SECURITY...

• Worm creates fake Google site - A worm that modifies a user's HOSTS file to redirect visitors of Google.com to a spoof website has been discovered. The worm was found by Panda Labs and is currently circulating on P2P networks Shareaza and Imesh. It is masquerading as an executable of popular Star Wars game Knights Of The Old Republic 2. If infected, several Google domain names will be redirected to an unofficial German version of the search engine. Although the site looks identical to the original, the results have been modified in such a way that certain companies will gain an unfair higher ranking, and therefore will appear at the top of search results
• New Trojan rides into town - Experts at SophosLabs said that the spammed out email messages, which have no subject line, typically carry the message text "new price" and an attached file which can have one of several names, including "09_price.zip", "price_new.zip", and "price2.zip".  The attached ZIP files all contain the malicious BagleDl-U Trojan horse. If launched, the Trojan horse makes changes to the registry, and attempts to turn off anti-virus and security-related software on the infected computer, opening the door for attack by remote hackers.
• Symantec: Mozilla browsers more vulnerable than IE - But the report, released Monday, also found that hackers are still focusing their efforts on IE.
• MasterCard To Distribute RFID Credit Cards - Reuters is reporting that MasterCard expects to have 4 million "pay pass" cards in circulation by year's end. These new cards will be equipped with a radio-frequency chip that allows customers to pay for purchases by simply waving their cards at readers posted near cash registers or gas pumps.
• AVIRA Antivirus ACE Archive Handling Buffer Overflow - The vulnerability is caused due to a boundary error when reading the filename of a compressed file from an ACE archive. This can be exploited to cause a stack-based buffer overflow when an ACE archive containing a compressed file with an overly long filename is scanned. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution, but requires that archive scanning is enabled.

CRIME

• Microsoft Accuses Eight of Piracy - The software giant filed suits against BWT Industry Technology Service (also called Computer Max) in Arizona; Data Day USA, MicroCity4Less.com, and Winvtech Solutions in California; Global Computing in Illinois; Ion Technologies in Minnesota; and Compustar and Chips & Techs in New York.
• Chinese search engine fined for file sharing - A Chinese "court" has decided the homegrown search engine Baidu.com will have to pay an EMI partner for allowing free downloads through its web site.
• X-Box pirate gets jail time and huge fine - The owner of a major retailer of pirated games and modded Xboxes called Pandora's Cube has been caught by Washington authorities and was sentenced to five months of prison with three years of supervised release, including five months of home confinement. Besides that he was also fined nearly $250.000 and has to complete 80 hours of community service.

OFF-TOPIC

• NASA going back to the moon in 2018 - NASA going back to the moon in 2018 for "only" 100 billion dollars spread over 14 years. A huge amount of money but still half of what the Apollo program costs. NASA saves money by reusing Apollo and Space Shuttle techniques and experience. There will be two rockets, 1 for the to moon transport vehicle and 1 for the crew. BTW: Check out this QuickTime animation
• Commodore Geeks re-release Quantum Link - Commodore geeks has relaunched the Quantum Link which was the pre-AOL service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers. The new Q-Link, or Quantum Link Reloaded runs on the Internet which replaced it. It can be accessed using the VICE Commodore 64 emulator on Windows or Linux or else on original Commodore hardware or PC.
• Inventor of the laser dies at 85 - Mr. Gould died at the age of 85, and he left a lot of money due the payments of royalties by those enormous amount of companies who use lasers

TECHNOLOGY...

