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Every time I receive a call, my cell carrier takes note of the incoming telephone number, the time, date and duration of the conversation, and—because the call is sent through a network of cell towers—my location. As it turns out, I'm also carrying the right kind of smart phone, which means my device itself jots down my spot on the earth, as well. Between the brick and carrier, I've amassed a strikingly detailed digital portrait of every chat, check in, text and voice message I've received and sent. And since the diary of events is not in my possession, it's possible that others could get access. We started wondering: What do the cops need to do to get their hands on cell phone records? In order to convince AT&T, Verizon, or whoever to cough up someone's mobile phone tracks, cops need to present something approved by a judge. Basic account information like name, address, and credit card can be obtained with a subpoena. Anything beyond that, and the judge approved thing comes in two standard forms: a court order or a warrant. To get an order, law enforcement needs to prove that a certain record is relevant and material to an ongoing investigation. Getting a warrant, on the other hand, requires probable cause. The latter needs more proof that the data is worth getting (read: harder for the cops) than the former. Simple, right? But here's where it gets tricky, says the Santa Clara Law Review: "As one court has appropriately observed, "the recently minted standard of electronic communication via emails, text messages, and other means opens a new frontier in Fourth Amendment [the right against unreasonable searches and seizures] jurisprudence that has been little explored." You see what that is? It's a shoulder shrug-a we have no idea where all this new stuff stands. So on a state level, the courts don't always agree what a judge should approve for a certain piece of information. Real time location tracking of a cell phone by law enforcement, for instance, has courts split. "Some say that the government needs a warrant and probable cause to track this kind of information," explains Catherine Crump, an attorney at the ACLU, "others have held that they need to meet the lower relevant and material standard." On top of that, not all cell phone data is created equal. Text messages newer than 180 days? Probable cause and a warrant. Text messages older than 180 days? Relevant and material for an order. What's the difference, you ask? Well, this new fangled cell phone business doesn't come bundled with an updated set of standards, so the government has been forcing twenty first century technologies into a decades-old framework. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986-the year of IBM's first laptop computer-is one of these. Long long ago, checking your email meant that you had to download it. Leaving your email with a provider of a "remote computing service," for, say, 180 days, implied that you didn't want it. But that was then. Now, we leave years of email in the cloud. (Thanks, Gmail, for the 7575.950349 megabytes of free storage-and counting—btw.) Text messages-presumably because they're also messages with text—have been lumped in the same category. The government can obtain anything older than six months by proving that it's relevant. "Even if these rules once made sense, they are woefully outdated today," says Crump. Let's break it down: Typically, outgoing and incoming telephone numbers, email and texts over 180 days old, and historical location records can be obtained with a court order. Precise real time cell tracking, email or text messages sent within the last six months, and the physical search and seizure of a phone some courts have held require a warrant and probable cause. Which brings us around to the detailed location history that the iPhone keeps of its user. Because that data is stored on the phone and on the computers that the phone is synched to, cops would have to physically search your phone and computer. That type of thing requires probable cause, which is tough. Law enforcement would be better off just getting a court order for historical location records. The records kept by your cell service provider seem to raise much bigger issues about privacy. But for now, keeping our digital footprint safe just means avoiding phone calls we might later regret. 
Gizmodo is the world's most fun technology website, focused on gadgets and how they make our lives better, worse, and more absurd. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Many stores have membership cards that confer some sort of benefit--discounts on purchases, points toward magical rewards, cash back, or simply tracking your every move so that the store management can sell your purchasing information to the highest bidder. If you're like most people, those benefits are irresistable. So you start carrying a reward card. Or twelve. Just in case.
Soon, you've got Costanza Wallet, and that's no good for anyone. Why carry a half-dozen cards in your wallet (or purse, or European carryall), when you can piggyback on something you already have with you: your smartphone. Enter Key Ring Rewards Card, a free app from MobeStream Media. 
Key Ring's card list view
Key Ring, as we'll refer to it from now on, lets you scan in your rewards cards, either by snapping a picture of the barcode or by entering the numbers manually, and store the information on your phone. From there, you can call up the card info whenever you need it, and even bring up a scannable barcode on your screen. "Scannable," of course, is a relative term; the app includes troubleshooting tips for when POS POS machines won't scan your screen. 
Use your phone's camera to scan in barcodes, or enter numbers manually.
Many stores even have special offers for Key Ring users, and the app even includes coupons from some stores. Key Ring also allows you to join loyalty programs directly from the app.  
Key Ring can show scannable barcodes (left) or card information, including special offers (right)
As mentioned before, Key Ring is free. Stores participate, presumably, for the same reason they have loyalty cards in the first place: to keep you coming back, so they can mine your purchasing decisions for data. If you're cool with that, and by this point anyone not living in a cave has to be, then Key Ring can help streamline the process for everyone. Key Ring Rewards Card is free from the Android Market. It's also available on WP7 and iOS devices. 
Key Ring Rewards Card Market Link
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  There are rumors that Intel is prepped to make a big announcement this week. The EE Times reported that Intel, on Wednesday, "will be making its most significant technology announcement of the year. No further details will be provided in advance."
That got me searching for the current Intel rumors and tin hat foil theories. And because everyone likes the rumor guessing game, I've also added my own take. What's my track record? Probably about as accurate as a coin flip. I once said it was unlikely that Apple would ever adopt x86 because it would lose control of the OS to piracy. I guess no one really wants to pirate OSX. However, I have predicted that Palm would eventually lose out to Windows CE despite Palm's huge app support and Windows CE suckiness. With that said, here's my take on the rumors: Rumor: Could it be the announcement of the highly anticipated LGA2011 socket and processor? A roadmap has apparently leaked and enthusiasts are already hyper ventilating about it. Verdict: Unlikely. All the rumors say that new socket and chip won't hit until later in the year so it's unlikely to be announced this early as Intel still likes selling LGA1366 parts and chipsets. Once LGA2011 becomes official, LGA1366 becomes officially obsolete. Rumor: What about the arrival of the Z68 chipset that everybody and their mother has written about for months? Verdict: Unlikely. A new chipset is always exciting, but remember, Sandy Bridge CPU's launched this year. It's doubtful a new chipset is more "significant" than the CPU it supports. Rumor: Intel will support USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt on its next chipsets series. Verdict: Unlikely. That's because Intel has already said it will support USB 3.0 and I think the expense of adding Thunderbolt to all chipsets would drive the cost of the chipset through the roof. Rumor: Intel will announce Sandy Bridge support for iMac. Verdict: Simply wrong. Double yawn. Frankly, who gives a damn, and that's already been announced. And well, welcome to the SNB party Apple, perhaps you can start picking up the empty bottles and washing dishes. And help me get that damned WebOS guy off the couch too. Rumor: The 22nm process is doing great we'll see Ivy Bridge CPUs right on time early next year. Verdict: Possible. The EE Times quoted Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard as saying a 22nm announcement was imminent. For those not in the know, 22nm will be used in the Ivy Bridge chips that will succeed Sandy Bridge. Rumor: Honeycomb is ready to go on x86 Verdict: Possible. We all know that Intel has been working overtime to get the red-hot green Android on Atom. So I think it's very well possible. What's interesting is with Microsoft's move to support ARM with Windows 8 – an Intel move to get Android on x86 would officially seem to be the end of the WinTel empire. Rumor: Apple will begin to use Intel to fab its own ARM CPU. Verdict: Possible. This one would indeed be a big announcement as Intel has been hoping to sign up customers to soak up some fab time. Apple has also been having a pretty big public pissing match with Samsung lately so this one has potential. However, I've always felt that Intel is all about the x86. Conventional wisdom says as the power of ARM increases, the power of x86 wanes. So would Intel really help dig x86 its own grave? And would Apple really let Intel make such an announcement? Rumor: Apple will port iOS over to x86 Verdict: Unlikely. Apple changes architectures more than most nerds change underwear. But I really can't see Apple moving iOS to x86 anytime soon, especially with the company's investment in ARM. I just can't. But again, I've been way wrong on Apple adopting x86 in the past. Rumor: Intel will announce a new ARM chip design. There's speculation that Intel might make another run at ARM. Intel has been in the ARM world before. It bought the StrongARM design from DEC and its XScale is still in service today. Verdict: Unlikely. Yes, XScale is around today – but not under the Intel banner. Intel sold off XScale to Marvell in 2006 and has washed its hands of all things ARM. I know Intel has pivoted before – the company once pooh, poohed integrated memory controllers and the power of GPU computing – but introducing an ARM chip today would be like admitting x86 isn't up for the task. I just don't see that happening right now. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | When the Kinect first launched last November, gamers were (to put it charitably) a bit skeptical. Here was a device with incredible technological potential, and the most impressive game that came out with it was a dance simulator. Still, the Kinect has become a bona fide hit, selling more than eight million units in the first 60 days alone and being named the "fastest-selling consumer electronics device" of all time by Guinness World Records. But more importantly, the software problem has been solved. Not by Microsoft, whose Kinect releases have been few and far between, but by the ever-growing legion of hackers creating innovative tech demos and applications for Kinect on the PC. If you have a Kinect, you owe it to yourself to see what's happening in the hacking scene—putting this knowledge to use isn't even that hard. Follow along and we'll show you how. 1. Set Up Your Kinect Physically setting up the Kinect is a piece of cake, as long as you have the stand-alone power supply that comes with the boxed version of the Kinect. If you do, just plug in the power supply, connect it to the Kinect, and then run the USB cable over to the PC (don't plug it in just yet, though). 
