Thursday Tech Reading - MS Security Update - tech
(hx) 11:14 AM CET - Dec,15 2005
- Post a comment
SECURITY...
CRIME/LAW...
- Kazaa owners may face time in jail - The masterminds behind the Kazaa
file-sharing software
could face time behind bars after the record industry initiated contempt of
court proceedings, claiming an earlier ruling wasn't adhered to. Record
companies allege that Sharman Networks, the owner of Kazaa, didn't comply with a
Federal Court order--described by the court as order No. 4--to modify the
software to ensure 3,000 keywords would be filtered by Dec. 5.
- Court rules against mom: sees her 30 downloads as stolen CDs - In an
appeal against the music industry's $22,500 judgment against a mother of five,
the court has ruled against the mother by comparing her actions to shoplifting
CDs from a retail store. In her defence, she claimed that she was only
downloading music to sample songs before purchase and also claimed this was
permitted under U.S. copyright legislation.
However, the three-judge panel threw out her arguments.
- Music industry targets illegal lyrics sites - threatens jail time -
The music industry is to extend its copyright war by
taking legal action against websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics.
The Music Publishers' Association (MPA), which represents US sheet music
companies, will launch its first campaign against such sites in 2006.
OFF-TOPIC
- Intel signs up for F1 sponsorship -
Intel has signed a multi-year agreement with BMW for the sponsorship of
the BMW Sauber formula 1 racing team. Intel didn't disclose the amount that it
will spend on the deal. But sponsorships in Formula 1 racing typically cost
several millions of dollars per year.
- US networks attacked by Chinese
military - Alan Paller, the director of the SANS Institute, an education
and research organisation focusing on cybersecurity said
a number
of attacks had been traced to the Chinese province of Guangdong. He said
that the techniques the hackers have been using make it unlikely that they
have came from any other source than the military.
- Software uncovers
secret of movie success -
Sharda, an expert in information systems, has been working on the model
for seven years and analyzed more than 800 films before publishing a paper
which appears in "Expert Systems With Applications" journal early next year.
Sharda applied seven criteria to each movie: its rating by censors,
competition from other films at the time of release, strength of the cast,
genre, special effects, whether it is a sequel and the number of theatres it
opens in. Using a neural network to process the results, the films are placed
in one of nine categories, ranging from "flop", meaning less than $1 million
at the box office, to "blockbuster", meaning more than $200 million.
-
The Nixie Watch -
The Cathode Corner Nixie Watch displays the time on nixie tubes, which are
quaint neon display tubes once used in calculators in the dawn of recorded
history (1969). It is a two-digit wristwatch designed for everyday use, being
water-resistant and rugged.
TECHNOLOGY...
- ATI cuts prices on Radeon X1600 line -
ATI has slashed prices on the Radeon X1600 series, with the X1600 Pro
(256MB version) falling to $129 from a $199 MSRP at launch. The X1600 XT
(256MB) gets a similar cut, dropping to $179 from $249 at launch.
- 939-pin Opterons to be available into 2006 - Late last week,
The
Inquirer reported that AMD was ceasing production of 939-pin Opteron
processors.
AMD has now denied the rumor, pledging to support the Socket 939 Opteron
100 series into next year.
- NVIDIA to buy ULi for $52 million - Tech
Report reports
that
NVidia has acquired ULi Electronics for about $52 million. Although ULi is
one of the smaller players in the chipset world, the company's acquisition by
NVIDIA has interesting ramifications for the red team.
- Toshiba Delays HD
DVD Launch - Toshiba said Tuesday it has abandoned its initial plan to
launch High-Definition DVD players in Japan by the end of this year,
due to a delay in implementing copy-protection measures.
- The Future
Of Wireless Technology - If you are a part of the modern information age
today, you would have noticed that everything these days is moving at a
blistering pace.
Well brace
yourself for Round Two, because wireless Internet connectivity is about to
come of age.
- Blu-ray Disc considered "The New Higher Definition Format"
-
Blu-ray is now called "future-proof" by the consortium because it has the
capability to play back both Blu-ray discs and standard definition DVDs within
one player. It was even shown that a DVD-9 layer can be laid down onto a
Blu-ray disc to make a true hybrid disc. On the upper layer, DVD-9 content
(DVD-9 layer is the standard definition version of the movie or video) is
stored, and on the lower level Blu-ray content is available. It was pointed
out that this is all on one side of the Blu-ray disc, and was completely
different than what HD DVD has proposed for a hybrid disc, which makes the end
user flip the disc over to play a standard definition or high definition
version of the same movie.
- Sega's re-releasing the Dreamcast in Japan? - Sega's not flapping
their yapper so far as we can tell, but
German gaming site Gamefront.de is claiming they're going to be re-releasing
the frickin' Dreamcast bundled with Radilgy and some limited edition
telephone card or something. (thanks djRom)
- MTV, Microsoft to Develop
Online Service - MTV Networks Inc. said Tuesday
it has partnered with Microsoft to develop an online music service to
launch early next year. The service, dubbed URGE, will be integrated into the
next version of the software maker's Windows Media Player and offer more than
2 million tracks for sale individually or as part of a subscription package.
The service will also offer music over online radio.
HARDWARE...
GUIDES...
-
How Much RAM Do You Really Need? - Of course, the more RAM you have,
the better off you are -
but how much memory do you really need?
-
How To Crack Passwords - One of the key components in performing a
security assessment is the acquisition of user account information and
cracking of the account password.
Techzone
shows you the some of the tools use to crack these passwords.
-
The Pros and Cons of Broadband Internet Phone Service - For a small
monthly fee, you can sign up with a VoIP service provider and get unlimited
calls within the country! International calls can also be made for a fraction
of the cost of regular service. Unfortunately, there are a couple of minor
drawbacks you may experience. The first is the fact that
you would loose service during a power outage and the other is limited
emergency calling.
-
AMDZone on Quake 4 patch 1.05 beta dual-core performance - We spent
hours testing this, and another dual core configuration with the X2 3800+, and
we were unable to get anything but a drop in performance from enabling SMP.
In fact just going from version 1.04 to 1.05b dropped performance for us as
well. We also had more stability issues than normal, and had trouble
installing the patch on some systems.
-
ATI Catalyst 5.12 Performance Analysis (X1K Edition) -
This Catalyst
Performance Analysis take a look at the new X1800XT and how it benefits
from the latest driver release – Catalyst 5.12 (December 2005).
-
Diagnose XP - A Windows XP Diagnostic Guide 1.2.1 -
Diagnosing System problems can be very complicated and time consuming.
There are no simple solutions. Windows XP systems should never Lock-up
(freeze), display Blue Screen Stop Errors or Randomly Reboot. These are all
warning signs something is wrong or misconfigured with your system.
-
Optimize XP - A Windows XP Optimization Guide v2.1.4 -
Clean Spyware and Viruses + Optimize Windows XP to improve home, work and
gaming performance safely. Windows XP's default configuration is far from
optimized. This Free guide will help you improve your overall system
performance without having to manually edit the Registry. I avoid using or
recommending "all-in-one" Windows XP Tweak programs since many blindly adjust
settings that have no affect on performance and can cause future problems.
This guide is designed to be performed top to bottom, in sequence since some
steps are required to be performed before others.
SOFTWARE...
|
Updated:10:44 AM CEST Sep,20
(new)
