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This is a weird one. |
4/30/2002 |
 Seems like the cogs of the Antec Marketing Machine have been slowly turning. They have launched this AMAZING site: http://www.hansworkshop.com
Its purpose
- To provide a unreliable, biased unbiased source of retarded useful information for computer users of all backgrounds and skill levels.
- To build a vibrant and interesting on-line community for modders, tech-heads, Antec fans, non-Antec fans, The Wise, the funny, gamers, and any and all who are otherwise interested in participating
- To get your feedback and help in shaping the future of computing, or at least our corner of it
- To provide a way to offer intriguing and interesting products that might otherwise not see the light of day. Like porn mods
 Go check out how they seamlessly integrate their "Test Lab" with an online store, or the "ask Casey" section for a laugh. It's easy to be unbiased when you sell everything that you are testing ;) |
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Marvel Fan Grills |
4/30/2002 |
 Well those Marvel fan grills that we heard about a month or so back are back and finally being sold... They carry a hefty price at $34.95 (80mm), $39.95 (92mm), and $44.95 (120mm) respectively.
 As you can see from the picture they come in the Spiderman and Punisher variety both of which will be coming to a theatre near you very soon.
If you want one get them at CoolerGuys before they're gone:
http://coolerguys.com/MarvelGrills/ |
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In US/World News: |
4/30/2002 |
US Links Charity Head to Bin Laden
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/04/30/al.qaeda.arrest/index.html
So all that time you were donating money you were just funding terrorists, the same with drugs kids! "I killed a police officer, it was just some harmless fun." As the advertisement says.
French Judge found guilty in Olympic Scandal
http://www.cnn.com/cnnsi/olympics/news/2002/04/30/isu_tuesday_ap/
Anna Kournikova sues Penthouse over Topless Photos
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/2002/04/29/kournikova_suit/
"Topless photos of Anna Kournikova appearing in the June issue of Penthouse magazine which hits the news stands on Tuesday are fake, say representatives of the Russian tennis player."
If she weren't so busy slutting around maybe she'd actually play some tennis ;)
Americans on Science:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/04/30/science.understanding.ap/index.html
"Although 57 percent of those surveyed disagreed that UFOs came to Earth bearing aliens, about 30 percent believe that some reported objects in the sky are really space vehicles from other civilizations.
The scientific validity of astrology -- the belief that an alignment of the planets can affect events on Earth -- is rejected by 60 percent of Americans, as is the idea that some numbers are lucky while others are not. But 43 percent say they still read the astrology charts at least occasionally in the newspaper."
We also believe that the moon is made out of cheese, and that Pamela Anderson Lee's breasts are the United States' greatest scientific achievement.
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Note: |
4/30/2002 |
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A lot of today's news postings are meant to be humorous. There might even be some objectionable language. If that's not your cup of tea then just skip over those parts ;) |
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Coolermaster ATC-110-SX1 |
4/30/2002 |
The Brits at Hexus (i.e. the only guys site who takes the time to email their reviews to us) take a look at the Coolermaster ATC-110-SX1.
It's a beautiful case with a door to hide those unsightly beige drives. Check out the article:
"This is the best case I have ever owned, and I've owned a fair few. If you can afford this case don't hesitate its the king of cases. The only serious critasism I can come up with is its price, its not a case for all. Its more sturdy than all the other tower Coolermasters. Dual cpu motherboards will fit fine and the cooling is excellent."
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=339 |
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Site News |
4/30/2002 |
Are you sick of shows...
with high school girls, with fake breasts, who also have super powers?
Well I'm not.
But I also have a show.
It's called the Insomniac show.
Blame Dave Attell for that one.
This one is for Rob:
"A strange foreign man just came up to me and showed me his penis and I've never felt so alive." ~Dave Attell
Sorry about this post. I just felt that it would be a great injustice to the site if these words didn't grace its pages.
If you don't get it, you should be watching:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/insomniac/ |
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Opake.com allies with AthlonXP.com |
4/30/2002 |
Opake.com (i.e. the site that never updates its content) has been approached by AthlonXP.com to be its affiliate. You guys might remember AthlonXP.com from previous news stories. They are the site that is owned by Monarch Computers. Monarch Computers is a quite large online computer store and many of the reviews on AthlonXP.com reflect this (not to mention the Monarch Computer ads everywhere).
If you don't see a problem with this let me put it this way: if Intel bought a website (no, not THG ;) and the website did a bunch of pro Intel reviews then there would definitely be a conflict of interest.
Bottom Line: Opake's news and reviews might not be credible, reader beware. |
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[S]oft|OCP We don't even know our own names anymore. |
4/30/2002 |
 Hi this is Kile of [-S-]0ft/|\*O{C}P* today we have a breaking deal. Dell is selling their top of the line Pentium 4-M 2.0 Ghz Laptops for $199.99
We know this is real because it says that you'll save $20000000 dollars and if I could subtract it'd equal $199.99
So go out and buy these up and when there is a lawsuit against Dell you can conveniently track the on goings at our sister site FrozenAsianPornTechSe.cx
[{-=S=-}]o-------F------T O///////C//////P
In Other Tech News:
Michael Jackson is really a woman.
George W. Bush is Hitler in disguise.
Here's a 1 sentence review on the Thoroughbred! Best review yet!
[S]oft|OCP is paid by the National Enquirer to write this filth.
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es does Mikhailtech |
4/30/2002 |
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I was going to post the news today. But I didn't get to it. I barely have enough time to write this, but somehow I'll find a way to do it because I do it all for you, my fans. Well, anyway, I have a track meet it's from April to May so I'll be busy. I might do a review in time for tomorrow, but later tonight I'm going to come back on and say I'm too tired to do the review so you should just ignore me. I have to catch up on the news... this just in: Intel releases the Pentium 3 Processor. Thanks, and come back to Mikhailtech after track season. |
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3D GameMan |
4/30/2002 |
 3D Game Man does a lot of reviews most of them being of the "Video" variety. I have yet to post one of their links simply because I don't want to see "enter product title here" in front of that woman's face. Some of you may have nothing better to do then fantasize about some 30 yr old woman putting a bunch of hardware in front of her face and then plastering those pictures all over a website. Come on guys she 1) Puts on makeup to take a picture with a copper heatsink and 2) She's not even naked!
As you can see from this picture, she loves the CAK. |
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TheInquirer |
4/30/2002 |
If I could understand what the hell half of those articles are about then I would be British... and maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Check them out (or don't) at
http://www.theinquirer.net/
And don't let the Brits piss in your cheerios. |
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SuSe 8.0 Released |
4/29/2002 |
Germany's SuSE said on Friday that the new version of its Linux operating system distribution does not include the latest version of StarOffice because its proprietary, fee-based license would have increased the cost of the operating system. The shift in policy of one of several changes to SuSE Linux 8.0, which includes revamped core technology and new graphical desktop software.
SuSE included version 5.2 of StarOffice, a Microsoft Office-like package from Sun Microsystems, in previous distributions but decided against including StarOffice 6.0 after Sun began charging fees for the software. Sun also works with outside developers to provide OpenOffice, a free, open-source package that shares much of its core technology with StarOffice.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-893089.html |
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[S]oft|OCP |
4/29/2002 |
It's amazing that HardOCP can link to reviews like this:
http://www.geekextreme.com/mskeyboardreview/
Which is nothing more than a guy stealing a pic off of MS's website and talking a little bit about his "experience." I think this was what Mikhail was talking about last week, guess HardOCP posted it, but didn't actually READ it. GeekExtreme: don't over exert yourself on these reviews :P Seems like the Hard boys were too busy stirring up controversy at Circuit City to actually pay attention to this one. |
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Intel Celeron-M Pricecuts - Pave way for P4M |
4/29/2002 |
"The 1.20GHz/256, which uses .13 micron technology, fell in price from $170 to $134, a decline of 21%, the 1.13GHz/256 fell by 28% from $134 to $96, while the 1.06GHz/256 dropped by 25 per cent to $80, from a previous figure of $107.
