Penguin opens first wiki novel for participation publishing

Fancy trying your hand at creative writing but can't quite find the time? Tired of scribbling away all by yourself? British publisher Penguin may have the answer - a Web-based, collaborative novel that can be written, edited or read by anyone, anywhere thanks to 'wiki' software, the technology behind Web encyclopaedia Wikipedia. The novel, A Million Penguins, went live on Thursday and its first lines are already being written, edited and rewritten by enthusiasts on www.amillionpenguins. ...more

Apple and U2 to unveil black iPod

Apple is holding another of its special events - for which read high-profile product announcement - next week, where CEO Steve Jobs will be joined by U2' Bono and The Edge to unveil U2-themed iPods, pre-loaded with the band's new album. US business website Forbes.com reports that, 'Sources close to the group say the U2 edition of the popular digital music player will come preloaded with the band's new album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, along with portions of the Irish supergroup's 25-year catalogue. ...more

Nokia forms mobile coalition

Nokia has joined forces with a number of major technology companies in an effort to create an open framework for allowing mobile phones to connect to networks. Bea, Borland, HP, IBM, Oracle and Sun have joined Nokia to form the Open Mobile Architecture Initiative, which is to exploit Sun's Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition technology (J2EE) as the basis for mobile-based interconnectivity. An important aim of the initiative is to provide a standardised way for Internet content to be delivered to mobile phones. ...more

Take a break - it's National Slacker Day

If you are reading this at work, it is time to take a break - today is the third annual National Slacker Day. The timing of the event couldn't have been better. With the bank holiday looming, what better excuse to have a long weekend? Oncus, the UK record label behind the event, claims that, 'Everyday, otherwise creative and intelligent people are driven to hair loss and road rage due to an unhealthy "work comes first" stress driven culture. ...more

Novell unveils Linux Small Business Suite 9

Novell is hoping that local channel partners' woes with dealing with Microsoft products will quickly drive uptake of its new Linux Small Business Suite 9 (SBS 9), announced at the company's BrainShare conference in Salt Lake City. Traditionally a Microsoft domain, the small business sector should be far from easy for open-source companies to crack. In-house skills are Microsoft; despite a notorious reputation for security, there's little momentum to improve it; and access to source code holds few attractions for many small businesses. ...more