• AMD ATI Radeon HD 5670 Review Round-Up - At the $100 price point you have in the Sapphire HD 5670 is the only Direct X 11 card at this part of the market. Not bad when you look at the gaming performance it delivers against its direct competition the GT 240. It was only soundly beaten in two of the games it was tested in by the GT 240, Call of Duty World at War and Resident Evil 5. 
• RAID 0 Stripe Sizes Compared with SSDs: OCZ Vertex Drives Tested - Performance wise with RAID 0 we saw a performance boost over single SSD up to 250% in certain tasks.
• More Windows 7 SP1 details emerge - According to many sources, the first service pack for Redmond's new OS is just around the corner. Today, all across the blogosphere, sites are reporting new details about the upcoming update to Microsoft's most user friendly OS to date. ITChuiko says that "according to sources at Microsoft, a preliminary version of SP1 will be in June 2010 and will be accessible only to testers, whereas the final version is expected by September 2010." ZDNet is reporting that, as standard with all service packs, SP1 will include all the patches and bug fixes that have been released since Windows 7's October debut. In addition, users can expect tweaks and fixes made under the hood, based on user feedback. The only "big" changes that will come with SP1 are USB 3.0 support, and according to InfoWorld, "enhancements to the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stacks."
• 19 Ways to Speed up Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums have a new article featuring 19 ways to speed up Windows 7.
• IE Attack Code Used on Google Made Public - The code exploits IE6 running on XP and can possibly be modified to work on newer browser versions. You IT and security admins out there better tighten up your network as there is currently no patch for this exploit.
• 3G mobile encryption cracked - What exactly does this mean to 3G users? We’ll, fortunately for everyone, the crack was found by researchers that used a highly complex mathematical equation and the exploit isn't available to the public. The researchers said that their un-optimized single PC can recover 96 key bits in a matter of a few minutes and can complete the full 128 bit key in less than two hours.
• Puyocon - A ball-shaped controller you can squeeze, throw, and roll - Check it out
• Wii Owners Don't Care About HD Graphics? - Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime went on CNBC and said that Wii owners won't miss the HD content available on the other game consoles via Netflix that the Wii won’t be capable of streaming. He said, " …there is really no loss for the Wii consumer." He continued saying, "But, even more importantly than that, the consumer has voted. Over 26 million consumers have bought a Wii. The consumer is saying, for them, the quality of the visual is not nearly as important as the overall entertainment, the overall value of that experience and that is really, what has propelled us..."
• 12X Blu-Ray Star Trek Phaser (video) - I think you will enjoy this tutorial of 12X Blu-ray Star Trek Phaser Mod!
• First Official Trailer for Jon Foo's Tekken Movie - IMO, you cannot make a good movie based on a video game. So please stop trying ;-)
• Upgrading graphic card easy, even monkey could do it! (video) - AMD published a new video about upgrading graphic cards :P
• The sexiest ad ever made with topless women skydivers! (video) - I don't care what the ad was for, that was AWESOME!!! :-D
• Star Wars Adidas commercial - For its Spring/Summer season adidas Originals teamed up with Star Wars for a memorable collection of footwear and apparel. Although the theme has been used in the world of fashion already, this new collection seamlessly fuses inspiration from legendary Star Wars characters and scenes with iconic adidas Originals silhouettes.
• 5-year-old drummer plays System of a Down! (video) - It's that time again, folks - time for another viral video of a kid who is so incredibly gifted that you'll A) Come to loathe your own child for his/her inadequate talent show skills, B) Fall into a deep sea of depression when faced with the listless path your life has taken. I give you: 5-year-old Jonah Rocks!
• Alessandra Ambrosio Topless Lingerie Pictures - check it out!
• Miranda Kerr Lingerie Pictures - I think these pictures of Miranda Kerr in incredibly hot pink lingerie speak for themselves :P
• Megan Fox Armani Underwear Photos - The first pictures of Megan Fox for Giorgio Armani's Emporio Armani line of underwear were released in January 2010. The pictures are a part of Armani's Spring/Summer 2010 campaign and will be featured on billboards in major cities around the world and in print-ads beginning in February
• Amazon Deals - LaCie USB 2.0/FW Professional BD-R/BD-RE Blu-Ray Drive 301856U (save $38.86) | WWII in HD [Blu-ray] (save $16.96) | The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Theatrical Editions) [Blu-ray] (save $33.99)

• Intel Clarkdale vs AMD Phenom II with 785G Mainstream Showdown - When it comes to gaming, the difference between the Core i5 661 and the 785G's HD4200 is not that big, especially when you increase the clock frequency of the HD4200, which can be easily done even without increasing the voltage. Now, please note that Intel did 'cheat' a bit when sending out the Clarkdale samples: the Core i5 661 has the IGP clocked at 900MHz, whereas the other products have it clocked at 733MHz. With no option to decrease the IGP frequency through Intel's DH55TC bios, the comparison is maybe a bit unfair. We had preferred to test a normal Clarkdale product to see the real difference ... but we'll have time for that later this year for sure.
• NVIDIA: GT200 will support 3D Vision Surround - NVIDIA's revealed more details on 3D Vision Surround on their nTersect Blog
• Office 2010 Build 14.0.4730.1007 Leaked and Available for Download - An internal build of the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 has leaked to the web according to Wzor. The build comes in at a staggering 3.51GB which is significantly larger than the public beta build which was at 749mb; the leaked build is tagged with the build number 14.0.4730.1007. There is no information as to why the build is so much larger but one speculation is that it may include debugging software. Another possibility is that the code may not be packed for media release which would make the build much larger than the compressed format released to the general public.
• 1GB Cloud Storage Coming To Google Docs - The project manager for Google Docs announced a new 1GB storage limit for Google Docs, a 750MB increase over the current limit.
• Qualcomm Mirasol display technology, the future of eBooks? - The 5.7-inch prototype Qualcomm is displaying could be Kindle-bound, XGA version, which is 240ppi pixel density and a 6x power advantage over E-ink in a typical usage scenario. The display is full color – reportedly it works better in a brightly lit environment than the competition. The display could be paired with a capacitive or resistive touchscreen, a best case scenario is apparently optical touch. Reportedly the Mirasol uses less power – and is supposed to be faster than current technologies.
• 10 cool new toys from CES -  Three-dimensional televisions, Internet-enabled TVs, touch-screen "tablet" computers, e-book readers and other fun new gadgets were scattered all over the enormous Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• BBC Reporter breaks 'unbreakable' mobile phone at CES (video) - Reporter Dan Simmons from the BBC's technology show Click managed to break a mobile phone marketed as "unbreakable", during a demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
• T-Mobile makes mention of 3G issues with Nexus One - T-Mobile is officially investigating the 3G / EDGE fluctuation issues that folks have been reporting
• James Cameron's Entire Avatar Screenplay is Online for Free -  While James Cameron's Avatar has climbed to the 10th spot on the all-time domestic list with $380.5 million (surpassing Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith's $380.3 million and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's $377 million - worldwide it's reached $1.16 billion), 20th Century Fox has posted a PDF online of the full screenplay for awards reasons
• ‘The Matrix’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy to get 3D makeovers - Popular movies like The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Star Wars are likely to get 3D makeovers following the massive success of Avatar.
• KHL - Ice Battle in Chekhov [691 minute penalty] (video) - That's what I call Russian ice hockey :-D
• The Most Useless Machine EVER! (video) - And yet everybody wants one! :-D
• Amazon Deals - The 2010 Deals Event runs through January 24, 2010, while supplies last. This event features DVDs and Blu-ray discs with savings of up to 50% off, including:

