Some say that money is the root of all evil. However, Archbishop Vincent Nichols believes that social websites such as Facebook and MySpace are just as wicked, pulling teens out of reality by de-sensitizing one-on-one personal relationships, leaving them unable to cope when social networks crumble. He said that social websites do not produce "rounded" communities, but rather leaves teens with impoverished friendships.
"We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point," he said in an interview with The Telegraph, referring to the extensive use of texting and emails. "Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanizes what is a very, very important part of community life and living together."
His public stand is a result of last week's suicide resulting from "spiteful" messages on Bebo. Megan Gillan, a student at Macclesfield High School in Cheshire, swallowed several painkillers after fellow students posted mean comments about her clothing and overall appearance.
According to the Archbishop, social websites contribute to the current trend of amassing large numbers of friends, emphasizing the collective, and can eventually lead to suicide. "They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they're desolate," he said.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Bishop: Facebook, MySpace Leads to Suicide
ke low yat beli pc membe..
semalam aku g low yat nan membe aku..aku, tok wan, abg helmi nan bard..kteorg bergerak dr melaka pkl 10 pagi..smpai sane pkl 12.30tgh ari..mase smpai sane xramai sgt ar rakyat jelate kat low yat tu sbb awal ag an, so sng ar nak berlari ke sana kemari..tepat je pkl 1 org dah ramai dah..hahahaha..brg yg pertama aku kene cari adelah graphic card a.k.a. gc aku..kedai pertama tanye stok gc aku die kate xde, kedai kedua kate xde, kedai ketiga pon kate abes stok..lam ati aku ase cam nak meraung jerk, aku kene beli gc sbb gc lame aku tu aku jual kat membe aku..tu yg aku kene beli baru..huhuhu..pastu kedai ke-4 aku g aku tanye die kate ade stok, pastu die tunjuk kat counter bayar..pastu dgn selambe die kate baru je ade org beli..arghhhh..tu stok last pulak..abes aku..aku ckp lam ati mmg aku xde rezki kot nak beli gc arinie..then aku g kedai last skali..aku tgk stok brg die, cam xde..then aku tanye ar amoi tu "errr..ini gc GTS250 XFX ade stok x?" pastu die kate ade..pastu aku ckp ar "cpt2 sy mau ini brg, reserve tok sy, sy mau angkat ini brg" pastu die trus g amik kat stor kedai..yeah akhir aku dpt gak..hahahahaha(lam ati heppy gile..tatau nk ckp camne)..harge gc tu RM480 tunai..hak3..dah dpt je gc aku, aku trus g carik brg membe aku lak..dpt la sume brg2 lam list yg die nak an..budget kire2 kat umah RM1600, tp bile beli je kat sane total die RM1450..hak3..best gile tawar menawar nan org low yat nie(sena nye dah pro nak ayat ape lau hage mahal..sbb dah salu beli brg kat low yat..huhuhu)..kah3..gc aku tu pon hage RM500, aku tawar2 dpt ar best price RM480..lau x xdpt ler RM480..untung aku RM20..
pas dah beli sume brg2 tok wan, aku g ar tanye2 sal hp lak..aku sena nye teringin nak beli hp baru..hp yg aku cari SE W980..huhuhu..lawa design die cam org corperate nye phone..agpon sound die pon best an..so aku g la carik kedai2 yg aku nak g..kedai first aku tanye hage AP nan ORI nye..doe kate AP RM680, ORI RM800..aku pon blah ar je ar..kedai kedua AP RM780, ORI RM990..ag mahal ar..then aku tanye mamat cine tu sal kedai seblah nye murah an..die kate warranty lain, die kate die nye warranty 2 tahun..aku ckp o0w2..then aku blah gak..yg ketige nye kedai lak ag mahal..AP RM800, ORI RM1100..hurmm..yg nie aku pelik sket..mls nak tanye byk2 so blah je ar..kedai last aku g aku tanye harge AP RM650, ORI RM 780..tp warranty 2 thn gak..pastu die de ckp lau brown colour hage lain..hurmm..aku tanye ar ag..lau sy mau angkat 3 hp trus bape die mau bg an, aku mintak ORI ar..die kate RM2340, xde trun harge lgsg cam siot jerk, aku mintak kurang ar an..lam RM760/hp, die kate "aiyo ini sulah ckup mulah woo, sy pon talak lapat untung manyak.." pastu aku mintak ar RM770/hp..die ckp RM775..aku pon ckp la later2 sy dtg balik ar..tp bkn today ar..hahahaha..then aku blah jerk..tggu abg Helmi punye lame..hak3..5 jam dok low yat..lame seyh..dah ar sesak nan rakyat an..pastu kteorg pulang la ke melake yg gemilang n terbilang..
nie ar gc nan hp yg aku nak..huhu
WTF..nape xde LAN for Diablo III??
adeh..sal ar blizzard xmo letak lan kat diablo 3? aritu kat starcraft 2 pon same..haish..sedey tol ar..blizzard kate sbb die nak wat battle.net so cam main online ar..pe slh nye letak LAN an..hurmm, ag1 blizzard kate die wat camtu sbb xnak ade org beli pirate nye DVD, sbb tu dorg xmo letak LAN(tau2 je blizzard org kat sini suke pakai pirate..kah3)..siot tol ar blizzard..ilang mood aku nak main diablo 3 nan mat..nak tau lebih lanjut g ar Tom's Hardware.
pegi UITM lendu nganta membe + geram + cuci mate =)
ari ahad pkl 8.30mlm aku nan membe aku bertolak dr pangsepuri ttu berape tah lupe lak..huhuhu.. g anta membe aku Muiz (lau sape kenal bgs la..lau yg lupe tu kuang ajo).yg pegi smlm aku, mat, sood nan muiz ar an..huhuhu..smpai sane lam pkl 9.10mlm, pastu muiz ajak lepak g minum mamak jap..so g je ar lepak..yg paling aku geram nye mamak tu cam p*k***k sh**l l*nc** c**** (tapes tok bdk2 bwh umo.hak3) sume ade ar, ktoerg tggu 15 mnt xdtg mintak order..so pggl la, dtg2 die lap meje jerk pastu blah, perghh makin nyirap aku nan kwn2 aku..at last sood naik angin sudah, mmg tepat lak de mamak tu anta air kat dak blakang kteorg an, sood pon pggl sound direct..HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..sumpah aku xpenah nmpk sood camtu..kah3..pastu xsmpai 15 mnt air dah smpai, sah mamak tu dah cuak..kah3..pastu aku sambil minum sambil tgk dak2 uitm, perghhh sume lawa2 doe..rambang mate tgk..hak3..tp aku de gak jumpe minah yg aku agak minat ar dlu sbb cute gile tp dah ade bf, so mls nak kacau..lau tatau bgs, lau nk tau carik la sendiri..hahahaha..aku wusha je ar minah tu, tp die xpasan aku kot, biase ar dah lupe kot sbb lame xlyn die dah..hahahha..so aku pndg la awek2 yg ade di persekitaran mamak yg cam sh**l ag bangang..kah3..tp mmg ar, awek2 uitm lendu sume fist class beb..hak3..nak banding kan nan utem nie cam kurang jerk..ahahhaa(kejam doe aku nie..tp aku ckp yg jujur jerk =p ).mase si minah tu nak balik an, die de toleh blakang, die pndg aku..aku ase die dah ingt kot sape aku..hahahahaha..aku senyum jerk =) . pastu kteorg berangkat pulang ke pangsepuri ttu yg aku tatau bape..kah3
p/s: sape2 nak awek cun g uitm lendu jgn dok utem k..hahahahaha
fisrt day g class..tp xpegi sbb sesat..kah3
arinie aku bgn awal cam biase, sbb nak g class (tp sena nye xnk g MALAS).aku bgn lam pkl 7am, mls nak kejut dak2 nie bgn saje bg dorg lmbt(join xyah g class) hak3..then aku bace je la kosmo online until pkl 8.30am, ade ag 30 mnt class mau start..tah camne tah perasaan aku berubah nak g class pulak, so aku kejut la arib, zaki nan nafiee ajak g class, wat2 baru bgn tido ar konon nye..hhahaha(pandai berlakon doe).pastu dak2 cepat2 siap, tp cpt2 siap pon lam pkl 9.30 baru gerak, siot tol..tah sape ar lmbt, nafiee xikot..aku soh die dok umah, jadi suri rumah..kah3..pastu smpai kampus induk lam pkl 9.45, smpai2 g ar carik class merayau 1 blok ftmk tu..perghhh xjumpe shial blk kuliah die..padahal nak carik 2 blk kuliah jerk..dekat 30 mnt kot kteorg mencari class, call dak2 yg g class sume kate class kat ujung..g ujung blok xde pulak class die, perghh mmg kepenatan tahap gaban + panas ag an..fuh3..pastu call ag dak2 nie tanye class katne, tgk2 dorg dah kuar class, class dah abes daa(tambah panas ag)..aku tanye ar dak2 nie class katne, rupe nye class die kat ujung dekat nan pintu masuk ftmk daaa..perghhh saba jela..
