just 1-inch thick and 2.4-pounds, the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA is designed for the mobile warrior. Featuring "802.11n, Bluetooth, 3G and WiMAX options
Mar 03 2009
ASUS Lamborghini VX5 with 1TB SSD and Dual touch-screen net book
Asus It will be the first laptop to ship with a 1TB solid state drive. While the VX5 isn’t the fastest of computers, the hardware inside the VX5 will include an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M chipset with 1GB of dedicated video memory onboard and a Blu-ray optical drive. Asus has included a “Twin Turbo” mode that, with the touch of a button, will accelerate the performance of the CPU and the video card.
also they launch Dual touch screen Laptop
The dual panel offers a flexible working space in which users can adapt to suit their prevailing usage scenarios, for example adjusting the size of the virtual touchpad and keyboard.
Through hand gestures, handwriting recognition, and multitouch, users are presented with a control surface that is both flexible and intuitive. Users can use the dual-panel concept in a myriad of usage scenarios, for example as a conventional notebook with multitouch screens, a virtual keyboard and touchpad; a multimedia hub, in which both dual panels could combine to form a larger display for widescreen entertainment; or an E-book mode in which users can hold the dual panel concept notebook just like they would a conventional book while flipping pages through intuitive gestures or by touch.
Feb 24 2009
The NVIDIA Tegra 650 and 600
Every day, new and compelling applications that require considerable graphics horsepower emerge on new computing platforms to enrich our lives. With the NVIDIA Tegra family of computers-on-a-chip, NVIDIA now brings the power of advanced visual computing to a broad range of handheld and mobile platforms—from smartphones, MP3 players, and portable navigation devices (PNDs) to mobile internet devices (MIDs). With system-level design built upon more than 10 generations of proven NVIDIA GeForce technology, Tegra enables intuitive user interfaces, advanced multimedia features, and access to rich online interactivity, all while delivering longer battery life.
The NVIDIA Tegra 600 Series products are the smallest, most advanced, and most highly integrated visual computers-on-a-chip. Featuring unprecedented multimedia functionality—including HD 1080p video and advanced 3D technology—and delivering 10× the power efficiency of competition, Tegra 600 Series products deliver the ultimate visual experience on a broad range of connected devices.
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Tegra 650
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Tegra 600
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Feb 22 2009
Top 10 Tips for Wireless Home Network Security
1. Change Default Administrator Passwords (and Usernames)
At the core of most Wi-Fi home networks is an access point or router. To set up these pieces of equipment, manufacturers provide Web pages that allow owners to enter their network address and account information. These Web tools are protected with a login screen (username and password) so that only the rightful owner can do this. However, for any given piece of equipment, the logins provided are simple and very well-known to hackers on the Internet. Change these settings immediately.
2. Turn on (Compatible) WPA / WEP Encryption
All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist for Wi-Fi today. Naturally you will want to pick the strongest form of encryption that works with your wireless network. However, the way these technologies work, all Wi-Fi devices on your network must share the identical encryption settings. Therefore you may need to find a “lowest common demoninator” setting.
3. Change the Default SSID
Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set. For example, the SSID for Linksys devices is normally “linksys.” True, knowing the SSID does not by itself allow your neighbors to break into your network, but it is a start. More importantly, when someone finds a default SSID, they see it is a poorly configured network and are much more likely to attack it. Change the default SSID immediately when configuring wireless security on your network.
4. Enable MAC Address Filtering
Each piece of Wi-Fi gear possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment, that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices. Do this, but also know that the feature is not so powerful as it may seem. Hackers and their software programs can fake MAC addresses easily.
5. Disable SSID Broadcast
In Wi-Fi networking, the wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where Wi-Fi clients may roam in and out of range. In the home, this roaming feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood someone will try to log in to your home network. Fortunately, most Wi-Fi access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network administrator.
6. Do Not Auto-Connect to Open Wi-Fi Networks
Connecting to an open Wi-Fi network such as a free wireless hotspot or your neighbor’s router exposes your computer to security risks. Although not normally enabled, most computers have a setting available allowing these connections to happen automatically without notifying you (the user). This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.
