4th December 2000 Archive

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Real IRA gets into computer piracy

The Armalite and the PlayStation

The Real IRA, the dissident Republican outfit behind the Omagh bomb that killed 29 people two years ago, is using computer piracy to raise funds, The Sunday Times claims. The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the industry controlled anti-piracy body, can breathe a sigh of relief (for the time being) - the Real IRA is …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 07:45
Time Computers in ‘urgent refinancing talks’

Short-term blip?

Time Computers is in "urgent refinancing talks with HSBC", according to Sunday Business. The Lancashire-based system builder/retailer has been knocked sideways by falling prices and over-expansion on the retail side, according to the paper. It quotes a source "close to the discussions" with HSBC who describes Time's status as …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 08:27
GameBoy outsells PlayStation 2

Japanese gamers turn to portable systems

Japan's love affair with the PlayStation 2 is officially over. Sony's console has at long last been knocked off the top of the games machine chart, and is now at number three. The new leader? Nintendo's GameBoy Color. However, Sony has one consolation: its re-engineered PlayStation, the PS One, took the number two slot. And its …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 10:03
MSN helps people lift your stuff, puts it on mugs, then sells it

Communities move looks pervertedly Napsterish...

The Microsoft Network may have to raid itself. A groovy new facility available in MSN communities allows you to steal other people's pictures and then get MSN's partners in copyright conundrums to shove it on mugs, T shirts and similar which they then sell to you. According to the San Jose Mercury the new service was added in …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 10:42
Motorola allies with ARM

Licenses 32-bit ARM architecture for its own embedded efforts

Motorola has licensed ARM's 32-bit processor architecture and family of chips for an undisclosed but - we'd imagine - significant sum. The deal allows Motorola to produce and sell ARM processors alongside its existing 32-bit embedded lines, including PowerPC, M-Core and ColdFire. The company's semiconductor chief, Fred Shalpak …

Channel 4 Dec 2000, 11:10
SOYO denies everything

'All rumors are not true and without any basis at all'

Rumours in the channel that SOYO was either about to go belly up or bought out by rival mobo maker Chaintech have elicited a remarkably over the top response. So over the top that it makes you wonder exactly what's going on. On SOYO's main Web site is a missive entitled "SOYO Computer Inc. reiterates all rumors are not true and …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 11:55
UK gamers get 0800 Net access

It's not cheap, but then again, it never is

Netgames UK is to launch an unmetered Net gaming service in January giving gamers the chance to indulge in multi-player games without racking up a massive phone bill. The service - which is specifically built to handle gamers - will cost £25 a month, although a beta version is available for punters to test for free until the …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 11:56
Leechnet can't cope, won't cope

Porn Napster disabled

Well, we're not sure whether it's The Reg's success, Leechnet's poor planning, or you punters' unending passion for dirty pics, but the porn Napster site we wrote about on Wednesday of last week has fallen over. A message on its Web site says: "Due to recent media coverage and enormous growth, Leechnet has temporarily been …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 12:00
Lastminute.com reports losses on cue

Cash Register

Shares in online bucket shop Lastminute.com rose slightly in low volume early trading after the dotcom reported a loss of £35.75 million for the full year, compared with just £4.54 million in 1999. According to reports, Lastminute's performance was roughly in line with analyst expectations. Although Lastminute boasts almost …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 12:01
Inside Sun's new clusters

Eight-way, dynamic kernel patching

Sun Microsystems is expected to announce tomorrow the following improvements to its Full Moon clusters: a new home-grown clustered file system, failover to eight nodes as opposed to four, all based on fibre channel, with improvements all round in manageability and failover response times. A few technical showstoppers - such as …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 12:17
Fan-free Athlon Palomino 'runs at 1.5GHz'

Sounds cool if it's true

Following our report last week that AMD was experimenting with a new pure form of silicon (later confirmed by AMD Zone), news reaches The Reg of Chimpzilla's progress with the upcoming Palomino. A new natural substance that disspates heat much better than ceramics is being tested and a Palomino prototype is reported to be …

Channel 4 Dec 2000, 12:42
Palestinian crackers give out tools to attack Israelis

To be used 'only against Jews'

Palestinian crackers have set up a portal that provides one-stop access to hacking tools and viruses, and tips on how to use the tools to mount attacks on Iraeli firms. The move can be seen as a response to Israel's attempt to recruit computer security experts, including Analyzer, who successfully cracked into the Pentagon, as …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 13:22
ShittyGift.com points to online crap merchants

Tis the season for giving

A new site, Shittygift.com, promises to out the online purveyors-of-crap in the run up to Christmas. The idea is that web surfers trying to get some shopping done online will inevitably run into bad products - either naff, outrageously overpriced, or poor quality. When you see an awful product for sale somewhere online, you let …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 13:29
Politicians line up against Euro email snooping laws

Can cyber-rights succeed where BSE failed?

