September 2007

Water cooling rigs have come and gone over the years, along with the companies that make them. Zalman has been one of the few who made it, and they have done so due to the quality of the products they produce. Not only is the quality good, the performance is excellent. The water cooling unit up for review is the Zalman Reserator XT, which is a stand-alone water cooling system that sits outside an enclosure. This design keeps the hot temperature of the enclosure components away from the reservoir. Also, the Reserator XT is highly expandable by allowing the user to add additional water blocks without having to drain the entire cooling system. Everything needed to get the cooling system up and running is included in one package.

LONDON (Reuters) - The family meal may be threatened with extinction but "High-Tech" parents are now communicating much better with their teenagers and giving them more freedom, says child psychologist Richard Woolfson.

Long gone are the days when parents were much more dictatorial and children were to be seen, not heard.

"The consultation, negotiation and mutual respect that goes on between parents and teenagers in families today would probably shock the mums and dads of 50 years ago," Woolfson said in a study of how family communication has evolved.

NEW YORK - A federal judge refused Friday to block a new city rule that requires taxi drivers to install global positioning systems and credit card machines in their cabs by Monday.

The drivers argue that the city overstepped its authority and acted unconstitutionally when it mandated the units. Their lawsuit also claims GPS will give away trade secrets by disclosing the cabbies' driving patterns, which they say give them a competitive edge.

BOSTON - Network equipment maker 3Com Corp. is giving up its independence in a $2.2 billion buyout by Bain Capital Partners, but it's gaining freedom from the whims of the market and a chance to expand in China.

The cash deal announced Friday also gives Huawei Technologies, China's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, a minority stake in the technology pioneer — something that could improve its prospects in Asia and raise eyebrows in Washington.

3Com, which faces brutal competition from Cisco Systems Inc. and others, is now a shadow of the high-flying star it became in the late 1990s technology boom. At one point in 2000, its shares briefly rose above $100 apiece.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it plans to keep selling its Windows XP operating system until the end of June 2008, delaying a scheduled transition to its newer Windows Vista software by five months.

The world's largest software maker introduced Windows Vista in January with the plan to phase out sales of its predecessor, Windows XP, by January 30, 2008.

Microsoft said it decided to extend XP sales in response to feedback from computer manufacturers who said there were customers who still wanted to buy the older operating system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc, the world's Web search leader, told U.S. Senate lawmakers on Thursday the company is pursuing new technologies to protect the privacy of Internet users as it seeks to acquire advertising company DoubleClick Inc.

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, testified that the company was looking at the Internet display advertising business with a "fresh eye and evaluating whether changes can be made to innovate on user privacy in this space."

Critics say Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, an advertising tools supplier, may give the company too much power over online advertising. Google stores mounds of data on Internet-surfing habits of users and uses the information to make money by selling advertisements.

LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co said on Thursday it would stop operating its U.S.-based mobile phone service at the end of the year to reassess how it competes in a tough market for high-end cell phone services.

Disney said it would serve and support current customers of the service, with Family Center features that allow parents to display the location of a child's phone on a map and monitor its use, until December 31.

LOS ANGELES - The Motion Picture Assn. of America has filed suit against two Web sites that it claims are allowing Internet users to view pirated films, many of which are still in theaters.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday on behalf of the major studios, seeks to shutter cinematube.net and ssupload.com from further infringing on the copyrights of the MPAA members.

The sites feature links to hundreds of titles, including such recent releases as "Resident Evil: Extinction," "The Brave One" and "Good Luck Chuck."

Alien-shooting fans also surged onto Microsoft's Xbox Live online service. More than a million members took up virtual arms in "Halo 3" in the first 20 hours on September 25, the day the game debuted, Microsoft said on Wednesday.

"Halo 3" easily surpassed its predecessor, 2004's "Halo 2," which racked up $125 million on the first day. The $60 game also beat the $59 million U.S. opening-day movie box office record, set by "Spider-Man 3."

The good news is that there are a number of games that have garnered high marks from reviewers and don't involve plasma rifles or parasitic alien life forms.

