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Nine SSD Drives In RAID 0 Benchmarked
This article comes as a coincidence… I was just contemplating what RAID0 would be like with SSD drives a few days ago, and here comes along an article that goes above and beyond the line of duty. The folks at Next Level Hardware didn’t do the bare minimum and do RAID0 with two drives. No, they went all out and stacked together nine 16GB MTRON SSD drives together in RAID0 to see what kind of performance could be had.
How does a burst speed of 1,174MB/s and a 4GB file in four seconds sound?
The sad thing is that nine of these 16GB drives comes a bit short of an already small WD Raptor 150 which they used for testing, but the speed is simply incredible. Did I mention that nine of these drives will cost around $7,000? Yeah… I think I will wait for the prices to go down as well. This is a recommended read, though. Very in-depth and drool-worthy.
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Today we are going to be comparing and scaling the Mtron 16GB Pro under Raid 0 on a pure hardware raid controller. During the entire review we will have an assortment of different drive types and controllers at our disposal, and we will come across bandwidth limitations that we never knew existed until today. I must say, this drive setup has definitely made my PC end-user experience incredible. One word currently popping into my head to describe it is: Ludicrous!
Source: Next Level Hardware
PlaysForSure Becomes “Certified For Windows Vista”
PlaysForSure was first introduced by Microsoft way back in 2004 as a certification to let you know that the product you are purchasing has gone through stringent compatibility testing. Oh, and that it supports DRM. But that aside, PlaysForSure was a good way of knowing whether or not the device you were purchasing was designed to work seamlessly with Windows. Although there have been a fair amount of problems since it’s inception, it got the job done for the most part.
In an effort to continue making little sense, Microsoft is ridding the PlaysForSure moniker and is upgrading it to “Certified For Windows Vista”, a certification that already exists. Essentially, this makes absolutely no difference to anyone, but I guess they are looking to keep things congruent throughout their product line-up. Can’t argue with that, I guess. RIP PlaysForSure.
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Same Compatibility Promise – Different Name. The PlaysForSure logo is getting a new look. All the testing requirements for devices are the same, but instead of looking for the PlaysForSure logo to ensure compatility, look for the Certified for Windows Vista logo.
Source: Microsoft’s PlaysForSure
Retailer Compares Monster HDMI to Composite
As disturbing as it is, it’s nothing new to see retailers use deceiving methods to push their customers into a purchase they might not otherwise make. Some even go as far as having a separate in-store website with higher prices, but we won’t get into that here.
This latest finding, though not surprising, is absolutely disgusting. Two TVs are side-by-side, and are used to show the difference between a Monster HDMI cable and a regular one. There’s just one problem. The other TV is not even using an HDMI cable. Instead, it’s using old-school composite connectors – the same ones that your old Nintendo 64 or Sega Dreamcast would use.
The depressing thing is that so many people fall victim to these lies.
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Why was the competitor inferior? Because the big box sales folks connected composite cables to one TV and a Monster Cable HDMI cable to another. They then ran the same signal to both TVs over different resolution cables. It would be like adding racing stripes to a Formula 1 car and racing a Ford Focus, saying that the racing stripes improved the speed. This is so egregious that it makes me wonder how they’re getting away with it but, as we all know, suckers gestate in sixty second intervals.
Source: Crunch Gear
Did AMD Pay Too Much for ATI?
AMD did themselves no favors when they shelled out a staggering $5.6 billion for ATI last year, considering they were already dealing with financial woes. It took a while for things to shape up, but ATI is beginning to look like a wise purchase. But was $5.6 billion too much? Apparently AMD believes it was, which they acknowledged yesterday.
Part of the reason for the high price was that $3.2 billion of it was allocation for goodwill – three times the value of the product technology that ATI had at the time. Well, there is not much AMD can do about the money now, except to constantly improve products and slowly earn it back. All AMD can hope for is that ATI’s next-gen product will be enough to take the crown from NVIDIA.
