Oct 24

Dell Studio Laptops Get Some Mac-Like Qualities

Posted in: Laptops, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 26, 2008 by CyberNet.

dell dock.jpg

Dell has a launched a new line of laptop computers dubbed Dell Studio that has raised a few eyebrows. The laptops ship with Windows Vista which isn’t surprising, but the thing that made Gizmodo do a double-take was the Mac-like dock that appeared on the desktop. The dock is used as a way to remove some of the icons from the user’s desktop, and can be customized in a variety of ways (color, location, etc…). Plus you can add your own shortcuts to it.

After a little searching around I came across this article from Notebook Review that was just posted today. That’s where I got the screenshot from at the beginning of the article, and as you can see each main icon serves as a folder for your shortcuts. That way you can group your related shortcuts, and therefore steer clear of cluttering up the dock itself.

The Dell Studio line also includes backlit keyboards, which happens to be one of the biggest features that drew me to the MacBook Pro. That way when you’re in a low-light environment, such as a presentation, you’ll still be able to see the keys on your keyboard. I had been wondering for awhile why Apple was one of the only laptop manufacturers to offer this feature, and so I applaud Dell for offering this.

dell backlit keyboard.jpg

I’m sure there will be a lot of Mac fanatics criticizing Dell for including these features will their Studio laptops, but the dock they designed actually looks pretty good. The dock isn’t very Apple-like if you ask me, but there will be plenty of other people who will disagree. I wonder if they will be rolling these two things out to their other laptops?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 24

Windows Home Server for $190 on Newegg

Posted in: Microsoft, Newly Released, Release Date, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on October 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Windows Home Server Newegg just setup the Windows Home Server product page, and they will be selling the OEM version for $190 starting October 12th. Microsoft will not be selling a retail version of this in stores, so OEM is the only way you can get it besides for buying a pre-built Home Server device. Because it is OEM there is no fancy packaging and it doesn’t include much (if any) paperwork, so don’t be disappointed if all you receive is a CD and serial number when you order it.

There’s also supposed to be a 120-day evaluation version on the horizon, but there has been no news of that yet. Here’s a list of the requirements needed if you decide to roll your own:

  • 1.0 GHz Intel Pentium 3 (or equivalent) processor
  • 512 MB RAM memory
  • 80 GB internal hard drive as primary drive
  • 100 Mbit/s wired Ethernet

Extremely positive reviews are already starting to roll in on the Newegg Home Server page from a small handful of people who had been testing the operating system. One comment in particular caught my attention:

I was lucky enough to beta this and it has become indispensible. It is a lot more than just a NAS [Network Attached Storage] box sitting on my network, the silent backup of host PCs is awesome and the simplicity of install and use is somewhat of a shock compared to most MS server products. Apple would have been proud to release something this intuitive! Amazingly for a v1 Microsoft product it has behaved flawlessly from day one and the ability to access all my host PCs and documents from anywhere in the world is something I now consider absolutely essential. I can’t wait for v2.0!

If you don’t feel like building your own then just hold out for one of the many third-party solutions that will be coming from Fujitsu-Siemens, Gateway, HP, Iomega, Lacie and Medion. The most prominently advertised has been the HP MediaSmart computer starting at $599 with 500GB of storage.

So who plans on building their own Home Server, and who’s going to pick up one of the third-party options?

Newegg Windows Home Server
Windows Home Server Website
Source: Windows Connected

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 22

A New SimCity is in the Works!

Posted in: gaming, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 10, 2007 by CyberNet.

There is some fun on the horizon for SimCity fans as news beings to break of a new version. The new game will be called SimCity Societies, and if keeping with their 4-year release cycle it should be available some time this year. And the graphics, well, if you’ve played SimCity before I’m sure you would say that they have improved:

Simcity Societies
Click to Enlarge

I used to play SimCity all of the time ever since I got addicted to SimCity 2000 back when it was released in 1995. Oh come on, don’t pretend like you don’t remember the game. It was the one with self-contained Arcologies that could hold hundreds of thousands of people, and the riots that would never leave you alone. And you can’t forget about taxes…if you raise them people leave your city, and if you lower them you go bankrupt. Ahh the memories:

SimCity 2000

So now I have to prepare for this new version. I own them all so far…I think I still even have the SimCity 2000 box and "guide to winning" stashed away somewhere. I’m a little worried though, because SimCity 4 was pretty tough compared to the other versions. There was so much to manage that it became difficult a lot of times and I ended up failing. So I’m sure SimCity Societies will at least be equally as hard.

