EVGA 750i SLI FTWThis budget SLI motherboard provides high end performance and deep features for a much smaller cost. As EVGA puts it, the 750i SLI FTW is engineered For The Win. Now let’s get to is and see what For The Win is all about.
ASUS M3N-HT DeluxeASUS comes out swinging with their latest NVIDIA chipset based AMD offering, the M3N-HT Deluxe. Based on the AMD version of the NVIDIA nForce 780a chipset, the board packs a lot of promise.
9800 GTX vs. SLI vs. 3-way SLI. vs. Quad SLIHow does a 9800 GTX compare to SLI, 3-way SLI, and Quad SLI? We have completed an SLI scaling evaluation using our real world gameplay techniques as well as apples-to-apples testing to see what SLI, 3-way SLI, and Quad SLI can do to improve your gameplay experience.
GeForce 9800 GX2 - Commemorative Box EditionBFGTech is holding a drawing for HardOCP readers that could net you some very special hardware. [H]'ers will have access to 3 of 10 Commemorative Box GX2 video cards plus a few other BFG products that will give you a very nice system to build on.I know the article says this guy killed another man over a missing PS3 but, after looking at dude’s picture, I have a feeling that guy would kill you over a ham sandwich. Thanks to forum member Creepingdeath1977 for the link.
Stoddard is accused of shooting his neighbor, Douglas F. Abrams, 26, on Apr. 24 over a dispute regarding a missing Playstation 3. He is being charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Cases & Modding
Arctic Cooling Silentium T3 Case @ Driver Heaven
SilverStone Kublai Series KL03 Case @ MadShrimps
Cooling
Coolermaster Aquagate Mini R80 Watercooling CPU HSF @ FrostyTech
ETC.
Nvidia 780a Chipset Preview @ Overclock3D
The title of this news item is a bit misleading because, at this time, nobody from Texas has said anything about going after Amazon for sales tax. After Amazon sued NY claiming it did not have a physical presence there, retailers in Texas cried fowl because Amazon does have a distribution center there but does not collect tax on sales from that state. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a trend.
The Dallas Morning News reported in Friday's editions that it asked the Texas comptroller's office why the retailer didn't charge sales taxes on Texas customers. Robin Corrigan, a sales tax policy executive in the comptroller's office, said the agency didn't know Amazon operates a facility in the state. Company officials "told me they don't have a distribution center in Texas," Corrigan said. "We will definitely send out a team to investigate."
News.com columnist Erica Ogg editorializes about Dell’s sagging customer service and how to fix it. I think the biggest thing on the list applies to many big companies; outsourced customer support. It may save companies a few dollars here and there but the sheer amount of customers it turns off isn’t worth it. Am I wrong?
"A lot of their problems stemmed from, as they expanded rapidly and they tended to outsource their operations, they set up these call centers around the world. I don't think the service they were getting out of them was as good as it was before they did all this expansion," said Rosenfield.
NVIDIA Corporation, the world leader in visual computing technologies, today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended April 27, 2008. For the first quarter of fiscal 2009, revenue was $1.15 billion, compared to $844.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, an increase of 37 percent. Net income computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 increased by 34 percent year-over-year to $176.8 million, or $0.30 per diluted share.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer development team has warned users updating to Windows XP Service Pack 3 that they won't be able to downgrade from IE7 to the older IE6 without uninstalling the service pack.
"If you choose to install XP SP3, Internet Explorer 7 will remain on your system after the install is complete," said Jane Maliouta, an IE program manager, in the blog entry. "Your preferences will be retained. However, you will no longer be able to uninstall IE7. If you go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, the Remove option will be grayed out."
The Motion Picture Association of America has announced that it is demanding $15.4 million from The Pirate Bay to cover damages they say they have suffered.
The movie titles they are claiming damages for are Harry Potter, Syriana, The Pink Panther and Walk the Line and the 13 episodes of the popular TV-show Prison Break. MPAA demands 222,50 kronor ($37) for each download. For Harry Potter, 261,50 kronor ($43) and for the first season of Prison Break 416 kronor ($68).
Have you ever wondered how much your stolen data is worth? Well, wonder no more because C|Net is going to tell you (it ain’t much).
