15th May 2000 Archive
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Boy tries to infect school with 256 viruses
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
A 15-old-youth who tried to infect his school's IT network with 256 viruses is now allegedly making claims that he wrote the "Love Bug". Bruce Summers, the IT officer at Hathershaw Community High School, said the boy is bragging to school mates that he was the creator of the Love Bug virus. However, the authorities would be …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:07
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L&H pins voice tech to Asian growth
Cantonese and Mandarin mobiles on their mind
Lernout & Hauspie's campus in Belgium is close to Ieper (Ypres), the site of the most extraordinary carnage during the First World War. The layout of the Flanders Language campus is modelled on the inside of the human ear, with buildings at the site spiralling off a model of the inside of the human ear. Its own HQ is at the …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:07
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Pylonofthemonth.co.uk voted most yawnable Web site
Duller than ditchwater. Oh, Yes
All publicity is good publicity, so getting voted the dullest Web site in the world should have some advantages. Pylonofthemonth.co.uk is "dedicated to the humble electricity pylon, whose beauty remains tragically unrecognised". Surfers can feast on a whole host of these erections which grace our countryside. This month's …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:07
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Thunderbirds, Durons are go…
We wonder, lonely as a cloud
According to our friends at c't, AMD will roll out their T'birds on 5 June at Computex in Taipei. We'll be attending that show... But Big Blue seems to have jumped the gun, according to this incredibly long URL on the Aptiva page. Over at AMD Zone, there are a number of posts concerning the close relationships occurring between …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:07
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Industry, users to face Intel-Rambus Willamette duopoly
The unholy, unwholesome charm of Romulus and Rambus
It is widely expected that when Willamette arrives later this year, hopeful third party chipset manufacturers will be prevented from access to its bus technology, and that means only Intel chipsets will be available to support its up-and-coming IA-32 AMD buster. That, in turn, will mean a huge boost for memory technology firm …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:07
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Valley votes against MS breakup – but IT doesn't
Mixed messages from a poll of residents
By a small margin, Silicon Valley resident's don't want Microsoft broken up, according to a telephone poll conducted by the San Jose Mercury last week. But of the people polled who worked in the technology business, 52 per cent do want the company split, and 37 per cent of all respondents, with 29 per cent against, thought it …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:14
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IT staff shiftless crooks who can't get dates, say IT staff
And my management doesn't understand me...
A survey carried out by NOP for Microsoft UK and PC Magazine (lovely couple) comes to the strangely unsurprising conclusion that senior management and IT professionals don't understand one another. Or, as Microsoft puts it, that only 30 per cent of senior management feel that IT staff communicated very clearly how they can meet …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:14
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Intel dithers over i820 recall details
Taiwanese mobo makers, others up in arms
The Intel cockup over the i820 chipset has placed profits of Taiwanese mobo makers in financial jeopardy as the chip giant decides exactly how to tackle what has to be a major logistics nightmare. As we reported here last week, the problems Intel will face after it admitted that a fault with the memory hub translator (MTH) on …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:14
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Wildfire takes aim at Intel, Sun, IBM, HP's server pants
Meanwhile, FTC lets Compaq off AMD fabbing hook
Mike Capellas and his merry band of Compaq executives (sans Enrico Pesatori) will roll out their GS series tomorrow afternoon, but in the meantime, details have emerged about what we can expect at the Wildfire jamboree. In the latest issue of his newsletter, Shannon knows Compaq, editor and publisher Terry Shannon, who has …
Business 15 May 2000, 10:14
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Write to reply – readers' letters
It's the less insane version of Flame of the Week
That's right. While we love to relay the insane rantings of some readers, it's about time the more reasoned got through. So here is the first of a weekly series in readers' letters. If you have something you need to say, email either the writer or your new Reg Letters Editor (that's me) here. Oh, and we edit them as we please, …
Letters 15 May 2000, 10:15
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MS selling $10 Office 2k, testing Windows rental in colleges
Rental pricing seems more than a little wonky though...
