SECURITY...

• IE flaw puts Windows XP SP2 at risk - A flaw has been discovered in Microsoft's Internet Explorer that could launch a remote attack on systems running Windows XP with Service Pack 2, according to an advisory issued Thursday by security firm eEye Digital Security. The flaw, which also affects systems running Windows XP, is found in the default installations of IE, according to eEye's advisory
• Security Vendor Warns of Google-Spoofing Worm - The worm, called P2Load.A, is being spread on P-to-P (peer-to-peer) programs like Shareaza and Imesh, masquerading as a free version of the Lucasfilm game Knights of the Old Republic II, says Forrest Clark, senior manager of consumer product marketing with antivirus vendor Panda Software. P2Load.A first began spreading on Wednesday and is most widely spread in the United States and Chile, Clark says.
• Spybot Search and Destroy Detection Update - Don't forget to update your Spybot S&D detections!
• Huge surge in ID theft using spyware - A study of the top 2,000 known spyware threats, conducted by security firm Aladdin, has revealed that spying techniques are increasingly being used for ID theft. The report noted that 15 per cent of spyware threats are now designed to log keystrokes, as well as steal user passwords, logged-on user names, administrator passwords, instant messaging content and email addresses.
• Steganos Internet Anonym 2006 Review - Techgage News published a new review on the updated version of Steganos Internet Anonym.
• Microsoft Scraps Old Encryption in New Code - Microsoft is banning functions that use algorithms that have become creaky at the edges
• Microsoft talks up Longhorn Server security  - The software maker shares more details on security, identity management features planned for upcoming Windows Server

CRIME

• Calif. laptop with personal data of 98,000 recovered - A stolen laptop computer holding personal information of more than 98,000 California university students and applicants has been recovered, but it uncertain whether the information had been tapped, the University of California, Berkeley said on Thursday.
• Paris Hilton hacker sent to jail - A 17 year-old who earlier this year hacked into Paris Hilton's mobile phone has been convicted to an 11-month jail term in juvenile prison, the US Attorney of the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. In the high-profile hack last January, the computer whiz-kid gained access to Hilton's mobile device by hacking into the operator's computer systems.
• RIAA claims P2P-operators to take actions against illegal music download - Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has send out a cease and desist order to several filesharing platforms. Operators like LimeWire, WinMX and BearShare should immediately take care that thier users are not longer able to share copyright protectet contents.

OFF-TOPIC

• .Tiniest remote-controlled robot - The tiniest mobile robot ever has been created by US researchers. It is a sliver of silicon one hundredth of a millimetre thick that can be precisely steered like a remote-control car to move in any direction across the surface of a special plate. Powered by a grid of electrodes underneath a surface layer and steered by its tiny silicon paddle, the bot crawls around at a speed of about 200 micrometres per second and can push specks of dust, or other 'dead' robots.
• Dune Tunes...the greatest hits - It might not knock Coldplay or Kanye West off the top of charts, but physicists who say they have cracked the riddle of "singing" sand dunes are compiling a CD of sand music. The team say their new theory allows them to predict the notes that different dunes will make
• Website seeks 2,000 men called Pete - Enter Pete Trainor, a 'Pete' seeking to bring the record to the UK. His Pete Collective calls on all Petes to register their interest in meeting up next year in a mass joining of 2,000 Petes. He is also planning something of a rehearsal at Christmas with a meeting of 99 Petes.
• U.N.: Antarctic ozone hole nears record size - The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has grown to near record size this year, suggesting 20 years of pollution controls have so far had little effect, the United Nations said on Friday.

TECHNOLOGY...

• $100 Million Marketing Push For Vista - Microsoft is touting a $100 million marketing campaign promoting Windows Vista and encouraging software developers to build new programs. In related news, Flexbeta has some Windows Vista PDC videos.
• Intel Celeron to gain improved AMD64 compatibility - According to Intel documentation, Celeron model numbers 326, 331, 336, 341, 346 and 351 will switch from today's E-0 core to the updated G-1 core on 2 December. The G-1 core stepping will not only be compliant with European Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations, courtesy of a "lead-free second level interconnect", but add two new instructions to Intel's AMD64-like EM64T 64-bit addressing system.
• Wi-Fi camera emails pictures without a PC - Kodak is to offer consumers a Wi-Fi enabled camera that can take high-quality digital pictures, then email them to friends and store them automatically in an online image bank - all without the need to use a PC.  The new EasyShare-one camera is a pocket emailer, with direct connection to the internet via a public Wi-Fi hotspot or a home Wi-Fi system.
• Handmark now brings TV to your Palm with MobiTV - Handmark and MobiTV today announced that Handmark will be the exclusive North America distribution partner for online sales of MobiTV for the Palm Treo. MobiTV turns the Palm Treo into a portable TV, allowing users to watch live television right in the palm of their hand. With a wide variety of top channels to choose from, covering news, sports, entertainment, comedy, cartoons, and more, MobiTV subscribers can always find something to watch anytime, anywhere.
• USB for your car - Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, is thus making the USB connection an option on its Golf, Golf Plus and Touran models in December and on remaining models next year. Just plug your device into a built-in console in the center armrest. The option comes in two varieties, one for the iPod, another for other USB-based players.

