Free Ipod!!!!!!

Just clock on the title of this post like any other of the news posts and help me out! The offers are easy (only need to do one) and not expensive at all. After you complete an offer all you need to do is get 5 other people to sign up. Take a minute and do me this favor so a kid can have christmas in umm...march!

10 March, 2006 : Current Flash Technology Should Hold To 2010

"Intel Corp. sees current flash memory technology sustaining until the end of the decade, pushing out the need for 'universal memory' until 2010, according to Greg Komoto, manager of strategic planning for Intel's flash memory group.
Speaking at a session at the Intel Developer Forum (March 8), Komoto said Intel continues to believe that ovonic unified memory (OUM), also known as phase-change memory, is the most promising nonvolatile memory alternative, more so than magnetic RAM (MRAM) or ferro-electric RAM (FeRAM), which are also being studied as potential replacements.
Komoto said OUM shows the most promise based on its scaling path, declining cost basis and the fact that it is bit-alterable."

A look at GNOME 2.14 : Page 2

"The GNOME team recently announced another excellent release. GNOME 2.14 includes a variety of spiffy enhancements, bug fixes, improvements, and new features that make it the best GNOME desktop environment ever. Already available in Ubuntu Dapper and the recently released Fedora Core 5, GNOME 2.14 awaits your use and abuse. I've poked and prodded it and now I'm ready to talk about it."

Asus releases Ageia PhysX card details

"TAIWANESE GIANT Asustek said it will be the only company to manufacture and sell the 256MB Ageia PhysX card - the high end model.

The firm described the physics accelerator card as a 'totally new category' in PC hardware. Sixty developers are working on over 100 games that will use it, said Asus."

Intel Promotes Interchangeable Notebook Components

"Intel is promoting an initiative to make mobile PC components commonly interchangeable as a way to reduce user complaints and increase adoption.

The chip maker's Interchangeability Initiative, by promoting the use of common building blocks in notebook and mobile PC units similar to standards applied by desktop manufacturers, aims to reduce downtime and make mobile PC ownership as carefree as desktop ownership."

GamePC - A Glimpse Of The Future Of Storage : Gigabyte’s I-RAM

"Every so often, a product comes along which is so simple, yet so mind-blowingly original that it shakes up the computing landscape. One of those products which makes you think 'why hasn't someone done this sooner!'. A product that any number of companies could have produced, but either didn’t think to or simply passed on the opportunity. Gigabyte's I-RAM is certainly one of these products. It's sleek, it's simple, and everyone wants one once they see what the device is capable of."

BetaNews | Microsoft: No Vista Code Changes

"Microsoft slammed an article by Australian technology publication Smart House on Friday, calling it "speculation." The retort came as a result of a story that cited sources within the company saying as much as 60 percent of Vista code needs to be rewritten.
The article claimed that the Redmond company had to transfer developers from the Xbox team to the Windows division in order to ensure the Vista makes it to a CES 2007 release. Much of the article centered on issues with the Media Center and multimedia functionality, and claimed Intel was assisting Microsoft in rushing out the new code."

More than half of Microsoft Vista needs re-writing

Ouch....60%? I guess we might have until 2008 until vista is released. I have tried 5-10 linux distros at some point since XP was released and I still am running the same windows version. Well we can only hope that the rewrite will improve things. Better to have a good solid product late then a car held together by ductape and hanger on time.

"MICROSOFT appears to be in a state of panic, ordering 60 per cent of its new operating system to be re-written amidst a major shake-up of its troubled Windows division.

The news follows another delay with reports of a staff revolt over the way that management has handled the development of the operating system"

Nothing Really Newsworthy

    To me everybody seems to be talking about the same couple of things the last couple of days. Its all about the Oragami THUD, the PS3 delay, the Vista delay, DRM evils, and general corporate conspiracy talk. I usually don't fill these spaces with pointless banter, but was wondering if anybody else has noticed the pattern. The stuff that actually passes for news these days amazes me.

    I did put in some requests to some manufacturers regarding doing reviews. I have gotten emails asking me when I would have some up but unfortunatley these companies actually have to take the time to respond to my requests, which they have not. I have contacted Gainward, BFG, XFX, OCZ, ATI, Intel, nVidia, HIS, Newegg, and not so much as even a "no". I think that is kind of lame but there you have it.

