Friday, March 30, 2007

HandBrake

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. To use HandBrake on Windows you need the MS .NET Framework 2.0 installed on your computer.

Supported sources:

* Any DVD-like source: VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image or real DVD (even encrypted)
* PAL or NTSC
* AC-3, LPCM or MPEG audio tracks

Outputs:

* File format: MP4, AVI or OGM
* Video: MPEG-4 or H.264 (1 or 2 passes or constant quantizer encoding)
* Audio: AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3 pass-through (supports encoding of several audio tracks)

Home Page

Free Software Group May Bar Novell From New Code

The Free Software Foundation is considering banning Linux software distributor Novell Incorporated from using new versions of a group of programs known as the GNU operating system, to punish the company for signing a patent deal with Microsoft Corporation. Novell and bigger rival Red Hat Incorporated have made a profitable businesses out of selling their own versions of Linux bundled with technical support, maintenance and other services. Novell would likely have a tough time keeping its version of Linux competitive with Red Hat if it lost access to future upgrades of GNU software. The Free Software Foundation released a draft of a licensing agreement, known as GPLv3, on Web site gplv3.fsf.org Wednesday for discussion for 60 days. If the foundation decides to ban Novell from selling the GNU programs, it could incorporate that provision into the license before it goes into effect at the end of June.

Source: InformationWeek

Gateway Offers New Small Form Factor PC

Gateway, the third largest PC vendor in the United States, is launching a new Intel-based small form factor desktop. The Irvine, California-based company is advertising the 2610N desktop as a small form factor PC with three bays, the company said its BTX chassis will allow customers to configure the machines as a six-bay minitower, the 2610D, or as a three-bay desktop, the 2610S. Gateway has been looking to attract customers to its products by offering the latest in Intel and Advanced Micro Devices processors, as well as touting the addition of Microsoft Windows Vista operating system for consumers and SMBs. The E-2160 family is mainly aimed at customers such as education institutions, government entities and small and midsize businesses.

In addition to using a range of Intel chips (Celeron D, Pentium 4, Pentium D and Core 2 Duo) the desktop comes with Intel's 945G chip set, a minimum of 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM and a SATA II hard drive with up to 500GB of space. With the tower version, the company offers an additional hard drive bay and a maximum of 1TB of space. The PC also includes GatewayShield, the company's Internet, hardware and data protection tool that includes Trusted Platform Module 1.2, which provides networking security and encryption features. The E-2610, which is immediately available, has a starting price of $599.

Source: eWeek

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Asustek to ship motherboard with HD interface

Asustek Computer plans to launch a PC motherboard in April with an interface that will allow users to watch high definition (HD) movies on either the Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD formats. The ASUS M2A-VM-HDMI comes with an HDMI (high definition multiple interface) slot, which is where users can plug in a high definition player and enjoy cinema-like films on their PC monitors - so long as the monitors are also high-end LCD (liquid crystal display) products. HDMI can also be used with other disc formats, such as DVD. The board, which is aimed at home theater PC users, is priced at NT$3,190 (US$96.46)

Source: InfoWorld

Bioscrypt Introduces 3D Face RecoBioscrypt Introduces 3D Face Recognition Cameragnition Camera

Bioscrypt, a Toronto-based company, has claimed an industry first with its VisionAccess 3D DeskCam – a 3D camera that scans the users face using infrared and visible light for authentication purposes. The security scanning works by using 40,000 identification points, using specifics portions of the face. So far, tests have proved that the system can differentiate between identical twins. Ryan Zlockie, director of product management, claimed that facial hair will make no impact on the identification (no shaving before authentication necessary) but of course cosmetic surgery will require a person to reregister for the system.

The company is hoping the new camera will replace the need for passwords, tokens, or cards. The software with the camera automatically initiates network logon and/or single sign-on to pre-registered web-based or Microsoft Windows applications. A 3 inch tall, half inch wide, USB desktop version is expected for shipping to customers, integrators, and partners in the second half of 2007.

source: DailyTech

Yahoo opens up e-mail APIs to outsiders

Yahoo on Wednesday is expected to release software that will allow third-party developers to write applications using Yahoo Mail. The move to open up the application programming interfaces (APIs) to Yahoo Mail is meant to encourage Web developers to build applications that use the mail service. The company expects these third-party "mashups," hybrid software that combines content from more than one source, will bring in more customers. "There is tremendous potential for additional usage of Mail. By providing more user experiences, we believe we will increase engagement and utilization of the platform," said John Kraemer, vice president of Yahoo Mail.

Yahoo is also providing financial incentive to developers, offering $10 for every new Yahoo Mail premium account that third parties bring in during a trial period. The APIs will be available either via the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or JSON, a JavaScript-based method. One new application that was built by an outside developer creates a connection between Yahoo Mail and Yahoo's Flickr photo-sharing site. Each time a new e-mail comes in, the service looks at the subject line and retrieves a photo from Flickr based on the words of a subject line. E-mail pertaining to a trip to France, for example, could automatically generate photos of the Eiffel Tower, explained Chad Dickerson, senior director of the Yahoo Developer Network.

Source: News.com

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Gmail, Yahoo, MSN Passwords Exposed By Entertainment Site

Los Angeles Splash Magazines Worldwide, which publishes local versions of its magazines under URLs like NYCSplash.com and LASplash.com, has exposed the personal e-mail addresses and passwords for hundreds of its subscribers. The list of e-mail addresses and passwords for members' Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other accounts would turn up in the results of unrelated Google searches Monday if those searches happened to contain at least two keywords that matched the names of Splash members. Splash founder Larry Davis said in an interview that he was not aware of the security problem and did not know how it could have occurred.

Splash's servers are co-located at a Los Angeles Internet hosting company called Calpop. However, Calpop co-founder Lynn Hoover said his company simply rents floor space and bandwidth to Splash and is not involved with the maintenance or operation of its Web sites. Hoover theorizes that the information could have been inadvertently exposed to the Web if the Google search spider happened to be crawling Splash's sites at a time when password-protected pages were open for editing or maintenance. Versions of the pages held in Google's cache would then be publicly available. Understandably, some Splash members are now worried they're going to get soaked by cybercriminals. It's definitely an issue Splash will be dealing with for quite a while. If you're a member, make sure to change your password before you go and write them an angry e-mail.

