Welcome to The Nay's Tech Blog

The End

2005-12-30T07:53:00.000-05:00

I have decided to shutdown my blog. I want to thank any of the visitors who watched my blog over time. Please visit these great sites for news and more on Technology.

http://www.neowin.net
http://www.warp2search.net
http://www.theinquirer.net
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.betanews.com

I wish everyone a Safe & Happy New Year!

Shane

Poll

2005-12-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

I decided not to post anything this week, instead, asking those who read the blog a question that will show the future of my blog. Please answer it below.

Thank you :)

Program Updates for December 16th 2005

2005-12-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

Below is a list of programs that were updated for this week!

Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool 1.11 - Source

VLC (VideoLAN) for Windows 0.8.4a - Source

Paint Shop Pro 10.02 - Source

Nero Burning Rom 7.0.1.4 - Source

The next update will be on December 23rd 2005!

News for December 16th 2005

2005-12-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

Below is a list of the top tech news articles of the week. Enjoy!

Sony says PS3 still on track for spring launch - Source

Overclocked Celeron beats overclocked FX53 - Source

Microsoft's Windows Live will spy on you - Source

No more Firewire support says Apple - Source

E-Paper's Killer App: Packaging - Source

Boffins use Play-Doh to fool biometrics - Source

Xbox 360 Not a Hit in Japan - Source

Windows Live Messenger Beta 1 Ships - Source

Microsoft Patch Tuesday Brings Two XP Fixes - Source

Microsoft Tool Cleans Sony BMG Mess - Source

Google Tunes in Search to Music - Source

Lyrics and Sheet Music to be Illegal on the net soon? - Source

Blu-ray Disc considered "The New Higher Definition Format" - Source

Program Updates for December 9th 2005

2005-12-09T08:29:00.000-05:00

A great Firefox Tweak Guide for those who use this program - Source

RealPlayer for Windows 10.5 Build 6.0.12.1465 - Source
Mainly fixes a security issue and a few bugs

Winamp v5.12 Released - Source
Fixes a lot of things and adds some new stuff, check out source.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted retail patch v1.3 - Source
Fixes mainly LAN issues, but other things too.

AVG Anti-Virus Free 7.1.371 - Source
A free anti-virus product that does the same as a paid product!

VirtualDub 1.6.11 Build 23858 - Source
Great for editing video files (mainly AVI)

Next update will be on December 16th 2005!

News for December 9th 2005

2005-12-09T08:08:00.000-05:00

Send your name to the asteroid belt on the Dawn spacecraft - Source
Your name will be recorded onto a microchip that will be placed aboard the spacecraft accompanying it on its mission to the asteroid belt.

Microsoft Touts Vista's Restart Manager Feature - Source
Microsoft Corp. is working on a significant new feature for Windows Vista, known as Restart Manager, which is designed to update parts of the operating system or applications without having to reboot the entire machine.

Microsoft betas Anti-Virus software, doesn't work with competition - Source
MS has released a public version of its anti-virus named "OneCare", however it doesn't work with the competition if running two at once, who would though?

Intel roadmap update - quad-cores and 8-core systems coming! - Source
Intel released a bit of information regarding the newest processers slated for 2006-2008.
In short, quad-cores in 2007, eight-cores in 2008 (thats like having 8 processors on 1 chip!)

Yahoo Launches Live Q&A Service - Source (goes to the new service)
Yahoo on Thursday rolled out a beta of a new service intended to complement its search offerings by enabling users to ask questions and receive answers from actual people on a variety of topics.

Windows Server 2003 R2 Goes Gold - Source
After a year in beta testing, the update to Windows Server 2003 known as "R2" has been released to manufacturing, Microsoft senior vice president Bob Muglia announced in a webcast Tuesday morning. R2 will serve as an interim release between Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Longhorn Server, due in 2007.

Virtual Earth Now Windows Live Local - Source (goes to Windows Live Local)
Microsoft retired MSN Virtual Earth after just five months of providing maps and satellite imagery. Its replacement is Windows Live Local, a service that brings together local search, mapping and business listings under the new Live.com brand. An includes users able to zoom in and pan 360 degrees on certain cities.

Oops -- New Sony DRM Patch Insecure - Source
Just one day after jointly announcing a patch to correct a security flaw in the SunnComm MediaMax copy protection included on 27 CDs, Sony BMG and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are urging users not to install it. The update includes a vulnerability similar to the one it attempted to fix.

Office 12 to Feature 'Super Tooltips' - Source
Tooltips, those little yellow popup boxes that provide information on a button or menu option, have become an indispensable part of the modern user interface. Now, Microsoft is looking to extend their usefulness by introducing what it calls "Super Tooltips" in the release of Office 12.

Microsoft to Lock Down Security Zones in IE7 - Source
Continuing its endeavor to ensure Internet Explorer 7 is safe from the attacks that have plagued its predecessor, Microsoft is making changes to the browser's built-in security zones. Zones are used to classify Web sites into different security levels, but also bring risks themselves.

Firefox 1.5 Exploit Code in the Wild - Source
Proof of concept exploit code for an unpatched security flaw in the newly released Firefox 1.5 was publicly posted Wednesday by Packetstorm Security. The problem involves Firefox's history database, which cannot handle extremely long page topics. A malicious Web page could cause a buffer overflow that crashes Firefox each time it is started.

Gmail Adds RSS, Attachment Viewing - Source
Google has upgraded its Gmail service with a few new features, including a built in RSS reader and address shortcuts. RSS feeds appear as "Clips" on the top of the Gmail screen and users can choose from random popular feeds or input their own. Yahoo added a similar feature to its private Mail Beta last week.

Google Offers Metro, Bus Directions - Source
Google now offers directions for those tired of sitting in traffic through a new beta service called Google Transit. It hooks into public transportation schedules and routes to enable users to plan trips without needing their cars. Google Transit currently only supports Portland, but more cities are on the way.

IE7 Public Beta Due Early Next Year - Source
Those eager to get a taste of the next Internet Explorer release with tabs and RSS support only need to wait a couple more months. A public beta of IE7 for Windows XP is slated to arrive in the first quarter of 2006, IE team head Dean Hachamovitch confirmed on Tuesday.

G71 is Nvidia's next generation high end chip - Source
G71 will end up with a new Geforce name, new number and probably GTX suffix but it's still too early to talk about the final name. It will have a very fast core, we still don’t know the number but it should be around 700MHz and it's obviously paired with super fast memory. The memory is not the problem and even Samsung memory running at 1700 MHz+ is not in tight supply. The chip will have 32 pipelines and it's obviously faster than just arrived and not so available Geforce 7800 GTX 512 cards. It's expected in early February and Nvidia is already playing with these cards.

Nvidia to introduce G80 graphics processor and SM 4.0 support in 2006 - Source
While the first half of next year will focus on introducing updates for the current GeForce 7 generation - including the 90 nm model G71 with up to 750 MHz core clock and the entry-level chips G72 and G73 - the successor of the 7800 will be commercially available sometime in the second half of 2006. G80 will be tailored to run with Windows Vista and its Aero Glass functionality. The new graphics processor will transition to DirectX 10 and support Shader Model 4.0, Nvidia said.

Program Updates for December 2nd 2005

2005-12-02T05:30:00.000-05:00

Firefox 1.5 Final Released
Firefox hit its second major milestone Tuesday with the release of version 1.5, arriving just over a year after the alternative browser debuted at 1.0. The update sports Mozilla's new Gecko 1.8 rendering engine to speed up Web surfing, along with a myriad of other fixes and improvements.
Source

Mp3tag 2.34a
Mp3tag can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists, and more. It supports online freedb database lookups for selected files, allowing you to automatically gather proper tag information for select files or CDs.
Source

VLC (VideoLAN) for Windows 0.8.4
VLC (VideoLAN) is a multi-platform multimedia player. It can read DVDs, VCDs, MPEG, and DivX files and from a satellite card. It can also read a stream from a network sent by the VideoLAN Server or another source. The stream can be MPEG 2 TS in UDP or HTTP packets unicasted or multicasted on an IPv4 or IPv6 network.
Use this program if you can't play some video files after installing codecs!
Source

Java 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition 5.0 Update 6
Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) software is the premier solution for rapidly developing and deploying mission-critical, enterprise applications. It builds upon Java technology's cross-platform support and robust security model with new features and functionality, enhanced performance and scalability, and improved reliability and serviceability. It advances rich client application development and provides the foundation for standards-based, interoperable Web services that can be built and deployed today.
Source

Next update will be on December 9th 2005!

News for December 2nd 2005

2005-12-02T05:19:00.000-05:00

Remote hugging via cyberpajamas?
Singapore scientists looking for ways to transmit the sense of touch over the Internet have devised a vibration jacket for chickens and are thinking about electronic children's pajamas for cyberspace hugs. A wireless jacket for chickens or other pets can be controlled with a computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its owner, according to Nanyang Technological University researchers who were quoted in Monday's edition of The Straits Times. The next step would be to use the same concept to transmit hugs over the Internet, they said.
Source

Xbox 360 crash fix found
A gamer fed up with his new Xbox 360 crashing every 20 minutes has fixed the problem by raising the power supply off the ground with some string. Read more at source
Source

Kazaa users should not upgrade
KAZAA users who want to use the software to search for torrents from popular artists should not update their software.
The owner of Kazaa, Sharman Networks has been ordered to 'upgrade the software' so that it makes it impossible to search for music artists on the network.
Source

Police raids seize 150,000 illegal DVDs in T.O.
Four police agencies seized millions of dollars worth of illegally produced DVDs in Toronto on Saturday. RCMP and Canada Customs officers joined officers of the Toronto and York region police forces to raid three shopping malls in the GTA. More info at source.
Source

Windows OneCare Beta Goes Live
Microsoft is waving goodbye to Symantec and McAfee it seems. On Tuesday, the company opened the doors to its Windows OneCare Live beta, a PC protection and maintenance service that offers an antivirus and firewall, along with tune-up and backup functionality.
Any Windows XP SP2 user can now register to download the latest beta release.
Source

WindowBlinds 5 Brings Vista UI to XP
One of the most anticipated features in Windows Vista is its redesigned user interface that features glass-like title bars and alpha blended windows. But with the upgrade a year away, Stardock has released WindowBlinds 5 to offer Windows XP users the same capabilities right now.
Source

Google Adds Virus Scanning to Gmail
Google on Wednesday silently added a new feature to its Gmail service: virus scanning. The company will now check all incoming and outgoing e-mail attachments to keep users' inboxes safe. By scanning outbound attachments, Google can also keep viruses from proliferating by way of Gmail.
Source

Coming soon: A printer for your TV
Japanese printer makers Seiko Epson and Canon hope the increasing popularity of digital TV broadcasting and home networks will earn their printers a new place in your home: the living room. More info at source.
Source

Program Updates for November 25th 2005

2005-11-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

I decided to spilt the news and program updates into two seperate posts ;)