    The alternative is adding a donate button to the page and using the proceeds to gain equipment for review. Using those funds contests could be had as well. Email your ideas to admin@exit68.net and let me know what you think.

MSN Money - Reuters Business News: Microsoft delays consumer launch of Windows Vista

Tell me now who did not see this coming? In all honesty I am kind of excited to try vista out when it is released. It has that feeling of excitement that I had when getting 98. Of course then after I got that I realised it looked exactly like windows 95 with the integrated internet explorer. this looks to be something much bigger than that and I will be happy to be able to play with new features.

"SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday it plans to delay the consumer launch of its much-anticipated Windows Vista until after this year's holiday shopping season, sending its shares down nearly 3 percent.
The world's largest software maker pushed back the consumer version of Vista until January 2007 from an earlier target for the second half of 2006 and pledged to ship the next version of its operating system to business customers in November."

iB::Topic::The Inq

"http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30434
Regarding a recent story on The Inq on physics acceleration I had contacted them with my point of view regarding the issue.

"I think people will care more about the different revisions of nVidia's physics when there is an actual product to buy that uses it. Same goes with PhysX. We are talking about phantom hardware here. I admit the thought of PhysX is cool and I side with you on your points, but until I hear of a release date for it, I am not going to get all hyped up. I will though, when I can get a hold of one of these and bench a card and throw a review online."


Charlie was kind enough to let me know that he will in fact try to find out when we should be able to see this hardware. Of course it is known that stuff like that can change from day to day, but to have an idea would be great"

Major Marketers Avoid MySpace

"SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE MYSPACE HAS grown to 60 million members, adding 8 million to million new members in the last few months alone, and now accounts for around 12.5 percent of all online display ads.

But major brand marketers continue to shun the site. That's according to executives at a panel on the 'Revolution in Television' hosted by the Advertising Research Foundation Monday in New York.

Of six panelists representing major advertisers and ad agencies, not a single one advertised with MySpace or other social networking sites. Reasons for avoiding MySpace include concern about its potential for criminal use, especially given recent well-publicized reports about sexual predators searching for victims on the site, as well as fears that user-generated content--including pictures and text with sexual overtones--will be offensive."

Starforce enforces DRM by instant reboot (without warning) - CD Freaks.com

"Despite all the problems DRM has been causing lately, it seems like companies involved in copy protection just keep trying to create more dangerous copy protections. Originally, they were more of a nuisance causing compatibility issues, installing wanted software, etc. Next came Sony Rootkits which used cloaking to hide its DRM processes and files, but with the side affect of being able to cloak spyware & viruses, thus causing a serious security risk. More recently, the Settec Alpha-DVD protection has been reported to cause DVD writers to malfunction."

PC Upgrade Planning: 2006 Edition

The guys over at Extremetech do a pretty good summary of what to expect this year when it comes upgrade time. They mull over the common things that everyone thinks of. What should I get, should I wait? Should I buy today? All the pros and cons are laid out kind of nicely I think.

"Now that it's officially springtime, our thoughts turn to . . . upgrading our PCs.

That's not exactly romantic, to be sure, but upgrading your PC system affects your bottom line directly. Plan poorly, and you're stuck with older technology for longer than you might like. If you're smart about your upgrade planning, you can extend the life of your existing system or even plan out the life of an entirely new system build."

IBM Fires Back at Microsoft Ad Campaign

"Microsoft kicked off a $500 million marketing push this week, and in the process singled out IBM as its main competitor. The so-called 'people-ready' campaign touts Microsoft products as enabling business users to 'realize their full potential.'
ADVERTISEMENT

The campaign is widely considered a curtain-raiser for the forthcoming Windows Vista and Office 2007 product releases.

At an event highlighting the campaign, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took a shot at IBM. 'We're staking out a position quite different than our leading competitor. That's IBM,' said Ballmer. '...IBM is increasingly a services company. At the end of the day, we're a software company,' he said, according to an eWEEK report."

