SECURITY... 

• Microsoft reports second patch problem - This time, a problem with a critical patch related to Microsoft's DirectShow streaming media software is leaving some Windows 2000 users unprotected even after they have installed a patch. Windows 2000 users who have installed Microsoft DirectX Version 8.0 or 9.0 may not have fixed their software by installing Microsoft Security Update MS05-050, the company said in a statement posted Thursday to its Web site.
• Yahoo fixes Web mail security flaw - Yahoo has fixed a security flaw in its free Web-based e-mail service that opened the door to phishing scams, account hijacks and other attacks. The flaw, known as a cross-site scripting vulnerability, existed because Yahoo's Web site did not detect certain script tags in combination with certain special characters, according to SEC Consult, which issued an advisory on the flaw Friday.
• Exploit out for Zotob-like Windows flaw - Exploit code was published Friday for a Windows flaw similar to the vulnerability that led to the Zotob worm that wreaked havoc in August. The code takes advantage of a bug related to plug-and-play technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Microsoft provided a patch for the flaw on Oct. 11 in security bulletin MS05-047, along with fixes for 13 other Windows flaws.
• MySpace Worm Source Code - The MySpace worm uses XSS in order to access services on MySpace web site that are not available to not paying customers.
• Cisco 11500 Content Services Switch SSL DoS - Cisco CSS 11500 Series Content Services Switches (CSS) configured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) termination services are vulnerable to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack when processing malformed client certificates.

CRIME/LAW...

• Botnet operation controlled 1.5m PCs - A recently foiled botnet operation has turned out to be 15 times larger that police initially thought. On further investigation, authorities found that the operation had put about 1.5 million computers and servers under its control. The crime ring was thought to have created a botnet of 100,000 systems, which they claimed was the largest ever detected.
• Police hail car boot piracy bust - The UK games industry loses £2bn a year through fraud, but police and trading standards officers are claiming the capture of just £18,000 worth of counterfeit goods as a "major coup".
• Large scale piracy continues in China - The BSA estimates that 90 percent of all software sold in China is pirated. Vendors pushing wheelbarrows piled with CDs offer Windows 98, 2000 and XP for as little as 4 yuan-just 50 cents. A slightly higher-quality product is available from tiny, hole-in-the wall storefronts. There, a copy of the software still in its original packaging-or what looks like original packaging – is available for 18 yuan, or $2.25. Still a bargain.
• Major Book Publishers Sue Google - Google on Wednesday was sued by a major publishing association for digitizing library books without the permissions of copyright holders, the second such suit filed against the search engine giant.
• Suit filed over Nano scratches - Claiming that the iPod Nano has a widespread propensity for scratching easily, lawyers this week filed a class action suit against Apple Computer on behalf of those who have purchased the diminutive music player. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday on behalf of all those who have bought a Nano, alleges that Apple violated state consumer protection statutes, as well as express and implied warranties.

OFF-TOPIC

• DOOM Movie In Theaters - The DOOM movie has finally arrived in North American movie theaters. Here're a few reviews: Ars Technica, Edge, Film Freak Central, IGN Film Force, Zap2It.
• Xbox Live to close for 1 day on 24th October 2005 - Scheduled for October 24th, with full services to be resumed the following day, the company has confirmed that a number of enhancements and additional community and global ranking functionality will launch to coincide with the launch of its next generation console. Changes include the addition of Xbox Live Marketplace, and an 'achievements' record system, which catalogues every player's special accomplishments in every Xbox 360 game played, although all new additions will be invisible to gamers until the Xbox 360's US launch date on November 22nd.
• The End Of The Light Bulb? - This MSNBC article discussing the likely eventual replacement of common light bulbs by LEDs. That replacement is likely to come quicker thanks to an accidental discovery announced this week: "Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. ... When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened. 'I was surprised when a white glow covered the table,' Bowers said. 'The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow.'"  (thanks Slashdot.org)

TECHNOLOGY...

