From the Web

[Mike Mitchell]

Wonder roughly how long till the i7 drops in price.

The problem with waiting for the price to drop is that a new CPU will be released that's better, faster and cheaper to run. Which ius why they drop the price of the original CPU in the first place. 

[Wang Solutions]

And at the moment, the price of the i7 seems to be going up. I have been watching it waiting for it to drop, and in that time it has gone from a little over $400 to now nearly $500 or more just about everywhere.  :hbang:

[yoda]

Must be caused mostly by the AU$ dropping against the US$ over the past few months...  It's less than two thirds of a US$ now.

Still, I just "priced" a complete i7 920 system (with 9800GT graphics card, 160GB HDD, DVD writer, Case + PSU, 20" LCD Monitor, MS keyboard and mouse) and could get the parts for $1,520.00 from a single supplier.  Could get it below $1,500 by getting some parts (e,g, the graphics card) elsewhere.

Note however that's using the cheapest (Intel) mobo, a "generic brand" case and power supply and minimal RAM



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[kashi]

Yes the CPUs have been going up but at least the price of DDR3 memory has come down a bit.

Apparently the Kingston KVR1333D3N9K3/6G which starts at $168 performs quite well for budget ram if you can find ones with Elpida chips. Might be a big if, depending on whether there is still a large supply in Australia with Nanya or other chips. The good thing is if you can find a walk in shop that carries stock it is easy to check because Kingston puts the code on the outside of the kit package, ELP=Elpida.
from eva2000's DDR3 Triple Channel Memory Kits Short List and here.

Paying almost $500 for the lowest speed i7 is not good, but you can console yourself with the idea that it is capable of 8 threads.  However the X58 motherboards are ridiculous.  All of them except a few base models are over $400 and if you want one with better voltage regulation then they are $500 and up.

[den160593]

Hmm, well I don't need a monitor, as I have 2 perfectly functioning ones..

[Dingo]

I will have to wait for an I7.  It was get a new I7 or visit Australia and my children and Grandchildren.  I have been keeping an eye on the CPU price as it fluctuates here as wekk compared to the US$.   It is about $350 CAD at the moment but should drop a fair way in the coming months.

[Cruncher Pete]

I thought I mention this as it is interesting to note that whilst the rest of the world are talking gloom, sacking people and talking negative overall, here is one company that is taking advantage of the situation...CP.

Fujitsu to acquire Kaz Group Pty Ltd from Telstra Corporation Limited
WEBWIRE – Monday, March 02, 2009

Sydney, Australia - Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology and communications solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of shares in KAZ Group Pty Ltd from Telstra Corporation Limited for A$200 million, subject to regulatory approval.

This investment confirms Fujitsu's commitment to invest in and grow its Australian business as well as boost Fujitsu's position in the Australian market. This acquisition will make Fujitsu the third largest IT company, by revenue, with a team of nearly 5,000 across the country.

The strength of KAZ's existing business and the synergies it brings to Fujitsu will deliver new and exciting commercial opportunities.

Fujitsu's expanded customer base and enhanced end-to-end capabilities also bring a new level of competition to the Australian market creating better value for existing and future customers.

The deal also creates a strategic alliance between Fujitsu and Telstra Enterprise & Government that builds on the existing working relationship and provides new opportunities in the Australian market.

With a strong track-record working with Australian governments, particularly at the state level, the acquisition of KAZ gives Fujitsu enhanced service capabilities for Federal public sector opportunities and a strong physical presence in Canberra.

"The acquisition is in line with Fujitsu's long-term objectives to grow its Australian business" said Mr. Richard Christou, Fujitsu's Corporate First Senior Vice President and President of Global Business Group.

"The deal brings together two strong businesses and creates an IT services and technology leader that will deliver a broader range of consulting, application and infrastructure services to our Australian customers, as well as the local subsidiaries of our Global clients" Mr. Christou said.

A differentiating feature of the Fujitsu business in Australia has been the local leadership team headed by Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand CEO, Mr. Rod Vawdrey. Uniquely, Fujitsu has engaged home grown talent with global expertise to deliver essential IT services to Australian State and Federal agencies as well as leading corporate clients.

Telstra Enterprise & Government Group Managing Director, Mr. David Thodey said Telstra was selling KAZ because it no longer considered ownership of an IT services business as a core part of its strategy.

"Telstra will continue to deliver centralised network services to our customers through our Network Enterprise Services business"

"However, we will also continue to look for opportunities to work with Fujitsu in the delivery of IT Services"

Mr. Thodey said Telstra would work with KAZ's clients in the days and weeks ahead to ensure a smooth transition to KAZ's new owner.

