Freeserve gives surfers chance to flirt

Today sees the launch of the world's first online flirting game. The game known as the Flirtboat will be hosted on icircle.com, which is Freeserve's dedicated women's channel, and gives the players the chance to earn flirtpoints and kisses as they partake in a virtual cruise. ...more

Lawyers claim Apple's iPod update is admission of volume problems

Lawyers representing iPod owners who are suing Apple for alleged damage to their hearing have said that the company's decision to enable volume limiting on the portable music players is an acknowledgement that they are flawed. 'It is good to know that Apple finally acknowledges that there is a serious flaw with its iPod product, and is giving US purchasers the same protection it has been giving French purchasers since 2002,' said attorney Steve Berman. 'Unfortunately, this patch doesn't help the millions of people who own older models - it is a jack-legged workaround that falls well short of what consumers demand and deserve. ...more

IT Forum 2004: Bill Gates turns to magic to reduce computing complexity

'Using the magic of software to reduce the complexity of computing' - this was the mantra of Bill Gates in his opening keynote at the IT Forum 2004 in Copenhagen. Announcing the release of a range of server products - Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005, Virtual Server 2005 and two feature packs for Systems management Server (SMS) 2003 - he said the common theme was reducing the costs of deploying and managing computing systems. He observed that traditionally falling hardware costs had allowed scope for greater software innovation, but reducing general IT costs would now be necessary to allow further innovation. ...more

Symantec granted patent for detection of mutating viruses

Security company Symantec says it has developed a new weapon in the battle against viruses, Trojans and worms. It has been granted a patent in the US for what it is terming 'data detection of viruses' in order to combat the increasing sophistication of modern malware. Ever since the first viruses appeared, detection has always depended on 'signatures' - unique sections of code which antivirus scanners look for. ...more

iPod maker defends its working conditions

Foxconn, the Taiwanese iPod maker, has defended the working conditions in its Chinese factories, denying claims made by the Mail on Sunday. Foxconn said that the report was a vicious attack on the company and that there are huge discrepancies between the truth and the newspaper's allegations. The Mail on Sunday claimed that Foxconn employees were working in 'slave' conditions, with one plant near Shenzhen employing 200,000 people, who worked 15 hour days for $50 per month and lived 100 to a room in company dormitories. ...more