http://www.hardwaregeeks.com Tech News and Reviews Blogs and More en marc@marc.ph Copyright 2008 2008-05-08T01:34:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/win_an_hp_pavilion_hdx_notebook_pc/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/win_an_hp_pavilion_hdx_notebook_pc/#When:03:50:00Z HP and HardwareGeeks.com along with 30 other sites, and with the assistance of BuzzCorps want to give you an HP Pavilion HDX Notebook PC. The HDX Notebook PC is a desktop replacement perfect for those of you who have little to no desk space, live in a small apartment or want to add a system to your kitchen. One HDX system will be given out every day for 31 days starting May 9th, 2008. HardwareGeeks.com will announce this site’s winner on June 3rd. For information on how to participate and who the other 30 participating sites are, please continue reading.  HDXGIVEAWAY 2008-04-28T03:50:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/stolen_mac_recovered/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/stolen_mac_recovered/#When:04:24:00Z A New York Woman was robbed of her Mac, and the two idiots that robbed her well weren’t that bright. The woman’s friend saw her online, notified the women and the women used a second computer and the “Back to My Mac” program to establish a remote connection with her Mac, snap a picture of the thief using the built in camera, and sent it a long to the police. The police used the photo to arrest 23 year old Edmon Shahikian and 20-year-old Ian Frias. They also recovered $5,000 in stolen electronics.  Apple 2008-05-10T04:24:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/youll_be_alone_in_the_dark_june_24th/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/youll_be_alone_in_the_dark_june_24th/#When:16:57:00Z Atari’s Alone in the Dark will hit Stores on June 24th, but is already available for pre-order over at GameStop. (You’ll get a free T-Shirt if you Pre-Order). The game will be available for the PS2, Xbox 360, and NIntendo Wii. There will be a Playstation 3 version but the release date for that console hasn’t been announced yet. From some trailers I have seen the game looks to be pretty intense, and hopefully as fun as GTA. The game kind of reminds me of Resident Evil, it has that scary feel to it. I can’t wait to get my copy! ATARI 2008-05-09T16:57:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/quicksilver_features/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/quicksilver_features/#When:00:34:00Z I’m sure I’m in the majority when I say that I want as few applications on my system as possible, and periodically delete those which I believe have similar functionality to other applications on my computer. I recently came across a blog post, where someone argued their case about why Quicksilver (QS) is not a useful app. He wrote of Quicksilver (I will refer to this as QS from now on) as purely an application launcher, and considered it redundant since Tiger’s introduction of Spotlight. Here I will ignore this basic launcher feature, and write about other uses of QS, which you may or may not have known about. News 2008-05-08T00:34:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/torneyspy_ordered_to_pay_110_million/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/torneyspy_ordered_to_pay_110_million/#When:22:56:00Z A Los Angeles US District Judge has ordered TorentSpy to pay $100 Million for infringing copyrights of thousands of films and TV Shows, and also issued a permanent injunction against the site which shut down back in March. MPAA CEO Dan Glickman told News.com “The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders.” The judge ordered TorrentSpy to pay $30,000 per copyright infringement--for 3,699 films and shows. That works out to be worth $110,970,000. Movies 2008-05-07T22:56:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/mcafee_trojans_and_adware_hiding_in_mp3s/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/mcafee_trojans_and_adware_hiding_in_mp3s/#When:16:01:00Z If you like to download MP3 from various sharing services watch out, McAfee claims that over 360,000 of it’s users that report back to them have downloaded mp3 files in the past 48 hours that contain some form of malware. In a Blog Posting Yesterday, McAfees Craig Schmugar said, “Detection of a trojan named Downloader-UA.h was added to the McAfee DAT files several days ago.  Since that time more than 360,000 McAfee VirusScan Online users have reported detections, a whopping 32% of those reporting in the past 24 hours alone.” Internet 2008-05-07T16:01:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/mmorpgs_the_other_side_of_the_coin/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/mmorpgs_the_other_side_of_the_coin/#When:03:08:00Z For Western gamers, when somebody says “MMORPG,” some of the titles that are most likely to spring to mind include Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, NCSoft’s City of Heroes or Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy XI.  What about on the other side of the world, though?  A vast number of Eastern MMORPGs have been pulling in a steady paycheck from a variety of customers, particularly throughout China and Korea.  