Saturday Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 02:57 PM CEST - Jun,26 2004
- Post a comment / read (3)
- Russian IIS5 Hacks / worm spreading (updated) - Microsoft teams are
investigating a report of a security issue affecting customers using
Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0 (IIS) and Microsoft Internet
Explorer, components of Windows. Important Customers who have deployed Windows
XP Service Pack 2 RC2 are not at risk. Reports indicate that Web servers
running Windows 2000 Server and IIS that have not applied update 835732, which
was addressed by
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-011, are possibly being compromised and
being used to attempt to infect users of Internet Explorer with malicious
code. Another articles can be found at
vnunet,
PCmag and
PCWorld.
- Web site virus attack blunted - The attack, which had turned some
Web sites into points of digital infection, was nipped in the bud Friday, when
Internet
engineers managed to shut down a Russian server that had been the source
of malicious code. Compromised Web sites are still attempting to infect Web
surfers' PCs by referring them to the server in Russia, but that computer can
no longer be reached. Still, Web surfers should take precautions, as the
Internet underground is increasingly using this type of attack as a way to get
by network defenses and infect officer workers' and home users' computers.
- Printing from Internet Explorer Lets Users to Cause DoS -
System CPU usage could reach 100% and an extremely large number of paper
sheets, more than the HTML contents's actual page number, could be consumed
when a certain HTML page is printed from Microsoft Internet Explorer. This
problem is attributed to some contents described in the TABLE element. Several
Web pages present the same flaw, which causes the printer to consume over 500
sheets of paper.
- Russia fines text hack spammer - Russian teenager has been
fined 3,000 roubles ($103) after being convicted of spamming 15,000 mobile
phones. The university student hacked into a mobile phone network before
sending a text message, according to an Interfax news agency report by way of
Reuters.
- Senate Unanimously Passes Anti-Camcorder Bill - The US Senate just
unanimously
passed a bill allowing the criminal prosecution of recording movies with a
camcorder in theatres. Victims of the new bill would face 3 years in prison on
first offense (5 if it was done for profit), repeat offenders would get 10
years.
- Microsoft patents human skin - Microsoft has reportedly succeeded
in patenting human skin as a new kind of network. InSourced claims
recently awarded US Patent No 6,754, 472 is a "method and apparatus for
transmitting power and data using the human body". The patent, it says, is
part of a new plan to link together several devices using skin as a connector.
As an example, Microsoft says it would be possible to have just one speaker
for a person's watch, PDA, and portable radio, if they were all connected to
that speaker through skin.
- Off-topic: US army dips into nanotech research - The US Army
research laboratory
is funding research into how nanotech can improve defense systems. The
goal of the project, funded for the first year to the tune of $2.4m, is to
"gain control of structures and devices at atomic and molecular levels and to
learn to efficiently manufacture and use these devices", according to Jimmy
Davidson, the principal investigator of the program at Vanderbilt Engineering.
Initially, the researchers will focus on developing diamond/carbon
nanostructures for biological and chemical sensors; developing a new
energy-conversion device,; and developing electron emission devices for
advanced electronics.
- Off-topic: Gaming their way to growth - Webzen and Gravity, two of
the leading online gaming companies in Asia, are gearing up to bring their
"Lord of the Rings"-type multiplayer games to a worldwide market.
About 80,000 U.S. gamers are already trying out Gravity's feudal fantasy
"Ragnarok," according to the company, which has introduced the game in
Brazil, Italy, Turkey and 13 other countries. Not to be outdone, Webzen
estimates that 40 million registrants hold temporary or recurring
subscriptions for its online game "Mu" in China and South Korea, with an
average of 500,000 people playing it at any given time.
- Off-topic: Bush, Kerry Offer Ideas on Technology - President Bush
and Democratic rival John Kerry
offered ideas Thursday to push the United States to the cutting edge on
technology, with the hope of securing crucial political support in Silicon
Valley and other high-tech regions. Kerry, noting that the Internet was
started with help from research in his home state of Massachusetts, said the
United States needs a president who understands the needs of the high-tech
industry.
