Panda Software (the makers of Panda Antivirus) reported last week of a new type of adware/trojan combination. zCodec claims to be a video codec (such as divx, xvid etc.) but claims to offer “40% better video quality” than other codecs. Once installed it becomes an adware program and can install trojans, rootkits and other malicious software.
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Written by Guest Writer: Luke Shillabeer; Virtualisation is a term that’s been floating around the computer world since its start in the 1950’s. Recently however, due to increases in computer processing power and storage space it has become somewhat of a hot topic as it gives simple, powerful solutions to some of the biggest computer issues; security, privacy, compatibility and portability.

I know, I know, it sounds like a horrible buzz-word from the dot-com era that a marketing guru would have used to drum up some investment capital, but fortunately there’s quite a bit more to virtualisation than the flashiness of its name!
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Windows Vista RC1 (labeled as build 5600) is now Complete and will be available to MSDN subscribers next week. Some of the improvements since the Beta 2 version are some user interface adjustments, more device drivers and enhanced performance.

VIZO UFO 4-port USB 2.0 Hub @ Hardware-Review.net
Zalman ZM-NWB1 Northbridge Waterblock Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net
Antec Fusion @ Overclockers Online
Akasa Combo Cardreader Review on Technic3D
Gigabyte S-Series Core 2 Duo Motherboards: Value Boards for Core 2 Duo @ Hardcoreware.net
Victory WorldCard Office Card Scanner Review @ The TechZone
AlphaShield Home Edition Firewall Review @ GruntvillE.com
Thermaltake Big Typhoon CL-P0114 4in1 Heatpipe Processor Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H @ Overclockers Online
Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooler Review @ MODTHEBOX.COM

Most of us have heard about the Dell/Sony laptop batteries exploding in recent news. Recently a few people are reporting Maxtor harddrives are catching fire.
I have completely boycotted Maxtor harddrives personally, due to the amount of heat they produce.
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Heat is the enemy of computers. Unlike short circuits and lightning strikes, which usually do instantaneous damage to your components, heat is one of the nuisances that can damage your computer over a long period of time, as well. Without delving into water-cooling and similar alternatives, having a well-ventilated, spacious and tidy computer case can help the general airflow. However, sometimes heat has to be directly removed from the overheated component, be it the CPU, the northbridge chipset or the graphic card’s GPU. Those three are commonly considered the three critical overheating points inside a computer.

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