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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 67 declined, 6 accepted (73 total, 8.22% accepted)

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Graphics

Submission + - Zotac Releases Modular Backplate 8400GS (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Although not a card anyone would consider a gamers paradise, Zotac's new G98 derived low profile 8400GS cards are quite interesting for the thin client or media center PC builder. Why you say? The cards feature a unique changable backplate allowing them to customize their offering for given scenarios. Need HDMI? Or S-Video? How about DVI and HDMI? Or VGA and S-Video? It's as simple as changing backplates.

It's a win-win scenario for Zotac and it's customers. They can offer the OEM and retail markets a specific set of outputs without having to manufacture a specific card. Things are finally heating up in the digital convergence space despite years of false starts and consumer apathy, and products like this one will go a long way towards placing that PC or thin client in your livingroom.

http://www.fastsilicon.com/press-releases/zotac-releases-modular-backplate-8400gs.html"
Media

Submission + - FyreTV - IPTV For Pervs (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Announced at the AVN Adult Video awards ceremony adjacent to CES 2008 last week is a new streaming IPTV service called FyreTV . Promising DVD quality streaming video over a broadband connection, FyreTV's service is geared specifically towards content from the erotic film industry.

Though there are those who assert that the net is literally awash in ways to obtain porn for free (most of which aren't legal) the convenience of such a device cannot be made light of. FyreTV's set top box itself is a fairly small and innocuous device. Offering no internal storage it does come fully loaded to connect to a modern high definition or standard definition TV set, with an Ethernet port, HDMI, Component, Composite, S-Video, Analog Audio,SPDIF output, and a full function remote. Curiously the rear of the unit also has two USB ports, the purpose of which isn't apparent. The units themselves come at no cost to the consumer, with FyreTV banking on it's success through a monthly subscription fee.

Currently the service is in beta-test and should go live sometime in April. We've been accepted into the beta, and plan on giving a full evaluation of the hardware and service once our FyreTV set top box arrives. Forgive us however, if we take care to censor our usually extensive photo gallery.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/fyretv-iptv-for-pervs.html"
Government

Submission + - FBI Can't Pay It's Phone Bill (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "A recently released Justice Department Audit conducted by the departments Inspector General, Glenn Fine, found that the U.S. governments expanded powers under FISA may have been undermined by something totally unrelated to the technical challenges related to wiretapping phone calls and emails. Apparently the FBI didn't pay it's phone bill. About half of 1000 bills related to wiretaps were either not paid on time or not paid at all, resulting in wiretaps being cut.

We'll pause for a second to let that sink in, and give you time to catch your breath from laughing your *ss off.

The audit detailed many specific instances where wiretaps were lost simply because the FBI was too incompetent to pay for the wiretaps in a timely manner. In one instance cited the unpaid bill to one service provider amounted to $66,000.

With recent pushes by telco's to be granted immunity from prosecution when cooperating with the FBI and the NSA, pushes that are actively being fought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, you would think the telco's would want to at least make sure they weren't cooperating with idiots who can't even pay their bill?

Though we do think such civil liberty concerns are genuine as is the ongoing activity of whistle-blower Mark Klein , the former AT&T technician who blew the lid off of AT&T's complicity in allowing the NSA to basically tap the entire U.S. communications infrastructure without a warrant, we're left feeling very good about this latest revelation. Why do you say?

Because incidents like this make it all too clear that "Big Brother" rides the short bus and frequently forgets to take his meds.

The FBI's official press release in response to being outed as morons can be found here.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/fbi-cant-pay-its-phone-bill.html"
Television

Submission + - Comcast Gets Into Streaming Video With Fancast (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "One of the more low key annoucements at CES yesterday involved Comcasts official rollout of Fancast.com . Partnering with Amazon's IMDB and the likes of CBS, Viacom, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, USA, Bravo, BBC, SciFi, and Hulu, Fancast aims to be "the" place to go for streaming video. Through it's licensing arrangements with major studios it has at it's fingertips over 100,000 video properties. Currently there is only a fraction of this available directly from the site in live streams, but expect the streamable content to grow quite a bit going forward.

