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1st November 2000 Archive

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  • Gateway pays $9m for not overcharging US Govt.

    Anything for a quiet life

    Gateway today agreed to stump up $9 million to settle an overcharging spat with the US government. The deal settles allegations that the US PC maker failed to pass on price cuts for federal orders between 1994 and 1997. Gateway had a contract with the General Services Administration, the federal agency that supplies IT kit and …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 00:14

  • Napster makes sweet music with Bertelsmann

    Music giant breaks ranks

    Bertelsmann today beckoned others to follow its lead after ditching its part of a piracy lawsuit against Napster. The two former foes have struck an 'alliance' to develop Napster into a membership-based service that will pay royalties. Bertelsmann, parent of music company BMG Entertainment, will fund the development of the …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 00:15

  • IBM knifes Crusoe ThinkPad on eve of Transmeta IPO

    For sale: one demo Crusoe ThinkPad 240, one confused owner...

    A wheel has finally fallen off the Transmeta bandwagon, quite possibly taking some millions of dollars of next week's IPO price with it. IBM has spiked its plans to produce a Crusoe-based ThinkPad 240 this quarter, pleading mysteriously that the beast doesn't fit into its marketing plans. Did Intel get to IBM? Or should we read …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 09:32

  • Accounting errors torpedo Lynx Group

    Restructure plans

    The finance director of Lynx Group's IT distribution business has resigned after £5 million-worth of accounting errors - something to do with accruals - were discovered. This is a hefty blow, considering that it represents half of the already poor profits the company expected to announce for its next interims on 23 November. …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 10:03

  • Dell: any colour so long as it's midnight grey

    Pedestrians need not apply

    Dell has spruced up its Optiplex PC line with a midnight-grey option for big-company fashion victims. The Optiplex GX150 is also skinnier than its beige counterpart, the OptiPlex GX100 PC line. And it costs exactly the same. But why is it doing this? Well, the quote from tame IDC analyst Roger Kay, on the press release tells …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 10:16

  • Whistler beta 1 out, ‘phased’ rollout planned for H2 2001

    Beginnings of consumer-business version forkings?

    Beta 1 of Whistler has finally been released. As the intended date has slipped back several weeks, presumably the day was largely accidental, but Halloween does have a certain resonance in the Microsoft canon. The beta, going out to partners, customers and over 200,000 developers via the Microsoft Developer Network, is available …

    Software 1 Nov 2000, 10:33

  • HP walkout threat to PwC

    Too much money

    Hewlett-Packard will walk away from the planned takeover of Price-Waterhouse-Cooper's consultancy business, unless the price is reduced, CEO Carly Fiorina said yesterday. Initially, the two sides had agreed a price in the $17-18 billion range. But HP's share price has fallen since then, in common with other IT hardware and …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 10:34

  • Wrong software drivers issued to BTOpenwoe users

    Three quarters of USB customers affected

    BTOpenwoe has been hit by more technical difficulties after the company issued punters with the wrong software drivers with for its single-user ADSL products. The blunder - which BTOpenwoe blames on Alcatel since it supplies the USB modem - is said to have hit 75 per cent of all those people who have had the USB ADSL product …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 10:41

  • Man fined for rude SMS

    No, you're not allowed to call someone a baldy pervert

    A Scottish man was convicted yesterday of sending obscene text messages on his mobile phone. The court heard how Callum Boyce, a farm worker, sent four foul messages inside half an hour to Peter Buller, a man he accuses of wrecking his marriage. Boyce was convicted under the 1984 Telecommunication Act, which prohibits obscene …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 11:11

  • Telco prices hard to understand

    Businesses given runaround

    A third of businesses believe they are not getting the best deals from telcos and many are confused about the different packages and technologies on offer. A MORI survey of 300 telecoms managers reveals that many companies find it hard to juggle between different fixed, mobile and Internet network operators, and that many would …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 11:16

  • S3 to be reborn as SonicBlue

    Sounds like a porn channel

    S3 has shed its last connection with its past by renaming itself SonicBlue. Of course, a change of handle makes some sense, given the company has not only shed itself of the business that made S3's name, specifically it's graphics chip operation. And all of its remaining products ship under the Diamond or Rio brands. But …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 11:50

