Due Next From Apple: Refreshed 20- And 24-Inch iMacs

Assuming last minute snags are avoided, Apple in the coming weeks is expect to unveil a family of refreshed iMacs that will round out its 2008 introductions and send the company into the holiday shopping season with one of its strongest product portfolios ever.

Avid AppleInsider readers will notice that our little 2008 hardware roadmap -- published back in August and reprinted below -- has thus far panned out quite nicely, clearing the way for new iMac models to edge their way to market sometime in the next four weeks.

People familiar with the company's plans have said changes to the iMac family will largely consist of performance improvements and technology refreshes. And while there's admittedly been few concrete details to go by since the August report, this week's notebook overhauls offer a window into the future of the iMac line, which sports an architectural resemblance to the MacBook lines.

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Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex - Review & Tutorial

Ubuntu 8.10, the latest version of a phenomenally popular and successful distro, is supposed to hit the world scene on October 30. Being a fervent fan and a loyal user of the Ubuntu family, especially the autumn releases, I have decided that I could not wait and that I had to test the Beta build and get the first impression of the newcomer.

Naturally, the first thing I did was check the live CD.

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New Chips Poised to Revolutionize Photography, Film

For the first time, professional-grade single-lens reflex cameras are gaining the ability to record high-definition video. That capability, photographers say, has the potential to transform both still photography and moviemaking.

While compact digital cameras have had video-recording capabilities for years, the image quality provided by these cameras has been disappointing because of their small image sensors and comparatively poor, miniaturized optics. High-end video and movie cameras produce top-notch HD video and their interchangeable lenses give filmmakers the creative control they crave, but the cameras are big and expensive. Even the RED ONE, a super-high-definition movie camera that records digital video that's comparable in quality to that of film stock, rings up at about $17,000. That's a bargain compared to movie cameras, but it's still a lot of dough for most people.

By contrast, the 21-megapixel Canon 5D Mark II, which shoots 1080p HD video, will cost $2,700 (plus the cost of lenses) when it becomes available later this year. The 12-megapixel, highly rated Nikon D90, which records 720p HD video and is available now, costs even less: a mere $1,300 gets you the body plus a basic zoom lens.

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Creationist Adnan Oktar offers trillion-pound prize for fossil proof of evolution

Turkish creationist Adnan Oktar has just offered ten trillion lira - a mouth-watering $7.5 trillion (10 trillion Turkish lira or £4.4trn) - to "anyone who produces a single intermediate-form fossil demonstrating evolution". So Paleontologists: this could be your lucky day!

Mr Oktar is a household name in Turkey after publishing hundreds of books, pamphlets and DVDs to contest Darwin's theory of evolution.

Using the pen name Harun Yahya, his book The Atlas Of Creation sold 10,000 copies worldwide. The 800-page book detailed his claims that for millions of years life forms have not developed, thus supporting his Islamic creationist beliefs.

The former architecture student claims there are no fossils to support Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He said: "Not one [fossil] belongs to strange-looking creatures in the course of development of the kind supposed by evolutionists."

However IMHO as usual I am sure evolutionists will not take up the offer after all its much better to worship at the alter of science rather then actually prove anything with oh say real facts. Yup I am still waiting to see a half man / monkey running around the forest. OK, no I don't think big foot is real or nor do I think there are little green men from mars too. So in the end I have always said that evolutionists have much more faith then I do, with my faith in a wise creator. Oh am sure to make some evolutionists angry but hey I have been running my watch in a tumbler for days and you know all the little parts have not magically reassembled them selfs, but you know it could happen it was a nice watch : )

The True Costs of Renewable Energy

As utility costs mount ever higher, Americans now have real options to take home energy matters into their own hands with "green" systems that can pay for themselves in as little as a few years.

Among the choices: wind, solar, geothermal and a "microhydro" option that is potentially cheaper than a year's tuition at many state colleges.

Choosing the do-it-yourself route can offer the freedom of going partially or totally off the grid. And, if the energy generated exceeds your actual usage, you can even sell the excess juice to your utility company. But none of this is free. Here's how much change you should expect to kick in:

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Apple Details Cursor-Based QuickLook and Advanced Functions

Apple is exploring new ways to use the Mac OS cursor to provide users with additional information and usability options for files residing on their hard drive or linked via the internet before they're triggered or activated.

A patent filing published for the first time on Thursday notes that it's often useful for a user to be given an indication as to the content of a target file or link, before the user clicks on the user-activatable element that will open the target.

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Microsoft gives users six months longer to flee from Vista

Never mind that Microsoft has kicked off a hyped ad campaign to convince the public to buy Windows Vista PCs, - it's also given users more time to switch back to Windows XP. OEMs have been given an additional six months to sell PCs running Windows Vista with the ability to downgrade to Windows XP using an accompanying recovery disc. 

 The goal seems to be to help PC users who cannot move to Windows Vista move smoothly to the next version of Microsoft's desktop operating system, Windows 7.

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