * from * a * compromise You should always know the list of applications that require internet access and only explicitly allow internet traffic for trusted applications. If you suspect a compromise, start by closing/terminating all trusted applications, which require internet access. Next, use tcpview to identify the ports and IP addresses to which each application connects. Use http:// whois.domaintools.com/, http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers and http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/app_port_list.htm to check the IP addresses and port numbers. If your pc connects to an IP that it shouldn’t, you know that you are in trouble. Next, you can install wireshark to check the kind of data sent from your computer to the attacker. You can use autoruns.exe from sysinternals and services.msc to examine entries, which allow the malware to start every time you login. Use process explorer to check the path of the running processes to identify malware, which run with innocuous names such as svchost etc. If you know how to remove the malware, that’s great. If you don’t know how, try an online anti-virus scan using http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner or http://www. bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html from safe mode. Check your PC again to see if you have eliminated the threat. System restore shouldn’t be used, since it’s ineffective against malware, however, if you have followed one of the safe backup options mentioned above, you can revert the system to a safe state. If you do not know what to do, format your OS drive: it’s an effective way to get rid of malware.
method described above. Look at the resources section at the end of the article for more information. Listen to this podcast for best practices, while checking out malware. http://www.disog.org/internal/disog-malware. mp3
Resources »» http://www.sans.org/training/courses.php »» http://www.packet-level.com/library.htm »» http://www.solsem.com/videolibrary.html »» http://secunia.com/ »» http://www.us-cert.gov/ »» http://www.honeynet.org »» http://www.offensivecomputing.net/ »» http://sysinternals.com/
There are many blogs which help battle against malware. We recommend that you use Google for the rest. We hope that this article has been informative for you and you enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it. If you have questions after reading this article, please PM us on the forum!
Please understand that a compromise can occur anywhere. This guide teaches you to remove only the most common local malware infection. Advanced malware can patch system ISR and completely hide itself or infect a browser. These infections cannot be identified or fixed using the 5 Technology
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
Torrents Explained By Lochinvar
T
he whole P2P protocol is based upon sharing and giving back to the community at least as much as you’ve taken from it. Public trackers like Mininova and ThePirateBay were set up a few years earlier to feed the growing appetite of the torrent community. Everyone
ratio to avoid getting disabled/banned for leeching. In simple terms, you’d be banned if you didn’t upload a certain amount of data after you’d downloaded a certain amount. You had to keep it balanced. Today, almost every single private tracker has its own ratio rules. This makes members value their accounts, and keeps them seeding long after their download has finished. »» Now, how to maintain a good ratio.
M
ost private trackers offer their new members a kind of free leech, or grace period for the first 1-10GB of content downloaded, to set them on their way. This is an excellent opportunity for new members to build up a buffer so that they can leech off the site later, if they need to. If used wisely, this “free leech” can give you a great head-start. Choose a popular torrent, which promises lots of traffic in the long run. You can use this to keep seeding forever, and build up a huge buffer. I went on Ratio Watch the day I registered on What.CD, because I had no idea how I could utilize this opportunity. They give you a 5GB “free leech”, I downloaded 10GB - and uploaded about 28MB. My bad.
BitMeTV has an excellent guide on the same. I’ll try and summarize some of the best points below.
R
ead the FAQ . Make absolutely sure you do, it contains a huge amount of information. It’ll do you no harm to go through it at least once. Start off small. Don't join and try to download 100GB of stuff. Think long term. »» Try and run your torrent client 24x7. Limit bandwidth if need be during the working day. »» Think of seeding in terms of weeks and not in hours or days. BitTorrent - MAC
could upload/download. Users were encouraged to keep seeding to a 1:1 ratio, but since it was impossible to enforce this unspoken rule, hit-andrun became pretty much the norm. With impossible seeder/leecher ratios, downloading became near impossible too. Even if you managed to get into a swarm, you’d be downloading at about 30kbps, which is extremely slow, even by dial-up standards. Observing these trends, a group of intelligent individuals came up with a brilliant idea: why not set up private trackers, with limited memberships
»» Realize that if you join a torrent that already has 30 seeds you are likely
not going to upload a lot as a seed yourself later. Seed fewer but more needed torrents, i.e., don't try to seed 10 different torrents at 1kb each. This is not efficient »» Get a RSS capable client if you are into 0-day releases. The sooner you
are in the swarm the more chance you have of uploading a complete copy in a short period of time. »» Don't ignore your ratio during your grace period. Try and make sure that
you maintain at least 0.5 from day one. »» Make sure that if you turn off your torrent client you stop the torrent first. »» Make yourself "Connectable." Get this one sorted out ASAP or you will
likely not ever be able to keep a good ratio. »» Initial demand for a torrent is high and therefore there's a lot of early
seeds. However, keep seeding for a month and you will find you get lots of upload credits as late users come on. »» Keep an eye on USENET. You will find you can pick up stuff there to
upload on the said tracker, or help seed there, which will help with your up/down ratio. »» Unpacked scene releases are more popular in the long term. If a torrent is
uploaded as RAR then you could download it, un-RAR it, and repost it as unpacked torrent. »» Accept the fact that if you are only interested in 0-day releases you are
NEVER going to be able to keep your ratio up. »» Join a sacrificial torrent (e.g. one that is popular in the long term) and BitTorrent - WINDOWS
and hard-and-fast ratio rules? Enter Demonoid – and a bunch of other similar trackers. Most of these trackers required registration and confirmation of your account before you could begin to use it. Also, most importantly, ratio rules were defined for the first time – and enforced! You had to keep a certain upload/download 6 Technology
get/seed that forever. This will make sure you always have something uploading.
T
hat just about sums it up. There is one other way, but to reveal it to the masses would probably bring the whole P2P community crashing down. I’m not exaggerating. For any further queries, feel free to PM me. The Scene / Warez-bb.org
How to Choose the Right Hardware for Your PC
I
decided to make this so that you, my fellow members, can get a better idea about PC building. Some of you prefer buying a ready-built PC, but for the best performance and prices possible, building one yourself is the way to go. If you have any questions on how to build PC’s, or what to buy, you are welcome to PM me. Let’s start:
The CPU (Central Processing Unit)
T
he CPU is the ‘brain’ of your PC, so having a good processor is important - no matter what you use your pc for. So how do you choose one? Recent ready-built computers come with at least a dual core, from AMD or Intel, the two main processor manufacturers in the world. From personal experience, and I’m sure 95% of the people agree, Intel has been leading the processor industry for quite a while now, so my recommendation is buying an Intel processor. But here again, we have another question: should I go dual core or quad core? It depends on your needs; if you use your PC for photo/video editing, a quad core is the best choice - but even a dual core will do fine! If you play games on your PC, a decent dual core like the Intel E8xxx series is a great choice, but a quad core is the safest bet. Sometimes, dual cores beat quad cores at game performance, due to the lack of games that really benefit from quad core technology. Finally, if you go dual core, the E8xxx series is a great choice, 45nm technology and overclocks like crazy. For quad cores, the new Q9xxx series is a good choice but the 6600 is also quite popular.
