W.I.L. Tech-News Highlights for January 2004

Hardware

General

2003 in review: Ace’s Hardware’s take here. [H]ard|OCP’s awards for 2003’s “[H]ardest” here. X-bit labs’s 2003 hardware overview here. The best of 2003 according to X-bit labs readers here.

10 technologies to watch in 2004 -- link.

PC interiors to change radically in 2004. We probably will not see this many changes in as short a time for many years to come -- link.

Consumer Electronics Show 1994 coverage: The Inquirer’s is here. New Antec products showcased in Las Vegas -- link. PC World’s CES 2004 picks and pans here; wrapup here. ExtremeTech’s CES 1994 wrapup here; technology trends analysis here; view in pictures here. Anandtech’s coverage here, here (VIA’s new gaming console covered), and here. LostCircuits’s summary here. CES was disappointing says one analyst -- link.

VIA Technologies’ Ben Boyden interviewed -- link.

The pros and cons of OEM hardware -- link.

Buying Computer Parts: What To Say And Do -- link.

Systems

Reason’s quiet Athlon 64 machine, Tier-1, review.

Unusual PCs from Nimble, Hush, Antelope, and Pelham Sloane -- link.

A first timer at building his own PC shares the experience -- link.

Shuttle’s Zen XPC ST62K small form factor system is almost silent with its external power supply -- review 1, review 2. Discussion here.

Shuttle’s tiny, and quiet, XPC ST61G4 -- review.

ABIT DiGiDice barebones system pleasing to eyes and nose -- review.

Gaming PC buyer’s guide for January -- link.

Tadpole Linux laptop a prince among young frogs? -- link.

IBM ThinkPad T41 is the best notebook the reviewer has ever used -- link.

Intel out to accelerate commoditization of the notebook market -- link.

Gateway to buy eMachines. Post-merger company would be 3rd largest U.S. PC manufacturer, with 7% market share -- link 1, link 2.

CPUs/motherboards/chipsets

How could Intel have killed the x86 CPU architecture, as opposed to how things have actually gone? -- link.

-- AMD

AMD64 processors described and compared with Intel and AMD32 offerings -- link. Discussion here.

AMD’s Athlon 64 3400+: Death of the FX-51 -- link. Athlon 64 3400+ also put through its paces -- link.

The Inquirer’s catalog and summary of AMD Athlon 64 3000+ reviews -- link. Athlon 64 3000+ compared vs. 11 competitors -- link.

AMD Socket 939 platform to emerge in late March -- link. AMD 2004 CPU roadmap update -- link. AMD Bets on 512KB cache with New Athlon 64, not likely to popularize 1MB L2 in 2004 -- link.

Athlon 64 FX motherboards -- roundup. Athlon64 boards found lagging in memory support -- link.

Athlon 64 Motherboard shootout (46 pages) -- link.

The ECS 755-A2 motherboard: Performance and Value for the Athlon 64 -- review.

AMD Opteron racing ahead in its quest to become the dominant 64-bit processor architecture on workstations and servers -- link.

Opteron gives Xeon a kicking in various server benchmarks -- link.

-- Intel

Intel 2004 CPU/Chipset roadmap update -- link.

Pentium M makes it to the desktop market -- link. Pentium M designed for greatness -- link.

Intel 90nm Prescott pipeline longer than 130nm Northwood’s -- link. Intel’s Prescott reveals its process problems -- link.

Initial distributors prices for Intel Prescotts are out -- link.

Prescott’s performance stunningly average, but Intel never promised more -- link.

ASUS starts to sell high-end mainboard based on ATI Radeon 9100 chipset (takes Intel chips) with integrated graphics processor -- link.

Intel desktop motherboard roadmap update. BTX board looms into view -- link.

Intel hints of 64-bit x86 chips -- link 1, link 2, link 3. Discussion here.

-- Other

IBM claims massive power cut in moving from 130nm process to 90nm for G5 -- link.

