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- 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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ffdshow/Avisynth with Limited Sharpen how to guides for HTPC users
Sometime ago I started experimenting with Avisynth in ffdshow, for filtering DVD playback in real-time. I soon found an extraordinary Avisynth script written by Didee on Doom9’s Avisynth forums called Limitedsharpen. This script was designed for the pre-processing of video and film prior to being encoded and burned to DVD or stored on hard drives. However I found if its settings were turned down enough it could be used in real time for DVD playback with amazing results and consequently Live TV as well.
Check out the full article at HardwareXL.
SilverStone PP02 Acoustic Cover Review
When one seeks to quiet their computer system while retaining
from eliminating any of their cooling components they often turn to
noise dampening products for their fans as well as turning down the fan
speed. One of the areas often overlooked by enthusiasts is the noise
emitted from the power supply. With us for this review, we have the
SilverStone PP02 Power Supply Acoustic Cover, which is a simple yet
unconventional product for silencing your system.
Check out the full review over at Phoronix.
The Future of Computer Memory: 2GB+
The old 32-bit processors that we all loved such as the Intel Pentium 4 and the AMD Athlon XP, could not address more than 4GB of memory. While this was an issue the move to 64-Bit computing did away with those concerns. Did you know that the current Intel Pentium 4 (EM64T) and AMD Athlon 64 (AMD64) desktop computer processors can handle 1024GB (1 Terabyte) of memory…
Check out the full article over at Legit Reviews!
Fox Heading ‘Back to the Future’?
Michael J. Fox is heading Back To The Future for a fourth time-traveling movie. The actor, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, admits he’s in negotiations for a final film in the series – but only if they make his character as old as he is in real life. The former Spin City star wants to take over Christopher Lloyd’s eccentric scientist character, Doc, in the sequel.
This is not really tech news, but these movies were so great. I’m glad to see that another is likely in the works. Who would have thought? IMDB
Teen’s blog confession forces him to plead guilty in fatal crash
Blake Ranking was a Eustis High School senior and still aching from a horrible crash three days earlier when he posted those words on blurty .com, a site for Web logs.
“It was me who caused it. I turned the wheel. I turned the wheel that sent us off the road, into the concrete drain . . .,” he wrote as his best friend, Jason Coker, 17, lay in a coma at Orlando Regional Medical Center. “How can I be fine when everyone else is so messed up?”
Blogs are a serious business, so I don’t know why anyone would post anything that they want to retract later. At least he get’s what he deserves. Check it out at Sun Sentinel.
PearPC 0.4 Released
PearPC, the PowerPC processor emulator capable of running Apple’s Mac OS X on x86, has released version 0.4.0 after more than a year’s wait. “This is the first release with G4 support by Daniel Foesch (you have to enable it in your config). Other features include support for native CD-ROMs (no need for images) and endianess safety (i.e. you can run PearPC on big-endian systems).” The full changelog is here, downloads are here.
If you feel like testing your patience and to have a little fun, check it out.
Seagate to acquire Maxtor for 1.9B
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.—21 December 2005— Seagate (NYSE: STX) and Maxtor (NYSE: MXO) today jointly announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Seagate will acquire Maxtor in an all stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Maxtor shareholders will receive .37 shares of Seagate common stock for each Maxtor share they own. When the transaction is completed Seagate shareholders will own approximately 84% and Maxtor shareholders will own approximately 16% of the combined company. The value of the transaction is approximately $1.9 billion.
Read the full Press Release.
3 men charged in Xbox tampering
U.S. prosecutors have charged three men with copyright infringement for allegedly selling modified Xbox consoles that enabled the original video game machine from Microsoft to play pirated games.
The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday named ACME Game Store co-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei “Patrick” Cai, 32.
There’s no way that these dudes didn’t see this coming. What do you expect.. really? Check it out at News.com.
New Keyboard Has Just 53 Keys
The Tech Zone is reporting on a new style of keyboard with just 53 keys. Departing from the normal QWERTY keyboard setup the ‘New Standard Keyboard’ designed by John Parkinson measures just 12.5 inches wide x 5 inches deep x 1 inch thick and is arranged in alphabetical order. The keyboard has been designed with ergonomics in mind keeping all keys within easy reach of the home position. The only question is, will everyone be willing to relearn how to type?
