July 16 - 31, 2001

Monday 30 July 2001

Well this update should be short and sweet!

There is a new interview over at Operation-Flashpoint.DK with David Solari of Codemasters. This interview deals with the new patches and the proposed upgrade path of the game, along with details on updates to the mission editor and tutorial. Go check it out.

Here is an amazing piece of stupidity. A woman is suing Kellogg's, the makers of those pop tart thingys, for burning her house down! Well, you might say, if they burnt it down then they should pay! And, if that was the case, they should! But it wouldn't be under the title of stupidity, now would it? It seems that the poor lady put the pop tart in the toaster began to toast it, and then left the house! Well the tart got stuck in the toaster and the house burnt down! Now she has the hide to blame Kellogg's for making the tarts! Will the avoidance of responsibility ever stop! Wake up lady and get a life! Kellogg's should be suing you, on behalf of the rest of the community for being a danger to mankind! Check the sorry details out here!

And in a piece of history, a scientist has dug up old records and now claims that they show that there is life on Mars! It seems that new study of the Mars Lander Project results may indicate some form of biological life on Mars! Check it out here!

Hello Doc, I wanna be a Miss World! Can you prescribe any surgery that will make me look better? Yep that's right, those Miss World contestants are fake! I have long believed that those girls had to have had some cosmetic surgery to look that good! Either that or they are kept in mothballs! Check out the sad confession here. And, if you have young girls there show them the story and help them to realize that they are fine the way they are! Please!!

In a case of life imitating art, do gooders have been trying to free the whale star of the Free Willy Movie, for the past three years. But this has been to no avail. It doesn't want to leave! Scientists suggest that the whale has become "addicted" (yeah right!) to humans! No it doesn't like eating them! I believe that the whale knows when it is on a good thing! Free food, clean pen, no predators! What more could a whale want from life? Check out the story here.

Check this out. As if the fax scandal wasn't bad enough! Now a former Hooters waitress is suing the company for fraudulent breach of contract after she was awarded a ToyYoda for selling the most beer in a month! Yep you read right! Instead of receiving the prize of a Toyota motor vehicle, as was expected, she was presented with, literally, a toy Yoda doll from Star Wars. What a rort! Check it out.

Remember that classic game from a few years back called Harpoon? Well it is about to be released (sometime this year) in a new version, number 4! WooHoo! For me, the original was one of the best games I ever played. I would spend hours playing through each mission from either side until I could confidently complete it every time! Now they are set to roxXor our soxXor with a new and improved version. The press releases state that it will blend all the best gameplay bits of the original with some actual hands on driving of the boats and subs in the game. It will also have the high quality film clips that we have come to expect from the game. The game is now being produced by SSI, since three-sixty closed up shop quite a while ago! Do your self a favour and go check the site out! Harpoon 4.

Well that is all for today! Enjoy, and I'll try to get a Max Payne Review out by the end of the week!

Sunday 29 July 2001

Well the Birthday celebrations went very well and I hope all had a good time, but it seems that there is really only enough news at the moment for updates every second day or so. Sometimes there is a glut of news and others........

News from India states that one hacker decided to bait the cops by taking over their web page and daring them to catch him! Guess what? Yep they caught him! and they allegedly broke his hand in the process. As a result of this foolery, all hackers in India are scared! Don't know why. Maybe because India has a very successful and active cybercrime unit? Well that should slow them down a bit anyway! And if one of them is responsible for the Sircam Virus then I hope they catch that one too and then hang him! The trouble with those sorts of virii/worms is that they usually only affect people who don't know much about computers. My parents have been fighting that particular virus for 3 days now and it has caused them endless frustration and stress. And they really only use the net for e-mail purposes. It seems to me that it is like killing a town to get to the Mayor! If they are so damn good at writing these malicious things, then why don't they showcase their talents by writing software that is useful, or at least target something for a cause! Not just cause they can! Anyway here is a link to the India story. Here's another link about the SirCam Worm