Xbit-labs takes an in-depth look at the IBM PowerPC G5 -- link.

Transmeta introduces Crusoe TM5700 and TM5900 microprocessors, creating a “new standard” in ultra-compact, efficient computing -- link 1, link 2, link 3.

Xbox 2 to get 65nm CPU -- link.

Sony’s experience shows just how hard chip companies are finding the move to 90nm -- link.

IBM to merge server, chip groups in an effort to improve chip division’s performance -- link 1, link 2.

Graphics

New products challenge graphics chip heavyweights: Dual-chip XGI Volari Duo V8 Ultra graphics card from Club 3D comes up short -- review. S3 DeltaChrome S8 midrange graphics card review -- jury still out on the former graphics heavyweight’s reentry.

Graphics card using nVidia’s mid-priced Geforce FX 5900XT chip tested. For mainstream money you get a high-end card -- review. ATI responds -- link.

nVidia NV40 sketches specs of next-generation NV40 chip -- link 1, link 2.

New professional 2D Solutions from nVidia are shipping -- link.

nVidia, ATI head for PCI Express showdown -- link.

nVidia, Intel target corporates with multi-screen rigs -- link.

Mobile GPU Q1 2004 update -- link.

Memory, storage

The benefits and the disadvantages of Serial ATA explored -- link.

Four Low-Cost ATA controllers -- shootout.

RAID technology proves its mettle on the desktop -- link.

Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 2.5” HDD achieves 7,200rpm -- link.

Two 2.5” external USB 2.0 hard drives -- reviews.

USB i-Duck memory device might quack you up -- link.

Other components

AMD Aircooling/Heatsink roundup 2003 -- link.

SilenX’s 400 watt 14 dBA (i.e., essentially silent) power supply unit review. Discussion here.

Arctic-Cooling Copper Silent 2L heat sink for AMD Athlon/Durons is effective, inexpensive, cool-looking, and very quiet -- review.

The Thermalright SP97 heat sink with its triple heat pipes is found to be quite effective -- review.

Codecs, bit rates, formats and all that: Digital audio primer -- link.

Tiny Asus 802.11b WL-330 can act as an access point connect to an existing wireless infrastructure using Ethernet connection -- link.

Atheros puts 802.11g wireless networking on a single chip -- link.

Periferals, miscellaneous products

Flatbed scanner guide: Glance from inside -- link.

Xerox launches lower-cost printers, keeping pressure on HP -- link.

Inke unveils clean, cheap ink jet refills -- link.

Battery Eater: Notebook battery life tester -- link.

Portable fuel cells coming soon? -- link 1, link 2.

A guide to upgrading your keyboard and mouse -- link. Discussion here.

Watch for compact, low-cost digital cameras from Kodak, Nikon, Casio, Aiwa, and others -- link. But why bother with a digital camera? For the quality and the cost of prints, the value is not there yet -- link.

Convert Your Videotapes to DVD -- link. DVD recorders add VHS playback and recording, hard-drive storage -- link.

LightScribe simplifies CD/DVD labeling -- link.

Creative GigaWorks S750 7.1 speaker system review.

Tokyo edge: January’s greatest gadgets -- link.

Tokyo tech envy: Why does the neat stuff all surface first in gear marketed in Japan? -- link.

Operating Systems

Linux

A user details his experience migrating from Windows XP to SUSE 9 -- link 1, link 2.

LWN’s “Obviously Incorrect 2004 Predictions” -- link.

Latest in CLI for noobies series covers understanding permissions -- link. Is the command line necessary for most Linux users? -- link.

KDE 3.2 Beta 2 user -- review 1, review 2. KDE 3.1.4 available on Cygwin/XFree. Try out KDE on Windows -- link.

Microsoft releases Windows (NT/2000/XP) Services for Unix as free beer -- link.

Migration from Windows to Linux saved business thousands -- link.

High-end graphics specialist SGI kicks off plan to put Linux at the center of the visualization market -- link.

Linux on Mac/PPC machines -- link.

