Logitech Z Cinéma Advanced Surround Sound System.

i found this in my inbox yesterday. physically,  it is a 2.1 multimedia speaker system (2 satellites + subwoofer) but psychoacoustically, it simulates a 5.1 surround speaker system. the price is almost USD 300.00 (PHP 12,300.00).  

Specifications:

System Requirements

• Windows® XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition, or Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition
• USB port
• CD-ROM drive
• 256 MB RAM
• 20 MB available hard disk space

Technical Specifications

• Total power: 180 watts RMS
• Subwoofer: 110 watts RMS (into 4 ohms, @ 45Hz)
• Midwoofer: 26 watts RMS x 2 (into 4 ohms, @ 335Hz)
• Tweeter: 9 watts RMS x 2 (into 16 ohms, @ 17.4khz)
• Speaker dimensions (H x W x D, mm):
• Satellites: 250.4 mm x 115 mm x 112.4 mm
• Subwoofer: 292.4 mm x 290.6 mm x 413.9 mm

Package Contents

• Speakers: 2 satellites, 1 subwoofer
• Wireless remote control (batteries included)
• Cables (each 6-foot): USB cable, AC power cable
• CD-ROM with Logitech® Z Cinéma software
• User’s guide
• 2-year limited hardware warranty

the official page: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/3712&cl=us,en

RegHardware.uk review: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/22/review_logitech_z_cinema/

Hardware 2.0 “Best Kit List” for Jun/Jul 08.

Hardware 2.0 “Best Kit List” for Jun/Jul 08 by ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes 

-- 

OK, it's time once again for ... (drum roll please) ... The Hardware 2.0 "Best Kit List" for Jun/Jul 08. Here I've put together a list of the best high-end and mid-range components currently available, with some decent budget parts listed too, along with a few honorable mentions. These components are on this list because I firmly believe them to be the best either in terms of performance or price - although I'm ready to admit, as always, that there's room for debate and some choices "go with the gut" more than others.

Celestia Space Simulation

as shared by MikeRive in this CNVF thread:  

Celestia

Official Website:http://shatters.net/celestia/

... The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.

All movement in Celestia is seamless; the exponential zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A 'point-and-goto' interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit.

Celestia is expandable. Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. If that's not enough, you can download dozens of easy to install add-ons with more objects.

The Choice command is back (natively) in Windows Vista.

When Microsoft introduced DOS 6.0, they included a new batch file command called Choice to make batch files interactive. This command was also present in Windows 95 and Windows 98.

But come Windows 2000/XP, the Choice command was gone. Although one can download the Choice command for Windows 2000/XP as found here in the Windows 2000 ResKit or at Petri.co.il, since the command is not native, sharing of batch files that utilizes Choice  is not that easy. 

But great news, the Choice command is back (natively) in Windows Vista. I found a nice blog entry by Greg Shultz of TechRepublic. According to Greg: 

... I recently discovered that Microsoft put the Choice command back in Windows Vista and made it a bit more powerful. Since the Choice command can come in extremely handy in a lot of situations and because it has been absent so long, I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit this command....

Feel free to see the whole blog entry here:

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=682&tag=nl.e132 

Cheers to all! 

Open Solaris 2008.05

OpenSolaris is an operating system (OS), an open source project licensed under CDDL, and a community. The project's goals are innovation, collaboration, and the extension of OpenSolaris technology.

Official Website:http://opensolaris.org/index.html

Related article:

OpenSolaris: What Ubuntu wants to be when it grows up by ZDNet's Jason Perlow -- What would Ubuntu be like if it were an OS for grown-ups? This week at its CommunityOne event in San Francisco, Sun will release its May 2008 build of OpenSolaris (2008.05) the Open Source operating system based on the source code of the Solaris 10 enterprise UNIX OS, the first to be designated with “Production” support [...]

[Screenshots.]

[Get Open Solaris 2008.5 here.]

Dell Vostro 1310/1510 Keyboard Screw-Up.

Dell has left customers shaking their fists this week after shipping an unspecified number of its Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops in Europe with the wrong keyboard layout.

The embarrassing cock-up forces the Z key, which should sit beneath the A and S keys, along the row in Vostro laptops affected by the problem. Subsequent keys in the same row are also bumped along because the shift key is too big – making touch typing a tricky task.

More info here:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/02/dell_keyboard_blunder_vostro/

progeCAD - an AutoCAD Replacement.

official website: http://www.progecad.com/ 

progeCAD is a complete 2D/3D CAD powered by the most recent IntelliCAD engine, is the next step of IntelliCAD and an easy replacement for AutoCAD® and AutoCAD LT®! 

progeCAD contains many important new features and enhancements to offer all the customers an unparalleled stability and speed. 

current version is 2008.

GOOD NEWS! : there is a FREE VERSION, called progeCAD Smart. can read and save AutoCAD DWG files, etc.

Get it here: http://www.progecad.com/compra/index.asp?left=prodotti/eng_progecad2008smart&abspage=1&lang=eng

DVDStyler DVD Authoring System.

DVDStyler is a crossplatform DVD Authoring System. It is free software distributed under GNU General Public License (GPL). Features: you can drag and drop MPEG files directly; you can import image file for background; you can create NTSC/PAL menus; you can place text and images anywhere on the menu screen you can change font/color; you can put basic text buttons, change font/color and background color; you can copy and paste any menu object; you can set chapters for each movie; you can change post command for each movie.

[DOWNLOAD HERE]

Apple’s 5 worst hardware flaws - and how to fix them.

Apple’s 5 worst hardware flaws - and how to fix them by ZDNet's Robin Harris -- Apple is often lauded for its design chops. And Apple’s post-modern industrial design is lyrical next to Dell’s neo-Soviet brutalism. But Apple makes some really stupid choices. Here are the top 5 - and the best workarounds. In reverse order: 5) Keyboards Considered as sculpture Apple’s newest wireless keyboards are stunning. But from the perspective of a [...]