- 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
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- Maxon Redshift With AMD Radeon GPU Rendering Support Now Available
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Virtual Windows to Run Unmodified on Linux
SAN FRANCISCO (InfoWorld Virtualization Executive Forum) – Feb. 12, 2007 – Novell and Intel Corporation today announced the availability of paravirtualized network and block device drivers that will allow Microsoft* Windows* Server 2000/2003/XP to run unmodified in Xen* virtual environments on SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise Server 10 from Novell(R), operating on Intel-based server platforms featuring Intel(R) Virtualization Technology. Combined with the existing ability to host unmodified Linux* on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, these new drivers will let customers confidently migrate to newer and fewer energy-efficient servers, consolidating legacy Windows or Linux solutions onto virtual servers.
You can read the entire release here.
Canadian Copyright Group Wants iPod Tax
“Unable to define memory as a ‘recording medium,’ Canada’s Private Copyright Collective goes directly after portable music player devices, memory cards, and anything else that can be used to make private copies. The PCC submitted a proposal to the country’s Copyright Board that suggests levies of $5 (Canadian) on devices with up to 1GB of memory, $25 for 1-10 GB, $50 for 10-30 GB, and $75 for over 30 GB.
I fail to understand how a certain tax can exist regarding something that could potentially happen. Even more ridiculous is the potential $50 – $75 “tax” on a certain high-end players. Just when I was starting to think Canada was one of the more sane Countries when it comes to the music biz…
Source: Slashdot
Wal-Mart Says No To Firefox and Safari
Last week, Walmart launched their online video download service. Immediately there were posts that the service did not work with the Firefox or Safari browsers. There was a collective, “WTF” when this happened as this is 2007, not 1997. Back then it was “accepted” for applications to work with only a specific browser or platform. Now it appears that reports are out that Walmart has turned off the ability to get into the application at all by Firefox, Safari or any other browser it does not like.
This is great news as I am always looking for new reasons to dislike Wal-Mart. If you are using some obscure browser that only a roomful of people use, you expect something like this. But for popular browsers like Firefox and Safari? There’s no excuse for one of the richest companies in the world. Maybe their webdev guys are getting tired of making minimum wage. Of course, a tight blue smock doesn’t really help anyone get the job done faster, either.
Source: Center Networks
Pirated Software’s Problem In Third World Countries
One of the biggest challenges living someplace like Cambodia (which I do) is finding all of the cool tech toys that my geek genes tell me I need. Finding software is similarly difficult, at least when it comes to legal copies of software. I can go down the block to my local market and find almost any software program, music CD, or DVD my little heart could desire, for somewhere around $2 per disc. Finding a legitimate copy of, say, Microsoft Office, is much more of a challenge.
Although this is a short article, it gives a an incredible perspective as to how things are in other parts of the world. The author of the story for example pays upwards of $100 a month for 128Kbit/s internet access, while a “good” monthly salary is around $60. Even $4 for pirated software is expensive there. Interesting viewpoints… definitely worth a read.
Source: Dark Reading
Intel Details 80-Core CPU Capable of Teraflop Operations
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 11, 2007 – Intel Corporation researchers have developed the world’s first programmable processor that delivers supercomputer-like performance from a single, 80-core chip not much larger than the size of a fingernail while using less electricity than most of today’s home appliances. This is the result of the company’s innovative “Tera-scale computing” research aimed at delivering Teraflops — or trillions of calculations per second –performance for future PCs and servers. Technical details of the Teraflops research chip will be presented at the annual Integrated Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) this week in San Francisco.
It’s almost difficult to fathom 80 freaking cores under one roof. Each of these operate at 4GHz frequencies which helps attain the Teraflop operations. I think what impresses me most is that despite the sheer capability of the CPU, the power draw is only 65W. Incredible. You can read the full press release here and for more in-depth detail, you can download the PDF here (Right-Click, Save As).
