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August 2012 |
Thanks to Joanna, jimbogimp and outy this week. Don't forget Father's Day on Sunday!
     
     
     
     
     
And if you're after more, check out this Wiki page which lists ALL "misc pics" news posts from the archive.
Video Gallery
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Thursday, 30-August-2012 21:38:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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I thought it might be interesting to highlight some of the videos that people have posted into the Photography Gallery forum.
Thursday Night Reviews
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Thursday, 30-August-2012 19:52:57 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Graphics Cards:
Club 3D HD 7750 Low Profile 1 GB on techPowerUp.
GeForce GTX 660 Ti Overclocked Roundup - EVGA, Galaxy,MSI and Zotac on PC Perspective.
GIGABYTE GTX 680 Super Overclocked Edition on [H]ardOCP.
Sapphire HD7770 on Rbmods.
Sapphire 7970 Vapor-X on PureOverclock.
Storage:
OWC Mercury Accelsior 480GB PCI-E SSD on Think Computers.
Mushkin Catalyst Cache 50GB SSD on Bjorn3D.
Synology DS213 2 Bay NAS on Vortez.
Convar BytePac Paper Hard Drive Enclosure on Legit Reviews.
VisionTek Racer Series 120GB SSD on TweakTown.
Patriot Supersonic 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive on PCStats.
Power Supplies:
Kingwin Lazer Platinum LZP-750 Power Supply on Pro-Clockers.
OCZ Fatal1ty Series 1000W Power Supply on ThinkComputers.
Cases:
Cooler Master Silencio 650 Mid Tower on eTeknix.
Cooler Master Silencio 650 on Techspot.
Corsair Vengeance C70 on Techreaction.
Portables:
Nokia Lumia 710 Smartphone on Hardware Secrets.
Archos 101 XS Android Tablet on HardwareHeaven.
Memory:
Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1866 & Viper 3 Intel ExtremeMasters DDR3-2133 on Legion Hardware.
Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB 2666C10 DDR3 Memory Kit on Madshrimps.
Misc:
CoolerMaster Storm Ceres 400 Headset on PureOverclock.
Actiontec PWR500 - 500Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit on MissingRemote.
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Motherboard on Madshrimps.
Wednesday Evening
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Wednesday, 29-August-2012 20:13:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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It's being suggested everyone needs to disable Java as there's a new exploit doing the rounds, thanks Gunna. A new browser-based exploit for a Java vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on client systems has been spotted in the wild – and because of Oracle's Java patch schedule, it may be some time before a fix becomes widely available.
AMD have shared some new info about upcoming Steamroller APUs, with info on PC Perspective, HotHardware and Tech Report. AMD is slowly but surely revising its next-gen CPU microarchitecture in order to realize its potential. The upcoming core code-named Steamroller looks to address this architecture's biggest problem: single-threaded performance in desktop-class applications.
The recent jury decision against Samsung and favouring Apple has drawn some criticism, and now it seems even the jurors aren't that fond of their decision. Late Friday afternoon, the jury in the Apple/Samsung patent dispute surprised just about everyone by telling the court it had reached a verdict. Given the number of complex issues it needed to go through, most experts expected it to take well into this week. According to observers in the courtroom, one of Apple's lawyers was so surprised and unprepared that he had to rush back to court without a suit, and showed up in a polo shirt.
BugsBunny spotted this article about the world of trolls. His first act was innocuous enough: he weighed in on a discussion about religion and claimed to have disproved everything people had written. Since then his trolling has become more vicious and destructive.
Wired report on online warfare with info from the USAF. The latest example comes from the U.S. Air Force, which last week announced its interest in methods “to destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, deceive, corrupt, or usurp the adversaries [sic] ability to use the cyberspace domain for his advantage.” But that’s only one item in a long list of “Cyberspace Warfare Operations Capabilities” that the Air Force would like to possess.
Wednesday Evening Reviews
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Wednesday, 29-August-2012 17:31:42 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
MSI Big Bang Z77 Mpower on Guru3D.
ASRock Z77E-ITX Mini ITX Motherboard on Legit Reviews.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H on [H]ardOCP.
Storage:
OCZ Agility 4 256GB on Overclockers Club.
Kingston 64GB Wi-Drive on the SSD Review.
Thermaltake BlacX 5G HDD Docking Station on eTeknix.
Crucial v4 256GB vs. OCZ Agility 4 256GB on Techspot.
Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB SSD on TweakTown.
Corsair Force GS 240GB SSD on Hardware Canucks.
Memory:
G.Skill TridentX DDR3 2400MHz 8GB Memory Kit on eTeknix.
Patriot Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory on Hexus.
Cases:
Thermaltake Armor Revo Snow Edition on OCIA.
Aerocool BX-500 Evil Black Edition Full-Tower on eTeknix.
CM Storm Stryker on Benchmark Reviews.
Power Supplies:
Super Flower Golden King 650 W Power Supply on Hardware Secrets.
PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 1200 W on techPowerUp.
Portables:
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A on PC Perspective.
Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830TG-6808 Notebook on TechReviewSource.
Misc:
GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on TweakTown.
Antec TrueQuiet Fans on Vortez.
Interesting Forum Threads
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Tuesday, 28-August-2012 19:00:09 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's a snapshot of what's going on in some of the forums. Remember that OCAU now has official Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages!
Zalman CNPS14X Cpu Cooler Installation (with pics) in Overclocking & Hardware.
Gigabytes "Aivia" Gaming Series Keyboard, Mouse and Mousepad in Overclocking & Hardware.
MaxKeyboard Nighthawk X8/X9 Mechanical Keybaords in Overclocking & Hardware.
Powerline ethernet in an apartment - safe from neighbours? in Networking.
Creative cards: Recon3D v X-Fi Titanium (mini review) in PC Audio.
Adonit Jot Stylus for the iPad - Will u use it? in Graphic Design.
Planetary Annihilation: Spiritual successor to Total Annihilation & Supreme Commander in PC Games.
Nixie Tube Fan Controller in Modding.
To Remove Babylon Tool Bar in Troubleshooting Help.
Copper dissolving in loop? in Extreme Cooling.
Knives? What do you use? in Geek Food.
What do you eat when hardcore gaming? in Geek Food.
A Question for Canon 5D Mark III Owners in Photography.
Pens, Paper & Ink in Other Toys.
Geology and Genesis in Science.
Tony Scott dead at 68 in Entertainment.
Thomas Jane's Comic-Con Short Film: 'Dirty Laundry' in Entertainment.
Egg yolks almost as bad for the heart as smoking: study in Sport, Fitness & Health.
Transplant & Cystic Fibrosis & Re-Transplant in Sport, Fitness & Health.
Show me the logic! in The Pub.
Tuesday Afternoon
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Tuesday, 28-August-2012 16:44:46 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Sony is set to leave the optical disc drive business. Sony Corp. will abandon the optical disc drive business, nearly completing a restructuring of money-losing divisions it initiated after suffering huge losses in fiscal 2011. Sony Optiarc Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary that produces CD and DVD drives used in personal computers, will cease operations by March, sources said Aug. 24. Most of the 400 or so employees at home and abroad will be let go through an early retirement program.
Gunna sent in some more details regarding the upcoming Google/Motorola vs Apple patent battle. This isn't a lawsuit that deals with silly topics such as icons or square shaped tablets. Google and Motorola are filing patent infringement for non-standard essential patents. To put it simply, Google-rola has filed a case for a patent/patents that courts cannot legally force companies to patent, meaning that if they win this case, Apple could be forced to completely stop using the patent in their devices.
Gunna also let us know about research into network design using... Ants! On the surface, ants and the Internet don't seem to have much in common. But two Stanford researchers have discovered that a species of harvester ants determine how many foragers to send out of the nest in much the same way that Internet protocols discover how much bandwidth is available for the transfer of data. The researchers are calling it the "anternet."
AMD have introduced a new CPU as well as some price drops across its range. AMD is now revising prices across its processor lineup while also adding a new member to the existing FX family. The latter is a quad-core part based on 32nm Zambezi core architecture, launching as the FX-4130, with a base clock speed of 3.8GHz and 3.9GHz Turbo. It also has a 125W TDP, 4MB of L3 cache, and has a MSRP of $112. Prices across the entire FX series, the first generation of AMD A-Series APUs, and several Phenom II chips saw drops of up to 23%.
Fancy a bit more performance from your Nexus 7 tablet? The ASUS Google Nexus 7 is plenty fast for most users. It’s powered by a quad core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor running at 1.3GHz which is very capable in browsing, general computing, media consumption and even 3D gaming. Now, thanks to a custom Elite Kernel from XDA-Developers' Clemsyn and the efforts of Simms22, it has been shown that you can boost your Nexus 7 Tegra 3 clock speed to a full 2.0GHz.
