For those unfamiliar HumbleBundle.com periodically offers a collection of games at a price you can choose yourself. You have the option of how much of the money you pay goes towards the game developers, charities, the website, etc. Their most recent deal includes support for the Android platform meaning any of the games you purchase through this humble bundle are playable on Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Android.

At the time of this posting for around $6 you get 4 cross-platform games but for $60 worth of games I would encourage all to give what they can. [HumbleBundle]

Thermal grease,  thermal gel,  thermal compound,  thermal paste,  heat paste,  heat sink paste, heat transfer compound or heat sink compound. These are all names used to describe the fluid substance used to increase thermal conductivity between two components.  Often used in electronics to improve thermal dissipation by compensating  for the irregular surfaces of two components(such as a processor and a heat sink).

Despite how flat the top of a processor or base of a heat sink look there are sure to be imperfections that will prevent the two surfaces from fully sitting against each other. The thermal compound acts as a filler to ensure that 100% of the CPU will be touching the heat sink.

Another purpose of the compound is to fill in all the tiny crevices on the heat sink and metal plate that covers the CPU. To improve conductivity some extreme overclockers will sand down–also called lapping–the metal plate that covers their CPU as well as the heat sink in order to create two completely flat surfaces. This will allow you to use less thermal compound and the less thermal compound you are able to use the better the heat transfer from your processor to your heat sink. There are plenty of guides on how to do this–Google is your friend. If you have done it correctly you should have a shiny bronze surface on your processor that you can use as a mirror. From my experience I have only noticed a 2-4c degree improvement in temps on CPUs I have lapped which in my opinion doesn’t make the hours of time spent worth it. Not to mention you will void your warranty if you do this.

There are many different kinds of thermal compound ranging from silicon based to metal based. For the most part, metal based compounds have much better conductivity.

Is it worth it to remove my heat sink, remove the silicon compound and apply artic silver 5–or some other type of metal based compound–in its place? My answer–it depends on the individual. I have noticed a significant improvement moving from silicon paste to artic silver 5 with multiple processors. Currently I am using a Phenom II X4 Quad-Core clocked at the stock operating speed–3.0Ghz. With the stock silicon compound my idle temps were hovering around 42c which I felt was a bit high considering my ambient room temperature was 21c. I removed the heat sink, cleaned it and the CPU plate with alcohol and a cotton swab and applied a small dot of Artic Silver 5 to the center of the CPU plate–for instructions on your specific CPU view a complete list of guides here.

After going through about 5 heat cycles–allowing your CPU to reach max operating temps then completely cool helps the compound to settle–I was pleased to find that my idle temps had dropped a full 10c. This was a much better result than I was expecting. Usually I see a 4c-6c improvement but in this case I am assuming that the factory just did a poor job of applying the silicon compound.

So is it worth it? Ultimately it is up to you however in my opinion the 10-20 minutes you spend reapplying thermal compound is worth it. Especially in this case where for $5 and 10 minutes I gained a 10c degree temperature drop which allows for longer processor life or greater overclocking ability.  With the silicon compound that came on my processor I was only able to overclock from 3.0Ghz to 3.6Ghz. With the artic silver 5 I was able to stably reach 3.9Ghz and had no issues after running stability tests for 10 hours.

So once again reapplying new compound is worth it in my eyes but that doesn’t mean I am encouraging you to do it! If you don’t know what you are doing you could really mess something up and I am not going to be responsible when you do. If you do decide to reapply compound go find a good guide on the internet since I have barely touched on what needs to happen to successfully reapply compound.

Today is the day. Windows 7 has been officially released. Did you go out and pick up a computer sporting the new operating system?

It was also a big day for Microsoft in AZ. The first retail Microsoft store was opened in Scottsdale today. As you can see from the photos the store looks pretty impressive and very futuristic but vaguely familiar at the same time. [gizmodo]

I have posted random grumblings and praise of Windows 7 over the past few months as I have used one of the release candidates but Gizmodo has compiled an impressive list of 27 different reviews. For all you could ever want to know about Windows 7:

CNET
“Windows 7 presents a stable platform that can compete comfortably with OS X, while reassuring the world that Microsoft can still turn out a strong, useful operating system.”

PCWorld
“…the final shipping version I test-drove appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.”

NYTimes
“[Microsoft's] three-year Windows Vista nightmare is over.”