source by : pengalaman dr pkl 7am - 12.30tgh ari =)
StarCraft II LAN Dropped Thanks to Piracy
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Blizzard's long-awaited RTS game StarCraft II would not offer LAN support when the first installment eventually goes retail. In fact, Blizzard's VP of game design Rob Pardo confirmed the company's lack of support during a recent interview with IncGamers, making a firm statement that Blizzard has no plans for LAN support whatsoever. To add insult to injury, Pardo didn't--nor anyone else over at Blizzard--bother to explain the reasons behind the non-existent LAN support decision.
The news caused a negative ripple effect across the gaming community, with many heated fans vowing to boycott StarCraft II and condemning the company, and even lit up the local Tom's comments system. A petition soon found its way online, asking Blizzard to insert LAN support within StarCraft II rather than forcing gamers to rely on Battle.net alone for multiplayer action. The petition has a current total of 16,398 signatures, and even lists five reasons why Blizzard should reconsider LAN support.
However, yesterday Bob Colayco from Blizzard's PR department further explained the company's reason. According to his statement to Joystiq, Blizzard is focusing primarily on Battle.net as the multiplayer gaming destination for all Blizzard titles. "While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy," he said.
Colayco went on to provide minimal details regarding Battle.net and StarCraft II, saying that advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking and additional features require the player to be connected to the service. "We're encouraging everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to get the most out of StarCraft II," he added. "We're looking forward to sharing more details about Battle.net and online functionality for StarCraft II in the near future."
StarCraft II fans will get their first taste of the multiplayer portion sometime this summer with the release of a public multiplayer beta. This first installment of the StarCraft II trilogy, Terrans: Wings of Liberty, is expected to ship by the end of the year, with Zerg: Heart of the Swarm and Protoss: Legacy of the Void to follow thereafter.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
USB 3.0 May Arrive on PCs by Q4 2009
Based on NEC Electronics and a recent convention, it's quite possible that PC's featuring USB 3.0 will hit the market by the end of the year.
The July edition of Nikkei Electronics Asia is reporting that PCs featuring USB 3.0 may ship from Taiwanese manufacturers by the end of the year. The verdict stems from the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference recently held in Tokyo May 20-21, displaying numerous prototypes containing the upcoming technology that included PC hosts transferring data to connected external SSDs, and "mutual" interoperability between components from different vendors. NEA's Tadashi Nezu said it was clear that the industry is quickly pushing forward with compliant integrated circuits and more, and that the technology has actually matured since its earlier showings.
According to the article, one of the major factors accelerating the USB 3.0 commercialization is the shipment of the world's first USB 3.0 host controller. Manufactured by NEC Electronics Corp of Japan, the company originally introduced the device last month by providing a working sample, however the company believes--or rather predicts--that mass production will begin by September, consisting of a million units a month. This alone suggests that PCs containing USB 3.0 integrated circuits will begin to ship before the end of the year. NEC estimates that by 2011, 140 million units containing USB 3.0 will have shipped; 340 million by 2012.
"Industry observers predict the move will provide major impetus for the development of device controllers for peripherals such as external hard disk drives (HDD)," Nezu said.
Outside the promised 5 Gbps transfer speeds, Nezu also pointed out one of the biggest benefits stemming from USB 3.0: high-definition video streaming via isochronous transfer (data transmitted without interruption). An unspecified source--a measurement equipment engineer--said that the new technology should be able to handle 1080i HD video streams, "maybe more." However, the initial applications utilizing the new technology are expected to include external hard disk drives.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Search Google and Bing Simultaneously
Google or Bing, why choose?
Over the last few weeks there’s been a lot of back and forth about which is better, Google or Bing. Some of you love Microsoft’s new search engine and others just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Google.
Well now you can search both at the same time. It’s a pretty simple idea, similar to the Firefox add on that shows you Google results on one side and the relevant Wikipedia article on the other side. Go to www.bing-vs-google.com (or www.google-vs-bing.com) and type in your search. Hit enter and you’ll see Bing results on the left and Google on the right. From there you can refine your search for either one without starting all over again, or alternatively you can use the Bing vs. Google search bar at the top to have the two search engines run a new search simultaneously.
It’s a neat little tool designed by Croatian web developer and IT journalist, Domagoj Pavlesic in just a few hours. We love the idea but the URL doesn’t do much for us. What’s with the hyphens? People would likely have to change their homepage to bing-vs-google.com before they’d use it regularly. That said it’s a great way to compare results from the two. Anyone plan on using this? I’ll probably give it a shot for a few days, at least until the novelty wears off.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
No LAN Support or Consoles for StarCraft II
According to Blizzard, there will be no LAN support for StarCraft II, nor will the game be available on the current game consoles.
Yesterday IncGamers posted a recent interview conducted with three Blizzard masterminds working on the upcoming PC game, StarCraft II. Although the first installment of the game is slated for a Q4 2009 release, the interview took place during Blizzard's multiplayer sneak peek event during the third week of June. Talking with VP of game design Rob Pardo, lead producer Chris Sigaty, and lead designer Dustin Browder, the interview covered topics such as the overhauled Battle.net service, the map-making community, the single player story, LAN support and more.
According to both Browder and Sigaty, support for local area networking (LAN) was still a topic of discussion, nether confirming nor denying LAN capabilities. However, Pardo immediately provided a profound "no," saying that Blizzard does not have any plans for LAN, nor will it offer support. Apparently, the only multiplayer option provided by the game will be through Blizzard's free Battle.net service.
Unfortunately, this probably means that StarCraft II will not offer the "Spawn" feature as seen in the original StarCraft game, allowing owners to install the game on up to eight machines using one product key. "Spawn" copies featured local multiplayer support as well as access to Battle.net, however these "lite" versions locked players out of single-player games, the campaign editor, and block tge ability to create multiplayer games.
In addition to the LAN support, IncGamers asked the team whether StarCraft II would appear on the current consoles. Pardo replied by saying that there's a zero percent chance of console versions in the future. "In our opinion we just don't feel like we will deliver the type of RTS game that we've been creating [on consoles]," he said. "We have tried in the past, we actually tried the original StarCraft on Nintendo 64. It works, it's playable, it's just such a different playability gameplay experience than on PC and we really don't want to have it be that different."
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, will be the first installment expected to go retail in Q4. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void serves as installment two and three, respectably. All three installments will provide 26 to 30 missions each, and will not offer cliffhanger endings.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Facebook VP Slams Intel, AMD Server Chips
Facebook’s Vice President of Technical Operations says that new chips from AMD and Intel don’t deliver promised performance increases.
During an interview with GigaOm founder Om Malik at GigaOm’s Structure ‘09 conference, Facebook VP of Technical Operations Jonathan Heiliger was asked about unexpected problems the company had experienced while trying to keep up with Facebook’s growing population.
