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Its pretty amazing to see technology shrink every year and now some Chinese retailers have compressed a miniature computer into the size of a flash drive for the low price of $74. This little PC is packing a 1.5GHz ARM CPU and 512MB of memory and outputs at 1080P. Arstechnica takes a closer look at this mini PC that can run either Linux of Android 4.0 without breaking a sweat.

Chinese retailers have started selling a miniature Linux computer that is housed in a 3.5-inch plastic case slightly larger than a USB thumb drive. Individual units are available online for $74.

The small computer has an AllWinner A10 single-core 1.5GHz ARM CPU, a Mali 400 GPU, and 512MB of RAM. An HDMI port on the exterior allows users to plug the computer into a television. It outputs at 1080p and is said to be capable of playing high-definition video.

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Every Facebook user sees a ton of ads every time they login, but just effective are those ads? Well according to VentureBeat, 44% of Facebook's users never click on these sponsored ads. Of all Facebook users, only 3% say they regularly clock on ads and 10% say they do it "often", which is actually higher than I would have thought but still leaves a ton of people who completely ignore the ads and really puts into question the effectiveness of Facebook ads.

General Motors caused a stir on Tuesday when it leaked that the company would stop running ads on Facebook due to them not being effective. GM will drop $10 million worth of ads, but it still plans to spend $30 million on marketing through Facebook. That story was poor timing for Facebook, which will have its record-breaking IPO this Friday.

For its 2011-2012 Search & Social Survey, Greenlight surveyed 500 people, including students, medical staff, accountants, lawyers, and others, to gain insight about their behavior on Facebook and their sentiments toward the company. On top of finding out 44 percent would never click on display ads, only 3 percent of respondents said they “regularly” clicked a sponsored ad; 10 percent said “often.”

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Lately there has been non-stop talk about Facebook and how many users it has, unfortunately for Google+ the same cannot be said. According to some new stats it looks like Google+'s 170 Million users aren't so active. According to these stats 30% of Google+ users have posted once, and the average lapse between posts is 12 days. Google of course doesn't agree with these stats, but most Google+ users will agree that its not as busy as Facebook and posts get much less attention. BusinessWorld has the details.

Google+ is a lonely place. At least according to a new study that paints the social networking site as a virtual tumbleweed town.

Using information culled from the public timelines of 40,000 randomly selected members, data analysis firm RJMetrics found that the Google+ population, which currently numbers 170 million, is largely disengaged, with user activity rapidly decaying—at least when it comes to public posts.

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We have just taken a look at the Edifier Sound To Go USB Speaker Bar.  This little unit promises to add better and louder sound to your laptop and can pull double duty by plugging into your favorite media player.  It has great construction and is simple to use and at $40, it's affordable.  Take a look and find out if its worth the money.

We tested this at BCCHQ South and used our trusty Sound Pressure Level meter and discovered that this little speaker can "pump" out music at over 90dbi.  While this won't make you deaf, or disturb your neighbors too much, it is very acceptable and is more than adequate for gaming, music and movie playback.

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• NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition - HiTechLegion --=-- HardwareHeaven --=-- Techgage
• Bitfenix Shinobi XL Case - HardwareSecrets
• Antec GAME ONE Midi Tower - NikKTech
• NZXT Phantom 410 Special Edition Mid-Tower - HiTechLegion 
• Cooler Master Cosmos II - APHNetworks 
• Corsair 550D Chassis - Vortez --=-- TweakTown
  
• MSI Nighthawk Case/Chassis - TechwareLabs 
• Lancool PC-K65 Case - HardwareSecrets 
• Cooler Master HAF XM Mid-Tower - TweakTown 
• Zalman Z11 Mid-Tower Gaming Case - HardwareLook 
• SilverStone Precision PS07 White Case - HardwareSecrets

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Facebook has come up with a new idea on how to make even more money, Paid Post Promotion. This idea is now in "beta" but will basically give you the ability (for a fee of course) to have your posts promoted and show up on the top of all of your friends pages. Hopefully this never takes off because I for one don't want to see posts that are pointless being at the top of my page because my friend spent a couple bucks to guarantee that I see it. ZDNet has the full story.

