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GTA IV Gets New Patch - Fixes mostly multiplayer issues

How long has it been since GTA IV was launched? About two months. Most of us have played
the game, finished it or came close, most of us even tried a bit of multiplayer. And now Rockstar wants to get us back in the game’s atmosphere by launching a new patch supposed to fix all the issues that pop up - mainly in multiplayer games.

The developers say that the patch is designed to fix “freezes during certain modes, continuation when players leave matches, and bugs within races and race lobbies”. The full patch notes state that the main problems dealt with are: an issue that prevented players from entering exiting cars in GTA Race multiplayer mode; one that made scripted vehicles crash the game; a rare problem that prevented the transition from Race or GTA Race lobby into gameplay, one regarding switching teams and several others related to the spectator role in Cops’n'Crooks.
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Clean out Old E-mail Messages

Joe Kissell , Macworld.com
We’re nearing the end of our e-mail-cleanup challenge. So far, you’ve reduced the volume of incoming mail, created a filing system, and started using a simple process to deal with the new messages you receive. But what about all those messages still in your inbox? It’s time to take care of them now.

Apply the rules

If you’ve set up rules to process incoming mail, you can apply those same rules to the existing messages in your inbox. You may be surprised at how many old messages those rules will file away for you in a flash. First, go to your inbox and choose Edit: Select All. Then, in Mail, choose Message: Apply Rules. In Entourage, choose Message: Apply Rules: All Rules.

Deal with the backlog

Of the remaining messages, the older ones are less likely to require your active attention than the newer ones. Click on the Date Received or Date Sent column in your inbox to sort the messages by date, and skim over them beginning with the oldest ones. But be realistic. If a message has been in your inbox for more than a month without a response from you, the sender has probably forgotten about it. You can save yourself some time by moving all of these ancient e-mails into Filed (deleting truly unnecessary messages along the way).
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Download Updated Windows PowerShell 1.0 for XP SP3

Microsoft has updated Windows PowerShell 1.0 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and made new English-language installation packages available for download as of June 23, 2008.
Designed to integrate with Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2 and R2 (x86, x64 and Itanium-based) along with Windows XP SP2 (both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions) and SP3 (only 32-bit), the updated release of Windows PowerShell 1.0 does not target Microsoft’s latest Windows client. Windows Vista SP1 is ignored with the latest variant of Windows Power Shell available since January 30, 2007, the day that Microsoft also made available Vista RTM. “Windows PowerShell is a new command-line shell and scripting language designed for system administration and automation. Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell enables IT professionals and developers control and automate the administration of Windows and applications,” Microsoft informed in the product’s description. “Windows PowerShell includes more than 130 command-line tools (called ‘cmdlets’) for performing common system administration tasks, such as managing services, processes, event logs, certificates, the registry, and using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).” Users should bear in mind that the downloads contain just the English-language installation packages for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, and not any localized versions or the multilingual packs. Microsoft is currently hard at work on the successor of Windows PowerShell 1.0, namely version 2.0 which has only reached the stage of the second Community Technology Preview so far. At the bottom of this article, you will also find an embedded video containing tips and tricks of PowerShell, courtesy of Ben Pearce, a Premiere Field Engineer.
Download- Windows PowerShell 1.0 for XP

Source- Keznews

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ASRock to push Intel P43-based motherboards

Despite that most motherboard makers are currently pushing Intel P45 motherboards, second-tier motherboard maker ASRock has launched 7-8 P43 chipset models for different markets, according to sources in the channel.

Due to the fact most motherboard makers are still carrying P35 chipset inventories, these makers do not wish to push P43-based motherboards in order to prevent an impact on their clearance plans.

Since ASRock did not launch P35 models, the company does not have pressure over P35 inventory and will be able to fully push P43-based products.

In addition to ASRock, Gigabyte Technology, who has a small amount of P35 chipset products will also introduce P43-based products.
News From - Digitimes

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Sony to unveil complete PS3 game lineup at E3

As expected, Sony reminds us that they’ll reveal it all next month, their 2008 console lineup that is.

“While I won’t go into specifics of the number of games or what we will be showing at E3, we will have our full line up of titles for this fall,” said Patrick Seybold, director of corporate communications, in an email sent to GamePro.

As per usual, game makers unveil all titles that will ship in the current calendar year at E3, which takes place next month in Los Angeles.

When asked what upcoming titles gamers should be excited for, Seybold mentioned MotorStorm 2 Pacific Rift, NBA ‘09, Resistance 2, SOCOM: Confrontation, Buzz, and LittleBigPlanet as first-party standouts. Madden NFL ‘09, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Fallout 3 were named as third-party highlights.

“And of course this fall, we’re opening up the public beta for PlayStation Home which will help fans and gamers of each of the above titles connect, socialize and share their gaming experiences in a way that is truly unique to PlayStation,” added Seybold. “It is pretty clear that 2008 will be the year of PlayStation 3.”

Last week, both Nintendo and Microsoft teased their respective E3 plans. Nintendo said it would unveil “several” new hardcore titles, while Microsoft promised even more new game announcements.
from Gamepro

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Teen Faces 38 Years in Prison For Hacking School Computers

Bueller…Bueller…Bueller…

Graduation time is near for most students at Tesoro High School in Orange County California. However, two students are facing the prospect of beginning a prison term rather than walking across the stage to receive their diplomas. One of the teens faces the possibility of 38 years in prison.

