Monday in Space

In the year 2525... tech news will still be alive. Zager and Evans released "In the Year 2525" on this day in 1969.

1. SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded manned space initiative to actually go into space today. The project, headed by Burt Rutan and funded by Paul Allen, took pilot, Michael Melvill, 100 km above the Earth, just outside the atmosphere. At stake: the $10 million X-Prize. To win it SpaceShipOne will have to carry three astronauts into space, return safely, then do it again two weeks later.
2. The Texas Department of Transportation is taking bids from vendors to set up free wireless Internet access at rest stops and travel information centers in the state. This to encourage drivers to take more frequent breaks. The department iplans to choose a vendor in July. TxDOT has been testing roadside Wi-Fi hotspots since last fall.
3. Intel has released its Grantsdale and Alderwood chipsets. The 915 and 925 support the new PCI Express bus, DDR2, HD video, 7.1 surround, and dual displays. The company also announced the Pentium IV 755, topping out at 3.6 GHz.
4. Meanwhile the US Supreme Court ruled against Intel 7-1 this morning, saying the company had to turn over confidential documents to European anti-trust investigators. The EU is pursuing Intel due to a complaint by AMD Europe.
5. A handful of bloggers will cover the Democratic Convention this summer with full press credentials. The Republicans haven't decided what to do.
6. Sprint and the Swedish National Research and Education Network (SUNET) have broken the Internet land speed record, transferring 840 GB 10,000 miles in 27 minutes. That's an average speed of 4.23 Gbps.

Listen in tomorrow at 6:45a Pacific for my weekly news commentary on KGO 810 AM in San Francisco.