7. Assign Static IP Addresses to Devices
Most home networkers gravitate toward using dynamic IP addresses. DHCP technology is indeed easy to set up. Unfortunately, this convenience also works to the advantage of network attackers, who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool. Turn off DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range instead, then configure each connected device to match. Use a private IP address range (like 10.0.0.x) to prevent computers from being directly reached from the Internet.
8. Enable Firewalls On Each Computer and the Router
Modern network routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option also exists to disable them. Ensure that your router’s firewall is turned on. For extra protection, consider installing and running personal firewall softwareon each computer connected to the router.
9. Position the Router or Access Point Safely
Wi-Fi signals normally reach to the exterior of a home. A small amount of signal leakage outdoors is not a problem, but the further this signal reaches, the easier it is for others to detect and exploit. Wi-Fi signals often reach through neighboring homes and into streets, for example. When installing a wireless home network, the position of the access point or router determines its reach. Try to position these devices near the center of the home rather than near windows to minimize leakage.
10. Turn Off the Network During Extended Periods of Non-Use
The ultimate in wireless security measures, shutting down your network will most certainly prevent outside hackers from breaking in! While impractical to turn off and on the devices frequently, at least consider doing so during travel or extended periods offline. Computer disk drives have been known to suffer from power cycle wear-and-tear, but this is a secondary concern for broadband modems and routers.
If you own a wireless router but are only using it wired (Ethernet) connections, you can also sometimes turn off Wi-Fi on a broadband router without powering down the entire network.Source:The IT Stuff
Feb 15 2009
How to build a Computer
WHAT YOU NEED
First of all, i’d like to say that building a PC is easy. It’s really simple. As simple as pluging things and slotting things into something else.,A philips head screw driver is essiential for obvious reasons, it will be uses a-lot.Most screws will come with the components you buy so no worries there.
THE COMPONENTS
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Computer case |
Monitor
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A Motherboard or main board 
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Processor |
Memory or RAM(Random Access Memory) |
Graphics Card or GPU(Graphical Proccessing Unit)
Sound Card(This IS NOT necessary; optional) 
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Heat Sink Fan |
Power Supply Unit or PSU(Sometimes one comes with the case but you need a good PSU, as it that break it could take out everything it’s connected to which isbasically your whole PC)
CHOOSING YOUR COMPONENTS – COMPATABILITY
This revolves around the motherboard mainly. When choosing your parts you need to make sure they all work together. What you need to really focus on is the CPU and RAM compatability. Just by reading that i don’t think i need to explain the CPU part apart from the MAX BUS SPEED, this is important and you need to make sure your CPU bus speed is faster than your motherboards max bus speed, it can cause crashes.
The RAM part is fairly easy to understand. Obviously don’t put in more RAM than your board can take which is quite easy to find in ANY sites specs details. The type of RAM is a little more tricky. There are different types on ram, DDR, DDR2, DDR3 etc etc, but it goes even deeper than that. How fast the RAM goes is very important to the mobo. As you can see above it says the board supports DDR2, so that means it will support almost any DDR2 RAM you throw at it. If you find things like DDR2 1066/800, This means it will support DDR2 RAM at 1066MHz and 800 MHz, and it will probably support everything below that. The specifications on the RAM’s web page and/or manual will tell you exactly what it is so make sure it’s compatable with your Motherboard.
Graphics cards are easy also. I asume everyone has gone to PCI-E but if they havn’t, check the board supports AGP. And to clear something up, most you know about PCI-E 2.0 graphics cards. THE
Y WILL WORK ON MOTHERBOARDS THAT ONLY SUPPORT PCI-E 1.1 WITH NO LOSS OF FRAME RATE. And make sure you check how big your card is to how big your case is as some cards are rather large. Everything else will be compatable.I will talk about PSU compatability later on.
THE BUILDING
SMPS
Prepare your Case is essential, get to know everything The SMPS will go in first as it’s the messiest bloody component. GET A MODULAR SMPS. They are so much easier. This is an example of a modular SMPS 
The older SMPS just had all the plugs on a SMPS and there were LOTS of left over plugs you didn’t need. With these you plug in the plugs you need and leave it at that So to sum up, put the SMPS in first and screw it into place.
