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Misc Pics (10 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 1-November-2024  13:12:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Thanks to Lou and Scott this week!








Thursday Morning Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 31-October-2024  00:28:11 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Portable & Prebuilt:
Acer Nitro V 16 laptop on SMBtech.
HP Pavilion 16 laptop on SMBtech.
Samsung Galaxy Ring smart ring on HotHardware.
ECS LIVA Z7 Plus Mini-PC on MadShrimps.
Flexibility and Efficiency: MiTAC TYAN HG68-B8016 Multi-Node Servers on StorageReview.

Cooling:
TRYX ROTA Pro 120 mm Fan on TechPowerUp.
Noctua NH-D15 G2 LBC CPU Air Cooler on Tweaktown.
ENDORFY Fluctus 120 PWM and Fluctus 120 PWM ARGB Cooling Fans on Tweaktown.
iBUYPOWER AW4 360 mm AIO CPU cooler on TechPowerUp.

Audio Visual:
TOPPING D90 III Discrete DAC + A90 Discrete Amplifier on TechPowerUp.
Alienware Pro Wireless Headset on Tweaktown.
Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Headset Gen 3 on Tweaktown.
Tozo HA1 Headset on OCInside.
aLLreLi M5 Wireless Lavalier Microphone on APHNetworks.
Meze Audio Alba In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
Cooler Master MasterHUB Control Deck on APHNetworks.
Alienware AW2725DF Gaming Monitor Review - Peak 1440p gaming with QD-OLED at 360Hz on Tweaktown.
Eizo FlexScan EV2795 Monitor on OCInside.

Power Supply:
be quiet! Pure Power 12 850W ATX 3.1 Power Supply Unit on NikKTech.
Quick Look: Ugreen Nexode 300W Power Bank on TechPowerUp.

Storage:
Samsung 990 Evo Plus Solid State Drive on ThinkComputers.
NeoForza NF495 4 TB NVMe 4.0 SSD on Guru3D.
Crucial P310 2280 Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD on ThePCEnthusiast.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD on StorageReview.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD Review: Power Efficient Speedy Storage on HotHardware.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB SSD Review - The DRAMless Powerhouse on Tweaktown.

Input Etc:
Glorious GMMK 3 Pro HE Wireless Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
Turtle Beach Burst II Air mouse on TechPowerUp.
Wooting 80HE Hall Effect Analog Gaming Keyboard on TechPowerUp.



Misc Pics (15 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 25-October-2024  12:51:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Thanks to Tony_L this week!








Ward Christensen and Bulletin Boards (3 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 24-October-2024  00:20:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Callan pointed out that Ward Christensen, BBS co-inventor and creator of the XMODEM file transfer protocol, has passed away. I admit I had not heard of Ward before, but I unknowingly owed him a lot. It's difficult to convey just how important BBSs were to me in the early days of my technological and social independence of the late 80's and early 90's. In those pre-internet text-based worlds I made friends I still have to this day, had experiences that shaped who I am, and developed a love of online communities that unquestionably influenced the creation and evolution of OCAU.

Their new system allowed personal computer owners with modems to dial up a dedicated machine and leave messages that others would see later. The BBS concept represented a digital version of a push-pin bulletin board that might flank a grocery store entrance, town hall, or college dorm hallway.

Christensen and Suess openly shared the concept of the BBS, and others began writing their own BBS software. As these programs grew in complexity over time, the often hobbyist-run BBS systems that resulted allowed callers to transfer computer files and play games as well as leave messages.


From there I found this 8-part BBS documentary on YouTube which I haven't watched yet, but it looks interesting. Long before the Internet escaped from the lab, connected the planet and redefined what it meant to use a computer...there was a brave and pioneering band of computer users who spent their time, money and sanity setting up their home computers and phone lines to welcome anyone who called. By using a modem, anyone else who knew the phone number of these computers could connect to them, leave messages, send and recieve files.... and millions did.

There's a thread about the old BBS days here in, of course, the Retro & Arcade Forum. Ahh, the past...



Tuesday Night Reviews (1 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 22-October-2024  23:46:28 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Motherboard & CPU:
ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero Motherboard on HWAsylum.
ASRock Phantom Gaming X870 Riptide WiFi Motherboard on FunkyKit.
ASRock X870E Taichi on TechPowerUp.
ASRock Phantom Gaming Z790I Lightning WiFi Motherboard on NikKTech.
AMD EPYC Turin Review: 192 Cores of Zen 5 on StorageReview.
ASRock Phantom Gaming X870 Riptide Wi-Fi Motherboard on Tweaktown.

