AVG goes toe to toe with MS in consumer security fight.

AVG is putting an emphasis on increased speed with a revamp of its free and paid for security suites.

The latest revamp - AVG 9.0 - boasts 50 per cent faster speed and increased ease of use. Improvements in speed have been achieved by skipping the scan of files already marked as safe in future scans unless the file structure changes. The approach also offers claimed improvements of ten to 15 per cent for boot times and memory usage, respectively.

The firewall module in AVG 9.0 has also been redesigned to be less intrusive (ie fewer 'Do you want to allow this application online' questions) alongside tighter integration with the anti-malware scanner that forms the core of the product. This anti-malware scanner makes greater use of behaviour-based, cloud-based and white-listing technologies.

AVG has partnered with Intersections to offer identity theft recovery services, but this offer is available only to US users.

Rather unfortunately for those who remember the John Major government of the mid 1990s in the UK, AVG describes all this as going "back to basics". There's no word on any security equivalent of a cones hotline.

Paid versions of AVG 9.0 paid were available from Monday with a one-year, one-seat license for AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 starting at £27.99 ($44.50) in the UK. In continental Europe the price is €33.95. But in the US the price starts at just $34.99, around $10 less and with the addition of identity theft recovery services to boot.

For AVG Internet Security the pricing is £39.99 ($63.70) inc VAT, €52.95 inc VAT in Europe and $54.99 in the US (excluding sales tax).

The difference in pricing is less than we first reported but again significant, especially when the US-only availability of ID protection is factored into the equation.

AVG Free 9.0 will be available mid-October. Details of the features are being held back until then, but expect to see a cut-down product based on the same engine but without a firewall and other bells and whistles. Based on past form, AVG free will offer an anti-malware scanner alongside LinkScanner safe search technology.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk

Intel News

Intel and Numonyx Achieve Research Milestone with Stacked, Cross Point Phase Change Memory Technology.

New Research Discovery Paves Way for Scalable, Higher Density Phase Change Memory Products.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., and GENEVA – Oct. 28, 2009 – Intel Corporation and Numonyx B.V. today announced a key breakthrough in the research of phase change memory (PCM), a new non-volatile memory technology that combines many of the benefits of today's various memory types. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a 64Mb test chip that enables the ability to stack, or place, multiple layers of PCM arrays within a single die. These findings pave the way for building memory devices with greater capacity, lower power consumption and optimal space savings for random access non-volatile memory and storage applications.

The achievements are a result of an ongoing joint research program between Numonyx and Intel that has been focusing on the exploration of multi-layered or stacked PCM cell arrays. Intel and Numonyx researchers are now able to demonstrate a vertically integrated memory cell – called PCMS (phase change memory and switch). PCMS is comprised of one PCM element layered with a newly used Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) in a true cross point array. The ability to layer or stack arrays of PCMS provides the scalability to higher memory densities while maintaining the performance characteristics of PCM, a challenge that is becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain with traditional memory technologies.

Memory cells are built by stacking a storage element and a selector, with several cells creating memory arrays. Intel and Numonyx researchers were able to deploy a thin film, two-terminal OTS as the selector, matching the physical and electrical properties for PCM scaling. With the compatibility of thin-film PCMS, multiple layers of cross point memory arrays are now possible. Once integrated together and embedded in a true cross point array, layered arrays are combined with CMOS circuits for decoding, sensing and logic functions.
source:http://www.intel.com

Assassins Creed II Trailer

Assassins Creed II Trailer



Release Date Nov 2009

Mirror's Edge Reviews

Mirror's Edge Reviews

he only genuine sensation of movement that usually registers is the mashing of buttons and thumbsticks. So the most extraordinary accomplishment of Mirror’s Edge is the way it utterly immerses you in the experience of free-running — you viscerally feel the thrill of flowing gracefully over rooftops and around obstacles. The marvelously designed first-person view makes you feel like you are Faith, the game’s star. And since she’s one mighty badass, this game is a joy to play.

