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-- Moscow replaces Tokyo as world's most expensive city.
-- Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th most expensive cities respectively.
-- Singapore climbs from 34th to 17th position in 2006.
-- Mumbai is the most expensive city in India, followed by New Delhi.
-- Many US cities have risen in the rankings due to the strength of the dollar.
Moscow has replaced Tokyo as the world's most expensive city, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting, the global leader for HR and related financial advice.
Seoul is in second place, climbing three places since last year. Tokyo moves down two positions in the rankings to take third place, followed by Hong Kong. Asuncion in Paraguay remains the least expensive city in the survey.

sa: http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/060626/16/41pzb.html

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Police say the viruses run without the knowledge of the computer owner and allow criminals to access any stored private and commercial information.
The three men are alleged to have targeted UK businesses since at least 2005, and infected computers worldwide.
Those arrested are a 63-year-old in Suffolk, a 28-year-old in Scotland and a 19-year-old in Finland.
'Significant result'
They are suspected of being members of an online group called M00P, delivering the viruses as attachments on unsolicited e-mails known as spam.
The arrests follow a joint operation between the Metropolitan Police and officers in Finland.
Detective Constable Bob Burls, of the Met Police's computer crime unit, said: "The international co-operation between the specialist law enforcement units has produced this really significant result.
"We believe the suspects created and adapted viruses with the aim of causing massive infection by spamming."
He said he hoped the arrests would send a "clear signal" that national borders would not stop the authorities taking action over malicious computer software.
Police have raided residential addresses in both the UK and Finland and seized a number of computers and computer servers.

sa: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5121082.stm

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Originally Posted by Gollum

this one is interesting

I like seeing what readers like most...
I can't say what should happen to this guy
his intentions were a bit sick
but the breach of security was serious and purposeful...
I am sure that the Brittish government would not like
american tinkering with the MI5 database
or even the Duchess of Cornwall's Victoria's Secret shopping list...

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I know I don’t write much here, as I don’t consider this my own private space, but rather more of a public service to the VR-Zone membership and guests. I have attempted to combine useful information with interesting articles and links; I offer them to all of you with my best wishes for edification and enjoyment.
With the large number of news and computer interest stories I read daily there begins to form in my mind some perspective on many issues. They include:
Assimilation technology
Information delivery technology
The current state of PC technology
Computer system design
Technology and ergonomics
Complex system integration
Personal computer systems
Network management
Multimedia hardware system integration
Visual data delivery technology
Just to name a few.
I find in the context of particular interests, the articles I post take on greater significance. I would like to share some of this significantly enhanced reading with you all in two ways;
First, I will begin to take the opportunity to write an opinion from time to time. This won’t happen too often because most of what I post is designed to be self sufficient. However, there are times when a collection of posts seem to have an additional voice and I sometimes wish it to be heard.
Second, I would like to hear from readers of BBMF news around the net on what has been posted and what could be added in the way of subject matter here.
AND
I would like to start that now with this item:
BBMF News around the web…
Was once called Future Zone. I liked the name because while I tried very hard to post news about new hardware (one of my favorite subjects), I was often met with posts saying “that’s old, man” or “I saw that post in Japanese last year”, or “that’s not new…I am using ver.2.0.15 already” so I decided to change my format to a more forward looking aspect. It worked, and I liked it and it got views.
How it happened, I don’t really know, but I got one of my posts sticky’d.
I still don’t know who did it, but it got viewed also. I discussed it with Admin and I was asked if I wanted a sticky…
Since I enjoyed Future Zone so much I suggested (and not too seriously) that it was all I had in terms of material that deserved a permanent space on our page…
AND
just like that, Future Zone was a sticky…
one day, the name changed…
I don’t know why…
And that is what I want your opinion about today
BBMF News around the web is not exactly what I wanted in a name
I never wanted to be in the limelight
What I did want an do want is to share with the membership some things they might not ordinarily see by coming here
value added posting… for everyone
I even wanted to encourage news posts from others for things that I might be missing…
Post or IM or email your comments
My MSN ID is
vrbbmf@hotmail.com, feel free to write and share news and/or comment
thanks for reading…

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by bbmf

I like seeing what readers like most...
I can't say what should happen to this guy
his intentions were a bit sick
but the breach of security was serious and purposeful...
I am sure that the Brittish government would not like
american tinkering with the MI5 database
or even the Duchess of Cornwall's Victoria's Secret shopping list...

i like the way he describe the ufo. cigar shaped with 2 balls..maybe thats the most aerodynamic shape after billions of years of research in advanced civilisation. muahahha and men evolved one of that

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W32.Cuebot-K spreads via through AIM and disguises tself as Windows Genuine Advantage on infected PCs.

