“A few months later in May Intel launched an updated Sandy Bridge chipset called Z68 which essentially takes the best features of the P67 and H67 and combines them into one. With a Z68 board, users can overclock the CPU and use the integrated Intel HD graphics. Previously, if you wanted to overclock, you had to buy a P67 board and you had to use a discrete graphics card. If you wanted to use the integrated graphics, you needed an H67 board but then you couldn’t overclock the CPU. In addition to these combined features, Z68 also introduces a new feature called Smart Response Technology (SRT) which uses a solid state drive to cache data from a traditional spinning hard drive.”  Direct Link: http://www.ocia.net/reviews/msiz68agd65/page1.shtml

One of the more striking local examples of how Google’s real-name only policy with compulsory first names and surnames can seem overly restrictive is when applied to traditional Australian Aboriginal culture, where an individual’s personal name is a single word. Google’s response? It might get fixed eventually but it doesn’t want to talk about it until then.

Google’s officially stated policy on names for use in Google+ is fairly inflexible:

Use your full first and last name in a single language.

As we mentioned yesterday, one example where this doesn’t work is with traditional Aboriginal skin naming systems. I was curious about whether those issues would factor into Google’s long-term planning for the service, so I asked Google Australia. This was the response I got from their spokesperson:

I don’t have a specific comment for your enquiry about traditional indigenous names – but I would say that we’re in field trial mode, and taking on feedback and making changes during this time – for instance, on making one’s gender public or private.

I

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Weve reported earlier on the iOS marketplace in Canada, and its no surprise that Canadians love affair with apps has turned into more of a long-standing relationship. I mean, theres even a television show that focuses on them.

App Central describes itself as a weekly television series exploring the creative and explosive world of mobile apps that airs on BNN & CP24. It is hosted by Amber MacArthur and Michael Hainsworth, with tech reporter Kris Abel also lending a hand to the proceedings. MacArthur in particular is very well known on the web for her many appearances on the TWiT network and as an accomplished speaker and writer (she recently penned the top-selling social media book Power Friending).

The show, launched in late March of this year and with its second season pegged to start airing in September, offers segments that focuses on apps from various mobile platforms, and its great to see what is usually reserved for online video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo come to a more traditional medium. And since Canadians really arent cutting cable from their lives all that drastically (yet), a show like App Central really bridges the gap for smartphone users of generations that are used to consuming content on the television sets as opposed their laptops.

App Central sets out to help users figure out what apps theyd find useful, as there are literally thousands to choose from.

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Bharti Infratel, a subsidiary of Bharti airtel, has chosen IBM to provide Intelligent Site Operations to more than 32,000 Bharti Infratel tower-sites spread across 11 telecom circles in India.

By combining sensors, data tracking and analytics, IBM’s Intelligent Site Operations offering will provide the telecom company real-time visibility and insight to centrally monitor and manage their large and distributed tower infrastructure along with centrally orchestrating and tracking operations.

“The IBM solution has helped us automate the entire process and is helping in reducing costs and driving optimization besides proactively preventing service outages,” said Prashant Veer Singh, Chief Information Officer, Bharti Infratel.

The IBM Intelligent Site Operations collects data on the state of each cell tower such as energy consumption (including supply from the mains, generators and battery), fuel consumption and alarms. This data is then fed to a monitoring system which analyzes it and converts data into actionable intelligence in real-time so that staff can make better business decisions. The s Read full article…

The news officially came down in June ICANN, the governing body of Internet domain names, would soon begin allowing anyone to buy words and turn them into top level domain extensions. No longer would we be bound to .com, .net and the like but instead we could have a site such as TheNextWeb.tech.

Of course it didnt take long for savvy web entrepreneurs to start coming up with ideas on how best to use the new open-ended TLD system. One such group, calling itself The .app Project is looking to secure the .app TLD in order to turn it into a domain run for and by software developers who produce apps for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone as well as desktop platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

While Apple users are somewhat familiar with calling something by a .app file extension, soon Mail.app could actually send someone to Apples Mail application page where they could find more about the product. Of course, there could be some huge financial benefit to the group as well, as application owners pay top dollar to reserve their slot in the domain. The consumer (in this case, the app owner) should get an added layer of protection from the .app domain, as well, according to .app Project CEO Matthew Baxter-Reynolds:

In the world of current gTLDs, such as .com there’s no in-built control over cybersquatting or intellectual property. W

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JB Hi-Fi is holding one of its periodic single night sales today, with store shutting at 5:30PM and then re-opening from 6:00PM. Notable options include 20% off CDs, DVDs and games, 15% off cameras and computers (other than Apple, which only gets 10%), and 20% off GPS devices. Is it too early to start Christmas shopping?