A Linux-based supercomputer will be used by energy company
Conoco to help search for oil beneath the earth’s surface at a
fraction of conventional computing costs, reports ZDNN.

A security flaw at Bull, a European competitor of IBM’s, on Thursday briefly allowed anyone access
to the IT company’s servers, offering up confidential information on
both the company and its high-profile customers. From ZDCOUK.com

Microsoft has its critics and is going through troubled times
currently but pundits aren’t convinced that bailing is a
sensible reaction, reports ZDNet.com.

The FCC has ruled that a high-speed home networking RF standard called HomeRF’s bandwidth dan now be increased from 1 MHz to 5 MHz. This makes companies that have backed HomeRF happy, but saddens that have backed the competing Wi-Fi standard. Story at Wired.

Yet another Wired story about Burning Man. This one talks about how so many techies from so many SF bay-area companies have gone to the famous techfest that some companies are short of help this week.

IBM, Microsoft and Ariba will propose an XML-based standard that will allow thousands of vendors to register their businesses in a Web-based database that will help them match up with partners to carry out e-commerce transactions. From Infoworld.com.

Web auction scams are up a hundredfold in two
years, says PCWorld.com. The sites won’t offer bulletproof protection,
so here’s how to defend yourself–or your
business–against con artists and cheats.

Intent on supplying the resources that will allow service providers to deliver on-demand computing in the same way that utilities provide water and electric to their customers, Hewlett-Packard launched its eUtilica initiative. From Infoworld.com.

MSNBC.com reports that applications like a stereo with speakers that use wireless
technology to broadcast the sound previously were limited to
transmitting at 1.6 megabits per second but now will be able
to transmit at speeds of up to 10 megabits, under the changes
adopted.

The battle to create ultrafast networking standards for the home is about to speed up following a
decision yesterday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).