happy valentine's day!.

i kind of love this cross stitch kit more than life itself right now. i just love it. it's funny and cute and crafttastic. always a good combo. you can get this and a bunch of other high-larious kits like it from subversive cross stitch.

Intel To Release Budget Dual Core Pentium 915 amp; 925

On top of the low cost Pentium D 805 which helped Intel pickup quite a bit of sales, Intel will be releasing Pentium 915 and Pentium 925as cost-saving solutions much like the Pentium D 805. They will be clocked at2.8GHz and 3.0GHz respectively, like the 920 and 930. Based on the Presler core,they will sport 2 x 2MB L2 cache and 800MHz FSB. The main difference betweenthe 915/925 and the 920/930 is the lack of support for VT and EIST.

Lenovo Introduces Super-slim All-in-One Desktop and 16-inch Laptop

Today, Lenovo introduced the latest additions to their Idea family of personal computers for consumers which include the IdeaCentre A600 All-in-One desktop PC andIdeaPad Y650 and Y450 laptops. Eugene Liew, Lenovo Country Manager forSingapore Consumer Business, gavethe opening speech and indicated the company will push the limits for good design, balancing form and function in order to stand out from competitors.

The IdeaCentre A600 All-in-One desktop PC sports a 21.5-inch frameless screen (16:9 aspect ratio and supports 1920x1080 Full HD resolution), bass sub-woofer and Dolby Home Theatre audio certification and optional Blu-ray player. It only measures one-inch at its slimmest point, making it one of the slimmest all-in-one desktop PC.

The A600 also comes with an optional 4-in-1 remote controller that can be used as a VoIP handset, media center/TV remote control, "air mouse" to control the cursor onscreen and even Wii-like gaming.

The IdeaCentre A600 All-in-One desktop PCis available now at SGD2,199.

The IdeaPad Y series laptops features soft black exterior with interlocked hexagon pattern on the cover and copper accent around the perimeter. Comes in 14-inch Y450 and 16-inch Y650, both laptop boasts powerful High Definition entertainment and are configurable with up to 500GB hard disk storage, and up to 4GB DDR3 memory.

The IdeaPad Y-series laptops will be available end April at SGD2,299 for the Y650, and SGD1,399 for the Y450.

Two models werepresent at the event to showcase the products

ATi GPU amp; Chipsets Q2 Plans

The tight supply of ATI graphics chipsets, particularly the Radeon 9600XTlineup, will ease by the end of March. ATI will start delivering chipsetssupporting PCI express technology in the second quarter. Many of ATI’s OEMclients of motherboards and graphics cards have already verified the company’sPCI express-based chipsets and have decided to use the products. The proportionsof PCI express and AGP 8X chips to ATI’s total shipments of graphics chips willbe at comparable levels by the end of this year.

GPUs

R420 (AGP8X)
R423 (PCI Express x16)
RV380 (PCI Express x16)
RV410 (AGP8X, PCI Express x16)
RV370 (PCI Express x16) Chipsets

RX480 (AMD, Discrete)
RS480 (AMD, UMA)
RS400 (Intel, UMA)

ATi will have PCI Express GPUs like RV423 and RV380 on AGP8x interface byusing a PCI Express x16 to AGP8x bridge as well so as to facilitate thetransition. ATi' method is different from NVIDIA's High Speed Interconnect (HSI)that bridge AGP8x GPU to PCI Express x16 interface.

Assassin's Creed III will feature new multiplayer content every month

The upcoming third installment of Assassins Creed will offer new content each month as part of a much more extensive multiplayer experience.

The multiplayer game will feature story much more than previous titles and will see the Animus being turned into a commercial product that consumers can go to for reliving the past. This gives Ubisoft a perfect opportunity to launch monthly updates as the story unfolds.The updates will be locked behind challenges that players need to complete and there will be new challenges and new content, including files and videos, available each month. It is not clear how extensive this new content will be in terms of actual gameplay, but it should keep gamers busy once the initial singe-player story has been played.Multiplayer features will include a new hunting co-op mode called Wolfpack, where players need to find and kill people in a timed challenge, and a four-player versus four-player team mode called Domination. Wolfpack will feature more advanced AI than weve seen in previous games, with a variety of NPC “personalities” that make some fighters, some cowards, and everything else between.These modes will also feature environmental effects, such as visibility-reducing weather, and conveniently-placed bottles and axes that can be utilised by players for a special kill, so the enhancements to the multiplayer experience wont simply be eye-candy.Assassins Creed III launches at the end of October for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and late November for PC.Source: Joystiq

Apple New iMac G5

Touted as "the world's thinnest desktop computer," the new iMac resembles athicker version of Apple's LCD Cinema Display series, with the entire computer,including optical drive and power supply, built into a single case two inchesdeep. The system comes in three models. The low-end machine, priced at $ 1,299,is based around a 17-inch LCD and 1.6GHz PowerPC G5 processor, and comes with a533MHz front-side bus, 256MB of DDR-RAM, and a slot-loaded CD-RW/DVD combodrive. The middle system, priced at $ 1,499, ups the speed of the processor to1.8GHz with a 600MHz front-side bus, and swaps the combo drive for a DVD-RWSuperDrive. Both models come with an 80GB Serial-ATA hard drive. At the top ofthe range comes a 20-inch version, identical to the midrange model other thanthe larger screen and a 160GB hard drive; it is priced at $ 1,899. Apple claimedthe iMac will begin shipping worldwide in mid-September.

ASRock 880G Extreme 3 Motherboard Detailed

ASRock is readying its 880G Extreme 3 motherboard for launch. Built on the AMD 880G chipset and SB850 south bridge, the motherboardfeatures support for AM3 processors, four DDR3-1800 memory slots,on-board Radeon HD 4250 graphics, three PCI-e x16 slots (CrossFireX andHybrid CrossFire-ready), one eSATA, six SATA III ports, GigabitEthernet, 7.1 channel audio, two USB 3.0 connectors, D-Sub, DVI and HDMIoutputs, and a 8+2 phase power design. Over-clocking enthusiasts willalso be delighted with ASRock 880G Extreme 3’s UCC (Unlock CPU Core)function, Turbo 50 auto over-clocking feature, Instant Boot, on-boarddebug LED, Power, Reset and Clear CMOS switches. Pricing has not beenannounced yet but it is expected to start shipping in end April 2010.