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AMD’s final purchase price for ATI included a $3.2 billion allocation for goodwill, nearly three times the value of product technology that ATI had already developed and was working on in its laboratories, according to AMD’s regulatory filings. AMD bought ATI to bolster the graphics capabilities of its chips and add valuable “chipset” technologies to its product lineup. Chipsets are responsible for sending data from the microprocessor to the rest of the computer.
Source: Yahoo! News
eBay Ordered to Pay $30 Million for Patent Breach
When eBay was first brought to court due to a patent breach that revolves around the “Buy It Now” feature, I didn’t think it was going to go anywhere. As it turns out, I was wrong. A Federal Court judge has ordered the massive online auction site to pay $30 million to MercExchange. It’s a good thing eBay continues to gouge their customers with rate hikes – now they have enough money to cover this.
How something this foolish can be patented to begin with is beyond me. You create an auction site… and allow someone to purchase the item by bypassing the normal auction rules. Can I be sued just for explaining the process?
I’ve become less and less of a fan of eBay over the years thanks to their constant disregard to customer service and price hikes, so I can’t say that I feel bad for them. Oddly, though, eBay can continue using this feature just fine. Whether or not there will be future royalties that need to be paid, it doesn’t say.
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The case started back in 2001, and in 2003 a jury found in favor of MercExchange. According to the Wall Street Journal, the case triggered a review by the U.S. Supreme Court over whether injunctions or damage awards are sufficient remedies in patent cases, with a ruling in 2006 that “all but required injunctions in patent cases.” eBay convinced the court in September that damages alone would suffice in this case given the ruling, leading to the $30 million today.
Source: Tech Crunch
Why Do Apple Customers Care So Much?
To start a torrent of hate, all that’s needed is one part news posting and one part Apple. “Apple Zealots” are a unique breed. They don’t just use a Mac, they live the Apple lifestyle. They are very passionate about the company and products they support, but as News.com blogger Tom Krazit points out, a few people can go overboard.
Though I don’t own an Apple product, I can step into others shoes and see the roots of the obsession. For one thing, it’s not Windows. Another, when you buy a Mac, you are joining a massive community of fellow Apple fans who share the same passion. Sure, not all of what Apple does proves to be a winner (Apple TV) and not everything they release is problem free (latest iPod launch), but no company is going to be immune from all of that.
The interesting thing is that you don’t see this kind of passion with Microsoft or Linux. I’ve been a full-time Linux user for close to two years now, and even I don’t have any sort of “passion” for the OS. I don’t recall having a passion for a Microsoft product either. Ever. It’s the Apple-fans passion that continually pokes me to go make a purchase. Maybe next year…
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“Like anything people are passionate about–sports, politics, religion–there are going to be some people who are goofy about it and don’t have that thing in their brain that tells them they’ve stepped over the edge from ‘fan’ to ‘fanatic’,” said John Moltz, the editor of Crazy Apple Rumors Site and perhaps the best source of comic relief in the Apple universe.
Source: One More Thing Blog
Windows XP SP3 RC1 Available for Download
We are all well aware that Windows Vista has a service pack right around the corner, but so does Windows XP. Although Service Pack 3 has been in beta testing for a while, the RC1 has been released today… albeit unofficially. RCs normally denote a final product, but one that’s still in the final testing stages before a commit to final launch. This RC1 is likely to be no different from the final release.
Because this is still considered pre-release software, no official release notes have been made. However, a page is sitting around, waiting to be updated when the time is right. What SP3 brings to the table is beyond me, but I believe it’s more of a bug-fixer than anything, so there is no need to run out and install it unless you want to stay cutting-edge. I upgraded to SP3 without a single issue, but I can’t guarantee all experiences will be the same.
Microsoft hasn’t announced a final release date for SP3, but a January/February might be possible. It all depends now on whether or not any showstopping bugs arise, or whether or not the documentation preparation is lagging. There is also an Office 2007 SP1 released as well, both of which BetaNews is hosting for your perusal.