• AMD to standardize on Socket M2 - AMD plans to simplify its 90nm CPU platform with its 940-pin Socket M2 CPU design, according to motherboard makers. As Intel schedules to unify desktop PC- and notebook-use processors in the second half of 2006, AMD is looking to standardize a full CPU line for entry-level, middle-range and high-end segments, indicated the makers.
• Gizmondo handheld fails to impress - With GPS functionality bolstering its gaming and multimedia playback capabilities, the Gizmondo actually has something unique to offer. Unfortunately, the device costs $399 and lacks quality games. A cheaper Gizmondo is available without the GPS software, but that version forces users to sit through 40-second commercials several times a day.
• DVD Jon to relocate to United States for position at MP3Tunes - Jon Lech Johansen, the 21-year-old Norwegian media hacker nicknamed DVD Jon, is moving to San Diego to work for maverick tech entrepreneur Michael Robertson in what can only be described as the most portentous team-up since Butch met Sundance.
• Warner to release films in the Blu-ray Disc format - Warner Bros. has now officially announced that it has joined the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) and will release movies in the Blu-ray Disc format. This was an expected move after Paramount's announcement a couple of weeks ago.
• Studios aim to do away with VHS format by the end of 2006 - After 28 years, manufacturers have decided to stop making the tapes. By the end of 2006, companies within the home-video industry will phase out VHS technology, leaving only DVDs as the way in which people can buy or rent a movie.
• Video to PSP with Sony's Sugo Roku DVR in Japan - Engadget is reporting that Sony has just unveiled a DVD/HD recorder that can copy video direct to a Playstation Portable memory stick. Dubbed the RDR-AX75, the dual layer burning unit works with DVD+RW/+R, DVD-R/RW media and sports a nice sized 250GB hard disc.
• New PS2 suffers compatibility problems - According to PS2.IGN, the latest PS2 will have a troublesome time with seven PS2 games and as many as 40 PS1 games. The newest model, satin silver, is due for release in Japan next month, immediately before the Xbox 360 launch there. Aside from the plethora of backwards compatibility problems, there is a list of current gen PS2 games it freezes while playing. The list includes, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, F12002 and the newer Tekken 5.
• Murdoch gets Easynet - BSkyB has agreed to shell out £211m to acquire broadband ISP Easynet in a deal that catapults the satellite broadcaster into the UK's telecoms sector. The deal, which still needs shareholder approval, gives BSkyB the opportunity to offer its punters the all important "triple play" of TV, phone and internet in a move to rival merging cablecos NTL and Telewest.
• Seagate drive problems cause EMC, HP headaches - The problem, according to the source, is with a batch of Seagate SCSI Series 6, typically installed in disk arrays. A proportion of the drives are causing problems and when corporate customers contact support they are escalated swiftly to the highest levels.
• VIA launches integrated K8M890 chipset with DirectX9 support - Enabling support for DirectX 9.0 and Pixel Shader 2.0 for high quality video processing, the VIA K8M890 also boasts the Chromotion Video Display Engine for enhanced visual output, including support for all HDTV output formats up to 1920×1080, advanced 2D/3D graphics capabilities, comprehensive de-interlace support and DuoView for enhanced productivity and presentation capabilities

HARDWARE... 