News via [Techconnect]

ASUS Adds Another ROG mATX Board Maximus II GENE

ASUStodayreleases a mATX board based on the Intel P45 Express Chipset, the Maximus II GENEtargeting atgamers, case modders and enthusiasts. It comes with features such as CPU Level Up, an OC utility foreasy overclockingas well as MemOK! that auto-load the failsafe settings to ensure a boot up.The board also bundled in a SupremeFX X-Fi soundcard.

Official Press Release:

ASUS, the world’s leading producer of motherboards, today added an integral GENE to its lauded lineup of ROG (Republic of Gamers) motherboards. Based on the Intel® P45 Express Chipset, the Maximus II GENE delivers ROG’s legendary stability, overclockability and flexibility to gamers, case-modders and overclocking enthusiasts with an affinity for the Intel® Core™2 Extreme/Quad/Duo platform and the mATX form factor. As with the preceding GENE—the ROG Rampage II GENE—the Maximus II GENE offers a wealth of high-end features including MemOK!, CPU Level Up, and SupremeFX X-Fi.

Size Doesn’t Matter
The Rampage II GENE proved that a petite mATX system could outgun a full ATX tower rig. With the Maximus II GENE, Intel® Core™2 Extreme/Quad/Duo processor users now have access to the same bragging rights. Despite its compact size, the Maximus II GENE packs a feature set that surpasses that of many full-sized ATX motherboards. One such feature is CPU Level Up, a handy utility that boosts CPU performance to match that of a better, more expensive processor with just a click or two.

MemOK! Any Memory is A-Okay!
MemOK! was developed to provide users with a worry-free memory upgrade experience. In the event of a boot failure after installing new RAM, all the user has to do is press an easily accessible button on the motherboard and MemOK! will automatically load the failsafe settings needed to ensure a successful system boot. MemOK! is able to rapidly detect and resolve memory issues—even if bad or unstable memory is used!

Supreme In-game Audio with SupremeFX X-Fi
SupremeFX X-Fi solution delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic in-game sound effects. Official EAX sound effects from EAX 1.0 to EAX HD4.0 allow gamers to enjoy total immersion in supported games. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically.

halloween horrors 2011 “day of the dead” 2008

And hey, since we’re on the subject of shitty direct-to-video zombie flicks —

Honestly, folks, they don’t come much worse than the 2008 “remake” (and I use that term very loosely) of George A. Romero’s classic, Day Of The Dead.

I remember in the time between when this project was announced (sometime in 2006, if memory serves me correctly) and it landed like a thud on video store shelves, Netflix, etc., most hard-core horror fanatics were — skeptical, to put it kindly. Sure, the budget was okay (estimated to be around $18 million, and filmed in Bulgaria to make those dollars stretch even further), and Steve Miner was attached as director, a guy who had earned a certain reservoir of goodwill for Halloween : H2O. The cast list didn’t look to bad, either — Mena Suvari was set to star, Ving Rhames would be in there for a (brief, as it turns out) cameo as a military commander, Ian McNeice was going to play a burned-out ex-hippie DJ, Nick Cannon (before his career seriously took off thanks to who he married) was in there someplace, a pre- 90210AnnaLynne McCord was on board — surely it couldn’t be as bad as we all feared, could it?

As things turned out, the finished product was actually much, much worse.

First off, let’s get one thing straight right away — 2008′s Day Of The Dead isn’t a remake of the Romero original at all. It’s not even “based on” that film as the credits proclaim. The only vague similarity between the two is that the first one had a semi-intelligent zombie who was capable of learning named Bub (in a legendary performance by the great Howard Sherman), and this one’s got a vegetarian zombie (yes, you read that correctly) named Bob.

That’s it. Seriously. Oh, and this one’s got a secret underground military base, as well. But they don’t get to it until about the final 30 minutes of the film.

So no allusions to Cold War paranoia. No attempts to educate the zombies for domestic use/possible co-existence. No mad doctor. No questions along the lines of “what price will our possible survival come at?”

No, friend,s all of that would require brains and heart, and this film has neither. Hell, Miner and company can’t even decide if they want their zombies to be slow shamblers or the new, speedy, 28 Days Later model, so they give us both (as well as a mix of live-action and CGI creatures, with extremely mixed results). instead all we’ve got here is the story of a by-now-typical zombie outbreak that first looks like a virus but turns out to be much worse plaguing the scenic mountain town of Leadville, Colorado (and to this flick’s credit Bulragia does, indeed, look a bit Colorado-ish) that our heroine, army private ( I think, although maybe she was a corporal, I can’t remember and don’t care) Sarah Bowman (Suvari) just happens to call home.

And I think I’m just gonna leave it at that because, honestly, there’s just no reason to see this movie. A pretty decent cast turns in listless, one-dimensional performances all around, which is what I would probably do in their shoes as well if I’d read this mind-numblingly lifeless script. There’s no tension, suspense, or even anything really interesting going on. The best thing I can say about the whole thing is that it’s over in a truly mercifully short 86 minutes.

Day Of The Dead , 2008 incarnation, is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from First Look Pictures. It’s got a sharp widescreen transfer, 5.1 sound, a commentary with Miner and several of the cast and crew, a making-of featurette — all the bells and whistles. But it still sucks. Royally. But hey, if it just had another title — any other title — what we’d be looking at here is yet another lousy DTV living dead flick. Stand in line and take a number.? By trying to hitch itself onto Romero’s wagon, however, it shows itself to be not just bad, but shameless and disrespectful, as well. Avoid at all costs, I beg you — please!

