AMD Opteron to shadow Intel Xeon pricing

At the end of July, AMD re-jigged its pricing for the 64-bit Opteron server range to make way for a new release, the Model 246, which appeared earlier this week. From now on, however - according to reports on the Net - AMD will be explicitly shadowing the price charged for Intel's 32-bit server processor, the Xeon. Effectively, AMD is serving notice of higher charges for subsequent Opteron chips. ...more

Computer worm rides the European storms

Computer virus writers have used the raging European storms to attack thousands of computers in an unusual real-time assault, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure told Reuters. The virus, which the company named 'Storm Worm' has been sent to hundreds of thousands of email addresses globally, with the e-mail's subject line saying '230 dead as storm batters Europe.' The attached file contains the malware that can infiltrate computer systems. ...more

Steve Jobs unlikely to face charges over stock option backdating

The likelihood of Steve Jobs finding himself in the dock over stock options backdating looks slim, after an investigation by the San Jose Mercury News. 'Despite Apple's disclosure that Jobs approved widespread backdating at Apple, there is no evidence he directed the backdating of his own grant or covered it up afterward,' said the paper. The paper says that such close examination reveals not malice, but 'a good-faith, although clumsy, attempt by Apple's board of directors to reward its star chief executive for resurrecting a moribund company. ...more

21st century bullying, a modern menace

UK charity claims one in four youngsters subject to bullying by threatening emails or text messages. According to a survey commissioned by the children's charity NCH, bullying by means of mobile phones and PCs is widely prevalent. Figures quoted by NCH include 16 per cent of young people receiving bullying or threatening text messages, and a further four per cent receiving threatening emails. ...more

ICANN signs new contract with US Department of Commerce

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which oversees the vital task of managing the name servers for the Internet signed a new agreement with the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) on Friday that is being hailed as a 'dramatic step forward' towards independence. ICANN has secured an agreement that recognizes it as being responsible for the management of the Internet's system of unique identifiers on an ongoing basis. It means ICANN is more autonomous,' declared Dr Paul Twomey, the President and CEO of ICANN. ...more