• Verizon & Microsoft team up to deliver DSL - Verizon and Microsoft are teaming up to deliver innovative, high-speed, digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access and services that can be offered across the country over Verizon's 34 million DSL-capable access lines. The agreement expands upon the companies' existing relationships in the wireless and online information services arenas and furthers their commitment to providing a superior broadband experience to customers nationwide.
• Surprise asteroid nearly hits home - The space rock missed our planet Friday by only 75,000 miles (120,000 km), about one-third the distance to the moon, making the near collision one of the closest ever recorded. Cruising at 6.2 miles (10 km) per second, the big boulder could have unleashed some major firepower had it struck, according to the NEO (Near Earth Objects) Information Center in Leicester, England. The destructive force might have been comparable to an asteroid or comet that exploded over Siberia in 1908, which flattened 77 square miles (2,000 square km) of trees, according to the NEO.
• IBM joins DVD6C in licensing DVD patents - The DVD6C Licensing Agency today announced that IBM had joined its worldwide joint licensing program for DVD-Video players, DVD-ROM drives, DVD decoders and DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs.
• Samsung's New Phone Takes AIM - Samsung Telecommunications America said Wednesday that it is integrating America Online's instant message service into its new cellular phone, allowing users to check the availability of online "buddies" and send and receive messages without uttering a word. America Online's AIM service will be integrated into Samsung's new SGH-r225M phone, which will be available to U.S. consumers later this month. The SGH-r225M is the latest offering from Samsung featuring a range of personalization options such as allowing users to assign colors to incoming calls from selected numbers.
• Intel desktop CPUs through to Q2 2003 - Although executives at the firm have repeatedly said that it will have a 3GHz processor by the end of the year, the latest roadmaps still peg the chip at 2.80GHz. We'd expect that to change as the engineers tweak the architecture, however. By the third quarter, Intel will have completely phased out the .18 Pentium 4 with only 256K of cache, while the last P4 at the 130 nanometer level and with only 256K of cache, at 1.80GHz, will disappear during the third calendar quarter.
• ATi RADEON R250 and R300 presentations - Reactor Critical have posted the PowerPoint presentations of ATi's R250 and R300. This way, R300 will become the first graphics accelerator compliant with DirectX9. To commemorate this fact R300 family will be called RADEON 9xxx. According to XBitLabs, the launch is scheduled for August 10.
• Microsoft Producer 1.1 for PowerPoint - Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002 is an add-in for Microsoft PowerPointr 2002 that makes it easy for knowledge workers and enterprise media professionals to capture, synchronize, and publish audio, video, slides, and images. Use Microsoft Producer to create engaging and effective rich-media presentations for viewing on demand in a Web browser.
• MilkDrop v1.03 - MilkDrop is a Winamp visualization plug-in that uses 3D graphics hardware, combined with iterative image-based rendering techniques, to create a visual journey through sound.
• HyperSnap-DX v4.51.01 - HyperSnap-DX 4 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 game.
• Asus PC Probe v2.16.09 - The ASUS PC Probe is a simple utility that monitors vital information in the computer such as fan rototations, voltages and temperature. Additionally, it gives system information such as hard disk space, memory usage, CPU type and processor speed.
• Official ATI D3D Driver Update For Catalyst - ATI has released a new Direct3D driver library file (WinXP / Win2k / Win9x/ME).
• SiS AGP Driver 1.10 - SiS has released a new AGP driver (6.2MB) for the following chipsets: SiS630, SiS730, SiS735 , SiS733, SiS635, SiS633, SiS645 , SiS650 , SiS740 , SiS745.
• ASUS Tweak Utility v3.62  - Asus have released a new version (v3.62) of their Asus Tweak Utility.
• ASUS 1006 BIOSes -  Asus have released some new BIOS files for Asus Bios P4S333-M/FX/VF series.

"Matrox said they would not be sending us a review unit on the same schedule as other sites and then revealed some interesting reasons. Matrox stated that due to the nature of our testing that they were not "comfortable" with sending us a Parhelia card. They seemed to think that we would be a bit too rough on the Parhelia and possibly show some issues that the "enthusiast" might identify as weaknesses. Logic would dictate that this of course means that Matrox thinks that the hardware review sites getting the first round of Parhelias would not expose those weaknesses. I had to take that as a compliment. Still, you might keep this in mind when you see the initial reviews hit and we will of course make sure you are aware of them as we always want to keep our readers up to date with current information."

• Lights still on at KPNQwest - The liquidators of bust KPNQwest are to keep the service running until the end of June, after striking a deal with unpaid, 'exhausted' volunteers manning the Brussels network centre Ebone, its European internet backbone operation.
• MS spreads virus--by mistake - The software company owns up to accidentally distributing the deadly Nimda worm in Korean versions of Visual Studio.Net sent out to developers.
• U.S. nabs piracy ring - Twenty people in 14 U.S. states and a man in Saskatoon are facing U.S. federal charges in an Internet computer software, game and movie piracy ring dubbed Rogue Warriorz.The ring made available to undercover investigators 8,434 computer application and utility software programs, 356 movies and 432 computer games.
• DataFort Hacking Challenge - DataFort launches the region's First `Hacking Challenge'.It is primarily to be played online on a website exclusively developed for the challenge .There are eight levels for the DataFort Hacking Contest. Each level has a different problem which will test the candidates hacking capability. Passing level 8 means that the candidate shows his strengths in hacking.
• Supercomputers to Analyze Terror Attacks - Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control are going to use two linked supercomputers to determine what will really happen in the event of a terror attack such as the detonation of a dirty bomb
• Unwired Unleashed - Unwired Australia subscribes to the former - at significant cost. Of the $130 million it raised from the likes of Credit Suisse First Boston, Bruckman Rosser Sherrill and The Invus Group, $110 million was spent on licensing space on the 3.4Ghz spectrum. Yesterday it launched its first trial of the technology at no cost to the people of Paddington, a cosmopolitan suburb in Sydney's inner east.
• 'Killer' bees make killer coffee - Coffee plants (coffea arabica) are capable of self-pollination, so for a long time researchers did not think insects made much difference to the crop. But studies now show that when Africanized bees (or killer bees) pollinate coffee plants, yields can increase by more than 50.
• Creative EAX  SOF II & UT Patches - EAX ADVANCED HD (UT) Game Audio Library takes in-game audio acoustics to a whole new level. New Multi-Environment technology renders up to 4 simultaneous audio environments in real time. Environment Panning makes spatializing and localizing environments in 3D possible. EAX ADVANCED HD (SoF) offers dramatically increased 3D audio performance and functionality, delivering superior audio fidelity and rich environment effects for an unsurpassed digital entertainment experience.
• Opera 6.04 build 1126 - Opera Software have released a new beta version of Opera 6.04 build 1126.
• Sonique v2.0 Alpha Build June 14 - A pre-release version of Sonique2 is now available for public consumption. It is being called an Alpha release to reflect the fact that Sonique2 still has a ways to go before it will be ready for release. Alpha builds are buggy, unsupported and unfinished :P
• MagicTweak 1.88  - MagicTweak 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. With the ability to cutomize almost any aspect of Windows, you can become a Windows expert almost instantly.
• Rage3D Tweak v3.3 With Catalyst Driver Support  - Rage3D Tweak has been updated to support the Catalyst drivers(7.72+). It has full support for all the major new tweaks, and some not so major ones. All profiles have been overhauled to support the new and modified registry values, and the help has been updated.

