12th December 2000 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Motorola offers Palm an ARMball lifeline

But will it roll here in time?

Motorola offered Palm a rope bridge yesterday by announcing new 32-bit ARM-based processors that include elements of the 16-bit Dragonball chips it uses today. However, the timescales suggested in Santa Clara will not permit Palm to deliver the integrated telephony-capable PDAs it has promised for the end of 2001 on the ' …

Channel 12 Dec 2000, 08:07
Taiwanese axis beats AMD, Intel to .13 micron

Scary Taiwanese firms kiss 'n' make up

Via and the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) may have had their differences earlier this year but those seem to have been settled behind the scenes. That is, if you believe the joint statement just issued by the two firms which claim the first "functional" wafers which will power future Via chips. Functional …

Channel 12 Dec 2000, 08:46
AMD-Intel ‘big willy’ boasts backfire

Megahurts madness badly rebounds

Computer and chip journalists found themselves the unwilling pawns of the PR wings of both AMD and Intel throughout this year and the end of last, but it looks like their boastful claims have cost the industry dearly. Throughout the year, Chipzilla and Chimpzilla each beat their hirsute chests, and month after month leapfrogged …

Channel 12 Dec 2000, 09:32
Smackdown! Wrestling site publishes customer logs

Who said e-commerce systems had to be dull?

Mixing Microsoft's technology brawn with Pro-Wrestling's brains was a disaster waiting to happen, and so it has turned out to be. A poorly-configured NT server run by the US World Wrestling Federation is inadvertently providing transaction records for thousands of customers of the site. It doesn't publish their credit card …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 10:20
Register launches VultureFone™

Registerise your mobile phone!

How's this for a Christmas treat? Want to give your mobile phone that Register touch? Then customise your phone with your favourite newssite's Vulture logo. Those clever guys at WapMX, one of the UK's leading WAP and SMS developers, have put together a way of beaming the Reg logo via SMS. You can send the logo to your phone as …

Register Links 12 Dec 2000, 10:24
AOL talks to Sony about PlayStation 2 deal

Wants to bundle Net access with Sony's new console

AOL is talking to Sony about providing access to its online service and the Internet to all those PlayStation 2 users out there. Well, the ones who've managed to get hold of a console, at least. The world's biggest ISP is also chatting with Toyota, about in-car Net access services, the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 11:15
Car black box privacy threat

Don't upset your motor - it might see you in court

Car giant General Motors is facing a lawsuit claiming that it has violated privacy laws by installing black box recorders in its vehicles to record information about speed, braking and seat belt use in the moments leading up to a crash, reports Bloomberg. The suit claims that the world's largest car company failed to tell …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 11:42
Government drowned by Net demand

Environment Agency spluttering under weight of users

A tide of Internet users looking for information on the UK flood situation has shaken the Environment Agency's Web site and caused it to ask its own staff not to use the service if they can avoid it. Extremely heavy rainfall last month put large areas of Britain under water. The rains eventually stopped, but the ground is …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 11:43
World's smallest wine glass boost for drink drivers

But can you get a drop of wine small enough to fit in it?

NEC boffins have built a wine glass 200,000 times smaller than normal. 'Why?' might be one immediate response. 'Do the laws of physics allow the formation of a drop of wine that small?' could be another. Researchers built the glass from carbon with an external diameter of 2750nm, approximately 200,000 times smaller than a …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 11:44
Palm sales to surpass expectations – Bear Stearns

The PC market is down, but PDAs are on the up

The PC market may be depressed, but demand for PDAs - and those from Palm and Handspring in particular - remains high, according to a survey by US broker Bear Stearns. The company claims 54 out of 100 retailers it contacted at the end of November said demand for PalmOS-based devices is running higher than expectations, with …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 12:06
Energis would prefer Dutch oven…

...ahead of advances from KPNQwest

Energis has shrugged off reports that Dutch telco KPNQwest has singled it out as a possible takeover target. KPNQwest's financial director, Willem Ackermans, told Het Financieele Dagblad: "On paper, Energis is the best takeover candidate for us. "They're looking for a market in Europe and we are looking in the UK." According …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 12:11
Sun denies accounting irregularities

Rumours and analyst reports hit share price

Sun Microsystems has denied rumours that "accounting irregularities" might force it to revise its stated revenues. The rumours, combined with analyst reports casting doubt on Sun's future sales, knocked around 13 per cent from the computer manufacturer's share price before a partial recovery, according to the Financial Times. …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 12:27
PlayStation 2 Web store owner arrested for fraud

