Author: Anna Galvez

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Crypto News

Voting System Based On Blockchain Technology Tested In Japan

Residents of a Japanese city in Ibakari prefecture had the opportunity to use a voting system based on blockchain technology as a security measure, on August 28th. Although this is one of the first projects of its kind across Japan, the report on this project does not describe the procedure for validating the information. The news was released by The Japan Times, which specified that the voting system was designed to select a proposal for social contribution projects in the city of Tsukuba.

The objective of this program was to provide a platform for transparent elections that cannot be altered

To this end, the city authorities, known for driving technological development in the region, partnered with a project known as My Number, a personal identification software. The report indicates that the vote was taken online.

In order to participate, residents had to use a card provided by the My Number platform, which consists of a 12-digit number that any resident or foreigner can use in Japan. Participants voted on a screen after placing their cards for verification. In total, 119 votes were recorded by this procedure, validated in a blockchain system that according to the authorities prevents the data from being falsified or leaked.

Tohoku University professor, Kazynori Kawamura, who is familiar with digital election research, commented that the reputation of these systems needs to improve. “Due to fear of mistakes, administrative organizations and election boards will probably find it difficult to introduce these systems,” said Kawamura.

Voting systems based on blockchain have been successfully tested in other countries, as well

On August 7th, a vote on the Senate election was held in West Virginia, in the United States, which allowed the military in service to vote through a mobile application that used a blockchain system to protect the data. However, several voices criticized the project, arguing that the transparency and immutability of the information depended on a company that used private nodes to validate the information.

Several projects on elections supported by blockchain technology have been developed around the world. While the desire for technology that allows for greater transparency and security of information is legitimate, it is necessary to discern when it is appropriate to use these systems and when a simple database is sufficient.

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Games News

Pete Hines, Bethesda VP, Debated Some Fallout 76 Features On Twitter

Pete Hines, the VP of Bethesda and liaison of the company with the public, has spoken on Twitter and answered some questions from fans about what’s in store for us with Fallout 76 in some areas of interest, including the gameplay, different levels of difficulty, or in-game rewards.

Fallout 76 is the upcoming sequel in the Fallout saga, and it is a post-apocalyptic multiplayer role-playing video game. The game is expected to hit shelves in November.

Fallout 76 needs to be played in an organized fashion

For example, as Pete Hines revealed, Fallout 76 will follow the traditional Fallout saga system where different types of ammunition occupy different inventory spaces. So, to play the game organized is something that Hines himself recommends, advising players to invest points to improve strength or being organized, and “not to carry bullets for weapons that they do not own.”

“There are options, so you have to figure out how to solve every situation,” Hines added.

No different difficulty levels in Fallout 76

The VP of Bethesda, Pete Hines, also responded in a logical way to the possibility of the addition of difficulty levels in the new release of the Fallout saga.

“No, there are no different difficulty levels. The game is the same for every gamer because it is an online experience. There couldn’t be a creature with two different difficulty levels for two different players,” said Pete Hines.

A little more than two months apart us from Fallout 76 release date

As for the loot, there was also enough space for discussion. “The spoils are random. Not everyone finds the same things in the same places,” Pete Hines himself explained when asked about such a case by a gamer.

The post-apocalyptic multiplayer role-playing video game goes on sale November 14, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PS4s, and Xbox One, and despite Fallout 76’s online orientation, Bethesda doesn’t want to stop making single-player games.

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Tech

iPhone 8 Devices Have A Severe Problem At Their Logic Board, Warns Apple

Apple, which spent its last months teasing us with its upcoming iPhone 2018 models, now warns customers about a severe problem affecting the iPhone 8 devices. Accordingly, some models of the iPhone 8 series come with “logic boards with a manufacturing defect” that causes the faulty handsets to “experience unexpected restarts, a frozen screen, or won’t turn on.”

But Apple announced that this issue is only affecting a small percentage of its iPhone 8 models, especially those handset manufactured between September 2017 and March 2018 and sold in the US, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Macau, and New Zealand.

