SECURITY...

• Microsoft unveils new technologies, targeting worms, hackers - One of the technologies on display, dubbed Vigilante, proposes a detection and protection system for Internet worms. The system would consist of "honey pot" computers connected to the Internet that would serve as bait for the worms. Once an attack was detected, the computers would analyze the attack and create alerts that included details on how to protect against the new threat. The alerts then would be pushed out to other computers, which would automatically put up shields and filter traffic to block the worm, Microsoft researchers said. Another forward-looking technology can prevent malicious code from executing. The system, called Control-Flow Integrity, would prevent malicious code from being run on a computer by checking application activity and validating it. Unexpected activity would be blocked, according to Microsoft.
• Scripting and Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) - The Scripting Guys wrote a good article on Technet yesterday summarizing how System Administrators can work around the script-blocking feature of Microsoft AntiSpyware. After reading the article it is also evident that it would be just as easy for Spyware to take the same hints to dodge the MS AntiSpyware Beta software.
• BPI nails "music pirates" - UK music fans have agreed to pay thousands of pounds in compensation for distributing music illegally via peer-to-peer networks, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) announced Friday. Music fans paid up to L4,500 each in a series of 23 settlements and agreed to accept injunctions against them illegally uploading music again. The BPI announced a further 31 cases across eight different P2P networks are in the pipeline as part of its attempt to broaden its campaign against illicit file sharing on the net. Other actions may follow.
• Feds Catching Up With Proxies - The Commerce Department has disputed claims by domain registrar Go Daddy that the department launched a new policy when it declared in February that people would no longer be able to keep their personal contact information private when they register a .us domain.

OFFTOPIC...

• Nicolas Cage's Next is The Wicker Man - Nicolas Cage's next picture will be director Neil LaBute's remake of 1973 thriller The Wicker Man, with Millennium Films, Equity Pictures and Emmett/Furla Films producing, reports Variety. The movie will begin production July 15 in Vancouver. Cage is currently shooting comic book adaptation Ghost Rider in Melbourne.
• Splinter Cell movie director Interview - Moviehole has posted an interview with Peter Berg, Director of the screen adaptation of the game.
• Zak Penn on Writing X-Men 3 - Zak Penn talked to Sci Fi Wire about the difficulty of writing "X-Men" movies. He is currently writing X-Men 3.
• Word1000.com's movie posters - Worth1000's yesterday theme was on recasting movies with different actors and actresses in ludicrous ways, and with humor and good blending.
• Hitler won atomic bomb race, but couldn't drop it - Adolf Hitler had the atom bomb first but it was too primitive and ungainly for aerial deployment, says a new book that indicates the race to split the atom was much closer than is believed. Nazi scientists carried out tests of what would now be called a dirty nuclear device in the waning days of World War II, writes Rainer Karlsch, a German historian, in his book Hitler's Bomb, to be be published this month. Concentration camp inmates were used as human guinea pigs and "several hundred" died in the tests, conducted on the Baltic Sea island of Rugen and at an inland test in wooded hill country about 100 kilometres south of Berlin in 1944 and early 1945.

TECHNOLOGY...

• WinFS Will Be Available on Windows XP - Microsoft may not be willing to talk file-system futures, but it is working to back-port its WinFS file-system technology to Windows XP, the same way that it is doing with its Windows presentation and communications subsystems, according to company officials. Longhorn client is set to ship in 2006; Longhorn server in 2007, according to Microsoft. Another article can be found on MSWatch.
• Zeus Releases New Load Balancer - The Cambridge, U.K.-based company, better known for its Web server, yesterday launched a new low-end version of its load-balancing and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) offload software, as well as three new AMD Opteron-based appliances. Zeus also announced that it has signed on Sun Microsystems Inc. and Pyramid Computer Inc. as reseller partners.
• New Batteries: Twice the Life - In PC World tests, new Panasonic Oxyride disposable batteries delivered more than twice the performance of high-end alkalines for the same price.
• Nokia Steers In-Car Communication System In VW's Passat - Nokia Corp. and Volkswagen said Friday that the new VW Passat will come equipped with Nokia's in-car communication system, which is compatible with handsets supporting Bluetooth wireless technology.
• Camera phones recognise their owner - Software that lets a camera phone recognise its owner's face could provide a handy new security measure, according to a Japanese company. The OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor software was created for existing phones with a digital camera fitted. After taking a picture of their face for reference, a user can configure their handset to lock itself or limit its functionality until another picture is taken.
• 20,000 Channels of Music Online? Legal? And Free? - Two Mercora network executives talk about their new music search and streaming service, which is free right now and 100% legal!

HARDWARE... 

