March 16th, 2004 –
Five years after they began probing the bundling of [i]Media Player[/i] with [i]Windows[/i], the [b]EU[/b]'s antitrust probers are poised to reveal their findings.
[blockquote]Behind closed doors in Brussels, the European Union's Competition Directorate, under the leadership of steely Italian lawyer Mario Monti, presented to the heads of the competition agencies from each of the EU's 15 member states the results of its five-year investigation. [/blockquote]
[link=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc20040316_4269_tc119.htm][b]Read more[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[b]Microsoft[/b] has filed legal papers in the Netherlands requesting fines of 100,000 euros (US$122,230) per day against [b]Lindows[/b] for allowing users within that country to access its Internet site. [b]Lindows[/b] says [b]Microsoft[/b]'s demand to block access to its Web site by users in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg is unreasonable.
[blockquote]"These are the family jewels," says University of San Francisco law professor and trademark expert Tom McCarthy. "The Windows trademark is so important I don't doubt that Bill Gates is going to hand the legal department a blank check to fight this on all fronts,"[/blockquote]
[link=http://cio-today.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Lindows__Microsoft_s_Latest_Demand_Impossible&story_id=23359][b]The full report[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[b]Apple[/b] has released its [i]Mac OS X[/i] 10.3.3 update for desktop and server Macs.
[blockquote]This significant 58.8MB update has been in development since at least January, when a build circulated to Apple developers was withdrawn. The most recent beta-testing build was distributed late last week.[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/03/16/HNmacupdate_1.html][b]The full report[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
The next round in [b]Microsoft[/b]'s Web browser patent fight will unfold in an obscure bureaucratic proceeding that offers the company and its allies few, if any, chances to argue their side.
[blockquote]"In the long term this doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference," said Greg Aharonian, editor and publisher of the Internet Patent News Service and a prominent critic of the USPTO. "This will probably wind up in front of the court of appeals at some point. Right now I wouldn't bet any money on the outcome, because there are too many fifty-fifties all around."
[/blockquote]
[link=http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5173287.html?tag=nefd_lede][b]The full report[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[b]Apple[/b] said Monday that it has sold 50 million songs through its [i]iTunes[/i] Music Store, with about 2.5 million songs being downloaded each week.
[blockquote]Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced a goal of distributing 100 million songs by April--including those given away in the Pepsi promotion--when the company expanded the iTunes store in October to work with Windows-based computers. Apple reiterated the goal in December, when it announced that it had sold 25 million songs by that point. [/blockquote]
[link=http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5173115.html?tag=nefd_hed][b]Read more[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
A New York federal judge has reinstated a ban on sales of [b]321 Studios'[/b] DVD copying software after he had previously decided the program violated federal copyright laws and told the company to stop selling it. He had temporarily put the order on hold.
[blockquote]Owen's set of rulings have had little actual effect on the market, since a California judge's ruling barring sales of the DVD copying software remains in effect. 321 Studios is appealing both orders.[/blockquote]
[link=http://news.com.com/2110-1025-5173270.html?tag=nefd_hed][b]The Original Report[/b][/link] - [link=http://www.short-media.com/comment.php?988][i]Related news[/i][/link] - [link=http://www.short-media.com/comment.php?1001][i]Related news[/i][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
The latest stable version of [i]Linux[/i] is now at the 2.6.4 mark.
[blockquote]A few small fixes since -rc3, most notably an OHCI bug that would corrupt memory and seems to have been the reason for the "Bad page flags" bug at least on ppc64 (it's not been reported on x86, as far as I know, but I don't see why the corruption couldn't have happened there too).
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.kernel.org/][b]Download[/b][/link] (2.15MB) - [link=http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.4][i]Changelog[/i][/link] - [link=http://linuxtoday.com/][i]News source: Linux Today[/i][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[b]Symantec[/b]'s twice-annual Internet Security Threat Report paints a menacing picture, and it's one that security professionals know all too well.
