Virgin Mobile TV grabs Channel 4 simulcasts

Virgin has completed the sign-up of Channel 4 to its mobile phone TV service. This now carries BBC 1 (on a trial basis), ITV1, Channel 4, E4 and ITN News. To be specific, from today a fuller version of Channel 4 content will be available on a specific Virgin handset, the Virgin Mobile Lobster 700TV. ...more

Security put on the boardroom backburner in rush to wireless networking

Despite a massive rise in wireless networking, just 20 per cent of companies turn on Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) controls to protect network traffic. Remote access, wireless networks and PDAs maybe on the wish list for many businesses, but they are often being deployed without appropriate security provisions, according to the DTI's 2004 Information Security Breaches Survey. 'Many of those who want remote access appear to be the least aware of the additional risks it entails and/or are senior people in the organisation and have the power to authorise it,' said Andrew Beard, the PricewaterhouseCoopers advisory director leading the survey. ...more

DARPA 2005 in gear for rocky racing

The desert and mountains near Primm, Nevada are the setting this weekend for the robotic racing of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. A prize of $2m awaits the team whose automated vehicle manages the entire course the fastest, although it must be in under 10 hours, because that's when the judges go home. The 23 finalists - there have been pre-qualifying rounds - have to traverse a rugged course that features lakebeds, narrow desert roads, tight turns, tunnels, gateways and what are promised as 'treacherous mountain passes'. ...more

Supercomputer to work on life-threatening illnesses

The Atlanta-based corporation NuTec Sciences has commissioned the world's largest "commercial" supercomputer to help investigate the workings of human genes. IBM will provide the cluster of e-servers that will analyse the combinations of genes that can cause disease. We reported previously on an IBM supercomputer being used by a government agency to monitor objects in outer space, but this is a commercial application to reduce the cost of designing new drugs. ...more

Sober virus on popular European tour

The Sober virus - discovered on Monday - now accounts for 50 per cent of reported incidents, warns Sophos, and is continuing its rise throughout the UK and Germany. Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos, said that on Monday, Sober reports accounted for 20 per cent, but that level has now reached 50 per cent. 'It's a fairly obvious worm,' she said, but she had an idea why the virus was still spreading. ...more