Unfortunately, if you bought the bundle that includes an Xbox 360 S and the Kinect together, that doesn't come with a power supply. If you want to use your Kinect with a PC you'll have to order a stand-alone power supply (above) from Microsoft at bit.ly/heLdOQ. 2. Install PrimeSense OpenNI and Sensor Kinect With the Kinect physically ready to go the plan gets a bit more complicated. You're going to need to install a total of three things on your system before you can start running software for the Kinect on your PC—one driver, and two pieces of middleware. Normally, in a situation like this we would want to start with the lowest-level piece of software, the driver. However, in this case, the driver (Sensor Kinect) won't install without the first piece of middleware (OpenNI), so we'll start there. But first, why do we need middleware? Early Kinect hacks relied entirely on rough-around-the-edges drivers that could extract the raw images and depth maps captured by the Kinect sensor. People were able to make some cool hacks using those data streams, but you had to be familiar with image-processing programming in order to do much of anything. OpenNI, from PrimeSense (the Israeli Company that Microsoft licensed the Kinect Technology from in the first place), is middleware that allows developers easier, more abstracted access to sensor data, without having to do the low-level stuff themselves. It's hardware-agnostic, so OpenNI software will work with any sensor device that has an OpenNI driver written for it. As it stands, Kinect is the only such sensor. To install OpenNI, just go to the download page at bit.ly/fyjLFy and scroll down until you see the link to download the latest unstable build for Windows. Download and run the installer—there shouldn't be any surprises here. With OpenNI installed, you can now use the Sensor Kinect driver. Go to the Sensor Kinect GitHub page at bit.ly/gqWMY9 and click the Downloads button, then click the Download .zip button under Download Source. You won't have to actually compile any source code, though—just extract the contents of the .zip file and navigate to the Bin/ directory, which contains a binary Windows installer. Run through the quick installer and you'll be good to go. At this point, you can plug your Kinect into the computer and perform some quick tests to make sure everything's on track. First, when you plug in the Kinect, your computer should recognize it for what it is. If you go to the Device Manager, you'll see a PrimeSensor category that includes a Kinect Motor and Kinect Camera device (below). 
OpenNI needs to be configured to run properly, which is handled with a set of XML files in the OpenNI/Data directory. Fortunately, the Sensor Kinect .zip file contains some preconfigured files for you to use. Go back to the directory you extracted the Sensor Kinect source code to, and find the OpenNI folder. Copy the contents of this folder to the Program Files\OpenNI\Data folder. Finally, open the .xml file you just copied over, because we have to make one more change. In the beginning, there's a section that reads: <Licenses>
<!-- Add licenses here
<License vendor="vendor" key="key"/>
-->
</Licenses>
Change this section so that it reads like this:
<Licenses>
<License vendor="PrimeSense" key="0KOIk2JeIBYClPWVnMoRKn5cdY4="/>
</Licenses> Don't worry, it isn't piracy—this license key is provided by PrimeSense to the community. 
Finally, we can run a software test to make sure everything's working. Go to the folder you installed OpenNI to, then navigate to Samples\Bin\Release and find the file niviewer.exe. When you run this program, you should see a video stream side-by-side with a single-color depth map (above). If you do, you're more than halfway done. 3. Install NITE NITE is another component of the overall PrimeSense package. It's the higher-level middleware, which interprets the raw sensor data and translates it into more useful constructs—isolating gestures and identifying where your body is. These tools are used by many of the developers creating software for Kinect today. You can download the latest version of NITE at bit.ly/fsfFEg. The installation is pretty much the same as with OpenNI, except that partway through, you'll be asked for a license key. Again, use "0KOIk2JeIBYClPWVnMoRKn5cdY4=". 
Once you've installed NITE, you'll have to run through basically the same configuration process as with OpenNI. Go to the Sensor Kinect source directory, find the directory labeled NITE, and copy its contents into the Program Files\Prime Sense\NITE\Data directory. Open each XML file in Notepad, and insert the license key where needed (above). You can find NITE sample programs in the NITE\Samples\Bin\Release directory. A good one to start with is Sample-Players.exe, which simply shows you a video feed of what the camera sees, with each human it sees shaded in a different color (below). 
4. Install Software Congratulations! You've hacked your Kinect! Enjoy those Kinect sample applications that came with NITE. What, you want more? Well, alright. Here are a few programs you can try to get yourself started: FAAST Short for Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit, FAAST lets you control the mouse and keyboard with Kinect. Prepare to live out all your Minority Report fantasies. bit.ly/exTk6O
Brekel Kinect This package turns the Kinect into a makeshift motion-capture device/3D scanner. It can capture and export skeletal animation or 3D meshes for use in your 3D modeling program of choice (below). bit.ly/eXfiJJ 
Zombie Holdout And just because no list would be complete without a game, here's Zombie Holdout. Resident Evil it ain't, but it's still fun to play a non-Xbox game on Kinect. bit.ly/fRagRi | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Sure, the M15x might have gone AWOL, but Dell has been kind enough to finally ship the beastly M18x to interested parties. This is not your run of the mill laptop. This is a full scale desktop replacement that weighs in at 16 pounds. The upside of all that mass is the amazing hardware packed into the unit.
