SECURITY...

• MS Security Advisory reveals TCP flaw in Win XP, 2003, 2000 - The bug resides in Microsoft's implementation of the TCP/IP stack. A tenacious attacker could remotely alter the TCP connection timer, causing existing TCP connections to time out. By doing this repeatedly, an attacker can effectively launch a Denial of Service (DoS) attack on the targeted machine. Microsoft stresses that anyone attempting to exploit this flaw would first have to "predict or learn the IP address and port information of the source and of the destination of an existing TCP network connection." Programs keeping connections open for long periods of time or having predictable traffic flows are most vulnerable.
• Sober reloaded - Zombie PCs infected with the Sober-P worm are set to reactivate on Monday, 23 May. Sober-P posed as offers of a free ticket for next year's World Cup and set up backdoor access on compromised PCs, claiming thousands of victims since its first appearance earlier this month. These infected machines were later used to generate a German hate-mail spam outbreak this week. The sheer volume of this deluge illustrated the potential for further mischief.
• "Secure" Netscape released with vulnerabilities - Netscape has released the newest version of its browser with serious known vulnerabilities, claim developers of the code which forms the basis of the product. Netscape 8 is based on version 1.0.3 of the open source Mozilla Firefox browser, with features such as a new interface and ability to use the Internet Explorer rendering engine added. (ed.note: Netscape already released _fixed_ Netscape 8.01)
• "New" BitTorrent forces anti-piracy regroup - BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen has eliminated the need for Web site hosting of centralised files known as 'trackers' in the latest beta version of the peer-to-peer software. These easily-located files have been a key resource for anti-piracy units in identifying infringers downloading and sharing copyrighted material. The enhancement may cause problems in shutting down the illegal online distribution of software and content, according to software piracy watchdog, the BSA.

OFFTOPIC...

• Revenge of the Sith - So what did you think of Revenge of the Sith? Discuss!
• Kelsey Grammer is Beast in X-Men 3 - ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com got a chance to talk to Marvel Studios President and CEO Avi Arad on Tuesday afternoon about X-Men 3 and he revealed new details about the anticipated third installment
• Marvel Studios' Arad on Upcoming Projects (Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, SpiderMan3, Iron Man, Hulk 2...) - ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com talked to Marvel Studios' President and CEO Avi Arad and we asked about the projects the company is working on.
• NASA Unveils Lunar O2 Challenge - The first team of scientists to invent a way to extract breathable oxygen from lunar soil will be awarded $250,000, NASA announced on Thursday.
• Californians Can Now Log on for Forecast on Modest Quakes - The United States Geological Survey began publishing a public Web site yesterday that displays the statistical probabilities of a modest earthquake occurring in California over the next 24 hours. Lowest-risk areas appear in blue on the map, highest in red. Nothing on the map yesterday was red or even yellow, the next-highest level of concern.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Xbox 360 backwards compatibility confirmed - The Xbox 360 will be backwards compatible with the Xbox, according to Microsoft. However, current game titles will need to be 'recompiled' for the new hardware in the 360, the firm has told journos at E3. Will there simply be a patch for each game, perhaps available over Live? How much work is needed to be done to each game to get it to run? The Microsoft statement that first on the list of titles to be compiled - note, not among the first, which would imply a quantity - are the Halo titles, rather indicates that it's quite a lot of work to get them done.
• Apple Recalls G4 Batteries - The recalled lithium ion batteries were manufactured for use with the 12-inch iBook G4, the 12-inch PowerBook G4, and the 15-inch PowerBook G4. Batteries recalled include those with model numbers A1061, A1078, and A1079 and serial numbers that begin with HQ441 through HQ507 or 3X446 through 3X510.
• Dell wants $40 for upgrade to 64bit Windows XP - Intels representative on earth - Dell Inc, will charge you a staggering $40 for upgrading your copy of Windows XP 32-bit to Windows XP 64-bit, it has emerged. That compares to around $12 or so the Vole is charging if you take up its offer to upgrade - caveats compris.
• Japanese boffins develop vampire battery - Japanese researchers have developed a new fuel cell that can run on human blood. The team at Tohoku University's Department of Bioengineering and Robotics have developed the tiny fuel cell to power implanted medical devices like pacemakers or blood sugar monitors. It can produce 0.2 milliwatts of power, enough for simple processing and radio communication.
• Particle Accelerator Used to Decipher Text - A particle accelerator is being used to reveal the long-lost writings of the Greek mathematician Archimedes, work hidden for centuries after a Christian monk wrote over it in the Middle Ages. Highly focused X-rays produced at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were used last week to begin deciphering the parts of the 174-page text that have not yet been revealed. The X-rays cause iron in the hidden ink to glow.
• Toshiba announces its first network equipped DVD recorder with 250GB HDD - Toshiba has announced RD-XS54 Multi-Drive (DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW) DVD Recorder with a 250GB Hard Disc Drive. Not only can users record and playback their favorite TV shows and build personal movie libraries with the RD-XS54, they can also expand the recorder's capabilities through other devices and rooms in the home.

