- Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform
- AMD Launches Ryzen PRO 7000 Series Mobile & Desktop Platform
- Intel Launches Sleek Single-Slot Arc Pro A60 Workstation Graphics Card
- NVIDIA Announces Latest Ada Lovelace Additions: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti & RTX 4060
- Maxon Redshift With AMD Radeon GPU Rendering Support Now Available
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160MBps Internet Speeds In The US?
DOCSIS 3.0 offers two immediate benefits over what cable ISP subscribers are currently stuck with (DOCSIS 1.1): faster speeds and support for IPv6. The technology has the potential to bump download speeds to 160Mbps and upload speeds to 120Mbps, although that bandwidth will be divided up between households attached to a single node.
I can’t seem to stop drooling at the thought of uploading faster than 50Kb/s.
Source: Ars Technica
Xbox 360 Spring Update
The biannual Xbox 360 dashboard update is finally upon us, and new in this Spring edition are a plethora of new features. The one that Microsoft seems to be most proud to advertise is the integration of Windows Live Messenger into the Xbox 360 Dashboard, allowing gamers to text chat while gaming, listening to music, or watching videos.
There are some great updates here, but my favorite one is none of the above mentioned. Now when you complete an achievement, it actually tells you which one you unlocked. Why wasn’t it like that since the beginning??
Source: Daily Tech
Ceiling Height Alters How You Think
“Priming means a concept gets activated in a person’s head,” researcher Joan Meyers-Levy told LiveScience. “When people are in a room with a high ceiling, they activate the idea of freedom. In a low-ceilinged room, they activate more constrained, confined concepts.”
I think I just found out why I am such a slow thinker…
Source: Yahoo! News
Shredded Paper To Be Re-Assembled By German Researchers
German researchers said Wednesday that they were launching an attempt to reassemble millions of shredded East German secret police files using complicated computerized algorithms. The files were shredded as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and it became clear that the East German regime was finished.
This is one advanced algorithm! It detects shape, texture, color and of course, the text on the paper. Even though it’s easier with a computer, they believe that 400 out of the 13,000 sacks of paper could be reassembled in two years time.
Source: Komo TV
Chips On DVDs Could Prevent Theft
A chip smaller than the head of a pin is placed onto a DVD along with a thin coating that blocks a DVD player from reading critical information on the disc. At the register, the chip is activated and sends an electrical pulse through the coating, turning it clear and making the disc playable.
Not to be a pessimist, but I can’t see how this would help theft, unless it’s been implemented for a while. I am sure thieves will steal it anyway and just hope for the best, as it’s unlikely that this would be implemented into all future DVD’s. Something like this should have been implemented before the next-gen hi-def formats were released.
Source: MSNBC
Intel’s Santa Rosa Platform Launches
Intel has launched their latest mobile platform, Santa Rosa, and I have high hopes for this one. To get up to par with what’s new, you can read the press release or my initial thoughts in our forums. You can expect coverage of Santa Rosa powered notebooks in the very near future from us. Here is a quote from the forum post:
First thing of interest I find, is that the T7700 processor will retail for $530. It has a 800FSB (which should mean we will see DDR2-800 mobile ram), and also a 2.40GHz clock speed. The reason I find this interesting, is that the previous high-end chip (T7600) comes in at 2.33GHz speeds with similar specs, except 667FSB… but still costs $637. Both are based on 65nm, but Santa Rosa is already looking like the better value.
Microsoft Mocks iPhone With oFone
Seeing as the Zune was such a hit, Microsoft decided to repeat the success and tackle the iPhone before it even gets out the gate; friends, we give you the Microsoft oFone. Not to be outdone by Apple’s multi-touch keyless interface, the oFone features not one or two, but three keyboards that can all pivot about the small central screen.
Though somewhat humorous, Microsoft could do better with their jabs at Apple.
Source: Engadget
Multitude Of Innovations Boost New Intel-Based Laptops
NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2007 – Faster processors and chipsets. Great-looking video and graphics. Stronger and faster wireless signals. Better security and manageability. Designed for energy efficiency to enable great battery life. An option to turbo-speed boot time and software application loading.