AMD Ushers in Breathtaking Multimedia for Mobile Devices…
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. – February 12, 2007 – AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced the AMD Imageon(tm) 2298, 2294 and 2192 media processors, offering ultra-fast, high-resolution image processing, DVD-quality video and high-definition audio for compelling mobile multimedia experiences. These new processors further enhance the industry-leading AMD Imageon family of discrete media processors, helping handheld manufacturers to quickly and cost-efficiently deliver the latest multimedia features that consumers demand.
You can read the full press release here.
Vista Sequel In Two Years?
With Vista just out the door, Microsoft is now drawing up plans to deliver its follow-up client operating system by the end of 2009, according to the executive in charge of building the product’s core components. That would be a much faster turn-around than Vista, which shipped more than five years after Windows XP, but Vista was exceptional, said Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development with Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division this week at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.
Its hard at this point to consider what new features will be unveiled in Vienna, but there’s no doubt the overlaying OS will be quite similar to Vista, given the timeline.
Source: Yahoo News
"Dell Laptop Burned Down My House"
I arrived my desk to find that the phone was ringing – I needed to come home immediately was the message. When I arrived home the entire street was blocked with fire and rescue crews. My 130 year old former farm house was engulfed in flames, with thick dark smoke pouring out of the windows and roof. Over 60 firefighters from 4 departments fought the blaze and battled equipment failures due to the near zero degree weather.
Ouch, it’s hard to not feel sorry for this guy. The biggest “burn” would be the fact that all of your keepsakes and family photos are gone forever. That aside, it’s unknown whether or not his specific laptop ever had the battery replaced during the recall. Either way, this can happen to anyone! Protect your goods and make sure you are not using one of the declared faulty laptop batteries.
Source: Consumerist
Wikipedia On The Brink of Shutdown?
Florence Devouard, chairwoman of the Wikimedia Foundation, has touched off a tempest with her suggestion in a talk at the Lift07 conference that Wikipedia has funding for only another quarter and “might disappear” if donations don’t pick up. Dire stuff … if true.
After all the hoopla of the comment was over with, a Wikimedia spokesperson noted that it was “taken out of context”. However, I find it absurd that there is more than one context for such a statement. How else could you take “might disappear”? Either way, it will be an interesting year for Wikipedia it seems.
Source: Network World
Ethernet Inventor Makes the Inventors Hall of Fame
Metcalfe, along with David Boggs, created Ethernet technology while the two were researchers Xerox PARC in 1973. Originally, the technology transmitted data at 3Mbps over thick coaxial cable. Today Ethernet travels as fast as 10Gbps, and runs over mostly twisted pair copper and fiber optic cabling. Ethernet became an IEEE standard, known as 802.3, in 1983.
Ahh, one of the most “simple” inventions, but it is a necessity nowadays. Congrats to Metcalfe for the well deserved induction into the hall of fame.
Source: Network World
Scientists Detail Breakthrough In Optics-On-a-Chip Device
Like polarizing sunglasses that block light waves oriented in different directions, the MIT researchers created a clever device that splits the light beams as they pass through a circuit. The device then rotates one of the polarized beams, before both beams are rejoined on their way out of the circuit, retaining the signals’ strength.
With the explosion of IPTV and similar technologies on the horizon, a need for a cable capable of super-fast speeds is evident. This tech seems to fit the bill, but there is no mention of when we should be expecting to see it hit the market, or the actual cost when compared to current solutions.
Source: Boston.com
Fridges Could Save Power For Rainy Day
Refrigerated warehouses might soon be used to store not just food, but gigawatts of electricity. A plan dreamt up in the Netherlands could see the giant fridges acting as massive batteries. They would buffer swings in supply and demand from electricity created from renewable sources.
The idea is to save energy by decreasing a fridges temperature by 1°C throughout the night and then using that stored energy to retain the usual temperature during the day, with some to spare. Sounds like a creative way of doing things. Much more can be learned from the article.
