189. Fatal1ty Whores Himself Out to New Levels

We’re waiting for the moment when Johnathan Wendel joins forces with Microsoft to create Vista: Fatal1ty Edition or Windows 7 Fatal1ty. In the meantime, you can find the gamer tag on just about every component available, including OCZ RAM. Before the year was through, OCZ also added a line of Fatal1ty-branded power supplies.

 188. Funky Looking Webcam Does 3D

One part E.T. and two parts weird, Novo’s Minoru makes its debut as the world’s first 3D webcam. The two-eyed gadget creates a stereoscopic image so that viewers can see you in three dimensions, provided you can convince them to don a pair or red and blue 3D glasses. If not, 2D still works, but where’s the fun in that?

 187. Biostar Claims Overclocking Frontside Bus Record

We typically associate Biostar with the bargain bin, but it might be time to take another look. Using a Biostar TPower I45 motherboard, renowned overclocker ‘Youngpro’ set a new frontside bus record by reaching 725MHz. That same board has been spotted in other overclocking competitions, including a stint in Belgian when another enthusiast became the first to pump the FSB to 645MHz on air-cooling.

 186. Nvidia Breaks Promise to Simplify Product Line

It can be full-time job keeping up with changing technology (and for us, it is!), and it doesn’t help matters that Nvidia’s popular GeForce line is plagued with a confusing naming scheme. Model numbers are only part of the battle, and consumers must also grasp the differences between a GS, GSO, GT, GTS, GTX, and so on. And that doesn’t take into account core modifications, like the one that exists between the 320MB and 640MB versions of the 8800GTS. Nvidia promised to simplify its lineup, only to add yet another tag, the GTX+.

 185. GeForce GTX 260 Core 216

 Quite frankly, the first-generation GeForce GTX 260 was over-gimped. Figuring out how much functionality can safely be cut from a higher-end GPU to make a mid-range product is a tricky balance. Cut too much, and you suffer anemic performance. Don’t cut enough, and there’s no reason to buy a spendy high-end card. While the initial run of GeForce GTX 260s (with a mere 192 shader cores) couldn’t hack it, the versions with just 24 more shader processors (that’s where the board gets its name) are just right.

184. Hitachi Thinks Big, Pledges 5TB Hard Drive by 2010

Hitachi was the first hard drive manufacturer to reach the 1TB milestone, and the company is already off to the races towards 5TB. A year earlier, Hitachi said that 4TB could be attainable by 2011, but later revised its prediction and said it would release a 5TB 3.5-inch hard drive in 2010. And according to Hitachi, if you run two of them in tandem, you’ll have the equivalent storage capacity of half a human brain.

 183. AMD Refocuses on Stream Processing, Offers Free Avivo Video Converter

AMD’s stream processing technology isn’t new, but it’s always been more of an afterthought. The same can’t be said in 2008, and AMD showed renewed focus with its new ATI Stream brand, which is a compilation of several previous technologies. Updated drivers unlock the new ATI Stream acceleration capabilities built into several ATI videocards, and to add icing on the cake, AMD offers its ATI Avivo Video Converter as a free download.

 182. Polaroid Puts Instant Film in the Grave

 Before digital cameras marched into the mainstream market, you could either wait for your film to be developed by some nosy 1-hr photo lab employee who would keep a copy for himself, or placate your desire for instant gratification with Polaroid’s instant film. Closing yet another chapter on our younger days, Polaroid put the kibosh on instant film and closed down the last of its instant film factories.

Image Credit: Flickr Patrick Haney

 181. Polaroid Camera Makes a Comeback with Underwhelming PoGo Support

 Polaroid may be discontinuing production of their iconic instant film, but they’re not leaving the market totally vacant. This June saw the release of PoGo, a pocket-sized printer which promised instant, adhesive-backed photos straight from our cameras and phones. The device was marred by lousy battery life and Bluetooth connectivity issues, but was still fun enough that we’re looking forward to future versions.

 180. Eye-Fi Explore

 Remember you used to have to manually upload your photos to your web site? Feh. With Eye-Fi’s lineup of Wi-Fi integrated SD cards, just snap the shot, leave the camera on and it’ll upload those adorable pictures of your kids, pets. Or for the more geeky, your World of Warcraft figurines or other “man dolls.”

