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ADM (Analogue/Digital Mixer) by Christian Sterngren 2007-06-15 09:51:00 ADM is a concept for managing music productions on a mixerboard. The concept is based on visualising the actual route of the audio signal, using traditional paraphernalia in a structured way and in different combinations. Mixerboards have gone through a tremendous process of development since the first analogue mixers. Since the introduction of digital mixers the possibilities for audio management have become even greater. The design of today´s mixer board offers an array of control possibilities. Much has been gained but some things have been lost. Other things are the same, perhaps due to necessity or perhaps out of plain habit. The concept includes a way of visualising the actual signal so that the user knows exactly how and where the audio signal is being manipulated. Also the possibilities of integrating the vintage feel of the analogue mixer boards has been explored. Designer: Christian Sterngren ...

Report: Sony Working on PS3 Controller With Rumble 2007-06-15 09:45:00 Good vibrations may soon be returning to the PlayStation 3Rumbling controllers, a feature Sony introduced in its original PlayStation ? later standard issue with all PlayStation 2s ? suddenly disappeared on the PlayStation 3. The reason for that was Sony?s legal battle with Immersion over the patent rights to force feedback controllers. Immersion eventually won over the courts, forcing Sony to ditch vibration from its SIXAXIS PS3 controllers. Understandably, Sony?s public stance was to downplay the importance of rumble in its controllers. Phil Harrison, president of SCE Worldwide, referred to rumble as not a next-generation feature, while Kaz Hirai, then-president and CEO of SCEA, said that it would have been difficult to incorporate both vibration and motion sensing technologies into the SIXAXIS. Then everything changed when Sony and Immersion settled their legal differences and entered into a licensing agreement that would allow the use of force feedback technology in Sony contro ... Sony

Microsoft: "No Comment" on Upgraded Xbox 360 Heatsinks 2007-06-15 09:38:00 Microsoft does not confirm nor deny new Xbox 360 hardware cooling Following yesterday?s discovery of new cooling measures inside Xbox 360 consoles, questions to Microsoft regarding its hardware changes were met with intentionally vague responses. ?Regularly updating console components is commonplace within the industry and is a standard aspect of the business for a variety of reasons including cost reduction, improved manufacturability and improved performance,? a spokesperson said to GameDaily. ?We do not provide details on these updates." Users who received repaired consoles back have been reporting a revised heatsink with a heatpipe extension to help better cool the GPU. It is believed that improved cooling is an effort to address widespread reports of Xbox 360 hardware failures. Microsoft has always remained guarded on the topic of the reliability of its Xbox 360 console, including on possible revisions to address quality issues. When asked if the Xbox 360 Elite w ... Microsoft  Xbox

Compenion - Visionary Personal Computer System by Felix Schmidberger 2007-06-14 22:27:00 Based on a personal computer that accompanies you through your day and context-oriented docking stations at personal spaces like in the office or at home. Those stations are matching the needs of the user in their particular surrounding, like home entertainment in the living room or conferences and multi-tasking at the office.The computer itself is a OLED-touchscreen slider, with a second hidden touchscreen underneath. This way, it gives you a similar working experience as with a 2-monitor setup. It is controlled per hand or via a ?senstylus pen?, that you can use like a normal pen or twist it and use it as a 3d-sensor remote, with a sensor field under the thumb for precise menu controls. Designer: Felix Schmidberger ...

Intel Adds "Yorkfield" Core 2 Extreme 2007-06-14 18:17:00 Intel's latest roadmap adds two more processors to the mix Intel?s latest roadmap adds two more processors to the upcoming lineup. The roadmap reveals early plans for the Yorkfield-based Core 2 Extreme and another Core 2 Duo E4000-sequence processor. With Yorkfield, Intel differentiates the Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Duo models by the front-side bus speed.Intel Core 2 Extreme Yorkfield processors will have a 1333 MHz front-side bus, continuing on where the Kentsfield Core 2 Extreme QX6850 leaves off. The quad-core processor supports Intel VT, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep and Intel 64 and Execute Disable Bit technologies. Intel leaves TXT technology out of the 45nm Core 2 Extreme however.Intel?s Core 2 Duo E4000-sequence receives a speed bump in Q4?2007. The new Core 2 Duo E4600 clocks in at 2.4 GHz and remains on an 800 MHz front-side bus. Aside from the speed bump, the Core 2 Duo E4600 is no different from other Core 2 Duo E4000-sequence models.Intel plans to debut the Core 2 D ... Intel

