“Windows 7″ to appear May 27

** from http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080524/windows-7-appearance-d6-conference/ **

Rumor says that Windows 7 will be publicly disclosed for the first time at the D6: All Things Digital Conference hosted by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher next week on May 27. Last year at the D6: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made a historical appearance together on-stage interviewed by Walt and Kara.

The D6 Conference has been used in the past for Microsoft to make rather grand announcements such as the introduction of the Surface computer. This time round, both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer will appear together at the keynote so it’s a perfect opportunity to talk about the future of the company. In addition to just discussing their ideas and vision, it’s rumored the event will actually involve a demonstration of Windows 7 in some fashion. Whether or not we’ll actually see a live build of Windows 7 or purely a technology demo of a specific feature remains a mystery.

Tech and Gaming Headlines

The Guinness World Records committee has announced that GTA IV has set new records for Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours and the Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours.

Dell Inc. will begin phasing out its line of XPS desktop game machines. This comes after Dell had bought out Alienware Computers in March of 2006. Alienware is the leading provider of high-end gaming systems usually ranging from $2000 to $5000. The future brings Alienware to bring out redesigned systems based on new materials that go beyond the brand’s long-standing design. Alienware’s future powerhouse with a budget: $1,699 will come with 4GB (DDR2 800MHz) memory, a quad-core 9550 (2.2GHz) Phenom X4 processor, and a 3870 X2 board with two ATI HD 3870 graphics chips.

There are some driver and software updates released in to the wild. Update your drivers or software for greater performance:

• Nvidia has released the Official Forceware 175.16 drivers for Windows XP and Vista
• Ubisoft has released the 1.02 Patch for Assassin’s Creed aiding DirectX v10.1 and x64 support
• Realtek has released Version 1.92 of its HD Audio drivers
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock  1.3 Patch
• Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 – 1.02 patch
• World of Warcraft – 2.4.2 Patch
• Nvidia has released a new Version 8.04.25 driver for the Ageia PhysX
• the Battlefield 2142 v1.50 Beta Patch adds 2 new community made maps
• Intel has released Version 15.9 of the Graphics Media Accelerator driver
• the IE7pro Team releases IE7pro 2.3 RC1 as freeware here

Stride Gum Has Gamers Back!

Now this is news of the bizarre…. the unimaginable…. the unthinkable. From 1up.   Stride North American marketing director Gary Osifchin explains: “Since gamers are one of our most supportive groups, we’ve been looking for ways to return the favor. And what better way is there to get gamers’ backs than by helping them rescue their cherished videogames from the clutches of Uwe Boll?”   Yes, you read correctly: the marketing director for Stride Gum are joining gamer opposition to destroy German film director Uwe Boll once and for all. And how do they plan on aiding this cause?

  Anybody who signs up to oppose the director at StopUweBoll.org will receive a free pack of the “ridiculously long lasting” gum!

  This all comes as a response to when Boll famously announced a few weeks ago that he would agree to stop making crappy movies based on game licenses if at least 1 million people could be persuaded to sign a petition against him. Whether this started as a joke or not, lots of people have signed up in the ensuing weeks, putting the petition’s total signatures currently at around 250,000.

  Ofcourse, reguardless of wether you want a free pack of Stride Gum I suggest you help protest against Uwe Boll ever making another game based film by signing the petition @ StopUweBoll.org

Spoiler: Iron Man’s Future

Most avid comic book fans are probally already aware of the following revelation, but here is for those that are not aware. ++ SPOILER ALERT ++ Those fighting their way out of the theater but were forced to still be in the cinema room at the end of the credits received a great addition to an already remarkable film: the appearance of Samuel Jackson as “the Fury Nick Shield” discussing the Avenger Initiative! Marvel Studios announced Monday it will release “Iron Man 2” on April 30, 2010, following the success of the first in the comic-book franchise, which pulled in $104.2 million domestically since opening last Thursday and $201 million worldwide. Robert Downey Jr. also reprises his role as Tony Starks (aka Iron Man) June 13 in the Incredible Hulk.

