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Portables

New VIA x86 CPU Takes Aim At Intel Silverthorne 114

Kaz writes "While not operating on the same scale as the two major CPU designers, VIA has been gaining traction in the world of UMPCs and thin clients with its Eden and C7 lines of processors. While past architectures have been considerably out-of-date in terms of modern features, the new Isaiah architecture looks to be very competitive with what AMD and Intel have lined up for future ultra-mobile products. It features an out-of-order, superscalar execution core, 64-bit support, virtualization, and even SSE3 — all on a 94M-transistor, 65nm process die. The initial offering will be single-core only, though VIA says that multi-core ability is already designed in. Is Isaiah going to replace your Core 2 system for gaming? No, but it might give Intel's Silverthorne a run for the money."
Announcements

Submission + - Scientists invent GREEN food that cooks itself! (blogspot.com)

hydra writes: "A group of scientists in a Florida have claimed they have invented a low energy polymer which once injected into food, cooks it from the inside. Apparently six of the scientists dined on a three course meal at the weekend which was cooked entirely by using the cunning formula. The scientists intend to launch a website soon where they will sell 100 polymer pellets for $5.00. Their site will feature a full length video of how a sausage can be cooked in 10 minutes, once injected with a polymer pellet. This patented technology has enormous applications in other areas of science, not to mention potential reduction in green house gases when consumers stop using ovens, barbecues and microwaves. Now that's real innovation!"

Feed Engadget: Whirlpool Espresso refrigerator brings the coffee to the cream (engadget.com)

Filed under: Household

Today's "Adventure in Laziness" is brought to you by Whirlpool, which has just -- rather cleverly, we must admit -- announced an upcoming refrigerator with built-in espresso maker, saving you several precious steps during your rushed morning routine. No longer will you flutter between fridge and coffee machine like a caffeine-addicted idiot; instead, your milk, creamers, and sweeteners are just inches away from a freshly-brewed cup. Coming in January of next year for what will likely be significantly more than your standard icebox, the "20RI D4 Espresso" bodes well for future fridge-tech, and makes us yearn for the day when our Whirlpool sends us off to work with a warm cup of joe and welcomes us home at night with a frosty, self-brewed lager.

[Via The Appliancist]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Feed Sunday's Wal-Mart ad confirms $698 Dell specs (engadget.com)

Filed under: Desktops


A couple commenters confirmed those leaked Dell specs we posted earlier, and now we've gotten our hands on this Sunday's Wal-Mart flier -- the first to feature Dell's new in-store action. The numbers on the $698 Dimension E521 pictured line up with everything we've heard -- dual-core Athlon, 1GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, Vista Home Premium, and a 19-inch monitor -- but there's nary a mention of the rumored $498 model. We suppose Dell and Wally have got to keep us guessing until the 10th somehow, right? A close-up of the ad after the break.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Software

Submission + - Alternatives to Adobe's $2500 Creative Suite?

jsepeta writes: "I've been using Adobe products for years, and own several older versions of the products from their Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Acrobat Pro, and Dreamweaver. I'd like to teach some graphic design and web production skills to my coworkers in the marketing department, and realize that most of them can't afford $2500 to buy Adobe's premium suite, and frankly, shouldn't need to because there should be competitive products on the market. But I cannot seem to locate software for graphic design & printing that output CMYK files that printing companies would accept, and am unfamiliar with products that are better than FrontPage yet still easier to use for Web design. Any suggestions? Our company is notoriously frugal and would certainly entertain the idea of using open source products if we can implement them in a way that doesn't infringe upon our Microsoft-centric hegemony / daily work tasks in XP."
Security

Submission + - Germany declare hacking tools illegal (arstechnica.com)

dubbelj writes: Germany have updated their computer crime law to declare "hacking tools" illegal. This will make most of the network admin and computer security people in a gray area at work. How will this affect Linux distribution in Germany as most of standard Linux distributions come with these kind of "hacking tools" installed by default? How will the rest of EU member countries react on this law, will there be lobbying for the other countries to implement this kind of laws also? Articles in ars technica and The Register.
Google

Submission + - Google: The Security Company (crn.com)

dasButcher writes: "Is there anything Google can't do? It's most recent acquisition — GreenBorders — may position the search giant as the biggest protector of Web surfers on the Internet. Google isn't saying how it will use GreenBorder's Web browser sandboxing technology, but a betting man would say they'll incorporate it into their search engine and protect users against millions of sites compromised with spyware, malware and other naughty bugs. http://www.v3.crn.com/weblogs/tidalwaves/"
Red Hat Software

Submission + - Fedora 7 Released!

Vertana writes: After being developed for 6 months, the Fedora Project today has released the 7th release of Fedora (formerly Fedora Core). New in this release are Fast User Switching, the merging of the repositories (Core and Extras are now all in Core), faster package management, as well as more robust hardware detection. Read more about it here.
Hardware Hacking

Journal Journal: Is it time for Open Source Hardware?

It seems that big business has always been keen on controlling the public through their control of the media. Now that the Internet is truly becoming an open forum for the free exchange of ideas and innovations it seems that big business must maintain their control in the age of the 'Blogosphere' and 'Web 2.0'.
Censorship

Submission + - Atheist Movie BANNED by Religious Censorship

zer0skill writes: "Reverend Donald Wildmon's "National Federation for Decency" DOES NOT want you to see HEART of the BEHOLDER.

HEART of the BEHOLDER is based on the true story of how an average American family lost everything because they stood up to religious censorship, religious intolerance, and political corruption.

HEART of the BEHOLDER has won more Best Feature Film awards than any other independent movie ever, but has been banned from theaters and video stores because of pressure from religious extremists.

HEART of the BEHOLDER can now be seen FREE online. There is no cost, registration, or login to watch what the "religious right" doesn't want you to see.

HEART of the BEHOLDER Web Theater http://www.beholder.com/webtheater/webtheater_msa. aspx

HEART of the BEHOLDER Website http://www.beholder.com/

HEART of the BEHOLDER Video Player http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid40 3535559?bclid=403534727&bctid=400725250"
Music

Submission + - April Foo...oh, wait, what?

Wade Tregaskis writes: "I'm tempted to post this under "It's funny, laugh", but I'm terrified that they might actually be serious. Media Rights Technologies, a company that develops DRM technology, have — according to their own press release — "issued cease and desist letters to Microsoft, Adobe, Real Networks and Apple with respect to the production or sale of such products as the Vista OS, Adobe Flash Player, Real Player, Apple iTunes and iPod." They assert these companies are "actively avoiding the use of MRT's technologies", and seek damages of "$200 to $2500 for each product distributed or sold". I don't even know how to respond to that."
The Internet

Submission + - Top 17 Search Innovations Outside Of Google

VelvetsFan writes: "There are an abundance of new search engines, each pioneering some innovation in search technology. Read/WriteWeb has a list of the top 17 search innovations that will prove disruptive in the future. These innovations are classified into four types: Query Pre-processing; Information Sources; Algorithm Improvement; Results Visualization and Post-processing. While some of these innovations are present in various Google properties, they are either missing or available only in limited form in the main search page.

The article posits: it is very likely that in the future, the simple "search box" on the Google front page will hide a variety of specialized search engines behind it. On the other hand, trying to cram in an increasing number of these sophisticated features has the potential to make the overall architecture for Google (or any mainstream web search engine) very complex and difficult to change, so the trade-offs will present an increasingly difficult challenge."

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