Below is a rather exhaustive bunch of photos describing every piece of the pack. Sorry about the photo quality…apparently my twelve-megapixel camera does horribly in low light. If anyone wants me to reshoot a picture or two, that’s no problem Click on any picture for the full, huge, 12-megapixel version.

The box is colorful but nothing out of the ordinary. No, you can't know where I live without asking me first.

Here's what the box looked like when I first opened it. That's my bed by the way, in case you were wondering.

This is all of the smaller stuff in the package, as I got it, plastic wrap (iff applicable) intact.

The white thing at left is the rather large Windows 7 poster. The colorful thing on the right is, as it turns out, party bags.

More after the break…

Here's the poster. To give you an idea of the scale, its length is nearly the width of my twin-sized bed.

Here's the poster, horizontally.

Here are all the various promo fliers that came in the package. Ten each. This picture shows all possible sides of the promo cards (front, back and inside for the Corel one).

Same thing, but with flash. Maybe this one's more readable if you want to read exactly what the fliers say.

As I said, there were ten of each item. Ten Windows 7 promo cards, ten Corel cards...

...ten Norton promo cards, ten Kaspersky proo cards, ten Zune promo cards...

So here you've got balloons (three red, FOUR yellow, three blue, three green), some balloon tie thingies (?) and ten Nero cards. Yes, some are upside-down; it's not just you.

Here you have ten psychadelic-looking Windows 7 party favor bags. Hey, at least they're roomy enough to be used s a grocery bag...oh wait, nobody would do that. Or would they?

Three jokers, poker rules and larger-than-usual graphics. Otherwise the deck of cards isn't out of the ordinary (Steve Ballmer is NOT the ace of spades or the king of hearts).

The front of the card box is semi-glossy, as you can see by the reflection of my camera in the picture. Also, the backs of the playing cards are just as crazy as the design on the handbags. And, if you so choose, on your Windows 7 desktop.

Unfortunately, this shot is too also too blurry to read the poker sheet (cool idea, not unique to this since it's just a Bicycle deck). The back of the card box has the same back-of-card image on it. The 64-bit CD has "GENUINE" and "Microsoft" holographics on it. Steve Ballmer's signature is slightly embossed, but definitely just a copy.

You know the X-shaped foldy thingies you have on restaurant tables? That's what is at the top of this picture. The next picture shows the opposite side of the right card. The left card is the same on both sides.

This picture doesn't show it, ut both of the items shown (not the newspaper) are on the glossy side. That's the back of the Windows 7 Signature Edition package by the way.

Centerpiece. That's what you call that thing. Anyway, here it is assembled, with the 64-bit Windows 7 install disc.

Here are the two Windows 7 discs side-by-side. 32-bit was/is in the Signature Edition holder. As if the disc actually mattered...I'm betting Windows 7 will be ofered for download when it comes out.

Here's what it looks like inside the Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition DVD holder. The photo was taken from my desk, about three inches away from my iMac, which will get a copy of Win7 installed soon enough. No, you can't have my key.

As others have pointed out, there isn’t a ton of branding on the party pack, though there’s a decent amount. The cards are a nice touch, as is the simple DVD holder, which is a welcome change from the Windows Vista Ultimate Edition box I bought two and a half years ago.

If you’re in the Golden area, drop me a line (ilittman@mymail) if you want to come to the party, though I’ll probably run out of swag to give away. Also, if you have any questions or comments, that’s what the comments section is for!

UPDATE: I’ve put the download of Windows 7 English 32-bit up here. Note that you’ll still need a key from Microsoft. Get it quick, before my bandwidth runs out!

In all seriousness, the response to Microsoft’s new operating system, due out when Microsoft is good and ready (a close paraphrase of their words at the recent Consumer Electronics Show), was absolutely phenomenal. Microsoft said it themselves. So phenomenal, in fact, that they had to farm out downloads of Windows 7 to Akamai, an outfit known for providing high-speed downloads at high prices, and one who is incidentally just a few hops away from the Mines network.