• Game Boy Advance RGB LCD Project - Running Sonic Advance on my Sharp TV and the MiracleRay simultaneously using the PSOne AV port on the back of the LCD and an Interact PS2 AV cable. Funny that my nephew prefers the LCD screen over the TV screen. Possibly because the LCD gives higher resolution and provides RGB level quality. The LCD screen is so bright and vibrant with colors that I had to turn down the Brighness level to take the pictures, otherwise the LCD screen looks white.
• Thieving chimp is no chump - Police in Hackney, London, are hunting a monkey that may have been trained to steal mobile phones. Officers believe that two people may have been victims of the monkey business over the weekend after two burglaries were reported in as many hours. One victim, Mustapha Riat, confirmed seeing a hairy black chimpanzee climb through his ground floor flat window at about 8.30am on Sunday morning. The chimp stole his mobile phone from the bedside table before make a quick exit.
• Europe Plans To Monitor All Electronic Correspondance - Plans are in store for all electronic correspondence, including email and phone logs, to be monitored by Europol, the EU branch of police and intelligence services. Meeting in the Hague last April, various security officials drew up the proposal, a "common code" for all EU states to store electronic data, even chat-room discussions, phone calls and text messages made on mobiles.
• Software pirates cost industry $11 billion  - Global software piracy is on the increase costing the industry almost $11 billion . The worst offender is Vietnam where an estimated 97 per cent of all software is unlicensed. It was followed by other offenders including China where 94 per cent of software is illegal, Indonesia (89 per cent), Ukraine (89 per cent) and Russia (88 per cent). According to the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) latest survey global software piracy grew from 37 percent in 2000 to 40 percent in 2001. 
• Changing the XP Pro Corporate Product Key - This guide describes how to change your CD key without having to Format ...... Especially useful if you happen to loose or forget your old Corporate Key somehow (easily done) and want to enter a new key in.
• AMD Introduces the Athlon XP 2200+ -  AMD today introduced the AMD Athlon XP processor 2200+ with QuantiSpeed architecture-the first AMD desktop processor based on its 0.13 micron process technology. The new AMD Athlon XP processor 2200+ delivers improved performance, lower power and a smaller die size while maintaining a stable, compatible Socket A infrastructure.   Coverage:  HardOCP / Ace's Hardware / Tech Report / AnandTech /  AMDDB / Tom's Hardware  / HEXUS.net / AMD Zone / LostCircuits.
• PHP 4.3.0 Alpha with Zend Engine 2 - The first alpha release of PHP w/ Zend Engine 2 is now available. It is based on the current PHP 4 CVS (4.3.0-dev) and includes the new scripting engine which greatly improves the object model, adds exception handling and provides a much better infrastructure for the integration of external technologies like Java or .NET

• World Cup virus kicks off - Masquerading as an application for viewing match results, WorldCup spreads via email and the popular IRC application. The virus appears to be a simple rewrite of the Chick virus, which claimed to be a collection of Britney Spears pictures. The virus cannot do any damage automatically, as a user has first to open the infected file.
• Shakira worm rocks Outlook users - There's nothing new about the latest Internet worm, Shakira (vbs.vbswg-aq@mm). An e-mail message allegedly containing photos of the Grammy-winning Colombian rock star will instead launch a flood of infected copies on other users of Microsoft Outlook or IRC.
• FBI wants to track your Web trail - Now the FBI is hoping to capture and corral more of our digital detritus in the name of fighting terrorism. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will examine proposed Justice Department guidelines that would give federal investigators new license to mine publicly available databases and monitor Web use. The changes, which come after a major FBI shakeup last week, have sparked intense debate over the merits of expanding government surveillance powers as the country faces ongoing threats of terrorist attacks.
• 'Disturbing' Xbox ads banned in the U.K. - Regulators in the United Kingdom have given the thumbs-down to a Microsoft advertisement for the Xbox console that has offended some viewers. The Independent Television Commission has slammed the ad as "shocking" and banned the commercial from U.K. television.  The ad begins with a newborn child flying through a window before aging decades in seconds--then crashing and screaming into a grave as an elderly man. It was designed to illustrate the phrase: "Life is short. Play more.
• Nanotechnology's First Fruits Products Soon - The accelerating growth curve is expected to lead roughly 300 nanotech companies to go public over the next 10 years, according to an estimate by Neil Weintraut, founder of 21st Century Venture Partners in Palo Alto.
• AMD XP 1.8Ghz Monday - AMD will introduce its newest desktop PC processor, the 1.8GHz Athlon XP 2200+, next Monday, sources say.
• Half-Life Performance Analyzer - The Half-Life Performance Analyzer enables gamers to quickly and accurately analyze their current computer system components in order to determine if it meets the minimum system requirements needed to play Sierra's award-winning game, Half-Life. The service also gives options to enhance your PC's gaming performance and image quality.
• Windows XP Service Pack Beta Leaked - This beta release of the Windows XP SP1 includes Windows Messenger 4.7 (build 31), Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (build 2800.1050), a slightly updated version of Windows Media Player 8.0 (build 4483), full support for USB 2.0 and IPv6. Despite these goodies, some people may find the Service Pack 1 to include a rather unpleasant surprise: Microsoft has blacklisted one of the famous Volume License Keys out there in order to prevent pirated copies of Windows XP from updating. This beta will only work on english language systems and users of that popular corporate CD key will find that the patch will not install. This is beta software and I only recommend that you install it, if you know what you are doing. (mirror1, mirror2, mirror3)
• Messenger 4.7 build 0031 ripped from XP SP1 beta - Backup original Messenger files, replace them with the ones in the .zip file.
• Opera 6.04 build 1120 -  Opera Software have released the next beta version of Opera 6.04 build 1120.
• FreeRAM XP Pro 1.1  - Freeware app that defragments and frees up your system's RAM.
• mIRC 6.02 - mIRC version 6.02 has been released thursday, June 6th, 2002. The new mIRC is available from http://www.mirc.com/ and from all fast mirrors all over the world. With this new release we hope to address most, if not all, of the comments, requests and remarks we recieved after the release of version 6.01. Several changes are initiated by the multi-server features introduced in mIRC 6.0. (changelog)
• The Bat! 1.60q - The Bat! (homepage) is a powerful, highly configurable, yet easy to use email client.
• EasyEncode v0.7.31 - EasyEncode (freeware) is a very easy but still high-quality and powerful full automatic DVD to DivX rip-pack.
• WinDriver Expert 1.3 - Detection and backup of your entire hardware device drivers.
• Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility v4.00.1013 - Intel has released a new version of the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility for windows 9X/ME/2000/XP .This is not an official file from Intel, use at your own risk.
• MSI BIOSes - MSI has released a new BIOS update for the MSI 845EMax(MS-6566E) motherboard, and also new BIOS update for MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU AMI Bios v5.40.
• Detonator 29.42 Refreshrate Fixed - Download fix from Guru3D
• Elsa Nvidia Detonator Drivers + BIOS -  Elsa Asia just relased a new Detonator Drivers and BIOS.
• Aopen Nvidia Detonator WHQL v29.42 drivers WinALL -  Aopen have released their own version of Nvidia's Detonator WHQL v29.42 multilanguage drivers for Win9x/Me / WinNT 4.0 / Win2000/XP

• Gopher hole trips up Internet Explorer - A Finnish security company is warning that hackers could exploit an outdated, little-used Internet protocol to seize control of computers running Microsoft's browser.
• $1 movie site finds shelter in Iran - Taiwan-based Movie88.com, which sold access to thousands of films for $1 each, went dark in mid-February after a powerful motion picture lobbying group worked with the local government to pull its plug. The site, which offered movies owned by the major studios without their authorization, was deemed to be infringing on their copyrights. Now, Film88.com has sprung up in its place, with an uncannily similar formula for renting and streaming films over the Internet. However, the site is a new venture based in Tehran, Iran--a country that broke off diplomatic relations with the United States more than two decades ago and that does not protect foreign copyrights.
• School boy spends $1.4m on friends eBay account - It has been reported that a 13 year-old has used his school's Internet connection to spend a total of about $1.4m on a friend's eBay account. Purchases included a helicopter, jet aircraft, motorbike and pickup truck. His school and parents weren't at all happy to hear about his expenditure. 
• Computex 2002 - Day 3 Coverage - Chaps at T-Break have talked with Iwill, Gainward, Gigabyte, ECS and Albetron. Again, lots of KT400, nForce and Hammer boards.
• Nero Express toggle within Nero 5.5.8.2 - I have noticed over at xp-erience: When you install NERO 5.5.8.2 you can get either the old classic interface -  You can run Nero Express by either creating a shortcut or going to Start...Run.. and entering the following: C:\Program Files\Ahead\Nero\Nero.exe" /w. Incase you don't know Nero Express is basically Nero with a more friendly user interface and can be easily switched to the original Nero interface.
• Windows XP Patches - The first update addresses the Windows Management Instrumentation Cannot Register Permanent Event Consumer with Dynamic Class issue in Windows XP, and is discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) Article Q319322, second update addresses the WMI AccessCheck Receives Local Administrator's SID issue in Windows XP, and is discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) Article Q320678.
• Mozilla 1.0 Released  - Four years in the making, the open-source browser is now available on the Web.
• UltraEdit-32 v9.10 - UltraEdit-32 is a Windows text editor with support for unlimited file sizes, a spell checker, drag and drop, full HEX editing capabilities, user configurable syntax highlighting (pre-configured for HTML, Java, C/C++, VB, Perl), column editing, sorting, and a configurable toolbar.
• Sonique v2.0 Alpha Build June 3 - Sonique is a windows audio player capable of handling Microsoft Windows Media files, MP3 files, audio CDs, and more.
• VCool 1.8 Beta 8 - VCool will cool your Athlon/Duron processor on Via KT133 or KX133(A) (VT8363, VT8361, VT82C691/693A/694 or VT8371 +VT82C686x) chipsets during idle.
• WINTV-DVBs WDM drivers - Technotrend has released new WINTV-DVBs WDM drivers for WinALL.

