News Schmooze: Look ma, no wires!
Published: 01 Feb 2002 14:05 GMT
Strangely, the online poll "debate" has flared up again, this time after Oz telco Telstra admitted its employees rigged a bot to pelt ZDNet Australia polls with pro-Telstra votes. "It actually served to highlight (that) your polls are not that robust," Telstra said, as if they should be conducted via special Presidential-level, CIA-style secure dedicated phone lines. What's more surprising to the Schmoozer is that Telstra is so desperate that it would stoop to rigging some measly online popularity contest.
Telstra caught in online poll swindle
Is there any way Palm can pull out of its technology tailspin? After going to unusual lengths to hype its mysterious new product to its mailing list subscribers, who are presumably the hard-core faithful, it managed to shoot itself in the foot twice over, by delivering a not-very-impressive offering and putting it onto retail shelves before the mailing list heard anything. Always-on email was enough to propel BlackBerry to fame, but on the other hand, BlackBerry only has a couple hundred thousand subscribers, which ain't any great shakes compared to Palm's millions of users.
No, what people really want is colour, that and a high-res screen, and fancy sound and 3D graphics... hell, just get a Game Boy Advance.
Palm i705 leaves Europe off the map
Game Boy Advance price cut
The really interesting thing about this Indian love-email competition isn't that high-tech is being used to blah blah blah, but the proposal to create a "Love Zone" where sweethearts can hold hands and smooch unmolested. It would be cool to create one of these in London -- the still-unoccupied Dome would make a good venue. On the other hand, it runs the risk of turning into the biggest, sleaziest singles' party in history.
Indian romantics to pour out love online
This is how it begins. The robots start off by offering their sympathy, posing as cute dogs and soft, cuddly therapeutic toys, driving our cars when we're fed up with commuting and offering a charming diversion from our stressful lives. But then, while we're sleeping one night, the razor-sharp whirling blades come out...
Japan's robotic future comes to Britain
Linus Torvalds could use one of those Paro robots, by the sound of it, as long as it can code kernel patches. Word is that Linus is a bit overworked with all the Linux repairs coming in nowadays, although it's hard to tell whether he's lost your email in the confusion or is just ignoring you.
Row brewing over Linux patches
Time is going to use its purchase of failed Tiny to make a store rivalling PC World. Presumably this means they're going to start selling monkey-assembled beige boxes full of remaindered components that catch on fire after a week.
Time's Tiny takeover signals high street battle
Gaming console rumble-packs may cause your hands to turn the colours of the Union Jack, but in the Schmoozer's opinion excessive dedication to the open-source movement can be just as dangerous. The mission of Rhys Weatherley to pound out 250,000 lines of code over the next six months just proves to the Schmoozer that there's something to be said for having to go to a day job.
One man Linux band aims to write 500,000 lines of code
Game controller blamed for hand-arm vibrating syndrome
Film critics who attributed the success of Lord Of The Rings to the visionary brilliance of Tolkien's tale and the captivating performances from Wood, McKellen, Bean and company have missed the point, according to Seagate.
In a modest little press release titled "'Lord of the Rings' continues to delight audiences and set box office records with help of seagate disc drives", the firm insists that its fibre channel Cheetah drives played a vital role in the creation of the epic -- and are, apparently, the obvious choice for anyone planning to knock up a multi-million dollar blockbuster.
There's no doubting that LOTR is a visual treat, so credit where credit is due if Seagate's technology made the difference... but the Schmoozer does feel that what goes around comes around. Whoever's bleeding-edge technology is responsible for teen "scary movie" Long Time Dead should face some dire retribution, methinks.
One ST336605FC to rule them all....
The News Schmooze is ZDNet UK's irreverent take on the week's news. Send your tip-offs to: mailroomuk@zdnet.com.
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