23rd March 2000 Archive
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Intel stiffs system integrators over 1GHz chip
Just wait in turn for the candy, OK?
Ever since the official 'launch' of Pentium III Coppermines back on 25 Octoberh, Intel's distributors, dealers and smaller system builders have been the first to suffer from shortages of the processor. But now, to add insult to injury, the same people have been told that when the 1GHz chip-candy is being handed out, they will be …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 08:10
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BAA attempts to shaft sheep site
Useful quadruped gets visit from m'learned friends
The owner of a Web site which features a quadruped useful in many ways to human beings has received a letter from m'learned friends representing BAA, the airport operator, threatening legal action. The Register reader, who owns the baa.com domain name, says that his site displays pictures and information about sheep but the BAA …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 08:29
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MS-DoJ settlement edging closer?
It's the way they refuse to talk about the talks...
DoJ antitrust chief Joel Klein commented yesterday on the Microsoft trial that the "remedies ought to be commensurate" with Judge Jackson's findings of fact, which had revealed "a serious pattern of anti-competitive conduct". It was a neutral kind of statement, but since it is known that the DoJ has hired Greenhill & Co, a New …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 08:48
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Chen pep talk fails to stem Cyrix resignations
Dateline: Richardson, TX, Wednesday
A visit by the CEO of Via, Wen-chi Chen, has failed to stem the flow of engineers from the old headquarters of Cyrix in Richardson, Texas. Insiders said that Chen arrived at the HQ yesterday, and addressed the troops for around 30 minutes. "He said that nothing is really going to change, even in the wake of [Tuesday's] mass …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 08:57
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Govt. basket lumps in Inflation.co.uk
Retail Price Index to include ecommerce sales
The Government is to include e-commerce sales in the shopping basket of goods and services that is used to work out the Retail Price Index (RPI). The sale of books and toys online will account for 0.05 per cent of the RPI as part of trial conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A spokesman for the ONS said it was …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 09:00
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Big Dipper effect hits Rambus price again
Down, up, down, up... craziness continues
Those magnificent men with their Rambus machine saw their share price soar by over 83 bucks yesterday after an endorsement by investment broker Morgan Stanley. The firm raised its price target for Rambus (ticker: RMBS) to $500 a share, prompting further buying of the shares, which had slumped the previous day by over $50 to …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 09:24
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Stellar Wintel TPC Number?
Speak softly and carry a Big Foot
T'was just over a month ago that Compaq and Microsoft touted a "record-breaking" benchmark of 227,079.15 tpmC obtained on an aggregation of a dozen eight-way ProLiant servers running Windows 2000 and SQL Server 2000. Bill Gates capitalised on the benchmark results at the Windows 2000 rollout-cum-dog-and-pony show, but the fact …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 11:06
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The Register Guide to ADSL in Britain
Trials and tribulations
Britain's march towards broadband services is gathering pace. Up and down the country different service providers and their guinea pigs are trialling Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology before rolling out the services commercially later this year. ADSL provides super fast Net access that's always on and charged …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 11:11
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Buy a Belgian a beer
Pub Web cam let's you chat up drunken foreigners from the safety of your home
Ever felt like going to the pub but can't be arsed to drag yourself off the couch and into the local? No problemo - the wonders of the Internet are here to help, courtesy of beer.com and its StellaCam. Belgian beer monster Stella Artois has set up a network of Web cams (there's only three) in bars across the world (North America …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 11:21
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US e-commerce tax to stay on hold
Analysis Failure to agree means no change, probably...
