E3 To Be More "Intimate"

Thanks To rapcomp.jr:

Entertainment Software Association Announces Evolution of E3Expo for 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Stacey Wade
202-223-2400 or swade@theesa.com

Washington, DC (July 31, 2006) – To better address the needs of today's global computer and video game industry, the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) is evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today.

"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago. At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season," said Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences."

The new E3Expo will take shape over the next several months. As currently envisioned, it will still take place in Los Angeles, described by ESA as a "great and supportive partner helping to build E3." It will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.

"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others," said Lowenstein.

Additionally, the evolution of the video game industry into a vibrant and expanding global market has led to the creation of major events in different regions, such as the Games Convention in Leipzig, the Tokyo Game Show, and company-specific events held by Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and others around the world. As a result, Lowenstein said, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show'. By refocusing on a highly-targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3."

Additional details about the new E3Expo event will be forthcoming in the next few months.

The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2005, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.

The Original

Dell Dimension E310

Ok, this is my first review, so bear with me. First I'd like to start off by saying I like Dell. I know this will elicit some hoots and hollers, but I thought it would be best to come clean up front.

This is a machine I actually purchased for my oldest child, who is majoring in Software Engineering in college. It is destined to be a dual boot Windows/Linux machine he is using for a project this summer. This leads to my first reason for liking Dell. I ordered the PC on Wednesday May 24th, and it was delivered Tuesday, May 30th. It would have been delivered the 29th, but it was Memorial Day. I ordered online specifying 3-5day shipping.

The first thing I noticed after taking it out of the box, are the ports, or lack there of. The back panel has no PS/2, serial, or parallel ports. 4 USB, 1 network, 3 sound, and 1 video port are located on the back panel of the motherboard. The only other connections are the power cord and modem jacks. This brings me to one of my pet peeve's, Dell does not give you the option of no modem on their home PC's. Or, at least I haven't found it.


Here is the configuration as shipped:

1 GG870 PROCESSOR, 80547, PENTIUM 4 PRESCOTT DT, Pentium 4 Prescott DT, 2.8GHZ, 1 MEGB, 533FSB, LGA, G1
1 J4628 KEYBOARD, 104, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, UNITED STATES, ENTRY, LEAD FREE, LITEON
1 X7636 MOUSE, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, 2BTN, LEAD FREE, ENTRY, LOGITECH, MIDNIGHT GRAY
1 DF965 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WINDOWS XP, MCE05U, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, ENGLAND/ENGLISH
2 D6492 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 256, 533, 32X64, 8, 240, 1RX16
1 JF495 MODEM, V.92, DATA FAX, INTERNAL, SON2, LEAD FREE, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
1 ND504 ASSEMBLY, DVD+/-RW, 16X, IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS), HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE, CHASSIS 2005
1 KD104 ASSEMBLY, Flash Storage Device, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, READER, HALF HEIGHT, TEAC, CHASSIS 2005
1 R6401 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, FLEX-BAY, DIMENSION, MATRIX,SMITH,MINI TOWER
1 XF541 HARD DRIVE, 80G, S2, 7.2K, 9G, 3.5, WD-UNIC
1 CD940 KIT, SOFTWARE, WORDPERFECT, 12, PLUS-TRIAL
1 CC639 DISPLAY, FLAT PANEL DISPLAY, 17, DUAL VOLTAGE, E176FPF, MIDNIGHT GRAY, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION

Setup time for PC's has become much faster as time has progressed. It took about 10 minutes to set it up and get it powered on. It took about another 20-30 minutes to configure Windows. So within 1 hour we were ready to go. Some of the things I haven't figured out are, why it has no TV tuner or speakers, If it's a Media Center PC aren't these required? The hard drive is only 80gig, it seems a bit on the small side to me. There are only 4 USB ports on the back panel, and 2 on the front. I say only, because when you plug in the keyboard and mouse, you only have 2 ports left in back.