Source: InformationWeek

New Bluetooth Spec Boasts Pairing, Power Efficiency

At the CTIA, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced a new version of its wireless specification, Version 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate. The new Bluetooth Core specification will make the initial connection of Bluetooth devices easier by reducing the number of steps it take to pair one device to another, all with lower overall power consumption. The improved pairing will feature a consistent and supposedly intuitive pairing process that includes finding, securing, and authenticating the devices, all in a matter of seconds. According to Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, version 2.1 + EDR also increases security levels during the pairing process while also automating the process of a user having to come up with a long, personal identification number to establish a secure connection.

The SIG also noted that Near Field Communication (NFC) will also be possible in the new updated spec and users will subsequently be able to hold two devices together at a short range to start the quick pairing process. Bluetooth power consumption will be reduced by as much as five times in devices such as wireless mice, keyboards, watches, and some medical equipment using a new feature called Sniff Subrating. According to the Bluetooth SIG Working Group, all devices with Bluetooth version 2.1 + EDR will be backwards compatible with earlier Bluetooth specifications and will support pairing techniques employed by those devices. Version 2.1 + EDR will be ready for members to develop products around in the second half of 2007.

Source: ExtremeTech

Yahoo To Offer Unlimited E-mail Storage

Yahoo Inc. plans to offer unlimited e-mail storage to its roughly quarter of a billion users, starting in May, it said on Tuesday. The world's biggest e-mail service is scrapping its free e-mail storage limit of 1 gigabyte, or about a billion bytes of data, responding to explosive growth in attachment sizes as people share ever more photos, music and videos via e-mail. Microsoft has a 2 gigabyte free e-mail storage limit, while Google caps its Gmail service at 2.8 gigabytes. "We are giving them no reason to ever have to delete old e-mails," Yahoo co-founder David Filo said in a phone interview. "You can keep stuff forever."

Officials said the decision to remove e-mail storage limits reflects the plunging cost of storage as new personal computers store up to a trillion bytes of data and owners of 80-gigabyte iPods can carry 100 hours of video in their pockets. By contrast, when Yahoo first introduced its e-mail service a little under a decade ago, it capped individual storage at 4 megabytes per user. At that time, an "ultra high-density" floppy disk for personal computers then held 144 megabytes. "People should think about e-mail as something where they are archiving their lives," said Filo, who remains active in managing technical operations at the Sunnyvale, California, company and carries the honorific title of Chief Yahoo. Starting in May, the changeover to unlimited storage should take a month, said John Kremer, vice president of Yahoo Mail.

Source: Yahoo News

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor)

NiBiTor is the original and definitive BIOS tweaker that supports the latest NVIDIA graphics cards, and which is updated on a regular basis. NiBiTor allows graphics card enthusiasts, or the hardcore overclockers to have full control over some advanced features and functionality found on firmware of supporting cards. Doing so users gain some extra performance, enable certain hidden features, tweak memory latencies, provide extensive information, adapt bootup settings, change fan speed options and/or get extra stability on the NVIDIA based graphics accelerators.

HomePage

Seasonic M12 700W Power Supply

Seasonic had a growing reputation in the good ol' USA, but here in the UK it was difficult to find a distributor, let alone an e-tailer who had any of their units in stock. Needless to say, in blighty (UK) you only heard of 'Seasonic' when uttered in the shadows, and always on a winters evening... and there had to be a full moon, obviously. So, with my first encounter of a Seasonic power supply I went into the review expecting it to be OK - just a typical 600W unit, nothing more. As it turned out, a raised eyebrow or two later and i was pretty much shouting at the roof tops about the S12 600W, it's easily up there with the best 500 to 600W units ever made (sparkle, PC P&C, OCZ). Now Seasonic have introduced the M12 series with modular cables and a 700W model, it would be no understatement to say i'm as keen as dijon mustard to see if it's still up their with the best of 'em.

Full Review

Using GRUB to overcome boot problems

Troubleshooting boot problems can be a very frustrating and challenging process. Sometimes their repair requires the Linux rescue environment, but what can be done if rescue media is not handy? If the system gets past BIOS and loads the GRUB boot loader, often there is much that can be done to get it up and running again.

Basic GRUB usage

Each time a Linux system boots, GRUB flashes by on the screen while it performs a brief countdown. The default countdown on many systems is five seconds but the actual countdown period can be adjusted. GRUB loads the Linux kernel and initial RAM disk image into system memory then fires the system up. When everything goes well and GRUB is finished with its task, the system successfully boots into Linux.

Press any key to enter the menu

Booting Fedora Core (2.6.19-1.2911.fc6) in 5 seconds...
Typical GRUB countdown sequence

Occasionally, GRUB requires some simple intervention. Perhaps a new kernel isn’t working correctly with your system or maybe you want to bring the system into a different runlevel than the default. Hit the ESCAPE key to interrupt the GRUB countdown and bring up GRUB’s main menu.

Full Guide

How to mount an NFSv4 filesystem in two locations on a single client?

It is not possible to directly mount an NFSv4 filesystem in two locations on the same client. Instead, the same functionality can be achieved by using a bind mount to mount the first mount point at a second location. In order to achieve this:

  1. Create a mount point:
    [root@host]# mkdir /mnt/nfs4
  2. Mount the server unto the mount point:
    [root@host]# mount -t nfs4 server:/ /mnt/nfs4
  3. The NFSv4 filesystem is now mounted at /mnt/nfs4. If it is necessary to mount this filesystem at another location, a bind mount must be used:
    [root@host]# mkdir /mnt/other_location
    [root@host]# mount --bind /mnt/nfs4 /mnt/other_location

    The NFSv4 filesystem is now mounted (via a bind mount) at /mnt/other_location.

SIM Instant Messenger

SIM-IM (SIM Instant Messenger) is a free software package licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). SIM provides an plugins-based instant messenger with support for various protocols. Based on the Qt library it works on X11 (optional with KDE-support), MS Windows and MacOS X. All protocols support richtext-messages, file transfer, typing notification, server-side contact list (with postponed synchronization - you can change contact list in offline mode and after log on all changes will be synchronized with server), new account registration, various searches and HTTP-polling. You can use multiple accounts for each protocol.

* Oscar - ICQ and AIM support
* Jabber
* LiveJournal
* MSN
* Yahoo!

