SECURITY...

• MySQL Criticized in Wake of MySpooler Worm - In the wake of the MySpooler worm that spread via weak MySQL passwords on Windows installations last week, database users criticized the open-source database for lax security lockdown on installation, saying that it should be held to the same high standards as traditional security whipping-boy Microsoft Corp.
• W32/Bropia Worm details - This memory-resident worm propagates itself via MSN Messenger by sending a copy of itself using different file names to all available or online contacts. Thus, users of the said messaging program should not accept or open these files to avoid infection.
• First French P2P "pirate" fined EURO10,200 - Alain Oddoz, a French teacher and one of approximately eight million French people who have downloaded music via the internet, is the first person in France to be sentenced because of illegal file-sharing. In addition to confiscating his computer system and the fact that he was arrested in August 2004 is he condemned to pay EURO10,200 and to take out a series of newspaper adverts to publicize the "crime and punishment".
• Spammers play illegal XP Windows card  - The cheeky spamsters have still to tweak the spelling and grammar on the e-missive, but the general idea is for you to go to a web site and, guess what, enter your credit card details.
• New trick boosts volume of spam, strains Internet, experts warn - A new spamming technique could push the volume of unwanted e-mail to new heights in coming months, straining the online communication system, say several experts who monitor the activity of spam gangs around the world. Illegal bulk-mailers have been able to deploy massive blasts of spam by routing it through the computers of their Internet service providers, rather than sending it directly from individual machines, the experts said.
• Ex-AOL Worker Pleads Guilty - A former software engineer for America Online is charged with selling 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses to spammers. A judge finally lets the guy plead guilty to conspiracy.

OFF-TOPIC...

• Air Force War Game Aims to Test Space Technologies - The U.S. military on Saturday launched a five-day war game to see how space-based assets such as satellite communications and precision bomb guidance systems would fare in a hypothetical war against terrorism in 2020.
• Gizoogle.com - This is really interesting website! Check it out! (thaks NeoNSX)
• Girl who loves Vibrating.. - check it out :)

TECHNOLOGY...

• Bill Gates Interview - German magazine "Spiegel" has conducted an interview with Bill Gates as he speaks about issues of computer security, competition, software bundling.
• Is the Half-Life 2 EULA illegal? - More interesting, perhaps, are the legal agreements that surround a purchase of Half-Life 2. One is that no mention of Steam is on the HL2 box or in the End User License Agreement, yet it is required to play. The second is that where a gamer buys a copy of the game for which the CDKey has already been hacked, he will have to wait up to two weeks to get a replacement from Sierra/Vivendi, since shops will generally not take back opened software. The third is that no copy of the game can be sold without paying Valve a $10 fee to transfer the CD-Key to another Steam account.
• Leaders see video games' chaos reflected in D.C. streets - District of Columbia political, religious and community leaders gathered at a church this week to support a proposed ban on the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors. They summed up their objections in a word: poison.

HARDWARE... 

