W.I.L. Tech-News Highlights for December 2003

Hardware

General

Ex-Whole Earth Catalog editor provides a forum for users to contribute their recommendations for the best tools at the Cool Tools website -- link.

The ultimate geek gift guide: Wired magazine presents 77 of the coolest stereos, 3-D screens, toys, cameras, DVRs, games and gadgets of the year -- link. Another gift suggestion list is here. A guide to geek gift guides here.

ExtremeTech’s nominations for the best products of 2003 -- link.

2004: The Year of the Upgrade -- Part I.

What is in store for 2004 and beyond? The experts have their say -- link.

AnandTech staff Christmas wish list (revised) -- link.

Christmas purchase guide from X-bit Labs. “Always Get the Best!” -- link.

The Inquirer’s review of hardware sites -- Part 2.

Hardware 5 years from now -- link.

PC recycling made easier -- link.

Tokyo Edge: New gadgets for the new year -- link.

December 2003 hardware news overview from X-bit Labs -- link.

December price guides, along with a review of CPU, Video Card, Memory and Motherboard trends from the last 12 months -- link.

Systems

Preparing your PC for a new graphics card -- link.
Preparing your PC for a new motherboard -- link.
Preparing your PC for a new sound card -- link.

Ars Technica comes out with their latest system guide -- link. “The Budget Box”, Ars’s choice for the low-outlay-but-high-performance current DIY sweet spot hardware configuration here.

ExtremeTech tells you how to build a speedy PC for less than $800 -- link.

Mirra Personal Server -- review.

Media PCs far too noisy for living rooms -- link.

Small form factor PC comparison matrix -- link 1, link 2.

CPUs/motherboards/chipsets

Intel and AMD face nastiest competitor of all: Microsoft -- link.

What would happen if Microsoft bought AMD? -- link.

New low-cost AMD chip Athlon64 3000+ is put through the paces -- link.

Budget CPUs tested and compared. Bottom line: Go with AMD Durons rather than Intel Celerons -- link. Comments here. Claim of lousy Intel Celeron performance vs. AMD Duron questioned -- link.

Transmeta chips finding their way into non-PC desktops -- link.

Report: Intel chip to pave way for cheap digital TVs -- link 1, link 2.

Showdown of chipsets with integrated graphics -- link.

Graphics, memory, storage

The fastest graphics cards of 2003 -- link.

Budget video card shootout here.

nVidia’s GeForce FX 5900 XT mid-range GPU -- review.

Trying to corral the awesome power of today’s GPUs for general-purpose tasks -- link.

Tom’s Hardware’s 46 (!) video card -- roundup.

8 dual format recordable DVD drives reviewed and compared -- link.

Miscellaneous components and periferals

Entry-level pen tablet shootout -- link.

Keyboards from Logitech and Microsoft -- reviews.

Miscellaneous product reviews
Athenatech A100SC Micro-ATX designer case -- review.
XPCases.com black X-Dreamer computer case -- review.
Thermalright SP-97 AMD Socket A Heatsink -- review.
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu CPU cooler -- review 1, review 2, review 3.
Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 heatsink for Socket 754/940 AMD processors -- review.
Zalman ZM80A-HP Heatpipe passive GPU Cooler -- review.
SilenX ultra quiet temperature controlled 80mm fan -- review.
SilenX 400 Watt ultra quiet power supply -- review 1, review 2.
SilenX 550 Watt power supply -- review.
Enermax 420 Watt Noisetaker power supply -- review.
Enermax UC-A8FATRA aluminum fan controller -- review.
Guide to heatsinks for “MOSFETs”, a set of transistors on your motherboard -- link.
Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space soundcard -- review.
“Project Silent PC” -- link.

Design-your-own computer case kits -- link.

LCDs tested contrast ratios rarely conform to vendors’ specs -- link.

The $40 device you didn’t know you needed: a webcam -- link.

Operating Systems

Linux

Windows-to-Linux roadmap: A multipart series from IBM -- link.

“Clueless Computer User’s Guide to Open Source” -- Lesson 1, Lesson 2.

Linux Distribution News & Reviews
Linux Desktop Distro Shootout Parts II - IV: Libranet 2.8.1; Mepis; LindowsOS 4.5.
ADIOS Linux Boot CD is a very interesting bootable Linux live CD -- link.
Linux Journal on Gentoo Linux -- review.
Sun sends Linux to the desktop with Java Desktop System -- link.
Libranet 2.8.1 Flagship Edition -- review.
Introducing Lorma Linux 4.0, based on Fedora Core but not from Red Hat -- link.
PCLinuxOS 2K4, a Linux-on-a-CD distribution based on Mandrake -- review.
An introduction to Slackware -- link.
Three months with Slackware Linux 9.1 -- link.
Back to basics with Slackware Linux -- link.
XandrOS 2.0 -- review.