"'Halo' is sucking up a lot of the publicity right now but that will calm down," said Billy Pidgeon, a video game analyst with market research firm IDC.

"There are a number of things you don't hear about because 'Halo' is out there," Pidgeon said. "A lot of the more family stuff and alternative-type stuff still does really well."

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seeking to narrow the gap with Google, Microsoft Corp unveiled a retooled Web search service that aims to deliver more relevant results and combines text, video and other information onto a single page.

Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said Windows Live search is now on an even technology footing with offerings from rival search engines after years of playing catch-up since it started developing its own Web search in 2003.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. physicists have coaxed tiny artificial atoms into communicating in an advance that may lead to super-fast quantum computers, the researchers said on Wednesday.

Quantum computers hold the promise of being enormously powerful, capable of solving in seconds problems that take today's fastest machines years to crack.

Questions abound over the posting of confidential information from eBay Inc. members on one of the vendor's discussion forums, a sinister incident that has many of the online marketplace's buyers and sellers worried.

Although eBay has provided some information about the brazen dump of member data that happened Tuesday morning, it's not known who the culprit is nor how and when this person obtained the information.

Even more troubling: What has this "malicious fraudster," as eBay describes the person, already done with the names, addresses, member IDs and possibly credit card numbers of at least 1,200 eBay buyers and sellers?

You may intuitively recognize those dirty clothes scattered across your bedroom floor or the piles of papers burying your desktop as a total mess, but scientists have now figured out a way to measure just how cluttered your room or cubicle really is.

Although the research is still a work in progress, future mess-o-meters could lead to better Web designs, improved navigation systems and even smart cars that warn when an overly cluttered street scene may create a dangerous situation.

“For the first time, really, we have some promising measures of visual clutter which can tell you the amount of clutter in any image you give it,” said Ruth Rosenholtz, a researcher in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) sold about 250,000 units of the new version of the PlayStation Portable in Japan in the four days since its launch, a game magazine publisher said on Wednesday, roughly matching total Japanese sales of the original PSP in the two months through August.

PITTSBURG, Calif. - Three men have been charged with murdering a senior editor for PC World magazine in what police said was an attempt to steal marijuana that the victim's son grew in their home for medical use.

Rex Farrance, 59, the San Francisco-based magazine's senior technical editor, was shot in the chest on Jan. 9 after masked men broke into his suburban home.

Farrance's relatives believe the killers targeted the home after learning about the marijuana from a friend of the 19-year-old son.

With Facebook on the hunt to raise additional capital, reports are confirming that Microsoft and Google are willing to explore the possibilities of investing in the social-networking company. The benefits of adding Facebook to Microsoft or Google are clear: the sheer traffic volumes and the possibility of larger revenue streams in the future.

Jayne asserts that individuals looking to perform acts of terrorism could obtain his information from Google, making it more likely that he will be detained wrongfully in the future. Jayne’s statement of claim is that, “Dylan Steven Jayne, plaintiff, has a social security number that when the social security number is turned upside down in its entirety it is a scrambled code that does spell the name Google.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With child obesity rates rising, the U.S.'s biggest health maintenance organization on Tuesday launched an online video game to teach kids what to eat -- and then shut down after 20 minutes.

Kaiser Permanente said "The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective" was designed to teach 9- and 10-year-olds about healthy eating and exercise.

But rather than keep children in front of the computer for hours, the title aims to get kids moving. It has a function that locks players out after 20 minutes -- and another that won't let them back in until for another 60 minutes.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Internet telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. was ordered in federal court Tuesday to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million in damages for infringing on six telecommunications patents owned by competitor Sprint Nextel Corp.

Vonage shares plunged 66 cents, or more than 33 percent, to close at $1.30. Trading was temporarily halted after news of the verdict broke.

At a Best Buy near Microsoft headquarters outside Seattle, company founder Bill Gates was cheered by a crowd of more than 500 people when he emerged from the store to shake hands.

