Nightly Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 02:50 AM CEST - Oct,05 2004
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- UK P2P file sharers face legal action - Peer-to-peer (P2P)
file sharers in
the UK could soon face legal action from the recording industry. Record
companies in other countries have already started legal action against people
sharing copyrighted music online. The Recording Industry Association of
America has sued around 5,400 people over the past year, fining them on
average $3,000 a piece in an effort to discourage the online swapping of
music, which it claims has damaged CD sales.
- U.S. Plans Crackdown on Piracy, Counterfeiting - The United States
is cracking down on the growing trade in counterfeit and pirated goods
that costs U.S. businesses hundreds of billions of dollar annually, U.S.
government and industry officials said on Monday. The planned crackdown
follows warnings from Ronald Noble, secretary-general of the international
police agency Interpol, that trade in fake goods has become "the preferred
method of funding for a number of terrorist groups."
- RealPlayer pnen3260.dll Heap Overflow - The code in pnen3260.dll
among other things is responsible for handling .rm files.
The vulnerability is triggered by setting the length field of the VIDORV30
data chunk to 0xFFFFFFF8 - 0xFFFFFFFF this will cause an integer overflow
which leads to a small block of memory being allocated, we call this movie
from a SMIL file to handle the initial exception, eventually overflowing the
buffer. The flaws
could be exploited via a malicious Web page or a RealMedia file run from a
local drive to take over a user's system or delete files, according to
RealNetworks.
- WinZip Warns of Security Flaws -
WinZip versions 3.x, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x contain vulnerabilities that
could allow an attacker to execute malicious code on a Windows PC, the vendor
warns. In an advisory this week, Danish security firm Secunia gives the bugs a
"highly critical" rating, the fourth-highest out of its five severity levels.
While no exploits are known to be circulating, the wide deployment of WinZip
makes the vulnerabilities important to patch immediately, WinZip says.
- In-game format string in Judge Dredd vs. Death 1.01 -
The problem is a format string bug in the handling of the messages
received from clients like "player connected", chat messages and so on. Like
any in-game bug, the attacker must have access to the match (so if the server
is protected by password, he must know it).
- IBM laptop features fingerprint scanner - IBM announced on Monday
the launch of
a new line of ThinkPad notebooks designed to provide an extra layer of
data protection through advanced fingerprint technology. The biometric
capability will be present on select models of the ThinkPad T42 that will be
shipped from Oct. 19, the company said. The fingerprint reader, placed on the
wrist-rest, below the arrow keys, will verify the identity of a user when he
or she swipes a finger across a tiny sensor. Once identity is established,
users are automatically logged on.
- Punkbuster, ATI and Nvidia: Freezing in your online FPS favorites? -
A few links were provided documenting that
this was not an isolated incident - there were numerous reports on numerous
forums ranging from the MSI user forums to Overclockers UK. There seemed
to be a common thread - a NForce 3 based motherboad, an ATI card and
Punkbuster. A few weeks went by and there seemed to be no resolution of the
issue, yet there were more reports of the problem so I took a look and see if
I could reproduce the problem first hand.
- Off-topic: Pepsi to give away an iPod an hour until Christmas -
Over the weekend,
Pepsi Canada launched a new iPod promotion that will givewaway a
"truckload of iPods." The company said that it would offer a free iPod an
hour, every hour, of every day, for 84 straight days for a total of 2,016 20GB
iPods. The
promotion runs from October 3rd through December 25 and is open to
Canadian residents only.
- Off-topic: Spaceship one wins X-price! -
SpaceShipOne climbed into space for the second time (video)
in a week to claim the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which was set up to give
impetus to commercial space flight. X Prize officials said the craft set an
altitude record of 70 miles.
- Most songs on iPods "stolen" - Microsoft CEO -
All iPod users are music thieves - according to Microsoft CEO Steve
'Monkey Boy' Ballmer. "The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen,"
he told reporters in London today, according to a Silicon.com report. Ballmer
conveniently ignores not only that there are many non-Apple music players out
there, on which there are probably as many, if not more "stolen" songs.
- Nokia Set to Unveil Redesigned TV Phone - Nokia is set to unveil
another attempt at
a mobile phone designed for television and video, which is thinner and
lighter than its predecessor which never made it to the market, a source said
on Monday. The Nokia 7710 media device will be launched at a company event in
Monaco next month, exactly one year after Nokia first showed a phone designed
for television, video and other entertainment.
- Microsoft Eyes Lighter Versions of Longhorn - Microsoft is
developing versions of
its Windows operating system with only a subset of the Windows code base,
designed for specific server tasks, in a move that could reduce maintenance
costs for customers and create products that are less vulnerable to attack.