The motherboard and case are BTX form factor and have the fan in the front of the case as apposed to the back as in ATX. The heat sink is much larger than I am used to seeing in a factory standard Dell, but I'm guessing this is a part of the BTX standard. The only other fan is in the power supply. The cut outs on either side of the case are the air inlets for the fan. The cables are dressed neatly and held down by tabs molded into the fan shroud and attached to the power supply. The drives are mounted using a no tool design. The external drives are mounted above the CPU area and the internal drives are below. The only expansion card is the PCI modem, leaving 1 PCI and 1 PCIe x1 slot open. There are only 2 memory slots, so any upgrade will require replacing the current RAM sticks.

One of the first things I noticed when I first powered it on, was the lack of noise. It is much quieter then the Dimension 4600 it sits next to. The keyboard is much smaller than the older PS2 style, and the mouse is still the old ball type. Maybe it's just me, but isn't this a little dated?

The case is easy to open, just pull a release on top and the side lifts off. The drives are mounted with tool-less hardware, however, if you are replacing an optical drive, you need a screw driver to remove the studs that align the drive in the bay.



Cable management is good with everything held in place with built in clips.
The monitor is an analog 17" that is adequate for general web browsing and such, but lacks the response time needed for gaming. The on board graphics adapter is also lacking for gaming, although it does prove adequate for video viewing. In general, this is a good entry level machine that will get the job done if your needs are not great. If on the other hand you are looking for a real Media PC, or gaming PC, I would opt for a higher level unit with a plug in Graphics adapter and TV tuner, larger hard drive and at least 1 Gb of ram.

Oooooo

Lockheed Martin has been commissioned to design and manufacture the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST), a 12-seat private jet that will be able to quietly break the sound barrier. Capable of flying at Mach 1.6—which for the rest of us means 1200mph—that unique ability to sneak through the sound barrier without breaking every window in sight would let it zip from New York to LA in two hours and 15 minutes.

More

...Your Cell Phone Will Self Distruct In 10 Seconds...

Nokia has created a cellphone that disassembles itself in two seconds when heat is applied to it, making it easier to dispose of when it becomes obsolete two weeks from now. No, it's not going to be falling apart in your hot little pocket, but if laser heating is applied, the thing literally comes apart, making it easier to recycle instead of the shredding that goes on with current cellphones and small electronics. It's called "active disassembly." According to Nokia:

FromGizmodo

The Top 10 Top 10

It’s been an running joke at digg for a while now. Each new Top 10 story would get the inevitable comment of :”Now, we only need a Top 10 of Top 10s and everything would be perfect.” The wait is over: here is that Top 10, in no particular order…
An honorable mention goes to techEblog, who runs regularly some of the wierdest and imaginative top 10s known to man.



The List

LW25-EV, 12.1", Duo Core, DMB, EVDO.... Thank you LG

LW25-EV, 12.1", Duo Core, DMB, EVDO.... Thank you LG
Here you are THE perfect Notebook for this summer... If you have the chance to be able to work remotely everywhere you want to... Well this PC will help you to "work" on the beach while other are stuck at the office, behold the LW25-EV, a 12.1" Duo Core T2400, 1GB of DDR, GeForce Go 7300, BMB TV Tuner, 3G EVDO Data and this for only 1.1Kg (Girls not included)

More

Smoken!

From The Register:

Another Dell laptop has undergone spontaneous combustion, prompting the evacuation of the office it was situated in and the urgent intervention of the local fire brigade. Pictures of the incident point to a battery meltdown as the cause of the conflagration.

More

How Not To Work On Computers

From ExtremeTech:

Since the late 1980s, I've probably built several thousand systems. That doesn't put me in the category of a Dell or even a Falcon Northwest, but it does mean that I've encountered my fair share of glitches and snafus that can arise when putting together a PC.

As Oscar Wilde once quipped, "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."

