Content and news by Rob Williams

Mike Everest, a home-schooled high school senior from Durango, Colo., has put two of his siblings through college by selling virtual goods for real dollars on Entropia. And he’s not the only one involved. His mother also plays the game. Along with his mother, Everest, better-known within the virtual game as Ogulak Da Basher on the planet Calypso, has raked in more than $35,000.

Who can say playing games doesn’t pay off? I mean sure, it would probably be quicker to earn this money by actually working, but where is the fun in that?

Microsoft today issued a record-breaking number of security updates, fixing at least 26 separate security holes in its Windows operating system and other products, including 16 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office and Office components. By my count, this is the largest number of flaws Microsoft has fixed in one go outside of a Service Pack.

So, if you are bored just dying for something to do… load up Windows Update and get to it. Though all of the updates are important, this set is incredibly worthy of grabbing if you use Office. Some of the known exploits are taken care of here, so don’t hesitate.

Swab a clear liquid onto a gaping wound and watch the bleeding stop in seconds. An international team of researchers has accomplished just that in animals, using a solution of protein molecules that self-organise on the nanoscale into a biodegradable gel that stops bleeding. If the material works as well in humans, it could save thousands of lives and make surgery far easier in many cases, surgeons say.

First, I completely disagree with inhumane morons that test on animals. Second, anything that helps stop bleeding like this is amazing. Could prove to be a literal lifesaver.

The estranged husband of a missing mother was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in connection with her disappearance more than a month ago, police said. Hans Thomas Reiser was arrested one day after Oakland police, with the help of the FBI, searched his house a second time for clues in the disappearance of Nina Reiser.

Just to make it clear, he was not arrested on charges of murder but rather for suspicions of being involved. It shouldn’t take too long before a verdict is reached though. It’s hard to believe that he is not guilty, especially since he immediately went into “hiding” as soon as his wife disappeared. Very sad for the family.

Today 2K announced new downloadable content for Xbox 360 and PC versions of its first person shooter Prey. Among the content are 5 new multiplayer characters and 4 new multiplayer maps which are available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace and via the v1.2 PC patch at www.prey.com.

Included is five new multiplayer skins and also four new levels. Simply hop onto the Xbox Live Marketplace to grab the download, or head to the official site for the PC version.

Los Angeles, CA – October 10, 2006 – Naked Sky Entertainment, an independent game studio located in Los Angeles, and Valve announce RoboBlitzT, an Unreal EngineT 3 game, is coming to Steam, the leading online platform for PC games, in the coming weeks. “Steam is an attractive platform for the release of RoboBlitz,” said Tian Mu, CEO of Naked Sky Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to being able to release to Steam’s huge PC audience. Additionally, we have long-term plans to expand RoboBlitz with new content. Through Steam, we have a great avenue for delivering the game and updates directly to over 10 million gamers’ PCs.”

I have never even heard of this game until now, but I took a quick look at the official website and it seems to have potential. Surprisingly, it will not only be made available through Steam, but also the Xbox 360. Presumably through Xbox Live Arcade.

If you are one of the millions of people that didn’t escaped the infectious tunes of “Boten Anna” from popular Swedish musician Basshunter, you might like to know the Icemat Siberia headset is featured in the new musicvideo from said artist: “Vi sitter i Ventrillo och spelar DotA” (English: We are sitting in Ventrilo and playing DotA).

If you want to see the music video, you can hop right on over to IceMat.com. If you are into dancy energetic music, you may just like Basshunter. I’ve had his album for a while now and highly recommend checking it out.

Meridian, Idaho, and Glasgow, UK, 10th October, 2006 – Crucial
Technology today announced the immediate availability of its NVIDIA
SLI™-Ready Ballistix and Ballistix Tracer DDR2 modules. Crucial’s
new SLI-Ready Ballistix modules are designed to heighten system
performance with one single menu selection and ensure PC enthusiasts
enjoy a powerful gaming experience.

You can read the full press release right here.

