SECURITY...

• Congress Fails to Act on Copyright Bills - The U.S. Congress passed a telecommunications bill in the final hours of the 2004 session, but some groups praised lawmakers for failing to act on legislation that would create new penalties for copyright violations. The Senate failed to act on the Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act, a bill passed by the House of Representatives in March. The bill, a combination of other copyright legislation introduced in the House, included prison sentences of three to 10 years for the electronic distribution of copyrighted works worth more than $1000. The prison sentences could be imposed for willful violations or, in some cases, the distribution of more than 1000 copies of a copyrighted work.
• Australian Police Given Power To Use Spyware - Federal and state police now have the power to use computer spyware to gather evidence in a broad range of investigations after legal changes last week. The Surveillance Devices Act allows police to obtain a warrant to use software surveillance technologies, including systems that track and log keystrokes on a computer keyboard. The law applies to the Australian Federal Police and to state police investigating Commonwealth offences. Critics have called the law rushed and imbalanced, saying police will be able to secretly install software to monitor email, online chats, word processor and spreadsheets entries and even bank personal identification numbers and passwords.
• Foundry Adds SSL, Web Accelerators to Switching Line - Foundry Networks on Monday refreshed its Layer 4 through Layer 7 switching line with new application acceleration, security and business continuity enhancements. The new ServerIronSA Series devices include four new SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and Web accelerators that don't sacrifice the performance of non-SSL traffic and that boost WAN bandwidth utilization through compression, according to Gopala Tumuluri, product line manager in San Jose.
• MSIE User's Authentication Details (userid/password) Issue - When IE is configured to access internet using proxy, the user's authentication details are cached locally without IE prompting the user. Even though the "save my password" option is not checked, the user's proxy authentication details are cached locally without the user's knowledge.
• NetWare Screensaver Auth. Bypass From The Local Console - Novacoast has discovered a vulnerability in the Novell NetWare Operating System screen saver software. The vulnerability allows a local attacker to bypass authentication and access the system console.
• Winamp 5.07 Remote Crash - There is a vuln in winamp's handling of .mp4 and .m4a files. Which when exploited can remotly crash the victims winamp. The vuln lies in the .mp4 tagging system which winamp uses.If you use winamps built in feature to edit the tags on .mp4 or .m4a files and insert any data in there the next time the file is opened it will instantly crash winamp.
• Symantec LiveUpdate Vulnerability - Vulnerable versions of the Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate are initially launched at startup and were being assigned Local System privileges. During the period when an interactive LiveUpdate session is available, and only during this session, a non-privileged user could potentially manipulate portions of the LiveUpdate GUI Internet options configuration functionality to gain elevated privilege on the local host. For example, the non-privileged user could gain privileges to search and edit all system files, assume full permission for directories and files on the host, or create new user accounts on the local system..

OFF-TOPIC...

• Gates gives $42.6 million to fight malaria - Combating malaria has been one of the primary goals of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and its latest gift of $42.6 million will fund a nonprofit drug company's high-tech take on an ancient Chinese remedy
• Allen Institute Debuts 'Google for Gene Activity' - The Allen Institute for Brain Science (AIBS) has released its first dataset of gene expression data in the brain for nearly 2,000 mouse genes - the first public release of the Allen Brain Atlas initiative.
• Dutch "anti-social" net reality show cancelled - An experiment with a Dutch internet Big Brother reality show, which was to unveil the unorthodox lifestyle of an Amsterdam low income family, has ended after just two weeks. Not enough advertisers were prepared to sponsor the controversial show, which was produced by Dutch portal Ilse. The Tokkies became unlikely reality TV celebrities in the Netherlands after a violent row with neighbours in a poor area of Amsterdam was featured in the media. Family members on both sides fought each other with baseball bats and at one point one of the flats was set on fire.
• Constantine movie trailer - Here's a link to the latest movie trailer for the forthcoming Keanu Reeves movie, Constantine. (thanks Gareth Ramsay).

TECHNOLOGY...

