Try A New Free Photoshop Version From Adobe - Adobe Photoshop Express

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Digital images are a very common term for most of the Internet users. There are many free online services providing tools for image storage, presentation and editing (processing). Adobe Systems Incorporated has released Adobe Photoshop Express, a Rich Internet Application that allows you to edit,
publish and share your photos in image galleries for free. Adobe Photoshop Express is made with the help of Flex, the Adobe framework for creating Rich Internet Applications.

After a quick process of registration, you will be able to upload photos and organize them in albums (you will get 2 GB of storage space for your photos for free). The photos could be sent through email and edited online. You should not think that the online photo editor is a web version of Adobe Photoshop desktop application.

As compared with the desktop version, Adobe Photoshop Express image editor has only a few features, but they are enough to enhance your photos online. The set of tools provided to tweak your photos allows you to remove red-eye, auto correct images, perform various tuning actions (highlight, sharpen, white balance, focus) and apply effects (filters). You can also return to the original image any time by reverting all of image processing actions.

The images can be shared in various ways. Adobe Photoshop Express provides you the possibility to upload or download photos from other social networking websites like Facebook. The photos are displayed by default in image albums that could be linked in other social networking websites or blogs.

To be able to use Adobe Photoshop Express, you will need Flash player version 9. You can test the free Adobe Photoshop Express Rich Internet Application performance by going to the Adobe website.

Yahoo No Longer the Ugly Duckling, Gets Facelift - The Yahoo logo gets centered

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Every time one of the Internet giants comes with a redesign of their official page, the entire world is talking about it. This is exactly what’s happening right now as the Sunnyvale
super giant Yahoo has just rolled out a fresh facelift of its homepage. In fact, the entire redesign is actually a logo modification because the Yahoo folks have finally decided to center the company logo appearing on the official website.

And this after approximately 2 years since the last webpage change as the Yahoo homepage ‘suffered’ the last modification in May 2006, according to Philipp Lenssen from Google Blogoscoped.

Now, let’s see what’s new. As mentioned, the Yahoo logo is now centered and is placed above the search box and the search options. The left part of the website, the column that allows you to navigate among the Yahoo services, is now better organized and provides better browsing for all the users. The Yahoo logo is now placed in the center of the screen and I must admit it’s the first thing seen by a visitor once the website gets fully loaded.

The new Yahoo/the old Google
Have a look at that picture near this paragraph. In the upper part of the picture, there’s the search function of the new Yahoo: the logo placed above the search options and, then, the search box. Then, we have the old Google, the search function that was displayed on the official website of the search engine. As you can see, they are almost the same with a single difference: for Google, the search buttons are placed under the search box, while Yahoo placed them near the search box.

I’m not trying to insinuate that Yahoo has stolen Google’s design, but maybe the Sunnyvale folks are trying to use one of the Google’s secrets that attracted millions and millions of searchers every day.

Vista: the Gender Challenged OS, After the Longhorn Sex Change - Wow-less, and more...

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Windows Vista is a Microsoft gender-challenged operating system, after it has survived the Longhorn sex change. Just bear with me, it will all make sense in the end, I promise. The short story on Windows Vista is bound not to produce any Wow reactions. At least not in the range Microsoft was aiming for with the $500-million Wow campaign for its latest Windows client. Released to business users in November 2006 and to consumers in January 2007, Vista went over the 100 million sold licenses milestone
as of the end of the past year, according to Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates. And yes, this actually means that Vista underperformed, as Microsoft initially estimated that it would push double the number of licenses Windows XP sold.

But at the same time, there is a more subtle alternative perspective over Vista and its evolution. And this is where the gender-challenged aspect comes into play. Just take Vista and try to place it among all the other Windows platforms which preceded it in the history of Microsoft. I know you're thinking it, so I'm going to come out and say it straight. Vista is simply... gender challenged, and a tad feminine... A little too much for its own good! And in this context, quite incapable of fully satisfying the needs of Windows users, accustomed to a different approach to the technology of the Windows platforms and the Microsoft building process.

Windows Yin (Feminine) and Windows Yang (Masculine)

Is it a question of yin vs. yang? Of feminine vs. masculine? Even when Windows is concerned? Well, we do have Windows-boys on one side and a couple of Windows-girls on the other. Look, all you have to do is go back to the beginning of Windows. Not all the way to the early stages, but Windows 3.1x would do for a starting point, as anything before that are examples of prepubescent Windows.

Windows 3.1x (the young buck) - Signaling the maturity stage of the Windows platform, was code-named Janus, after a god in the Roman mythology. If I tell you that Janus is associated with both beginnings and endings, then you might get an idea of why I choose this version in order to begin. Released in 1992, Windows 3.1x was nothing short of spectacular, and the users that had been struggling around in DOS finally had a graphical user interface and a memory manager at their disposal. Windows 3.1x is the boy that grew up to be Windows 95.

Windows 95 (all grown up and ready for the world) – Codenamed Chicago, Windows 95 was a young Windows man, setting the roots for the modern graphical user interface available in XP and Vista. It was still lingering between 16-bit and 32-bit, still relying heavily on DOS. But at the same time, Windows 95 was nothing short of a success story for Microsoft, and a success not only for the Redmond company, but also in terms of all the operating systems ever produced.

Windows 98 (still a little rugged, but with great potential for domestication) - Codenamed Memphis, Windows 98 was simply a better man than Windows 95 ever could have been. And Second Edition ensured that Windows 98 survived well after the release of Windows XP. Dropped in 1998, with SE available the next year, in 1999, Windows 98 claimed consistent resources including at least 486DX-2/66 MHz processors and a recommended 24MB of RAM. But it also delivered.

Windows 2000 (if it had been an actual man, it would have been quite a catch for the ladies) – Windows 2000 had no codename, but it was initially labeled as Windows NT 5.0. look to Windows 2000 as the perfect Windows man. Even as early as 2000, this version of Windows was capable of addressing no less than 4 GB of RAM. The quality of this Windows release is exemplified by the fact that it has managed to survive even after Windows Vista.

Windows XP (the Alpha male) – Windows XP (codename Whistler), together with Windows XP SP2 (codename Springboard) need no introduction. XP is the apex of Windows masculinity. It has not only survived well into Vista's first year on the market, but it is also not giving up any of its territory without a bitter fight. As far as Windows is concerned, Windows XP is the Alpha male!

Windows Server 2003 (made not to be pretty) – this is a different breed of Windows man, a working specimen, designed for heavy server workloads. Released in 2003, Windows Server 2003 was by no means easy on the eyes, but this was not its purpose in the first place. It was designed as an upgrade from Windows 2000 and, in this respect, it delivered.

