Recent Comments:
Battlefield Heroes Beta applicants exposed in security breach {Joystiq}
Jun 15th 2008 11:28PM If they were morons and simply stored md5 hashed passwords, then this could will lead to some compromised accounts since reverse md5 databases exist.
If they were smart and added some salt to the hash, (i.e. password concatenated with "heroes", then run md5 on that) the encrypted passwords are worthless unless they can figure out what the salt was. Better yet, they would use some unique salt, such as the username so that an md5 database would not be helpful. I didn't have an account, but if I did, I would want to know this bit of information.
GTA IV comparison video between Xbox 360, PS3 {Joystiq}
Apr 29th 2008 5:48PM I think he means MK Gamecube and MK Wii. They're pretty much the same, MK wii is just two MK Gamecubes duct taped together.
The Star Wars Retrospective: Episode IV {Joystiq}
Apr 28th 2008 10:20AM I wish X-wing alliance had better online play. Anything over 30 ms of latency makes that game unplayable (It's a great LAN game though if you can find people geeky enough to play it). With modern latency compensation techniques they could make an awesome multiplayer space sim. Nothing more awesome than a star destroyer and tie fighters vs. a calamari cruiser and x-wings.
Intel rep says people "probably won't" need discrete graphics in the future {Engadget}
Apr 3rd 2008 1:57PM Horribly efficient? How is that a bad thing? Z-buffering is used because it gets you a pretty good looking scene at a low cost compared to other algorithms.
Do you want perfect graphics that run at 0.2 frames/second? Or do you want darn good looking graphics that run at 60 fps? Even as raytracing improves, what you get "for the money" will be better with Z-buffering for a while.
Don't take my word for it, read what Carmack has said on the issue:
Intel rep says people "probably won't" need discrete graphics in the future {Engadget}
Apr 3rd 2008 1:50PM The problem of computer graphics scales differently than general purpose calculations because many of the calculations can be done in parallel. CPU parallelization usually means simultaneous multi threading (hyperthreading) or SMP.
Graphics cards are good at the type of matrix multiplication and parallelization that is involved in rendering a scene with a 3d algorithm. For example the Geforce 8 has 128 stream processors that each run at 1.35 GHz/second. They also have their own memory for textures, frame buffer, Z buffer.
The Xbox 360 can run 6 threads simultaneously on it's 3 cores, and it still has a graphics chip. The PS3 originally planned to do graphics calculations in the Cell but they decided fairly late in the design to add a graphics chip.
Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers keep headphones in place {Engadget}
Jan 5th 2008 11:08PM In-ear headphones actually can help protect your hearing, when used correctly. Since they are in your ear canal, they give better bass response at lower volumes. Also they effectively create a seal from outside noise, further reducing the volume needed to hear the music.
Of course, if you are running your mp3 player at full volume, they are probably more damaging than cans or earbuds.
Samsung announces world's fastest memory: GDDR5 {Engadget}
Dec 3rd 2007 2:06PM Yeah turns out my reading comprehension skills are not so good. But I'll take any excuse to read that brilliant piece of satire.
Samsung announces world's fastest memory: GDDR5 {Engadget}
Dec 3rd 2007 9:11AM They skipped 4 and went right to 5? Awesome.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930
A critical look at DVD / HD DVD combo discs {Engadget HD}
Sep 22nd 2007 11:05AM Well if you don't own a HD-DVD player yet, you're right, there is no point to buying the combo disc, for the same reason there is not much value in re-buying dvd's on HD-DVD: Standard dvd, though not spectacular, is entirely watchable on an HDTV.
But if you do own an HD-DVD player, it's still nice be able to be able to rip the standard dvd to your pc, or to backup the disc, or to play in a portable dvd player. Small-screen dvd players will be the last things to go HD because there just isn't much noticeable difference between 480 lines of resolution and 720 lines of resolution at those screen sizes. And I don't see mainstream laptops having included hd-dvd drives for another couple years.
Also, I don't think it's useful comparing the combo disc price to the standard dvd price. The more useful comparison is to the blu ray price. Right now, for "300" the DVD/HD-DVD combo disc is $4 more than the blu ray. HD format war aside, is the having the standard DVD worth $4?
Fanswag: Win the ultimate Halo 3 setup {Xbox 360 Fanboy}
Sep 21st 2007 4:37PM Did my last comment go through? I don't know but here's another...
