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May 13, 2003
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Microsoft tries flush away iLoo snafu
Is it a Web-surfing portable toilet or a public relations nightmare--or both?
Microsoft reversed its position for the second time in 24 hours Tuesday over whether it had ever planned to launch a portable toilet with a built-in Internet terminal in Britain this summer.
On Monday, the world's largest software maker had said the "iLoo," which was described in minute detail in an April 30 press release by its British subsidiary, was a hoax and apologized for any "confusion or offense."
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Shuttle introduces four Nforce 2 mobos
The firm with the little boxes said it has released today four motherboards using the Nforce 2 Ultra 400+MCP and Nforce 2 400+MCP chipsets.
The boards are the AN35N Ultra, the AN35 Ultra, the AN35N 400 and the AN35 400.
The AN35N Ultra supports 400MHz front side buses, and dual channel PC3200 memory, while the AN35N 400 also supports 400MHz buses, but with single channel PC3200 memory.
However, all four models support 8X AGP, six channel audio, ATA 133, six USB 2 ports and five PCI slots.
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RIAA Apologizes for Erroneous Piracy Claims
The music industry's antipiracy efforts took an embarrassing turn Tuesday when the Recording Industry Association of America acknowledged that it has erroneously sent dozens of copyright infringement notices.
The RIAA said Tuesday that a temporary worker was responsible for firing off legal notifications last week that invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act without confirming that any copyrighted files were actually being offered for download. "We have sent two dozen withdrawal notices--all appear related to this particular temp," the RIAA said in a statement. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
On Monday, as first reported by CNET News.com, the RIAA withdrew a DMCA notice to Penn State University's astronomy and astrophysics department. Sent during Penn State's final exams, it prompted the central computing office at the campus to threaten the department with having its Internet connection severed unless the infringing material was removed.
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Blow to Neanderthal breeding theory
Early modern humans and Neanderthals probably did not interbreed, according to evidence collected by Italian scientists.
Researchers have long considered Neanderthals and the humans that lived in Europe 30,000 years ago as distinct species, even though they lived side by side.
However, there is controversy over theories that Neanderthals made a contribution to the gene pool of people living today.
This has been fuelled by a skeleton uncovered in Portugal that appears to show both Neanderthal and human features.
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WD Raptor Drives Now Available At Retail
Western Digital Corp. announced on Tuesday that the company's 10,000-RPM Serial ATA drive, the Raptor, is now available for sale on the company's web site and at popular retailers.
The retail kit, which includes a serial ATA cable, SIIG host adapter and install guide, retails for about $249 at Western Digital's online store and retails Best Buy, CompUSA, Fry's Micro Center, and others.
The Raptor drives have attracted attention because they combine two high-performance attributes: 10,000-RPM spindle speeds and the Serial ATA interface. WD believes that the Raptor Serial ATA drives "can be sold at a discount to SCSI and (we) can still make money," said Steve Wilkins, director of marketing for WD's enterprise division, in an interview earlier this month.
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Antec Products To Be Sold At Circuit City
Antec Inc. has teamed with electronics retailer Circuit City to sell its line of PC chasses and other components at Circuit City stores.
Under the terms of the agreement, Antec will supply the consumer electronics retailer with a variety of products, including PC cases, high-performance power supplies and cutting-edge accessories. Antec's products are currently available at 568 out of the 611 Circuit City stores, as well as through CircuitCity.com, the company said.
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IBM unveils new $1 million mainframe
International Business Machines Corp. Tuesday announced a mainframe computer three times more powerful than its previous version.
IBM, the world's largest computer company, also said customers show no signs of shunning the powerful systems in favor of cheaper servers from rivals.
The new eServer zSeries 990 starts at $1 million. IBM's computer-services arm, the largest such operation in the world, is also making the product available on-demand, similar to the way a utility supplies electricity.
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AOL Adds Fees To Some AIM Services
America Online confirmed that it has started charging nonmembers a fee to download decorative graphics, or "skins," to AOL Instant Messenger.
AOL is charging $1.95 a month, or $9.95 a year, for its "AIM Expressions," at the end of March, AOL spokesman Derrick Mains said. Launched in July 2002, the product lets AIM users decorate their buddy clients and chat windows with graphics from popular movies or rock bands and other images.
The move highlights AOL's ongoing crusade to tap into new revenue streams in the face of plummeting online advertising and declining subscriber growth.
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Net virus 'fizzes' across Asia, U.S.
A new computer virus, the "Fizzer" worm, spread rapidly across the Internet on Monday, infecting computer users in Asia, Europe and the United States, anti-virus officials said.
Businesses in Asia were the first to report the attack. By mid-day in Europe, tens of thousands of computer users had been hit, with more cases expected in North America as the business day wears on.
UK-based virus detection firm MessageLabs recorded 17,765 cases in 24 hours to 1530 GMT. "We've upgraded it to high-risk just for the fact that we've seen so many in the last day," said Mark Toshack, a virus analyst at MessageLabs.
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