"The biggest thing (that) surprised us is ... less-than-anticipated performance gains from new micro-architectures -- so, new CPUs from guys like Intel and AMD. The performance gains they're touting in the press, we're not seeing in our applications," Heiliger told Malik. "And we're, literally in real time right now, trying to figure out why that is."
Heliger went on to declare that OEMs just “don’t get it.”
“You guys don't get it. To build servers for companies like Facebook, and Amazon, and other people who are operating fairly homogeneous applications, the servers have to be cheap, and they have to be super power-efficient," said Heiliger. “And that doesn’t just mean putting in a really highly efficient power supply. It means going all the way down, basically starting at the wall outlet, all the way to the processor and figuring out how to optimize that power path,” he continued. “Google has done a great job designing and building its own servers for this kind of use.”
Check out the full video of the interview here.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Iran Uses AMD for Rocket Research
A research institute in Iran claims that it built a high-performance computing system using AMD CPUs.
According to a document provided by the Aerospace Research Institute of Iran (ARI), it used dual-core AMD Opteron CPUs to build a high-performance computing (HPC) system for rocket research. Apparently, the SuSE Linux-based HPC system originally booted with 32 cores, but now provides a whopping 96 cores at 192 GFLOPS. The story originally appeared in the print version of Computerworld, and since its publication, the Iranian research facility has removed the documentation and related website.
Outside the obvious issues with rocket research utilizing American technology, the big deal here is that AMD processors are not allowed within Iranian borders due to technology trade embargo. "AMD has never authorized any sales or shipments of AMD products to Iran or any other embargoed country, either directly or indirectly," the company said in a statement.
However, according to Mehdi Noorbaksh, an associate professor of international affairs at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania, Iran buys most of its technology on the black market. "That market provides Iran with what the authorities need for these projects," Noorbaksh said.
The ARI's disclosure is not the first American-embedded device to appear in Iran. Computerworld reports that technology from the U.S. is widely available in the country, and many Iranian firms actually advertise computer components, networking products and even servers from many U.S. vendors on their websites.
Windows 7 Successfully Installed on a Pentium II
What are the minimum system requirements for running Windows 7?
When Microsoft made the Windows 7 RC available, it also issued an official list of system requirements for anyone hoping to install the OS:
* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1GB of main memory
* 16GB of available disk space
* Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)
Not exactly monstrous and the same as what you needed to run Vista years ago. That said, one Windows enthusiast decided to push the limits and in a kind of “how low can you go” scenario, managed to get Microsoft’s latest OS running on a Pentium II at 266 MHz CPU, 96 MB of RAM and a 4 MB graphics card.
The user hackerman1 posted about his efforts on the Windows Club Forums for the world to see and his fellow posters we, like the other users on the forum, were suitably impressed. Hackerman1 said he did three different tests (128 MB, 96 MB and 64 MB of RAM). Of these, he had success with both 128 MB and 96 MB, while his 64 MB attempt returned error messages reading “insufficient memory.”
Hackerman1 went on to say that he also has a Pentium I with a 166 MHz CPU and a 1 MB graphics card and says if he can dig up the PSU, he’s going to test that next. Check out the screenshots below.
No Wallpaper Swapping in Win 7 SE
Users, OEMs and Microsoft partners will not be able to change the wallpaper within Windows 7 Starter Edition.
While many consumers anxiously await the arrival of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system, recently controversy has surrounded the Starter Edition version. Originally, SE would only allow three programs to run in the background at one time, however Microsoft eventually relented and lifted the restriction. Albeit not quite as drastic, now another restriction has surfaced: the inability to change the desktop wallpaper.
According to Within Windows, consumers cannot swap out the original windows wallpaper, change the colors or sound schemes. Apparently the same now holds true for OEMs and partners, a feature said companies normally modify in-house before shipping to retail outlets. Although Windows 7 Starter Edition isn’t available on the market, Microsoft recently confirmed the SE’s upcoming limitation in a short but firm statement.
“In Windows Starter Edition, OEMs must not modify or replace the Windows-provided background for Windows Welcome, the logon screen, or the desktop,” the company confirmed.
As of this writing, Microsoft has not yet revealed the official desktop background for SE. Consumers wanting to switch out the wallpaper for images of Fluffy or the in-laws will need to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. However, it’s highly likely that a wallpaper workaround will be available online long before the OS makes its debut this October.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Intel Reveals Core i3, i5, i7 CPU Naming System
Lynnfield, Clarksfield, Arrandale, Clarkdale – all codenames for upcoming Intel chips based on the latest architecture and all very confusing.
Today we know that the “Core” family for the performance segment goes mainly from Core 2 Duo to Core 2 Quad all the way to the top with Core i7. But with Core 2 on the way out to be replaced by new CPUs later this year, Intel needs to sort out its naming and branding conventions to that consumers will be able to figure out what they’re buying.
Intel corporate communications manager Bill Calder wrote in a blog post, “Today the Intel Core brand has a mind boggling array of derivatives (such as Core2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, etc). Over time those will go away and in its place will be a simplified family of Core processors spanning multiple levels: Intel Core i3 processor, Intel Core i5 processor, and Intel Core i7 processors.”
“Core i3 and Core i5 are new modifiers and join the previously announced Intel Core i7 to round out the family structure. It is important to note that these are not brands but modifiers to the Intel Core brand that signal different features and benefits,” Calder added.
The new Core line will be naturally be position from bottom to top Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. The odd-numbers convention makes sense with the possibility that some consumers may confused Core 2 Duo and Quad with 2 and 4.
The desktop processors codenamed Lynnfield, which are due this fall, will marketed as both Core i5 or Core i7, depending upon the feature set and capability. Interestingly, all Clarksfield mobile chips will have the Core i7 name.
The lower-cost line will remain mostly unchanged with the Celeron being the entry point, the Pentium for basic computing and the Atom doing what it’s been doing to the netbook and MID segment.
“For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer,” said Calder. “This will be an evolutionary process taking place over time, and we acknowledge that multiple brands will be in the market next year including older ones, as we make the transition. But overall this is a good thing, designed to make it easier and more rational over the long run.”
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Windows 7 Build 7232 Leaks, Has New Wallpaper
The latest Windows 7 leak shows wallpaper freshness.
Windows 7 build 7232 has leaked onto the Internet. Some believe that this is one of the last builds before Microsoft stamps its upcoming operating system with the RTM status, but the company has estimated that the release to manufacturing won’t happen until late July.
Nevertheless, there’s still progress since the first release candidate build 7100 – mostly in the area of drivers and application compatibility. There is one immediately noticeable change in the latest build, and that’s a new wallpaper that replaces the betta fish that we’ve seen ever since the first public beta build 7000 from January.
What you see below could be the final wallpaper that users will see loading up Windows 7 for the first time. It also provides a detailed look at the revised Windows logo, which features cues from nature, for this generation of operating system.
The same logo was first seen on the mockup shots of the Windows 7 retail box. Of course, with the bevy of new wallpaper choices included in Windows 7, the default logo wallpaper probably won’t remain on the desktop for long.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Nvidia Considering AMD's Globalfoundries
Recently Expreview sat down with Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO and co-founder of Nvidia, and discussed a round of hot topics that included the company's relationship with Intel and AMD, its stance on VIA, and even its take on Larrabee, Intel's upcoming GPU with general purpose computing. But the surprising little tidbit of news stemming from the interview was the revelation that Nvidia is currently in talks with Globalfoundries, a spinoff manufacturer from Nvidia's rival, AMD/ATI.
According to Expreview, Huang previously said that Nvidia was working on three models based on 40nm. Despite this, there were reports that TSMC had problems with 40nm yields. During Computex, TSMC supposedly fixed the issue, and reported that it expects to ship GPUs based on the revised 40nm process soon. However, Expreview asked if Nvidia planned to seek another OEM similar to Globalfoundries.
