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Facebook sues ‘knock-off’ German site |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Sunday, 20 July 2008. 16:48 GMT
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Facebook now fancies a little court action themselves ... mmm let's see, oh I know let's sue that German site!
FT.com
"Facebook on Friday filed a copyright lawsuit against a German company that it has accused of running a “knock-off” of the social networking website. In a complaint filed in a California court, Facebook accused StudiVZ - a German company that claims 10m users and calls itself “the most successful social network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland” - of “copying the look, feel, features and services” of the Facebook site.
The lawsuit comes several months after Facebook, which claims more than 80m active users, launched a German language version of its own website. That site has since struggled to gain traction among German users, according to one person close to the company.
In its complaint, Facebook accused StudiVZ of copying entire portions of the site’s design, including features such as Facebook’s distinctive “wall”, which allows users to leave messages on each other’s profile pages. It claimed that any differences between the two sites were “nominal” and accused StudiVZ of merely “replacing Facebook’s blue colour scheme with a red one”.
Facebook said it was “seeking to end StudiVZ’s illegal activity to ensure that users are not confused and that Facebook’s reputation remains unharmed”."
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Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Sunday, 20 July 2008. 16:41 GMT
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Ever wanted to become a billionaire? ... Well, Zimbabwe have now introduced a bank note worth Z$100 billion
BBC
"Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover the cost of a loaf of bread. Some Zimbabweans are already calling for higher denominations in a country where the official annual inflation rate has exceeded 2,200,000%.
Independent economists believe the real rate is many times higher. Zimbabwe's meltdown has left at least 80% of the population in poverty, facing mass shortages of basic goods. The country's central bank has introduced several new notes already this year in response to the hyperinflation.
In January, a Z$10 million note was issued, followed by a Z$50 million. By June the denominations had reached tens of billions. In a notice in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, central bank governor Gideon Gono said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would introduce the new notes - known as special agro-cheques - to help consumers. "
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CPU3D Exclusive: Team Coolermaster Prepares for i34 with real live training |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Saturday, 19 July 2008. 16:34 GMT
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CPU3D Exclusive: Team Coolermaster Prepares for i34 with real live training
Everyone knows that saying ... "Practice makes perfect" ... but Team Coolermaster seem to have taken this to another level. They recently took part in a Real Live Training session, which was designed to help them with their game play ... in preparation for i34.
The training session involves real life tactics used by special armed forces, which include briefing, practice rounds, live sessions and live grenades! ... found out how they cope under real pressure.
Read the rest of the article ... HERE.
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Affordable Nehalem out to clobber 45nm AMD |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Saturday, 19 July 2008. 12:37 GMT
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Intel's relentless attack on AMD never ends ... just as AMD is to announce their latest 45nm processors, Intel is already planning a counter attack. Cheap Nehalems anyone ?
The INQ
"THIS WEEK, the "Alpha Male" of AMD, Captain Dirk, took over the troubled ship. His Alpha processor experience did help create some of the fastest X86 CPUs ever with the first Athlon64 and Opteron offerings, but this time he's not starting from a pole position - or even the more favourable position he could have held if AMD had kept the Alpha going alongside the X86 in socket-compatible line-up that would fight Intel across the board far more efficiently.
There are web rumours, such at those at Digitimes, that even the extreme Bloomfield might end up at less than US$1000, less even than the current extreme Yorkfields? And that's a badly diminished US$ at that. At this year's currency rates, Euroasians might find these upcoming Nehalems very affordable actually. Not to mention the still-decent 2.66GHz Bloomfield at less than third that price? The expected yields must be darn good if these rumours are true.
I don't believe Intel would be that quick to offer a brand new premium product at a price that's lower than they could afford charging. But, again, the "extreme desktop" CPU category was always in the $1K range, except for the past year's aberration where the QX9770 went quite a bit above that - simply because there was, and still is, no competition anywhere near it."
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AMD Reports Q2 Results - Little up, but mostly down |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Saturday, 19 July 2008. 12:24 GMT
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Have a guess what the profits were like for AMD during Q2 of 2008? ...
Dailytech
"AMD once again has a disappointing quarter. While Intel merrily report rising Q2 profits and revenue, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) sang a far different tune. The smaller major player in the microprocessor industry reported earnings which disappointed even investors expecting less than a stellar performance.
Preceding the earnings report was news from AMD that it would be taking a charge of more than $900M USD for losses based on the bill for its acquisition of ATI, its flash endeavors, and its struggling ATI TV and consumer electronics subunits. This news set predictions of losses rather high.