AMD starts hiring world class SoC engineers

In order to go forward, AMD executives know that Wall Street investors wont be impressed with the 1400 layoffs - if the market success of Apple, Nokia, Intel, BMW, Audi, Airbus (and the list goes on) show anything is that engineering excellence is what is required for success.

AMDs Rory P. Read will announce his Project WIN strategy at Financial Analyst Day in February 2012, but until then, some serious head hunting is taking place. Bear in mind that AMD did not just lay people off, the company had internal reorganization and it was good to hear that several former "directors of engineering" (GPU, CPU, Memory architects) were promoted to VP, CVP and C-level executives.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that AMDs LinkedIn page is now filled with job posts and there is active recruiting taking place behind the scenes. Bear in mind that some of these ads are searching not just for one job position, rather several talented engineers at the same time (depending on interview results). Engineers are even looked for on Twitter.

So, who is AMD looking for? The positions are mostly located in Austin (TX), Sunnyvale (CA), Boxborough (MA) and Fort Collins (CO) and we have to say that job descriptions are intriguing. This is just a small sample of jobs available:

Video Architect, Sunnyvale CA - "Responsible forthe design and development of x86/SSE and GPU-based Software video codecs, suchas MPEG-2, H.264 and SVC"

SOC Integration Engineer, Austin TX - "Own floor planning (estimates & actual), C4 planning, packaging requirements, top level interconnects, implement overlays, full chip assembly along with associated physical verification of assembled chip for next generation AMD Server and Fusion microprocessors."

SOC Design Verification Engineer, Austin TX "This position is for an experienced verification engineer in AMDs SoC verification group working on next generation high performance x86 client and server microprocessors. The location is the Lone Star Design Center in southwest Austin."

System Software Development Engineer, Austin TX - "System Optimization Engineering team is seeking an experienced system-software developer to join AMDs modeling team for software-based simulation of AMDs future server, notebook, tablet and desktop platforms."

Learning and Development Manager, Austin TX - "The L&D Manager (Finance Transformation) position will support us in the transformation of our global Finance team. Engaging our employees globally, you will support the transformation of the Finance organization through the project management, facilitation, and coaching of the team via process and culture change specifically through training development, delivery, and sustainment."

The list goes on, and if you want to check it out, hit this link. As far as AMD goes, we can only hope that the new faces in AMD will make their products even more competitive on the market.

ASUS EN8800 Series

ASUS Technology Pte Ltd (ASUS) the leading provider of high-performancegraphics solutions is proud to introduce the EN8800 series, which includes theworld’s first DirectX 10-ready graphics cards and provides powerful videocapability to score 10,531 on 3DMark06.

To offer the e-sport community greater value on their gaming system investments,the EN8800 series includes two hot 3D games: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter andGTI Racing. The EN8800 series currently consists of two models, the EN8800GTX/HTDP/768Mand EN8800GTS/HTDP/640M.

World’s fastest and first DirectX 10-ready graphics cards

The EN8800GTX/HTDP/768M scored *10,531 in 3DMark06 at 1280x1024 resolution,making it one of the most powerful solutions in the market. Both models of theEN8800 series are powered by the Microsoft-certified DirectX 10-ready GPU fromNVIDIA. The EN8800 series is fully-compatible with Shader Model 4.0, and enablesefficient batch process of game objects and data, and allows a far richer andmore immersive gaming experience. DirectX 10 support also means compatibilitywith the up coming Microsoft Vista operating system for future upgrades.

*Result is based on ASUS internal lab tests

3D Games and benchmarking tool bundle

The EN8800 series bundles Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter from Ubisoft and GTIRacing from Techland. 3Dmark06 Advanced Version, the premier graphics benchmarksoftware, is also available with the purchase of the two new graphics cards.Whether it’s for gamers or overclockers, the EN8800 series offers excellentvalue in return.

Splendid Video Intelligence Technology

The new EN8800 series incorporates Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, anexclusive feature found only on ASUS solutions. With Splendid, images enabled byASUS graphics cards are fine tuned to deliver vibrant visual representations inconditions most favorable to the human eye. Splendid works on top of NVIDIA’sPureVideotm technology to offer sharp decoded video.

ATi Catalyst 4.2 Drivers Tested

Pentium 4 EE 3.2Ghz
Hercules Radeon 9800 XTCatalyst 3.10Catalyst 4.1Catalyst 4.23DMark2001SE2057620562205793DMark2003659865916608UT2003 Demo(Flyby)272.9268.5271.1SplinterCell 1.2b(1_1_1_Tbilisi)88.286.586.6Quake III Arena(Demo004)459464.6464.8Serious Sam SE 1.5b108.5107.5107.1

There aren't any significant performance improvements in the new set ofCatalyst 4.2 drivers on a Radeon 9800 XT card but according the release notes,Radeon 9000, 9200 and 8500 users will experience some nice improvements. Nowthere is no wait when you apply changes to the Direct3D settings which iscertainly more welcomed.

 

Release Notes

Component Video Output Enhancement
The latest ATI software driver now allows the user the choice of using panningmode or a center-timing mode in which the image would appear in the center ofthe TV screen when using the Component Video output on an HDTV display. Thisoption is found in the ATI Control Panel and is supported under the Windows XP,Windows 2000, and Windows ME operating systems. This feature is available on theATI RADEON™ 8500 and higher class of products.

Direct3D Setting Enhancement
Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank forup to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driverfor the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3Dsetting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank.

Performance Improvements
As with most CATALYST™ releases performance has increased in various situations.This release of CATALYST™ provides performance gains to the ATI DX8 productfamily. These products include the RADEON™ 9200, 9000, and 8500 series.Performance gains are noticed throughout the following software:

Framerates in Unreal Tournament 2003 are up by as much as 15%
A performance gain of between 5 and 10% is noticed in Aquamark3
A performance gain of between 2-3% is noticed in ShaderMark scores
Framerates in Halo are up 3 to 4%
A performance improvement of 2% is noticed in Tomb Raider

 

Download & discuss now

 

Archos Releases 5 Android-powered Tablets With Various Form Factors

A tablet, regardless of how well-designed it is, is bound to attract some form of criticism about its size, and for good reason . As long as people have different expectations of how big a tablet is supposed to be with regards to a user's hand size, the idea of a universal-sized tablet is probably nothing more than wishful thinking.

