News
April 29, 2002
Installing Linux on a Wal-Mart OS-less PC
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 9:34:59 PM
Another good article at NewsForge.
Walmart has been offering OS-less PCs for a little while now. What type of OS would you use on something like that? Linux of course!
A few months ago, super-sized discount store Wal-Mart made the headlines in the Linux world by becoming the first major U.S. retailer to offer PCs without Windows preloaded. At this writing, the Walmart.com Web site lists no less than 14 PCs available without an operating system.
Walmart has been offering OS-less PCs for a little while now. What type of OS would you use on something like that? Linux of course!
A few months ago, super-sized discount store Wal-Mart made the headlines in the Linux world by becoming the first major U.S. retailer to offer PCs without Windows preloaded. At this writing, the Walmart.com Web site lists no less than 14 PCs available without an operating system.
Mulberry: A powerful, multi-platform email client
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 9:31:37 PM
Scouting around the net, I found this. A nice email client.
Email clients are a dime a dozen. A good one is a little harder to find. A good one that works on three operating systems is downright rare. Mulberry is just that -- a graphical email client that runs on Linux, Windows, and MacOS.
Email clients are a dime a dozen. A good one is a little harder to find. A good one that works on three operating systems is downright rare. Mulberry is just that -- a graphical email client that runs on Linux, Windows, and MacOS.
Why Linux isn't on the desktop yet
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 9:12:26 PM
I saw this link from Via Hardware.
This article talks about why Linux hasn't caught on enough in the desktop area. I thought it was a good read.
The answer to the title of this article is a single sentence, but you'll have to read the whole article to understand it. The Linux community has an amazing blind spot, and I'd like to rant about it a bit.
I keep bumping into programmers who think some program or other is needed to change the world. They're wrong. "Linux just needs this one program and then we'll be ready!" they cry. I generally want to slap these people until they snap out of it (which is kind of hard to do through an internet connection). They are making a fundamentally wrong assumption. It's not about programs. It's about data.
This article talks about why Linux hasn't caught on enough in the desktop area. I thought it was a good read.
The answer to the title of this article is a single sentence, but you'll have to read the whole article to understand it. The Linux community has an amazing blind spot, and I'd like to rant about it a bit.
I keep bumping into programmers who think some program or other is needed to change the world. They're wrong. "Linux just needs this one program and then we'll be ready!" they cry. I generally want to slap these people until they snap out of it (which is kind of hard to do through an internet connection). They are making a fundamentally wrong assumption. It's not about programs. It's about data.
Need a better top image
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 8:56:24 PM
I'm looking for a nice image for the top of every page. I put up a very crappy one just for now. If you have an ideas for a nice logo for this site, please send them my way. Send them to me.
Warp2Search back up
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 6:40:08 PM
I was wondering what happened to one of my favorite sites. Seems they now are on thier own servers. Good job guys!
Warp2Search
Warp2Search
Tbred OCability
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 6:27:25 PM
VR-Zone has a post that links to another article about how well the Tbred overclocks now
1800+ Tbred Athlon Xp running at 1.9 stable and MAX 2.0 (200*10). The VCore is at...... 2.15V!!!! Whoa there.
1800+ Tbred Athlon Xp running at 1.9 stable and MAX 2.0 (200*10). The VCore is at...... 2.15V!!!! Whoa there.
Various stuff that's happening here...
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 6:18:23 PM
The main thing that is happening is ASE Tools.
ASE Tools will deal with everything software, I mean everything. With the beginning of this new site also means more for this site.
We will try our hardest to put as much news and articles as we can. That's what is basically happening around here.
ASE Tools will deal with everything software, I mean everything. With the beginning of this new site also means more for this site.
We will try our hardest to put as much news and articles as we can. That's what is basically happening around here.
More Reviews...
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 4:11:20 PM
Tweaker's Australia, Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra
In conclusion, I would just like to say I was very impressed by the amount of features, quality and performance I received from this board. The packaging is very nice, and will attract potential buyers to look twice, while the board design and layout is very aesthetically pleasing and should satisfy even the fussiest case enthusiast. With ATA133 RAID support via the Highpoint HPT372 RAID controller, onboard C-Media 5.1 surround sound, 5 fan headers, up to 4 USB 2.0 from the VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 controller, SPDIF, IrDA, and USB 1.1 and onboard Realtek 10/100 LAN, you can justify why this board is priced a little higher than the competition. At approximately $180 USD it's not exactly cheap, but when you consider the sheer performance and features on offer, in my opinion it's worth the extra.
Tekbug, Why they love chipsets. Who doesn't?