The 1GHz mobile Celeron processor remains priced at $107, so it won't be much longer for the world.
Coming in the Celeron mobile space are 1.50GHz and 1.40GHz chips, while by the end of this year, those will be displaced by 1.70GHz and 1.60GHz mobile Celerons. We'll see at least 1.80GHz mobile Intel Celerons by Q1 of next year.
The next big price cuts on Intel's premier mobile Pentium 4M line come at the end of May, with the introduction of a 2GHz part at $637."
http://www.theinquirer.net/29040206.htm |
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Crucial to Make Vid Cards |
4/29/2002 |
"ONE OF THE more successful computer component companies to sell its products through so-called "affiliate" advertising on the Web is to extend its reach, according to sources close to the firm.
Crucial, which is a subsidiary of giant US firm Micron, sells memory modules through its affiliate programme. Many of its ads can be found on hardware sites. A small proportion of commission is paid to sites which carry its banners when modules are sold through them.
But the INQUIRER has learned that Crucial is actively investigating extending its reach on direct sales by selling video cards under the same brand too."
http://www.theinquirer.net/29040201.htm |
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Pentium 4 Heatsink Comparison |
4/28/2002 |
"We will look at several coolers for the Intel Pentium 4 processor of the 478-pin variety. Unlike AMD, which has the option of OEM processors for all models, almost all P4’s are sold in the retail box. So, there are no shortages of the stock Intel P4 cooler. The general consumers will not go out of their way to purchase an aftermarket CPU cooler. For the hardcore computer user, especially overclockers, anything “stock” just will not do. Performance and tweaking is everything to these special computer users and heat stands in the way of reaching the goal of the ultimate speed machine."
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/p4coolershootout/ |
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GotApex? Tech Support Article |
4/28/2002 |
GotApex? decided to do an article on tech support of several major online vendors. Looking at the article you can see that not only is it subjective, but also fundamentally flawed. A big graph of response time is great and all if you called each company describing the same problem. This, however, is doubtful considering that the companies chosen offered varying products and services. At best it's a generalization of what you might expect from a company, and even that's a stretch.
http://gotapex.com/reviews.php?rev=tech-support/index.html |
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AWStats 4.0 Released |
4/27/2002 |
AWStats 4.0 has been officially released after a lengthy beta.
4.0
WARNING: 4.0 is not compatible with OLD history data files. If you use 4.0
to read statistics for old month, report for "visitors" will be wrong as all
old unresolved ip processed with AWStats 3.2 will not be counted when
viewed with 4.0.
- Increased speed and reduce memory use for very large web sites.
- Unresolved ip are now processed like resolved one.
- Added icons in browsers chart.
- Personalized log format can also have tab separator (not only space).
- New ways to manage security/privacy with updated docs and new parameters:
AllowAccessFromWebToAuthenticatedUsersOnly
AllowAccessFromWebToFollowingAuthenticatedUsers
- New feature: Added mark on "grabber browsers" in browsers chart.
- New feature: Added average files size in Pages/URL report chart.
- New feature: You can put dynamic environnement variables into config file.
- New feature: Keyphrases list can be viewed entirely (not only most used).
- New parameter: WrapperScript
- New parameter: CreateDirDataIfNotExists
- New parameter: ValidHTTPCodes
- New parameter: MaxRowsInHTMLOutput
- New parameter: ShowLinksToWhoIs
- New parameter: LinksToWhoIs
- New parameter: StyleSheet
- New option: -staticlinks to build static links in report page (to use
AWStats with no web servers).
- New tool: common2combined.pl (A log format converter)
- New tool: awstats_buildstaticpages.pl
- Fixed: wrong size of bar in "average" report when average value was < 1.
- Fixed: pb of "Error: Not same number of records" when using some version
of mod_perl.
- Fixed: pb in logresolvemerge.pl
- Fixed: Security against CSSA.
- No more need to use \. to say . in config file.
- Documentation seriously updated.
http://awstats.sourceforge.net/#DOWNLOAD |
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Guard your cookies |
4/27/2002 |
"A simple technique for accessing Microsoft's free e-mail service without a password is in the wild and apparently being exploited.
The trick involves capturing a copy of the victim's browser cookies file. Once the perpetrator gains two key Hotmail cookies, there's no way to lock him out because at Hotmail, cookies trump even passwords.
A simple technique for accessing Microsoft's free e-mail service without a password is in the wild and apparently being exploited.
The trick involves capturing a copy of the victim's browser cookies file. Once the perpetrator gains two key Hotmail cookies, there's no way to lock him out because at Hotmail, cookies trump even passwords."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52115,00.html
For life? Good luck, most days I can't even log in to half of my accounts. |
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PCWorld Keyless Keyboard Review |
4/27/2002 |
If it's Keyless then shouldn't it just be a board?
"The implications for video games are obvious, and that's where Essential Reality is starting. By late summer, the company plans to begin selling the glove -- bundled with games -- for $129 to $149, depending on the package. The P5 offers more than a new way to play the same old games, though: It offers ideas for new ones. To demonstrate the potential, David Devor from Essential Reality showed me a game the company developed in which I directed a futuristic catcher's mitt to grab objects floating in space. "Can you imagine this with VR goggles?" Dave asked me. I can, now that I've used the glove."
I don't think anyone is going to pay $150 bux for something that normally costs $15 :P But, but, it's keyless!
PCWorld via CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/04/26/keyless.keyboards.idg/index.html |
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Helpful Tech-Support In Short Supply |
4/27/2002 |
Well, considering big companies are hiring retards to do support and most real techies couldn't stand a support job (let alone their boss) I don't see this as a surprise.
"That handheld has turned out to be quite a handful. The gadget worked great for three weeks. Then it refused to synchronize with Biria's PC. He sought answers from old-fashioned phone tech support, Palm's Web site and online chats with Palm engineers.
It still doesn't work."
See the part where it says Pam engineers, they mean those temps they hire for $6.75 an hour.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/04/27/tech.supportless.ap/index.html |
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This is a bit scary. |
4/27/2002 |
It's a good thing we have Homeland Security to keep the US Safe. What a joke.
Styling themselves "The Deceptive Duo," the hackers on Wednesday publicly defaced an FAA server used by what was the administration's Civil Aviation Security organization, which until recently was responsible for supervising passenger screening at U.S. airports. There, the intruders posted a mission statement vowing to expose America's poor state of cyber security for the good of the nation.
"Tighten the security before a foreign attack forces you to," the Duo extolled. "At a time like this, we cannot risk the possibility of compromise by a foreign enemy."
At the bottom of the page, the defacers included a screen-shot showing a portion of a Microsoft Access database, with each row displaying the three-letter code for a different U.S. airport, the name of an FAA inspector, a screener I.D. number, the number of passengers the screener handled, and the number of guns, explosives or chemicals he or she intercepted.
Full Article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25029.html |
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7 GeForce4 MX Round-UP |
4/27/2002 |
Some believe the GeForce4 MX is a waste of a card and some claim that it's not so bad. It's definitely not for gamers, especially with the Ti4200 right around the corner. If it were cheaper it would be the generic card to throw in a box that you'd use as a server, home entertainment box, or for the parents. Hopefully the Ti4200 will push the prices low on the MX's. Looking at the prices of the old GeForce3 Ti500 it is a little doubtful.
http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/S&V/gf4_mx_roundup.shtml |
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Site News |
4/27/2002 |
The server upgrade is going along very well. We're tweaking Apache / Perl / PHP / MySQL to offer a lot more features. I would show you some screen shots, but right now all you would see is a bunch of misaligned tables defying every law of web design.
