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Adobe Releases Free Photoshop CS6 Beta With New Features
Subject: General Tech | March 26, 2012 - 08:55 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: windows, software, photoshop, mac, editing
Adobe, the company best known for its popular prosumer photo and video editing suites and Flash player recently released a free beta version of its upcoming Photoshop CS6 photo editing software. Available for both Macintosh and Windows, the downloads are now up for grabs and should be good until the final version of Photoshop CS6 is released (later this year). The company also released a video demonstration of Senior Creative Director Russel Brown showing off several of the new features in CS6. The big new features of CS6 include the new Content Aware Move (and Fill), improved crop, new blurs, RAW 7.0 support, and adaptive wide angle lens correction. The video below shows how the new features work to enhance photos.
The Photoshop CS6 Interface
I downloaded the 64-bit version for Windows and tried out the new features. The first thing I noticed is that the tool tips seem a big buggy and can take a few tries to get them to show up. Also, in the Video Mr. Brown clicks on the Content Aware Move tool on the left but in order to actually get to it, you need to right click on the move icon as the default left click action is not for the Content Aware option. After I figured that out -- and this may indeed be common knowledge for Photoshop users, but was not for someone used to GIMP and Paint.net -- I found that the new features were pretty cool and it ran fairly quickly on my system. I would like to see the icons be a bit larger but otherwise the interface was snappy and while I stumbled at some points I think it has more to do with being used to how my usual photo editors work rather than an inherent problem with Photoshop's interface.
I have to say that the Content Aware tools are pretty neat, and in no time I had a fleet of Corgi puppies running around the yard! And the Content Aware Move tool allowed me to move the corgis around without needing to go back and try to clone the grass back in (which I've never been too good at, heh). Granted this is something that was do-able in the past but it required quite a bit more work! It is not perfect, but it is pretty darn good for an automatic process. I was not able to test out the improved RAW support, however. The video demo made the feature look cool and I'm sure people will find it very useful. The adaptive wide angle feature further will be very useful for correcting the fish eye effect and other distortions with minimal effort. The ability for it to pull lens profiles from metadata to assist in correcting the distortion is pretty neat.
The downloads weigh in at 1.7 GB for the Windows .zip and 984 MB for the Mac .dmg file respectively. The Windows download also includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Both downloads are available here. The beta further includes both CS6 and CS6 Extended features, though the extra features will only be included in the Extended version when the retail version is released.
Russel Brown shows off new features in Adobe's Photoshop CS6.
Windows Live Messenger or mass censor? No TPB links in chat
Subject: General Tech | March 26, 2012 - 02:21 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: MSN Messenger, censorship
Microsoft disables linking The Pirate Bay through Windows Live Messenger and third-party applications using the protocol.
A few years ago, one common attack vector for malware was to hijack messenger clients and send malware links to users on your friends list. Later malware was programmed aggressively enough to hold simple conversation as they attempted to gain the user's trust.
At some point, Microsoft decided to block links to known attack sites in an attempt to prevent users from lemming their computer.
You're dead linked to me...
Recently Microsoft has decided to add the current URL of The Pirate Bay to their block list. Microsoft has not made an announcement whether their employee, a third party company, or a computer algorithm censored The Pirate Bay. Microsoft has accidentally blocked links to Youtube in 2008 due to a mistake caused by one of their third party partners.
Since The Pirate Bay was the only torrent tracker to be blocked by MSN, it is entirely possible that an infected ad link could have automatically added the site to the block list. Google maintains a similar blacklist to be used in their Chrome browser and their search page.
So what do you guys think? Accidental or deliberate? Internal, External, or Automatic?
Intel becomes a 22nm foundry -- no, not for NVIDIA.
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | March 25, 2012 - 08:42 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: TSMC, nvidia, Intel
NVIDIA would like Intel to be their fab partner for ARM processors. Turns out NVIDIA-produced ARM products are not tempting to Intel.
Last month we reported that Intel would open up their fabrication plants to contracts from other companies. We stated that the world would likely end if Intel were to ever produce products from NVIDIA. It turns out that the world is safe.
Turn out the lights, pretend we're not home.
Intel is far and away the most advanced semiconductor fabricators in the world and many companies would love to have their components created in their factories. Intel is very aware of how sophisticated their technique is relative to their competitors and exercises that advantage.
NVIDIA currently fabricates their chips at TSMC. That partnership has proven to be slightly problematic to NVIDIA's business goals. Their Kepler launch turned out to not be nearly as soft of a launch as was proposed by SemiAccurate -- but that is to be expected from a website by that name (especially with NVIDIA news).
Perhaps you were a little too greedy in requesting that Intel manufacture your ARM processors, NVIDIA? Maybe you should test the waters with a discrete GPU order or, you know, some other market that Intel does not compete in try as they might.
Even still, there was a rumor going around when Intel partnered with AMD for hardware-accelerated physics support. It does not seem like Intel really want to be friends. Plenty of fish in the sea, though.
Catcher Technology Kindles the new Fire in the Amazon...
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | March 25, 2012 - 06:55 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: kindle fire, amazon
Taiwanese-based machining company, Catcher Technology, is rumored to start producing an order of chassis for the new Kindle Fire.
