Gundeep Hora (remove AQFL to e-mail) wrote a column about the special relationships between the game developers and the graphics card makers... He says the thing with today's graphics cards from both NVIDIA and ATI manufacturers is that they will perform quite well in latest games; so going with either brand isn't a tough choice anymore. For many of gamers, either brand will do just fine. However, those of us who want to play heavy advanced games like DOOM III or Half-Life 2, the companies have just made their lives more complicated than they already are.

The Institute for Back Trauma (Flash required to view the streaming video) is a a hilarious 6.75 minutes commercial/advertisement for LiveVault's product. Don't forget the third button at the end. ;) Oh, and you need humor and know computer basics to like this one.

In this Broadband Reports security forum thread, PhoenixDown posted a funny link about a pissed wannabe hacker who didn't know what 127.0.0.1/local host was. Be warned there are bad words in the IRC log (translated from German to English). It's funny!

This Dilbert cartoon shows the similiar dilemmas that most computer users and I face often. Yeah, this post took a while due to this crappy dial-up modem connection!

Grifter (remove AQFL to e-mail) shared a Register article (mirrors: #1 and #2) about how modern technology depletes human cognitive abilities more rapidly than drugs, according to a psychiatric study conducted at King's College, London. And the curse of 'messaging' is to blame.

Dogbert tries to help a customer with a computer lockup in this funny Dilbert cartoon.

A co-worker replied to my instant message (IM), "That is ironically accurate." So, true!

ZDNET UK reports a Cambridge academic and security engineering professor Ross Anderson argues that empirical analysis of software bug records will prove whether open source code is more secure than closed source, and show the true value of techniques like peer review and extreme programming (XP).

FiringSquad mentions Boing Boing's link (watch the video one to see the professor's anger) of a someone getting busted in class for stealing a professor's laptop/notebook.

Chairboy told me a funny Futurama fact before the show started. There was an image from Wired magazine showing Bender with Norton--err NorTRON AntiVirus.

A Mozilla Suite user, Fernando Cassia, posted his Inquirier article top ten (actually eleven) Firefox browser annoyances in no particular order:

Engadget reports a story about "Edible UIs" on We Make Money Not Art Web site. Dan Maynes-Aminzade developed two Edible User Interfaces: the BeanCounter and the TasteScreen. The BeanCounter uses jellybean dispensation to track memory usage of computer processes -- taste the rainbow of your fruity memory hogs. The TasteScreen literally drips small quantities of flavoring from a USB device mounted atop an LCD monitor. The flavored chemicals drop down and coat the monitor with a thin liquid residue that dispenses flavor when touched with one's tongue...

/. says Firefox v1.0.3 and Mozilla v1.7.7 are now out.

Cudni's Broadband Reports' security forum thread mentioned a SecurityFocus news article about the stereotype of virus writers as spotty nerds who can't pull is well wide of the mark.

ZDNet reports an ISP deliverability report card this week by Lyris Technologies. The report measured deliverability rates for legitimate opt-in email marketing messages among over 30 major ISPs.

Broadband Reports mentioned Tim Karr's Is Cheap Broadband UnAmerican? article: "Those who support muni-broadband (and oppose state-bans on community-run Wi-Fi) are quickly branded socialists and communists by incumbent supporters. 'Telecommunications giants have mobilized a well-funded army of coin-operated think tanks, pliant legislators and lazy journalists to protect their Internet fiefdoms from these municipal internet initiatives, painting them as an affront to American innovation and free enterprise,' opines Karr."

This UserFriendly's cartoon is funny. Why would anyone want to name a person,

This IGN.com news story says:

"In a move to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword, Microsoft (MS) announced today that they are taking the first steps to combine the ever-popular MMO genre and productivity software. Hailed as the first MMOWP (massively multiplayer online word processor), MS revealed to IGN that World of Wordcraft has been in the works for nearly 18 months now, and is currently in beta test phase.

Mac OS X Hints says Richard got Mac OS X running on his iPod since the day he bought his first generation machine. Not just installing it and booting a Mac with the iPod, but honest-to-goodness using OS X on the iPod.

I know every single computer user gets angry at his/her computer once in a while. I know I do! Some people go overboard and actually physically attack the computer (two videos clips as examples: #1 and #2; stories: /. and MSNBC). Instead, use a virtual mallet to hit your computer without any damages with Computer Coercion Tool v1.1. Windows or Linux operating system and OpenGL (video card and driver) required. Cool sound effect and special effects. ;)

CNET News.com says Microsoft acknowledged that a security patch (KB891711) issued in January for its Windows 98 (and SE) and Windows Me operating systems may cause performance issues for customers who have downloaded the update.