The downside to this? Maxis isn’t the one developing the game. The reins have now been handed over to Tilted Mill Entertainment who, according to the President of Tilted Mill, have changed the game a little bit:

This SC is not a realistic urban simulation, which I understand, to many, represents the heart of what SC is. No one is blind to that. And if you’re just completely turned off, even angered by the mere notion of any game called "SimCity" that is not a detailed, realistic urban simulator, I absolutely understand that viewpoint, and absolutely respect it.

…and he then went on to say:

So I must make it crystal clear that, like all SimCity games, this game is a city-building game. It is a city-building simulation. It is a city simulation. It is an urban simulation game. It is a game in which you build cities. Its focus is not on realism and detail (but that’s not to say it lacks those things either).

I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. I’ve always had fun building a "realistic" city, but it looks like that could be changing. :(

Source: 1Up [via Joystiq]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 19

Incubator Helps Find Parts for Building a Computer

Posted in: Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on July 14, 2008 by CyberNet.

incubator.jpg

Anyone that has ever built a computer knows what a time consuming process it can be to find and price out all of the different parts that you need. The PC Incubator site wants to help ease the burden of finding the best parts by laying them all out in an easy-to-configure fashion.

Once you visit the site the first thing that you’ll notice is that all of the products listed on the page come directly from Newegg. They pull in the top three parts from each of the categories, and then you can go through selecting which ones you actually want. When you’re done configuring your custom built computer you can see the total price in the right column, and then adding all of the items to your Newegg cart takes just one more click.

One of the more useful aspects of the site would be the price history aggregation which pulls in price data for each of the items so that you can see if the price might go down. A good example I found was with a Logitech Speaker system. I had taken this screenshot on July 10th, and as you can see the price on the previous day was $15 less which means I might want to hold out on the purchase:

incubator history.jpg

I think the site is very well laid out, and it almost feels like you’re configuring a computer at Dell. The only difference is that you’ll be getting all of the individual parts so that you can build your own PC.

The only thing that I don’t like about Incubator is that it only retrieves the top three items in each of the different categories. Clicking on a “See more” link just takes you to the Newegg site, which means you’ll no longer have access to things like the price history. If you’re looking to purchase the most popular items, however, this can be a handy little tool.

PC Incubator Homepage
Thanks Jeremy!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 15

Apple Error Reveals 8-core Mac Pro

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, Today's Chili

This article was written on March 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

A nice surprise recently appeared on the online UK Apple Store that confirms what people have been saying all along. Late last night and early today while searching for “Mac Pro,” the first result displayed an option that said “Now quad-core or 8–core processing power.”The image below is a screenshot of the listing from Tuaw.com who managed to get there before it was taken down.

Applequad

Not too long after the buzz started to get around the Web, the entire UK store went down which tells us this wasn’t intentional, and when it came back up the listing was gone. When Intel announced their quad core processor, it was clear that at some point someone would make the move and introduce computers with 8–core processing power.

Apple is probably really close to releasing the 8–core as expected. It was just last month that MacScoop reported that along with the black 24–inch iMac, there would also be the 8–core Mac Pro coming in March sometime.

People have been waiting for this option for months, and soon they’ll be able to get all 8 cores.

Just for fun I decided to configure the most expensive Mac Pro possible, and it turned out one seriously loaded computer at a grand total of $18,125.00. Once the 8–core is available, I wonder if we can push it over $20,000? :) (Specs below)

  • Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
  • (4) 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drives
  • 16GB (8 x 2GB) of memory
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI)
  • (2) Apple Cinema HD Display (30″ flat panel)
  • Plus general accessories that they offer like keyboard/wireless mighty mouse

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 10

CyberNotes: Reset a Windows Password

Posted in: CyberNotes, Freeware, Microsoft, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP

This article was written on September 06, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

Post-it Note on Monitor with PasswordHow many times have you seen someone take a post-it note, write their password on it, and slap it to their monitor? Unfortunately this type of thing is more of a common occurrence than it should be, but the problem is that people can never remember their darn passwords!

