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

Hardware

PC World’s “Best of 2004”: The year’s top hardware, software, sites, and services -- link.

How to build a safe, secure home network -- link. Beating the Wireless Blues: how to boost your network’s reliability -- link.

Computex 2004 best product awards -- link.

Computex lets loose, proves it does not take itself too seriously -- link.

“CompuBots” draw on PC history -- link.

What market will Intel make over next? Experts say storage -- link.

SuperGuide: Everything you wanted to know about HDTV -- link.

New portable fuel cell technology could lead to new power sources for notebooks and PDAs -- link 1, link 2.

Toshiba touts pump-free fuel cell for MP3 players -- link.

Industrial Design Excellence Awards 2004 announced -- link. Discussion here.

Systems

Latest buyer’s guides from AnandTech -- Entry Level System; Mid-Range System.

Notebook makers want a place in your living room -- link.

The Inquirer shows U.K. residents how to obtain a £260 Gamer’s PC with 21” monitor and XP2500+ performance -- link; U.S. buyers can geta a Radeon 9700 pro card in a sub $500 gamer’s PC -- link.

Transmeta shows off smallest PC in the world -- link.

Toshiba Portege M100 is a good solution for people who spend much time traveling and working on the run -- review.

Sony Vaio VGN-X505VP review.

What 2007 means to your data center -- link.

How to revolutionize the PC look -- link.

Xbox 2 hardware specs sneak into Web -- link.

Build it: A $1500 all-around Pentium 4-based PC -- link.

CPUs/motherboards/chipsets

Via lays out its vision for the future and some new products at Computex -- link.

Fall 2004 motherboard preview: A sea of new -- link.

The State of the Motherboard: 2004 is shaping up to be a year of major shifts in form factors, core logic technologies, and processors -- link.

Transmeta shows 1.6 GHz Efficeon chip, which includes support for Microsoft’s NX security feature -- link 1, link 2.

Fast, Faster and IBM’s PlayStation 3 Processor -- link. What if Toshiba launches a PC based on this processor into the Asian market and IBM follows in the American and European markets? -- link.

Microsoft gaming PC page still does not mention Athlon 64 -- link.

Via shipping ultra-low profile mini-ITX mainboard -- link.

-- AMD

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ and FX-53: The first Socket 939 CPUs bring the finishing touch to the Athlon 64 line -- link 1, link 2. More reviews linked to in discussion here.

Socket 939 Chipsets: Motherboard performance and PCI/AGP locks -- link.

Meeting the first Socket 939 processors: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ and Athlon 64 3500+ -- review 1, review 2.

Athlon 64 3400+ model number criticism: Have some hardware review sites been overly critical? -- link. AMD Athlon 64 3700+ review.

AMD’s pricing puzzle -- link. AMD readies “Sempron” value-segment processors -- link 1, link 2. AMD Sempron: The new Duron hits the scene -- analysis.

AMD’s mobile Athlon 64 roadmap unveiled -- link 1, link 2.

EPoX 8KDA3+ nForce3-based motherboard is expensive for what it offers -- review. EPoX dares to release a high end Socket A motherboard -- link.

AMD updates AMD-8000 chipset family; enables PCI-X 2.0 support to AMD64 servers -- link.

AMD begins tape-out of first dual core Opteron -- link 1, link 2. AMD chip strategy shakes Intel to the core -- link.

AMD: no longer the also-ran -- link.

Asus is surprisingly forthright in its AMD advocacy -- link.

-- Intel

Partners not happy with Intel BTX chassis designs -- link.

Pentium M Dothan performance prompts unleashing of chip designers -- link.

Intel’s upcoming Pentium M-based desktop processor (Conroe?) will not support the company’s HyperThreading technology -- link.

PCI Express 915 and 925 boards are everywhere -- link. Intel advances the desktop platform -- link.

Intel i915P, G and i925X chipsets implement PCI Express, changes the CPU socket and memory in one fell swoop -- reviews. First tests of Intel’s new chipsets here. PCI Express launched in time for the future -- link.

Intel’s 925X & LGA-775: Are Prescott 3.6, and PCI Express graphics, any faster? -- link.

Intel’s new motherboard audio sub-system arrives -- review.

Cheaper Pentium Ms arrive -- link. Updated Intel Wi-Fi module trims Centrino prices -- link.

Celeron D: New, improved & exceeds expectations -- review 1, review 2, review 3.

Intel releases 64-bit Xeon “Nocona” chip -- link 1, link 2.

Itanium’s very survival in doubt -- analysis.

Graphics

Revision 5.0 of “The Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide!” -- link.

