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Apr 01

Raspberry Pi sells out at $25 a pop (in the USA)

Less than a day after the least expensive iteration of the miniature stripped-down computer known as Raspberry Pi was formally introduced to the US market, it’s been sold out. This machine is only being offered (or was only being offered, rather) in the USA by the retailer known as Allied Electronics, and they’ve let it be known that they’ve currently sold out of the unit – but there’s a catch. According to TechCrunch, the retailer may have only had about 70 units to sell in the first place!

At the moment you’ll find that though there are no Raspberry Pi units left for sale in the $25 category, the slightly higher-powered $35 USD edition can still be picked up for its normal price. According to the Allied Electronics sales page for the $25 edition:

“Due to limited supply of the Raspberry Pi Model A, we are not offering preorders or backorders on the product at this time. The Raspberry Pi Model A will only be available for purchase when we have inventory on hand to fill the order. We regret this inconvenience and sincerely thank you for your patience.” – Allied Electronics

If you’ve been looking for this device over the past few weeks, you’ll know all to well that it’s been for sale in both Europe and Asia for some time, the most recent release happening here in the USA with about as much fervor surrounding it as any far more expensive PC. When you’ve got the ability to compute on a device that’s the size of a credit card that also costs less than a night on the town, units are bound to move!

You’ll be interested to know that the $35 Raspberry Pi remains available at many retailers throughout the USA. Stake your claim right this minute!

Have a peek at the timeline below to see more information on the Raspberry Pi miniature computer (and its many offshoots) and be sure to head to the Raspberry Pi tag portal for more sweet berry action through the future. Would you purchase one of these little firecrackers if you had the chance?

Raspberry Pi sells out at $25 a pop (in the USA) is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apr 01

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: the one April Fool we wish wasn’t

Posted in: Today's Chili

If there’s one single joke we’ve seen today that’s so radical and excellent that we’d rather see the real product than laugh at the trick, it’s the DLC for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. In an effort to bring us back to the 1990′s, a magical time when .gif images were used as webpage decorations, the folks behind this fantastic webspace have created a site, a teaser video, and more pixelated greatness than you can shake a joystick at – enter the Blood Dragon!

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With this presentation today we’ve seen as many people suggesting it’s a real-deal presentation as we have people saying it’s a joke. At the moment there’s no “official” word from Ubisoft, but given the build-up to this moment, we must assume it’s either going to represent one of the most daring downloadable additions to a game in recent memory OR we’re going to see a real DLC (long awaited, either way) rather soon. We’re certainly hoping for the former.

NOTE: See our full 2013 April Fool’s Day roundup now for every one of the most wild and crazy tricks tossed out today!

As noted by Gamespot, there’s already a Brazilian classification rating for the game as well as notes for the title (Blood Dragon and everything) being ready for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC soon! If you’ve been waiting anxiously for this title, you also know that Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot has made it clear that you’ll have it in your hands soon.

““Fans certainly won’t have to wait for more years for the next Far Cry.” – Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot”

Also according to Gamespot, Far Cry 3 lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem let it be known that what he was working on “will be surprising” when it’s announced. He added that, “it definitely is a ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ thing.” Could it be that this game is both a joke and a real release in one? Again, we certainly hope so!

“The year is 2007. It is the future. Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution: a powerful bioweapon on a distant island. A Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on.”

Have a peek at the Far Cry 3 BLOOD DRAGON official webpage right this minute and decide for yourself. Don’t forget, too, that you’ll want to enter the Konami code to get a special treat! Hint: it involves a sweet GIF!

If the website does happen to go down some day, we’ll not want to be lacking such excellence, even if only in screenshot form. Have a peek at the tiny gallery below to see what this monster is (and perhaps in the future was) all about!

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: the one April Fool we wish wasn’t is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apr 01

Roadrunner Supercomputer Gets Decommissioned

Posted in: Today's Chili

Supercomputers are incredible pieces of technology with thousands of processors, terabytes of memory, and often hundreds of terabytes of storage as well. Back in 2008, the fastest supercomputer in the world was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, called the Roadrunner. At the time, it was the first computer to ever pass the petaflop barrier.

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A petaflop is 1 million billion calculations per second. But that’s no longer considered that fast, and this aging supercomputer was officially decommissioned yesterday after being operational for five years. Roadrunner was a hybrid supercomputer featuring 6563 dual-core AMD processors each linked to a special PowerXCell 8i processor that was originally designed for the PlayStation 3.

roadrunner supercomputer 2

One of the biggest projects that Roadrunner was used for was the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program. When used in that program, Roadrunner provided key computer simulations for the Stockpile Stewardship Program that had to do with the US nuclear deterrent.

While the computer has been officially decommissioned, for the next month the supercomputer will be used to perform experiments on operating system memory compression techniques and that helped design the future of capacity cluster computers. After that month, Roadrunner will be taken apart.

