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Kingston releases a new slim type flash drive specifically made for consumers that care about size. This tiny 4GB unit handles daily tasks with ease.
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Circuit City has finally filed for bankruptcy protection. This is a restructuring that CC hopes will bring it out of problems. It is doubtful. Most retailers are feeling the pinch now and CC had some of the worst customer support just like the old CompUSA. We all know what happen with that...

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Chapter 11 allows a company to hold off creditors while it attempts to restructure its finances. Circuit City said Monday that it has has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession revolving credit facility to supplement its working capital. Circuit City announced earlier this month that it would shutter 155 stores and lay off 17 percent of its workforce. The retailer said Monday that it will eliminate an additional 700 positions in addition to the reductions resulting from the store closings, bringing the total layoff projection to around 20 percent of its employees. According to the company's FAQ, in February it had approximately 45,900 employees, not including workers taken on during peak selling periods.

As if anyone didn't already know this... Indiana has proved it. We should kill off DST already. Stop changing the dates, just kill it.

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These findings are consistent with simulation results that point to a tradeoff between reducing demand for lighting and increasing demand for heating and cooling. We estimate a cost of increased electricity bills to Indiana households of $9 million per year. We also estimate social costs of increased pollution emissions that range from $1.7 to $5.5 million per year. Finally, we argue that the effect is likely to be even stronger in other regions of the United States.

If you are a US citizen, make sure you go out and vote today. It is an important right and you should not take it likely. No matter who you are voting for, just vote! If you don't like any of the candidates, go and vote for nobody. Just cast a ballot.

Go out and be an American today. Remember, nothing gets changed unless you vote.

It seems Nintendo has at least done something right (bringing the total up to one step forward and 3 steps back rather than just 3 steps back) with their more-expensive-yet-paradoxically-less-usable-as-a-gaming-device-and-therefore-an-ironic-reminder-that-Nintendo-is-now-run-by-a-bunch-of-douchebags DSi:

Said By GBAtemp

Reports are flying in this morning that the new DSi handheld is incapable of booting existing flash carts. Our friend ahtin at Hacken.cc who has got his hands on a brand new DSi, has tested both the popular R4 DS and EZ Flash V.

ahtin has reported that the R4 DS (an auto-booting slot-1 cart), when inserted into the DSi, in fact does NOT automatically boot up, and fails to appear at all in the new revamped DSi main menu (which is normal behaviour for an auto-booting cart). The EZ Flash V on the other hand (a non auto-booting slot-1 cart), does in fact show in the DSi's main menu, but when launched generates an error which prevents it from loading any further.

Whether or not the new flash cart "prevention" on the DSi can be disabled or worked around is yet to be determined. Once more people get their hands on the new Nintendo handheld revision, we'll undoubtedly learn more about why this is happening. Perhaps it could be something as simple as an update in the carts loader/firmware (at least in the case of the EZ-V), or perhaps something a modified firmware (ala. FlashMe) could fix. But of course, only time will tell.

Hacken.cc have not reported results on any other flash kits. Stay tuned to GBAtemp for any further news, as we'll keep you posted on any developments.

UPDATE!: ahtin has informed me personally of his latest tests. Unfortunately it's not good news! Just take a look at the long list of flash carts that have ALSO FAILED on the DSi...

CycloDS - Failed
G6 DS Real - Failed
M3 DS Real - Failed
Supercard DS One - Failed
iTouch DS - Failed
FCard - Failed
NCard - Failed
M3 DS Simply - Failed
U2DS - Failed

Also, importers please note that there is no English language option in the firmware - only Japanese, so be careful!

Linky.
So, Nintendo must be on top of the world with this. They manage to pull off an epic "screw you thats why" that usually only Sony can pull off with regards to price, added features and import friendlines and end the biggest piracy problem anything non-PC has ever faced. At least until the chip makers hack the DSi firmware (which should take until January). Though, at the cost, I doubt many potential homebrew-ees would have bothered with the DSi anyways. $180 is foldin' money. Foldin' money that could be used to purchase a PSP. Why is this a potential problem? Well...

In other "I'm venting because the mere concept of the DSi pisses me off" news, there may be problems with DS/DSi compatibility (one that is rumoured to be either the cause of the flash cart issues or a result of Nintendo trying to cause flash cart issues):

Said By Kotaku

Speaking to Pocket Gamer, an obviously-doesn't-want-to-be-named "developer" has said there may be a problem or two regarding DS/DSi compatibility. This developer, you see, is currently developing a game for the DS. Their game obviously runs just fine on DS, but on the DSi, it keeps freezing up, and as a result is stuck in development limbo, Nintendo refusing to certify it. Nintendo, predictably, are saying "All DS titles are compatible with DSi", but if a game in development will run on DS but not DSi, might there be some finished games that run into problems as well?

Linky.

Hmm. All that work in alienating everyone who ever touched a DS, and they don't even have a Sony or Microsoft logo.

Sadly, they decided for it to be their best one.

Said By THR Television

Thirteen has proven not-so-lucky for Fox's veteran animated comedy "King of the Hill."

After several previous brushes with cancellation, the network has opted not to renew the series beyond its current 13th season.

In April, Fox picked up 13 more episodes from the 20th Century Fox TV-produced show, which are wrapping production.

A lot has changed since "King of the Hill" premiered in 1997. Its creators Greg Daniels and Mike Judge have moved on to other projects -- Daniels developed and is running NBC's "The Office," and Judge has a new animated series, "The Goode Family," launching on ABC in midseason.

Judge had continued to voice the central character on the toon comedy, alongside voiceover cast members Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Brittany Murphy, Tom Petty, Johnny Hardwick and Stephen Root.

"Hill" has been exec produced by Judge, Daniels, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, Michael Rotenberg, Howard Klein, Jim Dauterive and Garland Testa.

Fox is introducing two new animated series in midseason, Mitch Hurwitz's "Sit Down, Shut Up" and the "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show."

Linky.

So, there is officially no justice. Not only is the last well written show on that programming block going away and the awful-from-the-start American Dad is staying onboard (as well as the increasingly awful Family Guy), but they will be supplanted by what will no doubt be another terrible 23 minutes of poorly written pop-culture references passed off as jokes. I'm guessing it is just cheaper to have television shows on air when they don't require actual writers.

Ubuntu, and all its derivatives, has reached the 8.10 stable release. http://www.ubuntu.com/

http://www.kubuntu.com/

http://www.xubuntu.com/

I've got a CD burned and will do a fresh install tonight. I've carried over my /home partition far too long and it is loaded with settings and crap that I don't need anymore. It is easy enough to copy /home back over after.

»Antec Micro Fusion Remote 350 @ ASE Labs

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Antec makes superb computer cases for all types of situations. One of the latest markets of custom cases is the entertainment PC. There are specific requirements for a PC that fits with a home theater setup including good cooling and a small A/V form factor. Antec has a new case called the Micro Fusion Remote 350 which targets this exact market.

