A HERO for all institutions

A new Web site, funded by Education Councils throughout Britain, has officially launched, linking hundreds of universities and higher education institutions through one portal. Boasting more than 840 links, HERO (Higher Education & Research opportunities) hopes to provide a service whereby potential students can easily find the right course at the right institution, find places to get funding for research or scholarships and where businesses can recruit. Timothy O'Shea, chairman of HERO, said at a press conference this morning   that "a lack of information, poor information, or partial information leads to the choice of inappropriate courses", but that HERO will "make a real difference getting the right course to the right student. ...more

Vodafone unleashes 3G live! service

Vodafone has flicked the switch for the start of its 'Vodafone live! With 3G' service. Its portal of mobile services has had a 3G makeover for UMTS-based (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) video calls and messages, music downloads, games and also 'mobile TV' for streaming clips to your handset. 'Today is an important day for Vodafone and the start of a new era in mobile communications,' boasted Arun Sarin, Vodafone Chief Executive. ...more

Microsoft buys time on EU deadline

The EU has given Microsoft an extra two months to comply with certain aspects of the 2004 antitrust settlement. Microsoft had been ordered to supply additional documentation by December 15, or face backdated fines of as much as €2mn per day. That deadline has now been extended to 15 February to give the EU more time to consider Microsoft's argument that disclosing more information would enable competitors to 'clone' parts of its Windows operating system. ...more

Microsoft's November security update will target Windows and XML

Microsoft has said it will issue six security bulletins in its November security update affecting Microsoft XML Core Services and Windows. The one affecting the XML Core Services and at least one of the five affecting Windows are rated as Critical - Microsoft's most severe security rating. Sysadmins will be hoping the fixes shore up systems currently at risk from a series of unpatched security holes that attackers are already trying to breach. ...more

Flash in your pocket

Macromedia has announced it has reached an agreement to release a Flash 5 player for handheld devices based on Microsoft's Pocket PC platform. According to the software corporation, PocketPC got the vote because of its inherent 16-bit colour, built-in audio capabilities and up to 206MHz processing power. Devices that will ship with the player include Compaq's iPaq, Casio's Cassiopeia, and Hewlett-Packard's Jornada PDAs. ...more