Set in a totalitarian near-future, Mirror’s Edge imagines a city where oppressive law enforcement means every move is watched and every action judged. While most of the population complies like sheep, a renegade organization of runners flits across the rooftops, ducking all that surveillance to deliver private data and packages. It’s the perfect framework to hang a parkour game on, and while free running might not seem meaty enough to support an entire game, Mirror’s Edge makes it work beautifully with an inventive blend of platforming, combat, and puzzles.

But before the word “platforming” scares you off, let us assure you that it’s almost an unfair label to hang on this game. Traditional platformers have faded off most of our radars because they feel tediously unfair. They have some B.S. mechanic that you tilt against until you unravel some arcane trick, and then voilà — you get to move on with equal parts relief and satisfaction. In Mirror’s Edge, it’s all satisfaction. Everything is completely doable if you mind your training and remember that Faith is a runner, not a fighter.

GTA IV liberty city

GTA IV Liberty City.

It’s strange to think that, as of this writing, Grand Theft Auto IV is more than a year and a half old. It’s even stranger to think that the story it began is finally complete, with the two downloadable episodes – The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony – filling in plot holes and offering up inventive new ways to explore the city that most GTA fans probably thought they’d exhausted of possibilities by now.


Above: Looks like you’ve got some more exploring to do

The episodes follow the stories of biker-gang lieutenant Johnny Klebitz and club-owner flunky Luis Fernando Lopez, both of which take place in roughly the same timeframe as, and run parallel to, the events of GTA IV. The three storylines frequently intersect, and only by playing through all three of them can you really get a complete picture of what happens, and why.

If you haven’t downloaded either add-on yet, then you might want to consider picking up Episodes from Liberty City, which collects them both on one disc that you don’t need Grand Theft Auto IV to play. It doesn’t offer any new features over the downloadable editions, unless you count a static game-select screen as a “feature,” but if you lack the time or the bandwidth to wait for the lengthy downloads, or just don’t have GTA IV, this is the best way to get your hands on them.

Above: Not that Johnny is exactly a saint, of course

New!! Radeon 5870

The 5870s are available in the US.

Sapphire wants $379.99 for SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video - Retail while Diamond wants $384.99 for its DIAMOND 5870PE51G Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video- Retail.

Catalyst 9.8 drivers offically released

AMD has now officially released the Catalyst 9.8 drivers.

Here are the notes. Highlights of the ATI Catalyst™ 9.8 Windows release include:

Performance improvements

Battleforge DirectX 10/DirectX 10.1 performance improves up to 15-50% in CPU limited settings with the largest gains in CrossfireX configurations. Company of Heroes DirectX 10 performance improves by up to 10-77% in CPU limited settings. Crysis DirectX 10 Dual CrossfireX performance improves as much as 10% and Quad CrossfireX performance improves as much as 34% in CPU limited settings. Crysis Warhead DirectX 10 Dual CrossfireX performance improves as much as 7% and Quad CrossfireX performance improves as much as 69% in CPU limited settings.

Left for Dead 2 trailer

Left 4 Dead 2 Trailer

Release Date 17 Nov 2009

Kav/Kis Activation Keys

Kav/Kis Activation Keys:
For users Kapersky antivirus / internet security here is the activation keys:

http://kasperskyfile.blogspot.com updated daily/weekly

The Best AntiVirus in 2009

The Best AntiVirus according TopTen Reviews

Peringkat 1 : BitDefender Antivirus (www.bitdefender.com)
Peringkat 2 : Kaspersky Anti-Virus (www.kaspersky.com)
Peringkat 3 : Webroot Antivirus (www.webroot.com)
Peringkat 4 : ESET Nod32 (www.eset.com)
Peringkat 5 : AVG Anti-Virus (www.avg.com)
Peringkat 6 : Vipre Antivirus (www.vipreantivirus.com)
Peringkat 7 : F-Secure Anti-Virus (www.f-secure.com)
Peringkat 8 : Trend Micro (www.trendmicro.com)
Peringkat 9 : McAfee VirusScan (www.mcafee.com)
Peringkat 10 : Norton AntiVirus (www.symantec.com)
source:http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com