First NewEgg poke by a competitor

A few days ago, popular tech site HardOCP posted an article that showcased an issue where a forum member received a "fake" Intel Core i7 920 processor (same one I have here).

Obviously this really set a media firestorm due to perhaps some (possible) quick conclusions\confusion that eventually led to some ceast and desist orders (which are now understandable - since most of the facts have been brought to light).

NewEgg (as expected) has stepped up and seems to have done their very best to both fix things with their customers (aka they didn't pull a Toyota), and it seems is cooperating with an investigation (and termination) of its (former) supplier.

All's well ends well right?

Well you know it's all good when your competitors have a little fun at your expense.

Wanted to share what I got in my email inbox today... ;)

SuperBiiz is a pretty good site (I've bought my hdds and a few graphics cards from them - they usually have killer deals on GPUs!). It is awesome that the industry knows how to have fun. Though let's just hope that another company won't get a new egg in the face (Duh Dum Dish!). :)

New spam floating around

Just thought I'd give a heads up to my readers (imaginary or otherwise). There is a new spam floating around. What is worrying is that it look pretty authentic (none of the usual typos, grammar mistakes, etc) to the normal person. Well, it isn't.

First of all, Microsoft wouldn't mass email their customers. We have this thing called Windows update that pretty much pings the user. Also, they (or shall I say, "tech journalists") will flood the news channels online (lovely thing this thing called the internets) with news of a ultra critical update.

Secondly, I doubt that they will use your email address in that manner. Plus, if you're like me, you have multiple email address. How can all of them get this spam?

Wheels turning yet?

Now how does the spam look like?

Well here's a screenie courtesy of me:


So yeah, delete the email immediately.

More info about this HERE.

PC World's 10 Things to Hate About Tech

Hmm.. I am in a bloggy blog mood. But here goes.

Ran across yet another article (yay!).

I love some of the stuff. I live in the Seattle Area. Seattle is nice. Seattle has a lot of tech companies (that I hope I can somehow get into one of them - hard being a techie with a business major). Microsoft, Amazon.com, Cray, Valve Corporation, Expedia.com, RealNetworks, Isilon, T-Mobile USA, Bungie Studios (Halo anyone?), Monolith Productions (FEAR), et al (and in no particular order).

With it comes the crème de la crème of the software world. So some of this stuff on that list really hits close to home. :p

Taken from the list:
1. People Who Talk on Smartphones 24/7.
Yeah this one really hits close to home. Not only here in Seattle though. I personally still use a 'normal' bar phone (2+ year old Samsung). I really want a HTC pda phone if T-Mobile will ever pick up a proper Windows Mobile one (maybe wait for the new Windows Mobile later this year). Oh and equally weird are the people that keep bluetooth headsets on. I have a bluetooth
headset. I only use it when I am driving or playing multiplayer on the PS3. Other than that, it gets turned off. :)

9. The Laptop Crowd at Starbucks and Panera. Wireless networking technologies have enabled a generation of do-nothings and posers to look busy in coffee shops and restaurants instead of finding themselves all alone in their dark basements.

Yeah these techno warriors hog up all the seats when I want to sit down for 10-15 mins to drink my coffee. Though I am insanely curious as to what the hell are they doing with their laptop out sipping a 'tall' (aka small) cup of latte (as opposed to my venti Strawberries and Cream frap). Do they really need to Facebook/Twitter that much? Personally, I prefer the 'dark basement' but then again, I have a proper mancave.

10. Today's Pandemic of IT Industry Pundits and Blowhards.
Haha. I just posted something about this a few posts back. :p

Try to get some sun today guys. Oh wait, it is gone (up here in Seattle area anyways)... :(

Why I do what I do

Recently, I successfully helped someone setup/troubleshoot a piece of high tech home electronic equipment (boy that should narrow it down huh? :p ). And it really gave me great satisfaction. More importantly, it gave me a reminder as to why I am doing this (apart from the warm fuzzy feeling I enjoy).