• Intel Core i5-660/661 Processors Tested - Many users thought that the Core i5-600 would be like Core 2 Duo, just better -- a very fast processor for single and dual-threaded tasks. Unfortunately, we have to disappoint them: multi-threading is meat and drink for these CPUs, they need it as much as higher-end processors do.
• NVIDIA CEO: GF100 in volume production - During NVIDIA's CES Press Conference this morning, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang confirmed that their next-generation GF100 Fermi GPU is in volume production now, although he wouldn't provide an exact release date. Huang also confirmed that GF100 would support NVIDIA's upcoming 3D Vision Surround, which provides 3D Vision support across multiple displays in a similar fashion to ATI's Eyefinity tech. FYI, the GF100 is about 10.5 inches long, takes up two PCI slots, has a cooling system with one fan, and requires extra power via two PCIe power connectors (one 6-pin and an 8-pin). Nvidia's card has support for SLI (3-way SLI), DirectX 11, OpenCL, PhysX, CUDA, and should boast a 384-bit memory interface as well as 512 CUDA cores.
• NVIDIA GF100 Fermi Video Card Triple SLI Rocket Sled Demo - The demo is being narrated by NVIDIA and all looks great until the very end. GF100 is due out in March 2010, so the driver team is still tweaking the software on these graphics cards.
• Foobar 1.0 Final - Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include ReplayGain support, low memory footprint and native support for several popular audio formats
• USB Flash Drive Sellers Warn About Security Flaw in Products - Kingston, Verbatim, and SanDisk have banded together to warn consumers about a potential security threat uncovered by a flaw in the hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption used in some of their USB flash drives. The hole could allow unauthorized access to encrypted data on a USB flash drive by circumventing the password authorization software on a host computer.
• The interactive projector that turns any surface into a Minority Report-style touch screen - The system uses holographic laser projection and infrared sensors to create a screen that supports multi-touch gestures, like many smart phones.
• Microsoft: Google's Nexus One plan is 'very, very difficult' - At least Microsoft think so....
• Lenovo Lephone at CES 2010 (+ video) - The smart phone joins a thin smartbook built around a Qualcomm processor and Lenovo's Skylight operating system and a thin-and-light notebook -- dubbed the U1 -- with a detachable screen that doubles as a tablet computer.
• 3D TV without the glasses (video) - Hidden deep within the booths of CES is a little talked about technology from Technicolor that allows for 3D TV without wearing any glasses.
• Panasonic blows it out with 3D Blu-ray deck, HDTVs, channels and - Panasonic has announced a new lineup of 3D devices, ranging from compatible 1080p HDTV's to Blu-ray players.
• Samsung announces universal Wi-Fi touch remote control - Samsung announced their new universal Wi-Fi touch remote control. This remote gives you the standard function, plus the ability to stream a video source from the television to the remote. The Samsung universal remote control will initially only be available in the box with a 9000 series television and then later available separately to complement the 8000 and 7000 series. The remote uses a rechargeable, removable battery; however they have not announced the estimated battery life yet.
• Google Nexus One Carries $174.15 Materials Cost - iSuppli did a teardown on the Google Nexus One, which is built by HTC, and found that the materials used cost a bit over $174. You can see a detailed breakdown of the parts at iSuppli's site. The OLED display cost less than the processor while 4GB of DDR DRAM cost them 20 bucks. Google is selling unlocked versions of the Nexus One at an unsubsidized price of $529, or at $179 with a two-year service contract from T-Mobile.
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG spits in the face of physics (video) - Don't waste your time with the video, just go to 2:10 to see the real action :P
• Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass Theatrical Trailer! - Lionsgate debuted a second full-length theatrical trailer for Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass.
• A-Team Trailer Online - The A-Team was a very fun show to watch and I think this new movie will be too.
• Amanda Bynes Maxim Pictures - Here are some pictures of Amanda Bynes in the latest Maxim Magazine. I'm glad she isn't wearing a short tight dress for once :-)
• This is CGI. ALL OF THIS. (video) - The Third & The Seventh, using 3dsmax, Vray, AfterEffects and Premiere. Every element of this short film is CGI!
• Ashley Greene Nude Bodypaint Pictures - Twilight star Ashley Greene has clearly decided it is time for her to ... went nude for a photoshoot - with just body paint covering her modesty.
• Amazon Deals - Up to 50% Off Movies || Toshiba Satellite L505-S5993 TruBrite 15.6-Inch Grey/Black Laptop (save $90)

• Intel Core i5 661 review, now with built-in GPU - The new Core i5 661 may just be a dual-core processor, but it's still incredibly fast at 3.33GHz, even when compared to high-performance quad-core parts. Another reviews can be found on Neoseeker, HardwareHeaven, Hothardware, OCC
• GF100 supports 32xAA, will appear at CES - NVIDIA's has updated their Facebook page with all sorts of fun facts regarding their upcoming DX11 GeForce 380 GPU codenamed 'GF100'. For instance on Dec 23rd, NVIDIA mentioned that GF100 will support anti-aliasing modes as high as 32xAA: "Happy Holidays GeForce fans! Fun fact: GF100 supports a brand new 32x anti-aliasing mode for ultra high-quality gaming!" NVIDIA also confirmed that GF100 will perform all of the hardware decode for 3D Blu-ray playback.
• ASUS K42F Notebook w/ Intel Core i5 540M Arrandale CPU Tested - Having the ASUS K42F idle at just 15 Watts just brings a smile to your face.
• New Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 screenshots - Neowin recently posted new Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 screenshots. Looks like the Windows Live team improved on the Windows 7 taskbar integration, adding in quick status markers for online, offline away and sign-out.
• HTC Working On A Tablet To Crush The Apple Tablet -  According to anonymous sources, HTC is working on a Google tablet that will compete with the yet-to-be-announced Apple tablet.
• Skiff Reader: The Largest Yet Thinnest eBook Reader to Date - It's supposed to the thinnest e-reader around with an 11.5-inch touchscreen display that supports a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels (UXGA).
• Google's Nexus One pricing revealed + first review - After weeks of leaks, hands on video, and speculation amongst the blogosphere, Google today officially announced the Nexus One. Check out the specs.
• Microsoft Developing Muscle-based User Interface - This system is able to detect muscle-use and will allow you to, for instance, play Guitar Hero without a guitar, and can easily detect your "trigger finger" being pulled.
• Indie Film Studio Shows Teaser From Duke Nukem Forever Film - According to independent movie studio HMC, 'Duke is back!'. A trailer has been released from the studios' live-action Duke Nukem Forever flick, which sees Duke having to save a woman in a short skirt from a man-pig. As you can imagine, this is a must watch. However, the trailer itself isn't really what we would call a faithful adaptation of the game series...
• Robin Hood International Trailer - Universal is bringing Robin Hood to theaters starting on May 14th, 2010.
• From Paris with Love Trailer Online - A new trailer for From Paris with Love is online and it features Travolta as a badass and it looks good. Mostly in that silly splodey kind of way. But it looks good. From Paris with Love explodes into theaters everywhere starting on February 5th next month. 
• Sophie Howard Ralph Magazine Pictures Are Outstanding - Sophie Howard is super hot!
• Megan Fox Photos from Men's Style - Megan Fox show off her perfect body in Men's Style Australia Winter 2009 magazine.
• Amazon Deals - Toshiba Satellite T135-S1307 TruBrite 13.3-Inch Ultrathin Black Laptop - 9 Hours 22 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) (save $120) || Paranormal Activity (2-Disc Digital Copy Edition) [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $24)
  