ATI Introduces FireGL'TM' V7350, the Workstation Industry's First One Gigabyte Graphics Accelerator

"ATI captures the performance crown(1) with an ultra high-end 3D card designed for CAD, DCC and imaging professionals who work with massive datasets

ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced the industry's first one gigabyte (1GB) workstation graphics accelerator, the ATI FireGL(TM) V7350, and also a 512 megabyte configuration, the FireGL(TM) V7300. Featuring an extremely powerful ultra-threaded parallel processing GPU, and ATI's industry leading Avivo(TM) video and display technology, these new ultra high-end graphics cards further extend ATI's workstation graphics line, delivering better performance, more advanced features and higher image quality."

VERY IMPORTANT READ: How the growing government is nibbling your freedoms.

"PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was 'madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail.'

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that 'everything changed after 9/11' thing.

But not Walter."

Warmer oceans brewing worse 'canes for '06

"Brace yourself for another bumper crop of superstrong storms this year.

A new study of hurricanes during a recent 35-year period has found the strongest link yet between rising ocean temperatures and the intensity of hurricanes, backing up ominous forecasts for another destructive Atlantic storm season.

'We're in for another bad year from everything we can see at this point,' said Judy Curry, a climate expert at the Georgia Institute of Technology."

New York Daily News - Home - Get yer Micro-bucks

"The world's richest man is about to open up his big, fat wallet for New Yorkers.

Millions of New Yorkers who bought personal computers could score $12 coupons or more, no questions asked, as part of a massive antitrust settlement from Microsoft, headed by Bill Gates.

'Almost all of your readers could be eligible,' said David Stellings, a lawyer who helped negotiate the $350 million deal. 'They are throwing away cash by not participating.'"

AOL News - Twisted Double-Helix Nebula Found in Milky Way

"WASHINGTON (March 15) - Cosmic nebulae usually look like blobs in space, but astronomers using the Spitzer Space Telescope reported on Wednesday they have found a nebula twisted like the double helix of DNA."

Old Man, Look at Your Life

"Modern medicine is redefining old age and may soon allow people to live regularly beyond the current upper limit of 120 years, experts said on Wednesday.

It used to be thought there was some built-in limit on lifespan, but a group of scientists meeting at Oxford University for a conference on life extension and enhancement consigned that idea to the dustbin."

Dell, Alienware Merger Rumors Still Whispered

"Both Dell Inc. and Alienware haven't quite quashed rumors that the PC giant is out to purchase the boutique PC maker.

Representatives of both companies contacted Tuesday and early Wednesday declined to comment on any potential transactions, however."

CoolIT Systems Presents Peltier and Liquid CPU Cooling

"For decades, the Peltier effect has served humanity well from both within and without the PC. Fulfilling a humble but indispensable service inside mankind's second most important box, the ice chest, the Peltier cooler has kept countless gallons of beer, soda, and potato salad frosty and refreshing on grassy knolls and national parks across the globe. Now, thanks in part to outsourcing and the Internet, the average PC enthusiast can affordably chill his CPU with technology once reserved for frozen hot dogs and ground beef patties. Liquid cooling, also previously unwieldy and expensive, has matured into a compact and practical alternative."

Power Consumption and the Modern Geek

"here's no question the price of electricity is going up. Prices for oil, coal, and natural gas are all increasing, so power companies need to pass along the added costs. At the same time, our hunger for electricity continues to climb. Whether it's high performance PCs, home theaters, microwave ovens, or brighter lighting, we continue to consume more electricity.

Several months ago, AMD loaned us an Extech model 380083 power meter.
"

Intel Boosts Energy–Efficient Performance With First Dual-Core Low-Voltage Intel� Xeon� Processor

"HILLSBORO, Ore., March 14, 2006 – Intel Corporation is outfitting server, storage and telecommunications equipment makers with a new ingredient for squeezing more performance out of space– and power–constrained environments. It is the first low–voltage Intel� Xeon� processor to combine dual–core technology with Intel’s innovative power management capabilities, helping to boost energy–efficient price/performance with up to two to four times the performance–per–watt of previous Intel Xeon processors and platforms.**"

Sony considers PS3 game downloads

"SONY is considering making its back catalogue for the Playstation and Playstation 2 available for download.

According to a report at GamesIndustry.biz, several developers are already in talks with Sony about the downloading plans.

The report says that the talks are only focusing on whether or not the plan is technically possible and are a long way from games actually hitting the net yet. The idea will be similar to Nintendo’s Revolution digital download system. It does have the slight problem is that Sony's elderly games are pretty big while the Nintendo back-catalogue games were only a few megabytes."