I think it is safe to say that I am reasonably well versed in a lot of tech (I dare say that I can put some of the 'certified' people to shame). I can delve into technicalities (lingo, et al) but at the same time, I can gear and present it in a way of why it should matter to you, the average consumer (aka normal humans - not the brainiacs who love to overly complicate things). I have written a great many articles, and I have particiapted in a great many web forum discussions. Where ever I go/live, I am widely referred to in times of techie need.

Why do you do this? Well simple really, if not me, then who else. I started out on this without knowing anything. I slowly searched and read the limited resources that I had. That paired with some kahunas to actually try and do something (at the risk of killing good hardware - haha I still remember the cold sweat I got from the 'trys') has allowed me to grow decently well. So I decided that I will help people out and teach them all I know if they wanted. Where there is a willing ear/eye, my knowledge will be. Now please don't get me wrong. I am no oracle. I do not know everything there is to know (which is the beauty of it really). I always say to people, if you have a question, then ask. One of two things will happen. 1) You will get an unbiased and qualified answer (I always back my statements - if not, talk is cheap). 2) I don't know the answer so I will seek it and we will both learn something new. Either way, you will learn something. The important thing that I make sure is that I will only comment/teach something that I know. I will never mislead the people who ask me (I take it very seriously).

Sure as of late, opinions are a dime a dozen, but it saddens (and out right angers me) that most of these are misleading. Tech advice is ever increasingly becoming diluted by people who manage to overclock by 10FSB are now suddenly 'die hard' overclockers. People who somehow managed to assemble their own PC are suddenly 'expert' builders. And the age old problem that people with thick wallets are suddenly tech experts due to the 'toys' that they have. I despise misleading information. If you want examples of people misleading others, feel free to go to Fry's Electronics and listen in on most of the staff there give advice to their customers (OMG). A great many times I felt the need to interrupt and correct the things spewed from Fry's Associates (and resisted - I don't barge in on people unsolicited). Now I am sure that there may be some who actually know what they are talking about, but if this rare breed does exist, they certainly have eluded me.

How do people gain knowledge/experience. Well one of three ways. 1) Actually doing it. 2) Learning about it. 3) Reading about it. #2 was a no go for me from the start so I had to settle with a lot of #3 and eventually #1s. So I hope to do my part on Earth and help people with #2. I know the feeling of hopeless abandon all too well (I have faced it and continue to face it). So hopefully I will be there to help assist you in any way possible in regards to all things PC/Tech.

Just don't ask me any software/programming stuff. LOL! Hardware/Devices only. :p

To widescreen or not to

*Note this is ported over from an article I wrote for my gaming clan. FYI!

This topic is one that can sometimes be hotly debated amongst gamers. It is hotly debated for productivity, usability, etc etc but for the purposes of this article, I will steer this article to the realm of gaming. Why should wide screen matter/not to you.

Infamy is a dominantly FPS oriented clan. But the scope/appeal/benefits of wide screen gaming is almost universal. First, lets learn some terminology.

Resolution: Wikipedia defined as "The display resolution of a digital television or computer display typically refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed."
Nicely confusing pic of various resolutions

Aspect Ratio: Basically the width divided by height (ZOMG MATH!).
It should be noted that wide screen monitors for computers are typically 16:10 and wide screen TVs are 16:9 (we computer users REALLY appreciate the extra height). Full screen computer and TV monitors are 4:3.

Field of View: The angular extent of the 'world' that you see. (its ok, you can read it again slowly :p ).

Ok, back to gaming.

Now I have to point out that how wide screen is implemented is DEPENDENT on the game. There is no uniform/standardized way in which it is implemented.

Oh noes?

Well here are the basic screen implementations:

Horizontal Plus: Basically they take the image displayed on a 4:3 and tack on the sides. This results in an INCREASED field of view. The Source Engine's implementation of wide screen is Horizontal Plus (which means you can see MORE horizontally than the people using 4:3 - a distinct advantage). I think CoD4's implementation is like this too. See pics below

CSS Full Screen (4:3)
CSS Wide Screen (16:10)

CoD 4 Full Screen (4:3)
CoD 4 Wide Screen (16:10)

Vertical Minus: This is the opposite of Horizontal Plus. As far as gamers go, this sucks. Basically they take the image displayed on 4:3 and crop it down to 16:10. So you see LESS then people with full screen. :

A quick example of this that I remember is BioShock.

