Once again Windows Vista has been the target of the hackers and crackers and just generally fun loving people with very little time on their hands.

Using a linux distro called BackTrack (BackTrack is the most Top rated linux live distribution focused on penetration testing) a person can gain system level access to any machine running windows Vista by following a couple of simple steps.

All you need to do is navigate to the windows directory of the machine and into the system32 folder. You then make a backup of the utility manager (utilman.exe) which is used to run the various utilities that allow people with sight problems to access a computer (screen readers etc..).

When this is backed up you rename cmd.exe to utilman.exe and reboot. When you boot up windows then and you reach the log in screen you can get the option to use the utility manager by pressing ctrl+u. Since utilman.exe is now basically cmd.exe you get a command prompt which you can now use to run explorer and thus gain system access without having to know any usernames or passwords.

This exploit apparently only works on Windows Vista and does not affect XP, 2000, 2003 and NT.

Here is a video that shows how to do it.

I wonder how long it will be before Microsoft fixes this issue.

In this wonderful small world we live in now where we can constantly absord music at a staggering rate from an innumerable amount of places I have but one question to ask. How many people remember the band Picturehouse?

I have asked that question so many times to so any different people in the last 24 hours and usually the answer is that they have just a vague recollection. Well if thats the case with you guys out there maybe you need a good dose of “listen carefully”. Side effects may include learning something.

Around about 17 years ago, or so the legends would have us believe, a man called Dave Browne and a few friends went to England to find their fortunes. After signing with London Records thinking theyd be the next U2 their band didnt do that hot. They cut their losses and returned home to Ireland and started going at it for themselves and made a really big name for themselves all over the country. Unfortunately though international fame, though they deserved it, didnt come to them. Of course they were big in Germany apparently but I think theyd rather play that down a bit seeing as most germans still bop to David Hasslehoff.

Anyway after a while Dave decided he’d had enough fun for now and called it a night. Dave went on to join a group known as the Flash Gits (kick ass band name imho) and for a time spent his nights playing in Lillie’s Bordello in Dublin City.

Well now its solo time. Yes Dave of PH is now going solo. In fact he released an album just today. The title is the same as the post title above. Windows to the Soul. Now thats all well and good but why is a geek related website reporting this? Wheres the microchips and the cat6 cabling. Take another spoonful of “Listen carefully” and I’ll continue.

Now the album comes in a very stylish package. Cd? Forget cds. Direct download from a website ala Radiohead? Forget that nonsense. How can you get this album? You can get it on a credit card style usb memory device. All you do is twist a bit of it to get the connector pointing out, you stick it in your machine and there you go. Not only is the album on there but its also a 1.5 gig memory stick that you can then use for whatever you like. Little things like that are what make the world go round.

If you guys want anymore details on Dave Browne and his tours and albums and whatnot check out his website.

The most anticipated game of the season is on store shelves (theoretically), and perhaps for the rest of the year bar a select hopefuls (namely Metal Gear Solid 4), Grand Theft Auto 4 is sold out almost everywhere.

I always become instictively suspicous about games that have a large amount of hype surrounding them, as more often than not it proves to be without substance. Add to that the recent mumourings about GTA4 issues with 60GB Playstation 3s and certain models of Xbox 360, which would apparently freeze the game after the intro; I didnt feel the urgent need everyone else must be feeling about grabbing a copy of the game….saying that however, I did manage to grab myself a copy at a ridiculously reduced price considering demand right now.

Tip: Tescos are selling them for €39.99 if you can get your hands on it; I got mine by ringing up late at night, just as they got new stock in. Dont expect that to last.

Onto the game itself: the first thing people will invariably ask, and notice of course is ‘how does it look’, to which i must say the game is absolutely gorgeous. I would never have said previous GTA games ever pushed the bar as far as graphics were conscerned - upto part [just], but not much more; GTA4 is so much more, its an absolute beauty, very much next-gen graphics with realistic water, deep shadows and a draw distance that goes on forever but best of all is the lighting effects, its stunning. The intro graphics alone are a pleasure to watch! how often do you get to say that about a game?!

Niko Bellic is a Serbian immigrant who is thirty years of age and a veteran of the Bosnian War. He has come to Liberty City to pursue the “American Dream”.

source: wikipedia

The prologue cutscene is a work of art, the music and cinematics work perfectly together as you watch Niko, the main character, on a cargo ship on making its way into Liberty City, where he arrives and meets up with his cousin, Roman. After the intro cutscene is finished, you’re left to fend for yourself in Niko’s cousins apartment, what you do from there is really pretty much upto you. I’d recommend watching the TV, its hilarious - if you liked the radio stations from previous GTA games, which you no doubt did, you’ll love the TV, its exactly the same. insane.

The first thing I noticed about the actual gameplay was how much more realistic the physics were. Niko walked and ran much more like a real person than any of his predecessors. Perhaps more importantly, the same is true of the driving experience. Its claimed that there would be no loading times for GTA IV - which is partly true I guess, there are no loading times when running or driving around, or walking in and out of a location such as Romans apartment or a Café, but there is the occasional one between missions, nothing much really.

We will be covering more of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto in the coming days, in the meantime why not leave a comment!

Bit-Tech’s Joe Martin reports that both Mass Effect and Spore are going to be sold with a very intrusive DRM, which will call home every ten days to check if your a pirate or not.

BioWare technical producer Derek French revealed that Mass Effect and Spore would feature a copy protection system similar to that used for BioShock, except that it will require online authentication once every ten days.

read more at [Bit-Tech]

Today we take a look at Three’s mobile broadband offering, which is offered in direct competition with both O2’s and Vodafone’s  mobile broadband services.

Three differentiate themselves from the pack right off the mark by offering both a prepay (dubbed threepay…urgh) and a subscription based service (for which im sure the marketing department were sorely disapointed, since they couldnt figure out how to inject the brand name into another already existing, perfectly usable word) which runs at approximately €25 per month and €20 per month respectively. Though it should be noted the prepay can only be topped up in increments of €10 - so you could easily find yourself with a misterious €5 credit that always just seems to hang around every second month or so. lovely.

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You’ve just download the latest and greatest version of Ubuntu Linux and it didn’t cost you a thing. You breezed through the installation and a brand new desktop is staring you in the face — now what?

There are a few things you’ll need to do if you want to get the most out of your Linux desktop. But don’t worry, none of this is too complicated. In fact, it’s much easier than trying to do the same on Windows or a Mac.

The first thing to do is open up the Add/Remove Programs application (Click on Applications > Add/Remove…). This is a simple manager for installing and uninstalling software on your Ubuntu system. There are literally hundreds of free goodies at your disposal here — Start with this list of essentials.

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