Warp2Search - Editorial (Page 2)

Yahoo, Apple and Google are Abusing your Trust

Published 2005-06-17 19:28 by Newsfactory 1

The idea of bundling software has been around for quite some time. For years AOL links and icons were bundled with just about everything. Here though it was merely icons and links attached to more frivolous applications. The recent trend with Malware force installing itself is much worse. This happening hidden from view, during a regular application's install has angered just about everyone who discovered it. But now companies are targeting the basic applications that make your computer work. They are abusing the trust built up with the fact that you are not likely to pay attention when installing basic applications from reputable companies.

Apple Would Never Accept Dell?s Offer

Published 2005-06-17 19:05 by Newsfactory 0

Yep, Apple continues to be the headlines winner all over the media outlets, and this time Dell is sharing the spotlight with the Macintosh maker. Yesterday, Dell?s Founder and Chairman Michael Dell e-mailed Fortune magazine (after being requested to comment on the situation) stating, "If Apple decides to open the Mac OS to others, we would be happy to offer it to our customers." That?s a fairly bold statement coming from Dell considering that this declaration could possibly have a negative impact on the company?s relationship with Microsoft.

The Possible Doom of PC Gaming

Published 2005-06-16 13:56 by Newsfactory 7

After Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo unveiled their next generation of gaming consoles, people wondered whether the supposedly digital hubs of the future would be doomful to the PCs. You can?t blame them for making such an assumption after all the thrilling features and performance Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo discussed at E3 this year. Anyone slightly knowledgeable about the architecture that the console makers talked about would know that upcoming gaming consoles are undoubtedly powerful, but for obvious reasons neither PC gaming nor PCs in general are doomed.

DVD copying software gets axed, what's next?

Published 2005-06-10 13:14 by Newsfactory 1

In an attempt to put a halt to DVD copying the movie industry has now gone after the developers of DVD copying software, is this the next offensive of the greedy?

Hardware Analysis

Possible Doom for Mac OS X on x86

Published 2005-06-08 16:30 by Newsfactory 0

Apple?s recent collaboration with Intel to use its microprocessors surged a great deal of interest throughout the industry. Though there are several arguments spanning the market currently, one thing is certain ? Apple has stated it will not let users install Mac OS X on non-proprietary hardware, even though the CPU will fully comply with x86 architecture. The only apparent way for Apple to achieve that is by using some form of protection technology, however, that may ultimately turn out to be a fatal strategy.

Why are Laptop Mice SO Annoying?

Published 2005-06-03 18:22 by Newsfactory 0

I mostly rely on my notebook computer for portable computing. It comes in quite handy when I have to write articles on the go or simply browse the Internet comfortably when I?m away from my desk. While I thoroughly enjoy the portability factor and dearly appreciate it, I find it painful to work with the built in "mouse pad".

Cheap PCs: The way of the future?

Published 2005-05-31 22:19 by Newsfactory 0

Are sub $300 PCs the wave of the future or is this just another fad? Flexbeta examines the effects cheap PCs may have on Microsoft, hardware vendors and the rest of the computing industry.

Intel Chipsets Excellent, Processors Poor

Published 2005-05-24 12:51 by Newsfactory 0

Intel has a long history of producing excellent chipsets. They are stable, offer excellent features and are more versatile than competing chipsets. In fact, Intel?s 915/925 chipsets would?ve followed the same pattern of excellence, but combined with immature technologies at the time, high performance to price ratio and sub-par performance of its Prescott microprocessors, the platform failed to deliver. Apparently, you can?t blame the chipsets for this; maybe they would?ve been just as competitive as their predecessors, 865/875, if the aforementioned technologies didn?t hold them back. Even after that, the 915/925 chipsets has exciting technologies integrated in them for the best possible feature set.

The Paranoia of Digital Rights Management

Published 2005-05-24 12:17 by Newsfactory 0

I understand that it?s necessary for MPAA and RIAA to put an end to piracy for obvious reasons, but they have taken some extreme steps in the past. For example, I remember when the RIAA sued a 12-year old girl. Even after knowing that the girl and her divorced mother could not pay the amount RIAA was asking for out-of-court settlement, they kept pushing the family. As a result, a few online communities donated and ultimately gathered enough money to pay the fine and support the family.