• Trapped under ICE: Extreme FX-55 overclocking - When you have the fastest CPU (at stock speeds) on the planet, you just have to push it further, although phase change cooling can get your underway, LN2 is bound to give you the edge. Let's pour a few litres on this blazingly fast A64 FX-55 to see how high it can fly.
• Kingston HyperX DDR2 5400 - Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 has opened my eyes to DDR2 memory. My initial thoughts were that the performance increase was not going to be something we would see for sometime. I also had the misconception many do about the CAS ratings and how high all of the DDR2 modules seem to be. Yes there are faster and tighter DDR modules on the market, if you are lucky enough to have a motherboard that supports both and you don't OC, you might just stick with DDR memory. If, however, you want to pump up the FSB, Kingston HyperX will fill that request, and wait for the BIOS updates to show you what it is truly made of...
• EPoX 9NDA3+ Socket 939 (nForce3 Ultra) Motherboard - If you've been looking at the Socket 939 platform for your next big upgrade and still have a workable AGP based video board, the EPoX 9NDA3+ is a motherboard that deserves a very close look. With gaming scores that are nearly on par with the VIA chipset boards available and features that leave others in the dust, it has something for everybody and performs admirably as well.
• XFX NVidia G-Force 6600 GT 128meg AGP Video Card - If you are contemplating upgrading your video card but do not want to spend 400 dollars, take a close look at the XFX 6600GT. This card performs exceptional and at a moderate price. With the new PCI-e board coming out, this is a logical solution to make your current AGP system perform into the next year, saving up for the new stuff hot off the assembly lines.
• BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC 128MB AGP - So is the BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC card worth the money? Absolutely. The warranty, the build quality, the enhanced clock speed, the dual DVI out, the GPU and HSI bridge heatsinks, the effective and quiet cooling system, the low CPU overhead during video playback, the impressive 3D performance and the outstanding display output all add up to make it worth the small increase over the cost of a standard GeForce 6600 GT.
• MSI NX6600-VTD128E Diamond - The real jewel in the crown for this board, assuming it is indicative of these boards as a whole, is overclockability. If the price is right, then this part could become something of a darling for those looking for a bargain in the mid-range video card sector - A board cheaper than a 6600GT but overclockable to beyond 6600GT clocks would be coveted much like the GeForce 6800GT has been at the high-end.
• AOpen Aeolus 6600 GT - This 6600 GT just like all the others has 128 MB's of DDR III memory, and the NV43 GPU. This card also features a maximum resolution of 2048 X 1536 at 85Hz. The NV43 GPU provides 8 pixel pipelines, and 128 bit graphics core. Basically a reference 6600 GT with a different color PCB and fancy looking HSF.
• ABIT RX600 Pro-GURU Video Card - Utilizing ATI's X600 design based on ATI's R380 core, the RX600 Pro-GURU features four pixel pipelines and two geometry engines. At stock speed the RX600 Pro-Guru operates with a 400MHz core and 256MB of high speed Samsung DDR memory running at 600MHz Nothing mind-boggling or cutting edge to be found here, however this card can handle all of today's hottest games at modest settings.
• ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition review - This card is now ATI's flagship card, and has all the features you would expect from a top of the line card, like VIVO, DDR3 RAM, HDTV Decoding, etc. However no matter what the card is capable of, the main thing people purchase these high end cards for is the gaming. So today I am going to tell you about all the features, and show you how the card performs in some of the most popular games out.
• Seagate 100GB Portable External HDD -  This drive can be found for around $220 out on the e-market. Yes, it is portable and a very good drive, but spending over two dollars per GB of data storage may make many cringe at the thought. This is a product that will suit the needs of many people and that price will not stop them from picking this drive up.
• Winter Audio Reference: On-Board, Consumer, and Pro Solutions - AnandTech take a look at a cross section of the audio industry. The lineup includes two cards from Creative (the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro and Audigy 4 Pro), the Realtek Intel HD Audio solution, and the Echo Audio Gina3G. With these cards, we are covering our bases for the consumer add-in market, professional recording, and onboard audio solutions.
• AOpen Silent Power AO400-12AHN PSU - Maximum peak power output of the AOpen Silent Power AO400-12AHN is 400W. The power supply features over-voltage protection, which apparently shuts itself down to avoid damage in the case of a power surge.
• Zalman CNPS7700-Cu Heatsink Fan - One of the main features of the CNPS7700-Cu heatsink fan (HSF) is the ability to provide excellent cooling along with near silent operation. The large diameter of the heatsink provides extra cooling to other components located around the CPU socket area, like the NB, RAM modules and voltage regulators
• ASETEK Waterchill - Asetek's all-in-one water-cooling kit, WaterChill, offers a fantastic way for new users to enter the arena of watercooling. The setup procedure is easy and well documented, and the results in temperature and noise reduction are more than any air-cooling system could offer.
• Akasa AK-688 Black Knight Heatsink - MikhailTechtake a look at Akasa's AK-688 Black Knight copper heatsink with included 3.5” fan controller/USB hub.
• I-Rocks IR-7220 Optical Mouse - The I-Rocks IR-7220 Beetle is quite responsive. Light weight and very comfortable to use, it should be a “must have” item for anybody with small hands that find some larger mice cumbersome.
• Logitech Z-640 5.1 Speaker Set - If you always listen to music and you don't watch movies or play games on your PC, you should consider something other than the Logitech Z-640. Its mid-range is not impressive and you are going to notice it especially when you listen to music. However, if you don't really care much about its rather lacking mid-range, then the Z-640 can be considered. If you are into gaming and watch a lot of movies on your PC as well as on a budget, the Z-640 would probably be your best choice. Z-640's accurate and solid bass is exactly the type of bass that I like.
• NZXT Nemesis and Nemesis Elite case - The Elite model has a total of three 120mm LED fans (photo). The first is mounted at the front of the case before the HDD cage. It has a 3-pin motherboard connector and is meant to be connected to the LCD display to maintain control as well as monitor the performance of the fan. In fact, the second 120mm fan mounted at the back also has this ability.
• L.I.S. POP Indicator VFD Display - The IT professional can also use the L.I.S. POP Indicator as a display to quickly assess critical information without having to plug in a monitor.
• Logisys White Laser LEDs - Logisys' Laser LED kit consists of the cluster with 4-pin pass-through molex connector, a couple optional installation screws, and some velcro. It's available in white, red, green, blue, and UV. Ours was the white version. As it turns out, white lights (fluorescent or LED), the cool kind, look pretty amazing inside a windowed case with white sleeving and other white painted components. If nothing else, it's certainly a departure from the typical blue.
• Brother MFC-410CN multi function printer - This is a neat little machine, not that much bigger than an A4 page, with a control panel set into its front edge and paper input and output trays below. As with HP's range of ink-jet printers, paper makes a full 180-degree turn during printing. Connection to an individual PC is made via USB or via Ethernet as a network device.
• Acer AL2671W - 26in Widescreen LCD TV - There's no getting away from the fact that the Acer AL2671W is a fantastic display. It's smart, easy-to-use, and delivers great picture quality. The caveats are having only two Scart connections, the lack of six-pin S-Video inputs, and the uncertainty over HDCP support.
• palmOne Tungsten T5 PDA - The battery life of the T5 was not the best I have seen, but certainly was nothing to scoff at. The PDA lasted for about four hours and twenty minutes of use with BlueTooth off and the backlight on maximum.
• Three-CCD semi-professional HDV camcorder - Sony's HDR-FX1E is a true statement of intent. It's only L500 more expensive than the company's DCR-VX2100 and anyone currently considering that model should seriously consider ways of finding the extra money for the FX1E. The FX1E is just as good at shooting DV as the VX2100, so only a small premium is being paid for its HDV capabilities. Sony also has a professional version of the FX1E on the horizon, the HVR-Z1U. Unlike the FX1, there won't be different versions for Pal and NTSC. Instead, one model will support the 25fps and 30fps timebases, along with 24fps via the CineFrame mode. The Z1 could be to the Sony PD170 what the FX1E is to the VX2100 - a killer.