Amazon has thus far been very successful at gaining public awareness about their tablet devices. Apple still holds the dominant position in the tablet market although Amazon seems to be comfortably secure where they are. Sales of the original Kindle Fire were somewhere north of 5.5 million units.
Like Sandra Bullock -- start with a Fire on the Amazon, add Speed and get really big.
Despite hefty sales of their first product, the Fire was based on the Blackberry Playbook design to saturate the market for Christmas and was not what Amazon originally intended.
Rumors have suggested that the new Kindle would include a 10-inch screen and have higher performance. ZDNet recently questioned the value of a larger and higher performance model. ZDNet attributes the success of the Kindle Fire to its cheap price point and argues that $200 is the impulse buy point.
Unfortunately, although strong rumors claim that Catcher Technology will develop the chassis -- the rumors appear to say nothing about what size they will be.
But hey, at least Catcher will have new CNC machines to play around with.
It could have been the start of the Easter Long Weekend today
Subject: General Tech | March 23, 2012 - 07:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: friday, Pelly Angry!
They say that you know good art when you see it, for beauty is in the eye of the beholder ... and airflow is important in this case. Others have abandoned the ridiculously poor thermal conductivity of air for the superior ability of water to move heat. From the basics of setting up a watercooled system to an experienced member upgrading the watercooling in their system, if you have hot questions you are just burning to ask, head to the Cases'n'Cooling Forum for a deluge of answers.
The Video Card Forum has been quite busy this week, trying to keep up with the large number of leaks that NVIDIA seems to have sprung this week (we believe in NDAs at PC Perspective), which cumulated in the release of the GTX 680 yesterday. Are you headed out to buy one right now or are you saving up for another pair of monitors first? Once you do finish the upgrade why not see if the extra peripheral vision will help you frag fellow Frogs on gaming night?
If that is not your cuppa, then you could always join The Lightning Round to weigh in on your feelings about the Republican Primaries in the US or whatever other political or social topic you would like to have a debate about ... except the NDP Leadership race in Canada, after all you don't want to bore people. On the other hand if you prefer to watch other people talk and debate then catch the latest episode of the PC Perspective Podcast available here and coming to a movie theatre near you.
Can't wait for Diablo III? You can get a D3 mouse to tide you over.
Subject: General Tech | March 23, 2012 - 03:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: input, diablo iii, steelseries, gaming mouse
SteelSeries has released a Diablo III branded mouse for those who are anticipating the upcoming launch of the third instalment of the most popular click-fest on the planet. That explains the Omron switches under the buttons which are rated for a 10 million click lifespan. You do have to pay a little more, but if you really want to get into the spirit of Diablo III then check out the review at XSReviews.
"Diablo III is one of the most hotly anticipated titles of 2012, so it's no surprise that bigger peripheral makers are jumping on board with their branded products. Today I'm taking a look at the Diablo III gaming mouse. It's sleek, has a massive sensitivity and should mean I get to spend a few days "testing" it by playing a load of games."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Genius DeathTaker USB Laser Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews
- Steelseries WoW Legendary Edition MMO Mouse Review @ XtremeComputing
- Steelseries WoW Legendary Edition MMO Mouse Review @ XtremeComputing
- SteelSeries Kana Gaming Mouse @ Kitguru
- Corsair Vengeance M60 and K60 Review @ OCC
- Corsair Vengeance M60 @ XSReviews
- SteelSeries Kana and Kinzu v2 Pro @ OC3D
- Logitech G105: Made For Call of Duty @ Tweaktown
- Corsair Vengeance K60 @ OC3D
- Rosewill RK-8200 Backlit Gaming Keyboard with 10 Macro Keys Review @Hi Tech Legion
- ASUS USB-N53 Wireless-N300 USB Adapter @ Benchmark Reviews
- Tesoro Durandal Ultimate G1NL Mech. Keyboard Review @ OCC
- Roccat Isku Gaming Keyboard Review @ Hardware Secrets
- CM Storm QuickFire Rapid (Cherry MX Blue) Gaming Keyboard Review @ Hi Tech Legion
Podcast #194 - GTX 680 Leaks, Ivy Bridge Rumors, a Water Cooled Laptop and more!!
Subject: General Tech | March 22, 2012 - 07:07 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: podcast, nvidia, Ivy Bridge, Intel, gtx 680
PC Perspective Podcast #194 - 03/22/2012
Join us this week as we talk about our GTX 680 Leaks, Ivy Bridge Rumors, a Water Cooled Laptop and more!!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
- MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or firstname.lastname@example.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- UPDATE: NCAA 2012: PC Perspective Bracket Competition!!
- SXSW Trade Show 2012
- Cerwin-Vega! XD3 Powered Desktop Speaker Review
- More solid information on Ivy Bridge's launch dates
- Google Rumored To Release $199 Nexus Tablet
- Seagate Achieves 1 Terabit Per Square Inch Storage Density
- Asetek Demonstrates Liquid Cooling For Laptop And All-In-One PCs
- PC-exclusive Sim City engine demoed. The peasants approve.