However, it seemed that Archos has came up with a novel idea to address that issue: to release an entire lineup of tablets with varying sizes. And that is just what it has done with its latest range of Android-based tablets, which run the gamut from being small enough to pass off as smartphones, to having sizes capable of rivaling netbooks. Here is a quick run-down of Archos's latest lineup:

Archos 28:

Probably the best way to describe the Archos 28 Internet Tablet will be to imagine it as smartphone sans the mobile phone-related features. With a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen, the Archos 28 is certainly small enough to pass off as an Android smartphone instead of a tablet device.

That being said, the hardware powering the Archos 28 is no slouch. An ARM Cortex A8 processor clocked at 800MHz provides sufficient power for the device's multimedia features, with onboard Flash memory providing 2GB or 4GB of storage space, and WiFi connectivity completes the package.

Last but definitely not least, the Archos 28 does not have a built-in camera. Technically, it means that you are free to sneak it into your NS camp by simply passing it off as a smartphone (Android is a smartphone OS anyway). Just don't blame us if you get caught for trying to do so.

Archos 32

Like the Archos 28, the Archos 32 also sports a very smartphone-esque form factor, but the difference lies in the specs.

Instead of a 2.8-inch touchscreen, the Archos 32 has a slightly bigger display at 3.2 inches, is capable of HD video playback and comes with a built-in camcorder which can record at up to 720p. In addition to WiFi, the Archos 32 also features built-in Bluetooth connectivity, and the maximum storage size has also been increased to 8GB.

Archos 43

Unlike the aforementioned Archos 28 and Archos 32, the Archos 43's larger size resembles a PDA more than a smartphone, but is still small enough to fit easily in one's palm for convenience.

Specs-wise, the Archos 43 boasts a more powerful ARM Cortex A8 processor clocked at 1GHz, a 4.3-inch touchscreen capable of a resolution of 854 x 480 and a kickstand for added convenience in viewing videos, with most of the other hardware being extremely similar to the Archos 32.

ASUS F50 and F70 Series Notebooks

The ASUS F50 and F70 notebook seriescome withcutting-edge design and innovative multimedia featuresto satisfy users whowant high definition audio visual entertainment and extensive multitasking capabilities on the move.

The F50GX features integrated graphics solution which offers performancecomparable to a dedicated graphics card. The F70SL features a massive 1TB of storage for user to backupand even store large High Definitionvideos conveniently.

The ASUS F50 and F70 notebooks also come standard with high definition audio quality and 16:9 Full High Definition displaywith high contrast rate, brightness and color saturationforsuperior audio and visual enjoyment

With the built-in HDMI port,users can connect their notebooks to large external LCD displays or other HDMI-capable devices fora full cinematic experience and entertainment versatility.

Specifications

Model

F50GX

Processor and Cache Memory

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600/ P8400/ P7450/ P7350/T6600/T6400/T5900/T5850/T5800/T5750; Intel Pentium Processor T4200/ T3400/ T3200/ T2390; Intel Celeron Dual-Core Processor T1700/ T1600; Intel Celeron Processor 585/ 575

Chipset

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G

Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Premium
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Business
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Ultimate

Main Memory

DDR2 800 Up to 4 GB

Display

16" 16:9 HD Panel (1366 x 768)
15.6" 16:9 HD panel (1366 x 768)

Hard Drive

2.5" 9.5mm SATA HDD
SATA 250 GB/ 320 GB / 500 GB; Support 5400 RPM

Optical Drive

SATA – Super Multi
Blu-ray

Video Camera* (optional)

1.3 MP Fixed type video camera

Fax/Modem/
LAN/WLAN

WLAN Integrated 802.11b/g/n
On board 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Built-in Bluetooth v2.1 module (optional)

Dimensions and Weight

380mm x 265mm x 36.3mm ~ 41.7mm
2.85kg

Model

F50Z

Processor and Cache Memory

AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology Dual Core CPU

ZM-86 / 84 / 82 / 80, 2.4-2.1 GHz, DDR2 800 MHz, 2M L2 cache, Hyper Transport 3.0;
RM-70, 2.0 GHz, DDR2 800MHz, 1M L2 cache, Hyper Transport 3.0

AMD Athlon 64 Mobile Technology Duo Core CPU QL-60, 1.9 GHz, DDR2 667MHz, 1M L2 cache, Hyper Transport 3.0

Chipset

AMD M780G

Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Premium
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Business
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Ultimate

Main Memory

DDR2 800 up to 4 GB

Display

16" 16:9 HD Panel (1366 x 768)
15.6" 16:9 HD panel (1366 x 768)

Hard Drive

2.5" 9.5mm SATA HDD
SATA 250GB / 320GB / 500GB; Support 5400RPM

Optical Drive

SATA – Super Multi
Blu-ray

Video Camera* (optional)

1.3 megapixels fixed type video camera

Fax/Modem/
LAN/WLAN

WLAN Integrated 802.11b/g/n
On board 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Built-in Bluetooth v2.1 module (optional)

Dimensions and Weight

380mm x 265mm x 36.3mm ~ 41.7mm
2.85kg

Model

F70SL

Processor and Cache Memory

Intel ® Core™ 2 Duo T9550/P8700/P8600/P8400/P7350/T6600/T6400/T5900/T5850/T5800;Intel ® Pentium™ T4200/T3400/T3200; Intel ® Celeron™ Dual-Core T1700/T1600; Intel ® Celeron™ 585/575

Chipset

SiS 671 DX + SiS 968

Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home Basic
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home Premium

