#Modular & Theme system

[makemywebsite1]

10 Best WordPress Themes for 2025

A website is more than just a digital presence. It reflects your identity and sets the tone for your brand. As web design in Melbourne evolves, the demand for themes that are responsive, clean, and built for performance continues to grow. WordPress, known for its flexibility, leads the way with themes that combine elegance with function.

This year, designers are focusing on clean layouts, lightning-fast speed, and unmatched visual experience. The right theme can shape how users interact with your business online. Whether you’re launching a blog, building a business portfolio, or growing an online store, these WordPress themes are tailored to meet your goals in 2025.

Let’s explore the most reliable and visually stunning themes available this year:

1. Astra

Astra remains a top favourite among designers and developers. It offers a smooth experience with its lightweight structure and pre-built templates. Key highlights include:

Full compatibility with WooCommerce for online stores

Layout settings that adjust seamlessly on every device

Clean code to improve site loading speed

This theme continues to power businesses that want flexibility without code complications.

2. Kadence

Kadence simplifies the web-building process with powerful design tools and a drag-and-drop interface. It suits both beginners and advanced users. Users enjoy features like:

Responsive header builder with live editing tools

Deep integration with Gutenberg for easy customisation

Accessibility standards built into the design framework

It’s a reliable choice for those who prioritise simplicity and control.

3. Neve

Neve is built for speed and serves businesses looking to establish their web presence quickly. It loads in under a second and supports AMP for mobile performance. This theme wins hearts through:

Seamless integration with top page builders

Sleek layout options that suit service pages and product showcases

Custom header and footer designs without plugins

It’s ideal for brands seeking a clean, modern edge.

As businesses continue to scale, the need for polished websites increases. Our team creates stunning solutions through web design in Melbourne that companies can depend on for quality, creativity and growth.

From intuitive layouts to fast-loading pages, we design websites that build strong digital identities.

4. Blocksy

Blocksy blends innovation with high functionality. It embraces full-site editing and introduces real-time changes without slowing the page down. It delivers outstanding results with:

A modular design system for custom layout tweaks

Pre-loaded starter sites for industries like fashion, tech and wellness

Built-in dark mode for advanced visual control

This theme supports brands that wish to elevate their creative presence.

5. OceanWP

OceanWP provides deep customisation and handles everything from simple blogs to complex eCommerce stores. Its design system works smoothly with all major plugins. What makes it stand out:

Smart templates that adapt across industries

Visual tweaks using Elementor and WPBakery

Multilingual and translation-ready options for global businesses

It’s ideal for teams looking to build fast and scale faster.

6. GeneratePress

GeneratePress has earned a reputation for speed, accessibility, and responsive design. It’s best suited for content-heavy sites like blogs, magazines, and portfolios. Expect strong performance from:

Minimal code base to ensure quick page loading

Hook and filter system for advanced development

Support for schema markup for improved SEO

It’s a top pick for brands focused on content delivery. Modern brands need more than visuals—they need functionality too. We provide digital solutions through Make My Website, an agency that crafts results-driven platforms. Our designs help brands build visibility, credibility and trust in a competitive digital space.

7. Hello Elementor

Hello Elementor is the go-to theme for those using Elementor Pro. It offers a blank canvas that lets your creativity take charge without restrictions. Creative teams prefer it due to:

Feather-light structure to improve speed scores

Zero styling conflicts with third-party plugins

Pixel-perfect layouts for every screen size

It serves businesses who wish to work freely with custom designs.

8. Sydney

Sydney brings bold visuals and professional appeal. It’s popular among freelancers and small businesses looking to make a big impression online. Its popular features include:

Full-screen sliders for product or brand messaging

Integration with Google Fonts and layout control

Simple setup with detailed customisation panels

A perfect choice for brands that want impact without complexity.

9. Zakra

Zakra combines elegance with performance. It suits industries ranging from fitness and education to law and food services. It delivers value with:

Fast setup using a one-click demo importer

SEO-ready structure for higher rankings

Multi-page templates for versatile use

This theme is crafted for businesses ready to scale their digital identity. With increasing online competition, your website needs to stand out.

That’s where our experts in web design in Melbourne come into play. We design websites that capture attention and build engagement from the very first click.

10. Phlox

Phlox offers style without compromising usability. Its visual interface helps teams design beautiful websites without needing code knowledge. It keeps users happy with:

Adaptive templates for blogs, agencies and portfolios

Extensive library of pre-made sections and elements

Quick switching between light and dark versions

Phlox is crafted for creators who demand elegance.

Concluding Words

The right theme shapes your story. Whether you’re starting fresh or refreshing your digital space, choosing the right WordPress theme matters. A theme is more than a look—it’s your platform to connect, inspire and convert. Choose one that resonates with your purpose and meets your business goals for 2025.

Make My Website: Trusted Digital Agency in Melbourne

As digital spaces expand, having a reliable web partner matters more than ever. That’s where we step in.

We offer cutting-edge solutions in web design, development and SEO. Based in Australia, our team blends creativity with strategy to build websites that deliver results. From branding to development, we provide tailored services that reflect your business vision with clarity and purpose.

[markonikau121]

The Future of WordPress in Australia enhance Your Website and User Engagement.

WordPress stands out as a versatile and powerful platform for building websites that captivate audiences. Its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and a thriving community make it the preferred choice for businesses, creatives, and organizations alike. This article delves into the future of WordPress in Australia and how you can enhance your website and boost user engagement.

Understanding the Importance of User Engagement

User engagement is vital for fostering relationships, driving conversions, and building brand loyalty. Engaged users are more likely to return, share your content, and recommend your services. For Australian businesses aiming to connect with their audience effectively, WordPress offers a multitude of features designed to enhance engagement and create meaningful interactions.

1. Dynamic Content Creation

Content remains king, and WordPress empowers users to create dynamic and diverse content with ease. The Gutenberg block editor enables you to craft visually appealing posts by integrating text, images, videos, and other media elements. This modular approach not only simplifies content creation but also allows for innovative layouts that can capture attention and sustain interest.

Additionally, using plugins like Advanced Custom Fields can enhance your content’s interactivity by allowing you to create custom data fields, making your posts more informative and engaging for your audience.

2. Seamless Mobile Experience

With mobile device usage skyrocketing in Australia, having a mobile-optimized website is no longer optional. WordPress themes are designed to be responsive, ensuring that your site looks and functions well on various devices. This is crucial for user engagement, as visitors are more likely to stay on a site that is easy to navigate on their smartphones or tablets.

By leveraging mobile-specific plugins and features, such as accelerated mobile pages (AMP), you can further improve loading times and user experience, encouraging visitors to explore your content more thoroughly.

3. Enhanced Interactivity with Plugins

WordPress’s extensive plugin ecosystem is one of its greatest strengths. Numerous plugins can elevate user engagement through interactive features. For instance, incorporating live chat plugins like Tawk.to or LiveChat can provide instant support, addressing user queries in real-time and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, gamification elements, such as leaderboards and rewards, can be integrated through plugins like myCred. These features can motivate users to engage more deeply with your content and community.

4. Personalization and Targeting

Personalization is key to connecting with users on a deeper level. WordPress allows for tailored experiences through various plugins and tools. For example, you can utilize email marketing plugins like Mailchimp to send personalized newsletters based on user behavior and preferences.

Additionally, tools like OptinMonster enable you to create targeted pop-ups and forms that engage visitors at the right moment, increasing the likelihood of conversion and interaction.

5. Community and Social Engagement

Building a community around your brand can significantly enhance user engagement. WordPress facilitates this through integrated commenting systems, forums, and social media sharing options. Enabling comments on your blog posts fosters dialogue and feedback, creating a sense of community among your audience.

Plugins like BuddyPress or PeepSo allow you to create social networking features directly on your site, providing users with a platform to connect, share, and engage with each other. This community-building approach not only enhances user experience but also builds a loyal customer base.

6. E-commerce Opportunities

For businesses looking to expand their online presence, WordPress offers robust e-commerce solutions. WooCommerce, the leading e-commerce plugin, enables you to set up an online store seamlessly. With features such as product recommendations, user reviews, and abandoned cart recovery, you can create an engaging shopping experience that encourages conversions.

