June 2007

SAN FRANCISCO - AT&T Inc. sold almost all its initial stock of Apple Inc.’s iPhone within hours of the device going on sale, an AT&T spokesman said on Saturday.

The combination cell phone, media player and Web browser went on sale at AT&T and Apple stores on Friday at 6 p.m. in each U.S. time zone in the most anticipated gadget launch of the year.

"There comes a time in every once-new computer's life when it just doesn't feel fresh anymore. You know, when it's taking 5-10 minutes to boot up into Windows, the fans are making funny squealing noises, and there's a wad of orange cat hair protruding from the rear fan grille. It's the computer equivalent of senility, your once precious box has lost its edge.Time for action. Let's take a quick look at some of the most common hardware and software problems related to constant use, and find some quick solutions."

This is the day we'll see one of the most successful product launches in history. It will be studied in classrooms for years -- by public relations students.

The launch of the iPhone is a phenomenon. Not a technology phenomenon -- a marketing phenomenon. For weeks, we've been pounded with incremental stories about this new little phone -- it will play YouTube videos! Its battery is new and improved (already?)! In 13 years of covering technology, I can't recall another product launch with more hype that the Apple's iPhone, unless you reach all the way back to the Rolling Stones and Windows 95. Well, maybe Dean Kamen's roller/scooter, going-to-change-commuting-forever thingy. What was that called, anyway?

Sorry, Apple faithful: It's not worth the hype.

Enough with the iPhone already, it's time to fix my iPod!

The truth is, I’m jealous. There, I said it. The smartphone cool kids are getting all the attention. Where's my durable, scratch-resistant glass screen? My video-capable iPod currently resides in a hard acrylic case, which fits nicely in a leather-like wallet (‘cause that acrylic scratches, too) and finally, when not in use, it's gently placed in a padded, fuzzy Hello Kitty knock-off pouch.

OK, that last part speaks more to my personal malfunction than screen sensitivity, but you get the idea. And despite all of that clinically obsessive diligence, a big honkin’ scratch stretches across the display, taunting me. It’s just a lone mark, but let’s face it; every scratch counts when you take your movies mobile on a 2.5-inch screen.

NEW YORK - Visit iPhone.com and you'll see ads for various cell phones that play music — but Apple Inc.'s much-hyped iPhone isn't one of them.

The domain name was grabbed long before Jan. 9, when Apple announced its gadget combining a cell phone, an iPod media player and a wireless Internet device. Since then, speculators and entrepreneurs have registered thousands of iPhone-related Internet addresses.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Apple Inc.'s iPhone won't hit stores until Friday, but the heavily hyped gadget already has unleashed a cottage industry of touch-screen protectors, leather hip carriers and car adapters. Even the most enthusiastic manufacturers said creating formfitting iPhone accessories was an enormous challenge. A notoriously tightlipped Apple kept many partners in the dark on precise specifications, and some of the company's most trusted accessory manufacturers still have not touched a genuine iPhone.

June 28, 2007, Woodstock, IL, -- Newer Technology, Inc. (NewerTech) http://www.newertech.com, a leading developer of PC, Macintosh® and iPod® performance upgrades and accessories, today announced the newest addition to its award-winning storage solution line, the miniStack® v3 ‘Quad Interface’ powered hub storage solution with up to 1.0TB of storage capacity, for Plug n’ Play ease of use with any Mac or PC with an available FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, or eSATA port.

‘Quad Interface’ Benefits

With an ergonomically unique rear and side port configuration of one eSATA, two FireWire 800, one FireWire 400, and three USB 2.0 ports, miniStack v3 lets users connect multiple desktop digital accessories like scanners, printers, memory card readers, digital cameras, and iPods simultaneously and clutter-free. Its port flexibility and compact design also makes miniStack v3 an ideal portable external hard drive storage solution to move among multiple systems for future system compatibility.
Fast & Vast For The Modern Digital Lifestyle

miniStack v3 is ideal for data intensive uses like audio/video editing, digital photography, MP3 libraries and high-speed back up because it utilizes the latest generation Oxford 924 bridge chipset, the fastest drive mechanisms available, and an eSATA port to deliver the fastest single drive data transfer rates possible…up to 150 Megabytes per second. And with vast storage capacities up to 1.0TB, users can store up to 1 million JPEG photos or 350,000 MP3 songs on miniStack v3 depending upon file settings/preferences.

