Ever wondered where you old mobile phones end up? Check this out ... millions upon millions of old mobile phones end up in Dexter, MI (US).

Technology Review

"More than half a billion cell phones were swapped for newer models in 2007, according to a study by the research firm Gartner. In the past, these phones might have been tossed in the garbage or just stashed in a drawer, but an increasing number of cell-phone vendors are promoting take-back programs, which make recycling an easier option for consumers. "

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BBC

"A computer virus is alive and well on the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a virus known as Gammima.AG. The worm was first detected on earth in August 2007 and lurks on infected machines waiting to steal login names for popular online games.

Nasa said it was not the first time computer viruses had travelled into space and it was investigating how the machines were infected. Space news website SpaceRef broke the story about the virus on the laptops that astronauts took to the ISS.

Nasa told SpaceRef that no command or control systems of the ISS were at risk from the malicious program. The laptops infected with the virus were used to run nutritional programs and let the astronauts periodically send e-mail back to Earth.

The laptops carried by astronauts reportedly do not have any anti-virus software on them to prevent infection. "

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Dailytech

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Techreport

"Asus created a new category of portable computers last year when it unveiled the Eee PC—the first of the much ballyhooed netbooks. What started as a bit of a cash-in on the hype surrounding the altruistic OLPC project has grown into a pretty attractive little business. Asus has since filled this category to the brim with a variety of Eee models designed to appeal to an ever-wider audience. As Asus seeks to consolidate its position as the netbook market leader, its rivals are crashing the party hoping to get a slice of the pie before Asus hoards it all.

Chief among those rivals is Acer, whose new value-priced Aspire One netbook is springing up at almost every retailer that has an interest in computers. At this rate you'll probably be able to buy one at your local gas station before long, and it might even be cheaper than a full tank of gas by then. Retailers like a product with buzz, and here the One has the successful Eee PC's coat tails to ride in on. Unlike some of the more recent entries in the netbook market, the One is quite affordable, allowing retailers to lure in shoppers during the busy back-to-school season.

Acer recently cut its netbook prices, and the One is now turning up at a lot of resellers for as little as $329. To the untrained eye that looks like a heck of a bargain for a system with an Atom processor, a 1024x600 display, and solid-state storage. Read on to find out if it is."

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CPU3D Exclusive: Special RAZER Prize Draw August 2008 sponsored by Specialtech

REMINDER: Specialtech are giving all our CPU3D members a chance to win 3 fantastic prizes from RAZER. All we ask of you is to register to our forums HERE. Registration is completely FREE. Here are the rules.

- Read the official blurb below about RAZER and Specialtech.
- There will be 3 simple questions which we will ask.
- Post your answers via PM to Nucleus AND Ayd
- Closing date will be on the 30th August 2008
- Winners wil be announced on the 31st August 2008
- Entrants must correctly answer all 3 questions to qualify
- Winners will be randomly drawn
- One prize per winner from the list below
- Prizes are not exchangeable/redeemable
- Prizes subject to availability and subject to change without notice

Here are the PRIZES ... in no particular order.

Prize 1: Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard UK VERSION
Prize 2: Razer Lachesis 4000dpi Gaming Mouse - Banshee Blue
Prize 3: Razer Goliathus Alpha Mouse Pad - Speed

For further details of how to enter ... please visit our FORUMS.

Adata announces DDR3-1333+ 2GB/4GB Dual Channel Kits for Consumers 

DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the global leader in memory products, has again released new DDR3 Vitesta Plus series which supports new-generation DDR3 platforms such as Intel P35,X38, and X48 Chipset. The Intel P35 platform brought FSB (Front Side Bus) chips into the 1333 MHz era with Intel 1333 MHz CPU (E6x50). A-DATA’s DDR3 1333+ will be your best buy for entry power users in both performance and price.

DDR3 memory module consumes 30% less power than DDR2. The main benefit of DDR3 comes from the higher bandwidth made possible by DDR3's 8 bit deep prefetch buffer, whereas DDR2's is 4 bits, and DDR's is 2 bits deep.

Over the years, A-DATA has built a reputation for consistently high quality. To ensure stable operation over extended periods of usage, the DDR3-1333+ uses only original DDR3 chips; burn-in testing and rigorous dual-channel capability testing. The highest quality standards are maintained at every stage in the production process, to create a first-class memory product that combines high stability with high performance. Using a 128m X8 pin layout, the DDR3-1333+ is available in 2GB Kit (1GB X2) and 4GB (2G x2) Dual channel kit version. Timing recommendations for overclocking are provided, making it easy for even beginners to implement overclocking.