HARDWARE... 

• CPU - Intel Roadmap / SPEC CPU2000 part 21: AMD Opteron: dual-way and "dual-way - dual-core" systems
• Memory - Memory Market Overview: September 2005 / 1GB Patriot PDC1G3200+XBLK dual channel memory / Geil ONE Series Memory / OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Gold RAM / OCZ EL-DDR PC3500 Gold GX RAM
• Motherboard - 3-way i955x motherboard shootout / ABIT AL8 (Intel Socket775) / Asus P5LD2 Deluxe i945P / DFI LAN Party UT NF4 SLI-DR nForce4 SLI / ECS Elitegroup KN1 SLI Extreme nForce4 SLI / EPoX 5NVA+ SLI NF4 nForce4 SLI / Gigabyte G8I945P i945P / MSI P4N Diamond NF4-SLI nForce4 SLI
• Complete / SFF Systems - Sony Vaio VGC-RA304 PC
• Storage - Seagate Momentus 5400.2 2." 120GB HDD / Western Digital Caviar RE SATA 320 GB Hard Drive / Western Digital Caviar RE2 Hard Drive || Transcend JetFlash 110 2GB Flash Drive || LG GSA-2166D & GSA-2164D External Super Multi DVD Rewriters / Plextor PX-740A 16x DVD±RW
• Video - AOpen GeForce 7800 GTX PCIe / ASUS 7800GTX TOP VGA / GeCube Radeon X800 GTO / Gigabyte 7800GT  / Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT Silent Pipe / MSI NX7800GTX-VT2D256E SLI / NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT (1) / NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT (2) / Quadro FX 4500 vs. Quadro FX 4500 in SLI Mode
• Cooling - Scythe SCKTN-1000 Katana Universal Heatpipe CPU Cooler
• WaterCooling - NEC Water-Cooled Desktop PC Launch Event / Thermaltake Tai-Chi Luxury Tower w/Water-Cooling / Thermaltake Tribe Mods Water Cooler / Titan Robela Watercooling Case
• Case - Aerocool Masstige Mid-Tower Case  / Antec Performance One P180 ATX Case / AOpen Nouveau B-350B Case / RaidMax X1 ATX Gaming Case
• Modding - Sunbeam Silent Anodized LED Fans / SunbeamTech LED Screws / Sunbeam Dual CCFL Kit
• PSU - Casebuy EZ Power Supply Tester 2 / Jou Jye JJ-350PPBA 350W Power Supply / Sunbeamtech NUUO 550watt SLI Modular Power Supply
• Sound - Ear Force HPA-5.1 Surround Sound Headphones / Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod / MMGear Headphone and 5.1 Amplifier / PlayGear Amp PSP Speaker System
• Peripheral - Apple Mighty Mouse / Logitech Cordless Mini Optical Mouse / Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Comfort / WACOM Volito 2 Graphics Tablet
• Printer - Epson Stylus DX4800 MFD printer
• Notebook - Notebook TV Tuner Head-To-Head / Rockdirect Pegasus 650 laptop
• Cameras, MP3/DVD players - Canon EOS-20D SLR Digital Camera / Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
• Cell phones/PDA - BenQ A500 GSM phone / CoPilot Live GPS for PocketPC 5 / Motorola SLVR L7 / Nokia 6822 on Orange / Nokia N90 GSM/UMTS smartphone / Nokia 9300 GSM Smartphone / Orange SPV M500 / O2 Xda Mini Pro Info
• Misc - D-Skin Protective Disc Skins / Logitech Harmony 880 Remote Control

GUIDES...