The Graphics Card (GPU)
N
ow we come to the real deal, the GPU, the most important piece of hardware for gaming. Before buying a new graphics card, ask yourself this question: will you be playing games on your machine? If the answer is no, you will most likely use your PC only for stuff like watching movies, listening to music and surfing the web. Then you don’t need to spend a huge amount of money on a high-performance card. Instead, you can buy a cheap one, like the GeForce 8600 series, or the ATI 3xxx series. If your answer is yes, then you have to buy a decent card, one that will make your games run smoothly. Also take into consideration the VRAM your card 7 Technology
needs. For example, if you game at 1280x1024, you don’t need 1 GB GPU - a 512 MB one will do fine up to 1600x1050. Here again, you can buy a mid-range card like the GeForce 9600 GT, or if you want to max out every game at the highest resolution, you can buy the GTX 280, the ultimate in GPU’s as of now. So, essentially, it’s a matter of your budget and need. Having a decent amount of RAM is very essential on any computer, in order to run your programs and games without a hitch, so make sure you have enough RAM. 2 GB is the minimum average you should have - but then again, there are a host of questions: If you just care about having huge amounts of RAM, then you can buy from 2 GB up to 4 GB - or even 8 GB if you go nuts, without paying any attention to the RAM frequencies. However, if you intend to overclock your machine, for example, then you must choose your RAM very carefully, and buy branded RAM like Crucial or Corsair or high end OCZ with good frequencies (At least 800 Mhz or more). DDR2 or DDR3: DDR2 is still going very strong, and many people still use it. Of course, DDR3 is way better in performance – it’s still too expensive. And you need a high end motherboard to install it on.
The Motherboard
T
he motherboard is the most important part of your system; first of all you must make sure that all the other parts you buy are compatible with your motherboard. When choosing the motherboard, the other components will make you decide on the right one. Again, it also depends on your budget. You can buy pretty cheap ones - or high end ones like the Asus Striker Extreme 2 or NForce 780 boards. If you need SLI (2 GPUs), make sure you’re buying an SLI motherboard, and an NForce 780 motherboard if you want 3 way SLI.
The PSU (Power Supply Unit)
I
’m sure many of us still don’t know the importance of the PSU. Well, this piece supplies the juice needed to run your system, so make sure you buy a good one, with as much capacity as your system needs. Make sure your PSU comes with the correct connectors needed for your motherboard
By :Nvidia:. and GPU. If you want my personal advice, I suggest buying the PSU from Antec. I have bought 7 PSU’s from them in the past and never had a single problem. Please note that having a bad PSU can result in a lot of problems, like games freezing, or your system shutting down. I recommend using online wattage calculators as they can help you gauge how much power your system needs.
The Soundcard
T
here isn’t much I can say about the soundcard, this component is optional as all modern motherboards comes with built in audio chipsets. But if you really want the best sound quality, you need a separate soundcard. Creative is the industry leader. If you have the right speakers, you will feel a huge difference in sound quality. It’s a matter of personal choice, really.
The Case
T
he case is also a matter of choice, there are cheap cases and high end cases with some neat features. Pick up the case you find beautiful, and make sure all the components have enough space to fit inside – and also ensure that the case is properly cooled.
The HDD (Hard Disc Drive)
T
his shouldn’t be a big problem for you, good brands includes Maxtor, Samsung, Western Digital… It depends on how much storage you need, and how fast you want it.
The Conclusion
H
ere you have it folks, that should give you a brief idea on how to select different parts for your new PC. Lastly, I suggest you read reviews about a component before you buy it, so you know the pros and the cons of everything you’re investing in. Remember, Google is your friend!
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
nVidia Geforce GTX 280 Review By :Nvidia:.
T
oday we are going to take a close look at nVidia’s new hot graphics card, the successor of the GeForce 9800 GX2 – The GeForce GTX 280. The GeForce GTX 280 series uses nVidia’s newest architecture, implemented after the 8 series. With 1.4 billion transistors slapped onto a silicon board, The GeForce GTX 280 looks very promising in terms of performance. Let’s check this monster’s specifications, shall we? Core clock
602 MHz
Frequency of unified processors
1296 MHz
Unified processors
240
Texture units
80
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Effective memory frequency
2.2 GHz
Memory type
GDDR3
Memory
1024 MB
Memory bandwidth
141.7 GB/s
Maximum theoretical fill rate
19.3 GP/s
Theoretical texture sampling rate
up to 48.2 GP/s
Double SLI connector
Yes (3 way SLI)
Dual-slot design
Yes
The GTX 280 design is quite similar to the 8800 GTS 512 MB, so nothing new As you can see, the most interesting feature of this card is its 240 unified processors, which helps improving the raw performance compared to older cards. The GeForce GTX 280 uses a 6 pin connector and a 8 pin power connector. The GeForce GTX 280 power connector; this monster must be very power hungry Some Other Neat Features
The GTX 280 has some neat features like the CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) engine which can improve the processing of some applications like Photoshop. Another new feature
is the new Pure Video Engine 2, which helps decode videos. This new card also has the new nVidia’s PhysX engine required for some games. Power consumption
The GTX 280 uses nVidia’s hybrid function which allows the GPU to control the power usage depending on the tasks the GPU is performing: When idle, the card will consume about 180 Watts; when at full load expect around 360 Watts. A minimum of a 550 Watts PSU is needed if the card is used in a high end system. For SLI you will need at least a 800 Watt PSU and 1200 Watt PSU for 3 way SLI. Noise Levels
When idle, you will not hear the card. When casual-gaming, or with tasks like Photoshop, the fan will spin up a little but it’s still nothing to worry about. However, if you put full stress on the card like 3D Mark Vantage session, the noise will become quite noticeable, but not too loud. Temperatures of the card
The temperatures have been measured in a 22 °C room. When idle, the card reaches around 50 °C,
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which is quite normal, but at full load, the card reaches around 85 °C which is quite hot. Make sure your case is properly cooled! A few game benchmarks
The most effective way to really test a graphics card is by testing it with different games: Call of Duty 4
The best game of the series yet, with amazing graphics and great online play, this is a must have for every PC gamer. (All settings maxed out.) At 1280x1024
At 1920x1200
85 fps for GTX 280 and 110 fps for 9800 GX2. 60 fps for GTX 280 and 82 fps for 9800 GX2.
