DATASQUARE

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009

Kaspersky's latest security package offers an attractive combination of features and protection

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, a.k.a. version 8 of the venerable AV package, has benefited from a thorough overhaul, although at first glance things look much the same. The previous version from Kaspersky Lab was a somewhat patchy affair in areas such as keylogging protection and spam detection, and this version addresses these weaknesses.

The new version of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 offers a fairly standard range of features for a suite — malware protection, content filtering for e-mail and Web, IM protection, a two-way firewall, identity theft protection and parental controls. All these features are accessible via its modified UI and its logical, clear arrangement makes it pretty easy to use.

As is the norm these days, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 is available both for single and multiple PCs in a variety of subscription permutations. A trial version can be downloaded from the Web site.

Installation is swift although it took exception to the 'presence' of AVG 8, which we'd just uninstalled. Despite cleaning up the registry and hard disk for remnants of AVG it refused to install and so we switched to a different PC. We also had to reboot twice. During this, it builds a list of 'trusted apps' but these are confined to standard OS files — any other apps you've got are assessed the first time they're opened. This is the new Host-based Intrusions Prevention System at work. An application filter, HIPS controls your apps, intelligently deciding which ones are 'safe' to run.

The antivirus scans files on access, on demand, or on schedule. Scans are fast, the support is good, the detection rates are among the best in its class — as a result AV-Comparatives has awarded Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 an Advanced certification level. Most antivirus products that offer e-mail protection just scan the POP3 and SMTP email but KIS also scans IMAP email and Usenet (NNTP) traffic. Plug-ins are available for Outlook, Windows Live, Thunderbird and The Bat!

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 now features a number of security analysers, essentially a set of wizards designed to improve general PC security. The main one makes good system suggestions such as disabling auto-run on drives. It can usefully check your browser security settings and tighten them for you. This worked for IE but Firefox 3.0 was ignored.

Previous releases of Kaspersky Internet Security didn't do so well on defeating key-loggers so it's nice to see the inclusion of another new feature, a virtual keyboard, which makes the entering of data worth stealing more secure.
Torrent Downloads

Terminator Salvation Review

Terminator Salvation is a relaunch of the film franchise featuring Christian Bale's gravitas, amazing set pieces and slick camera work. The videogame version has none of these things. Christian Bale has been replaced by a non-descript actor, the action is fairly tame throughout and the cutscenes are stunningly ordinary. And yet despite the poor presentation, there are some clever gameplay elements that make Terminator enjoyable. Too bad that joy only lasts a handful of hours before the credits roll.

Taking place two years prior to the upcoming film, Terminator Salvation follows one day in the life of would-be savior of mankind John Connor. Los Angeles has been lost to the machines and the resistance is pulling back to regroup, but some of Connor's men have gotten themselves captured by Skynet. While the leaders of the resistance (Connor is still an up-and-coming punk) are willing to sacrifice the few for the good of the many, Connor goes rogue to save his buddies. And that is the entire plot of Terminator Salvation. There are no unexpected twists or insight into John Connor or the formation of the resistance. It's just an excuse to go from point A to B and fight many machines along the way. Not exactly the worst idea for a game, but it's certainly not very deep.

Terminator Salvation seems, ironically enough, a victim of time. There just wasn't enough to create a full game. There are a few moments that lack any cinematic punch. For example, early on you battle an HK (big flying ship) from inside the ruins of a building. When you finally shoot it down, you're told it's crashing into the building. But there's no cutscene that shows this awesome moment and nothing visually spectacular happens in-game. It's a dud, and many more moments like this fall flat throughout the four-hour adventure.

Simply put, the presentation is shockingly poor. Bad acting, ugly cut-scenes, no Christian Bale, and a few story elements that are outright hilarious. The best and worst moments in Terminator Salvation are intertwined. The one shining cutscene (and coolest gameplay segment) is when the massive Harvester machine comes around scooping up humans. As I ran from this metal beast, I thought, "Damn, I can't wait to fight that thing later on." That leads to the worst moment in Terminator Salvation. Towards the end, one of your teammates warns, "The Harvester is still out there." Connor says not to worry, he'll handle it. The next scene shows Connor underneath a snoozing Harvester. With a few turns of a monkey wrench the Harvester is now yours to command. Wha??

