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Submission + - Up to 10% of CD-Rs fail within a few years! (techarp.com) 1

Submitted by
crazyeyes
crazyeyes writes: "Here's an interesting look at how fragile CD-Rs are :

In the past, hard disk drives were small (in capacity) and costly. To make up for the lack of affordable storage, many turned to CD-Rs. As it became common to store backups and personal pictures, videos, etc. on CD-Rs, the lifespan of these discs became a concern.

According to manufacturers, CD-Rs should last for decades. Some even quoted an upper limit of 120 years based on accelerated aging tests! That sure is a long time, isn't it? But will CD-Rs really last that long?

"
Graphics

Submission + - NVIDIA GeForce To Quadro Soft-Mod Guide

Submitted by babyshiori
babyshiori writes: The NVIDIA Quadro family of professional graphics cards are very, very expensive. But everyone knows that Quadro and GeForce graphics cards are virtually identical in hardware. Obviously, you cannot just use Quadro drivers with your GeForce graphics cards. However, there is an easy way to soft-mod (modify in software) an NVIDIA GeForce desktop graphics card into an NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics card. Tech ARP shows us just how to do it in this guide. Here's a quote from the guide :-

"It all revolves around the driver support for professional 3D applications like 3ds Max or Maya. Quadro drivers allow the Quadro to be used to accelerate the rendering operations of such professional 3D applications while GeForce drivers do not. This is the basis for the premium prices NVIDIA (and ATI) charge for their professional-grade graphics cards."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Reducing The Power Consumption Of Overclocked PCs

Submitted by babyshiori
babyshiori writes: Now, that must sound pretty inane. After all, overclockers employ all kinds of power-guzzling methods to improve their CPU's overclockability. However, there are many good reasons to do so. In this guide, we will not just look at theoretical tips on reducing power consumption in overclocked PCs, we will also look at how well they work in real-life situations. Best of all, we are shown why they will improve our PC's power efficiency without any real loss in performance. Start doing your part in saving the planet now!
Microsoft

Submission + - Secret details on Windows XP Service Pack 3 leaked (techarp.com)

Submitted by
crazyeyes
crazyeyes writes: "These guys must have a spy in Microsoft who is leaking them info on Vista and XP service packs. The latest to be leaked are 7 pages of secret Microsoft information on the upcoming Service Pack for Windows XP . They also have leaked information on Windows Vista Service Pack 1 .

Quote from site = "We were the first to break the news on the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and the final RTM schedule of Windows XP Service Pack 3. Now, we will be the first to release the full details on Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 3, which as we know will be available for manual update on April 29, 2008. That's just a few days away!""
Microsoft

Submission + - Ray Tracing To Debut in DirectX 11 (techarp.com)

Submitted by
crazyeyes
crazyeyes writes: "This is breaking news. Microsoft has not only decided to support ray tracing in DirectX 11 but they will also be basing it on Intel's x86 ray tracing technology and get this... it will be out by the end of the year!

In this article, we will examine what ray tracing is all about and why it would be superior to the current raster-based technology. As for performance, well, let Intel dazzle you with some numbers. Here's a quote from the article :-

"You need not worry about your old raster-based DirectX 10 or older games or graphics cards. DirectX 11 will continue to support rasterization. It just includes support for ray-tracing as well. There will be two DirectX 11 modes, based on support by the application and the hardware."
"
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Vista SP1 RC Preview Full Details Leaked!

Submitted by babyshiori
babyshiori writes: Users of Microsoft Windows Vista can rejoice in the fact that Microsoft just released a preview of the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate! This build was made available to about 15,000 invitation-only testers, but YOU should have no trouble looking for it online.

This preview build is the lead-up to the actual Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate, which will be made available to even more testers at a later date. Once the actual Release Candidate is out, you can be sure that Microsoft will release the final Windows Vista Service Pack 1 very soon. Quoting the article:

"This Release Candidate Preview build also includes updates that have not been released online as updates, or only made available to specific Microsoft customers and partners. These updates are now part of the build. Therefore, this build is more than just a collection of previously-released hot fixes and security patches."
AMD

Submission + - AMD NDA Scandal (techarp.com)

Submitted by
crazyeyes
crazyeyes writes: "Just two weeks ago, a Thai journalist walked out of the hush-hush (AMD event in Singapore over a controversial NDA that required him to "send any stories to the vendor before his newspaper can publish it".

