NVIDIA announces the release of new GeForce Game Ready 368.81 WHQL Virtual Reality drivers for NVIDIA graphics cards. These are the latest drivers for all users, but they emphasize their VR credentials. Word is these are good to go for the latest games and address some of the issues with the previous drivers. Here's a bit:

Our new GeForce Game Ready 368.81 WHQL Virtual Reality drivers are optimized for Everest VR, NVIDIA VR Funhouse, Obduction, Raw Data, and The Assembly, five new Virtual Reality games launching this month for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Also contained within are fixes for the HTC Vive DisplayPort incompatibility, and Oculus Rift GPU Boost issues that have affected some users. To download and install, simply fire up GeForce Experience and click the "Drivers" tab.

NVIDIA offers their first game, VR Funhouse, a set of virtual reality minigames set in a carnival. This is a free download that you can pick up on Steam, and it requires an HTC Vive headset. Here's a trailer and here's word:

Step right up to VR Funhouse, and enter a virtual carnival full of fun and games. Set targets ablaze with flaming arrows. Test your skill shooting skeet. See how many moles you can whack, and much more. VR Funhouse combines virtual reality, cutting-edge NVIDIA VRWorks graphics, and advanced NVIDIA GameWorks effects to deliver a new level of interactive gameplay and immersion.

Continue here to read the full story.

A new trailer from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered titled "Crew Expendable" shows off gameplay in the remastered edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that will be packaged with the Legacy, Legacy Pro, and Digital Deluxe editions of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Word is: "Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®, one of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time, is back and better than ever. Relive one of the most memorable missions from the Modern Warfare campaign in this 'Crew Expendable' playthrough." This FAQ answers a dozen potential questions you might have about this project. Continue here to read the full story.

Early access to Raw Data is now available on Steam, offering a sci-fi, co-op, action combat game built from the ground up for virtual reality. This requires an HTC Vive headset, and there's no word at this time for plans to support the Oculus Rift. This announcement outlines their roadmap for development during early access, and here's word on the game:

Built from the ground up for virtual reality, Raw Data’s action combat gameplay, intuitive controls, challenging enemies, and sci-fi atmosphere will completely immerse you within the game world. Go solo—or team up with a friend—and become the adrenaline-charged heroes of your own futuristic technothriller. You will put your wits, boldness, and endurance to the test.

Active VR gameplay turns you into a controller, with instant reflex access to an arsenal of advanced weapons and cutting-edge nanotech powers. Shared spaces with avatars and motion tracking encourage players to physically communicate through body language and environment interaction.

1C Company announces Lantern, a virtual reality game coming this November to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift through Steam. They describe a game that sounds both aesthetic and esoteric, saying, "Developed by Storm in a Teacup, this particular take on gaming in East Asian-inspired environments is designed to evoke a general sensation of positivity. It achieves this with a laid-back pace, mellow gameplay and pleasing visuals, fostered by an ambient East Asian soundtrack. Straightforward gameplay and simple controls go hand-in-hand with the game’s relaxing vibes, making it easy for players to just sit back and enjoy a few tranquil moments of stress-free gaming." Here's the announcement trailer. Continue here to read the full story.

This announcement reveals the addition of Steam Workshop support for Vector Thrust, the cel-shaded aerial combat game for Windows. This adds used created content to the game, which is currently on sale on Steam for 75% off. Here's word:

Combat flight games tend to thrive on user generated content and ‘Vector Thrust’ (PC) is no exception. Responding to community requests this is now possible with the integration of Steam Workshop, which allows for user-generated mods and other content to be uploaded and used in the game. Moreover, two new aircraft have been added in today’s update: the Rafale and the EF-2000, further expanding the list of 260 aircraft available to be unlocked in-game.

Twitch announces that following Valve's crackdown on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin gambling, they will no longer allow streaming showing such services in action. Word is: "As a reminder, per Twitch’s Terms of Service, broadcasters are not permitted to stream content that breaks the terms of service or user agreements of third-parties. As such, content in which the broadcaster uses or promotes services that violate Valve’s stated restrictions is prohibited on Twitch." On a related note, Polygon has word that all the sites admittedly involved in skin gambling have shut down or are in the process of shutting down.

• Ashes of the Singularity v1.24.
• Daikatana 1.3 for Windows, Linux, OS X, and FreeBSD. Unofficial.
• RollerCoaster Tycoon World update #9 is now live.