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Early beta testing of XP SP3 revealed new security hardening features were put in place, and at least one group of researchers claims Windows Vista SP1 lags behind XP SP3 in tests involving Microsoft Office workloads. Those tests may not have been deployed using O2K7 SP1. Today’s XP service pack download is a release candidate — past the beta stage, but not yet ready to be declared a formal release for production systems.
Source: BetaNews
Eight 1000W Power Supplies Tested
I am a firm believer that 1000W is overkill for 99.9% of computer enthusiasts, but it’s hard to resist such a powerful beast when building a new machine. Because of this, demand is high and the choices tough. To make the decision a wee bit easier, Christoph Katzer
has taken eight 1000W power supplies and pit them against each other to see which one deserves to be thrown in your rig.
On the chopping block is Thermaltake’s Toughpower, Antec’s TruePower Quattro, Akasa’s Powermax and others. Although all of the supplies performed well, OCZ’s ProXStream 1000W came out on top, but the trade-off is sound levels. It’s not a quiet supply. That said… I am still pleased with my 600W.
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The Akasa PowerMax showed good results today and has very long cables. It is unfortunately not available in many shops at present, but the company is working to address that. In Europe, you can get it for 198 EUR at komplett.de. Performance-wise, the OCZ ProXStream stands out today with stable DC outputs, low ripple, and high efficiency, but also with high noise levels. If you’re not ultra concerned with noise levels, the ProXStream is a great deal at $230-250. It also has a very small form factor which will let it fit into every standard ATX case.
Source: AnandTech
Join “Windows Feedback Group” and Get Vista Free
Yeah. So I am not a fan of Vista, and yeah, I never get bored of using my “Killer of Dreams” image, but that’s not what’s important here. What’s important is that if you are, for some unexplainable reason, wanting to own a copy of Windows Vista (I just threw up a little), then Microsoft has got you covered. Of course there is a catch, but it’s arguably small.
The process works like this. You register to join the Windows Feedback Group, offer up the willingness to allow Microsoft to evaluate your usage and also partake in the occasional survey, and then download the software to burn and install. It’s simple. You can read about the facts here before deciding, to see if it’s right for you. Which it isn’t. Probably.
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By participating in the program, you can help us focus our work on the features that you use most often, tell us where to simplify our software when it is too difficult, and suggest new capabilities that improve your experience. The program includes two parts: a survey feedback program and an automated feedback program.
Source: Windows Feedback Program – Via: Slashdot
SPEC Releases Server Power Efficiency Benchmark
Back in September, we learned that SPEC was in the process of creating a new benchmark with the specific purpose of evaluating power consumption and efficiency in servers. It seems the folks at SPEC worked overtime, because they’ve just announced a final product, ahead of an “early 2008” launch.
Not a test for the end-user, SPEC’s “SPECpower_ssj2008” test requires two computers, with the one not used for testing used to record all of the data, including temperatures and power consumption. Aside from the benchmark and computers, a power analyzer and temperature sensor is required.
As with most SPEC products, this one is likely to become a standard test in the server market. A benchmark like this is important because it puts at rest all of the false claims from anyone who produces servers or server CPUs, with cold-hard facts. We just hope it catches on quick.
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WARRENTON, Va., December 11, 2007 – The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) has released SPECpower_ssj2008, the first industry-standard benchmark that measures power consumption in relation to performance for server-class computers. SPEC has designed SPECpower_ssj2008 to be used as both a benchmark to compare power and performance among different servers and as a toolset to improve server efficiency.
Source: SPEC Press Release
Greatest Linux Innovations Of 2007
Although KDE 4.0 will not be released until January, the Linux desktop has many other reasons to finish 2007 on a high note. Looking back… it was an incredible year. Not a day went by without some notable mention of a Linux-related product in the news. To add to that, usage continues to rise as more and more are looking for an alternative to Windows – whether it be for the desktop or server.
Our friends at Phoronix have taken a hard look at the past year and compiled their personal top five “Linux Innovations” of 2007. It probably comes as no surprise to know that ATI’s renewed support for Linux is listed, in addition to the growing amount of eye-candy that we are seeing with many popular distros. Well worth a read. Bring on 2008!