It looks as though there will be no US e-commerce tax, at least for a few years. The last of four meetings of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, which is advising Congress, concluded in Dallas this week without publicly reaching overall agreement as to what recommendations to make. ACEC was established by the …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 12:04
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Music publishers allege MP3.com copyright infringement
Lawsuit parallels RIAA's anti-'virtual CD player' suit
Two music publishers have launched a joint lawsuit against MP3.com alleging that the digital music e-tailer's MyMP3.com service infringes their copyrights. The case, brought by music rights agancy Harry Fox on behalf of publishers MPL Communications and Peer International (operating as Peermusic), is the second copyright …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 12:13
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Easycando flogs online training for the masses
BT and Futuremedia-owned portal launches
UK company Futuremedia has teamed up with BT to launch an online training portal. Futuremedia has signed up ten partners to offer courses in IT, business and finance through easycando.com. The venture uses Solstra software, developed jointly with BT. The portal offers 1500 courses in topics such as Web design and Microsoft …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 12:38
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AMD board stands firm behind Jerry Sanders
Shareholder wants independent chair as Sanders gets $2m bonus
An attempt by an AMD shareholder to have an independent chair appointed by the board at the company's annual meeting next month is being resisted by the firm. In the latest SEC filing, which outlines changes to be discussed at the meeting on 27 April, AMD says that the proposal, which is similar to one made two years back and …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 12:51
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Blimp and you'll miss it – Monster.com CEO breaks world record
Beats Richard Branson
Jeff Taylor, CEO of online recruitment outfit Monster.com, water-skied 3.3 miles behind the Monster.com blimp to break the current 1.5 mile record set by Virgin CEO Richard Branson. The dotcom e-ntrepreneur's aquatic Webbed feat behind Monsters.com's airship, Trump was one of only five blimp water-skiing stunts ever performed. …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 12:58
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Japan's NTT to trial digital music service next month
Four formats supported - MP3 not one of them
NTT Communications, part of Japan's biggest telco, will begin a trial run for its upcoming Arcstar digital music delivery service on 19 April, the company said yesterday. The public test programme is due to run until 31 July, with the full commercial service, available only to Japanese consumers, kicking into action early August …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 13:08
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Compaq to unearth ex-DECcies from services org
Redundancy targets must be met
Staff who fled from DEC to shelter under the wing of the large services organisation Compaq created in its takeover wake are next in line for the chop, sources close to the firm told The Register today. Mike Capellas, CEO of the revamped organisation, has appointed a team to slim down the larger services organisation that …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 15:20
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Sugar steals Virgin's ‘unrewarded entrepreneur’
From our City Slickers Dept.
Viglen has ended its quest for an "unrewarded Internet entrepreneur" to head its e-commerce business. The PC builder announced today it had appointed Rajiv Bhatia as MD of VigEcom, Viglen's Web and e-commerce investment company. Bhatia joins from Virgin Group, where he was previously group projects director "with particular …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 15:56
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Delays mar Demon ADSL trials
When it's good it's very, very good...
Demon's trial of BT's ADSL service is suffering severe delays due to cancelled installations and faulty services, The Register has learned. Sources close to the trial claim that of the 500 people supposed to be hooked up to the trial, only ten per cent have so far been connected. Of the 50 kits installed, 17 don't work. It's …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 16:00
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ebooks ride bullet to mass market
Screen glare: get used to it
People like to do it in bed and it really thrills some people to turn the lights off while doing it. Doing it on an airplane during long flights is also popular. I'm talking about reading books and newspapers using new, lightweight, high-definition, backlit tablets. Using the Internet as a distribution medium for digital …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 16:06
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New Horizons for MS/Novell training business
Knowledge Matters
Horizon Technical Services has sold its Microsoft and Novell training business via an MBO. Simon Derry headed the buyout for newly formed company Knowledge Matters on March 8. He is MD of the Milton-Keynes-based business, which will trade as training-bridge.com. Derry said the move provided a "fantastic opportunity" for him, and …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 16:08
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Dell Boys flog bin-ends on UK auction site
Stunt bids start at a quid
Dell has launched a computer auction site in the UK. Through dellauction.co.uk, punters are able to sell their old computers, regardless of brand. They can also to bid for second-hand or refurbished systems. The venture is a UK version of Dell's existing site in the US, and is partnered by the same auction softwarecompany -- …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 17:26
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NetPliance hobbles i-Opener $99 PC hack
Spoilsports slams door well and truly shut
NetPliance has disabled its $99 i-Opener appliance, to prevent new models being pumped up into a fully-functioning PC. The Texan-based company aims to sell Net access subscriptions for $21.95 per month, on the back of the i-Opener's (tagline - All the fun of the Internet without the computer) pared-down email and Internet …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 17:30
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Napster tweaks MP3 finder to un-jam University LANs
Education establishments' ban forces code change
Napster, developer of the controversial Internet-based music locating software also called Napster, has bowed to pressure from US universities and tweaked the program's code to prevent it from logjamming the academics' networks. Over the last couple of months several hundred US educational establishments have banned students …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 17:33
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MS Office compulsory registration: does it really work?
According to a victim of the 'successful pilot,' not entirely...
The introduction of compulsory registration for Microsoft Office 2000 might raise spectres of Big Brother Redmond, but eye-witness accounts from the countries who're already on the receiving end of the system suggest Microsoft has a way to go before it ends up knowing everything about everybody. Australia, New Zealand and Brazil …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 17:49
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Aureate Spyware defeated with utility
"Curbing the wave of hysteria"
Those appalled by Aureate Media's advertising tactics may now download a small utility programme which will automatically eliminate every trace of it from their Windows registry. The utility is called "Opt Out" by its creator Steve Gibson, who has posted it on a Web site of that name here. The utility is small and runs very …
Business 23 Mar 2000, 18:17
