The ASUS boards for the eco-conscious

Any manufacturer's motherboard line-up just isn't complete in today's world without the inclusion of boards that claim to save energy for a cleaner environment.

ASUS, as you'd expect, isn't one to miss out. It claims to "recognise the importance of green computing" and has announced a new series of ASUS EPU motherboards.

The EPU motherboards provide a hardware-based energy saving solution that ASUS tells us "is more stable than other purely software-driven solutions". The EPU boards boast a 80.23 percent CPU power saving and enhanced energy efficiency ratings of up to 96 percent - "helping users in the cause to save energy for a greener environment," ASUS says.

ASUS P5E3 Premium - complete with EPU

The EPU is an automatic energy saving chip which digitally monitors CPU usage levels and adjusts the delivery of power to the CPU accordingly. According to ASUS, "the EPU is thus able to provide users with the ability to moderate power for higher performance if required, or save up to 80.23 percent CPU power under low processing periods for the best possible performance with the least amount of power."

In addition, ASUS' EPU boards also offer AI Gear3+ which allows users to tweak the CPU frequency and vCore voltages as required. Working alongside the EPU, ASUS states that AI Gear3+ can help users achieve power efficiency ratings of up to 96 percent. There's even a software UI that shows users just how much electricity they're saving - all in real-time.

The range of EPU motherboards is currently as follows:
X48 Chipset Models

P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP @n, RAMPAGE FORMULA, P5E64 WS Evolution

X38 Chipset Models


P5E3 DELUXE/WiFi-AP @n, P5E3 DELUXE, P5E3, P5E, MAXIMUS Extreme, MAXIMUS Formula, P5E64 WS PRO

Nvidia nForce® Chipset Models


P5N-T DELUXE, P5N-D, Striker II Extreme, Striker II NSE, Striker II Formula, P5N64 WS Professional

P35 Chipset Models


P5K PRO, P5K/ EPU, P5K SE/EPU


Official press release: Industry-Leading Stability and up to 96% Power Efficiency!

Yahoo speaks up for open search

Yahoo will open its mobile search to third-party content providers and
let users search just by saying a term or asking a question.

The OneSearch 2.0 tool announced Tuesday will also show up on the
home screens of some handsets, said Marco Boerries, executive vice
president and head of Yahoo's Connected Life Division, in a keynote
address at CTIA Wireless on Wednesday.

OneSearch 2.0 will bring up direct links to results from sites such
as Yelp and Facebook that will take users to those companies' sites.
For example, searching for a person's name will be able to
automatically bring up results from major social-networking sites
giving the number of members with that name on each system. A click on
that result will send the user directly into a results page on that
social network's mobile site. Similarly, a search for a restaurant will
be able to bring up links to customer-review sites such as Yelp and
Zagat. Which third parties come up will depend on relevance, Boerries
said at a news conference following the keynote.

Last year, partners could arrange for these kinds of results by
setting up business relationships with Yahoo. Now there is an open API
(application programming interface) for it, the same one used for
Yahoo's online search.

Yahoo has been aggressively pushing its presence on mobile phones,
which could prove a potent market for advertising and content alongside
the PC-based Internet. Despite Google's lead in online search, Yahoo
has a richer set of tools on its mobile browser site and offers a
downloadable application for phones.

Opening up OneSearch is just the latest attempt by Yahoo to make
strides in the mobile Internet through openness. In January, Yahoo
introduced new versions of both its mobile portal application and its
site for mobile browsers. At the same time, it released documentation
for developers to create "widgets" that can be added to both of them.
Developers are allowed to include display ads and sponsored search,
even from advertising networks that compete with Yahoo's.

"Opening up to other people's content ... can really drive extreme
customer value that is good for both of us," Boerries said. The open
search results are expected to start appearing in the second quarter.

