W3C stops work on Libwww

The Web standards body W3C has announced it is has stopped work on its Libwww protocol library project, and is inviting users to participate in a Future of Libwww Survey. Libwww is a free, modular client side Web API written in C for Unix and Windows. It is designed for applications such as building Web robots and batch tools, as well as browsers and editors. ...more

Apple updates Mac OS X

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.4.3 which incorporates numerous fixes to key components including the Finder and Spotlight searching, Safari, syncing and Mail. ...more

Symantec comes clean on Norton rootkit

Popular consumer security software vendor Symantec has come a cropper over use of 'rootkit' technology in its products. The news couldn't have come at a worse time, in the shadow of the Sony rootkit fiasco, which ended in court settlements whereby the music giant offered replacements, refunds and free music in a bid to placate public outcry. Symantec, for its part, has issued a fix for an element in its Norton SystemWorks and Premier range which recovers deleted data. ...more

Bristol to expand city centre Wi-Fi network

Bristol City Council has announced a major extension to the city centre wireless network that was first installed in 2004. The area covered by the free WiMax network will be expanded fourfold to include key business areas, transport routes and several 'disadvantaged' communities. The council said that the extension will once again make Bristol's network the largest of its kind in the UK, providing wider coverage with free access. ...more

Dell signals new direction with rethink of direct sales

Michael Dell has revealed that he is considering moving away from the direct sales model, which made the company that bears his name the world's biggest supplier of computer systems. It is the first time anyone at Dell has publicly admitted to doubts about the company's business model, which relies on building and shipping each PC to order. 'The direct model has been a revolution, but is not a religion,' Dell, who founded the company in 1984 and recently returned to the position of chief executive, wrote in an email to the company's 80,000 employees. ...more