Google Earth Free 3.0.0762 Beta
Source

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware 1.0.701 Beta
Latest Changes, Extends the Windows AntiSpyware Beta expiration date to July 31, 2006 and Provides new signature updates to help protect against recently identified spyware
Source

Opera for Windows 8.51
Latest Changes, fully compatible with language files created for 8.50, Added Answers.com search option, with 'a' as keyword to search from address field. The version number of search.ini has not been increased; the change will only be visible in fresh installs Macromedia Flash version shipped with Opera is now 7r61. Addresses issue reported in Secunia Advisory 17437, Solved severe stability issue when using the Acrobat Reader 7.0.5 plug-in, and Fixed multiple stability issues
Source

ZoneAlarm Free 6.1.737.000
Source

Official Nvidia Forceware 81.95 Drivers WHQL
A lot of changes, refer to source
Source

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) 1.26.218
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization tool that removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space.
Source

News for November 25th 2005

2005-11-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

Scam e-mails warn of FBI monitoring, agency says
The FBI on Monday said e-mails made to look like they come from the agency are warning computer users that the FBI is monitoring their Internet use.
"These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal Web sites," the FBI said in a statement. "The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions."
"These e-mails did not come from the FBI," the statement said. "Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner."
Source

Windows Live Custom Domains - Free Email Hosting
A new service was added to the Windows Live Beta family today - Windows Live Custom Domains. The basic idea is that anyone with a domain can now point their MX record to the Live servers. What that means is that users can have Microsoft's servers hosting their own domain's email accounts for free. There's a restriction of 20 email accounts per domain, with each mailbox getting 250MB of space.
Source

Microsoft release Xbox 360, and then responds to crash reports
Microsoft laucnhed the 360 in the past few days and just after it lauched many have been having issues with the new console with crashes happening throughout game play. Microsoft admitted they were having these issues.
Source

IE has flaw of doom, visit a certain site and be taken over!
A UK group of hackers has published a zero-day exploit which IE users only have to visit a site to be attacked. It allows a remote hacker to take complete control of a Windows system.
If your concerned use Firefox, Mozilla, or Opera until MS releases a patch
Source

Maxell presents holographic media with 1.6TB storage capacity
Maxell and InPhase are bringing a revolutionary technology to market - holographic media. With storage capacities achieving 1.6 TeraBytes per disk and data rates as high as 120 MBPs, holographic technology is a true breakthrough in optical media. These features, along with a long archival life, make holographic media a compelling choice for storage and archival requirements.
The first generation of holographic media is scheduled for release in September 2006.
Source

MSN Beta Team Recruiting for Windows Live Products
The MSN Beta team is currently recruiting likely candidates to test an array of new services and products from the Windows Live family. Successful applicants may be asked to test MSN Messenger 8 (Windows Live Messenger) or future versions of Messenger. If you're interested in becoming an MSN Beta tester then follow the link below for the codes and sign up at Microsoft's connect community. Good luck!

Country Invitation Code (only posting certain countries)
Australia AU-X8FG-XWR9
Canada CA-8VPP-8W8V
UK UK-HQ69-6JBQ
US US-64JX-J2HJ
US/Spanish ESUS-2YB6-8C94
Full list of codes are here

Enter the codes here, http://connect.microsoft.com/

Google Base, Sony DRM, WGA and more!

2005-11-19T01:50:00.000-05:00

Google laucnhes new service "Google Base"
On Tuesday Google launched its new service, "Google Base", which is a listing service that enables users to upload all types of information and make it searchable online. The service acts as a giant Web database for everything from recipes to classifieds.
Source

New surveillance bill introduced for Canada
The federal government has introduced a bill to make it easier for police and CSIS to monitor private cellphone conversations and communication on the internet. The bill would also require cellphone and internet companies to add surveillance hardware and software to their networks.
Source

Sony's Rootkit removal causes issues, offers exchanges and lists cd's affected
Sony recently released a removal program for its DRM "Rootkit" issue that affected Windows and Mac users when people played certain audio cds on their computers. However, that uninstaller ended up creating a big security hole for users and made matters worse. Then Sony felt bad and began offering exchanges for non-drm CD's and pulled the cd's with DRM off the shelves. Then finally, Sony finally listed the affected products on its website. More info in sources. Source 1, Source 2, Source 3 (the list of cd's affected).

Classic WB TV Series to be Made Available Online for FREE!
Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service that will let fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. The service, called In2TV, will be free, supported by advertising, and will start early next year. More than 4,800 episodes will be made available online in the first year.
Source

Microsoft Adds Firefox Support to WGA
Firefox users may still be out of the luck when it comes to Windows Update, but they can now download files from Microsoft that require Windows Genuine Advantage validation thanks to a new plug-in.

Office 12 Beta 1 Released to Testers
10,000 Microsoft beta testers received a long-awaited e-mail Wednesday evening: Welcome to Office 12. Beta 1 of the next-generation Office suite has been released and is now available for download (yay i'm one of those testers! hehe)
Source

$100US Laptop Expected in Late 2006 (only in 3rd world countries)
A hand-cranked laptop that will cost roughly $100 is expected to be in the hands of schoolchildren in poorer countries by late 2006.
Source and Screenshots

Winamp 5 Updated to 5.112!
Changes:
Fixed: burning crash with EQ enabled
Fixed: [in_mp3] id3v1->id3v2 copy glitch
Source

Google Toolbar Updated for Internet Explorer 3.0.128.1
Source

My next update will be Friday November 25th, 2005!

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ!

2005-11-16T17:42:00.000-05:00

There will be a change of things here on my blog. I've decided to update it once or twice a week.
When I update it news, updates and other info will be posted in one large post with spilt areas (news, downloads, games, etc sections). I will see how this works for me and if I like it i'll keep it that way, if not i'll go back to the old way of doing things.

My next post will be on Friday, November 18th 2005! I will summarize the news, updated products and all sorts on that day. In the meantime enjoy your week! hehe.

TheNay

K-Lite Codec Pack Full 2.63 Out!

2005-11-14T20:39:00.001-05:00

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. Codec is short for Compressor-Decompressor. Codecs are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video. This Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. You should be able to play all the popular movie formats and even some rare formats.
The K-Lite Codec Pack has a couple of major advantages compared to other codec packs: It it always very up-to-date with the latest versions of the codecs; It is very user-friendly and the installation is fully customizable, meaning that you can install only those components that you really want; It has been very well tested, so that the package doesn't contain any conflicting codecs; It is a very complete package, containing everything you need to play your movies; and has different packages.

Full contains even more codecs. It also has encoding support for various formats. This package is for power users and people who do their own encodings.

K-Lite Codec Pack has the following other editions available: K-Lite Codec Pack Basic and K-Lite Codec Pack Standard.

Latest Changes:
Updated ffdshow to build 2005-11-11
Updated Haali Media Splitter to build 2005-11-13
Updated Fraunhofer MP3 ACM codec
Minor changes

Source

nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows 2000/XP (32-bit) 81.94 Official

2005-11-14T20:39:00.000-05:00

New Drivers for the nVIDIA RIVA TNT, GeForce, Geforce 2, GeForce 3 + 4, the 'Ti' range of cards, GeForce FX and some Quadro cards are out.

Source

Intel develops brand new logos for chips

2005-11-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

CHIP GIANT Intel is to introduce a whole new breed of logos for when it launches its Napa and other processors in the New Year.

X-86 Secret has a whole page full of the logos, but you’ll be relieved to hear the Intel swish is still there, although slighly different. Intel’s Yonah will be called Core Solo and Core Duo which sound a little like toffee apples, but it’s not just Yonah which will see the changes.

The new logos for Itaniums and the rest have a very rounded look at the top, which makes them look less threatening than the familiar rectangles. Very New Age. Very 21st century.

You can find the story and the logos by clicking here. Yes, this really is marchitecture as we define it.

Source

Microsoft to remove Sony DRM 'Rootkit'

2005-11-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is cleaning up Sony's DRM mess amid fears that the rootkit could be used for malware purposes. The rootkit, a component of the controversial DRM scheme used by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, was discovered in October by Windows analyst Mark Russinovich who published his findings in his blog at SysInternals.com. Microsoft has taken the move of updating its Windows AntiSpyware application to add a detection and removal signature for the rootkit features used in the XCP digital rights management technology.
According to Jason Garms, group product manager in Microsoft's Anti-Malware Technology Team, the rootkit removal signature will be pushed out at Windows users through the anti-spyware application's weekly signature update process.

Detection and removal of the XCP rootkit will also appear in Windows Defender, the next version of Windows AntiSpyware when that makeover ships.

Microsoft plans to include this signature in the December monthly update to the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Source

Need for Speed Most Wanted Demo Out!

2005-11-11T08:53:00.000-05:00

The eagerly anticipated playable demo for Need for Speed: Most Wanted is now online, offering the first opportunity to try out the imminent urban racing simulation by EA Canada. This demo contains three Quick Race tracks (two Sprint and one Speedtrap) drivable in four different cars, as well as three different Challenge tracks (Pursuit Length, Tollbooth and Roadblock Dodge).

Download from any server below:
3DGamers
FileRush
WorthPlaying
EA Canada
AusGamers

K-Lite Codec Pack Full 2.62

2005-11-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

'High Risk' RealPlayer Flaws Patched

2005-11-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

Digital media delivery firm RealNetworks Inc. late Thursday shipped a major security update for its RealPlayer software to patch a pair of remote code execution vulnerabilities. The security holes, which were reported to RealNetworks more than four months ago, could be exploited by malicious hackers to take complete control over a vulnerable machine. According to eEye Digital Security, the company that discovered the bugs, the most serious flaw exists in the first data packet contained in a Real Media file.

By specially crafting a malformed ".rm" movie file, a direct stack overwrite is triggered, and reliable code execution is possible. Affected software include RealPlayer 8, RealPlayer 10, RealOne Player v1, RealOne Player v2, RealPlayer Enterprise (Windows): RealPlayer 10 (Mac); RealPlayer 10 and Helix Player (Linux)

Source

Apple quietly bundles anti-scratch case with iPod Nano

2005-11-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Apple has apparently begun bundling a soft fabric slip-case with its iPod Nano, recent buyers of the diminutive digital-music player have claimed. According to a forum post on iPod fan website iLounge, the new cases are white and stamped with the iPod logo. Essentially it's the same type of case that ships with the new video iPod, but slimmed down so the Nano fits more snuggly.
So is this tacit recognition on Apple's part that the Nano is particularly scratch-prone? 'Tacit' it certainly is - there's no mention of the case on Apple's iPod Nano website or on the AppleStore Nano purchase page. The latter fact suggests the company hasn't reprinted the box art, just simply tucked the case in among the carton's other contents.

Source

New backdoor program uses Sony rootkit

2005-11-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

The media has already written extensively about how Sony BMG appliedrootkit technology to hide and protect DRM components used to prevent disks from being copied. One highly unfortunate effect of Sony's decision to use this rootkit was the possiblity that malicious programs might implement the same technology. Kaspersky Lab virus analysts can confirm that this has now happened.

