tech blog

payperpost

2010-11-30T11:04:00.001-08:00

The radio staggers against the backspace!

next gen DS with a tegra processor?

2009-10-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

Rumors have been creeping up all around the world wide web that the next generation ds might house an NVIDIA tegra processor and that the contract between nvidia and Nintendo has been settled and the console is under development.
What could we expect from a blend of the powerful tegra and nintendo?Possibly a very long battery life for its been rumored that the new DS will use the 2nd gen tegra built with 45nm technology meaning probably a very long battery life and amazing graphics performance..Could we probably expect an xbox near-style graphics?

keep checking back for more updates :D

PPP

2009-10-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

Omg, can you imagine a time machine blender?!

gta 4 pc port flawed with issues

2008-12-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

i just installed the much awaited gta 4...but it turned out to be very disappointing.There were numerous flaws.It took a bit of time to figure out how to start the game without getting annoying errors.When it came to playing the game, there were lots of missing textures and cars seemed to hover over the road.The game was extremely power hungry and my 8600gt could only run it at 19fps at medium high settings.Rockstar is to release a patch over the next few days to patch up all the hole.here are some of the screens from the buggy part..

new site!

2008-09-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

hello ppl,

i recently took sme websapce and am building a tutorial site for various kinds of tutorials...I have set up a bit today the basic layout n stuff!

so please do give it a visit and post your comments..

http://67.225.157.75/~liighttc/

Toy rocket inspires US Military

2008-07-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

A gun that fires variable speed bullets and which can be set to kill, wound or just inflict a bruise is being built by a US toy manufacturer. The weapon is based on technology used to propel toy rockets.
Lund and Company Invention, a toy design studio based near Chicago, makes toy rockets that are powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolysing water. Now the company is being funded by the US army to adapt the technology to fire bullets instead.
The US Army are interested in arming soldiers with weapons that can be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes. They asked Company Invention to make a rifle that can fire bullets at various speeds.
Sniper versionThe new weapon, called the Variable Velocity Weapon System or VWS, lets the soldier to use the same rifle for crowd control and combat, by altering the muzzle velocity. It could be loaded with "rubber bullets" designed only to deliver blunt impacts on a person, full-speed lethal rounds or projectiles somewhere between the two.
Bruce Lund, the company's CEO, says the gun works by mixing a liquid or gaseous fuel with air in a combustion chamber behind the bullet. This determines the explosive capability of the propellant and consequently the velocity of the bullet as it leaves the gun. "Projectile velocity varies from non-lethal at 10 metres, to lethal at 100 metres or more, as desired," says Lund.
The company says that the weapon produces less heat and light than traditional guns. It can also be made lighter and could have a high power setting for long-range sniping.
Police already fire non-lethal projectiles from standard shotguns. These are known as "beanbag" rounds, bags of lead shot which will knock down a suspect at ranges of up to 10 metres. They are termed "non-lethal", but can cause bruising or even broken ribs.
'Handgun to Howitzer'Lund says that the new weapon system will use different types of bullet for lethal and non-lethal use. Police forces already use separate shotguns for non-lethal loads – typically marking them with bright orange tape to prevent any confusion – so this shouldn't be an issue.
The existing VWS design is a .50 calibre (12.7 mm) rifle weapon, but Lund says the technology can be scaled to any size, "handgun to Howitzer".
Steve Wright, a security expert at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK warns of the potential risk of variable lethality.
"In a high-stress, high-personal-risk zone, there will be a real temptation for soldiers to turn the tuneable lethality switch up to 'kill' mode so that all doubt is removed."
A demonstration version will be ready within six months, and the VWS could go into production within 18 months of approval, according to Lund and Company.
Weapons Technology - Keep up with the latest innovations in our cutting edge special report.

via- news scientist

Samsung's i8510 INNOV8 -8 megapixel!

2008-07-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Symbian Limited today announced the Samsung INNOV8, (model : i8510, pronounced [in-uh-veyt]). This ultimate entertainment mobile phone is equipped with high-end features and multimedia including an 8 megapixel camera, internet browsing and ergonomics. This is Samsung’s eighth mobile phone based on Symbian OS™, the global market-leading open mobile operating system for mobile phones.

INNOV8 brings users a ‘cinema in your pocket’ experience through access to a rich suite of applications from the S60 applications library, they can watch videos, including DivX files, view pictures and play two exclusively free embedded 3D games on the 2.8” LCD display. With HSDPA connectivity at 7.2Mbps and seamless connection through Wi-Fi, Samsung INNOV8’s optical mouse and easy navigation enables users’ quick internet browsing, alongside GPS and geo-tagging.

Earlier this year Samsung launched the G810 with a 5 megapixel camera running on Symbian OS™ v9.2. Some key multimedia and security features include audio and video capture and recording framework, still image conversion, 3D graphics support, application capability management and application data caging. In 2007, Samsung launched six mobile phones based on Symbian OS, including the Samsung i400, i450, i458, i520, i550 and i560. All seven phones are currently available in the market

tiny nano processor plays crysis

2008-06-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

VIA today held a press conference to announce the new Mini-ITX 2.0 concept and its alliance with Nvidia. During the conference we were all treated to a demonstration of an a optimized PC, a VIA Nano based Mini-ITX board using a Nvidia graphics card running Crysis. VIA's Mini-ITX form factor is over 6 years old now and was created primarily with the embedded market in mind. This demonstration is an excellent example of where Mini-ITX is heading: Full featured platforms that include PCI Express x16 support for optimized graphics and HD video.

http://www.technovoyance.com/index.php/Mini-ITX-2.0-VIA-Nano-Plays-Crysis.html

iron man could soon become a reality

2008-05-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

a bionic machine that lets you:

1) It takes up to 200 pounds without impeding the wearer (Strength Augmentation)

2) It decreases its wearer's metabolic cost (Endurance Augmentation).

While the first characteristic requires little explanation, the 2nd characteristic is a compelling and a competitive advantage of HULC™ completely absent in any other exoskeleton system. During some preliminary evaluations, the oxygen consumption of the users walking at a speed of 2 MPH, was decreased by 5%~12% when using our HULC™ without a payload. When the users carried a load, the effect was more pronounced. The oxygen consumption of these users carrying an 81 pound approach load at a speed of 2MPH was decreased by about 15% when using the prototype HULC™.

The reduction of the wearer's metabolic cost is of paramount importance for long duration missions. This is true because excessive oxygen consumption leads to premature fatigue even if the exoskeleton supports the load. In fact, a very recent BAA from the Natick Soldier System Center requests proposals to conduct a preliminary study on solutions that lead to a reduction of oxygen consumption. HULC™, fueled by proprietary technology, decreases the wearer's oxygen consumption and heart rate thereby increasing the wearer's endurance.