Microsoft Needs More than Tabbed Browsing for IE to Survive

Published 2005-05-23 12:06 by Newsfactory 1

Microsoft?s Internet Explorer Product Unit Manager Dean Hachamovitch recently confirmed in his weblog that Internet Explorer 7.0 would have tabbed browsing integration, a feature that?s also available in Mozilla?s Firefox browser. One of the many reasons Firefox has become popular is due to tabbed browsing. It was a different concept that let users open numerous windows in a single parent window. It?s useful, it?s popular, and it works. But I don?t see how this is a major feature in need of promotion. While Hachamovitch didn?t intentionally promote it himself, he did confirm it as if this is the next thing in browsers.

AMD Dual-Core Prices Justified?

Published 2005-05-23 11:31 by Newsfactory 0

After my column "Is AMD the Next Intel?" I received more than a few e-mails from concerned readers stating that it was time for AMD to generate revenue for their fabrication facilities, and how it was beneficial to the chipmaker to have high price tags on their dual-core chips. I think I may have been unclear in my previous column, but basically, I wrote that column from a buyer?s perspective. You would never want to pay more than you have to, would you? And considering that we are talking about the enthusiast community, value is a very important proposition. In this very community, people purchase lower-clocked microprocessors on purpose just so they can overclock it in the end, thereby increasing the value per dollar.

Why the Xbox is for suckers

Published 2005-05-23 11:30 by Newsfactory 4

Writing this at the time of all the new consoles being announced allows people to start thinking more closely about their purchasing decisions.

New Consoles Ruin PC Gaming

Published 2005-05-20 12:54 by Newsfactory 7

As a PC gamer, the announcement, and subsequently the launch, of new consoles horrifies me. The sound of cash registers ka-chinging in the ears of PC game developers can be heard quite easily, and often. Console gaming has a much wider audience than PC gaming, with young kids having easy access to them compared to powerful PC?s.

The Decline of Ugly Cases

Published 2005-05-19 17:23 by Newsfactory 0

After I wrote my first column on "gaudy cases", I began to notice a change in the case market from various manufacturers. The majority of us already know that Cooler Master, Lian Li, Silverstone and Antec had been offering tasteful cases since they got into the business, but Thermaltake, which is supposed to be one of the largest case companies in the United States went with a product line full of gaming cases that did not appeal to the majority of us.

Is AMD the Next Intel?

Published 2005-05-17 12:37 by Newsfactory 0

Intel has been falling behind ever since they introduced their new socket, processors, chipsets, and an abundance of technologies at the beginning of last year. Even before Intel?s new platform was unveiled, motherboard makers and enthusiasts stated how poor it was to put pins on the motherboard instead of the processor itself. The new technologies, such as DDR2 and PCIe, either performed equally well or lower than expected against their "last-generation" components at higher prices, in many instances. Intel?s Prescott was thermally handicapped, architecturally disabled, and retailed at immense prices.

Developmentally Challenged: A Moment, if I May, to Address the Gamers

Published 2005-05-14 15:12 by Newsfactory 1

Epic Games today announced it has snapped up the Reality Engine, and is bringing Artifical Studios founder / lead engine programmer Tim Johnson in-house. Epic will not continue sales or support of the Reality Engine, but certain aspects of the engine might find their way into the Unreal Engine. Developers who have licensed the Reality Engine will receive a discount on an Unreal Engine 3 license if they choose to upgrade.

AngryDev

The Competitive Incompetence Conspiracy

Published 2005-05-11 16:57 by Newsfactory 4

Let?s take one scenario at a time. Maybe you remember how ATI stated that Shader Model 3.0 was not necessary in its X800 and X850 series graphics cards, as it wasn?t being used by game developers at the time. This is the reason that ATI gave for failing to implement this feature in its product line. Well, we now see that this statement is true, and there?s nothing wrong with leaving the feature out if you are talking about inexpensive hardware, which does not describe the high dollar X800 and X850 cards. Now, I think NVIDIA knew that SM 3.0 wasn?t likely to be utilized as well, but went ahead and implemented the feature as a means of future-proofing their cards.

Sony and The Hype Machine

Published 2005-05-09 23:18 by Newsfactory 1

We are in the verge of the next generation of console gaming and once again we hear marvelous things from Sony regarding its Cell processor: it breaks Moore?s Law, that it will take away traditional architectures from all consumer electronics, from cell phones to HDTVs, etc.