Source: Nature.com
Teens Prosecuted For Taking Nekkid Pictures of Themselves
Combine unsupervised teenagers, digital cameras and e-mail, and, given sufficient time, you’ll end up with risque photographs on a computer somewhere. There’s a problem with that: Technically, those images constitute child pornography. That’s what 16-year-old Amber and 17-year-old Jeremy, her boyfriend, both residents of the Tallahassee, Fla., area, learned firsthand.
Ethics aside, this story is foolish. You are allowed to have sex with another 16 year old, if you are 16. But taking pictures of the act is highly forbidden. I could understand it if these photos were thrown online for the world to see, but they were not. If you are >= 16, consider this your lesson of the day.
Source: News.com
Samsung Releases Ultra-Fast GDDR4
SAMSUNG IS WELL ready for the upcoming war between Nvidia’s G80 refresh and ATI’s R600. The semiconductor division of this manufacturing giant announced that it has started mass production of 512Mbit (64MB) GDDR-4 SGRAM chips boasting a massive 1.4GHz working clock in DDR mode. The K4U52324QE-BC07 chips work at a 2.8GHz clock speed, which is astonishing and the amount of bandwidth both Nvidia and ATI can count on is mind-boggling.
The question remains, do these cards -need- this much memory bandwidth? Would we actually see a noticeable difference between 150GB/s and 180GB/s? Well, it sure wouldn’t hurt. All of that aside, simply having 1,400MHz memory chips on your GPU would certainly be brag-worthy.
Source: The Inquirer
Microsoft Clippy, RIP: 1997 – 2007
We suspected something was brewing when the iconic figure started donning a 3D skirt in Japan, but a brief interview with Office’s group program manager revealed that the clip is indeed dead. While it had been fading for awhile due to an apparent lack of mass fanfare, and was even turned off by default in Office 2003, it seems that Clippy fans will be forced to stick with now-antiquated versions of the Office suite in order to keep their darling on screen.
I don’t care how annoying Clippy was, he did not deserve to die! Especially without anyone noticing! Sad. But, I am sure it won’t take long for someone to “revive” him into the form of an Office add-on.
Source: Engadget
Cartoon Network Head Steps Down
In a letter to employees, Jim Samples, the general manager and executive vice president of the network, wrote: “I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign. As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch.”
While I do think this “simple” ad scheme was blown out of proportion, it wasn’t exactly a smart move by the Cartoon Network either. That aside, it’s honorable to see the head of the network step down. I guess this is a lesson for all other advertisers out there.
Source: CNN Money
Making PDFs With Free Software
Portable Document Format (PDF) files have become somewhat of a de-facto standard for representing fixed layout 2D documents, and their use and versatility have grown over the past decade. Recently, Adobe announced that it intends to release the PDF 1.7 specification for publication by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). As demand increases for this format, many are wondering, what tools can be used to create PDFs with free software?
Since Adobes official tools cost an arm and a leg (for the regular user), these replacement apps will be the next best thing. It’s hard to beat free!
Source: Free Software Magazine
Save The Planet and Earn $25 Million
British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, with former vice president Al Gore at his side, offered a $25 million prize Friday to anyone who can come up with a way to blunt global climate change by removing at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Earth’s atmosphere.
If you are a Billionaire, I don’t think a $25 Million sacrifice is such a big deal. But hey, I’m not going to one-up him here. If some good comes out of this, then we -all- win.
Source: Washington Post
‘Doomsday’ Vault Design Unveiled
The Svalbard International Seed Vault will be built into a mountainside on a remote island near the North Pole. The vault aims to safeguard the world’s agriculture from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change. Construction begins in March, and the seed bank is scheduled to open in 2008. The Norwegian government is paying the $5m (£2.5m) construction costs of the vault, which will have enough space to house three million seed samples.
This vault is actually quite interesting. It’s built deep inside of a mountain and will require no full-time staff. In fact, they mention that once up and running, it will only require one person a year to “check up” on things, but that’s all. It’s also quite far north of Norway, so it wouldn’t be affected by any potential nuclear war.