  • Cocaine props up German dotcommers

    Allegedly

    Cocaine abuse in Germany is soaring, and it's all because of the dotcom revolution, or so The Times claims. Fast-paced demands of the dotcom world are leaving German executives, more used to weighing decisions carefully, floundering. Cocaine is used as a pharmaceutical prop by those who cannot quite cope with the new …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 11:55

  • Seagate lands bigger Barracuda

    In volume by end of year

    Seagate has launched a new drive for entry-level server and high-end desktops, the Barracuda 36ES. Following on from the Barracuda ATA, the 36ES drive has a high speed Ultra 160 SCSI interface with bus data rates of 160MBps. It has an average seek time of 8.5ms and a mean time between failure rating of 800,000 hours. It is also …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 12:47

  • AMD 760 DDR chipset delayed

    Updated Still looks like December at the earliest

    Gigabyte has confirmed there are problems with AMD's new 760 DDR chipset, launched just two days ago and has delayed shipping its new GA-7DX mobo as a result. A Gigabyte representative in the UK told The Reg that it was an AMD issue and that Chimpzilla was currently investigating the problem. It would be 'at least two weeks' …

    Channel 1 Nov 2000, 12:49

  • S3 buys UK Linux in-car MP3 player maker

    SonicBlue snaps up Empeg

    British in-car MP3 system builder Empeg has been bought by S3... sorry... SonicBlue for an undisclosed sum. For Empeg, it's good news. The company, based in Cambridge, has been developing and selling its automotive MP3 player for a couple of years now. Empeg has got a good development team that and some great technology under …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 12:54

  • Freeswerve considers jiggy-jiggy…

    With its share options

    Freeserve is considering re-jigging its share options package for employees following an eight-month slump in the company's share price. Freeserve is reported to be considering this option in a bid to hang on to its key staff. A number of US companies have already reset options, including Amazon and Microsoft. LastMinute.com …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 13:01

  • BT sends woman 467-page bill

    Bogged down in Surftime

    BT reduced a woman to tears after what she thought was present from her husband turned out to be 467-page phone bill. Nick Everitt from Burton-on-Trent is so incensed with the monster telco he's even contemplating turning up on BT's doorstep and "burning the few shares that me and the wife own in this godforsaken company". …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 13:02

  • Sprint PCS to launch mobile MP3 scheme

    Play your favourite tracks on your cellphone

    US mobile phone operation Sprint PCS will announce a trial music-by-cellphone service today. Dubbed MyMusic, the Sprint service is essentially a promo for Samsung's Uproar handset, which is capable of downloading, storing and playing MP3 files. Buy an Uproar and a Sprint subscription, and the network will throw in free MyMusic …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 13:05

  • Eidos CEO leaves, shares rise

    Is it takeover time again?

    The head of games company Eidos Charles Cornwall has resigned, with immediate effect. He's to be replaced by current COO Michael McGarvey. In much the same way as his county namesake has seen some turbulent weather recently, Cornwall has had the unfortunate task of frequently telling folk that his company's performance has been …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 13:13

  • Samsung signs on Rambus DDR and SDRAM dotted line

    Good news at last for toll collector

    Samsung, the world's second biggest DRAM producer, has acknowledged Rambus patents for SDRAM & DDR SDRAM memory and controllers which interface with this type of memory. And it is to stump up royalty payments to Rambus when using these technologies. At last, some good news for Rambus, possibly the world's most unpopular and, …

    Channel 1 Nov 2000, 13:49

  • Insiders help Windows code leak to warez sites, claims ‘finder’

    Just a bit of fun, and nobody got hurt, right?

    Microsoft's network security problems consist largely of two things - people, and the fact that there's demand for its software. Free, preferably. Practically all companies have the first problem, but Microsoft's problems with warez sites and piracy loom rather larger than, say, Sun's, IBM's or Oracle's. So go figure. People on …

    Software 1 Nov 2000, 13:56

  • The Top Ten Net con tricks

    If you're not stupid or greedy you'll be fine

    The US Federal Trade Commission has launched a crackdown on Internet con merchants. This means it has posted a list of the top ten online rip-off tricks and suggestions on how to avoid being taken in. The advice is basically: Don't be stupid. Don't be greedy. Don't be stupid and greedy. If it looks too good to be true, it is …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 14:03