"Globalfoundries is a leading silicon foundry with advanced and outstanding processing technology," Huang said in the interview. "We’re seriously evaluating and discussing about the possibilities of working with them. As to TSMC, we do regard it as a world-class silicon OEM with flexible strategies. We’re working very closely together."
Along with a possible partnership with Globalfoundries, Huang reiterated that Nvidia doesn't have plans to enter into the CPU market, nor does it have plans to acquire VIA. As for the company's loss in Q1, Huang blames the weak demand on the global economic recession. He also said that Nvidia did extremely well in Q3 2008, but when the market condition changed in Q4, Nvidia found itself over-stocked. He said that this massive amount of product--along with the recession--actually influenced Q1 2009 sales figures.
"But now, we've reduced the inventory greatly to lower the risk," he added.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
More Americans Go To Facebook Than MySpace
Facebook bypassed MySpace in terms of total U.S. visitors for the first time in May, as Facebook's popularity in terms its user base continued to rise.
Facebook pulled in 70.278 million unique visitors in the states, compared to MySpace's 70.237 million, according to data released by ComScore. That made Facebook the most popular site in the U.S., in terms of visitors. Just a month earlier, Facebook had a little over 67 million U.S. visitors behind MySpace's 70.9 million.
A year ago, in May 2008, Facebook was at 36 million unique visitors compared to 73.7 million for MySpace.
Worldwide, Facebook continued its wide lead over the News Corp.-owned MySpace. In May, Facebook had more than 307 million users, compared to MySpace's 123 million.
Facebook first surpassed MySpace in global visitors in April 2008. The social networking sites were neck-in-neck with Facebook at 116 million and MySpace at 115 million. That gap widened the following month, as Facebook logged almost 124 million visitors and MySpace dropped to 114.5 million.
MySpace Cuts Staff by 30 Percent
MySpace is not having a good week.
On the same day that news broke about Facebook overtaking MySpace in number of U.S. visitors, the social networking site confirmed Tuesday that it will reduce it workforce by 30 percent.
The layoffs cut across all U.S. divisions of the News Corp.-owned MySpace, and bring the total number of domestic staff at the company to 1,000 workers.
"Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company," MySpace chief executive Owen Van Natta said in a statement.
"I understand that these changes are painful for many," Van Natta continued. "They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product."
Van Natta, who previously served as chief revenue officer and vice president of operations at Facebook, was named MySpace CEO in April.
"MySpace grew too big considering the realities of today's marketplace," said Jonathan Miller, News Corp's chief digital officer. "I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate much more effectively both structurally and financially moving forward."
Nvidia Intros New GPUs for Over 100 Secret OEMs
New chips give twice the performance but idle at only half the power -- a good mix for a mobile chip.
Nvidia this week announced five new additions to its mobile GPU family that boast up to twice the speed with only half the idle power draw as the previous generation of chips.
The new chips are all a part of the 200M series (G210M, GT 230M, GT 240M, GTS 250M, GTS 260M) and are based on the still-current G200 architecture and built on the 40-nm process.
According to Nvidia, the GTS 260M and 250M GPUs are for enthusiast notebooks; GT 240M and 230M GPUs are for performance notebooks; and GeForce G210M is for mainstream notebooks.
The new additions to the 200M series also mark two firsts for Nvidia: full DirectX 10.1 compliance and use of DDR5 memory.
The GTX 280M and GTX 260M, even though based on 55-nm G92 designs, will continue to occupy Nvidia’s top-end offerings.
Nvidia claims that the GTS 260M with its 1 GB of DDR5 memory running at 3,600 MHz on a 128-bit interface is nearly as fast as the GTX260M, which makes it a compelling alternative given the power savings and the added battery life that comes along with it.
Nvidia said that it has over 100 notebook design wins “in the bag” but can’t disclose any of them due to NDA commitments. We'll just have to wait and see who will be first out the gate with one of the new chips.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Kingston Launches 128 GB USB Stick, Costs $546
Remember how impressed we all were once upon a time when we saw a USB thumb drive? It was clearly the most convenient and portable of all storage devices thus far, even if it only held data in the “megabytes” range.
That was then, and this is now; and today Kingston makes all of our USB sticks look puny with its introduction the DataTraveler 200, the world's first 128 GB USB Flash drive.
"The new DT200's robust storage capability lets consumers store complete libraries of music, photos and videos. It is also a great tool for business users who carry around large databases or files," said Andrew Ewing, USB business manager, Kingston. "The password protection helps safeguard data and requires no admin rights, making the DT200 a terrific solution for the home or office."
Kingston didn’t reveal the speed of the drive, but did say that it’s fast enough to be compatible with Windows ReadyBoost.
With a drive that big, it’d be a viable solution for a user to load onto it an entire OS, programs and even media files. The DT200 is also available in 32 and 64 GB models. The 128 GB model will be a special order item, so don’t expect to see them on store shelves.
Prices are $120 for the 32 GB; $213 for the 64 GB; $546 for the 128 GB.
What would you do with a USB stick that big?
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Sign Up for Outright.com, Get a Free Domain
Domain names don't cost that much anymore, but they're usually not free. Starting this week, though, through the end of July 2009, you can get a free domain name and Web site from Network Solutions for one year by signing up for Outright.com.
Outright.com is a free online accounting solution designed for startups and very small businesses that need help tracking income and expenses and planning for estimated taxes. Outright integrates with services like FreshBooks and Shoeboxed to make data input easier.
I like Outright and have reviewed it favorably, though it's early in the site's life -- I'd expect to see even more integration in the future, and would love to see it evolve into an even more robust site. As it is, it's extraordinarily helpful to get an estimate of your estimated taxes based on your income and expenses.
Outright.com is designed for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs who file a Schedule C tax form, says the company. Outright.com plans to introduce fee-based services at some point in the future, but the company says that the core service for self-employed individuals will remain free.
Originally posted to the PCMag.com @Work blog.
Rumor: New Core i7, Celeron Soon
Intel plans to launch the Celeron E3000 series and a new Core i7 processor during the second half of 2009.
DigiTimes is reporting from un-named motherboard sources that Intel is invading the entry-level CPU market with two new processors from the 45nm Celeron E3000 series. Set for a third quarter release, The Celeron E3200 will feature a core clock of 2.5 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, an 800 MHz FSB, and a 65 W TDB. The Celeron E3300 will offer the same base features, but will provide a slightly higher core speed of 2.5 GHz and support for VT-x virtualization (Virtual XP on Windows 7).
Additionally, Intel's Core i7 960 processor is set for a release in the fourth quarter, offering a core clock frequency of 3.2 GHz, 4.8 GT/s bus speed, 8 MB of L3 cache, and a 130 W TDP. The CPU will replace the reigning champ, Intel's i7 950 clocking in at 3.06 GHz, and even looks to go neck-and-neck with the i7 965 Extreme Edition, also with a core clock of 3.2 GHz (but offers QPI bandwidth).
In the mobile department, the dual-core Atom D510 CPU for netbooks also shares the same timeslot, followed by the single-core Atom D410 processor in Q1 2010; both are replacing the Atom 230 and 330 processors. This is also the same launch window Intel plans to release Pine Trail, the new platform that will offer only two components: the CPU/GPU/Memory controller Pineview package, and the Tiger Point I/O controller. Pine Trail is expected to reduce material costs for OEMs.
Intel said that it does not comment on "unannounced products" thus, we're reduced to classifying this bit of information as rumor only.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Microsoft Decides No IE with Win 7 in Europe
Microsoft has come up with its own solution to the whole EU antitrust issue that has been plaguing the company since January of this year: don't ship Internet Explorer with Windows 7, but only in Europe.
Citing a confidential memo that was sent to PC makers and seen by Cnet News, Cnet yesterday reported that the company plans to offer a version of its latest operating system, Windows 7 to Europeans but without the browser. Computer makers would then have the option to add the browser back in, ship another browser or ship multiple browsers.
