Supergeekblog

Thought the movie is still lightyears away(2007), it seems it has stirred up a little of the Autobot/Decepticon in us all.  TechEBlog has a couple of pictures and a short movie from YouTube of a wonderfully done CGI Optimus Prime.

If the servers speed up a little, you can see the originals along with the CGI video that this guy did at threedy.  I’ve already put the Optimus up as my desktop background.

Sidenote, the guy that did the Optimus stuff seems to have some connection with www.3dblasphemy.com which is a pretty cool site with some very nice 3d art.

Technorati Tags: transformers, optimus prime, optimus, cgi, decepticon, autobot

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…and then proceeds to throw a chair, run around the room screaming like a gorilla, and chant like a cultist.

But seriously. In an interview with Forbes Steve Ballmer suggested that Microsoft may intend to start enforcing its patents against Linux. He goes on to suggest, however, that Linux is not the threat they once thought as people “prefer a commercial organization” behind software they use for business. He also claims that people don’t use free software because it “tends to be clunky” and not well supported. I find it rather ironic that he responds to a question about his knowledge level of Linux and Linux related matters and says that “we have people watching” and they will “make him aware” of any new developments. Apparently they didn’t make him aware of Open Office, CentOS, Firebird, Thunderbird, uTorrent, GAIM, GIMP, and Bittorrent when they told him free software “tends to be clunky”. Consider that Open Office isn’t even 1/4 the piece of bloatware MS Office has become in recent years and actually now compares quite well to Office for usability and community support and addons. Oh well Ballmer always was the irrational one from the start of Microsoft.

Technorati Tags: open source, microsoft, steve ballmer, patent infringement, free software, forbes, Linux

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Addition: After a great deal of digging I discovered two things about the contested quote. One, not to toot my own horn but I was clearly right on this being misquoted. Two, he made these statements at CES in a Q&A session with Gary Shapiro not at TelecomNEXT as originally stated in every other source. Check out the video for yourself on Yahoo, the comments are about one-third of the way in.

I also just added a chopped version of the video in Xvid format for those who don’t want to scroll through and download a 200mb video, its 19mb. Get it here. or as a Torrent Here Excuse the crummy conversion, I’m no video editing professional.
Well, the big debate online for the day has been a blogger who quoted the FCC chairmen Kevin Martin as saying he favors a tiered internet. In other words saying he favors backbone providers using traffic prioritization based on the “priority fee” that companies wish to charge companies like google. This quote was taken completely out of context however, and as it turns out is clearly incorrect.

If this blogger had bothered to actually read the entire speech he would have realized that Mr. Martin had used the word levels to refer to tiered internet speeds for broadband. In other words he was saying he supports providers that that wish to offer multiple speeds of internet to their users, say 7mbit vs 5mbit DSL or Cable. Allow me to paste the entire section of the speech here:

However, Martin also added that he supports network operators’ desires to offer different levels of broadband service at different speeds, and at different pricing — a so-called “tiered” Internet service structure that opponents say could give a market advantage to deep-pocket companies who can afford to pay service providers for preferential treatment.While Martin said that consumers who don’t pay for higher levels of Internet service shouldn’t expect to get higher levels of performance, he did say in a following press conference that “the commission needs to make sure” that there are fair-trade ways to ensure that consumers “get what they are purchasing.”

Note how he never even used the word tiered to describe broadband speeds. The reporter added tiered on in a comment and then never even properly enclosed Mr. Martins’ words in quotes to clearly differentiate between them. I think its fairly obvious that what he meant when I strike out the reporters comments and just leave his.

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Everything USB is reporting on new USB flash drive from Kingston that will “self-destruct” if failed attempts to login exceed 25.  It even comes with an on-the-fly 128 bit AES encryption technology.  Thats what I call a fun toy. Although I don’t think that most of us would have a need for something quite that secure.  If the technology grows though, it could be something very interesting for keeping all personal files in a save secure place.  Think a credit card with a password and a physical security element.  Not only does some physical data element have to be present(a encryption key?) but a password is needed to access that key.

Stand back, USB enabled Wal-mart Self Checkers are coming…

Technorati Tags: Kingston, USB, Encryption, 128 AES

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“David Kanter over at RWT has posted a whopper of an article that gives the goods on Intel’s new Core architecture. The article comes complete with a nice architectural diagram that puts to rest any doubts about whether Core is in the P6 lineage (the Pentium Pro down through the Pentium III, which with major changes includes the Pentium M). Although it combines the best features of the Pentium 4 and the P6-derived Yonah, Core tends to look more like Yonah than anything else.”