• Intel price cuts in January 2010? - According to the roadmap Intel will roll out Core i5-670/661/660/650 on January 3rd priced at $284, $196/$196 and $176 respectively. Also on January 3rd Core i3-540 and 530 chips will be launched priced at $133 and $113. The site says Intel will also introduce a LGA-1156 Pentium G9650 on the 3rd priced at $87. On Jan 17th, Intel will then introduce a new Core 2 Quad Q9500 clocked at 2.83GHz with 6MB of L2 cache. On that same day Intel will also roll out the 3.06GHz Pentium E6600 at $84, while the E6500 will see its price reduced to $74. The Pentium E5400 will also get a price cut, going from $74 to $64 on the 17th.
• NVIDIA's Fermi delayed to March 2010 - DigiTimes reports that NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce 300 series cards based on their GF100 "Fermi" architecture, won't be released until March 2010. While DigiTimes says this is a delay, technically NVIDIA has always said that Fermi will ship sometime in Q1, so a March release would still fit within that timeframe. Still, a March launch would put NVIDIA 6 months behind ATI, and keep in mind that they're already facing shortages of GeForce GTX 200 cards. If NVIDIA can't bring GF100 to market in decent quantities soon and the shortages continue, they could lose a significant chunk of market share to ATI.
• Mozilla pushes back Firefox 3.6 and 4.0, 3.7 in the works - According to CNET, Mozilla has announced some delays to their much anticipated browser updates. Originally scheduled for the end of 2009, Firefox 3.6 has officially been pushed back to the first quarter of 2010, allowing Mozilla to ensure stability before its release. Currently Firefox 3.6 is available as a fifth beta release.
• The Greatest Windows Tips of All Time - ComputerWorld compiled their 26 favorite time-saving tips for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Print out this story and keep it on your desk, under your pillow, or anywhere else.
• Geometry Wars on Project Natal (video) - Some guy posted a video of what he claims is a developer demonstrating Geometry Wars using Project Natal!
• GSM encryption cracked, code available on BitTorrent - The New York Times is reporting that Karsten Nohl has cracked and published the "secret" code used by 3.5 billion of the 4.3 billion wireless connections across the world. 
• Xperia X10 - Google Goggles Demo - Check out Google Goggles running on Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
• Nokia claims virtually all Apple devices violate its patents - Today Nokia filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) saying almost all of the company's products violate its patents not just the Apple iPhone. 
• U.S. bans electronics on some international flights - After a scare in the air this week, the U.S. has purposed stronger regulations for incoming international flights to the U.S., which will prevent you from using your electronics on board in some cases. The ban is only for some international flights coming into the US, and not for domestic flights in the U.S.
• Hacker Gets 17 – 25 Years in Prison -  Gonzalez entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday in a case involving unauthorized access to computers of Maine-based Hannaford supermarkets and other retailers. He pleaded guilty in September to charges from two other retailer-hacking cases. Plea agreements call for Gonzalez to serve 17 to 25 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March.
• The Annoying Orange 4: Sandy Claus (video) - The Annoying Orange drives Santa crazy! :P
• RFID Zapping EMP Gun (video) - Imagine the fun you could have with this electromagnetic pulse RFID zapper!
• Avatar: The Making of the Bootleg (video) - Free Love Forum takes you behind the scenes of the revolutionary new bootleg of the revolutionary new movie :-)
• Pop Music Sucks…But This Mash-Up Is Good - A mash-up of the Top 25 Hits of 2009 according to Billboard in a very creative and seamless video.
• The webcam broke! I'll just send it in to get fixed (pic) - check it out
• Annalynne McCord Is Sexy In Cosmo - Here's AnnaLynne McCord showing off as much cleavage as she possibly can in a photo spread for Cosmopolitan.
• Diora Baird Sizzles In Men's Style - Here's the bodacious Diora Baird looking like the definition of shwingtastic in the newest issue of Men's Style magazine.
• Rihanna GQ Photos - Rihanna is always pushing her sexuality to the the limit and these ne GQ photos are no exception.
• Amazon Deals -District 9 [Blu-ray] (save $21.96) | 9 [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $14.99) | Paranormal Activity (2-Disc Digital Copy Edition) [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $24) | See larger image Michael Jackson: This Is It [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $15.96)

• Intel Core i7 D0 Core Performance Advantage Revealed - The tests using Left 4 Dead and Crysis Warhead showed that frame rates can improve as much as 5-7%
• NVIDIA 3D-Vision: Blu-Ray, Cameras, Projectors - Benchmark Reviews takes a look at NVIDIA 3D-Vision: Blu-Ray, Cameras, Projectors
• Seagate Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2TB SATA III Hard Drive Tested - It is clear that SATA III has a lot of potential but sadly we won't being seeing that potential realized with mere 7200 RPM drives.
• Windows Live Wave 4: Photo Gallery, Writer and Mail revealed - The chaps over at Geeksmack have received a few screenshots of Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Photo Gallery. The screenshots are of build 15.0.2403.826, which should be noted is a very early version of Wave 4 and it is expected that features will change before the actual beta early next year. Not much can be said about the screenshots except that both Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Mail both now feature a Ribbon UI. 
• Facebook can cut down 49,000 tons of CO2 by ditching PHP for C++ - The popular and addictive social networking website, Facebook, can get rid of 22,500 servers and move down to just 7,500 servers. And how is that possible? A programmer states that, by changing its coding from PHP to C++, Facebook can cut down on the use of servers on a large scale and reduce carbon dioxide emissions of a whopping 49,000 tons!
• WordPress 2.9 Released -  WordPress 2.9 'Carmen' is now available from the official site. This blog post has the details, including a video summary of the changes. Enjoy!
• HP computers are racist (video) - The face tracking feature of the HP web cam will not recognize or track black faces. You have to watch this video. It is hilarious! At first I thought this video might have been a joke, hoax or viral video but after watching it a few times, you have to admit that the software is definitely not working correctly
• Android 2.1 ROM Hack Available for Droid Phones - Someone figured out a way to get Android 2.1 working on the Droid and shared the ROM and a video of the OS only previously-seen on Nexus One devices.
• Avatar Opens with $232 Million Worldwide - Yes, James Cameron has delivered everything an artist can possibly deliver in a popular genre. The story may seem familiar, but that is because it is timeless. There are only so many great themes. To say it's been done before misses the point, when it's done this well.
• Slipknot - Snuff Official Music Video - Slipknots latest video from All Hope Is Gone (features an appearance from Malcolm McDowell)
• Isabeli Fontana nude pictures from Homem Vogue - The Victoria's Secret Supermodel obviously has no problem getting naked or topless or wearing a see-through shirt.
• These Olivia Munn Bikini Pictures - If you're a fan of Olivia Munn, who is absolutely blowing up right now, then you're going to want to run out and pick up a copy of her new magazine Hey Olivia! :P
• Amazon Deals - Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6inch Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation) || Toshiba Satellite L505-S5993 TruBrite 15.6-Inch (save $60) || It Might Get Loud [Blu-ray] (2008) (save $19.96) || Fownes Women's Cashmere Lined Lambskin Leather Gloves (save $34.50)