SIM Home Page

Verizon Wireless to Spend $6 billion on Network Upgrade

Verizon Wireless Incorporated will get an increase in coverage and capacity of its existing CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiple Access) EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Revision A broadband data network through a new three-year contract with Alcatel-Lucent SA that is expected to be worth US$6 billion. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will also supply technology to enable VOIP and video telephony services. The network update, part of Verizon Wireless' transition to an all-IP network, will also support other new multimedia services that combine voice, data and video. Some existing Alcatel-Lucent switches and routers used by Verizon will be upgraded and Verizon will also use other products from the vendor including digital microwave radios, optical cross-connects and bandwidth management devices. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide network support services as part of the contract.

Source: PC World

Monday, March 26, 2007

How to copy a DVD-9 using Ripit4Me and DVD Shrink 3.2

Considering that the old DVD-Decrypter cannot copy all the known dvd types, Ripit4Me has come along, giving solutions on dvd copying issues. First of all, you have to install Ripit4Me, DVD Shrink and DVD-Decrypter. Execute Ripit4Me, insert the desirable disc in your drive and choose the “Wizard Mode” option.

Full Tutorial @ My-Guides.net

Spoonfed Hacking - How to Crack WEP

Spoonfed Hacking

Preface:

This guide, written by glj12, is a fairly comprehensive tutorial that covers various methods that involve hacking particular types of “victims.” I do not take any responsibility whatsoever if you choose to follow through the provided methods on non-accepting candidates. The following methods display acts of security cracking. Enjoy, and please remember the prior agreement in terms of usage of the provided knowledge below.

Anyway, let us continue, shall we?

There are two methods of hacking; locally, or globally. There are an infinite amount of subsets to the following ideas, but let us cover as much as we can. The following is one part of several parts of the tutorial that will later be posted. Let us start off with the first scenario.

Local Hacking

This method normally consists gaining access some way or another via the intranet. Let us test the following method. (Note, everything highlighted in yellow is code, what you type in the terminal)

-Wireless Hacking

Let us set up a scenario here. You are eager to gain access to a non-specific, (or specific, if you have an apparent grudge with a mean neighbor) to a local computer. Here are the tools needed to gain access before we go on our mission.

  • Laptop with dual boot, (preferably BackTrack 2 for Linux, and the second boot being Windows XP Pro)
  • A CD
  • Deepburner, so you can burn your .ISO image to your CD.
  • Supported wireless card for injection to work properly (please see the list found here: http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=compatibility_drivers#which_is_the_best_card_to_buy)
  • Enough battery life to serve you well
  • Kismet or netstumbler, (to each his own, preferably Kismet for Linux so you do not have to reboot back and forth so often; this comes complete in BackTrack 2)
Full Tutorial @ LeetUpload.com

Windows weakness can lead to network traffic hijacks

At the ShmooCon hacker conference, researchers with security firm IOActive claimed a design bug in the system used by Windows PCs to obtain proxy settings could let attackers hijack traffic. Internet Explorer on Windows PCs by default searches for a proxy server using the Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol and an attacker can easily register a proxy server on a network using the Windows Internet Naming Service, and other network services including the Domain Name System."I can put up the equivalent of a detour sign on your network and redirect all the traffic," said Chris Paget, director of research and development at IOActive. If an attack is successful, all traffic on a network will flow through the attacker's proxy meaning the attacker can access all the data, redirect and manipulate it to his heart’s content. Fortunately, an attack is possible only with access to the target network, not from the Internet: "The biggest risk inside a corporation would come from a malicious insider. This is not worthy of mass panic or critical advisories.”

Source: News.com

Japanese Scientists Create 200nm Thick Polymer-based Battery

At Waseda University, three scientists by the names of Hiroyuki Nishide, Hiroaki Konishi and Takeo Suga have developed a new polymer-based 200 nanometres thick rechargeable battery that incorporates a high charge/discharge capacity, yet it is still durable enough to survive the rigors of recharging. The battery is composed of a redox-active organic polymer film which is then combined with nitroxide radical groups. Unlike some other radical polymer battery solutions that have been developed in the past, this new battery does not have problems with self-discharging. The technology used in the polymer-based battery still is still in the prototype stage, but Dr. Nishide believes that it could find a home in electronic devices within the next three years.

Source: DailyTech

Windows Home Server having nearly 2,400 bugs

Announced in January at the Consumer Electronics Show and expected to ship this summer, Microsoft Windows Home Server is currently in the beta stage. Developers have been inundated with bug reports for the consumer server software; according to program manager Chris Sullivan the group has received nearly 2,400 bug reports so far, about 495 (about 21%) are classified as "active” (still under investigation, pending a response or waiting to be investigated). Of the bugs that have been addressed, Sullivan said that only 15% have actually been fixed. The remainder are issues that are in the server by design (13%), not reproducible (21%), will be postponed to later versions (11%) or likely won't be fixed (7%). Yeah, I realize that doesn't add up to 100%, the rest were probably duplicates or something else.

Home Server won't be sold separately; it will be only available via OEM purchases. Microsoft is expected to release the OS before the back-to-school selling season starts in July and August, with a release to manufacturing deadline set for late June. The software, based primarily on Windows Server 2003 code, will connect to systems running Windows Vista and Windows XP for file sharing, media playing and backup; and to Mac OS X and Linux machines for file sharing. Microsoft did not respond to a call asking for a status update on development, and whether the summer release schedule still holds.

Source: ComputerWorld

ASUS Prepares PCIe x1 Sound Card

Last week at CeBIT, ASUS demonstrated its upcoming Xonar-series sound cards, available in two variants: the D2 and D2K in PCI and PCIe x1 interfaces. Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect multi-channel audio encoding technologies are available for digital multi-channel audio while 7.1-channel analog outputs are available for those that prefer analog to digital. Unconfirmed reports claim the ASUS Xonar-series feature an Analog Devices audio DSP. ASUS also touts Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Virtual Headphone technologies for multi-channel upconverting and surround sound. ASUS rates the Xonar-series with an 118dB playback and 115dB recording signal-to-noise ratios. The upcoming Xonar-series sound cards support 24-bit/192 KHz playback and recording resolutions as well as ASIO 2.0. ASUS internal testing reveals the Xonar-series is capable of low total harmonic distortion rates: 0.000006% THD on all eight analog outputs and the single line input, between the frequencies of 20Hz to 20 kHz. ASUS also equips the Xonar-series with an EMI shield and touts it provides “stable audio quality.”

