5th May 2000 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Brit firms fall down on Web site support

Customers vote with feet

British companies are failing to provide adequate online support to cope with e-commerce queries, according to research by Sunrise Software. Although more than 55 per cent of businesses say they have witnessed an increase in the number of Net-generated enquiries since launching their Web services, less than 40 per cent offer a …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:05
NEC cuts back on Rambus production

Overestimated demand, analysts warn

As the price of 64Mb memory rises, major semiconductor firm NEC has started to put chips on allocation, according to analysts Bear Stern. And, at the same time, NEC insiders is believed to have now realised it vastly overrestimated the impact of Rambus memory and is taking steps to cut back supply and shift production lines to …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:06
AMD's roadmap: the facts

Our look around some hardware sites

Anandtech reveals what it describes as the facts about AMD's roadmap on these pages. More on the Athlon, the Thunderbird, the Mustang, the Doo-ron-ron-ron and the doo-ron-ron. At Tom's Hardware, there's a piece about WinHEC 2000. This annual conference usually has some good stuff about what's up and coming on the hardware front …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:06
Accountancy firm fails piracy audit

Walls have ears

A British accountancy firm has been fined for software piracy after an informant squealed to the BSA. Watford-based JSA Services was fined 47,000 after it admitted having unlicensed software on its company network. The informant stands to pocket the biggest reward yet from the BSA - 4700 - along with the satisfaction of bringing …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:06
Intel says no probs with flip chips cracking

But heat sink specifications critical

Semiconductor firm Intel said today that it has had no reports of packaging cracking on its FC-PGA (flip chip packaging) microprocessors. But, at the same time, it has warned enthusiasts that they need to use the right type of heat sink with the socketed chips to avoid damaging the packaging. That follows reports on an …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:12
Love Bug mutates faster than Pokemon

ILOVEYOU times four

Net users may have been left with an unsightly love bite after yesterday's electronic billet-doux but experts are warning that the worst is yet to come. For the "love bug" has mutated itself into at least four new variants, according to Ohio-based virus busters, Central Command. According to this outfit, the variants have been …

Business 5 May 2000, 09:17
How the hell… do you overclock the Athlon?

Kick butt for a few dollars more...

Do you have an Athlon microprocessor and want to speed up your chip to run from between 750MHz to over 1GHz for the price of a 550MHz chip? Since Athlons were announced, it has been clear that the technology has some really good overclocking potential inside that seventh generation processor core. At the end of 1999, AMD …

Business 5 May 2000, 10:04
Scythe through the Net to find the Grim Reaper

Everything you wanted to know about death but were afraid to click

There may a load of rubbish on the Net but when it comes to the big issues - sex, life, death and Star Trek - it comes into its own. We spend very little of our lives pondering our inevitable demise and when the Grim Reaper does arise, it usually has an disproportionate affect on our psyche. So, in a special service, we have …

Business 5 May 2000, 10:04
Sega rents classic console titles via the Net

An olive branch to the emulation scene?

Sega has begun offering Dreamcast users 30 games originally written for its pre-Dreamcast consoles for a Y150-a-title download. The service, dubbed DreamLibrary, provides Japanese Dreamcast users with both Sega MegaDrive (aka Genesis) and NEC PC Engine titles, all of which play under emulation on the Dreamcast. Essentially, …

Business 5 May 2000, 11:27
Large corporations need 2GHz chips

Mandy Rice-Davies assumes Wintel appearance

Intel has made available a white paper on its private dealer Web pages which suggests that IT buyers will need microprocessors of 1GHz and up to 2GHz in order to run Windows 2000. The report, from Competitive Systems Analysis, will bring tidings of good will to Intel Central at Santa Clara, which just loves it when Microsoft …

Business 5 May 2000, 11:28
Dual, quad-CPU Power Macs to debut at WWDC?

Seems a bit early to us

The latest hints from Apple suggest that the company will not only unveil long-awaited a dual-processor Power Mac G4 at its Worldwide Developers Conference, but a quad-G4 machine too. According to AppleInsider, "Silicon Valley insiders", who appear to have been briefed by Apple representatives, say the machines should arrive on …

Business 5 May 2000, 11:28
Windows DLL Hell needs more fixes, says MS MUG

Microsoft making some progress, but could try harder

The exquisitely titled Microsoft Manufacturers User Group (MS MUG, oh yes) has sent Microsoft its first feedback report on DLL Hell, and the verdict seems to be that the problem, which is probably the primary source of failure in Windows installations, isn't going to go away in a hurry. MS MUG is a working group including major …

Business 5 May 2000, 11:30
Freecom.net buy shows up teenage Web firms

And lo! Good business sense prevails. Clicks for bricks

Freecom.net has coughed up 31.9 million for accounting software business Systems Union. Billed as a rejection of the dot.com model, it is simply a case of a businessman, Michael Williams, using the inflated price of Net ventures intelligently, rather than running headlong into a wall like a hormone-crazed teenager. The blind …

Business 5 May 2000, 11:35
UK's slowest sites named and shamed

What, we're not on it?

