Tech News From Around The Web

Bopaboo Offers Place to Sell "Used" Digital Music... Seriously

For as long as music has been sold, so has "used" music. Who hasn't at least once gone into a music store and looked at the hidden gems in their used section? Doesn't have to be music... could be video games, movies, anything. There's a reason flea markets are still so popular. Well, since so many things have gone digital (including all three of those things), the idea of selling them "used" is probably something that not many people have even contemplated.

Until now, maybe. Whether this is a joke or not, it's hard to tell, but online site Bopaboo (currently in a sign-up beta) has that exact idea in mind. Reading their site, you'll see messages like "Bopaboo is your place to buy and sell digital music" and "start legally selling". How exactly you "legally" sell digital music is beyond me, and it seems to be something that's confusing a lot of people. One thing's for sure, if this service ever goes public, the RIAA is sure to be knocking on their door fast.

The problem is twofold. The first problem is honesty. If you sell a track, nothing forces you to delete it from your computer... and this service sure isn't going to have a way to verify that. Such an issue could result in huge piracy. Someone could either sell lots of the same song, or people could share collections and sell that way. This sounds about as shady as AllofMP3, back in the day.

The other problem is of course the music industry. They are going to have something to say about this, regardless of whether or not they can prove it's wrong. It's not illegal to sell a CD you bought at a store, so it's very difficult to prove that digital music is any different. Realistically speaking though, you could easily sell an album and never delete it from your own computer, and that fact is where things will get sticky. This is going to be an interesting to watch. Despite it being an oddball service, I hope it actually does launch, just to see what kind of chaos ensues.

The logic behind it is that it's legal to sell on a CD you've bought - so why can't you do the same with a music file? In case you haven't spotted it yet, the difference is that when you sell a CD, you don't get to keep an identical copy of it for yourself. Which is probably a point that the record labels and their lawyers are making right now.

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OCZ Releases Throttle eSATA-based Thumb Drive

When USB-based thumb drives first came out, they were an object of envy. But, initial prices were rather ridiculous. The first one I ever had was a "freebie" from Dell with the purchase of an overpriced notebook (at the time). At 64MB, I couldn't really do much with it, except store very small files, but hey, it still came in handy at the oddest of times.

Because of the sheer popularity of these things, it's hard for companies to differentiate themselves from the crowd. The top-end speeds were hit a while ago (due to USB 2.0 limitations), and there's only so many different styles before things become a bit boring. Well, OCZ is trying to change things up, and might do so with their eSATA "Throttle" flash drive, which, as you probably guess, utilizes the eSATA port on your desktop or notebook.

Thanks to the connection, Read speeds are clocked at 90MB/s, while Write speeds remain the same as a typical USB thumb drive, at 30MB/s Write. Surely, most people would prefer faster Write speeds, but it sure doesn't seem to be happening with the current flash chips available... at least at this price-range.

What would interest me, though, is booting an OS from this thing. People are already doing that with their USB drives, but with 3x the overall Read speed, theoretically, it should almost be as fast as a mechanical hard drive. This would also depend on whether or not your motherboard could boot from eSATA, but chances are good that it would be able to. Interesting product nonetheless.

The OCZ Throttle eSATA drive offers performance and versatility for enthusiasts that demand the best hardware. The integration of eSATA connectivity now extends beyond desktop systems to laptops, offering increased data transfer rates with extreme portability while eliminating extra cords and power cables.

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Tech Roundup - December 5, 2008

Motherboards & Processors
• Albatron Mini-ITX Evolves KI780G - TweakTown
• Jetway NC92-230-LF Mini-ITX - FusionMods

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI FirePro V8700 Workstation - HotHardware
• HIS HD 4650 iSilence 4 512MB - Bjorn3D
• Palit Revolution R700 Deluxe - VR-Zone

Memory & Storage
• Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Converter - TestFreaks

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Raptor Gaming M3 Platinum, SilverStone Raven and Razer Salmosa - TweakPC

Cooling
• Danamics LM10 - Liquid Metal Put to the Test - Nordic Hardware
• GELID Wing 12 120mm Gamer Fan - Overclockers Online
• Xigmatek Achilles S1284 Towerkühler - ocaholic
• Xthermal BTF120PRO Fan - Hardware Bistro

Chassis & Power Supplies
• AeroCool AeroRacer Pro - Legit Reviews
• be quiet! Dark Power Pro 850w ATX PSU - Overclock3D
• Hiper Type M 780W - techPowerUp
• OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Power Supply - PC Perspective
• Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package - Tech Report

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• All-in-One Printers: Buying Tips - Digital Trends
• Gateway FX6800-01e Gaming PC - Digital Trends

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