Guys Upstairs - Tech

Japanese site PC Watch just released a report today stating that Sony is leaning heavily toward basing the PlayStation 4 on the same cell processor which the PS3 runs on. This is a step away from tradition for Sony, which has pushed the boundaries of processor and hardware for both the PS2 and the PS3. One of the reasons for this decision may be that it would cut down on the price of production as well as the price for the consumer.

The Cell processor has the capability to reach 32 cores based on current technological trends, but redesigning the processor would be expensive enough for Sony to most likely go with around 10-12 cores. The current plan is also for the chip to shrink from 90nm to 45 nm and only a slight increase over the current 3.2 Gz clock speed.

PC Watch reports that Sony could potentially switch to DDR3 memory over the expensive Rambus XDR used in the PS3. The low power DDR3 memory could have a decreased latency if it is coupled to the processor.

While this pushes the expected release date from 2010 to 2011, the good news is that game developers should be able to start working on games for the PS4. The delayed release of quality games for the PS3 could have been what led to at least a sluggish start for the system, something that may be avoided for the PS4.

[Electronista and Gamecyte]

Pandora is one of the most anticipated open source handheld drvices. It is a successor to the GP32 and GP2X devices from Game Park and GamePark Holdings, respectively. Pandora was developed based on a lot of input from the community and excels where the previous devices had shortcomings. The main purpose of Pandora will be to run Homebrew games as well as emulation of older computer systems and gaming consoles.

The specs listed on their site:

Preorders are limited to 3000 until the end of 2009, and you can try to get yours here, although it comes with a price tag of $330.

Today was the start of CEATEC 2008, an expo on information technology and electronics technologies. This 5 day event takes place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture from Tuesday, September 30th to Saturday, October 4th. The theme for the event is “Digital Convergence — Onward to a New Stage.”

This Fujitsu concept phone certainly highlights that theme. The modular design allows the user to configure the phone for a variety of uses such as video recording and games. The screen and the touchscreen keypad can each be used separately or attached magnetically. The placement of the two parts determines the function of the phone. Source: AkihabaraNews

T-Mobile is stepping into the arena with AT&T with the G1 (aka HTC Dream). The G1 is the first phone to be powered by Google’s Android operating system. The design of the G1 is unique and combines elements from various existing phones such as the slider to reveal the keyboard (similar to the Helios) and the trackball for one handed navigation (similar to Blackberry). Unlike the Apple iPhone, the operating system behind the G1 is the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. This should allow for adding apps to the phone even easier and more importantly, free.

A quick rundown of the list of features the G1 offers:

• Touch screen
• QWERTY keyboard
• 3G and wireless
• 3 MP Camera
• Music player
• Customizable home screen
• Access to Google apps
• IM/text/e-mail
• Video playback
• Android Market

From this list you can see that it shares many of the same features that the iPhone does. One of the cool apps is ShopSavvy, an application that lets you scan the UPC code of a product with the phone’s camera and compare prices with other stores. The Google Street View works with the phone’s built in compass so that the Street View will update based on the direction the phone is facing.

T-Mobile has already been taking pre-orders from existing customers. The caveat is that only pre-existing customers who are 11 months into a 12 month plan or 22 months into a 24 month plan are eligible to pre-order. It will be available in retail stores starting October 22 for $179 with a two year voice and data agreement.

Adobe has just announced Creative Suite 4.

There are 6 different versions of CS4:
Design Premium: $1,799
Design Standard: $1,399
Web Premium: $1,699
Web Standard: $999
Production Premium: $1,699
Master Collection: $2,499

Creative Suite 4 rolls out a lot of new changes that increases the integration between the different Adobe products as well as makes everything easier even for a beginner. Dreamweaver now has Photoshop smart objects which can change with the source file as well as a new feature called “Live View” in which you can make changes to your web page under real world browsing conditions. Gradients are now easier than ever to use in Illustrator, with the ability to control the opacity of any color stop in a gradient as well as on the fly changes to shape and angle of the gradient. Adobe Flash has H.264 support, the ability to add metadata to SWF files, and object based animation which applies tweens to objects instead of key frames. With so many new features, I can’t wait to get my hands on the new Creative Suite.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 is expected to be released sometime in October.

Introduction

Setting up a blog is very simple these days. There are numerous ways to start a blog, but one of the first decisions you have to make is whether to use free hosting or set up your own. Free hosting includes sites such as blogger.com (run by google) and wordpress.com (run by the people who created WP). While the free hosting option is good for someone completely new to blogging or cannot afford to set up their own hosting, it is not very practical for anyone hoping to make money from their blog.

Setting up your own hosting involves finding a host, finding a blog software that suits your needs, and installing the blog software on the server.

The choices for finding a host is varied and depends on your needs. A person who is trying to host a personal site and a person trying to set up a online store will most likely use different hosting plans. Several hosting companies will offer discounts if you sign up for an extended plan instead of doing a month by month plan.

The main blog softwares that are currently in use are WordPress, Movable Type, and Expression Engine. A good comparison of the various softwares can be found here.

Configure Host Monster

The first thing you need to do after purchasing a hosting plan with hostmonster.com is to type in the domain you registered for into the address bar. You will be greeted with the following screen:

cPanel Access

After clicking on “cPanel Login” and logging in, you will see what may be a confusing administration screen. Scroll down until you see a section called “Databases” and click on the icon that says “MySQL Database Wizard.”

Databases

The first step will be to give the database a name, something like “wp” or something related to your site. Step 2 is to create users for the database. One user is all that is necessary, so you can name it “admin” or anything else you like. For the third step, make sure you check the “All Privileges” box at the top.

Step 1: Create A Database

Step 2: Create Database Users

Step 3: Add User to the Database

Now you can either add another database or manage the databases. Click “Add another user using the MySQL Databases Area,” which brings you to the database management page (you can also access it by clicking the “MySQL Databases” icon from the cPanel). This page allows you to do everything the wizard does, but the main thing you need to do is add the user you created earlier to the database you created by selecting the user and the database under the “Add User to Database” section.

Create New Database

User Setup

Congratulations, you have just set up your database(s).

Setting up WordPress

You will now need an ftp client (such as Filezilla) to transfer the files to the server. Download the wordpress file and unzip it to any location you can find. The file we will need to alter is wp-config.php

links to those two sites

Open it up in notepad and you will need to input all the information that follows:

Make sure the DB_NAME and DB_USER match exactly what you have, including everything before the underscore. Also, make sure you follow the link and generate the passwords. Don’t worry about them being really random - you only need it in the file to ensure that your WordPress is secure; you won’t need to memorize it or write it down.

To access the server, the login information is the same as the information you use to login to cPanel. The host will simply be the name of your site, such as “nameofsite.com” After you transfer the site via ftp to the public_html folder, go to the name of your site followed by “/wp-admin/install.php” You will be prompted to input some information, then given a password which you can change once you login.

Congrats on successfully creating a WordPress page, now go post and have fun!