Intel have revealed that RAID TRIM support is finally coming to the X79 platform. It is already present on the Z77 series but is unlikely to be introduced for older Z68 platforms. So why is this a big deal? TRIM is a necessity for keeping SSDs with certain controllers in top shape, since without it performance can degrade and over time, calls to and from the storage subsystem will slow down to a crawl. With TRIM, a command is passed from the OS to the SSD, informing it to clean used blocks of NAND that contain data which has been marked as deleted by the OS. Thanks to Jonathan P.
Fans of either iOS or Android can now focus their rage somewhere other than blogs and forums with the introduction of Fruit vs Robot. Formerly relegated to just sniping at one another in the comments sections of tech blogs, Apple fans and Android enthusiasts now have another outlet for their animosity. Fruit vs. Robot is an Android and iOS game that lets the partisans of each platform duke it out against one another in a collection of board, trivia and arcade games.
A man in the US apparently made $28k in one month selling online reviews. It makes you wonder much this sort of thing happens at place like Amazon and Newegg. At first, he advertised that he would review a book for $99. But some clients wanted a chorus proclaiming their excellence. So, for $499, Mr. Rutherford would do 20 online reviews. A few people needed a whole orchestra. For $999, he would do 50. Before he knew it, he was taking in $28,000 a month.
Never mind Project Glass, get ready for the Google Glove. Enter Google’s Smart Glove, described in a recently issued patent called “Seeing with your hand”. The Google Glove is filled choke full with electronics. These include cameras on the fingertips, compass, gyroscopes, accelerometers and other motion detectors on the fingers, CPU, a bunch of RAM and storage in the palm of your hand, and (wireless) communication chips on the back. Maybe even a small battery band around your wrist.
Tuesday Midday Reviews
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Tuesday, 28-August-2012 11:51:00 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Cases:
Diablotek Cyclops mid tower on Techreaction.
Azza Genesis 9000 Reversible Full Tower Chassis on TweakTown.
SilverStone Grandia Series GD07 HTPC Case on PC Perspective.
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced on Vortez.
Storage:
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB on HardcoreWare.
Corsair Neutron and Neutron GTX SSDs on The SSD Review.
Mushkin Catalyst Cache SSD on Guru3D.
ADATA XPG SX900 128GB SSD on Legit Reviews.
Buffalo MiniStation Extreme USB 3.0 Hard Drive on Hardware Heaven.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook on t-break.
Lenovo IdeaCentre H520s slim PC on TechReviewSource.
Input etc:
Gigabyte GP-Krypton MAT Two-sided Gaming Mouse Pad on Legit Reviews.
Gigabyte Aivia Krypton Mouse on Hardware Secrets.
Epic Gear Meduza HDST Gaming Mouse on techPowerUp.
Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS Theron Laser Mouse on APH Networks.
Audio:
ARCTIC P31X Wireless Headphones on Funky Kit.
Jabra EXTREME2 Bluetooth Headset on NikkTech.
Misc:
Crucial Ballistic Elite & Tactical DDR3 Memory kits on HardwareLOOK.
Magellan Roadmate 2230T-LM GPS on TechwareLabs.
FSP Aurum Xilenser 400W on JonnyGuru.
Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 680 Black Series Accelero Hybrid 4GB on Think Computers.
Here's some (p)reviews from people in the forums:
Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon, has passed away, aged 82. Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati. Discussion here.
Apple have scored a major victory in their patent battle with Samsung in the USA, with over one billion dollars damages awarded. In a landmark ruling in the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial, the jury has just awarded damages to Apple for Samsung's violation of its various software, hardware design patents, and trade-dress dilution. For its various violations, Samsung must pay Apple $1,049,343,540 in damages, the jury determined. Discussion here.
PowerColor have a dual GPU Radeon 7990 card - before the official one. PowerColor Devil 13 HD7990 graphics card features two Radeon HD 7970 "Tahiti XT" GPUs operating at 925MHz with default settings and at 1GHz once a special setting inside the BIOS is activated. The board carries 6GB of GDDR5 memory operating at 5.5GHz (3GB of memory with 384-bit memory bus per chip) and has DL DVI-I, SL DVI-D, HDMI, two miniDisplayPort connectors. The most powerful AMD Radeon HD-based graphics card requires 850W power supply unit that has three 8-pin PCI Express power connectors.
Tech Report meanwhile look into CPU gaming performance. We bring our signature latency-focused game testing methods to bear on the latest crop of desktop CPUs. In the process, we learn a some things and shatter a few popular myths.
Gunna spotted a new wonder material - wood pulp. Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), which is produced by processing wood pulp, is being hailed as the latest wonder material. Japan-based Pioneer Electronics is applying it to the next generation of flexible electronic displays. IBM is using it to create components for computers. Even the US army is getting in on the act, using it to make lightweight body armour and ballistic glass.
From Skymaster: This is old news (3 months!) but I was thinking about it tonight, and couldn't find reference on OCAU news archives. Good old Wolfenstein 3d turned 20 recently, and they've released a free flash version! I remember having this back on the old 386 :) Somewhat worth mentioning - seeing it pioneered the whole 3D FPS concept!
Tweaktown report on a new world record on an upcoming Gigabyte motherboard. HiCookie was able to clock in a speed of 7102MHz (1 core / 1 thread) with his Intel Core i7 3770K processor at 1.968 volts and -188 degrees Celsius.
So, today's (other) timewaster is Richard Hammond's Striker Inferno, a game to highlight his new TV series, from Sciby.
Saturday Afternoon Reviews
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Saturday, 25-August-2012 13:09:19 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
ASRock X79 Extreme 11 on PureOverclock.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH on Hardware Secrets.
ASUS Maximus V Formula/ThunderFX on techPowerUp.
Graphics Cards:
Sapphire HD 7970 Vapor-X GHZ Edition on Overclockers Club.
Inno3D GeForce GTX 660 Ti iChill 3GB on Guru3D.
MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr III on Vortez.
Storage:
QNAP TurboNAS TS-269 Pro NAS Server on NikKTech.
Western Digital Red Drive 2TB Hard Drive on TechwareLabs.
Power Supplies:
PC Power & Cooling Mk III Silencer 1200 Watt on Guru3D.
Antec High Current Pro 1000W Platinum on Vortez.
Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650w on Funky Kit.
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 10 1000 W on techPowerUp.
Cases:
Silverstone Fortress FT03-MINI PC Chassis on eTeknix.
Bitfenix Prodigy on Hardware Secrets.
Input etc:
Sharkoon Skiller Gaming Keyboard on TweakTown.
ROCCAT Kone[+] Gaming Mouse on ThinkComputers.
Cooling:
Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler on Hardware Secrets.
Corsair H100 CPU Water Cooler on TechwareLabs.
Cooler Master Gemin II M4 Low Profile Heatsink on Ninjalane.
Portables:
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook on HotHardware.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android Tablet on Hardware Heaven.
Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 Notebook on PC Perspective.
Networking:
Western Digital MY NET N900 Dual-Band Router on TechwareLabs.
Netgear R6300 802.11ac Wireless Router on Legit Reviews.
Bumper crop this week! Thanks to Adam and Carl. Second last one possibly NSFW. :)
     
     
     
     
     
And if you're after more, check out this Wiki page which lists ALL "misc pics" news posts from the archive.
Sponsor Specials
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Friday, 24-August-2012 13:30:24 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Remember to keep an eye on our Sponsor Specials Forum. In there our various advertisers have threads with info and deals on arcade machine bits, video cards, fitness supplements, SSDs, soldering systems, office chairs, monitors, network storage, headphones, media players, data recovery, CCTV equipment, iPhone/iPad accessories and more. Check 'em out!
Microsoft has a new logo, which looks to me like a Windows 8 version of the old logo. Astoundingly, it has been a full quarter-century since Microsoft gave itself a new logo, and while we're sure pundits will jump all over it just because "dealing with change is hard," there's no doubt that the outfit's new face is bold in its simplicity.
Small powerful magnets like buckyballs and similar are now banned in Victoria, NSW and WA, and will probably be banned nation-wide soon. There are risks to toddlers and small children placing the objects in their mouths, as well as a risk from accidental swallowing by teenagers or adults using the magnets as facial jewellery. “The magnets can lock together through intestinal walls and cause perforations and blockages. Urgent surgery may then be required to remove the magnets, to avoid serious medical complications or death,” Mr O’Brien said.
Double-decker buses will be back on the streets of Sydney soon, thanks d00dz. For a city starved of road space during morning and afternoon peak hours, double-deck buses bring their pros and cons. Their obvious advantage is to carry more people in the same amount of space as a regular bus. Their main disadvantage is in the increased "dwell time", or the length of time it takes passengers to alight and board.
Also in Sydney, the retail shopfront war between Samsung and Apple has kicked off again. t's a flagship consumer electronics store on Sydney's George Street with smiling blue shirt-wearing sales staff, a minimalist design and smartphones and tablets that invite customers to pick up and play. But according to Samsung, the new store - just a block from Apple's Sydney store - was all its own idea.