IT Pro
“Windows 7…is competent and functional due to internal improvements and the user interface is attractive and good for productivity.”

bit-tech
“For want of a better way of describing it, Microsoft has essentially fixed Vista and the result is arguably Microsoft’s best operating system to date.”

Guardian
“Windows 7 is simply the best version of Windows you can get.”

Slate
“Indeed, the new Windows is not only the best operating system that Microsoft has ever produced. It is arguably the fastest, most intuitive, and most useful consumer desktop OS on the market today.”

Maximum PC
“…Windows 7 is unquestionably the best version of Windows that Microsoft has ever released, and is the true successor to Windows XP.”

Tech Radar
“No version of Windows is ever perfect, but Windows 7 really is the best release of Windows yet.”

PC Mag
“It’s far and away the best OS we’ve ever seen from Microsoft.”

Wall Street Journal
“I believe it is the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced.”

ElectricPig
“With Windows 7, Microsoft wants us to believe that it’s got its OS back on track and for the most part we feel they have.”

Engadget
“Where Vista felt like a sprawling mess, Windows 7 has patched up the holes and feels like a tight, unified mechanism.”

Telegraph
“Windows 7 is the operating system Vista should have been…”

Hexus
“This is the operating system that Windows Vista should have been.”

Digital Trends
“…Microsoft has returned for redemption with Windows 7, otherwise known as “what Vista should have been.”

AP
“Windows 7 [is] a slick, much improved operating system that should go a long way toward erasing the bad impression left by its previous effort, Vista.”

V3
“…Windows 7 is a worthy successor to Windows XP…”

Federal Computer Week
“There is nothing wrong with Windows 7 – and we’ve always thought Vista was a better operating system than its reputation suggested – so if a new system happens to come with it, then you’ll get a fine operating system.”

PC Pro UK
“We like Windows 7 a lot – so much so, that the disappointment that was Windows Vista has already become a distant memory…”

Technodorm
“If you have the money to spend, there is no reason why you shouldn’t upgrade.”

Laptop Mag
“If Vista left you somewhat disillusioned with Windows, we suggest you upgrade to Windows 7.”

Cult of Mac
“I need to go wash my eyes out with bleach.”

The Inquirer
“Windows 7 is as pretty as Apple stuff, just as easy to use, and does not treat you like a moron.”

Computer World
“…it’s finally time to upgrade.”

TechWorld
“Windows 7 feels like an anti-Vista…”

Gizmodo
“…if you’re coming from Windows XP, Windows 7 will totally feel like a revelation from the glossy future. If you’re coming from Vista, you’ll definitely go “Hey, this is much better!” the first time you touch Aero Peek. If you’re coming from a Mac, you’ll—hahahahaha. But seriously, even the Mactards will have to tone down their nasal David Spadian snide, at least a little bit.” [gizmodo]

I will say this; No operating system is going to be as minimalistic as Windows XP however hardware is constantly improving and there aren’t many computers out now that can run Vista or Windows 7. One of the big problems with Vista in my opinion was at that it was so resource intensive that the majority of hardware out at the time struggled to run it. That being said, even on my workstation computer that has no issues running Vista or Windows 7–and maxes out the in OS performance ratings that are useless for the most part–Vista is much more clunky than Windows 7.

It doesn’t end there. Windows 7 is much more user friendly and intuitive and the new taskbar is great once you get used to it.

Tired of that lousy Quad-Core PC with 8GB of RAM? You are in luck my friend. SGI now has a personal option for those of you in need of a super computer. As their tag line says they are “making supercomputing personal”.

The Octane 3 is now available starting at the low low price of $7999 (USD). If that isn’t enough machine for you the Octane III can handle up to 80 CPU Cores–EIGHTY!–1TB of RAM! and enough room for ten 2.5″ SATA 2 hard drives.

Multiple monitor workstations is nothing new but this technology actually simulates one large monitor across the displays. The above is an example of six 30″ dell monitors pieced together as one to play a video game. In the past you could have these 6 monitors hooked up to your computer with a few graphics cards but you would only be able to play your game on one of them.

AMD says that they are working with manufactures to create monitors that have very thin bezels(borders) so that there is not as big of a gap between displays. Unfortunately, we do not have an ETA for these in sight.

After 7 years of drafts and buggy hardware the IEEE alliance has finally settled on a standard. They hope to begin pushing out hardware with the official Wireless N logo on it in the second half of October. The previous standard was Wireless G rated at 54Mbps while the new Wireless N standard is rated at 300Mbps.

