cedled

Foxit Reader 3.0.1120 (Windows, Freeware, 3.7MB) [alt DL] is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only a few M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and rich feature set.

Changes:

• Enticing Multimedia Design
• Attachment Panel
• Thumbnail Panel
• Layout Panel
• Metric Unit Support
• Auto-scrolling with Middle Mouse Button
• Awe-Inspiring Foxit OnDemand Content Management
• Firefox Support
• Improved Select Text Tool
• Enhanced Print Setup
• Better Annotation Control
• Advanced Toolbar Control
• Better Permission Control
• Improved Upgrade Mode
• Improved Popup Note
• Enhanced Shortcut Keys Input
• Transferrable preferences Settings
• Many Bug Fixes

Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition 2.0.0.8 Rev 2 (Windows, Open Source, 6.7MB) is the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email client as a portable app, so you can take your email, address book and account settings with you. You can also add in GPG and Enigmail to encrypt and sign your email.

Changes:

• 2.0.0.18 core app updates
• launcher updated to improve cleanup of empty profile/profiles directories and unreadmail keys that were previously deleted
• installer now preserves any installed GPG binaries
• this revision fixes an issue where non-English packages would display multilingual extensions in English.
• The English build has just had a version update to keep it consistent with the other builds. Users of the English package do not need to upgrade from 2.0.0.18.

SpeedFan 4.37 (Windows, Freeware, 1.8MB) [alt DL] is a freeware program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. SpeedFan can even access S.M.A.R.T. info for those hard disks that support this feature and show hard disk temperatures too, if supported.

Changes:

• fixed a bug where, after resuming from suspend, fan speeds were not really change
• added full support for AMD CD5536 SMBus
• added identification of Fintek F75111R
• fixed an Exotics tab Access Violation
• fixed a bug that caused all of the EVENTS to be lost after entering CONFIGURE

QuickPwn 2.2 (Windows, Freeware) lets you upgrade to firmware 2.2, and Pwn & Jailbreak the following gadgets: iPhone 2G (1st Gen), iPhone 3G (2nd Gen), and iPod Touch 1G (1st Gen).

Also available are: QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac OSX and the PwnageTool 2.2.1 for Mac OSX.

Change: Will enable you to upgrade your device to Firmware 2.2.

GIMP Portable 2.6.3 (Windows, Open Source, 16MB) is the popular the GIMP for Windows image editor packaged as a portable app, so you can take your images with you and do your editing on the go.

Change: GIMP core app has been updated to 2.6.3.

The GIMP 2.6.3 (Windows, Open Source, 15MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

Also available for Linux.

Fixes:

• Plugin Map Color Range disappears from GIMP
• Error while loading psd-data
• Explicit zooming with e.g. '1' should handle zoom-focus better
• Zoom selection always centered in the Navigation tab
• Wrong lang tags for 'no'
• SOTA Chrome cannot accept different textures
• Clearing an already empty document history crashes GIMP
• Image windows need better default locations
• "Scale image..." causes distortion around edges
• Changing crop size in Crop Tool Options can make UI unresponsive
• Stroking a single-point path with a paint tool crashes GIMP
• Move tool gives bad information about px moved
• help behavior for locales without manual translation

BurnAware Free 2.1.7 (Windows, Freeware, 7.7MB) [alt DL] allows you to easily perform the most common disc burning tasks: write to all CD/DVD media types, including Blue-Ray; write Audio CDs and DVD-Video files; create and burn disc images; write multi-session discs and much more.

Changes:

• Re-designed buttons of Welcome Screen
• Simultaneous writing tools moved in additional tab of Welcome Screen
• Fixed minor bugs with Unicode systems

ExtremeTech tested five web browsers, subjecting them to six test, in order to find out who is the Speed King of them all.

The browsers tested were: Firefox 3.0.4, Google Chrome 0.3.154.9, Internet Explorer 7.0.6001.18000, Opera 9.6, and Safari 3.2.

