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 Gameguru Mania News - Jan,26 2003 - tech 
Sunday Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 04:34 PM CET - Jan,26 2003 - Post a comment
 Gameguru Mania News - Jan,25 2003 - tech
Virus-like attack slows Web traffic - tech
(hx) 05:57 PM CET - Jan,25 2003 - Post a comment
MSNBC has now confirmed the info I reported in morning tech reading, that traffic on the many parts of the Internet slowed dramatically for hours early Saturday, the apparent effects of a quick-spreading, virus-like infection that overwhelmed the world's digital pipelines and interfered with Web browsing and delivery of e-mail.
The virus-like attack, which began about 12:30 a.m. ET, sought out vulnerable computers on the Internet to infect using a known flaw in popular database software from Microsoft Corp., called “SQL Server 2000.” But the attacking software code was scanning for victim computers so randomly and so aggressively — sending out thousands of probes each second — that it overwhelmed many Internet data pipelines.

“This is like Code Red all over again,” said Marc Maiffret, an executive with eEye Digital Security, whose engineers were among the earliest to study samples of the attack software. “The sheer number of attacks is eating up so much bandwidth that normal operations can’t take place.”
Morning Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 12:25 PM CET - Jan,25 2003 - Post a comment
  • Internet worm causing major problems - DriverHeaven is reporting that there appears to be a Microsoft SQL Monitor worm spreading. Massive UDP traffic on port 1434 is affecting major internet backbones, including UUNET. Of course, servers and home users are being flooded as well. Many websites are currently inaccessible or slow, depending on your location and ISP. Check out the Packet Loss and Reachability graphs here.
  • New SQL Worm? - About 9:30PM PST on January 25th, 2002, some SQL Server 2000 installations were compromised by some sort of SQL Server Worm. The compromised boxes/worms generated more than 80Mbit of outgoing traffic (probably more if our connection could have handled it) trying to compromise other boxes it seems. Those SQL Servers running Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3 (released Jan 17 with little/no notice from MS!) were immune to the worm.
  • What's in a name? Not Palladium  - Microsoft has dropped the code name of its controversial security technology, Palladium, in favor of this buzzword-bloated tongue twister: "next-generation secure computing base." On Friday, the company said that the name Palladium had become tarnished by controversy surrounding some elements of Microsoft's security push. In additional, it faced a potential legal battle with a small firm over the Palladium name.
  • Abit Announced first motherbord supporting 1200MHz RDRAM - ABIT Computer Corporation announced the SI7 motherboard featuring the SiS R658 chipset and Samsung Electronics' 1200MHz RDRAM memory. The ABIT SI7 supports up to 4 GB 1200/1066MHz RDRAM memory capacity and fully supports AGP8X interface for powerful graphics chips. In addition, the SiSR658/963 chipsets are also equipped with powerful multimedia functions, including 5.1 Channel AC'97 2.2 Audio, 10/100MB Ethernet, Home PNA2.0 and Dual ATA133/100/66 IDE Channels, six USB 2.0/1.1 ports, and three 1394a ports, which can fully meet the high end PC requirement.
  • The End Of ATi? - This overview of allegations from the Ontario Securities Commission is the complete list of allegations against ATi charging them with insider trading, lying and conduct contrary to public interest. This could have an extremely damaging effect on ATi as a company as well as damaging to employees and shareholders if the company stock tanks. The effect a negative outcome in this matter could have a huge impact on the industry as a whole. Here is a clip from the long list of allegations against ATi. (source: HardOCP)
  • ATI R350 Plans - The Inquirer has gathered some info on the upcoming R350 from ATI: ATI's magic goal is to achieve 400MHz/800 MHz for the card and memory while we know that it can easily clock it to 375 MHz, which can be considered as the lowest frequency of R350. The final silicon should be back from TSMC any day now, as product is almost ready and when it does we will try to confirm the information about the final clock. 400 to 425 MHz is a dream target. R350 is likely to stay with the Radeon 9x00 branding name, where x will be replaced with 8 or 9, so it may well be named the Radeon 9800 or 9900.
  • Official GeforceFX Specs - Both NVNews and GeForceZone have posted the official specs for the GeforceFX 5800 Ultra and GeforceFX 5800. GeforceFX 5800 Ultra: 500MHz core, 1GHz Memory clock, $399 preorders; GeforceFX 5800: 400MHz Core, 800MHz memory clock, lower pricepoint.
  • DivX 5.03 - DivX (changelog, download free / pro / pro-adware)  is a package that includes all the DivX codec, player, utilities, and documentation that you need to play DivX files. DivX codec is based on the MPEG-4 compression standard. This codec can reduce an MPEG-2 video (DVD format) to ten percent of its original size. DivX is a digital video compression technology based on the ISO MPEG-4 standard.
  • PowerStrip 3.31 Beta Build 372 -  PowerStrip provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest SiS Xabre and Radeon 9700.
  • Rage3D Tweak v3.7 - Rage3D Tweak is a Radeon Tweaker designed to fit right in with the other ATI option tabs in the Advanced Display Properties accessed through the Control Panel. It allows access to Registry Tweak options, Custom Display Modes, Refresh Rates, and Overclocking all through an easy to use interface.
  • Leadtek Detonator 41.13 - Leadtek has released a new VGA driver for their K7NCR18-x nForce2 (mirror) series mainboard which makes use of the GeForce4 MX GPU core. The .inf file can however be manipulated to support all Nvidia cards. (thanks Warp2Search)
 Gameguru Mania News - Jan,24 2003 - tech
Evening Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 01:54 AM CET - Jan,24 2003 - Post a comment
  • 4-winged dinosaurs Feathered, chicken-size creatures found in China - Fossils of a four-winged, feathered dinosaur that lived in trees and glided to earth to seize its prey have been unearthed in China, a find that American scientists say could revolutionize the long debate over the origin of flight in birds.
  • Nintendo Eyes Next-Generation Console Launch - Nintendo Co. Ltd., creator of "Pokemon" video games, said on Thursday it planned to launch a next-generation home game console in 2005 or 2006 in a move to restore its clout in the lucrative home video game market.
  • Sprint DSL's Gaping Security Hole - Sprint DSL customers are at risk of having their e-mail addresses and passwords stolen -- even when their computers are powered off -- due to weak security controls on their DSL modems.
  • Kylie Minogue for free - Tracks from artists including Eminem and Kylie Minogue will be given away free to internet users as part of a major initiative to combat the growing threat of online piracy. OD2, the company formed by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel is behind the Digital Download Day Europe initiative, designed to educate consumers about the range of tracks available to buy online.
  • Chips with everything makes for a hi-tech mess - Researchers at the United Nations University in Tokyo recently analyzed the material and energy inputs required to produce a 32-megabyte DRAM microchip, and what they discovered came as a shock. Their findings have attracted media attention worldwide. So what are the environmental impacts of producing and using a 32-megabyte DRAM computer chip that weighs a mere 2 grams? The UNU team found that to make every one of the millions manufactured each year requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 grams of elemental gases (mainly nitrogen), and 72 grams of chemicals (hundreds are used, including lethal arsine gas and corrosive hydrogen fluoride).
  • Tiny 'Braille' opens new space for storage - A team of European scientists is experimenting with a molecular-scale storage device that can be read like Braille and could lead to systems that hold nearly 100 gigabits of data per square inch. A number can be written as a string of bumps or dots," said Francesco Zerbetto, a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Bologna and one of the authors of the findings to be published Thursday in the online edition of Science Magazine.
  • Ink-jet printing creates tubes of living tissue - Three-dimensional tubes of living tissue have been printed using modified desktop printers filled with suspensions of cells instead of ink. The work is a first step towards printing complex tissues or even entire organs. Many labs can now print arrays of DNA, proteins or even cells. But for tissue engineers, the big challenge is creating three-dimensional structures. Mironov became interested when Thomas Boland of Clemson University, also in South Carolina, told Mironov how he could print biomaterials using modified ink-jet printers.
  • WD 250 GB HDDs - Western Digital Corp. announced that it is shipping its next-generation 80 GB-per-platter technology, which yields PC hard drives that can store up to 250 GB. This new hard drive technology adds 25% capacity to Western Digital's popular WD Caviar 200 GB hard drive, which was based on 67 GB-per-platter technology.
  • XBox Chip With Legal BIOS - OzXChip, an Australian company, has a new Xbox chip which comes preinstalled with the new (Cromwell Linux BIOS. Previous chips came without (or simplistic) BIOS for obvious legal and hardware-related (HD-key) reasons you had to go through a lot of manipulations in order to install a patched version of the original Microsoft BIOS or ask the vendor to do it which obviously he was not willing to do for free (when he was willing to). Since the new Cromwell BIOS is fully open source it can be shipped with the chip without any legal risks, gaining you a lot of time, sweat and money.
  • Xbox Live Review - Over at FiringSquad.com they have a really good review of Xbox Live.
  • Confirmed Barton Launch Dates / Speeds -  AMDZone has confirmation of the launch dates for the Barton. On 2/10, AMD expects to have parts available for both box and tray. The 3000 speed is expected in limited quantity. The 2600MP is expected to ship the first to second week February. AXDA2500DKV4D - $169.00, AXDA2800DKV4D - $364.00, AXDA3000DKV4D - $571.00. AMSN2600DKT3C - $265.00 <- 266mhz part, AXDA2500BOX - $177.00, AXDA2800BOX - $372.00, AXDA3000BOX - $579.00, AMSN2600BOX - $273.00.
  • Casio introduces E-3000 Pocket PC - The E-3000 sports specifications that don't stand back to other high-end Pocket PCs (hi-res picture)), including a 400 MHz Intel XScale PXA250 processor, 64 MB of RAM and 32 MB of ROM. Its screen is a typical 3.5" large, offers 16-bit color and uses semi-transflective TFT technology. It also has a CompactFlash Type II expansion slot, as well as an SD/MMC card expansion slot. Other features include a HP Jornada 560 series style up/down rocker button, as well as an Infrared port and USB connectivity.  Perhaps the most impressive trait of the E-3000, Casio claims it offers 15 hours of battery life - which can be increased to 30, by opting for the 'large' battery. As a result, the handheld is not among the thinnest; its measurements read 13.5 cm x 7.8 cm x 1.8 cm, and it weighs 190 g with the standard battery attached.
  • 15" Kiss Technology Widescreen TFT Review - The screen defaults to a resolution of 1024*768 and 60hz refresh with a PC, and native resolution depending on the input such as a camera. The Coolview is very easy to look at if it is used for DVD playback or server monitoring, but for general web browsing and work the clarity and contrast became very noticeable. As such the TFT would be misplaced as a primary monitor; despite its low profile it is not really suitable for this purpose.
  • PocketPC Phone edition by T-mobile Review  - The PocketPC phone edition from T-mobile runs on the GSM 900/1900 MHz band and supports GPRS for true internet connectivity. The 3.5" screen supports a 12bit color and 320x240 resolution on a very bright reflective LCD display. Other standout features include POP 3 or IMAP4 e-mail support, built in paging, conference call support, full HTML or WAP browsing, SD memory expansion, IM messaging, Media Player and more. Remember, the OS is Microsoft's PocketPC so you will have complete synchronization with most of your popular Microsoft Office applications.
  • Quadro FX Benchies - Amazon International has completed a couple runs of SPEC ViewPref 7 with a Quadro FX 2000. (thanks NVNews)
  • Taking better photos with the 7650 - A common complaint among users of the Nokia 7650 is that although its camera outperforms the accessory and integrated digital cameras of most other mobile devices, it still suffers from some infancy issues related to the quality of photos. A new application from Open Bit offers to fix most of them, and also adds some novelty functions for users who wants to have a bit of fun with their picture collection.
  • MPEG-4 missing from Real's open-source code - RealNetworks on Wednesday released the last piece of its three-part open-source code for streaming digital media, but the server code lacks support for the industry standard MPEG-4.
  • How to backup your DVD to DVD+R Tutorial - If you have a DVD burner and want to create backups of your DVD collection, then you should read the latest tutorial of CDFreaks.com's moderator Chickenman.
  • MS launches WMPLUGINS.COM - Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of WM PLUGINS.COM the premier resource and catalog of enhancements from 20 different companies and Microsoft for extending the Windows MediaR Player 9 Series experience for WindowsR XP. Plug-ins are a key new capability in Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows XP that allow any developer to customize and add great new enhancements to the player. More than 100 enhancements are available today on the Web site, underscoring the diverse developer support and enthusiasm for the new Windows Media 9 Series platform.
  • Special IE pack for Windows 2003 -  "I remember Novell admins complaining on NT what the hell is Windows Media player doing on the file server, what the hell is a browser doing on mail Server. Well in Windows2003 sound is disabled by default and now IE is locked down! Codenamed the IE HardeningPack, IE is not able to download or install active X controls". The final name is IE Enhanced Security Configuration - Via Windows Components you can enable or disable the lockdown for users and or admins : Screenshot component /  Screenshot sub component /  hardening info / softening info. (Source: Winxp.Bink.nu)
  • Updated DirectX 9.0 Gaming API  - Microsoft Corp. yesterday announced broadened availability of the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 application programming interface (API) - download
  • OS Updates - Listed beneath are recommended updates that you should install if you have Windows XP, 2000, Millennium Edition or 98 Second Edition. Where possible I've linked to where the actual update can be downloaded & saved from should you need to apply it at a later date, e.g. due to a re-install. This listing also covers some important OS updates which not even WindowsUpdate's features. Updated regularly this site will keep your Operating System up-to-date with the latest security patches & more.
  • Outlook 2002 Security Patch -  A vulnerability exists because there is a flaw in the way Outlook 2002 handles a V1 Exchange Server Security certificate when using it to encrypt e-mail. As a result of this flaw, Outlook fails to encrypt the mail correctly and the message will be sent in plain text. This could cause the information in the e-mail to be exposed when the user believed it to be protected through encryption.
  • Outlook 2000 Add-in: Holiday Updates - The holidays list, included with the Microsoft Outlook 2000 calendar, will expire at the end of 2002. This add-in updates the calendar with holidays spanning 2003 to 2007.
  • AVG Free Edition 6.0 Build 445 - A new build of AVG Free Edition 6.0 has been released. AVG, you will get a reliable tool for your computer protection against computer viruses.
  • WinACE 2.5 Beta 5 - WinAce 2.5 beta 5 is out (what's new in German)
  • Detonator Database Updated/Improved - The Tweakers Asylum's NVIDIA Detonator Driver Database contains performance data on most of the Windows 9x/ME/2k/XP NVIDIA Detonator Drivers.
  • Leaked Nvidia Detonators 42.70 / 42.51 - Looks like we have another Nvidia Detonator Driver leak (Guru3D, Mister.de, HWOnline.dk, Windows-News)  Try at your own risk!
 Gameguru Mania News - Jan,23 2003 - tech
Nightly Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 03:20 AM CET - Jan,23 2003 - Post a comment / read (2)
  • Mr. Nukem goes to Washington  - In February, Rep. Joe Baca (D. Calif.) is expected to resurrect "The Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act". (The original version died last year in the subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security.) When it's reintroduced, the bill will have the same goal: making it a federal crime to sell or rent violent video games to anyone under 18. The language, though, is being reworked. Last year's proposal failed to get traction because of concerns about the scope of the bill and potential first amendment issues. Aggressive lobbying efforts by retailers and the gaming industry - certain to be repeated this year - also played a role in the defeat.
  • Copied cat hardly resembles original - Sure, you can clone your favorite cat. But the copy will not necessarily act or even look like the original. Rainbow the cat is a typical calico with splotches of brown, tan and gold on white. Cc, her clone, has a striped gray coat over white. Rainbow is reserved. Cc is curious and playful. Rainbow is chunky. Cc is sleek
  • US Internet Provider Told to Unmask File-Sharer - A US court has ordered an internet service provider to reveal the identity of a user accused of illegally downloading hundreds of copyrighted songs. The ruling is a landmark for the music industry.  The ISP involved, Verizon, has said it will appeal. But if that is unsuccessful, the ruling will clear the way for copyright holders to pursue many thousands of individuals suspected of copyright infringement through peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks.
  • VIA Launches Seventh Generation 'Nehemiah' CPU Core - VIA Technologies today announced its new generation VIA C3O processor integrating the 'Nehemiah' core. With its powerful PadLock Data Encryption Engine, this next generation VIA C3 is the first native x86 processor on the market with embedded security features that enhance the protection of sensitive corporate and personal data. Available now at a speed of 1GHz, the new processor core is based on an advanced new CoolStream processor architecture that delivers all the necessary performance for running even the most demanding digital media applications while maintaining ultra low levels of power consumption and heat dissipation.
  • How to make KiSS DVD DP-450/DP-500 Region Free - This website describes in detail how to remove the protection and offers modified firmware files for download.
  • MSFIX: Unchecked Buffer in Locator Service Could Lead to Code Execution - By default, the Locator service is enabled only on Windows 2000 domain controllers and Windows NT 4.0 domain controllers; it is not enabled on Windows NT 4.0 workstations or member servers, Windows 2000 workstations or member servers, or Windows XP.  A security vulnerability results from an unchecked buffer in the Locator service. By sending a specially malformed request to the Locator service, an attacker could cause the Locator service to fail, or to run code of the attacker's choice on the system.
  • WinXP PreSP2 patches - MS just released some new WinXP PreSP2 patches:  Q331958 - Hard Disk May Become Corrupted When Entering Standby or Hibernation and Q810032 - Panasonic DV Camera May Not Enumerate: The named Digicam won't work correctly after upgrading to XPSP1, Q810400 - USB Devices May Not Work After You Unplug a Downstream USB Hub from the Host Controller, Q329170 - Flaw in SMB Signing Could Enable Group Policy to be Modified.
  • Rage3D Tweak 3.7 - Rage3D Tweaker (download)s is a Radeon Tweaker program designed to fit right in with the other ATi option tabs in the Advanced Display Properties accessed through the Control Panel. It allows easy access to registry tweak options, custom display modes, and overclocking all through an easy to use interface.
  • PowerStrip 3.31 Beta Build 371 - PowerStrip (download) provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest Radeon 9700DV and Matrox Parhelia.
  • HMonitor 4.1.2.2 - Hardware Sensors Monitor has been updated to version 4.1.2.2.  This new version adds support for SiS 961-963 SMBus, systems based on SiS645,645DX,648,733,735,745,746 and more.
Weekly Hardware Review Mania - tech
(hx) 02:27 AM CET - Jan,23 2003 - Post a comment
  • CPU - Athlon XP CPU roundup | Xeon 2.8GHz vs Athlon MP 2400+ | AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (1) | AMD Athlon XP 2600+(2) | AMD AthlonXP 2700+ CPU | Athlon XP Thoroughbred-B 2800+ (German) | Amd CPU OC Guide |

