News

One thing that I am always interested in is input from others. No matter where I have worked (or what sites I have written for) I have taken the input from readers, manufacturers and even PR companies into account. The reason for this is that no matter what is said (even negative comments can be helpful) there is something to learn. Now, don’t get me wrong, I hate it when it turns out I made a mistake or I misunderstood something or even worse… was just dead wrong. However, it happens and I deal with it.

By now I am sure you are wondering what in the world I am going on about… well it was during a conversation with a reader that I began to come up with an idea. Every site has guest writers and guest bloggers. These are usually famous analyst with names that the sites hope will bring readers (both ones that like the analyst and ones that don’t).  But why should they be the only ones that get to voice their opinion, ideas, observations and thought? Truth be told they should not.

DecryptedTech is happy to announce that starting in November we will be opening a user’s blog on our forum. These articles will be written by our readers for our readers. You will have to be a registered member to read these articles. Once you reach 10 posts (real ones not spam…) you gain full access to the blog pages; once you do you will be able to submit your articles and blogs. All articles will be subject to review by a member of DecryptedTech Staff for appropriate content (no political or religious articles please) full rules will be posted inside the blog area. Each month the community will chose the best article (or review) and that will be published on our main site. The winner author will also win a prize to be determined each month.

The Prize for November will be an Asus M4A89TD Pro complete with an AMD Phenom II X4 965 C3 CPU.

We will open the new section shortly and look forward to reading what everyone has to offer.

Discuss in our Forum

There was a time when IBM was the largest patent holder in the tech world. In fact the joke was that IBM did not have to actually make anything anymore. They could sit back and maintain their profitability with their licensing and royalty fees. Of course this was exaggeration, but IBM did have a massive portfolio and the revenue to back it up. Now, it seems that Microsoft is looking to take IBM’s top spot. They have been busy pressuring and perhaps bullying companies that make Android and Chrome mobile devices to sign agreements with them. The agreements sound a lot like the old Mobster movies. “Hey you pay me 10 (million) dollars a week and we will make sure,… you know, that nothing bad will happen to you.”

In short Microsoft is offering protection from patent litigation in return for a small cut of the manufacturing profits from Android and Chrome devices. Now you may think this is all very unethical and you would be right. However, there is no law against this. Just like there is no law against patenting the look and feel of something. To be honest, this is a last ditch effort on the part of Microsoft. They know they are losing the mobile war and that Windows Phone will be a thing of the past in a few short years. Right now they are just trying to replace the income they know they are going to lose with a little extra from someone else’s pocket.

Source Fudzilla

Discuss this in our Forum

There is a long standing myth that PCs are susceptible to viruses and malware while Macs and Linux are not. Unfortunately for anyone that believes this myth there are consequences. One of these is a feeling of invulnerability when browsing. This false sense of security can lead to many things, including having your computer hijacked or being silently rolled into a giant Mac only botnet … I am sure you get my point. This phenomenon is not limited to Mac owners. PC owners that have “Full” Virus and Malware protection also get this false sense of security.

Now, the interesting thing is that while there are literally thousands of viruses and malware for Windows based systems in the wild there are actually more security loop holes in OSX that can be exploited by something as simple as a drive-by or other malformed code on a web page. One that caught our attention was an Adobe based Exploit (yes I know Steve Jobs wanted to ban Adobe). This little exploit allows someone to run a .swf file in a hidden iFrame. The .swf in question here has code to authorize turning on the end users webcam and broadcasting it to the source server.

Now this is nothing new and I have witnessed this kind of thing done at different security conventions. The thing that really is concerning is that this is being run on a version of Flash that is supposed to have code (called frame busting) to prevent this. What happened is that Adobe only patched part of the hole. They covered the whole page being loaded in an iFrame, but forgot to prevent the malformed .swf from being loaded into that same space. This little exploit was found by a computer science student at Stanford University named Feross Aboukhadjeh.

Now I know you are wondering what my rant at the beginning of this article about Macs has to do with this exploit… Well the kicker is that Aboukhadjeh has only been able to get this exploit to work on Macs and running either Firefox or Safari. The reason that he has been so successful is that with these browsers and OSX it is easier to make the iFrame transparent to the end user. Aboukhadjeh says that he does believe that this will work on other operating systems, but that it will take significantly more effort and would require layering the frame to avoid detection.

Adobe has been notified of the exploit

Source The Inquirer

Discuss in our Forum

Thermaltake America wants to share some of their sucess with the people that have helped them get where they are. To do this they are going to cut the price on the original Level 10 GT. This is the original Black Model and not the Snow Edition like we reviewed recently. This offer will only run until November 30th so if you have been looking at this case but not overly happy about the price now is the time to save some cash on it.

We have the full PR Below so we will let Thermatake tell it in their own way.


Thermaltake America – Sharing success, spreading LOVE with the original Level 10 GT
City of Industry, CA – October 19, 2011 – Thermaltake America today announces the recommended retail price of the popular Level 10 GT full-featured gaming chassis, will be reduced  from $269.99 to $199.99 for a limited time until November 30, 2011.  The Level 10 GT chassis has made a major mark in the performance gaming community with its unique design inspired by working with BMW DesignworksUSA to create a chassis that not only catches the eye but has unique lines that cannot be mistaken for any other.  The inclusion of Multiple Colorshift fans enhances the chassis ability to dissipate enough heat to handle even the most monstrous gaming rigs.  Add to this the inclusion of dual front panel USB 3.0 connections that connect via an internal 20 pin header means that users have the ability to use the newest technology with ease. 

“Since the launch of the Level 10 GT gaming chassis, [Thermaltake] has received tremendous amount of positive feedbacks from the PC enthusiasts communities,” stated Weller Chen, Director of Product Management at Thermaltake America, “and to show our appreciation and more importantly, to make this great product more accessible to everyone by offering this limited time price drop.”

The price drop is channel wide and consumers can expect to purchase the Level 10 GT gaming chassis through major retailers and e-tailers at the discounted pricing immediately until the end of November. 

“sharing another of Thermaltake’s success of the Level 10 GT series gaming chassis, we want to do something that is rarely done by companies these days by sacrificing our bottom line in order to reinstate our enthusiasm for the promise of delivering the ultimate user experience both from purchase decision to the process of putting together a high-performance PC,“ commented President of Thermaltake America, “today, we are putting our words into action.”

Product Link:
Buy now links:
Amazon -
Newegg -
Microcenter -
Tigerdirect -
Memory express -
Frys -

Discuss this in our Forum