»Logitech Wave Pro Desktop @ ASE Labs

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While Logitech is a company that graces ASE Labs' test bench often, it is not often that we get to see a highly targeted type of keyboard combo. The Logitech Wave Pro Desktop is targeted to the consumer market unlike their G series products. Don't let that fool you. This combo has some good (and not so good) features that set it apart from its gaming brethren.

»Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 LP @ ASE Labs

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When readers come to ASE Labs and see a graphics card review, they expect to find a high speed entry with a bunch of bells and whistles. There is another section of the market that ASE Labs reaches and that is the mainstream builders and entertainment PC builders. These types of buyers have very different requirements than the so-called enthusiast. Speed and performance take a back seat to form factor, noise, and features. Most small cases only support low profile cards and the Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 steps in to provide the video on your entertainment system.

»Thermaltake BlacX @ ASE Labs

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External hard drive storage is the technology that people are using to keep their data backed up in multiple locations in the current era of technology. There are good products and bad ones just the same but not all enclosures promise the same thing. The Thermaltake BlacX was probably the first unit to take a hard drive and turn it into the removable storage. Now you can easily keep multiple physical backups with ease using this product. Pretty interesting.

I-Rocks RF-6572 2.4GHz Wireless Keyboard Mouse Combo Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The I-Rocks RF-6572 2.4GHz wireless keyboard mouse combo is a very simple, yet effective wireless keyboard and mouse combo. Vista recognized both devices quickly, and used them without any additional software or problems. With a price of about $40, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this combo to anyone looking for a simple wireless keyboard and mouse setup.

ECS GF9300T-A Black Series GeForce 9300 Motherboard Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The ECS GF9300T-A Black Series GeForce 9300 motherboard is hopefully a BIOS update away from being an incredible motherboard. It seems well conceived and well designed, but there are just too many issues and limiting factors to get overly excited about it as is. The performance was respectable in many tests anyway, and it makes me wonder just how good this board could be (at stock speeds or overclocked) if it wasn't being held back.

OCZ Technology Alchemy Series Elixir I Keyboard Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The most notable gamer friendly feature the OCZ Technology Alchemy Series Elixir I keyboard offers is the set of programmable macro buttons which allow users to use a single keystroke to send a multi-keystroke sequence to the computer. Five of these macro buttons can be found on each end of the keyboard (for a total of 10), with each being colored in a contracting blue hue and labeled L1-L10.

Antec Signature 650W PSU Review @ JonnyGURU.com

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You may recall that the SG-850 received the first 10 out of 10 rating I've ever given out for performance, and I have a confession to make: after that product's very impressive showing, I installed it into my main computer where it is now running as I type this, displacing a very impressive in its own right 1200W unit. Not just any unit can make that claim, and you better believe that I want to see how the 650W version performs just as much as you all do. Let's get things rolling with a few box shots.

Gskill PI series 6400 DDR2 @ Bjorn3D

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With DDR3 memory becoming cheaper and getting more and more popular, it's good to see memory manufacture's like G.skill still improving DDR2 memory modules. They are making them perform better using less voltage, while also improving the cooling of DDR2 memory modules. We are going to look at a set of memory modules that fits this catagory from G.skill, the PI Black series memory PC26400 DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12 with 1.9 volts. So let's take a look at how well they performed.

Asus Rampage Extreme Motherboard Review @ HardwareLogic

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Every now and then, motherboard manufacturers will release a board specifically made for the high end market. Much like Intel's Extreme series processors, these extravagent boards throw caution to the wind and load up with as many features as possible, no matter what the cost. The last high end motherboard from Asus was the Striker II Extreme based on the 790i Ultra chipset and guess what folks, it's that time once again. Introducing Asus' latest luxurious creation, the Rampage Extreme featuring Intel's X48 chipset. This board overflows with awesome and takes high end to another level. The 'RE' provides native 1600MHz front side bus support, full x16 CrossFireX capability, up to 8GB of DDR3-2000 memory compatibiltiy, an X-Fi soundcard and the biggest bundle ever. If you like cutting edge, you'll love this review as I conducted both quad and dual core testing along with making use of those two PCIe x16 slots with 4870X2 cards in CrossFire. Oh yea! Read on to find out if this monstrosity can take the coveted crown as the best motherboard on the market.

ASRock A780GXE/128M AMD 780G AM2+ Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers.org

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* Today I will be looking at the predecessor to that motherboard, the ASRock A780GXE/128M. It sports an AMD 780G chipset, the platform that the 790GX was based on. It also has AMD's Hybrid Graphics via the SB700 Southbridge, which begat the 790GX's SB750 setup. You may ask why I am looking back at this earlier board, when we've already seen its successor.well, this motherboard sells for well under $100, and may just be the answer for someone on a very tight budget, or for someone wanting a very inexpensive Phenom rig. Will the A780GXE/128M make the trip? Find out in the following pages.

Thermaltake BlacX SE USB Hard Drive Dock Review

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Many households go through numerous generations of internal computer hard drives ranging from 2.5 laptop to 3.5 desktop / server class hard drives in a futile attempt to remain up-to-date with storage requirements, but what do you do when you quickly need to retrieve your photos or documents you filed away on that old 80GB hard drive? Enter the Thermaltake BlacX SE USB hard drive dock for SATA hard drives.

T-Mobile G1 Review @ Digital Trends

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Apple's iPhone finally has a worthy rival. The T-Mobile G1, due to go on sale Oct. 22, is the first phone to run on Google's fun, flexible and functional open source Android mobile operating system. Although the G1 is not as sleek or as well integrated as the iPhone - after all, its hardware and software come from two different places - it actually out-performs the iPhone in several ways. But the G1 is held back by T-Mobile's less than ubiquitous 3G HSDPA network and no iTunes-like universal syncing software, both solvable problems. In spite of these current deficiencies, the G1 is arguably the most facile portable device ever devised. At least, that is, until the next Android phone with upgraded software arrives.

MSI N260GTX @ InsideHW

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The interesting thing is that we didn't have up to now GTX260 graphics card on test, probably because majority is already more interested for more affordable products from latest nVIDIA generation of graphics cards even though it is consisted, for now, from two products in total. Anyway, we got one GTX260 for testing and it is signed by manufacturer that is worldwide known - MSI.