  • Motherboard - VIA KT400 Motherboard roundup | nVidia nForce2 Motherboard roundup (1) | nVidia nForce2 roundup (2) | Intel E7205 / Granite Bay roundup | Abit AT7-Max2 VIA KT400 | Abit IT7-Max2 i845PE (1) | Abit IT7-Max2 i845PE (2) | Abit KD7-RAID VIA KT400 | Abit BE7-RAID i845PE | Albatron PX845PEV Pro i845PE | AOpen Motherboard roundup | Aopen MK77M-V VIA KM266 | AOpen AX45-4D Max SiS655 | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2 | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2 (1) | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2(2) | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2 (3) | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2(4) | Asus A7N8X Deluxe nVidia nForce2 (4) | Asus P4S8X SiS648 | Asus A7N8X vs Asus A7V8X | Asus P4G8X Intel E7205 | Chaintech 7NJS nForce2 (1) | Chaintech 7NJS nForce2 (2) | Chaintech 7NJS nForce2 (3) | DFI AD77 Infinity VIA KT400 | EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2 Modding Guide | FIC AN19E VIA KT400 | FIC AU11 nForce2(1) | FIC AU11 nForce2(2) | Gigabyte 8SG667 SiS648 | Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra VIA KT400(1) | Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra VIA KT400(2) | Intel D850EMV i850E (German) | Iwill P4HT-S i845PE | Leadtek K7NCR18D Pro nForce2 | MSI K7N2-L nForce2(1) | MSI K7N2-L nForce2(2) | MSI K7N2 nForce2(1) | MSI K7N2 nForce2(2) | MSI KT4 Ultra-BSR VIA KT400(German) | MSI K7D Master-L AMD-760MPX | Shuttle SK41G System | Soyo P4I i845PE | Tyan Thunder K7X Pro AMD-760MPX | VIA Eden EPIA-M 933MHz | VIA P4PB400-FL VIA P4X400 | VIA Epia M9000 | VIA EPIA M-9000 System

  • RAM - All about DDR II | Kingston HyperX PC3500/DDR433 CAS2.0 Memory | OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 Memory | OCZ PC3200 Memory | OCZ PC3200/DDR400 CAS2.0 Memory | Xtreme 256mb PC3200 Memory | Crucial 512MB PC2700 Memory | Crucial PC2100 512MB Memory

  • Storage - IDE Hard Drive Roundup (New Generation) PART#2 ~ PART#3 | Western Digital WD2000BB 200GB HDD (1) | Western Digital Caviar WD2000BB HDD (2) | Seagate Cheetah 15K.3 HDD | Seagate Barracuda ATA V HDD(1) | Seagate Barracuda SATA V HDD(2) | Freecom FX-1 USB-2 CD-RW | Asus 52/24/52 CD-RW | Mitsumi 485E TE 48/12/48 CD-RW | Plextor PlexWriter 48/24/48A CD-RW | Plextor PlexWriter PX-S2410TU 24/10/24U CD-RW | MSI StarSpeed 16x DVD-ROM Drive | Yamaha CRW-F1 44/24/44 CD-RW | Mitsubishi 48/48/16 CD-RW | Samsung SM-348 Combo Drive (1) | Samsung SM348 48/24/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM (2) | Samsung SM-332 DVD Combo Drive | Promise SuperTrak SX6000 RAID Controller (German) | Promise FastTrack TX2000(1) | FastTrak TX2000 Ultra ATA/133 RAID Controller(2) | Seagate Barracuda V HDD / SATA 150 Controller | DiskOnKey Pro 16MB | Belkin USB Flash Drive | Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Drive Bay Hub

  • Video - GeForce4 Ti4600 roundup | GeForce4 Ti4200 roundup | ATi Radeon roundup | Forsa GeForce4 MX440 | Abit Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 | Abit Siluro OTES Ti4200-8X 128MB (1) | Abit Siluro OTES GeForce4 Ti4200-8X (2) | Abit Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200(3) | Abit Siluro OTES Ti4200 Voltage Mod | Albatron GeForce4 Ti4600 | eVGA GeForce4 Ti4600 | Albatron Medusa Series GeForce 4 Ti4280PV with VIVO | Albatron Ti4680P GeForce4 Ti4600-8X | MSI Ti4200-TD8X64 GeForce4 Ti4200-8X | Leadtek WinFast A280LE GeForce4 Ti4200-8X (1) | Leadtek A280 GeForce4 Ti4200-8X (2) | MSI GeForce4 Ti4600-8X (1) | MSI Ti4800 GeForce4 Ti4600-8X (2) | Triplex Ti4800SE Deluxe GeForce4 Ti4400-8X | Visiontek GeForce4 Ti4200 | X-Micro Impact GeForce4 Ti4200 | nVidia Quadro4 980 XGL | ATi All-in-Wonder Radeon VE | ATi All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro | Sapphire All-In-Wonder Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB | Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9700 (1) | Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9700 (2) | Sapphire Radeon 9700 Pro(3) | Gigabyte Maya II Radeon 9700 Pro | Gigabyte Radeon 9700 Pro | Gigabyte Maya II Radeon 9500 64MB | ATi Radeon 9700 Pro | Matrox Parhelia 512 | DFI Xabre 400 | Inno3d Xabre 400 | SiS Xabre 600(1) | SiS Xabre 600(2) | SiS Xabre 600 (3) | AVerTV 203 TV-Card | S3 DeltaChrome preview | Rivatuner 12.1 + SoftR9700

  • Monitor - Albatron 17" LCD Monitor | Samsung 17" LCD | Samsung Syncmaster 172T LCD

  • Cooling - Pentium 4 Coolers roundup | Pentium 4 Silent Cooler roundup (German) | Cooler roundup | Swiftech MCX462+T Thermoelectric Cooler (video) | CoolerMaster ARC-U01 / CRC-U01 Ramsinks | CoolerMaster Ram Chip Cooler | Prometeia vs VapoChill PE Cooler | VapoChill PE S478 Titanium | PCToys Ramspreaders | Tweakmonster Ramsinks | TweakMonster Ramsinks Rev 4 | Aerocool Glacier | Swiftech MCW50-T GPU Cooler | Innovatek Dual Fan Radiator | Zalman ZM80A-HP VGA Cooler (1) | Zalman ZM80A-HP GPU Cooler (2) | Zalman NB32J Gold Northbridge Cooler | Cooler Master AFP-U01 Alloy Front Bezel | CoolerMaster HAV-V81 X-Dream Cooler | CoolerMaster FujiYama Cooler | Thermaltake GeForce 4 Copper Cooler | Thermalright SLK-800 Cooler | Thermaltake Smart Fan 2 | Swiftech MCX370 Cooler | Titan Aerofoil Aluminium Fan | Molex 37165-37256 Coolers | IQ-Fan T7 | AeroCool X-Factor Cooler | Taisol CMK702151A Cooler | Black Ice Xtreme Cooler | Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 Cooler

  • WaterCooling - Thermaltake Aquarius II WaterCooling System | Koolance PC2-601BW WaterCooler | Koolance Exos External Water Cooling System | Atlantis Waterblock | Innovatek Graph-O-Matic Waterblock | Thermaltake AquariusII Liquid Cooling (video)

  • Case - VapoChill PE S478 Titanium System | Avance Midi Tower B013 Case | Ahanix Romeo DX Case | Antec PlusView 1000AMG Case (1) | Antec Performance Plusview 1000AMG Case(2) | Antec Plus-1080 AMG Case | BeanTech BT-80 Clear Acrylic Computer Case(1) | BeanTech BT-80 Crystal Clear Acrylic Case(2) | Beantech BT-84 Clear Acrylic Case(1) | Beantech BT-84 Acrylic Case(2) |Chieftec Dragon Aluminum Case | Chieftec DA-01BD Case | Chieftec CS-601 Window Case (German) | Coolermaster ATC-610-GX1 Case | Coolermaster Black Widow Case | Silver WinView Case | Lian Li Case roundup | Elite Acf 999 Clear Panel Case | Lian-Li PC6085A Case | Jupiter Mid-Tower Aluminum Case | Silent HDD-Cases roundup (German) | Plexmaster Showcase G1 Case (German) | Solid Multimedia PC Case | Wahoo Computers Stratagem Case | Xoxide Koolance PC2-601 Case | PC-Arena Prism ATX Case | ZDL Pre-Modded Spider Case

  • PSU/UPS - PSU roundup | Atlas 520W Gold ATX PSU | Vantec Stealth 470W PSU | Vantec Stealth 420W PSU | Kingwin Quad Fan PSU | Antec TrueBlue 480W PSU | Antec TruePower 550W PSU(1) | Antec TruePower 550W PSU(2) | Kingwin KWi-450W PSU | Belkin 525VA Regulator Pro Gold UPS

  • Sound - Hercules Sound Card Roundup | Audigy 2 vs nForce2 | Creative Audigy 2 Platinum Sound Card | Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 | Creative MegaWorks 5.1 THX 550 Speakers | Altec Lansing ATP3 2.1 Speakers | AOpen HP-590 Headphones | Creative Labs I-Trigue 3300 Speakers

  • Peripheral - Logitech Duo Keyboards roundup | KeySonic MyOffice ACK-9000WK Keyboard (German) | Logitech MX 300 / 500 Mouse | Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse | Logitech Cordless Elite Duo Mouse | Logitech Wingman Cordless Rumblepad |Trust 400 Graphics Tablet | Compad Mouspad (German) | Steelpad S3 Mousepad | eDimensional Wireless E-D Glasses

  • Network - Gigabit Network Adapter roundup | SMC 22Mbps Wireless Access Point | Belkin Wireless Combo | UniBrain Gamer Kit Deluxe | Siemens SpeedStream SS2521 Powerline 802.11b Wireless Access Point | Linksys Instant Wireless-G Access Point (WAP54G)


  • Printer - Samsung ML-7300N Laser Printer

  • Modding - Large HDD VU Kit | FrozenCPU Quad LED Fans / Fan Grills | Lian Li T-3 LCD Thermometer | MC-001 Rheobus | Sunbeam Rheobus | PCToys 4 Black Light | Plexiglas Lasercuts | Lian Li Aluminum Floppy Drive Bezel | CPUfx UltraViolet Pain Kit | Sunbeam Sound Activated Cold Cathode | 3.5 KL-01 Fan Control | Sunbeam Tech CCFL Fans | LanRig's SunBeam Rheobus Kit | Matrix Orbital MX212 LCD

  • Miscelanous -
    • Delkin Reader-18 ConpactFlash / SmartMedia | Belkin 8-1 Media Reader / Writer | Trios 2 Multi Drive Selector | Red Pepper FP-4S Breakout Box | MobileMaxx Aluminum HDD Racks / Cartridges (video) | Sharkoon UDMA-133 Cable | Vantec Nexus NXP-201 Fan Controller | Northward Graphics Kit | Senfu Tech Station | Abit Media XP Pro | Innovatek InnoVibes Rev2 HDD Noise Reducers | Tiger-Electronics Light Strip | Belkin OmniView 4-port KVM | TekGems WinAmp Remote Control