Mounties swoop as PS Two scams continue

Police in Canada yesterday arrested the developer of two Web sites allegedly created solely to rip off potential PlayStation 2 owners. Canadian Scott Byers, 20, launched the sites, PS2storeusa.com and PS2storecanada.com, to offer the next-generation Sony console for up to $599, well above the machine's retail price. After it …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 12:42
Compaq shows off PCI-X prototype

But pathway speed only 100MHz

The industry got its first sniff of the long awaited PCI-X connection technology yesterday as Compaq released the first prototype computers for testing. The connection standard was put forward originally in 1998 by Compaq, HP and IBM as a way of doubling the speed of the PCI pathway. Intel was on board not long afterwards. It …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 12:44
More DDR chipsets coming RSN

SiS goes for AMD and Intel support

Another brace of DDR chipsets are on the way. SiS' 635 and 735 are designed for Intel Socket 370 and AMD Socket A processors respectively. The 635 will also support Intel's forthcoming 0.13 micron Pentium III die shrink, Tualatin. The 635 and 735 support DDR 266, DDR 200 and PC133 SDRAM and integrate the South and North Bridges …

Channel 12 Dec 2000, 12:49
Vizzavi frogmarches Brit users to toe Euro line

L'outfit gone barking mad

British Net users are being forced to adopt European Net practices - and all in the name of uniformity. Vizzavi users who have an unorthodox email address will be left to rot following the launch of a new platform next week. Those users who don't have a name.name@vizzavi.whatever moniker have until Monday 18 December to change …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 13:07
The deathknell for 3G phones?

Not bloody likely

A Finnish professor reckons he has the means by which to make 3G phones obsolete, making a mockery of the billions spent on the spectrum licences for the next-generation phones. According to the Daily Telegraph, Hannu Kari plans to use the 2.4GHz radio frequency to get a huge 11Mbps download on new-style phones. He has …

Data Networking 12 Dec 2000, 13:10
Voodoo 4 or 3 cash dilemma

HWRoundup Socket A OC masterclass

You want Anand's take on the new Intel manufacturing stuff? Click here. And he even managed to restrict himself to a mere seven pages. The Voodoo4 4500. Worth the effort or should we all spend the extra cash and get a Voodoo3? Click here to see what it does that made the boys at HardOCP get so happy - and keep going till the …

Hardware Roundup 12 Dec 2000, 13:48
Computer games cripple kiddies

Nippers struck down by RSI and stigmata

Not content with wasting the health service's time by jamming their heads into saucepans and falling out of trees, kids have found a new way of damaging themselves - and all in the safety of their own homes. Doctors are reporting an alarming rise of 'nintendonitis' - damage to the hands caused by excessive use of computer games …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 13:49
Nasa backs project to develop crash-proof computers

This can't be in the interest of IT industry

IT industry heavyweights have this week signed up to work on Nasa-backed research project whose bold aim is to make computer crashes a thing of the past. The eventual aim of the High Dependability Computing Consortium, which was launched yesterday, is to develop computer systems that will not fail. Members of the consortium, …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 13:52
World's largest Linux supercomputer to sniff out oil

Shell shells out on Big Blue bloodhound

Petroleum company Shell will use what it reckons will be the world's largest Linux-based supercomputer to help ensure the West doesn't run out of gasoline just yet. The machine is actually being put together by IBM, which will by networking a cluster of 1024 of its xSeries servers - a kiloserver? - all running the open source …

Business 12 Dec 2000, 15:09
Chinese chap's cancer chronicle cheated censor

But sadly he's dead

A Chinese man, who published excerpts of his diary online describing his last months alive, has died of cancer. Lu Youqing provoked controversy in China by writing frankly about his incurable cancer. Traditionally death is treated with deference in China, and Lu Youqing was writing very publicly about his illness. He published …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 15:12
Reg to fight for Harry Potter ‘cybersquatter’

We won't have huge companies bullying young girls

Following our story on Friday regarding 15-year-old Claire Field, who was served with a legal letter from Warner Brothers ordering her to hand over her www.harrypotterguide.co.uk domain, we have been inundated with angry readers pledging their support. It's certainly not the first time that Warner Brothers has used legal might …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 16:31
Apple, Sun, Cisco et al to set streaming media standard

But so is Microsoft... But so is RealNetworks...

A bunch of famous companies and a not-so-famous one today unveiled the latest in a very long line of industry bodies to develop a set of open standards, in this case streaming live audio and video over the Net. The companies, Apple, Sun, Cisco, Philips and... er... Kasenna, will become the first members of the Internet …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 16:41
Lancashire louts nick Reg stories

Regional paper rips us off

In a text book demonstration of how to flout copyright law, the Lancashire Evening Post has pilfered a couple of stories from El Reg. Who ever did this gets the Cheeky Monkey of the Month award. The first one originally appeared on El Reg on December 6 also appeared in the Internet Section of the Lancashire Evening Post. …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 16:43
Linux lacks P4 support – nobody at all dead

And be honest - were you really straining at the bit?