Security analysts have detected a new piece of malware that appears to run as a Microsoft program used to detect unlicensed versions of its operating system.
The malware has been classified as a worm and spreads through AOL's Instant Messenger program, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos PLC, a security vendor.
Sophos is calling it W32.Cuebot-K, a new variation in the Cuebot family of malware. The worm has a range of malicious functions. After it's installed, the worm immediately tries to connect to two Web sites, a sign it may try to download other bad programs on the machine.

A Nasty Payload
Cuebot-K can disable other software, shut off the Windows firewall, download new malicious programs, perform basic DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks, scan local files and spawn a command prompt, Sophos said.
Worms that spread through instant messaging programs often appear as messages or links sent from friends, which trick a user into executing the program. Cuebot-K propagates by sending itself as a file named "wgavn.exe" to more people in the user's "Buddy List" but without a message, Cluley said.
Worm With an Ironic Twist
If installed on a computer, Cuebot-K is registered as a new system device driver service named "wgavn." When a list of services running on the computer is summoned, the worm appears as "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification" Sophos said.
Cuebot-K's registry entry appears as HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wgavn\.
The worm's ironic ruse comes as Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage program is being criticized for functioning like spyware. WGA collects hardware and software data on a user's computer and compares it to a database of licensed operating systems.

sa: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/arti...RSS,RSS,00.asp

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WE learned that the upcoming red DirectX 10 ATI part also known as R600 might be the fastest card for the DirectX 9 titles as well. The point won't be to try to take the performance crown for the yet to come DirectX 10 titles, ATI rather wants to rule the current Direct X 9 market.
R600 will be designed to run DirectX 9 code just as fast as it is supposed to run Direct X 10 code. Unified Shaders apparently can run code that gives a toss about Pixel Shader and Vertex Shader just as fast. There will be an abstraction layer that will decide whether the information is pixel, vertex or geometry, and it will be served by an adequate hardware pipe. So we don’t think that the DirectX 10 hardware should care that much about the DirectX 10 versus DirectX 10 code.
If you take into account that the R600 will have a very high clock, fast memory and more pixel operation pipes than the current hardware it might be the winning combination. Just don’t take the G80 for granted, as Nvidia has surprised us many times before.
Nvidia is really tight lipped about its G80 cards and very few people actually know whether the chip is taped out of not. It has to be if the September is still the target but it's quite hard to confirm it at this point. Nvidia wants its partners to care about the current 7950 GX2 hardware as this is what the company can deliver - the G80 is still a few months away.

sa: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32713

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Tyan Computer, a specialist high-end motherboard and system maker, has introduced the Typhoon PSC personal supercomputer range, delivering supercomputer power in a mobile, desk-side unit.

