Mystic Malone's almanac for 2006

It is that time of year again: that time when we gaze into our crystal ball and with trembling lips predict the events that will shape the technology industry in 2006. The fog is clearing, and we foresee.. ...more

ASA raps Be 'up to 24 Meg' claim

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints that an advertisement for Be Un Limited's 'up to 24 Meg broadband' service was likely to mislead. Rival broadband provider NTL and a member of the public objected to the ad because they believed that the speed would be unattainable to most users. Be's service is based on ADSL2+ technology, the major downside of which is a steep fall in the maximum speed as the user moves further away from the exchange. ...more

Microsoft seeks to command and control scripting

IT Forum, Barcelona: Microsoft today announced the official release of its command-line Windows scripting tool, Powershell. It's designed to address the age-old complaint that Unix and Linux users have access to far more powerful command-line tools than Windows power users have ever had with the old DOS-based Command Prompt. The software's available to download from Microsoft's official Powershell site. ...more

Symantec blocks 'malicious' AOL

Security firm Symantec was rushing to reassure irate AOL users at the end of last week after the Intrusion Detection signature that was loaded with the latest update prevented people from logging into the ISP. The problem arose with the regular 15 March LiveUpdate and affected both Norton AntiVirus itself or, as a part of Norton SystemWorks, Norton Internet Security and Norton Personal Firewall. As a result, traffic coming from AOL was deemed to be malicious and prevented users from connecting to the service. ...more

More details emerge on Blaster worm suspect

Further details have emerged about the suspected author of a Blaster worm variant, who was arrested at the end of last week. The eighteen year old involved is one Jeffrey Lee Parson from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Apparently working under an online identity of 'Teekid', the teenager is charged with intentionally causing damage to a computer. ...more