- Off-topic: Lewinsky speaks out on Clinton memoir - Monica Lewinsky
says
she feels betrayed by Bill Clinton's failure to acknowledge how he
destroyed her life in his newly released memoirs. In an interview with
British broadcaster ITV, the former White House intern best known for her
affair with the 42nd US president says she was disappointed at how their
relationship is addressed.
- Off-topic: Weird rock formation occupies attention of Mars rover
experts - The Spirit rover is looking at
a Martian rock unlike anything seen on Earth, with a pitted surface and
strange nuggets on the end of stalks. "I have never seen anything that
combines all those characteristics together in the way this does," said Steve
Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for the NASA rovers.
"Now, I won't tell you that somewhere on Earth, there isn't a rock that looks
like this, but we may be dealing with something uniquely Martian here."
- RIP: Computer Pioneer Bob Bemer, 84 -
Robert W. "Bob" Bemer, 84, who helped invent the language used by most of
the world's computers to translate text to numbers and who was the first
scientist to warn of the Y2K problem, died of cancer June 22 at his home on
Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas.
- Credit card-sized smart phone ships... sort of - Swedish smart
phone developer Neonode may have begun tentatively shipping its
credit card-sized N1 handset, reports on the web suggest. The N1 is based
Microsoft Windows Mobile for Smartphones, but offers its own user interface,
zForce, all running on a 100MHz ARM processor. The GPRS-enabled handset ships
with a 64MB SD card, 16MB of which is used for system memory. It's not clear
whether the machine uses the card instead of built-in RAM, but that's
certainly what the company's web site implies.
- Microsoft cuts Xbox price in Taiwan - Microsoft announced
yesterday
it will cut the price of its Xbox game console in Taiwan from NT$5,980 to
NT$5,666, effective immediately. Starting in July, gamers in Taiwan could also
receive discounts from Microsoft's online gaming service, company sources
said.
- HP says as many as 900,000 notebooks buggy - Hewlett-Packard has
discovered a memory flaw that could be in as many as 900,000 of its
notebook computers and is offering customers free memory modules as a remedy.
The computer giant said Friday that through tests, it discovered a circuit
design flaw in some notebook memory modules that could cause Windows operating
system "blue screens," intermittent lockups or memory corruption. HP is asking
customers who own specific notebook models to download and run
a software utility to test their machine for the flawed memory. HP
notebook models affected by the replacement program include Compaq Evo
Notebook models N610c, N610v, N620c, N800c, N800v, N800w, N1000c and N1000v as
well as Compaq Presario models 1500, 2800, x1000 and x1200, the HP and Compaq
Business Notebook nx7000, and the HP Pavilion zt3000.
- Verizon recalls cell phone batteries -
The
TM-510 batteries, which carry the LG Mobile Phones brand, don't have the
circuitry normally installed to prevent overcharging, according to a notice
from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which issued the recall with
Verizon. When they are charged, the batteries can overheat, posing a fire and
burn hazard to users, according to the notice, issued Thursday.
- Flaw Found in Intel's New Chip Sets - Intel has discovered a flaw
in its recently launched chip sets that
can preclude a system from starting up normally, and is planning to recall
a certain amount of those chip sets from system vendors and channel partners,
a spokesperson confirms. The 915 G/P and 925X chip sets, formerly known as
Grantsdale and Alderwood, have a flaw in the I/O controller on the chip sets
that can prevent a PC from starting normally, says Howard High, an Intel
spokesperson. The incident is similar to Intel's recall of 820 chipsets in May
2000, but with a less serious impact. In the 2000 recall, Intel paid customers
US$110-130 for each defective product and recalled all-related materials.
The company is likely to implement a similar remedy this time.
- Intel Officially Launched Celeron D Processors - Intel Corporation
today announced its first value processors made using 90nm process technology.
The new Celeron D central processing units firmly enhance performance of the
company's products intended for customers in budget.
