SECURITY... 

• Hackers follow Microsoft patches with malware -  Hackers have released software that could be used to take over Windows PCs that lack the latest Microsoft security patches. But while this code is dangerous, security experts said today that it had yet to be used by attackers in any widespread way. The attack code exploits two separate bugs (explot 1 / exploit 2) in Windows Media Player, which were addressed in Microsoft's MS06-005 and MS06-006 advisories released Tuesday.
• Second OS X virus exploits Bluetooth flaw - Security experts have reported a new OS X proof of concept virus that spreads using a known vulnerability in the way that the operating system handles Bluetooth wireless communications. F-Secure referred to the worm as OSX/Inqtana, and emphasized that it is only a proof of concept worm and is unlikely to cause any actual harm.
• Microsoft could be teaching police to hack Vista - Microsoft may begin training the police in ways to break the encryption built into its forthcoming client PC operating system Vista.

CRIME/LAW...

• Google to feds: Back off - Google lashed out at the U.S. Justice Department on Friday, saying that a high-profile request for a list of a week's worth of search terms must not be granted because it would disclose trade secrets and violate the privacy rights of its users.
• Homeland security urges DRM rootkit ban - US government officials took Sony BMG to task over its controversial use of rootkit-style copy protection at a security conference this week
• RIAA Claims Copying CDs to iPods is Unlawful - US record-label body the RIAA and movie-industry moguls at the MPAA are attempting to argue that copying a CD to a computer for carrying on an iPod does not, and has never, constituted fair use.

OFF-TOPIC

• Cameron Confirms Project 880 is Next - Titanic director James Cameron confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that he will first make the secretive Project 880 before moving on to Battle Angel, based on Yukito Kishiro's Japanese graphic novels. "We've moved 'Project 880' into first position," Cameron said. "It's as classified as the Manhattan Project." Many believe it is actually a version of Avatar, the director's oft-rumored love story set against interplanetary war.
• Mathematical proofs getting harder to verify - A mathematical proof is irrefutably true, a manifestation of pure logic. But an increasing number of mathematical proofs are now impossible to verify with absolute certainty, according to experts in the field. "I think that we're now inescapably in an age where the large statements of mathematics are so complex that we may never know for sure whether they're true or false," says Keith Devlin of Stanford University in California, US. "That puts us in the same boat as all the other scientists."
• Looking for other Earths? Here's a list - An astronomer involved in a NASA mission to look for Earthlike planets beyond our solar system has winnowed through thousands of stars to come up with a top-10 list that includes some of the favorite haunts for science-fiction aliens.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Intel strikes back with next-generation chips - Intel expects its forthcoming Conroe and Merom chips to deliver a performance advantage of at least 20 percent over chips from AMD that are slated to be released at the same time, an Intel executive said Friday.
• AMD AM2.. What We Know So Far - There has not been that much info released about the AM2 yet, but there is enough to cover. Will this be a CPU that we should wait for before building another system? Let's take a look at what we know so far and see. Another interesting article can be found on X-bit Labs.
• Seagate Announces 12GB Micro Hard Disk - Seagate has announced a new 1-inch 12GB hard disk that is substantially smaller and faster than its current top of the line 8GB model. The ST1.3 series 12GB disk is 23 percent smaller, has a 50 percent greater capacity, and consumes 30 percent less power than its predecessor. The disk is designed for use in mobile phones and portable media devices.
• DRM Based on Trusted Computing Chips - According to Information Week, Lenovo has demonstrated a Thinkpad with built-in Microsoft and Adobe DRM that uses a Trusted Computing chip with a fingerprint sensor
• Microsoft confirms USB bug that drains laptop batteries - An unfixed bug in the USB driver of Windows XP Service Pack 2 causes a notebook's battery to drain faster than usual when there is a device connected to its USB port, Microsoft Corp. confirmed today.  In a statement through its public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom Inc., Microsoft also admitted that the flaw, which lies in the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) driver of Windows XP SP 2, will remain without an easy-to-apply fix indefinitely.
• Apple Embeds Message to OS X Hackers - Apple has confirmed it embedded a message in the form of a poem to those who would hack its version of OS X on Intel hardware. "The embedded poem reads: 'Your karma check for today: There once was a user that whined/his existing OS was so blind/he'd do better to pirate/an OS that ran great/but found his hardware declined./Please don't steal Mac OS!/Really, that's way uncool./(C) Apple Computer, Inc.'Apple also put in a separate hidden message, 'Don't Steal Mac OS X.kext,' in another spot for would-be hackers."
• PlayStation 3 Delayed, Over $800? - Cnet is reporting that a research report issued by Merrill Lynch suggests that the Sony PlayStation 3's American release may be postponed until 2007. The official report (pdf) would also seem to indicate that the console will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $900 when it launches.
• Ten Reasons to Buy Windows Vista - PCWorld.com gives us ten reasons to buy the next version of Microsoft Windows. In related news, Windows Vista Editions were revealed.
• New motherboard, new Microsoft Windows license? - Microsoft recently made a change to the licence agreement saying that a new motherboard is equal to a new computer, hence you need to purchase a new Windows licence.