If you check out the article at the Tech Zone, I really can’t understand how that is a better layout. We are all used to the way to type now, so why bother changing. Check out the posting at Slashdot.
Google Acquires 5% of AOL
CNN is reporting that Google just acquired a 5% stake in AOL for $1 Billion, shutting Microsoft out of the deal.” Under this new agreement, among many other things, Google Talk will now interface with AOL’s instant messenger according to the announcement on Google’s site. From the announcement: “Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said: ‘AOL is one of Google’s longest-standing partners, and we are thrilled to strengthen and expand our relationship. Today’s agreement leverages technologies from both companies to connect Google users worldwide to a wealth of new content.’
In addition, Google is giving AOL $300 Million credit to purchase adwords. Wow, I don’t really see how Google wins. Check out the posting at Slashdot.
Hardware Roundup for Dec. 21
There’s a ton going on today! Centon is one memory manufacturor that doesn’t seem to get too much attention, but they seem to push out some very worthy modules. InsaneTek is taking a look at some of their DDR2 memory, and the only downside is that it’s only 1GB. Viper Lair is taking a look at the Corsair Voyager 4GB thumb drive, which we also took a look at a few weeks ago. They put it through many benchmarks and some unique tests!
If you are all about high-end, then you may want to check out GamePyres review of the Plextor PX740A burner. It doesn’t have an S-ATA connector like the 716SA, but it’s still a very worthy contender. If you are looking to buy a new laptop, but want to be able to game on it then you will want to check out Bit-Tech’s review of a great setup from Alienware, which comes with a 6800 Go!
- Mapower MAP-H31SS 3.5″ eSATA External Enclosure – Big Bruin
- Thermaltake Mambo – A1 Electronics
Cases & Enclosures
- CoolJag JFK-1 Heatsink – Pro-Clockers
- EKL V8 AMD Athlon64 Heatsink – Frosty Tech
- Sunbeam Silent Storm – TweakPC
- Thermaltake Volcano 4005 – NV News
Cooling
- Centon Advanced A2X512S26400LL 1GB Dual Channel Kit – InsaneTek
- Corsair Flash Voyager 4GB – Viper Lair
- Kingston 2GB DataTraveler Elite AES-128 Encrypted – PC Stats
Memory & Storage
- ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe – Bit-Tech
- Asus A8R-MVP Radeon XPress 200 – GamePC
- EPoX 8NPA+ SLI – Motherboards.org
- EPoX EP-5LDA+ GLi – Overclockers Online
Motherboards & CPU’s
- Bluetake BT450Rx I-PHONO Mini Headphones – Hardware Pacers
- HEC Win Power 480W – Techniz
- Logitech G7 – ByteSector
- mCubed miniNG 2 Channel Fan Controller – Think Computers
- Plextor PX740A Dual DVD/RW – GamePyre
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- ATI All-IN-WONDER X800XL PCI-E 256mb – Tech-Mods
- ATI Radeon X1800 CrossFire – AnandTech
- Gigabyte GV-RX18L256V-B Radeon X1800 XL 256MB – Hexus
Video Cards & Monitor
- Alienware Area-51 m5700 notebook – Bit-Tech
- ARP Survey Contests – Rojak Pot
- Lenovo ThinkPad Z60t 2513 – Trusted Reviews
- Only 11 more days in the Extensive Mods “Holiday Ditty Contest” – Extensive Mods
- Universal Virus Database – Think Computers
- Verizon Motorola RAZR V3c – Design Technica
- VIA VT310-DP SFF – SFF Tech
- X-Micro Video MP3 400 – TweakPC
Etcetera & Contests
Improved KDE Startup Performance
According to these blog posts from SUSE/Novell KDE developers that include bootcharts showing KDE startup, recent performance improvements in fontconfig and KDE/Qt have a noticeable effect on startup times. KDE can even match Xfce startup time (both 5 seconds on a 900MHz laptop) when some KDE features are turned off to match Xfce more closely in terms of functionality.
