towers

Desktops are a dying breed, but they're still useful for people who want maximum horsepower -- especially for graphics -- at a minimum price.

Today only, and while supplies last, Geeks.com has the refurbished Gateway DX4860-UB33P Core i5-2320 desktop PC for $379.99, plus $20 for shipping. Regular price: $599.99.

This is a seriously loaded desktop -- with one exception. It's powered by a 3GHz Intel Core i5-2320 processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 1TB hard drive. Like USB peripherals? The tower sports a whopping 10 USB ports, two of them USB 3.0. Also included: … Read more

If you're a gamer or at least marginally interested in videogames, today's show is for you. With Justin Yu out of town for the day, Jeff invited gaming industry all-stars Russ Frushtick (Polygon) and Scott Jones (EP Daily) to take on a handful of gaming-related topics. Laughs were had, tears were shed, but at the end of the day we all got a little closer.

Topics from today's show:

- Scott is really digging Fieldrunners 2.

- If there's one thing we're all in agreement on, it's that Dishonored is already a top 3 game of 2012 -- and that Russ' new nickname is "Ghost."

- Will Need For Speed: Most Wanted finally give us the Burnout-esque game we've been asking for?

- What the hell is going to happen with the Wii U?

- Just how Assassin's Creed-y will Assassin's Creed III be?… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- New Captcha system uses empathy to distinguish humans from bots.

- Watch Pornhub to donate money to breast cancer research.

- Meet the man that invented the Escape key.… Read more

T-Mobile USA has agreed to sell the rights to its network of cellular towers to Crown Castle for $2.4 billion as it looks to focus on its core operations.

T-Mobile has been shopping its 7,200 cell towers around for several years, seeing it as an easy way to bring in some badly needed cash that can be funneled into its network upgrade. The carrier has already committed to spending $4 billion over the next three years as it works to build out its 4G LTE network.

Under the agreement announced today, Austin, Texas-based Crown Castle will operate the … Read more

AT&T has temporarily disabled a frequency emitted by 16 towers that were found to be interfering with police and firefighter radio communications in Oakland, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.

The towers were causing radio failures, particularly when a police car was within a quarter to half a mile of one of them, said David Cruise, Oakland's public safety systems adviser.

After the U.S. Federal Communications Commission confirmed the interference, AT&T shut down the 850MHz frequency for 2G customers on the towers last Friday, but the carrier left the 1,900MHz and 700MHz … Read more

Signs that Apple is testing new versions of two of its desktop machines may have been spotted in the latest version of the company's recently-released desktop and notebook operating system.

Deep inside the configuration files of Apple's dual-booting, Boot Camp assistant software, AppleInsider today points to a pair of conspicuously unconventional model numbers. That includes two model names that haven't shown up before, the "MP60," which the outlet surmises is the next Mac Pro tower, and the "IM130," a new iMac model. … Read more

My gaming addiction tends to go in phases. Sometimes I like puzzle games, then I'll move on to shooting games. After that, I might switch to racing games or go on to classic arcade. Whatever the flavor of the week is, I like to really get into it to see what the App Store has to offer.

The recent release of a classic iOS game sequel got me back into playing tower defense strategy games. There is something about finding just the right combination of turrets to pass challenging levels that appeals to me right now. After playing the sequel for a bit, I started to check out a few other games. If you like tower defense, this collection is for you.

This week's collection of iOS apps are my favorite tower defense games of the moment. The first has been around for awhile, but continues to be a go-to game when I'm playing tower defense. The second adds unique game elements that change the gameplay by keeping you busy. The third is a sequel to one of the most popular iOS tower defense games of all time.… Read more

T-Mobile USA is close to inking a deal to sell 7,000 cell towers, according to a new report.

Tower operator Crown Castle International is the lead bidder for T-Mobile's towers, the Wall Street Journal is reporting today, citing sources. The deal could net T-Mobile $2 billion and cut down on costs related to tower upkeep and service.

Talk of T-Mobile putting its towers up for sale emerged back in March. At that time, J.P. Morgan analyst Philip Cusick said that in addition to the sales price, T-Mobile could save as much as $3 billion a year just … Read more

Live concerts are louder than ever, but home audio systems that sound great turned up loud are increasingly rare. If you're into loud music and lucky enough to live in a place where maximum volume won't get you evicted or arrested, or earn the wrath of neighbors, treat yourself to a set of big speakers.

Sure, small satellite speakers with a powerful subwoofer can sound great, but not in the same league as large speakers. Big systems really do have huge performance advantages over even the best small ones. If you've got the space to accommodate a pair of Klipsch Reference RF-7 II speakers, they deserve an audition. The only downside to listening to the RF-7 IIs is you'll never be satisfied with a Bluetooth speaker ever again.… Read more