21st July 2000 Archive

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Wanna be on TV?

You gotta be mad to do it

The producers of a TV documentary about anger want to hear from irate Register readers who've flipped their lid with IT-related rage. The three-part documentary - being made by Chrysalis and due to be screened on the BBC in the autumn - is addressing the subject of anger and how people deal with it. The programme will look at …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 08:43
Intel revamps boxed chip roadmaps

Pentium 4s for dealers later this year

Intel has, at last, promised succour to its channel partners, many of which took the brunt of processor shortages this year in favour of large PC vendors. The firm has told its distributors and dealers of its plans for the boxed desktop, server and workstation market, according to channel confidential documents seen by The …

Channel 21 Jul 2000, 09:58
AMD Sledgehammer Apocalyptic

Here's a free advert for AMD

We promised ourselves that we'd never give AMD free advertising but we're just about to break that promise, as this one below has some interesting details about forthcoming projects at the Little Satan of Chips. JOB OPENING: Advanced Micro Devices LOCATION: Austin, TX POSITION: Signal Integrity Engineer LEVEL: Senior and …

Channel 21 Jul 2000, 10:12
Napster boosts music sales – survey

Napster will kill software industry - Microsoft

Napster users are more likely to buy CDs than people who don't use the MP3 sharing software, a report from Internet-oriented market researcher Jupiter Communications claims. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) isn't going to like that one, guys. It will, however, love comments from Microsoft's Jack Krumholtz, …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 10:28
Quantum drive shortage to have domino effect

Big Blue's next for the drought

Disk drive manufacturer Quantum is being forced to build an additional factory line for its Atlas 10K11 as supplies of the product, and its Atlas V unit, dry up. And, it emerged today, pressure has now moved to IBM's comparable storage products as buyers scrabble to grab as many drives as they can. Earlier this week, Quantum …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 10:50
Handspring PDA revenues up 51 per cent

Retail success brings home the bacon - high-end PDA in the works

PalmOS licensee Handspring released its first post-IPO earnings report yesterday and promptly shouted about a 51 per cent hike in sequential revenues. The company also admitted it is preparing a higher-end PDA, even as Palm is readying a low-end device aimed at the market Handspring has taken as its own. For the three months …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 11:03
BT hacked: revenge for crap service

Update Hacker emails The Reg to explain why he's nobbled the monster telco

We received an email at 10.20am this morning through a stoned.com account informing us that bt.com, btinternet.com and gameplay.com were all down. The sender claimed credit for the denial of service attack and although he didn't leave an alias, he did give the reason behind his actions. "This is my payback to BT for ripping …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 11:08
AOL sees profits double for Q4

Gets a million new members

AOL laughed in the face of Net critics yesterday, announcing soaring profits for Q4. The ISP reported net earnings of $338 million for the three months ended June 30, against $157 million the previous year. AOL saw revenue from advertising and e-commerce jump by 95 per cent - topping analyst forecasts - to $609 million, or 32 …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 11:18
Navy officer keelhauled for laptop laxness

Operation Purple Wizard threatened by unable seamen

A top Navy Officer was hauled before a court martial yesterday after a laptop packed with military secrets was nicked from his car. Commander Paul Lloyd took the computer without permission from his top-security base in London. The father-of-four then left the machine, floppy disks and documents overnight in the boot of his car …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 12:14
Letssellit.com. Oh dear, oh dear

You know when some things are just inevitable?

It would have been nice to have been proved wrong but sadly Letsbuyit.com's eventual float has been just as poor as everyone suspected. It seemed like suicide to go for a float when it's already been abandoned twice and the company valuation slashed but then when you're haemorrhaging money and the cash pot is very nearly empty …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 13:50
How Microsoft played the numbers game to boost MSN

Analysis Independent support for 201 million claim less than threadbare

Microsoft's claims this week that the "MSN network of Internet services" has become the "No 1 worldwide Internet destination for consumers" on "multiple Web sites associated with the MSN brand" got plenty of publicity upfront, but how true were they? Specifically, the company claimed that its own count shows 201 million unique …

Software 21 Jul 2000, 13:50
Athlon Powers 119 mobos

We wibble, we wobble, we webble

It's a little while since yours truly has done the hardware round up, but Lucy S is off today, so here we go. And rest assured that we've been clicking around the wibbly wobbly web in the interval, keeping in touch with what's going on. And so over first to Slot A, which has updated its list of Athlon Powers motherboards. …

Hardware Roundup 21 Jul 2000, 13:50
Sony Net plans to proceed with ISP launch

Digital music portal in the pipeline too

Sony's designs on the Net-connected home are coming closer to fruition - the company has said it will launch its own ISP in the US in a few months' time. And the consumer electronics giant will soon launch a music download service called Sony Music Club. Details of either service are vague. That both are on the cards was …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 14:31
Microsoft becomes cookie defender, privacy hero

Analysis But it's started something it probably can't stop...