Microsoft isn't just planning to offer Windows for rent when it reaches the next generation - a tipster from Cleveland State University in Ohio tells us that the company is already doing so for students at the University, at the bracing rate of $10 a week. And actually the deal is substantially wider-ranging, as it's part of an …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:05
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The Times takes liberties with surfing package
How much? 600 a month for internet access? Do I look stupid?
Last week, Liberty Surf joined the throng of ISPs throwing around unmetered Internet access like there was no tomorrow. The company joins NTL, AltaVista and BT in the mad race for Net surfers (after all, once it's dirt cheap, why bother to change supplier?). However, while many of these plans are still untested (the usual fall- …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:12
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G8 on cybercrime: jaw jaw or war war?
Hawks expected to win out in the wake of Love Bug paranoia
The G8 group of industrialised nations is gathering in Paris this week to discuss the growing threat of cybercrime. Academics, industrialists, civil libertarians and others will be discussing ways of tackling Net crime. The three-day summit is being held among a heightened awareness of the problem following the global damage …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:12
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So you want to be a support professional?
Dr Spinola's top ten tips
Technical support is possibly the simplest area of the IT industry. Some organisations would appear to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick and introduced a call centre located in Bosnia, Scotland or Northern Ireland staffed with willing, knowledgeable people who unfortunately cannot speak a word of English. Others seem …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:12
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Shame on The Register's support for Open Source
Are we getting politically too correct for our Readers' good?
And we thought being against Open Source was like being against Christmas. But then again we may be getting politically too correct for our Readers' good... From Otto Goencz Date: Sunday, December 19, 1999, 3:14:23 PM Subject: Register T-shirts The article titled "T-shirts? You want T-shirts? We got Register T-shirts" …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:43
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US Trade Commission to revisit online privacy
Maybe self-regulation isn't so rosy after all
In a slight deviation from its market-forces-are-good-enough mantra, the US Federal Trade Commission has just established what it calls the Federal Trade Commission Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security. The Committee will advise the FTC on information security practices employed by Web sites. The Committee will "[ …
Letters 15 May 2000, 12:43
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Reg names IT CEO of the Millennium
This was a tough one...
Faced with the tremendous task of winnowing the chaff from the wheat, seven Register judges were, once more, forced to convene in a hostelry to determine just which IT CEO would receive our once-in-a-lifetime award. Bill Gates was disqualified from the competition because we did not receive his application on time. Lou "Boot" …
Letters 15 May 2000, 12:44
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The Bat flies out of Microsoft hell
Review Are you being swerved?
Towards the beginning of last week, we found ourselves slightly embarrassed because two 20MB Powerpoint presentation, courtesy of some spin doctors, clogged up our big pipe here at Vulture Central for half of the afternoon. We killed the job because, basically, no-one could work, thinking that we'd pick it up at home, first …
Letters 15 May 2000, 12:44
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Hardware Round-up Sites awash with AMD-Intel samples
We take a decko at some sites about
Both AMD and Intel are now beginning to seed the hardware sites with processors, and here you'll see Anandtech's review of the Pentium III 800MHz part...And mysteriously there is a whole raft of similar articles all over the Wibbly Wobbly Web. CPU Review has posted some benchmarks of scientific code running on AMD's Athlon …
Letters 15 May 2000, 12:44
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Register staff only fit to shovel s**t
Readers gives us the (gold)finger
From: James Bond Date: 23 November 1999 04:26 Subject: The Register is a load of CRAP Hello Assholes! You guys think you are one Great Web Site don't you? Well I have never seen so much rubbish, crap and garbage concentrated on one website in the entirety of Internet! You can retire your staff and let them collect Englands …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:47
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Intel claims breakthrough on Pentium III speeds
Engineers say they can beat the 800MHz barrier
A report in EE Times yesterday suggested that Intel has found a way to push the raw MHz speed of its current Pentium III family beyond 800MHz. The method is an arcane process method called notched-poly which allows the gate length of a transistor to be narrowed to 100 nanometers. According to EE Times, Intel has already produced …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:47
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1999 Reg Stories of the Year
Some of the good, one of the bad and a few uglies
Your super soaraway Register has broken a good old number of stories this year, with only one or two bad eggs amongst them, despite our detractors. Here's a selection of some breaking stories and while you may have your own favourites, we thought these were worth a reprise as 1999 gallops to a close. Hardcore porn ads sneak past …
Register Full Coverage 15 May 2000, 12:47
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Register staff lackeys of Intel
Reader shoots the Sherriff...