ATI introduces three new desktop parts and one new mobile part, first 110nm chips, and reference design for a modular PCI Express graphics platform -- link 1, link 2, link 3.

nVidia unleashes NV45 graphics processor -- link.

Hercules, now out of the graphics card business, lays into nVidia -- link.

Computex 2004: Graphics cards galore -- link.

Video card image quality comparison -- link.

Startup sells USB 2.0 graphics adapters -- link.

Powercolor offerings stand out from the graphics crowd -- link.

XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra has everything you would expect from a cutting edge graphics card -- review.

ATI’s HDTV Wonder: Bringing DTV to your PC -- review 1, review 2.

The most useless video card features of our time -- link.

Gainward’s Cool FX 2600 is the Maserati of the graphics market. At a hefty €899 you will definitely get the fastest of the fast -- review.

Intel’s new integrated graphics: Not that good, but a step forward for cheap machines -- link.

Club 3D ATI X800-based card a quiet and fast performer -- review.

Memory, storage

Nanotube non-volatile memory entering production -- link.

USB 2.0 Hi-speed Flash drives roundup here.

Exabyte’s new tape drive handles high capacity with faster speeds and notable efficiency -- link.

New DDR Highs: Shikatronics, OCZ, and the fastest memory yet -- link.

Elpida boosts DRAM to SRAM speeds -- link.

AnandTech’s June Optical and Magnetic Storage price guides here.

-- Hard drives

Toshiba to launch 60GB version of its 1.8” hard drive, and has already found a customer in Apple Computer -- link.

Speedy new Hitachi 400GB desktop hard drive in the new king of big -- link.

Apricorn’s USB 1.8” hard drive mini models need no AC adapter for 40GB or less of storage capacity -- link.

Q2 2004 desktop hard drive comparison: WD Raptor vs. the world -- link.

Seagate unveils roadmap, aims towards 500GB hard disk drive -- link 1, link 2.

Maxtor’s MaXLine III 250GB brings 16MB buffers and NCQ to hard drives -- review.

Fujitsu ramps up 100GB notebook drives -- link.

300GB storage devices roundup -- here.

HDGuard Pro hard disk drive data protection hardware -- link.

Icy Box allows access to a 3.5” hard drive via USB 2.0 port -- link.

-- DVDs

Fast-lane DVD burning: 12 drives and 7 software suites for massive data backups, high-quality video and audio tested -- link 1, link 2, link 3.

DVD is picking up speed and storage capacity, but format wars and high prices may mean a wait for the most advanced new technologies -- link.

A survey of DVD recording formats -- link.

Rewriteable DVD formats may soon equal the performance of their write-once relatives -- link.

Your DVD burner is obsolete -- link.

LG GSA-4120B: The high speed multi-DVD format champion -- link.

When good CD/DVD discs go bad -- link.

6 DVD burners roundup -- link.

Power, cooling, cases

Cases and cooling products from the 2004 Computex: Toys from Thermaltake -- link; Coolermaster products -- link; cool new cases from Lian-Li -- link; Zalman cooling products and PSU -- link. Computex 2004: A look at what is to come for cases and cooling -- link.

15 fan control devices tested -- link.

Titan cools Athlon 64 Socket 754 chips quietly -- link.

OCZ power supply is the bee’s knees -- link.

Silverstone ST30NF 300W PSU has no fan -- review.

Mega-review of 15 tower cases -- link.

Displays, printing

2004 Society of Information Display (SID) conference wrap-up -- link.

Flat panel face-off -- link.

New LCD monitors from Samsung, part II -- link.

New Apple re-designed displays include 30” size, nonpropriety display connector -- link.

13 color laser printers tested and compared -- link. Top 10 comparison table here.

The cheapskate’s guide to printing: save on ink and paper -- link.

Miscellaneous components and periferals

HomePlug uses home electrical wiring to connect PCs -- link.

Apple introduces portable Wi-Fi base station that doubles as a receiver for streaming music to a home stereo -- link.

HP iPaq 4150 a frisky little number, hindered only by lack of keyboard -- link.

OlympusVN-240PC digital voice recorder review.

Sennheiser PC 140 and PC 150 headset -- reviews.

Operating Systems

Linux

How to Master GNU/Linux in 20 steps -- link.

Kernel version 2.6.7 is out -- link.

A Windows user’s guide to getting started with Linux -- link.

Linux.com’s “CLI Magic” series continues -- sort of bragging, have fun with ESR, Console Surfing with Lynx, Hack the comment, The keys to GnuPG.

Drive recovery comes to Linux -- link.

Microsoft as benchmark? Pfft! Think again! -- link.

Testing the Linux waters using live CDs -- Part 1, Part 2.

