Items tagged with ACT
Apparently, people are using the Internet for more than streaming Netflix and looking at cat videos. Research by Highspeed Internet.com suggests that the states that have the highest ACT scores are also the ones that have the fastest Internet connections. Obviously, upgrading your Internet connection (or living in a state with fast connections) isn’t going to ensure academic success, but the correlation between Internet connectivity and academics makes a certain amount of sense: much of education is based on communication, and the better your communication tools (and the better your access to them), the better for your studies. Image Credit: HSI The data used in HSI's research was pulled...
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Two perpetually, almost fad-like and recurring themes for computing technology in 2008 are low power, environmentally friendly products as well as tiny, small form-factor or ultra-portable machines. Power consumption and size -- it has become undeniably hip and cool to offer products that cater to the new carbon footprint and mechanical footprint-minded consumer. If you didn't know better, it almost seems like the introduction of Asus' Eee PC started the craze back in Q4 of '07 but clearly, at least small form-factor system have been around for many years. Some of you will remember Shuttle's line of wildly popular barebones XPCs which became an underground hit with many in the DYI crowd looking...
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Two perpetually, almost fad-like and recurring themes for computing technology in 2008 are low power, environmentally friendly products as well as tiny, small form-factor or ultra-portable machines. Power consumption and size -- it has become undeniably hip and cool to offer products that cater to the new carbon footprint and mechanical footprint-minded consumer. If you didn't know better, it almost seems like the introduction of Asus' Eee PC started the craze back in Q4 of '07 but clearly, at least small form-factor system have been around for many years. Some of you will remember Shuttle's line of wildly popular barebones XPCs which...
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Pre-sale demand for the T-Mobile Android G1 is so high that according to T-Mobile, they have sold out all their units. While we don't know exactly what the number of units is, which makes it hard to just just how impressive this may or may not be, according to T-Mobile, this happened after they tripled their original factory order. Sorry to say, this means if you hope to be one of the ones who gets his T-Mobile G1 on the first day --- and you haven't ordered yet --- you're out of luck. However, you can still get into "round 2" of the pre-orders, according to their site. T-Mobile customers can get a T-Mobile G1 starting at $179.99, plus taxes and fees (pricing subject to upgrade eligibility criteria:...
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Spore is a critically-acclaimed game, but (at least by users) its DRM has been universally panned. Many of those who know anything about the SecuROM copy protection used in the game don't want it near their computers, unless they absolutely have to. And while Electronic Arts (EA) has "loosened things up" slightly, the DRM has spawned thousands of negative reviews at Amazon.com and protest creatures. And now, it has birthed a class action lawsuit (.PDF). The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 22nd by Melissa Thomas, represented by Alan Himmelfarb and Scott Kamber with KamberEdelson LLC. The lawsuit makes a number of statements, including: What purchasers are not told is that, included in the purchase,...
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There is no doubt that spam is pervasive and can be a major productivity killer if the right safeguards aren't in place. In fact, MessageLabs indicates that 78.2 percent of all e-mails sent during the month of August were spam. To make matters worse, Sophos reports that by the end of June, 96.5 percent of all e-mails to businesses were spam. In an effort to quantify the financial cost of spam to businesses, Ipswitch released the results from its recent "Spamometer" survey. According to Ipswitch's Marketing Manager, Brad Senter, the "Spamometer" survey was created by culling data from three Ipswtich e-mail servers that receive a combined one million e-mail messages per week. This data was then...
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We just received some breaking news out of SIGGRAPH 2008 that we thought many of you would be very interested in. If you recall, one of the capabilities Intel is touting in regard to their upcoming Larrabee architecture is the ability to perform real-time ray tracing. In the graphics space, ray tracing is a technique used to generate an image by tracing the rays or paths of light as they bounce through and around the objects in a scene. When done right, ray tracing can produce photorealistic imagery because shadows are cast correctly, water and other materials show proper reflections with correct coloring, and lighting in general just looks more realistic. The problem with ray tracing is...