All of the Athlon XP-based platforms support DDR memory, so it is no surprise that they all performed admirably in our memory bandwidth tests. With 4.2GB/s of throughput, the NFORCE is able to sustain the fastest data transfers (slightly less than 1GB/s), followed closely by VIA’s KT333 platform. SiS’ 735 chipset upsets VIA’s KT266A chipset by transferring an average of 739MB/s, according to SiSoft’s Sandra 2001 benchmark. SysMark 2001 (from MadOnion.com) generally favors platforms capable of the highest memory bandwidth. As expected, the NFORCE performs best in both the content creation and office productivity categories. The KT333 picks up a close second, followed by the SiS 735 and VIA KT266A, respectively.
Tek Sector, Socket A cooler roundup.
As you can see, this is quite an assortment of coolers we've got here. We have two all-copper sinks, two copper-cored sinks, and one copper-based sink, which means this could escalate into quite a competition. My intention of this roundup, however, is not to present a "battle of the coolers" review, but more of a "search for the right cooler that fits your preference" review. See it how you want though, because we're gonna test the hell out of them anyway.
Tech-Report, Abit's AT7 MAX motherboard Legacy free isn't the way to be!
MAX isn't a completely new idea. Intel had a prototype legacy-free motherboard back at last year's Comdex. Still, the ideas behind MAX have considerable promise, and this was a production motherboard you could find on store shelves, not some one-off trade show demo. With the AT7 MAX, not only do you get a feature-rich, high-performance motherboard, you also get rid of a bunch of old ports you probably don't use anyway. Less is more, and more is less—more or less.
Deviant PC, Hercules Radeon 8500 AIW DV
The Hercules Radeon 8500 DV is the normal ATI one but built on the quite solid reputation of Hercules. While ATI have had reliability issues with budget end cards, and only recently got into the top end, Hercules have been producing the bread and butter of the PC graphics business for a long, long time, albeit with varying infamy across the years.
Target PC, FIC VC17 (845D) Pentium 4 Mainboard
Only a few days ago FIC provided us with a sample of their newest VC17 board giving us again the chance to be the first site to provide an exclusive look at their newest Pentium 4 845D board. The VC17 is quite similar to the previously reviewed VC15 mainboard; both share almost an identical PCB and options; the VC17 however offers more features for the price.
In conclusion, I would just like to say I was very impressed by the amount of features, quality and performance I received from this board. The packaging is very nice, and will attract potential buyers to look twice, while the board design and layout is very aesthetically pleasing and should satisfy even the fussiest case enthusiast. With ATA133 RAID support via the Highpoint HPT372 RAID controller, onboard C-Media 5.1 surround sound, 5 fan headers, up to 4 USB 2.0 from the VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 controller, SPDIF, IrDA, and USB 1.1 and onboard Realtek 10/100 LAN, you can justify why this board is priced a little higher than the competition. At approximately $180 USD it's not exactly cheap, but when you consider the sheer performance and features on offer, in my opinion it's worth the extra.
Tekbug, Why they love chipsets. Who doesn't?
All of the Athlon XP-based platforms support DDR memory, so it is no surprise that they all performed admirably in our memory bandwidth tests. With 4.2GB/s of throughput, the NFORCE is able to sustain the fastest data transfers (slightly less than 1GB/s), followed closely by VIA’s KT333 platform. SiS’ 735 chipset upsets VIA’s KT266A chipset by transferring an average of 739MB/s, according to SiSoft’s Sandra 2001 benchmark. SysMark 2001 (from MadOnion.com) generally favors platforms capable of the highest memory bandwidth. As expected, the NFORCE performs best in both the content creation and office productivity categories. The KT333 picks up a close second, followed by the SiS 735 and VIA KT266A, respectively.
Tek Sector, Socket A cooler roundup.
As you can see, this is quite an assortment of coolers we've got here. We have two all-copper sinks, two copper-cored sinks, and one copper-based sink, which means this could escalate into quite a competition. My intention of this roundup, however, is not to present a "battle of the coolers" review, but more of a "search for the right cooler that fits your preference" review. See it how you want though, because we're gonna test the hell out of them anyway.
Tech-Report, Abit's AT7 MAX motherboard Legacy free isn't the way to be!
MAX isn't a completely new idea. Intel had a prototype legacy-free motherboard back at last year's Comdex. Still, the ideas behind MAX have considerable promise, and this was a production motherboard you could find on store shelves, not some one-off trade show demo. With the AT7 MAX, not only do you get a feature-rich, high-performance motherboard, you also get rid of a bunch of old ports you probably don't use anyway. Less is more, and more is less—more or less.
Deviant PC, Hercules Radeon 8500 AIW DV
The Hercules Radeon 8500 DV is the normal ATI one but built on the quite solid reputation of Hercules. While ATI have had reliability issues with budget end cards, and only recently got into the top end, Hercules have been producing the bread and butter of the PC graphics business for a long, long time, albeit with varying infamy across the years.
