[H]ardNews 4th Edition - New Tech Edition

In The Blink Of An Eye

NewScientist covers a new twist in camera tecnology. Digital Cameras often employ a pre-photo flash causing the subject to blink at just the wrong time.

"The system developed by Kaneko's team gets around the problem by snapping 15 frames in 0.5 seconds after the shutter button is clicked. A computer then rapidly analyses these image, discarding those in which the subject is blinking, leaving photographer with a better final snap."

Touch And Go

At the Society for Information Display Symposium this week, Immersion introduced its TouchSense Technology for flat panel displays.

"The effect called haptic feedback gives the screen a little give and take when pushed. Haptic technology can be as simple as the feel of a computer keyboard or as sophisticated as those in virtual-reality systems."

Damn Near Unbreakable

The Location Specific Digital Fingerprint System (LSDF) encrypts computers by generating its encryption numbers from a measurement of the physical environment around the workstation, instead of from a deducible formula.

“The mathematical chance of hacking the system is astronomical,” said Dr. Dube, a former Cal Tech professor and IBM physicist. “To log in, you would need to have my fingerprints, my smart card, etc., and be at my computer during the hours when I’m supposed to be working there.”

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition

DFI 5V Vdimm Issue

DFI tech support addresses the voltage issue with DFI nForce4 mobos in this thread at Bleedingedge. They recommend setting back to 3.3V until DFI R&D is able to fix the issue.

"If some of you are not aware, the DFI Nforce 4 Ultra/D/DR SLI models has a jumper setting onboard that allows you to increase the voltage supplied on the Vdimm feed from 3.3 volts to 5 volts. This will give users the option to supply more than 3.2 volts to the ram on their DFI motherboards."

GeForce 6800 Unchained

FiringSquad serves up how to unlock the nVidia GeForce 6800.

"But what if you could turn the 12-pipeline GeForce 6800 into an even more powerful 16-pipeline card without spending a dime? That’s exactly what many of you asked us to do a few weeks ago with EVGA’s e-GeForce 6800, so guess what? We did! In order to understand how this is possible, it’s best to go over the GeForce 6800’s architecture first."

DFI Ultra D & SLi In Thermal

BigBruin has a cool (pun intended) set of thermal images of the DFI Lanparty nF4 Ultra-D & SLI-DR and links to their earlier Asus A7N8X Deluxe & ATi Radeon 9700 Pro pics, taken with a Mikron Infrared Thermal Imager.

" The majority of the images shown in this article are of the DFI Lanparty nF4 Ultra-D with the exception of the last three. Shown in the last three photos are the significant areas of increased temperature of the SLI-DR board. Everyone knows the importance of cooling computer components, and we'll see what areas on these boards may need extra cooling for optimum performance."

Posted by Chuck 11:50 AM (CST)  

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition - P2P Edition

Juris Backlash

Seems that imposing the stiff sentences, fines and damages designed to punish large piracy rings onto the general populace, who are typically just loading up an ipod, has started to rub a few judges and courts the wrong way.

"The powerful president of the French magistrates union has begun to openly advocate decriminalizing online trading in copyrighted works for personal use. "The resources of the police and judges are exhausted by these small cases, and do not take care of the large international (counterfeiting) rings."

Cold War Piracy

Strangely the same point about large scale piracy is made by none other than Orin Hatch. ArsTechnica has a brief writeup. While Slyck covers the two new crimes he managed to get signed into law Wednesday.

"The USTR estimates that piracy losses of approximately US$3 billion a year can be attributed to China alone. Industry estimates place Russia's copyright infringement at 80 percent for movies, 66 percent for music, and 87 percent for software."

Piracy At The Speed Of Sound

Slyck also offers up coverage of why the RIAA is so hot and bothered over Internet2 P2P downloading.

The RIAA is particularly concerned about the growing threat of piracy existing on Internet2. Unlike the Internet most are familiar with, Internet2 is an extremely fast network allowing for speeds averaging at 655 megabits/sec. Recently, researchers on Internet2 successfully sent data from Switzerland to Tokyo at 7.21 gigabits per second - fast enough to download full length DVD in seconds.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - CPU Edition

NetBurst Indepth

Xbit Labs has a 26 page omnibus covering the Pentium 4 from the Willamette to the Prescott.