- Psst ... Hey buddy. Ya wanna see the GTX 680 under my jacket?
- Anyone want a GTX580 for $360? (Counting MIR)
- Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: A GTX 680 before it launches!!
- Jeremy: If you have RAMBUS still, you have a problem! and Wing Commander Saga, out for free tomorrow!
- Josh: Oldy but goody
- Allyn: Samsung 830 - 128GB for $150 on Newegg
- 1-888-38-PCPER or email@example.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Snooping through Haswell's graphics code
Subject: General Tech | March 22, 2012 - 01:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: valleyview, shark bay, PowerVR, Ivy Bridge, haswell GT3, haswell, atom
Phoronix has been investigating the open source driver code which was recently released, designed to power Intel's Haswell chips. The news is not as good as some had hoped; there were rumours that a Gen8 Haswell GT3 IGP would appear in Haswell but according to the hardware IDs that were found in the code that is not going to be true. Instead you are looking at refined Gen7 Haswell GT1 and GT2 IGPs and so will be an improvement over Ivy Bridge but not a completely new chip. Check out the rest of the secrets revealed by the code here.
"While Intel's Ivy Bridge launch is imminent, and I'm still digging through information concerning today's Intel Valleyview code drop that brings Ivy Bridge graphics to their next-generation Atom as they do away with PowerVR graphics for their SoCs, more graphics driver code to enable Haswell support has landed this evening."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- What's New in Linux 3.3? @ Linux.com
- Japan's once-proud semis learn size DOES matter @ The Register
- Globalfoundries ships 250,000 32nm wafers @ The Inquirer
- First-tier motherboard makers drop 7 series motherboard prices @ DigiTimes
- Intel Valley View: Atom SoC With Ivy Bridge Graphics @ Phoronix
- Weekly Giveaway #24: Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 and Saphira Mouse @ eTeknix
Antec Releases 1000 Watt Platinum Pro Power Supply
Subject: General Tech | March 21, 2012 - 11:40 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: PSU, power supply, antec, 80 Plus Platinum
Popular case and power supply manufacturer Antec recently released a new PSU, or Power Supply Unit, that represents the first 1,000 watt PSU to be certified by 80+ for Platinum efficiency. The new Antec High Current Pro 1000 Platinum is rated to deliver 1000 watts of power, features four +12 volt rails at 40 A per rail, and a modular cable design.
The PSU uses Japanese capacitors to deliver 40 A of DC output with low ripple and noise. In addition, it uses a modular cable design with dark colored cables to aid in cable management. Currently the PSU supports the following connectors.
- 1 x 20+4 Pin ATX
- 1 x 8 Pin 12V EPS
- 6 x 6+2 Pin PCI-E
- 9 x SATA
- 6 x Molex
- 1 x Floppy
- 1 x 4+4 Pin ATX/EPS
With regards to the 80 Plus (80+) Platinum rating, the new Antec PSU means that it is capable of delivering a minimum efficiency of 89 % at 20 to 100 percent load. At it's best, the PSU can run as efficiently as 94%. Global Marketing Director at Antec Mafalda Cogliani stated that "we designed a highly versatile, practical cabling to maximize cable management options and pushed High Current Pro to Platinum-certified efficiency to create a PSU package unrivaled by competitors at this wattage class."
|Output Rating
Antec's High Current Pro Platinum is now on sale at Newegg, NCIX.com, and several other major retailers in the United States and Canada. Europe will be getting the HCP-1000 Platinum on April 9th. The power supply carries an MSRP of $269.95, and features a seven year warranty. More information is available on this product page.
... and here's Newegg with a GTX 680 leak
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | March 21, 2012 - 09:51 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pelly wants revenge, nvidia, leak, gtx 680, fermi, 28nm
Not to be outdone by NCIX, NewEgg also managed to jump the gun on the GTX 680 earlier today. The screengrab that was sent tp Bright Side of News shows their pricing of the soon to be released GTX 680 with models ranging from $500 to $535. The specs are there for all to see, a GPU running at 1.006GHz, Shader clock of 2.012GHz, effective memory of 6.008GHz and 1536 Stream Processors. Contrast that with the last GTX 580 that Josh reviewed which had a 782 MHz core, 1.564GHz shader, memory at 4.008GHz and 512 SPs and you can see it is a big step up!
If you visit NewEgg now you will be greeted with a different result, a page describing the GTX 680's various features and a Buy Now button which unfortunately doesn't work at this moment. That is a situtation which obviously cannot last as NewEgg would not have put it up. Of course the realization that you can pick up a pair of GTX 570's for the same price might just mean some recalculations will be in order once we see the performance of the actual card.
Wing Commander Saga; a rebuild by fans for fans
Subject: General Tech | March 21, 2012 - 04:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, wing commander, mod
There is some incredible news for those of you who have purchased old Wing Commander games from GOG, as well as those of you who've though about it but prefer the memories of the game they've already formed. A group of modders has taken the engine behind FreeSpace 2 and created Wing Commander Saga, which spans a time period from just before the beginning of Wing Commander 3 and takes you through to the end of the Terran-Kilrathi War. On top of the vastly improved graphics and features like autopilot are dozens of cinematics throughout the game, thousands of lines of original dialog and large scale fleet battles. Do not despair if this is the first you are hearing about it for the release date is tomorrow! Check out Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn here.