[blockquote]Data from the company's customers as well as from its global DeepSight Threat analysis system shows the trends. A report released Monday by the security firm says attackers are having an easier time exploiting vulnerabilities. They are increasingly using backdoors to gain access to compromised systems, and they are trying to turn a quick buck with stolen confidential information.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/breakingnews.asp?ArticleID=48661][b]Read more[/b][/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
Toshiba has created disk drives, holding up to 4 gigs, that have broken the Guiness Book record size.
[blockquote]The electronics conglomerate's 0.85-inch HDDs, unveiled in January, have storage capacity of up to four gigabytes and will be used in products such as cell phones and digital camcorders.[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/03/16/toshiba.record.reut/index.html]Read more at CNN.com[/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
Anandtech: [link=http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1998]Samsung PC3700 - DDR466 Memory for the Masses[/link]
[blockquote]As a member of JEDEC, the industry standards committee, Samsung memory introductions are tied closely to approved JEDEC standards. Where DDR400 has been the standard highest-speed DDR for a while, Samsung's introduction of DDR466 represents the next, and probably last, standard for DDR memory speed. DDR466 is only a partially approved JEDEC standard, and speculation remains that DDR533 will likely never see the light of day as a memory specification with the upcoming introduction of DDR2. This, of course, is very much related to market acceptance of DDR2, since there was never supposed to be a DDR400 or DDR466 standard either.
DDR466, then, is the next standard DDR memory speed, and the Samsung modules represent the standard 3-4-4 timings and standard voltage. Custom memory makers, like Corsair, Geil, Kingmax, Kingston, Mushkin, OCZ and others, use specially selected "standard" memory chips to create whatever speed they choose, but the starting point for all memory is a standard chip manufactured to certain JEDEC standards.[/blockquote]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[blockquote]As Q1 begins to draw to a close, we have one more Intel roadmap to add to the mix. You may have already read some of our other [link=http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1948]Intel[/link] and [link=http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1947]AMD[/link] roadmaps from earlier this year. Intel also recently got some attention in our [link=http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.html?i=1982]server shootout[/link] between Opteron and Gallatin/Prestonia cored Xeons.
We have hinted at Nocona, Potomac, and Jayhawk earlier this year and in other roadmaps. Just as a small refresher, Potomac is the Xeon MP replacement scheduled for Q1 '05. Nocona (for 1P and 2P servers) will show up next quarter, while Nocona's successor (Jayhawk) will show up in 2005. The Pentium M derivatives are based off Intel's Dothan core. [/blockquote]
See the maps at [link=http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1995]Anandtech[/link]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[link=http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14749][b]NV40 is a 16 pipelines part[/b][/link]
[blockquote]The other side of this NV40 coin is that the real Mc Coy the real NV40 card that was taped out quite some time ago is actually going to be KIA [Killed in action]. Very knowledgeable friends told us recently in the Vienna Opera house that NV40 with 16 pipes and 210 millions of transistor is completely other chip then original NV40.
What actually happened is that Nvidia recently learned about R420 marchitecture and this entire 12x1 story and, that they will eventually end up in second place and decided to can NV40 project and to go immediately with NV45.[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14752][b]AMD's Hector gazes into IBM's crystal balls[/b][/link]
[blockquote] It seems that AMD decided that after the bang up work IBM did on the 90nm chips, it was time to cement the releationship. Ever wonder where the fully functional 90nm silicon came from at Comdex?
Yup, it seems AMD just monopolized IBM capacity, and NVidia and company were shown the door, politely most likely.[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14748][b]AMD to launch FX53 (2.4ghz 1MB L2) at CeBIT[/b][/link]
[blockquote]And at 5PM Hannover time, AMD - which doesn't seem able to afford a booth this year - is holding a press conference, presumably the press release will be in English English, rather than American English or American German, or German American.
