• More frequent posts
  This is the most important change that needs to take place; I really do need to start posting more often. Before this, my last update was May 2009, that's almost a year ago! I also need to make it easier for myself, I'm too obsessive and compulsive to just write a quick post and hit publish, I need to create a header image and make it look sexy. Maybe that should stop.
• A completely new design
  I need to redesign this blog so that it's actually a pleasure to read, and I definitely need to move away from these magazine-style themes. I need a personal theme for a personal blog.
• Something special
  Something to sweeten the deal. I need to start offering something or writing something frequently that will encourage people to comment and come back. Maybe some Photoshop tutorials or the likes? I'm not quite sure what, but I need to give something, as at the moment I'm just expecting people to read my posts simply because they're there. I'll have to give this a bit more thought.
• Project updates
  Not only had I neglected the blog, but I also completely forgot about all the WordPress project I was once working on, and they've gone into total meltdown. New versions of WordPress were released and the once-working plug-ins decided that they didn't want to work at all. I need to update them all and re-release them.
• Naming
  Something that I never really gave much thought to was the name of this blog. My name all over the Internet is Bull3t and this is my blog, so "Bull3t's Blog" seemed like a good choice. How wrong I was. It doesn't really tell you anything about what to expect. I wouldn't click a link to a blog named "Bull3t's Blog", and I don't expect you to either. It needs some sort of flare to it. This does mean that I'd have to register a new domain name though, so this might have to sit on the back-burner for a while.

Basically, anything to get the ball rolling again. Hopefully you'll begin to see some changes around here very soon, so keep your eyes peeled and your bookmarks in place, this blog isn't ready to die just yet.

Anyone geeky enough to be reading this in the first place should be thinking about 64-bit Windows. If you've got an Intel Core 2 processor, then you're already ahead of the curve. Most people do have Core 2 processors and many don't know that they're 64-bit CPUs. Now all you need now is 4GB of RAM. You've got that as well? Good, that's all you need, now go get the 64-bit version.

The phrase "64-bit" hasn't really been heard much since the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 2 – yes, that's right, they both had 64-bit processors. And although 32-bit operating systems are still the norm – thanks to the sneaky efforts of Microsoft and Apple – 64-bit is suddenly starting to go mainstream. Here's why 64-bit computing is so awesome: memory. With 32-bit, the maximum RAM you can have is 4GB, and even then, you're only using about 3.25GB of it. With 64-bit, 4GBs is the new minimum standard.

I'm not going to go in depth too much (our good friend Wikipedia does that quite nicely). Basically, the whole bit thing (8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit) refers to how much data the computer can keep track of, and that's what determines how much memory it can handle. A processor with 32-bit memory addresses can only use 4GB of RAM. A 64-bit system can address 16 exabytes of RAM. Yep, you read that correctly, 16 exabytes. That's 16.8 million terabytes, or 17.2 billion gigabytes.

To put this in perspective, in the days when 4 MB of main memory was commonplace, the maximum memory ceiling was about 1,000 times larger than typical memory configurations. Today, when over 2 GB of main memory is common, the ceiling is about ten trillion times larger. That is to say, there is no ceiling (just like there was no spoon in The Matrix). It sent shivers down my spine when I found that out, imagine a computer with that amount of RAM, there'd be no need to teach maths in schools. So, what we really need to do is crack the whip on those lazy software designers who haven't made their stuff into 64-bit yet. Adobe, are you listening?

If you don't already have 4GB of RAM then you should probably buy a few extra gigabytes anyway. RAM is so cheap right now; I've just got a 4GB set for £40 from Novatech and the extra boost has such a large impact on the speed of my machine. The biggest issues and the thing everyone is a little sketchy about, is hardware: if a gadget doesn't have 64-bit drivers, it won't work with your 64-bit operating system. Most things should be okay but if you use legacy stuff, you might want to hold back for a while and should always double check just to be safe.

Obviously many applications aren't yet available in 64-bit, but the best thing about 64-bit is that it's backwards compatible and most, if not all, 32-bit applications can also run on 64-bit Windows (though aren't likely to access more than 4GB of RAM). So if you've got a 64-bit processor and 4GB of RAM, running 64-bit is a definite. Hopefully articles like this will push people and developers to support 64-bit more and more, so you won't be alone for long. The benefits of an abundance of RAM, with all the crap you're probably running right now, are just too good to miss.