Gates personally sold and autographed the first copy to Ritesh David, a 17-year-old who was stunned to find himself being served by the richest man in America.

“I gotta check your ID to see if you’re 17,” Gates said, in a joking reference to the game’s “mature” rating, meaning it is intended for customers 17 and older.

Even if your last experience with a video game was “Pac-Man” in the 80s, Microsoft wants you to know about “Halo 3,” the last chapter in its blockbuster video game franchise.

The media barrage began nearly a year ago, with a TV ad during Monday Night Football. And as today’s release date neared, the hype machine kicked into high gear. Master Chief, the faceless hero of the series, stares up at me from the cover of my Wired Magazine. My local Safeway has cases of “Halo 3”-branded Mountain Dew. If I fancy a Slurpee, I can get it in a “Halo 3” cup.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Monday that programs available on the Internet that allow the iPhone to be used with other service providers besides AT&T's Cingular network can irreparably damage the device.

Apple, which also makes the Mac computer, the iPod digital music player and runs the iTunes online store, said once an Apple-supplied software update is installed on the iPhone, it "will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc launched an early version of its highly anticipated digital music download store, which is seen as a potential rival to Apple Inc's dominant iTunes system.

Amazon's store, named "Amazon MP3," allows users to buy music without copy protection technology, so that the songs can play on a variety of devices including Apple's iPod.

Most songs are priced from 89 cents to 99 cents, with more than half of the 2 million songs priced at 89 cents, the online retailer said in a statement.

Games don't come much more review-proof than "Halo 3," the much-anticipated capper of the blockbuster “Halo” trilogy. Praising the wildly ambitious online multiplayer half of the game and lamenting that the single-player campaign plays it far too safe will not matter to the legions of ardent "Halo" fans. What matters is finishing "the fight" between the alien Covenant and the human race — and this is indeed brought to a satisfying conclusion.

Nvidia is expected to say on Tuesday that its new GeForce chips for desktop PCs give the performance of an entry-level separate graphics processor unit, as compared to traditional integrated graphics chips such as those made by Intel.

Given the proliferation of graphically rich computer programs, Nvidia, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and others aim to provide better graphics performance. Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, has already upgraded its integrated graphics offering, the G35, aimed at mainstream PCs.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp's Fox Interactive Media said on Monday it plans to launch advertising-supported versions of its popular Internet social network MySpace and other properties for free on cell phones.

Aiming to court an audience adept at finding entertainment on mobile devices, MySpace will let its users send and receive messages, comment on pictures, post bulletins, update blogs, find friends and update their mood status on cell phones.

MySpace, which attracts some 80 million unique visitors per month in the United States, will offer a free version of its mobile application.

"Well, the numbers don't lie: the mystery gray goop in the syringe works rather well compared to the stock white stuff. Even if the numbers are slightly lower, that is good, as compared to being slightly higher or even the same. The ZT-100 thermal grease is easy to spread, and the 3.5 grams should last for about 4 applications."

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has been the target of a big increase in cyber-attacks in recent years and faces more of a threat from hackers than any country in the West, a military researcher said on Saturday.

Beijing has hotly denied recent reports in Western media that Chinese hackers penetrated systems in the Pentagon and in the chancellery and key ministries of German leader Angela Merkel.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be more challenging than expected.

San Francisco and Chicago in recent weeks abruptly halted plans to set up municipal Wi-Fi networks while Internet giant Earthlink, a partner for a number of cities, has begun a reorganization that will limit new projects.

Wi-Fi, one of the most popular standards for wireless Internet access, had been seen as a means of connecting more people at a relatively low cost, and city leaders across the United States had been rushing to use the technology for "digital inclusion" programs for low-income residents.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc is in early talks to join a group looking to lay a high-speed, trans- Pacific undersea cable that could potentially lead to the Internet company becoming an investor in the project, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The potential undersea fiber-optic investment could reflect Google's recent push to provide Internet-based services to businesses, since companies have lower tolerance for service interruptions and have offices around the world, the Journal reported on its Web site, citing a person familiar with the matter.