Here is a story about supreme parenting skills. It seems that a mother (and I assume a father as well) has allowed her son to have his photo taken naked! The photographer then posted them on an AOL chat notice board and sold copies of them and a video tape! Now I don't agree with child pornography, but the Mother has attempted to persuade the Florida Supreme Court that ISP's are responsible for the actions of their subscribers in this matter. Now I find something wrong with this picture! Although she failed in her attempt, she is blaming someone else! Why don't we charge her with neglecting her child? Or failing to teach her child the dangers of life? What ever happened to her responsibility as a parent? Why is it that people always want to blame others and avoid their own responsibility in these matters?? What happened to prosecuting of offenders who actually commit the crime? Why do we always attack the middle men? "Oh my kiddie was bullied at school, so let's sue the school for letting it happen!" "I had an accident so let's sue Ford for making the car that I was driving!" Is that where we are heading? Come on lady, accept some responsibility and don't shoot the messenger! Get a grip! The offender was prosecuted and sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for his actions, but there is no money in that is there? Do we sue the postal service for sending chain letters and bills??

Well we have managed to get our hands on a copy of the veritable Max Payne! Initial impressions are the game is very good. It seems sufficiently different to warrant playing through the whole way! The story and concept seem interesting and there is a certain style of movie that I really enjoy along the lines of this game! In fact the plot seems strangely familiar......... But after I play with it for a while I shall write up a rib tickler of a review and post it on the site! There is a patch for the game out now, which fixes the crash to desktop problem and a few other minor things. You can get it from here.

There is also a patch for Quake 3 that you can also pick up from 3DFiles.

Well after numerous betas, the guy's who make PowerStrip, the display tweaking software, have finally released Version 3! You can grab it from here.

For those of you who are into watching movies on your computer and haven't got a DVD player, then you will be pleased to know that the latest version of DivX has been released! You can download the bundle (codec, playa, docs and utils) from here.

Here's one for the books! Over in Cyprus, a Transvestite has avoided prison due to the authorities not being able to classify shim! Good one guys! Check the short but full story out here!

In an amazingly shocking and cutting edge piece of investigative journalism, CNN have released a story on a report which states the bleedingly obvious! It seems that children are downloading pornography using file swapping software! Now isn't that an amazing piece of research! If parents let their children surf the net and trade files with no supervision, then they only have themselves to blame! It is not the net. It is not the file trading software. It is not the ISP. Yes some files may be mis-labeled. Yes it is available if they want to search for it! But, Oh no, my little (insert name of child) wouldn't do that! Well they do, get used to it and supervise your child better if you don't want them to view it! To read more about this story click on the link above.

Well that wraps it up for today, sorry about the rantings on responsibility, but we often avoid taking it because it is a lot of work and can be difficult! Hope you enjoyed the weekend and got a lot done! I know I didn't manage to get to everything that needed to be done! Cheers!

Friday 27 July 2001

Well, I'm going to try to do a quick post today, as I have a lot to do and there isn't that much of news around at present. Everything seems to be dominated by Max Payne stuff! So here we go......

The developers of Max Payne, (who else) have released the very first patch for the game. This patch fixes the exit (crash???) to desktop and the CD ROM problems some are having. You can grab it from 3DFiles if you are one of the lucky ones that has the game to have problems with it.

It looks like song writers will be the big losers in the on-line music war. It seems that it is hard enough to get paid now, and it will just get harder if music goes totally to the web! Check the full story out here.

The American restaurant chain Hooters has been fined $12 million for sending out unsolicited faxed advertisements to customers in the Augusta area. It seems a slimy lawyer type received one, and then proceeded to lay a class action suit against the company! Strange things afoot here guys! But not to spoil a good story, it seems that the plaintiffs legal firm was the big winner, snagging $4 million of the total payout! Something stinks! Check it out here.

It seems now that ISP's are being pressured to stop file trading! It seems that the music companies have finally decided that it is useless to stop the people who write the software, and are now attacking the service providers for the actions of their customers! Once again this sucks! They are trying to go about this the wrong way! Why not just prosecute everyone who trades music files for breach of contract? Could it be that it is not exactly illegal on the individual level? That we have a right to copy our legally owned music and trade it with others? Now I don't know the answer to those questions, but it sure seems that the music companies are trying to close the doors in an underhanded way! Check out the full story here.