The tests made were the following:

• V8 Benchmark Suite - measures JavaScript speed for rich Web applications
• Browser Extensions - used for more complex XML renderings where data is pulled from an external source
• Acid3 Test - compatibility test that measures the default settings in a browser, plays an animation, and compares the resulting image to a reference image
• Adobe Flash – Flash rendering
• JavaScript Library and Framework Tests - a very comprehensive JavaScript test that uses specific libraries to measure rendering speed
• Web Speed tests – speed tests on content-rich sites

Results (per test):

• V8 Benchmark Suite: Google Chrome
• Browser Extensions: Firefox
• Acid3 Test: Opera
• Adobe Flash: Firefox
• JavaScript Library and Framework Tests: Google Chrome
• Web Speed tests: Google Chrome

“Based on our arbitrary score assignments, Google Chrome is the speed king… Google uses its own knowledge of search and browsing habits to optimize Chrome, but Chrome is still in early development. It's also clear from our testing that Microsoft really needs to get IE8 out the door—IE7 not only has compatibility issues, but is substantially slower in many ways. Firefox 3.1 should also improve Firefox's scores. ” [ExtremeTech | Which Web Browser is King?]

Overall Results:

1. Google Chrome
2. Mozilla Firefox
3. Opera

The tests done by ExtremeTech does show that Google Chrome is currently the fastest browser, topping 3 of the 6 tests. For computer users who regularly use different operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac), they would probably have to settle for the current second fastest, which is Firefox.

Of course, Speed is just one of the many attributes that makes a web browser desirable. My personal favorite is Flock (not tested by ExtremeTech), which usually trails in the speed department. Despite Flock’s lack of zippy-ness, I still use it more due to its built-in functions (integration of webmail, photoblog viewing & posting, etc.). And in case my searching and/or browsing task needs that extra speed factor, I just fire up one of the top three.

Minime 1.5 (Windows, Open Source, 1MB) is a tool that allows you to minimize applications to the system tray using a simple hotkey. What makes this tool somewhat unique is that it keeps your system tray clean by minimizing all applications into a single tray icon.

As of version 1.5, Minime is a standalone executable that doesn't require any installation and can even be run from your USB drives.

To Use:

Simply select the window you wish to minimize and press ctrl+shift+z. To restore the window simply open the minime context menu by clicking on the icon.

Changes:

• Fix: Minime context menu can no longer be minimized
• Fix: Windows cannot be minimized twice
• Increased the interval for closed window checks
• Added a realy simple 'check for updates' option
• Icon files are now added as resources in the exe file

This is a nice small-footprint app that helps you tidy-up your display workspace.

Fedora Linux 10 Final (Linux, Freeware, 3GB) [alt DL] is an openly-developed project designed by Red Hat, open for general participation, led by a meritocracy, following a set of project objectives.

The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from open source software. Development will be done in a public forum. The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora Core about 2-3 times a year, with a public release schedule. The Red Hat engineering team will continue to participate in building Fedora Core and will invite and encourage more outside participation than in past releases. By using this more open process, we hope to provide an operating system more in line with the ideals of free software and more appealing to the open source community.

If you are itching to try a new Linux distro, Fedora Linux 10 is ready for your evaluation.

K-Lite Codec Pack Full 4.34 (Windows, Freeware, 14.9MB) [alt DL] is a collection of codecs, DirectShow filters and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video formats.

Changes:

• Updated Media Player Classic to version 6.4.9.1 rev. 86
• Updated Media Player Classic Homecinema to version 1.1.904
• Updated ffdshow to revision 2364
• Updated FLV splitter. Seeking now also works on files with broken metadata.
• Updated x264VFW to revision 1032
• Updated GraphStudio to version 0.3.0.0
• Minor changes

Xfire 1.101 (Windows, Freeware, 5.6MB) [alt DL] is the instant messenger for gamers. See when your friends are playing online games; See what game they are playing; See where they are playing; and join their game with just one click. Plus, unlike existing Instant Messengers, this one lets you receive IM's without disrupting your game.

Changes:

• Added a new theme to the Shadow skin to match the old default skin's colors
• Added a web search box to the bottom of the main window infoview
• Added game server info to Call of Duty: World at War
• Further improvements to the live video system will launch on the web site during the first week of December
• New games supported

CCleaner 2.14.750 (Windows, Freeware, 2.84MB) [alt DL] is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space.

