News

Brought to you in part by Microsoft. Wait, this is bad? "We are currently invesigating the situation and preparing a security patch." ITs need to learn that security is important too and apply that patches MS releases instead of ignoring them for any reason. It would save a lot of trouble.

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The number of security events detected by companies in the first quarter of 2003 jumped nearly 84 per cent over the preceding three months, according to a report network protection firm Internet Security Systems plans to release on Monday.

I like OpenOffice so much, I use it instead of Microsoft's stuff. I find it more intuitive to use for some reason, maybe the interface is less cluttered with junk I never use. Now, they released a software development kit (SDK).

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The move is a step toward making OpenOffice.org a more mature product and a stronger competitor against Microsoft Office. Sun Microsystems, which released the OpenOffice.org source code in 2000, and sells a commercially supported derivative called StarOffice, is among the strongest backers of the software.

Check out OpenOffice for yourself. It is free after all.

I got like an explosion of reviews for you (Update I had more, but some stuff was crap). And we have a new news poster, that's good! I can't think of anything else... Ohh, I'll be working on the last bug fixes of ASEville, and most likely do a final wipe tonight. Find those bugs for me FAST!!

Chaintech nForce 2 @ Nexus.
Xdream case @ OCIA.
Labtec Spin 50 @ ET.
Athlon 1700 B @ Hexus.
Beantech Al case @ Furioustech.
Keypad lock @ ET.
Maxtor external HDD @ 3DV.
Evercool watercooling @ MTB.
Corsair Twinx @ ipKonfig.
Win $100 @ Deeztech.

I see good news and bad news with this new game. The good news is you get to wield a light saber once again. The bad news is you aren't playing as Kyle Katarn!

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Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy begins shortly after the conclusion of events in Star Wars Jedi Outcast. Players create a Jedi apprentice character and join the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Force under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn. While the young apprentice embarks on various missions to hone their skills and abilities, a mysterious group is discovered creating havoc throughout the galaxy. Until order is restored, the fate of the Jedi Academy – and the future of the Star Wars galaxy itself – hangs precariously in the balance.

Yeah, this one hits at home, being in college and everything. I wonder how they found out that they were running a private search index anyway? Spying bastards.

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In its lawsuits, the RIAA compares the use of the campus search software--variously called "Phynd," "Flatlan" or "Direct Connect"--to the defunct Napster service, dubbing the services "local area Napster networks." In fact, the technology used by the three pieces of software varies widely, sometimes looking very different than the old Napster model.

There is a security patch for the 2.0 version of Apache, the open source web server. We use version 1.3. Details of the patch. Remember, httpd.apache.org.

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The vulnerability in version 2.0.44 affects all operating systems, according to the advisory. But Apache issued a specific warning for OS/2 users, noting that for them the new patch still had a DoS vulnerability.

Looks like the slack that nVidia left behind at TSMC will be picked up by ATI. Production is one thing, sales are another. But, ATI seems to be doing quite well after the Dustbuster FX flopped.

[QUOTE]ATI Technologies will “significantly increase” its orders to foundry partners Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) this year, according to CEO KY Ho. The Toronto-based graphics chipmaker said the company will not seek any alliance with other chipmakers such as IBM. Its orders to the Taiwanese chip-making duo will increase significantly this year compared to 2002, Ho said in a telephone interview with the media.[/QUOTE:104940126

The most popular open source browser will now be coded off one of its children. Pheonix is a faster version of Mozilla. So now, Pheonic will become Mozilla!

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Under the new plan, Mozilla will abandon its XPFE toolkit for creating the browser's user interface. Instead, the main Mozilla code will come from the Phoenix project, a stripped-down version of Mozilla written with Extensible User Interface Language (XUL). XUL, introduced four years ago by Netscape Communications and Mozilla engineers, renders the browser with standard Web technologies, rather than platform-specific computer coding languages.

We broke the magic number of two million page views sometime in the past week or so (page views, not hits). I think that is pretty darn impressive, yet sadly, we are still such a small site.

Hear I am, again, asking for your help. What makes a site great? I guess I have no clue. What makes people want to come back to a site? Please let me know by email or the forums.

On a side note, ASEville will be opening at the end of the week or sooner!! I hope you got nice pictures of your systems for the site .

I got a special site announcement, after this...

Abit NF7 @ OCA.
PSUs @ AthlonXP.
Corsair Twinx @ Viperlair.
Slim keyboard @ Ginun.
Epox Nforce 2 @ 3DGM.
Case badge light @ ET.
Samsun Spinpoint @ Monkeyreview.
D'tek waterblock @ MHW.

