SECURITY...

• Hackers target browsers to dodge firewalls - Hackers are increasingly using attacks that exploit browsers rather than trying to batter through firewalls and other network protection devices, according to security firm Symantec.
• Half of viruses written for criminal gain - Over half of all computer viruses, trojans and malicious code are created to steal sensitive information and make money, according to research released today.
• DVD Jon Breaks ITunes Security--Again - Described by its developers as "the fair interface to the ITunes Music Store," PyMusique is a new application that lets users connect to Apple Computer's ITunes Music Store and download songs without Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions. PyMusique does so by bypassing the ITunes application interface all together--a clear violation of the ITunes Music Store's Terms of Service.
• Crime Fighters solve crimes by examining cell phones - Modern detectives are now using cell phone forensics to capture more and more criminals. Forensics, the science of preserving, extracting and examining data, has long been confined to computers. Now, with the help of cell phone seizure kits like the one from Paraben, detectives can easily extract important information from all types of cell phones.

OFFTOPIC...

• Rodriguez on Shark Boy and Lava Girl - Robert Rodriguez, who co-wrote and co-directed Sin City, tells ComingSoon.net that his seven-year-old son came up with his next film, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D.
• Computers bad for kids - Using a computer at home might actually reduce a child's performance in maths, science and English rather than improve it, a study has found. Researchers who looked at 100,000 children in 32 countries originally found that children from homes with computers performed better. In fact houses with computers were likely to be from a richer social class, and when these factors were removed performance was less than expected.
• Classic maths puzzle cracked at last - A number puzzle originating in the work of self-taught maths genius Srinivasa Ramanujan nearly a century ago has been solved. The solution may one day lead to advances in particle physics and computer security.

TECHNOLOGY...

• CeBIT 2005 - Moblie Phone Round-Up
• Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS - Part I of this three-part series will cover Sony’s brash new entry, the PSP.
• Nokia ships 6680 3G smartphone - Nokia today began shipping its latest high-end 3G imaging smartphone, the 6680, which incorporates two digital cameras. Originally showcased a month ago at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, the device boasts MMC storage, support for Nokia's XpressPrint system and a screen of up to 262,144 colours.
• Yahoo to buy photo-sharing site Flickr - Ludicorp Research & Development Ltd. President Stewart Butterfield on Monday confirmed Internet portal Yahoo Inc. will acquire the privately held company, which operates photo-sharing Web site Flickr.
• Visual Studio 2005 Ship Date Slips Again - Microsoft Corp. Monday announced that the much-anticipated next version of its developer tools suite will ship in the second half of 2005 in several versions, with the Microsoft Developer Network as its primary delivery mechanism.
• Google opens website for developers - Google is throwing open the doors to open source developers and inviting them to participate in projects via the code.google website. Google says that the site will be the repository for its free source code and the list of its API services.
• VIA rolls out 64-bit drivers for WinXP Professional x64 Edition RC2 - VIA's complete driver lineup for 64-bit operating systems includes AMD K8T/K8M-series for desktop PCs, K8N-series for notebooks, Pentium 4-compatible PT880 Pro and PT894 series and embedded applications including the CN400 that supports Windows XP.
• Doom 3 for Mac slower than PC equivalent - DOOM 3 for the Macintosh can run 30% slower than its PC equivalent on similar hardware, according to benchmarks published by Bare Feats. Testing a PowerMac G5 2.5GHz system with a GeForce 6800 Ultra, Timedemo 1 in the game came out at 53FPS. With an Athlon FX55 (at native 2.6GHz) and similar GeForce 6800 Ultra, the score was 76FPS, with a resolution of 1600x1200 at High Quality.
• New USB Flash Drive Will Move Applications and Data from PC to PC - U3 and Verbatim Corp. announced Monday that Verbatim will make a new type of USB flash drive by using the U3 platform. Called a smart USB flash drive, these drives will enable consumers to carry all of their personal computer settings, applications and data for use on any PC wherever they go.

HARDWARE... 