Target PC, FIC VC17 (845D) Pentium 4 Mainboard
Only a few days ago FIC provided us with a sample of their newest VC17 board giving us again the chance to be the first site to provide an exclusive look at their newest Pentium 4 845D board. The VC17 is quite similar to the previously reviewed VC15 mainboard; both share almost an identical PCB and options; the VC17 however offers more features for the price.
ECS i-Buddie A900 Desknote
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 3:19:10 PM
Via Hardware has its way with an ECS i-Buddie. It looks like a notebook, but it isn't. It 'portable desktop'.
In the end, ECS has a very creative product that if marketed and positioned correctly could be successful if the pricing is kept in tact. We hope to follow up the Desknote coverage with ECS’s Pentium 4 and upcoming Athlon Desknote’s soon.
In the end, ECS has a very creative product that if marketed and positioned correctly could be successful if the pricing is kept in tact. We hope to follow up the Desknote coverage with ECS’s Pentium 4 and upcoming Athlon Desknote’s soon.
Inquirer News
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 3:14:09 PM
I'll post all the news from the Inquirer here...
MIT accidentally invents cellular sex toy
By doing so it may have inadvertly invented a mobile sex toy. Prototypes, made from latex, boast five tiny speakers which vibrate against your skin around 250 times per second.
Rambus registers fresh DDR patent
Intel is protected from such arrangements because of a complex deal between it and Rambus, some of the details of which are still confidential, but is busily promoting its own DDR chipsets and motherboards and also making sure it puts it oar in at meetings deciding future DDR standards, such as DDR II.
PNY grabs Elsa workstations business Someone was going to do it eventually.
Elsa was not doing too well in Europe round about then. Not long after that, one of our friends at Elsa was transferred to Nvidia and our suspicions became a near certainty.
Nvidia talks about 2D picture quality. The NV30 will have 3Dfx technology in it.
Nvidia is working on this problem since the time of Geforce 3 TI 500 when we first time urged them to do something about this and we saw nice progress on Geforce 4 TI cards and learned that the real improvement will come in NV30 where engineers will pay special attention to this problem.
Intel cuts mobile Celeron prices
The 1.20GHz/256, which uses .13 micron technology, fell in price from $170 to $134, a decline of 21%, the 1.13GHz/256 fell by 28% from $134 to $96, while the 1.06GHz/256 dropped by 25 per cent to $80, from a previous figure of $107.
DRAM drops below crucial $3 price
The $3 price is the mark at which the memory manufacturers – the Dramurai – start to make profits, so the news does not bode well for profitability during the second quarter of this year.
MIT accidentally invents cellular sex toy
By doing so it may have inadvertly invented a mobile sex toy. Prototypes, made from latex, boast five tiny speakers which vibrate against your skin around 250 times per second.
Rambus registers fresh DDR patent
Intel is protected from such arrangements because of a complex deal between it and Rambus, some of the details of which are still confidential, but is busily promoting its own DDR chipsets and motherboards and also making sure it puts it oar in at meetings deciding future DDR standards, such as DDR II.
PNY grabs Elsa workstations business Someone was going to do it eventually.
Elsa was not doing too well in Europe round about then. Not long after that, one of our friends at Elsa was transferred to Nvidia and our suspicions became a near certainty.
Nvidia talks about 2D picture quality. The NV30 will have 3Dfx technology in it.
Nvidia is working on this problem since the time of Geforce 3 TI 500 when we first time urged them to do something about this and we saw nice progress on Geforce 4 TI cards and learned that the real improvement will come in NV30 where engineers will pay special attention to this problem.
Intel cuts mobile Celeron prices
The 1.20GHz/256, which uses .13 micron technology, fell in price from $170 to $134, a decline of 21%, the 1.13GHz/256 fell by 28% from $134 to $96, while the 1.06GHz/256 dropped by 25 per cent to $80, from a previous figure of $107.
DRAM drops below crucial $3 price
The $3 price is the mark at which the memory manufacturers – the Dramurai – start to make profits, so the news does not bode well for profitability during the second quarter of this year.
AMD Contest
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 29, 2002 at 3:04:21 PM
AMD and Nvidia are giving away some free stuff. And that is always a good thing.
Win the Ultimate
Digital Sweepstakes.
A trip to the PC Expo in New York, NVIDIA® nForce™ and AMD Athlon™ XP processor prize package, or other great prizes.
Win the Ultimate
Digital Sweepstakes.
A trip to the PC Expo in New York, NVIDIA® nForce™ and AMD Athlon™ XP processor prize package, or other great prizes.
April 28, 2002
We have moved!!
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 28, 2002 at 6:54:50 PM
If you are reading this post then you have found ASE Tools! Bear with the site for the time being, most of the functions aren't exactly ready for prime time yet. Look for news as always though.