Electronic Arts have released another Medal of Honour: Allied Assault video! WooHoo!! This one continues from where the previous one ended and shows the troops assaulting the beach at Normandy is full "Saving Private Ryan" style. Rumour has it that there will be several more movies released highlighting the gameplay and the graphics of the game. Do yourself a favour (thanks Molly!) and grab the movies from EA.

Well that's it for today, I'll just go off and enjoy what is left of my birthday! Cheers!

Wednesday 25 July 2001

Well the Tel$tra hack story is becoming increasingly more complex. Tel$tra have now announced that ADSL customers who are active as at 24 July, will get their months access charges refunded in full. This effectively makes the connection free! WooHoo! But wait, there's more! Tel$tra have also announced a 50% discount to all customers for the access fees plus all other associated costs, including excess usage rates, for the months of August and September! This they claim is due to the poor standard of third party supplied hardware (once again shoveling the blame to someone else!) and the lack of network availability! One wonders if there has been some legal action taking place behind the scenes to force this unprecedented about face? Only time will tell! You can find out more about it from the Tel$tra Broadband site itself.

And while I am on the subject of Telstra's ADSL service, you might want to check out this joke over at Core! It is quite relevant to the events that have occurred over the past week.

You may remember a couple of weeks ago, I posted a link on the site referring to a Mexican Bank and it's libel suit on two internet-investigative journalists and their website. Well, I along with many others are watching this case closely as it may set a problematical precedent and effectively censure the free press spirit of the web! Although the facts seem baseless, if the New York judge allows the case to appear before the courts, it will set a dangerous precedent where any big company, or moneyed individual, could simply harass any website owner over any adverse criticism of them or their products. Dangerous indeed! Anyway you can catch the full story here.

It seems as if there is even more to the controversial arrest of the Russian Hacker at the Def Con Conference last week. Adobe says "Welease Wodger", well Dmitry anyway, but the Feds and the US based e-Book companies say hang the bugger! You can find out all about it here, here, or here! If I was the Judge I'd be terribly confused by all the politicking that is going on over this!

Well it looks like Max Payne has been shipped to stores across the US and will be available for purchase either tomorrow or Friday! Still no word on an official Australian release date! Can't be far off but we miss out again, and again, and again............

Here is a strange headline for you - Woman Sues to Become a Moose! Yep, but it's not quite what you think it is! Check it out here.

In an amazing piece of Darwinism at work, tourists who were whale watching, jumped aboard a dead whale and patted sharks! Story here! My question here is..... Why did we stop them??

Well, the US Government are sticking their nose into Uncle Bill's business again! It looks like Microsoft may have to delay the release of Windows XP until after the senate looks into the anti-competitive strategies of the company and the OS! Anyone really surprised by this??? Check out the story here at Wired News.

Blizzard has announced that Warcraft 3 will be delayed until sometime next year! Check the announcement out here.

Well that's all folks! Enjoy!

Monday 23 July 2001

In an update to yesterdays story about Telstra being hacked, we have finally a response from Telstra. Remember that this response only came after several adverse news reports and some publicity. What should we expect from the company? Well if we expect nothing then that is what we got! Yep! You guessed it! They just simply blamed the users for the incident. My god, how bloody arrogant! Just how stupid do the people (and yes I include them all as they represent the company belief system) at Tel$tra think the public are??? Well, before I go off on a rather large and uncontrolled ranting, I had best post the reply that can be found on their Server Status Page. I have included it in its entirety so that I cannot be accused of tampering with their message!

There have been media reports today about a security incident involving BigPond. Please note that the breach in security relates to a Trojan virus known as "Sub.Seven" which infects an individual's computer. There has been no security breach of the BigPond network.