Typhoon models can accommodate up to eight processors and 64GB of memory, delivering up to 70 Gigaflops performance in a unit no bigger than two desktop PCs, according to the company.
The Typhoon PSC will appeal to users of compute-intensive applications in graphics rendering, data warehousing, financial and statistical analysis, scientific research, and the oil and gas industries, Tyan said.
With a mobile system like the Typhoon PSC, the supercomputer can be deployed easily in departments, on demand, the company said, adding that unlike the supercomputers of the past, the Typhoon PSC is quiet (<45dB) and plugs into a standard 13A power socket.
"With the introduction of the Typhoon PSC, Tyan is delivering a new kind of product that brings supercomputing into the office," commented Jeff Smith, UK manager of Tyan Computer. "The PSC will enable scientists, researchers, and developers to process simulations and visualizations faster, finish research experiments quicker, and provide them with an alternative to higher-priced, expansive server rooms that require huge amounts of resources and extensive infrastructure to support. We believe that the Typhoon PSC will create a new personal supercomputing market."
The company said two models are available immediately, based on AMD Opteron 200 series processors or Pentium D processors. Each is configured as four cluster nodes with two processors each. The AMD model accommodates up to 64GB of DDR400/333 registered memory, with the Intel model taking up to 32GB of DDR2-667/533 unbuffered memory. There are eight Gigabit Ethernet ports and capacity for four Serial ATA HDD devices.
Tyan is developing further Typhoon PSC models based on the Pentium 4 and the recently-announced Intel Xeon 5100 series processors (Woodcrest), with high performance FBD registered memory. Availability is expected at the end of the third quarter of 2006.
The Typhoon PSC supports Linux and Microsoft's Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. In addition, multiple Typhoon PSC systems can be daisy-chained to form a super cluster.

sa: http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060629PR205.html

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I think I've found my next project...

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Intel to Cease NetBurst Production by End of 2007

Intel Corp., the world’s largest maker of x86 microprocessors, will cease production of processors based on the NetBurst micro-architecture by late 2007, according to a media report. This fits into Intel’s typical 1.5 years pattern of micro-architectural transitions.
“By the end of next year, all the Celeron D and Pentium 4 CPU lines currently under the NetBurst micro-architecture, will be phased out, according to the sources,” a news-story at DigiTimes web-site claims citing sources among mainboard manufacturers.
Even though the article does not indicate anything about the Pentium D microprocessors phase out, given that the modern dual-core NetBurst chips consist of two separate Pentium 4 (Cedar Mill) cores means that if the latter are phased out, which means that no new units are made, but existing inventory remains at Intel’s stock and at resellers, the Pentium D chips will also face end of manufacturing.

The claim indicates that by the end of 2007 Intel Corp. will offer customers low-cost processors based on the new Core 2 micro-architecture, which boasts with increased computing power compared to the NetBurst micro-architecture.
Microprocessors based on the NetBurst micro-architecture allowed Intel Corp. to increase clock-speeds of its chips rapidly in 2001 – 2003 and grab performance crown from rival Advanced Micro Devices, but at the cost of increased power consumption, which later did not allow Intel to push frequency further to catch up with the rival’s chips performance.
Intel’s new desktop, mobile and server microprocessors based on the Core 2 micro-architecture are projected to offer new levels of performance amid moderate consumption of power, which is important, as this is likely to decrease pricing of mainboards and processor cooling systems.

sa: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/dis...629145725.html

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Security researchers have discovered two new flaws in Internet Explorer. While proof of concept code is available for both, there are no known exploits of either flaw.

The first involves a cross-site scripting issue where an attacker could view information in an open browser window from another that is visiting a malicious site. However, researchers called the issue less serious than the other flaw, saying it requires user interaction, and sensitive data in other browser windows.
"Several handlers have spent a little more time validating this particular issue and while it is a subtle exploit and rated a lower level risk, this issue has raised some of our neck hairs," Bojan Zdrnja of the SANS Internet Storm Center said on the company's Web site.
Adrian Stone at the Microsoft Security Research Center confirmed that the company was looking into the issue. "So far we're not aware of any attacks attempting to use vulnerability or any customer impact, but we wanted to let everyone know we're investigating," he said.
At one time, the above flaw was thought to affect Mozilla Firefox as well, however further testing by SANS found that is not the case. Additionally, the group found that Internet Explorer 7 is also immune to the vulnerability.
A second more serious flaw involves how HTA applications are handled. A user could be tricked into opening a malicious file, which in turn could execute code. The file would need to be accessed through SMB or WebDAV in order for the issue to be exploited.
"The currently available version of PoC that was published is limited in that it requires the user to double click on an icon to execute a potentially malicious payload, but we can expect to find creative use of this exploit in the wild very soon," Zdrnja said. "The workaround for this appears to be disabling active scripting."

