- 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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Vistas RAM Sweet Spot Is 4GB
Microsoft’s on-the-box minimum RAM requirement “really isn’t realistic,” according to David Short, an IBM consultant who works in its company’s Global Services Divison. He says users should consider 4GB of RAM if they really want optimum Vista performance. With 512MB of RAM, Vista will deliver performance that’s “sub-XP,” he warned.
As if Vista wasn’t expensive enough, you should now add 4GB of ram to your shopping list. I have used Vista quite extensively and never had a problem with only 2GB, but I could see 4GB being far preferred if you are doing a lot of multitasking.
Source: Computer World
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
With Apple’s Aperture and now Adobe’s Llghtroom, it seems the big boys are finally ready to fight over who is going to be at the center of the digital creative arena. But Adobe isn’t playing copycat here—and I think their release of a public beta was an attempt to send that message. It was pretty clear when the beta was released that this is not just a slapped-together product—Adobe’s had this in the works for a while.
This is a thorough look at Lightroom that’s well worth your time if you are planning to purchase. It can do so much, it almost could replace Photoshop for some people.
Source: Ars Technica
NVIDIA Releases ForceWare 100.65
NVIDIA today released its WHQL certified ForceWare 100 drivers for Windows Vista. The new ForceWare version 100.65 is the first WHQL certified driver compatible with NVIDIA GeForce 8800-series based graphics cards. Windows Vista beta drivers were available to GeForce 8800-series users previously. The new drivers support Microsoft’s DirectX 10 API on single-GeForce 8800-series configurations only.
If you have 8800 cards and wish to run SLI, it’s possible with these drivers. Users of the 6 or 7 series are still forced to their single GPU configurations though.
Source: Daily Tech
Astronaut to Attempt Spacewalk Record
Two residents of the International Space Station will take a spacewalk tomorrow to try to jam a stuck antenna on a docked cargo ship back into place. The spacewalk will set a US record of over 65 hours spacewalk experience. During the spacewalk, the astronauts will “use a hammer and a chisel to try to pound the antenna into place”. Precision engineering at its very best I’m sure you’ll agree.
When you think of a space station that’s currently in space, a hammer and a chisel are not usually the first tools to come to mind. Whatever gets the job done!
Strong: Slashdot
OCZ Announces the Extremely Versatile Vindicator Premium CPU Cooler
Sunnyvale, CA—February 20, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, Inc. a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the OCZ Vindicator CPU cooler, an enthusiast-grade thermal solution for the latest high performance processors. The Vindicator can be used as a passive or active cooler depending on the needs of the enthusiast.
This is a huge cooler, but looks like it has good potential. The only thing that sticks out to me are the installation tabs. They are the same ones that Intel uses on their stock coolers and are a pain to deal with.
Source: OCZ Press Release
Intel Technology Allows Nurses to Spend More Time with Patients
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20, 2007 – Intel Corporation today announced the mobile clinical assistant (MCA) is ready to enable nurses to spend more time with patients, do their jobs on the move while remaining connected, and manage the administration of medications. Motion Computing’s C5 is the first product based on Intel’s MCA platform and has earned support from clinicians and nurses participating in pilot studies around the world.
Source: Intel Press Release
AMD Releases New Desktop Processors, Including 6000+
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Feb. 20, 2007 – Underscoring its commitment to delivering the right products at the right time, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced desktop processors designed for users seeking the ultimate in energy-conscious or high-performance computing. The new energy-efficient 45-watt AMD Athlon(tm) 64 single-core processors 3500+ and 3800+ can help consumers and businesses save energy and experience significant performance-per-watt benefits. And for those who crave high performance, AMD has also introduced the AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 dual-core processor 6000+.
As always, there are a slew of new reviews posted today to help you feed your AMD fix! Such websites with reviews include Hot Hardware, X-Bit Labs and HW Upgrade.
Source: AMD Press Release
Nikon Announces COOLPIX P5000
Mississauga, ON, February 20, 2007 – Nikon Canada Inc. today introduced the COOLPIX P5000, a compact digital camera offering advanced functions and intuitive operation sure to satisfy camera enthusiasts. High performance and outstanding image quality are the hallmarks of the COOLPIX P5000. Its 10.0 megapixel resolution gives users the power to capture the finest details, perform creative cropping and produce beautiful enlargements.
It’s about time! Is this going to be Nikons entry back into the high-end compact market, which Canon has basically owned for the last while? This camera has some great specs, although it has a shorter zoom compared to a few a competitive offerings. The huge plus is that it supports Nikons SpeedLights, such as the SB-600.
Source: Nikon Press Release
openSUSE 10.3 alpha 1 Report
It’s that time again. Yes, it’s the beginning of the next openSUSE developmental cycle. It began with the release of 10.3 alpha 1 last Thursday. Reports have already been circulating with some of the new changes. openSUSE is not the apple in quite as many eyes these days, but regardless of your personal feelings, it is still a darn fine system. Even if only one other person besides myself is interested in the development cycle, we at Tuxmachines will do our best to keep them informed of the progress.