• Toshiba preps Cell mobo for developers - Sony appears to have exclusive usage of the Cell processor until the PlayStation 3 console ships next March. Toshiba - with Sony and IBM one of the chip's co-developers - said today it would offer Cell-based hardware development kits in April 2006.
• China-only version of HD-DVD revealed - In a bid to cut costs for local electronics makers, Chinese researchers plan to develop a version of the next-generation HD-DVD optical disc format specifically for China, according to a researcher involved with the project. The DVD Forum, which oversees the development of HD-DVD as a next-generation DVD format, gave its approval last week for a feasibility study to be conducted on the proposed China-only HD-DVD standard. The specification will include support for a locally developed video compression technology, called AVS (Audio Video Coding Standard)
• Lite-On IT to produce 16x Super-Multi DVD burners in October - Lite-On IT plans to begin production of 16x Super-Multi DVD burners next month, the second such maker in Taiwan, following BenQ, which started shipping such burners in August, according to local industry, sources.
• Nvidia GeForce Go 7800GTX to launch 29 September - The slides claim the 7800GTX will ship with support from notebook makers Dell, Alienware, Voodoo, Sager, Falcon, Evesham, ABS, ProStar and HyperSonic.
• NVIDIA announces GeForce 6100 integrated graphics - Today NVIDIA is announcing a new K8 chipset family that brings GeForce 6 graphics to the nForce4 platform. The chipset family is made up of a pair of interchangeable north and south bridge chips, with the former sporting DirectX 9-glass integrated graphics derived from NVIDIA's GeForce 6 series
• Microsoft Buys Smart Card Maker - Microsoft has acquired Alacris, which makes of certificate management and identity verification technology used in smart cards
• Google offers clues to its own Wi-Fi service - Internet search leader Google is preparing to launch its own wireless Internet service, according to several pages found on the company's Web site on Tuesday. The Google site refers to a product called "Google Secure Access," which is designed to "establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi," according to a FAQ page. A separate page offers a free download of Google Secure Access.
• Peerflix DVD exchange gives old discs new life - Launched by two friends in Menlo Park, California, Peerflix went live a year ago last summer and has grown to 40,000 users in the six months or so that it has been widely available. Peerflix is a trading platform that asks users to make lists of DVDs they want and DVDs they want to get rid of, then matches "wants" with "haves" for 99 cents a trade.
• Dell Laptops To Support Verizon 3G Service - Dell will start by selling standalone 3G modems but eventually will build support for the Verizon Wireless 3G service directly into its laptops.
• First Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone in US - Device (PPC-6700), the first PDA/phone-combination handset in the country to offer the new Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 software. The PPC-6700 sports a 416 MHz Intel processor, a 1.3-megapixel megapixel camera and camcorder, a sliding QWERTY keyboard, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data capabilities. This CMDA device also has EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) built in, ready to support Sprint Wireless High Speed Data capabilities where available.
• Opera 8.50: Now completely free of charge - Opera Software today permanently removed the ad banner and licensing fee from its award-winning Web browser. The ad-free, full-featured Opera browser is now available for download - completely free of charge - at http://www.opera.com.
• Opera announces 'Merlin' - According to a source, Opera will release a new version of its desktop browser, which will contain major modifications to the browser's User Interface (UI). The new version will sport a simpler look. Merlin is the name of a small falcon, an Ancient, and as Olli mentioned, the code name of the next major release.
• BitTorrent flaw allows ratio cheating - Many of today's BitTorrent trackers rely on a ratio system to ensure leechers (P2P users who download data but do not share) to a minimum. The ratio system basically tracks a user's upload and download amounts and ensures a fair minimum upload ratio is maintained. Now it looks like an exploit has been found which would allow users to "cheat" a tracker into thinking they had a more favourable ratio than they actually did.

HARDWARE... 

• CPU - AMD vs. Intel: 64-bit Windows Dual-Core Shootout / AMD Sempron 3400+ CPU
• Memory - OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 Gold GX Dual Channel RAM
• Motherboard - ABIT NI8 SLI (NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition) / Albatron K8SLI / ASrock K8NF4G-SATA2 / Gigabyte K8N Pro SLi nForce4 SLI / Intel Pentium M 750 + i915PM Express Performance
• Complete / SFF Systems - The Mini-ITX Project
• Storage - Crucial Gizmo! 1GB USB Drive || Samsung SE-W164 DVD Writer
• Video - R520 and Others / AOpen Aeolus PCX6600-DV128LP / Asus Extreme N6600GT Silencer (1) / Asus Extreme N6600GT Silencer (2) / HIS X800GT IceQ II Turbo 256mb PCI-E / Leadtek WinFast PX7800GT TDH MyVIVO Extreme SLI / MSI RX700Pro-TD128E / nVidia GeForce 7800 GT / GeForce 6100 and nForce 400 preview
• Cooling - Asetek VapoChill Micro / Asetek VapoChill Micro Extreme CPU Cooler
• WaterCooling - Koolance ICM 505 / Thermaltake AquaBay M3 Water Cooled Heatsink
• Case - Atrix Lexicon Series Case / Ahanix D.Vine Home Theater case / Lian Li External HDD Enclosure EX-125
• Modding - Akasa AlIinOne 21 function panel
• PSU - Arrowmax PSX-550AL-24 Aluminum 550W PSU  / Noiseless Power Supplies from FSP and Topower  / Sintek 500 Watt Premium SLI Ready Computer PSU / Thermaltake PurePower Power Station 520w PSU
• Sound - Altec Lansing XT1 Laptop Speaker / Klipsch iFi iPod Speaker System / Steel Sound 5H Headphones
• Peripheral - BlueIce Optical Mouse / Logitech Cordless DesktopR MX 3000 Laser  / Razer Diamondback Plasma Edition Gaming Mouse / United Keys LCD Keyboard || HipGear Universal Racing Wheel
• Misc - Microsoft Fingerprint Reader / Jackson Armor backup card
• Printer - HP Photosmart 8250
• Network - Buffalo AirStation G54 - Wireless Router / Logitech Play Link Wireless Network Extender / OCZ Rally High Performance USB2
• Cell phones/PDA - Nokia N90 / Orange SPV C550 Windows Smartphone / Toshiba TS 921 3G mobile phone / Logitech Mobile Freedom Bluetooth Headset

GUIDES...

