http://www.techzonez.com/forums/ The Latest Tech, Software, Hardware and Games News. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:19:40 GMT vBulletin 30 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.techzonez.com/forums/ http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27086&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:02:55 GMT Codemasters has released a playable demo for the PC version of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, the sequel developed by Codemasters Studios for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In demo, gamers take on the first full mission, Dragon Rising, in single player or co-operative multiplayer. As part of a Special... Codemasters has released a playable demo for the PC version of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, the sequel developed by Codemasters Studios for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In demo, gamers take on the first full mission, Dragon Rising, in single player or co-operative multiplayer. As part of a Special Forces squad inserting behind Chinese PLA lines, players must eliminate a strategically critical radar station and missile sites to allow the USS Iwo Jima, carrying the main USMC battalion, to safely approach the island of Skira.

:download: English Demo

:source: Gamers Hell ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27086 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27085&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:55:08 GMT The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.3.1. This release focuses on improving the stability of the PHP 5.3.x branch with over 100 bug fixes, some of which are security related. All users of PHP are encouraged to upgrade to this release. :view:... The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.3.1. This release focuses on improving the stability of the PHP 5.3.x branch with over 100 bug fixes, some of which are security related. All users of PHP are encouraged to upgrade to this release.

:view: Changelog

:download: PHP 5.3.1

:view: PHP homepage ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27085 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27084&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:45:38 GMT Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's blood and brain went on sale Friday for 15,000 euros (22,000 dollars) on online auction website eBay, before the company pulled the ad posted by an anonymous seller.

"No bid was made during the brief time the advert was visible," eBay said on its website, explaining the removal on the grounds that the company did not authorise sales of human matter.

"It's a disgrace trying to sell my grand-father's brain and blood," said Alessandra Mussolini, the neo-fascist grand-daughter of Il Duce told Sky TG24 television.

She said that the remains of her grand-father, who was hanged by partisans at the end of World War II, were normally kept in a Milan hospital. The television station said the hospital denied the claim.

:source: Yahoo News ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27084 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27083&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:43:08 GMT A major malware botnet has sprung to life and is making a huge spam run through social networking sites.

Researchers at Symantec's MessageLabs branch said that the DonBot network has begun sending spam emails in large numbers, accounting for as much as four per cent of the total global spam load since 18 November.

The messages advertise a 'work at home' programme which promises $300 (180 pounds) a day for posting information online.

"The apparent aim of these emails is to get people to fall for 'get rich by working at home' schemes where the victim is encouraged to pay an initial fee for a trial and then sit back and watch the cash come in," wrote Symantec malware analyst Paul Wood in a blog post.

Clicking on the spam image sends victims to one of any number of Twitter pages which contain links to a third-party site which asks the user to pay the 'trial fee'.

:story: Full story: V3.co.uk ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27083 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27082&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:38:19 GMT Sony Corp said on Friday that its planned entertainment content distribution service for network-compatible TVs and other devices will be launched next year. Sony plans to launch a new online service to distribute movies, music, books and other content to network-capable TVs, Blu-ray players,... Sony Corp said on Friday that its planned entertainment content distribution service for network-compatible TVs and other devices will be launched next year.

Sony plans to launch a new online service to distribute movies, music, books and other content to network-capable TVs, Blu-ray players, ebooks and others in a bid to add value to its hardware.

Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai also told reporters that he is confident sales of its PlayStation 3 game console will hit the official target of 13 million units in the year ending March 2010.

:story: source: Reuters ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27082 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27081&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:35:44 GMT Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be available on November 24 in all shipping languages, Microsoft announced Thursday. Users must have Power Pack 2 installed on their Home Server and Power Pack 3 will automatically install as a Windows update. Microsoft unveiled the Power Pack 3 beta in... Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be available on November 24 in all shipping languages, Microsoft announced Thursday.

Users must have Power Pack 2 installed on their Home Server and Power Pack 3 will automatically install as a Windows update.

Microsoft unveiled the Power Pack 3 beta in July, a few months after the premiere of Power Pack 2.

New features include backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers.

As a result, when you install WHS connector and log on to a Windows 7 computer, you can access WHS shared folders from Win7 libraries. You can also suppress Action Center warnings about Windows backup and schedule your computer to wake up at a specific time for backup.

:story: Full story: PC Magazine ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27081 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27080&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:31:53 GMT Firefox is a free, open-source and cross-platform web browser. :download: English (US): Windows (http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.6b3/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%203.6%20Beta%203.exe) | Linux... Firefox is a free, open-source and cross-platform web browser.

:download: English (US): Windows | Linux | Mac OS X

:download: Other languages: Windows | Linux | Mac

:view: View: Mozilla Firefox homepage ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27080 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27079&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:28:27 GMT Microsoft wants you on Xbox LIVE for the weekend with, of course, a view toward forever, and it's prepared to temporarily waive the cover fee to grab your attention.

