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Don’t people already know this? Well seems like “Not everybody!”

Both seasoned IT entrepreneurs as well as developers make this common mistake. They don’t seem to quite understand the difference between calendar days and work days. So let me ask you this question - “What should be the delivery date of a project starting on October 1st and having an estimated effort of 160 hours?”

A typical calculation goes like this:

160 hrs / 8 hrs per day = 20 days. So, if the project is starting on October 1st, it should all be done on 21st October. Right? Wrong!

Here is what is involved, in understanding the delivery date based on start date and total number of hours that is required to accomplish the task:

Number of Days per Week: This is the number of days for which the office of the developer’s organization is going to be open in a week. It can be any number from 5 - 6. Like some companies are open for half time on Saturday. So, this figure is 5.5 for such an organization.

Number of Hours per Day: This signifies, the number of normal work hours that developer will be working in particular day. Do not take overtime in account because then you will not have any buffer to use should the project slip.

So, based on the above two numbers, if the Number of Days per week is 5 and the number of hours per day is 8 then the developer is going to work 8 hours per day then you will 8 X 5 = 40 hours of work done per week.

This means it will take 4 weeks to get 160 hours of work done. This is an equivalent of 28 calendar days which means that given a project started on 1st October it cannot be completed before 28th October.

Granted, that the above calculation is very simple, but you get the message! In reality, things are more complex because the utilization of hours depends on other factors like Number of resources on the project, Number of parallel tasks, Holidays etc.

Why knowing this is important?

Knowing this is very important for two very important reasons:

1. It forces you to plan in advance. As you try to think about delivery dates, you automatically begin thinking about the things that affect it.

2. It prevents unnecessary dissatisfaction. Had you not known this, the delivery on October 28th would haven perceived as a 25% slippage in project deadline whereas the developer has been able to meet the deadline.

Mukul Gupta is the CMO of Indus Net Technologies, an India based Internet Consulting firm which specializes in Opensource solutions. You can reach him at script@script2please.com or visit http://www.script2please.com

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Buying a laptop? Want to upgrade your old one with a new hard drive? Besides hard drive’s space size for storing your applications, documents, music, movies and other data, you should also pay attention to its speed performance. If you want fast access to stored data on your laptop’s hard disk, you should purchase hard disk with SATA interface, higher rotational speed and larger buffer cache size.

Buy Laptop with SATA Drive

Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives use less power, so they save your laptop’s battery. But, they also enchase your laptop’s speed performance. Most hard drives usually support ATA/66 (66 MB/sec), Ultra ATA/100 (100 MB/sec), or SATA (150 MB/sec) interfaces. The numbers refer to the maximum burst rate at which the drive can pass data to the system (66, 100, or 150 megabytes per second). SATA transmit data in a serially (in a single stream) as opposed to PATA or Parallel ATA which is commonly referred to as an IDE hard drive.

Check the Hard Drive Rotational Speed

Don’t forget to check the hard drive rotational speed!
The hard drive rotational speed tells you how fast the drive spins its disks in revolutions per minute (rpm). A higher rpm means higher drive performance. A 7,200 rpm hard drive is faster than a 5,400 rpm or 4,200 rpm and gives better performance.

Larger Buffer Cache Size - Better Performance

Buffer Cache Size is a temporary data storage area used to enhance drive performance. When the computer requests data from the hard disk if that data is in the cache, there is a performance boost directly related to the speed of the cache. Larger buffer cache size usually results in better hard drive performance. Buffer cache size on the most of laptop’s hard drives is usually 2 MB, 4 MB or 8 MB.

This article is provided by Laptop Computers Blog.

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The article summarizes the Hyperthreading technology as best as possible in just ten steps.

1. Hyperthreading (HT) is term coined by Intel for Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT).

2. Hyperthreading is meant for dual-core or multi-core processors like Pentium 4 with HT or Xeon MP.

3. The technology aims at better utilization of execution units in a processor which otherwise would be idle.

4. This technique is better than its predecessor Multithreading and Superthreading in the sense that in each instruction cycle, a processor can execute instructions from mutliple threads.

5. Hardware implemetation of Hyperthreading is not very complex as reported by Intel “Implementing HT took only 5% more die space in Xeon”.