"This acquisition is all about growth and job security for a strengthened Fujitsu / KAZ business. We are financially strong and we continue to grow" said Mr. Vawdrey.

"It will ensure the retention of local expertise and will enhance our ability to present a strong local footprint in the Australian market"

"Our most important priority moving forward is to assure our team and our valued customers that it is business as usual with a continued focus on delivering service excellence" said Mr Vawdrey.
About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

For more information, please see: Fujitsu website
About Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand

Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand is a leading service provider of business, information technology and communications solutions. Throughout Australia and New Zealand we partner with our customers to consult, design, build, operate and support business solutions. From strategic consulting to application and infrastructure solutions and services, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand have earned a reputation as the single supplier of choice for leading corporate and government organisations. Fujitsu Australia Limited and Fujitsu New Zealand Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702).

For more information about Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand partners or other solutions and offerings please visit: www.fujitsu.com/au or www.fujitsu.com/nz

About Telstra

Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company, with one of the best known brands in the country. We offer a full range of services and compete in all telecommunications markets throughout Australia, providing more than 9.2 million Australian fixed line and 9.7 million mobile services, including 5.2 million 3G services. We provide integrated telecommunications services across our vast geographical coverage through both our fixed and mobile network infrastructure.

[Cruncher Pete]

From PC World:

4 Green Technology Tips That Will Save You Money
Save money on batteries and find a new use for your old PC with these tips.

Save energy. Save the environment. Save money. Sounds good, huh? Savvy use of technology can help you do all three.

Stop overcharging your laptop battery: These days it's not uncommon for laptops to serve desktop duty. But here's the rub: If you leave the battery inside the system 24/7, it'll keep drawing power, even when fully charged. That's not only a waste of energy and money, but also bad news for the battery: Constant charging will reduce its capacity to hold a charge and its overall longevity.

Fortunately, there's a fast and simple solution: Pull the battery out. Most notebooks can run off AC power when there's no battery present, so take the latter out of the equation. It'll stay in pristine condition and save you a kilowatt or two. Estimated savings: A few dollars on your monthly electric bill and $120 on premature battery replacement.

Revive old PCs: PCs and landfills go together like oil and water--or, more accurately, like mercury (which can leak out of computer circuitry) and groundwater. Unfortunately, more and more unwanted computers and monitors end up in landfills every year, and the environmental impact is considerable.

Before you consign your unwanted system to the dump, consider giving it new life. One option: Wipe the hard drive and install a Linux-based operating system like gOS, which has such modest system requirements, it makes even a six-year-old Pentium 4 feel like a modern Core 2 Duo. With that done, the system could go to a student, a tech-challenged senior, or anyone with basic computing needs.

Alternately, an aged PC plugged into a router can double as a fine file and/or print server for your home network (see "Get More Out of Your PC"). If you're willing to spring for a TV tuner, you can install free media-center software like Media Portal and turn the old girl into a DVR--no monthly TiVo fees required. Estimated savings: $120 on a network-attached storage device.

Pay your bills online: Bills that arrive via snail mail represent a massive waste of resources (paper, printing, hauling, postage) on both the biller's part and yours, if you're still mailing back written checks. Maybe security concerns kept you from switching to electronic bill-pay services early on, but financial institutions have had plenty of time to work out the kinks, so there's no excuse for continued use of paper checks, envelopes, and postage.

Banks do charge for online bill-pay service, but some will give it to you for free if you do enough business with them. If not, take a look at MyCheckFree, which lets you pay many major billers free of charge. Alternatively, set up automated bill pay with the many utilities and banks that will happily collect their monthly fees, credit card, and mortgage payments via direct withdrawal from your bank account. Estimated savings: $40 a year if you can avoid electronic-payment fees.

Switch to rechargeable batteries: Game controllers, kids' toys, digital cameras, and other electronics chew through batteries faster than beavers chew through balsa wood. Consequently, they chew through your wallet as well: A four-pack of Duracell AA batteries sells for around $6. Buy just one pack per month and you're out $72 a year.

Or you could invest about $25 on an Energizer four-slot battery charger (which comes with a pair of rechargeable AAs) and a four-pack of extra rechargeables. Sure, you'll pay for the electricity to recharge them, but compared with disposable batteries, outlet electricity costs pennies on the dollar--and new disposables, remember, are destined for landfills. Estimated savings: $50 a year and perhaps the very earth we live on.

