Friday Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 06:43 PM CEST - Sep,03 2004
- Post a comment / read (2)
- LAPD nabs pirates, 12,000 counterfeit DVDs - The Motion Picture
Ass. of America (MPAA) and the Los Angeles police this week busted a major
counterfeiting operation after traffic cops were given false driver ID
information. LAPD officers pulled over a motorist spotted sporting expired
registration plates. He was found to have no driving licence - he'd left it in
his apartment, he claimed - and provided what turned out to be a false date of
birth. As a result, the police impounded the vehicle. Their suspicions were
then further aroused when they uncovered evidence of possible DVD piracy. The
subsequent
investigation took them to the driver's home, where a 3am raid led to the
discovery of 12,000 pirate DVDs, 42 DVD writers and 20 VCRs - a "significant"
haul, the MPAA claimed.
- Apache, open-source groups wary of Sender ID - The Apache
Foundation, an open-source development group, on Thursday
pulled
its support of the proposed antispam standard Sender ID, saying
Microsoft's license requirements are too strict. The move by the group
responsible for the popular Apache Web server comes as other open-source
developers also voiced reservations about Microsoft's attempts to apply
stringent license requirements to its contribution to the spam-fighting
technology.
- WinZip Unspecified Buffer Overflows May Let Remote or Local Users
Execute Arbitrary Code -
WinZip reported discovering some vulnerabilities, including potential
buffer overflows, during an internal review of the WinZip code. In addition, a
WinZip user discovered a buffer overflow, where a local user can supply a
specially crafted WinZip command line to trigger the overflow. A fix (9.0
SR-1) is available at
here.
- Net-Twister v1.0 -
Net-Twister
is a new generation Pen-Testing tool, that performs fully automated and
chained tests. It has been developed completely in python lenguage, witch
makes it able to run where ever python runs. The diferense between Security
Scanners and Net-Twister is that security scanners search for cgis, product
versions and openports to report "probable" vulnerabilities but Net-Twister
searchs, finds and EXPLOITs the vulnerabilities found, to be sure that they
exist "for real", and may even find new vulnerabilities because of its fuzzing
module.
- Off-topic: Insurance Cos. Try Out Auto Black Boxes - For two
months, Jacob Sevlie's insurance company tagged along whenever he slid behind
the wheel of his Honda Accord.
An electronic monitor the
size of a matchbook closely tracked Sevlie's driving time and behavior. If
he had a heavy foot or was a sudden braker, the auto data recorder would
betray him. Disconnected from the car and hooked to a PC, the device relayed
Sevlie's digital driving diary to his auto insurer, Progressive Corp., with
the click of a mouse during a pilot program earlier this year.
- Off-topic: US plans portable nuclear power plants - Known as the
small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor (SSTAR),
the machine will generate power without needing refuelling or maintenance,
says Craig Smith of the DoE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California. Conventional reactors pose a threat of proliferation because
they have to be periodically recharged with fuel, which later has to be
removed. Both steps offer operators the chance to divert fissile material to
weapons programmes as is thought to have happened in North Korea and Iran.
- Off-topic: Could Space Signal Be Alien Contact? -
An unexplained radio signal from deep space could -- just might be --
contact from an alien civilization, New Scientist magazine reported on
Thursday. The signal, coming from a point between the Pisces and Aries
constellations, has been picked up three times by a telescope in Puerto Rico.
New Scientist said the signal could be generated by a previously unknown
astronomical phenomenon or even be a by-product from the telescope itself. But
the mystery beam has excited astronomers across the world.
- Inspiron owners complain of SP2 slowdown - Owners of Dell Inspiron
notebooks have reported that Microsoft's
Windows SP2 is cutting their system speeds dramatically -- in some cases
by a factor of almost ten, from 2.6GHz to 300MHz..
- Internet2 Speed Record Broken - InternetNews.com has a report of a
new Internet2 land-speed record.
This record speed of 6.63Gbps is equivalent to transferring a full-length
DVD movie in four seconds.
- Blu-ray Disc To Support MPEG-4, VC-1 - The Blu-ray Disc Association
has
added the MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 video codecs to its specification for
prerecorded Blu-ray Disc media, it says this week. As a result, the two codecs
will form part of version 1.0 of the BD-ROM logical format, which is expected
to be finalized later this year, says Richard Doherty, Panasonic Hollywood
Labs' managing director of Blu-ray and professional A/V (audio/visual). The
logical format specifies the way in which content is stored on the disc. The
physical format, which concerns technical specifications for the disc itself,
was already approved in July this year.
- TSMC to work with Taiwan academic institutions to co-develop MRAM -
TSMC and three local academic institutions are co-developing magnetoresistive
RAM (MRAM), a next-generation
memory technology that retains data when power is turned off and has a
fast write-speed, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute
(ITRI) in a September 2 forum in Taipei.
- ThinkPad rethink as adapters overheat -
IBM has recalled
553,000 ThinkPad AC power adapters after receiving reports that some have
overheated, melting the adapter housing and charring the circuit board inside.
The 56W AC power adapters involved were sold worldwide for about $55 (£31)
between January 1999 and August 2000. The affected adapters have three hollow
pins at the AC inlet and came supplied with the I Series, 240 and 390 and S
Series of the IBM notebook computers.
Click here to see a picture of the affected adapters.
- Audio supercomputer hidden in your graphics card? - Nvidia's
graphic cards may have much more to offer than simply drawing pixels on the
screen: A startup company has found
a way to translate audio signals into graphics, run them through the
graphics card and overcome a common issue of limited audio effect processing
performance in computers. Compared to the capability of just six GFlops of a
typical CPU, Nvidia's chips can reach more than 40 GFlops.