The virus allows a hacker to access individual computers and compromise individual customers' security. In particular, the hacker can gain access to customers' user names and passwords and post this information on public sites. An incident of this nature occurred over the weekend. Once Telstra became aware of this particular situation, it changed the passwords of the listed customers to protect their accounts.

Customers need to take steps to protect themselves from the effects of viruses on their individual computers. Telstra recommends the following:

*BigPond customers should run a virus checking program on their system and delete any viruses that may be detected. If you do not have a virus application, Telstra strongly recommends that you install one. It is important that customers run virus checks regularly and keep their virus definitions updated, as this is the responsibility of the customer.

*BigPond customers can then change their passwords online. Alternatively, if you are unable to log-on and would like us to reset your password, you can do so. For Narrowband, you will need to confirm that you are an account holder by supplying us with the secret Question and Answer or credit card details registered to your account. For Broadband, you will need to provide us with a PIN for your account.

If you would like further information on BigPond security generally, please go to http://www.bigpond.com/Home/Support/Help/FAQ/.

Hell these clowns don't even know what the "sub.seven" trojan does! And if you follow their link to find out more about their "security", you get to a FAQ page which tells you that you, and only you, are responsible for securing your password! It does give some good advice on what constitutes a good password, but it says nothing about what THEY are doing with your account information! Do you feel safer now?

It really seems strange to me that the only names listed were BIGPOND BROADBAND account names. There were no other names listed from other ISP's and there were no other types of accounts. The other thing is that hackers usually do this sort of stuff for the prestige of it, and there is no prestige in hacking an individuals account to get a password. Unless it leads to something bigger, that sort of thing is only done by newbies and wannabes who just scan ports until they find something useful. I personally believe that Tel$tra is lying but I expect nothing more from them than that!

Now that all that stuff is out of my system (well OK, not really, but I'm moving on!), here is a link to a great "404 error" page. Go check it out.

The guys over at EuroGamer have posted an article about some interesting research. This research claims that computer gamers are quicker and smarter than non-gamers. Doesn't say that they are better looking though! Bummer! Check the link out and you can also check this link which deals with a similar story.

The biggest news in the gaming industry is that Max Payne will be released later this week in the US. I have no idea when it will hit the shelves of the rest of the world, but I will try to keep you informed. The game looks very interesting, though I really have no time to play it, so I will probably look forward to it as a Christmas present!

Well that does it for today. It's an Odd world out there, so get them when you can!

Sunday 22 July 2001

Due to a security incident Telstra recommends BigPond Broadband ADSL customers run a virus checking program on their PC and delete any virus that may be detected. Users should then change their BigPond Broadband ADSL passwords.

Well what can we expect from a service provider that refuses to acknowledge that it's connection software is substandard, and that it is the cause of 90% of network problems, or that reinstalling software does not constitute successful problem resolution when the problem is at the network end and not the users! I think I would fall over and DIE if Tel$tra actually took the blame for it's own mistakes!

Well not much has been happening around the place lately, but hopefully I can scrounge some interesting reading up for you all.

For those of you who were addicted to that nasty game called "Asteroids", there is an update to the game called Disateroids. This is a small but very addictive, Open GL, 3D version of that arcade classic. Not only is is hard, but it is a lot of fun. Combining the 2D world of the original with the nuances of operating in a true 3D world, makes this a challenging and addictive game. You can get your copy of this Freeware program from 3DFiles.

There have been numerous reports about two new viruses/worms going around lately. It seems that one is targeted at the Whitehouse, and the other is an annoying e-mail virus that sends attachments from unsuspecting computer users hard drives. You can catch up on them at any of these articles at Wired News (Sircam Worm, Inept Virus Hits White House, or New Worm Keeps Them Guessing).

Who would have guessed that Microsoft would oppose an accelerated appeal in their anti-trust case? Yep, everyone! Isn't it amazing how the big companies can keep everything tied up in court so that nothing ever really happens to them? Well Microsoft are masters at it and I suppose they pay their lawyers very well! Check out the sad story of monetary abuse here! If anyone else tried to stop a government they would be crushed! Just who is running the US now?

