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May 7, 2003
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Mozilla Firebird / Thunderbird Now: "Mozilla Browser" and "Mozilla Mail"
After a heated war of words with a fellow open-source development group, Mozilla.org appears to be backing down on its use of the name "Firebird" for future releases of its browser.
The dispute began last month when Mozilla.org, the browser-development group funded by AOL Time Warner, announced it would change the name of the Phoenix version of its browser to "Firebird," and the "Minotaur" mail client to "Thunderbird."
But the group now appears to have changed course, returning its marketing focus to the Mozilla name.
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Australian furore over marijuana phone covers
Marijuana-scented mobile phone covers have been removed from a trade fair in Sydney, after a politician complained that they promoted drug use.
The organisers of the CeBIT technology fair decided to take action after New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said that "anything that suggests the normalisation of a mind-altering drug like marijuana, and its promotion to young people, is regrettable".
Robert Punch, the owner of Corporate Phone Covers, said Mr Carr's comments were a "big over-reaction".
"I was a little bit surprised," he said. "It was supposed to be good fun."
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Fight over Sars virus genes
Scientists and commercial firms are scrambling to patent the genetic code of the virus thought to be responsible for Sars.
The group which produced the first entire genetic sequence of the coronavirus confirmed this week that it is seeking a patent to ensure that everyone has free access to the code.
It fears that a commercial patent could slow down research into vaccines and treatments.
In recent years, many genes thought to relate to illness have been "patented" by individuals and firms.
This remains controversial - many scientists regard the unravelling of the function of genes as a "discovery" rather than an "invention", and therefore not patentable.
However, increasingly, scientists have lodged "defensive" gene patents to prevent commercial firms claiming intellectual property over them.
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Sars 'kills one in five'
The first detailed study of the spread of the Sars virus in Hong Kong has discovered that the death rate among sufferers was much higher than previously estimated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) initially estimated that the death rate from the virus was 5%.
But the new study - the first to be based on a statistically sound sample of 1,425 cases - puts the death rate at one in five (20%) of those admitted to hospital.
Experts do not yet know whether there have been large numbers of Sars-infected patients who recovered in their homes without ever being admitted to hospital - which would reduce the overall death rate.
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Shuttle explanation still sought
The Columbia space shuttle was lost because damage to a seal or panel on its left wing allowed the super-hot gases of re-entry to get inside the vehicle frame and break it apart.
This is the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CIAB) "working scenario" - a best assessment of what happened to the orbiter based on the evidence gathered so far.
The scenario contains few surprises, keeping to the facts known about the flight - but stopping short of pulling them together into an explanation of the accident.
The space shuttle broke up over Texas on 1 February killing all seven crew members. It had been on a 16-day mission in space to conduct science experiments in micro-gravity.
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Intel readies Xeon price attack on AMD Opterons
Recent roadmaps seen by the INQUIRER show that the firm is set to reduce prices on a range of its Xeon server/workstation chips, although it will still keep the prices high on MP Xeons and the price of Itanics is likely to stop your breath and make you pull your buttocks together.
The next high end Xeon will probably have a special name but it's essentially a 3.06GHz processor with 1MB of cache, showing that Intel can do this kind of microprocessor if it tries hard enough.
Here's a comparison of current prices from the 20th of April and future prices of the Xeon standard server processor --- when you buy them in units of 1,000.
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Cholera outbreak feared in Iraq
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it expects a cholera epidemic in southern Iraq because of problems with poor sanitation.
WHO disease specialist Denis Coulombier estimated that there were 10 times the number of cholera cases than the 17 registered in Basra since Tuesday.
Another WHO official said the organisation "feared hundreds of cases."
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Apple Updates Its Low End
On the heels of Apple Computer's launch last month of its iTunes online music store and updated iPod digital music players, it stands to reason that more than a few people are giving some thought to ditching their Windows-based machines in favor of Macs.
At least in part, that's one of the reasons that the music store as yet only works with Macs running OS X, and not with Windows. Though by the end of the year there will be a version of iTunes for Windows--Apple Vice President Phil Schiller says there will be--the software has been an Apple-only affair intended in part to help lure Windows users who might be convinced to make the leap.
But compared to Windows-based machines from the likes of Dell Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and others, Apple machines have generally commanded a bit of a price premium. Apple's high-end G4 machines start at $1,500, while a somewhat comparable machine from Dell starts at $950.
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Chaos surrounds Rings premiere
The world premiere of the final Lord of the Rings movie could be taken away from the New Zealand capital, Wellington, in a row over the state of its biggest cinema.
The city's council has changed its mind over providing NZ$7m (US$4m, £2.5m) needed to restore the run-down Embassy cinema and improve its earthquake protection.
Film studio New Line has now threatened to move the prestigious event to Los Angeles, while Auckland has offered to step in as host city.