A little while after the first exploit was patched, an interview with Mikeyy Mooney stated that the 17-year-old owner of the StalkDaily site was responsible. The StalkDaily site was then updated to show the following message:

I have came clean and have accepted the responsibility for the worm, read the interview here, http://www.bnonews.com/news/242.html.

Twitter thought it had sorted the issue and so they went to bed – well that's what it seemed, as it took them ages to notice the next wave. However, that wasn't it and as soon as Mikeyy got his newest script hosted, he activated wave 2, utilising an even bigger hole in the system. It enabled him to spam messages, as before, follow the user @onedegrees – who has now been suspended – change your name, your URL and your Twitter design's link colour.

This time, tweets were being sent out with the word Mikeyy in them and they included warnings to Twitter to fix the issue, such as:

Dude, Mikeyy is the shit! :)
Man, Twitter can't fix shit. Mikeyy owns. :)
Mikeyy. Woooo!
Wow…Mikeyy.
Dude! Mikeyy! Seriously? Haha. ;)
Twitter should really fix this… Mikeyy
Twitter please fix this, regards Mikeyy
damn mikeyy. haha.
Mikeyy is done..
Mikeyy I am done…

All you had to do was visit an infected user page and you too would become infected. It uses a simple XSS injection that, when executed, infects your own user page and spams your timeline with the above messages. Many people thought it was a virus that they had downloaded or that someone had logged into their account. This is not true, in fact, the script itself is completely harmless and does not compromise your Twitter password. It simply uses your web browser's cookies and JavaScript to tweet one of the random messages. No-one has actually logged into your account.

Once you had visited an infected user page, your name would be changed to "Mikeyy Owns", you would automatically follow @onedegrees, your link colour will have changed to a fluorescent blue and your URL changed to one of the many obfuscated JavaScript injections. This meant that every time someone else visited your page, they too would become infected. Truthfully, it was an extremely effective worm; it spread like wildfire.

Clearly, Twitter had a major problem on their hands. However, the biggest problem is the viral nature of social networking itself. The code sent out tweets under your name, but instead of users just ignoring it, they hit the panic button and re-tweeted anything they saw, which just compounded the problem. Twitter is aware of the problem and is apparently working on it. Any re-tweets are just adding to this guys notoriety and ensuring his name won't be forgotten in a hurry.

I saw a lot of tweets claiming you needed to change your password. This made the matter worse and gave people something more to panic about. Changing your password stops the script from running because the cookie made by Twitter gets destroyed (changing passwords means you would have to log out and back in, which resets your session). The session is what the script relies on to post the tweets. So even after changing your password, if you visited an infected user page, your account could still be reinfected. If your profile was infected, all you had to do was delete any tweets on your account that were not written by you and check all of your settings fields – most importantly name and URL. The coder never actually got to see any passwords, e-mails or names.

Twitter claim to have fixed the loopholes. Their blog post regarding the attacks gives us the low-down on what they did, are doing and going to do. According to that post, there were actually 3 waves of attacks, that began yesterday. The first and second waves compromised roughly 100 accounts each, while the third wave today, mangaged to rack up nearly 10,000 tweets. However, this whole experience is not over yet and there will likely be variations of this worm released over the next few days, so just be careful what you click.

Launched in December 2001, FileFront was a popular destination for gamers looking for patches, mods, demos, videos and other game-related content. They also took the initiative and hosted a wide range of other software, including drivers, internet software and audio-video. However, the site's future became uncertain when UGO acquired 1Up from Ziff-Davis; FileFront was not part of the sale and while Ziff said it would continue to operate FileFront as part of the PC Magazine digital network, the company's struggles cast doubt on how long it could afford to keep things going.

Many have linked this closure to the current economic situation and others have wondered if it's all just an April Fools joke. However, one thing is clear; all indications are that the post is legitimate and the site is indeed going under. For instance, the forums have been completely deleted and you are now greeted with an Apache welcome page instead.

