Vista SP2 Due Out In April

According to TechARP.com Microsoft will deliver Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) to manufacturing in April 2009. TechARP.com has been noted for correctly calling the release dates of previous service packs including Vista SP1 and XP SP3.

What's New In Windows Vista SP2?

• Adds Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches.
• Contains the Bluetooth® 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology.
• Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray™ media natively in Windows Vista.
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration.
• Enables the exFAT file system to support Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

As mentioned back in October, Microsoft has already created a place holder Knowledge Base Article related to the forthcoming SP2 releases. According to the knowledge base and previous reports Microsoft issued the beta of Vista SP2 to a limited number of testers about a month ago. So far there is no official word from Microsoft on a release date and the company officials have so far only committed to shipping the update sometime in the first half of next year.

Buy.com Cyber Monday Deals

Buy.com's Cyber Monday deals are listed below and will live on their Cyber Monday page at 2am PST. The deals with be valid Dec 1st thru the 7th and all deals come with free budget shipping

Refurbished Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5" GPS w/ Text To Speech and Bluetooth
Buy.com price: $79.99

eMachines E17T6W 17" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 600:1, 8ms, 1440 x 900
Buy.com price: $89.99

Samsung 2233BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 20,000:1 (DC), 5ms, 1680 x 1050,DVI Buy.com price: $229.99
-$50.00 Mail-in Rebate
Total $179.99 After Rebate

Fantom GreenDrive 1TB USB 2.0 and eSATA External Hard Drive - 2 Year Warranty
Buy.com price: $129.99
- $30.00 Mail-in Rebate
Total $99.99 After Rebate

Western Digital 320GB My Passport Essential USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive
Buy.com price: $89.99

Kingston 16GB DataTraveler USB Flash Drive
Buy.com price: $23.99

Kingston 8GB microSDHC (High-Capacity) Memory Card w/ adapters
Buy.com price: $18.98

Factory Refurbished Philips DVDR3475/37 DVD Recorder / Dual Media Records on Both DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW w/ HDMI
Buy.com price: $49.99

Altec Lansing InEar UHP336 Stereo Earphone
Buy.com price: $39.99

VTech VT5883 5.8 GHz 4 Handset Cordless Phone w/ Answering Device
Buy.com price: $49.99

TRENDnet TEW-432BRP 54Mbps Wireless G Broadband Router
Buy.com price: $24.99
-$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
Total $9.99 After Rebate Monday Only

Brother PT-1010 Portable Handheld Home and Office Labeler
Buy.com price: $6.99

Brother FAX-575 Plain Paper Fax Phone & Copier
Buy.com price: $18.29

Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5904 Laptop AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-60 2GHz, 3GB, 250GB, 15.4”, DVD±R/RW, Webcam, Vista Home Premium
Buy.com price: $569.95 Monday Only!

SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 Player 4GB - Blue
Buy.com price: $49.99

SanDisk 2GB Sansa Clip - Red
Buy.com price: $29.99

LG 52LB5D - 52" Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV - 10000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
Buy.com price: $1,399.99 Monday Only!

Panasonic VIERA TC-32LX85 - 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV - 3 HDMI Inputs
Buy.com price: $499.99

Velocity HDTV Home Theater Connection Kit by Cables to Go
Buy.com price: $24.99
-$5.00 Mail-in Rebate
Total $19.99 After Rebate


AeroBed 1311 Twin Bed in a Minute II
Buy.com price: $39.99

Kingston 2GB Single Module PC2-5300 667MHZ 200-Pin SODIMM DDR2 Laptop Memory
Buy.com price: $38.99
-$24.00 Mail-in Rebate
Total $14.99 After Rebate Monday Only!

Logitech QuickCam Deluxe for Notebooks Webcam
Buy.com price: $19.99 Monday Only!

Norton Internet Security 3 User
Buy.com price: $33.99

McAfee VirusScan Plus 1 User
Buy.com price: $13.99

Buy.com customer can take an additional 5% off with the coupon listed on this page.

Dell Cyber Monday Deals

If you missed out on some of the great deals from Black Friday here is another chance at some hot deals from Dell Home! . Deals are live 12.01.08 12:00 AM CDT to 12.02.08 11:59 PM CDT

Cyber Monday Savings! Save $270 off the Sharp 32" TV! Only $479 after Instant Savings.

Cyber Monday Savings! Save $50 off the Canon A590 camera! Only $119.99 after Instant Savings + 4GB memory card!

Cyber Monday Savings! Buy Xbox 360 Arcade for only $199 and get Sing It FREE!

Cyber Monday Savings! Save $275 off the Inspiron 1525 laptop! Only $519 after Instant Savings.

Cyber Monday Savings! Get the Inspiron Mini 9 for only $299 after $50 Instant Savings!

Cyber Monday Savings! Get our most popular desktop for only $349 and save $115 on the Inspiron 530!

Cyber Monday Savings! Save $608 off the XPS M1530 laptop! Only $1,199 after Instant Savings.

Cyber Monday Savings! Get the new Inspiron 518 desktop for only $499 after $185 Instant Savings!

Linux Ported To The iPhone

The iPhone DevTeam is reporting that DevTeam member planetbeing has reverse engineered Apple’s hardware drivers and now for the first time ever, linux is available on the iPhone and first-gen iPods.

Linux 2.6 kernel has been ported to Apple's iPhone platform, with support for the first and second generation iPhones as well as the first generation iPod touch. The official announcement is posted in planetbeing's blog here. Video, downloads, and instruction are all included.

Black Friday Downs Some Online Retailers

Servers for online retailers hit with a flood of traffic for Black Friday couldn't hadn't the traffic causing slow downs and major outages.

According to the Associated Press, Sears.com, one of the biggest retailers hit with outages, was offline for two hours on Friday. Saksfifthavenue.com, Lowes.com, Victoriassecret.com, Amazon.com and many others were overwhelmed with internet traffic from users trying to get cheap black Friday deals.

Keynote Systems said Friday of the 30 sites it tracks, 15 percent had noticeable performance problems. The problems were mostly in the sites' shopping cart and checkout systems, not the catalog functions. "Every year, we see a handful of Web sites that aren't ready for the holiday rush. The problems are in the shopping cart experience, where you cannot complete a purchase," said Shawn White, director of external operations for mobile and Internet testing at Keynote.

Intel Phasing Out Popular Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU In '09

According to reports at DigiTimes Intel will be phasing out their widely popular Q6600 quad core CPU in 2009.

Intel is planning to start phasing out the 65nm Core 2 Quad Q6600 in the first quarter of 2009, prompting several PC and channel vendors to start planning to cut Q6600-product prices to clear their inventory before the end of this year, according to sources at PC vendors.

Intel will issue a product discontinuance notice for the Q6600 in the first quarter next year, and call end-of-lifecycle in the second quarter.

