Hackers Crackers have attempted to topple key parts of the internet's backbone, in one of the most significant attacks of recent years. The target was servers that help to direct global internet traffic. In the early hours of Tuesday three key servers were hit by a barrage of data in what is known as a distributed denial-of-service attack. There is no evidence so far of damage, which experts are saying is testament to the robust nature of the internet.

"Like the previously featured articles on new KDE 4 technologies for Job Processes or SVG Widgets, today we feature the shiny new multimedia technology Phonon. Phonon is designed to take some of the complications out of writing multimedia applications in KDE 4, and ensure that these applications will work on a multitude of platforms and sound architectures. Unfortunately, writing about a sound technology produces very few snazzy screenshots, so instead this week has a few more technical details. Read on for the details."

Ever since Apple launched its 'Get a Mac' campaign, with the accompanying 'I'm a Mac - and I'm a PC' ads, lots of people have voiced their opinions on the campaign; the content has been discussed, the actors, the humour; however, relatively little has been said about the actual goals - and consequently the effectiveness - of the campaign.

"Windows has been the best OS for gamers for years, and Vista takes that to the next level. That's all well and good for games made with Vista in mind, but what about your existing game library? Last May, when Vista was at the Beta 2 milestone, I wrote a feature in which I installed around 15 games on the unfinished OS, describing how well each one worked. Now that Vista is 'done' (in as much as any OS is ever actually finished), it's time to do it again. This time, I'm going to use the final Vista release, a DX10 video card (not that it really matters with no DX10 games), and all the drivers available upon Vista's launch. I'll also take a look at a lot more games, around 25."

"This DVD release includes all of the 0.5.1 Live CD and adds JDK 1.6, OpenOffice 2.1, Netbeans 5.5 with Visual Web Pack, C/C++ Pack, Profiler and Glassfish AppServer 9, all the OpenSolaris Developer and Administration docs available from the OpenSolaris Documentation Community, and Desktop shortcuts for all these."

Security tools that work with Windows Vista have failed tests to see if they can detect viruses circulating online. Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare security tool was one of four products that failed independent tests carried out by the Virus Bulletin. The security testing group found that Live OneCare missed far more active viruses than any other program tested.