  • Notebook, Camera, MP3 players -
    • MultiChannel MP3/CD Player |jazPiper Ubit 128MB MP3 Player | iRock BLiNG CD-MP3 Player (1) | iRock Bling MP3/CD/FM Player (2) | iRock BLiNG CD/MP3 Player (3) | Jamba U100 USB-Stick MP3-Player (German) | Nomad Jukebox Zen USB 2.0 | Canon PowerShot G3 | Sony Clie PEG-NZ90 with 2 Megapixel Camera | Olympus C-5050 Zoom Digital Camera | ADS USB 2.0 Turbo Webcam | Eten P600 PDA (German) | HP iPAQ H1910 Pocket PC | Keyspan Digital Media Remote | Olympus Digital Microscope | Abhq Pre Modded Gameboy Advance
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,22 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Madness - tech
    (hx) 03:56 AM CET - Jan,22 2003 - Post a comment
    • New Games Console announced -  A newly formed US technology company, Infinium Labs Corporation, today announced (PR ~ homepage) that they will develop and market a new games console that they claim will outperform the Xbox, Sony Playstation 2, and GameCube.  The product (called 'Phantom', at the moment) will be geared towards hardcore gamers and PC users, and will be the first always-on broadband console. This next generation game console provides a robust, fault tolerant delivery system that supports games on demand, game rentals, game demos, seamless upgrades and patch management. The official spiel claims.
    • The first 'Matrix' sequel hits in May, the second in November - The plots of "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" have been closely held secrets but take moviegoers into Zion -- the world's last remaining haven for humans -- and an epic showdown between Neo and the forces of evil, Silver said. Several characters will be back to help Neo, including his love interest, Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, and Morpheus, the rebel leader played by Laurence Fishburne, as they try to save the world. New arrivals include Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith), who is Morpheus' former lover and, like Morpheus, is captain of a rebel ship. Princeton scholar Cornel West has a role in both movies as a Zion elder. (Note: If you missed earlier movie trailer from Japanese website, here is a link). For more information and goodies about "Matrix" visit MatrixFans.net.
    • BT shuts Games Domain Multiplay  - BT has informed subscribers to its Games Domain branded multiplayer product that it intends to discontinue the services on February 17, less than a year and a half after its original launch in November 2001.  Meanwhile, GAME Plc has recently launched its new Game.net service, based on the veteran UK online gaming service Barrysworld.
    • Jail for "wipe-out" virus creator - A British Web designer has been sentenced to two years in prison for writing one of the world's most destructive viruses which wiped out computers worldwide. Simon Vallor, 22, was trapped after an FBI tip-off to Scotland Yard. He received his sentence on Tuesday at Southwark Crown Court, London, after pleading guilty in December to three counts of releasing a computer virus. Vallor created cyber bugs at his home in North Wales and sent them around the world as e-mails, infecting an estimated 27,000 computers in more than 40 countries. The worst of his creations was first seen on December 5, 2001 when the e-mails flooded into users' inboxes. As soon as they were opened they infected the complete address list of each user.
    • 40 arrested in Spain for CD and DVD piracy - Police arrested 40 people and needed two large trucks to cart away more than 240,000 CDs and DVDs in Spain's biggest crackdown on pirate recording, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said Monday. The raids over the past 24 hours took place in 11 Madrid apartments, a country villa and a warehouse on the capital's outskirts, said Acebes. The 40 arrested included 29 Chinese, nine Senegalese and two Taiwan-born Spaniards.
    • Legendary hacker to get unleashed and online - One of the world's most famous computer hackers gets off probation this week and plans to dive back into the Internet, his former playground where breaking-and-entering landed him in jail for five years. On Tuesday, 39-year-old Kevin Mitnick will log on to the Internet for the first time in eight years, during the live TechTV show "Screen Savers." Also scheduled to be on the program are Shawn Fanning, creator of Internet music downloading pioneer Napster, and Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.
    • Open Windows policy tested in Russia - Russia becomes the first country to get its hands on one of the world's most closely guarded corporate secrets--the source code for the Microsoft operating system.
    • Microsoft unlocks new CD copy protection - Microsoft announced on Saturday new digital rights software aimed at helping music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, one of the biggest thorns in the ailing industry's side.  Stung by the common practice of consumers copying, or "burning," new versions of a store-bought CD onto recordable CDs, music companies have invested heavily in copy-protection technologies that have mainly backfired or annoyed customers. For example, most copy-proof CDs are designed so that they cannot be played on a PC, but often this prevents playback on portable devices and car stereos too.
    • Nvidia adds special FX for workstations - The Quadro FX (PR) initially will come in two versions - the FX 2000 and the FX 1000 - in video cards made by manufacturing partners PNY for the North American market and Leadtek for Asia, according to Jerry Chen, an Nvidia product manager. Recent innovations that have made their way into the Quadro FX cards include DDR-II memory, much more precise pixel-by-pixel control of images and enhanced support for processor-intensive effects such as anti-aliasing, which selectively redraws parts of an image at higher resolutions.
    • Via puts "Padlock" on PC data - The chipmaker, best known in the United States for its Apollo chipsets, will announce on Tuesday a new C3 processor that includes a data security feature, dubbed Padlock. According to Via, the C3 will ship by month's end. The 1GHz processor incorporates a random number generator, a tool used in file encryption. Software makers can use a programming tool from Via to write applications that, in turn, use the generator to encrypt their files.
    • Speeding up the iPAQ H1910 - The iPAQ H1910 is, as delivered from the factory, set by Hewlett-Packard to operate at a processor speed setting of 200 MHz. Its processor is however able to operate at speeds from 100 to 300 MHz, as part of the built-in speed stepping features of XScale processor. Why HP decided not to include tools to allow H1910 owners to scale their handhelds to run at 300 MHz is unknown, although a likely answer could be that not all components of the H1910 are capable of supporting the processor when running at more than 200 MHz.  Deciding to address the issue, Seattle-based Revolutionary Software Front (RSF) has come up with an application called ClearSpeed for the iPAQ H1910. By allowing users of the iPAQ H1910 to scale their processor speed up to 300 MHz, the company found that it could increase the handheld's general performance, experiencing only a 7% drop in battery life.
    • Samsung Introduces 4GB DDR Module - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the industry's first 4GB DDR Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM). The module encompasses thirty-six 1 Gigabit (Gb) DDR synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) components that achieve 4GByte density for high-performance applications such as servers, workstations and supercomputers.
    • Microsoft Office ready for Linux - Linux software maker SuSE announced Tuesday the release of Linux Office Desktop, software that allows Linux PCs to run Microsoft Office. The software reworks the application programming interfaces (APIs) behind Office 97 and Office 2000 to allow the applications to run in the open-source operating system.
    • MyDVD Media Suite Announced- Adaptec today announced the availability of MyDVD Media Suite software that enables home computer users with a DVD or CD burner to create and play professional-quality DVDs and CDs containing movies, home videos, digital photo albums, music and backups of important documents.
    • Visio 2002 Service Release 1 (SR-1) Update - The GDI Plus update for Microsoft Visio 2002 Service Release 1 (SR-1) fixes an error that occurs in Visio 2002 SR-1 after installation on Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition.
    • Outlook 2002/2000 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup - Backing up your Microsoft Outlook information is quicker and easier with the Personal Folders Backup feature. Personal Folders Backup (free) creates backup copies of your .PST files at regular intervals, making it easy to keep all of your Outlook folders safely backed up. With Personal Folders Backup, you can choose which of your .PST files you wish to back up, and how often you wish to back them up.
    • Apache 2.0.44  - Apache 2.0 (download) offers numerous enhancements, improvements and performance boosts over the 1.3 codebase. The most visible and noteworthy addition is the ability to run Apache in a hybrid thread/process mode on any platform that supports both threads and processes. This has shown to improve the scalability of the Apache HTTP Server significantly in our testing. Apache 2.0 also includes support for filtered I/O. This allows modules to modify the output of other modules before it is sent to the client. We have also included support for IPv6 on any platform that supports IPv6.
    • ICQ Pro 2003a Beta Build 3800 -  ICQ (download) is a revolutionary user-friendly Internet program that notifies you who's online at all times and enables you to initiate contact with those people at any time. I don't know what is new in this beta, probably bugfixes.
    • TMPGEnc 2.510.49.157  - TMPGEnc (download Free / Plus) converts *.AVI file to MPEG1, the format which is used in VideoCD. Using variety of option in TMPGEnc, you can compress your video file in high quality. TMPGEnc enables us adjust bitrate, quantize matrix, GOP structure, Interlace and many other parameter so that you can create most appropriate movie file depends on your purpose.
    • HWiNFO32 v1.22 - HardwareInfo32 is a powerful system information utility designed especially for detection of hardware. It's able to identify a large scale of system components and supports the latest technologies and standards.
    • SecureFX 2.1.3 - The SecureFX (download) client application lets you choose between SFTP or FTP over an encrypted SSH2 connection for secure transfers, or standard FTP for non-secure transfers. It has a simple Explorer-like interface, so it's easy to learn and use.
    • TaskInfo 2003 v5.0.0.82 RC1 - TaskInfo2002 (download) is combination of Task Manager and System Information Utility, It visually monitors different types of System information in Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. TaskInfo2002 for Win95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP shows in real time information about all running processes and threads including ring0 VxD threads.
    • TweakNow PowerPack 2003 Professional v1.2.1 - TweakNow has released TweakNow PowerPack 2003 Professional v1.2.1, a comprehensive and easy-to-use Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP utility that lets you fine-tune Windows and Internet Explorer.
    • MSI Graphic Card BIOSes - You can get many BIOSes for most of MSI's Nvidia graphics cards here. (thanks X-bios)
    • R8500 flash to 9100? - It seems that flashing from 8500 to 9100 works! When you have a card based on the ATI reference Design.
      kmf has posted a flash guide on the 3DCenter.de Forums, here is a short summary of it in English.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,21 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 04:15 AM CET - Jan,21 2003 - Post a comment
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,20 2003 - tech
    Sunday Evening Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:04 AM CET - Jan,20 2003 - Post a comment
    • Microsoft's next frontier: wireless - After dominating the desktop, burrowing into the Internet and bursting into the video game market, Microsoft Corp. is making progress at getting firmly into the palm of your hand. Already a force in software for personal digital assistants, Microsoft is ramping up efforts to provide the operating systems for those devices' close relative: the next generation of "smart" cell phones that can handle e-mail, digital photos and other data. Microsoft splashed into the smart-phone scene in Europe last year with a device sold by the British wireless carrier Orange.
    • Chilling Effects Clearinghouse - Do you know your online rights? Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? If so, this site is for you.
    • Denon Goes MP3 - DENON announce the launch of two new machines - the DN-C615 and the DCM280, both geared to MP3!
    • Project Dreamix announced - Project Dreamix will turn the Microsoft Xbox into the ultimate home entertainment center. Here is a list of features they plan to complete before Beta release:  PVR Features (Scheduled recording, fast forward, rewind, pause Live TV), Video Playback (Based on Linux MPlayer - all popular file formats), Audio/Music Playback (Based on Linux MPlayer - all popular file formats), Image Viewer (Slideshow + Photo album), Setup Menu (All configuration will be done with the Xbox controller and/or DVD Remote with the use of a graphical keypad). Although Dreamix will be based on Debian Xbox-Linux, all necessary libraries will be included in the distribution of the CD image and will auto-excecute upon being inserted into the Xbox DVD drive. This will allow for a friendly install by the average user. 
    • GeForce FX Derivatives NV31/NV34 Will Not Support All DirectX 9.0 Features? - The situation around the GeForce FX-based products is finally more or less clear: the first graphics cards should start to appear in February, while in March there will be a lot more of such solutions, as Nvidia's partners will finally get more cards to sell. Now we should talk a bit about the derivatives from the NV30 architecture, namely the code-named NV31 and NV34 VPUs.
    • Barton 2500+ Pictures/Info/Benchmarks - Taiwan PC Home website has posted some info&pictures and benchmatks of Barton 2500+ CPU. The whole site is in Chinese(?) :), but check the pictures :P
    • ABIT Siluro Ti4200 OTES: Voltage modifications - As many of you are aware...not all Ti4200 layouts by individual manufacturers are the same....so though many use the same voltage regulators, placement of components can be completely different, or components themselves may be different.
    • OpenOffice 1.0.2 - OpenOffice.org (download Win32 / Linux ~ releasenotes) is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems is releasing the technology for the popular StarOffice productivity suite. It is an international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format. The OpenOffice.org project establishes the necessary facilities to make this open source technology available to the developer community.
    • Coding Workshop Ringtone Convertor 3.9.5 - The Ringtone Converter (download) is a software program for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac systems that allows you to add new ringtones to your mobile phone without the need for cables or expensive premium rate SMS services. The Ringtone Converter supports most makes and models of phone including Audiovox, Alcatel, Ericsson, HTC, Kyocera, Motorola, Nokia, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Sagem, Samsung, Sony, Sendo, Sharp and Siemens handsets, with more added every month.
    • jv16 PowerTools 1.2.0.180 Final - jv16 PowerTools (download) is the next generation of RegCleaner. A full set of tools to keep your computer and your LAN up and running. jv16 PowerTools is basicly the Tool to control your computer. Until now your computer might had been the one who is in charge, but with jv16 PowerTools you can take the control. The program contains all the tools needed for monitoring and cleaning the Registry and the file system.
    • MagicTweak 2.00  - MagicTweak is a special program designed to optimize and personalize Microsoft Windows. It provides one-stop, instant access to a variety of Windows settings that can be altered for a friendlier Windows environment.
    • Powertoy for WMP 9 - The Ratings Migration Power Toy for Windows Media Player 9 Series is an unsupported utility that allows you to copy user ratings from Media Library to MP3 and WMA files.
    • HD_Speed v1.2.0.29 - HD_Speed is a Freeware tool (download) to measures both sustained and burst data transfer rates of your hard disks, cd/dvd-roms and floppy.
    • FoxServ 3.1 Beta 1 - FoxServ (download) is an Apache / mySQL / PHP installer package for Windows. Unlike NuShpere or PHPTriad, FoxServ features the latest version of all included pacakges, user defined configuration during installation, PHP as a module, PEAR, and the Zend Optimizer.
    • TVTool 6.8.4.3 - A new version of TV Tool (download) has been released. This is the program that enables your video card TV-Output and seems to be the best external one. This minor update fixes some bugs like the compatibility with GF4-MX460 cards, the standby mode for the monitor or the timing for Chrontel TV-chips.
    • FlashFXP 2.0 Build 908  - FlashFXP is the most powerful and popular FTP & FXP Client for Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP on the market today. This new version adds Priority Transfer Queue (This allows you to rank files /wildcard matching/ to determine the transfer order, and more. The new version is available via Flash FXP Live Autoupdate and should be available soon from here.
    • Matrox Parhelia Drivers v1.03.01.002 - Matrox have released new drivers for the Matrox Parhelia version 1.03.01.002 for Windows 2k/XP.
    • Barton 2500+ > BIOSes - Abit AT7-MAX2 12/3 (3000+FSB333) | Abit KD7-B 12/3 (3000+) |  KD7-G 12/3 ~ KD7-S 12/3 (3000+) | MSI KT4 Ultra 1/6 (2800+ FSB333) | KT4V 12/25 ~ KT3V 12/25 (2800+FSB333) | MSI K7N2 12/19 (XP2500+FSB333) | MSI K7D (MP 2600+) | Soyo K7V Dragon Plus 1/8 (Fixed T-BRED 1.5V CPU) | Soyo KT333 Dragon Plus 1/17 (Fixed T-BRED 1.5V CPU) | Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra 1/15 (Fixed T-BRED 1.5V CPU) | Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition 1/15 (Fixed T-BRED 1.5V CPU)| Shuttle AK37 1/8  (thanks AMDZone).
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,18 2003 - tech
    Afternoon Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 08:42 PM CET - Jan,18 2003 - Post a comment
    • Flying in the Face of Infertility - Infertile fruit flies injected with a human gene are now able to produce viable sperm -- a key step toward treating infertility in men as well as developing a male contraceptive. The gene is human, but the sperm is fly. The results are exciting, researchers say, because they could be directly applied to solving human fertility problems. Researchers had already determined that the isolated fly gene was crucial in sperm production, but this is the strongest evidence to date that it fulfills the same function in humans.
    • Classic Games Get New Life on the Web - They were the classics of computing and game playing - Commodore 64, Atari 2600 and the Amiga -- but have long since been relegated to the attic to make room for PlayStations and Pentium-powered PCs. On the Web, however, these classic systems live on and favorite old games can be plucked in an instant. Free-to-use software can recreate the look and feel of them on any personal computer.  At Classic Gaming, the mission is "to reunite gamers with their favorite games of old," or, as they put it in their guide for new users, to deliver "the quarter-munching, dot-gobbling, incredibly fun games of yesterday."
    • Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection "Fix" -  Microsoft announced on Saturday the introduction of new digital rights software aimed at helping music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, one of the biggest thorns in the ailing industry's side. Stung by the common practice of consumers copying, or "burning," new versions of a store-bought CD onto recordable CDs, music companies have invested heavily in copy-protection technologies that have mainly backfired or annoyed customers. For example, most copy-proof CDs are designed so that they cannot be played on a PC, but often this prevents playback on portable devices and car stereos too. Microsoft believes it may have come up with a solution. The new software is called the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in multiple layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo and a PC.
    • Microsoft: Security fix due for phone OS - Microsoft plans to update its Smartphone 2002 operating system to fix security flaws that make it possible to send rogue software programs to phones that use the OS, a representative said Friday.  The Microsoft representative did not provide a specific release date for the update, but Stuart Jackson, a representative for U.K. carrier Orange, which sells the affected phone, said the updated software is expected in about two weeks.