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Despite our technophile-ness, we haven't seriously considered moving to the i 64-bit version of Windows Vista, mostly because we figure we will have application or device driver woes. However, in a blog post on the Windows Vista blog, Microsoft product manager Chris Flores said that Microsoft has noted a shift in adoption of 64-bit operating systems. Microsoft has been tracking this shift by tracking the number of 64-bit PCs connecting to Windows Update. According to Flores, The installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, has more than tripled in the U.S. in the last three months, while worldwide adoption has more than doubled during the same period....
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Everyone and their Aunt Sally wants to sell users on a different use for broadband. You can stream HBO shows, Netflix videos, using tons of bandwidth, and that's not even taking P2P into account. Ah, and NBC would love it if you would watch the "Olympics on the Go." Problem is, you poor folk with metered-use broadband, which may soon come to the rest of us, might have to watch just what you ... well, watch.We’ve talked before that metered access is a boneheaded idea that is bad for innovation, bad for Microsoft and Google, and ultimately bad for you. Until today, the idea seemed like an eventuality, not an immediate reality. But then NBC and TonicTV launched a new service that...
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Just about a year ago, we posted a link to a trailer for id's upcoming first person shooter / driving game hybrid dubbed Rage. Since then few details regarding the game have been released other than it would be built around a new game engine called id Tech 5 and that Rage would be the first game developed completely in-house since Doom 3. But today, straight from QuakeCon 2008, id has released the first in-game screenshots from Rage... Acutal In-Game Screenshots from id's upcoming game Rage As you can see, the character models have a gory, yet lifelike look to them and the scenes feature excellent lighting, shadows, and Depth of Field effects. The character models are also highly...
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Apple Computer has nearly always kept its Mac computer platform an in-house-only proposition. Other than a few sanctioned (and unsanctioned) clones in the platform's early days and a two-year span in the mid-1990's, legitimate Apple computers have only come from Apple. That's not to say others haven't tried (for an interesting look at the history of Mac clones, see the Wikipedia entry here). The OSx86 Project has been providing knowledge resources and has built a sizeable community for do-it-yourself hackintoshes. Recently, Doral, Florida-based PsyStar has been selling its Open Computer platform with the Mac OS preinstalled. But as ZDNet reports, Apple has finally mustered a legal response to...
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Intel Statement on Latest European Commission Action SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Intel Corporation today issued the following statement in response to allegations contained in the new Statement of Objections (SO) issued by the European Commission: We're naturally disappointed the Commission has decided to issue a new SO. The issuance of a second SO suggests that the Commission supports AMD's position that Intel should be prevented from competing fairly and offering price discounts which have resulted in lower prices for consumers. We will evaluate this newest SO and respond fully, but it's clear that the allegations stem from the same set of complaints that our competitor, AMD, has been making to regulators...
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Sometimes journalists don't just report the news, they become a part of it. Such is the case with New York Time reporter Saul Hansell. Back in May, Hansell reported on a spat between Google and the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) trade group over Google's refusal to add a link to its privacy policy on the Google homepage. The NAI felt that such a link was part of it charter, and Google was applying to become a member of the NAI. Google, on the other hand, was adamant about keeping its homepage as sparse as possible and didn't want to mar its clean page with even one more word. Three days later, Hansell reported that he stumbled upon a California Law that implies that Goolge must link to...
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MSI has just announced a brand new ultra small form factor PC, dubbed the Titan 700. The tiny machine features a 2.0GHz VIA C7 processor, a mini-ITX motherboard, and a compact case with a volume of only 3.1L. The motherboard's CN700 norhtbridge sports a VIA Graphics (S3) UniChrome Pro IGP, and other features include a slim optical drive, and AC'97 audio. The unit's 60W PSU hints at the Titan 700's miniscule power requirements. The full press release with pics and complete specifications are available below... The perfect combination of Size and Performance Energy Saving compact 3.1L Mini-ITX Full System Taipei, Taiwan – MSI, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motherboards,...
