NVIDIA Uses Comics to Poke Fun at Intel

As we touched on just the other day, it's not uncommon to see companies using various forms of creative advertising to get their point across. Again, the most common example to fall back on is Apple vs. Microsoft, as the TV spots that continually poke fun at everything Microsoft are memorable, whether you want them to be or not. But, there's also another rivalry that never seems to wane... and that's Intel vs. NVIDIA.

Actually, that should be "NVIDIA vs. Intel", because the majority of the time, it's the green team who's poking fun. In its latest round of creative jabs, NVIDIA has hired an artist to create a few comics for its site, "Intel Insides". Yes, that's the name of an NVIDIA-owned site, believe it or not. And despite the fact that Intel is in the title, NVIDIA states that the site's particular focus is on the "largest, and most commented-upon competitor", but it seems as though we could expect comics featuring companies aside from Intel in the future. AMD, perhaps?

Intel in no way finds any of these remotely funny I'm sure, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the one below. I certainly don't believe the comic to be representative of how things really are, but it's creative nonetheless. You can check out the site for all five comics posted so far.

Steve Jobs Named Fortune's CEO of the Decade

Step back, and take a hard look at the business world. Where CEO's of tech companies are concerned, who first comes to mind? Of course, there are many CEO's out there whom many would consider to be invaluable to the tech industry, but there only seem to be a handful who most people think of first. Could it be Intel's Paul Otellini? NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang? Microsoft's Steve Ballmer? Google's Sergey Brin? It could be those, and more, but I'm willing to bet that the first name to come to mind for most  is none other than Apple's Steve Jobs.

With his buttonless turtleneck shirts and casual dress, Steve looks like a man who loves to keep things simple. That's not far off the mark, as keeping things simple is reflected throughout Apple's entire product-line. But as simple as Steve might be, he's proven himself to be one of the smartest and most forward-thinking businessmen out there. How many CEOs do you know came back from a hiatus to a company on a decline, and managed to turn it around in the fiercest way possible, with unbelievable profit  growth year after year and a turned the company name into a household name?

Very few, and it's for that reason that Fortune magazine named Steve as its "CEO of the decade". It's a fitting title, because even as someone who doesn't much care for Apple's products, you simply can't deny Steve's business saavy, and keen ability to predict what's going to do well, and what won't. There have been many products that Apple's released over the years that were scoffed at upon launch, but ended up growing on people over time. It's as if Steve knew better than the rest of us what we wanted from a product.

Take the iPod, for example. It's a product that's simple in almost every way, yet it's the most popular audio player on the market, bar none. Even people who aren't attuned to technology like the rest of us have to have one, and as bizarre as it might seem given I'm not an Apple fan, I also own one. Although I don't find iTunes to make much sense most of the time, the same applies here. Plus, and perhaps the most important thing, what other CEO do you know that looks as polite as can be, but also has the effect to scare the wits out of his employees when sharing an elevator?

Rather, Jobs is understandably driven by a visceral ardor for Apple, his first love (to which he returned after being spurned -- proof that you can go home again) and the vehicle through which he can be both an arbiter of cool and a force for changing the world. The financial results have been nothing short of astounding -- for Apple and for Jobs. The company was worth about $5 billion in 2000, just before Jobs unleashed Apple's groundbreaking "digital lifestyle" strategy, understood at the time by few critics. Today, at about $170 billion, Apple is slightly more valuable than Google.

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 Close to Final Release

Although it hasn't been that long, it feels like I've been tracking the release of Thunderbird 3 forever. But, it's still in beta. As things are looking now, though, it's not going to be in that state much longer. A near-final version is expected next week, with a final release towards the end of the month. Since I take my e-mail seriously and can't risk it to an unstable client, I haven't given the beta up to this point much of a go, but so far, things are looking quite good, and the final release should be well worth an upgrade from users of 2.0.0.x.

When I took a brief look at the previous beta during the summer, there wasn't much to say. As a whole, TB 3.0 didn't look much different than 2.0, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The latest beta doesn't change much, although the top pane has experienced a minor revamp, and numerous icons have been updated. According to the latest beta page, what's new with the latest beta in particular is improved search and filtering tools, a redesigned toolbar, new mail account setup, improvements for developers and numerous bug fixes.

