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Issue no. 41, 2003 Published: Nov 07, 2003
Novell to acquire SuSE Linux
Microsoft sets up virus-hunting fund
EU court makes landmark ruling on data protection
China to invest in Linux-based software industry
Standard boosts fibre-optic bandwidth
ICANN announces domain name changes
US downloads beat CD sales
New Intel design to cut power leakage on chips
Startup says quantum cryptography is real
Smart software helps robots dodge collisions
Crystal bends light backwards
Let your fingers do the talking
Italy searches world for Miss Digital

Novell to acquire SuSE Linux
The balance of Linux power shifted Tuesday, with Novell announcing an IBM-assisted plan to acquire SuSE Linux. Longtime Microsoft foe Novell has signed an agreement to acquire SuSE Linux for $210 million in cash, while IBM, the most powerful backer of the Linux operating system, will make a $50 million investment in Novell. The moves could boost the fortunes of SuSE, the No. 2 seller of Linux, increase the competitive pressure on No. 1 Red Hat and provide a new direction for Novell's rivalry with Microsoft. In addition, IBM and Novell are negotiating an extension to SuSE's agreement to support all four of IBM's server lines and are planning a joint marketing and support relationship, the companies said.
ZDNet / CNET Nov 04, 2003	back to top

Microsoft sets up virus-hunting fund
Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it is creating an anti-virus reward programme, backed by $5 million of its cash, to help law enforcement agencies catch the authors of computer worms. As the first part of the programme, Microsoft announced two $250,000 rewards, a total of $500,000, for information that leads to the arrest of the writers of two computer worms - the Blaster worm and SoBig.F e-mail virus - that crippled many PCs running on Microsoft Windows this summer. Microsoft did not announce specific plans for the remaining $4.5 million in the reward programme. Microsoft stressed it is continuing to work on enhanced security features for current editions of Windows as well as for the next version of its operating system, Longhorn, which is due out in 2005. Microsoft said it will commit more financial resources to the security problem.
CNN Nov 05, 2003	back to top

EU court makes landmark ruling on data protection
Sweden can consider fining a churchworker who posted personal details of colleagues on a church-related website, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday in the first ruling of its kind on EU data protection law. The ruling gave member states broad scope on how to enforce EU law concerning the handling of personal data. The case now goes back to a Swedish appeal court, which had asked the EU Court for advice on the meaning of a European Commission directive. The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said authorities could impose a fine of 4,000 Swedish crowns (€445) on the woman for processing personal data without notifying Sweden's data protection body. In a case balancing privacy against freedom of speech, the EU court said Sweden may decide whether the fine matched the violation but maintained that the EU directive in no way threatens fundamental rights. The court said the woman had 'processed sensitive personal data' belonging to her fellow churchworkers including names, addresses and phone numbers.
Yahoo / Reuters Nov 06, 2003	back to top

China to invest in Linux-based software industry
The Chinese government plans to throw its financial weight behind Linux-based computer systems that could rival Microsoft's Windows in one of the world's fastest-growing technology markets, an official said. China would build a domestic software industry around Linux - a cheaper software standard that can copied and modified freely - said Gou Zhongwen, a vice minister at the powerful Ministry of Information Industry. Gou did not give details on the amount of planned government investment in Linux. China's information technology market is growing at 20 per cent a year, with software sales expected to reach $30.5bn in 2005, according to research house International Data. The domestic industry is dominated by Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Sybase, UFSoft and Kingsoft.
Reuters Nov 05, 2003	back to top

Standard boosts fibre-optic bandwidth
A United Nations-affiliated telecommunications group approved a new standard that will increase bandwidth in fibre-optic lines and reduce costs for network providers. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Wednesday said the G.695 standard applies to technology called Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM). ITU supports CWDM because it lets metropolitan fibre networks expand capacity at a cheaper price than the incumbent technology, called Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM). CWDM is cheaper because it allows greater spacing between channels on a fibre-optic line and, therefore, can handle less-expensive 'uncooled lasers'. Geneva-based ITU said operators using CWDM can reduce costs by 30 per cent compared with DWDM products. The G.695 standard applies to CWDM systems for optical networks from 40km to 80km long. The technology supports wavelengths between 1270 and 1610 nanometres and signal rates of 2.5 gbps and 1.25gbps.
CNET Nov 06, 2003	back to top

ICANN announces domain name changes
The number of top-level domains will increase under new proposals put forward by ICANN, the internet's governing body. ICANN has listed two measures to increase the number of domains available. There will be an increase in the number of top level domains available, as well as the finalisation of a long-running push to standardise the use of non-Roman characters in domain names. ICANN recently met in Carthage and resolved to introduce new generic top level domains (gTLDs), to be announced by September next year.
Yahoo / ZDNet Australia Nov 06, 2003	back to top