This one from a technical journalist who also sells chips -- no conflict of interest there then... From: Christian Bell No sir, I'm afraid you don't deserve a flame [eh? - Ed]. As a journalist for many years, on both technical and non-technical forums, I can assuredly say that I have NEVER in my life seen a worse piece of …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:48
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Vodafone makes you an offer you can refuse
A bargain that has more in common with the bizarre than the bazaar
One of The Register's hacks came face-to-face last week with an offer from Vodafone that just didn't add up - in any currency*. After falling for the hype about mobile phone radiation giving you flat feet, or whatever, our reporter popped into his local mobile phone outlet – in this case a Vodafone shop – to buy one of those …
Data Networking 15 May 2000, 12:48
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Register anti-American
Spam, sort of...
This is a old one, but we liked it so much. We also like the fact, since Mr Lauriano sent it to 46 people, it also counts as spam... From: Jay Lauriano Sent: Friday, October 29, 1999 6:06 PM Subject: IT article goes political I am writing to the staff at The Register located in the United Kingdom on behalf of 100 million …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:49
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Register nothing but anti-Mac geeks
'Wozniak' writes...
From: Wozniak [yeah, right... Ed] Sent: Sun, Nov 7, 1999, 10:17 am Subject: Nothing but anti-Mac geeks I am once again disgusted by your sites attitude towards Apple computer. I had held off from writing to you after several appauling articles written in pure tabloid dribble style by your hapless and talentless 'writers' but …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:49
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Full Coverage Comdex Fall 99
Our team bring you what's hot in Vegas
Wireless/Internet Be's Stinger OS selected for Nat Semi WebPad Be breaks into Internet appliance biz for real -- sort of MS to join Bluetooth in December, without get-out on IP No special deals on licence conditions, even for Microsoft, says Ericsson Microsoft unveils MSN Web appliance design Whole new market gets opportunity to …
Register Full Coverage 15 May 2000, 12:49
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Compaq and C&W to reveal $500m SME deal
Two IT mammoths chase the Holy Grail of fast growing markets
Compaq will today announce a deal with Cable & Wireless aimed at providing bundled hardware and online services for the SME market. According to Reuters, the PC vendor said the agreement would involve a joint investment of $500 million over the next five years. More details to follow.®
Business 15 May 2000, 12:49
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Wall St jittery on MS antitrust news
NASDAQ up in spite of it all
Forty-two million shares of Microsoft changed hands in the first 45 minutes of nervous trading in New York this morning, as investors and speculators tried to make sense of Friday's unfavourable finding of fact in the company's antitrust suit. Under normal circumstances, something like 20 to 25 million shares of Microsoft might …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:50
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MS anti-piracy tactics snare innocent dealers
Unlevel playing field
My business was amongst the innocents attacked by MS. We had a small PC outlet, and meticulously avoided selling stolen or pirated items. My wife, a partner in the business, was absolutely adamant. Because of this, we were surprised when someone walked in and asked for a PC with Microsoft Office on it. The sale of 10 pound gold …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:50
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Piracy redresses the balance
Expect to see cheap software to match
If s/w publishers didn't try to recoup all their development costs with the £1000 products they sell, then maybe consumers would be more inclined to go legal. £1000 a copy for programs like Quark Xpress is ridiculous. (I know, Autocad etc cost more but it's just an example) Add to this the fact that core technologies and code …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:50
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Phillpott calls piracy kettle black
Who are the pirates?