• 7-Zip - Open source Windows utility for manipulating archives. Formats 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR are supported fully, other formats can be unpacked.
• Adobe flash plugin - MSIE / Firefox, Safari, Opera || Shockware player
• Adobe Reader 9.x - Adobe Reader software is the global standard for electronic document sharing. It is the only PDF file viewer that can open and interact with all PDF documents. Use Adobe Reader to view, search, digitally sign, verify, print, and collaborate on Adobe PDF files. 
• Alcohol 120%  - Alcohol 120%, is a powerful Windows CD and DVD burning software that makes it easy to create backups of DVDs* and CDs. In addition, the program lets you store your most used CDs as images on your computer, so you can call them up at the click of a button. Now includes Pre-Mastering function and support for Blu-ray format, Windows Vista and now Windows 7.
• AnyDVD HD - AnyDVD HD comes with same functionality as AnyDVD, but with additional features for full Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD support, including decryption of Blu-ray (BD+ and AACS) and HD DVD (AACS) movies.  Not free, but worth buying especially if you copy from original DVDs/Blue-Ray
• AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.x - Download the most trusted free antivirus and antispyware security software for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP. However,  I personally recommend you to buy ESET.
• doPDF - doPDF is a free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create PDF files by selecting the "Print" command from virtually any application. With one click you can convert your Microsoft Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents or your emails and favorite web sites to PDF files.
• DivX 7 - DivX 7 for Windows is a free download that provides everything you need to enjoy high-quality digital videos on your computer, including HD H.264 (.mkv).
• DVDFab - DVDFab is a Microsoft Windows program that allows the decryption and copying of video DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and some HD DVDs. Not free, but worth buying especially if you copy from original DVDs/Blue-Ray
• Firefox - Firefox Web Browser is the faster, more secure, and fully customizable way to surf the web. 
• Google Chrome Offline Installer - OK, this is not exactly Google Chrome offline installer. However, Chromium, the open source project behind Google Chrome actually have binary build of the browser, without the need for you to run Google Chrome installer to install it. The interface and functionality of Chromium is exactly the same as Google Chrome, except there is no update checker.
• HD Tune - A hard disk utility that can test burst speed, temperatures, benchmark and health.
• ImgBurn - ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI. It can burn Audio CD's from any file type supported via DirectShow / ACM - including AAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA and WV. You can use it to build DVD Video discs (from a VIDEO_TS folder), HD DVD Video discs (from a HVDVD_TS folder) and Blu-ray Video discs (from a BDAV / BDMV folder) with ease.
• InfraRecorder - InfraRecorder is free software released under GPL version 3.
• Microsoft Security Essentials (free) - Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
• QIP 2005 Build 8095 - ICQ client - QIP (QIP 2005, Build 8095 + QIP Mobile for Windows Mobile Build 2140) is a free unique closed source computer program for immediate cross-Internet communication
• QuickTime Alternative (QT7) - QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files without having to install the official QuickTime Player. All QuickTime formats (.mov .qt .3gp etc.) are supported, including streaming content and QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages
• Skype - With Skype you can make free calls over the internet to other people on Skype for as long as you like, to wherever you like. It is free to download.
• Spybot-S&D - Searches whole computer or just a certain file for malicious software commonly missed by anti-virus programs. 
• Total Commander - Total Commander is a file manager replacement that offers multiple language support, search, file comparison, directory synchronization, quick view panel with bitmap display, ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB, ACE archive handling plus plugins, built-in FTP client with FXP, HTTP proxy support, and more + *.ISO plugin
• Thunderbird - Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation + Mozilla Backup
• Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool allows you to create a copy of your Windows 7 ISO file on a USB flash drive or a DVD. To create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive, download the ISO file and then run the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool. Once this is done, you can install Windows 7 directly from the USB flash drive or DVD.
• Windows 7's XP Mode  - Windows XP Mode runs some older productivity applications that may not run otherwise on Windows 7. As far as technical requirements, XP Mode needs a beefier system than that required to just run Windows 7 or XP alone, including at least 2GB of memory and a system that has chip-level virtualization from either Intel or AMD. Note: XP Mode is free download for those who have a license to Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
• xp-AntiSpy  - The xp-AntiSpy is a little utility that lets you disable some built-in update and authentication 'features' in Windows.
  

Master List of Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts || List of Run Commands for Windows 7

• Adobe Flash 10.1 Ushers In GPU Accelerated Flash - Switch forward to Flash 10.1, and the difference is light and day!
• Firefox 3.5.6 Released - In case you haven't done it already, I recommend all you Firefox users out there update your browser to 3.5.6. The patch addresses some performance issues in addition to fixing a host of serious vulnerabilities so don't delay, get you patch on today.
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Review - Paul Thurrott takes a look at Windows Home Server Power Pack 3.
• Google Chrome takes third place in browser market share - According to Computerworld, the release of the Mac and Linux betas for the software helped push it into third place, past Apple's Safari browser. 
• Twitter hacked by 'Iranian Cyber Army' - Twitter, whilst a popular social networking site, has had a few issues with security during its lifetime. Not too long ago, documents regarding the plans of Twitter were discovered due to password issues. Tonight, the site was taken down by the "Iranian Cyber Army", for a short period of time.
• Blu-ray 3D Specifications Finalized - Engadget reports that the Blu-ray 3D specifications has been finalized and it will be backwards compatible. The key details? First, that the Blu-ray Disc Association has chosen the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec to store 3D, so that even though it is now providing a full 1080p frame for each eye, it will only require about 50% more storage space compared to the 2D version, and all discs will be fully backwards compatible, in 2D, on existing players.
• Google's Nexus One phone specs leak - It looks like the phone will support a Snapdragon processor, developed by Qualcomm. The Snapdragon is an ARM-based CPU processor, offering up to 1Ghz for applications, with a cellular modem and GPS.
• IBM Reveals Five Innovations that Will Change Cities in the Next Five Years - Today, IBM unveiled a list of innovations that have the potential to change how people live, work and play in cities around the globe over the next five to ten years.
• Predator drones use less encryption than your TV, DVDs - What three-letter Internet acronym best fits the bizarre news out of Iraq and Afghanistan that militants there have been intercepting US Predator drone video feeds using laptops and a $30 piece of Russian software: LOL, WTF, or OMG?
• Second Full Clash of the Titans Trailer - Warner Brothers has just debuted a second official full-length trailer for Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans. Warner Brothers will be bringing Clash of the Titans to theaters everywhere starting on March 26th, 2010.
• First Official Trailer for Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2 - Iron Man 2 takes place only "six months after Stark revealed his identity as Iron Man" at the end of the first movie. Jon Favreau is directing again from a screenplay written by actor-turned-writer Justin Theroux. Paramount is bringing Iron Man 2 to theaters on May 7th next summer.
• Second Official Trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland - Disney has just debut a second full-length trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The movie is based on Lewis Carroll's beloved series of books that were first published in 1865. Disney is bringing Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland to both digital 3D and 2D theaters everywhere on March 5th, 2010 early next year.
• Amazing Cover of Radiohead's 'Creep' By Homeless Guy (video) - Best cover of a Radiohead song by a homeless man I've seen.
• The EA live chat is worthless! - Oh you wanted an apple? Well just peel back that banana and tell me if there's an apple in there. Go ahead, you can peel it. Wait, now you want to return it? I'm not taking back a peeled banana! ;-)
• Amazon Deals - Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 3 [Blu-ray] (save $77) | Apple iPod touch 64 GB (3rd Generation) (save $20)

• AMD vs. Intel CPUs for Around 60 Euro (90 USD) - AMD Athlon II X3 435 offers most bang for buck! When it comes to gaming, the situation is pretty much in balance among all tested CPUs. Archiving, rendering and video compression are similar among dual core CPUs, but since these applications can put to good use more cores, X3 comes as clear winner.
• Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Processor Tested - If you absolutely must have the fastest quad-core system possible, then the Intel Core i7 processor is the way to go. These are really fast processors, especially for media encoding and professional 3D rendering. The choice of whether to go with the Core i7-975 Extreme Edition or a lower-end Core i7 processor is something you will have to decide, based on your needs and budget.
• Leaked Intel Core i7-980X EE Processor Info - PCOnline has posted a leaked Intel slide which they claim has information on the Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition processor. The slide says the 32nm LGA 1366 processor will have a 3.33GHz clock speed, 12MB of cache, Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, an integrated memory controller and a partridge in a pear tree
• Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - Microsoft has rereleased the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool under the GNU General Public License v2.
• Intel releases Turbo Boost monitoring gadget - Intel has released a gadget for Windows 7 and Windows Vista that lets users monitor the current fastest core clock speed of their Nehalem processor. As you'd expect, the Turbo Boost Technology Monitor will show up in the sidebar if you're running Vista and on the desktop with Windows 7. Unfortunately, the tool seems to have no way of showing individual clock speeds for different cores - it just displays a single number corresponding to the fastest current core.
• Microsoft China steals code, rips off Plurk site - Plurk, a popular social networking site in Asia, claims that Microsoft China has ripped off their service by "blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements".
• Microsoft planning to release Windows 7 Touch Pack download - Microsoft announced the Windows 7 Touch Pack back in May but originally it was meant for OEMs only. Today the company confirmed that it will be offering the Touch Pack for download soon. The official Touch Pack site states 'the Touch Pack comes preinstalled on some multitouch PCs running Windows 7, and will soon be available for download.'
• ODROID : Speed Forge 3D Demo through HDTV (video) - ODROID is based on a Samsung-manufactured application processor called S5PC100 833MHz. The system-on-chip(SoC) uses the latest ARM's Cortex-A8 with NEON multimedia accelerator. The chip's 3D OpenGl ES capability enables high speed 3D games such as Speed Forge 3D. ODROID is connected to 42" HDTV through standard Mini HDMI cable. Speed Forge 3D is published by RAT SQUARE(www.ratsquare.pl).
• First Google Phone / Nexus One photos, Android 2.1 on-board! - Here the first picture of the Google phone!
• Windows Mobile 7 late next year - Microsoft UK head of mobility Phil Moore confirmed that we won't see Windows Mobile 7 phones on the market until late 2010.
• Jacques Audiard's A Prophet Official US Trailer - Sony Pictures Classics has finally debuted the official US trailer for Jacques Audiard's A Prophet, better known as Un Prophete in French.
  
