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I just completed a write-up for class that summarizes a couple of articles on online mapping applications. While doing my research, I found that while information on the subject was plentiful, the amount that was easily available was few & far between, so I'm posting it here in hopes that it may help someone in the future. It's a quick overview of what goes into an online mapping application and a look at how companies are starting to ditch Google Maps in favor of open source alternatives like OpenLayers.

Smash Brothers Brawl Wii blanks servers

Gaming
Written by t-readyroc
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Looks like Nintendo didn't anticipate such a high load on their servers for the Smash Bros. release. Nintendo sysadmins were last seen sprinting for the server farm, fire extinguishers in-hand. "Brawl's online component isn't entirely dysfunctional. If you've traded digits, playing 'with friends' is stable, and also permits more than one player from the same Wii to participate."

Patch Tuesday fixes gaping Excel hole

Security
Written by t-readyroc
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
If you were hard at work at your Windows PC last night, you probably noticed the little software updates icon asking you to install some updates. Four critical updates were patched on this month's patch Tuesday, including a patch that finally fixed a remote execution vulnerability in several versions of Office. It's a good thing, too, because yesterday reports began to surface about malicious Excel files that included executables designed to exploit those holes. Yay for finally fixing a two month old flaw. Heh.

OCIA forums grand re-opening contest

Freebies
Written by t-readyroc
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
OCIA has finished updating their forums, and they're celebrating the feat. Looks like they're using vBulletin 3.6 now, & they're giving away a truckload of prizes, including cases & PSU's from CoolerMaster. This is (obviously) another forums contest, where you need to be registered & subscribed to their newsletter to be eligible.

geekE news: Reviews from the web edition

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Video Cards XFX 8400GS 256MB @ Gamepyre VVIKOO GeForce 8800 GT Max 1024 MB @ techPowerUp MSI GeForce N9600GT OC @ TweakTown Diamond Viper ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB @ BenchmarkReviews Motherboards Gigabyte MA-78GM-S2H (780G) @ LegitReviews Intel SkullTrail Super High End PC Platform @ Madshrimps RAM Kingston HyperX DDR3-1625 2GB @ ThinkComputers Audio Zalman ZM-RS6F USB 5.1 Surround Headphones/Headset @ Tweaknews Logitech Z Cinema Speaker System @ TechGage Razer Piranha Gaming Communicator @ HardwareLogic Software ATI Catalyst 8.3 Analysis @ TweakTown Timeshift PC @ Gamepyre Etc. Jeantech Absolute 1000W @ XSReviews Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS @ DigitalTrends Logitech MX5500 Revolution Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse @ BlueTomorrow Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station @ HardwareSecrets

Next version of Windows already under the Feds' magnifying glass

Interesting
Written by t-readyroc
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Due to all of the anti-trust scrutiny that Microsoft is currently undergoing, they've already had to submit "Windows 7" to the federal technical committee overseeing the OS's development. Think they'll find anything? Will "Windows 7" actually end up all the better for it? "Presumably, most heavily under scrutiny is whether the OS causes host computers to favor Microsoft applications over third-party software -- a practice the federal government cited in its original complaint against the company."

Roundups a-plenty

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Roundup 1: Madshrimps have a couple of HD3870s on their test bench. Shouldn't this be considered more of a "face-off" than a roundup? Roundup 2: Yet more thermal compounds; this time care of BurnOutPC. Five of 'em in this roundup. Roundup 3 (another face-off, really): 9600GT in SLi vs. an 8800GTX at the [H]. I wish they'd have tossed in some power consumption numbers on that one.

HotHardware March system giveaway

Freebies
Written by t-readyroc
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
HotHardware's following their Skulltrail giveaway with another full system giveaway. Something tells me that these guys have too much hardware on their hands, 'eh? Same format as last time: random forums user will be selected. The prize? "... a full Core 2 Duo E6750-based system, complete with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 series graphics, a couple of gigs of RAM, and a Gigabyte nForce 680i SLI-based motherboard."

geekE news: Reviews from the web edition

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Notebooks Toshiba Satellite X205-SLI4 @ HotHardware Motherboards Tyan Tempest i5400XT @ Phoronix Displays Gateway XHD3000 30-inch Wide-Screen @ TechGage Alphacool External 240x128 LCD-Display @ XtremeComputing Storage Corsair 32GB Flash Voyager @ 3DGameMan Honeywell SecuraDrive 80GB USB 1.8-Inch Pocket Drive @ BenchmarkReviews Honeywell 80GB SecuraDrive @ ASE Labs Etc. Nexus Hush Kit Review @ Techwarelabs LG VX5400 @ DigitalTrends Razer Mako THX 2.1 Speaker System @ Futurelooks

