Monday Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 02:27 AM CEST - Oct,19 2004
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- MyDoom seeks to destroy antivirus firms -
Worm
writers are threatening to attack antivirus companies F-Secure, Symantec,
Trend Micro and McAfee. In the latest version of MyDoom--MyDoom.AE--the
authors embedded a message ridiculing rival worm Netsky and promising to
attack the antivirus companies.The message has left antivirus companies unsure
of what to expect.
- File-swapping "hobby" man in $500m lawsuit - For six years, Stephen
Cooper ran a song-sharing MP3s4free.net website from his modest brick home in
Bellbowrie, in Brisbane's west, that
attracted 190 million visitors a year and allegedly earned him up to $64,000 a
month. Now the world's record companies have put the former policeman on
their hit list - with a $500 million bullet. After raids in October last year
- on his home and at the Sydney offices of his Internet service provider - the
father of two is facing a damages claim for as much as $500 million from 31
Australian and international record companies for copyright infringement.
- Latest Netsky variant spreading fast - Security experts have warned
users to beware a
new version of the prolific W32/Netsky virus. According to McAfee's Avert
antivirus research team, the Netsky.ag variant is a prolific mass-mailing worm
that spreads via email, sending itself to addresses found on the victim's
machine.
- Microsoft Patches Windows Server 2003 - Setting the stage for what
it hopes will be a "breakout year" for its server operating systems, Microsoft
this week announced it will ship the first Release Candidate of its
Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2003 by year's end as well as a
SDK (software development kit) for the High Performance Computing version of
Windows Server in November.
- Multiple Vendor Anti-Virus Software Detection Evasion Vulnerability -
Remote exploitation of an exceptional condition error in multiple vendors'
anti-virus software allows attackers to bypass security protections by evading
virus detection.
- New copy protection uses chemical to manipulate DVD laser - Dynamic
Media Solutions, an Israeli company, says it has developed
a "novel
technology" that, it claims, will provide a "far-reaching copy protection
solution for current and next-generation optical media, which include
CD/DVD, CD/DVD recordable, and DVD-Video media." Furthermore, they say it is
fully compatible with todays hardware players and cheap. The system applies
directly to the restriction of DVD-Audio discs, but not audio CDs at this time
however.
- CherryOS Not BS, Author Says - Despite being widely accused of code
theft, fraud and other chicanery,
the author of the controversial CherryOS Mac emulator is sticking to his guns:
It's all on the up and up, says programmer Arben Kryeziu. As previously
reported, CherryOS purports to be a Mac emulator that allows Mac OS X to run
on Windows PCs. The complex system was ostensibly written in four months by
Kryeziu alone, who claims it performs at about 80 percent of the speed of the
PC host's hardware. On Oct. 11, Maui X-Stream, Kryeziu's employer and a Hawaii
streaming-video company, offered the software as a $50 download at
CherryOS.com. But it appears the software was never made available, and all
week the site complained of problems caused by overwhelming traffic and
malicious attacks by crackers.
- Microsoft may create Russian Hotmail - Microsoft Corp is
considering
creating Russian versions of its Hotmail e-mail program and Microsoft
Network online service, company CEO Steve Ballmer said in an interview
published on Monday.
- Off-topic: Chinese kid topples US games champion -
A chinese
youth demolished US games champion Fatal1ty today, walking away not only
with RMB$1,000,000 ($125,000), but getting a job with Abit to be its PR
spinner on the mainland.
- Off-topic: Gravity constant called into question - One of nature's
venerable constants -
gravity - may not be the same for every type of particle in the universe,
suggest new calculations. The finding could explain a persistent mystery
regarding how much helium was created in the first few minutes after the big
bang, say physicists. The gravitational constant (G) first estimated by Isaac
Newton and also known as Newton's constant, describes the strength of the
gravitational pull that bodies exert on each other. For particles - protons,
neutrons and electrons - this relates to their mass. In the case of light -
photons - it relates to energy.
- Off-topic: Who Leaked "Halo"? -
Let's get the basic facts out of the way: The game's predecessor sold more
than 4 million copies. A French version appears to have been leaked from a
disc-stamping foundry a full month before the official launch. Yada yada yada.
Now, on to the conspiracy. You ready for this? Get your ear right up to the
monitor. Microsoft did it.
- Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox - Microsoft is set to release its
Windows Media Center Extender for Xbox mid-November. The device will allow
you to view recorded and downloaded media content stored on your PC via your
Xbox.
- Xbox 2 to be announced on January 5? - Microsoft Chairman and Chief
Software Architect Bill Gates has been confirmed as the pre-show keynote
speaker at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. According to media
reports,
Gates could bring a late Christmas gift to Las Vegas: A new Xbox.