• CPU - Athlon 64 3800+ / AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ CPU / AMD Opteron 254 CPU / Intel Paxville Dual Core Xeon 2.8 GHz / Intel Pentium D 840
• Motherboard - A8N32 SLI Deluxe / Aopen i915Ga-HFS Pentium M / DFI Infinity nForce4 Ultra / DFI LANParty UT RDX200 / EQS A72K9-CF Crossfire Edition Mainboard  / Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS / Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 (1) / Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 (2)
• Complete / SFF Systems - Apple Power Mac G5 / Dell XPS 600 Generation 5 PC / MSI Hetis 915 Lite Slim PC / Shuttle SD11G5 XPC SFF PC / Three Pentium M Barebones / Shuttle XPC SD31P SFF PC / Shuttle P2500G SFF System || First stage of HTPC project proves tricky
• Memory - DDR2 800MHz Roundup / Centon Advanced A2X512S4000LLU 1GB Dual RAM Channel Kit / Corsair 2GB PC4400 DDR - TWINX2048-4400PRO RAM Kit / Crucial CT2KIT6464Z40B 1GB Kit  / Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 / DDR2 800MHz Roundup: A-Data, Kingston, & Mushkin /   G.SKILL F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC PC4400 1GB memory  / OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 EB 1GB Dual Channel RAM Kit / OCZ Platinum PC4000 EB 2GB Dual Channel RAM Kit
• Storage - Seagate Momentus 5400.2 || Asus DVD-E616A / NEC ND-3540A / LG GSA-4167B / Pioneer DVR-110D and Toshiba SD-R5472 DVD Burners / Plextor PX-716AL / Pioneer DVR-110D / Samsung WriteMaster SE-W164 External DVD Writer || Lexar JumpDrive Sport 1 GB / OCZ Rally 2GB USB Flash Drive || Hewlett Packard StorageWorks DAT 72 USB
• Video - All-In-Wonder ATI X800XT / Albatron PC6600LEQ / ASUS Extreme N6600GT Silencer / ATI All-In-Wonder X800XT / BFGTech GeForce 7800 GT OC H2O / Chaintech 6800 PCI-E / ECS SDGE Multi-Graphics Card Technology / GeForce 6800 GT Roundup / GeForce 7800 GT Head to Head - Asus vs. AOpen / GeForce 7800 GT vs Radeon X1800 / HIS X700 IceQ and X800GT / MSI Theater 550PRO / NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Video Card and Biostar T-Force 6100-939 Motherboard / Sapphire X800GTO Graphics Cards - Fireblade and Limited / Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 Limited Edition / XFX GeForce 7800 GTX
• Monitor/TV - Test: Samsung SyncMaster 770P : PVA 6ms, 1500:1 / PC TV Tuner Primer
• Cooling - AeroCool AeroEngine II / Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev.3(in German) / Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 (Rev. 3) / Asetek VapoChill Micro / Gigabyte 3D cooler / Danger Den Acetal Maze4 GPU Block / NYKO Airflo EX Cooler / PrimeCooler Supersilent VGA Cooler Heatsink / Quiet PC Acoustifans and Ultra-Soft Silicone Fan Gaskets / Scythe Katana CPU Cooler / VapoChill Micro Cooler / Thermalright SI-120 CPU Cooler  / Zalman's CNPS9500 LED CPU cooler / Zalman Fatal1ty FS-C77 CPU Cooler
• WaterCooling - Prime Cooler Water Cooling / Thermaltake Tide Water / Thermaltake Tide Water VGA Cooling
• Case - Lian Li PC777b 20th Anniversary Edition PC Casing / Lian Li PC-777 Aluminum Case / Sansun SN-C001 BAT Case / Silverstone Temjin 5 TJ05B-TW / Sunbeam Trio Computer Gaming Case / ThermalRock Mystic HTPC Case / Thermaltake Shark Aluminium Gaming Case
• Modding - FrontX Panel / Matrix Orbital MX610
• PSU - Enermax Liberty - EL500AWT Power Supply / Enermax Liberty 620W PSU / E Power Tiger 550W PSU / Epsilon FSP700-80GL / Hiper Modular TypeR 580W PSU / MGE XG Magnum 500 Watt PSU / Revoltec Star Serie Chromus II (400W) PSU  / Seasonic (S412) 430W PSU
• Sound - Altec Lansing inMotion7 Portable Audio System for Apple iPod / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite  / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card / Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS soundcard || Logitech Z-5450 Wireless Surround Speaker / Steel Sound 5H-USB gaming headset  / Teufel Concept E 5.1 Soundsystem (in German) / Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 Studio Earphones / Zalman ZM-RS6F 5.1 Real Surround Sound Headphones
• Peripheral - ButtKicker Gamer / Logitech Wireless Mouse Roundup / Logisys Black LED Office Keyboard / Logisys 4 Direction LED Mouse / Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 with Media Remote / Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse / Logitech G7 mouse(1) / Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse(2) / Logitech MX 610 Laser Cordless Mouse(1) / Logitech MX610 Mouse(2) / Logitech Driving Force Pro Wheel o / Joytech Neo S PC Gamepad / Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 / Razer Copperhead Gaming Mouse / S+ARCK Mouse / Sunbeam X-1300 Gaming Mouse || X-Ray Aqua2 Series Professional Mouse Pad
• Networking - Netgear SC101 Storage Central / VGear LANDisk Network Hard Drive Enclosure
• Printer/Scanner - HP Photosmart 475 Photo Printer
• Misc - ColorVision Datacolor SpyderTV / Dension Ice>Link Plus / Logitech Harmony 800 Home Theater Remote Control / Remote Control 12V DC Relay Switch
• Notebook - TITAN Serina Laptop
• Cameras, MP3/DVD players/recorders - Kodak EasyShare C360 Digital Camera / Nikon D50, 18-55mm Kit Digital SLR Camera || Apple iPod (video-review) / Apple's 5th Generation iPod / Sony VAIO XL1 200 disc Digital Living System / X-Micro Video MP3 400
• Phones/PDAs - Palm Z22 /  Sony Ericsson P990 / Sharp Zaurus SL-C3100 / Sony HBH-662 Bluetooth Wireless Headset