The Q6600 is a very popular CPU among gamers and enthusiasts. The CPU is a strong overclocker and at its current street price of @$190 the quad core CPU is among the best in price to performance ratings.

Current pricing:

Newegg:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor $189.99


Buy.com:
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Processor - 2.4GHz - 1066MHz FSB $202.99


Amazon.com:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor, 2.40 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, LGA 775 $179.99

TigerDirect:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor FREE Game Bundle $189.99

Apple Black Friday Sales Begin

Black Friday might be an American phenomenon but not for Apple, who is already celebrating in the parts of the world were its already Friday. The Apple Australia and New Zealand stores are already reporting Black Friday deals with discounts on iMac and MacBook computers range from $50 to $100.

They are also seeing discounts on monitors, iPod Nanos, Touch and Classics and accessories for just about everything.

Black Friday won't officially hit here in the States for another 7hrs or so but we should expect the same types of deals from the US Apple Store.

In the mean time we already know that MacMall, Apple's largest authorized dealer, is having a three day sale that has actually already begun and will end on Black Friday at 11:59 PM. The sale pretty much covers all of Apple computers, including MacBooks, iMacs, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis and Mac Pros.

You'll find deals like the 13.3" MacBook Air with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM and an 80GB Hard Drive for $1,149 and the 15.4" MacBook Pro featuring the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, 2GB Memory and a 120GB Hard Drive for $1,299, which is $200 off its normal retail value.

Dell Black Friday Deals

Here are most all of the currently listed Dell Home Black Friday Deals. Most of the deals go live tomorrow but dates and times are listed.

Save 15% off select E&A! Coupon Code: CTV2$2HX963145
Live: 11.27.08 7:00 AM
Expires: 12.02.08 11:00 PM or after 50,000 redemptions
Coupon Code: CTV2$2HX963145
Exclusions: TV's, Software ONLY, Power, Batteries, Monitors, Dell docking stations, Cameras, Camcorders

Additional 5% savings on select cameras! Coupon Code: 1?ZRX6HH4G2ZW3
Live: 11.27.08 7:00 AM
Expires: 12.11.08 11:00 PM or after 10,000 redemptions
Coupon Code: 1?ZRX6HH4G2ZW3
Exclusions: A1503231, A1666191, A1503234, A1620819, A1620818, A1666192, A1620820, A1326080, A1335362, A1666193, A1326150, A1309717, A0820464, A0959658, A1335364, A1335363, A0966963, A0966964, A1303579, A1821869, A1651454, A2268840, A2268847

Save $150 off the Vizio VOJ320 1080p LCD HDTV! Only $649 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:00 AM
Expires: 11.28.08 11:59 PM
Dell SKU: A2054816

Black Friday Savings! Save $620 off the Sharp 42" 1080p TV! Only $779 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A1977316

Black Friday Savings! Pharos Drive 200 GPS for only $94.99 after $65 Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A2012316

Black Friday Savings! Buy Xbox 360 Arcade for only $199 and get Rock Band 2 FREE!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A2036138

Black Friday Savings! Save your holiday memories with the Canon SD1100! Only $159.99 after $60 Instant Savings + free 4GB memory card!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A2211907

Black Friday Savings! Perfect present for mom! Smartparts 7" digital picture frame for only $44.99 after $25 Instant Savings.
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A1178737

Black Friday Savings! Save over 85% off Norton 360 2.0 All-in-One Security. Protect your PC for only $9.99!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 6:00 AM
Dell SKU: A1551966

Black Friday Savings! Save $285 on the Inspiron 1525 laptop! Only $559 after Instant Savings.
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 5:59 AM
Dell Evalue Code: 6VAFF-DNDOPX1

Black Friday Savings! Get the Inspiron Mini 9 for only $299 after $50 Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 5:59 AM
Dell Evalue Code: 6VAFF-DNDOXX1

Black Friday Savings! Get our most popular desktop for only $299 and save $80 off the Inspiron 530!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 5:59 AM
Dell Evalue Code: 6VAFF-DDDOFF2

Black Friday Savings! Save $224 off the XPS 420 desktop! Only $649 after Instant Savings.
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 11.29.08 5:59 AM
Dell Evalue Code: 6VAFF-DXDOQY6

Save $800 off the Sony bravia 52" 120HZ 1080p LCD HDTV! Only $1,999 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 12.01.08 11:59 PM
Dell SKU: A1624350

Save $700 off the Sharp 46SB TV! Only $899 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 12.01.08 11:59 PM
Dell SKU: A2250350

Save $700 off the Sony Bravia V Series 52" 1080p TV! Only $1,599 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 12.01.08 11:59 PM
Dell SKU: A1624351

Save $200 off the Philips 32" 720p HD LCD TV! Only $599 after Instant Savings!
Live: 11.28.08 12:01 AM
Expires: 12.01.08 11:59 PM
Dell SKU: A1562223

For more Black Friday deals checkout our previous post as well as our favorite Black Friday sites: Dealighted.com, SlickDeals.net and FatWallet.com.

Additional Dell Deals:

Only $89.99 500GB My Book Home External Hard Drive after $46 off! Coupon Code: X8V7NHKJRM4V4R
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/1/08 or after 1,500 redemptions
Dell SKU: A1295209
Coupon Code: X8V7NHKJRM4V4R

Buy 2 games get 1 game free, up to $39.99. Coupon Code: 8ZV5PD3QKN13SD
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/2/08 or after 7,000 redemptions
Coupon Code: 8ZV5PD3QKN13SD

Additional $20 off Dell P703w All-in-one Printer! Coupon Code: RD$9GW0Q5R2?W2
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/3/08 or after 1,000 redemptions
Dell SKU: P703WSAP
Coupon Code: RD$9GW0Q5R2?W2

Additional 5% savings on all GPS! Coupon Code: LX1B5F$BJGD2D?
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/3/08 or after 5,000 redemptions
Coupon Code: LX1B5F$BJGD2D?

25% off XPS 1330, 1530 and 420 $1399+ with coupon code 9197FGL4LXBKSM
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/21/08
Coupon Code: 9197FGL4LXBKSM

30% off XPS 1330, 1530 and 420 $1799+ with coupon code 4TQ871TCCGHK4B
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/21/08
Coupon Code: 4TQ871TCCGHK4B

25% off XPS ONE 20 and XPS ONE 24 $1599+ Coupon Code: W2CZZQTTB5BZMC
Live: 11/25/08
Expires: 12/21/08
Coupon Code: W2CZZQTTB5BZMC

Rebate Processing Firm Files Bankruptcy

Earlier this month, RebateStatus.com, one of the nations largest rebate processing firms filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Details of what this might mean to consumers is uncertain at this time however I'd strongly urge anyone shopping this holiday season to make sure to avoid mail in rebates from this company.

