Tech News

• NL: Review Block - Cards and Coolers

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  In this episode of "Cards and Coolers" try to identify what movies the quotes come from. (slightly modified for content)

  Coolers (Its not a coola)
  - Cooler Master Seidon 240M Water Cooling System Review @ ThinkComputers
  - Cooler Master Seidon 120XL @ techPowerUp
  - be quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review on Technic3D
  - Corsair H110 Cooler Review on Technic3D
  - Zalman FX100 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
  - Noctua NH-L9i Review @ HCW - Ultra Low Profile Cooler for Intel CPUs
  
  Video Cards (send in the cards!)
  - Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Market Overview @ Ocaholic
  - PowerColor PCS HD7870 MYST Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
  - PowerColor PCS+ HD 7850 Radeon Graphic Card Review @ Pro-Clockers
  - PowerColor PCS+ HD7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 @ LanOC Reviews

  *Hint: they are old movies with Bruce Willis and Arnold

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• How to Connect XBMC Linux to Synology Diskstation NAS @ OCModShop

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  I will admit that I'm pretty green when it comes to XBMC but have followed the project since its Xbox roots many moons ago.  These days you can get XBMC on almost anything including  Android based tablets and your standard Windows computer.

  Given that XBMC can access streaming services you may wonder, "why hook it up to a NAS?".  Well the roots of the project came from accessing media anywhere, including a standard NAS sitting across the room.

  One problem you may face with an XBMC Linux installation (or appliance running XBMC) is connecting to and scraping your media that resides on a NAS.  You have to do a little tweak to your Diskstation to get XBMC (and some other appliances) to work.

  Seems like a good thing.

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• Kingston HyperX 10th Anniversary Edition – 16GB DDR3 2400MHz @ PureOverclock

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  You think all memory is built alike?

  Kingston celebrates 10 years of success for their HyperX family by releasing the Anniversary Limited Edition memory lineup. These special edition modules are available in various sizes from 4GB to 32GB, and there are two or four module kit with a wide range of frequencies to choose from. Today, we’re joining Kingston to celebrate the HyperX’s Anniversary by sampling the 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3, KHX24C11X3K4/16X quad-channel running at the blistering speed of 2400MHz, with lowest latencies of 11, and operating at 1.65v. The HyperX 10th Anniversary Edition lineup is designed to work with multiple platforms from both Intel and AMD.

  2400Mhz @ CL11 isn't all that great but it looks good so you can't complain that much.   I might have to ask them how they got the modules to stand up, it is the one remaining mystery in the world.

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• A Look at Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition @ Techgage

  Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Anyone remember this game?  Has anyone ever played this game on a LAN? at a Cyber Cafe? over the Internet using kali.net?

  Ya didn't think so.

  Well for those of you who still have multi versions of the game on CD and want to get "another" you can buy it for 10 bux on Steam.

  The last game I would have ever expected to see released this month on Steam was Duke Nukem 3D, but lo and behold, it’s here. Dubbed the “Megaton Edition”, this one packs in upscaled graphics, three add-on packs and soon, multiplayer. Oh, and achievements. Let’s check it out, and compare it to the classic version and the HRP.

  Rumor is the graphics are better but it isn't using the High Resolution Pack so textures could be better.  The way I see it the game was designed for 640x40 and that is the only way to play.

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• nVidia GTX 650 Ti Boost Launch Day - Is it good?

  Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Just going to be a quick list this time, no pictures, no comments, just raw links.  (oh and maybe a rant)

  Web Reviews
  - nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Review @ Ocaholic
  - GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Graphics Card reference review
  - Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB @ LanOC Reviews
  - NVIDIA and EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST Review
  - Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost @ Bjorn3D
  - NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650Ti Boost 2GB Edition Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  - Palit GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Overclock Edition Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
  - Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics card reviewed
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - NVIDIA GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Review @ Hardware Canucks

  Why bother releasting this card?  Good question, it is what the GTX 650 Ti should have been afterall, it now has SLI support and has GPU Boost but why release a lack luster card that is only good for SFF gaming and PhysX processing and then later turn around and re-release the card the way it should have been?

  Who knows,  Maybe when I get my card sample sample the answers will be revilaled.

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• How tweets can lead to disastrous results

  Published: Monday, March 25, 2013 | By: Dennis

  The moral of the story? Be careful what you say online, it can come back to byte you sometime in the future, especially when reddit and rouge hacking groups get involved.

  One tweet can lead to a disastrous onslaught of consequences, as Adria Richards has recently found out. While attending the PyCon Technology Conference last week, she overheard two male developers behind her talking about “big dongles” and “forking someone’s repo”. She was offended by the jokes and she stated, “I was telling myself if they made one more sexual joke, I’d say something.”

  The problem is, she didn't say anything and instead took a photo of the developers, posted it to twitter and outed them for saying "sexual" jokes.  After the tweet went viral one of the developers lost his job and it took an act of Anonymous to eventually get Richards fired from her job.

