Microsoft chalks up 5,000th patent

Microsoft has announced that it has chalked up its 5,000th patent at the US Patent Office. The Patent number 6,999,083 covers technologies which allow games console users who are online to watch a game in progress. That's right, not to play a game online, just to watch it from anywhere in the world. ...more

Charity recycles printer cartridges for heart research

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has launched a new recycling initiative that will raise funds for vital heart research The programme seeks to turn the 150 million laser cartridges used every year in the UK into cash. The BHF will receive ?1 for every recyclable printer cartridge donated to the scheme. The BHF notes that improvements in the quality of printers and increased use of digital photography has lead to a significant increase in the use of printer cartridges, most of which are thrown away and dumped in landfill sites. ...more

Linux applications `very difficult to install` - Lindows Founder

Michael Robinson, the CEO and founder of Linux distributor Lindows, has admitted that Linux software is `typically very difficult to install` in his latest newsletter. In his newsletter he points out that `The problem is that Linux software is spread about the globe.. ...more

Nvidia chips in to Sun workstations

Sun Microsystems and Nvidia have announced a partnership to ship Java Workstations with the Quadro high-end graphics hardware on systems running Solaris, Windows and Linux on AMD's 64bit Opteron x86 chips. Sun's W1100z and W2100z workstations will be the first machines to include the new graphics chips as standard. Customers will have the choice of either the Quadro FX 3000, 1100, 500 and 280 solutions. ...more

Sun virtualises the network with N1

Sun has trumpeted the launch of its 'N1' range of storage and server technology. Described as providing 'just in time computing', N1 is Sun's attempt to better manage large-scale network resources. It creates a 'virtual system' out of the underlying computer systems - 'virtualising' the administrator's view of the varied hardware and software resources. ...more