``xAfter hunting around the web, I finally found a good news script to use on my site. While it does have some limitations, NewsPro is really slick.

Eventually I'll also be adding full archive support, so that folks will be able to search the archives for news stories etc.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew News Script``x939545909,37081,``x``x ``xPanzer Elite by Wings Simulations has gone Gold and is off to the duplicators.

Panzer Elite is a very promising WW II tank simulation. The beta received some very positive comments from Combat Simulations and SimHQ.

Here's a taste from the beta.

Panzer Elite beta
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPanzer Elite Goes Gold``x939546733,93507,``x``x ``xGameDaily reports that Creative has announced the Nomad II MP3 player at the Internet World convention.

Here's the details ripped right from the article.

"It (the Nomad II) offers easier and faster USB-port connectivity, a wired remote control unit, a backlit display and improvements to the memory-card support, as well as the original specs of MP3 playback, included FM tuner and support software. It’s slated for release in the first quarter of 2000 with an SRP under $400." - Game Daily.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNomad II announced``x939621725,49145,``x``x ``xFighter Ace II, Microsoft's on-line WW II flight sim has entered free public beta testing. You can find out more at Microsoft's Fighter Ace Beta page.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFighter Ace II Open Beta``x940156010,19961,``x``x ``xI noticed that CombatSim has a preview of Microsoft's Fighter Ace II beta.

The sim really does look sweet.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFighter Ace 2``x940232530,96132,``x``x ``xAces High will be adding gunners to crewable planes like the B-17. Here's the details from the news forum.

"The AH gunner system allows either the pilot or his gunner to control multiple positions simultaneously. As you man a particular position and point your weapon, all other weapons that share that field of fire will automatically slew to that direction. You then have the option to fire only the weapon you are manning or all weapons that are pointed at your target. For example, if you're in the nose of a B-17G and you have a target at 1 o'clock low and were to fire all available weapons, the target would receive fire from the ball turret, the chin turret, and the right cheek gun." - Pyro

Ouch! That's a lot of firepower.


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAces High Gunners``x940241478,3027,``x``x ``xAhh, at last! A new turn based strategy game. Age of Wonders has finally started shipping this last week. After playing around with the demo I think I've finally found a worthy successor to Heroes II.

You can grab the 44MB demo via the Age of Wonders web site.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAge of Wonders``x942737771,89147,``x``x ``xYep, Unreal Tournament has gone Gold/Final. It looks like both UT and Quake 3 will make it by T-Day.

I've been playing around a little with UT, and between the 2 demo's, it's my favorite.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament goes GOLD``x942738541,33544,``x``x ``xI saw this little gem inside a press release at Thrustmaster's site.

"The next products to be presented to gamers will be the new ThrustMaster flight sims, which will be shown at E3 in May 2000. These flight simulations tools will be engineered to follow up the successful HOTAS systems - FLCS, F-22 and F16TQS - and will include among other technical features a USB interface."

Oh yeah. That will be nice.

The big questions is will there be a Force Feedback version as well?
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Thrustmastert HOTAS``x942738843,76479,``x``x ``xHigh speed Internet access is finally making it's way to my neck of the woods. Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet service will be appearing in Bakersfield in "Spring 2000."

The local Baklersfield Road Runner web page is now up. Be sure to fill out the "Early Bird" form if you want to be one of the first to get the goods.
``xcage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTime Warner Road Runner Internet Service Arriving Soon``x949069692,39513,``x``x ``xI decided to do some cleaning up around the site last night. Things should look pretty much the same, but the front page should load quite a bit faster.

There's more to do, including a possible re-design of the front page. Once all that gets done updates should become much more frequent. Well, hopefully....heheheh.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Cleanup``x950019175,75035,``x``x ``xI went ahead and made a few minor cosmetic changes to the front page. I more extensive facelift will have to wait until I get a bit more inspired.
``xcage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFacelift``x950128875,66414,``x``x ``xWell, I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I added a "Comments" feature for each news post.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComments Feature Added``x950131703,30328,``x``x ``xThe rest of the goodies for my new computer system should finish rolling in today. I'll be doing a write up after I get everything together, but here are a few details.

Tornado 1000 w/300 Watt Power Supply - 3DCool.

Coppermine Pentium 500e OC'd to 750 MHz with iWill Slocket II and Vantec Cooler - GenXTech.

Mitsubishi 2020U 22" Naturally Flat monitor - Multiwave.

256MB of Corsair PC133 SDRAM - Multiwave.

IBM 27GB 7200 rpm HD - OnSale/Egghead.

I'll be using a few "old" components from my current system. I'm planning on grabbing a new video card in the next few months depending on how the new Voodoo 5 5500/6000 specs out versus the competition.

It should be a lot of fun, and a lot faster then my current OC'd Celeron 300A.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew "Caged Lightning" System Arriving Soon``x950203007,34710,``x``x ``xAll the goodies finally arrived yesterday for my new system. The 3DCool case was the last item to make it, arriving after I had already left for work.

First impressions were mixed. The CPU shipment arrived as promised, but with no documentation for the iWill Slocket II. The Vantec Cooler had also come unclipped from the CPU during it's trip to me, despite being secured in lots of bubble wrap and cushioned in foam filler chips.

The 3DCool case looks very nice, and is of high quality construction. Unfortunately at first glance it appears to be missing one of it's white thumb screws. I'm sure I can grab a few extras at CompUSA if it doesn't show up.

Once I get a chance I'll throw up a couple of snapshots of what the case looks like.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComponent First Impressions``x950283225,4595,``x``x ``xWow, those RB Forums are still hopping. If anything, there seems to be more going on then there was a year ago on Delphi's Flight Sim Forum.

Lots of old faces and characters are still posting there. Who knows, I just might get inspired enough to update my Red Baron pages a bit. At the least I need to install the NewsPro script. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRB Forums/Community``x950284414,82997,``x``x ``xYep, if you hadn't noticed I finally got around to using Cascading Style Sheets on my web site.

One of the reasons I've been slow to adopt using CSS has been the difficulty of finding good documentation and resources. I finally made the plunge after finding some rudimentary CSS support in the laterst version 5 of Hot Metal Pro. I'll have to play around with Dreamweaver 3 and see how it works there.

As a side note, I finally switched from using Netscape Navigator to Internet Explorer and Outlook 2000. Much better stuff. I've had far fewer browser crashes, and the HTML implementation seems much more logical and correct in IE then NN.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCSS/HTML``x950285113,34493,``x``x ``xI really like the way the "Cage's Links" section works now that I changed a few things on the site. It's much easier to add and subtract links.

If you've run across a link that you think should appear under "Cage's Link" drop me a line, and let me know. Just a bit of a warning. I'm quite picky about the links that I put there. If it's not a site that I'd visit regularly it often falls off the list after a short time. A lot of that has to do with my personal tastes, so don't get too offended if I don't put up your favorite link.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCage's Links``x950285412,45449,``x``x ``xYep, my system is back up - kind of.

It looks like I'll need a different motherboard to really reach my new CPU's full Overclocking potential. I'll post up some details later.

Even just going from my OC'd Celeron 300a to a P3 500e I noticed some substantial gains in performance.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium III 500e Overclocking Project``x950624044,57695,``x``x ``xI've seen mention on several places on the web, including this Register article that both AMD and Intel will be cutting prices on their cpu's on Feb. 28.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD and Intel Price Cuts coming``x950628034,29882,``x``x ``xThere's an interesting review on PC133 RAM at GamePC To me it seemed like all of them preformed pretty close to each other.

I do dig their "Printer frendly" option for reading articles at that site. AnandTech has the same feature. No more waiting as you load up multiple pages with gigabytes of banner ads in order to get to the bottom line.

Sharky's Extreme is probably the worst offender, since they don't even feature an article index. Even an article index can be a pain, as evidenced at Thresh's Firing Squad. The index at FS pops up a seperate window, much like an irritating GeoCities web site. Ugh!
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPC133 RAM Review``x950628634,58486,``x``x ``xFor all of you Homeworld geeks out there (you know who you are), there is word of a new Homeworld addition this Summer. Here's the rip from Game Daily.

At the Milia trade show in Cannes, France today Sierra Studios revealed a new chapter in the Homeworld series. The new title, Homeworld: Cataclysm, was created in conjunction with Barking Dog Studios and Relic Entertainment, and is scheduled for a Summer 2000 release.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHomeworld Project``x950629102,69286,``x``x ``x Beta News is reporting that there is a new version of WinAmp (2.6) available for download. Here's the scoop:

After over four months of development, Nullsoft, Inc. has released a new version of their 'llama-whipping' digital audio player, Winamp. Version 2.6 includes some huge changes over its predecessor, namely featuring a new 'SuperPiMP' installation system, Winamp Agent, and an updated version of Advanced Visualization Studio.

Winamp Agent allows you to protect Winamp from being thwarted by other software such as Real Player or Microsoft Windows Media Player. CD audio support has also been drastically improved, along with updated MJuice and AudioSoft code. Winamp now has better integration with Netscape and Internet Explorer, including updated URLs. Highly skilled graphic designer, Steve Gedikian, has also created a new Winamp splash screen, paving the way for a redesigned About box.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Version 2.6 of WinAmp MP3 Software``x950629257,76393,``x``x ``xIf, like me, you purchased the HTML authoring program Dreamweaver 2 a few months ago there is a free upgrade available to Dreamweaver 3. Here's the details.

The following applies to full copies of Macromedia Software only, It does not include versions that are not made by Macromedia, nor does it include versions that were bundled with non-Macromedia products.

If you purchased Dreamweaver 2 between November 8, 1999 and
January 8, 2000 you are entitled to a free upgrade.

All you will need to do to get a free upgrade, if you are in the U.S.A or Canada, is fax a copy of your invoice or receipt, along with your serial number, shipping address, contact name and phone number to 425 222 0382


Yep, it worked out just like they promised. I received a brand new copy of Dreamweaver 3 in the mail last night. Sweet. I'm still not sure how much I like Dreamweaver 3 versus my current HTML editor of choice, HotMetal Pro 6.0 by Softquad.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDreamweaver 3 Upgrade``x950629846,71205,``x``x ``x 3DWars has an article on water cooling your CPU. What caught my attention was that the kit that was mentioned is made by 3DCool, the same folks from whom I bought my new Tornado 1000 cool case.

It's not something I'm inclined to do right now, but it's an interesting read.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWater Cooling your CPU``x950630214,88039,``x``x ``xYep, it's coming up to that time of the year again. The Electronic Entertainment Expo will be in Los Angeles at the Convention Center May 11-13, 2000.

Are you nuts? Of course I'm going. E3 is one of my favorite shows, and is just a couple of hours away from where I live. Of course you are supposed to be "in the business" in order to attend. It's not open to the general public.