Here is a partial list of companies that have dealt with CFG in recent months:

Acronis Software
ACTIVSION
Advance Auto Parts
Antec
AVG
Bed Bath & Beyond
BIC Corporations US - Shaver Division
BFG
Bridgevine
Canon
Citibank
Costco
Dell
eCost.com
Envision
Fujitsu
Home Depot
Logitech
McAfee
Meijer
Motorola (Surfboard cable modems)
Napa Auto Parts
Natures Earth Products
Nero
Panda Distribution
Pandigital
PC Tools
Plextor
PriceGrabber
Rosewill (Newegg house brand)
Samsung
Seagate
Smith Micro Software
Tabletops Unlimited
TrendNET
Westinghouse
XFX
XM Satellite Radio
ZeroTherm
Zyxel

If you currently have outstanding rebates from any of the companies listed you should check with RebateStatus.com to make sure they have been honored. Dealnews is recommending that anyone who has a rebate check or is expecting one not cash it because it may bounce and result in an NSF fee. Instead, you should hang on to it until more details become available (this goes for rebates that have not been submitted as well).

AMD Announces Price Cuts

Hexus.Net is reporting that AMD has announced another round of price cuts, slashing CPU prices up to 20% in some cases.

AMD sent out a newsletter to its channel partners today confirming earlier predictions of a December price cut. The cuts will be effective as of the start of December but the new prices weren't published in the newsletter.

Hexus.Net has posted what they figure would be the new estimated prices.

Product	Old price ($)	New price ($)
Phenom X4 9950 BE	186	175
Phenom X4 9850 BE	180	165
Phenom X4 9750	170	154
Phenom X3 8750	134	124
Phenom X3 8650	123	104
Athlon X2 6400+	102	87
Athlon X2 6000+	95	77
Athlon X2 5600+	88	70
Athlon X2 5400+	78	66
Athlon 64 LE-1640	~40	36.50
Phenom X4 9750B	224	165
Phenom X3 8600B	-	110
Athlon X2 5400B	-	71

Follow-Up: Phishing To Blame For GMail Exploits Not CSRF

Following up on our recent post, New GMail Exploit Or Old Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability, Google has determined that the reported hijacking was a case of good old fashioned phishing and there is "no evidence of a GMail vulnerability".

Google responded today to the claims that the hijacked websites were due to an old CSRF vulnerability. Chris Evans writes, "With help from affected users, we determined that the cause was a phishing scheme, a common method used by malicious actors to trick people into sharing their sensitive information...Once attackers gained the user credentials, they were free to modify the affected accounts as they desired. In this case, the attacker set up mail filters specifically designed to forward messages from web domain providers."

Google says the domain theft linked to David Airey' site back in 2007 has been "incorrectly linked to a GMail CSRF vulnerability." There is no mention of the recent hijackings detailed in our previous post, but as mentioned in that post there was never any solid evidence that it was a CSRF exploit. In fact my original assement of the MakeUsOf hijacking was that the were victums of phishing.

One thing still nags at me about this though, if someone had phished these accounts then there would be no reason to setup filters. If you have full access to someones page (ie. log-in and password) then you wouldn't need to forward the emails out. You could change the password, locking out the user, and then have the emails sent directly to that account that you'd now control.

The only benefit from setting up the forwarding filters would be long term acess to the account. An attacker could essentially collect information undetected for weeks even months, or more. If the attackers took control and locked the user out they might be detected within a few mins. or hrs.

To keep your Google account secure online, Google recommends you only ever enter your Gmail sign-in credentials to web addresses starting with https://www.google.com/accounts, and never click-through any warnings your browser may raise about certificates. For more information on how to stay safe from phishing attacks, see Google's blog post here.

**Update**

I contacted Aibek at MakeUsOf.com today and he has stated he has not been contacted by Google in relation to this matter and that "I also talked to both Florin [Cucirca.com] and Edin [YuMP3.org] and only one of them was contacted by Google."

I've put an inquiry in to Chris Evans at the Google Online Security Blog and we are currently waiting follow-up. So check back for further details.

Get $150 Off The Purchase Of A PS3

Sony together with Visa have released the new PlayStation credit card. Gamers who qualify for the card can use it to purchase a PS3 and you’ll save $150 of the total price.

Starting today until December 31, 2008, you could save $150 on the purchase of a PLAYSTATION 3 this holiday. There are a couple ways to do this. You can go to to www.sony.com/newpscard to get instant approval for your card, and an immediate $150 credit when you purchase a PS3 directly through the website.

Or you can go www.sony.com/getpscard to apply for the card and upon receipt of the card, use it at any authorized PlayStation retailer to purchase a PS3. The $150 credit will show up on your billing statement.

YouTube Bulks Up, Increases Media Player Size

Good news for those of us that hate the tiny size of the YouTube media player, YouTube announced today that they have increased the width of the media player to 960 pixels.

Over the years we've heard a lot of feedback from you about what you'd like to change about YouTube, and the size of our video player is always top of mind. That's why today we're excited to announce a bigger YouTube player.

We're expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don't worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.

As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to share your thoughts with us on this exciting, new change happening for all videos on YouTube.

Have fun watching!
The YouTube Team

Looking over the changes the wider profile is nice. It appears as though current videos play at their standard size, so you really don't see much benefit, just gapes on either side of the video. Hopefully newer videos are expanded to take advantage of the larger screen. Embedded videos are still limited to the standard 425x344 size.

Google Chrome Beta 0.4.154.25 Released

Google Chrome Beta version 0.4.154.25 has been released. Announced on Monday the new beta adds a few minor feature updates and a security fix.

New Features

• Bookmark manager with import/export.

Use the 'Customize and control Google Chrome' (wrench) menu to open the Bookmark manager. You can search bookmarks, create folders, and drag and drop bookmarks to new locations. The Bookmark Manager's Tools menu lets you export or import bookmarks.

• Privacy section in Options.

We grouped together all of the configuration options for features that might send data to another service. Open the wrench menu, click Options, and select the Under the Hood tab.

• New blocked pop-up notification.

The pop-up blocker formerly just minimized pop-up windows to the lower right corner of the browser window, create one 'constrained' window for each pop-up. Now, Google Chrome displays one small notification in the corner that shows the number of blocked pop-ups. A menu on the notification lets you open a specific pop-up, if needed.

Security Issues

• This release fixes an issue with downloaded HTML files being able to read other files on your computer and send them to sites on the Internet. We now prevent local files from connecting to the network with XMLHttpRequest() and also prompt you to confirm a download if it is an HTML file.

Severity: Moderate. If a user could be enticed to open a downloaded HTML file, this flaw could be exploited to send arbitrary files to an attacker.
[Originally fixed in 154.18]

Other Updates

Bug-fix updates (no new features) to major components:

• Gears is updated to version 0.5.4.0 (from 0.4.24.0).
• V8 (JavaScript engine) is updated to 0.3.9.2 (from 0.3.5.0).

