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15th November 1999 Archive

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  • Oracle adds support for IBM-SCO IA-64 Monterey

    POWER and IA-64 now 'preferred' Oracle platforms for enterprise Unix

    Oracle has announced it will be supporting IBM and SCO's Project Monterey/64 by offering Oracle Internet Directory and its database and application suites on both IBM's AIX and on Monterey/64 for Intel's IA-64. According to Oracle, AIX and Monterey/64 will be preferred Oracle platforms for strategic enterprise Unix on IBM POWER …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 01:49

  • Most corporate IT execs want MS strung up, says survey

    But frankly, the data looks more than a little unconvincing...

    Microsoft may have fewer friends in corporate IT departments than it thought it had, if a survey published in this week's issue of Computerworld is to be believed. According to the US mag, 79 per cent of IT executives surveyed in major US companies thought Microsoft should be fined, broken up, ordered to license Windows to its …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 01:52

  • New distie is Ideal for Allied Telesyn

    Networking win keeps Ideal in touch with high-end

    Allied Telesyn has added Ideal Hardware to its list of UK distributors. Ideal will sell Ethernet switching and routing solutions for the networking company. Melvyn Wray, Allied Telesyn acting MD, said it had chosen Ideal because it was more services oriented than its rivals. "Our fundamental reasoning behind choosing Ideal is …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:03

  • Wave of Intel mobos set to wash over world+dog

    New coding system clicks into place

    If anyone thinks that Intel is just going to go away and sulk in his lair after watching the Athlon AMD advert on the telly, they don't know Chipzilla like we know Chipzilla. Over the weekend we reported that Intel has cunning plans to bundle Rambus memory with both its VC820 and its OR840 motherboards, and we also unveiled …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:07

  • C2000 cuts delivery charge from online orders

    Aims to boost online transactions in UK

    Computer 2000 (C2000) is offering free delivery on goods ordered through its online service, InTouch. The offer will apply for a limited period and is part of the distributor's drive to get resellers to throw off their reservations about using the Web. InTouch, which was launched around two years ago, still brings in less than …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:14

  • Computacenter axes Metrologie staff

    TUPE or not TUPE, now that could turn out to be a very interesting question

    Reseller giant Computacenter has laid off over 50 per cent of the workforce of Metrologie UK. Just two weeks after buying the former CHS Electronics division, Computacenter confirmed it had issued a notice of redundancy for 100 people. The cuts mostly affected employees from the distribution side of the acquired business, …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:15

  • What celebs really, really want on the Net

    We trawl yet more hidden shallows, so you don't have to

    We realise it is difficult to build self-worth these days without copying celebrities and so we have brought you a round-up of Access magazine's interview with a host of top famous folk talking about what they get up to online. Interesting enough, none of them said they go online hoping to find pictures of ordinary people with …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:28

  • Flower pot men tackle neighbours from hell

    Hi-tech solution to low-tech problem

    A judge has evicted a "nightmare neighbour" couple from their house after viewing video evidence from spy cameras planted in flower pots. Julie Spendiff and boyfriend David Colquhoun were caught performing various acts of anti-social behaviour including throwing bricks, pulling down a fence and throwing aerosol cans on a fire by …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:36

  • Hairline cracks show in Compaq re-org

    Q Confidential foot bone not connected to mouth bone

    Internal strains caused by the rapid re-organisation of Compaq are taking their toll on the way the company works, according to a stream of insiders at the firm. A number of people close to the matter have told The Register that Compaq is experiencing difficulties integrating its network of European call centres, particularly at …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 09:59

  • Oftel 'fesses up to unmetered calls debate

    You ain't nothing but a hound dog, lying all the time…

    BT is to go head-to-head with supporters of unmetered Net access tomorrow as part of a discussion forum set up by the telecomms watchdog Oftel. AOL UK, Freeserve, Energis and the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications (CUT) are all lined up to take part in this exercise in jaw-jaw. The press, however, have not been asked to …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 12:20

  • Buy a PC for Christmas and Yule be sorry

    Everything's all tangled up, somehow

    Even though the prices of PCs have consistently dropped over the last four years, the question of whether to buy a machine is still a serious one for most families. And around this time of year, as the tinsel starts to appear, draped over otherwise unappetising looking boxes, the pressure to buy increases. The question that we …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 12:30

  • BSA breaks chatroom piracy ring

    Squeezes the middlemen until the pips burst

    The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has stomped on 25 individuals for allegedly peddling pirated software via a chatroom. The BSA is suing the 25 piracy minnows for their alleged part in the "warez4cable" Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel. This sees the BSA focusing its fire power not on the people that manufacture or buy …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 12:41