Nikon D90 Review @ Digital Trends

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Who would've thought? Nikon, a decidedly still image capture company, was the first to design a D-SLR that takes high-definition video. Until now, no D-SLR could capture video of any type unlike point-and-shoot digicams which have taken clips for years. This breakthrough is pretty startling. One would've thought Sony or Panasonic-true video outfits-would have blazed this trail but it was venerable Nikon of 35mm film fame. Soon after the D90 was announced, archrival Canon unveiled the EOS 5D Mark II D-SLR which also takes HD clips. This monster, due late November, is a 21.1-megapixel full frame D-SLR while the D90 is only a 12.3MP APS-C sized sensor edition. In other words, the 5D Mark II is a completely different animal and costs many times more than the $999 USD D90. (Actually it's 2.7 times more as the new 5D is $2,699 for the body only). Still-on paper--this new Nikon has many things going for it: 12.3MP resolution, 4.5 frames per second burst shooting, 3200 ISO, a nice 3-inch LCD screen as well as the ability to record 1280 x 720-pixel HD video at 24 fps. Now let's see if the D90 is a winner.

Motorola Krave ZN4 Review @ Digital Trends

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a clear flip-up front protective screen that is also touch-sensitive. Tap the touch cover and the Krave's actual LCD screen below reacts as if you prodded it directly. The concept's innovative in theory, yes. But instead of increasing functionality, this touch cover actually gets in the way, especially when you're trying to use the touch QWERTY thumbboard. All in all, we don't crave the Krave.

News - Patriot Memory 32GB Xporter XT Review at Overclockers Online

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Through all of the benchmarking and everyday use of the Xporter XT Boost I have been quite impressed. Even with the large capacity it is still a speedy drive. With a capacity of 32GB, the Xporter XT Boost can easily fit in your pocket and is a great replacement for that portable hard drive you might be lugging around.

Super Talent Pico-D 8GB USB Drive Reviewed @ DragonSteelMods

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A while ago I took a look at the Super Talent Pico-C Gold 8Gb USB drive, today I've got another of the Super Talent Pico series USB drives, the Pico-D. It's a bit bigger than the Pico-C, but just as durable, portable and water resistant, and about the same performance. The outside casing is metal for protection, the USB drive part is plastic of course and swivels out of the casing to access it.

Thermaltake PW850i ProWater reviewed at BurnOutPC.com

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Thermaltake is a familiar brand if you're looking for a new gaming chassis or you need to upgrade your cooling. In the past Thermaltake has had a couple of water-cooling items and kits but now with the PW 850i ProWater series they are trying to make water-cooling mainstream for anyone that already owns a Thermaltake chassis compatible with the PW850i or anyone interested in an affordable kit packed with the necessities to get your cooling set up even if you have never worked with water-cooling before.

NZXT Avatar Gaming Mouse Review @ Rbmods

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When you are in the middle of an intense battle in your favorite FPS game, do you ever wish you could change the sensitivity of the mouse as easily as changing weapons? The NZXT Avatar Gaming Mouse allows you to do just that with the press of a button and also has a series of lights to indicate what speed has been selected. How does it stand up in both gaming and non-gaming situations? Read on to find out.

Baja: Edge of Control Xbox360 Review @ TestFreaks.com

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THQ and 2XL has used this race as the setting for its latest release: Baja: Edge of Control. Released for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, this game is designed with the racing enthusiast in mind. The game features 100 square miles of track with courses across Mexico and the Southwestern United States. The tracks range from rally courses to hill climbs to baja races.

Mitsubishi LaserVue 65 HDTV - We Meet Again @ TheTechLounge

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Kurtis and I got another chance to check out Mitsubishi's LaserVue DLP set in the early morning hours this Tuesday, and this time we were armed with some juicy, hand-picked HD goodness. Last time around, we only got to see content provided by Mitsubishi that was playing from a hard drive player hooked up to each set over HDMI. There were some great clips in this material, but we felt that we would be doing the Internets a terrible injustice to base our opinions solely on clips straight from the proverbial horse's mouth. If you missed our coverage of the LaserVue launch event from a couple weeks ago, that's where we got down with the specs and features of the new Mitsubishi set. This trip was all about picture quality.

EVGA 790i Ultra @ Bjorn3D

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The EVGA 790i Ultra comes on a sexy Black PCB. With it's 3 PCI-E 16x slots that all run at 16x standing out from the board, it lets you know right out of the box that this is a serious graphics monster. The layout on the board is well thought out and from the moment you open the box it just screams at you, 'Feed me GPU's NOW!'

Microsoft SideWinder X6 Gaming Keyboard

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Rocking up with the previously reviewed SideWinder X5 mouse, I was lucky enough to receive an X6 keyboard to complete the desktop of evil. This keyboard boasts a full backlight and letter illumination with a built-in dial to adjust the intensity. The coupe de grace, however, comes with the hot swappable numeric keypad module that can be changed up, left or right depending on your preference, or if you want to add more macros to the left hand side.

Honeywell Airlite 900 Bluetooth Speakerphone @ Benchmark Reviews

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These days it seems that cellular telephones are as commonplace as Starbucks, and motorists are communicating while behind the wheel. It shouldn't come as a surprise that twenty-four states currently enforce restrictions on cell phone use while driving. This is where the hands-free market has exploded, with numerous Bluetooth headsets making it to store shelves. In this article, Benchmark Reviews takes the opportunity to test drive the Airlite 900 Bluetooth speakerphone accessory by Honeywell.

ECS GF9300T-A Black Series Motherboard Review @ Hardware Secrets

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ECS GF9300T-A Black Series is a socket 775 motherboard based on the latest chipset from nVidia, GeForce 9300, which features on-board video with a DirectX 10 engine and is the first nVidia chipset for the Intel platform to support Hybrid SLI. In this review we will compare the performance of GeForce 9300 to GeForce 7100, Intel G31, Intel G33 and Intel G45. Check it out.

MSI P7NGM Digital @ Viper Lair

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Today is the release day for the new NVIDIA GeForce 9 Series motherboards. We will be looking at the NVIDIA GeForce 9300 based MSI P7NGM Digital mATX motherboard, which aims to bridge the gap between onboard graphics and game playing frame rates, something that can come in handy if you're on a budget or perhaps looking to build a Multimedia PC such as an HTPC. It doesn't stop there though, as the NVIDIA GeForce 9300 gives the MSI P7NGM Digital more than one trick up it's sleeve.

REVIEW - Lian Li PC-A7010 case @ PureOverclock

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Catering to discerning consumers and demanding enthusiasts with all-aluminum construction, sleek designs, and superb features, Lian Li's newest PC-A70101 boasts a Hot Swap hard drive system, washable air filters, and a sexy black anodized aluminum exterior. But you're only as good as your last success, so let's find out if the A7010 can continue a winning trend.

Arctic Cooling Fans Review - XSReviews

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* Computer cooling is becoming a much more widespread topic with extra emphasis on silence in comparison to the past where this aspect of cooling was more or less disregarded in an attempt to produce maximum performance. The challenge that faces most manufacturers nowadays is the perfect combination between the two. Today at XSReviews, we have a whole series of Arctic Fans up for review. However, the question is will this latest series of fans be able to meet both the demands of performance and silence?