If any of you Spaniards feel like dropping me a line I need your assistance. Thanks. :) |
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HardOCP Does it Again |
4/27/2002 |
HardOCP the purveyor of all things good have decided to again bring attention to a misprint in an advertisment by Circuit City. You may remember such an event happening several weeks ago with Best Buy and GeForce 4's. This time it's all about the Radeon AIW 8500 with 128mb of RAM.
A reasonable reader had to send a derivative email for the HardOCP boys to finally get that they probably shouldn't believe deals that sound too good to be true.
Check out all the action at HardOCP |
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UK vs. US Journalism |
4/26/2002 |
Mike Magee, the self proclaimed "printer's imp" of 1746 goes on to babble in the british tongue about not revealing his sources and how often times he just makes them up. Well, not really. If you can stand a bit of incoherrent babble at the beginning (it must make sense to the brits ;) then feel free to read the rest at:
"Do people really want to show off their "thin and lights" if they're travelling on the London tube, given that the incidence of mobile phone thefts and muggings at knifepoint are at an all time high?"
I can only imagine that "thin and lights" refers to some lude british custom. ;)
http://www.theinquirer.net/26040210.htm
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IBM Stackable Drives |
4/25/2002 |
I thought IBM quit the Hard Drive biz?
"SAN JOSE, Calif. — Researchers at IBM Corp. are creating a prototype for a vast data-storage system built Lego-style with storage-array bricks that can be stacked into a cube-shaped server. Such systems would offer significant gains in data throughput and fault tolerance while significantly reducing the size, cost and power of today's data center storage systems, the company said."
They are also liquid cooled. So apparently IBM is now in the watercooling / lego business.
http://www.eetimes.com/at/news/OEG20020423S0091 |
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Site News |
4/24/2002 |
We've been pretty busy around here and haven't been as good with the news as we probably should have been. (That goes for articles as well). And the reasons are:
We're working on our first How To Guides.
Re-designing the site.
Re-configuring the server.
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AMD SledgeHammer |
4/24/2002 |
 You'll be reading this everywhere so in case you missed it:
AMD is stated to call it's SledgeHammer based chips, "Opterons"
We've heard this name before since snoops caught this other "on" names when AMD trademarked them.
This is mostly Marketing and Public Relations' decision so we'll place the blame on them. All I can imagine is a bunch of executives sitting around in a conference room voting for Opteron because it subconsciously suggests option whilst relying on its Greek root translation of "the best"
It might mean "the best" but I think the tech savy will be still calling the chip "Hammers" or even "Sleggie the Sweet" even after the Opteron is gone. |
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Intel confirms three extra Pentium 4Ms |
4/23/2002 |
"Intel has introduced three lower speeds of its Pentium 4M to its product mix.
The chips now come in speeds of 1.8GHz, 1.7GHz, 1.6GHz, 1.5GHz and 1.4GHz, with the three latest ones, the 1.8, 1.5 and 1.4GHz processors costing $637, $268 and $198 in turn.
This rounds out the Pentium 4M introductions for this quarter, but as we reveal in this story, by the end of the year there will be notebook CPUs at speeds greater than 2GHz."
http://www.theinquirer.net/a_23040215.htm |
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I bet you're naked right now. |
4/23/2002 |
"A SURVEY COMMISSIONED by the Intel Corporation claims that Americans take their StinkPads and other notebooks to weddings, funerals, and just about everywhere.
According to the crazy firm, 81 per cent of people it surveyed use their laptops while watching TV [shome mishtake, Ed.], 54 per cent while they're eating, and 48 per cent while they're naked.
Intel does not mention the word "sex", but that's pretty much implied, isn't it?"
The survey goes on to say that 65% of tv watching naked mass murders used their laptops while killing their victims
http://www.theinquirer.net/a_23040203.htm
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AMD Leakier than a Leaky Leak Leak |
4/23/2002 |
"We don't need to do that, because we now know the email is the real thing, although why Microsoft employees should get so ecstatic over a piece of silicon escapes us really.
And while it is interesting to see just how in cahoots AMD and Microsoft appear to be, bearing this and JIII's testimony at the anti trust trial recently, in mind, we suspect that the smoke from this gun is infuriating Intel.
We understand that there is now a massive witch hunt underway in both Sunnyvale and Seattle to see which people on the distribution list put the cat amongst the pigeons by sending it to the INQUIRER.
We can spare the thought police at both companies some time by saying categorically that they will never discover the identity of our mole.
As we noted in a conversation yesterday with a source who confirmed the authenticity of this email yesterday, people at AMD and Microsoft have got all sorts of axes to grind – and the email is a very important piece of evidence as far as the pro-Intel people in Redmond are concerned.
It also now appears that AMD will use JIII's apotheosis in New York on Thursday to announce that – really to no-one's surprise at all – Microsoft will have a 64-bit version of its Windows OS for the up-and-coming Clawhammer and Sledgehammer microprocessors."
http://www.theinquirer.net/a_23040205.htm |
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AMD Leaks All Over the Place |
4/23/2002 |
"Subject: A day in history
Today at 3pm we received the first AMD64 K8 based hardware system from AMD.
Today at 5pm we booted and are running the 64-bit versions of Windows XP on the AMD64 K8 system.
We are even running 32-bit apps under wow64!
The hardware system is unbelievably solid for a chip that just popped out of the oven a mere month ago.
In addition to running the 64-bit system we can dual boot into the 32-bit version of XP as well on the very same hardware without any changes!
Thanks are due to a great many people for their help and support in making this happen.
Watch this space for more news coming soon!"
http://www.theinquirer.net/23040208.htm |
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Site News |
4/21/2002 |
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There is a small review planned for tomorrow and a guide on Monday that will hopefully tie everyone over until I get my Cebit article done. See everyone tomorrow, gnight. |
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JPG Compression – The Bandwidth Saver Article |
4/20/2002 |
"As a webmaster, I’m always looking for new ways to reduce the total amount of bandwidth (website data being requested by client and sent from server) our website uses to save money on what can be expensive monthly hosting bills.
Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of unlimited outbound bandwidth like past years. This can be attributed to several reasons; firstly we draw a quite a bit of traffic, as a result we no longer use a shared server but our own dedicated servers which obviously means we no longer use free servers, like in the early days of our existence. If you want a website which is going to be up and accessible 24 hours a day, like we try to maintain here at TweakTown, you have to pay for it – and this usually includes outbound bandwidth transfer. Because of this, webmasters spreading the globe have to continually look at new ways of reducing the amount of bandwidth their websites use for the simple reason, bandwidth is not cheap. Being a tech site, we include a lot of JPG images in our content, which is one of the biggest elements of our website that draws the most amount of bandwidth."
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=article&dId=234 |
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AMD Motherboard Edition |
4/20/2002 |
Abit WA2A Duallie
-AMD 762(North Bridge), AMD 768(South Bridge)
-Supports Ultra DMA100 IDE protocol
-Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)
-Dual point-to-point, high-speed 266MHz 1 AMD Athlon™ system bus (supporting up to two processors)
-PC2100 DDR (Double Data Rate) memory subsystem (supporting up to 4 GB of memory space)
http://www.abit.com.tw/product=WA2A
SOYO KT333 Dragon Ultra
"It features DDR333, ATA133 RAID, Onboard 6-channel sound, Onboard 10/100 Ethernet, plus a whole lot more!"
http://www.tweakers.com.au/#286
Abit KX7-333
CPU:
Support AMD Athlon XP 1500+ ~ 2200+ or future
Socket A Processors based on 200/266 MHz
Chipset:
VIA KT333 / VIA VT8233A
Supports Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 IDE protocol
Supports200/266/333 MHz (100/133/166 MHz Double Data Rate) Memory Bus Settings
http://www.abit.com.tw/product=KX7-333 |
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The Case of the Exploding CD-ROM Disc |
4/20/2002 |
"But where's the limit? Manufacturers try to outspin each other all the time by selling CD-ROM drives with higher and higher spin ratios. Spin ratios of 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, 56x and 64x come in a never ending stream. The CD is forced to rotate faster and faster. At what speed will a CD blow up, and can you do something to prevent it from exploding?