If you haven't already you will automatically get updated in the next few days or you can open About Google Chrome (from the wrench menu) to get the update at any time.

Fedora 10 Released

For all you Linux lovers out there Red Hat and the Fedora Project have released the latest version of Fedora.

Fedora 10 comes packed with several major feature updates. Including the following:

• Wireless connection sharing enables ad hoc network sharing -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/ConnectionSharing
• Better setup and use of printers through improved management tools -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/BetterPrinting
• Virtualization storage provisioning for local and remote connections now simplified -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/VirtStorage
• SecTool is a new security audit and intrusion detection system -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SecurityAudit
• RPM 4.6 is a major update to the powerful, flexible software management libraries -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/RPM4.6

Some other features in this release include:

• Glitch free audio and better performance is achieved through a rewrite of the PulseAudio sound server to use timer-based audio scheduling -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/GlitchFreeAudio
• Improved webcam support -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/BetterWebcamSupport
• Better support for infrared remote controls makes them easier to connect and work with many applications -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/BetterLIRCSupport
• The paths /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin have been added to the PATH for normal users, to simplify command-line administration tasks -- http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SbinSanity
• The online account service provides applications with credentials for online accounts listed on http://online.gnome.org or stored in GConf -- http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/OnlineAccountsService

For more details on Fedora 10 checkout the Fedora 20 release summary as well as the release notes

Apple Posts Black Friday Teaser

Apple has posted a Black Friday teaser page for all you Apple Fanboys out there to drool over. While there are no specifics listed yet the page shows some hints of what to expect.

"Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only Christmas shopping event. You'll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas - all with free delivery."

The images on the page refer to almost every one of Apple's current products, so one can assume they'll have deals for many of them. I'd wager a guess at saying you won't see reduced prices on the MacBook Air, iPods or iPhones, but rather reduced prices on accessories.

AM3 Phenom II CPU Compatible Motherboard List

Update: Click here for our updated list of Phenom II AM3 compatible motherboards
as well as a list of currently known socket AM3 boards.

---

Several motherboard manufactures have listed their existing motherboards that will support the upcoming AM3 socket Phenom II 45nm desktop processors by AMD. Here is a list of the current boards that have been announced by their respective manufactures. *Note these boards should also support the current AM2+ Phenom II 940 and 920 however you should check with each manufacture to be sure. In most cases you will need to update your bios*

Biostar Phenom II Compatible Motherboards:



MSI Phenom II Compatible Motherboards:



ASUS Phenom II Compatible Motherboards:



Gigabyte Phenom II Compatible Motherboards:


DFI AM3 Compatible Motherboards

The DFI LANParty “Phenom II” ready motherboards are listed below:

• UT 790FX-M2R
• DK790FX-M2RS
• DK 790FXB-M2RS
• DK 790FXB-M2RSH
• DK 790GX-M2RS
• JR 790GX-M2RS

ECS Phenom II Compatible Motherboards

• A790GXM-A (V1.0)
• A780GM-A Ultra (V1.0)
• A780VM-M2 (V1.0)
• A780VM-M3 (V1.0)
• A780GM-A (V1.0)& (V1.1)
• A780GM-M (V1.0)
• A780GM-M3 (V1.0)
• GF8100VM-M3 (V1.0)
• GF8100VM-M5 (V1.0)
• NFORCE9M-A (V1.0)
• GF8200A (V1.0)

Jetway AM3/Phenom II Compatible Motherboards

Jet Pack Attempt At Royal Gorge Successful

As mentioned yesterday Eric Scott of Jet P.I. attempted to jet pack over Royal Gorge in Canyon City Colorado today. According to the Rocky Mountain News that attempt was successful, only taking 21 seconds to cross the Royal Gorge at 75 mph.



Scott used a hydrogen peroxide powered jet pack developed by Jet P.I.. The H202-Z jet pack holds 8 gallons of which will gives it a max flight time of about 43 seconds, with a maximum distance of 1500 ft. Top speed is approximately 77 mph.

For more videos checkout CBS4Denver.com

BFG Free Upgrade Promotion, Upgrade Your AGP Card To PCI-E

For a limited time BFG Tech is running a free upgrade promotion, qualified customers can upgrade their current AGP cards to an equivalent PCI-E card free of charge.

Now, for a limited time, if you send us your BFG AGP card in good, working condition, we’ll send you the PCI Express equivalent at no cost to you. If you want to upgrade to an even better performing card, there is a nominal fee to do so. Offer good for U.S. customers only.

To qualify:

• If your current BFG 6x Series or 7x Series AGP card is NOT currently registered, please register it at http://www.bfgtech.com/productregistration.aspx. (No proof of purchase will be required for this process – simply sign up)
  
  
• Once registered, log into your account (http://www.bfgtech.com/productregistration.aspx)
  
  
• Click on “My Profile”, then the “myProducts” tab.
  
  
• Find your 6x Series or 7x Series AGP graphics card in the list
  
  
• Click on “details” next to “Upgrade Eligible”
  
  
• Click on “Upgrade” next to the product you wish to upgrade to.
  
  
• Verify your address and email and click “Order”
  
  
• You will receive an email within 24 hours with instructions and terms and conditions

7-Eleven To Sell Video Games Full Time

7-Eleven announced last week that they are entering the gaming retailer market, saying that games are now a regular part of the chain's stock. In addition to games, 7-Eleven is selling prepaid cards for a variety of massively multiplayer online games, as well as Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network.

In charge of the initiative is Michael Jester, the company's category manager for gaming and electronics.

"This is not just a holiday promotion for us," Jester said in a statement, "but a brand-new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination...yet, but we're hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot-selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies."

This month, participating 7-Eleven stores introduce a line-up of seven of the top video game titles for sale as well as one of the most comprehensive selection of prepaid gift cards for another growing gaming phenomenon -- Massively Multi-player Online Games, or MMOGs.

The 7-Eleven prepaid game card line-up includes Nexon, Habbo, Gaia, Guild Wars, gPotato, Runescape, Aeria, City of Heroes, Exteel, ijji, IMVU, Neopets and Sims2 prepaid game cards. Sold primarily in denominations of $10 and $25, many of the cards can be used to make purchases within multiple online games. 7-Eleven and Slurpee have a presence in some games where players can receive a FREE Slurpee Machine to place in their virtual room.

7-Eleven has said they will be offering the top-selling, most anticipated games of the year. A few of the games currently being offered by 7-Eleven stores while are:

Guitar Hero: World Tour-Band Kit (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and PS2, Nintendo Wii)
Fallout 3 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PS3, personal computer or PC)
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (MMOG available on PC only)
007: Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2)
Gears of War 2 (exclusive to Xbox 360)
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 (Xbox 360, Sony PS3 and PS 2)
Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360, PS3)

7-Eleven has already become infamous for not honoring street dates, instead selling games the moment they come into the stores. Earlier this month 7-Eleven stores began selling copies of Gears of War 2 and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King before their official release dates.

