Murphy's law never fails, I neglect to check this for a week and a new version gets out. A whole new version, not just a service pack with updated hardware (which was what I actually expected).

"This version adds .NET and Java benchmarks to measure the performance of the latest hardware running on software virtual machines and run-times. It also adds advanced charting comparing the results with the tested devices speed and power."

The complete list with all the new modules and functionality can be found here. Download it's about 13 Mb, and with the Lite version you get almost everything you need for free. It works on every Windows OS (x86, x64 and CE). Certainly a must.

Razer is know for designing some of the best mice and keyboards for gamers and they did it again. Razer has been teasing us from a week with their Bringer of Silent Death campaign and today they finally revealed the suspense - The Lachesis Gaming Mouse, featuring a 4000dpi 3G Laser sensor.

The Razer Lachesis gaming mouse takes on the same lethal traits as its namesake (Lachesis is the largest pit viper in the world!) that will send shivers down your enemiesÙ spines. The Lachesis features 32KB of onboard memory, nine programmable Hyperesponse buttons, as well as an impressive 1000Hz Ultrapolling with 1ms response time.

The 4000dpi 3G Laser sensor on the Lachesis enables movement speeds of 5 times that of a standard 800dpi optical sensor and the Hyperesponse technology reduces latency for optimum gameplay. The 32KB Synapse onboard memory allows you to store up to five unique gaming profiles.

The ambidextrous Lachesis is available for pre-order on the Razer website and costs US$79.99. If you pre-order before 30 September, 2007, you will be among the lucky few to receive a limited edition poster. No word yet on the availability date but I strongly feel it will start shipping in October.

With these words, at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2005 in San Francisco, California, Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed the transition to an Intel-based processor architecture and, at the same time, opened the gates (no pun intended) to all shorts of hacking.

It's now the turn for Leopard and if you follow this loooooong list of instructions you'll see the line between a PC and a Mac computer go the way of the dodo. More specifically, the line between Windows and OSX 10.5 (build 9A466).

 

Contradiction number one: AMD is cutting prices yet another time despite the fact they said they wouldn't be doing it so soon. More information can be found going to The Inquirer, here's an excerpt:

"[...] just a couple of weeks ago Gary Bixler, AMD's director of marketing for North America, told EE Times: "This year we made it a point to provide the channel with what it wants, which is a predictable business, a stable business."

"We haven't announced our next price move yet," he said, "so take that at face-value - another one is not imminent."

Contradiction number two: the "faulty Radeons" story. This one doesn't come from AMD itself, but reflects the state of things around the green camp.

As it turns out, the rumors that stated that thousands of defective Radeon 2600 and 2400 had been recalled by Asus (and others) is not true. It was said that an error in the software that controls the quality of the chips had allowed some bad ones to slip trough.

Link: Daily Tech. 

You've just built a top of the range Quad Core SLI monsta and are sitting there proudly admiring your work and wondering if the second mortgage was really such a good idea. Did you forget to budget for a swanky new mouse surface to replace that tatty Simpsons mouse pad you got for christmas. Doh! Rocketfish to the rescure. Those of you who are serious about mice probably already have their preferred mousing surface. Even though the optical and laser mice today technical don't require a mouse pad, a good mousing surface can transform your input experience.

 

Rocketfish has engineered a high-performance mouse pad with both the gamer and design professional in mind (and why not throw in the casual office user, too?). This pad features two textured sides, providing an ultra-smooth surface for PC gamers, and a more textured side to provide more precise control. Is it anygood? OCModShop have the answers.

Use your imagination and you will see the horses. As for the men, the were found on the holographic image on the face of the Windows Vista Business DVD. This is the webpage with the sequence of pictures that show the location of the image.

What's with them? This is Microsoft’s answer:

"The photo displays members of the team who worked on the Windows Vista DVD hologram design.  Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Team designed a counterfeit-resistant digital "watermark" for the non-encoded surface of Windows Vista DVDs.  The photo in question is only one of multiple images contained in the hologram design, all of whose inclusion serves to make it more difficult to replicate a Windows Vista DVD. [...] Incorporating optical security into our physical media is just one of many efforts to ensure that Microsoft customers get what they paid for."

First there's a guy showing his ass in Halo 3, now this. Are you sure your Windows desktop is not displaying subliminal images?

It's clear from Anandtech's initial coverage of this year's Computex, that AMD is not going to steal the spotlight from Intel. With the P35 chipset just officially released, we are already seeing the upcoming X38 (available in late July) almost everywhere.

The main feature of Intel's latest, will be dual x16 PCIe 2.0, but from the looks of it you will be able to notice the difference in more than one way even if you stick to a single card solution:

"We did have a chance to view the X38 in action and while we cannot report benchmarks, let's just say that Intel's follow up to the 975X will be successful. We expect this chipset to be a hot product in more ways than one. Besides having what is shaping up to be class leading performance, the chipset will also have class leading power consumption and thermal outputs. The current estimated TDP rating is 36W; the chipset has a heat spreader on it, and expect to see temperatures near or above 60c while under load with current cooling techniques."