• Taiwan opens door to open source - The Taiwanese government plans to start an open-source project as early as next year that could save it as much as $295 million in royalty payments to Microsoft, according to a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency.
• Scientist computes ends of the universe - A report in this week's Nature magazine says Seth Lloyd estimated that such a computer would have to contain 10 to the 90th bits of information and perform 10 to the 120th operations on those bits to model the universe in all its various incarnations since the big bang.
• GVision unveils 22-inch LCD TV - GVision has unveiled a 22-inch LCD TV at Computex. The L22BX adopts a Panasonic LCD panel and features a 16:9 aspect ratio, 400:1 contrast ratio, 16ms response time and 160-degree viewing angle both horizontally and vertically.
• WalkieMusic more than MP3 - The pocket-sized design player allows you to play back MP3s burned onto 8-cm CD-Rs and CD-RWs and is capable of storing 45-50 songs. It can even store up to 760 files. In addition to unique, built-in, advanced functions, an ID3 tag support is included, so you can see the song title and artist in running order on the LCD screen.
• Computex Coverage - Tom'sHardware / Tech-Report /  HardOCP  / AnandTech1 - AnandTech2 - AnandTech3 / T-Break1 - T-Break2 / Legion Hardware / OCworkbench / TweakTown /   The DDR Zone
• Computex: ATI R300 - Given that the chip is already up and running and production is due soon we are beginning to wonder if the R300 will be made on a 0.13-micron process or if it will be 0.15-micron like its predecessor. If it is indeed a 0.15-micron chip then there is the question of whether ATI will make it a DX9 compliant part with full floating point pipelines. Assuming ATI does make the R300 as feature rich as NVIDIA's NV30 currently appears on paper, then there's the question of yield and clock speeds. It will be interesting to see the design choices ATI made with the R300 and how that effects competition with the NV30 later this year.
• Plextor 40x12x40 Review -  MBReview has posted their review of Plextor 40x12x40, the fastest IDE CD-RW on the market, which features PoweRec-II and BURN-Proo technology.
• DDR Memory Performance Roundup - Tweakers Australia has come up with an article that will address several of these queries, including the different brands and models on the market, how they perform, and how they compare to each other. We'll be starting off with 4 DDR333 sticks and 1 DDR266 stick, and adding more as we get a hold of them. The DDR Memory Performance Roundup will also feature regular updates and new testing procedures when they are available. but for now we'll be checking out the bandwidth and timing of the models we have here today, so lets get started.
• GF4 Overclocking - Some of the lower-end models of the GeForce4 line, most apparently the GeForce4 MX 440 and the Ti4400, have the best chance of being underclocked, and not reaching their fullest potential right out of the box. The GeForce4 Ti 4400 is simply a lower clocked version of the GeForce4 Ti 4600 core, but with 3.6ns DDR SDRAM instead of the Ti 4600's 2.8ns DDR SDRAM. The same goes for the GeForce4 MX 440, which has the added benefit of many models running at their standard core speeds even without the aid of active cooling.
• Windows Registry Guide 2002 - This article (it's an executable, leech&install it first) version also includes a tutorial for beginners and links to relevant Internet resources.
• KaZaA Cydoor Spyware Removal - This guide will show you how to remove the Cydoor parasite mandatory with the popular KaZaA (for versions 1.5 and up), without crippling KaZaA's main program.
• Maxtor Power Diagnostic Utilities 3.04 - That version is specifically designed to work on all Maxtor and Quantum Hard Disk Drives, including the newly released 160 GB HDD's. It was also designed to allow the testing through both Maxtor Ultra ATA Controller Cards.
• GBA SDK - Anyone who is interested in making their own Gameboy Advance ROMs can go get an unofficial GBA SDK . With this and a flash ROM kit from someplace like lan-kwei.com, we could see a flourishing indie game making community. Available for Linux and Mac OS X only (for now, it's open source). - thanks SlashDot
• QuickTime 6 Public Beta  - This latest release (featuring MPEG-4) of Apple's cutting-edge digital media software for both Mac and Windows-based computers delivers unparalleled quality for creating, playing and streaming audio and video content over the Internet.
• XPTuneup 2.0 - XPTuneup is the software developed to help you apply many of the tips listed on xptuneup.com via a simple interface. It is implementation of about 50 tips listed on that web site.
• Multi Desktop v2.00 - Multi Desktop is a hip software tool that helps you to run more programs and open more windows without getting the screen too crowded. When a lot of windows are opened in the current desktop and you have not work space you switch to another desktop, which appears blank - and continue working in that one.
• Aston Shell 1.6 - Aston fully replaces standard Windows Desktop and delivers a host of new features. It's nice and easy to work on a computer with Aston installed. Aston doesn't require a powerful and expensive machine. With Aston your system is much more stable. Small footprint in RAM and few processor resources yield higher performance.
• WCPUID 3.0g - This small program displays the CPU information of your computer.
• LITE-ON Firmware - Lite on has released a new firmware for the LITE ON LTR-24103S  / LITE ON LTR-40125S / LITE ON LTR-32125W / LITE ON LTR-32123S.