You can get more info about E3 at the official E3 site.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xE3``x950630900,84371,``x``x ``xWell it's not like this development should surprise anyone. According to a ZDNet News story President Clinton is proposing an Internet Security Center. Here's the details:

As the investigation of last week's Internet attacks continues, the White House is expected to propose a new Internet-security center following a meeting Tuesday between President Clinton and high-tech executives.
The Cyber-National Information Center, to be known as Cyber-NIC, will be a place where companies "can work together to address cyber security problems and crises," according to a planning document. In addition, the White House is asking its science adviser, Neal Lane, to take the lead in establishing a think tank supported by both the public and private sectors to consider cyber security issues.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPresident Clinton Proposes Internet Security Center``x950631432,7992,``x``x ``xYep, the Unrealism Tweak Guide has been updated again. For those that need to get a few more Frames Per Second out of Unreal Tournament, this is the spot. Even my friend "Pingboy" is starting to realize the need for speed. I see a system upgrade in his near future after I've finished hoping up my system.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament Tweak Guide``x950631650,17153,``x``x ``xAnandTech has article on the Intel Developer's Conference where Intel was showing off a 1.5 GHz CPU.

Don't hold your breath. The CPU they showed was not running any benchmark programs, and was very like early silicon.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``x1.5 GHz Intel CPU``x950690874,9027,``x``x ``xSharky's Extreme has another interview up with the Bitboys Oy. The gist is that there will be an announcement in March with solid details on their hot rod video chipsets.

I don't know. It seems at times that the Glaze 3D is a bunch of smoke and mirrors, and at other times there is just enough detail to make me think it's possible. Here's a bit on the claimed specs:

"Sporting 9MB of embedded DRAM connected to the Glaze3D processor core by a 512-bit memory bus in addition to a 128-bit external SDRAM powered memory bus, the 150MHz chip boasts up to 12GB/second of memory bandwidth.

With claimed fill-rates of 1200 million pixels/second with the Glaze3D 2400 and 600 million pixels/second with the Glaze3D 1200, Bitboys gave us visions of high-resolution, environment bump mapped, full scene anti-aliased, 32-bit sugarplums dancing in our heads."


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBitboys Oy``x950695264,84670,``x``x ``xThis is the first article that I've seen that really shows the benefits from overclocking a video card.

AnandTech's NVidia GeForce SDR Roundup demonstrates that you can get easily 10 FPS more at high resolutions on a GeForce SDR card by overclocking. That's no trivial feat, since it's at higher resolutions that most systems start to bog down.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFPS Increase by Overclocking you Video Card``x950782136,5017,``x``x ``xI caught this little gem at Ars Technica. It seems that some retailers will give you an OEM deal on Windows if you buy only parts of a complete system. Here's a snip:

One way to save money is to buy an upgrade version, but there's another option that a lot of people don't know about. It's called OEM pricing, and it let's you get pricing schemes comparable to getting a new computer, but without the whole computer. Many suppliers (including our own hardware sponsor, The Chip Merchant) offer you OEM pricing with the purchase of a motherboard or hard drive. And the OEM version is the full one -- that means no hunting around for old disks when you reinstall.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xOEM Pricing on Windows Software``x950871558,81301,``x``x ``xYep, my latest system is up and running now. Affectionately called "Caged Lightning", this beast is an Intel Pentium III 500E Coppermine overclocked to 750 MHz. There's not much more then Windows and Dial-Up Networking installed, but it is up and running. I should be able to post up some benchmarks and details tonight or tommorow. Here's a bit of a tease....

"Of particular interest to me is how the Unreal Tournament Frames Per Second scores will turn out. I'll be sure to pass along complete instructions on how to bench your own system. I'll also put up a copy of the UTBench.dem file that I used for some of the testing.

Another topic of interest for me was how the IWill Slocket II would work out. I ended up pairing the P3/Slocket II with an Abit VA6 motherboard. The result? Well so far the system has been rock solid at 750 MHz. A P3 500e runs stock at 100 MHz (bus) X 5 (clock multiplier) = 500 MHz. So to get to 750 MHz you have to run the bus at 150 MHz. I have a feeling that if the Abit VA6 could have run at 160 MHz bus it would have gone even higher."
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCage's "Caged Lightning" System``x950872149,9429,``x``x ``xYep, I'm still alive and I'm feeling much better. I haven't been able to write up a review on my new system yet, but I promise I'll get to it asap. Real life/work and a bout of allergies etc. put a bit of a crimp in my plans. Developing allergies is one of the "pleasures" of living in California's Central Valley. Then again, it's still California weather out here, so I shouldn't whine about things too much.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Update``x951471032,28988,``x``x ``xFans of Unreal Tournament will be happy to hear that the UT Bonus Pack will be released today. Here's the skinny from GameCenter:
Gamecenter will team up with Epic Games to premiere the Unreal Tournament Bonus Pack on Friday, February 25. The free bonus pack will be available as a download to all Unreal Tournament fans. It includes three new skins, 11 new multiplayer levels, and a new feature, Relics. These are special items that grant special powers. Relics will grant increased strength or speed, or even explode after you die in order to avenge your death.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament Bonus Pack``x951471340,69951,``x``x ``xHere's something that I saw mentioned on Voodoo Extreme. The new 3dfx video cards, the Voodoo 5000 and 6000 will debut at CEbit in Germany today. The European 3dfx site has this to say:

3dfx has chosen the premier German exhibition, CeBIT, for the launch of its next generation Voodoo cards. The new product line will be demonstrated at 3dfx's high profile stand in the multimedia hall at CeBIT 2000.

The European launch of the new cards will be heralded by a personal appearance by Lara Croft, currently being played by Dutch model, Lara Weller. The famous Tomb Raider character will be on-stand from 2pm on Friday, February 25th. Her appearance will be followed by a launch party in the evening, which will feature a live set from top UK DJ, Tim Lyall, and visuals provided by DNADancer.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo 5000/6000 Release``x951473642,80541,``x``x ``xI saw this bit from a new site that I've added to my links list. 3D Spotlight posted a blurb from Brian Burke about the development schedule for the next generation Voodoo VSA-100 graphic chips. Here's the skinny:

"We have placed orders for production silicon already. Our software development is right on track. We are on the same release schedule as when the VSA-100 product was introduced at Comdex, which we stated would be in the Spring. That product will include all the features that have been promised. It will deliver real time, full scene anti aliasing. It will support dazzling cinematic effects via our t-buffer. It will feature 32-bit color depth, SLI implementations and astronomical fill rates. Despite the outstanding state of this first silicon, the boards used in the Cebit demonstrations do not represent production silicon. Shortly after GDC, we expect to be demonstrating Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 boards that are much closer to production quality."

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo VSA 100 Statement``x951845858,3704,``x``x ``xWell here's some more juicy info by way of 3D Spotlight and KBench. It's so good that I'll just cut and paste the whole thing.

According to the close source of Nvidia, NV15 is going to be 3 times faster than current GeForce256(NV10)
The source told us that NV11 is at least 1.5 x faster than NV10 and it is targeted at budget customer solutions against NV15. NV11 has 2 texel/pixel, 2 pixel/clock rendering pipeline structure and supports both SDR & DDR SDRAMs. Memory clock of SDR SDRAM version of NV11 will be 166MHz.

As an option, NV11 card with additional DAC can do dual display like G400's DH.

In this case, primary displays at 2048x1536 @60MHz, secondary displays at 1600x1200 @100 is feasible.

NV15 will be 3 times faster than GeForce256 with 400MHz of DDR SDRAM. It has 2 texel/pixel, 4 pixel/clock rendering pipeline structure and supports 720P HDTV. NV15 can be configured with SCA(Scalable Cooperative Architecture) that 1 AGP + 1 Virtual AGP(PCI) can be set. 90 frames / second at 2048 x 1536 x 32bit color is expected, the source said. This chip will be manufactured with 0.18 micron process and will be available in late spring.

High-end version of NV15, NV15GL will be released also. NV15GL card will have 128MB of DDR SDRAM(400MHz) and uses AGP Pro 4x interface.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNVidia NV11/NV15 Details``x951846166,86864,``x``x ``xMicrosoft is showing off a new set of game controllers at GameStock 2000. Here's a shot of the new MS Force Feedback 2 joystick, the "Strategic Commander" controller, and the Sidewinder "GameVoice."



All of these devices look interesting, though I'd hoped that Microsoft would introduce a seperate throttle controller and rudders for flight sim fans.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Microsoft Controllers``x952099260,56060,``x``x ``xYep, that's right. Contrary to what almost everyone was saying, the new 1+ GHz CPU's from Intel and AMD will be announced as early as this Monday - March 6, 2000. Here's a clip from the story on CNet.

AMD will try to trump Intel by releasing a 1-GHz Athlon processor on Monday, sources said today, although it's a good bet that Intel will try to move up the release of their one-gig chip to the beginning of the week as well.

The two companies are locked in a race to get the first PC processor running at 1-GHz, or "one gig," out the door first. Two weeks ago, chips running at this speed weren't expected until the middle of the year. Intel, however, recently moved up the release of its 1-GHz Pentium III. Intel's release has so far been planned for Wednesday, sources said.

Computers will be announced along with the new chips. Compaq is expected to release an Athlon system while HP and IBM are likely to introduce Pentium III 1-GHz systems. Low-end Athlon systems with monitors are expected to start below $2,500 and comparable Pentium III PCs around $3,000 and above. Higher-end models could approach $4,000, sources said.

Along with its 1-GHz Athlon, AMD will also come out with 900-MHz and 950-MHz Athlon processors, various sources said.


And I just got my "new" Pentium III Coppermin 500E up and running at 750 MHz. If it's any consolation it may be a little bit before the new CPU's become available in quantity. Until then, expect to pay quite a premium.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew 1 GHz CPU's Announced this Monday!!``x952158386,32885,``x``x ``xNot that anyone outside of Bakersfield would care, but I just got notice that Time Warner's Roadrunner Cable will be setting up installation dates for late March - 2000. You can go to the Early Bird site and get things rolling.

Rats! I just checked and the site is down. Hopefully it will be up soon.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoadrunner Cable Arriving....Soon``x952158562,75011,``x``x ``x GameSpot has a preview of MechWarrior 4 which Microsoft was showing off at Gamestock 2000. There are a few screenshots along with the article. Sweet.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMechWarrior 4``x952158959,78911,``x``x ``xThere's a few more details on MechWarrior 4 at Microsoft's Gamestock 2000 site. Here's a favorite of mine:



``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMechWarrior 4``x952198658,62554,``x``x ``xIntel did up their Pentium III processors to 1 GHz as expected. Pricing in lots of 1,000 CPU's is $990. Here's the PR ripped from Voodoo Extreme.

