PC and Components

HP has been fined for not meeting service level targets due to a two-day strike last week, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union claimed as it considered fresh strikes.

A knock-off MacBook Air running Windows, a tablet computer shaped like a big iPhone and another tablet meant to rival Apple's iPad were all among the devices shown off by a small Chinese gadget maker on Thursday.

The vintage Commodore 64 personal computer is getting a makeover, with a new design and some of the latest computing technologies, as the brand gets primed for a comeback.

gizmo has been included in the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Reports have been circulating that online retailer Newegg sold as many as 300 counterfeit Intel Core i7 processors. The inferior packaging, blatant spelling errors, and blank product manual were major red flags for observant customers in this case, but the issue highlights the fact that fake CPU's are out there.

Open-source software is one of the great success stories of the past few decades. The Apache HTTP Server is the world's most popular Web server, Linux has more than held its own against Unix and other proprietary operating systems, and Mozilla's Firefox browser has given Microsoft's Internet Explorer strong competition over the years.

"The netbook is not an experience people are going to continue wanting to have," Apple COO Tim Cook said Tuesday at an investment conference in San Francisco. "When they play with the iPad and experience the magic of using it... I have a hard time believing they're going to go for a netbook."

Have you ever wanted to build your own minicomputer, but felt restricted by the available selection of microprocessors? You may remember Magic-1, the awesome homebrew CPU from the 2007 Maker Faire Bay Area, but were perhaps a little disappointed at the amount of available documentation at the time. Magic-1 creator (and Google engineer) Bill Buzbee has recently updated his Web site to include detailed information on schematics, architecture, as well as his build diaries if you're interested in constructing a similar machine on your own.

Earlier this year, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak accepted the position of chief scientist at start-up solid state drive company Fusion-io. It's the first time since 1972, when he worked in Hewlett-Packard Co's calculator division, that he's held a technologist's position for a company that wasn't his own.

Mark Hennessy speaks candidly on transforming the IT organization at IBM, fostering a culture of innovation, managing IT during the financial crisis, maximizing the value of social networking tools, and taking advantage of an imminent technological game-changer.

Craig Barrett spent decades using his business skills to make Intel the world's most powerful semiconductor company. He has now turned his attention to an even bigger challenge -- spreading computers and education throughout the developing world.

Can you tell us about MPA?

When Apple introduced its new MacBooks recently, it touted a doubled battery life -- but noted that the laptops' batteries were sealed into the case, not user-swappable as is the norm on laptops.

In 64-bit servers, AMD and Intel will soon be on the same page, architecturally speaking. But these similar ends were reached by very different means.

Netbook. Subnotebook. Mini-notebook. Mini-laptop. Mini. Why so many names for the same low-powered laptop with 10-inch screen and no optical drive?

Microsoft cuts 5,000 jobs. That's the big news of the week. Not just because the layoffs will cut one in 20 of Microsoft's 91,000 employees. Not only because it signals just how hard Microsoft has been hurt by the failure of Vista and by shifts in the way big customers license and use software. Not even because of the grim sign it represents for the rest of the IT industry.

The capacity of external USB hard drives is going up all the time. Unfortunately, most only offer a USB 2.0 connection, which limits how quickly you can get your data onto or off the drive.

AOC 619Fh

Acer Aspire One 3G

Polycom QDX 6000