Main Memory

Up to 4GB (2GB*2) DDR2 800

Display

17.3" (16:9) HD+ (1600*900) LED LCD

Hard Drive

Single HDD: SATA 250/320 (7200/5400 rpm)/ 500 GB (5400rpm)
Dual HDD: SATA 500GB/640GB (7200/5400 rpm)/ 1TB (5400rpm)

External USB
Optical Drive

DVD Super Multi
BD Combo

Video Camera*

1.3M pixels CMOS Camera (Optional)

Fax/Modem/
LAN/WLAN

WLAN Integrated 802.11b/g/n
On board 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Built-in Bluetooth v2.1 module (optional)

Dimensions and Weight

466mm x 309mm x 39mm ~ 47mm
4.10kg with 8 cell battery

Source: ASUS

Angry Birds soda outsells Coca-Cola and Pepsi in Finland

Theres plenty of video-game themed foods and drinks these days and it is of no surprise that a merchandise-loving franchise like Angry Birds would join in with their own soda brand. In the past few months alone, Angry Birds has been working to expand their business into activity parks (Angry Birds Land, in Särkänniemi, Finland), a childrens learning resource and even a debit card. What is a surprise however, is how well this soda is selling in Finland.

I admit the cans are cool, but that must be one hell of a soda to defeat Coke and Pepsi

During the Slush conference in Finland, the Finnish game developers CEO, Peter Vesterbacka, revealed that Angry birds soda; a fruity soft drink in four flavors, has been outselling both Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It is astounding that a novelty soda for a mobile slingshot game is beating out the two largest and biggest soda makers at their own game. Its akin to coca-cola making a video game that outsells Call of Duty.

Rovio is planning to launch the soda in New Zealand and Australia in the near future, and its entirely possible it may make it over to the US soon as well.

the bw review “before watchmen ozymandias” #4

Here we go again.

Len Wein and Jae Lee’s?Before Watchmen : Ozymandias mini-series is getting so far beyond redundant at this point that I really ought to have my head examined for still buying it. Every issue more or less completely drops and/or disregards the various plot threads that had snuck their way in the last time around and swaps them out for another set of themes that are sure to ultimately go nowhere as well. You doubt me? Consider the evidence:

The first issue centers around a leaden retelling of Adrian Veidt’s past, then throws in a wrinkle about his girlfriend OD’ing on unnamed “drugs.” In issue two, Ozy sets out to KO the drug trade, then gets sidetracked into finding out what happened to long-lost mystery man Hooded Justice. In issue three, after tussling with the Comedian while looking for answers to HJ’s ultimate fate, the so-called “Smartest Man In The World” gives up that quest and begins obsessing over Dr. Manhattan instead — all of which brings us up to the current issue, which sees ?Ozy drop his fixation on the big blue guy and instead go into service as an unofficial adviser to President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis before briefly turning his attention to finding out “Who Killed JFK?” after he’s assassinated and then taking notice of some new costumed vigilantes when they arrive on the scene, namely Rorschach and the Dan Dreiberg-model Nite Owl.

The entire by-the-numbers affair concludes with the iconic first meeting of the Crimebusters, which we’ve also (and already) seen “re-interpreted” from the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons original in the pages of? the?Nite Owl and?Silk Spectre books, as well, the key difference here being — it’s actually not “re-interpreted” at all, just fucking?redrawn. Seriously. The last two pages of this book are a word-for-word cribbing of the scene as originally scripted by Moore, it’s just that Jae Lee’s drawing it this time.

And speaking of Jae Lee — his art is as stiff, lifeless, and frankly downright?soul-less?here as ever, even if his take on Nite Owl and his ship, Archie, is pretty darn cool-looking in the most strictly formal sense.

If I had to sum up the problem with?Before Watchmen : Ozymandias in one simple phrase, I would just say “lack of inspiration.” Both Wein and Lee seem content to go through the motions and leave it at that, and the flat , neo-classical faux-romanticism of both ?Wein’s embarrassingly purple prose and Lee’s moribund interior art has even managed to bleed its way into ?the cover artwork (variants this time around by our guy Jae and Micheal William Kaluta, respectively, as shown), as well. Four issues in and we’ve gained no particular new insights into the character of Adrian Veidt, and his motivations have been more or less revealed to be exactly what we always figured they were. All in all, this book’s principal creators have expended who the hell knows how many hours of time and effort in telling ?and showing us exactly what we already knew, and it’s getting duller and duller by the page.

Speaking of which, so is the “Curse Of The Crimson Corsair” back-up strip. This little pirate story was really rolling along quite nicely for awhile there, but ever since John Higgins took over the writing as well as the art, the basic plotting (and it is, indeed, fairly basic, considering it’s designed to be delivered, and consequently digested, in two-page snippets) has suffered considerably —- so hey, maybe Len Wein’s not all bad, after all. At this point, while it’s certainly still amazingly cool to look at, the story has degenerated into a bog-standard “quest for lost items to save a damned man’s soul”-type thing, and reading it has become an absolute chore. Again, the inspiration factor seems to be running decidedly low here.

Oh, and while we’re talking of all things uninspired — if you’re wondering just who, indeed, killed Kennedy in the world of?Before Watchmen, the answer is (no drumroll, please)?— Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Of course.

Apple to introduce its own proprietary version of USB3.0 and DisplayPort

Although USB3.0 and DisplayPort are interfaces which cater to very different needs, the basis for their design are completely identical; they are both standard interfaces which have been designed to facilitate the transfer of digital content from various electronic devices. And everybody knows how important standards are to our daily computing needs; that is the main reason we do not have to fiddle with cumbersome adaptors when it comes to dealing with various standard expansion and I/O ports found in our PCs today.

That being said, at least one OEM has a fond preference for doing everything its way and tossing out popular existing standards in the process, and it should come as no surprise that Apple is now attempting to do the same with USB3.0 and DisplayPort today. According to a patent which was only recently awarded to Apple, it seems that the Cupertino giant has plans to create an entirely new “hybrid port” which is reportedly capable of delivering both DisplayPort and USB3.0 signals in a single package.