The Pentium III processor 1 GHz achieves the highest PC performance scores ever, based on today's most current industry standard benchmarks. The Pentium III processor 1 GHz achieves a SPECint2000* benchmark rating of 410 and a SPECfp2000* result of 284, versus 355 and 256 scores, respectively, for an Intel Pentium III processor 800 MHz. Using the BAPCo's SYSmark* 2000 running under Windows* 2000, the Pentium III processor 1 GHz delivers a score of 188, besting the previous record of 170 held by an Intel Pentium III processor 800 MHz. For Internet performance, using Ziff-Davis' Internet benchmark iBench (using Windows 98), the Pentium III processor 1 GHz outpaced the 800 MHz by 14 percent for loading complex Web pages.***

At the Intel Developer Forum last month, Intel showed production-level PCs from Dell, HP and IBM featuring the Pentium III processor 1 GHz and its processor line up for the balance of this year. The company demonstrated its next generation microarchitecture for performance PCs - code named Willamette - operating at 1.5 GHz. Eight workstation and server manufacturers showed Intel's new 64-bit microarchitecture - the Intel* Itanium* processor - in systems targeted to reach the market later this year. These Itanium processor-based computers will become the engine for e-Business. In addition, Intel showed Timna, a product that features smart integration to enable PCs that will cost less than $600, also targeted for the market place this year.

Intel's Pentium III processor 1 GHz is available now in limited quantities and is being offered by leading computer makers targeting today's PC enthusiasts, who demand state-of-the-art performance for media-rich Internet sites and advanced applications such as digital photography, video editing, music, voice recognition and 3-D gaming.

Last October, Intel introduced Pentium III processors featuring an integrated Level 2 cache that runs at the full speed of the processor core. This feature, named the Advanced Transfer Cache, enables application performance to scale with increasing clock frequencies. This technology is a key to the outstanding performance of the Pentium III processor 1 GHz.

Most other processors on the market offer older technologies that keep the cache memory from operating at full frequencies, limiting the PC's full ability to deliver performance to the user.

The Pentium III processor 1 GHz in SECC2 packaging is priced at $990 in 1,000-unit quantities, and is available now in limited quantities. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel 1 GHz CPU Pricing``x952529084,1501,``x``x ``x Ars Technica Intel Coppermine motherboard review gives the skinny on what they think is the best motherboard to use to overclock a Pentium III 500e. They take a look at the Abit BE6, Intel CC820, Microstar MS-6301, ASUS P3C-2000, Supermicro PIIISCD, IWill VD133, and the Tyan Trinity 400. It's very interesting reading, and I suspect that my own personal experience with an Intel 500e overclocking project will mirror their results.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCoppermine Motherboard Review``x952531005,66701,``x``x ``xATI will be pimping two of their upcoming technologies for their line of graphics chips at the Game Developer Conference. Here's a taste from the ATI press release.

"The Charisma Engine™ is the world's fastest geometry processing unit and is also the first to incorporate advanced game character acceleration for 3D skinning and key-frame character animation. These effects are critical for enabling game characters to reveal life-like facial expressions and to achieve fluid movement and motion.

The Pixel Tapestry™ Architecture features the world's first GigaTexel rendering engine, and includes support for deep multitexturing and new 3D effects with eye-popping photorealistic impact. It easily deals with complex elements such as metals, liquids and wood and their complex interaction with lighting and shadows."

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xATI Next Big Thing``x952531170,12875,``x``x ``xYep, AnandTech already has a review up of the new Intel 1 GHz CPU's. What makes this review really sweet is that he includes benchmarks for Unreal Tournament, and includes a comparison to other CPU's like the Athlon 1 GHz CPU on down to overclocked Intel PIII Coppermine CPU's.

Be sure to use the "Print Article" button whenever you read a review at Anand's. It puts the whole article on one page for your viewing pleasure.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnand Intel 1 GHz Review``x952531533,35793,``x``x ``xAs expected, it looks like the upcoming Voodoo 5000 and 6000 video cards will be shown at the Game Developer's Conference March 8-12. Here's some details from OGR.

3dfx will be showcasing dual VSA-100 processor boards running on the PC and Mac in booth 616 at the San Jose Convention Center, from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12. The company will demo the VSA-100 boards and the games utilizing 3dfx's new full-scene anti-aliasing capability.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo 5000/6000 at GDC``x952531766,32308,``x``x ``x Stomped.com has the latest .plan update from Tim Gift, the Technical Director on Dynamix's Tribes 2. Tribes 2 is one of those games on my "must buy" list ever since I saw it shown at last years E3 show in Los Angeles. Here's some goodies from the .plan.

- "Tested the 6 wheeled tank. All the suspension and
new wheel force dynamics seem to work fine with 6
wheels.
- Added particle emitters to the wheels. They
currently emit smoke particles when a tire slips.
- Switched the way the vehicles are controlled.
Vehicles are Control Objects which have special
properties; including Soonest-Possible transmission of
state data to clients, Move processing and
client-server synchronization. Once you took control of
a vehicle, you basically dropped control of your player
"body" (itself a Control Object). This is how Tribes 1
works, but for T2, we wanted to add the ability to
free-look the player's head while controlling a
vehicle, so I added the ability to control other
Control Objects through the player. Because of the way
we process and synchronize client/server Move
processing, this turned out to be an interesting
addition :) The end result is that the client can now
always control his player, and the player can filter
the moves it forwards to it's Control Object (though a
client can still control a vehicle directly). Since the
player doesn't have to be mounted to an object to
control it, you can be standing on the side of a hill
controlling a vehicle down in the valley (an RC racing
mod comes to mind :)
- Added the player free-look. You can now free-look
while controlling a vehicle. The player's head moves
independently of the body, so you can see pilots
looking around :)"
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 .plan Update - Tim Gift``x952532599,29906,``x``x ``xMicrosoft's upcoming Dungeon Siege does look sweet. I wasn't so sure when I saw the preview that was pointed out to me by "Pingboy." After looking at some of the latest screenshots, and have to admit that I'm intrigued by it's potential. Here's a screenshot that I really liked:





``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege``x952535124,94786,``x``x ``xI called up Time Warner yesterday to check on when we'd see cable Internet access. The latest guess is "the middle of next month." Argh! I can hardly wait until it arrives.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Update (Bakersfield)``x954258988,44466,``x``x ``xYep, that's right. Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet service became available April 12 in Bakersfield. Here's the blurb from the local RR page:

Bakersfield, Rosedale, Shafter/Wasco and Arvin/Lamont


"Time Warner Cable's RoadRunner On-line service will be available in the above TWC service areas starting April 12, 2000."

- Road Runner Bakersfield.


Argh! Well I guess I'll have to call them up and see if it's so today.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Available April 12?``x955712105,35592,``x``x ``xI called Time Warner this morning, and "yes, Road Runner service is now available - but there is a backlog of over 1200 people."

Rats. I've already received email confirming that I'm on the list, so I'll just have to be patient and wait my turn.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Backlog``x955729145,95146,``x``x ``xI just caught this gem in today's Bakersfield Californian.
"More than 20,000 Pacific Bell customers throughout Delano, Rosedale and Oildale now have an opportunity to surf the information superhighway faster through an expansion of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology by Pacific Bell."

and

"For more information on DSL service contact Pacific Bell's Emerging Product Center at (888) 884-2375. The company is offering a special promotion through April 30."

- Bakersfield California

Interesting, eh?

No doubt this has a lot to do with the fact that Time Warner Cable is just now offering it's Road Runner cable Internet service to the same area.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDSL Now Available in NW Bakersfield``x955866312,67714,``x``x ``xI updated my links to the new Pacific Bell DSL page. It's at http://www.pacbell.com/DSL/1,1877,,00.html?site_code=PCB ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDirect Link to Pacific Bell DSL Site``x955890056,19640,``x``x ``xArgh.

I checked on my phone number, and I'm too far out even after Pac Bell's latest upgrade for DSL service.

The rep did mention something interesting. Pac Bell will be rolling out a new service in the next 1-1 1/2 years called "Pronto." It will put fiber optic cable close to the house and then run copper in the rest of the way.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDSL Not Available``x955987408,57775,``x``x ``xI finally received notification that I could schedule an appointment for my Road Runner Internet Cable service. I called up the number that I was given, and the installation folks will be coming out this Monday between 9 am and 1 pm.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xInstallation Date``x956280327,4116,``x``x ``xYes, Time Warner's Cable Internet service is up and running at my place as of this last Monday. The only glitch was a bad/corroded connector at the box on the street. Once that was fixed everything was golden. I did miss out on getting any sleep that day, and I had to work that night. Even though I was up for 48+ hours and dead tired, it was worth it.

At the time that I got it installed I was told that there were approximately 170+ folks that were up and running on Road Runner in town. As of Monday there were approximately 1700 poor souls still on the waiting list to be hooked up.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCable Internet Rocks``x956784138,35873,``x``x ``xI finally got around to adding the new site logo to the page. I'd hoped to roll out a completely re-designed site, but I just haven't had the time to work on it.

The links section has also been updated a bit. That's one of the most valuable parts of the site for me, and I hope that others find it useful as well.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Tweaking``x957375334,81313,``x``x ``xOne of the reasons that I haven't been updating the site that much is that I've been having so much fun with my new cable modem. Lots of Unreal Tournament, and of course just surfing the web.

Thanks to my new broadband connection I should be updating this site more frequently in the future. Now where have you heard that before? Heheh. Of course I get to work the next 7 nights in a row, so don't expect a barrage of features or news during that time.

E3 is about a week away. I'm really looking forward to going. I'll be there Thursday and Friday to check out all the latest hardware and games. I'll post up a report once I get back....really!
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEtc.``x957375605,23748,``x``x ``xOf course now that I have a cable Internet connection I've been looking around for the best way to share it with my other pc. From my short search around the 'net it seems that the UMax UGate-3000 is hard to beat. There is a review at http://www.speedguide.net/.

I'll write something up once my arrives and I've had a chance to play with it.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000``x957375901,99141,``x``x ``xI finally got my TiVo digital TV recorder set up last night. It looks quite promising. TiVo is a new super smart digital VCR type device. Very slick.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTiVo Digital TV Recorder``x957376367,26800,``x``x ``xI finally got a few days off, and I got my shiny new UMax UGate-3000 installed.

I'm quite pleased with the results so far. I'll put up a more complete report of how it went after the new site design is done.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000 Installed``x958893748,10781,``x``x ``xYep, I'm still hard at work on the new site re-design. Bill has put together some ideas that look quite tasty. I really want to finish the site makeover before putting up much new content. At least that's my main excuse for not updating anything here recently. I have an E3 report and a few other goodies ready to go once things are finished off.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Re-Design``x958893959,99721,``x``x ``xYep, the site re-design is finally happening. I went ahead and uploaded it to see how things work. It will be a few days before I can do much more tweaking, but what you see is pretty close to what the final version should look like.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Re-Design``x961858976,49630,``x``x ``xYep, the site is finally up and running. I've finished updating the look, and I'll start to add some content soon. Things to look forward to include: and more.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Revised``x963768903,14224,``x``x ``xI've uploaded my review of the UMax UGate-3000 hub and Cable/ADSL gateway. It's a bit short, but it should help those who are looking around for a way to network a couple of computers together and share a Cable Internet connection.

Since this is the first review I've put up on my revised site, let me lay down some of the ground rules for products that are reviewed here:
That's about it. I hope to become more active with updating content in the future. It's not my full time job, but I'll try to get something up at least every few days for now. I'll see what direction things take in the future.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000``x963788693,76647,``x``x ``xI just finished playing through Diablo 2 with a Sorceress last night. Despite my attempts to initially create a multi-talented "tank mage" I ended up depending on spells and evasion tactics from after Act 1.