I decided to investigate all facts of the case:
How high speeds can various types of CD's take (for example CD-ROM's and CD-R's)?
Can one do something to make them stand even greater speeds?
What is the result when the limit is exceeded?
Are there other possible measures to increase the data transfer rate further?"
http://www.qedata.se/e_js_n-cdrom.htm |
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Coolermaster ATC-710 Review |
4/20/2002 |
 Seems like Hexus is the first one to get their hands on the ATC-710 Case by Coolermaster. We were the first site to announce its existence a month ago.
It looks to be a great case aimed at competing with the Antec SX-1070 series.
"Its time for another world exclusive here at hexus.net we've managed to get our hands on a coolermaster ATC 710, this case has been most eagerly awaited. Lets see whether it lives up to the Coolermaster name for quality and practicality. The case is a engineering sample so things may change in the final version, but the basics are there."
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=341 |
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Google in the news |
4/19/2002 |
Seems like google has been getting a lot of attention the past few days. Here are the headlines:
Danish sites get Google's goat
Google is trying to pull the plug on a pair of Danish sites that clearly pose a threat to its growing dominance of the online search business. The sites in question, gogle.dk and guugle.dk, run their own search engines powered by Overture Services, the pay-for-placement search company formerly known as GoTo.com.
http://news.com.com/2011-1088-887392.html
Google gives some advice...for a price
In yet another test of new services, the search site is quietly wading into the expert-advice market, a lackluster business that proved too taxing for some former Net highfliers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-887360.html
Developers dig in to Google's toolbox
A new toolkit that allows software developers to automatically query the search site's database has spawned visions of real-time search results. But critics are skeptical.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-884546.html
Google protects its search results
The company clamps down on computer-generated search requests that can help unscrupulous marketers manipulate its search rankings, but in doing so it denies access to number of Web surfers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-883558.html |
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Intel Demos Banias |
4/19/2002 |
update SEATTLE--Intel has produced its first prototypes of the upcoming "Banias" processor, the company's first chip purely designed for use in mobile PCs, the company announced at WinHEC on Thursday.
Intel Labs produced the first test version of the chip during the past week, Intel President Paul Otellini said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference. Banias systems, including Intel's Odem chipset, will come out in early 2003 and feature 802.11b "Wi-Fi" wireless networking, long battery life and uncompromised performance, he said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-886313.html |
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Shuttle SS50 Barebons System Review |
4/19/2002 |
A very interesting comparison of the Shuttle SV24 vs. the new SS50
"Shuttle has done it again! Last summer they impressed me with their SV24 due to the sheer size of the unit, this spring they’ve done it again! The amount of power and integration packed into such a small unit is unbeatable. Designed around the P4, not only do you get an attractive looking aluminum case that’s well designed and built, you also get 6 Channel Audio output, Firewire, Ethernet, TV Out, and 2 PCI slots! Though some might argue that having one AGP and one PCI for expansion would make the unit even better, I personally prefer having 2 PCI slots, as not everyone will utilize the AGP slot, as the unit already has onboard TV Out."
http://www.tweak3d.net/reviews/shuttle/ss50/index.shtml |
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Dell responds to ATX woes. |
4/19/2002 |
"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Dell does not make generic ATX boxes - this is well known throughout the industry. Customers that would be affected by this are up graders, and the reality is that only a very small percentage of users will actually attempt this type of upgrade. We have made many improvements to the original ATX standard to meet the growing needs of customers over time. Companies like Intel are helping to drive an industry standard specification surrounding this."
http://www.theinquirer.net/19040209.htm |
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Intel confirms 2GHz Pentium 4M plans |
4/19/2002 |
"He told Asiabiztech that by the end of the year, Intel wanted to switch most notebook CPUs away from Pentium III-Ms to the newer Pentium 4M model.
He also confirmed that Intel was likely to release ultra low versions of its Banias mobile processor, which as we also exclusively revealed here, will be introduced in the first quarter of 2003."
http://www.theinquirer.net/18040210.htm |
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American privacy non-existent in these dire times. |
4/19/2002 |
"WASHINGTON -- Operating under new powers to combat terrorism, law enforcement agencies are making unprecedented demands on the telecommunications industry to provide information on subscribers, company attorneys say.
These companies and Internet service providers face an escalating barrage of subpoenas for subscriber lists, personal credit reports, financial information, routing patterns that reveal individual computer use, even customer photographs."
http://www.newhouse.com/archive/story1a041002.html |
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Project Black Ice - Part 3 |
4/18/2002 |
Project Black Ice - Part 3 @ Hexus.net:
"In the lower front of the case a large 'Big Momma' radiator will be fitted, so a square hole needs to be cut out. I made the hole slightly smaller than the radiator size so I can drill some mounting holes around it and mount it with very long cable ties going through the fins."
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=336 |
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xbitlabs senses .13 AMD problems |
4/18/2002 |
I have been talking for weeks about how AMD must be having problems with its .13 micron processes since they have been using a lot of sly tactics to keep pushing the release dates further and further back.
It seems like xbitlabs has come to the same conclusion. :D
"The first and the most suspicious thing is the extremely low working frequencies of Athlon XP processors built on 0.13micron core. Look here: the fastest model in the today’s Athlon XP family makes 1.73GHz, and later on Athlon XP 2200+ is to come, with the core clock of 1.8GHz. And the first 0.13micron Athlon XP should also work at 1.8GHz core clock! Moreover, by the end of the year its frequency will get only 266MHz higher (Athlon XP 2600+ will work at 2.06GHz actual clock frequency). For a better comparison try to recall 0.13micron Celeron which frequency grew almost 1.5 times higher when they shifted from 0.18micron to 0.13micron and the Vcore got considerably lower at the same time: from 1.7V to 1.5V. And here comes the second reason..."
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1019119159 |
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eBay toughens up on discussion boards |
4/18/2002 |
"Under the new rules, eBay community members can't use the boards to warn others if they were ripped off by a buyer or a seller, they can't ask each other where to find a particular item to buy, they can't share private e-mail, and--if eBay decides to delete an offending post--the members aren't allowed to even discuss the post.
Members who violate the rules can be banned from buying and selling on the site, and if that happens the millions of other eBay members are barred from even discussing that person on the boards--or they too are at risk of being kicked out of the community."
It's not really a discussion board then is it?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=/ebay_toughens_up_on_discussion_boards |
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Soyo K7V Dragon+ (KT333) Review |
4/18/2002 |
"In the introduction we asked whether the Soyo SY-K7V DRAGON Plus was worth its high price tag. In conclusion, if you are after one of the most high performing Socket A board with almost as many tweaking options as the mind can imagine the SY-K7V DRAGON plus is worth the money, despite the imminent arrival of new KT333 based boards. On the other hand if you are after a no-nonsense KT266A board, the SY-K7V DRAGON is overkill and lower priced alternatives should be considered."
http://www.processor-emporium.co.uk/SY-K7V-page1.htm |
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Ti4600 Three Way |
4/18/2002 |
GotApex? has a three card GeForce 4 Ti4600 Round-Up. Included are the Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack ! Ultra/750XP Golden Sample, the ASUS V8460 Ultra, and the Leadtek A250 ULTRA TD.
"From the scores posted above, it is obvious that all of these cards are of exceptional build quality and offer a new standard in performance. We scored the cards as dead even for performance, because they all performed within the margin for error of each other, and the numbers they turned in lead the industry from a technological standpoint. For reliability we had to factor in the error upon installation of the Leadtek drivers, and the fact that if a user wished to swap out video cards, they could expect to have to reformat."
http://gotapex.com/reviews.php?rev=gf4-comp/index.html |
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Microsoft to Ship Bluetooth Peripherals |
4/18/2002 |
"Microsoft also will push Bluetooth software, releasing a development kit in May to help programmers support the technology and posting a download that will give Windows XP (news - web sites) built-in Bluetooth abilities this fall."