“To ensure that Microsoft is in compliance with European law, Microsoft will be releasing a separate version of Windows 7 for distribution in Europe that will not include Windows Internet Explorer," the Redmond company said in the memo to PC manufacturers. "Microsoft will offer IE8 separately and free of charge and will make it easy and convenient for PC manufacturers to preinstall IE 8 on Windows 7 machines in Europe if they so choose,” the company continued, adding that “PC manufacturers may choose to install an alternative browser instead of IE 8, and has always been the case, they may install multiple browsers if they wish."
This sheds new light on yesterday’s news in which European regulators were said to be investigating whether or not Microsoft had pressured PC makers into voting against a ‘ballot screen’ solution that would see users choose their own browser the first time they connected to the internet.
Microsoft confirmed that the document seen by Cnet is legit and as far as we can tell, however, the company’s solution offers PC makers the choice of browser and not the user. Do you agree with this remedy by Microsoft? Let us know in the comments below!
Click here to see the original story.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Microsoft Will Release Free Antivirus 'Soon'
BOSTON, June 10 (Reuters) Microsoft Corp is getting ready to unveil a long-anticipated free anti-virus service for PCs that will compete with products sold by Symantec Corp and McAfee Inc.
A Microsoft spokesman said on Wednesday that the world's biggest software maker is now testing an early version of the product with its own employees and that it will "soon" make a trial version available via its website.
Shares of Symantec and McAfee, the top two makers of security software, tumbled in November after Microsoft disclosed plans to launch the service as investors worried that they will lose sales to the free product.
Microsoft has said that it will only include basic features for fighting viruses, which would likely make it comparable to the least-expensive products sold by Symantec and McAfee.
Their top selling products are security suites that come with features include encryption, firewalls, password protection, parental controls and data backup. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Battlefield 3 Confirmed, Not Dated
John Pleasants, chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, confirmed today that Battlefield 3 is currently in development over at DICE, making it the next full installment in the Battlefield franchise. John disclosed the information during a presentation at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference in Chicago. Battlefield 2, also published by Electronic Arts, was released back in June 2005 using the Swedish developer's Refractor 2 engine; Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam serves as the series' first two installments.
According to Pleasants, the game is shaping up. "I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," he said during the presentation. "Of course, that's not in [this] fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good." And of course, he's not going to say anything negative about the game seeing that EA has invested millions into the project; his comment serves as the unofficial official pre-press announcement that the game does actual exist.
News of Battlefield 3 has surfaced many times before. Nearly two years ago, a features list surfaced, originally intended for EA investors but somehow "leaked" onto the Internet. Apparently the game was to be set in modern day times, taking place somewhere in the Middle East. The game was also to feature up to 40 players per team on eight different maps. In addition to in-game replay functionality, customizable characters, and unlockable equipment, both factions would have access to its own arsenal of 17 different weapons and 24 different vehicles. The game was even slated for a Q4 2008 release, however that obviously never happened.
Still, if the original plans hold true, Electronic Arts may release a public beta for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OS X before the game goes retail. Based on Pleasant's revelation, Battlefield 3 won't be a possibility until after March 2010, maybe even during the holiday season.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Asus Vows to Make Products Better Than Apple
In the world of computing, Apple has always been admired (or at the very least, noticed) for its design. No matter what a diehard PC may feel about Apple, there’s little argument that style is a big part of the company’s products’ luster.
Asus is now aiming directly at Apple. Instead of competing against rival PC OEMs, the Taiwanese computer maker is looking straight at making better products than Apple.
“Our goal is to provide products that are better than Apple’s,” said Jonathan Tsang, the vice chairman of Asus, in an interview with the New York Times.
Tsang added that Asus spends a large portion of its funds on engineering, which leaves little left over for marketing campaigns. Instead, Asus hopes to win over consumer spending with more innovative designs.
While Asus’ products today are rarely compared to Apple’s, there’s no question that Asus is innovating with its Eee product line. Asus pioneered the netbook with its early Eee PCs. Now Asus is working on a whole new computer form factor by putting the hardware directly inside a keyboard paired with a built-in screen, set for a release late June.
Asus will soon also compete against Apple in the mobile phone arena with its partnership with Garmin.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Microsoft: Windows 7 Won't Save PC Recession
Despite Apple trying to rain on Microsoft’s parade during WWDC09, pointing out that Windows 7 is still built off of Vista roots, many are looking to the upcoming Windows release to be the one that gets it right, giving the sagging PC industry a much-needed shot in the arm. But Microsoft is cautious when it comes to suggestions that Windows 7 will be able to single-handedly turn around the recession in PC buying.
“History would tell us that generally as you ship a Windows release into the market... the bump is very modest," Microsoft senior vice president Bill Veghte said in a CNet story. "You will see a little bit, but it is modest."
While consumers are eagerly awaiting Windows 7--which is timed well with the holiday buying season--businesses aren’t so ready to spend IT dollars in upgrades. Microsoft doesn’t seem that worried, however, staying confident that the dollars will roll back in once the economy improves.
"It will get drowned by the macroeconomic environment," he said in the speech, which was Webcast on Microsoft's investor Web site. "As the macro environment comes back, people will have to buy new PCs. People aren't using PCs any less."
Dell hopes that Windows 7 will have a significant boosting effect on PC buying, as the computer-making giant saw its quarterly earnings fall by 63 percent. Michael Dell said that the company is preparing itself for a “powerful replacement cycle,” which could be referring to Windows 7 and new CPUs based off of Nehalem.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Left 4 Dead Fans Boycott Sequel
Over 21,000 members have joined a Steam group set out to boycott the upcoming Left 4 Dead sequel.
Last November, Valve Software blew away gamers once again with the release of its zombie-themed first-person shooter, Left 4 Dead. For the uninitiated, Valve is infamous for the Half-Life franchise, releasing the initial installment on the PC back in 1998. The game utilized a highly modified version of id Software's original Quake engine, and brought a new level of cinematic detail to the FPS genre. Half-Life 2, released in 2004, used the company's in-house Source engine, and re-affirmed that Valve Software was still a first-class developer after six years of remaining silent.
After spending most of its development years working on the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Team Fortress titles, Valve thus acquired the new Left 4 Dead IP from Turtle Rock Studios in January 2008; it immediately became a huge success when released the following November. Valve took fans by surprise last week at E3 by announcing a sequel to the hit zombie FPS, Left 4 Dead 2, set to hit retail outlets in November 2009, just one year after the original title's release. Normally sequels bring joy and happiness to fans yearning for more, however this particular announcement left many fans thoroughly disgusted.
In fact, over 21,000 gamers have now joined the L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2) Steam group, a gathering of individuals who have pledged to do just what the title states: boycott the upcoming sequel. The biggest fear, it seems, is that Valve will discontinue L4D content updates that was originally promised to consumers, rendering L4D prematurely obsolete. The group clearly requests that Valve honor its commitment to periodic content, that the new "sequel" be released as free content instead, and that L4D owners be given discounts for L4D2 should it be released as premium content.
"The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming," the site states. "The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead." Of course, it's possible that Valve plans to address existing L4D copies by providing a premium pack that will add the improvements and content provided in the retail version of L4D2. In other words, Valve may supply consumers with two options: upgrade the existing version by purchasing a premium pack, or buy the new stand-alone game.
According to this screenshot, Valve's apparent answer to the L4D2 boycott is to distribute threats of banishment or to delete forum posts altogether. However, it's understandable why Valve would want to keep some form of "positive" order in its forums. On the other hand, fans have every right to be concerned in regards to L4D2 and how it will affect the original title. Keep in mind that development on L4D began in mid-2005, and hit retail shelves three years later. In the case of L4D2, only one "development year" has passed. Naturally, fans are going to question the overall quality.
"Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. We asked Doug about the overall development process in regards to the IP and expanding the L4D story across multiple sequels, however we have not received a response.
