In yet another upgrade to the lightning fast, feature-rich premium Usenet access that ThunderNews provides, all customers will now receive additional access to their favorite subscribed newsgroups.

The increase in retention is signified by the amount of time articles are available on newsgroups. With the inclusion of almost 50 additional days, ThunderNews members now will have access to posts that are 650 days old.

All existing and new members of ThunderNews automatically receive the increase to 650 days of binary retention. Some may need to reload the headers of the subscribed newsgroups in their newsreader in order to see the increase.

Thundernews is proud to be able to offer this added benefit free of charge to to existing and new members

Advanced Micro Devices had acquired ATI back in 2006 and since then, experts had been expecting AMD to axe the ATI brand. The speculations seemed to have subsided after AMD continued to offer graphic cards with the ATI logo.

However, now, the company has decided to forgo the brand name and has said that future graphics offering will bear the AMD Radeon logo instead of the ATI Radeon logo.

John Volkmann, vice president of global corporate marketing at AMD, has named several reasons why the brand will be removed. From their research, the company found that “the Radeon brand and the ATI brand are equally strong with respect to conveying our graphics processor offering.”

“Red” team ATI is still one of the largest graphic chips makers in the world, maintaining a near decade-old rivalry with the “green” team, Nvidia.

A battle between fans of both have long been rampant on online, including a variety of Usenet newsgroups. Dedicated newsgroups to each of these brands have a number of subscribers that share, discuss and debate the product and company attributes of each.

At the end of it though as some newsgroups report, ATI hasn’t been the most successful venture for AMD and the company has even been criticized with its management of ATI. However, AMD has come out with some very good products since the acquisition.

However AMD said that the decision to axe the brand came after a series of consultations with some of the company’s key partners; customers for example, said that they were more aware of the AMD brand than ATI.

A major motivator here for the change isn’t simply trying to eliminate consumer confusion (although consumer preference for AMD apparently triples once they realize AMD owns ATI, according to AMD’s research), but the fact that AMD intends to integrate both AMD microprocessor technology and Radeon graphics technology on the same chip… a la NVIDIA’s ION chipset.

AMD plans to begin culling the ATI brand on its graphics line at the start of the fourth quarter of this year and end by September 2011. Existing products won’t see a name change, but new products will branded AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro.

How this will affect ATI related newsgroups is not clear, but a surge in subscribers to the AMD related newsgroups has already begun.

Net neutrality seeks to prevent phone and cable providers from favoring their services or discriminating against other users of wired and wireless networks, such as Internet phone calls and online video. Google had been a leading net-neutrality advocate, demanding the Federal Communications Commission force concessions on Internet service providers such as Verizon. But Google and Verizon announced Aug. 9 an agreement they hope resolves the dispute and can be a basis for compromise to avoid government regulations.

Even though the agreement conceded critical points, such as ISPs not slowing down, blocking or charging more for bandwidth-hogging services such as peer-to-peer file sharing, Google was accused of selling out. The proposal also would allow creation of what detractors derisively term a “private” Internet to deliver as-yet nonexistent educational services, gaming and other services. That effectively would create a two-tier system, one for publicly accessible Internet and one for new services.

We understand critics’ concerns. A “private,” wired network might become more profitable, drawing away services from the “public” system. We imagine ISPs could be tempted to spend more on research and development for the new, perhaps more profitable, private option. Critics also point out the Google-Verizon agreement exempts wireless networks from FCC restrictions. The companies jointly promote Google’s new Android software for smart phones.

Broadband’s future promises to be wireless, as cell phones, tablets and other devices deliver new mobility and speed. It’s conceivable some of the nearly ubiquitous, hardwired Internet access could migrate to higher-speed, more flexible wireless access.

Nevertheless, the argument against net neutrality is compelling. Wired Internet access grew phenomenally. Many competitors and technological advances flourished precisely because of the lack of government restrictions, however well-intended.

“What we’re concerned about is the imposition of too many rules up-front that would not allow us to optimize … the supercharged growth we’ve seen in the past,” Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg said.

A New York University School of Law study estimated an FCC net neutrality policy would cost the U.S. economy $62 billion and eliminate 502,000 jobs over five years. Costly, rigid regulations on service delivery and pricing would impede what otherwise promises to be mushrooming expansion. ISPs have spent billions developing their networks. They should be allowed to manage that traffic and not be discouraged from innovating to expand services.

Google and Verizon on Monday announced a set of rules they said would help enshrine net neutrality, a term that has different meanings but generally refers to a policy that would prevent internet service providers such as cable and phone companies from unfairly discriminating between types of traffic in the United States, including ports used to access Usenet newsgroups.

