Eurocom lets loose Quad Core XEON-based D901C PHANTOM-X server laptop

Posted by on May 12, 2008

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It’s not often we see laptop manufacturers boast of a one-hour battery life, but in the case of Eurocom’s new D901C PHANTOM-X “mobile server,” that spec is certainly hard-earned enough to warrant notice. The battery drain begins with a 2.8GHz Quad Core XEON X3360 processor, which gets paired with 1.5 terabytes of storage in the form of three SATA-300 hard drives (complete with various RAID options), 8GB of DDR2-800 memory, a Blu-ray burner, and a comparatively modest 17-inch display, to name but a few specs. All that, not surprisingly, takes just as big a toll on your back as it does on battery life, with the PHANTOM-X weighing in at a lugabble 12-pounds. No word on a price just yet, but Eurocom’s non-Xeon-based server laptops already easily push past the $3,000 mark, so you can probably take a pretty good stab at assessing the damage to your budget.

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Original post by Donald Melanson and software by Elliott Back


USB hub brings Japanese exit sign to your desktop

Posted by on May 12, 2008

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We love exit signs in Japan. They frame just about every door and hallway: guy with briefcase freaking out and bolting out an open door. This is clearly not the first USB hub in an unusual form factor, but Donya has fed our love for the panicky icon. Complete with ports on the little guy’s feet and briefcase, he’s available for about $10 or ¥999.

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Original post by Joshua Fruhlinger and software by Elliott Back


Man United manager inspired to carry on (AP)

Posted by on May 12, 2008

Move over, Sir Alex, and give someone else a chance. Aren’t 10 Champions League titles in 16 years enough? And, at age 66, aren’t your arms tired from lifting 21 trophies in 22 seasons at Old Trafford? Why not call it a day if Manchester United beats Chelsea in next week’s Champions League final? What a way to go out that would be.

Original post by Unknown and software by Elliott Back


Cambiasso out of season finale (AFP)

Posted by on May 12, 2008

Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso is out of Inter Milan's final league match of the season against Parma on Sunday due to an ankle injury, Italian press reported on Monday.

Original post by Unknown and software by Elliott Back


jDome surrounds you with 180-degrees of gaming and public shame

Posted by on May 12, 2008

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jDome

It’s a pretty obvious concept, really: take a semi-transparent dome and project an image on it. Then, stand in the middle and surround yourself with 180-degrees of gaming action. John Nilsson went and patented the concept and is now developing the jDome with an estimated cost of around $125-200. We have some serious reservations about this system, though. That $125-200 pre-order price tag doesn’t come with a projector and you’ll have to tweak your games’ field of view setting to work with the round shape of the dome. What’s more, the product assumes you’re going to spend your game time standing in front of a dome. Criticisms aside, you can buy a prototype for a bit more — $6,000 to be exact. Video of the jDome in action after the break.

Continue reading jDome surrounds you with 180-degrees of gaming and public shame

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Original post by Joshua Fruhlinger and software by Elliott Back


Sparta president to manage club for final two games (AFP)

Posted by on May 12, 2008

Sparta Prague president Jozef Chovanec will have a double role to play for the remaining two games of the season as he takes over the manager's job left vacant by the resignation of Michal Bilek.

Original post by Unknown and software by Elliott Back


TDK intros SATA-compatible industrial SSD drives

Posted by on May 12, 2008

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It’s far from the first SATA-compatible SSD drive, but TDK seems to think its new GBDisk RS1 series drives will be just the ticket for some very particular users (though not likely you or us). Apparently designed specifically for industrial use, the drive uses single level cell NAND flash memory (as opposed to multi-level cell) and a GBDriver RS1 SATA controller, which TDK says will together help it maintain data reliability while standing up to frequent, high-speed data writing. You will have to make do with some fairly small storage capacities even by SSD standards, however, with the drives topping out at 16GB, all of which come in 2.5-inch drive enclosures. No word on prices just yet, but you can look for them to start rolling out this June.

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Original post by Donald Melanson and software by Elliott Back


Britain drops tax charges on overseas soccer teams (AP)

Posted by on May 12, 2008

In an effort to lure the 2011 Champions League final to Wembley, British officials said Monday that any overseas teams playing in that match would receive a tax exemption. Players from foreign teams are liable for taxes on earnings from bonuses and endorsements when they appear at events in Britain, such as Wednesday’s UEFA Cup final in Manchester between Scotland’s Rangers and Russia’s Zenit St.

Original post by Unknown and software by Elliott Back


Barcelona's Thuram wants to keep playing next year (AFP)

Posted by on May 12, 2008

Barcelona's French defender Lilian Thuram said Monday he wants to keep playing football next season even though his contract with the Spanish giants is not expected to be renewed when it expires at the end of June.

Original post by Unknown and software by Elliott Back


HandTalk glove speaks your hand gestures… we can see where this is headed

Posted by on May 12, 2008

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Oooh, now we get it. HandTalk converts hand gestures like sign language into spoken words. Well, don’t we feel silly. The device was developed by a group of nerds at Carnegie Mellon, and can track finger and hand gestures with a vocabulary of 32 words in its existing v0.1 model. The signals are transmitted from the glove to a phone over Bluetooth, where the words are converted with text to speech software. Not bad for for a bunch of off-the-shelf components, but they could’ve scored double the nerd points by repurposing a Power Glove for this — gotta think big picture, people.

[Via talk2myShirt]

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Original post by Paul Miller and software by Elliott Back