Signifying Comcasts boldest step yet into online content, it also shows how important online advertising is becoming to traditional market players bottom lines. Comcast will capitalize this new portal through an advertising based model as well as through tie-ins with Fandago , the online movie ticket portal it purchased last year.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/comcast-gets-into-streaming-video-with-fancast.html"
Intel

Submission + - Intel Showcases NAND Flash Solution at SVC Confere (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Though it was officially announced in a press release a few weeks ago, it looks like people will finally get to see the real thing tomorrow. Intel will be showcasing their new Z-P140 Solid State Drive platform at the Storage Visions Conference in Las Vegas, January 5th . We also expect Intel realizes CES is in town in a couple of days as well, so we'll expect to see Intel waxing philisophic on the merits of their new storage platform at CES 2008.

http://www.fastsilicon.com/press-releases/intel-showcases-nand-flash-solution-at-svc-conference.html"
Businesses

Submission + - Shifts In The Computing Landscape. Asus, Lenovo, a (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Several fundamental PC market shifts are beginning to take place in an unlikely realm. The United States. With heavy hitting brands in the U.S. like Dell and HP at first glance it would seem we're quite well served here, but with the changing landscape of computing itself comes opportunity. Despite the fact that overall unit sales growth is slowing in the U.S. due to saturation and the fact that most actual growth is shifting to newer and less economically developed markets, this is really only true in the commodity desktop market. A market already under huge price and profit margin pressures. Solution? Cater to growth categories and higher margin product lines.

With the increasing desire for mobile connectivity, smaller form factors, and the continued strength in the laptop sector, players in the asian manufacturing sector are beginning to see the U.S. and it's affluent populace ripe for targeted marketing in these high growth, and high margin niche markets. Also some market missteps by the Dell gang the last many quarters has loosened the reigns on the U.S. market to some degree, a degree largely exploited up to this point by rival HP .
http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/shifts-in-the-computing-landscape.-asus-lenovo-and-apple.html"
Media

Submission + - Limewire On One-Third Of All PCs WorldWide (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Though not exactly a new story, eMediaWire put out a press release earlier this month on a survey conducted by Digital Music News and BigChampagne regarding the market penetration of the big kahuna of p2p applications, Limewire. From a survey sample of 1.66 million desktops worldwide they found Limewire present on 36.4% of all PC's in the survey.
It's an impressive statistic when you think about it. This is higher per-seat penetration than Firefox, Windows Vista, or a host of other big name applications that get alot more attention from the press and industry.

The report noted that market penetration this year compared to last year however only grew by a scant 2.3%. Whether this is due to market saturation issues, or the legal climate of late is hard to discern. Still with numbers like that, it's no wonder the RIAA is hounding Limewire LLC like there's no tomorrow. That is one heck of a "captive market" they don't want competition from.

It is becoming increasingly clear however that the industry is beginning to wake up to the futility here, what with EMI and a few other labels beginning to distance themselves financially from the RIAA and the IFPI, Warner's DRM free deal with Amazon, so on and so forth. We doubt the RIAA has the support of it's label partners to the extent of being able to sue a third of the earths PC users. The labels are slowly beginning to see how fruitless that tactic is, and we doubt they'll support pouring what's left of their dwindling margins into that money pit.

The fact that an estimated third of the pc connected human race is technically breaking the law is the big statistical "WOO HOO!" here, but hardly the real issue being dealt with. The real battle is about who's in charge. And it's safe to say that individuals using Limewire, and Limewire LLC itself, are the ones holding the cards that count.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/limewire-on-one-third-of-all-pcs-worldwide.html"
Music

Submission + - RIAA Insanity-Suing People For Ripping CD's They P (fastsilicon.com) 2

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "With this past weeks announcement by Warner to release its entire catalog to Amazon in MP3 format with no Digital Rights Management, you would think that the organization that represents them, The Recording Industry Association of America , would begin changing its tune. However in an inane display of hubris and futility, the RIAA presses on in it's tirade against the very consumers its partners rely on buy (we're not making this up) suing individuals who merely rip CD's they've purchased legally.

The Washington Post reports on the case being fought by a Scottsdale Arizona man, Jeffrey Howell, who is being taken to task for ripping his own store bought CD's to his PC as a violation of copyright.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.
If the RIAA is successful here, it is safe to say that the overwhelming majority of American music consumers will soon be classified as criminals under the law for attempting to use media they've legally purchased in a manner they desire.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/riaa-insanity-suing-people-for-ripping-cds-they-purchased.html"
Nintendo

Submission + - More Wiimote Hacks - Head Tracking Hack (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "This guy just doesn't know when to stop. Johnny Chung Lee graces us with yet another one of his inventive Wiimote projects. This time it involves using the Wiimote and a pair of inexpensive LED safety goggles (with the standard LED's replaced with InfraRed ones) to allow positional head tracking , achieving an effect similar to what is experienced with three dimensional displays and CAVE systems. The video dramatically illustrates the effect. Game developers take note. This simple little variation on infrared tracking could allow for some seriously immersive gameplay in the future.

http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/more-wiimote-hacks-head-tracking-hack.html"
Television

