Passive vs. Active CPU cooling with Thermalright Coolers
Comparing active versus passive cooling....

What can I say, I really like Thermalright made coolers and now this article compares them...

Introduction

Today’s review is more of a comparison than a true review – we are comparing three of Thermalright’s top-of-the-line CPU heatsinks in passive, pseudo-passive, and active cooling modes. Our three contenders include the Thermalright HR-01, the XP-120, and the Ultra-120. What we really want to find out is how the HR-01, which is designed for passive cooling, compares to the XP-120 and Ultra-120, which rely on active cooling with a fan. The HR-01 will be tested with, and without, a Thermalright 120mm Fan Duct. All testing was performed on an Intel P4 Extreme Edition dual core 955 CPU heater inside a closed mid-tower case.

Read all about it here courtesy of pcper.com:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=286

-Eric

Microsoft expected to release Vista RC1 today

Microsoft allows the intrepid a free download of release candidate 1 for consumption. The real question is, "will anyone be able to use it?"

By Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service August 28, 2006

Reviewers will soon be getting their hands on the first release candidate of Windows Vista, which means Microsoft could be on target to deliver the OS to business customers according to schedule before the end of the year.

Microsoft is expected to give product reviewers access to Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) as soon as Tuesday, and the code looks set to drop publicly as early as Sept. 5. Microsoft has maintained it would have Windows Vista RC1 available by the end of September.

When Microsoft makes available the first release candidate of a product, it means the software is in its final stages of being ready to head to the manufacturer. The goal of making RC1 available is to show testers as close to a final version of the product as possible so Microsoft can identify and get rid of all of the last-minute bugs before putting the product on CDs.

"It's like throwing one of those roach bombs in an empty apartment and see what comes out," said Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research of the RC1 testing process. "They're looking .. [to see] if there any bugs hiding in the walls somewhere."

Read all about it here, courtesy of InfoWorld.com:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/28/HNrc1imminent_1.html
-Eric

Intel "Kentsfield" Quad Core CPU to debut this year
1000 dollars buys you a quad core cpu running at 2.66 GHz...now you can play F.E.A.R., surf "pron", read email and photoshop at the same time.

Four 2.66GHz Intel CPUs on a single package for just a grand

Intel's newest roadmap started making the rounds last week, and the headline title across the roadmap was absolutely Kentsfield, Intel's upcoming quad-core processor. During last month's investor call, Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced the chips would be shipping this year, as opposed to Q1'07 that was originally slated on the roadmap.

Now a few additional details of Kentsfield have slipped out. Intel's most recent roadmap claims Kentsfield, which will ship as a Core 2 Extreme branded processor, will run each core at 2.66GHz and a 1066MHz front-side bus. Essentially, the processor is two Core 2 Duo E6700 processors packaged onto a single CPU.

There is no announced ship date of Kentsfield yet, though Intel has announced that the processor will ship for $999 -- the same as every other "Extreme" processor the company has announced. Intel has no price cuts for the E6700 processor planned until after the quad-core Kentsfield launch as well. Since the E6700 has a distributor price of $530, the Kentsfield actually offers some discount for the second core.

Absentees from Intel's roadmaps include a 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme processor. The company officially stated that such a processor would follow the existing 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme that is available today. However, it seems fairly evident that the quad-core Kentsfield has
supplanted any new dual-core Extreme processors.

Read all about it here, courtest of Dailytech.com:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3829

-Eric

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Halfway house for Internet addicts opens

Its only a matter of time before internet addiction gets labeled a disability and has drugs prescribed for it's "treatment"...

Updated: 8:13 a.m. ET Aug 24, 2006

SHANGHAI - Mainland China has opened its first halfway house for Internet addicts, offering shell-shocked teenagers counseling, books -- and the use of computers.

The shelter can hold four minors for one-night stays and help bridge gaps between children and parents, the Shanghai Daily said.

"None of the teenagers are forced to come here," the newspaper quoted Wang Hui, the house's chief social worker, as saying.

We wander around in nearby Internet bars at night and bring them to the halfway house if the teen agrees."