Why don’t they just put it up on eBay?

Apr 01

Windows continues to dominate PC shares with 8 on the upswing

Posted in: Today's Chili

This week the latest NetMarketShare report has been revealed, showing Windows to continue to dominate PC operating system shares in general, with Windows 8 coming up slowly but steadily. In the information presented today, you’ll find that back when Windows 8 was released – back at the tail-end of 2012, not that long ago – the one operating system here that did not take a significant downward turn (or continue to lose popularity), was Apple’s own OS X. That said, Windows 7′s overtake of Windows XP back several months before Windows 8 arrived places it in the coveted “trusted by businesses” category – Windows 8 doesn’t seem to have gained that badge quite yet.

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Another term for what Windows 7 has become, as ZD-Net notes, is Long-Term Support, with Windows XP losing that role at the precise moment Windows 7 took the throne. Now it’ll be several years before Windows 8 takes over 7. With Windows 8 out now and, according to NetMarketShare, appearing to grow in popularity at roughly the same rate Windows 7 did back in 2009, we’ll likely see a business must-use marker in about 3 years.

NetMarketShare currently places each of the top operating systems used at the following market shares – note how Microsoft still essentially dominates the market.

• Windows 7 – 44.73 percent share
• Windows XP – 38.73 percent share
• OS X – 6.9 percent share
• Windows Vista – 4.99 percent share
• Windows 8 – 3.31 percent share
• Linux – 1.2 percent share

Have a peek at other NetMarketShare reports from the past few months and years to see how they’ve tracked not only desktop operating systems, but mobile devices as well. Right this minute, Microsoft is rolling with 91.8 percent of the desktop OS market. It’ll be interesting to see where they are in a few years time – at this rate, they’ll be basically in the same place as they are here – no worries!

Windows continues to dominate PC shares with 8 on the upswing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apr 01

World’s first petaflop supercomputer gets decommissioned

Posted in: Today's Chili

IBM has been producing some of the best performing supercomputers in the world for a number of years. In fact, back in 2008 and 2009 IBM developed and launched a supercomputer called Roadrunner. This supercomputer was the first to be able to operate at sustained performance in the petaflop range.

IBM_Roadrunner

The computer was installed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory where it has been in use for the last five years. Yesterday, the laboratory officially decommissioned Roadrunner. The supercomputer has 12,960 IBM PowerXCell 8i processors and 6480 AMD Opteron dual-core processors.

Those processors shared 114 TB of memory and about 1.09 million TB of storage. The supercomputer isn’t being completely dismantled, researchers will continue to utilize the machine and its impressive power for various experiments. These experiments will include things such as determining the methods for compressing operating system memory and optimizing data routing.

With Roadrunner being decommissioned from research duties, scientists and other researchers can now use the computer for projects that couldn’t have been done while the supercomputer was being used for research projects. The computer is housed in 6000 ft.² of space and cost $125 million to build. Roadrunner may not be fast enough for the scientists and researchers at Los Alamos, but the computer is still incredibly fast and sits at number 22 on the list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. The computer gulps power needing 2345 kW when running full tilt. Modern supercomputers need significantly less power to achieve significantly more performance.

[via PCMag]

World’s first petaflop supercomputer gets decommissioned is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apr 01

Michael Dell wants his job guaranteed to consider Blackstone Group offer

Posted in: Today's Chili

We have followed the story behind Michael Dell and partners trying to purchase Dell Inc. and take the computer company private. Some of the major stockholders and Dell, which is currently a publicly traded company, balked at the offer made for all outstanding shares of Dell Inc. by Michael Dell and Silver Lake among others. Michael Dell personally owns 15.6% of Dell Inc. making him the single largest shareholder.

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The board of Dell Inc. opted to entertain other competitive offers and one of the offers that came in is from a company called Blackstone Group. Michael Dell is using that 15.6% of Dell Inc. that he owns as leverage to help keep his job should one the other companies complete the purchase of Dell. According to sources who claim to be familiar with the negotiations Michael Dell has threatened to cash in is 15.6 percent stake in the company and walk away leaving Dell Inc. with a $4.5 billion hole in its financing if any deal considered bars him from involvement with the company.

The source claims that Blackstone believed Michael Dell wouldn’t participate in a buyout with the firm and perceived him as hostile to the Blackstone proposal. However, the source claims that Blackstone now believes that there is a possibility that Michael Dell would drop out of their joint bid to back an alternative proposal. Michael Dell reportedly didn’t inform Silver Lake of meetings he held with Blackstone.

Some believe that offers from Blackstone and billionaire investor Carl Icahn will be superior to the offer Dell and his backers made of $13.65 per share. The Blackstone offer reportedly values Dell at over $14.25 per share. The deal backed by Ichan would pay $15 per share in cash for his much is 58.1% of Dell stock.

