Evening Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 01:57 AM CEST - Oct,03 2003
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- Trojan Horse Hijacks IE - Computer hackers have found
another way to exploit an unpatched hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web
browser, using a specially designed attack Web site to install a Trojan
horse program on vulnerable Windows machines. The Trojan program changes the
DNS configuration on the Windows machine so that requests for popular Web
search engines like Google and Alta Vista bring the Web surfer to a Web site
maintained by the hackers, according to warnings from leading security
companies. Another story can be found
here.
- Official: crackers have broken into GPRS billing - Some time
today, the
GPRS world will reveal that it has a security vulnerability which has seen
an undisclosed number of its customers ripped off. They've been trapped into
connecting to malicious content servers, by hackers penetrating the billing
system. The first international phone company to admit that they have
installed a solution - one offered by Check Point - will be the German phone
provider, E-Plus. The scam is called "the over-billing attack." It works quite
simply because of a link from the Internet world - unregulated - to the
normally tightly regulated GSM planet. "Network administrators face an
exponential onslaught of attacks that to date have traditionally been confined
to the world of wire line data," was the summary from Check Point.
- Microsoft Sued for Weak Security - Microsoft faces a proposed
class-action lawsuit in California based on the claim that its
market-dominant software is vulnerable to viruses capable of triggering
"massive, cascading failures" in global computer networks. The lawsuit, which
was filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, also claims that
Microsoft's security warnings are too complex to be understood by the general
public and serve instead to tip off "fast-moving" hackers on how to exploit
flaws in its operating system. The suit claims unfair competition and the
violation of two California consumer rights laws, one of which is intended to
protect the privacy of personal information in computer databases. It asks for
unspecified damages and legal costs, as well as an injunction against
Microsoft barring it from unfair business practices.
- Nintendo unveils piracy-proof console (iQue) for Chinese market - I
already mentioned it a few days ago, but
this article
has more details: "The game device--dubbed iQue Player--is said to be capable
of playing both SNES and Nintendo 64 titles, and will sell for 498 yuan (US $
60), including the memory card, according to games web site Total Video Games.
It will be sold from mid-October in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Software
can be downloaded onto the 64MB card at 48 yuan (US $ 5.80) per title at
selected licensed shops, and 10 titles will be offered at the launch of the
console, including Mandarin versions of the firm's trademark software title
Super Mario series."
- Panasonic Unveils New 4-Megapixel Digicam - Panasonic Consumer
Electronics has introduced
its DMC-FZ10 Lumix digital camera. The new 4-megapixel digital camera
sports a 12X optical zoom. Expected to hit stores in November, the DMC-FZ10
has a suggested retail price of $599. The DMC-FZ10 Lumix sports a F2.8 large
aperture Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens with 13 elements in eight groups and
three aspherical lenses, according to Panasonic. The 12X zoom is the
equivalent to a 35-420mm zoom lens on a conventional 35mm camera.
- ATI Radeon 9800 XT Review - Beyond3D has posted an
ATI
Radeon 9800 XT review and here is what they think: "So, all in all,
much as expected the Radeon 9800 XT is another speed bump that pushes ATI's
performance a little higher. Although you wouldn't base a $500 purchasing
decision on it, adding the Half Life 2 game to the bundle will sweeten the
deal somewhat."
- PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro 256 Review - Hardcoreware has posted
a review of PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro 256.
- 9800XT vs GeForceFX 5950 - Unofficial Half-Life 2 numbers -
Anandtech has published
some unofficial Half-Life 2 numbers, comparing the Radeon 9800XT and
GeForceFX 5950 in the forthcoming game benchmark
- Plextor PlexWriter PX-708A Review -
The
Plextor PlexWriter PX-708A is currently the fastest DVD+/-RW drive on the
market with its 8X DVD+R write performance. We experienced no problems burning
content to any of our test media and were able to heavily multi-task while
doing so. The included software suite is very robust and complete compared to
other DVD writers on the market. It should be a while until we see the next
generation of dual format DVD writers hit the market so if you have been
waiting to make a DVD writer purchase, now is the time and the PX-708A is what
you will want.