We are proud to offer you the most detailed article on NetBurst architecture and its peculiarities. We applied our own approaches and methodology to studying the NetBurst architecture and we are ready to share some facts and details, no one has ever discussed before. This is the first article of the trilogy

VIA C7 Esther

ZDnet has a short piece about VIA's new C7 CPU which is a low power chip designed for affordable notebooks.

The Via chip, though, consumes a maximum of 20 watts of power at 2GHz--less than competing chips--and takes up only 30 square millimeters of space, a smaller size that cuts the price."You will see thin and light notebooks under $800 and possibly lower than that," said Richard Brown

P4 820 D & 670

First up 2 reviews of the Intel 820 D, both AnandTech & Xbit Labs examine the 820 Dual Core in depth. And then AnandTech looks at Intel's latest single core the P4 670.

As this highly clocked part comes to market, we can start to see even more clearly the advantages that dual and multi core will bring. Where a 200MHz clock speed increase used to be huge back in the day of the 1 and 2 GHz processor (a 20% and 10% improvement, respectively), at 4GHz it is not only harder to squeeze the extra speed out of a part, but the return on investment is extremely limited. In order to continue getting the same performance boost from part to part, we would need to see processors launching in 400MHz increments or more to really be worth it.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition - Geeks Wanted

Wanted Geek Jurors

Silicon.com examines the difficulties courts face in complex cases. This happens to be in the U.K. but the adversarial format and complexity issues are faced on both sides of the pond.

"One of the problems with technical evidence is that technology is so fast moving and complex that juries, who may not know much about it, are left baffled. But if you dilute it too much so they can understand, you may miss some of the important details of the case. As a result a lot of cases have been more or less thrown out."

Grow-a-Geek

It takes slightly more than parking that rugrat in the warm phosphorous glow of a CRT and watering liberally with caffine. Sneaky education is what Bitman's Place is all about

"The goal is to teach the next generation of programmers the fundamentals of computer science while tapping their natural curiosity and attraction to technology. We do so through a series of fun, interactive, step by step lessons delivered online that can be done individually or together with parents or teachers. Children aged 8 to 13 who want to learn how computers work and how to start programming are the audience for the site."

[H]ardNews 7th Edition - Windows Edition

Free XP 64bit Upgrade

BetaNews is reporting that Microsoft has reconsidered its earlier stance on free upgrades. Now all users, whether they purchased or built their PC, are now eligible for the 64-bit upgrade provided they meet the other qualifications.

"The move left many Athlon 64 users who built their PC unable to take advantage of the free upgrade. To make matters worse, Microsoft announced that it would only offer its 64-bit operating system via PC manufacturers and not sell the box on store shelves due to limited driver support."

Longhorn's Shifting Sands

I'm having a bit of difficulty keeping track of what will and won't be part of Longhorn, apparently the .Net Framework will also be limited, seems it was breaking some applications.

"Instead, the .Net Framework will be the core for a small subset of Longhorn, specifically the WAP (Windows API Platform), which consists primarily of the "Avalon" Windows presentation system and the "Indigo" Windows communications system."

XP Almost Ready For The Desktop

A slightly different and humorous perspective on Windows XP, with a few pertinent points for Microsoft if they bother to listen. A masterful parody of the typical Linux and the desktop argument.

"Given Microsoft's current development rate, it's entirely possible that within a few years Windows may be almost as good a choice for most users as Linux, although it's likely that during these same few years Linux will also advance rapidly, and that a growing number of third-party developers will write software for it to replace the programs that now "lock in" many Windows users."

[H]ardNews 6th Edition - Intel vs AMD Edition

The Grand Match, strategies within strategies here is a set of the latest blow by blow coverage.

Half Price D's

Intel has captured the initiative in the dual core desktop market by lowballing the Pentium D's at half the price of the AMD X2's. ExtremeTech gives some insight into the how and why.

