SECURITY...

• Windows Genuine Advantage: Easily Circumvented - Well known "hacker" and Extended64.com blogger, Rafael, has posted instructions on how to circumvent Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage protections in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox web browsers.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer DHTML objects contain a race condition (updated)- A race condition in the way that Internet Explorer handles DHTML objects may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.
• "Pentagon hacker" McKinnon fights extradition -  Briton accused of hacking into numerous Pentagon and NASA computers began his fight against extradition today. Gary McKinnon (AKA Solo), 39, of Wood Green, north London, allegedly hacked into 97 military and NASA computers over a 12 month period from February 2001 until March 2002, causing an estimated $700,000 (L370,000) in damages.

OFFTOPIC...

• IPod hallucinations face acid test - A Welsh psychiatrist has claimed that some iPod users are experiencing what he calls "musical hallucinations". Dr Victor Aziz said that the effect can occur when people spend many hours listening to the same songs. The hallucinations are characterised by a song " playing" constantly in the head, according to the psychiatrist, and the effect has caused sleeping problems for some of his patients. (Ed.note:  a song " playing" constantly in the head?...Oh it's nothing really....)
• Cell Phone Radiation May Cause Visual Damage - In a recent scientific study conducted by a team of researchers from the Technion, a possible link between microwave radiation, similar to the type found in cellular phones, and different kinds of damage to the visual system was found.
• Universal announces Spielberg's "Munich" title - Munich" is an historical thriller set in the aftermath of the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Universal Pictures will release the film in the United States and Canada on December 23, 2005.
• Batman DVD Giftset Coming October 18 - Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin will be released October 18. They will be available individually and as a gift set, "Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997."

TECHNOLOGY...

• Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1 Released - Microsoft has announced the availabilty of Windows Vista Beta 1 at 9:05 a.m. PDT today. Beta 1 is not what I would call deeply interesting, unless you are a real bithead," Windows chief Jim Allchin said in an interview. "This beta isn't really for even tech enthusiasts. This beta is to test out some of the capabilities that we've got, if you will, in the plumbing." (screenshots)
• What Are the Hardware Requirements for Vista? - Vista PCs should be "a modern, Intel Pentium- or AMD Athlon-based" one with a dedicated graphics card featuring DirectX 9.0 support, and 512 MB or more of RAM, company officials reiterated on Wednesday.
• FAQ: Getting a handle on Windows Vista - Longhorn--now Windows Vista--may be arriving more slowly than expected and it might not have everything that was once planned, but Windows chief Jim Allchin maintains "It's a big deal." 
• AOL tests cell-phone search site - America Online plans to begin testing a new service that lets wireless phone users search the Internet and link to regular. Web pages that it will reformat for tiny cell-phone screens.
• Samsung Launches New Satellite DMB Phone - Samsung Electronics announced the launch of its latest satellite DMB phone (model number: SCH-B200/SPH-B2000) with a unique “slide and rotate” form factor. The phone's unique design allows users to first slide, and then rotate the LCD screen 90-degrees for a landscape viewing orientation that is more ideal for watching broadcasted video content.
• Iomega abandons Zip and DVD lays off 120 - According to a statement released today, Iomega intends to "realign its product lines" and lay off 120 of its 360 employees. While the company declined to comment on details, a statement said that Iomega will focus on harddrive-based products, as well as its NSS and Rev series. Apparently, the future product strategy does not include CD/DVD burners and the product Iomega's success is built on: The famous Zip drive.
• Sony releases PSP firmware update - The update includes the much reported on web browser functionality as well as enhanced movie, picture and audio playback. Users can now share photos over wireless networks and in one of the security fixes they can now also use the popular wireless WPA-TKIP encryption system.
• PSP video download service launches in Japan - Called Portable TV, the service is being operated through Sony's ISP company, So-net, and takes advantage of the inclusion of the high quality H.264 video playback functionality in the new PSP firmware which was released today. Initially, around 100 free downloads will be available, including trailers and independent movies, but the company plans to introduce content ranging from TV episodes to movies and music videos in paid-for format shortly.
• Flat fee subscription offered for mobile games? - July Systems have launched what it claims to be the UK's first subscription service through which mobile gamers on Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile can subscribe for a flat fee and then download and play whichever games they want from July's catalogue.

HARDWARE... 

