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Nov 30 2008

Yay: Grand Theft Auto IV uses SecuROM DRM (but gently)

Posted by: admin in All Tech

You know how in trailers of terrible “family” movies there’s always a part where the announcers says, “Here we go again!” in that dumb “enthusiastic announcer guy voice”? Think of that right now, only juxtaposed with the sights and sounds of Liberty City, for it has been revealed that Grand Theft Auto IV uses SecurROM […]

You know how in trailers of terrible “family” movies there’s always a part where the announcers says, “Here we go again!” in that dumb “enthusiastic announcer guy voice”? Think of that right now, only juxtaposed with the sights and sounds of Liberty City, for it has been revealed that Grand Theft Auto IV uses SecurROM DRM. That’s the same DRM that upset so many would-be Spore players (but didn’t bother Fallout 3 players).

Straight from a Rockstar rep:

GTA IV Personal computer uses SecuROM for protecting our EXE… Product Activation is a one time only on the internet authentication when installing the game. GTA IV has no install limits for the retail disc version of the game, and that version can be installed on an unlimited number of Computers by the retail disk owner.

So, if we’re to believe this shadowy Rockstar fellow, the actual restrictions imposed by SecuROM seem to be minimal. That’s to say there are none, as all it’s used for is to validate your CD key. Certainly that seems reasonable. You should also know that the game requires Games For Windows Live—how in God’s name did Microsoft manage to foist that upon savvy Computer gamers?—is required to play the game.

Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is to be released on December 2. SecuROM or not, expect to find cracks available within two seconds of its release, if not before then. Such is life.

via Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Nov 28 2008

Protip: Wear these cufflinks to ensure there’s no second date

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Nothing states “well dressed man” like fine cufflinks. On the other hand, nothing states “I have no desire to date” like these cufflinks. Available from Etsy, everyone’s favorite peddler of homemade haute couture, these clay Mario Mushrooms come in your choice of a pair of green or red. Or hell, mix the two if you […]

Awesome Mario Cufflinks!

Nothing states “well dressed man” like fine cufflinks. On the other hand, nothing says “I have no desire to date” like these cufflinks. Available from Etsy, everyone’s favorite peddler of homemade haute couture, these clay Mario Mushrooms come in your choice of a pair of green or red. Or hell, mix the two if you want. You’re the master of your destiny.

They’re a bargain at $24, plus you save money by never having to buy a girl dinner.

Nov 28 2008

Some of Best Buy’s doorbusters also available online

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Turns out you actually DON’T really have to sit in the cold hoping to get a magic ticket so you can buy Ideal Buy’s Friday doorbusters because a bunch of stuff that’s available in the stores is also available on Best Buy’s website. Most notably, you can get a 52-inch Samsung 1080p LCD TV with […]

bbuy

Turns out you actually DON’T really have to sit in the cold hoping to get a magic ticket so you can buy Ideal Buy’s Friday doorbusters because a bunch of stuff that’s available in the stores is also available on Ideal Buy’s website. Most notably, you can get a 52-inch Samsung 1080p LCD TV with professional installation for $1,499, a 50-inch Panasonic 720p plasma TV for $899, and the Magellan Roadmate 1212 GPS for $79.

Actually showing up at your local store will still get you some good exclusives, though, like an HP notebook with free printer for $349, a Toshiba Satellite notebook for $379, a Dynex 32-inch LCD HDTV for $399, and, most importantly, Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey on Wii for $9.99. The stores open at 5 AM, the on the internet stuff is available now.

Ideal Buy Friday Doorbuster Specials [BestBuy.com]

Check out the full list of recognized issues over at MobileCrunch >>

Nov 26 2008

The BlackBerry Storm has issues - at least six of them, in fact

Posted by: admin in All Tech

With hype comes scrutiny. Build consumer interest in a device up to that which Verizon has built the BlackBerry Storm, and you’re bound to hear the complaints. The Storm has been on the shelves for less than a week, and forums around the internet are already littered with word of reproach. A list of the […]

With hype comes scrutiny. Build consumer interest in a device up to that which Verizon has built the BlackBerry Storm, and you’re bound to hear the complaints. The Storm has been on the shelves for less than a week, and forums around the internet are already littered with word of reproach.

A list of the issues that VZW/RIM has recognized as software flaws has been passed out to Verizon employees to keep them from accepting them as reasons to exchange the customer’s device. Of course, this list made its way out nearly immediately. According to the document, we can expect the first set of repairs to come in Week 1 of December.

Nov 26 2008

Best of Black Friday: Here’s where to get the top deals

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Black Friday can be a tiring, stressful, and overwhelming ordeal. Here’s a list of which stores have the best deals on some of the top items for the holiday shopping season, along with our picks for Ideal All-Around Store, Biggest Disappointment, Biggest No-Show Product, Most Ubiquitous Bundle, and Most Confusing Ad. If you see anything that […]

Black Friday can be a tiring, stressful, and overwhelming ordeal. Here’s a list of which stores have the best deals on some of the top items for the holiday shopping season, along with our picks for Ideal All-Around Store, Biggest Disappointment, Biggest No-Show Product, Most Ubiquitous Bundle, and Most Confusing Ad.

If you see anything that you think should be changed or added to this list, drop a note in the comments section. Let’s try to keep things to nationwide brick and mortar stores, please. The true Black Friday experience entails actually leaving the house.