• ATI Discloses Pricing of New "Bridged" AGP 8x Graphics Cards - The recommended pricing for AGP 8x flavours of graphics cards based on the RADEON X800, X800 XL and X850 XT visual processing units (VPUs) is $249, $349 and $499 respectively. While pricing of the RADEON X800 and X800 XL products is $50 higher compared to pricing of PCI Express x16 versions of similar graphics cards, an ATI spokesperson noted that the RADEON X800 XL for AGP 8x features video-in/video-out (VIVO) capability not available on PCI Express version. Furthermore, the spokesman told X-bit labs that the company was going to have a special rebate program for North America, which would allow users to obtain the RADEON X800 for $199.
• Intel's 64-bit vs. AMD 64 bit. - With its 6xx-series Pentium 4 processors, Intel has finally jumped on the desktop 64-bit bandwagon. Intel's EM64T architecture can implement Windows' x86-64 mode, and is also compatible with the AMD64 architecture. This means that you don't need different Windows operating systems to take advantage of 64-bit processing.
• TR's CPU decoder ring updated - Tech Repost has updated their CPU Decoder Ring. Among the changes are the addition of the newest CPUs (including the Opteron x52 and Pentium 4 6xx series) as well as some older chips that didn't make it into the last update. Additionally, columns have been added to show support for both the NX bit and 64-bit capability. A quick query reveals that 240 processors are currently represented on the chart.
• AMD Sempron 2600+ for Socket 754 - Another appealing aspect of junior Sempron for Socket 754 models is their excellent overclockability. Our tests show that Semprons on the new 90nm Palermo core can add up about half their frequency at overclocking, to clock rates about 2.5GHz. For example, we managed to give our Sempron 2600+ a 56% frequency boost and the performance of the system subsequently grew by 35% in average and became comparable to that of systems with Pentium 4 3.4E and Athlon 64 3500+ processors.
• Club-3D X800XL 256MB PCI-Express - Regarding the design of the box and video card; it really looks nice and the white led in the fan is a nice extra for those hardcore mod creators. To be honest to you, the white led is useless for me, my case is closed all the time! With the case closed, the sound production of the cooler isn't much at all and in games (with ofcourse the audio turned on!) you hear really nothing. (ed.note...I've heard Club3D cards are pretty noisy...)
• Sony's DRU-720A DL 16x DVD±RW - The drive is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 4x DVD+R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. This by itself is impressive. However, the DRU-720A also boasts features like 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 24x rewriting speeds, Power-Burn buffer underrun protection and an impressive software bundle from Nero.
• SilverStone LC11 Home Theater PC Case - Acrylic windows, neon and strobe lights, Day-Glo colors, and vaguely alien shapes may be appealing for desktop PC cases, but you probably don't want a large, showy case as part of your home theater setup, especially if you share your home with a significant other who has significantly more style than you. Additionally, home theater PC's need to be quiet. Fan and disk noise are easy to overlook if you're blasting MP3's while blasting Ant Lions, but white noise isn't welcome when you're watching a movie, especially if it's a quiet passage involving romance (I'm thinking of your significant other again). Purpose-built home theater PC cases are becoming more readily available, and today I look at SilverStone Technology's LC11 from their LaScala line of home theater PC enclosures.
• Konica Minolta Magicolor 5440 DL printer - At the back are sockets for USB 2 and direct Ethernet connection - you can set the Magicolor 5440 DL up as a network print server. A second USB socket is intended for directly connecting a digital camera, though the firmware for this feature has yet to be released.
• Sendo X smart phone - In terms of business features the X has a lot on offer as it comes with Bluetooth and IrDA as well as USB connectivity in the box. Sadly, it uses a proprietary USB cable and interface, which means that you have to carry the cable around with you. This shouldn't prove to be too much of an issue as you can use the Bluetooth or IrDA to sync the X with your PC.

GUIDES... 

• How much Graphics Power Does a PC Really Need? - Almost every PC sold today features a 3D graphics card. But other than powering games, there's not much use for advanced 3D features. Certainly you don't need a 3D graphics card for office work, surfing the Internet and other common tasks. Are the graphics manufacturers on the wrong track?
• Scripting and Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) - The Scripting Guys wrote a good article on Technet yesterday summarizing how System Administrators can work around the script-blocking feature of Microsoft AntiSpyware. After reading the article it is also evident that it would be just as easy for Spyware to take the same hints to dodge the MS AntiSpyware Beta software.

SOFTWARE...

• URL Discombobulator v1.8.1 - Understand those cryptic web addresses, and make a few of your own. Lookup the IP address(es) associated with any valid domain name. Or lookup the domain name associated with any IP address (if the owner of the IP address has added the corresponsing PTR record in the DNS server authoritative for the IP address range). As a bonus, the program generates alternate "shrouded" URLs for any web site, and can display…
• FileZilla v2.2.11 - FileZilla (download) is a powerful FTP-client for Windows 9x, ME, NT4, 2000 and XP. It has been designed for ease of use and with support for as many features as possible, while still being fast and reliable.
• RightMark CPU Clock Utility 1.4 - RightMark CPU Clock Utility (RMClock) is a small GUI application designed for real-time CPU frequency, throttling and load level monitoring and on-the-fly adjustment of the CPU performance level of the supported CPUs via processor's power management model-specific registers (MSRs).
• RivaTuner 2.0 RC 15.4 - The purpose of this utility is to give you access to all the undocumented features of Detonator and Catalyst drivers. Drivers have a lot of undocumented registry entries. Some of them don't affect anything, but there are some that are very useful
• Realtek ALC AC97 Audio Driver v3.70 WHQL -  Realtek released version 3.70 driver for their ALC AC97 audio chipsets. The driver supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC100 up to ALC850 mainly used as onboard sound on various motherboards.