New book range to be sold under 'Open Source' licence

Bruce Perens, one of the founders of the Open Source movement, has taken the concept into the world of e-books. He says he has convinced US publisher Prentice Hall to produce a series of books on technical subjects under the Open Source licence. The idea is that not only can the books be downloaded and read for free, but they can also be modified and 'sold on' in a printed version. ...more

Microsoft to drop MSN chat

MSN has decided to cease all open and unmoderated MSN Chat worldwide from the 14th of October. Chat will only be available in certain countries around the world through subscription only. In the UK, Europe, Latin America and Asia, chat services will stop altogether. ...more

Laptops drive global computer sales

Worldwide computer shipments rose by 17.1 per cent in the last three months of 2005, totalling 61.1m, according to research firm IDC. ...more

Net campaign to cut student crime

With a third of UK students becoming victims of crime, the Home Office together with the NUS have announced an online campaign aimed at reducing this figure. The good2bsecure campaign launches before the new university term begins next week and will kick off with an email to more than 750,000 students detailing the www.good2bsecure. ...more

Mandrake betas portable Linux

Mandrake is to sell a version of its GNU/Linux operating system which runs entirely off a CD. Indeed the boxed edition includes a USB memory stick on which you can store your files and configuration settings - and all for €69.90 (about ?49). ...more