BOSTON (Reuters) - A few weeks ago Candace Locklear's office computer quietly started sending out dozens of instant messages with photos attached that were infected with malicious software.

She was sitting at her desk, with no sign that the messaging software was active. By the time she figured out what was going on, several friends and colleagues had opened the attachments and infected their computers.

Earlier this month, 25-year-old Star magazine editor-at-large and dating columnist Julia Allison posted a blog entry about the swift end to her short relationship with Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick. The word count? 1,195, not counting the e-mail exchange between the two of them that Allison had copy-pasted.

The 3D "Home" online service, in which players can create and "own" characters and content, was originally scheduled for launch this autumn.

Sony Computer Entertainment, the video game unit of Sony, said it was postponing the launch to improve product quality.

"This is going to be a worldwide service that needs to offer a wide range of functions required in Japan, in the U.S., in Europe and in Asia," Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said in a keynote speech at the Tokyo Game Show 2007.

“Power supplies have come of age in the last few years. This new coming of age is due mostly to the new energy standards set forth by the government. These new changes allow the end user to have a more reliable and efficient piece of equipment, which brings me to a new energy efficient power supply I have from Ultra. This is from the line of power supplies named the X3 collection, which range from 600 watt to 1600 watt. The unit I have for review is the 600 watt model. These power supplies are 100% modular, and the 1000 watt model comes in two style: either for SLI or CrossFire. The new line of X3 power supplies will convert as much as 85% of the used AC current into useable DC current, the rest being lost to heat and other electrical anomalies. Being fully modular also eliminates any unneeded cable inside the enclosure, thus giving the end result a cleaner look.”

Rally legend Colin McRae was killed on Saturday, September 15 along with his 5-year-old son and two others in a tragic helicopter crash about one mile north of his home. McRae was 39.

It has been confirmed that Colin was flying the Squirrel helicopter when it went down in Scotland, killing all four people on board.

McRae was the first Briton to win the World Rally Championship in 1995 and was admired for his aggressive driving style as well as the fun and outgoing personality he showed when he wasn't behind the wheel. An accomplished wheelman, McRae took part in all kinds of motorsports, including Le Mans, sports car racing, the Paris-Dakar, piloted Martin Brundle's F1 car and competed in the X Games, taking silver in the 2006 rally event.

Nicky Grist, McRae's co-driver since 1997, said the rally world was in shock, telling the BBC, "he was such a great character, we used to drive to the max and push everything to the absolute limit. But when it came to socializing we had great fun also." Grist also noted that McRae had a great respect for flying, and once said that "you don't mess about in a helicopter."

Reuters reported that Sir Jackie Stewart said McRae's passing was "a sad loss for Scotland, of a real hero and an immensely popular friend." Moto GP star Valentino Rossi dedicated his win at Sunday's Portugese GP to McRae.

Colin McRae is survived by his wife, Alison and daughter, Hollie.

Please visit Colin McRae.com to read a statement issued on behalf of Colin McRae's family and to leave messages of condolence to Colin's family and friends.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has prepared plans to nearly double its iPhone production in the fourth quarter, financial news Web site TheStreet.com reported, citing people familiar with the company.

The plan calls for making 2.7 million iPhones next quarter, up from the 1.54 million originally targeted, the report said. Apple's plans now call for 4.8 million iPhones to be produced this year, up from the 3.6 million previously targeted, the report said.

Earlier this month, Apple said it sold its one-millionth iPhone a few weeks ahead of schedule.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc said on Tuesday it is testing a new interactive service that lets advertisers measure users' responses in advanced ways using video or images on Google's vast base of affiliated Web sites.

The top provider of Web searching has been testing Google Gadget Ads, as the new service is known, as a way to deliver eye-catching ads that have the dynamism of television but also the Web interactivity that lets users choose what they see.

Some analysts and early advertisers who have tested the ads with consumers said the capacity to measure the effectiveness of so-called rich media advertising is a technology breakthrough for the industry that bolsters Google's push into the corporate brand market.