Several field ready HULCs™ will be available for live demonstration in early 2008. Berkeley Bionics is now accepting orders for prototype HULC™ systems.

http://www.berkeleybionics.com/Unrestricted/HULC.html

opensuse 11 rc1

2008-05-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

Opensuse 11 rc 1 was released by novell.Hundreds of bugs have been since the alpha release.IThe installation went perfectly without any problems.Even in this release the nvidia driver dosen't compile yet.

from Novell

The openSUSE Project is proud to announce the openSUSE 11.0 Release Candidate 1 (RC1). The good news is that we’re closing in on the final release of 11.0, but it’s not time to relax just yet. We’re getting really close, so we need all hands on deck to help test this release candidate. Since beta 3 we’ve fixed 578 bugs and resolved 1,118 bugs! Read on to see how you can help get 11.0 into top shape.

The first step is to download the release candidate. Please remember that RC1 is not a stable release. As a release candidate, openSUSE 11.0 RC 1 is almost ready for day to day use, but may still have some interesting bugs that make it unsuitable for running a production system. Be sure to have backups of any important data before using openSUSE 11.0 RC 1 on a system.

Media and Download
You can download openSUSE 11.0 RC 1 for x86, x86_64, and PPC at http://software.opensuse.org/developer. Deltas from Beta 3 are also provided. Note that you will need the latest deltarpm from Factory, or for openSUSE 10.3 you can use the home:coolo repository to grab it.

Most Annoying Bugs
This is a list of the most annoying bugs, that we’re aware of, that still exist in the release candidate.

General
GRUB config broken for other partitions. Bug #395085
NVIDIA driver doesn’t compile. Workaround: check here for a patch
GNOME
GNOME asks for the root password on first login. Bug 390658
GNOME has wrong icon theme by default. Bug 391865
See the Bugs:Most_Annoying_Bugs_11.0_dev page on the wiki for an up-to-date list.

Call for Testing
To help testing, take a look at opensuse.org/Testing, and the Feature Test List page. The Feature Test List page includes a definitive list of new features included in openSUSE 11.0.

We need to test these features in particular, so please look through the features on the page, pick one that has not yet had its test completed, and make sure it passes. If not, be sure to file a bug in Bugzilla and mark the test “failed.” See the full instructions on the Feature Test List page.

scientists test 4 way 9800gtx

2008-05-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

Researchers at the University of Antwerp in Belgium have created a new supercomputer with standard gaming hardware. The system uses four NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards, it costs less than 4000EUR to build and thanks to NVIDIA's CUDA technology it delivers roughly the same performance as a supercomputer cluster consisting of hundreds of PCs!

This new system is used by the ASTRA research group, part of the Vision Lab of the University of Antwerp, to develop new computational methods for tomography. The guys explain the eight NVIDIA GPUs deliver the same performance as more than 300 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz processors. On a normal desktop PC their tomography tasks would take several weeks but on this NVIDIA-based supercomputer it only takes a couple of hours. The NVIDIA graphics cards do the job very efficiently and consume a lot less power than a supercomputer cluster.

The research group ASTRA, part of the Vision Lab of the University of Antwerp, focuses on the development of new computational methods for tomography. Tomography is a technique used in medical scanners to create three-dimensional images of the internal organs of patients, based on a large number of X-ray photos that are acquired over a range of angles. ASTRA develops new reconstruction techniques that lead to better reconstruction quality than classical methods.

Although our reconstruction techniques are very powerful, they have an important drawback: they are quite slow. As the 3D images that we normally deal with can be rather large (typically 1024x1024x1024 volume elements, or more), advanced reconstruction methods can sometimes take weeks of computation time on a normal PC.

social spark live is here!

2008-05-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

i just entered the world of SocialSpark!.Its been a pleasant experience but i am still learning to make my way around the site.Check out my- profile there.

I picked my own profile because at the moment i am the only one i know properly :-P
What i instantly fell in love with is the social network integrated into the site.I quickly found out that u could create communities and make new friends and correspond with them by a click of a button!

Though it is my first day yet i have finished adding a blog and made my first friend!
i also found an an option to create opportunities which i can use to get my sites reviewed to promote them and gain unique hits through the vast blog networks by adding more friends and socially interact with them,those of common intrests.
I personally like the layout of the site and could easily grasp it and make my way around pretty soon.

what i didnt like is ,through my entrire journey through the site i ran into just a small problem where the tracking code required to be placed on my blog overlapped a bit with the text in the page and sometimes the pages render badly.I think once this is fixed the site will be just perfect. But other wise the site seemed to be perfect.I am really excited and looking forward to putting my first post there.This is a great opportunity for bloggers who want to promote their site and work online.So if you still haven't joined give it a try-SocialSpark.trust me you wont be dissappointed!!

doom 4 confirmed.cross platform

2008-05-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

id Software today announced that it has begun production on Doom 4, and is now in the process of expanding its internal team of developers to work on the shooter sequel.

"Doom is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth," said id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead in a release.

"It's critical for id Software to have the best creative minds in-house to develop games that meet the standards synonymous with our titles."

The company is currently accepting applications to fill job openings covering roles such as producer, lead designer, and lead animator, among others.

The job listings page indicates that applicable platforms for the positions are PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Though no further details on the game were released, the studio will likely make use of its new id Tech 5 engine for the project.

id Software lead artist Kevin Cloud recently told Shacknews that one of the strengths of the company's new engine is its cross-platform performance.

"You don't even have to worry about how it's going to look on PS3 or 360. Right now we've got it running cross-platform running 60 hertz, and it looks really good," said Cloud. "In terms of what artists are available to achieve--it's something you have to see for yourself. I can say this, but you still won't get it until you see it."

id will be hosting the 13th annual QuakeCon convention on July 31.

But Id stated they wont use DX10.It makes us wonder how the next gen doom will look like..another visual breakthrough?

shack news

robotic animals to study the real ones

2008-05-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

Sarah Partan, an assistant professor in animal behavior at Hampshire, hopes that by capturing a close-up view of squirrels in nature, Rocky will help her team decode squirrels' communication techniques, social cues and survival instincts.

Rocky is among many robotic critters worldwide helping researchers observe animals in their natural environments rather than in labs. The research could let scientists better understand how animals work in groups, court, intimidate rivals and warn allies of danger.

