PS3 2.5 update (highlights)

Ran the update and I will say the Flash 9 support is great.  Your Tube, Hulu, etc. work great.  Browsing is also faster.  The Auto power down features for the system and/or the controllers is nice.  I set mine to shut off the system in an hour if left on.  The BD/DVD settings are now called "Video Settings" which is simplier for most I guess.  Play station Store has some subtle changes, like a preview popup before you click the store icon.

 

Screen fades from black when you get shot in BF2142

Nvidia Drivers 178.13 cause this issue.

I confirmed this last night.  Vista 32 bit, BF2141 (1.5) and I erased the cache of the graphic profile from the BF2142 folder, then launched the game and let it optimize with the new drivers (takes a while), and then I noticed, every time I get shot or a nade goes off close by the screen goes black and then fades in.  When you die, same thing happens.  Smoke granades are opaque too.

[More]

 

What you never want to look like in a screen shot

How to look like an idiot

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Nvidia Drivers 178.13 confirmed improvement

Nvidia had not updated their drivers since the summer with a certified set, and this week they did and made the claim:
 

  • WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 6-series, 7-series, 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs, including the newly released GeForce 9800 GTX+, 9800 GT, 9500 GT and 9400 GT GPUs.
  • Adds support for NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory (this driver package installs NVIDIA PhysX System Software v8.09.04).
  • Experience GPU PhysX acceleration in several full games and demos today by downloading the GeForce Power Pack.
  • Includes several 3D application performance improvements. The following are examples of improvements measured with v178.13 WHQL versus v175.19 WHQL driver:
    • Single GPU increases up to 11% in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset

      Plus more……..

      Vista 32 bit version I used

      I did get better results on my eVGA 8800 Ultra card with no overclocking.  I use the Driver Cleaner process to ensure things are really uninstalled prior to new drivers.  I suggest you get it if you have a newer video card that is supported.

My 3d benchmark with old drivers, then new drivers:

 163.75 drivers:
Nvidia drivers 163.75

178.12 drivers:

 

Chat app. for iPhone that delivers

[UPDATE]

Landscape chatting works great.  You can hide the keyboard to easily view and scroll through chat.  Also you can email your chat log to yourself or the other person, or anyone else.  Works very fast.  You can set audible queue for incoming just like the desktop client’s and if you lock your phone during a chat, when you unlock it, it goes right back to your chat.

 

The texting fee AT&T charges may be a reason to consider some sort of chat application for your iPhone, but the trick is which one?   AOL has an app but its not as solid as you might think, which is odd since they were instrumental in chats acceptance.

If your like me, you have 1 or 2 accounts and between your friends and co-workers you need something that works with all of them.  I did some digging, Review reading, and checking of privacy policies and came up with an option that I bought, and use.

beejive"Beejive is a privately held company specializing in the development and marketing of software for mobile devices. Founded in 2006, Beejive (pronounced \bē-hīv\) strives to become the world’s premier developer of fast, reliable, and easy-to-use mobile software.

BeejiveIM, the initial offering from Beejive’s product portfolio, is a multi-protocol instant messaging client that connects the mobile user to the major instant messaging networks."  

^ The above is from the company’s "About" page and I thought better to quote then paraphrase.  Many of these FREE apps pass all the data through their servers, and so you are sending them, often without any encryption access to all your accounts, and with something like Gmail (GTalk) that is a LOT of info.  beejive’s privacy policy states:

 
"1. Information We Collect

We do not collect or store any of your instant message ("IM") account information, such as your user name and password, messages, or contact lists, except that we temporarily store your instant messages solely in order to complete the instant message communication (for example, in response to a dropped call); however after the communication is complete the instant message is deleted from the Beejive system. We also collect the following information: "

 
So with that info digested I decided to buy the app.  It was  $15.99, which might be a lot to some, but for me, if the app works, is fast, easy to use, then its worth it, so I don’t have to spend more time fooking with it, or sourcing another app.  If you value your time, and need a chat app, then I recommend it.

They make it for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone, so they have a lot of experience in the relm of mobile chat.  Also the BlackBerry is $19.95 for what its worth.

Screen shots of app in use from the beejive site.

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