- 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
Social & RSS Feeds
Latest Videos
Latest News
Tech News
Linux on Audi?
For several years, German automobile manufacturer Audi AG, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, has been steadily migrating its engineering systems over to Linux. The company hopes to finish the job in 2007 and have the bulk of its servers and workstations running 64-bit Linux by the end of the year. Recently Audi, whose longstanding motto is “Vorsprung durch Technik” (“Progress through technology”), has been upgrading to 64-bit Linux in deploying its automotive CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) servers, where simulation software is used in the design of casts, frames, and components, as well as for crash-test simulations and other 3-D visualization problems, as part of the greater migration to Linux.
If the Germans know one thing it’d be smart technology. I recently saw a broadcast showing the inside of VW’s latest factory and high-tech is a huge understatement. Can you imagine cabinets that move -themselves- to other another part of the building to get a certain part to someone? What am I getting at? Linux is a smart move. That’s what!
Wild Predictions for a Wired 2007
Wired yet again has a lengthy list of their speculations for the new year. Included? Googles stock hit $1,000 per share, spam quantity doubles, HD-DVD is preferred over Blu-Ray, citizen spying goes hardcore and life on Mars. Life on Mars? Yeah, life on Mars.
GNOMEs future not so bad
First of all he critized GNOME for not having a clear vision for GNOME 3. Well this is true, but that is mostly due to not having any clear ideas for something that would require a GNOME 3. GNOME 2 came about as a result of shortcomings in GTK+ at the time, causing the GTK+ maintainers having to break API compatability in order to improve for instance the handling various writing languages and fonts.
This article puts to rest a lot of the speculation raised by the recent OSNews article. GNOMEs future looks good, depending on what you are looking for.
Google Misses YouTube Anti-Piracy Deadline
Although YouTube rang in 2007 with a virtual New Year’s Eve festival complete with a performance from Warner Music, live performances and participation from hordes of online members, the company failed to meet its self-imposed deadline to implement anti-piracy protection on its site. In an agreement with Warner Music Group, YouTube promised in September to have an anti-piracy system in place that would feature an “advanced content identification and royalty reporting system.”
Is this the beginning of the end of Youtube? Hard to say at this point, but it’s not looking good. Once again, this is not a surprise as this was one of the key speculations when Google was rumored to be purchasing the site. Still, it may be too early to hold out your RIP signs.
2 out of 5 bosses lie
A Florida State University professor and two of his doctoral students have conducted a study that shines some light on the magnitude of the problem and documents its effects on employee health and job performance. “They say that employees don’t leave their job or company, they leave their boss. We wanted to see if this is, in fact, true,” said Wayne Hochwarter, an associate professor of management in FSU’s College of Business.
This doesn’t really seem like much of a surprise. I think the problem isn’t simply with lying though. Many bosses are on a hardcore powertrip and love to play God in the workplace. My friend recently left a job he loved for pretty much this same reason.
Dell Leaks 27" Display on Website
Earlier this year Dell was expected to release a 27″ enthusiast display even though no manufacturer had announced plans to build on 27″ LCD substrates. However, with Samsung’s announcement earlier this month, it looks as though Dell’s 27″ plans are finally a go. Yet late last week, the product page for the Dell 2007WFP was updated with a “new” image of the product. Much to the confusion of enthusiasts everywhere, this was not the image for the 20″ Dell display announced last year, but the image of a 27″ display that has not been announced yet.
I was really hoping for Dell to accidentally leak one of these babies to my desk, but it didn’t happen. I am not sure who should be getting excited over a 27″ when the 30″ is just a minor step above. The 27″ -would- have great appeal if it could handle the 2560*1600 resolution of it’s bigger brother, but instead it uses the same resolution as the smaller 24″.
I/O Data Vista Approved Tuners
This week I/O Data is launching its new line of TV tuners — the company is ready to set the mark for Vista friendly video hardware. Desktop and laptop user friendly, the TV tuners come in two forms. The first in a PCI (GV-MC/RX3) and the other in external form (GV-MC/TZ). Both units still hold the same capabilities of channeling and capturing. The only difference is the coaxial input on the RX3. The features on both units, according to I/O Data’s Japense news release (English), include S-Video / composite inputs, 10-bit DACs, noise reduction capabilities and guaranteed compatibility with Microsoft Vista.
For the price, I don’t see what these tuners really have to offer. I’m looking forward to seeing what Hauppauge has up their sleeve and will likely see it first hand at next weeks CES. As it stands though, is there actually a problem with using WinXP tuners on Vista? Many people may not even have to upgrade, so upgrading won’t be a consideration.
Does cracking your knuckles really give you arthritis?
Don’t listen to those people that tell you cracking your knuckles will cause you to have arthritis. At this point it’s just a speculation, not wild, but certainly not founded on anything but misconceptions. All you’re doing is playing with the physiology and chemistry of your body a bit.