In Indiana, for instance, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness. In California, a tiny video camera inside a fake female sage grouse records close-up details as it's wooed — and more — by the breed's unusually promiscuous males.

The research may even help explain similar instinctive behaviors in humans, researchers say.

"Animals and humans are all affected by behaviors, body postures and signals from each other that we may not be aware of," Partan said.

The use of fake critters to infiltrate real groups of animals is so new that few companies build or sell such tools to researchers.

Many of the scientists using animal doppelgangers have modified toy animals or, like Partan and her students, cobbled together their own with fake fur, small motors, circuits and other material. Partan, who created Rocky a few years ago with students when she taught at the University of South Florida, is constantly refining its actions and updating its technology.

Rocky's movement is controlled by basic computer programs, and it has tiny speakers inside that play recordings Partan purchased from an animal-sounds library at Cornell University.

One recent afternoon, she and students Maya Gounard, 20, and Andrew Fulmer, 19, brought Rocky out for field testing and placed him near real squirrels. Mounted on a board, he was shielded by a camouflage hood and a long cord connected him to the researchers' laptop.

After the computer's program flipped the hood open, Rocky went into a sequence of tail-flagging, barking and other motions squirrels recognize as warnings of danger.

The most successful experiments are when the real squirrels respond by "flagging" their own tail, halting their foraging to check for danger, scamper up a tree or take other actions that show they picked up on the signals, Partan said.

"We watch for a trade-off in their behavior," she said, pointing out a squirrel that jerked to its hind legs and froze, its eyes scanning the area as it heard Rocky's barks. "He gave up foraging to focus on being vigilant, so that's something we'd note as a discernible response."

They focus on whether squirrels react more strongly to Rocky's noises or movements or a combination that researchers call multi-modal signals.

Although animal behavior has been studied for years, much remains unknown about instinctive responses.

A particular sound may be the courting equivalent of, "Come over here, you sexy beast." But a tiny change can alter the message entirely, making it something akin to, "You're about to be torn to shreds if you don't get out of my territory."

more here
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvzEsptLwUXYQOaQm5WrTA_8e-cwD90DNC501

updates:silent hill 1 remake

2008-04-30T05:26:00.000-07:00

The map of the first sequence of the game is almost done with some testuring and placing some more buildings.Details like trees,street lights and signs are still pending.here is the progress so far.
There will be a closed test release in the next few days.The 2nd release will feature possibly Dynamic fog and shaders.Hopefully by 5th.

nokias new "beautiful to use series"

2008-04-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

via engadget-Nokia just announced a trio of "Beautiful to use" Nokia handsets with its Nokia 6600 slide, 6600 fold, and 3600 slide. The €250 6600 fold is said to smoothly arc open with the press of a button to reveal a 2.13-inch OLED display sporting 16 million colors. It also features tap commands. When off, a double-tap of the monolithic cover reveals the time, messages and missed calls. A double-tap also snoozes alerts and silences or rejects incoming phone calls. The €275 6600 slide (pictured left) features the same tap technology but bumps the digital camera up from 2 to 3.2 megapixels with a 2.2-inch QVGA display based on LCD tech, presumably. The 3600 slide offers the same camera with built-in background noise cancellation -- a first for a Nokia handset -- for a respectable €175. All three ship in Q3.

http://www.nokia.com/press/beautifultouse

2008-04-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

Alienware's AMD-powered Aurora ALX picked up CrossFireX support just as soon as it went live from ATI, but it has taken a few weeks for the technology to make its way over to the iconic Area-51. Said gaming rig is now available with ATI CrossFireX, meaning that you can take advantage of all four GPUs across a pair of Radeon HD 3870 X2s. Full release posted after the jump.

HEATING THINGS UP – CROSSFIREX NOW OFFERED ON THE ALIENWARE AREA-51

For the first time, users can choose between the industry's two dominant multi-GPU solutions on the same platform

Miami – April 28, 2008 – Alienware – the leading manufacturer of desktop, notebook and entertainment systems – now offers ATI CrossFireX™ on the Area-51® desktop computer. Alienware recently retooled and re-launched the Area-51, its flagship system, with NVIDIA® Quad SLI® graphics.

With four GPUs across dual graphics cards, CrossFireX cranks out not only intense, lifelike graphics but also the raw processing power necessary to manipulate and navigate real-time 3D environments for a never-before-seen gaming experience.

"This is huge," says Marc Diana, Product Marketing Manager for Alienware. "One of the biggest reasons our customers choose Alienware is unmatched graphics performance. Adding a CrossFireX option to the award-winning Area-51 reaffirms its status as the world's best gaming desktop."

the price starts around 999$ and above.For details
www.alienware.com

via engadget

NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600 GSO

2008-04-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

The NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600 GSO GPU offers a powerfully immersive entertainment experience designed for extreme high-definition gaming and video playback. Play the hottest DirectX 10 games with awesome speed and watch the latest HD DVD and Blu-ray movies with brilliant clarity. Featuring next generation GeForce and PureVideo® HD technologies, the GeForce 9600 GSO GPU puts amazing graphics performance within your reach.

Processor Cores 96
Core Clock (MHz) 550 MHz
Shader Clock (MHz) 1375 MHz
Memory Clock (MHz) 800 MHz
Memory Amount 384MB
Memory Interface 192-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 38.4
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec) 26.4

updates:silenthill 1 remake pc

2008-04-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

holidays at last so i have started working on the textures and the first area of silent hill.hopefully i will in the next update i will have implemented normal mapping and if possible blurring out the entire area.For now here is a screenshot of the first area.hope you recognize it

Please note that some of these textures are not final yet and its only to show a preview of what has been done.

iphone 2 details

2008-04-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Rumors that Apple's 3G iPhone is on the way are coming faster by the day, and now images of the alleged next generation iPhone are beginning to surface, too. Apparently the new iPhone will also sport a glossy black back, replacing the satin nickel look found on the current model.

Apple's new iPhone?

If iPodOberver.com's source is correct, the redesigned iPhone back also drops the black plastic end piece that covers the antenna, and it appears that Apple will continue to offer an 8GB model.

