SECURITY...

• Windows XP update starts to weed out pirate keys - Microsoft has started implementing features in upgrades to Windows XP which specifically prevent users of pirated keys from upgrading parts of the operating system. What this means, for example, is that if you upgrade the Media Player to version 10, and you're using a pirated copy of XP, you'll lose functionality on your machine.
• Ten New Security Holes in Windows XP SP2  - Ten new security holes in Windows XP Service Pack 2 have been discovered, so get ready to insert new patches into your patch management schedule. Microsoft recently announced their Security Bulletin Advance Notification Program, which gives administrators a several days advance notice of upcoming patches, however these new security holes were announced by security product maker Finjan Software.
• Cyber Crime Tools Could Serve Terrorists -FBI - The hacking and identity theft tools now earning big money for mainly eastern European organized crime could be used by terrorists to attack the United States, an FBI official said on Wednesday. FBI Deputy Assistant Director Steve Martinez said cyber crime was no longer the domain of teenage geeks but had been taken over by sophisticated gangs.
• Unsecure Ftpd on HP PSC 2510 Printer - This printer comes with an ftp daemon which allows anonymous access, and drops the user into a write only directory. By default anyone from anywhere can drop a file into this directory and the printer will print the document. There is no documentation about this feature, nor is there anyway to change (enable/disable) it via any of their software or on the printer itself. HP Tech. support says that if you don't want this feature then you should hook up the printer as a local printer, however this printer comes with both wireless and wired connectors on the back.
• Cisco IOS DHCP Blocked Interface Denial-of-Service - Cisco IOS devices running branches of Cisco IOS version 12.2S that have Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or relay agent enabled, even if not configured, are vulnerable to a denial of service where the input queue becomes blocked when receiving specifically crafted DHCP packets.

OFF-TOPIC...

• Study: Vitamin E may do more harm than good - Vitamin E supplements, which millions take in the hope of longer, healthier lives, may do more harm than good, researchers reported on Wednesday.
• Moving brain implant seeks out signals  - A device that automatically moves electrodes through the brain to seek out the strongest signals is taking the idea of neural implants to a new level. Scary as this sounds, its developers at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena say devices like this will be essential if brain implants are ever going to work. Implants could one day help people who are paralysed or unable to communicate because of spinal injury or conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). Electrodes implanted in the brain could, in principle, pick up neural signals and convey them to a prosthetic arm or a computer cursor.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Mozilla Mulls Desktop Search Features for Firefox Browser - Having launched the much-awaited version 1.0 of the Firefox browser on Tuesday, the Mozilla Foundation is busy planning future enhancements to the open-source product, including the possibility of integrating it with a variety of desktop search tools.
• Google to support POP connection (for some) - Looks like Gmail is about to officially offer POP access, according to this message in their support database. This function has already been enabled by lots of third party tools, but has been expected from Google themselves for quite a while. Text for their configuration instructions is incomplete, make sure to use port 995 for pop.gmail.com and to enable SSL. One current drawback is that mail sent from the web client appears in the Inbox. In addition, Google is working on adding an antivirus-scanning feature to the Web mail service--possibly by licensing an existing technology--and on developing an HTML interface to make Gmail compatible with browsers that don't support JavaScript.
• Death Knell Sounds for Nullsoft, Winamp - The last members of the original Winamp team have said goodbye to AOL and the door has all but shut on the Nullsoft era, BetaNews has learned. Only a few employees remain to prop up the once-ubiquitous digital audio player with minor updates, but no further improvements to Winamp are expected.
• Microsoft Rejects Itanium Chips from Operating Systems for Clusters - A report over CNET News.com claims the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said its Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition for clusters that contain up to 128 processors will not run on Intel Itanium 2 chips without disclosing the exact reasons for the move, but noting that it had something to with "demand for the product". It is unclear, whether future incarnations of Windows for clusters will support Intel Itanium 2 chips.
• Intel dominates TOP500 supercomputer list - In the 24th edition of the TOP500 List of World's Fastest Supercomputers released on November 8, 232 of the systems included are powered by Intel Xeon processors. Intel processors, including the Itanium and Xeon, now power 318 (63.6%) of the top 500 systems. IBM Power CPUs rank second with 54 systems, Hewlett-Packard (HP) CPUs third with 50 systems and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fourth with 31 systems.
• Modded XBOX drives are banned from XBOX Live - Mr. Belvedere reported in CDFreak's Standalone Devices & Home Entertainment Forum that many XBOX live accounts gone banned after Microsoft has updated the XBOX live configuration on November 8. Your account will get banned when you use another harddisk as the original, when you use an other EEPROM or when your Modchip is enabled. Another article can be found here.
• Microsoft to release three versions of Xbox 2 - The standard Xbox Next will not include a hard drive, which will allow Microsoft to cut costs on this basic unit. Xbox Next HD, as you might imagine, does include a hard drive and will offer increased functionality based on this. Xbox Next PC is, according to the presentation, an entry-level PC that runs Windows and all standard PC software. It also includes CD Burner, Wireless keyboard, mouse and controller and will work best connected to a high-definition TV or PC monitor. Media Center functionality - like movies, music and photos - is also included. The device will also play most available PC games.

HARDWARE...