Today a backdoor program which utilizes the rootkit technology was detected. Kaspersky Lab classifies the program as Backdoor.Win32.Breplibot.b. The backdoor was mass mailed using spamming technologies, and attached to a message which uses classic social engineering techniques to entice the recipient into launching the attachment. The attachment allegedly contains a photograph. Once the user launches the attached file, the backdoor code will penetrate the victim machine.

More Info

Source - kaspersky.com

Breplibot.b is a file 10240 bytes in size, packed using UPX. When launching, the backdoor copies itself to the Windows system directory as $SYS$DRV.EXE. Using this name makes it possible for the Sony rootkit technology to be used to hide the activity of the malicious program. Of course, the backdoor's activity will only be hidden if DRM protection, as used on some Sony Audio CDs, functions on the victim machine.

As usual, Kaspersky Lab warns users to be careful, and not to open email from unknown senders, or open attachments to suspicious messages.

The E-Mail Time Capsule, Get it in 20 Years

2005-11-09T18:32:00.000-05:00

Most time capsules involve cramming stuff into a metal box and burying it in a hole in the ground. It's a method that works --but it's so primitive. What if you could write an email to yourself, and be assured of receiving it twenty years in the future?

That's what we've done with this email time capsule. Simply fill out the fields below, decide how long you want the capsule to be sealed for, and hit send. We'll do our best to make sure the message gets delivered.

Source

Microsoft Fixes Critical Windows Flaw

2005-11-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

As part of its monthly Patch Tuesday security bulletin, Microsoft has released one fix covering two critical vulnerabilities in Windows. The flaw affects the operating system's graphics rendering engine, and could lead to a remote attacker taking control of a system through the use of malformed WMF and EMF images.

Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003 -- including 64-bit versions -- are at risk. Microsoft recommends that users download the patch immediately. "Any program that renders WMF or EMF images on the affected systems could be vulnerable to this attack," the company said in an advisory. Microsoft has also updated its Malicious Software Removal Tool Tuesday.

Source

Grokster Shuts Down P2P Network

2005-11-08T07:59:00.001-05:00

Grokster has become the latest casualty of the United States Supreme Court ruling that file sharing services can be held liable for actions of their users. The company reached a settlement with the recording and entertainment industries and shut down its P2P network on Monday.
A notice on the Grokster Web site describes its former service as "illegal," but promises that a legitimate P2P offering would launch soon. Grokster joins iMesh and other former piracy havens in an endeavor to turn legal and avoid prosecution. "There are legal services for downloading music and movies. This service is not one of them."

Source

K-Lite Codec Pack Full 2.60

2005-11-08T07:59:00.000-05:00

Google Earth Free 3.0.0739 Beta

2005-11-08T07:58:00.000-05:00

Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.

Source

Rejected Xbox 360 Designs Revealed

2005-11-07T01:34:00.000-05:00

A BBC TV show screened in the UK tonight has offered glimpses of Xbox 360 rejected designs. Images inside (albeit, somewhat blurred).

-Next Generation offers daily game industry news, every weekday morning.-

These images have previously been shown to journalists at some events, in brief video presentations but have not been made public before We're waiting for original shots from Microsoft but here are some images. Apologies for the quality but they're just photos taken from a TV screen. Kinda interesting though.

Source

Microsoft AntiSpyware becomes Windows Defender

2005-11-07T01:32:00.000-05:00

It was announced on the Microsoft TechNet AntiMalware blog that Microsoft AntiSpyware (currently in beta) will be renamed to Windows Defender. The software, which was purchased from GIANT last year and has been in MS beta since January, had it's UI updated last Thursday to reflect the new name. It will be making it's way onto Windows Update, replacing any current MS AntiSpyware installations, as soon as the next beta is finished.

The following extract is from the MS blog: "Every week seems like a big week for us in the engineering team working on our anti-malware technology. However, last week was especially important in a sentimental way. We got the final name for the cool technology our team has been developing for Windows. The name, after long consideration by our product marketing and branding folks, is "Windows Defender"! What's really cool about this name is that it’s more positive than "Windows AntiSpyware". Windows Defender is about what Windows will do for customers, defending them from spyware and other unwanted software."

MS TechNet AntiMalware Blog

F-Secure BlackLight Removes Sony's Rootkit

2005-11-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology detects objects that are hidden from users and security tools and offers the user an option to remove them. The main purpose is to fight rootkits and all kinds of malware that use rootkits. The F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology works by examining the system at a deep level. This enables it to detect objects that are hidden from the user and security software.

F-Secure BlackLight is able to correctly ignore non-malicious objects and alerts only on real rootkits, which makes it useful even for users without technical knowledge. It is also able to deal correctly with files that have been modified during the scanning process. This makes it possible to use it in the background without interrupting normal work.

Source

Sony's Rootkit Benefits WOW Hackers

2005-11-04T23:27:00.001-05:00

World of Warcraft hackers have confirmed that the hiding capabilities of Sony BMG's content protection software can make tools made for cheating in the online world impossible to detect. The software--deemed a "rootkit" by many security experts--is shipped with tens of thousands of the record company's music titles.

Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, has created a controversial program that detects cheaters by scanning the processes that are running at the time the game is played. Called the Warden, the anti-cheating program cannot detect any files that are hidden with Sony BMG's content protection, which only requires that the hacker add the prefix "$sys$" to file names.

Source

Yahoo Redesigns Its Online Mapping Service

2005-11-04T23:27:00.000-05:00

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) has redesigned its online maps to make it easier to get driving directions to multiple destinations and find local merchants — the latest move in the company's duel with Internet powerhouse, Google Inc.
The Sunnyvale-based company planned to unveil its latest mapping improvements Wednesday, less than a month after Google upgraded its maps service. Yahoo's service will be available on a test basis at http://maps.yahoo.com/beta.

Yahoo is matching some of Google's features, such as the ability to scroll across a map without reloading a Web page, as well as introducing tools that haven't been available previously on the Internet.

"There are four or five 'only at Yahoo' features" included in the upgrade, said Paul Levine, Yahoo's general manager of local services.

The innovations include the ability to obtain driving directions to several different city locations and have all the routes simultaneously displayed on the same Web page.

Like Google, Yahoo also is including user reviews and phone numbers of local merchants located near the site of the mapping request.

Hoping to draw even more users to their already popular Web sites so they can generate more ad revenue, Yahoo and Mountain View-based Google have spent much of the past two years engaged in a game of one-upmanship.

Whenever one of the rivals introduces a new product that creates buzz, the other typically follows with something similar. Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com, InterActiveCorp's Ask Jeeves Inc., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Amazon.com Inc.'s A9 also frequently leap into the fray with their own technological twists.

Online mapping has become a prime battleground because it's one of the most used features on the Web. The recent improvements made by Yahoo and Google have increased the competitive pressure on AOL's Mapquest, the longtime leader in Internet maps.

Source

UT2007 Hardware Requirements?

2005-11-04T23:24:00.000-05:00

CrashOverwrite of Extreme-Players reports that the latest issue of PC Games Hardware (German) cites PC hardware requirements from a source at Epic Games. Here are some of the details he provided:

- minimum: 2.8GHz, 512mb Ram,Geforce6
- for high details: 3-4GHz, 1Gb Ram, Nvidia 6800GT/ultra or 7800GT/GTX SLI
- Dual-core Processor use: Multi-Threading is supported and should provide much better performance.
- 64 Bit version available with better textures
- Renderers: Shader-3.0, Fallback-Mode for Shader 2.0 maybe a dx8 renderer.
- HDR: yes
- physics: Novodex-Physik-Engine.
- Ageias PhysX Processor supported.

Source

25 to Life to be released in January 2006

2005-11-04T23:23:00.000-05:00

AFTER BEING bumped back due to a "business review", Eidos has announced that controversial "cop killing" videogame 25 to Life will be released on January 18th, 2006.

In September, Eidos announced that the game would suffer delays due to its new ownership by SCi Entertainment. On the 11th of October Jack Thompson contacted us saying that: "I have received word in the last two days from a credible source that Eidos has decided never to release 25 to Life." Unfortunately for Thompson, the source appears to have been wrong.

The issue with 25 to Life is in the game's material. Players may choose teams between villains and police and wage brutal war for territory. With online play ready for every version released the game has suffered not at all from controversy, instead becoming far better known than before.

While the claims of Eidos' head of communications that he knew nothing of either this cancellation or Jack Thompson had seemed defensive at the time, it certainly seems as though 25 to Life will see the light of day. We can quote Thompson as having said of 25 to Life, "If they haven't pulled it, we're gonna sue their butts." We will contact him as soon as it is less unseemly to interrupt his sleep.

Source

Sony to Help Remove its DRM Rootkit

2005-11-03T05:31:00.001-05:00

When Mark Russinovich was testing his company's security software last week, he came across a disturbing find: a Sony BMG CD he purchased from Amazon had secretly installed DRM software on his PC and used "rootkit" cloaking methods to hide it. With the story sweeping across the Net, Sony is attempting to clean up its mess.

DRM, or digital rights management, is nothing new to CDs. Record companies began employing software to prevent users from easily transferring tracks to a PC after the explosion of file sharing activity that followed Napster's debut in 1999. But for the most part, the DRM was quite rudimentary and only required the pressing of the "shift" key to bypass.

Not so with Sony's latest batch of CDs from Switchfoot, Van Zant and others. Using technology developed by British software company First 4 Internet, the CDs limit the number of copy-protected backups that can be made. To enforce the restriction, software and drivers are installed without a user's knowledge when the CD is accessed.

Russinovich first discovered a hidden directory and several hidden device drivers -- none of which would show up in Windows Explorer. He soon found the driver responsible for the cloaking, which was designed to hide every file and location that begins with: $sys$.

After tracing the rouge software back to his recently purchased Van Zant CD, Russinovich attempted to uninstall the DRM, but to no avail.

"I didn't find any reference to it in the Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs list, nor did I find any uninstall utility or directions on the CD or on First 4 Internet's site. I checked the EULA and saw no mention of the fact that I was agreeing to have software put on my system that I couldn't uninstall," he wrote on his company's blog. "Now I was mad."

When he forcibly removed the software and registry entries by hand, Russinovich found his CD player was no longer functional. Further advanced registry hacking fixed the problem, but he noted that the vast majority of computer users would simply "cripple their computer" if they tried to delete the First 4 Internet DRM.

Although cloaking files and not providing a method of removal is not dangerous in and of itself, the case sparked a flurry of discussion online. Most users agreed that the actions of Sony and First 4 Internet questionable at best, and security experts warned of potential threats. For example, a virus writer could simply hide files by naming them using the $sys$ prefix.

For its part, First 4 Internet claimed the technology was only found on CDs from earlier this year and said it had created new methods to hide the DRM. Nonetheless, the company has decided to issue a patch to eliminate the cloaking and "allay any unnecessary concerns."

The patch will be made available for download from Sony BMG's Web site, with another offered directly to antivirus vendors. The DRM software will not be removed, however, only uncovered; that means users will still be unable to delete it without risk of rendering their CD drive inoperable.