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A very bold move was made this year by ATI/AMD of not only supporting an official open-source driver, but also releasing their GPU documentation to the public at large — without ANY form of a Non-Disclosure Agreement. To date AMD has released over 900 pages of GPU documentation that consist of register reference guides for the RV630 and M56 GPUs, but they will be releasing more R500/600 documentation in the near future that will begin to foster the growth of RadeonHD 3D support.
Source: Phoronix
KDE 4.0 RC2 Released – Final Release on Jan 11
KDE 4.0 has been on our radars for quite some time now, but the end to our wait is close. Although the final version has been pushed back multiple times, things are now shaping up to make a January 11th launch possible. For those who are in the tweaking mood, or are simply dying to see what’s new to 4.0, the second release candidate has just been pushed out.
With this latest press release are a few new screenshots showing off what the latest version brings to the table. I’ve been a die-hard KDE 3.x user for quite some time now, so I am unsure how I will personally adapt to the refreshed environment, but I’m hopeful. Much has been changed and updated, but it looks as though things have gone in the right direction. Of course, KDE is well known for it’s great customization ability, so it shouldn’t be too hard to tweak the new environment to your liking.
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With this second release candidate, the KDE developers hope to collect comments and bug reports from the wider KDE community. With their help, we hope to solve the most pressing problems with the current KDE 4 codebase to ensure the final 4.0 release is stable, usable and fun to work with.
Source: KDE Press Release
Canadian ISP (Rogers) Begins Testing Content Injection
Because of the power that your ISP holds, it’s been worried for some time that they could easily take advantage of your web-surfing to exploit a variety of scenarios. One of these came to light this past June, when a certain Texas ISP was caught inserting advertisements into webpages – even those that didn’t have ads to begin with. Those that had ads, had some replaced.
There are a variety of other scenarios though, such as tracking, censorship and something that Rogers, a Canadian ISP, has just begun trialing.. injection of notices. According to Ars Technica, Rogers have injected bandwidth-usage notices into the Google.com homepage, as you can see in the thumbnail below. This… is wrong, and notices like these should be sent to the default ISP e-mail address, not pushed in your face into your internet.
I’m a Rogers Cable/Internet subscriber, but haven’t seen such messages yet. I also don’t think I come anywhere close to my monthly bandwidth allotment either, which might be why. While such a simple notice being injected into your page isn’t a huge deal, it’s notable because it could be a sign of what’s to come, or at least what’s possible.
 Credit: Lauren Weinstein |
Despite the fact that the message is exclusively a notice to subscribers about the service rather than commercial content, some proponents of network neutrality believe that third-party modification of web content-particularly at the ISP-level-fundamentally changes the nature of the Internet in detrimental ways.
Source: Ars Technica
Ultimate James Bond Collection – $109 (Free Shipping, One Day Sale)
Amazon has been offering some great deals lately, which I seem to keep missing. Their Blu-ray and HD-DVD deals in particular seem to be rather well received, so you should keep an eye on their promotions page to see if new deals come up. Todays deal is for an “ultimate” James Bond Collector’s Set. This includes all 21 movies in addition to a slew of special features for each… a total of 42 discs.
I say “ultimate” because with each new Bond movie release, this “ultimate” box is updated to feature the latest film. Before Casino Royale, a similarly-styled package featured 20 movies, and once the next one comes out in late 2008/early 2009, it will likely be bumped up to 22. But for $109.99 (SRP is $239) and free shipping, it’s hard to go wrong.
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Each film included in the James Bond Ultimate Collector’s Set has recently been restored and re-mastered and presented in their original aspect ratio, with original burned in subtitles and captions, mono and stereo sound (in addition to 5.1 DTS Audio). The set features hours of bonus materials including audio commentaries on every Bond film, behind-the-scenes featurettes, documentaries and more.