HARDWARE... 

• AMD to launch dual-core Athlon 64 on May 31 - AMD will launch the first dual-core version of its Athlon 64 desktop processor at Taiwan's Computex trade show on May 31.
• Intel to Enable 64-bit Support for Low-Priced Pentium 4 - Intel Corp. on Friday disclosed plans to enable 64-bit processing capability on a low-cost Intel Pentium 4 processor clocked at 2.66GHz. The chip is likely to be priced well below $163 and enable very low-cost computers with Enhanced Memory 64 Technology
• Innovatek Cool-Matic X850 Available - The Cool-Matic X850 is especially designed to suit the ATI Radeon X850/X800 Graphic Cards (with AGP and PCI-Express Interface) and cools the GPU and the memory on the VGA card. The X850 fits on all ATI Radeon X850 and X800 in all AGP and PCI-E versions. The integrated cooper core enables highest cooling power and maximum performance - while keeping noise levels near silent. The cooler does not block a PCI Slot and comes with standard 8x1 connectors aswell.
• G70 scores 7800 in 3DMark05 - The G70 core chooses a name is the Geforce 7,800 series, could some three editions respectively be GTX(Ultra), GT, Standard, the core uses 0.11 micro metric system regulation, will have 24 assembly lines, the GTX core frequency is 430MHz, will support the CineFX 4.0 engines and the Intellisample 4.0 specifications, but the DirectX edition or 9.0c, will support Sharder Model 3.0. The memory aspect uses the GDDR3 memory pellet, the speed reaches the 1.4GHz frequency width is 256Bit, but the official issue date will be on June 22, 2005.
• Abit AX8 motherboard - Overclocking the AX8 was a pleasure. The VIA K8T800 based KV8 Pro overclocked rather well and I had no doubts that the K8T890 chipset, which is essentially the same chipset as the K8T800, would yield any poor results. I proceeded to find the highest HTT allowed with dual sticks of memory installed. The first test will be conducted with the memory divider at 1:1.
• Sapphire Set to Use "Liquid-Metal" Coolers - Sapphire is experimenting with liquid metal cooling for its new Blizzard Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition. Sapphire's Blizzard RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition for PCI Express will be equipped with 256MB of GDDR3 and will operate at 540MHz/1180MHz for core/memory. The board will come equipped with 2 DVI-I ports. Pricing is yet unknown, but the graphics cards already exist in prototypes. The liquid-metal cooling technology is based on liquid metal cooling loops that contain a patented fluid called liquid-metal. Since the metal is electrically conductive, an electromagnetic pump is used to propel the liquid within a loop rather quickly. The liquid-metal loops act as typical heat-pipes: they rapidly and efficiently transfer heat from a heat-source to a radiator which is cooled-down either actively or passively.
• ATI's new AGP Radeons - Physically, the Radeon X800 XL AGP card is huge. At nearly nine inches long, it's the largest ATI graphics card we've ever had in the labs. Note that the card also sports a four-pin Molex connector; a PCI Express x16 slot has enough juice to power the X800 XL on its own, but the AGP version of the card needs a little help.
• ASUS W2P00VB notebook - This notebook model easily handles office and multimedia tasks, DirectX 9.0 games and graphics applications. The built-in TV-tuner together with a widescreen 17.1” matrix makes this notebook an entertainment and multimedia center, too. Adding to the notebook's appealing features are the wireless network adapter, LAN controller, and Bluetooth controller.
• PowerColor X850 XT Platinum Edition VIVO AGP - The card is a beast and power hungry one indeed. With 16 pipelines and remarkable performance no gamer will stray away from getting one of those unique VGA boards. Even though the X850XT is last year's refresh part it is here to compete with NVIDIA's offering -- GeForce 6800 Ultra. With great bundle, VIVO capabilities and vast amount of raw power, AGP users will love the PowerColor X850 XT Platinum Edition VIVO AGP.
• Gigabyte GV-RX80256D PCI Express Video Card - R&B Mods checked out the Gigabyte GV-RX80256D PCI Express video card
• Sapphire Radeon X850 XT PE AGP Video Card - The Sapphire Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition performed very well throughout our entire battery of benchmarks. In every game, except for Doom 3 and Chronicles of Riddick, the Sapphire Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition (and the ATI built X850) was the best performing card that we tested here. And where it did trail behind the GeForce 6800 Ultra, the GeForce's performance lead wasn't monumental.