Award-Winning Origins

A passive radiator heat sink, intelligent thermal monitoring, Whisper Quiet Operation engineering, and stackable design are just a few of the features miniStack v3 shares with the NewerTech miniStack v2, winner of Macworld Magazine “Top Product,” MacAddict Magazine “Editor’s Choice,” and 123macmini.com “Accessory of the Year” honors.

Maximum Features In A Mini Footprint

• Up to 1.0TB (1,000GB) of bootable disk capacity

• Up to 32MB of data cache

• Oxford OXUF924DSb bridge chipset with Native Command Queuing (NCQ) for optimum drive performance.

• 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" size

• One eSATA port (rear)

• Two FireWire 800 (1394b) 9 pin ports (rear)

• One FireWire 400 (1394a) 6 pin port (side)

• Three USB 2.0/1.1 ‘A’ ports (2 rear, 1 side)

• External AutoSwitching 100~240v 50/60Hz 3 amp UL listed power adapter

• Auto-Power on/off automatically with computer

• Intelligent thermal monitoring for minimal fan power consumption and Whisper Quiet operation

• 36" FireWire 800 connecting cable, 12" FireWire 800-400 interconnecting cable and 36" USB 2.0/1.1 connecting cable

• Kensington Security Slot

Seven Models Up To 1.0TB Starting At $169.99

miniStack v3 is available in seven pre-configured 7200RPM solutions, from 160GB to 1.0TB (1,000GB), priced starting at $169.99 MSRP from NewerTech’s exclusive distributor, Other World Computing, at www.macsales.com, as well as through the retail channel. The 0GB “Add Your Own Drive” kit is also available for $119.99 MSRP. miniStack v3 is compatible with Apple OS 8.6 to 9.2.2, OS X 10.1.x and later (10.2 or later required for FW800 and USB 2.0), and Windows ME and later operating systems. It includes a $200 retail value utility software bundle comprised of ProSoft Engineering® Data Backup 3, NovaStor NovaBACKUP®, and Intech® SpeedTools Utilities™.

SAN FRANCISCO - YouTube, which has had to pull copyrighted videos off its site after legal attacks by some big media franchises, has enjoyed a surge in U.S. audience share that leaves it far larger than the next 64 video-sharing sites combined, a survey found.

The U.S. market share of visits to YouTube, which Google Inc. bought for $1.65 billion last November, rose 70 percent from January through May, online audience measurement firm Hitwise Inc. said in the survey published on Wednesday.

n a cell phone market filled with choices that now include Apple’s iPhone, what do consumers want most in their phones?

A phone’s price, design and weight remain at the top of the list, with “camera capabilities ranking very high,” said Jerry Rocha, an analyst for Telephia, a research company that focuses on the mobile and telecommunications market

The iPhone -- one of the most anticipated gadgets of the year -- goes on sale in the U.S. on June 29. The combo cell phone, media player and wireless Web device will only be sold at stores owned by Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc., where eager buyers are expected to turn out in droves.

Are you planning on buying an iPhone? We want to hear about your iPhone experience. Send us pictures from the line. Better yet, take a photo or video from your new iPhone and send it to CNN as an I-Report.

June 26, 2007 - A couple of weeks ago I went to Pittsburgh for what I thought would be a day trip. Since I was headed back that evening, I didn’t take my laptop, but because of thunderstorms across the Eastern Seaboard, my sojourn turned into an overnight stay. So I had an opportunity to give a good workout to something I had received the previous day: a review unit of Apple’s eagerly awaited (boy, that’s an understatement) iPhone.