Source: Amazon.com
First Unreal Tournament III Patch Released
It figures! I’ve owned this game since launch, but haven’t had time to load it up. Now, it appears I’ve taken so to get around to it, that the latest patch made it out before it happened. Well, I am a sad being, but you will not be sad when installing the beastly (234MB) 1.1 patch as it takes care of a slew of gameplay issues. Chances are if something was “bugging” you, it will be taken care of here. Shacknews has the full patch log as well as a download link.
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The first Unreal Tournament 3 patch has been released, updating Epic’s recently released multiplayer shooter to version 1.1. A 234mb download, the patch offers community requested changes to the user interface along with tweaks and fixes for general gameplay, AI, networking and more.
Source: Shacknews
Presidential Candidates Queried On Video Games
Common Sense Media took the time to contact the entire roster of presidential candidates to get their thoughts on video games, media education, current youth issues and of course, possible video game legislations. These legislations are designed to help keep kids from purchasing video games suitable for a higher age bracket, with stiff penalties to the seller if convicted. Only four replied prior to publishing – Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Mitt Romney.
Although numerous questions are asked, Kotaku took out the juiciest tidbits for quick reading. While all four have slightly differing ideas on what they’d do with such a legislation, all of them agree that parents, ultimately, should be responsible for making sure their children are not playing games they disapprove of… or they should at least be well educated and know what they are buying at the store. Because you know… parents can’t use common sense, I suppose.
 Source: Kotaku |
“I would call upon the video game industry to give parents better information about programs and video games by improving the voluntary rating system we currently have. Broadcasters and video game producers should take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easier to find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind of content is included. But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would.” – Barack Obama
Source: Kotaku
Canadian Copyright Bill Delayed
Canadian tech-enthusiasts cringed in unison this past week as a fresh DMCA bill was set to be passed this week. If passed, it would mimic the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which could result in stricter laws and harsher penalties. Up until now, Canadians have not had deal with issues to the degree Americans have. Although the Canadian music industry has successfully aided in the shutting down of torrent websites, they haven’t yet been able to target end-users, as the RIAA have.
While the bill should have been passed today, it’s been delayed thanks to the overwhelming public outcry from people who signed petitions, called or sent letters to Industry Minister Jim Prentice and showed up in person to protest. It goes to show… you can make a difference. How long this delay will last, no one knows. If not decided before the end of the week, it will not occur until the new year.
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At an open house in his Calgary constituency office on Saturday, Prentice defended the bill to an angry crowd of about 50 by saying it would bring Canada up to date with the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty it signed in 1997. Canada signed the treaty but has not yet implemented or ratified it, which has provoked criticism from its trading partners, he said.
Source: CBC.ca
AMD Streches Power Consumption Truths
It’s a good thing that their ATI division is starting to shape back up, because AMD themselves are having one heck of a difficult year. Most of the problems have been directly linked to their Barcelona processors, with no solutions (in the form of a revision) until early next year. We linked to a Tech Report article last week which investigated the problematic errata issue plaguing most Barcelona-based processors, and now, DailyTech have arisen another potential problem – AMDs ACP ratings.
Unlike TDP, which assumes the total wattage for a processor at full load, ACP offers what AMD feels to be an average wattage during normal use. So, if a CPU is rated for 70W ACP, it means that during normal use, that’s the average wattage you should expect. However, as common sense would imply, listing an “average” doesn’t make much sense. It’s simply too difficult to declare an average, as usage varies from user to user. Thanks to this fact, many are claiming that AMD “lies”, or stretch truths.
The article at DailyTech points out more specifics, including a fact that ACP ratings were not changed in whitepapers as they should have been – although that could have been an accidentally overlook on AMDs part. But when it comes to AMD, it seems everyone has their own opinions. Right now though, it’s hard to ignore the facts. AMD needs to change how they do business, while cutting out the stretching truths part.