Targeted TV

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 by Wendy Davis

Some media executives have long been touting the prospect of behavioral targeting, or the ability to send ads to consumers based on their interests, as determined by their online behavior. This morning, none other than Bill Gates added his voice to the proponents of such targeting. And he didn't limit it to online ads. Rather, the Microsoft head focused on the coming paradigm for television. "TV historically has been a broadcast medium in which everybody's picking from a finite number of channels," Gates told an audience of several dozen people in New York, at the annual meeting of Corbis--which he founded. But in the future, watching TV will be a matter of "seeing what you're interested in, having ads targeted to you," Gates said. "That's becoming the standard way video will be delivered," he added. Speaking from the 30th floor of the Reuters building in Times Square, he also forecast other changes to the media world. Print will be consumed on foldable electronic tablets; textbooks not only will be digitized and interactive, but also will include video. As for mobile, agencies will need to quickly create "new types of advertising that can fit into that experience in the small screen."

 

Accoona Aims To Be Search Dark Horse

Accoona may be a much less cool name than Google, but that won't stop the Jersey City-based search engine from going after the top spot in search. The new search player has $65 million in funding it plans to use to market itself to the unknowing world, starting with a campaign that includes TV, print, and word of mouth. But, once people know about it, why would they want to switch? Accoona says its search technology doesn't just use keywords and page ranking to come up with results, it can also deliver relevant pages that don't mention the keyword typed into the search box at all. For example, you could type "Oscar winners," in Accoona, and instantly see stories about Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney, and Reese Witherspoon, whether the stories contain that term or not. Analysts The New York Times talked to seemed to like the search engine, but they understand the main problem: "I really like the kinds of searches I can do on there," said one. "Getting people to try it, though, is the big problem. I've seen so many absolutely terrific approaches fail." Accoona may be able to leverage its Chinese heritage to help it attract market share, as it has several exclusive partnerships with official Chinese-government backed communications companies. Ultimately you want to know, can it compete? Well, I personally don't think so. Should you try it? Absolutely. - Read the whole story...

Vista Sheds Another Anticipated Feature?

"With little explanation (so far at least), Microsoft has decided to cut from Windows Vista planned support for the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). EFI, the successor to the PC BIOS, has been touted as an operating-system-independent interface that could aid in driver portability. Microsoft has been promising for months, if not years, that Vista would support both BIOS and EFI. According to new information coming out of this week's Intel Developer Forum, Microsoft has decided to drop EFI support entirely for 32-bit Windows variants, and provide EFI support for 64-bit Windows first in Longhorn Server in 2007."

Even more about the AMD/Conroe bust-up

"ANANDTECH has a re-run of the comparison between an overclocked FX60 and the next generation Conroe. This time around, they had their own benchmarks running, they used the right BIOS and drivers, they exactly the same. Even then, well the FX60 takes a battering. And the 2.66GHz Conroe being previewed was a high end mainstream part, the 3GHz Conroe will make the FX60 look like a Celeron D."

The $39 Experiment: Asking Random Companies for Free Stuff

"My name is Tom Locke. I'm not poor; I'm not rich. I'm just an average guy. In fact, who I am is actually irrelevant to this experiment. I just figured I'd introduce myself for the sake of formality. "

This has to be one of the most funniest random sites I have encountered so far this year. I know it is only March, but I don't care. If you have some time to kill go over and give it a read. You won't be sorry!!

Manufacturers unwrap first ultramobile PCs | CNET News.com

"HANNOVER, Germany--Intel lifted the lid on Microsoft's Origami project on Thursday by showing off three ultramobile PC devices at the CeBit trade show here."

Interview: Paul Leroux of QNX Software Systems - OSNews.com

"Today we're happy to feature an interview by Grant Hayes of MacSlash with Paul Leroux, a technology analyst with QNX Software Systems, who is participating in Embedded World 2006. In the interview, Paul discusses the changes QSS has experienced in the last couple years, new and established competition, and moving forward in the marketplace with new technology."

It's Official! Windows XP Boots on Macbook!!!!1 - OSNews.com

"It took some time, but someone finally made it happen: Windows XP boots on a Macbook Pro! Screenshot included!"