G1 Multi-touch Proof-of-Concept Video

G1 users longing for multi-touch capabilities take note RyeBlog has released a proof of concept video showing off multi-finger tracking on a G1 phone.




The code for the hack isn't posted yet but here is a brief rundown on what was changed.

I modified the Synaptics touchscreen driver to have it create a character device at /dev/tsout that it dumps the touchscreen events to. I made /dev/tsout readable by the java layer, and then modified a fingerpaint example program that Google has posted to draw the circles. I have a thread in there that constantly polls that file, and when it sees data there it fires off an update event to the UI thread which scales the x and y position from the coordinate space of the touchscreen driver into the coordinate space of the android canvas and then draws a small circle there. I have it using a different color for the two fingers to make it easier to see.

Ryan, the publisher of the RyeBrye Blog has said he'll post the code used at a latter date, so keep an eye out for updates.

Man Attempts To Jet-Pack Over Royal Gorge

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Eric Scott of Denver will try to cross the Royal Gorge using a jet pack - and without a parachute, support wires or other safety devices.

Scott works for Denver- based Jet P.I., which developed the futuristic-looking jet pack for stunts, promotions and other events around the world. The Royal Gorge test will rank as the longest, highest flight attempt for the Go Fast Jet Pack, the company said.

According to the Jet. P.I. Site, the stunt will be performed Monday the 24th at in Canyon City, Colarado. Scott will be taking off at the Royal Gorge bridge and park and attempting to fly 1,500 across to the other side.

Here is a video posted last year of them testing the pack out over Royal Gorge

UFC Fighters Forced To Sign Video Game Deal?

Several online reports have suggested that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and game maker THQ have forced many fighters to sign away their name and likeness forever.

UFC president, Dana White, cut fighters after they refused to sign a lifetime agreement for their likeness in the upcoming THQ title UFC 2009 Undisputed. According to Yahoo! Sports and Sports Illustrated, welterweight contender Jon Fitch was cut from the mixed martial arts organization, only to be reinstated a short time later after he decided to sign a licensing contract.

Originally Finch said, "We thought that was kind of crazy, why would you sign anything away for your lifetime?"

When Fitch didn't deliver on the "favor" of signing, which White requested, he said he was told "either you're in if you sign this, or you're getting cut." Fitch effectively chose the latter, though he "never thought it was possible" that the UFC would actually release him. On Wednesday, Fitch received an email from the UFC notifying him that his deal was accelerated and terminated.

In a response to Finch and other UFC-signed mixed martial artists sharing his opinion Dana White, whom perceived to be working against his company's interests, told Yahoo! that fighters choosing to shun the licensing deal, including AKA's Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez, were no longer "partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them."

Less than 24 hours later, Fitch was back with the UFC and has signed a contract that will allow his likeness to appear in UFC Undisputed 2009. Whether the deal Fitch ultimately agreed to was different from the original contract isn't clear.

iPhone Firmware 2.2 Jailbroke With QuickPwn

The iPhone Dev Team have released a version of QuickPwn that will work with the new iPhone firmware, version 2.2. The software, which is available for both Mac and Windows users, will allow third-party apps to be loaded as well as other unofficial modifications to your iPhone.

Users should note this is not an "unlock", the Dev Team has said they currently don't have an unlock for the new 3g iPhone (thay are working on one) and users hoping for an unlocked iPhone should hold off from updating to 2.2. "GOLDEN RULE: If you have a 3G iPhone and want potential soft unlock in the near future do NOT use QuickPwn, and do not use the official ipsw or the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool."

New GMail Exploit Or Old Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

Earlier this month MakeUseOf.com’s domain was stolen right out from underneath them, it was hijacked and moved to another registrar. On Friday they provided us with the details of how they think the would be thief took control of their domain and moved it to another host.

In their post titled "BREAKING: New Gmail Security Flaw. More Domains Get Stolen!", MakeUseOf.com said they suspect that the hacker used some hole in GMail to create filters which forwarded crucial emails to the thieves. Which then allowed them to access to their GoDaddy account (among other things) and move the domains.

In what appears to be two completely separate incidents, both Cucirca.com and YouMP3.org were hit by the same thief in the same exact manner. The owners of each site contacted MakeUseOf.com and confirmed that similar filters had been placed in their GMail accounts and their domains had been transferred. The details provided were identical down to the thief's email address.

The attacks don't seem to be the first however, in fact MakUseOf points out that the same thing happened to David Airey last year.

WARNING: Google’s GMail security failure leaves my business sabotaged
Collective effort restores David Airey.com

Last year a serious cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability was found in Gmail and allegedly fixed. Security researcher Petko Petkov provided details of the vulnerability on his blog, which was then confirmed and supposedly fixed by Google. However the three attacks above seem to mirror directly what Petkov's hijack did.

The victim visits a page while being logged into GMail. Upon execution, the page performs a multipart/form-data POST to one of the GMail interfaces and injects a filter into the victim’s filter list. In the example above, the attacker writes a filter, which simply looks for emails with attachments and forward them to an email of their choice. This filter will automatically transfer all emails matching the rule. Keep in mind that future emails will be forwarded as well. The attack will remain present for as long as the victim has the filter within their filter list, even if the initial vulnerability, which was the cause of the injection, is fixed by Google.

So is the hijack that David Airey, MakeUseOf.com, Cucirca.com and YouMP3.org were hit by a new exploit or did Google neglect to fix the cross-site scripting vulnerability?

The fact is there really is no way to tell at this point. GMail seems to be one of the only common denominators on the user end. We do know for the CSRF exploit to affect their accounts they all had to either visit the same site or view the same email, something along those lines to be affected.

One thing that peaked my interest is that the CSRF exploit has been around for over a year and this is the first I've heard of anyone hijacking GMail accounts in this fashion. Now that is not to say it hasn't happened, it just happens that the guy finally hijacked someone that has put the information into the spot light. The CSRF exploit could be used to hijack anything and would be virtually undetectable until someone went looking so it is possible there have been many attacks that have gone un-noticed.

For the hijacker to use Petkov's CSRF exploit to target webmasters he essentially has to create a "perfect storm". He'd have to get the exploit to them in some fashion, probably via an email sent to their GMail accounts, remember they have to be logged in to those accounts for it to work. Those accounts would have to be associated in some way with the webmasters domains. Either the registrar of the domain would have to have that particular email address on file for the password retrieval, or the email associated would have to be forwarded through the affected GMail account, so it could then be forwarded out to the hijacker.

