A January Monthly Report on the Roberts Space Industries website has the latest details on development of Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium's upcoming space combat game. This includes the usual detailed reports from the various studios working on modules for the game, covered by this overview: "January was an extremely productive month both on the development front and the planning front laying a solid foundation for 2015." They also have videos from the Star Citizen Town Hall 2015 if you missed them. Also, the game's Stretch Goals page indicates it has passed another funding milestone, as fans of the project have now pledged more than $72 million dollars toward its development. Thanks 88fingers.

A Steam Community announcement has word that The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot is out of early access and officially released on Steam, though this is an interesting distinction for a free-to-play game. This is accompanied by the news of the release of a launch trailer for Ubisoft Montreal's action/adventure/RPG. Here's word:

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is a brand new game from Ubisoft Montreal that thrusts you in an outrageous medieval fantasy world called Opulencia where wealth, status and showboating are the name of the game!

As a newcomer to Opulencia, you will hack n slash your way through hundreds of castles designed by the ingenious minds of your fellow players!

Don’t forget to show them who’s boss by constructing deadly keep of your very own – in this kingdom, size really does matter!

Continue here to read the full story.

Steam News announces pre-purchases are now underway for Assassin's Creed Rogue, the Windows edition of the action/adventure game. This advance commitment comes with the bonuses of some in-game content as well as a free giftable copy of Assassin's Creed III, though for some reason, this will not be fulfilled until Rogue is released. Here's word:

Assassin’s Creed® Rogue is Now Available for Pre-Purchase on Steam!

Pre-purchase now to receive a giftable copy of Assassin’s Creed® III* and free in-game content for Assassin’s Creed® Rogue.

18th century, North America. Amidst the chaos and violence of the French and Indian War, Shay Patrick Cormac, a fearless young member of the Brotherhood of Assassin’s, undergoes a dark transformation that will forever shape the future of the American colonies. After a dangerous mission gone tragically wrong, Shay turns his back on the Assassins who, in response, attempt to end his life. Cast aside by those he once called brothers, Shay sets out on a mission to wipe out all who turned against him and ultimately become the most feared Assassin hunter in history.

*Assassin’s Creed® III will be added upon the release of Assassin’s Creed® Rogue

• Nightside - Steam Greenlight. "Nightside is a classic RTS game that features three races each with [its] own play style."

• Dota 2 Update - February 6th, 2015.
• World of Warcraft 6.0.3 Hotfixes- February 6.

• Vote now for the 2015 Game Developers Choice Audience Award.
• Valve To Counter-Strike Pros: Never Bet On Matches.

• Corning fires up new super scratch-resistant glass.
• Samsung aims for variety with Galaxy S6, leaked photo suggests.

Thanks Ant.

• Lawmakers want US Congress to be able to (finally) deliberate online.
• Kickstarted Firefox OS HDMI Dongle Delayed, DRM Support Being Added.
• SeaMonkey version 2.32.1 is now available.

Thanks Ant.

• Apple's core is rotting.
• Microsoft reiterates support for ARM amid reports of Windows RT's death. Thanks HARDOCP.
• Microsoft is fighting Ebola and other diseases with Kinect and Windows 8.1.
• New High-Tech Farm Equipment Is a Nightmare for Farmers. Thanks Slashdot.

• TurboTax halts e-filing for state returns due to fraud, stealing of refunds. Thanks Slashdot.
• Samsung: watch what you say in front of our TVs, they're sending your words to third parties. Thanks Ant.
• Panda blamed for healthcare hack. Thanks HARDOCP.
• Republicans claim Obama had “improper influence” over net neutrality.

• UK/US surveillance regime was unlawful ‘for seven years.’ Thanks Ant via Slashdot.

• Apotheon on GameSpot.
• Elite: Dangerous on GameSpot and SpaceSector.
• Game of Thrones Episode 2 on Just Adventure.

• ASRock X99X Killer on HardwareHeaven.com.
• ASUS GTX 980 Strix on LAN OC.
• Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400Mhz Memory on Hardware Slave.
• Cryorig H7 CPU Cooler on TweakTown.
• Deepcool Gamer Storm Captain 360 on techPowerUp.
• Logitech Proteus Core G502 on OverClocked inside.
• Noreve iPad Air 2 Protective Cases on Mad Shrimps.
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Overclocking Report on PC Perspective.
• Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Gehäuse im Test on Technic3D. German.
• Plextor M6e Black Edition 256GB PCIe SSD on TweakTown.
• QNAP TurboNAS TS-431 NAS Server on Nikk Tech.
• SilverStone Fortress FT05 on APH Networks.
• Thermaltake Core X2 mATX Cube Chassis Case on HARDOCP.

• A free weekend is underway for CrossFire. Since the online military shooter is free-to-play to start with, this involves free bonus items…

I made the batch of chili I discussed yesterday, and I think I finally have to admit that I am incapable of making a version of this suited to people with normal tastes. The plan is to share this with family, and I really did intend on it being milder than usual, but it's turned out extremely spicy. I guess it was good that I only used half the habaneros I bought, because these were the steroidal kind (they are said to range from 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale, so there's a range). I think if I used all six instead of three, I may have created a meltdown or something. Oh well, more chili for me!

Hot Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	KING. Save The Balloons. Do Not Escape 2: The Outbreak.
Link:	YSK that Bob Ross's 'Joy of Painting' is public domain and you can watch every episode here.
Stories:	TransAsia Turboprop ATR-72 Crashes Into Taiwan River, Killing 31. Thanks The Flying Penguin. Hamill Says Forget "Star Wars" For Now. Thanks nin.
Science:	Arthur C. Clarke accurately describes the 21st century...in 1976. Thanks David. We Can Now Build Autonomous Killing Machines. And That's a Very, Very Bad Idea. Huis Ten Bosch theme park to get hotel staffed by robots. Thanks j.c.f.
Media:	If RPG Video Game Characters Were Honest. NSFW. Train plows through huge snow drifts in Canada. Snowpiercer! Keeping Russia's sidewalks free of douchy drivers. Is everyone there a gangster wannabe?