In yet another attempt to get in on the mass spending that colleges do, Microsoft has changed the liscensing terms of the new Office 2003. And it is better, not worse! Amazing.

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Under the new licensing scheme, anyone in a household with a qualifying teacher and student will be able to use the forthcoming version, Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003. Microsoft also plans to extend the license so that the product can be installed on up to three computers. In a third change, the license would not expire after a college student graduates. Finally, Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 would be upgradeable later to another version of the suite. Consumers who bought the similar XP version were not eligible to buy upgrades.

Funny how it is a big deal when the salaries drop a bit. What is more interesting is how little top people at Intel are getting paid. Anyone else find these numbers screwed up?

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In 2002, according to the SEC filing, Chief Executive Craig Barrett received salary of $610,000--up from $575,000 in 2001--plus a bonus of more than $1 million and other compensation of about $135,000, for a total of $1.74 million. In 2001, he received total compensation of $1.9 million, including a bonus that was about the same as in 2002.

Good news for people that want this card, bad news for me . My Radeon 9500 Pro is now obselete.

[QUOTE]ATI Technologies has decided to move up volume shipments of its Radeon 9600 (RV350) chip from June to the end of April to compete with Nvidia’s upcoming NV35 chip, according to sources. Nvidia plans to introduce its NV35, an updated version of the GeForce FX 5800 (NV30), in May. ATI had originally aimed to begin shipping the Radeon 9600 in volume in June to meet second-half seasonal demand.[/QUOTE

I guess it is time to change the logo back to normal hmm? I'll leave it for awhile actually, looks funny . I'm very HAPPY!! I just registered for classes and depending on something, I have Monday and Friday off! HAHA!!

Samsung DVD CDRW @ ET.
TR SLK800 @ A1.
SFF Iwill @ HWA.
Flexiglow EL and Cathodes. Something tells me I'm getting more Flexiglow stuff as well.
SpeedUpMyPC @ Furioustech. Our review for comparison.
Vexx alien case @ PCA.
PC Toys HDD Rack + LCD @ Xtremods.

I was looking over some of the space and science news and I saw that they are doing antimatter experimentation for the first time ever. They plan on making power cells and more from antimatter. They even mention the possibilities of faster than light travel! I think this is a very ambitious idea and I hope they succede with the initial research. Check the Google News page to find out more.

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We feel that it is important to forge ahead, and we will being doing just that. Our research will pave the way in which antimatter is used, now and in the future. We feel that it is important to understand the complexities of this strange mass and once we fully understand it, we can manipulate it to do what we want and need.

Looks like VIA and SiS are happy to crunch the numbers for March. SiS is right behind VIA in revenues. I was surprised by seeing this.

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VIA posted NT$1.877 billion for March revenues, slightly higher than its original forecast. Previously, the company estimated that its March sales might only be flat with February due to its shortage of VT8235 south bridge chips and generally weaker demand. SiS reported NT$1.661 billion for March revenues, boosted by more working days last month.

There seems to be the age old debate again raging in the handheld and cellphone sector about LCD technology. Passive and Active Matrix are back! Do you remember when we had dual scan on laptops? Those weren't the days .

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For a 1.x-inch panel, TFT LCD commands a 70% price premium over a CSTN LCD panel. The actual difference in price varies according to the particular screen size and pixel format. Many manufacturers are taking advantage of this price differential and utilizing CSTN LCDs as the main display for low- to mid-range cell phones, and as the sub-display in high-end clam-shell design cell phones. In the 2.x-inch size range, the TFT LCD price premium compared to CSTN LCDs was 60%, or about US$10, in the first quarter of 2003, and is forecast to decrease to 40%, or just US$6, by mid-2004. This makes TFT LCDs a more attractive option.

This taken from 35 companies with over $1 billion in sales each. Yet, %89 still use the Windows OS for critical things. The system admins tell some good arguements as well.

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Koetzle noted that while Microsoft's patches for the last nine high-profile Windows security holes predated such attacks by an average of 305 days, too few customers applied the fixes because "administrators lacked both the confidence that a patch won't bring down a production system and the tools and time to validate Microsoft's avalanche of patches."

There is a poll right now that I start about ASEville. If you are a member, please vote and leave some comments.

Samsung Printer @ Tweaknews. Lots of Samsung stuff there hmm?
Prolink TV Card @ AMDZone.
MSI Granite Bay @ Nexus.
Shuttle uATX nForce 2 @ Hexus.
Vantec Stealth PSU @ Viperlair.
Vid Card cooler @ DVH.
Geil PC3200 @ 3DGM.
Nikao Case @ Monkeyreview.
SATA adapter @ OCIA.
Vantec Aeroflow @ ET.