Cooling:
Boosting Data Center Efficiency with Solidigm SSDs and Liquid-Cooled Servers on StorageReviews.
Lian Li UNI FAN SL 120 Wireless Review - Schrödinger's Wireless on TechPowerUp.

Audio Visual:
Altiat CAL.1H Open-Back Dynamic Driver Headphones on TechPowerUp.
Turtle Beach Kone II Air Wireless Optical Mouse on APHNetworks.
Majority Naga 80 2.1 Soundbar on HWAsylum.
AVerMedia VERSATI go AM310G2 Computer Microphone, FLEXI go BA311L Microphone Arm on APHNetworks.
Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer Review: Getting You Into The Zone on HotHardware.
AQIRYS ARA Gaming Headset on MadShrimps.
64 Audio Solo Planar Magnetic IEMs on TechPowerUp.
Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP - a 240/480 Hz OLED Gaming Monitor on Guru3D.

Power Supply:
Seasonic FOCUS GX-850 V4 ATX 3.1 Power Supply Unit on NikKTech.
Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 Hydrangea Blue 1050W PSU on FunkyKit.

Cases:
HAVN HS 420 VGPU tower on TechPowerUp.
Corsair 9000D RGB Airflow on TechPowerUp.

Storage:
Acer Predator GM7 4 TB SSD on TechPowerUp.
Lexar Play 2280 4TB SSD Review - Made for PlayStation 5 on Tweaktown.
MSI DATAMAG 20Gbps Magnetic Portable Solid State Drive on ThinkComputers.
Memblaze PBlaze7 7940 3.84TB U.2 PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD on NikKTech.
Silicon Power Ace A55 4TB 2.5 SATA SSD on MadShrimps.
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS (8-core, 8x NVME SSD) on Guru3D.
Patriot Transporter & Transporter Lite 2TB External Portable SSD on FunkyKit.
Crucial T500 4TB SSD Review - World's Best Performing 4-Channel SSD on Tweaktown.
TeamGroup PD20M Mag 2TB External SSD Review - The Ultimate iPhone Accessory on Tweaktown.

Portable & Prebuilt:
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Feature-Rich But Bodacious on HotHardware.
ASRock DeskMini X600 Barebones Mini-PC (Ryzen 8600G) on TechPowerUp.
Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 on StorageReview.

Misc:
XPG Invader X BTF Mid-Tower Chassis on Tweaktown.
Rapoo VT3Pro Max mouse on TechPowerUp.
Patriot Viper Elite 5 RGB DDR5-6000 CAS 30 48GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.



Misc Pics (10 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 18-October-2024  15:36:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Thanks to Andrew and Simon this week!








Retro Let's Play October 2024: The Dark Eye (1 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 18-October-2024  10:22:31 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

This month's "Retro Let's Play" for Spooky October is The Dark Eye from 1995

The Dark Eye is an interactive adventure through the works of Edgar Allan Poe featuring the voice of William S. Burroughs and the music of Thomas Dolby Robertson. While experiencing an original Poe-esque adventure, the player is transported into several of Poe's most famous works including The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart. All of the stories are surrealistically rendered with claymation figures and haunting music. Burrough's reading of The Masque of the Red Death is not to be missed.

The game is set in the 1800s but with 1990's graphics. It has been described as the best adaptaion of Edgar Allen Poe poems. Freak out time.




click for the thread!




Tuesday Evening Reviews (3 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 15-October-2024  19:49:19 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Motherboard & CPU:
Gigabyte X870 AORUS Elite WiFi7 Motherboard on ThinkComputers.
ASRock X870E Taichi Lite Motherboard on FunkyKit.

Cases:
Montech King 65 Pro dual-chamber tower on TechPowerUp.
Lian Li O11 Vision Compact on TechPowerUp.

Audio Visual:
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 Wireless Gaming Headset on APHNetworks.
Razer Kraken V4 Gaming Headset on MadShrimps.
Creative Outlier Free+ & Outlier Pro+ Bone Conduction Headphones on NikKTech.
Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 Monitor on Tweaktown.

Misc:
Klevv CRAS C925 2 TB nVME SSD on TechPowerUp.
ASUS Zenbook S 14 Review: This Luxurious Lunar Lake Laptop Impresses on HotHardware.
Silent Hill 2 Remake Handheld Performance Review on TechPowerUp.
Turtle Beach Kone II Air Wireless Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.



Project Eternity (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 14-October-2024  20:13:39 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Check out this awesome water-cooled wall-mounted PC from Butcher9_9 in the forums:


click for the worklog!



Catch Me If You Can (13 Comments) (link)
 Sunday, 13-October-2024  10:44:33 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN






AEST

click for the thread!




