[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

Spyware Made In The USA:

According to this article, the majority of spyware is created right here in the states.

The report shows a 19 percent increase over last quarter in the number of reported incidents on corporate machines. Most of the attacks are coming from within the U.S., while Poland and the Netherlands are a close second and third, according to the study.

If you are interested in ways to protect your machines from this kinda crap, hop on over to the Rampant Paranoia 101 thread.

Emulating Amiga On 2K/XP:

You read it right. This piece has all the information you need to get AmigaOS up and running!

The original Amiga (the Amiga 1000) arrived in 1985, and although I'd heard about it and seen it in computer stores, it wasn't until the Amiga 500 came out in 1987 that my parents considered buying one. By that time I had friends who owned IBM, Macintosh and even ageing Commodore 64 computers, and I felt a bit left out. I was jealous of my friends who could play seemingly endless varieties of amazing games on their Commodore 64s, or who had this incredible thing called a "mouse" for their Macintosh which made using even word processing programs look like fun.

Reading this brought back alot of memories, the Amiga 1000 was one of the first computers we had when I was growing up.

Blinded By Science:

Head on over and check out this great read from the guys over at ArsTechnica. In the collection they shed some light on things that we all thought may have been scientific facts.

Conservationists often get a hard time from the general public, especially in this day and age. Perhaps wanting to keep certain environments pristine, at the expense of profits is seen as weak somehow, or maybe it's just that people don't see the benefits to things like biodiversity, preferring concrete landscapes that they can drive their SUVs through on the way to the mall. Well, sometimes it really does pay to try and keep things the way they are.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - [H]ard|Forum / Mods & Ends

It's Sunday morning and some of us got to sleep in! For those of you who are just waking up, or just getting home from your morning duties, it's time to head over to the [H]ardforum. If you are in the ST. Louis area on 9/24 (my birthday) you could go join this LAN party. This guy is looking for a little advice on buying a new machine. Also, we have a person who is trying to build his own reservoir, and I'm betting you guys could help him out. For you Apple guys, this gentleman is also looking for a little advice on a notebook. (At least I think he is, not an Apple guy here.)We got this thread with pictures of the new Intel CPU's. Did you check into folding yet? If you didn't go for it! To get started, and for questions. Folding is a really great cause, so humor me and check it out.

Cooling:

Evercool Neon Crab Memory Cooler @ Think Computers - SilverStone 80MM & 120MM Fans @ Think Computers - TTIC NPH-2 Socket A Heatsink @ TechNeek

Cases & Modding:

Thermaltake Tenor Case @ TweakNews

Etc.:

CableYoyo @ PC Modding Malaysia - Samsung YP-T7Z 1 GB MP3 Player @ MrPCPro - Plextor ConvertX USB PVR@ Bona Fide Reviews

[H]ardNews 6th Edition - Console Craziness

Playstation 3 Pricing a Bluff?

According to the article here it could be possible Sony is attempting to send some tremors through the market.

Two months ago, Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment president, was quoted in the Japanese magazine Toyo Keizai as “Our ideal [for the PS3] is for consumers to think to themselves, ‘OK, I’ll work more hours and buy it.’ We want people to feel that they want it, no matter what.” Then, Kutaragi told attendees of the company’s PlayStation meeting last month “I’m not going to reveal [the PS3’s] price today. I’m going to only say that it’ll be expensive.” In addition, he said “I’m aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can’t be offered at a price that’s targeted towards households.”

I really enjoyed this piece, but I have to admit, this seems insane to me. It's an awful big gamble in my eyes. Course, that might be why I don't run Sony.

Sony finds Nintendo Irrelevant:

Apparently the boys over at Sony aren't to concerned about Nintendo affecting the sales of their impendant launch in Europe. Read here.

In six days’ time Europe will experience the biggest hardware launch since PlayStation 2 in 2000, with Sony insisting that any competition with Nintendo is ‘irrelevant’.

Violent Games Now Good!?

When I read this one, I kind of did a double take. The author of this article feels that violent games are actually good for children.