The Verdict:
Finally, we end our review with an overall idea of the card. The GTX 280 is a one of a kind. If you have a 9800 GTX or GX2, don’t upgrade yet unless you really want to have the latest technology. The GTX 280 is probably the card for real hardcore PC upgrade lovers, so if you’ve got the money, you could always go 3-way SLI. The card also offers some nice features like the CUDA and PhysX engine but sadly, it lacks DirectX 10.1 support, but that’s not so important, is it? I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please do come back next issue for more reviews of the hottest hardware on the market!
As you can see the 9800 GX2 is faster because of its superior number of stream processors and faster clocks. Crysis:
I don’t think I need to say much about this game - the best graphics we have seen until now; get it if you haven’t already. (0xAA, 16xAF) At 1280x1024
At 1920x1200
65 fps for GTX 280 and 44 fps for 9800 GX2. 47 fps for GTX 280 and 43 fps for 9800 GX2.
At 1280x1024 DX10 and very high settings, the game is still very playable. Impressive! Race Driver: GRID
GRID is one of the best racing games on the PC, with solid arcade game play and stunning visuals. At 1280x1024
At 1920x1200
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
75 fps for GTX 280 and 66 fps for 9800 GTX. 67 fps for GTX 280 and 47 fps for 9800 GTX.
9 Technology
Beijing Olympics 2008 Beijings Celebration
W
The Birds Nest
hen the Olympic torch was lit at a ceremony in Greece, one thousand police officers surrounded it. Activists were still able to break through the blue barrier and disrupt the ritual; one protestor carried a black flag, which depicted the Olympic rings made from handcuffs. As officers bundled them away, all media broadcasting ceased and the ceremony continued with the activists safely locked away from the event. The ceremony continued peacefully and the Olympic torch began its journey around twentyone countries and passing hands 21,880 times. So, the preparations for the Beijing Olympics had begun, but it wasn’t without its hiccups. Italian demonstrators, who were attacking the key sponsor of the Olympics, Coca-Cola, in an attempt to strike a blow against capitalism, hijacked the Olympic flame. Following several incidents, London decided to tighten their security by mobilizing two thousand police officers whose goal was to ensure the safety of the torchbearers. This didn’t stop thousands of pro-Tibet activists from taking to the streets of London in their “Free Tibet” t-shirts, wielding banners with slogans such as “No torch in Tibet, China Stop the Killing and Talk to the Dalai Lama”. Although a convoy of officers joined the torchbearers, protestors were seen swooping towards the torch itself and activists brandishing fire extinguishers were arrested for trying to extinguish the flame. Routes were changed, transportation was altered and photo-shoots were disrupted as the torch made its grueling voyage through London. A Chinese student who tried to defend China by yelling at pro-Tibet demonstrators in London was also punched in the face and had his Chinese flag thrown to the ground. When British journalists asked a different Chinese student if he would stand up to pro-Tibet demonstrators in China, he admitted that he would not. The Olympic torch’s voyage has now ended with a successful finish in Beijing. 10 Sports and Games
As I was writing this article, I could hear the live stream of the opening ceremony from Beijing’s bird’s nest stadium. I could not avoid staring at the spectacular events taking place. Thousands of Chinese drummers lined up and preformed various rituals, bright, sparkling lights lit the stadium and the crowd cheered. Two years of preparation appeared to pay off as the countdown began with large, floor-lights displaying the numbers from sixty to zero. It was certainly an epic ceremonial display. China, being the fireworks capital of the world, managed to broadcast a superiorly colorful pyrotechnic display of streaming fire and light from 35,000 fireworks. The entire performance was complete with the Olympic rings made of various lights, floating and tilting in the air. Really giving off a sense of harmony and peace, certainly everything the Olympic rings and the Olympics itself represents. China had obviously put in a lot of work for the events as each one symbolised a different ritual and had great meaning. For instance, fireworks explosions marked twenty-nine immense footprints in the sky, each perfectly ornate along Beijing’s central axis towards the stadium.
stadium, revealing a bulky canvas, which was dotted with dancers who were etching symbols into the paper. This was just one of the 23 key events of the night. Therefore, with the opening ceremony ending without incident, the sports can finally begin.
There are 302 gold medals to be awarded to athletes, of which there are 10,708 competing in 471 events ranging from archery, basketball and boxing to sailing, shooting and Taekwondo. Let’s hope that the Olympics go without a hitch, each country brings home a golden medal and the Olympic rings and the harmony which the Olympics represent stays true. -Dramamine
An abnormally large scroll began to open in the The Scene / Warez-bb.org
H
By Dioxide
yperShot is a revolutionary new rendering tool from Bunkspeed that changes the way CG artists have been working. In this issue of The Scene, we are giving you the insight about this new software that the graphics community is going on about. Most of the graphic artists working on 3ds Max, Maya, SolidWorks, AutoCAD and other 3D programs put a lot of work into modeling, animating and rendering, as rendering is a crucial process which determines the quality of their work . The application of quality textures and lightning of materials is what speaks most about their work.
in the next version. Various presets of lightning and background for presentations are prebuilt.
Exporting your works is just as easy as hitting the render key the render will be completed in less time than you are accustomed too. Another extra feature here is that pressing the “S” key will make screenshots of your pre-render. This program is available in many versions (Photoshop extended anyone?). The entry-level product is targeted at web developers and is named hyperShot Web, which renders out at a maximum of 800 by 450 pixels, but costs just $195.
Next is the HyperShot HD rendering output can go up to 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, or (2 mega pixels) and that costs $995. However, if you are of the Bill Gates clan, HyperShot Pro is the version for you: it’s aimed at serious pros and media houses and is pretty much unlimited in terms of output, costing $9,995. The native Bunkspeed Interactive Photograph format or BIP files are fully transportable though, so you can have many lower-end licenses, then reserve a single HD or Pro license for large scale renders. If you are looking to export renders at high speed and less calculation, hyperShot is the product for you. Catch this space for more graphics news.
