• Intel Launches Conroe Tonight!

  Intel Launches Conroe Tonight! - Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme, all launching tonight! While the performance NDA lifts later tonight availability isn’t expected until July 23rd, 2006. On July 23rd, 2006 consumers should be able to purchase Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors from most online retailers and stores. That being said, it's not unlikely that some merchants will start showing stock immediately to pre-empt shipments. Intel will officially announce availability on July 27, 2006.
• ATI prepping a new mid-range AGP part - The card is based on the RV560 chip, built at UMC, and it should work at a 450MHz core clock.
• ASUS Releases Sleek Gaming LCD - 1280x1024 native resolution, a very nice 2ms response time for optimal gaming and minimal ghosting, has three USB 2.0 ports, DVI-D, D-SUB, 1.3-megapixel webcam, microphone/headphone inputs and even an integrated 2.1-channel speaker system that includes a a fancy tube-like subwoofer on the back side.
• D-Link DI-724U Wireless 108G QoS Router - Futurelooks posted an review on the D-Link DI-724U Wireless 108G QoS Router.
• Bigfoot Announces First Network Accelerator - Bigfoot Networks has announced its first consumer network accelerator card, dubbed the Killer NIC. It's a PCI network card equipped with a 400MHz processing unit, 64MB of RAM, and a USB port. Huh, wtf :) Has anyone heard of gamers complaining aboot shitty network cards in the last 10 years, don't think so. Apparently they want your $
• Microsoft, Yahoo Bridge IM Networks - Beginning late Wednesday, customers will be able to beta test the functionality by registering their accounts.
• New Virus Pretends to be WGA? - A virus posing as Microsoft's controversial anti-piracy software is spreading via AOL's popular Instant Messenger network, but it appears to be more of a jab at Microsoft than a real threat.
• Windows Rootkit Wars Escalate - Th Rootkit wars have started to escalate with a rootkit named Rustock which is able to remain hidden from all the popular anti-rootkit tools. It uses some new techniques including not only putting itself in a ADS (NTFS alternate data stream) which isn't seen by normal file system enumeration tools, but even blocks ADS aware tools from seeing the stream. Works in Vista, too! Analysis in both Symantec and F-Secure blogs
• Sony Moves to 'Plan B' for PSP Movies: MemorySticks - Starting in August, the company will ship 1GB and 2GB sticks that come with a DVD copying application that would be able to transfer select movies from DVD to the PSP.
• Warner Home Video announces four Blu-ray titles for 1 August - WHV will release four titles -- Training Day; Good Night, And Good Luck.; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; and Rumor Has It...
• NME-360 Chip Released to the Public - The first batch of this 'first real modchip for the Xbox 360', which will let users patch the Microsoft console's DVD firmware on the fly (meaning no flashing required) only when needed (that means it turns off when you're on XBL), has just been shipped to resellers.
• Brain + computer = image search at the speed of light  - Technically, this is a series of electroencephalograms, or EEGs, that mark things the brain wants to remember.
• Brain sensor allows mind-control - The experimental set-up allowed the man, who has no limb movement at all, to open e-mail, play a computer game, and pinch a prosthetic hand's fingers.
• Porsche Cayenne Turbo Titanium Metallic - From the performance point of view, the new Porsche Cayenne Turbo Titanium Metallic tuning program offers a special Cayenne Turbo Powerkit, which pushes the power output of standard engine from 450 to 500 horsepower.
• An Early Retirement For The Hydrogen Fuel Cell - There is not much doubt that northern North America (US and Canada) can afford to use hydrogen, and could do so with only small efficiency increases, considering that Canada uses 16000kWh/person/year and the US consumes 12000kWh/person/year. But the worry is the other 95% of the world that lives outside of North America.
• 'Super-scope' will unlock secrets - The Diamond machine has produced its first "synchrotron" light beam, which will allow experiments to get underway. Diamond is described as a series of "super microscopes" that will probe the structure of matter down to the scale of atoms and molecules
• RIAA loses in file sharing case - The RIAA suffered a legal setback today, as a file-sharing case was dismissed and the defendant awarded attorneys fees
• Automated Master Lock crackers - Two machines designed to solve padlocks automatically

• Desktop K8L chips won't show up until 2008? -  According to DigiTimes' moles at Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, AMD will kick off its transition to 65nm process technology on the desktop with new Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 4200+, and 4600+ chips in the first quarter of 2007, and dual-core Semprons will follow later in the year. These sources suggest that desktop K8L chips won't show up until at least the beginning of 2008.
• Latest ForceWare drivers cause system crashes - HardOCP tested two nForce 570 SLI mobos in systems outfitted with the latest nForce 570 SLI/570/550 9.16 platform drivers and ForceWare 91.31 graphics drivers, and in both cases the machines apparently suffered from not only crashes, but also data corruption. Amusingly, this report comes on the same day as NVIDIA's boastful press release about achieving "excellent" stability results in a Veritest study.
• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (AM2) Overclocking Performance - This new revision codenamed 'Orleans' brings a number of new features to the Athlon 64 line-up including SSE3 support, an updated memory controller and a 90nm SOI process. However despite of the fact these new processors are substantially different to past revisions, AMD decided to play it quiet.
• Super Talent's 2.5" IDE Flash hard drive - Super Talent's 2.5" IDE Flash drives are available today in sizes up to 16 GB. The prospect of a silent, lightweight notebook hard drive with frugal power consumption is certainly tantalizing, but what about performance?
• 50TB Coated DVDs? -  An Indian born scientist in the US is working on developing DVD's which can be coated with a light -sensitive protein and can store up to 50 terabytes (about 50,000 gigabytes) of data.
• HP may ship color version of Lightscribe later this year - Yeah, there will be color Lightscribe burners before Christmas.
• Dell XPS M1210 notebook - The base model comes with an Intel Core Duo Processor T2300E (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB cache), although this can be upgraded to the top-of-the-line T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB cache).
• [!] Microsoft plugs worm hole in Windows -The patches were delivered in seven security bulletins, five of which Microsoft deems "critical," its most serious rating. One of the urgent fixes addresses a flaw in a Windows component that could be used to spread a worm. Other updates deal with Office flaws that have already been used in targeted attacks.
• Win98, WinME Support Ends - Customers looking for support from Microsoft for Windows 98 and ME will be out of luck after today as both products have reached their end of life date.
• Vista may not be ready for January - Bill Gates saying that he is only 80 per cent sure that it will be in the shops by January.
• The new Office 2007 icons - Microsoft has published the pictures of the new Office 2007 icons.
• Firefox 2.0 Beta - Mozilla is hoping that users find this release to be a "good echo" of what they have gotten used to. Firefox 2 hasn't changed much, interface-wise, from the original.
• Apple Boot Camp - 1.0.2 Beta 1 - Apple has released an update to Boot Camp. Boot Camp is the software solution that will allow the Intel Macs to dual boot into Windows. For people who want to run Windows on their Intel Macs, this is the fastest solution. This is update might include bug fixes, maybe new features too.
• Intricate Steps of How to Hack Into a Computer - Here is a huge map that pretty much shows you all possible ways to gain entrance into a system. From finding exploits and scanning ports to password cracking
• BPI demands Internet providers to pull the plug on file sharers - Now, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in the UK aims to tackle file sharing by demanding the Internet Service Providers Cable & Wireless and Tiscali to suspend the accounts of 59 accounts for a list of IP addresses it believes to be engaging in copyright infringement of music
• E-Rope - The coolest power strip idea - That blue light may get a bit annoying after five minutes. But it looks kewl for that same amount of time :) However, the PowerSquid design is probably much better...
• 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR 722 Edition unveiled -  The car accelerates from standstill to 62 mph in only 3.6 seconds, and 124 mph is reached in just 10.2 seconds. The maximum speed is 209 mph
• BMW Remote Park Assist - Driving your car into a cramped parking space can be a harrowing experience, but BMW says it has developed a robotic parking system to solve the problem.
• How to make ice that sinks - The key to the trick is heavy ice
• Street Artist "Installs" Fake People in City - This artist has created fake people and animals, placing them all over Washington DC and New York
• Best Places to Work in IT - Overall Rankings - For the 13th year in a row, Computerworld conducted a survey to identify the 100 Best Places to Work for IT professionals. A total of 20,435 IT professionals responded to the employee survey from the final 100 companies selected.

