[pc] Forum Topics

When you are the world's biggest PC maker, your problems tend to be on the large scale when they hit. Such is the case of what the US Consumer Products Safety Commission is calling the biggest recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry. The problem is that a …

Born August 12th 1981, the IBM Personal Computer changed the world. Hard to imagine now, but back then it really was the start of a revolution. All those personal computers that came before it were nothing more than toys in the eyes of the business world, the marriage of Microsoft …

I love IT wars, always have. Back in the day, I was a columnist for a couple of Amiga computer magazines and more than happy to throw my opinion around concerning just why an Atari was such rubbish by comparison. Things have moved on since then, but also stayed much …

Intel officially announced the introduction of 10 Core 2 Duo and Core Extreme microprocessors for desktops, workstations and notebooks. Intel said it has over 550 customer system designs underway, with the CPUs built on 65 nanometre technology. Machines using the desktop chips will be available in early August, while notebooks …

After months of possible merger information it finally happens and I am surprised at the amount of money that AMD had to spend on this. This is a huge step for both companies. Currently Intel is the lead manufacturer of microprocessors, semiconductors, and graphics chips with AMD being the second …

As from July 11th, some 70 million users of the Windows OS will be left stranded without official support, and that includes no more security updates. By withdrawing support for its Windows 98, Windows 98 SE and Windows ME platforms, Microsoft is effectively leaving around 12.5 percent of Windows users …

The world of malware could be turned upon its head if the Blue Pill virtualization based rootkit due to be demonstrated at the [URL="http://syscan.org"]SyScan 06[/URL] Conference, Singapore, in a couple of weeks proves as undetectable as the security researcher who has created it claims. [URL="http://invisiblethings.org/"]Joanna Rutkowska[/URL] is a stealth malware …

I was recently working on a personal project to setup a PVR system for my living room. The first part of this project was relatively easy; I just bought another dell computer. The next step was a little bit complicated, see, personally I would typically like to use an OS …

At [URL="http://www.supercomp.de/"]ISC2006[/URL], the 21st International Supercomputer Conference, in Dresden, Germany today an interesting announcement was made by [URL="http://www.tyan.com"]Tyan Computer[/URL]: the launch of the Personal Supercomputer. Not quite a desktop machine, it is being marketed as a deskside unit, the [URL="http://www.tyan.com/products/html/clusterservers.html"]Typhoon PSC[/URL] certainly promises to pack quite a punch. The 8 …

According to just released research from Michigan based [URL="http://www.onlymyemail.com"]OnlyMyEmail [/URL]Inc it would appear that Sender ID is ineffective as an anti-spam solution. Despite the high profile, and frankly somewhat aggressive PR campaign by [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/senderid/default.mspx"]Microsoft[/URL], the 60 day statistical analysis certainly suggests that it isn’t the Holy Grail of anti-spam that …

The reports that are popping up all over the web that [URL="http://www.ibm.com"]IBM[/URL], along with [URL="http://www.gatech.edu"]Georgia Tech[/URL], has [URL="http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1019"]demonstrated [/URL]the world’s fastest ever chip are, sadly, not quite as exciting as you might at first think. Not least because this wasn’t a chip at all, but rather a transistor, and even …

The triple-gate transistor is not new, almost exactly three years ago on June 12th 2003 at the [URL="http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20030612tech.htm"]Symposia of VLSI Technology and Circuits in Kyoto[/URL], Japan, [URL="http://www.intel.com"]Intel [/URL]was heralding it as the future of chip design. However, the fact that at the same [URL="http://www.vlsisymposium.org/index.html"]Symposium this week in Hawaii[/URL], Intel reveals …

Multiple core processors are set to dominate the marketplace by the end of 2007, after [URL="http://www.amd.com"]AMD [/URL]follows [URL="http://www.intel.com"]Intel [/URL]down the ‘more performance for less power’ road. Having already beaten Intel to the dual-core processor punch, the announcement from AMD that it will ship four-core processors for high end desktops, servers …

In 2002, IBM scientists managed to produce a magnetic data tape capable of a storage density of 1 billion bits per square inch. This week the [URL="http://www.almaden.ibm.com"]IBM Almaden Research Center [/URL]boffins have done it again, in conjunction with Fuji, to the tune of 6.67 billion bits per square inch. That …