Using Webmin for Linux Administration -- link.

Linux Adoption in the Public Sector: An Economic Analysis -- link.

What do newbies need to make the switch to GNU/Linux? -- link.

Is the Linux platform getting fat -- link.

Experiences with GNOME 2.6 -- link.

Recommended Linux hardware, June edition -- link.

The Grumpy Editor’s guide to Linux terminal emulators -- link.

The “Driver on Demand” project attempts to ease driver installations in Linux -- link.

John Dvorak: The Importance of Being Linux -- link.

Munich makes the move to Linux -- link.

The Linux Stalker: SCO’s Darl McBride is fighting a war for the future of free software. And he wants to make you pay -- link.

Deep inside the K Desktop Environment 3.2 -- link. Discussion here.

LILO vs. GRUB -- link.

Windows 9x programs run on Linux -- link.

A quick reference to useful Linux commands -- link.

KDE 3.3 preview -- link.

KDE gets thin client technology -- link.

How to deal with Gnome 2.6’s spatial paradigm -- link.

Sun open-sources Project Looking Glass, its next-generation, 3-D Linux desktop system -- link. Metisse: A new Looking Glass alternative -- link.

2004 not the year of the Linux desktop, 2005 probably -- link.

Understanding the Linux Virtual Memory Manager -- book review.

First Linux-only retail store? -- link.

Linux for Non-Geeks -- book review.

Modem success stories with Linux -- discussion here.

BSDs, other Unixes

The making of BSD Hacks -- link. Hacking BSD, Part 2 -- link.

FreeBSD, the stealth-growth Open Source project -- link.

DragonFly BSD 1.0 Release Candidate 1 released -- link.

Windows and DOS, Mac

Microsoft appears to be working on a version of its Windows Server platform specifically tailored for the high performance computing market -- link.

Microsoft confirms Windows XP64 will be OEM only -- link 1, link 2.

Upgrading a web site from Windows 2000 to eComStation 1.1 -- link.

FreeDOS turns 10 -- link.

Steve Jobs previews OS X 10.4 “Tiger”, due H1 2005 -- links here, here, here, and here. Mac OS X Tiger roundup here.

Tiger, Longhorn search for desktop answers -- link.

An engineer’s thoughts on Mac OS X Tiger -- link.

Apple should stay the Mac course -- link.

Other OS’s

“From Genesi(s) to Revelation”: MorphOS on a Pegasos II reviewed -- link.

Celebrating 10 years of BeOS -- link.

AmigaOS 4.0 status report -- link. First impressions of AmigaOS4-prerelease -- link. More on AmigaOS 4.0 -- link.

Applications

Building lasting and fulfilling relationships with work, wife and surroundings, on GameCube -- link.

A look at the arcade/system emulator movement, and two LiveCDs designed to put you in touch with your inner Donkey Kong -- link.

IBM’s DB2 “Stinger” database will pack a powerful punch -- link.

Inspecting Web pages with Mozilla -- link.

The Open Sourcing of Ingres -- link.

PostgreSQL 7.4 and Berkeley DB XML basics -- link.

Macromedia Flash 7 licensing: The devil is in the details -- link.

RSS reader roundup -- link. RSS: The Next Generation -- link.

Mozilla, Opera form group to develop Web app specs -- link.

VisitorVille makes website-traffic analysis into a game -- link.

Betanews launches a new website -- link.

Helen Borrie on the future of the Firebird open-source relational database -- link.

Who’s winning the streaming media wars? -- link.

Open source publishing tools, long derided as not being ready for battle, are proving themselves in the trenches of small publishing -- link.

Nokia cash boosts Mozilla, marks shift in browser wars from PCs to mobile devices -- link 1, link 2.

Interview with Dominic Mazzoni, lead developer for Audacity -- link.

gLabels, a GNOME program that makes and prints labels and business cards, seems to be capable of handling just about any task you throw at it -- link.

94 free tools and sites that help you work smarter, communicate better, and have more fun -- link.

TheOpenCD is a nifty way for Windows folks to explore the possibilities of Free Software -- link.

Personal desktop-oriented

Positioning options for paragraph styles in OpenOffice.org -- part I, part II.

Mozex plugin for Mozilla/Firefox review.

Getting a better browsing experience with Mozilla -- link.

Outside contributions to open source vector drawing program Inkscape make a big difference -- link.

Opera 7.51 released for Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris and Windows -- link.

Gaim’s ground in a closed instant messaging world -- link.

Music education with Linux sound tools -- link.

Gmail: Google’s e-mail winner -- link. GMail: online backup, POP3, money making machine -- link.

