1/5 - Kahuna notes: Brutal reality set in quickly this morning as I stepped outside a 4:25am to a frigid 18° and started scrapped frost off my windshield. Yep, back to work. Things at work haven't slowed down much, but by the end of the week we should be into our typically lighter January volume numbers. Kahunette reminded me it's just 5 weeks until we head down to Florida for our mid-winter vacation. Ah yes, soaking up the sun. Can't wait...
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Warning: Windows 7 beta could corrupt your MP3s.  Ah... The joys of running a beta. Knowing that the majority of readers here and BigKahuna's Surf Shop are cutting edge geekazoid/gamers, I thought it very appropriate to post this link to an article over at NewWin.net. The Windows 7 beta 1 build 7000 leaked over the Christmas holidays contains a bug: Approximately 2-3 seconds will get shaved off the beginning of MP3s if you have set your Windows Media Player 12 settings to retrieve information from the internet and update files. The default configuration for WMP12 sets this if you use the "express" option during setup. MS has confirmed this information and says its readying a QFE (quick fix engineering) patch that will be distributed by Windows Update for those with official and non-official access. A support (KB) article is expected soon.
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Gaming Scene News:.
Prince of Persia review -  9.2/10  Oooh !
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F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin preview.
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Q&A - Mata Hari.
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2008: The Year in Lists...  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24   Blue's News puts together some nice lists - Best Games of 2008, etc.
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Looking Forward at 2009...  1  2    Blue's News puts together some nice lists for 2009.
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Grand Theft Auto IV review -  79%  Hmmm...
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Far Cry 2 v1.02 patch.  (33.9mb)
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Hardware Scene News:.
Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS review -  4/5  Oooh !
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Seagate updates Barracuda drives.  Seagate is launching a major update to its Barracuda drives. The 7200.12 is the first desktop hard drive to fit 500GB of data on to a single platter and manages to hold 1TB by using just two platters versus as many as four on other disks.
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Lenovo announces four new models.  Three of these from its Ideapad laptop range, and a new all-in-one Ideacentre desktop which the company says will be one of the thinnest desktop computers available - WTF?!?
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LG unveils LCD TV panel free of motion blur.  Big screen gamers rejoice! The LG Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV Panel, the first of its kind, featuring a 480 refresh rate per second. which virtually eliminates motion blur usually found in action movies. This is all done without sacrificing picture quality. LG's scanning backlight is the technology that enables a backlight to be repeatedly turned on and off to reduce motion blur. When combined with the companys 240 Hz technology, the display can refresh 480 images per second. Whoa!
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Iomega aims at TVs with home server.  Iomega has announced the Home Media Network Hard Drive (HMNHD), a home storage and media server that backs up files on connected PCs and plays digital media content to connected output devices. It'll come with either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive, plus an embedded processor running Linux and EMC's LifeLine software.
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Zalman FPSgun review -  Between 4 and 8 /10  Hmmm...
Kahuna notes: Bascially, it's a mouse with a gun like shape and functions - a Zalman FPSgun. According to the reviewer (who generally liked it), the usefulness of the gaming device is highly dependent on the game and user.
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Tech Scene & Miscellaneous News:.
Steve Jobs admits to ill health.  After months of speculation and stock fluctuations, Jobs explains his obvious weight loss in a letter to the 'Apple community'. Check it here.
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Claim: Microsoft earned $1.5B from "Vista Capable" trash PCs.  This according to information in a court document from an 'expert' about the controversial program. I still say Balmer should get pistol whipped for the whole "Vista Capable" mess. Way too many people got hosed with crappy machines that could barely run WinXP.
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RIAA dumps MediaSentry.  Never before having actually understood that harassing and suing its customers isn't really a good idea, the RIAA has dumped its inept (many times illegal) contracted investigative service, MediaSentry. Unfortunately, the RIAA has said it's going to replace Mediasentry with the Danish company Dtecnet. So the legalized extortion will continue.
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Intel, Adobe team up for Flash for TVs.  Apparently the two are working to adapt Adobe's Flash media technology, widespread on PCs, for use in TV-focused devices. Intel's Media Processor CE 3100 is the target and the goal is for Intel to ship the first CE 3100 chip with Flash Lite support before the middle of this year.
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Microsoft readies cost-cuts, massive layoff unlikely.  MS will embark on a significant cost-cutting initiative in 2009, which might begin as early as this month, to offset a global slowdown in sales. The cuts will supposedly, largely be handled through attrition and the non-renewal of contract employees, rather than through a rumored, sweeping layoff.
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MS pay-per-use PC patent already rejected.  The rejection of MS's submission was based on it  being at once too broad and too familiar. The tendency to use vague terms and the existence of already patented, relevant technology are cited as the core reasons behind the rejection.
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Netflix and Amazon On Demand grow.  Amazon announced that owners of the formerly Netflix-exclusive Roku set-top box will be able to access Amazon Video On Demand, and LG announced it's building Netflix instant streaming directly into some of its upcoming HDTVs.
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