A British politician is to warn her colleagues that proposals currently being drawn up to tackle cybercrime could lead to a Europe-wide version of the UK's controversial email snooping powers. Diana Wallis MEP, Liberal Democrat Internet spokesperson in the European Parliament, has already won assurances from European …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 13:33
Rambus CEO surprises world+dog

Says he's not a lawyer

Mountain View law firm Rambus, Rambus and Rambus held a conference call last week in which a couple of surprising - nay unbelievable - statements were made. CEO Geoff Tate replied to an analyst's question about how much time he spent on legal issues as opposed to looking at future technology with a very unlikely: "In recent …

Channel 4 Dec 2000, 14:31
Police request right to spy on every UK phone call and email

Average Jo will be as closely monitored as a terrorist

A report by the deputy director-general of the National Criminal Intelligence Service - sent to the Home Office and leaked to the Observer newspaper - has shocked many by asking for the legal right to access records of all phone calls, emails and Internet dial-ups made in the UK for a period of up to seven years. The proposals …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 14:39
Pro Linux virus rears its head

Low, medium or high risk depending on who you ask

Out breaks of the newly discovered Linux plugging ProLin virus have been reported in Poland and the American mid-west. Developed by an unknown hacker calling him or herself 'The Penguin', it arrives attached to an e-mail with the subject: "A great Shockwave Flash movie." Once the program is run, the virus emails itself to …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 15:01
Council of Europe drops plans to ban hacking tools

Human rights watchdog told proposals are unworkable

The Council of Europe has scrapped controversial plans to ban the use of "hacking" tools by IT professionals, after industry groups successfully persuaded it that the proposals were unworkable. The proposals were contained in a draft of the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime, which is intended to provide a framework …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 16:00
M$ to spend $100m giving poor kids PCs

Donation amounts to one PC per 134 kids in the first year

Microsoft is going to give $100 million to deprived kids across the US to improve their access to technology, the company said today. The idea is to help close the gap between the digital have and the have-nots. It sounds a laudable scheme. M$ will donate the money under a programme called Club Tech to the Boys and Girls Clubs …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 16:24
AMD 760 needs mobo redesign

Chimpzilla's first erratumnotbug

As originally reported by The Register over a month ago (see AMD 760 DDR chipset delayed), Jan Gütter, an AMD spokesperson in Germany has confirmed that Micron PC is delaying shipment of its 760-based DDR systems with a 266MHz FSB. The problem stems from noise and the spokesman said it could be avoided by 'very minor' …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 16:42
China tells capitalist scum to back off in domain name war

Wants to run Chinese domains itself

China has again scoffed at attempts by Verisign to control Chinese domain names - saying it doesn't want an American outfit running the show. The comments came from Mao Wei, director of the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) - a government-supported domain name registrar in China. "We hope that Chinese people …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 16:48
Bleeding Itanium technology

HWRoundup Plus butchers at KT7 series

The Sharkster is mightily impressed with the Itanium processor family and architecture. Actually, that is something of an understatement. Best to quote directly: "The Itanium has a complex, bleeding edge, forward looking processor family that holds promise for huge gains in processing power... If Intel can deliver, expect to see …

Hardware Roundup 4 Dec 2000, 17:02
Mobile meltdown: Merry Xmas

Silent night, holy night, all is calm

The ever-increasing numbers of mobile phone users may knock over mobile networks this Xmas - if we're lucky. Those of you with Orange phones will already know that the company has had two major network failures in the last month as people rabbit on the phone while walking down the street, standing in shops, drinking in pubs, …

Data Networking 4 Dec 2000, 17:20
Net is passing fad

Ex-surfers destroy Reg business plan

The computer industry has been making wildly exaggerated claims about the social impact of the Internet in order to sell products, according to lots of research. In a report that summarises 22 research projects undertaken by 76 researchers in 25 universities in the UK, Holland, Denmark, and the United States over the last three …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 17:37
BMG to bring music downloads to Europe

Napster-friend plays Santa

BMG Entertainment is to bring a music download trial in Europe through a deal with New York-based Magex. BMG, the music division of Napster-befriender Bertelsmann - says the move is the first part of its plan to put its whole stable of 'artists' - including Christina Aguilera, Kenny G and teen groups Five and Westlife - online …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 17:39
High time for Time Computers

Poor pre-Xmas sales trigger major overhaul

Falling PC prices and sales, combined with the company's own headlong expansion, have forced Time Computers to change its forecasts and business plans. The review comes against the backdrop of reports that Time is seeking urgent refinancing talks with its bankers, HSBC. The Lancashire-based system builder/retailer, well known …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 18:07
Chip sales hit $18.66 billion in October

But Asia Pacific sells less than in September

Worldwide chip sales hit a record $18.66 billion in October, although growth continued to droop in the market. Sales rose 39.4 per cent on the previous year, with the Japanese market seeing the biggest growth with 47.4 per cent, followed by 41.3 per cent in the Americas, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry …

Business 4 Dec 2000, 21:21
Researchers question Carnivore review

'Show us the source code'

A blue-ribbon panel of computer scientists and researchers added fuel to the controversy over the FBI's Carnivore on-line surveillance tool on Monday, calling a recent review of the system inadequate. While crediting the review team with a "good-faith effort" at independent analysis, and lauding the Justice Department's …

Music and Media 4 Dec 2000, 21:21
Was the Internet based on alien technology?

Proof of NASA's attempt to communicate with aliens

An eagle-eyed reader has sent us proof of NASA's attempt to communicate with creatures from other planets, raising questions over the origin of Internet technology. We all know that the Net originated in the US military and let's face it, it's a pretty far-out system. Could it be that it was derived from alien technology …

Bootnotes 4 Dec 2000, 21:43
Sun makes Solaris source available

But not open or free

Sun has made the source code to its Solaris Unix operating system more widely available. (Just as we describedback in January.) But if you'd previously got the impression that Sun was "open sourcing" Solaris in some way, you'd be wide of the mark. Sun says the Solaris 8 Foundation Source Program is for "Research Use" only, …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 22:35
Hackers, Windows NT and the FBI

Retail is detail

The FBI has warned e-tailers to guard against hackers. An alert on the FBI-run National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC) Web site reads: "Based on FBI investigations and other information, the NIPC has observed that there has recently been an increase in hacker activity specifically targeting US systems associated with e …

Software 4 Dec 2000, 22:49