Sunday, January 23, 2005

Web-Site Picks the Best GeForce 6600 GT Graphics Card. Thirteen GeForce 6600 GT Boards from Eight Makers Reviewed

5:43 pm | Yaroslav Lyssenko

Even though every computer enthusiast is interested in performance numbers of the top graphics cards, the majority of consumers are looking for decent performance at a reasonable price. NVIDIA’s GeForce 6600 GT graphics card proved to be just the product to look at in such circumstances. Legion Hardware has posted an article which may help those who cannot decide which manufacturer among the eight investigated produces the best NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT graphics card for AGP or PCI Express on the market.

“Picking the ultimate GeForce 6600 GT solution is not going to be easy as there have been some real solid contenders. While it is expected that ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte provide high-quality solutions I was impressed to find Chaintech and Albatron being so competitive. Furthermore Leadtek also did an excellent job with their GeForce 6600 GT product. It is important to offer the whole package, good performance, good value, good cooling and a good software bundle,” the review concludes.

• Legion Hardware: GeForce 6600 GT Roundup.

Firefox Downs Internet Explorer Market Share. “Alternative” Browsers Occupy Significant Part of the Market

10:54 am | Anton Shilov

While Microsoft Corp. has implemented certain highly-anticipated features like pop-up blockers into its recent Internet Explorer update, so-called “alternative” are gaining popularity and gaining it seriously.

“According to WebSideStory, which has been tracking the Firefox vs. IE numbers since June 2004, the Mozilla-made open-source browser had captured 5% of the US market by January 14, 2005, an increase of almost a full percentage point since early December. WebSideStory’s “Other” category, which includes Opera and Apple's Safari, also jumped in the past month from 1.2% to 2.1%. Internet Explorer, meanwhile, dipped from 91.8% in December 2004, to 90.3% in January. Since June of last year, Microsoft's watched IE lose slightly more than 5%of share,” claims article from TechWeb News.

According to W3Schools web-site, who also tracks browser usage, 70% of Internet surfers used Microsoft Internet, 18.8% utilized Mozilla’s Firefox browser, the rest used Opera, Mozilla and other types of software to look through the Web.

Among X-bit labs readers 48% used Firefox, 34% used Internet Explorer, 7% used Opera, the rest used Mozilla, AOL Netscape or other browsers.

• CRN.com: Internet Explorer's Share Down to 90 Percent.
• BusinessWeek Online: Mozilla Is Gaining on Godzilla.
• W3Schools: Browser Statistics.
• X-bit labs Poll: Which browser do you use to browse X-bit labs?
• Firefox.com: Get Firefox.

“Terminators” Head to Iraq. US Army Preps “Robo-Soldier” for Iraq

9:51 am | Anton Shilov

Twenty-one year after the “Terminator” hit the cinemas around the world, the US army is preparing eighteen remote-controlled armed robots to serve in Iraq. Previously such robots were called the TALON and were used to disable bombs, but then they were armed and called Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems (SWORDS).

“The $200,000, armed version will carry standard-issue Squad Automatic Weapons, either the M249, which fires 5.56-millimeter rounds at a rate of 750 per minute, or the M240, which can fire about 700 to 1000 7.62-millimeter rounds per minute. The SWORDS can fire about 300 rounds using the M240 and about 350 rounds using the M249 before needing to reload. Running on lithium ion batteries, it can operate for 1 to 4 hours at a time, depending on the mission,” claims Associated Press.

While currently the SWORDS robots are not intelligent right now, it seems to be only the matter of time for them to be able to work independently.

• Yahoo News/Associated Press: Army Prepares 'Robo-Soldier' for Iraq.
• GlobalSecurity.org: TALON Small Mobile Robot.
• Military.com: Swords Play.

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