The State of Linux on AMD64 -- link.

LinuxWorld Conference and Expo article round-ups -- link 2, link 2. Linux is now mainstream -- link. Pictures from LinuxWorld -- link. Linuxworld 2004: And now a word from our corporate sponsors -- link.

Report from Linux.Conf.Au -- link.

Linux getting more Windows look-alike desktop packages -- link.

Stuart Cohen of Open Source Development Labs interviewed, “Linux’s center of gravity” -- link. OSDL creates client Linux spec -- link. There is a new open source advocacy group in town -- link.

The last Linux on the desktop article (hopefully) -- link. Suggested framework for a consistent, full-featured Linux desktop platform -- link.

Bruce Perens looks at Linux’s court and market battles, plus community projects -- link.

GameCube Linux Project releases program intended as a first step toward running Linux on Nintendo’s GameCube -- link 1, link 2.

Kernel related stuff: A wishlist for the 2.7 kernel -- link. Discussion here. Moving device drivers from the kernel to user-space -- link.

Getting involved with a Linux User Group (LUG) -- link.

John C. Dvorak speculates on IBM “Blue Linux” on the desktop -- link.

BSDs, other Unixes

FreeBSD introduction for Linux users -- link. Discussion here.

Simple FreeBSD installation yields functional desktop system -- link.

FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE -- review1, review 2. Discussion here. FreeBSD October-December 2003 status report -- link.

Quickly installing OpenBSD 3.3 -- how to.

Getting and installing NetBSD-current -- link.

Putting an old Sun Ultra 5 to use: A Geek Odyssey -- Part I, Part II, Part III.

IT Investor’s Journal: A close look at Sun Microsystems -- link.

2.1 billion reasons why former Cobalt chief is not bitter over the company’s demise -- link.

Windows and DOS

PC Annoyances book well worth owning if you are a Windows user -- link.

Cutting Windows down to size with XPlite, 2000lite, and 98lite from LitePC -- link.

Preview: Inside the Windows XP Service Pack 2 beta -- link.

Fake Longhorn on your Windows XP with Desktop Sidebar -- link.

Microsoft to start testing a new version of Windows XP Media Center edition -- link.

The DR-DOS/OpenDOS Enhancement Project gets FAT32 support -- link.

DOSBox: A DOS Emulator -- tutorial. DOS emulation under Linux -- guide.

Dell now offers (cheaper) PCs with FreeDOS instead of Windows -- discussions here, here.

DOSEMU, a PC Emulator for x86-based Linux, version 1.2.0 announced -- link.

Mac

What is Mac OS X? -- link.

To mark the 20th anniversary Apple’s Macintosh, Wired News is running several stories this week about the groundbreaking machine, the people who created it and the Mac’s impact on computing and culture in general -- links here, here, here, here. The 20 Macs that mattered most -- link. The (mouse) click heard ‘round the world -- link. Jobs actually wanted to kill the Mac project in its infancy -- link.

The Mac turns 20. From “insanely great” to “think different”, what has Apple taught, and learned? -- link. Apple Macintosh turns 20: What a yawn -- link.

Project: Creating a modern-day machine inside a 20 year old Mac case -- link.

Confident Apple for 2004 -- link. A day in the life ... MacWorld Expo 2004 -- Part 1, Part 2. Macworld a little bare, but fun -- link. Detailed wrapup of news and announcements from or near the time of the expo -- link.

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, 3rd (Panther) Edition -- book review.

Xgrid turns a group of Macs into a supercomputer that is “as easy as Macintosh” to manage -- link.

Moving from OS 9 to OS X without tears -- link.

Smart file sharing between Macs and PCs -- link.

Other OS’s

SkyOS 5.0 beta -- review. Comments here.

Virtual machine twoOStwo is a virtualization technology the x86 platform, that allows one to launch several operating systems simultaneously on a single computer -- link.

Introduction to MorphOS -- presentation.

ReactOS, an Open Source OS that aims to be compatible with Windows, releases version 0.2 -- link.

