SECURITY...

• Sober worm variant makes the rounds - A new variant of the mass-mailing Sober worm has been discovered and is spreading among consumer PC users, security experts said Monday.  Sober.P, which operates in a similar fashion to other Sober worms, uses a subject header in an e-mail to try to entice people into opening an attachment. The virus then harvests e-mail addresses from the victim and directs a barrage of spam to those addresses.
• Data for 600,000 Time Warner employees MIA - Personal information for 600,000 current and former Time Warner employees has been lost, the company announced on Monday, potentially setting the stage for one of the largest cases yet of identity theft.  Time Warner said the mishap occurred on March 22, when data storage company Iron Mountain was transporting its backup tapes to a storage facility away from its offices. The company lost the tapes while in transit, said Kathy McKiernan, a Time Warner spokeswoman.
• TV Limits Copies - Aiming to prevent mass piracy of digital TV programs, especially over the Internet, the Federal Communications Commission has mandated a new copy-protection scheme called the "broadcast flag." The FCC's ruling, which goes into effect this July, lets you make a backup copy of flagged shows, but no further copies.
• Microsoft WINS Vulnerability + OS/SP Scanner - While replicating, it's possible to guess the OS and SP, in addition you have the heap base address.
  Conclusion: all needed for a skilled hacker to intrude a vulnerable computer, however a script kiddie wont be able to do something because each wrong hacking attempts may corrupt the WINS database and so on , move where this is needed to overwrite. ~ download scanner.
• Probing Your PC's Weak Spots - A must-read new report lists more than 600 software flaws that could let attackers invade your computer with viruses or spyware.
• Apache hacks (./atac, d0s.txt) - check it out!
• Multiple Vulnerabilities in Kerio Product - Kerio WinRoute Firewall, Kerio Personal Firewall and Kerio MailServer drive a local/remote administration protocol in order to manage the service. By using a brute force attack technique on Kerio WinRoute Firewall, Kerio Personal Firewall and Kerio MailServerit administration protocol it is possible to retrieve the administrative password from a remote installation. Further, the Kerio products are also vulnerable in to a denial of service in their pre-authentication state.

OFFTOPIC...

• Tracking Sex Offenders via GPS for Life - According to Yahoo! news, the governor of Florida just passed a bill that, along with increasing the jail time served for convicted sex offenders, requires them to be tracked for life via GPS.
• CNN on the Spam Attack? - The blogosphere is buzzing with rumors about a strange viral marketing campaign concerning CNN, that may be promoting the cable channel or squelching criticism of it -- or perhaps both at the same time.
• Website dedicates itself to stopping the spread of IE - StopIE.com claims that Internet Explorer is the worst browser on the net and recommends removal of the browser suite immediately :P
• [game] Free PC Lumines Knock-Off - Sweep is a straight-up knock off of Lumines but without the fantastic audio and visual eye candy. If you haven’t had a chance to play the excellent Playstation Portable puzzler and don’t own a PSP, this is worth your time.
• Episode III Music Video - Tomorrow the official soundtrack to Star Wars: Episode III hits stores. Along with the soundtrack is a separate DVD called Star Wars: A Musical Journey. It's about an hour long and contains 16 pieces of music all in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The music is edited to video from all six films in full enhanced widescreen. One of those videos is called A Hero Falls and can be seen at the official Star Wars Site. (thanks EvilAvatar)
• Scientists: Life on Mars Likely - Not so long ago it was unthinkable for respectable scientists to talk about life on Mars. Such talk was best left to X-Files fans. But no longer.  Evidence is building to suggest biological processes might be operating on the red planet, and life on Mars, many scientists believe, is now more a likelihood than merely a possibility.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Next-Generation Xbox to Be Media Hub - Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation Xbox gaming console will be more of a digital entertainment hub than its predecessor, making it even more of a PC hybrid than ever, Bill Gates told a meeting of business journalists on Monday. Another story can be found on Yahoo News.
• Toshiba shows Cell decoding 48 video streams -  Toshiba has demonstrated the Cell simultaneously decoding 48 MPEG2 video streams at once - in the film, 48 MPEG-2 streams stored on a HDD were read, decoded and projected onto a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution display divided into 8 x 6 cells, each of which showed a different video in each cell. The company expects the technology to be used to display thumbnails for a video list. Of the eight synergistic processor elements (SPE) used in the Cell, six are used for decoding 48 MPEG-2 streams and one is used for scaling the screen. The remaining SPE can be used for a completely different processing function.
• Microsoft Updates IM Server to Connect with Other Networks - The Redmond, Wash., software maker on Thursday shipped Service Pack 1 for its Office Live Communications Server 2005. One of its key features is the ability for enterprises to connect their LCS installations with the AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger IM networks.
• Windows XP SP3 to arrive before Longhorn - A blog filing hidden away in the cobwebbed corners of the web suggests that Windows XP SP3 will hit before Longhorn does. The blog is written by the guys at F-Secure. The information was handed out by Steve Ballmer, and the event was Surfa Lugnt, also known as Swedish National Data Security Day. Ballmer allegedly also said that IE7 would have anti-phishing technology built in.
• Longhorn at WinHec 2005 - Round-Up - check it out!
• ABC News, AtomFilms offer PSP video - In a one-two punch for PSP owners, ABC News and AtomFilms have both said they will offer free downloadable video content for Sony's new handheld. ABC News will soon offer video snippets on its Web site that can be downloaded and viewed on demand, similar to podcasted content popular with bloggers and owners of MP3 players. There is no word yet on exactly when ABC News will make its content available.