Submission + - Linux MCE: All Your Components Are Belong to Us (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "
While looking at new Linux technologies, we ran across an amazing OS called Linux MCE. This OS literally resembles the Borg from the popular Star Trek series. The operating system assimilates every component in a house from audio video gear, receivers, TVs, phones, cell phones, web cams, all infrared devices, lighting, alarms systems, and many others into a mesh like network of interoperability. Is this the end all be all of Home media centers? It integrates every component in a house into one cohesive system that follows users anywhere. One would think that this monolithic orgy of electronic devices would take hours and hours to setup and thousands of dollars in equipment. However, it takes a little under four hours to have a fully automated, cataloged home media mesh network that puts cost effective home mobility and productivity to a whole new standard. Bill Gates' operational house for a minuscule of the price, read on for more information.

http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/linux-mce-all-your-components-are-belong-to-us.html"
The Internet

Submission + - Voting For A Tech Savvy Prez? (fastsilicon.com) 1

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Here in the states Presidential primaries are just around the corner, and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has decided to get involved in the process with a tech-savvy twist. TechCrunch has set up a new sub-domain, primaries.techcrunch.com , for the sole purpose of polling it's huge userbase for the candidate they believe understands and represents them on many key technology based issues.

At the site you can vote for your candidate as you see him or her, based on their stands on such important issues as Net Neutrality, Immigration and H1B Visas ,Taxes & Internet Taxes, Technology Education, The Digital Divide, Identity Theft The Upcoming Mobile Spectrum Auction, China, Intellectual Property Rights and Renewable Energy. Head over and let your voice be heard .
http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/voting-for-a-tech-savvy-prez.html"
Editorial

Submission + - Thinksecret Gets The Axe From Apple (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Nick Ciarelli, publisher of ThinkSecret , the number one website that Apple seems to despise has agreed to close it's doors in a settlement agreement with Apple over the lawsuit filed against them. Nick gets to keep his sources a secret, and Apple gets to shut up ThinkSecret's blabbing. Being a lone college student with a small staff it's no wonder Nick caved in to the mounting legal pressure.

December 20, 2007 -PRESS RELEASE Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret's publisher, said "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits."

Though there are still a few websites left that cater to the Apple community in a way that the "Jobs Mob" doesn't particularly like, the loss of ThinkSecret will definitely be one felt by many in the Apple community as a bad thing. Another dissenting voice in the blogosphere dies, and the news becomes more bland, and more in lockstep with what a manufacturer wants you to hear.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/press-releases/thinksecret-gets-the-axe-from-apple.html"
Displays

Submission + - New Yankee Stadium Video and Scoring System (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: "Daktronics is in-charge of putting together a 19+ million dollar integrated video and scoring system inside the new Yankee Stadium. The project's time table is set for spring 08 through the end of the year. They will be visible beginning the 09 baseball season.

Daktronics will also hold the world's largest led screen record when they complete the Kansas City Royal's 100 feet high by 85 feet wide screen behind center field. Keep in mind that these screens have a 16mm led spacing and have to be assembled from many small led "cubes". Would love to play crysis on one of these screens since they can play HD signals.

Check out the dimensions on these huge displays in Yankee Stadium. The main two displays will have (64 feet diag)438.9 m2 of LEDs each! Outdoor screens have come a long way.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/new-yankee-stadium-video-and-scoring-system.html"
Intel

Submission + - Intel Delays 45nm Quads (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: " Due to the apparent lack of threat from arch rival AMD , Intel recently adjusted its launch strategy with the forthcoming 45nm quad-core CPUs (Core 2 Quad Q9300, Q9450 and Q9550), and will postpone their originally scheduled January launch. Digitimes reports...
"Launching the CPUs now will not benefit Intel much in its battle with AMD, while they could cause damage to Intel's 65nm quad-core CPUs, therefore the company has decided it is in no rush to release new products until AMD is able to present more of a threat. Intel commented that its launch of 45nm quad-core CPUs for desktops is on track for first quarter 2008, but declined to disclose a specific time-frame."
With AMD's current financial and and process woes, Intel is probably doing them a big favor.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/intel-delays-45nm-quads.html"
Editorial

Submission + - Duke Nukem Forever. Is Forever Finally Over? (fastsilicon.com)

Submitted by
mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: " George Broussard and the crew at 3DRealms have released a "teaser" screenshot , and promised to release a "teaser" mini-trailer of Duke Nukem Forever today at around 12:00 CST. Duke Nukem Forever itself has almost become legendary in the gaming community, or perhaps more like the industries longest standing joke, having been "in development" for 10 years . The screenshot they provided on their forum looks quite good. Let's hope the trailer is equally exciting and more to the point, that this wasn't some Christmas Party joke prompted by too much Egg Nog.
"Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, there has been a screen shot taken from the teaser and posted in our forums."
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/duke-nukem-forever.-is-forever-finally-over.html"

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