- 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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PayPal support on Steam
Valve has let us know that they now [finally] accept PayPal on Steam. All of you without credit cards can now purchase that way. It will require linking up your bank account to your PayPal, which is kind of time consuming though. Certainly better than nothing!
Top 10 Girl Geeks
Paris Hilton is continually fraternising with fellow geeks in her show The Simple Life, where she often befriends nerdy boys still living with their parents. Hilton popularised the pink Motorola V3 phone and has starred in one of the most downloaded Internet videos of all time. She might look trendy on the outside, but inside this girl is all binary.
Yes, Paris Hilton is definitely a computer nerd, there is no denying that. This list includes nine other girl geeks, including Lisa Simpson.
GoogleOS: What To Expect
If you asked “what will a GoogleOS look like?” – most people would answer that it’ll be an AJAX-powered copy of the Windows desktop. In other words, a WebOS (aka webtop). To remind you of what a WebOS is, it is basically a virtual desktop on the web and has various built-in applications.
There are many ideas thrown around here, and most of them make sense. Since Google is releasing many web apps that mimic desktop apps, it almost seems like a natural progression to make an OS. They would have to deliver something explosive in order to steal people from the competition though.
Sony Acknowledges PS3 Upscaler Issue
A small number of older High Definition television sets found in the United States only have 1080i inputs for HD signals. Those televisions will currently only play some PS3 titles at 480p resolution. PS3 games render images at either 720p or 1080p for High Definition and you need 720p input on the TV to play select games that do not support 1080p. This is an issue on the side of the individual television sets, which do not accept 720p input, so when a game outputs an HD signal only at 720p, these select TVs have to display the game at 480p instead.
Instead of admitting to the fact that they “forgot” to test this out, they simply blame all of the older HDTV’s. Seems to make perfect sense. All of you affected can sleep tonight knowing that a fix is on the way. There is no timetable, however.
Modding your Xbox 360 to play burned games
There is a video floating around that shows a user by the name of Textbook modding his 360 before your eyes in order to allow it to play burned games. It’s a rather indepth process, but still should only take around 45 minutes to complete. Of course Microsoft doesn’t condone this, and it could also invalidate your Live account. Still pretty cool nonetheless!
NEC Ships 25.5-inch Professional LCD Panel
What sets this LCD apart from the rest of the mainstream is its 12-bit gamma lookup table (LUT), which allows the monitor to display 16.7 million colors out of a palette of 68.5 billion, giving it the ability to cover 92% of Adobe RGB space. This makes it quite attractive for color sensitive applications, such as photography, CAD, medicine and scientific research.
The specs on this beast are impressive, but the only thing that really matters is the fact of it’s color abilities. Normal users will be swayed more towards the Dell 24″ monitor that retails for around $1300 less.
Firefox 2.0 contains fiery password bug
Today, Mozilla made public bug #360493, which exposes Firefox’s Password Manager on many public sites. The flaw derives from Firefox’s willingness to supply the username and password stored on one page on a domain to another page on a domain. For example, username/password input tags on a Myspace user’s site will be unhelpfully propagated with the visitor’s Myspace.com credentials.
This is a rather serious bug that will hopefully get fixed quick. It’s not the fact that someone on your PC can get your password, but rather the fact that some pages can be coded in a way to steal the information without you being aware of it.
Nintendo promises 2 Million Wiis by years end
All 2 million aren’t in the U.S. right now. However, Nintendo plans to restock U.S. distributors and retailers on a weekly basis, according to the company. The console will next launch in Japan on December 2 and in Europe on December 8. Earlier this month, Nintendo said it would ship around 400,000 consoles into Japan this year.
It looks like Nintendo is doing everything right that Sonys doing wrong. If they bring in another 2 Million consoles, that will be 4 Million total to date. Impressive considering the > 400,000 PS3 launch numbers.
Yes, there is an Office 2007 ‘kill switch’
But now Microsoft’s intentions are clear: Just as it is doing with Vista, Microsoft plans to incorporate what basically amounts to a “kill switch” into Office 2007. Office 2007 users who can’t or won’t pass activation muster within a set time period will be moved into “reduced-functionality mode.