 179. Nvidia Gets Serious About Physics, Acquires Ageia

Ageia’s standalone PhysX card never did quite catch on, but physics processing did. Just months after Intel spent $110 million to acquire Havok, Nvidia answered back by picking up Ageia, a deal rumored to have been worth $150 million. The asking price drove AMD out of the running, who also showed interest before Nvidia stepped in.

 178. Debian Enters Adolescence, Celebrates 15th Birthday

On August 16th, 1993, Elvis fans mourned the 16th anniversary of his passing. It was also on this day that Debian was born, and by the age of 15, the GNU/Linux distribution has gone on to influence some of the most popular distros, including Ubuntu. And here’s an interesting tidbit – Debian got its name by combining founder Ian Murdock’s first name with his then girlfriend (now wife) Deborah (Deb+ian).

 177. Nvidia Enforces Manufacturer Advertised Pricing

Hopping over to Newegg and sorting videocards by price is supposed to simplify the process of picking out a bang/buck videocard, but Nvidia ruins the experience when it decides to enforce Manufacturer Advertised Pricing. With MAP, vendors aren’t allowed to display prices below a set minimum, forcing shoppers to add the item to their cart to see the true selling price. Why is this akin to sitting on nails? Because it’s a pain in the ass.

 176. Memory Makers Push GDDR5 into Development

Higher bandwidth and lower power consumption sounds like a win-win proposition, and it’s these two characteristics that GDDR5 brings to the table. Memory maker Qimonda gets busy churning out the new chips, most of which end up in AMD’s hands for use in the company’s HD 4870 and HD 4870X2 videocards. Later in the year, Hynix introduces an even more power efficient GDDR5 memory, requiring just 1.35V compared to 1.5V.

 175. OCZ Taps into Human Brain

While we’ve often threatened to obliterate enemies with just our mind, it was never before possible until OCZ unveiled its Neural Impulse Actuator. Once strapped to the noggin, the futuristic looking device can then translate electrical biosignals allowing you to control the on-screen action through the power of thought and various reactionary movements, such as clenching your jaw and different facial expressions. Don’t use while constipated.

 174. Obama Texts Registered Users His VP Candidate

Before Barack Obama went on the defeat John McCain in the 2008 Presidential election, he first reached out to connected voters by announcing he would text message his choice for VP running mate before making a formal announcement. According to Nielsen Mobile, 2.9 million subscribers signed up to receive the text.

 173. Convicted BitTorrent Seed Farmer Sentenced to 18 Months

EliteTorrents, at one time a popular portal for finding pre-release movies, drew the ire of the MPAA, who took the admins to court. Of the three administrators, only Daniel Dove pleaded ‘not guilty,’ and as one might imagine the Department of Justice had little trouble winning a jury conviction for copyright infringement. Dove, no longer a free bird, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which is more than either of his cohorts but less than the 10 years he could have received.

 172. Apple MacBook Pro

 It takes a big man to admit that he’s wrong, but that’s just what notorious Apple-hater Gordon Mah Ung did this year, when he served our first review of an Apple laptop right beside a tasty serving of crow. Said Gordon, “the MacBook Pro is a surprisingly satisfying machine”.

 171. Microsoft Makes Development Tools Available for Students at No Cost

 Between tuition, books, and kegs, college students don’t often have loads of extra cash lying around to buy things like, oh, developer and design tools to write software applications. And nor do they have to, as Microsoft launched its DreamSpark initiative, offering college and high school kids all around the world free access to technology tools. With them, budding developers can build web pages, create Xbox 360 videogames, and engage in other geeky time killers for those dateless Friday nights.

 170. E3 Sucks

 There, that’s it. We said it. The new, trimmed-down E3, while glorious and wonderful for anyone actually working the show, sucks for everyone else. Along with the thronging crowds, clamoring for a glimpse of Wil Wright’s latest and the breathy news coverage of the latest family-friendly musical rhythm game, the games industry also left behind a lot of the fun and excitement around games. Put another way: more people waited in line to play the Wii in 2006 than attended E3 in 2008. We’re glad “old” E3 is coming back, even if our voices and feet aren’t.