Verizon to offer Fios to apartments | CNET News.com

"Verizon has already deployed fiber-optic lines near more than 3 million homes in 18 states and roughly 800 communities. It plans to add another 3 million homes to its fiber network by the end of 2006. It has already begun offering TV service over this network to people in 24 communities in several states, including Texas, New York, California, Massachusetts, Florida and Virginia.
But until now, Verizon has sold service only to people living in single-family homes. That will soon change, according to Verizon executives. The company has already negotiated agreements for more than 57,000 apartment units. And it expects to triple that figure for 2006."

Mac Mini NES Mod

"This Mac Mini NES mod is cool on many levels. Not only is the mod done very well, it is functional too. Thanks to K2 for the linkage on this one.

Beyond Super Famicom and NES style DS mods, recently someone also gutted an actual NES. They tossed out the old 1.7 Mhz gear, filled it up with a 1.4 Ghz Mac Mini and added a slot loading DVD writer. It's the little things we love the most though, like the fact the front console buttons still function as power and eject, and the controller ports actually work for emulators. "

iTunes unveils "Multi-Pass" purchase option

"There is disagreement over whether or not US$1.99 is the sweet spot for video sales online. Too high, too low, or just right, the marketplace Goldilocks is too young to draw too many firm conclusions about pricing strategies long-term. Despite this, sales are going well, and Apple suffers no notable shortage of fans willing to drop two clams on the latest episode of Lost. But almost everyone agrees that $1.99 isn't practical when it comes to pricing all TV. would you pay $1.99 for the Nightly News? SportsCenter? The Phantom Gourmet? It's clear that something had to change if more variety was to come down the pipe."

All MySpace Domain Sites to shut down

"Seems that all domains with 'MySpace' in it will soon be receiving the MySpace Cease & Desist letter. You will be liable for the damages suffered by MySpace, and will be subject to penalties, fines and even criminal imprisonment.Wow... Isn't that it abit too much."

Intel�s Gelsinger predicts firm will trump AMD cards

"SENIOR VP Pat Gelsinger was very bullish about his company this morning, saying he believed Intel's Next Gen Tech would catch up on both the price and performance front, compared to AMD."

Electronics and media move to next level at CeBIT�|�Reuters.com

"HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - CeBIT, the world's biggest technology and telecoms fair, which starts Wednesday, will showcase how fast networks can link high definition TV and wireless gadgets, and a mysterious new product from Microsoft "

IATI Technologies Inc. Buys Shanghai-based XGI Technology Inc. Alliance Company

" TORONTO & SHANGHAI, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2006-- ATI Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYT) (TSX:ATY) today announced the acquisition of Shanghai-based Macrosynergy, an XGI Technology alliance company, as well as related personnel working out of XGI Technology's Santa Clara, California location. With the acquisition ATI immediately increases its presence in Shanghai, China, considered to be the epicenter of China's burgeoning technology market. At the same time the company acquires the research and design expertise of an organization best known for its multimedia add-in boards for personal computers."

CNN.com - Runaway bride dolls disappear as quickly as she did - Mar 6, 2006

Not tech related but funny none the less :-P

"DULUTH, Georgia (AP) -- Like the woman who inspired their creation, Runaway Bride bobblehead dolls disappeared quickly during a sports promotion in her hometown.

The dolls, given to the first 1,000 people through the doors at the Gwinnett Gladiators ice hockey game Sunday, were gone in about 10 minutes.

People lined up more than three hours before the gates opened.

The minor league ECHL team named the trinket the 'Runaway Bride Any Similarity to Actual Persons is Unintended and Purely Coincidental' Bobblehead Doll."

ExtremeMhz.com-CoolIT Freezone Liquid Chill CPU Cooler Review

"During my visit at CES this year, I came across the CoolIT booth which was displaying some products that were certainly highlighted in a majority of coverage articles. From their now popular beverage cooler to their prototype of their liquid cooling kit for the Xbox 360, they certainly made a lasting

Click for larger image

impression at the show for many. However, one product that I found in at least two of the most impressive display cases at the show was their Freezone Liquid CPU Cooler. This high performance liquid cooling CPU cooler is unlike any other self-contained cooling kit on the market and uses an innovative method in order to provide maximum cooling performance. Instead of a radiator typically found in similar products, it uses a proprietary 'Chiller' that features multiple TECs (also known as pelts or peltiers) to chill the special glycol coolant already contained in the kit itself. Sounds impressive? Let's take a thorough look at its features and performance."

