IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 13/08/2010

AMD Announcing 6xxx Series Radeons in November?
DigiTimes, citing the usual anonymous sources, claims that AMD will be officially announcing 6000 series Radeons in November. Graphics card vendors are expected to start selling AMD's next-generation GPU (Southern Islands) in November with AMD to officially announce the series in October, according to sources from graphics card players. To defend its market share, AMD plans to cut prices for its ATI Radeon HD 5000-series GPUs in the near future. The action also serves as preparation for the upcoming Southern Islands GPUs, the sources noted. Comments
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Adobe Fixes 6 Critical Flash Bugs
Adobe rolled out a patch for 6 critical bugs in the company's Flash Player. One of the fixes in today's update is a "do over" from a failed patch job two months ago. Tuesday's update was 2010's third for Flash Player, the Adobe browser plug-in that's installed on an estimated 99% of all personal computers. Previous updates in March and June have fixed 33 other flaws. Comments
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Facebook Flaw Reveals Names, Pictures With Sign-on Errors
From the "that's not a flaw, it's a feature" department, I give you the Facebook flaw of the day. The bug can be found in the error page that comes when a user attempts to sign in but types in the wrong password. The system automatically populates the error page with that user's first and last names, along with the profile picture, and gives the user the chance to re-enter the password. Comments
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Google Street View Drives By "Dead" Child
A Google Street View car, while driving along capturing images of the world around it, snapped pictures of a nine year old child lying face down on the side of the street. Obviously Google did the only thing it could do in this situationÂ…kept right on driving and didn't report it or do anything to help. The good news is that it turned out to be a prank. The brown-haired girl, who was wearing a pink and brown dress, was apparently dead with her legs lying across the curb and onto the road. "The worrying thing is that Google didn't tell the police about the picture, after all they had no idea it was a prank." Comments
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Toshiba Introduces Double Data Rate Toggle Mode NAND
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is introducing 32nm double data rate Toggle Mode NAND, in multi-level cell (MLC) versions with densities of 64Gb1, 128Gb and 256Gb and single-level cell (SLC) versions with densities of 32Gb, 64Gb and 128Gb. Toggle Mode NAND features a faster interface than conventional or "legacy" asynchronous NAND memory with lower power consumption than competing synchronous DDR NAND product offerings. Comments
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Chat with Intel on Microsoft System Center
The Intel vPro Expert Center Community will host a live open chat at noon PDT, August 12, with Intel IT pros discussing how to take advantage of Microsoft System Center to manage real and virtual PCs, and other computing devices from the data center to the pants pocket. Comments
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Facebook Differs with Google on Net Neutrality
Facebook has released a statement saying that it does not agree with Google's stance on net neutrality. If only there were some way of showing support for Facebook's stance...where's that little thumbs up thing when you need it? Facebook continues to support principles of Net neutrality for both landline and wireless networks," the company's Washington, D.C.-based policy spokesman, Andrew Noyes, said in a statement. "Preserving an open Internet that is accessible to innovators--regardless of their size or wealth--will promote a vibrant and competitive marketplace where consumers have ultimate control over the content and services delivered through their Internet connections. Comments
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Desktop PC Platform: Killed By Overclocking
Is the overclocking market really killing the industry?I like reading editorials like this just so I can ask you guys whether the author is "onto something" or simply "on something." Read the article and share your thoughts on the subject. The examples are everywhere: Intel's $1000+ 'Extreme Edition' desktop processors, Gigabyte's $700 GA-X58A-UD9 motherboard, and $300 system memory kits for overclockers. While there are people willing to buy these items, they often lose sight of the original purpose behind overclocking: making something slow become fast, and getting something more for no added cost. Tacking $2000 onto the price tag of your computer system is hardly keeping in the spirit of overclocking, and is more closely identified with showing off how much money you can spend. The problem only gets worse. Comments
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The World's Best Excel and Word Deathmatchers
You heard me, there is actually a competition out there to determine who is the world's best at Excel and Word. *sniff* Bill Gates would be so proud *sniff*. Some 51 young adults and teenagers competed this week in Park City, Utah, to find the world's best at Word and Excel. The finalists came from a pool of about 115,000 who took part in the initial competition. In this photo, student competitors are preparing to take the final certification test and being checked in by Certiport proctors who oversee the competition. Comments
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Duke & Gearbox
Just picked up another non-confirming confirmation about Duke and Gearbox. Yep, something is going on there and it is not another decade of delays. Just a guess, but North Texas is a fairly tight community when it comes to gamers. We all know each other. :) Ongoing Discussion
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Apple Releases iOS 4.0.2 Update
Apple has just released the iOS 4.0.2 update which addresses the recent PDF exploit used by the JailBreakMe crew. Unfortunately none of the other iOS 4 problems were fixed in this update. 3G and 3GS owners having performance issues are still out of luck this time around. This document describes the security content of iOS 4.0.2 Update for iPhone and iPod touch, which can be downloaded and installed using iTunes. For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. Comments
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Deceased-User Policy: Twitter vs. Facebook
What is the difference between Twitter's new deceased-user policy and Facebook's? Don't look at meÂ…my Twitter account already looks like I'm dead. I guess I'll have to read the article too. As expected, interested parties need to send in several pieces of information about how they relate to that person before Twitter will take action. Once the proper credentials have been sent to the company (via e-mail or snail mail), Twitter is then able to do one of two things: either remove a deceased user's account entirely, or provide an archive of all that user's tweets so family members can access them offline. Comments
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Gearbox Working on Duke Nukem Forever?
The rumor of the day has to be this one claiming that Gearbox Software is working on Duke Nukem Forever. If true, the bright side is that there is probably no better group of people to hand that game off to than Randy and the crew at Gearbox. Attributing the rumor to sources "claiming to have knowledge of the situation" and "sources who wished to remain anonymous," Kotaku reports that Gearbox Software has picked up development of Duke Nukem Forever, the on-hold first-person shooter that was in development at 3D Realms for so long that Wired awarded it a lifetime vaporware award in January 2004. Comments
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PC Power & Cooling Silencer MkII 950W PSU
Buying a new PSU any time soon? Well, before you part with your hard earned cash, make sure you guys check out today's evaluation of the PC Power & Cooling Silencer MkII 950W power supply. We test one of the latest PC Power & Cooling computer power supplies on the market. Does it strike a balance between server and enthusiast needs? We at least know one thing just by looking at the box, this one might actually live up to the "Silencer" branding for a change since the 80mm cooling fan is now gone. Comments
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