Cases & Enclosures
• Enermax Phoenix Enclosure – Virtual-Hideout

Cooling
• Cooler Master NotePal P1 Notebook Cooler – Big Bruin
• Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II – Byte Sector
• Vigor Gaming Monsoon II HSF – Heatpipe and Peltier Cooling – TweakTown
• Zalman CNPS9500 LED Heatsink – Gruntville

Motherboards & Processors
• Abit AB9Pro – Neoseeker
• abit AW9D Max – Hexus
• ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X – Motherboards.org
• DFI LANParty UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G – PC Modding Malaysia
• IDF Prague: Terascale Computing – techPowerUp!
• Intel IHS Lapping and Removal For LGA775 CPU’s – Legit Reviews

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• 17 in 1 Retractable USB Tool Kit – DragonSteelMods
• Bluegears b-Enspirer 24-Bit/192KHz 7.1 Sound Card – Bjorn3D
• Enermax Aurora Aluminium Keyboard – UK Gamer
• Ultra X-Finity 500W PSU – OC Modshop
• Zippy 500w & 720w PSU – Guru3D

Displays & Video Cards
• EVGA e-Geforce 7900GS KO Edition – GamePyre
• Gigabyte GeForce 7600GT Silent II – BootDaily
• MSI Geforce NX7900GT-VT2D256EHD – Viper Lair

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• SendStation PocketDock for the Apple iPod – FutureLooks
• Why Wii’s a Winner – Digital Trends

A number of prominent features, including the innovative Places interface and revamped bookmark system have been removed and slated for resurrection in future versions. The postponement of highly anticipated features generated a lot of controversy and led many to challenge the validity of the 2.0 designation. Now that we are on the verge of the official 2.0 release, we can evaluate the changes and determine if the upcoming version lives up to the high standards set by its predecessors.

I just installed RC2 this morning, this being the first 2.0 version I have touched. I am impressed so far, but I’ve only been using it under an hour. Seems a lot smoother though. Ars takes a full look at the latest version in their article here.

With only two major players in the discrete graphics market, there still are lots of cards. From the ATI side we added the Radeon X1300 XT, X1650 Pro, X1900 XT 256 MB and the flagship Radeon X1950XTX. On the other side we added Nvidia’s GeForce 7900GS and 7950GT. For multi-graphics platform performance we added the Radeon X1950 XTX in CrossFire as well as the X1650 Pro, and X1300 XT. From Nvidia we added the GeForce 7900 in SLI.

If you are in the market for a new video card, these charts can prove really indispensable in making your decision.

Sony has announced that Click, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Black Hawk Down will be the first Sony films released on 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray disc. Although Blu-ray discs have been available on the market for several months now, these are 50GB dual-layer discs as opposed to the current discs being only 25GB. Pricing for the Sony films has not been publicly released.

It’s about time! The 50GB base allows for many more special features, all in high-definition. So, it’s really up to those features to decide whether the price will be worth it in the end. Speaking of pricing… it’s currently unknown whether these will cost more than movies that are pressed with 25GB discs, but it would not really be a surprise if they were.

Windows XP Starter Edition is now being used in over 1 million homes worldwide. The program launched just over two years ago with a pilot of only five countries with the goal of putting PCs in the homes of low-income families in order to increase computer literacy in developing cultures. Now, Windows XP Starter Edition is being sold across 139 countries in 25 different localized language versions.

I am not sure whether I should clap, or be depressed that 1,000,000 poor souls have to suffer with such a crap version of XP. Either way you look at it, it sure didn’t take too long to reach this milestone.

RANCE6, the current World #1 for Achievement Points, is selling off all his hard work to the highest bidder by auctioning his Xbox 360 hard drive, Live Account, and all the game saves on Ebay. RANCE6 is 29 and lives in Italy where he owns a video game store. He purchased the Xbox 360 at launch, but mostly was interested in playing Japanese titles. Since the Xbox360’s Japanese title offerings were pretty weak at launch, only Ridge Racer interested him. It wasn’t long though before he discovered Achievement Points and the addiction soon took hold.