Based on what we are able to understand from the patent filings, the hybrid port will feature a 30-pin connector, of which the various signal types each pin will transmit is shown in the patent illustration below.

Also, based on illustrations of the devices physical dimensions, it can be inferred that Apple might plan to implement this new hybrid port on mobile devices such as its line of iPods, iPhones and iPads first. This is due to the fact that the ports capability to deliver both USB3.0 and DisplayPort signals means that it greatly reduces the amount of space needed to feature dedicated ports for such highly mobile devices, where sufficient real estate for implementing additional I/O ports are a luxury. That being said, Apple does mention that the port may eventually find its way to desktop and notebook PCs.

Of course, with this being Apple we are talking about, it probably goes without saying that such an interface is going to be an Apple-exclusive, just like how the current line of iPods, iPads and iPhones all feature proprietary charging ports even though the micro-USB interface has already been recognized internationally as the standard port to be used for mobile devices.

Feel free to hit up on the source link for more information about the patent and its implementation.

Source: Patently Apple

ASUS P5WDH Deluxe Testing

We have ran some tests on a modified ASUS P5WDH Deluxe. Results are quite impressive. Take a look here.

EVGA Ships Hydro Copper Water Block for GTX 470

California based EVGA has started selling its Hydro Copper water-blocks for GeForce GTX 470.





Manufactured by Swiftech, the Hydro Copper water-block features a chrome plated electrolyticC100 copper base plate, a 0.6 x 0.6 mm thin pin matrix, a heat-pipe(joining the power mosfet heat-sink), and supports both 1/2” and 3/8”high-flow fittings. The sleek full cover water-block, compatible with2-way, 3-way and 4-way SLI setups, is able to cool the GPU, I/O chips,VREG area and memory modules. They can bepurchased now from EVGA for USD 139.99,


News via [Softpedia]

Dell Alienware M17x sporting Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Mobility Radeon 6900 surfaces

Just a couple of weeks ago, a few laptops from Acer,Gateway and Lenovo running Sandy Bridge were discovered. Today, we are seeing another Sandy Bridge laptop, the Dell Alienware M17x refresh.

The updated laptop uses anew Core i7-2720QM (4C/8T) 2.2GHz processor and a not-seen-before AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6900 discrete GPU. This combinationproduced a score of 20,155 in Futuremark's 3DMark06.

In comparison, a slightly faster i7-2730QM 2.3GHz paired with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M racks up a score of about 17,000.

Left side of a refreshed Dell Alienware.

The right side.

And an overview; we see that the upcoming Alienware has a few subtle changes to its appearance.

Enermax Refreshes MODU82+, PRO82+ and LibertyECO PSU Series

Enermax hasupdated its MODU82+*, PRO82+* and LibertyECO* line-up of PSUs,offering enchanced features such as 6+2-pin (8-pin) PCIe powerconnectors, HeatGuard, extended CPU12V power cables and CordGuard clips.

HeatGuard dissipates “leftover” heat in the PSU bykeeping the cooling fan operational up to 60 seconds after shut down,whilst CordGuard makes cable management less of a hassle by keeping thepower cord firmly in place. In line with Enermax’s 20th anniversarycelebrationw, these PSUs will also be bundled with a 120mm Twister casefan (while stocks last).


*List of Updated PSUs

625WMODU82+ II425W, 525W, 625W PRO82+ II 500W, 600W LibertyECO II
News via [Techconnect]

ELSA GLADIAC 880 Series

The well-known graphics boards manufacturer, ELSA Technology Inc. justannounced the new generation graphics boards – ELSA GLADIAC™ 880GTX and ELSAGLADIAC™ 880GTS, powered by lastest generation NVIDIA Geforce™ 8800 graphicsprocessing units.

World’s first DX 10 graphics board
The new generation graphics boards – ELSA GLADIAC™ 880 GTX and ELSA GLADIAC™880GTS fully support Microsoft® DirectX® 10 with Shader Model 4.0 to deliverunparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects. ELSA GLADIAC™880 series support several new technologies. For example, NVIDIA unifiedarchitecture dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex,physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performanceof prior generation graphics boards.

ELSA GLADIAC™ 880 series with NVIDIA Lumenex™ Engine which support 16xAnti-aliasing and 128-bit floating point HDR, deliver stunning image quality andfloating point accuracy at ultra-fast frame rates. One more special technologyis NVIDIA Quantum Effects™ which enables a new level of physics effects to besimulated and rendered on the GPU so that CPU is able to run the game engine andAI. In the new generation, such lots of new technologies are created fordelivering incredible image quality and improving overall gameplay toward users.ELSA would like to through ELSA GLADIAC™ 880 series bring you an outstandingtrue-to-life gaming experience.

Ultimate home theater experience on PCs
With NVIDIA PureVideo™ technology, ELSA GLADIAC™ 880 series have hardwareacceleration for decoding H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 movies that can deliverlifelike images and up to six times the detail of standard DVD movies. Dedicatedvideo processor offloads the CPU and 3D engine of complex video tasks, andprovides a higher quality movie experience. Moreover, post-processing supportincluding advanced de-interlacing, scaling, noise reduction and edge enhancementprovides spectacular picture clarity and detail.

ELSA GLADIAC™ 880GTX and ELSA GLADIAC™ 880GTS provide world-class TV-outfunctionality via Composite, S-Video, Component, or DVI connections and supportHD resolutions up to 1080p depending on connection type and TV capability.Through these new technologies and advanced components, ELSA GLADIAC™ 880 seriescan let you experience enjoyment of home theater on your PC.

DisplayPort 1.1; Single Connector Replace All

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced today that itsmembership has approved version 1.1 of the DisplayPort™ interface standard foruse in new designs of flat panel displays, projectors, PCs and CE devices.