GRAND THEFT AUTO 3 FOR PC RELEASE DATE!!!!!!
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 28, 2002 at 12:58:48 AM
April 27, 2002
Interview with Nvidia's chief scientist
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 27, 2002 at 8:52:11 PM
ZDNet has a chat with NVidia's chief scientist, Dave Kirk.
Q: There seems to have been a lot of confusion over the GeForce branding lately. Have you learnt any lessons from this?
A: It is interesting to compare what we saw in the market after launch vs. what we thought about when we decided to do it. The picture we had was that GeForce4 was the 2002 model--the name denoted the model year, not the architecture, but a lot of customers perhaps did not realize this.
Okay then, ask a scientist about marketting issues. That's a great way to start an interview.
Q: There seems to have been a lot of confusion over the GeForce branding lately. Have you learnt any lessons from this?
A: It is interesting to compare what we saw in the market after launch vs. what we thought about when we decided to do it. The picture we had was that GeForce4 was the 2002 model--the name denoted the model year, not the architecture, but a lot of customers perhaps did not realize this.
Okay then, ask a scientist about marketting issues. That's a great way to start an interview.
Moving this weekend!
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 27, 2002 at 3:44:31 PM
I just need to get some basic files on the new site and the site will be fully functional. Let's hear it for Chris for making this all happen!
Hardware reviews and such...
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 27, 2002 at 3:42:32 PM
Another posting of the various reviews...
Mods4Me, KT266a tweak guide
You will see in bit 7 really the only new feature of the KT333 chipset and that is the CPU+33=DRAM. The KT266 technically has support built into it for running the asynchronous bus. What I believe VIA did was they either were unable to get this feature working properly by time they wanted to ship their chipset OR they decided they could release a new chipset later on with features that should have been in the previous release. Just think KT133 and KT133a, KT266 and KT266a. Where as the A only brings the benefits that the original SHOULD have brought. Seems as though they never heard of WPCREDIT before.
TweakTown, Alpha PAL8942 HSF
Most of us who have been using the AMD line of processors have long ago figured out that cooling is essential. But with the new interest in the Intel line mixed with the overclockability of the new Northwood processors, this idea is becoming a larger part of the Pentium Power System. Come join TweakTown as they take a look at the Alpha PAL8942 HSF. It's time to see if the Alpha coolers can do for Intel what they have long done for AMD.
NeoSeeker, P4 coolor roundup I need a new cooler soon anyway.
Modern day CPUs are capable of producing more heat than my toaster. Because of this, CPU coolers are necessary to prevent your $300 CPU from frying like the eggs I had for breakfast this morning (no, my eggs aren’t hard boiled). Without proper cooling, a CPU could easily burn out in less than ten seconds.
VR-Zone, AT7 This is the legacy free Abit board. I still use PS/2!
ABIT totally remove the PS/2 legacy ports on the AT7 and replace with 4 USB 1.1 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports and add in 2 Firewire ports as well. Due to the extra components on the board, PCI slots have to be reduced to 3 slots to save some space. AT7 has 4 IDE ATA133 RAID connectors made possible using the HighPoint HPT374 RAID controller and together with the 2 onboard ATA133 connectors, up to 12 IDE devices can be attached. All these new innovations are very interesting indeed and i should say it is quite an experimental board to see if the consumers are able to take and accept the change. Nevertheless, ABIT has the normal style board KX7333-R with all the legacy functions around for those consumers who still prefer attaching PS/2 keyboard and mouse to it. In this review, we will take a look at its overclockability in details touching on the components and the BIOS that will aid overclocking.
Once again, you can help post news as well! Click here to send some news!
Mods4Me, KT266a tweak guide
You will see in bit 7 really the only new feature of the KT333 chipset and that is the CPU+33=DRAM. The KT266 technically has support built into it for running the asynchronous bus. What I believe VIA did was they either were unable to get this feature working properly by time they wanted to ship their chipset OR they decided they could release a new chipset later on with features that should have been in the previous release. Just think KT133 and KT133a, KT266 and KT266a. Where as the A only brings the benefits that the original SHOULD have brought. Seems as though they never heard of WPCREDIT before.
TweakTown, Alpha PAL8942 HSF
Most of us who have been using the AMD line of processors have long ago figured out that cooling is essential. But with the new interest in the Intel line mixed with the overclockability of the new Northwood processors, this idea is becoming a larger part of the Pentium Power System. Come join TweakTown as they take a look at the Alpha PAL8942 HSF. It's time to see if the Alpha coolers can do for Intel what they have long done for AMD.
NeoSeeker, P4 coolor roundup I need a new cooler soon anyway.