Windows has a built-in feature that is made for situations just like this. It lets a user create a password reset "disk" that can be used to change the password in the event that they forget it. The "disk" can be a floppy, USB drive, iPod, or any external drive. It takes less than a minute to create, and believe me…this can save you a ton of time!

Of course by the time you come across this article it will probably be too late, and you’ll want to reset the Windows password without a disk. If that’s the case then I’ve put together a small section at the end of this article dedicated to "cracking" the Windows password.

–Creating a Password Reset Disk–

Instructions on creating a password reset disk in Windows XP can be found here. Here’s what you have to do if you’re running Vista:

  1. Open the start menu and start to type "User Accounts" in the search box.
    Reset a Windows Password
  2. In the window that pops up choose the "Create a password reset disk" under the Tasks heading in the left pane.
    Reset a Windows Password - User Accounts
  3. A wizard will now walk you through creating a password reset disk. After you get by the first screen you’ll be presented with a drop-down menu that lists the available devices that can successfully be used. It has to be some sort of removable media, such as a floppy disk, USB drive, or even your iPod.
    Reset a Windows Password Wizard Reset a Windows Password Device
  4. Next just enter in your current Windows password, and then you’ll be done. If you check the device that you used for the reset disk there should be a hidden file called userkey.psw.
    Reset a Windows Password File

–Using a Password Reset Disk–

Like most things in life, the advanced preparations you made by creating a password reset disk can really pay off. To use the disk just insert it into your computer, and then try to login as if you knew the password. Windows will tell you that the password is incorrect, and when you return to the login screen there will be a "Reset password" option located under the password field. That will initiate a wizard that will guide you through the steps needed to create a new password.

Note: Your current password reset disk is still valid even after changing your password.

Reset a Windows Password
Click to Enlarge

–Don’t Have a Password Reset Disk?–

Unfortunately by the time you realize that you can create a password reset disk it’s normally too late. There are some solutions, which I’ll outline here, but for obvious reasons none of them are going to be very easy.

  • Using a Windows XP loophole – You can launch the user account management while performing a repair on the operating system since you can access the command prompt. This is definitely the route I would go if I was running XP, but make sure you follow the instructions closely.
  • Cracking a Vista or XP password using Ophcrack – This is an application that you burn to CD, and it will boot up with your computer. You’ll need to give your computer some "alone time" depending on the strength of your password.
  • Login Recovery for NT, 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista – This is actually a service, and it requires that you download an application to put on a floppy that will retrieve your password file. You then send your password file to them, and they will decode it. There’s a 98.5% chance that it can be done in less than 10-minutes, but you’ll have to pay some money if you want it that soon. Otherwise they have a free service available, and with that you’ll get the password within 48-hours.

–Overview–

I highly recommend that you create a password reset disk if you haven’t done so already. I did it for all of my computers since I can just use a USB drive as the storage medium. You’re probably pretty confident that you won’t forget your password, but who knows, it could happen.

This might also be useful to backup passwords for friends and family who may often forget these types of things. I might start doing that because then they don’t have to worry about putting a darn post-it note on the desk with their password! Maybe they would also create a password that is more secure, too.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 02

Best Buy Loses Computer, Woman Files $54 Million Lawsuit

Posted in: General, Laptops, lawsuit, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 18, 2008 by CyberNet.

best buy If you were to take your computer to a repair shop and they ended up losing it, what would you say is fair compensation? I’d say at least the amount it cost to purchase the laptop in the first place, and then maybe a little extra to cover the hassle and time it took to get it replaced would be fair. One woman, Raelyn Campbell has a completely different idea of what fair compensation should be – $54 million.

Campbell purchased a laptop from Best Buy and bought the extended warranty. A year later, the power button broke off and so she took advantage of the extended warranty and brought the computer in for repairs.  She was told it would be ready in two to six weeks but six weeks came and it wasn’t done yet.  To make a long story short, Best Buy lost the computer and offered her a $900 gift card to compensate even though the computer cost $1100.  Campbell thought about her personal data on the machine and said that the info stored on the computer could lead to an identify theft issue.  Not only that, she said she lost thousands of dollars worth of music and thousands of photos that can’t be replaced.

