Hamburg - Most computer programs are usually bought in a store stored on a CD or DVD-ROM and packed in a box.

But the ways of shopping are changing and computer users are finding more offers to download software directly from the internet. Experts see many pros to the switch, but also a few cons.

Commercial software downloads were fairly rare until a few years ago, says Daniel Rasch, an editor at the Hamburg-based Computer Bild magazine. Many people did not have fast-enough internet connections to make downloading new applications practical.

"But the variety is definitely picking up now."

Dusseldorf - Playing online poker for real money is an illegal activity in Germany. Gamers who ignore the ban could theoretically even face time behind prison bars.

Practically speaking, however, the real problem for poker fans is enforcing their winnings from providers who are often far away in other countries, says Michael Terhaag, a lawyer in Germany.

In the event of a problem, the gamers "generally have no legal options for suing to get their money back," the expert in internet law told the Hamburg-based Computer Bild Spiele.

Berlin - A boom in netbooks begun by the Asus EeePC is in the early phase as evidenced recently at IFA Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin. Producers are launching smaller, lighter and cheaper versions of notebooks, called netbooks.

The new netbooks include the Amilo Mini from Fujitsu Siemens. The notebook weighs just one kilogram and has a 9-inch display, plus Intel's N270 Atom processor, the company said. It comes in five different colours and with a transparent cover, so users can insert and display their own photographs.

Packed with either a 60 or 80 gigabyte hard drive, Bluetooth and Windows XP Home, the notebook goes on sale in October for 400 euros (570 dollars).

New Delhi, Sept 20 : India and France are likely to sign a frame work agreement to start nuclear commerce between the two countries.

The agreement will be signed during Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh''s visit to Paris on September 30.

After his visit to the United States, Dr. Singh will leave for France to attend the India European Summit to Marseilles and hold a meeting with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

London, Sept 20 : Scientists at University College Dublin, Ireland have discovered that pseudomonas bacteria can convert the low-grade PET plastic used in drinks bottles into a more valuable and bi

Washington, September 20 : An international team of astrophysicists has found and “weighed” the most massive star to date, which has a mass 116 times greater than that of the Sun.

The team was led by Universite de Montreal researchers from the Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Quebec (CRAQ).

They successfully “weighed” a star of a binary system with a mass 116 times greater than that of the Sun, waltzing with a companion of 89 solar masses, doubly beating the previous record and breaking the symbolic barrier of 100 solar masses for the first time.

Located in the massive star cluster NGC 3603, the supermassive star system, known under the name of A1, has a rotation period of 3.77 days.