From what I see you are talking about a lot of variables that would have to go right for this to happen.

For this particular scenario to play out and be lucrative a hijacker (or team of hijackers) would more than likely have to go on a phishing expedition and targeted multiple webmasters that showed GMail addresses on their WhoIs. They would then have to email out several emails with the CSRF exploit code. It would have to be a "good" email that these webmasters would have wanted to open allowing the exploit to work and the filters to be placed.

Aibek over at MakeUseOf makes a pretty good observation of how this could work:

In my opinion the hack was carried out in the following way:

- 1. hacker has an automattic script that searches public WhoIS databases and finds people that have gmail email listed as a contact.
- 2. the script further filters the results leaving only somewhat established sites.
- 3. next he sends an email to the owner (or even leaves a comment on his blog) with a link to a site that targets Gmail bug.

Aibek

As of right now there is no verification that the hijacking was the result of a vulnerability in GMail. However the evidence is leaning that way. If you are concerned that you might be vulnerable there are a couple things you can do to combat this.

1. Check your GMail settings and make sure you aren't already compromised. Check fowarding options and filters to make sure you aren't forwarding information to unknown sites. Disable any options you aren't using such as IMAP, and POP.
2. I suggest using a private email address for your accounts. There should be no reason for your domains to be registered to your contact address or even filtered through that address. Use a personal email address from your ISP and keep that information private.
3. Use FireFox with the No-Script add-on should help to block cross-site scripting exploits.
4. Stay away from emails and sites you aren't sure of, you should never be opening suspicious emails anyways.
5. Update all your software. Since there was no proof this was a CSRF exploit its still possible it was malware, a virus or even a trojan. You need to keep all the AV software up to date, especially if your personal computer is also used for business.
6. Change your passwords often. Again since there is no confirmation how the hijackers got in it is possible that the accounts were cracked. The accounts weren't locked out so thats not likely but still possible.
   

**Update**
Google has posted a response on the Google Online Security Blog stating there is no known vulnerability and this was a case of phishing. For more details please see our follow up post.

Apple Releases iPhone 2.2 Firmware Update

Apple has released iPhone OS 2.2 and iPhone OS for iPod touch 2.2 fixing more than a dozen security vulnerabilities and adding several new features, including Google Street Views to the iPhone's mapping tool.

Among the twelve security updates were three fixes to Safari, three fixes for Passcode Lock a Webkit fix and a networking fix that prevented the lowering of the encryption in the PPTP VPN app.

The new update added a couple of new features, one of which is direct podcast downloading. The new features allows you to stream or download audio and video podcasts over both Wi-Fi and cellular network using the iTunes Wi-Fi application on the handset. More information here.

The feature many are considering to to be the most significant in the v2.2 firmware update is a major overhaul of the Maps application and the addition of Google Maps and Street View.

With street view you can view street level photographs, find businesses such as restaurants, get directions and even get schedules for public transit. According to the Google Maps Blog, Google Maps has schedules for transportation systems in more than 100 cities worldwide, including New York, Tokyo, Montréal, Zürich, and Perth. For more details checkout Google Maps for iPhone adds Street View, public transit, and walking directions.

A few of the other minor changes to the iPhone's software included reliability and stability fixes for Mail and Safari, sound-quality improvements for voice-mail playback and, in a terse notice, changes aimed at a "decrease in call setup failures and dropped calls."

Google SearchWiki, Elevate, Delete, Add, And Annotate Search Results

Google's SearchWiki has now been released to the masses. If you've been using Google search today you might have noticed the new feature that allows you to elevate (vote up), delete, add, and annotate search results.



Google remembers the changes a person made to search results, so repeat searches will show the same customizations and notes. Google has been offering SearchWiki as an experimental feature to select users for months, but starting today it will become available to anybody who's searching while logged in with a Google account.



"This is a search feature that gets a user more control over their search results," said Cedric Dupont, Google's SearchWiki product manager. "SearchWiki allows you to reorder, remove or add notes to specific web search results so that the next time you do the same search, you'll see the customized result set that you prefer."

Google has also added a social networking dimension to its engine. If a user wants to comment on a result, for instance to note that this is best site for Italian restaurants in New York, then a click brings up a text box and the comment can be typed in.

Mr Dupont said: "Comments are a great way to save and recall any thoughts you had or notes you took about a particular webpage. These are also public for others to view and get feedback on a website. We want to make this a much more interactive platform."

At the bottom of a SearchWiki results page, there is a link to a page which shows what search results others have re-ranked, deleted or added in aggregate. It also allows others in the SearchWiki community to see members' public comments on a given result, with their Google account nickname associated with their comment.

Rumor: iPhone 3G Coming to Walmart

The Boy Genius Report is reporting that select Walmart stores will start carrying the iPhone 3G, on December 28. About 2,500 Walmart locations will offer the device, according to the site, as will 69 Sam's Club locations.

The site claims to have "confirmation" in the form of leaked internal Walmart correspondence. Here are the details as they have posted them:

We are pleased to announce that Wal-Mart has reached agreement with Apple to offer iPhone 3G in Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart-managed Sam’s Club* Connection Centers nationwide beginning December 28, 2008. AT&T will support Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club with the activation process for iPhone 3G, and we need all National Retail employees engaged to ensure a successful launch.

*NOTE: This product launch DOES NOT apply to SC Kiosks within Sam’s Club managed by Radio Shack.

Wal-Mart has communicated the following launch plans and execution timeline to their employees:

• iPhone 3G will be available in-store only beginning 12/28/08
• New and existing customers in good standing can purchase iPhone 3G with a 2 year contract
• iPhone 3G transactions only will be processed through POS.com, not the kiosk

Execution Timeline:

• 12/2 – 12/5: AT&T / Wal-Mart MEM Classroom Training for Store Leads
• 12/3 – 12/19: AT&T In-Store Training
• 12/26 – 12/27: AT&T In-Store Refresher Training
• 12/28: Nationwide Launch
• 12/28 – 12/30: Wal-Mart and AT&T War Room Support

No mention of pricing or any potential drop in cost is mentioned in the alleged leak. If the rumor is true we might see a price drop similar to that of the discounted G-1.

Walmart would neither directly confirm nor deny the report. A spokesperson told PC World that "Walmart has not made an official announcement about offering the iPhone."

Google Adds Themes To Gmail

Many users had reported spotting the feature in their Gmail account but there had been little to no official word until now. Details have been posted on the Official Gmail Blog.

Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today, there's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred. We've also done a minor facelift to Gmail's default look to make it crisper and cleaner -- you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there.

For those of you that are lucky enough to be a part of the initial roll out you can customize your inbox by going to the Themes tab under Settings. Google has said they'll be rolling out themes to everyone over the next couple of days, so if like me you don't see them yet, check back soon.