Hard Drive(s) 
This is very simple. As simple as slotting it in and screwing it in. If your using more than one HDD, make sure you put them one slot apart like the ones in the picture. You do this because of heat issues. The HDD will probably be SATA or SATA2, i hope nobody is still going to use IDE on a newly built PC.
DVD Drive(s)
This is also as simple as slotting it in and screwing it in. They usually go right at the top and you have to put it in from the front of the case going inwards.
Motherboard
Be careful taking this out of it’s packaging as it can easily break. This is also as simple as screwing it in one you have the screw hole lined up with the holes in the case. Some motherBoards have a removeable tray, some don’t but having a removable one makes it easier. Line it up with the hole on the motherboard tray and screw it in, it’s as simple as that but it can be tricky.There’s one other thing. Theres a ‘panel’ you get with your motherboard like this. 
Seeing as every motherboard is different you need to unclip the one that comes with your case and clip in the one that came with your motherboard, simple as.
Now your motherboard is in place, you need to start hooking it up. You should already have your PSU in place and attached the cables you need if it’s a modular PSU. First thing you need is the big 24pin. You can’t miss it really. It comes with ANY PSU. Look at the picture below, it’s the one with the black circle around it, simply plug the 24pin from the CPU into the mobo and make sure you put it in the right way, the little clip tells you were. 
Now you need to get the CPU in. You have to be VERY careful with this, if you break the little pins at the bottom which connects it to the mobo, it’s useless. In the picture circled in red, this is where you need to put the CPU, simply flip back the lever, then flip back the second protector, and place it in VERY carfully, if you don’t know which way round to put it have a look at the bottom. THERE IS NO PUSHING IN NEEDED, IT WILL SLOT IN VERY EASILY.
Now the RAM needs to go in, this is very easy. Just pull back the little levers and slot them in. You need to make sure they are going in the right way. In the picture below, the RAM slots are circled red. You will also notice the ram slots are coloured orange and black, if you have two RAM sticks and put them each in a black coloured slot, they will run in dual channel which makes them go faster in some ways.
Now you need to put the Heatsink Fan above the CPU. Most of these fans come with a preapplied layer of thermal paste. If you look at the picture above of the HSF, you will see little clips, it has four of them to be exact and if you look at the motherboard pictures around the CPU, there are four holes, you simply put the clips into the holes on the mobo and turn them so it locks into place.
After that you need to fit the 4pin CPU jumper. Some mobo’s have an 8pin instead of 4pin, so you need to make sure your PSU has an 8 pin. Most will have 4 as standard. Below the 4 pin is circled in red.
SATA CABLES AND POWER.
Now you have your HDD’s and your DVD Drive. IF your DVD drive is IDE, then you need to plug that into the IDE slot on your Mobo, which is next to the 24pin slot. Some new mobo’s don’t have IDE slots. Below is where you should plug your SATA cables to connect your HDD to your motherboard. You get SATA cables(the red cables) with your motherboard when you buy it. You Also need to power them. The other picture is an example of a SATA power plug on your PSU.
*NOTE* YOU NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL WITH SATA CABLES AS THEY CAN SNAP EASILY.
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FRONT PANEL
I can’t really help you too much with this as it’s just to difficult to explain But it’s you connecting the button that turns on your PC and HDD light to the motherboard. Check your motherboard manual to see where it goes
Graphics card
This is simple to install. You simply slot it into the PCI-E slot and screw it down. Look at the blow picture for examples. FYI a Motherboard can have more than one PCI-E slot.Some Graphics cards need even more power from the PSU, there will be a little plug at the back of the card, either 6 pin or 8 pin or both.
SOUND CARD
This goes in one of the little white slots next to each other in between the PCI-E slots, they are called PCI slots.
FANS
Alot of fans these days use the old IDE HDD power, they are called MOLEX connectors. 
Your HSF will need to be connected to your mobo fan connectors.