• How to Detect 64-bit Sempron CPUs - Learn how to detect if your socket 754 Sempron CPU has the AMD 64-bit instruction set (x86-64) or not.
• Hey, take a look at my 15-inch $2,300 TV - I had to buy a TV tuner from AVerMedia for $70, whereas my $700 TV has two built in, so I can do PIP on it, but on my $2,300 TV I can watch TV and surf the web, so that's pretty cool, huh? And I think I could add a ADS Tech USB tuner and do PIP too, I just haven't tried it yet.
• ATI Avivo Video and Display Engine - Technology Discussion - This is an article about brand new display and video controller technology about to debut on upcoming ATI graphics products
• Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP - This download includes a comprehensive, 107-page Handbook in PDF format. The Handbook can be browsed online on TechNet.
• Forceware 81.26 comparison - check it out (in German)

SOFTWARE...

• Office 12 Beta Invite & Video Preview  - Nominate yourself to be a beta tester for the upcoming Microsoft Office 12. The official name for the new Office is not yet known. The invite ID is "PDCOffice". For other beta ID's and instructions on how to use the ID to be a beta tester, visit the Beta Invites List link here // Office 12 Previewed at PDC (video ~ 618MB) / In related news, Rafael Rivera managed to snag a few interesting yet rediculously blurry photos though before getting forcefully removed from the area...
• AutoPatcher XP September 2005 - This release (162MB) 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.
• Microsoft Windows Messenger 5.1.0.701 - Windows Messenger 5.1 (download) replaces Windows Messenger 5.0 and is the required version of Windows Messenger to take advantage of certain new features in Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005.
• Opera 8.50 FREE - download
• ExplorerXP 1.07 - ExplorerXP (download) is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non - commercial use) file manager for Windows 2000.
• QuickTime Alternative 1.62 & 1.51 - QuickTime Alternative 1.62 is based on QuickTime 7.0.2.120, which adds support for H.264 and more, but it does not support Windows 95, 98, 98 SE and ME any longer. QuickTime Alternative 1.51 is compatible with Windows 95, 98, 98 SE and ME because it is based on QuickTime 6.5.2.10.
• K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.38 - This package (23MB) is a combination of three codec packs: K-Lite Codec Pack Full (a slew of different codecs like Divx, etc.), QuickTime Alternative, Real Alternative and other encoders/decoders. Plus some extra features like: BSplayer and Media Player Classic (Open Source not Microsoft's)
• CloneAD avi.NET 1.1 - avi.NET (download) is an MPEG1/MPEG2 to AVI converter using AVS scripts. avi.NET is a 'AutoGK' type program but has a top priority of making AVI files that are Standalone Player Compatible.
• GMail Drive 1.0.8 - GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google GMail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer.
• Shareaza 2.2 - After almost a year of development, Shareaza version 2.2 has been released.
• Win32Pad 1.5.9.1 - Win32Pad (download) is a feature filled text editor that is written with a programmer in mind. Its main purpose is to provide enough functionality that is missing from notepad without sacrificing file size and performance.
• Google Earth 3.0.0616 Beta - Google Earth is free for personal use. No registration is required. You may (optionally) choose to upgrade to Google Earth Plus.
• SpamPal 1.72x Beta  - SpamPal (download) is a mail classification program that can help separate your spam from the mail you really want to read.
• RightMark RAMTester Utility - The RAMTester tool checks reliability of memory modules under MS Windows (x86 and x64), working with virtual addresses. It writes various bit patterns into memory cells and then reads them and compares with reference.
• DVD Identifier 4.1.1 - DVD Identifier retrieves and interprets the pre-recorded information that is present on all DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW and DVD-RAM media.
• PCI Latency Tool 2.7 - Utility to set PCI Latency and possibly prevent game stutter or improve FPS. This version of the PCI Latency Tool is compatible with Windows XP x64. You must be logged in as an administrator for the tool to install. Most devices support latency values which are multiples of 8 (which means any other value will be rounded).
• NVIDIA ForceWare 81.26 -  A brand new ForceWare release this time coming from AsROCK (Driver is not WHQL)