TeamXbox

Overclocking Goes Mainstream

Published 2005-05-09 11:48 by Newsfactory 1

Up until recently, overclocking, a practice of running your system components at higher than specified speeds, was considered only for the enthusiast community. The concept of overclocking has been popular ever since people started building their own computers instead of purchasing from the likes of Dell or HP. Thus far, the practice of overclocking was an industry taboo that the majority of companies despised, and frankly who could blame them? Purchasing a less expensive piece of hardware and cranking the speeds up with just a few BIOS settings and meeting or exceeding the performance of a much more expensive part appears to be dreadful for business.

America's Technological Wall is Falling

Published 2005-05-07 15:22 by Newsfactory 1

There has to be a fundamental shift in this country. We can't keep going on with this ridiculous mindset of working faster, not smarter. And we have to tailor our educational facilities to be more in-line with what's going on in other global areas. Our higher-learning institutions are still among the best in the world. But if we don't fix the mid-and lower level grade insufficiencies, eventually the universities are going to suffer. It'll be a sad day when we have to outsource college students, as well as manufacturing jobs.

The Dual-Core War: Is Intel in Trouble?

Published 2005-05-05 14:49 by Newsfactory 0

After years of anticipation, dual-core microprocessors are finally a reality. Both Intel and AMD were touting dual-core microprocessors as the inevitable future, and something that would certainly take computing to the next level. At numerous tradeshows and computing conventions, analysts and media predicted the launch date of multi-core CPUs; some said Intel would be the first to bring its chips to the market while others stated the opposite. Whatever the speculations, Intel was indeed the first one to introduce its dual-core chips. In fact, they made a sudden decision to send out preview units to selected media outlets for independent performance testing and evaluation. Then, after hearing that AMD is about to launch its Opteron and dual-core Athlon 64 chips at the same time, Intel rushed once more and moved the official launch date forward to April 19th.

When DRM Spoils the Party

Published 2005-05-01 22:21 by Newsfactory 0

The latest 3G handsets may be multifunctional wonders, but as Benny Har-Even discovers, the networks are determined to only let you enjoy them on their terms.

TrustedReviews

Technical aspects LCDs: overdrive, contrast and viewing angles

Published 2005-04-28 20:59 by [NT] 0

From time to time it is good to take a little technical break between two tests: these are essential to see the reality behind some extraordinary manufacturers? announcements. These include new measures, FDD, overdrive, contrasts and viewing angles: what are their modifications, and improvements?

Unhealthy Partnerships Plague the Graphics Industry

Published 2005-04-28 13:50 by Newsfactory 2

If I were to buy a graphics card today, I would have little choice but to go with either ATI or NVIDIA. To break down my buying decision, I would probably consider the card?s features, the novel (and pointless in certain cases) concept of future proofing, price and performance in games that I want to play. Everything sounds so clear-cut, doesn?t it? I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but picking a graphics card is not an easy task these days. I can probably list a few reasons as to why my thinking runs that way, but chances are you are already aware of them. Therefore, I am going to focus this column on special relationships between the game developers and the graphics card makers.

Unhealthy Partnerships Plague the Graphics Industry

Published 2005-04-26 14:43 by Newsfactory 0

If I were to buy a graphics card today, I would have little choice but to go with either ATI or NVIDIA. To break down my buying decision, I would probably consider the card?s features, the novel (and pointless in certain cases) concept of future proofing, price and performance in games that I want to play. Everything sounds so clear-cut, doesn?t it? I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but picking a graphics card is not an easy task these days. I can probably list a few reasons as to why my thinking runs that way, but chances are you are already aware of them. Therefore, I am going to focus this column on special relationships between the game developers and the graphics card makers.

Buying Reliability

Published 2005-04-25 19:37 by Newsfactory 7

Understanding the importance of reliability is the first step in overcoming socially accepted misguided conceptions. Let me start off by saying that in the computer world there are no perfect components or perfect manufacturers. What there is, are manufacturers who are significantly better then others. People incorrectly associate perfection with reliability.

No More Paper Launches from ATI and NVIDIA

Published 2005-04-22 13:30 by Newsfactory 5

We have seen far too many paper launches from ATI and NVIDIA in regards to their X800, X850 and 6800 series of graphics adapters. It was repulsive from the beginning and left many people frustrated. Users would see the desiring performance numbers in evaluations, but they had no idea when the cards would finally make it to the market. This was especially the case with high-end cards from both companies and certain mid-end adapters from ATI. Let?s just say that the current generation of graphics market was miserable for the end-user.

