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• Hardware Processor AMD Athlon 1800 XP - 256 MB PC2100 Motherboard MSI KT7 Master Speakers Megaworks 510D - 210D DVD-ROM Toshiba SM1302 Graphics card ATI Radeon 64 MB DDR Drivers & Software DirectX version 8.1a OS Windows XP Professional The Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1 sound cards were tested objectively and subjectively. The following software and DVDs were used: Right Mark Audio Analyser 4.1 Audio Winbench Dungeon Siege DVD Test Platinum Series DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and EX Fortissimo III 7.1 And Digifire 7.1: Dolby Digital EX Decoding The drivers and four analog outputs give Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1 the capacity to decode DVD sound tracks encoded in Dolby Digital EX. To do so, you have to use the Power DVD Pro EX provided with the cards. Hercules has done things neatly so that the card driver and software sound configuration dovetail and activate 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 decoding depending on what you choose. This means you don't have to configure the same thing twice in two different places. Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1 were tested subjectively with DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital EX like Star Wars Episode One, Phantom Menace and Lord of the Rings, and with DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital like Alien Resurrection and Saving Private Ryan. Nothing in particular to say about decoding itself - the job was done more than adequately, even though you don't get quite the quality and clear positioning results of a dedicated decoder. The advantage of 7.1 and 6.1 over 5.1 is patent - the rear surround speaker(s) envelope you in sound much better. An appreciable point is that music and background noise are on these speakers and so free up the main surrounds for sound effects. However, the gain in the sound effects themselves is negligible because 90% of them are still on the standard 5.1 channels. They are hardly to be heard on the rear surround channels. This is as true for 7.1 as for 6.1, especially since in 7.1 the Dolby Digital EX matrix system means the same sounds are heard on the two rear center speakers, so 7.1 is only better if you have a large room and a lot of people, otherwise 6.1 is quite adequate. Note that the Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1 analog outputs give a lower sound level than the Creative Labs Audigy. This is a good thing in a way because it limits distortion but it does also limit the maximum reachable volume. Overall, we can say both cards do a good job of Dolby Digital EX decoding. As we already said, a system which can decode sound in 6.1 or 7.1 is also good for playing DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1. Positioning is not as good as with EX sound tracks but still effective. The surround sounds are spread over the four speakers so listeners are better enveloped in sound. This should be avoided though in some movies because it reduces the power of the sound effects. Another thing to remember is that 7.1 emulation from a DVD encoded in 5.1 substantially impairs the quality of the sound on the rear surround speakers (see explanation below).

• MP3Act is a multimedia cataloging system that seeks to centralize your favorite media files so they may be accessed from anywhere in the world. It allows you to share these files with family and friends without permitting them to download actual content using a simple, intuitive Web interface. MP3Act functionality can be integrated into MythTV (see this Ticket #1919 for more information) by changing the MythMusic database schema and submitting a port of the software to MythWeb. MythWAP Web-enabled cell phones can become MythTV-enabled remote controls using the MythWAP PHP script. This series of PHP add-ons to MythWeb enable interaction with your WiFi or Bluetooth phone so that you can view listings, schedules, and recordings from anywhere (within range) in your living space. MythWebRSS There isn't much to the MythWebRSS plug-in. In fact, one might just expect it to be a core inclusion since it seems simple enough: MythWebRSS creates a Really Simple Syndicate (RSS) feed for MythTV's previous recording entries to facilitate network-based interaction. Torrentocracy Torrentocracy provides a graphical tie-in to the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network. It bridges MythTV interaction with streaming torrent feeds to facilitate simple multimedia file sharing between hosts, by creating MythBrowser bookmark entries tagged with information that identifies and requests torrent files on demand. General Plug-ins These items provide general functionality that does not fit neatly elsewhere in our story. Consider this something of a grab bag, or perhaps an interested mix of miscellany, and you won't be too far off the mark. TVWish TVWish enables personal wish-list content generation for a variety of purposes. It can create or obtain a list of movies you wish to record as and when they appear in your local broadcasting area. This supports hassle-free automatic capture of your favorite titles well in advance of their appearance. You can also set up recording for pilot episodes of your favorite shows, top-ranking episodes, record entire series with or without an exceptions list, record series in a predetermined order, create TiVo-like suggestions lists, or prioritize or autoexpire disks to make more efficient use of recording time and storage space.

• The Next Generation: IBM DeskStar 180GXP with up to 180 GB

  IBM hard drives have always had a reputation for speed and reliability - at least they did until the DeskStar 75GXP series made headlines due to a slew of failures. Thankfully, this episode is a thing of the past and current models once again fulfill the expectations associated with the name IBM. To polish up its tainted image, IBM has now released the DeskStar 180GXP. The basic design is analogous to that of other hard drives. It consists of several rotating magnetic discs, called platters. To write or delete individual bits, read/ write heads are guided over the platters, similar to the needle of a record player, although in the case of hard drives, there is no physical contact. To enhance overall performance, companies can use intelligent controller chips, better actuators for faster movement of the read/ write heads, increase the rotation speed of the platters, or employ a larger cache. Of course, increasing the speed at which a drive rotates also means lower operational tolerances, higher operating temperatures and a generally louder drive. That's why the current generation of high-end IDE drives operates at 7200 rpm. For its new family line, IBM chose to focus on the cache. While the 60 GB, 80 GB, and 120 GB drives come equipped with the standard 2 MB, the high-capacity models with 120 GB and 180 GB carry a full 8 MB of cache. It seems IBM has taken a page out of competitor Western Digital's book. IBM has also made a change at the mechanical level. All of the 180GXP-series drives will use fluid dynamic bearings, which could possibly also reduce the drives' noise levels.