 

[Cruncher Pete]

Microsoft Releases Vista SP2 RC to Public

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Mar 6, 2009 2:21 am

Microsoft Corp. Tuesday quietly launched the release candidate of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) to the general public, making good on a promise from last week.

Vista SP2 Release Candidate (RC) can be downloaded today from Microsoft's Web site in versions for both 32- and 64-bit systems.

As first reported by Neowin.net , while Microsoft has made Vista SP2 RC available to the public, it has yet to change the download pages' titles to reflect that the files are the release candidate and not Beta 2. The file name of the disk image, however, reveals that it is, in fact, the RC: 6002.16670.090130-1715_iso_update_sp_wave0-RCSP2.0_DVD.iso .

"This build is the same build sent out to select testers last week," Neowin said.

A week ago today, Microsoft announced it had wrapped up Vista SP2 RC , and had posted it to TechNet and MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network), the subscription-based services that cater to IT professionals and developers. At the time, a company spokeswoman said that the release candidate would be offered to everyone else this week.

Microsoft has not nailed down a ship date for SP2, and in the past has only said it plans to deliver final code during the second quarter of 2009.

Others, however, have pegged the release sooner rather than later. The Malaysian Web site TechARP.com, which has accurately predicted past Windows delivery dates, has said Vista SP2 is on track to launch no later than mid-May .

Users can download Vista SP2 RC as a standalone fresh installation disk image , as an update for the 32-bit version of Vista or as an update for the 64-bit version from Microsoft's site.

Although Microsoft will offer Vista SP2 SC through its Windows Update service -- as it did when it rolled out SP2 Beta 2 late last year -- it has not yet turned on that switch. Most people will use Windows Update to get SP2 RC, if only because downloads through the service will be significantly smaller, between 41MB and 90MB, as opposed to the 302-508MB of the files available now.

Machines must be running Vista SP1 to download and install the SP2 release candidate.

[Tixx]

Telstra unveils super-fast cable broadband - Melbourne first to be upgraded

Telstra today announced that its hybrid fibre coaxial cable broadband network in Melbourne will be upgraded to 100Mbps - more than triple the current peak speed - by Christmas.

Using new technology already successfully deployed in several cable networks overseas, Telstra will immediately begin work to turbo-charge its five-city cable network.

Melbourne is stage one of Telstra's deployment of next generation super-fast broadband technologies into its cable network, which already passes 2.5 million homes in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Cable, along with Telstra's other fixed-line infrastructure, will be a key driver of next generation broadband in Australia, as it is around the world. This cable upgrade will position Telstra to deliver on its vision of a world-class fixed-line infrastructure that complements our world-leading Next G" mobile broadband network in delivering services that meet our customers' needs.

Work will start immediately with the installation of DOCSIS 3.0 software and related infrastructure in the Melbourne cable network. Telstra will invest about $300 million in the cable upgrade this calendar year.

This upgrade will increase the peak download speeds in Melbourne homes to 100Mbps, with further upgrades potentially to speeds of up to 200Mbps.

It will build on the recent BigPond Cable Extreme upgrade, which already provides download speeds on the cable network of up to 30Mbps to 1.8 million homes, with another 700,000 homes having speeds up to 17Mbps.

Telstra estimates that nearly one million Melbourne homes stand to benefit from the experience of super-fast broadband once the upgrade to provide speeds of up to 100Mbps is completed.

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said the cable upgrade continues Telstra's strategy of bringing high-speed broadband to Australians, as the company has done with the Next G" network. Next G" covers 99 per cent of the population and is engineered to peak network download speeds of 21Mbps[1].

"BigPond Cable Extreme transformed the cable network into a high-speed broadband network," Mr Trujillo said. "Now we are going to the next level: super-fast broadband with download speeds among the highest in the world.

"Late last year, Telstra foreshadowed that we would continue our investment in our cable network and, with the DOCSIS 3.0 software now well-established internationally, we have the ability to dramatically increase speeds into Australian homes.

"Melbourne will be the first city to benefit from the cable network's super-fast broadband speeds. This broadband upgrade will bring the next generation of the internet to Melburnians, enabling new work-from-home, learning, security, entertainment, health care and energy-saving choices at home. It will help spawn an innovative, video-based, applications and content services sector in Australia.

"It will enable households to do the things that they want to do, but can't do at today's broadband speeds.

"Families will be able to choose a high-definition movie from an online catalogue and download it in a little over a minute to watch on the family's big-screen TV. At the same time, they could watch their favourite sport on FOXTEL in high-definition, with instant match statistics at their fingertips and, in the near future, control of camera angles. Simultaneously, they could share a video file in a high-resolution video conference with friends and family, as well as review test results with their doctor, without leaving home."