Sun’s Java Desktop System, which combines Linux, Mozilla, GNOME and StarOffice, creates a credible challenger to Microsoft’s Windows and Office on the corporate desktop -- review 1, review 2.

PHLAK (Professional Hacker’s Linux Assault Kit) bootable CD Linux distribution version 0.2 released -- link.

The Wonderful World of Linux 2.6 (2.6.0 update) -- link.

“Real Desktop Linux”, Parts I & II -- link 1, link 2.

Business Linux users play the waiting game with SCO -- link.

Computing 5 years from now: What the Unix world might look like -- link. What the Windows world might look like -- link.

Why it is sometimes worthwhile for Small and Medium Enterprises to migrate to Linux -- link.

Using Linux as a small business Internet gateway -- Part 1, Part 2.

A Mac OS X User Reviews KDE -- link.

Lightweight Linux window manager/desktop environment XFce-4 -- review.

IBM’s Linux Technology Center evaluates the long-term reliability of Linux, and gives it high grades -- link.

LinuxWorld looks at Linux in 2004 -- link.

BSDs, other Unixes

Open for Business Desktop FreeBSD how-to series -- Part 1: Installation; Part 2: Initial Setup.

Overview of the FreeBSD ports and packages collection -- link.

Windows and DOS

The IT industry is shifting away from Microsoft -- link.

2004 the year Microsoft’s prices bend, buckle or break? -- link.

DOS ... not dead yet -- link.

Mac, Other OS’s

Looking back at Apple’s 2003 -- link.

Macworld wish list for Steve -- link.

Michael Phipps, project leader of OpenBeOS, interviewed -- link.

Pegasos II system with MorphOS starts shipping -- link.

Applications

RSS ahead in 2004 -- link.

How to burn an ISO image onto a CD -- tutorial.

Star Office 7: Great office suite, but worth the price vs. OpenOffice.org? -- link.

Using OpenOffice/StarOffice Calc to create a simple contact or personal information manager -- tutorial.

Mozilla engineering director Chris Hofmann Q&A -- link.

Acronis revamps True Image, merging drive imaging functions with daily backups -- link.

The Gimp does it all -- link.

Programming

Review of Python IDEs -- link. Discussion here.

The Python Learning Foundation has been revived -- link.

A look at the Jython programming language -- link. Discussion here.

The Ruby programming language’s present and future -- link.

Articles published on O’Reilly’s ONJava in 2003 -- index.

SVG and XForms -- link 1, link 2.

Elementary games programming -- tutorial.

Design your program to limit the ways data can get into your program -- link. Discussion here.

Security & Privacy

Tech Outlook 2004: A Look Ahead at Security -- link.

Spam Laws: Bark or Bite? -- link.

eWeek special report, “Securing Windows”, containing links all of to the ezine’s articles related the subject -- link.

The limits to the security provided by SSH -- link (scroll down).

Viruses, worms will worsen in 2004 -- link.

RIAA is succeeding where the Cypherpunks failed in encouraging the use of encryption -- link.

Linux firewall Firestarter introduction -- link.

MUTE: a new file sharing network that protects your privacy -- link.

The Internet is a very sick place -- link.

Reflecting on Linux Security in 2003 -- link.

Scam targets Visa customers -- link.

Stop Christmas-gift PCs from feeding worms -- link.

Miscellaneous

Top tech stories of 2003 -- link.

Losers, winners and coming headaches of 2004 -- link.

eWEEK special report: The best (and worst of 2003), plus a wish list for 2004 -- link.

Who will build our digital future? Open and highly dispersed networks of motivated people are organizing around galvanizing ideas, often offering results of their work for free -- link.

David Byrne uses Microsoft PowerPoint as a creative tool -- link.

Voice over IP is cheap, easy and available. Find out how it works and where to get connected -- link.

VoIP is here, there, everywhere -- link.

Watching the Net’s background radiation -- link 1, link 2.

AOL offers $10/month dial-up service under Netscape’s name -- link.

On the dangers of declining numbers of Internet access providers -- link.

A dozen experts, in fields of privacy, defense, spam, security, open source, technology development, life online and human rights, answer the question: “What do you wish would happen in 2004, and what do you think will actually happen?” -- link.