"Any old-school PC gamer worth his salt has spent some time dogfighting in space in Wing Commander, or at least is familiar with the series that first took flight in 1990. Heck, even Mark Hamill (better known as Luke Skywalker) lent his voice acting talents to the third installment, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. If you have fond memories of flying through space in the 1990s, you'll be happy to know that fans of the franchise are nearly finished with a massive followup."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- APB Reloaded (Free-to-Play) PC Review @ eTeknix
- Dare we believe it? Blizzard locks in May 15 launch date for Diablo 3 @ Ars Technica
- Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to give first two games a modern update @ Ars Technica
- Why, That Must Be Another Far Cry 3 Trailer @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (XBOX 360) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Twisted Metal (PS3) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Rayman Origins (PS Vita) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- umines: Electronic Symphony PlayStation Vita @ Tweaktwon
- Mass Effect 3 Xbox 360 @ Kitguru
- XBOX720 and PS4 Consoles Revive PC Gaming @ Benchmark Reviews
Good things come in interesting packages; IBM's new chip substrate
Subject: General Tech | March 21, 2012 - 01:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: IBM, power 7+, interposer, packaging
In the typically bass ackwards way of technology, an interposer actually acts as an interface for electrical signals to be routed or spread as opposed to something which acts as a barrier between two objects. Today SemiAccurate's camera caught a picture of an engineering sample of IBM's Power 7+ chip which, according to them, represents a huge step forward in a direction only IBM is going in. That interposer allows a huge amount of bandwidth between the four cores on the larger chip below, without specifications it is hard to say how much but it is quite possibly be more effective than either Intel or AMD's current solutions. As SemiAccurate points out, the interposer is just begging to be filled with cache memory.
"Every once in a while, a company will do something really unexpected, like IBM's laying down the law in packaging last week. Yes, they showed off a chip, two actually, that does things no one else is even talking about doing."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Micron reportedly offers US$1.5 billion to take over Elpida @ DigiTimes
- HP poised to merge printer, PC divisions? @ The Register
- Birdwatching Meets a Computer-Controlled Water Cannon, Awesomeness Ensues @ Hack a Day
- Trial finds EIGHT WAYS to defeat Google, PayPal and other SSOs @ The Register
- Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray's Self-Destruction @ AnandTech
- Austin Case Modders Take Their Exotic PCs and a Giant LAN Party to SXSW (Video) @ Slashdot
- Print your own Supercaps @ Hack a Day
- AMD releases open source Linux driver to support Southern Islands GPUs @ The Inquirer
Psst ... Hey buddy. Ya wanna see the GTX 680 under my jacket?
Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2012 - 11:26 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pelly, nvidia, leak, gtx 680, fermi, 28nm
The gang over at Tweaktown managed to get pictures of a retail Gigabyte GTX 680, which is not only better than candid snaps from Las Vegas making it to the web, it also solidifies a few facts. For instance, as you can see below there are two 6-pin PCIe power connectors which pegs the maximum supplimental power that this card can draw at 150W. That is a big difference from the two 8-pin PCIe connectors that could deliver up to 275 to a GTX 580; NVIDIA has obviously made a huge step forward in power savings with the move to 28nm regardless of any design or manufacturing problems they may have had to overcome to deliver this card to retailers.
Tweaktown didn't stop there either GPU fans; it seems that the online\brick and mortar computer chain NCIX made a little mistake and let the GTX 680 appear on their wishlist app. Both an EVGA and an MSI model of the GTX 680 could be added to your wishlist ... for the price of $578.20 USD plus delivery. That same retailer currently sells HD 7970's for between $564.99 USD to $619.99. If only there had been some leaked benchmarks which might indicate which way AMD might have to adjust their pricing.
Lucas is so going to sue you!
PC-exclusive Sim City engine demoed. The peasants approve.
Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2012 - 08:51 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Sim City
Sim City will arrive in 2013 only on PC, with some level of mod support, and some level of awesome.
The new Sim City was officially unveiled a couple of weeks ago at Game Developers Conference accompanied by a teaser trailer. Apparently Will Wright, the original creator of Sim City, will not be involved with the project. A second video was released yesterday which outlines the simulation rules which govern gameplay. It is worth your time to see.
Looks like they have the Wright idea...
It appears as though Maxis has spent the majority of their development focus with their GlassBox engine on the interactions between aspects of the city. Buildings such as fire stations can be upgraded and resources such as coal and water are finite. It is up to you to not just manage your city, but have it properly laid out.
Towards the end of the GDC teaser, it was hinted that your city would neighbor others. While the game would be functional as a single player experience, within multiplayer your city influences its neighbors. Beware the trade winds.
The game will only be available on Microsoft Windows and will include some level of mod support. Employees at Maxis have claimed that they will use the same mod package format as The Sims and SimCity 4. It appears as though EA might be taking another stab at a pure PC title. I hope they do it well, and it serves them well.
