GE FORCE 9800GX2 ZOTAC

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Introduction It feels weird to have done four articles on the 9800 GX2 without having actually had a look at a single retail card yet. The first retail card to come out of the gates comes in the form of a ZOTAC offering. The respective SLI setups were tested with the same benchmarks that we have used so far so as to give us a fair indication of how much the cards scale and also how they fair as compared to the 9800GX2. Also, we couldn't just change all our benchmarks as we needed to compare the results to the cards that we've tested previously as well. We might be able to squeeze in a few newer benchmarks from the next graphics card article and gradually shift completely to the newer set. What to Expect??

Referring to the above graph, you'll see an approximation of the processing power that you can get from the 8800GTs and 9600GTs in SLI (theoretically). The figures indicate a marginal difference in performance between the 9800GX2 and the 8800GT. The 9600GT too comes close but not close enough to make the 8800GT tremble. Talking about the number of stream processors, the GX2 has 256, the 8800GTs and 9600GTs (in SLI) have 224 and 128 shaders respectively. Obviously the GX2 has the upper hand here (theoretically) as it uses dual GPUs on a single card thus providing better integration between the GPUs and lower latencies. Also, the 9600GTs don't look so threatening but reality might make your eyes pop out. __

power gamming and more on Wii 20 players can play at a time

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In a first for the series, GTA IV will get online play. The game, which is set for US launch on April 29, supports up to 16 players online on both PS3 and Xbox 360. There will be four new multiplayer modes (the total number will be more than 15) including team Deathmatch (full DM or team DM) and GTA race; each mode will offer customization. Also included will be co-op modes like Cops 'n Robbers and Hangman's Noose, where teamwork is essential. You can pick a custom or quick game, and then tweak options to alter each game significantly - change weapon types (all handguns for instance or only snipers), add or subtract police, traffic, pedestrians, or blips (i.e., enemy location). In team Deathmatch, you can set up an equally balanced 8-on-8 battle or a 2-on-14 fight. GTA Race is just the same as previous GTA single-player campaigns, the only difference is that now up to 16 people can play in a no-holds barred lap race to the finish. Although unlike past GTA games, now cars are destructible, and drivers can arm themselves with pistols, machine guns, rifles, and more. Drive anything you like or just walk across the race line, it's allowed! GT mode, on the other hand, is a straight weaponless race. Reports say that there is a lot of variety in gameplay types with hundreds of custom options including character creation, and the organic integration of full world online maps including vehicles such as cars, boats, and helicopters. The Multiplayer-capable GTA IV does sounds like fun. We are eagerly waiting for the game, and when it's time, we will provide you with our very own detailed GTA IV review. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue There are games and there are experiences; there are good-looking games and there is Gran Turismo. This is a legendary franchise, a game that satisfies critics and gamers alike, a game that sells millions of copies without guns, gore, or strippers. Developers could learn a thing or two from Polyphony Digital, as the GT games have consistently improved game after game. Gran Turismo isn't enjoyed by everyone; it's a simulation, aptly called the Real Driving Simulator -- and with good reason. GT4 was a major hit and sold millions of copies worldwide; fans of the series are eagerly awaiting GT5. The full game is still a year away, but we can get a glimpse of the real deal by spending some quality time with GT5 Prologue. This isn't a mere demo, but not a full game either.

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue isn't as in-depth as a full GT title, but still holds enough playtime to last you a few weeks. The game features over 70 cars and six racetracks; the full game will feature about 60 tracks and over 900 cars from various manufacturers. Gameplay

You get an Arcade mode as well as an Events mode; in the latter, you have to clear a number of races in three car categories, A, B, and C, with class A being the most challenging. When you start the game, you'll be given a small amount of "Credit," used to buy cars for yourself. You will win credits by completing races in the Events mode. Arcade mode is much simpler -- choose a racetrack, car (from the ones you own), and race-type, and start racing. The race-types are Single Race, Drift, and Time Trial, and these are track-specific.

