technology Articles


Analysts just say "no" to SCO's NDA

An article from ComputerWorld has an interesting couple of tidbits in it, including comments from analysts who have said they will forego SCO's opportunity to review the offending Linux code because it requires an NDA, and a comment from Linus where he says the whole situation reminds him of a …

SCO shuts German web site in response to court order

SCO, embroiled in a nasty fight with the Linux community, has shut down their German web site, according to this article from CNET. The move comes after a Linux advocacy group, LinuxTag, succeeded in getting a temporary restraining order in Germany due to what it has called unsubstantiated claims being …


NAC Geographic pushes world-wide postal codes

The Globe and Mail reports that NAC Geographic Products is pushing to get its idea of a world-wide postal code used for physical addressing. Using an algorithm based on latitude and longitude, the company's product can be used in varying lengths to get a more specific address. 2 characters will …




Centrino's wireless VPN woes become more apparent

Intel has officially announced that the Centrino chips are only compatible with five particular pieces of VPN software and only then when you turn off the "Adapter Switching" feature of the chipset, Wired reports. If you don't turn that off or you use another piece of software, be prepared for …

Three Gorges dam starts to retain water

BBC News reports this morning that the controversial Three Gorges dam in China has started to take on water. The dam has been controversial since its initial announcement. Upwards of 600,000 people have been forcibly resettled and hundreds of towns will disappear as the world's largest hydroelectric plant and …

In an emergency, a land line is your friend

An interesting article from the land of the rising cellphone, er sun. Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun (article in english here) asserts that due to the growing popularity of cellular phones and the commensurate drop in land-line telephone use, a hard line is the best bet in an emergency.

Spiderman adhesive demonstrated

The Independent reports that a team of Russian and British scientists have created a tape that mimics the wall-climbing capabilities of the gecko.In a fitting display, the team demonstrated the success by hanging a spiderman toy (40g) from a ceiling by a 2mm square patch of the "tape".

Nextel push to talk goes coast-to-coast

Nextel is rolling out a coast-to-coast version of its popular Push to Talk (PTT) service, which lets users have their cell phones operate like walkie talkies on a dedicated channel. As described in this article from CNET, the new service will initially be available to customers in Boston, LA, and …


Scientists discover Stem Cell "master gene"

An article from the Washington Post refers to an article from the June issue of the magazine Cell that claims to have discovered the gene that makes stem cells so useful. As usual, the work is very preliminary, but interesting. As an aside, those spending this weekend at NANOG will …

Algorithmic Denial of Service attacks explained

A paper from Rice University describes a method and implementation of creating algorithmic DoS attacks that don't require a large amount of bandwidth to saturate servers. The idea is to attack obvious or hidden hash algorithms (relatively compute intensive) and bring the server (or in one of the cases, the …

Bluetooth adapter with 100M range

Sick and tired of Bluetooth adapters that just don't have the range? This review from MacMerc is of a "Class 1" device from Mitsumi that claims 100M range. Further, the review says he's actually been able to confirm 60 feet, which is pretty amazing all by itself.




SCO to show code, possibly sue Novell

According to an article on CNET, SCO is planning to start showing some if the disputed linux code under NDA to outside analysts. Further, the company has stated that it is turning the issue of disputed ownership of UNIX to its attorneys. It certainly makes me wonder, though, if the …