Whereas Intel reported profits beating expectations, AMD reported losses beating expectations. AMD bled $1.19B USD in Q2 2008, up from $600M USD a year ago and $358M USD last quarter. The adjusted losses, which take one time events into account, totaled 60 cents a share, worse than analyst predictions of 52 cents a share.
Depending on the metric you view, AMD revenue was either up or down. AMD announced Q2 2008 revenue of $1.349B USD, up 3 percent from Q2 2007, but down 7 percent from Q1 2008 (curiously AMD's press release chooses to assert this negative comparison before the positive one). Analysts on Wall Street had been hoping that it would show revenues of $1.45B USD, but yet again AMD left them with disappointment."
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Weekend Reviews from around the net |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Saturday, 19 July 2008. 12:22 GMT
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Weekend Reviews from around the net ... original compilation supplied by TechReport.
Weekend Stories
- The state of the industry: Google, IBM, and Microsoft profits up
- EU files new antitrust charges against Intel (thanks UberGerbil)
- DigiTimes reports Intel Bloomfield CPU pricing reveals pleasant surprise
and Nvidia to launch Intel-based MCP7A IGP chipset in August
- Intel's Ibex Peak is a single-chip core-logic solution
- Ruling: SCO owes Novel $2.54 million from SCO-Sun SVRX deal
- Akihabara News reports on TransferJet: new very efficient wireless technology?
- More on Lucid's Hydra™: perfect scaling for multiple GPUs?
- Fudzilla reports AMD to re-brand Radeon 3x00 to 4x00
and has AMD's XGP external Lasso in more detail
- TG Daily reports Lenovo aims guns at Macbook Air with launch of ThinkPad X200
- FiringSquad reports Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 price reduced even further
- NordicHardware reports GeForce GTX prices have dropped by almost 30%
- TiVo to stream YouTube videos
- MadPenguin's simple approach to Linux wireless
- PC Perspective's podcast #33
Software and gaming
- Phoronix posts Linux 2.6.26 kernel benchmarks
- Ars Technica reviews Opera Mobile 9.5 beta (download here)
- Nvidia's PerHUD 6 graphics tool released
- 2Manydownloads has EVGA Precision 1.3.0
- Tweak MC for Media Center
- Microsoft's Live Mesh is open to all
- Shacknews reports Wii overtakes Xbox 360 as new US 'console leader'
according to NPD's June sales data
- TG Daily reports ESA reveals an inconvenient truth about the gaming industry
- Shacknews previews Rock Band 2, Lego Batman,
Castlevania Judgement, and MegaMan 9
Systems and storage
- HardwareZone welcomes Intel's Montevina (Centrino 2) - at last!
- Tech ARP has Foxconn X58 Renaissance motherboard overview
- ProClockers review Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6
- Big Bruin reviews ECS GF8200A Black Series
- HEXUS.net reviews Sapphire Pure PI-AM2RS780G Hybrid CrossFire
- Overclockers Club reviews 2GB CSX Diablo PC3-16000 dual channel kit
- TweakTown reviews 4GB Corsair XMS3 DHX PC3-12800 dual channel kit
- Hardware Canucks review 4GB Mushkin Ascent PC3-12800 dual channel kit
- Elite Bastards review 2GB Patriot Memory PC2-9200 dual channel kit
- Overclock3D reviews 32GB OCZ SATA II 2.5" SSD
Multimedia
- VR-Zone's graphics slugfest: AMD Radeon HD 4850 CF, HD 4870 & HD 4870 CF
vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 & 260
- Overclockers Club reviews VisionTek HD 4870
- FiringSquad reviews PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GTX OC
- Guru3D reviews Inno3D GeForce 9800 GTX Overclock Edition
- bit-tech reviews LG Flatron L206WU with DisplayLink
- ThinkComputers reviews Flip Video Ultra digital camcorder
- Futurelooks reviews Plustek OpticFilm 7500i AI 35mm film scanner
- Gadgetzone reviews 8GB Creative Zen X-Fi media player
- Legit Reviews on BlueAnt Wireless Z9i Bluetooth headset
Power, cases, and cooling
- ProClockers review SilverStone Decathlon DA850 PSU
- bit-tech reviews 800W BFG Tech ES Series PSU
- Overclockers Online reviews 800W OCZ EliteXStream PSU
- [H] Enthusiast reviews 700W Sigma SP-700 PSU
- Ninjalane reviews Thermaltake M9 case
- [OC]ModShop reviews Thermaltake DH102 HTPC case
- TechwareLabs review Sans Digital MobileSTOR MS2UTN+ enclosure
- CPU3D reviews ZEROtherm Zen FZ120 CPU cooler
- Tech-Reviews on Xigmatek HDT-SD964 CPU cooler
- Icrontic reviews Thermaltake Max and DuOrb
Enjoy ...