FileFront has long been a reliable download mirror for many games, including MMOs, in the past. It's high download speeds, free uploading and great reputation will be sorely missed by all of it's fans. We have been made aware of the Ziff-Davis financial troubles for quite a while now and earlier in 2008 we were notified of the closure of the popular EGM gaming magazine. After the closing of FileFront the only remaining properties of Ziff-Davis will be ExtremeTech and PC Magazine.

The official statement from the FileFront website is short and sweet:

Dear FileFront User:

We regret to inform you that we are forced to indefinitely suspend the FileFront site operations on March 30, 2009. If you have uploaded files, images or posted blogs, or if you would like to download some of your favorite files, please take this opportunity to download them before March 30th when the site will be suspended.

We would like to give a warm thank you to all of you who have been part of the FileFront communities we have built together. Your support has had a meaningful impact for all of us here at FileFront. Again, we want to give you a sincere “thank you” for your support over the years and wish you all the very best.

Keep gaming alive,
FileFront Management and Team.

I wonder what is going to become of the near-50 terabytes of data and whether or not FileFront will ever be able to make a return.

March 10, 2009 (17:26):The Register now has an article on this. Law enforcement backdoors and hoaxes gone wrong are amongst the main conspiracy theories. All we really want is an official report from Symantec to clear up the issue; it doesn't seem so strange anymore, just a little bewildering.

March 10, 2009 (16:15):SANS Internet Storm Center says they had a phone conversation with a Symantec employee confirming that the program is theirs; they said it is part of the update process which is not intended to do harm. However, Norton still hasn't explained why they are seemingly covering their tracks.

March 10, 2009 (15:41):According to Encyclopaedia Dramatica, this could be part of a the so-called "Magic Lantern" software by the FBI – though Encyclopaedia Dramatica is by no means a trustworthy source, whatsoever. This is a little far-fetched because the executable was not directed at the States, just Norton users in general. However, Wikipedia's Norton entry also supplies evidence to this theory.

March 10, 2009 (15:22):Norton forums are now officially in maintenance mode. There is still no word from Norton as to what pifts.exe is.

March 10, 2009 (15:04):It's now hit the press. The Washington Post and The Inquirer both report it.

March 10, 2009 (14:35):Norton's community forums kept going down and were taken offline for maintenance at one point. They seem to be back now though.

March 10, 2009 (13:59):I'm getting a lot of traffic directly from the Norton forums; apparently their is a spam raid in progress and a load of threads are linking to this post! The moderator's don't seem to be able to keep on top of the deleting anymore. I've got 174 active visitors just staring at this post as we speak.

March 10, 2009 (11:40):Digg is now fully available again. This article has been submitted. Digg it, we need something on the front page!

March 10, 2009 (10:42):There were a load of articles about this on Digg and the whole site (yes, Digg) seems to have gone down. It's disappeared. However, using a proxy server to access Digg works fine; are we being blocked from accessing it? This is getting weird.

Apparently something big is happening. A mysterious program known as pifts.exe is attempting to contact a server in Washington DC and seems to be associated with Symantec's anti-virus system, Norton. There is virtually no information on the internet regarding pifts.exe, aside from this blog and threads such as these. Symantec are supposedly deleting any mention of pifts.exe from their community forums and so users have moved on to community blogs and forums, such as ZoneAlarm.

On ZoneAlarm's forums, one person reports talking with various representatives of Symantec for two hours without receiving any answer as to why inquiries posted on the Symantec forums were being deleted. The caller was told that pifts.exe is part of Symantec's update installation process, was denied any further information regarding the purpose of the file and was repeatedly transferred to a new representative when asking why inquiries about pifts.exe were being deleted from Symantec's forums.

1. Redirection

   Redirection is an easy way to create 301 redirections and keep track of 404 errors, it makes it extremely easy to create 301 redirections to posts/pages and outside links, it will automatically add a redirection to a post/page when it's permalink changes, so that you do not loose visitors to a 404 error page. Keeping track of all of the 404 errors your blog spits out is also extremely useful, because it means you can fix broken links and stop visitors from landing on the wrong page.

2. Exec-PHP

   This plugin allows execution of PHP code in your posts, pages and text widgets. It executes PHP code in the excerpt and the content portion of your posts and pages and restricts execution of PHP code in posts and pages to certain users by using roles and capabilities.