    • GameSpy could let crackers mount network DDoS attacks - Flaws within GameSpy, a popular program that allows game clients to find and connect to game servers, might permit crackers to flood systems with useless packets and tie up processors through DDoS attacks. The vulnerability, which affects many games across Windows and *nix server platforms, is based upon spoofed UDP requests, as an advisory by security research outfit PivX Solutions explains. Affected applications include Battlefield 1942 Server, Quake, Quake 2, Q3: Arena & Team Arena, Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein... and more, according to the alert.
    • Drivers license spam scam busted - Several unscrupulous "spammers" have been shut down after bombarding Internet users with e-mail offers for allegedly bogus international drivers' licenses, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Thursday. The FTC charged six online marketers with selling international drivers' licenses that actually are not recognized by any government, targeting immigrants and those who have had their real licenses revoked.
    • Duncan leaves Xbox team -The effusive head of Microsoft's Xbox division in Europe, Sandy Duncan, has announced his intention to retire from the games industry this year in order to focus on his personal life. Duncan has headed up the European Xbox and Home Retail divisions since early 2000, and has been with Microsoft for 16 years.
    • Do You Read PC Gaming Magazines? - We want to hear your views on a couple of the leading gaming magazines - PC Zone and PC Gamer. Complete our brief survey and you'll be entered into a free prize draw to win a brand new GeForce FX graphics card!
    • SMC 22Mbps Wireless Access Point Review - What you get in the SMC2455W Wireless Access Point "total package" is the WAP itself, it's AC adapter, the standard manual, and a disk with a setup utility and some help files along with the manual in PDF form. It's nice that SMC included a setup utility, but 99% of the people already use web interfaces to setup their routers, and enjoy the flexibility of not having to install another program on their computers if they don't have to. The utility is only for Windows machines as well, so Mac and Linux users are unable to install it, which is fine and dandy because you still have the web interface primed and ready!
    • eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 with ACS3 Cooling System - The unique peculiarity of graphics cards from eVGA is the unusual cooling system the company calls ACS - Asymmetric Cooling System. This idea has evolved to its third generation now. The ACS3 is installed in new "exclusive" graphics cards from eVGA based on the NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4600 GPU.
    • Windows XP Boot Process / XP Boot time speed tweak guides - I've noticed over at ntfs.org that they have posted their XP Boot Process and XP Boot Speed tweak guides.
    • Office 11 Broken in :) - According to NeoWin,  a group called the "Holics Project" have, according to various reliable resources, successfully released a working "crack" that disables Office 11 Beta 1's WPA (Windows Production Activation) module. A source close to Neowin has confirmed the crack to be a working example of software that "breaks" WPA, for now at least.
    • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3 - Microsoft has released Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3.
    • Media Player Roundup - PC Mag has posted a media player roundup.
    • Bargain 4.40 - Bargain, the freeware picure compressor for MSX (MSX homepage) is updated. Release 4.40 compressed an example picture in bmp format of 55Kb to a screen 8 (BN8 format) of 1.4Kb.
    • Z80ASM v1.05 - Release 1.05 of the Z80ASM, a homemade Z80 assembler, is available. Bargain (the picture compressor) was created using this assembler,
    • TMG Encoder 2.510 - TMPEGenc converts *.AVI file to MPEG1, the format which is used in VideoCD. Using variety of option in TMPEGenc, you can compress your video file in high quality.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,17 2003 - tech
    Morning Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:51 PM CET - Jan,17 2003 - Post a comment
    • Harry Potter Magic! New Book Already Best-Seller - The long-awaited fifth book in the Harry Potter series has become an instant best-seller less than 24 hours after the June publication date was announced, online book stores said on Thursday. Amazon.com said it took only two hours after becoming available for pre-order for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" to reach the top-selling spot. Amazon.com's British arm, Amazon.co.uk, said more than 30,000 customers had placed orders in 24 hours for author J.K. Rowling's latest tale of the boy wizard and his adventures. Barnes and Noble.com said orders had been pouring in since the announcement on Wednesday by Rowling's publishers that the 255,000 word book would be published on June 21.
    • PlayStation 2 game console shipments to top 50 million - Japan's Sony Corp said on Thursday that shipments of its PlayStation 2 game console have topped 50 million thanks to an upbeat holiday shopping season.
    • Taiwanese pirates says "catch me if you can!" - Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan  yesterday responded to a challenge by CD pirates and said that the ministry's crackdown on such piracy will never stop. A TV news story yesterday reported that the pirated editions of many new movies, such as Die Another Day and Hero, are now available in both VCD and DVD formats at the price of NT$100 each at night markets.  On the TV news footage, a DVD player was playing the credits of Die Another Day, but the pirates had added a sub-credit onto the video which read, "Catch me if you can, Chen Ding-nan!"
    • Intel delays dual-processor, plans new server chip - Intel said Thursday that it is pushing back the release of its first dual-core processor by a year to 2005 and adding a new microprocessor for servers to its Itanium II lineup. Intel had planned to release its first dual-core processor in 2004 in a microprocessor, code-named ``Montecito,'' but will now release it a year later, said Intel spokeswoman Erica Fields.
    • Nvidia And ATI Interviews - NordicHardware recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with nVidia at Comdex Scandinavia 2003. "We spoke about the GeForce FX, nForce 2, Personal Cinema 2 etc. and of course future products. We also had the chance to clear up some of the cunfusion and rumours surrounding the ever so late GeForce FX. By a coincidence we also got the replies from an e-mail interview we sent to ATi some months ago so now we have the great pleasure of presenting you with two interviews with the two videocard giants nVidia and ATi."
    • Video camera design released for cell phones - Atsana Semiconductor has announced the availability of a 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera Accessory Module reference design for mobile phones and PDA manufacturers. The reference design connects to existing mobile handsets to offer MPEG4 and H.263 video along with Megapixel JPEG and audio capabilities. OEMs now have a ready-to-market, production-ready design that provides add-on Megapixel still image and video camera functionality to mobile phone handsets.
    • Samsung v200, SGH-v205 make debut - First came Nokia's 7650, then came Sony Ericsson's P800 - and now, Samsung is launching its first mobile phone with an integrated digital camera as the third of the big four manufacturers. The mobile phone, to be dubbed as the v200 in Europe and the SGH-v205 in the states, offers tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM, as well as Class 8 GPRS.  The SGH-v205 is already available in the U.S. through T-Mobile for $449 USD, whilst the v200 is slated for general availability in Europe in March, 2003.
    • Credit Card-Size Hard Drive Can Hold 5GB - StorCard can contain from 100MB to more than 5GB of data on a plastic card. At first glance, it looks like a credit card, and even has a magnetic strip like a credit card, for potential use in standard credit card readers. The hard disk data, however, is accessed on a tiny spinning disk inside the thin card. The card actually has moveable parts inside its thin shell," says Bill Heil, vice president of StorCard. A spinning wheel made of Mylar is engaged when the card is inserted into a StorReader, a USB-connected drive or PC Card that reads and writes to the StorCard. The reader is expected to retail for under $100 and the cards for under $15 each, Heil says. The StorCard and StorReader are scheduled to become available in the second half of 2003.
    • Acer to launch world's first 14.1-inch Tablet PC in 2Q - According to sources, in the second quarter of 2003 Acer will launch the world's first 14.1-inch TFT LCD Tablet PC. The company's first Tablet PC - the TravelMate C100 - was equipped with a 10.4-inch screen and has sold 35,000 units since its launch last year. With the larger screen, Acer will leapfrog brand vendors such as Toshiba and Motion Computing, which have adopted 12.1-inch screens. Acer decided not to use a 12.1-inch screen because the price of 14.1-inch panel is close to that of 12.1-inch, sources said.
    • AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Review - The only thing working against the 2600+ at this point is the upcoming release of the Barton and Hammer CPU's, which are both coming out sometime this year. However, if you are looking for an AMD Athlon XP processor based on AMD's new Thoroughbred Revision "B" core, the 2600+ / 333 FSB is definitely a great processor to match up with your new nForce 2 or KT400 motherboard.
    • America's Army tweak guide - Although first releases came with its hiccups, America's Army has mostly overcome its teething problems and is doing pretty well now. Based on the latest version of the Unreal Engine, this guide will take you through configuring the game for an optimum performance on your system, better network play and fixing other issues that might arise!
    • Securing Windows 2000 Server - The Securing Windows 2000 Server solution is delivered in eleven chapters, plus a Test Guide, a Delivery Guide, and a Support Readiness Guide, each with applicable job aids, script files and test cases.
    • Overclocking the HP iPAQ h1910 - While many are happy with their new HP iPAQ h1910 Pocket PCs, there is always room for improvement. While the h1910 ships with a 200 MHz XScale processor, other current Pocket PCs contain 300 and even 400 MHz processors. Recently, some ambitious programmers have found a way to increase, or overclock, their iPAQ h1910s to 300 MHz, and have released utility software so that others can do the same.
    • ICQ Pro 2003a Beta Build 3799 - ICQ (download) is a revolutionary user-friendly Internet program that notifies you who's online at all times and enables you to initiate contact with those people at any time. This new version fixes message history is not saved by default, includes some minor interface changes and bug fixes.
    • Codename Dashboard 1.0 Final -  Codename Dashboard which has about 6000 users (download) using it any given time. It has been growing, and it still is. Codename: Dashboard is an application that resides at the side of your screen. It is a host for interchangeable components, allowing you to have access to whatever information you want, on your desktop, all the time.
    • A-Tuner 1.3.2.4201 - A-Tuner is a small tool for changing Anti-Aliasing (including all unofficial modes), Anisotropic Filtering, Vsync, MipMap LOD (Level Of Detail) Bias on your Nvidia card and should work with Nvidia Detonators 23.11 - 42.01.
    • Fresh UI 5.10 Tweaking Tool - Fresh UI your FREE Windows tweaking tool - just got better with the release of version 5.1. This new version features options for File System, Registry Files, ShutDown, Advanced System, and Windows Update hidden settings.
    • PowerStrip 3.31 Beta Build 370 - PowerStrip (download) provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest Radeon 9700DV and Matrox Parhelia.
    • WinRAR 3.11 Final - WinRAR has been updated to version 3.11 Final. This new version features: Convert" command is able to process .tgz archives, GUI SFX modules provide more detailed diagnostic messages for CRC errors or file create errors, Command line RAR returns the exit code 9 in case of file create errors, and more.
    • Leadtek Nvidia Detonator 42.01 - After Asus has released their 42.01 version in beta stage here now Leadtek is offering the same driver version customized for their complete Nvidia graphics card lineup. (thanks Warp2Search).
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,16 2003 - tech
    Morning Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 12:00 PM CET - Jan,16 2003 - Post a comment / read (2)
    • 2003 CES Mobile Tour - Just like last year's CES, the most amazing demo car belongs to Alpine. I was wondering if it would be possible for Steve Brown of Alpine to be able top his RSX installation from CES 2002. For CES 2003, Steve unveiled a Honda Civic that simply blew everybody away. What's so amazing about it? Steve transformed the mild manner Civic into a single seater with the driver sitting in the center for perfect sound reproduction. Make sure you check out the pics!
    • Man Dies While Playing Diablo II - A Hong Kong computer game enthusiast has been found slumped dead at a terminal in a game centre after playing non-stop for hours, police said today. The 28-year-old was found slumped at his screen early yesterday after he apparently had played the online game Diablo II since early Friday evening.  A policeman found him in the game centre shortly after 1 am, five hours after he began playing the popular game, according to reports today. His death at a game centre in Hong Kong's Yuen Long district came eight months after a 17-year-old game centre employee was found dead after playing Diablo II through the night.
    • Microsoft to share secret code - Microsoft on Tuesday announced a new program to make the underlying code for its Windows operating system available to several governments and governmental agencies for viewing. The software company has already signed agreements with the Russian government and NATO to allow them to review for free the underlying programming instructions that Microsoft has long guarded as secret intellectual property.
    • Discarded computer hard drives prove a trove of personal info - Over two years, Simson Garfinkel and Abhi Shelat bought 158 used hard drives at secondhand computer stores and on eBay. Of the 129 drives that functioned, 69 still had recoverable files on them and 49 contained "significant personal information" -- medical correspondence, love letters, pornography and 5,000 credit card numbers. One even had a year's worth of transactions with account numbers from a cash machine in Illinois.
    • Friendly fire - Product Activation zaps new XP Plus! pack - Microsoft latest add-on for Windows XP, Plus! Digital Media Edition, has fallen foul of Windows Product Activation. Numerous purchasers are finding it impossible to install (also check this thread), and are being confronted by the comforting message "Plus! Digital Media Edition uses Microsoft Product Activation to help prevent software piracy. Please have an administrator run Plus! Digital Media Edition on this machine and go through the Microsoft Plus! Product Activation Wizard. Once that is complete, you will be able to run Plus! Digital Media Edition normally."
    • Battle of the Gaming Audio Titans: Creative Labs vs. NVIDIA - The $150 Audigy 2 Platinum is the flagship product from Creative Labs. Sporting 24/192 DACs on all six channels and true 24/96 analog playback and recording, the Audigy 2 is the gaming sound card that comes closest to the prosumer sound cards. The equivalently priced $150 nForce2 platform represents NVIDIA's flagship platform processor. It also promises 64 hardware accelerated 3D audio streams, but claims to support 256 2D audio streams. Behind this processing power is Sensaura's HRTF algorithms for positional 3D audio, considered by many to be the reference standard. In a departure from our typical article format, we're going to throw up all the numbers first and then talk.
    • Dates arrive for Barton, MP chips - People at AMD Taiwan have given the Inquirer details of when we may expect new 32-bit chips from the firm, off the record of course. The long awaited MP2600+, a chip intended for dual multiprocessing systems, will be introduced on the fourth of February next. Bartons - which come as the 2500+, the 2700+ and the 3000+ and which will have a fabulous 512K of cache but won't use silicon on insulator nor Super Silicon 28, as far as we can tell, are set to be introduced on February 7th.
    • eVGA.com: Case Mod Contest - eVGA.com is hosting it's first Case Mod Contest, giving case modders an opportunity to highlight their own case designs and place them upon a pedestal of distinction. This is a no-holds barred competition where values will be placed on aesthetics as well as functionality. The contest will run from January 15th, 2003 until February 28th, 2003. Contestants will have a chance to win one of the following fabulous prizes from eVGA: a e-GeForce4 TI 4600 8x, a e-GeForce4 TI 4200 8x or a e-GeForce4 MX 440SE.
    • EPoX 8RDA+ Voltage Modding Guide - The most important factor determining overclockability is the VDD (voltage to the nForce2 chipset) and next important factor is the VDDR (voltage to the memories). As 8RDA+ BIOS allows VCore up to 2.2V already therefore there is not a need to perform any mod for that. In this article, we will show you how to mod the VDD and VDDR in order to get amazing FSB out of this board.
    • Koepi's XviD Codec build 15012003-1 (win32) - XviD (download) is a video codec just like DivX. Most new movies and videos are being encoded with XviD. This new version features Fresh CVS checkout, Fixed I/P/B-decision - crash problem solved, iframes should be set correctly now, Added simple idct, QPel smearing bug will resolve with the next ffdshow/lavc version, Gruel's new 2-warppoint-GMC code (rc4) - doesn't work with chroma ME yet.
    • HyperSnap-DX 5.03.00 - HyperSnap-DX 5 (download) is a screen capture and image editing tool for MS Windows. It captures screens from standard desktop programs and even those hard-to-grab DirectX, Direct3D, 3Dfx Voodoo and Glide mode games. HyperSnap-DX 5 can capture frames from many software DVD players and other video playing software.
    • Intel Chipset Identification Utility 2.70 - The Intel Chipset Identification Utility provides an easy way to identify the specific Intel chipset that is located on your motherboard.
    • Realtek ALC650 Drivers v3.38 (2003/01/15) - The ALC650 CODEC supports host/soft audio from Intel 810/815/820/845 chipsets as well as audio controller based VIA/SIS/ALI chipsets.
    • WinAmp 3 Build #495 (int.beta) - This version has been posted on the official download http of Nullsoft, but is internal beta. (thanks SavageNews).
    • Highpoint RocketRAID 1520 PCI Device Driver & BIOS - Highpoint RocketRAID 1520 PCI device, driver and BIOS updated to version 2.34s.
    • Asus Detonator Drivers 42.01 For Win98/ME - Asus has released a new set of Nvidia Detonator Drivers version 42.01 For Windows 98/ME.
    • Lite-On IT XJ-HD163 firmware - Lite-On IT has released a new firmware version, GH5S, for their XJ-HD163 (16X/48X) DVD-ROM drive.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,15 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 03:58 AM CET - Jan,15 2003 - Post a comment
    • Europe puts off mission to land on comet  - A European space mission to land on a comet has been put off and experts don't know when it will restart.
    • Stealth Antennas Try to Blend In - Clear, wide-ranging wireless service requires bigger, more plentiful antennas. But no one wants a hulking mass of metal blocking the scenic view. Solution? Hide the antennas in the scenery.
    • Gyms muscle out camera/cell phones - "Warning: Use of camera-equipped mobile phones could be hazardous to your health." - That's the message going out from at least one chain of health clubs in Hong Kong, where a new generation of cell phones that can take and transmit video and still photos is raising concerns over a new crop of privacy-related issues. Physical, which operates nine gyms in the former British colony, recently posted signs in its Hong Kong facilities forbidding the use of mobile phones in locker rooms.
    • One billion GSM subscribers by 2004 - According to figures released today by the GSM Association, the GSM family of wireless communications continues to lead the 'most poular' contest of the wireless world. Estimates from the association show that at the end of 2002, there were 787 million GSM subscribers across 190 countries of the world - and now it's expected that a staggering one billion subscribers will use GSM networks at the end of 2003.
    • Orange SPV MS smartphone cert security cracked  - The Orange SPV has achieved the dubious distinction of being the first Microsoft smartphone to have its security cracked. Orange as set the phones up so they will only run Orange-certified applications, but as yet hasn't got much further than promises when it comes to telling people how you develop for it, get apps certified, get development systems and so on.
    • Intel launches 2.4GHz Mobile Pentium 4 (update) - The 2.4GHz Mobile Pentium 4 Processor-M is available Tuesday morning in notebook machines from Gateway and Dell Computer, based on information obtained from the companies' Web sites. Intel also added two new Ultra Low Voltage Mobile Pentium III processors, and three varieties of Mobile Celeron processors to its roster of products, it said in a release.