Hackers, Slackers, and Techies

Upon taking your computer to the local computer shop to receive it’s much needed tune up or disaster solution, you may be curious as to who exactly is going to provide your system the tender, loving, care that it deserves. Most scary is being curious as to wether your computer will receive any tender, loving care before you return for the pick up and payment process.

Could it be the young geek boy that appears as if he could only provide this following tutorials in his latest newsstand copy of PC World? Could it be the older man that looks as if he might have known more about computers 30 years ago, because he seems as if he could have helped developed yesterday’s modern technology? Or could it maybe be the middle aged young man nicely groomed and tailored with a good sense of personality and people skills?

Unfortunately, there is no way possible to sum up the technical ability of your local repair man by appearance.

Throughout my years of specializing in technological services, I have worked with many individuals with various personality types and I have concluded that I can boil down their technical abilities into one of three categories: Hacker, Slacker, or Techie.

The Hacker type seems to be the most common. The hacker type knows a little about many subjects, mostly knowing where to get tools, utilities, and scripts to aid him in computer repair. The hacker type solely relies on pre-made resources, as he does posses the ability to research, but unfortunately he does not posses the ability to think on his own terms to aid him in scenarios.

The Slacker type is also a not so rare personality. The slacker is usually burnt out and tired of performing his duties and most likely does not enjoy his profession as he did years before. The slacker may install Windows, but choose not to take the time to update Windows. The slacker keeps his repair methods simple and quick as possible. This is the most careless of the three personalities.

The Techie is the most resourceful agent that a local shop could employ. The techie is the one of the three that will take more time to complete any task, ensuring that it is done correctly and with the upmost motivation the first time. The techie will update your Windows installation. The techie will offer you an anti-virus and firewall solution. The techie will ask you questions about what exactly you desire, as oppose to the hacker or slacker types.

Keep this in mind next time your computer deserves some tender, loving care at your local computer shop: If your represenative does not ask you questions about what you desire and protection methods, go elsewhere to another shop that will.

Gamers Make Better IT Pros

Here is an article I wrote for a Half-Life 2 mod database in 2005… Funny how differences in time do not matter nor wash away on the internet. I wrote this after debating over a “Video Game Violence” conversation.

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In today’s world, information technology is at the cutting edge leading us into the future. Most of these leaders are young individuals, possessing greater motivation and potential than the ones before them.

It would not be an underestimate to suppose that half of the IT positions are possibly filled by gamers, or that most IT professionals could admit that multimedia activity spawned their interests in computer technology.

The same element that causes some individuals to revert to real world violence seems to spawn intelligence upon others.

How could I come up with such a theory? Simple…. Gamers have a tendency to learn all they can about hardware and software optimization so that they can achieve the most effective performance possible. This makes them highly fluent to repairs and upgrades as well, due to the fact that the hard core gamer seemingly always needs the newest cutting edge hardware components.

So how do these skills affect these “gaming gurus” in the real world? As an up most achievement. The gaming guru usually has no problem being recruited to IT positions as they easily surpass the position requirements on a daily basis.

Many IT positions in the job market have gone as far as requiring applicants to require experience in place of education. This is mainly due to the individual’s technique of self-teaching. Self-teaching shows that the individual posses motivation toward learning. This also demonstrates that an individual is more acceptable to finding their way out of a situation by means of self-research. This may also be due to the fact that there are many tech schools that offer the A+ course without the students ever opening a computer at all.

Gaming also spawns interests in other categories. There have been aspiring young gamers that started as modders for games and found interests in real world programming by doing so. There have also been young gamers to learn game mapping that have found direction to CAD based careers.

What is so bad about that? Nothing at all. However, at the same time, there are many gamers that choose to utilize video game violence in a real world strategy. These individuals are weak minded individuals. As with any prescription medication, some have positive effects while others have the reverse. Video games are no different.