The base model of the M18x has at its heart, a Core i7 clocked at 2GHz and a GeForce GTX460m. If that just won't cut it, Dell offers options all the way up to a Core i7 overclocked to 4GHz and dual 2GB Radeon 6970m GPUs. All models have the same 18.4-inch 1920x1080 screen. Pricing starts at $1999, and can end up north of $6000. It's a real serious gaming machine that we hesitate to call portable, but it's still lighter than your gaming tower (and probably faster too). Anyone thinking a gaming laptop is the way to go? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Being a super hero is sometimes a thankless job. Just ask Spiderman and a handful of others who have both fought for and been chased by the law. As it turns out, even being just a regular hero isn't always all that it's cracked up to be. If you require proof, sit down for a chat with Roger Kline, a 51-year-old former Best Buy employee who was shown the door after he tackled a would-be laptop thief making a mad dash with stolen merchandise.
According to a report in the Billings Gazette, Kline was a well-regarded employee and one of the top salesmen during the three years he worked at Best Buy. He had never been in any kind of trouble with the electronics retailer or had any other negative marks on his record. "I believe I was one of the highest-regarded employees there," Kline said. Then March 28, 2011 rolled around, That's the day a customer with sticky hands tried to bolt out the door carrying two laptops he didn't pay for. As the man ran by, Kline instinctively grabbed hold of him and tossed the would-be shoplifter to the ground, then held him there until his boss told him to let go. The laptops were valued at $1,600 combined. For having tried to steal two laptops, the man was arrested and charged with felony theft and misdemeanor drug possession. As for Kline, surely Best Buy recognized his heroics and, at the very least, gave the guy a day off from work, right? Wrong. Because it's against company policy to interfere with a crime-in-progress, Kline was technically breaking the rules. After a more than three-week investigation, Kline was called into the manager's office and handed an "involuntary separation notice." "Roger, you admitted that on March 28, 2011, you pursued a shoplifter and engaged in physical force to apprehend this shoplifter," the one-page notice said. "This is a violation of Best Buy's Inappropriate Conduct Policy which states that employees are prohibited from 'pursuing shoplifters under any circumstance or using physical force to detain shoplifters' and ground for termination. Your employment with Best Buy is terminated, effective immediately." As another testament to Kline's character, he's not so much peeved at Best Buy for making the decision to let him go. For that, he says he understands. But it's the nearly month-long wait to find out whether or not he still had a job that has him "twisted." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Newspapers have had a tough time dealing with the changing media landscape over recent years. If things weren't so bad, papers like The Denver Post and The Las Vegas Review-Journal might not be working with a company called Righthaven. The sole business of Righthaven is to acquire the copyright for various content from newspapers like The Denver Post, and patrol the web looking for infringing use. Posting an image owned by Righthaven could mean a nasty lawsuit.
One 20-year old blogger got such a rude awakening last year when Righthaven came after him for posting an image of a TSA agent patting down a traveler. That the picture had gone viral made no difference. Righthaven offered a $6000 settlement, which was rejected. Critics of Righthaven allege that the company's only goal is to file frivolous suits against those that cannot afford to defend themselves. An executive from The Denver Post, when asked about the suits said, "To allow others who have not shared in that investment to reap the benefit ultimately hurts our ability to continue to fund that investment at the same level." Righthaven has apparently filed hundreds of cases for inappropriate use of copyrighted images. The Media Bloggers Association has filed amicus briefs in several cases claiming that Righthaven's actions are fraudulent. The case against the 20-year old blogger was eventually dropped, but many bloggers have settled. Do you think this sort of legal action is acceptable? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Just when you though mechanical hard drives were starting to go out of style in favor of SSDs, Seagate went and did something that's drumming up a bit of excitement in the storage space. The hard drive maker broke the areal density barrier by announcing the world's first 3.5-inch HDD featuring 1TB of storage capacity per disk platter. Seagate's accomplishment should pave the way for more capacious and higher performing hard drives.
"Organizations of all sizes and consumers worldwide are amassing digital content at light speed, generating immense demand for storage of digital content of every imaginable kind," said Rocky Pimentel, Seagate Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "We remain keenly focused on delivering the storage capacity, speed and manageability our customers need to thrive in an increasingly digital world." Summed up, that's marketing speak for "Booya, baby!" Seagate said it's GoFlex Desk products are the to feature the new high density hard drives, with storage capacities up to 3TB and an area density of 625 gigabits per square inch. Later on, Seagate plans to ship its flagship 3.5-inch Barracuda desktop drive with 3TB of storage space, enough to store up to 120 high-definition movies, 1,500 videogames, thousands of photos, and basically a ton of digital bits. Image Credit: Seagate | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Just when we thought BlackBerry World 2011 was going to be boring, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage by storm as only he can. Ballmer told the crowd that Microsoft had joined with RIM to embed Bing search and maps in future BlackBerry products. This isn't as simple as setting a default, Microsoft will be right there at the OS level. Redmond is also coopertaing with RIM on a server product that changes the company's enterprise strategy.
The search and maps integration will roll out by the holiday season. It was not clear if only new devices will have it, or if existing devices will get an update. Microsoft will also be working with RIM to push BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. In some ways, this is a tacit admission that Microsoft has been unable to develop their own enterprise presence with Windows Phone 7. Having fully integrated maps and search on a platform can create a better experience for users. We will be interested to see how useful the Microsoft products end up being on RIM devices, or if they keep some goodies for their own platform. Image via @dcseifert | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | No one should escape the deflating experience of suddenly feeling old by seeing something they once used now exhibited in a museum. ("Hey, I used to have a rotary landline telephone just like that!"). To bring this discomfort to younger folks than ever before, some enthusiasts in Silicon Valley are founding a Digital Game Museum. 
That's right, someday you'll see Grand Theft Auto behind glass, and I don't mean the glass screen on your video monitor. This palace for the preservation of pixels will trace the history of electronic games all the way back to their roots—which may be deeper than you think. The oldest videogame I've played is the original version of Spacewar! on a DEC PDP-1 minicomputer from 1962. No, I'm not quite that old. It was at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, which restored a PDP-1 and gave me a try. (I demolished a kid who couldn't navigate the game's gravity well.) 
Some founders of the Digital Game Museum were associated with the Computer History Museum, but the institutions are unrelated. The director recruited me for the museum's advisory board, even though I stopped playing electronic games 20 years ago. I was a videogame magazine editor in the 1980s, so my knowledge of the medieval days may be useful, especially when the museum begins assembling a magazine collection. Are electronic games worthy of a museum? In the 1980s, it was widely believed that games were a new art form on the level of movies. Game companies began adopting the production flows, job titles, and terminology of Hollywood studios. But three decades later, I'm still waiting for the artistic equivalents of Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz, to name just two classic movies released during the first three decades of Hollywood filmmaking. In fact, no electronic games have yet achieved the timeless status of classic board games like checkers, chess, or Monopoly. (Tetris, maybe.) Perhaps electronic games are too inseparable from their fast-moving technology to endure. But their brief lifespans make preservation even more important. Electronic games generate much more revenue than movies and entertain millions of people, so they have earned a place in history.
Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for Microprocessor Report. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Now that app stores have almost become de rigueur, it isn't hugely surprising that even the next iteration of Windows is widely anticipated to have one. It also makes perfect sense considering the fact that Windows 8 is being optimized to run on media tablets (even including those powered by ARM chips). While the alleged screenshots of Windows 8's app store UI that were released a few weeks back eventually turned out to be fakes, some Russian enthusiasts now claim to have uncovered a couple of references to the store in a leaked Windows 8 build.