AGP Standard May Fade Away in 2005

Published 2005-04-22 13:24 by Newsfactory 0

There has been a lot of speculation as to when PCI Express (PCIe) will finally take over AGP for good. Even though there isn?t any performance difference between the two standards, PCIe is the standard of the future where game developers and GPU makers should be able to work on to bring in more realistic, and GPU intensive games with elevated bandwidth requirements to everyone?s personal setups. This is what we (as users) wanted, and this is where the industry is headed. Sooner or later AGP was bound to disappear, but how soon? We may have gotten a speculative and educated answer from an industry insider.

The Firefox Update Conspiracy

Published 2005-04-21 15:03 by Newsfactory 10

Modern software releases patches and updates incrementally, meaning you only have to download the code that is different. This allows for much smaller and more effective downloads. Patching systems such as this have been around since software had version numbers. Why then does Firefox require you to download the full program every time a new version is released?

AMD May Skip DDR2 Altogether

Published 2005-04-21 13:24 by Newsfactory 0

In our Industry Insider Report from yesterday, we pointed out that DDR2 would take some time to mature in the market until AMD adopts the standard. This is certainly the case in the enthusiast market; AMD is the force behind DDR and will remain that way until it adopts a newer standard. However, a recent discussion with an industry source seems to hint otherwise. Although such information is never set in stone, educated speculations from industry insiders usually tend to be somewhere close to the final plans of a particular company.

Intel Knew DDR2 was Poor Design

Published 2005-04-21 13:16 by Newsfactory 0

We all know how DDR2 is struggling to keep up with DDR, which in turn makes Intel struggle against AMD who has better performing microprocessors for the gaming and enthusiast crowd. Although Intel has managed to be "successful" with its latest generation of hardware in the OEM segment, thanks to Dell, majority of the enthusiasts tend to stay far away from Intel?s latest platform due to an unfortunate performance hit with newer standards and technologies.

Top 25 technological breakthroughs

Published 2005-04-14 11:49 by Newsfactory 0

CNN this week listed the top 25 technological breakthroughs of the last 25 years. It?s not a bad list, and you can find it here

My Internet connection was out all last night, and that gave me some time to comment on and critique the list. I found one glaring omission as well, the wired web that enables many of the other technologies on the list. See my comments at aworldofhelp.com

Ipod Overrated?

Published 2005-04-11 12:35 by Newsfactory 1

For a tech toy praised for up and down as being the "best" MP3 player, how has everyone managed to miss its shortcomings?

Advice for the Record Industry @ eCoustics

Published 2005-04-08 17:13 by Newsfactory 1

Who hasn't heard the recent horror stories about students being sued by the RIAA for downloading music? This tactic won't work. Suing consumers has gained headlines, but it will not reenergize the music industry. To grow, the record industry must shed its legacy business models and respond to how its customers want to obtain and experience music.

Mass Confusion Rules the Graphics Market

Published 2005-04-08 16:29 by Newsfactory 3

I don?t know about you, but I?ve had enough with the games ATI and NVIDIA are playing with their customers these days. Yes, I am referring to the abundance of X800 series, X850 series and 6800 series products that are "flooding" the market. I am sure you got a whiff of what I am trying to imply by placing the word flooding in quotes.

P2P Web Hosting Could Solve Bandwidth and Security Problems

Published 2005-04-05 12:08 by Newsfactory 0

This article takes a look at some uses P2P could be put to in the web hosting industry as a defense of innovation and as a creative stab at solving some common problems web hosts face.

How long before Apple?s OS X becomes Microsoft Windows?

Published 2005-03-26 12:00 by Newsfactory 0

Microsoft Windows has been and always will be the target for malicious code writers (hackers) due to its popularity in the market. After all, Windows accounts for as many as 90 percent of the machines globally, which makes it an obvious target for hackers. There has been an abundance of worms and viruses (among other attack schemes) that sometimes makes Windows a miserable platform. It?s not entirely Microsoft?s fault, since almost all software contain vulnerabilities especially the more complex programs, but in a large sense the buck stops with the software giant.

Can anyone beat Apple?s iPod?

