IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 27/08/2010

Thermalright HR-02 Passive Processor Heatsink
If you have the room in your case (and in your budget) for a top of the line silent cooling solution, the Thermalright HR-02 Passive Processor heatsink could be just what you need. Looking to cool a 130 watt processor with a passive heatsink? I am not sure many of us are, but if you are looking to silence a powerhouse enthusiast system, passive cooling is now a way you can go. We have a look at Thermalright's passive HR-02. And yes, you can put a "silent" fan on it as well if you wish. Comments
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Sony Says Expect Game Discs for at Least Ten Years
While digital downloads are becoming more and more popular, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai says that you can expect physical discs for "at least" ten years. We do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn't as robust as one would hope," he said. "There's always going to be requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium. "To think everything will be downloaded in two years, three years or even ten years from now is taking it a little bit to the extreme." Comments
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Software Predicts Criminal Behavior
Call me skeptical but I have a hard time believing that this will work. Leave it to Washington DC to spend money on something that didn't even work in the movies. Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software is already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation or parole are most likely to murder and to be murdered. In his latest version, the one being implemented in D.C., Berk goes even further, identifying the individuals most likely to commit crimes other than murder. Comments
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Target Launches Electronics, Video Game Trade-In Service
Today Target® announced three new consumer electronics services that will provide guests with an enhanced shopping experience both in-store and at home – 1-877-myTGTtech, Target Mobile and Target Electronics Trade-In. 1-877- myTGTtech is a free product support hotline for all Target electronics purchases. Target Mobile offers a convenient in-store and online cellular shopping experience. Target Electronics Trade-In will allow guests to receive credit towards any Target purchase by turning in their new or used video games, mobile phones and iPods. Comments
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Mass Effect Assault Rifle Replica
Not to be outdone by last week's Fallout 3 replica plasma gun (here), Harrison Krix put together this bad ass Mass Effect assault rifle replica. Comments
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Dell Outbids HP For 3Par
It looks like Dell dug a little deeper in the company coffers to top a $1.5B offer from HP to buy data storage maker 3Par. Dell says the deal is solid but you never know, HP could come back with a bigger offer. Anyone betting on a $1.6B bid? Dell's new offer is $24.30 a share in cash, up from its $18-per-share offer, or about $1.13 billion, on Aug. 16. Rival HP had countered with an offer of about $1.5 billion on Monday, or about $24 per share. The back-and-forth bidding for such an obscure company underscores how serious Dell and HP are about finding more profitable businesses than selling computers. Comments
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Music Tech Guru Says Web is Not The Enemy
It is nice to finally hear someone in the music industry, especially someone this influential, say what we've all known for yearsÂ…the internet is not the enemy. Jac Holzman, the man who discovered The Doors, founded Elektra Records, and nudged the big recording companies into adopting the compact disc, considers the Web and says: "I think the music industry has a bright future." Comments
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Iranian Government Runs Public Warez Server
The Iranian government is running a public warez server. In other news, Iran has computers. The Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology is directly connected to the Iranian Government. Aside from evaluating and advising policy makers on science and technology issues, the largest research outfit in the country also provides a warez server where Photoshop, MS Office and many other applications can be downloaded for free, totally legal thanks to Iran's lenient copyright policy. Comments
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Netflix Pays Pennies To Stream Movies
According to BusinessWeek, it only costs Netflix five cents to stream an HD movie, less for a standard version. Wow. Just think about how much money they save over mailing movies to people. Frost & Sullivan says Akamai charges a customer like Netflix about 5 cents for an HD movie, compared with about 3 cents for standard definition. "We're right on the cusp of rapid adoption" of HD, Sagan says. Comments
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Google Likes Pot More Than Facebook
Well this explains a lot Google's recent behavior....they are pot heads. "Facebook's concocted prissiness over political advocacy is more to be disparaged than imitated. Freedom of expression is made of sterner stuff. Google deserves applause for exposing Facebook to shame." Comments
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Thermalright HR-02 Passive Processor Heatsink Review
Looking to cool a 130 watt processor with a passive heatsink? I am not sure many of us are, but if you are looking to silence a powerhouse enthusiast system, passive cooling is now a way you can go. We have a look at Thermalright's passive HR-02. And yes, you can put a "silent" fan on it as well if you wish.
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Facebook Solves A Crime
I know it may be hard to believe, but Facebook actually helped the authorities catch a crook! See, Facebook isn't all bad. Hit the link for the whole story. Deputies asked the victim if they knew who the owner of the suspicious truck was and the victim looked up the name on Facebook and found the owner of the truck had a boyfriend who resembled the suspect. OCSO investigators identified Daniel Edward Fair from the surveillance video and Facebook. The 27-year-old surrendered at the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. Comments
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Scareware Haunts Airport Internet Terminals
Symantec is warning people about picking up anything nasty / virus ridden at the airportÂ…oh yeah and there is also scareware on the internet terminals too. Many airports have public Internet terminals for passengers without their own laptops to check email or browse the Web. In a large airport in England, we noticed one terminal with an usual "Defense Center Installer" dialog box. "Defense Center Installer" is a fake anti-virus software, also known as "scareware". Comments
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iTunes Hacked, PayPal Accounts Drained!
So the story that started out "iTunes HACKED, bank account drained!" wasn't Apple's fault at all. There is no "major security hole" in iTunes or PayPal and Steve Jobs didn't steal your money either. Damn, I was ready to pounce on this one too. Reports are appearing this morning about a major security hole in iTunes accounts linked to PayPal. At least one group of scammers has found a way to charge thousands of dollars to iTunes accounts through PayPal. One targeted customer told us, "My account was charged over $4700. I called security at PayPal and was told a large number of iTunes store accounts were compromised." Comments
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GTX 480 SLI PCIe Bandwidth Perf. - x16/x16 vs. x4/x4
Previously we tested real world gaming with x16/x16, x16/x8, x8/x8 dual video card configurations and compared results. Some of our readers were very surprised with the data. This time we have scaled down to x4/x4 to see if that negatively impacts performance at all in a single display configuration.
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