One of the “reduced functionality” features is the inability to create a new document. That’s more of a complete lack, rather than a reduction in functionality. Who can blame Microsoft for going to these lengths though?
Linux Flash 9 beta 2 released
As indicated, we’ve been working diligently to fix issues that were found in our original Flash Player 9 for Linux beta. Most notable of these problems is audio output. We are eager for users to test this version and see if the myriad sound problems have cleared up.
If you are a Linux user and want to give the latest beta a go, you can grab it here. It’s mainly audio fixes, but I am hoping that there are other misc. bugs fixed as well.
The Wii Disassembled
There are two ways to take apart the Wii. The first, as demonstrated by Popular Science, involves breaking the Wii open due to a lack of tools. The second method is a more formal Wii disassembly guide, which is provided by InformIT.com. Either way, you can see some detailed pictures of the internals of the Wii and how the parts are laid out. The InformIT.com version also includes an eight minute teardown video.
If you want to see what the Wii looks like inside out, here’s your chance. It’s amazing how much they pack into such a small space.
OCZ Technology Unveils the PC2-9200 FlexXLC with Hybrid Cooling Solution
Sunnyvale, CA—November 20, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the OCZ PC2-9200 FlexXLC 2x1GB Kit, a revolutionary new memory solution that offers unprecedented speed, signal integrity, and thermal management. These new modules feature the new OCZ FlexXLC heatsink that delivers superior heat dissipation via a hybrid copper and aluminum design alterable between passive air or water cooling. As the World’s fastest DDR2, the PC2-9200, in combination with the innovative FlexXLC technology, is considerably the most ground-breaking and unique memory product existing today.
You can read the full press release here.
FBI, NC Soft take down L2 Extreme
AUSTIN, Texas, November 20, 2006— FBI Agents working in conjunction with officials from NCsoft’s® North American business successfully closed down a computer game operation alleged to be reaping profits by providing a fraudulent service to its players. The operation was closed down after multiple raids and interviews were conducted in various cities from California to Virginia.
This is one hardcore win! This private server apparently had an upwards of 50,000 subscribers, so NC Soft is hoping many of those will go legit.
Microsoft owns Linux now, Ballmer claims
MICROSOFT’S shy and retiring boss Steve ‘there’s a kind of hush’ Ballmer might be gearing up to take Linux distributors to the cleaners. According to Linux World, Ballmer is whispering to all who can hear that Linux infringes on Microsoft’s intellectual property.
It appears that Microsoft is not into making new friends, but instead enjoys targeting free operating systems. Not surprisingly though. What doesn’t make sense to me is the fact that he continues to mention about Linux usage of Microsoft IPs, but have yet to hear what IPs they are actually infringing upon!
Toshiba unveils fastest 8GB SHDC
Toshiba has announced what may be the world’s second 8GB SDHC memory card. Alas, Pretec announced just such a product back in September, but Toshiba’s card is faster. It’s a Class 4 device – Pretec’s was a Class 2.
I love large SD cards, but you’d have to be a hardcore shooter in order to want to pay 4x as much just to have double storage over a 4GB card. Not to mention that 4GB 150x cards are far faster than SDHC to begin with, even at Class 4. What I am curious about is when SD cards will actually “max out”. It’s not like these cards are getting physically larger, or are even able to.
Second Life hit by worm
A self-replicating worm Linden Labs dubbed “grey goo” overtook online game Second Life Sunday, forcing the game’s owners to block all logins but their own for about half an hour. According to comments on the company’s blog, the worm planted spinning gold rings in the world.
This is the kind of news that makes morning coffee taste oh so sweet. The latest Sonic the Hedgehog game was released just last week, so maybe someone got far too caught up in it? The sad thing is that even logging into an MMO doesn’t free you from such web anomalies!
Optimus-103 preorders starting soon
The Optimus project has let the world know that they will -finally- start taking preorders for the 103-key OLED keyboard on Dec 12. No info is given on the exact release date however, so they may be just gauging interest first to see how many to produce for the first run. Of course pricing information is not given yet either, but should be on that date. At least I’d hope so.
Game Development with Microsoft XNA
Got game? Easy enough question. Come on, if you are a developer, there is a good chance that the first program you wrote was a game. It might have been a clone of Break Out or PacMan, but at some point you probably thought that it would be cool to write a 3D game—something like DOOM.