Modern day CPUs are capable of producing more heat than my toaster. Because of this, CPU coolers are necessary to prevent your $300 CPU from frying like the eggs I had for breakfast this morning (no, my eggs aren’t hard boiled). Without proper cooling, a CPU could easily burn out in less than ten seconds.
VR-Zone, AT7 This is the legacy free Abit board. I still use PS/2!
ABIT totally remove the PS/2 legacy ports on the AT7 and replace with 4 USB 1.1 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports and add in 2 Firewire ports as well. Due to the extra components on the board, PCI slots have to be reduced to 3 slots to save some space. AT7 has 4 IDE ATA133 RAID connectors made possible using the HighPoint HPT374 RAID controller and together with the 2 onboard ATA133 connectors, up to 12 IDE devices can be attached. All these new innovations are very interesting indeed and i should say it is quite an experimental board to see if the consumers are able to take and accept the change. Nevertheless, ABIT has the normal style board KX7333-R with all the legacy functions around for those consumers who still prefer attaching PS/2 keyboard and mouse to it. In this review, we will take a look at its overclockability in details touching on the components and the BIOS that will aid overclocking.
Once again, you can help post news as well! Click here to send some news!
Kazaa and Spyware
Poster: Subjugation
Posted on April 27, 2002 at 9:42:42 AM
Sharman Networks had this to say about kazaa and spyware:
No application included with your KMD installation, or the KMD itself, collects personally identifiable information about users without their consent.
Sharman Networks appreciates that users may have concerns relating to the use of 'spyware' particularly in Internet advertising.
KaZaA Media Desktop contains banner advertising and the option to install other third party applications in order to remain free to the user. Sharman Networks does not condone the use of 'spyware' and does not use 'spyware' in KaZaA Media Desktop.
Noted privacy software expert Steve Gibson of Gibson Research describes 'spyware' as:
"Spyware is any software (that) employs a user's Internet connection in the background (the so-called 'backchannel') without their knowledge or explicit permission. Silent background use of an Internet 'backchannel' connection must be preceded by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by the receipt of explicit, informed consent for such use. Any software communicating across the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and rightfully termed: Spyware."
All bundle partners must pass an acceptance testing procedure within Sharman Networks. This asks that all bundles can be completely uninstalled from your system if you choose to remove them and that quite specific privacy regulations are adhered to.
This is what I have to say about Kazaa and spyware:
They are LYING! According to that statement, Kazaa and all of it's neccessary or even any file required to install/use Kazaa are FREE of spyware. I know for a fact that isn't true because:
1)After downloading Kazaa Lite (check the downloads section of this site for more info) I haven't had ANY attempted hacks caught by my firewall.
2)AdAware and every other prominent SpyWare removal utility detects CyDoor and OnFlow (2 programs required for Kazaa to run) as spyware.
In the end, people will be smart enough to realize that Sharman Networks is lying and people will stop using Kazaa... Right... Well, at least they might know they're being screwed behind their backs instead of not knowing that everytime they download something a computer in New Zealand (that's where I traced the attempted hack by their network through http://www.symantec.com) registers and records it. Well, that's enough ranting for one night.
No application included with your KMD installation, or the KMD itself, collects personally identifiable information about users without their consent.
Sharman Networks appreciates that users may have concerns relating to the use of 'spyware' particularly in Internet advertising.
KaZaA Media Desktop contains banner advertising and the option to install other third party applications in order to remain free to the user. Sharman Networks does not condone the use of 'spyware' and does not use 'spyware' in KaZaA Media Desktop.
Noted privacy software expert Steve Gibson of Gibson Research describes 'spyware' as:
"Spyware is any software (that) employs a user's Internet connection in the background (the so-called 'backchannel') without their knowledge or explicit permission. Silent background use of an Internet 'backchannel' connection must be preceded by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by the receipt of explicit, informed consent for such use. Any software communicating across the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and rightfully termed: Spyware."
All bundle partners must pass an acceptance testing procedure within Sharman Networks. This asks that all bundles can be completely uninstalled from your system if you choose to remove them and that quite specific privacy regulations are adhered to.
This is what I have to say about Kazaa and spyware:
They are LYING! According to that statement, Kazaa and all of it's neccessary or even any file required to install/use Kazaa are FREE of spyware. I know for a fact that isn't true because:
1)After downloading Kazaa Lite (check the downloads section of this site for more info) I haven't had ANY attempted hacks caught by my firewall.
2)AdAware and every other prominent SpyWare removal utility detects CyDoor and OnFlow (2 programs required for Kazaa to run) as spyware.
In the end, people will be smart enough to realize that Sharman Networks is lying and people will stop using Kazaa... Right... Well, at least they might know they're being screwed behind their backs instead of not knowing that everytime they download something a computer in New Zealand (that's where I traced the attempted hack by their network through http://www.symantec.com) registers and records it. Well, that's enough ranting for one night.