Mr Trujillo continued: "As well as super-fast broadband, it is important that this upgrade will turn the cable network into a two-way, fully interactive platform paving the way to an array of existing and next generation services for customers.

"As Telstra has done with Next G" and Next IP" in wireless and business broadband, we intend to leverage our cable network to lead the market in providing world leading services to meet our customers' individual needs."

[Vajras]

And this announcement is Trujillo's parting gift ....

"to the Australian telecommunications sector [and] has been [designed] to lob an incendiary grenade into the midst of the federal government's National Broadband Network tender process. While not unexpected, Telstra's announcement of an upgrade to its hybrid fibre coaxial network to create an ultra-high-speed broadband network will further undermine an already struggling process.

The move is diabolically timed and ... is a pre-emptive strike on the NBN [and will] insulate Telstra against any attempt to prevent it from competing with the NBN.

The move is, to use one of Trujillo's favourite expressions, a "game-changing" decision.

Trujillo, scheduled to leave Telstra by June 30, has ensured that Telstra is still firmly in the fixed line broadband game. In the process Telstra, by making an announcement the government will see as highly provocative, has made it clear that the post-Trujillo regime is going to be just as aggressive and protective of its dominance in future as it has been over the past four years.

The stock market did not like this announcement and Telstra shares ended the day's trading down 4.26 per cent to a new all-time low of $3.14.

[Cruncher Pete]

From PC World:

Google has upped the ante in the browser speed wars and added a handful of features with a new 2.0 beta version of its Chrome Web browser.  Though Chrome version 1.0 emerged from beta in December, Google decided to move it back into beta testing and tinker. For those who aren't interested in playing with a beta edition, Google still offers the stable version for everyday Chrome users, as well as a developer version.

Google chrome browser. according to the official Google Chrome blog, the new beta version processes Javascript 25 percent faster on its V8 (the engine on which Chrome is built) benchmark, 35 percent faster on the Sunspider benchmark, and twice as fast as its original beta. Chrome beta also includes features such as form autofill; a full-page zoom that captures not only text but images; autoscroll when you click your mouse's scroll button; and dragging tabs -- a neat feature that puts your tabs in side-by-side symmetrically-sized windows when you drag a tab outside of the original browser window.

I played with the Chrome beta and found that its speed boost and add-ons made the browser function like a quicker, cleaner version of Firefox. Downloaders should beware, though: Some reports caution that Chrome 2.0 beta is buggy and users have experienced problems with password management.

Last month Apple introduced a souped-up version of its Safari browser, claiming it was faster than its competitors Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox. If Google's claim that this latest beta version of its browser is twice as fast as the original, I'd be interested to see where this leaves Apple and Google in the faster-is-better browser wars.

[Cruncher Pete]

From PC World

Internet Explorer 8 is moving out of beta: The final version will be available today at noon ET. The new browser is packed with new features and improved security features, and early reviews and impressions have been largely positive.

I am sure many of you will want to get your hands on the new browser and maybe some of you are hoping to switch over to IE8 as your browser of choice. Whatever your motivations, here are 5 things you need to know about IE8's release today.

Manual Download Only: You can only get IE8 by going to www.microsoft.com/ie8 or Microsoft's Download Center. Microsoft has not specified when they will push IE8 through the Windows Update service, although IE8 beta users will see an IE8 Windows Update before the general public does.

No Windows 7 version yet: If you're using the Windows 7 Beta you'll have to stick with IE8 Release Candidate 1 for now. Microsoft won't confirm when the final version of IE8 will be available for Windows 7, but it's expected to show up in the next public release for Windows 7.

Security Questions: Microsoft says they have the most secure browser ever, something we've heard from them before, but is that really the case? Yesterday, at CanSecWest's PWN2OWN contest-where hackers show off how quickly they can crack into a browser using previously unknown flaws-Internet Explorer 8 was one of the first browser's to go down after Apple's Safari. Some experts also say that Microsoft's clickjacking protection may give IE8 users a false sense of security. I'm not saying that IE8 isn't secure--just don't believe the hype. The most basic rules for safe and secure browsing still apply.

Speed not necessarily as advertised: Microsoft says "Internet Explorer 8 is one of the fastest browsers on the market today, beating other top browsers in page load time on almost 50 percent of the 25 top comScore Web sites." According to early reviews, IE8 blows IE7 speeds out of the water; however, most reviewers haven't seen a noticeable difference between IE8 and Firefox, Internet Explorer's closest competitor.