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EarthLink goes after "Buffalo spam ring"
EarthLink on Wednesday announced that it is embroiled in a legal battle against an alleged spammer who sent nearly a billion unsolicited commercial e-mails since early last year.
The third-largest Internet service provider (ISP) also said it is testing a new "permission-based" spam-blocking technology and plans to roll it out to subscribers by the end of May.
The company said it will argue to shut down what it calls a "Buffalo, New York, spam ring" that sent more than 825 million unwanted e-mails since March 2002 over EarthLink's networks to its subscribers. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
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Microsoft Tries to Buckle Down Windows
Hacker attacks and viruses are the hobgoblins of Windows systems--and they spook IT buyers. At the RSA Conference on computer security in San Francisco Monday, Microsoft execs said they plan to banish some of those problems by expanding their patch-distribution service, enabling better antivirus scans of Windows apps, and cracking down on E-mail-borne viruses.
During the next year, Microsoft execs say, the company plans to release a second version of its Software Update Services--which lets systems administrators download and apply Windows patches--that can distribute patches for additional Microsoft software, including Office, Exchange Server, and SQL Server.
The company also plans within a year to release a complement to its Windows Update service that can patch products such as Office. Windows Update service lets consumers and small-business users download operating-system patches from Microsoft.com.
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Pot law goes to high court
This is as high as it gets for David Malmo-Levine.
The 31-year-old Vancouver marijuana activist fortified himself with "a couple of hits" of hash from a water pipe and a marijuana joint, dressed head-to-toe in hemp clothing, and urged the Supreme Court of Canada yesterday to strike down the country's pot law.
"The new test should be you don't go to jail unless your activities are inherently harmful to others," Malmo-Levine told the country's top court.
The Supreme Court heard three challenges to the constitutionality of the country's 80-year-old marijuana possession and trafficking law - the first time the court has undertaken such a review of the law.
The nine justices listened impassively for 40 minutes as Malmo-Levine, acting as his own lawyer, argued his case in a courtroom filled with silk-robed lawyers, law students, and pot users, many dressed in hemp T-shirts and wreathed in the faint odour of pot.
It's far from clear what the Supreme Court will now do in its review of a marijuana law that the federal government admits it is on the verge of liberalizing.
A bill to reduce possession of small amounts of pot for personal use to a ticketing offence is to be tabled in June. The federal government says it would still be a criminal offence to possess large amounts of pot, or to traffic in the drug.
The high court reserved its decision yesterday after a full day of arguments, and a ruling is not expected for several months.
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Smart Robot Autos Tough It Out
American off-road vehicles will tackle some daunting homeland terrain: the asphalt jungles, clay embankments and alkali wastelands separating Los Angeles from Las Vegas. The ground is navigable -- the daunting part is that these vehicles must do it entirely without human help.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring the DARPA Grand Challenge. The contestants will be "autonomous motor vehicles" that can drive and service themselves without human intervention, making all their own decisions. They must be able to navigate without help, even by remote control.
The winner's prize is a cool million in cash.
Entrants have a year to prepare for the event -- and they'll need it. Scheduled for March 13, 2004, entrants will pilot a 250- mile, four-wheel-drive course -- and they must do it in under 10 hours in order to qualify. According to DARPA, it will include "surfaced and unsurfaced roads, trails and off-road areas" with man-made and natural obstacles including ditches, open water, rocks, underpasses, construction and other vehicles.
Unlike, say, a Bradley Fighting Vehicle plowing through a Middle East desert, challengers will be required to traverse the course in an environmentally friendly way. Vehicles cannot tear up roads, dig large holes or clear paths by setting obstacles on fire.
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Mercury passes across Sun
The planet Mercury has passed in front of the Sun as viewed from Earth.
The event, called a transit, occurs only about 12 times a century.
Mercury began the journey across the star's disc at just after 0510 GMT, depending on the viewing location on Earth. It slipped off the star's face at about 1032 GMT.
Some part of the five-hour trek was visible from the whole world except Antarctica and the western parts of the Americas. Europe, Asia and Africa were most favoured.
Skygazers without access to proper equipment were strongly recommended to watch the event only on the internet.
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Gates Goes From Geek to Chic
Psst - Bill Gates! Your inner geek is showing.
Or perhaps that's actually your inner Steve Jobs?
Granted, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Gates doesn't have quite the crazed charisma of Apple's CEO Jobs. But the new prototype computer Gates was fondling in front of hundreds of hardware developers on Tuesday looked so much like a Mac that it was impossible not to draw comparisons between the two men and their machines.
The parallels went further than just a sexy computer on display and a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers who obviously couldn't wait to get their hands on it. During his opening keynote speech at the 12th annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, Gates also talked about the importance of designing visually appealing, easy-to-use PCs and software.