GUIDES...

• How to Find Out Your Motherboard Manufacturer and Model - Learn how to find out your motherboard manufacturer and model, a required information if you want to download a new BIOS, drivers and manual for it.
• Inside Pentium 4 Architecture - In this tutorial we will explain you how Pentium 4 works in an easy to follow language. You will learn exactly how its architecture works so you will be able to compare it more precisely to previous processors from Intel and competitors from AMD.
• The Rules of RAID - TrustedReviews has taken a look at a wide range of various RAID controllers in The Rules of RAID ranging from onboard controllers to a massive 2TB array.
• The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide Revision 8.5 - Adrian has updated his premier BIOS optimization guide.
• Howto LIFT you case off the floor and get more AIR in? - Most homes in the U.S. have carpeted floor; we all know too well most ATX tower cases anchored or sunken into the carpet. With those tiny rubber pads called feet. Are you sick and tired of dragging your PC from under the desk out? How about letting in more outside air? $4 to get your rig higher on the rug in 5 minutes and get more air from your front panel for $1 in about 30 minutes.
• ATI X1K Driver Analysis - check it out!
• Doom 3 v. Quake 4 Performance - Phoronix compares Doom 3 vs. Quake 4 performance.
• 3D Performance with F.E.A.R. Part 1: Mainstream Cards - At the ~$200 price point, the GeForce 6800 and RADEON X1600 XT compete fiercely, with the GeForce 6800 winning early testing without AA/AF, and the X1600 XT generally pulling even of the GeForce 6800 by the time AA and AF are turned on (in fact, it pulls slightly ahead in a few cases). In fact, the 7800 GT can be found for about $360 pretty easily online, making it a tempting solution if you want to splurge for a little bit more than a 6800 GT. By comparison, one GeForce 7800 GT runs about as fast as two GeForce 6800 GTs, making it a substantial upgrade in performance.
• NVIDIA ForceWare comparisons (both in German)  - The comparsions can be found on HardwareOC Austria and Technic3D.
• Adaptive anti-aliasing on ATI Radeon X800 boards investigated - Elitebastards take a look at adaptive anti-aliasing, a feature that's getting a lot of press with ATI's new Radeon X1800 boards, but is also in fact available to Radeon 9500 users and up if you know where to look. They investigate how to get adaptive anti-aliasing to work on your system, and see how it fares with regard to both image quality and performance.
• How To Get The Most Out Of Your Digital Camera Memory Card - Choosing the right memory card for the job can be as important as choosing the right film for a traditional camera.
• Which Xbox 360 System To Buy? - GameSpot posted a feature article about which Xbox 360 bundle we should buy.
• Microsoft releases two free coding e-books - Introducing Visual Basic 2005 for Developers can be downloaded here , and Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET can be downloaded here.

SOFTWARE...