April 26, 2002
AMD as a partner
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 26, 2002 at 8:35:10 PM
Van has an article up on how AMD treats the tech sector.
And I found this piece of nifty text at the end of the article:
p.s. A new concept in sandwich fillings. Finely chop roasted white meat chicken. Do the same with onions, hot peppers, and other vegetables. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients with shredded cheddar cheese and then add mayonnaise. Mix until uniformly coated. This combination tends to stay together, thanks to the shreds of cheese forming a binding matrix. No more slices of stuff with bits that slide right out during each bite. the finer the cheese is shredded, the better it holds the mixture together.
And I found this piece of nifty text at the end of the article:
p.s. A new concept in sandwich fillings. Finely chop roasted white meat chicken. Do the same with onions, hot peppers, and other vegetables. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients with shredded cheddar cheese and then add mayonnaise. Mix until uniformly coated. This combination tends to stay together, thanks to the shreds of cheese forming a binding matrix. No more slices of stuff with bits that slide right out during each bite. the finer the cheese is shredded, the better it holds the mixture together.
Moving soon...
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 26, 2002 at 2:54:41 PM
All of software will be moving to the new domain soon. In a week or two, everything will be completed. I have a ton of new stuff planned for the new site. Watch for it.
The dual company competition of the tech industry
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 26, 2002 at 2:41:24 PM
When I woke up this morning I though to myself that there are many sectors in the tech industry that only have two players. Think about it. The graphics card sector is Nvidia and ATI and the CPU sector is AMD and Intel which are some of the most expensive parts in the system. What would have happened if ATI or AMD suddenly went under?
As we can even see today, the prices of the bigger company are usually very high compared to their underdog counterpart. Why should this be? Marketshare and branding has a big factor in the cost of a product. When you really get down and think about it, what do most customers want? A large company that will back them. That is why people buy Intel. Why else when they have horrible performance compared to similiarly priced Athlons. Don't even say that they are comparable, because they aren't. You'll be sticking your foot way down your throat once the hammer line comes out.
Now how about graphics cards? Let's take ATI's Radeon 8500. The card ranges from $130-200 (64mb-128mb). And Nvidia's current flagship the Geforce4 Ti4600 goes for ~$350-400. Remember when the best graphics card on the market was under or near $100. I still remember buying my Voodoo3 2000 for $85 on sale. Graphics cards really don't offer any new features either, they just keep increasing the speed. This will all change once the R300 and the NV30 come out. I'm really looking forward to the NV30 as it will have some 3dfx technology in it. Yeah, remember 3Dfx? Too bad they went under, three players are better than two.
The graphics sector is also blooming with more people, ranging from SiS to Matrox (yes again). This year will be a great year for competition. Now if only the CPU sector would follow...
Rants and Raves can be made by discussing the topic below.
As we can even see today, the prices of the bigger company are usually very high compared to their underdog counterpart. Why should this be? Marketshare and branding has a big factor in the cost of a product. When you really get down and think about it, what do most customers want? A large company that will back them. That is why people buy Intel. Why else when they have horrible performance compared to similiarly priced Athlons. Don't even say that they are comparable, because they aren't. You'll be sticking your foot way down your throat once the hammer line comes out.
Now how about graphics cards? Let's take ATI's Radeon 8500. The card ranges from $130-200 (64mb-128mb). And Nvidia's current flagship the Geforce4 Ti4600 goes for ~$350-400. Remember when the best graphics card on the market was under or near $100. I still remember buying my Voodoo3 2000 for $85 on sale. Graphics cards really don't offer any new features either, they just keep increasing the speed. This will all change once the R300 and the NV30 come out. I'm really looking forward to the NV30 as it will have some 3dfx technology in it. Yeah, remember 3Dfx? Too bad they went under, three players are better than two.
The graphics sector is also blooming with more people, ranging from SiS to Matrox (yes again). This year will be a great year for competition. Now if only the CPU sector would follow...
Rants and Raves can be made by discussing the topic below.
All users can submit news!
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 26, 2002 at 2:17:19 AM
Got news that you want to report and get credit for? Send it in! You can post anonymously if you aren't a user, but you get no credit.
April 25, 2002
Itanium 2
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 25, 2002 at 11:59:10 PM
ZDNet has the scoop on the Itanium 2.
My thoughts are that the Itanium 2 will be McKinley. With increased L2 cache and a die shrink. The chip will debut at 1Ghz. Wait a second. 1 Ghz isn't all that fast now and with the Opterons coming in the near future, Intel needs to have some serious horsepower to combat it. And Intel can't run 32-bit apps on their 64bit chips natively anyway (yet). It must be done in emulation. Expect Intel to cut the price of these chips as they will be cheaper to make (and rightfully so, they need it to compete).
