A virus by any other name ...

Subject: General Tech | October 7, 2005 - 12:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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El Reg reports on the attempt by the CME to provide all viruses with common names.  If you have ever suffered mental trauma trying to figure out just which virus it is that has infected you, because Norton, Symantec and all of the others give different names to the same virus, these guys may be able to help.

"A group dedicated to curing virus-naming confusion enjoyed its official launch on Wednesday.

Music to your ears

Subject: General Tech | October 7, 2005 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Dan, from Dan's Data, has found a pair of high quality headphones from HeadRoom, and seems amazed at their quality, see what you think about his mental state after reading about them.

HeadRoom's Micro Amp and Micro DAC cost a mere $US600 between them. They provide supposedly superb headphone sound from various analogue and digital sources (including computers, via USB). They're the gateway drug for the heavier HeadRoom electronics. I was expecting them to sound very much the same as the cheaper headphone amps I've reviewed.

International Control Of Internet Discussed

Subject: General Tech | October 6, 2005 - 06:25 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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ZDnet has an interview with Houlin Zhao, director of the ITU's Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau.  He discusses why he feels that an international body should be in charge of the internet, and what possible changes could come of diong so.

"The International Telecommunication Union is one of the most venerable of bureaucracies. Created in 1865 to facilitate telegraph transmissions, its mandate has expanded to include radio and telephone communications.

PS2 Modchips Legal in Australia

Subject: General Tech | October 6, 2005 - 01:19 PM | Jonathan Hung
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The Australian court has ruled that the PS2 modchip is legal in that country. Seems this is just another page in the continuing story of Sony going after the consumer to stop them from doing unintended things to their hardware (re: PSP hack firmware). However, this ruling is not the end of the road as the recent Australia vs.

AMD to Power NASCAR

Subject: General Tech | October 6, 2005 - 12:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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SUNNYVALE, CA - Oct. 6, 2005 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced it will become the Official Technology Partner of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), the foremost sanctioning body of stock car racing in North America. Through this unique relationship, AMD plans to play a critical role in helping NASCAR improve competition on the race track and enhance the safety of its participants.

"Technology is as critical to NASCAR as fuel, tires and communications.

Have more gaming consoles than TV's?

Subject: General Tech | October 6, 2005 - 11:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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HardwareHell has a review of a device that those of you with multiple gaming consoles will love. It's the Hip Gear S-Video AV System Selector, which is essentially the same as a KVM switch for your PC.  Go and see how the review turned out.

"A couple of people out there may be asking: 'What's an AV system selector?

A first look at GIMP 2.4 @ Newsforge

Subject: General Tech | October 5, 2005 - 06:41 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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If you love modifying photos, can't afford Photoshop, and don't think MS Paint is up to the task, try The GIMP.  If you have used it before, you'll be glad to hear version 2.4 is out.  Newsforge has a breakdown of what's new and improved.

A major update to the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), widely regarded as the leading free software raster image editing program, is scheduled for this month.

Operating Systems Not Related To The Female Lead Of Zorro

Subject: General Tech | October 5, 2005 - 06:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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YellowTAB's ZETA OS (version 1.0) could be viewed as a revival of BeOS, available at the same price you can buy a retail copy of a Linux distro.  It is a fully functional OS, and includes many small games as well as the Gobe Productive suite, ZETA's own inbuilt office suite.  Head over to XYZ Computing to see what else it can do.

"When looking for an alternative to Windows most people think of either Apple's OS X or Linux.