Duriel at the end of Act 2, and Hephasto who appears just before the end of Act 4 gave me the most trouble. Here are a few tips that might help you out if you play a Sorceress.

Duriel is located in a small room that you can not back out of without using a Town Portal. On systems with 128MB of RAM or less you will experience quite a bit of lag as the level is loaded in. Duriel is very strong, so it's quite possible you will get hit several times and killed if you don't start trying to move immediately. Duriel is so strong that he can rapidly kill a Sorceress even if she is wearing high quality Splint Mail armor. Duriel quickly taught me the folly of the "tank mage" approach. No matter how much effort I put into better armor and items to raise my defensive abilities it wasn't enough. The only thing that bought me a little bit of time were items that raised my hit points.

The most effective tactic for my Sorceress was to use Blaze. Pick up a +2 or +3 staff of Blaze, ignite, and run like crazy around Duriel. Create a Town Portal when possible, and make liberal use of your health and mana potions. Duriel has a freeze attack that is a "Demonic power" and resistances to cold won't help much. Items that reduce the time for cold effects will help, as will items that speed your base movement. A good set of Fast or Fastest run/walk are a must for a Sorceress. You will spend a lot of your time in the game avoiding monsters and using hit and run tactics.

Monsters that have high resistances to all magic, and that are fast also pose a problem for a Sorceress. Hephasto has both, and he likes to close rapidly with you and go toe to toe towards the end of Act 4. Cold based attacks can not be counted on to slow him down because of his high resistance to magic. He has a lot of hit points, so any magic based attack will take quite some time to kill him. You definitely will want to try to kill as many of the monsters around him as possible before you take him on.

Against any high level "boss" creature a few successful Static Charge spells can quickly drop some of their hit points. I had neglected to develop this skill, so I didn't even try this approach. Instead I relied on Fire Wall spells. The Fire Wall spell can do massive amounts of damage, and it sticks around for awhile. I could have used a Blaze spell instead, but by then I had sold my Blaze staff. I knew a Level 1 Blaze wasn't going to be too successful. Using Fire Wall still didn't make it easy, and I ended up dying quite a few times in the process. Hephasto was certainly one of the toughest monsters in the entire game for me. In comparison Diablo was a cake walk.

There you have it. For more tips on Diablo tactics and walk-thoughs you can visit Diabloii.net or for those who are especially frustrated you can visit Gameguru for Diablo 2 trainers and cheat programs (single player mode only).``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFinished Diablo II With Sorceress``x964188349,71764,``x``x ``xI'm still waiting for my Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC. I ordered mine from Amazon.com. Today I went ahead and put another order in at PDAMart. They say that they don't charge until the order ships, and that I can cancel at any time before it ships. The web site and shopping interface isn't as sharp as it is at Amazon, but they seem to have strong user support for hand held PC's. I also considered ordering at MobilePlanet but their shopping cart gave me an incorrect total of over $1,000. I suspect it had something to do with their use of cookies, and my previous order at PDAMart just prior to using the MobilePlanet shopping cart. In any case it made me nervous about ordering from them, so I didn't complete the process.

Once I do get my PocketPC I'll be sure to post up a review, along with a slew of links to other on-line resources.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC``x964197046,74733,``x``x ``xOver the last 4 years that I've lived in Bakersfield I've noticed how hard it is to connect with local computer resources. I've added a "Local" section to my links list for those who want to find local web resources for Bakersfield.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLocal Links Added``x964199938,9954,``x``x ``xI've been re-playing Diablo 2 with a Barbarian character. So far I've found it much easier going then when I used a Sorceress. Here are a few tips:While Diablo 2 has been fun, it's lost a bit of interest for me after playing through it once. It becomes very click oriented and lacks real replay value. That type of experience is better found in an on-line RPG such as EverQuest.
In a future article I'll take a look at some of the hot new games and hardware I saw at E3 this year. I'll also be exploring a new computer upgrade. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDiablo 2 Barbarian``x964596776,21383,``x``x ``xOver a year ago I was looking at Force Feedback racing wheels for my PC. At the 1999 E3 I became quite enamored with the Act Labs Force Feedback RS. At the time they were also showing the RS Shifter, which is now available. Here's a shot of what it looks like:


I finally broke down and ordered one today. They have a special deal via the Act Labs web site where you can get the Force RS and RS Shifter for $189.99. The package also comes with a full version of Need for Speed III.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAct Labs Force RS / RS Shifter``x964599187,73455,``x``x ``xI've put up the first article for the new site. Best New Unreleased Games of 2000 Part 1 briefly covers a few of the best games that I saw at E3 and have been looking forward to this year. While there have been more games then ever released this year there still are only a few that will really be worth your playing time. These are some of the best titles you should be keeping an eye out for the rest of the year.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBest New Unreleased Games of 2000 Part 1``x964613665,25295,``x``x ``xOnce again I've updated and added new links. Here's a partial listing of the sites that have made it into my Top Links section.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Top Links Added``x964614636,81792,``x``x ``xWhat an oustanding morning it is! Yep, I actually get a few nights off from my "real" job and have time to play with new computer goodies.

My Act Labs wheel and shifter arrived today. I'll unpack it and play with it later tonight when I wake up. Look for a review on it in the next few days here.

The Bakersfield Californian had a news blurb about Intel releasing a Pentium III that went over the 1 GHz mark. Of course most high end Intel CPU's are in short supply, so it really isn't that big of a deal. My next system might be based on an AMD cpu, since I won't have to upgrade my memory if I go that route.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUn-Caged``x965143915,46627,``x``x ``xFollowing up on the story in today's Bakersfield Californian (which is currently off-line at this time) here are a few more details about Intel's new CPU.

Techweb describes the Intel CPU as a 1.13 GHz processor. Both Dell and IBM have announced new systems incorporating the new Intel CPU.

The Dell system as expected uses Direct RDRAM, a very expensive type of memory currently used with high end Intel CPU's. The system will go for around $4200, and will take around 18 days to build. Ouch.

Price for the new Intel 1.13 GHz cpu will be $990 in lots of 1,000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel CPU Goes Beyond 1 GHz``x965145999,82652,``x``x ``xFollowing up on the previous story both Firing Squad and Anand Tech have reviews of the new Intel 1.13 GHz cpu.

From the benchmarks done by Firing Squad it looks like the new CPU doesn't offer much more then what you could get with an Over-Clocked P3 700E. Anand Tech also shows only a few Frames Per Second more in my favorite game, Unreal Tournament. My verdict? Wait. Better and faster CPU's are just around the corner. There is also hope that Intel will ditch RAMBUS and move back towards more standard and more reasonably priced memory.

Update: Sharky Extreme also has a review of the new Intel 1.13 GHz CPU.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPerformance Tests on Pentium 1.13 GHz CPU``x965147266,14462,``x``x ``xI received an email from Creative saying that the new Nomad Jukebox will be released "soon."

I'd been looking at the Nomad Jukebox with a lot of interest before I decided to buy a Compaq iPaq Pocket PC. The Creative Nomad has about 6 GB of storage which Creative claims will get you about 150 CD's worth of music. Nice.

Even nicer? Check out the new Sensory Science Rave players. The Rave 2300 is able to use Iomega Clik! disks that each holds 40MB of data. I might just pick up one of these beauties in addition to my Pocket PC. Just so that I could use it to re-invigorate my jogging regimen, of course. It's a tool, not a toy. No, really. Ah, the temptation of a acquiring a new electronic gizmo.

MP3 Shopping is accepting pre-orders for the Rave 2300 to the tune of $289 smackers. Personally I'd wait until I saw a few reviews of shipping product. While the features are nice, I want to hear how it sounds, and how well it works. Of course it might make for a fun review, and I really have been waiting a long time for an MP3 player. The custom stereo I bought last year for my car is already wired for an MP3 player.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNomad Jukebox - Real Soon Now``x965149013,87087,``x``x ``xNot content with inflicting that awful mess called Daikatana on the gaming public, John Romero has now turned his attention to building his own personal web site.

Oh be still my beating heart.

While delicately pushing away his stylish locks John writes about how he yearns to "...document *all* the games I've written since 1982."

How horrible. Has this man no sense of mercy? Wasn't Daikatana enough?

More importantly is John Romero really Derek Smart's evil twin?

Yep, I still haven't forgotten the ads years ago about Daikatana where Romero promised to make us all "his b*!"``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRomero Web Site - oh joy``x965150550,35903,``x``x ``xI finally got around to setting up my local RoadRunner web site at http://home.bak.rr.com/cagesworld/. I checked on the local site and found that RR had this page up with information on how to create your own home page.

It took me an extra few minutes to do the leg work, since I had to set up my RoadRunner e-mail account in order to get my RR server account information. The instructions at the Online Help Desk didn't work for me. The Email setup information is located in the left side menu under "Help Topics". The Quick Reference table says use:

Master Account: username@bak.rr.com
POP server setting: pop-server@bak.rr.com
SMTP server setting: smtp-server@bak.rr.com

The correct server information for Windows 98 Office 2000's Outlook mail program is entered under the Tools/Accounts menu from Outlook:

POP server setting: pop-server.bak.rr.com
SMTP server setting: smtp-server.bak.rr.com
Account name: put your master or sub-account name here.
Password: type in the password for your account.

Notice that your don't put the @ symbol between "server" and "bak." Of course Outlook will also give you an error message if you do, and tell you that you have not entered a valid name for the server.

I then created a a simple index.html page with a re-direct command that points to my full fledged server at cagesworld.com. I uploaded the site using CuteFTP to the home.bak.rr.com server, and I was in business. Not too bad, but it could have been easier with better instructions.

I didn't see any other member's pages listed yet, but the service just recently became available locally. Today was the first time I had attempted to set up my RR web page since I'd emailed RR last week. Everything is working pretty well, and I'm happy with the results.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoadRunner Home Page Setup``x965159312,39535,``x``x ``xAs promised I did get my Act Labs Force RS force feedback racing wheel set up on my computer last night.

My first impression is that I need a decent game to try it out with. The wheel comes with Need for Speed:3 by Electronic Arts. NFS:3 has been out for quite some time, and feels rather dated. I was very disappointed by the way the cars handled. It felt like I was playing some cheepo 80's arcade game, and not a racecar sim. Slipping and sliding around without much feedback from the car or road became very boring very quickly.

Contrast that with my experience with the Act Labs wheel at 1999’s E3 shows in LA, and you can understand why I felt so let down by the experience.

I was hoping to have the same kind of rush that I'd had while playing a new car racing arcade game I'd tried out locally at John's Incredible Pizza. I could feel the wheels slipping and sliding as I went around a curve. The car responded almost perfectly to control input from the gas, brakes, and steering wheel. It felt like I was driving a real car. NFS:3 came nowhere close to that experience.

I'll have to take a look around, and see if I can find a more up to date racing sim to try out. I know there is a new Need For Speed out, as well as a couple of other similar games.

