Articles


Microsoft-SCO connection

It didn't take long for people to start writing editorials about the Microsoft-SCO connection in trying to get you to stop using OpenSource software. Check out the article from CNET.

Cloudmark's plans to charge create row

Cloudmark, makers of a hot anti-spam product have announced that they are finally starting to charge a monthly fee for their service. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, especially as a product goes from beta to final release. However, testers and the media claim (as in this article from CNET …


UK banks roll out more secure credit cards

In an effort to fight fraud, banks in the UK are rolling out a pilot program to defeat credit card cloning (where you make a copy of the credit card by duplicating the data on the back of the card) through the use of an electronic chip that verifies a …

Extensive article on photo preservation

There is an excellent and extensively researched article on photographic preservation on the Washington Post. It covers everything from the why's and wherefore's of photographic preservation to Bill Gates' private photo archive at Corbis (which you can use if you pay for the rights).

Is historic software in danger?

An article from the New York Times relates that there is concern in the library and archive community that the DMCA may prevent the preservation of such historically important software as VisiCalc. Because of "bit rot", the disks containing the original software are becoming unusable, but archivists are hesitant to …

Roxio + PressPlay = Napster, part two

It's official. A press release on the Roxio site indicates that they have purchased PressPlay from Sony and Universal Music for a $12.5 million in cash and 3.9 in stock. In addition, the company plans to pour at least $20 million into the venture just to get it …



The $336 XBox-PC

An article on USA Today describes the efforts of hackers to use an XBox as the basis of a PC and describes the costs, potential benefits, and legal risks.

DSL growth explosive in first quarter

According to an article from CNET, the first quarter of 2003 saw an increase of over two million users with broadband. Most (1.2 million) went to cable, but the healthy remainder are now using DSL. The article further states that of the 87 million people within the reach of …

Tadpole releases new Sparc laptop

Tadpole, long-time purveyor of Solaris-running Sparc-based laptops, has decided to try competing directly with lower price offerings. According to an article on CNET, the company has released an under-$3000 model as part of its new line- up.


Microsoft licenses SCO Unix code

In a move that is undoubtedly intended to bolster the copyright claims of SCO, Microsoft Sunday announced that they will be licensing the remnants of AT&T's original Unix from SCO. As reported by CNET, this is the next salvo in the war between Microsoft and the Linux community …

Challenge-response anti-spam is challenged

An article in CNET reports that there is a patent lawsuit brewing over challenge-response anti-spam software. The good news is that there is a lot of prior art, and the folks who have it (including Brad Templeton, early chariman of the EFF] ) are very willing to help in the lawsuits …


Diabetes invention takes top prize at MIT

A nice development for diabetics who require close monitoring and insulin. According to an article on Wired, this year's MIT prize for Entrepreneurship goes to a team who developed a once daily injection that will release insulin based on need as opposed to time or all at once.


Roxio to buy Pressplay?

A report on Yahoo! states that Roxio is in final talks with PressPlay to buy the company. For those of you who have been following the latest online music information, you know that PressPlay is a service that is competitive with Rhapsody (the music service of Real Networks) and that …

Lego Mac

Even if you're not a Macintosh enthusiast, you have to admire Daniele Procida who took an old PowerBook 5300 and turned it into a working computer by enshrining it in a new case made of... Lego. The full article from the BBC News is worth a read (especially since it …