According to a post on MSWin.me, a handful of references to something called the Windows Store have been found inside the leaked Windows 8 Build 7955 (Pre-M3). Their findings include dedicated folders for the Windows Store licensing client, runtime module and service inside the WinSxS system folder. Our Russian friends also stumbled upon a tiny logo of the store (pictured). However, so far there are no signs of a Windows Store executable file being present in Build 7955. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  A quick visit to Dell's Alienware portal shows a handful of recently released laptop models and the familiar M17x, but no M15x. Could this be a high-tech cover up, and if not, then where did go? The truth is out there, and unfortunately, there's nothing supernatural or other-wordly going on, Dell simply decided to do away with this particular model and focus on the rest of its lineup, which still leaves one question unanswered.
Will there be another 15-inch model to take it's place? That remains to be seen. Engadget said it "confirmed with Alienware today that the M15x system is no longer available," leaving a gap in the company's gaming notebook line. Here's what's left: - Alienware M11x (New)
- Alienware M14x (New)
- Alienware M17x
- Alienware M18x (New)
Still plenty of sizes of choose from with base prices ranging from $999 to $1,999, but if you had your heart set on a 15-inch Alienware system, it looks like the only way you'll find one is by heading to Ebay/Craigslist (or maybe Roswell). Image Credit: Alienware | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Maybe Gigabyte got bit by the overclocking bug, or perhaps the top-tier motherboard and graphics card vendor got its mitts on some better silicon. Whatever the case may be, Gigabyte is getting ready to release a second, factory overclocked Radeon HD 6970 videocard, the GV-R6970OC2-2GD. This latest variant will ship with its GPU revved up to 920MHz, up from 880MH stock (and 900MHz for the R6970OC), while the 2GB of GDDR5 remains at 5500MHz.
The new card will use the same Ultra Durable VGA+ design as the R6970OC, which consists of high-grade components like a 2-ounce copper PCB, Japanese capacitors, ferrite-core chokes, tier 1 memory modules, gold-plated HDMI, and low RDS MOSFET. Also worth mentioning is the Windforce 3X anti-turbulence cooling solution. This three-fan cooler utilizes a 3D-inclined fin design, PWM fans, three copper heatpipes, and "a unique vapor chamber to strengthen the speed of heat dissipation." No word yet on when Gigabyte will ship its new card or for how much. Product Page Image Credit: Gigabyte | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Adobe today released its Creative Suite 5.5 (CS 5.5) to U.S customers, a significant update that kicks off the company's new subscription payment model. Potential customers have the choice of paying for the package outright with prices ranging from $1,299 to $2,599 (upgrade pricing also available), or essentially rent the software on a month-to-month basis or annual subscription.
Payment options aside, Adobe says its Creative Suite 5.5 software includes major advances in HTML5 and Flash authoring, as well as significant innovation in video production and editing. "Adobe is leading the charge for HTML5 authoring with new capabilities in Creative Suite 5.5 that will radically enhance the delivery of HTML content across multiple browsers – on the desktop, tablets and smartphones," said David Wadhawani, senior vice president and general manager, Creative and Interactive Solutions, Adobe. "For creators of mobile apps on iOS, Android or BlackBerry Tablet OS, our latest Flash tools deliver stunning high-performance apps, without having to start from scratch for every device." Adobe also launched a Professional Edition of its Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), a separate turnkey solution that includes hosted services and viewer technology to allow publishers to post content to major tablet platforms, including Android tablets, BlackBerry PlayBook, and the iPad. Image Credit: Adobe | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  You can never really have enough USB ports, and this is especially true if you own a laptop, most of which are decked out with just three or four of them. By the time you plug in an external mouse, keyboard, and laptop cooler, you're either out of USB ports or down to one. Be that as it may, USB modems continue to outsell embedded modules by a wide margin, a research company says.
According to ABI Research, the disparity between USB modems and embedded wireless modules in laptops is 3:1. We would have expected that ratio to be in reverse, but as far as ABI's crystal ball is concerned, embedded module shipments won't exceed USB modem shipments for another five years. "Media tablets had a significant positive impact on embedded module shipments last year, with Apple coming out as the new leader for 3G modules," notes ABI Research senior practice director Jeff Orr. "But embedded modules will likely falter this year as the tablet vendors look to drive prices down by foregoing add-ons including 3G/4G modems." By 2016, ABI Research says there will nearly as many embedded Wi-Fi modules as there will be USB Wi-Fi dongles, with the ratio to be reduced to 1.2:1. What's the hold up? ABI didn't say, though we suspect it has to do with rapidly evolving technology. Because embedded modules can't be swapped out, notebook users are stuck with whatever technology comes baked in, but newer, faster, and more secure standards continue to come out through a laptop's lifetime. This could be a reason why USB modems continue to fly off store shelves. Image Credit: O2 UK | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Family Feud has never been the same since it's original and slightly creepy host, Richard Dawson, was a part of the show. Nevertheless, we'd be more apt to catch a few episodes if Harris Interactive were in charge of surveying Americans, which would give the show a decidedly geeky slant. In Harris Interactive's latest study, the firm pinged 30,000 Americans on their opinions of the top 60 "most visible companies" in the U.S. and used the info to come up with a reputation quotient (RQ) for each company. Google took the top spot, can you guess which others made the top 10 list?
The top 10 list shakes out like this: - Google: 84.05
- Johnson & Johnson: 83.13
- 3M Company: 82.56
- Berkshire Hathaway: 82.30
- Apple: 82.05
- Intel: 81.94
- Kraft Foods: 81.67
- Amazon.com: 81.14
- Walt Disney Company: 81.04
- General Mills: 81.04
One thing that's interesting to note here is how many technology companies made the list. This wasn't by accident. "The technology sector continues to be perceived most positively, with 75 percent giving the sector a positive rating, versus the number two sector, retail, which fares at 57 percent positive," Harris Interactive notes. "Technology/Internet and Consumer Goods companies dominate the top rankings, with the top 10 finishers 3M, Apple, and Amazon.com, benefiting from being associated with both industries." If you're wondering about Facebook, which frequently makes headlines for one reason or another, the social networking site was a newcomer to the list ranking No. 31 with a RQ score of 74.12. As for coming up with RQ scores, survey respondents are asked to rate companies based on their reputation on 20 different attributes that comprise the RQ instrument. Harris Interactive then groups the attributes into six different reputation dimensions, including Emotional Appeal, Products & Services, Social Responsibility, Vision & Leadership, Workplace Environment, and Financial Performance. Image Credit: flickr | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  One of the design gurus over at LG Electronics must have a vendetta against thick bezels, so in designing LG's new Blade series of laptops, that was the first thing to go. He and his team then built of pair of laptops measuring 14 inches (P430) and 15.6 inches (P530) with a display thickness of just 4.5mm and 4.7mm, respectively, and then made sure that both would weigh less than 5 pounds.
"The Blade series is the fruition of many months of effort by LG engineers and designers to develop portable computers that deliver beyond the performance, looks, and value that today's consumers have come to expect," said J.J. Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of LG Electronics PC Business Unit. "Leveraging tomorrow's technology and breakthrough design, LG will continue to offer slim, beautiful notebooks that raise the bar in portable computing." LG is clearing chasing after style points with its Blade series, noting that the P430, at 1.94kg (less than 4.3 pounds) is lighter than conventional 13-inch notebooks. In addition, both models sport a metallic case that's purportedly more durable than other slim style notebooks. Rounding out the aesthetics is brushed aluminum and diamond cutting. So how about the actual hardware? LG was a little less forthcoming in that department, saying only that the P430 and P530 can be configured with up to a second generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and come with Nvidia GeForce GT520M graphics, 1.3HD webcam, and SRS and DLNA technology. Image Credit: LG | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We would say this is getting ridiculous, but it crashed right through ridiculous a long time ago. Traditional adjectives will no longer suffice. See, as it turns out, not only did hackers manage to worm their way into MMO maker SOE's servers, but they Hulk-smashed right through the service's defenses two freaking weeks ago. Oh, and they may have gotten their grubby mitts on 24.6 million accounts' worth of personal info. And when did Sony finally notice? Today. Just let that sink in for a moment, and then click past the break for the none-too-pretty details.
"Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that their ongoing investigation of illegal intrusions into Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE, the company) systems revealed yesterday morning (May 2, Tokyo time) that hackers may have stolen SOE customer information on April 16th and 17th, 2011 (PDT)," the multimedia giant said in a press release. "This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007. The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain." As a result, Sony's taken its entire SOE infrastructure (which includes games like Everquest, Everquest II, DC Universe Online, and Star Wars Galaxies) offline, and plans to grant players 30 free days of extra subscription time in addition to one free day to match each day the service is offline. Even so, two weeks? With a security hole so gaping that we could probably climb inside it, string up a few lights, and create an absolutely delightful weekend getaway? Either these hackers are really damn good (and quiet), or SOE's security measures (which Sony has claimed are unrelated to PSN's) are made out of paper mache and hope. Regardless, we'd like to get off this rollercoaster now. We liked it better back when we didn't have to consider our livelihood before plucking a game off the shelf. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It may be all about Facebook, Google and mobile phones today, but in the late 1990s, the world trembled in fear from Microsoft. So, taking the lay of the land, boot layed out five rebel OSes that a user could explore if he or she wanted to flip the finger at Redmond. Could OS/2 Warp, Rhapsody, BeOS, Linux or Open DOS really make it? To find out, read on. 
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 
A new No BS Podcast, you say? With useful information? Unpossible! But it is, uh, possible. In Episode 173 of the No BS Podcast, Gordon, Alex, Alan, and Andy call Nvidia's Tom Petersen to get the skinny on SLI for AMD boards. Then, Gordon drops wisdom about small form factor PCs, Nathan talks about Intel's new 3Gb/s SATA SSD and the gang discusses the magic of Portal 2. Plus, the BlackBerry PlayBook, answers to your questions, and, inevitably, rants about the state of the world and the origins of various phrases. Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are not standing by. Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337    
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  For some of us, being forced to sit in front of a computer at work is the ultimate drag. It's not the hardware that bums us out. It's the outright refusal of our boss and IT department to let us install the games we love on our office rig for a little bit of pew-pew at break time. Sure, you could bring along a netbook or laptop with you everyday to solve the problem, but that extra weight's not the sort of thing that's welcome on anyone's daily commute. Instead, we recommend that you scratch your gaming itch by indulging in Lord of Ultima, our Chrome Web App of the Week.
Lord of Ultima is a browser-based Massive Multiplayer Online Real Time Strategy game from Electronic Arts. While the game has precious little to do with the venerable Ultima franchise of role-playing games, it's still worth your attention. 
Lord of Ultima sees players start off with a single city that they must carefully nurture into a well-protected center of civilian and military productivity. Over time, your city will become the jumping off point for the invasion of other player created kingdoms, trade and dungeon raiding. Offering surprisingly deep strategic options, 30 buildings, close to 20 combat unit types and a number of magical, civilian and military perks to keep things interesting, this is one freemium game that we've no doubt you'll enjoy to sinking your teeth into no matter where you are. Be sure to check back next Monday when we serve up another healthy helping of Chrome Web App of the Week. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Sony has once again commented on the PSN outage and hacking incident. But this time we got a little more technical information than previous disclosures offered. Contrary to past reports, Sony claims that passwords were not stored in plain text, or in any easily accessible form. They were not encrypted, but were rather "transformed using a cryptographic hash function." Well, it's better than nothing.
A hash of a password is reasonably secure, but not in the same way an encrypted password would be. With sufficient data, a hacker could work backwards to find a hash key and find the plain-text password. An encrypted word cannot be read without the key. It will therefore be much harder for anyone to extract the PSN passwords. Sony also clarified the situations with credit card numbers. They say that this information, unlike passwords, was encrypted. Additionally, it was not stored with the authorization number most sites require. It might be unlikely a bad guy can get your card number from the stolen data, but Sony is cautioning users to be vigilant anyway. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | We set out to build a Sandy Bridge box that takes up little space in our entertainment center and fulfills all our streaming needs Back in the August 2010 issue of Maximum PC I built a 3D HTPC that I was pretty damned happy with, but the times have changed. The CableCard quad tuner that was featured prominently in that machine is no longer needed, as I have joined the ranks of the Cable Cutter Movement™. So without the need for a CableCard, I wondered if I could build a rig with all the same capabilities but make it much, much smaller. Ingredients  Case/PSU Silverstone Lascala LC12 w/120W PSU $180 - Mobo Zotac H67-ITX WiFi $160
- CPU Intel Core i3-2100T $130
- Cooler Silverstone NT07-1156 $30
- RAM 4GB Corsair DDR/1333 $50
- Optical Drive Sony Optiarc BC-5640H-01 $160
 - Solid-State Drive 60GB G.Skill Phoenix Pro $130
- OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (OEM) $99
- Misc 2x USB header extension cables $5
Total for PC: $944 Picking the Best Parts for the Job When Intel released its 2.5GHz Core i3-2100T chip, I thought I had a good place to start. Its integrated graphics processor supports 3D Blu-ray over HDMI 1.4 TV sets. Even better, the H67 chipset supports lossless audio. This let me dispense with both the discrete graphics card and soundcard that our previous 3D HTPC required. The Core i3-2100T is also the coolest desktop Sandy Bridge CPU out today. With a TDP rating of 35 watts, it's nearly half as hot as the other dual-core Sandy Bridge desktop chips. I consider AMD's Fusion to be the natural successor to Atom, but I still find it a wee bit slow for desktop use. For the case, Silverstone's Lascala LC12 seemed to fit the bill. It's not as small as some HTPC boxes, but depth usually isn't an issue on home theater racks. The stock LC12 comes with a 60W brick that does not include an ATX12V connector (the original Mini-ITX form factor didn't call for it), so we upgraded to the 120W PSU from Silverstone. The case should accommodate the standard heatsink that comes with the chip, but I thought I'd cut down on noise with the Silverstone NT07 low-profile cooler. Besides sitting lower, it also offers a switch to manually lower fan speed for quieter performance. As for the motherboard, Zotac's boards have been leading the way in the Mini-ITX revolution, and the H67-ITX WiFi gives me 802.11n, LGA1155 support, and full-size DIMM slots. I decided against a mechanical hard drive for this build, as I find that components on my theater rack often get jostled while they're running. An SSD eliminates worries about head crashes, and with the Zotac board the 60GB G.Skill Phoenix drive will boot in less than 20 seconds. There's also no need for tons of local storage, since I'll mostly be streaming from a server or the Internet and there's no TV tuner to record from. The final piece was a Sony BC-5640H slot-fed Blu-ray combo drive, which helps class up the machine a bit. Tray versions are cheaper and easier to find, but not as slick. 1. Remove the Drive Cage The LC12 breaks down into two pieces: The top tray holds the ODD and SSD and adds strength to the aluminum frame. To begin the build, you need to remove the top tray by removing two screws at the rear of the cage (below), and two at the front. Set these screws aside in a small cup so you don't lose them. 
