Microsoft Systems Engineer, 9 Years Old

9 years old Marco Calasan from Macedonia is fluent in three languages and have four Microsoft certificates, he's also written a 312-page book on Windows 7. Read more here.


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Windows Live - Hotmail 2010

If you use Hotmail, which has been under Microsoft's Windows Live online services for quite some time now, you might be interested to know Hotmail will be updated to the new version soon:

There's some interesting data from this Hotmail Preview site which reflects what Microsoft is trying to do to compete against rival Google's G-Mail and Yahoo's Mail, as well as some extras:


Take a look for yourself. Go on and browse over to Windows Live Preview - Hotmail.

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Win7's OS-Tan gets her own mini-Anime

Like this Nanami Madobe wallpaper? You can get the original (1680 x 1050) here.

If you don't already know by now, Windows 7 (Windows 6.1 actually), Microsoft's latest desktop operating system (OS), was given an official mascot for the Japanese edition, to cater to the geek culture of OS-Tan, which is basically a personification of an OS. Pre-Win7 OS-Tans were unofficially created by fans, but for Win7, MS wanted to be part of the culture and hence created Nanami Madobe. We first blogged about her here.

Prefer this wallpaper of her instead? The original (1920 x 1200) is here.

Now she has her own anime, albeit a short one to promote using Win7 as a SFF (Small Form Factor) or HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer). Take a look @ her in action in this YouTube video:

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DRM (Digital Rights Management)

DRM is pretty much an evil word right now (depending on which side of the fence you're on!), but chances are if you're a consumer, you pretty much hate DRM because you're being punished for doing the right thing - just so the companies which implement DRM make sure those who do the wrong thing are punished. Not exactly a right thing to do for then you're forcing people to do the wrong thing since nothing is gained by doing the right thing! When will this issue be solved we have no idea - but we think having the whole punishment mentality is wrong in the first place - when a reward mentality will benefit all in the long run. But try telling that to corporations who are usually headed by someone like Lord Vender here.

Of late the 3 games which are having problems all come from UbiSoft - Assassin Creed 2, Silent Hunter 5, and Settlers 7. All require you to be online to play a single-player game. Should you get disconnected from the Internet, or UbiSoft servers have problems, then you can't play the game which you bought. To drive this message home, hackers recently attacked UbiSoft servers via DoS (Denial of Service) to show how even if you bought the game, you can't play it if the company's servers are offline.

UbiSoft recent games aren't the only ones afflicted with this issue - EA (Electronic Arts) recent Command and Conquer 4 - Tiberian Twilight, from the Tiberian Series under the C&C Series, uses the same always-online requirement to play single-player games. This is not surprising as UbiSoft is partly owned by EA.

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Open Source = Illegal Software v2.0 - Update

Update - Speak of the devil! In Part 1 of our comic strip on this topic is was a US news, now it has spread to the EU. Read more here where OSS is under threat in Europe. Are we psychic or what?!

In Part 2 of our Open Source = Illegal Software? (see here for Part 1), we're continuing Darth Vender's execution of his Lord's orders - which is to make OSS (Open Source Software) illegal..via...legal means.

If it comes to pass, don't say we didn't warn you!
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NVIDIA 'Fermi' (GF100) @ GeForce 400 Series (DirectX 11) - Part 2

The original post will be too long for what we have to add now, so we're starting a new post to continue off the previously published specifications (both GPU-Z and CPU-Z as well as official NVIDIA), now adding scores and screen captures.

What Everest says about the new NVIDIA GeForce 400 (480), powered by the GF100 (Fermi) chip. It's a larger image so you can click on it to view the original size.

Windows 6x Experience Index gives the GeForce 480 a 7.9 (the maximum) for Graphics. It gave the GeForce 285 a 7.4 - see here when we tested the Hexa/6-core (Gulftown) Intel Core i7 980X processor, which we used to test this GeForce 480 as well.

So what happens when NVIDIA releases a dual-GPU version of the GeForce 480? Say the, GeForce 495, like they did with the GeForce 295, using dual GeForce 280 GPUs? Or when NVIDIA's rival, AMD, releases their ATI Radeon HD6000 Series? Looks like Microsoft needs to expand the max limit!

How does NVIDIA's PhysX fare with the 480? As you can see, it averages around 338FPS over the GeForce 285's 227 average. While the processor is different, since we tested the 285 at an earlier time before we had the HexaCore i7 980X, PhysX doesn't rely on the processor but the graphic card, which was the whole point in the first place to do physics calculation on the GPU to free up the processor to focus on the other demands the game is requesting to handle.

Futuremark's 3DMark Vantage, with a Performance preset, gives 20K!

Coming up next - videos of the 480 in action! Including the new water Tessellation you saw in the first post, but now with video of it at work! It will blow your mind away to the level of realism graphics have come to! Also, there'll be a video of the new NVIDIA OptiX real-time 3D Ray-Tracing video we showed in the first post update, as well as a video of Unigene's Heaven benchmark, which shows Tessellation at work real-time as you switch it on and off dynamically!

