C|Net Computers.com heeft een roundup met 5 draadloze netwerkkits in elkaar geknutseld. Erg handig als je geen zin hebt om je halve huis te verbouwen voor het aaleggen van een simpel netwerkje. Hier wat plakwerk uit de intro:

If you're one of those multiple-PC households, you may want your systems to talk to each other through a network. We decided to try out five of the latest home-networking kits, all of which allow you to share printers, files, and Internet access, as well as to play networked games. One of the most appealing promises of these solutions is the ability to share Internet access, meaning that you could hypothetically use one dial-up account for two or more computers in your home. In these kits, however, we found shared Internet access to be more trouble than it's worth: Web pages took forever to download, and setup was a headache. Perhaps the most important advantage is that none of these five candidates requires you to tear up your carpet or drill holes in your walls, as is the case with traditional wired kits, such as 3Com's Office Connect. All of this inter-PC and peripheral communication comes to you cable-free or wirelessly.

Sharky Extreme heeft weer een paar nieuwe screenshots van Rally Championship '99 gepost. De screenshots zijn extreem vet. Voor het geval je 't nog niet eerder gelezen hebt hier wat algemene info over RC99:

Due out this spring, Rally Championship 99 will feature the ultimate level of realism to be found in a racing simulation. To insure this, Europress is seeking the help of Mobil 1 British Rally Championship Manager John Horton and the 1998 British Rally Champion, Martin Rowe, whose combined experience in Rally stems back over 20 years. Rally 99 will also feature a highly realistic physics engine and collision detection algorithms in order to simulate bumps, tumbling and interaction with the track and other cars as well 3D positional audio support.

Mikroschoft heeft versie DirectX6.1 nu officieel gereleased. De binaries waren al eerder 'per ongeluk' op een paar sites verschenen. Hier wat bullshit uit de PR:

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) today announced shipment of version 6.1 of the Microsoft® DirectX® Software Development Kit (SDK), including the first public release of the widely heralded Microsoft DirectMusic(TM) API as well as native support for the Intel Pentium III processor family.

A mature and comprehensive set of system services in the Windows® operating system, DirectX unlocks the power of Windows-equipped multimedia PCs by providing software developers with transparent access to a wide range of peripherals, including graphics cards, audio adapters and input devices. DirectX was introduced in 1995 and is now a recognized standard for multimedia application development.

``With DirectX 6.1, we continue in our commitment to deliver industry-leading technologies to Windows-based application developers and end users,'' said Kevin Bachus, product manager of DirectX at Microsoft. ``The newest member of the DirectX family, DirectMusic, will radically change the way consumers and developers perceive music on the personal computer.''

Het ding kun je downen vanaf Mikroschoft's DirextX site.

FGNOnline heeft wat info over de Duke Nukem movie:

A few interesting details have surfaced regarding the progress of the Duke Nukem movie, scheduled to begin production in 6 months. Producer Lawrence Kasanoff, previously known for Mortal Kombat and T2, has said the script is being written at the moment and it's almost done. The movie will not be based upon a single Duke title. Instead, it will incorporate many Duke elements seen in all the games. Although Kasanoff was unable to speak about the film's plot, he did say: "It's a movie where a lot of the impetus happens because someone is messing around with Duke's strippers. That's what sets the whole movie in motion." he search however is still on to find the perfect Duke character. Thanks to Daily Movies.

Het is nogal wazig rond de release datum van de PIII, maar ik geloof dat Techweb een datum heeft die je aardig serieus kunt nemen: 26 februari, een datum die al vaker genoemd werd. Intel plakt er meteen een reclame campagne achter aan, om het prubliek ervan te overtuigen dat de PIII toch wat nieuws te bieden heeft (wat het dus afgezien van KNI/SIMD en een hogere kloksnelheid niet heeft). Hier wat info uit het Techweb artikel:

Intel will launch its Pentium III processor Feb. 26 and two days later open "the blue door" in its promotions for the new chip.

Gordon Casey, director of investor relations at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, said PCs based on the Pentium III will be available Feb. 26. The blue door, pictured on the company's website, is a "metaphor for the better Internet experience you'll get with the Pentium III," he said.

An Intel spokeswoman said the blue door, when opened Feb. 28, will be a place where people can view a buyer's guide for the Pentium III, as well as software optimized for the processor. Plans call for the site to have links to websites optimized for the new chip, she said. Intel will run ads with the blue door to promote the Pentium III.

Speaking Tuesday at the NationsBanc Montgomery Securities conference here in Phoenix, Casey said Intel aims to establish the Pentium III as the new PC industry standard. The improved 3-D graphics capabilities of the Pentium III will improve the Internet experience, he said. The chip will be introduced at clock speeds of 450 MHz and 500 MHz.