ES: I can't wait to get my .NET Bluetooth Wireless Intellimouse Explorer with built in user preferences tracking so that Microsoft can know how I use my mouse.
CNet News via Yahoo, go figure |
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Site News |
4/18/2002 |
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The news is a tad bit slow... we'll post some more later on today. It's 4am now, time to sleep. :) |
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Whistle Blowers |
4/18/2002 |
Whistle Blowers, aka people that must be able to afford $700 dollars per software program, will soon be alerting some company that will get a lot of money from stopping piracy.
I for one will personally write a farewell letter to this company when they go bankrupt.
"An organization that relies on the kindness of strangers in its effort to short-circuit pirates selling illegal software over the Internet wants to make whistle-blowing as simple as the push of a button."
To submit my site press F and U simultaneously.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/piracy.whistle.idg/ |
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AMD releases mobile Thoroughbred |
4/17/2002 |
"The new Athlon XP 1400+ and 1500+ chips are available now. Athlon XP 1600+ and 1700+ models will follow later this quarter, AMD said.
An AMD representative said the 1400+ chip will run at 1.2GHz; the 1500+ will run at 1.3GHz and 1.33GHz; the 1600+ at 1.4GHz; and the 1700+ at 1.47GHz. All of the chips except the 1700+ will come with either a 200MHz or 266MHz bus; the 1700+ will offer a 266MHz bus only."
I'm trying to figure out how these chips are available now, when no one has them in stock, and no one has reviewed a laptop with the chips. It sure looks good on paper though. It's funny to see the big Intel Ad plastered across the article :)
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-884652.html |
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Audit slams Oracle pact |
4/17/2002 |
"Naive state officials signed an unprecedented $95 million software contract with Oracle Corp. despite little need for the software and claims of savings that turned out to be wildly overblown, state Auditor Elaine Howle said in a scathing report released Tuesday."
An interesting read. A reminder of how stupid IT Management truly is.
Note: Any people wanting to buy .NET off of me for $23 million, drop me a line. My figures show it will save you $1.2 billion in a thousand or so years.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/2219532p-2613285c.html |
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Company Reveals Tiny PC |
4/17/2002 |
 "A little-known San Francisco company has unveiled a personal computer that crams processor, memory, battery and storage into a package the size of a paperback novel.
When the $1,000 Ultra-Personal Computer hits stores this fall or winter, it will operate as a wireless handheld computer, akin to a Palm, OQO Inc. said. Or it can be used as a "modular PC" that connects to a full-size keyboard, mouse and monitor to replace a desktop PC."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/04/17/modular.computing.ap/index.html
Official OQO Site |
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New MS Office Screenshots |
4/17/2002 |
I've been getting this a lot today. I really wouldn't call it interesting but apparently a lot of people do. If you really want to see how little Microsoft has changed Office XP to its new variant Office .SHIT .NET then you might want to check out screen shots here:
http://www.officexp.nu/
Backup: http://www.elektrik-sheep.com/images/OfficeNET
I wouldn't be surprised if this was an intentional marketing slip by Microsoft. When have you ever seen people this interested in MS Office? (I suppose Warez versions ;) |
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Dan's Bandwidth Guide |
4/17/2002 |
If you are interested in finding out more about Bandwidth check out this article:
"The first thought that goes through the mind of all right-thinking people when they get a broadband Internet connection is "How can I use all of this bandwidth, all day long?"
People who are still stuck with dial-up modem Internet access care deeply about bandwidth, too, for much the same reason that drowning people care deeply about air.
So how can broadband users stretch the limits of their high-speed link, and what's meanest to a modem? Read on."
http://www.dansdata.com/bandwidth.htm |
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AMD Slipping Away? |
4/17/2002 |
Whilst there is a lot of news of the Pentium 4 soon to be released with a 533mhz FSB and tg+pethe new Celerons equipped with a 400mhz FSB is soon to launch as well. Then why is AMD stuck at 266mhz? As it is pretty evident to everyone else, AMD has yet to smoothly transition from .18 microns to .13 microns at its fabrication plants. This is the reason why the Thoroughbred has yet to be launched although it was reported months that it was supposed to be released. It's apparent that Sanders is doing all he can to promote his new architecture (including fighting for Bill Gates) since it a culmination of many years of his career at AMD.
Expect the Palamino 2200+ any day now. It will fake you into believing that they had planned its release all along when really its only meant to deter us from wondering why we're not getting a Thoroughbred instead.
~ES |
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IE Security Vulnerability: Using the Back Button |
4/17/2002 |
DESCRIPTION:
============
IE allows urls containing the javascript protocoll in the history list.
Code injected in the url will operate in the same zone/domain as the last
url viewed. The javascript url can be set to trigger when a user presses
the backbutton.
The normal behaviour when a page fails to load is to press the backbutton.
The error page shown by IE is operating in the local computer zone
(res://C:\WINNT\System32\shdoclc.dll/dnserror.htm# on Win2000). Thus, we
can execute code and read local files.
http://online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/267561 |
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Coke to Launch Vanilla-Coke |
4/17/2002 |
I guess this is to combat all of those Pepsi-Lime variants that have immigrated from Mexico.
Expect Vanilla Coke on May 15th
Full Article
Such sweet sweet nectar. |
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Alienware Gaming Laptops |
4/16/2002 |
Alienware will soon release its Area-51M line of gaming computers. This time they will be laptops.
Specs:
Pentium 4 M Processor up to 2.4ghz
PC2100 DDR Ram up to 1024mb
Mobile Radeon 7500 (64mb)
5.1 Sound
Lan Party Ready
Laptop Flash Movie |
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Contemporary Pentium 4 Chipsets Comparison |
4/16/2002 |
Talk about a great article. X-Bit Labs has gone through the trouble of comparing all of the different Pentium 4 chipsets for our reading pleasure.
"Well, it's high time we summed everything up. In the first place, I would like to point out that according to the tests, the bandwidth of DDR266 memory is enough for the needs of contemporary Pentium 4 CPUs with 400MHz bus in most cases. However, no doubt that as soon as Pentium 4 acquires 533MHz bus, faster memory will be required. In this situation it seems quite logical that DDR333 becomes an "industrial standard" very soon. As for the RDRAM status in the market, it's share will get down inevitably despite the fast performance of i850 based platforms with Rambus as Intel is not going to support it any longer. Also bear in mind that PC133 SDRAM is almost gone from the Pentium 4 market. Firstly, the performance of systems built with PC133 SDRAM is dramatically low, and secondly, the recent price growth made the purchase of this memory type for Pentium 4 systems a complete nonsense."
Check it out!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/mainboards/p4-chipsets-comparison/index.html#1 |
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THG: Does Expensive 15kRPM U160 Fujitsu HD |
4/16/2002 |
Fujitsu's Silent Strike: The MAM3184MP With Ultra160 and 15,000 rpm
"Fujitsu did it! The MAM3184MP combines both high performance and acceptable environmental conditions. Subjectively, the noise generated by the drive is still louder than what we are used to from most other drives. Nevertheless, the performance you get is tremendous. Launching applications such as Adobe Photoshop is clearly faster than with standard IDE drives, particularly due to the quick access times of less than 6 ms.
This drive is currently one of the best choices for workstations with high performance demands - we liked the fact that the noise level was not any higher than what you get with 10,000 rpm drives.
This drive could also be quite a good choice for server systems. Of course you cannot set up huge drive arrays at maximum capacities of 36 GB per drive. Currently, however, a RAID array consisting of Fujitsu MAM drives will deliver the highest achievable performance for storage subsystems.