Customers must contact Sony BMG support for removal instructions.

"While I believe in the media industry's right to use copy protection mechanisms to prevent illegal copying, I don't think that we've found the right balance of fair use and copy protection, yet," said Russinovich. "This is a clear case of Sony taking DRM too far."

Source - BetaNews

Blizzard spies on players, World of Warcraft players' affected

2005-11-03T05:31:00.000-05:00

SOFTWARE outfit Blizzard, which pens games for the World of Warcraft world, has been accused of a massive invasion of privacy by jacking in spyware into its punters' PCs.

Although it has been around for some time, the Spyware called the Warden, has now attracted the attention of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

The Warden, gathers information about the other programs running on players' PCs and is designed to stop players cheating in its online world.

However, for some reason it's alleged it looks at your email, the URLs of websites you might be looking at and sends the whole lot off to Blizzard to have a look at.

Security boffins also warn that text strings in title bars could easily contain credit card details or social security numbers and these too will find their way to Blizzard.

There is no indication that Blizzard actually uses all this data, other than to check if players are cheating using mods, however the EFF says users only have the company's word for that.

Blizzard claims that The Warden did not gather any personally identifiable information about players only data about the account being used. It also re-iterated that the only thing done with data gathered was to look for evidence of hack or cheat programs.

Source - BBC

Windows Live Safety Center Now Online

2005-11-03T05:28:00.000-05:00

As one of the new Windows Live services, Microsoft has brought online a beta version of its "Safety Center" that does Web based scans of a PC. The Safety Center utilizes an Active X control to check for and removes viruses, clean up the "junk" on a hard disk, and even schedule a disk defragmentation if needed.

"Use the full service scan to check everything, or turn to the scanners and information in the service centers to meet your specific needs," Microsoft says. The company warns, however, that Windows Live Safety Center is still in beta, and has setup a Web log to obtain feedback from users.

SOURCE

Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows

2005-11-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

In what's set to be 2005's hottest story yet Sony have been found to install illegal Trojan horse-based digital restrictions management (DRM) technology that installs itself as a rootkit on Windows PCs.

Users who purchase certain Sony Music CDs from online stores like Amazon are subject to this rootkit being installed on their machines. According to Sysinternals' Mark Russinovich the kit installs itself in hidden directories and attempts to mask its existence as "Essential System Tools".

What's more fun is that attempting to remove the rootkit with common tools that perform a RKR scan will render a Windows XP machine useslesss. "Users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files," Mark wrote in an online blog entry yesterday.

So what exactly is Sony playing at? Installing rootkit software that's not identified in its EULA and rendering machines useless if users try to remove the software! This is taking the RIAA effort a little too far.

Mark - Sysinternals Blog Entry

Sony Music

Article Source

Goodbye MSN Messenger, Hello Windows Live Messenger!

2005-11-01T19:09:00.000-05:00

A few months ago all the members of the MSN Messenger team were shut into a room (lured there by cookies and free frappaccinos) to hear the announcement. "MSN Messenger had a good run. It's time for change. Then next time our users upgrade, it will be to Windows Live Messenger"

MSN Messenger 7.5 is the last version of the IM client that will wear the MSN brand. The next one will wear Windows Live.

In some ways this announcement could be misinterpreted as just a Prince-esque or Puff Daddy name change: I mean, look at it from our perspective: one day, halfway through upgrading MSN Messenger 7.5 to MSN Messenger 8.0 we're told to keep doing what we're doing, just be aware it'll be called Windows Live Messenger instead of MSN Messenger 8.0. When it's ready you, as users, will download Windows Live Messenger just like you would've downloaded MSN Messenger 8.0, had there been one. You will sign in with the same ID and see your buddies, and have the ability to IM anyone whether they're running the old MSN Messenger or the new Windows Live Messenger. You will have all the old features you're used to, plus the awesome new ones that we were building for Windows Live Messenger.

Windows Live Messenger and MSN Messenger will not be two separate clients in the sense that you cannot have them both on your computer at once. It's one or the other, just like MSN Messenger 7.0 and MSN Messenger 7.5

Source

Messenger Blog

7800GTX 512 MB clocked at 550/1800 MHz

2005-11-01T19:08:00.000-05:00

NVIDIA WONT have new Ultra card but instead it will dramatically increase the speed of its upcoming 7800 GTX 512 MB card. The regular Geforce 7800 GTX with 256MB is working at 430MHz core and 1200MHz memory.

Nvidia won't call it an Ultra, but the Geforce 7800 GTX512 MB will be indeed clocked at ultra speeds. Those cards won't be available and launched on the seventh - they should surface toward the middle of the month but Nvidia should have 6800GS already by next Monday.

We know that new Nvidia card is a very much tweaked original G70, Geforce 7800 GTX PCB design and this time the card will work at a magnificent 550MHz core and at 1800MHz memory. Nvidia felt threatened by the X1800XT and therefore decided to use new Samsung memory. You can find details about this memory here. However, we are not sure whether Nvidia will use an exact 1800MHz clock but should be close to this number.

When it comes to cooling, we know Nvidia is using a new type and we kind of expect dual slot cooling because of the chip's high frequency. Nvidia is still using 110 nanometre based G70 chip, but it managed to clock them more than we ever managed to using clock water cooler cards. If you recall, 520MHz was the highest possible clock that we achieved and here here is the link to refresh your memory. Our cards worked at 500MHz stable but Nvidia managed to clock its new cards to 550MHz and can still cool them with air. We believe that Nvidia tweaked its existing PCB design big time so managing to get those cards to such high speeds.

At such high frequencies and twenty four pipelines, we believe that R520 "Fudo" might experience unbelievable performance spanking and we believe that the situation might drastically change in Nvidia advantage.

But will Nvidia upset all of its Geforce 7800 GTX 256 MB supporters? You can bet it will but Geforce 7800 GTX 512 MB card sounds too good to be true.

Source

Nero Issues Urgent Virus Warning

2005-11-01T01:55:00.000-05:00

Criminals are currently sending virus contaminated e-mails which appear to originate from Nero (e.g. register@nero.com or sales@nero.com ).

Please delete such e-mails immediately and do not under any circumstances open the attachments.

Nero does not send any e-mails with attachments concerning registration.

Source

Ares 1.8.7 Out!

2005-10-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

Ares is a peer to peer file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc. You may now easily publish your files through the Ares Network. As a member of the network, you can also search and download just about any digital media file. You can also join or host chat rooms and meet new friends.

Source

Windows Messenger 5.1.0701

2005-10-29T17:46:00.000-04:00

Windows Messenger allows real-time communication with other contacts who are using instant messaging (IM) services including those provided by the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as offered by Microsoft Office Live Communications Server. Windows Messenger also provides connectivity to the Microsoft .NET Messenger service and Exchange 2000 Server Instant Messaging Service.

Download: Windows Messenger 5.1.0701
Source: Microsoft

WOW Fires up the Burning Crusade

2005-10-29T17:44:00.000-04:00

Blizzard officially announces expansion to World of Warcraft; level cap raised to 70, blood elves confirmed, social lives doomed; first screens inside

On the question of expanding World of Warcraft, the question wasn't "if," it was "when." Said "when" was today. At BlizzCon, Blizzard Entertainment's annual expo, the VU Games-owned developer-publisher officially announced its immensely popular massively multiplayer role-playing game is getting an add-on. As rumored, the new add-on will be titled The Burning Crusade, and it will chronicle "the Burning Legion's ongoing efforts to destroy life on Azeroth."

In the expansion, players will be able to travel through the Dark Portal to take on the Legion on different planes. WOW players who reached the coveted level 60, and thought their days of growing were over, might want to begin clearing their calendars. The Burning Crusade raises the maximum level to 70, and each class will be able to earn new talents, abilities, and spells.

Video: World of Warcaft BlizzCon
Screenshot: >> Click here <<
View: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Website
News source: GameSpot

CCleaner 1.25.201

2005-10-29T17:43:00.000-04:00

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization tool that removes unused and temporary files from your system, allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space.

What's New:
- Restyled the top of the main window.
- Removed Exit button.
- Added VBScript support to Ini files.
- Tools/Options section buttons now stay highlighted.
- Added Opera cookie cleaning.
- Updated to be compatible with Windows Vista.
- Fix bug in shortcut detection routine.
- Optimized registry scanner routines.
- Added Turkish translation.
- Updated Dutch and French translations.
- Minor bug fixes and optimizations.

Source

TIP: How to speed up Open Office

2005-10-28T13:36:00.000-04:00

The changes are not difficult and do seem to have an effect. We can't be certain how much this will affect the functionality but we pass these ideas on.

Both changes involve going into the Tools and then options management sections. In the memory dialogue box, increase graphics cache to 64MB and memory per object to 8MB. It will take Open Office a few openings before this helps.

The other is to go to Java options and disable them.

Source

Winamp 5 Full 5.111

2005-10-28T13:34:00.000-04:00

Latest Changes:
Fixed: works with internet explorer 3.0 again (old win95/nt3.51)
Fixed: Auto-Preset EQ crash (non-mp3 files)
Fixed: $upper, $caps, $caps2 crash with foreign characters
Fixed: Station Info crash (with http filtering program)
Fixed: empty playlist bugs
Fixed: [in_mp3] proxy ignored when ‘only port 80’ was checked
Fixed: [in_midi] lyrics not working

Source

King Kong Gold

2005-10-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

King Kong has gone gold for current-gen consoles and PC, and will hit retail shelves November 22nd. An Xbox 360 version is also expected to be ready for the console's launch. The game adaption of Peter Jackson's movie, developed by Ubisoft's Montpelier studios, will see release on five platforms, including the PC, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Playstation 2. Details of Nintendo DS and Sony PSP versions will be forthcoming.

Source

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Released

2005-10-28T13:32:00.000-04:00

Lost Coast, a new level for Half-Life 2 showcasing the Source Engine's HDR capabilities, has finally been released through Steam. Valve states that system requirements for the new level are "very high" and that gamers with older systems shouldn't attempt to play the level. If the user's system does not match the requirements, Steam will display a warning, but not prevent the user from downloading.

Source

Microsoft .NET Framework (x86) 2.0 Final

2005-10-28T13:31:00.000-04:00

Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 redistributable package installs the .NET Framework runtime and associated files required to run applications developed to target the .NET Framework v2.0.

Microsoft .NET Framework has the following other editions available: Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 and Microsoft .NET Framework (x64).

Source

Motorola, Intel to Push WiMax Standard

2005-10-28T13:30:00.000-04:00

Motorola has become the latest company joining Intel in order to push adoption of wireless broadband through WiMax. The two tech industry heavyweights will collaborate on the 802.16e specification within the WiMax Forum to ensure interoperability between devices.

Sprint and Nokia previously announced collaborative efforts with Intel, which makes the chips to be used in upcoming WiMax products. Motorola currently offers the MOTOwi4 line of devices for WiMax that include access points, PC cards and even in-vehicle safety devices and services. "We believe 802.16e is going to be the way to go for both fixed and nomadic applications," said Motorola Networks CTO Dan Coombes.