Incorporating user-generated content, such as reviews and testimonials, can also build trust and encourage potential customers to make purchases, ultimately enhancing user engagement.

7. Data-Driven Insights

Understanding user behavior is crucial for improving engagement strategies. WordPress integrates well with analytics tools like Google Analytics, allowing you to track user interactions, page views, and conversion rates. By analyzing this data, you can make informed decisions about content strategies, design tweaks, and marketing efforts, ensuring that you meet the evolving needs of your audience.

Conclusion: Embracing WordPress for a Bright Future

As the digital landscape in Australia continues to evolve, WordPress remains a powerful ally for businesses seeking to enhance their online presence. By leveraging its extensive features—from dynamic content creation and mobile optimization to community building and e-commerce solutions—you can create a website that not only attracts visitors but also engages them effectively.

The future of WordPress in Australia is bright, offering endless possibilities for innovation and connection. Embrace these tools and strategies to elevate your website and foster deeper relationships with your audience. In a world where user engagement is paramount, WordPress empowers you to create meaningful, interactive experiences that stand out in the digital realm.

[suyashdesignblog]

The Future of WordPress Development: Trends and Tools You Need to Know

WordPress has come a long way since its inception in 2003. Today, it powers over 40% of all websites on the internet, making it the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). But what does the future hold for WordPress development? Let’s explore the trends and tools shaping the next generation of WordPress sites.

1. The Rise of Headless WordPress

One of the most exciting trends in WordPress development is the rise of headless WordPress. In a headless setup, WordPress serves as a content management backend, while a separate front-end framework, like React or Vue.js, handles the user interface. This decoupling offers developers greater flexibility, faster load times, and a more dynamic user experience. As businesses demand more from their websites, headless WordPress is quickly gaining traction.

2. Increased Focus on Performance and Speed

With the introduction of Core Web Vitals, website performance is more critical than ever. WordPress developers are increasingly focused on optimizing site speed, using techniques like lazy loading, minifying CSS and JavaScript, and utilizing Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). Tools like WP Rocket and NitroPack are becoming essential for ensuring that WordPress sites not only look great but also load quickly, providing a seamless experience for users.

3. Emphasis on Accessibility

Accessibility is no longer an afterthought; it's a priority. The future of WordPress development involves creating websites that are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. Developers are now using tools like WAVE and Lighthouse to check for accessibility issues and are adopting best practices such as using semantic HTML, ensuring proper color contrast, and providing keyboard navigability.

4. The Advent of Full Site Editing (FSE)

Full Site Editing (FSE) is a game-changer in the WordPress world. With FSE, developers and users can customize every part of a WordPress website using blocks, making it easier to create dynamic and personalized designs. This new feature allows for greater control and flexibility, enabling developers to build and modify themes in a more modular way.

5. AI and Automation in WordPress

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually making its way into WordPress development. Tools like RankMath use AI to optimize content for SEO, while plugins like Akismet utilize machine learning to block spam. In the future, we will likely see more AI-driven tools that simplify complex tasks, like content creation and customer support, making WordPress development more efficient.

6. Growth of eCommerce Integration

With the boom in online shopping, eCommerce integration in WordPress is growing rapidly. WooCommerce, the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin, continues to evolve, offering more features and tools for online store owners. WordPress developers are now focusing on creating optimized, secure, and scalable eCommerce sites that deliver a superior shopping experience.

7. Advanced Security Measures

As cyber threats become more sophisticated, so do the security measures in WordPress development. Developers are increasingly prioritizing security by using tools like Wordfence and Sucuri to protect sites from malicious attacks. Regular updates, secure coding practices, and the implementation of two-factor authentication (2FA) are becoming standard to safeguard WordPress sites.

8. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) with WordPress

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are transforming the mobile experience by combining the best of web and mobile apps. WordPress developers are increasingly exploring PWAs to create fast, reliable, and engaging websites. Tools like Super Progressive Web Apps and PWA for WP & AMP make it easier to turn WordPress sites into PWAs, offering offline access and push notifications.

9. Gutenberg Evolution

The Gutenberg editor, introduced in 2018, has revolutionized how content is created in WordPress. It’s evolving rapidly, with new blocks and features added regularly. The future of WordPress development will see Gutenberg becoming even more powerful, allowing developers to create highly customized, content-rich websites with minimal effort.

10. Leveraging the Power of REST API

The WordPress REST API is opening new possibilities for developers, enabling them to create more dynamic and interactive websites. By integrating WordPress with other platforms and applications, developers can build complex solutions that were previously unimaginable. Expect to see more use of the REST API as developers look for innovative ways to connect WordPress with the broader digital ecosystem.

Conclusion

The future of WordPress development is bright, dynamic, and full of opportunities. By staying ahead of these trends and leveraging the right tools, developers can create websites that are faster, more secure, and more user-friendly than ever before. Whether you’re a business looking to enhance your online presence or a developer aiming to expand your skills, now is the time to embrace these changes.

Need help navigating this evolving landscape? Consider hiring a freelance WordPress developer from India or a remote WordPress developer to ensure your site stays ahead of the curve with the latest features and functionalities.

[wordwebly]

The Topmost WordPress Themes to Use in 2021

WordPress is not so complicated. That’s why a large number of website designers follow this platform. You don’t need to have coding skills to use this platform. WordPress themes that the platform provides necessarily design aids. These design aids or themes help make website building much more comfortable. There is no shortage of themes on WordPress.  To find the best one to serve your purpose, you will need to spend your few hours searching and evaluating.

Whether you are looking for a unique purpose theme or general-purpose multiuse, you can get it on the WordPress platform. Here is the list of themes that you can use in the year 2021.

Total WordPress Theme

The WordPress theme is user friendly, a dynamic customizer of template layout, and a hundred percent friendly for WooCommerce and WordPress. It has tools for customizing colors, fonts, column widths, sections, and more. Total WordPress theme has more than 40 demos for a modern theme, more than 80 modules for page building, and more than 500 customizer settings. It is a popular theme that can serve you the best if you are in a hurry to get your website up.

Be Theme

It is the most prominent WordPress theme that offers more than 40 features of the core design. Be Theme has an Admin panel that works with the Be’s Muffin Builder eliminating the need for coding. The users get more design opportunities and options with their font styles, special effects, grid system, header builder, and color palettes. If you need to create your website, you can use its shortcodes library to open up more options for the users and Shortcode Generator.

Uncode- Creative Multiuse & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

The enhanced front-end editor of Uncode makes the website easy and quick. Besides, it has many other features such as WooCommerce custom Builder and other additions that can help you create your online store quickly and conveniently.

Avada

It is the premium and versatile, original multi-purpose WordPress theme of all time. Avada comes with more than 255 pre-made designs for web pages and more than 41  pre-made websites. The users can use its drag& drop builder and more than 1000 options to customize their websites as they want. Apart from this, it is a WooCommerce friendly and responsive theme that is optimized for speed.

The design elements of Avada promotes coding-free and a rapid process of website building. It has 57 designed pre-built websites that can stimulate and encourage your creative juices. Plus, it gives free updates for a lifetime to its users. Plus, it has a dynamic content system that provides users all the needed flexibility to build what they want.

TheGem-Creative Multi-Purpose High-Performance WordPress Theme

TheGem offers more than 400 beautiful pre-built templates and websites for any purpose, which all are easily customizable and editable with WPBakery and Elementor page builders. It is a highly performant and customizable WordPress Theme, which is perfect for beginners and professionals. It is excellent for shops, business websites, magazines, blogs, and portfolios. It has the rich collections of WooCommerce templates required for any shop.

Rey Theme

Rey theme is highly flexible, modular, has a clean mode, and unencumbered. Also, it is a developer-friendly, and its customizable features allow for easy and quick page building. Plus, it has a rich library of exceptional design and template aids. Its other features include integrations of Elementor and WooCommerce tools.

Typer – Multi-Author Publishing Features

It is an excellent choice for bloggers looking for something that can augment their websites’ functionality and attractiveness. Typer is for you if you need your publishing activities organized effectively and efficiently. It can convert a standard blogging site into a multi-author platform. You can list articles, bookmark them and summarize in weekly digests.