US downloads beat CD sales
Apple's iTunes is one of the popular legal download services Music fans in the US are buying almost twice as many singles in digital form over the internet as they are on CDs from stores, according to a report. Some 7.7 million tracks were bought and downloaded since the end of June - compared with four million CD singles sold, Billboard magazine reported. The figures show the success of new legitimate music download services. But some say online and CD single sales cannot be compared because so few singles are now released on CD. Record companies have cut CD single releases because of falling sales, but fans can choose from 500,000 songs for $0.99 each on some internet services. Legitimate download sites, such as Apple's iTunes, the newly relaunched Napster and Musicmatch, are the most popular. In the week ending 26 October, 857,000 songs were sold over the internet - compared to just 170,000 in record shops, Billboard said.
BBC News Nov 03, 2003	back to top

New Intel design to cut power leakage on chips
Intel says it has found a breakthrough way to insulate transistors that could solve one of the semiconductor industry's most fundamental problems: how to make computer chips ever-smaller while preventing them from losing power and throwing off heat. As semiconductor manufacturers design microprocessors packed more densely with transistors, those components, which are the fundamental building blocks of computer chips, are also prone to leak electrical current. That means that more powerful chips also drain power, cutting into battery life and throwing off heat, making laptops hot to the touch and forcing companies to set up expensive cooling systems for servers. To solve the problem, Intel said it has come up with a new insulating material for transistors, called 'high-k dielectric', to replace the silicon dioxide that has been used as the industry standard for about 30 years. The material allows the transistor to operate without leaking current.
New York Times / Reuters Nov 05, 2003	back to top

Startup says quantum cryptography is real
US startup MagiQ Technologies this week announced it is shipping what appears to be the first security system based on quantum cryptography. Quantum cryptography employs a stream of photons, the quantum properties of which determine the key. If an intruder observes or intercepts the transmission, those properties get changed - an unavoidable principle of quantum mechanics - meaning the sender and receiver can tell if anyone is eavesdropping. Moreover, the key cannot be copied or faked. MagiQ's Navajo system was unveiled in February and began beta trials in March. MagiQ says Navajo performs the usual triple-DES and AES encryption standards.
Light Reading Nov 04, 2003	back to top

Smart software helps robots dodge collisions
A smart new system has been developed that aims to make it impossible for robots to bump into objects, including people. The Inevitable Collision System (ICS) works by continuously calculating an exclusion zone around the robot based on its motion and that of the objects around it. The exclusion zone represents the region in which a collision would be unavoidable, no matter what evasive action the robot took. Existing collision avoidance systems calculate the future positions of all the objects. The problem is that this can be an extremely complex problem if there are multiple objects or non-linear movements. The solution, devised by researchers at the French national research institute INRIA Rhône-Alpes and the University of Tokyo, is to work out only partial trajectories of the robot and other objects. How far into the future the trajectories are projected is determined by the computing power available. The calculations are then continuously updated, meaning an exclusion zone can be determined in real-time.
New Scientist Nov 03, 2003	back to top

Crystal bends light backwards
When light bends as it passes from one material to another, scientists assume two things will happen: some of the light will be reflected at the junction between the materials and the light that goes through will only bend at a positive angle. National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers, however, demonstrated that a junction in yttrium orthovanadate - a cheap, readily available crystal - transmits light without reflecting any of it, and is capable of guiding light and beams of electrons through a wide range of angles, both positive and negative. The crystal can guide all types of electromagnetic radiation, including microwaves and electron beams. The material is potentially valuable for channelling light in high-power lasers and channelling electron beams in nanoscale electronic devices. It could potentially be used for super lenses that would enable existing chip manufacturing methods to produce smaller, and thus faster, transistors.
Technology Review / TRN Nov 06, 2003	back to top

Let your fingers do the talking
Throw away your earpiece, soon your finger could be helping you make and take calls via your mobile phone. Japanese phone firm NTT DoCoMo has created a wristwatch phone that uses its owner's finger as an earpiece. The gadget, dubbed Finger Whisper, uses a wristband to convert the sounds of conversation to vibrations that can be heard when the finger is placed in the ear. The phone is answered by touching forefinger to thumb and then by putting the forefinger in the ear to hear who is ringing. The call is ended by again touching forefinger to thumb. The sound converting wristband on the watch phone is also fitted with a microphone that the phone owner can talk into. The phone has no keypad but users can make a call by saying the number they want to reach out loud. Voice recognition electronics built in to the wristband decipher what has been said and dial the number.
BBC News Nov 06, 2003	back to top

Italy searches world for Miss Digital
A new beauty contest kicking off in Italy next week will give pixel- perfect pin-ups the chance for sex-symbol status as 'Miss Digital World'. Digital artists, advertising agencies and videogame programmers from around the world have been asked to send a computer design of their perfect woman to www.missdigitalworld.com, complete with date of birth and body measurements. Designers will program contestants to parade along a virtual catwalk. A virtual presenter and virtual guests will help create the atmosphere of a beauty contest. The winner will be crowned at a flesh-and-blood conference in November 2004 and the organisers hope the digital queen will go on to greater things with roles in videogames, virtual reality films and advertisements. However, the virtual world has its ethical rules too. 'They should not have taken part - not even as extras or cameos - in pornographic films, shows or plays nor have made statements ... in any way out of tune with the moral spirit of the competition,' organisers said.
MSNBC / Reuters Nov 05, 2003	back to top