The only other problem I ran in to was that the wheel does not clamp properly to my computer desk. I need to be able to open up the clamp just another 1/2 to 1 inch or so in order for it to mount properly. I ran into the same problem when I tried to mount it to a cheapo folding table I have in my office. I'm thinking of cutting out or sanding down a few spots on my desk in order to get the wheel mounted correctly. For now it works, at least well enough to give it a spin.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFirst Impressions Act Labs Force RS``x965223231,40053,``x``x ``xI went to the local CompUSA yesterday, and picked up two promising racing titles. Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed by Electronic Arts has received several favorable reviews recently, and looked like it would be a fun "light" racing sim. NASCAR III, by Papyrus/Sierra/Havas Interactive has a reputation for being approachable for both beginners and serious gear heads alike.

The first game I fired up was NFS:PU. The introduction was catchy, but not quite as fun as Need For Speed:III. It did point forward to an intriguing career mode, where you get to progress from the first classic Porsche racers to the modern GT1.

Once again I was a little disappointed by the way the cars felt. NFS:PU is supposed to feature a newer physics engine, but it felt in many ways quite similar to NFS:3. I haven't spent that much time yet with the game, so I'm trying to keep an open mind. It could be that I need to tweak a few game settings, or adjust my Act Labs Force RS wheel.

The scenery is gorgeous, and it's quite a blast to race through the exotic locations featured in the game. The graphics engine has been updated and polished, but it still doesn't look like I'm getting accelerated 3D support. I'll have to hunt around and see if there is a graphics setting that I'm missing.

Papyrus NASCAR III has a much more sophisticated physics engine. It also has obvious support for my 3dfx video card. I'm not a big NASCAR racing fan, but I could see how it would be a load of fun. NASCAR 4 looks even nicer. Check out the screenshot below:


I'll put up a more complete report on the Act Labs Force RS and Shifter once I've had a chance to spend some time playing around with them. So far I’m pretty pleased. I can’t imagine trying to play a racing game without some kind of a wheel. The Act Labs RS is by far the best wheel I’ve tried. The force effects are very good, and the wheel just feels right. My only complaint so far is that I’ve had to modify my desk in order to get the wheel to fit on it properly.

Addendum: SportsPlanet has a review of Nascar 4 up. Thanks, Brett.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAct Labs Part 1``x965315762,36196,``x``x ``xHard OCP has a very nice review up of the brand spanking new Athlon KT7 motherboard. They byline the article with the tag "This could very well be "The Board to Have" this year." They could be right. It's got a ton of features that make it very Over Clocker friendly.

The question will be - "how stable is it?" It looks like Abit takes this issue very seriously, and has incorporated a number of features that should make it the most stable K7 motherboard out there. It's a good article -well worth the read.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAbit KT7``x965379024,66149,``x``x ``xMore Top Links have been added to Cage's World.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Links Added``x965386582,12927,``x``x ``xI've added a new racing sim web site that looks pretty solid. I found it while I was looking around for an alternative to HigherStakes, which has been off-line for the last several days. Hopefully the site hasn't vanished, and will be back on-line in the near future.

Behind the Wheel is a major site that hosts and links to a horde of other racing sites. Lots of good stuff there. It's well worth the visit.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Racing Site``x965713930,28265,``x``x ``xI'd seen this mentioned somewhere - I think it was in a recent issue of ComputerEdge. In any case, Homestead is a free web hosting service that will handle everything from personal web sites to small business sites. Not having used it I can't vouch for them, but it does look like it would work ok. There are no pop up adds or huge ad banners. Instead there is a small plain menu bar at the bottom of your page with links to different Homestead services.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree Web Site Host``x965716604,11956,``x``x ``xI added the basic freeware version of The Ultimate Bulletin Board on a trial basis to this site. The freeware version doesn't have a lot of features, but it gets the job done. If it works out ok I'll setup the nicer full featured version.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xForum Trial``x965761268,25747,``x``x ``xIf you have what you think is an interesting Bakersfield web site send me an email at cage@cagesworld.com. I can't guarantee that I'll add it to my local links, but I'll certainly consider it. Sites that hold special interest for me are ones with a distinct local flavor. If you have a music, game, club, or special interest site send it my way.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree Bakersfield Links``x965761646,70696,``x``x ``xAfter installing the new forum software I went ahead and deleted the comments link to each news item.

The comments feature was never really used. Now that the new forum is up there is no need to keep the old comments link.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComments Removed``x965762318,97429,``x``x ``xWill Cox cable bring another broadband competitor to Bakersfield? @Home is a cable internet service that may be coming to Bakersfield in the next year. Cox Cable Bakersfield has been tight lipped about any plans. Phone calls about plans for bringing Cox Cable @ home to Bakersfield have been answered with a "maybe" or "not likely" in the past. Will Cox Cable finally offer broadband service now that Time Warner Bakersfield is offering cable internet connections? Who knows, but there could be quite a few more choices for broadband access in the next year in Bakersfield.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCox @Home``x965818857,68859,``x``x ``x BXBoards now has a review of the Abit KT7 motherboard up. Here's a taste:
"Memory compatiblity is improved over the KA7 - whether this is as a result of dropping the TI data buffer and opting for a more conventional 3 DIMM slot design is unclear, but generally the board is much more forgiving in SDRAM compatiblity than previous Abit boards."
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnother Abit KT7 Review``x965821990,76494,``x``x ``xThe Register is reporting that there will be a big price drop for AMD CPU's August 14. Here's a snip from the article:
"Sources close to AMD's plans have confirmed that we can expect big price drops on its microprocessors on the 14th of August.

The cuts were originally slated for the end of this month, as revealed here some weeks back."
So if you are looking at buying an AMD system your best bet is to wait for a few weeks. My guess is that AMD will also have to respond to Intel's latest 1.13 GHz cpu with a similar offering of their own soon. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Price Drop``x965822357,17492,``x``x ``xAha! Someone in the roadrunner.bak.help newsgroup was kind enough to point me to the correct Bakersfield RR Personal Home Page URL. Thanks, jdavis!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRR Home Pages``x966052904,80382,``x``x ``x FilePlanet has the brand new Hasbro NASCAR Heat demo up. It's a 42.1 MB download.

There is also a preview for NASCAR Heat at SportPlanet. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat Demo``x966058529,26644,``x``x ``x Firing Squad has a review of the brand new Logitech Optical mice.

Being a gadget nut myself, I'm sure I'll pick one up as soon as I can get my hands on one. Currently my favorite mouse is the Microsoft with IntelliEye optical mouse. It's given me a sharp increase in the number of head shots that I score in Unreal Tournament. If you are not careful, it can cause some problems when you lift it off the mousing pad, but otherwise it's been quite a find. The IntelliEye optical mouse is about $30 at the local CompUSA, and by far the best mouse I've tried out.

I have a much more expensive Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer that sits in my closet because it tends to slip out my size 7 1/2 hand with rapid movements. I hate the slippery silver finish it has on it. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLogitech Mice``x966059784,2957,``x``x ``xAfter playing around with the NASCAR HEAT demo I thought I'd post up some of my impressions so far. Bare in mind that I'm not a race sim expert, and that I've never driven a real NASCAR car. At this point I'm one of those "casual" fans that Hasbro is aiming at with their "Normal" mode. I've been playing around with NASCAR:3 and Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed most recently. I made sure that I didn't read any other previews before I formed my own feelings about the demo.

My first impressions of NASCAR HEAT were not all that favorable. The normal mode physics didn't feel as polished as NASCAR:3. The Expert mode was almost uncontrollable because it was so much more unforgiving of heavy handed driving. Much like the difference between a beginner mode and an expert mode in a flight sim. That's not a bad thing, but there is quite a difference between the two modes.

Then I played with NH a bit more, and I started to really appreciate the immersiveness of the sim. Much like Red Baron, you start to feel like you are really there. The detail of the cars with all the flashy decals and paint jobs is quite impressive. The track and crowds seem to be more alive then N:3. I expect that NASCAR:4 will have much of the same types of improvements. You have to love the advances that have been made with faster and better video cards over the last few years. I'm sure it would be even better running a Voodoo 5-5500+ with 4x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing. I can hardly wait until I can get my hands on a V5-6000.

Yes, NASCAR HEAT does support my Act Labs Force RS steering wheel and RS Shifter. So far I haven't found much of a need for the shifter in NASCAR games. Once you get up to 4th gear you usually stay there. The Single Race game starts you off at almost full speed anyway, so there isn't much of a need to do a lot of shifting. The support seems to be quite polished for all types of controllers, and configuring everything was a breeze.

I really didn't notice all that much excitement from the "6 degrees of Freedom" physics engine that is used in NH. Perhaps after I play with it a bit more I might notice the difference. Since I'm very new to racing sims I probably don't have the same appreciation for this feature as do more veteran racing simmers.

One of the more enjoyable experiences I get with any of the racing sims is playing "bumper car" with the other opponents. I find that the only place to really gain ground is around the turns. Even NASCAR:3 allows you to do a little bit of nudging of other cars as you sneak inside the turn. I'm sure it's much more catastrophic in the Expert mode if you bump a car at 180+ mph, but in Normal mode you can give the opponent a good bump and squeeze by in the turns. What's even more fun is that the computer-controlled cars will do the same thing to you. If you fail to bump them quite right all it does is slow you down, and you get to watch them vanish into the distance as you come out of the turn and desperately mash down on the gas pedal to get back up to speed.

All in all the NASCAR HEAT demo was quite enjoyable. I'll seriously considering picking this one up when it comes out in the next few weeks.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNH: Impressions``x966148417,34399,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC's have been in very short supply still. I ordered mine on July 6, 2000 and it's still listed as being on back order at amazon.com. Pdamart has a list of around 150 customers who are waiting for the Compaq Pocket PC last time I checked. MobilePlanet has an anticipated ship date of around September 15. Ugh!

Rumor on the Usenet has it that you can get the Compaq iPAQ 3630 at RadioShack.com. The 3630 is supposed to be identical to the 3650, except it's the on-line version sold via Radio Shack. They list it as being available in stores even, but I have yet to find one locally here in Bakersfield, California.

I'm off today, so I'm going to go hunting again locally and see what I can find. I'm really itching to get my hands on one - soon! ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xiPAQ Stuff``x966353198,80409,``x``x ``xWell I called around locally in Bakersfield and I had absolutely no luck. Not surprisingly the local Radio Shack and Office Max had never even heard of a Compaq iPAQ 3650. "A what?......What's that?" If you live in Bakersfield you know what I mean. It feels like we live in some kind of technological third world country at times.