Kalium – Professional theme for multiple uses

Kalium features several plugins like Elementor, WPBakery, WooCommerce, and Slider Revolution. It is ideal for eCommerce sites and building portfolios. Plus, it is loaded with many design elements and pre-built demos. The offerings of Kalium are useful for designers who want flexibility in design. It offers easy access to several plugins of WordPress to the users.

Pofo- Creative Portfolio, Blog and eCommerce WordPress Theme

Pofo is one of the best themes available in the market for bloggers, businesses, creatives, and eCommerce shops. Its features include premium plugins, including WPBakery page builder and Revolution Slider, custom shortcodes providing greater flexibility, and WordPress Customizer integration. Plus, it has more than 25 home pages and pre-built elements for design, along with a host of demo pages.

KnowAll- Knowledge Base Time

The theme is useful in providing a solution to the queries of customers. Besides, customers search for more information and get quick answers to their questions. If the customers don’t like to wait on phones to get answers and FAQs pages to become irritation sources, this theme can bring a complete overhaul.

XStore – The Most Complete & Customizable WooCommerce Theme

The theme has more than 350 pre-built sections and support for WPBakery and Elementor. It is an excellent selection of premium plugins of WordPress at your disposal. Plus, it has a single product builder and custom header builder.

Hongo- Modern & Multipurpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Hongo is a modern multipurpose and trend-setting theme making it the top choice for bloggers and WooCommerce site builders. It features tools associated with product sales like catalog mode, quick views, comparisons, and more. The multipurpose theme provides fast loading and SEO friendly features to the sites built with it. Plus, the integration of WordPress Customizer and WPBakery custom shortcodes offers maximum flexibility.

Some other Important WordPress ThemesUltra

It is the most flexible and powerful WordPress theme. Themify has created it. You can use the powerful drag & drop builder of this theme to create any website. It comes with six footer layouts, six background options for header, six archive layouts, 15 page/header styles, etc. With a single click, the users can import the theme’s demo setup, including several settings, widgets, content, menus, and many more.

Divi

Divi is the multi-purpose most popular WordPress Themes available these days in the market. Elegant Themes have created it. Divi comes with an in-built drag & drop builder that the users can use to create any layout.

Astra

The WordPress theme is highly customizable as it allows you to build a website quickly. You can import the demo and customize the look of your website as per your preferences. Plus, with this WordPress theme, you will get the ability to turn off the sidebar & page title. It provides easy and seamless integration with many popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, etc.

SeedProd

You can use its drag & drop feature to build the WordPress landing page. It comes with hundreds of coming soon pages, ready-made templates for sales pages, webinar pages, option pages, etc. Plus, you can use its multiple styles and layouts for different pages. Also, you can choose your content and colors anywhere on your website. SeedProd integrates with the third party’s popular email services like ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, and many more.

StudioPress

It is one of the best premium WordPress themes available in the market. It has been built on the Genesis framework’s top, which works seamlessly with Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor. It gives unlimited licenses and updates and is now part of the WP Engine family.

OceanWP

It is a highly extendable and light-weight theme that can help you to create any website. OceanWP supports popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, etc. Also, it seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce. Plus, the WordPress theme provides you with unlimited options of colors, custom header layouts, image sliders, custom widgets, and many more.

Soledad

You can purchase the multi-concept blog magazine theme from Themeforest. It shipped with support for AMP. Plus, it comes with more than one thousand sliders and layouts for blogs and magazines. Apart from this, you will also get many single post templates that can help you to share your unique stories with audiences. The theme supports many plugins of page editors like WP Bakery page builder and Elementor.

Exponent

It is an attractive business WordPress theme that comes with more than 20 demo templates. You can use these templates to launch a website according to your requirements. The users can translate the theme to any language. Its other features include support for Google Fonts, color management, carousels, image galleries, and portfolio sections.

Hestia

The premium and versatile WordPress theme for blog websites and business magazines is available for free. It works seamlessly and excellently with WooCommerce. You can also use the theme to create your online store, as it works with almost all vital page builders. The theme works extensively with the theme customizer of  Live WordPress. Apart from this, it is SEO friendly and translation-ready.

X Theme

It is one of the most popular and loved WordPress themes available on ThemeForest. X Theme comes with a template manager, a drag & drop page builder, and global blocks that you can use in several ways and multiple areas while designing your website. Besides, it comes with pre-built demos for complete websites and structural layouts. You can use it to start your website quickly. For example, you can use these features to create websites for agencies, weddings, bands, churches, food trucks, and many more. This multi-purpose WordPress theme also has integrations with many premium plugins.

Authority Pro

The multi-purpose WordPress theme is built on the robust framework of the Genesis theme. It is geared for freelancers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs. Authority Pro comes with a customizable header, a widgetized layout for the homepage, an options page for the theme, and many more. It works seamlessly with many advanced WordPress plugins and friendly for WooCommerce.

Storefront

The storefront has been developed and designed by the core development team of WooCommerce. It is the default theme for the WooCommerce plugin. The WordPress theme provides several options for colors and layouts that the users can use to customize their online store and integrate with WooCommerce and many other popular extensions of WooCommerce.

Mantranews

It is a news based WordPress theme featuring magazine-style. The WordPress theme comes with ad placement, search bar, navigation menu, social media icons, customizable header, flash news, and a featured category slider. Other notable features of the WordPress theme includes choices for colors, Google fonts, custom widgets,  and parallax scrolling. Mantranews allows its users to add featured videos as the news thumbnail.

Gridlove

Gridlove is an elegant and beautiful theme for news websites, magazines, publishers, personal bloggers, and editors. It allows the users to attract more audiences professionally to them by highlighting specific posts on the homepage. The WordPress theme has category templates allowing users to organize their content in a better way. You can use the drag & drop page builder to customize the homepage completely.

Apart from this, it comes with several post templates and custom widgets. The WordPress theme works seamlessly with many popular plugins such as Jetpack, MailChimp, Yoast SEO, WooCommerce, etc. It is highly optimized for performance and speed.

Responsive Pro

The WordPress theme is highly customizable that can even work well on slow networks. It is compatible work with top SEO and caching plugins, forms, and page builders. Responsive Pro comes with a fully customizable design, ready-to-use templates for websites, custom layout options, and mobile-friendly layouts. Plus, it is seamlessly compatible with WooCommerce. The WordPress theme can be the perfect choice for a WooCommerce store, blog, or business website.

Grace Mag Pro

The premium WordPress magazine-based theme comes with advanced bright colors and typography options that can provide a stunning visual experience to the users. Plus, it includes layouts for multiple headers, blog posts, single posts, archive, featured content slider, and many more. It works seamlessly with the block editor, Gutenberg to help the users write content conveniently and efficiently.

These WordPress themes are loaded with great features that can help you to elevate and enhance your projects to the next level. They are featuring the latest preferences and website trends and matching the users’ needs, whether corporate-oriented or personal.

Source: The Topmost WordPress Themes to Use in 2021

[nullshop]

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system Nulled Download

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system Nulled Download

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system Nulled Download

  Compatible with all screen resolutions, Powerful Permission System, Page, blog, menu, contact modules are provided with the use of components to avoid boilerplate code. A vast number of jQuery components are provided, which helps you save time. Admin template comes with color schemes to match your taste. Blog module

[canlitvizle-blog1]

Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Coding Standard: All code pursue coding measures PSR-2 and prescribed procedures Validated by Codeship, Fully Responsive: Compatible with all screen goals, Powerful Permission System: Manage client, group, job by consents. Simple to oversee client by authorizations.

Download Botble 3.3…

[chrisbeckstrom]

Building a portable modular synthesizer in a roller skate case

The cold weather has arrived which means it’s time to transition from mostly outdoor activity to mostly indoor activity. I’ve been working on some electronics projects, perhaps gearing up to sell some of my creations (stay tuned!).

In the meantime, I’ve started working on a new modular synthesizer in an old roller skate case. I wanted to build something that is battery powered, portable, and extremely quick and easy to build.

starting in the upper-left: 40106 light-controlled oscillator x3, 4040 divider, power router, 4093 quad NAND gate, (bottom row): “multiples”, LM386 power amp

I decided to use female headers and small jumper cables for making connections, completely do away with panels and just use the circuit boards as the interface, and focus on CMOS chips. All of this together means I can whip up a new module in about 45 minutes – from laying out the circuit on strip board to having it built and in the case.