Also, the German reviewers have been vouchsafed FX53 microprocessors, under penalty of NDA, to time with the Messe stuff.[/blockquote]
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March 16th, 2004 –
[link=http://www.ascully.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=344]Enermax A8 5.25 Fan Controller Review @ Ascully[/link]
[link=http://www.pyroport.com/content/32004/n126.shtml [link=http://www.pyroport.com/content/32004/n127.shtml]DELL BIOS corruption report @ PyroPort[/link]
[link=http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?action=view&revid=102]Overclocking the AMD Mobile Athlon XP CPU @ FastLaneHW[/link]
[link=http://www.pdatoday.com/maximumpda_more.php?id=1238_0_2_0_C]Asus "MyPal" A620BT
PocketPC with Bluetooth @ PDA Today[/link]
[link=http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=332]NEC ND-2500A DVD Writer @ TrustedReviews[/link]
[link=http://www.themodfathers.jolt.co.uk/?page=&action=show&id=8264]Sparkle FX5500 Graphics Card @ TheModfathers[/link]
[link=http://www.modthebox.com/review305_1.shtml]SilverStone SST-TJ01 Temjin & SST-FP52 Eudemon @ ModTheBox[/link]
[link=http://www.viperlair.com/articles/editorials/rants/strongarm.shtml]Change your content or else @ ViperLair[/link]
[link=http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?action=view&revid=103]http://www.fastlanehw.com/reviews.php?action=view&revid=103[/link]
[link=http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1557]Evercool CUW8-715 Copper Heatsink @ FrostyTech[/link]
[link=http://www.bytesector.com/data/bs-article.asp?ID=253]Panasonic SC-HT900 Home Theatre @ ByteSector[/link]
[link=http://www.ocia.net/reviews/Arctic-Cooling/arctic-cooling.shtml]Arctic-Cooling Super Silent 4ProL Heatsink Review @ OCIA.net[/link]
[link=http://www.extensiontech.net/reviews/accessories/mousepads/fxpad/fxpad.shtml]FlexiGlow FxGamepad Review @ ExtensionTech[/link]
[link=http://www.3dxtreme.net/index.php?id=gigabyte3dc-ugh-pcu31-vh1]Gigabyte 3D Cooler-Ultra GH-PCU31-VH Heatsink Review @ 3DX[/link]
[link=http://www.myworldhardware.com/v4/articles.php?ID=94]Nexus PHT-3600 SkiveTek HSF @ MyWorldHardware[/link]
Our pick: [link=http://www.viperlair.com/articles/editorials/rants/strongarm.shtml]ViperLair's take on websites being strongarmed. A blistering good read[/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
A draft letter purportedly circulated by Bill Lockyer to fellow state attorneys general characterizes P2P software as a "dangerous product" and describes the failure of technology makers to warn consumers of those dangers as a deceptive trade practice.
[blockquote]"We do not wish to make any comment at this time on any document that the office of the attorney general may or may not be developing," said Tom Dressler, spokesperson for Bill Lockyer in Sacramento. "But we remain concerned about the potential dangers posed to the public by peer-to-peer file-sharing technology."
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62665,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2][b]Read more[/b][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
[b]European Union[/b] officials are proposing to spend more than £30m to try to make the Internet safer for children.
[blockquote]The program, which needs to be approved by the EU governments comes at a time of growing concern over the potential dangers to children online.
"Children should have the right to use the internet freely, to chat, to learn or to play games," said Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.
"But to move freely online, children must be protected from risks of being exploited or cheated by adults."
[/blockquote]
[link=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3506478.stm][b]The full report[/b][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
An Australian man accused of heading an Internet piracy gang which plundered $US50 million ($68 million) worth of music, film, game and software products faces the prospect of a US jail term.
[blockquote]The Commonwealth DPP last week applied for the extradition to the US of Hew Raymond Griffiths, 42, of Berkeley Vale. They want Griffiths, code-named "Bandido" and allegedly co-leader of the Drink Or Die Internet gang, to face trial for criminal copyright breaches, including a conspiracy charge.
