How do you know when you’re a great athlete? Oh, I don’t know, maybe when the top-tier manager of the opposing team calls you a PlayStation! Like, you’re so good it’s almost as if someone goes into Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer or EA Sports’ FIFA, creates a player, than gives said player 12 out of 10 in all the key stats: speed, attack, technical skill, etc. Leo Messi is like a PlayStation.

This is in reference to Messi’s performance last night against Arsenal, where he scored four goal—known as a poker in the sports press—of PlayStation-like skill. It was as if God himself was controlling the Argentine with a DualShock 3, and having him dance around Arsenal’s unfortunate defenders and march straight toward the goal.

Calling him a PlayStation, as Arsenal’s manager, Arsène Wenger did (skip to 0m30s in that video), is even a misnomer: I, for one, can’t play Pro Evo that well. Can the game even be played that well? Look at these “best of” compilations. None of these are as good as Messi was yesterday.

We’re witnessing greatness, friends, and I’m fairly shocked that we haven’t seen a major, non-sports American publication so much as profile him yet.

The US of A isn’t anywhere near the top ten countries by average download and upload speeds. Top honors belong to South Korea (20.88 Mbps download speed) and… Lithuania?! (8.83 Mbps) But America enjoys a pretty decent average download speed of 5.1 Mbps, with the proud state of Delaware at the top of the curve at 9.9 Mbps.

Ultimately however, such performance is piss poor, especially when you consider that the US average has increased only by 1.6 Mbps since May 2007. A practical no-show for a country responsible for many of the innovations that characterize how we use the Internet today (search engines, social networks, and social media!). Here are the top and bottom five US states:

1. Delaware – 9.9
2. Rhode Island – 9.8
3. New Jersey – 8.9
4. Massachusetts – 8.7
5. New York – 8.4

1. Hawaii – 3.0
2. Wyoming – 2.6
3. Idaho – 2.6
4. Alaska – 2.3
5. Montana – 2.3

Both US territories (Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) ranked even lower, at 1.1 and 1.0 respectively.

In any case, we shouldn’t read too much into what the stats say. After all, those who compile such data are totally reliant on users who actually tested their connections. It’s reasonable to assume that the majority of internet users have yet to contribute to compilations such as speedtest.net’s world results. If you’ve ran your internet connection through a speed test, feel free to share the results in the comments below.

Source (Image Source)
Speedtest.net World Results

Post from: The Gadget Blog

Blackjack, a favorite game for centuries, is sometimes known as “21,” from the French game of Vingt – et – Un. Although its history goes back as far as the 1700′s, along with roulette, it wasn’t until the 1930′s that Blackjack became a popular game. 1930′s Nevada was synonymous with gambling and it was in a Nevada casino that the Blackjack we know today was created. This casino was the first to offer 10 to 1 odds for a hand made up of the Ace of Spades and Black Jack.

Over the years the casinos have made it easier to get a blackjack but they have also lowered the odds to 3 to 2. As Blackjack slowly gained popularity authors began writing books about blackjack.

As books on strategies and tips on how to win playing this exciting game hit the shelves, Blackjack became more and more popular which meant more and more books were published. “The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack,” by Roger Baldwin, delves deeply into probability, statistics, and mathematical compilations.

The “Einstein of Blackjack,” wrote on the subject of card counting in his book “Beat the Dealer.” Other contributors over the years on the study of blackjack include the likes of Stanford Wong, whose book is still considered a valuable handbook on “Professional Blackjack.” The movie “Rain Man” further enhanced the widespread appeal of blackjack. The basic concept of blackjack is to get a total of 21, or to beat the dealer, without going over 21.

There are a number of websites that offer free information to players, as well as online tutorials that will allow you to learn everything you need before playing with real money. Blackjack is not a difficult game, and it can be the casino game with the lowest risk when using a strategy called Basic Strategy.

The casinos welcome players who use the Basic Blackjack Strategy as it can be very difficult to play perfectly and the casino still has a slight edge. It is possible to shift the odds in the players favor when playing Blackjack. To do this the player must be Counting Cards. Counting Cards tracks the value of the deck and allows the player to predict how the cards will fall.

While not illegal, Casinos actively seek out and remove card counters from their premises. multiple decks, card burning and constant shuffle machines have all been introduced to make it more difficult for card counters. There are a number of slightly different versions of Blackjack, each of which has slightly different odds. Adding a deck, allowing a player to double down, no splitting Aces all have a subtle impact on the game. But by paying attention to the rules of the table, a moderate amount of ability and an understanding of when to hit and when to stand with a bit of luck thrown in, you can see some real gains.  Download black sowftare for free at Blackjack Counting, Blackjack Double or Blackjack Free Online Games.

Part of Steam’s appeal must be its regular discounts and price drops. But with so many titles in the catalog, it can be easy to miss out on some of them.

Yet that should now be practically impossible, thanks to the efforts of Steam forum user sciss0rz, who’s taken it upon himself to update other forum members with information on—you guessed it—the latest discounts and price drops on Steam! The list (found here) also includes information on Steam game packs, compilations of multiple titles that are usually available at a lower total price (sciss0rz does not list packs that represent no savings).

Even more important however is region availability. Lots of Steam customers have complained about the inconsistent availability of games worldwide. Specific games aren’t available in certain regions and countries, and you can see who misses out on what.

Nevertheless, the “Price Reduction and Sales!” thread is a very useful resource that any Steam user should bookmark. Heck, I’d even suggest making it your browser homepage, if only not to miss out on any new promos cooked up by Valve’s sales team.

Post from: The Gadget Blog