Solar broadband plane

SkyTower, a US aeronautics company, this week announced that it had successfully performed a series of tests of its new technology that promises to deliver broadband content from solar-powered planes that fly at 65 000 feet. According to TheRegister, in tests the solar-powered Pathfinder-Plus plane transmitted several hours of 3G mobile video, data and video services to the ground where it was picked up on DoCoMo 3G cellphone handsets. Apparently the data was transmitted at 384kbps from the unmanned plane. The downside? Because the plane is solar-powered it has to land at night, although the company says it is working on battery technology to keep it up in the air around the clock. [More at TheRegister]

Microsoft has discovered that some users of its MSN TV service in the US have downloaded a program that makes their set-tops dial the 911 emergency number instead of regular dial-up numbers. The company quickly issued a patch on Tuesday for the program which arrives in an attachment to an e-mail. When opened, it shuts down the computer, changes the dial-up setting and then dials 911. The program, which has affected at least 18 customers, is not considered to be a virus because it does not propagate itself. Several people reported on WebTV newsgroup Web sites that police officers had showed up at their doors to find out why they called 911, according to a TechTV report. Malicious programs that are used to dial 911 are not new. In April 2000, the National Infrastructure Protection Centre issued a warning about a computer virus that was prompting infected computers in Texas to dial 911.

At a time when just about everyone who works for a boss is being required to do more with less, and management seems to think it can all be done with little more than an inspirational pep talk, the folks at despair.com and risoftsystems.com have come up with an antidote to the business world`s motivational mumbo-jumbo. It`s called "The Demotivators Screensaver." For a small fee, users can now have their screensaver display beautiful pictures accompanied by inspired - but less-than inspirational - slogans. For example, the screen for "Cluelessness" shows a table covered with light bulbs, only one of which is lit. "There are no stupid questions," it says, "but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots." The "Consulting" screen shows a picture of a firm handshake and these words of wisdom: "If you`re not a part of the solution, there`s good money to be made in prolonging the problem." Or one of the better procrastination slogans: "Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now."

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) may try to block VeriSign`s move to control the re-registration of expired domain names. TheRegister reports, however, that VeriSign argues that the organisation may be overstepping its mandate if it tries to block the move. The core ICANN Names Council yesterday voted six to one to advise the board of directors to reject VeriSign`s Wait Listing Service. While the board does not have to adhere to the council`s recommendations, critics of the service insist that the service will allow VeriSign to create a monopoly on the domain name secondary market. [More at TheRegister]

Sources: Reuters, TheRegister

More TechNiche:
ISO to stop JPEG royalty grab, NVIDIA releases Cg for free
Real sounds challenge, Intel speeds to 3GHz
Hitachi floats water-cooled laptop, China plans own Windows 98