Intel Celeron D processors pack 256KB of level-two cache, twice the size
of the previous-generation Celeron chips, and 533MHz processor system bus, a
33% improvement over 0.13 micron value chips from the Santa Clara,
California-based chipmaker. Besides, the new Celeron CPUs also sport SSE3
technology found in the latest incarnation of the Pentium 4 dubbed "Prescott".
While the new Celeron D processors traditionally have much in common with the
more advanced Intel Pentium 4 chips, including deeper pipeline and enhanced
prefetch mechanisms for Prescott-based central processing units, the Celeron D
do not sport the Hyper-Threading technology.
- The most useless video card features of our time - EliteBastards
have
take a look at some of those features that promised so much, but delivered
so little.
- KINGMAX announces 1GB SO-DIMM DDR2-533 modules -
KINGMAX officially
announced the new 1GB SO-DIMM DDR2-533 modules designed for notebooks (in
particular, those based on Alviso chipset). 1GB SO-DIMM DDR2-533 modules will
go on sale in Q3 this year along with Alviso-based notebooks. 256MB and 512MB
modules will also be on sale at that time.
- Leadtek WinFast A400 GT TDH: a low-noise graphics card on GF 6800 GT
- Taiwanese Leadtek launched sales of its new
WinFast A400 GT TDH
graphics card on NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT GPU. According to company's
Japanese office, the board will cost Y58,800 ($540). This AGP 8X product
features a low-noise cooler and doesn't occupy a nearby PCI slot (unlike most
Ultras, for example). The 60mm fan provides 30 dB noise. Other card features
include 350MHz core clock 1000MHz clock of 256MB DDR3 SDRAM, 400MHz RAMDAC;
D-Sub (2048x1536), DVI-I (1600x1200), S-video; DVI-RGB adapter bundled (thanks
Digit-life)
- Intel HD Audio Arrives - AC97 had clearly run out of gas and HD
Audio marks both an improvement now, and its flexibility will enable some
interesting implementations up the road. That said, there are still some
pieces missing from the puzzle.
For starters, there is currently no DVD-Audio player that can be used with
Intel's HD Audio to enable that content format. Given HD Audio's design
specifications—multichannel 96KHz/24-bit and two-channel 192KHz/24-bit—it was
clearly aimed at being able to enable playback of DVD-Audio content, but the
software support isn't yet in place. Hopefully, InterVideo and CyberLink will
step up and enable DVD-Audio on Intel's HD Audio platform in their respective
applications: WinDVD and PowerDVD.
- Sony BW-RU101 Professional Disc for Data First Look -
This first Sony blue-laser drive is pricey, but it provides a solid growth
path for data-heavy users who are currently using tape or 9GB magneto-optical
drives. Blue-laser rewriter can store 23GB on a single disc. Inexpensive
rewriteable and write-once media now shipping.
- Gainward's Cool FX 2600 is a performance water beast -
The card
is covered with a huge water block on the front side as there is no
necessity to cool the other side of this monster card. All components are up
front. Nvidia's normal clock for Geforce 6800 Ultra is 400MHz and by default
Gainward clocks its water cards to 450MHz and up to 470 or even 480MHz once
you install its overclocking tool. That should be the limit of the chip. As
for the memory, Nvidia clocks its referece cards to 1100MHz while Gainward
clocks its cards to 1200 MHz.
- XFX 6800 Ultra review - Hexus.net let us know they have posted
their
review of a retail GeForce 6800 Ultra card. The review XFX GeForce 6800
Ultra sample was clocked out of the box at 450 MHz core.
- Ultra Products 2 * 512 MB PC 3200 Dual Channel Kit review -
The Ultra Dual Channel Kit is clearly a budget kit as it's quite
affordable and comes in a very nice box you’ll never use again. If you don’t
plan on overclocking your FSB very much then this kit would be an ideal low
budget decent performance alternative to the Corsair, TwinMOS, OCZ modules.
- GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4400 DDR550 Dual Channel Memory Kit review
- Bjorn3D has posted
a review
of the GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4400 DDR550 Dual Channel Memory Kit.