As VisiCalc turns 25, originators Dan Bricklin, Bob Frankston, and Dan Fylstra recall when people wondered what a spreadsheet was -- link.

An interview with Louis Suarez-Potts of OpenOffice.org -- link. OpenOffice.org 1.1.2 released -- link.

An open letter to Corel -- link.

Mozilla Firefox 0.9 released -- link. Firefox 0.9 reviews here, here. Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7 review.

Browser Wars v.2004 -- Part 1, Part 2.

Interview with Scott Collins from Mozilla.org -- link.

Mozilla and Opera renew the browser battle -- link. Mozilla 1.7 Suite: Robust and agile, not skinny! -- link.

Putting together PDF files in Linux -- link.

The GIMP 2.1.0 released -- link.

MS Word Refuseniks never upgrade -- link. Discussion here.

The Grumpy Editor’s guide to mail clients -- introduction.

POV-Ray 3.6 released -- link.

Best To-Do List software? -- discussion here.

Cross-platform Excel clone PlanMaker -- reviewed. Discussion here.

Microsoft’s i2i offers instant messaging with a visual twist -- link.

Programming

Synopsis on what DotGNU is -- link.

Tales of optimization and troubleshooting -- link.

XML Tower of Babel: Bring on UBL -- link.

Open Source: just another licensing model -- link. Readers respond -- link.

The history of programming languages -- link. Discussion here.

The Inquirer has its own set of training courses -- link.

The Mythical Man-Month revisited -- link. Discussion here.

The Open Source Paradigm Shift -- link.

“Pragmatic Programmers” Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas interviewed -- link. Discussion here.

Are IT certifications meaningless? -- discussion here.

Graphical user interface

Develop desktop GUI apps with PHP-GTK -- link.

GNUstep 0.9.3, FOX Toolkit 1.2.4 released -- link.

How Microsoft lost the API war -- link.

Creating a cron GUI interface on a Mac with Ruby/Tk -- link.

Gambas, a a Visual Basic-like programming framework for Unix and Linux, version 0.94 released -- link.

On the future of GTK+ -- link.

C/C++/Java family

Writing PostgreSQL extension functions in C -- link.

Will .Net developers get Mono? -- link.

Eclipse 3 is out, for real -- link. Eclipse Foundation says release 3.0 is a star -- link. Discussion here.

Eclipse IDE freed from ties to a proprietary Java Virtual Machine -- link.

Java development on Eclipse, Part 1 -- link.

Demystifying Java performance myths -- link.

Working with Objects in Java programming -- link.

Scripting and high-level languages

Web site reader poll scripts -- link.

Scripting languages for system administrators -- link.

Kommander looks to shake up the Linux desktop -- link.

PHP Gotchas -- Part 1.

PHP creators Zeev Suraski & Andi Gutmans interviewed -- link.

Advanced PHP Programming: A practical guide to developing large-scale Web sites and applications to PHP5 -- book review.

Changes in the upcoming Python 2.4 release -- link.

The PyGUI project is developing a cross-platform GUI API for Python -- link.

The Natural Language Toolkit: a for teaching, and working in, computational linguistics using Python -- link.

Mono, an open source implementation of the .NET framework, project releases version 1.0 -- link.

Security & Privacy

Wi-Fi is hot, security is not -- link 1, link 2.

Many hazy legal issues are being raised by a case heading to the Maine Supreme Court concerning one family’s attempt to find out who sent out an unflattering email about them to neighbors ... using a fake email address -- link.

Safeguard your system’s perimeter with these 29 beyond-the-basics security steps -- link.

Oops! Firm accidentally eBays customer database -- link.

Linux gains virus armour -- link.

U.S. government computers still exposed -- link.

RSA Security renewing focus on improving the security of user passwords -- link.

Companies still not locking up Wi-Fi networks -- link.

The Team Cymru Darknet Project is designed to determine the amount of naughty traffic on a network, as well as the sources of said traffic -- home page.

The Internet is a “god-awful mess”, but few U.S. government officials are willing to take action against virus writers, spammers, and other scammers, according to author Bruce Sterling -- link. Cyberterror threats are too critical for the industry to handle on its own schedule, experts claim -- link.

First quantum cryptography network has been built -- link.

Criminals opt for Voice over IP -- link.

Students in Los Angeles-area attend “hacker college”, a computer boot camp designed to show how people will try to break into network systems ... and how they will succeed -- link.

Holes, patches, defenses

Bigger threats, better defense: 16 security tools (firewalls, antivirus software, anti-spyware programs) tested -- link.

Apple quietly patches OS X -- link.