Microsoft said it was investigating the HTA flaw as well.

sa: http://www.betanews.com/article/Two_...red/1151687317

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Now Samsung is releasing the Samsung B600 CDMA mobile phone in Korea with a 10 mega pixel camera with 3 X optical zoom, auto focus and flash.
The Samsung B600 is different from other camera phones currently on the market as the lens actually moves out from the back of the handset in the exact same way a normal digital camera would. In fact the B600 appears to be a phone grafted onto a real digital camera!
The B600 also boasts Bluetooth, multimedia support and microMMC expandable memory, it is a CDMA handset that supports 1 x EVDO which is 3G standard, 2.2” 240 x 320 pixel display in 16 million colours, it also supports satellite digital multimedia broadcasting.
The Samsung B600 is likely to only be available in the Korean market, but it hopefully gives us an insight into some of the features that might start appearing on GSM handsets throughout 2007.

sa: http://www.onecompare.com/mobile-new...hings-to-come~

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Vrijdag 30 juni 2006, 10:30 - You might have noticed reports last week that Samsung has plans to make a universal hi-def DVD player than can handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD. Well, it turns out that there may have been some confusion. Samsung executives have sought to clarify that their product roadmap that showed a universal player under a label reading "Q3 2006" actually indicated their upcoming ability to make such a player, but not the plans to actually make one.

sa: http://www.webwereld.nl/articles/41808/samsung-we-wont-make-a-blu-ray|hd-dvd-player.html

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Continuous-wave silicon lasers were demonstrated for the first time last year by Intel Corp. But the new lasers generated too much heat to be practical for CMOS devices.
Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles now claim to have the solution: Harness the excess energy with a photovoltaic effect that converts heat back into electricity to power the chip.
"We are basically using the same architecture that Intel showed last year when it demonstrated the world's first continuous-wave silicon laser," said Bahram Jalali, a professor in UCLA's electrical engineering department. "Our discovery shows how to make that sort of laser practical for CMOS, by recycling the power that would otherwise cause excessive heat."
The researchers also beat Intel in the race for the world's first silicon laser in 2004, when they reported a pulsed silicon laser. The laser could not operate continuously because it produced excess hot electrons. In 2005, Intel followed up with a technique for sinking hot electrons, clearing the way for the first continuous-wave silicon laser. The first version did not use excess energy.
The UCLA group has again topped Intel by showing how a Raman scattering architecture can be used in CMOS devices to harness excess energy from hot electrons.
"Intel's solution uses a diode to remove the excess electrons, but that adds an additional watt or so of heat to the chip," said Jalali. "Our discovery shows how to use the photovoltaic effect to convert that excess energy into usable on-chip electricity."
The mechanism, stimulated Raman scattering, sidesteps silicon's indirect bandgap that prevents normal lasing. However, Raman scattering works through double-photon absorption, which creates hot electrons as a byproduct and generates excess heat.
The researchers claimed that a photovoltaic sink not only enables continuous operation of silicon laser chips, optical amplifiers and similar photonic devices, but it can now be economically incorporated into CMOS. Moreover, the excess energy can now be harvested to drive other CMOS circuitry.
"We now believe that not only can optical amplification in silicon be achieved with zero power consumption, but that any excess power can be converted and used on-chip by other CMOS circuits," said Jalali.

sa: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=189800074

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USB has changed the way many of us use equipment. We have a single, standard interface for everything from iPods to printers, scanners, fax machines, and nearly everything else. It is fast, easy to use, and standard equipment on nearly all new devices.
A new form of Wireless USB (WUSB) may also become standard fare. WUSB will allow all of your devices to meet the "Unwire" concept introduced by Intel not too long ago, and do so for most new equipment, not just specialized tasks.
WUSB has a potential market of 300 million units by 2010 and is going to be huge, provided some of the kinks are worked out. WUSB uses a particular range of the radio spectrum not currently licensed in all nations. Currently, only the U.S. is approved, and Japan is adopting it in July. Other regions, such as Canada, Korea, and Europe will likely adopt by the end of this year. China will likely follow in 2007. Still, these are legitimate hurdles for wide-ranging adoption.
WUSB will operate at full USB 2.0 speeds of up to 480Mbits/s (60MB/s--up to 3x faster than typical hard drives).

sa: http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/20...0623037022.htm