Of course, rumors are just rumors until Steve Jobs pulls a new iPhone out of his pocket. If the image proves to be legit, however, the glossy black finish will make a nice addition to the up-and-coming executive's tech stash.

geforce 9900 series

2008-04-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

he first 2 models from the GeForce 9900 series will be 9900 GTX and 9900 GTS instead of 9900 GT we reported earlier. It seems Nvidia has decided to launch them as early as July to counter RV770 and steal the performance crown away. Nvidia has earlier confirmed GT200 existence and revealed that the GPU has about 1B transistors. Our sources are suggesting a 512-bit memory interface with GDDR3 memories for GeForce 9900 GTX using P651 PCB and a 448-bit memory interface for the GeForce 9900 GTS.

via vr zone

silent hill 1 remake

2008-04-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

what is silent hill?
Silent Hill is a video game, the first in the survival horror series with the same name. The game was released in North America on January 31, 1999, Japan on March 4, 1999, and in Europe on August 1, 1999. It was released exclusively on the Sony PlayStation. A movie adaptation based on this game has been made and was released theatrically on April 21, 2006.

My project

i am planning to do a remake of konami's best survival horror series Silent hill with all new DirectX 9 and possibly pixel shaders.This might take a while but i'll soon release it..Will keep posting updates so please come back and check them out

nokia :tube the new iphone competitor

2008-04-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

Shown in a slide at the Evans Data Developer Relations Conference in Redwood City, Calif., Tube looks similar to the popular iPhone. The Nokia device showed graphical displays, such as a promotion for the movie Shrek the Third. Other capabilities will be featured, such as the ability to upload photos.

"It's our first touch device," said Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia. Interfacing with the system is done via touch similar to the iPhone. He said the company has not published the planned date of shipment for Tube.

Nokia believes it can compete with iPhone, and during his presentation, Libretto compared volume shipments of iPhone to Nokia's shipments of phones. Since the launch of iPhone in June, Apple has shipped 5 million to 6 million of the devices, paling in comparison to Nokia's device shipments, Libretto said. "We've done that [volume] since we've had dinner on Friday," he said.

(Apple afterward said 4 million iPhones had shipped worldwide by January.)

The Tube will support Java, something Apple has been reluctant to do with iPhone.

- via info world

Just signed up For Payperpost!

2008-04-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

While i was scavenging the www using google for a suitable opportunity to earn some income in my part time a friend of mine suggested i try out PayPerPost.Immediately i googled for payperpost.i came across PPP.I was really excited and went through the signup process which was pretty staright forward to any normal registration form.once it was done i submitted my blog there and waited for the approval.

PPP requires your blog to be atlest 90days old with atlest 10 posts in a period of 30days which isin't very stringent.Once a blog is submitted , it is reviewed by PPP before it is approved.Its only to keep out inactive blogs and spammers form getting over the site.It is possible to submit multiple blogs to PPP so you need not necessarily stick to one blog forever.PPP is based on a simple concept and straight- you get paid fo quality blogging and i love it since its something i have been looking for since a long time.Simple easy and effective.Its also an opportunity for advertisers to monetize thier blogs.

As i am a college student this is a great opportunity and a wish come true for me and i am really unsure of what i will do with all the money i get ;-)(maybe i will put it into my savings account :-p)
So if your interested just go to payperpostand signup.Easy as that.Feel free to ask me any sort of questions.

goodbye for now!

orkut musical scraps

2008-03-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

heres how to get your own orkut musical scarps for the song of your choice
-Send the mp3 file of the song you want to be converted to liightt@gmail.com
-I'll send you the code for the scrap the next day

here is a sample musical scrap:

Just paste it in the scarp book

opensuse 11 aplha 3

2008-03-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

A few days back novell released an alpha of its next version of linux-open Suse 11. alpha 3.The final is expected to come out in june.the alpha 3 come with both the kde and gnome environments but the new kde look with oxygen theme looks very pleasent with a beautiful blue background and large well spaced icons.And like vista we now have desktop gadgets.i had no problems installing a fresh copy of the alpha.There is a brand new install user interface and is very easy to follow even for newbies to linux.With so many new features and linux becoming even moe user friendly it will most likely tempt windows users to switch to linux...

Changes since openSUSE 11.0 Alpha 2
The highlight of course is the reworked ZYpp framework, which gives you a much faster package management experience. This release also contains a new and professional installer theme.
A lot of packages were also updated to newer versions:
linux kernel 2.6.25-rc5
GCC 4.3 final
GNOME 2.22 final
Compiz 0.7.2
KDE 4.0.2/3.5.9
Zypper 0.10.2
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There were 1855 checkins since Alpha2 - you can get a more complete list at Factory/News
Most Annoying Bugs
Due to the huge amount of changes, there are also quite a few bugs that slipped in:
The kernel OOPSes early in the installation on hardware probe on some hardware (Bug #371997)
Workaround: boot with hwprobe=-parallel,-misc.par [including VirtualBox]
“Use Automatic Configuration” checkbox is highly experimental, this feature is not yet finished.
the root password will be “*****” by default, feel free to change it
network startup is racy (Bug #359793)
the artwork is not yet complete (e.g. Bug #368624)
Find an up-to-date list under Bugs:Most_Annoying_Bugs_11.0_dev
Media and Download
We created the same media as with Alpha 2. They can all be downloaded at software.openSUSE.org/developer:
i386 live CDs for GNOME and KDE
x86_64 and i386 one CD for GNOME and KDE
DVD for ppc, x86_64 and i386
language addon CD
non-oss addon CD

The next development release will be openSUSE 11.0 Beta 1 on April 17th (Roadmap).

ASUS HD Video Enhance Card

2008-03-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

Catering to the new era in multimedia technology, ASUS, producer of high quality audio and visual solutions, has announced the new ASUS Splendid HD1 video enhance card. This astounding piece of hardware is able to increase picture quality for HD content to deliver sharper, more vividly colored visual outputs. It can even enhance lower resolution inputs by recovering image clarity when viewing legacy content for viewing on LCD TV or monitors; as well as provide true HDMI with audio and HDCP.
Splendid HD Engine Upgrades Generic VGA to True HDMIWith the implementation of ASUS’ exclusive Splendid technology into a video add-on card, users will be able to enjoy full 1080P entertainment on their monitors. Able to provide an authentic ASUS LCDTV video solution to any PC, this card helps fill in the gap between viewing content on the PC and traditional Consumer Electronic devices. It is also able to provide HDMI upgrades with true Audio & HDCP certified protection – allowing users to enjoy enhanced PC video and audio quality to easily change your generic PCs into true HTPCs for an outstanding multimedia experience.
Splendid HD1 Automatic Display Mode for Ultimate Viewing The Splendid HD1 is able to automatically select the best possible display modes to deliver exceptional quality visuals, and includes the following:Photo Mode Tailored for photo viewing or daily computing, the Splendid HD1 increases color performance and dynamic contrasting, so images of the weather are always clearer, colors of the flowers are more vibrant, and photos will look much better.
Video Mode Fine tuned to deliver action movies in the best possible way, the Splendid HD1 focuses on image edge enhancing to minimize blurring caused by today’s LCD monitors, so that users can see clear bullet trails even in the most chaotic scenes. For drama movies, the increased color depth and contrast allows the smallest details hidden in the darkest corners to be seen.
Game Mode For FPS gamers, enemies will seem to jump out from the blurry background in the most adrenaline rushing FPS games. For RPG/Action gamers, true cinematic gaming with a Demo mode* is also provided so that users can compare the impact of the processing in several configurations. * An ASUS graphics card is required to enable this function