For example, a Washington Mutual Bank account in the U.S. with an available balance of $14,400 is priced at 600 euros ($924), while a Citibank UK account with an available balance of 10,044 pounds is priced at 850 euros ($1,310).
The fees for .org domains will go up ten percent on November 9, 2008. No reason for the price hike was given.
Public Interest Registry, which operates the ".org" domain name, disclosed the planned fee increase in a May 1 letter to the Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The fee increase does not require the organization's approval.
A security researcher has embedded proof-of-concept code, which exploits a zero-day vulnerability, somewhere on his website but he isn't saying where. The point behind the stunt? Raff said he didn't feel that Microsoft would address the issue quickly unless he went public with the vulnerability.
The bug, which affects Internet Explorer 7 and IE 8, could allow an attacker to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer. Raff informed Microsoft of the flaw on Tuesday and the software vendor has not yet patched it, Raff said.
One of the industry’s most scalable virtualization servers is now available from Dell and based on the Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, AMD today announced . Enterprise customers interested in consolidating server infrastructure may turn to two new virtualization servers from Dell utilizing Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, including the Dell PowerEdge R905 which set a new standard in VMmark performance testing with 60 virtual machines. The innovative new Dell servers take advantage of AMD Direct Connect Architecture to reduce bottlenecks, minimize latency and increase the performance of virtualized applications to maximize the benefits of virtualization.
To you and I, a book that says “games don’t create killers,” is simply stating the obvious but you’d be surprised to know how many people need to see it in print to believe it.
Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, a husband-and-wife team at Harvard Medical School, detail their views in "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do," which came out last month and promises to reshape the debate on the effects of video games on kids.
Speaking at the U.S.-Arab Economic Forum in Washington, D.C., Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett shared his vision on the role of technology and education in driving a digital transformation in the Middle East. "Education and technology can expand what is possible and create opportunities for people across the Middle East," said Barrett.
AMD’s shares rose about $0.02 today after the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Chief executive, Hector Ruiz gave a short twenty minute speech and took one question from a shareholder about sponsoring golf tournaments.
"Our plans are bold, and progress is ongoing," Ruiz said Thursday in prepared remarks about the so-called "asset smart" manufacturing strategy. "And I hope to communicate additional details of this complex undertaking in the very near future."
The FBI served the folks at the Internet Archive (The Wayback Machine) with a national security letter demanding information relevant to an ongoing national security investigation. The Internet Archive refused and got the EFF and the ACLU to defend them. Now it looks like the FBI has backed off after reaching a deal where the Internet Archive voluntarily handed over some of the info the FBI wanted, saying it was publicly available anyway. Thanks to Lethal for the link.
As part of their settlement, the FBI agreed to drop the gag order and the archive agreed to withdraw the complaint. The case was unsealed Monday. Yesterday, redacted versions of key documents were filed, allowing the parties to discuss the case.
Microsoft says it is increasing its focus on making phones for the poor? Ummm, what? I have an idea, how about nixing the laptops, TVs, cell phones and concentrate on stuff like food and how to grow it.
Even in the poorest places in the world, people have televisions, he said, and Microsoft wants to use that existing technology to spread computing.
We have seen just about every GTA IV how to there is; mission guide lines, driving FAQs, Google mapps and multiplayer how-tos but I think this is the first time I have seen a “how-to dress like Niko Bellic.”
Few are skilled enough to pull off mob hits, car jacks, and get out of 5-star wanted rating without breaking the rules of style. That distinction belongs to Grand Theft Auto IV's leading man, Niko Bellic. We break down Niko's trademark look to show just how easy it is to steal his style.
Cases & Modding
Thermaltake M9 Mid-Tower PC Case @ DSM
Cooling
Coolermaster Z600 Heatpipe HSF (Spanish) @ ChileHardware
ETC.
AV LABS AVL337 Bluetooth Speakers @ tkArena
Video
Asus EAH3850 X2 @ I4U
VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition @ Overclockers Club
This is proof positive that some people really deserve an ass kicking. Normally hackers and their antics don’t really bother me one way or the other but this is pretty low, don’t you guys think so?
The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation's publishing software that allowed them to quickly make numerous posts and overwhelm the site's support forums. Within the hackers' posts were small flashing pictures and links.
I know, I know, this is one of those rumors that pops its head up every so often…only to be shot down later but, who knows…if you repeat something like this long enough, it is bound to come true.