These circuits are functionally identical to circuits I have in my big modular, just in a smaller package with no front panel. The guts are out front, so to speak.

part of my CMOS chip collection

I’m using plastic pegboard as the main panel, which has the added benefit of already having holes! The holes also happen to be the perfect size for 3.5mm audio jacks.

In building my first (big) modular, I was aiming for a very flexible, somewhat traditional-style synthesizer. For this new one I’m leaning heavily in the experimental Lunetta direction; more beeps and bloops, more digital noise sounds, more weirdness. Instead of trying to recreate regular synth sounds, I want to explore new and unusual ones… and be able to do this in the woods, or in the car, or anywhere else.

Basically, this synth is a portable analog logic computer, a lot like Bastl Instruments’ Bit Ranger.

close up of the 40106 light-controlled oscillators

Right now I can run this system on a 9 volt battery or use a portable phone battery and a USB cable, which puts out 5 volts. (I found a hunting-themed phone battery charger in the clearance section at Meijer for $3!!) 5 volts might be a little low for some of the things I want to do, but we’ll see.

- - - (original: https://chrisbeckstrom.com/2018/10/24/building-a-portable-modular-synthesizer-in-a-roller-skate-case/)

[vrheadsets]

The Virtual Arena: The New Drive for Out-of-Home VR (Part 1)

What a difference a month makes! We enter June to a cacophony of announcements regarding major LB-VR projects and new hardware using powerful Intellectual Properties (IP), deployment aimed squarely at virtual reality (VR) and the digital out-of-home entertianment (DOE) scene. Industry specialist, Kevin Williams continues his retrospective of developments in this emerging market.

Anyone that tried to ignore or label the Out-of-Home application of VR as an unimportant niche, has had to concede their folly. Following an avalanche of news stories, and investment, regarding brand-new Location-Based VR development. We have followed many of these projects from their inception some years ago and seeing them reach fruition is a vindication of the investment that big IP are willing to bet on DOE VR implementation; all this, while the consumer VR scene seems to be at a major crossroad.

One of the largest social entertainment brands, caused a rash of mainstream media headlines with the announcement that they would be installing, what has been called the “World’s largest commercial multiplayer VR attraction, at over 110 Dave & Busters’ (D&B) locations. The attraction called Jurassic World: VR Expedition – has been developed in partnership with pioneering developer of turn-key large-scale, multiplayer, free-roaming commercial VR attraction systems, VRstudios. The four-player VR attraction incorporates a motion platform and uses HTC Vive headsets and controllers, to immerse players in the Jurassic World environment in a fast-paced virtual experience.

D&B had previously carried out several experiments with early VR technology, considering the best deployment that meets their exacting needs and audience demographics. The company having a history in incorporating VR into their mix, being one of the major supporters of the technology back in the last heyday of VR amusement in the 1990’s. This new VR attraction builds on lessons learned and incorporates what VRstudios has named their VRcade Attraction Management Platform (AMP) to operate and manage the new attraction across the D&B sites.

It was revealed that HTC is taking the new D&B project so seriously that they signed an agreement with the social entertainment venue that will see over 500 HTC Vive headsets deployed to D&B locations across the USA and Canada. This is one of the largest mass deployments of this VR headset into the Out-of-Home entertainment scene in the West; while HTC has already signed other large deployment partnerships – as we reported in our AAA’18 coverage, in affiliation with developer VR LEKE.

Beyond the motion platform approach to VR entertainment – we have seen an explosion of investment in VR free-roaming (Arena-Scale) experiences, also driven by major IP that have garnered many of the big headlines in recent weeks. One of the biggest was the announcement of Terminator Genisys – Time Machine – again based on a major cinematic universe. This Arena-Scale VR experience has been conceived by SPACES, a Californian based immersive entertainment developer, in partnership with IP holder Skydance Media.

It is important to understand that SPACES, a relatively new operation, comprises a strong talent pool of skilled specialist in the creating of immersive attractions – the company including ex-DreamWorks executives with film and attraction experience and is supported by a major investment chain that includes the likes of Songcheng Performance Development Co., Ltd, (one of the world’s biggest theme-park and performing arts companies), Comcast Ventures and GREE, to name a few.

The first of the corporation’s immersive VR attractions sees groups take part in elements taken from the cinematic universe of Terminator – but along with more familiar game elements, there is a team interaction and puzzle solving, as well the overall experience incorporating the personalization of the experience with scanning of the players, and a repeat visitation element. The company partnering their attraction with established location-based destinations (theme parks, tourist destinations, theaters and malls).  All aspects driving the innovation of LB-VR into the mainstream.

Not all the major IP being deployed into the commercial entertainment scene comes from Hollywood – recently opened in Japan, we saw the first VR deployment of the popular consumer game brand Dragon Quest. The latest installation within BANDAI NAMCO’s VR ZONE at their Shinjuku facility, the specially developed Dragon Quest VR – that sees four players taking on the unique roles within a virtual representation of the Square Enix RPG.

This Arena-Scale experience supporting up to four players, utilizing unique interfaces such as swords, shields, and staffs, but also the ability for certain characters to cast spells with their wands. The game, concluding with a boss fight, where the party must learn to work as a team to succeed. BANDAI NAMCO have stated that they look towards leveraging more IP into their VR experiences, seeing this as a strong platform to create compelling experiences building on their amusement experience. We have already seen a previous free-roaming VR experience launched by the company based on the Ghost in The Shell anima series.

Free-roaming VR technology is not just driven from Asian and American developments – great strides in innovation have been seen in Europe, such as with Swiss based trueVRsystems announcing a few weeks ago their sixth arcade installation in Stockholm, Sweden. Installing a modular 2 x 150m² system that offers groups of players with VR backpacks the chance to explore virtual experiences. The system one of only a few that can support up to 10-players, using full bodying tracking and deploying interfaces such as the StriverVR weapon system.

Another company building on their cinematic universe, to create compelling VR attractions, recently opened the doors to their first test location. 20th Century Fox (FoxNext Destination group) partnering with iP2 and Pure Imagination Studios to develop and launched their ALIEN: DESCENT experience; opening for the first time at The Outlets, at Orange in Orange County, South California. A shopping mall retail unit converted into become a dedicated VR entertainment venue.

This themed VR experience, incorporates a 2,000-sq ft. free-roam space with groups of players navigating virtually rendered darkened corridors, and blasting Xenomorphs, in a full virtual experience. The platform has been in secret test for several months as the company’s perfected their vision of the best VR experience. Using the Samsung Gear VR as their immersive platform, married to a force feedback weapon – again using the StrikerVR gun.

It is great to see StrikerVR, one of the early developers in this latest phase of the VR landscape, making headway, though aspirations in the consumer sector have pivoted to a wholly commercial entertainment business model. Some of the new projects launching in recent months deploy the StrikerVR system – which has completed an arduous evaluation and testing phase to become a dominant brand in this sector.

One of the leading lights in the deployment of Arena-Scale virtual attractions, The VOID announced nine additional locations, bringing the company’s total footprint to 18 venues. This growth marks the progression of The VOID to establish their unique “Hyper Reality” experience that launched back in 2016 with their first location at Madame Tussauds in New York (partnered with Sony Pictures and Merlin Entertainment). The process of doubling its locations comes as the company closed a very successful Series A round of investment.

“Move along…”

Las Vegas recently saw the opening of the latest VOID location (now partnered with Walt Disney), placed within the Venetian Casino Resort – the latest installation of their VR backpack experience based around the cinematic universe of Star Wars. The VOID started with another of their games based around the Ghostbusters IP – and is looking to continue this path of innovation while emerging the guest in an interactive film like narrative.

This opening in Las Vegas last month coincided with several VR openings in this entertainment capital. Several major LV casino resorts incorporating a VR offering to appeal to the “Millennial audience”, looking for a new draw beyond the gaming floors of the casinos. One such example was seen at New York-New York casino resort, who have augmented their popular rollercoaster by added VR Coaster technology. Riders wearing Samsung Gear VR headsets that supply a sweeping VR ride experience to the twists and turns of the coaster.

