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-------- WHAT'S NEW NOW --------
Important Stories, Commentary & More from Ziff Davis
By Jim Louderback
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November 2, 2004
Vol. 3, No. 84
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Nasty Worm Spreads, Faulty Memory Fiasco, 17 Digital Video
Cameras Reviewed
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Epic Battle Comes to a Close
Our long national nightmare is finally about over! No, I'm
not talking about Kerry versus Bush. I'm talking
Oracle-PeopleSoft! Finally, an end is near. Oracle just
delivered a "best and final offer," and it promised to
simply withdraw if it's not accepted. Our story details the
date (a matter of days) and the price (a total of $7.7
billion). My prediction: PeopleSoft shareholders decline the
offer, and the company slowly fades away--eventually to be
taken over by NetSuite for $750 million and two beaver hats.
Oracle Delivers Last, Best Offer:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14501-1
Faulty System Memory Could Be Widespread
The story started out focused on bad memory in Toshiba's
notebooks, which could cause system lockups or BSOD. But
further digging shows that it's more than just Toshiba, with
HP and others having problems, too. But we couldn't get the
straight scoop from anyone. HP claimed four vendors were
guilty, while Toshiba blamed Intel. If you've got a Toshiba
notebook, read our story and then follow the link to a
downloadable memory-check program. But other notebook users
might want to run that application as well. The trouble is,
it only runs on Toshiba systems. Our story details what we
know, and who's pointing fingers. But we still don't know
how widespread the problem is. We'll try to get a more
generic version of the program for everyone to try.
Toshiba Recalls Memory Module:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14504-1
Open Letter to Intel
What's wrong with Intel? That's what ExtremeTech technical
director Loyd Case asks. After closely evaluating Intel's
latest CPU preview, he sees a company in disarray. With
widely publicized failures in LCoS, clock frequency advances
stymied and chip-set failures (not to mention a possible
memory-chip fiasco brewing), the once-proud company is
facing dark, dark times. Loyd's got an answer, though! For
details on what Intel *should* do, don't miss his
thought-provoking piece. Plus, Loyd rips apart the latest
925XE chip set and the 3.46GHz Pentium 4EE--and the first
reviews anywhere of PCs based on the new, slightly faster
CPU.
Free Advice for Intel:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14507-1
925XE Chip Set/P4 Review:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14510-1
Two P4EE Systems Reviewed:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14513-1
The Case of the Missing Bios Updater
Inspector Rash is on the case, detailing how a major
reseller lost big bucks selling computers lacking one tiny
but key feature. His case file makes fascinating reading,
even if you don't regularly request or respond to proposals
of this sort. As it turns out, ignoring a tiny feature was
significant enough that the reseller lost money on every
system. No winners in this case, but lots of lessons. And
good dirt, too!
Bios Causes Big Reseller Loss:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14516-1
17 Digital Video Cameras Reviewed
Looking for a digital camcorder? Gone are the days of
overpriced, underpowered models. We just rounded up 17 of
the latest cameras--all for less than $1,000. If you're
looking for a new video camera, we've got it all for
you--including a detailed buyers' guide explaining what to
look for, what to ignore and our PC Labs pick for the best
products available.
Reviews and Advice for Buying Digital Video Camera:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14519-1
Sun, Ingres Go Open Source
Here comes Open Solaris, from Sun. The company's Unix
operating system will be officially unveiled in two weeks,
but the rollout, alas, may take much longer. Our story has
all of the details. Plus, CA has released an open-source
version of the Ingres SQL Database, targeted at MySQL and
others. We've got details on what open-source Ingres means,
and the puzzled reaction from early users.
Solaris Open Source Due:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14522-1
CA Delivers Open-Source Ingres:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14525-1
Nasty Worm Spreading Fast
By now, you've probably already received a zillion of those
messages with the little smiley face and the nasty
attachment. Don't open them! If you're still in the dark,
you'll want to read about these new variants of the Bagle
worm. They're nasty, and they even try to disable your
anti-virus software! We've got details on the worms, the
payload and how to avoid them.
Son of Bagle Returns:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14528-1
When PC Cases Go Bad
Remember Leonard Pinth-Garnell? The "Saturday Night Live"
culture critic made a career of parodying bad acting, bad
directing and bad scripts. If he were reviewing computer
cases, the new MGE Viper would be right up his alley. This
eye-popping case features a riot of color, lights, fans,
protuberances and more. But it's bad, bad, bad. Our review
details the worst and presents pictures to prove it. Dan
Akroyd would be so proud!
Skin-Deep Case Looks Lame, Tastes Terrible:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14531-1
Ten Simple Rules for Hassle-Free Computing
John Dvorak has uncovered 10 key principles that guide all
of our computing. Accept them, and life is great. Fight
them, and you'll suffer forever. My favorite - "Upgrades do
not help!" Read his column and discover the other nine.
Ten Rules to Accept, or Die:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14534-1
That's it for today's What's New Now. Remember, you can
always read the same stuff online at the
blog--www.whatsnewnow.com. Or subscribe to the RSS feed:
http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd1/cts?d=75-342-1-1-1004620-14537-1
--Jim Louderback
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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