However, there are other important rumours: TSMC got orders to produce the chip for code-named Valhalla Xbox 360 design, which is rumoured to combine microprocessor and graphics chip in a single piece of silicon.
Translating this page doesn’t help much but what we can tell from the picture, this is a radiator of sorts built completely from right angle tubing and it looks awesome. Imagine using something like this in a watercooled PC mod.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, speaking in Tokyo, said that sales of Windows Vista have surpassed the 140 million mark worldwide.
Gates, speaking in Tokyo, said the figure represented "a very rapid sales rate," according to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday. Despite the sales figures, Microsoft has admitted to struggling with the public's perception of Vista. Windows XP, Vista's 7-year-old predecessor, is still popular among both businesses and consumers.
Those of you looking toupgrading to a quad core processor ought to check out this exclusive deal on a quad core Q6700 + EVGA 780i SLI motherboard bundle. [H] readers get a total of $39.99 off, for a final price of $449.99. Get in on the deal while the getting is good, no telling how long this will last.
Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 is teaming up with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) to celebrate the inaugural National Family Fitness Day on May 12. National Family Fitness Day is a free, fun-filled event designed to promote healthy and active lifestyles for children and families. The key fitness activity will be playing “DanceDanceRevolution UNIVERSE 2” on Xbox 360. To help encourage families to get involved, supermodel, health guru and mother of three Christie Brinkley and health expert and physician Dr. Carlon Colker will commence the activities at the Children’s Aid Society’s Dunlevy Milbank Center Boys & Girls Club in New York.
I know all you fans of OpenOffice will be thrilled to know that the new 3.0 Beta is now out.
OpenOffice.org 3.0 integrates ODF 1.2 support, Microsoft Office 2007 Import Filters, charting enhancements, improved note capabilities in Writer, new icons, enhanced pdf export, multi-monitor support for impress, and a start center. For Mac OS X users, OpenOffice.org 3.0 will now run without the need for X11 to be installed. In addition, there are bug-fixes and other minor features that make up this beta release.
We know you can play GTA IV on a high-def projector and get similar results but there is just something so cool about seeing it played on this system.
Researchers (and gamers, obviously) down at UC San Diego have re-engineered their middleware to enable such masterpieces as this to be played on the big monolithic HIPerSpace screen, and needless to say, we can't imagine much real work getting done with this new functionality coming to light.
You are not going to believe this but according to a report in the Congressional Quarterly, hundreds of laptops used by the U.S. Department of State are all missing.
Given the sensitive and often secret nature of data the State Department workers deal with, officials are bracing for repercussions like congressional hearings, according to CQ. That's what happened when a Veterans Administration official had a laptop stolen in 2006, IRS laptops went missing in 2001, and a State Department laptop containing the names of foreign agents working for the U.S. government was stolen in 1999.
While this is not exactly an “enthusiast” card given it has a meager 256MB of RAM, it would still give you a hell of a gaming experience if you are not yet at 1600 lines of resolution while provided plenty of memory for AA. When an 8800 GT video card is at the sub-US$100 mark (after MIR), at leaset for Newegg email subscribers, you know things are pretty damn good in the world of the GPU from a consumer perspective.
A U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles has ruled in favor of the Motion Picture Association of America. The courts ordered TorrentSpy to pay $111 million and to permanently close up shop.
U.S. District Judge Florence -Marie Cooper in Los Angeles, ruling in a case brought by the Motion Picture Association of America, said site operator Justin Bunnell and associates must pay the maximum $30,000 for "each of the 3,699 infringements shown." The case, producing what is among the largest fines in copyright history, was bolstered after the MPAA allegedly paid a hacker $15,000 for internal TorrentSpy e-mails and correspondence.
What is the world coming to when people are crafting Firefox plug-ins with malicious code. Yes, some of the blame is on Mozilla for not catching stuff like this but the real blame should go to the scumbags that screw it up for everyone.
Because of a virus infection, the Vietnamese language pack for Firefox 2 was polluted with adware, Mozilla security chief Window Snyder said in a blog posting. "Everyone who downloaded the most recent Vietnamese language pack since February 18, 2008 got an infected copy," she wrote. "Mozilla does virus scans at upload time but the virus scanner did not catch this issue until several months after the upload."