Het ziet er slecht uit voor Micro$oft. Vandaag werd ontdekt dat ze waarschijnlijk geknoeid hebben met de video die zou moeten bewijzen dat Explorer te scheiden is van het OS.

Het ging om beelden van de volgens Justitie succesvolle poging van Edward Felten van Princeton University om de browser en de besturing te scheiden. Microsoft wilde aantonen dat de beelden op sommige plaatsen vertraagd waren en dat daarnaast niet duidelijk te zien was dat sommige programma's niet goed meer werkten als gevolg van de handelingen van Felten. Microsoft trachtte aan te tonen dat Felten dus grote problemen had bij het scheiden van Windows 98 van Internet Explorer. Het viel advocaat David Boies echter op dat een titelbalk in de software plotsklaps veranderde midden in de film. Hij liet er de film voor stilzetten en vroeg om een verklaring, aldus The Wall Street Journal. Die kreeg hij van James Allchin, de Microsoft-chef die de afgelopen dagen werd verhoord. 'Ik ben er niet zeker van dat ze zoiets zouden doen', zei hij. Boies had zijn punt, en liet Microsoft in wanhoop achter, nadat hij had geconstateerd dat er tegen de eed was gehandeld.

Lees het volledige verhaal, of ga gelijk naar Wall Street Journal

Het is dus waar. Gisteren hadden we er ook al een posting over: Win9x is niet het laatste Mikroschoft OS met de zwaar verouderde Win9x kernel (die bovenop 16-bits DOS draait, ooit ontwikkeld voor 8-bits computers en, op zijn beurt weer gebaseerd op het CP/M OSje voor 4-bits systemen...). M$ zegt nooit de waarheid:

Microsoft will produce at least one more rev of Windows 9x before it finally converges its operating systems, it has emerged this week. This new plan flatly contradicts what the company has been saying for over a year - far from rolling its desktop products into one basic OS at Windows 2000 stage, Microsoft may now be on the point of abandoning its convergence strategy.

Microsoft has actually been talking about rolling it all into one product since the early stages of NT. For most of that time the company hasn't got any closer to a single core product that covers both business and consumer sectors, but more recently it has made it clear that it sees Windows 98 as being the last of the line. The next big product, Windows 2000 (aka NT 5.0) was intended to spearhead the push to move NT technology into the corporate market, supplanting 9x, and also to form the basis for a new consumer-oriented operating system.

But now it would appear that all of this has been at least postponed. Microsoft is planning a Windows 98 service pack for the middle of the year, and then after that a more substantial 9x update aimed at the consumer market. Considering the calendar and Microsoft's historical problems in getting new revs of its operating systems to market, Windows 99 isn't an option as a name, and it appears the company is currently referring to the product internally as Windows NT Consumer.

Zie dit artikel op The Register voor meer info.

Andy van BXBoards heeft wat info over de matige overklokbaarheid van de SL2WM C300A's (dat zijn de als retail verpakte OEM Celery's):

Many of you are still concerned about the SL2WM which is now sold retail boxed. I've been getting a lot of mail reporting that 450 with these chips is a bridge too far. A couple of vendors have also written in with some figures. My own Overclocking Survey results are showing around 60% success with the retail boxed SL2WM. These vendors report odds of around 75% of hitting that 450 sweet spot. I suspect the true figure tends to lie in between the two...

Hier zullen we er de komende tijd wel meer van mogen verwachten: weer een review van de BX6-II. Hier wat info over wat the Sanctum over de nieuwe wonderplank van Abit te zeggen heeft:

The crew down at Abit don’t ever seem to get any sleep. While firing the BX6 classic, Then the BH6, now the most likely final Slot1/440BX Board in the BX6-2 We can only Wonder what they have in store for Us next time around. The BX6-2 is close to Perfection, and while it might be to little to late it still contains many excellent Additions to Their Slot 1 Crew. We at TheSanctum give the BX6-2 a 90% score. Abit Ushered in swarms of Overclockers with Their BX Boards, and at the sametime made Many happy. This Board will most likely be hard to locate, and with the low success Rate of the first batches of Pentium III 500’s this might end the era. If You are in The market for Abit’s Slot 1 Boards, this one is a must have.

PC Sportsgames heeft in het kader van z'n Raceweek een interview met Dave Ross, supervising producer van Nascar Revolution. Hier een stukje copy/paste uit het inerview:

[PCSG] - NASCAR Revolution appears to be aimed at the gamer who just wants to get behind the wheel and drive.  However the EA SPORTS Web page calls the game a full simulation. How has the design team struck the balance between making the cars easier to drive for the novice racer, while maintaining a challenge for the more advanced racer?