Thermaltake V14Pro CPU Cooler CL-P0471 @ Benchmark Reviews

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Thermaltake, famed of their variety in air cooler selection, has just released their best performing CPU cooler: V14Pro. Claiming to have reached the highest cooling performance ever, the new V14Pro comes with the giant size 140mm fan, 6 copper heatpipes, and 98 extended copper fins. In this performance comparison, Benchmark Reviews tests the Thermaltake V14 Pro CPU cooler CL-P0471 against the best products available today.

The Antec Micro Fusion Remote homes in on the entertainment PC market which is a step away for Antec. Antec is a good brand for normal type computer cases, but can it stand up with a media center case?Next Page »

This is a move that spells out greediness for Blizzard. They are splitting Starcraft 2 into 3 distinct games for each race. They say they haven't decided on multiplayer just yet, but it is safe to say that they did this for greed. Blizzard may have been a great gaming company, but moves like this only weaken their position. So which game do you buy for multiplayer? The last one? The first one? Blizzard, you are some greedy bastards.

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ANAHEIM--Blizzard dropped a bombshell at the 2008 Blizzcon today by announcing that StarCraft II, the highly-awaited sequel to the smash hit 1998 real-time strategy game, StarCraft, has been split into three. The company said that StarCraft II now consists of three different stand-alone titles--one for each faction campaign. The first of the StarCraft II trilogy will be StarCraft II Terrans: Wings of Liberty. The second will be StarCraft II Zerg: Heart of the Swarm, with the third and final installment of the main trilogy being StarCraft II Protoss: Legacy of the Void.

»Logitech Wave Pro Desktop @ ASE Labs

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While Logitech is a company that graces ASE Labs' test bench often, it is not often that we get to see a highly targeted type of keyboard combo. The Logitech Wave Pro Desktop is targeted to the consumer market unlike their G series products. Don't let that fool you. This combo has some good (and not so good) features that set it apart from its gaming brethren.

»Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 LP @ ASE Labs

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When readers come to ASE Labs and see a graphics card review, they expect to find a high speed entry with a bunch of bells and whistles. There is another section of the market that ASE Labs reaches and that is the mainstream builders and entertainment PC builders. These types of buyers have very different requirements than the so-called enthusiast. Speed and performance take a back seat to form factor, noise, and features. Most small cases only support low profile cards and the Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 steps in to provide the video on your entertainment system.

»Thermaltake BlacX @ ASE Labs

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External hard drive storage is the technology that people are using to keep their data backed up in multiple locations in the current era of technology. There are good products and bad ones just the same but not all enclosures promise the same thing. The Thermaltake BlacX was probably the first unit to take a hard drive and turn it into the removable storage. Now you can easily keep multiple physical backups with ease using this product. Pretty interesting.

»ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo USB Flash @ ASE Labs

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ATP Electronics is a 17 year-old company best known for their EarthDrive recyclable USB flash drive, which is not only made of recycled materials but also has part of the proceeds go towards rainforest protection. They also make memory products for both enterprise and home applications in addition to various types of removable storage. Today, ASE Labs has the ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo edition.

Lian Li PC-A7010 All Aluminum Full Tower Case @ Legit Reviews

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Quote: The Lian Li PC-A7010 carries a whopping $295 price tag and is most definitely a high end case. With the time I have spent with the PC-A7010 I now know why some enthusiasts covet the Lian Li cases so much. The build quality is amazing, as it should be for an investment close to $300. The SATA backplane is a nice feature. It will clean up a lot of cable clutter and make things look very nice, even though it is hidden behind the case side...

AMD Radeon HD 3300 / 790GX

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Back in March we looked at the AMD Radeon HD 3200 graphics with AMD's 780G Chipset and found it to be a reputable performer. Its performance was almost identical to that of the discrete Radeon HD 2400PRO graphics card and was capable of running some Linux games at a playable frame-rate. Now though AMD's top-end IGP is 790GX Chipset with Radeon HD 3300 graphics. We have been testing an AMD 790GX motherboard from Elitegroup Computer Systems for the past several weeks and today we are delivering our Linux benchmarks of this newest AMD integrated graphics processor.

Thermaltake Toughpower 850W Modular ESA Compliant Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org

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nVidia decided that all of this is pretty ridiculous, there has to be a better way for enthusiasts to get their system information. So they came up with ESA, a system of monitoring all system information from one dashboard. Working with their partners, they have developed a really creative and effective system for hardware monitoring. Our friends at Thermaltake agree with this, and have partnered with nVidia to create ESA compliant cases, water cooling systems, and power supplies. Today, I will be looking at Thermaltake's modular and ESA compliant Toughpower Cable Management 850 Watt PSU. Will it have what it takes? Read on to see!

NZXT Khaos Full Tower Enclosure

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NZXT began life in 2004 and had a goal of producing a product line that was geared toward enthusiasts and gamers. From the beginning, they have shown a love for those who are looking to eke out that little bit of extra performance from there machine. Even in the beginning when they used pretty basic design builds for some of their initial products, these folks have always added something to the build to make it different from everybody else. Since those humble beginnings, NZXT has worked hard to enhance that enthusiast outlook and are now in the market of creating truly unique enclosures and have even added power supplies to the mix. All this brings us to today's piece, the NZXT Khaos. This enclosure features a full tower design that offers some innovations not found in your everyday case, which suits the company very well.

Cooler Master Ultimate Circuit Protection UCP-900WATT Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews.net

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Cooler Master's UCP 900W has performed admirably throughout several days of testing while having an attractive aesthetic finish to complete the overall product. It's quiet and stable with plenty of power, has nicely sleeved cables while providing plenty of well organized SATA and videocard connections.

Belkin F5D8053 WiFi N Wireless Adapter @ Benchmark Reviews

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So, you say you just bought a second or even a third computer for your household and you're wondering how you're going to connect it to the Internet? Well, for one thing you'll need a router and probably a wireless adapter such as the Belkin F5D8053 N Wireless adapter, unless you plan on directly wiring it to a port on your router. Using a wireless adapter however would be the much easier and quicker way to setup access to your home network/broadband Internet connection. Benchmark Reviews has just reviewed the Belkin F5D8053 N Wireless adapter for you. Now let's see if it's something worth buying or not.

Noctua NH-U9B CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Canucks

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Today we will be looking at another addition to Noctua's award winning lineup: the NH-U9B. Unlike the other Noctuas we have put through their paces, the U9B is different from its brethren since it is actually quite small in comparison and uses a completely different fan size and design to keep its heatsink cool. It is geared towards those of you who do not want a massive heatsink in your HTPC (or standard ATX) case and seems to have been released to compete with the Thermalright Ultima 90.

