Nightly Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 03:24 AM CEST - Apr,04 2003
- Post a comment / read (3)
- Half-Life 2 to be NVIDIA-only game? -
Spong.com is
reporting that Valve is currently looking at making its massively
anticipated FPS sequel Half-Life 2 exclusive to nVidia graphics cards, in what
will be the first deal of its kind in the PC gaming sector. This massive story
comes from insiders at nVidia, who are boasting that this will be the first of
many such deals for exclusive content, bespoke to its cards.
- RIAA sues campus file-swappers - The recording industry has stepped up
its campaign against campus music swapping, filing suit against four
university students who operated file-search services on their school's
internal networks.
The lawsuits, filed against two students at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI), and one each at Princeton University and Michigan
Technological University, ratchet up the pressure that the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) recently has been putting on universities to
block campus file-trading. The trade group still has not filed suit against
average file-swappers who use more common services such as Kazaa, however.
- Apache patch to thwart DoS attack - Apache, which makes the popular
open-source Web server application,
released
version 2.0.45 to fix a denial-of-service (DoS) problem. A DoS attack
floods a network with data, rendering it inaccessible to legitimate queries.
The vulnerability in version 2.0.44 affects all operating systems, according
to the advisory. But Apache issued a specific warning for OS/2 users, noting
that for them the new patch still had a DoS
vulnerability.
- NV35 to Be Formally Announced Next Month. - According to
X-bit Labs, Taiwanese media-sources revealed that NVIDIA's next-generation
NV35 graphics processor will be formally announced next-month with actual
graphics cards appearing shortly afterwards. NV35 GPU is going to be a
considerably improved GeForce FX 5800 (NV30) graphics processor with several
modifications made in order to boost performance, yield and other obstacles
that presently do not let NVIDIA to start selling its GeForce FX 5800
solutions in mass quantities. The graphics cards based on the new graphics
processor will utilise DDR SDRAM memory and feature 256-bit bus, providing
more bandwidth than the current DDR-II memory with 128-bit bus on the GeForce
FX 5800 Ultra.
- AMD plan to offer 400MHz FSB Athon XP slips out -
AMD will indeed release a version of its Athlon XP with a 400MHz frontside
bus, mobo maker Abit announced this morning. AMD has yet to announce
such a part itself. However, Abit's press release, issued today and
headed "Abit engineered motherboards support the new AMD Athlon XP 333 and
400MHz Barton CPUs", says the company has unveiled "the 400MHz FSB Barton
3000+ and 3200+". So expect an announcement from AMD shortly..
- Zalman ZM-80A Passive Video Cooler Review - With video cards
now generating as much heat as some CPU's, it's no wonder that there's a
market for aftermarket video heatsinks. While this was happening, though,
another trend has been arising: quiet computing. The video card is a whole
different beast compared to a CPU, though. You can't just slap on a
mega-heatsink... unless you don't need your PCI slots. Zalman was one of the
first to try and make a
good
passive video card heatsink that didn't intrude into another PCI card's
real estate.
- Samsung DVD-V2500 DVD/VCR Combo - TweakNews has published
a review
on the Samsung DVD-V2500 DVD/VCR Combo Unit.
- Dell Inspiron 5100 Review - Thus the system came with a
2.4-GHz Pentium 4-the slowest of four processors Dell offers, but still
adequate-and 256MB of RAM. The monitor was the midlevel Inspiron offering, 15
inches instead of 14, and XGA not SXGA+. All laptops in the 5100 line have a
pair of USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, and an S-Video output for a TV set.
Ours included 802.11b wireless Ethernet in addition to standard wired Ethernet
and a modem, a fixed DVD/CD-RW drive, and a 16MB USB memory key instead of a
floppy disk drive.
For the price, the Inspiron 5100 is a good deal, and you're better served
by picking the more fully equipped model than the $1,099 entry-level model.