And Now the Windows Girls

In the enumeration above you have undoubtedly identified at least one missing item. Windows ME, or Windows Millennium Edition, has a reputation which precedes it. A pit stop between Windows 98 and Windows XP, Windows ME is without a doubt the absolute worse, piss-poor Windows version to this day. Buggy, instable and unreliable do not even begin to describe the disappointment that was Windows ME. Suffice it to say that this Windows girl failed to live for very long, and that XP knoked it out completely just a year after ME's launch.

And we come down to the inevitable Windows Vista. In a long line of strong and powerful Windows men under the Windows NT umbrella, including Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista is a dissonant presence. It not only proved to be Wow-less, but it also lacks the "juice" to take on Windows XP. This is why there are users perceiving Vista as ME2 and a transitional operating system.

The Longhorn Castration

And it's all because the Longhorn castration. The truth of the matter is that Vista started along as one of the guys, under the codename Longhorn, and designed to be an intermediate release between Whistler and Blackcomb. Longhorn was it was promised to Windows users, and not Windows Vista. But on August 27, 2004, Microsoft introduced the Longhorn Reset, which diverged away from Windows XP and went with the Windows Server 2003 codebase.

The Redmond company also cut Longhorn Castle, the Windows File System (WinFS), Location Awareness, the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base technology and additional features and capabilities from the initial Longhorn project, performing a veritable castration. On July 22, 2005, Microsoft unveiled Windows Vista with the first beta coming out on August 3, 2005. But Vista, because of its Windows Server 2003 legacy fails to be one of the girls. It is simply an emasculated Windows version, gender challenged, that still needs to find its way.

Strapping on the Service Pack and the Next Windows Man

On March 18, Microsoft released the gold version of Windows Vista SP1 to the general public. Strapping on SP1 means for Vista regaining some testosterone, to compensate for the estrogen generated with the Longhorn castration. At the same time, the synchronization with Windows Server 2008, and getting back in the Windows NT line of men is nothing but food news for the latest Windows client.

Still, users have already got a taste of the next Windows version. Windows 7, with Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, at the lead needs to turn out a real Windows man. More than Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 combined.

Fake Google Email Attempts to Steal Your Money - Extra-care is recommended

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We all know that Google, the Mountain View super search giant, communicates with its users by phone or by email every time users have to be informed about important matters. And if the emails’ subject concerns AdWords, Google’s money machine, the message is bound to be important and has to be read as soon as possible. Some Internet users have received recently a "Google" notification asking them to "update their billing information". Hmm, quite weird I would say, Google has never contacted me before in order to request such a thing.



The phishing email

Let’s have a closer look at the email message: it is titled "Please Update Your Billing Information" and seems to be sent by adwords-noreply[at]google[dot]com. The text message reads: "Dear Google AdWords Customer! In order to update your billing information, please sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com, and update your billing information." The end of the email, "Sincerely, The Google AdWords Team ," could make you swear that the message came from Google.



The real / The fake page

OK, and now the juicy info. As you can see in the adjacent pictures, the links are supposed to get you to the Google AdWords page. There’s even the https URI scheme meant to represent a secure HTTP connection. However, moving the mouse over the link (without clicking it!), shows the real link in the status bar of your browser/email client: http://adwords.google.com.*****.cn/select/Login/. That’s right, it’s a fake domain hosted in China. Classic, I would say but let’s see some other details.

Clicking on it gets you to a fake Google AdWords website that looks similar to the genuine one. In case you’re one of those naïve folks out there and you simply avoid looking in the address bar, you may be tempted to enter your AdWords information. As you can see by yourself, the address bar reveals the real URL of the website, other than the genuine Google one.

The real / The fake page

Getting back to the https syntax, the website doesn’t really reveal any security measure. Moreover, the real link of the fake website actually contains the http syntax so it’s obvious that leaving the page without entering your information would be a smart choice. But let’s see how this page is different of the genuine Google website. Clicking anywhere on the Google AdWords website brings you the https URI scheme, informing you that you’re 100 percent safe while browsing it. Have a look at the adjacent pictures.

The email claims it was sent by a Google official. However, analyzing the email’s headers proves that the phisher wasn’t too focused on hiding his identity. Beside other information, we got his IP which reveals the fact that the phisher has sent the fake emails from Amsterdam. However, we can’t know for sure if the sender was an infected computer, part of a botnet, or the actual scammer.

I guess it’s obvious that this is just a phishing scheme and a pretty smart one considering the fact that it attempts to trick you by using several genuine-like elements such as the links included in the email address or the message text which may lure you in disclosing your credentials. However, it uses the same classic and old-fashioned phishing techniques like the fake URL and fake website similar to a genuine one.

Firefox already provides protection against the website

So, next time you receive a suspicious website asking for your credentials, do not disclose them unless you check twice that revealing the information keeps you on the safe side; don’t forget to check the links in the status bar BEFORE you click on them; install any security software that may help you in identifying phishing websites; look for the https syntax in the address bar of your browser; contact the service provider just after you notice you’ve been tricked.

While I was writing this article, the Firefox guys have already added protection for the phishing website so every time a Mozilla user visits the page, he’ll get informed that it’s not a genuine one. We’re still waiting to see similar action from Internet Explorer. Hopefully, the page gets shut down as soon as possible.

Google Revamps Homepage - In Japan

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Japan found out yesterday that their defaulted Google homepage looked like nothing they had ever seen before. The clean white background was tainted by
some tabs that weren’t there the previous night, but overall the feedback the team responsible for the change received was ranging from "good" to "hell yeah!," or at least that’s what it must have been, I can’t really read Japanese.

The post on the Official Google Japan blog, although translated here, is pretty much unreadable. Nevertheless, as you can see in the screenshot on the left, the additions blend in nicely with everything else, and all the services that have been included in the tabs are a whole lot easier to access than in the traditional manner.

The four new tabs are named (approximately) "Featured," including Gmail, YouTube, News, Maps and Transit, "Various search," that hosts links to Image Search, Blog Search, Books and Google Desktop, "Useful tool," with Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Reader and Google Toolbar and, finally, "More enjoyable," and YouTube once again, Picasa, Blogger and Google Earth.

By the looks of it, this revamp will prove to be rather successful, and I dare say that it would be welcomed in other Western markets, because it grants instant access to the Google slew of services. Right now, until the Mountain View based company manages to link all the accounts in the mega-project dubbed Google Accounts, it’s a tad more difficult to pull such operability through.

"Our fundamental strategy is to take ideas from Japan and apply them to other markets," Emmanuel Sauquet of Google told Business Week, in regards to his company’s mobile strategy. Will this also affect the other policies and strategies as well, like changing the default homepage for everybody? Gosh, I hope so, the Japan page looks almost too good to be true!

Microsoft Touts the Superiority of Dynamics AX 4.0 over Oracle 11.0.3 - In terms of cost savings

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Microsoft has applauded the superiority of its own Dynamics AX 4.0 over Oracle 11.0.3 in terms of the cost reduction it will provide to customers. It were in fact major cost savings that have prompted supply chain integrator PACCESS to opt for Dynamics AX 4.0, Microsoft's enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is less expensive to maintain and more capable of satisfying the PACCESS' needs, the Redmond company
argued, in comparison with Oracle 11.0.3.