ATP 4GB ToughDrive Flash Drive @ TechwareLabs

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Quote: So what does it take to destroy the ATP ToughDrive USB flash drive? Good Question! We wanted to know as well so we promptly TORTURED it! Does the ATP ToughDrive survive being driven over, immersed in water, set on fire, used as a dog chew toy, shot with an Airsoft gun, Frozen, TORCHED, and finally beaten with a hammer? See our amazing brutality in our video of this drive. Of course we tested the drive first and bring you our thoughts on why we feel this drive deserved our Editors Choice Award. Those with a queasy stomach may not want to watch.

And who's to blame? BANKS. And what do people want now? A huge world bank. Surprise! Deep recessions and depressions cause banks to become more powerful. In 1929, the US banking system grew out of that problem (artificially created by the bankers themselves). I can't believe that people are so blinded by the fact that banks WANT this. Why do you think they are hording all the capital they get? Every action screws people more and more.

This Emergency Economic Stabilization Act did absolutely nothing except give banks more power over the government (or I should say give the corruption in government grant more power to the banks). What a surprise that the markets went way down after the bill was passed.

If this whole situation isn't a farce, I don't know what is. Banks are taking over. It is time to step up and DEMAND that we take back control of our own currency!

»Logitech Wave Pro Desktop @ ASE Labs

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While Logitech is a company that graces ASE Labs' test bench often, it is not often that we get to see a highly targeted type of keyboard combo. The Logitech Wave Pro Desktop is targeted to the consumer market unlike their G series products. Don't let that fool you. This combo has some good (and not so good) features that set it apart from its gaming brethren.

»Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 LP @ ASE Labs

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When readers come to ASE Labs and see a graphics card review, they expect to find a high speed entry with a bunch of bells and whistles. There is another section of the market that ASE Labs reaches and that is the mainstream builders and entertainment PC builders. These types of buyers have very different requirements than the so-called enthusiast. Speed and performance take a back seat to form factor, noise, and features. Most small cases only support low profile cards and the Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 steps in to provide the video on your entertainment system.

»Thermaltake BlacX @ ASE Labs

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External hard drive storage is the technology that people are using to keep their data backed up in multiple locations in the current era of technology. There are good products and bad ones just the same but not all enclosures promise the same thing. The Thermaltake BlacX was probably the first unit to take a hard drive and turn it into the removable storage. Now you can easily keep multiple physical backups with ease using this product. Pretty interesting.

»ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo USB Flash @ ASE Labs

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ATP Electronics is a 17 year-old company best known for their EarthDrive recyclable USB flash drive, which is not only made of recycled materials but also has part of the proceeds go towards rainforest protection. They also make memory products for both enterprise and home applications in addition to various types of removable storage. Today, ASE Labs has the ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo edition.

Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1800 Dual Channel Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The kit in question features two 1GB sticks of PC3-14400 (1800MHz) DDR3 memory rated for 8-8-8-24 timings at 1.9V. While slower kits showed that they could be overclocked to perform nearly as well as this Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1800 dual channel memory kit, if you are looking for plug and play performance at 1800MHz (and above), this kit is worth considering.

Mapower MAP-TB32 Dual SATA RAID Enclosure Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The Mapower MAP-TB32 dual SATA RAID enclosure is a very well constructed enclosure with a clean and appealing appearance. This enclosure's primary method of connection should be via eSATA to take full advantage of its capabilities, as its below average USB 2.0 performance is disappointing. Minor issues and poor documentation aside, performance on the SATA bus is good and gets even better when configured to operate as a RAID-0 volume.

Thecus N3200 3-Bay SOHO Network Storage System Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The Thecus N3200 3-Bay SOHO network storage system is much more than a typical network attached storage device, and is something like a Swiss Army knife of networking and storage functionality. In addition to making sure your important data is well looked after on three hard drives configured in your choice of RAID arrays, it makes sharing it locally and globally rather easy.

Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The Radeon HD4850 chipset was launched to fill a role in the middle of the graphics card market. The Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB graphics card stands out in this crowd of 'average' cards by offering a factory overclocked GPU and memory, as well as a cooling upgrade that keeps it cool and quiet.

Rosewill RX630-S-B Xtreme Series 630W Power Supply Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: Before the review started I didn't know what to expect from for the Rosewill RX630-S-B Xtreme Series 630W power supply. The published features and specifications were strong, and from what I had read elsewhere on the web the general opinion seemed positive. I just wasn't sure that a Rosewill power supply priced under $90 was really going to impress, and I worried that too much of that small budget had been spent on the aesthetics.

Charity Yard Sale @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: Here is the scoop. I am going to sell off some of Bigbruin.com's review items at low prices, and half of the money is going to go to a charity working on a cure for the disease that hit me last year (Severe Aplastic Anemia). The terms are that I am going to give 50% off all sales to the charity. I will keep adding things to this thread and will cut a check when the sale seems to be over. Shipping is calculated separately and not included in the 50/50 split. People can pay via money order, check, or Paypal, and I will eat the Paypal fees. And if helping a charity and getting a good deal weren't enough, one person who buys something from the yard sale will be randomly selected to receive a $25 Best Buy gift card.

BFG Tech LS-680 680W Power Supply Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The BFG Tech line of power supplies consists of several models that offer a variety of interesting features and power ratings from 550W to 1000W. In this review we will be taking a look at the LS-680, a 680 Watt unit that features desirable items such as quad 12V rails, four PCI Express graphics card connections, and a typical efficiency of 85%.

Jazz Elite HDV-188 5MP HD Video Camera Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: The bottom line on the Jazz Elite HDV-188 5MP HD video camera is that it is a cool little gadget that is fun to use. It takes good photos and makes decent videos, but the conditions seem to have to be just right. It required a bit of experimentation to master the settings and to learn the limitations of the device, but I am generally happy with it.

Liteon EZ-DUB External DVD RW Drive DX-20A4PU @ TestFreaks.com

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One such company is Liteon, they've got a line of portable optical DVDRW drives called the EZ-DUB. These drives feature a standard sized, fully featured, optical drive inside of an external enclosure, but what makes these special is the addition of two touch sensitive buttons labeled 'File and 'Dub' to make common functions easily accessible to the end user. Is the EZ-DUB worth your money, are the extra features worth it?

ICY DOCK MB672SKGF-B Internal SATA HDD Enclosure with LCD Display @ Bjorn3D

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Now here's the thing - I have a beautiful Antec Nine Hundred case with a single DVD drive installed in one of the 5.25' external drive bays, so the other bays remain largely unused. I've considered putting in additional optical drives, but tell you the truth, I personally just don't have any great need to do so. For looks alone I've been considering installing a fan controller or something fun with lights and gauges, but just never saw anything that I couldn't live without. Fortunately for me, ICY DOCK came along with an intriguing new product and I was given the opportunity to check it out. Not only does the ICY DOCK MB672SKGF internal 3.5' SAS/SATA HDD Enclosure look great, but it actually solves a problem I never realized I had. Now with one drive bay easily accessible in the front of my Nine Hundred case, I can easily swap out hard drives and forget about those external drives and the plethora of cables and power supplies that come with them. Let's take a closer look at ! ICY DOCK and the new internal drive enclosure from this innovative company.