“For any of you that have read my previous review of the Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-6400 memory kit, you know just how much I love this memory. The look, the performance and now the price for DDR2 is just unbeatable. I gave it an easy Editors Choice award back then and I have pretty much been using that kit in my personal rig until a new package from Crucial arrived recently; the PC2-8500 Ballistix Tracer Kit! Same bling, higher speeds. Other than the higher stock speed rating, there is absolutely no difference from the PC2-6400 kit I already reviewed. In fact, my guess it's the same exact kit just hand selected to overclock nice and stable at 1066...or more”

Sunnyvale, Calif.--June 26, 2007--OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance memory and PC components, today announced the release of the Silencer® 750 Quad CrossFire™ Edition under the PC Power & Cooling line. Designed to offer consumers a combination of legendary PSU architecture and the ultimate in quiet power management, the CrossFire Silencer is the ideal power solution for gamers and ATI enthusiasts. The "fiery red" exterior of this special edition PSU is the perfect compliment to any CrossFire-based high performance graphics system or gaming PC.

Next-generation platforms and high-performance graphics cards are essential components for modern gaming and enthusiast system builds. Tested and qualified under AMD's renowned certification program, the rock solid Silencer CrossFire edition not only meets a high standard of quality, but guarantees superior compatibly with CrossFire technology as it is built to provide sufficient output to even the most demanding GPUs and cutting-edge platforms. Complete with an array of connectors (quad PCI-Express, 24-pin, dual 8-pin, and 4-pin motherboard connectors), this PSU is one of the only units equipped to power HD 2900 XT CrossFire technology.

Delivering 750 Watts of continuous power, all Silencer 750 Quad high-efficiency power supplies offer the industry's most powerful single rail design on the market; and if noise is a concern, the Silencer 750 Quad series is engineered to be the quietest PSU available, with up to 90% (10dB) less noise per watt. Expertly designed by PC Power & Cooling engineers, the powerful Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire Edition remains virtually silent even at peak loads.

"The CrossFire edition of our Silencer 750 Quad commemorates a long-standing working relationship with AMD/ATI," stated Doug Dodson, CTO of Power Management for OCZ and PC Power & Cooling. "Not only has the performance of the Silencer 750 CrossFire been certified by AMD for dual HD 2900XT graphics cards, but AMD uses the powerful PSU themselves, and has approved the special red finish that looks awesome in a CrossFire system."

Downloading a large file off the Internet in West Virginia? If so, don't make any other plans; it could take a while.

A new national study says Internet connection speed in the Mountain State is slower than everywhere else, except Alaska. The same file that takes 15 seconds to download in Rhode Island takes more than two minutes to download in West Virginia.

West Virginians have a median download speed of 1.12 megabits. That's not terrible considering the national average is 1.97, but it's far behind the jackrabbit-like speed of Rhode Island, the fastest state, with 5.01 megabits. But even Rhode Island pales in comparison to countries like Canada, with 7.60 megabits, or Japan, fastest in the world at 61 megabits.

The World Wide Web was born in 1990 to manage the billions of bytes of data from experiments at CERN, Europe's particle-physics laboratory. Now the same laboratory is gearing up for a new round of experiments that could generate more than a quadrillion bytes of data every month - data that will have to be processed and delivered to researchers around the world. Is there anything in sight that could outdo the Web? Say hello to the Grid.

CERN has been working for a decade on the foundations for the Grid, which is a next-generation network that draws upon storage space as well as processing power from linked computers. That's about as long as it's been preparing for the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC.

CHICAGO - Apple Inc.'s upcoming iPhone is shaping up as this year's must-have gadget, but several perceived shortcomings are pushing some potential buyers to wait for an updated version.

Worries over the high cost, slow network speed, and battery life are deterring some customers from ponying up a minimum of $499 for the device, despite the buzz across the gadget-crazed landscape of tech retail.

AT&T, the largest U.S. wireless provider, has an exclusive agreement to sell two versions of the phone, priced at $499 and $599, in the United States under a two-year contract.

"SunbeamTech/Tuniq has always offered unique and well-built enclosures. Personally, with the Tuniq 3 I like how the front bezel curves under the front of the enclosure, as well as the cleanness of the bezel itself. Nothing is on the front of the bezel except the Tuniq name - this in conjunction with the smooth, clean lines makes for a modern looking enclosure."

