Morning Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 12:53 PM CEST - Apr,19 2003
- Post a comment / read (2)
- Getting realistic in the war on hackers - The war on hackers
is failing for the same reason the war on drugs failed: Most individuals
can control themselves, but there is a substantial group of people for whom no
legal penalties will be enough to discourage their behavior. The temptation to
try and "beat the system" that is often felt by hackers and crackers, and even
just regular computer users, can be enormous. People will succumb to the
temptation to pirate copyrighted material, to disable copy protection on
software, and to try and break into other people's computer systems.
- What happens after death? - Everybody will die, that is one thing
that we are absolutely certain of.
What exactly is death, and what happens in the time after death?
- Women need widescreen for virtual navigation - Microsoft has found
that
women tend to be about 20 per cent slower than men when working out where
they are in a computer-generated world. A standard monitor gives a viewing
angle of about 35°. With a larger screen, giving a viewing angle of 70°, women
navigated better. And with two screens delivering a 100° angle, women matched
men's spatial abilities.
- Sony to Recall 20,000 More Vaio PCs Due to Glitch - Sony Corp
said on Friday
it would recall 20,000 Vaio desktop personal computers sold in Japan
between September 2002 and January 2003 to replace defective power supply
parts. This is in addition to 20,000 Vaio PCs recalled in the United States
and Canada last December due to a similar problem, a Sony spokesman said. A
glitch in power supply parts used in three types of upscale Vaio desktop
computers -- the PCV-RZ50, RZ60 and RZ70P -- was found to damage the power
units and prevent the computers from being switched on, the spokesman said.
- AMD Opteron benchmarked against Intel Xeon - The paper issue of
fine German publication c't is now out and
carries
benchmarks of an Opteron 244. The Opteron 244, equivalent in
frequency terms to a 1.8GHz chip, is a Newisys 2100 dual CPU system, and the
base values as posted are for SpecInt2000 1048 (1 CPU), SepFP2000 998 (1 CPU),
SpecFPrate 18.4 (2 CPUs), and SpecINTrate 22.4 (2 CPUs). Meanwhile, the New
York Times has an article on AMD's 64-bit technology, claiming Intel faces its
strongest challenge in 10 years with the arrival of the Opteron.
- Barton Compatibility In ABIT Motherboards - Adrian's Rojak Pot just
posted
an article on AMD Barton Compatibility. In ABIT Motherboards. "Worried
about Barton support in ABIT motherboards? Well, there's no need to listen to
all the rumours! We will dispel all those rumours in our editorial on Barton
Compatibility In ABIT Motherboards!"
- Sony DRU-510A and DRX-510UL - Sony updated its Dual RW series with
another two models: internal DRU-510A and external DRX-510UL supporting 4x
DVD+RW recording. Supporting most DVD standards, the 510 series can be used to
burn DVD-Video, Video CD, audio and backup discs. At that recorded media will
be supported by most DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. Similar to the 500
series, DRU-510A and DRX-510UL support DVD+RW/-RW and DVD+R/-R. The latter can
be recorded and read at 4X; DVD-RW - recorded at 2X, read at 4X; DVD+RW -
recorded and read at 4X. DVD-ROM are read at up to 12X. Finally, CD-RW formula
is 24/16/32x. both drives have 8Mb buffer supporting Sony Power-Burn
protection. CD-ROM access time is 160ms, DVD-ROM - 200ms. The internal
DRU-510A Dual RW will arrive to retail early in May for about $350; external
DRX-510UL - in June for less than $430. (thanks
Digit-Life)
- Hercules officially announces 3D Prophet 9800 Pro -
3D Prophet 9800 Pro bases on RADEON 9800 PRO, features 128Mb 256-bit DDR,
<28dB blue-backlit copper cooling, memory heat-sinks, on GPU (on the other PCB
side) and even on stabilizers. Nominal clock rates are 380/340MHz. The card
has analog, DVI and TV connectors. 3D Prophet 9800 Pro retail box will include
Rainbow Six Raven Shield game. Volume shipments are scheduled to late April.
Pricing is unknown for now.
- nVidia's GeForceFX 5600 Review - If you're a serious gamer on
a budget, the Ti4600 or the ATI Radeon 9500/9600 cards are a much better bet,
as they have a good bit more power for today's titles, and both have decent
multi-texturing support, something which the GeForceFX 5600 is severely
lacking in. As the Radeon 9500/9600 series cards should be available at nearly
the same price point as the GeForceFX 5600, it's going to be a hard sell for
nVidia to convince people that the FX5600 is superior.
- Thinkpad T40 with Centrino Mobile Technology - Tom's Hardware Guide
has published
a review on the new IBM Thinkpad T40 with Centrino Mobile Technology.
- nForce2 Dethroned? VIA's KT400A Chipset Reviewed - Only a few
months before the release of VIA's new dual-channel Athlon chipset, a new
version of the KT400 was released.
The KT400A comes with an improved memory interface called FastStream64,
and aims for the Socket A crown. Is it fast enough to get it?
- PDA Roundup - PCMagazine
tested 13 PDAs and 8 with built-in phones.
- AeroPlayer hits 2.0 (PDA) -
Aerodrome
Software's audio player for the Palm Tungsten T, AeroPlayer, has now
reached 2.0 status. AeroPlayer, one of two third party audio players for the
Tungsten T, supports Ogg Vorbis audio files and MP3 files via a plug-in. It is
fully skinnable, and supports a graphical equializer and audio-boost function
for louder playback (InfoSyncWorld)
- Asheron's Call 2 Free Trial - Now you can try out AC2 for free,
with no obligation and no credit card! Just
download the Free Trial Setup (882MB), put in a fresh new account, and
you'll soon be playing. After 15 days, if you like what you see, you can
purchase AC2 from a store, enter the Product Key, and keep playing AC2 with
your same characters.
- Intel Chipset Identification Utility 2.82 -
The Intel Chipset Identification Utility provides an easy way to identify
the specific Intel chipset that is located on your motherboard. This
information can be used to determine if your system supports the Intel
Application Accelerator.
- D-Force ATI Mobility Driver Modifier v2 -
D-Force MobileMod 2 can automatically read an ATI driver INF file (Windows
2000 or XP format), see if it supports mobile cards, and if it doesn't, write
the necessary keys.
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Updated:12:40 AM CEST Jun,21
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