Phoronix Test Suite Brings Benchmarking To Mac OS X

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In the Phoronix Test Suite 1.2 Malvik release our flagship Linux benchmarking software was brought to OpenSolaris and FreeBSD. With Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 Orkdal, to be officially released later this year, we are now extending our test support to include Apple's Mac OS X operating system. In Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 Alpha 2 that was released this morning there is full support for Mac OS X within this open-source benchmarking framework and there are about three dozen tests that will run out of the box in this environment. We believe this is now the most comprehensive benchmarking platform for Mac OS X and it allows real-world test results to be compared from Linux, OpenSolaris, and FreeBSD.

A-Data Vitesta Extreme Edition DDR2 4 GB 800+ MHz CL4 @ techPowerUp

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A-DATA's 4 GB Vitesta Extreme Edition DDR2 memory kit offers great performance at a low price of only $75. The memory can even run CL3 at the specified 800 MHz, with a small voltage increase and scales up to DDR2-1066 at CL5.

Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

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Quote: In terms of single GPU performance, the Radeon HD4870 set the bar pretty high, and the Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4870 512MB graphics card had its work cut out for it to do much better. With a factory overclock of 30MHz on the GPU and 100MHz on the memory, the Toxic version generally did perform better, but not always by much.

Sans Digital MobileSTOR MS2UT+B Dual Bay Hard Drive Enclosure Review @ ThinkComputers.org

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* Sans Digital, a well-known contender in the storage market, recently introduced a new storage device which combines the features of configurable RAID with the convenience of USB and eSATA. The MobileSTOR MS2UT+B dual bay enclosure accepts two hard drives up to 1 TB in size. It can then mirror or stripe the drives, or use what Sans Digital calls SAFE33 or SAFE50. ThinkComputers takes a look.

Thermaltake PW 850I Pro Water CPU Liquid Cooling System Review @ Tweaknews.net

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The ProWater 850i has a lot going for it. Performance is good, setup is easy, and all required parts are included along with a generous helping of accessories. The kit succeeded in keeping an AMD 5000+ Black Edition CPU cool during stress testing without all the noise associated with air cooling. As an added bonus, the tubing is UV reactive so it will look cool in a windowed case with UV lighting.

Logitech Cordless Desktop S520 Review @ OCIA.net

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Logitech knows a thing or two about being successful and they have injected this knowledge into their business model. They know that you have to supply a steady stream of new and innovative products to keep customers coming back. They are also well aware that you need a wide range of products, from high end gear all the way down to items that will fit any budget. It is with this mindset that Logitech released the Cordless Desktop S520 last month, the latest addition to their keyboard + mice combos that checks in at a very attractive price point.

Sapphire Radeon HD 4550 Graphics Card

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The low to mid-range market has been heating up over the past few months; NVIDIA released the 9500 GT which I personally felt was a massive disappointment due to the price to performance ratio when compared to the 9600 GSO. ATI / AMD hasn't been asleep, though. The HD 4670 came out and has really managed to impress. The HD 4650 is also supposed to be out, but for some reason it hasn't really shown up on the market. Adding to the HD 4000 series, however, is a new low-end entry level model; the HD 4550.

Thermaltake VI-ON HDD Enclosure - eSATA, USB2.0 Slick - BCCHardware

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* Thermaltake never rests. They are constantly making new products, updating old products and trying to get into the home of every computer user in North America. The VI-ON is one of their latest enclosures and coupled with the popular eSATA and USB2.0 interfaces, you don't have to sacrifice speed over connectivity anymore. If you've got an eSATA capable machine, performance of an external Hard Drive almost mirrors internal connected speeds, but if you've got an older computer without eSATA or want to connect the VI-ON to your laptop, you're set with the USB2.0 interface.

Seventeam ST-850P-AF 850W PSU @ BIOSLEVEL.com

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Much like NorthQ's Black Magic powersupply I previously looked at, the ST-850P-AF also features a 135mm cooling fan. The biggest different between these two units aside from individual components is that the ST-850P-AF does not feature modular connectivity. Will the stability of the ST-850P-AF prove that the unit should be carried in more U.S. retailers such as NewEgg? Or will the powersupply not quite live up to my expectations?

Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition 512 MB @ techPowerUp

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Palit is one of the first AMD board partners to release a custom Radeon HD 4870 version. Their new HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition comes with a completely revamped cooling assembly that features two fans to keep the card cool. Also included is a DisplayPort connector and a Turbo switch which lets you select the operating frequencies of the card. The mandatory overclocked out of the box is included as well.

Thecus N3200 Networked Area Storage (NAS) Server @ Bjorn3D

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Even for the home user, if 'in today's networked world, digital content is truly the most precious asset', then perhaps protecting that content and providing easy access to that content is second on the list. The Thecus N3200 is a Networked Attached Storage (NAS) device that proposes to do just that by providing complete data redundancy using RAID 5. Or as Thecus puts it, 'RAID 5 Comes Home'.

Antec 1200 Ultimate Gamer Case @ Pro-Clockers

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Antec has been on the forefront of quality case design for some time. While not always the flashiest of cases, Antec's build quality and functionally generally ranks toward the top of the charts. However, recently Antec has made a momentum shift, and produced a product line to appeal to gamers and enthusiast system builders alike. Enter the Antec Twelve Hundred Case, that in Antec's own words:

Lian Li PC7B Plus II Mid-Tower Case @ Benchmark Reviews

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The name Lian Li is synonymous with quality computer cases and computer accessories. They've been in the business for over 20 years and have attained ISO 9001 certification for all of their products. They've built some reputation over the years and have received accolades from the computer industry as well as end users; but nobody is perfect. Today Benchmark Reviews will take a look at the Lian Li PC7B Plus II black aluminum mid-tower computer case and see if this reputation for quality and performance still holds true, after all these years.

SilverStone Treasure TS01 RFID Enclosure

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Over the years SilverStone has designed some astonishing ATX computer cases such as the Temjin TJ10 and the Sugo, but they haven't stopped with cases. SilverStone has introduced high-performance power supplies such as the Decathlon 800W and they have also been making disk drive enclosures such as the MS05, which is an eSATA-based enclosure. SilverStone though has introduced a new 2.5-inch disk enclosure that combines a normal USB to SATA adapter with RFID encryption technologies. If the included RFID sensor keys aren't close enough to this enclosure, the user cannot access any data off the disk as it's all encrypted. However, does the SilverStone Treasure TS01 work under Linux? We'll tell you today.