Misc Pics (15 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 11-October-2024  14:58:34 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Hmm, I seem to be getting some kind of flu symptoms..







Today's timewaster is this Emu OS which emulates some old versions of Windows and lets you play lots of classic games.



Friday Lunchtime Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 11-October-2024  11:33:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Motherboard & CPU:
GIGABYTE X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 on Vortez.
ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero Motherboard on Tweaktown.
MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi Motherboard on FunkyKit.

Audio Visual:
AOC CQ32G4E Monitor Review - 1440p, 180Hz Gaming at 32-inches for $429 AUD on Tweaktown.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 In-ear True Wireless Earbuds on ThePCEnthusiast.

Cooling:
Corsair iCUE Link LX120 RGB Cooling Fan on on APHNetworks.

Memory:
Patriot Viper Gaming Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5-8000 MPOWER Series 48GB Memory Kit on FunkyKit.
Kingston Fury Renegade RGB LE DDR5-8000 48 GB CL36 on TechPowerUp.

Cases:
be quiet! Light Base 900 FX Full Tower on NikKTech.
SilverStone FARA 514X on TechPowerUp.
Thermaltake CTE E660 MX Chassis Review - Hydrangea Blue Edition on FunkyKit.
Corsair 3500X ARGB Mid-Tower on Tweaktown.

Input Etc:
Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.
Quick Look: Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) Graphics Tablet on TechPowerUp.
MSI GK50 Elite TKL keyboard on Guru3D.
Epomaker MS68 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard on APHNetworks.

Software:
Silent Hill 2 Remake: DLSS vs. FSR vs. XeSS Comparison Review on TechPowerUp.
Silent Hill 2 Remake Performance Benchmark - 35 GPUs Tested on TechPowerUp.

Prebuilt & Portable:
Dell OptiPlex 7420 All-In-One on StorageReview.
Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 Gaming Laptop on Tweaktown.

Storage:
Lexar PLAY 2280 PCIE Gen4 4TB SSD on ThePCEnthusiast.
TEAMGROUP PD20 Portable SSD on StorageReview.
Team Group G50 2 TB on TechPowerUp.
Icy Dock MB834MK-B V2 M.2 NVMe SSD ToughArmor on OCInside.

Power Supply:
DeepCool PX1000P ATX 3.0 Power Supply Unit on NikKTech.
NZXT C1500 ATX 3.1 Power Supply on OCInside.
Anker Solix Solarbank 2 E1600 Plus and 2x BP1600 All-in-one balcony power station (video) on FunkyHome.
Zendure SuperTank Pro 26800mAh 100WPD Portable Power Bank on NikKTech.



Wednesday Night (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 9-October-2024  22:10:26 (GMT +10) - by Agg

There's growing concerns about the demise of 3G voice services in Australia, and how that may block some otherwise functional devices, thanks Forums member 151528. Starting 1 November 2024, a significant change to Australia’s Emergency Calling rules will require network providers to Block Devices they believe cannot call triple zero (000/112). The carriers must completely cease providing service to that device. Even if the device has working calling, SMS and Data! There's some background info here but unfortunately the public petition closed yesterday.

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has been won by two pioneers of AI. Scientists John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton have won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning within artificial neural networks. There's a long-running Generative AI thread in our General Software forum.

Meanwhile, you can now run ChatGPT on a Ti-84. On Saturday, a YouTube creator called "ChromaLock" published a video detailing how he modified a Texas Instruments TI-84 graphing calculator to connect to the Internet and access OpenAI's ChatGPT, potentially enabling students to cheat on tests. The video, titled "I Made The Ultimate Cheating Device," demonstrates a custom hardware modification that allows users of the graphing calculator to type in problems sent to ChatGPT using the keypad and receive live responses on the screen.

Google have been forced to open up the Play Store to competitors. Today, Judge James Donato issued his final ruling in Epic v. Google, ordering Google to effectively open up the Google Play app store to competition for three whole years. Google will have to distribute rival third-party app stores within Google Play, and it must give rival third-party app stores access to the full catalog of Google Play apps, unless developers opt out individually. These were Epic’s biggest asks, and they might change the Android app marketplace forever — if they aren’t immediately paused or blocked on appeal. And they’re not all that Epic has won today.

HotHardware report on a PC in a keyboard. Ever since William Gibson's Neuromancer, thousands or even millions of nerds worldwide have fantasized about the idea of the 'deck', or 'cyberdeck' as it has been known in later cyberpunk fiction. The idea is that of a portable computer, but not like a laptop—more akin to something like a condensed Commodore 64, with no integrated display. In real life, these machines are usually intended to be used with a head-mounted display. I mean, I'm as much of a Neuromancer fan as anyone, but I think the C64 comparison is closer to the mark. Surely we're harking back to the Sinclair Spectrum and VIC-20 more than "a laptop without a display".