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IBM's profits boosts confidence |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Saturday, 19 July 2008. 12:15 GMT
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The computer and I.T. industry seem to be holding off the recent downturn from the credit crunch, with reports of profits from another giant like IBM.
BBC
"IBM's profits have come in better than expected, helped by cash-strapped companies calling it in to help cut costs and improve IT infrastructure. Net profit for the three months to the end of June came in at $2.77bn, which is up 22% on the same period of 2007.
IBM also raised its own forecast for earnings for the whole of 2008. The company has also benefited from the weakness of the US dollar, as it means that its earnings from outside the US are more valuable. The news sent shares up $1.90, or 1.5%, to $128.42.
The company's sales jumped 13% in the three month period, but the increase would only have been 6% without the effect of the weaker "
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CPU3D Review: G.SKILL DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) 4Gb Kit |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Friday, 18 July 2008. 17:30 GMT
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CPU3D Review: G.SKILL DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) 4Gb Kit
Are you an enthusiast with a DDR3 motherboard running Windows Vista? Well, G.SKILL's DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) 4Gb kits is probably what you'll need. Rated to run at 800Mhz with a low memory timings of 7-7-7-18, these 4Gb kits are a definite winner. Our CPU3D review team takes a closer look.
"... G.Skill have delivered what seems to be an affordable DDR3 ram that offers good memory timings ... Great performance and its slick aesthetics make this memory kit a winner."
Read the rest of the review ... HERE.
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Sigma SP-700 700w Power Supply |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Friday, 18 July 2008. 11:25 GMT
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HardOCP
"Sigma is back with a high powered computer PSU coming in rated at 700 watts this time. If you are an enthusiast thinking about installing some of the newer more powerful GPUs, a 700w rated PSU or something thereabouts, should be on your list.
... Sigma is a name that is probably not very familiar to most users; however Sigma’s “sister” brand RaidMax is probably more familiar as is their parental company Raidcom Technologies. As a company, Raidcom Technologies has been around for some time now and is most familiar to users because of the cases and other accessories they produce including power supplies. The Raidmax branded power supplies to date have been from various OEM’s and are best known for being bundled with RaidMax' cases. Today though, the new Sigma branded unit (SP-700) we are looking at is a more modern offering and it is sourced from the ever popular Chinese/Taiwanese based FSP."
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CPU3D Deals: Inno3D Geforce 9800GTX+ pre-order at Specialtech |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Friday, 18 July 2008. 11:20 GMT
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CPU3D Deals: Inno3D Geforce 9800GTX+ pre-order at Specialtech
Specialtech have announced that they now taking pre-orders on the Inno3D Geforce 9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3 graphics cards. Check out their latest prices ... you'll be amazed.
They're also doing a "TODAY ONLY" special ... Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ £102.00. Hurry while stock lasts.
"The NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GTX-based graphics card raises the performance bar by enabling full-throttle lifelike game play while providing optimal power management with HybridPower technology. The PureVideo® HD engine also delivers unmatched video and movie quality. Couple it with nForce® SLI®-ready motherboards and get amplified performance up to 2x in a dual SLI configuration and up to 2.8x in 3-way SLI* mode. Packing more performance at an exceptional value, this GPU offers extreme HD gaming and a first-class entertainment experience. "
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Read more...
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AMD's CEO Steps Down - Hector out, Dirk in |
Posted by Winston Chim
on Friday, 18 July 2008. 11:12 GMT
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A 7th quarterly loss in a row is without doubt the undoing of AMD CEO Hector Ruiz. Maybe we'll see better results with Dirk.
Dailytech
"AMD CEO Hector Ruiz will be replaced by Dirk Meyer.
AMD has seen its share of ups and downs over the years, but the company has had it especially hard ever since its acquisition of ATI Technologies in 2006. Since then, the company has experienced numerous quarters of losses, announced job cuts, and has watched as top executives abandoned the chip giant.
Most recently, AMD announced that it would take another $880 million USD charge due to the poor performance of ATI's Consumer electronics division.
Today, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz stepped down from his position with the company. Ruiz joined the company in January 2000 and became CEO in April 2002. Ruiz will be replaced by the current Number 2 in charge, Dirk Meyer. Ruiz will stay on as the executive chairman of AMD's Board of Directors. "
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