Dave - NASCAR Revolution is a racing simulation. When you play the game you can select simulation physics for greater realism--or even tweak all the physics settings for your custom driving experience.  We want to make the game as easy to race as possible, but also provide the depth that hard core simulation fans demand.   We've been able to strike a balance by making the game easy to race right out of the box, but also provided the ability for a simulation fan to get in and tinker with the physics to make it deeper and even more realistic.  The more you change the settings, the tougher it is to drive and the more authentic it becomes.

3DConcepts heeft wat info over de Voodoo3. Er zitten ook wat foto's van het ding bij. Hier een stukje uit het artikel:

You may know, 3Dfx let a bit of new stuff out concerning their upcoming graphicschip Voodoo 3.  

There will be at least 3 Versions of the chip, Voodoo 3 2000, V3 3000 and V3 4000. V3 3000 and 2000 will be available in April 1999, possibly already in March while V3 2K will be targeted to OEMs. It may be possible that the launch of the chips will be at Cebit '99 (germany), one of the largest computer shows on the world. 

Voodoo 3 4000 will arrive later, perhabs June. 3Dfx says that it will be the same as Voodoo 3 3000, but offering (and not requiring!) AGP4X w/o AGP-Texturing, which will be available about at the same time as Intels Camino (440JX) Chipset. We're not sure which of the chips (or if any) will support 32 MB RAM. 3Dfx mentioned earlier that this will need an aditional redesign of the chip, so it is possible that only V3 4K is going to support that amount of RAM. V3 is going to support digital flatpanels, but you have to buy a special version of V3 which uses an additional little LCDfx-Chip. Ordinary V3 boards do not come with LCD support.

3DRacing heeft een geupdate NFS3 track editor op de site geduwt. Hier de bijbehorende info:

Denis Auroux has updated his track editor to v0.03. The track editor is not the full version. It's a preview version. Here is the info:

Added since Version 0.02 :

- Track file format specifications (see help file).

- Delete command for polygons.

- Duplicate command for polygons (multi-resolution) (see the FAQ in help file about adding new road sections).

- Support of road lane polygon textures.

- Polygon virtual road flags dialog box : allows control of object and wall collisions (see the FAQ in help file for more details).

- Merge tool in Point mode.

- Split tool in Point mode.

- Completed help file.

Er is een nieuwe versie gereleased van FastCard, een handig overklok proggie. Hier de toevoegingen in v1.0.4:

Banshee overclocking (Not tested since I don't have a Banshee but it should work)

TNT OpenGL texture quality setting now works

Desktop resolution and colour depth changing

Code optimisations

Brian Hook (ventje van id Software) heeft in z'n .plan geupdate met wat info over de nieuwe SIMD (KNI) instructies van de PIII en de toepassing ervan in Quake3 Arena:

We would like to have 3DNow! and KNI (or whatever it's called these days) support out of the box, and I believe that we are intending to support these SIMD instruction sets, however we simply can't GUARANTEE it at this point. A patch will definitely be released if necessary with the requisite support, however.

However, for you 3DNow! users -- Quake3 runs just fine on a 3DNow! box such as the AMD K6-2!!! It runs slower than a comparable Intel, but faster than a comparable Cyrix. But it is by no means unplayable.

Floating point really comes into play in two key areas: OpenGL driver throughput and client/server game code. Right now, BY FAR, the OpenGL driver is consuming the most time, sometimes up to 75% of the overall execution of the program. This means that whatever SIMD optimizations we do pursue will not have NEAR the impact of SIMD optimizations within the OpenGL driver.

Your time is better served lobbying your video card driver manufacturers for 3DNow and KNI support. This will net, by far, the most gains in overall performance for the majority of users with PIII and K6 systems.

K7 should run great out of the box, with or without 3DNow! support

Asus heeft nieuwe drivers gereleased voor z'n V3400TNT kaartje. Hier de info:

ASUS released new BETA drivers for the ASUS AGP-V3400 TNT. These v2.0

drivers have the name DETONATOR and are based on the new NVIDIA

reference drivers v1.07a (1007)!

IŽve made some 3DMARK99 runs. Check it out on my page:

http://www.rivastation.com/index_e.htm

The driver can be found on the ASUS ftp-server shortly. in the meantime

you can download the 1MB sized driver from RIVA Station (Got OK by ASUS)

De beta drivers van Asus zijn gebaseerd op de nieuwe reference drivers van nVidia. Zoals je een paar week geleden ook al hebt kunnen lezen zullen die drivers voor een zware performance boost gaan zorgen. Rivastation heeft een tabel met benchmarks van de oude en de beta drivers, de nieuwe drivers zijn vet veel sneller (voor een simpele driver update))!