If that's the case, then I've certainly accumulated a lot of "experience" over the years. I've seen some doozies committed by both myself and others. But learning from other people's mistakes is considerably less expensive than making them on your own. When I sat down to write this, it was amazing how long it took me to remember some of my more flamboyant errors. It's not that I didn't make a few; it's that my brain is pretty good at suppressing unpleasant memories. I also solicited requests from some of the ExtremeTech staff and freelance writers. Surprisingly, I only got a couple. It looks like I'm not the only person good at forgetting unhappy times.

Been there, Done that!



More:

A More Secure IE?

Button up Internet Explorer? Is that laughter we hear?

After all, the technigentsia have long proclaimed that mentioning "IE" and "security" in the same breath is akin to oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp," "friendly fire," and "priceless junk."

But nearly 80 percent of the world's surfers use IE. They can't all be dim.

They're not, and neither is Microsoft, which after five years of resting on the laurels, so to speak, of IE 6, is updating the browser to version 7, both for Windows XP as well as for the upcoming Windows Vista. IE 7, promises Microsoft is more secure, and safer to use than the problem plagued earlier editions.

As in last week's "5 Ways to Bulletproof Firefox," we sniffed out five tools for Internet Explorer that lock down the browser and help make online time safe time (or at least safer).

We're still convinced that Firefox is more secure, especially when armed with extensions like the ones we detailed, but IE is a fact of life. And with these tools and tips, the "genuine imitation" jokes may sting a little less.

More

Making Firefox A Better Browser

From TechWeb:

Spyware, adware, drive-by downloads, phish blitzes, malware of all stripes, they all have one thing in common: they reach your computer through the wide open door that is your browser.

If the most important step you can take to secure your system is to use a secure browser -- advice held by everyone apparently, including Microsoft, which is working feverishly on IE 7 to close the years'-long security gap it created by not keeping the app up to date -- then the second step is to lock down the browser beyond what it offers out of the box, and/or learn how to use the security tools it does provide.

Firefox, which recently regained some of its market share momentum, fits the bill as a secure browser (more secure, anyway, than IE 6.x, its prime competitor).

We've wrapped up the second step for you by sniffing out five tools -- four extras and one integrated -- that we see as the most important security add-ons.

More

Firefox 2 Beta 1 Released

As promised, I've downloaded Firefox 2 Beta 1 and am using it to post this. Check back later and see how it's going.





MozillaZine post announcing Firefox Beta 1 release
Mozilla Developer News
Firefox 2 Beta 1 Start Page
Firefox 2 Beta 1 Download Page

The Browser War Re-visited

Latley I've been reading about the pending releases of both IE 7 and Firefox 2.0. And while they both are touting their respective improvments, I wonder if anyone is listening. An article at Arstechnica may give a clue. I know that traffic on this site, while small, shows that the more Tech oriented are using Firefox about 80% and IE 6/7 taking the rest. The numbers from other Tech oriented sites seems to support this. I know I use Firefox for all my browsing, I only use IE on sites tha don't work on Firefox. It also helps that I am now using Linux most of the time, and the only browse I'm familiar wth is Firefox. The Beta release candidate is scheduled for release tomorrow, I'll be giving it a test run in Linux and post my experiances in a week or so.

Update: I just checked the Firefox Forum and it has a post showing a release date of 7/14/06 for the 2.0 release candidate.

More from Arstechnica
More about Firefoc 2.0 from Arstechnica
Download Firefox 2.0 Beta

A Millionaire Wannabe in the Big Apple

I drove my oldest son to New York City Wednesday to try out for "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire".
I was waiting in line with him when a young lady from the show came up to get his name, she was about to ask me for mine when I told her I was only my sons driver. Her reply was to ask if I would like to take the test as well, I said yes, and they let us in. I thought that was great, I was prepared to sit around and wait for him, but was able to go with him. Fortunatly he passed and got an interview, unfortunatly, I didn't. Oh well, I still got to sit in the AC while I waited for him to finish. I'll let you know if he is picked for the contestant pool.