Source: DailyTech

Friday, March 23, 2007

Recuva - File Recovery

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

HomePage

Multi-Threaded Programming Without the Pain

Gigahertz are out and cores are in. Programmers must begin to develop applications that take full advantage of the increasing number of cores present in modern computers. However, multi-threaded development has been notoriously hard to do. Researcher Stefanus Du Toit discusses and demonstrates RapidMind, a software system he co-authored, that takes the pain out of multi-threaded programming in C++. For his demo he created a program on the PlayStation 3 representing thousands of chickens, each independently tracked by a single processing core. The talk itself is interesting but the demo is golden.

Source: Waterloo Computer Science Club

Trojan Roaming Skype Network

Websense has issued an alert warning that a Trojan, known as both Warezov and Stration, is spreading through the Skype network again (an earlier version initially attacked late in February). Typical instant messaging viruses are successful in spreading solely thanks to users' ignorance, and this time is no different: the Trojan is not taking advantage of a vulnerability in Skype, Websense noted. While the code itself is not self-propagating, when a user opens it, a message that says "Check up this," along with a URL to the Trojan (a file entitled file_01.exe) is sent to everyone in the user's contact list. If the user runs the file, several other files are downloaded and run. The Trojan also opens a back door in the user's computer, enabling a hacker to get into the machine.

Source: InformationWeek

Thursday, March 22, 2007

News Corp. and NBC : New YouTube competitor

News Corporation and NBC have announced a deal to create a new video distribution site, with the content and distribution channels coming from Yahoo!, Microsoft and Time Warner/AOL. The service will launch this summer with "free" ad-supported TV shows (including Heroes and 24) and movies (including Borat). Big brand advertisers that have already signed deals include Intel, Cisco and General Motors. The content will also probably be available via embedded videos at MySpace, MSN, and Yahoo! web channels and users may be able to upload their own creations.

The source of income is there, the content is there, the distribution channels are there, but will it be enough? will this service be a YouTube killer, create its own niche in the online video distribution market or is it a business catastrophe waiting to happen?

Leave your comments...

source: Ars Technica

Microsoft says Xbox Live security wasn't breached

Microsoft has announced the company has not found evidence of a security breach on its Xbox Live or Bungie.net online gaming services; gamers who had trouble with their accounts were likely duped into giving up their details to fraudsters. "There have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their Live account. We have looked into the situation and found no evidence of any compromise of the security of Bungie.net or our Live network," Microsoft said in a statement.

The statement comes a day after Microsoft said it would investigate possible fraud on its Xbox Live and Bungie.net online gaming properties. Gamers had reported that their Xbox Live accounts were hijacked and their credit cards used to buy "Microsoft Points," the virtual currency on Xbox Live. According to Microsoft, no credit card or other personal information was exposed. Microsoft also noted the usual 'don’t give out your or someone else’s personal information' as it can be used for illegal or harmful purposes.

Source: News.com

Dell launches low-cost PC in China

Dell has launched a new low-cost desktop PC aimed at grabbing market share in China. The Dell EC280 comes with Windows XP, as opposed to Vista, and comes in a few different variations, depending on user specifications. It costs between 2,599 Chinese renminbi ($336) and 2,999 renminbi. Both specifications include 1.2GHz Intel Celeron microprocessors and come with 15-inch CRT monitors. Dell has a special note under the 2,599 renminbi model noting that all cash discounts are factored into the price, and that users are limited to buying five of them at one time. The company is also offering a slightly higher priced desktop (3,999 renminbi), the Dell Dimension C51-n, with an AMD Athlon64 3200 microprocessor, a Linux OS (distro currently unknown), and a 17-inch LCD monitor.

Lenovo Group, the top PC vendor in China, also markets its lowest cost PCs with Windows XP. Both Dell and Lenovo say they "recommend Windows Vista Home Premium" in Chinese at the top of the Web pages where their low-cost PCs are displayed, but none come with that OS.

Source: InfoWorld

Sirius: Lower Price Plan With XM Buy

Sirius Satellite Radio Incorporated has announced that its customers would get the option to pay below the current $12.95 per month subscription fee for just the channels they want, if the company’s plan to buy XM Satellite Radio Holdings Incorporated goes through. The Sirius filing said the deal would generate cost savings that could allow the company to offer "à la carte" programming. Combined, Sirius and XM currently offer more than 300 channels of programming, although many are identical or very similar. Sirius also said the combination would increase the diversity of programming by eliminating redundancy that would free channel space for additional channels.

Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin appeared at a Senate subcommittee hearing to face questions regarding competition, if Sirius were to buy XM. During the hearing, Senator Herb Kohl, questioned Karmazin's stance that the combined company would face competition from terrestrial radio, MP3 players and Internet radio. Kohl also voiced concern that the combined company would raise prices in the future, particularly if it signed exclusive contracts with sports leagues or popular entertainment providers. Karmazin said he was open to regulatory oversight of price increases as a condition of the merger. Karmazin also told the panel that subscribers would be able to block programming they find offensive if the government approves the deal.

Source: Physorg

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

'Windows DRM Not Up To Snuff' said BitTorrent Founder

On the opening day of the VON conference, Bram Cohen (the founder of BitTorrent) was among several others who spoke out against digital rights management software and specifically the implementation of it in Microsoft Windows, saying it is slowing the shift of video to Internet. "We've got a problem we share with everyone. Content owners want a DRM, consumers know what a DRM is" and they don't like it, said Cohen. "We are using Windows DRM because it is the only solution that has been vetted widely, but we are not happy with how it affects playback from a technology point of view, it sometimes makes playback not work." Nevertheless, Cohen, who claims BitTorrent (San Francisco) has the largest catalog of digital video now on the Web, expressed confidence the Internet will become the primary source for video in the future. BitTorrent has several projects in the works including a new product to let businesses distribute content, an ad-supported video service and a streaming video capability.

Source: InformationWeek

Microsoft joins AJAX alliance

Microsoft Corporation has joined the OpenAjax Alliance, a group focused on accelerating the use of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML technologies. Microsoft said it agreed to join the alliance to work with other vendors to evolve AJAX, a method of rich Internet applications that ensure interoperability. The company said that its membership in the alliance is another indication that it wants to provide Web developers with technology that works across different browsers and platforms.