Source

MSN Messenger for Windows 7.5.0311 Out!

2005-10-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

MSN Messenger lets you see when your friends are online and exchange instant messages with them. Send instant messages with cool, new emoticons, call anywhere in the world from your computer, see when someone's typing, page a contact's mobile phone, send pictures and music to your friends, and much more. You can also use this free program to make phone calls, send a message to a pager, trade pictures and music with your friends, and much more.

Latest Changes:
Bug Fix: Connectivity Trouble Shooter
Bug Fix: MSN Mobile Buddy (French Version)

Source

Download Ad patches from A-patches website or from Mess.be Patch 7.5.0311 - Generation3

AOL to Choose: Microsoft or Google

2005-10-27T19:13:00.000-04:00

According to reports, Time Warner's board of directors is hunkering down Thursday for discussions on the future of AOL, and is expected to choose between partnering with Microsoft's MSN division or Google. However, a final decision is not expected for a few weeks, says the Financial Times.

AOL currently utilizes Google for its Web search service, bringing a moderate percentage of revenue to the world's biggest search engine. But MSN has reportedly come to the table trying to unseat Google in order to grow its own share of the search market, which it has struggled to do organically.

Rumors have also circled that a deal with either search provider could be more comprehensive, including a sale of the AOL.com Web portal or even a financial investment in the company. However, recent moves and statements by both AOL and Time Warner indicate a sale of any sort is highly unlikely.

Comcast was said to be included in Google's bid, but neither company is commenting on the matter. Yahoo has also reportedly made an offer, but only Microsoft and Google are in serious discussions with AOL at the present time, sources say.

In addition, Instant messaging interoperability was reportedly on the table as part of a deal with MSN, but that was before Google joined the apparent bidding war. Microsoft recently inked a deal with Yahoo to open up communications between the two companies' IM networks.

Microsoft and Time Warner are not commenting on the situation to the press, and Google has dismissed rumors of MSN taking its place. "Google and AOL have a healthy global partnership and AOL remains a valued partner," the company said.

Source

Apple Relaxes Return Policy on iPod

2005-10-27T01:57:00.000-04:00

In what appears to be a preemptive measure, especially considering a recent lawsuit surrounding the iPod Nano's alleged scratching problem, Apple has alerted its partners to accept returns for any video iPod that is experiencing hardware failure.

According to information obtained by Apple enthusiast site AppleInsider, this could even include failures that may have previously been attributed to customer abuse.

"For a short period of time, Apple will be evaluating all forms of hardware failure on the recently announced fifth-generation iPod," the note to partners reads. For the moment, no known problems affect the newest iPod, but Apple is taking no chances.

Last week, Apple was sued over the scratching issue over which many iPod Nano owners have been complaining to the company. In the suit, which could become a class action, Apple was accused of negligence.

"Rather than admit the design flaw when consumers began to express widespread complaints about the screen's propensity to scratch easily and excessively, Apple concealed the defect and advised class members that they would need to purchase additional equipment to prevent the screen from scratching excessively," the filing said.

To its defense, Apple claimed the plastic used for the Nano is the same as what was used on fourth generation iPods, which have received no complaints.

According to AppleInsider, the problems led Apple to ship the new video iPod with a basic sleeve case in the box, and the same concept is being considered for future incarnations of the Nano.

Source

iMesh Launches Legal P2P Service

2005-10-25T22:29:00.000-04:00

Becoming the first official legal peer-to-peer service, iMesh on Tuesday announced it was taking the sixth version of its software into public beta. The company says it is the only globally active P2P network that maintains the experience of file sharing while assuring the copyright holders are fairly compensated.

The original iMesh was founded in 1999 and enjoyed several years of success before it was sued in September 2003 by the RIAA. Since then, the company has been working on a way to stay viable as a P2P service, yet assure the record labels that it was serious about offering compensation for its members' file-sharing activities.

The new iMesh 6 service will use Windows Media 10 DRM-enabled files to protect music shared over the P2P network. The company said this would make the service compatible with any PlaysForSure device.

"After working more than a year to build the first, authorized P2P service, we are pleased to offer the music industry a comprehensive solution to internet music piracy and are eager to deliver to consumers the most compelling commercial P2P offering available today," said Bob Summer, Executive Chairman of iMesh.

Membership in the now-legal service will cost $6.95 USD per month, however users will be able to try out iMesh 6 for a period of one or two months.

iMesh will still allow users to download "unauthorized" content from the Gnutella and iMesh networks, but these files will be denoted by a grey star as opposed to a gold star that would appear next to "authorized" files. Even so, on its Web site, iMesh assures customers the service "is 100% legal."

"This marks a major step forward for consumers in their desire to legitimately access a massive pool of music over peer-to-peer networks," added Talmon Marco, iMesh Co-founder and President.

iMesh also promised Tuesday that version 6 of its software would be free of adware and spyware.

iMesh version 6 is available for download from FileForum.

Source

Paris scores high for free wi-fi

2005-10-25T22:27:00.001-04:00

THE TOP European city for free wireless hot spots is Paris, while London, Dublin, Barcelona and Brighton are also high on the list.

That's what web site Free-Hotspot.com claims.

The web site lets you find free wi-fi hot spots by entering an address, a city and a country, as you can see for yourself by clicking here.

AMD readies FX-60, 5000+ processors claim

2005-10-25T22:27:00.000-04:00

WEB SITE The Adrenaline Vault claimed it has details of AMD future pricing and microprocessor releases.

The site said that FX-60 and 5000+ AMD processors are in the pipeline, and price cuts are listed for the first quarter of next year.

You can see these claims by clicking here.

Google to Offer Giant Web Database

2005-10-25T22:26:00.000-04:00

Let the "All your base" jokes begin. Google is preparing to unveil a new service that will serve as a giant Web database for miscellaneous content submitted by users. Called Google Base, the site will host all types of items and make them searchable through the use of "attributes," or tags.

Google says examples of items that could be added include a description of your party planning service, listing of your used car for sale or a database of protein structures. Standard Google searches, including Froogle, could even include Google Base items if their relevance is high. Google is expected to launch the service today at its invite-only Zeitgeist conference.

Source

Holographic storage to come by end of 2006!

2005-10-24T20:15:00.000-04:00

Japanese vendor Optware Corp., which this week is opening the U.S. branch of its holographic disk storage business, expects to ship three iterations of its high-density products by the end of 2006 -- and is aiming to break the 1TB capacity mark by 2008.

Optware's Magnum HVD drives will have up to 200GB of capacity when they're released next year, according to Terry Loseke, president of Optware America in Longmont, Colo.

Optware is now neighbors with its only other U.S. competitor, InPhase Technologies Inc., which is also in Longmont. InPhase said earlier this year that it will begin shipping its own 200GB drive by the end of next year.

Holographic disks can attain far higher density of data storage than standard magnetic disk drives, which store data only on the surface of a disk. Holographic disk technology allows data to be stored as a holograph throughout the polymer material that makes up a disk.

Optware's technology works by shining a green laser through the disk and then recording data in the polymer resin. A shiny surface on the bottom of the disk -- made of the same material a compact disc or DVD has on its surface -- then reflects that data back up to the laser to be read.

Loseke said Optware will be able to undercut InPhase's pricing because the technology is less complicated and therefore less expensive to produce. "A disk can cost the same as a DVD," he said. "The cost per megabyte is orders of magnitude less than magnetic disk storage media. It's about one-tenth of the cost of a hard drive."

Both Optware and InPhase are targeting their initial products at the data archival market because their holographic disk technology is removable and can be kept for decades without deterioration of data, which is stored within the disk and not on the surface. Loseke said Optware's Magnum HVD drive will fit in standard tape library drive slots, which will ease integration of the technology with backup software already in use.

Brian Garrett, technical director at research firm Enterprise Strategy Group Inc. in Milford, Mass., said holographic storage could one day bump archival tape media from its throne. But it will have to meet or beat tape's price point before that happens.

"It's intriguing, but it really comes down to price/performance. Optical disk has been a challenger to tape for years, yet hasn't taken over," Garrett said. "But we're definitely due for a revolution."

Optware also plans to release a holographic disk product for streaming video that's targeted at the film and broadcast industries, and a consumer disk product that is about the size of a credit card with 30GB of capacity.

Garrett predicted that industry adoption of holographic storage could be slow. "It just takes a long time to change in the IT industry, and tape has just worked," he said.

The adoption of holographic storage will depend on a number of factors. For example, off-site data archival company Iron Mountain Inc. uses specific carrying cases for tape cartridges. Garrett said that if holographic disks don't fit in those cases, it could affect whether a company adopts the technology in the short term.

Source

AVG Anti-Virus Free 7.1.361a651

2005-10-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

Want a Anti-Virus without the bloat that Norton gives?
Try AVG Anti-Virus! I find that its much better than Norton Anti-Virus, plus its free!

Publisher's Description:
AVG Anti-Virus offers maximum virus protection, product customization, and free virus database updates and technical support. The core of the testing engine is a Virtual Device Driver which loads into memory on Windows startup.

Source

600 MSN Messenger Buddies (and Counting)

2005-10-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

The MSN Messenger team just doubled again the number of contacts supported by Microsoft's consumer instant-messaging service. But come on: Other than Microsoft tech evangelist Robert Scoble, does anyone really have 600 IM buddies?

Source

eBay CEO: Free Phone Calls by 2010

2005-10-21T13:03:00.001-04:00

eBay CEO Meg Whitman went toe-to-toe with a financial analyst during the company's quarterly earnings conference call Wednesday over the purchase of VoIP provider Skype. Analysts have criticized the buy, saying eBay overpaid for a technology that, at least at first look, will not advance its core business.

However, Whitman disagreed with that assessment. "By combining the two leading ecommerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in Internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the Net," she said at the time.

Whitman said eBay sees a VoIP landscape where consumers will be able to place phone calls at little or no cost to them, where fees could be subsidized through advertising revenues.

Skype's success could make this possible, as it has some 57 million registered users and continues to grow. Revenues are also expected to triple next year, from $60 million to $200 million in 2006.

Whitman also said that she understood the risks of such a transaction. However, "in the end, the price that anyone can provide for voice transmission on the net will trend toward zero," she added.

Whitman said that free calling would not happen immediately, but rather gradually by the end of this decade.

Source

IntelliPoint 5.4 Mouse Software

2005-10-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

IntelliPoint software enables you to customize the unique features of your Microsoft® mouse.

You can reassign mouse buttons to perform commands, shortcuts, and application-specific functions. You can also modify mouse settings, such as pointer speed and updated horizontal scrolling.

IntelliPoint 5.4 Mouse Software for Windows XP and 2000

World of Warcraft expansion details leaked

2005-10-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

DETAILS of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, have been leaked.
In a lengthy post on wowguru's forum, a user named Spybot has divulged the details of Blizzard's expansion ten days before publicly due to be announced. Already Joystiq is reporting here, that while insiders have confirmed much of the information in the post as planned, the final version may reflect changes.