Well, Arcade mode is good for practicing and learning a track, but the real fun is in the Events mode. There are many standard races to be completed as well as some special races with objectives. You will need to purchase many cars, since not all cars are allowed to race on all tracks -- this is a strategy used to ensure that the player tries out various cars and the sponsors get their money's worth (*wink*). There are many new cars this time in GT: you have Ferraris, Aston Martins, and many more. __

Nokia Predicts 500 Million Mobile Users by 2010

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India's burgeoning population is going to get even more well-connected in the days to come. One supposes this is great news for consumers, more so for the telecom sector. To be precise, India's mobile phone user base is expected to cross 500 million mobile phone users by 2010 -- this according to Nokia. Out of which, 60 million users will have mobile video capability and 100 million will prefer mobile music services. Speaking at the Goafest Conclave, D Shivakumar, vice president and managing director of Nokia India, predicted that half the subscribers will be accessing the Internet through mobile phones. In his view, services delivered through mobiles will open a window of opportunity for advertisers in the country. He went on to say that the market will be divided into three sections: the top-end limited to some 50 million customers, the mid-range comprising around 150 million subscribers, and the third tier -- claimed to be unique to India -- dominated by low-cost basic handsets with minimal functionality. While it may be good for India to have so many mobile phone users by 2010, it may be quite another thing for them to experience better network connectivity and cheaper calling rates by that time. __

Micro Technologies Rolls Out ‘Software’ To Locate Stolen NBs.India’s first laptop tracking system

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Mumbai based Micro Technologies Ltd has made announcement about the launching of India’s first laptop tracking system, which will locate stolen laptop computers.

The newly launched software known as “Micro LNTS” (Lost Notebook Tracking System) can be installed on notebook hard drives where it subsequently works in stealth mode.

In case of theft, it permits systems to be tracked as soon as they are connected to the World Wide Wed (WWW). The users can log into their Web-based personal tracking and monitoring page via www.microInts.net in order to trace from where the laptop has been accessed.

Dr. P. Sekhar, chairman and managing director of Micro Technologies, said, “LNTS is just the incidental name. It is also a manageability tool for files and folders as well as a parental control system for tracking the online activities done by children. The system can be used to keep a check on the number of hours children spend on the Internet and what kind of websites they visit.”

The software also provides other management tools including sending out regular emails for notebook activity, hide the documents containing important data, date-wise data storage, login intimation on mobile and email, remotely monitoring of user specified URL/Document, and getting the list of installed software.

But it should be remembered that LNTS is not fool-proof like other software tools. If a thief formats the hard drive of the notebook before connecting to the Internet, the software will be deleted from the system.

The software is available in 3 different models including LNTS- Elite and Premium for individual users, and Micro LNTS-Corporate Micro LNTS. The Elite model is priced at Rs. 600, whereas the Premium costs Rs 1500.

The stock of the company, on Friday (April 11), marked its closure at Rs 277.55, up 1.1% on the Bombay Stock exchange (BSE).

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LOTS OF COOL GOOGLE SEARCH AND MORE

www.youthsprouts.blogspot.com Google Code Search Google now lets you do searches -- including regular expression searches -- across public source code. Search public source code.

Syntax and Examples (more about regexp syntax)
regexp	Search for a regular expression go{2}gle hello,\ world ^int printk
"exact string"	Search for exact string "compiler happy"
file:regexp	Search only in files or directories matching regexp file:\.js$ XMLHttpRequest file:include/ ioctl file:/usr/sys/ken/slp.c "You are not expected to understand this."
package:regexp	Search packages with names matching regexp. (A package's name is its URL or CVS server information.) package:perl.*\.tar\.gz Frodo package:linux-2.6 int\ printk
lang:regexp	Search only for programs written in languages matching regexp lang:lisp xml lang:"c++" sprintf.*%s
license:regexp	Search only for files with licenses matching regexp. license:bsd int\ printf -license:gpl heapsort

GWT-Ext is a powerful widget library that provides rich widgets like Grid with sort, paging and filtering, Tree’s with Drag & Drop support, highly customizable ComboBoxes, Tab Panels, Menus & Toolbars, Dialogs, Forms and a lot more right out of the box with a powerful and easy to use API. It uses GWT and Ext.

GWT-Ext 2.0.3 has been released. Grab the distribution from the Downloads area. Further details can be found in the release notes. See the entire release announcement here.

Check out the wiki for setup and install instructions.

Google testing new site design James Yu has a screenshot of a new design Google has been testing lately. Google Pages, new Geocities-style site-building software Google has released a new program that gives users 100MB of web space to make simple HTML pages in.

Publish in seconds With one click, the pages you create are ready for your friends, family and the whole world to see at http://youthsproutsblog.googlepages.com/
		Don't worry about saving Google Page Creator saves your changes automatically as you type, so no more nervous breakdowns from losing all your work.
		What you see is what you'll get As you edit your page, you're seeing exactly what it will look like when other people see it. No complex tools to learn. No web designers to hire.

Google Music, search for bands and albums __

NOW MASHUP SEARCH. GOOGLE NOT STOPING ITS SEARCH RESEARCH

www.youthsprouts.blogspot.com searchmash, an experimental site started by Google Uses Ajax and some other web2.0-ish features. __