geekE news: Reviews from the web edition

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Monday, 10 March 2008
PCs GMC Noblesse AVC S-7 Home Theatre PC @ TechwareLabs Video Cards GIGABYTE GV-RX387512H HD3870 512MB Crossfire @ Motherboards.org Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2 @ TweakTown Vvikoo 9600GT 512MB 2 XSReviews RAM OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-9200 @ DVHardware A-Data Vitesta DDR3-1600X CL7 PC3-12800 @ BenchmarkReviews Power FSP FX700 FX-Epsilon @ HardwareLogic Huntkey Green Star 450W @ HardwareSecrets StarTech.com WattSmart 650W @ HardwareSecrets Cases Cooler Master Cosmos S @ 3DGameMan Mountain Mods H2gO Aluminum Cube @ OCIA Lian Li PC-A77 Full Tower @ ThinkComputers Sigma Luna Type W @ VirtualHideout Etc. Nyko Charger Grip Lite @ OCModShop BlueLounge CableYoYo POP @ OverclockersOnline iPhone Ultra Clear Screen Protector @ OCIA Canon PowerShot A590 IS @ DigitalTrends ASUS VW222 22-inch Wide-Screen @ TechGage StealthSurfer Portable Privacy and Internet Security Device @ Futurelooks Ultra Dual-Computer 7-Port USB2.0 Hub @ Tweaknews Kingston DataTraveler 400 USB Flash Drive @ LegitReviews Auras TwinW (SMF-660) CPU Cooler @ TweakTown Maximo iMetal iP-HS1 & iP-HS2 Headsets for iPhone Users @ LegitReviews

Going native, and staying that way

CPU/Chipset
Written by t-readyroc
Friday, 07 March 2008
It might not be kicking the teeth out of Intel's rival architecture, but AMD apparently sees no reason to change horses mid-strream. "We were surprised to learn that despite the rumors going around, AMD's eight-core CPU is actually a native one. AMD can do native octa-core just as well as Intel can with its Nehalem, and the codename for this eight-core monster is Montreal."

Intel: ray-tracing FTW! nVidia: whoa there; hold on a sec

Interesting
Written by t-readyroc
Friday, 07 March 2008
Speaking of 3D engines, Ryan over at PCPerspective sat down with nVidia's chief scientist to discuss the ray-tracing vs rasterization debate that's seen some increased action lately (Larrabee, anyone?). Needless to say, nVidia takes a bit of a different stance than Intel on ray-tracing being the "future" of gaming rendering. "A hybrid renderer can parsimoniously choose the best of multiple techniques, to produce the best quality images quickly. By the way, that is how the 'gold standard' of picture making—film rendering—works."

MS Excel as a 3D game engine?

Interesting
Written by t-readyroc
Friday, 07 March 2008
Anyone else not know you could do this with Excel? Craziness. It's a bit dry & very detailed, so if you want the quick 'n dirty, hit the YouTube vid on p3. "In this article I will demonstrate Excel's arithmetical facilities, the embedded rendering subsystems (there are two of them!) and the revolutionary approach which might just cause a paradigm shift."

Teh intarwebs are getting BIGGER!

Interesting
Written by t-readyroc
Friday, 07 March 2008
33 million more domains added last year alone. Where are those guys down at the root servers hiding 'em all? "Total registrations worldwide topped 153 million across all of the top-level domain names, a 27% increase over the same quarter in 2006 and a 5% increase over the third quarter of 2007, according to VeriSign's brief."

geekE news: Reviews from the web edition

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Friday, 07 March 2008
Video Cards ECS GeForce 9600GT Accelero 512MB @ TweakTown Powercolor HD 3650 Xtreme 512 MB @ techPowerUp Motherboards Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 @ Pro-Clockers RAM Patriot Viper PC2-6400XLK 2GB @Virtual-Hideout Input Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 @ HardwareLogic Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard @ OCIA Cooling OCZ Cryo-Z Phase Change Cooler @ TweakTown Coolink Chip Chilla Chipset Heatsink @ Techwarelabs Etc. Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB Hard Drive @ HotHardware Seventeam ST-420BKV 420W PSU @ HardwareSecrets Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Gaming Headset @ ThinkComputers TRENDnet TEW-637AP Wireless N Access Point @ TechGage

geekE news: Reviews from the web edition

Reviews
Written by t-readyroc
Thursday, 06 March 2008
Notebooks Apple MacBook Air @ DigitalTrends Video Cards XFX 8400GS 256MB @ Gamepyre Radeon HD 3870 X2 in Crossfire X @ TweakTown RAM Patriot Memory PC2-9200 2GB EP DDR2 @ TweakTown Storage QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo NAS @ Ninjalane Honeywell SecuraDrive 1.8-inch 80GB USB Hard Drive @ ThinkComputers ATP Electronics ProMax II CompactFlash Card and Reader @ Bigbruin Cooling Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev 2 VGA Cooler @ HardwareLogic Thermaltake V1 CPU Heatsink @ techPowerUp Etc. Antec Nine Hundred Case @ ASE Labs Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W PSU @ OCIA Samsung SC-HMX10A High Definition Camcorder @ Futurelooks Lapworks Attache Laptop Stand @ PCMechanic

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