- Intel Details Dual Core Roadmap - And it appears that when
the first
"Smithfield" dual core processors are launched in the third quarter of next
year, they will be called the x20, the x30 and the x40. An x20 is a twin
1MB L2 cache processor supporting EM64T extensions and the "execute disable"
bit. Clock speed for the x20 will be 2.80GHz, for the x30 3GHz and for the x40
3.20GHz - they will have 800MHz system buses and use the LGA775 socket.
Meanwhile, Intel's 630, 640, 650 and 660 processors, which have 2MB of L2
cache and 800MHz system buses, will be launched in the first quarter, but we
don't expect to see them in systems until Q2. They will cost $225, $270, $400
and $600 respectively. More detailed info about these new Dual Core CPUs can
be found on
DataFuse.net
- No more LGA775 Pentium 4 price cuts in 2004 - Intel has told its
Taiwanese customers
not to expect LGA775 Pentium 4 price cuts before the end of the year.
- Intel discounts Pentium M, Centrino bundles - Intel just
slashed the price of its Pentium M processors and Centrino bundles. The
discounts are hefty, too. High-end Pentium M 755 2.0GHz and 745 1.8GHz chips
see price cuts of over 30%!
- Fake RADEON 9600 PRO Graphics Cards Hit the Market - Graphics cards
maker Tul Corp. may face denunciation from customers and distributors as at
least some graphics cards with the "Power Color" brand-name made by the
company use different graphics processors than they should. Allegedly
fake graphics
cards are marked with R96T-QC3 marking, a typical nomenclature for Power
Color's products, equipped with 128MB of 2.8ns Hynix DDR SDRAM chips, which
can theoretically run at up to 714MHz speed , D-Sub, DVI-I and TV-Out
connectors, according to Tim Tscheblockov, a 3D graphics analyst for X-bit
labs in Moscow, Russia. Tul Corp., the owner of the Power-Color brand-name,
did not have any RADEON 9600 PRO graphics cards on its web-site at press time.
- AMD Athlon FX overclocking to 3Ghz: Creating a "Gamebeast" - This
setup has all the bragging rights available, but is it actually worth its
extreme price? Does buying an 800 euro cooling for your CPU improve your
gaming experience? Do we need a 3Ghz FX? Find out
in this overclocking extravaganza!
- Analysis of the Main Characteristics of Memory Modules. Part 4: Corsair
DDR2 Modules - Digit-Life proceed with a new series of articles devoted
to the low level analysis of the most important characteristics of memory
modules using our RightMark Memory Analyzer test package.
The purpose of this analysis is to provide information on compatibility of
a given memory module from a given manufacturer with different mainboards
based on various chipsets. The object of our next analysis is a matched pair
of DDR2 Corsair modules totaling 1 GB.
- Intel and AMD in a Web Application Shoot-out -
AnandTech ran load tests on Macromedia ColdFusion MX 6.1, PHP 4.3.9, and
Microsoft .NET 1.1. We used a collaboration application called FuseTalk for
their .NET and ColdFusion tests, and they used the popular open-source portal
software, PHPNuke for our PHP test.
- AMD Sempron 2800+ , Sempron 3100+ and Intel Celeron D 335 comparison -
Which value processor should you choose? If your budget resembles a
shoestring then a bottom-end Sempron (Socket A, obviously) or Celeron D 320
are the natural choices. Both CPUs have a number of cheap-ish supporting
motherboards that often feature integrated video as standard. If your budget
is set a little higher, say, at L80 for a processor (or L150 for a
processor/motherboard bundle), AMD's K8-class Sempron 3100+ is comfortably the
best choice. It's just a shame that it's been stripped of 64-bit goodness,
though.
- AMD Athlon64 - 64-bit vs. 32-bit, A Head On Comparison -
In this article PCstats will examine the performance of the AMD Athlon 64
processor using conventional Windows XP and 32-bit benchmarking software, and
compare those results to the same tests using the 64-bit 'x64 edition' beta
version of Windows XP. For comparison purposes, they also tested the
performance of the 64-bit XP beta using both 32-bit and 64-bit benchmarking
programs in the 64-bit environment.
- OCZ PC4000EL Gold Edition review -
In this
review, OCModShop is testing OCZ's Gold Edition PC4000EL DDR Dual channel
kit. This 1GB of total memory consists of two 512MB modules and is
specifically paired to use a dual channel motherboard. The OCZ PC4000EL DDR is
rated to run at 250MHz while maintaing fast timings of 2.5-4-4-7 at 2.8V.
Unofficially, this memory can easily run at 265MHz.
- Seven PCI Express Graphics Cards Compared - In the mid-range,
we really, really like nVidia's new GeForce 6600 GT card. This card gives
incredible performance for the money, especially in new titles such as Doom3
and Counterstrike : Source. The AOpen GeForce 6600 GT card we tested was less
expensive than ATI's competing Radeon X700 Pro card, but was faster in nearly
every benchmark. The 6600 GT also was surprisingly close in performance to the
QuadroFX 3400 PCIe card, which is roughly five times the price of the 6600 GT.