Peugeot Diesel-Electric Hybrid to Achieve 70+ MPGPeugeot to release diesel-electric hybrid by the end of this decade 2007-06-14 18:10:00 Peugeot to release diesel-electric hybrid by the end of this decade Last week, we learned that Honda is ditching its slow-selling Accord Hybrid in favor of a Tier 2 Bin 5 diesel engine for the 2008 redesign. Although the "clean diesel" engine isn't likely to show up on the options sheet until the 2009 model year, the anticipation of a Honda mid-sized sedan with great fuel economy and decent low-end torque has automotive enthusiasts abuzz. French carmaker Peugeot, however, is combining the technology that Honda is abandoning on the Accord with a diesel engine. The diesel-electric hybrid powertrain will first be used in the recently announced 308 hatchback. Peugeot claims that the diesel-electric hybrid 308 will achieve over 70 MPG on the European cycle (58.29 MPG US). This compares with the 65.7 MPG (54.70 MPG US) figure for the Toyota Prius on the European cycle. The release of a mainstream diesel-electric hybrid could throw some water on the fuel economy flame wars th ... Hybrid

Amidst Stem Cell Veto, New Research Blazes Trails 2007-06-14 18:04:00 As one door comes to a close in U.S. stem cell policy, a group of Japanese researchers lay the blueprints for a technique that may bury the ethical stem cell hatchet forever A bill recently passed by the Senate, which would lessen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research by allowing federally funded experimentation on frozen embryos that fertility clinics currently throw away, is expected to soon be vetoed by U.S. President Bush."If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos," stated the president. Bush vetoed a similar bill last year, and instituted a ban in 2001 on federally funding the creation of new embryo-derived stem cell lines.Stem cells are cells that are pluripotent: they are undifferentiated, and have the ability to become almost any kind of tissue. During the differentiation process, certain stem cells respond to different growth factors and signals ...

iTunes Required for iPhone Setup 2007-06-14 10:51:00 The Apple iPhone will require iTunes for setup and configuration In only a couple of weeks, Apple, Inc. and AT&T Wireless will launch the highly anticipated iPhone. There has been much online debate on the pros and cons of the new mobile phone and new details on the iPhone's hardware and software specifications continue to come to light. The newest addition is that iPhone users will be required to have an account with Apple's iTunes Store in order to set up and configure their devices.The iTunes account will be a separate account from iPhone's exclusive U.S. distributor, AT&T Wireless Services. This strategic move comes as no surprise as Apple is known for confining their users to its services.Once the iPhone contract opens up to other wireless providers, Apple will have their iTunes Store set up with customers. Also, the non-regular Apple customers will have to subscribe to the iTunes store allowing Apple to expand their service to new markets.The iPhone is said to of ... Iphone

Samsung Launches 70" LED-backlit LCD TV 2007-06-14 10:48:00 Samsung delivers world's largest commercially available LCD TVSamsung aims to impress with the retail launch of its new 70" LCD TV in Korea. The new Samsung LN70F91BD forgoes the traditional CCFL backlight in favor of an LED backlight for improved picture clarity.Also new to the TV is what Samsung calls "local dimming backlighting." Since the backlight consists of hundreds of LED elements, an image displayed on the screen can range from maximum brightness (LEDs at full power) to complete darkness to produce true black (LEDs turned completely off). T his differs from traditional CCFL LCDs where black levels can appear more grayish. Samsung says that the use of the LED backlight gives the LCD TV a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000:1 while power consumption is cut by as much as 50 percent. According to AVING, the LN70F91BD features ACAP, three HDMI 1.3 port and a USB 2.0 port. Samsung's 1080p 70" LCD TV is on sale now in Korea for 59 million won ($63,425 USD) and will be available ... Samsung

SCEA CEO Speaks Out in Official PlayStation Blog 2007-06-14 10:41:00 Sony to speak directly to consumers using blog Sony Computer Entertainment has been said previously that it intends to find ways to better reach its consumers. This week, Sony has taken its first major step to direct communication with the opening of the official PlayStation Blog. The blog, which officially opened earlier this week, now features its first major ?public address? from SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton. The welcome letter talks about Tretton?s view on hardcore gamers and the PlayStation?s various contributions to video game innovation since 1995. Tretton speaks on how the various technical innovations of the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 set the bar for the rest of the industry, and how he believes that the PlayStation 3 will do it again ? though not without the software to drive the hardware. ?We fully realize that past success is no guarantee of future success,? Tretton said on how the various technical innovations of the original PlayStation ... Playstation

