Early Evening Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 12:55 AM CET - Feb,25 2003
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- Computer Made from DNA and Enzymes - Israeli scientists have
devised
a computer that can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than
100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC. The secret: It runs on DNA. A
year ago, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot,
Israel, unveiled a programmable molecular computing machine composed of
enzymes and DNA molecules instead of silicon microchips. Now the team has gone
one step further. In the new device, the single DNA molecule that provides the
computer with the input data also provides all the necessary fuel.
- Wi-Fi Security Gets a Boost - 802.11i standard will plug security
holes, but products may not be available for almost a year. WEP, or Wired
Equivalent Privacy, the security mechanism initially built into all standard
802.11 products, encrypts data on the wireless network but is flawed because
it reuses the same encryption key, said Jesse Walker, a network architect at
Intel and the editor of
the 802.11i standard now in development under the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers. A would-be hacker can figure out that key from a
small amount of traffic, he said. WEP also doesn't stop interlopers from
altering data as it crosses the network, he added.
- Cisco will share Wi-Fi tech - Cisco Systems announced Monday it
will
share key technology at no cost with chipmakers and computer companies to
help drive the use of wireless networks within corporations.
- Spyware epidemic rallies call for action - EarthLink
executives estimate that
40
percent to 50 percent of the Internet service provider's subscribers have
running on their machines some kind of advertising or more-malicious program,
which often monitors their behavior and sends the data back to the software's
parent company. The level of complaints has risen high enough that EarthLink
says it's finally looking for an official spyware-killer to distribute to its
angry customers.
- Program Hides Secret Messages in Executables - Netizens with
extreme privacy needs got
a new tool
for their cyber utility belts recently with the release of an application
that lets users hide secret messages in virtually any executable computer
program, without changing the program's size or affecting its operation. The
tool is called "Hydan," an old English word for the act of hiding something,
and it's part of a research project by Columbia University computer science
masters student Rakan El-Khalil, who showed off the program to a small group
of open-source programmers and hackers gathered at the second annual CodeCon
conference in San Francisco on Sunday.
- LoveGate worm's got a hold on PCs - Known as LoveGate, the
LovGate.C program has
many similarities to previous viruses: It is a binary program; it has its
own e-mail engine, obviating the need to use another program such as Microsoft
Outlook to send messages; and it attempts to use 16 simple passwords to break
into and spread to other computers on the victim's network.
- Canon Delivers Unsurpassed Pro Digital SLR - Like its predecessor,
the EOS-1D,
the EOS-1Ds shares many components with Canon's flagship EOS-1v 35-mm film
camera. The build quality of all three cameras is world-class, with extensive
weather sealing and industry-leading auto-focus and exposure systems. But the
big news in the EOS-1Ds is the 11-megapixel CMOS image sensor. Previous
digital cameras from Canon, Fuji, and Nikon used image sensors that were
smaller than 35-mm film frames. The sensor in the EOS-1Ds is the exact same
size as a 35-mm film frame, eliminating the multiplier factor. Using Canon's
16- to 35-mm f/2.8 lens, we were able to shoot building interiors and other
wide-angle subjects just as we would with a standard 35-mm SLR camera.
- PC Card Makers Plan Smaller, Faster Card - PCMCIA, the group behind
PC Cards,
is working on a new specification for smaller, faster and cheaper
expansion cards, it announced last week. The specification is slated for
release later this year and the first products supporting it should be out in
the second half of 2004, PCMCIA said in a statement released at Intel's Spring
Developer Forum in San Jose, California.
- Microsoft on track with new server OS -
Microsoft
has set March 12 as the release to manufacture date for the six new
versions of its server operating system, paving the way for a UK shipping date
of April 29. The U.S. launch date is set for April 24. The six versions of
Windows Server 2003 due to launch in April will be followed by a seventh,
called Windows Small Business Server 2003, due late summer.
It will
come in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions but the latter will only be for
Itanium processors. AMD's x86-64 technology is curiously missing from the
support line-up.
- Chipmakers dip processor prices -
Intel reduced the prices on all its desktop Pentium 4 processors by as
much as 21 percent Sunday. Meanwhile, AMD cut prices on select Athlon XP
desktop chips by as much as 32 percent Monday. The companies regularly cut
prices on their PC processors to make way for new chips and encourage
customers to buy new PCs. The companies also use price cuts as a way to stay
competitive.
- Arrowkey promises to easily recover data from bad CD/DVD discs -
CD/DVD
Diagnostic recovers data from unreadable, scratched, or corrupt CD-R, CD-RW,
DVD+R, and DVD+RW discs.
- LG announces 4x DVD writer with support for all formats - LG has
added the DVD+R/RW format to their new 4x DVD writer,
the
GMA-4040B, which makes it the first DVD writer to support all recordable DVD
formats (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW and DVD-RAM). LG has also announced a 52x
DVD/CD-RW combo drive, the GCC-4520B.
- Lite-On LTR-52246S (52/24/52) review - CDRLabs.com has
wrapped up their review of the Lite-On LTR-52246S CD-RW recorder.
- Pinnacle Instant Copy 7.0 GUIDE - DVD-9 to DVD-5 -
Make true 1:1
copies of your DVDs including menus, trailers, extras, bonus features.
Burn a 9 GB, dual layer DVD video onto a standard DVD-R 4.7 GB recordable
disc.
- Enahnce Your GameCube -The long
awaited and much anticipated GameCube Free Loader is now here and works
flawlessly to enhance your GameCube playing experience! It allows any game
from any region to play on any GameCube, so US and JPN imports will load on a
PAL GameCube and vice versa and best of all, there is no modding required, so
your original warranty stays intact! That means you can play games like Animal
Crossing, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 0, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and
many more awesome titles.
- Opera 7.02 Final -
Opera (download -
Java
version ~
Non-Java version) is the fastest browser on earth, uses less memory
than other competing browser applications and supports all major open
international Web standards.
- 3 Degrees Officially Launched - Microsoft have officially launched
this long awaited P2P application. 3° connects a small group of family and
close friends, people who know and trust one another, so they can do fun
things together. 3° is a beta test of an innovative application based on new
networking technology developed by Microsoft. It lets users connect online,
extending real-world social interactions.
- ICQ Lite Beta Build 1150 -
ICQ Lite
(changelog)
is a light and simple version of ICQ. It includes only the ICQ essentials:
instant messaging, file transfer, SMS and features for meeting people.
Contains no advertising
- Samurize v0.81a -
Samurize is the successor to the quite popular program CureInfo. It is a
system monitoring utility with awesome configuration power. The configuration
program is totally separated from the client for minimal memory usage.
- WinAmp Plug-In Tripex DirectX 3.12.5 -
Tripex (mirror)
is an freeware 3D visualisation Plug-In for WinAmp 2 and 3 which fades between
many effects, animated in real time in response to the music.
- nVidia File Remover 0.4 -
nVidia File Remover (or NFR), is a small and simple to use tool that scans
system folder for nvidia files and presents the user with a list. You can
delete selected files or create a bat file to execute when and where you see
fit.
- Creative WebCam Drivers version 1.02.08 -
This is the latest driver release for Creative WebCam (model PD1001) for
users running on Windows 98/98SE, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000 and Windows
XP only.
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Updated:10:40 PM CEST Jun,21
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