Tech News From Around The Web

80GB PlayStation 3 Exists, But Only in South Korea

Remember that rumor about the 80GB PS3? Well, it's becoming pretty solid since Sony of South Korea just announced that they're shipping out an 80GB version for the Korean market. As for Japan, the US and everywhere else? We're just going to have to wait. Damn, first Starcraft II, then this?

I don't consider a 33% boost to the hard drive to be such a big deal, but to each their own. It would make sense to see this spread onto our shores eventually, but even in this day and age, 80GB is small regardless of whether it's in a console or not.

Source: Gizmodo

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Death By Lawyer: 10 Cool Sites We Miss

Unfortunately, people are slowly accepting the fact that some cool things are gone- and they’re not coming back, because someone somewhere needs to make more money. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the things that were taken from us.

Many of you will easily recognize half this list. Napster, SuprNova, Lik-Sang and Grokster to mention just a few. I particularly mis Lik-Sang, that site was great.

Source: Mashable

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Penguin Car Earns Indy500 Spot

Despite generating over $12K in funds, well short of the $250K goal, the Tux 500 Project was able to secure a spot in the Indy 500 with driver Roberto Moreno piloting the Linux #77 Indy car. He's back in the pack in 31st place (only 5.5 MPH separates 31st place from 1st) but was able to secure it by re-qualifying with an average speed of 220.299 MPH. Will Moreno be able to pilot the penguin-tipped Indy car to victory next week at the 91st Indianapolis 500?

As a Linux user, I am excited to see this actually happen. I have to wonder though, if it can be done with $12K, why was there an original goal of $250K? That is not a small difference! Either way, it's great to see it happen.

Source: Slashdot

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Intel P35 and G33 Chipsets Released

There is no official word from Intel in the form of a press release yet, but it's official: P35 and G33 are now uncovered. "Hard" launch will be closer to Computex however. For a quick primer on what you should expect, you can read our article here. Quick answer: No you don't need to jump on the P35 band wagon right away.

There are countless reviews around the web as you would expect. We will be publishing our performance reports late this week or early next, due to lack of time with the hardware up to this point. Here are a few other great reviews circulating the web:

Over the course of our testing, we saw the new Intel P35 chipset and DDR3 memory combination offer up gains in the 2 - 5% range in various applications. This was largely attributed to the new Intel MCH and its improved access latency characteristics. There were several occasions where the P35 chipset driven Asus P5K3 Deluxe out-paced its 965 counterpart with the same DDR2 memory running in its DIMM slots. - HotHardware

Intel is going to be making a strong push once again into the chipset market with their P35 and G33 chipsets being announced today, though the real product for enthusiasts looking for dual-GPU support on an Intel board are going to want to wait for the X38 chipset later in the year. If you are going to be building a new Core 2 Duo system in the meantime and don't mind the single GPU support and want to adopt the new DDR3-memory standard, then the P35 and G33 options look to be excellent products. - PC Perspective

Our P5K3 Deluxe motherboard overclocked like a dream, more easily than any other Core 2 motherboard we've tested. Any motherboard based on the P35 chipset should work with a 1333MHz front-side bus, too, so there's "free" overclocking headroom built-in if you have a current Core 2 processor designed for 1066MHz front-side bus. If you don't want to pay the premium associated with DDR3, the P35 works with DDR2, too. - Tech Report

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Understanding Compact Camera High-ISO Modes

We believe consumers are being misled by the manufacturers when it comes to the actual performance of most cameras at higher ISO settings and in low light. So we decided to put together a short article on the truth behind those headline high ISO modes.

This is a great article if you are looking to better understand what higher ISO is all about. There are comparisons between high-ISO modes on both SLRs and compacts to help you better choose which is right for you.

Source: DP Review

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So you are a big-wig CEO, but are you thirteen?

The buzz on the expo floor was about Silicon Valley gaming startup Elementeo and its precocious 13-year old founder and chief executive, Anshul Samar. “We inject fun into education,” the fast talking entrepreneur confidently proclaimed, touting his new fantasy role playing board game which he believes will change the way kids learn chemistry.