"We tried to add five users, but we would have had to pay Oracle $365,000 because of a license-model change," said Nina Palludan, vice president of IT for PACCESS. "The five-year total cost of ownership for Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 was more than $1 million less than Oracle’s, even though we already owned the Oracle software. Actually rebuying the Oracle e-business suite would have cost less than upgrading our current licenses."

The expensive upgrades to its Oracle system turned PACCESS toward Microsoft. The Redmond company pointed out that Dynamics AX 4.0 was not only highly scalable and adaptable, but also less costly. And in this context one of the aspects which contributed to cutting down costs was the fact that Dynamics AX 4.0 uses the same graphical user interface as the Office System, which helped cut down training costs for employees.

"Global companies are finding ways to simultaneously save money and advance their processes with the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX," said Michael Park, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s U.S. Dynamics business. "Companies that seek new business management systems are looking for solutions that are simpler to use, less costly to own and easier to scale than their existing solutions. Around the world, companies are finding these benefits in Microsoft Dynamics AX, an ERP solution designed for growing businesses."

Antigua Welcomes IP Piracy - Only a matter of time

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A rather strange decision of the World Trade Commission was awarded last December to Antigua, should its negotiations with the United States fail. The problem in question is that of the US rules, more or less blocking foreign gambling sites. Even Europe is going at the regulations,
as many sites based there (bwin among others) have encountered the same ban and are threatening to ask for a WTC ruling of their own.

Antigua, based on the Commission’s decision, has made it clear that it will no doubt give free reign to intellectual property piracy should Americans not be allowed to access its very lucrative online gambling businesses. Come to think of it, The Pirate Bay could very well profit from this situations and simply relocate there, if need be.

Right now, the ball is in the United States’ court, as a battle will be waged between the Motion Pictures Association of America will not likely stand and watch as their work gets pirated without being able to do something and those who came up with the banning rules. And if the MPAA isn’t enough, Microsoft will most likely back up their claims, as the software company would also have a lot to lose if things go south, and not only for the winter.

Talk about an Island Paradise, that’s exactly what Antigua is going to turn into if the US rules won’t bend. Like I mentioned earlier, Europe is pretty interested in the results of this ‘tough negotiation’ as well, so all the pressure should start wearing down the rules into something closer to pointers and guidelines.

Peer to peer BitComet sharing users should wait for the decision biting their nails, because chances are that it will be a new booming start to what is already a very wide network. Keep your fingers crossed, both gamblers and file sharers!

SanDisk Goes for Apple's Neck...Sort Of - Announces a new digital music distribution scheme

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Apple's iTunes service represents probably the best-known method of music distribution, next to the CD and DVD, of course. However, it would seem that the people over at SanDisk are seriously considering a whole new approach to this concept, as they've announced that the company will promote DRM-free music from more than 50 new and emerging artists on a microSD card. This U.S.-based program is the first of its kind to use microSD cards, and helps launch the new 8GB Sansa Fuze MP3 player.

According to the company's statement, the "Sansa Sessions" microSD card is comprised of a collection of rock, pop, and hip hop songs, music videos, and photos from more than 30 labels, featuring artists like All Time Low, Ladytron, Magnet, Nada Surf, Of Montreal and The Coup.

"The Sansa Sessions microSD card is an innovative medium for music distribution, and great exposure for our artists," said Matt Lunsford, co-president, Polyvinyl Record Co., which represents Of Montreal and other artists featured on the card. "This promotion benefits all involved, aligning the interests of the musician, label and consumer. We look forward to doing more together."

"We’re excited to be working with labels and artists to create a new ecosystem for music," said Daniel Schreiber, general manager and senior vice president for SanDisk’s Sansa audio/video product line. "The Sansa Sessions music card gives customers a simple way to enjoy, manage, and discover new music. This is just the beginning of our efforts to bring consumers a simplified and highly enjoyable music experience."

As mentioned earlier, this new offering is directly related to the launch of SanDisk's Fuze media player, as US customers will have the opportunity to redeem a promotional offer inside their box to receive the exclusive Sansa Sessions music sampler on a pre-loaded microSD card.

Of course, it's rather difficult to expect that this particular approach to music distribution will actually affect in any way iTunes' business model. However, it might represent a challenge for CDs and DVDs, especially since the manufacturing prices for microSD cards have seriously dropped over the past few years.

Google SafeSearch Showing XXX Picture - Or it did, at least

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The all-knowing and all-algorithm writing Google has failed utterly in what it has been bragging to do so well: keeping children from having access to pornographic material. Their SafeSearch option missed a very explicit photo of a woman’s vagina, and, as beautiful as it might be or not, there was no reason for it to show on top of the web search results, where the Google Universal Search returns are shown.

The image was there no matter what filter was checked in the Preferences page, even the one that was supposed to block both explicit text and explicit pictures wouldn’t change anything. The query I’m talking about is "hot celebrities," but unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture a screenshot of the results, I was too busy changing the filters back and forth. In the meanwhile, Google either dropped the image from its index or just modified its algorithm for the better, but you can still see their goof-up on The Blog Bryn blog, here.

This comes just after Google responded to the founder of the world’s biggest pornographic movie producer that by its filters and every other action it does, the children are being kept away from the explicit material. I guess they were wrong, and if memory serves me right, I can remember two other cases when the Mountain View based company was involved in similar scandals. The images back then were on Google News, and related to a story entitled "Employee of the Month": Big-box banality. In that situation, the image was removed and even now there’s no picture attached to the article on the Seattle Times’ online edition.

Feel free to try the query that caused the trouble, you will now find that instead of the vagina photo, there’s one of Michelle Anderson, that’s much more… viewable, to say the least.

Yahoo! Video Considers XXX Clips to be “Health and Beauty” Material - YouTube flashback?

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Never ever, in the history of Internet videos, has a user-generated video hosting site been avoided by those who wanted to share their triple X rated clips with the world. The rules are already classic and have been around ever since man climbed down from trees and discovered
the power of marketing: the first to come is the first to be served. Abiding by them, the latest video site to surface is the latest one to have been ‘given’ the not safe for work (NSFW in short) clips. Drumrolls, please… it’s Yahoo! Videos to have the dubious honor!

The filter problems that YouTube experienced when it first opened its doors – its servers, actually – have come back to bite Yahoo! in the rear, just because it is young and inexperienced. Two clips are now hosted on the Sunnyvale based company’s video sharing service, and have received all the attention: one is of Jenna Jameson, a woman, a star that needs no further introduction, and the second is equally provocative and enticing, but the protagonists are not as well known.