Supplanter meanwhile spotted an article about Google joining the patent fight. In the last year and a half, Apple has filed over 20 lawsuits against smartphone manufacturers Samsung and HTC for the ways in which they have implemented their hardware designs and Android OS implementations. During that time Google has been largely silent, with the only thing closely resembling a corporate stance being a backhanded statement Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt made at a conference in Tokyo last year. When asked about whether Google would provide financial support to HTC should they lose a patent case with Apple, Schmidt said: “We will make sure they don’t lose, then.” That however has been the last statement made by Google about the whole mess. Until now.
News Limited's CEO gave a lengthy speech about how copyright infringement is bad, mmkay. Let’s cut right to the chase. Copyright is about enabling the production of great art and great commercial work – hopefully both. It’s about nurturing the creative process. It’s about supporting business cases and employment. About getting the noblest imaginings of the human mind and human emotions into a form that the whole world can see and share.
The FBI have turned their attention to pirated apps, taking down three websites. "Cracking down on piracy of copyrighted works—including popular apps—is a top priority of the Criminal Division," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer in the government's press release. “Software apps have become an increasingly essential part of our nation’s economy and creative culture.” The FBI says its agents downloaded "thousands of copies of popular copyrighted mobile device apps" to verify the charges against the sites.
iXBTLabs have updated their 3DSpeed comparison. The i3DSpeed informs you about performance of popular graphics cards and the best price/performance deals in the market. This time we upgraded the testbed, added new benchmarks and the test results of the overclocked GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 560 Ti.
NASA's Curiosity rover is now roving, away from the original landing site, which they have announced has been named in honour of recently-deceased science fiction author Ray Bradury. NASA has approved the Curiosity science team's choice to name the landing ground for the influential author who was born 92 years ago today and died this year. The location where Curiosity touched down is now called Bradbury Landing.
Dukeymeng is running another lame game marathon next month to raise money for charity.
Friday Midday Reviews
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Friday, 24-August-2012 12:12:53 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Video Cards:
Sapphire HD 7970 Toxic 6 GB on TechPowerUp.
NVIDIA SLI: GeForce GTX 660 Ti vs GTX 670 on BenchmarkReviews.
Cases:
Silverstone SUGO SG08 Mini-ITX on BenchmarkReviews.
Silverstone FT03 Mini ITX on Pro-Clockers.
Audio Visual:
Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming Headset on TechReaction.
SteelSeries Siberia V2 USB Gaming Headset on Tweaktown.
X3i Micro Mobile Speakers on TestFreaks.
Power Supply:
FSP AURUM Pro 1200W on Vortez.
Cooler Master USNA 120 AC/DC Power Adapter on Pro-Clockers.
Storage:
Vantec NexStar HX NST-330SU3 Hard Drive to USB 3.0 / eSATA II External Case on PCStats.
Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD on APHNetworks.
Software:
OS X 10.8 vs. Ubuntu Linux: A Battle With No Clear Winner on Phoronix.
Microsoft Windows 8 Gaming Performance on TechPowerUp.
Internet Explorer 10 RTM Benchmarked on NGOHQ.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Quad-Core ODROID-X Battles NVIDIA Tegra 3 on Phoronix.
Giada D2305 Mini PC on ThinkComputers.
Misc:
G.Skill Trident-X 2400 CL10 Dual Channel RAM Kit on TechWareLabs.
Roccat Savu Mouse on HWSecrets.
Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 3 Gaming Motherboard on NinjaLane.
Interesting Forum Threads
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Thursday, 23-August-2012 20:09:30 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's a snapshot of what's going on in some of the forums. Remember that OCAU now has official Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages!
Ants in my tablet in Overclocking & Hardware.
XFX Warpad = Amazing in Overclocking & Hardware.
How one teacher built a computer lab for free in Other Operating Systems.
Hackberry A10 in Other Operating Systems.
Resara Server - A Linux Implementation of Active Directory for Windows networks in Other Operating Systems.
Why would you use any other desktop than Ubuntu? in Other Operating Systems.
Ubisoft investing in F2P in PC Games.
Microsoft Flight is fun in PC Games.
Abuse in multiplayer games and mmos in PC Games.
Who to host email with in Networking, Telephony & Internet.
Mars Rover Curiosity C Coding Standard in Programming & Software Development.
Choice of Programming Language in Programming & Software Development.
What security programs do they need? in General Software.
ARM goes 64bit in Other CPUs and Chipsets.
Your Top 10 Retros in Retro & Arcade.
Does fluoride really cause cancer? in Science.
Operation "Get Mantis" in Pets & Animals.
best way to get more veggies into my diet in Geek Food.
Sous Vide in Geek Food.
"Right to Silence" law changed in Current Events.
Coles, Woolies 'deliberately killing competition' in Current Events.
Who Are The True Winners? Olympics, the Fallacy of Medal Rankings, and Solutions in Current Events.
Thursday Afternoon Reviews
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Thursday, 23-August-2012 17:35:58 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Socket 1155 Motherboard on Pro-Clockers.
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH on TBreak.
Cooling:
Corsair Air Series AF and SP Cooling Fans on Tweaktown.
Thermaltake Frio Extreme CPU Cooler on NeoSeeker.
Storage:
OCZ Agility 4 256GB on PureOC.
Startech 4 Bay Standalone HDD Duplicator Dock on XSReviews.
Samsung 830 Series SSD 512 GB on TechPowerUp.
Icy Dock MB882SP-1S-1B 2.5" to 3.5" SATA 6Gb Adapter & Drive Bracker on TechReaction.
Icy Dock MB080U3S-1SB Blizzard 3.5" SATA External Hard Drive Enclosure on eTeknix.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Ultrabook on HWHeaven.
Apple MacBook Air 11-inch (Mid-2012) on TechReviewSource.
Arctic MC101: A Trinity Powered HTPC on Bjorn3D.
Dell Latitude E6530 Review: Business Class Performance on HotHardware.
Video Cards:
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Vapor-X OC with Boost on Tweaktown.
Palit GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti 2GB JetStream Overclocked on Tweaktown.
NVidia GTX 660Ti SLI Performance and Overclocking on NinjaLane.
Networking:
TRENDnet TPL-405E 4-Port 500Mbps Powerline AV Adapter on NikKTech.
TP Link Wireless N (150) NANO Router on TechReaction.
Thursday Morning
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Thursday, 23-August-2012 02:14:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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The Senate has passed a trimmed-down version of the controversial data retention laws. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam described the reforms as a targeted, 'lite' version of the Federal Government's proposed data retention laws, and with more oversight. Ludlam fiercely opposed the proposed data retention laws, but said he backed this reform to police power. Discussion continues in this thread.
Mpot spotted an article bemoaning the lack of a Kensington security slot in the new MacBook Pros. Also interesting because it gives a glimpse behind the scenes of sports photography. It was at that moment that I freaked out, because when I looked at the side of my new top-of-the-line MacBook Pro I noticed that the tiny security slot that Apple puts in ALL MacBook Pros just for this purpose, is missing. It’s just not there (see the photo at the top).
A new world record has been set in Finland for mobile phone throwing. According to contest organisers, the competition offers mobile phone users a unique opportunity to "pay back all the frustrations and disappointments caused by these modern equipments." Finland is the home of Nokia and is awash in obsolete phones, organisers said. Throwing old Nokias? Somebody's going to get killed!
Here's a flashback to the VIC-20 days, with ArsTechnica reporting on a brodcast of BASIC code over FM in Finland. But the young innovator felt isolated. "Computers were not as popular as they are now," Tunkelo said, and few schools had one. Then came a remarkable radio show that changed the landscape for him and a generation of Finnish technology lovers—a show that literally broadcast code over the airwaves. Discussion here.
One of the coolest Curiosity Rover things I've seen is this 360 degree panorama - you can zoom a bit too. Speaking of which, the rover has extended and stowed its instrument arm, waggled its wheels, and is preparing to drive. Today, the six-wheeled rover wiggled its four corner wheels side to side for the first time on Mars, as a test of the steering actuators on those wheels. This was critical preparation for Curiosity's first drive on Mars. "Late tonight, we plan to send Curiosity the commands for doing our first drive tomorrow," said Curiosity Mission Manager Michael Watkins of JPL.
A filter designed to remove the kitschy Instagram photo effects also does wonders for actual old photos. And it follows that, since Instagram's filters are based in on an aesthetic defined by actual old camera hardware and film, it should work near as well on real old photographs. It kind of does!
If you're concerned about the Zombie Apocalypse wiping out your precious electronic data, asher spotted a paper-based solution. If you’re holding off on buying a new hard drive until prices return to normal, here’s an idea: If you have a ream of A4/Letter paper and a high-resolution printer, an open-source Windows application lets you store up to 500KB — half a megabyte! — per side of paper. Let's hope the Zombies haven't mastered fire.
Tweaktown toured a Lian Li Factory. Back in the day, there was no uniform standard for PCI panels. Lian Li told us there were literally hundreds of different panels and if a company wanted a blank PCI panel for its system, the company to go to for the job was Lian Li as they had all the templates and production facility ready to go. Fast forward all these years and Lian Li has stepped way up from merely producing blank PCI panels to some of the best quality and most attractive looking computer cases on the market.