Ooh, a well written, intelligent reply (from Julia Phillpot), David Hall writes. I wonder how long she'll last. Shame she can't back the 'If anything, the figures questioned by Mr. Lea are more likely to be an understatement as to the extent of software piracy, rather than an inflation of the issue.'with any facts though. I …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:50
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Stealing Microsoft software is wrong – but
Register readers reply to MS reply to Register...
The Right of Reply article from Microsoft anti-piracy manager Julia Phillpott generated a small but good quality email bag (around 40 responses, of which five were whole-heartedly pro-Microsoft). However there was only one joke, from Kurt Kwart who asks " you mean Windows isn't free?". We hope that's a pseudonym you're using, …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:50
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Register unoriginal, not funny
Flame of the Week #1
From: Jim Fisher Sent: 02 November 1999 04:39 Subject: Your Stories... lack originality Hi Register Editors, I used to visit The Register because it often had up to the minute news in an industry I like to toy in. However, your story on Guillemot buying Hercules is an example of the petty thinking that is emerging from The …
Flame of the Week 15 May 2000, 12:50
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Y does not mean X : decoding the MS reply
On the soap boax without a leg to stand on
RE: Microsoft says stealing in wrong Good reply Microsoft. Let us see what we can decode from this reply. Software Piracy is wrong. I actually like this one. They wrote the software and should profit from it. Of course, it costs more than the hardware it runs on, is often of poor quality, and generally makes everyone unhappy, …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:51
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How would Graham Lea like having his IP infringed?
Register anti-piracy piece wrongheaded
Graham Lea takes great exception to Steve Ballmer's estimate that American the software industry lost $11B in sales during 1998 because of piracy. According to Lea, Ballmer's claims, based on data from an International Planning & Research study, are "overstated". "This [$11 B loss estimate] assumes that every pirate would …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:51
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Software piracy stops software development?
So what about Linux
Of course, Julia Phillpot is correct regarded to the legal side about software piracy, but she states: "our business and that of every software company is completely dependent on the protection of the intellectual property rights. Without this fundamental protection, the software side of the IT industry simply wouldn’t evolve." …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:51
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'Virgin Mobile worth £1.4 billion without selling a single phone'
Eye-popping ST headline
Virgin Mobile is worth £1.36 billion and it hasn't sold one phone. Who is responsible for this ludicrous estimate? Look no further than broker Investec Henderson Crosthwaite, which bases its claim on sales projections up to the year 2009. That's right, 2009. This is the year that Virgin Mobile should have 3.65m customers. Oh, …
Data Networking 15 May 2000, 12:51
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Lastminute.com's mega-rich Foxy lady not motivated by money
Easy for her to say when her company's worth £0.5 billion
One of Britain's brightest Internet stars -- responsible for running hugely successful Lastminute.com -- is not motivated by money. Martha Lane-Fox, 26, said today: "If I got out of bed in the morning for the money I'd be a very sad person." A sentiment expressed by countless other gazillionaires over the years and one which the …
Music and Media 15 May 2000, 12:52
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Skill shortages multiply in Internet Economy
We need a strategy
Having trouble finding IT staff? Worry, it's going to get a hell of a lot worse, according to those Cassandras at IDC. The market research firm predicts shortages of skilled IT professionals in Western Europe will jump from 1998's five per cent to 20 per cent in 2002. And it's all down to the Internet Economy. As if it weren't …
Music and Media 15 May 2000, 12:52
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Carmel ain't the solution to Intel Rambus SNAFU
But at least it works...
The much-anticipated announcement of the 840 (Carmel) chip set next week may not do much to soften the pain of the Camino snafu. The 840 works, the 820 does not - but that difference may have more to do with the platforms than the chip sets. Both chip sets were designed using the same Rambus channel interface logic, so the …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:53
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Camino mobos go on sale
... be the first on your block with a non-functional Rambus system!