Google will definitely launch its own-brand handset but has yet to finalize the handset's specifications, OS, production contractor and operating partners, according to sources at Taiwan handset makers.

Although market rumors previously stated that Google is likely to use an EDGE solution developed by Texas Instruments (TI) for its planned handset, recent developments indicate that Google is also evaluating the possibility of launching a 3G handset initially.

TI's handset chipsets will find their way into the Google phone should the company decide to roll out an EDGE-compliant handset, but Qualcomm could turn out to be the winner if Google decides to bet on a 3G model, the sources noted.

The AMD Athlon 64 2000+, 2600+, and 3100+ processors feature power envelopes of 8W, 15W, and 25W maximum TDP, respectively. They support ECC memory for high reliability data applications and are especially applicable for systems such as Network Attached Storage (NAS), Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMCs) for the telecommunications market, and various single board computing and industrial implementations. These models will be generally available in the fourth quarter, said AMD.

Arrrrgh. Wednesday, September 19th be international “Talk Like A Pirate Day,” and to celebrate, me hearties at www.crucial.com be givin’ away thar treasure: two 2GB custom memory upgrades. Shiver me timbers!

Aye, visit www.crucial.com on Wednesday and search fer me buried treasure fer a chance to win. Two lucky landlubbers will win! Just click on the parrot fer contest details on the homepage.

Boise, ID - September 18th, 2007 – Lexar Media, Inc., a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc., today launched its first Crucial Ballistix® double data rate (DDR)3 memory modules, providing increased memory performance for the ardent PC gamer and computing enthusiast. As the successor to DDR2, the DDR3 design provides higher speeds, reduced power consumption and increased densities. DDR3 enables users to experience more life-like images on screen, allows multiple applications to run simultaneously, and provides for greater overall system performance. To see all Crucial DDR3 offerings, visit www.crucial.com/ddr3 or www.crucial.com/uk/ddr3.

“The Crucial Ballistix memory line has come a long way since our initial offering of 400 MHz DDR memory,” said Mark Adams, VP of Digital Media. “With the launch of 1600 MHz DDR3 memory, we have quadrupled the speed of Ballistix memory.”

Crucial Ballistix DDR3 modules feature a newly redesigned heat spreader with a clip-less design, giving the modules a cleaner look. Additionally, the new Ballistix modules feature a Micron company logo on the heat spreader, calling attention to the exclusive use of Micron components in the Ballistix DDR3 product line.

Crucial Ballistix DDR3 memory modules feature Micron’s highly sought-after DDR3 components, running at speeds of 1600 megahertz (MHz). At the Intel Developer Forum this week in San Francisco, Micron is demonstrating an over-clocked version of the Ballistix DDR3 modules running at two gigahertz (booth # 702). Micron’s DDR3 chips are manufactured on its industry-leading 78-nanometer process technology.
Crucial Ballistix 1600 MHz high-performance memory modules are available in 1GB modules and 2GB kits.

A fireball fell from the sky and slammed into southern Peru over the weekend, creating a huge crater that emitted a sickeningly smelly gas, local authorities said. More than 600 villagers fell ill, the Peruvian radio network RPP reported Tuesday.

Video reports from the scene, near the remote Andean village of Carancas along Peru's border with Bolivia, showed what appeared to be a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide), 20-foot-deep (6-meter-deep) impact crater with a bubbling pool of water at the bottom.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp wants video gamers to "finish the fight" when the last chapter of its "Halo" trilogy comes out next week, but a carefully crafted merchandising strategy will make sure Master Chief lives on for years to come.

"Halo" is crucial to the success of Microsoft's Xbox video game business, which has lost billions of dollars since it was started in 2001 as a way to counter Sony Corp's growing dominance.