The National Communication Museum opened recently in Hawthorn, VIC. There are some current exhibitions you can check out. Ironically, I find their website quite difficult to navigate. The National Communication Museum (NCM) is a brand-new museum in Hawthorn based in a historic 1930s exchange building, parts of which are still operational, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.



Sunday Evening Mega Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
 Sunday, 6-October-2024  23:01:58 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

Audio, Visual:
ASRock PG27QFT2A 27-inch 180Hz Gaming Monitor @ OCinside
FiiO M23 Portable High Resolution Music Player @ NikKTech
Final Audio VR2000 @ TechPowerUp
Shure MV6 USB Gaming Microphone @ ThinkComputers
FIFINE K688 Computer Microphone @ aphNetworks
Cooler Master MasterHUB @ FunkyKit

Keyboard, Mouse:
Incott GHERO Pro @ TechPowerUp
ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme Wireless Mechanical Keyboard @ TechPowerUp
Low-Profile Keyboard Test, Keychron K5 and K7 PRO @ cowcotland
ENDORFY GEM Plus Wireless Onyx White Gaming Mouse @ Madshrimps

Cases, Cooling:
Lian Li Lancool 207 @ aphNetworks
ID-Cooling DX 360 MAX AIO @ TechPowerUp
ID-Cooling DX360 MAX Liquid CPU Cooler @ TweakTown
TRYX PANORAMA 360 Liquid Cooler with Curved AMOLED Display @ TweakTown
Alphacool Apex Skeleton @ TechPowerUp
NZXT H7 Flow @ TechPowerUp
NZXT H5 FLOW RGB @ cowcotland

Storage:
Crucial P310 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe 2280 M.2 SSD @ Madshrimps
Toshiba Canvio Flex 4TB USB 3.2 Gen 1 External HDD @ Madshrimps
Crucial P310 2280 1TB Solid State Drive @ aphNetworks
Crucial T500 4TB SSD Review @ ThePCEnthusiast
Lexar Armor 700 2TB Portable SSD @ Neoseeker
Acer Predator GM7 4TB M.2 NVMe SSD @ NikKTech
Corsair MP700 Pro SE Gen5 SSD @ ThePCEnthusiast
Phison E31T @ HotHardware
Phison E31T controller SSD NVMe @ guru3D
Phison E31 PCIe 5.0 SSD @ TechPowerUp
Phison PS5031-E31T @ TweakTown
Silicon Power MS70 2TB USB 3.2 Gen 2 Portable SSD @ NikKTech
WD Black SN850X 8TB SSD @ TweakTown

Motherboard, Memory:
ASRock X870E Taichi Motherboard @ TweakTown
ASRock X870 Steel Legend WiFi Motherboard @ FunkyKit
ASRock X870 STEEL LEGEND WIFI Motherboard @ cowcotland
ASUS TUF Gaming X870-PLUS WIFI @ guru3D
GIGABYTE X870 AORUS Elite WiFi7 Motherboard @ TweakTown
Patriot Viper Elite 5 TUF Gaming RGB DDR5-6600 48GB Memory Kit @ FunkyKit
SiFive HiFive Unmatched Rev B @ HotHardware
ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming Wifi @ LanOC
Asus TUF Gaming X870-Plus Wifi @ LanOC
Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite Wifi7 Motherboard @ LanOC
ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero @ TechPowerUp
ASUS ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI @ cowcotland
ASUS ROG STRIX X870E-E Gaming WIFI @ guru3D
ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E HERO @ guru3D
Gigabyte X870 AORUS ELITE WiFi7 Motherboard @ FunkyKit
ASRock X870E Taichi Motherboard Review @ FunkyKit
MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI @ Vortez
ASRock X870E Taichi Lite @ Vortez
MSI MPG X870E Carbon Wi-Fi @ TweakTown

PSU:
NZXT C1000 GOLD @ cowcotland

Software and Benchmark:
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X vs Intel Core i9-14900K Comparison @ FunkyKit

Portable & Prebuilt:
GIGABYTE AORUS 17X (2024 Edition) Gaming Laptop @ TweakTown
Pixel Watch 3 @ HotHardware
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 @ TweakTown
Asus Zenbook S 14 (Lunar Lake) @ SMBtech | High Performance Laptops
MSI Vector 16 HX A14V Review @ SMBtech | High Performance Laptops
HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Australian Review @ SMBtech | High Performance Laptops




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