• Apple Releases New iBook, Mac Mini Models - Here is the pricing structure for the new iBook options: 12" 1.33GHz G4, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, Combo Drive - $999 / 14" 1.42GHz G4, 512MB RAM, 60GB HD, Super Drive - $1299
• After further review, ViewSonic claims VX924 has 3ms response time - ViewSonic will relaunch its VX924 19-inch LCD monitor in Taiwan at the Taipei Computer Application Show (TCAS) tomorrow, with the company now claiming the display has a 3ms response time
• Intel Quietly Releases New Mobile Chips - Three fresh additions to the mobile product lineup are Intel Pentium 780, Intel Pentium Low-Voltage 778 and Intel Celeron M 380, which are designed for high-end, low-power and value mobile computers respectively.
• WD announces NCQ-equipped Caviar RE2 - The Caviar RE2 spins at 7,200 RPM, packs 16MB of cache, and is available in 400GB capacities.
• Mushkin PC3500 2-2-2 Redline - Due to the extreme voltage being applied to these memory modules, it is critical that the extremists use thorough cooling within their computer case. This isn't your typical memory, and cooling on these modules will be the key point of having a stable system.
• ECS PF5 Extreme i945P Motherboard - Where ECS really needs to work on the PF5 Extreme is in providing a BIOS that really caters for the enthusiast/gamer. As it stands with the shipping v1.0 BIOS, the board's performance is definitely below that of a decent, well-tuned i945G's.
• BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GTX OC - The BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GTX OC is clearly a great 7800 GTX solution, offering more speed than the default configuration and a lifetime warranty as well.
• MSI NX6800GT-T2D256E Video Card - The MSI NX6800GT-T2D256E graphics card would be a perfect device if it were not for some small but still unpleasant defects that all pertain to MSI's exclusive cooling system called CopperUltra. The main problem with the CopperUltra to us is in the unreliable fastening. More exactly, in the fragile screws that can be beheaded just too easily.
• Sapphire Hybrid X700 Pro 256MB PCI-E - Overall, you shouldn't expect amazing results with an X700 chipset powered video card. The performance for a hard-core gamer would be mediocre as newer chipsets and technologies have increased the expectations of what a video card should do.
• Meridian XCLIO 550W PSU - One of the most notable new features externally is a rubberized coating that reduces shock and vibration, a first in the PSU industry. Internally, the PSU is completely different, and is surprisingly a near-identical design to another "big name" PSU company.
• CoolerMaster Centurion 530 Mid-Tower Case - The Cooler Master Centurion 530 exhibits elegant styling and good build quality for a case targeted towards price conscious consumers. It's attractive, easy to work with and offers the potential for very good case cooling when fitted with a rear exhaust fan.
• SilverStone TJ06 Case - All of the fans provided with the case are very quiet (21dB). At the front are two intake fans - an 80mm one and a 120mm one. At the rear there is a single 120mm exhaust fan. When the computer is turned on, the fans are very quiet and are hard to hear.
• LSCool LSHS-X500 CPU Cooler for P4 S478 and AMD A64 - The design utilizes three heat pipes and copper fins.
• Evercool Water Cooler WC-202 - For the internal fan, you can increase/decrease the fan, but you cannot see the actual speed of the fan. For the external radiator fan, you can see the speed of it, but you cannot increase/decrease the speed. On high speed, the internal fan is much louder than any other fan in my system.
• The Cool-Matic TDH - Graphic Card Cooler (GPU and RAM) - The CoolMatic TDH caters to the special design requierements of the Nvidia NV40/45 "TDH" Graphic Cards. Cooling the GPU and the Memory on the Graphic board.
• CrazyPC UV Reactive Dyes - If you own a watercooling system and are looking to give it that extra snazz, this is certainly the product for you. Easy to install and won't stain your tubing... what more could you ask for?
• Evercool New Product Roundup - 3DXtreme take a look at four of Evercool's newest products that feature the EL bearing. These are the Neon Crab RAM cooler, the HDD System Cooler Lander, the Spider Filter Fan.
• Gigabyte AirCruiser Router - According to Gigabyte, their AirCruiser G Desktop Router is the world first internal wireless router. It is a Wi-Fi access point, firewall and ADSL router with a single 10/100Mbps Ethernet port in a PCI interface that works at wireless speeds of up to 54Mbps.
• Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3100 - Without a doubt, this is the keyboard and mouse combo to own whether you are a gamer or a casual user. The MX1000 paired with the MX3000 is simply the best combination.
• Kiss DP-558 HDD/Ethernet DVD Player - The DP-558 is definitely a step forward for Kiss, but there are too many little annoying things with it to prevent me from looking elsewhere, especially as hard drive recorders are far more commonplace now than when the original DP-558 was launched.
• Canon PowerShot S2 IS Digital Camera - Another day, another mega zoom digicam with a 12x optical zoom and built-in optical image stabilization. This one is far from plain vanilla, however, since the PowerShot S2 IS is the replacement for the popular, year-old S1 IS.
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W15 - It comes as a very attractive package - a high performance 5.1 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss 3x zoom lens, complete with two pairs of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries, a compact battery charger and a smart genuine leather belt pouch, all for a very reasonable L199.