I've unfortunately lost track of who sent in this TED video about online education. Daphne Koller is enticing top universities to put their most intriguing courses online for free -- not just as a service, but as a way to research how people learn. But it did inspire me to make a Wiki page and a forum thread listing free online education courses. So get learnin'!
MSI Z77A-GD65 Giveaway
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Wednesday, 22-August-2012 19:55:01 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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MSI are giving away one of their shiny new Z77A-GD65 motherboards to an OCAU member. For details, see the thread:
Click for the thread!
Tuesday Afternoon Reviews
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Tuesday, 21-August-2012 12:21:38 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
Asus P8Z77-V Pro Intel Z77 Motherboard on ThinkComputers.
Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X Motherboard on Hardware Secrets.
ASRock X79 Extreme11 Motherboard on KitGuru.
Graphics Cards:
Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti DirectCU II TOP on Bjorn3D.
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti SC on Guru3D.
Zotac GeForce GTX 660 Ti AMP Edition on Bjorn3D.
Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 670 HerculeZ 3000 on Xbit Labs.
Power Supplies:
Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850 W on techPowerUp.
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk.III 1200W on Hardware Heaven.
Input etc:
Sharkoon DarkGlider Laser Gaming Mouse on TweakTown.
CMStorm QuickFire Rapid Keyboard on PC Perspective.
Mad Catz Cyborg M.M.O.7 Gaming Mouse on NikKTech.
Memory:
Corsair Dominator Platinum 2666MHz 16GB DDR3 on Hardware Heaven.
GEIL Evo Veloce Dual Channel 2133 MHz memory on XSReviews.
Storage:
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB on Xbit Labs.
Corsair Neutron Series SSDs on TweakTown.
Cases:
Cooler Master CM Storm Stryker Case on Neoseeker.
BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower on Hardware Canucks.
Antec One on VR-Zone.
Misc:
Lamptron FC10 Fan Controller on Madshrimps.
Soul by Ludacris SL150 & SL300 Headphones on [H]ardOCP.
Scientists at Harvard University have managed to cram 700 Terabytes of data into one gram of DNA. Scientists have been eyeing up DNA as a potential storage medium for a long time, for three very good reasons: It’s incredibly dense (you can store one bit per base, and a base is only a few atoms large); it’s volumetric (beaker) rather than planar (hard disk); and it’s incredibly stable — where other bleeding-edge storage mediums need to be kept in sub-zero vacuums, DNA can survive for hundreds of thousands of years in a box in your garage.
Gunna sent word in of another patent war that is brewing, this time between Google’s Motorola division and Apple. Google’s Motorola division has filed a new patent lawsuit against Apple (following Samsung’s lead), opening some old wounds leftover from Motorola and Apple’s long-standing legal disputes. The complaint, submitted to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), names features like location reminders, email notifications, along phone and video players as possible infringements. Discussion here.
The Australian Federal Police have revealed they are investigating an organized credit card fraud ring. Eastern European hackers have stolen half a million credit card numbers from Australians and racked up $25 million in fraudulent transactions, federal police have revealed. Australian Federal Police were unable to provide details of their ongoing investigation, but they confirmed they were working with law enforcement bodies in other countries to tackle the organised hacking ring.
How is this for a Raspberry Pi mod! Ireland-based photographer David Hunt came up with an ingenious idea to bring the computer to his camera by making a Raspberry Pi-enhanced DSLR battery grip. Hunt's custom grip, called the Camera Pi, houses a fully functioning Linux computer (running Raspbian) with two USB ports, an Ethernet adapter, a video port, an HDMI connector, and GPIO.
Games.on.net has a preview of Ravaged, a multi-player vehicle based combat game that received funding via Kickstarter. With more time, more players and more vehicles, Ravaged could easily be one of the PC’s stand-out multiplayer experiences – the team say they put more of an emphasis on fun rather than realism, and it shows. The matches I had with the guys were crazy, hilariously over-the-top and most importantly, enjoyable.
IBM has acquired Texas Memory Systems, indicating the company will make a push into the solid state storage market. Texas Memory Systems (TMS) offers Flash based rack systems and interconnect cards. In some respects, TMS is in the same ballpark as Fusion-io and similar companies. IBM's motives are relatively obvious. The company plans to push more solid state storage into data centers. TMS provides the technology and IBM has the sales channel.
The Communications Council have released a social media code of conduct. Following the recent ruling which sees advertisers responsible for user-generated content on Facebook, the Communications Council has unveiled its Social Media Code of Conduct to address an increasingly murky social marketing landscape.
The Mars Curiosity Rover has completed the first test of its ChemCam instrument - zapping a rock with a laser. A small, flat rock known as Coronation suffered the wrath of Curiosity’s laser when the Mars rover finally fired up its ChemCam instrument and delivered 30 pulses of energy at the rock over a 10-second period. “We got a great spectrum of Coronation — lots of signal,” Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, leader of the ChemCam scientific team, said in a press release today. “Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it’s payoff time!”
Stefan B sent in this video of a fully working V12 engine that fits in the palm of your hand!
Sunday Morning Reviews
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Sunday, 19-August-2012 09:30:24 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Graphics Cards:
MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edition on Inside HW.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti on Legion Hardware.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti Windforce OC on Bjorn3D.
MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edition on Bjorn3D.
Zotac GTX 660 Ti AMP! Edition on PureOverclock.
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB SC Edition on Neoseeker.
Zotac Amp! & Asus Direct CuII GTX 660 Ti on t-break.
MSI GTX 670 Power Edition on PC Perspective.
AMD Radeon HD 7950 with Boost Update on Guru3D.
Motherboards & CPUs:
AMD A4-3400 APU on Vortez.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH on techPowerUp.
Asus P9X79 Deluxe on Legit Reviews.
Storage:
Kingston SSDNow V200 128GB on Overclockers Club.
Seagate Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage Device on Techreaction.
Akasa Integral S 3.5" External USB3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure on eTeknix.
Areca ARC-1882i PCIe 3.0 RAID Controller on TweakTown.
Power Supplies:
Raidmax RX-600AF PSU on Rbmods.
Corsair GS700 Bronze Power Supply on Hardware Secrets.
Misc:
Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm fan on Vortez.
Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Android on ThinkComputers.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook on Hot Hardware.
Cooler Master HAF XM Mid-Tower case on PC Perspective.
Bitfenix Hydra Pro Fan Controller on Pro-Clockers.
National Security Legislation Reforms
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Sunday, 19-August-2012 00:59:07 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Tee sent a reminder about the National Security Legislation: It was noted on the news page one month ago, but it's worth noting again. Submissions close August 20 - Monday.
Submissions are due on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Inquiry into potential reforms of National Security Legislation. They are seeking public submissions in response to reforms proposed increasing and expanding surveillance, collection, retention and access to digital communications and data, including mandatory recording by ISPs of all Internet activity by their customers and storage of these logs for two years, making it a criminal offence to refuse to decrypt data upon request by law enforcement, giving ASIO the power and right to ‘disrupt’ a target computer for the purpose of gaining access to it, or even access to ‘third party’ computers on the way to the target computers, and other changes designed to streamline and simplify the process of warrant acquisition to authorise surveillance and acquisition of communications and data.
You can read more here:
http://apo.org.au/call/inquiry-potential-reforms-national-security-legislation
http://delimiter.com.au/2012/07/13/govt-blocks-surveillance-inquiry-extension
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/data-trail-easy-to-follow-for-big-brother-20120720-22ffm.html
The Australian Greens Party (whether you agree with them or not) have a prewritten submission you can edit here:
http://greensmps.org.au/content/national-security-legislation-inquiry-submission
Please make your voice heard. This is very important legislation and the inquiry needs to hear the voice of the public.
Saturday Afternoon
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Saturday, 18-August-2012 14:08:33 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Techspot have published an article comparing Windows 7 and 8 using a variety of benchmarks. For comparing Windows 7 and Windows 8 we will measure and test the performance of various aspects of the operating system including: boot up and shutdown times, file copying, encoding, browsing, gaming and some synthetic benchmarks.
One of the items stolen from the late Steve Jobs' house in early August was found in the possession of Kenny the Clown, a well known San Francisco street performer. "The thing that is embarrassing to me is I'm a huge fan of Steve Jobs," said Kenneth Kahn, 47, a professional entertainer who police say unwittingly received a silver 64GB iPad pilfered from the home of the Apple co-founder last month. "It's just bizarre." Kahn's friend, Kariem McFarlin, 35, of Alameda was arrested on suspicion of breaking into Jobs' Palo Alto residence on Aug. 2.
Fujitsu have a announced a recycling program using discarded CDs and DVDs. Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited today announced the development of the PC industry's first recycling system that collects used CDs and DVDs at Fujitsu Group recycling centers and reuses the plastic in the bodies of notebook PCs. Fujitsu began using this recycled plastic for part of the front panel of its LIFEBOOK P772/E notebook PC for enterprise customers, a model in its summer 2012 lineup.