Conversely, those who do little more than Web browsing, e-mailing, and word
processing can save $200 with the $899 Celeron-based Inspiron 1100.
- Canon i550 Bubble Jet Printer Review -
With decent speed and print quality for around S$319, the Canon i550
proves that it has what it takes to meet the demands of families or
small-business folks who want decent text printing and acceptable photo
quality prints any time of the day. With good paper support and a respectable
software bundle, it should be able to last most users a reasonably long time
before they need a new one.
- HP Photosmart 7350 Review -
The 7350 may have card readers and turn out magnificent photos, but it
still leaves something to be desired. Read on for the pros and cons we found
with HP's version of direct printing.
- GP32 Super-emulator! -
GP32 (fansite)
is capable of
emulating
the GBA, Super Nintendo, Commodore 64, etc. plus there's a
SCUMMVM engine for
Monkey
Island games and a
Java VM.
Seems to have a huge online
following. It runs its own OS, and
there are programs capable of playing divx/mp3 files, though there's also a
Linux
port on the way. Not too
expensive either. (99UKP / 149USD) That's a UK supplier; they ship
worldwide, though I found this more expensive
American supplier too.
(179USD)" Gotta catch 'em all! (thanks
SlashDot.org)
- AM:3D DieselPower for Hitman 2 - Silent Assassin - The
module,
DieselPower 3D audio, enhances your ability to hear enemy footsteps, door
slamming, talk, doves flapping their wings while ascending into the skies and
much more, from any direction. "We have worked with the creators, IO
Interactive, to ensure nothing but success in helping 47 take out targets.
Hitman 2 has native support for DieselPower which gives you natural smooth 3D
sound with full spherical directional perception, giving you the ability to
completely pin-point your friends and foes with a blistering accuracy. Even
though DieselPower supports other playback setups, all you require is a set of
standard headphones to perceive true 3D sound in all directions."
- Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit 3.0 -
The Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 3.0 for
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 contains the
tools and documentation you need to design, deploy, and support applications
on these platforms.
- Apache 2.0.45 -
The Apache Project (changelog
~ download) is
a collaborative software development effort aimed at creating a robust,
commercial-grade, featureful, and freely-available source code implementation
of an HTTP (Web) server.
- DVD2SVCD 1.1.3 Build 1 -
DVD2SVCD is a completely automated frontend for converting DVD, PVA and
AVI files to SVCD.
- cladDVD XP 3.0 -
cladDVD XP is a DVD
ripper that can pretty much rip any DVD just the way you want it as it uses
vStrip for the decryption. This means you can rip a single file, complete
title set or main movie as is, or, even better, initiate IFO Parsing (default)
and rip the exact selected ProGram Chain (PGC).
- AC3Filter 0.68b -
AC3Filter (download)
is DirectShow filter for AC3 decoding to play .AVI with AC3 audio tracks and
MPEG2 (DVD).
- Media Player Classic 6.4.4.1 -
Media Player
Classic (download)
is similar to windows media player 6.4 but with features pertained to
minimalist advanced users.
- WinAMP 2.90 Final - Nullsoft has silently updated its winamp v2 to
v2.90.
- Quintessential Player 3.50 Plus - Quinnware has released new
version of their
Quintessential Player. This new version finally fixed seek bug.
- BlindWrite Suite 4.3.1 -
Blindwrite Suite (download)
is the best set of tools to reproduce or clone any CD, even protected ones.
Blindwrite Suite is the most powerfull tool to create a perfect copy from your
original CD for personal private copy.
- SecureCRT 4.0.5 -
SecureCRT
(download)
gives you an encrypted SSH session with both SSH1 and SSH2 servers. SSH
security goes far beyond the basic secure logon, rerouting data or local
applications using TCP/IP ports through an encrypted channel.
- PowerStrip 3.31 Beta Build 380 -
PowerStrip (download)
provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide
range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest
Radeon 9700DV and Matrox Parhelia.
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Updated:12:40 AM CEST Jun,21
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