If you are an artist yourself, you might already know how much time is needed to render anything which is not a basic model and not of the size of a thumbnail - even on an Alienware with those extra Ram modules - and that’s where hyperShot jumps in. If you have 3D models ready for rendering, hyperShot is the only thing you have to look for: it’s a standalone application for fast creation of realistic imagery based on your models. Its minimalistic UI makes it stand apart from the jargon of renderers available on the market. Its strongest standpoint is that it relies on CPU and not on your GPU (all us poor guys can now make pretty stuff). Picture if you wanted to render something at your client’s office: it could save our lives. Enough said: lets jump into it.
HyperShot reads five different file formats IGES, STEP, OBJ as well as SolidWorks native parts and assemblies and Rhino Models. It can differentiate between single parts and assemblies (mostly in the case of SolidWorks). Most common programs export into these formats. You can also import different models from different programs and render them together. This feature in particular can be important for people working in different industries. ‘M’ is the shortcut key to bring up the material library: around 50 base materials, ranging from metals, plastics, glass and car paint effects as well as materials used in other industries such as leather and woods. To get started, you need to apply a material to a portion of the model. Simply press shift and click the left mouse button on the material from the library, then press shift and right click onto the part to apply it. As you do this, you’ll see the display image start to update. The only problem with materials is that we cannot save the edited material. It’s hoped to be corrected 11 Sports and Games
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
Publisher
Info Konami
Platform
Playstation 3
Genre
Stealth Action
Metal Gear Solid 4
Gun of the Patriots
By Shifty
Release Date June 12, 2008 ESRB
Mature 18+
Score
10/10
A
we-inspiring, compelling and outstanding. Those are just three common words used when describing Metal Gear Solid 4.
Guns of the Patriots is a prime example of a technically perfect next-gen game. The latest installment takes Konami to the peak of the game developers list for 2008, and let’s just say, if I would have bet my house on the PS3 not being able to run a game so perfect, so diverse and so visually-stunning as MGS4, I would most certainly be homeless right now. So sit back and enjoy my review, an absolute appraisal and thorough shakedown of this fantastic game. You play Solid Snake (called Old Snake in this game), the legendary Metal Gear protagonist who is suffering from premature aging. Without revealing too much plot for those who haven’t played it yet, let’s just say that Snake is very close to retirement. The game is fully loaded with breathtaking cinematic cut-scenes; in fact you’ll spend near half the story line watching them, but at no time do they ever get tedious. They are very different to the usual pre-rendered cut-scenes that you have seen in other installments of the series. They are all rendered fully in the real-time game engine and will often take your breath away. Almost ev-
erything in them, from the textures, animations and graphically outstanding environments, is the same as the real-time gameplay, so instead of seeing the gameplay and cut-scenes as two different elements they both connect giving you a real sense of satisfaction.
“ Redefined ”
for you, though once you get used to this and you know his habits, you can easily improvise. One thing that impressed me was the vast amount of weapons there are to use; once you have completed the game there will most likely be a handful of weapons you haven’t even touched. Each weapon has its own uniqueness and since most are easy to
The gameplay has been dramatically refined to the point of shooting now being a bigger factor than ever. Killing an enemy with a gun is now just as gratifying as stealthily sticking a blade in someoneís neck. However due to Snakeís rapid aging he does get the odd stiff joint and tends to tire now and then, sometimes making the going difficult 13 Sports and Games
get used to, you’ll soon have your favored choice and will be popping skulls in no time. Most guns can be customized with silencers, scopes and lasers making precise aiming much more enjoyable than the usual over-shoulder view that sometimes puts more bullets into the wall than in between the enemy’s eyes.
O
ne main point I have missed is the classic ‘avoid the enemy’ tactic that has made MGS famous for its stealthy gameplay. Snake has all the gadgets this time round, including the Solid Eye which is one of your foremost tools. This expands your compass into a radar that allows you to use night vision and a unique first person view which is sometimes easier when facing bigger challenges such as bosses or when you’ve been spotted. Another main stealth option is the very snazzy OctoCamo suit that changes to match the surroundings that youíre in, making life harder for the enemy that just heard your footsteps or those purposely looking for you. You can also find Snake with other various gadgets such as the MK2 and even an iPod! Then there are the ever present cardboard boxes and rusty barrels to hide in that have been big hits in the past installments.
in different groups depending on how many you have alerted. Sometimes there will be no choice but to run right into them and hope for the best. Another minor addition is the introduction of Snakes psyche and stress levels which you must try to keep up to get the best out of him. However this isn’t an absolutely important task and is often hard to get him majorly stressed out, though if you neglect this completely you will soon notice
that Snake won’t hold up his gun, won’t move into cover quickly enough or will just generally groans like your grandpa. The overall storyline intertwined with the compelling missions really pull you into the game and often make you wonder if you should really be this deeply and emotionally involved with what happens in each cut-scene and change within the storyline. And it isn’t too long until you reach your
“ Over 70 Weapons ” This time around however, the enemy’s aren’t as stupid and will probe possible hiding places that you may have quickly resorted to. Sometimes they will blow your cover if the barrel you jumped in is looking a little unusual, so the feeling of absolute safeness isn’t there anymore when evading those once dim-witted guards. Almost everything in your immediate environment can be used as cover or a hiding spot, but since the guards are much more sharp-witted, they will come at you 14 Sports and Games
first boss battle. Tactics, tactics, tactics. Keep that in mind for each battle because you are required to really put thought into how to defeat each primary target during all your main encounters. However, this time round the main battles aren’t as tricky as those in previous installments; they The Scene / Warez-bb.org
are a much more pleasurable experience. All your gadgets and stealth moves will be thoroughly tested during these confrontations and you will most likely be fending off plenty of inferior targets before eventually coming toe-to-toe with the main boss, meaning you will have to think about your next move at all times. I won’t go into much detail about the specific boss battles but each one is indeed as unique and as stimulating as the next. There are only a couple of minor downsides that many people have mentioned. The soundtrack seems a little rushed and is not as good as the ones in previous installments, however it just about fits the scenes that it’s brought into, and fits the mood of the gameplay just about right. The voice acting is mediocre and the only voice you will probably remember is the unique one of Snake’s. It seems Konami only concentrated on getting the croak and growl of Snakes voice perfect and gave all the other characters an average Joe. However once again, none of these are huge downsides and it seems I’m trying to pick little imperfections out of an absolutely outstanding game, which I’m finding hard to do. Top-notch sound effects are ever present in MGS4 and is nothing to be frowned at. You can tell extra time has really been put into these unique sounds throughout the game from huge explosions, footsteps, gunshots and the various noises that each character makes. You will not be disappointed.