• 3DMark on Steam. Save 60%.
• Battlefleet Gothic: Armada on Steam. Save 33%.
• League of Legends Champion and skin sale- 07.15 - 07.18.
• Supergiant Anniversary Sale on Steam. Save up to 82%.
• Undertale on Steam. Save 30%.

• NVIDIA’s VR Funhouse on Techgage.

• Intergalactic party racer Obliteracers coming to PS4 on July 20.

• Turn on 5G, turn off old landlines- FCC plans future of phone networks.
• T-Mobile Offers Customers Unlimited Data Usage for Pokemon Go.

• Highest-earning game on Patreon cancelled amidst developer squabble.
• New Jersey Hearings to Let Neglected DSL Users Vent at Verizon.

• The Screenshot Tool You Didn’t Know You Wanted- A Look At NVIDIA’s Ansel.
• Razer Announces Mechanical Switch Keyboard For The Apple iPad Pro.

Thanks j.c.f.

• Adobe Patches Critical Vulnerabilities in Flash, Acrobat, Reader.
• Microsoft Patches Critical Flaws in Internet Explorer, Edge.
• New Stampado Ransomware Advertised on the Dark Web for Only $39.
• SAP Patches Critical Clickjacking Vulnerabilities.

• Congresswoman introduces revenge porn bill, setting max penalty at 5 years.

• CSGO betting sites close in the wake of Valve's crackdown. Skinpocalypse…
• Jagex confirms Chinese acquisition…
• Chex Quest, That Awesome FPS Found in Cereal Boxes, Getting HD Remake…
• Futuremark Releases 3DMark Time Spy DirectX 12 Benchmark…
• Overwatch Comic - Ana Amari's story…

Link of the Day: History Buffs: Saving Private Ryan.

The Official EA Star Wars website announces plans to bring offline mode online next week in Star Wars Battlefront, saying we will be able to witness the firepower of a fully armed and operational battle station in September with the release of a Death Star expansion (thanks nin). Here's the plan (many Bothans died to bring us this information):

To get right to the point, we’ve been listening to your feedback and your desire for more offline modes. Today we’re excited to officially announce a new mode, Skirmish, for all Star Wars Battlefront players.

The new mode will be available starting July 20 and offers players the option to play offline against bots in a solo mission or with a friend using co-op split screen. (Console only) Skirmish can be played on a difficulty level of your choosing and across two modes, Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron. With multiple locations that span the galaxy, from the frozen planet of Hoth to the lava encrusted planet of Sullust, we hope Skirmish brings players a new way to enjoy Star Wars Battlefront.
If an offline mode isn’t for you, we have more free* in-game events planned for the summer. Look forward to more Hutt Contracts for new weapons, log-in reward opportunities, and open trials to experience Bespin.

Then in September, Season Pass holders will receive our third digital expansion pack, Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Death Star. More new maps – on ground and in space – new weapons and Star Cards and two new heroes including one larger-than-life character we know you've been patiently waiting for. Not a Season Pass holder? Don’t worry, the expansion pack is available for separate purchase.

Bethesda Tweets the question, "Have you checked out the http://Bethesda.net launcher lately? ;) http://ow.ly/9JqV302dyiK." This heralds the release of a the Windows edition of Fallout Shelter, a management simulation that puts you in charge of the operation of one of Fallout's underground vaults. Some of the replies are complaints about the requirement of using the launcher, and others discuss issues with its operation, and it sounds like it this may not be available in all territories. The free PC edition comes with a new version 1.6 patch for the game, and there's more about that in this tweet. As a port of a mobile game, the system requirements for this are pretty modest. Here's the game's original announcement trailer. Continue here to read the full story.

GameSpot has posted a video showing off the first 20 minutes of gameplay from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the upcoming installment in the action/RPG/shooter series. This includes cinematics and gameplay, including some of Adam's story choices. Needless to say, this should be avoided by those who don't want the game experience spoiled in advance.

Steam News announces the release of Shadows of Kurgansk in early access for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Like many early access games, this is an open-world survival game where you must do battle against the environment and the inevitable zombie invasion. Here's word:

“Shadows of Kurgansk” is an adventure game, where you need to survive in an area full of danger and mystery. Your goal is to stay alive and find the way out, fighting
monsters and completing story driven missions.

To stay alive you will need to hunt, gather supplies, build storage and asylums. You will be able to create tools, clothes and equipment. In due time your life will become quite comfortable, but the Zone is not exactly the best place to spend the rest of your time. You will need to find the way out. Even if you fail, remember – death is only the beginning. The beginning of a new journey!