The proposal from Google and Verizon included the prohibition of unfair traffic discrimination and the granting of powers to the Federal Communications Commission to impose penalties of up to $2 million for violations. The proposal also would require telecommunications service providers to be transparent in how they manage their networks.

Comcast drew first blood in the net neutrality battle by violating the principles of the Broadband Policy Statement  established by the FCC in 2007. Intentionally choking peer-to-peer networking traffic, and giving other Internet traffic preferential treatment on the Comcast network drew attention to the cause and illustrated why the FCC should have stronger oversight to protect national and consumer interests.

The negative reactions appear to include the FCC, which is none too happy that the proposal itself was drafted outside of a delicate process with industry players. The agency is also unhappy with the proposal and the fact that it will likely move the discussion forward.

Google affirms that their proposed policy plan is guided by the principle that “users should choose what content, applications, or devices they use, since openness has been central to the explosive innovation that has made the Internet a transformative medium.” But will Google and Verizon’s proposed policy really maintain an open Web or will it mean the The End of the Internet as we know it? It’s too early to know but one thing is clear: Whether you like it or not, broadband carriers are moving quickly towards tiered pricing for the Internet.

The idea behind the service, which allowed users to see each other typing in real time and to work on documents together, was to recreate email as if it had been invented for the way we work now, rather than 20 years ago.

Google said that the as the central parts of the code were open source, its customers and partners were free to continue to develop the platform. For companies that have deployed Wave servers in their organisation and wish to jump ship, Google said it would provide software tools that would enable them to ‘liberate’ their content from Wave.

Underlying the system was the Jabber XMPP protocol and Operational Transform, a protocol for exchanging communication updates between Wave servers, allowing these servers to federate together. The ambitious project hit problems early on with performance and usability and although Google’s developers resolved many of those issues, Wave still had a steep learning curve. Simultaneous changes in the same conversations made Waves with large numbers of users hard to follow and quickly lead to confusion. Users who adapted, usually by restricting participants in a conversation to a small group, found Wave to be a useful collaborative tool.

We remember when Google Wave was first launched, and would have beaten our grannies for a speedy invite into the service. That said, once invited there was little to do but play around with the awesome web-widgets and talk to your mates. Fun and all, and the ability to drag, drop and access certain features (such as sending directions to a mate via zoomable Google Map) certainly was handy, but not enough to draw the masses Google needed to warrant further updates.

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said that the failure of Google Wave is just the failure of an experiment.   “Remember, we celebrate our failures. This is a company where it’s absolutely OK to try something that’s very hard, have it not be successful, and take the learning from that,” he stated to journalists. Wave joins Google Health, Google Dodgeball, Google Notebook and Google Lively amongst Google’s tried-and-failed list but hardly compares to Google’s successes.

Google will continue to support Wave until the end of the year and will enable current Wave users to migrate their projects to other platforms, to prevent content loss. At the end of the day, it just didn’t compare to the way subscribers access USENET newsgroups.

As some Usenet newsgroups are stating, July 30 is the 11th Annual Systems Administrator Appreciation Day, which occurs on the last Friday of July. Ted Kekatos, newsgroup subscriber and IT manager with a small start-up, created this holiday in the year 2000 as way of getting recognition for his team’s work.

System administrators may shy away from public life and occupy dark corners that are only occasionally lit up by the flicker of a computer game screen, but when it comes to ensuring that servers run smoothly, these boys and gals are superstars. System Administrators are known for participating in many discussions on newsgroups – sharing ideas, information and knowledge throughout the 30 plus years Usenet has existed.

From the SysAdminDay website:
“Let’s face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe, will be showered with expensive sports cars and large piles of cash in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgement. It’s the least you could do.”

Here at ThunderNews, we appreciate all the System Administrators out there who make the world of computing and networking possible by there hard work, dedication and vision.

When it comes to displaying 3D imagery, there are generally two types of technology: displays that must be viewed with 3D glasses (stereoscopic displays), and displays that do not require 3D glasses (autostereoscopic displays). Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages; however, it seems that autostereoscopic technology, though still in its infancy, is the future of 3D technology. If advertisers were to create a 3D video display for a store, for example, they would need the glasses-less technology for passersby to view it. Besides, having to wear glasses to view 3D imagery is becoming too cumbersome. Are you really going to carry around a pair of 3D specs in your pocket?