Your PC should power up now You need to tidy everything up so your PC has maximum airflow. Plug in your monitor, keyboard and mouse. You need to go into the BIOS by pressing F10 or HOME or something like that(it tells you) at the POST screen and then check that your RAM, CPU, Graphics cards and all that are at the correct speeds, that nothing is to hot and they are all recognized. Then just install your Operating system.
Feb 03 2009
The history of PC hardware, in pictures
We all use personal computers and we all take them for granted in our everyday lives. It’s easy to forget that PCs have only been around for a couple of decades, and initially were nowhere near the powerhouses we have on our desks today.
For example, did you know that the first “portable” computer weighed 25 kg (55 lb) and cost close to $20,000, that the first laser printer was big enough to fill up most of a room, or that you basically had to build the first Apple computer yourself? This article takes a look at the time when the computer equipment we now take for granted was invented and what it looked like back then.
The first computer mouse
The first computer mouse was invented in 1963 by Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute. (He is also one of the inventors of hypertext.) The first mouse used two wheels positioned at a 90-degree angle to each other to keep track of the movement (see picture below). The ball mouse wasn’t invented until 1972, and the optical mouse was invented circa 1980 although it didn’t come to popular use until much later.Douglas Engelbart never received any royalties for his invention and his patent had run out by the time the mouse became commonplace in the era of home PCs.
Above: The first mouse. To the right you can see the wheels it used for movement and positioning.
The first trackball
The trackball was actually invented 11 years BEFORE the mouse, in 1952. It was invented by Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff as part of a computerized battlefield information system called DATAR, initiated by the Canadian Navy. It used a standard five-pin bowling ball as its trackball, which is smaller than the more common 10-pin bowling ball.
Above: The first trackball, bowling ball and all.
The first portable computer
Well, perhaps that should be “movable” computer… The IBM 5100 Portable Computer was introduced in 1975, weighed 25 kg (55 lb), was the size of a small suitcase and needed external power to operate. It held everything in the same unit, packing in a processor, ROM (several hundreds of KB) and RAM (16-64 KB), a five-inch CRT display, keyboard and a tape drive, which was an amazing feat at the time. It also came with built-in BASIC and/or APL. The different models of the IBM 5100 sold for $8,975 – $19,975.
Above: The IBM 5100 Portable Computer.
The first laptop computer
The first laptop computer (or notebook) was the Grid Compass 1100 (called the GRiD) and was designed in 1979 by a British industrial designer, Bill Moggridge. The computer didn’t start selling until 1982, then featuring a 320×200 screen, an Intel 8086 processor, 340 KB of magnetic bubble memory (a now obsolete, non-volatile memory type) and a 1200 bps modem. It weighed 5 kg (11 lb) and cost $8-10,000. The GRiD was mainly used by NASA and the US military.
Above left: Closeup of the Grid Compass 1100. Above right: NASA astronaut posing with the GRiD in space (that’s Spock on the screen.)
The first IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer was introduced in 1981 as the IBM 5150. The platform became so pervasive in the 80s that although the term “personal computer” had been in use since the early 70s, a PC became synonymous with an IBM PC-compatible computer.
During its development, the IBM 5150 had been internally referred to as “Project Chess” and was created by a team of 12 people headed by Don Estridge and Larry Potter. To speed up development and cut costs, IBM had decided to use off-the-shelf parts, something that they normally wouldn’t do.
The first IBM PC had an Intel 8088 processor, 64 KB of RAM (extendible to 256 KB), a floppy disk drive (which could be used to boot the computer with a rebranded version of MS-DOS (PC-DOS)) and a CGA or monochrome video card. The machine also had a version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. On the first IBM PC the optional 10 MB hard disk drive could only be installed if the original power supply was replaced (the original one was too weak).
Above: The first IBM Personal Computer, the IBM 5150.
The first Apple computer
The first Apple personal computers (Apple I) were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. The Apple I went on sale in 1976 for the price of $666.66. Only about 200 units were produced. The Apple I was basically just a motherboard with a processor, a total of 8KB of RAM, a display interface and some additional functionality. To have a working computer, the buyer would have to add a power supply, a keyboard and a display (and a case to keep mount it all in).