Yes you can click on it to enjoy the double-size original image

As usual, before we go, here's something to drool by while you wait for the next (and 3rd) post!

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NVIDIA 'Fermi' (GF100) @ GeForce 400 Series (DirectX 11) - Update 2

Update 2 - A new post has been created with all the scores and screen captures.

Update 1 - We'll be updating this post with specifications and scores as well as screen captures and videos in the following hours so stay tuned! GPU-Z & CPU-Z:

Here are the official specifications for the high-end 480 and the middle-range 470 cards:

Numbers are boring aren't they? A picture speaks a thousand words so we'll throw in something new for you to whet your appetite as well - NVIDIA's OptiX Ray-Tracing technology @ work:

Yes, you can click on it to enjoy the larger XGA (1024 x 768) real-time ray-traced 3D scene

This feature comes on GeForce 400 Series now and not just on Quadro professional workstation video cards. This means now games can start to use it! More to come! Stay tuned here!

Say hello to Fermi, a 3billion-transistor graphics processor

If the title didn't already give it away, then you know what this post is about - that's right. It's NVIDIA's DirectX 11 graphic card - the GeForce 400 Series, based on the GF100 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), codename Fermi, after Enrico Fermi, the Italian physicist who created the first Nuclear Reactor @ Chicago, the Pile-1.

Is NVIDIA planning to nuke its rival, AMD, for their ATI Radeon DX11 card?

His work led to the development of B Reactor @ Hanford, Washington, the first Plutonium production reactor, for America's Manhattan Project, which resulted in the test of the first Atomic Bomb @ Trinity, New Mexico, America. This led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki @ Japan, during World War 2. So is NVIDIA planning to 'bomb' its rival, AMD?

Its rival's DX11 card was black and red, NVIDIA is going for black and green, obviously

It's rival was the first to release a DX11 card (via their acquisition of ATI), the Radeon HD5000 Series in 2009, which was supported by Windows 6.1 (Windows 7), and later in Windows 6.0 (Vista) via the Platform Update. So now NVIDIA catches up with the competition. Of course, expect its rival to counter-attack - and they will - with the HD6000 later.

Dual-Linked DVI ports as usual, and HDMI has been dumped for DisplayPort instead. Checkout the quad heat-pipes!

Just like it's rival, you WILL need an 8-pin power connector from your PSU, in addition of the usual 6-pin. However, the good news if your PSU doesn't have 8-pin (not for the processor via the board version), you can also make do with a dual 4-pin Molex adapter which some graphic cards bundle. As for PSU Wattage, a 500W will do - unless you're running a RAID array, etc.

No, it isn't a photo of the ocean - it's a 3D real-time image

Anyway, in order to whet your appetite, here's a shot of what the new card can do with its Tessellation (which NVIDIA claims to be better than its rival due to its scaleable feature which it claims its rival lacks). Until then, enjoy the shots of NVIDIA's flagship desktop hardware!

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TM's UniFi - HSBB via FTTH - Update 2

Update 2 - TM has lowered it's Streamyx 4Mbps to RM130 from RM140 monthly.

Update 1 - Some people are unaware LASER is safe as long you're not viewing it. More below.

That's a lot of acronyms - let's break it down.

For those who don't know, Telekom Malaysia launched yesterday Malaysia's first FTTH (Fibre To The Home) service, called UniFi, which is a form of HSBB (High Speed BroadBand).


This uses LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) via optical cables as opposed to the current wired Internet connection, using DSL via copper telephone wires. Of course there's wireless Internet access but let's skip that as we're talking about wired for now.

This is how data is transmitted inside optical fibre cables - via a LASER bouncing light inside

While only available in 4 selected areas in the Klang Valley at the moment (Bangsar, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, TTDI - Taman Tun Doctor Ismail), it will soon spread to other parts of the country, depending on the area's development and it's contribution to the country which will make it have a need for Internet access beyond the current broadband service, known as Streamyx, which has a limit of 4Mbps, which uses DSL mentioned earlier.


UniFi starts at 5Mbps, and goes up to 20Mbps for homes, with higher speeds for business. It's priced at RM150 per month for 5Meg, with RM200 for 10Mbps, and RM250 for 20Mbps for homes. This has resulted in the 4Mbps Streamyx to drop from its original price of RM160 to RM140 - UPDATE - NOW DROPPED TO RM130! Of course there are are lower speeds of Streamyx like 2Mbps and 1Mbps and lower.


You'll know when an area has FTTH when you see the LASER warning symbol. Inside these boxes are LASER transmission which will be dangerous to view as it's more powerful that LASER pointers.


HOWEVER - you do NOT have to worry that these boxes (or UniFi cables) are bad for your health as the LASER is INSIDE and NOT outside. In fact, the LASER is terminated OUTSIDE your home and doesn't even ENTER your home - hence the term - Fibre To The Home (FTTH) - NOT Fibre IN The Home. Fibre is used to carry the LASER optical signals from the Telekom Exchange to OUTSIDE homes.

You get more radiation from using your cellular mobile phone next to your brain where powerful radio waves are transmitted, or even from watching TV too much!

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