Well kind of. I got burned out really quickly blogging so much. But I do really enjoy it. So I am going to try and work in weekly if not bi weekly posts. These posts will contain more substance then my previous posts. I hope everyone has had a great holiday and is ready for a new year to begin soon.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
New Halo ODST Goodness
Two days ago I received a copy of the new Halo 3 ODST game and I have to say WOW. The boys over at Bungie have a long history of releasing truly great games and they definitely did not skimp out on the awesomeness with ODST.
The theatrical game play is a prequel set before Halo 2 on Earth in a post apocalyptic city called New Mombasa. Through this journey you will start out following the story line from the “Rookies” perspective and then bounce around different stories as you pick up clues on your lost comrades. All in all it’s a pretty great story but just like the other Halo games that followed it the over all game play from the story mode is about 14 hours.
The major difference between ODST and earlier Halo games is that you don’t play as the Master Chief but instead as Shock Troup. Due to this you can carry more grenades but you can no longer dual wield.
What really gives this title extended game play is Fire Fight. This is a single or co-op based no holds bar against swarm after swarm of computer generated bad guys. As you keep fighting the enemies keep on getting harder and harder. This is a great option to the standard co-op story line co op from previous games.
Over all I give this 5 out of 5 stars for both the story line and co-op based game play.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Want List - SAMSUNG 63" 1080p 600Hz Plasma HDTV
SAMSUNG 63" 1080p 600Hz Plasma HDTV
What a thing of beauty. I can't wait to be able to mount this TV above my fireplace! The perfect addition or upgrade for a home theatre setup.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
What a thing of beauty. I can't wait to be able to mount this TV above my fireplace! The perfect addition or upgrade for a home theatre setup.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Host a party for Microsoft and get a free copy of Windows 7?
Microsoft is currently taking requests for people to sign up to have their very own Windows 7 Launch party. Currently there are tons of people who have signed up. Now you may be asking your self “why would someone have a party for Windows 7?”. Easy, because they want a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate! Microsoft is offering up a free copy of Windows 7 to anyone who signs up, gets approved and has there friends / loved ones watch them use Windows 7 in late October. So this is a warning to all. If you’re somewhat antisocial geeky friend invites you over for a party in late October make sure he is buying the beer and grub.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Mock Gaming Build
This is a mock gaming computer build. Just to see what kind of stuff is out there currently. I could build a decent gaming machine for quite a bit cheaper but was attempting to go more top of the line for this build.
Mother Board: 127.13
Proc: $167.99
Ram $73.99
Video Card: $154.99
2 Hard Drives $179.99
Case $99.99
Power Supply $99.99
Total 1084.06 + add ons.
I was targeting around $1000 for the core components of this build. I wanted to go fairly top of the line in most categories. The one thing I am not satisfied with is the CAS rating of 6 for the ram. This however was the fastest CAS rating of any DDR3 ram I could find on new egg. Hopefully the increase in bus speed compensates for the ram itself being quite a bit slower then its DDR2 counter part.
Also I could probably cut back and get a slightly cheaper mother board. This board however was a top of the line board not that long ago and the price has dropped dramatically so I felt it was worth the extra 30 dollars. I could not find on the web if this supports RAID or not but I believe it does.
Where this machine really shines is in the hard drives and processor. Reports that this proc will overclock to 4ghz and be stable are out there. I have yet to try itmyself however so be cautious. Also those 2 drives appear to be the fastest out there right now at least at this price point. Having 2 of them striped will allow for blazingly fast load times of games as well as any streaming media in the background.
If I ever manage to build this machine I will provide bench/perf numbers.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Mother Board: 127.13
Proc: $167.99
Ram $73.99
Video Card: $154.99
2 Hard Drives $179.99
Case $99.99
Power Supply $99.99
Total 1084.06 + add ons.