The new "role-based" products may appear in 2007, when the server version of
Longhorn is scheduled for release.
- Microsoft releases free Windows XP Embedded SP2 "preview" -
Beginning tomorrow,
Microsoft will make a "free technology preview" of the latest version of
its Windows XP Embedded operating system available for download on its
website, for testing by embedded system and device developers. Dubbed "Windows
XP Embedded with Service Pack 2," the new OS version is said to include
security and other enhancements from the recent Service Pack 2 (SP2) release
for the standard version of Windows XP, as well as several additional
capabilities targeting unique requirements of embedded systems and devices. In
addition to the much ballyhooed security enhancements in standard XP SP2,
Windows XP Embedded (XPe) SP2 adds "advanced" remote device management and
system update capabilities, enhanced networking and multimedia features, and
introduces a highly welcomed quick boot mechanism capable of booting an XPe
SP2 device in as little as 10 seconds, Microsoft says.
- Intel Rides a Faster Bus - According to an internal document on
Intel's website, Intel will soon release the 925XE chip set, a version of its
recently
introduced 925X chip set with support for a 1066-MHz front-side bus.
Current Pentium 4 chip sets use an 800-MHz front-side bus to connect the
processor to the memory. Intel will also release a
3.46-GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition that supports the 1066-MHz front-side
bus in the near future, according to a separate document found on Intel's
site. This chip will also come with 2MB of Level 3 cache, just like its
counterparts in the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition category.
- Intel ships "execute disable" Pentium 4s - Intel's EDB-enabled
processors include both new and old models. All of them are indicated by a 'J'
after the CPU model number. The technology is now
incorporated into all 90nm, Socket T Pentium 4 5xx processors, from the
520 to the 560, through a new core version, E-0. Older versions, based on the
D-0 core, are still available alongside the E-0 parts. Prices remain
unchanged: the 520 and 520J are $163; the 530 and 530J, $178; the 540 and
540J, $218; the 550 and 550J, $278; and the 560 and 560J, $417.
- Intel Quietly Sneaks New Server Chipset In -
Intel’s E7221 core-logic is designed for uni-processor servers powered by
Intel Pentium 4 processors with EM64T, or 64-bit capability. The chipset has
integrated graphics and sports PCI Express x8 lane designed for the Intel
6702PXH 64-bit PCI hub component that enables PCI-X slots for advanced cards.
The core-logic sports dual-channel DDR and DDR2 SDRAM controller, giving
server builders a flexibility. E7221 works with typical ICH6R that adds Serial
ATA, Parallel ATA, PCI and PCI Express connectivity for add-in cards
- R480 to come in the fourth quarter - ATI's next fastest graphic
thing will
be based on 0.11µ (micron) architecture. This is the natural direction for
ATI to migrate from 0.13µ low K marchitecture to pure 0.11µ without low K.
When you make things smaller you can possibly clock a chip even higher, but we
don't have any idea what frequency ATI is aiming for. That's exactly where its
R480 chip is at this time. Some more info can also be found
here.
- XGI's XP47 is PS 3.0 announced-
This time,
XGI is talking about its chip codenamed XP47, a native PCI Express thing
that will have support for Pixel Shader 3.0.
- Intel P4 3.0GHz LGA775 CPU review - ClubOverclocker take a look at
the Intel P4, 3.0GHz LGA775 Processor. If you are still into overclocking,
or are thinking about joining the club, you have got to read this review!
- Intel Celeron D vs. AMD Sempron - X-Bit Labs
tested 14 new processors in 27 benchmarks and now we are ready to name the
best choice for a budget system. It is clear that the Semprons with
ratings of 3000+ and lower, i.e. intended for Socket A systems, are slower
than the Celerons working at the frequency that equals that rating, by about
5-6%.
- DDR vs. DDR-2 TweakTown has posted
a detailed article which investigates the current state of DDR vs. DDR-2
memory in the industry. They have included in-depth information about what is
different about the two technologies, possible adoption problems for AMD with
Athlon 64 and benchmarks comparing both on an MSI motherboard which supports
both memory standards.
- [!] AGP Video Cards roundup @ TGH -
THG's fourth annual VGA charts show that while fewer cards were released,
ATi's and NVIDIA's cards offered some excitement with noteworthy performance
gains. This year's VGA charts also feature performance tests for 10 games and
benchmarks in three resolutions and quality settings, including an overview of
35 AGP graphics card classes from ATi, NVIDIA, S3 and XG.
- PowerColor X800 PRO Limited Assassin Edition review -
PowerColor
X800 PRO Limited Assassin Edition is a very solid product with really good
accessory assortment and substantial performance. Because of rare and
incomparable package, hardware admirers will love every aspect of the card
including additional and useful bundle. With R420 out of the way, it will be
interesting to see what ATI brings in next. Most likely the XBOX 2 VPU, R500
and then the PC refresh part the R480.
- ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 review -
TV
Wonder USB 2.0 is an external tuner device, designed to offer higher
quality than other external devices, potentially rivalling ATI's own dedicated
All-In-Wonder solutions. The TV Wonder USB 2.0 is ideal for use with
notebook's, or those desktop users that are reluctant to open their PC.
- Logisys Glacier Dual LED Fan 500W Power Supply review - In
conclusion, this power supply has some faults, with the biggest fault being
the control knob. Overall it's a very nice power supply. The blue LED’s on the
fans are bright, the cables are more than sufficient for the largest case, and
the power is
very
stable even under a load.
- PPA 9-in-1 Card Reader review -
The most impressive feature is the size: it's no larger than a standard
credit card. It's about half an inch tall, so it'll fit pockets nicely.
- Samsung SyncMaster 192MP 19" Multifunctional Display review - BFR
take a look at
the192MP 19" LCD monitor, a multifunctional display unit with the
capability to perform as a monitor, TV (using its optional TV tuner) , or both
with its PIP (Picture-in-Picture) feature. It accepts inputs from pretty much
any video device you can think of (ie: PC, Air/Cable TV, DVD, VCR, Camcorder)
and comes HDTV ready.
- Professional Headphone and Audio Accessory Roundup - Hardware
Pacers have posted a Professional Headphone and Audio Accessory
Roundup.
- HP Photosmart 945 review - Wow! Picture results are fantastic,
colour results are not as rich as Canon's but
HP has still done a great job at delivering bright and well contrasted
images. The downside is that to get the best results out of this camera you
have to use HP's digital flash feature and this results in noisier images
- Linux 3D AGP GPU Roundup - AnandTech has published
an
intriguing look at graphics performance in Linux using a FRAPS-esque open
source benchmarking app they've been working on.
- OpenOffice.org For Windows 1.1.3 Final -
OpenOffice.org
(download
linux ~
win32) is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems is
releasing the technology for the popular StarOffice productivity suite. It is
an international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide
access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an
XML-based file format.
- nLite 0.99 beta -
nLite (download)
is a GUI for permanent Windows component removal by your choice. After removal
there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing
in virtual machines. So that means that with nLite you will be able to have
Windows installation cd which on installation doesn't install, or even contain
on cd, unwanted components.
- MSN Messenger 7 beta + patch - Microsoft has released
the first beta version of MSN Messenger 7 to its beta testers and
ofcourse, we have it ready for download for you! The Build number of MSN
Messenger 7 is 7.0.0205 and it weighs at about 7MB. There's also
a patch for the beta.
- FirePanel XP 1.5.1736 -
FirePanel XP
is an add-on for the new firewall found in Windows XP SP2 and Windows
Server2003 SP1. It can configure & monitor your firewall's activity, keeping
realtime tabs on what exactly you're being exposed to. There are multiples
panes to display all important network info.
- Mozilla Firefox 0.10.1 - The Mozilla Foundation has once again
released
an interim version of its popular Firefox browser.
Firefox 0.10.1 addresses a new security vulnerability which could allow a
hacker to delete files from a user's download directory.
- Crap Cleaner 1.14.072 -Crap
Cleaner is a freeware system optimisation tool. That removes unused and
temporary files from your system - allowing it to run faster, more efficiently
and giving you more hard disk space.
- Real Alternative 1.27 -
Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to
install RealPlayer or RealOne Player from Real Networks. Supported are:
RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText
(.rt) and ReadPix (.rp). It also supports RealMedia content that is embedded
in webpages. The very user-friendly installation is fully customizable, which
means that you can install only those components that you want.
- FFDShow MPEG-4 Video Decoder 20041003 -
FFDSHOW is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, WMV,
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 movies.
- Style XP 2.15 -
Style XP (download)
is theming software that helps customize the way your Windows XP, Windows XP
Service Pack 1, Tablet PC, or Server 2003 system looks. Style XP can manage
and rotate themes, visual styles, backgrounds, and logons, which are freely
available at ThemeXP.
- RivaTuner 2.0 RC 15.2 + SoftR9x00 + SoftFireGL -
Rivatuner is one of the (if not the) best Tweak Utilities available for
NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon based videocards. The purpose of this
utility is to give you access to all the undocumented features of Detonator
and Catalyst drivers. Drivers have a lot of undocumented registry entries
- QuickGamma 2.0.0.1 -
QuickGamma is a small utility program to calibrate a monitor on the fly
without having to buy expensive hardware tools.
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Updated:11:31 AM CEST Jun,06
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