"Whoa, did I get on the wrong plane and end up at MacWorld?" wondered hardware developer Frank Copper. "Since when does Microsoft care about how computers or software looks? Someone has obviously hacked and reprogrammed Bill."
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Trio finally returns from Space Station stay
Members of the Expedition 6 crew landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft almost 300 miles short of its targeted landing site.
It took more than three hours for a search plane to find the capsule and report that all aboard the spacecraft appeared well.
The crew includes Ken Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit. They had spent about 5 and a half months in space aboard the international space station. After the space shuttle Columbia tragedy on Feb. 1, the astronauts told NASA officials to remain focused on finding out what caused the space shuttle to disintegrate over Texas upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
The landing ended a mission that began with their launch on Nov. 23 and their docking to the orbiting laboratory two days later. It marked the first landing of an advanced Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and it was the first time United States astronauts have landed in any Soyuz capsule.
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Lindows drops Netscape for "another" browser
Michael Robertson of Lindows has told customers that future plans for LindowsOS include dropping the Netscape 7.0 browser in future versions, to be replaced with an unnamed "browser suite".
Robertson said in an email: "Until now we've shipped with the Netscape suite. Unfortunately, Netscape's development has slowed and necessitated a change."
He adds "It's been tough for us to convince AOL to fully embrace desktop Linux. Our expectation was they would enjoy the opportunity to move out from under Microsoft's OS which clearly is partial to their own service MSN. Unfortunately, that's not been the way it has played out".
That means, he continued, that Lindows will lose the ability to check AOL email from within the new mail client.
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Intel: Options would drag down earnings
Chipmaker Intel on Wednesday backed its second-quarter revenue outlook and said expensing stock options would have cut first-quarter earnings by one-third.
An uncertain global economy makes it difficult to predict demand, Intel said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It forecast second-quarter revenue of $6.4 billion to $7 billion, the same outlook it gave April 15, when it reported first-quarter results.
The Santa Clara, Calif., company said it expects to spend between $3.5 billion and $3.9 billion on equipment and other technology used in manufacturing chips, unchanged from previous expectations.
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'Napster effect' hits US shows
But I was not in the US - I sat in front of my computer at home to watch the programme, which I had downloaded from the internet in the interests of research in about five hours.
The growing online availability of TV programmes, and films, is the latest threat to the entertainment industry still reeling from the effect of peer-to-peer programs, such as Kazaa and the now-defunct Napster.
After ER, I watched the latest instalment of thriller 24, a new episode of Frasier and a new episode of Friends, again all in the interests of research.
Almost all the programmes had been broadcast less than a day earlier in the US, many months before viewers in the UK and Europe will see them.
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W3C brushes up SOAP standard
Standards body the World Wide Web Consortium said Wednesday that it is close to finalizing an upgrade to an important Web services protocol called SOAP.
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) acts as a transport mechanism to send data between applications or from applications to people. SOAP, along with Extensible Markup Language (XML) and the Web Services Description Language (WSDL), is considered to be the foundation of Web services, a series of standards that makes it easier to share information between disparate systems.
Software companies incorporate the latest Web services standards into their products to ensure that applications have an agreed-upon method for sending data within a company or between business partners. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) said it has a proposed recommendation for SOAP 1.2, which puts this version in prime position to become an official standard.
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Questions over eye scan plan
Experts and official reports are casting doubt on plans to use iris scanning to improve security at national borders.
This week UK Home Secretary David Blunkett reportedly won the backing of his G8 counterparts to rapidly develop an iris-based biometric system as an extra check on the identity of international travellers.
But technical reports in the UK and US have expressed doubts about whether biometrics will be able to do what ministers hope they can.
Experts have also voiced reservations about large scale use of iris scanning which has yet to be tested on significant numbers of people.
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Infogrames Changes Name to Atari
Franco-American video gme publisher Infogrames, in an effort to increase its profile with consumers by reaching back into gaming history, said Wednesday it is changing its name to Atari.
To mark the new Atari and the new ticker symbol ATAR, Chief Executive Bruno Bonnell is set to open the Nasdaq on Wednesday.
Infogrames/Atari shares have been on a run of late, rising more than 130% on the Nasdaq since April 18, when the company said it had completed work on Enter the Matrix, the hotly anticipated video game companion to the forthcoming Warner Bros. film The Matrix Reloaded.
The Atari name is the most storied in video gaming, dating back to the early 1970s, when Nolan Bushnell and a team of engineers at Atari created "Pong," the arcade video game that was so popular machines sometimes jammed up because they were overflowing with quarters.
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UK And EU May Make Unsolicited Email Illegal
New rules to curb unwanted and unsolicited e-mail should be in force by the end of October, according to a junior industry minister.
Lord Sainsbury of Turville told peers ministers intended to implement strict new rules about how personal e-mail details are used.
From October, a European Union directive will make unsolicited e-mails illegal across member states.
The government is currently consulting with industry on the recommendations.
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