MIT Researchers looking for ways to shrink Chips

Sean Kalinich | | Apr 14, 2009 10:21 AM CDT

Scientists at MIT may have discovered a way to make the interconnects and transistors found in semi-conductors smaller than those used in today's manufacturing.

The method uses focused light beams to etch the lines into the silicon. Current technology uses focused electrons. Once the technique is ready it could enable lines as small as 2-3nm. However as of this writing the lines are actually wider than Intel's latest at 36nm (Intel is beginning to use a 32nm process.

Read more at Computer World.

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Asus and Arctic Cooling reach an agreement

Sean Kalinich | | Apr 14, 2009 10:02 AM CDT

Asus and Arctic Cooling have decided to bury the legal hatchet between them. In a statement released today Both Asus and Arctic Cooling claim to have reached this decision in an "amicable and constructive manner".

The Asus cards at issue were the EAH 4830 and the EAH 4670. Both of these cards will begin shipping now that AC's IP is no longer being infringed.

Asus and Arctic Cooling reach an agreement

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PowerColor Bringing Water Cooled HD4890 Next Week

Zac O'Vadka | | Apr 10, 2009 2:36 AM CDT

PowerColor has announced that they will be bringing their water cooled Radeon HD4890 to the market late next week.

PowerColor Bringing Water Cooled HD4890 Next Week

PowerColor's Liquid Cooling Solution (LCS) covers the GPU, memory, and power regulator chip and is capable of reducing temperatures by up to 20°C over the stock design. The waterblock will come with both 3/8" and 1/2" hi-flow fittings to maximize flow and fit existing water-cooling applications.

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Conficker Stirs, updates and installs payload

Sean Kalinich | | Apr 9, 2009 10:31 AM CDT

Conficker, the bug that failed to impress anyone on April 1st has been seen to stir.

According to TrendMicro Conficker updated itself through P2P and dropped a payload similar to a keylogger on all of the systems infected. At the same time it appeared that the software was checking internet connectivity by hitting sites like MSN, MySpace and a couple of others.

To make matters more interesting it seems that Conficker may shut down on May 3rd. This is not confirmed and even if it is true the Worm could be reactivated at any time.

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ATi Partners going ahead with Radeon HD4890X2

Sean Kalinich | Video Cards & GPUs | Apr 9, 2009 9:37 AM CDT

In shocking news and in opposition to what most are reporting it looks like at least one ATi partner will be going ahead with a Radeon HD4890X2.

The HD4890, which launched on the 2nd is giving the GTX 285 a good run for its money. ATi and their partners must feel that an X2 version of this part would clean up the rest of the nVidia parts and recapture the speed crown from nVidia.

Read more at Bright Side of News.

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Super Talent First To Market With 512GB SSD

Zac O'Vadka | Storage | Apr 9, 2009 3:26 AM CDT

While several manufacturers have talked about releasing a 512GB solid state drive, none of them have put their money where their mouth is. Super Talent on the other hand kept their lips seals and has now trumped them all by being the first to have one avaialable for purchase.

Super Talent Announces First 512GB SSD

The MasterDrive RX drives from Super Talent use their proprietary RAIDSSD technology, enabling extremely fast sequential read and write speeds. MLC drives are available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models and are rated for a maximum sequential read speed of 230MB/sec and a maximum sequential write speed of 160MB/sec. SLC drives are only available in 128GB and 256GB varieties and are rated for a maximum sequential read speed of 230MB/sec and a maximum sequential write speed of 200MB/sec.

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Apple wants Exclusion from Royalty-Free Provision

Sean Kalinich | | Apr 8, 2009 12:46 PM CDT

Boy I just love it when Apple throws its patents around. According to CNet Apple does not want help WC3 Web Applications Working Group with a standard for Widgets.

The Cupertino based company has held out saying that it has a patent that covers how they do things and that should be good enough. W3C proposed an open standard last month to help standardize the way widgets are coded. There is great interest in widgets for smart phones and other mobile internet devices. Apple was quick to whip out its patent once the draft of the standard was sent out.

Read more here.

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Fraudulent Anti-Virus sites on the Rise

Sean Kalinich | | Apr 8, 2009 9:57 AM CDT

While fake anti-virus sites are nothing new it would seem they are becoming a booming business and saw a large increase in presence in the second half of 2008.

The rouge AV companies, like Anti-VirusXP and 360, use pop-up messages and fraudulent websites to trick people into paying for security they do not need.

These companies go to great lengths to emulate the Windows security application and popular Norton products. Unsuspecting users then download the full malware and are led to believe they need to pay to get rid of malware they do not have (other than the fake anti-virus app). In most cases once the consumer gives their credit card information it is passed on to others for identity theft. In some they simply take the money and leave the user with an infected system.

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