3. Contact Form 7

   Contact Form 7 is a simple, lightweight and flexible contact form. It allows you to create a large amount of contact forms and easily embed them into any post/page. It is very easy to configure and does not have an options page stuffed full with Ajax. I chose this plugin in place of cforms II because it is lightweight. The cforms II plugin has too much junk, for such a small thing. If cforms II wasn't so slow, it would surely take this plugins place.

4. WP-DB-Backup

   WordPress database backup creates backups of your core WordPress tables as well as other tables of your choice in the same database. You can schedule it to backup your database hourly, twice daily, once daily or weekly. I have it scheduled once daily so that if anything goes kaput I don't have to start from square one. However, it does lack some useful features such as download links, listing, restore, deleting and specific schedule time). I have updated it myself to include some of these features and may release it later on.

5. Subscribe To Comments

   Subscribe to Comments allows commenters on your blog to check a box before commenting and get e-mail notification of further comments. It is one of the most popular WordPress plugins out there for the simple reason that it helps foster a community around your blog by encouraging commenters to come back and stay engaged in the dialog.

6. Lifestream

   Lifestream displays your social feeds and photos much like you would see it on many of the social networking sites. It is a good way to let your readers know what and where you are on the web. It can be setup for an unlimited number of feeds, and stores the entire feed history. Best of all it's efficient; it's built on scalable database structures so it won't bog down your website.

7. Ajax Edit Comments

   Ajax Edit Comments allows users and admins to edit comments on a post. Users can edit their own comments for a limited time, while admins can edit all comments on the fly. It attaches a few links to the bottom of comments to allow admins to edit, de-link, delete and mark as spam without ever having to access the WordPress dashboard.

8. Twitter Tools

   For all you Twitter freaks out there! Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account. It enables you to archive your tweets, tweet from your WordPress dashboard, create digest blog posts from your tweets and tweet about recent posts automatically.

9. ©Feed

   This plugin extends your default feed and allows you to add information such as copyright, a digital fingerprint and the IP of the feed reader to eliminate content theft. The feed can be also be supplemented with comments and topic-relevant contributions.

10. WP-PostViews

    WP-PostViews counts the number of hits each post receives and allows you to display the most popular posts. This plugin is veru helpful for gathering valuable statistics for certain types of posts, so that you know what to write more or less of in the future.

1. Chrome
   replaces Internet Explorer

   Mozilla Firefox is the undisputed champion of browsers and so there's no point in putting it on this list. However, Google have recently released their own take on a browser and, in my opinion, have managed to create a browser that – for me – ticks all the boxes; it combines a minimalistic design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer and easier. Not to mention the sleek design features. I have been using it instead of Firefox since it's beta phase and I love it. There's not many plugins out yet, but I haven't needed to use any of my Firefox plugins since I installed it. It's perfect.

2. 7-Zip
   replaces WinZip

   WinZip just doesn't cut it any more, it supports a limited amount of compression types, eats system resources and isn't free. Whereas 7-Zip on the other hand supports everything WinZip and WinRAR does with a few extras: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z. It also has a powerful file manager, localisations for 74 languages, strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats as well as up to 10% better compression ratio to that of WinZip (for ZIP files). Definitely one of the best compression utilities around.

3. µTorrent
   replaces torrent software

   µTorrent is the world's most popular BitTorrent client; it's another application that's lightweight and fast. It runs perfectly as a background process because it uses minimal system resources – typically about 6MB – and the application itself is a single executable file no bigger than 250KB. If you're a torrent freak then µTorrent is definitely for you.

4. CCleaner
   replaces Disk Cleanup

   CCleaner makes it easier to clean-up your system, it allows you to securely remove temporary internet files, history and cookies (of most browsers), Explorer MRUs, system temporary files, memory dumps, Windows log files. It also cleans third-party application temporary files (including Adobe, Microsoft Office, Sun Java and 7-Zip). It can also be used to delete missing DLL links, unused file extensions, obsolete software and MUI cache from your registry. It's designed to make Windows startup/shutdown faster and reclaim some of the disk space that is taken up by temporary files.