I double checked the 'net and didn't have any luck there either. Everyone is backordered with varying re-stock dates. I even found a few that were charging $50-$60 over retail, and they were backordered as well. Amazing.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNo iPAQ 3650's``x966387790,87895,``x``x ``xYep, it's time for another round of new links that I've added to the site. I also added a new category for PDA's. In no particular order here they are:

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Links``x966392787,96471,``x``x ``xSad, but true. AGN3D has announced that it will be shutting down. There's some non-specific talk on the forum there that another web site will launch in the future. Jeremy Alford, the one who started AGN3D, developed what appears to be terminal brain cancer. For more info you can visit this thread at AGN3D's forum. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAGN3D Shutdown``x966429976,71700,``x``x ``xI remember running across Tweak3D in the past when I was looking at some hardware reviews. What peaked my interest is that the Webmaster is from Bakersfield. In the interest of building up the local computer community in B-Town I've added Tweak3D to "Top Sites" list for now.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTweak3D Linked``x966431375,49910,``x``x ``xThe Non-Disclosure Agreements were removed a few days ago, and a rash of reviews about the soon to be released NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra have hit the 'net. Firing Squad had the obligatory Quake 3 results, showing a hefty 20 to 30 frames per second increase in speed over the NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS.

Of more interest to me was AnandTech's review of the GeForce 2 Ultra. Anand posts up what I consider to be the most valuable information - how fast a video card is running Unreal Tournament. UT, Tribes, and of course Red Baron 3D all use a graphics engine that so far runs best on the Voodoo series of video cards. What matters most to me when I look at the new video cards is "How well will they run my favorite games?"

So how did the GeForce 2 Ultra do on UT? According to AnandTech the current fastest Voodoo card, the V5-5500 scores around 49 Frames Per Second at 1024x768 on a Pentium III 550e. The GeForce Ultra gets around 46 FPS.

When you factor in how great FSAA looks on a Voodoo 5 it really isn't much of a choice. As long as the V5-6000 comes out in the next few months it will remain the top choice to replace my V3-3000. Car sims, flight sims, and my favorite 3D shooters should all run and look better on a V5-6000. A nice computer upgrade combined with a fast new video card should be just the ticket just before the avalanche of choice new holiday games start to hit the market in the fall.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra``x966435545,76238,``x``x ``x Tribal War has been a regular fount of knowledge about Tribes 2 recently. After they broke the story the attempt to fix Denial of Service attacks on Tribe servers, they are serving up another juicy one.

According to Tribal War:
"In #tribalwar tonight, Dave "Qix" Georgeson stated:
I think the beta app site will go live next week."
Outstanding. It looks like there definitely will be some Tribes 2 fun coming our way soon.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Beta``x966504955,64513,``x``x ``x Firing Squad has added their review of the Abit KT7 motherboard. The review is quite comprehensive, comparing the performance of the KT7 versus the ASUS A7V. If you are going the Athlon route, the Abit KT7 looks like the one to get.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFS Abit KT7``x966505790,94307,``x``x ``xI was fooling around with HyperSnap and took a few screen shots of Hasbro's NASCAR Heat. Here's a sample of the results

        

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat``x966521704,97490,``x``x ``xThis last E3 I happened upon a couple of interesting titles from JoWooD Productions.

Two of the more interesting titles that they were showing were "FrontierLand" and "Traffic Giant." FrontierLand features gorgeous 3D graphics and artwork. It reminds me very much of an updated 3D Railroad Tycoon II. Here are a few shots:

  


Here's a snip from the Traffic Giant web page:
"...is the only game that lets you put public transport on the right tracks. You control an entire fleet of busses, trams, underground trains and much more. You experience realistically functioning town traffic with thousands of vehicles and pedestrians. You can ask each inhabitant what he thinks and feels."


And of course here are few shots from the web page

  

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTraffic Giant``x966530678,16238,``x``x ``xHooray!

I am finally getting my hands on a Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC. The Radio Shack version is the Compaq iPAQ 3630, but it's the same thing as the 3650 that is sold through retail locations. If you visit the RadioShack.com you can order one on-line or you can call up 1-800-TheShack and order one via a real live person. I wanted to make sure that they had them in stock, so I went with 1-800-TheShack. I ordered it next day air, so I should have it some time Friday.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq 3630``x966531040,92018,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC's have arrived at my local CompUSA. Of course they only had the one on display, and no accessories. I was told by the salesperson that they had received around 7 of them a few weeks ago, but they were sold out almost immediately.

Speaking of CompUSA, but I've been wondering if the buyout they went through this last year is finally changing things. I've actually talked to a few salespeople who seemed to know a little about what they were talking about. They seem a bit more helpful, polite, and eager to please. Maybe it's new management? What ever it is, it's a refreshing change.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocketPC at CompUSA``x966625909,23388,``x``x ``xMy brand new Compaq 3630 Pocket PC arrived last night. Unfortunately I was at my night job, so I didn't get to open it up until this morning. I'll grab some sleep while it's getting it's minimum 3 hour charge. Then I'll take it in to work with me tonight and give it a whirl.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocketPC Here``x966697756,49672,``x``x ``xMy apologies for the lack of updates the last few days. I was a bit busy at my night job, and I had the extreme pleasure of ingesting something that didn't quite agree with me yesterday. Yep, I pulled a "Billy Wilson", but not to worry, I'm feeling much better now. My new Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC got quite a few looks from my co-workers. I've been putting it through it's paces at work, and I've been quite pleased so far by how it's working out. I'll put up review in the near future with more details.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCaged``x966942101,8142,``x``x ``xPlanet Hardware News had a story yesterday about Toshiba's new 2 GigaByte eensy teensy little Hard Drive. Here's a snip:
"Fitting a 2 gigabyte disk drive into a 5 mm thick PC Card form factor, as Toshiba has in its industry-leading MK2001 (announced in May), requires aggressive miniaturization of all components, including IC packages"
I should say. This is a 100% increase over the capacity of IBM's recently announced MicroDrive.

The Toshiba drive is a Type II CompactFlash device. No word on when it will be available, or if it will work with Pocket PC's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTeeny 2 GB HD``x966942147,82326,``x``x ``xYep, it was another busy day of sleeping here at home. I'm awake now, and ready to make a few updates. I notice that my RedBaron page still gets the lion share of hits, so I'll try to make my way over there and spiff it up a little more. I picked up a new keyboard at CompUSA. It was black, one of my favorite colors. Unfortunately after using it a bit I've noticed that it feels quite cramped compared to my previous keyboard. I have a feeling that I'll have to go back to the old standby shortly. The rest of my Compaq iPAQ order came today. I now have a Compact Flash expansion backpack, as well as a new Rhino case. I think what I'll end up doing is stringing along a series of usability articles on my new Pocket PC. As with most hardware goodies you really don't get a feel for them until you've used them for a bit. Also I'd like to let folks experience from my point of view all the goodies, links, problems, and solutions that I come across while using the PPC. The first order of business will be to switch out this painfully small keyboard for "Old Faithful."``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCaged``x967018096,22280,``x``x ``xI noticed over at Stomped.com a bit about a story on News.com about the Pentium 4. A couple of items from the story caught my eye. First of all the Pentium 4 will be twice as big as a Pentium 3. Next, according to this TechWeb article that Redwood quotes, Intel has to stick with Rambus until 2003 in desktop systems. Ouch! Of special interest from the News.com article is the mention that:
"Intel will announce tomorrow a new version of the StrongArm chip for handhelds and cell phones, along with a new brand name."
There is no doubt in my mind that this could be one of the quickest growing segments of Intel's business in the near future. The Strongarm chip is what powers my Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC, and by all reports is quite a bit faster then the cpu's found in other Pocket PC's at this time.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium 4 News``x967018669,94215,``x``x ``xArs Technica has a bit from JC's Intel Roadmap that outlines cost and availability among other things for upcoming Intel CPU's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel Roadmap``x967019261,48424,``x``x ``x SportPlanet has a brand spanking new preview of Madden 2001 by EA Sports for the PC. With football season just around the corner it's time to start looking at some head crunching goodness from your favorite PC football sim. Here's a sample pic from the EA Site.

 


Addendum: According to this GameWeek news bit, Madden 2001 for the PC should appear in retail stores today.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMadden 2001``x967020105,22659,``x``x ``x AnandTech also has a article on the Intel Developer Forum. From reading the article it looks like the Pentium 4 will not hit wide release until well into 2001. As several sites have reported there was a 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 being demoed at the show, but it was only running CPUID. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt the Pentium 4 will be a possible choice for those looking to upgrade before the end of the year.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnand@IDF``x967021559,59981,``x``x ``xI haven't even had a chance to break the shrinkwrap on the game before the first patch was released for Warlords Battlecry. The patch text file lists quite a few enhancements and fixes. I was quite pleased to notice how many items on the list relate to improved gameplay, and not bug fixes.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWarlords Battlecry Patch``x967022153,69472,``x``x ``x Local Bakersfield hardware site Tweak 3D came through with an interesting review of the MP3 Solutions CD Player. The player allows you to play MP3 formatted CD's in a portable player. You can also hook it up to your car stereo via a line out jack. The "Mambo X" player listed on the MP3 Solutions site also features an Infrared remote. All for $199.95. I think I'll have to take a serious look at one. As I've mentioned before, the stereo in my car is already rigged for some kind of MP3 player, and this one looks like it could be "The One."

Addendum: According to the follup up "Coments" thread for the article you can find the MP3 Solutions player for cheaper at a couple of places. The Computer Geek has them for around $99. I'm not sure I'd order from them, but they are the cheapest. A more likely choice is EasyBuy 2000 which has them for $115. Not bad.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMP3 CD Player``x967023040,14407,``x``x ``xIt turns out that there are few MP3 CD Players. The technology appears to still be in it's growing stages. The current crop lacks title display and even a basic FM tuner. There is hope on the horizon, with at least one unit which will incorporate title display. The two most promising units I've found so far are:``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMore MP3 CD Players``x967048026,35012,``x``x ``xNASCAR Heat by Hasbro also went Gold and into distribution. It should start to appear at retail today. Call before you go, not everyone has been able to find it yet.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat Out``x967049349,28069,``x``x ``xWell what to my surprise did I find when I was wondering the aisles of CompUSA yesterday, but a gaggle of Microsoft's Strategic Commanders piled up on the shelves. Being the obsessive computer geek gadgetholic that I am I picked one up. I'll give it a whirl in a few nights - I have to work again tonight. I also noticed that the Bakersfield CompUSA had the new Logitech MouseMan Wheel. I'm not so sure about the finish on the new mice. They look neat, but the finish is a bit slippery. This was my biggest complaint about the top of the line Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS Strategic Commander``x967131423,30944,``x``x ``x Unreal Universe has a new Unreal Tech movie on their site. The movie is a 42 MB mpg. Simply stunning. Not only is there far more detail and skeletal animation, but the outside terrain engine has grown by leaps and bounds. For the first time while viewing a Unreal demo I got the feeling of huge wide open spaces like Tribes. Very nice.

Of special interest to me is mention that Unreal Tech is being optimized for cards that support hardware transform and lighting. That might cause me to look a little closer at the GeForce 256 Ultra versus the Voodoo 5-6000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tech Movie``x968578343,65221,``x``x ``xI've been a bit behind in the updates once again. I've been looking at a couple of different options for doing a database backend for the site. I decided that I needed to install Windows 2000 for development reasons, and of course that led to re-partitioning my hard drive and doing a fresh install of Windows. I then did an upgrade to Windows Me, which has been fairly painless so far.