HARDWARE... 

• CPU - Athlon 64 X2 4400+  / Opteron 165 CPU / Intel's Pentium M 760 versus AMD's Turion 64 ML-44 / Turion 64
• Motherboard - Asus P5WDG2-WS Motherboard (Intel 975X) / Asus A8N32-SLI Motherboard / Asus A8R32-MVP: First ATI RD580 / DFI Infinity NF4 Ultra / DFI RS482 Infinity Mini-ATX Motherboard / Gigabyte 8N-SLI Royal / MSI 975X Platinum / NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra: Biostar
• Complete / SFF Systems - Hi-Grade µDMS P60 Viiv PC / HSPC Tech Station PC Test Bench
• Memory - Cold Fusion PC-4000 DDR RAM / Corsair TWINX2048-3500LL PRO RAM / Corsair TwinX 2048-4000PT / Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 / GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4000 Dual Channel RAM /  Kingston HyperX KHX3200AK2/2G / Mushkin 1GB HP3200 / US Modular Cold Fusion PC-4000 DDR memory
• Storage - 2.5" Serial ATA hard drive round-up / ExBoot 2.5-inch One Touch Portable HDD || Corsair Flash Voyager 1GB USB Drive || Asus DRW-1608P2S DVD-writer
• Video - Albatron GeForce 6600 - 512 / ASUS EAX1800XT Top Video Card / ASUS Extreme AX1300Pro Silent VGA Cooler / ATI X1900 XT-XTX Video Card Roundup (1) / ATI Radeon X1900 XT(2) / ATI Radeon X1900 XTX(3) / ATI Radeon X1800 XT CrossFire / EVGA 6800GS CO/SE Superclocked Edition / Gigabyte Radeon X1900XTX / HIS X1600XT IceQ Turbo Edition / Leadtek WinFast Novo TV Box / MSI GeForce 7800 GTX / MSI RX1900XTX-VT2D512E (Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB) / NVIDIA 7800GS AGP / HIS X1600XT IceQ Turbo Edition / MSI RX1900XTX-VT2D512E (Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB) / PowerColor Theater 550 Pro PCI Express / PowerColor Radeon X800 GTO 128MB PCI Express / PowerColor X1300Pro Bravo VIVO / XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 DUAL DVI VIVO PCI-E
• Monitor - NEC MultiSync 1740CX 17" LCD / Panasonic TH-42PX50U 42" Plasma HDTV / Samsung 244T
• Cooling - AeroCool Video Magic (VM-102) Fanless VGA Cooler / Thermalright HR-01 / Titan Eagle GPU Coolers(1) / Titan Eagle Universal VGA Cooler (2)  / Zalman CNPS9500
• Watercooling - Asetek WaterChill Family / Cooler Master Aquagate Mini R120 Liquid Cooler / Swiftech H2O-220-Apex Ultra Water Cooling / XSPC X2O Water Cooling Kit
• Case - Antec P150 Computer Case / Aspire X-Qpack / Cooler Master Centurion BTX-B541 Case / NZXT Lexa ATX Case / SanSun Bat Case / Thertmalrock Circle Case / Thermaltake Mozart HTPC Case
• Modding - Case Made of Fans / Matrix Orbital MX610 / Vizo Master Panel
• Sound - HDA / Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 Sound Card || Altec Lansing IM7 Portable Audio System / Logitech Wireless Music System / Saitek A-250 Wireless 2.1 Speaker System || Plantronics Discovery 640 Bluetooth Headset / Sennheiser HD555 Headphones / Sennheiser PC150 Headset
• PSU - Be-Quiet P6 DarkPower PSU / Hiper TypeR 580W PSU / Silverstone ST30NF 300W Silent PSU / Sytrin Nextherm PSU460 / Ultra X2 550 Watt PSU / Ultra Xfinity 600W PSU (1) / Ultra Products 2nd Generation X-Finity 600W PSU (2)
• Peripheral - A4Tech X-710 Gaming mouse / Creative Fatal1ty 1010 Gaming Mouse / Corepad Skatez Pro Mouse Skatez / I-Rocks KR-6810 EL Keyboard / Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 / Microsoft Notebook Laser Mouse 6000 / Razer Copperhead Mouse / Razer Diamondback Plasma Edition / WolfKing Warrior Game Keypad
• Network - Netgear Storage Central SC101
• Printer - Canon i9950 A3 Printer / Multifunction printers round-up / Planon RC800 Portable Color Scanner
• Notebook - Acer Aspire 9504WSMi Laptop / ASUS W5F Notebook Featuring Intel Core Duo
• Cameras, MP3/DVD players/recorders - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Digital Camera  / Pentax Optio WPi - Waterproof Camera
• Misc - Knoll Life Chair
• Phones/PDAs - Palm Treo 700w Smartphone / Sony Ericsson w800i Cell Phone / Globalsat BC-337 SiRF Star III GPS Receiver