The high price of these drives make them less attractive for use in home systems. You have to shell out at least $340 for the 18 GB model, while the 36 GB version should be priced at $500 or even more. This doesn't make it a bargain buy, but then again, nobody would really expect low prices for a drive of this caliber."
Tom must be looking at his results through his corporate sponsored reading glasses. From what I see: It's the loudest, the hottest, and it beats the WD1200JB 8mb only by a slight margin (Not to mention it costs $600 for 36GB) What a steal. Stick to the WD1200 it is cost effective and insanely fast. |
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AMD Plays Price-Cut Game |
4/16/2002 |
Since Intel Cut their prices on Monday AMD is following suit today.
Multiprocessors
Athlon MP 2000+ $299
Athlon MP 1900+ $242
Athlon MP 1800+ $218
Athlon MP 1600+ $183
Desktop Athlon XPs
Athlon XP 2100+ $330
Athlon XP 2000+ $280
Athlon XP 1900+ $220
Athlon XP 1800+ $180
Athlon XP 1700+ $160
Athlon XP 1600+ $130
Duron chips
Duron 1.3GHz $ 84
Duron 1.2GHz $ 79
Duron 1.1GHz $ 69
Duron 1.0GHz $ 64
Mobile Athlons
Mobile Athlon 4 1600+ $ 380
Mobile Athlon 4 1500+ $ 250
Mobile Athlon 4 1.2 GHz $ 190
Mobile Athlon 4 1.1GHz $ 175
Mobile Athlon 4 1.0GHz $ 150
http://www.theinquirer.net/16040203.htm |
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HWGuru Heatsink Roundup |
4/16/2002 |
A very nice round-up by the guys at HWGuru go check it out for some of the new heatsinks that you should be considering in your next rig.
"Representing CoolerMaster:
HHC-001 (High performance Heat-pipe Cooler)
DP5-6I31C
DP5-7H53F-01
Representing ThermalTake:
Volcano 6 Cu+ 7000Rpm
Volcano 7 (Variable Fan speed)
Dragon Orb 3 7000Rpm
Representing Fanner/Speeze/Spire:
SuperRock HSF (5T208B1H3T)"
http://www.hwguru.com/view_article.asp?articleid=5
HWGuru also has new forums so check them out as well!
http://www.hwguru.co.uk/ |
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HardOCP Infrastructure Part II |
4/15/2002 |
HardOCP Infrastructure Part II
"After a slow migration of period of 5 total days and man hours totaling 42 hours, we are finally in our new home at ThePlanet.com. I wanted to give you guys a quick look at spoils of our efforts over the last few days and a note or two about what the future holds hardware-wise....maybe."
http://www.hardocp.com/articles/bts-day5.html |
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Abit AT7 MAX Review |
4/15/2002 |
Abit AT7 Max Review:
"Here Abit introduces an interesting motherboard to say the least. Innovative? Yes, with features never before found all on one motherboard. By completely eliminating legacy ports such as PS/2, Serial and Parallel, Abit is certainly trying to distinguish the AT7 as the foundation for the next generation of motherboards.
An incredible list of features make the AT7 stand out among the rest. Let’s face it, the only reason one would buy this motherboard would be if they planned to use the features. The ability to run twelve IDE devices is impressive especially considering you could now conceivably have terabytes of internal storage in your desktop. The four black IDE cables are also a nice touch and will certainly please the enthusiast crowd. Onboard Firewire, RAID, 6-channel sound, USB 2.0, and LAN all serve their purpose well.
In the end, this board is not for everyone."
http://www.viahardware.com/at7max_1.shtm |
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Intel Pricecuts |
4/15/2002 |
Here we go. Looks like Intel is making the proper steps to pull further ahead with today's price cuts. (Something I've been talking about for the past month). Now lets wait and see if they're going to start releasing higher clocked northwoods.
"The biggest price drop in the Pentium 4 family is the 2.20GHz/512K chip, which falls by 25 per cent to $423 from $562. The $562 remains the price of the 2.40GHz/512K Pentium 4.
The 2.0A drops 22 per cent from $364 to $284, the 2GHz/256 from $342 to $262 (23%), and the 1.90GHz P4 drops seven per cent to $225 from $241."
http://www.theinquirer.net/15040204.htm |
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Dell throws away ATX Standards |
4/15/2002 |
"Bob Thompson, author of O'Reilly's PC Hardware in a Nutshell and owner of Thompson's Techno Grotto, claims there is a real problem with Dell's PCs because they're not bog standard boxes after all.
He said he has learned that the Great Satan of Hardware has used non-standard mobos and power supplies for the last few years, and says that although these use what seems to be a standard ATX connector, the pinouts are quite different.
That means that if you replace the Dell PSU with a bog standard ATX PSU, you might have to wave goodbye to both mobo and power supply when you turn the juice on.
Further, he claims, if you upgrade a Dell system with a new non Dell mobo, wave goodbye to that as well."
http://www.theinquirer.net/15040206.htm
~ES
Dell's New Motto: Dude, we'll screw you to hell. |
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House committee gives .kids thumbs up |
4/14/2002 |
Imagine the implications: www.disney.kids, www.barney.kids, etc.
The U.S. House Energy Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved "The Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act" after making some changes to the proposal that are designed to stave off child predators."
So those of you who are about to go register www.naked.kids maybe you should think again ;)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid |
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Want free software? Be prepared for surprises |
4/14/2002 |
Those who have been installing free software have started to notice the growing trend of companies bundling in extras that are unwarranted. I hate when I install Netscape and my computer gets littered with AOL icons, or when Gator miraculously appears and asks to store my passwords.
CNN: "Security researcher Steve Gibson was testing intrusion-detection software on his computer when it suddenly warned him: A program he knew nothing about was trying to send data out to the Internet.
Gibson thought he was familiar with all the programs on his computer. He was wrong.
An uninvited guest had hitched a ride on another application he had installed, and it was there to retrieve and display ads.
"This thing was in my computer using the Internet behind my back," said Gibson, founder of Gibson Research Corp. in Laguna Hills, California. "It meant my computer was no longer my own."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/tag.along.software.ap/index.html |
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AMDMB.com Reviews Antec sx1080B |
4/14/2002 |
This is definitely something that everyone has been looking forward to. The Antec SX1060/1080 is the next generation of the 1030/1040 series. There are some cosmetic changes along with front firewire / usb ports and a fan included on the side (not such a good thing for a window mod). The real issue at hand, however, has been Antec's new power suppplies.
A lot of Enermax fans have been saying that there is no way that Antec's 430watt psu's can keep up. AMDMB.com disagrees. Find out why.
http://www.amdmb.com/article-display.php?ArticleID=174 |
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Wire your VFD |
4/14/2002 |
RabidHardware has put together an article on wiring a VFD.
"The BG Micro ACS1375 20x2 VFD has been quite popular recently, especially because of it's price (and possibly it's size, almost 8 inches long!). We're gonna try 2 different ways to connect this sucker, Serial and Parallel. Each one has it's pros and cons, so check both methods out and see which way works best for ya."
http://www.rabidhardware.net/howtos/bgmicrovfd/index.shtml |
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Site News |
4/14/2002 |
I'm still working on the CeBIT article. It's coming together quite nicely. A few of my friends have seen it and really like it so far. So check that out tomorrow morning / late tonight because it's going to be a few more hours to wrap it up.
News has been pretty slow. If you have anything that you want to contribute feel free to mail it in. :)
Have a great weekend.