If XNA piques your interest and you are a developer to begin with, then a switch over to the C#/XNA environment should prove a breeze. If you are not a developer then hope is not lost, since C# is not that difficult to catch onto. Of course, to make a decent game a lot of coding knowledge will be required. Luckily enough, there are many samples available for you to reference.
PlayStation 3 Launches With Shootings
While the wait is over for those whose patience paid off, the waiting game continues for the rest of the crowd who were greater than the number of machines in stock. After hints of reduced launch numbers which many fans refused to believe, Sony COO Jack Tretton confirmed that there were fewer units shipped to stores than the original target of 400,000. While official numbers are unavailable, the shortfall is expected to be in the tens of thousands.
I am sure that this is not the type of “bang” Sony was looking for on launch day. There are people out there sick enough to shoot others simply to get their grubby hands on a new console. Not surprisingly though, thanks to low launch numbers these stories ran rampant.
Man used MP3 player to hack ATMs
A man in Manchester, England has been convicted of using an MP3 player to hack cash machines. Maxwell Parsons, 41, spent £200,000 of other people’s money after using the machine to read card details. Parsons plugged his MP3 player into the back of free standing cash machines and was able to use it to read data about customers’ cards. That data could then be used to ‘clone’ cards and use them for bogus purchases.
I don’t really understand how an mp3 player can “record” sounds, but that’s besides the point. Another unique and innovative way to rip innocent people off. Whether or not they fix the problem seems to be up in the air.
Playstation 3 taking a hit with each unit sold
Market research firm iSuppli has torn down the PlayStation 3 to see what’s inside. In doing so, iSuppli confirmed what we reported back in February: the PS3 is expensive to manufacture and Sony is taking a serious hit on each console sold.
Sony loses approximately $240 on each premium console sold, and $306 on each “budget” system. Now that’s what I call a loss! Taking these into consideration, you’d think that it would still take a little while for them to make that money back on game and peripheral sales.
AIM 6.0 released
AOL was not the first to provide an instant messaging program, but in the United States at least, they have been by far the most popular. While challenger MSN (now known as Windows Live Messenger) has been steadily closing the gap, AIM is still the instant messenger program to beat. Now, AOL has released a major new upgrade to the application. Version 6.0 comes with a host of new features that AOL hopes will keep them ahead in the IM game.
If you enjoy using bloated software such as AIM, you can read what’s new here. Some notable features include the ability to drag and drop an image into a chat, and also the ability to have a total of 1,000 contacts on your list.
Digital Camera Binoculars 5MP
Here you go, you little creepy pervert. The Pro Viewer BinoCam is a 3-in-1 set of binoculars capable of proving a zoomed view that can also take pictures and record AVI video clips. The binoculars themselves have an 8x zoom. The pictures and video are stored on SD memory cards and can be viewed via the attached 1.5-inch LCD.
Now here is one gadget I’d love to own! Perverted ambitions aside, this could have a real use. There are just some pictures that would be easier to take using binoculars instead of a huge camera.
Bring back deleted files in Linux
There you are, happily playing around with an audio file you’ve spent all afternoon tweaking, and you’re thinking, “Wow, doesn’t it sound great? Lemme just move it over here.” At that point your subconscious chimes in, “Um, you meant mv, not rm, right?” Oops. I feel your pain — this happens to everyone. But there’s a straightforward method to recover your lost file, and since it works on every standard Linux system, everyone ought to know how to do it.
The good thing is that this technique works well, but the downside is that the file still needs to be in use by an application. For example, you delete a music file while it’s playing. Although this is a rare thing to happen, it may pay off in the future.
Why HD-DVD and Blu-ray are dead on arrival
The movie studios and electronics manufacturers think—wrongly—these new high-def formats will extend the market for home-entertainment media indefinitely. Both formats will fail, not because consumers are wary of a format war in which they could back the losing team, a la Betamax.
Though this will not happen right away, the article goes on to explain about the benefits of downloading movies from the internet and also using cable on demand. I must be weird, because I actually prefer owning a physical copy of whatever I hand over hard earned money for.