• ATI's RD600 Conroe chipset will sport three PCIe slots - Most especially it wants to get you buying three graphics cards for your PC. Two cards for graphics will cost you and a third one for physics might not be super expensive but it won't be cheap either.
• Nvidia nForce Drivers 6.86 WHQL - Grab them if you need them.
• UT2004 SoundBlaster X-fi Patch - The Sound Blaster X-Fi Unreal Tournament 2004 page now offers downloads of a new 180 MB patch adding enhanced audio content to Epic's shooter.
• Sony launches new 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo - The 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media will be available from summer 2006 and will cost approximately $ 215.
• Can Your Rig Run Oblivion? - What kind of hardware do you need to achieve a decent Oblivion gaming experience?
• 'Magnetic memory' chip unveiled - The benefit of Mram chips is that they will hold information after power has been switched off.
• Ricoh device allows hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD burners - Ricoh claims they have developed an optical component that reads and writes all disk formats.
• Firefox 2.0 Beta On July 11th - According to early testers, the beta has at least two new significant features that include an integrated spell-checker, and an anti-phishing tool. While the spell checker is meant to be a helping hand for bloggers and forum members, the phishing tool warns users of potentially dangerous sites, details of which are stored on local lists, along with Google's site listing.
• Hack almost any Nokia cell phone - Unlocking it means you can put any networks' simcard into your phone and expect it to work just fine.
• Xbox 360 HDMI Picture - Nobody knows for sure if this means MS is developing a HDMI equipped 360 or if this is just someone having fun with Photoshop.
• Top 10 things they never taught me in Design School - Interesting read for all you aspiring designers out there on what it really takes to be a successful Designer.
• Velcro Being Pulled Apart - 94x magnification, taken with Nikon SMZ1500 Stereomicroscope.
• Zidane fault - Red Card World Cup 2006 - Anyone know what Materazziho said to Zidane?
• Jolie is Tigress in Kung Fu Panda - USA Today reports that Angelina Jolie will provide the voice of a martial-arts master named Tigress in DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, coming to theaters in May of 2008.

• Microsoft Shows Off Vista Interface for Glass-Less Users - While Microsoft has been touting the Aero Glass interface as one of the main selling points for Windows Vista, there will be another new interface - one for users running Vista on less-powerful systems - too.
• Copy Protection Hole in Blu-ray and HD-DVD? - Could you imagine using the print screen key to dupe a movie?
• Hacking Techniques Help Security - HP believes that the attempted hacking of products merely assits the makers in identifying issues. They are even about to launch a division to test products with controlled exploit code.
• Exploiting Cisco Routers - The article is a little dated, but sadly still applicable to many routers.
• Why is Firefox So Darn Popular? - When considering how it handles downloads, the absence of ActiveX, the total lack of Firefox users complaining about excessive spyware infestations and even the fact that the browser has allowed for such great extensions to be created by motivated Firefox users is an exciting achievement.
• Real-Time Eye Tracking - The purpose of openEyes is to provide a hardware design and a set of software tools useful for the analysis of eye movement data. The tools available for this platform include algorithms to measure eye movements from digital videos, techniques to calibrate the eye tracking system, and example software to facilitate real-time eye-tracking application development.
• Sony Touts E-Distribution Service for PlayStation 3 - As part of Sony's plans for the launch of its next-gen PlayStation 3 console later this year, the company has started planning the PS3 E-Distribution Initiative, to help both first and third-party developers digitally distribute its games via download, directly to the PS3.
• Keyboard Food Tray- A food tray which fits on the keyboard and allows you to have food without any work interruptions.
• Google makes it as a verb - The term 'google' has been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a verb, finally giving official status to the popular term 'googling'.
• Want to learn Chinese, China wants to teach you - China launched a Web site, www.linese.com, on Saturday offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of the language abroad.
• Freaking fast car! - 0 to 60 in 2.9 seconds!

• AMD Socket AM2 3800+ X2 CPU reviewed -  On one hand, the X2 3800+ looks to offer the same type of performance you'd expect from its predecessor, the s939 X2 3800+ it replaces, including the same 2GHz core speed and 512KB x2 L2 cache. However, the AM2 line of processors also introduces AMD's entrance into the DDR2 market, as well as a rumored dormant feature which could really shake things up
• NVIDIA nForce 590/570 SLI Roundup Part #1 - The ASUS M2N32 SLI Deluxe stood out due to a richer feature set such which included external SATA and 8 phase power management. The Gigabyte M59SLI-S5 motherboard had an extra PEG slot, making it more future proof than the rest.
• LG GSA-H10N Super-Multi DVD1RW/RAM - This burner has some nice specs and a decent software bundle too! 16x DVD1R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 10x DVD+R DL and 6x DVD-R DL writing speeds and has a maximum DVD read speed of 16x.
• Microsoft's iPod killer to provide free versions of all your iTunes - To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you've already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They'll scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to your account. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they believe it'll be worth it to converts.
• AMD, ATI agree acquisition deal? - AMD has reached an agreement with ATI to buy the graphics chip company. An official statement will be made shortly - if, that is, you believe a report on a Chinese-language website citing a single source said to be close to the negotiations.
• eBay Says No To Google Checkout - Obviously eBay wants you to use PayPal for all your online auction needs but, instead of saying that, they claim Google Checkout lacks a "substantial historical track record" as an online payment service.
• Your Mac Notebook Can Detect Earthquakes - for Free  - Suitable Systems has released SeisMac, a new program which takes data from the motion sensor in your later model PowerBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro, and presents it as a fancy-shmancy scientific seismograph. SeisMac is available as a free download. If you are interested in building your own seismic station - Larry Cochrane has a website where he sells equipment, A/D converters, Geophones (the sensors) and most of what else you need. His software is written for Windows.
• Microsoft Patches: Seven on the Eleventh - Microsoft plans to release seven security bulletins next Tuesday, July 11. Included will be patches for flaws in Windows and Office.
• How to Bypass BIOS Passwords - check it out!
• Basic journey of a packet - The purpose of this introductory article is to take a basic look at the journey of a packet across the Internet, from packet creation to switches, routers, NAT, and the packet's traverse across the Internet.
• Hacker gets FBI director's password - An FBI computer consultant gained access to the secret passwords of Director Robert Mueller and others using free software found on the Internet, the latest embarrassment in the bureau's long struggle to modernize its computers.
• Volvo Multi-Fuel concept runs on five different fuels - Besides regular gasoline, you can fill the tank with bioethanol E85, which is made up of 85% bioethanol and 15% gas, natural gas, biomethane, and hythane, which is 90% methane and 10% hydrogen. The Multi-Fuel has a motor effect of 200 bhp and accelerates quickly up to speed, 0 100 km/h in 8.7 seconds.
• Lamborghini Murciilago LP640 - The car is powered by a 6.5-litre V12, longitudinally mounted behind the driver which churns out 631 hp at 8,000 rpm and rockets the car from 0 to 62 mph in under 3.4 seconds. YAY!
• Pictures: Exclusive first photos of Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF ahead of official roll-out - flightglobal.com has obtained exclusive photographs of Lockheed Martin's first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as it emerged from the paint shop at Fort Worth, Texas ready for its formal roll-out and naming on 7 July.