One of the most noticeable changes is the new mail account setup, which aims to make the process of adding an account as simple as possible. The setup box is just that, simple, with three options. You input your name, e-mail address and also your password, and the setup will do all it can to configure the account without further user intervention. Assuming that the e-mail domain matches the one found in your e-mail address and there's no special configuration, you should be good to go within seconds. If not, it will leave what data it could verify, and allow you to configure the rest.

Another feature I noticed quickly this time around (despite it being in previous betas) is the new tabbed "browsing". It's like tabbed browsing for the Web, but for your e-mail. It's a simple feature, but when you are juggling multiple e-mails, it's useful. Unfortunately, the tabs cannot be used for anything other than e-mails. I'd personally find it very useful to be able to open up a link that someone has sent you in another tab, rather than in your actual Web browser, as it would save time from juggling both the e-mail client and browser. Hopefully, something like this would be added to a future version, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd appreciate such a feature.

If you're a Thunderbird user and want to explore all of what's new in the upcoming version, without actually trying it out, you can check out the page here which explains all (or at least most) that's important for the regular user. Likewise, developers can go here, but chances are if you're a developer, you already have the page bookmarked!

There is a new Mail Account Setup Wizard accessed via File | New | Mail Account. After you enter your account information, Thunderbird attempts to fetch details about how mail at that domain should be configured. (Setup and configuration information has been collected by the Thunderbird team and is stored on http://mozillamessaging.com.) Note that the domain name portion of the email address is the only information sent to Mozilla Messaging's servers and that Thunderbird fully abides by the Mozilla privacy policy.

Congratulations to Brett and Michelle!

It's not too often that I make personal posts here, but I can't think of a better reason to break that mold than this.

Techgage's fearless Senior Editor, Brett Thomas, marries his highschool sweetheart, Michelle Maiorano, this weekend. I've never had the pleasure of meeting Michelle, but judging from what Brett tells me, she's one of the sweetest women around, who genuinely cares about everyone around her. I couldn't  be happier for the soon-to-be married couple, as I know what kind of person Brett is... a true friend, and I'm sure an equally ideal husband.

Brett, huge congrats from your extended family at Techgage, and see? Sometimes nice guys don't finish last ;-)

Please feel free to give your best wishes to Brett and Michelle in the thread below!

World of Warcraft Introduces Paid Collectible Pets

There are many out there who believe that hardware innovation has slowed down, and to some extent, it could have. Processors, graphics cards and more are continually updated with new features and faster performance, but rarely do we see anything truly innovative. On the software side though, particularly gaming, there's a constant stream of quality titles hitting both the PC and the variety of consoles. In fact, if I could gain just an hour each day for one thing, it'd be gaming. Especially around this time of year, there's a true deluge of quality titles.

There's one direction plaguing gaming right now that I admittedly can't stand, and that's micro-transactions. If you have to ask what those are, they're essentially in-game items that require real-life cash to acquire. It seems a bit ironic to me that gamers and developers are up in arms over "gold-sellers" in MMORPG's, but when it comes to companies themselves selling in-game items for real-life cash, no one sees the problem. Personally, I do see a problem, because purchasing an in-game item for my real-world hard-earned money seriously detracts from the experience I should be having.

In some regards, I'm a hypocrite, because there are rare occurrences when micro-transactions don't bother me too much. If a developer is selling the rights to an item that in no way effects the players level of advancement, then I say, "so be it." There's real money to be had with such micro-transactions, and if there's one company that well understands how to extract funds from gamers, it's without a doubt, Blizzard. I don't mean to say that in a misleading or derogatory way, because the level of service and fun Blizzard's games provides are top-rate, so I can't rightfully complain.

But, even Blizzard has decided that micro-transactions are a good way of beefing up the revenue even further, and if a company like this knows it, and proves it with its actions, then you know for certain that this is just the beginning. The company has just unveiled in-game pets that offer little except to supply the player some companionship. Blizzard isn't so clear as to whether or not you have any control over the pet at all, but I'd assume you would be able to make it dance, wave or do whatever else current pets in the game could manage.

There are some obvious downsides and upsides to this kind of service being offered, but Blizzard knows one thing... gamers will be willing to part with their cash for such items. Call it a luxury item, if you will. The first two pets, Pandaren Monk and Lil' K.T., currently sell for $10 a piece, with half of the proceeds until the end of the year being sent to the Make-a-Wish foundation.