AMD: We're Launching an Atom Killer in 2010
Nvidia’s Ion made a huge splash at Computex 2009 and it looks like AMD is trying to get in on some of the action. According to a report, the company is preparing an Atom rival, which will launch in 2010.
Digitimes this week reports that AMD CEO, Dirk Meyer has revealed the company is currently developing a platform that features lower-power, smaller-sizes, more complete functionality, and a cheaper price than Intel's Atom for netbooks, with an expected delivery date for samples set for 2010.
Nvidia last week announced a list of 20 ‘Ion Partners’ who would be debuting products running on the chip at Computex. With Tegra taking care of MIDs for Nvidia and Intel’s plans to bring the Atom to handheld devices, we can’t help but feel AMD is a tad behind the times with this one. That said, according to Digitimes, Meyer emphasized that products based on the company's newest platform will be notebooks as opposed to netbooks. Meyer says he believes the term "netbook" will soon become obsolete as the quality of ultra portable, low-end computers improve.
At Computex, Intel was all about mobility and Atom products, particularly in NAS products and home theater products. It will be interesting to see what Intel has on hand for the 2010 year.
Check out the full story here.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Nvidia: GPU Failures Not Affecting Our Orders
In July of last year, Nvidia admitted in an SEC filing that some notebook chips were failing at “higher than normal rates.” According to the filing, Nvidia said it would incur a $150 to $200 million charge for the quarter, with the money covering warranty, repair and return and replacement.
A stock-bloodbath such as this is never good news for a company, however, vice president Ujesh Desai said at this year's Computex that, despite the effect on Nvidia’s reputation, computer builders are still choosing the company’s graphics cores and are actually increasing their usage this year. According to Electronista, Desai said that trying to fix the problem quickly helped preserve much of that business. "None of the OEMs held that against us or anything," Desai is cited as saying. "I think we stepped up and we did a good job with how we handled that."
That said, just because OEMs have all but forgotten, that doesn’t mean Nvidia’s problems are over. In May of this year, news got out that five people were suing Nvidia. The group feels that the measures undertaken by Nvidia are not enough and are seeking full replacement of the faulty chips along with unspecified damages.
Rather than recall faulty notebooks, manufacturers of laptops affected have gone through certain steps to help cover the problem. HP and Dell extended warranties and released new BIOS software that increased the fan speed to better cool the GPU – hopefully warding off any defects from showing up. Apple promised owners of the GeForce 8600M GT-equipped that it would repair for free any faulty GPUs within two years of purchase date, regardless of Apple Care coverage.
"This is a grossly inadequate 'remedy,' as it results in additional manifest defects, including, without limitation, further degraded battery life, system performance and increased noise in the Class Computers," the plaintiffs said in a legal filing.
"Worse, this 'remedy' fails to solve the actual problem. Instead, this measure only ensures that the Class Computers will fail after the OEM's express warranty period expires, potentially leaving consumers with a defective computer and no immediate recourse," the lawsuit continues. "Finally, even after this purported 'update,' video and system performance is still degraded due to unacceptably high heat and part failures.
We’ll keep you posted on how the suit turns out but it seems Nvidia thinks that it has done its part for the consumer, while its customers think differently. Do you think Nvidia’s effort to remedy the situation fell short? Let us know in the comments below.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Nak rested for a while..
aku baru je pas wat pembedahan pade 24 jun.. so wat mase nie nak rehat kat umah aku kat kajang..insyaallah ag 2 mggu aku kembali beroperasi balik..huhuhu..seeYaa! =)
New 45nm AMD CPUs Coming in Q3 2009
AMD plans to move its production line to the 45nm manufacturing node in Q3 while releasing a few new 45nm processors before the end of the year.
In an attempt to reduce costs, AMD plans to move its production line to the 45nm manufacturing in Q3 of this year. The Sunnyvale, California-based chipmaker already has two products currently using the next-generation processing: the quad-core Phenom II X4 800 and 900 series (Deneb), and the triple-core Phenom II X3 700 series (Heka). From a price and performance standpoint, these two processors have helped AMD compete against its main competitor, Intel, in the CPU market currently dominated by the rival chipmaker.
However, AMD is moving additional CPUs over to the 45nm processing as well, starting with the dual-core Phenom II X2 500 series (Callisto), and the Athlon II X2 200 series in June. By September, AMD will have added the quad-core Athlon II X4 600 series and triple-core Athlon II X3 400 series (Rana) processors. These should help AMD fend off Intel's assault when the rival company launches its three quad-core Lynnfield CPUs in the third quarter.
In addition to moving its desktop CPUs over to 45nm, AMD also has plans to launch several CPUs between Q2 and Q3 2009, most notably with the dual-core Phenom II X2 550 and 545 hitting the market by the end of the second quarter. The third quarter will see a large helping of new AMD releases: the quad-core Phenom II X4 945 (95W) and 8xx (95W), the triple-core Phenom II X3 7xx (95W), the quad-core Athlon II X4 630 and 620, the triple-core Athlon II X3 435 and 425, and the dual-core Athlon II X2 250, 245, and 240.
According to DigiTimes, there are also plans to release ten low-power consumption CPUs as well, including AMD's Phenom II X4 905e, Phenom II X3 705e and Athlon II X4 605e. These round out to a relatively great release schedule for the second half of 2009. A little competition between companies only means better products for the consumer.
Source : DigiTimes
Ubuntu: Muslim Edition (Sabily) Review
A while back I looked at the Christian Edition of Ubuntu (that distribution has been cancelled apparently as per the note on its site). This time around I was pleased to find that there was a Muslim edition available. So I gave it a download and thought I'd add it to our collection of Linux distribution reviews.
Before I get into this review, let me state that ExtremeTech does not endorse any particular religion or any religion at all. We respect all people of no faith and all people who have faith. As you have probably figured out by now if you've been reading the distribution reviews I've been doing, I like looking at all kinds of operating systems. Some are more geared toward one niche and others to another. So a Muslim edition of Linux is certainly worth adding to our collection. 
However, if reading about a religion related distribution bothers you then I have the perfect alternative to provide you with endless hours of enjoyment: reading my stuff! That's right, you can visit my ET column archive and savor thousands and thousand of words I've written over the years on various topics. If that's not enough for you then you can also visit the tech blog I hardly ever update and you can also browse my clips site or the iPhone Software Reviews Blog I started but then later abandoned.
So don't say that you couldn't find anything interesting to read if this review doesn't float your boat okay? And please, no comments in the thread for this review about how you didn't come to ET for religion, blah, blah. Nobody is forcing you to read this review and you've been provided with fantastic alternatives featuring yours truly. So hit the links above and be on your way if you have issues with a religious related review.
Mystery virus strikes FBI, U.S. Marshals
The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service were forced to shut down parts of their computer networks after a mystery virus struck the law-enforcement agencies Thursday, according to an Associated Press report.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that it had disconnected from Justice Department computers as a precaution after being hit with the virus, while an FBI spokesperson would only say that it was experiencing similar issues, according to the report.
"We too are evaluating a network issue on our external, unclassified network that's affecting several government agencies," FBI spokesman Mike Kortan told the AP.
The virus' type and origin are unknown, but spokespeople for both agencies said agencies' access to the Internet and e-mail was shut down while the issue was evaluated.
Government regulations require agencies to report any security issues to US-Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), but a call to CERT late Thursday for comment was not immediately returned.
Blaster Transformer Disguises as Laptop, USB Hub
While Soundwave the Decepticon definitely had cooler mini-cassette minions, Blaster the Autobot had way more style.
We don’t see people carrying boom boxes around with them these days, however, but laptops are commonplace – which is exactly what this new Blaster transforms into. Keeping with the USB theme, this one functions as a four-port hub – for your other Transformers Ravage and Grimlock USB gadgets, naturally.