“The Antec P190 Advanced Super Mid Tower has everything you could want in any fully functional enclosure. The several extra features that have been added similarly found the P182 enclosure are a welcomed addition. Not only do you gain the extra space behind the motherboard tray for wire management, you gain the benefits of excellent cooling thanks to the many case fans including the 200mm side panel fan, silenced removable hard drive bays, and extra sound dampening materials added to the chassis to break down the noise. And if this isn't enough features for you there are the included Neo-Linked 650 and 550 watt ‘Neo Power’ power supplies that simply won't let you down when you really need the power. And again, it just can't be stressed enough how reliable your power supplies must be when building a power house dual CPU or BTX form factor system.”

SAN FRANCISCO - After a spat between two of the world’s largest Internet companies, online auctioneer eBay Inc. resumed running advertising through Google Inc. on Friday.

EBay pulled ads from the world’s most popular search engine late June 11 in what the auction company billed as an experiment to determine the most effective means of getting customers to visit the shopping site. The move, however, had smacked of blatant retaliation as it coincided with a June 14 party that Google had been planning to siphon attention from eBay’s annual user celebration in Boston.

CHICAGO - The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars.

The culprit isn’t alcohol or drugs. It’s video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend.

A leading council of the nation’s largest doctors’ group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment.

WASHINGTON - Once relatively indifferent to government affairs, Google Inc. is seeking help inside the Beltway to fight the rise of Web censorship worldwide.

The online search giant is taking a novel approach to the problem by asking U.S. trade officials to treat Internet restrictions as international trade barriers, similar to other hurdles to global commerce, such as tariffs.

Google sees the dramatic increase in government Net censorship, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, as a potential threat to its advertising-driven business model, and wants government officials to consider the issue in economic, rather than just political, terms.

"If you are looking for something that fits your current ATI and NVIDIA based graphics cards, you'll be happy to know that Thermaltake has three different TMG models. The TMG AT3 will cool current ATI 1800, 1900, and 1950 Series graphics cards in Crossfire. Users with the GeForce 8800 series now have the TMG ND4 which is also SLI compatible."

Sunnyvale, Calif.—June 20, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the newest OCZ DDR3 product addition. The leading-edge PC3-10666 Platinum Edition was developed to offer the enthusiast community a solution that fully exhausts the capabilities of the Intel P35 and X38 Express chipsets.

At 1333MHz, the OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum edition is rated to run CL7-7-7, featuring the ideal balance of sheer DDR3 speed and enhanced timings so users can truly take these next generation platforms to greater heights.

“We engineered our newest DDR3 edition with a focus on maximizing performance of DDR3 technology,” said Ryan Petersen, OCZ CEO. “Our new Platinum PC3-10666 achieves the low latencies required to see a performance uplift for enthusiasts upgrading their systems to DDR3.”

OCZ Platinum DDR3 modules will be available in 2x512MB and 2x1024MB dual channel kits. These modules are currently available in limited quantity and OCZ has been working closely with the leading platform providers to ensure optimal performance and compatibility on all the next generation computing platforms that will be introduced later this year.

CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Microsoft Corp. has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system in response to a complaint that its computer search function put Google Inc. and other potential rivals at a disadvantage, the Justice Department and Microsoft said on Tuesday.

Under an agreement with the department and 17 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) will build into Vista an option to let users select a default desktop search program on personal computers running Windows.
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Business 2.0's Erick Schonfeld talks with a group of disruptive industry leaders about the relatively unrefined nature of Google's search feature.
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The function, known as "Instant Search," allows Windows users to enter a search query and get a list of results from their hard drive that contain the search term.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- Yahoo Inc. said Wednesday it would acquire Rivals.com, a site for fans of college and high school teams, bolstering the Internet media company's position as the top U.S. sports site in audience terms.

Besides bringing Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500) a base of 2 million to 2.5 million fans of high school and college football and basketball, the deal also is a measure of Yahoo's commitment to its media business following top-level management changes this week.
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CNN's Maggie Lake reports that Yahoo CEO, Terry Semel, has resigned.
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Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rivals.com, which is based in Brentwood, Tenn., outside of Nashville, has developed an avid base among hardcore sports fans since it was founded in 2001. It operates 105 college team sites and another 48 regional sites for high school fans to track local sports, Rivals Chief Executive Shannon Terry said.