5. Defraggler
   replaces Disk Defragmenter

   Defraggler is another program, like CCleaner, that replaces the normal Windows tool for a faster and more feature-rich third-party tool. Defraggler differs from other file defrag tools by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. It also allows you to defrag freespace as well as files; so that new files are written towards the end of the drive and not all over the place – which helps to prevent future fragmentation as well. The defragmenter included with Windows misses files that are fragmented on large drives if the overall status of the drive is not fragmented. I have 3 drives at present, all of which I know are fragmented and yet Windows said only one of them was fragmented whereas Defraggler told me that all 3 have fragmented files. Defraggler is definitely a must-have for drive management.

6. AVG Anti-Virus Free
   replaces anti-virus software

   AVG Anti-Virus is the best anti-virus program I have found to date. Norton was once my favourite, but it's not free and hogs system resources. AVG on the other hand is lightweight and runs in the background, silently scanning files as they are opened and closed. It also has built-in anti-spyware, e-mail scanner and link scanner capability to improve the chances of catching viruses.

7. Ad-Aware
   replaces anti-spyware software

   I have used Ad-Aware has been my favourite anti-spyware program ever since I started using one, simply because it's effective, has an excellent reputation and – best of all – it's free. It was also one of the first applications to be built solely to find and remove spyware/adware, so it's no surprise that it's good at what it does. The only problem is the fact that real-time protection, plugins and automatic updates have been disabled in the free version of Ad-Aware and so forces you to use it as a secondary privacy tool – which is why AVG and Spybot – Search & Destroy are also on this list.

8. Spybot – Search & Destroy
   replaces privacy software

   Spybot – Search & Destroy is another anti-adware program that checks your system against a comprehensive database of adware and other system invaders. Scan results now appear arranged by groups in a tree, and a sliding panel lets you instantly view information about a selected item to help you decide whether to kill it or not. The Immunize feature blocks a whole load of uninvited crap before it reaches your computer. Other useful tools, including Secure Shredder, complement the program's basic functionality for completely destroying files. Hosts File blocks adware servers from your computer, and System Startup lets you review which programs load when you start your computer.

9. Pidgin
   replaces instant messaging software

   Pidgin is another third-party instant messaging application that lets you access multiple IM networks from one window, including Google Talk and MySpaceIM as well as lesser-known protocols such as Jabber and Gadu-Gadu. It's feature-packed with customizable emoticons, file transfers, multiperson chats as well as a special Buddy Pounce feature that enables you to perform a specific action when a certain contact signs on or off. The only thing it lacks is video conferencing, but remains a highly recommended and extensible text-only messaging application.

10. TeraCopy
    replaces file management

    TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, it replaces the Windows file management (moving, copying, deleting etc.) and provides you with a faster, more efficient and feature-rich replacement. It uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times and enable faster file copying. File transfers can be paused and resumed at any time and shows an interactive list of files that have been copied, will be copied or have failed to be copied and allows you to recopy and skip only selected files.

11. FileZilla
    replaces FTP client

    FTP clients are probably one of the hardest things to find. I used SmartFTP for ages until they decided that they were going to force everyone to pay for the damn thing. I was hunting around for a good few months for free FTP clients and have only recently found this one; FileZilla. The straightforward interface, caching of directories, multiple uploads and downloads and low memory usage makes FileZilla one of the best FTP clients around.

12. Songbird
    replaces Windows Media Player

    Songbird is a Mozilla-powered media player; it is very similar to iTunes but doesn't have all the unwanted junk (such as Bonjour, iTunesHelper and iPodService). Because it's powered by Mozilla it has add-ons and skins as well, which are a must-have because the basic program isn't feature-packed. Many of the iTunes features – such as minimize to tray, media flow and album array-view – can all be enabled on Songbird with the use of add-ons. And if you really want, there are even skins that enable you to make Songbird look like iTunes. It's only just been released and so things are just getting up to speed, but as it stands it's the perfect replacement for Windows Media Player and iTunes.

