Satellite sports wars:
Sirius snatches NASCAR
Sirius and XM satellite radio
continue to split up the major sports leagues, only now it's getting a bit
more competitive. Sirius said yesterday it's adding a five-year contract
to broadcast NASCAR racing starting in 2007. NASCAR events, including the
Daytona 500, currently air on XM in a deal dating back to 2000. Sirius
will pay NASCAR a total of $107.5 million for exclusive rights. Sirius
signed a deal with the NFL in 2003, while XM added baseball last year.
Sirius reported last month that it ended 2004 with more than 1.1 million
subscribers. XM said it had more than 3.2 million users at year’s end.
Hackers' latest is sending faux FBI messages
One of the quickest way to get
people to respond to an email is to make them think they are in trouble
with the government. That is the gist of a new scheme by hackers to spread
a computer virus via email. The FBI is warning internet users to beware of
email that appears to be coming from an authentic fbi.gov address because
the agency doesn‘t send out unsolicited email. The messages scare users
by saying they have logged on to illegal web sites and that their internet
use has been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center. It
then tells users to answer questions found in an attachment, which is
where the virus lives. The FBI is, of course, investigating the phony
messages.
Phone virus makes its first infection in the U.S.
The Cabir cell phone virus has finally made its way
to the United States, first stop Santa Monica, Calif. The virus infected a
pair of wireless phones on display at a local retail shop months ago but
it wasn’t announced until this past weekend by F-Secure, a virus
protection company. As the first virus capable of spreading over mobile
phone networks, Cabir could have infected anyone with a phone that uses
Bluetooth frequency and a Symbian operating system passing within 100
yards of the display. The virus can drain batteries, delete files and dial
expensive “900” numbers.
New
computer materials taste like chicken
There are thousands of recipes that require chicken,
including a new one for eco-friendly computers. Richard Wool, a chemical
engineering professor at the University of Delaware, has proposed
recycling the 5 billion pounds of chicken feathers the United States
generates each year to make computer circuit boards. The idea is to use
materials that are better for the environment and to reduce waste
materials. The hair of the feathers would replace fiberglass, and Wool
thinks soybean oil could be used instead of epoxy. The scientist has some
big-name supporters, including Intel, which is contributing its expertise
to the project. Wool submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to get $500,000 worth of funding over four years. If approved,
the research will start in the fall.
|