Watch this space for the next and final part of this latest coverage into DOE, coming soon to The Virtual Arena and VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2KkKESA

[techscopic]

Top 15 Reliable Tools and Resources for Designers in 2018

Advertise here via BSA

The only thing certain about technology is that it is constantly changing. The same is true with Internet design. The preferred way to present information has become through graphics. This trend is giving graphic designers a field day. However, at the same time, it requires them to constantly invest in new tools and resources. In the end, they have to keep up with the competition.

Collaboration via business trips and over the phone is becoming passé as well. This is another area in which designers require the latest in collaboration-assisting tools. They need to do so if they are to meet ever more stringent project deadlines.

The good news is that most of these new tools are both easy to work with and affordable. So, this might be a perfect time to shed some old favorites that aren’t really getting the job done. See what 2018 has to offer.

  1. Mason

Mason allows you to build, edit, and manage your front-end experiences from a central platform—all without the need for code. It enables your team to do the same, thereby speeding up collaboration and making it more efficient.

Once you’ve incorporated a Mason feature into a website or app, downstream clients, developers, or marketers can edit it when needed, avoiding the need to initiate a new development cycle. Since these features, consisting of pre-coded blocks, are designed and developed with reusability in mind, you’ll never find yourself wasting time reinventing the wheel.

Mason offers solutions for experiences ranging from user login to password reset to social sign-in to content feeds and more—front-end experiences virtually every web product needs. And, they’re insanely secure: Data is sent directly from a client’s server to your own via encrypted transactions, so you and the client are the only ones that will see your data.

The pre-packaged solutions Mason provides address common product requirements and are completely customizable; create a fully branded login flow and deploy it, live inside your app, in literal minutes. In addition, this modular content will make page management much simpler for every page you create. Mason’s modular content is a win for you, for your team, and for your users. Try it free today!

  2. Mobirise

Working from a single platform can have its advantages but doing so is not without limitations. Since Mobirise is an offline builder you’re not tied down to a platform, you have total control over your work, and you can host your site anywhere you choose to.

To see what Mobirise can do for you, simply visit the site and download your copy. It’s free for both personal and commercial use. Everything is drag and drop with no coding required, and since Mobirise is built around a Bootstrap 4 or Google AMP framework, your websites and apps will be lightning fast and 100% mobile friendly.

This is an ideal tool for creating small or medium-size websites, portfolios, landing pages, and promo sites. Since it’s so intuitive to use, it’s perfect for non-techies as well, for anyone who prefers a visual approach to design, and for fast prototyping.

  3. Elementor

Elementor provides another free and easy way to build your WordPress websites. This open source page builder will let you build stunning websites without any need for coding. Its fast, it works with any template, and all your editing is done on the front end and in real time.

130 professionally-designed templates come with the package, Elementor works with any theme, its most popular features include advanced mobile editing capabilities, a visual form builder, a menu builder, and much more.

If you’re wondering if this is the right tool for you, consider that in under 2 years Elementor has acquired a base of more than 900,000 users, making it the #1 WordPress website builder. With Elementor 2.0 releases in full swing, it’s only going to get better!

  4. Goodiewebsite

When it’s time to get your website coded, you’ll naturally want to place it in the hands of professionals. Not doing so only increases your long term expenditures, which is why the Goodiewebsite platform makes good sense.

This cost-effective service is best-suited for small projects like 1-10 page websites and other simple WordPress sites. Prices start at $999.

  5. monday.com

The monday.com team management tool is equally suited for teams of two or teams of thousands, and it is used by both startups and Fortune 500 companies. It’s especially popular among non-tech teams because of its intuitive use.

Since monday.com centralizes everything, encourages transparency, and boosts collective productivity, every one of its users feels both more empowered and more important in the greater scheme of things.

  6. A2’s Fully Managed WordPress Hosting

It can at times be difficult to find an affordable and reliable service if you have specific hosting needs. A2 Hosting offers a range of solutions that provide scalable, fast, secured, and optimized WordPress hosting.

Easy site staging is a key feature, as is the 20XFaster Turbo feature that guarantees super-fast page loading. A2 Hosting updates automatically to ensure that it is always in sync with WordPress.

  7. Uncode – Creative Multiuse WordPress Theme

With Uncode, you don’t have to start a design from scratch, nor do you need to concern yourself with coding. This powerful, user friendly WP theme has the functionality you need, including several exciting new features that include a powerful Gallery Manager, Slides Scroll, and Shape Dividers.

Take a stroll through Uncode’s website model library to see the possibilities and how with Uncode you can keep “creator’s block” at bay.

  8. Houzez

No matter what features a multipurpose theme may offer, using a specialty theme like Houzez has its distinct advantages. Created with the real estate sector in mind, Houzez’ features include multiple listings format options, advanced property search capabilities, geolocating capabilities, and payment and membership systems.

Houzez also offers such unique features as property management system, custom fields builder, search composer, which make it is by far your best bet if you have a realtor for a client.

  9. The Hanger

The Hanger is modern, it’s classy, it’s easy to set up, and you can expect reliable and friendly support. It provides an easy way for designers to set up and build eCommerce WordPress sites for their clients.

Although The Hanger makes building an eCommerce site a straightforward process, its customization tools allow the designer to align its looks to perfectly fit a client’s brand.

  10. LayerSlider

This premium animation platform takes you far beyond what the name implies. With LayerSlider you can not only create sensational layer effects, but image galleries, animated page blocks, popups, and slideshows as well.

LayerSlider even has the tools needed to build complete websites. It’s drag and drop, responsive, SEO friendly, and easy to use.

  11. WhatFontis.com

Maybe you saw a font used on an ad you wished you designed or the client cuts the chase and says: “why don’t we write that headline with THAT font”. In both cases you find yourself searching for the font name.

WhatFontis.com’s identification tool can take care of this mundane task. With a database of 450,000 commercial and free fonts the automatic AI system will quickly locate a match or similar alternatives.

  12. FFonts.net

FFonts.net features a directory of 75,000 free fonts. It has the necessary tools to help you find what you want, quickly and easily. It’s simply a matter of browsing or searching, previewing, and downloading. Search for a specific font, or preview several of potential interest.

To make sure of your choices, you can write out strings of text to see how the fonts will look in actual use.

  13. Fluid UI

Fluid UI is a wireframing, mockup, and prototyping tool designed to enhance the collaborative design process. Fluid ID features a set of component libraries for desktop, iOS, and Android applications.

It’s a handy tool for designers, product managers, and distributed teams to have on hand as its features include chat, interactive video presentation, and preview sharing capabilities.

  14. Pixpa

Creatives not only love Pixpa’s all-in-one portfolio website builder because of the results they can achieve but because they don’t have to use multiple tools & services to get the job done.

Pixpa portfolio websites come with an inbuilt eCommerce store, as well as tools to set up client proofing and blogging features. Best-in-class hosting, and 24/7 support is included.

  15. wpDataTables

wpDataTables is by far the premier WordPress plugin for creating tables and charts. It is so popular that more than a few web designers have switched over to WordPress to have the opportunity to use it. wpDataTables accepts data in many formats from many different sources.

It manages huge amounts of complex data in mere seconds to produce colorful, responsive, informative, and maintainable charts and tables. wpDataTables has far too many valuable features to list here.

  Conclusion

Do you want to speed up your workflow and enjoy an uptick in your productivity? Or, have you been looking for a solution to a particularly vexing design problem? There should be something here for you.

We’ve covered a wide range of tools and resources. They encompass everything from hosting to chart and table building. There are also multipurpose and specialty WP themes. Hopefully, you’ve found at least one item to brighten your day.

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Top 15 Reliable Tools and Resources for Designers in 2018 published first on https://appspypage.tumblr.com/

[barbosaasouza]

Shacknews PC Build Guide: February 2018 - Money Hats

It’s true. There have been much better times to build a gaming PC than February 2018. Between GPU market instability caused by a cryptocurrency mining craze dating back almost a year or the insane markups on DDR4 memory, the incredible value proposition provided by building your own gaming PC has officially flown out the window, falling 40 stories and becoming a greasy splat on the sidewalk. Even if you have unlimited funds on hand, simply buying the video card you want has become a challenge. This is the Dark Souls of months to buy parts for a gaming PC.

If you love a challenge, are a glutton for punishment, or simply need to buy things online to temporarily fill the hole in your life, you've come to the right place. This guide will lead you down a very expensive path, but you can take solace in the fact that PC gamers on the cutting edge had it even worse in the ‘90s. While it will hurt spending $250 on 16GB of DDR4 RAM, the 1996 version of you would have only gotten 8MB of SDRAM. Even better, you likely won’t even need to spring for a CD-ROM drive for this new build!