Computer and online gaming has exploded in China in recent years, with an estimated 14 million people taking part.

Amid growing concern that more and more young people are getting hooked, China has issued a raft of regulations aimed at curbing excessive game playing at Internet cafes and heavily fining owners that admit minors.

Read all about it here courtesy of MSNBC.com:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14495333/

-Eric

.:Consumer Alerts:. Apple recalls 1.8 million batteries
You might think twice where you place that LAP top with the exploding batteries...

If you own a laptop with a Sony made battery, get it replaced.

Update: Because of a risk of fire, Apple Computer is recalling 1.8 million batteries that use Sony's battery cell technology, which also was at the root of Dell's historic recall last week.

The Mac maker's recall, while not as large as Dell's, affects users of its iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptop models sold between October 2003 and August 2006, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Users are advised to remove the batteries immediately and store them in a safe place.

Read all about it here, courtesy of News.com :
http://news.com.com/Apple+recalls+1.8+million+batteries/2100-1041_3-6109198.html?tag=nefd.lede


-Eric

Bigfoot Networks Killer NIC (Network Interface Card)
Snake oil, a waste of $278 or the answered prayers of hardcore gamers?

I don’t know about this one. Seems too good to be true. I know all about that old say as well. I really can't understand how much impact (as much as Bigfoot claims) my NIC can have on the ping times I receive. Last I knew that has a whole lot more to do with ISP's and their networks, along with the net code the game uses. We shall see.
I do know I would love to see some reviews on this product, how about you?

Kill or Be Killed!

If you are an Elite gamer that loves to win…that wants a real advantage over your enemy in the field of battle…that wants to have the best possible technology in your rig…then the Killer™ Network Interface Card (NIC) is for you. Powered by Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR™) Technology, Killer gives your computer superior speed and performance in online games, which means you get more Frames Per Second and better Pings. Killer’s 400 MHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) and 64 Megabytes of DDR combine to make this a must have piece of equipment for online gamers everywhere.

Product Highlights:

•	Increased Speed and Performance gives you a better chance to frag your enemies before they frag you.
•	Gives you the ability to run applications on the NPU…either applications you write yourself or that you download from KillerNIC.com.
•	Bypassing the Windows networking stack means real advantages for you in online games.

Powered by Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR) Technology:

Lag and Latency Reduction Technology is the power behind the Killer. This revolutionary chipset allows the Killer NIC to offload the network stack from the CPU. This not only means your CPU has more cycles, but also that Killer can completely bypass windows when delivering data to your games. Bypassing windows reduces your latency, and minimizes the interrupts on your CPU, The Killer’s NPU also is designed specifically for online gaming, and handles gaming network traffic much more quickly and efficiently than standard networking products. The best part is that LLR is plug’n’play, and requires no software changes by game developers. This means that you can just plug the Killer in, and get the benefits right away in your favorite online game.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Killernic.com:
http://www.killernic.com/KillerNic/

-Eric

ATI Radeon X1950 XTX / CrossFire Evaluation

When your NVIDIA 7950 GX2's just arn't fast enough for you.

Looks like ATI is perfecting the dual video card setup, with thier latest CrossFire cards. Now if they could just lower that price...

Introduction

Today’s announcement covers the evolution of ATI’s Radeon X1000 architecture with new video cards for several market segments from value to high-end. Before we begin we want to emphasize that the current AMD buy out of ATI will not be finalized until after the 4th quarter of this year. The proper nomenclature currently for these video cards is still very much “ATI Radeon” video cards and we don’t see that changing anytime soon, you can read about it here, here and here.

For evaluation today we will look at the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX single-GPU video card compared to a single BFGTech GeForce 7950 GX2 as well as an ATI Radeon X1900 XTX. We will compare at 4:3 ratio on a CRT as well as 16:10 aspect ratio on a 24” Dell 2405 FPW at 1920x1200.

For multiple-GPU comparisons we are taking the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX CrossFire combination and comparing it to two GeForce 7950 GX2’s in QuadSLI on a Dell 3007 FPW 30” LCD at 2560x1600.

