Apple recalls G4 PowerBooks

Apple has been forced to provide free repairs for owners of the new titanium PowerBooks, following the discovery of a misalignment of the DVD drive and the slot in the machines casing. The problem causes DVD disks to become stuck when ejected. Apple repair dealers are not permitted to carry out the fix as the DVD drive is an enclosed unit that will have to be dismantled; all machines have to be returned to Apple. ...more

BT to buy PlusNet for ?67m

BT has made a cash offer for the UK ISP Plusnet The deal, based on a cash offer of 210p per share, will add 200,000 broadband subscribers to BT's own broadband customer base. The offer has been unanimously recommended by the PlusNet directors. PlusNet revealed it was being wooed by a potential buyer more than a month ago, prompting its stock to surge some 30 per cent towards the 200p range. ...more

Bulldog broadband customer details stolen in 2005

A security breach in 2005 resulted in the theft of the personal details of some 100,000 Bulldog broadband subscribers, its former owner Cable & Wireless has revealed. C&W said that it has become apparent that in December 2005 contact details were stolen, resulting in a number of unsolicited calls being made to 'a small number' of customers. But it stressed that there is no evidence that bank or credit card details were used illegally, though it is not clear whether they were among the information that was stolen. ...more

Googlewhacking wildfire

Some people have obviously got too much time on their hands - and those are the people indulging in the new 'sport' of Googlewhack. The aim of the game is to enter two words into the Google search engine and come up with just one result from Google's archive of more than three billion Web pages. Sadly the game even has rules and a scoring system, which makes 'epigone groundhog' the highest scoring combination yet. ...more

Real has ethics of a hacker says Apple

Apple has labelled Real's attempt to circumvent the iPod's rights management technology as the 'tactics and ethics of a hacker' In its first repsonse to Real's announcment of its Harmony technology, Apple said: 'We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (the US Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real's Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPod.' Real's Harmony technology enables songs bought from Real's online store to be converted so that they can be played on an iPod. ...more