Gunning for Mobilty: Intel and AMD Bet on a Mobile Internet 2007-06-14 10:28:00 AMD and Intel believe the industry's next revolution is in hand held devices Early last year, Microsoft revealed its ultra mobile computing platform. Smaller than a laptop but larger than a PDA, Microsoft's Origami project set the playing field for others to follow. At the time, Origami was positioned as an Internet browsing device with rudimentary multimedia capabilities. Unfortunately, the Origami project never materialized in any sort of substantial offering, but then again Microsoft has a bit of a hit-or-miss history when it comes to developing hardware. That never deterred Intel or AMD, two companies with long histories rooted in hardware development, from stepping in where Microsoft left off. Lest there be any doubt, neither company is just picking up Microsoft's pieces; they're going into the ultra-mobile playing field at full throttle. Almost simultaneously both AMD and Intel roadmaps indicated the industry would head towards devices that allow consumers to br ... Intel  Internet

John Carmack Unveils Next-Generation 3D Engine 2007-06-14 10:18:00 id Software's id Tech 5 engine could make games prettier than ever John Carmack, the genius behind the 3D game engines from id Software, once considered stepping away from games programming to focus on space-related endeavors. Thankfully for the games industry, Carmack appears to be still deeply rooted in games technology, as he demonstrated the next-generation 3D engine during Steve Job's address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2007. Called ?id Tech 5,? the new engine shies away from the cramped indoor engines of id Games of yesterday. Quake Wars will take the DOOM3 engine outdoors, but id Tech 5 will make it completely nature savvy. ?What we've got here is the entire world with unique textures, 20GB of textures covering this track,? said Carmack. ?They can go in and look at the world and, say, change the color of the mountaintop, or carve their name into the rock. They can change as much as they want on surfaces with no impact on the game.? The engine tec ...

Saving Time with Templates 2007-06-12 15:18:00 If you spend a lot of time applying the same formatting styles, you should consider working from a custom template. Then, instead of starting with Excel's default workbook, each new workbook will already contain any formatting that's unique to your needs. Creating a template is a four-step process. First, open a blank workbook and enter any formatting or content that you want to include in every new workbook. Save the workbook as a template by selecting File, Save As. Then, choose Template (*.xlt) from the Save As Type list. Excel will change the default directory to the Office Templates folder. You don't want to save your template here. Instead, save the workbook in the XLStart directory. Usually, this folder is at C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOfficeXlStart. Once you've located the directory in the Save In control, enter the name book (book.xlt) and click Save. After you've completed the above process, Excel will open the workbook you formatted as the default workbook. ...

Adding Items to the Send To Folder 2007-06-12 15:14:00 Whenever you right-click on a file or folder in Windows XP, one of your options is to send the particular file or folder (or the data it contains) somewhere using the Send To command. For example, you can use this feature to create a copy of a document on a floppy by right-clicking on the file and choosing Send To, 3 1/2 Floppy (A). Or, you can move the file to your My Documents folder by choosing Send To, My Documents.If you like, you can even add your own folder or action to your Send To folder. All you have to do is create a shortcut to the folder or application by right-clicking on it and choosing Send To, Desktop (Create Shortcut). Then move that shortcut to the C:Documents and Settings[[Your Log-On Name]SendTo folder. The new shortcut will automatically become part of the Send To menu.Source: wugnet ...

More on Interrupts 2007-06-12 15:08:00 In the last tip, we listed some of the common interrupt assignments. This time, let's look at some of the common conflicts.In general, you can't assign two devices to the same interrupt. That said, we have to recognize that any computer with more than two COM ports is using the same interrupt for more than one device. The trick with the COM ports is that you don't use the conflicting ones at the same time. For example, if you have a modem assigned to COM3 and you attempt to use COM1 while the modem is active, you'll get a conflict. In most cases, this won't cause any drastic problems--COM1 will most likely simply decline to open.You can also have some problems with sound cards that use interrupt 5 and have a second printer port (LPT2). Once again, you can usually handle this. The only problem is when you use the sound card and LPT2 at the same time.When you work with interrupt conflicts keep in mind that if two devices must often run simultaneously, you need to assign them to diff ...