    • AOpen DVRW2412Pro (DVD+RW) Review - CDRLabs.com have posted a new review of the AOpen DVRW2412Pro DVD+R(W) recorder.
    • DiskOnKey Pro Review - The M-Systems DiskOnKey product has been winning awards on many print magazines, TV technology shows, review websites, and newspapers. With recognition and success comes an increase in revenue due to sales; most companies just move on, but M-Systems folded this back into R&D and dared to innovate on a proven product. Today, NVNews have a review of M-Systems' New & Improved Flash drive - the DiskOnKey Pro.
    • Complete Guide to Broadband  - Can't tell cable from ADSL? Can't decide what your upstream and downstream needs are? Despite that, are you tired of the noise and sloth of your modem? PC Mag's comprehensive overview of the state of -- and options for -- broadband Internet access, from land lines to satellites, is there to help.
    • SoundBlaster Tweaking Mania - TechSpot has updated their SB Live! and Audigy tweak guides.
    • Ahead software (developers of Nero Burning ROM) Interview - CDRFreaks have posted an interview with Jim Corbett, Executive Director of Ahead Software, as he talks about the company,  the current optical storage market , DVD format war, etc.
    • Nokia Developer's Suite for J2ME, Version 1.1 - Nokia Developer's Suite for J2ME, Version 1.1 for Linux & windows allows you to create, test and deploy downloadable J2MEt applications. Key new features include audio converter for MIDI tones to Nokia ringing tones, and deployment to web servers.
    • Monitor Tester 2.01  - This program can guide you in setting and adjusting the parameters and controls of your monitor. You can test and adjust the picture size and position, color convergence and purity, white balance, brightness and contrast, focus, interference, and high-voltage regulation.
    • AntiVir Personal Edition 6.17.09.63 - The AntiVir Personal Edition (download) offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. In order to make possible an easy operation, the AntiVir Personal Edition is developed to the essential points.
    • KaZaA Lite 2.0.2 Cracked K++ 2.0.2  - KaZaA Lite 2.0.2 Cracked K++ 2.0.2 build 2003-01-14 is released ~ download.
    • Intel Chipset Installation Utility 4.30.1006 - The Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility installs to the target system the Windows* INF files that outline to the operating system how the chipset components will be configured. The INF files inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality, such as AGP, USB, Core PCI, and ISAPNP services.
    • Alcohol 120% v1.4.0.114 - Alcohol 120% (download) is a combination of both Alcohol 52% and Alcohol 68%. It enables users to both copy and emulate real or virtual CDs & DVDs. Alcohol 120% can handle the creation of 31 virtual CD & DVD-ROMs, allowing the user to play discs whithout needing the physical disc. It also allows users to make copy CD & DVD to CD-R / CD-RW / DVD-R / DVD-RW / DVD-RAM / DVD+RW.
    • Asus PC Probe 2.19.05 -  Asus PC Probe 2.19.05 is a small system utility to monitor the computer's fan rotations, voltages and temperatures.
    • Asus Detonator Drivers 42.30 (Win2k/XP only) - Asus has released a new set of Nvidia Detonator Drivers version 42.30 (mirror) for Windows 2k/XP.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,14 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 03:23 AM CET - Jan,14 2003 - Post a comment
    • NASA Test Environmentally Friendly Rocked Fuel - NASA has successfully tested an alternative rocket fuel that may increase operational safety and reduce costs over current solid fuels. The new paraffin-based fuel could eventually be used in Space Shuttle booster rockets. Two years of collaboration between Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., and NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., have led to the development of a non-toxic, easily handled fuel made from a substance similar to what is used in common candles. The by-products of combustion of the new fuel are carbon dioxide and water; unlike conventional rocket fuel that produces aluminum oxide and acidic gasses, such as hydrogen chloride.
    • Thieves steal processors worth $12 million - Thieves stole L4.6 million ($A12.86 million) worth of computer chips from an unattended truck near London's Heathrow Airport yesterday, police said. The shipment of Pentium 4 chips had been flown into Britain from Miami, Florida, and was en route to an unknown destination, London's Metropolitan Police said. The consignment was inside an unattended American Airlines truck at a trading estate near the airport when thieves drove away in the vehicle sometime before 11:15am, police said. Officers later found the vehicle abandoned nearby, with about one quarter of the chips still inside.
    • Internet browser that quadruples surf speed wins Irish science prize -  A computer browser that is said to least quadruple surfing speeds on the Internet has won the top prize at an Irish exhibition for young scientists, it was announced on Saturday. Adnan Osmani, 16, a student at Saint Finian's College in Mullingar, central Ireland spent 18 months writing 780,000 lines of computer code to develop the browser. Known as "XWEBS", the system works with an ordinary Internet connection using a 56K modem on a normal telephone line.
    • Sobig worm stomps on PCs - Sobig is a mass-mailing worm incorporating its own SMTP engine, according to antivirus companies. It arrives from the e-mail address "[email protected]" and bears a subject line such as "Re: here is that sample", "Re: Movies", "Re: Document" or "Re: Sample". The e-mail contains an attachment called "Document003.pif", "Sample.pif", "Untitled1.pif" or "Movie_0074.pif". It affects the Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000 and XP platforms. The worm was originally not considered a serious threat, but has been upgraded due to its rapid spread.
    • PalmSource picks up handwriting tool - PalmSource is turning over a new leaf for handwriting recognition, replacing its idiosyncratic software amid a growth in popularity for keyboards in the handheld industry and amid a continuing patent battle with Xerox.
    • Motorola smartphone gets color -  Developed by Motorola's design team in China, the manufacturer's proprietary-OS smartphone platform has long been an object of interest and and curiosity among phone lovers from the first versions - the Accompli 7188 and 008 - up to the most recent inception, the still-monochrome A388. Now, color is the next major addition.
    • A835 - new 3G phone from Motorola - Motorola has announced very few details about the A835, mainly due to the product still being in an early stage of development. What is known so far is that the handset will support J2ME, and is like the A830 capable of streaming video in MPEG4 format over a live network connection. It also sports an integrated digital camera, although the resolution of which it is capable to capture images has yet to be disclosed.
    • Personal Cinema to Include Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2.0 and VideoStudio 6.0 - NVIDIA today announced that upcoming retail and OEM versions of NVIDIA Personal Cinema products will feature DVD MovieFactory 2 and VideoStudio 6, DVD creation and video editing software from Ulead Systems Inc., a leading developer of video editing, image editing, and DVD authoring software.
    • Nvidia said to sell NV30 cards, NV31 and NV34 chips to downstream clients - Nvidia is said to have decided to handle all the design and production of new GeForce FX (NV30) graphics cards to ensure product stability and quality. According to industry sources, Nvidia will only release the more simplified NV31 and NV34 chips to card makers for product design.
    • MSI - New Generation GeForce FX Card -  MSI has updated their GeForce FX press release -  not only MSI is the launch partner but new MSI GeForce FX cards are scheduled to ship to North America in early 2003.
    • S3 DeltaChrome Preview - Now S3 Graphics is set to release its first desktop graphics chip, DeltaChrome, along with its companion chip for the mobile segment, AlphaChrome. Both of these graphics cores list 2.0+ pixel and vertex shaders among their long list of features, making them bona fide DirectX 9.0 cards.
    • A Comparison of 34 Coolers for the AMD Athlon XP - Tom's Hardware Guide has posted a comparison of 34 coolers for the AMD Athlon XP.
    • Seagate Barracuda SATA V Review - Explosive Labs has posted a review of the Seagate Barracuda Serial ATA V harddisk.
    • How to change the LED on your mouse - Ok, you have a Blue Quad LED fan, Blue CCFL, and an ominous blue glow coming from your computer room. Sit down, start gaming, but wait, that red glow from your optical mouse is wrecking the scenario. What do you do? Get a less accurate ball mouse. No way! To beat those contrasting LED's, you MOD the sucker.
    • Overclocking Guide Part 1 of 2 (a beginners guide to overclocking and terminology) - This is quite useful guide for beginners.
    • Blindwrite Suite v4.2.8b - Blindwrite Suite is a set of tools to reproduce or clone any CD even protected ones. Blindwrite Suite is the more powerfull tool to create a perfect copy from your original CD for personal backup purpose.
    • IrfanView 3.80 - IrfanView (download ~ plugins) is a very fast freeware (for non-commercial use) 32-Bit graphic viewer for Win9x/ME/NT/2k/XP. The first graphic viewer worldwide with Multiple (animated) GIF support One of the first graphic viewers worldwide with Multipage TIFF support The first graphic viewer worldwide with Multiple ICO support.
    • PowerStrip 3.30.368 - PowerStrip provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest SiS Xabre. It's the only program of its type to support multiple graphics cards from multiple chipset vendors, simultaneously, under every Windows operating system from Windows 95 to XP.
    • Riva Tuner v2.0 RC12.1 + SoftR9700 - RivaTuner is the most powerful tweaking utility for NVIDIA display adapters running under Win9x/ME/2k/XP. The purpose of this utility is to give you access to all the undocumented features of the Detonator drivers.This new version added full Detonator 41.xx - 42.xx support including the latest Detonator 42.01, and also the promised SoftR9700 patch script for Catalyst 6.200 - 6.255, which allow you to enable software locked 8 pixel pipelines on RADEON 9500 based boards and turn any 128-bit RADEON 9500 into RADEON 9500PRO and any 256-bit RADEON 9500 into RADEON 9700PRO. Warning! You must read and accept RivaTuner's license agreement before using this script.
    • YanC 0.1.3 nVidia-Tweaker for Linux - YanC is a nVidia-Tweaker for Linux.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,12 2003 - tech
    Evening Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 02:50 AM CET - Jan,12 2003 - Post a comment
    • CES 2003 Day 1 - Happy Days Are Here Again  - It's usually a cold day in hell if I am happy about trudging around the Las Vegas Convention Center. Part of it may have to do with Comdex, which leaves a lingering bad taste in one's mouth for months afterwards. Part of it may have to do with the lack of awe that a typical showfloor inspires. However, CES 2003 has been different. Maybe it's because it isn't organized by the Sons of Satan. Hmmm.
    • CES 2003: Day 2 Coverage  - AMDZone updates their CES 2003 coverage with a shot of Geforce FX and several nForce 2 products. 
    • Nintendo President Interviewed - In an interview with the Nihon Kezai Shimbun, Nintendo's newly inaugurated, 43-year old president Satoru Iwata discussed the slowing sales of GameCube hardware. Iwata noted that he hopes to offset the slump by more frequently linking home consoles and handhelds as well as selling software and hardware to China, which is overrun with piracy.
    • LGP To Publish Bandits and Ballistic for Linux - Linux Game Publishing (LGP) have announced the next two titles that they will be porting to Linux. They are both made by Grim, a Swedish development company, and they are called Ballistics and Bandits: Phoenix Rising.
    • HT Adapter For Non-HT P4 Boards - Things have gone quite well since we discovered there is a possibility of enabling HT on current P4s. Now PowerLeap has designed an adapter to allow hyperthreading (HT) on non-HT-ready P4 motherboards. Also, the adapter is really a chipset mod - it makes the pre-HT versions of the i845 and i850 allow HT to be enabled. However, it doesn't make HT work with versions of the P4 that have it bonded-out except for the 3.06 GHz version. Intel is launching P4 with HT enabled from speed grades of 2.4Ghz onwards in a couple of months time so users might wish to upgrade their processors then and enjoy HT without changing their older i845 and i850 boards. (check this forum thread)
    • Gateway Media Center PC with Plasma TV - The Media Center PC comes in three versions: $1,599 direct with a 17-inch LCD monitor and Boston Acoustic 745 speakers, $3,998 with a 42-inch plasma display (sourced from L.G. Electronics), and $5,999 with a high-end Bose surround-sound system. PC Magazine Labs tested the middle offering.
    • Huge TI4200 8X Card Shootout - The GeForce4 has proved to be a popular card for NVIDIA. We take 12 Ti 4200 cards from various manufacturers and see just how they all compare against one another. Looking to buy a card soon ?. Read on.
    • HyperSnap-DX v5.02.01 -  HyperSnap-DX is a screen capture and image editing tool for MS Windows. It captures screens from standard desktop programs and even those hard-to-grab DirectX, Direct3D, 3Dfx Voodoo and Glide mode games. HyperSnap-DX 5 can capture frames from many software DVD players and other video playing software.
    • Ahead releases free Nero plugin for Windows Media Player 9 - The Nero Fast Burning Plug-in enables the Windows Media Player 9.0 Series to burn CDs at full speed, up to 26 times faster than before, greatly decreasing the time it takes for each burning session. In addition, the plug-in will provide Windows Media Player 9.0 users the option of eliminating the two-second gap between audio tracks.
    • GameJack v2.00.208 - A new GameJack version has been released. This new version adds support for new recorder, removes blacklists of various copy protections, e.g. for latest version of Gothic 2 and Empire Earth (Patch 2.0) , fixeds rare problem with "Shut Down" on various systems and also adds support for StarForce version 1.0 and 2.0. (support for 3.0 is planned).
    • GoldenHawk CDRWIN 3.9C  - Goldenhawk has released a  new version of CDRWin (mirror1 ~ mirror2), their CD recording program supporting binary (.BIN), cue sheets (.CUE), overburning, MP3 burning, disc copy, track ripping, and much more.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,11 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 02:28 AM CET - Jan,11 2003 - Post a comment / read (1)
    • Xbox Live goes gangbusters in US - Xbox Live is dominating the early online gaming comparisons in the US, Microsoft proclaims. Since the service launched on November 15, 250,000 starter kits have been sold - double Microdsoft's original stated expectations. This is great news for Microsoft, whose investment in Xbox Live will run into the billions. In further good news, MS claims that each gamer is totting up an average of 2.5 hours of gameplay per day.
    • Pentium 4: More speed in the pipeline - The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker is coming out with a new chipset, code-named Springdale, for Pentium 4 PCs. The chipset runs at 800MHz, substantially faster than the 400MHz and 533MHz chipsets currently available for Pentium 4 computers, according to sources close to the company.  The new chipset will be released with a 3.2GHz version of the Pentium 4, the sources said. Intel could not be reached for comment.
    • Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP - As a special "thanks" for fans of the Windows XP digital media experience, Microsoft has offer the Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP! Jam-packed with utilities, PowerToys, visualizations, skins, sound effects, and much more, the free Windows Media Bonus Pack installs on your Windows XP-based PC and lets your personality and creativity shine.
    • Mandrake Linux 9.1Beta 1 - Linux Mandrake (packag list, download ISO, mirror)  is a complete pre-configured graphical Linux operating system. It's easy to install, easy to use and stable. Inside Linux-Mandrake, the graphical interfaces KDE, Gnome, AfterStep, Window Maker, IceWM etc. are fully integrated inside a very modern distribution, fully compatible with Red Hat applications (RPM packages). You don't have to spend hours to get all those graphical interfaces to work: once Linux-Mandrake is installed, everything works.
    • Motherboard Monitor 5.2.2.0 - Motherboard Monitor is a tool that will display information from the sensor chip on your motherboard in your Windows system tray.
    • Apple Quicktime 6.1 - Apple QuickTime allows users to create, play, and stream audio and video content over the Internet. Features include playback of MPEG-4 video, ACC audio and Instant-On media, easy-to-use controls, bass and treble controls, balance control, streaming media support, the ability to save movie favorites as well as the ability to view VR and interactive content.
    • Fresh Diagnose 5.4 - Fresh Diagnose 5.4 is FREE System Information & PC Benchmarking software. This new version version added motherboard module that contains information about your motherboard.
    • SiS Xabre 3.09.52 Drivers -  SiS have released a new drivers v3.09.52 for the SIS Xabre products.
    • CMedia Drivers - Biostar has released some new drivers for CMedia 8738 + 9738/9739 soundchips.
    • SIS 740/65x Onboard VGA driver 2.11 - Asus has some new drivers (Win98/ME ~ WinXP/2k) for OnBoard VGA on SIS740/65x based mainboards.
    • ATi Radeon Driver 6.14.01.6255 WHQL - ATi Technologies has released a new ATi Radeon Driver 6.14.01.6255 WHQL certified. This new drivers fixes some problems with  Zanzarah or Star Trek-Amada II at 1024x767 32bpp /6x AA, Heavy Gear 2, Serious Sam Second Encounter and other.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,10 2003 - tech
    Weekly Hardware Reviews - tech
    (hx) 04:14 PM CET - Jan,10 2003 - Post a comment / read (1)
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 04:33 AM CET - Jan,10 2003 - Post a comment
    • Microsoft and Watch-making Partners Announce First Smart Personal Objects Technology Wristwatches - Bill Gates yesterday announced (press release) the Microsoft watch: "At COMDEX we talked about this. We introduced this SPOT, Smart Personal Objects Technology -- that's the acronym for that -- and said that there would be a wide range of devices that take advantage of this. Actually the one that we went into the most depth showing there was an alarm clock, an alarm clock that when you wake up can tell you your schedule, tell you about the traffic, and built in there was some magic chips that did the job of receiving that information and being able to display it to you".
    • Intel and Microsoft push portable video  - Microsoft is developing a software environment, called Media2Go, for portable video players (PVPs)--small, portable machines designed to play video and other types of entertainment files, said Bryan Peebler, market development manager in the emerging platforms lab at Intel.
    • MPEG-4 backers protest Microsoft license - Proponents of MPEG-4 are decrying Microsoft's new licensing fees for rival technology, saying that the pricing poses unfair competition and threatens consumer choice. In a first-ever move for Microsoft, it set pricing this week for licensing of its audio and video compression technology, or codecs, for use on non-Windows operating systems. The company says it will charge 10 cents per decoder, 20 cents per encoder, and 25 cents for both.
    • NVIDIA NVDVD 2.0 Now Available  - NVIDIA and eVGA.com today announced that eVGA.com's entire line of e-GeForce4-based graphics cards are now shipping with NVIDIAR NVDVD  2.0, the Company's versatile PC-based software digital media player.
    • Zoom Player 3.00 Beta 5  - Zoom Player (download) was designed to be simple at first glance while being remarkably dynamic and flexible when used to its full potential. Zoom Player works in two modes. A Media mode which can play any file supported by DirectShow (any file which plays in MediaPlayer) and a DVD mode which uses pre-installed DirectShow DVD filters to play DVD content.
    • DVDXCopy v1.3.1  - A new version of popular DVDXCopy is out. This tool allows you COPY and BURN your own DVD Movies using nothing more than the software, a DVD-ROM and any DVD Burner including DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R or DVD+RW. This is for Registered Customers Only.
    • WinDVD Platinum 4.5.11.26 - WinDVD Platinum is InterVideo's latest version of WinDVD which is a simple-to-use DVD player that combines all the features of a standard consumer DVD player and offers much more. WinDVD Platinum is an ultimate DVD player with advanced audio and video functions. New Version Of World's Most Popular DVD Player Adds 96kHz/24bit Audio, DivX Video Support And Dolby Virtual Speaker To Let Users Watch DVDs In Full Surround Sound With Only Two Speakers
