SECURITY... 

• Internet Explorer 6.0 Denial Of Service - A denial of service vulnerability exists within Internet Explorer 6.0 on XP SP2 with the J2SE Runtime Environment installed allows for an attacker to cause the browser to stop responding. Please read more for the full details.
• Skype fixes three critical flaws - Skype has patched three security holes in its software, rated 'highly critical' by vulnerability testing organisation Secunia. The flaws include a buffer overflow that could be used to direct users to a specially crafted URL, a flaw in the handling of VCARD information that could allow a system takeover, and a heap-based buffer overflow that could be used to crash the VoIP application.
• German security agency warns of VoIP security risks - Germany's Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) is warning businesses of potential security risks with voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology, in a study presented at the Systems IT exhibition and conference in Munich.
• MS05-047 Remote Denial of Service (Exploit) - The code crashes services.exe on the target, effectively bringing down the target against which its run.
• How-To: Hack NetStumbler to Enable Wireless Zero Configuration - Israel Torres discovered a way to enable Microsoft Windows Wireless Zero Configuration Utility when running NetStumbler.

CRIME/LAW...

• Swedish court fines file sharer $2000 - A 28 year old Swede prosecuted for sharing the movie Hip Hip Hora (The Ketchup Effect) on the Direct Connect network was fined 16000 SEK (about $2000) by Swedish court today. Screen shots taken by the anti-piracy group Antipiratbyrån were used as part of the evidence in the trial. The 28 year old man did however also confess that he had shared the movie during the police interrogation but withdrew the confession in the trial.
• RaFa sentenced to 7 months - A computer hacker from Venezuela known as "RaFa" was sentenced Friday to the seven months he already has spent behind bars for breaking into a U.S. Air Force training computer in 2001.

OFF-TOPIC

• Six-seat spacecraft top of Russian space plan - Russia is paving the way for a crewed mission to Mars, according to its new 10-year space plan. The plan also calls for it to finish the construction of its section of the International Space Station, though some analysts say this may now be impossible.
• Nano skyscrapers may precede space elevator - Liftport, a space-infrastucture company, has been among those who support construction of a space elevator, a long thin cable made of carbon nanotubes anchored to a platform or ship at sea and extending out into space. Held in place by the earth's rotation, the space elevator, with the help of robots, would ferry materials to outer space.
• Engineers Report Breakthrough in Laser Beam Tech - New York Times is reporting that Standford engineers have discovered a method to modulate a beam of laser light up to 100 billion times a second (10 times faster than the highest-performance commercial products available today). Such an advance could have broad applications both in accelerating the already declining cost of optical networking and in potentially transforming computers in the future by making it possible to interconnect computer chips at extremely high data rates.
• Scientists complete map of human genetic variation - They have completed a map that charts patterns of human genetic variation in the world population, to better understand human biology, evolution and how to diagnose diseases.
• Modding, Where to Next? - There are many levels of modders out there, some are considered 'professional' but are they? What makes them a professional? Being in a magazine? Being contracted by a company for a mod? Winning an award? Charging $40 an hour to do a mod? What exactly makes them a professional?
• Gamer shells out $100,000 for virtual property - A gamer has paid $100,000 for a virtual space resort in the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Project Entropia.
• Catholic school bans blogging - Head teacher Rev Kieran McHugh said that any student who ran a blog on the internet will be suspended. Although he didn't say from what, although we are assured that the Church doesn't hang people for opposing it these days. McHugh said that what he was doing was not censorship it was common civility, courtesy and respect. McHugh said he was protecting children from sexual predators, cyber-bullying and harassment.
• 14 things you didn't know about Bill Gates - check it out!

TECHNOLOGY...