The clips seem to have been around for quite a while, judging by their number of views (above 6,000 as I write this), and are viewable by accessing the "Health and Beauty" tab in the Category view of the video sharing site. The screenshot shows that they’re not difficult to get to, kudos to them for making top page. Others can be found via the related videos section, but I decided to single out just the two based on the above argument.

As one user commented on Valleywag, there’s a new XXX video site to browse when at work, and it’s got the Yahoo! logo up and visible, so there’s a perfectly good excuse for those caught watching. Just hit the button and scroll up to where the Y! is placed and there’s no need to worry.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM Available for Download - Both 32-bit and 64-bit are up for grabs

The wait is over. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RTM is now available for download. Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit editions of the service pack are up for grabs. Microsoft confirmed the information leaked by Amazon.com at the end of the past week that Vista SP1 was going to be made available on March 18, 2008. And the Redmond company met the initially announced delivery schedule which pointed to mid-March ever since February 4, 2008 when the service pack was released to manufacturing. At this point in time x86 and x64 Windows Vista SP1 are both
up for grabs either as standalone packages or through Windows Update.

"Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues; supporting new types of hardware; and adding support for several emerging standards," reads a fragment of the Vista SP1 description.

Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe and the Windows6.0-KB936330-X64-wave0.exe downloads weigh in at 434.5 MB and respectivelly 726.5 MB, being tailored to integrate with both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista operating systems. As Microsoft revealed following RTM, only a select few languages are supported in the March release. The standalone version of Vista SP1 can be integrated exclusively with copies of Vista RTM with these language versions: English (US), French, German, Japanese, or Spanish (Traditional).

"Today, you can now download Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update. For those of you eager to receive the benefits of Windows Vista SP1 - you can now do so! We've seen quite a bit of questions in our comments so we want to communicate as much as possible surrounding Windows Vista SP1 and today's release to Windows Update as we can," stated Nick White, Windows Vista Product Manager. "Those of you who find that SP1 isn't offered over Windows Update even after updating all your drivers, but would still like to download it can access our "standalone installer" from the Microsoft Download Center."

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Standalone for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system is available for download from softpedia Click HERE.

The Oracle of Delphi: Apollo Talks - The spiritual center of ancient Greece

Placed in the center of Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth, the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi represented, for centuries, the most sought and famous oracle of the ancient world. The spiritual influence and the magic connotations the oracle caused in the mind of the people made the city located at the base of the Parnassos Mountain to be considered an "omphalos" (center of the world) of the antiquity.

The Greek mythology says that Zeus released two eagles to fly into the heights from the both ends of the Universe. The meeting place of the eagles, over the rocks called Phadriade (the
Shinning Ones), Rose and Hot, on the Parnassus Mountain, was considered the central point of the world.

Even if the oracle is often associated to Apollo’s name, the sanctuary of Delphi was recorded to be raised over the ruins of a temple of the goddess Geea, Mother of the Earth, place that had been defended by a snake called Python. Apollo, Zeus’ son, killed the snake with his arrows, ensuring his dominance over the region. The transfer of power from Geea to Apollo symbolizes the triumph of the patriarchal conception, brought by the Dorian tribes (pre-Greeks), who replaced the matriarchal organization, specific to the early Mediterranean pre-Indo-European society.

Apollo’s sanctuary imposed gradually in the religious life of the antiquity, and therefore, during the 8th century BC, it turned into the most influent and prestigious spiritual center of the ancient Greece.

Between 595-586 BC, during the so-called "Sacred War", the region of Delphi was part of a federation of 12 tribes from northeastern Greece, administered by the Amphictyonic League. In 595 BC, the league intervened, helped by Athens and Sicyon, to defend Delphi against the ambitious plans of the rival city of Chrisso that wanted to have the absolute control of the area.

To commemorate the victory, the league instituted the first Pythic Games, similar to the Olympic Games, organized every four years, and comprising athletic and musical probes. The name of the games came from the name of the priestess of the oracle, Pythia. Over a millennium, until the 4th century AD, people from whole Greece and other areas came to Delphi to ask the oracle about businesses, marriages, land cultivating or journeys. Amongst the most famous visits to the oracle are those of Jason, the leader of the Argonaut trip into the Black Sea, in the search for the Golden Wool, or that of Cressus, the king of Lydia, before the war with the Persians.

Pythia, the priestess, must have been a village woman, aged over 50, who had an immaculate life. The priestess and the petitioners had to purify into the waters of the Castalla Spring at the base of the Parnassus Mountain, and then, to see if the god was in the mood for talking through the mouth of Pythia, a white goat was splashed with cold water. If the animal trembled with all its body, it was a good sign and the question was addressed to the oracle.

After that, the priestess continued with the petitioners into the inner sanctuary, passing in front of Dionysus’ tomb, to drink from the holly water of Cassotis Spring. With the head backwards, mounted on a bronze tripod and chewing laurel leaves, Pythia would enter in trance and transmit Apollo’s answer through unarticulated sounds, decoded by the priests.

At the beginning of the first century BC, the oracle entered into a decline. The last documentary mentioned answer was in 362 AD, when Roman emperor Julian the Apostate sent messengers to consult Pythia, who pronounced her last oracle: "Go and tell the king that the good times are gone, that Apollo does not have a shelter, nor laurel to pronounce his oracles and the water of the talky spring has gone dry." The oracle was closed in 381 AD, when emperor Theodosius forbade the pagan cults. In time, the sanctuary turned into a field of ruins.

In 1892, the Greek government allowed a French team to excavate the site of the oracle. The village of Castri, built during medieval times over the temple of Delphi, was moved stone by stone, against the will of its inhabitants. 19 centuries of debris were removed. Today, the ruins of the temple are also accompanied by a well preserved amphitheater and a stadium in the upper part, where Pythic Games took place.

BenQ Releases Ethereal, Classy 24-Inch LCD Display - it's so thin that you can almost see through it

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BenQ has just introduced its new V2400W premium LCD display, touted as the world's slimmest 24-inch monitor. Unlike TV displays, computer LCD monitors have hardly been part of the quest for
ultra-thinness. However, the BenQ V2400W can easily be labeled as "anorexic", given the fact that it's 24 percent thinner than any other existing monitors on the market.

The 24-incher from BenQ is here to set a trend on the computer monitor market by merging exquisite style with state-of-the-art technology, that qualified it for the iF Design Award, an internationally-recognized distinction. The monitor's design has been inspired by the B-2 stealth bomber, and its manufacturers used a new plastic injection technique that not only curves the back of the display, but also allowed BenQ designers to make it one of the thinnest monitors on the market.

According to the monitors' technical specifications, the display measures 6 centimeters at its thickest point, and only 2.28 centimeters at its thinnest. The monitor is a fine blend between asymmetry and aerodynamics and is a preview of the company's new Kinergy Design, that shifts its focus from utility to art.