Violent video games do not boost crime rates among youth -- they curb them by allowing teens to work out their aggressions in front of the computer screen, says the author of a book arguing that gaming also boosts intelligence.

I'll let you guys decide what you think without me babbling about it. If you need a daily dose of gaming gossip, be sure to hit up our good friends over at Shacknews.

[H]ardNews 5th Edition - [H]ard|ware Mania!

ATI Radeon AIX X800GT PCIe

The boys over at DriverHeaven have a great lookin review up right here.

ATI’s All-In-Wonder X800XT is the must have card for multimedia and gaming enthusiasts still on the AGP platform, not many people would argue that. If gaming isn’t a primary concern you also have various other AIW versions to choose from. If you happen to be a PCI-Express user the choice of AIW products until now was limited to the X600 version which is hardly ideal for high resolution gaming.

Crucial Ballistix PC3200 512MB

The good gentlemen over at EclipseOC have a nice review with tons of pictures, graphs, flowcharts, pie charts, bars...well ok not THAT much, but its still a good read.

Crucial, a long favorite memory company of mine, has recently made a big name for itself as enthusiasts realized the potential in their 1024mb sticks of ballistix, and the overall value of their products. To kick off this site, I will do a review on the 512mb pc3200 Ballistix that I have had in my possesion since December.

Epox EP-9NPAJ SLi

Head over to PC Modding Malaysia for some insight on this new board from Epox. The whole review can be read here.

Due to ATi's CrossFire technology which will be launched soon, nVIDIA is lowering SLi chipset prices and to make the SLi technology become more common as more people will able to afford it. Today, we’ll looking at a value SLi board from Epox; EP-9NPAJ SLi. It is the second AMD SLi board from Epox besides EP-9NPA+ SLi and basically, it similar with the EP-9NPA+ SLi where some features and accessories were reduced to keep its cost low to attract more customers.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition - Patch Your Box!

Long Registry Keys Hide Spyware

Roll over to this article and read about the latest trick in spyware stealth.

"It can be used to hide malicious programs on a system that would go undetected by security software or registry scanning tools," said Mitchell Ashley, chief technology officer at StillSecure, which is based in Louisville, Colo. Detection and cleanup could be difficult to impossible, according to StillSecure.

Those of us that constantly deal with malware/spyware removal know what a constant battle it is to keep your technique up to date. Every time we find a good way to clean, something else comes along to ruin our day.

IE 7 to have Advanced Anti-Phishing

All of you IE users out there will be happy to know MS is implementing a more advanced routine to keep you safe from phishing. Check out this link.

The filter identifies and blocks fraudulent Web sites that try and deceive users in efforts to obtain their bank account details and other personal information.

Now for most of us, this might not be a big deal. But ANY additional protection never hurts!

Zotob Creators Arrested

[H]ard reader ShizNet passed this along to me, so i'll spread the love. It seems authorities didn't waste anytime when tracking down these guys. Full article is right here. Also check this story out and make sure you XP guys are running SP2.

"This case happened very quickly," he told Reuters news agency. "Had we not had those entities involved in this investigation, I suspect it would still be ongoing today."

It is really good to see these guys get dealt with swiftly. Hopefully this will send a message to other malicious software writers.

New MSN, Messenger On The Way

Check out this little article on the updates MS are planning to roll out soon.

MSN is building a new version of its home page at x.beta.msn.com. I can’t say for sure if it is AJAX-based like Start.com, but it seems to have some good stuff

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition

BBC Moving into Simulcast

You read it right, the BBC has plans to move into online archives as well as simulcasting online. Check out the article here.

This move was spurred on in no small part by demand for the latest incarnation of the sci-fi favorite Doctor Who. The first episode was readily available online (if you knew where to look) prior to its airing on BBC. Instead of trying to squelch distribution, the BBC took it as a "wake-up call." In a move contrary to what the US content-creation industry has done, the network decided to actually respond proactively to the issue.