• How to Overclock a Socket 775 Pentium 4 - Overclocking socket 775 Pentium 4 processors has some particularities, comparing to overclocking done in other platforms.
• X800 GTO² to X850 XT Mod - Sapphire's special version of the X800 GTO is called X800 GTO². As you can see in the following picture it uses an R480 core, which is also used on the X850 Pro, XT and XT PE. The GTO² comes with 12 pipelines enabled by default, but the only lock which limits it to this number of pipelines is located in the Bios. No cards with defective pipelines have been found yet, which means (so far) the success rate is 100%.
• Destroy Your Computer in 7 Easy Steps - Every time you open your computer case, new risks arise. There is always the danger of you doing something wrong (knowingly or unknowingly) that can cause major, and usually permanent, damage to the computer. It is a horrible feeling to find out that something you did has now ruined your computer. So in order to reduce the number of stupid mistakes people make, we need to educate the people.
• SLI Optimized games  - check it out
• Solving Problems in Windows XP File System - Learn how to solve Windows XP file system problems.
• BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.3.1 - Adrian's Rojak Pot has posted 2 new BIOS options for the BIOS Optimization Guide. This release features these 2 new BIOS features: L1 Data Cache Context Mode and PCIE Spread Spectrum.
• Optimize XP - A Windows XP Optimization Guide v2.0.5 - This guide is not designed to be used in combination with other Windows tweaking guides or other Windows tweaking software. It is also not designed to be used in parts. Read and Follow the instructions Carefully.

SOFTWARE...

• Slackware 10.2 - The final version of Slack 10.2 (download) has been released
• Automated Deployment Service 1.1 - Microsoft released yesterday Automated Deployment Service (ADS) 1.1. It now includes Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT) and the package is in fact called ADS_VSMT_1.1.exe
• Unofficial Windows XP SP3 Preview Pack #2 Released - The unofficial Windows XP SP3 Preview Pack #2 has now been released.
• Java 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition 5.0 Update 5 - download
• PSP Video 9 v1.71 - PSP Video 9 is a free PSP video conversion and management application. It can convert regular PC video files (avi, mpeg, etc) into PSP video files, as well as manage/copy these PSP video files between your PC and PSP.
• Intervideo WinDVD 7.0 B27.115 - As the world's most popular software DVD player, WinDVD 7 continues the tradition of excellence by including the latest in high definition audio & video technologies, TrimensionDNM for the smoothest motion playback, and fun new features such as Quick Clip and Reverse Playback, to create the ultimate DVD experience.
• LAME MP3 Encoder 3.97 beta 1 - LAME MP3 Encoder is the best mp3 encoder and is available for free! LAME originally stood for L AME A in't an M p3 E ncoder. LAME is an educational tool to be used for learning about MP3 encoding.
• SpamPal 1.72v Beta - SpamPal (download) is a (free) mail classification program that can help separate your spam from the mail you really want to read.
• Pdf995 7.54 - Pdf995 makes it easy and affordable to create professional-quality documents in the popular PDF file format. Its easy-to-use interface helps you to create PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application, creating documents which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer.
• Foxit Reader 1.3 - Foxit Reader (1MB only!) is a free reader for PDF (eBook) documents.
• XPize 4.0 MCE - XPize is a GUI enhancer for Windows XP and above. It replaces most of the non-XP icons, avis and bmps that Microsoft has always overlooked
• Actual Title Buttons 3.7 - Actual Title Buttons (download) is intended both for home and corporate users who would like to optimize common windows management activities by utilizing hidden power of modern operating systems with just one mouse-click.
• xpy 0.9 - xpy is a small tool which disables the default threats of a windows xp installation.
• HD Tune 2.50 - HD Tune is a Hard Disk utility which measures the performance,checks the health status by using SMART Error Scan: scans the surface for errors and more.
• NVIDIA nForce 4 - 6.67 64-Bit - This nForce WinXP 64-bit driver package contains the below components: Audio driver version 4.62 (WHQL), Audio utility version 4.51, Ethernet NRM driver version 4.82 (WHQL), Network management tools version 4.85, SMBus driver version 4.48 (WHQL), Installer version 4.77, WinXP IDE PATARAID driver version 5.52, WinXP IDE SATARAID driver version 5.52 (WHQL), WinXP IDE SATA_IDE driver version 5.52 (WHQL), WinXP RAIDTOOL application version 4.82.
• VIA AC97 Vinyl Audio driver 6.20m - The latest audio driver for VIA chipset motherboards with integrated sound.
• Realtek AC'97 Drivers 3.76a WHQL - This driver supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC101 up to ALC861.