Nightly Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 02:50 AM CET - Oct,31 2003
- Post a comment / read (1)
- RIAA files 80 new file-swapping suits - The Recording Industry
Association of America on Thursday said it
filed
80 new lawsuits against alleged file swappers, a move that comes after a
wave of letters it sent earlier this month that warned targets of their legal
risk. The action marks a second round of suits against computer users who,
record label investigators say, have made hundreds or even thousands of
copyrighted songs available for download through peer-to-peer services such as
Kazaa.
PC World invited Sherman (president of the RIAA) to weigh in on a variety
of hot topics, from suing music fans to buying songs online. An edited
transcript of the conversation follows.
- Crack codes and win prizes -
The Crypto
Challenge is a fun, on-going competition aimed at Cipher hobbyists able to
crack level 3 - 4 of Simon Singh's Cipher Challenge. The mysterious cipher
genius Mr X develops the Crypto Challenges to be cracked. The first person to
crack the code, wins the main prize: a Nikon Cool Pix SQ digital camera, there
are runner's up prizes too.
- Off-topic: New processor computes at light speed -
A superfast computing processor that uses light, not electrons, to perform
calculations has gone on sale for the first time. Lenslet, the Israeli company
that developed the processor, say its light speed calculations deliver the
power of a supercomputer in a single device. The device is called Enlight and
can perform 8000 billion arithmetic operations per second, about 1000 times
faster than a standard processor. Previously this type of processor was only
available to highly financed government laboratories, says Lenslet's founder,
Aviram Sariel.
- Off-topic: Nine eyes help robots to navigate - Robots should have
eyes in the back of their heads as well the front. Researchers in the US say a
robot's navigation skills could be vastly improved by giving it
"omni-directional" vision. A robot on the move must be able to sense whether
it is travelling in a straight line or spinning on the spot. But telling the
difference is difficult with just a single camera for an eye.
- Off-topic: Second solar storm hits Earth -
A second huge magnetic solar storm hit Earth today, just a day after an
earlier one hurtled into the planet in what one astronomer called an
unprecedented one-two punch. "It's like the Earth is looking right down the
barrel of a giant gun pointed at us by the sun ... and it's taken two big
shots at us," said John Kohl of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for
Astrophysics in Massachusetts. Kohl, the lead investigator for an instrument
aboard NASA's sun-watching SOHO spacecraft, said the probability of two huge
flares aimed directly at Earth coming so close together, as they have this
week, was "unprecedented ... so low that it is a statistical anomaly."
- Paper offers Nokia N-Gage for 1p - UK newspaper The Sun is
offering the handset via its website for just one penny. Of course,
there's a L28 per month airtime contract with Vodafone you have to sign up for
too, but you'd need to do that anyway - N-Gage doesn't work unless you put a
SIM into it, which is a bizarre result for a product that's supposed to be a
games console first and a phone a very distant second. In any case, the
monthly fee is a small price to pay for getting the handset for nothing
(effectively).
- Is it a games console? No it's a phone -
Nokia has
unveiled five new mobiles, including its flagship first "media category"
handset, the 7700. The tri-band 7700 looks more like a handheld games console
than a phone. It features a camera and high-spec touchscreen (with pen input)
and is capable of showing 65,000 colours at a resolution of 640x320 pixels.
- Linux-based Motorola phone to use Intel chip - The Schaumburg,
Ill.-based company announced
the A760 handset in late August and is expected to begin selling it in China
on Friday. The A760 is a high-end smart phone that combines personal
information management software, a video player, a music player and an
instant-messaging tool. It will go on sale in Europe and the United States
later.
- TDK introduces 8x dual format DVD writer - TDK USA has updated its
website with the specifications of the
TDK
indiDVD 840G DVD+R/RW writer: "The 8x Multiformat Indi DVD burner delivers
unmatched flexibility and performance. Record DVD videos and photo slideshows
that play in virtually any DVD player, rip and burn music and back up your
hard drive with total control. Burn a full DVD+R in only 8 minutes, and record
a complete CD-R in 3 minutes. Superior quietness (<45 dB acoustic noise) makes
Indi DVD ideal for project environments, while automatic speed selection
ensures perfect recordings. Records DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW and CD-R/RW media."
- Ultimate Gaming Machine of 2003 review -
Canada Computers built the system around an Intel Pentium 4 3.2 C
processor on Intel's own D875PBZ "Bonanza" motherboard, backed up by 1GB of
OCZ's EL PC3500 DDR memory and an nVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 Ultra reference
videocard. That's not all, the system also packs in an SB Audigy 2 Platinum
sound card, two 80GB Seagate Serial ATA HDD's (in RAID-0) and a Sony DRU-510A
DVD+/-RW drive.
- Pentium 4 Extreme Edition vs Athlon 64 FX - First of all,
let's look at the processors. What's it? A new trend in the CPU building?
Special extreme solutions? Or what? First,
let's see what CPU lines both companies got and what their specs are.