Like all the other gadgets before it, this one is pricey at $60 and won’t be shipping until September.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Dinobot Transformer Goes From T-Rex to Mouse
Yesterday we brought you images of awesome Ravage Transformer USB drive. Today we bring you another melding of Transformers and computer technology with the Trypticon Decepticon command base and Grimlock Dinobot, which both transform from Tyrannosaurs into mice.
While both look far less like their classic Transformer counterparts than Ravage, it’s still more than enough to tickle the nostalgic parts of us.
With three buttons and an 800 dpi sensor, it’s not a lot of mouse for the money at $60 – but if you’ve gotta have it, it’ll be shipping in September.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Ravage Transformer is Best USB Stick Ever
Those who remember the classic first generation of Transformers will know that Ravage the Decepticon transformed into a cassette tape.
These days we no longer store our audio recording on analog tape, but rather in digital data. The Ravage of today would transform into another small-portable media form such as a USB stick. And here we have it:
At only 2 GB and $43, it’s definitely not cheap (and not shipping until September). But die-hard Transformer fans and collectors have probably already decided that they must have it.
Hopefully we'll get to see a USB Laserbeak next.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
More Guesses of Windows 7 Releasing in October
Now that we know that Windows 7 will be hitting us sometime this year in final form, now all the questions are aimed at narrowing down the date.
We heard from Acer executives that Windows 7 will be out on October 23, which sounds plausible, but there’s no other evidence to back it up. Today we have a couple other new entries in the guessing game.
Gathering statements made by Microsoft employees and charting it on a calendar, ComputerWorld figures that Windows 7 will hit RTM (release to manufacturing) on August 11. The magazine believes that if Microsoft follows the same schedule it set for Windows XP, the new OS should be out on October 11.
The next guess comes from long-time Windows journalist Paul Thurrott, who wrote in the final part of his Windows 7 RC review, “Microsoft also says it will finalize Windows 7 in mid-August and deliver it to the public in time for the 2009 holiday season. I can tell you, however, that the general availability date is a lot more specific than that: You'll be able to get the final version of Windows 7 publicly on October 15, 2009, according to the current schedule.”
While we don’t have any hard dates yet, and we won’t until Microsoft is ready to tell, it looks like everyone is betting on making it out well before Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Nvidia Says Intel Pricing is Anticompetitive
Nvidia has thrown in its two cents regarding Intel’s processor pricing and the company’s fine from the EU.
AMD made sure to comment on the news right off the bat and even posted the news on its website, but there hadn’t been a word from the Nvidia camp. In an interview with Reuters, Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia this week accused Intel of unfair pricing.
Huang told Reuters that the reason why netbook makers don’t use Nvidia graphics is because Intel’s atom by itself is more expensive than purchasing a three-chip set (Atom with motherboard and IGP). According to Reuters, Huang says Intel prices its Atom processor $45, but sells a three-chip set for $25 to lure business away.
Intel, of course, is pooh-poohing the whole idea, claiming it competes fairly.
"We compete fairly. We do not force bundles on any computer makers and customers can purchase Atom individually or as part of the bundle," Bill Calder, a spokesman for Intel told Reuters. "If you want to purchase the chip set, obviously there is better pricing."
Since Intel got smacked with a fine from the EU to the tune of $1.45bn experts say the company can expect to see a ton of civil suits from competitors. Will Nvidia be one of them? Not for now, says Huang.
"I hope it doesn't come down to that," he said, but did not rule out the possibilty completely. "We have to do whatever we have to do when the time comes. We really hope this company (Intel) will compete on a fair basis."
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Survey Says Microsoft Winning Mac vs. PC Battle
By now we’re very well acquainted with the back and forth game that Apple and Microsoft play with their television ads.
Apple’s ran those “I’m a Mac” ads for years, which hopes to convince the customer that Macs are cool and easy to use, while PCs are for boring accountants who like being riddled with computer problems.
After years of that, Microsoft recently launched a reported $300 million ad campaign that includes the Laptop Hunters television commercial series. The Laptop Hunters series shows fictional – but somewhat realistic – shoppers looking for a notebook. The running theme in each ad is that the MacBook is too expensive and the PC is the better buy.
Those ads are working.
At least that’s the findings of a study done by BrandIndex, who asked 5,000 people whether or not they believe they get good value for their money from a PC or Mac.
Apple had its highest BrandIndex rating in late winter, according to Ad Age, with a score of 70 on a scale of -100 to 100 (zero means neutral). Apple today sits at a much lower rating of 12.4.
Microsoft sat near zero in early February to a value-perception score of 46.2 presently, noted the report.
The shifts found by BrandIndex in value-perception are interesting in that Apple fell as Microsoft rose. Could this be attributed to Laptop Hunters? Perhaps, which also strikes at a particularly price-sensitive time in the consumer market.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Asus Supercomputer Motherboard Revealed
Asus finally launched the official product page for its upcoming P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard, built on two Nvidia nForce 200 chips and 7 PCIe slots.
Asus finally launched the official product page for its upcoming P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard, built on two Nvidia nForce 200 chips and 7 PCIe (Gen2 x16) slots. Mainly designed for CUDA parallel computing, the company said that users can shove four CUDA cards into the board (one of which should be a Quadro graphics card) to achieve nearly four teraflops of performance. Additionally, for consumers wanting tons of power on the gaming front, the new motherboard not only offers Nvidia GeForce 3-way SLI support, but also provides support for ATI's CrossFireX technology.
According to the specs, the motherboard is compatible with Intel's Core i7, i7 Extreme, and Xeon processors utilizing Intel's X58 + ICH10R chipset. The board also offers a system bus of up to 6400 MT/s, and six DIMM slots for a maximum of 24 GB of DDR3 memory using a triple channel memory architecture. On the storage front, the P6T7 provides six SATA (3 Gb/s) ports, two eSATA (RAID 0,1), and two SAS ports (RAID 0,1). For consumers who have loads of USB devices, the motherboard even comes packed with 12 USB 2.0 ports.
Asus also revealed several company-specific features supplied on the motherboard including a true 16+2 phase power design, support for CrashFree BIOS 3, EZ Flash 2, a CPU parameter recall, and a stepless frequency selection. For the workstation, the package contains a bundled diagnosis card for system checking, Asus' SASsaby card support, a diagnostics LED that checks key components during the boot process, and the Asus Heartbeat, LEDs that supposedly shine around the ASUS brand name after a successful booting process.
"The ASUS Workstation Series is the ideal foundation for a powerful PC," the company states on the product page. "It delivers awesome power, dependable performance and unparalleled multiple I/O scalability for the most demanding tasks and future upgrades. Also, it provide extreme power saving experience with EPU-6 Engine function. The ASUS Workstation Series intelligently reduces operation noise and dissipates heat through advanced and environmentally friendly methods to accommodate user needs."
As of this writing, the motherboard is not available on the market, however the company should release an official announcement soon regarding its availability and pricetag.
Source : Tom's Hardware US
Terminator Salvation ( jom jom jom )
Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, “Terminator Salvation” stars Christian Bale as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
p/s: lau nak tgk gtau aku..t aku nak beli ticket..hehehe!!28 may tau..midnight!!
AMD/ATI Beats Nvidia to the 1 GHz GPU Milestone
AMD boasted today that it has delivered the world’s first 1 GHz GPU. Is this a new product? Not exactly.
What AMD has done is that it has taken an ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics card, which normally runs at 850 MHz, and overclocked it to 1 GHz at the factory – air cooled – and voila, you have yourself the world’s first shipping 1 GHz GPU part.
In fact, if you had your own Radeon HD 4890, you might be able to reach 1 GHz too. Of course, AMD does have the advantage of binning parts to make sure that those with the most headroom get separated for this new SKU.
The flip side of that equation also means that any GPUs that aren’t able to hit the 1 GHz mark on just air cooling will be relegated to just the old “regular” pile, which will cap speeds at which the Radeon HD 4890 will run.
Look out for these juiced up video cards from Asus, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, Gecube, Gigabyte, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), ITC, Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, Sapphire Technology and XFX.