Compatibility View: Many Web pages out there are optimized for IE7 at the moment, and some reviewers have had problems rendering pages in IE8. That's where IE8's compatibility view comes in. IE8 will automatically tell Web pages that you're using IE7 if the site won't render properly in IE8. The browser will also remember every page it needs to use compatibility view. You can also switch on compatibility view manually or turn it off completely.

Internet Explorer 8 is expected to reshape the browser wars, and--according to early reviews, at least--this is the best version of IE in a long time. If you want a more detailed look at IE8, check out Computerworld's review of IE8.

[Cruncher Pete]

From Willy - Boincstats Admin:

25 Mar 09:

As most of you know cross project credit parity (for the combined stats) is a bit out of sync lately, with new projects popping up which grant generous amounts of credits or rogue optimized apps that do nothing more than inflate credit. Some people care, some don't, some are all for it, and all groups fight over it. In my opinion it makes the combined stats kind of meaningless, so a solution is needed.

Another problem is that new users or teams almost have no chance to get top ranked. With the solution I came up with, they can be number one.

I came up with a new way to calculate credit and generate combined stats in addition to the existing combined stats.
The current way of doing combined stats will not disappear!

I call the new credits "points" and BOINCstats will use the points in the BOINCstats World Cup.

How the World Cup works:
1: The total credit generated by a project in the current month is calculated.
2: For every team and user the credit for the current month within that project is calculated
3: The contribution to the total credit is calculated as a percentage
4: This percentage is multiplied by the number of active teams or users of that project
5: And then we have World Cup points

Example:
Project output this month: 1000000 credits
Team XyZ contributed 15000 credits, which is 1.5%
There are 132 active teams, so 1.5*132 = 198 points

Ranking is based on the points.

By using this kind of calculations I hope to increase cross project parity while also taking into account the size of a project.

For combined stats, the points of the projects are summed.



Every month will be a cup on its own. This means, every month another race to the top!
Every year the points of all months are summed resulting in the final ranking for that year.


Now I know this is quite a step away from the original stats. It will need some tinkering with the calculations to make it completely fair. The current World Cup shows the usual suspects in top ranking positions which should be OK.

Note that the World Cup is far from complete. Detailed stats pages have to be updated, compare graphs need to be added, and much much more, but I wanted to release now so you can offer your input and feedback. I'm sure the World Cup can be improved and you can help just doing that.

So here's your chance. Speak now and influence how the World Cup works or remain silent forever.

The World Cup stats can be found by opening a project menu on the left.

[Cruncher Pete]

From PC World:

Nasty New Worm Targets Home Routers, Cable Modems

Ian Paul

Mar 26, 2009 1:30 am

worm psyb0t bluepill
Graphic: Diego Aguirre
A computer worm has been discovered that can infect 55 different home-based routers and DSL/cable modems including common brands like Linksys and Netgear.

Believed to have originated in Australia and known as "psyb0t" or Bluepill, this is the first worm known to be able to infect residential routers and modems.

Psyb0t is armed with 6000 common usernames and 13,000 popular passwords that it tries in various combinations to gain entry to your home network. Most home-based routers will give you unlimited attempts to get the username and password correct, making these devices an ideal target for infection. Also, unlike your PC, your router and modem are running 24 hours a day meaning psyb0t has a relatively unlimited amount of time to try and gain access.

network security wormIf that wasn't frightening enough, psyb0t is reportedly very hard to detect and most home users will be unaware that they're infected. Like other worms, psyb0t is designed to infect systems and then carry out commands given by its author, creating what is known as a botnet. There may not be much cause for alarm, though, as APC Magazine is reporting that the botnet capabilities for this worm are no longer active. At its height, psyb0t was suspected of controlling 80,000 tio 100,000 systems.

The DroneBl blog -- a real-time tracker that looks for botnets -- says the threat psyb0t poses or could have posed is overstated. DroneBL believes this is not an "end of the world, all routers are vulnerable" thing. But the appearance of psyb0t is troubling because it is so hard to detect and could be used to steal "personally identifying information," the blog adds.

While the threat posed by psyb0t may not be high, it is still extremely important to take precautionary measures against this kind of attack. The best way to protect yourself is to make sure you are not using the default password and username that came with your equipment. Consult the materials that came with your device or the manufacturer's website for instructions on how to change your username and password. If you're worried you have been infected, a simple factory reset of your device will kill the worm.