Hailed by some as the "Star Wars" for Generation Xbox, the "Halo" franchise has spawned a mini-empire of licensed toys, clothing and tie-ins. The game features a space marine called Master Chief trying to save humanity from an alien army known as the Covenant,

“The OCZ DDR3-1600 2GB Platinum Series Enhanced Bandwidth Memory Kit is one such kit intended to offer the DDR3 enthusiasts a low voltage option that can easily support memory frequencies past their stock 1066 or 1333MHz Front Side Bus processors. You've probably seen previous, very successful Platinum Series modules that turned heads and produced some of the best performance results. With DDR3 modules fast arriving in full production, it's once again necessary to raise the bar and draw the users who really want the best possible results. Let's see what the OCZ DDR3-1600MHz kit has to offer.”

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- September 17, 2007 --Delivering a multi-core triple threat, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the addition of AMD Phenom™ triple-core processors to its desktop roadmap. AMD Phenom triple-core processors, expected to be the world’s first PC processors to integrate three computational cores on a single die of silicon, can help deliver the visual experience, performance and multitasking capabilities of true multi-core technology to a broader audience. Offering state-of-the-art platforms and a next-generation architecture with expected availability in Q1 2008, the industry’s only x-86 triple-core desktop processor shows why AMD’s the smarter choice, with its expanded portfolio for customers to offer platforms with unique multi-core options. AMD Phenom quad-core processors remain on schedule to ship in 2007.

SAN FRANCISCO - The dozens of entrepreneurs gathered for an exclusive high-tech conference here Monday all hope to dazzle the crowd with their ingenuity.

But one startup, Powerset, is pursuing a particularly challenging goal: It’s aiming to outshine the Internet’s brightest star with a new search engine built to outsmart Google.

After nearly two years of hushed development, Powerset is finally providing a peek at a “natural-language” technology that is supposed to make it easier to communicate with search engines.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some U.S. consumer advocates on Monday threw their support behind legislation that would limit fees that wireless, telephone and cable companies can charge dissatisfied customers who want to end service before their contract expires.

Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union endorsed a bill introduced recently that would bar wireless carriers from charging fees to customers who drop service within 30 days, and require them to pro-rate early termination fees for those who exit their contract after 30 days.

"Contract extensions and early termination fees are the #1 consumer annoyance with the wireless industry," Chris Murray, a lawyer for Consumers Union, said in a statement. "Consumers are powerless to negotiate better terms with their cell phone carrier, but this bill would help to level the playing field."

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Major handset vendors have much more to gain than to lose from the buzz Apple Inc's coveted iPhone will create when it arrives in European stores for the key shopping season ahead of Christmas.

As Britain, Germany and France await news this week on which telecom operators will be awarded contracts to sell the iPhone in Europe's major markets, Apple's rivals reckon they will profit either way.

For one thing the iPhone will have a tough time justifying its price tag in Europe, expected to be around 399 euros ($553), in a market where almost all but the most basic pay-as-you-go phones are given away for free with operator contracts.

San Jose, California - September 17, 2007 -- Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of memory and flash storage solutions, today announced that the company's new Project X DDR3 memory supports Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP).

Developed by Intel Corporation in partnership with leading system board and memory module makers, the new XMP specification utilizes a reserved sector of the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) on memory modules to store factory configured profiles of memory timing settings. These profiles make it much easier to overclock memory and squeeze incremental performance from the PC. XMP was designed to optimize memory performance with motherboards based on Intel P35 and X38 chipsets.

“So far to date, I have reviewed both the SilverStone TJ-06 and TJ-08. Now I am getting the chance to review the TJ10. (So? I like even numbers.) Anyway, in a word, this enclosure is HUGE. The delivery guy wanted to know if I was building some kind of super computer. Little did he know this delivery is the start of my global takeover. MUAHAHAHA! The SST TJ10 comes in two colors and two styles. The colors are silver and black, and the styles are windowed and non-windowed. The entire enclosure is constructed from aluminum to help lessen the weight, and boasts several unique features. As SilverStone offers well-constructed and -designed products, let's get on with the review to find out how the TJ10 stands up.”

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc is testing an experimental social network service called Mash that makes it easy for Yahoo users to share tidbits of their lives with friends and family online, the company said on Sunday.

