SECURITY...

• Microsoft to Host Hacker Meetings - Microsoft is working on plans to make a recent hacker meeting held on its Redmond, Washington, campus a twice-yearly event, according to a spokesperson for the vendor's security group. The company plans to host another Blue Hat security event in the fall, though no specific date for it has been set, Stephen Toulouse, a program manager in Microsoft's security unit, said on Monday.
• Apple adopts controversial security chip - The computer that ships in the kit features a security chip called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The chips inclusion with the new Apple hardware doesn't come as a complete surprise. It has been previously suggested that Apple could use the TPM to prevent that computer users install the OS X operating system on a non-Mac PC such as a models made by Dell or HP.
• Cisco IOS Exploitation Techniques - Mike Lynn, former researcher for Internet Security Systems (ISS), spoke at the Black Hat security conference (PDF) in Las Vegas about a serious vulnerability that he found while reverse-engineering the operating system in Cisco routers.
• Virus Top Twenty for July 2005 -  NetSky.q is once again in first place, in its own strange way marking the sentence given to its author Sven Jaschan.

OFFTOPIC...

• NASA's Shuttle Plans - For its next generation of space vehicles, NASA has decided to abandon the design principles that went into the aging space shuttle, agency officials and private experts say. Instead, they say, the new vehicles will rearrange the shuttle's components into a safer, more powerful family of traditional rockets.
• 38% Americans own video game consoles - A recent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation's CARAVAN poll found that 38% of American households own a video game console, which is more than double the percentage of households that own an iPod or other digital music player (17%). Not surprisingly, 76% of Americans own a PC - more than the 67% that own a mobile phone.
• Methane on Mars: the plot thickens - Methane on Mars may be produced at rates 3000 times higher than previously thought and partially destroyed by dust storms, controversial new research suggests.
• Is your son the antichrist? - Susie Figgis, who headed up the casting for Harry Potter, and Omen 666 director John Moore (Flight of the Phoenix) are searching far and wide for a new lad to bear the mark of the beast and proudly carry the Damien name through an update of 1976 classic.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Flash Memory to Speed Up Hard Drives - No more long waits for your PC to wake up. Longer laptop battery life. Data that survives a drop. These are the promises of solid-state-memory disks (SSDs), which use flash memory to supplement or replace today's hard drives. Samsung is working on two types of products: pure SSDs and hybrid drives that combine traditional hard disks and flash memory.
• Apple doubles up on mouse buttons - Apple announced a multi-button mouse, known as the Mighty Mouse. The new model also features a scroll ball that allows users to quickly scroll through large web pages, graphics or spreadsheets. The item's functionality is similar to that of the scroll wheel that is common with PC mice.
• Microsoft attacked over Vista name - WorldVista and The VistA Software Alliance are upset with Microsoft's choice, believing there's going to be a fair bit of confusion between the veteran admin software and Microsoft's Next Big Thing.
• Yahoo to launch blog ad network - Yahoo's new service will differ from Google in that it will add human editorial to the selection of ads for content pages. In comparison, Google's service relies on technology.
• Yahoo gathering ABC, CNN news clips - Video clips from CNN.com and ABC News will become part of Internet media company Yahoo Inc.'s free on-demand content, following agreements announced Monday.
• Windows Guru Calls For IE7 Boycott - Paul Thurrott made a call in a recent article to boycott Internet Explorer, due to Microsoft's approach (continued in IE7) of not supporting web standards.
• UK Record Companies Suing File Sharers - Record companies in Britain are filing their first ever lawsuits against five people accused of illicitly sharing music online, after settling out of court with dozens of others. More than 60 BPI lawsuits have already been settled, with users paying up to 6,500 pounds each in compensation
• How to play H.264 content on your PC - According to TheInquirer, both Apple's Quicktime H.264 movie or Microsoft WMV-HD content looked very good and that you will experience some amazing quality when you play any of those standards. I can assure you it's much better than Mpeg 2 that you find on your DVDs.
• Windows Vista Beta 1 screenshots and video  - Flexbeta snapped a few screenshots and recorded a video. The reason for the video is just to show off Windows Vista new graphics engine.
• Assembly 2005 coverage - Assembly 05 / Jussi Laakkonen, Assembly 05 Event Director interview /  Pics and video

HARDWARE... 

