SECURITY...

• Scots man held over DDoS charges -  27 year-old man suspected of launching denial of service attacks is to appear in a Scottish court today following his arrest on Friday, 14 January in a joint operation between Scottish police and the US Secret Service. Police searched housesin Elgin, north east Scotland and seized some computers.
• Gambling Sites Battle DDoS Attacks - Many of the gambling sites suffering DDoS attacks are in offshore data and hosting centres, so any large scale data flood could knock out access to many more sites than just the one the criminals were targeting, said Mr King. This overspill effect was only likely to grow as attacks grow in size and scale.
• BREED's game servers vulnerable - The game server can be easily crashed through the sending of an empty UDP packet. In fact if the packet size is equal to zero, the game passes a NULL pointer to the function used to parse the packet's content.
• Apple iTunes Playlist Parsing Buffer Overflow Vulnerability - Remote exploitation of a buffer overflow vulnerability in Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes music player allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. The problem specifically exists when parsing playlist files that contain long URL file entries.

OFF-TOPIC...

• Welcome to Titan - After a seven-year, four-million-kilometre journey, the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Huygens probe is now sitting on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The probe landed on Titan's surface Jan 14, 350 years after it was discovered. The probe has begun sending data, including first pictures and audio, which sounds like some celestial heartbeat. ~ Titan's orange squash has scientists gasping / Color Photos Reveal Details of Titan's Surface
• Religions in World of Warcraft? - Landover Baptist Church say (thanks Slashdot) Christian game enthusiasts around the U.S.A. are turning the world of Azeroth inside the new video game, "World of Warcraft" into a mission field, where virtual battles are fought and real souls are won to the Lord Jesus Christ.
• EA Considering Sims TV Show - Reuters is carrying the news that Electronic Arts is considering creating a television show based on "The Sims". The show would allow viewers to vote on what the avatars in the show would do: "One idea could be that you're controlling a family, telling them when to go to the kitchen and when to go to the bedroom, and with this mechanism you have gamers all over the world 'playing the show."
• Celebrity Soundboards - There're various audio clips/quotes from celebrities in TV shows and/or movies.
• Biology Meets Microchips to Make Tiny Robots - Rat cells grown onto microscopic silicon chips worked as tiny robots, perhaps a first step toward a self-assembling device, researchers working in the United States reported on Sunday. They described a new method for attaching living cells to silicon chips. They then and got the combined entities to move like tiny, primitive legs
• One last, long campout for "the Star Wars guy" - Jeff Tweiten lives on a periwinkle blue, fold-out futon on the sidewalk in front of the Cinerama Theatre. He is not homeless, but camping out for 139 days. Waiting. For Godot, you wonder? An organ transplant? The end of the world? Tweiten is waiting for "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," which opens May 19.

TECHNOLOGY...

• OpenOffice.org Mac OS X Delivery Schedule - No engineering work has been performed on Quartz or Aqua development within the OpenOffice.org project since mid 2003. For the last year and a half all engineering work focusing on a native Mac OS X OpenOffice.org version has been concentrated in the NeoOffice/J project, using a combination of Java and Carbon technologies to replace X11.
• Microsoft, Alcatel team to make calls from the desktop - French telecommunications company Alcatel Thursday said it has signed a deal with Microsoft to help develop applications that allow users to make phone calls from their computers. Istanbul is the front-end application for Microsoft's upcoming Live Communications Server 2005 product, which links LCS 2005 with users' telephones.
• Sony PSP "update" adds office apps, browser, email - Sony may be preparing to release its first PlayStation Portable (PSP) update, if a file that briefly appeared on the web this weekend is what it purports to be: a leaked copy of an early version of the update code. Whatever its provenance, the software certainly includes some interesting features. In addition to the usual bug fixes, the update is said to add not only a web browser and an email program, but a word processor and a spreadsheet. At this stage, the translations from the original Japanese exploration of the alleged PSP update file doesn't make it clear whether these are fully functioning office apps - or simply readers put in place to handled emailed attachments. Given the device's nature, we suspect that latter, but early talk of a PSP keyboard accessory has led some observers to suggest they're the real thing.
• Apple hoping music fans follow iPod to Mac mini computers - The diminutive Mac mini, available after Jan. 22, is a full-blown computer, complete with a 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 256 megabytes of RAM and a 40 gigabyte hard drive. But the price tag and lunch-box-sized packaging include no room for peripherals of any kind. Consumers can, however, spend an extra $100 for a double-sized 80 gigabyte hard drive and a slightly faster 1.42 GHz chip. Or, as some naysayers are noting, consumers can spend around $599 on an entry-level Dell or Gateway system, which would include a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
• Dual-Layer Standard May Disappear Soon - Dual-Layered (DL) DVD writers may be affordable, but the question of concern is the media prices. The price per DL media averages out to $10.00, which is shockingly high. We talked to manufacturers at this year's CES about prices and what they thought about DL media in general. The replies we received were far from positive and disappointing. According to a few blank media providers, DL standard may not have a bright future ahead of it. The reason is the upcoming Blu-Ray and HD DVD standards that are supported by world's top most corporations. Due to the aforementioned standards, DL simply appears to be redundant and more of a filler in the industry until Blu-Ray and HD DVD emerge in mass quantities. As far as prices are concerned, you can probably expect them to drop $6.00 to $4.00 per disc, but not much lower than that.