• Google Chrome - Features (video) - Looking for a serious answer to a honest question. Why choose Google Chrome over Internet Explorer? 
• Bidirectional Screen from MIT Media Lab (video) - MIT Media Labs have come up with a cool non-touch touchscreen thing. The BiDi Screen is an example of a new type of I/O device that possesses the ability to both capture images and display them.
• How to fix Facebook's new privacy settings -Facebook has begun rolling out its new privacy settings to all of its 350 million users. If you haven't seen it already, you will soon have to go through a wizard that will guide you through the process of confirming your privacy settings. The new privacy controls include some great changes, and some not-so-great changes, but here are five privacy issues you should know about as these settings roll out across Facebook.
  
• YouTube Looks at Subscriptions - YouTube is considering subscriptions? It seems like everyone out there right now is kicking around the subscription idea. Ugh
• Second Intense Trailer for The Crazies Remake - Overture Films has debuted a second new trailer for The Crazies remake that stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, and a town full of crazy people.
• First Official Trailer for Ridley Scott's Robin Hood  - Universal has just debuted the first international trailer for Ridley Scott's Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.
  
• EVO does 0-100 mph in Porsche's new 911 Turbo... with a Coke ... - When the Porsche 997 Turbo first came out and it was discovered that you could get from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds in the Tiptronic automatic transmission (which was quicker than the manual gearbox), that was incredible enough. In the updated 997 Turbo with PDK, however, you can apparently get to 100 mph in less than eight seconds with just three fingers on the wheel and a bottle of Coke at your lips!
• Student Brings Typewriter To Class (video) - This kid is tired of students typing away on their laptops during class so he decides to take notes during a lecture on an old typewriter. Absolutely hilarious. That dude is the man :-)
• US Unemployment Rates by County (Map) - More precisely, this map will be scary for people in the US. 
• Rachel Stevens Topless Tease - Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, television personality and occasional model.
• Olivia Munn Bikini Picture Preview from Maxim - Here're some hot new Olivia Munn bikini pictures from the January 2010 issue of Maxim magazine!
• Miranda Kerr GQ Magazine Cover - Model Miranda Kerr has been all over the place lately doing photoshoot after photoshoot, so it really is no surprise that this model is now on the cover of GQ
• Amazon Deals - The Hangover (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $20) || SanDisk Cruzer Micro 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (save $40) | Toshiba 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (save $30)

• ASUS GeForce GT240 GDDR5 Video Card Tested - NVIDIA has been filling out the low-middle end of their video card product line lately, and in this article Benchmark Reviews tests the ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A video card equipped with with NVIDIA's new GeForce GT240 GPU and 512M of GDDR5 memory
• GeForce 300 cards look to be rebadged DX10.1 parts - When was the last time NVIDIA did a rollout of a new series that was actually all new? I don't think any of the 8000 series were rebadges. The sad thing about this is these cards were supposed to be out in early 2009 not the end. I think the lowend GT200's were available to OEMs but not for months and months after they were supposed to be...
• Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB Hard Disk Tested -  It is a relief to see that Western Digital was able to deliver a product with best in class performance without the need to invest in expensive SATA 6G products.
• Verbatim 500GB InSight USB Portable Hard Drive with Always On Display - TestFreaks posted a review on the Verbatim 500GB InSight USB Portable Hard Drive with Always On Display
• Vantec announces new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Products - Vantec Thermal Technologies announces four new products utilizing the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface including two hard drive enclosures one for each form factor, a PCI-Express card and an ExpressCard/34 adapter. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is the next generation bus interface offering transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps (625Mbps) and it is fully backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. 
• Microsoft already beginning to plan Office 15 - Office 2010 is scheduled to be available sometime next year, but the Redmond company has said it's already planning Office 15!
• Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 Final - Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 Final has been released!
• Avast begins bundling Google Chrome as part of installation - According to a report from The Download Blog, Chrome is being offered via the installer for Avast! Home Edition 4.8 as being a recommended piece of software.  What a bummer. I'm just glad NOD32 isn't doing this. I wish software companies would stop doing this...
• Stop the x86 Instruction Set War - Some smart blogger calls for an open, unified standard for x86 instruction set extensions. Very good reading and definitely link worth checking.
• Google introduces real time search (video) - Google has unveiled its implementation of real time search, which will be going live soon. Now, whenever you search for a topic, you'll be able to see live updates from sites like FriendFeed and Twitter, enabling you to see what others have to say about what you're interested in (of course, you'll get updates from news sites, also). This feature is also handy for discovering important news that you didn't already know about. For example, Google showed a main story about GM's stabilizing car sales, but underneath, the real time search displayed an article about the CEO of the company stepping down.
• Google unveils dedicated dictionary site - The search giant has quietly rolled out Google Dictionary, which presents definitions and synonyms. Exactly what you'd expect from a dictionary. According to the LA Times, this new dictionary service pulls descriptions of words from a number of places, and even provides definitions from Wikipedia. This adds to Google's own database of word definitions, which is perfectly capable just by itself. 
• Twitter inventor introduces free card payment system, Square - Twitter creator and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has introduced a new card payment system named Square. The payment system uses a small scanner that plugs into the headset port on mobiles and PCs and allows retailers to read the magnetic stripe information from credit cards. Users make a purchase by swiping the credit or debit card through the reader. Card owners can then use touch screen mobiles such as the iPhone or Android devices to sign for goods. Square creator Dorsey donned the stage at Le Web 09 this morning to confirm that the small card scanner will be made available for free.
• Will 2010 (Finally) Be Blu-ray's Year? - PC World ponders the question: 'will 2010 finally be Blu-ray's year?'
• Teen Creates N64 Emulator for iPhone (video) - check it out
• Make an invisible bottle! (video) - Make a bottle disappear before your very eyes. Super easy experiment with amazing results!
  