Update: 4 pages of the CeBIT article are complete. I'm getting to the dizzying aspect of it where I have to sort through thousands of images and sites to bring it all together. I expect it done tomorrow, but depending on how big it becomes I could put it on hold and do the Antec Case Review tomorrow. :D |
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Microsoft pledges allegiance to the Mac |
4/13/2002 |
Some of you might not be aware that when Apple started to spiral downward Bill Gates reached his hand out to Apple and Steve Jobs. Apple has made quite a comeback in that time releasing products that have been very succesful in reaching specific target audiences. If you want to see an MP3 Player done right go check out the iPod ;)
"Microsoft still loves Apple's Macinstosh, even as the currentu%2Fe-year deal between the companies comes to a close. Microsoft's plan: Remain focused on creating products that make it easier for Macs and Windows PCs to communicate. Microsoft will soon take that plan so far as to make Apple products compatible with its much-ballyhooed .NET plan."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/ms.mac.idg/index.html |
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Best Buy to Support CD Copy Impairment |
4/13/2002 |
It all comes down to this: Best Buy acquired Musicland in February 2001 for $685 million. Musicland hasn't been doing well financially so Best Buy figures that it would support cd copy impairment to hinder pirating / digital distribution of music in the fight to earn themselves more profit. This technology disallows you to make legal backups of your music something that I personally find unacceptable. CD's are not the most durable of media and often scratch beyond repair.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020409/retail_bestbuy_2.html |
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Colorado Comet |
4/13/2002 |
 COLORADO COMET
Comet Ikeya-Zhang mugs for the camera of astronomer-photographer Jimmy Westlake over the Rocky Mountains on March 31. The picturesque ice boulder, sporting a yellow and blue tail of dust and charged particles, appears to the left of a fuzzy spot known as the Andromeda Galaxy, the spiral galaxy closest to our own Milky Way. The comet will remain visible throughout April in the predawn skies for many observers in the world.
04/10/02
Courtesy CNN Space:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/ |
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Privacy Watch: Instant Messaging |
4/13/2002 |
Be very afraid.
"An instant message exchange might seem as fleeting as a phone call or face-to-face chat. But, like everything else on the Net, it can have much more staying power than users think.
Unlike e-mail, the brief IM remarks that pop up on computer screens are not kept on central servers. But that hasn't stopped companies from developing software that snags every message -- including those unflattering to the boss.
Interest in IM monitoring is soaring as companies not only look to record important communications but also control information leaks and discourage cyberslacking.
Skeptics believe it's just another example of how privacy has all but disappeared in the workplace. Privacy advocates say they know of no major incidents so far of disciplinary action for IM abuse. But it may be just a matter of time."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/instant.messages.eavesdropping/
I'd really like to be the guy who has to go through millions of messages from teenagers on AIM. Laugh. |
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Adventures in Spam Land |
4/13/2002 |
"Think there's no porn on your computer? Think again." Awaited me in my Inbox.
Naturally I was enraged. "There is no porn on my computer!"
Click the Link for a free Scan!
I clicked the link still doubtful that such filth might be on a computer in my household.
Until I saw this:
If an Irish Father found porn on his computer... then I guess it's possible for it to be on mine.
I was eager to click on a form to allow the company to scan the entire Hard Drive of my computer to find "questionable content" (namely movies, images, and other possible media).
I was sold. For a mere $19.95 I could find all of these files much more easily than having to go through the trouble of opening up the Search Utility in my OS.
To kick this terrible habit I also bought their book, "The DRUG of the new Millenium" that includes these wonderful chapters:
- Men Are Porn Victims (So true!)
- Pornography Destroys Women’s Rights (In 2003 Pornography is expected to disallow female voting.)
- Pornography Triggers Child Abuse (Thank goodness I don't have children...)
- Internet Porn Is Destroying Our Teens—Our Future (Save our children!)
- What if My Child or Teenager Has Been Exposed to Pornography by Accident? (gasp)
For the full list of chapters please feel free to visit here:
http://www.contentwatch.com/store/detail.php?prodid=600
You also might be interested in their spam blocking utility. It will help you block messages from their own company in the future.
If you are so inclined feel free to email the company and tell them how much you enjoy their products: info@contentwatch.com |
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Fiber-to-the-Home Internet, TV, Phone in One Box |
4/13/2002 |
Thanks to Slashdot:
"Brian Stretch writes "This looks like a really neat toy. Internet (PPPoE), CATV, DBS, telephone over one fiber optic cable to the converter box that breaks it down into 10BaseT Ethernet, coax, coax, and three POTS lines. I'd prefer more Internet bandwidth, and DBS and HDTV (from over-the-air broadcast) instead of DBS and CATV... but hey, these things could whack both Ameritech and Comcast in one shot. Is anyone familiar with these or any competing devices?"
http://www.marconi.com/html/solutions/deepfiberfth.htm |
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Site News |
4/13/2002 |
Saturday:
I'm 1/8th of the way through with my CeBIT article. I know that CeBIT is old news now, but I'm hoping to offer something that is a bit more original than what everyone else has done. So stay tuned for that tomorrow night.
Sunday:
Should get the Antec sx1040B case reviewed. It will be a good reference to use when comparing it to the new Performance Plus (1080) series that Antec is releasing. Pictured Left.
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CNN - Hack Attack |
4/12/2002 |
Another CNN scare article.
"Imagine waking up one morning to discover all your personal information has been stolen.
Your bank account has been cleaned out. The project you have been working on has vanished. Your e-mails have been infected with a virus. The address book in your phone has been deleted.
Then things start to get really bad.
The computer system protecting your house no longer recognizes you. Now you are barred from your home, so you alert the police, but they are very keen to talk to you about your recent credit card purchase in Panama.
It sounds like technophobe's worst nightmare, but it could be reality."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/hack.dangers/index.html
Hackers hackers everywhere! The best prevention of attacks is knowledge. Like knowing this article is humorous :) |
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VIA introduces Mini-ITX Form Factor |
4/12/2002 |
"The Mini-ITX is more than 33% smaller than the FlexATX form factor and VIA launched its own VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard in March this year following the phenomenal interest and excitement over the fanless VIA Eden™ Platform and the VIA Mini-ITX form factor. The VIA EPIA Mini-ITX comes with a rich feature set that includes a low power x86 processor, onboard AGP graphics and audio, TV-Out, Ethernet networking and USB 1.1 that are currently not available on other small form factor motherboards."
http://www.viavpsd.com/newspress/index6.jsp
The form factor only supports VIA's Eden Processor and the VIA C3 E Series processors.
Read: If you need a dinky, low noise, low power, low heat system then this is for you.
If not, your 800mhz Athlon will probably blow these systems out of the water
;)
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Yet another reason not to use XP |
4/12/2002 |
Reports by the Register claim that Windows XP has functionality built-in to the Search Companion module that allows Microsoft to log users internet searches. Information collected includes user IP address, search term and related information.
Burn your computer now while you still can without Microsoft knowing it before you do.
~ES
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24815.html |
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Thoroughbred Info (Yet again) |
4/12/2002 |
The chip that has yet to be will supposedly be out in May or June, or maybe never. It seems to me that AMD is having a lot of trouble transitioning over to the .13 micron process thus the delay in the Thoroughbred launch. It seems that we were right on with our 3/20/01 speculation since we are receiving a lot of reports confirming that the Thoroughbred flagship will be the 2200+ (1.8ghz).
A month is a long long time. I've been saying it for the past month, but Intel should be using this to their advantage and get faster P4's into the market. Maybe they know something that we don't about how well the Thoroughbred can perform.
Seems like theInquirer just posted an article here |
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Site News |
4/11/2002 |
Google seems to have finally have gotten a hold of us. We had to pay them $10,000 for the 1/10 PageRank, but man was it worth it.
Thanks everyone for reading the site. Look forward to the server upgrade which I've been working on obsessively for the past couple of weeks. ;)
Looks like we're veering towards phpnuke and mysql on a linux box. We'll see how that goes. I know the reviews have been sparse, but all my money went to google :/ |
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CAS 2 512mb Muskin Ram? |
4/11/2002 |
Want to know why a CAS2 PC2100 Ram Stick outperforms a Corsais XMS 2700?