• R520, "Fudo" is Longhorn WGF 1.0 compliant - It turns out that R520 won't just have Shader Model 3.0 it will eventually have support for upcoming Longhorn WGF 1.0 specification. WGF does not stand for Which Graphic Freak, it's an abbreviation of Windows Graphic Foundation. This is what Microsoft has decided to call Direct3D in the future. WGF 1.0 is actually Direct3D 9.0+ or just beyond the DirectX 9.0c specification. It's also called DX 9.L where L possibly stands for Longhorn.
• Intel ships 64-bit, 2MB L2 Pentium 4s - Intel yesterday formally began selling its Pentium 4 6xx series, rolling out four versions of the 90nm, 2MB L2 cache chip. The chip giant also added its latest P4 Extreme Edition to its official price list. The P4 630, 640, 650 and 660 are clocked at 3, 3.2, 3.4 and 3.6GHz, respectively. All four chips support an 800MHz frontside bus.
• The SiS 756 PCI Express Chipset For Athlon 64 - On the heels of NVIDIA and VIA, SiS is now also offering a PCI Express chipset for the Athlon 64. The 756 offers modern features at a fair price, but is that enough to make the grade against such stiff competition?
• DFI LP NF4 UT SLI-DR: Overclocking Test - The article focuses on NF4 board in the area of memory timing and FSB (HTT) overclocking, and not SLI performance.
• MSI S250 12.1-inch Notebook - For day-to-day handling of work, the 12.1-inch S250 from MSI is simply a great notebook to get you by without a complimentary workout from having to lug it around for meetings, presentations or the likes. It's lightweight, sturdy and is fast enough to help you ease through your applications comfortably. However, the seemingly impeccable notebook is not without its own hiccups and the badly implemented keyboard has marred an otherwise good impression we had with the S250.
• Intel's Pentium-M 735 Processor and DFI 855GME Motherboard - Performance wise, there's one thing that stands out from the analysis and observation of P-M's scaling with nothing more than its base frequency: it's crying out for core logic to let it breathe and perform to its fullest; there's definitely plenty of extra performance to be had by pairing P-M with Alviso core logic. There's also extra performance to be had just by upping the CPU's bus clock, so the upcoming 200MHz Pentium-Ms, using Alviso, should give very fine performance, comparatively.
• Corsiar DDR2 TwinX XMS2-4300C3 Memory Modules - They have great overclocking capability without extreme voltage application and can handle very low timings at relatively high speeds. It will be a long time until a CPU and motherboard combination will be available to handle running 1:1 synchronous operation. Please note that the modules may clock even higher than 720MHz in synchronous operation, but the time for such an event is still a long time in the future.
• 1GB OCZ Gold PC4000 VX DC kit - OCZ never ceases to impress. There are a couple of downsides to the use of the Gold PC4000 VX, but the upsides sure make up for it. The memory requires extremely high voltages, beyond the typical high of 3.2v. Unless they can find a motherboard compatible with the OCZ Booster, user's are pretty much required to purchase the DFI nForce4 motherboards. The use of high voltages also causes the system to run incredibly hot, and because of that, more fans and better cooling is needed. If enthusiasts already own a DFI motherboard and don't really care much about system noise, then this memory is definitely a must.
• EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra Motherboard - The EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra is an excellent motherboard with several impressive attributes. However, this nForce4 Ultra solution is not completely perfect and it does lack many features found on competing motherboards. What is certainly the biggest disappointment of the 9NPA+ Ultra is its inability to support dual graphics cards.
• Albatron 6600GT - You can find one of these babys for around 180$ so they are in the middle price market. You get alot for a smaller amount of money so if you don't have the money for that extreme 6800 card look into one of these 6600 GT cards which might be better for your wallet. This is a very stable card that we did not have any problems with at all and the only thing I can complain about is the cooling with the extremely loud fan that drove me nuts after awhile.
• Albatron GeForce TC6200Q Video Card - Between the two cards I used in this review I definitely favor the Albatron TC6200Q mainly because the capability of being able to render 256MB of system ram. This really made a significant differences in Call of Duty and Half-Life 2. The 64/256MB memory capability permitted the use of higher resolutions in most of the other games tested. I did not mind playing Half-Life 2 at 800x600 but I am partial to 1024x768 and the Albatron TC6200Q is capable of performing at that resolution where the TC6200, 16MB, is better off at 800x600 resolution. Both cards displayed exceptional stability throughout all testing and gaming using ForceWare 71.20 or 71.84 drivers.
• HIS Radeon X850 XT IceQ II Turbo and Radeon X800 XL IceQ II Turbo - The X800 XL operates similarly with HIS iTurbo but the card itself is clocked at "stock" X800 XL speeds out of the box. Activating iTurbo essentially takes you further into overclocking territory with a 432MHz Core clock. Beyond that, things are fairly straight forward. With the exception of HIS' innovative IceQ II cooling design, these cards are stock ATi reference board layouts, with Dual DVI and VIVO connections for the high end X850 XT and DVI with standard D-Sub VGA connectors for the X800 XL.
• Plextor PX-716UF DVD+/-RW DL writer - The PLEXTOR PX-716UF follows in the footsteps of the award winning PX-712UF coming packed with some great technologies namely GigaRec, VariRec, and SecuRec. Given its external nature, installation is extremely easy- any novice user would have no problem installing this drive. Plug in the power and USB cords, install the drivers and you are ready to rock. The performance of the drive is great when doing any kind of read or write operation.
• Batterylife Activator  - Dan's Data takes a look at the Batterylife Activator
• Samsung DVD-L300 Portable DVD Player - The Samsung DVD-L300 DVD Player has more options than you can through a stick at, it not only can play regular DVD discs at a 5" size but also play audio CDs of the same size or the 3.5" mini discs. A convenient power adaptor, the cables of this adaptor can be easily wrapped up and tucked away in the adaptor itself. Small finger like clips are present to hold the top lid closed along with rubber stoppers. The 384,000 pixels not only create a clear picture but also allow you to view on a steep angle if needed.
• Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 digital camera - The Z5 is the latest addition to the series, and comes in at the top of the range. With a five megapixel sensor, a 2in LCD monitor, a huge 12x optical zoom lens and Konica Minolta's innovative image stabilisation system it has a specification that is a match for almost any camera that's currently available at this price.
• Fossil Wrist PDA FX2008 - The styling is certainly classic late 1970s or early 1980s digital watch, with push buttons on either side of the screen to control the PDA's functions. On the right-hand side are Page-up and -down buttons, and between them a rocker switch for information navigation and selection. On the other side, there's the Back button, recessed reset switch and, behind a rubber panel, the USB connector. Above the screen, a little way around the casing, is the IR port.