Yes, a thirteen year old really did say, "we inject fun into education". Kudos to him for being so damn smart. At thirteen, I was addicted to videogames! So not much has changed...

Source: Venture Beat

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Texting Teens Generating OMG Phone Bills

Last month, Washington high school junior Sofia Rubenstein used 6,807 text messages, which, at a rate of 15 cents apiece for most of them, pushed her family's Verizon Wireless bill over $1,100. She and other teens are finding themselves in hot water after their families get blindsided with huge phone bills thanks to hefty a la carte text messaging charges.

Using a cell phone to send that many text messages is almost like buying a computer monitor just to play with it's controls. This girl text messaged over 200 times per day! She must have thumbs of steel.

Source: Slashdot

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phpBB3 Release Candidate 1 Released

We are very pleased to announce the availability of the phpBB3 RC1 package. This is the first release candidate which is meant to become the Gold release if no more bugs or problems arise. Of course there may be more than one release candidate.

phpBB users have a reason to be excited, although I am unsure at this point what all the new features are. Even though this is a release candidate, the RC1 is officially supported, which I assume means the release is very stable. If you like to live on the edge, you might want to give the latest version a go.

Source: Official phpBB Site

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Microsoft Cracking Down On Indian Pirates

India news portals itVARnews and CIOL report about 350 dealers joined in a statewide bandh (that's a general strike) initiated by Surat-based South Gujarat Information Technologists Association (SITA).

This month, six PC dealers in Gujarat received notices from Microsoft for selling pirated copies of Windows. Microsoft demanding a payment of 200,000 Rupee ($4,955) and a fine of 1,600,000 Rupee ($39,638) if the vendor continued to sell pirated copies of the OS.

The argument is made that Microsoft is charging far too much for their OS in India and that it should scale with the rest of the market. Even without knowing the prices over there, it's hard to not believe when we see what Americans are being charged (upwards of $400).

Indian computer shops have stressed that they are not charging for the pirate copies, but simply wish to not sell legal copies because of the price. The only resolve we will see from this is for Microsoft to change their pricing structure in India, or we will see Linux usage skyrocket.

Source: The Register

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Dell to Release Tablet PC in Q3

Clark notes that the device will be one of the lightest Tablets in its class and will feature advances in the touch-screen interface to make it more practical to use. The prototype that Clark showed off in the video features a 12.1" widescreen display running Windows Vista. All of the usual connectivity options are there including Bluetooth and WiFi along with a fingerprint scanner.

Consumers have a direct need for tablet PCs, even outside of a working environment, so adding one to their lineup makes all the sense in the world. Why they took this long to come to that realization is hard to figure out.

Source: Daily Tech

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Cell Phone Blocking Underwear

The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect.

Nothing like starting off a new week with one weird story, right?

Source: Engadget

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Tech Roundup for May 21

Motherboards & Processors
• Abit AB9 Quad GT P965 Crossfire - Virtual-Hideout

Displays & Video Cards
• Dell 30" UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC - i4u
• Intel Q965 Graphics Performance - Phoronix
• nVidia 8600 GTS and 8600 GT - Overclock 3D
• NVIDIA Geforce 8800 Series Overclocking Guide - Madshrimps
• XFX 8800 Ultra XXX - i4u

Memory & Storage
• Kingwing KF-3000-BK 3.5" Internal Hot Swap Rack - Club OC
• OCZ Trifecta 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card - Think Computers
• Seagate Barracuda 750 GB Hard Drive - TheTechLounge
• Super Talent T800UX4GC5 - Bjorn3D

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Ideazon Reaper Optical Gaming Mouse - techPowerUp!
• SteelSeries S&S Mousepad - Hardware Logic
• Thermaltake Toughpower 1000watt Modular PSU - Overclockers Club

Cooling
• 3R-Systems IceAge - Technic 3D
• Cooljag Falcon 92-CU Heatsink - Frosty Tech
• Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU Cooler - Tweak News

Cases, Enclosures & Complete Systems
• NZXT Adamas - techPowerUp!

Competitions, Software & Etcetera
• SMC SMC2870W Wireless Bridge - Phoronix
• Ultra Products ChillTec CPU Cooler Contest - Big Bruin

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