- No More DirectX Graphics? -
Hexus.net reports speaking with ATI and NVIDIA at ECTS allowed us to
confirm that after DX9.0, DirectX Graphics is no more. Microsoft's next set of
core presentation and 3D APIs are now under the umbrella of Windows Graphics
Foundation and Avalon. Microsoft will still rely on DirectX in name for the
rest of the core components, but the graphics API is now under a new name.
Look out for WGF 1.0 compatibility on the back of that next generation
graphics card's box
- The R520 "Fudo" could have 300 million transistors -
ATI's
future R520 graphics chip could have as many as 300 million transistors on
it, it has emerged. Imagine what can you put into 300 million transistors,
many new pipelines and much more memory as well as some wicked shaders. R520
comes in the first half of 2005 anyway so I would expect to see it sometime in
May if not earlier, just a year after the R420.
- Three versions of ATI's X700 expected -
The
flagship X700XT will rock with a 500MHz core and will use 1000MHz memory
just like Nvidia's 6600GT. The second version, the X700PRO will rock the boat
with a 420MHz core and 864MHz memory and it doesn't compete against an Nvidia
card. Nvidia only has 6600 standard and 6600GT while this card should sit in
between. The last X700 card will be known as the X700 Standard by distributors
and will be clocked at 400MHz core and 600MHz memory. This card, we believe
will fight against Nvidia's 6600 standard and SRP – the suggested retail price
for this part is $149.
- Asus Mypal A730 preview -
Mypal A730 is the first PDA on the market to feature an integrated digital
camera and a 3.7" VGA-TFT display. As for the processor, Asus has gone with
the 520 MHz version of Intel's new generation PXA270. Armari T900-GT PCI
Express PC - Being a PCI Express system the
T900-GT is using the latest Socket-T processor from Intel and Armari has
gone for no less than a 3.6GHz Pentium 4. With 1MB of Level 2 cache this is a
very fast processor. Add to that 1GB of Corsair XMS2 TwinX DDR2 memory capable
of speeds up to 667MHz if you fancy overclocking your system, and you have
some very impressive base specifications.
- Inno3D GF 6800 review - Despite as many of you say, the "Eehw it
only has 12 pixel pipes" factor, the standard
GeForce 6800 offers an exceptional gaming experience and it should since
it is still in that high-end class, but for a far better price. You can play
any game to date at a previously unseen performance level for a cost that
seems justified for this product. That includes titles as Far Cry and Doom 3;
Half-life 2 should have no problems at all with this card also. The heart of
the beast has been fitted with a 222 Million transistor GPU doing 325 MHz,
which can even be clocked higher.
- Sapphire Atlantis RADEON roundup - X-bit Labs take look at
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON X800 XT, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9550 128bit,
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9250 128bit, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9250 64bit.
Check it out!
- ATI Radeon 9250 Graphics Card roundup - If you really had to go out
and buy one of these cards
they would recommend the GeCube as you can clearly see it's the fastest of
the bunch.
- Samsung SyncMaster 173P - 17in TFT monitor review - Now the design
and functionality do not stop there, as the
173P also comes with dual connectivity in the shape of a DVI port and a D-SUB
one, both neatly mounted into the rear of the base next to the power
input. In that respect you have the option of choosing between an analogue
signal and a clean and crisp digital one, so no limitations are placed on the
end user there.
- Creative MuVo2 FM 5GB Seagate CF Removal - Creative has just
launched the
MuVo2 FM 5GB mini portable audio player on September 2nd in Singapore and
it sports features such as built-in FM Tuner/Recorder, Voice Recording, and a
newly-designed Navigation Stick. It comes with an estimated street price of
S$449 (~US$260).
- A Windows XP Optimization Guide v1.7.5 -
Optimize Windows XP to improve both work and gaming performance safely.
Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. 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. This guide is
designed to be performed top to bottom, in sequence since some steps are
required to be performed before others.
- UNOFFICIAL Windows98 Second Edition Service Pack 1 1.6 -
It is a
self-extracting and self-installing pack like Microsoft's update files.
Thus, you cannot choice files individually. However, the pack installs only
required fixes for your system. Uninstallation is possible from Add-Remove
Programs
- Windows Media Player 10 Final Official -
Windows Media Player 10 is the all-in-one media player that provides the
best experience for discovering, playing, and taking your digital
entertainment anywhere--on Windows XP-based PCs and the widest choice of
portable devices.
- Real Alternative 1.24 -
Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to
install RealPlayer or RealOne Player. Supported are: RealAudio (.ra .rpm),
RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt), ReadPix (.rp).
- QuickTime Alternative 1.34 -
QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt
and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player.
- FirePanel XP v1.0.1705 -
Firewall
Control Panel - FirePanel XP is an add-on for the new firewall found in
Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server2003 SP1. It can configure & monitor your
firewall's activity, keeping realtime tabs on what exactly you're being
exposed to.
- ATi Catalyst 4.8 Control Center - ATi today has released
it's new Control Center for Catalyst drivers 4.8. Version: 1.0.1676.38180.
- DNA-drivers 2.9.4.9 -
New
DNA drivers (based on the official CATALYST 4.9 Beta release) have been
released. These are modified/hacked ATI Catalyst drivers, use them at your own
risk. The drivers have been optimized with two things in mind, better Image
Quality and more/stable frames per second when compared to the Beta Catalyst
drivers from ATI.
- Forceware 65.90 WHQL Quadro - Here's a new set of Forceware Drivers
in the shape of
65.90 WHQL from Nvidia for Windows 2000/XP! Dated 1 September 2004! This
set was released for their Quadro series of cards.
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Updated:01:06 AM CEST Jun,06
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