My thoughts are that the Itanium 2 will be McKinley. With increased L2 cache and a die shrink. The chip will debut at 1Ghz. Wait a second. 1 Ghz isn't all that fast now and with the Opterons coming in the near future, Intel needs to have some serious horsepower to combat it. And Intel can't run 32-bit apps on their 64bit chips natively anyway (yet). It must be done in emulation. Expect Intel to cut the price of these chips as they will be cheaper to make (and rightfully so, they need it to compete).
Spyware
Poster: Warlock
Posted on April 25, 2002 at 7:56:05 PM
There is a article over at the Washington Post about a program called Radlight which is a multimedia player and how it deliberately UNinstalls Adaware, the popular spyware removal program. Adaware's maker Lavasoft was quick to respond with a patch by way of the reference update feature. If you already installed Radlight, then you'll need to reinstall the program. You can get it for free at Lavasoft.
AMD Opteron (Hammer) Pics
Poster: Warlock
Posted on April 25, 2002 at 6:55:44 PM
There a slew of up close and personal pics for those curious to have a look at the Operteron x86-64 cpu's including the motherboard and some info about the new technology. You can them all here at AMD Zone.
Personally I still like the Hammer name better, but then again not to many folks liked the Athlon name either when it first came out.
Personally I still like the Hammer name better, but then again not to many folks liked the Athlon name either when it first came out.
Reviews for the past few days...
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 25, 2002 at 3:46:30 PM
I'll go from the A's down the line, not in alphabetical order, but almost...
Anandtech
ATI's Best: All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB & TV/Capture Card Roundup
Today ATI released the latest member of their All-in-Wonder line with the highest level of gaming performance ever offered by ATI in an AIW card. We took this opportunity to dive deep into a comparison of six of the top graphics cards with TV and Video Capture functionality to crown a winner.
WinBook N4 Pentium 4-M 1.8GHz Notebook
Today Intel announced its latest Mobile Pentium 4-M chip clocked at 1.8GHz. We were recently given the opportunity to get our hands on a WinBook N4 notebook that uses none other than the same 1.8GHz Mobile Pentium 4-M just announced. See how the WinBook fared with Intel's latest mobile powerhouse at the wheel.
Samsung 955DF 19" Monitor
Monitors are perhaps the most used and least reviewed computer component. To make the decision making process easier when deciding what monitor to buy, today we take a look at the Samsung 955DF monitor. See if this 19" monitor is the right monitor for you.
AMDZone
EL Custom Shop Lightstrip and Wire I'm getting this for review soon along with a new brochure, that I helped with (like two changes).
ATI vs nVidia Round Three
The overall winner is the Radeon8500. With a price of $140, and performance that is comparable to the GeForce3 Titanium500, this card is the clear winner. The GeForce3 Titanium500 is the fastest card of the three, but the price of the card is enough to keep it from the top spot. The outstanding DVD and 2D Quality of ATI's products are also two great points about this card. The result may be controversial but I believe it.
Lost Circuits - ASUS A7V333
The launch of VIA's new KT333 chipset has spawned an avalanche of new board releases. Some of the new boards are mere reiterations of KT266(A)-based boards, some others take over the outlines of existing concepts but have some deep modifications under the hood. An example of the latter category is the ASUS A7V333 that looks similar to the earlier A7V266-E but is essentially a completely new board under the cloak of superficial similarities. Changes include but are not limited to the new chipset revision and additional interfaces as e.g. IEEE 1394 Firewire and Smart Media. Different logical addressing of the CPU configuration is one of the changes brought to the table. For the consumer, the bigger question is whether the A7V333 is worth the upgrade from any existing platform as well as whether there are any new bugs to watch out for.
The Tech Report - Shuttle's SS50 mini-barebones system
Yes, some day I want a cube PC that runs with zero noise at room temperature while hosting a massively powerful graphics card in an AGP slot driven by a 400W power supply. For about five dollars. But until Shuttle can deliver major miracles, we'll have to settle for this minor one. The SS50 shares many of its of drawbacks with nearly all PC systems, and this little cube design handles the necessary compromises with grace. Very impressive.
Check out Xabre.com for more information regarding the new SiS performance GPU.
Anymore news, send it in!
Anandtech
ATI's Best: All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB & TV/Capture Card Roundup
Today ATI released the latest member of their All-in-Wonder line with the highest level of gaming performance ever offered by ATI in an AIW card. We took this opportunity to dive deep into a comparison of six of the top graphics cards with TV and Video Capture functionality to crown a winner.