All the lurid details of Intel's delayed Camino motherboards have emerged at US site NECX Direct where you can actually place an order for the little devils, should you feel brave enough (and don't mind waiting). The Cape Cod CC820 comes with or without SoundBlaster 128 audio on board and features AGP4X (backwards compatible …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:53
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Coppermine vs Athlon face-offs all over the Web
The hardware sites round up
25 October 1999 The expiry of Intel's non disclosure agreement on its new .18 micron coppermine processors has led to a rash of reviews around the Web. And despite Intel's attempt to talk up coppermine through the year, most of the reviewers believe the Great Satan of Chips still can't cut it on the performance stakes. At Tom's …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:53
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Win2k date prediction industry goes into overdrive
It's more dated than Zsa-Zsa Gabor, apparently...
As Windows 2000 reaches crunch point the highways and byways of the Web are positively ringing to the crunch of beta-watchers changing step. The latest to climb aboard is Paul Thurrott of WinInfo, who today puts his neck on the line by insisting that Win2k will RTM on the first day of Comdex after all. Paul's latest information …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:53
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New MS contract clause caters for forced company breakup
Lawyers being ultra-lawyerly, or do we see the big one coming?
A reader yesterday essentially cracked our April Fool's jest (that Judge Jackson would rule on US v Microsoft on 25 November, which is of course Thanksgiving Day in the USA). Thanksgiving for what? Well might you ask. (see story). A District Court source in Washington said yesterday said that "The findings of fact will not issue …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:53
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Intel holds secret meeting for unmetered UK Net calls
Shies away from beating up BT
Senior executives at Intel have refused to publicly berate BT for the high cost of Net access in the UK despite holding a secret meeting with the telco's arch foes, the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications (CUT). Privately, however, one senior Intel executive said he would like to see the cost of Net access in Britain …
Music and Media 15 May 2000, 12:53
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Action suspends shares – again
Statement expected soon from mail order giant
Action Computer Supplies has temporarily suspended its share trading pending an announcement. The mail order PC company made the statement to the stock exchange at 12:15pm today. No explanation was given regarding the forthcoming announcement. A representative of the Middlesex-based company was unable to say when further details …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:54
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HP says NT not robust enough for new L-boxes
It's HP/UX and maybe Linux later
The NT operating system is not suitable for HP's entry level L-Series machines, which the company introduces today. Instead, HP will use its own flavour of Unix for the L1000 and 2000 boxes, aimed at the entry level market. Janice Chaffin, GM of HP's business critical unit, said: "We see NT as quite successful in more …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:54
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Seagate fires 10,000, Quantum posts heavy losses
Hard rain falls not only on the Irish
This story was first published on the old Register site in January 1998 The 1,400 Seagate Irish workers given their notice before Christmas, will be joined by 6,800 redundancies from plants in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The rest will come from the United States and sales, marketing and admin jobs in all …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:54
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AMD doesn't react to Intel price moves
Correction It keeps hand on Athlon tiller
Advanced Micro Devices did not reduce prices on a number of its K6-2 and K6-III parts over the weekend, as part of its new positioning strategy. We originally reported this story as fact, using info on hardware sites and other wires, but AMD has now told us no changes were made at the weekend, nor are any others in the offing. …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:55
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Hardware site claims Intel underclocking 600MHz chips
To satisfy popular demand...