- AOpen CDRW (CRW5232) & Combo (COM5232) Internal Drives Video Review
- The AOpen CDRW (CRW5232) & Combo (COM5232) offer excellent features with
fast worry free writing of data at a bargain. Both drives come with 2MB of
data buffer memory, two extra faceplates & useful software. The CRW5232 is a
52X CD-R, 32X CD-RW & 52X CD-ROM drive & the COM5232 is a 52X CD-R, 32X CD-RW,
52X CD-ROM & 16X DVD-ROM.
Watch the Video to find out more
- Akasa PaxPower 460W PSU review -
The PaxPower is the first PSU that I have come across with the new separate
12V rails, but Akasa has stuck to a standard 20-pin ATX connector. This
might look like a major omission, but Akasa is trying to appeal to anyone
looking at buying a new PSU and has thus bundled a converter in the box. If
you were to buy an ATX to EPS converter on its own you're looking at shelling
out around L6, which is not a lot of money, but they are not that easy to come
by and it's always good to get everything you need in the box.
- Cheap and Reliable RAID 5 Storage Compared - Serial-ATA hard disks
offer an affordable and seemingly reliable alternative to SCSI.
TGH put five controllers to the test from Adaptec, HighPoint, ICP Vortex,
LSI Logic and Promise.
- NEC MultiSync LCD1960NXi review - PCMag has posted
a review of the NEC MultiSync LCD1960NXi display.
- Samsung SyncMaster 192MP review -
The Samsung SyncMaster 192MP falls a bit short as a dedicated TV, but as a
computer desktop display that lets you monitor television while you work, it's
hard to beat.
- NV40 & R420, Performance Testing - Spode Abode have
tested the following cards - 5950 Ultra, 6800, 6800 Ultra, 9800XT, X800
PRO and X800XT PE.
- 6800 AA Analysis @ NVNews - NVNews forum has
an interesting thread on the 6800 Series Anti Aliasing Sample patterns.This
is a work-in-progress and will continue to be updated over the coming
days/weeks.
- phpMyAdmin 2.6.0-beta1 -
phpMyAdmin (changelog)
can manage a whole MySQL-server (needs a super-user) but also a single
database. To accomplish the latter you'll need a properly set up MySQL-user
who can read/write only the desired database.
- Why you shouldn't pay money for software - No, this
isn't a guide to warez or cracking Photoshop. However, even if you're not a
Linux user, there's no reason you have to shell out your hard-earned bread on
software for Windows systems.
There are lots of free software apps, both open-source and freeware, that
run on Win32 (and eventually 64) machines.
- The Best Free Software -
94 tools and sites that help you work smarter, communicate better, and
have more fun--all great, and all gratis
- Winamp5 Full 5.03c -
Nullsoft Winamp (download)
is a fast, flexible, high-fidelity media player for Windows. Winamp supports
playback of many audio (MP3, OGG, AAC, WAV, MOD, XM, S3M, IT, MIDI, etc) and
video types (AVI,ASF,MPEG,NSV), custom appearances called skins (supporting
both classic Winamp 1.x/2.x skins and Winamp 3 freeform skins), audio
visualization and audio effect plug-ins (including two industry dominating
visualization plug-ins), an advanced media library, Internet radio and TV
support, CD ripping, and CD burning.
- GAIM 0.79 -
Gaim (download)
is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and
Windows. It is compatible with AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols), ICQ, MSN
Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr networks.
- Firefox 0.9.1 Beta -
Firefox empowers you to accomplish your online activities faster, more
safely and efficiently than any other browser, period.
- CPU-Z 1.23 -
CPU-Z is a diagnostic tool that provides information on your CPU,
including: processor name and vendor, core stepping and process, processor
package, internal and external clocks, clock multiplier, partial overclock
detection, processor features, supported instructions sets, L1 and L2 cache
information, location, size, speed, and technology.
- ATI MultiMedia Center 9.1 - This version (WinXP
~
Win2k) of the MMC has been further enhanced for improved stability, and
performance.
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Updated:11:06 PM CEST Jun,04
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