Xbox 360 Red Ring still got you down? A report released last week suggests that Microsoft is working on a second internal optimization to reduce overheating and mitigate the abnormal number of system failures once and for all.

The new graphics processor, code-named Jasper, is said to run cooler and reduce overheating, which is commonly blamed for the high number of Xbox 360 system failures. The GPU is expected in retail units by late summer, according to Daily Tech.

It wouldn't be the first time Microsoft has modified the innards of its popular console to reduce failures. In 2007, the company introduced a cooler-running CPU, dubbed Falcon, which seemingly reduced the number of Red Ring of Death occurrences, though reports of widespread failures remain.

In July 2007, Microsoft apologized for "an unacceptable number of repairs," after it was estimated that nearly 33 percent of all Xbox 360 units fail. The company increased the Xbox 360 warranty to three years as a result.

Xbox 360

Daily Tech

Here is the Freebie Friday program.

Vista Start Menu is the convenient alternative to the plain Start menu you find in Windows XP and Windows Vista. The program uses your cognitive abilities (visual memory, reflexes,etc.); however, while it is easily understandable for beginners, it is also highly efficient for experienced users.

Learn more and download

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Hopefully this will be the end of the delay and troubles, but I won't hold my breath...

Microsoft Tuesday released the third service pack for Windows XP to the Web after last week delaying its scheduled release because of an incompatibility with one of its other software applications. It also resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 (SP1), which had been halted because of a similar problem.

Windows XP SP3 is now available through Windows Update and also on the Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft had expected to release the software on April 29; however, it discovered it conflicted with an application called Microsoft Dynamics RMS. The problem also affected Windows Vista SP1. Dynamics RMS is a retail-chain-management software for small and midsized businesses.

Microsoft still is not offering either service pack to Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers, having put in place a filter on Windows Update to prevent distribution to those customers. The company is still working on a fix it expects to have available later this month, it said.

Microsoft still recommends that Dynamics RMS customers running Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 contact their Microsoft Customer Support Services for more information.

Microsoft's TechNet website also has more information about XP SP3.

I was looking on the net and I came across About.com Graphics Software, it has stacks of free tubes and other all sorts of goodies to look at and download. Have fun I know I sure did
Can be found Here

A Great tutorial I ran across.

The great thing about digital photography is that it allows you to fake all the techniques that are hard to do the old-fashioned way with film. Don't have any piano-playing sea lions handy? No problem--fake it digitally.

You can also use digital techniques for more down-to-earth photo tricks. Take depth of field, for instance. Portraits look best when the subject is in sharp focus and the background is blurry. But you have to plan that ahead of time by setting your camera to a large aperture setting before you take the picture. And many digital cameras tend to have a generous depth of field, which makes it hard to blur the background. Thankfully, it's easy to fake a blurry background afterwards on the PC.

Tutorial Here

A great tutorial I ran across.

Blur the background for attractive portraits--long after the photo was taken.

Thumb through any magazine and you'll find that, no matter the style of the photo, all portraits have one thing in common: The background is gently burred, leaving the subject in sharp focus and the center of attention.

The traditional way to get this effect is to set the camera's aperture to a fairly wide-open position, corresponding to a small f/stop number. Small f/stops tend to deliver a shallow depth of field so that only the subject that you focus the camera on is sharply focused, and everything else in front and behind tends to blur.

Tutorial Here

Dell will continue to install Windows XP on new PCs after Microsoft 's June 30 retirement date by taking advantage of a little-known clause in the downgrade rights that come with Vista Ultimate and Vista Business.

"Dell has the ability to exercise 'Windows Vista downgrade rights' on your behalf in the factory if ... you'd prefer to have Windows XP Professional preinstalled on your PCs," Dell said on its Web site.

According to Dell, it will factory install XP after June 18 when customers choose a "Vista Ultimate Bonus" or "Vista Business Bonus" option as they configure PCs. Dell will then install Windows XP on the machine, and include backup media for that OS as well as the installation disc for Windows Vista.

Although corporations that acquire Windows through volume license agreements, or who have signed up for Software Assurance, can downgrade any Windows software at any time, Microsoft has limited others' downgrade rights: only owners of a Vista Ultimate or Vista Business license may downgrade to XP, and then only to XP Professional, Professional x64 or XP Tablet PC.

Microsoft originally put the responsibility on users' shoulders for obtaining the installation media to replace Vista with XP, but last year it began allowing OEMs to include XP discs with new PCs or offer them as an after-sale option.

But although Dell's newest move is unusual, it is not an end-run around Microsoft's rules. In a document that spells out OEM options for Vista downgrades ( download PDF ), a FAQ section reads:

-- Q. Who can install the downgrade software or reinstall the original software?

-- A. An OEM (when authorized by end user), or the end user.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed late Friday that Dell was within its rights to factory-install XP on machines sold with a Vista Ultimate or Vista Business license.

It's standard practice for original equipment manufacturers, retailers and system builders to continue offering the previous version of Windows for a certain period of time after a new version is released," she said in an e-mail. "Dell is exercising their right to offer Windows XP as an option. Microsoft will no longer offer the media for this process after January of 2009, but an OEM can provide [XP] as long as they have stock on hand."

Dell did not specify which systems it would sell with XP preinstalled after June 18, or how long it would tender the downgrade offer. Microsoft's statement that OEMs can install XP "as long as they have stock on hand" could be interpreted to mean that it will allow Dell and others to continue the practice after the Jan. 31, 2009 retirement date for system builders.

Microsoft has set several deadlines for Windows XP. June 30 is the last possible sales date for large computer makers -- obviously excluding the downgrade route -- and at retail; on Jan. 31, 2009, Microsoft will bar system builders, which are usually smaller shops and individuals, from adding Windows XP to machines they assemble.

Earlier this month Microsoft extended XP's availability until June 2010 for what it has dubbed "ultra-low cost PCs," light and inexpensive sub-notebooks such as the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO and the Asustek Eee PC.

The Round Rock, Tex.-based computer maker is not the only OEM that has said it will provide customers with the older operating system after Microsoft's deadline. Lenovo, the Chinese company known for the ThinkPad line of laptops, will sell XP media for downgrading through Jan. 31, 2009, according to its Web site.

"Lenovo customers that have Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate 'qualified systems' may purchase a Windows XP Recovery CD until January 31, 2009," the notice read.

Although Microsoft today again said that it will stop providing Windows XP to OEM partners and at retail after June 30, CEO Steve Ballmer seemed to leave the door ajar.

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

In a statement issued late Saturday, Microsoft announced it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo. Speculation surrounding the status of the deal has escalated since Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell's deadline of last weekend passed.Can Be Found Here

I hear the Nvidia GeForce 9600 is making a hit, I came across this bit of information and thought that I would share this with you all ... to see what you people think

Can be found Here

This is a great place to find some beauties, most free, some commercial but all so great!







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