• Live Blogging in Longhorn - An interesting screenshot was found on the internet today. The screenshot depicting a concept art of Windows Longhorn running with an application called "Windows LIVE" - live "blogging" under Longhorn, a new feature that might be included in future OS releases.
• Microsoft MOOL Revealed - Something new is coming from Microsoft! Microsoft MOOL! In other words, Microsoft Office Outlook Live. A new add-on for Outlook 2003 or XP. The Outlook Service allows you to manage your MSN Hotmail account, MSN account or your MSN Personal account all under one program, Microsoft Outlook 2003 or XP. This will enable notes, calendar dates, contacts and tasks to be transferred to your Microsoft Outlook program.
• Microsoft launches desktop search tool - Microsoft Corp. on Monday joined the battle for supremacy in so-called desktop search, introducing software for quickly locating files on personal computers that challenges Google's two-month-old rival product.
• Mozilla Celebrates 10 Million Firefox Downloads - The Mozilla Foundation has announced that its Firefox browser has been downloaded over 10 million times in the last 31 days. On average, Firefox has been downloaded 4 times per second since its release on November 9th. The Foundation originally estimated 10 million downloads to be reached after 100 days of public availability.
• IBM, AMD Speed Chips by Straining Silicon Wafers - Researchers at IBM and AMD have improved a chip-making technology called strained silicon, boosting semiconductor performance at a time when such gains are increasingly hard to come by, the companies said on Sunday. Both companies said they will begin shipping microprocessors that use the technology, called dual-stress strained silicon, early next year. The advance costs little to install in factories and boosts transistor performance by about 12 percent, compared with current straining technologies, they said.
• Seagate clarifies warranty position - A Seagate bare internal hard drive or retail-boxed internal hard drive for PCs or notebooks, sold through authorized channels and by an authorized reseller or retailer, carries a 5-year warranty to the end user. The warranty begins on the date Seagate ships the drive, as is standard practice throughout the industry; in many cases Seagate also adds additional months in warranty protection to allow for the time the product may take to work through channel supply chains before it is bought by an end user.
• Sony PSP A Near Sell Out In Japan - The launch of Sony's new PSP handheld in Japan has brought with it the usual frenzy accompanying a much-anticipated new gaming platform. Sony's launch-day shipment of 200,000 units nearly sold out by the close of business on December 12, and demand for the hardware remains high. Weekly Famitsu publisher Enterbrain estimates that Sony sold through 166,017 units on launch day, of an estimated 193,056 units shipped to stores.
• Lexar unveils new USB flash drive - The new USB card (photo) form factor is based on the USB Type A connector as outlined in the Universal Serial Bus specification. The drive, which fits into a standard USB type A socket, is 12-millimeters wide, 4.5mm high and 31.75mm long. The sturdy metal housing is intended to make the USB card suitable for use in a range of environments. Thanks to its smaller size, the USB flash drive can be used in digital cameras and handheld computers, in addition to normal PCs and consumer electronics devices, the company said.

HARDWARE...

