U.S. Ranks 9th in Global PC Infection Report

A new report says that malware is on the rise and infections are up by 15% worldwide. According to the stats released today, the United States is number nine on this new list with a whopping 58% infection rate.

"This is a clear sign that hackers are becoming more and more sophisticated," said PandaLabs Technical Director Luis Corrons. "Cybercriminals have found news ways to spread their creations, frequently exploiting the latest news stories to launch attacks through social networks, videos, and e-mail.

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Controversial Ad of the Day

Sony is known for using some pretty tasteless ads (racist white PSP ad, headless goats, penis pictures, etc.) so I am not sure why I am surprised the company is running this ad in Chile. Who gives the okay on these ads in the first place?

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U.S. May Need $350B To Extend Broadband

Umm, it looks like that $7.2B already set aside for rural broadband might not be enough. How much more is needed? As much as $342.8 billion…give or take a few billion.

In a mid-course status report, an FCC task force said preliminary estimates indicate that investments in the range of $20 billion to $350 billion may be needed for wireless and landline infrastructure, depending on the speed of service. The range indicates the slowest speeds to premium fast speeds.

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Galaxy Announces New 24/7 Tech Support

Galaxy Microsystems Ltd. a leading global manufacturer of graphics accelerators, today announced that it has increased tech support to 24 hours 7 days per week to serve customers in the United States and Canada effective from October 1, 2009.

"As Galaxy continues to grow in the retail space we felt this was a must to show customers that if they need help with one of our products we will be there to answer their questions with a live person any time day or night," said Ric Lewis US Sales. Galaxy products can be found on the shelf at Best Buy, Microcenter, CompUSA, and Fry’s and at leading etailers like Newegg.com, TigerDirect, and Dell.com.

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Microsoft's Security Essentials Is Live & Free

Microsoft's Security Essentials is now available and totally free. You can’t beat free virus, spyware and malicious software protection. If you try it out, let us know what you think. I’m downloading it now.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

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You Commit Three Felonies a Day

According to one civil liberties attorney, wiretap laws are so outdated that a lot of us unintentionally commit three felonies a day. Considering the popularity of file sharing sites, who needs "vague laws?" Most people are committing three felonies a day voluntarily.

Boston civil-liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate calls his new book "Three Felonies a Day," referring to the number of crimes he estimates the average American now unwittingly commits because of vague laws. New technology adds its own complexity, making innocent activity potentially criminal.

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Gaming News

Left 4 Dead 'Crash Course' DLC Now Available @ Shacknews

No Pre-Launch Modern Warfare 2 Demo @ Joystiq

The Old Republic Beta Sign Ups @ Official Site

Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Demo @ Official PS3 Blog

AMD's ATI Eyefinity Technology Review

In addition to the video sitting at the top of our page today, our evaluation of AMD's ATI Eyefinity Technology also contains twenty seven pages of information straight from AMD, links to our review of the ATI Radeon HD 5870, links to new drivers and more.

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Warner Music & YouTube Kiss and Make Up

I was so close to doing the whole "Warner and YouTube sitting in a tree…K.I.S.S.I.N.G." but decided against it at the last minute. Damn it, now that’s stuck in my head.

Nine months ago Warner's music was pulled from YouTube after the two companies couldn't agree on a new licensing arrangement. Not only were music videos removed but users also were prevented from including Warner songs in their own videos. This led to a major backlash against the label by users.

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[H]ardware Round-Up

Cooling

ThermoLab BADA Heatpipe HSF @ Overclockers Club

ETC.

Auzentech X-Fi Forte & Asus Xonar DS Sound Cards @ DriverHeaven

Shuttle X50 All-in-One PC @ ThinkComputers

Memory/ Storage

OCZ Blade DDR3-1600 6-6-6 6GB Triple Channel Memory Kit @ OCIA

Power Supply

Thermaltake EVO_Blue 750W PSU @ Pro-Clockers

Five Zune HD Features Apple Should Steal

C|Net’s Digital Noise blog has posted a list of five Zune HD features Apple should steal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think the Zune Pass is the way to go. For just under fifteen dollars a month you get to listen to all the music you want and you get ten songs to keep. On iTunes, you buy ten songs...you get ten songs.

Zune Pass Apple has long maintained that people want to own rather than rent their music. I counter that a subscription-based music service, combined with a state-of-the-art player, is one of those features that you have to try before you realize how fantastic it is.

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Memory Deal of the Day

I just noticed these awesome deals on OCZ memory over at the Egg. I say "deals" because there is a total of four triple channel DDR3 kits on sale as well as a two dual channel kits. Hit the link for all the details, kits are starting as low as $70.99 with free shipping.

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