Without wasting any more time, let’s get on to business. While our themed build from last August featured a budget rig that used an array of white components, I felt that some new parts arrived on the market in the time since that warranted a return to alabaster glory. With the northern hemisphere still in the thick of winter, I thought it would be apt to label February’s build “Ice”.

February 2018 High-End Build "Ice"

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Taichi ATX LGA1151 Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB DDR4-3200 CL14 Storage: 2x Crucial - MX300 1.1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Elite White Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 White TG ATX Mid Tower Case Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNova G3 750W ATX 80+ Gold Case Fans: 2x Noctua - NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap Monitor: Acer - XB321HK 32-inch 4K IPS Monitor w/G-Sync Headset: Sennheiser - GAME ONE White Headset Soundcard: Sennheiser - GSX 1000 Gaming Audio Amplifier Mouse: Razer - DeathAdder Elite Destiny 2 Edition Keyboard: Razer - BlackWidow X Chroma Mercury Edition  Mouse Mat: Razer - Invicta Mercury Edition Controller: Microsoft -  White Xbox One S Wireless Controller Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home 64-bit

PcPartPicker Build List

Estimate Total Price of Build:

A Closer Look at the Components

CPU/Motherboard/Memory

At the heart of “Ice” lies Intel’s newest Core i7-series CPU, the 8700K. Unlike previous generation Core i7 desktop CPUs, the 8700K add an additional two cores and packs a total of 12 available threads with the use of hyper-threading. It manages to do this while still managing to carry the industry’s top single-threaded speed, which is huge for games or applications that cannot leverage the full allotment of cores and threads available.

Any CPU must be paired with the right motherboard to get the best performance. The Asrock Z370 Taichi has the looks and brains needed for this operation. Sporting Intel’s latest Z370 chipset, multiple m.2 sockets, and a rock-solid power delivery system, the Taichi has everything you need to connect all the latest components at the fastest speeds. Overclocking the 8700K is also a breeze thanks to the powerful BIOS and incredibly stout VRMs on the board.

The G.Skill Trident Z memory kit is incredibly pricey right now (just like all DD4), but offers killer looks and will provide stability, even when paired with an overclocked CPU. The CL14 variant of this kit uses the coveted Samsung b-die memory chips, famous for their compatibility and stability.

Storage/GPU/PSU

While “Ice” was assembled under the premise that money was a secondary concern, throwing away money on incredibly expensive NVME SSDs offers no benefit for games or everyday workloads. Most PC gamers will get more use out of the extra storage space provided by going with a conventional SATA SSD. The Crucial 1TB MX300 m.2 SSDs are small and easily slide into the m.2 slots on the Asrock Taichi, requiring now power or SATA leads, leaving an incredibly clean looking installation. Additionally, the 4TB Caviar Black platter drive provides even more storage for games, media, or documents. For players who like recording their gameplay, the extra capacity will be very handy.

Selecting a GPU for this build was easy and hard at the same time. Finding anything in the performance category that would be regularly in stock borders on impossible. Because all GTX 1080 Ti cards are so scarce, I went with the model that matches the visual theme and offers top-tier thermals and acoustics. The EVGA FTW3 packs the triple-fan ICX cooler and the sweet-looking shroud is painted white. The Fractal Design R6 TG case in this build supports the new Fractal Design GPU riser kit, allowing your GPU’s fan shroud to be the center of attention, rather than the top of the card.

Spending this kind of cash on a gaming build without giving it clean power would be foolish. The EVGA G3 series has not been around for long, but already carries a legendary reputation for power delivery and performance. This particular model was one of the best units to ever come through the JohnnyGuru test labs, earning a 9.8 out of a possible 10 score. The unit is fully modular and compact in size, making it the perfect option for virtually any build.

Case/Monitor/Fans

The initial inspiration for this build came from the announcement of Fractal Design’s new Define R6 line of PC cases. The Define R series has a legendary reputation in the business and the R6 brings that pedigree into 2018 with an updated design ready to compete with the competition. The interior has seen a complete redesign from the R5 to accommodate the newest hardware trends and to make the process of building your PC enjoyable. Support for virtually any air or water cooler is provided, along with a PSU shroud to make cable management easy and great looking. The R6 is not a compact case by any measure. It is designed to hold all of your stuff and keep it cool and quiet with a load of fan mounts and sound damping material affix to interior surfaces. I selected the white tempered glass model for its looks and ability to show off the matched components. The R6 TG cases will be on the market March 7, 2018.

From the start, I had the idea of pairing this build with an ultrawide monitor, but ended up opting to go with a 4K G-Sync option. The Acer XB321HK is a 32-inch G-Sync enabled IPS monitor with 4 USB 3.0 ports and a fully-adjustable stand. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect cosmetic match with the other components, but a monitor in this performance category with white accents or a solid white paint job don’t exist. Thankfully, you’ll spend 99.5% of your time drooling at the crispness of the color-accurate panel. The buttery smooth G-Sync refresh means that the occasional frame drops from the GTX 1080 Ti at 4K go unnoticed. By the end of this year, a new wave of 144Hz ultrawide, HDR, and any other buzzword-capable monitors will be hitting the market. Any one of these upcoming models could warrant this choice obsolete, but you gotta pick something, right?

Headset/Soundcard/Input Devices

The Sennheiser GAME ONE headset is available with a white paint job, but also happens to be one of the highest quality gaming headset you can buy at any price. An open-backed design, the GAME ONE allows for a much wider soundstage than your typical closed-back headsets. The open design also lets you hear if someone calls for you and lets you hear your own voice clearly when using voice chat. Because the drivers are shared with Sennheiser’s audiophile headphone designs, you get amazing music quality in addition to top-tier gaming performance. The soft velour ear pads make the GAME ONE easy to wear for hours with no need to worry about your ears getting hot and sweaty.

As another added bonus, the GAME ONE headset can benefit from being hooked up to a dedicated headphone amplifier, just like the audiophile Sennheiser headphones. This brings us to the Sennheiser GSP 1000 gaming headphone amp. The unit provides substantially more juice than your will get with typical onboard sound chips, allow your headset to sound amazing, even at very low volume levels. For music lovers, the extra power improves instrument separation and can offer a little extra oomph to the lower frequencies. The GSP 1000 also offers a high-quality USB DAC (digital to analog converter) to feed the amp with the cleanest possible signal. It has output for your headset and for a set of desktop speakers/monitors if you have a set of those. The included mic preamp lets you be heard loud and clear. The unit offers an easy to use volume dial and quick toggles for muting or adjusting voice chat levels independently of the game your playing.

The Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Mercury Edition keyboard gives you all the benefits of mechanical keyboards with a striking metallic and white presentation. Also included are fully programmable RGB backlights to help you see in the dark or set the mood. The Razer Invicta Mouse Mat has a sturdy aluminum base and a two-sided pad to let you choose between a slick or textured mousing surface. It doesn’t hurt that it looks great and fits the theme of the build. Paired with these is the Razer Destiny 2 Edition DeathAdder gaming mouse. Completing the Razer desk trifecta, this white and black version of the world’s most popular gaming mouse is the perfect compliment to the visual theme. Even if you don’t care about Destiny, the mouse performs like a champ and looks the part.

The Xbox One S controller needs no introduction. It is a revised version of the initial Xbox One controller design, bringing over some of the best features from the $150 Xbox One Elite pad. For PC users, the controller is plug and play with the included USB cable and can also be used wirelessly with the official Wireless USB dongle or via Bluetooth, if your PC has a compatible receiver (the Asrock Taichi motherboard features an Intel Bluetooth receiver built-in). The controller comes in a wide range of colors (and can be ordered with a custom paint job through Microsoft Design Lab), but I chose the plain white model for “Ice”.

When combined, these parts work together to become a gaming beast. As of right now, this is the pinnacle of PC gaming performance. Things will surely change as the year moves on. In less than two months, AMD is expected to unveil the follow up to their incredibly successful Ryzen CPU and motherboard line. There are rumblings that NVIDIA has plans to introduce the follow up to it's legendary Pascal line (GTX 1XXX) of consumer GPUs. These new cards will be based on the Volta architecture. We are in interesting times. Hopefully, market instability caused by the cryptocurrency boom and DDR4 demand will bring a return to sensible component pricing. in the meantime, continue to check back in with Shacknews for updates on these new products and more build guides and articles in the coming weeks.

