lastminute newsletter gaffe confuses author

The person behind the lastminute email describing the delights of children's attractions in the capital as 'Like Gary Glitter in a sweet shop, you too can have your pick of kiddy treats in London's theatre world', is relying on others to correct future PR disasters. The lastminute email motivated recipients to complain to the Advertising Standards Agency who considered the email 'likely to cause serious or widespread offence'. According to Internet sources, a subsequent internal email to lastminute staffers by the author puts the responsibility on them to raise alarm bells. ...more

Acer unveils new US-designed notebooks, Grantsdale desktop

Acer is to launch restyled notebooks and business desktops with centralised asset management software. The new notebooks are the result of a year and a half's work by a US design outfit hired by Acer and use a 'folio' design to slim down the appearance, while also offering a carry grip and latchless closing and locking using magnets. They also incorporate Acer's 'e' key that brings up a console for quick access to management functions in the control panel as well as preset environments that can switch to optimised settings for power conservation, maximum performance, presentations and so on. ...more

Linux code certification will not prevent legal action, says analyst

Linus Torvalds and the Open Source Development Lab's new submission process for developers contributing code to the Linux kernel may not be the panacea they hope, an industry analyst has warned. Code that is put forward for inclusion into the open source operating system kernel must now be signed off with a Developer's Certificate of Origin - to document the provenance of the kernel and ward off future litigation such as that being brought by SCO. George Weiss from Gartner warns Linux users that the new system is not the panacea for Linux. ...more

AMD launches its 64-bit processor for notebooks

AMD has officially introduced its range of Turion 64 mobile processors. Aimed at the market currently dominated by rival Intel's Centrino technology and Pentium M processors, AMD is touting the chip as bringing 64-bit performance to the notebook market. The new range of Turion chips will initially be between 1. ...more

Microsoft to release six updates for Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has issued its advanced notification for next Tuesday's security bulletin, warning to expect six new updates. Windows will receive the lion's share of these, with five destined for the flagship operating system. Microsoft says that these will tackle issues, some of which it ranks as Critical - its most severe rating - and may require systems to be rebooted. ...more