I was targeting around $1000 for the core components of this build. I wanted to go fairly top of the line in most categories. The one thing I am not satisfied with is the CAS rating of 6 for the ram. This however was the fastest CAS rating of any DDR3 ram I could find on new egg. Hopefully the increase in bus speed compensates for the ram itself being quite a bit slower then its DDR2 counter part.
Also I could probably cut back and get a slightly cheaper mother board. This board however was a top of the line board not that long ago and the price has dropped dramatically so I felt it was worth the extra 30 dollars. I could not find on the web if this supports RAID or not but I believe it does.
Where this machine really shines is in the hard drives and processor. Reports that this proc will overclock to 4ghz and be stable are out there. I have yet to try itmyself however so be cautious. Also those 2 drives appear to be the fastest out there right now at least at this price point. Having 2 of them striped will allow for blazingly fast load times of games as well as any streaming media in the background.
If I ever manage to build this machine I will provide bench/perf numbers.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
New Microsoft Tablet
Source
I must admit this piece of hardware comes off as a bit of a surprise. I definately like the look and can't wait to get my hands on one to see what it can do. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can actually open up a new market as opposed to just throwing in a product into an already existing market. It seems that far too often Microsoft is late to market any cool new devices. Although I am sure that this leak will now push Apple or any pottential competitor to push out their product faster simply to beat Microsoft to Market.
If Microsoft does manage to hit the market first I think it will be hard for competitors to enter the market after.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
I must admit this piece of hardware comes off as a bit of a surprise. I definately like the look and can't wait to get my hands on one to see what it can do. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can actually open up a new market as opposed to just throwing in a product into an already existing market. It seems that far too often Microsoft is late to market any cool new devices. Although I am sure that this leak will now push Apple or any pottential competitor to push out their product faster simply to beat Microsoft to Market.
If Microsoft does manage to hit the market first I think it will be hard for competitors to enter the market after.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Mac vs PC Top of the Line
Ok so I was watching TV and saw this Mac commercial.
Pretty clever but really not the full picture. I mean really the girl in this commercial wants a Mac because it is "virus free" and has "less problems". That is almost like wanting a sophmore in high school because they are virus free, or the guy who has NEVER had a gf. Sure they don't have the problems that the experienced male does after being beaten by women over the years, but they also lack that experience. Sure the sex might serve your purposes and feel good but eventually you might want to explore other dimensions and the sophmore just won't be able to go there with you. They simply haven't grown to that level yet. There are not as many plays in their book. Really I feel like I don't need to fill in anymore information there you can do it yourself.
Also note that the experienced male has figured out what a firewall is and how best to scan his hard disk for errors. The security should help protect the user from future issues. Then again it is up to the operator to put up the firewall before going to that furry site.
Eventually, however, it may be possible that the sophmore in high school or the 40 year old virgin will get that same experience and usage that the rest of the population has. When that time comes it will be just as virus ridden and troubled as the hooker on the street corner, well maybe not that bad but you get my point.
So for now enjoy that 8% of the market computer because as soon as they try and do more they will fall victim to the swingers!
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Pretty clever but really not the full picture. I mean really the girl in this commercial wants a Mac because it is "virus free" and has "less problems". That is almost like wanting a sophmore in high school because they are virus free, or the guy who has NEVER had a gf. Sure they don't have the problems that the experienced male does after being beaten by women over the years, but they also lack that experience. Sure the sex might serve your purposes and feel good but eventually you might want to explore other dimensions and the sophmore just won't be able to go there with you. They simply haven't grown to that level yet. There are not as many plays in their book. Really I feel like I don't need to fill in anymore information there you can do it yourself.
Also note that the experienced male has figured out what a firewall is and how best to scan his hard disk for errors. The security should help protect the user from future issues. Then again it is up to the operator to put up the firewall before going to that furry site.
Eventually, however, it may be possible that the sophmore in high school or the 40 year old virgin will get that same experience and usage that the rest of the population has. When that time comes it will be just as virus ridden and troubled as the hooker on the street corner, well maybe not that bad but you get my point.
