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Oops. Over the weekend, it seems as if 300 or so unlucky individuals were shipped a counterfeit processor from the normally reliable warehouses at NewEgg, and Hard|OCP has the images (and video) to prove it. Vincent Waller couldn't have possibly been more eager to receive the Core i7-920 that he had ordered, but upon unboxing it, he realized that he had received a well-disguised fake. After a fair bit of digging, it seems as if one of NewEgg's "long time partners" (D&H Distributing) got ahold of 300 fakes in a batch of 2,000, though not everyone's buying the "it was an honest mistake" line -- especially when you consider that said company has already issued cease-and-desist letters to the sites who published the news. At any rate, NewEgg has already arranged for an authentic CPU to be rushed to Mr. Waller, and it's purportedly working around the clock in order to make things right with any other negatively affected customers. Hop on past the break for a look at the knockoff, particularly if you just took delivery of a shiny new Core i7.

Continue reading NewEgg sells 300 counterfeit Core i7-920 CPUs, KIRFers pump their fists

NewEgg sells 300 counterfeit Core i7-920 CPUs, KIRFers pump their fists originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether you've switched to OS X but still occasionally need Windows, you want to play Windows-only games, or whatever, Mac users have several strong options for running Windows. Gizmodo breaks down how to choose the right tool for the job.

The post examines three popular virtualization tools for the job: VMware Fusion, Parallels, and VirtualBox (the last is the only free option), discussing different Windows-on-Mac scenarios and highlighting which tool is probably best to satisfy those needs. For example:

If You...
• Want to run Windows 7 within OS X, and basically nothing else?
• Want to run Windows apps as if they're part of OS X, visually and behaviorally?
• Think a virtual machine should integrate into OS X almost completely, rather than live inside its own window?
• Want to play 3D games in your virtual machine?
Then You Should Use…
Parallels 5!

The helpful guide details the reasoning behind each recommendation. If you've been interested in running Windows on your Mac but have had trouble figuring out which tool would best fit your needs, Gizmodo's helpful guide is a great resource.

• Any suggestions for how I can quiet down a particularly noisy air duct?
• How can I repair a few small cracks in my out-of-warranty laptop monitor?
• How do you manage your overflowing RSS feeds?
• Anyone recommend a really light-weight Mac app to write code?
• What Wireless N router should I buy?
• Anyone have any great podcasts (that are in the vein of Lifehacker) to share?
• Any cool ideas for how I can put a retired, 7-year old monitor to use?
• Has anybody ever tried to use their PC as a bluetooth headset for their phone, and if so, how'd it work?
• How can I rip subtitles from a DVD?

This is a video of a couple jackasses shooting a model rocket made of meat. It was an interesting experiment from a purely scientific standpoint, but a terrible waste of resources. It does get funny at the end though because SPOILER ALERT: the rocket crashes through the kitchen window and sets off the smoke detector. Haha -- karma's a bitch, bacon-wasters! Youtube via Bacon Rockets: How to Make Dead Pigs Fly [gizmodo] Thanks to Chong, who, hey let me hit that.

We all give presentations in our work and lives, whether it's a one-on-one meeting with your boss or a lecture to a room full of people. Psychology Today offers a great guide to giving a successful presentation.

Photo by James Jordan.

I'm presenting a panel at SXSW this year, and the fact is, as is the case with many people, public speaking still rankles my nerves. Psychology professor Nancy Darling offers some great suggestions for giving a good presentation, and reminds us nervous speakers that it's really not about us:

There are five main components to pulling together a good presentation:

1. Choose a goal;
2. Find a storyline that will help the group reach that goal;
3. Develop a series of activities or a method of presentation that allows you to develop your storyline. Don't let your media determine your storyline!
4. Remember that your role is to facilitate the group reaching its shared goal. This is your primary responsibility!
5. Remember that it's not about you. All that matters is the experience of the other people in the room.

It's easy to get caught up in nerves when you're giving a presentation, but try to remember that the focus of the presentation is really on the information you're trying to get across, not on you. If you're confident in your information, let that boost the confidence you've got in your presentation.

Even if you're not a nervous presenter, I'd recommend giving Darling's guide a read through. It's full of solid suggestions for improving your presentations.

Feeling shame in the shower can arrive for many reasons, but here's a new one that centers on water conservation. It's called the Waterpebble, and the LED illuminates red, yellow or green depending on the amount of water used. Simple!

So simple, in fact, that even a crying, shame-ridden man in the shower could use it to accurately gauge whether or not he's using just enough, or too much water. Hey, it's better than wrinkly gingers telling you that you've been in there too long. [Waterpebble via Design Blog]

Here's a little spicy rumor for you Palm fans on this tranquil Sunday: according to TopTongueBarry who claims to work for AT&T, his company has just finished certification tests with GSM flavors of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus ahead of a possible April 26th launch -- a date not far from what we've heard earlier. However, the bigger news from Barry is that the big A will soon be testing a third mysterious webOS device by the name of Palm Elan, which will apparently greet us mere mortals on May 10th. Another forum member Shadow-360 also dug up some cached pages that claimed to have accessories for the non-existent device, as pictured above. Of course, this could be just a crude joke for a keyboard-less Palm device that some seem to desire -- if you recall, Elan is also the name of the company that sued Apple over multitouch patent last April. So, any thoughts on this leak? Are we all ready for a new webOS phone?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Palm Elan to be the next webOS smartphone, heading to AT&T? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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