Windows 8 To Be Released "Around October"
Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2012 - 02:08 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: windows on arm, windows 8, microsoft, arm
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview has been out for a few weeks now, and despite the controversy around the new interface it does seem to be coming along nicely as far as development and bug testing is concerned. While the Windows On ARM has received much less attention and Microsoft has publicly released very little about it, we can only assume that the company is working hard on getting it up and running on upcoming ARM tablets.
There have been several reports on release time frames, and the general consensus for the Windows 8 release will be Q4 2012 at the latest. Alternatively, if Bloomberg's sources "with knowledge of the schedule" are to be believed, the public will be getting both Intel and ARM versions of Windows 8 a bit earlier than expected. Specifically, Microsoft has chosen their upcoming operating system to "go on sale around October." Microsoft will also be releasing more specific dates during an event for its hardware partners in April.
Apparently, Microsoft has been rather strict with device makers in regards to hardware configurations allowed for launch devices that are to be powered by the Windows on ARM version of Windows 8. Of the ARM launch devices, only three of them will be tablets. Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows business, has stated that both the ARM and Intel/AMD versions of Windows 8 will be released at the same time, and that "I wouldn't be saying it's a goal if I didn't think we could do it." Microsoft restricting the designs is likely the reason they are able to get WoA out of the door at the same time as the tried and true x86 and x64 versions.
More information on Windows 8 can be found around the site:
- Set up Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a virtual machine
- Windows on ARM details
- No more Start Button in Windows 8
- Windows 8 Defender at risk of anti-trust violation?
- Windows 8 news via the "windows 8" tag!
TSMC's 28nm process is going to be around for the long haul
Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2012 - 01:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: TSMC, nvidia, amd, southern islands, kepler, 28nm, maxwell, llano
TSMC's 28nm process has been in the news for a long time, sometimes this was a good thing but more often it was not. Back in May of 2009 the first announcements of TSMC's brand new 28nm process hit the news with major production slated to start in early 2010. That didn't happen on time, much to several companies dismay as Josh unhappily discussed towards the end of 2010. This set a trend for TSMC's 28nm process for a while, for instance AMD did not quite meet their promise of readily available 28nm GPUs in 2011, though a late December launch for the HD7970 did meet the spirit of the agreement. The delays and issues on TSMC's 28nm lines had a variety of causes, perhaps one of the worst being TSMC's overly optimistic attitude about their production capabilities especially when AMD had a surprise for them. Add to that the long line of woes during the development and production of NVIDIA's 28nm Kepler GPU as well as the recent shutdown of the production line, and you can see why TSMC's 28nm process has spent a lot of time being maligned in the news. It almost makes you forget about the 40nm process woes, but that is ancient news.
All that effort is not going to waste as DigiTimes reports that TSMC is planning on expanding their 28nm capacity this year and expects that process to account for 10% of their 2012 revenue. The next question on most peoples minds is the progress on TSMC's 22nm process which in 2010 they announced would be ready by Q3 2012, something which NVIDIA's Maxwell team is probably anticipating with great anxiety.
"With current capacity for 28nm processes filled up, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is likely to expand the leading-edge process capacity later in 2012, according to industry sources.
TSMC reportedly is running at full capacity at its 12-inch fabs due to strong orders for 28nm as well as 40nm and 65nm designs. In order to avoid orders to rivals such as United Microelectronics (UMC) and Samsung Electronics, TSMC will have to speed up the pace of its leading-edge capacity expansion in particular its 28nm capacity, the sources said."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- AMD releases single-processor AM3+ Opteron 3200-series chips @ The Inquirer
- D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer @ Slashdot
- Intel launches over 100 Xeon E5-2600 motherboard and chassis SKUs @ The Inquirer
- ARM's ultra-low-power fridge-puter chips: Just what the CIA ordered @ The Register
- Windows 8 to debut on both x86 and ARM devices in October, report says @ Ars Technica
- Interview with XFX Sales VP Cy Brown @ Kitguru
- Windows 8 tablet freezes in Microsoft keynote demo @ The Register
- Samsung shows 14nm and 20nm wafers @ SemiAccurate
- ASUS Masters of Overclocking Competition 2012 UK with HardwareHeaven
Apple Sitting On Pile Of Cash, Will Pay Out Dividends
Subject: General Tech | March 19, 2012 - 01:44 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: finance, computer, apple
Apple inc, the popular consumer electronics and computer company behind such brushed aluminum products as the MacBook and iPad is currently sitting on a huge pile of cash. Specifically, they have $97.6 billion dollars on hand in cash and securities (!). Allegedly, former CEO Steve Jobs maintained these liquid assets in the event that they needed to buy out a company to make any problems go away.
Apparently, current CEO Tim Cook has other ideas about what to do with the company's money, including giving a small portion of it back to shareholders in the form of dividends. In light of this announcement, the company expects their stock price a grow over the long term. After generating $31 billion in cash last year (September to September), and on track to rake in even more profits this year Tim Cook does not foresee a dividend having any negative impact on their liquid assets. The quarterly dividend in question is set to be $2.65 per share stating July 1, 2012.
Apple is further instituting a $10 billion share buyback program that is reportedly being implemented to offset shares issues to employees. The buyback program will last for three years and begins on September 30, 2012.