The two teens, Omar Khan and Tanvir Singh, have been charged with multiple felony counts. Khan’s chargers are by far the most severe with a total of 69 felony counts pending against him including identity theft, second degree burglary, computer access and fraud, removing and secreting a public record and altering and falsifying a public record. more

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The World’s First 21.5-inch Full HD LCD Display

BenQ has announced on Friday the “world’s first 21.5-inch Full HD LCD display” as part of their lineup of high-quality LCD monitors. The new product is meant to provide a high quality alternative to the Full HD LCDs already on the market. The company also announced that it would release five new 21.5-inch and 24-inch Full HD 16:9 models that will make their debut later this year, as part of the company’s E series and M series.

The “world’s first 21.5-inch Full HD LCD display” is dubbed E2200HDA and features a 1920 by 1080 native resolution, providing an enhanced experience for high definition content. The new monitor is part of the company’s E series, which later this year will receive additional members. These new models are expected to feature HDMI and DVI-D, 2ms GTG response time as well as 21.5-inch and 24-inch form factors.

“With the introduction of the world’s first 21.5 Full HD 16:9 LCD, BenQ is clearly poised to bring HD splendor beyond just TV,” said Peter Chen, General Manager of BenQ Technology Product Center. “Our upcoming Full HD lineup in sleek LCD form makes 1080p viewing luxury a convenient possibility for all aspects of daily life, reaffirming our core competency in display innovation and our relentless pursuit of bringing enjoyment and quality to life through seamless merging of work and play.”

The E220HDA model sports 10.000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and 300nit brightness enabling it to bring details in razor-sharp clarity along with a rich, vibrant display of 16.7 M colors.

As with the E series, BenQ’s M Series will be offered in 24-inch and 21.5-inch models, said to sport a built-in 2.0M webcam, integrated speakers and microphone. The new M series models will also feature 2ms GTG response time and a high 10.000:1 DCR.

The company didn’t reveal any details regarding the price tag of its new product but it should be available in China and select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America in Q3.

Source- Softpedia

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Atomic PST Password Recovery 1.80 - Recover lost passwords to personal folders in Microsoft Outlook

When working on MS-Outlook mail client with POP3 or IMAP accounts, all received and sent emails, are saved in a Personal Folders (.pst) file along with Contacts and Calendar. You decided to set a password on a .pst file, in order to protect the content of the emails, and prevent from accessing them by other users.

When you started up outlook again, you had dropped the connection to the personal folder which stores most of your mail. When you tried to reconnect the pst, you
needed a password that you can’t remember.

Atomic PST Password Recovery is designed to be a tool that will allow you to recover lost passwords to personal folders in Microsoft Outlook (.pst files).

It will take just a few seconds to recover a password to your personal folder.

Owing to the peculiarities of the password encryption in the Outlook PST file, which is very weak (for each password-protected PST file, there are many passwords that can open it) our program recovers not the “original” password that you typed, but offers you a similar “fake” password that will be 100% fit and functional.

Note!
Atomic PST Password Recovery is designed to recover lost or forgotten passwords to personal folders (.pst files) only! Does not recover mail account passwords, for this purpose we would advise you our Atomic Mailbox Password Recovery or Atomic Outlook Recovery (recovers both Outlook passwords: mailbox and pst).

Download at Softpedia

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Gears of War 2 Control Inspired by Uncharted

Even though Cliff Bleszinski “can’t stand” the cover system of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the outspoken game designer borrowed heavily from the PS3 game when refining the upcoming Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360.

Amid some complaints of the original Gears of War cover system, Bleszinski says: “I felt like the Gears cover system worked like 85 percent of the time and we want to get as close to 100 percent as we can.”

As a result, an alternate control scheme is incorporated in Gears 2, “which is pretty similar to Uncharted,” says Bleszinski.

“Personally, I can’t stand [alternate control scheme]. I like our system,” he says. “But it’s okay to have that option. We want to make everybody happy.”

Our full interview with Bleszinski, published today, also covers the benefits of Unreal Engine 3, destructible environments, chainsaw duels, and why you won’t be able to customize your guns in the upcoming sequel.

Gears of War 2 is scheduled for release this November for Xbox 360.
News Source- Gamepro

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Birth of a Standard: The Intel 8086 Microprocessor

Thirty years ago, Intel released the 8086 processor, introducing the x86 architecture that underlies every PC–Windows, Mac, or Linux–produced today.

Benj Edwards, PC World

The release of Intel’s 8086 microprocessor in 1978 was a watershed moment for personal computing. The DNA of that chip is likely at the center of whatever computer–Windows, Mac, or Linux–you’re using to read this, and it helped transform Intel from merely one of many chip companies to the world’s largest.
Intel’s 8086 microprocessor

What’s most surprising about the tremendous success of the 8086, though, is how little people expected of it when it was first conceived. The history of this revolutionary processor is a classic tale of how much a small team of bright engineers can accomplish when they’re given the freedom to do their jobs in innovative ways.

When development of the 8086 began in May 1976, Intel executives never imagined its spectacular impact. They saw it as a minor stopgap project. They were pinning the company’s hopes on a radically different and more sophisticated processor called the 8800 (later released as the iAPX 432). In an era when most chips still used 8-bit data paths, the 8800 would leapfrog all the way up to 32 bits. Its advanced multitasking capabilities and memory-management circuitry would be built right into the CPU, allowing operating systems to run with much less program code.
[...read more...]

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