Read this:
The Mushkin 512MB Hi Perf "LEVEL 2" CAS 222 PC2100 DDR has got to be one of the best PC2100 DDR in the market in terms of overclockability. I will rephrase that, this has got to be one of the best 512Mb PC2100 CAS 2-2-2 DDR module you can get! Not only did it beat the Corsair 256 Mb XMS PC2700 in memory overclock but in memory performance as well. For a 512 MB PC2100 DDR RAM to be able to reach PC3200 (DDR400) speeds at CAS 2, it has to be something special. It has to be a Mushkin Hi Perf "Level 2!"
Next time he should try to have a 512mb DDR333 module to compete with the 512mb Mushkin module though.. might make the review seem less one sided. ;)
Full Article |
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Microsoft in a Hailstorm |
4/11/2002 |
It looks like everybody's favorite BIG BROTHER is giving up on Hailstorm ("It was intended to permit an individual to keep an online persona independent of his or her desktop computer, supposedly safely stored as part of a vast data repository where there could be easy access to it from any point on the Internet.")
Read: It was intended for Microsoft to keep track of everyone on the Internet, thus invading your privacy and then using it for their own economic gain.
Now, if only Corporations would stop and realize how bad .NET will be compared to much better (not to mention Free) some solutions are that are already in worldwide use. *cough Apache cough*
NY Times (Free Reg, Just Lie) |
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Intel Roadmaps - 3.0GHZ? |
4/11/2002 |
I've been seeing a lot of roadmaps every where. As a rule of thumb roadmaps are a lot like tabloids. Seldom are they truthful, but rarely are they without shades of truth.
Keeping in mind that Intel will offer different roadmaps to its' Vendors, OEMS, Retailers, Consumers, Midgets, etc. it is hard to separate the truth from PR fluff.
I am firmly of the believe that Intel's Pentium 4 Lineup will be at 3.0GHZ before the end of the year. Especially with the pressure that AMD will soon be putting upon their Northwood's with the .13 micron Hammer. So don't expect the PR ratings to end anytime soon as Intel will try and distance itself in clock speed while AMD tries to claim the benchmarks with much lower clocking CPU's. |
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Apache 2.0.23 issues |
4/11/2002 |
I was messing around with the new Apache release today and couldn't get CGI / Perl working in any way shape or form. After endlessly searching for an answer / scouring my code for defects I've decided that it must be some sort of bad mixture of my setup and Apache v2.0
Perl works fine from the cmd prompt: i.e. "Hello World" from hello.pl
CGI permissions all configured in httpd.conf and checked at least 20times. (Even uninstalled EVERYTHING then Re-Installed). Might be a problem with ActivePerl. Who knows.
So if anyone is thinking about making the upgrade (like I am). Make sure to test it out first before making the jump so you don't get caught with a crippled server. :) |
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Digital Art |
4/11/2002 |
Somehow I got back to DeviantArt today. A site that I don't visit as much as I should. Digital art is increasingly becoming more vivid and beautiful with each passing year. A lot of the limits of conventional art media has been taken to a new level by these talented artists.
It's sad that they aren't getting as much attention as they deserve (mostly since Digital Art still isn't accepted as formal art by a lot of snobs.. I mean yuppies).
See what I'm talking about at DeviantArt.com. |
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XBox Doesn't Like Being Away From Home |
4/11/2002 |
I've seen a considerable amount of news postings regarding the XBox's poor performance overseas. Some might blame it on the controller, others on the lack of MS influence in Japan and other markets. I am under the opinion that so far it has a poor showing in regard to games. Halo does not a system make ;)
Sony continues to steam roll everyone else as Nintendo monopolizes the handheld arena and tries to steady the GameCube with the release of Resident Evil, Mario Sunshine, etc. in the near future.
On the PC Side of things anticipate Unreal Tournament 2003 (Formerly Unreal Tournament 2), Warcraft III, etc. soon as well.
Right now I'd stick with PC games since the console systems seemed to have wasted all of their big guns during Christmas.
ES |
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AMD Pricing Changes |
4/9/2002 |
In anticipation of Intel's CPU pricecuts on April 14th, AMD announced changes of their own.
They are as follows:
XP 2100 OEM - $295
XP 2000 BOX - $216
XP 2000 OEM - $254
XP 1900 BOX - $158
XP 1900 OEM - $210
XP 1800 BOX - $130
XP 1800 OEM - $152
XP 1700 BOX - $122
XP 1700 OEM - $125
Duron 1300 BOX - $82
Duron 1300 OEM - $79
Duron 1200 BOX - $72
Duron 1200 OEM - $75
Duron 1100 BOX - $72
Duron 1100 OEM - $66
Duron 1000 BOX - Phased out
Duron 1000 OEM – Phased out
Check out Pricewatch.com for street pricing. |
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Mobile Thoroughbreds? |
4/9/2002 |
Well, HardOCP seems to have thought that there were Mobile AMD Thorougbred's shipping. Compaq seems to have slipped on this one since they claim it has 512kb L2 Cache whilst still claiming itself as an Athlon 4 1600+
Well, after receiving the One millionth email from the boys at HardOCP this month an AMD correspondent (who has been hired solely to answer Steve and Kyle's questions) said that it is indeed a typo. The world is sane once more. |
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Inquirer Round-Up: Intel Edition |
4/9/2002 |
Madison, Deerfield to launch this time next year
"Intel intends to release its Madison and Deerfield 64-bit CPUs in the second quarter of 2003, as a "refresh" for its up and coming McKinley processor."
First Intel Banias part to run at 1.40GHz
"Intel will intro a banias chip in a low voltage version at 1.70GHz while Intel will also launch a 1.10GHz ultra low voltage version in the second quarter of 2003, we can reveal today.
But the first Banias will appear in the first quarter of next year, and speed grades of 1.40GHz, 1.50GHz and 1.60GHz are in store, using the Odem chipset."
Intel revs u™qntium 4 intros
"Better process technology has allowed Intel to introduce 2.60GHz and 2.66GHz Pentium 4s in the third quarter of this year, rather than Q4, as first expected.
And the firm also claims it is now able to migrate .13 micron Pentium 4 technologies from top to bottom, and so has removed a 1.90GHz .18 micron processor from the equation."
ALI Pentium 4 chipsets still delayed
"We noted earlier this year that Acer Labs Inc (ALI), seemed to have something of a problem delivering desktop Pentium 4 chipsets, and that's confirmed by a report on the Economic News today." |
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Site News |
4/9/2002 |
We're still trying to tweak everything on the site and haven't gotten everything 100% Sorry for the 404's some typos and archaic links. They should all be fixed now. If you have any questions or comments feel free to send them in.
Email |
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Athlon XP 2200+ Confirmed |
4/9/2002 |
Read the whole thing and see some pictures at X-bit Labs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1018065284
This would be news if we hadn't reported this a few weeks back. A lot of the marger tech sites had already said the 2200+ would be quick to follow. It looks like AMD has held off on it though. Possibly it will be released to appease the masses whilst the Thoroughbred (which should be out by now, but isn't) finally gets ready to launch. We'll wait and see when the Throughbred finally hits stores, don't hold your breath. |
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Pop-up Downloads |
4/9/2002 |
With the rise of pop-up downloads on the Net people are becoming increasingly fed up with companies that use such sly tactics which benefit the user very rarely. Gator seems to be the biggest violator of thise crime. Gator's program automatically remembers passwords (making your passwords completely open to anyone who has access to your computer) and conveniently pops up ads based on what webpages you are viewing. Most people would unknowingly install this program when it is bundled with popular file sharing programs such as Morpheus. The best thing to do is to ban the use of these programs (CommonName is another annoying program).
Pretty soon pop-up downloads will start to push the boundaries of intrusion onto your PC. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing Trojan Pop-Ups that self install themselves on your computer without your knowledge in the near future.
Read CNET Article<.d> |
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This is especially good news for those with OSX who have been without Photoshop for quite awhile now. $609.00 US Full Version, $149.00 Upgrade.