Server troubles aside, put succinctly, Windows 7 gives the performance of Windows XP with the features of Windows Vista…and then some. As anyone who downloads the beta will find, the operating system is stable enough to be used in a production environment (I’m doing just that) and feature-complete enough that, in most cases, you won’t miss whatever version of Windows came on your coputer for its system-centric addons.

Windows 7 has been retooled a fair amount so it will take some getting used to, especially if you’re upgrading directly from Windows XP. Though you can change some settings beck to their old positions, some streamlining on Widnows 7 is irreversible.

Wth that bit of fair warning, go out and text Windows 7 right now. If you have a system that will run Windows Vista, it’ll run Windows 7 better. If you have two or thre GB of memory, you can even run Windows 7 inside Windows Vista via something like Sun’s free VirtualBox, and it still might be faster. If you’re using Windows XP, if you’d feel somewhat uncomfortable about putting Vista on your machine, Windows 7 will work just fine. Yes, it’s hat good.

One problem: Microsoft is now unsure as to when it’s shipping Windows 7, at least that’s what they said a few days ago in their CES keynote. Though the OS is obviously nearly ready for prime time, Microsoft is unwilling to commit to a 2009 launch. Sad indeed, considering I’d buy a copy for my new Vista-equipped laptop as soon as it came out. Additionally, the back-to-school season would be a nice time for the-Windows-that-didn’t-suck to hit store shelves, both on systems and in shiny rounded-corner boxes everywhere.

I’ll be either writing an article in the paper or a post here about Windows 7 (maybe both) with a fuller review. Until then, you can download the beta here, here and at locations that I’ll post on my Twitter account later, once I’ve had time to upload them. Yes, the second link is from BitTorrent; it may be more reliable than Microsoft’s own download site and, as long as you go back to Microsoft and get a key, you’re 100% legit the way I see it. The other links are to a few different locations I’m setting up on my own web host accounts, in case you find Microsoft’s own downloads too slow. Which means that they cost me money, so only use them in times of most dire need, or if you’re going to do me some sort of favor in return .

The bottom line: Windows is cool again. Let’s just hope Microsoft kicks their development program into high gear and spits Windows 7 out before Apple launches another successful smear campaign against the company.

Google Earth is now available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Less features than the regular Google Earth app but still fun. By the way, you can see the Mines “M” from Google Earth…check it out!

If you have a Mac, you can now stream Netflix movies online within OS X. Nice feature, especially with Netflix’s growing instant-watch catalog. Additionally, Netflix streaming will be available on the TiVo , and in HD on the XBox 360.

Heard of the Amazon Kindle? How about Oprah? Put the two together and you get $50 off the Kindle, so it’s now a cool $309. Contrast this to the new Sony eReader, weighing in at $400…I’ll take the internet-connected Kindle, thanks.

One of the high-speed internet networks powering the Mines campus, along with most colleges and research institutions, is the National LambdaRail. Soon, regular companies will be able to get a piece of the supercharged internet action, thanks to DarkStrand . Don’t worry; there’s plenty of internet to go around, with 300 gigabits per second of capacity available right now on the network.

Introducing yet another brand buzzword into the internet equation, Microsoft introduced its Azure (cloudless?!?) “Cloud” platform to the spotlight at last week’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC). Azure seems to be a mix of online computing power (like Amazon Web Services, which includes their S3 data storage system) and current Windows Live services. The software giant also showed off the latest build of its new operating system, Windows 7 , which will probably ship in time for back-to-school 2009. Additionally, their upcoming office suite, Office 14 , will have an online version available, among other enhancements, a la Google Docs. Last but not least is Windows Media Player 12 , with an eye to getting out of the way when you’re just trying to play a random track instead of diving into your music library.

Using AOL Hometown, AOL Pictures, AOL Journals, Xdrive or Bluestring? Grab your data now; the services will be going offline in the near future.

