The good folks over at Maximum PC released some new details on the next generation Universal Serial Bus, aptly dubbed USB 3.0. The new bus will have faster data transfer - 10x faster, sporting a 4.8gbps maximum speed. It will also be more eco friendly cutting back on power usage while still being able to charge your devices faster. Beyond that USB 3.0 will be backwards compatible, will have a much thicker cable, and uploads and downloads will be on separate lanes.  The first devices to utilize the cutting edge are expected out in 2010, and for this writer, it can’t come soon enough.

[via Maximum PC]

Way back when Kevin Rose announced that he had started a new online service named Digg (a name based on the software for which it was built called “PLIGG”), I started occasionally visiting the site and for sometime I didn’t know what to make of it. The concept of people being able to rate a story and either accelerate (or Digg) it to the ‘Front Page’ or decelerate (bury) it intrigued me.

I would like to submit the following list of the top five post themes in two categories (things to love and things to hate) that will help you get to the top of Digg. These aren’t based on any type of zeitgeist, but are just the most common articles I see on Digg on a daily basis.

Top themes to make it to the front page of Digg:
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On February 4, 2008, leading GPU developer Nvidia acquired AGEIA Technologies, Inc., the makers of the first dedicated physics processor. Now, on August 12, 2008, owners of a Geforce 8, Geforce 9, or GTX 200-series card will finally be reaping the benefits and will be able to use PhysX acceleration without having to buy a dedicated physics processor. So load up your favorite supported game and get to it.

[Via UberReview]

Dual monitors have been a pretty steady thing in my office for about the past 5 years.  They went from twin 15″ CRT’s to 15″ Flat Panels.  Now, I am graduated to twin 22″ flat panels that are able to hold all the various things I do every day.

Monitor space is like gold - the more you have, the more you can do with it.  If you are constantly opening Skype and Outlook just to check new messages while working on some crazy .NET application for a client, it tends to get a bit time consuming.  So, an obvious workaround is to throw $200 at another monitor and go from there.

But…  It’s expensive to live.  And oftentimes you are faced with the choice, “Do I buy another monitor or put gas in my car for two weeks?”  The most sane of us would choose gas..

So, here is another alternative - Virtual Desktops.  Virtual desktops mimic what Linux users have long seen in the open source operating system.  They give users the ability of running multiple desktops simultaneously.  All you have to do is switch between them!

My favorite virtual desktop application is Dexpot.  It’s free, pretty intuitive, and works very well for what it does.  It’s really nice for a laptop when you’re working on the road or in a coffee shop because it allows you to keep those pesky email and chat clients open without having to minimize them every time you want to work on something else.  All you do is change your view to a different desktop!

Definitely download Dexpot and check it out!  If you can think of any other similar tools, please let me know!

For those of you who don’t know, SSD’s, or Solid State Disks, are a new high storage medium that are quickly replacing hard drives in laptops like the Macbook Air because of their small form factor and low power consumption. But is it worth the cost to upgrade for the average PC user? We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of SSD’s after the jump.
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I am an overclocking junkie. Building cheap rigs that perform better than $2,000 PC’s is something I have long had an infatuation for. In fact, my desktop runs an Intel E6600 (2.4 gHz stock) at 3.6 gHz on air cooling. It really is a great little machine.

But for newbie overclockers, the most important thing you can do is get a great toolset for monitoring your system temps, voltages, clock speeds, and everything else.

There are several free applications that I run consistently - whether the PC is overclocked or not. Those are:
Click here to read more

First I would like to apologize for being a little late in officially announcing the winners here. Sometimes 24 hours in a day just doesn’t cut it. With two fast growing blogs, MarketingHackz and NetHackz and clients swarming in through axiium, sometimes it just gets hard to get things done as planned. But, we are here now .

As you all know we launched a contest a while ago which was to find this blog. Some of you guys did really good and spotted us before anyone else. So here is the list of winners and prizes. Please visit axiium.com and send us an email to claim your prize.

Winners

1st : Carlo From Startup Launchr ( Free blog consulting either in PDF format or live 2 hours consulting on Skype )
2nd : Scott ( Free Logo for business or blog through Tech Solution )
3rd : Anton ( One hour design and social media consultation with John C. Phillips )
4th : Rob Mason From Sponge Project ( free content promotion including title optimization and post editing )
5th : Bryan from BryanpHelps ( 50 Dollar Amazon Gift Card )
6th, 7th and 8th : Tlyden, Cameron and Tom ( Killer Domain ebook each )

Thank you for your time and thanks for visiting PcHackz. Winners please visit axiium and contact us. And do not forget to subscribe to PcHackz and the rest of the Hackz Blogs.

I have one major addiction in life… I love to build computers.

It doesn’t matter what kind of computer it is - a new quad core with SLI graphics cards, an old box that I am turning into a media server - I love rummaging around in my parts bin and buying new components that come together to do something.

When I built my first pc 7 or 8 years ago, it was quite a process. Newegg’s review/customer feedback engine wasn’t quite as robust as it is now, so you had to really rely on specs. That resulted in a lot of returns and wasted time trying to get a computer running.

Now though, there is a website that helps you along that path. It’s PCincubator.
Click here to read more

We’ve all seen one. Most of us kind of want one. The house that Jobs built has created what some (myself included) hail as the advent of the true smartphone and one of the most important mobile technology devices ever conceived. Sadly though it’s greatest competitor, Research in Motion, still rules the smartphone buisness space by offering a few key features that the iphone has yet to adapt. Even with tomorrow’s launch which will now bring GPS and “3G” capabilities the Jobs and Co. still has some work to do.

I am an avid advocate of the iPhone; however, I find myself envious of some the features that my Blackberry brethren have access to. So I am making a list of the five things that I think Apple should introduce to the iPhone to help it ‘juice’ a few more users from Blackberry.

Click here to read more

You found the new Hackz network site - PChackz.com!  Now, comment on this post to lock in your prize (as long as you are one of the first 8)!

Seriously…  Comment and then come back.

Ok.  Developing this Hackz network has been more fun than I could have imagined.  And our third installment is something I am particulary excited about.  Technology changes at the speed of light.  Not too long ago, I was playing with AMD 64-bit chips (single core).  And now, I just installed a quad-core unit in my box.  How times have changed.

Well, PChackz is going to be where you can come for all your computer related needs.  We are going to do a lot of hardware based stuff, but software will play a crucial role in the development as well.  For instance, how to rig up a watercooling unit, or why you shouldn’t install spend the cash on a media server.  Stuff like that…

So look forward to a lot of pc related information.  And if you have a Mac, we have a site lined up for you :0)  Damn, I guess we can’t run a contest on that one.  The name gives itself away :0)