With the voice-based search, users will be able to press a key and
then say a term or ask a question and have search results appear on the
phone's screen. In a demonstration at the keynote, answers to the
question "What's the best place to play craps in Las Vegas?" came from
the Yahoo Answers Web site. The system won't give any audio responses,
Boerries said, but it should help mobile search reach even low-end
phones, because the queries are processed on a server rather than on
the phone.

Voice search in English will be rolled out in July and August.
BlackBerry users can get a preview of the voice search function today
at http://m.yahoo.com/voice, and previews will be available later for
other platforms, Boerries said.

OneSearch 2.0 will also become easier to reach as it's placed on
phone idle screens so users don't even have to open their browsers,
Yahoo hopes. The company is writing downloadable applications for Nokia
Series 60 and Windows Mobile that will let users place it there
themselves, and it is working with Nokia, Motorola, LG Electronics and
Samsung to get OneSearch integrated into the idle screens of phones
they make. It will also approach carriers about this type of
integration. Idle screen capability is expected to start rolling out in
the second quarter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Skate Coming to Wii and Nintendo DS?

new report
indicates that EA could well be bringing Skate to Wii and DS. EA's
President, Frank Gibeau recently teased with the prospect of extensions
to the Skate franchise, EA's answer to Activision's Tony Hawks games,
but nobody quite knew what he meant. Now, however, news has leaked out
about 'Skate It', a new spin-off that is destined to hit both the
Nintendo DS and Wii systems.



Strangely enough, IGN has removed the story, which we can only
assume means the information should not have been released just yet. So
unless it was a complete mistake, it is pretty certain that the
Nintendo versions are coming. The question is, will EA be making use of
the Balance Board for the Wii edition? Considering the company is
indeed making use of the popular peripheral included in the Wii Fit
package, it would not be too surprising.

http://www.cubed3.com/

Nintendo Power Poll - What Games Do You Want To See?

American magazine Nintendo Power is running a poll to determine which retro titles Virtual Console players would most like to see on the service. Once the results are in the magazine will publish the Top 100 most requested titles.

We're sure this will result in some quite outlandish suggestions but it should make for interesting reading regardless; you can bet that someone from Nintendo will read it and hopefully it will represent a good indication of where fans want the service to go next - who knows, maybe the company will sit up and take notice?

Whatever the eventual outcome, here's your chance to make your voice heard.

http://www.vc-reviews.com/

Nintendo dominated Japan in 2007

Nintendo was way out on top in the Japanese hardware and software markets last year, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Top of the pile was the DS with over 6.3 million sales - miles ahead of second place sibling Wii with 3.74 million.

Biting its heels was the PSP with 3.4 million units sold, while the PlayStation 3 managed an admirable 1.2 million. The Xbox 360 struggled to reach over 235,000.

It was a similar story with regard to software; the top five sellers were all for Nintendo systems. In the lead was Wii Fit with 1.76 million, followed by Mario Party DS in second (1.66 million) and Wii Sports in third (1.62 million).

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was fourth with 1.55 million, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon was fifth with 1.35 million.

Combined hardware and software sales grew 3.8 per cent over 2006, reaching JPY 677 billion (USD 6.59 billion / EUR 4.23 billion).

http://www.eurogamer.net/

Simple Ways to Speed up Windows XP pt.1

Please note I think its pathetic to even have to do this…..But its worth it.

First you are going to want to rid your hardrive of unwanted startup items.

so open up open up "C:\documents and setting\<username>\start menu\programs\startup\"
(replacing <username> with your computer username)

In the startup folder go ahead and delete everything you don't want/need.

Then open up "C:\WINDOWS\Tasks"
In this folder delete all unwanted/needed scheduled tasks.

Second, Windows can look pretty hot without slowing down your computer's performance.

• 
  
  Right click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
  
  


• 
  
  Select the "Advanced" Tab and click "Settings" in the "Performance" box
  
  


• 
  
  Out of the bubble boxes select "Custom" and only check the following values:
  
  
  
  
  1. 
     
     Show Shadows under Menu
     
     
  
  
  2. 
     