It seems that there is division amongst the recording companies! In a strange turn of events, both copyright lawyers and the vice president of EMI, have publicly announced that they are opposed to the secret modifications to CD's that stop clean digital recording of the tracks! Maybe the consumer will gain some ground back on their rights! You can watch the video of the discussion here.

On the topic of copy protection and what companies are doing about it, You might want to check out the news from CDMediaWorld. They have several articles about what is happening in the CD copyright scene. Go check them out for an update.

If you are considering upgrading to Microsoft's next OS offering, Windows XP, then you might want to check out the changes that MS are claiming they are going to make to the Product Activation System! GameSpot have an interesting article on it. It seems that MS want to strike a balance between inconvenience to users, and piracy concerns. I suppose that if you were having lots of problems with your computer that involved reinstalling the OS then you could just choose not to register until you had sorted it all out. But it is still a real hassle to have to ring MS to get a product activation code! And, heaven forbid, what happens if you are not even connected to the internet? You must ring them up so you can use your system! Sometimes I wonder if I will bother upgrading, particularly as the indications are that it will not really provide any real advances on Win2K, particularly in the area of gaming! Only time will tell on this one, and I will not be rushing out to get the new OS until many more users have tried it and worked out all the bugs!

Well it looks like the Telstra account system has been hacked, and several users had their passwords stolen and displayed around the place. My advice.... CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS!!!!! Just to be on the safe side. There has been no news from Telstra (I doubt that there will be any) about the hack, but I bet that we will wear the brunt of it as users. Tel$tra just don't give a damn about their customers! You can find a link to several stories about the hack on AusGamers.

Well that about wraps up the news for Sunday, hopefully there will be more happening next week! Ciao for now!

Friday 20 July 2001

In a follow up to one of yesterday's stupidity stories, The Salt Lake Tribune has run a story saying that the lady in the bikini was not being lewd! In fact the whingers that complained so bitterly about her are now under investigation for harassment! For once, it seems, the law is not an ass! Go the bikini gardener. Though I may be slightly biassed, I certainly would not complain if my next door neighbour looked as good as victim in this story. I would complain even less if she was to garden in a bikini! Click on the link above for the full story.

In a piece over at CNN.com, they report that a Russian submarine has launched a prototype of a space yacht that is set to sail the solar winds to distant galaxies (if you can live that long!). Check the story out here.

Well that's all she wrote! Nothing much more for today. Maybe tomorrow will bring some news! Cheers.

Thursday 19 July 2001

There is a new patch for Delta Force: Land Warrior bringing the gave version up to 1.00.31. There is no word on what the patch fixes yet but it is available from their ftp server, or you can install it using the in game updater!

Here is another article in the long running saga of "Video games lead to Violence". This article deals with the data published by two Psychologists from Iowa. Unusually, this article actually takes a contrary stand and highlights the problems with laboratory only experimentation! The results do not generalize well to the real world. It is an interesting read and well worth the time.....So what are you waiting for......Go look at it here!

In a strange piece I picked up at Blues News, a woman is being complained about to the police, by her neighbours, because she is wearing a bikini in her front yard! How stupid can people really be? It turns out that there is an underlying theme to the complaints though! But you will just have to find that out by reading the story here!

Bioware has released a new patch for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. You can download it from this page. This page also has all the fixes and improvements listed, so you can see exactly what you are updating.

In an amazing piece of sheer stupidity and lack of moral reasoning, a woman robbed a bank to get herself out of debt! Read more here!

Strange though it may seem, every nudist camp should have it's own bridge! Well it helps them to cross the road without causing accidents! Check it out here!

Now this is incredibly stupid! Even more stupid than the previous stupidity story! A woman is sharing a cage with 2000 scorpions. All Live, all deadly! But wait! There's more! She actually wants them to chuck in another 1000! Just to make it a bit more challenging! I think she will be checking into a cage of a different sort after she gets out of this one! Read the full story here!