  • BTOpenwoe revises scale of USB driver error problem

    Still not good

    BTOpenwoe has revised downwards the number of people it claims received the wrong software drivers for their Alcatel ADSL USB modems. A spokesman for BT's broadband outfit said that only a third of those people using the USB service were affected. Earlier, BTOpenwoe said 75 per cent of punters suffered the problem. Although …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 14:15

  • Ken Russell uses Web to find film-loving lover

    Must look like Alan Bates or Oliver Reed

    Red-faced film director Ken Russell has placed an online ad looking for a lady in his life. It says: Unbankable film director, Ken Russell, seeks Lady Soul Mate Mad about Movies, Music and Moet & Chandon Champagne Genuine replies should contact Ken via Iain Fisher at Savage Messiah here Ken Russell The site. allows you to …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 14:17

  • Hampshire cops caught using counterfeit MS software

    Updated MS and reseller use installation as case study

    Microsoft has set the law on the coppers of Hampshire after it discovered the force was using counterfeit copies of Microsoft Office Pro 97. Officers from the City of London arrested four men yesterday in connection with the crime, reports The Sun. Three of the men work for Protocol Solutions, the integrators who set up the …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 15:30

  • Edmonds to run Oftel for three more years

    Successful, stimulating

    Patricia Hewitt has re-appointed David Edmonds as Director General of Oftel. Edmonds starts his second stretch in charge of the winged watchdog on 1 April 2001. The three-year post ends officially in March 2004 - although Edmonds has staked his reputation on making local loop unbundling a success. If LLU were to suffer serious …

    Data Networking 1 Nov 2000, 16:20

  • Corporate skinflints upset PC projections

    EuroTrash

    European PC shipments grew 9.9 per cent for the third quarter - hampered by the weak Euro and Windows 2000. Shipments reached 8.1 million for the period, but growth was slower than the long-term average - of around 15 per cent, according to Dataquest. This was the third consecutive quarter of single digit growth. Dataquest …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 16:34

  • Napster nukes CD sales

    Through cdnow.com at least, claims survey

    Napster - like home taping in the 80s - is killing music. At least that's what the music industry is going to start hollering once it gets hold of market researcher PC Data's latest numbers. PC Data's latest survey of the buying habits of some 120,000 US home-based Net surfers shows that Napster users soon cut the number of …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • Japanese couple kill themselves after suicide website meet

    The game of life is hard to play

    A Japanese man and woman have killed themselves after meeting in the chat room of a suicide website. The two, a 46-year-old dentist and a 25-year-old woman, made a death pact after meeting only a month ago. They met for the first time just a few days before taking their lives the BBC reports, but exchanged a lot of emails …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • Is God an Intel stockholder?

    AMD launch hit by storms and plagues of frogs

    The paranoid might well be wondering weather (sic) the biblically-proportioned storms that swept across Europe yesterday had anything to do with AMD's mega press bash to announce its plans for DDR memory. Dozens of hacks from across Europe were heading for Paris when the cataclysmic maelstrom hit. One Reg staffer spent several …

    Bootnotes 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • Readers' Letters Bad ads, cheap gaming, lame braining

    The issues of the day. Discussed.

    Read all about it Intel's Blue men make us blue Andrew pointed out that the latest Intel TV ads are crap. People seem to agree. Mega Joy gives sub £10 NES ecstasy Cheapo retro gaming from cheapo tat shops Crypto challenge melange Cheaters and chancers fail to get the message

    Letters 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • MS to launch ‘free’ iPaq with Compaq

    Punters sell their soul for three years to get rebates

    Compaq and Microsoft are to flog "free" Internet appliances. The iPaq IA-2 is the second device to be launched in tandem from the industry heavyweights in the last few months. It is to be sold in Radio Shack shops in the US for $499, but punters are promised a $400 rebate from Microsoft, and another $100 from Compaq. …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • Lycos Europe buys Multimania for £130m

    The new number two Web site in France

    Lycos Europe has coughed up E222 million (£129 million) for French portal Multimania, making the combined entity the second largest Web site in France - according to Lycos. We don't know what the number one is - probably Wanadoo or something. Anyway, it's a share-for-share thing - seven Lycos Europe shares for every three …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • Sega out to steal lead in console software biz

