Tech News
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World's oldest computer recreated in Lego
Published: Monday, May 16, 2011 | By: DennisThis might be a little old but is still really cool showing how Andrew Carol recreated an acient computer using lego parts.
The computer does the calculations required to determine eclipses and has been recreated many times since its discovery in the 1900's but this appears t be the first time it has been done using Lego parts.
The idea came from journalist Adam Rutherford who had seen a Babbage Difference Engine built by Carol and got in touch. "I asked him if he'd heard of the mechanism, and if he thought it was doable in Lego," says Rutherford. "A few weeks later, he sent me some pictures of a demo version he'd knocked up. It was stunning."
I am always amazed at what people build out of Legos,
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PLAYSEAT Office - Elite @ LanOC Reviews
Published: Friday, May 13, 2011 | By: DennisNothing in the world will ever get me to give up my Aeron chair but that's not to say I don't have room for other chairs in the office, and this one just moved to the top of the list.
You've built yourself a custom PC sparing no expense, you have two or three monitors setup on your desk, but yet something doesn’t feel right. That office chair you picked up just isn’t cutting it when compared to the rest of your setup. Up until now there just hasn’t been a chair that fits the bill and can truly be called 'epic'. A few years ago I spotted a chair that met those standards at PLAYSEAT’s booth and I wasted no time trying to get one in to check out. This November, after far too long in development, they offered that chair up for sale on their website. This has to be one of the coolest items we will cover all year, don't miss out!
Of course after someone sees this review they'll buy some racing seats off ebay and start modding, maybe they will turn out better, maybe not.
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NL: Review Block - 5/12/2011
Published: Thursday, May 12, 2011 | By: DennisJust a quick review block spanning across 4 product types.
Memory
- G.Skill Sniper 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Kit Review @ BigbruinVideo Cards
- HIS 6850 IceQ X Turbo Graphics Card @ Viperlair
- Gigabyte Radeon HD 6870 1GB SOC Graphics Card Review @ APH Networks
- MSI Radeon HD 6950 2GB Twin Frozr III PE OC'ed Video Card ReviewMotherboards
- GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3: Z68 Chipset With Smart Response @ Bjorn3D
- Gigabyte G1.Assassin Socket 1366 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
- Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3 @ techPowerUp
- OC3D: Gigabyte Z68X UD5 B3 Preview
- ASUS Maximus IV Extreme @ PureOverclockCases
- OC3D: Silverstone Raven RV02-E White Ltd Edition Review -
Lamptron FC8 Fan Controller Review @ Techgage
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | By: DennisIt is good to see Lamptron is still around and making excellent fan controllers.
A couple of months ago, we took Lamptron's FC Touch fan controller for a spin, and were left extremely impressed with its ease-of-use and aesthetics. But what about those who don't care for touch capabilities, and are fine with knobs? Enter the FC8, a clean-looking and high-performing option; offering eight channels at 30W each.
I might have to get one of these, and then promply mod in a bunch of fans so I can be in complete control.
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Thermaltake Armor A60 System Enclosure reviewed in Metku
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | By: DennisWe reviewed this case a few months ago and found it to be very nice. Good placement of drive cages and the build quality was ok. I wasn't keen on the side mounted hotswap bay but that is not to say it isn't usable.
Overall then the Armor A60 is a pretty similar case with the A90 we saw earlier. Anyway all the changes between these two models are for the better and especially the sideways hot swap bay seems like a nice touch
Be sure to check out our review of the Thermaltake A60, and A90 for that matter.
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First-tier motherboard makers to ship nearly 400,000 Z68-based motherboards in May
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | By: DennisThe bulk of May shipments of Z68 motherboards will come from Gigabyte Technology, said the sources, noting that Asustek Computer is expected to ship 30,000 Z68 models in May, while Micro-Star International (MSI) and ASRock combined will ship only 15,000 units.
Additionally, Gigabyte plans to launch over 20 models of Z68-based motherboards before the end of June, including models that will support m-SATA onboard technology, the sources indicated.Its no wonder there was a rumormill about Gigabyte and their production stop of P67 and H67, given the diversity of Z68 models and volume in which they are shipping it makes sense.
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Intel Z68 Chipset Launch Day
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | By: DennisHere are a few reviews of the new chipset from around the web.
Visually the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 is identical to the GA-P67A-UD7-B3 and features many of the same technologies including the nVidia NF200 chip for 3-way video card support and the famed 24phase Digital PWM! This monster uses the same power distribution technology found on the UD9 and does wonders for high frequency overclocking stability. -Ninjalane
Other Reviews
- ASUS P8Z68 V PRO (Intel Z68 chipset) review @ G3D
- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (Intel Z68) Motherboard Review @ TT
- Z68 Express motherboards from Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI @ TechReport
- Intel Z68 Express Chipset with Smart Response Technology @ Hot Hardware
- ASUS P8Z68-V PRO and Intel Z68 chipset review @ Hexus
- Intel Z68 Chipset Launch Review Featuring Gigabyte Z68X-UD7-B3 and ASUS P8Z68-V Pro @ HardwareHeaven <- holy crap this is long
- Intel Z68 Review - The Sandy Bridge Platform Expands @ Hardware Canucks
- Intel Z68: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO @ PureOverclock
- Intel Z68 Chipset & Smart Response Technology @ Legit Reviews
We have also done a quick write-up of the features found on the Z68X-UD7 with a full review pending. -
Microsoft to buy Skype for $8.5 billion
Published: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | By: DennisSeems good, no?
May 10 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) agreed to buy Internet telephone company Skype for $8.5 billion in cash in its biggest deal ever, as the technology giant seeks to plug a hole in its mobile offerings.
Buying loss-making Skype would have no immediate impact on Microsoft's finances, but would make clear its intention to compete with rivals such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google Inc (GOOG.O).I was slow to join the Skype horde but did finally get an account this year so I could chat with some friends in Taiwan who had lost access to Live Messenger.
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Ninjalane Subscriptions Page - Question for you
Published: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | By: DennisAfter upgrading to Firefox 4 I realized that the RSS feed link is no longer accessible in the address bar which brings up the question. Should I have a separate subscriptions page with the various Ninjalane RSS feeds? or would just one link to the main RSS be enough??
If you have any comments, suggestions or want to simply flame me for not posting any tech news lately sound off in the forums and let me know how you feel.
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Easily distracted people may have too much brain
Published: Monday, May 9, 2011 | By: DennisHere is a fun article. As with most studies like this take the results with a grain of salt.
They assessed each person's distractibility by quizzing them about how often they fail to notice road signs, or go into a supermarket and become sidetracked to the point that they forget what they came in to buy. The most distractible individuals received the highest score.
The team then imaged the volunteers' brains using a structural MRI scanner. The most obvious difference between those who had the highest questionnaire scores – the most easily distracted – and those with low scores was the volume of grey matter in a region of the brain known as the left superior parietal lobe (SPL). Specifically, the easily distracted tended to have more grey matter here.With enough training and practice anyone with a "scatter brain" can learn to focus, the problem is I don't think many people are bothered by it, or even know they have a problem.
Oh look over there, a shiny new motherboard and Core i7 980x that hasn't been overclocked yet!!
