Content and news by Rob Williams

Months after NVIDIA’s previous Linux display driver release, they have finally delivered version 1.0-8774 to the public. Of the changes in this latest driver include X.Org v7.1 support, XVideo with the Composite X extension when using X.Org v7.1, and improved interaction with newer kernels.

It’s about time! While NVIDIA is known for having ‘better’ Linux drivers, ATI beat them to the punch with X 7.1 support. At least the wait is finally over.

Cases & Enclosures
• Akasa Zen – Xtreme Computing
• Enermax Glory External HD Enclosure – GideonTech
• Fantec external SATA LD-H35SU1 and LD-H35SU2- Technic3D
• Scythe Kama Bay – Computing on Demand

Memory & Storage
• Kingston HyperX KHX6400D2LLK2/2G – PC Modding Malaysia
• Patriot PDC2G PC-4000 ELK 2GB Dual Channel Kit – Viper Lair

Motherboards & Processors
• AMD AM2 3500+ Vs. AMD 939 X2 3500+ – Overclockers Club
• Asus P5W DH Deluxe – HotHardware
• Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe – PC Stats

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W – 3D Gameman
• SilverStone Element ST50EF-Plus 500W – Think Computers
• TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030 Keyboard Skins – DragonSteelMods

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI Radeon X1950XTX CrossFire – Legit Reviews
• Powercolor X1650 Pro – Overclock 3D
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX – Beyond3D

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Canon Digital IXUS 65 – BIOS Magazine
• Canon EOS 400D digital SLR – Hexus
• Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N100 SatNav – UK Gamer

The successor to the popular MX1000 mouse is finally here and it promises to improve on old favorites and introduce some new features. Here we have an upgraded scroll wheel capable of plowing through long documents with a simple flick of the finger, an advanced application switcher and a much more comfortable thumb rest.

New York, NY – August 24, 2006 – “Victory is mine” declared 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), as it announced today that Seth MacFarlane, creator and producer of the popular hit television series Family Guy, and the rest of the cartoon’s main cast will expand their involvement with the Family Guy official video game. MacFarlane, alongside Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Alex Borstein, and Adam West are all on board to provide voice over talent in 2K’s upcoming Family Guy video game, scheduled to appear on current generation systems this fall.

I’m a fan of the show, but I can’t see how it will be a successful video game. Only time will tell I guess. At least they have actual voice actors from the show!

I have been testing Microsoft operating systems since Windows 95, and this is the buggiest OS I’ve seen this late in development,” says Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research. “Look at the older operating systems, and by Beta 2 there is a stable foundation on which the [independent software vendors] can build. Right now, Vista is like a ship on stormy seas.

How true this is. I’m trying not to be a pessimist here, but it’s going to be difficult for Microsoft to clean up half the residing bugs prior to launch. Here’s hoping.

By agreeing to pay $65 million for Grouper–a profitless video-sharing company with negligible market share–Sony has helped establish a benchmark for other companies in the space and sent industry insiders speculating wildly about what market leader YouTube may be worth. Sony’s acquisition Wednesday of Grouper, which owns less than 1 percent of the online video market, begs a rather obvious question about its far larger rival YouTube, which owns 43 percent market share: If a company were to buy YouTube tomorrow, what would it have to pay?

Wow, $65M for a site that owns 1% of the marketshare?

Sunnyvale, CA—August 21, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced their exciting new SD™ “Dual” series. Eager to take their premium Secure Digital™ memory to the next level, OCZ’s unique SD Dual cards introduce the ultimate convenience of an SD card and USB adaptor in one unit. Unlike conventional SD memory, OCZ SD Dual converts into a high-speed USB 2.0 connector eliminating the need for an independent card reader to transfer or view pictures or data on any PC.

You can read the full press release here.

Mississauga, ON, August 24, 2006 – Nikon Canada Inc., today announced the addition of six new COOLPIX models to its line-up of affordably priced point-and-shoot digital cameras with advanced features. Four new compact digital cameras join the “S” series, and two are added to the “L” series.

You can read the full press release here.

Cases & Enclosures
• Tt Kandalf Liquid Cooling Case – Overclocker Cafe
• nMedia HTPC 280BAV – Overclockers Online

Cooling
• OCZ Tempest – Neoseeker
• Zalman VF900-Cu GPU Cooler – Overclockers Club

Memory & Storage
• Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 SLI-Ready 2GB Kit – XYZ Computing

Motherboards & Processors
• Albatron KM51PV-AM2 Geforce 6150 – PC Stats
• Three Core 2 motherboards from Asus – Tech Report

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• CaseBuy LCD EZ Power Supply Tester 3 – Phoronix
• CoolMax CTG-1000 1000W ATX Power Supply – Big Bruin
• Razer Barracuda HP-1 Gaming Headphones – OCIA
• Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard – PC Modding Malaysia
• SilverStone Zeus ST85ZF – PC Modding Malaysia
• SteelPad QcK Heavy Mouse Surface – CyberWizardPit
• SteelPad QcK Heavy Mouse Surface – Overclock 3D
• TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030 Keyboard – DragonSteelMods

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX / CrossFire Evaluation – HardOCP
• HIS 1900XTX 512MB CrossFire – 3D Gameman

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Back to School Essentials 2006 – Digital Trends
• LG Software Innovations’ 1Click DVD Copy Pro – BIOS Magazine

An article in The Globe & Mail discusses the disappointing performance of Snakes on a Plane. Despite extensive Internet hype and unprecedented audience involvement in the movie’s development, it barely slithered into first place with a meager $13.8M weekend box office.

Though the movie has a ridiculous name and plot, I am surprised that it did so ‘poorly’ in the first weekend. They will likely enjoy more profit off DVD sales, by those who want to see the movie but don’t want to admit it.