Source: Intel Press Release
OCZ Releases 4GB and 8GB Class 6 SDHC
Sunnyvale, CA—May 9, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today introduced Speed Class 6 rated memory cards to their high-performance Secure Digital(TM) HC (SD High Capacity) family. As higher resolution digital cameras and camcorders enter the market, faster and large-capacity memory cards are needed to take on the added size. Available in 4GB and 8GB configurations, these ultra-fast OCZ SDHC cards are ideal for the most advanced digital cameras and electronics.
Source: OCZ Press Release
Futuremark Debuts SPMark for Symbian OS v9
Espoo, Finland – May 9, 2007 – Futuremark Corporation, the industry leading provider of system performance analysis software and services for cell phones, handhelds and PCs today announced the general availability of SPMark for Symbian OS v9.
Source: Futuremark Press Release
Warner Bros. Pulls Out Of Canada
In a pre-emptive strike against movie piracy originating from Canada, Warner Bros. Pictures said Monday it will cancel preview screenings of its movies north of the border. Frustrated with unauthorized camcording of its new releases in Canadian cinemas, the studio said it will immediately halt all “promotional and word-of-mouth screenings” of upcoming releases.
What the heck? They are pulling the previews of future movie titles, from those who paid to watch a movie?? I can’t see how that will help piracy or much of anything else. I guess it’s better than them pulling the movie and leaving the previews.
Source: Reuters
25 Most Memorable Quotes
Many things are said, and quoted, in 25 years. Some become catchphrases. Others we’d like to forget. And some words capture the essence of a news event, a phenomenom, or a time. USA TODAY reporters and editors came up with this list of our Top 25 most memorable quotes of the last 25 years.
No doubt you will recognize at least half of these quotes. My personal favorite is from Seinfeld, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Source: USA Today
Life Without Google
How much did I use Google? Apparently a lot more often than even I could speculate. For the last two weeks, I’ve had google.com blocked at both work and home. The amount of data they’re gathering on me is frightening. Not because of Google, but because I’m positive the government will legislate their way into Google’s database sooner or later and start labeling people as suspicious.
Could you give up Google? I am not sure I could. I use their services because they work and do exactly what I need them to. I’ll admit though, their intense data gathering can be scary to think about.
Source: Center Networks
Dell Limits Ubuntu Linux Sales
Indeed, Dell will limit Ubuntu sales to five systems per customer, according to fine print on the PC giant’s Web site. (See the lower right-hand corner of this Dell Web page.) That could frustrate anxious customers who want to load up on Ubuntu Linux for friends and family or small businesses. But The VAR Guy thinks the five-system limit is a smart move.
It’s too bad that the internet didn’t limit the amount of Ubuntu news stories.
Source: TechIQ Mag
Mount Wikipedia As A Virtual Filesystem
Thanks to WikipediaFS, Wikipedia fiends tired of reloading pages in the browser can now, provided they’re using Linux, mount the site as a virtual filesystem. WikipediaFS is a mountable Linux virtual file system that enables you to view and edit Wikipedia (or any Mediawiki-based site) articles as if they were real files.
This seems like a great idea, but the project doesn’t seem to be that active, or supported anymore. It’s too bad, it seems like such a simple way of doing things. You can still give it a try though, as the “pre-alpha” version is fully functional, but buggy.
Source: Wired
Neat Business Card Designs
You want a new business card, don’t you? Of course. This is the most important element of your visual identity. It’s the first thing people see when they meet you. Here is a collection of cool business cards to inspire you. Most of them are from the Business Cards flickr pool, some of them from Ads of the World.
For those looking to create a cool looking business card, this is the site to check out. There is a listing of business cards from around the world, and some are just amazing. I’d hate to know what it would cost to product most of them.
Source: Creative Bits
Microsoft Can’t Comment on Xbox 360 Failures
“I can’t comment on failure rates, because it’s just not something – it’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that we’ve treated him. Y’know, things break, and if we’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, that’s something that we’re focused on right now. I’m not going to comment on individual failure rates because I’m shipping in 36 countries and it’s a complex business.â€
To be fair, he seems to be spot on. I haven’t heard of too many bad experiences from those who have had their 360 die.