Being a knuckle cracker myself, this is a myth I’ve heard countless times. I’ve even had people get upset because they literally thought I was hurting my body. As this article shows, there is absolutely no proof that you can get arthritis from cracking your knuckles. It goes on to mention though that if you are seriously chronic, you -will- suffer other problems such as soft muscle tissue.
Code in D?
D is a systems programming language. Its focus is on combining the power and high performance of C and C++ with the programmer productivity of modern languages like Ruby and Python. Special attention is given to the needs of quality assurance, documentation, management, portability and reliability.
If you are familiar with coding in C then coding in D is not going to be a far stretch. You can check out the main site to see a huge code sample which looks identical to C at first glance, but after a deeper look you will be able to see some immediate differences. If you are dying to give a different yet familiar coding language a try, you may want to consider D.
Top 5 MS Paint Masterpieces
It doesn’t take TechEBlog too long to think up a new top 5 list and this one is simply mindblowing. I have always considered MS Paint to be a huge waste of time, except back in the Windows 3.x days when there were not many options available. These people prove that Paint is far from useless though, especially number 1. Imagine what these people could do with a “real” image editor!
Microsoft Habu review
Razer and Microsoft have been known to produce some of the best gaming mice on the market. Not long ago the two competitors teamed up to create a new gaming mouse, the Microsoft Habu. This newcomer to the mouse market is of course packed with the latest technology that the two companies came up with. The design of the mouse is much like the old Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, but you get some unique new features that only the Habu has.
If you were wondering how well Microsoft and Razer could develop a mouse, here’s your answer. It gets a good rating, and has one of the most unique package shapes I’ve ever seen.
5 Predictions for Apple in 2007
2006 is coming to a close, and all anyone can think about (in regards to Apple, at least) is the upcoming Apple Phone…but what happens next? What are we going to be salivating over and speculating about after Macworld? What changes are in store for Apple in 2007? No one knows for sure…but it sure is fun to take a guess…
Included here in the list are a few assumptions that are hardly far-fetched. I am sure Apple will have a huge year and Leopard will be a success, but for the sake of sanity, I hope to see less products they release with another stupid iProduct name.
Firefox creator sketchy of Google
While advertisers compete to be first in a string of lookalike ads that are often shunted to the side, Google now determines the precise position and appearance of ads tips that are not subject to any of the same rules. Its ads get icons while others don’t, and if you think that’s small potatoes, you are not an advertiser: images boost clickthrough. Google can make a Picasa ad say “Easier to use than Kodak,†but Kodak cannot create an ad that reads “Easier to use than Picasa.†And the kicker: neither the highest quality ads nor the highest quality search results can replace these tips.
This blog post goes on to explain in-depth a lot of how Google is starting a monopoly. This doesn’t just affect advertisers though, but also regular users who may be lead to use a subpar application. Although Google makes some solid web-based apps, I cannot really say the same about their desktop apps.
Hackers Claim HD DVD Encryption Circumvented
It hasn’t been completely verified yet, but a user named “muslix64” has posted an exploit in a thread on the Doom9 forum claiming he has been able to circumvent AACS, the encoding format used to protect HD DVD and Blu-ray content. “Muslix64” claims to have completely backed up an HD DVD movie and provides a Rapidshare link to download BackupHDDVD, a small Java-based utility that aids users to backup their HD DVDs.
This was bound to happen, so it’s not much of a surprise. At this point, I don’t think anyone will jump on the HD-DVD bandwagon simply because a crack is made available. The process to rip the disk require some time and effort, and who wants to waste cash on an expensive blank HD-DVD disc, much less the burners themselves? By the time those are within reach for most people, this “crack” will probably have evolved into a program similar to DVD Decrypter.
No 64-bit Photoshop CS3
Adobe plans to build a 64-bit version of its flagship image-editing software, Photoshop, but the upcoming CS3 version isn’t the place to make that plan a reality. “At some point it will make sense to do a 64-bit version. That wasn’t this time around,” said Photoshop co-architect Scott Byer in a blog posting last week, addressing feedback on the public Photoshop CS3 beta asking for a 64-bit version. Issues involving technology, performance and support mean that Photoshop will remain 32-bit software for the time being, Byer said.
I don’t really see a need for a 64-Bit version of Photoshop, but I’m not exactly an editing pro either. It would have been nice to have a 64-Bit version to coincide with the 64-Bit Vista, but we can’t have it all. By the time CS4 comes around it will probably become more of a concern as newer PC’s will likely have a 64-Bit OS and having 4GB of ram or more wouldn’t be considered an oddity.
OCZ Launches GeForce 8800 GTX
Sunnyvale, CA—December 28, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced their exciting return to the world of graphics cards. Leveraging a strong expertise in high performance overclocking memory and the unique needs of PC enthusiasts, OCZ is prepared to deliver a differentiated GPU solution to gamers and enthusiasts with the launch of the OCZ NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB PCI Express.
You can read the full press release here.