  I can't say what the developers did is right and maybe their discussion should have been in a different setting but I'm pretty sure Richards didn't handle herself very well.  But, as they say sexual harassment can happen to anyone, in any setting and as we have seen, outside work and with complete strangers who have never worked together.

  My, what the world has come to.

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• Windows Blue in the Wild - Still in Beta (kinda)

  Published: Monday, March 25, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Arstechnica has posted a quick write up of what can be found in the leaked Windows 8 "Blue".  If memory serves "blue" will evetnually be subscription based and will very likely nickel and dime you to death while also failing to run any existing applications

  Over the weekend, a build of the software with a date of March 15 leaked onto the Internet, at last giving people the opportunity to see what Blue would contain.
  
  The big news is... Windows Blue looks an awful lot like Windows 8, which is consistent with its likely position as an update to Windows 8. Those hoping that Microsoft would abandon the Metro environment will be disappointed.

  No suprise there, a major company like Microsoft isn't going to change the company branding and then revert back the single thing that caused the change.  I'll need to eventually blog about the new Microsoft world and what the future holds for us all.

  Assuming the masses continue to sheepishly gobble up everything Microsoft dishes out.

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• Gearbox pushes it to 11 - New Level Cap in Borderlands 2

  Published: Sunday, March 24, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Today during a panel at PAX East the developers announced that there are some new things coming to Borderlands 2.  The first is a new Vault Hunter named Krieg.  Krieg is a Pycho Bandit class character that builds on the mechromancer skill tree in that you get damage bonuses for doing damage and becomes exceptionally powerful in fight for your life.  Krieg will be a free download for season pass holders and cost 5 bux for everyone else.

  
  
  
  The next announcement is around the new level cap increase that brings more skill points and 11 more levels.  To make this work they are giving people who have reached level 50 a third play thru called the Ultimate Vault Hunter mode and from there you can work your way up to level 61.  Along with the level cap increase they are also bringing back Pearlescent weapons and will become the new rarest weapons in the game.  The level cap increase goes into effect April 2 and will be available for everyone.
  
  They ended the panel with an announcement for the new DLC which is being fully developed in house at Gearbox and should be coming out sometime in May.  There is no word on what the DLC will be about however it seems to be game based on something called Bunkers and Badasses.  Rumor is this will be the largest of the DLC packages and might rival the game in story depth and mayhem.
  
  Should be fun and might bring players back who are bored with farming.
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• AMD Radeon HD 7790 Video Card Launch Day

  Published: Friday, March 22, 2013 | By: Dennis

  With a name like 7790 you have to wonder if it will be any good.  I've gotten several reviews here that, together, should lay that question to rest.

  

  Web Reviews
  - Sapphire HD 7790 1GB Graphics Card @ Bjorn3D
  - Radeon HD 7790 review @ Guru3D
  - AMD Radeon HD 7790 review (incl. frametimes) @ UK Hardware Info
  - Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X OC Video Card Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  - AMD's Radeon HD 7790 graphics card reviewed @ TR
  - Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 OC Edition Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers
  - AMD Radeon HD 7790 Review: Affordable DX11 Gaming @ HotHardware
  - AMD Radeon HD 7790 CrossFire @ techPowerUp
  - Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X 1 GB @ techPowerUp
  - MD Radeon HD 7790 Video Card Review w/ Gigabyte & Sapphire @ Legit Reviews
  - Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X Overclocked Edition Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven (home of the long ass url)
  - ASUS HD 7790 Direct CU II OC 1 GB @ techPowerUp
  - HEXUS Review: Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7790
  - AMD Radeon HD 7790 Review @ Hardware Canucks
  - Sapphire HD7790 OC Review @ Kitguru

  Now we just sit back and see what nVidia has planned, if anything.

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• PAX East Starts Tomorrow - March 22 - 24 2013

  Published: Thursday, March 21, 2013 | By: Dennis

  In another failed attempt to attend a legit PAX event I am relinquished to watch from afar as Boston residents flock to the convention center to attend, what might be, the best PAX ever.

  Some of my friends in the hardware industry will be on hand showing demos of their latest gaming gadgets including Gigabyte, Cooler Master, MSI, NVidia and Asus.  If you are attending PAX East be sure to stop by their booths and tell them "Ninjalane Sent Me".

  I cannot promise you'll get a prize but it doesn't hurt to ask.

  For those of us who cannot attend you can watch the event live over Twitch.tv

  PAX East 2013 Official Stream
  
  Tune into Twitch this weekend to catch all the excitement from one of the largest consumer gaming conventions in North America, PAX East 2013. Starting this Friday, March 22 - 24, the official PAX channel on Twitch will be bringing you some of the best content from the main stages, including rare and thought proviking presentations from industry luminaries, live concerts and of course, the infamous Omegathon tournament.
  
  WHERE: http://twitch.tv/pax

  There will be more news as it unfolds.  Be sure to check out the schedule for when things will happen, the fun starts tomorrow (3/22/2013) @ 10am EST.

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