Changes:

• Added support for Windows 7.
• Improved Google Chrome support (build 0.4).
• Opera cookie management added.
• Improved Recycle Bin cleaning.
• Added a warning when cleaning Google Chrome and it's running.
• Search Autocomplete cleaning now XP only.
• Improve file association Registry Cleaning.
• Fixed bug with context menus and excessive CPU usage.
• Fixed GUI colors on high contrast themes.
• Minor GUI bugs fixed.
• Minor performance improvements.

Lunascape 5.0.0 alpha Genesis (Windows, Freeware) is a web browser that has integrated the three main browser rendering engines with the ability to switch to the optimal engine automatically. The rendering engines are Trident (used by Internet Explorer), Gecko (used by Mozilla Firefox and Flock), and Webkit (used by Safari and Google Chrome).

If you wanted a web browser that has the qualities (or more accurately, the engines) of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari, Lunascape is it.

Storm of Zehir

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir (PC, RPG) is the latest expansion of Neverwinter Nights series.

About the Game:

In the aftermath of the defeat of the King of Shadows, the Sword Coast is in the midst of an uneasy economic recovery. Trade syndicates have sprung up to exploit the post-war confusion for their own ends and the players’ party will wade into this uncertain environment. In order to increase their own fortunes, they can either ally with a syndicate to create a trade empire, or cut their own path through Faerun by preying upon caravans and selling the goods on the black market. As they attempt to extend their influence, players will become aware of a new faction working behind the scenes: the evil, shape-shifting, serpentine Yuan-Ti.

GameSpot gave it a 6.0 (‘Fair’) rating:

“Storm of Zehir tries to be the square peg in Neverwinter Nights 2’s round hole, with predictably lackluster results. … Storm of Zehir isn’t a terrible addition to the D&D gaming canon, although it is a lot less refined than you might expect. You have to suspect that this is the result of straying too far from the original Neverwinter Nights 2 formula, and ultimately this expansion pack isn’t as enjoyable.” [GameSpot | Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir]

IGN gave it an 8.3 (‘Impressive’) rating:

“Fans of D&D and single-player role-playing games should definitely check out Storm of Zehir. Yes, there’s a shortage of single-player D&D games in this age of MMOs that we live in, but Obsidian has still crafted an involving and engaging adventure. It’s also nice to see the company take risks, presenting new forms of gameplay and evolving its series even further. With its emphasis on party, this feels like an homage to the old school D&D games of the past.” [IGN | Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir]

If you are an RPG and Neverwinter Nights fan, Storm of Zehir is quite a mixed bag. It is a nice RPG game, but might not be the NN2 expansion you’d expect.

No related posts.

The HTC Touch HD (US$907) is a WinMo smartphone that has the following features:

• GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• HSDPA 900/2100MHz (HSDPA 7.2Mbps)
• Qualcomm MSM7201A 528MHz processor
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system
• 3.8-inch 480×800 (WVGA) TFT touchscreen display
• TouchFLO 3D interface, with Touch-sensitive front panel buttons
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• 802.11b/g WLAN
• mini-USB 2.0
• GPS and A-GPS ready
• 288MB RAM, with microSD expansion slot (SDHC compatible)
• 5-megapixel color camera with auto focus and touch focus
• secondary camera: VGA CMOS color camera
• Built-in 3.5mm audio jack, microphone, speaker, and FM radio
• dimensions: 115mm x 62.8mm x 12mm
• weight: 147g (with battery)

GSM Arena took a good look at the Touch HD:

“The HTC Touch HD is guaranteed to change the way people think of Windows Mobile. It is a bold and confident step, taking full advantage of all the hardware and software strengths and a worthy effort of addressing the weaknesses. … But while this certainly isn’t a flawless phone, the results are impressive indeed. The multimedia power of the HD is immense, and only a touch away on that huge screen. The high-resolution camera and the tons of software available, make the HD a truly attractive package. And with looks like those - what more can you possibly want in a phone.” [GSMArena | HTC Touch HD]

HardwareZone did a short comparison of the the Touch HD with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and Samsung Omnia, and gave the Touch HD a 4 out of 5 rating:

“There’s no denying that the Touch HD has shown that it is capable of delivering a good multimedia suite with its 3.8-inch WVGA screen for movie lovers, whilst its 3.5mm audio connectivity will probably be adequate for the average consumer. We have absolutely no complaints when it comes to viewing a movie on its crisp and sharp screen. Colors and resolution was wonderful, though the only downfall is that it lacks the capacity to combat strong sunlight glares. … This makes the Touch HD not only the Windows Mobile device with the largest screen size, but also the most expensive. This comes at a bad time too, with consumer spending dwindling in a period of economic uncertainty.” [HardwareZone | HTC Touch HD Review]

If you are looking for a Windows Mobile smartphone that promises a good touchscreen experience, as well as a large display screen, the HTC Touch HD would probably be your best bet.

Related posts:

1. LG Incite Smartphone Reviewed
2. 2nd Gen iPod Touch Reviewed
3. Palm Treo Pro Smartphone Reviewed

GoingToRain.com is an online service that gives you the weather forecast for the day.

The service tries to get your location, then gives you the answer to the question “Is it going to rain today?”. The answer I got was “maybe”. The result goes further by telling you if there’s a chance of storms, the maximum expected temperature for the day, and the location of the forecast.

You can change your default location by typing it on the result text box (turns yellow when the mouse hovers over it).

It’s a nice and simple service to help you decide if you should bring an umbrella, leave the washed clothes on the clothesline, or use the car instead of the motorbike.

IceRocket : goingtorain, weather forecast

Related posts:

1. IDrive.com - Secure, Fast, and Simple Online Backup

Startup Delayer 2.3.134 (Windows, Freeware, 977KB) [alt DL] allows you to setup how many seconds after Windows has started to load each program on your startup list.

Changes:

• Made the uninstall routine automatically restore all delayed applications back to their previous location. (Wasn't working on all systems)
• Fixed a bug when pressing the Skip button in the GUI Launcher while waiting for an application that was marked to pause until it was closed
• Fixed the Run-time error '91': Object variable or With block variable not set error when you use the GUI version of the Launcher on a profile that's never run Startup Delayer
• Fixed the Run-time error '5' if you reset the GUI position twice, or if it didn't exist in the first place

PeaZip 2.4.1 (Windows, Open Source, 3.8MB) [alt DL] is a free, open source file and archive manager.

Also available for Linux.

Changes:

• Various fixes
• 7z frontend updated to 4.61 (Windows)
• Quick archiving functions (add to single or multiple 7z, zip, sfx) now uses application defaults rather than backend program's defaults
• Secure deletion can now erase both files and folders
• Added Dutch, French, Galitian and Ukraininan translations; various translations updated

I currently use 7-Zip (due to its small size), but PeaZip is also a good alternative.

Google Chrome 0.4.154.29 Beta (Windows, Open Source, 476KB) [alt DL] is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

Change: Upgrades Gears to 0.5.4.2 to address a security issue with Gears 0.5.4.0 and earlier versions.

7-Zip 4.62 (Windows, Open Source, 912KB) [alt DL] is an open source file archiver predominantly for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It operates either as a command line program or with a graphical user interface. It also features integration with the Windows shell environment. 7-Zip is free software, distributed under the GNU LGPL license.

Changes: Some bug fixes.

Songbird 1.0.0 (Windows, Open Source, 11.8MB) [alt DL] is a desktop Web player, a digital jukebox and Web browser mash-up. Like Winamp, it supports extensions and skins feathers. Like Firefox, it is built from Mozilla, cross-platform and open source.

Changes:

• Improved Audio/Playback Functionality
• UI Experience Improvements
• Performance Improvements
• Many miscellaneous top crashers were fixed for this release

Left 4 Dead (PC, Action) is a multiplayer focused shooter game from Valve. Set in the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, L4D offers four expansive "movie campaigns" that challenge you and your fellow survivors to battle thousands of swarming zombies as you travel across the rooftops of an abandoned metropolis, through rural ghost towns and pitch-black forests. In addition to the movie campaigns, Left 4 Dead features a Versus mode that allows you to play as the Boss Zombies.

