[H]ardNews 8th Edition

Fun With Grammar:

Trust me, the we are the last people on earth that should point fingers at others over “grammatical correctness”…but funny is funny. Long time [H]-er Scott Bloxom found this gem of an ad and thought we should share this with other [H] readers. Don’t forget to bring your wore!

Winamp Skin Exploit:

If you are like me and you use custom skins with Winamp, you need to read this security alert.

The popular skinning feature in Nullsoft's WinAmp media player has left the door wide open for malicious attackers to hijack PCs. Security researchers at K-Otik discovered the vulnerability and released details of a "Skinhead" zero-day exploit that is already spreading in the wild.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

AOpen XC Cube EX915:

Sudhian has the LGA775 based AOpen XC Cube Edition EX915 small form factor PC on the review bench. I was more than a little surprised that the EX915 was able to meet such demanding power requirements, check this out:

Supplying power to power hungry Prescott’s is an in-house developed AOpen 275 watt power supply. Though the power ratings appear insufficient for use with Prescott’s and high end graphics cards, the PSU was able to power our 3.6E and 6800GT without exploding and/or catching fire.

DFI LanParty 925X-T2:

Legion Hardware has that black beauty of a motherboard, the DFI LanParty 925X-T2, in house for a bit of review action. If you are in the market for a flashy LGA775 mainboard, definitely check this review out:

For case modders there really is no better motherboard. All the UV sensitive colors of this motherboard are just asking for some serious case modding. Performance wise the board is also at the top of its game.

AMD64 + SP2 = Problems:

It looks like there are more troubles than previously though with SP2. AMD64 users are advised to take a pass on SP2 altogether.

A problem in the Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP may keep owners of AMD-based computers from using the long-awaited security package, according to Microsoft.

DDoS Mafia Caught:

Authorities have busted up a DDoS-for-hire group hired by some guy to attack rival businesses. What has the world come to when we have a DDoS mafia? How does that work? Do you go to the DDoS Don and kiss the cable modem so he’ll “make an offer your competitor can’t refuse”? That is too funny.

A Massachusetts businessman allegedly paid members of the computer underground to launch organized, crippling distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against three of his competitors.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

[H]ardForum [H]appenings:

Friday [H]ardForum [H]appenings are always the funnest (we know funnest isn’t a word) of the bunch. People are showing of their firearms and knives in this thread. Join in or just browse pages of guns. With so much attention on that DOOM 3: Mars City we almost forgot other kick as mods like this DOOM 3: Hell Inside SFF case mod by Mashie. In the daily [H]ot Deal report we have a P4 Motherboard for FREE at NewEgg and a $2.99 2.4GHz phone which is a pretty good deal aw well. If sale prices aren’t your thing, hit the For Sale & Trade forum and set your own sale price when you buy and sell your own stuff with other forum members. We’ll see you in the forums!

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

G5 Liquid Cooling:

Rob Perkins sent us pictures of the liquid cooling solution used on the Apple G5 (dual CPU). Check out the size comparison in the last picture of the liquid cooler compared to an old G4 Cube. Odd that so much cooling is required for such low processor speed.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

VeriSign’s Lawsuit Dismissed:

It looks like VeriSign’s lawsuit against ICANN was dismissed. You’ll remember that ICANN banned VeriSign from redirecting people who misspelled URLs to their site finder service, as a result VeriSign sued ICANN.

A federal district court judge on Thursday threw out VeriSign's legal arguments that a ban on the tactic by the group responsible for managing the Internet's infrastructure amounted to a violation of United States antitrust law.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition - Mods & Ends

Cooling:

Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400 @ Hi-Techreviews - Antec NoteBook Cooler @ Flickerdown - Akasa AK-P460FG BL PSU @ Systemcooling

Etc.:

Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU review @ ap0calypse.com - LED RAM Mods @ Phoronix - Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000 @ HardwareHounds - Nexus NX-4090 400watt PSU @ Mikhailtech

Cases & Modding:

InsaneTek Case Modding Contest - Modding Mania Giveaway @ CoolTechZone

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition - Press Releases

Centrino Wireless Advances:

Intel Corporation today announced the addition of key wireless capabilities for notebooks based on Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology, including ease-of-use software, advanced security features, and support for the three Wi-Fi standards. The new tri-mode wireless module (supporting IEEE standards 802.11a, b and g) and wireless software help make it faster and easier for end-users to set up a wireless connection with any Wi-Fi network, at the maximum available data rate.

Microsoft Preferred Among Students:

The results of a recent survey may bode well for Microsoft. The study of more than 14,000 students at 88 leading universities found that the company is the No. 1 employer of choice among U.S. undergraduates. In addition, Microsoft was chosen the most desirable IT company to work for, and the fourth-best employer for valuing diversity, according to the study conducted by the college recruiting consulting firm Universum Communications.