GUIDES...

• Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 10.0 - Currently covering over 260 desktop graphics cards, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare 17 different specifications for each and every card!
• Data Recovery Guide - How Hard Drives Fail - Hard drives are extremely fragile and can suffer failures in many different ways, leading to a loss of data. The five most common types of drive failures are: logical errors, mechanical failure, electronic failure, firmware corruption, and bad sectors.
• How To Take Great Nighttime Digital Photos - This first part of this article on nighttime photography will cover tricks not necessarily related to digital camera settings, but tricks nonetheless that can result in better photographs or a more pleasing photo-taking experience.
• The New HDMI Video Connector - Everything you need to know about the new digital audio and video HDMI connector, which will be used by DVD players, videoprojectors, HDTV sets and LCD panels.
• Catalyst 6.2 performance guide - check it out (in German)

SOFTWARE...

• AutoPatcher XP February 2006  - This release is based on the all-new AutoPatcher 5.1. Although it was made with Windows XP SP2 English in mind, it will load on any (English) Windows version, showing only the items which match the running environment.
• Total Commander v6.54a Final  - Total Commander (download / changelog) is a file manager for Windows, a program like Windows Explorer to copy, move or delete files. However, Total Commander can do much more than Explorer, e.g. pack and unpack files, access ftp servers, compare files by content, etc..
• PSPad 4.5.0 (2181) - PSPad editor (download) is freeware programmer editor, useful for people who: work with various programming environments, like highlighted syntax in code, need a small tool with simple controls and the capabilities of a mighty code editor, are looking for a tool to work with plain text and want to save money and still have the functionality of professional products.
• DirectX 9.0c February 2006  (official download) - Microsoft DirectX (previously WinG) is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation and rich audio. (thanks format)
• AVG Free 7.1.375 Build 703 (Free Anti-Virus) - AVG Free (download) for Windows is a free anti-virus protection tool developed by Grisoft for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of AVG Free for Windows.
• avast! Virus Cleaner 1.0.209 - download
• AIM Ad Hack 5.0 Beta 19 for AOL Triton IM Beta - With this small file you can effectively remove all the ads from AIM
  you must be using
• Miranda IM 0.4.0.3 - Miranda IM (download) is a multi protocol instant messenger client. Miranda IM is designed to be resource efficient and easy to use.
• Weather Watcher 5.6.6 - Weather Watcher is your personal Windows desktop weather station. Automatically retrieve the current conditions, hourly forecast, daily forecast, detailed forecast, severe weather alerts, and weather maps for over 77,000 cities world-wide.
• Apple iTunes 6.0.3.5  - download
• KoolMoves 5.2.2 - KoolMoves (download) is web animation software that creates Flash movies and frames for animated gifs. It is powerful yet easy to learn and easy to use.
