Internet Address Gets $10 Million Bid
Year2000.com was up for sale on the Web site of online auctioneer eBay Inc. [NYSE:EBAY] and had received two bids for $10 million by the time the sale closed at midnight Jan. 1.
The domain - home of the Year 2000 Information Center since 1995 - is currently owned by The Tenagra Corporation, a Houston, Tex., Internet marketing company, and technology consultant Peter de Jager, who might be considered the Paul Revere of the Y2K computer bug if he wasn't Canadian.
Capcom Arcade Game Emulator Beta Available
Available from Impactemu.com, this new arcade emulator entitled Impact can run Capcom ZN-1 and ZN-2 games. For more information including tips and tricks to speed up the emulator, visit the Impact hompage. Grab it from FileForum and start playing those arcade games! Note: The Web site states "The target system is a PII 450MHz with 128Mb RAM and a fast 3D card with at least 16Mb video RAM."
Opera for Linux Technology Preview
Opera Software has posted a technology preview of its progress with porting the Opera Web browser to Linux. This is not a beta release of the program, just a preview. Opera stresses that no support is offered for this version of the program.
Creative Unified Beta Testing Program
Creative, makers of the Riva TNT graphics card series, announced the Unified beta testing program for TNT2 Ultra cards. Unified is the program created to translate GLIDE into Microsofts Direct3D graphics rendering software. To sign up visit the sign-up page and start testing!
FreeDSL Service Coming in April 2000
Broadband Digital Group will offer free digital subscriber line (DSL) services to consumers starting in April of 2000 free of charge. Using advertisements and marketing strategies, FreeDSL will bring broadband to users at no cost.
Initially aiming at apartment buildings and smaller businesses, the founder Ryan Steelberg believes that is where money will be made the quickest.
Gamma Flux Project
DCypher.net, also sponsoring the CS Cipher Challenge, has begun a new project that involves your computer and the Gamma Flux Client from DCyphter.net.
Using the client and idle CPU time, much like the well known SETI project, your computer will simulate gamma ray bombardment of container walls and the effects thereof. This research is then sent to the lab and studied further by professionals.
12 Millennium Viruses Identified
As employees return to work on Monday, virus watchers fear that many will return to find that a trojan virus has infected their system. Via e-mail or the Internet, these viruses can destroy an entire system without being detected by anti-virus programs such as Norton and McAfee.
Twelve viruses have been identified as millennium bugs set to go into action on January 1, 2000. The most dangerous of these viruses is named Zelu.Trojan, which can destroy every file on an infected machine. Coming as an apparent Y2K fix entitled Y2K.exe, this virus can swiftly move through your system, destroying everything in its path.
Microsoft Fixes Y2K Hotmail and MoneyCentral Issues
Microsoft reported two minor problems with Y2K involving Hotmail and their online portfolio Web site which works in conjunction with Intuit's Quicken software. Apparently, some customer's online portfolios were appearing larger than they should have been, and Microsoft had the error fixed by midnight. In a minor Hotmail glitch, any e-mail sent prior to October of 1999 erroneously reported the year as 2099 instead of 1999. Engineers in Redmond quickly resolved that problem as well.
Happy New Year!
Update: Y2K Problems
As reported by the UK site, The Register, a few sites including the Eidos Web site, and the British Railtrak Web site have been hacked, but no major damage occured. And in New Zealand, there is one clock which reads January 1, 19100.
BetaNews will attempt to keep you updated on the latest Y2K rollover news and problems around the world. Keep checking back for more information.
Microsoft to Use Holograms on Windows 2000 CDs
Technicolor, providers of the technology and manufacturing capabilities to produce CDs with holographic images on the disc itself, has been given a 3 year contract with Microsoft to produce Windows 2000 CDs.
While the holograms do not affect the capacity or usability of the discs, they will make it easier to distinguish between a copied CD and a purchased copy.
History of the World Wide Web
Starting in the year 1989 and tracing through its history to 2000, W3history.org from Deutsche Welle details how the World Wide Web was started and the major events each year leading into 2000.
This 'work in progress' as editors put it moves year by year and it is estimated that each Web year will take approximately one month to complete. A FAQ is provided on the site for further questions regarding W3history.org and most of the years are available to peruse through.
Update: DeCSS Wins Initial Battle
The judge in the case of the DVD industry vs. 72 Web sites which support the DVD decryption software DeCSS, has thrown out the efforts to create a temporary cease and desist order on those Web sites which offer the software. At least until January 14, 2000 the sites will still be able to offer the software for download. eFront will keep you posted on the outcome of the trial.
Greenwich Electronic Time
Greenwich Electronic Time (Get) is set to launch on January 1, 2000 and will work much like Greenwich Mean Time, using the line of longitude that GMT is based on for measurement.
The project will provide software for companies to make sure their computer clocks are accurate to Get and to time-stamp their e-commerce transactions.
Attention Webmasters: Announcing YourDown.com
This Web site set to launch on January 10, 2000, will inform your contact person when your site goes down via e-mail, pager, fax, or phone. By pinging your site every 30 seconds every day of the year, this service will notify you immediately when your site goes offline. They need beta testers to check their system for bugs. Anyone who signs up now will get a free lifetime contract with YourDown.com. Apply to be a beta tester now or visit YourDown.com for more information.
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