    • Nero Burning Rom WMA9 Plug-In - The Nero Burning Rom Windows Media Audio 9 Plug-In is available (Mirror1 ~ Mirror2 ~ Mirror3). This plug-in will install WMA support (decoding) within Nero 5.5, Nero Express and NeroMIX.
    • Tweak-XP Pro 2.0.7 - Tweak-XP Pro 2.0.7 bundles more than 37 different utilities in one: it was developed to combine both tweaking and optimizing features to increase the speed of your WindowsR XP system.
    • SecureFX 2.1.2 - The SecureFX (download) client application lets you choose between SFTP or FTP over an encrypted SSH2 connection for secure transfers, or standard FTP for non-secure transfers. It has a simple Explorer-like interface, so it's easy to learn and use.
    • Creative WebCam Pro eX Drivers - This update contains the latest drivers for Creative WebCam Pro eX camera, running under Win9X/ME/2k/XP. This update improves the HWX module, enabling faster response when capturing the first image.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,09 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 04:19 AM CET - Jan,09 2003 - Post a comment / read (2)
    • Proof: Einstein was right all along - EINSTEIN was right and Newton was wrong, according to research. Scientists have discovered that gravity travels at the same speed as light. They determined the speed of gravity by measuring the apparent change in the star's position when the planet passed almost in front of it on 8 September, 2002. Dr Fomalont, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia, and Professor Kopeikin, of the University of Missouri-Columbia, said: "Gravity does move at the same speed as light.
    • Army unveils "SmarTruck II" - At the Detroit auto show, the U.S. Army Tuesday unveiled a hulky, prototype "SmarTruck II" -- designed since the September 11, 2001, attacks with President Bush's War on Terrorism definitely in mind.  It will not be rumbling through the desert toward Baghdad any time soon, but the military is trying to create an all-purpose vehicle that could make a statement if it suddenly appeared over the sand dune.
    • Start-up marries blogs and camera phones - A Dublin-based start-up is to offer software to mobile operators that will enable mobile phone users to create and maintain Weblogs or "blogs" using only their phones.  The content of Weblogs can range from personal diaries and opinion sites to amateur publishing on sports, politics, events and reviews. Weblogs are created using PCs and blogging software that is available both commercially and for free over the Internet.
    • Same old song, different meaning for P2P - A difference between American and European copyright law threatens to carve out a free-swapping zone for popular decades-old music, hampering record companies' antipiracy efforts online. European and Canadian copyright protections for sound recordings last just 50 years, compared with 95 years in the United States. As reported earlier in The New York Times, that means that a boomlet in sales of bootlegs of 1950s artists, ranging from Miles Davis to Elvis Presley, is becoming perfectly legal.
    • Project to hack into Xbox back on track - A project to crack into the secret inner workings of Microsoft Xbox video game machine was back on track on Wednesday, after it had suspended work briefly to consult with lawyers. Several technology publications had reported recently that the Neo Project, a group of distributed computing enthusiasts, had abandoned plans to unravel the inner workings of the Xbox machine that prevents it from running unauthorized software. But Neo Project said on its Web site on Wednesday that it was back and preparing new software to tackle the Xbox challenge, a $200,000 prize offered by longtime Microsoft opponent Michael Robertson to anyone who successfully hacks into the Xbox.
    • Zoran Demonstrates DVD Recorder-Based Digital Entertainment Platform - Zoran Corporation announced it is demonstrating its Zbox Digital Entertainment Technology Platform for OEM customers by appointment in meeting room C203 at CES in the Las Vegas Convention Center this week.  "The wraps are already off one of the first wireless networked DVD players using Zoran's technology, the Go-Video D2730, a CEA 2003 Innovation Award winner. With our Zbox initiative, we are extending the DVD recorder into an open platform that allows third party developers to build and add compelling consumer applications. Together with our technology partner Digital 5, we were able to deliver the wireless connectivity of the new Go-Video D2730 that allows consumers to bring all of their pictures, music and video clips stored on their personal computer onto their television or home theater system," said Camillo Martino.
    • Windows XP Media Center Edition Review - Microsoft has stepped forth and provided an enabling platform for transforming the PC into a PVR; they call this platform Windows XP Media Center Edition. As the name implies, Windows XP Media Center Edition is designed to turn your PC into no less than a "media center." A device you can use to watch TV, record the shows you want, store your videos, and create a picture album and more. It is Media Center Edition that will supposedly turn your PC into an "uber PVR"; finding out whether or not Microsoft has accomplished that is the focus of this review.
    • Windows XP SP2 Fixlist (Updated #3) - There's an updated unofficial fix list for Windows XP SP2.
    • UT2003 Improved Announcer - Improved Announcer fixes one of UT2003's greatest flaws: its highly annoying announcer. Even the makers of the game have admitted the announcer they chose is incredibly annoying. This pack keeps the good aspects of the voice announcing and gets rid of the rest, substituting it with sound effects and other voices so that you can still keep on top of the match, but not be annoyed to the point of quitting. Some sounds are drawn from the original Unreal Tournament's announcing, which was much better quality.
    • Goodies for Nokia 7650 - WildPalm has released StackUp v1.2 and ZipMan v1.3 - updated versions of two programs for the Nokia 7650 Smartphone. ZipMan is a file compression/decompression utility for the Nokia 7650, while StackUp is a brick stacking game.
    • ISA Server Feature Pack 1 - ISA Server Feature Pack 1 delivers enhanced security and ease of use beyond that of traditional firewalls for email server, Web server and Exchange Outlook Web Access (OWA) deployments. Email server security is enhanced by the improved ability to help filter out unwanted email messages. ISA Server with Feature Pack 1 provides protection for remote Outlook users accessing Exchange Server over untrusted networks without a VPN. Improved authentication and protection from evolving types of Internet attacks enables ISA Server to better secure Web and OWA servers. New wizards, scenario walkthroughs and technical documentation make configuration easier and answer commonly asked questions"
    • TVTool 6.8.4.2 -  A new version of TV Tool (download) has been released. This new version features: All Philips modes updated and added, Hardware detection added for GeForce4 Ti AGP 8x cards, Hardware detection added for TV chips CX25872/3/4/5, Frequency bug fixed with GF2 and 40.xx drivers, Hotkey bug fixed (not stored).
    • BSplay 0.86 Build 493 - BSplay(er) (download) is a Windows player for playing back all kind of media files (avi/mpg/asf/wmv/wav/mp3...).
    • ELSA Detonator 41.09 - ELSA Asia have released Detonator 41.09 for their NVidia based VGA cards (Gloria (II/III/DCC/4), Synergy (II/III/4/2000), Winner4 Erazor Gladiac).
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,08 2003 - tech
    Evening Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 02:40 AM CET - Jan,08 2003 - Post a comment
    • New GameBoy Advance Details -  At a press conference in Tokyo, Nintendo of Japan has confirmed plans to release a revised version of its highly successful handheld, called Game Boy Advance SP. According to a Reuters report, the Game Boy Advance SP will be released in Japan next month, and it will debut in the US and Europe in late March. The revised device is expected to retail for around $100 in the US. (GameSpy  ~ Yahoo ~ Hi-res picture)
    • Group ditches bid to crack Xbox code - A computing project has abandoned its effort to crack the main security code for Microsoft's Xbox video game console. An update on the home page for The Neo Project says the group is no longer working on the Xbox "due to legal reasons."  Project founder Mike Curry said in an e-mail interview that he couldn't elaborate. "We cannot comment on anything that has happened in the last 24 hours; we can only say that we can no longer participate in the Xbox challenge," he said.
    • Lirva worm attaches to Avril Lavigne - Lirva (w32.Lirva@mm), also known as Naith, is a mass-mailing worm that is UPX-compressed to a file size of 32,766 and arrives via e-mail either announcing a new Microsoft patch or offering fan access to Avril Lavigne. Once active, Lirva will attempt to e-mail copies of itself to all contacts on an infected system, shut down all antivirus and firewall programs, and launch a Web browser to open the Avril Lavigne Web site on an infected user's desktop.
    • Microsoft Relaxes Licensing for Digital Media  - Microsoft will license the technology behind its digital media streaming software at lower prices and across a wider range of platforms, the world's largest software maker said on Tuesday. The new licensing plan for Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series, which sends and receives audio and visual content across the Internet, will allow developers to create software that will run on various devices and on non-Windows-based computers, opening up a wider market for Microsoft's streaming standard.
    • S3 Graphics Launches All New DeltaChrome - S3 Graphics Inc. revealed details of the completely new DeltaChrome display core featuring full hardware support for the newly released Microsoft DirectX 9.0 application interface using Microsoft's HLSL (high level shader language). Targeted squarely at the top position in mobile and desktop graphics with high resolution connectivity for consumer and professional requirements, DeltaChrome brings exciting new features and unparalleled Hi-Def image quality and performance for 3D and video.
    • Shuttle introduces nForce2-based mini-barebones  - Shuttle, a Taiwanese motherboard maker, on January 6 launched an Nvidia nForce2-based mini-barebones system for the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)-platform. With rising demand and expanding product lines, Shuttle predicts its will ship 500,000 mini-barebone systems this year, up from 250,000 units in 2002.
    • Apple to Boost FireWire Speed? - Apple may be planning to announce FireWire2, or FireWire 800, a new high-speed 800-megabits-per-second FireWire standard, at the Macworld Conference & Expo opening here Tuesday. The hint surfaced when hard-drive vendor SmartDisk--several hours after announcing its introduction of desktop drives that connect to Apple systems using the new 800-mbps FireWire standard--asked that the news be "killed due to premature release."
    • Notebook Comparison - X-bit labs compares the features and performance of the Compaq Presario 2810T and the Toshiba Satellite 1900-703.
    • Hypersonic Sonic Aviator 3.06GHz Pentium 4 Notebook - With nosebleed speed provided by a 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor on a 533MHz front side bus, the Hypersonic Sonic Aviator boasts specifications that would make most desktop machines jealous. Is the machine worthy of a place on your desk? Let's find out as we take a look at the machine.
    • Sony Playstation Case Mod - GideonTech.com has a new guide, aimed at making use of that old Playstation you have sitting in the corner. Instead of using it as a paper weight, shove it into a case.
    • NVDVD 2.27 - NVIDIA has updated the trial version of their DVD to 2.27 (download). This new version features improved VCD playback, improved WinXP Fast User Switch mode, improved default color control settings for Hardware overlay and VMR modes, fixed region problems that occurred after installing new DVD-ROM drives and fixed problem with left/right/sub speaker configuration downmixing.
    • GSpot v2.1 Build 030105 - GSpot (download) determine what codec a video/audio file uses and what codec your system will use to play it. Identifies MPEG (.mpg), QuickTime (.mov), RealMedia (.rm), Windows Media (.wma / .asf), Flash (.swf) and others; will attempt a DirectShow render those (and any other) file, and report either the error or detailed results.
    • Windows Media Player 9 Final (build 2980) - Enjoy fast and flexible music and video playback with Windows Media Player 9 Series. Over 120 new features including Fast Streaming for instant-on playback, and Mini-player mode make this the best player yet. The latest version for Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 (13.6MB), and best experienced with Windows XP (10MB). You can also download Windows Media Encoder 9 Final (9.7Mb)
    • Creative Jukebox 3 Drivers (01/07/2003) - Creative has released the latest standalone drivers for the NOMAD Jukebox 3.
    • Sigma Designs REALmagic Hollywood Plus Driver v2.41 - Sigma have released a new driver for REALmagic Hollywood Plus (hardware MPEG decoder card).
    • NVIDIA Stereo3D driver 41.09 - Guru3D has  just added a set of patched nVidia Stereo3D drivers into their file-section. This is a patched nVidia Stereo3D driver for all Detonator driver`s up to v41.09. This revolutionary patched driver enables real stereoscopic 3D high-res pageflipped viewing of all DirectX based 3D games like Tomb Raider or Flight Simulator with shutterglasses like our ingenous AnotherEye.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,07 2003 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 04:02 AM CET - Jan,07 2003 - Post a comment / read (1)
    • Enhanced GameBoy expected - The new GameBoy will feature an internal light, allowing users to play games in dimly lit or dark areas. It's a feature GameBoy Advance owners have clamored for -- and the company has been criticized for ignoring -- since the machine's launch in June 2001. The machine should go on sale sometime around the end of March, with a retail price of roughly $90. The current GameBoy Advance (which sells for $70) will continue to be sold for a while longer, though Mike Wallace of UBS Warburg said he expects the company will eventually begin to phase those out. Nintendo did not return calls for comment.
    • Carmack blames ATI for Doom III alpha leak - An internal memo  from John Carmack, the creator of the Doom series of games, blames Canadian graphics company ATI for leaking the alpha of Doom III. In a memo to his employees, leaked on the Internal Memos site, he said: "ATI is more likely to be responsible than ever before. One employee from the company has been fired and the situation has been taken care of." He adds that the "investigation is over" and he has also had "a few words" with the owner of a web site called zelaron.com. According to the memo, someone at ATI posted a link to the game on the Zelaron site.
    • Deal puts Rambus in future PlayStation -  Sony and Toshiba have licensed technology from Rambus that likely will be incorporated into a future version of the PlayStation game console. The two Japanese giants have licensed "Yellowstone," a high-speed interface for connecting memory to microprocessors, and "Redwood," a chip-to-chip connection, from the processor designer, the companies said.  Both Yellowstone and Redwood would be used to enhance the broadband capabilities of "Cell," a complex microprocessor that will likely power an upcoming version of Sony's PlayStation. Cell, which is expected to come out in late 2004 or early 2005, substantially differs from current chips on the market.
    • Microsoft Unveils Software for CDMA Wireless - Microsoft said on Monday that it would make its software for mobile devices available for United States CDMA-based wireless networks, a widely used mobile phone system. The new releases of Microsoft's Smartphone and Pocket PC software for mobile phones and wireless-enabled handheld computers lets the software giant tap into a larger base of more than 100 million potential users as it seeks to expand its software beyond the desktop.
    • New Device Ready to Rival BlackBerry - HuneTec, a small South Korean company, has licensed the Palm OS operating system for use in messaging devices that will work on a wireless network used primarily by pagers, PalmSource said Monday. The personal communicators will offer always-on access to e-mail and other information, PalmSource said in a statement. HuneTec plans to start selling its ReFlex Two-way Personal Communicator (pictures), an oversized pager with a small keyboard, in the U.S. in September, a HuneTec spokesperson said.
    •  4 GB Microdrive by fall 2003 - Hitachi today announced plans to squeeze four gigabytes of data onto the 1-inch Microdrive, known as the world's smallest hard disk drive. With considerable advances in miniaturization technology thanks to the Pixie Dust concept originally developed by IBM, HGST engineers have overcome magnetic recording challenges associated with developing hard disk drives of this size, and expects the 4 GB Microdrive to be available in the Fall of 2003.
    • LSI Logic Announced the First Single-Chip Hard Disk Drive/DVD Recorder Processor -  LSI Logic Corporation today announced the industry's first single-chip hard disk drive (HDD) and DVD recorder processor, the DiMeNsion 8650 (DMN-8650), for use in dual-drive digital recorders. The new processor enables the time-shift of live TV, enhanced archiving to DVD disks, and full support for DV camcorders. In addition, the DMN-8650 delivers superior video quality and significantly reduces system-level costs and design complexity for consumer electronics manufacturers with its high level of integration.
    • Samsung i700 CDMA Pocket PC debuts - At the Consumer Electronics Show today, Samsung finally officially announced the development of the i700 - a Pocket PC Phone Edition device of which a version made for Spring was previously exposed courtesy of U.S. regulatory organ FCC. Likely to be sold through Sprint in the U.S., the i700, or SPH-i700 as the Sprint model name will be, marks Microsoft's entry into the CDMA market as the first officially announced Phone Edition device with CDMA support.
    • Mitsubishi ships world's first 4x DVD-R disc - Mitsubishi has announced the launch of what it claims to be the world's first 4x DVD-R data disc for video and data use. "Our new 4x DVD-R discs will offer superior compatibility, and most DVD-ROM drives, DVD players, and game computers should be able to use them," said MKM spokesman and CIO Shigeru Tamura. "We think these discs will serve as excellent media for recording video images and data backup. They can be used as library media, or they can act as media for distribution."
    • RACHAL - do you  hate heat from the PC? - RACHAL is a ventilation system for computers that prevents heat from dissipating into your working environment. Computer exhaust is vented directly into the cavity of the wall instead of the room which keeps your room cooler.
    • Want To Make Video Games? - "Looks like Levelord, of Ritual fame, and some folks at id, and Ensemble Studios have teamed together with Southern Methodist University to create a new school for people that want to work in the video games industry. It's called the Guildhall. Also a story about it at GameTutorials." (thanks Slashdot.org).
    • Age of Universe Revised, Again - In a study published today in the journal Science, a team of researchers says the universe is between 11.2 billion and 20 billion years old. Most estimates in recent years have ranged between 10 billion and 15 billion years. The new estimates were made as part of a larger effort to understand how the universe is structured, and they agree with an increasingly solid case suggesting that 95 percent of the universe is controlled by so-called dark energy. /wow! :) I knew it ...Dark Vader?...:P/
    • Puzzling Ring of Stars Discovered Circling the Milky Way - Astronomers have discovered portions of what appears to be a giant, donut-shaped ring of previously unseen and surprisingly old stars surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. If an entire ring exists, theorists might have to rethink details of how the galaxy formed.
    • DDR II - Sacrificing Latency - DDR (I) is approaching the end of its dominating role in the desktop space to be replaced by the second generation of double data rate memory starting at 400 MHz and using a conventional 64/72 bit parallel bus interface. Lower operating voltage, new features like on-die termination, off-chip driver calibration, Posted CAS and variable write latency sound intriguing but what is really lurking behind the new standard. We have seen claims of up to 72% power savings over DDR I and other miracle cures for any bandwidth issues faced by the PC industry. We have done the math ourselves found a few convenient errors in some of the manufacturer's descriptions of DDR II. Otherwise, DDR II looks very promising but who will benefit in the end?
    • Nvidia 42.01 Win9x/ME BETA Driver - Shortly after 42.01 for Wink/XP, there is the same beta driver for Win9/ME users (Mirror).
