Monday Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 06:45 PM CEST - Aug,16 2004
- Post a comment / read (4)
- TransGaming Tagging Downloads to Combat Piracy - It seems that
TransGaming is
implementing a new watermarking system to combat piracy. For now it seems that
every tgz of Cedega 4.0.1 is individually tagged, and this has been
frustrating Gentoo users who (like many others) like to be sure their archives
are unmodified. Is this the future of software downloads? (thanks
Slashdot.org)
- Police warn on key-logging spam Trojan -
Police are
warning about fake email invoices being used by cyber-criminals to steal
online banking details and other information from unsuspecting internet users.
Cyber-criminals are attempting to trick users by sending spam emails that look
like invoices, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) has warned.
- Maxtor introduces 300GB Diamond Max 10 drives - HardDrive maker
MAXTOR said it has started shipping
Diamond
Max 10 hard drives - the drives use single chip Serial ATA technology. The
drives also include native command queuing for dual processors and also come
with a 16MB buffer. The 16MB buffer memory units are only supplied with
drives of 250GB and over. A parallel ATA 133 version will be released at the
end of this quarter.
- AMD could ship a quad-core Opteron on 2007 - AMD may "potentially"
ship
its first four-core Opteron processor in 2007, bullish Goldman Sachs
analyst Andrew Root has claimed. The chipmaker has to get its dual-core parts
out of the door first, of course, and that's not scheduled to take place until
H2 2005, once it's ramped up its 90nm yields sufficiently to support the
larger die size required of such a processor.
- Problems hit MSI Geforce 6800 Ultra -
A lenghthy
thread on a forum devoted to MSI products indicates that its NX6800
graphics card is causing freeze ups. The forum, here, details a number of
experiences with the card with garbage being displayed on screens. But the
problem might be to do with a faulty BIOS. One forum member said that he'd had
endless problems with the NX6800 ultra, but eventually took a risk and flashed
the BIOS on the card with Nvidia's own reference rev two BIOS.
- New Sound Blaster: EAX 5.0 - Creative labs will hold
an in-depth preview of Creative's newest hardware, including an overview
of EAX 5.0 and future EAX developments at Creativity 2004: North America in
October. (thanks
Warp2Search)
- NVIDIA, ATi Bring Five OpenGL Workstation Graphics for PCI Express to
Market - The wraps are hardly off PCI Express, and the first OpenGL
workstation graphics cards with the interface are ready for purchase. ATi and
NVIDIA have released three and two PCI Express cards, respectively, which
THG runs
through the benchmark mill.
- Radeon X800 Pro - Doom 3 Catalyst performance - To begin, lets see
exactly what kind of benefits are seen on
the Radeon X800 Pro by using the Catalyst 4.9 betas against the latest
official Catalyst 4.7 set. To do this, EliteBastards have used Doom 3's
built-in timedemo, run at 1024x768, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 in high quality
mode. This mode automatically sets 8x anisotropic filtering in-game, and
testing was also run in each resolution both with and without 4x anti-aliasing
enabled.
- OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (2-2-2-5) Memory review - CoolTechZone
has posted
an OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (2-2-2-5) Memory review.
- GeForce 6800 Series Comparison - Beyond3D has posted
a
GeForce 6800 Series Comparison.
- HIS Radeon 9550 VIVO 128MB review -
The
9550 is not the purchase that hardcore gamers will consider. Casual gamers
will enjoy the fact that at the "low" stock speeds, games such as Return to
Castle Wolfenstein and Unreal Tournament should play very well in moderate
resolutions. Where this card excels is in the Home Theatre PC niche. The
output to TV, especially HDTV, provides a crystal-clear picture that must be
seen to be believed.
- AOpen DRW8800 8X DVD Burner review - Viper Lair has posted
a review on an AOpen DVD burner that burns up to 8x for DVDs. AOpen
has delivered an adequate drive for those of us who require +/- support, and
at a very nice price point of $75 USD. Although the drive is not as fast as
the ASUS, it is a suitable drive for those of us who don't burn DVDs 24x7 as
the MIAA thinks we all do.
- Crucial Gizmo USB 2 Flash Drive review -
The new
Crucial Gizmo! Hi-Speed version is faster than ever and can move data at
speeds up to 480 megabits per second. All that power in a sleek device that
you can handily attach to your key ring!
- Enermax Noisetaker EG475AX 475 Watt PSU review - It is safe to say
that
the
EG475AX is one of those enthusiast items: Sleek Metallic Blue color,
Gold-plated fan grilles, Silver mesh cable sleeving, Gold-Plated Power
connections, Dual cooling Fans with user-adjustable speed, special 4 Pin Molex
for high-end GPUs, copper-plated case to reduce EMI, to name a few. Other
features include automatic input voltage and frequency sensing, Full ATX 1.3
Compliance including dual 12V rails, SATA-Compliant 3.3V/5V/12V Power
Connections, Fan Monitoring Header, Thermally Controlled Fan speed, as well as
Overvoltage and Overcurrent protection are built into the unit as well.
- Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU -
Innovation is the key to Ultra's success with the X-Connect. From the
larger power switch on the back to the Ultra emblem on each cable, every piece
was designed with quality and ingenuity. Overall, both the performance and
looks of the X-Connect impressed me. Not only does it meet performance
expectations of today's enthusiasts, it exceeds them and the visual display is
nothing less than amazing. One thing that did disappoint me was the lack of
SATA power cables included in the kit itself. I've never much been a fan of
having to purchase add-ons. Currently the X-Connect is available for around
$125.00 USD (at press time) from Tiger Direct, FrozenCPU and TCWO, which is
quite comparable to other 500W power supplies on the market that don't have
the "bling" appeal.