• Filling the need for game speed - The Calgary, Alberta-based company has offered several liquid-cooled systems over the past year, but the new Rage f:5 ups the ante by using two Nvidia graphics cards incorporating the company's Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology. Based on testing by VoodooPC engineers, the f:5 can run its Athlon processor 15 percent to 20 percent faster than its rated speed, Sood said. F:5 systems are available now, with prices starting at $5,000.
• Matrox Parhellia PCI Express Announced - Last week Matrox quietly announced the Parhelia APVe, bringing the company's two and a half year old graphics technology to PCI Express. The Parhelia APVe will be available in the first quarter of next year and sell for $350 - not cheap considering that Parhelia sold for $400 when it was released more than two years ago. (thanks TechReport)
• Acer TravelMate 8000 Notebook -  The TravelMate is a solid built laptop, light in weight, but not light on performance as it scores 10,816 in 3D mark. This TravelMate 8000 with the Pentium M Processor 745 Donathan 1.8GHz processor is not a notebook, but a desktop replacement that you can also have up to five hours on the run with.
• SwissBit 2 X 512MB PC4300 DDR2 - The SwissBit 1GB Dual Channel PC4300 DDR2 memory module will meet the needs of the users that require DDR2 memory modules for their system such as the Intel LGA 775 system. These dual channel ram are able to run at tight timing for the DDR2 memory module which is the best and basic requirement for a good memory module. But, with a bit looser timing, the ram was able to hit 286 MHz which is equal to DDR2 572. That was an excellent results. According to the specification sheet, this pair of RAM is able to reach DDR533 only.
• AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 Motherboard Round-up - This roundup consists of the DFI UT NF3 250GB, which has shown some impressive (overclocking) performance in our local forum, the Abit K8V Pro, probably the K8T800 chipset at his best, the Asus K8N-E, offering a wide range of features and high performance, and the MSI K8N platinum, a popular all-rounder.
• EPoX 9NDA3+ nForce3 Ultra Socket 939 Motherboard - The EP-9NDA3+ is a feature packed motherboard taking full advantage of everything the nForce3 Ultra chipset has to offer. Overclockers and enthusiasts will appreciate this board too as EPoX has been sure to include plenty of tweaking options to get the most out of the processor and memory. EPoX includes a full assortment of accessories that really put the whole package over the top.
• DFI's 855GME-MGF Pentium-M Motherboard - Those who were impressed with the Pentium-M's performance levels before should no doubt be impressed with the performance levels which can be obtained with this board. Stock performance levels were typically a bit higher compared to AOpen's numbers, but when overclocked, the Pentium-M / DFI 855 motherboard combination is nearly unbeatable in terms of raw gaming power.
• Retail X700 Pro Roundup - AnandTech take a look at four different Radeon X700 Pro vendors: ABIT, HIS, PowerColor, and Sapphire.
• Leadtek A400 Ultra TDH review - The construction quality of the card is superb in terms of Leadtek's adaptation a non-reference cooling solution. The "Air Surround" may be clumsy looking, but it does its job superbly and quietly. It is so quiet it cannot be heard over my CPU. It may indeed run around the 28 dB mark, but I do not have any equipment to verify this. Perhaps as a result of the adaptation of "Air Surround", the temperatures of the GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU tends to run a bit on the higher side, I have noted the GPU reaches up to 75 degrees Celsius when under load.
• ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 Video Card - In addition to time-shifting live television, this 125-channel TV tuner can also zoom in and pan on the action. Use the GemstarGUIDE+ to see what's on, then capture it in MPEG1/2/4, along with your VHS tapes via the built-in RCA and S-Video.
• 1GB PQI Intelligent Stick USB 2.0 Flash Drive review - The PQI Intelligent Stick or I-Stick is the smallest USB flash drive I have ever seen. Yes, that is a 25 cent coin next to the USB drive. The I-Stick was supplied to us by Upgrade Memory and measures just 1.22" long by 0.7" wide by 0.11" thick and weighs only 3 grams.
• NU DDW-163 Dual layer DVD Burner -  This is a very quiet and stable drive though we had no problems making our copies on it and using them. What I miss though is a dual layer DVD which was not included.
• Thermaltake Shark Case - Thermaltake's Shark case is quite the creature to behold. Its great looks that feature smooth curves and straight fins put the case into a class of its own. User-friendly features such as front mount I/O ports, tool-less drive bays, and a removable motherboard tray are all little things that add to the convenience of this case.
• Sharkoon SilentStorm 480W PSU - The unit tested today is whisper quiet and ready for the latest high end hardware, an easy 20+4-pin connector, separate voltage line for AGP/PCI-e video card, and quite a few extras make it interesting if the price is right. The 480W model sells in Europe for EURO89, while it’s no budget price, it is very competitively priced for the amount of Wattage and extra’s you receive.The main downside is the availability of this unit outside Europe, the lack of an 110V switch pretty much eliminates it from ever becoming popular on the other side of the pond.
• Razer Diamondback Optical Mouse - The major ace up the sleeve for Razer is the Diamondback's internal resolution of 1600 CPI, which is twice that of most other high performance optical sensors. To accommodate this the Diamondback uses a 16 bit data path, as opposed to 8 and 12 bit data paths employed by other mice. What this is designed to amount to is a very high degree of precision and responsiveness, which is particularly noticeable when used at high speeds.
• Samsung SyncMaster 193P 19" LCD monitor - With a pricetag of around US$700-$750, most people will bawk at the idea of the 193P being a good option for their home or office workspace. To be honest, they are probably right. For people just needing a basic LCD monitor, the 193P might be a little high end for the average user and there are much cheaper alternatives on the market. But with that being said, this monitor is not meant to compete with the lower end options and is targeted towards the end user that requires a large LCD monitor with designer aesthetics, a higher contrast ratio, flexible mounting and screen orientation and color reproduction sought after in the graphics and CAD industry.
• Hitachi 60VX915 Projection Television - So, if you want to experience true High Definition television and watch DVD movies featuring sharp and crisp color images, look no further than the Hitachi 60VX915. Hitachi's HDTV sets offer the consumer “state-of-the-art” technology with a terrific feature package in a very stylish and handsome cabinetry giving the look and feel of plasma, but without any of its detractors.
• AC Ryan LAN Ranger Cable - At roughly $10-15, this cable doesn't come cheap, as with any other CAT6 cabling, when compared against traditional CAT5. However, the cable has all the extras; EMI shielding, UV active, and its connectors have a nice blue glow. The only flaws we found was no protection on the connector to prevent the clip from breaking off and the requiring of USB power to experience the LEDs, but this is due to the LED power requirements.
• Network Cable Tester with RJ-45 Crimping Tool review - The basic tester is adequate though. Many others, start at around 60 bucks, have a few more features, maybe a carrying case, and even perhaps more remotes. And yes, that is JUST the tester for 60 smackers. Save yourself 50 bucks, and get a functional crimper and basic tester would be my advice. I don't do tons of networking myself, but something like this is inexpensive, and really can't be passed up for the value.