Anyway, the computer's specifications don't quite live up to its ethereal design. The LCD display offers a dynamic contrast ratio of 4,000:1, new RHCM injection process, full 1080p HD support, 2-ms gray-to-gray response time, touch control panel and a wide variety of connectors, such as HDMI, DVI and VGA ports. However, the monitor lacks HDCP support for the DVI connector, and does not shine when it comes to brightness, panel resolution and backlighting.

The ethereal LCD monitor from BenQ will be available at the end of this month on the Asian market, but it will be also introduced on the North America and Europe markets in April. There is no word on pricing yet.

AMD Informs Its Partners About Delayed RV770 Chips - The first graphics cards are expected to hit the shelves in May

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AMD has just issued a memo for its technology partners, detailing upon the current progress with the upcoming graphics chips in the RV770 family. According to the memo, the chip manufacturer
will release the RV770-powered graphics cards in late Q2, which means they will be ready before the Computex show starts.

The RV770 chips will replace the RV670 offerings on the high-end market. The exact technical specifications are still unknown, but it is rumored that the RV770 graphics chip will come with up to 640 stream processors and 32 texture map units / ROPs.

The chip will function at frequencies that won't exceed 1 GHz, but they will be substantially higher than the previous RV670 graphics cores. The chip's yield rate is as much as 71%, and, according to the leaked specification, the upcoming cards will come with GRRD5 memory.

The new type of memory will be able to deliver insane frequencies that can reach 2.5GHz / 5GHz effectively, which is more than two times faster than the maximum frequencies for the GDDR4 memory. GDDR5 promises some crazy frequencies all the way up to 2.5GHz / 5GHz effectively, which is more than two times faster, as compared with what you can achieve today with GDDR4.

The final GPU revision on the ready to retail cards will be A11. Moreover, it is alleged that the card-to-card performance would result in some 40 percent gains for the RV770-based cards.

AMD is currently focusing on the multi-core graphics technology, and the recent availability of the CrossFireX technology is part of a greater plan than offering the best bang ratio when it comes to video gaming.

The IT industry expects that the upcoming versions of the Catalyst driver pack to bring significant improvements in respects of multi-GPU scaling. Given the fact that the R700 family is based on the R600 architecture with its multi-GPU orientation, it is assumable that the chip manufacturer will also focus on the upcoming chips' multicore part.

When the chips are finally available, they will be commercially known as the Radeon HD 4000.

Low-cost Notebooks with Intel's Atom Processors - $250-$300 for a so called “netbook”

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Intel's Atom processor project, formerly called Diamondville, strikes the low-cost notebooks market. The low power chip called Atom processor is especially designed for that class of inexpensive notebooks that are called 'netbooks' by Intel and others. The machines are made for the consumers from the emerging markets, first time buyers, and also for that part of the market that wants to complement
the existing performance with low-cost computers.

As the market is dominated by Asustek Eee PC, Intel has to strike hard to make a good entrance. That's why there are more than 25 Atom-based notebooks in the works. Also some models for multinationals PC vendors are included in the offer. The average price for a unit is situated between $250 and $300, but Navin Shenoy, general manager of Intel's Asia-Pacific operations, said that there will be some "slightly richer configurations that get up to $350".

The Atom processor won't be able to do too much, but it will be enough for Internet browsing or sending e-mails, Shenoy said. The chips will be similar to Intel's Pentium M series launched in 2003. That means their speed will reach 1,8GHz, which is not that slow after all. It is not an Intel Core 2 Duo, but it will do the trick.

The notebooks are expected for launch by the middle of this year. Vendors rushed to build the chip into low-cost notebooks, having as example the success that Asusteck's Eee PC had on the market. Yet, there are some skeptics that do not believe in such a great demand for low-costs notebooks as replacements for some more expensive PCs or as secondary computing devices for high-performance computers.

Bryan Ma, the director of personal systems research at IDC Asia-Pacific expressed his belief that the impact of the low-cost notebooks on the market will be a small one, as the consumers are interested rather in performance and features. According to his opinion, the price is not the best way of selling these computers. He has a reputation of a skeptic, and we are more attracted to believe that Intel made its homework well enough.

Shenoy also presented some features for these models. Their screens will be sized between 7 and 10 inches, and some models will have screens that will allows users to make them swivel and lay flat against the keyboard, transforming the netbook into a tablet PC. The storage will be either a hard disk or a solid state drive using flash memory. Battery life is expected to range from three to five hours. All the models will probably have Wi-Fi, no matter the appearance.

The low-cost notebooks will be shipped with either Windows XP or Linux, as Vista would be too expensive. On the other hand, we should notice that Microsoft announced that licenses for Windows XP won't be available after June 30, while these notebooks are planned to be launched around the same time. The deadline for XP licenses remains unchanged, but "There are probably going to be certain exceptions here and there," as Ma said.

The GeForce 9800 GX2: Almost Here, Same Old Architecture - The G92 chips are built on the 65-nanometer process

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Nvidia's highest-end graphics card offering is about to hit the market in just a few days. Although it has been anticipated to come with a totally new architecture, the successor of the popular GeForce 8800 series will
feature the same core logic as the GeForce 8800GT.

The GeForce 9800GX2 and the GeForce 9800GTX will be based on the same 65-nanometer G92 graphics core found on the GeForce 8800GT, but at least, all the 128 shaders will be enabled by default. In comparison, the last year's G92 graphics core would come with only 112 enabled shaders. The ultra high-end enthusiast graphics card is made of two G92 cores on a single board. Nvidia's manufacturing partners have been instructed to tune the graphics core frequency at 600 MHz, while the memory will be fixed at 2000 MHz.

The stock GeForce 9800GX2 graphics card will come with a dual-slot cooling fan that will ventilate both processors. It is placed centrally, between the two graphics processors. Also, Nvidia's reference design card comes with two DVI outputs to replace the VGA ports and just one HDMI interface. At the moment, the details about Nvidia's top offering are scarce, given the fact that the Non-Disclosure Agreement ends on March 18, as announced during this year's CeBIT expo and show.

Nvidia will also introduce the nForce 790i chipset, a refurbished version of the previous nForce 780i. The new chipset will come with full support for Intel's 45-nanometer quad-core processors and high-frequency DDR3 memory.

On March 25, the graphics expert will introduce the GeForce 9800GTX model. Nvidia has chosen to first release the highest-end technology, and then to introduce the 9800GTX model. AMD did the other way around last month, when it first released the low-end and mid-range offerings, in order to conclude with the highest-end Radeon HD 3870X2.

The 9800GTX will come with a core frequency set to 675 MHz, while the memory clock will reach 200 MHz. The reference design will also come with dual-DVI ports, but there will be no HDMI connector.