• Dell Introduces $999 XPS Notebook - Dell has added a low cost XPS branded notebook to its product line, the XPS M140, to complement the XPS M170 introduced in September. This "budget" minded laptop has a 14.1" widescreen display and weighs in at 5.5 pounds. Stock configuration for the new laptop includes a Pentium M 740 operating at 1.73GHz, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 40GB hard disk, Intel integrated graphics, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive, 5-in-1 card reader, and integrated 802.11g wireless.
• NVIDIA makes GeForce Go 7300 official - NVIDIA has formally announced its GeForce Go 7300 graphics processor.
• Microsoft reportedly sets date to release Windows Vista to OEMs - Microsoft Corp. is expected to release to manufacturing the next version of its Windows desktop operating system on July 25, 2006, to ensure PC vendors have it on machines in time for the 2006 holiday season in the U.S., according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
• Asustek debuts 3ms LCD monitor - Asustek Computer recently unveiled its new series of 3ms 17-inch LCD monitors, which are slated to hit the market in November, according to the company. But alsoViewSonic has recently released a very exciting product, a nineteen inch LCD display with a 3ms response time.
• LCD price cuts on the way - Price reductions in LCD monitors are likely due to the ramp up of new seventh-generation production plants, according to a report in the Financial Times.
• IBM to reveal details on Xbox 360 processor - IBM reused some components from other chips, but for all intents and purposes the chip is a brand new design. IBM's team implemented the design and finished it around 14 months after signing the contract.
• XBox 360 games single threaded - Looks like the first generation of Xbox titles, all of them, are single threaded: "The Inq has gotten its hands on an Xbox360, yes, there is a Wal-Mart near us, and was completely underwhelmed by the quality of the games. Graphics quality was poor, and pixels were showing up blocky, ruining the wow-factor of the new console. Every new machine has a nasty first set of games as the programmers work up to speed on the hardware. In this case, the up side is that there is about 6x the CPU power available and coming to a console near you in the second generation of games."
• P2P Service iMesh Re-opens Legally - After a year of tests to appease major record labels, P2P service iMesh is set to reopen as the first unregulated P2P network to convert into a paid music service. Now, however, iMesh must win over the 5 million customers that have grown used to free music.
• Disney aims to plug screener leaks with secure DVDs & players - Disney said Monday that it will release DVD "screeners"--copies of movies sent to groups that vote on awards--only for DVD players made exclusively by a Dolby Laboratories unit, Cinea, and engineered to thwart illegal copying.
• Nokia Fleshes Out CDMA Lineup - Nokia today launched four handsets designed to operate over CDMA networks

HARDWARE... 