For this to be accomplished, RANCE6 played the Xbox 360 for more than EIGHTY FREAKING HOURS a week. At the time this article was published, the eBay auction was at around $6,000 dollars. There’s a true hardcore gamer…

Google, the Internet’s leading search engine, announced Monday that it is buying popular online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. YouTube, which was founded in February 2005, has quickly become the most well-known of several online video sites. More than 100 million videos, many of which are short videos created by the site’s users, are downloaded a day on the site.

Sooner or later, we knew that someone would buy up YouTube. Google has the financial backing, and since it owns the search market, I am sure they have some creative integration in the works. That’s one massive pricetag though… their most expensive buy to date.

This release contains a lot of under-the-hood bug fixes, patches, and version upgrades. I wish I could say it seemed to be working better, but it seems a lot of the problems encountered with alpha 4 were still present and some new ones introduced with alpha 5. Not to fear though as it’s still early in the development process.

To me, SuSE is unlike a fine wine, because it gets worse with age. Each new release seems to bring on a new slew of bugs. I still have respect for it as I used it heavily a few years ago, but I would love to see a much smoother OS overall. You can read the thoughts on the latest release from our friends at TuxMachines.

Sunnyvale, CA—October 9, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and components, today announced the new EvoStream Power Supply. The exciting addition to the prominent OCZ PSU family will be introduced in a 600W configuration and features an advanced 100% modular cable management system and polished, titanium mirrored case that is reminiscent of the award-winning ModStream line.

You can read the full press release here.

Cases & Enclosures
• Icy Dock MB453SPF Mobile Station – Pro-Clockers
• Thermaltake Armor – ByteSector
• Thermaltake Mozart TX – Bjorn3D
• Ultra Aluminus – Futurelooks

Cooling
• OCZ Cooling Update: V-12 HSF and Cryo-Z – Legit Reviews
• OCZ Tempest – ByteSector
• Sytrin KuFormula SFFD120 – Phoronix

Memory & Storage
• Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 – 3D Gameman
• OCZ Roadster USB2 Flash Drive – 3D Gameman
• Smarthumb My.Backup Software – DragonSteelMods

Motherboards & Processors
• Abit AB9 Pro and AW9D MAX – Tech Report
• GIGABYTE 965P-DS3 – Motherboards.org
• ntel P965 Shootout Part 1 – ASUS, MSI and Foxconn – TweakTown

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Bigfoot Networks Killer NIC – HotHardware
• Cyber Snipa Ultimate PC Gamepad 2 – ClubOC
• OCZ EvoStream 600w – OCIA
• OCZ EvoStream 600w – Pro-Clockers
• Vidabox HTPC Wireless Keyboard – HardOCP
• Vizo UFO 4 Port USB Hub – Think Computers

Displays & Video Cards
• ASUS EAX1600 XT Silent – HardOCP
• eVGA 7600GT – OC Modshop
• EVGA 7900GS – Technic3D
• Monitor Calibration Guide – MadBox PC (Spanish)
• Nvidia GeForce 7600GS SLI Performance – Tech Spot

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Logitech Harmony 1000 Remote – Digital Trends
• Protecting Yourself From Phishing – DV Hardware
• Running Folding@Home on ATI Graphics Cards – Legit Reviews
• Xbox 360 Buyer’s Guide – Think Gaming

Canadian artists have seen their sales increase since 2001. Sales of Canadian albums have increased from 6.8 million units in 2001 to 8.5 million in 2004, an increase of 25.3%. In contrast, foreign artists have seen their sales fall 20.2% over the same period. The result is a remarkable increase in Canadian artists’ share of sales in Canada from 16% in 2001 to 25% in 2004.

Are Canucks just that more honest? Seriously though, this is quite a huge climb. Apparently Canada is doing something right that the RIAA just wouldn’t understand apparently. No surprise though.

The iPod has dominated the MP3 player (and portable video player) market so far. It began the ultimate revolution in how we listen to our music. Competitors have come and gone, while the iPod stood strong, but really, will the iPod ever die? Well there are a few points that say NO and some that say YES.

I say yes. Read this article to see many thoughts thrown around, then come up with your own guess.