These are the video cards we will cover in this evaluation. Due to time constraints (we received our cards this past Friday) we are not able to evaluate real-world gameplay evaluations with the other products being announced today. We will follow up with evaluations on the Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB, Radeon X1650 Pro and Radeon X1300 XT.

Read all about it here, courtesy of HardOcp.com:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE0NCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

-Eric

Seven Games and One Week: Games vs. GPUs

Another comparison article to help you decide on your next vid card (GPU), only this time it's all about the games.

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 08/18/2006 | 10:09 AM ]

Summer is the time of vacations, picnics and camping. However, sometimes, you just don’t feel like going anywhere, and this is when the latest computer game may become your best friend. Today X-bit Labs will take a real close look at a number of latest gaming titles and the performance of all contemporary graphics cards in them.

t’s the Christmas holiday season that is traditionally viewed as the most favorable for selling PC games. The publishers and developers try to keep up with their schedule to roll out new products right to this deadline while the potential customers plan their budget accordingly. However, it is usually during the time of lengthy summer vacations that we can wholly devote ourselves to playing games. Thankfully, there is quite a lot of exciting releases these days, too.

As you are shopping for new titles, it pays to know beforehand how powerful your computer should be. The developers specify minimum and recommended system requirements for each game, but you may often be disappointed at the level of performance of your particular computer even it fully complies with the requirements. Sometimes it is the CPU that acts as a bottleneck in your system while running a modern gaming application, yet in a majority of cases it would be your graphics card. And slow performance usually means that you are in for a hardware upgrade.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Xbitlabs.com:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/7games-gpus.html

-Eric

The Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide

Helping make sense out of the many...

These days, there are so many graphics card models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various desktop GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering over 280 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 17 different specifications for each and every card! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!

Read all about it here, courtesy of Techarp.com:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88

-Eric

Apple Ipod Manufactuing Investigation
Apple answers its critics and finds a few soft spots...

August 17, 2006

Like many of you, we were concerned by reports in the press a few weeks ago alleging poor working and living conditions at a manufacturing facility in China where iPods are assembled. Our Supplier Code of Conduct mandates that suppliers of Apple products follow specific rules designed to safeguard human rights, worker health and safety, and the environment. We take any deviation from these rules very seriously.

In response to the allegations, we immediately dispatched an audit team comprised of members from our human resources, legal and operations groups to carry out a thorough investigation of the conditions at the manufacturing site. The audit covered the areas of labor standards, working and living environment, compensation, overtime and worker treatment. The team interviewed over 100 randomly selected employees representing a cross-section of line workers (83%), supervisors (9%), executives (5%), and other support personnel (3%) including security guards and custodians. They visited and inspected factory floors, dormitories, dining halls, and recreation areas. The team also reviewed thousands of documents including personnel files, payroll data, time cards, and security logs. In total, the audit spanned over 1200 person-hours and covered over one million square feet of facilities.

To ensure the accuracy of the investigation, the team cross-referenced multiple sources of information from employees, management and personnel records. For example, working hours and overtime reported in the interviews were corroborated with line-shift reports, badge reader logs, and payroll records of those specific individuals to confirm that they were paid appropriately.

We found the supplier to be in compliance in the majority of the areas audited. However, we did find violations to our Code of Conduct, as well as other areas for improvement that we are working with the supplier to address. What follows is a summary of what we’ve learned, what’s already being done in response, and our commitment to future diligence and action.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Apple.com:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ipodreport/

-Eric

XBOX 360 Game Review: Dead Rising
The perfect game after you had a really crappy day at work...

Ahhh, nothing makes one feel better than waxing a few hundred zombies at the end of a hard day. Thats the whole point of Dead Rising, killing zombies in new and inventive ways. This games not only looks cool, it is cool.

Dead Rising

Dead Rising follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance photojournalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. He suddenly finds himself in a small suburban town overrun by zombies.

Introduction

From the official website: The city is Willamette, Colorado. One day, this small, run-of-the-mill town found itself sealed off from the rest of the world. National Guard troops blocked off the roads and all transmission were put into a tight information lockdown. Communication lines were closed off and the wireless radio waves were jammed. Something was going down. Something big, real big.