• HDCP 7900 Series In Six Weeks? - By tossing GeForce 7900-series cards into the mix, NVIDIA will continue its efforts to push Blu-ray and HD DVD support on the PC.
• Samsung Begins Shipping GDDR4 - The new 80-nm memory can process images 33 percent faster than the current GDDR3 chips currently on the market.
• Socket AM2 Forward Compatible With AM3 CPUs - AMD's Socket AM3 processor interconnect will be forwards compatible with Socket AM2, allowing today's AM2-based boards to host AM3-equipped CPUs, the chip maker has revealed. That said, AM3 mobos will not, apparently, accept AM2 processors.
• Nvidia's G80 has 32 pixel pipes - It turns that the fancy Nvidia G80 chip taped out, and in working silicon stage it will have 32 pixel Shaders and, as predicted, have 16 vertex and geometry Shaders.
• Viewsonic VP2130b 21in Monitor - It has a diagonal viewing area of 21.3in and a native resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, making it a perfect replacement for large 20in+ CRT screens.
• Dell 19" UltraSharp E196FP LCD Monitor - Techgage takes a look at the Dell 19" UltraSharp E196FP LCD. It features a bright 19" viewing area and supports up to 1280*1024 at 75Hz.
• College students get $899 iMac + free iPod nano -  To replace the eMac, the company has introduced a $899 flavor of its wide-screen 17" iMac for education customers only.
• TDK Reveals Blu-ray Media Rated at 6X Write Speeds - With the bulk of Blu-ray writers launching at 2x write speeds, a higher speed media seems a little premature. However, TDK brought Blu-ray media rated at 6x to the 8th Annual Data Storage Expo in Japan and expects to launch media rated at 4x before the end of 2006.
• Blanket Wi-Fi access planned in Paris  - Yesterday, Delanoë announced plans to set up wireless internet coverage across the entire city by the end of 2007. Paris will be outfitted with 400 free Wi-Fi hot spots that will be set up by private ISPs on public property, such as parks, squares, and libraries. Along with wireless access, Delanoë also announced plans to boost Paris' fiber-optic coverage to 80% of all buildings by 2010, thanks in part to juicy tax cuts for companies that lay down fiber-optic lines.
• HD Encoding Face-Off: WMV-HD vs. DivX-HD  - It looks like the clear winner in quality is WMV-HD, but you have to hand it to DivX-HD for its speedy encoding and significantly smaller file size. At less than half the file size of WMV-HD without a huge difference in quality, DivX-HD could be the format of choice for budget-conscious HD fans.
• 99 tips to improve slow and droopy Windows XP Performance - This site has 99 tips to improve every bit of Windows XP's performance ranging from BIOS tweaks to overclocking your CPU and much, much more!
• Packet School 101 - A great guide on using Ethereal to sniff packets and how to use that information to diagnose various network problems
• Businessman’s Guide to E-mail Servers - PC Mech posted a Businessman's Guide to E-mail Servers.
• Microsoft to Support OpenDocument - In a surprise move, Microsoft is bending to pressure from governments and will sponsor an open source project to build tools that enable conversion between its Open XML formats in Office 2007 and OpenDocument. The forthcoming Office suite will also support an add-in for saving directly to ODF.
• Windows Vista CompletePC Backup to VHD - Windows Vista includes a new feature called CompletePC Backup. The interesting thing is the backup file format which is VHD, the same format used by Virtual PC and Virtual Server. It will be interesting to find out whats behind this!
• The 10 Most Destructive PC Viruses Of All Time - check it out!
• Samsung SGH-i320 launched - The triband GSM (900 / 1800 / 1900) Windows Mobile 5.0 powered smartphone features a QWERTY keyboard and borrows its slim looks from the Motorola Q as it is only 11.5mm thick.
• Sony Takes Out Huge Loan - For the first time in a decade, Sony has taken out a Y80 billion loan as PS3 production ramps up.
• Voller ABC - personal portable hydrogen fuel cell - The device can pump out up to 200W peak AC power, or 65W continuous AC or DC, and 6W through the USB port. On the negative, it isn't exactly portable - the thing weights 9kg and is about the size of a large briefcase or handbag.
• Volkswagen unleashes 150mph self-driving car -  It uses electronic eyes which feature both radar and laser sensors in the grille of the car to read the road and relay what it sees to the onboard computer. A satellite navigation system tracks the car and tracks its location to within an inch.
• Samsung VC-RS60 and VC-RS60H cleaning robots - Cleaning at a rate of 0.4 metres a second, the VC-RS60 and VC-RS60H "know" when they're running out of juice.
• Microsoft Get Exclusive F1 Contract - Bridgestone and Microsoft have been granted exclusive contracts to be the sole suppliers, of tires and ECUs respectively, of Formula 1 beginning in 2008.
• Amazing Water (Drop) Photographs - check it out!
• Download every Southpark episode - wohoo! :)

• AMD Athlon64 FX-62 reviewed - Generally speaking, the FX-62 is slightly faster than the FX-60 which is a good thing as the FX-60 is pretty damn fast. By increasing the clock frequency by 200MHz on the FX-62, AMD has managed to overcome the loss of performance caused by the high latencies of DDR2. This makes the FX-62 the fastest CPU currently available.
• AMD silently launches Dual-Core Optimiser - AMD Dual-Core Optimizer is a piece of software that allegedly improves gaming performance by bypassing Windows' API.
• Little-Known Tweak to Boost Hard Drive Performance - This tweak involves a registry change to force Windows to use UltraDMA-6 mode (133MB/s) for transfers with your drives. Windows has a particularly strange way of handling transfer modes for storage devices, so you could be running slowly and not even know it. Note: That will only work if the drive and the motherboard support UltraDMA-6.
• BenQ releases BW1000 tri-mode Blu-ray writer - The BW1000 will support the use of CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs, including dual layer Blu-ray.
• MSI launches notebook with full-size keyboard  - It comes with 1GB of memory, 100GB of 5400 hard drive, Bluetooth and Wireless support and a 1.3 integrated webcam.
• Seagate Invents Nanotube Lubricated Harddrives - Using nanotubes, Seagate's patent involves coating the surface of a hard drive's platter with an extremely thin layer of extremely tough lubricant.
• Massive case mod - the tallest ever? - This guy has taken a massive Lian Li PC70 case, added a vapour cooling box on the bottom and a custom watercooling housing on top. Sandwiched together with plexiglass, the end result is a spectacular (and incredibly tall) custom case.
• Firefox creator's thoughts on IE7, and Future of Firefox - In Seattle last week for the Gnomedex technology conference, Ross sat down for an interview on subjects including Firefox's future, its relationship with Google, Microsoft's practices in the browser market and his own plans.
• Microsoft denies WGA kill switch in Windows XP - Computerworld believes the spokeswoman is denying the "kill switch" rumors, but she talks about turning computers off - not rendering Windows unworkable. Additionally, she suggests using counterfeit copies of Windows XP will become "notably harder and less appealing" over time. This statement makes Microsoft's stance none too clear...
• Security Researcher Goes Public with MSN and Amazon Flaws - The flaws could be used by attackers to steal "cookie" data files that would allow them to access Amazon.com and MSN accounts, or to display a fake login page that could be used in phishing attacks.
• Secure Gmail From Sniffers - This article looks at the potential security risks associated with using gmail, especially in the workplace where traffic may be monitored.
• British researchers break China's firewall - Researchers at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom have found some interesting holes in the "Great Firewall of China," a massive data filtering system that censors Internet content on the Chinese mainland.
• BPI gets go-ahead to sue MP3 site - The British recording industry is given permission to sue Russian download site allofmp3.com
• Plasma Needle to Replace Dentist's Drill - Sticking a needle with a flaming plasma tip into your mouth may not at first strike you as much of an improvement on conventional dentistry. However, the plasma needle, which is cold and painless to the touch, could be just the panacea we have been waiting for
• Ubisoft Says PS3 Price Must Drop In 07 - Ubisoft's president Yves Guillemot says that Sony must lower the price of the PS3 in 2007 to be competitive with the Xbox 360.
• Oldest registered Internet domain still in operation - Symbolics.com was registered in 15 March 1985 - long before anyone knew what a huge part in our lives the Internet was going to play some 20 years later. FYI, there's a nice list of the oldest domains still in operation
• Ukrainians punt free energy generator on eBay - Quite how the 100kW+ wonder machine works is anyone's guess, and the vendors are remaining pretty tight-lipped on the matter. It doesn't run on petrol or diesel, but does consume 1200m3 of air per hour. Quite remarkably, in can apparently operate simultaneously in a vacuum, which attests to its hi-tech capabilities. There's a link on the auction page to an alleged video of the beast in action.
• Sounds of Motorcycles -  check it out! (thanks iceb)