Computerworld take a look at the state of 4G mobile services in Australia. The top three Australian carriers are spending billions upgrading their networks to high-speed 4G LTE services. Customers are just starting to see the new plans and rollout is expected to intensify through the year and well into 2013.
The gamers with Nvidia Kepler GPUs should be interested in this article from Hot Hardware that takes a look at the TXAA anti aliasing method. Unlike other types of AA, which can often be forced on in the driver and applied to any game, TXAA required specific application support. Funcom's new MMO, The Secret World, was patched last week to add TXAA and we took the game out for a spin to see what it looks like.
John N sent in an article that talks some more about Google's driverless car program. One of most asked questions about Google's Driverless Car program is what Google plans to do with it. After intensive research, we finally managed to nail some details about the strategy and products. Call me old fashioned, but i'm not sure i want to relinquish control of my car during peak hour just yet!
Cloud gaming service OnLive has announced it it laying off its entire staff. OnLive — a cloud gaming startup focused on bringing a console experience to devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Android phones — laid off its entire staff Friday. According to a source close to the situation, the company called an all hands meeting at 10am PT, at which the entire staff was fired. Some staffers may be rehired as the company transitions to its next unknown iteration.
The Facebook public float wasn't exactly smooth sailing. The company's stock is now at a new low. Facebook Inc.'s stock price plumbed a new low Thursday as early investors were freed to sell some of their stakes, leaving the once-prized stock down nearly 50% from its debut and forcing executives of the young Internet giant to pump up morale.
Thanks to everyone who sent in pics this week!
     
     
     
     
And if you're after more, check out this Wiki page which lists ALL "misc pics" news posts from the archive.
Nvidia GTX 660 Ti Reviews
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Friday, 17-August-2012 11:15:36 (GMT +10) - by booj
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The Nvidia GTX 660 Ti launched late last night Australian time. This time, there doesn't really seem to be a reference card, all reviews are using custom models. No doubt there will be more in the coming days.
Anandtech (EVGA, Zotac & Gigabyte)
Benchmark Reviews: Asus & MSI
eTeknix (Gigabyte)
Funky Kit (Gigabyte)
Futurelooks (EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI)
Guru3D: Palit, Gigabyte, & MSI
[H]ardOCP (Galaxy)
Hardware Heaven (EVGA, Palit & Zotac)
Hardware Secrets (EVGA)
Hexus (EVGA)
Hot Hardware (Zotac, Gigabyte, EVGA, MSI)
Legit Reviews (Asus, EVGA, MSI)
Ninjalane: Gigabyte & MSI
Overclockers (EVGA)
Overclockers Club (Asus, Galaxy, MSI)
PC Perspective (MSI)
Pure Overclock: MSI & Gigabyte
techPowerUp: Zotac, Palit, Asus & MSI
TechReport (PNY, MSI & Zotac)
TechSpot (Gigabyte)
Toms Hardware (MSI)
TweakTown (MSI)
Vortez (Zotac)
VR-Zone (Gigabyte)
Thursday Evening
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Thursday, 16-August-2012 18:40:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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There's an app in the Google Play store which calls itself OCAU Forums or similar - note this is NOT in any way associated with us. It might not do anything bad, but who knows. We support Tapatalk for mobile browsing, but any app with the actual OCAU Forums name is not anything to do with us at the moment. Discussion here.
Sabz spotted this Windows 8 video, showing the new interface in detail. Almost not terrible... but still pretty terrible.Windows 8 is a mess on the desktop. What were they thinking? This might be OK for a tablet, but on a desktop... it's a mess.
The takeover of Internode has boosted iiNet's profit last year. Chief executive Michael Malone said the internet service provider's (ISP) "best ever financial result" was due to its acquisitions of competing broadband providers TransACT and Internode, both bought in late 2011.
A hoax about proprietary screws from Apple has had people up in arms, thanks mpot. Stockholm production company Day4 fooled portions of the tech world last week into believing that Apple was working on an odd-shaped screw - an effort to show how quickly people are to believe anything they find online. I don't remember hearing about it - so maybe this story is the hoax? :)
Bill Gates has his eyes on your toilet - or at least, those in the developing world. A charitable foundation founded by Gates and his wife kicked off a "Reinvent the Toilet Fair" in Seattle and awarded prizes for promising innovations. "Toilets are extremely important for public health and, when you think of it, even human dignity," Gates said.
There's not very much information about it, but apparently an Australian has made a converter for the iPhone connector. This little contraption is called the MAGdapter. Clumsy name aside, basically it’s a case that wraps around your iPhone (or any other device for that matter) and gives it a new magnetic docking connector down the bottom. The magnetic plate is removable and can be swapped out for either a 30-pin connector, a microUSB connector or even the theoretical connector for the new range of iDevices. You know, if that ends up happening.
Thursday Morning Reviews
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Thursday, 16-August-2012 00:36:59 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
Intel Core i7-3820 Processor on TechwareLabs.
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H on APH Networks.
ASUS Maximus V GENE on PureOverclock.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H on Techreaction.
Graphics Cards:
MSI Radeon HD 7770 Power Edition on Guru3D.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Vapor-X 3GB on TweakTown.
Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 GC 4GB on PC Perspective.
Point of View GTX 680 TGT Ultra Charged 4 GB on techPowerUp.
Input etc:
Roccat Kone[+] and ISKU Keyboard combo on PureOverclock.
Rosewill RK-9000-series mechanical keyboards on Tech Report.
Cooling:
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer and Pro Water Cooling Kits on OCIA.
Phanteks PH-TC14CS CPU Cooler on Hardware Secrets.
Audio:
CM Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset on HardwareLOOK.
G-Cube iHL-500BK Luxury Dual-Mode Headset on Benchmark Reviews.
Cases:
Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case on ThinkComputers.
Cooler Master Storm Stryker Case on Legit Reviews.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Acer TimelineU M5 Ultrabook on TechSpot.
Giada I35G (Atom D2500 based) Minipc on Techreaction.
Dell Latitude E6430 Notebook on TechReviewSource.
Misc:
Corsair Force GS 240GB SSD on TweakTown.
Aerocool Touch-2000 Fan Controller on HardwareLOOK.
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 Platinum 650W Power Supply on Legit Reviews.
Wednesday Midday
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Wednesday, 15-August-2012 12:16:42 (GMT +10) - by booj
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AMD have released a new BIOS for HD 7950 owners. TechPowerup takes a look. AMD just released a free BIOS upgrade for the Radeon HD 7950, which provides an extra speed boost by updating the company's PowerTune algorithm. We will thoroughly test this update and not only look at performance but also power consumption and heat.
DP Review have an interview with Mike Ravine, the Mars Curiosity Rover camera project manager. 'There's a popular belief that projects like this are going to be very advanced but there are things that mitigate against that. These designs were proposed in 2004, and you don't get to propose one specification and then go off and develop something else. 2MP with 8GB of flash [memory] didn't sound too bad in 2004. But it doesn't compare well to what you get in an iPhone today.'
Toms Hardware have a detailed article on AMD's Fusion APU design. You've already read about APUs, and maybe you're even using them now. But the road to creating APUs was paved with a number of struggles and unsung breakthroughs. This is the story of how hybrid chips came to be at AMD and where they’re going.
The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) has met to issue a draft international standard of a new video-compression format that is twice as efficient as current standards. The meeting, held in Stockholm July 16-20, gathered almost 450 people from 26 countries representing the telecoms, computer, TV and consumer electronics industries to approve and issue a draft standard for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). This format will enable compression levels roughly twice as high as the current H.264/AVC standard.
The Apple versus Samsung legal battle aka soap opera continues.. Apple had gone straight for the jugular with its arguments, stating that Samsung knowingly stole its technology and designs by meticulously examining each key element of the iPhone’s UI and ripping it off in its own products. Rather than get right to denying any wrongdoing, Samsung on Monday decided to take a different approach — prove Apple’s technology patents are not valid because they’re stolen to begin with.
OCmodshop have an infographic comparing online dating to online gaming.
I want my flying car. The BBC has an article listing some interesting projects that could bring real flying cars closer to reality than ever. One such vehicle is the Terrafugia Transition. The machine, which had its first successful test flight earlier this year, will cost around $300,000 and is scheduled for release in 2012. Wanabee pilots will only need to have completed 20 hours of observed flying time to take to the skies.
Melbourne has once again been named the most liveable city in the world. This is the second consecutive year that the Victorian capital has been at the top of the influential index, since taking the title from Vancouver after a run of almost a decade. Before this, Melbourne had consistently been in the top three positions of the 140 cities listed.
Forum Projects
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Tuesday, 14-August-2012 18:28:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's some more projects from people in the forums:
Tuesday Midday Reviews
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Tuesday, 14-August-2012 12:27:56 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Graphics Cards:
XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB GDDR5 on Legit Reviews.
AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with PowerTune Boost on PC Perspective.