That said, there certainly is plenty of information in the post, including the new playable races to feature, the Blood Elves will feature as the new race for the Horde, while the Alliance will now sport the Draenei. Details of both are available within the post itself, here.

There will also be a new class available in the form of Spell Breaker. The essence of the class seems to tend towards the use of magic cast by opponents for your gain or to harm them and reversals. Alongside the new class come new areas, including an island starting point for trolls and a gnome area. The goblin undermine has been opened and has become the new hub of neutral transportation.

The big news is that the level cap has now been increased to 75, and many new instances added to cater to players reaching this high. At this stage many are still rubbishing some of the claims made while most are being accepted. However if this is just a planned list then it is easy to see how the actual release could differ. Regardless of what happens, Blizzard's announcement of the content will be on October 29th.

Source

New software releases, Google, Opera, & Winamp!

2005-10-20T19:27:00.000-04:00

Google Earth Free 3.0.0693 Beta
Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.

Opera for Windows 9.0 Build 8031 Technology Preview 1
Opera lets you surf the Internet in a safer, faster, and easier way. One of the most full-featured Internet power tools on the market, it includes pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, integrated searches, and advanced functions like Opera's groundbreaking E-mail program, RSS Newsfeeds and IRC chat. You can customize the look and content of your browser with a few clicks of the mouse.

Winamp 5 Full 5.11
Nullsoft Winamp is a fast, flexible, high-fidelity media player for Windows. Winamp supports playback of many audio (MP3, OGG, AAC, WAV, MOD, XM, S3M, IT, MIDI, etc) and video types (AVI,ASF,MPEG,NSV), custom appearances called skins (supporting both classic Winamp 1.x/2.x skins and Winamp 3 freeform skins), audio visualization and audio effect plug-ins (including two industry dominating visualization plug-ins), an advanced media library, Internet radio and TV support, CD ripping, and CD burning.

OpenOffice 2.0 Final for Windows Out!

2005-10-20T15:42:00.000-04:00

OpenOffice.org 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. It establishes the necessary facilities to make this open source technology available to the developer community.

Source

Sony Adds Memory to Holiday PSP Pack

2005-10-20T15:41:00.000-04:00

Even with the PlayStation 3 not coming until next spring, Sony isn't letting the Xbox 360 steal its gaming thunder this holiday season. The company has put together a new bundle for its PlayStation Portable console, which adds a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo and a new PSP stand.

The PSP Giga Pack will go on sale in November around the time of the Xbox 360 for the same price: $299 USD. Sony says it will continue to offer the PSP Value Pack for $249 USD. The new bundle will come pre-installed with Sony's latest PSP firmware, which enables Wi-Fi connectivity and Web browsing features. For current PSP owners, the 1GB Memory Stick will be available separately.

Source

Xbox 360 Controller Now for Windows Too!

2005-10-19T20:22:00.001-04:00

Microsoft on Wednesday introduced its first controller that would work on both the Xbox 360 and Windows XP PCs. The cross-platform support is another effort by the company to integrate the gaming console as tightly as possible into the Windows ecosystem.

Although the wired controller that comes with the Xbox 360 will also work with Windows after downloading the necessary driver, Microsoft is offering a dedicated retail package designed for Windows gamers. The controller would also work automatically with the Xbox 360.

The company says this will ease the process of creating multi-platform titles for developers, which the industry seconded.

"Microsoft's new cross-platform controller will make it easier for Electronic Arts to develop games for both Windows and Xbox 360. It also promises to help bring our top-notch catalog of sports, driving and action games to wider audiences," EA senior vice president John Schappert said in a statement.

The controller is available in North America for $39.99 USD. Microsoft says it expects to ship the device in Europe and Asia shortly.

Source

Civilization IV has gone gold

2005-10-19T20:22:00.000-04:00

Take 2 Games announced today that the long awaited Civilization IV has now gone gold and will be in stores in North America on October 25th.

The fourth title in the legendary series of turn based strategy games, Sid Meier's Civilization IV expands on the beloved gameplay of its predecessors with countless new gameplay changes and improvements, including religion, great people and for the first time in the Civilization series, a full 3D engine.

For information on Civilization IV visit www.civiv.com and www.firaxis.com

Windows no con do

2005-10-19T20:20:00.000-04:00

OK, TRY THIS:

In Windows, should you run such a thing, create a new folder. Try and give it the name 'con'.

Can't be done, can it?

Well, It's not that weird. 'con' is a reserved word from the old DOS days, simply meaning 'console'. If you wanted to create a new text file in DOS you could type 'copy con newfile.txt' meaning copy from the console to newfile.txt. This would let you type some lines and when you ended the file with ^Z (DOSish for 'end of file') you would have a file called newfile.txt containing whatever you wrote in the console. This is indeed still possible in the Windows XP console, and can you see what mess it would cause if you let files or folders have the name 'con'? What would 'copy con newfile.txt' then mean? BSOD?

Russ Watts confirms the suggestion, giving this list of other DOS devices that can't be used as folder names: CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.

Microsoft Bakes Windows AntiSpyware into Vista

2005-10-18T18:32:00.000-04:00

Microsoft has confirmed plans to bundle anti-spyware protection into Windows Vista, a move that is sure to raise eyebrows among competitors and possibly antitrust regulators.

The Windows AntiSpyware product, which currently ships to consumers as a free standalone application, will be integrated into Vista, as is indicated in the newest beta build of Vista distributed to technical beta testers on Monday.

"The core Windows AntiSpyware functionality gets built in," said Greg Sullivan, lead Windows product manager. "For unmanaged environments—home and small business users—we want to provide base-level security services."

The actual anti-spyware code was not included in the second CTP (Community Technology Preview) release of Vista (Build 5213), but visual evidence was found in the "Security Center," a built-in feature that lets users manage settings for security patching, Internet options and the embedded firewall.

Microsoft is careful to note that many of the features included in the latest Vista preview are still being developed and "do not yet represent their final functionality or design."

"Some of the features in the October CTP that will undergo significant changes before the final version of Windows Vista ships," the company said, noting that the anti-spyware functionality "will continue to evolve throughout the development process."

The decision is seen as a bold gamble by the software giant, coming at a time when its emergence as a security vendor has already raised questions about software bundling and unfair competition.

Rival Symantec Corp. has nudged antitrust regulators at the European Union with an informal complaint about Microsoft's security ambitions, and it's not a stretch to imagine that competitors in the lucrative anti-spyware business will also raise a fuss.

In the past, rivals have bitterly complained about Microsoft's integration of Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Outlook Express, Windows Messenger and Windows Movie Maker, among other technologies into the operating system.

More at source

Intel To Change The Product Name, Again

2005-10-17T17:48:00.000-04:00

In the newest Intel roadmaps, Intel indicated it would change their product naming schemes, again. For those who thought the three digit product naming system wouldn't last; well, it didn't. Less than 18 months ago Intel changed the way new CPUs would be named by replacing the clock rate with a three digit product name instead. We just got briefed on the newest wave of things to come at Intel.

The new product naming scheme for some mobility processors will change to a five character alphanumeric product name based on the watt usage and general performance. All new Mobility product names will start with one of the following letters:

E: TDP >50W
T: TDP 25W to 49W
L: TDP 15W to 24W
U: TDP <14W

The next four digits after the TDP estimate will denote the CPU's processor family and performance. For example, T1700 will denote a higher echelon 25-49W Yonah chip. T2700 would denote a high performance Merom processor.

Corresponding features that are added into later Yonah or Merom cores will be denoted in the last two digits of the product name. Although the roadmaps did not indicate this, our sources claimed that two versions of a T1500 - one with VT and one without - might be denoted by a change in the last digit of the product name.

Intel's name scheme will change on all new mobility processors, but our sources close to the roadmap indicate that all Intel processors will get a similar facelift about the same time we expect Conroe, similar to the brand-wide shift of April 2004. Existing mobility chips (Dothan, Banias), will not change. Furthermore, the roadmap also revealed that single core Yonah chips will not have a letter prefix corresponding to the wattage, but this might have just been an idiosyncrasy of the roadmap. Single core M chips based on Yonah will continue to use the three digit nomenclature, however.

Source

AutoPatcher XP October 2005

2005-10-17T17:47:00.000-04:00

AutoPatcher XP August 2005 has been released! AutoPatcher XP is an installation package designed to get your Windows system up to date quick and easily for Windows XP.

What's New?
KB873333: Security Update for Windows XP
KB873339: Security Update for Windows XP
KB873374: Microsoft GDI+ Detection Tool
KB884883: Security Update for Windows XP v8
KB885250: Security Update for Windows XP
KB885626: Critical Update for Windows XP

Source

Samsung Produces 3GB Mobile Phone

2005-10-17T17:46:00.000-04:00

Samsung has announced a mobile phone with 3GB storage capacity, a huge leap from the average 100MB of memory in most mobile phones. The Samsung SPH-V7900 could also function as a portable storage device for computers, the company said.

The phone also features two cameras, one of which is 2-megapixel, two screens, video playback, MP3 playback, dual speakers, and Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF support, all in a twist flip format. Samsung states the battery life to be around 4.5 hours of talk and 200 hours standby.

Price figures and a US market launch date are not yet available.

SPH-V7900 Manual (PDF, 16.5MB)

Source, Techworld.com

Adobe clear to buy Macromedia

2005-10-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

ADOBE is clear to buy up rival Macromedia, now that approval by the US Department of Justice has been granted. The European courts have still to have their say, but it looks more than likely that the $3.4 billion deal will be finalized this autumn.

The new company will be a veritable giant in content creation and display tools. It might though now need a slightly smaller base of reseller partners. Details of that are not clear now, nor whether products like FreeHand and Illustrator will be merged as one or marketed separately.

Analysts are suggesting that the merged venture could act as a useful counterweight to Microsoft in graphics and development tools.

Source

OpenOffice.org 2.0 Delayed Slightly

2005-10-15T00:45:00.000-04:00

OpenOffice.org developers will miss the planned version 2.0 release Thursday, which was to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the open source productivity suite, due to a last-minute bug. Instead, a third release candidate will be made available for final testing.

The bug stemmed from a problem in saving graphical elements in the OpenDocument format that OpenOffice.org uses. OpenDocument is an XML-based royalty free document standard proposed by OASIS, which was recently selected by the state of Massachusetts for government use.

In addition, two bugs will be fixed in the Mac OS X release of OpenOffice.org 2.0. The delay has also given time for developers to fix a minor issue with printing under certain user interface languages.

"Tomorrow is the fifth birthday for OpenOffice.org. And it would have been nice to release OpenOffice.org 2.0 at the 13th of October," wrote developer Stefan Taxhet in his Web log. "But in the last minute a serious showstopper has been brought up."

"The release will be pushed out for about a week," Taxhet added. "This allows the mirrors to recover from major releases of other large packages. Additionally the new OpenOffice.org hardware should give the main site some relief."

According to a revised schedule, the final OpenOffice.org 2.0 release is now slated for October 20, but developers acknowledge that date could change depending on feedback from RC3.