The alliance also announced that it has signed up 30 new members in recent weeks, bringing the total to 72 vendors. The group was formed last February to create a set of requirements for AJAX technologies, products and applications to ensure interoperability among tools built by different vendors. The group also wants to create requirements that can speed delivery times and cut the cost of Web 2.0 applications. In addition to working on the interoperability standards, the group has formed task forces to address AJAX security, IDE integration, server integration and client-side server communications, said David Boloker, chairman of the OpenAjax steering committee.

Source: ComputerWorld

Yahoo's mobile search now available to all

Yahoo has opened up its mobile oneSearch service to anyone with a phone who can access the Internet. The offering was previously available as part of Yahoo Go for Mobile, a mobile phone-optimized content only compatible with certain handsets. Yahoo claims 85% of mobile phones on the market can use the service. OneSearch is initially available to users in the U.S., and Yahoo plans to roll it out in additional languages and countries in the coming months.

In a bold move, Yahoo has placed a button called "Dare to Compare" on the oneSearch Web site which opens a 21-page document containing screen shots that compare the results of a Google mobile search with a Yahoo oneSearch mobile search. Rather than displaying lists of links as search results, oneSearch pulls up a range of results, including news headlines, images, business listings, and reviews. The service is designed to make searching for and finding information as quick as possible, Yahoo said.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have all begun offering search services tailored to mobile-phone users, all of which deliver advertisements in their search results. The online giants are competing against handset makers like Nokia that often include their own search mechanisms in phones as well as startups like Medio Systems that offer search services that mobile operators can self-brand.

Source: InfoWorld

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

DRBL - Diskless Remote Boot in Linux

Diskless Remote Boot in Linux (DRBL) provides a diskless or systemless environment for client machines. It works on Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva, Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS and SuSE. Unlike LTSP, DRBL uses distributed hardware resources and makes it possible for clients to fully access local hardware. It also includes Clonezilla, a partitioning and disk cloning utility similar to Symantec Ghost.

HomePage

KlipFolio - information awareness and notification application

KlipFolio is an information awareness and notification application for Windows that saves you time and effort by intelligently monitoring remote data sources--like weather, stocks, news, RSS feeds and even auctions--right on your desktop. With KlipFolio you don't have to give up your desktop to stay on top of what matters to you. And with over 4000 Klips available for download---all small, resizable, customizable and skinnable---you're sure to find exactly what you need to stay ahead of, well, everyone.

Features

* Smallest dashboard Klips are tiny, so they stay out of your way until you need them.
* Always up-to-date New information flows into Klips so you don't have to go looking for it.
* Monitor anything If your Web browser can access it, a Klip can monitor it. There are over 4000 Klips at KlipFolio.com to get you started.
* Built-in RSS support Monitor your favorite RSS feeds on your desktop using Klips.
* NEW Intelligent sidebars Place Klips along any screen edges, keeping them always visible, or enable auto-hide for smallest screen usage.
* NEW Liquid layouts Klips flow around your desktop as you drag and drop them, making it easy to customize your layout.
* NEW Send to a friend Share things you've found in KlipFolio with your friends and colleagues.
* Skinnable Download skins, change colours and adjust fonts.
* Multi-language Full unicode support (over 24 languages) in Klips and KlipFolio's interface.
* Built-in alerts Set desktop alerts for keywords and new articles in any Klip so you are notified as soon as changes occur.
* Developer-friendly Klips are smart, easy to build, and fully scriptable. You can write a Klip in as little as 7 lines of XML.

KlipFolio Home Page

Creative ALchemy

Creative ALchemy Project allows you to run your favorite DirectSound3D games on Windows Vista as the developers intended - with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support! This is done by translating DirectSound calls into OpenAL. In order for this to happen, a couple of files need to be installed into each game directory. This is handled automatically by the ALchemy installer - but can also be performed manually by advanced users.

Requirements:
  • Windows Vista
  • SB X-Fi * series soundcard with native OpenAL 1.1 Support * Excludes SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Home Page

Adobe said 'No Plans to Make Current Products Vista Compatible'

According to a statement posted on Adobe's Web site, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver won’t be getting updates to run on Windows Vista, users will have to shell out the cash for new versions (slated for shipping this spring) that support Microsoft’s new operating system. Current versions of most of Adobe's major products won't work properly on the new operating system.
Dreamweaver 8, Adobe warns, will crash on some Vista computers when users browse for files. InDesign customers, meanwhile, may get a false error message indicating they do not have enough available disk space to run the product. Adobe lists a number of other known Windows Vista compatibility problems for those and other products. Additionally, Adobe Acrobat 8 encounters errors when run atop the new Windows OS, but the company says it plans to issue a free patch in the first half of 2007 to resolve those issues.

Source: InformationWeek

Oxford finally recognises 'wiki'

The Oxford English Dictionary has recognized the word 'wiki' as a word, among many others in its latest quarterly update. ‘Wiki' began life as 'wiki wiki', a Hawaiian word meaning 'quick', but the OED has recognised the abbreviated version as "a type of web page designed so that its content can be edited by anyone who accesses it, using a simplified mark-up language". As usual, OED has taken its sweet time with accepting the recent addition of 'wiki', as it has with previous terms that many use on a daily basis.

Source: vnunet

Monday, March 19, 2007

CamStudio - Free Streaming Video Software

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs).
  • You can use it to create demonstration videos for any software program
  • Or how about creating a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions?
  • You can create video tutorials for school or college class
  • You can use it to record a recurring problem with your computer so you can show technical support people
  • You can use it to create video-based information products you can sell
  • You can even use it to record new tricks and techniques you discover on your favourite software program, before you forget them

Accessible Design Guide

Below are some useful tips and links that can help to make your site accessible by all browsers, and better in general. This is not meant to be a complete guide to HTML, just a look at web design from an accessibility point of view. please let me know of any sites that would enhance the usefulness of any of the sections provided on below link.

Remember when reading this page that the advice provided is as general and thorough as possible to make it the most useful to the most readers. When enhancing the accesibility of your site, make sure to consider any special needs of your site, as well as the intended audience and available time and skill. The more you do to make your site accessible, the better, but if you can't follow all the recommendations, at least do what you can to follow those that make sense to your needs.

If you don't know enough HTML to make sense of the advice here, and you're looking to learn, there are plenty of links to excellent HTML guides available from About.Com's HTML section.