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3 GB on Xbit Labs.
Storage:
Kingston SSDNow V200 128gb SSD Desktop Upgrade Kit on TestFreaks.
Kingston V200 128GB SSD on Hardcoreware.
OCZ Agility 4 256 GB on techPowerUp.
Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB SSD on Funky Kit Review.
Power Supplies:
Super Flower GOLDEN KING 1000W on NikkTech.
High Power Astro PT 700W on Think Computers.
FSP Aurum Pro 1000w Gold on Hardware Heaven.
Thermaltake Toughpower XT Gold 1475W on Jonnyguru.
Cases:
Xigmatek Midgard II Mid-Tower on eTeknix.
Diablotek Gamer Series Cyclops ATX Mid Tower on TestFreaks.
Prebuilt & Mobiles:
Sony Xperia Ion Smartphone on t-break.
HTC Desire C on t-break.
Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 on TechReviewSource.
Misc:
Tt eSPORTS MEKA G1 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on PC Review.
Patriot Memory Viper III 2133MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit on Futurelooks.
ASRock X79 Extreme11 on Hardware Secrets.
EKWB EK-Supremacy CPU Water Block and Custom Kit on TweakTown.
Tuesday Morning
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Tuesday, 14-August-2012 01:52:40 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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I just set up Google Plus for myself, and I seem to have made an OCAU page on there similar to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, but I really have no idea what I'm doing. :) Anyway, if you're a Google+ user, here's the page. I'm kind've assuming I'll just post newsy stuff to it, same as I do on the other pages.
The much-complained-about web surveillance plan has apparently been put on hold until after the next election. In a recent interview, Ms Roxon said she was "not yet convinced" about the merits of the proposal for compulsory data retention that would enable intelligence and security agencies to examine a person's internet usage.
Blizzard are advising that they have been hacked, thanks RnR. Based on Blizzard’s investigation to this point, credit card and other customer payment data does NOT appear to have been accessed or affected. As a precaution, however, Blizzard encourages players to change their Battle.net password and any similar passwords used for other purposes. Discussion here.
Curiosity is now sending back high-resolution photos of Mars, thanks Symon. This image is the first high-resolution color mosaic from NASA's Curiosity rover, showing the geological environment around the rover's landing site in Gale Crater on Mars.
Speaking of which, Shaun spotted an interesting behind-the-scenes take on the previous Mars rovers, including how people have to cope with working in Martian time while living on Earth. Of all the hazards we faced in our exploration of Mars, one of the most dangerous was one that was almost laughably simple: sleep. Or, rather, the lack thereof -- fatigue. Mars was an unforgiving place; we had designed the rovers to be robust, but it was still possible for a single mistake by a single team member to kill them. And fatigue leads to mistakes.
LegitReviews compared three budget Z77 motherboards. We have three motherboards on the chopping block today, the ASRock Z77 Pro3, BIOSTAR TZ77B, and the GIGABYTE Z77-DS3H and each of these boards can be picked up for right under (USD) $100! While they may be aimed towards the budget minded, but we are going to put them through the paces and see how they hold up in our usual tests and of course some overclocking!
Closer to home, and TheReg have a couple of articles about social networking in Australia, with MPs recently demanding a page be removed from Facebook, and the ACCC suggesting companies could be responsible for comments on their Facebook pages. The Bureau decided that “the Facebook site of an advertiser is a marketing communication tool over which the advertiser has a reasonable degree of control”, and consequently, that user comments could count as a breach of the code of ethics the bureau is responsible for enforcing.
Davo1111 points out that Canon's EOS 650D cameras are subject to recall at the moment. The amount of zinc bis (N,N’-dimethyldithiocarbamate) detected during our testing was minimal. Depending on one’s health and physical condition, in rare cases when this substance comes into contact with skin, allergic skin reactions may develop. In addition, if eyes are rubbed after contact with the substance, symptoms, such as red eyes, may develop. Discussion here.
Photography Gallery
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Sunday, 12-August-2012 18:41:23 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's a quick snapshot of what people are up to in our Photography Gallery forum.
Saturday Afternoon Reviews
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Saturday, 11-August-2012 12:40:48 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Champion Intel LGA2011 on techPowerUp.
Asus Sabertooth Z77 on TweakTown.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP5TH on Vortez.
Graphics Cards:
Zotac GT 640 Zone Edition on Bjorn3D.
Club3D Radeon HD 7850 Royal Queen on Guru3D.
AMD Firepro W8000 and W9000 Professional Graphics on Legit Reviews.
Power Supplies:
Corsair Professional Series HX850 on TweakTown.
Corsair Gaming Series GS 800w on XSReviews.
Seasonic X-460 460W Fanless 80Plus Gold on PCStats.
Enermax MaxRevo 1500W on [H]ardOCP.
Storage:
Crucial 256GB v4 SATA II SSD on Pro-Clockers.
Kingston HyperX 64GB Flash Drive on Techreaction.
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD on Custom PC Review.
OCZ Petrol 128 GB SSD on Xbit Labs.
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD on RegHardware.
SYBA HyperDuo SY-PEX40052 SATA Controller Card on APH Networks.
Intel SSD 910 on Anandtech.
Cases:
AZZA Genesis 9000W Case on Overclockers Club.
AeroCool Sixth Element Mid Tower on HardwareLOOK.
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Mid-Tower on [H]ardOCP.
Audio:
Razer Electra Headset on eTeknix.
Coolermaster Sonuz Headset on Rbmods.
Tablets:
Acer Iconia Tab A700 on Techspot.
Google Nexus 7 Tablet on Hardware Heaven.
Misc:
AVEXIR AVD3U16001008G-4CI 32GB C10 1600MHz Memory Kit on Madshrimps.
be quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler on Hardware Secrets.
Thermaltake Dr. Power II Universal ATX PSU Tester on PC Perspective.
Thanks to TheWedgie, AirQ and KonMan this week!
     
     
     
     
And if you're after more, check out this Wiki page which lists ALL "misc pics" news posts from the archive.
Interesting Forum Threads
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Friday, 10-August-2012 14:12:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's a snapshot of what's going on in some of the forums. You can also find new interesting things you might have missed via the Who's Online page, the New Posts page and the Live forum view. Also try the Today's Posts link (find it on the Quick Links menu) and the handy Who Quoted Me? feature.
How do I get a virus? in General Software.
Patient Zero - IRLMPFPSRPG in PC Games.
Below Zero Asus Corsair and Intel Overclocking Demo (already held) in Overclocking & Hardware.
The Making of Warcraft 1 in Retro & Arcade.
Roland vs Yamaha General MIDI DOS Games Music Comparison in Retro & Arcade.
LTO CRC errors on all my tapes in Business & Enterprise.
Microsoft launches revamped Hotmail after 8 years in Networking, Telephony & Internet.
Correlation of speedtest.net data and actual speeds in Networking, Telephony & Internet.
Win a Synology DS112 in Storage & Backup.
WD Release Red Series NAS Drives in Storage & Backup.
SSD's reaching $1 per Gigabyte pricing range in 240GB+ capacities in Storage & Backup.
Decent sound equipment ruined my day in PC Audio.
Dell debuts new 27-inch U2713HM monitor, its first AH-IPS panel in Video Cards.
Near Field Communication (NFC) - Blocking field in Electronics.
Lobsters = cockaroaches of the sea? in Geek Food.
Canon EOS 650D recall (and Rebel T4i) in Photography.
Steve Parish has $200K of camera equipment stolen in Photography & Video.
The Cigar Thread in Other Toys.
MOVIE: Ghostbusters 3 (201?) in Entertainment.
Grattan Report : Proposal removal of 50% subsidy for most degrees in Career, Education & Finance.
Demonoid shutdown to impress US Government in Current Events.
Friday Morning Reviews
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Friday, 10-August-2012 10:30:55 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
ASUS P8Z77 WS on Bjorn3D.
Gigabyte GA-Z77-UP4 TH (Z77) on eTeknix.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H on Funky Kit Review.
Graphics Cards:
MSI N680GTX Lightning on Benchmark Reviews.
HIS HD 7770 iCooler 1GB on HardwareLOOK.
Storage:
OCZ Vertex 4 SSD on Techreaction.
LSI 9207-8i Mustang RAID Controller on TweakTown.
OCZ Technology Agility 4 256GB SSD on TweakTown.
Power Supplies:
be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W on Pro-Clockers.
FSP Raider 650 W on Hardware Secrets.
Thermaltake Toughpower XT Gold 1375w on techPowerUp.
Cooling:
Corsair AF and SP Series Fans on Neoseeker.
Prolimatech PK-2 & PK-3 TIM on Overclockers Club.
Audio:
Asus Xonar DGX and DSX sound cards on Tech Report.
CoolerMaster Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset on PureOverclock.
Steelseries Siberia V2 USB-Powered Headset Frost Blue Edition on HardwareHeaven.
Notebooks:
HP Envy 4-1030us Ultrabook on TechReviewSource.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook on HotHardware.