HARDWARE... 

• AMD cuts 4000+ desktop chip price - AMD said it has cut the price of the Athlon 64 4000+ and at the same time made changes to prices for the 754 Sempron 2600+, 2800+, 3000+ and 3100+. It told its resellers to contact distributors for the pricing, but has made changes to the price list on its web site, which you can nearly always find here. That shows the 4000+ listed as $482.
• Intel Slashes Pricing of Mobile Chips Slightly - The decrease of pricing is not significant - Intel Centrino bundles that consist of an Intel Pentium M processor, an Intel mobile core-logic and an Intel PRO/Wireless WLAN controller dropped $2, or in the range of 0.28% - 0.74%. For instance, a package with Intel Pentium M 770 (2.13GHz), Intel 915 GM chipset and Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG controller now costs $703, down from $705. The most noteworthy price change was made to ULV Intel Celeron M processor 373 (1.0GHz): the chip now costs $144, down 10.56% from $161.
• EVGA 512MB Ultra - EVGA issued a press release late Friday announcing that their Genuine Spec e-GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB graphics card was selected by Alienware to power the high-performance Area-51 and Aurora desktop systems.
• Athlon 64 3800+ (Venice core) - We managed to overclock our 3800+ to 12 x 245 MHz or 2.94GHz at least to the point where the CPU would POST using standard air cooling. However, leaving the core voltage setting at "Auto" caused the supply voltage to automatically increase from 1.4V to 1.47-1.48V (as shown in the CPUZ screenshot below), which is one of the reasons for the increased power consumption shown in the Caligari TrueSpace results. Stable operation was possible up to 2800 MHz.  Another review can be found on HotHardware.
• 1GB OCZ PC2-5400 EB Platinum memory kit - OCZ's PC2-5400 EB Platinum DDR2 memory is rated to run at DDR2-667MHz at 2.1V with 4-2-2-8 timings, which translates for most people as running their CPU at 250MHz FSB with a 3:4 memory divisor (for the effective memory speed of DDR2-667MHz).
• Leadtek Winfast PX6200 TC TDH 256MB - This card comes with 64MB of on-board DDR memory while topping out at 256MB with TurboCache. The main goal with TurboCache is to offer an economical alternative to integrated graphics, improving overall performance while enabling base level gaming potential.
• Connect3D X850XT PCI-e - The Connect3D X850XT is an astoundingly fast card, capable of playing any game you care to throw at it, with stellar image quality to boot. The X850XT is not the flagship ATI card, that honour belongs to the Platinum Edition, but even when overclocked well beyond Platinum Edition specification at 600/590, the performance increase is in most cases negligible over stock performance due to CPU limitations. What this all boils down to is that the X850XT is a high-end bargain. Well, maybe not a bargain but it is a great deal. The card I reviewed was a very good overclocker, too.
• Gigabyte GO-W1616A DVD Burner - It supports a maximum writing speed of 16x for both single layer DVD+-R media, 4x for DVD+R DL media, 8x for DVD+RW and 6x for DVD-RW. The GO-W1616A supports 48x burning for traditional CD-R and 24x for CD-RW. In terms of reading, the drive can read single layer DVD+-R media at 16x, DVD+R DL at 4x, DVD+-RW at 8x and standard DVD media at 16x speeds. With CDs, the drive can read CD/CD-R media t 48x and CD-RW at 32x speeds.
• Sound Blaster Audigy2 Nx - The unit is external, so you will need a spare USB 2 slot, and a power cable. It's a shame this unit can't draw power from the USB cable, but judging by what it can do - the power is needed!
• Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 - The XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 Tuner itself is very clean in nature. The silver and black casing feels very sturdy and does not push inwards when subjected to pressure, protecting the components inside. On the backside of the unit resides ports for the more permanent connections - a single coaxial connector, USB port, and DC port.
• Logitech MX518 gaming mouse - The Logitech MX518 is here. If you're a gamer or just someone serious about getting the most out of your computer you'll want to check out this new mouse.
• Bluetake BT510 Bluetooth Mini Mouse - The small Bluetake mouse is amazing. It has comfort, style and an excellent design. It is lightweight, has a backup power source and a feature called Reversible Button Function. It contains a power switch to conserve battery power and functions on many surfaces because of its optical technology. The pouch that arrives with the mouse is a handy product that prevents the mouse from receiving minor damages during journeys
• Palladio USB Bluetooth Adapter - TechConnect has posted a review of an USB Bluetooth adapter.
• Triplett Line-Bug 4 Phone/LAN Tester - Phoronix has posted a review of the Triplett Line-Bug 4 Phone/LAN Tester.
• Ethernet for MSX - MSX Resource Center have published a review on ObsoNET, an ethernet cartridge for the 8bit home computer system MSX.