DirectX 11 to feature ‘compute shader’

2008-03-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

New shader would allow games programmers to access a GPU’s horsepower without needing to go through a graphics API
Microsoft may have decided against the idea of direct physics acceleration in DirectX 10, but it looks as though a new shader could change all that in DirectX 11. Currently referred to as the ‘compute shader,’ the new shader will allow games developers to access all the number crunching capabilities of a GPU.

An anonymous insider who works in the 3D graphics business told Custom PC that ‘for all of those who will offer hardware acceleration of DirectX 11 in a variety of ways, the compute shader is a very attractive option – it allows games developers to get at the horsepower inside the GPU, without necessarily working through a graphics API.’So why would you need this in DirectX? Our source gave the example of trying to ride a bike like a car, saying: ‘You don’t climb on to a bicycle and expect a steering wheel and three pedals – brake, accelerator and clutch – just because I’m used to that in the car. I want to solve a different problem, so I’ll address it with a different UI. From a games programmer’s point of view, what they’re looking for is a compute shader that's generic enough to use across multiple pieces of hardware. You can just get at the horsepower and get number crunching done on the GPU.’There are many possibilities for such a shader, but our source reckons that it will be ‘the more likely route that games developers will go down for physics.’ However, they also rightly pointed out that the new API would be ‘at least two years away,’ and that none of this had been made public knowledge yet.

baking a motherboard:geforce 9800gx causing motherbaord carshes

2008-03-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

We don't normally comment much on heat with graphics cards, but the GeForce 9800 GX2 is an exception because the heat this card produces caused us some headaches along the way. We encountered a number of heat-related crashes, hard locks and instabilities with our Asus Striker II Formula motherboard.The thing was, these problems were limited to only when the GeForce 9800 GX2 was installed in the board. With two GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB cards in SLI, there were no problems and the story was the same with the GeForce 8800 Ultra as well – we're 100 percent certain that the problems we encountered were entirely related to the installation of the GeForce 9800 GX2.We witnessed temperatures in excess of 90 degrees Celsius on both the nForce 200 chip and the south bridge on the Asus motherboard – this triggered the company's overheat protection feature that automatically shuts down the motherboard to prevent long term damage.Throughout all of our testing, we closely monitored GPU temperatures after we first encountered stability problems and they never exceeded 85 degrees Celsius, which is pretty good for a graphics card—especially one with two GPUs so closely packed together. In fact, Nvidia says the point where the GPU starts to throttle itself down is when the core reaches a temperature of 105°C for reference purposes, so there's still quite a bit of headroom.
A fan placed directly above the south bridge prevented these heat related problems from cropping up again. And after a lot of time spent stress testing GeForce 9800 GX2 cards in other motherboards (such as XFX's nForce 780i SLI and nForce 790i SLI boards, as well as the Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5), we have come to the conclusion that system instability may occur on nForce 700-series motherboards with the nForce 200 chip located in between the top two PCI-Express x16 slots. In that location, the chip is right underneath the GeForce 9800 GX2 and, with the card being covered in what is essentially a big heatspreader, a heat pocket is created underneath the card. The problem as I see it is that when Nvidia set the design guidelines for partners to adhere to when designing nForce 780i SLI motherboards, Nvidia gave engineers the freedom to place the nForce 200 chip wherever they pleased – there were no limitations imposed. During my conversations with Nvidia's nForce 780i SLI engineers last October, I asked on several occasions whether the nForce 200 chip had a significant TDP because I had spoken to several motherboard engineers that had complained about the increased TDP requirements for the chipset.Every time I asked the question, I was told that the TDP increase was insignificant. That may be the case with the Nvidia-designed board used by some partners, but it's definitely not the case here with a GeForce 9800 GX2 installed in the Asus Striker II Formula. The problem for motherboard engineers was that they probably didn't know a great deal (if anything) about the GeForce 9800 GX2 and the amount of heat it produces. And because Nvidia imposed no strict limitations on the placement of nForce 200, the problem has come out into the open.It's sad that we have to put a downer on this card's performance, but we have to make you aware of what you may encounter if you're using one of the more popular nForce 780i SLI motherboards on the market. This isn't XFX's fault, or even really Asus's fault either – it's just a bit of a mess that wouldn't have come about if Nvidia had imposed design limitations on the placement of the nF200 chip.

early pictures nvidia geforce 9800 gx2

2008-03-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of an early version of the 9800gx2.Its quite dissappointing to see that the card is just a bit above the 8800gtx and not a huge leap in performance.The main thing to compare here today is the performance of the 9800GX2 against the HD 3870 X2 from AMD. We’ve also thrown in the 8800GT, as the specifications on a single core of a 9800GX2 is only slightly above that of an 8800GT, this should mean that if a game doesn’t take advantage of SLI then the performance should only be just above the single 8800GT.
But at the higher resolution the GX2 shows big gains over the 8800GT, it still lags behind the HD 3870 X2 across all resolutions.

From the makers of Far Cry, Crysis offers FPS fans the best-looking, most highly-evolving gameplay, requiring the player to use adaptive tactics and total customization of weapons and armor to survive in dynamic, hostile environments including Zero-G.Real time editing, bump mapping, dynamic lights, network system, integrated physics system, shaders, shadows and a dynamic music system are just some of the state of-the-art features the CryENGINE™ 2 offers. The CryENGINE™ 2 comes complete with all of its internal tools and also includes the CryENGINE™ 2 Sandbox world editing system.
Crysis runs at an average of 59fps at 1280 x 1024

power usage:about 356watts load ; 212 idle
temperature: 59-64degrees centrigarde idle
sound Db:60db idle ; load 66db

Thoughts
At the moment the card doesn’t deserve to carry a new generation naming scheme, but with a little bit of hope seen from under Windows XP we could be alright. Now we just have to wait and see if we get a new driver in the next day or two.