So for now enjoy that 8% of the market computer because as soon as they try and do more they will fall victim to the swingers!
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
The Want List - Phantom Keystroker V2
ThinkGeek :: Phantom Keystroker V2
Posted using ShareThis
This little device is perfect for some pranks! Perhaps it can be corrupted to follow an even more evil purpose. Who knows!? But what I do know is that at 12.99 this could make a nice stocking stuffer!
Posted using ShareThis
This little device is perfect for some pranks! Perhaps it can be corrupted to follow an even more evil purpose. Who knows!? But what I do know is that at 12.99 this could make a nice stocking stuffer!
Facebook down
Source
Looks like I was not the only one being effected by this outage. Infact it seems that millions of people were being effected. I mean the site being down hit such a large number of people that it actually made the news. The funny thing is I was able to access facebook from another computer.
This is a great example of a Pri 0 issue. The severity of the issue is fairly moderate maybe sev 2 since I was able to get to the site from another machine and use it just like normal. I am sure many of the people who were effected by the issue would have and could have done the same. However since this issue hit so many users, enough to make the news it is definately a Pri 0.
In the case of Facebook I would consider any issue that infects the computer with malicous code, allows users to get phished, or any other general thing that can cause real harm to a person to be sev 1. Not being able to access a site for a while is common and has no real effects other then inconvenience to the users, thus it would be sev 2.
Check out Priority vs Severity for more details.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Looks like I was not the only one being effected by this outage. Infact it seems that millions of people were being effected. I mean the site being down hit such a large number of people that it actually made the news. The funny thing is I was able to access facebook from another computer.
This is a great example of a Pri 0 issue. The severity of the issue is fairly moderate maybe sev 2 since I was able to get to the site from another machine and use it just like normal. I am sure many of the people who were effected by the issue would have and could have done the same. However since this issue hit so many users, enough to make the news it is definately a Pri 0.
In the case of Facebook I would consider any issue that infects the computer with malicous code, allows users to get phished, or any other general thing that can cause real harm to a person to be sev 1. Not being able to access a site for a while is common and has no real effects other then inconvenience to the users, thus it would be sev 2.
Check out Priority vs Severity for more details.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Want List - Optimus Maximus Keyboard
ThinkGeek :: Optimus Maximus Keyboard
Posted using ShareThis
Now this keyboard has it all. Miniture displays behind each key! Who could ask for more customizability? Unfortunately the price tag is the down payment on a new car so this item will probably remain on the want list for a very long time.
Here are a couple videos of the optimus maximus.
Posted using ShareThis
Now this keyboard has it all. Miniture displays behind each key! Who could ask for more customizability? Unfortunately the price tag is the down payment on a new car so this item will probably remain on the want list for a very long time.
Here are a couple videos of the optimus maximus.
Please Welcome Marou and Syrix
I would like to welcome 2 contributers to this blog. I have known Marou and Syrix for going on the better part of a decade now. They will be primarily contributing articles on Computer Security and Linux respectively. Although they are free to write about whatever they want!
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Want List - Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard
ThinkGeek :: Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard
Posted using ShareThis
This little device really brings the future to your home. It has been something seen in Sci Fi films for ages and now it is here. My only question is will it support Dvorak and can I change the color to blue?
Regardless, at the price of 149.99 this little toy is affordable for the truely nerdy and not so nerdy. Just looking at the picture makes me druel with anticipation! I also wonder how it will handle a not so flat surface.
Posted using ShareThis
This little device really brings the future to your home. It has been something seen in Sci Fi films for ages and now it is here. My only question is will it support Dvorak and can I change the color to blue?
Regardless, at the price of 149.99 this little toy is affordable for the truely nerdy and not so nerdy. Just looking at the picture makes me druel with anticipation! I also wonder how it will handle a not so flat surface.