After the release of the
iPad 3 new iPad (sigh) and positive reaction to dividend announcement, their stock price is rising and they are still sitting on quite the pile of money even with the new dividend!
This new malware goes straight to your RAM, no installation required
Subject: General Tech | March 19, 2012 - 11:58 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Virus, Trojan-Spy.Win32.Lurk, ram virus, Kaspersky Labs, javaw.exe, fud
A lovely little electronic beastie was spotted by Kaspersky Labs on Russian ad servers recently which uses a Java exploit (long since patched) to corrupt javaw.exe while it is running on system memory, infecting machines without any installation required whatsoever. While this sounds quite bad, the fact is that in your memory it can infect running programs but not move out of the memory without triggering an installation process and will not survive a system reboot. That is why as soon as this malware finds its self on a systems RAM it immediately tries to install the Lurk Trojan, which is when your problems would start and when your anti-virus/anti-malware protection should notice something amiss.
By its self the new virus poses little direct risk but it represents a new attack vector for drive by infections, which could get into protected space and be able to launch an attack from within the systems memory, a much faster and more intimate way of attacking than coming over the network. With home systems sporting more that 4GB of RAM, there is a lot more space for this type of virus to work with than there was just a few years ago. Read on at The Register, if you dare.
"The researchers aren't quite sure how unusual it is, describing it as both "unique" and "very rare", but no matter how scarce this type of malware is it does sound rather nasty as it "… uses its payload to inject an encrypted dll from the web directly into the memory of the javaw.exe process." That mode of operation means Windows and MacOS are both affected by the exploit, which is hard for many antivirus programs to spot given it runs within a trusted process."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Fujitsu's supercomputing MONSTER thrashes Top 500 rivals @ The Register
- IBM shows off 14nm wafer @ SemiAccurate
- Linux 3.3 Released @ Slashdot
- Intel Sandy Bridge Shapes Up On GCC 4.7 Compiler @ Phoronix
- Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro5500 @ Overclockers Online
- Ninjalane Podcast - New Servers Games Games Games Travel Gadget
Linux Kernel 3.3 Merges With Android, Now Available
Subject: General Tech | March 19, 2012 - 11:46 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: OS, linux kernel 3.3, linux, kernel, Android
Linux kernel 3.3 has recently been released for public consumption, and it features quite a few new features and improvements. The kernel is the code that developers than build upon to create all the various Linux distributions such as Fedora, Mint, and Arch Linux (among others).
This latest release, version 3.3 includes various improvements to the file system, btrfs, networking, architecture, and EFI BIOS support. In regards to the file system, the Linux 3.3 kernel supports improved balancing and the ability to re-stripe between different RAID (redundant array of independent disks) levels. Further, the kernel will now allow an x86 boot image to be processed by EFI firmware in addition to the traditional BIOS microcode boot that is present in the majority of today's machines. Also, Kernel 3.3 improves the networking aspects by improving the ability to bond multiple NICs to improve networking throughput and/or to provide redundant connections. Support for a new architecture has also emerged such that Linux kernel will work with Texas Instruments C6X based chips. These chips include the "family of C64x single and multicore DSPs."
The above improvements are just the tip of the iceberg, however. The most talked about new feature is likely going to be the inclusion of Android code from Google's Android OS project. According to the Kernel Newbies website, the disagreements between Linux kernel developers and Google have been "ironed out," and code from the Android project will now start to be rolled back into the Linux kernel. They expect that Android coming home to traditional Linux will make developing code and end user software easier for everyone, and they expect further Android and Linux integration in the future.
More information on the latest Linux kernel release is available here.
You know, where I come from: Dubstep Claptrap is a disease.
Subject: General Tech | March 17, 2012 - 05:26 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: pc gaming, gearbox, borderlands 2
Gearbox advertises an enhanced PC experience for Borderlands 2 in the form of a love letter.
It takes a lot of devotion, effort, and trust to make a compelling game for the PC. Apparently Claptrap is willing to take all the time necessary to get into our pants -- or wherever else you carry your credit card. It is somewhat sad how stories like these are newsworthy. This kind-of calls to attention how half-assed most games are these days in general, for all systems, especially when it comes to optimizing for platform-specific traits.
Actually on second thought, maybe we will need some Penicillin.
The list of PC-specific enhancements is quite long, but most entries are based on interface and Steam integration features:
- FOV slider
- "100%" mouse usable menus/mouse wheel scrolling
- Remappable keybindings for keyboard/mouse
- PC specific UI
- Native multiplayer matchmaking
- Push to talk
- Logitech keyboard support ((I assume they mean LCD screen information))
- LAN support (including OFFLINE mode)
- Control pad support
- Integrated v-sync option
- Support for higher resolutions
- Mouse smoothing options (can be disabled completely)
- Cloud save support
- Achievement support
- Friends list support
- No port forwarding required
Is there any feature that you wish would be included for the PC version? Personally I would like the option for splitscreen support especially for those with Eyefinity setups. How about you?