    • Serv-U 4.1.0.3 - Serv-U (download)  is a powerful, easy-to-use, award-winning FTP server created by Rob Beckers. An FTP server uses the FTP protocol to share files across the Internet. Serv-U is not only 100% compliant with the current FTP standard, but also includes numerous features unique to Serv-U that make it a perfect file sharing solution for virtually everyone.
    • IBM-Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 3.30 - This download creates a self-booting DOS diskette to run the DFT utility. The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) provides a quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives. The Drive Fitness Test analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data.
    • Realtek RTL8139(A/B/C/D/8130)/810X Drivers - Realtek has released new&official LAN drivers (v4.51.5.05) as well as new ALC650 drivers (A3.37.2).
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,05 2003 - tech
    Sunday Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:03 PM CET - Jan,05 2003 - Post a comment
    • Moonlike asteroid on close approach - An asteroid that behaves something like a second moon to Earth will make its closest approach to our planet next week before shuttling back into deep space for nearly a century. The space rock is about 200 feet (60 meters) across and never gets as close as the real moon. Scientists say there is no chance it will hit Earth anytime in the foreseeable future.
    • Chinese spacecraft 'ready to land' - China's fourth unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou IV is due to return to Earth on Sunday.  If all goes to schedule the craft should land in central Mongolia. The craft has been in orbit since Monday and is reported to be functioning normally. It is thought that this will be the last test flight before a manned mission planned to for later in the year.
    • Spam costs businesses $13 billion - All those junk e-mail messages may promise instant wealth, but they can be quite painful to the bottom line. A study to be released this week attempts to quantify the annual cost of spam: $8.9 billion for U.S. corporations, $2.5 billion for European businesses and another $500 million for U.S. and European service providers.
    • First Nvidia Geforce FX benchmarks appear - According to TheInquirer, the first benchmarks of the one card have made an appearance at Ace's Hardware general forum. This posting is drawn from the Maximum PC site, where you can find the whole shooting match.
    • Monster Unveils the XG SSGS-500 - To celebrate the new year, Monster Game, a division of Monster Cable, has announced the XG SSGS-500 5.1 surround sound gaming speaker system for Xbox and PS2. This Dolby Digital-ready 5.1 speaker set features five satellites with two drivers each and an 80-watt max subwoofer (40 watts RMS) boasting a 6.5-inch long-throw driver housed in a bass-enhancing ported wood cabinet. The total power of the speaker set is 130 watts(65 watts RMS).
    • AMD Mobile Athlon XP Review - Tom's Hardware gang has posted a review of AMD Mobile Athlon XP.
    • How to turn a RADEON 9500 to RADEON 9700 - iXBT Russia has posted an article about a "hacked" Radeon 9500 performing close to the level of a Radeon 9700 Pro. You can use BabelFish or check this translated version of this article at X-Bi Labs.
    • Unofficial Windows XP SP2 Fixlist - There's an unofficial fix list for Windows XP SP2.
    • Clone CD Profiles - Its been a while since Clone CD had new features. Now that it does have new features I thought that its only logical to have new profiles to incorperate them.
    • UT2K3 Benchmark v1.3 - A new version 1.3 of UT2K3Bench (download) has been released. This version can be used across all Windows platforms, and it works with both the demo and the full version of UT2003.
    • PC Zylix 2003 - PC Zylix Deluxe 2003 is for the WindowsXP, it is used a system "enhancing" utility. This utility helps improve your systems performance and optimizes disk utilization.
    • ObjectDock 0.85 - ObjectDock (download) is a program that combines a task manager and program launcher together -- but with a lot of style
    • ZMatrix 1.4.5  - ZMatrix is an animated desktop background which displays streaming characters in a style similar to what was used in the movie 'The Matrix'.
    • jv16 PowerTools 1.2 build 173 RC2 (Beta) - jv16 PowerTools is basically the Tool to control your computer. Until now your computer might had been the one who is in charge, but with jv16 PowerTools you can take the control. The program contains all the tools needed for monitoring, cleaning and controlling the registry, the file system and your Local Area Network.
    • Messenger Helper 2.00 Build 30103 - Messenger Helper (free) (download) is designed to add functionalities to the Instant Chat program from Microsoft called MSN Messenger.
    • Sound Blaster Audigy Win2k/XP Driver Pack (date (12/31/02) - I already mentioned this driver a couple days ago, but for those who missed it, there is download link.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,03 2003 - tech
    Late Afternoon Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 11:34 PM CET - Jan,03 2003 - Post a comment / read (1)
    • FBI: Student spread DirecTV secrets - Prosecutors charged a college student Thursday with distributing on the Internet hundreds of secret documents that could help television owners steal signals from a leading satellite TV provider.  Igor Serebryany, 19, of Los Angeles, faces stiff prison penalties if convicted under economic espionage laws. The FBI said in court records that Serebryany acknowledged distributing the documents on the Internet. Investigators do not believe Serebryany sought any money in exchange for the disclosures.
    • Sanyo Delivers Combo Camera/Phone - These days, cell phone makers seem to be jamming as much functionality as they can into digital phones. We've seen devices with everything from PDA capabilities to integrated FM radios and MP3 players to computer games. Anything manufacturers can't build in, they offer as an add-on, such as the snap-on digital camera. Now even this has been integrated, and we got our hands on one of the first camera/mobile phones-the Sanyo SCP-5300 ($400 street plus service fee). It's on the big side for a clamshell phone, but we did have a whole lot of fun carrying it around.
    • Club-3D GeForce FX card to arrive in two weeks - By the third week of January, distributors told the INQUIRER that a number of different vendors will have units up for sale, suggesting that silicon is stable. Specifications of one card we've seen show it has full DirectX 9 support, 128/256MB of memory, 16GB/s bandwidth and a memory clock of 500MHz (1GHz DDR II) running at two nanoseconds, and rendering 350 million rather than the 325 million triangles of the Radeon 9700 Pro, just as we suspected and Nvidia hinted.
    • How to convert your DivX to DVD+R Tutorial - This Tutorial makes a multi-region, auto starting movie (no menu or extras) with 1 audio track and no subtitles. It works for me. There may be a better or simpler way, I just haven't found it yet.
    • Alcohol 120% 1.4.0.103 - Alcohol 120% 1.4.0.103 is a CD/DVD emulation and recording software that allows users to copy a visible and invisible discs. It enables users to create 31 virtual CD/DVD-ROMs to play discs without needing a physical disc.
    • cladDVD XP v1.3r5 - CladDVD XP is a 'DVD Ripper', meaning it decrypts the encrypted VOB files off the DVD and saves them to your hard drive. The files can be ripped in a standard way preserving the original content along with the IFO, useful when you use or need to use a 3rd party application to process the VOB files.
    • Fresh UI 5.00 - Fresh UI is free Windows tweaking tool. This new version added some hidden settings for NetMeeting application and CPU (Hardware).
    • Lite-On CD-RW Firmware - LiteOn have released some new CD-RW firmware updates for  LTR-52246S (52X/24X/52X), LTR-48246S (48X/24X/48X), LSC-24081 SLIM COMBO and LSC-24081M SLIM COMBO.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,02 2003 - tech
    Thursday Tech Madness - tech
    (hx) 11:54 PM CET - Jan,02 2003 - Post a comment / read (1)
    • Wired's 2002 Vaporware List - Wired.com has once again posted their annual list of its top 10 vaporware tech products that we have been waiting on for oh so long, the so called vaporware products.
    • Yaha virus infection heats up - The virus, dubbed W32/Yaha.M by MessageLabs, has seen its numbers explode with over 7,000 copies being stopped by MessageLabs on Monday. So far, more than 17,000 copies of the virus have been detected by MessageLabs, leaping it to the fifth most common virus sent through the system since records began.
    • Happy 20th birthday to the internet - The internet has officially celebrated its 20th birthday. On 1 January 1983 the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (Arpanet) of the US Department of Defence - the forerunner of the internet - was switched to the TCP/IP protocol.
    • Feeling Blue? This Robot Knows It  - Science fiction often depicts robots of the future as machines that look like people and feel, or at least hanker after the ability to feel, human emotions. A team at Vanderbilt University is turning this notion on its head by developing a robotic assistant whose goal is not to develop emotions, but rather respond to the moods of its human master.
    • Ear damage by MP3, DVD and digital television? - Unlike with compression and decompression of computer programs (e.g. ZIP), that is to say, during lossy data compression (data reduction) the original signal is not reconstructed 1:1, but to reduce the data amount, only control signals for a synthesizer programs (called CODEC) get recorded, those are optimized in a way that during rendition the CODEC can reconstruct from these an approximation of the original picture or sound signal that appears as similar as possible for the human conscious perception, but is not identical to the original signal. The danger of this exploitation of human perception flaws is that especially by lossy audio data compression sound portions get destroyed those, although the brain would not pass them to the conscious awareness, are likely necessary for the human hearing's own perpetual calibration.
    • Microsoft counts on antipiracy technique - On Tuesday, Microsoft plans to officially launch Plus Digital Media Edition (DME), a $19.95 add-on pack for the Windows XP operating system. Microsoft has offered various versions of Plus since the release of Windows 95. But unlike earlier versions, Plus DME is protected by product activation, meaning that consumers will have to enter a 25-key code to install the software and then "activate" Plus DME over the Internet.
    • Cell phones call on longer life spans - Australian researchers are working to extend the life of batteries in mobile wireless devices and to provide carriers with the capacity to deliver higher bit-rates to new handsets. The improvement in battery life could be achieved by using smarter power control algorithms. The new techniques may also allow carriers to allocate different bit-rates to different users on the fly.
    • Lindows CEO funds Xbox hacking contest - Michael Robertson, CEO of software company Lindows, has revealed himself as the formerly anonymous donor of $200,000 in prize money in a contest to translate the Linux operating system to Microsoft's Xbox video game console.
    • 17-inch flat-panel iMac to stop production in June - The 17-inch flat-panel iMac will terminate production in June, following the same fate as the 15-inch flat-panel model, which stopped production last October, said local PC makers familiar with the matter.
    • Triplex GF4 Ti 4800SE Deluxe - Triplex GeForce4 Ti 4800SE Deluxe is the newest AGP 8X supporting GPU from NVIDIA based on the NV28 core before the arrival of the GeForce FX aka NV30 in February. Triplex GF4 Ti4800 Deluxe runs at 275Mhz core clock with 128MB 3.3ns BGA DDR SDRAM at 550Mhz. It comes with VIVO, TV-Out & DVI function and at a suggested retail price of US$330. Triplex GF4 Ti4800 Deluxe is expected to outperform the current GeForce4 Ti4600 by 10% and better overclockability at 330/635Mhz.
    • Tiny New Hard Drives May Incorporate DRM  - A consortium called iVDR is said to be readying tiny 1.8" and 2.5" hard drives, with removable cartridges, for introduction at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. While the disks look like a cool idea, it appears that they may be intended as a way of introducing DRM into users' computers as well as into consumer electronic devices of all types.
    • Atari 2600 TV Games 10 in pack - Does the Atari 2600 ring a bell to you? Fond memories of playing Pong or Asteroids still fresh in your mind? It's back, and large and in charge on your TV, or say even your LCD screen. So today, I'll be looking at something that you may want. If you have some of that Christmas cash still around, you may want to venture out to a major department store and see if you can find one of these bad boys.
    • New Adobe Photoshop Due In 2003 - The next major upgrade to Adobe's industry-leading graphics editing software, Photoshop, is set to ship in the fourth quarter of 2003. This year will see the release of Photoshop 8.0, code-named "Dark Matter," and ImageReady 8.0, code-named "Taconite." ImageReady will remain a standalone application.  Specific updates will include: NTSC/PAL/HD preview choices to compliment the existing CMYK Preview, a Histogram palette, nested layer sets, and text on a path. Photoshop 8 will also include "filter layers," allowing for non-destructive image editing and manipulations, similar to Adobe After Effects' adjustment layers.
    • Proper Speaker and Sound Setup - Well before you get to moving your speakers around your room/office/studio/etc., the first thing you should know is how sound actually works. Some might be wondering why this is important. Well, to properly place your speakers for the optimum clarity, one needs to know how sound waves work and react with objects around them. I know, I know... physics is not the most exciting subject but it will pay off in the end, trust us on this.
    • How to Eliminate Spyware, Adware, and Random Popups - Quite useful guide for greenhorns :) - check it out!
    • DirectX 9 vs. DirectX 8 Benchmarks - ViperLaier takes a look at its performance with a DX8 and DX9 video card.
    • Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.71 SP1 - The MDAC 2.7 SP1 redistributable installer installs the same Data Access core components as Microsoft Windows XP SP1. This release does not include Microsoft Jet, the Microsoft Jet OLE DB Provider, the Desktop Database Drivers ODBC Driver, or the Visual FoxPro ODBC Driver.
    • Klient 2.0.12 Beta - Klient is an IRC (download) application for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Klient features a fully customizable interface, multiple server support, highly robust scripting, external .dll support, and much more.
    • Coding Workshop Ringtone Convertor 3.9.3 - The Ringtone Converter (download) is a software program for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac systems that allows you to add new ringtones to your mobile phone without the need for cables or expensive premium rate SMS services.
    • A-Tuner 1.2.16.4201 -  A-Tuner is a small tool for changing Anti-Aliasing (including all unofficial modes), Anisotropic Filtering, Vsync  and MipMap LOD (Level Of Detail) Bias the following 4 settings on your Nvidia card and should work with Nvidia Detonators 23.11 - 41.09
    • DAEMON Tools 3.29 - And as a special new year's present here's DAEMON Tools version 3.29 (seems the download link is down at the moment, so try this mirror) Especially a lot of Germans may have waited for this version as it fixes the blacklist introduced with the Gothic 2 patch 1.29. Here's the complete changelog: RMPS emulation option added, Many blacklists fixed (e.g. 'Gothic 2' 1.29), Minor fixes.
    • Plextor PX-W4012TA/TU firmware -  Plextor Europe has released a new firmware version for their PX-W4012TA (internal) and PX-W4012TU (external) drives.
    • ASUS Detonators 31.40G -  Asus has released new drivers for their Nvidia series of cards version 31.40G for Win2k/XP for V3800, V6600, V7100, V7700, V8170, V8200, V8440, V8460, V9180 series. V3800 doesn't support WinXP.
     Gameguru Mania News - Jan,01 2003 - tech
    The first 2003's Tech Reading! - tech
    (hx) 09:27 PM CET - Jan,01 2003 - Post a comment
    • IBM waves goodbye to Winchester hard files - Big Blue said it has completed the transfer of its hard drive division to Hitachi. It closed the deal to sell its hard drive related businesses for $2.05 billion yesterday, with Hitachi coughing up 70 per cent of this money to IBM yesterday. It will pay IBM the rest of the money over a three year period.
    • Leatherman's Squirt: The LAN Gamers Friend - When it comes to LAN gaming, a pocket multi-tool might not be the first thing you think about, but maybe it should be!
    • NVidia Ti4200-8XAGP Videocard Roundup - PC Stats has posted a NVidia Ti4200-8XAGP Videocard Roundup.
    • Direct X 9 Benchmarks - Given the number of decent DX8 titles, that is, games that actually make use of the fancy Vertex and Pixel shaders (hint: that number is low), the question is, will DX9 make any difference with the titles we have on store shelves now?
    • Microsoft MOM Upgrade To Roll in January - Microsoft's Management Business Group is set to start the new year off with a bang. In early January, the group is slated to roll out a refresh for the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) platform. Included in the refresh will be Service Pack 1 (SP1) updates and fixes, management pack updates, a new software development kit and a new resource kit.
    • WebTalker - Web Talker makes it possible to have your daily web pages read aloud by a simple 'snip' of the finger. This utility makes it possible to browse through your favorite websites and have the content read to you. In this manner you can keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the steering wheel.
    • TweakNow PowerPack 2003 Professional v1.0.2 - TweakNow (download) has released TweakNow PowerPack 2003 Professional v1.0.2, a comprehensive and easy-to-use Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP utility that lets you fine-tune Windows and Internet Explorer.  Whether you want to tweak your Windows registry, clean up your hard drive, or increase your multimedia and game performance, TweakNow PowerPack's integrated suite of programs can get your system running at peak performance levels.
    • Ultimate Trainz Collection - The Ultimate Trainz Collection includes 2 CDs full of dynamic railroad action. All of the excitement of Collecting, Creating and Controlling your own railroad with the newest version of Trainz, plus tons of added features.
    • jv16 PowerTools 1.2 RC2  - jv16 PowerTools (download) is a full set of tools to keep your computer up and running. The new version 1.2 contains a lot of new features.
    • Mozilla 1.3b - Seems that Mozilla FTP has a newer version v1.3b.
    • Gordian Knot Rip Pack v0.27 - This Rip Pack (homepage) contains basic software to do SBC and DivX5 encoding - contains DVDDecrypter 3.1.4.0, vStrip 0.8d CSS, DVD2AVI 1.76, BeSweet 1.5b8, AviSynth_Spatial.dll, Decomb 4.02, GreedyHMA 0.4.0.0, IVTC.dll 2.2, SimpleResize 0.3.2.0, VirtualDub 1.4.13, Nandub RC2 lumafix ecffix.
    • Zoom Player 3.00 Beta 4 - Zoom Player (download)  is a robust media and DVD front-end player. It was designed to be simple at first glance while being remarkably dynamic and flexible when used to its full potential.
    • GGSearch (formerly GoogleSearchTool) 3.5 - GoogleSearchTool is a handy tool for people who spend a lot of time searching the various newsgroups posts in Google.
    • DVD Region-Free 1.29 - DVD Region-Free is an unique, effective DVD tweaking tool. It allows you to watch all region DVDs on any DVD drive even if it has been locked.
    • MultiRes 1.41 - MultiRes is a 32-bit alternative to QuickRes, which adds refresh rate and multi-monitor support, as well as optional timed confirmation prompts. The little utility supports Windows 9x/Me/NT4, as well as Windows 2000 and XP.
    • Nullsoft SafeSex 0.35  - Nullsoft SafeSex (free) allows you to have some notes that are easily accessible, but relatively secure. It sits on your screen, waiting for a click, and on a click it will activate and give you access to your notes. That is, of course, if you enter the passphrase that your notes are encrypted with. For ease, the passphrase will be cached in memory, and expire after a user-configurable time.
    • Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) 5.3.9.4 - DAP has a newer version of its popular Download Manager. DAP is fully integrated into the browser, providing the best possible performance from ANY Internet connection (dial-up, cable, DSL / ADSL, T1 etc.).
    • DownloadWunder.net 1.26.1400.0 (Free) - DownloadWunder.net is a fast and intuitive download manager for all sorts of files. Features include a download queue, clipboard monitoring, log file writing, easy download of image galleries and much more.
    • Kazaalite 2.0.2 build 1 - Kazaalite 2.0.2 build 1 and 2.0.0 build 2 is out (fixed download links).
     Gameguru Mania News - Dec,31 2002 - tech
    Another Tech Reading - Happy New Year! - tech
    (hx) 05:03 PM CET - Dec,31 2002 - Post a comment
