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XBOX 360 UNIVERSAL MEDIA REMOTE

There are many universal remotes out there for you when your TV's remote goes heaven. Microsoft has a solution that works with almost every TV in existence as well as your Media Center PC, and your XBOX 360.

The Universal Media Remote is a great universal remote. It is not compatible with any other devices besides your TV, XBOX 360, or Media Center PC.

All you have to do to set it up for use with your TV is to press and hold the TV button until the number pad flashes, hit the channel up or down button until your TV shuts off and then hit TV to program the remote. No need for codes anywhere.

The remote is also easy to use. The only thing that would be worth-while to change on the remote would be to move the number buttons close to the top and perhaps make the remote wider to consolidate the media controls into a smaller area so the keypad could be bigger.

All things considered, the XBOX 360 Universal Media Remote is the best universal remote I've ever seen.

Kudos to Microsoft once again. Their XBOX team is excellent at designing hardware.

WEP ENCRYPTION IS EVEN LESS RELIABLE THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

WEP is an encryption type many of us have gotten used to having wireless routers at home.

It has now been shown that you can break WEP in less than three seconds with average computers available out on the market.

If you are running WEP encryption on your network at home I suggest switching over to WPA.

WPA is another encryption technology that has not been broken. If you router does not support this encryption method, usually firmware updates from the router's manufacturer will add WPA support.

APPLE CINEMA DISPLAYS GET YET ANOTHER PRICE CUT

Apple has dropped the price on their Cinema Displays this week.

Whether they aren't selling well or are cheaper to produce is unclear.

The specs of the displays remain the same.

You can no pick up one of these beauties for the price of $699 for a 20".

TWO INTEGRATED PROCESSORS IS SOOO LAST YEAR

As most of you know the dual-core processors are the standard to see in most new computers nowadays.

Apparently some people think that two processors in one computer are very last year. Apple is one of them.

Released this week is the eight core (yeah count 'em, 8 freakin' cores) Mac Pro workstation.

The Mac Pro is mostly directed to people and companies that do high-end media editing, including audio and video.

Whether you actually need eight cores for yourself is another question. Most programs like Microsoft Word, Mozilla Firefox and others are set up for multi-core processing so you don't get the advantages of the eight cores. Doesn't make me want one any less.

You can pick up one of these power-houses (literally, as they'll need one serious power supply) with eight cores for $4596 (CAD). If you want the coolness but with less leet specs then the base Mac Pro comes at a premium of $2440 (CAD).

Mmmmm, delicious.

XBOX 360 ELITE - HDMI AND MORE STORAGE

Microsoft has confirmed today that the XBOX 360 Elite is indeed the real deal.

While the internals remain the same, the external differences are notable.

Changes include:

• Black paint
• 120GB hard drive
• HDMI port

Missing is the integrated Wi-Fi for which everyone was hoping.

Contrary to reports, before Microsoft confirmed the launch, the elite is going to be a permanent third SKU rather than a limited edition.

The 120GB hard drive will be available separately as reported by Microsoft for a premium of $179 (USD). The black accessories are that come with the elite will not be available separately so if you like that colour you will have to paint your own or buy the new 360.

As far as I can see the Elite is an easy way for Microsoft to shove their nose ahead of Sony's PlayStation 3 storage-wise but the new 360 really doesn't bring anything new to the playing field. With no integrated Wi-Fi the 360 will still need to be hooked up via a $100 wireless add-on or via hardware (but who has a readily available router right close to their TV?).

For $479 (USD) and I assume $579 (CAD) it's an expensive purchase (thirty dollars less than the PS3).

FOLDING@HOME

Folding@Home is a project dedicated to folding proteins related to cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinson's and more. Folding proteins will help scientists to better understand these diseases and hopefully find a cure.

Sunday night is the unofficial Folding@Home night where users of the system will run their machines overnight in a mini competition. No there's no prizes but we here at technobabble are participating.

If you have a PS3 you can download the Folding@Home application right now. The PS3 is a great piece of hardware for this as it can take advantage of the 7 cores very well. From my own experience it runs very quickly.

I also have it running on my server here at technobabble and on the computer upon which that I am writing this post.

If you would like to participate in this great project down load the software from Stanford University's website by clicking here.

Technobabble has a group for this so if you are running Folding@Home already or are planning to you may join us if you like. Our group number is 56121.

Our prayers go out to those suffering from these diseases and to those working on the cure.

WE'RE ALL A TWITTER

SXSW (South by South-West) is a conference that is held in the United States and everyone was all a "twitter" about Twitter.

Twitter is a tool that is used to communicate to your friends and family where you are at any given time of the day.

It only allows 140 characters per post so you have to be nice a short.

It is an interesting tool but I am unsure what It brings to the playing field already. Phone texting is usually what is used in Twitter's place. Although the service is free it encourages you to use your cellphone to post entries. Why would I spend the money on data (which is really expensive here in Canada) when I could just send a text message?

I really can't see this service lasting more than a year. I would rather use my built-in messaging capabilities in my cellphone.

BLACK XBOX 360

Engadget, Gizmodo, Joystiq and other media outlets have been reporting rumors about a new XBOX 360 coming out in the near future for a couple months now.

The rumors have now been confirmed by Engadget sources.

What does this mean for you? Well for starters the new 360 will have a 120GB hard drive and a lovely new HDMI output. Oh and it will be black.

There are also rumors that the new 360 will use the new 65nm processor thus making it create less heat and less noise.

Don't feel bad though. The rumor also states that after the black 360s are gone they premium 360 that is around now will adopt the 120GB hard drive and HDMI output.

One question though. Did they make it black because 360 owners are jealous of the Playstation 3? Who knows. All I know is that I'm kicking myself for buying a 360 a few months ago. I will probably wait for confirmation on the sale of the console and trade in the one I have for the new and improved model.

APPLE TV NOW SHIPPING

Apple has been allowing pre-orders for months now but the wait is finally over for media junkies everywhere. Apple TV is now shipping.

Apple TV is basically a media on demand system that you can hook up to your television to stream media from your Mac or PC.

It has an internal hard drive as well. Basically it's a simple computer running a Front Row type software so you can watch you movies and play your music whenever you want.