• Happy Tree Friends - Idol Curiosity - Its an all out crack attack! Sniffles continues to be plagued by his mysterious foe. Will he crack under the pressure?
• First Early Teaser for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I will arrive in theaters on November 19th, 2010 next year.
• If I Had One Hour to Live (pic) - I remember that ONE class that felt like it would never end. This pretty much sums that up :-)
• 12 'Sexy' Ads That Will Give You Nightmares - Sex sells, but that doesn't mean that selling things using sex is easy. You figure a little cleavage can go a long way to sell cars or beer, but in the wrong hands a sexy ad can turn into the stuff nightmares are made of.
  Not even sexy nightmares, either.
• 20 Things Worth Knowing About Beer - check it out
• Hot Elin Nordegren bikini pictures - So, if you've been following the whole Tiger Woods fiasco, you might have heard that Tiger's wife, Elin Nordegren has finally left his ass. Or not. No one really seems sure. I don't know, nor do I really care. I'm just using this as a flimsy excuse to finally post these really hot Elin Nordegren bikini pictures, some of which also feature Elin Nordegren topless. I really don't know why Tiger would cheat on his wife...
• Kate Beckinsale is Absolut Sexiness - Kate Beckinsale is one of the hottest female celebrities going, so it should come as no surprise that Absolut Vodka hired this sexy brunette to push their liquor.
• Amazon Xmas Deals - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy & BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $21) | Public Enemies [Blu-ray] (2009) (save $16.99)

• Intel Shows 48-core x86 Processor as Single-chip Cloud Computer - Intel unveiled a completely new processor design the company is dubbing the 'Single-chip Cloud Computer' (but was previously codenamed Bangalore). Justin Rattner, the company's CTO, discussed the new product at a press event in Santa Clara and revealed some interesting information about the goals and design of the new CPU. The 48 cores are arranged in 24 "titles" - what you can think of as 24 separate dual-core processors. These tiles are then connected via a 2D mesh network that can support up to 256 GB/s of bandwidth! There are four integrated DDR3 memory controllers (though no mention of how many channels each controller is) that can house as much as 64GB of total memory.
• Intel roadmap leak shows desktop Core i3/i5/i7 plans - Intel's desktop roadmap for the next couple of quarters has been leaked and Electronista has the scoop, courtesy of Google-translated Japanese site Impress.
• Galaxy GeForce GT 240 (DDR5) Graphics Card Tested - It is a slimmed-down version that features 96 stream processors and 8 ROPs. At the official core speed of 550 MHz, it is capable of processing up to 17.6 billion texels and 4.4 billion pixels per second. Officially, the GeForce GT 240 can either use 900 MHz DDR3, 1 GHz GDDR3 or 850 MHz GDDR5 memory, delivering anywhere from 28.8 GB/s to 54.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. But Galaxy is never satisfied with sticking to the official specifications. Even though they are not officially calling this a factory-overclocked card, Galaxy gave their GeForce GT 240 (DDR5) card a slight boost in memory clock speed, going from 850 MHz to 900 MHz
• Dell facing massive E6400 and E6500 overheating problem - Dell may have a serious issue on its hands with their E6400 and E6500 laptops. Hundreds of reports have been surfacing on the official dell support forums stating that they have had 'massive performance issues...'whenever the devices get slightly warm the BIOS automatically starts dialing down the performance until they basically crawl to a halt, some indicating that even when cool they won't go over 50% of maximum clock. The most prominent member of the Dell support forums, Tinkerdude, created a PDF entitled "Performance loss during normal operation in a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop due to processor and bus clock throttling" that explains in detail the problem and potential solutions. The user was banned after this PDF was posted to the forum which leads many to believe that Dell does not want this problem to be known publicly.
• Microsoft Says Patch Isn't Cause Of Black Screen - InformationWeek reports that Microsoft denied a claim that its November security patch is among the possible causes of the black screen problems affecting some Windows users. On Friday, Prevx, a maker of antivirus software, attributed some of these black screen crashes to a recent Window operating system change that locked down Windows registry keys.But Microsoft insists that's just wrong.
• How the Windows 7 start up animation evolved - Microsoft has published a Q&A with Rolf Ebeling, the man responsible for the Windows 7 start up animation.
• Google Wants to Stream TV, For a Fee - Google wants to stream TV shows, the day after they air on TV, for $1.99 each. They are kidding right?
• Google introduces Google Public DNS - Google has announced that today it is launching its own public DNS resolver called Google Public DNS.
• Ask a Ninja's Hilarious Review of Ninja Assassin - It's a definite must watch! His review: it's awesome! But he has more to say than just that. "This is like the Saving Private Ryan for ninjas!" Watch and enjoy!
• The PC World 100: Best Products of 2009 - PC World listed the top 100 electronic products of 2009.
• Apple testing next generation iPhone? - MacRumors claims Apple have begun field testing their new version of the iPhone. 
• Arduino / ioBridge Christmas Lights (video) - The xmas-box has 8 Channels (power outlets) were different light modes modes can be played; vu meter style, ascending, descending, split, merge, sequence and random. During each song one of these modes is used randomly every 10 seconds (to make the show less monotonous).
  
• Black Lightning Trailer - There is a Russian film produced by the same guy who brought us Wanted and its called Black Lightning. Timur Bekmambetov calls this the Russian response to Transformers and Batman.
• Keith Ballard Injures His Own Goalie (video) - What's worse than giving up a goal to Ilya Kovalchuk? How about giving up a goal to Ilya Kovalchuk AND getting slashed in the head by your own defenseman? Believe it or not, that's what happened to Tomas Vokoun.
• Trailer Mashup: Star Wars and Scarface - Scar Wars - The trailer takes the audio track of the Scarface trailer, some clever graphic manipulations, and clips from (mostly) Star Wars. Enjoy!
• The Matrix: The Lego Edition (video) - Trinity Help is a frame-accurate stop-frame animation video of the bullet-dodge scene from The Matrix done entirely with Legos. Before you watch this video, know that 440 hours went into the creation of it!
• Alessandra Ambrosio looks sexy on the cover of DT magazine - She's a seasoned pro when it comes to sassing it up for the camera and the latest photos of Alessandra Ambrosio definitely prove it. Posing for DT magazine, the 'Victoria's Secret' babe looked super sexy in bikinis and lingerie in a hot, desert setting.
• Rachel Bilson Magazine Photos - Actress Rachel Bilson is featured in the Winter edition of ASOS Magazine and looks good, I suppose.
• Amazon Deals - Archos 5 250 GB Internet Media Tablet (save $230) || Blu-ray movies from only $9.99, including The Terminator || Eitech Deluxe Solar Powered Metal Building Kit (38% off)

• ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G Chipset Motherboard Tested - The AMD 785G chipset brings support for DirectX 10.1, Windows 7 compatibility, and hardware-acceleration for certain kinds of video transcoding and graphics-intensive applications to the world of IGPs.
• Radeon HD 5770, Radeon HD 4890, And GeForce GTX 275 Overclocked - Can you hit the performance level of the next-fastest GPU by overclocking your graphics card? What is the impact on power consumption? Can your cooler take the extra heat?
• Chrome OS boots quickly from a USB thumb drive (video) - It boots in mere seconds and loads websites with the best of them!
• Google Chrome OS - First Look - IT Pro take a first look at the compiled version of Google Chrome OS
• Dell Employee Releases Custom Chrome OS for Mini 10v Netbook - Dell developer Doug Anson tinkered with the ChromiumOS open source code and got it to work with the Mini 10v. If you try it out, let me know what you think.
• Thunderbird 3.0 RC Now Available - download here
• TweakGuides Tweaking Companion for Windows 7 - TweakGuide posted their Tweaking Companion for Windows 7. It is written in plain English to help you genuinely understand all key aspects of Windows 7 and your PC
• Mininova goes legit, deletes all illegal material - Mininova officially called it quits with illegally distributing copyright material on its site, and has introduced filters to block copyright content from being uploaded. The website is largely known as the second biggest public torrent tracker in the world, second to The Pirate Bay, which recently disabled their tracker, but remains operational using DHT and PEX. Mininova has been under a lot of pressure from court rulings to implement copyright filters or take the website offline. Last August, the courts ruled in favor against Mininova and up until now, the website has taken its time to implement filters into its uploading to prevent further prosecution.
• China Warns About Return of Destructive Panda Virus - A computer worm that China warned Internet users against is an updated version of the Panda Burning Incense virus, which infected millions of PCs in the country three years ago, according to McAfee. A rootkit burrows into a system to try to hide the existence of malware. The first Panda worm gained fame in China for switching the icons of infected files with an image of a panda holding three incense sticks. The same image would also flash across a victim's screen, but the worm's final goal was to install password-stealing Trojan horses.
• US Air Force's Holiday Shopping Spree: 2,200 PlayStation 3s - Air Force is buying 2,200 PlayStation3s. They'll use them to build a Linux supercomputer, and not, mind you, to build a massive array of DIY PS3 grilles. They are not however already set when it comes to PS3 supercomputers. Their current one, made of 336 of the old-style consoles at a cost of $118,000, has already been used for a few applications not currently available on the regular stand-alone, non-supercomputer PS3. Those uses include, says Information Week, 'processing multiple radar images into higher resolution composite images (known as synthetic aperture radar image formation), high-def video processing, and ‘neuromorphic’ computing, or building computers with brain-like properties.'
• The world's strongest beer and its boozy competitors - The 32% abv brew, called Tactical Nuclear Penguin (great name), takes over the mantle as the world's strongest beer from German concoction Schorschbraerm which weighs in at a measly 31% abv.
• New Extended TV Trailer for Daybreakers - Lionsgate has debuted a one-minute TV trailer for the Spierig Brother's Daybreakers futuristic vampire movie:
• Cancelled Family Guy Windows 7 Videos - Peter, patriarch of the Griffin household, tries his hardest to spell Windows 7.
• Rihanna's Rated R Photos - Rihanna dropped her latest album, 'Rated R', yesterday and here are some of the album photos. As expected, Rihanna uses every bit of her sexuality in and on this album, which is appropriately titled.