13. Spotify
    replaces music streaming service

    Spotify offers you legal and free access to a huge library of music. All you need to do is create an account and download the streaming music player. Currently it does not allow you to import your own music, but you really don't need to. Just search from millions of tracks and stream it directly from the web, no need to download. You can even create your own playlists of any music you find on Spotify. Obviously, you can't download from it but for an on-the-fly music player, it's really good. Planning music for parties is no longer a problem, just let your guests search for what they want while it's playing, and add it to the play queue. It's pretty new, but it seems to be off to a very good start, I'd recommend it for all you music enthusiasts out there.

14. PeerGuardian
    replaces blacklist software

    PeerGuardian is a premier IP blocker for Windows, with features such as support for multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates and blocking of TCP, UDP and ICMP, PeerGuardian is the safest and easiest way to protect your privacy on peer-to-peer sites and applications. It can be set to download a multitude of blacklists, from advertising and spyware to government and educational IP addresses, and if that doesn't take your fancy, you can even create your own. It's definitely a must-have if you are planning on using peer-to-peer.

1. Escalate any potential e-mails from banks you have accounts with by phone
   In the hundreds of potential spam emails you get, if you do get an e-mail from an institution that you have an account with, avoid clicking on the links. Especially if the e-mail suggests a problem of need for verification, you're best to call up a banker at the company directly: they will be able to tell you if the inquiry is legitimate, and, if so, can help you resolve the problem. Make sure the phone number you use is the one you know is genuine and a direct connection to the bank – safely ignore all numbers and information in the email itself.
2. Never click on links in e-mail messages
   Even if a link seems benign, promising to take you to destination you want to go to, resist the temptation to click it. Instead, you can right-click and select "copy link location" to review the link and see where it will take you: if the link is legitimate, then you can just type it in directly and if it's not, then you can discard it. Be aware of similar but different URL string, such as substitutions of "zeros" for "Os". By avoiding direct links entirely, you'll make sure you're always on a real site.
3. Make sure that you're on a real site if you are using a shopping coupon
   On-line retailers distribute coupons to a large number of sites and via e-mail. If you absolutely must take advantage of one of these offers, then you'll want to pay extra attention to the security of the checkout process. You can verify the security by looking for a  secure URL that starts with "https" as well as a SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) which ensures that you're on the right site. In fact, any time you use a credit card on-line, you should follow these steps.
4. Keep your computer's anti-virus and security applications updated
   While there's no sure-fire way to protect yourself after-the-fact from potentially harmful downloads, you'll want to make sure you're well protected in case a malicious file falls through your radar. Although prevention is the best policy, having a solid firewall and anti-virus system will act as an insurance policy. To ensure you're protected, use the latest software packages and keep them updated on a regular basis (ideally, with automatic updating.)
5. Disable pop-ups and clear your browser cookies
   A lot of times, phishing scams work by collecting data on your browsing activities, allowing them to target you with certain ads. This is a violation of privacy and can open potential further security loopholes. By clearing your cookies and setting your browser security settings high, you can ensure you don't fall victim to a spy ware scam.

This article is contributed by Maya Richard, who regularly writes on dial up internet. She invites your questions and feedback at her personal email address: mayarichard at gmail dot com.

The developers have undoubtedly released a landmark game that has a whole new take on swords and sorcery that breaks just about every rule in the book. Finally you get to experience a medieval world so realistic that for a moment you actually feel as if you are there. There is no good or bad side of the questing, just a realistic "decisions and consequences" view. To keep everyone on the same tracks you are forced to play a single character, Geralt, a mutagenic mercenary that can use Signs and consume potions to give him the upper hand in fights, this means you aren't sat around for hours just creating and/or outfitting your character.

The endless left-click bashing has been replaced with a somewhat graceful mouse usage system whereby you actually have to swing your sword in time rather than just smashing your index finger onto the mouse, hoping you can pull off a combo or two. It is still a simple click-and-slash game but to continue an attack sequence you have to click the mouse again when your cursor changes to a flaming sword; beware though, if you click too soon you have to start your sequence from the beginning. As you advance through the attack sequence stages (by clicking at the correct time), your character begins to show off and increase the damage dealt, finishing off with a final attack that has the chance to polish off your opponent.

However, if you don't buy the latest Enhanced Edition or make sure you update your game as soon as you get it then you will fall victim to some of the major bugs that were released with the original game, sometimes rendering it impossible to advance to the next stage of the game. Even worse was the crash-on-save bug that would cause your game to crash while saving your game simply because you had too many save files. This would cause you to lose your entire progress since your last save file.