Motorola, IBM Endorse Genesi’s Open Desktop Workstation -- link.

PalmOne mulls non-Palm OS options -- link.

Applications

Where to go for documentation when the original manual stinks -- link. Background article here.

Explaining open source software, from the standpoint of what policies are prudent for the corporate environment -- link.

A VC is looking for companies that develop open source applications and databases -- link.

Why run Free Software on a PDA? -- link.

Open source software outfit forms secret society to combat MS “hit teams” -- link.

Establishing an efficient and non-destructive workflow for digital images -- Part 1, Part 2.

Flash Lite to dominate the user interface of the phone of the future? -- link.

What is the state of the JPEG2000 standard? -- discussion.

Adobe anti-counterfeiting code trips up kosher users -- link. Currency detector easy to defeat -- link. HP has been shipping currency anti-copying software in their printer drives -- link.

RealPlayer 10 released -- link 1, link 2. Three Minutes with RealNetworks’ exec Rob Glaser -- link. Did RealNetworks violate the DMCA with their music player? -- link.

Winamp guru leaves Nullsoft after excellent version 5 release -- link.

Choosing an open-source database -- link.

MySQL 5.0 preview -- link. MaxDB, MySQL’s enterprise-class brother: a work in progress -- link. MySQL Administrator, the new GUI for MySQL -- discussion.

MySQL crash course -- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Primer on tweaking MySQL (4.x).

NBOR’s Dyoun & Blackspace workspace application interesting but not complete -- review.

The Bochs x86 PC emulator -- link.

Creating page styles on OpenOffice Writer -- how to.

AbiWord version 2.0.3 released -- link.

Networking, Internet

Mozilla 1.6 released -- link 1, link 2, link 3.

From 10,000 feet, Mozilla’s architecture looks remarkably similar to Windows Longhorn’s -- link.

Mozilla roadmap update: Application Suite will be sustained -- link.

Companies learning to harness benefits of instant messaging -- link.

How to best create an online web forum for a business? -- discussion.

An introduction to the Twisted Networking Framework -- link.

Novell releases open beta of GroupWise 6.5 for Linux, claiming that it is the first groupware product to run entirely on Linux at both the server and desktop -- link.

Web2Mail service rescues broken Outlook Express -- link.

Sun planning to incorporate software from Project Jxta, its peer-to-peer computing initiative, into its commercial lines -- link 1, link 2.

Installation of LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) using Apache Toolbox very helpful for novice users -- link.

Recipes from O’Reilly’s Apache Cookbook -- link 1, link 2.

Creating a Web site using WebMake -- Part 1, Part 2.

Desktop Linux/Unix oriented

How to Use The GIMP for Photo and Image Editing tutorial -- Part 1, Part 2. Overview of The GIMP -- link. First preview of The GIMP 2.0 ready for testing -- readme; discussion.

First pre-release of GIMP Animation Package for GIMP-2.0 available -- link.

GStreamer: Multiple-capability multimedia application for Linux -- link.

Customer relationship management software on Linux -- link.

Throw that GUI out the door: Unix console applications that shine -- link.

Introduction to segusoLand, “a program for GNU/linux that enables users to specify actions in a very uniform and intuitive way” -- link.

Pogo, lightweight Linux application launcher -- review.

Xft for smoother, eye-friendly fonts on Linux -- link.

Straw is a desktop news aggregator (also known as RSS Feed Reader) for the GNOME environment -- tutorial.

KDE project’s KOffice 1.3 office suite released. It has the ability to import PDF files into KWord and make changes to the document -- link.

SVG drawing tool Inkscape touched on here (scroll down).

GNU TeXmacs, an interactive structured typesetting system, releases version 1.0.3 -- link.

Programming

What is the effect of using 64-bit pointers? -- discussion.

Version Control Systems -- overview.

How to switching from another industry to engineering/CS? -- discussion.

Graphical user interface

Rapid Application Development using PyQt and Eric3 -- link. Comments here. PyQt 3.10 released -- link.