Here is the link for the setup. A little expensive but my is it pretty. Buy kit here!

ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1600 Graphics Deliver Maximum ROI in New Feature-Rich HP Compaq nx9420 Notebook PCs

"ATI Graphics and new HP Notebook Ready for the 3D Applications of the Future

MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2006-- ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced that its ATI Mobility™ Radeon� X1600 graphics processors will drive the new HP Compaq nx9420 Notebook PC, a 17-inch widescreen, performance business notebook. Backed by ATI's cutting edge Mobility™ Radeon� graphics technology, the HP Compaq nx9420 notebook with Intel's Centrino Core Duo(1) helps ensure the headroom to support the most visually intensive applications both today and well into the future."

Gigabyte AMD AM2 mobo spotted in the wild

"TWEAKTOWN has some images of a Gigabyte AM2 motherboard - the GA-K8NDSLI Pro-RH. Although it is a dummy model - not a working one - the one marketed will be visually similar to the model shown. You'll find the usual features like SLI, DPS, Dual LAN, Dual BIOS and HD Audio -which is a requirement for Windows Vista."

Hey Neighbor, Stop Piggybacking on My Wireless - New York Times

"For a while, the wireless Internet connection Christine and Randy Brodeur installed last year seemed perfect. They were able to sit in their sunny Los Angeles backyard working on their laptop computers. "

Wired News:

"Six days a week, Shari Thurow spends copious amounts of time conducting searches on Google. But each Saturday, she makes a point of observing a 'Google-free day.'
The rules are simple: Use any search engine except for Google. In practice, however, the policy is surprisingly difficult to implement."

Senate Bill to Address Fears of Blocked Access to Net - New York Times

"Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, will introduce new legislation today that would prohibit Internet network operators from charging companies for faster delivery of their content to consumers or favoring some content providers over others.
The bill is meant to ease growing fears that open Internet access may be blocked or compromised by the Bell phone carriers and cable operators, which may create tiers of service for delivering content to consumers, much the way the post office charges more for overnight mail delivery than for regular delivery."

Universal music chief blasts Slashdot | The Register

"The president of Universal Music Group's digital division, Larry Kenswil, dipped into Slashdot to illustrate the kind of laggards who are holding up progress in digital music.
How did he figure that out, exactly?"

CES Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Report

"It's HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray at CES 2006

For the home theater enthusiast, the most exciting story of CES 2006 is the debut of the new high-resolution video formats: Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It’s been tagged as a classic format war, a la VHS vs. BetaMax. In fact, it’s some of the same names from the videotape battle of the early 1980’s. Sony, Pioneer, Philips and others are lining up behind Blu-Ray, while computing giants Microsoft and Toshiba are psuhing HD-DVD.

For Sony and Microsoft, this is but one dimension of a bigger battle for your living room. Sony has announced that the upcoming PlayStation3 console will contain a Blu-Ray drive, and Microsoft has plans to release a HD-DVD drive upgrade for their just released X-Box 360. This all makes for quite an exciting, albeit frustrating time for home entertainment enthusiasts."

Battlefields 2 Beta

If you have Half Life 2 and Steam installed you should really take a look at the 3rd party mods available for free through Steam. I got really excited when I saw battlefields 2 as it was a mod that I played around with during Half Life 1. I must stress that this is in early beta. It has its bugs but is still playable and if you can find a bunch of players on a server that understand the concept of using a line formation(hard to find it seems) you can have alot of fun using the tactics of the period. Believe it or not they work alot better than. While you can install this through Steam you can also find this and others over at http://www.moddb.com . I hope to start seeing more people playing on these servers and anybody wanting to be on the Exit68.net team, join the forums and let me know.

Intel Invests $300 Million In Vietnam To Build Nation’s First Semiconductor Assembly And Test Facility

"HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2006 – Intel Corporation today announced it will invest $300 million (US) to build a semiconductor assembly and test facility in Ho Chi Minh City. This represents the first such investment by the semiconductor industry in Vietnam and supports Intel’s strategy to invest to support overall demand. Construction of this facility will begin immediately."