I had hoped to wait until I did my next system upgrade, but some problems with my Time Warner RoadRunner service prompted me to do it earlier. After re-formatting my HD and installing Windows 98 the problems persisted.

I did some looking around the 'net, and I still didn't find a solution. I did come across a nifty program mentioned in the alt.fan.roadrunner newsgroup called Visual Route that helps troubleshoot network problems. I called up RoadRunner tech support, and they got things fixed in less then a day. I'm still not sure what they did, but everything is running great now. I suspect it was a neighborhood network problem.

I'm working this weekend, so it will be a few days before I can do much more in the way of updates. Another problem I'm looking at is how to do decent photos of hardware that I review here. My older Olympus digital camera just isn't cutting it. I think what I need is some kind of basic studio setup with quality lighting and backgrounds. You may have to put up with some rather amateur shots until I get that one figured out.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUpdate``x969050307,8111,``x``x ``xI'm just finishing up my Windows 2000 Professional installation. All that is left now is to install Win2K drivers for my video card and sound card. It looks like I'll need to set up the network settings so that I can access the Internet via Windows 2000 as well.

I elected to go with a dual boot Windows Millenium Edition/Windows 2000 Professional. My IBM 22GB Hard Drive is partitioned into 14 GB for Windows Me, and 8 GB for Windows 2000.

The only serious problem I ran into was that the Win2K install program would not copy the setup files to my HD. First of all I tried setting the PIO mode in my BIOS to 3, and then 2. When that didn't work I tried setting my BIOS to boot from my CD-ROM drive. Doing so worked, but there still was a file that initially failed to copy at around the 98% done mark. I just held down the Enter key (to Retry copying the file) and it worked after a few attempts.

Incidentally, my CD-ROM drive is a Pioneer 103S DVD drive. My HD is set up on IDE 0, and my CD-ROM drive is set up on IDE-1. I may need to upgrade my DVD/CD-ROM drive in the future, since this is not the first time I've had problems. It's also a little bit slow when playing intro movies and loading level cut-scenes.

I need to work tonight, so I'm probably going to go grab some sleep shortly.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWindows 2000``x969468577,11511,``x``x ``xOne of the reaons I was a bit tardy in getting around to installing Windows 2000 is that I just picked up a copy of Microsoft's Crimson Skies. I was pleasantly surprised with this one, especially since I'd played around with it a little at this years E3 computer games show.

The terrain was nicely detailed. There is full 3D or "Rolling Terrain" with mountains and canyons. The trees are very nicely done, and give a nice sense of speed as you fly around them. The enemy AI likes to get down in the weeds just as much as you do, and it's loads of fun chasing them up and down through the valleys and hills.

My system (PIII 500e Over-Clocked to 750 MHz w/Voodoo 3-3000 video card) noticed a pause or two as a map loaded up. I'm going to have to hunt around and see if there is a Frames Per Second indicator that you can turn out to see how I'm doing. I ran it at 1024x768 with most details on, but ended up dropping it to 800x600. I know it's time for me to upgrade my cpu and video card soon. Just another month before the GeForce 256 Ultra and V5-6000 come out. Plus there should be another round of CPU price drops in October.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCrimson Skies``x969469070,64208,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC continues to be a hot item. This C|Net story says:
"The Houston-based computer manufacturer aims to produce 50,000 iPaq handhelds per month by December and 100,000 per month sometime during the first quarter,..."
Wow!

I sure like my Pocket PC. I must confess I don't use it quite as much as I expected. Application development is lagging a bit behind my expectation so far. Still, I find it very handy for notes, task lists, and reference. I'm also starting to push the limits of the base 32 MB of RAM that comes with the unit.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq iPAQ HOT!``x969547327,56991,``x``x ``xHere's another interesting MP3 player. C|Net has a story about the just announced Iomega HipZip portable MP3 player. It uses 40MB removable storage Clik disks, and can be used as a PocketZip drive. Very cool. One of these little wonders will set you back $299. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIomega HipZip``x969633818,92357,``x``x ``xThe new Microsoft Force Feedback 2 has hit the stores. I got to see one of these tonight for the first time. Unfortunately the reason I got a look at it was that one of my friends had just picked one up from the local CompUSA, and was having problems with it. After going through the obvious motions of making sure the USB port was working and the software was loaded correctly I took a look around on Deja News Usenet. Sure enough, I found the following post there:
"Okay. The latest update from Microsoft is that the FF2 may not work on VIA chipset motherboards with anything faster than a 500mhz CPU. They've had several people call in today with this problem, and they're still trying to determine if the issue is with the VIA drivers or the Sidewinder device drivers. A solution is pending, but they are working on it. Keep your fingers crossed!" - Sanford
I tested it on my Abit VA6 (VIA based motherboard) and had the same problem. It would show up in the Windows Me Control Panel as being "ok", but it wouldn't respond to any input.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS FF 2``x969966031,93697,``x``x ``xMy copy of Windows Me and Windows 2000 are now happily living together on my newly partitioned hard drive. My friend was not so lucky. He had installed Windows Me over a previous installation of Windows 98. Not to surprisingly he had some problems. His system's network behavior became quite flaky with network clients appearing and disappearing in his "Network Places." He went ahead and re-formatted his hard drive, and did a fresh install of Windows Me. After that things worked much better. Of course we tested it out by playing a round of Age of Empires II: Conquerors. You know, just to make sure it was working. A few hours later his system was pronounced fit, and he was on his way home around 2 a.m. Testing is hard work, you know.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWindows Me``x969966559,1022,``x``x ``xI got this tidbit via iE in my mail just now:
"iEntertainment is planing a FREE week of Dawn of Aces -- our award winning World War I flight simulation game. The FREE Dawn of Aces Thanksgiving week is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 21 -- Monday, Nov. 27. All you need to participate is an email address. "
Well there you go. Now is the perfect time to give DoA a whirl for free.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree DOA``x969966697,75780,``x``x ``xNo sooner do I add Gamer's Depot this week to my list of top sites when they come through big. According to the news a 69 MB "Test" release of Microsoft's Mech Warrior 4 is available for download for a limited time through IGN PC. Sweet. Here's the link. Just click on the download button at the end of the article. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMW 4 Test``x969969903,90407,``x``x ``x The Guru 3D has a few interesting stories on their news page. After following the link from Hard OCP I found a nice new pic of Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra. The Guru 3D also has a rumor from "legit" sources about the NVidia NV20's release plans and performance. I don't know if it's true, but it's an interesting read.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xGeForce Ultra``x970001346,65496,``x``x ``xNot that the Pentium 4 was a leading contender for my next upgrade, but C|Net is reporting that Intel is having problems with the P4, and it will be delayed until November 20 or later.

Also this Firing Squad article from August 30, 2000 says that support for SDRAM until late next year. Couple that with the possibility that the P4 will not be as fast as a P3 at equivalent clock speeds and you can see how some are skeptical about how well the P4 will do. It certainly would cause some caution among those who want to be the first ones on the block with Intel's latest CPU.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium 4 Delay``x970478228,13625,``x``x ``x Planet Hardware reviewed the Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32x CD-Writer and gave it an impressive "10." I've been looking around for a CD-Burner, and this one looks pretty sweet.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPlextor CD Burner``x970479107,73116,``x``x ``xAfter applying the patch to Microsoft's Crimson Skies I am still frustrated by performance and quality control issues. Doesn't anyone at Microsoft do QA on these things?

The game design is well done. The artwork is not bad. The feeling of speed is fantastic. Overall the game designers of CS are to be congratulated.

The programming, however, is simply horrible. Disk access stalls and pauses are routine throughout the game. Even the menu interface system is plagued by slowdowns. I feel like I'm playing in debug mode, without any speed optimizations.

I would have also appreciated at least the possibility of a stall. As it is, Crimson Skies can be quite fairly criticized as a space sim in flight sim clothing.

The targeting system is problematic at best. Enemy planes refuse to be targeted even when in plain view at times.

A month or two longer in development might have made the difference. Whoever let this thing ship in its current state deserves a swift kick in the pants.


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCS Verdict``x970495636,74333,``x``x ``xVoodoo Extreme and many other GameFan sites are down after GameFan pulled the plug on their hosted sites, according to a news story at GameWeek. GameFan, recently merged with Express.com, and said in an email to GameFan affiliates that:
"We have found that this service can no longer be supported under our business model,and we will do whatever we can within reason to facilitate any transitional requirements."
Currently there is a message at VE that only says:
"Please excuse the interruption of this site, but our servers are currently experiencing some technical problems.
Our crack team of engineers is working on getting this site up and running, so be sure to check back soon!"
The same exact message also appears at the GameFan home page. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVE Down``x970568159,2160,``x``x ``xI've seen mention at several sites news that AMD will be introducing a 1.2 GHz Athlon soon, along with the requisite price drops. Here's a yank from the Register.
"A spokesperson for AMD Europe told The Register that both the 1.2GHz Athlon and an 800MHz Duron would be formally announced later this month..."
October 15 or earlier has been mentioned as possible dates.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD CPU's & Prices``x970577266,33257,``x``x ``xI saw over on 3DGPU that EBWorld has the Creative Labs Annihilator GeForce Ultra available for pre-order. EBWorld lists the ship date as October 9, 2000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xGeForce Ultra``x970612203,41527,``x``x ``x Hard OCP is reporting that Voodoo Extreme will:
"be back online around Monday with a slightly new look and all the attitude you'd expect from VoodooExtreme."
About dang time I'd say. I was wondering what was going on at VE.

Addendum: Gamers.com has an interview with Daniel Wool, director of public relations for Express.com about what is going on with GameFan and it's hosted sites including VoodooExtreme.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVE Back Monday?``x970740571,96172,``x``x ``xI spotted this bit on BetaNews:
"A 1.2GHz Athlon and an 800MHz Duron processor will be the newest additions to the AMD processor family beginning here shortly. The new processors are the next step in the company's goal to roll out 1.5GHz Athlons in January, and steps up the heat on rival Intel to keep up with the pace. New processors will be introduced every 5 to 6 weeks by AMD in order to make the January deadline for 1.5GHz."
AMD will really start to put the screws on Intel if they also continue to undercut Intel's pricing while producing faster CPU's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Crushing Intel``x970741419,12090,``x``x ``xI decided to give Red Baron 3D another whirl, and in the process wrote up a RB3D Multiplayer Guide. It's very basic, and shows the steps I took to patch Red Baron 2 to Red Baron 3D in order to play on-line. It also contains a few tweaks to the basic settings and tips on how to get going. Those who are going through WW I flight sim withdrawal after the demise of SimGuild's Flying Circus should find it useful. Especially those fine chaps in the Flying Tigers Virtual Squadron. Enjoy!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRB3D Multiplayer Basics``x970776304,8758,``x``x ``xWell surprise surprise, but what did I find in my mail today but a beta CD for Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2. Unfortunately I work the next few nights, but I'll try to give it a whirl as soon as possible.