Epiphan's FrameGrabber Can Take Screenshots of Your Dumb TV - You never know when a screenshot comes in handy

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It does not take rocket science to grab an average screenshot of your desktop workspace. Screenshots come in handy when you have to snatch a photo on a copy-reluctant website or to surprise a funny/not
so funny/idiotic status message in your messenger contact list. Of course, you can put screenshots to much serious use, but sometimes taking them is merely impossible.

Using Alt+PrintScreen or your favorite snapshot application is not always possible. What if you use a non-PC computing system, or worse: a simple terminal or proprietary hardware systems? Of course, you always can take your digital camera and teach the screen a lesson, but if you're a CRT user, you will have the surprise to encounter some raster lines along your picture.

Before you give up, you'd rather check Epiphan's VGA2USB External Frame Grabber hardware appliance. It is supposed to work with any signal source that streams via a VGA or DVI interface. The FrameGrabber comes in six different versions, depending on the hardware specifications. For instance, the top offering, the VGA 2 USB FrameGrabber can snapshot frames at resolutions of up to 2048x2048. More than that, it will capture video at 2048x2048, in 24-bit, at 30 FPS, with lossless compression, to keep the image quality unaffected.

The VGA2USB PRO FrameGrabber comes with 32 MB of onboard storage, and is packed with FPGA and Philips VGA technologies, that allow the device to acquire frames at high resolutions. There is a major drawback, though, as the device don't pass the VGA and DVI signals back to the initial display, so you need to use a secondary DVI/VGA output if you want to watch the transmission while you are recording it.

The devices are available immediately, but they come with quite a price tag. While the lowest-end model costs $300, the highest-end offering will let you short of $2000.

IBM Invests $1 Billion in Unified Communications - The company wants to outpace Microsoft, its most important rival on the market

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IBM has announced that the company is committed to investing $1 billion in its unified communications strategy for a three-year period. The move will allow the Big Blue to continue the battle with
Microsoft on a market that is developing rapidly.

According to Steve Mills, senior vice president of IBM's software group, the company will continue to invest in software such as the Lotus Sametime suite, in order to provide unified communications to the company's largest business customers. However, developing the Sametime suite would allow IBM to improve its Lotus Notes collaboration software, given the fact that the latter is using the Sametime unified communications client.

The unified communications market is comprised of a combination of services such as instant messaging, Web presence, voice over Internet Protocol, videoconferencing, and other services that allow users to keep in touch and collaborate in real time, using a single interface for all the tasks. Microsoft has pressured IBM with the advent of its latest offering, the Office Communications Server suite.

However, IBM's product is totally different from Microsoft's offering: if the Office Communications Server suite can only work in a Windows-based environment, the Sametime product is able to support heterogeneous IT environments. IBM demonstrated yesterday some new functionalities that will be bundled with the Sametime suite until the end of 2008. the Unified telephony service would allow users to call another co-worker using the Sametime interface by routing calls to various devices. More than that, the user can set rules on how to handle calls based on status: working remotely would direct calls to a mobile phone, for instance.

According to Mills, despite the fact that Microsoft always boasts the fact that the Outlook/Exchange suite wins over IBM's Lotus Notes, the things are not quite exactly accurate. Mills claims that Lotus is gaining share in the "market where we compete with Microsoft," namely the business and corporate sectors.

"Microsoft makes a bunch of statements that are somewhat misleading in terms of what is happening," he said. The company expects 10 percent more revenue in the unified communications business year-over-year.

Running Windows on Your Mac? Symantec Wants You Covered - Symantec claims Mac owners running Windows are vulnerable to Windows malware

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Mac and security just don't make good news together, since the Mac is quite safe for the time being (a programming glitch here and there, but that's it). Still, Symantec believes that Mac users running Windows through Apple Boot Camp software, VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop (virtualization software) are likely to be affected by Windows malware and other threats, according to the Yahoo News.

That's why the security company introduced Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection
for Mac on Monday. Mac owners running Windows via the utilities mentioned above will need to fork for $69.95 if they feel "insecure," while the respective software is available either as a download or on CD. Agreeing to pay $69.95 means you're good for one year of use with the constantly updating Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection for Mac.

I get the feeling we'll be hearing a lot of negative responses over this. It is bad enough to own a Mac and run Windows on it, ever more to claim that the machine itself is vulnerable to Windows viruses:

"While many debate the efficacy of anti-virus software for Mac, given the dearth of viruses and malware for the platform, Macs running Windows using Apple Boot Camp software or virtualization software like VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop are indeed vulnerable to Windows-based viruses, malware and other threats," says the report.

It's quite true, nonetheless...

According to the Yahoo News report, the package contains Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows and Norton AntiVirus 11 for Mac. The almost identical twins are intended to work with Intel-based Macs who have both Apple's Mac OS X and Microsoft's Windows running on their computers. And yes, it is perfectly compatible with Leopard.

As Symantec confirms, Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection makes its own updates in the background periodically, with scanning and cleaning downloaded files, and e-mail attachments also being performed automatically.

Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection also includes performance and engine improvements which should provide better compatibility, better resource usage and faster system startup, according to Symantec.

Mac system requirements: Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later.
Windows system requirements: Windows XP SP2 or Vista.

Another Country Blocking YouTube - No worldwide downtime now

Censorship is all but the latest rage, nevertheless people and even governments use it abusively and obsessively. It might be ok to censor a kid’s drawing on a wall if it has an obscene touch, you’re doing that to protect the others, but censoring the Internet (see Iran’s upcoming elections) or the second most trafficked site in the world, Youtube, as in Armenia right now, is a totally different thing.

After the Armenian president declared a state of emergency
in the capital on the second of March, no media was allowed to broadcast any information except for official announcements. An inside source that wanted to remain anonymous tipped Philipp Lenssen of Blogoscoped and said that: "We are having a real censorship here for the opposition, and although I would never think that the government would get its hands on YouTube, its unreachable through any Armenian ISP! The domain does resolve, however the destination host is unreachable."

The state of emergency was declared in Yerevan after clashes between the police and protesters saw eight people get killed. The reason for all the commotion is that those supporting the opposition say that the current government rigged the presidential election that took place on the 19th of February. Known in the region to be one of the most stable countries in a highly unstable geo-position, Armenia is a major energy route from Asia into Europe. "Armenia has had a reputation as the most stable country in the region and any sign of instability here is a concern," a Western diplomat told Reuters.

YouTube has recently been blocked in Pakistan, allegedly for some blasphemous videos being hosted by Google’s video sharing service. Inside sources, however, thought the ban was also related to the recent elections and to some clips proving election fraud.

IE8 Beta 1 and Windows XP SP3 - Microsoft: IE8 Beta 1 will run on XP SP3 when it’s available

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Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is the first taste of the next iteration of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Delivered to the general public following the MIX08 presentation of Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager Internet Explorer, IE8 Beta 1 is available for download for a variety of flavors of Windows. According to the official Microsoft download page for IE8 Beta 1, the
browser is designed to integrate with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista RTM, Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2. As you can see, there is a notable exception from this list: Windows XP SP3.