"The discrepancy casts the differences between AMD and Intel into sharp focus. All of Intel's production fabs are producing wafers using 90-nm wafers; AMD has but a single fab. As AMD and Intel segment their product lines to meet the needs of divergent markets, AMD's fab capacity may be stretched thinner."

The Opteron Salient

While Intel has focused on the dual core desktop, AMD has been going for the throat of the server market and has been scoring points. Niche marketing has set them well on their way to capturing a 10% market share, and dual cores make the offering all that more attractive to mainstream sectors with the release of 64-bit Windows Server 2003.

"The Opteron, which arrived a little over two years ago, had been a niche player, occupying areas such as high-performance computing clusters. But the latest version of the chip, which is beginning to arrive at businesses in new servers, has headed into the mainstream of the corporate server market."

Of DRM, AMT & TPM

Intel has been pushing the 'Platform' aspect of their new chips, the package of processor, chipset, and peripheral I/O, eWeek covers how PC manufacturers are and aren't implementing the new Professional Business Platform's Active Management Technology & Trusted Platform Module. Digitmag and PC World cover the Digital Rights Management Package.

"The new offerings come DRM-enabled and will, at least in theory, allow copyright holders to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted materials from the motherboard rather than through the operating system as is currently the case. While Intel steered clear of mentioning the new DRM technology, Intel's Australian technical manager Graham Tucker publicly confirmed Microsoft-flavoured DRM technology will be a feature of Pentium D and 945."

[H]ardNews 5th Edition - Power Edition

FSP Group Roundup

Oleg Artamonov does a great 12 page roundup of FSP supplies at Xbit Labs. For those of you unfamiliar with his methodology lets just say its comprehensive and will hopefully become the standard. I just love real crossload charts.

"I have described and tested different power supply series now being manufactured by FSP Group. The tested units all boast good performance and high build quality. Added their modest pricing, they can be recommended for use in computers of various power needs. Yet it is possible to single out several groups of models that are preferable for particular applications."

Seasonic S12's

Mike Chin (with Devon Cooke) at spcr.com is no slouch when it comes to a PSU review. And they regale us with the latest 80 Plus Certified offerings from Seasonic, the S12-500 & S12-600.

"The new and improved S12-500 / 600 power supplies find Seasonic at the top of their game. These high power models pick up where the S12-430 leaves off and continue on quietly, steadily delivering power on demand. Tops for efficiency, for low noise, for stable high power delivery, and for the minimalist approach that strikes a chord of quality for many users."

And A Host Of Others

The Thermaltake Purepower TWV 500W ATX 2.0 Modular at Tweak News, the Seasonic S12-500 again at techniz, the Tagan i-Xeye TG420-U02 at PCModdingMy and finally the Ultra X-Finity 500 Watt at Hybrid-Mods.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition - Software Edition

Ad-Aware v1.06:

Ad-Aware SE Personal 1.06 (freeware) has been hardened against third party uninstall with encrypted preference files, the disk-scan is approximately 30 % faster, Code Sequence Identification scan is now more efficient using less CPU and Memory as well as having a smaller footprint, there is a new "Scan for low risk threats" option, and the GUI has adapted to use the new Threat Assessment Chart.

"All new Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology, you will not only be protected from known content, but will also have advanced protection against many of their unknown variants. To further protect you, Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition also has the capability to scan and list Alternate Data Streams (ADS) in NTFS enabled volumes."

Chipset City:

VIA Hyperion 5.00a is out at Addict3D. However I'm getting an error at VIA Arena and can't confirm it addresses the ATi AGP problem. So use at your own risk, I'll update this story as it sorts itself out. Intel has released thier Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility also available at Addict3D. Remember if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition - Paranoia Edition

Lonely Housewives Busted

The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday they had nabbed the infamous 'Lonely housewives' spam ring, turns out they where three overweight balding guys.

"The FTC said the operation violated virtually every provision of the US spam law, by routing messages through other people's computers, falsifying contact email addresses and failing to give recipients a way to stop receiving the messages."