BlackAdder 1.0 Windows/Linux UI development environment for Python based on Qt available -- link.

C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3 -- book review.

“The Independent Qt Tutorial” has been updated -- link.

Advanced UI design using GTK+ -- link.

Implementing skins in GTK/C aps using a modified version of the SLIK interface -- link.

The coming GNOME takeover by Mono/GTK# -- link.

The Tk text widget -- link.

Interview with principal developers of web content manager Plone (built on top of Zope) here. Discussion here.

Build your own browser using WebKit, the Cocoa/Carbon framework that is the basis for Apple’s Safari -- link.

Absolute CSS positioning the future of Web layout, and maybe its present -- link.

C/C++/Java family

Microsoft expands C# with Xen -- link.

C coding tip: self-manage data buffer memory -- link. Discussion here.

Open Watcom C/C++/Fortran compiler version 1.2 released -- link. Discussion here.

IBM Announces C/C++ and Fortran Compilers for Mac OS X -- link.

Secure Programming Cookbook for C and C++ -- book review.

Extended C++, Java and C# benchmarks -- link.

Conversation with lead C# architect Anders Hejlsberg -- link (part 7, links to parts 1-6 on first page).

Scientific Computing: C++ versus Fortran -- link.

Introduction to Aspect-Oriented Programming -- link.

Alpha Java geek James Gosling returns to Sun, talks to CNet -- link.

Native code sharing coming with Java 1.5 -- link.

New age dawns at Eclipse as it gets set to announce its independence from founder IBM -- link. Discussion here. Sun’s open letter to Eclipse membership -- link 1, link 2.

Scripting and high-level languages

Lightweight scripting/extension languages discussions -- link 1, link 2.

Site worth bookmarking: Scripting Language City.

The state of Perl -- link. Perl certification is in the air -- link.

Learning Python, 2nd Edition -- book review.

PyX, a Python graphics package for the creation of encapsulated PostScript figures, has released version 0.5 -- link.

Using Sprites in PyGame -- link.

“Pathological” game written using PyGame, and it is addicting -- link.

Spidering Hacks by O’Reilly is targeted at everyone who wants to automate surfing the web and has some programming experience -- review.

“Pascal Costanza’s Highly Opinionated Guide to Lisp” version 1.3 -- link.

Using PHP 5’s SimpleXML -- link. Core PHP Programming book review.

Q, a multi-platform functional scripting language, version 4.6 is released -- link.

AppleScript: the Definitive Guide -- book review.

Security & Privacy

The more anyone tries to control the Internet, the more people will move over to “darknets” -- link.

Identifying and mitigating risks on wireless networks -- link.

IBM, Philips, Microsoft jump on RFID bandwagon -- link 1, link 2.

Security worries for 2004 -- link.

Software vulnerabilities still dog operating systems -- link. But some challenge the story’s claims -- link.

45% of the executable files downloaded through Kazaa contain malicious code like viruses and Trojan horses -- link.

The Enemy Within: Firewalls and Backdoors -- link.

Locking your door in 2004 -- link.

The Eight Rules of Security -- link.

Crypto plan to give file-sharers greater anonymity -- link.

SuSE to announce Linux security certification -- link.

SecureProgramming.com: Recipes for cryptography, authentication, networking, input validation & more.

Introduction to OpenVPN -- link.

Web application security testing with a custom proxy server -- link.

Security bugs floor Google’s Friendster-clone -- link.

US Department of Homeland Security set to compete with Symantec et al with a new cyberthreat alert/remedy service -- link 1, link 2, link 3.

Highly critical errors in popular firewall software from Check Point need filling quick -- link.

Latest cyber extortion threats focused on gambling sites -- link.

FBI agent talks about computer security and the general public’s complete lack of any idea on computer security -- link. Discussion here.

Things you can do with a PGP/GnuPG key besides signing and encrypting email and files -- link.