Enter Frank West, freelance photojournalist. His instincts have gotten him out of some nasty situations in the past and this time they tell him something huge is happening. Armed with a camera, he hires a junker helicopter to take him in. With luck, he’ll score the biggest story of his career. The helicopter pilot, oblivious to the state of emergency, does his usual tour guide thing. “Here she is, Willamette, Colorado. Population 53,594!”

Read all about it here, courtesy of Hardocp.com:
http://console.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTEzOCwxLCxoY29uc29sZQ==

-Eric

Dell Recalls 4.1 Million Sony Batteries
Like either one of these companies really needed another "black eye" right now...

Batteries are asked to supply a lot of power in a really small area. I am beginning to wonder if we have reached the limit with what Lithium Ion batteries can provide SAFELEY.

By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer

DALLAS Aug 15, 2006 (AP)— In the largest electronics-related recall involving the Consumer Products Safety Commission, Dell Inc. agreed to replace 4.1 million notebook computer batteries made by Sony Corp. because they can burst into flames.

A Dell spokesman said Monday that the Sony batteries were placed in notebooks that were shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18 of this year.

"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and/or fire," said the spokesman, Ira Williams. "It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately."

The battery packs were included in some models of Round Rock, Texas-based Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and precision mobile workstation notebooks. Dell launched a Web site, http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com , that described the affected models. Williams said the Web site would tell consumers how to get free replacement batteries from Dell.

Read all about it here, courtesy of abcnews.go.com:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2314742

-Eric

Pirate "Darknet" Opened in Sweden
Tracing spammers and hackers has now just gotten next to impossible...

This is just downright scary, an untraceable IP address. Imagine the amount of spam and hacking that will result from "Darknet" addresses. On the other hand, any ISP that uses Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request For Comments (RFC) Email standards should not have a problem blocking email originating from "Darknet" IP addresses. If your ISP does not follow those standards have fun cleaning out your inbox.
I guess I have a problem with giving the general masses the ability to be "untraceable". Spammer/hacker issues aside, what about terrorists and their willingness to exploit this ability to be "untraceable". Scary.

Today, the Swedish Pirate Party launched a new Internet service that lets anybody send and receive files and information over the Internet without fear of being monitored or logged. In technical terms, such a network is called a "darknet". The service allows people to use an untraceable address in the darknet, where they cannot be personally identified.

"There are many legitimate reasons to want to be completely anonymous on the Internet," says Rickard Falkvinge, chairman of the Pirate Party. "If the government can check everything each citizen does, nobody can keep the government in check. The right to exchange information in private is fundamental to the democratic society. Without a safe and convenient way of accessing the Internet anonymously, this right is rendered null and void."

Read all about it here, courtesy of www2.piratpartiet.se:
http://www2.piratpartiet.se/nyheter/press_release_pirate_party_launches_worlds_first_commercial_darknet/

-Eric

RIAA Wants to Depose Dead Defendant's Children; But Will Allow them 60 Days to "Grieve"

Are these people even human? Someone better check RIAA for a pulse....

Just when we think we've heard it all....

In Michigan, in Warner Bros. v. Scantlebury, after learning that the defendant had passed away, the RIAA made a motion to stay the case for 60 days in order to allow the family time to "grieve", after which time they want to start taking depositions of the late Mr. Scantlebury's children:

Motion for 60-Day Stay and Extension of "Deadlines"

Thanks to John Hermann, the great Michigan lawyer who's been fighting the RIAA there, for bringing this to my attention. John's contact info: 2684 West Eleven Mile Road Berkley, MI 48072 248-591-9291 Email: JTHermanos@Earthlink.net

By the way the lawyer who signed the motion is the same lawyer who was representing the RIAA in Motown v. Nelson, in which a 15-year old girl testified that Mr. Krichbaum tried to put words in her mouth at her first deposition.

Here is a profile of the late Larry Scantlebury. Thanks to "alter_fritz", a reader of this blog, for bringing it to my attention.