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Anyone jonesing to get their hands on an Intel Atom-based product, just might have to keep waiting a little longer than planned. According to electronista, Intel is meeting less than 40 percent of Atom orders. This is sure to impact the expected rollout of Atom-based products--some of which are expected as early as June. Either product ship dates will get pushed back, or far fewer of a particular product will be available at launch. The rumor mill strongly hints that Apple is one of the manufacturers integrating the Atom processor into a yet-to-be divulged handheld device. (iPhone 2.0 perhaps?) Considering Apple's strong relationship with Intel of late, it wouldn't be suspiring if Apple is first...
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Getting that perfect picture has always been a problem. There are books and courses dedicated to the art of taking one, but what if you don't have time for all that? Some cameras detect smiles and wait to take pictures until the time is perfect, other cameras take a few photos then run a quick facial recognition routine on them to determine which one had the most smiles. But compared to those techniques, Sony's Happy Face technology certainly seems the most impressive, at least on paper. The idea behind the Happy Face technology is simple: The camera can take existing photos and retouch them so that the subject(s) appear to be smiling. Think of it as a sort of automated...
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Well, we are trying to imagine just how the Wii's innovative controller could be used in this case, but we would prefer to ... make no comment.Within a game display in a random Japanese game store an ad for Osouji Sentai Clean Keeper reads “worldly desires are completely open.” Whenever you see something like that used to advertise a game in Japan you’re usually in for a graphic adventure novel on a disc and low and behold that’s what it is.In Osouji Sentai Clean Keeper you basically save underage looking scantily clad women, who are actually in their 20s, from some kind of devil. When you do, by basically choosing numbered options with the Wiimote, you get a victory video of one of the girls...
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One of our favorite uses for all this hardware, gaming, is starting to generate titles large enough to effect other parts of the entertainment industry. No longer are A-list games only competing with each other for sales, but now it seems that the latest movie releases are being factored into the equation. Of course, whatever effects the studios also has an impact on their bottom line:"We anticipate the video game release of GTA IV on April 29 could dampen the potential from Iron Man’s theatrical release on May 2," (Janco Partners analyst Mike) Hickey said in a Wednesday note regarding Marvel Entertainment stock....
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OCZ Technology Group Exhibits New Industry-Leading Innovations at CeBIT 2008 Including the Highly-Anticipated Neural Impulse Actuator Hannover, Germany - March 4, 2008 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, computer components, and systems, today unveiled its next generation of pioneering products to the global PC market at CeBIT (Hall 21, Booth 29). Proving its innovative solutions are always ahead of the curve, OCZ will showcase its group of leading-edge products that have been greatly anticipated by the enthusiast community. “This year OCZ is showcasing a myriad of ground-breaking products, designed to improve productivity...
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Microsoft's made no secret of the fact that a patch for Vista - sans the SP1 update - will disable the OEM BIOS Hack and Grace Time Hack some use to get around activation. Naturally, SP1 will do so as well, but if you try to get around it, you can only avoid it if you disable / hide the update.The release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 not only heralded a long-awaited update of the operating system, it also meant the end of two common Windows Vista anti-activation exploits - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. But those who think they can escape by not updating to Service Pack 1 would be sadly mistaken.That's because Microsoft has surreptitiously released...
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Thought Microsoft actually made the following statements prior to Toshiba's official announcement, it is reasonable to assume that they knew what was coming. It seems like they're not very concerned about the potential impact:“We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace,” Microsoft said in a statement. “As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry....
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A massive volume of telecommunications data flows through undersea cables. We've seen the havoc that's created when one of them is severed, and it looks like the middle-east and western Asia are now experiencing the trouble created when 4 of them are damaged in a little less than a week.Having one cable damaged is unusual, 2 or more in the same time period is very odd, but 4 is virtually unprecedented.“Most telecommunications experts and cable operators say that sabotage seems unlikely, but no one knows what damaged the cables or whether the incidents were related.One theory - that a wayward ship traveling off course because of bad weather was responsible for cutting the first two cables...
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