Rivals.com counts more than 180,000 subscribers. Its revenue comes from subscribers, advertising and e-commerce conducted on the site.

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. will make changes to the program that helps Windows Vista users search their hard drives, in response to antitrust complaints from Google Inc., according to a U.S. Justice Department report issued late Tuesday.

Google filed a 49-page document with the Justice Department in April claiming Vista’s desktop search tool slowed down competing programs, including Google’s own free offering, and that it’s difficult for users to figure out how to turn off the Microsoft program.

Microsoft initially dismissed the allegations, saying regulators had reviewed the program before Vista launched. However, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said in an interview last week that the company was willing to make changes if necessary.

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department, the lead U.S. agency for fighting cyber threats, suffered more than 800 hacker break-ins, virus outbreaks and other computer security problems over two years, senior officials acknowledged to Congress.

In one instance, hacker tools for stealing passwords and other files were found on two internal Homeland Security computer systems.

The agency’s headquarters sought forensic help from the department’s own Security Operations Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team it operates with Carnegie Mellon University.

CUPERTINO, Calif. - The eagerly awaited iPhone will be able to play YouTube videos when it ships next week, Apple Inc. announced Wednesday.

About 10,000 YouTube videos will be available for the iPhone's launch, according to Apple's release. YouTube, a subsidiary of Google Inc., will be recoding the rest of its videos into the H.264 format used by the iPhone by fall.

The iPhone will be the first cell phone to use H.264, Apple said.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Shuttle Atlantis started for home on Tuesday, leaving the international space station with new solar power wings, a fresh crew member and a mystery over what knocked out the space station's computers.

Commander Frederick Sturckow and pilot Lee Archambault gently eased Atlantis from its berthing port at 10:42 a.m. EDT, then circled the shuttle around the station while the crew took pictures of their work on the complex. Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

NEW YORK - Without any sort of fanfare, AT&T Inc. has started offering a broadband Internet service for $10 a month, cheaper than any advertised plan.

The DSL, or digital subscriber line, plan introduced Saturday is part of the concessions made by AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission to get its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. approved last December.

The $10 offer is available to customers in the 22-state AT&T service region, which includes former BellSouth areas, who have never had AT&T or BellSouth broadband, spokesman Michael Coe confirmed Monday. Local phone service and a one-year contract are required. The modem is free.

An upcoming video game from the maker of the "Grand Theft Auto" series came under fire Tuesday in United States and Britain, where the government's ratings board banned sales for what it called an "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."

Rockstar Games' "Manhunt 2" was scheduled for a July 10 release on Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 consoles.

Players of "Manhunt 2" assume the role of an escaped mental institution patient who goes on a killing spree as he fights his way to freedom. It includes special death moves players can perform by moving the Wii's wireless, motion-sensitive controller at just the right moment.

“Well, it took some time, but Logitech has finally released a new version of the G5 that features the much-requested second thumb button. This is basically a return to the same design that had been featured on the earlier MX518 and MX510 mice, and one that shouldn't have been changed in the first place. Officially, Logitech is calling this new mouse the same as its predecessor - the 'G5 Laser Mouse'. I'm referring to it as the G5 Revision 2, since it's clearly an upgraded version of the original.”

Sunnyvale, CA—June 18, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the PC2-6400 Platinum Vista Performance Edition 4GB (2x2048MB) dual channel kit. These new modules feature enhanced timings and are the ultimate upgrade for gamers transitioning their high-performance systems to Windows® Vista™.

For enthusiasts shifting to Vista and who need the performance of high speed memory, the PC2-6400 Platinum 4GB kit is the ideal upgrade from the standard 2GB of RAM. The OCZ PC-6400 Vista Performance series was developed to provide a superior computing experience that ensures the best possible gaming and productivity on Vista systems.

As part of OCZ’s Platinum series, the PC2-6400 4GB modules are engineered to satisfy the demands of overclockers and enthusiasts and designed deliver the performance and speed gamers require for today’s graphic-intensive DirectX 10 PC games. At 800MHz, the 4GB Platinum Edition runs at blazing fast 5-4-4 timings and offers unprecedented bandwidth and stability on the latest platforms.

