All right, they didn’t really give Vostro laptop owners the finger.  But they gave them something that would require a reconfiguration of your typing mindset: a screwed-up keyboard layout.Flickr user Jake Gordon is angry. He ordered a new Dell Vostro with a UK keyboard and found that Dell has monkeyed subtly with the bottom row of keys, rendering the computer useless for anyone who touch-types.Of course, that only matters if you touch-type.  Check out the keyboard below and compare the placement of

Earlier this year we stumbled upon a widely circulated You Tube video (at least in tech circles), in which a man is seen ruthlessly abusing a poor LCD monitor. The protagonist starts by letting a child draw on the screen with a black permanent marker. Taking matters into his own hands, the man then proceeds to take a pen-knife to the surface of the screen, followed by multiple strikes with a hammer.  The abuse of a perfectly good LCD monitor isn’t what struck us about this particular video, however. The

Wait, wait, Barack, it’s a game.  They’re not wasting real gasoline.  Oh, wait, that’s not his point.Obama’s comments came during a campaign stop in Indianapolis. He told the crowd, “I was just catching the news this morning about Grand Theft Auto, this video game, which is gonna break all records and make goo-gobs of money for whoever designed it.”Now, this isn’t intended for kids, although I promise you there are kids who are playing it, but these video games are raising our kids,” Obama continued.

The intoxicating smell of fresh paint was the first sensation to greet us when we opened up a very special package from Diamond Multimedia and Smooth Creations. This was quickly followed by jaw-dropping awe as we admired the meticulous detail of the system’s custom paint job. Speculating at the power waiting to be unleashed under its hood, we were jonseing to fire the rig up and pwn some noobs. But before we could do that, we wanted to share our experience of unboxing the machine with you–minus the heavy

Grand Theft Auto IV has created a frenzy of news stories, including rave reviews and record sales, but the one that has gamers hot under the collar: freezes.Last month, the launch of Rockstar Games’ Bully on the Xbox 360 was marred by a bevy of crash bugs and other glitches. With this morning’s heavily anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar finds itself dealing with still more troubleshooting trouble, as online forums are buzzing with reports of crashes.Reports

Om Malik at Gigaom has made an interesting analysis of the effects of widespread broadband penetration into the US market. As the demand for broadband tapers off because the pool of persons that don’t yet have it slowly dries up, there’s really only one thing the providers have left to sell: faster speeds.It should come as no surprise that the carriers have let go of incremental speed upgrades and have gone ahead and doubled or tripled the speeds of their offerings. Why? Because bumping speed to 2 Mbps from

Ever wish you could get a view of possible landmarks when getting directions from a mapping site or program?  Well, Google’s heard your plea, and has added Street View to directions in Google Maps.Driving directions and Street View have been separate features of the search engine’s Google Maps site. By combining them, Google said users can now get a better picture of their route alongside turn by turn information. Users simply click camera icons to get photos of the route along with an arrow showing which

“Mainstream Quad Core Processors Compared from AMD and Intel” at Madshrimps and other reviews from around the web are availabe in our forums!

“In this review we compare AMD's latest AM2+ based Phenom X4 9850 to Intel's mainstream Q9300 Processor. Which one gives you more performance for the buck? Answering this question is not as straightforward as you might think. With AMD aggressive pricing and new B3 revision does it stand a chance against an upgraded Q6600? Let us find out.”

The high volume of Atom processor orders from PC vendors has, according to industry reports, left Intel unable to meet demand. Asustek Computer president Jerry Shen recently said he expects the shortages will persist until September this year. Intel has declined to confirm the reported shortages, adding that it is ramping its 45nm production to meet anticipated demand.

Asustek will launch an Atom-based 8.9-inch Eee PC in June which will coexist with the current Celeron M-based Eee PC 900 during the shortage, said Shen. The company may also raise its Eee PC shipments goal of five million units in July, noted Shen. The company expects 8.9-inch Eee PC shipments to surpass those of 7-inch models by the late May. In the third quarter, the proportion of 7-inch models to overall Eee PC shipments will drop below 30%. However, although the 8.9-inch model contributes a better gross margin, overall gross margins have slid slightly.

Video:Honeywell 22-Inch LCD Monitor MT-SY-HWLM2216 @ Benchmark ReviewsGigabyte GeForce 8800 GT Turbo Force Edition Video Card @ Viper Lair24″ LCD Monitors Roundup. Part II @ X-bit LabsSapphire Radeon HD 3870 Toxic review @ Elite BastardsXFX GeForce 9800GX2 1GB Review @ InsideHWEVGA e-GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 1GB Video Card Review @ GamepyreMotherboards and Chipsets:ASUS Striker II Extreme Motherboard Review @ HardwareLogicXFX Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard @ bit-techX48 heavyweights go head-to-head @