Luckily, you can easily find out if your iPhone 8 is affected by a faulty logic board by just typing in your device’s serial number in the Apple checker you can find here, and the so-called “iPhone 8 Logic Board Replacement Program” will check to see if your handset is at risk. If it is one of the faulty devices, Apple will fix it for free.

Apple pledged to fix the iPhone 8 devices with manufacturing defect on logic boards for free, but not every model is eligible

While the severe problem reported by Apple for a series of iPhone 8 models is the company’s fault, not every affected iPhone 8 is suitable for a cost-free fix.

“If your iPhone 8 has any damage which impairs the ability to complete the repair, such as a cracked screen, that issue will need to be resolved prior to the service. In some cases, there may be a cost associated with the additional repair,” warns Apple.

So, be careful, because the Apple’s repairing team might not tolerate even the smallest crack in your iPhone’s chassis. On the other hand, if your device is in flawless condition, physically, when you get it back from the Apple, you might retrieve it with the latest iOS version which may not be something you’d like.

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Games News

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey To Come With A New, More Personalized Combat System

With the new Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Ubisoft promises enormous freedom to let us do things the way we want. The video games developing company has announced some exciting news on Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, this time revolving around the game’s combat system and the enormous versatility it would offer to the player.

“You have a base combat system and, from there, everything we put on top has the mission of facilitating your advantage over the rest of the enemies,” explained Jonathan Dumont, the creative director of the game, in an interview with the Gamespot video games news portal.

“We also wanted there to be some choice on the part of the player, so we were trying to have some freedom at the core of everything we’ve added, but in this case, having to create your own style of play, your own class and thinking about how great it would be to mix the different skills. But we also wanted to allow the players to decide whether they wanted to specialize, for example, in only four things if that was enough for them,” Dumont added.

The new combat system in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey to fit every gamer’s style

“We were looking for a more personalized approach rather than supporting a particular way of playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, or unlocking things in a certain order,” the creative director said.

“Investing points where you want, but distributing them where you also want to create your own style. Because the Assassin’s Creed saga has been on the market for ten years, and we all play it differently. Some people want to play it stealthily, while others want more combat, so we want to make sure the style of play is right for you, and that the game allows you to enjoy the title as you wish,” Jonathan Dumont, the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey creative director concluded.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey will launch on October 5th, 2018.

Categories
Games News

New Fortnite Mode “Getaway” And “High Stakes” Event Might Change The Game

Fortnite is one of the most popular games of the moment with millions of players. Epic Games is frequently bringing new updates and improvements to Fortnite: Battle Royale, but the new one includes a new event called High Stakes, coming with its outfits and masks, as well as a new Limited Time Mode, “Getaway,” about which Epic Games revealed more yesterday in a live stream on Twitch directly from PAX West.

Epic Games presented new modes, new skins, and the cool Grappler Gun in the new Getaway mode in Fortnite

As I’ve mentioned, Epic Games streamed the news about the next big update for Fortnite yesterday. Luckily, you can watch a replay of the segment, below.

In short, the new event in Fortnite involves multiple teams of four players each which fight to find the four safes scattered around the island in supply drops. When you get them and collect the precious items inside them, you and the rest of your team must reach extraction point without dying.

On the other hand, the new Grapple Gun does precisely what you think it does. You shoot it to a wall, and you’ll be pulled towards it fast. So, the new Getaway mode in Fortnite, with the new skins and the cool Grapple Gun, might indeed change the game significantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfANch3qvOM

Next big update in Fortnite will also come out with a new event called High Stakes

Besides the new Getaway mode in Fortnite, Epic Games will also add a new event called High Stakes. This one will add a new outfit and four masks to Fortnite: Battle Royale.

You can see below how the new High Stakes event in Fortnite will look like.

In other news, a set of new “Flower Power” outfits have been added to the item store in Fortnite on September 1st.

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