GUIDES...

• OC-Database with more than 9000 systems - The ocinside.de OC-Database got several updates and contains at present more than 9000 registered systems to compare.
• How to investigate a LCD display for dead pixels - So, how do you determine if you have dead pixels?
• PC Buyer's Guide - Low End - For a low end gaming system there is really no reason to pay the premium for SLI, which really belongs in the domain of high end gaming machines. The nForce4 chipset has proven itself a worthy successor to the nForce3 chipset. Some highlights of the chipset include SATA-II support, which among other things allows for transfer speeds of 300 MB/s compared to SATA's 150.
• Basic System Buyer's Guide - July 2005 - Just like last month this is only $400 box and does not include a keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, or any other peripherals. A lot of these components can be reused from a computer being upgraded or purchased cheaper locally and/or used.
• An introduction to VoIP - Having its debut in Israel, and much of its recent activities in the US, VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is about to take the communication world by storm.

SOFTWARE...

• Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1 - Microsoft has announced the availabilty of Windows Vista Beta 1 at 9:05 a.m. PDT today.
• Freeproxy 3.81 Build 1527 - FreeProxy (download) is professional Freeware which channels requests for internet pages via a single computer and enables many computers to share an internet connection.
• Portable Firefox 1.0.6 beta - Portable Firefox is a fully functional package of Firefox optimized for use on a USB key drive. It has some specially-selected optimizations to make it perform faster and extend the life of your USB key as well as a specialized launcher that will allow most of your favorite extensions to work as you switch computers.
• MR Tech's Disable XPI Install Delay 1.2.3 Firefox Extension - download
• The Netscape Browser 8.0.3.1 - Un updated version of the Netscape Browser has been released.
• Opera for Windows 8.02 - Opera introduces the looks and the performance of an exceptional Web browser. Opera's user interface has received a major overhaul with the new start-up dialog, and new default buttons, skin and panels in a blue and white color scheme that can be changed back to classic Opera look or another design. At start-up you can select a single or multiple document interface (SDI/MDI).
• Copernic Desktop Search 1.6 - Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) brings the power of a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use search engine right to your PC and allows you instantly to search files, emails, and email attachments stored anywhere on your PC hard drive.
• Intel Desktop Control Center 2.0.00.17 - Intel Desktop Control Center enables you to perform stress tests to verify system stability and to conduct performance testing to measure the impact of system configuration changes.
• VisualRoute 9.3f (shw) - VisualRoute (download) delivers the functionality of key Internet "ping," "whois," and "traceroute" tools, in a high-speed visually integrated package.
• Stealth Dupecheck 2.1.32 - Stealth Dupecheck will connect to multiple FTP servers and perform a query based on a user specification. Has support for two date formats.
• nTweaker 1.0 -  nTweaker allows you to tweak the current driver with tweaked driver which is faster and safer, tweak driver with driver technology compatibility settings, laptop and mobility driver settings, coolbits, etc. and alsorestore driver settings to default stage.
• nVidia BIOS Modifier v3.0 - This tool works correctly with BIOSes of 6x00 / 7x00 series cards ONLY (including QUADRO series, built on NV4x and higher) ! BIOSes of 5x00 and older aren't supported.
• Omega Catalyst 2.6.53 (Catalyst 5.7) - Omegadrivers has released their modified Drivers of the Official ATI Catalyst 5.7 Drivers.