[via Bloomberg]

Michael Dell wants his job guaranteed to consider Blackstone Group offer is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apr 01

Raspberry Pi Model A now available for $25

Posted in: Today's Chili

The Raspberry Pi has been around for a long time now and has been used in some really cool projects by DIY enthusiasts around the world. When the device launched it sold for $35 for the original Model B. A cheaper version of the device called the Model A is now available to purchase in the US and is priced at $10 less than the original.

Model-A-1024x709-580x401

The device is available now for $25 and has a decent amount of processing power for all sorts of projects. The Model A consumes about one third less power than the Model B and was envisioned for low-power consuming projects. The $10 discount does come with some notable changes in hardware compared to the Model B.

The Model A has 256 MB of RAM, a single USB 2.0 port, and has no Ethernet port. The board is designed to run the Linux operating system and has a built-in HDMI port. The board has a SD memory card port and a 3.5 mm audio output. The device also features a HD video camera connector for the Raspberry Pi specific camera.

The processor on the small board runs at 700 MHz. It appears that $25 Model A is currently out of stock at most sellers. The board measures 85.6 x 53.9 x 17 mm, and enclosures as well as other accessories and add-ons are available to go along with the Raspberry Pi to complete your project. The Model A was only available in Europe previously.

[via Techcrunch]

Raspberry Pi Model A now available for $25 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mar 29

Diablo III’s next big “oops”

Posted in: Today's Chili

This week it’s been revealed that Blizzard Entertainment’s own Diablo III will be coming to the PlayStation 4 without access to the Real Money Auction House still present in the desktop PC iteration. Though this might have some odd effects on those hoping to play the game with access to weapons, armor, and everything in-between with their own real-world cash, Blizzard is presenting a firm “not a chance” as they suggest that, if they could, they’d take the whole mess out of the game entirely.

getcash

If you have a travel down our Diablo III tag portal, you find a series of stories that are just as often negative and full of disappointment as they are exciting and action-packed. This release was one of the most long-awaited in the history of gaming, with 8 years separating the second installment of the series (Diablo II in 2000) and the announcement of this title.

Though Diablo III was first announced in 2008, it was only actually released to the public on May 15th, 2012. That’s one massive amount of time for a game to be in development, especially with the 5-minutes-of-fame atmosphere we’re in now. Then there’s the bits and pieces that Blizzard has had to change right from the outset. Today’s big kicker is the announcement from former Diablo 3 Game Director Jay Wilson.

“Most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold.”

Speaking with Joystiq this week about Diablo III’s real money action house, he suggested that the feature has “really hurt the game.” According to Wilson, over 50 percent of the players that play regularly use the auction house, while most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold rather than with real cash.

Because of this gold use, not necessarily the real money, motivation to collect gold and broken items (otherwise useless, able to be sold in the game to virtual vendors for gold), have become far more popular goals for users. There’s simply not as much junk everywhere anymore – Diablo II continues to be a massive mess of item drops and coins.

“I think we would turn it off if we could, [but it’s] not as easy as that.” – Wilson

Citing the near-impossible task of figuring out how much of the Diablo III user population wants the auction house to stick around or be kicked to the curb, Wilson was clear on one point: they are looking for a “solution.” A solution to what, exactly, we might never know.

Mar 29

Weekend Watching: 1985 “Computer Chronicles” discusses the all-new Macintosh

Posted in: Today's Chili

Back when Apple’s first Macintosh computer was introduced, there was an explosion of interest from not just geeks and nerds, but “the rest of us” too – that’s what this television program explores. What you’re about to see is an episode of the legendary Computer Chronicles, a show here dug up from the archives by Wired for your enjoyment. This episode goes by the name “MACINTOSH”, was directed by NICHOLS, and is program number 210, and is approximately 29:03 in length – there’s even a countdown beeper before it begins!

players

Obviously when there’s a program this old all about computers, even when it’s all “retro” and funny because of it, there’s some level of understanding you must have so far as how excited everyone seems about now-ancient tools and features. What’s particularly interesting about this video is how simple the presenters make each of the terms included in the still relatively new concept of visual computing.

What you’re going to learn is how the Apple Macintosh computer made working with a computer at home – or at school, or in the office – a reality for those that otherwise would never have considered using a computer. While the difference between working only with lines of code and working with pictures and renderings of objects wasn’t brand new at the time, the solidification of that kind of thinking was certainly taking place.

You’ll find that the Macintosh they’re working with here in the program was launched with two applications – one for typing (MacWrite), the other for drawing with your mouse (MacPaint). By the time this program had been filmed, as they say “the number of Mac products has skyrocketed, and now numbers in the hundreds.”