Xbox LIVE Gold-tier membership usually costs $50 a year and provides access to features like online multiplayer, Facebook, Twitter, Last.FM, and Netflix for starters. Xbox LIVE Silver members who pay nothing save the time it takes to register a free account are by contrast left to nibble on skeletal features like online gamer profiles and friends lists, but otherwise have to stand at the window looking in.

That changes this weekend for US Xbox 360 gamers with a Silver membership (again, totally free) and the ability to bring their Xbox 360s online with an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi adapter.

As noted this Tuesday by Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, all Xbox LIVE regions except Europe will have free access to Gold services from November 20th at 12:00PM ET / 9:00AM PT until November 23rd at the same time. Europe's getting it too, of course, just a couple days later, and for a slightly longer time period--from November 25th to November 30th.

:story: Full story: PC World ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27079 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27078&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:26:13 GMT Microsoft today denied that it has built a backdoor into Windows 7, a concern that surfaced yesterday after a senior National Security Agency (NSA) official testified before Congress that the agency had worked on the operating system.

"Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows," a company spokeswoman said, reacting to a Computerworld story Wednesday.

On Monday, Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security that the agency had partnered with the developer during the creation of Windows 7 "to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide."

Echoing earlier concerns, Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronics Privacy Information Center (EPIC), questioned the wisdom of letting the NSA participate in OS development. "The key problem is that NSA has a dual mission, COMPUSEC, computer security, now called cyber security, and SIGINT, signals intelligence, in other words surveillance," Rotenberg said in an e-mail.

:story: Full story: Computerworld ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27078 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27077&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:24:43 GMT A senior Dell executive is bullish about a recovery in PC demand from businesses, saying the Oct. 22 release of Windows 7 sparked a surge in PC sales for the company. This surge in PC sales led by the release of Windows was preceded by slowdown as customers put off plans to buy new computers.... A senior Dell executive is bullish about a recovery in PC demand from businesses, saying the Oct. 22 release of Windows 7 sparked a surge in PC sales for the company.

This surge in PC sales led by the release of Windows was preceded by slowdown as customers put off plans to buy new computers. This helps explain why Dell's third-quarter revenue came in below analysts' expectations, said Steve Felice, president of Dell's business unit that's focused on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), during a conference call with reporters on Friday.

"At the beginning of October, we saw demand decline as customers put off their decision to buy, to wait for Windows 7 to fully launch. As soon as Oct. 22 hit, both our consumer business and our SMB business had a very healthy increase in demand," Felice said.

Prior to the launch of Windows 7, Dell's direct sales in the Americas were running at about 80 percent of the company's expectations. However, once Microsoft released the new operating system, sales surged and that figure rose to 110 percent, he said.

:story: Full story: Computerworld ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27077 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27076&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:29:28 GMT The unified Catalyst software suite delivers a full software solution for supported Microsoft Windows operating systems. The Catalyst Software Suite 9.11 contains the following: Radeon display driver 8.671 HydraVision for both Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 WDM Driver Install Bundle... The unified Catalyst software suite delivers a full software solution for supported Microsoft Windows operating systems.

The Catalyst Software Suite 9.11 contains the following:
Radeon display driver 8.671
HydraVision for both Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
WDM Driver Install Bundle
Southbridge/IXP Driver
Catalyst Control Center Version 8.671

:download: ATI Catalyst 9.11

:view: ATI homepage ]]> Drivers Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27076 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27075&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:24:28 GMT Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and... Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project.

The Fedora Project is open and anyone is welcome to join.

:view: Release notes

:download: Fedora 12

:view: Fedora homepage ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27075 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27074&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:20:49 GMT Zoom Player was originally conceived to fill a void in Multimedia playback. Prior to Zoom Player, playing media files on the PC was either overly simplistic for the Power User or overly cryptic to the common user. Zoom Player tries to both simplify the playback experience for the common user, while... Zoom Player was originally conceived to fill a void in Multimedia playback. Prior to Zoom Player, playing media files on the PC was either overly simplistic for the Power User or overly cryptic to the common user. Zoom Player tries to both simplify the playback experience for the common user, while giving the Power Users all the tools and interfaces they may require to manipulate their playback environment to their exact specification.

:view: Changelog

:download: Home MAX | Home Premium | Home Professional

:view: Zoom Player homepage ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27074 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27073&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:12:36 GMT Operators of the The Pirate Bay shuttered the site's BitTorrent tracker on Tuesday, six years after it was founded.

Trackers - the servers that bootstrap each BitTorrent download – are no longer necessary with enhancements like DHT and PEX that allow peers to locate one another without accessing a central server, site operators wrote in the Bay's blog.

"Now that the decentralized system for finding peers is so well developed, TPB has decided that there is no need to run a tracker anymore, so it will remain down!" reads the announcement. "It's the end of an era."

"This is what we consider to be the future," the Bay wrote. "Faster and more stability for the users because there is no central point to rely upon."

:story: Full story: Wired News ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27073 http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27072&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:58:26 GMT The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not... The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.

:download: Belarc Advisor

:view: Belarc Homepage ]]> Tech News Reverend http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27072