2. Install the I/O Shield Remove the stock I/O shield (that's the fancy name for the metal plate at the back of the case) and install the I/O shield that came with your motherboard (below). 
3. Install the CPU 
Set the case aside and grab the Zotac motherboard. To install the CPU, first unlock the load plate on the CPU socket. Once that's off, remove the plastic cover protecting the delicate pins in the socket (above). Save the cover. If you ever need to return the board, the manufacturer will not accept it without the cover. Use two fingers to hold the CPU parallel to the socket, with the notches on both lined up (below). Gently lower the CPU straight into the socket. Do not drop one half of the chip into the socket and then slide it around. Once the chip is seated, lower the load plate and lock it with the arm. 
4. Install the Cooler 
Remove the plastic backing from the copper slug on the heatsink. Apply a pea-size amount of thermal paste on the CPU's heat spreader (above). If you're anal, you can put your finger inside a plastic bag to spread the thermal paste evenly over the heat spreader. 
Now install the heatsink. Each of the locking pins surrounding the heatsink should protrude through the bottom of the motherboard. Using your thumbs, push down on the four locking mechanisms until they lock into place with a click—do opposite pins first (above). When done, check all to ensure they have locked into place. Once the heatsink is in place, plug the fan into the 4-pin header marked CPU Fan (below). 
5. Install the RAM We elected to use 4GB of RAM, which is more than enough for an HTPC. To install the RAM, spread out the locking arms on either side of the slot, line up the notches on the RAM and the slot, and push down on either end of the DIMM until it locks into
place (below). 
6. Install the Motherboard Lower the motherboard into the chassis and use four screws to screw it in place. Use enough torque so the screws do not back out from the vibration of the system. 7. Hook Up Power Hook up the 24-pin main power connector (below) as well as the ATX12V connector. Both rookies and old salts will occasionally forget to plug in the ATX12V connector, so if your system won't boot, you should make sure that this commonly overlooked connector is plugged in. 
8. Plug in the USB Extensions The LC12 has a wee problem with the USB header placement on the Zotac mobo: They don't quite reach. To get around this, we used two USB extension cables, available from Silverstone, or from most stores that cater to modders, for a few bucks apiece. Oddly, the LC12 features old-school individual leads for USB. Match each of these leads to their counterparts on the extension cable, then plug them into the USB headers. The AC97 front-panel audio will also need a short extension if you intend to access the front headphone jacks. Since this PC will be used in the living room, we skipped it. Once you're done with that, it's time to hook up the front-panel connectors. The power and reset switches and HDD LED follow the standard Intel-mandated pinout.
9. Install the SSD and ODD Now attach the SSD to the drive cage that you set aside earlier (below). Once you have it mounted, reinstall the cage on top of the system. When you have the cage mounted, plug the SSD into any of the available SATA ports on the motherboard. 
Carefully slide the Sony Blu-ray drive into the front of the system. Use two of the very small screws to lock the optical drive in place (below). When you're done, use the included slimline SATA adapter to hook up the optical drive's power and data lines. 
10. Install the Antennas The last step is to install the two 802.11n antennas to the back of the case (below). Congratulations, you're now done! 
The Guts 
Low Sink A single low-profile NT07-1156 cooler is the only moving part in our machine. Bug-Free Chipset The Zotac H67-ITX WiFi board uses the "B3" chipset spin, so all of its SATA ports are safe to use. All Slots Full We don't see more than 4GB being needed for an HTPC so we filled both DIMM slots with 2GB modules. The Petite HTPC in Action We decided to subject our petite 3D HPTC to the same tests we've been running on HTPC-class machines for the past year. The tests aren't always apples-to-apples comparisons, as the amount of RAM varies and the storage subsystems are different, but they give a good feel for what kind of performance to expect from a given processor/graphics combination. The AMD Phenom X4 quad core in the Mvix Minix 890GX (May 2011) represents well in the multithreaded tests but it isn't as far in front of the Core i3-2100T as we would have expected. The mobile GeForce GT 425M in Asrock's Vision 3D (March 2011) roundly thumps the integrated graphics of the rest of the pack. While the Sandy Bridge-powered HTPC flies past the AMD Fusion–powered MSI E350IA (April 2011) in compute-limited tasks, in graphics, the Fusion holds up well for a chip that is 900MHz slower in clock speed. Perhaps I've been too hard on Fusion in desktop applications. After-Action Report 
Whenever we finish a project, we wonder if we took the right path. We're happy with the petite 3D HTPC's results, but the rig could be improved. I've bagged on Atom- and Fusion-based parts for weak performance, but one thing those lighter-weight chips give you is lower temperatures. I thought the 35-watt Core i3 would run cool, and thus I got a bit greedy in my quest to use only one fan. While I didn't have problems with the Core i3-2100T / LC12 combination, it does run a bit warm. I tuned the fan speeds to balance acoustics and thermals, but in the end I decided to let it run warm. Intel processors throttle if they overheat, and during testing ours never throttled. Still, I'm not totally satisfied with the temps, and I'm thinking that I should have gone with another option I had considered: Antec's ISK 300-150, which features an 8cm fan but is slightly bulkier and uses a PSU with a fan. Benchmarks | | Petite HTPC | Minix 890GX-USB3 | MSI E350IA-E45 | | CPU | 2.5GHz Core i3-2100T | 2.6GHz Phenom II X4 910e | 1.6GHz E350 | | GPU | Integrated Intel | Integrated Radeon HD 4290 | Integrated Radeon HD 6310 | | Premiere Pro CS3 (sec) | 122 | 150 | 438 | | MainConcept (sec) | 2,049 | 1,806 | 4,604 | | 3DMark 2003 | 7,940 | 5,269 | 6,403 | | Quake III (fps) | 223 | 284 | 193 | | Quake 4 (fps) | 41 | 37 | 43 |
Benchmarks | | Dell Inspiron Zino | Polywell Giada Ion-100 | Asrock Vision 3D | | CPU | 1.5GHz Athlon X2 3250e | 1.3GHz Atom 330 | 2.4GHz Core i3-370M | | GPU | Integrated Radeon HD 3200 | Integrated Nvidia Ion | GeForce GT 425M | | Premiere Pro CS3 (sec) | 449 | 552 | 162 | | MainConcept (sec) | 7,080 | 8,858 | 2,452 | | 3DMark 2003 | 2,540 | 3,371 | 17,394 | | Quake III (fps) | 192 | 118 | 537 | | Quake 4 (fps) | 29 | 29 | 112 | All tests were run on Windows 7. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If you own a laptop, tablet PC, or smartphone -- and who doesn't these days? -- feel free to bring them with you when you visit the Quincy District Court in Massachusetts. Unlike nearly every other court in the country, not only does this one allow these electronic devices, but it's actually encouraging users to live blog, post to Facebook, and update their Twitter accounts once court is in session.