These games can sport a radically different underlying philosophy from their Western counterparts, and thanks to an article on Danwei, we are allowed a glimpse of what an MMORPG can become when it sanctions and even engages in the very practices that Western MMORPGs are trying very hard to stamp out. It’s a bit of a long read and the English isn’t tip-top, but it’s very interesting and easy to skim, so I recommend you take a few minutes to peruse it.  (Note: RMB refers to the national Chinese currency, not to be confused with RMT, which stands for Real-Money Trading in MMORPGs) Gaming 2008-05-06T03:08:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/new_nine_inch_nails_album_100_free_online/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/new_nine_inch_nails_album_100_free_online/#When:19:06:00Z Nine Inch Nails has released a new album online absolutely free. as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively The album titled “The Slip” is available in various formats all DRM free! You can get your copy of the album here: http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup Music 2008-05-05T19:06:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/blu_ray_enabled_xbox_360_a_rumor_that_wont_die/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/blu_ray_enabled_xbox_360_a_rumor_that_wont_die/#When:17:32:00Z It seems that Microsoft has requested Pegatron Technology to manufacture Blu-ray players for the Xbox 360. This, despite the fact that Microsoft on numerous occasions has downplayed such a possibility. This report comes from Economic Daily News, a Taiwanese newspaper. It goes onto say that Blu-ray enabled console will ship before years end. Of course this isn’t the first time we have heard such a rumor so take it with a grain of salt. Personally I would still consider this a rumor. Wasn’t it Microsoft that said the 360 is about giving the consumer a choice? Why would they suddenly decide to further split their user base by providing yet another SKU. Regardless, it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months. Economic Daily News via Kotaku Gaming 2008-05-02T17:32:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/unboxing_the_hp_pavilion_hdx_notebook_pc/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/unboxing_the_hp_pavilion_hdx_notebook_pc/#When:18:51:00Z As you should already know, we are giving away the HP Pavilion HDX (Dragon) Entertainment Notebook PC, and the system we are giving away is the same one we are reviewing. So we decided to make an unboxing video of this monster to share with you! HP Hewlett Packard 2008-04-29T18:51:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/gta_iv_first_impressions/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/gta_iv_first_impressions/#When:13:57:00Z Yup, I was one of the unwashed masses that stood in line last night at midnight to pick up their copy of GTA IV and I had a chance to play a little bit before I figured I should get some sleep before having to get up in four hours for work.  Here’s just a few thoughts on what I’ve played so far… Gaming 2008-04-29T13:57:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/review_hp_photosmart_c8180_all_in_one_printer/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/review_hp_photosmart_c8180_all_in_one_printer/#When:04:12:00Z I recently became a fan of Lexmark’s new line of Wi-Fi Printers, and I would of told you a few weeks ago that I was the proud owner of the Lexmark X4550 Wi-Fi Printer, but then I had a paper jam.  It literally broke—a piece of plastic in the printer literally broke due to 4 sheets of paper that somehow managed to get crumpled, I was left without a printer. But as my luck would have it, the day before my X4550 broke HP asked if I would be interested in taking a look at one of their Wi-Fi printers and I agreed. But my expectations were low.  I didn’t expect much; in fact I did not even know HP had any Wi-Fi printers. HP Hewlett Packard 2008-04-29T04:12:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/grand_theft_auto_iv_whats_the_real_story/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/grand_theft_auto_iv_whats_the_real_story/#When:03:06:01Z With the release of GTA less than two hours away here on the west coast (and already having occurred in Liberty City’s real-life counterpart), gamers across the country are acquiring their copies from midnight launches at their local Gamestop or Best Buy.  As might be expected from a game of the GTA pedigree, this game has barely hit the street but there has already been widespread ballyhoo from various Christian and family groups and certain activists who shall go unnamed regarding the game’s potential for debauching our children and training them in a “murder simulator.” The press embargo on GTA IV was over on Sunday, and since then a flood of reviews and legal gameplay videos has hit the web for widespread perusal.  These publications were the world’s first chance, at large, to see what kind of game GTA IV was going to be through the presentation of major media sites like IGN and 1UP before its official release.  