Despite the ridiculous cooperation between Novell and Microsoft, it’s nice to see development still healthy. Our friends at Tuxmachines have taken a look at the latest alpha build, which doesn’t seem to have any vast improvements over 10.2, but is still worth a look if you are a SuSE fan.
Source: Tuxmachines
Corsair Enhances SD Family with New 4GB SDHC Card
Fremont, CA (February 20, 2007) – Corsair(R), a worldwide leader in high performance computer products, today expanded its Secure Digital (SDTM) card family with the new 4GB SD High Capacity (SDHCTM) cards. Based on the SD Association 2.0 specification and tested to be fully compliant with SDHC host devices, each Corsair 4GB SDHC card blends Class 2 performance and high capacity to offer expanded storage for rich digital media.
It’s great to see Corsair finally releasing higher-end SD cards. You can’t overclock ’em, but they sure come in handy for your high-end camera.
Source: Corsair Press Release
Will 3XDVD Help HD-DVD Win War?
Doug Carson & Associates (DCA), makers of DVD mastering software, announced today that the first 3X DVD-ROM disc was officially mastered over the weekend, a move that some think will allow HD DVD to become more popular and possibly even win the ongoing “format war” with Blu-ray. The disc is a standard, red-laser DVD disc, but will carry higher-def content on it than standard DVDs and is only playable on HD DVD players. The disc will still support HD DVD’s UDF 2.5 file structure as well as AACS copy protection.
Lower video quality on a high-definition player seems like an oxymoron to me. I am not sure the exact purpose of this technology, except that the media would be cheaper than standard HD-DVD discs. Chances are good that those who payed $700 for an HD-DVD player won’t care that much about saving a dollar off each movie.
Source: Ars Technica
Pre-Installed Linux Tops Dell Customer Requests
Within only a few days of Dell opening a new customer feedback website, they discovered that the feature most requested (by an almost 2-to-1 margin!) is an option on all new Dell PCs: pre-installed Linux. (And the number 3 request is pre-installed Open Office.) I believe they’ll have a harder time now with the tired old mantra ‘There’s no customer demand for Linux.’
I am very impressed by the results so far. The “Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot” topic has over 25,000 requests! Hopefully this is the beginning of even better things to come from Dell. It would be nice to see them begin using their resources to code stable modules and donate them to the Linux kernel to have even better Linux support all around, not just for specific distros.
Source: Slashdot
XM And Sirius Plan To Merge
Rumors of a merger between XM and Sirius have been around for pretty much as long as the two companies have been operating — and now, they’re finally true. The two companies plan to merge and meld together their content offerings and technical platforms to create a single satellite-radio provider.
A few months ago it was made known that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin would not likely approve such a deal, since it would result in some kind of monopoly. It’s unknown what will happen to the approval now, so we will all have to sit back. Merging both companies would likely benefit customers in most ways, unless we see higher prices…
Source: Tech Dirt
The Recording Industry’s Off-Key Strategy
Many of the recording industry’s leading digital sales channels, including Yahoo!, Real Networks (which owns Rhapsody) and Apple have now publicly called on the record labels to end their insistence on DRM. Moreover, last week a Jupiter survey of European music executives found that nearly two-thirds believe that dropping DRM would increase digital music sales.
Audio DRM gets more disgusting with each news posting that becomes available. Just a few weeks ago we learned of a possible tax that would be applied to MP3 players, up to $75, depending on their density. Canucks already get charged a hidden tax on their blank media purchases, simply because music piracy could happen. They are even looking to extend this levy into blank flash media! This is a great article that takes a look at how things are, and how things could be.
Source: The Star
Sweden To Make DDoS Attacks Illegal
Disabling websites through programming computers to automatically click on the same page thousands of times – so-called denial of service attacks – will be made a criminal offence in Sweden from 1st June. There is currently no specific law banning the attacks, and other legislation is deemed insufficient to ensure convictions in many cases.
Why hasn’t there been a law regarding this before? I am not sure of the other Countries stance on this, but to me, DDoS is equalled to vandalism. Either way, if you are in Sweden and just so happen to be contemplating performing a DDoS attack, be prepared to spend up to two years in prison. Well, at least after June 1. Until then it’s free reign.
Source: The Local
The $300 PC
This shootout is a bit different from what we usually do. It’s not about the most sophisticated systems or about reaching new clock speed records. This article is for those who cannot or will not spend $300 for a processor, overclocked memory and an über graphics card. The reasons why people don’t max out their credit cards or go hungry for a week to buy their dream machine vary, of course, but the good news is that $300 will buy you some decent PC gear these days.
It’s amazing what $300 can buy nowadays, when looking back just a few years to see what kind of PC $2000 could get you. Everything is taken into consideration here, including video/audio performance and even power consumption.