• CPU - Sempron vs. Athlon 64 on the Socket 754 Platform / Socket Science from AMD / AMD Processor Pricing
• Motherboard - Direct comparison of 11 AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 & 939 Motherboards / ABIT NI8 SLI / Albatron K8SLI / ASrock 775Twins-HDTV Motherboard / Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe / ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe / DFI Infinity NFORCE4 / ECS KN1 SLI Extreme / ECS PA1 MVP Extreme / Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480
• Complete / SFF Systems - Mesh Xtreme Essential TRX / Scan 3XS AMD Chameleon
• Memory - Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800  / Gigahertz Memory Head to Head
• Storage - Seagate 7200.9 Series Hard Drive || Lite-On SHW-1635S 16x DVD+-RW Double Layer DVD Writer
• Video - 3Digest: September 2005 / ATI Radeon X1800 Performance and Image Quality / ASUS Extreme AX800 Silencer / ASUS Extreme N7800 GTX TOP RADEON / ATI All-in-Wonder X800 XL / Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GT / HIS Radeon X700 IceQ 128MB AGP / HIS X800GT IceQ II Turbo and HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo / XFX GeForce 7800 GT
• Monitor/TV - BenQ FP202W - 20in Widescreen Monitor / Samsung SyncMaster 242MP 22" / Samsung SP-R4212 Plasma EDTV
• Cooling - Asetek VapoChill Micro cooler / nPower NPH-775-1 and NPH-K8-1 heatpipe coolers / Jetart JAK801 Athlon64 Heatsink / Scythe Silent BOX SBX-1000 silencer/cooler / Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 Case Fan / Thermaltake Blue Orb II CPU Cooler(1) / Thermaltake Golden Orb II CPU Cooler(2)
• WaterCooling - Vantec Stingray Water Cooler / Zalman Reserator 1 Plus Water Cooling
• Case - Antec P180 Advanced Mid-Tower Case / Aspire X-Plorer Case / Enermax MESH Pandora CA-3030 case / Enermax MESH Pandora CA-3030 ATX Case / Gigabyte 3D Aurora GZ-FSCA1-AN Aluminium Case / Mesh CA3030-BS case / Mountain Mods Bob Slay Acrylic Cube Case / Nikao Dragon Fire Mid Tower Gaming Case / RaidMax X-1 Gaming Case / SilverStone LC17 HTPC Case / Thermaltake Armor Full Tower Case / Thermaltake VB6000 Swing Mid-Tower ATX Case
• Modding - Ultra Products Fan Commander
• PSU - Value PSU Roundup / Case Gear X-Plug 450W Modular Acrylic PSU / Enermax Liberty 400 PSU / FSP Group Blue Storm 500W PSU / Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W PSU / XClio Goodpower 500W PSU
• Sound - SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeMusic || Creative GigaWorks ProGamer G500 5.1 Speakers / Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speakers / Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX Certified 5.1 Speaker Set / Samsung HT-P50 Home Theatre System
• Peripheral - Logitech G7 Cordless Laser Mouse / Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 / Super Joy Box 5 PC USB to PS/PS2 Game Controller Adapter / Wolf Claw Type II Gaming Keyboard || Icemat second edition mousepad
• Networking - SMC Barricade VOICE ADSL Router
• Printer/Scanner - Samsung CLP-510 colour laser printer
• Misc - Jackson Armor Card / Pure Pocket DAB 2000 radio
• Notebook - Compaq Presario V2410 Turion 64 Laptop / Samsung X1 Intel Centrino Notebook / Titan TTC-G3T Aluminum Notebook Cooler
• Cameras, MP3/DVD players/recorders - Canon Optura 600 Camcorder / Olympus E-500 Evolt Digital Camera / Ricoh Caplio R3 Digital Camera || iPod nano audio player / Sandisk Sansa 1GB MP3 Player

GUIDES...

• Athlon 64 Cores - A quick guide to all Athlon 64 cores released to date: ClawHammer, NewCastle, Winchester, Venice and San Diego.
• The Rules of RAID - RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) is a way of ganging up a number of hard drives to either increase performance, increase reliability, or preferably, both.
• The Mini-ITX Project Part II - The first iteration of the Mini-ITX project computer was based on a VIA EPIA MII10000 motherboard, a SilverStone LC12 enclosure, 512MB of OCZ RAM, and a Corsair 512MB Flash Voyager USB flash drive. The system booted off of and saved onto the flash drive.
• Do All Audio & Speaker Cables Sound The Same? - Audio engineer Adam Blake tackles the question and gives you the answer. Find out how sound is affected as it travels through the cable and into the speakers.
• Full FEAR Tweak Guide - This guide refers to the latest version of FEAR, Version 1.01
• Quake 4 Guide with Framerate and Visual Tweaks - A nice tweak guide for Quake 4.
• Disk Defragmenters Demystified - Most people think of disk defragmentation as a process that involves gathering and reordering pieces of data files that have been scattered on a hard drive. That process is called physical defragmentation. However, no disk utility on the market does that. Instead, the tools reviewed here-PerfectDisk 7, Diskeeper 9 and the Disk Defragmenter utility included with Windows XP-all defragment logical hard drives (or volumes) created by the operating system's file system.

SOFTWARE...