• MIT student hacks into Xbox  - Computer enthusiasts have been excited about the possibility of using the $199 Xbox, which is technologically similar to a PC, as a stand-alone computer running operating systems like Linux.
• Cable pirates splice into broadband - Drawing on old-school methods to splice cable TV lines for unauthorized use, hackers say they can buy a splitter at the local electronics store and easily run an additional line from the cable modem line for the computer into the television. Without a set-top box, the result is free, basic, analog cable; with an illegal converter or set-top, hackers say they have access to premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.
• Napster Files for Bankruptcy in a Delaware Court - Napster Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, seeking court protection from creditors as music industry heavyweight Bertelsmann AG follows through on a plan to take over what's left of the company.
• Sony pushes flash memory standard - Memory Stick is a removable flash-memory card format roughly the size of a stick of chewing gum. Sony created it for portable consumer-electronics devices, such as cameras and digital audio players. The upcoming Memory Stick Duo is about one-third the size of the original, and is meant to fit into devices such as cell phones and small digital audio players, expanding the number of devices using Memory Stick technology. 
• Hardware world loves AMD Opteron - A couple of weeks ago, AMD announced the support of ATI, 3DLabs, SiS and Matrox and for its upcoming 64-bit chips. Today, it's the turn of Nvidia and VIA to pile in with their support for the Opteron (MP) and Next-Generation Athlons (singletons). Both companies are to produce optimised chipsets - Hypertransport, fat graphics etc; - for AMD's 64-bit platform.
• ALi Introduces New Generation Chipset M1687/M1563 -ALi's M1687 has support for AGP up to 8X, which provides system designers ample room to interface with various levels of graphics requirements. Also, by adapting the industry most innovations - HyperTransportTM technology link bus between ALi's M1687 and M1563, ALi's solution is the best one to complement the architecture of AMD's new processor platform. ALi's M1563 comes highly integrated with AC-Link Host Controller, Dual Channel ATA-133, 6 ports USB 2.0 Host controller, MAC controller for 1/10/100 fast Ethernet, memory stick and SD interface, and HyperTransportTM technology link interface.
• Yamaha CRW-F1 CD-RW Drive Unveiled - Yamaha Corporation today unveiled the CRW-F1, a high-quality, full CAV CD-R/RW recorder that promises unmatched stability, efficiency and offers the new "Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording" and the revolutionary "DiscT@2" laser drawing system.  The new CRW-F1 recorder features a 2'42" recording time for full 80-minute CD-R discs (at full CAV speeds of 44x) along with up to 24x in CD-RW Rewriting. Read speed and digital audio extraction speeds reach 44X, while delivering maximum quality and compatibility.
• Computex 2002 - Day 1 Coverage - T-break has posted their coverage of the Computex 2002.  They say "We met up with ASUS, Epox, MSI and Abit amongst others and saw their upcoming P4 and AMD boards which include everything from the SiS 648 chipset to the Hammer, KT400 and nVidia Cursh 18 chipsets."
• Computex 2002: The Bloodbath Begins  - World exclusive! Whoohoo! Nvidia's next generation nForce! AMD is telling its partner they will have K8 before the year end, and they're getting ready for it. Intel is in no mood to play around and controls pricing. Gigabyte disses Nvidia in favor of ATI. The fight is on for what's left of the PC pie in 2002. Plus, news on IWill, Soltek, and BioStar. Day 1 of the Comdex of the East is a wild ride.
• Computex 2002: Wireless 5.1 Home Theater System - Check it out!
• HW Round-up - Albatron GeForce4 MX440 / Abit Siluro Geforce 4 Ti4400 (videoreview) / Hercules 3D Prophet All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500DV / SiS Xabre 400 Reference Video Card / XFX GeForce4 Ti4400 / VIA C3 1 GHz Gold CPU / Leadtek Winfast K7N420DA (Motherboard) /  MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU (motherboard) /  MSI 845E Max2-BLR Socket-478 (Motherboard) / Lite On LTR-48125S 48X CD-RW / Mitsumi CR-485CTE 40/20/48 CD-RW / Benq 24x10x40 CDRW / Socket 478 Cooler Round-up
• Netscape 7.0 Out for Free Preview - Preview Release 1's purpose is to elicit feedback, and, except for a couple of annoyances, it's pretty slick. There's a quick-launch feature that keeps the browser in memory, so it's quicker to launch a second time. If you're into instant messaging, that feature is highlighted and the default is to ask you for your user ID. That was one annoyance, easy to undo in preferences.
• MagicTweak 1.87 - MagicTweak 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.
• HyperSnap-DX 4.50.03 - HyperSnap-DX 4 is a screen capture and image editing tool for MS Windows. This new version features: Bugfix: Image/Crop function would not display correctly the Zoom area after pressing F1 key (help for more precise cropping).
• Ahead InCD Update v.3.2.9.1 - Ahead has released a new version of their InCD Software. A changelog is not available yet.
• TVTool 6.5 Beta - A new version (v6.5) of TV Tool has been released.. This is the program that enables your video card TV-Output and seems to be the best external one.
• Creative's EAX ADVANCED HD Audio Enhancement - With Creative's EAX ADVANCED HD Audio Enhancement for Star Wars Jedi Knighr II: Jedi Outcast , you'll now enjoy the most sophisticated and realistic game audio environments that you've ever heard.
• NVIDIA Detonator Drivers 29.42 WHQL Beta - Warp2Search offers the latest WHQL certified drivers for all Nvidia based video cards for you. The drivers are dated 05/03/2002 and the version number is 29.42.
• nForce Drivers 1.05 WHQL (Win98se) - Nvidia has released new official nForce drivers. Products Supported:
  nForce 220D/415/420/420D Platform Processors.

• Cell phone games are huge - Verizon was the first U.S. carrier to commercially offer BREW-enabled phones, following Korea Telecom Freetel and KDDI in Japan. In Europe, other carriers have found success with such mobile games as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"  With the new Tiger Woods golf game on Verizon's Sharp BREW-enabled phone, users can choose courses, wind speeds, the number of holes and clubs. The color display clearly distinguishes the trees from the fairway.
• Linux.Simile - Hybrid Virus - The virus infects Portable Executable (PE) files as well as ELFs on both Linux and Win32 systems.
• Afterburner internal lighting kit for the GBA - Visually, the system looks exactly the same from the outside with the exception of a new switch if you choose to install one. Link play, accessories, etc. all work as well (we haven't tried using a second light so we can't say what the result of that would be). Essentially the GBA thinks it is powering an external light; thus it should behave no differently than if a worm light or any other lighting accessory was attached.
• Videologic Vivid!XS 64 MB Kyro II - For the small purse, the Videologic Vivid!XS is the right choice. Itself
  modern games are playable with this graphic card. Who do not and looks absolutely for the newest graphic cards does not see any alternative in nVidia & ATI, should reach for the Videologic Vivid!XS.
• DDR Memory Roundup (updated) - Tweakers Australia has updated their DDR memory roundup.
• FireLINE Pocket HotDrive 30GB from Evergreen - The drive we received is capable of 30GB (27.9 Capable Storage Space) of data storage, this is a factor which will interest anyone in need of a large portable drive with added versatility, because we see the ability to use 3 interfaces, USB 2.0, USB 1.1 & IEEE 1394(Firewire) it can be used universally between systems as well as interfaces. The 30GB fireLINE Pocket HotDrive was much smaller than anticipated; the dimensions are 8.25 x 2.5" and roughly 1.5 high.
• SkyHawk MSR-4610 Aluminum MidTower Case - Personally all the cases up until now I have used have been steel cases and I thought it was time to give an aluminum case a go. Wondering if my case temperatures would drop significantly or just slightly I was about to find out. I have heard people's case temperatures dropping about 9-12 degrees Celsius. That to me is worth it but I would have to find out for myself.
• Matrix Reloaded Screensaver v1.0 - The Matrix Reloaded screensaver is a freeware openGL matrix screen saver that truly captivates the spirit of The Matrix movie, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions sequels. Featuring photos of heroes & foes (Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, Agent Smith, etc presented in a cool slideshow), matrix code emulation scrolling vertically down your computer screen, a cool matrix style digital clock, and original mp3 songs from the film, this eye candy screensaver is recommended to all MATRIX fans.
• Linux Kernel 2.5.19  - A new kernel update v2.5.19 is out, it includes lots of drivers ported to the new API, and lots of ia64 and PPC32 fixes (see changelog)
• How to use Cipher.exe (WinXP) - This tool bundled with XP provides the ability to permanently overwrite (or "wipe") all of the deleted data on a hard disk. This improves security by ensuring that even if an attacker gains complete physical control of a Windows XP computer, they would be unable to recover previously-deleted data.
• Hacked Xbox - The guy reverse engineers the Xbox to expose the security holes and explains them very well.
• Googlecsearchtool v2 - This software application is a handy tool for people like me who are spending lots of time searching the various   newsgroups posts, images, links, Uncle sam, linux, news and stocks in googlec. Search in all or 27 different languages and see the result in one of the 66 available languages. Use one of the 13 search criteria to search in. Customize it to your need.
• CuteFTP XP 5.0.5.30.2 Beta  - CuteFTP is the fastest, easiest way to transfer files across the Internet. Whether publishing a Web page, downloading the latest digital music and software, or transferring high-volume files between branch offices, CuteFTP provides the tools you need to make your life on the Net more enjoyable and productive.
• PlexTools v1.14 - Plextor Europe is proud to announce a new release of the PlexTools software
• CpuIdle v5.9 - CpuIdle (Win9x/ME / Win2k/XP) lowers the CPU temperature. This enhances CPU life (a decrease by 10°C doubles the life span) and cuts power consumption. Unlike normal power management CpuIdle is active all the time and works even when you're actively using your computer.
• ATi Radeon Omega/Plutonium XK1.0.71b Drivers - download drivers from DriversHeaven.