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So consider this your mission for this weekend – see if you or one of your friends or family members would like to learn how computers work at their most basic. The talks here are applicable even to our most advanced systems – see how they make the magic happen now! And make sure you grab your healthy helping of Easter ham or otherwise non-denominational feast with the future on your mind!

BONUS: Save a collection of episodes lost to time for whatever reason, there’s a massive amount of episodes of Computer Chronicles up in the Internet Archive for your perusal now as well. More computer knowledge from the 1980s than you’ll know what to do with!

Have a peek at a few more “Weekend Watching” posts below to see how they ring your bell!

Mar 29

VIZIO touch PCs and Notebooks grab Full HD and 2013 price list

Posted in: Today's Chili

If you were thinking about picking up a VIZIO notebook or PC in the near future – wait just a second! They’ve just released the full lineup in Full HD mode with touchscreen interactivity and Windows 8! Of course while some of their lineup had one or two of these features before, now you can rest easy – greatness is here for all!

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You’ll be seeing several different lineups here, each of them delivering the sleek metal looks and attention to detail we were so impressed by when we first reviewed one of their PCs last year (that was right before they switched over to touch!) Now you’ll want to head down to the timeline below to see all the touchscreen action and up-close-and-personal looks and touches we’ve had with these devices at CES 2013 before we go on a review rampage – make it so!

VIZIO All-in-One models

24-inch All-in-One Touch The smaller of the two options here is the first available for pre-order in Microsoft’s online store. You’ll find that this model brings on the more conservative (just by a bit!) display size complete with dual HDMI input, enhanced 2.1 audio system with subwoofer, and wireless controls – you’ll get a remote control for your entertainment bits and pieces, a multi-gesture touchpad, and a keyboard, too! Have a peek at our early review of the pre-touch iteration of the 24-inch All-in-one now! This model will sell for USD $1,279.99.

27-inch All-in-One Touch The one big difference between the 24- and 27-inch models here is the size of the display. They’ve both got the same number of inputs and outputs and all that good stuff, same accessories in the box and the same massive HD 1080p touchscreen technology at your disposal. This 27-inch model will sell for USD $1,549.99.

VIZIO Notebooks

14-inch HD+ Thin + Light Touch The smaller of the two new models we’ve got here has a 14-inch HD+ display and options for either AMD (A10 APU) or Intel (Core i7) processors. This model starts at USD $1,089.99.

15.6-inch Full HD Thin + Light Touch This is the top-of-the-line offering in laptop technology from VIZIO, bringing on Full HD on a 15.6-inch display also with the same quad-core processor options that the 14-inch model is available with: either AMD (A10 APU) or Intel (Core i7). You’ll also find this model available for pre-order now in Microsoft’s online store! This larger version will start at USD $1,189.99.

Included with each

All VIZIO machines here work with advanced Wi-Fi with 802.11ac (that’s the newest generation able to offer up to three times faster delivery of data past 802.11n.) They’ve all got 10-finger touchscreen technology up front, SRS Premium Sound HD audio systems with no less than DTS technology making it all roll right, and Microsoft Signature for Windows. With Microsoft Signature you’ve got a clean install of Windows 8 – no bloat-ware at all!

Sound like the lineup for you? Let us know if you’re planning to go all the way with VIZIO this season!

UPDATE: Comprehensive price list

We’ve now got the full list of prices as they’ll appear straight through the VIZIO online store immediately if not soon!

14” Touch Thin + Light (CT14T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,089.99 MSRP
14” Touch Thin + Light (CT14T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,419.99 MSRP
15.6” Touch Thin + Light (CT15T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,189.99 MSRP
15.6” Touch Thin + Light (CT15T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,469.99 MSRP
24” Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,279.99 MSRP
24” Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,439.99 MSRP
27” Touch All-in-One (CA27T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,549.99 MSRP

14″ Touch Thin + Light (CT14T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,089.99 MSRP
14″ Touch Thin + Light (CT14T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,419.99 MSRP
15.6″ Touch Thin + Light (CT15T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,189.99 MSRP
15.6″ Touch Thin + Light (CT15T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,469.99 MSRP
24″ Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B0) AMD A10 APU $1,279.99 MSRP
24″ Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,439.99 MSRP
27″ Touch All-in-One (CA27T-B1) Intel Core i7 $1,549.99 MSRP

Hasta La Gadget!

Raspberry Pi sells out at $25 a pop (in the USA)

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: the one April Fool we wish wasn’t

Roadrunner Supercomputer Gets Decommissioned

Windows continues to dominate PC shares with 8 on the upswing

World’s first petaflop supercomputer gets decommissioned

Michael Dell wants his job guaranteed to consider Blackstone Group offer

Raspberry Pi Model A now available for $25

Diablo III’s next big “oops”

Weekend Watching: 1985 “Computer Chronicles” discusses the all-new Macintosh