Full Guide @ AnyBrowser

11 Ways to Optimize Your Mac's Performance

None of these tips will improve your Mac's performance like more RAM, a faster hard drive, or a CPU upgrade would. They mostly have to do with reducing memory use by limiting the number of active processes and freeing up drive space, since a too full drive (especially past the 90% mark) can slow down your Mac. These are tips for getting the most out of the Mac you currently have without investing in any upgrades.

Full Tips @ loWendMac

Samsung SH-S183L LightScribe DVD Writer

Many are now turning to the drives from Samsung. Supporting all types of CD and DVD media, including high speed DVD-RAM and LightScribe, these low cost drives simply seem to be the best option for many. With that said, I decided to take a look at their latest drive, the SH-S183L and also provide a comparison over the SH-S182M wherever applicable. While basically offering the same features, the 183L breaks the norm and now features an SATA interface. But does this mean better performance?

Full Story @ ExtremeMHZ

Asus EN8800GTS 320Mb Videocard

Most of us know that Cebit is going on and new videocards are probably shown there, the 8800GTS is still fairly new and it looks like it might be a excellent choice for most consumers if you look at price and performance. We are going to test this card vs some older high performers to see how it really does perform.

Full Story @ RBMODS

Zalman HD160XT Ultimate HTPC Case with Touch Screen

Constructed entirely in aluminum, it comes in either a silver or black anodized finish and promises quiet cooling performance in an elegant package. It comes complete with a 7-inch LCD display, remote control and an impressive battery of software that should make building a top shelf HTPC a relatively easy task for the average enthusiast.

Full Story @ Here

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB XXX (Factory Overclocked)

The particular variant we are looking at is the XXX edition which has the highest core and memory speed - the other OC version from XFX is the Extreme edition which has slightly higher clock speeds than the base model but lower than XXX edition. There is also of course a default (base) model although we have seen the performance of that from the MSI GTS 320MB product offering already. Let’s continue on and see what XFX have for us package wise before we check out the card and then later its performance. It is actually worth spending more on the factory overclocked edition or is it a waste of money?

Full Story @ TWEAKTOWN

ASRock ALiveNF6G-DVI AMD Socket AM2 Motherboard

This Review will clarify if the ASRock ALiveNF6G-DVI MicroATX motherboard with onBoard GeForce 6100 graphics solution and provided HDMR DVI-D card can convince in a normal course of HTPC life, and if it is high overclockable. The first look to the equipment already shows ASRock's main focus of this inexpensive mATX motherboard.

Full Story @ OCINSIDE

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Playing video games improves eyesight

New research claims that not all games, but action games, mainly shooters, can improve your eyesight. People who started out as non-gamers and then received 30 hours of training on first-person action video games showed a substantial increase in their ability to see objects accurately in a cluttered space, compared to non-gamers given the same test, according to Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester. First-person action games helped study subjects improve their spatial resolution, meaning their ability to clearly see small, closely packed together objects, such as letters, she said. Game-playing actually changes the way our brains process visual information.

The finding suggests that playing first-person action video games could be a useful rehabilitation therapy for people with certain vision problems.Most aspects of vision have to do with the size of one's eye and the thickness and shape of the cornea and lens. But some visual defects are neural in nature, said Bevelier, author of the new study on vision and video games published in the journal Psychological Science.

Source: MSNBC

China to Launch Television Satellite

According to Xinhua News Agency, Du Baichuan (deputy director of the technology section of China's TV regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) has announced that China will make a second attempt at launching a working satellite that can broadcast television directly to homes, sometime in September or October. Chinasat-9 will provide broadcasts to areas that are home to 98% of China's population. Chinasat-9 was meant to operate in tandem with Sinosat-2, the country's first direct-broadcast television satellite, but Sinosat-2 failed after its launch in October. China has one of the world's biggest television markets, with 400 million sets and 12.6 million digital TV subscribers, according to the country’s government.

Source: Physorg

AMD: Bringing "Torrenza" and "Fusion" Together

This week at CeBIT 2007, AMD has revealed that its "accelerated computing" platform, codenamed Torrenza, is planned as a platform where application-specific processors can interact cost effectively and offer better performance than a general purpose CPU, while remaining compatible with off the shelf platforms. A Torrenza system will have at least two sockets, and both will accept accelerators and processors which have integrated "accelerators" embedded into them. According to AMD, Torrenza systems are not limited to CPU sockets and will accept accelerators in a PCI-Express interface too (Mercury systems announced a PCIe plug-in accelerator late last year), allowing for multiple application specific accelerators to access system memory and processor functions directly.

One accelerated-processor project is slated for 2008 under the codename Fusion. It combines a dedicated GPU or GPU accelerator onto the same package or even the same silicon die as the main CPU. Other Torrenza ready projects are also coming to light. Clearspeed announced its CSX600 math-coprocessor plug-in last year, with the stated intention of creating a socket plug-in version for Torrenza. Los Alamos National Labs is currently building the world's fastest supercomputer, Roadrunner, with Opteron and Cell processors on the Torrenza platform. Intel guidance suggests the company will announce its Torrenza competitor sometime in mid-2008.

Source: DailyTech

Friday, March 16, 2007

The Hudspith Steam Bicycle

Ya, its true. Here it shows a bicycle which runs with steam.Yup,it is amazing and surprising too!It's having a small boiler.To read the full story how it is built,follows the link below.

SteamCar.net

Red Hat releases Enterprise Linux 5

Linux vendor Red Hat has announced the availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5), the latest version of the company's commercial Linux distribution. Featuring tightly integrated virtualization technology, broader hardware support, and improved interoperability, RHEL5 is the culmination of two years of focused development work undertaken in collaboration with the open source software community. In addition to conventional desktop and server editions, Red Hat plans to offer a small assortment of specialized RHEL5-based solutions designed for datacenters, database servers, and high-performance computing clusters.

With the release of RHEL5, Red Hat is also planning to launch a new open-source Internet marketplace called Red Hat Exchange (RHX) that will facilitate the deployment of commercial, third-party open-source applications on RHEL installations. RHX will allow consumers to buy software support services for third-party open-source technologies like MySQL database software and SugarCRM customer management systems directly from Red Hat. The company will provide first-tier support for software deployed through RHX via Cooperative Resolution Center. The strategic shift represented by Red Hat's new RHX service could give the company an edge in an increasingly competitive market for open-source services and support. Providing support for a wide variety of third-party products will require the company to significantly expand the scope of its support infrastructure and maintain close ties with numerous vendors.