6. Implemeting HT needs hardware resources to be divided into Replicated(e.g. Instruction Pointers), Partitioned (e.g.Queues) and Shared (e.g. Caches)

7. For actual performance gain, your applications have to hyperthreaded i.e. you have to parallelize your code.

8. Hyperthreaded applications use Shared Memory Programming Model. Most famous Shared Memory Programming standard is OpenMP (Open specifications for Multi-Processing), an effort initiated by Silicon Graphics Inc. and now supported by major industry players. OpenMP library is available for C,C++ and Fortran on both Windows and Unix platforms. OpenMP programming constructs consists of few compiler directives for parallelizing the code.

9. There are compilers and other automating tools that support shared memory parallel programming libraries like OpenMP. Some examples are Intel C++ Compiler, Intel VTune Performance Analyzer and High-Level tools from KAI Inc.

10. Hyperthreading does not necessarily increase performance. With wrong mix of code, it can even decrease performance.

Syed Feroz Zainvi has obtained M.Tech. (Comp Sc & Engg) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (INDIA). His areas of interests are distributed computing, computer graphics and Internet Technologies. Currently, he is involved in Software Project Planning, Development and Management. His other interests include writing for magazines and contributing utility softwares on Magazine’s CDs. He also have flair for teaching computer science with new teaching methodologies.

His web-page URL is http://www.zainvi.tophnors.com

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Infrastructure is a broad area of activities, processes, technology that supports either private (consumption) as well as industrial purposes.

An example of infrastructure that links both areas is internet; Internet is needed for private purposes like chatting, e-mailing or downloading music as industrial purposes at the other side of the economic chain where companies are providing e-mail or chat software, or music in this case. Infrastructure is like a carrier that enables other processes, activities and technology.

Infrastructure is normally stable but can also change over time. New technological developments of infrastructure will enable even more new and different activities.
The innovation of the video infrastructure shows this very well. Only recently we still used the video recorder with which we could record and (re-) play movies and television. Because of the mechanical construction of the recorders the rewinding of films took quite long. The functions that provided all these recorders were limited.

The new Digital Video Disk (DVD) recorders provide similar functionality, but the underlying infrastructure is different. You are no longer dependent of a mechanical recording and playback system. The new mechanism is no longer purely sequential but parallel like the drivers of a computer disk and this provides additional interactive features, we all know about.
As long as you have access to a the latest DVD equipment, you are able to benefit from new features and you do no longer have to wait when rewinding your tape to the next film or to the beginning of the video in order to start recording.

New and up to date infrastructure makes more possible. In this case of the DVD (versus the old VIDEO) it provides you with more intelligent features and it saves you time to operate.
And this example shows only a simple device. How would infrastructural upgrade affect your organization?

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management tools. Have a look at some of our free management tools

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Satellite Radio - Its here! Satellite radio is a new service being offered by two companies, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Both companies are offering over 100 channels of streaming music and entertainment. High quality sound is achieved through the use of satellites orbiting high above. Satellite radio is commercial free and free from regulations by federal committees. The impossible, is now possible, hearing the same radio station across North America and from coast to coast. All made possible by XM satellite radio and Sirius satellite radio.

Normal radio has been around for decades and is part of many people’s lifestyle. This is changing. Regular radio is monitored and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, whom has fined several radio stations and media companies within the last 3-4 years. The FCC has only fined radio stations a maximum of $27,500 per show no matter how man profanities were aired.

Recently the FCC has been upping the ante and in conjunction with Congress has decided to raise the fine up to $500,000 per incident per station (Potter). A slap on the wrist has turned into a business-changing event. “Sexually explicit comments by Bubba the Love Sponge and Howard Stern could get a station in trouble no doubt about it. Clear Channel Radio dropped both shock jocks this year after being hit with record fines.”(Potter) Recently Howard Stern has made a move to Sirius Satellite Radio in an effort to preserve his career and free speech. Consumers are reaching towards satellite radio as a way to hear unregulated news and content.

Recently XM Satellite Radio has claimed to have over 3 million subscribers paying $9.99 per month and Sirius claims to have over 1.3 million customers paying $12.95 per month. Many of those customers pay an additional $2.99 per month for premium content such as the upcoming Howard Stern Show.

Several normal radio stations and media outlets are realizing the potential to get their message across in a broad fashion. XM has launched a morning show, which is hosted by Bob Edwards, whom was fired earlier this year by National Public Radio. “The Bob Edwards Show” will air on a public satellite radio channel that also features news and programs from Public Radio International, among others. Sirius has its own public radio channel carrying NPR programs. Consumers and companies are demanding free speech and it seems that satellite radio is the vehicle.

XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio have designed satellite broadcast systems that differ but they achieve the same high quality of satellite radio. A milestone of this success is the fact that satellite radio signals that are available across the United States and into Mexico and Canada. Rock and Roll - No it’s not a genre any more! XM Satellite Radio has two satellites named Rock and Roll, which remain in parallel geostationary orbit to provide radio coverage throughout the United States. Sirius Satellite Radio has chose to use three satellites in an inclined elliptical orbit. This configuration provides 16 hours per satellite of signal, which gives a great redundancy if any satellite were to fail. Playing it smart, Sirius and XM both have spare satellites, which can be called on in a moments notice if needed.

XM satellite radio and Sirius satellite radio have Earth based broadcast stations that are used to send up information to the satellites, which is then dispersed through out the globe. Sirius and XM both have disk jockeys that manage, create and program music which is then sent up to the satellites. The information is then taken in by the satellites and sent through a rebroadcast of the streams to earth. The Major advantage of this is that, unlike earth-based radio stations whose signals reach listeners 150 miles away, satellite radio signals have a huge reach, and are receivable anywhere within the continental United States and hundreds of miles in each direction of the borders. Satellite Radio is growing to become a worldwide network and offerings are growing throughout the world. XM satellite radio and Sirius satellite radio are making it happen.

Unregulated Satellite Radio is the answer for free speech in a government regulated airwaves arena. Not only can listeners hear unbiased information but also they can listen to it anywhere in the United States. Media giants are jumping to get the piece of the pie regarding satellite radio, as the new wave of the future is satellite radio.

Scott fish is the Owner of Satellite Radio Receivers Sirius and XM Reviews

Top Satellite Radio is a resource for consumers seeking the history and facts about satellite radio. We also sell electronics related to Satellite Radio. Quick Access: http://www.TopSatRadio.com

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Smart card chip operating system (COS) has traditionally been designed with no specific application in mind. However, there are some standard functions which are always required ex: card authentication, terminal authentication, card-holder authentication, read and update access, secured read and updated access etc which are required by every application. This type of COS can be group under the category called general purpose COS. When used as a banking card, monetary value is stored in a file (purse file) protected by update and read access. The read and update access, card & terminal authentication are controlled by secret keys inside the POS terminal. The entire system security relies on the fact that the terminal is trusted.

In a general purpose COS, purse file is debited by letting the POS reads the value, debit the amount to be debited and update back into the file. For security reason, the access to the purse files must be ciphered with a session key. From the security point of view, the rule of need-of-know basis must apply. The POS terminal only required to debit the purse file. However, a general purpose COS will allow update access by the terminal. Thus inherently, the terminal has both debit and credit capability.

Although the terminal is trusted only to perform the debit function, the security design requirements must be very high because if the keys are compromised in a POS terminal, someone may be able to perform credit function based on the secrets inside a POS terminal. A payment COS, besides having read and updated access control for data files must also have credit and debit access for purse files. Thus, a merchant POS terminal only required to debit a banking card only need to know the debit key. Even if the secret in the POS terminal is compromised, no one is able to create money fraudulently. This is a major difference between a general purpose COS and a payment COS.

In a banking application, there may be a requirement to cater for substitute debit during the case whereby goods are rejected (substitute with zero debit amount) or an data entry error by the cashier (substitute debit by another value). A general purpose COS will make use of read and update access to the purse file to implement the substitute debit function, thus having the same security problem. A good payment chip operating system should be able to support this function. It must be noted that a substitute debit is not a credit function and must not implemented like the credit function, ie there is not need to prove the knowledge of the credit key in order to perform this function. Rather, it should rely on the capability of the POS terminal to prove that it is the terminal that performs the previous transaction in order to perform a substitute debit function. Although the substitute debit function may be a very useful feature, the smart card can only ensure that there is a secured mechanism of performing the substitute debit function. The POS terminal and the back-end host are also required to perform the complementary functions to ensure that this feature is implemented securely.

Depending on the weighting of risk and flexibility needed by the issuer, the issuer should be able to select if the substitute debit function is to be totally disabled, to allow only during the current session with the card before the card is pulled-out or can be done any time before another transaction is performed. It must be noted that not all chip operating system that claims to be delegated for payment application is able to support this function.

By the law of physics, if updating of data into a medium is interrupted, the data is corrupted, regardless of whether it is a tape, a disk or a smart card. A general purpose COS and even some payment COS can only detect that the purse file is corrupted. However, a cleverly designed payment COS is able to change a purse file via a dual backup incremental changes of the current and previous balance to always ensure that even if the card is pulled out any time during the update, the balance is not corrupted.