Facebook this week started testing a system that lets users pay to promote their posts. Out of all the various different features the social networking giant has trialed on its website, this idea is by far the worst one yet. It sounds like an April Fools’ joke, but it isn’t.

“We’re constantly testing new features across the site,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”

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This week was a big week for video game releases with Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 both hitting store shelves on Wednesday. Thanks to the hype behind both of these games one would assume that both Rockstar Games (Max Payne 3) and Activision/Blizzard (Diable 3) will be having a pretty good month saleswise.

Diablo 3:

First up we've got Diablo 3. This game has been eagerly anticipated by gamers for years and is finally here, unfortunately the night of the release Activision/Blizzard has some fun server offline issues which prevented gamers for accessing the game for hours, PCMag has the full story on the outage.

Aside from the issues on launch day, Wired takes a look at Diablo 3 and shares some of their first impressions:

It’s been just a little over a day since Blizzard performed one of the old rituals, releasing Diablo upon the world for the third time, and I’ve been doing my best to play all the hell out of it.

There’s a lot of hell in there, though. Wired will have a full review of Blizzard’s long-anticipated action role-playing game in due time, but first, here are some early thoughts about the experience I’ve had so far. Not all of them are positive.

Max Payne 3:

Max Payne 3 arrived with a little less fuss than Diablo 3, but the reviews are overall very positive. USA Today takes a look at the 3rd installment in the Max Payne series

Rockstar Games has resurrected hard-boiled video game hero Max Payne for a new noir adventure.

Some may only know the character from the big-screen version played by Mark Wahlberg in the forgettable 2008 film. But just a decade ago, Max was a well-regarded video game leading man.

The new game, Max Payne 3 (out now, $60 for PS 3, Xbox 360 and PCs, ages 17-up) restores the dark hero to his rightful status. The 2001 original computer game and 2003 sequel Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne also broke new ground for its "bullet time" feature that slowed down the action, allowing Max to take out multiple enemies while diving (à la Neo and Agent Smith in The Matrix).

PSXExtreme also takes a look at Max Payne 3

It’s brutal, unapologetic, visceral, and unsurprisingly addictive. Rockstar has managed to capture the very essence of Max Payne in the latest long-awaited installment, and it’s dark and a little depressing. But that’s exactly what the first two games were all about; Max Payne is a singular character, one you question and root for simultaneously. And at its core is a blend of ridiculous over-the-top action and a quality story that keeps you playing. Enjoy the Payne.

If you were lucky enough to pick up these games before they sold out please share you thoughts in the forums using the link below (if you can pry yourself away from either of these games long enough to type up your thoughts).

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With Windows 8 right around the corner Microsoft is trying to make people not wait for that new PC by offering anyone who buys a Windows 7 PC the opportunity to upgrade for the low price of $14.99 when Windows 8 comes out later this year. This is a pretty standard offer coming from Microsoft and we've seen similar deals in the past with previous Windows offerings. ZDNet has the full scoop on how this will work and is good news for someone who wants a new computer and can't wait for Windows 8.

Microsoft’s usual plan is to offer a free upgrade to users of older versions of Windows to bump up to the next release version. This time around there will be a cost, according to sources.

Those who shell out for a Windows 7 PC in the coming months will receive a discounted upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99, according to sources speaking to Paul Thurrott.

The deal could start as early as the first week in June at around the same time as the company gears up for its final preview of the next version of Windows.

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As we keep on going through the news bucket today, we've got a couple of Media Players that are interesting to check out.  NikKTech has the Egreat S-Series R300 Network HD Media player on their bench as well as the Pivos Aios HD Media Center.  Take a look if you're considering a new box to play your files on your favorite TV.

Unfortunately there's no HDMI cable included in the bundle, however it comes with pretty much everything needed included the aios HD media center, RCA cables (A/V), quick start guide, user's guide, USB host cable, AC power adapter, two AAA batteries, two HDD mounting screws and the remote control.

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