G
uns of the Patriots is an unprecedented piece of technology and really shows you how far video gaming can be taken. Konami have pushed the limits to an extreme rate and I personally do not think anything could be done to MGS4 to enhance it. The thing that really tells you that Konami spent extraordinary amounts of time and effort on every single element of the game is when you notice those little things that happen during your MGS4 lifespan. From Snake getting overwrought when his stress levels are low to the fact that each enemy has his or her own uniqueness and is as realistic as any of the main characters in the game. Even the very small factor of Snake scratching his back, huffing and grumbling or the way he acts in general according to his stress levels. Not just that but the graphical achievements that have been accomplished in the game are breath-taking. The lighting and shadows in every environment are simply too realistic for a video game and when all is put together you could look at your screen in astonishment for hours.
“ Online Multiplayer ” Overall MGS4 as a single player game is the greatest video gaming achievement I’ve seen to date and I won’t be surprised if it wins game of the year at the end of 2008. But it doesn’t stop there: there is one major component I haven’t yet mentioned. Yeah, you guessed it, multiplayer! You can enjoy online 16-player matches including Deathmatch and Team-Deathmatch. The other game modes include a capture and defend mode, a rescue mission and a capture the base mode. Of course
the deathmatch modes will be the most popular. However, if you want to play a different style of online Metal Gear gaming you can choose the various modes just mentioned. The most popular of the game modes though is the sneaking mode in which one player plays as Snake and the other plays as the MK2, and working together you will make life hell for the other players. Multiplayer is one of the best features of a game, however in this installment, single player mode dominates MGS4 multiplayer with its compelling gameplay and the fact that you just want to complete it over and over again.
If you are an avid fan of the Metal Gear series then Guns of the Patriots will give you satisfaction of a euphoric standard. That doesnít mean only fans should get this game; any gamer would also be sucked into the mind-blowing environment. Konami pushed all the limits in this game and pulled it off to a tee. If you don’t mind the rare occasion of frame rate dropping or the odd loading screen then Metal Gear Solid 4 will be your game of the year. With graphical standards beyond any game I have ever played, MGS4 provides everything from action to stealth, humor to serious concentration and cinematic cut-scenes that will make you feel like the star of your own movie. 15 Sports and Games
CP r ime
unishment by waltereegho
example will not be explained any further, the results are obvious: peace will only return when all involved persons are dead.
T
he human being is idle by nature. It tries to escape from any form of work or activity, be it physical or mental. Throughout the history of mankind, the latter case has resulted in many crude statements, which are often believed to be the truth. This is because both the inventor of the predication and the person who gets to adjudicate on it jumped to conclusions without very profound thinking. A typical example:
But slowly, we have learned some things. When we have a look at the same case a few thousand years later, we see a general improvement: “you steals my cow = I tell chief, he club you to death.” Truly a great step forward, because this means the change to an objective judge who will decide what to do. There is no more place for revenge in this system. But evolution doesn’t stop here. Let’s take a look at it another few thousand years later: “you steals cow = I goes to police, police want money and paper with stamps to solve the case = thief is lucky.” What a relief that these times are over. Our modern society is characterized by tolerance and forgiveness - among other illusions. The case of the cow nowadays looks like this: “you steals my cow = you goes to judge, gives him two schnitzel = judge happy, you not clubbed to death.” But even this is changing now: “you steals my cow = I knows judge won’t do anything = I clubs you to death.” The Stone Age has revived.
Question: Do miracles exist? Argument: I haven’t seen one yet. Conclusion: No, they don’t exist. We hear statements like this every day, with the majority being created by ourselves. Now, this is not very dangerous; it does not threaten anyone and it has no destructive aftermath, but sometimes we should think twice before we create one of these not-so-well-thought-through statements. Because sometimes, we are affected by the results. Of course it hasn’t always been like this, one can see evolution through the centuries. In the Stone Age it was like: “you steals my cow = I club you to death.” Period. Or not, because this case would result in “you kills my brother = I club YOU to death.” This 16 General
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
Love and Relationship
Why we want them defined
as: Love is a condition or phenomenon of emotional primacy, or absolute value. Love generally includes an emotion of intense attraction to either another person, a place, or thing; it may also include the aspect of caring for or finding identification with those objects, including self love. Love can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state.
But even with all these people in our lives, we’re not always able to find someone who truly fits us; who is constructive and has the same qualities as ourselves. Even if they are family, you might not get along. So we look for it elsewhere. We look for that one person who will, literally, complete us, so that we can finally feel accepted and find a meaning in life, knowing that either one of you would die for the other, as you are of such great importance to each other.
Ever since I was able to grasp the concept of love, I’ve always wanted to find someone who could complete me. Unfortunately, all attempts have proved futile. I often sit outside and as I stare into the night sky and look at the stars as they shine, wonder if I ever will find her. I wonder if I will ever be able to feel what is said to be one of the greatest human emotions. And I wonder what life would be like with her.
People call them imperfections, but oh, no! That’s the good stuff! - Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting
It seems we do this because we don’t want to be alone. We want someone with whom we can truly feel at home, and just be ourselves with; someone we don’t hide anything from; someone we may open up to, express our greatest fears, emotions, triumphs, goals, aspirations, so that we can share every little detail of our lives - the ones that we would normally keep to ourselves. It has been scientifically proven that we are social creatures and that we need to communicate. A child, if withheld from all social and physical contact from their parents - even if properly nourished - would die. The only way we can grow is through contact with others of our kind, as that’s how we learn things. We are raised by our parents, friends, teachers, family, and simple acquaintances - who we all take lessons from, whether it be small things like “don’t touch the stove”, or experiences that can change the very essence of who we are.
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
It’s a quote I will never forget. The most simplest things can bring such joy to a person’s life. It’s not whether you’re perfect that matters: it’s whether you’re perfect for each other. Everyone is different; a puzzle piece. And we go out in the world looking for that other piece that completes the puzzle of our life. It’s hard to find it, but once you have it, it’s what makes the search so worthwhile. There will be ups and downs in every relationship - if it was always smooth sailing, it wouldn’t be half as much fun. It’s what makes you realize how much you care for each other, and working through those problems will only make it stronger, and bring you closer. I’m still looking for that someone - and I’m sure a lot of people out there still are. And I truly wish you all the best of luck with your journey. Because no one wants to be alone. -Sealash
17 General
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody
F
By Waltereegho
orget boring history lessons, forget everything you know about famous historical personas. Forget that you don’t like books. You absolutely have to read this one.
Have you ever liked a book by just looking at its title? If not, read the heading of this article again: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. Now, the simple truth is: the book is worth its title.
Elizabeth, Columbus, and many more.
read it nevertheless? Because it’s funny.