- Samsung 172W LCD Life at 16:9 review - Widescreen is a new way of
viewing life, at least your computer life. Widescreen or 16:9 started to
become popular as Plasma displays entered the market. Today Shawn "Toxic"
Baker, the man addicted to 16:9,
takes a look at Samsung's 172W LCD monitor. Interested in viewing life at 16:9?
If so, read on and discover the benefits of the new dimensions.
- Acronis True Image review -
Acronis True Image 6.0 is your ultimate data insurance policy! It takes an
exact image of your hard disk drive or separate partitions for complete
backup, and allows you to restore all of their contents, including operating
systems, programs, personal data and settings. In the event of fatal software
or hardware failure Acronis True Image protects your data, even when ordinary
file backup software does not work.
- OpenOffice 1.1 Ships - The OpenOffice.org group, after several
months of testing,
has released the final version 1.1 of its free open-source productivity
suite. Version 1.1 is more compatible than previous releases with rival
Microsoft Office, according to the OpenOffice.org group. It is loaded with new
features, such as the ability to generate PDF files (in Adobe's Portable
Document Format) and the ability to export presentation documents to
Macromedia's Flash format, OpenOffice.org says. This release offers improved
XML support, too, the group says. The update is available as a free,
70MB download from
OpenOffice.org (Win32
~
Linux), and it also ships with various Linux distributions, according to
Louis Suarez-Potts, community manager for OpenOffice.org.
- AntiVir Personal Edition 6.21.09.20 -
The AntiVir Personal Edition offers the effective protection against
computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single
PC-workstation. In order to make possible an easy operation, the AntiVir
Personal Edition is developed to the essential points. The private and
individual use of the AntiVir Personal Edition is completely free of charge.
Bandwidth Monitor Extreme 1.55 -
The freeware version
contains many features which help make it the best free bandwidth monitor you
can download. If you're using dsl or cable and are capped, BMExtreme can help
keep track of your use and contains information about how much you have used
daily, weekly, and monthly.
- VirtualDub 1.5.5 -
VirtualDub (download)
is a video capture and processing program. It features fast capturing, process
files larger than the 2 gigabyte limit, optimized for linear editing, support
for Motion-JPEG, MPEG-1 video and layer 3 audio, real-time and near-realtime
video processing, video job queues, and much more.
- DVDPlus Identifier v2.4 -
DVD Plus Identifier
retrieves and interprets the ADIP of DVD+R and DVD+RW discs. The ADIP contains
a variety of parameters such as disc manufacturing information and supported
write speeds. All this information is especially useful for uniquely
identifying discs when comparing the quality of different discs.
- RivaTuner 2.0 RC 12.14 -
RivaTuner is
a powerful tweaking utility for NVIDIA based cards. All series of
Detonator drivers have a lot of undocumented registry entries. Some of them
don't affect anything, but some are very useful. In general they cannot give
you big performance boots but they can improve image quality and solve some
compatibility problems. This utility will help you to change all undocumented
registry entries.
- Nero 6.0.0.19 -
Nero 6 (download
Nero 6.0.0.19 ~
Nero Vision Express 2.0.0.19 ~
Nero Media Player 1.4.0.7 ~
Nero Mix 1.4.0.7) is a
flexible, reliable, and easy-to-use application designed to write both data
and CD audio to CD-R and CD-RW discs. It supports ISO 9660 images as well as
ISO mode 1 and XA mode 2, and allows for on-the-fly disc recording in addition
to overburning (if supported by hardware). Nero also supports multisession and
mixed-mode recording, HFS, ISO/HFS hybrid, UDF, PSX, OFAS (optimal file access
speed), track-at-once (TAO) and disc-at-once (DAO) writing, digital audio
extraction, and more'
- ACDSee 6.0 -
ACDSee (download
trial) digital photo software makes it easy to import, view, organize,
print, enhance, share and archive your digital photos. ACDSee is easy to use
for everyone from beginner to professional level, and also powerful and
flexible enough to meet your needs as your image collection grows.
- XboxMediaCenter -
XboxMediaCenter
has playlist + slideshow functions as well as the ability to function as a
full replacement Xbox dashboard. These and more features enables the Xbox
running XboxMediaCenter to fully function as a multi-media jukebox.
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Updated:10:40 PM CEST Jun,21
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