Major unpatched bugs found in Internet Explorer -- link. Microsoft patches two holes -- link.

Who is seeding the Net with spyware? -- link.

Virus email is worse than spam email -- link.

Easily purge spyware, adware, and other malware -- link. An arsenal to combat spyware -- link.

When spyware crosses the line -- link.

AOL worker steals and sells 92 million customer names -- link.

Preventing denial of service attacks -- link.

Web site virus attack blunted -- link.

Internet Explorer. Quick, call security! -- link. CERT recommends anything but IE -- link.

There is no anti-spyware silver bullet -- link.

We’ve been hacked... or have we? -- link. Discussion here.

Spam, advertising

9 antispam tools tested and rated -- link.

“OEM” software offer scams on the rise -- link.

Microsoft fights spam at the source, will filter outgoing messages on Hotmail and MSN -- link.

Spam gets dangerous: What is not blocked is turning vicious -- link.

Spam problem worse than ever, judging by recent reports -- link.

E-mail is dead, long live Spam -- link. Is E-Mail Doomed? Under attack by spam, phishing, and viruses, e-mail users may seek other ways to communicate -- link.

Spammer prosecutions waste time and money -- link.

U.S. moves towards anti-spyware law -- link.

ISPs gang up on spammers -- link.

A spammer spills it all -- link.

Miscellaneous

Bill Joy urges us to proceed with caution (again) in developing technology -- link.

Inside Mitch Kapor’s world -- link.

The Free & the Unfree: Intellectual property holders square off against IP outlaws -- link.

The gift economy and free software -- link.

Paul Graham’s Hackers & Painters reviewed on Slashdot -- link.

Ten other useful things Microsoft could patent -- link.

The Art of the Tech Demo -- link.

Debunking high tech urban legends -- link.

Who is your Website’s audience? -- link. Discussion here.

Electronic Frontier Foundation names top 10 patents it wants killed, or at least redefined -- link.

Business

Red Hat CEO Szulik on business, SCO, and other topics -- link.

Beatles catalog headed for digital distribution? -- link.

GarageBand.com introduces yet another tool to help musicians reach eager listeners -- link.

IT still matters ... just not how it used to -- link.

Why Open Distribution is the real promise of Open Source -- link.

Antitrust Smackdown -- link.

On drawing lines in copyright law -- link.

DMCA foes find allies in the House of Representatives -- link.

Oracle’s shopping list -- link.

Car dealers feel net effect -- link.

Overstocking in Afghanistan -- link.

The Internet

Last-minute freebies: When stuff you do not need anymore absolutely, positively has to leave your premises ... right now! -- link.

Beyond Google: a guide to specialty sites delivering shopping advice, reference databases, leisure-time ideas, and more -- link.

A contest to outwit Google -- link.

Every geek complains about looking for a hookup. Meet four lonelyhearts who are hacking their way into the sack ... call them the dating optimizers -- link.

Mapping the new Internet -- link.

Weblogs.com shut down without warning, leaving bloggers in the lurch -- link. Weblogs.com rises from the flames -- link.

Go easy on those emoticons, impatient correspondent pleads -- link.

High-speed love connection brings virtual sex close to reality -- link.

Science

Report: Bush administration has no respect for science; ideologues prefer to make up the laws of nature as they go -- link.

Chimpanzees’ days may be numbered -- link.

Open-Source a good approach to drug research? -- link.

A piece-by-piece guide to the globe’s most advanced robots -- link.

Telecommunications

More enterprises are merging their voice and data networks -- link.

Promiscuous BluePod file swapping, coming to a PDA near you -- link.

8 Internet phone services compared link.

Craig McCaw is back, announces move into 4G, but this time is anyone listening? -- link.

Internet access over power lines gets off the ground in new Ohio-based service -- link.

A guide that takes the Sci-Fi out of Wi-Fi -- link.

Laptop owners remain reluctant to pay by the hour for Wi-Fi access -- link.

Report raps Wi-Fi providers for “location inflation” -- link.

Why the FCC should die -- link.

Security worries threaten VoIP future -- link.

VoIP suffers identity crisis -- link.

Senate tangles over VOIP rules -- link.

North Americans still confused about VoIP -- link.

Official: US telecommunications companies’ research in disarray -- link.

Pay-as-you-go mobile phones provide contract-free service -- link.

802.11i Wi-Fi standard given official blessing by IEEE standards committee -- link.

Skype project to dial real phone numbers (not just other Skype users) -- link. Skype comes to Linux -- link.

Florida to tax home networks -- link.

IEEE approves “WiMax” wireless broadband specifications standard -- link.

Web music broadcasting is the best thing to happen to radio since FM -- link.