Some of Britain's slowest e-commerce sites have been named and shamed in a study that warns that e-commerce revenues could be hit unless e-businesses do more to improve page-serving performance. The CacheFlow study found that Net users in Britain typically have to wait an average of 28 seconds for a Web page to download from an …

Business 5 May 2000, 12:05
Feds bust Intel insiders for $1 million piracy blag

Pirates with attitude

Five Intel workers from Satan Clara are amongst a gang of seventeen were charged yesterday in what the FBI describes as "The most significant investigation of copyright infringement involving the use of the Internet conducted to date." The group is alleged to have hijacked 5000 pieces of software valued at more than $1 million. …

Business 5 May 2000, 12:17
Linux users protest DVD regs on Capitol Hill

A gentle reminder that the DCMA is bollocks

An affable group of Linux users from New York City and the Washington DC area converged on Capitol Hill this week, patiently explaining to passers-by that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) is a serious setback for consumers, and hoping to attract the Librarian of Congress' attention as he participated in hearings on …

Business 5 May 2000, 12:22
What is the best virus protection?

PC Clinic Dr Spinola goes out of control

Having trouble with your brand new machine or with the lovely application software that's cost you an arm and a leg? Our very own PC paramedic, Dr Spinola will guide you through the hardware morass. This week, he discusses virus protection software, sexy CEOs, sexy components and SETI. Q What is the best virus protection you can …

Business 5 May 2000, 12:49
MS Research: in high gear on the road to nowhere?

But it might just be in some danger of finally producing something

Accompanying the announcement that Rick Rashid was officially taking over Microsoft's Research Group was an announcement that its natural language processing (NLP) "hits high gear". But if this is true, it's been a long, slow acceleration process. In nearly ten years of trying to develop applications in the speech and …

Business 5 May 2000, 14:54
AOL damns Which? kiddie filter slams

Compares 'apples and oranges'

AOL has accused Which? of unfair tactics over a damning survey into Web filters for children released earlier this week. AOL's Parental Controls v5 filter, one of the seven filters tested by the industry watchdog, has various settings depending on the age of the children using it. Which? chose to set the controls on AOL's filter …

Business 5 May 2000, 14:54
I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee

But does it count if you do it by email?

A court in Dubai is to consider whether a divorce can be carried out by e-mail. The court is set to make its ruling after a man e-mailed his Saudi wife informing her he wanted a divorce. According to an AFP report, under traditional Muslim law a man can divorce a woman simply by telling her. The Register would rather not comment …

Business 5 May 2000, 15:23
ntl blames ‘overwhelming demand’ for flat-fee ISP delay

Where's my CD?

Net users who've signed up to the unmetered Net access service from ntl could have to wait another fortnight before getting online. ntlworld e-mailed customers yesterday warning them of the delay and asked them not to contact the ISP or re-register for a CD. One reader was so incensed by the delay he told The Register: " …

Business 5 May 2000, 15:23
MP3.com vs RIAA judge explains his verdict

Still doesn't make much sense

US District Judge Jed Rakoff has explained his curious ruling in the MP3.com vs the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) case sooner than at first expected. Last week, Rakoff ruled that MP3.com's MyMP3.com virtual CD player service does indeed contravene US copyright law. His reason, explained today: the MyMP3.com …

Business 5 May 2000, 15:55
No email thanks to the virus? Here's what to do

I've got a little list...

Necessity is the mother of invention. Who said that? Mmm, dunno, but it's nice to see that the good folk down at PR and marketing agency Rainier have been adhering to it. Yesterday the world and its dog was bitten in the wotsit by the Luurve Bug and today we received a list from Rainier of ten things to do when your email system …

Business 5 May 2000, 15:58
Bradford on the lookout for cyber snouts

I seen who done over the Internet cafe guv

Bradford police have set up an informant section on its Web site. Called Crimebeat, you can anonymously (if you want) email the force with details of Yorkshire troubles. Chief Superintendent Stuart Hyde reckons it could prove a valuable resource to his boys in blue since people will be more willing to email information than make …

Business 5 May 2000, 15:58