Blog - August, 2009 | bit-tech.net

Series 3, Episode 6 - GamesCom 2009, WoW Cataclysm, Shadow Complex and much more

Posted on 28th Aug 2009 at 10:28 by Podcast with 12 comments

This week’s podcast is all about gaming, and my is there a lot that’s talked about, with everything from GamesCom 2009 to WoW’s Cataclysm expansion to the XBox Live game Shadow Complex all talked about. And more. Lots more. Plus, there’s a prize to be snaffled, so sign up now!

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Dirt 2 Demo Impressions

Posted on 27th Aug 2009 at 08:23 by Alex Watson with 8 comments

After the disappointment of Fuel – which was about as dull and exciting as the coarse fabric pants you could expect to win if you triumphed driving one of its leaden, fart-coloured racers through a fart-coloured post-apocalyptic landscape – I had to admit I approached the demo of Codemasters’ next racer, Dirt 2, with some trepidation.

Fortunately, the recently released demo reveals that we’re mostly back on safe ground, and despite the name it’s not even that brown. That’s because while Fuel was developed by an external studio, Dirt 2 is an inhouse game, and you can tell: Dirt 2 is basically Grid for off-road racing.

Tags demos, dirt 2, gaming, racing

What nanotech research would you like to know about?

Posted on 26th Aug 2009 at 08:14 by Mark Mackay with 22 comments

Most tech enthusiasts will be familiar with the word nanotechnology but for those that aren’t, here’s an outline, because I'm sure you'll find it a fascinating topic. The term ‘nano’ it means ‘tiny’ or ‘minute’ - a nanometre is one millionth of a mm.

Nanotechnology generally refers to any technology that is on a scale of nanometres and often involves manipulating matter on an atomic or molecular scale. I'm going to be writing a feature on it over the next month or so, and I'm after your suggestions of specific projects to look at.

Paying for attention

Posted on 25th Aug 2009 at 10:02 by Richard Swinburne with 4 comments

This unsolicited email dropped in my inbox the other day. I get thrown on quite a few PR lists without my prior consent, that's just the way it is, but reading into it a bit more I wonder: does social networking really matter?

We've starred out the names because we don't want to give this rotten spammer publicity - essentially, he runs a service that purports to allow people to buy Twitter followers.

Contact: Leon XXXXXX
CEO – XXXXXX.net
http://XXXXXX.net/
contact@ XXXXXX.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TWITTER ATTEMPTS TO SHUT DOWN XXXXXX

Twitter has recently moved to shut down web promotions company XXXXXX.net, by claiming the advertising agency is “spamming”.

According to XXXXXX CEO Leon XXXXXX, Twitter recently sent accusations via a brand-management organisation that XXXXXX are using Twitter for spam purposes. Despite this, XXXXXX say the claims are false.

“The definition of spam is using electronic messaging to send unsolicited communication and as we don’t use Twitter for this, the claims are false.” Said XXXXXX.

XXXXXX believe the claims are due to a service the company sells which allows clients to purchase packages of followers to increase their viewership on the site.

“The people at Twitter who are sending these claims are just flailing around trying to look for any excuse they can, though it’s going to take much more than this if they want us to pack up shop.” Said XXXXXX. “We’re not going away that easily.”

Tags advertising, spam, twitter

The missing component for true AI

Posted on 24th Aug 2009 at 10:17 by Mark Mackay with 18 comments

For years now the debate as to whether it’s possible to create an artificial intelligence by mimicking the human brain has raged. Last month, New Scientist published an awesome feature titled Memristor Minds, which has some interesting points to make about the AI debate.

Asus Xtreme Global Summit Competition Week 4 Winners

Posted on 21st Aug 2009 at 17:54 by Alex Watson with 90 comments

And so we reach the end... the end of the beginning, at any rate, as we're ready to announce the final five winners of tickets to our Asus Xtreme Global Summit event along with the prizes that entails.

This week's blog post was all about overclocking, and the question we asked was simple: "what single tweak, invention, feature, BIOS option or idea would make overclocking better for you?

Read on to see who the lucky winners are!

Series 3, Episode 5 - Fans, Core i5 Coolers and the Lucida Hydra

Posted on 21st Aug 2009 at 11:07 by Podcast with 8 comments

This week the podcast is focussing on hardware, and in Episode 5, the panel discuss how we test fans, disappointing Core i5 Coolers and the intriguing Lucida Hydra chip, which promises to be the salvation of SLI and CrossFire. Plus we’ve got prizes a plenty to give out!

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Lynnfield Lab update

Posted on 21st Aug 2009 at 10:52 by Richard Swinburne with 7 comments

Yeah I'm going to tease you all a little again.

We've been running numbers for the last two weeks for both magazine and online coverage of Lynnfield - you'll get the full package all together in Issue 74 of CPC, and of course, for bit-tech we'll be there with the info throughout September (depends on Intel's NDA as to exactly when). Custom PC readers will get a different experience to those just reading bit-tech, but we've carefully designed it so everyone will be informed.

On the test bench has been all the upcoming Lynnfield CPUs - retail boxed ones - and a selection of P55 motherboards, including the MSI P55 GD65, Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5 and Asus P7P55 Deluxe with the MSI P55 GD80, Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 and ECS P55 (possibly) reviewed at a later date.

Tags ddr3, labs, lynnfield, reviews

Feedback on Custom PC's new games pages

Posted on 20th Aug 2009 at 08:29 by Joe Martin with 8 comments

This blogpost was supposed to be about my adventures in Baldur’s Gate as a completionist wizard, but that plan was ruined by the fact that my copy of Throne of Bhaal has yet to arrive because of various mail-related issues and my refusal to start until I’ve got the entire collection. And also you might have noticed I'm in Cologne, Germany for the big GamesCom 2009 show.

So, instead I thought it would be a good chance to get some feedback on a little change I’ve introduced to the latest issue of Custom PC and which, if it goes down well, I’ll keep going. If you’ve got Issue 73 to hand (it's out in the shops today) then you can see what I’m talking about on pages 26 and 27 – the ‘Games Etc’ spread.

Basically, I’ve replaced the usual batch of four or five gaming news items with a hand-picked of really good free games from the last month which we think people will like. There’s some free flash adventure games there, some mods and some downloadable indie games – something for everyone and I’d like to do this every month instead of using that space for gaming news.

WIN: Asus Xtreme Global Summit Competition Week 4

Posted on 19th Aug 2009 at 16:18 by Alex Watson with 18 comments

So far we’ve announced 15 of the 20 winners in our Asus Xtreme Global Summit competition, over the course of three previous blogs looking at the various design innovations Asus is introducing in its upcoming P55 boards. It’s now time for the fourth and final giveaway of tickets! Read on to find out how you can get your hands on one.

bit-tech.net

Series 3, Episode 6 - GamesCom 2009, WoW Cataclysm, Shadow Complex and much more

Dirt 2 Demo Impressions

What nanotech research would you like to know about?

Paying for attention

The missing component for true AI

Asus Xtreme Global Summit Competition Week 4 Winners

Series 3, Episode 5 - Fans, Core i5 Coolers and the Lucida Hydra

Lynnfield Lab update

Feedback on Custom PC's new games pages

WIN: Asus Xtreme Global Summit Competition Week 4

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