Source: Ars Technica

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Asustek's Water-Cooled Graphics Card...

Taiwanese hardware maker Asustek Computer Incorporated has unveiled a water-cooled graphics card: the AquaTank EN8800GTX graphics board, based on a Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX with 768MB DDR3 memory. According to an Asustek executive manning the company's booth at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, the AquaTank cards are currently in production and will soon be available. The company claims the water-cooling system helps to keep the graphics chip running 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than other 8800GTX boards which translates into a performance gain of around 11% percent.

Source: PC World

DeluTube offers to view deleted YouTube videos!

YouTube was just in a trouble of putting some not-puttable videos online. And they have removed such things. But, someone got different idea and launched a new service which provides deleted videos from YouTube. Amazing! I mean how fast are these people?

DeluTube, as its name implies, can serve up some video clips even after YouTube has purged them. That includes clips that contain copyrighted music and many clips that aren’t work safe. Delutube allows visitors to enter the video ID (pulled from the end of the YouTube URL) of a deleted clip, then attempts to retrieve the clip from YouTube's system. Clips are apparently not deleted from YouTube's database at the moment they are taken down (or they at least persist in YouTube's cache before being cleared), allowing DeluTube a chance of retrieving them. The site also allows for the easy downloading of the clips.

DeluTube isn't the only service that can do such a thing, of course, but it's possibly the most ironic; the site makes money serving Google ads. The creation of these services shows how much demand exists for this sort of material, and what a hard time content owners have controlling it. The line of legality is very fuzzy since the clips all come from YouTube's servers, whether they infringe on copyright laws or are simply inappropriate. Lawsuits are undoubtedly coming, but will they target YouTube for not completely removing the videos or will they target DeluTube and other sites like it?

What do you think? Is this YouTube's partner or supported by them to slap the lawsuit? Leave Your comments on this.

Google to make search logs anonymous

Google has announced that it will start making its records about users' searches anonymous after 18 to 24 months under a new policy. The Mountain View, California-based company instigated the move on its own after talking to "leading privacy stakeholders" in Europe and the U.S. Until now, the search giant has indefinitely retained a log of every search with identifiers that can associate it with a particular computer. The new policy, to be implemented within the next year, is intended to better protect users' privacy.

Under the new policy, unless Google is legally required to retain them longer (under data retention laws), server logs will still be retained but will be "anonymized" after 18 to 24 months so that they can't be identified with individual users, according to a blog entry written by Peter Fleischer, Google's privacy counsel for Europe, and Nicole Wong, the company's deputy general counsel. Engineers are working out the technical details now. Google keeps the server logs so it can improve services and protect them from abuse and security threats, the company said. Each search record includes the query, IP addresses, and cookie details.

Source: InfoWorld

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Processor Review

When choosing an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, do your homework because cache size varies between models. For example mainstream oriented Core 2 Duo's come with 2MB of L2 cache, where as high end models have 4MB L2 cache. Tests have shown many times over that cache size makes a significant impact on overall performance.

All things considered equalled, enthusiasts like you are no doubt most attracted to the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 because it offers the best mix of cache size and clock speed. The dual-core processor runs on a 1066 MHz FSB, comes clocked at 2.4 GHz and most importantly has a massive 4MB of L2 cache! The E6600 processor is built on Intel's 65 nanometer manufacturing process and comes in the Socket 775 form factor.

The Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 has a retail price of $354 CDN ($313 US, £164 GBP). The chip contains technologies like SSE3, Virtualization Technology (VT) and Enhanced Intel Speed Step Technology (EIST).


Full Review @ PCSTATS

Muskin Release 4GB Overclocking DDR-2 Kits! - PCSTATS.com Muskin Release 4GB Overclocking DDR-2 Kits

Mushkin has announced the release of a couple new 4GB density overclocking DDR-2 memory kits. The tTwo products are being announced Yesterday:

XP2-6400 4-3-3 4GB kit – The lowest latency PC2-6400 4GB kit available.

XP2-8500 5-4-4 4GB kit – The highest frequency 4GB kit available.

These high density modules give Mushkin a leading edge in this day of Vista overclocking.

FULL STORY @ MUSHKIN

DVD FLICK Guide

DVD Flick is the all-in-one tool that can convert:

AVI to DVD, FLV to DVD, MKV to DVD, MJPG to DVD, MPG to DVD, M2V to DVD, MP4 to DVD, M4V to DVD, NSV to DVD, NUT to DVD, QT to DVD, MOV to DVD, RM to DVD, SMK to DVD, OGM to DVD, WMV to DVD, ASF to DVD, 3GP to DVD, 3G2 to DVD.
DVD Flick supports DVD Authoring, ISO image creating, DVD burning also in one tool. It is free software.

System requirements
  • A Pentium or AMD K-6 processor. Pentium 3 or later recommended, the faster the better.
  • 64 MB of free physical RAM, 128 MB or more is recommended.
  • Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP (Professional or Home). Windows Vista has not been tested.

  • Full Guide

    Xbox 360 DivX, XviD Playback Guide

    This guide shows you how to stream DivX and XviD movies (as well as share photos and audio files) to your Xbox 360 using TVersity.

    The Xbox 360 is a great games console, with HD output. It is now also a good alternative to buying a HD DVD player, if you purchase the HD-DVD add-on drive. With it's Windows MCE extender and UPnP functions, it can also serve as a media hub for your home entertainment system, streaming video, audio and pictures from your central media server (Windows MCE or UPnP server). What isn't so good is that by default, the Xbox 360 can only play back WMV encoded files, as well as MPEG-1/2 - there is no DivX or XviD support, which is a shame considering the popularity of both formats. But there is still hope! This guide will teach you how to setup your own UPnP server using the free software TVersity, and using it's built in Xbox 360 profile and transcoding features, stream DivX/XviD files to your Xbox 360 and play them back with good quality.

    Full Guide

    SoftPerfect File Recovery

    SoftPerfect File Recovery is a tool to recover accidentally deleted files from hard disks, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media. We tested the program with images deleted from a USB stick and they were recovered without problems - however the program will not be able to recover any files if the media has been formatted (or files have been overwritten). SoftPerfect File Recovery supports popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption.