• Men In Black 2 Pictures - Phantastic.de has posted over 40 screenshots of   Men In Black 2, in addition Sony Pictures website offers a movie trailer for download. This movie is to be released July 3rd, 2002 and looks great.
• Gainward Golden Sample Ultra/750 XP Review - Not content with the performance of the Ti4600 Gainward decided to add that little bit of performance to their cards; like some other cards in their range they set the card's default clock speeds past the default 300MHz core, 650MHz memory to 310MHz core and 680MHz memory. So they are selling overclocked products? It seems not. Gainward receive special batches of NVIDIA chips, any that fail to hit the mark at 310MHz get sent back.
• 12 New Nvidia Chips This Fall?! - Nvidia is making major investments in the current quarter with a push to tape out 12 new chips over the next 90 days, ensuring that this fall will be an exciting time for Nvidia," Mosesmann wrote. "(The) NV30, produced at 0.13 micron is expected to take Nvidia's graphics to another level from its current GeForce4 product family."
• DOOM 3's HW Minimum - John Carmack made two posts (first / second) on Slashdot about video hardware as it relates to the engine for their upcoming DOOM III. Here is a snip: Our "full impact" platform from the beginning has been targeted at GF3/Xbox level hardware. Slower hardware can disable features, and faster hardware gets higher frame rates and rendering quality. Even at this target, designers need to be more cognizant of performance than they were with Q3, and we expect some licensee to take an even more aggressive performance stance for games shipping in following years. Games using the new engine will be on shelves FIVEYEARS (or more) after the initial design decisions were made. We had a couple licensees make two generations of products with the Q3 engine, and we expect that to hold true for DOOM as well. The hardware-only decision for Q3 was controversial at the time, but I feel it clearly turned out to be correct. I am confident the target for DOOM will also be seen as correct once there is a little perspective on it.
• Intel's new Pentium 4 chipsets  - The newly updated Pentium 4 chipset offerings, the i850E, i845E and i845G, boast not just faster 533 MHz FSBs for the new Pentium 4 CPUs, but also improved memory support (a lot of it "non-validated" yet, though) and new I/O based on the ICH4 south bridge -- again "non-validated" for i850E, but guess what, most i850E mainboards will have ICH4
• Jedi Knight II Tools v2.0 -  Jedi Knight II tools v2.0 have been released.
• DirectX 9 Web Downloader (Leaked) - This is much smaller (mirror) than the previous leak, which weighed in at approx 30MB, the installer is just 205kb, and the total download is normally 9MB or under. (thanks NeoWin)
• WinZip Internet Browser Support Add-On (beta) - WinZip Internet Browser Support Add-On automates much of the work normally associated with downloading compressed files from the Internet. When you click on a Zip file using Netscape Navigator/Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, this add-on will enable WinZip to take over when the download is completed. WinZip automatically moves the downloaded file to your download folder and then opens the file.
• CDRWin 3.9A - GoldenHawk has released a new version 3.9 of CDRWin.
• PowerStrip 3.18 Build 245 - PowerStrip 3.18 provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest Radeon 8500DV and GeForce4 Ti4600.
• Nvidia BIOS Editor v1.0 RC3 Build 250 - This program 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). Does not require any .dll, and will work under any version of Windows 9x/ME/NT/2K/XP.
• Suma Detonator Beta 29.40  - Suma have released their own version of Nvidia's Detonator 29.40/29/41 drivers.
• 3dfx 1.09 Beta4 Drivers - Many bugs have been fixed in all driver revisions, so we've decided to release a beta 4 revision of drivers for each supported operating system. These drivers should work on Voodoo3, Voodoo4, and Voodoo5 cards in all the supported operating systems. As usual, post bugs in the bug reports forum.

• Hitman 2 Movies - Soundtracks and Wallpapers - Hitman 2 official website has been updated with some goodies for download.
• Weekly Hardware Price Guide - CPUs & Video:May 2002 3rd Edition - This 3rd edition of May's price guides deals with CPUs and video cards. Beginning this coming month of June, the price guides will be updated every week, alternating between CPUs/video cards and Motherboards/Memory. For those of you not familiar with the guides here is a brief overview on how we construct them.
• Sony MZ-S1 S2 Sports Net MD Walkman Review - Sony S2 Sports line now extends to MD player with the introduction of the MZ-S1 Net MD Walkman. Following the tradition of the product line, Sony is outfitting the new portable audio player with a steely white, water-resistant casing with brushed black and scorching orange accents. While the MZ-S1's dashing design might appeal to people leading an active lifestyle, the rest of us might find other feature-rich models more functional.
• NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440/460 Video Cards Roundup (#4) - Digit-Life.com has examined one more batch of video cards based on the NVIDIA GeForce4 MX. They have received cards based on the MX 460, one card on the MX 440 and a hybrid - a card on the MX 440 but with the MX 460's memory. They also analyzed how the performance of these video cards changes with regard to the CPU's frequency and platforms.
• Visiontek XTasy Ti4200 Review - All in all, the Visiontek XTasy Ti4200 is a great little graphics card for the money. It plays all of today's games at reasonable frame rates, and it's pixel and vertex shader support and 128MB frame buffer allow it some breathing room to play next generation titles as well. Cards like the XTasy Ti4200 are truly bringing top of the line performance to the masses, something which no one can find fault with
• PC2700 Comparison - OCPrices compared six different PC2700 modules (namely Samsung, Corsair, Nanya, OCZ, Kingmax and Winbond).
• Windows XP Service Pack 1 Slated For August 14th -XP SP1 is scheduled for release (RTW) on August 14, 2002. The English and German versions will be released on August 14th, and other localized language version will be released according to the schedule. XP SP1 includes drivers to support USB 2.0 devices, developer’s version of IPv6, Mira (software and hardware technology supporting portable display devices), Freestyle (software and hardware technology supporting remote control of the PC) and also support for Table PC (thanks WindowsXP.nu).
• Matrox Parhelia-512 Surround Gaming Demo Videos - Darkcrow has posted 4 video clips of Matrox Parhelia T-512 running in surround gaming mode.
• Winamp 3 Build 475 - Another build of  Winamp 3 is out.
• Rage3D Tweak v3.2 - Rage3D Tweak is a multi-language 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
• Fresh Diagnose 4.20  - Fresh Diagnose is an utility designed to analyze and benchmark your computer system. It can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, hard disk performance, video system information, mainboard information, and more.
• Win2K SP3 RC Build 3.140 - Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 is available for download from this French site.
• Epox 8KHA+ BIOS - A new official BIOS version of this favorite overclocking mainboard is available.
• HP Detonator v29.17 - HP have released a new detonator driver v29.17 for Windows 2000 and XP.
• ATI OpenGL Driver - ATI has released a new OpenGL driver library to correct issues with Soldier Of Fortune 2: Double Helix. On levels where snow/fog effects are displayed the screen would display a blue tint.

