Feed MS update ate my CPU cycles (theregister.com)
Tarpit
The latest batch of patches from Microsoft has left some users in the slow lane.
Submission + - AMD CTO Summit: We're Here for the Long Haul
mikemuch writes: "ExtremeTech's Loyd Case reports back from the AMD CTO Summit, where he was privy to looks at the company's quad-core initiative, but benchmark numbers weren't divulged. The article includes a slideshow of some whiz-bang applications like 3D input and facial recognition, as well as pictures of the new dual motherboards and processor blanks."
Submission + - Sapphire Delivers new sub-$150 ATI GPU
Kyle Bennett writes: "HardOCP runs the a new Sapphire Radeon X1950 GT (new GPU from ATI that is only sold by Sapphire currently) through it paces and shows where the X1950 GT delivers some great high resolution gaming at up to 1600x1200 resolution. This video card may change your mind about the sub-$200 "budget" category. And it is not from NVIDIA, which given the Vista driver situation, is a plus. [H] says, "The Sapphire Radeon X1950 GT can be had for $154.99 USD from Newegg, with a $10 mail-in rebate. This compares directly to what you can find a GeForce 7900 GS for. For this price the Sapphire Radeon X1950 GT is a tremendous value.""
Submission + - Credit Card security: Who pays for breaches?
PetManimal writes: "A scheme to steal customers' credit and debit card information at a New England supermarket chain highlights a little-understood fact about credit card security: Customers still think that the credit-card companies have to eat fraudulent charges, but since PCI DSS standards were adopted, it's actually the merchant banks and merchants who have to pay up. And, according to the author of the last article, it's a good thing:
"The main reason PCI exists is that there are tens of thousands of merchants who don't understand the basics of information security and weren't even taking the very minimum steps to secure their networks and the credit card information they stored.... PCI pushes that burden downstream and forces merchants to take on a preventative role rather than a reactive role. They have to put in a properly configured firewall, encrypt sensitive information and maintain a minimum security stance or be fined by their merchant banks. By forcing this to be an issue about prevention rather than reaction, the credit card companies have taken the bulk of the financial burden off of themselves and placed it on the merchants, which is where much of it belongs anyways.
Submission + - Houston & Earthlink to Build 600 Sq.Mile WiFi
Tempest writes: As assbackwards as our muni government is here I'm quite surprised that the City of Houston has announced that they have contracted Earthlink to build the nation's largest municipal wi-fi network. Per the Q&A at the Houston Chronicle, the contract requires a download speed of 1 Mbps.
