Content and news by Rob Williams

The service, to be called Urge, is due to launch in 2006 and will be integrated into a new version of Microsoft’s Windows Media Player.

Plans call for the service to offer more than 2 million songs for download from major labels and independent ones, as well as original content and MTV Networks programs. MTV Networks is owned by Viacom.

It doesn’t matter to me just how many songs they offer because I rarely find bands I want to download on iTunes or Napster. I hope to see that this new service will impress… they need a far better selection over the other two in order to succeed. Source: News.com

Without tip-toeing around the matter, Linus Torvalds made his preference in the GNOME vs. KDE matter quite clear on the GNOME-usability list: “I personally just encourage people to switch to KDE. This ‘users are idiots, and are confused by functionality’ mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it.

The verbal assassin is back at it again, and speaks his mind. I personally perfer KDE much more than GNOME, but I never found it to be ‘built for idiots’ and I don’t really know how he finds that. Either way, KDE all the way. Read about it here.

Alexa is a service that I love to hate, but this is an interesting concept.

The Alexa Web Search Platform provides public access to the vast web crawl collected by Alexa Internet. Users can search and process billions of documents — even create their own search engines — using Alexa’s search and publication tools. Alexa provides compute and storage resources that allow users to quickly process and store large amounts of web data. Users can view the results of their processes interactively, transfer the results to their home machine, or publish them as a new web service.

Check out the service here. I will have to give this a try because it does look like it has potential.

If you still don’t have a thumb drive, then of course check out our review of the Corsair Voyager that we posted last week. If you want something smaller, then check out Viper Liar today as they are taking a look at the ultra-fast OCZ Rally 2GB drive. If you want even more choice, then Pure Overclock has a great roundup comparing six leading brands.

Both OC Cafe and PC Stats are taking the new AOpen i945Ga motherboard for a test run. What makes this board very unique is that the chipset supports HDTV in 480i up to 1080p! It turns out to be a great board, but has too many quirks at this point in time. If you need advice on what you buy yourself this holiday, or what to buy your geeky friend then you should check out the latest buyers guide at Guru3D.

Cases & Enclosures
• NZXT Lexa Midtower Case – OCIA
• Raidmax Ninja – InsaneTek
• Vantec NexStar GX Enclosure – A1 Electronics

Cooling
• Cooler Master Aquagate Mini R120 CPU Cooler – 3D Xtreme
• Swiftech MC14 BGA Memory Heatsinks – Motherboards.org
• Thermalright SI-97 GPU Cooler Mod Guide Rev. 2.1 – Rojak Pot

Memory & Storage
• Corsair PC4000 2×1024 MB – AMD Zone
• Samsung Spinpoint 250GB PATA – TechTastic
• OCZ Technology EL PC-3200 1GB – Hardware-Review
• OCZ Technology Rally 2GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive – Viper Lair
• USB Pocket Flash Drive Roundup – PureOverclock
• X-Micro Mini DisGo Portable Storage – Legion Hardware

Motherboards & CPU’s
• AOpen i945Ga-PHS – Overclockers Cafe
• AOpen i945Ga-PHS – PC Stats

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Creative EP-630 Headphones – Trusted Reviews
• Enermax SLI/CrossFire Liberty 400W Power Supply – 3D Gameman
• Kensington PocketMouse Optical Wireless Micro – Extreme MHz
• Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro – Everything USB
• Slim Devices v3 Network Media Player – Think Computers
• Steelpad Steel Sound 5H-USB Headset – Geek Extreme
• Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W – NGOHQ
• Thermaltake Purepower 520W Power Station – Techniz

Video Cards & Monitor
• eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT CO 256MB – Phoronix
• Gigabyte GV-RX18L256V-B X1800 XL – PC Stats
• Leadtek 7800 GTX MyVIVO Extreme Video Card – Bjorn 3D
• Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 – Trusted Reviews

Etcetera & Contests
• Antec ATX 12V Power Supply Tester – Legit Reviews
• Olympus SP-500 Digicam – Design Technica
• PC Buyer’s Guide Christmas 2005 – Guru3D
• Video Game Gift Guide – Design Technica

The register reports that Pi group has decoded the file system used in the Xbox 360. They write “Once you get past the protections and down to the raw bits on the disc, its just the standard xboxdvdfs, however the offset and layer breakpoint are different.