- Nvidia nForce 3 Pro 150: Leadtek K8NW Pro Review -
The K8NW Pro is definitely the big brother of the K8N Pro with the
addition of another PCI slot, AGP Pro, and 4 DIMMs. This board is poised to be
a good choice for workstations and for enthusiasts that want the extra
performance from dual channel DDR400 support. If you are looking for a serious
Athlon 64 FX/Opteron motherboard for work or play the Leadtek K8NW Pro should
definitely peak your interest.
- Gigabyte K8NNXP nForce3 150 Motherboard Review -
The Gigabyte K8NNXP is a very well rounded motherboard with a boat load of
features such as Serial ATA/Serial ATA RAID, IDE RAID, IEEE 1394, hot
pluggable IEEE 1394B, 5.1 audio, dual ethernet (one Gigabit, one 10/100) and
of course dual BIOS's. If you feel the need to upgrade there are five PCI
slots an 8x AGP port. The layout of the board is excellent, it really seems as
if Gigabyte was thinking about the end user when they designed the K8NNXP.
- 3D Blaster 5 FX5900 Review - Creative Labs Europe did a nice job
with the
3D
Blaster 5 FX5900. In it's category it's nothing out of the ordinary yet is
priced really sharp for European standards. The FX 5900 will cost your about
300-349 Euro's which sounds better than the 500 Euro we all have to caugh up
for the latest and greatest these days. This product already has been spotted
for 299 Euro in Europe.
- ATI All in Wonder 9600 Pro Review - Aside from the lack of
DVI, the
AIW9600 is nearly perfect. With its $209 price tag on Mwave, the card is
extremely hard to resist considering you get a free $70 worth of free games
and a free upgrade to the Remote Wonder II. If you do the math, you
technically only pay $80 for a card that performs better then the 9600 Pro and
has a lot more features then the 9600XT.
- Buffalo Technology AirStation 54Mbps Wireless USB Adapter -
After a longer-than-expected wait, 802.11g / USB 2.0 adapters are finally
hitting the shelves. The first one to hit the our test bench was also the
first announced-Buffalo
Technology's AirStation 54Mbps Wireless USB Adapter. We put it through its
paces and our RapidReview will tell you whether you have to sacrifice any
speed for the convenience of its USB 2.0 connection.
- Three USB 2.0 Flash Drives with 1GB Storage Capacity - In this mini
review X-bit Labs decided to introduce three flash drives like that of 1GB
storage capacity. These models are especially interesting nowadays because of
their high capacity, as you can save on them much more data than on a standard
CD-disk.
- Hercules USB DJ Console - HotHardware has posted
a review on the Hercules USB DJ Console.
- Sound Blaster MP3+: New USB Solution from Creative review -
The device looks really nice, as well as the package (we should give
credit to the company designers here). The dimensions of Sound Blaster MP3+
are similar to those of a pocket PC or PDA. The "box" can be fastened to any
flat surface with the help of the special sticky pads included into the
package. Moreover, the manufacturer also suggests fastening the sound solution
to the panel of your portable computer with the help of a plastic clip, which
holds to the back of the "box".
- Neuros 20 gig MP3 Jukebox -
The
Neuros is solidly constructed and has a LCD screen with a simple to use
multi-function navigation button. Most of time you will be using this button
to scroll through selections and menu options. You also have standard forward,
back and play buttons.
- Chenbro Xpider Gaming Bomb Case Review - Ohls-Place has posted
a review on the Chenbro Xpider Gaming Bomb Case.
- ATI Radeon 9800NP/Pro To 9800XT Flash Guide -
This article
will involve flashing your video card's BIOS to that of the Radeon 9800XT
which will void any warranties which you may currently have on your card.
3DMAXX.net, Team 3DMAXX, nor any of its forum members take no responsibility
if you kill your video card.
- Beginners Guides: Legally Copying Software and Music - PC Stats has
posted
a beginners guide about Legally Copying Software and Music,
- Win2k Patch: Buffer Overflow in Windows Troubleshooter ActiveX Control
Could Allow Code Execution -
A security vulnerability exists in the Microsoft Local Troubleshooter
ActiveX control. The vulnerability exists because the ActiveX control
(Tshoot.ocx) contains a buffer overflow that could allow an attacker to run
code of their choice on a user's system.
- WinXP Patch: Buffer Overrun in the ListBox and in the ComboBox Control
Could Allow Code Execution -
This revised patch corrects the Debug Programs (SeDebugPrivilege) user
right issue that some customers experienced with the original patch that is
discussed in Knowledge Base Article 830846.
- WinXP/2k/2003 Patch: Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service Could Allow
Code Execution -
Microsoft re-issued this bulletin on October 29, 2003 to advise on the
availability of an updated Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
patch. This revised patch corrects the Debug Programs (SeDebugPrivilege) user
right issue that some customers experienced with the original patch that is
discussed in Knowledge Base Article 830846.
- CloneCD v4.3.1.7 - SlySoft has released
a new
version 4.3.1.7 of the CloneCD software. CloneCD is the ideal tool to make
backup copies of your music- or data CDs, regardless if they are copy
protected or not! CloneCD's award-winning user interface copies almost any CD
in just a few mouse clicks.
|
Updated:03:04 PM CEST Jun,20
(new)