via tweak town

the matrix could soon be a reality:new research

2008-03-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

New research into "mixed reality states" promises Matrix-like "whoa"Real-time model-based feedback is something that is far from commonplace in today's world. The basic concept of real-time feedback is to take a physical system, modeled by mathematic equations, and then couple it with a computer as a virtual system. Sensor monitoring gives the processing logic an idea of how well the real world system is conforming to the theoretical model. The results are processed and yield adjustments (feedback) to the real world system to make it in tune with the theoretical model. The result is that the virtual and real world models converge into a single "mixed reality" system, bridging a the virtual (theoretical) and physical world.Such an approach holds large benefits for everything from car handling and fuel economy, to better aircraft dynamics and smoother robotic control. To accomplish such useful applications, researchers working on mixed reality had to start simple -- real simple. Researchers at the University of Illinois created a virtual pendulum and a real world counterpart that behaves as the world's first mixed reality system. Bidirectional instantaneous coupling, adjustments both to the real world pendulum by motor feedback and the virtual pendulum by tweaking mathematical parameters, yielded a single system in which both systems' are synchronized. The result is two pendulums swinging as one.The experiment, the first fully successful one of its kind, sounds simple but raises mind-blowing questions about reality. According to Illinois physicist Alfred Hubler, "In a mixed reality state there is no clear boundary between the real system and the virtual system. The line blurs between what’s real and what isn’t."Hubler describes the pendulums synchronization, stating, "[The pendulums] suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely."Two physical mechanical systems have been previously coupled, but never before has a real world and virtual one been mixed. Such a breakthrough was only possible thanks to ultra-fast computing, which allowed real-time processing of the pendulum data, and real-time response. Hubler states, "Computers are now fast enough that we can detect the position of the real pendulum, compute the dynamics of the virtual pendulum, and compute appropriate feedback to the real pendulum, all in real time."Hubler thinks that eventually coupling of the real and virtual worlds, may lead to it being hard to tell what is real and what is fake -- a topic immortalized by generations of science fiction writers. Hubler worries people may become defensive and paranoid in the real world, based on threats in the virtual world.The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and will be presented by Hubler at the annual American Physical Society meeting, which will be held in New Orleans, March 10-14, 2008.

java for iphone and ipodtouch

2008-03-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

The decision was made just a day after Apple announced its SDK plans and after an investigation which suggested that a Java virtual machine environment would be feasible, according to Sun's Java marketing VP, Eric Klein.
Initially, the software will be a variant of Java Micro Edition, a mobile version of the software most often used for cellphone games as well as some specialized business apps, such as CRM (customer relations management) or ERP (enterprise resource planning) tools. However, the Sun official also said that the software would hopefully be optimized for the iPhone and allow access to features specific to Apple's mobile platform.
"We're going to work to make sure that the [virtual machine] offers the Java applications as much access to the native functionality of the iPhone as possible," Klein said.
The executive also said his company wouldn't rule out more advanced developments. JavaFX, a second mobile version of Java built partly to substitute for Flash and other web animations, was possible. Over time, the company could also write a version of Java Standard Edition if its initial experience proves worthwhile.
While a release of Java for the iPhone and iPod touch would not appear until sometime after Apple's June launch of its version 2.0 firmware and the App Store needed to download the program, the announcement represents an end-run around Apple's own resistance to implementing Java on its own. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said no Java was coming from his own company as late as this week and last year described a full Java engine as a burden to the phone that was unlikely to be used by developers.

nvidia phone:more details and pictures

2008-03-05T03:45:00.000-08:00

FEATURES

By enabling intuitive user interfaces with advanced 3D technology and delivering the industry's first 720p HD video through an ultra-low power applications processing platform, the NVIDIA® APX 2500 delivers the ultimate visual experience on a mobile device.

NVIDIA® HD AVP (High Definition Audio Video Processor) with PureVideo® technology
Capture or playback of HD 720p movies with your mobile device.

Unprecedented picture quality and ultra-smooth, vivid movie playback with low CPU utilization and power consumption .

Superior Imaging
Take sharp and steady pictures with a 12MP camera with built-in image stabilization algorithm
Integrated Image Signal Processor (ISP) with proprietary algorithms enables image and video stabilization, face tracking, and advanced trick modes .

NVDIA ULP (Ultra Low Power) GeForce® technology
World's fastest GeForce graphics technology architected for low power applications
Superior 3D user interface capabilities based on a unique compositing framework delivers .

seamless web browsing.

NVDIA nPower™ technology
Enables the industry's longest HD video and MP3 playback on your phone
Architected to deliver optimized system power utilization .

True dual display subsystem for flexibility of use
Entertainment – watch a movie on an HDMI display and use your phone as a remote control device
Business – present your proposal on a SXGA projector using your phone as a pointing device
Personal – show your favorite photos on the television while previewing them on your phone

Specifications

Processor and Memory Subsystem
ARM11 MPCore16/32-bit LP-DDRNOR and NAND Flash support
HD AVP (High Definition Audio Video Processor)
720p H.264, MPEG-4, and VC-1/WMV9 Decode720p H.264 and MPEG-4 EncodeSupports multi-standard audio formats including AAC, AMR, WMA, and MP3JPEG encode and decode acceleration
ULP (Ultra Low Power) GeForce
OpenGL ES 2.0D3D MobileProgrammable pixel shaderProgrammable vertex and lightingCSAA supportAdvanced 2D graphics
Imaging
Up to 12Mpixel camera sensor supportIntegrated ISPAdvanced imaging features
Display Subsystem
True dual display support720p (1280x720) HDMI 1.2 supportSXGA (1280x1024) LCD and CRT supportComposite and S-Video TV output

News via http://www.nvidia.com/

more leaked screen shots of windows 7 m1

2008-02-29T04:59:00.000-08:00

More leaked shots From microsoft's new os windows 7 m1 have appeared on the internet.Here are the latest ones.Here is the new calculator in simple and scientific view:

And here is the new control panel and the computer management window and the others:

As you can see there are lots of new options

Here is the computer management window

The new gadgets window:

nvidia's new killer phone

2008-02-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

Why buy the iphone when theres the new nvidia phone soon coming out?nvidia showcased its new prototype phone -The APX 2500 .Guess what?it can play Quake3 without a hitch and is cpapble of running 720p hd videos and projecting then onto a HDTV.Moreover it supports programmable pixel shaders and OpenGL ES 2.0. It will use an Ultra Low Power GeForce GPU.It resembles the iphone in looks and dimensions and is expected to come out into the market by 2009.