Since hitting Beta 2 in late August OpenOffice.org 2.0 has received rave reviews from users. Many have said the suite is the first viable alternative to Microsoft Office, while remaining completely free of charge. Sun Microsystems sells a variant of OpenOffice called StarOffice with added services and support.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 RC3 is available for download now from FileForum.

HP Recalls 135,000 Laptop Batteries

2005-10-15T00:44:00.000-04:00

HP has announced a recall of 135,000 laptop battery packs sold with HP and Compaq notebook computers globally between May 2004 and May 2005. Of those recalled, 85,000 were sold in the United States. The batteries are being recalled in response to 16 complaints of overheating due to an internal short circuit. In four cases, batteries caused minor property damage after the cases melted or charred.

Models using the recalled batteries include HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, and Compaq Evo notebooks manufacturered between March and September 2004. Barcodes of these models begin with GC, IA, L0 or L1. Owners of such batteries are entitled to a free replacement.

Order Free Replacement

News source: CNET News.com

New Microsoft Office 12 Screenshots

2005-10-15T00:43:00.000-04:00

ActiveWin has posted 16 brand new Office 12 screenshots of the latest build available.

Screenshots are of Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, Access, Infopath and Powerpoint. In Word, you can now see Word referred to as "Word 2006." Check them out!

Screenshots: Click here

News source: ActiveWin

Software releases, Apple, Real and Adobe!

2005-10-13T19:01:00.000-04:00

QuickTime for Windows 7.0.3,
Source

RealPlayer for Windows 10.5 Build 6.0.12.1348,
Source

Adobe Reader for Windows 2000/XP 7.0.5,
Source

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland coming to PC

2005-10-13T18:59:00.000-04:00

Bluesnews posted the good news for all of the Tony Hawk fans stuck on the PC that American Wasteland will indeed be ported over to the PC. Aspyr Media will publish the game, and the projected release is sometime in December of this year.

No levels. No load times. Just never-ending action that doesn't stop until you leave the game! Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gives you - for the first time ever in a Hawk game - the freedom to skate, or bike, throughout a rich, expansive open environment. Once you arrive in Los Angeles, the vast city that gave birth to skate culture, the sky's the limit as you progress through the Wasteland story and choose missions that will have you immersed in the action without ever skating the same line twice!

PC gamers will be able to compete against one another in multiplayer action via GameSpy.

-> Freedom to ride forever: no level-based gameplay. In American Wasteland, you travel throughout the vast urban terrain of Los Angeles including Hollywood, East L.A., and other landmark areas without restrictions or repetition

-> Ultimate player control: more tricks and expanded controls than ever before

-> Choose board or bike: For the first time, you can choose to ride BMX bikes throughout the entire game, with all-new physics, a BMX specific control system and several BMX-specific goals

-> Customize like crazy: Enter and explore dozens of shops in game to customize your gear and your look!

Source

ATI Catalyst 5.10 Drivers Out!

2005-10-13T18:57:00.001-04:00

Today ATI released its October update for its Catalyst Display Drivers. Below are some of the more prominent fixes introduced this month.

Notable Fixes
-> Dungeon Siege 2: The cursor image is now displayed properly when playing the game under Windows XP with an ATI Radeon® X800 series installed

-> Max Payne 2: Erratic mouse pointer behavior is no longer noticed within the game's menu after a short time period of game play

-> Silent Hunter 3: Enabling all video options within the game and setting the particle density to 100, along with setting Anti-Aliasing to 6X and Anisotropic Filtering to 16x, no longer results in display corruption on the left portion of the display

For a complete list of fixes and bugs still being addressed please refer to the release notes linked below.

NOTE: The Catalyst Control Center requires Microsoft .NET Framework

Release Notes

ATI Catalyst 5.10 (Windows 2000/XP 25.3MB)

ATI Catalyst 5.10 w/Catalyst Control Center (Windows 2000/XP - 33.8MB)

ATI Catalyst 5.10 (Windows XP x64 - 23.9MB)

ATI Catalyst 5.10 w/Catalyst Control Center (Windows XP x64 - 54.8MB)

ATI’s Future Drivers to Take Advantage of Dual-Core Chips

2005-10-13T18:57:00.000-04:00

ATI Technologies recently said at press-conference that in several month time the company’s drivers for graphics cards would take advantage of dual-core microprocessors. The move will allow users of systems running chips with two engines to get higher performance in games.

According to ATI’s software product manager Terry Makedon, the company will release CATALYST drivers that take full advantage of microprocessors with two processing engines in about two or three months from now. Given that processors with two cores typically run at lower clock-speeds compared to chips with one core, whereas gaming applications typically do not benefit from the number of cores per processors, a performance boost is likely to allow owners of modern computers to enjoy higher speeds in games.

Source

Sims 2 Christmas expansion announced

2005-10-12T19:37:00.000-04:00

MAXIS HAS announced a plan to release a Yuletide expansion to its hit people simulator, the Sims 2.

Sporting over 40 Christmas specific new items, the expansion should allow players to decorate their Sim's homes, pop a Christmas dinner onto the table and EA has gone as far as New Year's Eve parties. Santa himself will make an appearance, for those of us inclined to organise it.

Senior Producer Tim LeTourneau said, "Players enjoy participating in all the ups and downs of their Sims' lives, from the big things like falling in love or building and decorating a house to the memorable things like putting up your family's first Christmas tree and hosting a Christmas dinner." Certainly this seems to be the model The Sims and The Sims 2 have built on.

He goes on to say: "Even mundane details like ordering a pizza or fixing your toilet are humorous and fun." Right.

The expansion will come in two forms ready for the Christmas rush. It will come as an expansion only, titles The Sims 2 Holiday Edition and with the original game in The Sims 2 Holiday Party Pack.

The Sims 2 was released just in time for Christmas last year and it's no surprise that this release is coming at the same time this year. The expected release date is November 18th, which should give everyone plenty of time to grab a copy.

Source

Apple Launches Video Ipod

2005-10-12T19:36:00.000-04:00

Apple announced two classes of iPods this morning: a 30 GByte model which sells for $299, and a 60 GByte model which sells for $399. Both models come with a 2.5-inch color screen. The new consoles are being billed as "the new iPod," apparently replacing the existing 20 GByte and 60 GByte designs. Video playback is one feature of the new models.

The company's iTunes service is promising new access to video content, including "video Podcasts, home movies, music videos and popular television shows like 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives.'" Over 2,000 music videos, and short animations from Steve Jobs' other job, Pixar, will also be featured.

Source

Ageia to launch physic cards in December

2005-10-12T19:34:00.000-04:00

WE'VE been hearing a lot about Ageia, the company that announced its physics processing unit. Lately we can not remember that a single week has passed that we haven't heard something about its Physics Processing Unit (PPU) cards. The company is certainly spinning like a top.

From the first day we learned about this product, the company planned to introduce its retail products sometime in Q4 2005 and this is exactly what is going to happen.

We spoke with some knowledgeable people and learned that some of those cards should be available and announced either in late November or in early December.

We know that Asus will be one of the companies selling such cards, and last time we checked, the estimated suggested retail price was $249.

Ageia plans to announce the cards with content as the chips and cards are already finalised, but you kind of need physically advanced demos and games to prove to the world that money is spent wisely.

We've seen an Ageia cardin action and it indeed looks cool, we think it will change games for the better, at a price of course.

Source

Intel intros new numbering system for chips

2005-10-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

THE LATEST Intel roadmaps seen by the INQ show that when the firm releases its Yonah dual core processors, we're going to get yet another numbering system.

And Intel has also told its customers that the Centrino "kite mark" will change, although details of this are yet to emerge.

The numbers are a mixture of an alphabetic prefix and a four digital suffix. E will stand for TDP power greater than 50W, T for power between 25W to 49W, L for power between 15W and 24W, and U for TDP power less than 14W.

The four digit suffix is related to performance, Intel has told its customers. A bigger number, Intel says will show more performance related features, with examples for Yonahs, due in Q1 of next year, being the T1600, the T1500, and the like. So a T1700 is a 65 nanometre 2.33GHz chip with 2MB of L2 cache and a 667MHz front side bus. A T1600 is a 2.16GHz version of the same thing. But a U1500 is a 1.06GHz ultra low voltage dual core chip.

We trust that's clear. Celeron Ms haven't yet been assigned a new numbering system.

Source

Intel prices up Presler as top end desktop chips change

2005-10-12T19:32:00.000-04:00

CHIP FIRM Intel has told its motherboard partners to prepare for the introduction of Pentium 4 and Pentium 4 Extreme CPU in January 2006, and priced up the processors.

Presler is the long awaited Intel shrink of the die to 65 nanometres from 90, and including VT virtualisation tech, additional cache, and EIST.

The Pentium 4 Extreme Presler, numbered 955 and clocking at 3.46GHz with 2X2MB cache and a 1066MHz bus will cost $999, so that's intended to displace the 90 nano Extreme Edition chips which currently cost the same.

The Pentium 4 introductions will be the 950 ($635), the 940 ($420), the 930 ($315), and the 920 ($240). These clock at 3.4GHz, 3.2GHz, 3GHz and 2GHz respectively. They have 800MHz buses, use the LGA775 socket, and each has 2X2MB caches too.

That means additional price changes on existing Pentium 4 processors. Before the January pricing, intended to show the 65 nano chips displace the 90 nano chips, there will be a price adjustment in mid November with the introduction of a 672, 3.8GHz 2MB cache chip costing $600 or so. Intel will alsoo introduce the 662, a 3.6GHz chip at $400.

In January, the new 65 nanometre Pentium 4 lamps numbered the 661, the 651, the 641 and the 631 will be priced up at $400, $270, $220 and $180 respectively.

The latest roadmaps we've seen confirm the existence of an Intel own motherboard called Grant County 2, slated for Q1 of next year and we believe based on an ATI chipset with integrated PCI Express graphics.

Source

XP Patch Tuesday Arrives with Nine Fixes

2005-10-12T07:52:00.000-04:00

As promised, Microsoft on Tuesday issued nine separate security patches, fixing vulnerabilities in DirectX, Exchange, Internet Explorer, and Windows itself. Three of the fixes were deemed "critical," four "important," and two "moderate."

All of the critical patches involved some type of remote code execution vulnerability. The Internet Explorer patch fixes a flaw found by eEye Digital Security and the French Security Incident Response Team back in July revolving around the COM object within IE.

The DirectX patch fixes a flaw within DirectShow, and the Windows fix patches a hole in the MSDTC and COM+ objects.

Of the important updates, all fixed code execution problems, with three of them fixing various problems with Windows. Holes in Plug and Play, Client Services for Netware and Windows Shell were repaired.

The remaining important update fixes a problem with Microsoft Collaboration Objects within Microsoft Exchange, which only pertains to business users.

A tampering vulnerability within the Windows FTP client that could allow hackers to modify file transfer locations, as well as a Denial of Service problem in the Network Connection Manager have also been addressed under the moderate category.