Zalman CNPS9300AT CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers

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Over the years we have seen the 7000, 8000 and the now current 9000 series. What we are going to review today is not the beginning of the 1xxxx series but a miniature 9xxx called the CNPS9300AT. The little brother boasts some numbers that are more impressive than the bigger brother. Smaller but faster fan. And on load a little louder. Now that we got the numbers out of the way time to see how this little booger does on the test bench.

Genius Ergo 555 Review - XSReviews

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* Most performance mice, which gamers tend to use, are normally manufactured by one of two companies: Logitech or Razer. Both these companies are widely known in the gaming industry. However, many more manufacturers, such as Genius, are making their show in the performance gaming mouse market. The contender we have for review today is the Genius Ergo 555 Laser, a 'Professional laser gaming mouse with OLED graphics effect'. Let's see how it performs.

Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case Review @ Legit Reviews

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Quote: Is the Twelve Hundred the Unbeatable Gaming Case that Antec says it is? Well, it has all the good things and corrected most, if not all, of the flaws of the Nine Hundred. If you liked the Nine Hundred, you will love the Twelve Hundred. As for the rest of us who have not been face to face with a Nine Hundred, the Twelve Hundred has a lot of nice style to it and it is very easy to work with and in. It also lends itself to be more user tailored than any other case I have used in a long while...

EMI has tried and failed to file suit against the CEO of MP3tunes.com. It is a service that only allows you to have a digital file store to retrieve files from anymore. There is no sharing, no swapping. Only the person's account has access. This makes it easy to have access to your library from anyway. The music cartels are floored about this 'unfair' fair use! They want you to have to buy a copy for each location you want to play it. See how fair that is?

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The bad news for Robertson is the judge allowed EMI, one of the four largest recording companies, to continue to pursue the copyright claims against MP3tunes, court documents show. The case, filed last November in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was brought by 14 record companies and music publishers affiliated with EMI. MP3tunes enables users to store music in the so-called cloud. The company's 150,000 customers upload their music into "lockers." They can then access the tunes from nearly any Web-enabled device. EMI argues that MP3tunes doesn't have authorization to exploit the company's music this way. A representative from EMI couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday evening.

To exploit music this way? Look assholes, I buy something and it is mine. I can do whatever I want to do to it.

The Logitech Wave Pro Desktop is the next generation of Logitech products targeted at the consumer market. It is a good refresh of their older MX line of products.Next Page »

Pandora listeners, listen up. A new deal has been made from the cartels to based costs on revenue instead of per song. What happened was that Pandora threatened to shut down. The next part is pure speculation: When that happens, everyone listening to Pandora will move to downloading their music (any way possible). The cartels probably saw this as a bad idea and they now get publicity saying they are the good guys for making this deal... even though they screwed internet radio in the first place.

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The groups, which represent record labels, music publishers, songwriters, and music Web sites, say their proposal would resolve what has been a source of strife between the music industry and Web sites that offer on-demand streaming services.

Under the agreement, sites like Napster and Imeem would have to begin paying royalties of about 10.5 percent of revenue. Download services like Amazon MP3 and iTunes already pay such fees. And online radio sites saw a major royalty hike last year. Pandora, one such site, may be on the brink of going out of business due to that rate increase, according to its founder, Tim Westergren.

The organizations involved were the Digital Media Association, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, the National Music Publishers Association, Recording Industry Association of America, and the Songwriters Guild of America.

DNSSEC will be imposed on all .gov sites by next year. Why this wasn't done sooner is beyond me. At least they are wising up to this stuff.

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DNSSEC prevents hackers from hijacking Web traffic and redirecting it to bogus sites. The Internet standard prevents spoofing attacks by allowing Web sites to verify their domain names and corresponding IP addresses using digital signatures and public-key encryption. With DNSSEC deployed, federal Web sites "are less prone to be hacked into, and it means they can offer their services with greater assurances to the public," says Leslie Daigle, Chief Internet Technology Officer for the Internet Society. "DNSSEC means more confidence in government online services."

Entertainment PCs are really taking over the living room. The need for low profile cards is rising and the Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 steps in to fill that need.Next Page »

Google may be purchasing Valve (the game maker) primarily for its Steam DRM distribution system. Google is starting to branch out into all kinds of different areas. Maybe Google will start bringing more Linux games out natively, but I doubt it.

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That rationale makes some sense to me as well, in part because getting into the video game business in and of itself doesn't sound terribly well aligned with Google's mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Steam is an online foundation for selling and distributing games, updating patches, enabling multiplayer online chat, and using digital rights management to control who has permission to use elements like game versions or game terrain. While a lot of that is specific to games today, I see no reason why it might not apply more broadly. Google, of course, likes to be the clearinghouse for online activity, and this could add some expertise. Steam Powered shows 448 games available now, and in February, Valve said Steam had 15 million account holders. But this is the more telling statistic: During peak hours, online activity crests at about 1.2 million users every day. That's clearly a lot of activity.

As a follow up to my previous post on this subject, it seems that the US Federal Reserve decided it would be good to bail out more companies and the Treasury will fund those bailouts. Why isn't anyone up in arms about this?

Lehman Brothers wasn't bailed out, yet AIG was? If this situation isn't a perfect example of saving their own buddies, I don't know what is. The US Federal Reserve needs to be disbanded and we need to turn back to a proper monetary standard. You can't keep injecting cash (were does that come from?) into the market. Our currency is taking a dump again thanks to the government-banking complex. It is time the people take control and speak to your politicians. If enough of you speak up, things might get done.

Stop complaining and start acting. These bailouts are the wrong choice and it is the financial corporations that are making out like bandits from our own money. These companies should just die and let the market bare the results.

Before you say anything, I have a load of money in the stock market and it does cause me grief. It causes me more grief to watch our government continue to march towards socialism. The Federal Reserve has failed and the Tax Act of 1913 really screwed up this country. Time to go back to gold.

Who still uses Napster after being gutted by the RIAA? Whoever it is, Best Buy wants a piece.

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In Napster, retail heavyweight Best Buy is getting itself a one-time contender in the field of online entertainment. A decade ago, Napster was virtually synonymous with digital music--a notoriety that earned it the wrath of the music industry. That contributed to its demise, along with the rise of alternatives such as Kazaa and LimeWire. Napster eventually reinvented itself as a subscription service, and it says it now counts 700,000 subscribers. Best Buy plans to use both Napster's technological capabilities and its subscriber base to reach consumers looking to explore digital music and other forms of entertainment "beyond music subscriptions" over a variety of electronic devices. The acquisition, Best Buy contends, will give it extra oomph in dealing with record labels, movie studios, and hardware makers.