Need for speed 2008 teaser

2008-02-20T04:59:00.000-08:00

EA has released a teaser trailer of it upcoming Need for Speed title.At the moment no details are available and the game has no known title.All we see in the video is a beautiful looking track with a jetblack car with the camera rotating round it ready to take off.The screen then goes blank and the last thing we hear is it taking off with an incredible sound of nitrous!

take a look at it...its worth it

possible details of nintendo ds 3

2008-02-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

DS exel-Like the DS lite/light and unofficially the DS phat/fat, the exel will excel in all the things that make the DS unique. SD support (multiple formats) rather than have onboard storage for use other than firmware and firmware updates. Each system will have an ID that Nintendo will use when downloading games. The ID will also be used to cut down on piracy. Nintendo already plans to ban pirated games from wifi, at least. Extra features will be available when downloading games that carts purchased from stores will not include. This is to extend the life of the ds similar to the attempts to extend the gameboy life (gameboy pocket, then gameboy color). Use of store bought games with the Nintendo DS exel will be optional and will be placed in the same slot as the sd reader cart. There are plans to incorporate a more multimedia experience into the firmware (possibly using an iTunes store-esque service), also there are plans to use cellular internet as well as the building on the pre-existing wireless connection features (adding WAP/WAP2 support, increasing data transfer speed). A browser will be purchasable and function similar to opera for wii. It will include a slot 2 the same size as the ds lite's. It will not be released soon because of both the lite's strong sales and hardware prices, as well as expanding and familiarizing the casual market with the less advanced lite model that sets it apart from the competition (Sony's psp, also the ps3 and xbox 360) before introducing exel. Nintendo would like to price the handheld around 150 USD. There are talks about redesigning the exel for Nintendo's next generation handheld system if the DS lite's sales continue to dominate the market.

GeForce 8 graphics processors to gain PhysX support

2008-02-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

During Nvidia's fourth-quarter financial results conference call, Nvidia shed a little more light on its acquisition of Ageia and what it plans to do with the firm's PhysX technology. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made no announcements regarding the deal until asked in the question-and-answer session, but he was happy to divulge a decent number of details.

Huang revealed that Nvidia's strategy is to take the PhysX engine and port it onto CUDA. For those not in the know, CUDA stands for Compute Unified Device Architecture, and it's a C-like application programming interface Nvidia developed to let programmers write general-purpose applications that can run on GPUs. All of Nvidia's existing GeForce 8 graphics processors already support CUDA, and Huang confirmed that the cards will be able to run PhysX.
We're working toward the physics-engine-to-CUDA port as we speak. And we intend to throw a lot of resources at it. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if it helps our GPU sales even in advance of [the port's completion]. The reason is, [it's] just gonna be a software download. Every single GPU that is CUDA-enabled will be able to run the physics engine when it comes. . . . Every one of our GeForce 8-series GPUs runs CUDA.
Huang thinks the integration will encourage people to spend more on graphics processing hardware, as well:
Our expectation is that this is gonna encourage people to buy even better GPUs. It might—and probably will—encourage people to buy a second GPU for their SLI slot. And for the highest-end gamer, it will encourage them to buy three GPUs. Potentially two for graphics and one for physics, or one for graphics and two for physics.
Last, but not least, Huang said developers are "really excited" about the PhysX-to-CUDA port. "Finally they're able to get a physics engine accelerated into a very large population of gamers," he explained. Huang was unwilling to get into a time frame for the release of the first PhysX port. However, considering this will be purely a software implementation and Nvidia now has Ageia engineers on its payroll, the port may not take too long to complete.

via

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/14147

nvidia GeForce 10 specs!

2008-02-05T03:59:00.000-08:00

The nvidia G100 will be based on new architecture.The chips will be based on 45nm technology :-D which means half the power consumption of the current generation GPU's.It will sport more than 1.5 billion transistors and with about 2 Teraflops of shader processing power!!
The cards will also support Super fast DDR4 and DDR5 RAM.The cards will support DirectX 11 in microsofts upcoming OS WINDOWS VIENNA which is scheduled to be released by 2009.The geforce 10 series are expected to come out in the first Quater of 2009 and will support Nvidia CUDA 2 technology

Windows vienna m1 leaked

2008-02-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Microsoft recently released a internal beta of its upcoming 'Windows 7' also know as 'Windows Vienna'.With only a few days gone after it release a torrent has appeared in many popular bittorrent sites.Many have stated that it is fake but its still not very clear wheather this is true.Windows vienna shares some of its features with vista and looks like a brother to it.But vienna is a completely non dos based OS and will be available in 64bit only.here are some of the screenshots

Geforce 9 series Coming in a few months

2008-01-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

Nvidia is now set to release its Geforce 9 series of graphics cards.The new set of cards will be faster and will consume lesser power.They will be based on the G90 which will feature:

-65Nm technology:meaning lesser power consumption

-the chips will be smaller due to dye shrinkage so there will be lesser heat avolution

-the cards will sport super fast GDDR4 memory with clock speeds ranging from 2.40-2.80 Ghz

-the cards will be 512bit cards with about 1 billion transistors and about 1.3 Teraflops of processing power for a single GPU Card.

So would you consider buying a geforce 9 card? or already upgraded?

please comment :-)

HOW to secure your PC against threat for free

2008-01-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

With so many trojans floating around the world wide web its becomes risky to be browsing without any protection.So here is an easy way to protect and lockdown your PC from unwanted threats using some free-ware stuff.The basic things required is an antivirus and a firewall.One of the best free sodtware available is The award winning Comodo firewall and AVG antivirus.

AVG ANTIVIRUS

http://download1us.softpedia.com/dl/40b973bbd91628605eb5473533cb25c6/479de9d4/100006858/software/antivirus/avg75free_516a1225.exe

COMODO FIREWALL

http://download.comodo.com/cfp/download/setups/CFP_Setup_3.0.15.277_XP_Vista_x32.exe

Nintendo to roll out ds3

2008-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

Nintendo has announced that a new ds redesign 2008 is done and will be released late in 2008 when the ds lite sales drop in three major countries.
It was stated that the new ds will we slimmer and it will have no gba slot which accounts for this slimness.It will have larger screens and internal memory and hopefully more RAM.There have been some mockups of how the new ds might look.Pictures via gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com/tag/ds/

My opinion the new ds should be and have:
-slimmer and smaller.
-A more powerful single processor with about 64mb RAM.
-A microsd slot to place music,videos and user save files.
-if possible bluetooth to transfer files
-Built in web Browser with flash and full javascript support.
-A large high resolution screen ...etc

leaked doom4 screenshot?