I found an interesting review of a 19" monitor over at Dan's Data. The monitor is the Samsung 955DF. This little beauty is a flat screen monitor that looks really good. The best part is the price! Only AU$896.50, delivered! (from AusPCMarket). You can find the full review here.

On the hardware side of thing, when is the last time you gave your precious PC a good clean? Well, you would be surprised at the difference a clean system can make when it come to heat! The guy's over at Gideon Tech have posted an article on the very real benefits of periodically cleaning your box! It also shows you how to clean it well, without damaging anything! Check it out here!

In an interesting twist to the Hacker Arrest story from earlier in the week, it appears that there are some new twists coming to light! It has been alleged that the Russian Hacker actually worked for a company in Russia that has close ties with the FBI! Now I don't know where this will go from here, but things are really starting to sound scapegoatish to me! Check out the allegations in this article.

In an interesting piece of secret unveiling, record companies have been at it again! It seems that the record companies have been trialling a copy protection scheme in certain music CD's for the past 6 months. They also refuse to say which ones have the protection! This further infringes on our rights to be able to copy the music for our own use. Now while I agree that people who pirate CD's and make money off them should be prosecuted, the individual consumer is getting shafted once again. We have a right, enshrined by law, to be able to make backup copies of the CD's we purchase. These copies can be used for any purpose other than commercial. So, unless the record companies are going to replace, free of charge, any damaged CD's (I can really see this happening!) then they are infringing against this right! You actually pay for the copyright fees for the song when you purchase it. Along with that comes the right to utilize it according to that copyright! Once again the big boys are screwing the consumers! Read the full story here.

Well I think that is enough for the moment. Back again tomorrow. Enjoy!

Wednesday 18 July 2001

It seems that the Americans are starting to enforce their Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This Act makes it illegal to produce software or hardware that gets around any form of digital copyright protection. Yesterday, in only the second prosecution under the act, a Russian computer expert was arrested at DEFCON 2001. This person is responsible for designing software that beats the encoded Adobe Acrobat system of privacy! He made the mistake of giving away the code while at the annual "Hackers" convention in Las Vegas. Read the full story here.

It seems that the immensely popular MP3 format for digital songs is only wanted by the consumer. No one else in the business world wants to touch it! Most of the recording companies are looking to proprietary security file systems in order to stop internet file trading. The big problem.... Millions of MP3 files are traded on a daily basis, and the only hardware out there at present takes MP3's. Maybe the consumer will win this round, but the future looks bleak for music file trading over the internet! Catch the full story here.

Jumpgate, the massive online space flight sim, is available now and has moved from the beta test stage and is now live! If you would like to have a look at the game, then slip over to 3DFiles and download the 5 day free trial version and have a look!

If you are interested in playing massive online games like EverQuest or WWII Online and the like, then you should check out this article on what the future holds for this form of gaming. Grab it here.

Now I can't find where I found this report, but believe me it is true. You remember how we were occasionally saying that there were rumours that there was going to be a Diablo Movie?? Well those rumors were definitely true! Now it seems that Blizzard have recently won a court battle against the movie company that prohibits them from using the Diablo name! No more word has come about who is going to play the various roles, but if I can find it out then I will keep you posted! And remember, you heard that one first here on OddAngryShot.com!

Tuesday 17 July 2001

Back again! So now on with the news!

I have now posted my epitaph to Douglas Adams. You can find it in the comments section, or by following this link.

The latest addon for Black & White was released today. This addon provides for village banter. From what I understand of it, if you zoom in close to the villagers you can hear them talk! Now if you looked at the data files of the original game, you can find a list of everything that the villagers can, and do, say. Now I don't know if this changes any of that, or provides more chatter, but it certainly does start up the ability for it to happen! You can find a list of official mirrors here for the download. Enjoy it before it drives you nuts!

Well, security and wireless communication has always been an issue. Now it seems that hackers can exploit the wireless world of inter PC communication. It seems that passwords over wireless networks are extremely easy to crack or spoof! For more info check out this article.