AMD, on the other hand, was hard to find. The new CPUs will probably be delayed after summer and it's unknown when the rest of their DX10 line will arrive. Let's hope Intel doesn't think twice about next month's price drop.

DTS announced that it will hold the first public demonstrations of DTS-HD Master Audio via a PC source during this year's Computex in Taipei, June 5-9, 2007. The company will be showcasing its high definition surround audio technology for the next generation optical disc formats utilizing a high-end desktop PC with a Blu-ray Disc drive featuring DTS-HD Master Audio at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan.

Part of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD technical specifications, DTS-HD Master Audio delivers up to 7.1-channels of surround audio that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master. With the introduction of the next generation formats, the PC industry is now integrating high definition technologies into desktop and laptop PCs for consumers.

"The fast adoption of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc is encouraging manufacturers to incorporate high definition technologies into PCs," said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division, at DTS. "Major CE manufacturers are seeking to include DTS-HD Master Audio in their next generation equipment, and we're witnessing a similar initiative on the PC side. As more and more consumers purchase HDTVs and high definition peripherals, they want the same audio and visual quality from their PCs."

Throughout the show, DTS will also be showcasing DTS Connect(TM), which was designed to enhance the entertainment value of the PC platform. A DTS Connect-enabled PC provides two audio benefits to the consumer: DTS Interactive(TM) and Neo:PC(TM), for both multi-channel and stereo content. Taking full advantage of the maximum data throughput of the digital interface, DTS Interactive provides a single cable connection via S/PDIF digital audio output to a DTS-enabled surround sound system by encoding all audio into a DTS-compatible bitstream at 1.5Mbps. Neo:PC, based upon DTS' Neo:6 matrix surround technology, transforms any stereo content such as MP3, WMA or CD audio, into as many as 7.1 channels of surround sound via analog outputs.

 

Adobe could never be accused of becoming complacent when it comes to software. They are are the last word in picture manipulation, creation and video editing and could easily kick back and enjoy boat drinks for the rest of eternity - we know that's what we'd do. Recently they introduced some very interesting software in the form of Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite (ES), an integrated family of software for automating processes that help businesses and governments more effectively engage with customers, citizens, partners, and suppliers. LiveCycle ES integrates the capabilities of Adobe Flex and PDF technologies, while leveraging the reach of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Reader to enable a new class of "customer engagement" applications that easily connect people inside and outside organizations to internal information and processes.

With LiveCycle ES, organizations can deliver external-facing applications that are easier to interact with. This enables companies to better communicate with people who may be frustrated with, or confused by on-line procedures, and are likely to abandon transactions, resorting to higher cost avenues such as in-person visits or phone assistance. By transforming processes such as account enrollment, claims processing or guided self service into engaging applications, businesses and governments can improve customer service, decrease costly cycle times, and manage information faster and more accurately.

"Our business processes and those at our customer sites typically involve multiple people needing to review and sign-off on materials inside and outside our company," says Didier Fleury, CIO, Cegedim, the European leader in data services and software for the healthcare industry. "With Adobe LiveCycle ES, we are looking forward to easily integrate key back-office systems and workflows with front-end processes that engage with our staff, partners and customers. The more secure, automated workflows bring new efficiencies to our business and support our compliance efforts by giving us more control over processes. We have been impressed by the LiveCycle ES beta software and look forward to deploying the released software."

LiveCycle ES improves how people worldwide interact with -- and benefit from -- products and services. For example, financial institutions can use LiveCycle ES to interact with customers through high-quality, self-service applications, offering them a wider array of services on-demand while streamlining processes and minimizing costs. Additionally, LiveCycle ES enables governments to advance the quality and breadth of services they offer to citizens, accelerate time to deliver services, safeguard confidential information and dramatically reduce inefficiencies.

"With Adobe LiveCycle ES, we can build on the gains we made with previous versions of LiveCycle to further improve workflows and better engage employees and customers in everyday processes," said Paul Heyes, Application Manager, Document Solutions Group, U.S. Bank. "Enhancing document security, supporting e-signatures, and integrating other important capabilities are simplified. LiveCycle ES makes refining our workflows faster and more feasible." 

Quantum computing is the future, there's little doubt about it. Getting past the limitations of the binary system will be a gigantic leap. But one of the main problems this technology faced was operating temperature. At the begining of the research, it had to be close to absolute zero. Well, a Harvard team has acomplished "something" at room temperature.

"Quantum Register Based on Individual Electronic and Nuclear Spin Qubits in Diamond" is the title of science magazine's article describing basically that they have laid the "basis for scalable, optically coupled quantum information systems". This basis is the aforementioned register, which is what we could call a bit.

If we can store information (only for some seconds right now), quantum storage is on the way. And after that, quantum processing will follow. The only shortcoming of this experiment is that they used a component of diamonds. Mayhap it turns out to be a good time for investing. Just to be on the safe side of things, if you are planning to buy a wedding ring, put a diamond on it.