While very unlikely Microsoft is admitting that upgrading to Windows 7 could potentially take you 21 hours depending on various different factors including your computers hardware, how much data you have on your hard drive and how many programs you have installed.

The chart above is from the blog of Chris Hernandez–a Microsoft Software Engineer. He did a number of install tests on 3 different hardware builds.

A truly nice feature of Windows 7 is the ability to upgrade from your existing operating system without losing your data and installed programs.

From my experience this chart is a little conservative. I fell into a the Super User group with High End hardware. I had around 450Gb of data and over 50 programs installed (including CS4 Web Premium, games like Crysis/Call of Duty 4, VPN software, etc). Hardware included 4GB of DDR2-1066 RAM, high end AMD dual-core clocked at 3.6GHz and a GTX 280 gpu with 128MB 1GB of RAM.

I was coming from Vista Ultimate 64-bit going to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit as well. From start to finish it took me just under 2 1/2  hours. After  a few weeks of testing I was surprised that 100% of my programs worked after the upgrade including all of my games, VPN software such as Hamachi and CS4.

While 2 1/2 hours is alot of time it is nice to not have to reinstall everything and lose all of your saved data. If you are one of those people who like to reinstall Windows every so often–like me–then it will take less than an hour to install Windows 7 and probably less than another hour to get all of your programs re-installed like they were before.

These screenshots are a little more than terrifying. Thanks to a Best Buy employee we all get to see the propaganda being shoved down their throats by the technology giant.

The screenshot above lightly scratches the surface of the garbage. For anyone who has never used Linux before, you are being taught that: your Ipod ,MP3, or digital camera most likely will not work with Linux; printers, and scanners do not work, your software will not work either; IM, Email, and photo viewing are not supported, nor are video games, tech support, and video chat. It is blatantly false.

What I found funny about the above image was the “Free Downloads” section talking about how you can get free software with Windows… Hmm, is Windows free to download? No! Is Linux free to download? Yes, almost every distro! Is Microsoft Office free to download? Is OpenOffice free to download? I think you know the answer.

All of the previous screens have been quazi-understandable. Yes, most standard home users will have a harder time using cameras, iPods, MP3 players, printers, scanners, games, etc with some distributions of Linux(while many of these are changing rapidly). But this is the beginning of the ridiculous Fact/Myth trash that Microsoft is pulling. Linux updates and upgrades are easy? Myth? Absolutely not! Anyone who has ever used a distro of Linux that is aimed at the home user–such as any of the Ubuntu flavors–knows just how easy updates are. It is virtually the exact same process as updating Windows. You receive a notification that updates are ready and then just click that you want to download/install them. Piece of cake.

While it is true that you are not completely safe with Linux I can honestly say that of all of the virus issues I have had, 100% of them have been while using Windows, with and without virus protection.

While we are writing propaganda to push our new product lets put together another fact/myth scenario:

Is Windows is the most cost effective solution when you need to set up 300 workstations that only need access to a web browser?

Fact or myth? I’m not even going to help you out on this one. If you are stuck, leave now. Don’t come back.

On the bright side, anyone who is familiar with Linux probably hopefully won’t be turned astray. On the downside, just because you work at Best Buy does not mean you are tech savvy, these are the people who help those who walk in and are still debating if they really need to upgrade their old Windows 98 machine.

“It’s the future of gaming.” –  or at least that is what OnLive is hoping for. After seven years in “stealth development” they have now announced their new product. OnLive hopes to bring a new world of  streaming video games to TVs, entry level PCs, and MACs, through the internet.

Interested? OnLive is currently looking for beta testers to stay at home wearing the same raunchy clothes for days without sleeping give their streaming game service a try, and provide them with feedback about the experience. To be apply as a beta tester visit the OnLive site and fill out the form. If you are lucky and are chosen to sit at home and play OnLive while gorging on microwaveable meals and delivery pizza as a beta tester you will get to use their service for free, in exchange for your feedback.

The standard that we have been hearing about for the last 2 years may actually be on its way to the market later this year.

As of yesterday manufacturers can have their products tested and if they receive SuperSpeed USB certification from the USB Implementers Forum they will get the new logo slapped on.

I previously talked about USB 3.0 when I got word of the new Asus P6X58 motherboard that was utilizing USB 3.0 ports. In case you are totally clueless the current standard is USB 2.0 which is rated at 480Mbps while USB 3.0 is rated at 4.8Gbps.