• Deus Ex 3 a PC Exclusive? - Bit-tech reports that the game is a cyberpunk prequel to the first game though and that it won't be getting a console release due to the complexity of the game, though the source of this information about the action/RPG sequel is not listed. If true, PC exclusivity would certainly be in line with Eidos Montreal's prior statement that Deus Ex 3 will be more like the original Deus Ex.
• Star Wars Game Announce at VGAs - The 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards on December 12 will feature the announcement of the next Star Wars game.(teaser trailer)
• Blood Bowl Dark Elves Edition Available - This video game adaptation of Games Workshop's famous board game combines a fine balance of tactics and bone-crunching action! Blood Bowl Dark Elves Edition is available now and offers 2 radically different game modes, 9 different races, and much more.
• Left 4 Dead 2 Gets Major 360 Server Update - Valve has announced through the official Left 4 Dead blog that they've upgraded their infrastructure and added more dedicated servers. The result of this, according to them, is a lag free environment.
• GoGamer's Black Friday Madness - GoGamer is having a huge Black Friday Madness Sale. Here's a small sample from the list of well over 100 items.
• GoG.com adds BloodRayne 2 to DRM-free game line-up - This week the DRM-free website GoG.com reminds us that the games were pretty darn good by adding the 2005-released BloodRayne 2 to its game line-up. The Majesco-published action title is selling on GoG.com for $9.99 and comes with some extras like a screensaver, some artwork and the soundtrack to the game. Now go find a blindfold to put over your eyes whenever any Uwe Boll-directed movie shows up on the TV.
• EA cuts prices 30 percent from all downloadable PC games until Monday - That means you can download and purchase Dragon Age: Origins from EA for just $34.96 during the sale. That price will also get you The Sims 3 and Need For Speed Shift during the sale. Other games with big price cuts include Mercenaries 2 for just $6.96, Warhammer Online for just $9.96, and the deluxe version of Dragon Age Origins for $45.46.
• Amazon's Black Friday Deals - Dragon Age: Origins (save $12) || Polk Audio SurroundBar360° DVD Home Theater System (save $750.95) || Nokia E63-2 Unlocked (save $129.01) ||HP G60-530US 15.6-Inch Black/Silver Laptop - Up to 3.75 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) (save $100)

• AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition with Stepping C3 Review - As a conclusion the AMD flagship proved to be a very competent package. The next step will be to see how well it copes against Intel's latest LGA1156 platform, but it sure made short work of the older S775-based quad core Q9450. With the C3 revision came a lower power consumption, but 125 watts is still on the high side. Other improvements included better overclocking capabilities and indeed from all I've seen the 965BE seems to hit 4 GHz with ease when paired with a decent air cooler.
• Seven Cheap Full HD 22-inch Monitors Tested -  Acer X223HQ became the best monitor in this group despite the fact that its color interpretation is one of the worst in this review. ASUS VH222D is one of the Best Buy models because of good and balances performances paired with one of the lower price tags. LG W2243S-PF looks like a clear winner despite the fact that every video signal that is different from 16:9 ratio will display in 4:3 ratio. Two Samsung models look like victims of numerical system and mathematical calculations, but 2233SN is monitor with best viewing angles while 2243SN with its swivel feature can be interesting choice too. ViewSonic VA2213w is closest to average marks in this test, but with significant backlight breaching it cannot do much more than that.
• HotHardware Holiday Gift Guide 2009 - HotHardware have posted their Holiday Gift Guide 2009
• Core i7 iMacs showing up DOA - Consumers have been reporting issues with their brand new Apple i7 iMac's, some with a cracked screen casing, and others are reporting theirs are dead on arrival. This issue doesn't appear to be universal, only affecting some of the new iMac's, but is still enough of a problem to raise concern if you plan on purchasing one this Christmas. Engadget even reported having dead on arrival i7 iMac, that wouldn't even boot. Engadget isn't alone in this; they are among dozens of others who are reporting the same problems at Apple.com support forum.
• Smoking Near Apple Computers Creates Biohazard, Voids Warranty! - In a rather bizarre situation reported on The Consumerist website, it turns out that smoking near your Apple computer is a bio hazard and voids the warranty!
• Amazon Kindle update increases battery life by 85% - As posted on Amazon's website, the update is for the newest Kindle, and features two main improvements which were developed over about 6 months of testing and re-evaluation of the current firmware. First of which, there is now a native .PDF reader, helping people to read documents of that format without having to convert them. The second improvement is, as mentioned, a massive 85 percent boost in battery life - this means that now the Kindle can remain powered on for a solid 7 days with wireless enabled, up from the previous 4, according to Amazon. If wireless is switched off, the Kindle's battery life remains at the previous level of "up to two weeks", apparently.
• Microsoft releases 'Fishbowl' Facebook Windows 7 application - Fishbowl is a WPF desktop application that uses the Facebook stream APIs to allow access to Facebook in a clean and impressive UI.
• Firefox: Heat and the CPU Usage Problem - Firefox has a CPU usage issue and, consequently, can cause overheating problems in some laptops, particularly ultraportables.
  
• Opera 10.10 Released -  This updated version features new 'Unite' technology, which allows users to share content directly between all of their own devices. Unite wraps both web browser and web server into a single package in an attempt to change the way users think about their browser. It's great that Opera Software understands the power of P2P like sharing between people. I dont want to have everything on sites like Facebook just so people can see them...
• Microsoft Delays Open Source Release Windows 7 Tool - OSNews reports that Microsoft delayed the open source release of their Windows 7 USB/DVD tool
• Noah Baumbach's Greenberg Trailer with Ben - Focus Features has just debuted the official trailer for Noah Baumbach's newest film Greenberg starring Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Messina, and Greta Gerwig. Word is: "A New Yorker named Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) moves to Los Angeles in order to figure out his life while he housesits for his brother and sparks with his brother's assistant named Florence (Greta Gerwig)." ocus Features is bringing Greenberg to theaters starting on March 12th, 2010 next year.
• Awesome Interactive Trailer Application for Avatar - Fox has launched an interactive trailer for James Cameron's Avatar using some impressive new technology. The "trailer" is a desktop application which you must install that runs using Adobe Air! Head over to avatarmovie.com/air to download it!
• Apple take a swipe at Verizon 2- Apple iPhone Ad- Did You See My Email? - Verizon began an ad-campaign in October for the Droid handset where it ran commercials entitled "iDon't", attacking the Apple iPhone. Now Apple has fired back with two new iPhone adverts showing how the iPhone can take calls and use the 3G internet at the same time, something that the Verizon network is unable to do. The end of the iPhone advert finishes simply with the question "can your phone and your network do that?"
• Kevin Smith On Twilight: Wait Till Those Fangirls Turn 18 (video) - Kevin Smith gives his opinion about Twilight in the San Diego Comic Con 009.
• Large Hadron Collider starts up, produces first collisions - After a series of complications and setbacks, the Large Hadron Collider sees its first particle-particle collisions after a weekend of furious activity.
• Sarah Palin Book Signing - Interviews with Supporters - This is a perfect example of people following something not because it's what they believe in, but because it's what they WANT to believe in. I don't care if you're on the left, right, independent, whatever - research your choice! Know a little bit about the people who are responsible for your property and well-being!
• Blowing up Toy Cars in Slow Motion (video) - What makes this little experiment so much fun is that our mini pyrotechnician friend captured the carnage 20 times slower than conventional video, giving us a crystal clear picture of every blast.