• ATI delays physics functions? - During ATI's 2006 third quarter financial results conference call this morning, ATI CEO Dave Orton revealed to analysts that despite demonstrating physics processing earlier this year, volume availability will not be for another '9 to 12 months.'
• 10 things you need to know about Intel's Core 2 Duo - Lead analyst Joel Santo Domingo dishes on what Conroe is-and isn't-all about.
• ASUS 7900GT TOP & 7600GT Silent - Need a midrange graphics card that is long on power but short on price?
• Kingston HyperX 2GB PC2-6400 C4 Memory Kit - Total kit capacity is 2GB (2048MB) which is ideal for high performance platforms. Each module pair has been tested to run at DDR2 800MHz at low latency timing of 4-4-4-12 at 2.0V. In other news, PC Stats put up a Corsair Twin2X2048-8500C5 2GB PC2-8500 Memory Kit review
• A Laptop with NO Hard Drive? Yep! - The Vaio UX90 will come with 16GB of flash memory storage in place of the 30GB hard drive on the original model. It will cost around $1805, or about $345 more expensive than the disk-based model, and go on sale in Japan on July 3.
• MacBook Pro batteries experiencing failure - The batteries, apparently storing excess heat, are among the first generation of Apple Computer's Intel-component-based laptop computer line. To date, these computers have been lauded as running at faster speeds and cooler temperatures than their PowerPC-based predecessors.
• T-Mobile Web 'n' Walk HSDPA Data Card review - Trusted Reviews looked at the T-Mobile Web 'n' Walk HSDPA Data Card.
• XG Lazer Laser 2500 DPI Mouse - XG Lazer Laser 2500 DPI is one of the best gaming mouse available!
• NVidia Forceware 91.33 BETA Drivers - These new drivers adds support for for GeForce 7950 GX2, SLI profile for Prey demo, and more.
• RemoveWGA 1.1 - RemoveWGA enables you to remove the Microsoft "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" tool, which is calling home and connect to Microsoft servers every time you boot
• VIA Hyperion Pro drivers v5.09a - VIA Tech has issued new, updated set of VIA Hyperion Pro set of chipset drivers
• Using ICMP tunneling to steal Internet - This article explains the basics of ICMP tunneling, and how it works.
• Microsoft's Domain Service Goes 'Live' - The service allows a customer to use a custom domain name with Windows Live Mail and Hotmail. Windows Live Custom Domains is a free service, just like other Live offerings from the company. Additionally, with the final debut, Microsoft has launched a new feature called 'open membership.'
• Word 2003 - Weird Easter Egg - Open a new Word document and write: "= rand (200,99)" without quotes. Then click on "enter" Wait for three seconds and look again...
• Nokia N70 3G phone -  It's a 3G device, but unlike the N80 I mentioed a couple weeks ago, it's doesn't have Wi-Fi. Bluetooth 2.0 is part of the spec, however.
• Tweak Your Tech Resume - 10 ways to tweak your tech resume
• France Passes iTune Law - So France has passed that iTunes law that will effectively force Apple to open iTunes songs to other devices.
• World Cup spam floods UK inboxes - In one of the latest examples, spammers offered recipients a $500 Visa gift card if they answered a question on which team they think will win the World Cup.
• Student Suspended Over IM Icon - Aaron was 15 years old in April 2001, when he created an icon for his home computer's instant-messaging program. The icon showed a gun pointing to a head, a bullet leaving the gun, and blood splattering from the head. It included the words "Kill Mr. VanderMolen," the name of Aaron's English teacher at Weedsport Middle School.
• Honda Civic 3-Door hatch now official - Look for the Civic Type S 3-door to go on sale in January, with a 200hp Type R following in March. Unfortunately, both hot hatches don't seem destined for North America anytime soon.
• H-Racer the smallest fuel cell powered car now available - check it out
• Armageddon? No. Giant rock coming close? Yes - While South Florida sleeps, an asteroid the size of four football fields will whiz by the Earth early Monday, barely farther away than the moon
• The Transformers Announcement Teaser - DreamWorks Pictures has launched the new Transformers announcement teaser trailer at the film's official website. At the site, just click "watch the exclusive announcement now" to view the clip in high-quality Flash format. Transformers opens in theaters on July 4, 2007.
• First Resident Evil: Extinction Images - In the second sequel, Alice (Jovovich), now in hiding in the Nevada desert, once again joins forces with Carlos Oliveira (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps), along with new survivors Claire (Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke ) and Nurse Betty (Ashanti) to try to eliminate the deadly virus that threatens to make every human being undead... and to seek justice. Since being captured by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice has been subjected to biogenic experimentation and becomes genetically altered, with super-human strengths, senses and dexterity. These skills, and more, will be needed if anyone is to remain alive.

• Microsoft Ultimate Windows Vista Keyboard Announced

  ATI R600 will run DX9 faster - ATI R600 might be the fastest card for the DirectX 9 titles!
• AMD Preps 2x256KB L2 Athlon 64 - DailyTech has managed to get a hold of an AMD engineering chip labeled 'Athlon 64 X2 3600+ for AM2.' According to CPU-Z, the processor is a 2.0GHz CPU, the same as the Athlon 64 Windsor 3800+. However, half of the L2 cache has been disabled effectively making this AMD's first dual-core processor with a total of 512KB of L2 cache. Heh, maybe they should call it Sempron X2...
• ATI Radeon X1600 round-up - HEXUS posted an ATI Radeon X1600 round-up
• A PC Smaller Than a Credit Card? - The CM-X270L measures just 4.4 x 6.6 cm. In comparison, a MiniPCI wireless card is 6.0 x 4.4 cm - just half a centimetre thinner.
• ExtremeTech Interviews DirectX 10 People -  It's definitely worth reading...
• Seagate 750 GB Barracuda Enters The Big League - THG take a look at the Seagate 7200.10.
• Microsoft introduces 360 degree camera - The objective behind the RoundTable device is apparently to sweeten Microsoft's value proposition for its voice-over-IP service, which will need some bolstering in the face of the continuing expansion of Skype.
• Office 2007 Slips; Will Vista Be Next? - On Thursday, Microsoft officials admitted that Office 2007 is running behind schedule.
• Microsoft to Shut Off Vista Beta 2 Downloads on June 30 - There's one day left to download or order your Windows Vista Beta 2 copy.
• WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall? - Well, get ready, because eventually Microsoft may be turning off copies of Windows without WGA installed. According to a Microsoft technician, 'in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now.'
• Microsoft gets Sued over Genuine Advantage Auto Update - The same lawyers who sued Sony BMG over Rootkits on music CDs, and Ubisoft for Starforce on its game disks are now taking on Microsoft!
• Two New IE Bugs Uncovered - One vulnerability lets attackers execute their code remotely if they can dupe users into double-clicking on a file included in a malicious Web page. The Internet Storm Center claimed that the current proof-of-concept exploit code requires this kind of user interaction, but that went on to warn that "we can expect to find creative use of this exploit in the wild very soon." According to the ISC, disabling IE's active scripting capabilities might protect against an exploit of the bug.
• 'Blue Pill' Prototype Creates 100% Undetectable Malware - Joanna Rutkowska, a stealth malware researcher at Singapore-based IT security firm COSEINC, says the new Blue Pill concept uses AMD's SVM/Pacifica virtualization technology to create an ultra-thin hypervisor that takes complete control of the underlying operating system.
• OSX 10.4.7 on your x86 Windows computer! - Yesterday Apple released OSX 10.4.7, today it's possible to install it on your Windows computer. The guide let's you create a dual boot menu in which you can choose from OSX and Windows. You'll also create a nice rescue disk in case something goes wrong.
• OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 - The latest version of OpenOffice.org, the free alternative to Microsoft Office, has been released.
• Learn the Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting - check it out
• BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype - check it out
• Google to Unveil Online Payment Service - It's really up now!
• FBI busts camcorder pirates responsible for 50% of all bootlegs - Apparently, the FBI has managed to arrest 13 persons, that were involved in an operation running since 1999, that specialized in recording films in theaters on a camcorder.
• P2P insurer will pay your fines if RIAA sues: $19/year! - Apparently, a company in Sweden is offering file-sharing insurance - they'll pay your fines if you're sued by the RIAA. The /. submitter translates the link as follows: 'For a mere 140 SEK ($19 USD) per year, they will pay all your fines and give you a t-shirt if you get convicted for file sharing.'
• Virgin France cops 600k euros piracy fine - Virgin France has been slapped with a 600,000 euros fine for illegally downloading Madonna's Hung Up for resale on its site - in the process ignoring an 'exclusive deal reached by Warner Music France with France Telecom and Orange', the BBC reports.
• Xbox 360 Cooling Comparo - If you have an Xbox 360 and you are looking for ways to keep that console cool during the hot summer months, I recommend you to check out this Xbox 360 Cooling Comparo.
• New Freedom Tower design unveiled - Even after the revisions, the building would still evoke the twin towers in its height and proportions. Its rooftop parapet would be 1,368 feet above the street, as was that of 1 World Trade Center, the north tower.
• Brabus Mercedes CLS the 'world's fastest sedan' - Pop the hood and you will find a twin-turbo V12 engine from the latest Mercedes 600 models, tweaked to an astounding 730 hp. It also offers the fastest acceleration for any sedan zipping to 0 to 62 mph in 4.0 seconds, 0 to 124 mph in 10.5 seconds, and 0 to 186 mph in 29.5 seconds!
• Magnetic levitation ornament - This will look great on any office desk. It looks like a table lamp but there is a strong magnetic field in the head that will not only support a metallic object, but will keep it rotating too.
• Signs You Need to Clean Your Keyboard - check it out!
• Cellphone talkers as bad as drunk drivers: study - People who talk on cellphones while driving, even using "hands-free" devices, are as impaired as drunk drivers, researchers said on Thursday.
• The Transformers Announcement Teaser - DreamWorks Pictures has launched the new Transformers announcement teaser trailer at the film's official website. At the site, just click "watch the exclusive announcement now" to view the clip in high-quality Flash format.