“Nothing enhances system performance as much as the amount of memory since the system memory is still the fastest storage medium in any personal computer,” commented Dr. Michael Schuette, VP of Technology Development at OCZ Technology. “High system memory densities become especially important for use with the latest platform generations utilizing PCI Express and other integrated peripherals such as network controllers since those components take away memory from the total system memory pool. More important is yet to make sure that memory performance is not sacrificed by going to high densities. That is where the new 4GB Platinum kits combine the best of two worlds—abundant memory with OCZ’s patent-pending Enhanced Bandwidth Technology to again raise the bar for memory products.”

In the 3D tests we see that the Albatron 8600GT-256 performs rather well for its GPU class, and that for the most part it can play modern games at 1024x768 without difficulty. Turning up the resolution or completely maxing out the image quality settings is not a great idea. Nvidia's GeForce 8600GT GPU simply doesn't have enough memory bandwidth to handle that kind of load.

“With more and more people constantly on the move, it's just fitting that these on-the-go people have a comfortable and ergonomic stand for their laptop. This leads us to the LapWorks Aluminum Desktop Stand. This lightweight stand has multiple positions, like the low settings for typing or the 45° setting for maximum viewing when using an external keyboard. The simple little stand even incorporates a built-in swivel base that spins 360°, and includes a Neoprene slip cover that also doubles as a mouse pad.”

This summer, instead of taking classes or getting a job like other college students typically do, Michal Brichacek has decided to do something radically different. He has decided instead to ride a bicycle from Anchorage, Alaska to Panama City, Panama in order to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. He plans on covering a distance of over 12,000 km in just 120 days and plans on raising $1 for every kilometer he covers. Currently in the city of San Francisco, he has already covered a distance of 5,300 km. You can check out daily journal updates and photos on his website at www.CyclingForACause.com. Make a donation, help him reach his goal!

As expected, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on Wednesday that he will drive for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2008.

Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch at Hendrick. No announcement was made in regards to sponsorship or what car number Earnhardt will drive. It was not announced where Busch will end up.
Earnhardt made the announcement at his JR Motorsports shop, saying when he announced in May his desire to leave his current team, DEI, that he wanted to find a place where he could win a championship. He said he found that man, then introduced his new team owner, Rick Hendrick in front of a Hendrick Motorsports backdrop.

"Winning is what it's all about for him," Earnhardt said of his new boss. "I feel like he's got great cars and I feel like we'll have success on the racetrack. It's a new chapter for me."

"This is a 'wow' day," Hendrick said.

The announcement ensures Earnhardt remains in a Chevrolet, something he desired from the outset and something Chevrolet representatives were happy about.

"When you overclock your system, one major concern that you have to worry about is your CPU temperature. If it gets too hot, you risk frying it like the egg you fried this morning for breakfast. So in order to obtain the overclock you want, you’ll need a CPU cooler to keep your temperatures at an ideal level, so that you can push your system to the max without worrying about your processor temperature. Today we’re going to look at the Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU cooler, to see if it keeps your CPU from looking like that fried egg and to see how it compares amongst other coolers."

“Hard drive enclosures are becoming more and more popular as days progress. Why though? Because a lot of people today are on the move and need more storage than your average USB Flash Drive. The Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure offers many features for the everyday user. Some features that we don't see a lot of on most other enclosures are an eSATA connection, on/off switch, the capability to stay cool, yet quiet at the same time.”

"With the OCZ SD Dual connection system, I no longer have to worry if I have my card reader with me or if the closest computer has the proper media slots. Instead, I just pop the top cover off and use a free USB port on the closest computer I can get a hold of. It definitely makes my life easier, and it can for you as well"

"Overclockers with SLI systems will appreciate the stability and power as they push their dual and quad core processors to their limits on top of enjoying exceptional graphics performance. Ultimately, the Tagan Team has done a fine job of building a quality, dependable 1000 watt power supply..."