BioShock FOV 4:3 vs 16:10

The image is obviously a 4:3 full screen image but the 'red' area is chopped off for wide screen users. 2K games finally wised up and fixed it to Horizontal Plus after a patch.

Pixel Based: This basically holds true regardless of what aspect ratio you use. It will display an image based on your resolution (higher resolutions see more regardless if 4:3 or 16:10). 2D games are usually like this.

Stretch: This implementation is basically stretching the image from 4:3 to 16:10. So things will appear 'fat' on the screen and basically will look like crap.

*Above pictures from WideScreenGamingForums

Now if the CoD4/CSS pics didn't show you and you need written reinforcement, Wide Screen monitors (again dependent on implementation) can give you a visual advantage. You have a wider field of view and therefore can see/cover more in game. Think of it this way, you can see a guy who's on 4:3 before they can see you.

-PsYkHoTiK

On a side note, WSGF is a GREAT resource for wide screen gaming (big surprise huh?). You can pretty much find a hack for games that doesn't properly/support wide screen gaming (they can help you turn the stupid Vertical Minus to a Horizontal Plus). If there is a way, it is posted there.

Also, there are some monitors that you can rotate and that just opens up a whole new can on stuff you can do.
My Dual Wide Screen setup tilted

Quote of the day

Muahahaha.

Ran across this when I was reading about the AMD/ATI 4870 X2 graphics card.

"As a result, the X2's 1600 total stream processors have a peak computational rate of 2.4 teraflops. That's, erm, considerable—beyond the obvious graphics applications, that's the sort of computing power that may one day enable men to figure out what women want."

BAHAHAHAHAHA!

Geek pwnage.

Patch Tuesday - April Edition!

For those running Microsoft software, today is Patch Tuesday!

So go run the update utility already and patch all of the stuff that needs it. I think there is some for Vista and Office 2007 patches. IDK. Go run yours and tell me mkay?

EDIT: For you bums, here is the LIST.

Nehalem!

Fair warning: This post will contain a LOT (I kid you not) of dense-ish techie-babble.

Nehalem! Who here is waiting for this new processor architecture?

For those who don't know (pity you poor non-computer geek people), Nehalem is the eagerly awaited next gen processor from Intel that is due out Q3-4 this year.

The Core architecture was unveiled in 2006. So true to Intel's 2 year cycle of new architecture / architecture revision, they seem to be on the dot of their aggressive stance. I guess I'll blabber on somewhat on why Intel has chosen to take on this path. Processors are very hard to design. They are usually done by hand and cannot really be rushed. Which is why the previous generation of Pentiums lasted so long. However, during AMD's K8 period, Intel found itself in the shallow end of the pool and it took them quite a while (until they debuted the Core Architecture). This two year product cycle is to ensure that they will be aggressive and if they lose the battle, it will not be as long as previously.

So why are my geek juices flowing due to Nehalem? Well let's see... 1-8 cores? Yummy? Well what about some Hyper-Threading on each core? Nice? How about the QuickPatch interconnect? Bye bye Front Side Bus. With it, an Integrated Memory Controller (On Die = low latencies).

What else? New Socket. Nice TDPs (considering the number of cores). Triple Channel ram (VERY fascinating).

Obvious issues is how OCing will work out. A number of factors that concern me are no more FSBs (but I wonder if it will be like HyperTransport - which isn't really that far off from FSB). Also how complicated will it be with triple channel ram and the amount of cores. More ram or processor cores, the more variables there are (like a ram stick or a CPU core that won't go as high as the others). Also with more crap now, I fully expect a new standard or updated specs for PSUs.

I also can't wait to see how the new mobo chipsets will be like too... :D

ARGH! Is it Q4 yet? :o

Some extra reading.