SOFTWARE...

• Marco's Excel Management Macro 1.1 - It's a Microsoft Excel Add-In (download) with a collection of functions which can be useful in an Enterprise environment based on Microsoft Windows operating systems. The main functions are based on retrieving information from Active Directory, modifying Active Directory and getting information from computers through WMI. Although there are more free tools available nowadays (like ADModify), it can be quite convenient to perform certain tasks directly in Excel.
• IBindCFG 0.1 - IBindCFG (download), automate disable/enable binding of ms_msclient and ms_server on nic interfaces IBindCfg version 0.1. Usage: IBindCfg [-interface Networkname] [-dis_client|-en_client ClientName] [-dis_service|-en_service ServiceName] [-dis_protocol|-en_protocol ProtocolName][-verbose]
• Useful tools for Windows - This website has some useful free tools for Windows
• Free Avast! Virus Cleaner - avast! Virus Cleaner is available free for every user. This tool will help you remove selected worm infections from your computer.
• Avant Browser 10.0 Build 121 Final - Avant Browser is a fast, stable, user-friendly, versatile web browser. Avant Browser is a multi-window browser which features with many functions such as Pop-up Stopper, Built-in Google Searching, Safe Recovery, Integrated Cleaner and Advanced Browsing Options.
• Advanced X Video Converter 3.9.18 - Advanced X Video Converter is a comprehensive video software that makes it easy to Convert, Join, and Split video files among AVI (DivX, XviD, MPEG-4 ...), MPEG (MPEG-1, MPEG-2), WMV, ASF, VCD (.dat), SVCD, DVD formats. It can also extract audio track and images from videos.
• Mozilla Sunbird - Mozilla has finally released the official Sunbird Calendar for mass consumption.
• eMule 0.45a - eMule (download full install / updates files only) is a filesharing client which is based on the eDonkey2000 network, but offers more features than the standard eDonkey client, because it's opensource but under the restrictions of the GPL License. (thanks nitrox)
• XP Codec Pack 1.0.1 - XP Codec Pack 1.0.1 includes: AC3Filter 1.01a RC5, AVI Splitter 1.0.0.3, CDXA Reader 1.0.0.0, CoreAAC 1.1.0, CoreFlac Decoder 0.4, FFDShow MPEG-4 Video Decoder 2004.10.12, GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder 0.1.2.0, Matroska Splitter 1.0.2.4, Media Player Classic 6.4.8.3, OggSplitter/CoreVorbis 1.0.0.0, RealMedia Splitter 1.0.0.9, RadLight MPC Filter 1.0.0.4, RadLight APE Filter 1.0.0.4, RadLight OFR Filter 1.0.0.4, RadLight TTA Filter 1.0.0.2, VSFilter 2.33.
• nHancer (NVIDIA Profile Editor) - The programmer of this handly little tool was very rather unhappy with nVidia's own control panel, especially with its game profile editing module.
• ATI FireGL Display driver 8.083 - ATI's FireGL cards are designed to accelerate 3D workstation applications based on OpenGL and Microsoft DirectX 9.0. With full certification on the leading computer aided design (CAD), architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) and digital content creation (DCC) applications, ATI FireGL is the high performance choice for graphics professionals working in Windows. 
• 2005 New Year Driver Pack Official Released (supports Live, Audigy 1/2/ZS)  - This software pack is a crack/mod based on the original CD of Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook & Audigy4 Pro. Please read the followings carefully. They removed the package though. Anyone know a good mirror?