Remember this week, for it was the week that we lost the fight against spam. On May 5th I reported how militant spammer PharmaMaster had brought down the Blue Frog anti-spam vigilante service. I wondered then if it was the end of the toad for Blue Security, and sadly this …

Just when you thought the spam problem couldn’t get any worse, comes the news that spammers are fighting back against the pro-active anti-spam community approach using tit-for-tat Denial of Service attacks and intimidation. The [URL="http://www.bluesecurity.com"]Blue Frog[/URL] anti-spam approach is a relatively simple one of ‘hit them where it hurts’ and …

Part of my new job as a Linux Engineer is to evaluate different Operating Systems. I am most familiar with RedHat, having grown up with their OS since 5.2 back in the mid-90's. Wow, have things changed. So, I looked at a linux that a lot of people are talking …

Early in November, Microsoft began a free web-based Virus Scanner, allowing members of the general public to come to their website, download a tool, and then proceed to tie up your box and scan it for all of the creepies that have infested your computer while on the internet. What …

Operating System software is an entity that lives and breaths on it's own. It requires little tweaks and enhancements here and there to make it better, and to fix problems. Such is the case with Apple's Tiger OS X, 10.4, and the release to 10.4.3 Let's look at some of …

Microsoft this week updated Microsoft Works -- the consumer-level "home" edition of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Works Suite 2006 is now available for SRP $99.95 Microsoft Works is an integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database, calendar, and email client wrapped up into one large program. The programs are sufficient for most home …

Yes, it's finally out of Beta and into final release. New [url=http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/2.0/index.html]features[/url] are plentiful, and add both functionality and improved MS Office compatibility. Discussion of this upgrade to the excellent and well known freeware office software suite has been plentiful during the period of Beta release, so there's no need …

Apple has had a busy month -- a new iPod, new iTunes, new iMac G5, and now, 3 new ultra-cool Powerbooks! Available in the standard 12, 15, and 17" models, these new laptops have new features and performance levels not seen before in Apple's line, and after taking a look …

Microsoft's new Digital Locker system allows users of Windows computers to download computer software from a variety of vendors. A number of software vendors already provide this functionality -- Microsoft's system brings those vendors under "one roof", manages the financial transactions, and then stores the license information for later use …

OpenOffice.Org, the creaters and maintainers of the open-sourced OpenOffice, have just released version 1.1.5 of their office software suite. The update addresses a security problem concerning a buffer overflow; there are other issues that are repaired since version 1.1.4, such as porting updates (OpenOffice was developed for Linux first, and …

Microsoft is currently reorganising itself into three main divisions, in an effort to streamline the processes of decision making and bringing products to market. The three divisions will be: [b]Microsoft Platform Products and Services Division[/b] Responsible for Windows products, corporate server products and MSN web services. [b]Microsoft Business Division[/b] Responsible …

Massachusetts has a new state policy that requires state agencies to use an "Open Document" format in their business applications. Not surprisingly, propriety software giant Microsoft has filed complaints with the state concerning the policy. Back in 2003, the Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance directed the state agencies to …

Last week, Intel announced a new chip design that promises less power use per unit time, along with embedded security and management functions. The goal is to provide a 3.5 times performance-per-watt improvement over today's single-core Xeon based server CPU. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini said that this new design goal …

Nigel Page, strategist for Microsoft Australia, has clarified the hardware needs for effectively running the upcoming Windows Vista. Speaking at Microsoft’s [url=http://apcstart.com/teched/pivot/entry.php?id=6]TechEd[/url] conference, he indicated the following in response to questions asked. Vista, we are told, is much more graphics focused. There is a fundamental shift from bitmap images to …

A little discussed feature of the upcoming Windows Vista is called 'Freeze Dry', and it's sure to be a blessing for all of us who leave our PCs running rather than shutting everything down when we move away from the keyboard. Have you ever come back only to find that …

My friend Darren from Google just informed me a couple of minutes ago that Google Notifier is out in beta ... for the mac! You can check it out at: [url]http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/index?promo=gdl-en[/url] Now comes the time when I thank Darren for considering the fact that I'm a mac girl and messaging …