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text: George Lopez Highest-Paid Comedian in the World By Carol KearneyWashingtonLast updated on November 23, 2017TranslationsFrançaisEspañolDeutschItalianoPortuguês Tweeter George Lopez led People With Money's annual list of the "100 highest paid comedians" released on Wednesday.George Lopez »See more news, pictures and video. Hot newsBuzz November 23, 2017George Lopez goes 'Gangnam Style'Exclusive November 2017George Lopez Reunion? "Not Until 2018" ABC SaidIt's been a rough year for the comedian, but at least he has his millions of dollars to ease the pain. 56-year-old George Lopez has taken the No. 1 spot on People With Money's top 10 highest-paid comedians for 2017 with an estimated $82 million in combined earnings.UPDATE 23/11/2017 : This story seems to be false. (read more)George Lopez tops annual list of highest-paid comediansIn 2015 it looked like the comedian's spectacular career was winding down. Suddenly, he was back on top. People With Money reports on Wednesday (November 22) that Lopez is the highest-paid comedian in the world, pulling in an astonishing $82 million between October 2016 and October 2017, a nearly $50 million lead over his closest competition.People With Money's factorsIn compiling this yearly list, the magazine considers factors such as upfront pay, profit participation, residuals, endorsements and advertising work.The American comedian-actor-television host has an estimated net worth of $245 million. He owes his fortune to smart stock investments, substantial property holdings, lucrative endorsement deals with CoverGirl cosmetics. He also owns several restaurants (the "Fat Lopez Burger" chain) in Washington, a Football Team (the "Los Angeles Angels"), has launched his own brand of Vodka (Pure Wonderlopez - US), and is tackling the juniors market with a top-selling perfume (With Love from George) and a fashion line called "George Lopez Seduction".The ranking is significant for many George fans, who have been waiting for his triumphant return to the glory days for what seems like a lifetime.© 2017 MediaMass All rights reserved. Do not reproduce (even with permission).George Lopez: Recent NewsBreaking news November 22, 2017George Lopez to announce retirement at age 56Cinema November 20, 2017George Lopez to be the next James Bond?International November 23, 2017George Lopez, Time's 'Person of the Year' 2017?Celebrity CentralABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Back in 2006, Inside Gaming characterised its approach as an "holistic approach to managed service gaming."
Then CEO Chris North said: "We appear to have found a niche in the market for fully managed gaming sites where our clients are able to concentrate on their core business whilst we work in partnership to ensure that they are able to maximise the returns from their gaming products."
Other executives listed as part of the group at that time were COO Richard Hogg and chairman Brian Mattingley.
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NHL Odds: Rangers Look for Seventh Straight in Chicago -
The Chicago Blackhawks (8-8-2) will try to get their season on track this Wednesday when they host the surging New York Rangers (9-7-2) in an Original Six showdown. NBCSN has the coverage beginning at 8 PM ET.
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NHL Odds: Winnipeg Jets vs. Minnesota Wild -
Blake Wheeler and the Winnipeg Jets will attempt to get two points closer to the Central Division lead on Tuesday, as they take on the Minnesota Wild on the road. The Jets have started strong, and sit in second place in their division. Led by RW Blake Wheeler, the Jets look like a team that could make some noise in the West this season.
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With the Berlin Affiliate Conference just over a week away, WPN Affiliates is making a bold statement. The online poker affiliate network announced that they are eager to buy traffic and ready to make deals with affiliates looking to capitalize on some big innovations.
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text:
Score from 78 reviews
from 123,8 USD – Hotel
from 128,6 USD – Apartment
from 129,7 USD – Apartment
from 112,0 USD – Apartment
Guest accommodation
from 30,7 USD – Guest accommodation
from 50,7 USD – Apartment
0.01 km
11 Skārņu iela LV-1050, Rīga
0.05 km
4 Kaļķu iela LV-1050, Rīga
0.06 km
Kaļķu iela 2 LV-1050, Rīga
0.07 km
Kaļķu iela 3A LV-1050, Rīga
* Distances are measured as a straight line, calculated from a starting point to a destination point
All bookings are confirmed instantly. No waiting, no email exchanges, no confusion.
BestHomeRiga offers accommodation in the middle of the Old Town of Rīga, 300 metres from Riga Dome Cathedral. BestHomeRiga boasts views of the city and is 400 metres from Latvian National Opera. Free WiFi is provided throughout the property.
The kitchenette has an oven and a microwave, as well as a kettle. Towels and bed linen are offered in this self-catering accommodation. There is a private bathroom with a shower.
Arsenals Exhibition Hall is 500 metres from BestHomeRiga, while Riga Central Market is 600 metres from the property. The nearest airport is Riga Airport, 8 km from the property.
Rooms: 1
Please inform BestHomeRiga in advance of your expected arrival time. You can use the Special Requests box when booking, or contact the property directly with the contact details provided in your confirmation. Payment before arrival via bank transfer is required. The property will contact you after you book to provide instructions.