HARDWARE... 

• 754 pin AMD mobile Semprons range complete - Japanase site Akiba PC Hotline said that socket 754 mobile Sempron chips at ratings of 2600+, 2800+ and 3000+ are for sale. These chips, according to site, consume 62W and are for sale at Y10,800 (~$105), Y13,800 (~$135) and Y14,800 (~$145) respectively.
• Logitech readies top gaming mouse - Logitech is about to change gaming peripherals once again with a new mouse. One of the things it did not announce at CES was the new 518 mouse. This successor to the MX510 gaming mouse combines the best of the older one, the laser technology from the MX1000, and has a new twist. The twist is adjustable DPI, intended for the gamer. The 518 has a hardware switch that will instantly change the sensitivity from 800 to 1200 to 1600DPI.
• Abit's Fatal1ty-AA8XE motherboard - At over $220 online, the Fatal1ty-AA8XE is far from cheap, but it's no more expensive than other premium 925XE motherboards. With plenty of OTES cooling, a decent cable bundle, a tweak-filled BIOS, and uGuru delivering the best hardware monitoring around, the Fatal1ty-AA8XE is definitely a premium board worthy of any Pentium 4 overclocking enthusiast.
• Winfast NF4UK8AA-8ERKS NF4 Ultra Board - This board, NF4UK8AA-8EKRS supports the Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64 processor, 4 GB DDR400, USB 2.0, PCI Express 16x, 8 ch audio, 1394, GbE LAN, NVRAID, SATA. The board also comes built in with overclocking features like voltage adjustments for VDIMM, VCORE, Vhtt. FSB is adjustable to 300MHz.
• Sapphire Radeon X800 (R430) - One thing that can be noted on this board is that it features full 2ns GDDR3 RAM, which is the same RAM used on the X800 XL and numerous other higher end boards. Given that X800's RAM is only running at 350MHz this represents a fairly serious underclock of that RAM and board vendors could very well just utilise DDR memory closer to those ratings. As such, while we believe initial board samples will use 2ns GDDR3 RAM this may not continue further into the lifetime of the board.
• ATI Radeon X800 Pro - Viper Lair has posted a review of the ATI Radeon X800 Pro
• Asus Extreme N6800 GeForce 6800 Ultra PCIe - Even in single card scenarios, the GeForce 6800 Ultra PCIe proves itself to be a faster overall card compared to ATI’s Radeon X800 XT, although this may be a hollow victory. ATI’s next generation Radeon X850 XT cards will be shipping in early February and will likely give ATI the performance edge to best the 6800 Ultra in single card systems. When SLI is added to the mix though, there is simply no question that dual 6800 Ultra PCIe cards perform much faster. Keep in mind though, in order to truly see the performance benefits of such a high-end SLI system, resolutions and image quality settings must be set at ultra-high levels.
• LG GSA-4163B Triple Format Double Layer DVD Writer - This one-of-a-kind triple format DVD writer gained quite a bit of interest since its release. The successor to the 4120B was the 4160B, which did not bring enough new features worth an upgrade consideration. LG Electronics has recently released their latest DVD writer, the GSA-4163B. This new drive finally offers 4x double layer writing and should compete well with all other 4x double layer writers currently on the market.
• Seagate 5GB Pocket Hard Drive -  While it is not as small as a USB flash drive, it is extremely portable and convenient thanks to its retractable USB cable.
• Corsair Flash Voyager Flash Memory Drive - Adrian Rojak take a look at the Corsair Flash Voyager USB flash memory drive. In particular, the 512MB model.
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 LGA775 P4 Heatpipe Cooler - Tweaknews.net has posted a review of Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 LGA775 P4 Heatpipe Cooler.
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 review - The Freezer 64 utilizes a patented fan that creates almost no noise. Hopefully, this heatsink will be just as effective as their VGA Silencers were.
• Superpower XP03P Gaming Case - Hi-techreviews.com has posted a review of the Superpower XP03P Gaming Case which looks like something betwen a Power Mac G5 and a Star Wars battle pack.
• Thermaltake Xpeaker Panel - MikhailTech take a look at Thermaltake's bold attempt at a decent built-in speaker system dubbed the Xpeaker.
• PolarFLO TT AMD, Intel Water Block - These PolarFLO TT water block kits come with all the necessary fixings & screws/spacers to install including the necessary 'Y' tube adapter.
• Buffalo USB WiFi Adapter - Although the WLI-U2-KG54AI-3 doesn't have any flash storage that you can make use of, it does have 4MB of storage embedded, and it's here that the drivers are stored. When you plug the device into your USB port, it recognises the 4MB storage area as a CD-ROM with an ISO image on it. The WLI-U2-KG54AI-3 then initiates some kind of ISO extraction utility, and loads the drivers seamlessly.
• BatteryFree Wireless Optical Mouse - PDAToday has posted a review of the NB-30 BatteryFree Wireless Optical Mouse and EasyGo Optical Mouse From A4 Tec.
• Lexmark P6250 All-in-One Inkjet printer, scanner, fax - Being a multifunction device, and a photo-orientated one at that, the P6250 comes with quite a bit of software. There's the All-in-One Centre, which offers easy access to a series of common tasks, such as transferring images to your PC from the card reader or scanner, sending images via email and, of course, viewing and printing them.
• Dell Axim X50v PDA - There are three new Axims in the X50 range - a basic one offering a 416Mhz processor, a QVGA screen, 64MB of ROM and Bluetooth - a 520MHz version with 128MB of ROM and integrated Wi-Fi - and at the top-of-the-range, and the X50v, which offers a 620MHz CPU and a 3.7in screen boasting full VGA (480 x 640) resolution. Dell is also now offering a bundle with a GPS solution as well.