In a banking application, it is very important for the card to not only prove to the terminal that the amount is indeed debited from the card via a Card Debit Certificate (CDC), but also it is done by a particular terminal.

Therefore,

CDC = f(debit amount, terminal certificate, debit key)

The terminal certificate should be unique to a particular terminal and for every transactions. A general purpose COS and even some payment delegated COS is not able to do this.

The POS terminal must verifies the CDC to ensure that the debit command to the card is not intercepted from the card and a fake CDC returned to trick the terminal. But requiring the POS terminal to verify the CDC implies that if the secrets in the terminal are exposed, there may be a potential security problem. In order to prevent this potential security problem, the card must be able to produce a Card Signature Certificate (CSC) to sign the debit transaction with a key not found in the POS terminal. A general purpose COS and even some payment delegated COS is not able to do this.

Credit function is the most sensitive operation in the whole system. There are claims that a single DES operation can be broken easily, if one has lots of money ( 1 million $), very good knowledge of cryptography, a good hardware and semi-conductor ASIC designer to design an application specific IC to perform a DES computation in one clock cycle and have many of such chip in parallel process. Potentially, a double DES may be broken in the future. Thus a triple DES is recognised to be safe even in the future by the experts. Thus, the credit function must require a double or triple DES computation.

SMART CARD CHIP OPERATING SYSTEM SELECTION
It is not the intention of this paper to do a product comparison but to look at the banking card system highest security requirements - what they are, why is it necessary and what is the possible implication if it is not done in the way specified. These should then served as the evaluation criteria to see if there is any smart card command to perform the function. There are many levels of security :

- a layman cannot break the security

- an information technology personnel cannot break the security

- the equipment suppliers cannot break the security

- the system application programmers cannot break the security

- the system designer himself break the security

Also, not all smart cards have the same security. Even if the best security smart card is chosen, the system must also be designed to exercise all security features provided by the smart card and there must not be any weak points in the entire system, of which the smart card is only a very small part but the entire system key management and security architecture relies on.

Eric Wilhem
Banking and systems designer
Security in Banking
Encryption Schemes

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The word ‘computer‘ originally implied a person, who, under instructions from a mathematician, performed mechanical calculations. Mechanical calculating devices such as the abacus were often put to use to aid this process.

At the end of the Middle Ages, mathematics and engineering in Europe received a considerable boost, thus leading to the invention of numerous mechanical calculating devices. The technology for clockwork was developed by the early 17th century. The period between the early 19th century and early 20th century saw the development of a number of technologies which would be vital for the development of the digital computer later on. Some examples are the punched card and the valve. Charles Babbage was the first person to design a fully programmable computer as early as 1837. However, he was unable to actually construct his computer due to a variety of reasons.

Analog computers were increasingly used in the first half of the 20th century for a number of scientific computing needs. However, they became obsolete after the development of the digital computer.

The first digital computer was the Atanasoff Berry Computer . It used a binary system of arithmetic, parallel processing, a separation of memory and computing functions and regenerative memory. Binary math and electronic circuits - both of which are used in today’s computers - were first used in the Atanasoff Berry Computer.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s, newer and more efficient computers were continuously developed. Gradually, they came to possess the key features which are present in modern day computers - digital electronics and flexibility of programming.

Among the more important machines to be developed during this time, the American ENIAC was prominent. It was a general purpose machine, but had an inflexible architecture. Later a far superior technique known as the stored program architecture was developed. It is the foundation from which all modern computers are derived.

Throughout the 1950’s, computer design was primarily valve driven. This was later replaced by transistor-driven design in the 1960’s. Transistor-based computers were smaller, faster and cheaper, and hence commercially viable. Integrated circuit technology, adopted in the 1970’s enabled computer production costs to hit a new low, so that even individuals could afford them. That was the birth of the personal computer, as it is known today.

Logan writes about various topics. This article is free to re-print as long as all hyper links remain in tack and the rel=”nofollow” tag isn’t added to any links. Thank-You http://www.your-personal-pc.info

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No one would have thought that it is possible - I mean, how could the best possibly get better? But I guess for those who have a vision, it is possible. And vision is exactly what the people in Alias Systems Corp. have.