FiringSquad gave it its Editor’s Choice award:

“Left 4 Dead is just another game in Valve’s portfolio that goes to show they know what fun is, and what people want to play. By taking many of our cultural references to zombies and allowing players to be part of the horde, Valve has given us a game that is unlike any other we have seen. Fast paced action and scream inducing frights work to provide an innovative and exciting game that has a huge replay factor thanks to the AI Director’s ability to completely randomize each play through.” [FiringSquad | Left 4 Dead]

GameZone gave it an 8.9 rating:

“Left 4 Dead is a great multiplayer shooter with many elements that you won’t find in any other shooter this year. The co-op experience is unrivaled and the dynamic AI is an excellent design choice. While more maps would’ve been nice, Left 4 Dead is still a worthy purchase for any fan of multiplayer shooters.” [GameZone | Left 4 Dead]

Do you like shoot-em-up action multiplayer games? Left 4 Dead is your sure ticket to hours of great fun.

No related posts.

Kogan, an Australian-based manufacturer, recently announced its two Android OS based smartphones: Agora (US$299) and Agora Pro (US$399).

Agora Feature Highlights:

• 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen.
• Integrated QWERTY keyboard.
• High-speed 3G network connection.
• One-Touch Google Search.
• Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents.
• Customizable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications.
• Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Maps).
• Music Player.
• Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
• microSD expansion slot

Agora Pro Feature Highlights:

• All non-Pro features, plus:
  • Wi-Fi network access.
  • GPS navigation capability.
  • 2.0 megapixel camera.

The Agora and Agora Pro would be a better bet if you’d want an Android OS based smartphone, but prefers a QWERTY keyboard below the screen, instead of a slide-out keyboard that came with the T-Mobile G1. And the plus side is that the Agora and Agora Pro would be available network-unlocked (not locked to specific carrier).

Related posts:

1. T-Mobile G1 (Google Android) Smartphone Previewed
2. T-Mobile G1 (Google Android OS) Smartphone Reviewed

FileZilla 3.1.6 (Windows, Open Source, 3.5MB) [alt DL] is a powerful FTP-client that has been designed for ease of use and with support for as many features as possible, while still being fast and reliable.

Also available for Linux.

Changes:

• Automatically refresh remote directory listing if queue finishes successfully
• Speed up refresh of remote directory listing if adding files during uploads
• Connections no longer time out waiting on a directory listing getting retrieved by a different connection
• Number of files were not updated if deleting remote files
• MSW: Update manifest so that the evil filesystem virtualization stays disabled under Vista

Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0.11 (Windows, Freeware, 15.6MB) [alt DL] allows you to run applications called "applets" that are written in the Java programming language. These applets allow you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D.

Changes: Various bug fixes.

GPU-Z 0.3.0 (Windows, Freeware, 365KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

Changes:

• Fixed monitors panel showing up sometimes
• Re-enabled dupecheck for VGA BIOS upload
• Corrected 9800 GTX release date
• Added support for NVIDIA Quadro VX 200
• Fixed voltage readings on HD 4870 and HD 4870 X2
• Added support for NVIDIA 9800 GT, 9600 GS/GSO, 9300 GS, Quadro FX Go1400, 9800M GTX, 9600M GT, 9650M GT, Quadro FX 770M, 9200M GS, 9300M GS, Quadro NVS 160M, G71 0x2e5
• Added support for ATI HD 4350, HD 4550, HD 4650, HD 4830, HD 4850 X2, RV670 0x9504
• Added support for Intel GM45 variant 0x2a43
• Added support for shader count reading on HD 48xx
• Changed ATI driver function call method. This should result in more accurate readings on X2 cards and non-desktop ATI devices
• Improved VGA BIOS Upload dialog. Drop down lists appropriate for your card will now be fetched from our servers to facilitate the upload process
• Corrected RV610 transistor count

Fresh UI 8.20 (Windows, Freeware, 1.5MB) [alt DL] is the fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings, this software covers the customizing and optimizing technique that you'll be glad to know.

Change: More Internet Explorer settings.

CPU-Z 1.49 (Windows, Freeware, 593KB) [alt DL] is a diagnostic tool that provides information on your CPU, including: processor name and vendor, core stepping and process, processor package, internal and external clocks, clock multiplier, partial overclock detection, processor features, supported instructions sets, L1 and L2 cache information, location, size, speed, and technology.