If you want to improve your KDE boot time, check out the blog post here. I find it takes more time to load the kernel than KDE, but that could be just me.
Must… Have… More… Bandwidth!!
US broadband providers are in the midst of a speed boost, offering new, higher tiers of speeds — even as high as 50 Mbps — and demanding higher prices. As Om Malik points out, it’s all about the money: increasing the bandwidth to customers doesn’t cost these companies all that much, but it’s something for which they can charge a lot more.
I’m pretty happy with my 3Mbps connection, but I would likely pay extra to have that higher, but 50Mbps! That’s crazy fast. Check out the posting at Tech Dirt.
Windows Vista and Longhorn Server Build 5270 Released to Testers
The Windows beta team is pleased to announce the availability of Windows Vista and Longhorn Server build 5270. This release is the December Customer Technology Preview (CTP). This build is not beta quality but is offered as a preview or our progress towards Beta 2. It will allow you to confirm bugs that have been fixed and begin testing features that have been added since build 5231.
I wonder which servers would trust beta software, besides Microsoft, to actually be reliable? At any rate, check out the post over at AnandTech.
No Cellphone SIgnals in Movies?
Looks like the National Association of Theater Operators (NATO) is going to petition the FCC to allow theater owners to actively block all cell phone signals. Already a reality in France (and they know from rude), NATO thinks this is more than an appropriate action, rather than trying to hand out fines. Of course, Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association spokesman Joseph Farren doesn’t quite get it.
I don’t even go to see movies, but this clearly makes sense to me. Read about the prospect at Gizmodo.
Worm traps alleged child porn offender
An alleged child porn offender in Germany turned himself in to the police after mistaking an e-mail he received from a computer worm for an official warning that he was under investigation, authorities said on Tuesday.
Can you say owned? It goes to show that porn offenders are just as gullable to spam as anyone. Check out the full read here.
New Possible Record Prime Number Found
The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a distributed computing project, has probably found a new record prime number. Two verification runs have started; no errors were found in the initial calculation. The number of primes found lately, four in just over two years, is higher than previously expected. This prime is just under 10 million digits, which means that one of the participants in the project makes a good chance to obtain his or her part of the EFF prize of $100,000 for the first prime of over 10 million digits in the coming months. In 2000, one of the Gimps participants collected the $50,000 reward offered.
Numbers like this boggle my mind, but it’s certainly impressive. Read more over at Slashdot.
Hardware Roundup for Dec. 20
Phoronix is taking a look at the TT Muse today, which is almost just a silver version of what we reviewed two months ago. Either way, it’s a great looking HDD enclosure, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. Not only do they have that review, but also are looking at the Sharook Rainbow TC fan… you have to go read the review to see how cool that thing is.
Ever play games and wish that you could feel that bullet? Legit Reviews is taking a look at the Buttkicker Gamer, which you strap to your chair. It’s essentially a lotta bass and will rock your world. For more normal looking speakers, head over to XYZ for their review of the gorgeous Logitech Z-4i speakers.
- Thermaltake Kandalf Aluminum – Driver Heaven
- Thermaltake Muse A2293 – Phoronix
Cases & Enclosures
- Sharkoon Rainbow TC – Phoronix
- Thermaltake Big Typhoon – Pro-Clockers
- Vantec Mach 1 MP4-7015-FC Athlon64 Heatsink – Frosty Tech
Cooling
- G.Skill High End DDR400 RAM – TweakPC
Memory & Storage
- Gigabyte GA-K8N51PVMT-9 – InsaneTek
- Intel ‘Black Creek’ 955X Motherboard – Viper Lair
- ITX form factor mainboard with integrated ATI graphics – Hexus
Motherboards & CPU’s
- Logitech Z-4i 2.1 Speaker System – XYZ Computing
- Spire DigiPanel II – A1 Electronics
- The ButtKicker Gamer – Legit Reviews
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- NVIDIA 6800GS 256MB – techPowerUp!
