Kodak will soon offer CDs and DVDs that would be able to safely store data for up to three centuries. To be sold under the Preservation brand name and manufactured by KMP Media of Rochester, N.Y., the discs feature a 24-karat gold reflective layer. This layer would better protect against heat, humidity, bright light and the effects of rough handling, which the current silver reflective layer is easily tarnished by.

For this reason, today's burned CDs and DVDs last less than five years in most cases. The Kodak Preservation DVD-R would be able to store data for up to 80 to 100 years, while the CD-R could last as long as 300 years. Kodak and KMP say the discs would be especially useful in the archival market, such as storing business, military, government and financial data, as well as medical and dental x-rays.

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Microsoft on Tuesday acknowledged that a patch released as part of its monthly updates last week could block some users from accessing "My Documents" or "My Pictures," and crash applications when the "Open" dialog is activated. The problem affects systems with certain HP software and older Nvidia drivers.

The MS06-015 update installs a new executable to validate shell extensions before they are loaded into the Windows Shell or Windows Explorer. However, Hewlett Packard's Share-to-Web software, which ships with HP printers, scanners and cameras, causes this program to stop responding.

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While some may have had to pay quite a bit back to Uncle Sam this year, not many will owe as much as security software firm Symantec. The company disclosed late Monday that it had received notice from the Internal Revenue Service saying it owes up to $1 billion in back taxes and penalties.

The $900 million in taxes plus interest and penalties are mostly due to back taxes owed by Veritas, a company Symantec purchased for $10 billion in July 2005. Veritas owed taxes for the 2000 and 2001 tax years, a fact that was discovered after an audit.

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Microsoft has been rebuffed a second time in its attempts to subpoena competitors in order to fight its antitrust case with the European Union. A U.S. District Court judge in Boston said Monday that allowing Microsoft to obtain documents from Novell would undermine European Union law.

The decision follows another in late March, where the company's subpoenas against Sun and Oracle in California were also rejected. A District Judge In New York is still deciding a similar request involving IBM.

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Following through on a statement made in January, patent holder Burst.com announced Tuesday it had filed a countersuit against Apple Computer for infringing on four of the company's streaming media patents. Apple filed a lawsuit in January to preemptively invalidate Burst's patents.

At issue are the iTunes Music Store, iTunes software and Apple's QuickTime Streaming products, which Burst claims infringe on U.S. Patents 4,963,995; 5,995,705; 5,057,932 and 5,164,839. The company had attempted to settle with Apple two years ago, but talks broke down and Burst threatened to sue late last year.

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Microsoft on Tuesday officially launched

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With any major new Windows release such as Vista, application compatibility becomes a critical concern for businesses and individuals considering an upgrade. No matter how much Microsoft promotes the new version, users aren't going to make the switch unless their applications continue to function seamlessly.

In turn, Microsoft has long offered an Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), which checks what programs are installed on a system and detects any potential conflicts. The Redmond company is preparing version 5 of the software to be ready by the time Windows Vista ships later this year, and has included a number of new features.

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Microsoft is working on a way to search the Internet by submitting a photo shot by a cell phone to represent what the user is searching for. The effort is part of a bigger project by Microsoft Research called Photo2Search to make search technologies more usable on cell phones. The search engine would return Web sites that match items in the photo, or similar photos found across the Internet.

By including the details of what a photo captures, Microsoft says the results produced are more useful. According to Microsoft researcher Xing Xie, "the value of camera phones on daily information acquisition" has been overlooked. The findings are planned to be released in mid-May as part of a larger research paper titled "Photo-to-Search: Using Camera Phones to Inquire of the Surrounding World" in Nara, Japan.

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The New York Police Department has begun installing wireless cameras across New York City in a bid to curb violence in the city and also fight terrorism. By the project's completion, nearly 500 cameras will be installed at a cost of nearly $9 million.

The initiative is modeled after a similar one in London that is used to watch the city's financial district. New York City hopes to install hundreds more, however it is awaiting on $81.5 million worth of requested funds to be provided through grants from the federal government.

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Major League Gaming, the world's largest professional video gaming organization, said Monday it had signed a programming deal with USA Network to produce seven one-hour episodes featuring competitions between its members.

The episodes would air during the holiday season, typically a key period in video game and console sales. It is the first time that fans would be able to watch tournaments on a regular basis, said the group. While networks like G4 may have done similar programming, usually those shows are relegated to the highlights.

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China's President Hu Jintao will be making a historic trip to the United States this week, but his host will not be U.S. President George Bush. Rather, Hu is traveling to Seattle, Washington to have dinner with Bill Gates in the Microsoft chairman's 66,000 square-foot house that overlooks Lake Washington.

President Hu will join a group of 100 dinner guests, including Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. A key topic for the evening will be China's efforts to crackdown on software piracy, with three Chinese PC makers recently announcing plans to buy $400 million worth of Windows licenses over the next three years. Lenovo, China's largest computer manufacturer, will announce a similar deal on Monday.

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Some states are lagging far behind in emergency response capabilities that would allow first responders to locate a caller via their cell phone, data suggests. Even worse, at least two states have practically no coverage at all.

As mobile phones become more ubiquitous, the need for dependable emergency service via those devices increases as well. About a third of emergency calls are made from cell phones these days, double the number made in 1995.

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Oracle, most known for its database software, is considering whether to release its own Linux distribution, and has even discussed the possibility of buying Novell in the process. The news, revealed Monday by the Financial Times, follows the purchase of JBoss by Red Hat.

With JBoss providing software that competes in the business market with Oracle, Red Hat has become a potential rival. Red Hat is the largest distributor of the Linux operating system, which Oracle relies upon to sell its own products. "We have to re-look at the relationship; so does IBM," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told the FT.

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AMD on Thursday issued a subpoena to Microsoft requesting information on its dealings with rival chipmaker Intel, including the Redmond company's decision to support 64-bit chips from both manufacturers. The subpoena stems from an antitrust case AMD filed last year accusing Intel of using illegal scare tactics and coercion.

AMD is seeking details on Intel's response to Microsoft collaborating with AMD on marketing initiatives, as well as discussions at Microsoft regarding AMD's financial viability. The chipmaker said the subpoena should come as no surprise, however, as Microsoft was included on an initial list. A key issue in the AMD case could be the rebates Intel offers computer makers who agree to use its chips exclusively.

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AOL is the target of fresh criticism this week after it was discovered the company was bouncing e-mails from the Web site of a political action group opposing its certified e-mail program. However, a spokesperson for AOL says the problem resulted from a "technical glitch."

A group of organizations including group MoveOn.org are protesting the Internet service provider's move to use Goodmail's Certified Mail technology.

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