SNAFU:

I'll see your SNAFU and raise you a FUBAR. It wasn't a very good week for the U.S. Government. First a student at Georgia Tech published a report about how U.S. military computers helped spread the Witty Worm last year, then the GOA weighted in Thursday with the SEC failing its own security and accounting tests and the Homeland Security Agency flunking its cybersecurity prep test.

"More than two years after its creation, Homeland Security has never developed a contingency plan to restore Internet functions in an emergency and has yet to create a vulnerability assessment of what could happen in an worst-case scenario, the Government Accountability Office concluded.

Checkup On Checking Out:

Automatic Billpay is mighty convenient, that is until you start paying other people's bills.

Do you know what a “demand draft” is? If you’ve ever received an electronically-generated check which had “Your depositor has authorized this payment to payee” on it, or “signature not required” in place of the signature, then you’ve received a demand draft, or “remotely created check". If you’ve ever used Billpayer, CheckFree, or one of the other services which lets you send out checks automatically each month, then you’ve sent a demand draft.

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition - Connected Edition

180 Channels & Something's On:

ArsTechnica has an interesting article about Cisco Systems teaming up with Red Bull Cheever Racing to provide wireless communications to their IndyCars. 180 Channels of telemetry is some serious data density.

"The Cisco Wi-Fi solution has dramatically improved the amount of information we can get out of a race car," said Eddie Cheever, a Formula One racing veteran and owner of the Red Bull Cheever team. "And it's also allowed us to reorganize our method of communicating, so we can get access to and analyze information much faster."

Wireless Confusion:

Speaking this week from the Wireless Connectivity World (WiCon) Conference, Mike McCamon executive director of the Ultra Wideband Forum described wireless standards as a complete and utter mess much like the 1990's with Token Ring and Ethernet confounding end users.

"There are a number of incompatible networking technologies, such as Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Ultrawideband, Wi-Fi and ZigBee, which have some similar uses but are better tuned for different situations."

Earthlink Firmware?

Earthlink's R&D has released an experimental firmware for Linksys WRT54G routers, while not officially an EarthLink or Linksys product its similar to OpenWrt and enables the WRT54G to acquire a publicly routeable /64 IPv6 prefix, provide IPv6 addresses from that prefix to hosts on the home network, and route IPv6 home network traffic to the greater IPv6 Internet.

"The firmware modification does not affect the ability of the WRT54G to support IPv4 traffic as it was designed to do. IPv4 and IPv6 traffic coexist on the home network side by side without interfering with each other. This dual IPv4/IPv6 support makes the WRT54G with the added IPv6 functionality a perfect model IPv6 transition device."

Municipal Wi-Fi:

Cnet has a two page reality check on various municipal plans to implement citywide Wi-Fi networks.

"While it would cost about $2,000 to $3,000 per household to run fiber, wireless can be deployed for about $20 to $25 per household. Philadelphia has about 590,000 households, according to the 2000 Census. Using that number, the city figures it will cost roughly $10 to $15 million to reach every household, according to its business plan"

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - E3 Fallout Gaming Edition

Game Console Hyperbole:

A GPU 3 times as fast as a PC? Incredible, persistent, online worlds? AOL IM with incredibly lifelike facial expressions? Import photographs from a digital camera, then animate these in 3D? CNN Money bursts a few bubbles still floating around after E3.

It's not hard to make early tech demos especially impressive, since you don't have to worry about including artificial intelligence or physics or any of the other resource chomping features that have to go into games to make them fun. Publishers, though, create them to have something to show potential buyers and say "Look! Look!! Now you've got to buy our new machine!" before laughing maniacally and rushing off to roll around in their piles of cash.

Ultraviolence:

O my Brothers, while your lazin about the Milk Bar with your droogies discussing the finer points of the old Ultraviolence and Media you can always refer to this little gloopy gem. Seems the malenky hound-&-horny arguments never change.

"That said, you'd think that the game designers would show some social responsibility and tone down their products. But it's clear that it's the audience that wants these games. Most of the very popular games involve some sort of stomping, shooting, kicking, electrocution, dismemberment or being eaten by a monster."