A couple of interesting documents in the Scantlebury case, also brought to my attention by "alter_fritz":
1. Mr. Scantlebury had accused the plaintiffs of "telephoning him at his home, masquerading as 'settlement counselors', adopting as actual aspects of the law never litigated or resolved by an Appellate Court and expressing those non resolved factors as established guidelines"; and
2. Mr. Krichbaum's partner withdrew from the case, back in May.
(I haven't yet verified the foregoing documents, but they appear genuine.).

Additional coverage at:
p2pnet.net
boing boing
ars technica
digg.com
RealTechNews
afterdawn.com
Hard OCP
BroadbandReports.com




Read all about it here, courtesy of recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com:
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2006/08/riaa-wants-to-depose-dead-defendants.html

Eric

Apple's Mac Pro: A Discussion of Specifications
Q and A for the Mac faithfull left wondering the details...

"At the beginning of last year, Apple announced that it would migrate all of its systems to Intel platforms by its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in 2007. Earlier this week Apple announced that the transition was complete, finalized by announcing the brand new Intel based Mac Pro and Xserve systems for professional workstation and server customers respectively. A full year ahead of "schedule", very few expected to take until 2007 to complete the transition considering the x86 version of OS X had been in development in parallel with the PowerPC version for the past 6 years."

Read all about it here, courtesy of Anandtech.com:
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2811

-Eric

GIGABYTE and ASUS Form Joint Venture in Motherboard and Graphics Card Business
More alliances formed in this summer of acqusitions, mergers and joint ventures...

GIGABYTE Technology Co., LTD in accordance with the relevant regulations according to Company Law, Securities Law and Business Merger & Acquisition Law, a resolution of the board of directors was passed on the 8th of August, 2006 for GIGABYTE Technology Co., LTD to transfer the relevant assets and businesses of its own branded motherboards and VGA cards to a newly established subsidiary. After all the necessary legal procedures and obligations have been fulfilled, ASUSTek Computer Inc. plans to invest in this newly established GIGABYTE subsidiary to help manage the joint venture and develop a strategic alliance with GIGABYTE. Both parties will work together to increase operation efficiency, enhance product quality, provide better customer service and create a higher value for shareholders.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Gigabyte-usa.com:
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/News/Company/News_List.aspx?NewsID=1292

-Eric

NVIDIA's Quad SLI Technology - Performance and Quality
Ladies and gentlemen, start your check books!

"Today, NVIDIA is introducing the enthusiast community to Quad SLI once again. Only this time, they want you to go buy it and build yourself; no longer is Quad SLI being delegated to the boutique system builder. NVIDIA's reasoning for not wanting to put Quad SLI in the hands of enthusiasts immediately was due to the software questions and instability that existed initially while the driver software was being tweaked. As of today, NVIDIA has readied the driver for the public and we have been spending the last couple of weeks playing with it and the technology behind Quad SLI in order to share our experiences with you."

Read all about it here, courtesy of Pcper.com:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=283&type=expert

-Eric

MAC Pro Arrives...finally
The fastest Mac ever has landed.

Will this hasten the masses from Microsoft Windows to Apple OSX? Maybe. I do know with the use of Intel chips and now more support of previous Windows only apps, the landscape of personal computing is about to change. Mark my words, the reverberations from the partnership of Apple and Intel will be felt for a long time to come. Also, taking into consideration that the release (whenever that is) of Windows Vista will result is more sales for Apple as well. (I have lamented enough about Vista, check the blogs please.)
Don't get me wrong, Microsoft is not going anywhere, they are too large and diversified into so many markets for them to fade away. I am saying the the "all mighty" market share of pc vs. Macs is about to tilt in favor of Apple.
Anyways check out the Mac Pro, this is really one seriously fast machine that is very resonably priced.

Meet Mac Pro. Running at speeds up to 3GHz, Mac Pro not only completes the Mac transition to Intel processors but delivers advanced performance, workstation graphics, and up to 4.9 million possible configurations.

Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor

Ushering in a new era of outstanding performance — and completing the Mac transition to Intel processors at the same time — the new Mac Pro introduces the 64-bit Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processor to the Mac lineup. Running at up to 3GHz, it’s a state-of-the-art processor that — from day one — makes the Mac Pro one of the fastest desktop computers on the planet.