Stay tuned for our hands on with one of these cards where we'll put it up against a 'vanilla' reference board.
Interestingly enough, this is the second time that AMD has beat an arch rival to the 1 GHz milestone. Back in 2000, AMD beat Intel to the 1 GHz punch with its Athlon. Remember that? Take a trip with us down memory lane as we look back on Chris Angelini’s review of the AMD Athlon 1 GHz during his more innocent and much younger days.
Hackers Assault Facebook with Devious Phishes
On Thursday, the popular social networking website Facebook was the subject of a phishing assault after hackers successfully compromised several accounts.
On Thursday, the popular social networking website Facebook was the subject of a phishing assault after hackers successfully compromised several accounts. As a result, many passwords were stolen, thus allowing the hackers to send phishing emails to other Facebook members listed as Friends. Currently Facebook's security team is working on "cleaning up the damage," and has blocked the compromised accounts until further notice. Fortunately, the problem hasn't spread across the entire 200 million user network, only affecting a small portion of accounts.
Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said Thursday that the phishing emails urged users to click on provided links to fake websites. In turn, these websites--www.151.im, www.121.im, and www.123.im--were designed to resemble the Facebook home page. The victim, thinking they're logging back into the real Facebook, unknowingly provides their user names and passwords to the hackers controlling the fake websites. With the login info in hand, the hackers thus repeat the process, compromising the user's account, send additional phishing emails, and gather personal details listed on the account for identity theft purposes.
With this kind of personal information, hackers can send spam outside Facebook to legit email addresses, and eventually gather financial details including credit card and banking account numbers through the usual fake link process (pharmaceuticals, male enhancement, etc). What makes this phishing scheme so clever is that Facebook members are somewhat trusting in that friends are approved before becoming part of the "trusted" network: a message sent by Mom's compromised account looks legit enough to take seriously, its embedded link unsuspicious. On a personal level, Facebook accounts usually provide extensive details to friends, including home phone numbers, places of employment, email addresses, and other useful information. In short, it's a gold mine for hackers looking for more ways to send spam and steal identities.
“There has been a definite ramp-up of attacks on Facebook over the last several months,” Michael Argast, an analyst at security software developer Sophos, told the New York Times. “As the user community grows, the criminal community sees an opportunity to make money.” He also said that Thursday's attack may be tied into a recent scam where hackers breaks into a Facebook account, impersonates the user, and posts a message to friends asking for money because the hacker is "in a pinch" in a faraway country. Friends falling for the scam usually send thousands of dollars to accounts not associated with the original user.
Currently the Facebook security team has blocked the three malicious websites; user's can't even type the fake domains in messages or in the status bar. Thankfully, the latest attack doesn't involve malicious files that are silently installed on user PCs. Facebook suggests that registered members access the website using an up-to-date browser with a built-in anti-phishing black list. Members should also use different login names and passwords for every website requiring login information, and be suspicious of sketchy messages hitting the Facebook Inbox, especially those asking for login and password information, or those from Marcus and Tuan asking for users to judge their "performance" recorded during the Tom's Karaoke Night this past Saturday (shivers).
Laptop Batteries Still Going Boom
Just when you thought it was safe to use your laptop again, news of another battery recall has surfaced Stateside. Announced yesterday in the US, apparently up to 70,000 Li-ion batteries are being recalled by HP due to possibilities of them overheating and potentially bursting into flames.
Engadget summarized the recall in this neat table below, but if you're not living in the US you might not have anything to worry about since there isn't any recall announcement on the HP Malaysia website.
Core i5 Cranks up to 3.6 GHz?
Set for a launch in Q3 2009, Intel's 45nm Core i5 (Lynnfield) processor will come in three flavors: 2.66 GHz, 2.8 GHz, and 2.93 GHz. All three versions will feature four cores (4 threads for the 2.66 GHz version, 8 threads for the other two), 8 MB of L3 cache, a TDP of 95 watts, and will fit snug into the LGA-1156 socket. Additionally, all three versions feature 731 million transistors, an integrated DD3 memory controller, an integrated PCI-Express graphics controller, and support for Turbo Boost. As of today, Intel plans to price the 2.66 GHz version around $196 USD; the 2.96 GHz Core i5 will cost around $562 USD.
However, according to a report over on the Chinese website HKEPC, Intel optimized the Nehalem core as well as its Turbo Mode technology, thus giving the Core i5 a significant 5-step boost while staying within the 95 watt TDP. When set in turbo, Intel's 2.66 GHz version will speed up to 3.2 GHz, whereas the 2.8 GHz version will boost to 3.46 GHz and the 2.93 GHz to 3.6 GHz. The site also said that the two current Core i7 processors--specifically the 2.66 GHz and 2.93 GHz versions originally released in November 2008--will climb two steps as well while remaining within the 130 watt TDP.
HKEPC also confirmed that the Clarksfield quad-core processor for mobile devices will feature Hyper-Threading technology and a TDP of 35 watts; it was speculated that the processor would require a TDP of 45 or 55 watts. Additionally, the processor will come in three flavors--1.6 GHz, 1.73 GHz, and 2.0 GHz--and will also be available in Q3 2009.
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core Overclocked to 7.1 GHz
A group called LimitTeam managed to overclock AMD's Phenom II X4 955 processor and reach a record speed od 7.1 GHz.
A group named LimitTeam successfully overclocked AMD's Deneb 45nm Phenom II X4 955 processor (Black Edition) back on April 30, and submitted the results for validation to CPU-Z. During the process, the group used the Asus M4A79T Deluxe motherboard, dubbed as the Asus "multidimensional performance platform" featuring support for an AMD 140W CPU and the AMD 790FX/SB750 chipset. Additionally, the group threw in 4 GB of DDR3 memory from Apacer Technology and a ATI Radeon HD 4800 series graphics card. As a result, the group reached 7.127 GHz, beating the previous score of 6.7 GHz. However, LimitTeam didn't reveal any specifics in regards to cooling during the overclocking process.
Late last month, AMD said that it managed to hit 7 GHz in "extreme overclocking tests," more than doubling the original 3.2 GHz clock speeds enjoyed right out of the box. Apparently the CPU can be safely overclocked at home with speeds up to 3.8 GHz; anything greater will need "exotic cooling materials." AMD's product manager Brent Barry was noted saying that liquid nitrogen and liquid helium are best suited for high-overclocking environments, the former bringing the temperature down to about -140 degrees and the latter to around -240 degrees. Unfortunately, both solutions are somewhat dangerous to use. "This is fairly insane, science experiment stuff," Davis said.
Earlier in February, Team Finland reached 6.7 GHz with an early version of the Phenom II X4 955 chip using a similar configuration. However, neither LimitTeam nor Team Finland has overcome to the world-wide #1 score listed by CPU-Z. Clocking in at 8.1 GHz, a user simply named "duck" overclocked Intel's 65nm Cedar Mill Pentium 4 631 processor back on July 20, 2007 using the Asus "Commando" motherboard and 2 GB of DDR2 memory.
Mothers Day..
hurmm..sempena mothers day smlm, aku smpt la balik umah jumpe mak aku..hee~ best sgt dpt jumpe mak kite, smpai2 trus smlm cium pipi mak..pastu ckp camat ari ibu..hee~ mak gelak2 jerk..mlm tu ijoy( abg kedua ) blanje kteorg mkn KFC kat alamanda putrajaya..hehehe..pastu aku yg xsegan mintak mak beli kan slipar, baju nan suar..hak3..patut nye aku yg kene beli kan tok mak aku, tp nie mak aku lak yg kene belikan..adeh..hee~ pepe pon camat ari ibu bg sume ibu2 yg ade kat bumi nie..PEACE OUT BABY..hee~
Weird Toilet
kah3..ade gak toilet camnie ek..pe motif die wat ar...adoyai, sakit perut aku gelak tgk pic nie..PEACE OUT BABY..hee~