But Griffiths is fighting the US move, which has already seen several Internet associates jailed. His lawyer told a Sydney magistrate last week Griffiths "had never set foot in the US", and argued he had committed no crime in Australia.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8957483%255E421,00.html][b]The full story[/b][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
As previously reported last Tuesday, [b]Kodak[/b] has filed a complaint against [b]Sony[/b] alleging that the consumer electronics giant is infringing upon ten of its patents for digital still and video photography.
[blockquote]Patent disputes are common in emerging technology markets like digital photography, but this battle has the potential to get quite interesting, disrupting the industry's current balance of power. Kodak (nyse: EK - news - people ) says it invented "the first working digital camera prototype in 1976," although it famously got a very late start getting into digital camera production.[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.forbes.com/technology/2004/03/09/cx_pp_ii_0309sonykodak.html][b]The full report[/b][/link] - [link=http://www.short-media.com/comment.php?1111][i]Related news[/i][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
Three new Bagle variants discovered over the weekend differ from previous incarnations by using an antispam trick to try to avoid detection by antivirus software. Experts believe however the attempt won't succeed.
[blockquote]But now the Bagle author has released three new versions (N, O and P) of the worm that produce the password in the form of a graphic or picture file, so a simple text scan of the infected e-mail will not find the password. This trick is commonly used by Web sites to hide e-mail addresses from Web bots that trawl the Internet looking for potential spam targets.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-5173129.html?tag=nefd_top][b]The full report[/b][/link] - [link=http://www.short-media.com/comment.php?696][i]Related news[/i][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
[link=http://www.iamnotageek.com]Iamnotageek[/link] has put up an article looking at what we can expect from the next major update to [i]Windows XP[/i].
[blockquote]Windows XP SP2 should only be a few months away from public release. The more I use it the more I like it! On top of what I've found just by using it I read alot of Microsoft's 200 page document and found some additional goodies that will kick in in the future. The only reason why I'm writing this today is because it seems like 100% of the coverage on this has been about the security center. Yes this is an important step for Microsoft, but I want to show you guys some of the extra stuff nobodies talked about yet.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://www.iamnotageek.com/articles.php?aid=9&page=1][b]The full article[/b][/link]
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March 15th, 2004 –
The below download pack will allow anyone to run a dedicated [i]UT2004[/i] server, even if they do not own a retail copy of [i]UT2004[/i]. Once installed, it will occupy around 2.0 GB of disk space, significantly smaller than the 5.5GB required for a retail installation. Server admins wanting to advertise their server to the official master server list, and be included in [i]UT2004[/i] stats will require a dedicated server key.
[blockquote]The program you run is in the "System" directory:
- Windows admins use "ucc.exe"
- Linux/x86 admins use "ucc-bin"
- Linux/amd64 admins use "ucc-bin-linux-amd64"
- MacOS X admins use "ucc-bin-macosx"
[/blockquote]
[link=http://download.beyondunreal.com/fileworks.php/official/ut2004/ut2004-3186-dedicatedserver.zip][b]Download[/b][/link] (778MB)
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March 15th, 2004 –
[blockquote]But now we can reveal that the [b]R420 design features 12 working piplines[/b] from a possible maximum of 16.
The ATI R420 chip seems to be a heavily-tweaked R360 core, with added pipelines, built on a .13 marchitecture that allows the chips to run faster than ATI's current high-end chip milestone, a 412MHz R360.
As we previously said, the relative frequency numbers for this chip will be close to 500/1000MHz in its XT version; it will use GDDR 3 memory that consumes less power, and yet gives out less heat, than DDR 2.
Its all about the brawn this time, ATI says. And, with six vertex shader units, this chip ought to be very fast. [/blockquote]
The Inq: [link=http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14739]ATi's upcoming R420 to sport 12 pipelines[/link]
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