You can't be fired for complaining about your workplace on social networks like Facebook—that's according to a judge's ruling and the National Labor Relations Act, which Forbes (and the judge) says gives employees “the right to converse among themselves about workplace conditions.” So the law’s on your side when it comes to complaining about work on the internet. Keep in mind though that there are a whole host of other serious consequences you may want to consider before you take that as a sign that now’s a good time to vent every frustration you have about your job. [Forbes] More
Fifty more exoplanets spotted
Including 16 superearths for you to explore in your imaginations, one in its star’s habitable zone. [BBC]
See the original post:
Fifty more exoplanets spotted
TechCrunch on Facebook Music: The Great Music Unifier [Facebook]
A source for TechCrunch has handed them a little more info about Facebook’s planned new role as music’s connective tissue. In a nutshell, you’ll be able to share what you’re streaming across whatever service, be it MOG or Spotify, you use. That’s huge. More
ASRock Vision 3D 2nd Gen HTPC leaks with Sandy Bridge on board
The tiny box that AnandTech called, “the best SFF HTPC [they had] ever reviewed, hands down,” is finally joining the Sandy Bridge brigade. A tipster was doing a little Google-fu when he came across a listing for the unannounced Vision 3D 2nd Gen Series. The specs are certainly a worthy upgrade to last year’s Computex standout, including a switchable 1GB GeForce GT540M card, 1333MHz RAM and an HMDI 1.4a port. You still get a Blu-ray drive, NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, a media remote, four USB 3.0 jacks and your choice of Core i3, i5 or i7 processors — so this isn’t exactly a complete overhaul. Check out the gallery below from a few images and some screenshots of the listing.
[Thanks, TheRealBamse]
Gallery: ASRock Vision 3D 2nd Gen
ASRock Vision 3D 2nd Gen HTPC leaks with Sandy Bridge on board originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
What’s the largest math proof in human history? [Mathematics]
The longest math proof in the world has just been completed. It began in the 1970s and was worked on by 100 mathematicians. Take a look at the math equivalent of endurance running. More
MSI’s reverse fan tech keeps dust out, graphic cards chilled
We’ve all been there, trying in vain to remove dust caked onto the fans of componentry inside our rigs. It’s mostly a fruitless endeavor, but here to save us from the horde of dust bunnies invading our graphics card is MSI’s dust removal technology. Available on the company’s “Lightning Xtreme” edition of the GTX580, soot is annihilated by spinning that card’s fans at full throttle in reverse for thirty seconds after boot. That’s apparently an effective method for flinging accumulated grime off the spinners and (hopefully) into a spot you can actually reach. Unconvinced it’ll work? Well then, mosey on over to the source link bub, and prepare yourself for video proof of the fan-powered filth evisceration.
MSI’s reverse fan tech keeps dust out, graphic cards chilled originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
MSI’s GT683DXR and GT780DXR shred pixels with NVIDIA’s GTX 570M (hands-on)
We might still be smitten with a certain svelte ebony beaut, but we’re aware some of you require absolute maximum performance from your “portable” gaming rig. Here to heed your call for blistering frame rates is MSI, which has gone and refreshed two laptops from its gaming lineup: the 15.6-inch GT683DXR and its big brother, the 17.3-inch GT730DXR. While both retain the Core i7-2630QM from their forebears, the duo now feature NVIDIA’s beefy GTX 570M with 1.5GB GDDR5. And just like their predecessors, either can be stuffed with up to 16GB of RAM, dual 500GB or 750GB drives and a Blu-ray burner. Also on board is a premium sound system from Dynaudio, four USB ports (two of the 3.0 variety), Gigabit Ethernet, VGA and HDMI sockets and, of course, 802.11b/g/n WiFi.
They’re on sale now, starting at $1,699 for the 15-incher and $1,799 for the 17-inch variant. MSI was kind enough to send us the smaller and lighter of the two, so hop on past the break for our brief impressions.
Gallery: MSI G Series gaming laptops
Gallery: MSI GT683DXR hands-on
Continue reading MSI’s GT683DXR and GT780DXR shred pixels with NVIDIA’s GTX 570M (hands-on)
MSI’s GT683DXR and GT780DXR shred pixels with NVIDIA’s GTX 570M (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
How to Turn Your FreeNAS Box Into an Internet PVR with SABnzbd and Sick Beard [How To]
So you’ve set up your own NAS, and you’d like it to download more than just the occasional torrent. If you’d like to automatically download TV shows as soon as they’re available with previously mentioned Sick Beard, you can install it to your NAS for an always-on internet PVR. More
The Most Horrific Traffic in the Entire World [Cars]
LA and New York must have the worst commutes known to mankind, right? Totally wrong. It gets, much, much worse—according to IBM's recent global survey of automotive horror, those two cities are among the best. What’re the worst? More
Single-chip DIMM stacks integrated circuits like shingles for greater DRAM efficiency
Cellphone screens may be getting bigger, but the push to shrink all other computing components continues unabated. Invensas is well aware of this, and has come up with new, multi-die memory that promises to be both smaller in size and more capacious than existing DRAM. Called xFD, it mounts integrated circuits in a “shingle-like configuration” on top of one another to accomplish the trick. Such stacking increases speed while reducing power consumption due to much shorter connections between RAM dies than what’s found in multi-chip DIMM. Of course, the memory won’t be popping up in PCs anytime soon, but the company will be showing off its new tech at IDF next week. While you wait, there’s more RAM reading in the PR after the break.
Single-chip DIMM stacks integrated circuits like shingles for greater DRAM efficiency originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.