Mash, to which a limited number of public users began being invited as testers on Friday, was described by a spokeswoman as a new, next-generation service that is independent from the company's 2-½ year-old Yahoo 360 degree profile service.

While Yahoo was early among Internet companies to embrace the trend toward sharing media with friends by purchasing start-ups like photo site Flickr.com, it has struggled to catch up with the Web's biggest new trend: Social networking.

"Apple is a highly innovative and dynamic consumer electronics company that generates significant profits from living off its wits and supplying niche markets with the next big thing in music players, mobile phones and personal computers. VW, on the other hand, is from an entirely different tradition: the more conservative world of automotive, with its solid four-to five-year development cycles, tight margins and production-standard compliance requirements that would bring even the most enthusiastic designer from Cupertino to his knees."

Warranties would also be a problem-- Apple would be required to support the mooted vehicle throughout its usable life.

"While Volkswagen would expect a car manufactured in 2007 to be perfectly serviceable 10 years later, does anyone seriously think the current iPod and iPhone ranges will be anything more than museum relics a decade from now?" the analyst asked.

"Based on standard automotive industry practice, even if Apple and VW press the 'Go' button today, it is highly unlikely that we would see the first iCars until at least 2010 or 2011," Robinson predicted.

Intel Corp. will buy Havok Inc., a provider of software and services used by videogame creators and movie special-effects teams, the company said Friday. The Dublin company's tools have been used on games such as "BioShock," "Halo 2" and "Half Life 2" and movies including "The Matrix," "Troy" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Founded in Dublin in 1998, the company has operations in San Francisco, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, Tokyo and San Antonio, Texas.

AT&T's exclusive deal to sell Apple's iPhone for use on its network in the United States has been the envy of the wireless industry for more than nine months. But managing its own mobile music strategy while working with a tight-lipped and controlling partner like Apple is proving a challenge for AT&T, particularly as Apple launches new products and services that may compete with AT&T's own.

Intel will officially start delivering its X38 chipsets in mid-September, enabling motherboard makers to begin volume production of X38-based motherboards by the end of this month, according to sources at the makers. In addition to supporting 1333MHz FSB, DDR3-1333 memory, PCI Express 2.0 (PCIe) and dual PCIe x16 graphics slots, the X38 will also be the first core logic chipset using ISH (integrated heat spreader) technology, the sources noted.

While barely beginning shipments of the X38, however, Intel also plans to launch an upgrade version of the chipset, the X48, by the end of the year with motherboard makers to begin delivering X48 motherboards to shelves in the first quarter of 2008, according to sources close to Intel's roadmap.

The X48 eventually will come with the same chip design as the X38 but will support 1600MHz FSB and DDR3-1600 memory, the sources stated.

The clause reads: "By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, modify, publish and distribute such content on Google services for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting Google services."

This matters more because it's Google, of course, but the issue may be an important one for other online software companies to watch as they seek to build credibility and support among business customers. Most of the controversy centers around the firm's use of the word "public." If you're posting it on Google Docs or in Google spreadsheets, the implication goes, it's up for grabs if the company needs some sample use cases for its next advertising campaign.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DigitalGlobe, provider of imagery for Google Inc's interactive mapping program Google Earth, said a new high-resolution satellite will boost the accuracy of its satellite images and flesh out its archive.

The new spacecraft, dubbed WorldView I, is to be launched on Tuesday.

Together with the company's existing Quickbird satellite, it will offer half-meter resolution and will be able to collect over 600,000 square kilometers of imagery each day, up from the current collection of that amount each week, Chief Executive Jill Smith told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The Adularia series, named after a Quartz crystal for which India is one of the principle sources of the highest quality, will bring a sense of permanence and serenity to your Home Theater System. The air flow design is backed up by years of experience and expertise and will facilitate long life to all components that are placed within the solid lightweight structure. Specifications are tabulated below. With features such as 2x USB ports, Audio & Speaker ports, a 52 in 1 card reader and an IR receiver; the Adularia 380 Chassis will be your best step into the Digital Home environment. Included is the power supply, created by an award winning team. The 270W PSU will be more than adequate to facilitate your Digital Home needs.