• AMD mulling a cheaper Athlon 64 X2? -  Dubbed Athlon 64 X2 3600+, the chip is said to be available now as an OEM-only part for Socket 939, but an official launch on Socket AM2 could help AMD better compete against Intel's price-slashed Pentium D lineup.
• Intel Quietly Ships Two Special 'Yonah' CPUs -  The fastest of the two, the new Core Duo T2700 is a 2.33GHz dual-core 65nm Yonah-based CPU, specifically targeted for high end notebooks and desktop replacement (DTR) devices.
• Samsung SyncMaster 215TW - 21in Monitor - With Vista just around the corner, you’re going to need an HDCP compliant monitor if you want to watch any protected content. Add to this the fact that HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives should be hitting the market very soon, and the need for an HDCP compliant monitor becomes even more apparent.
• 200 Mbps Powerline Solution enables HD video and audio streaming - Netgear’s new 200 Mbps Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter turns any AC electrical outlet into an HD-streaming, high-speed ethernet broadband connection, suitable for real-time high-quality video, gaming and VoIP or connecting a personal computer, digital video recorder, game console or other ethernet device to their home network.
• Doghouse's Rover TV portable recorder/player - The Rover's available in two models that are virtually identical except for the screen: the $299 "Big Screen" model packs a 3.5-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 320 x 240, while the $349 Rover TV Wide Screen has a 4-inch TFT with a 480 x 272 resolution.
• Casio's Exilim EX-S600D with DivX - Casio boasts the Exilim EX-S600D will be able to record an hour of video on a 1GB, though there's no mention on the quality or frame rate of the captured video.
• HDMI 1.3 finalized, PlayStation 3 will support the new spec - According to a report over at IGN, the spec has been finalized. Among other things, once we obtain a device that supports it, we can begin to a enjoy greater depth of color and vastly superior sound, due to a tremendous increase in bandwidth and sophisticated audio codecs, not to mention a new "mini-plug". Another benefit is the 1.3 HDMI chip can "lip sync", automatically matching the sound to the video.
• Apple Releases 10.4.7 Update - The 10.4.7 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies.
• Adobe releases Flash Player 9 - The new player has two Virtual Machines, one which can play old content and one specifically for new Flash 9 AS3 based content. According to an Adobe spokesman the new virtual machine is significantly faster, supports full runtime error reporting, and industry-standard debugging. It also includes binary socket support, allowing developers to extend the player to work with any binary protocol.
• Western Digital gives away free software - The free software will be given to anyone who bought one of the company's disk drives from 22 March 2001, through 15 February 2006. It is part of a deal to end a class action that alleges that Western Digital told porkies to punters about how much data its computer hard drives could store. The case said that the difference meant that Western Digital's 80-gigabyte hard drive had an actual capacity of 74.4 gigabytes. To get the software, the eligible consumers must register their claims before July 16 here.
• CustomizeGoogle - Firefox extension - CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox extension that enhances Google search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam).
• Vista volume license keys to be tagged and neutered - The exact details of the "new approach" to VLKs haven't been made clear, but Ward Ralston, a senior technology product manager at Microsoft, has confirmed that the company is "introducing the notion of a key management server" for Windows Vista Server.
• Microsoft cleans up its WGA act - Microsoft issued an update to its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme. The firm tweaked it so that your PC doesn't automatically report in to Seattle Central every time it reboots, like it did before. If you had auto updates set on your XP, you might never have realised this. Some people got a bit upset when they realised that, and so Microsoft relented. The Vole has even produced a page which tells you how to disable or uninstall the pilot version. 
• WEP Cracking, the FBI Way - WEP cracking usually takes hours. Lots of hours, depending on the amount of traffic on the access point. A few months ago, two FBI agents demonstrated how they were able to crack a WEP enabled access point within a couple of minutes. 3 minutes to be exact.
• Stop Windows Update from nagging you to restart your PC - check it out
• Optimize Your Bittorrent Download Speed - Bittorrent can be fun, as long as you get decent speeds. Not satisfied with your current speeds? These suggestions might help to optimize your download pleasure.
• P2P Users Beware, Your Personal Info Could Be Out There - Users of P2P file-sharing services may be sharing more than they bargained for, a former White House cybersecurity advisor has warned.
• Three held over virus e-mail plot - The three men are alleged to have targeted UK businesses since at least 2005, and infected computers worldwide. Those arrested are a 63-year-old in Suffolk, a 28-year-old in Scotland and a 19-year-old in Finland. They are suspected of being members of an online group called M00P, delivering the viruses as attachments on unsolicited e-mails known as spam.
• Driv-e-mocion convey your feelings - The round electronic display sticks on the back of your glass and can convey your message very effectively with a sad / happy face or text like Thank you, Back off etc.
• Learn to shave the correct way -- avoiding razor burn etc. - This article is an interesting read providing tons of tips on proper shaving and the proper tools needed.
• Astronomers reach out to find Einstein's waves - The Geo600 laboratory near Hanover is set to become the first to prove the existence of the waves - ripples in the fabric of space and time predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity but never actually observed. The detector, which consists of two 600-metre arms in an L-shape in a field, has begun 18 months of continuous observations after it was refitted to make it sufficiently sensitive.
• The Spider-Man 3 Teaser - Columbia Pictures has revealed the teaser trailer for director Sam Raimi's highly-anticipated Spider-Man 3 online! Spider-Man 3 kicks-off the summer of 2007 on May 4.

• AMD boasts 4x4 developer support - Coupled with NVIDIA's Quad SLI, users will be able to enjoy four CPU cores and four GPU cores in one very expensive machine.
• Intel Core Duo wipes floor with eighth generation CPU - Excellent results are demonstrated by the new core in data archiving, web-server test, OCR, and games!
• Intel's 'Woodcrest' Xeon makes its debut - The Xeon 5100 at 3.0 GHz and 4 MB L2 cache launches today to decapitate the AMD Opteron.
• WD Raptor 150GB or 150dB? - It is still a very quiet drive at idle (perhaps even a little quieter than before), but it is marred by noisy seeks that go with the drive's high-performance status.
• How Perpendicular Recording Works - Everything you need to know about the new perpendicular recording hard disk drive technology.
• Microsoft speeds up Windows Vista with new build - Microsoft has improved performance significantly in network browsing, applications like Word 2003, and throughout the rest of the OS. In other news, Anandtech published a Windows Vista: Beta 2 preview
• CureROM 2.0.3 - This new version improves Anti-Blacklist for i.e. "Hitman: Blood Money v1.2", "Titan Quest v1.0" & "Heros of Might And Magic V v1.1" and fixes some bugs.
• How to convert Xvid, AVI, MPEG to DVD - This guide will teach you how to convert Xvid, AVI, and MPEG to DVD step by step.
• Linux hackers re-claim the Linksys WRT54G - As predicted, the open source community has come up with a way to convert VxWorks-based LinkSys WRT54G wireless routers to Linux. The process does not require hardware hacking.
• Mercedes unveils Bluetooth-rigged, SIM-sucking auto - The rig automatically connects to your handset when it comes in range, and sucks down the contents of the phone's memory and SIM card over a Bluetooth link.
• Billions Donated to Charity - Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, has pledged $30.7bn of his $44bn fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• QuakeCon 06 Early Bird Registration  - Wanna head out to Dallas for QuakeCon this Summer?
• Robot Rubik's Cube Solve - Fascinating Rubik’s Cube Solver robot!
• Star Trek New Voyages episodes free for download - check it out!
• Two Potter Characters to Die in Book 7 - Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling said two characters will die in the seventh and last book in the popular franchise during a live interview on Channel 4's Richard & Judy in the UK.
• SMART cars coming to USA - DaimlerChrysler is going to announce tomorrow that the SMART car will come to the United States in early 2007.
• F-22 Goes Vertical - check it out!
• Old computers from 1980-1983 -  This photo gallery has some cool pictures of old computers.
• Nice and unique IQ test - I found it to be very entertaining and precise, enjoy! :)

Performance Improvements:
As with most Catalyst releases, performance has increased in various situations.