• Is Microsoft losing the console game - Xbox may be able to do more than PS2, but Sony's huge lead in the game console market enables it to offer more exclusive titles--leaving Microsoft in the cold.
• Face recognition kit fails in Fla airport - Palm Beach International Airport security workers would be racking up heaps of overtime pay dealing with more than fifty false positives daily if their bosses were to install Visionics' terror-busting face recognition gear, the airport administrators have concluded.
• Terabit-Per-Square-Inch Hard Drive Areal Densities - Terabit-per-square-inch hard drive areal densities, the goal for present magnetic recording research, will probably not be achieved with giant magnetoresistance (GMR) or with tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) technology.
• Klez variant crowned virus king - a variant of the Klez virus has taken the crown as the biggest virus of all time, usurping last year's SirCam outbreak and even the infamous Melissa and I Love You viruses.  Statistics from antivirus firm MessageLabs found that the Klez.H variant overtook SirCam on Sunday, clocking up 775,000 copies. Around 20,000 instances of Klez.H are now being logged on average everyday, working out at one infection every 300 emails.
• Opera vuln gives up local files - A vulnerability in Opera 6.01 and 6.02 for Windows allows a malicious Web site to grab any file off a client's local drive with ease, GreyMagic Software has discovered. That's the bad news. The good news is that affects only Windows, and it's fixed in version 6.03 which is now available for download. Version 6.0 is not affected.
• Old hardware fools CD protection - Attempts to copy the recently released Star Wars: Attack of the Clones soundtrack in a HP8100 CD-Writer Plus proved futile, as did attempts to locate the corrupt data track on the CD. But a chance attempt on a "crappy old LiteOn LTN382 32X", which is about two years old, copied the CD "without a hiccup".
• Athlon XP 2200+ Already Selling! New Athlon MP to Have 166MHz FSB? - The prices usually get reduced when the new fastest models are announced. This time is also not an exception. In this and this online stores you can see Athlon XP 2200+ selling for $249 and $215 respectively. $249 seems to me to be a bit too high, because on Monday the No.1 competitor, Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz will cost $241 In this case we dare suppose that Athlon XP 2200+ (1.8GHz actual core clock) will drop down to around $200-$215.
• PC1066 RDRAM vs. DDR SDRAM - RDRAM is considerably more expensive that DDR SDRAM, and up until now the 100MHz PC800 specification didn't do well in comparison. Just recently 133MHz PC1066 was launched, but is still unofficially supported by the new Intel P4 and the Intel 850E core logic chipset, but still promises to bring memory performance to the next level. Lets find out.
• Sun's StarOffice no longer free - Anyone interested in a free office productivity suite has until midnight May 29 to download StarOffice 5.2. At $10 for the stripped version, it'll still be a bargain.
• DirectX 9.0 Benchmarks - Check benchmarks at Konsolturk.net / mikemth.de.
• Sniper Tech 2.3 - Sniper Tech has been designed with computer users in mind, with an intuitive interface that makes finding what you want easier than ever before! If you would like to learn a new computer skill, (look up a computing term, find software update, OS, Driver, Application, and Utility - Features soon to appear), then this is REALLY the place to be.
• CPUCooL 7.1.1 - 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.
• DVDDecrypter 3.1.0.0 - DVD Decrypter is a free tool which enables you decrypt and copy a DVD to your PC's hard disk.
• BSPlayer 0.58b468 - This new version fixes a subtitle problem when using multiple files and is DivX5.02 compatible.
• CloneCD 4 Profiles - This Profile can be used for SafeDisc 2 and above (2.51) for writers that do need Amplify Weak Sectors. (Read Speed: Max/ Fast Error Skip: On /Write Speed: Max /Always Close Last Session).
• BlindWrite Suite 4.0.3 - BlindWrite suite is a tool designed to perfectly reproduce most CD. RAW mode is needed to produce perfect backups of some protected CDs! DAO mode is even better. Almost all protected CD can be perfectly backed up using with DAO.
• FlashGet 1.3 - FlashGet Version 1.3 (2002.5.27) is out. (mirror#1, mirror#2)
• Opera v6.03 - There's a new version of Opera for Windows. I didn't check this new version yet, but it probably fixes the local file reading vulnerability.
• Free FreeCraft game - FreeCraft is a free cross-platform real-time strategy gaming engine. It is possible to play against human opponents over LAN, internet, or against the computer. The engine can be used to build C&C, WC2, SC and AOE-like real-time strategy (RTS) games. It successfully runs under Linux, BSD, BeOS, MacOS/X, MacOS/Darwin and MS Windows (Windows XP is not supported).
• Ranish Partition Manager v2.43beta - Freeware Ranish Partition Manager will help you to install and dualboot Linux and multiple copies of Windows. For example, it will let you to run Win ME, Win 2k, and Linux on a single box. Also, using Partition Manager you can copy, move, and resize disk partitions.
• AMD overclockers Tool - Guru3D has a new Amd overclockers Tool, check it out!
• WinDVD4 v4.05.43  - Intervideo has released WinDVD v4 4.05.43.
• Maxtor POWERMAX v3.04 - It's Maxtor's hard drive diagnostic program. It can quickly test integrity of your ATA drive, 500 MB and over.
• Dell Nvidia Beta Detonators v28.35 - Dell have released their own version of Nvidia's Detonator 28.35 driver for Win2K/XP.
• 3DFX v1.09 Beta 2 Drivers -   A few bugs have been ironed out in the Windows 2000 and Windows XP beta drivers, so we're releasing the 1.09 Beta 2 drivers for these OS's. Expect a Windows 9x/Me 1.09 beta by late tomorrow or early on the 27th, and the final 1.09.00 drivers by Wednessday, May 29.

• Hackers may have hit 265,000 state workers - Computer hackers gained access to the California state government's computer systems in April and sensitive financial and personal information about as many as 265,000 state workers, officials said Friday. The electronic assault on payroll and other records was discovered by the Sacramento Valley Hi Tech Task Force, which determined that none of the information has been used illegally so far. Despite that, agents with the task force, which includes the Sacramento Sheriff's Department and the FBI, have launched an investigation into the security breach and are searching for the hackers, The Bee has learned.
• Make way for the uber worm - Virus writers could "own the internet in their spare time", according to research from three well respected industry experts. A highly effective uber worm, capable of hitting up to 10 million internet hosts in a matter of hours, may be just around the corner. As the SQLsnake worm continues its march - topping the list as the most prolific attacker on the net today with infection attempts hitting the 600,000 mark - experts have warned of the potential for an even greater danger.
• Video wall displays fantastic 3D voyage - The university's Scientific Computing and Visualization Group recently opened a new front in the techno revolution: creating oversized and extremely detailed 3D images out of reams of data and mathematical models to better study phenomena such as solar wind, electrical pulses or particle interaction.
• Xbox struggling with math test -  Microsoft has said it expects to have more than 200 games for the Xbox by the end of the year, but less than two dozen of those will be exclusive Xbox titles from third-party publishers.  Sony, by contrast, is touting high-profile exclusives from game publishers. "Grand Theft Auto III," the top-selling video game for the past few months, will remain available only for Sony's PS2, with publisher Take2 scrapping previous plans for an Xbox version. New versions of Eidos' "Tomb Raider" and EA' "Medal of Honor" franchises will also be available only for the PS2, as will upcoming online and offline updates of the "Final Fantasy" series from longtime Sony booster Squaresoft.
• Online gaming: A revolution ahead? - Online gaming is a parlor trick at E3 this year," said Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications for leading game publisher Electronic Arts. "This is not a real business. This is not going to be a real business until 2004 or 2005, and by then you're going to have a new generation of consoles."
• MS preps all-new warez busting antitrust complying XP SP1 - Microsoft's 'Seattlement' Service Pack for Windows XP is to go into testing within the next few weeks, and will ship later this year. The software covered here is IE, Outlook Express, Messenger, Windows Media Player and Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine, and there will be four configuration options made available via a new control mechanism.
• Raid on Spider Man DVDs piracy factory - More than 10,000 pirate Spider Man and Star Wars: Episode II DVDs and 31 DVD burners were seized in the UK, in a raid carried out by Surrey Trading Standards and Hampshire Police.
  The illegal copies of the movies were made in a pirate DVD-R factory, after they were downloaded from the Internet.
  The raid was welcomed by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which is calling for tougher enforcement measures to combat piracy in general.
• Graphics technologies compared - In a strange twist, it's OS vendor Microsoft that is driving the market in 3D graphics hardware. Whilst previous versions of DirectX have been driven by hardware advances from companies like Nvidia, this time, with DirectX9.0 Microsoft is setting the bar higher than many of the hardware vendors might have imagined.
• Next-Gen ATI Card Used For Doom3 Presentation - ATI's chip was chosen because it offers the most advanced, high-performance graphics architecture to power the demonstration at E3 2002. DOOM III, scheduled for release in 2003, has been highly anticipated both as an unbelievable game and as a true measure of today - and tomorrow's - graphics architectures. Also highly anticipated, ATI's next generation product, scheduled for release this fall, will cement ATI firmly as a leader in the ultra-high-end 3D and gaming graphics market.  "ATI's next generation hardware has an ideal feature set for the DOOM III engine, and at the moment is the fastest platform to run the game on," said John Carmack, Chief Technical Officer & co-founder of Id Software, Inc.
• ABIT KX7-333R Overclocking Review - Since ABIT boards are meant for performance seekers and overclockers therefore i have checked out its overclockability in details touching on the components and the BIOS options that will aid overclocking. I have managed to push the FSB to 200Mhz at most aggressive timings and 225Mhz at SPD timings! Therefore ABIT KX7-333R has reclaimed its overclocking title from EPoX 8K3A+.
• HW Roundup - 11 GeForce 4 Ti 4400 and 4600 Cards / Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD GeForce 4 Ti-4600 / Visiontek Xtasy GeForce4 MX440 / Socket 478 Cooler Roundup / Samsung SW-232B .
• Enable Gore In SoF2 SP Demo - Warrex posted a solution on how to enable Gore in the singleplayer demo of Soldier Of Fortune 2, which was released yesterday (see 2 posts below). Here's how: 1)On your shortcut, right click -> Properties -> add "+set lock_blood 0" to the Target line. 2) When you start the game, pull down the console by pressing "shift" and "~" to  3)Type "menu lock"  4) A new option on the bottom menu will be activated (it has a pic of a lock). Click on it. It will promt for a password, you can just press ok. 5)Turn on all of the gore and set a new password (or keep it blank). 6)Restart and play with gore. (thanks 3DGPU)
• Roxio Easy CD Creator Basic Update - Roxio has released a new update for the basic version of their Easy CD Creator CD burning suite. This web update is designed to update all versions of Easy CD Creator 5.xx Basic to version 5.3.
• PowerStrip 3.18 Beta Build 283 - PowerStrip 3.16 provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest Radeon 8500DV and GeForce4 Ti4600
• Mozzila v1.0 RC3 - Mozilla 1.0 Release Candidate 3 has been released. It contains many fixes for crashes and other problems found in RC2. Please download RC3 and help us verify our fixes.
• ACDSee 4.02 - ACDSee is an award-winning picture viewer, graphic converter and digital image management tool. The latest version of this digital photo software, ACDSee 4.0, gives you intuitive, professional-quality imaging tools to get, view, organize, enhance, share and print your images quickly.  This new version improves the database (now requires significantly less memory), stability, adds support for .crw files created by Canon S30 and S40 cameras and many more.
• NVIDIA Linux Drivers 1.0-2960 - download / readme
• ATI RADEON v7.70 Reference Drivers - Download v7.70 drivers for WinXP / Win2k / Win98/98SE / WinME / WinNT.
• Twister S3 Drivers - S3 has released new Twister drivers for Windows 2k/XP