    Wants 25 per cent marketshare

    Sega has confirmed hints that the company intends to recast itself as a software and services business and move away from its traditional game console focus. Central to the strategy is support for rival vendors' machines, a plan that's been hinted at before by Sega staffers, and made official when the company reported its …

    Software 1 Nov 2000, 16:43

  • SMS ovulation comp provokes flood of filth

    Her: Go to work on an egg. Him: Just slam in the lamb

    We recently reported that motherandbaby.co.uk were offering an SMS messaging service for would-be parents. Around the time of ovulation, men are advised "Tonight's the night", while ladies are directed : "It's time to get into bed." It's hardly the sort of stuff to induce bodice-ripping sexual frenzy. Accordingly, we invited …

    Bootnotes 1 Nov 2000, 16:59

  • Cyber Rights Hush up new RIP powers

    They can't read your emails, even if they want to. Sort of

    Cyber Rights.net has "formed an alliance" with Hush Communications to beat new RIP powers by offering super-encrypted email off its site. It's so darn secure that when your boss decides he wants to snoop and read all your personal and work emails, he'll end up red-faced and frustrated. That's amazing you say. Well, yes, but …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 17:04

  • HWRoundup: Crystal balls and pornography

    Unusual topics for hardwarelanders

    If you have had enough of cynical journalists and reviewers being nasty about everything they come across, then you may need a breath of fresh air. An enthusiastic review (to say the least) of a 24 inch widescreen monitor from Game PC should go some way to redress the balance. Over at the good doctor's place, Van Smith comes …

    Hardware Roundup 1 Nov 2000, 17:20

  • Intel fleshes out server offerings

    New mobos, system units aimed at integrators

    Intel has beefed up its server offerings with new 2, 4 and 8 way server mobos for Pentium III and Xeon processors, along with (almost) ready to run system units. At the (relatively) low end is the STL2, which supports one or two Pentium III processors and features a 133 MHz system bus, six PCI slots (two of which are 64bit/66 …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 17:25

  • IBM touts skinny black desktop PC

    it's what you do with it

    IBM has launched a skinnier and cheaper desktop PC. In black. The NetVista A20 is about the size of a VCR machine (3.5in x 12.5in x 15.4in) and comes with either an Intel Celeron or Pentium III chip. Big Blue aims to push the machines primarily onto business punters who are after a cheap PC that doesn't take up too much space …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 17:33

  • Vote-auction.com legal wrangles continue

    Lawsuits stack up but vote buying goes on regardless

    The controversial site vote-auction.com is still buying and selling votes for the US presidential election despite a backlog of lawsuits against it. At least four states have started legal proceedings against the site but it remains unclear whether the law is actually being broken. Vote prices vary from state to state, with …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 17:40

  • Is there an end to waiting 3-10 days for a cheque to clear?

    IBM and US banks launch cheque imaging archive

    IBM and two of the US' biggest banks have formed a company to create a digital archive of cheque images. This should speed up cheque processing, and allow Web access to cheque images. Can it be true? Is there an end to waiting anywhere between 3 and 10 days for a bloody cheque to clear? It looks quite like it as long as the UK …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 18:18

  • Intel claimed to have squeezed IBM to dump Transmeta

    But Transmeta gains Compaq as consolation prize

    IBM's decision to dump its planned Crusoe-based ThinkPad 240 had nothing to do with benchmarks, and everything to do with Intel, according to sources close to Transmeta. Quanta, which was to build the machines, was surprised when the project was abruptly cancelled; one Transmeta partner who declined to be named told The Register …

    Business 1 Nov 2000, 18:29

  • Pro footballer hits on chat room teen

    From minor league to beleaguring minors

    A US professional football player is in custody over allegedly making sexual advances to a teen he met over the Net. The 15-year-old girl told police she first encountered John Willis Davidson in an online chat room. At the time he was playing for the Bismarck Blaze of the Arena Football League, and allegedly used his status to …

    Music and Media 1 Nov 2000, 21:11

  • BOFH: Call in the Specialist

    Episode 37 The devil is in the e-tail

    BOFH 2000: Episode 37 "..Well I think in that case, perhaps we should get a specialist in!" The Boss counters in response to the sad news that neither The PFY nor I know a single thing about 'e-tail' - and are unlikely to want to learn in the foreseeable future. "In fact I might know just the man. Worked with him in Beirut you …

    BOFH 1 Nov 2000, 21:25