Changes:

• AMD Phenom II processor
• New Intel Core 2 models
• Improved loading time
• New online validation process
• New Hall of Fame

Comodo Internet Security (32-bit) 3.5.57173.439 (Windows, Freeware, 27.3MB) [alt DL] is designed to be the that integrates Comodo Antivirus, Comodo Firewall and Comodo Defense+ in a seamless manner. We have also fixed many bugs in Comodo Firewall with this release.

Comodo Firewall or Comodo Antivirus can be installed as standalone products by using the same setup.

Custom Firmware 5.00 M33-4 for the Sony PSP has been released.

Changes:

• Speed selected for UMD/ISO was not properly locked in some new games that used scePower_EBD177D6 instead of scePowerSetClockFrequency to change speed.
• UMD/ISO speed settings now apply to PSN games too.
• Fixed libupdown.prx connecting to dark-alex.org instead of Sony when npsignin_plugin checks for a new version and M33 update is enabled.
• ISO file descriptor was not closed in driver deletion.
• Added a shutdown command to vshmenu.

Download Custom Firmware 5.00 M33-4 at PSP-Hacks >>

Related posts:

1. PSP Custom Firmware 5.00 M33-3 Now Available
2. Sony PSP Custom Firmware 5.00 M33 and 1.50 Kernel Add-On Released
3. Olympus E-420 and E-520 DSLR Firmware 1.1 Released

Tom’s Hardware recently released their December 2008 choices for best gaming video cards for the money.

The following were the picks:

Recommended PCI Express Cards:

• Radeon HD 4650 (US$60)
• Radeon HD 4670 GDDR3 ($80) [review]
• GeForce 9600 GSO (aka GeForce 8800 GS) ($80)
• Radeon HD 3870 ($95)
• GeForce 9600 GT ($95) [review]
• Radeon HD 4830 ($120) [review]
• GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB (aka GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB) ($120)
• Radeon HD 4850 ($160) [review]
• Radeon HD 4870 512 MB ($215) [review]
• GeForce GTX 260 ($215)
• GeForce GTX 260+ ($265)
• Radeon HD 4870 1 GB ($265)
• 2x Radeon HD 4850 in CrossFire Configuration ($320)
• Radeon HD 4850 X2 ($370)
• Radeon HD 4870 X2 (over $400) [review]

For light gaming only, the HD 4650 should suffice. This card give more bang than the HD 4350, for just a few bucks more.

If you are interested in a CrossFire configuration, two HD 4850 cards seem to be the way to go. Tom’s Hardware didn’t have a recommended SLI configuration, so for guys and gals who prefer Nvidia cards, two 9800 GT cards running in SLI mode might be the next best thing.

And if you just have to have the meanest and “baddest” card, and could afford it, the HD 4870 X2 is for you.

Recommended AGP Cards:

• Radeon HD 2600 XT (around US$65)
• Radeon HD 3850 512 MB (over $100)

For AGP systems, the HD 2600 XT and HD 3850 512MB are the best choices (if and only if you need to replace a broken graphics card on an existing AGP system).

[Source: Tom’s Hardware | Best Video Cards For The Money: Dec '08]

Related posts:

1. Best Bang Per Buck Graphics Cards for Gaming, November 2008
2. Best Graphics Cards for Far Cry 2
3. Four PC Gaming Headsets Reviewed

The Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard (about US$150) is an Intel LGA775 mainboard that features:

• Intel LGA775 processor support
• Intel P45 Express / Intel ICH10R chipset
• 4 DDR2 DIMM sockets (up to 16GB)
• 2 PCI Express slots (1 PCI Express X16 slot running at full speed; 1 PCI E X16 slot running at X8; CrossFireX support)
• 6 SATA 3Gbps ports (with support for SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10)
• 1 IDE ATA/133 port
• 2 Gigabit LAN ports (2 Realtek 8111C controllers, 2 RJ45 jacks, teaming support)
• 1 coax S/PDIF out
• 1 optical S/PDIF out
• 8 USB 2.0 ports
• 2 IEEE 1394a ports
• 6 color coded audio minijacks

HardwareZone gave it a 4.5 out of 5 rating ('Excellent'):