The Budget Computer Vol 6
The Gaming Machine
This is the 6th installation in the series "The Budget Computer".
The Budget Computer Vol 1
The Budget Computer Vol 2
The Budget Computer Vol 3
The Budget Computer Vol 4
The Budget Computer Vol 5
So you want to build an awesome gaming machine on a dime. The key thing to remember here is that you are looking for quality parts that are fast NOT quantity. It doesn't matter if you have 8 gigs of ram in the machine if it is the slowest ram out there. You are looking for a well tuned machine just like a race car. So here is what you should look at.
Motherboard: This is pretty much your chassis. All the parts have to mount to it so all your tunning will be based off your selection here. You will want something with a fast Front Side Bus. This will determine the max clock speed of the CPU as well as how fast all the devices on the machine can talk to each other. Also make sure that the board supports RAID 0 and the fastest ram and hard drives on the market.
CPU: Clock speed first then go quad core. Do not sacrafice clock speed for more cores. If you have room in the budget to go quad core then do it as you will see some performance gain but you will not see as much as you would by having more clock speed. Also look for something that you can overclock without too much trouble.
RAM: 2gigs is the minimum. Keep the ram an even number. This will allow you take take advantage of some of the Async properties on the motherboard. Get the fastest 2 gigs you can afford and make sure it is quality. Crucial is probably the best brand out there right now. If your budget can afford to go to 4 then do it just don't sacrafice the ram speed for more of it.
Hard Drives: Get 2 hard drives and stripe them. Make sure they are the fastest you can get 10,000rpms with a large cache is good. Also do not go above 200 gigs each. The reason for this is that the larger the drive is the longer the seek time is on the drive. By keeping the size down you will be able to load games much faster and have a an overall better experience. This is even more true if you only managed to get 2 gigs of ram. When a hard fault occurs in memory it will write the data to the hard drive for future use. Slow hard drive means this opperation will be slow.
Video Card: Get one really awesome card over 2 slower ones. Most games do not support X-Fire or SLI at this point and time. Also the simplicity of having one fast card over 2 slower ones will help the system out.
Monitor: You will want to pay attention to the Brightness and Contrast numbers as well as the refresh rate. A larger monitor with a slow refresh rate will look like crap when you are playing the games. Balance this with the rest of your budget.
Well that concludes my advice on computer building for now. I may write up a few example builds using this process.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
This is the 6th installation in the series "The Budget Computer".
The Budget Computer Vol 1
The Budget Computer Vol 2
The Budget Computer Vol 3
The Budget Computer Vol 4
The Budget Computer Vol 5
So you want to build an awesome gaming machine on a dime. The key thing to remember here is that you are looking for quality parts that are fast NOT quantity. It doesn't matter if you have 8 gigs of ram in the machine if it is the slowest ram out there. You are looking for a well tuned machine just like a race car. So here is what you should look at.
Motherboard: This is pretty much your chassis. All the parts have to mount to it so all your tunning will be based off your selection here. You will want something with a fast Front Side Bus. This will determine the max clock speed of the CPU as well as how fast all the devices on the machine can talk to each other. Also make sure that the board supports RAID 0 and the fastest ram and hard drives on the market.
CPU: Clock speed first then go quad core. Do not sacrafice clock speed for more cores. If you have room in the budget to go quad core then do it as you will see some performance gain but you will not see as much as you would by having more clock speed. Also look for something that you can overclock without too much trouble.
RAM: 2gigs is the minimum. Keep the ram an even number. This will allow you take take advantage of some of the Async properties on the motherboard. Get the fastest 2 gigs you can afford and make sure it is quality. Crucial is probably the best brand out there right now. If your budget can afford to go to 4 then do it just don't sacrafice the ram speed for more of it.