• Sony ships PS2-Linux PC conversion kit - It includes hardware and software for essentially turning the PlayStation 2 games console into a Linux PC, with a 40GB hard disk, 10/100Mbps network adapter, USB keyboard and mouse, monitor cable and a Linux installation DVD-ROM. The hard drive can't be used with PS2 games, Sony warned.
  The keyboard is in the standard U.S. layout, but can be reconfigured for other layouts, or replaced with any USB keyboard, Sony said. The kit began shipping worldwide on Wednesday, meeting a deadline Sony set itself at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in January. In the United States, Sony has been taking orders for the kit since March. It sells for £155 ex. VAT (£182.13 inc. VAT) in the UK, and 292.58 euros inc. VAT in the rest of Europe, or $200 in the United States.
• Xbox Live Beta test program - Sign up today for a chance to participate in the Xbox Live Beta test program.
• Transforming a laptop into a robot - The company is at the E3 this week demonstrating a series of "personal robot systems" that can transform an average laptop PC into an intelligent robot. The basic kit includes a rolling platform to mount the laptop on, a Webcam for capturing visual data and software to run on the laptop. Program the software to recognize a beer bottle and a refrigerator, for example, and next time you're running on empty, you just need to wave a bottle in front of the laptop's camera and request a refill.
• Echelon's Architect Interview - Meet Bruce McIndoe. He has information that the Danish government and several others around the globe, continuously pretends isn't there. McIndoe knows that Echelon is real. Because he helped to build it. "Yes, that's right", McIndoe confirms to the Danish paper Ekstra Bladet today Bruce McIndoe dedicated more than ten years of his life to Echelon. He helped to finalize the original Echelon system starting in 1987. After that, he started to design Echelon II, an enlargement of the original system.
• Music start-up FightCloud.com offers CDs free, but says it's making a profit. - "You want to stop piracy?" asks Jack Scalfani, CEO of independent music site FightCloud.com. "Make your CDs affordable. I'm not going to spend three hours turning and burning a CD ... if it's an $8 CD. I'm going to walk across the street to Tower Records and go, 'Here's my $8, thanks for the new Madonna.' My time is worth more to me than the money, so I will put the money out if it's a good price." At FightCloud.com, the price is right. Scalfani sells CDs for free. That is, if you don't count the $4.95 "shipping" charge. Of course, that would be a mistake. Buried in the shipping charge is the secret ingredient: a modest profit. Less costs of $2.31, the company nets $2.64 on each "free" disc, half of which goes to the artist. But with only 1,000 or so CDs shipped to date, no one's getting rich. Yet.
• Label tests MP3 in song sale - The companies put the track, a dance version of "Earth" by Meshell Ndegeocello, online Thursday on sites run by Vivendi Universal Net USA, including MP3.com, RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and MP4.com. People can purchase the file for 99 cents and then burn the song to a CD-ROM disc or transfer it to a portable device. The companies said subscribers of EMusic's MP3 music service will be able to download the track as part of their memberships.
• Hollywood bemoans Attack of the Pirates - The film industry is claiming that more than a million Star Wars fans saw the film on the internet before it was released. Studio executives say that hundreds of thousands of illegal copies of Attack of the Clones were downloaded prior to the film's premiere last Thursday.
• Samsung Demos First 40-Inch TFT-LCD TV Panel - Samsung announced that it will demonstrate the world's first 40-inch TFT-LCD panel for use in high-performance, wide-screen digital TVs at the Society of Information Display (SID) 2002 Conference, May 21-23 in Boston, Mass. This is the largest TFT-LCD panel ever produced.
• Netscape 7.0 beta fuels browser war - The new 7.0 release has a number of features specifically aimed at winning greater support for the browser in the enterprise. These include S/Mime to enable secure encrypted email as well as full Ldap support and the ability to share mail folders using the Internet Message Access Protocol (Imap).
• Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from Starting - This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.
• CloneCD v4.0.1.3 - A new version of CloneCD v4.0.1.3 has been released. What is new: Improved Audio extraction speed with several drives, License Agreement is now able to accept empty lines from Locale Editor, Log Window is now faster and can hold more entries, Progress Window shows estimated remaining times greater than 2 hours as "Unknown", AWS could accidently become enabled in Japan/USA, AWS state will be shown in Japan/USA (should always be off), All default profiles tweaked for better performance, Support for new writers added, Allow RAW-DAO write simulation with newer Plextor drives, Allow RAW-SAO with newer ACER/BENQ and ACCESSTEC/OPTORITE drives.
• Zoom Player 2.60 RC2 - Zoom Player 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.
• Quintessential Player v3.33 - The Quintessential Player, v3 (QCD). It supports just about every audio format, you can customize it even further than Winamp, and it's still free.
• VirtuaWin 2.5 - VirtuaWin is a "virtual desktop manager" that lets you create a number of desktops and gives you quick access to switch between them.