DisplayPort 1.1 gives manufacturers of LCD panels, monitors, graphics cards, PCchipsets, projectors, peripherals, components, and consumer electronics a nextgeneration digital interface that is designed to replace LVDS, DVI, andeventually VGA. DisplayPort provides the ability to connect to both internal andexternal displays with a common digital interface. This common interfacecapability means that DisplayPort can carry pixels directly from any displaysource to any LCD panel, simplifying the design complexity that is presenttoday. As presented at CES 2007, a DisplayPort Interoperability Guideline isnearing completion that recommends best practices for providing DVI and HDMIconnectivity via the DisplayPort connector and simple cable adapters.

DisplayPort 1.1 adds support for High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)version 1.3. HDCP support enables viewing of protected content from Blu-ray andHD-DVD optical media over DisplayPort 1.1 connections.

DisplayPort 1.1 provides for low voltage and low power operation, and enablesimproved interoperability and reduced EMI through its unique embedded clockarchitecture. Significant advantages over DVI and VGA include a small USB-sizedconnector with available latching, two-way display connectivity, optional audiosupport, higher performance than dual link DVI at 10.8 Gigabits per second, anda unique micro-packet architecture that enables new display features.

“The benefits of version 1.1 are significant, and will encourage adoption ofDisplayPort in new generations of computers and consumer electronics equipment,”said Bill Lempesis, VESA executive director. “Our task groups and committeeswithin VESA worked very hard to ensure that DisplayPort 1.1 satisfies theimportant objectives it is designed for, and as a result, this new version haswidespread support among all the leading computer and consumer electronicssuppliers.”

Available throughout the industry as a free to use, open and extensiblestandard, DisplayPort is expected to accelerate adoption of secure digitaloutputs on PCs, enable higher levels of display performance, and introduce highvolume digital displays that are simpler, thinner, and easier to use than VGA.

DRAM prices drop yet again

According to market research firm iSuppli, a stick of 2GB DDR3 ram now costs US$21 compared to US$44 in June 2010. Similarly, a stick of DDR2 ram has dropped from US$39 to US$21 in the same time period. DDR3 prices are expected to drop at a faster rate as it accounts for 60% of the market leading to an increased supply of DDR3 rams.

PC manufacturers and consumers would also be expected to upgrade the capacity and number of rams, taking advantage of the low ram prices. iSuppli said that DRAM per PC grew by 24% in 2010 and is expected to grow by more than 33% in this year.

Source: Tomshardware.com

Dual-Core Intel Atom Netbooks released

Intel's long awaited mobile dual-core Atom CPU, N550, finally releasesin netbooks today. Some of the designs based on the N550 include Acer,ASUS, Fujitsu, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba netbooks. The N550finally brings in DDR3 support, while retains "similar" battery life tothe single core N450. However, Intel lists the supported frequency asonly 667 MHz, even for DDR3, though previously the N550 was expected tosupport 1066 MHz. Perhaps it is a typographical error? The N550 clocksin at 1.5 GHz, only a 166 MHz downclock from the single-core N450. Italso features double the L2 cache - 1MB (512KB per core). Previousinformation suggests a TDP of 8.5W, compared to 5.5W for the N450.However, evened over the entire platform, a 3W increase won't affectbattery life significantly.

The N550 continues to support HyperThreading, feature 4 threads. Performance wise, an average improvement of a whopping 75% is expected over the extremely weak N450.

A dual-core CPU for netbooks has been much anticipated, and the Atom N550 had been scheduled for a Q3 release for a long time. It is finally here. Or is it? Out of the dozen or so design wins, no N550 based netbooks are available in e-tail, yet. Of course, the situation may well change over the coming days, if not hours, and we can expect widespread availability of N550 netbooks. The price premium over N450 based netbooks will be revealed once these netbooks appear on sale.

With AMD's Ontario based netbooks releasing in Q1 2011, and threatening to brush Atom N450 aside, the N550's timely release was vital. However, it still may not be enough. Early benchmarks suggest (possibly nettop version) Ontario may destroy the N550's higher-clocked nettop cousin, D510, by as much as 90%. It is also expected to have a smaller die size, though power consumption has ignited plenty of speculation. Over and above, it will include an on-die DX11 GPU.

Whichever way, the N550 brings a dramatic improvement in Netbook performance, and AMD's first Fusion product - Ontario - promises to take things up another notch. Finally, we can stop worrying about terribly weak single-core netbook CPUs.

Reference: Intel Press Release

Dell stands alone as Supermicro joins AMD

FORMERLY ULTRA LOYAL Intel customer Supermicro has said it will support AMD's Opteron processors, confirming our report several weeks ago.

AMD announced a slew of customers including large OEMs and system integrators which will use its dual core processors.

Supermicro joins Sun, HP, IBM and others in announcing support for the dual core Opteron processors introduced today, with Hewlett Packard confirming the existence of dual server blades it advertised by mistake last week.

Other firms which said they will support dual core Opterons include Cray, Egenera and Dawning.

A Supermicro rep said that his firm had "an optimised product line" to support single and dual core processors from AMD. That, the rep said, was because of "market demand and customer requests".

It does make you wonder how long Dell can stand out against the rest of the OEM mob. It's beginning to look a tad isolated.

Exclusive Additional ULV Ivy Bridge processor unveiled

Weve already seen details of Intels upcoming Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U ULV Ivy Bridge processors back in December, but now details of an additional three ULV models have reached us. On top of that, we have details on the programmable TDP of all five ULV models and Intel has clearly allowed for a lot of flexibility for its partners.

Lets start with the programmable TDP of the two models we already know about. The Core i5-3427U at stock 17W TDP will operate at 1.8GHz, but it can go down to 14W and all the way up to 25W. All models can go down in terms of TDP, but not all can go up. Its lowest speed is 800MHz, again something that is a common feature across the entire range, although at 25W TDP it can operate as high as 2.3GHz without going into turbo mode. The Core i7-3667U will be able to operate at speeds of 2.5GHz at a 25W TDP, up from 2GHz at 17W TDP.