Red Baron fans will be interested to know that Tucker Hatfield, the director for Red Baron 3D, is the Lead Designer for MSCFS:2.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS CFS 2``x970779272,48052,``x``x ``xWell Tucker, I think you mostly got this one right.

After spending a little time with Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulater 2 I have to say that I'm generally pleased with what I see. In the same vein as the original Red Baron Tucker Hatfield, the lead designer for MSCFS:2 has created a game that is quite approachable by those new to flight sims and by those who are seasoned vets.

MSCFS:2 is the one flight sim released in the last two years that had rekindled my love of flying. The beta version that I'm trying out is obviously not a finished product, but what is there is very enjoyable so far. I'll put up a more detailed preview with some screenshots in a few days when I get a chance.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMSCFS:2 Preview 1``x970842557,15273,``x``x ``xThere is a new Unreal Tournament patch out. That brings UT up to version 4.32. You can grab it from any of the major UT sites as well as FilePlanet Here's what the patch does:

Version 432 is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, 420, 425, and 428).

Bug fixes

Version 432 is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, 420, 425, and 428).
- faster server browser initial pinging of servers. Added a new default property to [UBrowserServerPing], MaxSimBroadbandPing, which defines the max number of servers to simultaneously ping if your netspeed > 6000.
- team scoreboard holds more players (no more names dropping off the bottom for 32 player games).
- fixed grenade smoke in OpenGL - fixed some D3D compatibility issues
- faster server ping response for servers with mutators.
- admins lose cheats and die when they log out as admins.
- fixed bug causing player team choice to be overriden (also cause maxteamsize not to work when 2)
- fixed thrown weapons sinking into ground in net play
- fixed listen server crashing with too many serverpackages
- fixed server still sending data on disconnect
- fixed server not allowing custom skins because of skin cheat fix
- servers are now prioritized by version on the master server
- improved map decompression time.
- slight improvement to server CPU utilization.
- prevent message spamming in net play.
- centered admin messages - if logged in as an admin, start your message with a # to have it centered.
- voice autotaunts not printed in net games.
- fix for CTF AI.
- limit translocator firing rate (max 2/sec) to prevent translocator spamming bind cheats.
- suicides are counted as deaths.
- admin spectators can use # to center print messages.
- disallow setting of actor properties using the "set" command on clients. Prevents a whole class of cheats.
- faster menu loading with mods. modmakers to make a small change to the way they add items to the Mod menu.
It looks like a worthwhile download. The file is 5.5 MB in size. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUT 4.32 Patch``x970872487,22714,``x``x ``xThe Register has this to say about the new Intel Pentium 4 pricing and release date:
"Intel's Pentium 4 is now scheduled for launch at the end of November in 1.4 and 1.5GHz guises.

The entry level P4 should debut at 1.4Ghz, priced at $652, while the premium part will ship at 1.5Ghz and $827."
Well you knew that Intel wouldn't just site there and let AMD whack away at Intel's customer base. The P4 still needs some work to become a viable alternative, and at this point it appears it will require expensive RDRAM.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xP4 Pricing``x970873100,23843,``x``x ``xOnce again it's time for me to upgrade my system. As anticipated the prices of the Athlon CPU's dropped like a rock in October. I expect that further drops will occur over the next few weeks and months as AMD releases new CPU's.

This time around I went for my first AMD CPU, a 1.1 GHz Athlon Thunderbird. It was significantly faster and cheaper then the latest that Intel has to offer. I mated it with the well received Abit KT7 motherboard and a Leadtek Winfast GeForce2 GTS video card.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSystem Upgrade``x971800620,36474,``x``x ``xMicrosoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2 has hit retail, and I finally found a copy locally. I suspect it's doing pretty well, since I picked up the last copy they had at the local Software Etc.

It's time to break out the old Thrustmaster F-16 Hands On Throttle And Stick setup. I just can't fly without rudder pedals. I'll miss the Force Feedback effects from my MS Sidewinder Force Feedback stick. I sure wish MS$ would make a set of rudder pedals and a seperate throttle system to go along with their new MS FF 2 stick.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS CFS:2 Out``x971801310,68987,``x``x ``xI saw over on 3D Spotlight that the new Voodoo Extreme server is up! Billy and the gang should be back soon to give us all the gaming goodness that we've been missing for far too long. Welcome back guys.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo Extreme Up``x972605568,92754,``x``x ``xI saw over on The Guru 3D a story about Hercules new Game Theater XP. What intrigued me is that it includes a very niiiice front rack with even more inputs then the Soundblaster Live! Platinum. Here's a pic from the Hercules web site:

And here is a list of some of the features:It remains to be seen how well it will function as a sound card, but the list of features for audio gadgeteers is very impressive.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHercules Sound``x973072049,45141,``x``x ``x Voodoo Extreme has a new temporary URL. Here's the blurb I found on Blue's News:
"Looking for Voodoo Extreme as they wander from server to server? This URL seems to be still be working at the moment..."
And here's more of an explanation from Billy "Wicked" Wilson at VE:
"For the next 24 hours, possibly 48, while we're moving to our final destination (we were a bit in limbo, waiting for some equipment and such), our site will probably not pull up to you, as the DNS is being updated. I, at this point, am unable to reach it by just going to www.voodooextreme.com, as are most of the guys at VE, but it can still be reached by hitting the IP at http://216.105.162.18, but until the DNS is updated, we are going to work on some behind the scenes stuff, rather than attempting to update, as very few, at this point, will even see this message, or will know what our IP is. Also, for obvious reasons, our email won't function either (it'll bounce). If you need to get a hold of me (Billy) hit wicked_ve@hotmail.com. I'm heading out of town in a short while, so this probably came at an OK time after all :)"

"Update: http://www.ve3d.com/ still works, as does VE Forums.com where you can get your chat on until we get this mofo back online. -apache"
I'm adding a couple of alternate URL's to the link list for VE until things get fixed up.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo Extreme URL``x974546025,15,``x``x ``xWell here it is, a scant month or so since I last updated the news. My real life job has kept me busy, and what little time I've had to play has been devoted to family and games.

My new systems is up and running quite well. For those that don't remember, I upgraded to a new AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz CPU mated to a Abit KT7 motherboard. I also picked up a Leadtek GeForce 2 GTS video card. My first CPU was defective, but Multiwave was outstanding in taking care of my problem. I have nothing but good to say about Multiwave, whom I've been dealing with for the last 3 years or so. I buy all my hardware, so that's not a blatant ad plug. The prices are good, and I get what I order usually by the next day.

The latest titles that have taken my time are Mech Warrior 4, Heroes Chronicles, Call to Power 2, and of course Unreal Tournament. For multiplay fun on the home LAN it's Age of Conquerors. I'm planning on spending some time with Combat Flight Sim 2, which so far looks pretty good.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUn-Caged``x976789025,78520,``x``x ``xI saw this item over at Guru 3D, a very good hardware news site. AMD has dropped their prices even further. Now is not a bad time to upgrade if you are running something less then 700 MHz. Here's the info:
"Not to be outdone by Intel's price cuts today, AMD is kniving down its prices too. A 1 GHz Athlon is now $179 (per 1000), while other Athlons are reduced as follows:

1.1GHz - $223
1.0GHz - $179
950MHz - $161
900MHz - $143
850MHz - $125
800MHz - $110
750MHz - $95
700MHz - $85"
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Price Cuts``x976789428,37115,``x``x ``x
  • Blue's News has updated it's look. I like it.
  • Daily Radar has a short preview of the upcoming Diablo 2 expansion pack.
  • New links have been added for Cornered Rat's Software new Massively Multiplayer Online Game WW II Online. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMisc. Links``x976790850,94521,``x``x ``x Gamer's Depot appears to have snuck into my office and snagged a picture of one of my computer desks! Jeremy Allford has a great article on GD called "Clean up that Rat's Nest Behind Your Desk!" ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComputer Clutter``x976791931,35100,``x``x ``xI finally finished putting together a short review of the AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz upgrade I did last month. Now that everything is humming along I thought it was about time to put up a few details. Instead of putting up a lot of filler material that most folks don't care about the review gets right to the system specs and benchmarks. I also listed some very helpful links for benchmarks, resource sites, drivers, and places where you can get good deals on components. Enjoy!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAthlon 1.1 GHz Review``x977063176,4470,``x``x ``xEspecially now that I have a Nvidia video card I thought I'd add a link to one of the better hardware sites out there. nV news not only features news about Nvidia video cards, but also about computer hardware in general.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xnV News Linked``x977064486,58504,``x``x ``xWhile looking around for information on VIA drivers I came across VIAhardware, a site conincidentally enough dedicated to information about VIA chipset based motherboards like the Abit KT7 that I'm using now. The site looks pretty spiffy and has lots of good information.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVIAhardware Linked``x977107036,62676,``x``x ``xSome introductions are in order. I've been a friend of Cage since he moved to our neck of the woods and share his crack... er... computer addiction. We worked together till he couldn't take the nightly whippings and bailed for other employment. We had a few pet projects on the web and a business building gaming systems which dissolved about a year ago (note: does B-Town Bubba really need a 64MB GeForce Ultra to play Bass Fishin' Xtreme? Guess not). Anyway, we're hitched up again and I'll be doing some news 'n stuff. On a personal note, my turn-ons are a mild case of overclocking and MP3s, turn-offs are mAd SKi11z campers, and my one wish would be for world peace.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Kid On The Block``x977193939,22219,``x``x ``xDrivers are sooooooo much fun. I added a new hard drive to my system and upgraded to WinME on the virgin drive (the old drive got knocked down to the second IDE channel). My Abit VT6X4 has the Apollo Pro 133A chipset and needs the VIA 4-in-1 driver for Windows, so I grabbed the newest version from VIA's site. Got up and running without any need for K-Y till I tried playing UT. Dang thing wouldn't recognize my GeForce2 card and kept locking up tighter than Janet Reno at the Adult Film Awards. There's some alternate D3D drivers available for UT but they did the same thing.

    I reinstalled the drivers for the video card from both Nvidia and ELSA but UT wouldn't play nice. I tried a variety of other games and they ran fine till I loaded the demo for Nascar4 which would crash under D3D but was baby-butt smooth when forced to OpenGL.

    Think some of the video drivers got hosed and would work better with another clean install of WinME? Yea, right. After several more tweaks/installs/head-scratchin', I decided to pay a little more attention to how all my drivers were loading and noticed the VIA 4-in-1 drivers were defaulting to "turbo" mode. I sorta noticed this before but didn't make a mental note of it because *I think* MaximumBS was crying about how they defaulted to "standard" a few issues ago and any extreem computer dude would be in "turbo" mode. Well, don't believe everything you read because their little "tip" blew at least one good day of gaming for me.

    If ya got flaky D3D and use the 4-in-1 driver, try setting it to "standard" mode before overshooting the problem.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVIA 4-in-1 driver headache``x977198359,24920,``x``x ``xI've finally managed to get Nine11 to do some news and reviews here at Cagesworld. I think you will come to enjoy his style of writing and knowledge about games and hardware. He's a quality addition to the site, and hopefully just the beginning of some new things I've been planning to do here. Welcome aboard!``xCage