A thread on reddit recaps some of the information from a Twitch stream where Jeff Kaplan discussed plans for Overwatch, offering specific thoughts on what's being tested on the PTR, and possible changes before this new patch goes live. Here's a summary of some of the points raised:

• In the next PTR patch, Mercy's damage boost percentage is getting reverted back to what it was (instead of 50%). Discussion of the mercy damage boost happens starting at around 10:30 in the vid.
• They are looking closely at how Zenyatta feels in the PTR, and will reduce his total HP to 175 if 200 is too much.
• The bug with Ana shots giving a friendly Zarya charge is getting fixed
• New comic with more backstory about Ana is coming very soon
• They have 4 new maps being worked on right now, but note that not all of them may see the light of day
• The are working on new game modes, but the first new map (coming "soonish") will have a standard mode
• New skins are coming before the end of summer
• It sounded like they may want to try hero stacking again in season 2, but they didn't actually explicitly say that
• For season 2 they are getting rid of coin flip (I think this was already known)
• For season 2 they are also trying to reduce how long competitive matches take, which means you'll probably have shorter attack times at the very least
• They are going to add the ability to see ally health bars for all heroes (but not silhouettes through walls). It isn't coming in this next patch, but it sounds like they will do it pretty soon.

• Descent Underground version 2371. Offers AI improvements as shown in this trailer.
• Street Fighter V July Bug Fixes.

• Mountain Dew CS-GO League to give amateur teams a shot at the ESL Pro League.

• Pokémon GO is now the biggest mobile game in U.S. history. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Blazing 5G Wireless Is Coming! But Don’t Buy a New Phone Yet.
• Car Crash Attributed in Part to Pokemon Go.

• Roku Dislikes FCC & Cable Sector's "Fixes" for the Cable Box.
• US political parties make Twitch part of their battleground as Democrats announce they'll stream convention there.

• Seagate to Lay Off Over 8,000 to Lower Costs.
• Tesla Model S Autopilot Reliability — Why Americans Should Love Tesla. Thanks The Flying Penguin.
• The Nest Cam Outdoor is a $199 camera with an easy-to-install magnetic base.
• Mr. Robot’s second season opens with less command line, more commanding plot.

• Clever Tool Shields Your Car From Hacks by Watching Its Internal Clocks.
• Critical remote code execution holes reported in Drupal modules.

• Star Citizen Backer Recovers $3,000 After Contacting Attorney General.
• 6 months on, Bleeping Computer will continue to have to defend libel lawsuit.
• PewDiePie asserts FTC Shadow of Mordor innocence, says press is 'literally insignificant.'

• The NADI Project on Just Adventure.

• ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 Strix OC Graphics Card on pcGameware.
• Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Case on TechSpot.
• Cougar X3 gaming keyboard on PC & Video Games Examiner.
• ECS LIVA Core Mini-PC on techPowerUp.
• GIGABYTE X99-Ultra Gaming (Intel X99) Motherboard on TweakTown.
• Huawei MateBook on Legit Reviews.
• Intel Core i7-6900K vs Core i7-5960X on ocaholic.
• Mach Xtreme MX-Barium USB 3.1 Gen1 on Mad Shrimps.
• Noctua industrialPPC Fan Series on Hardware Slave.
• NVIDIA GTX 1070 SLI Graphics Cards on LAN OC.

Thanks Ant.

• Asteroids Minesweeper is now available on Steam, offering a clever-looking 3D take on Minesweeper…
• Live-Action -Pokemon GO- Film On The Way?…
• We Broke: The Ship Remasted (NSFW)…

I don't know about the weather where you are, but the summery part of summer has hit around these parts, and we're getting high heat and humidity every day, and now the part of the program where this brings spot thunderstorms has begun. I think I need to stop being stubborn and find a new time to walk the Gunnar-man to better avoid this. We usually head out mid-morning, but it's gotten to the point where it's oppressive out there well before noon, so I think I need to start looking to do this closer to dawn and/or sundown. Not bad how I worked that out, right? Watch out Al Roker, I'm practically a meteorologist at this point.

Hot Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Story:	David Bowie art collection revealed for the first time.
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Media:	Lioness Scares Lion. Simon's Cat - Laser Toy. Parkour Is Cool Again Thanks To This Guy's Moves.
The Funnies:	The future is coming.