WinBook N4 Pentium 4-M 1.8GHz Notebook
Today Intel announced its latest Mobile Pentium 4-M chip clocked at 1.8GHz. We were recently given the opportunity to get our hands on a WinBook N4 notebook that uses none other than the same 1.8GHz Mobile Pentium 4-M just announced. See how the WinBook fared with Intel's latest mobile powerhouse at the wheel.
Samsung 955DF 19" Monitor
Monitors are perhaps the most used and least reviewed computer component. To make the decision making process easier when deciding what monitor to buy, today we take a look at the Samsung 955DF monitor. See if this 19" monitor is the right monitor for you.
AMDZone
EL Custom Shop Lightstrip and Wire I'm getting this for review soon along with a new brochure, that I helped with (like two changes
).ATI vs nVidia Round Three
The overall winner is the Radeon8500. With a price of $140, and performance that is comparable to the GeForce3 Titanium500, this card is the clear winner. The GeForce3 Titanium500 is the fastest card of the three, but the price of the card is enough to keep it from the top spot. The outstanding DVD and 2D Quality of ATI's products are also two great points about this card. The result may be controversial but I believe it.
Lost Circuits - ASUS A7V333
The launch of VIA's new KT333 chipset has spawned an avalanche of new board releases. Some of the new boards are mere reiterations of KT266(A)-based boards, some others take over the outlines of existing concepts but have some deep modifications under the hood. An example of the latter category is the ASUS A7V333 that looks similar to the earlier A7V266-E but is essentially a completely new board under the cloak of superficial similarities. Changes include but are not limited to the new chipset revision and additional interfaces as e.g. IEEE 1394 Firewire and Smart Media. Different logical addressing of the CPU configuration is one of the changes brought to the table. For the consumer, the bigger question is whether the A7V333 is worth the upgrade from any existing platform as well as whether there are any new bugs to watch out for.
The Tech Report - Shuttle's SS50 mini-barebones system
Yes, some day I want a cube PC that runs with zero noise at room temperature while hosting a massively powerful graphics card in an AGP slot driven by a 400W power supply. For about five dollars. But until Shuttle can deliver major miracles, we'll have to settle for this minor one. The SS50 shares many of its of drawbacks with nearly all PC systems, and this little cube design handles the necessary compromises with grace. Very impressive.
Check out Xabre.com for more information regarding the new SiS performance GPU.
Anymore news, send it in!
Opteron Emerges
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 25, 2002 at 4:29:05 AM
While skimming the net after being down for two hours, I saw on AMDZone that the new Sledgehammer CPUs from AMD (the top of the line server chips) will be named Opteron. Here is the AMD PR on the Opteron
Also spotted on AMDZone, a CompUSA document that Intel sent to them. It shows how they should set up their P4M notebooks.
Also spotted on AMDZone, a CompUSA document that Intel sent to them. It shows how they should set up their P4M notebooks.
April 24, 2002
AMD CEO Steps Down
Poster: Subjugation
Posted on April 24, 2002 at 8:46:09 PM
The CEO of Advanced Micro Devices takes his final bow and steps down after many successful years of re-shaping the processor market. A short yet interesting biography of W.J. Sanders is included in this article. Read This.
Can You run a PSU without a Fan?
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 24, 2002 at 1:58:50 PM
Mike sent me an email about a new article he just posted. Can you run a PSU without a fan?. Don't look to me if your power supply craps out.
PHP 4.2.0 released
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 24, 2002 at 1:53:22 PM
The hypertext pre-processor scripting language was just reached 4.2.0. Head over to PHP.net to grab the latest download.
This latest release contains over one hundred changes, bug fixes and improvements over the previous release, PHP 4.1.2. Among the highlights are experimental support for Apache 2, cleanups in variable handling and overhauls of various PHP components, including the domxml, posix, sockets and iconv extensions.
This latest release contains over one hundred changes, bug fixes and improvements over the previous release, PHP 4.1.2. Among the highlights are experimental support for Apache 2, cleanups in variable handling and overhauls of various PHP components, including the domxml, posix, sockets and iconv extensions.
Samba 100% faster than Win2k
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 24, 2002 at 1:49:26 PM
Found at ITWeek.
In terms of scalability, the results show that Linux and Samba can handle four times as many client systems as Windows 2000 before performance begins to drop off. Consequently firms can save money on hardware and software upgrades, and can avoid the administrative and financial costs of licensing Windows file servers, by using the Samba alternative.
Guess it wasn't a bad idea to use Linux as my printer and some NAS action. Too bad the power supply died before fully completing the project.
In terms of scalability, the results show that Linux and Samba can handle four times as many client systems as Windows 2000 before performance begins to drop off. Consequently firms can save money on hardware and software upgrades, and can avoid the administrative and financial costs of licensing Windows file servers, by using the Samba alternative.
Guess it wasn't a bad idea to use Linux as my printer and some NAS action. Too bad the power supply died before fully completing the project.