According to RedOrbit.com, blending social media with legal proceedings is an experiment designed to help establish appropriate guidelines for courts as they try and figure out how best to incorporate digital technology, bloggers, and citizen journalists. "In the past, reporters were the connection to the nation's courts, but with the changes in the media landscape, there are just less and less journalists who are that bridge to the public, John Davidow, executive producer of the 'OpenCourt' project," told The Associated Press. What's interesting to note is that in the past, the use of electronic devices in publicized cases have actually led to mistrials and overturned convictions. "I'm not overly fond of the idea," Richard Sweeney, a Quincy defense attorney told AP. "I think there are a lot of pitfalls. I understand and respect the concept -- they want to open court. In this era of everyone having cell phones and videos, I can understand that, but it's fraught with perils for attorneys with conversations that can be picked up." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | "We all know how huge video games are. It's just a matter of time until it's accepted," said Christopher LaPorte. "The geeks shall inherit the earth… I say that a lot," he added. I had just run into the goatee-sporting, cigarette-wielding, medical sales-professional-turned Las Vegas club owner outside of his brand-new, $1.5 million-dollar video game themed bar. He seemed happy, if not slightly exhausted—Insert Coin(s) had just pushed more than 1,100 people into its less-than-spacious interior for the lounge's official opening a day prior. According to LaPorte, lines stretched from Fremont Street around Las Vegas Boulevard for Insert Coin(s) first official evening. All that, just for video games? "We pride ourselves on bringing more glitz and glamor in an attempt to bring video gaming out of the counter-culture it's in," LaPorte said. I'll admit, even I was a bit skeptical about the premise of a video game bar actually making it in Sin City of all places. Las Vegas is a town known for just those things: glitz, glamor, sex, drinking, partying… something about sitting down and throwing up a round of Mortal Kombat or two just doesn't seem, I don't know, very Vegas-y. But, trust me, Insert Coin(s) isn't just some light homage to the digital craft. And there I was on day two of the lounge's existence—the place technically had three soft openings prior to its grand unveiling on April 15–and everything seemed pretty slamming. Heck, I could hear the throb-whomp-whomp of the lounge's video DJ, a true sensory experience, emanating from the neon-lit place as I parked my car a few blocks away. Entering the lounge is kind of like picking which town you want your character to start in--and there's no cover charge for doing so (save for special days). On the right of the bar-slash-club, a series of comfy gaming couches invite aspiring gamers to come pop a squat and fire up some titles. A $15-per-hour charge gets you unlimited gaming time on the five-foot-high and ten-foot-wide leather couches, where you're free to pick from eight different consoles and a smorgasbord of titles to play on the two rotating 32-inch televisions attached to each "Gaming Station," as LaPorte calls them. Encircling the walls of Insert Coin(s) are a number of 60-inch televisions that wannabe players and lounge lurkers can use to watch ongoing matches on either the Gaming Stations; the lounge's central, neon-lit bar; or whatever's being piped by the video DJ at any given moment. Click through for page two!
And to cement LaPorte's vision of prospective suitors saying, "Can I get your next game" instead of, "Can I buy you a drink," the lounge's primary bar—located smack in the middle of the venue—offers beverages alongside controllers. Playing a game here costs nothing extra: Just grab a controller, plant your elbows on the LED-color-changing bar top, and use one of the numerous televisions located directly above bartenders' alcohol stashes to fire up a favorite Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 title. "I'll buy every game that comes out on Tuesdays," jokes LaPorte, referencing the growing collection of titles that one can find on the Insert Coin(s) unofficial menu. Only, I don't think he's actually joking. From Atari 2600 games, to ColecoVision titles, to the Sega Dreamcast… even the old console classics are well-represented among the modern-day Call of Duties and Mortal Kombats. In total, LaPorte estimates that Insert Coin(s) has a library of 2,200 to 2,400 video games. And if your tastes for gaming run even older than consoles themselves, then you probably find solace in Insert Coin(s)' ample coin-operated cabinets. Spread out over the left-most portion of the lounge, prospective quarter-gamers—That's right. Quarters, not tokens—can enjoy approximately 45 different refurbished gaming cabinets of old. Selections range from Space Invaders, to Tron (Don't tell Flynn's Arcade), to semi-modern titles like Tekken Tag Tournament and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The only portion of Insert Coin(s) that seems a little bit underserved is the lounge's dance floor. That has nothing to do with the quality of the DJ—often jamming video game-themed tunes or 8-bit samples—nor the excellence of the matched visuals being pumped across a nine-by-nine wall of flat-panel televisions. Dudes are busy gaming, that's all; dancing seems secondary to the mix. 
But I should preface that with an answer to the $64,000 question: It's not just dudes, nor sweaty dudes, populating the inside of Insert Coin(s). LaPorte estimates that the lounge has a ratio ranging between 60-to-40 or 70-to-30 of men to women at any given time. That's a pretty big role reversal for your typical Vegas club scene—so much so, that LaPorte himself even offered to let me interview a random girl gamer he found in his lounge during my Insert Coin(s) visit. I politely declined. But I mention that because it's kind of just who LaPorte is: a fun-loving geek-turned-owner/promoter. The great measurement of Insert Coin(s)' potential success lies not in its games, nor its titles, nor the fancy video DJs it brings in, the gaming-centric graffiti painted across its walls, nor even the little art gallery exhibits it uses to "class up the joint," as it were. It's LaPorte: He has to carry the torch. And the Insert Coin(s) co-owner seems to carry himself with the knowledge that he's the deal-maker. Whether that's engaging in text message banter with a cross-state journalist to cover his event, running around the lounge to make sure that everything is going smoothly at all times, or generally just doing whatever he can to create a fun and lively experience, LaPorte is the dude on Insert Game(s)' box art wielding the giant sword. And his financial backers—those who helped put up the $1.5 million to catapult Insert Coin(s) into reality–want to see him claim some gold. Mention this to LaPorte, however, and he seems to take it all in stride. In one year, he hopes to start branching Insert Coin(s) out to five new locations around the United States. Pardon the pun, but he even has a game plan. "We're going to make it really f*****g cool." Maximum PC's David Murphy hopes to transform his apartment into a video gaming lounge someday. Who wants to play Wii Sports Resort with his cat? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tightened focus results in one of the best RPGs ever Like Origins, Dragon Age II is a 50-plus-hour epic with a deep, complex combat system and a well-defined supporting cast. But it also wears its mythology proudly, confident in its goal of charting the rise of a complete and utter badass: you. The first time you control Hawke—the hero—is in an opening flashback to your family's escape from the Darkspawn attack on Lothering, which occurred in the first game. Dragon Age: Origins' free battlefield camera is now gone, but at least the mouse-wheel scroll still grants the zoom you need to see the full field. Pausing, issuing a set of orders, then sitting back and watching the chaos unfold remains a joy that never gets old. 
Dragon Age II has restricted the use of a free camera during combat. Outside of this, the progression remains the same: Pause, queue up some orders, and watch the bloodbath. The story fills in the gap between this flashback battle and a decade later. The world of Thedas has always been a dark one, full of bigotry and fascism. While it felt like the first game missed a huge opportunity by glossing over this, it seems like the game's designers have finally come to terms with the world they've constructed. Dragon Age II has some genuinely dark quest lines driven by moments of tension and tough decisions that not only feel contextual, but will leave you thinking about them. Nearly all of the game events occur in the city of Kirkwall, which delivers deeper insight into the world's complex political situation. There's a constant back-and-forth over conflicting views, and you are free to come down on either side of any given scrap. You'll talk endlessly with your friends about your decisions—what would have happened if you'd killed person X or saved person Y? 