     Show Shadows under Mouse Pointer
     
     
  
  
  3. 
     
     Use drop shadows for icons labels on the Desktop
     
     
  
  
  4. 
     
     Use visual styles on Windows and Buttons
     
     
  
  
  
  

Third, Windows has many components that most people do not use, and
of course they slow down your computer so heres what you do:

Open Start Menu and click "Control Panel"
From there click "add/remove programs"
Then to left there are four buttons click the third one down which is Windows Components

A window labeled "Windows Component Wizard" should pop-up.
un-check "Indexing Services" then anything else you don't use.
I have everything unchecked except for "accessories and utilities"

Fourth, Windows has various services many in which you don't need and obviously slow you down.

So we need to get rid of them. Open up your Start Menu and click "Run".
Then type in "services.msc". A long list of services will pop-up, to disable them right click them and click
"properties" then change the drop down menu for "Start-up Type" to "Disable". The Following can be Disabled:

• Alerter


• Clipbook


• Computer Browser


• Distributed Link Tracking Client


• Fast User Switching


• Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)


• Human Interface Access Devices


• Indexing Service


• IPSEC Services


• Messenger


• Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)


• Portable Media Serial Number


• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)


• Remote Procedure Call Locator


• Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)


• Remote Registry Service


• Secondary Logon


• Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)


• Server


• SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disablethis)


• Telnet


• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper


• Upload Manager


• Universal Plug and Play Device Host


• Windows Time


• Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)


• Workstation

Hope it will help you!
It sure helped me! =)

http://yourtechtoday.com/

Technorati : Blog, Microsoft, Windows, Wndows XP

Top 5 best games in the world, ever

SOME OF OUR FORUM regulars out there may have seen, or indeed participated in, the latest rating thread to surface in our General Gaming forum. I know what you're thinking, and you're right - these threads pop up frequently and almost always contain games you either hate, or simply never played. Or worse, were released exclusively for the Macintosh.

It's rare to agree with another person over what is essentially a matter of intense personal preference, and believe me, I don't expect to change your mind with what you're about to read, but as I've picked up a new soapbox it'd be a shame not to climb on it and make some sweeping statements.

Those expecting technological tour-de-force titles like Crysis or Unreal Tournament will be disappointed. Some of these games don't even require 3D acceleration. They all require a great attention to detail however, and each offers virtually limitless gameplay.

In a departure from conventional list etiquette, these games are presented in chronological order, oldest to newest.

This was 1984's equivalent of Crysis. No, really.

Elite
Originally released in 1984 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers, Elite drafted, proof-read and then printed the rulebook for every space trading sim that came after it. Released two decades before Freelancer and occupying about as much disk space as this article, Elite elevated you to the position of Commander aboard a Cobra Mk III inter-planetary trading vessel, stationed at Lave spaceport.

Written by just two men - David Braben and Ian Bell - Elite took two years to develop. Braben and Bell both were undergraduate students at Cambridge University during this time, and presumably being computer enthusiasts in the early 80's they would have had their pick of the ladies. But instead, they chose to avoid distraction and code what would become one of the most popular multi-platform games ever; Elite was eventually released for the Acorn Archimedes, Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, IBM PC, MSX, NES, and ZX Spectrum.

Don't hit the round thing, it's actually a planet.

The reason Elite holds so many fond memories is that I played it on my first real computer, a BBC B Micro. Incidentally, they actually sold more than 150,000 copies for this platform, which worked out to be more copies of the game than there were BBC B computers, giving rise to the theory that technologically illiterate people were purchasing the game without actually realising a computer was required.

Sadly, I never made it to the status of "Elite", although I'll never forget the first time I docked with a space station instead of hitting it, exploding, and redistributing the contents of my ship over deep space. Next time you fire up a game of EVE Online, you'd do well to remember not necessarily where it all started, but where it was first perfected - in the wire-framed, 8-bit world of a Cambridge computer class.

http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/

Technorati : Best Game, Game, Games, Top 5