For those interested in our previous builds, check out the links below:

White Lightning Budget Build (August 2017) Destiny 2 Gaming PC Build (September 2017) ITX Build For Mom (October 2017)

Shacknews PC Build Guide: February 2018 - Money Hats published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

[aevideo-net-blog]

CodeCanyon - Botble v2.1 - Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role pemissions, Multilingual blog - 16928182

DEMO

Compatible with all screen resolutions, Powerful Permission System, Page, blog, menu, contact modules are provided with the use of components to avoid boilerplate code. A vast number of jQuery components are provided, which helps you save time. Admin template comes with color schemes to match your taste. Blog module 

[nullshop]

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system

Botble – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system

Similar themes

Compatible with all screen resolutions, Powerful Permission System, Page, blog, menu, contact modules are provided with the use of components to avoid boilerplate code. A vast number of jQuery components are provided, which helps you save time. Admin template comes with color schemes to match your taste. Blog module

De…

[alivingroomatthebottomofalake]

This piece is part of an ongoing modular synth process exploration. It was presented as a spatial installation at RMIT Site 8 Gallery on May 29-30th 2017. The work is the first iteration of a larger conceptual project I'm working on as a part of an Honours in Fine Art. Part of my process along the way has involved letting go of control, and instead of composing notes and forms, I've been intuiting parameters, setting initial starting conditions of a system and then allowing that system to self generate an ambient piece. Part of this exploration has involved the occasional prompt from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies. Early on, some cards I drew from the Oblique Strategies deck stumped me, but others seemed to generate a more productive response. The outcome of this work involved one card that read "Remove specifics and convert to ambiguities", a prompt I have tried to carry through this entire process. A little while later in the process, I drew two cards, "Repetition is a form of change", and "Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency". Finding it hard to reconcile these two ideas, I was reminded of a Philip Glass interview in which he was commenting on the perceived repetition in his work that was actually quiet subtly and complexly not repetitive at all. This spurred me on to create a more randomised piece that felt like it might be a long loop, with seemingly repeated elements, that were actually generative and constantly changing. A week before the showing, I was unsure about whether or not I would present the work purely as audio or if I would present it as a live generative system. My supervisor helped me decide to trial the work as an installation, put all my cards on the table (no pun intended) and see what the outcome/reaction was (great advice and I'm glad I did). During install, I knew I would need to pretty much create the system and thus the composition in situ, and although I had parameters I had tried and tested, the nature of the work would be completed in the space. I drew two more cards that day. The first one I drew before I began setting up, and it said "Give the game away". Well, it seems that fate (I don't really believe in fate, by the way) was insisting that the installation really give away the process, so I'm glad I chose to exhibit as I did, but also, I thought, I would leave the cards visible for the audience to draw connections from the cards themselves and the work. Nearing the completion of the install, I drew the final card: "Do nothing for as long as possible". I felt this really tied the work together, and chose it for the title of this iteration of my research. Do nothing for as long as possible, 2017 Sound (electric guitar, modular synthesizer); duration infinite. The larger themes behind the piece involve temporality and perception, building on concepts embedded in minimalism and ambient musics, but also, quite personally, reflecting on my experiences in Iceland, and drawing on the feeling of timelessness that the landscape and weather and light cycles generate. Thus, the piece is an ongoing work that speaks to the representation of that time and place, and the musical material draws on soundscapes from the environment, and musics from the history there - mostly an ancient melody called Lilja. This personal element is only the subject, but the themes embedded in that subject speak more broadly, both to our perceptions and to other’s experiences, and to the processes of contemporary music composition and fine art contexts. The choice of title, and the expressly infinite duration, speaks to the experience of the audience, but also to the nature of the work. It’s not asking for more than your time. The process behind the composition and the playback system involves an Ebow sat on a baritone guitar (sat horizontally on a keyboard stand) playing a low F note. The guitar is plugged into a Motu audio interface and routed via Ableton Live to the amp in the room. The guitar volume is being automated by a slow LFO cycle to only travel to the amp occasionally and gradually.  The guitar is also routed to the audio in on the Moog Mother-32 and the Mutable Instruments Warps.
The Mother-32, the Warps internal oscillator, and Make Noise STO oscillator are each being sent note values that Ableton is triggering at different times, each with a different temporal interval. The pitch trigger is randomised, and then that random pitch is scaled to fit the chose melodic structure (F, G, Ab, Bb, B, Eb E). then each note is sent to a Midi to CV convertor and to the appropriate oscillator. Various triggers and processes occur between the different synths and the guitar drone, from low pass filtering, ring modulation, rectification, frequency modulation. As each sound swells and morphs and grows and shrinks in the modular realm, Ableton is very slowly moving the different outputs around the space, between the two speakers and the amplifier.
The final sound is generated by the make Noise Morphagene, a module I only acquired the day before install (although I was familiar with its predecessor, the Phonogene, and had watched enough instructional videos to know what I needed it for). That sound is part of a piece I composed on piano in response to the melody of Lilja, and recorded in the little blue church in Seydisfjordur on their Steinway. Playing that recording into the Morphagene and cutting it into splices, moving the splices around with control voltages generated by the rest of organic sound system, and changing the speed and direction of the playback etc gives the piece it's more musical and micro rhythmic qualities. This work is my first step in a long generative ambient composition, and although it may have a few unrelated themes and elements I am yet to resolve, I can sit it within a field of practice. I think it sits nicely in the realms of minimalist discourse, the spatialised drones of LaMonte Young and the phase shifting patterns and gradual process relates to Steve Reich’s early works, and the ongoing micro/macro fluctuations of Philip Glass. The generative and infinite nature sits in context with Eno’s own systems musics and generative process musics, and also fits the ambient description by being “as ignorable as it is interesting”. Aesthetically, I have also tried to keep the influence of the Icelandic musical land/soundscape in the work, as this ongoing project will tie up the loose ends of work I began during my residency in Seydisfjordur. For now, enjoy the sounds, as the project develops I will happily share more.

[nullshop]

Botble v3.3 – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog Nulled Download

Botble v3.3 – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog Nulled Download

Botble v3.3 – Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog Nulled Download

  Coding Standard: All code follow coding standards PSR-2 and best practices Validated by Codeship, Fully Responsive: Compatible with all screen resolutions, Powerful Permission System: Manage user, team, role by permissions. Easy to manage user by permissions.

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Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Botble 3.3 Nulled Laravel CMS, CRUD generator, Modular & Theme system, Role permissions, Multilingual blog

Coding Standard: All code pursue coding measures PSR-2 and prescribed procedures Validated by Codeship, Fully Responsive: Compatible with all screen goals, Powerful Permission System: Manage client, group, job by consents. Simple to oversee client by authorizations.

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[barbosaasouza]

Shacknews PC Build Guide: February 2018 - Money Hats

It’s true. There have been much better times to build a gaming PC than February 2018. Between GPU market instability caused by a cryptocurrency mining craze dating back almost a year or the insane markups on DDR4 memory, the incredible value proposition provided by building your own gaming PC has officially flown out the window, falling 40 stories and becoming a greasy splat on the sidewalk. Even if you have unlimited funds on hand, simply buying the video card you want has become a challenge. This is the Dark Souls of months to buy parts for a gaming PC.

If you love a challenge, are a glutton for punishment, or simply need to buy things online to temporarily fill the hole in your life, you've come to the right place. This guide will lead you down a very expensive path, but you can take solace in the fact that PC gamers on the cutting edge had it even worse in the ‘90s. While it will hurt spending $250 on 16GB of DDR4 RAM, the 1996 version of you would have only gotten 8MB of SDRAM. Even better, you likely won’t even need to spring for a CD-ROM drive for this new build!

Without wasting any more time, let’s get on to business. While our themed build from last August featured a budget rig that used an array of white components, I felt that some new parts arrived on the market in the time since that warranted a return to alabaster glory. With the northern hemisphere still in the thick of winter, I thought it would be apt to label February’s build “Ice”.