There is no IE8 Beta 1 download available for XP SP3. With the third and final service pack for Windows XP in Release Candidate 2 stage at this point in time, it is clear that Microsoft is ignoring XP SP3, while the service pack is not finished. According to the Redmond company, XP SP3 is planned to be released to manufacturing by mid-2008, at which time time there will be a version of Internet Explorer 8, probably even Beta 1 that will integrate with the operating stage.

IE8 Beta 1 Running on XP SP3 pre-RTM
When I approached a Microsoft spokesperson about the issue of the missing IE8 Beta 1 for Windows XP SP3 download, this is the answer I got: "Yes, it will run on Windows XP SP3 when it’s available." I asked why wasn't an IE8 version delivered for XP SP3 from the get-go, whether the first beta of Internet Explorer 8 would even install on XP SP3 pre-RTM, and when would the Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows XP SP2 release be joined by an Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows XP SP3 download. The above answer was the sole provided. But, despite the fact that IE8 Beta 1 fails to install on pre-release versions of Vista SP1 or on debugged versions of Vista, Vista SP1, or Windows Server 2008, it will install without any issues on pre-RTM XP SP3.

Download Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 Build 2 - New, fresh release!

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Windows XP Pro SP3 Build 2 is immediately available for download. This Windows edition includes a luxuriant variety of bonuses starting with a Windows Vista theme, Microsoft
Office 2003 Full...SlipStreamed 75 MB, Adobe Reader 7, MSN Messenger, Firefox and Winrar. The downloadable file is a 695 MB designed to be burned on a single CD.

Obviously, this is not an official Microsoft release. First off, according to the Windows Service Pack Road Map, delivered by Microsoft, on a Microsoft website: "SP3 for Windows XP Home Edition is currently planned for 1H CY2008. This date is preliminary." 1H CY2008 means the first half of 2008.

Windows XP Pro SP3 Build 2 is instead a pirate version of, probably XP SP2. And it is authored by Amit Talkin. You can even contact him at amit_talkin@yahoo.com. "Completely silent, unattended and activation free, no serial needed. I recommended you to make new & clean installation...dont upgrade from previous release.. It dosent require to put CD- key ...just start setup..and go away from pc...it will not ask u abt anything!!" Talkin describes his product.

Windows XP Pro SP3 Build 2 also delivers the following:

- hotfixes added till january 2006!!
- Boot Screen FIxed
- Logon Screen Fixed
- More Tweaks added For faster Performance
- More Themes added...and VIsta XP theme as default
- Some softwares included as below...
- Office 2003 SP2 With Frontpage!
- Firefox 1.5
- quick time alternative 1.67
- Adobe Reader 7.05
- Also included Microsoft Office 2003 Professional SP 2
- MIcrosoft Virtual CD
- TweakUI
- Some Tweak Tools ( see in the control panel )
- Winrar 3.51 + Themes ( evalution version...download crack from anywhere...Many Themes Included!! )
- OSX Cursors Pack
- Unlocker 1.7.6
- Tweaks For Internet Explorer ( maximum simultaneos download limit is 10 now )
- WMP 10 + Updated
- New Icons
- New Drivers ( Mass Storage & Wireless Lan )
- Drivers Problem Fixed
- Enhanced Visual Effects
- No CD-Key!!
- Codec Packs..
- Registry Watcher ( will be useful to find applictions registry entry & its effects )
Some System Utilities ( see SYSTEM TOOLS IN START MENU )

Logon Screen Is same as past version!!

From Previous Release
- uxtheme.dll patched
- hacked WGA ( genuine advantage validation hacked )
- maximum simultaneous connection limit removed
- windows file protection desabled
- Default Vista Theme & Enhanced Bootskin and logon skin!!
- Registry Tweaks Added For Better Performance
- All Device Drivers 400 MB!!!
Integrated Applications

I wrote this article for the sake of a few good laughs. If you were expecting a link I have to disappoint you. By the looks of the description, this thing is cracked to such an extent that the proportion of malicious code inserted is outweighing the Windows source code.

Asustek's Eee PC Gets Official With Microsoft's Windows XP - However, their friendship will last only about three months

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Eee computers have been running Windows XP for quite some time now, thanks to the ultra-mobile PC enthusiasts that would shape the little device to suit their needs. Asustek decided that it was high time
for the secret relationship between the machine and Microsoft's OS to go official and introduced its Windows XP version.

The new choice of operating system will let users buy a pre-loaded Windows XP machine instead of the eye-candy, but mysterious Linux-based Xandros OS. Part of the "Easy to learn, work, and play" philosophy, the manufacturer will ship a number of Windows Live products, such as Mail, Messenger, Photo Gallery, and the "Family Safety" parental controls suite along with the operating system.

Another release will be the entry-level Microsoft Works suite, but it will be available in some regions only, as the software cannot run on some versions that have localization restrictions.

The new operating system has raised some concerns with the Eee PC owners because of the rumors regarding the wear-leveling algorithms that are alleged to increase the lifespan of the included solid-state drive. While the vast majority of Linux-based operating systems (and some embedded version of Windows) would treat the computer's solid-state drive gently thanks to the built-in wear-leveling algorithms, the default version of Windows XP won't pay any attention to this aspect.

However, I must say again that there is no danger in using Windows XP on Eee's solid-state drive. Eee's flash drive is estimated to have a lifespan of between 1 to 5 million write cycles before wearing-out failure would normally occur. However, given the fact that it's SSD device can write at speeds of 3MB/s at most (as opposed to regular SSDs' writing speeds of about 80 MB/s), wearing out would occur after more than 84 years of constant writing on the same SSD.

The Eee PC is not officially priced as of the moment of writing, but it is alleged that the Windows XP version will come at a $30 to $60 premium over the Linux model. There's one question that remains unanswered: what will happen to the Windows XP version of the Eee in July, when Windows XP will be phased out by Microsoft?

The Fastest Loading Website - The major influences over page rendering speed

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The performance of applications is a general concern in software development. In the particular area of web applications, the web pages loading speed is an important factor that directly influences the website success. From the theoretical point of view, there are many aspects determining the minimal time needed by web browsers to render a certain web page.

Many free tools to measure and optimize the web pages loading
speed are available over the Internet. YSlow is an add on for Firefox web browser and works integrated in Firebug. It is provided by Yahoo! Inc. and it gives you a performance report by verifying if a certain web page code and components are in compliance with some essential performance criteria. By following the suggested performance rules, you can re-evaluate your website structure and repair the issues that decrease the web pages loading speed in web browsers.