• Wolfenstein Add-on Later this Year - This expansion pack has not been named yet, but judging from the state of the build on display, it seems to be coming along nicely. The game is being developed by Nerve Software and Splash Damage (a new studio made up of the Q3F mod team and based in London), and it will include 10 new single-player missions and 10 new multiplayer maps. In addition, the expansion will also add several new weapons, engineer abilities, and even a new player class: the covert ops specialist. The Wolfenstein add-on is scheduled for release later this year.
• DOOM III Impressions @ GameSpot - Also GameSpot has posted their own impressions from demonstration of DOOM III at E3. "One took his helmet off. The camera moved in to reveal the incredible detail found in Doom III's characters. The characters' facial expressions were quite lifelike as they exchanged dialogue. But what was even more impressive was the subtle detail that could be seen in their individual skin tones and complexions. It's no exaggeration to say that these are easily some of the most realistic-looking 3D real-time-rendered characters ever seen in a game. The quality of the character models--and actually, even the visual design of their high-tech armor--is comparable to what can be seen in last year's computer-animated sci-fi feature film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within."
• Rise of Nations E3 video - Tiscali Games have posted E3 video from Rise of Nations, an upcoming real-time strategy from Microsoft and Big Huge Games. It contains 1 minute of gameplay scenes and it's available in WMV (Windows Media Player) from our site here (4,5 MB).
• Rainbow Six: Raven Shield E3 trailer - Tiscali Games have posted a new Rainbow Six: Raven Shield E3 trailer (12MB DivX), which contains three minutes of in-game footage from this Unreal-powered tactical shooter.
  from UbiSoft.
• CS: Condition Zero Shots - Gearbox Software has released some information and screens for the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Weaponry fans will be pleased to get to play with brand new artillery, including M60 guns, LAW rocket launchers, ballistic shields and pistols, molotov cocktails and more.
• Matrix MMORPG Announced - Warner Bros., Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment are producing a massively multiplayer online video game based on the hugely successful "The Matrix" franchise, it was announced today. Able to accommodate tens of thousands of players in a single shared environment, the game will be a re-creation of the virtual world of "The Matrix," employing cutting-edge 3-D graphics, networking and server technology. The game will combine the best elements of the action-adventure genre and character building/role playing games with the social interaction/community of an ongoing online game. Under the direction of Warner Bros., Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment will design the game using LithTech's Discovery System, a completely new set of tools and technology, including a new 3-D renderer and high-capacity server system, built to accommodate the unique challenges presented in the creation of this type of product.
• Deus Ex 2: Invisible War Site - The official site for DX2: Invisible War, Eidos' just-announced 3D action RPG sequel has been launched!
• Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix Available - Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is starting to appear on store shelves, so don't miss it :P
• MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Officially - Today at the E3, Microsoft Game Studios announced that "MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries," the latest installment in the ever-popular "MechWarrior" franchise, is in development and scheduled for release this fall.
• IWD 2 Music - RPGdot have offers  3 great sample tracks from the upcoming Icewind Dale 2. The music has been composed by Inon Zur, who also did Baldur's Gate 2 - Throne of Bhaal or Fallout Fantasy for example.

• ARQuake - Augmented Reality Quake (ARQuake) is an extension of the desktop game Quake, and as such we are investigating how to convert a desktop first persion application into an outdoor/indoor mobile augmented reality application. The ARQuake game has been ported to our wearable computer platform and operates with GPS and digital compass as a means of tracking. The keyboard and mouse interaction with the game has been completely replaced with use movements and a functional toy gun (with recoil and sound effects).
• MS goes for control, Disneyesque experience for Xbox Live - The script for Xbox Live is approximately as follows. It will roll out around Q3 of this year in the form of a $49.95 starter kit that contains Xbox Communicator, a game and a year's sub to Xbox Live. Prices outside of the US haven't been disclosed yet, although after the bloody nose Xbox collected in Europe this spring, presumably we're not going to be too greedy this time. Prices for continuing subscription don't appear to have been set at all yet, but it'd be a surprise if the target wasn't something like $9.95 a month.
• Codingstyle Interview with PS2 Linux Developers - May 22 marks the official release of Sony's PS2 Linux kit in North America and Europe, while Japanese users have been tinkering with their kits for about a year (in beta release; the official release for Japan was last month). To give you something to do while waiting for your package to arrive in the mail, Codingstyle has interviewed several people in the PS2 development community, including two people from Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Ltd. (SCEE).
• SQL server hacks send out more attacks - Statistics from the Sans Institute show that over 1,500 boxes appear to have been infected, with the main offenders in North America, Europe and Korea. The biggest culprit, which appears to be an IP address registered to an Earthlink DSL connection at a hotel in Atlanta, has already sent out around 152,000 attacks. Once it has infected a host, the main aim of SQLsnake is to email a list of captured passwords and configuration information to a free email account in Singapore.
• Microsoft software expelled by top college - Newnham women's college, Cambridge, has banned Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express because it is tired of cleaning up after virus attacks. I think it's really good decision. I cannot even imagine how people can live with this crappy mail client :)
• Microsoft gets the picture - Microsoft is touting the idea of a sequence of pictures as a more secure alternative to passwords. The software giant's research labs have come up with an image-based password that eliminates the need to remember different words or numbers. Researchers have come up with a series of picture related ideas such as choosing from half a dozen faces in the right order, which most people find easier than remembering passwords.
• Intel and VIA introducing cheaper 845GLL and P4X266E - Facing the trend of low-price motherboards, chipset designers have been compelled to launch cheaper products to meet market demand. Following its three new Pentium 4 chipsets, Intel is planning to introduce an even less expensive integrated chipset, the 845GLL (845GL Light). VIA Technologies has also rolled out an updated P4X266E for the latest competition.
• HW Round-up  - X-Micro's Impact GeForce4 Ti 4200 / Epox GeForce4 Ti 4200 / SUMA's overclocking-friendly GF4 Ti4200 / MSI 850 Pro5 Pentium 4 / Triplex Millennium Silver Ti4600 / Samsung SyncMaster 191T 19'' TFT
• 3Dlabs Wildcat III 6110, ATI's FireGL 8800, and NVIDIA's Quadro4 750 and 900 XGL Shootout - ExtremeTech tested four professional workstation class graphics boards.
• GTA3 XP Bug - Windows XP + nVIDIA based cards (possibly other brands): We have found a possible problem with Windows XP that manifests itself as graphical problems both in the game menu and also during game play. We have traced this problem to be a Windows XP problem. Technically this problem is solved by the use of a newer version of d3d8.dll than is shipped on CD with Windows XP. (The version on the Windows XP CD that has problems is 5.1.26000.0 - versions tested without error include 5.1.2600.15 and 5.1.2600.29) Currently the only way we know to update this dll file is to install the Windows XP Patch: "The Computer Cannot Enter Standby or Hibernate If a Direct3D-Based Screen Saver Is Running (Q306676)" downloadable from here. This update may in the future be available as part of an official Windows XP Service Pack, a Windows XP Compatibility Update, or possibly a DirectX 8.1 update. (thanks G256)
• AOL unveils Mozilla-based Netscape 7.0 - Netscape 7.0 looks a lot like version 6.0, but underneath the hood, it's mostly Mozilla, which means it also performs like Mozilla. In our informal testing, Netscape displayed Web pages just as fast as Internet Explorer did. This browser keeps the best of the recent Mozilla builds, including the browser itself and the e-mail client, while adding some useful tools, such as an integrated, full-featured version of AOL Instant Messenger. Download: Netscape 7.0 Preview Release 1 for Windows / Netscape 7.0 Preview Release 1 for Linux / Netscape 7.0 Preview Release 1 for MacOS 8 / Netscape 7.0 Preview Release 1 for MacOS X.
• FlashFXP 1.4.4 Beta Build 852 - FlashFXP is the most powerful and popular FTP & FXP Client for Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP on the market today. This new beta improves support for Custom Commands.
• Kazaa that 1.7.0-  No word on what's changed etc... but you can download from here.
• nVHardPage NVIDIA Tweaker v0.90.1b - This program serves on enabling/disabling hidden features in NVIDIA control panel and tweaking NVIDIA Direct3D & OpenGL settings.
• kX Project Drivers 5.10.0.3520 BETA - The kX Audio Driver is an independent WDM (Windows Driver Model) driver for all EMU10K1 and EMU10K2-based soundcards manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or E-mu Sytems Inc., including the SoundBlaster Live! series, the E-mu Audio Production Studio (APS) card, and the Audigy series of cards
• 3D Prophet 4500/4000XT Drivers - Hercules has released new 3D Prophet 4500/4000XT drivers for Windows XP.
• AsusP4B266-E BIOS - Asus has released a new BIOS for the P4B266-E motherboard.