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The first thing to notice is that TDP measurements are significantly higher than ACP. When AMD compared its power consumption figures to Intel’s TDP, ACP measurements significantly underestimate power consumption. TDP differed between the two versions of the white paper by as much as 20 W, which is a 21% increase in the case of the quad-core Opteron. AMD did not increased its ACP estimates, emphasized in bold, despite the TDP increase.
Source: DailyTech
YouTube Opens Up Revenue-Sharing
It seems like just yesterday that YouTube made headlines by offering revenue-sharing to a 20-year-old content creator. Well, all of those of you who’ve waited to see what came to fruition shouldn’t waste time, as YouTube have just opened up offers for applications to content creators who want to be paid (and rightly so) for their content.
Given the size of YouTube and the sheer amount of fellow content creators out there, applying as soon as you can is a smart idea. They don’t mention any limits on a number of publishers, but the longer you take to apply, the longer it will take to be potentially approved. They also don’t make mention of revenue figures, but it’s sure to beat $0.
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YouTube is expanding its program to share a cut of the AdSense advertising revenue associated with your videos on the site (even though most videos are watched elsewhere in embedded players that typically don’t carry ads). I guess Metacafe and Revver, which have been sharing their video ad revenues with their contributors for a while, had the right idea after all.
Source: TechCrunch
Intel Marks 60th Anniversary of the Transistor
Although the first patents for transistors happened long before December 16, 1947, it was William Shockley of Bell Labs who first delivered the first efficient transistor with the help of a few colleagues. To say it has come a long way would be a massive understatement. In a release yesterday, Intel reiterated the fact that they kick ass with transistors, a fact proven with the help of their recent 45nm processors.
To put the size into perspective, and to borrow from our review of the QX9650 3.0GHz Quad-Core, the new 45nm QC CPUs include over 820 million transistors. Not impressed? How about another comparison – 2,000 45nm transistors could fit along the span of a human hair… and 30,000,000 on the head of a pin. Impressive… yes. Mind-boggling… yes.
While on the Intel scheme of things, Gizmodo has posted a quick overview of all Intel processors from 1971 to 2007.
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SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 10, 2007 – Intel Corporation on Dec. 16 celebrates the 60th anniversary of the transistor, the building block of today’s digital world. Invented by Bell Labs and considered one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, transistors are found in many consumer electronics and are the fundamental component used to build computer chips, or the “brains” of the personal computer (PC).
Source: Intel Press Release
Toshiba Unveils Spring SSD Line-up
Although solid-state disks are catching on fast, it took Toshiba a while before making an appearance. Today, they’ve finally announced their upcoming line-up, with production beginning in Spring of next year. Products will include both 1.8" and 2.5" models, with densities ranging between 32GB and 128GB.
The problem with SSD so far has been the price, with 128GB models costing thousands of dollars. With Toshiba’s mass-production, hopefully prices will begin to plummet, because right now there is strong desire for adoption, but prices are simply not reasonable. This cannot happen fast enough… fast speeds, low power consumption and nil-noise… it’s hard not to want one.
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TOKYO–Toshiba Corporation today announced its entry into the emerging market for NAND-flash-based solid state drive (SSD) with a series of products featuring multilevel-cell NAND flash memories. Offered in a range of form factors and densities, Toshiba’s solid state drives are designed primarily for notebook PCs. They will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, from January 7th to 10th. Samples and mass production will follow from the first quarter (January to March) of next year.
Source: Toshiba Press Release
Honeywell Introduces HDMI to Cat5/6 Converter
Honeywell probably isn’t a name that first comes to mind when dealing with home video equipment, but lately they’ve been introducing some interesting products. In late August, they announced a “self-healing” HDMI cable, which corrects HDCP and EDID data before it reaches your television. As interesting as that was, a fresh announcement takes that to a new level.
The HDMI to Cat5/6 converter works in a scenario where your HDMI source is not in the same room as your display. Both the source and destination walls would have a special socket installed, each accepting an HDMI cable. Connecting the two would be a Cat5 or Cat6 cable. Though it sounds strange, Honeywell promises 1080p content to run smooth up to 125′ with Cat5 and a staggering 200′ with Cat6. This new converter uses the same correction technology as the previously announced self-healing cable. Definitely a niche product, but cool nonetheless.