• Crucial Radeon X850 XT 256MB PCI Express - Initial inspection of the Crucial X850XT PCI-E 256MB card appears to be following the ATi reference design to the letter. Under the massive cooler lies the R480 core, manufactured in the 0.13nm process and having over 160 million transistors. The card has 16 parallel pixel pipelines and 6 parallel vertex pipelines. There is 256MB of 256bit Quad-Channel GDDR3 memory attached o­n this card. The core runs at a frequency of 520MHz and the memory at 540MHz (1080MHz DDR).
• Gigabyte GeForce 6200 TurboForce vs TurboCache - The graphics card has a total bandwidth of 13.6GB/s, yet only features 64MB's of onboard memory clocked at 350MHz with a core clock of 350MHz. Theoretically the onboard memory only accounts for 5.6GB/s, the other 8GB/s is delivered via the PCI Express bus. Although this graphics card does support 256MB of memory, there is physically only 64MB of local memory found on the card. The other 192MB of memory is shared from the system RAM, which is of course accessed via the PCI Express bus. Another review can be found on THG.
• Jetart JACSH1 Graphics Card Cooler - However, its fan is louder than the fan used in the Zalman VF700 coolers. So, this cooler won't be a great choice for those who demand silent cooling. If silence is what you are looking for, the Zalman VF700Cu would still be a better choice. And if you want passive cooling, you should definitely go for the Zalman ZM80C-HP or ZM80D-HP. Of course, those coolers won't be as easy to install as the Jetart JACSH1!
• Seagate Barracuda 400GB 7200.8 Hard Drive - The Barracuda 7200.8 is a native SATA product and supports speeds of SATA 1.5Gb/s. Unlike some of the first batches of SATA drives, a native drive will bypass the legacy Task File reads and writes, as well as avoiding the limitation of 133 Mbytes/sec for Ultra DMA Mode 6 transfers. While the 7200.8 has some features of the Serial ATA II specification, the drive does not support SATA 3Gb/s transfer speeds. There tends to be some confusion that Serial ATA II = SATA 3Gb/s, but that is not necessarily true.
• Gigabyte GO-B5232A CD-RW Burner - InsaneTek takes a look at the Gigabyte B-5232A CDRW Burner/DVD ROM combo.
• Lite-On SOHW-1673S 16x DVD±RW  - The drive is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 4x DVD+R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. Of course, the SOHW-1673S can do more than read and write DVD's. Lite-On's new drive also boasts 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 24x rewriting speeds, and support for technologies like SMART-BURN and SMART-X.
• Belkin MediaPilot - The Belkin MediaPilot wireless keyboard is split into three separate parts - the actual keyboard, docking station, and a wrist rest. The keyboard itself is much like a combination of a laptop's condensed keyboard and a standard desktop keyboard in the sense that the keys are fully tactile and not flat, and on the right side are the home, page up, insert, delete, etc keys in addition to arrow keys in the standard inverted T arrangement. The keyboard's height steps up above the function keys, where all the hotkeys and multimedia controls reside.
• Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse - This product is a high-end mouse made specifically to suit the need of gamers. It is obvious that Logitech has been taking a hit in the gaming sector of the mouse market so that have responded with this product.
• Logitech MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse - If you currently own a corded--or worse yet--ball mouse then the MX 1000 is a no-brainer. Like the earlier MX 700 it games as well as a corded mouse. If you already own a recent optical, cordless mouse the question becomes more problematic. There are clear but subtle advantages of the new Logitech MX 1000, such as the new rechargeable lithium-ion battery mentioned above. Whether these advances warrant upgrading, though, depends on what model mouse you currently own and what your driving habits are.
• MonsterGecko PistolMouse FPS - Suited primarily for first person shooters, the PistolMouse is an 800dpi optical mouse masquerading as a Glock pistol.
• Creative I-Trigue 5600 5.1 Speakers - The I-Trigue 5600 is a cracking speaker set, with sound quality right up there alongside anything else in the same price range. If that range seems a little too rich for you, know that until you've enjoyed the pleasures of surround sound, it's impossible to appreciate how much it enhances the enjoyment of DVD movies and gaming.
• Epson AcuLaser CX11N - Multi-Function-Device - If a consumer All-in-One combines a colour inkjet printer and a scanner, a business All-in-One should combine a colour laser printer and a scanner. Until recently, though, the best you could do was a mono laser. Epson is changing all that with the AcuLaser CX11N, the first in a new range of multifunction devices, this one based on the company's C1100 colour laser engine

GUIDES... 