Quad Core. Up to 3GHz.

Every Mac Pro in the lineup features two of the newest Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors. Two dual-cores. One powerful quad workstation. And you get to decide how fast it flies: 2GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3GHz. And at 3GHz, the Mac Pro runs up to 2x faster than the Power Mac G5 Quad.⁽¹⁾

Read all about it here, courtesy of Apple.com:

-Eric

Nvidia Reveal $18,000 PC Graphics Card
What's your choice used Porsche Boxter or the worlds most powerfull graphics solution? I am not sure which goes faster or which one does more for my ego, but I do know that either will attract the attention and envy of the masses.

"As if PC gaming wasn't expensive enough, Nvidia have unveiled a graphics card that will be known to shooter fans simply as 'God'. The $18K Quadro Plex 1000. How's your e-penis now?"

"You could buy a pretty decent sports car for that kind of money. Or, according to Nvidia, you can have 12 mega pixel hi-def video, and a card (actually it's more like a series of cards) that will run every PC game due for release in the next century."

"According to Nvidia, a node can achieve up to 64x full scene anti-aliasing (FSAA), deliver a performance of up to 148 megapixels on 16 synchronized digital-output channels and eight HD SDI channels. The firm says that the fill rate reaches 80 billion pixels/s while the geometry performance is rated at seven billion vertices/s."

Read all about it here, courtesy of PCGames.qwn.com:
http://pcgames.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/10042/
or here, straight from Nvidia:
http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadroplex.html

-Eric

AOL heads toward cutting 5,000 jobs
I really feel bad for the employees who will be jobless, but I can't feel the same way for the software that has single handedly "dumb down" those who use it. The sad part is the employees will be gone, but that terrible software will live on.

"By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

AOL on Thursday set the stage for a layoff of up to 5,000 employees.

The news followed AOL's (TWX) announcement Wednesday that it would offer most of its services for free to high-speed Internet users — or anyone else with their own Internet access.

AOL said it would make up the lost revenue with advertising and cost savings. It no longer plans to send out those little silver AOL sign-up discs, and can now reduce its workforce."

Read all about it here, courtesy of USAToday.com:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2006-08-03-aol-jobcuts_x.htm

-Eric

Video Games Are Not The Problem
The politicians and main stream media just won't let go of this "problem" even when presented with the facts.

BOSTON--Mature video games are not a problem for today's youth, but that doesn't stop them from being an attractive topic for politicians, according to panelists and audience members at Siggraph 2006 on Wednesday.

"Mature-rated video games only account for 15 percent of games sold. Over half of the movies sold by Hollywood are R-rated. The FTC, which does annual reviews of retailers, said that 50 percent self-policed when it came to minors trying to buy M-rated games, compared to only 7 percent of retailers who restrained minors from buying R-rated DVDs. Both youth violence and crime are at a 40-year low in the U.S," Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, and a panelist, said in his opening remarks.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Cnet news.com:http://news.com.com/Are+violent+video+games+really+a+problem/2100-1043_3-6101471.html?tag=nefd.top

-Eric

Corsair HX620W Modular Power Supply Review
The king of memory, sets its sights on the PSU market.

"Corsair Memory has an established reputation in the computer industry for producing some of the best PC memory available and with today’s new product launch they are expanding their product offerings to include PC power supplies. With a focus on performance and reliability, Corsair’s new HX series was designed to deliver reliable, continuous, and efficient power to all critical system components. The days of getting by with a generic power supply are behind us – modern PCs require a high-quality power supply for reliable operation."

Read all about it here, courtesy of pcper.com:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=279

-Eric

Federal judge throws out Minnesota's video game law
In a shocking twist of events common sense makes a return to the judicial system...

"A federal judge on Monday struck down a state law aimed at keeping violent video games out of the hands of Minnesota children, saying the state has shown no convincing evidence that children are harmed by them."

Read all about it here, courtesy of StarTribune.com:
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/585838.html

-Eric