“Power supplies have finally reached that golden 1000W range. At CES we saw many different companies unveil their 1000W power supplies. Finally we have got our hands on one from Thermaltake. The Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W power supply is quad GPU ready, has a nice big 140mm fan, and is modular with 6 PCI-E connectors, and 8 SATA connectors. So this power supply is ready to tackle almost any high performance system that is thrown at it, let's take a look.”

"Generally, cases with a power supply are intended for the budget market. I believe Antec had this in mind with the Antec Sonata III Case. This product is mostly steel with a stylish plastic front bezel. There are 3x5.25", 2x3.5" (ext), and 4x3.5" (int) drive bays. Conveniently located at the front are 2 USB2 ports, eSATA port, a microphone jack and headphone jack. There is one included Antec Tricoool 120mm fan at the back and an optional 120mm fan can be installed at the front. Overall, this is a great case and they include an excellent high efficiency 500W power supply. Watch the video to find out more and check out the bloopers at the end."

Wind engineers have created the world’s largest portable hurricane simulator, which they will use to blow over vacant buildings with Katrina-strength winds to test how they withstand the fierce forces of a hurricane.

“We want to conduct experiments to evaluate real homes in communities that are impacted by hurricanes,” said project leader Forrest Masters of the University of Florida. “This simulator also gives us the ability to test home retrofits and new building products aimed at preventing hurricane damage.”

The simulator was made by mounting eight 5-foot-tall industrial fans on a trailer. The fans are powered by four marine diesel engines that together produce 2,800 horsepower.

June 8, 2007 - Jim Kenefick, 36, is the founder of Moorewatch.com, one of the Web's most visited anti-Michael Moore sites. So imagine Kenefick's surprise when he received a friendly voice mail last month—from Moore himself, calling from the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his agitprop documentary “Sicko.” The lefty filmmaker had two things to tell his cybercritic. First, he wanted Kenefick to know that he and his Web site appear prominently (albeit anonymously) in “Sicko,” his soon-to-be-released attack on the American health-care industry. In the film, Moore shows several of Kenefick’s blog posts where he pleads for money to keep MooreWatch.com alive because his wife's medical bills (Kenefick says she has a neurological disorder) have almost bankrupted him. He is saved at the last minute when a mysterious donor sends a $12,000 check, enough to keep the site going and pay insurance premiums for a year—which brought Moore to his second point. Before the world found out from his film, the filmmaker wanted his nemesis to know: he was Kenefick’s guardian angel. Kenefick spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Tony Dokoupil about his unwitting stardom and new opinion of Michael Moore.

Researchers at MIT have figured out how to transfer power wirelessly, a technology they've dubbed "WiTricity." Potential applications for WiTricity include powering cell phones, laptops, household robots and other battery-run devices. However, before WiTricity enters the mainstream, there is still work to be done, as the group's tested device operated at only 40 percent efficiency.

The latest in geek fashion includes an animated table tennis t-shirt and one that lets you control your iPod through the fabric.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is finally ready to fly its first mission of the year, with space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts scheduled for lift off at 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Meteorologists were predicting clear skies at launch time with only a 20 percent chance of a delay due to possible thunderstorms.

The minimum amount of memory you should be running a computer with is 2GB RAM, even if you're only running Microsoft WindowsXP. If it's Microsoft Windows Vista, even more memory may be required! I've noticed that extra memory helps when I play my favorite game titles, and particularly so if you like to play with all the eye candy maxed out. More memory is a must!

"How many of you have heard of DFI? How many of you think of performance when you think of DFI? I know I do. The product that we will be looking at today is DFI's foray into the 680i chipset market. Coming to market later than many of the other manufacturers, my expectations are higher due to the longer time to reach the market. I have come to expect the highest performance from DFI on each and every platform, be it Intel or AMD. The ability to wring the most performance out of my CPUs and memory with DFI's motherboards has made me a repeat customer. Boasting such features as 3x 16x PCIe slots(2x16x + 1x8x for a physics processor), Quad core support, 8 channel Realtek sound and the overclockability of the Nvidia 680i LT chipset, this board looks like it may well live up to the Lanparty reputation. Let's see if it can!"