Anand heeft een review gepost van de BM6, Abit's nieuwe socket370 plank. Hier een stukkie:

The BM6 would have little to offer over the competition if it weren't for a few more modifications to SoftMenu II, ABIT's sole reason for existence right now in the overclocking market. The BM6's SoftMenu II brings a few new settings, such as the inclusion of the new higher frequency FSB settings (138MHz, 143MHz, 148MHz, 153MHz) as well as "in-between" settings such as the 110MHz and 120MHz options for those users that just can't seem to hit 112MHz or 124MHz with their systems. The board also supports the 1/4 PCI clock divider with all > 100MHz FSB settings to keep the PCI frequency as close to the specified 33MHz setting as possible, for those with extremely tolerant PCI peripherals.

Nintendo wil een rechtszaak aanspannen tegen de makers van de UltraHLE N64 emulator. Probleempje (voor Nintendo) is dat de makers anoniem zijn en dat ze geen geld gevraagd hebben voor de emulator. Dat is lastig sue-en .

Hier wat info uit een Techweb artikel:

wo programmers sparked an avalanche of responses last week when they released software on the Web that lets people play Nintendo64 games on their PCs.

The overwhelming response forced the two -- who use the names Reality Man and Epsilon -- to pull the software after only a few hours, but not fast enough to prevent potential legal action from Nintendo.

The software -- called Ultra High Level Emulator, or UltraHLE -- simulates the same video and audio experience for PC users playing the game as for those using Nintendo64 hardware. Although UltraHLE was only available online for a short time, it was downloaded hundreds of times and several mirror sites were set up.

UltraHLE wasn't the first Nintendo64 emulator, but the consensus in the emulator community is that it is the best so far.

According to ManBeast, the pseudonym of the main site editor of Emulators Unlimited, the website where UltraHLE first went up, it's so good that it may have forever changed Nintendo's method of dealing with the emulator community.

"They have been very active in the past year or so in shutting down illegal ROM distribution sites," ManBeast said in an e-mail interview. "But have not gone after any emulator author or site distributing emulators themselves."

The Interactive Digital Software Association, which represents companies such as Sony and Nintendo, has already shut down a number of sites distributing ROMs, demo versions of popular games that can be played on PCs, rather than the original game consoles.

Reality Man and Epsilon were caught off guard by the response to UltraHLE and are laying low for the time being, ManBeast said. They have issued a statement saying they did not intend the program to be a tool for piracy.

This explanation has not satisfied Nintendo. The company is looking into filing a lawsuit, said Nintendo spokeswoman Beth Llewelyn.

"Emulators such as this are illegal," Llewelyn said. "They obviously had to circumvent our security chip. It promotes continued piracy."

Onze vriend Tom heeft het weer voor elkaar gekregen om een Monday Blurb in elkaar te duwen. Weliswaar komt het ding halverwege woensdag, maar dat zijn we van 'm gewend.

Onze vriend Tom heeft het weer voor elkaar gekregen om een Monday Blurb in elkaar te duwen. Weliswaar komt het ding halverwege woensdag, maar dat zijn we van 'm gewend. Altijd leuk om te zien welk excuus hem deze keer weerhield op tijd z'n stuff af te krijgen (op't strand liggen met Kate, ziek, autocrash....):

Yes, I know that I am late, but my last two days were filled with meetings and lots of other things, so that I was unable to finish my Monday Blurb on time this week. I hope that this will never happen again.

Ok Tom, daar valt begrip voor op te brengen. Verder met de inhoud. Deze week wat info over de nieuwe mobile PII:

The next thing was Intel's argumentation against my article about their new mobile Pentium II CPUs. I said in this article that Intel is keeping the latest technology of 256 kB on-die L2-cache deliberately from the desktop market, because they can make enough money with the older technology using external L2-cache. Intel told me that after all the die of the new mobile Pentium II processor (code name 'Dixon') represents 19 million transistors, which makes it much more expensive to produce than a normal Pentium II core (7.5 million transistors) plus the external (and pretty cheap) L2-cache modules supplied from RAM makers. Intel claims that Dixon for the desktop would be much too expensive. What they forgot however is that Celeron with its die hosting around 14 million transistors ,due to its 128 kB on-die L2-cache, is for some strange reason selling at half the price of a Pentium II. I would be seriously surprised if a Celeron wasn't at least as expensive to produce as a complete Pentium II, the Pentium II might even be cheaper.

Verder nog wat spul over flat panels. Wil je 't allemaal zien, ga dan ff hier kijken.