And the Nerd is...

I wanted to add this as a comment to Jane's post about the Nerd test, but you can't do html in our blog comments. Anyway, I thought I was doing really, really bad as I took the test. If I tell you why I'll give it away (well what I thought were bad answers, anyway). I was shocked. Of course if you don't think nerdiness is a virtue, then I did really really bad. Thanks Jane. Proud Nerd here :-)

AMD Desktop Dual-Core Versus Intel: No Contest?

The folks over at ExtremeTech say "we have a hard time finding any situation where a dual-core Pentium comes out ahead of a dual-core Athlon 64. Even in most single-threaded apps, AMD takes the cake. Games are an absolute blow-out..."

[UPDATE] PC Magazine's take is that "The Athlon 64 X2 positively trounced the Pentium EE 840 at" multi-tasking. Comparison chart.

Neither high-end chip is shipping yet, but it looks like Intel is going to have to rachet up the clock to get in this hunt against the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+.

These tests also show that "normal users" will see a considerably better user experience with a dual core microprocessor. The hour glass may not be a thing of the past, but it will take over your cursor much less often.

-- Peter S. Kastner

Big lappy drives-InfoWorld

Thought this was interesting. Considering I lug a lappy around 5 days a week. A 120 GIG drive? Works for me! :-)

Next Generation Web Anonymizer

Wired News has an article about Tor, a next generation anonymizer service, developed by the Navy and now an open source project. Click the link above for the Wired article. Click here for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Tor home page.

Jack

IE 7 Tabs Will Be 'Basic,' Says Microsoft

Yes, tabbed browsing is coming to IE -- eventually. The IE7 beta isn't even out yet. It is due this summer which is not that far off. From what I've been able to gather, the slip in popularity due to Firefox is part of the reason that MS will finally offer tabs to IE users. Some people love tabs while it is true that I know of others that do not like them. In Firefox tabs are entirely optional, and I'm guessing that they will be in IE, also.

NerdTests.com - Fun Tester

This was kind of fun, I started w/the Computer Geek Quiz, and I am ashamed to admit that it was too hard!

If you are a real computer geek, and have the courage, let us know your score at tipster"at"oncomputers.info

In other, what I call "really geeky" stuff, an article called "Follow the Bouncing Malware: A Fresh Bounce" done by a blogger/"operator" at Internet Storm Center.
A snippet of it "Well now. Ain’t that purty? I really do appreciate the way that they’re not even attempting to rationalize what they’re doing... with variable names like “Trojan_Path,” staring you in the face, it’s sorta’ hard to keep up the charade that you’re writing an app for “market research.”

Speaking of “Trojan_Path” let’s see what we find at the other end...

The file divx.exe is a Win32 executable, 21,536 bytes long. Taking a quick look at the file reveals that it has been packed with FSG and has a really mangled PE header and a tiny, really whacked MZ header. Once again, someone is trying to hide something... "
This will either make you click or chase you off, but I found it interesting, despite the "Computer Geek" quiz being too tough, hehe.

MissM

Game Consoles: Place Your Bets

First Microsoft then Sony have announced specs for the next generation of game stations, which will begin arriving for the holidays this year and spill into 2006.

With loads more computing and graphics power than the puny previous generation -- xBox uses a Pentium iii, for example -- these new machines will conquer new markets beyond set-top gaming: they will serve as satellites for media serving in the home; and extend gaming and the game ecosystem even further into the 'net. Microsoft, for instance, has been losing about $1.2 billion a year on the xBox business. Bill Gates intends to earn that back in profits. Soon. But that will only come by expanding the market -- a lot -- in the U.S. and overseas. Sony, which garners a double digit percentage of its profits form the PlayStation, has no intention of giving up first place.

Microwave some popcorn, sit back, and get ready for a true battle royale.