• Apache 2.0.55 - Apache 2.0 (download) offers numerous enhancements, improvements and performance boosts over the 1.3 codebase. The most visible and noteworthy addition is the ability to run Apache in a hybrid thread/process mode on any platform that supports both threads and processes.
• OpenOffice.org 2.0 - Available in 36 languages, with more on the way, and able to run natively on Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (X11) and several other platforms, OpenOffice.org banishes software segregation and isolation and dramatically levels the playing field. And, with its support for the OASIS Standard OpenDocument format, OpenOffice.org eliminates the fear of vendor lock in or format obsolescence.
• AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic 6.32.00.50 - The cost-free virus protection -> download
• EliteToolbar Remover 2.1.2 - The new EliteToolbar Remover (download) deletes any traces of many persistent malwares.
• avast! Virus Cleaner 1.0.208 - avast! Virus Cleaner (download) is available free for every user. This tool will help you remove selected worm infections from your computer.
• FastStone Image Viewer 2.27 Beta 2 Build 2005-10-19 - FastStone Image Viewer (download) is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments.
• XnView v1.80.3 - XnView (download) is a utility for viewing and converting graphic files (Import about 400 graphic file formats / Export about 50 graphic file formats)
• Flock Developer Preview - Moments ago, Flock, a new Web browser with a social bent, hit the Web in a public beta. Some impressions can be found here.
• Netscape Browser 8.0.4 - This new version features all security and bug fixes through Firefox 1.0.7, improves proxy handling and Flash 8.0 is now bundled which fixes a variety of crashes.
• Opera 9.0 Preview 1 - changelog&download
• YPOPs! 0.8.0 - YPOPs! (download) is an application that provides POP3 access to Yahoo! Mail.
• AIM Ad Hack 4.14 & 5.0 Beta 8 - AIM Ad Hack 4.14 (Fixed false positives during install with some virus scanners) / AIM Ad Hack 5.0 BETA 8 (Updated for AIM Triton Beta 0.7.13, fixed virus scanner false positives and rewrote bundled software blocking)
• Azureus for Windows 2.3.0.5 Beta 50 - Azureus is a Java based BitTorrent client that offers multiple torrent downloads, queuing/priority systems (on torrents and files), start/stop seeding options and instant access to numerous pieces of information about your torrents.
• µTorrent 1.1.7.1 - µTorrent is an efficient and feature rich BitTorrent client for Windows sporting a very small footprint. It was designed to use as little cpu, memory and space as possible while offering all the functionality expected from advanced clients.
• QuickTime Alternative 1.63 & 1.52 - QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt and other extensions) without having to install QuickTime Player from Apple. It also supports QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages.
• Real Alternative 1.44 - Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer or RealOne Player from Real Networks. Supported are: RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt) and ReadPix (.rp). It also supports RealMedia content that is embedded in webpages.
• Apple iTunes 6.0.1.3 - download
• nVIDIA PureVideo Decoder 1.02-177 Trial - The nVIDIA PureVideo Decoder combines the industry’s highest quality DVD and MPEG-2 playback with rich surround sound audio and provides the best experience with Microsoft Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center Edition.
• Winamp 5.110 - Nullsoft Winamp (download full / lite) is a fast, flexible, high-fidelity media player for Windows. Winamp supports playback of many audio (MP3, OGG, AAC, WAV, MOD, XM, S3M, IT, MIDI, etc) and video (AVI, ASF, MPEG, NSV) types...
• RatDVD v0.77.1509 and RATattack v0.2 - The guys of RatDVD have released another new version of their software, bringing the version to 0.77.1509. This new release includes changes to several translations and also a new version of the plugins for ratDVD, RATattack, has been released.
• Logitech SetPoint 2.46  & IntelliPoint 5.4 Mouse Software - If you were using Logitech MouseWare with a Cordless Click! or a Cordless Click! Plus mouse, installing SetPoint on top of MouseWare will transfer control of your mouse from MouseWare to SetPoint. MouseWare will no longer recognize your mouse. If you were only using one mouse with MouseWare, you can now uninstall MouseWare and use SetPoint. Also Microsoft has released a new IntelliPoint 5.4 mouse software.
• Chipset Installation Utility 7.2.2.1006 - The Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility installs to the target system the Windows* INF files that outline to the operating system how the chipset components will be configured. This is needed for the proper functioning of the following features: Core PCI and ISA PNP Services, AGP Support, IDE/ATA33/ATA66/ATA100 Storage Support, USB Support, Identification of Intel Chipset Components in the Device Manager.
• Quality patched LiteOn 1693S firmware for 1673S, 1693S, 720A, 800A (KC1B) -  C0deKing has released a new patched firmware for LiteOn 1673S, 1693S, 720A and 800A users. The purpose of this patch is for increased writing quality when using most +R media.