Vaporware 2006
Pull back the red curtain and dim the lights. It’s the 9th annual presentation of the Wired News Vaporware Awards, our ode to the year’s top technology products promised, hyped and scheduled, but not delivered. The nominees were chosen by you, our readers, in November. We’ve sifted through the submissions and selected the 10 finalists. The race was tight this year, but we’ve managed to declare a winner. OK, maybe it wasn’t that tight.
It’s no surprise that the Optimus-103 keyboard made the list, but who cares either way with the $1,200 price tag? The #1 is a computer game you can’t really imagine until you check the article out. Yes, there’s some sarcasm there.
Canon Warns of Overheating PowerShots
Canon is recalling a small number of PowerShot A530 and A540 digital cameras that run the risk of short-circuit which leads to overheating. Affected cameras can suffer from extremely hot battery doors and drastically reduced battery life. Canon warns that the spring that holds the battery door on affected camera can become so hot that it could possibly cause burns.
This is definitely the year for hot batteries and it doesn’t look like it will stop. You can learn all about the problem and see what models are affected here.
Is The Good Old Pager Coming Down To Its Final Beeps?
Their real strength is in the medical market, where doctors and hospitals still rely on them because they more reliably penetrate buildings, and they can be used in areas where cell phones are banned due to concerns they’ll interfere with medical equipment (or interfere with hospitals’ revenue from high-price in-room telephones for patients). But the days of the venerable pager look numbered: hospitals’ attitudes about cell phone use are starting to shift, while many are installing WiFi-based systems that offer far greater functionality than simple paging.
I personally don’t know anyone who actually still uses a pager, but there apparently still is a need for them. Even with these new technologies being implemented, I wonder how much longer they will last?
So, What Explains Car Accidents Before Videogames?
Now in New Zealand, the government has responded to a recent fatal car accident involving teenagers by pointing the finger at videogame systems, saying they make teenagers feel “bulletproof” when they drive. Frankly, if you’ve ever spent a day playing a racing videogame, you might find feel this way for a moment when you get into a car, as your brain adjusts back to reality.
This argument is ridiculous. If someone is gullible enough to let a game influence their life like this, then they have deeper problems than what a game can do.
Apple falsifying documents?
The story by The Recorder, a California legal publication, posted on Law.com, quoted “people familiar with Apple’s situation” as saying that federal prosecutors are examining company documents related to how options were handled, and whether those papers were falsified. The article also said Apple CEO Steve Jobs has retained a personal attorney to deal with the matter, raising questions about his own future at the company he helped establish.
Falsifying documents is not a small issue, so it’s going to be interesting to see where this goes. Apple is not exactly a small company, so a “mistake” like this could really cost them.
Why does Windows rule the world?
Vista is considerably quicker, easier and more pleasant to use, and far more stable and secure, than was its predecessor. One of its particular attractions is its more intuitive way of storing, organising and locating files. Included too are better parental controls, a built-in DVD maker, and lots of other improvements. In many ways, especially in its look and feel and ease of use, Vista out-Macs the Mac’s latest operating system—the Tiger version of OS X.
That first line made me laugh out loud, but I do admit that the final version of Vista is impressing me far more than Beta 2. If you pay attention to the OS world at all, you probably already know what will be said here, but it’s an interesting read nonetheless.
More Consumers Reach for D-SLR Cameras
Point and shoot (P&S) digital cameras may offer the advantages of small and light bodies, large LCD viewfinders that can be used for framing pictures, and the ability to capture video, but more and more consumers are being drawn to digital single-lens reflex (D-SLR) cameras. With pricing dropping quickly and manufacturers offering more cost-effective models targeting the lower-end of the buying spectrum, it’s easier than ever for consumers to hop in on the D-SLR bandwagon.
It’s no surprise! You can get incredible quality for a mere $600 – $800 camera nowadays. It really makes you wonder why you spent $400 on that “high-end” point and shoot. The article goes on to mention that Canon and Nikon combined are responsible for 80% of the market and the popular cameras from each brand right now happen to be the 30D and D80.
Windows Vista Activation Cracked Yet Again
The folks over at Engadget have come across another exploit that allows users to permanently activate Windows Vista using crack files and some registry trickery. The TimeStop Vista cracks only works on 32-bit versions of Windows Vista, so those looking to crack 64-bit versions of the operating system may be out of luck.
Of course this crack is made available for “informational” purposes only. What it essentially does is trick the OS into thinking there is always 30 days left before activation. It’s sad that even before Vista is made available to the general public, this becomes available. I admit I am not against this though. Activating is nothing but a pain, especially when you redo your computer as often as I do.
DVD players finally outnumber VCRs
Although DVD players dropped below the magic $100 barrier some time ago, they have only just caught up with the VCR, according to Nielsen. The media tracking firm says that DVD player ownership has finally surpassed VCR ownership for the first time.
It’s about time! They mention that DVD players cost less than $100 nowadays, but at our local supermarkets you’d be hard pressed to find one that’s not around $30. Sure, they are cheap in every sense, but they are helping eradicate VCRs that much sooner.