And the best part is that you don’t just read some randomly invented pseudo-historical facts. No, everything you will read in that book has been thoroughly researched. A friend of Cuppy’s reported that he could read more than 25 thick books on a subject before writing a single word about it. So don’t worry, this is usable knowledge. You can impress your teacher, be t h e smartest
Because it is so funny that you will actually laugh-out-loud.
A short citation: “The Romans were stern and dignified, living hard, frugal lives and adhering to the traditional Latin virtues, gravitas, pietas, simplicitas, and adultery. *1”
A review of world history, accompanied by truckloads of irony, epically funny quotes and scathing criticism. Summarized: highly interesting, educating and, above all, hilarious.
Footnote *1 “Carthage was governed by its rich men and was therefore a plutocracy. Rome was also governed by its rich men and was therefore a republic.”
Don’t read this in the train or in the library, because people will look at you in a really weird way when you burst out laughing every time you turn a page.
Of course, there are different genres of humor, so it could be that you don’t find this funny at all. In that case, sorry for bothering you with this boring article, please move on to the next page.
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody is in fact a history book. Cuppy picked out a dozen of the most interesting historically famous people and rewrote their biography. He cut out the crap about ‘world saviors’, ‘great men’ and ‘brilliant xyz’ and displayed them as they were: human. People easily tend to idolize historically important persons, and most of the time these people do not deserve to be idols. Cuppy corrects that mistake: after reading this book, you’ll have a different point of view about Alexander the Great, Queen
Cuppy has this strange writing style, simple yet intelligent; serious and ironic at the same time. Many dry facts are provided with footnotes, and just when you thought that the last two lines were getting a bit boring, you turn the pages to look up the footnote... and there you go again, with 15 people looking at you (I told you not to read this in the library Razz ).
But maybe, and that is why I put my time and effort into this, maybe there are people who read this and react the same way I did: “Wow, I’ve got to read this!” guy in a party (that is, if the party is boring enough to talk about history) and make your parents think you’re good in school. However, that is just one side; few people read books in order to memorize the content. So why should you
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, by Will Cuppy. First published in 1950, various reprints Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Decline-Fall-Practically-Everybody-Hilariously/dp/088029809X Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=At_x97rLLJgC Quotes from the book on wikiquote: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Cuppy#The_Decline_and_Fall_of_Practically_Everybody_.281950.29 18 General
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
The Evil Dentist Conspiracy
Y
ou’ve probably heard a lot of conspiracy theories in your short life. Elvis is having a great time with J.F.K and Tupac, Neil Armstrong was an actor instead of an astronaut, the earth is flat if you have a closer look at it and the secret squirrels have a world-domination plan. Moreover, I didn’t even mention the alien-takeover, the cornflakes revolution and the walnut tree organization. Some of these theories are merely fantasy, but some do contain a grain of truth. It is up to you to use your brains; to make up your own mind and to decide what to believe and what not to believe. You should know: the theories you hear of are only the tip of the iceberg. The true facts are often unknown, simply because those who know them are either rejected by the public, or are disposed of by creepy men wearing sunglasses. You must therefore understand that I am risking my life by bringing you this story. There is no easy way to tell this, so I will just say it: all dentists are evil, and now they are uniting to build a worldwide dentist-network to take over the word. Their goal is to let patients suffer, to exterminate every healthy set of teeth in this world and to stop the production of tooth paste. Everyone who has ever visited a dentist knows the cruel pain, perhaps noticed the evil smile on his face right before he drilled a giant hole into your tooth. However, there is more than just the obvious. You thought it was just a filling he pressed in that hole? Think again. You were in fact chipped: every filling contains a very small microchip, and with this chip, they can influence your thoughts. Their ultimate goal is to chip every living person on earth, and then take control over the human race. If they succeed, they will make everyone visit a dentist more than once a week (Imagine the horror!).
19 General
By Waltereegho
Now, if you think that this is a farfrom-your-bed show, then you’re wrong! The evil dentists have already begun to unfold their sinister plan. I heard from very reliable sources that they DDOS’ed the Warez-BB servers last month, and that they plan to do more attacks. I know that they will do anything to prevent this article, which contains the truth about their evil plans, from ever being published. Even now they are after me; I know that because I recently received a threatening letter with the following content: Dear mister Eegho, I would like to inform you that it has been six months since your last complete checkup. I recommend that you make an appointment within the next few weeks. My secretary is on her desk every Monday to Friday, from 9am-7pm. I hope that we will meet again very soon. Yours sincerely, XXXXXXXXX” (name censored) This is clearly a way to get me back under their control, since I lost my only filling last week. They
know that I am free now, and that I will do everything to stop their evil plan from coming true. That is why they threaten me, spy on me and will eventually try to kidnap me. But, they won’t get me alive! Mark my words: Justice will happen! I wish I had enough time to reveal more of their evilness and tell you about my plans to overthrow their empire, but as I said before, they are after me. I will go into hiding after finishing this sentence: let us hope that I will succeed in sabotaging the construction of their evil empire. P.S. - Brush your teeth twice a day to avoid surveillance.