Apple MacBook Pro 15-Inch (Mid-2012) on TechReviewSource.
Samsung Series 5-550 Chromebook on PC Perspective.
Cases:
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX on Legit Reviews.
SilverStone PS07 MATX on Vortez.
Aerocool Xpredator Evil Black Edition Full-Tower on eTeknix.
SilverStone Grandia Series GD08 HTPC case on ThinkComputers.
Thermaltake Armor Revo Snow Edition on Ninjalane.
Forum Projects
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Thursday, 9-August-2012 21:05:15 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Here's some more projects and reviews from people in the forums:
Thursday Evening
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Thursday, 9-August-2012 20:40:48 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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BitFenix announced the winners of their recent competition in the forums. Meanwhile, the Scorptec contest is still running!
The Mars Science Laboratory landed successfully, and is now sending back photos. Other imagery included full-frame views from the rover's navigation cameras, or Navcams, looking at the rim of Gale Crater; the first, lower-resolution thumbnail 360-degree view of Curiosity's new surroundings in Gale Crater; deck pan images of the rover herself; and images of the Martian surface next to the rover.
Google's self-driving cars have reached a milestone. Today, Google announced another milestone for this project: its fleet of about a dozen autonomous cars has now driven 300,000 miles without a single accident under computer control. While this is obviously very positive news for the project, Google warns that “there’s still a long road ahead.” The cars still need to learn how to handle snow-covered roads, for example, and how to interpret temporary construction signs and other situations that could throw its systems for a loop.
OCModShop cover emulating an Android tablet on your PC. Do you want to test-drive Android apps before you buy a tablet or phone? Is your phone too slow to play the latest Android games? An Android emulator may be just what you need.
Microsoft's plans to have "Do Not Track" on by default in IE10 isn't popular with online advertisers, somewhat unsurprisingly. The question ultimately comes down to defaults. Both sides know that most users are inclined to accept the default settings rather than go through a customization process. The tracking industry wants that default to be “Go ahead and track me, I don’t care,” while Microsoft argues that displaying the effect of the default settings diuring initial setup is sufficient to ensure that the DNT setting matches the user’s intent.
TheWedgie spotted an Amazon sale gone wrong. Horvitz ordered the TV, a Westinghouse 39-inch LCD, for about $320 from a third-party electronics seller on Amazon. On Tuesday evening, a large, oblong box arrived at his doorstep via UPS Ground. “When I saw some metal parts inside the box, I thought, ‘Maybe this is a TV stand or mount or something,’” Horvitz said in a phone interview with Wired. “When I realized it was an assault rifle, it was pure shock and disbelief.”
Today's timewaster is the Top Gear Airship Challenge.
Thursday Morning Reviews
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Thursday, 9-August-2012 09:40:11 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
Asrock X79 Extreme11 Motherboard on Legion Hardware.
Intel DZ77GA-70K LGA 1155 Motherboard on [H]ardOCP.
Graphics Cards:
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition 1GB on TweakTown.
AMD FirePro W8000 & W9000 on HotHardware.
Storage:
NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ v2 Network Storage on Benchmark Reviews.
Synology DiskStation DS112+ NAS Server on Madshrimps.
Plextor M5 Pro 256GB PX-256M5P SSD on TweakTown.
Synology DS212 NAS on TestFreaks.
Western Digital 1TB WD RE4 Enterprise Hard Drive on PCSTATS.
Power Supplies:
be quiet Dark Power Pro 10 550W on Ninjalane.
NZXT HALE82 N Series 750 Watt on Futurelooks.
Corsair AX1200i 1200w on Vortez.
Corsair AX1200i 1200w on Guru3D.
FSP Aurum Pro 850W on Think Computers.
Cooling:
Arctic Alpine 11 PLUS CPU Cooler on Hardware Secrets.
Cooler Master NotePal I100 Laptop Cooler on Pro-Clockers.
Audio:
Tt eSPORTS DRACCO Headset on Vortez.
ASUS Xonar U3 USB Audio Card on Neoseeker.
Misc:
Matias Tactile Pro 3.0 Mechanical Keyboard on TweakTown.
NZXT Hue RGB LED Controller on Think Computers.
ASUS ROG CG8580 Gaming Desktop PC on t-break.
Xigmatek Gigas mATX Case on Overclockers Club.
Here's some yummy threads from our Geek Recipes forum:
Wednesday Morning
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Wednesday, 8-August-2012 09:21:39 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione is drawing some flak for his comments about video games, thanks alch. The video game expert said Mr Scipione ignored longer trends that showed no increases in youth violence. A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology released in March showed crime rates had fallen across most major categories. It showed that car theft had dropped over 60 per cent over the past decade and homicides had dropped by 27 per cent between 1996 and 2010.
Tech-Report checked out a new open all-in-one platform from Intel. Today, we're going to be spending some quality time with an all-in-one PC based on Intel's Thin Mini-ITX standard. The individual parts are all available at retail, and the resulting machine is slim, slick, and surprisingly straightforward to put together.
Here's a scary but fascinating read about being hacked. In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.
A new high-tech city in South Korea has some interesting features. Songdo's residents use 40% less energy per person than an average existing city, because of things like building insulation, high-tech lighting, heating, and air conditioning systems, and the like, according to representatives. And the city has almost 14 million square feet of environmentally-certified space. Here are 10 features Songdo offers that most cities don't have. One resident told me they make living in Songdo feel "very George Jetson."
NikKTech compared three DDR3 SODIMMs. Fast forward a few months later and finally today we can release our 3 way comparison (which is not really a comparison but rather just a way to see if 8 is really better than 4) between 3 SODIMM DDR3 Dual Channel kits from both Kingston and Nanya.
PCPerspective report on Day 3 of QuakeCon. The final day of Quakecon 2012 featured more expert discussion panels from leaders in the gaming industry about the latest games people at Quakecon were excited about like Dishonored, Halo 4, and Borderlands 2 to name a few.
Scorptec Gigabyte Motherboard Giveaway
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Tuesday, 7-August-2012 13:35:58 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Scorptec are giving away a Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 motherboard to one lucky OCAU reader. For details, see the thread:
click for the thread!
Bear Cottage Donations
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Tuesday, 7-August-2012 12:31:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Our donations drive for Bear Cottage is winding down, but there's still time to donate some money or video games. So far a pile of games and three brand new PS3s and some other goodies have been arranged for the kids and families who stay at the hospice. For more info, see the thread.
Tuesday Morning Reviews
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Tuesday, 7-August-2012 10:10:40 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
ASUS ROG Maximus V Gene w/ Phase Change on VR-Zone.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH on Hardware Secrets.
Sapphire PURE Platinum Z77/K on PureOverclock.
Graphics Cards:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 SOC on Guru3D.
MSI R7870 HAWK Edition on Bjorn3D.
HIS HD 7870 IceQ Turbo 2GB on HardwareLOOK.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB OC Edition on TweakTown.
EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4 GB Superclocked+ on Xbit Labs.
Storage:
Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD on TweakTown.
Buffalo 500GB MiniStation Thunderbolt on t-break.
PSUs:
Corsair AX1200i PSU on VR-Zone.
Corsair AX1200i PSU on HotHardware.
Corsair AX1200i PSU on techPowerUp.
Input etc:
Das Keyboard Model S Professional on PureOverclock.
NZXT Avatar S Gaming Mouse on Techreaction.
Genius Maurus Professional FPS/RTS Gaming Mouse on Rbmods.
Misc:
Tt eSPORTS Chao Dracco Signature Headphones on eTeknix.
Xclio Touch 767 Full-Tower PC Chassis on eTeknix.
Samsung MV-3V4G3D DDR3-1600 8GB Memory Kit on ThinkComputers.
Vizio Thin+Light CT14 Notebook on TechReviewSource.
BitFenix Recon Internet-Connected Fan Controller on Pro-Clockers.
Gigabyte SkyVision Wireless HD Video Sync on HardwareHeaven.
Mars Rover Landing This Afternoon
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Monday, 6-August-2012 11:58:35 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Don't forget, the MSL "Curiousity" rover is landing this afternoon Australia time. For up to the minute info see their twitter feed, watch the landing on NASA JPL TV and follow the discussion here in our Science forum.
Sunday Afternoon Reviews
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Sunday, 5-August-2012 13:13:07 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
Gigabyte B75M-D3H Intel LGA 1155 on techPowerUp.
MSI Z77A-GD55 on Techgage.
GIGABYTE Z77X-UP5 TH on SinHardware.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi on HardwareLOOK.
Graphics Cards:
Sapphire Radeon FleX HD 7870 GHz Edition 2 GB on Xbit Labs.
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified 4GB with EVBOT on Guru3D.
MSI R7770 PE1GD5/OC Power Edition 1GB on Futurelooks.
GIGABYTE GTX 670 OC (2GB) on Futurelooks.
Cases:
MSI Barricade Mid Tower PC Case on Legit Reviews.
Corsair Obsidian 550D Case on Neoseeker.
