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13th July 2000 Archive

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  • Can your keyboard kill you?

    Electro-magnetic wotsits build-up to blame for RSI?

    Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) could be caused by radiation emitted from keyboards. No, we're not making this up. A letter published in the December edition of Journalist, the magazine of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), speculates whether the "electromagnetic radiation immediately under each fingertip" could be to …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 08:40

  • Junk mail from MS: whose spam is it anyway?

    Special report Why it keeps coming

    "Spammers are thieves... They're hijacking your system to deliver their unrequested, unwanted advertising," says a new Microsoft web site paper by R'ykandar Korra'ti. But Microsoft is on shaky ground when it comes to spam - in recent newsgroup posting the company's own abuse manager Mike Lyman has effectively been conceding that …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 08:40

  • .NET: Ballmer tells it like it is – at least we think he does

    When you squirt words down wires they get all squished...

    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to have had more than a few problems with his speech, his demo and - apparently - his brain while keynoting Comdex Canada yesterday. Wired tells us he said the Internet was like a hockey stick (no, we don't know why either), while Reuters, well... Wire stories are subject to the occasional …

    Bootnotes 13 Jul 2000, 09:19

  • Gates previews Win64

    But 'technology preview' bodes ill for shipping it with Itanium...

    Bill Gates yesterday announced a "technology preview" of 64-bit Windows, and unveiled the finished version of something Microsoft is taking great pains to describe as "Internet Explorer 5.5 technologies." Microsoft's Web site was combed for references to IE that made it sound like it might be a standalone application a while …

    Software 13 Jul 2000, 10:16

  • Japanese CE giants to create own Linux

    But since they already have multiple OS deals, what's the big deal?

    Japan's consumer electronics and computing giants - and Toshiba - are to co-operate on the development of Linux-based embedded operating system for CE devices. According to Reuters, a spokesman for the group - which includes Sony, NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, 19 other Japanese electronics and software companies, and two universities …

    Software 13 Jul 2000, 10:50

  • Sony unveils ‘PalmPowered’ entertainment PDA

    Updated Good looking, but pricey

    Sony officially launched its Palm-based PDA - or "personal entertainment organiser", as the company calls it - yesterday. Few details were new, Sony having demo'd the machine at PC Expo earlier this month. The machine - available in two forms, one with a monochrome screen, the PEGS300 and the other a colour device, the PEGS500C …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 11:24

  • Transmeta not x86 compatible – Intel

    And PowerNow no good either

    Intel has made a spirited defence of its SpeedStep technology, describing its competition - that is AMD - as a mere follower rather than a leader. At the same time, Don MacDonald, director of marketing of the mobile platform group, also claimed Transmeta's solution was not entirely compatible. He said: "You should check …

    Channel 13 Jul 2000, 11:25

  • BT bosses get wrists slapped over bonuses

    Fish rots from head down, apparently

    BT bosses were in trouble yesterday over awarding themselves hefty pay rises and bonuses while the phone company's share price suffered. Sir Iain Vallance, part-time chairman at BT, received £325,000 salary for a three day week, plus an extra £400,000 in bonuses. BT's shares have plummetted almost 40 per cent so far this year - …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 12:27

  • Hotmail punts user email addresses to advertisers

    Yet another technical hitch

    A glitch in the code at Hotmail has resulted in subscribers' email addresses being sent to online advertisers, the company conceded yesterday. This is not a problem unique to the Microsoft site, but it is the latest in a string of embarrassing technical problems for the free emailer. The problem is this: when users open HTML …

    Music and Media 13 Jul 2000, 15:33

  • Olympic bosses sue 1800 cybersquatters

    Not happy with sexual athletes going for gold

    Olympic games bosses have taken legal action against 1800 Web sites it claims are cybersquatters. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the US Olympic Committee, and the organisers of the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002 have joined together to file a lawsuit against these domain name hijackers. IOC VP Richard Pound …