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
That Feeling By Waltereegho
Do you know that certain feeling? The feeling that you’ll get when reading this? Not yet? Well then, allow me to explain…
Everything
started with Jimmy. Jimmy was a little boy, and on a very particular day he had been playing in the garden all day long, meaning now he was tired and hungry. He went inside and came back with a banana, you know, that yellow-brown delicious fruit. By the way, did you know that this banana came from Panama? It’s a great country, Panama. They have huge plantations, warm weather and a cool flag, with red and blue in it. And they have the Panama Canal, of course. On a side note, the oldest canals in the world were built in Mesopotamia, more than 6000 years ago. Pretty cool, isn’t it. Mesopotamia is generally a cool region; the name is Greek and means “land between the two rivers”. Wikipedia has a fairly large article about Mesopotamia, and if you take a closer look at the references, you will see that No 7 refers to a study written by a man called Finkelstein. Now that’s what I call a funny name. I bet he was mocked for that name when he was in high school. But who was not? A name like Finkelstein is nothing compared to something like “Einstein”, which means in fact “one stone”. Ridiculous name, and most people with stupid names are very likely to fail at life because their childhood memories keep haunting them. But not Einstein, oh no. He was named ‘Person of the Century’ in 1999 by Time magazine, just because he once wrote a random formula that looked like [E=mc2]. What is that good for anyway? E could stand for anything, maybe for Endless, or for Establishmentarianism (yes, that exists, look it up). And the latter has a little brother: Antidisestablishmentarianism. I don’t really know whether that is the opposite or not… And now that we’re talking about long words, have you ever heard about Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis? It’s a “lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust found in volcanoes”, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Volcanoes are nasty things, that’s for sure. And if you leave out the “Vol”, then you get the word canoe. Cool, isn’t it? Now, back to that feeling I was talking about. You know what I mean now? If not, well, I was referring to “the feeling of having wasted my time.” Have a nice day. 20 General
The Scene / Warez-bb.org
The Dark Knight
A
By Spiderman120988
ll right! The date’s July 19th, 2008 and yesterday one of the most anticipated movies of this summer was released. Backed by a yearlong aggressive viral marketing campaign by Warner Bros., The Dark Knight may be the movie that will finally break into the Oscars, because it’s quite simply…
“A Masterpiece” After seeing the film, I was compelled to write a full-fledged review rather than my usual paragraph long reviews. The Dark Knight picks up one year after the events of 2005’s Batman Begins, and Batman (Christian Bale) is still trying to clean up the streets of Gotham City, with the help of Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman). Enter Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the new district attorney of Gotham, who’s determined to set things in Gotham right and
initially, the triumvirate prove to be successful. However, an unknown variable has entered into the equation. Known only as the Joker (Heath Ledger), he plans to prove that even those who mean well and believe in righteousness can easily be corrupted, and he will bring an entire city to its knees just to reach that goal. What I’ve told you is just a very brief summary of what’s going on. If you seen the trailers, all of this is common knowledge. The best way to view this movie is to go into the theater knowing almost absolutely nothing. The story (written by Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan) is expertly crafted and intelligent. The film is very dense in story and you’ll have to pay very close attention to the first 90 or so minutes of the film as the story starts laying its groundwork on what’s to come. These 90 minutes may frustrate some people since you’re only granted brief sequences of Batman and the Joker, but trust me, it’s worth it. And if you’re just here to watch non-stop action with a paper-thin story, then this movie isn’t for you anyway. It will make you think, and it may make you cry since it deals with some very heavy themes. Only two words describe the story: Oscar worthy. Nolan has created a film that doesn’t just provide us with comic book entertainment and drama; it transcends these origins to explain the meaning of heroes and why we need them. The performances are all top-notch as all the actors and actresses bring their A-game. I’ll start off with the one you want to hear most about: Heath Ledger as the Joker. It’s incredibly sad that he passed away, right when everyone started to notice Ledger’s real talent that we first saw in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. Here, Heath Ledger steals every scene in the film. He in fact owns the film completely and creates one of the most frightening, compelling villains of our time. You’ll notice every facial tic of Joker, how he licks his lips as he talks, the way he laughs, and how he explains his reasoning behind his actions. Early on, the Joker explains how he got his scars and you’ll think that the filmmakers were just trying to squeeze in a quick explanation while not fully dwelling on it, but as he tells the story a third time, you’ll notice that’s all part of the act, that the Joker is truly anarchy incarnate, and that he revels in chaos. He doesn’t care about making money; he doesn’t want to take over the world. He simply wants to show how easily a person can fall, even if he dies trying because he knows in the end, that he will have won. Quite simply, if the Oscar doesn’t go to Ledger, even though he won’t be there to receive it, then it will be the greatest injustice this world has seen.
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The other character in the film I want to talk about is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. It’s really no mystery who he becomes so there’s no point in trying to hide it. The best analogy is that he serves as Spider-Man 3’s Venom, that you only The Scene / Warez-bb.org
see him in the film’s climax. But while Venom proved to be somewhat of a disappointment due to his limited screen time, Dent does not. Eckhart makes Dent Gotham’s “White Knight,” and you truly see that he is sincere about saving Gotham. Batman sees him as the real symbol that the city needs; the hero that they deserve but Dent, in his quest to judge fairly and avenge those taken from him, has his values corrupted. In the end, the only fairness he sees in the world is chance - unbiased chance - and he uses it to decide who will live and who will die. Again, there’s nothing wrong with his performance, its spot on and is infinitely miles away from the crap we got from Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. Eckhart may not win the Oscar, but he certainly deserves at least a nomination. The other performances are excellent. Most of the cast returns from Batman Begins and all of them are much more confident in their roles, especially Bale’s. He achieves a perfect balance between the brooding, melancholy Batman and the playboy image of Bruce Wayne. Michael Caine is the definitive Alfred, the voice of reason for Bruce when he begins to doubt if his crusade is truly helping people when all he sees is death and destruction. Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman’s characters are all integral to the plot, especially the climax and both deliver as you’d expect from these two respected and highly experienced actors. The only major change from Begins is Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. I was one of the few people that thought Holmes did a good job, though it could’ve been better. Gyllenhaal still plays a “damsel in distress” to an extent but this time is given more to do as Nolan creates a love triangle between her, Wayne, and Dent. Overall, the rest of the cast performs beyond all expectations and yes, the raspy Batman voice still irks a little but comic book fans like me are a finicky lot and you can’t please everybody! =D The special effects are awesome, as it continues to show how every bat-gadget comes to being. You will be surprised when the Batpod explodes onto the scene. The new Batsuit shows a natural evolution to Batman’s war on crime and it’s sleeker and lighter to allow much more agility and faster movement. If you’ve watched the trailers, you’ll notice that there’s a scene where an entire truck just flips over. That is going to leave your mouth hanging and is one of the best action sequences I’ve ever seen. Sure, it’s
probably the film’s ONLY major action set piece but it’s going to scratch that fanboy in you and make you giggle like a schoolgirl! =P Nolan’s use of practical effects over full-blown CGI is always a good choice, as it adds much needed realism to the action. When the Batmobile “Tumbler” takes damage, you’ll know its all real as you’ll see every scrape and bullet that it takes. Granted, CGI is still used but the transition is so seamless, you won’t even notice it at all. I met James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer while getting my soundtrack signed and the music in this one is much more epic then Begins. In the first one, the music is overall good with a memorable theme but it was always drowned out in the action sequences. Here, it’s loud and bombastic and perfectly sets the mood for every scene. The Joker’s theme, “Why so Serious?” starts off with a metal-like scraping sound which invokes the fear and uncertainly of the character. You’ll probably find yourself humming to one of the themes played during the action sequences and if you’re a fan of movie scores, definitely pick up The Dark Knight soundtrack and have a listen. You’re probably bored to tears reading this incredibly long-ass review so I’ll end it quickly. Stop whatever you are doing and go see The Dark Knight. There is nothing like it out there and like I’ve mentioned before, it’s a masterpiece. Even if you don’t like films of this type, you should still go see it, as there are many parts that really are quite emotional. And if you’re still not convinced, then I feel sorry for you for being such a close-minded idiot.