    Homepage

    TreeSize

    TreeSize tells you how your disk space is being used. It can be started from the context menu of a folder or drive and shows you the size of the selected folder, including its subfolders. Each folder can be expanded in Explorer-like manner to view the size of its subfolders. Scanning is done in a thread, so you can already see results while TreeSize is working without having to wait. The results can be printed in a report. This version is a slimmed down, but fully functional and free version of TreeSize Pro and does not offer the graphical pie charts.

    Homepage

    Wednesday, March 14, 2007

    Get rid of rapidshare.de and rapidshare.com counter/timer

    I have tried many softwares which can download from raidshare. But nothing works fine.Finally, i have tried to see page source.And trying to resolve the javascript.And i got it friends.

    yes, you can easily stop the waiting timer (or counter) which stucks you for somw time before download the file.Just type this line in Address bar of your browser.And ya, if you are usinf FireFox then enable javascript before doing this.

    in address bar: javascript:alert(c);


    This will show value of the variable named 'c' in the page.To change its value, you need to call it in void function.

    in address bar: javascript:void(c=0);


    This will set c to 0 and wow, you will see the link!

    it works fine with rapidshare.de and .com both, but since some day, rapidshare.de has got the security.so if you do it, your download link will appear but when you click it will show error message.

    Webroot Child Safe

    Child Safe is a comprehensive and easy-to-use solution available to keep children safe on the Internet. Child Safe offers comprehensive and flexible parental controls that block access to objectionable sites, restrict PC access and keep you informed with detailed reports. You can easily define a schedule to manage each child's use of specific programs. For example, allow only the use of spreadsheets and word processing software Monday through Friday, but grant access to game playing for three hours per day on weekends. Protect your children from Internet threats, limit Internet or game-playing time, block access to inappropriate sites, and establish time-of-day access for each child. Compatible with Windows Vista™.

    Home Page

    Google offers priority reporting to Indian police!

    Google's Orkut social networking site has fan clubs of Indian gangsters; Indian police are concerned these could be used to find new recruits. Google has offered Indian police a special tool for priority reporting of objectionable material on Orkut. The reporting tool does not affect the way Google treats users' data but only speeds up direct communication and the police will still be required to follow an appropriate legal process in order to get user-identifying information. The process for reporting objectionable material on Orkut remains the same, as do Google's own procedures for deciding whether or not to remove the material from the site.

    Wow! this can be a good help to police!

    Source: InfoWorld

    Indonesia to tighten Internet surveillance

    Indonesia plans to tackle Internet crime by tightening the supervision of web surfers. Teams will monitor when and where surfers log on to the Internet and the addresses of the sites they visit. The initiative would apply to all surfers, including those at home, in the office or at Internet cafes, in a bid to tackle crime like the fraudulent use of credit cards online. The identity of individuals will not be recorded but could help locate where and when computers were used in online crime. About 16 million people surfed the web in the country in 2005, according to the latest figures available from the Association of Internet Providers in Indonesia.

    So now it will be tough time for cracker/hackers in Indonesia. Also they should not use unauthorized softwares or sites. Beware Indonesians!

    Source: Physorg

    CD Recovery Toolbox Free

    CD Recovery Toolbox Free is a data recovery tool, designed to recover files from scratched or otherwise damaged or corrupt CD, DVD, HD DVD and Blu-Ray disks. Just select the drive that contains the media you want to recover from, check the files you want to restore and start the recovery process. Depending on the level of damage, the recovery process may take a long time, and may not recover all the files. It did recover a good portion of images for us from a badly scratched CD that Windows was not able to read properly.

    HomePage

    Cobian Backup

    Cobian Backup is a multi-threaded program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other directories/drives in the same computer or other computer in your network. FTP backup is also supported in both directions (download and upload). Cobian Backup exists in two different versions: application and service. The program uses very few resources and can be running on the background on your system, checking your backup schedule and executing your backups when necessary. Cobian Backup is not an usual backup application: it only copies your files and folders in original or compressed mode to other destination, creating a security copy as a result. So Cobian Backup can be better described as a "Scheduler for security copies". Cobian Backup supports several methods of compression and strong encryption.

    Cobian Home Page

    LogMeIn Ignition

    LogMeIn Ignition is a simple, secure application that downloads and installs in seconds. It is completely self-contained—eliminating the need for any browser plug-in’s, Java or .Net installations—greatly simplifying and accelerating the remote access process. LogMeIn Ignition runs directly from any USB or U3 storage device—just plug into a computer and instantly connect to your remote computers without installation or configuration—and can also be installed on any computer desktop as an alternative to browser-based access.

    LogMeIn Press Release

    Viacom sues Google, YouTube for $1 billion

    MTV owner Viacom Inc. said Tuesday it has sued YouTube and its corporate parent Google Inc. in federal court for alleged copyright infringement and is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

    Viacom claims that the more than 160,000 unauthorized video clips from its cable networks, which also include Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon, have been available on the popular video-sharing Web site.

    The lawsuit marks a sharp escalation of long-simmering tensions between Viacom and YouTube. Last month Viacom demanded that YouTube remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips after several months of talks between the companies broke down.

    MSNBC News

    SanDisk Launches 32GB PC Solid-State Drive

    After Intel unveiled its first Solid-State Device (8 Gigabyte 2.5-inch SATA), SanDisk has introduced a 32 Gigabyte, solid-state flash memory drive, broadening its offerings for hard-disk drive replacements in the notebook market. The SanDisk drive is compatible with most mainstream notebook designs, and follows by two months the company's introduction of a 1.8-inch SSD for ultra-portable notebooks. The new drive is available to computer manufacturers for $350 in large volume orders. Samsung Electronics also offers a 32 Gigabyte SSD.

    Advantages of solid state devices over hard-disk drives include lower power consumption, cooler and quieter. The disadvantages include a higher price tag per gigabyte, and far less storage capacity. Nevertheless, SSDs have their place in the market for low-end PCs sold to poorer nations, which don't need a large capacity disk drive.

    Source: InformationWeek

    IT worth $2 trillion to the US economy

    A report by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) claims that IT is responsible for nearly all of the US pick-up in economic growth over the past decade, adding $2 trillion annually to the economy. The integration of IT into virtually every aspect of the economy and society is creating a digitally enabled economy responsible for generating the lion's share of economic growth and prosperity, both in the US and abroad, the report stated.

    Source: vnunet.com