While Best Buy should have offered her more than $900 given that the computer cost $1100, it seems ridiculous that Campbell is taking Best Buy to court and suing them for $54 million. Her biggest issue was regarding the personal data on the machine and the threat of identify theft. As a consumer, it was her responsibility to make sure she had taken sensitive information off of the computer before sending it in. And when she says she lost thousands of dollars worth of music and photos, it’s hard to feel bad when it was again, her responsibility as a consumer to make sure she had back-ups of those files. She could have easily lost those photos and the music if her hard drive failed.

Of course, this is all just my opinion. So what do you think? Is she right for suing Best Buy? If so, is she right to sue them for $54 million or is that dollar amount a little exaggerated? It wouldn’t be surprising in the least if she got before a judge and he just laughed at her, especially knowing Best Buy is offering her over $4,000 to settle out of court.

Source: MSNBC

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 30

Asus Working on an All-in-one Eee PC?

Posted in: Gadgets, Today's Chili

This article was written on July 02, 2008 by CyberNet.

Last week we got our first glimpse of the Asus Eee Box , an ultra low-cost desktop PC that should be hitting the market soon, and now this week we’re getting a look at an all-in-one computer that Asus is supposedly working on as well. When we say all-in-one, we mean that there is no separate CPU, it’s built right-in to the monitor. Think iMac. Take a look at what it’s expected to look like:

eee monitor.png

Nothing official has been stated about whether this is just a monitor or whether it’s the all-in-one computer that everybody is expecting it to be. LaptopMag points out that it looks as though it’s about 19 or 20 inches and even has a webcam centered at the top. There are also 4 USB ports on the back along with two Ethernet ports, three audio ports and 2 audio-outs. The fact that it has two Ethernet ports is enough to make you assume that it is an all-in-one computer. They say, “If it’s meant to serve as a monitor, it must also double as a docking station, because otherwise there’s no reason to have Ethernet and audio ports.” They also mentioned that it is rumored to have a built-in TV tuner, all for $500. If this turns out to be the case, there’s going to be a lot of people going crazy for it!

Do you think Asus is on the right track by making their Eee line of computers compact and affordable?

Source

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Sep 29

TechCrunch Tablet PC Slowly Coming to Life

Posted in: Gadgets, Linux, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 01, 2008 by CyberNet.

techcrunch tablet.jpg

It was only about 6-weeks ago that TechCrunch decided they wanted to build a $200 web tablet, and they were trying to recruit all of the talent they could to get the job done. The image above is showing off the first prototype that has been assembled, but it won’t be nearly as thick as what you see:

Prototype A has been built. It’s in a temporary aluminum case that a local sheet metal shop put together for us that’s at least twice as thick as it needs to be, but the hardware has been defined and is nearing lockdown. We booted the machine in the case for the first time today, accessed the Wifi network and were able to navigate a web page via the touch screen.

They haven’t given out any of the hardware specs for the prototype, but I know they were shooting for 512MB of RAM and a 4GB Solid State Drive. The screen will be either 10 or 12 inches, but which one will likely depend on how much they need to lower costs in order to hit the $200 price point. All of this will be wrapped up with Linux using Firefox as the web browser of choice.

Unfortunately they didn’t put together a video demonstration of the unit working, but I’m sure it’s still pretty rough around the edges. I wonder how long it will be until we actually see one of these babies running in a slim and sleek casing?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 27

Scientists prove that active exploration isn’t required to create memories, +1 for 2D learning

Posted in: education, science, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames

In a small victory for gamers and TV junkies everywhere, scientists found that viewing 2D images helped create long-term memories, meaning that visual media can help your learn. To form lasting memories, nerve cells normally experience “long-term potentiation” and “long-term depression” — both essential for learning. Researchers found that long-term depression was achieved when they let rats actively wander around a new environment. When they replaced the explorable area with a computer screen, the same memory-making phenomenon still occurred. The study’s conclusion? Video games and TV shows can help us learn, similarly to traditional non-electronic methods. Of course, there are concerns that visual media overload could lead to shorter attention spans, interfere with lessons taught at school and… oh look! A cat! Check out the full findings by hitting the source link below.

Scientists prove that active exploration isn’t required to create memories, +1 for 2D learning originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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