Far Cry performance improves 4-5%. Larger gains of up to 18.3% can be seen when using anisotropic filtering.

Fear performance improves as much as 8.5% on X1800 and X1900 Single card systems and as much as 14% on X1800 and X1900 Crossfire systems.

Splinter Cell (original) performance improves as much a 7% on X1300 and X1600 Crossfire systems.

Issues Resolved in Catalyst Software Suite 6.6:

City of Heroes: Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game under Windows XP with an ATI Radeon X1x00 series product.

Quake4: Texture corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game.

Age of Empires III: All the buildings and silver mines no longer shimmer at the same time when right-clicking on an object.

• AMD's New York state fab is go - EE Times reports that AMD has announced plans to build a new fab in upstate New York.
• The Samsung SE-W164L DVD burner - The SE-W164L supports 16x DVD+R, 8x/6x DVD+RW/-RW, and 8x/4x DVD+R DL/-R DL writing. So in case you have that large file that won't fit on a single layer DVD, you can still opt for a dual layer media with 8.5 gigabytes of capacity for the backup.
• Microsoft to WinFS: Drop Dead - Microsoft has scrapped plans for a WinFS Beta 2. Instead, elements of WinFS are being rolled into other products. I hope MS considers adopting Solaris ZFS just like how Mac OS, Linux and various other Unices are considering...
• Windows Vista Build 5456 Released - Microsoft has just released an updated version of Windows Vista to technical beta testers. Build 5456 is available in either x86 or x64 flavors right now on Microsoft Connect.
• Nero updated to version 7.2.3.2b - Those who are interested can find the whole changelog over at the Nero website here and the download link for this new version can be found here.
• Firefox 1.5 vs. Opera 9 - Even if you have a clear cut favorite, the bottom of the article has some links that anyone will find useful.
• Some Google Results are EXE Files - It has been shown that some Google results can actually be links to executable files that could infect your machine with viruses or spyware from simply clicking them.
• Free web browser Browsezilla is a click fraud engine - The company claims their web browser is a tool for privacy protection, but according to Panda Software it's got some hidden adware.
• Prey Tweak Guide - This guide refers to the Prey Demo.
• Movie Critic Caught Selling Screeners to Pirates - Over the years he sold 117 discs for $4714. He now faces a $250000 fine and 3 years in prison.
• New Device Zaps Migraines - The TMS generates a strong, one millisecond magnetic pulse that interrupts the symptoms leading up to a migraine, called the "aura" phase.
• Super-powered GPS tracking wristwatch -  It's a mobile phone, sort of. You can send out an SOS message with just one click of a button.
• Toshiba's $499 HD DVD player costs 'over $700 to make' -  The market watcher said it expects the full cost of the HD-A1 to come in at over $700 a unit - over 40 per cent more than the consumers pays for it. ISuppli characterised this level of vendor subsidy as "unusual".
• New Casio camera with 7.Mpx, the Exilim Z70 - This camera is newest from Exilim family and it's made for beginners. In it's EasyMode users can set only: image size, flash, and self-timer. The Exilim Z70 has Anti-Shake DSP to reduce photo blue when take moving objects, or shake your hands.
• Neurons self-organise to make brain chips - Brain cells can be enticed into forming uniform functioning patterns using a nano-engineering trick. The technique could allow the development of sophisticated biological sensors that use functioning brain cells, the researchers say. This type of device would identify a compound - a deadly nerve agent or poison, for example - by measuring its effect on a functioning network of neurons.
• CEO Paycheck - $42,000 a Day! - Last year, the average CEO of a company with at least $1 billion in annual revenue made $10,982,000, or 262 times what the average worker made, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released Wednesday. If you want to make that money, work hard!
• What Were Those Clouds? - A weather phenomenon filled the skies of Eastern Iowa Tuesday, and meteorologists say it's something we might not see again.
• Superman the Movie in 30 Seconds... with BUNNIES! - check it out! ROFL! I also like their version of  The Exorcist.
• Johnny Depp on Dead Man's Chest - check it out!

• Cores in 1: Conroe E6600 with 8MB Cache!

  4 Cores in 1: Conroe E6600 with 8MB Cache! - Wow! I think I am going to skip Conroe for this! :)) /thanks Jan Mahler/
• AMD Socket AM2 has a secret weapon - It seems that all AM2 CPUs were outfitted with a support for Reverse-HyperThreading, an architectural change which enables software to think that it is working on a single-core alone.
• AMD's Socket 939 and 754 End-of-Life Dates - AMD Athlon 64 3700+ and 4000+ will be the first to get the axe on July 2nd of this year
• Mobile CPUs: Core Duo vs Pentium M - If you want an early taste of what Core 2 Duo will bring later this year, then the Yonah platform will surely be able to satisfy your curiosity, it offers an excellent power usage/performance ratio making it a prime candidate for small home theater PCs or a very silent desktop system
• GeForce 7900 GT Roundup - Are you looking for a GeForce 7900 GT card but aren't sure which one to buy?
• GF 7300GT Vs Radeon X1300Pro - If you need a budget board for your back up box this comparison might be of interest.
• Nvidia prepares 7600LE, 7500LE and 7300SE - NGOHQ.com is reporting that Nvidia is preparing 7600LE, 7500LE and 7300SE.
• Ageia's PhysX physics processing unit tested again - TechReport found some interesting ways to test the PhysX card, and the results may enlighten us about the prospects for physics acceleration in custom hardware.
• The First Blu-ray Burner, Pioneer's BDR-101A - The drive can do anything with CDs, is kind of slow with DVDs, and doesn't support double-density Blu-ray media, but hey, it's a start, and can burn 25GB in 42 minutes.
• Dell 1110 Laser Printer - If you want a cheap laser printer, check out Dell 1110.
• Skype Offers US Free International Calls - The company today offered its US-based users one hour of free international calling to landline phones in 30 countries.
• Google Releases New Ad Network - The new Google advertising program, called the Content Referral Network, will pay webmasters when a user completes a specific action, such as purchasing a product or completing a lead form.
• 17 Online File Storage Services Tested - PC World reviewed 17 online file storage services.
• Working and active exploit on citibank.com - It is an active link to working exploit, ready to send YOUR data from citibank.com domain to attacker's server - so dont give your real login and pass please
• Office hit by another security problem - Attackers could commandeer a vulnerable computer by embedding a malicious Flash file in an Office document.
• Torrentspy names alleged MPAA hacker - Valence Media, the parent company of Torrentspy.com, charges that the MPAA paid the Canadian resident $15,000 for information on Torrentspy and its executives, according to documents filed Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.
• 55 Ways to Have Fun with Google - Free PDF Book
• Bill Gates Impressed By Xbox Modders - Apparently, Bill Gates is impressed by some of the things the modding community has done with the XBox. Apparently when Bill was shown what Avalaunch and the like coudl do, he wanted to know how he could engage this modding community
• Nintendo Says Low Prices Are Unhealthy - Nintendo President Saturo Iwata believes that lowering prices of software too soon is unhealthy.
• Opera for Nintendo DS: First Look and Hands on Review  - It was announced back in February that Opera would be coming out for the Nintendo DS and just recently Nintendo announced a release date of July 24th. But just how good is this pint sized web browser on Nintendo's hot new handheld?
• PS3 Secret Weapon Revealed? - A story that MegaGames claims is exclusive suggests that a 3D user and environment recognition add-on will be available for PS3 at launch. Developed by Prime Sense the device will be reminiscent of the glove manipulated computer of Minority Report.
• Worth Buying - Pink Floyd - Pulse (2006) - ships on July 11 || V for Vendetta (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006) - ships on August 1st || Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Widescreen Edition) (2004) || Biggest Upcoming DVDs summer 2006 - check it out!
• Futurama Returns - 13 new episodes of Futurama have been confirmed by Katey Sagal on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. All the original actors have signed up too.
• Man Makes $100-$300 a Day Sitting In Cars - Sometimes I’m amazed at the creativity of some people who earn a good living filling needs that anyone could do.
• Mirror of codebot.org site that was illegally taken down  - Codebot.org was illegally shut down by the Church of Scientology. This guy provided a mirror so that people can read the truth. In light of what happened to codebot.org, here are top-secret religious materials from the Church of Scientology that they don't want the public to see. Posting material like this online has, in the past, caused legal threats and even forced Slashdot to infamously remove a comment. Enjoy, and educate yourself about this organization. Heh, and here people are worried about the Jehova's Witnesses....
• FBI Thwarts Possible Terrorist Plot to Blow Up Sears Tower - The FBI raided a building in Miami, Florida and took 7 people into custody in connection with an alleged plot to blow up various targets including the Sears Tower in Chicago.

• Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

  Intel Life After "Conroe" - What's the absolute bleeding edge in Intel CPU design for the next five years? "Penryn," "Nehalem" and "Gesher"
• Microsoft Planning To Add Physics Support To DirectX - Direct PhysX anybody?
• ATI's R600 GPU hits manufacturing  - No final date is known for when R600-powered graphics cards will appear on store shelves, but a launch date between October and December is considered possible.
• HIS and ATI tag team to deliver cool'n'quiet GT Crossfire - HEXUS.net reports that the new ATI driver which is soon to be unleashed will now enable software crossfire up to X1900GT. This means no more hassle in having to find a master card, or an external cable.
• Dell launches new ultraportable - The D420 weighs in at 3 lbs and is a bit bigger than its predecessor, the 2.5-pound Latitude X1. It retains a similar 12.1" 1280x800 display, but trades the X1's 1.1 GHz Intel Pentium M ULV 733 for a 1.06 GHz Core Solo U1300 (Core Duo flavors are due out "later this summer"), and swaps the 3-cell battery for a beefier 4-cell model.
• Blu-Ray First Impressions Not Promising - Don't even bother with Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD for at least a year, because there are significant bugs to be worked out yet.
• BIOS Guide For Athlon64 Platform - If you are running an Athlon 64 based system you should bookmark this Athlon 64 BIOS settings guide
• ZFS: Ten reasons to reformat your hard drives - The much anticipated release of the new ZFS filesystem in Solaris 10 will revolutionize the way system administrators (and executives) think about and work with filesystems.
• Mizuno's Super Airbrush Photoshop Tutorial - Here is a tutorial on how to airbrush your photos in adobe photoshop!
• First Blu-ray movies hit stores - A quick peek at our price search engine does indeed show all the launch titles available at prices ranging from $11.99 for The Terminator to $25.99 for Underworld Evolution, with others at the $19.99 mark.
• Wii-mote In Action - Gameworld Network has posted an epic collection of streaming E3 videos which clearly depicts each and every playable Wii game and how exactly one has to swing, wave, shake, point, wiggle and/or jostle the Wiimote in order to play.
• Lego Laying Off 1200 / Ending US Production - Lego will be ending it's US production and laying off a good chunk of it's workforce.
• UFO Hacker talks about what he found - Wired has an exclusive interview with the british hacker that accessed the NASA network in search of UFO proof.
• A third of EU citizens lack basic computer skills - More than a third of Europe's population have no basic computer skills, according to data published by the Statistical Office of European Communities. Eurostat found that 37 per cent of people aged between 16 and 74 had no basic computer skills and were unable to complete tasks such as using a mouse to copy a file or folder.
• Bond crew destroys $900,000 in Aston Martins - A source for the 21st Bond movie said: 'These are easily the most amazing James Bond cars yet. They look incredible and cost a fortune. Unfortunately we had to smash three to pieces.'
• The Gay Animal Kingdom - The effeminate sheep & other problems with Darwinian sexual selection.
• 222 megapixel image of Machu Picchu in Peru - Staggering photograph, truly awesome

• 500GHz CPU - The experiment is part of a project to explore the ultimate speed limits of silicon-germanium (SiGe) chips. SiGe chips are similar to standard silicon chips, but they also contain germanium for better performance and lower power consumption.
• Patriot Memory PC2-5300 - Overclockers Online has just reviewed a 2GB Patriot Memory PC2-5300 kit and the general consensus is that the memory is pretty damn good.
• NVIDIA GeForce 7950GX2 - In summary, the Nvidia Geforce 7950 GX2 is the fastest graphics product available which works on a single PCIe slot and is a very attractive purchase at its current sub L400 price point.
• GeForce 7600 series coming to AGP in Q3 - The move is apparently motivated by continued demand for Intel's 865 series chipsets, which came out over three years ago.
• Software RoundUp (June 20) - Alcohol 120% 1.9.5.4212, AutoPatcher XP June 2006, Opera v9.0 Final, Soundblaster X-Fi Crackling and Popping Update
• Grisoft plunges into spyware jungle - Grisoft has cemented its entry into the anti-spyware market, with the launch of ewido anti-spyware 4.0. Pricing starts at $29.95 for a single user through to $991.95 for 100. ewido bundled with Grisoft’s AV software starts at $44.95 for a single user license.
• Windows Live Messenger Released - check it out!
• Firefox Cheat Sheet - This page lists most of the basic functions Firefox has, and how to access them.
• How Windows XP boots up - A rundown of what goes on. Of course, everything up until the "NTLDR Initial Phase" is common to all PC's and not just PC's running Windows XP :) Another interesting article can be found here.
• Apple movie store held up over pricing talks - Movie studios "flatly rejected" Apple CEO Steve Jobs' proposal to price all movie downloads at an even $9.99
• T-Mobile Sidekick 3 - It has a 1.3 Megapixel camera with LED flash (No Video recording), 65,000 color (240 x 160) display, Mini SD card slot, 64MB SDRAM and 64MB Flash memory.
• White light 'blinds' film pirates - A device that could foil movie pirates who covertly record films in cinemas has been developed in the US. The prototype is able to locate the position of a digital camera, before overwhelming it with white light to render any recorded images useless.
• Sony Music wants bloggers to promo videos, music - So basically someone out there finally realized that if people use their music in their videos or podcasts, and 5 million people watch or download that video or podcast, chances are good several of them will go buy said music. And as such, they effectively get free advertising with no cost whatsoever to the company, and pull in revenue with no additional effort? Why in the hell would they want that? :)
• U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info - According to a news story on Yahoo! News, the U.S. Government has spent US$30 million in the last year on buying citizens' personal phone records from online brokers
• Chinese Students' Cheating Techniques - Don't Try at Home! - The methods include microscopic earphones and wireless devices. In some cases, students are required surgery to recover from their cheating attempts. If there are that many people that desperate to get into a university, the obvious question would be, why don't they just open more schools?
• Teen Sues MySpace Over Sexual Assault - A 14-year old is suing myspace for $30 million claiming the site failed to protect her from a 19-year old she met through the site. The suit claims that MySpace doesn't verify a user's identity or age and doesn't do enough to protect users.
• China's '08 Olympic Stadium Design Reminds Me of Something... - To some viewers, this design for the 2008 Olympic stadium to be constructed in Beijing looks like a definitive portion of the female anatomy.
• 2007 Porsche Boxster and Boxster S get power boost - The Boxster accelerates to 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds and has a top speed of 258 km/h. With the optional six-speed gearbox, 260 km/h can be achieved.

