Hackers Put Violence Back in Game

No sooner did "Manhunt 2" go on sale in the US, hackers have gone and unlocked some of the violent scenes that were blurred by publisher Take-Two Interactive Software to get the game a less restrictive rating. The game that went on sale in the US on Oct 31st, did so, only because it is a modified version of the original "Manhunt 2" that was banned by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), and subsequently given an 'Adults Only' rating by the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (USESRB).
It is only after Take-Two blurred some of the really gruesome killing scenes that USESRB gave the game a M rating, which means alright for people aged 17-years and above. Meanwhile, the BBFC stayed the initial ban even on the modified version, alleging that the changes 'did not go far enough'. Hackers have now managed to defeat the entire purpose of all this by unlocking some of the violent scenes that were blurred by Take-Two -- back into the game.

Run Multiple Gtalk in a System

If you've got many Gmail accounts and don't want to keep logging on and off them every time you switch, a simple command line parameter in the Google Talk shortcut can solve your problem.

• First, create one copy of the Google Talk shortcut on your desktop, leave the original intact


• Right click on this shortcut and choose Properties. The Target box will show you the path of the EXE for Google Talk - something like "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe"


• Change this to: "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex and click OK.

Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 for Windows Vista released

The Windows Mobile Device Center enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later). The Windows Mobile Device Center combines an efficient business-data synchronization platform with a compelling user experience. The Windows Mobile Device Center helps you to quickly set up new partnerships, synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC.
This new version of the Windows Mobile Device Center contains key improvements and new features to support Windows Mobile 6 devices. The Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is only supported on Windows Vista.

Download the 32 bit version here and 64 bit here

Nokia N81 and N81 8GB

Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB are now available globally. The phones come with dedicated music and gaming keys, and more memory for more storing and playing.
Bringing a new user interface (UI) to the Nokia Nseries is the 3D Multimedia Menu introduced in these devices. The menu makes it easier to discover and enjoy digital content as well as the Internet, and share experiences with others. The N81 and the N81 8GB also offer millions of music tracks through the Nokia Music Store. With their integrated Nokia Music Players, creating play lists and managing music collections on the move is a breeze. Compatible, high quality headphones or speakers can be used along with the standard 3.5mm headphone connector for enhanced sound quality. Besides, the devices afford a preview of the N-Gage games service, which includes playable demos of EA Sports FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules, and Space Impact Light. When N-Gage actually launches later this year, the full application will be available for download on these devices. The Nokia N81 is shipping for about 360 Euros/$512/Rs 20,300 before subsidies or taxes, while the Nokia N81 8GB is available for around 430 Euros/$612/Rs 24,300 before subsidies or taxes.

New Yahoo Messenger !

Yahoo is launching a new version of its popular Yahoo Messenger on Tuesday that lets you forward phone calls and instant messages and watch videos and view photos with friends, among other enhancements. But probably the most popular thing will be the new emoticons. Yahoo Messenger 9.0 has a redesigned interface with new "skin" background designs and new emoticons for expressions like "thumbs up," "thumbs down," and "rock on," (yes, the little yellow face ball is holding up its second and fourth fingers in the rock-star pose). Beyond the surface, some of the changes are even more impressive. For instance, it's easier to call, text or IM contacts by simply hovering over the contact name and clicking. You can also click an arrow to the left of the contact and see a larger version of their avatar, contact them, start an e-mail session, and edit their information. And you can send a text message to someone's phone using your computer keyboard. These communications features were here before but were just not as apparent or easy as they are now. You can also forward offline IMs to a mobile device and forward incoming phone calls to a phone number. Sharing online map links doesn't open a new browser window, but displays the map in the IM window, allowing you to zoom and scroll around. You can also send videos from YouTube, Yahoo Video and other sources, and you and your contact can watch the synchronized video via a sharing window, pausing to chat or replay. The same thing with photos from Flickr or your desktop. You and your contact can view them together via a sharing window. And file transfers between contacts can be as large as you want, instead of limited to one gigabyte in size. If you have Norton antivirus on your desktop, the files can be scanned for viruses as well. Some changes will be instantly noticeable. For instance, the contacts have two lines now, with the status message on its own line. But you can condense that back to one line if you like. You can also insert emoticons within the status messages--like I could say I'm "in a meeting" and have the "sleepy" emoticon next to it with the "zzzzs" trailing up.

DirectX 10.1 in Windows Vista SP1

As Windows Vista brought to the table the exclusive DirectX 10, the first service pack for the operating system will evolve Microsoft's graphics technology to version 10.1. DirectX 10.1 is already available to over 12,000 testers via the first beta of Vista Service Pack 1, concomitantly with the official release of Build 6001.16659. Although the testing milestones of Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP SP3 Beta, are officially limited in terms of access, a hack is available designed to permit the download of Windows Vista SP1 Beta Build 6001.16659 straight from Microsoft, and simultaneously test drive DirectX 10.1.However, Vista users have to understand that DirectX 10.1, as well as DirectX 10 is a technology intimately connected with the underlying graphics card, such as the upcoming ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series. According to an AMD whitepaper focused on the implementation of DirectX 10.1 in the ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series, the latest application programming interface from Microsoft, manages to "unlock the state of the art in GPU technology.""DirectX 10.1 maintains the overall structure and programming model of DirectX 10, while providing numerous enhancements. The vertex, geometry, and pixel shader instruction sets have been updated to Shader Model 4.1. The new features of DirectX 10.1 can be divided into three general categories: new shading and texturing capabilities, anti-aliasing improvements, and tighter specifications. The following table highlights some of the key features in each of these categories, as well as some of the benefits they provide," states an excerpt of the ATI whitepaper on DirectX 10.1, via TeamATI.