"... our overall experience with the board, from the fuss-free installation and BIOS update, to the testing and overclocking, has been generally positive. There were no problems encountered and the board worked flawlessly. This alone is worth the extra cost of the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P compared to other brands who may be more powerful but at the expense of user friendliness. However, since these are characteristics of Gigabyte's current generation of motherboards, one may even opt for the DS3R model mentioned earlier if the extra perks are not attractive enough." [HardwareZone | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P]

HotHardware gave it its Recommended award:

"Gigabyte's EP45-UD3P performed well -- it placed right in line with other Intel and NVIDIA boards that we used for comparison -- but in general it was the best P45 board we've come across. ... If you're in the market for a new motherboard, but don't necessarily want to upgrade your entire set of hardware, you might consider the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. It's got a complete list of components onboard and comes with a nice price tag, especially during the holiday season where everyone's looking to save a dollar or two." [HotHardware | Gigabyte EP45-UD3P]

FiringSquad gave it a score of 91%:

"... if you're looking for an inexpensive CrossFire-compatible motherboard based on Intel's P45 chipset, you owe it to yourself to check out Gigabyte's EP45-UD3P. The motherboard incorporates high-end features without resorting to the high-end price tag." [ FiringSquad | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P ]

ExtremeTech gave it a 5 out of 5 rating, and its ExtremeTech Approved award:

"The EP45-UD3P is simply a stunning, solid board full of features that comes at a fantastic price. It's a motherboard to seriously consider if you can't quite afford an X58-based board and a Core i7 CPU. ... In fact, it might even be safe to say it's the only board to consider. We know what's going into our next build. " [ ExtremeTech | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P ]

So, if you are looking to build an Intel box using an LGA775 processor, the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard should be first on your list of things to buy.

IceRocket : gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, intel lga775 motherboard

Remindr.info is an online service that lets you setup reminders that will alert you via your Twitter account, email address, Jabber (or GTalk) IM account, and/or mobile phone.

No need to register. All you have to do is fill up the necessary details of your reminder:

• To Do or Appointement description
• Date and Time
• Twitter username
• Email address
• Jabber (or GTalk) account name
• Mobile phone number

This is indeed a handy way to be alerted of our To Dos through 4 popular services.

IceRocket : alert, email, im, mobile, reminder, remindr, todo, twitter

Related posts:

1. Windows Mobile 6.1 Hot Fix for Sending POP and IMAP E-mail Released
2. NutshellMail.com - Your Mail in a Nutshell
3. Dropcard - Share Contact Info Easily

More often than not, wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree are “inspected” by kids (and adults), trying to see and guess what their gifts could possibly be. Manual guess-weighing by hand, shaking, and sometimes comparing with other wrapped gifts are common activities that happen before Christmas day.

To add more suspense, or more appropriately, to add another degree of difficulty in the guessing aspect, one could skip putting the names on the gift tags, and just write a number on it. The number will of course correspond to the person intended for the gift, and the only one who knows it is the one who wrapped the present.

This will definitely minimize the comparison routine that usually happens when the wrapped present is already identified by a name. One word of caution: do NOT lose the list of names and their corresponding number codes!

No related posts.

More often than not, wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree are “inspected” by kids (and adults), trying to see and guess what their gifts could possibly be. Manual guess-weighing by hand, shaking, and sometimes comparing with other wrapped gifts are common activities that happen before Christmas day.

To add more suspense, or more appropriately, to add another degree of difficulty in the guessing aspect, one could skip putting the names on the gift tags, and just write a number on it. The number will of course correspond to the person intended for the gift, and the only one who knows it is the one who wrapped the present.

This will definitely minimize the comparison routine that usually happens when the wrapped present is already identified by a name. One word of caution: do NOT lose the list of names and their corresponding number codes!

No related posts.

Defraggler 1.05.111 (Windows, Freeware, 701KB) [alt DL] is a file defragmentation tool.

Changes:

• Added 'Move files to end of drive' feature.
• Added 'Save settings to ini file' option.
• Added French, Croatian, Chinese Traditional, Catalan, Bulgarian and Turkish translations.
• Fixed rare crash under Vista that could happen when using menus.
• Improvements to debug logging routines.
• Various small UI tweaks.