Sony is at the forefront of autostereoscopic 3D technology. During the Emerging Technologies portion of SIGGRAPH 2010, the company showcased the 360-degree autostereoscopic display prototype we’ve been anticipating trying out since we caught wind of it last week: the RayModeler. The device—which looks like it could have been taken from the set of a Star Wars film—is a compact version of a 3D display enclosed in a cylinder. At first glance, it looks like a high-tech coffee-bean grinder or a blender, but after taking another look, one can view the display from all directions and see a bright, color 3D image. According to Sony, the system is the first display of its kind, featuring special LED light sources that show 360 unique, 24-bit color images in all directions. The user can even control the orientation of the display’s content by using hand motions in proximity to the display.

Though the prototype seems far from being integrated into our everyday lives, Sony says that future iterations of their RayModeler will have many potential applications such as video entertainment, digital signage, education, museum displays, video games, advertising, and 3D telecommunication.

The upshot: users who ranked the game using Amazon’s scoring system gave it a so-so, average score of 2.8 out of 5 stars as of early Tuesday.

Many were impressed with Starcraft II’s graphics, which bring state-of-the-art 3D to the franchise, now more than a decade old. “I have to say that the game has definitely passed my expectation of what I would consider a game of 2010 to be,” posted one on a gaming newsgroup.

Others welcomed the fact that gameplay is similar to the original Starcraft, but faster and with some new twists. Seasoned and new gamers alike will appreciate the simple yet highly enjoyable gameplay. The factions are well balanced and the units are perfectly valued/

“Blizzard has released yet another wonderful product,” gushed one on newsgroups.

But Starcraft II is also drawing plenty of barbs from users unhappy with Blizzard’s technical and pricing decisions. Unlike with the first Starcraft, players cannot go head-to-head over a LAN. Instead, they must play over Blizzard’s Internet-based Battlenet service.

“LAN play isn’t dead, Blizzard. Some of us like having the ultra-low latency of getting together face-to-face with our friends,” complained one.

Others said Blizzard’s plan to limit the first version of Starcraft II’s campaign play to the Terran race (users must wait for future editions to play as the Zerg or Protoss) is nothing more than a money grab. “So basically it’s, ‘Here, buy this game three times and then never play it in the same room with your friends,” complained a USENET newsgroup user.

Still, Starcraft II is bound to be a massive seller despite the grumblings. The basic $59 title, available for Macs and PCs, was the top-seller in Amazon’s video game category as of mid-morning Tuesday. A Collector’s Edition, which includes a 176-page book of original Starcraft II art and other extras, sells for $99.

Cloud computing was the focus of his keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C. Again, Ballmer emphasized that his company is “all in” for Web-based services and platforms, and urged thousands of attendees from thousands of partner companies to join the parade.

“This year, one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates,” Ballmer said. “This is a terribly important area for us.”

Ballmer didn’t reference either the iPad or any Android or Chrome-based tablets, although it’s clear Microsoft thinks they’ll be able to dominate the market as they did netbooks. It seems as though Microsoft’s main pitch is that they’ll be IT department-friendly, although given that slates are largely content (and not productivity) driven, it remains to be seen how much of an advantage that will be. The chance for many on Usenet to browse through newsgroups on a tablet type  computer has been a long themed dream that may finally come to reality with the new shipment of products.

Many industry watchers believe Microsoft needs to act quickly to establish a foothold in the tablet computing market, particularly on the consumer side: Apple sold more than three million iPads in less than three months’ availability, and is no doubt far into the development of its iPad successors, while Microsoft and its partners have yet to get competing products out the door. Microsoft may be able to move Windows 7 tablets into enterprises locked in to its platforms, but consumer tablets running Windows are going to have to do more than compare somewhat favorably to the iPad: they’re going to have to stand up to whatever Apple is doing next.

How real are these slides? They’re extraordinarily detailed, and stamped with “Microsoft Confidential” and “Windows 8 Discussion–This is not a plan of record” on every page. Of course, they’re also riddled with grammatical errors, so if this is a genuine document, it’s definitely not one meant to be shown to partners or clients.

So, assuming the slides and information in question are genuine, which appears to be fairly likely, what can we expect from the next-gen Windows?

The PowerPoint slides include projections of up-to-date technology for the next Windows, such as faster boot times, support for USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, touch input, and HD video relevant features. More intriguing are next-generation features such as facial recognition, wireless 3-D displays, attention detection, and easier self-diagnostics.

According to the leaked presentation, Microsoft is focusing on reducing the time it takes for Windows to start up time, as well as providing a one-touch restore button that will return the PC to its default settings without deleting any user information.

With Windows 8, Microsoft is planning to launch an application store from which users will be able to buy apps for PCs and other devices that run Windows. One slide describes it as “Store as a Service” and notes that Microsoft sees its developer army as a significant advantage to getting up and running quickly.  Previously it has been rumored that the next version of Windows will launch in 2012, which isn’t too far away now.