Oven, Kitchenware, Dining area, Dining table, Kitchenette, Toaster, Microwave, Children's high chair, Electric kettle, Refrigerator, Tea/Coffee Maker, Stovetop
Toilet, Bathroom, Free toiletries, Shower, Hairdryer
Washing Machine, Dressing Room, Sofa, Wardrobe/Closet, Heating, Hardwood/Parquet floors, Iron, Clothes rack, Desk, Cleaning products, Tile/Marble floor, Seating Area, Soundproofing, Ironing Facilities
Towels, Linen
City view
After booking, all of the hotel's details, including telephone and email address, are provided in the online booking confirmation, confirmation email.
WiFi available in all areas
Airport shuttle (additional charge), Airport shuttle
Children television networks
Family rooms, VIP room facilities, Lift, Heating
Free WiFi! WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.
No parking available.
From 14:00 Until 22:00 hours
Until 12:00 hours
All children are welcome.
There is no capacity for extra beds in the room.
Pets are not allowed.
This property only accepts cash payments.
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text:
By Carolyn Rand, Overnighter Cruisemaster Our next overnighter trip is Oct 21-22 on the Toccoa River, NC. This is a class I-II+ rocky WW river, however we take 14′ more »
September Turning into Busy Month
By Eric Fleming SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 2nd. DIETZ to CAMP JORDAN. 10 am. We'll meet at the Dietz Rd ramp in FT Oglethorpe, GA on the more »
TVCC – The Early Years – The Lure and Lore of Overnight Trips
This is the 13th installment of the TVCC history series and was first published in the March 2001 TVCC newsletter. by Jack Wright TVCC current member Bill Mitchem more »
June Flatwater Planning Resolves Challenges
By Eric Fleming. Scheduling Flatwater paddle trips for June has been especially challenging this year. The severe drought last year weakened the trees, but the main problem has been more »
Two Great Overnighters Planned for June
By Dian Lawhon. Overnighters for June include a beautiful paddle and camping experience in the Buffalo River National Preserve and paddling the Nantahala River with camping at Smoky Mt more »
Paddling St Simons
By Carolyn Rand. Photos by: Carolyn Rand, BG Smith Jamie wore us out, paddling around the marshes and ocean of St. Simons Island. He was the perfect escort. I can more »


text:
Spain\'s new right-leaning prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, vowed Tuesday to launch urgent reforms of the budget, labour market and banks by mid-February. The three reforms were the \"most urgent\" for Spain\'s economic recovery, said Rajoy, who has already started on a programme of spending cuts and tax increases to squeeze 40 billion euros ($50 billion) out of the budget. The Spanish leader, speaking in a joint news conference with European Union president Herman Van Rompuy, said his cabinet would likely approve legislation on all three major reforms between January 27 and February 10. Regional governments, which failed by a wide margin to meet their 2011 deficit-cutting targets, must be included in the budget reforms, the 56-year-old premier said. \"We will ask the regional governments to meet their deficit goals for 2012, that they have a spending ceiling and a debt limit,\" Rajoy said. \"We are ready if any of them have liquidity problems to come to their aid but in that case it would have to be in exchange for a programme that will guarantee those results,\" he said. Rajoy said last week that regional governments\' budget deficits would be equal to about 2.7 of gross domestic product in 2011 -- more than double their 1.3-percent target. In his latest estimate, he said on Tuesday their deficits would be 2.3 or 2.4 percent of GDP, although he said these were not final figures. Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro later said a Spanish bill aimed at limiting the deficits run up by the country\'s regions would punish those that fail to meet their targets. \"It\'s legislation that entails a balanced budget,\" Montoro told a press briefing. \"The entire public sector is subject to it, and it also includes a procedure to sanction\" those that fall short of their targets. The Spanish leader promised to launch a labour market reform, decrying the high level of unemployment in a country that reported a 21.5-percent unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2011. \"This needs a reform of labour legislation. We cannot live in a country where 22 percent of the people who want to work cannot do so, and 45 percent of young people.\" Banking reform would be crucial, he added. \"Restructuring of the financial system is urgent because the recovery of credit is capital to the recovery of the economy,\" Rajoy said. The premier called for measures to guarantee liquidity to countries meeting their reform commitments, saying tough reforms took time to have an economic impact. \"It cannot be that in a situation like this, economies cannot finance themselves.\" Nevertheless, Rajoy said, Spain must tighten its belt. \"We have to carry on cutting the public deficit, especially in a year like the one ahead, which is going to be very difficult,\" he said. \"But we have to accompany it with structural reforms and the maintenance of levels of liquidity without which it is very hard for economies to function.\" Van Rompuy agreed. \"Rajoy and I fully share the view that a reform agenda based on fiscal austerity alone is not enough,\" he said after the meeting. \"We need to focus also on growth and job creation,\" he added. \"We must urgently put in place an anti-recession strategy, mobilizing means and efforts at the Union level and at member states\' level.\" The European Union president called for measures to prevent the cash being cut off to business. \"We must avoid a credit crunch for our enterprises,\" he said, describing the European Central Bank\'s decision last month to offer three-year refinancing to eurozone banks at 1.0 percent interest as \"essential\". \"But we also need to mobilize all available EU financial resources in the most effective way to contribute to the proper financing of our economies,\" Rompuy said.
GMT 03:19 2017 Wednesday ,15 NovemberEnvironmentalists take Norway to court over Arctic drilling
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