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PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI, December 10, 2007— Recognizing the high number of homes pre-wired with category cabling, Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today introduced a new HDMI to CAT5 converter that lets A/V installers transmit HDMI audio and video source material over long distances using economical CAT5e or CAT6 cables.
Source: Honeywell Press Release
Spike Video Game Awards Show Results
Spike TV is a network that came out of nowhere and somehow became a trusted source for video games. How this happened, I’m unsure. Questions aside, their awards show, Spike Video Game Awards, is now an event looked forward to by gamers everywhere. Their fourth aired last night and Flynn at Kotaku was there to attend. I wish I watched just to see the Foo Fighters perform… and Tommy Tallarico… and ok, even Kid Rock.
Of course it’s the awards that matter. If you are worried about spoilers… don’t. You already know what game wins what. BioShock, not surprisingly (and though I highly disagree), received the GOTY award while the best studio was given to Harmonix (creators of Guitar Hero, Rock Band). It’s also no surprise that best graphics were awarded to Crysis and breakthrough technology to Portal. Hard to disagree with either. For the rest of the winners and a full event roundup, check out the full writeup.
 Source: Kotaku |
BioShock took home three awards including Best Original Score, Best Xbox 360 Game and the big daddy of them all, Game of the Year. Fan favorite Halo 3 had two wins with Best Multiplayer Game and the highly dubious Most Addictive game fueled by Dew. Seeing as Mountain Dew launched a full fledged advertising campaign that revolved around a new soft drink devoted to Halo 3 this was hardly a surprise even though this category was allegedly voted on by the fans.
Source: Kotaku
ASUS Makes Memory Upgrading Eee-zy
The ASUS Eee has been selling incredibly well in the marketplace, and it’s not much of a surprise. The ultra-portable notebook weighs only 2lbs, has sufficient capabilities and costs only $400. What’s not to love? Well, the warranty was an issue… until now. Ambitious owners who wanted to upgrade their Eees memory were halted with a “warranty void if removed” sticker. This is rather silly, considering most consumer notebooks allow upgrades without much hassle.
Well, ASUS has gone and corrected this little “mistake”. In a press release, they’ve revealed that users will no longer void any warranty for removing that sticker or upgrading the RAM. See, the Eee can get more awesome. That said, I’m still going to wait for the purple and orange Pimp Edition to stroll along.
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Sales of the Eee PC have been so strong that ASUS is projecting that it will sell 3.8 million units during fiscal 2008. The company will also provide versions of the Eee PC which feature a cost-reduced, feature-stripped version of Windows XP — current Eee PCs ship with Xandros Linux although a Windows XP driver CD is provided for do-it-yourselfers.
Source: DailyTech
Lexus Sues Another Pornstar Over Name
Companies who sue small companies over frivolous matters is nothing new, but this is one of the more humorous hilarious ones. Lexus, who sued a pornographic actress earlier this year for using their namesake as a stagename, is now apparently so bored, they have continued along the same road and now have sued a gay pornstar for the same reasons. Yes, there apparently is a gay pornstar named Lexus, but if that’s not amusing enough, the studio that represents him is called EboysStudio. Perhaps a certain auction site should get in on this action too?
The performer apparently chose to be called Lexus because it’s the name of a Greek God… how unique. Curious, I checked out the Wikipedia entry for Greek Gods, and nowhere does it list a “Lexus”. It could be that this God hasn’t yet come out of the closet, but that’s still up in the air. Regardless, I hope someone else finds this story as hilarious as I did.
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EBoys president Daniel Grangier, quoted by the GayWired news service, says the performer chose to be called “Lexus” because it is “the name of a Greek god,” not because of the cars. Grangier said his company’s own attorney is “now in negotiation with Toyota’s legal team” and will resist demands for a worldwide recall of two films starring the controversially named actor.
Source: Inside Line