BitFenix Prodigy Arctic White Mini-ITX Chassis on TweakTown.
Cooling:
Arctic Accelero Xtreme III VGA Cooler on Hardware Secrets.
Tuniq TX-2 Extreme Thermal Compound on Pro-Clockers.
NZXT Fan Roundup on Rbmods.
Portable & Prebuilt:
ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700T) Android Tablet on Hardware Heaven.
Acer Aspire 5600U All-in-one on t-break.
Audio:
CM Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset on Overclockers Club.
Genius SW-G2.1 3000GX Speakers on Techreaction.
Misc:
Epic Gear Meduza Gaming Mouse on t-break.
Corsair AX1200i Digital ATX 1200-watt on TweakTown.
Apple OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) on HotHardware.
I just realised that OCAU turned 13 last month. So, I imagine it'll be slamming its bedroom door and telling me it hates me any day now.
Windows 8 has reached RTM. This means we’ve completed the product development and testing of the product and have started handing off the final code to our OEM partners. They can now begin preparing new Windows 8 PCs and devices they’ll introduce starting with General Availability.
CatDaddy20 pointed out John Carmack's 2012 QuakeCon Keynote video. As usual, it's several hours long and covers.. everything. Coverage of the keynote here and Day 1 of QuakeCon here on PC Perspective.
One of his pet projects is the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset, and LegitReviews played with one. With an incredibly wide field of view, high resolution display, and ultra-low latency head tracking, the Rift provides a truly immersive experience that allows you to step inside your favorite game and explore new worlds like never before. Read on to see what we found out when we tried one in person.
The Mars Science Laboratory is currently motoring towards Mars at several kilometers a second. It's due to land on Monday, but it's far from being guaranteed success. Still, the landing system is really amazing and will be awesome if it all comes together - here's hoping! Instead of the familiar airbag landing of the past Mars missions, Mars Science Laboratory will use a guided entry and a sky crane touchdown system to land the hyper-capable, massive rover.
Gunna sent in this story about passive radar using WiFi to see through walls. The passive radar process is actually quite simple. In any space that has WiFi, you are constantly being bombarded by 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio waves. When these waves hit a moving object, their frequency is altered (the Doppler effect). By carefully “sniffing” the WiFi signals, Woodbridge and Chetty are able to reconstruct an image any objects or humans that are moving on the other side of the wall.
Friday again!
     
     
     
     
And if you're after more, check out this Wiki page which lists ALL "misc pics" news posts from the archive.
Friday Midday Reviews
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Friday, 3-August-2012 11:49:59 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
ASUS P9X79 Pro Intel X79 Motherboard on ThinkComputers.
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi (Z77ITX-A-E) on Funky Kit Review.
Intel Core i7-3770K Processor on APH Networks.
Graphics Cards:
KFA GeForce GTX 680 LTD OC 2Gb on techPowerUp.
ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II TOP on Bjorn3D.
Sapphire TOXIC 7970 GHz 6GB on Hardware Heaven.
Gigabyte GTX 680 Super Over Clock 2GB on eTeknix.
Cooling:
ENERMAX ETS-T40 CPU Heatsink on Overclockers Club.
Spire TME III CPU Heatsink on PureOverclock.
Prolimatech PK-2 and PK-3 Thermal Paste on Pro-Clockers.
Power Supplies:
Thortech Thunderbolt 1200 Watt PSU on Madshrimps.
In Win GreenME 650W on Vortez.
Storage:
Corsair Force GS 240GB SSD on The SSD Review.
SanDisk Extreme 120GB SSD on t-break.
OCZ Vertex 4 128/256 GB on Xbit Labs.
QNAP TS-419P II Turbo NAS on Legion Hardware.
Cases:
Bitfenix Prodigy Mini-ITX on eTeknix.
Cooler Master Storm Stryker on Pro-Clockers.
Sentey Extreme Division GS-6000 II Optimus on Benchmark Reviews.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Samsung Series 9 (NP900X4C) laptop on TechReviewSource.
HP Z1 Workstation on t-break.
ASRock Vision 3D 252B HTPC on HotHardware.
Misc:
TRENDnet TPL-402E2K 500Mbps Powerline AV Adapter Kit on NikkTech.
Thursday Night
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Thursday, 2-August-2012 22:00:22 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Next week there's a very exciting NASA mission event, with the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover attempting a landing on Mars. There's a video narrated by William Shatner or Wil Wheaton explaining the landing process. As NASA prepares for Curiosity rover landing on Mars, Wil Wheaton shares this thrilling story of NASA's hardest planetary science mission to date. The video titled, "Grand Entrance," guides viewers from entry through descent, and after landing. Discussion here.
Ubisoft's DRM seems to have a security issue, with discussion here. Essentially, as described here, with the right piece of code any website can call up a Uplay window and from that might be able to slip a program install or launch of their choice onto your PC. Were someone with malevolent intent to inject the code onto a commonly-visited website, they might be able to gain control over any number of PCs – or install keyloggers, viruses and the like, or just plain old wipe your hard drive.
There's an interesting article on IEEE Spectrum about the state of Cyber Warfare. Mouths went agape when New York Times reporter David Sanger wrote in June that anonymous sources within the United States government admitted that the United States and Israel were indeed the authors of the Stuxnet worm and related malware. Those two countries had long been suspected of creating the code that wrecked centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility. But never before had a government come so close to claiming responsibility for a cyberattack.
FOTW sent in this VR headset that might address some issues with earlier ones. Ever since the catastrophic failure of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, the idea of bringing affordable virtual reality back into the mass market has been practically abandoned. Now, 15 years later, the creators of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset believe they have finally found a way to make VR viable, and the influential gaming icons that have tried out the device have nothing but positive things to say.
Speaking of ancient gaming, the C64 is 30, and that video shows what the kids of today think of one. I haven't watched the video fully yet but I an already tell it's going to max out my awkward-o-meter. Personally I went straight from a mate's VIC-20 to an Amiga 1000, so I missed out on the whole C64 thing. :(
Gunna informs us that Microsoft are overhauling Hotmail and turning it into outlook.com. Less than 24 hours after Microsoft rolled out Outlook.com, one million people were already using the service, according to an official tweet from Microsoft. The new Outlook continues Microsofts overhaul of all its Web properties to the new touch-centric Metro feel -- the same look thats coming to the Windows 8 Start Screen and is already on Windows Phone. More here, thanks JS.
Vortez have a Cooling Fan Roundup. Vortez present their Ultimate Grouptest of Cooling Fans. Comparing over 30 fans from a dozen manufacturers, reviewer Ed Hume analyses Temperature and Sound Pressure levels to give a detailed overview of many of the fans on the market today. We can't quite claim to have found the ultimate fan, but this is sure the Ultimate Grouptest we've ever undertaken.
Here's a guy who takes his hobbies fairly seriously, with a Rolls Royce Turbofan in his backyard, thanks Shaun. And, it works. It’s very rare for a hobby jet engine enthusiast to ever have the opportunity to own a large turbofan that powers a commercial airliner. These are massive engines and simply moving them from A to B is a logistical nightmare. Furthermore, working engines that are time expired or near the end of their lives are still very expensive simply because of the high scrap value due to the precious alloys and metals they contain in significant quantities.
Forum Projects
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Wednesday, 1-August-2012 20:50:27 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Catching up on some projects and reviews from people in the forums:
Wednesday Night Reviews
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Wednesday, 1-August-2012 20:33:09 (GMT +10) - by booj
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Motherboards & CPUs:
BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 Motherboard on Motherboards.org.
ASRock Z75 Pro3 (Intel Z75) Motherboard on TweakTown.
ASUS P8Z77-M Pro Micro-ATX on [H]ardOCP.
Graphics Cards:
Gigabyte HD 7970 Super OC 3Gb on techPowerUp.
AMD Radeon HD 7970 on Madshrimps.
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified 4GB on Hexus.
Cooling:
Thermaltake Frio Advanced CPU Cooler on Neoseeker.
Cooler Master TPC-812 CPU Cooler on Neoseeker.
XSPC Raystorm Copper CPU Water Block on PureOverclock.
Storage:
Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo 4TB on t-break.
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD on Hardware Canucks.
Intel SSD 330 series (60GB, 120GB, 180GB) on Anandtech.
Input etc:
SteelSeries Sensei Laser Gaming Mouse on TweakTown.
Gigabyte Aivia Xenon on Bjorn3D.
Sharkoon DarkGlider Gaming Mouse and Mousepad on TechwareLabs.
Portables & Mobiles:
Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display on Techspot.
Google Nexus 7 Tablet on XSReviews.
Google Nexus 7 Tablet on Techreport.
Lenovo ThinkPad X230 on PC Perspective.
Misc:
Patriot Viper 3 8GB 2133MHz on Overclockers Club.
Corsair HX850 Gold PSU on Jonnyguru.
iHome IHM2BC iPod Speaker Dock on MEGATechNews.
Corsair Obsidian 550D Case on Hardware Canucks.
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