Give the gift of diminutive undead companionship with this Blizzard Pet Store exclusive-Lil' K.T., the mini-lich. What Lil' K.T. lacks in size, he more than makes up for in sheer malicious intensity. Watch with misplaced pride as he randomly freezes critters and laughs maniacally at your vanquished PvP foes. Once activated, this World of Warcraft in-game pet key applies to all present and future characters on a single World of Warcraft license.

Novation Releases "Launchpad" - Music Controller for Everyone

Want to create some incredible beats, but don't know the first thing about going about it? Ever download a DJ mixing application, like Ableton Live, FL Studio or Sony ACID Pro, but were lost at the sheer complexity of it all? The Launchpad, by Novation, looks to cater to every group of DJ, from novice up to professional. It can be used to create music, or spice up your live shows. The best part? The price, at $199, and what it includes. If you don't currently own a piece of DJ'ing software, you're covered here.

Compared to some higher-end controllers, the Launchpad is "simple" in that it doesn't include knobs and faders, but it rather sticks to a large 8x8 grid of buttons that can be used for more than one function. These include queueing and loading samples, mixing your music, controlling the volume, panning and more. Mastering the usage of these buttons will undoubtedly take some work, but once you have things down pat, you'll hardly have to touch the PC.

To see all of what this controller is capable of, I recommend checking out the demo video posted by Ableton at YouTube, as it shows off a wide-range of capabilities with the device. Not only can you play tracks or samples with a simple push of one or two buttons, you have full control over laying samples on top of each other, and perhaps the coolest part, you can change the function of the buttons to become virtual sliders, knobs and faders to better achieve the effect you want.

Robust controllers can cost upwards of $400 or more, and don't include software. The Launchpad costs $199, and includes a "Launchpad Edition" of Ableton Live, one of the premier DJ'ing tools out there, regularly used by the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Daft Punk, Darren Price, Gabriel & Dresden, Kaskade, Mogwai and more. It's even been used by non-dance artists on some tracks, such as by Nine Inch Nails and my personal favorite hip-hop artist, Del.

We'll be receiving one of these for evaluation soon, so keep an eye out for a full review in the near-future.

Jointly designed by Ableton and Novation, Launchpad places Ableton Live at your fingertips. Whether you're a DJ, performing musician or studio producer, Launchpad gives you all you need to truly 'play' Live. With a multi-colour 64-button grid and dedicated scene launch buttons, Launchpad is purpose built for triggering and manipulating clips in Live, it also offers a totally new way of controlling Ableton Live's mixer. Launchpad's buttons can be used to sketch out beats with drum racks, and they can be assigned to other functions in Live using Ableton's 'Learn' mode.

Tech Roundup - November 6, 2009

Motherboards & Processors
• AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 125W - EXTREME Overclocking
• AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 125W - HotHardware
• AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 125W - PureOverclock
• ASUS P7P55D Deluxe - Bright Side of News*
• ASUS P7P55D Deluxe - TechSpot

Displays & Video Cards
• ASUS Radeon EAH4890 - XSReviews
• PhysX Performance Tests - Ninjalane
• Sparkle GeForce GTX 260 Plus 1792MB - ThinkComputers

Memory & Storage
• Kingston HyperX 8GB DDR3-1600 - Bjorn3D
• Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD - Motherboards.org
• Verbatim TUFF-CLIP 8GB USB Drive - Bona Fide Reviews

Peripherals & Gadgets
• LiteON iHAS424 Dual-Layer DVD Writer - PCSTATS

Cooling
• Dynatron Genius CPU Cooler - Overclockers Club
• Heatpipe Wick Structures Exposed - FrostyTech
• Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound - Hi Tech Legion

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Kingwin F-35 External SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - Tweaknews
• NZXT Gamma Budget Chassis - OCModShop
• QNAP TS-219P Turbo NAS - TestFreaks
• Sapphire PURE 1250W Power Supply - Bjorn3D

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• ASUS Eee PC 1101HA Seashell 11.6-inch Netbook - TweakTown
• Building A Benchmarking Test Farm With Phoromatic - Phoronix
• Contest: Ultra 850W X4 Power Supply - Bigbruin