GUIDES... 

• Firefox Tweak Guide - Whether you're a first-time user or a veteran, this Firefox Tweak Guide brings together all the major tips, tricks and tweaks for Firefox. From the basic to the advanced, the 12 page guide is sure to enhance your Firefox experience.
• April value gaming PC buyer's guide -  In a nutshell, the Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide delivers the system and gaming performance you want, but at a price that won't break the bank. The overall scenario is bit different than some of the other buyer's guides on Sharky Extreme, as they limit the budget to $1,000 in cold, hard cash while the goal remains the same: to assemble a kick-ass gaming system that will play today's hottest games and still have some power in reserve for tomorrow.
• How To Backup Your Hard Drive - The Tech Zone has a guide on different ways to back up your hard drive.

SOFTWARE...

• Windows XP update provides support for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) - This update to Windows XP provides support for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), which is the latest standards-based wireless security solution derived from the IEEE 802.11i standard. It also contains Wireless Provisioning Services (WPS) Information Element support, which enables improvements in wireless network discoverability.
• VS3.0 Displacement Mapping OpenGL demo - This demo (download) written in OpenGL uses NV_vertex_program3 option on NVIDIA newest cards to perturb a grid mesh and simulate a water effect. For those who are not too familiar with the OpenGL nomenclature, NV_vertex_program3 is what the DX folks refer to as Vertex Shaders 3.0. If this demo fails to detect VS3.0 hardware support, it will still run but will only give the illusion of displacement (a 2D water effect instead of a full 3D), so ATi users might still enjoy this one.
• EssentialPIM 1.5 - EssentialPIM (download) is free and innovative Personal Information Manager.
• BitSpirit 2.8.0.065 - BitSpirit (download) is an easy-to-use BitTorrent client which provides not only full BitTorrent protocol implementation but also many personalization functions
• Firefox 1.0.3 Optimized Build - s8v9 - The optimized build of the Firefox 1.0.3 Release is out. Try at your own risk.
• jv16 PowerTools 2005 1.5.0.278 (shw) - With jv16 PowerTools 2005, you can diagnose, monitor and tune up your computer, and it's easier than you would ever believe. The program offers a range of advanced tools that provide a safe yet powerful way of getting ”under the hood” of your computer.
• FastStone Image Viewer 2.0.6 Beta - FastStone Image Viewer 2.0.5 (download) is an image browser, viewer, converter and editor with an easy to use interface and a nice array of features that include resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks and more
• Computer Cleaner v1.4 - This is a fast and efficient computer cleaner that deletes a lot of logs and unneeded files to speed up your computer and clean some space out on the hard drive.
• DVD Identifier 3.6.3.1 - DVD Identifier retrieves and interprets the pre-recorded information that is present on all DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW and and DVD-RAM media.
• PlexTools Professional v2.23 - You can use PlexTools for instance to get more information on your drive, tweak its settings and besides that you can use it to play audio discs (with support for CD-Text) and of course you can use PlexTools to copy CD's or to make your own audio compilations with.
• ATI Tray Tools 1.0.2.640 - ATI Tray Tools v1.0 is ATI Radeon utilities made by Ray Adams. This new version fixes bug when some games and applications can not start with enabled "Aggressive 3D Detection" option.
• Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.25 - Radeon Omega Catalyst Drivers will provide gamers with an alternate set of drivers, ones that have more options and features than the original sets. The drivers contain optimizations, extra features (like OC capabilities), more resolutions and internal tweaks that can give them the edge in a gaming enviroment over the normal drivers, which are often tailored for synthetic benchmarks. All Omega driver sets are tested to ensure maximum compatibility and reliability.
• nForce4 SLI Intel Edition - As released by MSI this NVIDIA's nForce Win2K/XP driver package contains the below components: Audio driver version 4.60 (WHQL), Audio utility version 4.51, Ethernet NRM driver version 4.73 (WHQL), Network management tools version 4.73, SMBus driver version, 4.45 (WHQL) with updated uninstaller files, Installer version 4.61, Win2K IDE driver version 5.21 (WHQL), Win2K RAIDTOOL application version 5.21,
  WinXP IDE driver version 5.21 (WHQL), WinXP RAIDTOOL application version 5.21. Remember, this targeted at the INTEL edition mainboard, not AMD.