Video Cards & Monitor
- Alienware Aurora 5500 – UK Gamer
- Beginners Guides: Dual OS Installation of WindowsXP 32-bit/64-bit – PC Stats
- Creative Zen Vision:M, More Launch Details – UK Gamer
- Intel Digital Home Capabilities Assessment Tool – Hexus
- Justcom JC-104A KVM – GamePyre
- NHJ MPM-201 30GB MPEG4 Personal Video Recorder – Big Bruin
- Notebook Samsung X20 XVM 1730 V – Technic 3D
- What is Blu-ray Disc? – Bona Fide Reviews
Etcetera & Contests
Creative’s Fatal1ty 1010 Gaming Mouse
At first glance, the Fatal1ty 1010 exudes aggression. From the enormous red target at the peak to the scooped tail, the flat black shell of this beast resembles the throttle of a Stealth Bomber after a brutal assault from Jeremy Piven’s Razr in Entourage. Think James Bond playing Super Mario in a suit. The small red trigger resting behind a sunken thumbhole further enhances the carnivorous look which is balanced by a pristine glowing white Fatal1ty logo.
This mouse is certainly interesting, but has potential. To see what Creative is up to, check out the article over at eSports.
Rag Doll Kung Fu Guy Goes it Alone
I’ve left Lionhead – a very hard decision for me, but one I have made – my current plan is to spend rest of this year finishing the map editor with Alex, get the free demo out (sorry about delay on this – it’s in Valves hands as to when and how they release it), and then set up a dev team, to make a new game next year, with Alex and Dave, who helped out on Rag Doll. (This time, it will be full time, none of this spare time business, TOO TIRING!) I would like to point out that I didn’t leave Lionhead on bad terms or anything, it was just time for a change really (I was there from the very start!).
Best of luck to Mark, I can’t wait to see what he can make of this new startup. Check out the posting at Shacknews.
5 Million WoW Subscribers!
IRVINE, Calif. – December 19, 2005 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft, its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed five million customers worldwide. The subscription-based MMORPG launched approximately one year ago in North America, Australia, and New Zealand and has since released in multiple countries throughout Europe and Asia.
Wow, that is truly amazing! Check out the posting at Shacknews.
Hackers find first Xbox 360 cracks
A group called “Team PI Coder” claims to have found a way to extract the source files of Xbox 360 games as they get loaded onto the console. The glimpse at game code represents the first move toward hacking the Microsoft device, said Steve Manzuik, a security product manager at eEye Digital Security.
It certainly didn’t take long, but Microsoft is confident that their console is very secure. It is only a matter of time before we see piracy happen though, just like on the original Xbox. Check out the article at ZDNet Asia.
Classic Doom with New Tech
[T]here are always those of us with fond memories of 1993 and the original Doom game, and just going around… well kicking ass. When Doom 3 was released, I decided to try my hand at mapping. I had no idea where to start so I figured I do something relatively easy by today’s standards – the angular corridors of The Ultimate Doom’s E1M1. So I did, and I enjoyed it. I finished the first version of it, and saw with the knowledge I had developed in the process of making it, that it was pretty bad. So I remade it. Scrapped that and remade it again. I developed this version and as I developed it, I changed things about the game and turned it into the basis for a mod. The mod is Classic Doom for Doom 3, and will feature the first episode of The Ultimate Doom. Not sure where we will go from there.
Check out the full posting at Linux Hardware, and grab the download through a link they provide.
Hitachi works on five terabyte hard drive
A report in the Nikkei Business Daily said that Hitachi GST is developing a five terabyte 3.5-inch hard drive aimed at the PC market. But Santa Claus and his reindeer are not about to drop it into your Christmas stocking any time soon. The newspaper said that Hitachi is aiming to bring it to market by 2010.
Wow, that is a lot of space. I can fill my 500GB, but I am not too sure about 5000GB. I guess things may be a little different in 4 or more years though. Check out the posting at The Inquirer.
Microsoft drops Mac IE
The minority of Mac users still browsing with Internet Explorer need to consider moving to another browser very quickly, as Microsoft plans to discontinue support for IE beginning Dec. 31.
I’m surprised that anyone still used IE when there are far surperior browsers available, such as Safari and Firefox. Check out the full posting here.