While we didn't mention this before, the GeForce 6600 GT is also quite an
overclocker, and looks to be one of the best price to performance ratio cards
from the nVidia camp in quite a long time.
- Chaintech DTT-1000 DVB TV Tuner review - At its most basic level,
the DTT-1000 is Freeview in a PCI slot. It receives digital free to air
television channels and radio signals through an aerial. On top of this it has
time shifting capabilities, an electronic program guide (EPG) which works in
the UK unlike a lot of other cards, a snapshot option, video capture in MPEG 1
and 2 and Teletext. This is a good feature set, but if you want to display
this digital image on your TV you’ll need to use the TV out from your graphics
card, if it has that feature.
- Gigabyte GO-W1608A 16x DVD±RW Drive review -
Gigabyte GO-W1608A has proven to be very quiet during my daily usage to
burn the recorded tv programs so that I can view them using the conventional
DVD player. Now with the Dual Layer support, I do not need to use software
DVDshrink to compress the movies so that it can fit within 4.7G.
- VisionTek 1GB Go Drive review - So now you are probably asking "How
much is it???" I expected that the price would put a nice little dent in your
pocketbook, but fortunately it isn't nearly as bad as I thought.
For a measly
$99.99, you can pick up the Go Drive directly from VisionTek. Not too bad
of a dent after all.
- COOLMAX 3.5" X-Treme FILES review - At less than $70 USD,
it's another good external enclosure out on the market. It does have some
air holes to let some air into the unit too. In no time during testing did the
3.5" disk get very hot.
- Etymotic Performance Shootout - ER-6i, ER-4P and ER-4S Earphones -
CoolTechZone tested these headphones with a variety of music generas that
include gaming and classical music for precision in sounds. Games like Unreal
Tournament 2004, Battlefield 1942, Doom III, and FarCry were tested for
enviormental sounds while music from Metallica and Hard Rock was selected to
test volume levels, bass levels, and noise clearity. This time they are also
including a stand-alone amplifier to correctly note the subtle performance
differences between the three pairs. Of course the amplifier is necessary for
the ER-4S so it makes sense to compare the rest of the pairs with the same
testing methods.
- BenQ DC C50 Digital Camera review - On the face of it,
the L163 DC C50 is attractively designed with a mirrored plate mounted to
the front giving it an overall “retro” appearance. The body is constructed
from metal and the build quality feels sturdy. In the hand, the DC C50 feels
well-balanced and your thumb falls nicely over the rocker switch which
controls the 3x optical (and 4x digital) zoom. Instead of a going for a bulky
grip BenQ has added a bobbled surface to the front to help you keep a firm
purchase, while keeping the DC C50 at a suitable size for your a pocket.
- Building an AMD64 HTPC for around $1000 - What is building an HTPC?
Pretty easy answer actually..
its
the fastest system you can cram into a case with poor ventilation all the
while trying to keep silence in mind. Its actually pretty easy if you are
prepared to live with a toaster for a computer, by no means will you get the
same temperatures from your gaming rig. There is a little something called WAF
that we will try to achieve a high score on as well ;). Clear?
- XP/2003 Trick - Bootlogo boot.ini switch - "/BOOTLOGO"
Use this switch to have Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 display an
installable splash screen instead of the standard splash screen. First, create
a 16-color (any 16 colors) 640x480 bitmap and save it in the Windows directory
with the name Boot.bmp. Then add "/bootlogo /noguiboot" to the boot.ini
selection. (thanks
Neowin.net)
- Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005 review -
The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005 is a phenomenal program
that can give users access to a wealth of information. With more than 63,000
articles, 20,000 images, 200 videos and animations, 2000 sound and audio
clips, and 36,000 map locations, Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe can provide
information for virtually any subject.
- Exchange Server MSSearch Administration Tool -
The Exchange Server MSSearch Administration tool can be used to determine
which Exchange Stores in the domain have Full-Text Indexes, provide status on
indexes, and provide administration tasks all via the command line.
- ShaderMark v2.1 -
Shadermark
has been updated to version 2.1. You will need 66.31 drivers (61.77 will not
work) and DirectX 9.0c running on a Shader 2.0 or better card.
- Here It Is! 1.6.116 -
Here it is! - (download)
the ultimate solution for organizing your media collection. It allows you to
easily add, browse and search your CD, DVD, ZIP, JAZZ and other removable
discs
- SpeedFan 4.17 -
SpeedFan is a
freeware program that monitors fan speeds, temperatures and voltages in
computers with hardware monitoring chips.
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Updated:12:30 AM CEST Jun,06
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