Breaking virus hoax

A hoax virus is doing the rounds at the moment, bidding concerned users to delete an important system file and then to tell everyone they know to do the same. Rather than attempt any fancy VB footwork, the writer of this "virus" is relying on the public to mess up their own computers and spread the rot themselves. Beware, the email text may attempt to authenticate itself by using IT words such as "migrate", and even filepath strings such as "C:windowscommand", so don't be fooled. ...more

HP and Dell indifferent to stripped version of Windows XP

The worlds two largest PC makers have reacted with profound indifference, to the imminent availability of a version of Windows Media Player. Dell said it has no plans to offer it at all, while HP said that it will be an option but that it does not expect it to be in great demand. Microsoft has been ordered to provide Windows XP Home and Professional Edition N - as the WMP-free versions are known - as part of the penalties imposed by the European Commission for antitrust violations. ...more

VB virus hides itself as a McAfee report

Security companies are warning of a new Visual Basic virus hidden in a document purporting to be a McAfee report. The Word document 'McAfee Inc.report' arrives attached to an email with the sender spoofed as mcafee@europe. ...more

GoLive 6 and Live Motion 2 go live

The next two pieces in Adobe's network publishing and integrated workflow strategy - GoLive 6.0 and LiveMotion 2.0 - are unveiled today at MacWorld San Francisco. ...more

New computer language makes computers think about the consequences

Researchers at the US, along with teams from the UK, France, Germany and Japan have come up with a new programming language which allows a computer to think through the consequences of an action before executing it. Developed the international team led by scientists at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with what they call a 'process specification language software' which is more mundanely known as ISO 18629. A traditional programming language consists of a series of instructions which, as any programmer faced with buggy code knows, will be followed slavishly whether the consequences are those intended or not. ...more