Wal-Mart has relaunched its music store as a DRM-free, all-MP3 affair. Downloads are as inexpensive as 74 cents, plus tax, apiece. Hot Topic (yes, the clothing outlet) is doing something similar, albeit with more standard (higher) per-song pricing.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is this month. Two words: do it.

GMail users can now chat with mobile phones via SMS , a nice added bonus for people on that system (myself included).

Watch out! If your bank login page looks different than usual, you may well have been infected with a rather nasty “trojan” malware app.

Having problems getting to websites on your Sprint phone? You’re one of those affected by a complete Sprint blockade of Cogent traffic after Sprint determined that Cogent (a big, dirt-cheap internet backbone provider) was sending too much traffic in Sprint’s direction, and not receiving enough traffic back. This “push me, pull you” system of internet traffic is called “peering”, and happens free of charge to both parties when they agree that both are receiving mutual benefit. Sprint, mostly a high-price-per-megabit-per-second, ISP-focused system, decided that Cogent (whose highly inexpensive bandwidth offerings make it ideal for web site hosting, along with some ISP use) wasn’t “playing fair”, so for now “you can’t get from here to there” is an all too real problem on the internet for some people. Basically, Sprint wants Cogent to pay for the rather self-imposed traffic imbalance (probably a majority of Sprint customers can’t go elsewhere easily). Cogent seems willing to “wait it out” until Sprint decides to turn on the internet taps again, in the meanwhile giving a free 100 megabit connection (both upload and download speed) to anyone within Cogent’s immediate service area, who is affected by this “peering dispute”. On the other hand, if you’re using the Mines campus network, Comcast, Qwest, Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T or CricKet, you aren’t directly affected by this “inter-rift”. If you are, simply connect via VPN into the Mines network, or use a proxy like Kroxy and you’re routed around this internet blackhole (seriously, that’s a networking term for such an event as this).

UPDATE: Sprint has grudgingly turned connectivity back on with Cogent, while “working on a long-term solution”. Sounds to me like the company just got too many customer complaints to leave the inter-pipes broken for too long…

The Backberry Bold , the feature-rich 3G device from Research In Motion (RIM) will be released on AT&T’s network on November 4th. The price will be $299 with contract. Unlike the Verizon Blackberry Storm, this phone will have a keyboard and, I’m pretty sure, no touch screen.So basically you’re looking at a modern version of your typical Blackberry, which is a good thing.

A few days ago, Apple announced in its earnings call that it has sold over 10 million iPhones this year alone, surpassing RIM to become the 3rd biggest phone manufacturer in the world, by measure of revenue. That’s a lot of iPhones.

In other phone introduction news, Sprint is releasing the HTC Touch Pro on the 26th at Best Buy stores, and the 2nd at all other outlets, including online.The phone, successor to the HTC Mogul Pocket PC phone (on which I’m typing this article) has a slide-out keyboard, high-speed data access and a 3 megapixel camera. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 plus some HTC enhancements, and will be prices at $300 after a rebate and with a new contract, which will have to include a data plan in order to get the phone. I’ll be upgrading sooner or later, though it may not be for a bit…my next phone upgrade is due late next semester. This is despite the operating system, which has been compared with a Soviet-era tank in the face of the iPhone.

Microsoft’s The Ultimate Steal promotion is back. In one of the few useful ads on the current oredigger.net site, I saw that Microsoft was offering the deal again, and it’s worth looking at for sure. Office 2007 Ultimate Edition is a mere $60, 91% off of retail,Visio 2007 (for flowcharts and such) is $56, and Windows Vista Ultimate, normally around $200, is available for $65. Windows Vista, granted, is an upgrade version, but all you have to do is install it twice, once with no license key entered, then once with the key entered…and you’ve got a legit Windows install for cheap (trust me, I’ve done it before).

Watch out! If you’re playing Oregon Trail, be warned that, sometime in the near future, your app will be replaced without a trace …by Speed Date!?! Unless you’re into that sort of thing, get out while your profile is untainted by such weirdness…

Water-cooled computers are so three years ago…cool your computer with non-nonconducting oil for the latest in ultimate gaming performance. No, seriously…submerge your components in the techno-magical potion for crazy cooling.