Source: Toms Hardware
Laughing 101
As I was walking out of class this morning, I picked up a copy of my schools’ magazine, the Reporter. On the inside of the cover, I see that the title of the editorial is “Laughing 101”. Obviously, I had to read it. Long story made short, it sums up how I feel about our anonymity on the internet. It is too easy to hide behind that curtain and act like someone you are not. Be happy when you are sad. Be tough when you are afraid. Be a badass when you’re really not.
This is incredibly true… and something I’ve often thought about. There have been times when I have said “LOL” and actually laughed out loud, but the majority of the time it’s nothing more than a giggle. As the article states, we are “Generation LoL”. Good read.
Source: Eclipse OC
RyderMark Releases New Benchmark Screenshots
RyderMark is a free cutting-edge DirectX benchmark for the PC hardware enthusiast and gaming communities. Utilising a proprietary multithreaded game engine and based on an actual game scheduled for future release, the benchmark shows off exciting real-time 3D graphics features while stress testing the latest hardware. RyderMark is ideal for benchmarking the latest high-end PCs with dual core CPUs and graphics cards with 512Mb of RAM or more.
This benchmark has been under a lot of fire in past months, thanks to the fact of there is no proof that it can do what it says it can. There has been no video released, nor any personal thoughts, except those of Fudo at the Inq. Candella promises a release next month though, free to anyone who wants it. Some of the things it promises to handle is true 64-Bit HDR with AA, DoF, heat haze and realistic water physics. I look forward to giving it a try when it finally sees the light of day.
Now Playing: D-Link TV
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 19, 2007 – D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, today announced the premiere of D-LinkTV?, an Internet video portal designed to better educate and entertain consumers, business customers and resellers on advancements in networking and connectivity solutions.
You can read the full press release here.
Couple Who Catch Cop Speeding Could Face Charges
A Georgia couple, apparently tired of people speeding past their house, installed a camera and radar gun on their property. After it was installed, they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit. They brought this to the attention of the local police department, and are now being forced to appear in front of a judge to answer to charges of stalking.
How’s this for justice! In these times, you cannot even bring up a serious issue without getting in serious trouble for it. Crazy.
Source: Slashdot
Dear Windows Vista Firewall…
No really. What is it with the Windows Vista Firewall and its refusal to go away? At NeoSmart Technologies all our PCs are secured behind two firewalls: a hardware firewall and Microsoft ISA Server. The only traffic that gets in is the traffic that we want to get in. Now we can appreciate having the firewall on by default; but after turning it off over 20 times, it’s getting to be too much.
I say welcome to Windows Vista… it’s hardly only the firewall that’s a pain. If you are experienced with Windows services, you will already know how to disable the firewall for good. For those who don’t, you can see the simple directions in this blog rant.
Source: Neosmart
Can You Go 24 Hours Without Your Computer?
Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate! Shutdown your computer on this day and find out! Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?
Normally, the rare vacation is the only time I avoid the computer. What’s the point of purposely going a day without though? That is what I’m trying to figure out. I estimate that 99% of the people who are participating will just sit in front of the television instead. Is that better? Worth checking out if you want to prove something to yourself ;-)
Source: Shutdown Day
Broadband In the US Hits Half-Way Mark
U.S. residential broadband penetration is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2007–and the U.K. isn’t far behind. By the end of 2007, more than 60 million U.S. households will be connected–around 55 percent–according to market researcher Parks Associates.
I still find it surprising that so many people use Dial-Up when Broadband is far superior. Granted, some simply don’t need the extra speed, or can’t get it, but I would have figured the 50% mark would have been passed already. Now if we can just see 10Mbit+ connection speeds become commonplace…
Source: News.com
Apple and Cisco Extend Negotiations on iPhone
Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. said it agreed to give Apple Inc. more time to respond to the lawsuit it filed over the “iPhone” trademark, extending negotiations until February 21. Cisco, who made the announcement late on Thursday, sued Apple for trademark infringement in January after Apple unveiled its long-awaited multimedia phone called the iPhone, a name claimed by the network equipment maker.
I think what’s humorous is that Cisco released an iPhone just weeks before Apple did. There’s no denying that it was a coincidence, so you have to wonder what they were up to. Apple wants to sell the iPhone under that name, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this is finally settled.
Source: Washington Post
YouTube Antipiracy Software Policy Draws Fire
YouTube, owned by Google, plans to introduce technology to help media companies identify pirated videos uploaded by users. But the tools are currently being offered as part of broader negotiations on licensing deals, they said. The move contrasts with YouTube’s biggest rival, News Corp.’s, popular Internet social network, MySpace, which said on Monday it would offer its own version of copyright protection services for free.
The proposed deal is likened to a “mafia showdown”, where YouTube only promises to filter content by a certain provider if there is a negotiation in place. This is going to be an ongoing issue… and a boring one at that. Hopefully deals can be put into place soon.
Source: News.com