In an effort to promote the adoption of GNU/Linux desktops, SpreadGNOME.org has launched with the goal of being a resource to help spread the word of GNOME to GNU/Linux desktop users and potential converts. It is meant as a place to share ideas to help promote GNOME in the community, and helping those who wish to get involved with GNOME. This site is completely ad-free and is designed to be a user-driven system.

If you are a fan of GNOME or GNU/Linux in general, jump on over to the website to check things out. If you are in the mood to jot up an article to express your love for GNOME, then get over there because they make it easy to do so.

DesktopLinux.com launched its 2006 Desktop Linux survey on August 21, asking users of Linux desktops to identify what distributions they use, as well as their choice of windowing environment (KDE, GNOME, etc.), web browsers, email clients, and Windows-on-Linux solutions.

If you use Linux and want your distro and favorite apps to dominate the polls, then head on over and answer the five quick questions!

Known geek and comedy singer/songwriter Weird Al Yankovic has released the first song from his new album ‘Straight Outta Lynwood’ for free on his MySpace page. The track is entitled ‘Don’t Download This Song’ and tells of the dangers of illegally downloading music from filesharing sites.

As you would expect, you can go to Weird Als MySpace and download the first single. “Cuz you start out stealing songs, then you’re out robbing liquor stores.” I think that about sums up the song quite nicely. Give it a listen.

With a little help from Paris Hilton, video-sharing site YouTube today announced the launch of two new advertising concepts that take queues from the site’s own user-generated content. “Hey, YouTubers, it’s Paris,” purrs socialite and aspiring pop-singer Paris Hilton in a new video that graces the right sidebar of the online video hub’s front page.

I admit it, I watched the video and it was horrible. However, if this is what it takes to keep YouTube free to the average user then fine by me. What’s humorous about the video however, is how many times the scene ‘switches’.

SEATTLE, Washington – August 21, 2006 — Valve®, creators of the Steam broadband gaming platform, and PopCap Games®, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced an agreement to deliver PopCap’s games via Steam.

Steam is really filling out their inventory with this one. Pop Cap makes plenty of games, and each one of them will have a free trial before you decide to purchase. This is quite similar to how Xbox Live handles their Arcade games. You can read the full press release right here.

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Aug. 22, 2006 – AMD (NYSE: AMD) today officially
opened the Shanghai Research and Development Center (SRDC), a
multi-million dollar research and development facility driving
next-generation AMD processor-powered platform innovation through
increased technology partner and customer collaboration. Initially, the
SRDC’s engineering staff will focus on the development of AMD’s
next-generation mobile platforms, but will also provide an important
role in the validation and testing of AMD’s broad range of current and
future microprocessors.

You can read the entire press release here.

Saratoga, California / Hong Kong – August 22nd, 2006 –Futuremark Corporation, a leading provider of system performance-analysis software and services for PCs, smartphones and other handheld devices, in joint cooperation with Hong Kong based Sapphire Technology Ltd, the world’s leading manufacturer of ATI based video graphics accelerators and mainboards, announced today that Sapphire has become the first board manufacturer to join the 3DMark Benchmark Development Program.

You can read the entire press release here.

FREMONT, Calif. — Aug. 22, 2006 — Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today
unveiled a new game controller with an innovative built-in fan-based
cooling system, designed to keep the hands of gamers cool and dry – even
during intense competition. The Logitech® ChillStream™ controller for PC is
the only new game controller to offer this exclusive, patented technology.

You can read the entire press release here.

Cooling
• Apack ZeroTherm BTF90 Intel Duo Core / AMD AM2 Processor Cooler – TweakNews
• MACS Triumph Deluxe – MadBox PC (Spanish)
• OCZ Technology Tempest CPU Cooler – Big Bruin
• Thermaltake Bigwater 735 Liquid Cooling Kit – Red & Blackness

Memory & Storage
• Mushkin Redline XP 2-8000 DDR2 – Technic3D
• USB 2.0 To SATA/IDE Adapter With One Touch Backup – Think Computers
• Verbatim 4GB Store ‘n’ Go USB HD Disk – GamePyre

Motherboards & Processors
• Asrock AM2V890-VSTA & MSI K9A Platinum – Legit Reviews

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• 700W GameXStream & 620W Enermax Liberty PSUs – HotHardware
• Dark Power Pro 600 Watt PSU – Guru3D
• Tagan Turbojet 1100w Quad SLI PSU – Overclock3D
• Ultra X2 550W PSU – Modders-Inc

Displays & Video Cards
• Acer AL2671W LCD TV – Overclockers Club
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX – Guru3D
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MiB – Hexus
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX – Legit Reviews
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX – techPowerUp!
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX – Tech Report
• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX CrossFire, 256MB X1900 XT, X1650 Pro, and X1300 XT – HotHardware
• Inno3D 7600gs AGP 256MB – Xtreme Computing
• MSI GeForce NX7600GT-VT2D256E – Viper Lair
• Philips 42PF9831D 42-inch Ambilight LCD TV – Digital Trends
• PowerColor X1950 XTX – Technic3D
• XFX GeForce 7900 GT Extreme Edition – techARP

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• “Win a Conroe E6300 and help a good cause” – techPowerUp!

Online vandals, apparently operating from Pakistan, broke into the computer hosting Mitnick’s Web site on Sunday and replaced his front page with one of their own. As a result, four Web addresses belonging to Mitnick, including KevinMitnick.com and MitnickSecurity.com, displayed an explicit message on Mitnick and hacking.

Of all people, you would think Kevin Mitnicks server would be rock solid secure. Apparently not.