Comcast has rolled out its new, higher speeds, based on the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.0 standard. The problem: those speeds aren’t available anywhere around here, and won’t be for awile considering the competitive situation. Currently rollout is in the northeast, as well as in the Twin Cities (MN) market, formerly a test bed for the tech. With the upgrade, customers on the standard tier get their internet speeds doubled for free, and everyone with the higher service tier gets speeds set at 16 megabits per second down, 2 Mbps up (double the download speed in most cases, no change on uploads). In addition, with rental (or eventually purchase) of a new DOCSIS 3 modem, two new tiers are available: a 22 Mbps download, 5 Mbps upload “Ultra” tier for $63 per month, and a 50 Mbps download, 10 Mbps upload “Extreme 50″ package for a whopping $140. The prices on these new tiers seems to be for cable users; expect something higher if you don’t bundle in cable, or if you want business-class service, which will also get the new tiers (the current 16/2 $89-per-month business plan won’t change). Another problem: it sounds like the 250GB residential cap is staying around even with the new, ostensibly more network-congestion-friendly tiers, which spread downloads over multiple channels on the highest-speed offerings. Theoretically this “burden sharing” would allow for less network congestion and thus higher caps, but in reality all the current “channel bonding” technology used in these setups does is restrict single-connection, single-file downloads to as low as one-third the connection’s full bandwidth. In short, when the new tiers do come, heavy users may want to seriously consider upgrading to the $59 “basic” business tier, which will boasts 12/2 download/upload speeds and no usage caps for a price lower than what people are paying now for 8/2, capped, residential service.

The open-source media player Boxee now supports Hulu and CBS videos. The significance? The social media player can be hacked onto an Apple TV, among other platforms.

Time to be more selective on your six-packs, beer-drinkers (I’m assuming you’re legal). Researchers have genetically engineered a brew with ingredients that combat cancer. Plus it’s anti-aging, even when the beer goggles come off. Best. Drinking. Excuse. Ever.

Just because you’re a gamer doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an antisocial nerd (though one can’t rule out the possibility, unfortunately). I’m not the one saying this: a study is. Check it out.

That’s all for now! Check back a week from now for more News Bits, or between now and then for more substantial, topical, articles…I have some good ones coming! Also, check out the new Mines website! It’s now online at www.mines.edu and it looks great!

1. Best Buy has bought Napster for $121 million. Why, we’re not sure…maybe because they want to increase their position in the music selling market…they sell CDs and had a relationship with Real for Rhapsody. Now they have their own subscription service, which of course still won’t break the iTunes mega-market share situation.
2. The Large Hadron Collider was infiltrated by hackers earlier this week, to the point that a computer one level away from the actual control inferfaces was compromised. Also, they’ve shut the collider down to fix some cooling system problems. Scary, much?
3. Google has been working on a new place to put their data centers: on the ocean. THe big advantages: power from the waves, cooling from the water and the lack of land to tax. Sounds like a plan…let’s just hope there aren’t any scurvy data pirates around, ready to take all that personally identifyiable information wieth them on a raid in the high seas.
4. Heard of the Google Android phone? How about the HTC Dream? Well, T-Mobile will be introducing the latter, with the former operating system on it, Tuesda. The phone won’t be available until October, but this is finally the end of the vaporware that has been Google’s mobile phone operating system for some time now. The Dream will retail for $199 with a two-year contract, on par with the iPhone 3G lower-end model.
5. Have a Zune? Microsoft has made a deal with Wayport, a WiFi hotspot provider, to give Zune customers free WiFi at McDonalds outlets, for downloading music. In contrast, Apple has had a deal with Starbucks ever since their iPod Touch came out. Interesting dichotomy though.
6. In other Microsoft news, they’ve launched “I’m a PC” ads to counteract Apple’s ongoing PC-bashing ad blitz. Whereas Apple touts what Macs have that PCs don’t have, or are uncomfortable with Macs having, the “I’m a PC” ads focus on the wide ariety of people who use PCs. Sure, Apple might connotate Macs with being cool, but with a PC you can be cool, smart, rebellious or…um…a suba diver. That works. Microsoft has also passed a milestone build of Windows 7, meaning that a full-blown beta release may land as early as this year.
7. Yahoo is trying out a new home page layout. They’re also where Sarah Palin had an e-mail address, which was social-engineered by some hackers. Moral of the story: check the “Forgot your password?” option on your e-mail provider; it may well be the weakest link security-wise for getting into your e-mail. It was for Sarah.
8. In other political news, researchers have designed a program that figures out how much political spin is placed on a speech based on word usage. The verdict: Clinton is average, McCain pretty much doesn’t spin things, and Obama is an absolute spin doctor. Also, there seem to be problems with voting machines in several swing states, which includes here in Colorado. No is a good time to volunteer to help in whatever way you can to solve these problems. Tech heads are patriotic like that, right?
9. In the ongoing Spore saga, Electronic Arts has decided to relax some of the onerous copy protection restrictions imposed on the game. Now you can install it on up to five computers (up from three) and there’s an automated mechanism for deauthorizing machines if, say, you trade an old computer for a new one.