• Sharp introduces a new Blu-ray Disc recorder with hard drive/DVD - Sharp Corporation announces the introduction into the Japanese market of a new Blu-ray Disc Recorder with Hard Drive/DVD. The new BD-HD100 can record and play back high-definition pictures to/from the built-in hard drive and Blu-ray Discs with exactly the same high resolution seen in digital Hi-Vision (HDTV) broadcast images.
• Fujitsu Siemens Computers launches the LIFEBOOK T4010 - Equipped with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology and, depending on the model, either a 1.6 or 1.8 GHz Intel Pentium M Processor with 2MB second-level cache, the LIFEBOOK T4010 delivers top performance, wireless mobility and long battery life. Thanks to integrated Bluetooth, wireless LAN, FireWire, USB 2.0, IrDA, modem and SD/memory stick slot, the possibilities when connecting peripheral devices or exchanging data are practically boundless.
• AMD 90nm Winchester CPU review - Legit Reviews has posted a piece on the new AMD 90nm 3500+ processor. "After having the 3500+ Winchester for almost two weeks I am very impressed with this CPU. It incorporates all the positives of the Newcastle it replaces, with a huge drop in operating temperatures. While some people will complain that there is virtually no performance boost over the 130nm technology, the optimists amongst us will look at an AMD processor that was 10C cooler at 2.64GHz, running without a hiccup"
• MSI X700 PRO review - MSI has done a decent job in turning an RV410 GPU into a fully-fledged retail package. L160 or so buys you a competent midrange graphics card and a bundle to rival the best. Too often manufacturers overlook the bundle but MSI hasn't made that mistake. There's games aplenty and documentation is excellent.
• HighPoint RocketRAID 1640 PCI 4 Channel SATA RAID Controller review - hardCOREware.net takes a look at the HighPoint RocketRAID 1640 PCI 4 Channel SATA RAID Controller.
• Creative Zen Portable Media Center review - Adrian's Rojak Pot has posted a review of Creative Zen Portable Media Center.
• XG Vigor 500 Power Supply review - LAN Addict takes a look at XG's Vigor 500 Power Supply.
• Swiftech H20-120 Rev2 Athlon 64 Water Cooling Kit review - TweakTown takes an in-depth look at Swiftech's newest water cooling kit by Mike. They test the H20-120 Rev2 with an AMD Athlon FX-53 processor and compare it against one of the best air coolers on the market today.
• Altec Lansing AHS-602 Headset - The AHS-602 creates 3D sound using SRS Headphone Technology. Sounds perfect for the LAN party. SRS Headphone technology is an audio enhancement technology that provides a realistic and spacious listening experience through standard headphones. Based on the same psychoacoustic research as the patented, Sound Retrieval System (SRS) and further refined for use with headphones.
• Acer AL1921ms 19in TFT monitor - As for the colour scales, again this 8-bit panel coped well with portraying clean and constant colours right through the ramps although as I've said earlier, they're not as vibrant or as well saturated as I had hoped. This was further reinforced in my images and our test DVD movie where the overall look was one that lacked real punch. That's not to say the AL1921ms could not handle movies. In actual fact, movie playback was silky and suffered from much less noise than the 17in LG Flatron L1730P I reviewed before and that's comparing a TFT monitor with a 25ms response time with one that has a 12ms one.
• UPS Roundup - All of the review UPS units feature line conditioning, also known as Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR). This feature is what protects your equipment from surges, spikes, etc. by ensuring the power stream remains steady without any fluctuations in voltage.
• USB Computer Desk Lamp review - Need some more light at your computer desk? Something that uses very little electricity, yet provides lots of light? This just might be your answer. A USB powered Desk Lamp. But ah, this one is a bit different. I expected it to use LED's. Nope, this one uses a white CCFL. Isn't that slick?
• When Is A Good Time To Upgrade?  - Hector Martinez takes a deeper look at what makes us want to buy the latest gadgets. What are your options, and when should you actually just keep what you already have?
• Home Networking DIY Guide - PC Stats has posted a home networking guide.

SOFTWARE...

• AVG Free Edition v7.0 - AVG Free Edition (download) is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).

• W32.Mydoom@mm Removal Tool 1.2.0 - The W32.Mydoom@mm Removal Tool does the following:  Terminates W32.Mydoom@mm, Backdoor.Zincite.A, W32.Zindos.A, and Backdoor.Nemog viral processes. Terminates the viral thread running under Explorer.exe. Deletes W32.Mydoom@mm, Backdoor.Zincite.A, W32.Zindos.A, and Backdoor.Nemog files.  Reverses the changes made to the registry by all aforementioned threats. Repairs the Hosts file, if the computer infected with Backdoor.Nemog.

• Spybot Search and Destroy Detection Update 2004-11-10 - Don't forget to update your Spybot S&D detections!

• Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) Utility: Component Checker  - Component Checker utility has been redesigned to provide XML support. The new tool includes updated snapshots for MDAC 2.7 SP1 on Windows XP SP1 and MDAC 2.8.

• Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB873362) - This optional update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail. This update was released in November 2004.

• TCTool: Glonim 1.00 - Glonim is a realtime patch for Windows that adds many "cool" features to the operating system, some probably never seen before. The program adds animations in many styles to when most windows open and close, make windows transparent whilst they are being dragged, etc.

• DivX Pro Plasma Alpha build 1394 (Tritium) - DivX (download) is a package that includes all the DivX codec, player, utilities, and documentation that you need to play DivX files.

• Fresh View v3.40 - Fresh View - your free Multimedia Manager has been upgraded to version 3.40. What's new: option to convert icons to bmp. Just install it over the old version on your PC.

• Philips DVDR1640P DVD-Writer - Philips has released a new firmware for the Philips DVDR1640P DVD-Writer (Philips DVDR1620K/00 and Philips DVDR1640K/00) ~ download

• nForce 64-Bit Driver 6.23 - This is a beta package of nForce drivers is for use with Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Extended Systems build 1069 or later. (thanks Warp2Search)