• DivX Web Player 1.0 Plugin - The DivX Web Player (formerly known as the DivX Browser Plug-In Beta) lets anyone embed high quality DivX videos in their web pages or blogs without using special streaming servers or installing server-side software. Video plays live inside the browser or full-screen while it downloads.
• VEMoDe 0.12 Beta - VEMoDe (The Video Encoder for Mobile Devices) is a free program that gives you a quick and easy way to turn your videos and movies into portable videos. It will convert from many formats and includes settings for several mobile devices.
• CloneDVD2 v2.8.8.2 - CloneDVD 2 (download / changelog) copies movies in unparalleled picture quality. If it`s only the main movie or a complete DVD – CloneDVD compresses even long footage in brilliant quality and at high speed: A special transcoding technology compresses your choice of DVD titles according to your audio and language selection automatically to a freely adjustable target size.
• CCleaner v1.27.260 - CCleaner 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. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.
• Fresh UI 7.53 - Fresh UI is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows operating system. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings in Windows XP/2000/NT4/98/ 95/Me.
• GAlert 2.5.4 - A Better GMail Notifier - GAlert (GMail/Google News Notifier) is an easy to use and high performance skinable Google notifier supports Google News, multiple GMail accounts, label filters and automatic login. It brings clean, easy and elegant look to the way people check their new message.
• mIRC 6.17 -  Download the popular shareware IRC Chat client mIRC here. Khaled added support for displaying UTF-8 text as unicode to mIRC. mIRC can also encode outgoing text in UTF-8, based on the script/codepage you selected. Among the various other changes are a better check for timed out connections, support for passive dcc send/chat connections, resizable file dialogs, lots of SSL related improvements and various additions of "dangerous" commands to the Lock options dialog. 
• SecureCRT 5.0.5 - SecureCRT (download / changelog) gives you an encrypted SSH session with both SSH1 and SSH2™ servers. SSH security goes far beyond the basic secure logon, rerouting data or local applications using TCP/IP ports through an encrypted channel. The VCP utility secures file transfers using SFTP.
• 3dfx Voodoo3/4/5 - SFFT Driver Alpha 34 - It's on line the latest release (Alpha 34) of SFFT driver for 3dfx hardware and Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP Operative Systems. It comes out with two packages, one for VSA-100 cards, and so Voodoo4 4500, Voodoo5 5500 and Voodoo5 6000 are supported as well, and one for Voodoo3 family, including Voodoo3 2000, Voodoo3 3000 and Voodoo3 3500 cards.
• NGO NVIDIA Optimized Driver 83.62 - The NGO NVIDIA Optimized Driver is a tweaked version of the NVIDIA ForceWare driver.
• ForceWare 83.90 Win2000/XP (unofficial) - This driver supports GeForce series 6 and newer cards.
• Realtek AC97 Driver v3.83 - Realtek released version 3.83 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.