GUIDES...

• World of Warcraft Hardware Performance Guide - World of Warcraft is fairly playable on average gaming systems, but there's always room for improvement.(thanks MaceM)
• Windows XP performance tweaking guide - This guide has seen MANY revisions since it's original posting more than 3 years ago. Even after all this time I continue to add to this guide and revise it as needed. Please read this title very carefully because this guide is ONLY intended for Performance related tweaks. There's millions of other "tweaks" that other guides use but have nothing to do with performance. In this guide I'm ONLY including what actually has some kind of affect on performance.
• Optimize Windows XP v1.8.2 - This guide is designed to be performed top to bottom, in sequence since some steps are required to be performed before others. Before using this guide make sure your system meets Microsoft's Official: Windows XP System Requirements. This new version adds: Spyware - Moved CCleaner here (saves time on spyware scanning), Testimonials, Internet - Avant Browser Update, and SP2 Feature Links.
• Memory Bandwidth vs. Latency Timings - Memory Bandwidth vs. Latency Timings All memory is not created equal, nowadays you need to know which 'flavor' is best for an Intel or AMD PC if you expect the best performance back from your investment.
• Bytesector's 2004 hardware holiday gift guide - This guide will provide information on some of the popular products brought to consumers in 2004. Just remember, people want gifts that rock and we know just which ones rock.
• How to hack the Wireless Fantastic - The de facto "God" of WRT54G hacking is a group calling themselves Sveasoft. For a $20 yearly subscription, you can get unlimited "aftermarket upgrades" (better firmware) from SveaSoft to turn a vanilla WRT54G or GS, the so-called "Speed Enhanced" version capable of up to 125 Mbps, into a full-blown firewall, bandwidth manager, VPN server, VLAN manager, and all kinds of other things. Called Alchemy, the custom firmware adds about three dozen new functions to the stock Wireless-G router.
• ForceWare 71.20 Performance Comparison - The software's used in today's article will be Doom3, Half-Life 2, Far Cry, Halo: Combat Evolved, Splinter Cell, Unreal Tournament 2004 and one synthetic benchmark 3DMark05 (Business Edition). As you can see this is a selection of today's popular games and most of these newer games force the graphics card to its maximum.
• Forceware 66.93 VS Forceware 71.20 -  Also TechConnect have done some quick benchmarks with both Forceware drivers, version 66.93 and version 71.20.

SOFTWARE...

• Kyodai Mahjonng 20.00 Beta 1 - Kyodai Mahjongg (download) is a great version of the famous Mahjongg Solitaire (or Shanghai) oriental game. The purpose of the game is to remove all the tiles from a board. The tiles must be removed by pairs. They have to be free on their left or right side, otherwise you can't remove them. The rules are simple and the game is extremely addictive (especially for girls).
• phpMyAdmin 2.6.1 RC1 - phpMyAdmin can manage a whole MySQL-server (needs a super-user) but also a single database. To accomplish the latter you'll need a properly set up MySQL-user who can read/write only the desired database.
• Opera 7.54u1: Security update - Opera has made available the fix for the desktop version Opera 7.54 for all OSes in response to the following security advisories.
• ICQ 5 Beta - ICQ 5 beta (download) features Push2Talk, some new skins, dual screen support, full screen games support, and Optional Enter key to send messages.
• HWiNFO32 v1.50 - HWiNFO32 v1.50 has been released.
• kX Project Audio Driver 5.10.0.3537  - The kX Audio Driver is an independent WDM (Windows Driver Model) driver for all EMU10K1 and EMU10K2-based soundcards manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or E-mu Systems Inc., including the SoundBlaster Live! series, the E-mu Audio Production Studio (APS) card, and the Audigy / Audigy2 series of cards.
• ForceWare 71.20 Win2000/XP - This is NVIDIA's ForceWare build 71.20 for Windows 2000/XP. This driver set has not been WHQL certified, all GeForce cards are supported though and it is the absolutely newest set of drivers available to this very date.