Intel Core i7 Demand Not Expected To Rise Until 3Q09

Citing a dropping global economy and the high cost of entry to upgrade to the cheapest Core i7 CPU and X58 motherboard, motherboard manufactures suggest that demand for the Intel Core i7 won't rise until the third quarter of 2009.

Since the Core i7 is a totally new platform, users are required to not only buy a new CPU but buy a new motherboard as well as new memory in most cases. The entry level cost for the CPU alone is over $300 and early revisions of the X58 motherboards are $200 and up. A $500 entry level price tag just for your base components is pretty steep for most consumers.

I for one have never been big on early adoption of new hardware. For one thing you spend a great deal more money. Chasing the "latest greatest" in tech is a costly venture as neew hardware always comes with a hefty price tag. So I've always figured why not wait a few months for prices to drop.

Another thing with new tech is that its not "user tested", yes they test it in the labs but often times its not until they get things out on the market that bugs turn up. First revisions of motherboards are notorious for having issues. Everything from faulty sensors to BIOS issues. Waiting a month or two (or more) for them to work out the bugs could save some headaches.

Personally I think users might want to use this time as a chance to upgrade existing machines to something better, but not the Core i7. According to DigiTimes motherboard vendors still have huge inventories of Intel P45 chipsets, which it says will require 3-6 months to digest. If they are looking to slash those inventories you could see some pretty hefty discounts on some great boards.

If you are using a first generation Core 2 Duo and an older board it might be the perfect time to swap out those older parts for something new and faster. Memory prices are at an all time low, Intel has been slashing prices left and right and if (and that is a big if) motherboard manufactures start slashing prices you could get a top notch machine that should last you for a few years at a great price.

Microsoft To Offer Free Security Suite

Microsoft has decided to discontinue its subscription-based consumer security suite and instead offer individuals free software to protect their PCs. The free security suite from MS will be code-named “Morro,” and is expected to be available in the second half of 2009.


In a statement issued yesterday, Microsoft promised the new sucurity suite will provide comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. Microsoft also said the software will be architected for a smaller footprint that will use fewer computing resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs.

“Customers around the world have told us that they need comprehensive, ongoing protection from new and existing threats, and we take that concern seriously,” said Amy Barzdukas, senior director of product management for the Online Services and Windows Division at Microsoft. “This new, no-cost offering will give us the ability to protect an even greater number of consumers, especially in markets where the growth of new PC purchases is outpaced only by the growth of malware.”

Morro, which will be available for download over the Internet, will work on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and the upcoming Windows 7.

The company also announced that it will discontinue retail sales of its Windows Live OneCare subscription service effective June 30, 2009. Windows Live OneCare will continue to be sold for Windows XP and Windows Vista at retail through June 30, 2009. Direct sales of OneCare will be gradually phased out when “Morro” becomes available. Microsoft has said regardless of the method of purchase, they will ensure that all current customers remain protected through the life of their subscriptions.

For current One Care users thatt think they should be refunded Microsoft's Barzdukas said customers can get refunds if they feel they are owed them. "We will absolutely do the right thing by our customers, and if the customer wants to call our free phone support line we'll make sure they are happy," she said.

A posting on the Windows Live OneCare Team Blog has a detailed FAQ for customers.

Microsoft Cuts Zune Prices, Releases Zune 3.1 Firmware

Just in time for the holidays Microsoft slashed price on its Zune media players and accessories.

According to ZuneInsider.com, the new Zune prices are $179 for the 16 gigabyte version (versus $199 for Apple’s 16 GB iPod nano), $139 for the 8 GB version (versus $149 for Apple’s 8 GB iPod) and a 4 GB Zune model coming in at $99. Accessories like the Zune Car Pack, Dock Pack and Home/AV Pack received price cuts of up to $20.

Pricing at two of our advertisers, Buy.com and Newegg.com, don't yet reflect the price cuts. The
Black 8GB Microsoft Zune is currently priced $149.99 at Newegg and $143.80 + Shipping at Buy.com


Microsoft has also released firmware version 3.1 for all models of the Zune MP3 player, and an update to the Zune PC software. The updated firmware adds three new games: Checkers; Sudoku; and Space Battle; as well as a new multiplayer mode for the existing Texas Hold 'Em card game. The multiplayer mode takes advantage of the Zune's Wi-Fi, letting players connect to other players with Zunes. The new Zune Checkers game also supports wireless two-player gameplay.

To get the new update, use the PC software, just click settings: check for updates. If you’re new to Zune, you can download the software for free at www.zune.net.

New AMD CPU Numbering Scheme

According to DigiTimes AMD has a new CPU numbering scheme similar to Intel Core i7.

AMD has recently changed its CPU numbering scheme plans from five digits number to only three digits, similar to that of Intel's Core i7 CPUs, according to sources at motherboard makers.

AMD's upcoming Phenom X4 20350 and 20550 CPUs will be renamed to Phenom II X4 920 and Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition, respectively. The launch date of the products will also be delayed from November this year to during CES 2009 in January next year.

The company's 45nm AM3-based CPUs will also be renamed to the Phenom II X4 900, X4 800 and X3 700 series, and will launch in the second quarter of next year. AMD is also planning to launch a quad-core high-end CPU, Phenom II X4 945 Black Edition, in the second quarter next year along with the Phenom II X3 600 and Phenom II X2 200 series.

New At Google This Week

Monday:

Announcing Sketchup 7 - Google announced the the launch of Google SketchUp 7. SketchUp is a 3D modeling program designed for architects, civil engineers, filmmakers, game developers, and related professions. It also includes features to facilitate the placement of models in Google Earth. It was designed to be more intuitive, flexible, and easier to use than other 3D CAD programs.

Want to track Adobe Flash? Now you can! - Today, at the Adobe MAX Conference in San Francisco, in a joint collaboration with our friends at Adobe and a few ace third party developers, we announced a simplified solution for tracking Flash content for everyone, called Google Analytics Tracking For Adobe Flash.


Now you can speak to Google Mobile App on your iPhone - Google has added voice search to Google Mobile App for the iPhone. The new Google Mobile App for iPhone makes it possible for you to do a Google web search using only your voice. Just hold the phone to your ear, wait for the beep, and say what you're looking for. That's it. Just talk. Once the App is on, you don't have to push any buttons to search. For more details checkout the Official Google Mobile Blog.

Ads In New Places - Google says they are experimenting with placement of text and images ads. Searchers will notice ads placed in search results that haven't traditionally seen them such as image searches. We'll also see more Sponsored Videos and click-to-buy on YouTube, as well as ads in Google Finance.

Tuesday:

Life Photo Archive Available On Google Image Search - Google announced the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Eric Schmidt on what's ahead in 2009 - Google CEO Eric Schmidt offers some of his own ideas for how policy makers might approach some of the serious challenges we face.