-- Peter S. Kastner

New version NOD32 v2.5 released

Products - NTIf you have a license for NOD32 you can download and install the new version. You donot have ti Uninstall the old version of NOD32 if you want to upgrade.
The new version of NOD32 has Adware/Spyware/Riskware detection in it now.
Joe

Microsoft Updates Desktop Search Toolbar

Not surprisingly, this is for Windows XP, Windows 2000 and requires Internet Explorer 5.01 or newer.

KYOURadio - Open Source Radio

Well, sort of. This is the San Fran, Infinity owned radio station that started airing podcasts today. They call themselves KYOU Radio -- Open Source Radio. Sadly, if you live too far away to listen via the ether, not the ethernet, and want to use the listen live link so you can hear the station on you computer, you have to have Active X! Of course I use a open source browser, so I can't listen to Open Source Radio. ROTFLOL. I think I'll continue to get my podcasts the old fashioned way -- download them using open source software.

Ben Edelman for May 16 -- What's So Hot About Hotbar?

If you heard yesterday's show (and if you didn't you really have to grab it) we had Ben Edleman, master adware sleuth, as our guest. Ben updates his site every Monday and the spyware du jour is Hotbar. I know that my girlfriend's machine got infected with this when her junior high age son installed it without realizing that it carried a nasty payload. So go and enjoy Ben's web site and read up on the all the ways these nasties get loaded onto folk's machines. The computer you save may be your own, or that of a friend or relative.

HP confirms jobs to India move

HP has finally confirmed that it is shunting its customer support for UK punters to India.

Last week El Reg reported how hundreds of technical support workers in the UK could lose their jobs within the next six months following HP's decision to move more work overseas. Insiders who now face an uncertain future revealed how services outfit Tenty4help had been dumped by HP.

The UK is losing jobs also. :(
Joe

Canada says oui to VoIP

Canada’s telecoms regulator will not regulate Voice Over Internet Protocol providers but will restrict how the incumbent telcos charge for services.

Most countries have decided not to regulate VoIP services.®
Joe

So, you want to be a computer scientist...

It's that time of year again: BrainAcademy is back. This is the now-regular competition where A-level students and others compete for a fees-paid place at Queen Mary's University, London. However, the organisers have for the first time opened the competition to include post-graduates, and not just those from computer science backgrounds.

Here is your chance to change the world!
Joe

Oracle settles whistleblower suit for $8m

Oracle is to pay $8m to settle a troublesome whistleblower lawsuit, which saw the company accused of fraudulently billing government agencies in the US for training between 1997 and 2003.

Shame on Oracle!
Joe

Fortinet disputes Trend Micro patent ruling

A judge has ruled in favour of Trend Micro in a patent infringement lawsuit against rival security appliance vendor Fortinet.
Joe

DVD storage is so over

We don't ask much from our storage, really. All we want are hundreds of gigabytes of cheap, backward-compatible storage that will store all the high-definition video we can record, create, or steal.
That isn't asking to much is it?
Joe

Court sides with Apple over "Tiger" trademark dispute

A judge has denied a request by computer retailer TigerDirect for a preliminary injunction against Apple Computer over allegations that Apple's nickname for its new operating system, "Tiger," infringes on the retailer's trademarked name.
Where will it go from here?
Joe

OC Podcast

This is the On Computers podcast for 04-03-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Hyper-Threading considered harmful

From SANS Internet Storm Center
"Hyper-Threading, as currently implemented on Intel Pentium Extreme Edition, Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4, and Xeon processors, suffers from a serious security flaw. This flaw permits local information disclosure, including allowing an unprivileged user to steal an RSA private key being used on the same machine. Administrators of multi-user systems are strongly advised to take action to disable Hyper-Threading immediately; single-user systems (i.e., desktop computers) are not affected."
Just SCO and various BSD vendors have provided statements, and it IS more of a server issue, but I found it interesting because I have an HT cpu.
MissM

[UPDATE]Intel downplays hyperthreading threat With a tip o' the keyboard to daWabbit for passing it on :)