  • First Merced-Itanium systems get cobbled together

    Silicon's fast but the power's up, buttercup

    The first samples of Intel Merced silicon have started to reach technologists and prototype IA-64 based PC systems are currently in the labs. According to sources close to Intel's plans, the company has managed to clock the Merced-Itanic to respectable and high clock speeds, but currently heat dissipation and power consumption …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 12:43

  • Mannesmann rejects Vodafone's £64bn bid

    Offer cools relationship, hostile bid expected as a result

    Mannesmann has strongly rejected a £64 billion takeover bid from Vodafone, delivered in person by the company's chief executive. The German giant described the bid as "wholly inadequate" and "extremely unattractive", paving the way for a hostile bid, expected shortly. Vodafone is keen to get its hands on Mannesmann, which is in …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 12:46

  • Intel reveals details of i820 mobos

    Caminogate III: the spex go up

    As promised, Intel has now released details of its Vancouver (VC820) and Cape Cod (CC820) boards which use the twice-delayed i820 chipset. Details of the specifications can be found on the Intel site here. The same page outlines details of how Intel is rationalising the names of its desktop motherboards. They show that the …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 13:05

  • Click here to spy on your employees

    Just goes to show: all publicity is good publicity

    Following its spot on Channel 4's Cutting Edge series, MIS is pushing its employer-safeguard/privacy-intruding* (delete as appropriate) software, Sessionwall 3. Featured on last week's "Snoopers at Work" programme, the software allows employers to monitor email and Internet use at work - any network activity defined as abnormal …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 13:52

  • Compaq becomes unwitting imPresario

    Whadda ya mean there's a difference between the Japanese and English alphabet...

    Compaq has had to recall three versions of its Presario notebook in Japan because it forgot to change the keyboard settings to work with the Japanese alphabet. The manufacturer started marketing the 1246, 1928 and 1929 in mid-October. It didn't take long for the first complaint to arrive and within two days a further 16 …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 15:35

  • No time to loos at easyEverything

    If you need to download a big log file, you're in trouble

    People using easyEverything cybercafes to access the Net are being urged to go to the loo before settling down to surf. The fast-growing chain of cybercafes may be equipped with the latest PCs, Internet technology and coffee, but they don't have any toilets. It seems people enjoying java and a surf have to make alternative …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 15:36

  • There will be a plane crash this Thursday

    The Register extends its prediction skills to aviation

    Around midnight on Thursday, we predict there will be a plane crash in China. We also predict it will be a 737 passenger jet. How come? Because in true gung-ho style, the Korean and Chinese governments have decided to test year 2000 compliance by sending up two 737s and changing the date mid-flight to the new millennium. And if …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 15:37

  • Red Hat to buy Cygnus?

    Acquisition makes plenty of sense

    Linux distributor Red Hat appears to be gearing up to buy development tools specialist Cygnus. The move follows on the heels of attempts to buy service and support specialist Linuxcare and fellow open source OS distributor TurboLinux. The curious thing is that the sources (cited originally by Slashdot) also suggest that the deal …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 15:50

  • Workers turn to the Web for a little R'n'R

    Surfers make a break for it

    Workers looking to snatch a break from the usual humdrum of office life are turning to the Internet for a little mental work out. Two thirds of those quizzed in poll said they prefer to surf the Web when they want to take a break. The rest simply head for the coffee machine, water fountain, stationery cupboard -- or walk around …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 15:57

  • Westcom/Pine fined for false soundcard claims

    When is a Yamaha soundcard not a Yamaha soundcard - when it's made by someone else

    Westcom Technology Ltd has been fined £2,500 for making false claims about its Yamaha soundcards. The distributor, which trades as Pine Technology UK, pleaded guilty at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court on 5 November to making "misleading indications" about the cards. According to Milton Keynes Trading Standards Office - the …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 16:47

  • Red Hat buys Cygnus

    Cygnus acquisition makes plenty of sense

    Red Hat has bought Linux software development tool specialist Cygnus, as anticipated last week, in a stock-swap deal valued at $674 million. If Cygnus shareholders approve the plan, the two companies will become one before the end of January 2000. The move makes good sense for both companies, but Red Hat is the main beneficiary …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 19:38

  • 3dfx launches Voodoo 4 and 5

    But graphics cards' new features require multiple 3D chips

    3dfx today launched its long-awaited -- and long-delayed -- next generation graphics chip, codenamed Napalm, but now officially dubbed the VSA-100, or Voodoo Scalable Architecture. Of course, with the company's arch-rival, Nvidia, launching its own high end part, the GeForce 256, 3dfx has been dropping plenty of hints about what …

    Business 15 Nov 1999, 19:42