Source: Daily Tech
Trillion Pixel Image
Medical imaging specialists Aperio have broken the 4GB file size limit on the TIFF image format by creating their own format called BigTIFF and offering the format into the public domain (an amazing fact in its own right). To showcase the power of BigTIFF image resolution, Aperio has released the first terapixel image.
BigTIFF is an understatement. Even compressed, the image weighs in at 143GB! You can view the image online in a Google Earth like method, but it the website was down when I last tried it.
Source: News.com
Pioneers 8th-gen Plasma To Scare LCD
The most important pieces of the puzzle being a “new deep encased cell structure, crystal emissive layer and first surface colour filter.” What that means is the new sets, part of Project Kuro (“Black” in Japanese) have a black level 80% deeper than 7th generation Pioneer plasma. Without any sacrifice in brightness, according to our sources. That deeper low end gives the TV an overall 20,000:1 contrast ratio.
Yes, this TV is gorgeous and presumably more expensive than a nice car. 20,000:1 is one hard ratio to beat.
Source: Gizmodo
Having Fun With SATs
On 2003 April 5th, a Saturday, at the age of 33, I threw away my dignity, mocked
my Ivy League education, disgraced my Master’s degree, and proved, in just over
three hours, that humans can do things “The System” didn’t anticipate. Things
didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but it was a crazy experience!
This is an oldie, but a goodie. Imagine taking the SAT with a set mind to answer every question incorrectly. This is exactly what this fellow did. He accidentally answered two correctly, but hey, that’s good enough.
Source: Colin Fahey
10 Things You Should Know About Upscaling DVD Players
Although the high definition players are already fairly cheap (HD DVD at $299 and Blu-ray getting close), the lack of content and their uncertain future is still putting a lot of people off. What’s the alternative? An upscaling DVD player that turns all of the movies you own—plus all the ones you can rent from Netflix or Blockbuster—into high definition goodness.
Before you run out and pay for an upscaling DVD player, you might want to read this first. You’d probably have to be burned pretty bad to truly regret that >$150 purchase though.
Source: Gizmodo
Gentoo 2007.0 Released
Just when I was least expecting it, the releasing engineering team unleashed 2007.0.
This release met with several delays due to an abnormally high number of security vulnerabilities in large packages which had to be rebuilt using the newer, secure versions of the packages. There was also a complete resnapshot done about half-way through the release period due to the release taking so long and the packages becoming stale.
You can expect my thoughts on the latest release in the coming week.
Source: Gentoo Press Release
Microsoft Launches New, Improved Hotmail
The new Windows Live Hotmail, which Microsoft says will deliver a safer, more powerful and productive email experience than previous versions, rolls out today in 36 languages. Microsoft also announced that later this month Windows Live Hotmail customers will be able to access their Windows Live Hotmail e-mail and contacts for free using Office Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 via the new Office Outlook Connector beta.
Those that still use Hotmail will be pleased to see new updates implemented. As long as I can send and receive e-mail, I don’t think it matters just how sophisticated the webmail is. I might be in the minority.
Source: Daily Tech
Early Adopters Not All Thrilled About Technology
It found that approximately 31% of people are “high tech elite,” who we probably used to call early adopters before it became such a big group — but even that group is split into four distinct sub-groups, including approximately 25% of the high tech elite being in the “lackluster veteran” category.
I think the only “early adopters” to be upset in the near future will be those on whatever side of the format war loses. If there is one.
Source: Tech Dirt
Nokia’s 1100 Handset: Over 200 Million Served
Sales records typically don’t stand for too long without being overtaken by the next best thing, but somehow, Nokia’s el cheapo 1100 handset has reportedly racked up “over 200 million sales” since it launched in 2003. You heard right, this low-end candybar has put the 100 million iPods, 50 million RAZRs, 10 million Chocolates, and 115 million PlayStation 2 consoles to shame in terms of sheer units moved.
That is a LOT of cheap plastic. Though not the most sophisticated phone around, it’s still quite an amazing accomplishment. Too bad the N-Gage didn’t take off like that.
Source: Engadget