• Opteron 100 makes the leap to Socket 939 - The Opteron 100 series will now drop into AMD's Socket 939 infrastructure and no longer require registered DIMMs. The new AMD Opteron 100 Series processors with ECC unbuffered memory support offer a compelling price/performance ratio, beginning with Model 144, priced at $125 in 1,000-unit quantities, and scaling to Model 152, priced at $799 in 1,000-unit quantities.
• Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor - In single-threaded performance, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ simply can't match up to the higher-clocked Athlon 64 models, but does lay out the entire Pentium D line and manages to win a few against the 3.6-3.8 GHz Pentium 4 processors.
• 2048 MB DDR Memory Shootout - At 272 MHz, Corsair's TWINX2048-3200C2 is screaming fast for one gigabyte modules. With a 36% overclock, Corsair simply leaves all the other modules in the dust..
• OCZ EL PC3500 Gold GX 2-2-2-5 - It is a dual channel kit consisting of two 512Mb OCZ PC3500 (433Mhz) EL DDR Gold Edition GX modules with low timings of 2-2-2-5 that run on 2.8V, with gold layered copper heatspreaders, EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) and ULN (Ultra Low Noise) Technology.
• OCZ PC2-6400 Gold Series Memory -
• ASrock 939Dual-SATA2 ULi M1695 motherboard - ASrock 939Dual-SATA2 is a full fledge ATX board based on the ULi M1695/M1567. It supports the Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64x2, 64, FX, Sempron processors with a FSB of 1GHz of HTT. It supports cool n quiet, 4 GB of Dual channel DDR 400.
• ATI Radeon X700 Pro and NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card Comparison - You might be surprise by the outcome: while NVIDIA does have the faster hardware, Tech-Hounds still recommend Radeon X700 Pro over the GeForce 6600GT.
• ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory 128MiB - They're no gaming powerhouses, but neither are they totally useless.
• BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GTX 'Overclocked' - The BFG 7800 GTX is for people who not only want the best but the best of the best and is not for people who think the 9250SE they have is offering the ultimate gaming experience.
• XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Overclocked - This is the current fastest stock 7800 GTX card on the market, beating out the 460 MHz of the BFG Tech unit and the 480 MHz of the Gainward card recently announced.
• Zalman VF700-Cu VGA Cooler - Is your video card o­ne of those that is getting very hot and eventually raises the temperature of your entire system? Or perhaps the stock cooler that came with it is very noisy? Many people have o­ne or even both of these problems and the CNPS7700-Cu for their video card might be the perfect solution for either situation.
• Plextor PX-740A review - With the exception of the Platinum brand DVD+/-R media, the PX-740A proved to be a competitor with drives such as NEC"s ND-3540A and Pioneer"s DVR-109D, and being at the same level as BenQ"s DW1640.
• SimpleTech SimpleShare NAS - Unlike many external storage solutions, both packaged with and without a hard drive, the SimpleShare NAS is exactly what the name is; a very simple to use NAS unit that's designed for homes and small businesses. We'll be focusing in on the features of this unit and we'll evaluate its performance through the ease of use and the results obtained by third party networking benchmarks.
• Ultra USB Hubs - ViperLair take a look at a couple USB hubs that add more ports to your existing setup.
• Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7 -  Now, Sony has a compact 7.2MP digicam with a 3x optical zoom for $399. It's an excellent camera for those who want superior point-and-shoot quality without breaking out the owner's manual every five minutes or paying for a call to the local Geek Squad. Along with superior resolution, the DSC-W7 mirrors the trend in cameras with huge, 2.5-inch LCD screens to frame and review your shots.

GUIDES...

• System Builders Guide (SBG) - They are covering budget (The Avenger – under $800), mid-range (The Executioner - $800 - $1500) and high-end (The Slayer – No Budget)
• Secure XP - A Windows XP Security Guide v1.2.2 - Improve Windows XP's Security on computers not connected to a Domain. Windows XP Home does not include all the security features Windows XP Professional does, so some security options may be unavailable to the Home user. Security on Windows XP starts with having the latest updates. Installing SP2 is essential in making sure your system is secure. SP2 requires a Spyware and Virus free system to install without problems. Please read the advisory and run through Steps 1 and 2 completely before installing SP2.

SOFTWARE...

• 29 Vector Drawing Programs - check it out
• Unofficial Windows 98 SE Service Pack 2.0.2 - It contains all Windows98 SE updates (download) from Windows Update site and more.
• SyncBack Freeware 3.2.8.500 - SyncBack (download) is our freeware program that helps you easily backup and synchronise your files to: the same drive; a different drive or medium (CDRW, CompactFlash, etc); an FTP server; a Network; or a Zip archive.
• Morpheus 5.0.0.666 Beta - Morpheus searches the major file-sharing networks and simultaneously connects with millions of users of Gnutella, eDonkey, LimeWire, Grokster, G2, NEOnet and BitTorrent.
• Guifications 2.11 - Guifications is a Gaim plugin that displays msn style "toaster" popups in a user defined corner of the screen. It's highly configurable, easy to use, and has theme support. It really is, the end all, be all, toaster popup plugin for Gaim!
• Mp3tag 2.32b - Mp3tag can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists, and more. It supports online freedb database lookups for selected files, allowing you to automatically gather proper tag information for select files or CDs.
• Mozilla Suite 1.7.11 - download.
• Firefox 1.0.6 Optimized builds  - From the same folks who bring you the "optimized" Firefox 106 builds, this is a new build (download) specifically for those folks who's processors support SSE2.
• BWMeter 2.3.4 - BWMeter (download) is a powerful bandwidth meter and monitor, which measures and displays all traffic on your network.
• Maxthon v1.3.3 - Maxthon (MyIE2) (download standard / combo) is a powerful web browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer engine (your most likely current web browser) which means that what works in IE, works the same in Maxthon but with many additional efficient features.
• Copernic Desktop Search 1.6.0.737 - The Search Engine for Your PC Find Your Files, Videos, Pictures, Bookmarks, Browser History, Contacts and Emails with the Power of a Search Engine Right on Your Desktop.
• CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) 1.22.142 - CCleaner (download) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.
• 7-Zip 4.25 Beta - 7-Zip (download) is a file archiver with high compression ratio.