I think this might count as masochism

Subject: General Tech | August 29, 2006 - 12:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Vista RC-1 can be yours, if you are one of the first 100,000 people to downlaod it from Microsoft.  Get yours today, and you can be beta-testing Microsoft's newest in no time.  The Inquirer has the link on this page.

Let's hope they stay lazy and pick the easy targets

Subject: General Tech | August 28, 2006 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

There hasn't been a virus that attacks anything but the OS since the Chernobyl worm, almost a decade ago.  According to this story at the Inquirer, there's a proof of concept virus that could directly target AMD processors.  It seems Symantec is busy this past month, first targeting Microsoft and Vista's insecurities, and now AMD.

World's greatest mouse?

Subject: General Tech | August 24, 2006 - 05:46 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Extremetech tests Logitech's claim of releasing the World's Greatest Mouse, the MX.  Are things like a wheel that can scroll line by line, or be set to free wheel and SmartShift technology the best thing since the 2nd button, or just another way to do waht most mice of today already do?

Blame it on the chipset

Subject: General Tech | August 24, 2006 - 01:25 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

The problems with Creative's X-Fi cards are no longer being blamed on DDR Dual Channel setups.  From what NGOHQ found out, Creative is now pointing the finger specifically on long PCI hold-offs that are supposedly unique to nForce4 boards.

Folding on a console

Subject: General Tech | August 24, 2006 - 11:32 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

BOINC is assimilating more and more devices to increase it's power.  As The Inquirer talks about here, the Cure@PS3 project will allow people to Fold on their PS3.  There is also a project in the works to allow you to run Folding on ATI GPUs.

A remake of an old classic

Subject: General Tech | August 23, 2006 - 02:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Thanks to Strategy Informer, there is a link to the full remake of King's Quest 3.  Everything is new again in this remake, graphics have been updated, a new music score and no more typing.

"Infamous Adventures is proud to present a Remake of Roberta William's classic 1986 hit, King's Quest

III. This is version 2.0."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

Get rid of those wires you've taped to the floors and walls

Subject: General Tech | August 23, 2006 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

MAKE:Blog has linked to a guide on how to wire your home for internet, putting the Cat 5(e) or 6 into inobtrusive places.  Perfect if your home didn't come with conduit runs and junction boxes to help you.

A keyboard for actual work

Subject: General Tech | August 22, 2006 - 06:28 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic Keyboards do not tend to make perfect gaming keyboards, there are Bear Claws and such for that.  What they have always done well is a working keyboard, when you are stuck bashing all the keys for 8 hours a day, not just WASD.  Drop by Hi-Tech Reviews for a look at the newest incarnation of their Natural series.

16 Schools Named Winners of the 2006 Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards

Subject: General Tech | August 22, 2006 - 06:07 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 22, 2006 — Sixteen elementary and secondary schools across the United States were honored today as recipients of the 2006 Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards.

Didn't expect to hear this, now did you?

Subject: General Tech | August 22, 2006 - 11:57 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Microsoft wants to get coders in to help get Firefox and Thunderbird working on Vista.   As in actually inviting them into their offices, and helping them work with the new Vista kernel and API. 

What do you call a router that is far more than just a router?

Subject: General Tech | August 21, 2006 - 11:44 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

TweakTown reviews a wireless router from ASUS, that does a lot more than just connect your network.  For instance, it comes with a 160 Gb IDE harddrive inside, which can be setup up in a RAID if you so wish.  Read the full reivew to find out how much more it can do for you.

Sneaking a look at the Zune interface

Subject: General Tech | August 18, 2006 - 04:19 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Microsoft's iPod killer, Zune, still has to make an appearance in the plastic, but some have seen at least the interface.  Head to Slashdot for a look at the Zune, and what to expect.

Free F.E.A.R. Free-for-all

Subject: General Tech | August 18, 2006 - 11:51 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Hexus has links to the newly announced F.E.A.R. multi-player addon.  Even better, it is a free download!

Can it clean the dust bunnies out of my case too?

Subject: General Tech | August 18, 2006 - 11:33 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

The Ultimate Troubleshooter undergoes some scrutiny from The Moditory.  With some of the functionality of msconfig, and HijackThis, plus registry info and more, this program puts most of the maintenance you do to your system in one easy interface.  Of course, the programs you use now are probably FOSS, while TuT will cost you about $30, plus yearly subscription fees.

VIA Launches "Get the Girls into the Game" Contest with Free Trip to Sweden

Subject: General Tech | August 18, 2006 - 11:16 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Taipei, Taiwan, 18^th August 2006 - VIA Technologies, Inc.,
leading supplier of high definition PC silicon for the gaming market,
together with VIA Chrome Ambassadors the girlz 0f destruction, today
announced an exciting new contest: "Get the Girls into the Game," with
the winning girl spending a weekend at the Home of Chrome in Sweden
with a friend, learning how to play PC games like a professional while
visiting beautiful Stockholm. 

Intro to virtualization, add Linux to a Windows machine

Subject: General Tech | August 17, 2006 - 11:28 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

XYZ computers has started practicing safer browsing, without having to fully install Linux on their Windows box, or play with dual booting. Thanks to virtualization, they can have the security that comes from browsing on a much less commonly attacked OS.  Check out Player, the free version of VMWare's Workstation.

What once was old becomes new again

Subject: General Tech | August 16, 2006 - 06:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

If you have heard music, live or recorded, through an old tube amp, then motherboards.org review of the Cooler Master Musketeer III Tube Amp will interest you.  If you haven't heard music through a tube amp, you're missing out.  By placing the vacuum tube in the front panel, the heat produced shouldn't be too much of a problem, as it was on a particular motherboard released not too long ago (the AOpen AX4GE Tube-G).

Good Zombie bashing fun

Subject: General Tech | August 16, 2006 - 12:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

[H]ard|OCP really likes Dead Rising for the XBOX 360.  The open playing style allows you to go almost anywhere, assuming the zombies don't eat you.  Everything can be used as a weapon, from bowling balls to heated cooking oil, and there are other ways to amuse yourself, like playing dressup with a live zombie.  There is a lot more to the game, go check out the review.