• How to Avoid Overheating - Hardware Secrets has posted an article about how to avoid overheating.
• Memory Cards Tutorial - Hardware Secrets posted a Memory Cards Tutorial.
• Low-End Buyer’s Guide Q2/2005 - The goal of this guide is to outline an entire low-end computer system for around $750. This includes the internal hardware, input devices, monitor and speakers.
• ASUS X850XT PE with Catalyst 5.1 ~ 5.5 - TCMagazine have a new Catalyst driver comparison online, done with the ASUS X850XT Platinum Edition.
• Xbox 360 GPU features - Both AnandTech and HardOCP take a look at Xbox 360 GPU.
• ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide /Updated/ - This guide refers to the latest Official ATI Catalyst drivers Version 5.5, including the ATI Catalyst Control Center. Make sure to check back regularly as the guide is updated for each new Catalyst release
• America's Army Tweak Guide Updated - TweakGuides.com updated their America's Army Tweak Guide. The fact that the game has been upgraded to the Unreal Engine 2.5 means many changes under the hood, and my guide covers all of these - from basic to advanced. Even if you have read the guide recently you should definitely go through it again to fine tune your America's Army setup.

SOFTWARE...

• Netscape Browser 8.0.1 - Just days after releasing the official 8.0 version, AOL has now come out with the 8.0.1 release (download)
• FastStone Image Viewer 2.1 - FastStone Image Viewer 2.0.5 is an image browser, viewer, converter and editor with an easy to use interface and a nice array of features that include resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks and more.
• FreeEnc 0.44 - FreeEnc is a free MPEG-2 encoder, which uses avcodec library to encode. This encoder takes AVISynth input(.avs) and outputs MPEG2 like QuEnc, but the main difference is that every parameter is tweakable, plus it comes with the optimized parameters of MencodeMe, which are known to produce great quality.
• Winamp 5 Full 5.091 Final - Winamp supports playback of many audio (MP3, OGG, AAC, WAV, MOD, XM, S3M, IT, MIDI, etc) and video types (AVI,ASF,MPEG,NSV), custom appearances called skins (supporting both classic Winamp 1.x/2.x skins and Winamp 3 freeform skins), audio visualization and audio effect plug-ins (including two industry dominating visualization plug-ins), an advanced media library, Internet radio and TV support, CD ripping, and CD burning.
• Folder View 2.1 - Files are often scattered around many different folders on the harddisk and locations on the network. Every time you want to copy, move, open or save a file, this situation leads you to a quest through levels of folders. With Folder View, these quests are over. Folder View enhances the Windows file Explorer by making all folders you need available in a single click. It integrates with other applications, speeding up opening and saving of files and also lets you copy and move files very quickly.
• BhoScanner 1.5  - It is known that the browser helper objects are loaded each time the browser is started up. Such objects run in the same memory context as the browser and can perform any action on the available windows and modules. For ex., a browser helper object can install hooks to monitor messages and actions, etc  BhoScanner (download) gives you a quick look at the BHOs installed on Local or Remote PC, tells you by coloured icons ( green icon - safe, yellow icon - unknown, red icon - harmful ) whether specific BHO is known to be safe or harmful.
• xpy 0.8.11 - xpy is a small tool which disables the default threats of a Windows XP installation.
• IBM - Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.04  - This download creates a self-booting DOS diskette to run the DFT utility. The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) provides a quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives. The Drive Fitness Test analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data.
• HWiNFO v4.9.6 (DOS) -  A new version of professional hardware information/diagnostics tool has been released. This new version (download 14days free trial) adds support for VIA P4M800 and PT894 + VT8287 chipsets, recognition of ATI X850 and X800XL cards, recognition and support of ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (RS480) chipset, SATA bus support for some nForce chipsets and more.
• HWINFO32 v1.53. (Win32) - This new version (download 14days free trial) fixes CPU clock ratio detection for some AMD K7 models, updates "unhiding" of ICH6(-M) SMBus host, adds support for ATI RADEON X850 XT, Pro, Platinum based on R481 and fixes DRAM Row memory info for VIA KT/PT880 chipsets.
• Xtreme G 76.45b (ForceWare) - This is the updated bugfixed version B. This is the Xtreme G driver which includes many performance and Image Quality tweaks. These are modified NVIDIA ForceWare drivers for Windows 2000 & XP.
• Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Network Connection 7.1.4.0 WHQL - Intel has released a new Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Driver and supports only Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet, and Windows 2000 Professional.
• Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit 1.04.0050 WHQL - Latest driver for the Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit. Warning: This one is for Windows 64 ONLY!!