It was only a matter of time, but less than 3 weeks after the release of the console is amazing. Before we know it, we’ll be seeing Linux running on it, although there’s still not much point in that. Read the posting at Slashdot.

“Someone had put up for auction on eBay the details of an exploit in Microsoft Excel according to a recent article on Securityfocus. According to the article Microsoft has confirmed that this vulnerability exists, but in the meantime the original listing on eBay has been pulled. ” The now pulled auction, but it does appear that Microsoft has confirmed the vulnerability in an eweek article.

What can’t you buy on eBay, really? Check out the full posting at Slashdot.

Yet another busy Monday! Trusted Reviews are taking a look at a fantastic looking case from A+, who is yet another manufacturer I’ve never heard of. It looks like a well built and feature packed case though. Pro-Clockers is testing the new Corsair 3500LLPro 2GB kit today, which is simply amazing to say the least. The hardest part about deciding whether to pick up this kit depends on whether you can find it in stock anywhere!

Both Design Technica and ASE Ville are taking the G15 keyboard for a test drive. The keyboard doesn’t do too much for me, but it’s gaining in popularity quickly. It may be a good choice if you are a hardcore gamer that loves many function keys. If you are still considering Crossfire, then you will want to check out Tech Report today for their X1800 CF Edition review.

Cases & Enclosures
• A+ XBlade – Trusted Reviews
• Logisys Yin Yang – Hardware-Review
• MGE XGBOX Dragon Elite Aluminum – TweakNews
• SilverStone SG01 Sugo SFF Case – Mod The Box
• ThermalTake Swing – Byte Sector
• Vantec Nexstar3 USB/eSATA Hard Drive Enclosure – Big Bruin

Cooling
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro – Pure Overclock
• EverCool Sharks AMD & Intel Heatsink – A1 Electronics
• Sunbeamtech Tuniq Tower 120 – AMD Board
• Thermalright V-1 Ultra GPU Cooler – OCIA

Memory & Storage
• Corsair TwinX 2048-3500LLPRO – Pro-Clockers
• Corsair 2GB XMS PC4000-PT Dual Channel DDR Kit – OCIA

Motherboards & CPU’s
• ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe Evaluation – Tech Fear

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Akasa AllInOne Multi-Function Panel – Techniz
• Black Knight XLH Gaming Mouse Pad – Extreme MHZ
• Func sUrface1030 Archetype Mouse Pad – Rojak Pot
• Logitech G15 Keyboard – Design Technica
• Logitech G15 Keyboard – ASE Ville
• Logitech MX-510 Optical Mouse – Xtreme Review
• Zalman ZM460-APS 460W Power Supply – Think Computers

Video Cards & Monitor
• ATI’s Radeon X1800 CrossFire Edition – Tech Report
• Powercolor X800 GTO – OC Workbench

Etcetera & Contests
• 3dGameMan Giveaway/Contest 24: Cooler Master Cavalier 1 Case – 3D Gameman
• AC Ryan UV Acryl Panel – Case Mod God
• NiBiTor v2.6 Released.. – MVK Tech
• The Pros and Cons of Broadband Internet Phone Service – Bona Fide Reviews
• What is it About Ubuntu? (Linux) – XYZ Computing
• WickedLasers Starphaser Giveaway! – 3 Days Remaining – MVK Tech

The overall thinness of the V-1 Ultra is designed to minimize intrusion of the cooler into adjacent components. The portion on the front of the card is thinner than most stock coolers, however the addition of the fins and fan on the back of the card may inhibit its use in an SLI configuration.

Check out the full review over at OCIA.

Thermalright’s latest flagship heatsink is a touch-up from the prevoius XP-120 monster. It is now compatible with ALL motherboards
and comes with two extra small heatpipes. The end result? Fantastic.

Head on over to InsaneTek for the full review.