AMD categorically denied it happened, but today, we not only have proof that it happened, we also have the sordid details of the entire affair. Here's a quote from the editorial :-

"First off, the non-disclosure agreement covered everything confidential said or written over the next two years on the product, and had a duration of five years, during which anything published or used in marketing would have to receive written approval from AMD before it could be used. Worse, at the end of the five years, all copies of the information made would have to be returned to the chipmaker."
"
Mandriva

Mandriva Linux 2008 RC 1 Released 182

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the marching-on dept.
AdamWill writes "The first release candidate of Mandriva Linux 2008, codenamed Galilee, is now available. The release notes are also available via the wiki. A guide to major new features (some of which are not yet implemented in this release candidate), and the detailed technical specifications are also available. This release candidate is available as a three CD or one DVD Free edition (containing no non-free software or drivers) for the x86-32 and x86-64 architectures, with a traditional installer, and as a mini-CD edition for both x86-32 and x86-64 architectures. A One combined live / install CD edition will be released in the near future (problems with unionfs prevented the One edition from being release at the same time as the other editions)."
Games

Bioshock's Launch Aftershocks 267

Posted by Zonk from the lots-of-grumbling dept.
It should come as no surprise that the level of hype BioShock reached in the last month has had some aftereffects. The game itself is really good; few are disputing that. There were, however, some problems. Next Gen has a few words with Ken Levine on BioShock's troubled launch looking at the broken Big Daddies, the allegations of a rootkit, and the 'widescreen issue'. There are other issues still floating around, of course: despite rumours Levine has now confirmed there will be no PS3 version of the game, and one problem may just be starting as big media finds out about the Little Sisters. 'The Boston Patriot-Ledger ... argues that BioShock is "testing the limits of the ultraviolent gaming genre with a strategy that enables players to kill characters resembling young girls." Despite the shock-inducing lead, the article goes on to give a more or less accurate description of BioShock's choice between saving and harvesting the creepy Little Sisters ... The conclusion tries to draw a link between BioShock's violence to a stabbing death allegedly inspired by Grand Theft Auto, but the connection is pretty weak.' To close on a good note check out 1up's profile of Levine's career, or download the BioShock score ... which is beautiful.
Power

Submission + - PC Power Management, ACPI Explained In Detail

Submitted by DK
DK writes: Computer performance have increased at an amazing rate in recent years, and unfortunately so does power consumption. An ultimate gaming system equipped with a quad-core processor, two NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra, 4 sticks of DDR2 memory and a few hard drives can easily consume 500W without doing anything! To reduce power wastage, a few industry standards have been developed to make our computers work more efficiently like APM and ACPI. ACPI is the successor of APM and is explained in detail in this article.
Space

Submission + - Star is found to be 13.2 billion years old

Submitted by raguirre
raguirre writes: Physorg.com reports that a star is found to be 13.2 billion years old . Recent cosmological studies show that the Big Bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The metal-poor star HE 1523 formed in our Milky Way galaxy soon afterwards, cosmologically speaking: 13.2 billion years ago. The primitive star contained the radioactive heavy elements uranium and thorium, and the amounts of those elements decay over time, each according to its own half-life. Today, astronomer Anna Frebel of the the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and her colleagues have deduced the star's age based on the amounts of radioactive elements it contains compared to certain other "anchor" elements, specifically europium, osmium and iridium.
Biotech

Submission + - Scientists create 'plastic' blood

Submitted by simm1701
simm1701 writes: This aricle on the BBC Writes about a new form of artifical blood.

From the article:
Scientists have developed an artificial plastic blood which could act as a substitute in emergencies.

Researchers at Sheffield University said their creation could be a huge advantage in war zones. They say that the artificial blood is light to carry, does not need to be kept cool and can be kept for longer. The new blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, like haemoglobin, that can carry oxygen through the body. The scientists said the artificial blood could be cheap to produce and they were looking for extra funding to develop a final prototype that would be suitable for biological testing.

Dr Lance Twyman, of the university's Department of Chemistry, said: "We are very excited about the potential for this product and about the fact that this could save lives. "Many people die from superficial wounds when they are trapped in an accident or are injured on the battlefield and can't get blood before they get to hospital. "This product can be stored a lot more easily than blood, meaning large quantities could be carried easily by ambulances and the armed forces."

A sample of the artificial blood prototype will be on display at the Science Museum in London from 22 May as part of an exhibition about the history of plastics.
The Internet

U.S. Copyright Report More Rhetoric Than Reality 123

Posted by Zonk from the more-bark-than-bite dept.
CanuckGamer writes "Michael Geist has up a great article debunking the U.S. 'Special 301' report that is set to be released this week. The annual copyright report criticizes dozens of countries on their copyright practices, yet Geist notes that the policies are subject to growing criticism within the U.S. and that few countries are actually listening since most ignore the recommendations. 'While the report will generate media headlines and cries for immediate action from Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, the reality is that Canada's record on intellectual property protection meets international standards. Moreover, differences between the U.S. and Canadian economies - the U.S. is a major exporter of cultural products and has therefore unsurprisingly made stronger copyright protection a core element of its trade strategy while Canada is a net importer of cultural products with a billion dollar annual culture deficit - means that U.S.-backed reforms may do more harm than good.'"

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