That’s it for now! If you have any comments or questions, look below…a comment box awaits your command!

1. The Microsoft XBox 360 has been lowered in price. The hard-drive-less Arcade version is now $199 (less than the Nintendo Wii!), the 60GB “Pro” version is $299 and the 120GB “Elite” edition is $399, the same price as the 80GB Sony PlayStation 3. Microsoft has said publicly that they have no expectation of catching up with the Wii’s sales; they just want to be the second-biggest game console on the market, ahead of the PS3. With these price drops and despite the PlayStation 3 technically being better than the 360 (you can, for one thing, buy your own laptop hard disk and put it in the PS3, something you can’t do with the XBox), Microsoft should reach that goal without too much of a problem.
2. RealNetworks, maker of Crap…er…Rhapsody and the infamous RealPlayer, has come out with a new product: RealDVD. This $30 app looks to do a direct copy of a DVD from optical disk to hard disk, applying its own DRM wrapper on the media in the process. The way RealDVD does this doesn’t violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, though movie studios, ever protective of their intellectual property, may still be very miffed about the software. If you’re wondering what the DRM does, it ties the DVD rip to your machine, unless you pay another $20 per license for up to four other computers. Okay, maybe RealDVD is easier to use than the other programs currently available, but there are free ways to get the job done that don’t involve RealNetworks’ historically bloated excuses for software.
3. HP will be intro’ing a version of their Elitebook 6930p that, with an “ultra capacity” twelve-cell battery, an “IllumiLite” LED-backlit display and a brand new Intel solid state disk (SSD, think glorified flash drive), will last 24 hours on a charge. No misprint here, that’s a full, 24-hour day computing marathon without having to plug in. Whether the claim holds up once the computer ships in October is another matter, but if it gets even close to the 24-hour mark, this 14-inch-screen beauty will be my next laptop. I do use Apple products right now but I’m also brand-agnostic; may the best specs win!
4. Sprint is pushing several new phones onto the market in the few weeks. On the high end are HTC smartphones: the HTC Touch Pro (with a keyboard) and the HTC Touch Diamond (without one). Next in line are the Samsung Highnote, a high-end music phone, and the Samsung Rant, basically the Highnote with a slide-out keyboard instead of slide-out music controls. There’s also the LG Lotus, a squarish flip phone that has a full keyboard instead of a standard keypad. Lastly, for the Nextel iDEN network there’s a new Blackberry (a version of the Curve) and a new ruggedized flip phone (the Motorola i576).
5. Speaking of flip phones and Blackberries, RIM’s new Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 will be out on the market soon for T-Mobile. It looks to be a winner, especially for T-Mobile users.