From the Register: A cracker who said he accessed several Microsoft servers through a known security hole on Friday claims he did it again Tuesday. Dimitri says he uploaded a file called oopsididitagain which mocked Microsoft’s security policy.

The Register reports that the UK patent office has opened a “consultation exercise on patenting of software and business methods, and has posted a pretty detailed and lucid questionnaire on its Web site.” A discussion group on the subject is available, and the patent office is asking for feedback by Dec. 15.

Info World reports that a software emulation technique used inside Transmeta’s Crusoe processor that hinders the performance of the low-power chip might be the reason PC manufacturers declining to ship Crusoe in their laptops.

BSD Today has how-to article on surviving disk failure: “Despite the fact that hard disks and the IDE or SCSI controllers driving them are very reliable today, occasional failures strike out of the blue and render disks unreadable. If you were smart enough to have made backups of critical system and data files, then you are in luck!”

From a ZD Net column: “In the rush to get in on the action, retail buyers got so bamboozled by the hype around Transmeta that they simply ignored anything that poked holes in the story line.”

Humor site Segfault reports on the real winner in the 2000 presidential election, while The Onion is playing it safe, either way.

ZDCOUK reports that the chip maker claims to be first to finalize 0.13-micron
manufacturing plans, having already passed two critical milestones:
it has created static RAM chips and, more recently, samples of
Pentium III chips based on the new 0.13-micron process.

The Business Software Alliance, aka The Pirate Busters, is growing
so frustrated in its hopeless efforts to cut down on software piracy
that it has decided propaganda and misinformation is the way
forward. The Register has the story.

Recruiters seeking top IT talent may have it all wrong, reports Wired.com. Employees want hardware and basic benefits, not foosball in the lounge.

CNET reports that the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company Wednesday is launching a phone book-sized PC for the home, the Pavilion 2755C, picking up
on a popular trend at the office. The Bonsai Blue and silver metallic case–not to be confused with the iMac’s Bondi Blue–measures
13 inches tall, 14.75 inches deep and 4 inches wide.