Tech Olive

We can’t believe it either. It only seems like yesterday when USB 3.0 was only a concept. We knew it was coming sooner or later, but it was just a matter of when it would come.

That time is now, folks. We at the Olive are now in possession of USB 3.0, thanks to Seagate who sent us their BlackArmor PS 110 portable hard drive equipped with the new USB platform. Join us after the break for the unboxing and stay tuned for the review in the coming week or so.

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The title says it all, boys and girls. The fantastic underrated platformer by Doublefine Games (some of the original Monkey Island creators) Psychonauts is now part of Steam’s “Midweek Madness” with a price cut down to a measly $2.00. So, head over to Steam and grab a copy for yourself.

Jim Wong, senior corporate vice president and president of IT product business group at Acer, has confirmed that the company will ship out netbooks with Chrome OS later this year in Q3. Wong also says that they plan to ship at least one million of these netbooks in 2010. That’s all the details that were given. No specs or anything.

On a side note though, Wong said that Acer will also be launching e-book readers in Asia and Europe and plan to have the Acer app store all ready to go by Q3.

via [DigiTimes]

This is good news for those budget enthusiasts out there. AMD has launched a handful of new CPUs ranging from $74 to $169:

• Athlon II X2 255 3.1GHz – $74
• Phenom II X2 555 3.2GHz – $99
• Athlon X3 440 3.0GHz – $84
• Athlon II X4 635 2.9GHz – $119
• Phenom II X4 910e 2.6GHz – $169

It’s said that AMD is also coming out with a 3.6GHz Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition and the 2.8GHz Phenom II X4 820.

via [Fudzilla]

Because PC gamers always get stuck with the best delays, Assassin’s Creed 2’s has a later PC release date than its console launch.  Rather than November of last year, PC gamers will get their hands on the game on March 16th. The good news is that the PC release will include two DLC packs (‘Battle of Forli’ and ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’) on the install DVD. And, if you’re worried about your PC’s ability to run the game, follow us after the break for the minimum and recommended system requirements.

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Today is the first day of Winter-Een-Mas, the little-known gamer’s holiday week. Today, I will be busy gaming through the night/morning in an attempt to beat the number of hours I set last year on Winter-Een-Mas day one. Will I break my previous record of just over 11 hours? Stay tuned, I’ll update you later with the details. In the mean time, play like you’ve never played before and be thankful for Winter-Een-Mas!

Both Steam and Direct2Drive are now offering the pre-order of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition. While they’re not offering any pre-order discount or swag, they’re going the much cheaper route. Instead of offering anything that gamers actually want, the pre-order bonus comes in the form of a small arsenal of weapons and add-ons that you get in the game from day one. Gamers that decide not to pre-order will have to work for it. Suckers.

So, go reserve your copy today and start preparing for the March 2nd release date.

This was quite a diverse and odd week of news and reviews. Steve Ballmer signs a MacBook Pro, Firefox 3.6 releases, Acer thinks they’re awesome, and we mini review a Mario Kart-themed indie racing game. Join us after the break for the complete breakdown.

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Pope Benedict XVI has been encouraging his fellow priests to use all sorts of social media tools to help spread the gospel across the web. The Pope already has a YouTube channel, as well as Facebook and iPhone apps, but the Pope wants his crew to launch a website/blog and use newer tools to communicate.

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich ‘menu of options’ might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different ‘voices’ provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.”

This obviously comes at no surprise, and the Pope especially wants to reach the younger crowd to share the word with.

via [Yahoo News]

Twitter user OGLE_Toronto was lucky enough to catch a TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) worker in the act, open mouth and everything. The user posted the photo on TwitPic and has enraged Toronto locals ever since.

You see, the TTC decided they would bump up fares earlier this month. This alone rubbed everyone the wrong way and this sleeping photo on Twitter just made it worse. On the other hand, the TTC workers’ union has put blame on the photo taker, saying that the worker could have been unconscious due to a health concern and should have made sure he was okay.

At any rate, we’ll see how this plays out. It could just end up fizzing out sooner than later.

via [Mashable]