Source : Softpedia

Microsoft apologises for Desktop Search Update Error

Microsoft has apologised for a Windows Server update that automatically installed the Windows Desktop Search tool on users' desktops without approval.
The mistake happened because Microsoft reused the same update package as when Windows Desktop Search (WDS) was first published in February as an optional update that was only applicable to systems with the search tool previously installed.
This meant organisations that had approved the February update package for a limited number of machines had this week's new update automatically install WDS on all clients because the Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) is set by default to automatically approve update revisions.
One IT manager affected by the update told silicon.com: "I came into the office this morning and found that every one of our desktops and servers which are on WSUS have had the WDS tool automatically installed. We were shocked as we do not automatically approve anything for our systems, unless we have already approved an old version of the same update. So Microsoft has decided to push this directly out, bypassing any approval opportunity we have set. To say the least we are not happy and we're currently reviewing what we are going to do."
In a post on Microsoft's WSUS blog Bobbie Harder, programme manager for WSUS, said: "We sincerely regret the inconvenience this has caused and extend a sincere apology to all impacted customers."
Microsoft said it is working to correct the issue and has temporarily suspended the distribution of the search tool through WSUS.
Harder said: "We will make a new package available for WSUS in the near future, but not as an update revision, so you can rely on predictable update behaviour with auto-approval settings. We are also working on improving our internal publishing processes to ensure this does not happen again."
Microsoft said customers wanting to uninstall the WDS update revision released this week can do so via the add/remove programs feature and by following the instructions on Microsoft's WSUS blog.

Apple's Leopard Hacked To Run On A PC!!

Before Apple's new Leopard operating system for Macintosh computers was officially released on Friday, hackers had figured out how to load Leopard onto a PC.
On Thursday morning, a member of the OSx86 Scene Forum, a tech discussion site, posted step-by-step instructions about how to create a bootable Leopard installation disk that can install Apple's OS X 10.5 on what would otherwise be a Windows PC.
The process described is not for the technically faint of heart. But the culmination of the command line ordeal is a PC -- Asus P5W DH Deluxe in an Antec case with an Intel Core Duo E4300 in this case -- that's Apple inside.
Leopard already is notable for supporting a Windows partition through its Boot Camp application. PC users don't need Boot Camp since PC hard drives can be partitioned to boot from different operating systems.
In a forum private message, BrazilMac explained his motivation for making the information available: "Why run Mac OS? Well, when you are just used to Windows, it is like living inside a house and not experimenting the whole world out there. Once you get out of it, it is just amazing. Mac is just that: You just feel like glued to the computer. Everything is just beautiful, the interface, the stability. Once you experiment it, you don't want to go back to windows. Trust me.
"And one of the things that really got me involved with all this was the ability to have a system that benchmarks [better than] the Mac Pros. You can build your system for a lot less than a real Mac and get the performance of a top-dollar Apple machine. This is fact and a lot of the real Mac users will deny, but it is fact. My machine runs a e4300 Core Duo Processor over-clocked to 3.40 GHZ. Where can you get a 3.4-GHz Mac? It will cost you a fortune. I have 1066-MHz DDR2 memory. Where can you get that on a real Mac???"
Other hackers, meanwhile, have been busy undoing the work Apple did when it released its most recent iPhone patch: They've released AppSnapp Installer for 1.1.1, which opens the locks that Apple recently closed when it issued the recent 1.1.1 firmware update for its iPhone and iPod Touch.
The AppSnapp Installer "jailbreaks" the iPhone and iPod Touch so that third-party applications can be loaded.
According to those responsible for the hack, the software activates non-AT&T iPhones automatically (Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook recently estimated that some 250,000 iPhones were sold to people intending to unlock them) while leaving activated phones alone. It also makes YouTube work on non-AT&T iPhones without altering activated phones. It installs a program called Installer.app to simplify application installation on the iPhone and iPod Touch. And, ironically, it fixes a vulnerability in the TIFF library used by Apple (not to mention iPhone hackers), thereby making Apple's devices more secure.
When Apple released the 1.1.1 upgrade, it warned against installing the software fix on modified iPhones. Many of those who ignored the warning ended up with nonfunctional or "bricked" iPhones. It's quite possible that the next official iPhone/iPod update from Apple will present similar problems to those who have modified their devices.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently said that Apple planned to offer an official software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone in February. He attributed the timing of the release to the difficulties of protecting iPhone users from malware while maintaining an open platform.
Some people just don't want to wait.

Source : Yahoo Tech News