Hard Drives: Get 2 hard drives and stripe them. Make sure they are the fastest you can get 10,000rpms with a large cache is good. Also do not go above 200 gigs each. The reason for this is that the larger the drive is the longer the seek time is on the drive. By keeping the size down you will be able to load games much faster and have a an overall better experience. This is even more true if you only managed to get 2 gigs of ram. When a hard fault occurs in memory it will write the data to the hard drive for future use. Slow hard drive means this opperation will be slow.
Video Card: Get one really awesome card over 2 slower ones. Most games do not support X-Fire or SLI at this point and time. Also the simplicity of having one fast card over 2 slower ones will help the system out.
Monitor: You will want to pay attention to the Brightness and Contrast numbers as well as the refresh rate. A larger monitor with a slow refresh rate will look like crap when you are playing the games. Balance this with the rest of your budget.
Well that concludes my advice on computer building for now. I may write up a few example builds using this process.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Net Neutrality
Source
This is definately a good piece of legislation. If not done ISPs risk using their influence in the internet market to influence there other services. This would cause an unfair advantage against those types of businesses. I don't see how the DOJ could allow it to go on for this long.
My big fear would be what other things get tagged onto these rules. I mean it will regulate ISPs so why not tag some stuff onto int the proposal about retention of information. Get the ISPs to record more info then they already are. Add in new laws so that the Government can watch over people even easier.
Hopefully the right thing happens here.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
This is definately a good piece of legislation. If not done ISPs risk using their influence in the internet market to influence there other services. This would cause an unfair advantage against those types of businesses. I don't see how the DOJ could allow it to go on for this long.
My big fear would be what other things get tagged onto these rules. I mean it will regulate ISPs so why not tag some stuff onto int the proposal about retention of information. Get the ISPs to record more info then they already are. Add in new laws so that the Government can watch over people even easier.
Hopefully the right thing happens here.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Google Crawling
The occasion is finally here. Google has crawled this blog. It now shows up as the 11th result when you search for techtify. Not the best spot to be but certainly not the worst. I have no idea where this blog sits for other key words. This is a start however and hopefully from these humble beginings the site will grow. So if you have any comments or feedback please send me a mail and I will do what I can to improve the content of this site.
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
WoW vs Next Gen MMO part 1
No I am not talking about Windows on Windows. I am refering to the hugely succesfull World of Warcraft. Released in 2004 it has dominated the Massively Multiplayer market ever since. Many games have tried to topple that empire and non have succeeded. So what is it going to take to be the next best thing and hopefully have a shot at winning over the market?
To answer this question we must look at 2 things. We must look at why other games have failed and we must look at what WoW did right. Lets start with the bad.
One of the key problems that a lot of MMOs seem to face is being released to early. This causes a variety of large problems. The first problem being a lack of polish. Features in the game that were added late tend to not have as much testing done to them. Interfaces feel clunky. Graphics clip through walls or have other odd behavior that distract from the game.
Another major problem that releasing early can cause is a lack of end game content or content in general. Developers tend to assume that they will have the time to add content before players get to that point. They always underestimate the speed at which power gamers and the not so power gamers will actually attain reach this content or rather lack there of. This causes players to get frustrated and leave the game. As the power gamers leave that greatly reduces the active community for the casual gamers as well.
More to come on this subject in part 2...
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
To answer this question we must look at 2 things. We must look at why other games have failed and we must look at what WoW did right. Lets start with the bad.
One of the key problems that a lot of MMOs seem to face is being released to early. This causes a variety of large problems. The first problem being a lack of polish. Features in the game that were added late tend to not have as much testing done to them. Interfaces feel clunky. Graphics clip through walls or have other odd behavior that distract from the game.
Another major problem that releasing early can cause is a lack of end game content or content in general. Developers tend to assume that they will have the time to add content before players get to that point. They always underestimate the speed at which power gamers and the not so power gamers will actually attain reach this content or rather lack there of. This causes players to get frustrated and leave the game. As the power gamers leave that greatly reduces the active community for the casual gamers as well.
More to come on this subject in part 2...
Please check out more articles at http://techtify.blogspot.com
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