Is anyone suprised by the fact that people don't want to ride on over-priced modified wheel-chairs? Well, they don't.

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Fourteen months after being marketed to businesses and five months after sales to individuals commenced, the Transporter remains more of a novelty than the revolutionary transportation device trumpeted by tech industry luminaries and others. You can usually spot one being demonstrated at an amusement park, or your postal carrier may be testing one, but city streets and factory floors are practically devoid of the gizmos. The device has a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour, up to three to four times the average walking pace.

Looks like AMD is going to split into CPU and Flash business. They will join with Fujitsu. This is pretty sudden.

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In the new joint venture, AMD, No. 2 in the industry behind Intel, is expected to own a 60 percent share to Fujitsu's 40 percent stake in Fujitsu-AMD Semiconductor, according to The San Jose Mercury News, citing industry sources. Each company currently owns a 50 percent share in an existing partnership.

Cool Stuff, a company has designed a LCD screen that IS the speaker. The sound comes right out of the screen itself due to a thin acrylic sheet stretched over the screen that is vibrated at the edges to produce sound. I'm sure we'll see some uses of this in the future.

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"The sound quality is very good, probably better than with most multimedia speakers you would buy with a computer," he said. "It is a much better listening experience. The SoundVu technology doesn't interfere at all with the picture quality," said Mr Williams. "It means you get the sound coming directly from the screen, you get that movie theatre experience in the home."

That's right, no mod chip required. I saw this posted earlier on some sites and I even saw the forum posts at the original place it was posted. But I guess it is actually true. Here is the original forum post, with all the nice flames.

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The technique apparently exploits a "buffer overflow" flaw in the 007 game, a technique similar to that used by online vandals to damage servers. "Basically, there is a bug in the save handling, which has been found in several games," Habibi wrote in the posting.

Funny enough, ECS was making Apple iBooks in this factory. I'm sure Asus hopes to get the customers that ECS had with the factory as well.

[QUOTE]The Chungli factory will add about 150,000-200,000 units of notebook production capacity per month to Asustek’s current monthly capacity of 60,000-70,000 units at its Peitou district, Taipei facility and 100,000 units in Suzhou. ECS acquired the facility when it bought Alpha-Top, a major contract manufacturer for Apple Computer, in 2001 and continued manufacturing iBooks for Apple at the facility. Consequently, the market is watching whether Apple’s orders will go to Asustek along with ownership of the facility.[/QUOTE:104914371

This is good news, installing stuff is one of the biggest downfalls of Linux. nVidia has made an installer for their drivers. Now you can just have a couple of clicks and you're all loaded up, like Windows.

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The new installation software detects relevant details about the system its running on and automatically installs the correct drivers. The goal is to make it as easy to keep a Linux installation up to date as a Windows-based PC, Fear said.

A good breakthrough like this will help the flash memory business for sure. It shrinks the wrap of the transistor by using nanocrystals. Interesting stuff.

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The nanocrystal layer is far thinner than the silicon dioxide, Chang said. In fact, it's not even solid, and more like frost on a window. Although silicon is traditionally an electrical conductor, at these levels the quantum nature of the material takes over, and it becomes an insulator, trapping electrons and thereby retaining data.

I got another Flexiglow review for you today. This one has the sound driver with it as well. Can Flexiglow add something to the standardness of the cathode?



You'll need to read it to find out. Lights galore!

In a market that is swamped with cold cathodes, can Flexiglow make themselves stand out? And is it enough for you to buy their product? You'll need to read to find out.Next Page »

Sun is going to the source instead of through Microsoft. Good move on their part, just ask the OEM.

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If successful, the move would bypass some of the legal wrangling between Sun and its arch-rival Microsoft. Microsoft has been variously adding and removing Java from Windows throughout the course of an antitrust suit Sun brought against the software colossus.

This wireless router I have is going screwy. When I woke up this morning, the WAN connection was off (looked disabled as well). I had to un/replug it to fix it. Anyone have any issues with SMC and Comcast? I still think WiFi rocks, though.

ClearPC uATX @ MTB.
Herc 9700 Pro @ 3DV.
Logitech IO pen @ Designtechnica.
C&C Generals @ AthlonXP.
Vantec CopperX @ Viperlair.
Plextor DVDRW @ 3DGM.
Albatron Ti4800SE @ Reviewnation.
Nikao Black case @ MTB.
Leadtek nforce2 @ Hexus.
Enermax panel @ DVH.