Published 2005-03-23 17:25 by Newsfactory 0

Apple Computer, Inc. announced its iPod music player few years ago. Until then Apple was hardly a known company amongst regular computing users, due to the company?s high-end Macintosh computers that were based on OS X, a completely new and unfamiliar platform to many users.

Open-Source Alternatives to Windows Programs

Published 2005-03-22 11:46 by Newsfactory 0

You may be thinking of switching to Linux. What's holding you back? Is it that you are worried that you won't be able to perform X task effectively? Maybe you think that you won't be able to use Linux effectively because your favorite programs are not available. You might think that your carefully collected music collection will become unmanageable, or you won't be able to watch DVDs and other movies on your computer. Do you believe that MSN Messenger only works on Windows? Do you think that Bit-torrent is not possible? If so, this article is meant for you.

Why Adblock is bad for the "free" Internet

Published 2005-03-20 12:31 by Newsfactory 11

I can understand and sympathize with the general distaste for pop-up advertisements. They are obstructive and annoying. But I do not sympathize with the distaste of standard banner advertisements that pay for all the free content we currently enjoy.

What happened to the classic games?

Published 2005-03-19 18:42 by Newsfactory 2

Since 1990 I have been playing Computer games. Today I had a yearning feeling... and I asked myself: ?Why am I not seeing classic games anymore??

Games like: Syndicate, Police Quest, Gabriel knight, Another World and games like these. These games are inscribed in my memory. Even with the poor graphics and sounds comparing to today?s standard they left a mark in my life.

Read the entire article at NGOHQ.com

Apple Discovers 2nd Finger with 2-Button Mouse

Published 2005-03-18 11:37 by Newsfactory 0

There are rumors spreading around that suggest Apple plans to reveal a two-button mouse to Macintosh users sometime soon. It?s about time Apple finally made this idea a reality and realize the importance of a two-button mouse for converting Windows users. The first problem Windows users face when switching to Macintosh is that the inherent limitations of a single-button mouse quite literally drives them insane.

DDR Development Continues On 600MHz and Up

Published 2005-03-17 13:48 by Newsfactory 0

We?ve been following the DDR industry with quite an interest ever since memory makers announced low-latency modules that were equipped with Samsung?s TCCD chips. Yes, those were exciting times for all enthusiasts. However, certain companies kept telling us that DDR is probably not going to move forward, due to the clock speed hindrance of the actual chips. They told us not to expect anything major from DDR.

The Future of Air-Cooling

Published 2005-03-17 00:04 by Newsfactory 0

Remember the golden days when microprocessors did not require high performance coolers? The lower clock speeds and simpler architectures, at least for the most part, produced reasonable heat that could be dealt with by quiet stock coolers. Now, if we were to focus our attention on air-cooling for enthusiasts, designs for air coolers have also changed drastically over the years.

When Will Ugly Computer Cases Disappear?

Published 2005-03-09 13:21 by Newsfactory 0

A few years ago when companies began introducing their pre-modded computer cases, it is safe to say that the majority of the enthusiast community was quite excited to see something unique being brought to the market.

Silicon Insider: R.I.P. Microsoft?

Published 2005-02-12 14:42 by Newsfactory 5

After Dominating the Technology Industry for Years, is Microsoft Poised to Collapse?

The Overuse of HijackThis

Published 2005-02-12 13:49 by Newsfactory 0

I would consider HijackThis a specialized Spyware detection tool for specific last resort type circumstances. However it is being widely used and recommended online as the only correct way to remove Spyware and irresponsibly Viruses. As usual the elitists will try to make everything more complicated then it is or needs to be.

Popular Technology

Why Does Windows Still Suck?

Published 2005-02-05 17:24 by Newsfactory 6

Why do PC users put up with so many viruses and worms? Why isn't everyone on a Mac?

SFGate

Firefox - A New Religion?

Published 2005-01-30 12:48 by Newsfactory 5

http://poptech.blogspot.com/

Is Firefox a bad web browser? No. Is it the next coming of the Almighty? According to some it would seem that way. It is one thing recommending a program, it is entirely another to preach about something as if you were part of a religious cult.

Boring Year for Desktop Hard Drives

Published 2005-01-16 23:30 by Newsfactory 0

One of the most uninteresting topics of discussion, when it comes to PC components, are hard drives. This particular field in the computing industry simply doesn?t move at the same pace as other system components.