E.U. fines Microsoft €280.5 million ... Lycos sells Wired News

Today's IT News Audio Update
E.U. fines Microsoft €280.5 million ... Infosys revenue reflects outsourcing boom .... Lycos sells Wired News


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Microsoft fined €280.5 million by E.U.
News: Infosys expects up to 36 percent annual growth
News: Mumbai blasts should not affect investment to India
News: Lycos sells Wired News to Condé Nast
TopCoder Challenge: Paper Rock Scissors Qualifications
Opinion: Easier Desktop Fixes
ITwhirled: Fighting back against the panopticon: Lawyer sues dishy Website


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft fined €280.5 million by E.U.
The European Commission has fined Microsoft Corp. €280.5 million ($357 million) for failing to comply with the terms of a March 2004 antitrust judgement against it, the Commission said on Wednesday.

Infosys expects up to 36 percent annual growth
Infosys Technologies Ltd. on Wednesday said it expects revenue to grow by up to 36 percent in its fiscal year to March 31 next year, reflecting an overall buoyancy in the Indian outsourcing industry.

Mumbai blasts should not affect investment to India
The terrorist attacks Tuesday on trains in the western India city of Mumbai appeared unlikely to dampen investments and outsourcing to India, which has weathered such tragedy before with resilience.

Lycos sells Wired News to Condé Nast
Condé Nast Publications Inc. will reunite the print and online components of Wired magazine by purchasing Wired News from Lycos Inc. for $25 million, Lycos said Tuesday.

Microsoft offers incentives to SMB, enterprise partners
Microsoft Corp. will announce a mix of new products and programs Wednesday designed to appeal to partners looking for more revenue opportunities among small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise applications and security software.

Symbian aims for the masses with smart phone upgrade
Symbian Ltd. introduced the latest version of its smart phone operating system on Wednesday, adding support for new wireless technologies and capabilities aimed at pushing smart phones into the mass market.

Google opening Michigan AdWords center
Google Inc. will open a sales and operations center for its AdWords online advertising program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the State of Michigan announced Tuesday.

Secure Computing to buy CipherTrust
Secure Computing Corp. plans to acquire e-mail security vendor CipherTrust Inc. in a deal valued at close to $274 million.


TOPCODER CHALLENGE

Think you have what it takes to be a top coder? Try your hand at this week's problem:
Paper Rock Scissors Qualifications.


OPINION

Easier Desktop Fixes
By James Gaskin

A couple of months ago, my frustration at computers in general boiled over and I wrote "Sidestepping technical pain: 28 years later, personal computing still sucks far too often". As you might imagine, readers sent notes complaining that automated intelligence seems far too slow in arriving to the personal computer support market.

Of course, the keyboard often separates the monitor from the problem source, but physically abusing users still causes more legal hassle than most network administrators can tolerate. Users: can't live without them, but bury just one under the parking lot and you never hear the end of it.