As for the new CPU models, at the bottom we have the first Core i3 models in the Ivy Bridge ULV range, the Core i3-3217U. This is a 1.8GHz model with no option to increase the TDP for higher speeds, but again it can be lowered to 14W TDP and speeds of as low as 800MHz. As per all current Core i3 processors, it also lacks turbo boost and as such wont overclock. It also features slightly slower graphics at the top speed compared to the previous two models, as it tops out at 1050MHz rather than 1150MHz. However it does support DDR3 1600MHz memory and it has 3MB of cache.

Next up we have the Core i5-3317U which is a 1.7GHz part, again with no option to increase the TDP, but it has the same low TDP options as the Core i3-3217U. Here were looking at turbo support though at up to 2.4GHz for both cores and 2.6GHz for a single core, making it slightly slower than the Core i5-3427U. The graphics clock is also the same as for the Core i3-3217U, but in this case its unlocked and can be overclocked, although that would be down to the notebook manufacturer to add support for this, so its unlikely that this is something well see implemented in a lot of Ultrabooks.

The third and final new model is the Core i7-3517U, a 1.9GHz part that supports the higher 25W TDP and as such an increased clock speed of up to 2.4GHz. In turbo mode itll go up to 2.8GHz for two cores and 3GHz on a single core. The GPU clock speeds are the same as for the Core i7-3667U and were of course also looking at 4MB of cache here.

Whats interesting is that all the models ending with 17 in the model number appears to be OEM processors for consumer level Ultrabooks and as such lack support for Intel vPro and TXT technology, something the Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U offers. The Core i3-3217U also lacks support for the new digital random number generator, VT-d and AES-NI, but this isnt really a big surprise. So there you have it, several new Ultrabook processors are coming, but with the "delay" this means we wont be seeing them in retail products until June or possibly even a little later in the year.

Development of male youth in jeopardy due to video games and pornogprahy

Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the American school system is also one of the lowest ranking of any in the developed world, but is the government to blame or are there other factors that influence how the youth of America develops. That said, a doctor by the name of Phillip Zimbardo and his assistant Nikita Duncan claims that video games and pornography is the one of the main catalyst in the destruction of American youths—males in particular.

The discussion of how video games and pornography are influencing the way American males develop as human beings is as touchy of a topic as it can get. A recent article by gamesindustry.biz clarifies that Zimbardo claims video games and pornography create an “arousal” and “addiction” that make males “risk-averse [and causes them] to shy away from dealing with relationships, school, or work.”

Zimbardo uses examples from recent tragedies that were correlated with gaming to make his argument. One example was the death of Seungseob Lee due to 50 hours of playing Starcraft continuously. Another example is the killing massacre that was carried out by a Norwegian male named Anders Behring Breivik—who played a lot of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

The doctor and his assistant don’t directly blame technology for the problems in male youths, but rather the “misuse” of it.

“Technology is not the issue. Rather, it’s the misuse of technology. There’s a general overuse of video games and porn – especially in social isolation – which is not balanced out by other activities like exercise, face-to-face socialization with peers, or individual time with any kind of male mentor,” Zimbardo was quoted in an interview TED.com.

There’s no doubt that the correlation between video games and porn is present when it comes to troubled youth, but does that mean causation?

Zimbardo continued on in his interview with TED.com to say that “prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and overstimulation from enticing images and games” changes the brains of male youths, and the consequence is that they get “left behind socially, sexually, and financially.”

It seems that Zimbardo and his assistant has a particular section of men – the video game loving and pornography watching ones – all figured out. What about you? Where do you place the significance of video games and pornography in how it shapes young men?

Early build of Windows 7 SP 1 leaked to file sharing websites

Service Packs have been a staple of Windows updates for a long time already, and information about pre-release builds of such updates is so abundant that it might not even be considered as 'news' to most people anymore.

However, it seems that the recently-leaked build for Windows 7 which is currently making its away around file sharing sites right now has a little something different which sets it apart from the usual service packs that Microsoft had been rolling out for older versions of its operating system.

According to Chris123NT of GeekSmack, who had somehow managed to obtain the leaked build and installed it on his computer, the installation was significantly faster than those for Vista, which might be a sign that Microsoft is starting to move away from huge, major service packs in favour of smaller, more regular ones.

And naturally, with smaller and more frequent service pack updates (which will be somewhat similar to the way Mac OS X's point updates work), users might be better protected against security exploits and flaws, since the lead time between one service pack and the next will be significantly shortened.

Also, unlike service packs updates, the one for Windows 7 will display a window indicating that SP1 was successfully installed on the machine as shown above, which for some, might be a good as a quick indicator as to whether SP1 installed correctly or not.

And like always, Windows will display a Service Pack indicator after a successful installation.

To date, there's still no official statement regarding the actual release date for Windows 7 SP1, and considering that it's a leaked, unofficial build, it's still too early to speculate on how the actual release will fare on most Windows 7 machines.

Still, from the looks of it, it does at least seem that Microsoft has been working behind the scenes to ensure that service pack installations for Windows 7are no longer the huge, error-prone processes which some people have come to regard them as.

Source: GeekSmack

*all images are courtesy of GeekSmack

DX10 Ruby Tech Demo For R600

Hexus has gotten a pic of the updated DX10 Ruby tech demo for ATi R600.On the right is the DX9 Ruby tech for X1800/X1900 series. The lips certainlylooks much better in comparison.

DayZ to receive engine overhaul

Dean "Rocket" Halls Arma II mod, DayZ, has been a work in progress for a while now, but it was meant to have a standalone release before the end of the year. This may not happen, explains the developer. Accoirding to Hall, though they are still aiming for a 2012 release, the developers of the mod would not be entirely opposed to pushing the release back, if it meant giving the game a more solid foundation. Hall has stated that short term goals such as meeting a deadline, should not compromise long term goals, such as the overall quality of the game.

One of the reasons there may be a delay, is the extensive overhaul of the game being implemented, most interesting of which is a new engine. Though the engine may not look drastically different from the previous engine, it implements a lot of functionality changes at its core, making weapons customizable, as well as clothes and changes in controls and the map. The game, when it is released, will launch on Steam.