GUIDES...

• TI-Calculator Turbo Page - Curently, the TI-81, TI-82, TI-83, TI-85, TI-86, TI-89, TI-92,a nd TI-92 Plus can be accelerated. The 81, 85 and 86 can be accelerated to approximately 2-3x their normal speed, about 18 MHz. The TI-82 and TI-83 can also be accelerated to about 1.5-2x normal speed. They only about double their speed to around 12 MHz. The TI-89 and 92 can be accelerated to around 20 MHz!
• Medium Business Guide for Backup and Recovery v 1.0 - This guide provides referential guidance on implementing techniques to protect against data loss due to hardware failures, software corruption, or accidental deletion.

SOFTWARE...

• Novell offers free SuSE 9.2 download - Novell said it is making SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 available as a free download. Novell said the version differs from the LiveDVD version, is a fully installable version, and is not time limited. (thanks DistroWatch)
• Bugzilla 2.18 Goes Gold - Bugzilla is server software designed to help you manage software development. It contains many new features, a huge number of bug fixes, some security updates, and more. It is also the first Bugzilla version to run unmodified on Windows. In parallel, security release 2.16.8 and a new development snapshot 2.19.2 have been announced.
• Delete Doctor 1.1 - Delete files that are difficult to delete, such as some files left by viruses and trojans, or files with corrupted file names. This program can also delete files like the "index.dat" files, which store Internet history, by scheduling them for deletion upon system restart.
• GMail Drive 1.0.5 - GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google GMail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.
• CloneDVD v2.6.2.3 - Elby/SlySoft has released an updated version of the CloneDVD. This latest version addresses a problem with the automatic update check, that was introduced in the previous CloneDVD version.
• SpeedFan 4.20 - SpeedFan (download) is a freeware program that monitors fan speeds, temperatures and voltages in computers with hardware monitoring chips. SpeedFan can even access S.M.A.R.T. info for those hard disks that support this feature (almost all :-)) and show hard disk temperatures too, if supported
• Koepi`s XviD Codec 1.1.0 Beta 1 - XviD (download) is an ISO MPEG-4 compliant video codec. It`s no product, it`s an open source project which is developed and maintained by lots of people from all over the world.
• 3dfx Voodoo 3/4/5 alpha 22 (SFFT) - Did you know it's still possible to play Half-life 2 and Doom 3 on an old 3dfx card? For the few of you still running them, there are some new 3dfx Voodoo 3/4/5 Alpha SFFT drivers. These drivers are Windows 2000/XP compatible and I've recompressed the archive towards 1,7 MB. The archive has both Windows 2000/XP drivers for 3dfx Voodoo 3, 4 and 5 graphics cards.
• ForceWare 70.78 Win2000/XP - Originally released as Quadro fx1400 drivers from Dell this is a NVIDIA Forceware driver targeted at the professional cards. The .inf file has been modified to make these drivers compatible with all graphics cards. This set is not WHQL, ), nView comes in a seperate directory with it's own setup file. The drivers are date stamped on the 23rd of November.