- Antec's FanPal review - Like similar geek gifts of this genre,
the FanPal is essentially an 80mm fan with a fancy desktop mount used to
complement your already rainbowed PC. It comes in a shelf-like package though
copper inserts prevent resealing after it's been opened. There's only one
flavor to choose from: this silver/aluminum red-green-blue lit doohickey with
a grill Spiderman fans are sure to appreciate. It also has an adjustable
stand.
- Logitech IO Personal Digital Pen review - The IO has the
ability to
record whatever you write when writing on the included special digital pen
paper. The IO can store up to 40 pages of writing and has enough battery to
last for around 25 pages of writing. Just what you need for your next semester
of school. Read the full review here.
- Sharkoon 6-in-1 memory reader USB 2.0 -
If you want to transfer data from memory sticks in a flash, then the new
Sharkoon memory reader might be for you. Sporting a leather carrying bag and
small USB cable it looks promising in the feature department, but how does it
perform?
- FujiFilm FinePix S7000 camera review -
This camera has a 6.3 megapixel effective / 12.3 megapixel recordable CCD;
equipped with 6x optical / 3.2x digital zoom, a great menu system, and great
image results. Let's see how FujiFilm holds out against the other brands
- Yamada DVX-6600 DivX DVD Player review -
The
DVX-6600 is the latest multi-format DVD player from Yamada. Unlike most
conventional DVD players, this player is capable of playing DVDs, VCDs, DivX,
XviD, MPG, MP3, WMA and JPG, which is quite an impressive list.
- Radeon 9800 Pro To Radeon 9800XT Mod Guide Rev. 5.0 - Adrian's
Rojak Pot has published
rev. 5.0 of the Radeon 9800 Pro To Radeon 9800XT Mod Guide.
- New, redesigned Catalyst to come early September -
According
to TheInquirer, the next generation Catalyst, possibly based on the 4.9
Catalyst Doom 3 booster, will come on September the second, unless ATI changes
its mind after reading this article. The driver will have a whole new
interface, very aesthetically designed with a side menu that awfully reminds
us of Nvidia's. (thanks blooduk)
- A Windows XP Optimization Guide v1.7.1 -
This guide will help you improve your overall system performance. I avoid
using or recommending "all-in-one" Windows XP Tweak programs since many
blindly adjust settings that have no affect on performance and can cause
future problems.
- Linux Kernel 2.6.8 -
Linux Kernel 2.6.8 has
been released.
- PHP 5.0.1 -
This is a
maintenance release (changelog)
that in addition to many non-critical bug fixes also includes new UNIX and
Windows installation docs which are now auto-generated from the PHP Manual.
- [!] VIAHyperion 4-in-1 v4.53 -
VIA Hyperion
drivers (download
~
installation guide) are suitable for any VIA chipset and all Microsoft
Windows Operating Systems. If you are looking for VIA 4in1 drivers, these are
the drivers you are looking for. The drivers are compatible with WinME, Win2K,
WinXP, Win Server 2003. This new version includes an update of the inf
file from 2.00a to 2.20a. 2.20a adds ids for upcoming chipsets PT890 and
K8T890. The new Hyperions also include an updated AGP driver to version
4.43ap1. Mirror:
Guru3D.
- DivX Total Pack 1.8 -
DivX Total Pack is an essential and useful package that allow you plays
every DivX/Xvid and all relative audio streams on every Windows platforms. The
package includes Divx 5.2, Xvid 1.01, VP6 6.2.0.10, Divx(Wma), Ac3Filters
0.70b, OggSplitter 0.9.9.6 + CoreVorbis 1.0b6, CoreAAC 1.0b9, Matroska
splitter 1.0.2.3, Morgan Stream Switcher 0.97, DirectVobSub 2.33 (only in
2K/Xp unicode system).
- nLite 0.98.7 Beta 2 -
nLite is a
GUI for permanent Windows component removal by your choice. After removal
there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing
in virtual machines. So that means that with nLite you will be able to have
Windows installation cd which on installation doesn't install, or even contain
on cd, unwanted components.
- CPUCooL 7.3.0 -
CPUCooL is a program that monitors temperature, fan speed and voltages for
many motherboards.
- CPUFSB 2.2.14 -
CPUFSB is a small version of CPUCooL. It is for changing the FrontSideBus
only. So you have a small tool only one of the the most important freatures of
CPUCooL.
- Maxthon (MyIE2) v1.0.0220 Beta -
Maxthon (MyIE2) (download
beta combo
~ standard) is a powerful
web browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet
Explorer engine (your most likely current web browser) which means that what
works in IE, works the same in Maxthon but with many additional efficient
features.
- A-Ray Scanner v2.0.0.1 -
A new version of A-Ray is available (download).
This new version adds a few new protections (Added Starforce KeyLess
detection, TwinCreator, 3PLock Scan) and bug fixes as always.
PowerStrip 3.53 (shw) -
PowerStrip
3.53 (download)
provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide
range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest
Radeon 9800.
- Adobe Reader SpeedUp v1.28 - For a simpel viewer, Acorbat takes a
long time to load and consumes a lot of resources, just to view a PDF.
This tool speeds it up. Also handy for Terminal Servers.
-
Nero Suite Update 2004-08-13 - The Nero Suite contains:
Nero Burning Rom 6.3.1.20 (changelog),
Nero Burning Rom 5.5.10.56 (lang),
Nero Burning Rom WMA9 Plug-In
2.0.9.3, Nero Burning Rom
WMP Plug-In 1.0.1.5, Nero
Media Player 1.4.0.22b,
NeroMIX 1.4.0.22b,
NeroVision Express 2.1.2.18,
Nero InCD 4.3.0.0 and more.
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Updated:11:06 PM CEST Jun,04
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