Though there are definitely some rough elements to Terminator Salvation, the future isn't completely bleak. The gameplay is smartly crafted and often quite engaging. Salvation is a third-person cover shooter with skirmishes taking place in impromptu arenas throughout the ruins of L.A. Instead of worrying about progressing from cover to cover, moving from the back to the front, fights take place in 360 degrees. The machines are heavily armored and for most, you need to flank them to get at their weak spots. That's only possible by creating combat zones "in the round." Aiding this cover system is a radial menu that highlights a half-dozen angles you can take for cover. It's a great system and the one standout in an otherwise ho-hum movie-licensed game.

The enemy AI is tough and, I have to say, follows a logical attack pattern. The T-600s (humanoid terminators) go straight at you. They don't care about cover or flanking or protecting themselves -- they just walk forward and fire. The Spider is the most cautious, constantly realigning itself to keep its near-impervious frontside towards its attackers. Sometimes the Spider is too good (and too defensive), making it difficult to pull off flanking maneuvers. It seems more focused on you than your AI partners. This often turns you into the bait, leading the Spider to turn its back on your AI allies so they can destroy it. But your AI pals are sometimes total idiots and won't always take advantage of these moments.

Things are much better if you play cooperatively with a friend. As long as your friend isn't an idiot, you'll have an easier time getting to the weak side of the machines. The bad news is that there is no online co-op. It's split-screen only. Like I said, this is a game that just didn't have enough time to be fully fleshed out.

If you're on the fence about Terminator Salvation (and I think it's decent enough to be so), know that this is a very short game. I beat it in under four hours. There is no exploration, no items to collect, no cool Achievements/Trophies to earn outside those for beating the game. That should pretty much push you over to one side of that fence.
Torrent Downloads

Publisher's description of Download Accelerator Plus

Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) is the world's most popular download manager, with over 170 million users worldwide. DAP accelerates your download speed so you can get all your favorite files, applications, and videos as fast as possible. Additionally, DAP features powerful privacy, security, and file management tools letting you download with confidence and flexibility. DAP is easy to use, working automatically with your web browser to provide the fastest download speed possible. DAP 9.1 has been enhanced with the most requested features to provide an even better download experience. Downloading is safer in DAP 9.1 with innovative new download security powered by SpeedBit's Multi Antivirus (MAV) Analysis. In DAP 9.1 you can now choose your Download Style, with Internet Explorer style downloading, that lets you get files with Download Windows, and Firefox style downloading, that presents all your downloads in a Download list. DAP is also being translated into multiple languages by users working on the DAP Wiki project, and support for Internet Explorer 8 and Windows 7 has been added. Additionally, expansions are available for DAP that provide for downloading and acceleration of your favorite videos from YouTube and other popular video sites.

Version 9.1.1.1 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes

Publisher's description of Avast Home Edition - Free

Avast Home Edition is a complete ICSA & Checkmark certified antivirus, Checkmark certified anti-spyware & anti-rootkit package. Avast includes the following components: On demand scanner with skinnable simple interface, just select what do you want to scan in which way and press the Play button; On access scanner, special providers to protect the most of available e-mail clients; Instant messaging--ICQ, Miranda; Network traffic--intrusion detection, lightweight firewall; P2P protection for Kazaa, BitTorrent; Web shield--monitors and filters all HTTP traffic; NNTP scanner--scans all Usenet Newsgroup traffic and all operations with files on PC; Boot time scanner--scans disks in the same way and in the same time as Windows CHKDSK does.

Version 4.8.1335.90414.Uni brings improvements in the malware and rootkit scanners and an enhanced setup experience.

Slumdog Millionaire is the multi-Oscar winning film (8 Oscar, to be exact) directed by the British director Danny Boyle. But you already know that. How could you not! It's all over the news these days. However, I am ashamed to say I haven't watched it yet. The film is about Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on "Kaun Banega Crorepati?". Other major roles in the film are played by Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail.

The spectacular music of Slumdog Millionaire is composed by A. R. Rehman who won two Oscars (for best music and best song, Jai Ho). I don't need to tell you how good the music is. It's so obvious. Enjoy ;D

(Direct MP3 Links - Right click and choose 'Save Target As')

1. Dreams On Fire / Suzanne D'Mello
2. Gangsta Blues / Tanvi, Blaaze
3. Jai Ho / A R Rahman, Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Vijay Prakash
4. Latikas - Theme / Suzanne D'Mello
5. Liquid Dance / Madhumitha, Palakkad Sriram
6. Mausam - Escape / A R Rahman, Rashid Ali
7. Millionaire / Madhumitha
8. O Saya / A R Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam
9. Ringa Ringa / Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun
10. Riots / A R Rahman, Madhumitha