Above left: An Apple I computer. Above right: This was the Apple I, essentially a motherboard.<
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The first RAM
Arguably the first (writable) random access memory was Magnetic Core Memory (also called Ferrite-Core Memory) and was invented in 1951 as a result of work done by An Wang at Harvard University’s Computation Lab and Jay Forrester at MIT.
Core memory was a family of related technologies that used the magnetic properties of materials to give them a similar functionality to transistors. They stored their information using the polarity of tiny, magnetic ceramic rings with wires threaded through them. Unlike today’s RAM, core memory could keep its information even after the power was turned off.
Core memory was common until it was replaced by integrated silicon RAM chips in the 1970s. The “core” in core memory is why a memory dump is called a “core dump” even today.
Above left: Closeup of core memory. Above right: The core memory plane in the picture is 16×16 cm (6.3×6.3 inches), holding 128×128 bits (2048 byte).
The first hard disk drive
The IBM Model 350 Disk File was the first hard disk drive and was part of the IBM 305 RAMAC computer that IBM started delivering in 1956 (mainly intended for business accounting). It had 50 24-inch discs that together could store about 4.4 MB of data. The Model 350 spun at 1200 rpm, had a data transfer rate of 8,800 characters per second and an access time of approximately one second.
Above: The first hard disk drive, IBM Model 350.
The first laser printer
The laser printer was invented by Gary Starkweather at XEROX in 1969. His initial prototype was a modified laser copier where he had disabled the imaging system and introduced a spinning drum with eight mirrored sides. The first commercial implementation of a laser printer didn’t happen until IBM released the IBM model 3800 in 1976. It could pretty much fill up a room on its own.
Above: The IBM 3800, the first commercial laser printer.
The first web server
And since the Web is such an integral part of today’s computer experience, we couldn’t help but include another first: The first web server was a NeXT workstation that Tim Berners-Lee used when he invented the World Wide Web at CERN. The first web page was put online on August 6, 1991.
The computer had a note on it that said, “This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!” Understandable, considering that if you had shut it down in the early days you would have shut down the entire WWW.
Above: The web server that powered the first web pages on the WWW. Note the sticker with the warning to not turn it off.It’s amazing how much has happened in the PC industry in just a few decades. Just imagine what things will be like 30-40 years from now…
Jan 27 2009
MacBook Mini
The MacBook Mini is just 5.4-inches thick When folded. In its fully expanded state, the tiny laptop boasts a keyboard, trackpad, 10-inch LED display, and 128GB SSD — unfortunately there’s no optical drive according to the renders.
Jan 07 2009
MACBOOKPRO with 17” Display
High-resolution LED-backlit widescreen display with 17 “ Display 1920-by-1200-pixel resolution (133 pixels per inch)/New NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor/The rigid aluminum keyboard,Precision aluminum. /The new gold standard Body/Multi-Touch trackpad/320GB hard drive / three USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire 800 port / Built-in iSight camera / microphone, and speaker system,Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at up to 2.93GHz based on 45-nm process technology With the 1066MHz frontside bus and 6MB of shared L2 cache,Express Card/34 slot and a 3G wireless card,Up to 8 hrs Battery backup.
With great associates of
Dec 24 2008
HP Firebird 803 tower with Voodoo-DNA
The all-new HP Firebird PC 803 that just fell in our lap, a gaming tower which flips the disc drive and most other components on their sides to save on space. The resulting kit seems to have more in common with gaming consoles than desktop PCs in terms of design, with very little configurability or expansion available, but the leaked specs are still quite palatable to the modern PC gamer:
· NVIDIA nForce 760i SLI chipset
· Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz processor
· 4GB of RAM
· Dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800S cards
· Two 320GB SATA drives
· Blu-ray
· 5-in-1 card reader
· 6 USB, 1 FireWire, 2 eSATA, 1 S/PDIF and 1 DVI dual-link
· Bluetooth
· 802.11n WiFi
To save on space (and heat), the Firebird actually uses an external power supply, but we suppose the included wireless keyboard and mouse should help to make up for that clutter.
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