In a small reversal in the "browser wars", Microsoft have gracefully allowed PC manufacturers to insert other browsers into the operating system. However, it seems likely that this move was merely a PR stunt and actually has no benefit to other companies. This is due to the interrelatedness of the system components and the sharing of DLL (dynamic linking libraries) files between MS sanctioned products. It does not seem likely that the Windows desktop will become a level playing field anytime soon! Read the full story here.

There is a new version of the Half-Life mod Front Line Force available now. This brings it up to version 1.3a. This version includes a sparkling new map, several bug fixes and "a whole lot of polish"! Grab it from FilePlanet.

There is also a new version of the Unreal Tournament mod, Tactical Ops. This brings it to beta 2. We played this mod at the LAN on the weekend. The models and graphics are lovely, but there are many network problems and it is still a poor Counter-Strike clone. Much more wok needs to be done before it lives up to it's potential.You can also get it from FilePlanet.

In a bid to thwart claims by labour advocates, Nike are streaming video from their manufacturing plants. Strangely enough, the activists are not really happy. A while ago Nike suffered a consumer backlash when details of working conditions in it's third world manufacturing plants were revealed. THis is just a carry on to increase sales, but will it work? Catch the full story at Wired News.

It looks as if Microsoft is entering into the MP3 wars in a big way. Once again the interests of the big boys tread on the rights of the consumer. Microsoft is looking at charging US$30 extra for the ability to rip MP3's using the features incorporated in the operating system Windows XP. That means that you have to pay to listen to music that you have purchased the copyright to, on your computer (if you want to put it there yourself). It is even suggested that the ripped songs would have lower quality that that offered for free on the internet at present through the file trading networks such as Morpheus and Bear Share. And they wonder why people try so damn hard to get around the system? Read the full story here.

In the way of video drivers for the nVidia based cards, there are new beta drivers out. This brings them up to 14.20. As always, use them at your own risk! You can download them from here.

There is also a new beta version of DirectX available. This brings it now to version 8.1 and you can get it from here.

Once again that's all from Odd Land tonight!

Well sorry about yesterday's posting. When I tried to send everything and also to check the web for news, I found that our trusty ISP (Tel$tra) was not so trusty after all. Yep, you guessed it..... No internet access for the rest of the night! This has happened quite a bit lately and we can do nothing about it. There are no refunds given or even apologies. Sucks, doesn't it! Anyway I'm back now and I'll try to get things a bit more organized today.

As many of you would be aware, last week Microsoft's MSN Messenger chat program had a lengthy outage last week (along with several other serious problems). This does not bode well for the software giant but makes ICQ and the other alternative look great. This also impacts on their .net and Hailstorm business initiatives. Could spell trouble for them in the future and may actually open the door for competitors to grab a share of the market. Read more about the implications here.

In other news about MSN Messenger, there is a petition going around at present suggesting that Microsoft are going to shut down the free service and implement a user pay service. Don't worry, this is not just an MS trend. ICQ has suggested that they will be following suit with "user pays" having been in their licensing agreement since it was first marketed! Will people still use them if they become user pays? I don't know, but will keep you posted as the news breaks!

Although this may be old news, it looks like Napster, at least as it was before, has passed away! The new Napster will be a subscription based venture and will incorporate new fingerprinting technology in order to safeguard the rights of those record companies, er..... I mean artists! Napster has shut down temporarily in response to a court ruling and looks to be able to reopen only when this new technology and subscription service is implemented. Don't despair though, there are many file sharing programs available that trade a lot more than MP3s. Just search for music sharing programs in Google or Yahoo and see what you come up with!

Interested in breaking into the game development business? Have your own idea for a great 3D game? Well there is now a program that will allow you to develop your own 3D style game in as little as an afternoon! This program is called 3D Game Studio and is available now in several flavours for all tastes. From the beginner to the consummate professional. Gamespy have conducted an interview of sorts with Connitech, the makers of the product, which highlights the uses to which the software can be put. Check it out!

Well work calls again and I must leave this for the moment! But I'll be back later in the day with more exciting news from the land of Odd!