I for one think this is a great move. Lets face it, we live in an on demand world. People just don't want to wait for anything. Maybe this trend will head over our way?

iTunes gets Owned?

So after all that banter about dropping the prices of music, our buddies at the record labels are at it again. It seems that cheap music via iTunes is no longer in the agenda. Check it out here.

If he loses, the one-price model that iTunes has adopted - 99 cents to download any song - could be replaced with a more complex structure that prices songs by popularity. A hot new single, for example, could sell for $1.49, while a golden oldie could go for substantially less than 99 cents.

You would think that the record labels would have learned that no one wants to pay large sums of money for music. We have all been saying for years, you keep it cheap and we'll buy it. If this thing goes through you can bet in a year the labels will be complaining about profit loss.

Rio out of MP3 Market

It seems as though the owners of the Rio are getting out of the music market. I guess the market in MP3 players nowadays is pretty fierce. Story can be found here.

As with many companies attempting to compete with Apple's ubiquitous iPod, Rio found it difficult to stay competitive without spending a good deal of capital. Creative has found similar roadblocks; earlier this month it reported a much wider loss than expected due to pressures from Apple.

From the way this thing reads, everyone is under Apple's iPod gun.

California Puts Brakes on RFID Bill

CA is considering a bill that would have put a ban on official documentation that carried wireless tracking technology. I guess now they feel thats not such a good idea.

The Identity Information Protection Act of 2005, or SB 628, is designed to address concerns that new high-tech IDs could facilitate the broad monitoring of citizens. Members of the state's influential high-tech industry have lobbied against the bill, arguing that they're developing privacy and security safeguards.

This RFID stuff is just to eerie for me to even make a comment on.

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

New News Guy

Hi everyone! My name is Rich Tate, I have been an industry professional for almost eight years now, and i'm the new [H]ard Weekend Guy. Chuck needs a little help shouldering the load, so you'll be getting me every other weekend. If you have something you'd like me to look at, or just want to say hi, my email is rich@hardocp.com.

MPAA Sinks Pirates

You heard it right, matey. It appears the MPAA is sifting through the logs of busted torrent sites for legal backing. Check out this article

"Internet movie thieves be warned: You have no friends in the online community when you are engaging in copyright theft," MPAA Senior Vice President John Malcom said in a statement.

Well shiver me timbers! Nowadays, it is clear that downloading anything illegally could end up ruining your whole day. Yaarrrrrrrrr.

iPod Users Win Suit

Why not more lawsuit news? This one actually affects you guys in a good way though! A judge has allowed a settlement in the case of those early generation iPod's and their crappy batteries. Read here.

A preliminary settlement was reached in May. Under the terms of the deal, buyers of first- and second-generation iPods with battery issues who bought their iPods on or before May 31, 2004 can get either a $25 check or $50 in credit at an Apple Computer store.

I can clearly remember everyone complaining about the batteries in the first iPod's. Good to see anyone with one, can finally get a new one.

Google Takes Over World!

Well...ok..not really...But I did find this great article comparing Google to another software giant we all know.

Today, Google is just as much a product of its times as Microsoft was fifteen years ago.

With the recent launch of Google Talk, I gotta admit, I was thinking the same thing. They are launching a huge amount of products rather quickly...Maybe they are bent on world domination after all?

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - [H]ard|Forum / Mods & Ends

Hard|Forum Update

Good morning! It's a new day, and hopefully a lazy one. If you're lounging about with nothing to do, why not read up on some folding? Not folding and want to? Start here. Got some questions about folding? Why not ask them here ? This guy is looking for some opinions on his new SLI box. This fellow is building a new water cooling and wants some suggestions. As always, pop on over to the [H]ard|Forum and hang out!