February 2005 marks the release of Maya 6.5. Yes, Alias’ award-winning Maya software, which prides itself for being at the forefront of technological innovation has gone a step further. Maya 6.5 is hailed by Alias to be a “performance-driven release packed with new features and feature enhancements motivated by next generation production requirements for massive dataset handling.”

Maya artists will definitely love the significant improvements made with regard to interactivity in such areas as modeling, UV manipulation, deformations and 3D painting. It also provides high-performance Computer-Aided Design or CAD data import through the new STEP translator, allowing artists to quickly import large data sets from major CAD packages for the creation of high-quality images and animations directly from CAD data. Maya 6.5 also has such new features like scene segmentation tools for reference locking, reference editing, proxies and enhancement to nested references, which gives artists more control to focus on specific sections of massive data sets, managing scene load times, parallel and collaborative workflows, scene sharing and overall scene performance, as well as the mental ray for Maya network rendering - a functionality that supports interactive, batch and command-line rendering and pre-lighting.

Maya 6.5 comes in two versions - Maya Complete 6.5 and Maya Unlimited 6.5. Some of the features of the Complete edition are the user-friendly tools, which include marking menus and 3D manipulators speed and workflow, a full suite of advanced Polygon, NURBS and Subdivision Surface modeling tools, a comprehensive range of keyframe, non-linear and advanced character animation editing tools for the creation, animation, adaptation and repurposing of animation data and editing realistic digital characters. Meanwhile, the Unlimited edition has everything Maya Complete has plus Maya Fluid Effects for the simulation and rendering of a vast variety of atmospheric, pyrotechnic, viscous liquid and open ocean effects, Maya Cloth, which claims to be the world’s most accurate software solution for simulating a wide variety of digital clothing and other fabric objects, Maya Fur for incredibly realistic styling and rendering of short hair and fur through the help of the Maya Artisan brush interface for painting fur attributes, Maya Live to match original live-action footage with the 3D elements rendered in Maya and Maya Hair, which includes various tools for the creation, styling and rendering of fully dynamic long hair in NURBS or polygon objects. With Maya hair, artists can also create any NURBS curve dynamic for advanced character rigging and effects.

So whatever your projects are - whether it’s for blockbuster films, 3D gaming, print, broadcast, product design or any other professional arts application, Maya 6.5 promises the most powerful and superior tools and enhancements in the industry today to empower you to be as creative as you can be and to bring your very own visions to life.

About The Author
Jelaine Macaraeg
I like to read anything that contains words in the old English form, though I can’t understand it. You know, the King James Version of the Bible with words like thou, thy, thine, wilst, etc. The words used are different. The construction of the sentence is different, too, which makes sentences sound artistic. I also like gothic metal, a music genre, because most of the lyrics contain such words. It is not only the words that fascinate me; it’s the hidden meaning it contains. It’s like an abstract painting; you don’t get the real picture until you see through it.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

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The history of the computer inevitably includes the development of electronics, we look at the explosive (!) growth of electronics in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

If anything could be said in favor of war, it may be that it speeds up the development of technology. Of course much of that technology is employed in killing people and destroying infrastructure, but there are also things which could be considered beneficial.

Electronics was around in the early part of the 20th Century, wireless, or radio, was in its infancy at the time of the first world war. Radio broadcasting came into prominence in the ’20s and 30’s, Television started in the ’30’s.

The second world war, from 1939 in Europe, and a couple of years later involving the USA, ended in 1945.
Radar (Radio Aid To Detection And Ranging) was developed from early experiments, just prior to the war, in Britain and Germany. There was rapid development in the field, and, by the end of the war, Radar was being used in several fields.

Aircraft Navigation - Using ground transmitters in sets of 3, widely spaced, to give an aircraft using a receiver a method of pinpointing its position. This is a similar system to that used in gps today, substituting satellites for the ground stations.

Targeting - A beam was transmitted from a Radar station in England so that it intercepted a target in Germany. An aircraft could fly along the beam, guided by signals, dots or dashes, if it strayed off the beam, left or right. Known as flying on the beam.

Interception - a series of ground stations around the South-East coast of England, feeding into a central control room, where their tracks could be displayed, significantly assisted in the Battle of Britain (1940).

Airborne Interception (AI) - Developed towards the end of the war, used a Tranceiver (transmitter/receiver) in a night fighter to find a target in the dark, or bad weather, and track it to within firing range.

Beacon - A tranceiver was located at the end of a runway so that ground staff could guide a returning aircraft to land in bad weather, this became more and more sophisticated, developing into GCA or Ground Controlled Approach.