    • Composer harnesses artificial intelligence to create music - Eduardo Reck Miranda (left), a researcher for the Sony Computer Science Laboratories Inc., is developing a computer program that he hopes will compose original music. "One of the greatest achievements of artificial intelligence today lies in the construction of machines that can compose music of incredibly high quality," he said.
    • Israeli army considers dropping Windows for Linux  - The busiest army in the world is considering shifting to Linux despite the fact that the US buys its kit for it anyhow. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says the cost of running Windows is too great and is giving "serious consideration" to shifting its data to Linux servers, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reports.
    • "Metroid Prime" Takes Wide Game of Year Honors - Both GameSpot, a division of CNET, and GameSpy named "Metroid," a first-person action game, as their pick for top title. "Metroid" was released in November and was the No. 2 title for the month in the United States, based on units sold, according to market research service NPDFunworld.
    • Microsoft Reader format cracked - Frustrated by the tight security and lack of interoperability of Microsoft Reader eBooks, a programmer named Dan Jackson obtained the source code for a command-line program called Convert Lit and made it available to the public. Convert Lit or "Clit.exe" is a command line utility that can downgrade the DRM5 security to DRM1. From there, the formerly encrypted Lit book can be converted to HTML, text, or any other format.
    • Seagate ST380023AS Hard Drive (SATA) Review - Hexus.net has posted a review of Seagate ST380023AS (Serial ATA) Hard Drive and here is a result:"The read performance of the Seagate ST380023AS was not as good as we had hoped for. On the other hand write performance was better than we hoped for. In summary one fact is clear, the SATA interface works differently to the IDE interface and when you consider that this is a first generation SATA drive, linked to a motherboard that has the SATA interface located on the PCI bus, limiting it's potential, the overall performance is very good indeed."
    • Mouse Pad Roundup - Viper's Lair takes a look at some of the most popular gaming mouse pads.
    • AMD Athlon XP - High FSB modding -  XtremeSystems.org forum has some interesting posts on modding of AMD's Athlon XP processors. The first mod will set your Athlon XP 2000+/2200+/2400+ to a XP2800 (166x13.5) and the second mod will help you hit 200's MHz FSB with your Athlon XP 2600+/2700+/2800+ that's like running a Barton CPU. Sounds cool, but try at your own risk :P (thanks TweakDude). There's is also Athlon overclocking madness article at TheInquirer.
    • Sound Blaster Audigy DriverPack for Win2K/XP -
    • Gainward Detonator 41.04 WHQL - Gainward has released a new set of Nvidia Detonator 41.04 WHQL drivers (previously available only  via update service) for Win9x/ME and Win2k/XP. In addition, there is also a new version of Gainward's ExperTool v3.04 and some BIOS updates.
    • Sound Blaster Audigy DriverPack WHQL - Creative Asia today released this driver pack (13.3MB) that contains some old fixes and new WHQL sign.
    Morning Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 10:52 AM CET - Dec,31 2002 - Post a comment
    • Clonaid Has 2,000 on Cloning List, Founder Says - The founder of the Raelian religion whose adherents claim to have cloned a human said a company he created has 2,000 people waiting to have themselves or a loved one cloned, a newspaper reported Monday. Claude Vorilhon, a French native know as Rael to his followers who founded Clonaid in 1997, said in an hour-long interview Sunday in Miami that the company has a list of people willing to pay $200,000 each for cloning, the Miami Herald reported.
    • Microsoft's Gates Talks Trends, Points to Rivals IBM, Sony - In its 28th year since its founding, Nikkei Business interviewed Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder and chief software architect, about a "new Microsoft."
    • So Many Holes, So Few Hacks - Experts who discover and report security holes seem to be far more industrious than the malicious hackers willing or able to exploit those holes. Despite the thousands of hackable holes that lurk in e-mail, on websites, in files and operating systems, most users' computers are never afflicted with more than the virtual version of a sniffle.
    • Europe To Publishers: Rate Or Die - The Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) announced that all video games published in European Union countries will carry unified ratings beginning in April of next year. The ISFE, the Euro equivalent of the IDSA video game trade organization, will govern the ratings, which will supercede the rating systems each individual European country has right now.
    • NVIDIA to Announce NV31 at CeBIT - Also Xbit-Labs have confirmed that the Santa Clara, California-based company will unveil its code-named NV31 VPU at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. The NV31 is expected to utilise numerous technologies introduced in the GeForce FX VPU and also offer comparable performance to the GeForce4 Ti4600, but with possible improvements in antialiasing and anisotropic filtering speed. Generally speaking, the NV31 code-named products will compete with the RADEON 9500 PRO and 9700-based solutions, so, it is very logically for them to be cheap enough.
    • Two CPUs in One? - Hyperthreading enables one processor to act like two. As a result, it can simultaneously tackle multiple applications (or a single application that has multiple threads), put idle CPU cycles to use, and boost system performance by up to 25 percent--all without requiring specially written applications, according to Intel. Sounds good, doesn't it?
    • RegMon for NT/2000/XP 4.36 - Regmon is a Registry monitoring utility that will show you which applications are accessing your Registry, which keys they are accessing, and the Registry data that they are reading and writing - all in real-time.
    • 3D Traceroute v1.6.46:94 - This freeware program (download) replaces all your ugly ping plotters and traceroute programs.
    • NOMAD Jukebox Zen Firmware v1.11.04 - This is the latest NOMAD Jukebox Zen firmware v1.11.04 for users using Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium and Windows XP.
    • NOMAD Jukebox 3 Firmware v1.30.08 - This is the latest NOMAD Jukebox 3 firmware v1.30.08 for users using Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium and Windows XP.
    • PlexTools 1.18 - Plextor Europe have released a new version of the PlexTools software. This new version adds support for PX-W4012TS
      + many other improvements.
    • CPUCooL 7.1.7 - CPUCooL is a program that monitors temperature, fan speed and voltages for many motherboards. It works with all chipsets from Intel, ALI, VIA, AMD and SiS 5595 motherboards.
    • NVIDIA BIOS Editor v1.0 RC3 Revision 415 - NVIDIA BIOS Editor enables you to do virtually anything with your graphic card BIOS (as long as it is NVIDIAs). Now, it is simply a must have for me and according to the forum, for many other people, too. It enables you to change the sign-on message text & color, GPU & memory clocks, hidden features like SBA (Side Band Addressing) and much more. This new version added support for GeForce 4 Ti 4200 Bioses with AGP8x.
     Gameguru Mania News - Dec,30 2002 - tech
    Evening Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:40 AM CET - Dec,30 2002 - Post a comment
    • China launches fourth unmanned space capsule - China launched its fourth unmanned space capsule early Monday in a step that soon could lead to a manned flight, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.  The Shenzhou IV spacecraft blasted off at 12:40 a.m. local time from a launch pad in the country's desert northwest and entered a preset orbit, Xinhua said. The flight will include experiments involving the astronaut flight system and the craft's life support system, Xinhua said, citing space program officials.
    • Waterproof books - Melcher Media, a New York-based publisher, is promoting books that are manufactured using a technology it calls "Durabooks." The books' pages don't absorb water, and they stretch instead of tearing. Other companies make waterproof books with standard wood-based paper that is heavily laminated in the printing process.
    • We're Goin' "Back" - This Time on DVD  - The Back To The Future DVD box set is a good buy and leaves very little to be desired. The most major complaint is the lack of DTS soundtrack support. Overall, this box set gives new life to one of the best movies from the 80s.
    • Is The Games Industry Ready For HT?  - Intel wants you to play games with its HyperThreaded 3.06 GHz Pentium 4. That is because games, unlike more mundane MS Office applications, allow you to notice the benefits of Intel's HyperThreading (HT) technology.
    • DirectX 9 doesn't fix earlier bugs - Bugs in Microsoft DirectX 9 can cause multiplayer problems, an Italian web site reports today. According to hardwareirc.com, the bugs it has discovered are fairly seriously - it's tested DirectX 9 on different configurations and with a number of video cards including the R9700 Pro, the R8500, the GeForce 3 and the SIS Xabre 400. According to editor Antonio Trapanese, if the stable DX8.1 version is used with Microsoft FS 2002, you can play in standalone and multiplayer mode. But, he said, if you install DirectX 9 and attempt to play in multiplay mode, the problems start.
    • PHRACK #60 Has Been Released - Phrack Magazine is one of the longest running electronic magazines in existence, and certainly one of the most interesting. Since 1985, Phrack has been providing the hacker community with information on operating systems, networking technologies and telephony, as well as relaying features of interest to the international computer underground. The Phrack Magazine team released a new issue of this Magazine, number 60.
    • Definitive Battery Extender Guide Rev. 2.10 - Heard of a battery extender? We will show you how to create one for peanuts! And if you are looking for even more juice, go no further! We will show you how to create a cheap 6V, 4500mAh battery extender!
    • Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Pro v4.0.9.0 - Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Pro (Shareware) provides full-scale protection with some additional protective components - a behavior blocker and integrity checker, appropriate for experienced users seeking the best anti-virus.
    • AVG Free 6.0.434 (free) - AVG is free and offers maximum virus protection, product customization, and free virus database updates and technical support.
    • Sisoft SANDRA 2003.1.9.31 - SANDRA (download) is a set of system diagnostic and benchmarking tools designed to help you keep your computer running at peak performance.
    • Avant Browser 7.0.2.8 (free) - Never surf with a MDI browser? Try Avant Browser (download), an upgrade for your Internet Explorer. Avant Browser is a fast, stable, user-friendly, versatile multi-window browser.
    • MagicTweak 1.98  - MagicTweak (download) is a special program designed to optimize and personalize Microsoft Windows. This unique software makes it easy to tweak hundreds of hidden settings in Windows, so there is no need to dig through the registry looking for that specific setting (from Start Menu,Desktop,IE skin,System Icon to System Security) that just doesn't seem to be there.
    • DirectDVD v4.48 ES - DirectDVD (download) is a full-Software Decoder & digital-quality DVD player for Windows that brings an enhanced movie experience to your PC. It offers MPEG-2 video support, and has the ability to bring new features such as DVD-to-MP3 conversion, a 16-band EQ, and MP3 functionality. DirectDVD also supports new audio filters, such as Dolby 5.1 Channels and Prologic Surround Sound.
    • Xbox Media Player v2.1 - This new version has a lot of fixes and new features.
    • Coding Workshop Ringtone Convertor 3.9.1 - The Ringtone Converter (download) is a software program for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac systems that allows you to add new ringtones to your mobile phone without the need for cables or expensive premium rate SMS services. The Ringtone Converter supports most makes and models of phone including Audiovox, Alcatel, Ericsson, HTC, Kyocera, Motorola, Nokia, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Sagem, Samsung, Sony, Sendo, Sharp and Siemens handsets, with more added every month.
    • NVIDIA BIOS Editor v1.0 RC3 Build 410 - NVIDIA BIOS Editor will support all BIOSes from TNT2 and up to Ti 4600. Except TNT and TNT2 with old version of Control Block (less than version 3). This new version added support for some version of GeForce 4 MX with AGP 8x interface. But!!! If you have Control Block version 5.25 or higher - DO NOT EDIT BIOS YET and wait for newer version! 
    • nVidia Refresh Rate Fix MKII 2.11 E - Normally, you can't get a higher refresh rate than 60 Hz in the OpenGL/Direct3D modes, which makes you very blind after a while of gaming. ;-) This tool fixes this bug and is compatible with nVidia Detonator 28.32+ AND Detonator 40.41+.
     Gameguru Mania News - Dec,29 2002 - tech
    Saturday Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:09 AM CET - Dec,29 2002 - Post a comment
    • Humans on Mars 'by 2025' - Under proposals being discussed by member states, a robotic outpost could be set up on the Red Planet to pave the way for a human landing.  The European Space Agency (Esa) believes that by 2025, the technology will exist to send humans to Mars. It is considering two flagship missions to find a suitable landing site for astronauts and to bring back the first sample of Martian soil.
    • DirecTV Broadband Makes Customer Transition Deals  - DirecTV Broadband customers will not be left in the lurch when the high-speed Internet service is discontinued next month. DirecTV Broadband's parent, Hughes Electronics , has inked deals allowing subscribers to shift to SBC Yahoo!, BellSouth and Verizon (depending on where they live) without interrupting service.
    • ATI Radeon 9500 Pro Overclocking - ATI has been releasing better and better graphics chips starting with the original Radeon. They are continuing the trend for the mainstream market with the R9500 Pro. You probably have seen many reviews about the technology behind the Radeon 95/700 series, so I'm going to go one step further, an overclocking review.
    • Archos announces first external DVD writer - Archos announces the launch of the next generation of DVD writers with the introduction of the first portable (peripheral) DVD writer, the DExDVD-RW. This innovative product offers the professional and home user the ability to create and store video films, images and all types of numerical files on any kind of DVD and CD
    • AOpen AX45-4D Max - The First SIS Dual Channel Motherboard - Based on ATX form factor featuring SIS655/963 chipsets, this AX45-4D Max motherboard supports Intel Socket 478 Pentium 4 (Willamette / Northwood) and 533 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) clock. What is Dual Channel? You might be wondering what kind of enhancement would this new technology do to your system, right? Simply put, we used to have 64-bit memory bandwidth for memory access. No matter how many memory modules have been installed, though capacity added, the speed of access remains the same! From now on, with 128-bit dual channel introduced, it doubles the memory bandwidth up to 5.4GB in advanced 128-bit mode!
    • Samsung SPL4225 Tantus 42 inch Plasma Display Review - PC Stats has posted a new review of Samsung SPL4225 Tantus 42 inch Plasma Display. "Samsung's Tantus SPL4225 Plasma display measures an impressive 42" across, and a scant three and a half inches thick. The image quality is just luscious, and if you can forget about the nearly ten thousand dollar (CDN) price tag for a moment, there is virtually no downside to this display. This 42" plasma display can be connected to a computer to act like a giant monitor for presentations, or heck even gaming. As part of our...ummm testing...we played a few rounds of UT2003 on the 42" SPL4225".
    • YanC Nvidia board configurator for Linux OpenGL - Yet another nV Configurator (YanC) is a GUI configuration tool for the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set. It supports viewing, editing and creation of XF86Config options and environment variables. With it you can run your OpenGL-applications with your favorite settings for antialiasing, anisotropic texture filtering and vsync to blank without difficult command-line operations. Includes source.
    • Fusion Media Player v1.5 (free)  - The new version has a lot of new features like audio streaming and recording, DVD playback, a new skin including a new audio mode and a lot of more interesting features.
    • Detonators Comparison - PC-Extreme has added the 42.01 Detonators to their Driver Comparison article (it's fully in German ->BabelFish)
     Gameguru Mania News - Dec,28 2002 - tech
    Nightly Tech Reading - tech
    (hx) 01:49 AM CET - Dec,28 2002 - Post a comment / read (9)
    • China closes over 3,300 cyber cafes - China has closed down over 3,300 Internet cafes nation-wide during the past six months for safety reasons, a senior Chinese official has said. The massive overhaul of China's Internet cafes in the last six months directly resulted from a fatal fire in a Beijing Internet cafe in June this year, which killed 25 people and injured 12 others. The fire was caused by three disgruntled youngsters who were earlier denied entry to the Internet cafe. About 45,000 Internet cafes were inspected during the past six months, with nearly 12,000 of them suspended for shape-up and more than 3,300 closed, Minister in charge of China's State Economic and Trade Commission, Li Rongrong said.
    • Raelian group claims birth of first human clone - There is a report late Thursday that a Canadian-based group will announce one of its members has given birth to the first human clone. The group has scheduled a news conference for Friday to offer details on the claim. The Raelians, a religious cult based in Quebec, announced on Dec. 18 that the baby was expected to be born in the next 14 days.
    • NTT invents device to stop Denial of Service (DOS) attacks - Japanese newspaper Keizai Shimbon reports today that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) has invented technology which will prevent distributed denial of service attacks. It works, the paper said, by using bridge devices which can detect the source of attacks and prevent access to these while allowing other data to continue to flow across the network.
    • Axis Launches Complete Linux Computer on a Single Chip -  Axis Communications announced the availability of the AXIS ETRAX 100LX MCM 2+8, a new generation system-on-a-chip that integrates 2MB Flash, 8MB SDRAM and an Ethernet transceiver into a single chip with a 27mm x 27mm footprint. The chip, which is designed for networked devices such as wireless access points, digital video recorders and access control and security systems, enables developers to reduce costs in both the design and production cycles.
    • Removable Hard Drive Shrinks to 1.8 Inches - A consortium of companies developing a removable hard disk system for consumer use called iVDR (Information Versatile Disk for Removable usage) plan to unveil a prototype 1.8-inch drive with a serial ATA interface for the first time at the Consumer Electronic Show in January, an iVDR consortium representative says. CES, which takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, will also be the first time the iVDR system has been shown outside of Japan.
    • Free add-ins for FrontPage 2000/2002 - Microsoft has just released 17 various add-ins for it's web authoring program FrontPage. The add-ins include templates and audio/visual effects, they are available for both FrontPage 2000 and 2002.
    • USA National Security Agency Guide to Securing Microsoft Windows XP -The purpose of this document is to inform the reader about Windows XP Professional recommended security settings. These security settings include those that can be set  via the Security Configuration Manager, through Group Policy, as well as manual settings.
    • MySQL 4.0.7 Gamma - MySQL 4.0.7-gamma has been released today (changelog)
    • PHP 4.3.0 Final - After a long and arduous 8 months of development and testing, PHP 4.3.0 is out! (downloads) With regard to scope, time, and effort, this is the largest 4.x release of PHP, and it further elevates PHP's standing as a serious contender in the general purpose scripting language arena.
    • KaZaA Lite 2.0.2 Build v2.0 -  KaZaA Lite Cracked is cracked version of the popular KaZaA Lite. It's the same program, but with some new features added to it. Download from up to 40 sources at the same time per file (maximum was 8). Unlimited times "search more" is possible (used to be only once). "Find more sources" time-limit is now 4 minutes (used to be 10 minutes). Also, KaZaA Lite doesn't use port 1214 anymore, in case you've changed the port to another value. "
    • NVIDIA Detonators 42.01/32.20 - As promised, new NVIDIA drivers have hit the web. There are two sets available: Detonator 42.01 for Win2k/XP only and Detonator 32.20 for Win2k/XP and Win9x/ME. Final users don't use your personal computers to test these unofficial drivers - the last  WHQL drivers are 41.09!
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