Mono betas the Open Source route to .Net

Novell has finally brought to beta the Mono developer framework. This allows programmers to write applications and web services based on Microsoft's .Net framework that will also run on Unix and Linux. ...more

Cutting the cost of ASDL installation

ISPs quick to pass on the savings to consumers. From 1 October, for three months, BT Wholesale is to halve the setup costs for IPStream, the broadband service it makes available to ISPs. The installation fee for its USB modem version of ADSL will be cut from ?150 to ?75, enabling ISPs to provide cheaper broadband offerings to the public. ...more

DARPA 2005 in gear for rocky racing

The desert and mountains near Primm, Nevada are the setting this weekend for the robotic racing of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. A prize of $2m awaits the team whose automated vehicle manages the entire course the fastest, although it must be in under 10 hours, because that's when the judges go home. The 23 finalists - there have been pre-qualifying rounds - have to traverse a rugged course that features lakebeds, narrow desert roads, tight turns, tunnels, gateways and what are promised as 'treacherous mountain passes'. ...more

No rewrite of Linux kernel, Open Source labs insist

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) will not be undertaking a rewrite of the Linux kernel, contrary to reports. An article published last Friday on the LinuxBusinessWeek website described a project known as Operation Open Gates which would be announced next week and would 'rewrite the components in the Linux kernel that, it has been alleged, tread on other people's IP'. In particular, the project was to focus on the Microsoft-owned patents identified in a study drawn up by the Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) insurance company, which claimed it had discovered 283 patents that the kernel software infringed. ...more

NTL swallows Virgin.net

NTL has acquired the 51 per cent of shares in Virgin.net that it did not own to become the sole owner of the ISP. Best known for its cable broadband and TV, NTL has made no secret of its intentions to expand into the ADSL arena. ...more