Source: BBC News
Post Office Loses "2600" Magazines?
We’ve been going through hell for the past few weeks as it’s become ever clearer that we’re the victims of a massive postal screwup. This only affects our subscribers who are not in the United States and Canada. According to postal officials, all of the issues we were sending overseas simply vanished while in their care. They honestly have no idea what they did with them. All they will tell us is that they’re “somewhere in the system.”
Of course! Is this due to the post office being completely inept, or because the government is trying to intercept delivery of hacker magazines? No one knows for sure… Either way, this is not a fun situation for these guys to be in.
Source: 2600
Gateway Goes Gaming: FX530XT
The FX530XT was an absolute pleasure to use, and nothing this good escapes the attention of our staff members. When video enthusiast and TGDaily Senior Editor Humphrey Cheung learned of its disposition, he had to take a turn with it. His assessment? “It freakin’ rocks. If you do video editing and rendering, four cores is godly.”
Gateway is not known as a company that produces PCs for gaming enthusiasts, but the FX530XT has earned high ratings from Toms Hardware. One of the biggest reasons for such praise is the fact that it’s a packed system that retails for around $4,000. They even go on to mention that if you were to build a similar PC for someone else, you’d likely charge more to make a decent profit. It’s good to see a new contender enter the arena.
Source: Toms Hardware
Apple Apps Not Vista-Ready
An Apple technical support document confirms that none of the company’s Windows applications are yet compatible with Windows Vista. These include: QuickTime, the iPod shuffle reset utility, Bonjour for Windows, AirPort for Windows, the iDisk utility, AppleWorks for Windows, and Apple Software Update for Windows. The stand-alone iPod updater for iTunes 6 for Windows also isn’t ready for Vista.
There’s been no announcement of when support will become available, but it will likely be a few more weeks at least. I still wonder why support for such applications is not better at this point, given the fact that the RTM has been available to developers and businesses since November.
Source: IT World
NVIDIA to Launch One More nForce 600i Product
NVIDIA is set to release one more nForce 680i variant that is slightly cheaper than the nForce 680i SLI. The cut-down nForce 680i will carry the nForce 680i LT SLI name and target extreme gamers. NVIDIA will manufacture the nForce 680i LT motherboards for various motherboard manufacturers.
This board is going to fall right in between the 650i and 680i chipsets with the feature set adjusted accordingly. The biggest hits will be a memory controller throttle, with support adjusted from DDR2-1200 to DDR2-800 and also the removal of one NIC port. Cooling will also be changed. While the 680i and 650i both have passive coolers, the 680i LT will be actively cooled.
Source: Daily Tech
Mozilla Announces Firefox 3.0 a2
There are still major issues. I haven’t had any stability problems, but there are bad memory leaks. Gran Paradiso, as Firefox 3 is code named, launches using about 33mb of RAM; after ten minutes of browsing that number jumped to 100mb and after a couple of hours it was close to 400mb — and that’s with no extensions installed.
It’s no surprise that an “alpha” is still buggy and will be for quite a while. Memory leaks are the big issue plaguing the release right now, but it will be ironed out in the next release. The author applauds the fact that 3.0 doesn’t utilize the CPU as much as 2.0 does, but whether or not that’s due to the lack of extensions is unknown.
Source: Wired
Microsoft Sticks With Hotmail
After months of planning to kill off the Hotmail name, Microsoft has decided to keep the venerable brand, as it works to overhaul its free Web e-mail service. Microsoft said on Thursday that the revamped service, still in beta testing phase, is being renamed “Windows Live Hotmail” rather than the originally planned “Windows Live Mail.” “As we prepare to launch the final version of our new Web mail service, we recognize the importance of ensuring that our 260-plus million existing customers come over to the new service smoothly and without confusion.”
Hotmail as a name is almost legendary as far as e-mail services go, so it’s cool to see it stick around. Even if the name had nothing attached to it, it sure sounds a lot better than “Live Mail”.
Source: News.com