January 10, 2013 ends, the weekend is just over the horizon, and here is Late Night Computing.

I'm still a bit in shock from yesterday. And so is my wallet. If I've come to learn anything about my gaming tastes, if it has the title 'Warhammer 40,000' or 'MechWarrior,' I'll most likely plunk down some change for access in the future. Where I'm going to find time to actually play all these games, that's a debate for an entirely different day.

News bits:

• Scientists and engineers study fireflies to boost LED efficiency by up to 55 percent. Companies scramble to file patents on wildlife. [via The Optical Society]

• IBM's Watson has its memory altered after memorizing the entire urban dictionary and witnessing how deep humanity is in its own filfth. [via TheAtlantic]

• Did you purchase an album from Amazon after 1998? Chances are, you can listen to it on Amazon's Cloud Player right now.[via ArsTechnica]

• Microsoft blows the bevel off your television set and expands entertainment onto your living room's walls. Can we just skip right to the part where you beam stuff into my brain? Thanks. Because this looks goofy. [via Bit-tech]

• Cities across the United States turn to precognition software to prevent future murders. Debuggers wanted, as soon as possible. [via Wired]

Chatty posts of the moment:

Make sure you log-in and check your filters if you can't see the following:

• "Most frustrating game ? Like rage-quit inducing, controller throwing? GTA 4 and GT3 were pretty terrible. Also Base Wars with my brother when little." [by Clay]

• "Far Cack 3. So I started playing Far Cry the Third on PC last night, not bad. Too early to form an opinion yet but it feels a little off. I might try playing with a controller and see how that goes. Can you still buy the wireless thingie for using 360 controllers on PC?

  The UI seems completely retarded in this game. I can deal with the popup spam to an extent, but the menus and loot sack and all that stuff is really confusing. Also I shot some tapirs! And then got surrounded by guys in red shirts and everything faded out into a bloody haze." [by Dave-A]

Nightly file:

• 7 Grand Steps demo for Windows and Mac. "There is a wonderful tale within you. It is the story of your ancestors and how you came to be. '7 Grand Steps' is the game that connects people to the cultural roots of western civilization. From the sweat of laborers to the perspective of kings, experience the wonder of a family lineage that survived the changing ages. Or did they survive? How you guide them will determine their fate." Download the demo for Windows or for Mac.

Media:

God of War: Ascension Unchained developer diary 4:

SCE Santa Monica Studio lays out the long chain of technological advances made during the development of God of War: Ascension.