Most current Linux distributions don't run on the Pentium 4, but it's nobody's fault, and nobody much cares. Intel itself confirms that only Red Hat and TurboLinux will install on the P4, but rather than this being a case of rival distributions being starved of vital technical information by Chipzilla, it seems the other outfits …

Channel 12 Dec 2000, 16:49
Net anonymity project piles in

Virtual ski masks comin at ya

An ambitious technical effort to guarantee anonymity on the Internet has reached an important milestone. Early ideas for a standard, called NymIP, that will foster anonymous communications and Web browsing for Internet users are to be presented at this week's meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force in San Diego. Started …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 17:15
Govt announces creation of super comms regulator

Updated Winged watchdog Oftel to be put down

The British Government has unveiled plans to shake-up the media and communications industry with the announcement of an all-powerful, all consuming, super regulator. The office for Communications - or Ofcom, as it is to be known - will be responsible for TV, radio, the Net and telecommunications, according to the Communications …

Data Networking 12 Dec 2000, 17:23
Rudest words in Britain

Wash your keyboard out with soap and water

It is the time of year again for the Broadcasting Standards Commission to release a list of rude words, in the order of how offensive we Brits find them. This provides us with a terrific excuse to print lots of foul language. The Reg suspects it will use most of the words listed in the near future, bar the racist ones. …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 17:48
Anti-WalMart domain win claimed as sea-change

But it's nothing of the sort. Sadly

WIPO has ruled against a huge conglomerate! We know, unbelievable as it may seem, it's true. Kenneth J. Harvey is officially entitled not to have his www.wallmartcanadasucks.com taken off him and given to a faceless organisation. The judges did slap Ken's wrist however, calling him childish and unfair. This decision was …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 18:11
AOL spammer pleads guilty to forgery

Porn and trash merchant to get comeuppance

A man who spammed millions of AOL subscribers with pornography and get-rich-quick schemes has pleaded guilty to second-degree forgery in a US District court. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the prosecution is believed to be the first of its kind in the country. "This office will not relinquish the vanguard of technology to …

Music and Media 12 Dec 2000, 18:15
Is this the greatest ever email hoax?

Updated The tale of Claire Swire, swallowing and the new boy at Norton Rose

Email is an amazing medium - people can communicate with hundreds of others with enormous speed and information can be disseminated faster, across more of the planet than ever before. Amazing. However, it can also be abused - and if you're a smart lawyer, to great effect. We have to admit, we were taken in at first when we …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:18
Yummy Claire gets in touch with The Reg

There seems to be more than one. Gulp.

Well, following on from the Claire swallowing saga that is currently doing the rounds on email, we have found two so-called responses from Ms Swire herself. Of course, what you have to bear in mind is that the Christmas party season has kicked off and so young professionals staggering back from long, boozy lunches are liable to …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:18
MobShop UK goes titsup.com

Of its own accord, mind

Another British dotcom has decided to give up the ghost rather than tough it out in an increasingly difficult marketplace. MobShop UK - which develops software for group buying Web sites - has said it has "chosen to voluntarily cease trading at the beginning of next year", according to a communication seen by The Register. …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:19
Online hack exceeds call of duty in sex report

Get that man a cigarette

A Hong Kong hack has set a worrying precedent in online journalism by going way beyond the call of duty for an "investigative" report on the sex trade. The article, posted on the Internet at HKCyber, shows a 16-minute clip of the journalist trotting through a sleazy red light area and picking up a prostitute. The two then make …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:20
Captain Cyborg spouts rubbish on CNN

When will the mainstream media turn their brains on?

Strewth, Kevin Warwick has popped up again spouting his chip gibberish. He's done well this time and made it to CNN. A natural movement towards the US perhaps where "pioneers" such as himself tend to get an easier time of it. It's the same old guff - he'll put a chip in his arm and then he can record pain/open doors/communicate …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:22
Paxman vs Warwick: Radio 4 special

Guess who comes off best

Ole Captain Cyborg, Kevin Warwick, got more than he bargained for on Radio 4 yesterday morning. Leaping at another opportunity for publicity, he went on the Start The Week programme and was faced by rottweiler interviewer Jeremy Paxman. Unfortunately, Paxman wasn't as well briefed as he could have been and so had to content …

Bootnotes 12 Dec 2000, 19:22