This is a very good read – although quite “old” news!

Iranian hackers possess Windows Vista – Cracked version of Windows Vista is already available at Iranian software markets.

Less than two months after presentation of last edited version of Microsoft Company’s latest operating system, Windows Vista and despite all anti-crack locks installed by that system’s designers, Iranian hackers managed to beat Microsoft’s anti-copying tricks and present the “fully cracked” version of this new Windows software to their Iranian clients

The copied version of Vista is presently presented by an Iranian software company and provides the possibility for its owner to have a private “Serial Number” and thus, to “legalize!” his cracked Windows copy. The retail sale price of the Iranian cracked version of Windows Vista is 80,000 Rials (around US $8) while this good’s original version is sold around $650 at world markets!

This version of Windows is the first in its kind that enables the users to register his Windows “fully legally!!” at Microsoft website and take full advantage of that company’s after sale services, thus sacking over $640 of illegal benefit!

Source: taliyanews.com

In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the first computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). The HDD weighed over a ton and stored 5MB of data.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305

Source: Email

OK, big stuff first!

DigitalLife 2006 – the largest consumer technology, gaming & entertainment event of the year - will be taking place October 12 – 15, 2006 at the Javits Center, New York.

So people, gear up and get ready for DigitalLife 2006.

For more information, go to DigitalLife website.

BTW, get updated with the latest news from DigitalLife 2006 by joining the mailing list.

P.S. Get the FREE tickets to this year’s event (regular price is $15) by posting a reply to this post. I’ll email you the “SOURCE CODE” where you can print out your own tickets.

PC World has list out 100 of the best products of the year (most fo them are free tools and services), and the below list is the summary of that. For a complete list (including short info, picture, review, etc.) head on to PC World’s 100 Best Products of the Year.

Powerful computers, handy services, tiny utilities, mammoth HDTVs–our editors’ top picks include all these and a whole lot more.

– PC World

Here goes the list:

1. Intel Core Duo
2. AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core
3. Craigslist.org
4. Apple iPod Nano
5. Seagate 160GB Portable Hard Drive
6. Google Earth
7. Adobe Premiere Elements 2
8. Canon EOS 30D
9. YouTube.com
10. Apple Boot Camp
11. Adobe Photoshop Elements 4
12. Mozilla Firefox 1.5
13. Engadget.com
14. Toshiba HD-A1
15. Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600
16. nVidia GeForce 7600 GT
17. Google
18. Sonos ZonePlayer 80
19. RedOctane’s Guitar Hero
20. Yamaha RX-V4600
21. Pioneer BDR-101A
22. Adobe Photoshop CS2
23. Citrix GoToMyPC 5
24. Dealnews.com
25. Palm GPS Navigator
26. MioNet
27. Ubuntu
28. Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5
29. Canon Pixma MP950
30. Yahoo Mail (Beta)
31. TiVo
32. Avvenu
33. Blogger
34. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1
35. Apple Mac Mini
36. Apple iPod
37. Lenovo ThinkPad X60s
38. SideStep.com
39. Windows Live Local
40. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
41. Alienware Aurora 7500
42. NEC MultiSync LCD 2180WG-LED
43. Apple iTunes
44. Olympus Evolt E-330
45. Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro
46. Creative Zen Vision:M
47. Google Desktop
48. Opera 9 (Beta)
49. Mitsubishi XD460U
50. Vonage
51. StumbleUpon
52. NoScript 1.1.4
53. Webroot Spy Sweeper 4.5
54. Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
55. Western Digital Raptor X
56. Yahoo Maps (Beta)
57. Intuit Quicken Premier 2006
58. ATI Radeon X1900 XTX
59. Javacool EULAlyzer Personal 1.1
60. Eizo FlexScan S2410W
61. Kosmix.com
62. T-Mobile SDA
63. Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
64. Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP
65. Meebo (alpha)
66. Corel Painter IX.5
67. Samsung LN-S3251D
68. Cerulean Studios Trillian 3.1
69. Rhapsody
70. In2M Mvelopes Personal 3
71. Canon Pixma IP6600D
72. EMC Retrospect Professional 7.5
73. Yahoo Music Engine 1.1
74. Network Magic
75. Z-Wave
76. BitDefender 9 Standard
77. Sage Software Simply Accounting Basic 13
78. Flickr
79. Nero 7 Ultra Edition
80. Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8
81. Kodak EasyShare Gallery
82. EvDO
83. LaCie d2 Hard Drive Serial ATA
84. HP Md5880n
85. Qnext 2
86. Salling Clicker 3
87. Epson Perfection V700
88. Mindjet MindManager Pro 6
89. Microsoft Xbox 360
90. iRiver Clix
91. Fujifilm FinePix E900
92. nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
93. Del.icio.us
94. Serious Magic Ovation
95. WordPress
96. Amazon A9 Toolbar
97. ThinkFree Office Online
98. Greasemonkey
99. NewsGator FeedDemon 2
100. Sysinternals Rootkit Revealer 1.7

This is the MOST powerful Power Mac ever been custom build to the limit! This is a dream system for every Power Mac user, but hey, with a price tag of A$ 29,025.45 or US$22,000, would it be a dream come true?

Check out this page.

This is stunning, look at its specifications:

• 16GB 533 DDR2 ECC SDRAM - 8×2GB
• 2×500GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• 16x SuperDrive Double-Layer (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256MB SDRAM
• Apple Cinema HD Display (30″ flat panel) - AU
• Fibre Channel PCI Express Card (w/ SFP-SFP cable)
• Apple USB Modem
• AirPort Extreme + Bluetooth built-in
• Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
• Mac OS X [default]
• One FireWire 800 port
• Two FireWire 400 ports

My 2 Cents

Frankly, I love it, even been a PC user, with this kind of specs, NO one says NO, if it is FOC (Free of Charge). But, if you ask me to forge US$22,000 just for this machine, I would rather buy car.

The first working prototype of the $100 Laptop is unveiled at the Seven Countries Task Force Meeting. The machine is running Fedora Core 5.0.

See Flickr for more images, or for more information, visit OLPC homepage.