There is something warm about these handmade external computer drives. They are almost like how God would have created computers. The real charm is that they are made exclusively by two dudes out of Seattle who obviously enjoy woodworking as much as I do.

The drives are for everyone though as they aren’t cheap. I can tell you that it takes a lot of hours to not only construct the piece, but also apply the lasting finish.

Drives start around $100 with the prices ranging depending on the capacity and species of wood. Do yourself a favor and click the link below to check out these beauties. [Etsy via Uncrate]

So what to make of this latest Call of Duty rumor? The seventh game in the series will be named Call of Duty: Black Ops, and will take place between the end of World War II and the present day. It won’t necessarily “be” a Vietnam War game, but will have missions that take place all over the world. Remember: it’s being developed by Treyarch (i.e. not Infinity Ward), the same dudes who developed Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War.

That’s what the latest rumors suggest, with various Web sites citing “undisclosed sources at Activision.” In truth, you might as well talk to a cup of water, but what are you gonna do?

Setting the game exclusively in Vietnam would have been tricky. You’ll recall all the nonsense surround the release of Battlefield: Vietnam. THIS GAME IS ANTI-AMERICAN, an so on. Great soundtrack, though.

Oh, and good news for PC gamers: dedicated servers may be coming back. Victoire!

I thought the whole point of “black ops” was that they were black? Now we’re making a video game about them? Madness. Yes, this sentence is supposed to be small.

The HP EliteBooks have always been, well, elite and the new 17-inch 8740w cements that claim even more. Graphic designers, CAD users, video dudes, HP made this one for professionals like you.

An array of Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs are available with the 1.73GHz 820QM as the top-tier option while either a 1GB  Nvidia Quadro and ATI FirePro handles just about any graphics so-called professionals can throw at it. If that’s not enough power, buyers can opt for up to 16GB of RAM over the 2 or 4GB standard along with various 7200 RPM hard drives. (What, no SSD option, HP?)

The real treat, however, is the 1920 x 1080 HP DreamColor LED-backlit screen. Of course it comes at a price, however, and isn’t even standard on the decked-out $3,899 pre-built model. But that’s too be expected as DreamWorks helped design the screen back in 2008.

HP is staying ahead of the curve with the 8740w and included two USB 3.0 ports, along with standard issue eSATA, VGA, RJ45, Firewire, optional 2MP webcam. It also curiously has only a DisplayPort jack and no HDMI. There’s also a docking station available for those locked down to a desk occasionally and mobile broadband powered by Gobi for those who aren’t.

These models aren’t cheap but you probably gathered that already. Prices start out at $1,999 for a basic, but still capable, Core i5 model with pre-built solutions fetching as much as $3,899. The price can climb even higher once the right option boxes are selected.

You may want to keep that credit card in your wallet until we see some reviews comparing the HP 8740w verses Dell’s professional monster, the M6500. They seem close spec wise although for a pretty penny the Dell offers the Core i7 920XM Extreme CPU option. The Dell also has three hard drive bays vs the 8740w two with one shared with the optical drive. The HP is slightly cheaper and a tad smaller, but when you’re talking about buying a 17-inch powerhouse notebook that costs more than most used cars, what’s a couple of extra dollars and pounds for a better platform?

Sighted online: two dudes decked out in scuba gear chase after the Google Street View mobile, as the vehicle captured the area for the world to see.

See Also: More Badness Revealed by Google Street View, Dead Guy Found on Google Street View

Thanks Boing Boing!

Post from: The Gadget Blog

What’s the opinion on buying pre-built gaming PCs? I’m pretty sure there’s a certain sense of pride that comes with building your own PC, but I also recognize that not everybody has all the time in the world to research motherboards, RAM timings, and all that jazz. Like, say, look at this PC. It’s the Digital Storm Black|Ops (The irony of promoting a black op!), and A) it looks pretty damn cool B) it’s sufficiently powerful to run Crysis on Damn High settings. I mean, I think so; Crysis is a mystery wrapped in an enigma hidden in a big box of cliches.

It comes in three configuration, Performance ($1,709), Enthusiast ($2,104), and Extreme ($3,102).

Performance is built around an Intel Core i5 750 and Nvidia GTX 275.

Enthusiast is built around an Intel Core i7 920 (I overclocked my Core i7 860 from 2.8GHz to 3.8GHz, so yay for me) and Nvidia GTX 285.

Extreme is built around an Intel Core i7 960 and an ATI 5870.

Presumably you’d have to work on Wall Street to afford the Extreme model. And then, considering Wall Street dudes work 80 hours per week, I question the sense in buying a gaming PC in the first place. But maybe you’re a rich kid?

Something that piqued my interest: Digital Storm’s Sub-Zero Liquid Cooling. Think of how much you’d be able to overclock an Intel Core i7 with a damn cool system.

And look at that cable management! My system looks like a New York City rat nest compared to that.

Oh, another good thing that comes with buying one of these pre-built, boutique systems: you have someone to call if and when something goes wrong. If my system were to catch on fire, I’d have no one to talk to for tech support. Presumably I’d be capable of troubleshooting what went wrong, being that I’m Mr. Build a PC, but, again, not everyone has that kind of time. It’s far easier to call tech support and say, “Hey, this thing I bought is broken. I’m RMAing it in the morning.”