    Music and Media 13 Jul 2000, 15:43

  • Dr Spinola's PR masterclass

    Some more dos and don'ts from the world's foremost spin doctor

    To start today, a plea to all junior PR bunnies out there. Whyohwhyohwhy is it that when a press release arrives on the desk of a key journo, the contact cited for further information is a) on holiday, b) in meetings all day, or c) no longer with the company? If you're issuing a release, please have the good manners to ensure …

    Bootnotes 13 Jul 2000, 15:50

  • Orange phones will clean your teeth too

    You can't accuse Hans Snook of not having vision

    One thing Orange has got is style. Weaving in and out of clapped-out 2CVs at the Vinopolis wine museum, we ascend the stairs and enter the world of Orange - drapes, back-lit boards, vast pics of kids and lovely looking female helpers. Which was presumably the intention since the company's CEO Hans Snook was here to explain to …

    Data Networking 13 Jul 2000, 15:59

  • AMD explains why the Duron is multiplier locked

    'We want to be more like Intel...'

    Until recently, in the hardware community Intel and AMD were distinct from one another in a very fundamental way: Intel's processors were multiplier-locked, and AMD's were not. With the release of the (multiplier locked) Duron, this has changed and the hardware hackers are not happy. The trouble is, as much as the people …

    Channel 13 Jul 2000, 16:29

  • Duron and on and on and on

    The usual hardware suspects can't write enough about it

    Another Duron review for your perusal, this time from System Logic. A far more ornamental writing style than most reviews, but perhaps more interesting because of that. Drop in and do a decent bottom turn en route to the site to check out his thoughts. Articles about memory units have been closely mimicking the behaviour of …

    Hardware Roundup 13 Jul 2000, 16:32

  • Mitnick gets the chance to write

    Probation officer not so bad after all

    Phreaker legend Kevin Mitnick has finally received permission from his probation officer to lecture and write on matters digital, clearing the way for him to begin his tour of duty writing a column for the new e-zine "Contentville". According to his parole conditions, ordered by US District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in January, …

    Music and Media 13 Jul 2000, 17:03

  • Web lovers say Nein! to German dog persecution

    And other ways in which the Net is empowering the small man

    The Internet's unprecedented ability to pull geographically diverse but likeminded folk together has generally had a bad press - paedophiles, criminals, football hooligans. They all use the Web as a cover for anti-social behaviour, strengthening each others' resolve for their perverted desires. But good, honest God-fearing folk …

    Music and Media 13 Jul 2000, 17:08

  • Telewest to cut high-speed Web charges

    Blueyonder saved from the blue yonder

    Telewest is expected to knock around a third off the price of its high-speed Internet service before the end of July. The telecomms company is gearing up for an announcement on July 24, when it plans to cut monthly charges for its 512Kbps Blueyonder cable modem service from £50 to £33. It will also drop the one-off £50 …

    Music and Media 13 Jul 2000, 17:15

  • Sprint , WorldCom officially call it off

    It was great fun, but it was just one (of those things)

    Telecomms colossi WorldCom and Sprint have formally cancelled their proposed $120 billion merger as expected in response to considerable opposition from US and European regulatory bodies which attempted to block the deal two weeks ago on grounds that the merger would ruin competition (are you getting this, AOL and Time Warner …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 17:56

  • Mobile phones kill pedestrians

    Time to update the Green Cross Code?

    Mobile phones might not give you cancer, they might not affect your driving, but they sure as hell affect your ability to cross the road... as a 15-year old British schoolgirl found to her cost. Rebecca Straker was killed by a car while making a phone call to her boyfriend. Craig Coppard heard the line go dead as she was hit, …

    Data Networking 13 Jul 2000, 20:36

  • Halifax pulls IF.com Net bank launch

    These are testing times

    Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage bank, has bottled the launch of Intelligence Finance (IF.com - the URL cost the company a million quid), the "revolutionary" Net bank, less than 24 hours before it was supposed to open its virtual doors. Prospective customers were today told by email: We wanted to inform you straight away …

    Business 13 Jul 2000, 21:49