Cooling:

XSPC Passive Aluminium Reservoir @ ViperLair

Cases & Modding:

OCZ 1,100 Watts Power Supply Prototype @ Hardware Secrets - Antec TX1050B Case @ Think Computers - Cooler Master Praetorian @ Adrian's Rojak Pot - SilverStone SST-TJ05 @ Overclockers Online

Etc.:

Logitech V200 @ Tech Zone - fUnc F-10S @ InsaneTek - Razer Copperhead @ VR-Zone

[H]ardNews 10th Edition

ATi Shows Off CrossFire Boards:

PCPerspective has some ATi CrossFire motherboard spy photos and information from ECS Editor's Day in San Jose.

IDF Round-Up:

If you need to get caught up on IDF coverage Bit-Tech has a complete day-by-day list of show highlights. A great way to get all your IDF coverage in one convenient location.

Secret sources, out here at IDF, have been talking to us about the company's plans for the next three months. They have hinted that there will be a new Extreme Edition CPU coming in the next couple of months. Like the existing 840, it will be dual core, with Hyper Threading. It will possibly sport a higher clock speed and more cache.

ABIT AL8 945P:

HotHardware says that the ABIT AL8 945P could benefit from a few more overclocking features but overall is a decent board.

From a stock performance standpoint, the board competed well with similarly equipped models. The AL8 also has a very complete feature set, with an excellent collection of integrated components.

More Mods & Ends:

AOpen Prima Power AO700-12ALN 700W PSU @ PCStats - Antec Titan 550-EC Tower @ TweakPC - Samsung YP-T7Z 1GB MP3 Player @ MrPCPro - Water Cooling Kit Round Up @ Presence-PC - HEC WinPower 550UB (HEC-550TW-TF) 550W PSU PCStats

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

BaDassumption Case Mod:

If you have been putting off that case mod project of yours, maybe this weekend is the time to get cracking on it. Need inspiration? This awesome work in progress, over at WizD forums, will inspire you to get working on your mod. You say that you don’t your own case mod? Maybe the amazing work done by “DutchCedar” will inspire you to start your own project. Hell, it even inspires me. Here is a 3D mock up of what he has going over there, check it out:

For a never ending stream of ideas, be sure to check out the thousands of mods we have in our very own case modding forum.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition - Blair's Tech Ed.

Detailed Cell Processor Specs:

IBM, Sony and Toshiba have just released detailed specifications for the Cell processor to the general public.

Available Thursday for free download, the documents will enable developers outside the initial circle of Playstation3 engineers to begin detailed evaluation of the architecture.

Paint On Antennas?

There is a company making paint on antennas for the CIA. The technology sounds cool but a little scary when you know it is for the CIA.

A small company that focuses on the technology of minuscule materials will develop specialized antennas for the U.S. government under an expanded deal with the CIA's venture group, In-Q-Tel Inc.

Sirius Unveils Wearable Satellite Radio:

Sirius has unveiled a tiny, wearable satellite radio for people on the go. I suppose this is a cool way to get your satellite radio fix when you are away from the home / car…if you are into the whole satellite radio thing.

The Sirius S50 measures just 1.9 by 3.9 inches and 0.7 inches thick, and includes a full color display, sleek black exterior and voice-assisted channel navigation.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

More Spammers Indicted:

It just makes my day every time I hear of more spammers being arrested. Maybe, just maybe, all these arrest will deter people in the future from becoming spammers. If not, just keep arresting them once they become spammers…I like that part too.

The case centered on allegations that the three distributed bulk e-mail advertising pornographic Web sites and containing explicit images of adults having sex. The unsolicited e-mails may have numbered in the tens of millions, the Justice Department said.

Judge Approves Class Action iPod Settlement:

It looks like a judge has approved the class action settlement over defective iPod batteries. Under terms of the agreement, owners of either a first/second gen model are entitled to $25 cash or $50 credit at the Apple store. People that actually paid Apple to repair a battery in one of the iPods will be entitled to up to half of what they paid back. Oh yeah, and the lawyers got almost $3 million...or $6 million in credit at the Apple store (I made that last part up, but that'd be funny though, wouldn't it?).

A San Mateo County judge on Thursday approved the settlement of a class action suit that will offer relief to as many as 1.3 million iPod owners who may have been victim to poor or defective batteries.