YSlow verifies the next characteristics that determines a certain web page rendering speed: the number of HTTP requests, the presence or absence of a content delivery network, expire header, GZip components, the position of stylesheets and scripts relative to the top or bottom of the web page, CSS expressions, internal or external scripts and more. On the Yahoo! website, these factors influencing the optimal rendering speed of a web page are explained in details and, as a consequence, you will be able to identify the code structures or other page components that increase the time needed by a web browser to render a certain web page.

YSlow add-on will help you optimize your website in order to have faster loading web pages, but is also recommended to have in mind all the basic rules of web pages optimization (not only 14) and to use other speed optimization and testing tools as a comparison method in order to obtain the highest performance.

AMD Goes for Centrino's Neck, Unveils the Puma Platform - Rest assured, the Puma is fully functional

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Advanced Micro Devices paper-launched its Puma platform during yesterday's conference at the CeBit show in Hanover, Germany. The company's third-generation mobile platform is built around the RS780M chipset and the Griffin low-voltage processor.

The first rumors about the company's new mobile platform emerged last April, and included information about the Griffin CPU, along with the RS780M chipset. This is the chip
manufacturer's first attempt at creating a truly mobile platform, with nailed specifications. Until now, AMD's mobile platforms were flexible and would include a multiple options for its hardware requirements.

A mobile platform gets the "Puma" branding if it complies to some strict requirements, such as Griffin CPU, RS780M chipset and Wi-Fi adapter. The last component – a discrete graphics card – is currently optional and won't affect the final branding. There is a slight difference between Intel's Centrino requirements and those of Puma: Intel would require a Core 2 processor, GM965/PM965 chipset and an Intel wireless adapter, while AMD does not specify the nature of the wireless chip.

The Griffin CPU is commercially known as the Turion Ultra, and is available in dual-core version only. A quad-core counterpart is also possible to appear later on, but it is not included in AMD's current roadmap, as far as it has been disclosed. The chip packs 1MB of L2 cache per core and comes with support for DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 SO-DIMM memory. The CPU is using AMD's refurbished HyperTransport 3.0 interconnect.

Since it is a mobile processor, power efficiency is a critical aspect of the platform, and the Griffin processor can work on three different power planes that are assigned to the northbridge and to each of the cores, respectively. Moreover, each of the CPU's cores can run at its independent frequency, that can dynamically shift frequency levels while executing a thread.

The RS780M chipset comes with built-in support for Direct X 10 graphics, that is four to five times faster than Intel’s X3100 integrated graphics processor. It also features integrated support for HDMI and HDCP via the Universal Video Decoder.

A Puma-powered notebook was showcased yesterday at the conference, thus putting an end to the rumors regarding the technical difficulties the project might be facing. Recently, analyst Doug Freeman claimed that the platform might be crippled by several bugs and system manufacturers are looking for an alternative to it.

When the platform finally hits the market, the notebooks it powers cost between $699 to $2,500. They are expected to kick in starting with the end of the second quarter.

Samsung Plans to Roll Out 256 GB SSDs Next Year - They are still too expensive to penetrate the market

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Samsung is planning on delivering increased capacity hard-disk drives, and the company might release a 256 GB version in 2009. The new capacity will quadruple the company's current
offering that can offer as much as 64 GB per solid-state drive.

According to Jim Elliott, vice president of memory marketing for Samsung Semiconductor, the company has just implemented its 64 GB version in Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 ultra-portable laptops and will start sampling its first 128 GB units in the second half of the year.

"Lenovo’s use of a SATA II SSD as the only storage device for its premium ThinkPad X300 notebook underscores its commitment to performance excellence," said Elliott. "With the Samsung SATA II SSD, Lenovo is delivering the highest performance rates for rugged, ultra-light storage in an ultra-portable notebook," he added.

However, the device will first be addressed exclusively to system builders and hardware manufacturers, while the company will continue its research and development plans with PC vendors as Lenovo or Dell, in order to release SSD drives with capacities ranging from 64 GB to 128 GB.

The company official, however, did not comment upon whether Samsung would release the new drives on the market or keep them for system vendors only. At the same time, Elliott refused to detail upon the upcoming 256 GB drives.

Solid-state drives are now rare pieces of storage, given their increased price and low storage space provided, but things will change in the long term. Samsung claims that SSDs might replace older spinning platters, because they are lighter, more energy-efficient and faster than conventional hard-disks. For instance, Samsung's SSD drives come with a SATA-II interface, that can deliver three to five times the speed of a hard drive. At the same time, it only weighs 73 grams and takes up 30 percent less power.

The most important obstacle in SSDs' catching ground is their fabulous price, but things are about to change with the development of the multilevel cell technology that will be massively introduced on the market in the second half of the year. Single-level cell-based solid state drives come at a price of $600 per 64 GB of storage, but MLCs are far cheaper, although not as powerful as SLCs.

Lenovo Goes Green With The “Eco” ThinkCentre M57/M57P Desktop PC - The computer can be accessed even when it is powered off or has some non-functiona

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Lenovo has just announced the launch of the ThinkCentre M57/M57P "Eco" ultra small desktop PC, world's first workstation to receive the GREENGUARD certification. The device is quite a scrooge when it comes
to energy consumption and received the Gold rating in the EPEAT test, while ranking 4.0 points in the Energy Star benchmark.

"We are quite proud to say the ThinkCentre M57/M57P is the first desktop ever to meet our rigorous standards for chemical emissions," said Carl Smith, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute CEO. "Lenovo is leading the industry in its commitment to environmentally responsible computing."

The computer is built using recycled materials from consumer plastics, while being built with the quietest running hardware components offerings ever. The computer runs at just 4.0 bels or even lower, no matter how much workload it has to handle.

Under the recycled hood, you can opt for quite a few Intel Celeron / Core 2 Duo processors, up to 2GB of DDR2 system memory, integrated graphics, as well as an 80GB or 160GB hard drive.

"In addition to environmental responsibility our business customers have demanded more manageability and lower operating costs - all in a very small design," said Fran O'Sullivan, senior vice president of products, Lenovo. "With the M57/M57P we raised the bar by developing a small, compact offering that provides the highest levels of manageability and security while operating with less power consumption and noise. This is Lenovo's most energy efficient ThinkCentre ever!"

The computer is also data loss-proof. Thanks to Lenovo's full suite of ThinkVantage technologies, users can recover their systems from viruses with the touch of a single button. If there is a problem the regular user cannot solve, the built-in Intel vPro technology allows IT staff to remotely perform system maintenance, as well as to install security updates and setting energy policy options. The good part is yet to come: these options are available even when the system is powered down or if the BIOS or hard-drive are inoperative.

"Intel vPro Processor Technology provides hardware-assisted security and manageability that significantly improves IT's ability to protect their PCs from viruses and other threats," said Zane Ball, director of microprocessor product marketing, Intel. "In addition, because IT staff can power-on systems remotely, there's no longer a need to waste energy and dollars by leaving computers on all night to install security patches and conduct other maintenance."