Google Gadgets for Linux 0.10.3 - The 0.10.3 release of Google Gadgets for Linux is out, with bug fixes and major feature enhancements. Most notably, now Linux gadgets can use most of the features introduced in the 5.8 release of Google Desktop for Windows.

Wednesday:

Get a headstart on the holidays with Docs templates - The holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends, but preparing for the holidays can sometimes be time-consuming and stressful. Whether you're still planning your Thanksgiving party, or already working on your gift shopping list, you might want to check out our new templates for the holidays -- a series of templates designed to help make your holidays a little more efficient (and cost-effective, too).

You'll find everything from party invites, holiday cards, to gift tags and much more. We've highlighted a few of our favorites below. These ones in particular were custom-designed by Googlers; and as with all of our templates, they are available to you for free in our Template Gallery.

Spice up your inbox with colors and themes - Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today, there's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred. We've also done a minor facelift to Gmail's default look to make it crisper and cleaner -- you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there.

Google Sync for BlackBerry: Now with contacts - You asked for it, so here it is. We're happy to announce that in the latest update to Google Sync for BlackBerry, we've added two-way contacts synchronization. This new functionality will enable you to sync your handheld's built-in address book with your Gmail contacts. This all happens in the background and over the air, so your information is always up to date, no matter where you are or what you're doing.

Once you've installed Sync, all your information will be safe in your Google account. If you ever lose your phone or buy a new one, getting your address book and calendar to your new device is as easy as installing Sync. Current and new Google Sync users can try Google Sync today by visiting m.google.com/sync from their BlackBerry browser.

Thursday:

360 degree panoramas in Google Earth - This week, we've started to feature another layer in the Google Earth Gallery, showing several thousand panoramic views provided by 360cities.net. This layer contains exciting 360 degree panoramas from a variety of great photographs taken all over the world!

Moving quickly to rebuild the economy through clean energy - With a new President and Congress, we have an unprecedented opportunity to transform our fossil fuel economy to one based largely on clean energy, while creating millions of jobs in the process.

Last month, we offered a Clean Energy 2030 proposal for how the U.S. can dramatically scale up renewable energy, become smarter about how we use energy, and deploy millions of plug-in electric cars. Our energy team has continued crunching the numbers and just posted new data on job creation and cost savings on our knol. We'll keep updating the information and encourage everyone to take a look and comment - and offer alternative approaches if you disagree.

SearchWiki: make search your own - Have you ever wanted to mark up Google search results? Maybe you're an avid hiker and the trail map site you always go to is in the 4th or 5th position and you want to move it to the top. Or perhaps it's not there at all and you'd like to add it. Or maybe you'd like to add some notes about what you found on that site and why you thought it was useful. Starting today you can do all this and tailor Google search results to best meet your needs. View our follow up post.

Friday:

Some favorite Google Maps features now for iPhone - I waited in line on launch day to buy my first-generation iPhone, and ever since then it has never left my side. The best part is that it keeps getting more useful with every software upgrade Apple puts out. This time around, Apple has improved their version of Google Maps by putting even more Google features in your pocket.

For more details checkout our blog post Apple Releases iPhone 2.2 Firmware Update

NVIDIA Creates "Tesla Personal SuperComputer"

NVIDIA has announced the launch of a new high performance computing processor series based on its graphics processing unit (GPU) technology which the company claims will make parallel computing power more pervasive and affordable. That "personal supercomputer" is actually a platform based on NVIDIA's new Tesla C1060 GPU Computing Processor, which itself is based on NVIDIA's CUDA parallel computing architecture.

NVIDIA Press Release
NVIDIA Tesla Makes Personal SuperComputing A Reality
Today, scientific research is carried out on supercomputing clusters, a shared resource that consumes hundreds of kilowatts of power and costs millions of dollars to build and maintain. As a result, researchers must fight for time on these resources, slowing their work and delaying results. NVIDIA and its worldwide partners today announced the availability of the GPU-based Tesla™ Personal Supercomputer, which delivers the equivalent computing power of a cluster, at 1/100th of the price and in a form factor of a standard desktop workstation.

“We’ve all heard ‘desktop supercomputer’ claims in the past, but this time it’s for real,” said Burton Smith, Microsoft Technical Fellow. “NVIDIA and its partners will be delivering outstanding performance and broad applicability to the mainstream marketplace. Heterogeneous computing, where GPUs work in tandem with CPUs, is what makes such a breakthrough possible.”

Priced like a conventional PC workstation, yet delivering 250 times the processing power, researchers now have the horsepower to perform complex, data-intensive computations right at their desk, processing more data faster and cutting time to discovery.

“GPUs have evolved to the point where many real world applications are easily implemented on them and run significantly faster than on multi-core systems,” said Prof. Jack Dongarra, director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee and author of LINPACK. “Future computing architectures will be hybrid systems with parallel-core GPUs working in tandem with multi-core CPUs."

Leading institutions including MIT, the Max Planck Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cambridge University, and others are already advancing their research using GPU-based personal supercomputers.

“GPU based systems enable us to run life science codes in minutes rather than the hours it took earlier. This exceptional speedup has the ability to accelerate the discovery of potentially life-saving anti-cancer drugs,” said Jack Collins, manager of scientific computing and program development at the Advanced Biomedical Computing Center in Frederick Md., operated by SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

At the core of the GPU-based Tesla Personal Supercomputer is the Tesla C1060 GPU Computing Processor which is based on the NVIDIA® CUDA™ parallel computing architecture. CUDA enables developers and researchers to harness the massively parallel computational power of Tesla through industry standard C.

“Dell has led the workstation category for almost a decade and GPU computing represents a massive leap forward in performance that will bring supercomputer power to the masses,” said Antonio Julio, director, Dell Product Group. “The Dell Precision R5400 and T7400 will allow the scientific community to harness the capabilities of the NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU with up to two teraflops of computational power.”

As well as Dell, GPU-based Tesla Personal Supercomputers are available today from the following leading HPC OEMs, Systems Builders and Resellers: AMAX (US), Armari (UK), Asus (WW), Azken Muga (ES), Boxx (US), CAD2 (UK), CADnetwork (DE), Carri (FR), Colfax (US), Comptronic (DE), Concordia (IT), Connoisseur (IN), Dell (WW), Dospara (JP), E-Quattro (IT), JRTI (US), Lenovo (WW), Littlebit (CH), Meijin (RU), Microway (US), Sprinx (CZ), Sysgen (DE), Transtec (DE),Tycrid (US), Unitcom (JP), Ustar (UKR),Viglen (UK), Western Scientific (US)

To learn more about the industry-changing applications benefitting from NVIDIA GPU Computing technology, visit www.nvidia.com/cuda and for more information on the GPU-based NVIDIA Tesla Personal Supercomputer, please visit www.nvidia.com/personal_supercomputing.