• HKEPC tests Core 2 Duo power draw, overclocking -  In HKEPC's testing, the Core 2 machine idled at 77 W and climbed to just 118 W during a CPU Burn test. Meanwhile, the Athlon 64 FX-62-powered AMD system drew 98 W at idle and 142 W at load. In other news, MadShrimps have posted Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Overclocking with Air Cooling.
• PX-760A - Plextors first 18x DVD burner - For those who not know, this drive supports 18x DVD+/-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 10x DVD+R DL and 6x DVD-R DL writing speeds.
• Researchers Find Technique to Quickly Erase Hard Drives - The researchers concluded that permanent magnets are the best solution.
• Windows Vista: Beta 2 Preview - Anandtech has an interesting pointwise comparison of Vista vs Tiger, XP and Windows Vista x64. Worryingly, it seems that Vista x64 is not reedy as testers had significantly more issues with x64.
• Mac OS X 10.4.7 To Deliver Audio Fixes and More - Specifically, people who claim to have tested the latest pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.7 say the update will offer fixes for audio playback in iTunes, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack and QuickTime. It will also improve Bluetooth file transfers, mobile phone synching and mouse pairings, these people have said.
• Microsoft Ending SP1 Support - Just as a friendly reminder, Microsoft is going to be ending all support for Service Pack 1 as of October 10th. That means there will no longer be any security updates so make sure to migrate over to SP2.
• PayPal fixes fatal flaw - The issue was publicised by Netcraft, and PayPal swiftly fixed it. However it is unclear how many people lost personal details because of it. The scam involved tricking users into accessing a URL hosted on the real PayPal web site. This URL used SSL to encrypt information transmitted to and from the site, and a valid 256-bit SSL certificate was presented to confirm that the site does indeed belong to PayPal. But the content on the page was been modified by the fraudsters via a cross-site scripting technique (XSS).
• Nintendo DS Lite - Handheld Console - The touch screen is especially impressive, considering how dull it was before, while the improvement in viewing angle is nothing short of staggering - the picture below shows how the touch screen looks like it's switched off on the old DS.
• Nokia Launches CDMA Flavored Megapixel Candybars - With a high-resolution 262,144 color 240 x 320 pixel QVGA screen and framed by a real stainless steel accent band, the sleek Nokia 6275/6275i phone immediately captures the eye. The phone comes with Bluetooth wireless technology and a 2 megapixel camera with flash and video capture capability, the Nokia 6275/6275i phone features a built-in digital music player and support for up to a 2 GB microSD memory card. It supports a range of music formats including MP3, AAC and eAAC+.
• How to speed up PDF loading with Adobe Acrobat - It really speeds up opening Acrobat to seconds!
• How to Get BILLIONS of Pages Indexed by Google - The awesome thing is how Google ignores this problem and continues serving Adsense ads on the sites. Not only are they indexing this guy's billions of spam pages but they are paying him for it.
• Make Your Own AC - With 30 dollars of parts like an icechest of ice water, a fan, and some copper tubing, you can have your very own functioning air conditioner.
• Mass. school punishes students with electric shocks - New York education officials issued a scathing report on a Massachusetts school that punishes troubled and disabled students with electric shocks.
• Net students 'think copying OK' - The "Google generation" of students often see nothing wrong with copying work, says a plagiarism expert.
• Top 10 Myths of College Funding - College is not a luxury for anyone seeking a lucrative career; the difference in lifetime earnings between a high school graduate and a college graduate is over $1 million and climbing.
• Russia to Build Floating Commercial Nuclear Reactor - The first floating reactor that Rosenergoatom and Sevmash build is estimated to cost around $336 million -- it will be deployed in a remote, sparsely-populated region on Siberia's northern coast, where electric and thermal supply is very limited.
• Vitamin C: Cancer cure? - The distinction between oral and intravenous is crucial. The body automatically gets rid of extra C through urine. Levine's lab has shown that, at high concentrations, the vitamin is toxic to many types of cancer cells in lab dishes. But to get that much C into the body before it's eliminated, it must be put directly into the blood.
• The Da Vinci Code Up to $678.5M Worldwide - The Da Vinci Code, which has climbed to $480 million overseas and $678.5 million worldwide, is now the 13th highest grosser overseas of all-time and the 22nd highest worldwide performer, surpassing Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump ($677.4 million).

• Windows Vista Premium Hardware Requirements - Ars Technica has posted the OEM hardware requirements for Windows Vista Premium certification - 1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and plenty of RAM for that DirectX 9.0-Capable graphics card.
• Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24in Widescreen -  The changes from the 2405FPW are thus: the new panel is now based on S-PVA technology rather than PVA, the upshot of which is that response time is down from 12ms grey-to-grey to only 6ms. However, to achieve this Dell has switched to a 6-bit panel, rather than the 8-bit used on the 2405.
• Get your Live.com ID Today! -  I got mine and have verified that these steps do in fact work. Enjoy!
• Google does a GMail for video - The news here is that Google is not imposing restrictions on file size uploads. It just wants you to post your stuff in as hi-res a format as you know how.
• Extremely Critical Flaw Discovered In Excel - Symantec are already reporting a trojan (trojan.mdropper.j) that drops malware onto machines using the undocumented vulnerability.
• Removing annoying WGA stuff from Windows XP - This short guide will tell you how to remove the annoying screens!
• 5 Steps To A Safer Wireless Network - Business Week has a handy guide to safer wireless networking in 5 steps.
• How to boycott the Music Industry and still enjoy music - The article offers alternatives to buying CDs and DRM infested files. Alternatives include listening and recording internet radio, audio blogs and a large list of free music download sites.
• Paypal flaw allows identity theft - A security flaw in the PayPal web site is being actively exploited by fraudsters to steal credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to PayPal users. The issue was reported today via Netcraft's anti-phishing toolbar.
• Vista Beta torrent site ordered to cease and desist - A Windows Vista torrent tracker, which does not seem to have been involved in any illegal activity, was shut down after its owners received a Cease-and-Desist letter from the Vole.
• Why Ballmer Should Leave Microsoft - In the wake of the announcement of Bill Gates' departure from the top spot at Microsoft, CNN Money is carrying an article arguing that Steve Ballmer should step down as well.
• Vauxhall Astra Panoramic lets drivers soak up the sun - The windshield, which is made of heat absorbing glass so you don't get baked like a potato, wraps over the top of the front seats of the car. It creates an open, bright feeling which, according to the company, is superior to a sunroof.
• Russian mission to Mars in 2009 - Russia plans to send up a space exploration capsule to analyse the surface of Mars and collect test samples from one of the red planet's moons in 2009, Russia's space agency said Friday.

• Halo 3 Behind the Scenes Trailer

  AMD Kills Off Several Athlon CPUs -The Athlon 64 X2 chips that will be retired are models 4800+, 4400+, and 4000+ for Socket AM2 and model 4400+ and 4800+ for Socket 939.
• Crossfire: ATI's Answer to SLI  - For those of you out of the loop, Crossfire is ATI's take on the multi rendering solution, very much like NVIDIA's SLI
• Vista Premium notebooks to require hybrid storage - Notebook PCs will need hybrid storage to obtain Vista Premium Ready certification starting from June 1, 2007.
• A Better HDMI Standard On the Way - Called HDMI 1.3, the new spec will support a feature called 'deep color', allowing devices to process and display a great number of colors. Increased bandwidth is also part of the new spec. HDMI 1.3 will be upgraded to 225MHz, from 165MHz on the current specification
• Don't use the Vista Beta Drivers from Creative, they don't work! - Download the Windows XP 64-bit Drivers instead. If they don't work after the first installation, reinstall them. They should work the 2nd time. (thanks XXXX)
• Skype 2.5 Officially Released - Skype 2.5 is officially released and out of beta. The new version includes features such as SMS messaging and direct calling of Outlook contacts, as well as an improved GUI.
• Converting Windows executables to Mac OS X or Linux binaries - Cody Brocious (PyMusique) is working on a new project to convert Windows executables to native Mac OS X or Linux binaries. He is focusing on high-end gaming at the moment, though he plans to support other apps in the future.
• eBay prepares 'Skype me' feature for auctions - Yahoo News says eBay will kick off a trial initiative on June 19 that will add a "Skype Me" button to auction pages in 14 different categories.
• How To Run Your Own Name Servers With ISPConfig And GoDaddy - This tutorial shows how you can run your own name servers for domains that you register with GoDaddy.
• BlackAngel.B worm spreading via Microsoft's MSN Messenger - Once it has infected a computer BlackAngel.B uses the instant messenger to send messages to all the contacts in a user's list, disguising itself as a video called "Fantasma" (Ghost).
• The Piratebay Returned To Its Base - It looks like The Piratebay is back home again!
• RIAA chief says illegal song-sharing 'contained' - Well, if the RIAA said it then it must be true ;)
• Worm Author Seeks Employment - A person claiming to be the author of Monday's Yamanner worm that targeted an unpatched vulnerability in Yahoo's mail application has contacted several security vendors, asking them for a job. WTF :)
• The Rewards of Being Shy - Shy people may be quiet, but there's a lot going on in their heads. When they encounter a frightening or unfamiliar situation--meeting someone new, for example--a brain region responsible for negative emotions goes into overdrive. But new research indicates that shy people may be more sensitive to all sorts of stimuli, not just frightening ones.
• Pimpin' ain't easy - check it out
• Hi-Res Photo of 'Infrared Andromeda' with 1 Trillion Stars - The data confirm that Andromeda (aka M31) houses around 1 trillion stars, compared to 4 hundred billion for the Milky Way. God damned that looks good! More images can be found here, enjoy!
• In Your Dreams, Stubble Boy! (movie) - check it out