GUIDES... 

• Internet Explorer 6 and Outlook Express tweak guide - This guide will take you through the vast array of options and settings available to customize Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and the bundled Outlook Express (OE) to its fullest, in particular seeking to improve browser security or just fine tuning them to your own browsing needs. You may also want to know this guide has been updated to include all changes brought by Windows' Service Pack 2.
• Star Wars KotOR 2: Tweak Guide - If you are having trouble getting the most out of KotOR2, you might want to check out this Tweak Guide.
• Windows XP Performance Optimization 101 - In this article you'll find tips, tricks, and tweaks for Windows XP and Microsoft's SP2 release. From install to optimizing the system tray, it's all inside!
• Startup File Database - PC Review have launched a Startup File Database containing a very handy list of all the processes that start when Windows loads up
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 4.0 - Currently covering over 40 mobile GPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 14 different specifications for each and every GPU! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference.

SOFTWARE...

• UNOFFICIAL Windows98 Second Edition Service Pack 1 2.0 RC2 - Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE (download). But I made a Service Pack for Windows98 SE users. It contains all Windows98 SE updates from Windows Update site and more. 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.
• Gaim 1.2 - Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks.
• Media Player Classic 6.4.8.4 - Media Player Classic (WinXP/2k / Win98/ME) is similar to windows media player 6.4 but with features pertained to minimalist advanced users. It also supports DirectX 9 and VFW drivers for capture. It supports viewing through ActiveX controls of Real and QuickTime files.
• DiscJuggler 4.50.1179 - DiscJuggler (demo) can simultaneously drive multiple CD recorders and replicate virtually any standard CD. It features direct digital-to-digital CD duplication from a CD-ROM drive to multiple CD-R drives, audio CD duplication with support for PQ and R-W subcodes, and on-the-fly audio stream resynchronization, and on-the-fly software regeneration of ECC/EDC and scrambling.
• DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 - DVD Decrypter is a free tool which enables you decrypt and copy a DVD to your PC's hard disk. From there you can choose to watch them with the likes of PowerDVD and WinDVD or you can re-encode them to MPEG1 (VCD) or DivX. Advanced functionality can be found in the context menus.
• NGO ATI Optimized Driver v2.3 Beta - The NGO ATI Optimized Driver is a tweaked version of the ATI Catalyst driver. The main purpose is to satisfy the users with a better performance and better image quality. The Driver has support for all Radeon cards (both desktop and mobile platforms).