After OPEC's announcement that they were going to essentially force gasoline prices back up after the drops they have been having, Saudi Arabia (the most powerful member of the group) pulled out of the organization.

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Saudi Arabia walked out on OPEC yesterday. It said it would not honor the cartel's production cut. It was tired of rants from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the well-dressed oil minister from Iran.

As the world's largest crude exporter, the kingdom in the desert took its ball and went home.

As the Saudis left the building the message was shockingly clear. According to The New York Times, “Saudi Arabia will meet the market’s demand,” a senior OPEC delegate said. “We will see what the market requires and we will not leave a customer without oil."

Linky.

This is huge for a couple of reasons. Not only does the announcement show that gas prices weren't being subsidized to garner support for the November elections like many thought, but it also means that the group that held a stranglehold over oil production since the 1970s may be done for.

I do wonder, however, if there is more to this than it seems.

While 7 years ago was a very tragic day, we must find the strength to move on and start really rebuilding the area that remains. It is important to remember, but it is just as important to not leave ourselves waning.

We'll always remember September 11th, 2001.

The first major particle acceleration test was done at the LHC. No collisions were done yet and probably will be some time before the big one happens. All you doomsday people can rejoice that you can still cling on to your hope of world destruction when micro (no... pico) blackholes are produced that will decay too quickly to do anything.

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The beams have not yet been run continuously. So far, they have been stopped, or "dumped", after just a handful of circuits. By Wednesday evening, engineers hope to inject clockwise and anti-clockwise protons again, but this time they will "close the orbit", letting the beams run continuously for a few seconds each. Cern has not yet announced when it plans to carry out the first collisions, but the BBC understands that low-energy collisions could happen in the next few days.

If you are one of those people that gets scared about artificial life (meaning that humanity creates a new biological organism), you might want to start counting your days. Science is really close to producing the first chemical compound to artificial life jump. This is big.

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Protocellular work is even more radical than the other field trying to create artifical life: synthetic biology. Even J. Craig Venter's work to build an artificial bacterium with the smallest number of genes necessary to live takes current life forms as a template. Protocell researchers are trying to design a completely novel form of life that humans have never seen and that may never have existed.

Over the summer, Szostak's team published major papers in the journals Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that go a long way towards showing that this isn't just an idea and that his lab will be the first to create artificial life -- and that it will happen soon.

I try not to really step into politics that much on ASE Labs except when it comes to freedoms and digital matters, but I'm truly appalled at what the US government is doing with the financial institutions.

Let me give my thoughts on what I THOUGHT the USA was: I thought the the United States of America was a capitalist society. Granted, I understand that a pure capitalist society may harbor problems such as monopolies and such, which is why we have limits on such activity. Even so, business in America is capitalistic. Private entities own them and run them. Government DOES NOT own or run them. They may regulate some industries (utilities or things that provide life giving services like power and water), but all in all, they stay out of the way.

What the government proved when they decided to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is that it is a SOCIALIST entity. These two companies ARE private entities and as such the government should not get into their affairs to help them when THEY SCREWED THEMSELVES. Think about this, the government now owns those companies. See a problem with this? Or are you blinded by how well your stocks are doing now?

When big businesses don't need to worry about falling under due to bad choices or risk, what is the point of providing a good service to the market? The problem is the US government, not the closing of these two companies. If these two companies were destined to close, then so be it. They are private and it is their problem, NOT THE TAX PAYERS. Do not throw me the line about how the economy will suffer. What you need to understand is that the people that decided to bail these companies out ARE IN BED with the group that controls the money. Everyone on the board of those companies should be indicted and the Treasury secretary needs to be removed and perhaps charges be brought against him. This is absolute lunacy when the people let things like this slip by unnoticed. The board of those companies should not walk free.

Letting these things pass by is the start of very, very bad things for this country. Call your politicians now and let them know that you are NOT in favor of turning America into a socialist country. I know I'm making the call to all of them in my state.

I do not enjoy watching my country that I grew up knowing that it is the best country in the world fall by the government-banking complex. Break this trend now, let the country go back into capitalism and stop these banking bailouts.

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SEGA of America and BioWare’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood has gone gold and will be in stores exclusively for the DS on September 30th. Promising an all new adventure crafted by BioWare the game will take the Sonic universe to a new space with new adventures, beautiful environments, a classic cast of characters, and a new dark enemy for Sonic to take on. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood marks the first RPG game for Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends.

Linky

I wish I didn't have to wait until the 30th to play it, as the wait is already unbearable. I'm actually looking forward to this game, something even I haven't done for a Sonic game since Heroes.

Clearly our system is broken when a random organization can send a DMCA take down notice to pull 4,000 Youtube videos that are anti-scientology. Our legal system and copyright laws need to be overhauled to stop this sort of malicious intent to censor free speech. The problem is that scientology has so many people in their pockets (from morons in Hollywood all the way to law makers) that they can stop change in its tracks. This is just another example of how this country is failing to protect our rights.

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Over a period of twelve hours, between this Thursday night and Friday morning, American Rights Counsel LLC sent out over 4000 DMCA takedown notices to YouTube, all making copyright infringement claims against videos with content critical of the Church of Scientology. Clips included footage of Australian and German news reports about Scientology, A Message to Anonymous/Scientology , and footage from a Clearwater City Commission meeting. Many accounts were suspended by YouTube in response to multiple allegations of copyright infringement.

YouTube users responded with DMCA counter-notices. At this time, many of the suspended channels have been reinstated and many of the videos are back up. Whether or not American Rights Counsel, LLC represents the notoriously litigious Church of Scientology is unclear, but this would not be the first time that the Church of Scientology has used the DMCA to silence Scientology critics. The Church of Scientology DMCA complaints shut down the YouTube channel of critic Mark Bunker in June, 2008. Bunker’s account, XenuTV, was also among the channels shut down in this latest flurry of takedown notices.

So, Google Chrome came out yesterday, and most people blindly flocked to it en masse. However, many began noticing a disturbing message written in the EULA that made it sound like anything you do with the browser is the property of Google.

Today, Google said that was a mistake.

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Google's new web browser Chrome is fast, shiny, and requires users to sign their very lives over to Google before they can use it. Today's Internet outrage du jour has been Chrome's EULA, which appears to give Google a nonexclusive right to display and distribute every bit of content transmitted through the browser. Now, Google tells Ars that it's a mistake, the EULA will be corrected, and the correction will be retroactive.

As noted by an attorney at Tap the Hive and various and sundry other sites, the Chrome EULA reads like a lot of Google's other EULAs. It requires users to "give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and nonexclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

Linky.

I dunno if I like the idea of a Google web browser, especially with the Feds constantly trying to get Google to turn over private information. I'm glad that they clarified what everything meant in the EULA, but it also seems to me like they still have that information regardless. I think I'll stick to using Google only as a search engine.