A hardware site is claiming that Intel is satisfying demand for the soon-to-disappear Pentium III/450 by underclocking parts graded for 600MHz. According to the Overclocker's Workbench, it has obtained a 450MHz part which runs satisfactorily at 600MHz. However, it is as well to remember that Intel is only likely to guarantee its …
Channel 15 May 2000, 12:55
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BT Helpdesk – for one day only!
intro
**** START TEXT HERE (THEN DELETE THIS!!!) ****
Music and Media 15 May 2000, 12:55
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IDF99
intro
Intel still stuck on the FireWire fence It's in the 1394 patent pool so why doesn't it just back the technology? Merced: what meaneth the Extensible Firmware Interface? Intel Developer Forum Or how to boot your IA-64 chip into shape Merced Tracks: Compaq's views on legacy Doesn't scale well enough Merced: the Linux track …
Register Full Coverage 15 May 2000, 12:56
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Compaq admits Inventec makes its notebooks
Armed robbery prompts unexpected confession
Compaq has admitted that it does not build its own notebooks, following Saturday's armed robbery of £1 million of kit in Cheshire. The PC giant came clean last night, telling The Register that the notebook base parts that were stolen in transit were actually the property of Taiwanese OEM Inventec. Last month, The Register …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:56
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Rewriting the rules, Dell style
Analysis Tears up Compaq rulebook
This column was first published on June 2, 1999 Came across a new word the other day - 'Delled'. Coined by some bright spark students at Harvard Business School, 'to Dell' illustrates the efficiency of the English language in turning nouns into verbs. The definition of 'to Dell' is all about efficiency and - that dreaded phrase …
Business 15 May 2000, 12:56
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Linux commands 13 per cent market share, says IDC
But didn't IDC's last stats predict something much higher?
Linux's share of the business operating system market is now up to 13 per cent, according to the latest figures from researcher IDC based on a survey of 788 organisations in the US and Canada. The last time IDC carried out a similar survey, in 1997, Linux barely registered. However, it's curious that IDC's last set of Linux …
Software 15 May 2000, 12:56
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School sued after scam site expulsion
Youth claims it is his right to make fun of his teacher
US teenager Karl Beidler is suing North Thurston School District after his High School expelled him for creating a Web site that ridiculed his assistant principal. The site - which contained images of the school official engaged in sexual intercourse with Homer Simpson, among other things - was discovered in January 1999. As a …
Business 15 May 2000, 13:58
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933MHz CuMine on sale in Japan
Coppermines, Open GL, Rambus. And so it goes...
The long-awaited (cough) 933MHz Pentium III Copperwhine chip has gone on sale in Japan's high-tech area, Akibara. If you go to this place, you'll discover more information, along with details of Colour PCI Athlons, and a Dog and Cat style PC. The exchange rate is around $1=109. Thanks to L&H Japanese-English machine translation …
Business 15 May 2000, 13:58
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1GHz CuMines rarer than dodo's teeth
Rare bird falls between a Roc and a hard place
In all the flurry about problems with i820 chipsets and "material costs", it's easy to forget that only a little while back, Intel and AMD were head to head over who would be first to rush a 1GHz microprocessor to market. You'll remember that last week we reported that a clutch of second tier vendors were complaining that …
Business 15 May 2000, 16:48
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Register goes to Computex
Deliver your hardware news from Taipei
Once again, staff from this magazine will be attending the premier hardware show Computex, held in Taiwan, at the beginning of next month. As before, we will be bringing you news from the show floor as well as from the meeting rooms, where vendors and mobo manufacturers thrash out their plans for the coming nine months. If you …
Business 15 May 2000, 16:48
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ClickCharity™: Click here for a good cause
Keep people in jobs, feed families with just one click
The dotcom revolution has been a harsh one and the battle for eyeballs has become a war of attrition with all sides suffering substantial losses. Many previously financially-secure types have taken the Net gamble and will most likely have a partial breakdown when the bubble bursts and they're left with nothing but a URL for …
Business 15 May 2000, 16:48
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Brave Boo.com battling on
Cash injection expected RSN
Boo.com has dismissed claims that it is about to become the first high-profile dotcom to go down the pan. Reports about the demise of the trendy fashion e-tailer are said to be premature despite speculation that unless the outfit can raise 19 million, it will become the sartorial equivalent of the shell suit. A remarkably calm …
Business 15 May 2000, 16:48