The original article that Hannibal of Arstechnica writes about is very good, and so is his commentary on it. I give both of them credit for their well written bits on this. I liked Kanter when he said at the end “the MPU market will become far more competitive and hopefully, a new round of intense innovation will arise.” I hope he is right. Competition is great. It will keep prices lower, and spark some real innovation and creativity.

Technorati Tags: RWT, Arstechnica, Intel, MPU

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M.E.R.G.I.N.G…

Rahul Sood of VoodooPC started the rumors early this month with this post on his blog and it kind of died down shortly thereafter. Appearantly, a claiming your competitor is about to be bought doesn’t hold much wait in the PC business.

Well, it’s all heating back up now. CNET announced an unconfirmed, but appearantly well sourced, rumor that Dell indeed does have the purchase agreement in place and is about to pull the trigger. I say kudo’s to Alienware. They make top of the line, albeit overly expensive, desktops and laptops. Dell has tried with the XPS line to claim a little of that market but to no avail.

So, Dell gets a top of the line performance pc maker, and oh, did we mention that Alienware builds with AMD processors. Yep, thats right. With this purchase, Dell becomes a major distributor of AMD processors. That’s one way to get yourself into a market. What’s next? Gonna buy a Linux Distribution?

Keep an eye out for the official announcement which should be coming anytime now. (Here it is)

Technorati Tags: Dell, Alienware, AMD, Linux, VoodooPC

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Sling Media, makers of the ever popular SlingPlayer software announced the addition of software for the UMPC market yesterday.

“The Ultra-Mobile PC represents an exciting new category of mobile devices and we are thrilled to be working with Microsoft to support this new product line,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, Inc. “Consumers are looking for differentiated, highly mobile product solutions as part of the digital lifestyle, and the combination of Slingbox and Ultra-Mobile PC delivers a portable and affordable solution to meet their entertainment needs.”

That function alone would make the UMPC(”ORIGAMI”) worth buying. Imagine having a UMPC that would allow you to watch your tv and such from the convienence of where ever you are! I love it.

Technorati Tags: UMPC, Origami, Sling, SlingPlayer, Sling Media

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I just got a message from eBay officially announcing eBay express. eBay Express looks to just be an “online store” format for people who are otherwise uncomfortable buying from a regular eBay fixed-price auction. You get a shopping cart and can drop items into it and checkout with either paypal or I’m assuming perhaps a credit card as well (I guess we’ll see). I think one of the major issues they may run into is if they only accept Paypal. As a geek I don’t find using Paypal to be hard but I could see less saavy people being reluctant to sign up for anything that is “linked” to their checking account.

It also listed the requirements to be listed on eBay express as a seller. If you meet these minimum requirements all of your fixed-price auctions as well as sellers with eBay stores will have their items automatically cross-listed in eBay Express. As an avid eBay seller I have to say that I think this could be a good thing. As an eBay buyer/scavenger I fear it may take some of the fun out of digging for goods deals on eBay that require some skill to find. Checkout the information page for seller requirements and more info.

Technorati Tags: ebay express, ebay, auctions, ecommerce

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A big SuperGeek thanks to AtariBoy for pointing this out.

While the prices seem similar to Amazon, there is selection galore for computer books.  Even 8 different subcategories for A.I.!  Check out Bookpool here.  They’ve even got a sale on 46% off Microsoft press books right now.

Technorati Tags: bookpool, atariboy, amazon, computer books, tech books

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Well they came up with something pretty cool down under.

“It’s here! The Mr.Gadget 1GB USB 2.0 Executive Watch exudes both style and substance. With this on your wrist, you’ll have access to your valuable data wherever and whenever (a USB port needs to be handy). Look out James Bond!”

“Employers know the value of IT certifications and the IT certified professionals are more efficient and productive. Most companies want to hire the Microsoft professionals with Microsoft MCSA 70-648, 70-640 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory and MB2-633: Microsoft Dynamics CRM exam. These companies hire latest Cisco 642-691 BGP+ MPLS, EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker exam 312-50 and IBM 000-331 Power Systems Sales for AIX and Linux to ensure maximum security and valuable business assets.”

Technorati Tags: Mr. Gadget, USB Watch, Engadget

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