2008-01-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

With Doom4 announced there have been several screens floating around the www .id software has announced that ID will not use Microsofts DirecX 10 so it will probably will stick to OpenGL rather.John D. Carmack announced that doom 4 will be published but it has been pushed as ID is already in the task of developing another one (probably quake zero)

Free rapidshare account:2

2008-01-24T04:22:00.000-08:00

Another way to get a free rapidshare account is by signing up for a

"RapidShare - Collector's account"

This is free and users can manage their files unlike normally.All that needs to be done is upload a file to www.rapidshare.com .Once this is complete the site will ask you if you would like to register a RapidShare - Collector's account.Enter your userid, password and email and start uploading stuff.now whenever someone downloads your file you get 1 rapidshare point.like this points can be accumulated and can be exchanged for a premium membership.

To popularize your uploads links can be posted on various forums.

-good luck

getting a free rapidshare or megaupload account

2008-01-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

Rapid share has become the worlds largest filesharing site with about 4petabytes of space and thousands of files .Millions of people probably visit it everyday and the waiting time is really long about 2 hours for every 100mb...so why not get a premium and download right away?

All you need to do is Make some quick money online on one of these paytoclick sites and earn a few bucks and buy a premium account.

buxto is one of the best ptc programs ever and one can easily make 30$ a month rightaway

http://bux.to/?r=darktwilite

bux gives about 17 ads a day with each giving 0.01$

suppose you do 10 ads a day

10 x 0.01 = 0.1 per day
0.1 x 30 =3$ a month

you reffer buxto to 5 friends and they do 10 ads a day you get 3$ a month from each friend.

5friends x 3 + your share= 18$ == rapidshare premium account!

logging in 2 yahoo ids on one computer at a time

2008-01-20T02:35:00.000-08:00

Do you have two yahoo accounts and want to login into them at the same time without having to use two clients? heres how

Click start then click run

Type regedit and press enter

Navigate to (on the left side) “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager\Test”

Create a DWORD registry value named “Plural” by right clicking the right hand side window.

Double click the new DWORD entry and set the value to 1

Now you can login with two ids by opening yahoo messenger from programs.

get ready for windows vienna

2008-01-19T03:04:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 (previously codenamed Blackcomb, then Vienna) is scheduled to be the next major client version of Microsoft Windows, expected to be the successor of Windows Vista. Sources indicate that Windows 7 should be finished in the second half of 2009.[1]
Microsoft has refrained from discussing the details about Windows 7 publicly as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista,[2] though some early details of various core

read more goto

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

Do you think vista is a failure?

some useful stuff-purely freeware

2008-01-12T03:09:00.000-08:00

STOIK Video Converter2

is the new release of popular freeware utility which has millions of satisfied users who enjoy power, speed, and simplicity of this versatile instrument - a rare combination in the world of modern video compression technologies. Second version brings further functional and interface enhancements, while preserving the straightforward interface design which makes this program so easy and fun to use.http://www.stoik.com/products/svc/

SmartRipper v2.41

'SmartRipper is a DVD VOB file extractor (so called "DVD ripper"). The program is loaded with nice features like per-chapter splitting of VOB files, angle processing, etc. It also displays statistics such as length, size, and max/min/average bitrate for every chapter and active selection.http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Rip-Other-Tools/SmartRipper.shtml Open Suse 10.2The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, openSUSE.org provides free, easy access to the world's most usable Linux distribution, openSUSE. The openSUSE project gives Linux developers and enthusiasts everything they need to get started with Linux.http://software.opensuse.org/

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 7.5

AVG Anti-Virus has been protecting computers around the world for more than 12 years! AVG Anti-Virus FREE Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Anti-Virus FREE is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Anti-Virus FREE is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).Highlights include:- Automatic update functionality- The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run- The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail- The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests- The AVG heueristic analysing monitor- Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product- AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files- Great customer satisfaction!http://www.grisoft.cz/filedir/inst/avg75free_476a1048.exe

Comodo Free Firewall

Comodo's free Firewall product offers a richer feature set and better protection than paid-for versions from the likes of Mcaffee or Zonealarm. Suitable for both home users and businesses alike, the firewall features both inbound and outbound packet filtering in combination with robust outbound application filtering at the network layer. The new-look interface facilitates quick and easy access to all major settings, including the powerful and highly configurable security rules interfaceIt'sFree. Forever. No Catch. No Kiddinghttp://download.comodo.com/cpf/download/setups/release/CFP_Setup_English_2.4.18.184.exe

VLC media player for Windows

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

GIMP for Windows

It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. The terms of usage and rules about copying are clearly listed in the GNU General Public License.Dont forget to download gtk run time environment or gimp wont runhttp://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Fire Fox 2

Firefox is a free award winning browser.It offers faster browsing and more security features and powerful new features that make your online experience even better.It is customizible and offers plugins to expand the featues
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Thubder bird 2Mozilla’s

Thunderbird 2 email application is more powerful than ever. It’s now even easier to organize, secure and customize your mail.Thunderbird 2 features many new enhancements to help you better manage your unruly inbox, and stay informed. Thunderbird 2 scales to the most sophisticated organizational needs while making it easy to find what you need.http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

sparkle 8600gt ddr2 512mb

2008-01-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

With DirectX 10 games like crysis and bioshock hitting the shelves its time we upgraded to the new generation of Graphic cards.Here i am reviewing Nvidias mid-range directx10 card-Sparkle 8600gt 512mb.the card was tested on a system with the following specs;

processor: Amd athlon X2 4000+

Ram: 1gb ddr2

hard disk: segate 160gb sata

sparkle 8600gt 512mb

os: windows vista 32bit

The card came in a fairly large pearl colored box.It contained the card in an antistatic bag,a driver cd,video cables and a manual.The card costed 120$.No games came with the card.The card looked very similar to the 6600gt with not a very large cooler and it idled at 50 degrees and about 60-65 on load.I somehow felt the cooler was small so i tried placing an NVsilencer 6 and to my suprise it sat perfectly and moreover i notices a 10 degrees drop with the card running at 39 degrees idle and 48 on full load.

Crysis performance:

The first thing i did was install crysis and see how the card could handle it.By default the game set the video settings to medium specs and res:1024 x 768..The game ran perfectly with Fps about 14-22.I downloaded a tweak file from incrysis.com forums and with this i could run the game smoothly on high settings and texture resolution to medium on 1024x768 at 11fps and 1280x1024 at 9fps but the game was very much playable

hiiiii

2008-01-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

welcome 2008

i wish everybody a happy and prosperous new year!!!!!!!!