You can run Windows Update or use Automatic Updates to get these.

Microsoft's next scheduled Patch Tuesday will be November 8.

Source

Microsoft, Yahoo to Link IM Networks

2005-10-12T07:51:00.000-04:00

Microsoft and Yahoo are set to announce on Wednesday a blockbuster interoperability deal that will reshape the landscape of the fragmented instant messaging market. The companies will connect their IM networks so users on each can communicate with one another using text and voice chat free of charge.

The agreement marks the first time major players in the highly-competitive IM industry have officially partnered up to enable cross-network communication. Interoperability has always been a hot topic among instant messaging providers, but had never yielded a compromise.

More at Source

ID taken in vein

2005-10-12T07:49:00.001-04:00

JAPANESE maker of electronic bits and bobs Hitachi thinks that it has come up with a foolproof method of verifying users' identities.

Never mind fingerprints, its boffins have come up with a method of scanning the veins in your fingers.

This method has the advantage that if crooks cut off your finger so that they can use your fingerprint to verify you are who say you are, it won't work because the veins will be borked.

The system uses infrared rays to do the scanning and Hitachi thinks it will be worth ¥100 billion in sales over three years.

Versions of the technology have been designed for door access controls to computer log systems and automatic cash dispensers, with Japanese banks looking to trial the new technology at ATMs.

Of course you have to have fingers and blood.

Source

Nero 7 Ultra Released

2005-10-12T07:49:00.000-04:00

Nero 7 Ultra Edition now offers both the PC and TV media management experience for a complete solution. With over 18 new and updated applications in ONE powerful piece of software, Nero 7 Ultra Edition is truly the only partner you need for today’s digital home

Eidos' 25 to Life pulled, claims Crusader

2005-10-12T07:48:00.000-04:00

ACCORDING TO self appointed video-games watchdog Jack Thompson, Eidos has pulled controversial violent video game, 25 to Life permanently.

This comes after the game was delayed into 2006 from an October 2005 with the company siting "business reasons" for not publishing the game in 2005. As we reported back then, it was a little unusual that the game's delay coincided so perfectly with Jack Thompson's hell raising concerning its violent content.

Now, according to Mr. Thompson, "I have received word in the last two days from a credible source that Eidos has decided never to release 25 to Life."

This decision, if true, by Eidos is understandable considering the current political atmosphere surrounding video games. Though it is also a sign that the games industry itself may be lacking the backbone necessary to stand up and debate issues with people like Jack Thompson in a constructive manner.

So far the best we've seen is Rockstar's rather childish backlash at Thompson himself.

At the time of going to press we contacted Eidos' head of communications who claimed to know nothing about this and, rather surprisingly, nothing of Jack Thompson himself. Thompson's reply was that, "He should speak to the CEO of his company more often."

Of course, even if these rumours from Thompson prove to be incorrect, Mr. Thompson himself says, "If they haven't pulled it, we're gonna sue their butts." One of my favourite quotes of today.

Source

Digital cameras start dying

2005-10-11T10:48:00.001-04:00

SLASHDOT NOTICES that four major makers of digicams have said CCD sensors are failing.

According to the article, epoxy packaging lets moisture enter a place where it shouldn't be.

If you're an ancient INQ reader like me, you probably remember Intel had a similar problem with the Pentium Pro packaging, which led it to ship anti-desiccants in little packets.

Probably you don't want to do that with digicams. The article is here.

World of Warcraft gets private server treatment

2005-10-11T10:48:00.000-04:00

WORLD OF Warcraft has been broken down, taken apart and has now been illegally made to run on private servers.

While playing on these servers is both free and totally illegal, it does follow the trend of MMO games. As a rule, once an MMO gains popularity it is only a matter of time before clever minded players manage to reverse engineer the hosting server and twig the game into running on a private server. With a game as popular as WoW it was a practical inevitability.

While we in no way endorse these servers or those setting them up, it's easy to see how a few weeks of free play could entice more careful players into trying to take up a game. Regardless of the cushion this could give for new user uptake, it's doubtful that Blizzard will hesitate before suing the chairs from beneath the owners of these private servers.

Source

Black and White 2 v 1.1 Patch

2005-10-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

Here at Lionhead, we wanted a 'Black & White 2' patch ready for the launch date. Today is the official launch date so as promised, after many sleepless days and nights; the v1.1 B&W 2 patch is available here. This patch addresses a few issues that were found after shipping the game to the manufacturer, as well as a few balancing tweaks that we feel really improve the Gameplay in the Lands. The exact changes, along with the known issues and installation procedure, can be found in the 'ReadMe' with the patch, or at the above download location.

A known issue with this patch is with the save system. Save games from the retail version of Black & White 2 (i.e. Version 1.0), are not compatible with the v1.1 patch. If you have old save games, it is recommended that they are removed from your 'My Documents'->'Black & White 2'->'Profiles' folder before starting a new game with the patch. This will then prevent any conflicting problems between the two sets of save games. The above procedure isn't vital, it is just advised. The patch is not vital either.

Other than that, enjoy the game! We do hope to release a v1.2 patch at some point in the (near) future, which will address a few niggles that we would like to fix (and we hope that the v1.2 patch will be compatible with v1.1 save games). If you have anything that you would like to see fixed for the v1.2 patch, or would like to give any feedback on the game and how you would improve it, please login/sign-up to our boards and join our Community. If you wish to express your love for the game (positives are just as important as the negatives as it lets us know what we've done right), go here. If you want to vent your spleen and tell us what you don't like, or what you would like to see improved, go here.

Source

Companies Push 802.11n Forward

2005-10-10T18:05:00.000-04:00

27 companies announced on Monday that they would be joining forces to promote the next generation of wireless networking technology. The group would be known as the Enhanced Wireless Consortium and will push for the ratification of 802.11n.

802.11n promises connection speeds of up to 600 Mbps. In comparison, 802.11b maxes out at 11 Mbps, and 802.11a and 802.11ag at 54 Mbps. Supporters of the proposed standard also say it conserves battery power due to less time spent transmitting data.

The new standard will use the 2.4 and 5GHz bands much like the current technologies. 802.11n is also expected to have twice the range of the older protocols, according to the consortium.

The companies in the newly formed group stressed the importance of standards. "Our customers are demanding innovation in wireless networking to support the applications of tomorrow, and multi-vendor interoperability is just as important to them as speed, range, and security," said Mark Merrill, chief technology officer of Netgear.

Included in the Enhanced Wireless Consortium are major technology players such as Apple, Intel, Toshiba, and Lenovo, as well as networking companies Cisco, Linksys and D-Link.

According to the group, a proposal for a standard could be ready as early as early next year, will final 802.11n ratification coming in late 2006. The IEEE had originally given a time frame of sometime in 2007. Products using the technology could appear as early as the first half of 2006.

Intel had already shown in June that it could successfully add 802.11n to its current line of Centrino processors. The company said at the time it did not have a solid date for availability of the chip.

More information on the EWC can be found on its Web site, which launched on Monday.

Source

Seagate announces Barracuda 7200.9

2005-10-10T18:04:00.001-04:00

Today Seagate formally announces its Barracuda 7200.9 family of hard drives. Unlike the 7200.7 and 7200.8 series, which focused low and high storage densities, respectively, the 7200.9 family covers capacities from 40GB to 500GB. Drives will be available with 2MB, 8MB, or 16MB of cache, with the largest cache available on 300, 400, and 500GB Serial ATA drives. Plenty of cache and a half-terabyte top capacity are nice, but the 7200.9's most impressive feature may be its ultra-dense 160GB platters, which have a much higher areal density than platters offered by other manufacturers.

The Tech Report

Yahoo! Introduces Podcasting Service

2005-10-10T18:04:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! Inc. on Monday introduced Yahoo! Podcasts. It’s a new podcast download, search, rating and review service. Podcasts are short audio programs you can download and listen to on your music player software or iPod. Podcast programming runs the gamut from technology news to politics, social information, audio snippets of radio programs broadcast on public and commercial radio stations and much more.

Yahoo! Podcasts! (Beta)

Microsoft to Test New Hotmail Interface

2005-10-10T18:03:00.000-04:00

Microsoft is preparing to publicly test its new front end Hotmail, code-named "Kahuna" and simply branded: Mail Beta. The upgrade will support an AJAX-based interface that has been rewritten from the ground up using Microsoft's Atlas framework and a new architecture known as FireAnt.

Explaining the new Mail Beta, program manager Imran Qureshi said, "Some would call it a blank slate I guess. When we asked customers what they wanted the main theme was clear: Make it faster, make it simpler and make it safer. It couldn't have been clearer." Interested Hotmail users can now sign up for the Mail Beta test.

Source

WinRAR 3.51 Released

2005-10-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

WinRAR is a powerful compression tool with many integrated additional functions to help you organize your compressed archives. WinRAR puts you ahead of the crowd when it comes to compression. By consistently creating smaller archives, WinRAR is often faster than the competition. This will save you disc space, transmission costs AND valuable working time as well. WinRAR supports all popular compression formats (RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, ACE, TAR, GZip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z and 7-Zip).

Download WinRAR 3.51 (991KB, Shareware)

Screenshot, Click here

Version 3.51Bugs fixed:
- Fixed two vulnerabilities, which could be exploited with specially crafted ACE and UUE/XXE archives;
- Previous version did not delete some of temporary files;
- WinRAR could crash when processing very long (more than 1024 characters) archive name parameter in the command line.

Microsoft Warns Not To Use 'SP3 Preview Pack'

2005-10-10T07:02:00.000-04:00

Neowin posted earlier this week about an unofficial set of patches being labeled as a Windows XP SP3 "Preview Pack". The pack was created by members of TheHotfix.net and included many patches not generally available to the public. Today we get word from Bink.nu that Microsoft has issued a statement in their newsgroups regarding this unofficial package:

"It is just a collection of hotfixes and other updates we have released. It will not update your Windows XP system to SP3. It also contains a number of private hotfixes that are usually only issued to users with a specific identifiable problem. The hotfixes are not as rigorously tested at public released ones this is why we ask you to call PSS to get them so we can track you and provide further assistance such as new versions of the fixes etc as they become available.

Just installing all the "privates" on your PC may make you machine LESS stable and will also put you out of support from Microsoft or an OEM as you are installing incorrectly issued private hotfixes. Frankly this "package" should be avoid and you should continue to use Windows Update and the download site to get the most up-to-date and correctly issued Microsoft fixes and patches."

Update: Ethan Allen, administrator of TheHotfix has responded to Microsoft's comment:

"Our pack is indeed a preview to what the official service pack will be, as these hotfixes will be in Service Pack 3 as proven by Microsoft's own knowledge base. Searching the keywords "kbwinxppresp3fix" and "kbwinxpsp3fix" at http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1 will provide you an exact list of what we give out, nothing more, nothing less. Each of these hotfixes can be obtained for free from Microsoft by calling their support lines."

Read More for the complete reply

Newsgroup Warning @ Bink.nu

Neowin Discussion & TheHotfix