February 2018 High-End Build "Ice"

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Taichi ATX LGA1151 Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB DDR4-3200 CL14 Storage: 2x Crucial - MX300 1.1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Elite White Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 White TG ATX Mid Tower Case Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNova G3 750W ATX 80+ Gold Case Fans: 2x Noctua - NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap Monitor: Acer - XB321HK 32-inch 4K IPS Monitor w/G-Sync Headset: Sennheiser - GAME ONE White Headset Soundcard: Sennheiser - GSX 1000 Gaming Audio Amplifier Mouse: Razer - DeathAdder Elite Destiny 2 Edition Keyboard: Razer - BlackWidow X Chroma Mercury Edition  Mouse Mat: Razer - Invicta Mercury Edition Controller: Microsoft -  White Xbox One S Wireless Controller Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home 64-bit

PcPartPicker Build List

Estimate Total Price of Build:

A Closer Look at the Components

CPU/Motherboard/Memory

At the heart of “Ice” lies Intel’s newest Core i7-series CPU, the 8700K. Unlike previous generation Core i7 desktop CPUs, the 8700K add an additional two cores and packs a total of 12 available threads with the use of hyper-threading. It manages to do this while still managing to carry the industry’s top single-threaded speed, which is huge for games or applications that cannot leverage the full allotment of cores and threads available.

Any CPU must be paired with the right motherboard to get the best performance. The Asrock Z370 Taichi has the looks and brains needed for this operation. Sporting Intel’s latest Z370 chipset, multiple m.2 sockets, and a rock-solid power delivery system, the Taichi has everything you need to connect all the latest components at the fastest speeds. Overclocking the 8700K is also a breeze thanks to the powerful BIOS and incredibly stout VRMs on the board.

The G.Skill Trident Z memory kit is incredibly pricey right now (just like all DD4), but offers killer looks and will provide stability, even when paired with an overclocked CPU. The CL14 variant of this kit uses the coveted Samsung b-die memory chips, famous for their compatibility and stability.

Storage/GPU/PSU

While “Ice” was assembled under the premise that money was a secondary concern, throwing away money on incredibly expensive NVME SSDs offers no benefit for games or everyday workloads. Most PC gamers will get more use out of the extra storage space provided by going with a conventional SATA SSD. The Crucial 1TB MX300 m.2 SSDs are small and easily slide into the m.2 slots on the Asrock Taichi, requiring now power or SATA leads, leaving an incredibly clean looking installation. Additionally, the 4TB Caviar Black platter drive provides even more storage for games, media, or documents. For players who like recording their gameplay, the extra capacity will be very handy.

Selecting a GPU for this build was easy and hard at the same time. Finding anything in the performance category that would be regularly in stock borders on impossible. Because all GTX 1080 Ti cards are so scarce, I went with the model that matches the visual theme and offers top-tier thermals and acoustics. The EVGA FTW3 packs the triple-fan ICX cooler and the sweet-looking shroud is painted white. The Fractal Design R6 TG case in this build supports the new Fractal Design GPU riser kit, allowing your GPU’s fan shroud to be the center of attention, rather than the top of the card.

Spending this kind of cash on a gaming build without giving it clean power would be foolish. The EVGA G3 series has not been around for long, but already carries a legendary reputation for power delivery and performance. This particular model was one of the best units to ever come through the JohnnyGuru test labs, earning a 9.8 out of a possible 10 score. The unit is fully modular and compact in size, making it the perfect option for virtually any build.

Case/Monitor/Fans

The initial inspiration for this build came from the announcement of Fractal Design’s new Define R6 line of PC cases. The Define R series has a legendary reputation in the business and the R6 brings that pedigree into 2018 with an updated design ready to compete with the competition. The interior has seen a complete redesign from the R5 to accommodate the newest hardware trends and to make the process of building your PC enjoyable. Support for virtually any air or water cooler is provided, along with a PSU shroud to make cable management easy and great looking. The R6 is not a compact case by any measure. It is designed to hold all of your stuff and keep it cool and quiet with a load of fan mounts and sound damping material affix to interior surfaces. I selected the white tempered glass model for its looks and ability to show off the matched components. The R6 TG cases will be on the market March 7, 2018.

From the start, I had the idea of pairing this build with an ultrawide monitor, but ended up opting to go with a 4K G-Sync option. The Acer XB321HK is a 32-inch G-Sync enabled IPS monitor with 4 USB 3.0 ports and a fully-adjustable stand. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect cosmetic match with the other components, but a monitor in this performance category with white accents or a solid white paint job don’t exist. Thankfully, you’ll spend 99.5% of your time drooling at the crispness of the color-accurate panel. The buttery smooth G-Sync refresh means that the occasional frame drops from the GTX 1080 Ti at 4K go unnoticed. By the end of this year, a new wave of 144Hz ultrawide, HDR, and any other buzzword-capable monitors will be hitting the market. Any one of these upcoming models could warrant this choice obsolete, but you gotta pick something, right?

Headset/Soundcard/Input Devices

The Sennheiser GAME ONE headset is available with a white paint job, but also happens to be one of the highest quality gaming headset you can buy at any price. An open-backed design, the GAME ONE allows for a much wider soundstage than your typical closed-back headsets. The open design also lets you hear if someone calls for you and lets you hear your own voice clearly when using voice chat. Because the drivers are shared with Sennheiser’s audiophile headphone designs, you get amazing music quality in addition to top-tier gaming performance. The soft velour ear pads make the GAME ONE easy to wear for hours with no need to worry about your ears getting hot and sweaty.

As another added bonus, the GAME ONE headset can benefit from being hooked up to a dedicated headphone amplifier, just like the audiophile Sennheiser headphones. This brings us to the Sennheiser GSP 1000 gaming headphone amp. The unit provides substantially more juice than your will get with typical onboard sound chips, allow your headset to sound amazing, even at very low volume levels. For music lovers, the extra power improves instrument separation and can offer a little extra oomph to the lower frequencies. The GSP 1000 also offers a high-quality USB DAC (digital to analog converter) to feed the amp with the cleanest possible signal. It has output for your headset and for a set of desktop speakers/monitors if you have a set of those. The included mic preamp lets you be heard loud and clear. The unit offers an easy to use volume dial and quick toggles for muting or adjusting voice chat levels independently of the game your playing.

The Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Mercury Edition keyboard gives you all the benefits of mechanical keyboards with a striking metallic and white presentation. Also included are fully programmable RGB backlights to help you see in the dark or set the mood. The Razer Invicta Mouse Mat has a sturdy aluminum base and a two-sided pad to let you choose between a slick or textured mousing surface. It doesn’t hurt that it looks great and fits the theme of the build. Paired with these is the Razer Destiny 2 Edition DeathAdder gaming mouse. Completing the Razer desk trifecta, this white and black version of the world’s most popular gaming mouse is the perfect compliment to the visual theme. Even if you don’t care about Destiny, the mouse performs like a champ and looks the part.

The Xbox One S controller needs no introduction. It is a revised version of the initial Xbox One controller design, bringing over some of the best features from the $150 Xbox One Elite pad. For PC users, the controller is plug and play with the included USB cable and can also be used wirelessly with the official Wireless USB dongle or via Bluetooth, if your PC has a compatible receiver (the Asrock Taichi motherboard features an Intel Bluetooth receiver built-in). The controller comes in a wide range of colors (and can be ordered with a custom paint job through Microsoft Design Lab), but I chose the plain white model for “Ice”.

When combined, these parts work together to become a gaming beast. As of right now, this is the pinnacle of PC gaming performance. Things will surely change as the year moves on. In less than two months, AMD is expected to unveil the follow up to their incredibly successful Ryzen CPU and motherboard line. There are rumblings that NVIDIA has plans to introduce the follow up to it's legendary Pascal line (GTX 1XXX) of consumer GPUs. These new cards will be based on the Volta architecture. We are in interesting times. Hopefully, market instability caused by the cryptocurrency boom and DDR4 demand will bring a return to sensible component pricing. in the meantime, continue to check back in with Shacknews for updates on these new products and more build guides and articles in the coming weeks.

For those interested in our previous builds, check out the links below:

White Lightning Budget Build (August 2017) Destiny 2 Gaming PC Build (September 2017) ITX Build For Mom (October 2017)

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