Blu-ray Player

Magnavox NB500MG9 at Walmart for $128

Camcorders

Flash Memory: Panasonic SDR-7K at Ideal Buy for $199
Hard Drive: JVC Everio GZ-MG230 30GB at Walmart for $249

Computers

eMachines desktop with 18.5-inch LCD at Best Purchase for $299.96
HP notebook with free Canon 3-in-1 printer at Best Buy for $349.98

Consoles

Sony PS3 80GB with Ratchet & Clank + Casino Royale Blu-ray at Best Buy for $399
Xbox 360 Arcade with Guitar Hero III and Wireless Guitar at Walmart for $199
Xbox 360 Pro with LEGO Indy/Kung Fu Panda + $60 Gift Card at Target for $299

Digital Camera Bundle

Kodak EasyShare C813 plus 7-inch Kodak digital frame at OfficeMax for $129.98

Digital Pic Frames (by size)

Pandigital 3.5-inch digital frame at Sears for $29.99
Nextar 7-inch digital frame at Sears for $37.99
Sungale 8.5-inch digital frame at OfficeMax for $59.99
Memorex 10-inch digital frame at OfficeMax for $89.99

DVD Player

Memorex compact player at Target for $24.99

External Hard Drives (by size)

500GB Seagate FreeAgent at Walmart for $69
750GB Western Digital at Target for $88.88
1TB Maxtor OneTouch at Staples for $139.98

GPS

Garmin nuvi 200 at Walmart for $97

LCD Televisions (by size)

Sansui 19-inch 720p LCD HDTV at Walmart for $178
Westinghouse 26-inch 720p LCD HDTV at Target for $299
Emerson 32-inch 720p LCD HDTV at Walmart for $388
Polaroid 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV at Walmart for $598
Samsung 50-inch 720p Plasma HDTV at Walmart for $798

Monitor

Acer 19-inch at Ideal Purchase for $99, Soyo 19-inch at Office Max for $99

Ideal All-Around Store: Walmart

Walmart’s got the best all-around deals if you can stomach the 5am start time and the ravenous crowds. If you can only make it to one store, you’ll get the ideal bang for your buck here. The prices on Walmart’s Televisions are especially nice.

Biggest Disappointment: Ideal Purchase

What happened to Large Blue this year? It didn’t bring its A or B game. That’s what happens when all of your competition goes out of business, apparently. There are some okay desktop and notebook deals, but you’ll have to get there early and snag a special coupon-type ticket to get your mitts on the best deals. Aside from a few gems, most of Ideal Buy’s Black Friday ad was pretty nonchalant about doling out deals.

Biggest No-Show Product: PlayStation 3

With aggressively-priced Xbox 360 bundles and Nintendo Wii consoles finally in stock, Sony’s best showing this year is a $399 bundle with Ratchet & Clank and Casino Royale on Blu-ray at Best Purchase? What’s that all about? When you can get an Xbox 360 with Guitar Hero III + guitar bundle for half the price at Walmart, it’s gonna be a slow holiday season for Sony. Yes, it has a built-in Blu-ray player. We know.

Most Ubiquitous Bundle: Digital Cameras

Look just about anywhere this year and you’ll find digital cameras either bundled with digital frames, printers, memory cards, cases, or a combination of those things. If you buy JUST a digital camera this year, you’re not looking hard enough.

Most Confusing Ad: Kmart

Four circulars? Really Kmart? There’s the Thursday ad (yes, Kmart is open from 8AM to 10PM on Thanksgiving – sheesh), the Friday ad, the Friday and Saturday ad, and the Saturday ad, each with specific deals during specific times on specific days.

Nov 26 2008

Apple now does price matching at its retail stores

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Apple retail stores will now price match any item that can be found more cheaply somewhere else. So, if Amazon is selling, say, the iPod touch for $100, you can walk into your nearest Apple store, printout in hand, and get the same price then and there. This price matching only applies to authorized sellers of […]

Apple retail stores will now price match any item that can be found more affordably somewhere else. So, if Amazon is selling, state, the iPod touch for $100, you can walk into your nearest Apple store, printout in hand, and get the same price then and there.

This price matching only applies to authorized sellers of Apple products—the guy on the corner of the street selling MacBooks for $200 a pop doesn’t count.

via MacBlogz

Nov 25 2008

Overclocking an Intel Atom in an MSI Wind to 2.38GHz

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Australia, land of kangaroos and terrible actors, must be beaming this day, what with the news that someone there was able to overclock an Intel Atom processor to 2.38GHz. That’s the fastest we’ve ever seen an Atom run, as a matter of fact. Of course, getting the processor, found in an MSI Wind, to run that was […]

Australia, land of kangaroos and terrible actors, must be beaming this day, what with the news that someone there was able to overclock an Intel Atom processor to 2.38GHz. That’s the fastest we’ve ever seen an Atom run, as a matter of fact.

Of course, getting the processor, found in an MSI Wind, to run that was quite the challenge, as it should be. Not since Frankenstein pieced together his monster did someone go to such lengths to accomplish anything.

What does running an Atom at 2.38GHz gain you, aside from bragging rights? Nothing, I would guess, which is about par for the course when it comes to overclocking. It’s the old Slashdot axiom, “Because you can.”

Nov 24 2008

Valve: Mind if we take a look at your brain while you play?

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Suddenly that logo makes sense. They’ve been planning to tap our heads all along! Well, maybe it’s not quite that serious, but Gabe Newell recently stated in an article for Edge that he’d like to hook players up to, among other things, heart rate monitors and EEGs. That way they have the ability to tell if you’re really […]

Suddenly that logo makes sense. They’ve been planning to tap our heads all along! Well, maybe it’s not quite that serious, but Gabe Newell recently said in an article for Edge that he’d like to hook players up to, among other things, heart rate monitors and EEGs. That way they can tell if you’re really scared.

Let me make things easier on you, Valve. Yes, we’re really scared. Half-Life was scary, Ravenholm was scary, and now Left 4 Dead is scary. Do you really need to rubber stamp it?! And while we’re at it, why is Gabe writing for Edge and not slaving away at Episode 3 or Portal 2? God!
[Via ShackNews]