Moreover: imagine killing a guard in front of a locked door, grabbing a key from his corpse then using it to enter the house, there is nothing but a few containers within, you loot them and think nothing of it. Later on, after not using the key again, you decide sell or discard it to to make room in your inventory. A few levels later and that very same building is part of the main quest line, however, the door has been relocked and the guards are, as you would have thought, still dead. You have no way of entering the building. The only way around it is to load a save point just before you killed the guards (which could be hours of gameplay).

A load of mid-game glitches and bugs that force you to restart a certain quest line or chapter from an earlier save file, simply because an NPC you were expecting to be somewhere never actually spawned is a little disheartening. Admittedly, the game has only just been released, but it does seem like they have rushed to get it released for a specific deadline. I would have rather waited for the current version (1.4/Enhanced Edition) to be the original version 1.0 than have it released early with bugs that can sometimes make it hard to finish the game.

That's not the only thing either, the difficulty level seems to vary while you play and has not been properly balanced. Parts of the game are extremely easy, like killing a group of Drowners for instance, and others are extremely hard, such as killing a group of Scoia'tael. And what with the torch randomly sheathing itself and Ghouls constantly screaming – which renders you unable to move or attack – while their mates release their fury upon you, it can be near-impossible to search through crypts and caves.

Random changes from medieval language style to modern-day slang is also a little strange. At one point your character exclaims "Abso-fucking-lutely!" and then changes back to a casual RPG-style conversation as if nothing happened. That said, the unique storyline and stunning graphics make up for some of these quirky errors. I mean you can even gather Tarot cards for sleeping with people, which is another thing: this is probably one of the few games that features your character being an impotent sex-driven mutant, who tries to sleep with all the girls in the kingdom and pretty much succeeds just by chatting the right lines.

The game was built using the old Neverwinter Nights Aurora Engine from 2002 and has been revamped and remastered to create a stunning visual experience right infront of you. The music and audio work perfectly with the gameplay, just like they did in Neverwinter Nights, with an up-beat, adrenaline-filled soundtrack when you are in battle and quiet ambient soundtracks when you are not.

The Witcher reinvents the wheel and gets away with it, hopefully changing the way future RPGs are made as well. I bought the game in-store as a spur of the moment thing from Game simply because I liked what I saw on the back of the box. It turned out to be an RPG masterpiece that is simply breathtaking, even if it does have some strange quirks. The Witcher 2? Maybe. Either way I will definitely be buying future games from the Aurora engine.

If we were to divide online criminals into categories, we get all sorts:

• Employees who use the Internet for their own purposes on company time are seen as engaging in illegal activities by their employers, even though they are only surfing the net, chatting or sending email.
• Those who share and use intellectual property without prior permission.
• Those who send fraudulent emails purporting to represent banks and other financial institutions and ask for sensitive information either to gain access to your account or to steal your identity.
• Those who abuse wireless networks to sniff sensitive information as it’s being sent over the Internet.
• Those who use software to track passwords and usernames as they’re being typed on keyboards.
• Those who use bots to send huge amounts of spam email.
• Those who release viruses and other malware into a network to cause mayhem and shut down the system.
• Those who do business in child pornography.
• Those who operate illegal gambling sites.
• Those who use the net to sell banned drugs.
• Those who use the web for terrorist activities.

Online criminals are getting bolder and more daring in their attempts to steal data and money because there are no concrete laws that govern cyber crime. Some countries are more ambiguous than others in defining what constitutes illegal activities, which means that jurisdiction issues raise their head when it comes to prosecuting criminals who are in those countries. Since the Internet spans countries and their borders, a conman in Ukraine can steal from people in the United States. Even if the crime is discovered and the criminal traced, extradition and cyber crime laws that vary from country to country make it hard for law enforcement officials to bring the crooks to book. The best way to battle cyber crime as of now is to understand that there are people out there who are waiting to catch you unaware, avoid giving out sensitive information online and clicking on links that come from strangers, and use secure sites when conducting online money transactions.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on dial up Internet service. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.