Microsoft

Is Microsoft doing enough to fix its security mess? Users respond -- link.

Bill Gates: Viruses and hackers make Windows more secure -- link.

Spyware becoming more common, and getting harder to fight -- link.

Novarg/Mydoom worm delivering its nasty load via email -- link 1, link 2, link 3. More links here. MyDoom is the worst virus ever -- link 1, link 2. Online jubilation among reactions to MyDoom’s SCO attack -- link.

MyDoom-B programmed to attack both Microsoft.com and SCO’s Web site -- link, here. Mydoom-infected PCs leave back doors open to further attack -- link. Nothing about Mydoom, so far, that a combination of antivirus, e-mail filtering, and intrusion-detection technologies cannot handle -- link. More MyDoom gloom here. MyDoom tracked to Russia, can SCO defend? -- link.

Week in review: Virus king -- link.

Fresh bug found in Internet Explorer -- link.

In light of recent security threats The Inquirer brings back its guide to protecting your (Windows OS) PC’s butt -- link.

IE update will block some URLs -- link 1, link 2.

SP2 presents Windows XP security dilemma -- link.

Spam, advertising

The changing face of intrusive online advertising: From pop-ups to video -- link.

Spammers will get more creative and worms will worsen, one expert predicts -- link.

Adding potentially filter-foiling gibberish becoming a common component of spam -- link. Spam filters weeding out good along with the bad -- link.

Interview with a bulk emailer (spammer) here, here, here, and here.

AOL tests new email protocol, Sender Permitted From, that halts e-mail using spoofed addresses -- link.

Report from MIT 2004 spam conference link.

U.S. Can-Spam antispam law not doing much good -- link.

User receives more spam from anti-virus product companies than the latest worm itself! -- link.

FTC seeks to secure more than a million servers that can be spoofed by spammers -- link.

Miscellaneous

While America works to protect intellectual property, everyone else is innovating -- link.

Meet Saudi Arabia’s most famous computer expert -- link.

Convenient web service: Acronym Finder -- home page.

Information on lucid dreaming, controlling dreams, and more -- link.

An analysis of the psyches of Batman and his adversaries -- link.

Business

Self publishing success story -- link.

7,500 tax-free dollars at your feet. Look down! -- link.

History repeating itself as technology offshoring today follows in the tracks hardware made 15 years ago -- link.

HP decides on anti-consumer strategy -- link 1, link 2.

Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno launching a musicians’ alliance that would let artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels -- link.

Ebay lets sellers make up their own positive feedback -- link.

How Amazon turned a profit -- link. Amazon and eBay contrasted -- link.

Tech’s medical marvels -- link. Programming and IT career opportunities in radiology -- link.

The Internet

Who is winning the file sharing wars? -- link. RIAA may have declared victory too soon -- link 1, link 2, link 3. RIAA loses power to bully -- link.

Not yet time for record labels to be smug about the end of piracy -- link. Business Week trashes RIAA’s strategy -- link. P2P companies say they cannot filter -- link.

There’s a gaggle chasing Google -- link 1, link 2.

“Google bombing” contest to see who comes up first when using the search terms “miserable failure” -- link.

Why the future of search may be open source -- link.

“Booble” porn search engine explains meaning of parody to Google lawyers -- link.

Social nets not making friends -- link.

Net activism and the future of domains -- link.

Science

Quantum Dots and Programmable Matter -- link.

Learning to track like a Bushman -- link.

Global warming vs. record cold spells. What gives? -- link.

Telecommunications

Wi-fi and the future of wireless communication -- link. Will pressure to speed up 802.11n wreck the standards process? -- link.

Wireless Broadband could rival cable and DSL, but hurdles remain -- link. Discussion here.

AT&T and Verizon introduce high-speed wireless data services for laptops, PDAs -- link.

VoIP is back, bearing all the markings of a Next Big Thing -- link. The Internet and VoIP are already subject to a myriad of statutes and court decisions -- link.

WiMAX approaches tipping point with new specs and carrier support -- link.