Shipping - radar equipped vessels could track other vessels in darkness or fog, whether peacefully or aggressively.

Many other sytems were developed or initiated in that 6 year period. Knowledge of electronics, and what it could be used for vastly increased. In parallel with the development of radar, other fields of electronics were also advancing, under pressure from the requirement to improve the technology.

Long range guns on ships or in the field needed to be aimed accurately. The calculations required in ballistics to aim a gun so that you can hit the target, or aim a V2 rocket so that it hits London from continental Europe, are phenomenal.

This, then was the scene at the end of the war. We knew how to tackle large calculations with speed, and we had developed a new concept in electronics:-
Pulse Technology. This is so called because radar uses short pulses of high energy, for two main reasons.

1. The pulses can be coded. For example, in the Navigation example we looked at, 3 ground stations transmit a signal whose source needs to be identified. One transmitter could transmit a series of single pulses spaced say 10 milliseconds. A second could transmit a pair of pulses at 10 millisecond spacing, and the third 3 pulses. A chart would tell the navigator where the pulse sets were transmitted from, and the distances obtained from the radar set used to locate the position on the chart.
2. The power, or strength, of the signal. A continuous radio signal, like a radio broadcast, takes a given amount of power. However, a 1 millisecond pulse every 10 milliseconds, uses only one tenth of the power, on average. So a radar transmitter can have a much greater range for the same power. This is is especially important in a primary (transmit and receive) radar system, where we must detect the reflection of the signal we transmit. Likewise a secondary (receive) radar system, for example the navigation system above, will have a bigger range.

Next we will look at how early computers were now possible due to these developments.

Tony is an experienced computer engineer. He is currently webmaster and contributor to http://www.what-why-wisdom.com. This article, with ‘Analog or Digital‘ precedes ‘It’s a binary world, how computers count’ A set of diagrams accompanying these articles may be seen at http://www.what-why-wisdom.com/history-of-the-computer-0.html.

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The Sony PS3 will be the most powerful game console ever released. The impressive parallel processing architecture and powerful GPU allows for arguably the most ambitious releases on a console ever. Certainly, the graphics and performance the system will deliver will outstrip that of its more prudent competitors, Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s Wii. It should come as no surprise then, that many of the most anticipated titles of 2007 will launch on the PS3, some on multiple platforms, others exclusively. As impressive as the hardware is, it’s really not important in the scheme of things; what really matters is what games you can actually play!

The PS3 is costly enough as it is, and as with anything else you invest in, you wouldn’t want to do it before reading up on it first. What better way to do that, than to check out some PS3 game previews? Generally speaking, the best sources of PS3 previews will come from those websites and magazines that have generally covered PS2 and the original PS from the outset. General gaming sites like Gamespy/IGN, Gamespot, 1up, and GamesIndustry.biz are generally good sources of quick, easy to read news, game previews, and reviews. The quality varies, but what is common to each of these is that they will compare their subject matter to the competition. In this case, exclusive PS3 titles would be compared against games on Xbox 360 and Wii in any PS3 game review.

If you’re already a fan, and you’re set on having a PS3, you might prefer PS3 reviews from sites that deal with nothing else. Dedicated community fansites tend to have active discussion forms full of analysis of every last detail. More to the point, the staff who run such sites are generally fans themselves, and are just as interested in the system and games they post about, which is usually reflected in their reporting. Sites like PSXextreme, PSrules, PS3 Power, and PS3 Land are all good sources of PS3 game previews. Naturally, there aren’t any PS3 reviews out yet, but these sites are already geared up and equipped to start posting them as soon as they hit the shelves in November.

Anticipated titles at release time will include the fourth game in the ever popular Gran Turismo series, Madden 07, Vampire’s Rain, Crysis, Fatal Inertia, MotorStorm, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 3, NBA Live 07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire, Resistance: Fall of Man, and F.E.A.R. Also keep in mind that the PS3 is going to be widely backwards compatible with older PS and PS2 games, which you’ll be able to buy from Son’y PNP service, if you don’t already have them - one of the major selling points! For your PS3, game reviews already written will be just as useful. Finally, going back even further, Sony has announced that a wide variety of Sega Genesis (MegaDrive) games will be also be compatible with the PS3, opening up yet more games to its repertoire.

To find out more info on the PS3 you can find a full in depth report at ThePS3Report.co.uk
Andrew Lawrence is the developer of E-bookz Online a site that promotes mostly info products on all subjects.

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