Wednesday, March 31, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Overclockers Club) 31/03/2010


Overclockers Club
Geil Black Dragon PC3 12800 CAS 9 6GB Review

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LHC Produces Record Breaking Particle Collisions

Cern's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator today produced its first record breaking high-energy collisions. Two 3.5 TeV (teraelectonvolt) particle beams have been looping the tunnels at the LHC in opposite directions since March 19th and today were allowed to cross paths and collide for the first time; a 7 TeV event. Scientists working at the facility were naturally excited by the success and clapped and cheered as the first collisions took place. Many are hoping that the work being carried out by those at the LHC will help to answer questions about the nature of fundamental physics, with previously unobserved phenomena being expected to take place. One of the objectives given the highest profile is the search for the elusive Higgs boson particle, which is thought to have an important role in how the Universe is structured.

Initial problems at the LHC back in September 2008 led to repairs and further safety features being installed that took over a year, with proton beams being successfully circulated again in November 2009. Since then the energy of the beams has been slowly increased in stages, leading up to today's record breaking collisions. A large number of collisions will now be conducted, with scientists analysing the results carefully. This means it may be months or years before the work being carried out could lead to strong conclusions. Many scientists still believe that these first collisions are ushering in a "new era in science".


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Modern Warfare 2 DLC Available Today

Well the long awaited DLC content is now available for Xbox 360 owners in the today, but have fun trying to download it. When you load up MW2, your Xbox will tell you that there is an update available for the game. This update adds a "Download Content" menu option after you select Multiplayer from the main menu. Then the problems start. After trying and failing numerous times, being countered with Xbox Live error codes, I couldn't even add Microsoft Points to my account. At that point I said screw it and was planning on playing some regular, old fashioned TDM. Low and behold, I couldn't join any games doing that either, saying my connection to Xbox Live has been interrupted. Now before you blame my Xbox's poor WiFi signal strength, I have it hooked to my network via ethernet, so that way I don't have to worry about problems like this. Anyway, after about 30 mins of banging my head on the wall, I was FINALLY able to add MS Points and download the ~390Mb DLC. So now that I had it downloaded, it was time to jump into a match with new maps!!! Or so I thought... I kept getting the same Xbox Live has been interrupted errors. After much trial and error, I was finally able to get a private match going with one of my friends so we could just explore the new maps. The new maps themselves look pretty good, although my one complaint about them (besides the recycled COD maps) was that there was LOTS of stuff to climb on, or so I thought. Things that would definitely be climb-able on the "old" maps were not in the new ones, which was kind of a let down in my opinion. My second complaint about the DLC is the way you actually get to play the maps. When you select the "Find Match" option, it brings up the list of game types & at the bottom of that list are "Stimulus and Hardcore Stimulus" options. Selecting Stimulus just cycles random game modes and Hardcore Stimulus is only Hardcore Ricochet. Personally, my friends and I usually play TDM or Hardcore TDM, so the inability for us to select this game type on the new maps is disappointing. Apparently this is the manner in which DLC in previous COD titles was handled. But to me, it just seems like they really tried rushing this DLC out by cutting corners here and there. And for the ~$15 i had to spend in MS points to get it, it's kind of a let down. Have you downloaded the MW2 Stimulus Package? What are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the forums. And it seems like news of this problem is already making it's rounds on the internet. Well at least I jumped on that deal over the weekend to get Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for $20.


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Microsoft Counters iTouch with 64GB Zune HD

Six months ago when Microsoft first launched the Zune HD, many people questioned Microsoft’s decision not to include a 64GB model in its line-up, as it assumed (correctly) that the third generation iPod Touch would include such a feature. It seems now that Microsoft has finally decided to get around to adding this to its series of Zune HD products. Earlier today, Engadget got word that a link to the 64GB variation had been added to the Zune homepage but currently this link is not active meaning that Microsoft is not yet ready to release a public statement.

Currently the MSRPs for the 16GB and 32GB variations are $219 and $289 respectively, though Amazon.com has had both products listed for much lower prices. There is no set date for release or a baseline price.


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Verizon iPhone Rumors Swirling

Since its launch, Apple has unleashed a new iPhone on the public every June or July. That milestone is coming up again, and rumors point to two new iPhone models. Little was revealed about one of them, other than the manufacturer, but the other will be compatible with the CDMA network of Verizon. AT&T has had an exclusivity deal in place since the release of the iPhone, and Verizon has been itching to get a piece of that pie. The CDMA version is expected to begin production in September.


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More Privacy Changes Coming to Facebook?

A new Facebook policy change could result in sharing of private user information with third party application developers. This is nothing new, expect that some of the developers could get the information without the user opting in. Not all information will be shared, and it has yet to be disclosed which information will be shared. As expected, many Facebook users are outraged and are threatening to leave the site if the changes are made.


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New NVIDIA Cards Added to Pre-Built Lineups

Whenever a major product launch occurs, makers of high end pre-built PCs are quick to add the new components to their already large array of configuration options. It happened with the launch of Intel's new six core processor recently and now the freshly launched GTX 480 and GTX 470 cards from NVIDIA are popping up in machines with prices worthy of a sharp intake of breath.

Several system builders are now offering the new cards, with prices varying depending on how far you want to take things. CyberPower has added the option of a GTX 480 or 470 to a number of systems, with a Gamer Infinity XLC with a single GTX 480 starting at $1,569. Digital Storm's GTX 480 systems start at $2,891, but if you want to go the whole hog, then Maingear are offering to put three GTX 480 cards into its SHIFT chassis for the asking price of $6,199.


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Toshiba Launches New Line of Portable Hard Drives

Ever since Toshiba decided it would manufacture portable hard drives, the market has not exactly been overflowing with its product. Now, though, that may change as Toshiba has just launched a new line of portable hard drives. The new lineup will be under the Canvio name and will come in 500GB, 640GB, 750GB, and 1TB sizes. All of the drives will weigh less than six ounces but the included backup software will only work with Windows-based machines. The backup software will feature a "set it and forget it" option so it sounds relatively easy, just it will not work with any other operating system besides Windows. Each drive will also come in a choice of five different colors to help add some personality to your file storage.

Availability is supposed to start today with prices ranging from $119.99 to $199.99.


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Apple Releases Mac OS X Update

It has been in beta since last year in the late part of December, but Apple has finally released its update labeled as 10.6.3 to the Mac OS X operating system, which users can download from the Apple menu by simply selecting the Software Update option in the menu. This new update comes after a fix that removed the ability for the operating system to accidently delete user account date in connection with a guest account, which plagued many users. The 10.6.3 update includes over seventy security fixes and overall, just under fifty general improvements to Snow Leopard. Some of these updates include fixes to AirPort, Mail, and MobileMe as well.


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