Microsoft got quite a bit of mileage out of its announcement earlier this week that it would be building cookie management features into Internet Explorer. Aside from commendations from Jason Catlett and Richard Smith, who're more usually throwing brickbats at the company, Microsoft got a handy sound-bite from Bill Lockyer, …

Software 21 Jul 2000, 14:33
If you don't ASP, you don't get

Don't believe the hype? Maybe you just need to be patient

This article appeared first in Direct Access, a Microsoft UK online channel magazine. There's been a lot said about the application service provider (ASP) market over the last 12 months - how it was going to explode and that anyone who's anyone in the IT industry would become involved in it. But there has, to be fair, been very …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 14:58
Forbes journo warns against trusting DoJ

Bad precedent being set

A letter of resignation from Forbes journalist Adam Pennenberg to publisher Tim Forbes has been reproduced on the BME Web site. Pennenberg, who has been threatened with a grand jury subpoena by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to testify in connection with a story he wrote on the crew which defaced the New York Times Web site …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 15:10
Oftel pleads for help

It needs some advice on technical matters

Having a quick flick through "the weekly for online advertising, e-commerce, marketing and publishing" (catchy!) New Media Age, we stumbled across a job ad from the wonderful winged watchdog, Oftel. It wants technical advisors and it's willing to pay up to £38,000 for them. We've been telling Oftel it needs people that know …

Data Networking 21 Jul 2000, 15:15
MP to press for action over PowerGen debacle in Commons

This house believes heads should roll

Labour MP Derek Wyatt is planning to quiz ministers in the House of Commons next week on Web security. Wyatt - who also heads The Associate Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) - will table questions on Monday regarding this week's security blunder at PowerGen. He also plans to probe the government on why no-one is accepting …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 15:46
US Congress meekly addresses workplace surveillance

Lame, popular, and easy to pass

US legislators in both Houses of Congress have proposed regulations which would require companies to notify employees if they monitor their computer, Internet or telephone use on the job, Reuters reports. The legislation would require employers to inform employees once each year about what information they are gathering and what …

Music and Media 21 Jul 2000, 15:49
Cybersquatting – the solution!

But it buggers up Web design

[We came up with a solution to cybersquatting and asked for opinions. And that's exactly what we got. Sorry to those that don't feature but time is a limiter here. Most liked it, a few thought it needed work and a few offered refinements] We have the solution to cybersquatting I did enjoy your article about cybersquatting, …

Letters 21 Jul 2000, 16:30
Video games the root of all evil

Arse, says Andrew Thomas

[Andrew is off on strange wanderings in deepest darkest America. He picked up a copy of USA Today and felt that familiar shot of agony when he realised what we could become. Lowest common denominator doesn't even come into it] Video games to blame for everything What a great article! Having occasionally subjected myself to …

Letters 21 Jul 2000, 16:30
The Rozzers don't know what they're on about

It's techie versus bobby

[We criticised the police for their inability to trace emails. A Chief Inspector took issue with us. And our readers took issue with him.] Readers' Letters: It's a biggy Email is the British Jerry Springer UK police no idea about the Net Even the government thinks UK police are Web-stupid Hi, Just read the mail you got …

Letters 21 Jul 2000, 16:38
Blood lust over BT hack attack

It seems quite a popular piece of sabotage

[We were contacted by an anonymous individual who told us he had shutdown BT's main Web sites in protest of its Internet service. He wasn't joking. BT weren't laughing. But you the readers apparently were] BT hacked: revenge for crap service Just tried all three sites (I tried getting to the Gameplay forums, then when it …

Letters 21 Jul 2000, 16:50
Win2K drivers: HP loses the plot completely

Amateurs R Us

Hapless HP OfficeJet users waiting for Windows 2000 drivers have now had the rug pulled from under them again. Drivers for the older 500, 600 and 700 series all-in-one products had been promised drivers between July 10th and 24th, but now the HP website shows no firm delivery date at all, instead promising a beta driver will be …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 17:16
Top IT execs look like sh!t

Jobs is worst, HP's Fiorina is best

IT execs have never claimed to be dedicated followers of fashion. And to prove a point, the Financial Times enlisted the help of Ms Sherry Maysonave, a US image consultant, to offer her professional opinion on some of the IT industry's top names. "There is a lot of confusion about casual dress codes, with people showing up for …

Business 21 Jul 2000, 17:35
Readers' Letters: a new, exciting, sexy format!

We had a muddle about but it's still just what you send to us

That's right, we figured that the Letters thing every week was a bit too, well... long. So we've come up a different format. Hence the list below. Click on a link to see the responses to that letter. We've been caught a little short on time this week, so there are only four categories. We encourage you lovely readers to email …

Letters 21 Jul 2000, 17:36
What's making Sun a stellar success?

Analysis Street swoons as McNealy delivers in style

Wall Street financial analysts are not renowned for being very kind about results, but during Sun's analyst call last night for its Q4 results, their praise was unprecedented in our experience. "Breathtaking numbers" was the commonest comment, with "an unbelievable quarter" and "spectacular" being runners up. So what had excited …

Software 21 Jul 2000, 18:46