CNet

"In his inaugural keynote--this is first Nvision conference--Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang reminded the audience that the graphics processing unit (GPU) has come a long way. In short, the GPU has evolved from the simple fixed-function graphics accelerator (e.g., the IBM 8514 that debuted in 1987) to the modern graphics chip, a computing engine capable of almost one teraflop of processing power. (A teraflop is equal to one trillion floating point operations per second.)

Huang, responding to an email query, made it clear that the GPU is complementary to the CPU, or Central Processing Unit. "It is not about replacing the CPU at all," he said. "We don't believe that replacing the CPU is a good strategy. Supplementing the CPU is far better." Intel is the world's largest supplier of CPUs.

In the keynote, Huang cited Stanford University's Folding@home program, a distributed computing project that uses about 2.6 million PCs--for a total of 288 teraflops of computing power--to study protein folding and misfolding. This is expected to deepen researchers' understanding of diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer.

Nvidia has released a version of the Folding@home program based on its CUDA development environment using more than 24,000 GPUs. Though this number represents less than 1 percent of the total processors in the Folding@home project, it provides 1.4 petaflops of performance, or nearly five times the processing power of all the CPUs in use by Folding@home. The researchers at Stanford hope that GPUs will significantly accelerate the time to discovery for the cures for many diseases. "

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MSI Announces X58 Motherboard For Core i7 (Nehalem) Processors

Taipei, Taiwan – MSI, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, announces its latest high-end motherboard "Eclipse" which is based on Intel® X58 Express chipsets. MSI has developed the motherboard with "DrMOS" which delivers the highest efficiency, zero noise, less heat and the best performance from the P45 series; now on new "Eclipse" X58 motherboards. MSI expanded the usage of DrMOS to bring a much more power efficient platform to the desktop motherboard.

The Coming New Desktop Era for Enthusiasts
MSI's X58 Eclipse is equipped with the Socket B (LGA1366) to support the next generation Intel Core i7 processors (codename: Nehalem), also it will replace the current FSB and adopt the QPI (QuickPath interconnect) structure to enhance the bandwidth up to 25.6GB/s (twice that of the FSB1600 standard). Eclipse will be the first 3-channel memory structure ready motherboard to support 6 DIMM DDR3-1333+ up to 24GB capacity, it also provides enhanced bandwidth up to 32GB/s (higher than DDR3-1600 standard).

DrMOS– The Most Power-Efficient Parts for Power-Saving and Performance
MSI developed its existing P45 award-winning motherboards with Gen.2 "DrMOS", and now MSI has expanded the DrMOS usage to cover the QPI and Northbridge power supply, to provide superior power-saving, ultimate low temperature operation, and extreme performance gain. The Eclipse will be equipped with up to 10 DrMOS with APS (Active Phase Switching) technology to build up the most solid power design ever.

BBC

"A computer containing a million bank customers' personal data has reportedly been sold on an internet auction site. The Daily Mail says an ex-worker for archiving firm Graphic Data sold it for £35 on eBay without removing sensitive information from the hard drive.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its subsidiary, Natwest, have confirmed their customers' details were involved. RBS said Graphic Data had told it the PC had apparently been "inappropriately sold on via a third party".

It said historical information relating to credit card applications for their bank and others had been on the machine. The information is said to include account details and in some cases customers' signatures, mobile phone numbers and mothers' maiden names.

It is thought the problem came to light when Andrew Chapman, an IT manager from Oxford, bought the computer, noticed and raised the alarm. "

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Digitimes

"Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) Mini-Note PC is seeing strong global monthly shipment growth, while sales in Asia including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore markets are seeing the best sales, according a Chinese language Apply Daily report citing sources at HP Taiwan.

The product was release in April of this year and its monthly sales have been growing at a 50% rate, the report noted

However, the markets with consumers still focusing on buying their first PC, such as China, were not showing great acceptance for the Mini-Note PC, added the paper."

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OCZ Technology Unveils the Ultra-Comfortable and Customizable Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse

Delft, Netherlands—August 25, 2008—OCZ Technology Group (LSE: OCZ), a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra high performance and high reliability memory and components, today unveiled the latest addition to its peripherals with the Dominatrix, a top-of-the-line laser mouse for PC gamers.  The OCZ Dominatrix mouse is built with the hardcore player in mind with a solid design, maximum functionality, and programmable customization unique to each user. The Dominatrix offers a competitive edge with quality ergonomics and advanced features to excel even when immersed in the most challenging gaming environments. 

'“We continue to rapidly diversify our product range at OCZ in order to offer an end-to-end line of high performance gaming solutions to our customers,” said Ryan Edwards, Director of Product Management. “The new Dominatrix mouse is no exception, offering world-class performance and specifications guaranteed to provide the discerning gamer and enthusiast with an unparalleled tactile control experience.”