Fremont, CA, September 14, 2007 – Corsair® http://www.corsair.com, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced they have been licensed by Intel to use the new Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) certification logo. The certification will apply to the latest DDR3 modules offered by Corsair and specifically programmed with the new Intel XMP specification.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia faces Maryland tonight in a Thursday night ESPN game at Chevy Chase Bank Field (51,500) in College Park, Md. Today’s meeting is the 46th in a series that first began in 1919.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. will sponsor a $30 million competition for an unmanned lunar landing, following up on the $10 million Ansari X Prize that spurred a private sector race to space.

Like the Ansari X Prize, which was claimed in 2004 by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and financier Paul Allen for a pair of flights by SpaceShipOne, the Google Lunar X Prize is open to private industry and non-government entities worldwide, organizers said before an official announcement on Thursday.

First prize is $20 million for the group that can land a lunar rover -- an unmanned robotic probe -- on the moon, take it on a 500 meter (1,640 ft) trek and broadcast video back to Earth by December 31, 2012.

The prize falls to $15 million if the landing takes place by December 31, 2014.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. pop star Prince plans to sue YouTube and other major Web sites for unauthorized use of his music in a bid to "reclaim his art on the Internet".

The man behind hit songs "Purple Rain", "1999" and "When Doves Cry" said on Thursday that YouTube could not argue that it had no control over which videos users posted on its site.

"YouTube ... are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success," a statement released on his behalf said.

LONDON (AFP) - Apple plans to hold a press conference Tuesday whose subject is a secret -- sparking intense speculation by telephone companies as to who will be named to distribute the iPhone in Europe.

The US computer and consumer electronics company sent invitations to journalists on Thursday with the line, "mum is no longer the word". Apple is known for shrouding its announcements in mystery.

After many weeks of guessing in the press, Apple is slated to announce its choice as to which companies will exclusively distribute its tactile-screen telephone, the iPhone.

Sunnyvale, CA—September 12, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, Inc. a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Vendetta CPU cooler as their leading-edge yet affordable solution. Using a distinctive, highly efficient heat pipe and fin design developed by Xigmatek in combination with a low-noise fan, the Vendetta is built to tackle heat-induced performance degradation and to solve the cooling challenges of today’s enthusiast system builds.

While traditional heat pipe CPU coolers implement a solid base plate design, the Vendetta’s three copper heat pipes make direct contact with the processor to ensure the most rapid heat transfer. A novel “dimple” micro-configuration of the stacked aluminum fins adds turbulences, thereby reducing the skin effect of laminar air flow. Moreover, a folded "V" shape macro-configuration of the fins adds surface area without compromising the compact design. As a result, the Vendetta offers effective cooling area found usually only in much larger coolers to parallel their performance without the spatial requirements.

“We are pleased to see our inventions put into mainstream production by OCZ Technology,” commented Gary Huang, CEO of Xigmatek. “OCZ Technology’s commitment to innovation is a perfect counterpart for Xigmatek’s engineering capabilities and the combination of our strength will give us the best performance – price solution in the consumer cooling market.”

Taipei, Taiwan—September 13, 2007—Synology, a leading next-generation NAS provider, will launch the brand new Disk Station DS207+, a high-end model of the Disk Station DS207, in early October. The DS207+ is an ultra-high-performance 2-bay NAS server designed for use in environments that require efficient data access. Equipped with 128MB RAM and 500 MHz CPU, it increases the performance of this server over DS207 and thus helps users meet the fierce competition of the business world.

At 17 inches tall and 6 pounds, the artificial Zeno is the culmination of five years of work by Hanson and a small group of engineers, designers and programmers at his company, Hanson Robotics.

They believe there's an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or social robots. And they'll be showing off the robot boy to students in grades 3-12 at the Wired NextFest technology conference Thursday in Los Angeles.

Unlike clearly artificial robotic toys, Hanson says he envisions Zeno as an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like, patented material Hanson calls frubber.