• UNOFFICIAL Windows 2000 Service Pack 5 - Microsoft Windows 2000 Unofficial SP5 combines 403 hotfixes into a single hotfix - fully automated. It's not just a matter of determining file versions, there's much more to it. The interface is very easy to use since it's identical to a normal Windows update setup.
• WinImage 8.0 supports Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk format - With 8.0 version WinImage introduces now read/write support for Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk (vHD) format, used by Virtual PC and Virtual Server, since Microsoft now discloses format details under a royalty-free license.
• phpMyAdmin 2.6.4-pl3 - phpMyAdmin can manage a whole MySQL-server (needs a super-user) but also a single database. To accomplish the latter you`ll need a properly set up MySQL-user who can read/write only the desired database.
• Windows Media Lite 1.20 - Windows Media Lite will allow you to play and stream Windows Media files without having to install Windows Media Player from Microsoft.
• MSN Messenger 7.5.0311 - download
• jetAudio 6.2.4 - jetAudio 6 once again redefines what a digital player should be. Tons of new features are added in this version, and jetAudio give you the best digital audio/video experience ever as well as the easy-to-use skinnable interface.
• FileZilla 2.2.17 - FileZilla (download) is a fast FTP and SFTP client for Windows with a lot of features. This new version adds support for servers needing an account for successful logon using ACCT command and experimental support for BS-2000 servers.
• Adobe Reader Speed-Up 1.33 - Adobe Reader SpeedUp (download) is a simple application that was created to help make the loading time of Adobe's Acrobat/Reader software bearable for everyday use
• DeepBurner Free 1.7.1.123 - DeepBurner (download) is an advanced and extremely powerful CD and DVD burning package.
• DivxToDVD 1.99.22 - DivxToDVD (download) is a 1 click solution to convert and burn your movie files to a compatible DVD playable on any home DVD player
• DVD Identifier 4.2.0.0 - DVD Identifier retrieves and interprets the pre-recorded information that is present on dvd media (dvd+r, dvd+r dl, dvd+rw, dvd+rw dl, dvd-r, dvd-r dl, dvd-rw and dvd-ram) and on blu-ray media (bd-r and bd-re). This information contains a variety of parameters such as disc manufacturing information and supported write speeds.
• Nero CD-DVD Speed 4.08 - Nero CD-DVD Speed is a benchmark which can test the most important features of an optical drive. These tests include: Transfer rate, Seek times, CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage, Burst rate, DAE (Digital Audio Extraction) quality & Spinup/spindown time.
• VisualRoute 2006 10.0b (shw) - VisualRoute (download) delivers the functionality of key Internet "ping," "whois," and "traceroute" tools, in a high-speed visually integrated package.
• Skype 1.4.0.84 - Skype (download) uses P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you to other users. Not to share files, but to talk with them for free.
• Quak4 v1.0.1b - tertsi has released an updated version of his awesome Quake 4 graphics tuning tool Quak4 v1.0.1b. Quake 4 supports the G70, NV40, and NV30.
• Win32Whois 0.9.8 - Win32Whois (download) is a small and efficient Whois client. It is able to retrieve domain information for most of the common TLDs (top level domains
• Autoruns 8.3 - Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
• Sisoftware Sandra Lite 2005.SR3 (10.69) - SiSoftware Sandra (download) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software, and other devices whether hardware or software. It provides similar level of information to Norton SI, Quarterdeck WinProbe/Manifest, etc.
• Intel Desktop Control Center 2.0.00.18 - Intel Desktop Control Center enables you to perform stress tests to verify system stability and to conduct performance testing to measure the impact of system configuration changes.
• Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.75 - Radeon Omega Catalyst Drivers will provide gamers with an alternate set of drivers, ones that have more options and features than the original sets.
• ForceWare 79.11 Win2000/XP (Fujitsu/Siemems release) - Fujitsu/Siemems released a new NVIDIA ForceWare driver.
• nVidia ForceWare 81.87 Official Beta - nVidia has released a new ForceWare beta driver
• ATI Catalyst 5.10a with CCC (Updated) - ATI has silently released an update to their beta Catalyst 5.10a. This set includes the OpenGL performance improvement which everyone is talking about.