Evercool, great name for a company that makes cooling products huh? Most likely you have heard of them, and there is a chance that you own something of theirs or someone who does. Evercool is sort of known for making interesting looking products. A lot of their products are made to resemble something other than what it actually is intended for, like their Neon Crab memory cooler for instance. Well today I have another of Evercool’s themed products, The VC-F117 Nighthawk Universal VGA Cooler.

Check out the review at Think Computers.

An added feature with the E-Power Tiger is a dedicated fan cable which is
presumably hooked up to a thermistor type of fan speed control, similar to the
main 120mm fan. It might have been nice to sleeve this cable as well, but at
least the connectors are both 4-pin and 3-pin. My only gripe with the cables
is the lack of quick-disconnect Molex plugs. Many power supplies in equal or
lesser price brackets are incorporating quick disconnects, and I find them
invaluable time savers.

Check out the review at Mod The Box.

This Christmas, many will be looking for computer speaker systems as gifts to loved ones. Looking for speakers can be a daunting task because there are just so many to choose from. Most people know names such as Creative, Logitech, and Altec Lansing. How about Edifier? Most wouldn’t know who Edifier was. Edifier is a small company that has a Canadian affiliation. Today I will look at one of Edifier’s new speaker system, the e2100.

Head on over to Modsynergy.

Today, we take a look at a true tried and tested design from a case, but with a new look. The Antec TX1088AMG is from the same family that makes up the older Antec Performance of SOHO cases, but the cosmetically changed facial makeover and a new power supply, the TX may re-enter the market in a whole new light.

Check out the full look at the case over at Pro-Clockers.

Ark Linux, an easy-to-use distribution designed for the novice
alternative OS users, has unveiled its latest major version that is
2005.2. Bundled into the single CD distribution is KDE 3.5, and
OpenOffice 2.0 along with improved ATI 3D hardware support and most
notably the inclusion of Ndiswrapper emulation layer to utilize
unsupported wireless cards under Linux with the use of Windows drivers.
In addition, Ark Linux 2005.2 features a long list of other significant
changes.

You have got to love a distro that comes with SuperTux pre-installed! Check out the full pictorial over at Phoronix.

n ocinside.de is a new roundup with dozens of small Tools and programs
to tune the PC hardware.
Beside important current programs to change the CPU multiplier or FSB there’re also some
selected older Shareware and Freeware Tools, which will help to overclock the PC hardware.
The overview contains direct Downloads or links to the developers, a small description
and the size of the respective software.

Check out the full roundup of these killer tools at OC Inside.

With the ATI R520 core this is clearly a gamer’s card. Performance in the latest games is fantastic; however, this card has more capabilities. It also has a TV/FM tuner, & much more. It’s a complete multimedia weapon & perfectly suited for a HD HTPC setup. No other Video Card on the market can do what this product can. It’s wish list material! Watch the Video to find out more…

Check out the full video review right at 3D Gameman!

Swiftech has come out with a new revision to their H20-APEX
water cooling kit and is named the APEX Ultra with its Apogee waterblock
and new MCRES-Micro reservoir. For today’s review, we are experimenting
with the new H20-220 kit that is designed for high-end usage and had no
problems pushing the CPU past the 4GHz marker.

Check out the full review at Phoronix.

Here is an example using the 12 days of Christmas:

We have close to $1,500USD in prizes to give away. Stop by our forums and register for the contest.

Click here to go straight to their forums!

Buying the right CF card for your digital camera can be difficult, well mostly confusing since there are size, type and speed considerations to wrap your head around first. Size and type are pretty straightforward. Most consumers should buy the largest capacity CompactFlash memory card within their means so they do not have to swap memory cards out constantly. There are two types of CompactFlash memory cards: Type I and Type II. The only difference between them is the height of the card. Type I CF cards are 3.3mm thick while Type II stands 5mm high. Some cameras are not compatible with Type II CF media, so this question comes down to knowing what your camera supports.

Head on over to PC Stats for the round-up!

The Premium USB Headset 350 from Logitech claims in its product name to be a
“all-in-one device suitable for every purpose” (I don’t know the english
word for “eierlegende Wollmilchsau”). But is it? We took a look!

Check out the full review at TweakPC.