• AMD Athlon 2 X3 435 CPU Tested - This CPU can be bought for about 80$ but is it worth it? I would personally go for the 620 which cost 20$ more but performs a bit better.
• Intel P55 Motherboard Round-up - The MSI P55-GD65 strikes us as a great value at $160, and it felt like a significant step up again. The P55-GD65 offers an extra SATA port when compared to the ECS and Asrock boards, while there is also an additional Gigabit LAN controller present.
• ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA1156 Motherboard Tested - From a physical standpoint, the Maximus III Formula is built using the same Xtreme Design concept as the P7P55D Deluxe. It has the same Xtreme Phase 16 + 3 phase power design, Stack Cool3+ PCB with two 2oz copper PCB layers, Anti-EMI & Anti-Surge Protection features, and obviously solid state capacitors throughout the board. A new feature that will enthrall everyone (if only briefly) is ROG Connect. By running a USB cable from the Maximus III Formula to a notebook, you can use the RC TweakIt software to make real-time frequency and voltage adjustments remotely.
• Memory Prices To Drop Next Month? - According to anonymous industry insiders, you can expect a price drop on memory next month, just in time for the holidays. Wouldn't that be nice?
• ATI Radeon HD 5970 Dual-GPU Powerhouse Tested - The Radeon HD 5970 is simply the fastest, most powerful single graphics card available today.
• ASUS Unveils New Eee PC, EeeTop and EeeBox Powered by NVIDIA ION - Asus unveils new Eee PC, EeeTop, and EeeBox powered by Nvidia Ion.
• Android Powers 7-Inch Camangi WebStation Tablet (video) - This is a 7-inch tablet, so you get a big touchscreen and a virtual on-screen keyboard. The device gets loaded up with the Google Android 1.5 treatment and the 7-inch glass touchscreen display has a resolution of 800×480 pixels. Other features include integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, GPS, microSD slot, 2-megapixel camera, secondary VGA webcam, and a USB port that could be used to add 3G connectivity.
• Toshiba's JournE touch multimedia tablet (video) - It's dominated by the touchscreen display, but underneath there's support for a wide range of codecs (H.264, DivX, WMV), 802.11b/g WiFi, some online multimedia services like YouTube and Flickr, and some light internet duties thanks to Internet Explorer running on Windows CE 6.0 Pro.
• Windows 8 is coming in 2012 - According to the latest roadmap from Microsoft, it would appear that Windows 8 will arrive sometime in 2012. This would follow a three year product cycle that would keep it in line with Vista and Windows 7 releases. The road map is clear about the targeted date and does not try to hide the fact that the code name is "Windows 8". Little else is known about the OS other than its targeted date of release.
• Google Chrome OS available for download - When Google finally showed off their new OS yesterday there was a lot of skepticism about working in the cloud, offline applications and many other thoughts and concerns. The good news is that if you don't want to read others hands on impressions you can now download and install the OS yourself. A couple of things to note, firstly the download will only work in a VM environment, second, this is pre-beta software so expect crashes, bumps and a rough experience. In addition, Google Chrome OS hands-on can be found here.
• Microsoft Office 2010 beta available on MSDN/TechNet - Microsoft has made the latest beta of Office 2010 available to MSDN and TechNet customers. The release follows news that Office 2010 beta builds have begun leaking from the software giant. It's widely expected that a public beta build of Office 2010 will be available this week. PCWorld has a handy FAQ just for you. Have fun!
• Internet Explorer 9 to feature GPU acceleration - Internet Explorer 9 will use Direct2D to run page rendering on the graphics processor.
• Is it OK to use OEM Windows 7 on your own PC? Don't ask Microsoft - Ed Bott posted an interesting article on the OEM version of Windows 7
• Sky Player in Windows 7 Media Center now available (video) -  Neowin reports that Sky Player, Sky's online TV service, is now available to Windows Media Center UK users in Windows 7. The service will allow users access to Live TV, on demand content, movies and sport. Existing Sky TV customers will be able to purchase an online Sky Player multiroom subscription for £5 per month (currently on offer, normally £10). Customers with Sky Multiroom or Sky Broadband Unlimited will be able to access live channels for no extra charge. Non-Sky TV customers will require a monthly subscription that starts at £15 per month to the Base Entertainment Pack. In addition to the live channels, customers will also have access to on-demand programmes from channels they subscribe to.
• Silverlight 4 beta now available - Microsoft have announced Silverlight 4 beta
• Does Windows Mobile 6.5 need a stylus on the HTC HD2? (video) - The chaps over at PDA.pl has tried to answer the question which is troubling many - can one use applications not optimised for a capacitive touch screen on Windows Mobile 6.5? 
• Flashy Full-Length Season of the Witch Trailer -  Lionsgate has debuted the full-length trailer for Season of the Witch starring Nic Cage and Ron Perlman. Lionsgate will be bringing Season of the Witch to theaters everywhere starting on March 19th, 2010 next year.
• New Avatar Featurette on the Human Hardware - IGN has debuted a new featurette for James Cameron's Avatar today titled Human Hardware. It's actually a very impressive featurette looking at the design and development (and usage) of the various "hardware" that the humans use - as in, the badass mech AMP units (seen above), helicopters, gunships, and so on. 20th Century Fox is bringing James Cameron's Avatar to both IMAX and regular theaters in 3D around the world on December 18th.
• The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good - TorrentFreak reports that The Pirate Bay has announced that the worlds largest BitTorrent tracker is gone for good. Although the site will remain operational for now, millions of BitTorrent users will lose the use of its tracker and will instead have to rely on DHT and alternative trackers to continue downloading.
• New Trailer for Fox's Percy Jackson - Fox has quietly debuted yet another new trailer for Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
• Turn Your Pistol Into An Assault Rifle - Oh well, this pistol-rifle system doesn't turn your semi-automatic pistol into a real assault rifle but it is close.
• Yes, the 2010 Audi S4 can drift (video) - Here's a video of Ignacio Perez driving a new S4 equipped with the differential on the Jarama racecourse. You can see from the movie that Perez is intentionally pushing the car into drifts, throttle on oversteer that is a new element not available in previous Audis except the R8 prior to the Sport Differential. Enjoy.
• iPhone Blower - Candles (video) - Yes, your iPhone can actually blow candles!
• RoboBuilder Xmas Dance Routine (video) - It's never too early to start the xmas marketing campaign, and RoboBuilder is an attractive and affordable hobby robot kit :-)
• Fitness - Killer 550 Rep Workout (video) - 11 Exercises x 50 Reps Each As Fast As Possible. Take the Challenge and Try and Beat Zuzana! :P
• Leighton Meester's Lingerie Pictures - No doubt about it, Leighton Meester has a great career in front of her—but as evidenced by this photo, what's behind her isn't too shabby either. GQ magazine has released some outtakes from the Gossip Girl actress' super-sexy photo-shoot for them, and because it's weekend, you can check them out here
• Bar Refaeli Lingerie Photos are Perfect! - Bar Refaeli continues to amaze me photoshoot after photoshoot and these tasteful lingerie photos are simply amazing!
• Megan Fox Goes Spread Eagle in The New York Times! - These pictures are actually from the New York Times!
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