Given the storm that is already surrounding the game, though, and without impugning the editorial acumen of the gaming media in general, I wonder: did the whole truth about this game come out? Gaming 2008-04-29T03:06:01-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/customizing_office_save_locations/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/customizing_office_save_locations/#When:21:30:00Z So I was digging around in my files earlier and came across a nifty hack I came up with awhile back to add custom default save locations to Office’s save menu. It’s a pretty straight forward registry command and could be customized to automatically list network resources in the left hand column of Office’s save dialog. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_USERSS-1-5-21-454780241-466041071-1862565094-15694SoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0CommonOpen FindPlacesUserDefinedPlacesNAME] “Name"="Name of Location” “Path"="Web Address or physical path here” “SortAscending"=dword:00000001 2008-04-28T21:30:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/3d_mark_vantage_released/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/3d_mark_vantage_released/#When:20:45:00Z Futuremark has finally made available the much anticipated 3DMark Vantage. I have had the pleasure of playing with it today, and although I ran into a hick-up with my AMD based system, AMD helped me solve it and provided me with a Hotfix, Thank you Damon Muzny! 3DMark Vantage has a pretty nice UI, and a lot easier to understand and use than the previous version. General Annoucements 2008-04-28T20:45:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/apple_updates_imac/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/apple_updates_imac/#When:16:07:00Z Today Apple announced it has updated it’s iMacs to include the latest intel Core 2 duo processors and improved the graphics capabilities of the iMacs. The systems will have a starting price of $1,199 and most systems will come with 2GB of memory standard. The 24-inch iMac now offers a 3.06 GHz Intel processor and the high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics. “The iMac’s gorgeous aluminum and glass all-in-one design has been an incredible hit with our customers and is just one of the reasons Mac sales are growing three and a half times faster than PC sales,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac.” Apple 2008-04-28T16:07:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/gamer_needs_food_badly/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/gamer_needs_food_badly/#When:18:44:00Z You might recall that a MLE game will be launching with WiiWare next month.  As a promotion for their upcoming title, Mastiff Games is holding a weekly “Food of the Week” contest on the official game website.  Each week they are picking eight people to receive a $15 gift certificate towards the food of the week.  For further details and information on how to enter, simply go to the website and click on the “Weekly Food Giveaway” button.  This week’s smorgasbord selection is: hamburgers! Gaming 2008-04-25T18:44:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/something_big_is_2_weeks_away/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/something_big_is_2_weeks_away/#When:16:44:00Z It’s Big, It’s Bad and it will last 31 days! Coming soon the event of the YEAR… This event is so HUGE that a billion dollar company is sponsoring it and hundreds of people are working on it, thousands more will take part. Think Blue. General Annoucements 2008-04-25T16:44:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/tchotchkes_of_the_month_metal_boxes_and_bobbleheads/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/tchotchkes_of_the_month_metal_boxes_and_bobbleheads/#When:14:49:00Z As we prepare to finish off April with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV and move into the merry month of May, there have been several recent announcements of purchasing incentives for various games.  Most notably, the collector’s editions of Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout III and the Xbox 360 version of Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath.  Is there one piece of swag that companies feel that gamers desire more than all others?  We’ll take a quick look at the accompanying items for each game to see if there are any common links. Gaming 2008-04-25T14:49:00-05:00 http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/video_game_remix_beat_em_up_edition/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/video_game_remix_beat_em_up_edition/#When:04:54:00Z Seeing as how Nintendo was gracious enough to re-release the classic River City Ransom on the Wii Virtual Console this week, I felt it only fitting that I devote some time to those 8-bit battlefests.  River City Ransom at least is a shining example of how a seemingly simple game can be entirely engrossing - I think it’s safe to say that you might even have more fun playing it on the Virtual Console or the GBA than you would playing some contemporary games… Anyhow, this week features the likes of Kunio-kun (aka Alex here in the U.S.), Keiji Thomas, and, once again, Megaman! Gaming 2008-04-25T04:54:00-05:00