Much like its predecessor, Dragon Age II has no shortage of impressive moments. You'll also talk about who they slept with. Did you meet a new party member? Chances are you could have boned them. Thankfully, most of your companions are more enjoyable because their incidental conversations are ruder, funnier, and just plain better. Combat is rapid and satisfying, but it's also more intricate than in Origins. Each companion has a set class, but from there, specialization is up to you. Cooldown periods are just as integral as before, but the abilities themselves are now flashier and lightning-fast. New skills and spells exist for every class, but the Rogue class in particular has been revamped to be more combat effective through the use of exploding-flash backstabs, backflips, and more. There's enough newness that you'll find yourself consistently rotating your party members. That's sacrilege in a lot of RPGs, which typically demand a standard party to succeed, but it's sensible here because everyone's abilities are so much fun to experiment with and develop. From what we'd seen leading up to release, we hadn't anticipated Dragon Age II being much of a traditional or even worthy sequel to Origins. But the interesting design decision to limit the game's context—the world and the politics—appears to have freed Bioware to fill the series with more character and vitality than any game in recent memory. Is this the best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes. $60, dragonage.bioware.com, ESRB: M | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  So the big news over the weekend is that U.S. forces tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden in a gunfight, who was later buried at sea. To be clear, the 'PC' in 'Maximum PC' doesn't stand for 'Politically Correct' or else we'd be all over this. Rather than open that can of worms, as topics on politics, religion, and capital punishment tend to do, we'll instead point out that scammers are using bin Laden's death to spread malware. Color us not the least bit surprised.
According to CNet, it didn't take long for malicious webmasters to capitalize on the situation by spreading malware infested websites optimized to show up on Web searches related to the incident. Image searches and videos are proving particularly popular. "As always, when big news appear in the press the bad guys start blackhat SEO campaigns in popular search engines trying to lure users to install Rogueware," security vendor Kaspersky said in a blog post. "It's not different this time, with the top news about Osama bin Laden's death being everywhere. The bad guys were quite fast and started to poison search results in Google Images." According to Kaspersky, some of the image results redirect to malicious domains, at least two of which are serving up fake antivirus software. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  As of this moment, Intel's flagship mobile processor is its Core i7 2920XM CPU. This spunky slice of silicon sports Sandy Bridge DNA and comes clocked at 2.5GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) on each of its four cores for a total of eight processing threads. Built on a 32nm manufacturing process, the 2920XM features 8MB of cache and integrated graphics clocked at 650MHz, with the ability to Turbo up to 1300MHz. With eight months still left in the year, will Intel release a new top-end mobile chip in 2011?
According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, the likelihood of that happening isn't very high. Fudzilla says Intel plans to stick with the 2920XM as its fastest mobile part until at least the fourth quarter of 2011, and possibly into 2012. Based on recently leaked roadmaps, Intel will replace this current generation of Sandy Bridge parts with its upcoming Ivy Bridge platform in the first half of 2012. If that's the case, it would make sense that the Core i7 2920XM remains Intel's flagship mobile part until the at least the end of the year. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Lenovo has started shipping its IdeaPad S205, an 11.6-inch ultraportable built around AMD's Fusion platform. The heart and soul of this system consists of AMD's E-350 APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), which combines a dual-core 1.6GHz CPU and Radeon HD 6310 graphics. The S205 is the first of Lenovo's S Series announced back at CES and starts out at $499.
The base model includes 3GB of DDR3-1066 memory, 320GB hard drive spinning at 5400RPM, 1.3MP webcam, multi-format card reader, HDMI, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and a 6-cell battery. For $579, Lenovo upgrades the RAM to 4GB and throws in a 500GB hard drive, or for $20 more you get a 750GB hard drive and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Protip: Poke around the Internet and you can find coupon codes bringing the entry-level model down to $429 with free shipping. Image Credit: Lenovo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Up until today, the jury was still deliberating on whether Microsoft's decision to skip XP support for its Internet Explorer 9 browser and focus its attention squarely on Windows 7 was sound or stupid. Judging by the market share numbers, it appears Microsoft knew what it was doing. According to data from Net Applications, IE9's share of the browser market more than doubled in the month of April compared to one month prior.
"After one month, Internet Explorer 9 is benefiting from Windows 7 momentum and has doubled its usage share on Windows 7 from 3.5 percent last month to 7.5 percent in April," Net Applications said. "Also, Internet Explorer 9's daily usage share for the last day of the month (April 30th) hit 9.95 percent worldwide on Windows 7." It was enough to jump way past Opera 11.x, which now claims a 2.18 percent share of the market, and nip at the heels of Mozilla's Firefox 4 browser (7.46 percent) with less than a percentage point separating the two. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that IE9 is being well received at a time when Microsoft's dominance of the browser market is finally being threatened. Since January 2010 until April 2011, IE's total market share has dropped from 62.12 percent to 55.11 percent, while Google's Chrome browser has more than doubled from 5.22 percent to 11.94 percent during that same time frame. Image Credit: cybernetnews.com | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Fair warning for anyone who consumes a ton of bandwidth, ISPs are watching, and if you're an AT&T broadband subscriber, starting today the mandatory dress code calls for a data cap to be worn. DSLs users must squeeze into a 150GB cap every month, and if that's not enough, be ready to fork over $10 for every 50GB over that limit. U-verse users get a little more wiggle room to play with and are capped at 250GB per month. Should you be worried, or does this only affect out-of-control BitTorrent users clogging up the pipelines?
Unfortunately, AT&T's timing really sucks. We're at a point where streaming media is just starting to take off, with services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO / MAX GO, and the list goes on. If you or someone in your household is a movie buff, that seemingly spacious 150GB cap might be tighter than you think. As The Huffington Post points out, watching a single streaming high-definition movie consumes about 2GB per hour, while standard definition movies typically range anywhere from 0.3GB per hour to 1GB per hour. Throw in game downloads, cloud services, and everything else you use your Internet connection for, and it's easy to see how even average users could pop out of their data caps. If it comes as any consolation, AT&T maintains that the caps will only affect about 2 percent of its DSL subscribers, claiming that the average person goes through just 18GB per month. Do you think 150GB/month is enough? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Plextor shared all the right connections with its sleek and sexy PX-LB950UE Blu-ray burner to be a player in the optical game. This external BD writer boasts 12x recording (BD-R), a low vibration system to prevent screwing up pricey BD media, an 8MB buffer, LightScribe support, and both SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and eSATA hookups.
In addition, Plextor says the drive's special chassis channels the airflow so that cool air reaches the motor, ultimately improving performance and extending the Blu-ray burner's lifetime. Other features include support for 3D playback (with bundled 3D software), high-gloss piano black finish that will blend in with a living room or home theater environment, and Plextor's awesome PlexUTILITIES software, a collection of 18 functions in 5 categories. The PX-LB950UE is available now for $240 (a little less on the street). Image Credit: Plextor | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  For those of who you were counting the days until May 3, 2011 and planned on benchmarking your newly built machine with Futuremark's soon-to-be-released PCMark 7 suite this week, you'll have to bide your time just a little while longer. Futuremark sent us a note this morning letting us know it's decided to delay the launch "by a few days" as it works with hardware companies to iron out an unspecified issue.
"Futuremark benchmarks are developed in cooperation with many of the world's leading hardware and technology companies including AMD, Compal, Dell, Hitachi, HP, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate, and Western Digital," Futuremark said in an email. "These companies help us perfect our benchmarks, running each development build through their expert testing facilities to improve performance, relevance, and accuracy of the software. "This testing has identified an issue that we would like to fix before release. Fortunately, it looks like a simple matter, but making any changes to the software at this point also necessitates a further round of testing with our industry partners which takes time." PCMark 7 will ship in three editions, including PCMark 7 Basic (free), PCMark 7 Advanced ($40), and PCMark 7 Professional ($995). The free edition offers unlimited runs of the main PCMark test suite, the ability to browser, search, and compare results online, as well as store one result online. Ponying up for the Advanced edition unlocks the entire suite and offers a more robust online feature-set, while the Professional edition includes command line automation and priority support. Image Credit: Futuremark | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