“ The night is darkest before the dawn, and I tell you, the dawn is coming ”
A
By Dramamine
sk anyone if they have watched “The Trilogy” and they will, in all probability, think you’re referring to Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Although Star Wars grew from being a trilogy alone, it was always regarded as one. Although there are many trilogies that may come up to the standards set by Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (such as Back to the Future and The Matrix) these examples have never been branded as “The Trilogy”.
Since there was a massive jump in technology between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, how can we decide which trilogy comes out on top? Let’s get the stats!
20. Two films from both trilogies are in the top 20 films, as voted by netizens, and although Star Wars manages to arrive ahead of the Lord of the Rings movies, it’s a very tight race.
The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb. com/) has a list of 250 of the top films rated by users. Not surprisingly, The Godfather comes out among the top rated movies, alongside classics such as The Shawshank Redemption.
Although you may not know it, the two trilogies in question are rather similar. Both have had a huge cultural impact on society today. But which has made the largest impact and which is the best, if there can be a best between the two? In this article, Light Sabres will clash with, well, wands and medieval weaponry, I assume Razz. The very first Star Wars film appeared on screen in 1977, the first film being the fourth in the series. The very first Lord of the Rings film made its entry in 2001. The time between both movies was huge, so it is impossible to base any sort of reasoning on special effects.
However, where are the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars films? Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back comes in at a respectable number 8; the very first Star Wars film comes in at number 10; Lord
Why don’t we dive into statistics and figures? The Star Wars Trilogy managed to rack up $2,419,041,555 worldwide at the box office, whilst Lord of the Rings managed to make $2,954,933,388 worldwide. So, in that respect, Lord of the Rings DID manage to wrangle a much larger bounty than Star Wars. However, these figures don’t really show us which of the two comes out on top. After all, many awful movies have scored large amounts of money at the box office. Of course, Lucas managed to release six films, thus cashing in on the $4,323,441,555 box office revenue, but let’s keep things fair, and just focus on the trilogy.
of the Rings: Return of the King arrives promptly after Star Wars, coming in at number 13; and The Fellowship of the Ring drags itself in at number 23 Movies
As far as cultural impact goes, it boils down to opinion Personally, I think Star Wars had a much larger cultural impact than Lord of the Rings. Firstly, the time span between the Trilogy and the three film prequels was almost 25 years. Yet, the hype and the fan-base remained intact through a quarter of a century! To say that the prequels were ‘pretty good’ would be an understatement. Lastly, there is an official religion based on the Star Wars movies, known as the Jedi Church. Until I see a Hobbit Church, I am not going to change my opinion about the fact that the cultural influence of Star Wars has been MUCH greater than that of Lord of the Rings, or, in fact, any other movie or series. After much research, hours of trawling for opinions and searching for various figures, I have to declare that Star Wars is THE Trilogy. May the force be with you! The Scene / Warez-bb.org
By Shifty
W
Wall-e
hen Toy Story first hit our screens in 1995, animated films were taken to an all-new level. Since then, I haven’t been a big follower of these ‘new age’ animated films... until now! Usually, when a preview of a film doesn’t appease me, I tend not to bother watching it. However after watching the movie it defied all my previous feelings. WALL-E is the latest and most illustrious feature from Pixar to date; it’s creative, funny and looks visually stunning. Compare the film to your beloved Toy Story and you will see a dramatic difference.
WALL-E’s attention, and friendship surely seems inevitable. You quickly become emotionally attached to WALL-E, our veteran protagonist, and although the dialogue mainly focuses around hand gestures, facial expressions and sounds designed by Oscar winner Ben Burtt (who won awards for his sound effects in E.T.), the fact that this little robot doesn’t talk is far from an issue. The success of this film is inevitable; it’s visibly monumental and has one of Pixar’s best directors in Andrew Stanton on board, who has directed 5 Pixar features including Finding Nemo and A Bugs Life.
Waste Allocation Load-Lifter Earth-Class also known as WALL-E is a lovable robot whose job is to clean up the earth and compact the rubbish he collects into trash towers. Exciting, eh? Even after hundreds of years when humans have completely fled Earth, he’s still doing his job. But not for long. The film is based around this lonely robot’s quest for companionship as WALLE maintains a quiet, blank and lonesome existence, with his only companion being a cockroach called Hal, who lives in the midst of the ubiquitous rubbish left by our lovely humans. However, when a spaceship eventually drops off the only other robot on earth, the story takes off.
EVE’s arrival on earth is most likely the most action WALL-E has seen for a long time, as all the humans are living in a holiday camp of a spaceship and are being waited
Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator also known as EVE soon becomes the focus of
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on hand and foot by a vast amount of robots. Most of the humans have becoming fat and similar looking, as each of them has personal robots to do everything for them. So when EVE eventually arrives on earth, our protagonist is quickly taken off track and falls for this new robot. The film really does bring plenty of emotions to the table, however romance stands out the most and for an animated film to produce romance to such a scale that it does in WALL-E, is really an excellent achievement. EVE is a rough, tumble robot, equipped with a state of the art laser beam and doesn’t think twice about blowing up anything that gets in her way. This is a little too much for our behind the times hero but he eventually gets
used to it. EVE’s mission is to inform the humans on when it is safe to live on earth again, the early signs of this being when she finds a green plant and zips back to tell her masters on the spaceship. When watching the film, I didn’t take much too notice of the storyline; I took more notice in what the film was about, what it was trying to achieve and whether it achieved its goals. The animation accomplishments are beyond any animated film ever made and will go down in history for sure. However, the film also uses romance, loneliness, humor and excitement to great effect and they really complete the film. The only downside to this movie though, is the last part of the storyline (yes I’m contradicting myself). There is a huge difference between the first hour and the last 40 minutes. The first hour, is a breath of fresh air; a bubbly and romantic filled masterpiece. However, in the last part of the movie, there is an unnecessary yet dramatic change of tone and the rest of the film seems rather rushed which doesn’t blend well with what the first hour had to offer. If you’re not a picky movie buff though, then this shouldn’t bother you. Overall WALL-E is a masterpiece worth mass appraisal. If your kid wants to drag you to the cinema to watch it, you’ll end up enjoying it as much as them. If you’re a kid, then go and watch it! The visual animations are a monumental accomplishment. The film has it all: humor; romance; drama; admiration; I could go on. Pixar really pulled out all the stops this time and created their best movie since Toy Story. WALL-E will go down in history, and rightly so. It’s a movie well worth seeing.
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