Asetek Launches New Products:

asetek Inc. - the leading manufacturer of vapor phase CPU cooling systems and water cooling solutions for PCs – has launched a whole bunch of new products. Exactly 25 NEW products have seen the light and are released Wednesday the 25th August 2004.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - Half Life 2 Coming SOON

Half Life 2 PreLoadS!!!

Happy happy, joy joy? This of course means we are getting close to playing Half Life 2.

If you want to be one of the ones preloading Half Life 2, we suggest you head over to the Steam site and grab those files that you need.

[H]ardNews 12th Edition

Porn Worm:

We will forgo the numerous “porn worm” jokes we could make here and just get down to the business at hand (no business at hand / porn worm jokes either). The latest in internet vulnerabilities is the porn worm that infects your PC and then sprouts tons of porn ads on your PC. WinXP SP2 users are immune to the attack.

Seems that the latest incarnation of Download.Ject uses an instant-messaging vulnerability to create a backdoor on infected Windows XP machines. Once that door is opened, the machines begin sprouting pornographic advertisements.

DangerDen NV68 GFX Block:

Those of you who water cool their PCs and use a GeForce 6800 graphics card will certainly want to have a look at this one page review of the DangerDen NV68 GFX Block at Modtown. The review covers installation only, there are no performance numbers at all.

[H]ardNews

HardOCP Vs. Infinium Update:

WhereIsPhantom.com has one of the latest documents filed in our case on-line for you to download and of course gives their thoughts on what IL's lawyers have to say about coverage of the case. To quote the filed motion from IL's attorneys:

Infinium is concerned about the tactics of the Plaintiffs and their lawyers in this case. This case has received an unusual amount of publicity for a case of its type. In fact, Plaintiffs' counsel has issued their own press release announcing the institution of this action and that the Plaintiffs stand behind their negative statements about Infinium and Roberts. Likewise, the plaintiffs run a website called www.hardocp.com wherein they continue to publicize this lawsuit. Additionally, a website has been established called www.whereisphantom.com which "exists for the sole purpose of brining to light as many details as [it] can uncover about Infinium Labs, the lawsuit with KB Networks, and anything else that IL is involved in.

It is my personal opinion that if they did not want this case to be publicized on the Web, they should have not threatened to sue a website multiple times.

Just as a note, all documents that WhereIsPhantom.com posts are a matter of public record. You just have to pay to download them. Sounds like a pretty solid "tactic" to me. Just wait till it gets exciting.

[H]ardNews 10th Edition

MSI K8T Neo2-FIR Pro:

Looking into a socket 939 upgrade any time soon? Wondering if upgrading is worthwhile? Reviews like this MSI K8T Neo2-FIR K8T800 Pro review at PCStats will help.

The MSI K8T Neo2-FIR that we looked at today is a great motherboard for those of you who are thinking about checking out some of the fastest 64-bit desktop processors.

Gigabyte GV-NX59128D FX5900 PCI-E:

More mid-range PCI-Express reviewage today. R&B Mods has reviewed the Gigabyte GV-NX59128D FX5900 PCI-E card and found it to their liking. Most people that have the cash to upgrade to a PCI-E equipped motherboard will be interested in the high-end cards, but those of you that are too broke from the upgrade will like this card.

If you run a normal setup I would not suggest switching to PCI-E yet. But if you are a computer freak and want the latest this is what you should get as this is the fastest PCI-E card available.

Gaming Scholarship For Girls:

Scholarships for girls that are studying to become game developers. If you are a guy looking for a scholarship for gaming you are out off luck…unless you are planning to bust out your bra.

As part of a drive to attract more women into the male-dominated video game industry, a program for aspiring game developers at Southern Methodist University will offer a women-only scholarship, organizers said on Thursday.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

WindowsXP SP2 Removal:

For those of you who are having problems after installing WinXP SP2, here are removal instructions from Microsoft. This assumes that your system is functioning well enough to actually perform the removal process.

You can use any one of the following methods to remove Microsoft Windows XP SP2 from your computer: Use the Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. Use the hidden $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder. Use the System Restore process. Use Recovery Console.

California Garage Sale:

My man Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding the California Garage Sale Friday and Saturday to get rid of unwanted / seized property to raise money for the state of California. The auction will also be available online (eBay) as well. Check out the $20 laptop and $2 desk quote in the article.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding a rummage sale to dispose of unwanted state property from aircraft engines to jewelry. The "California Garage Sale" will take place on Friday and Saturday in the state capital and some of the items will also be offered on eBay.

Terminator On Ebay:

While we are on the subject of Arnold Schwarzenegger, check out this life sized Terminator robot on eBay, made completely from old car parts. Thanks to Tam Truong for the linkage.