Microsoft denies BayStar connection ... Toshiba ties with LG.Philips for LCD panels

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Microsoft denies BayStar connection
News: Toshiba ties with LG.Philips for LCD panels
News: Google to buy YouTube in $1.65 billion stock deal
News: IBM will run Power6 server chip at 5.0GHz
Analysis: HP's e-mail tracer in widespread use
Windows Tip: Smart cards and duct tape
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: The 10 coolest things seen on Google Earth


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft denies BayStar connection
Microsoft Corp. has denied allegations that it offered to guarantee an investment made in The SCO Group Inc., a software company embroiled in a long-standing intellectual property dispute with IBM Corp.

Toshiba ties with LG.Philips for LCD panels
Toshiba Corp. is planning to buy a one fifth stake LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd.'s Polish subsidiary in order to ensure a steady supply of LCD (liquid crystal display) panels for European televisions, it said Tuesday.

Google to buy YouTube in $1.65 billion stock deal
Google Inc. has laid speculation to rest -- it is buying YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock transaction.

IBM will run Power6 server chip at 5.0GHz
IBM Corp. plans to crank up the speed on its Power6 server chip to 5.0GHz, far higher than competing processors from Intel Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc.

U.S. court threatens Spamhaus with shut down
A U.S. court has threatened to shut down the Spamhaus Project Ltd., a volunteer-run antispam service, for ignoring a $11.7 million judgement against it.


ANALYSIS

HP's e-mail tracer in widespread use
By Stephen Lawson

The tracer software that Hewlett-Packard Co. investigators used to try to sniff out boardroom leaks sounded like it had been ripped from the pages of a bad science-fiction novel. That is, until the company began talking about it in detail at a congressional probe into the spying scandal.

The technology tool the company used, called a Web bug, is designed to allow e-mail senders to track the path a message takes, including whether a recipient opens the message and forwards it to another party. And it turns out the technology is widely used in e-mail newsletters to track readers and also by law enforcement in investigations, security experts say.

Read the full article here


WINDOWS TIP

Smart cards and duct tape
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

Although troubleshooting system and network problems are usually work, not fun, I had a good laugh at myself recently over one situation that initially left me stumped.

To gain remote access to a secure corporate network, I had to install a smart card reader on a machine so I could authenticate using the smart card the company issued me. The smart card reader was a USB type, and when I plugged it into the system Windows XP recognized the reader and installed drivers for it. Unfortunately the smart card reader I obtained didn't include a stand accessory, so rather than having it sitting on the desk I decided to use duct tape to fix the reader to the side of the PC beneath the desk. After all, Canadians like myself can use duct tape for almost anything, eh?

Read the full article here


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion .. Former Novell CEO Noorda dies ... Google and YouTube sign video deals with music studios

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ITWHIRLED

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