13th December 2000 Archive
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Fun with Internet bugs
How to get your boss sacked
In a recent story we expressed scepticism over claims that the famous HTML bug - an invisible one-pixel image embedded in an HTML document or e-mail message referencing another image on a remote server - could be used for more than verifying e-mail addresses and garnering IPs. We asked our readers to suggest more malicious uses …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 05:51
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Palm signs Samsung for smartphones, unveils OS 4.0
But CDMA only, and no Bluetooth
Palm unveiled a major new OS revision and announced Samsung as a phone licensee at its PalmSource developer conference today. The Korean giant will ship a CDMA smartphone "mid to end Q2" next year, Samsung executives told us. They made no commitment to producing a similar GSM capable model. Palm has already signed deals with …
Software 13 Dec 2000, 06:15
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Toshiba squares California with $30m ‘fine’
Those pesky FDD controllers again
Toshiba has stumped up $30 million to settle claims from a clutch of California state agencies which bought laptops containing faulty floppy disk controllers from the company. This is bad news for Toshiba - and its shareholders. In January, the company shelled out $2.1 billion to satisfy product liability claims that it …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 08:18
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Compaq joins profit warning parade
Those pesky American consumers again
Compaq, the world's biggest PC maker, is the latest tech firm to issue a profits warning. And once again (viz. Gateway, Apple, Intel, AMD, world+dog) it blames the lack of consumer buyers in America. Big Q says it will undershoot previously announced sales targets by eight to ten per cent - it estimates it will now generates …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 08:52
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World citizen Intel sued in diversity case
150,000 bucks demanded
Intel is being sued by Webhire Inc, a firm which describes itself as the "number one choice" in recruiting solutions. The federal action, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts - that's Boston to you and me - alleges that Intel breached a contract it had with Webhire. The case was filed on Pearl Harbor …
Channel 13 Dec 2000, 09:44
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Rambus over-priced, over-specced and over there
Rambus for PCs stuffed if P4 fails
Kingston Technology, one of Rambus' major partners in the market for PC memory, has confirmed what we all know, or rather suspected: that RIMMs are still highly overpriced, selling for two and a half times the price of SDRAM. SDRAM prices have plummeted over the last two weeks, Kingston said. A source at Kingston's HQ in …
Channel 13 Dec 2000, 10:20
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Iridium boss targets bulk buyers
You want airtime, we got it
Iridium Satellite, the new owner of the space-based comms network left behind after the original Iridium collapsed, has begun lining up deals with governments and service providers throughout the world now that its key foundation contract has been signed, the company said yesterday. The company is talking to agencies in Russia …
Data Networking 13 Dec 2000, 10:36
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Obsessed, death-threat emailer to go down
The world is safe from one online nutter
A Portsmouth man was found guilty yesterday of threatening to kill an American woman he met online. Paul Clark, an electronics engineer, became obsessed with Brandy Arnett after chatting with her via email. When he discovered she was already married he became enraged and started sending her threatening emails. In one, he said …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 11:01
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CenterSpan snaps up Scour for $9m
Sees off Liquid Audio, Listen.com
Liquid Audio and Listen.com were both outbid yesterday for the remains of failed movie sharing and Net search company Scour.com. The winner: CenterSpan Communications, with a $9 million in a mix of cash and stock. The deal, made up of $5.5 million in cash and $3.5 million in CenterSpan shares, simply covers Scour's technology …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 11:17
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Athlon, Duron get new mobile chipset
VIA adds PowerNow! to KT133
VIA has added PowerNow! support to its Apollo KT133 chipset, ready for the launch of AMD's Palomino and Morgan mobiles next year. The KT133A is pin-compatible with its predecessor and supports both 200 and 266MHz FSB. The mobile Athlons and Durons are due in the first half of 2001, but the KT133A is also suitable for desktop …
Channel 13 Dec 2000, 11:36
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M$ signs Electronic Arts for Xbox
Won't say how much it paid, though...
Microsoft has improved Xbox's chances in the videogame console league by signing Electronic Arts, the world's leading independent PC and PlayStation games developer, onto the team. Of course, nothing comes for nothing, and clearly some of Microsoft's extensive Xbox budget has been spent persuading EA to join it. Neither …
Software 13 Dec 2000, 12:36
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Register launches VultureFone™
Vulturise 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 …
Site News 13 Dec 2000, 12:49
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MS coughs up $97m to settle permatemp case
Doesn't look so clever split between 12,000 though...
Microsoft has agreed to cough up $97 million to settle its long running legal dispute with the "permatemps." A lawsuit on behalf of these workers, many of whom had held down "temporary" jobs at Microsoft for years, was filed against the company in 1992, and has been cranking through the system ever since. Long-stay temporary …
Software 13 Dec 2000, 13:02
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Shatner to boldly leave Priceline
TV legend waves goodbye to ailing Web site
William Shatner of Star Trek fame has parted ways with online reverse auction house Priceline.com following a share dive that has seen the value of his holding plummet from £10 million to £155,000. Mr Shatner was a well-known frontman for the company and did a range of commercials and voiceovers for which he was paid in stock. …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 13:26
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We Asked Jeeves why it sacked 180 people
Not the answer we wanted
Ask Jeeves said yesterday that it would shed 25 per cent of its workforce - around 180 jobs - as part of a restructuring plan that would save it $45 million. The company is expected to take a charge of between $10 million and $12 million for the reshuffle. Interestingly enough, if you go to the AskJeeves site and ask Jeeves why …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 13:49
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EOEPOEUROIPO
Force de Merger
NewMedia SPARK today said that EO, its online share distribution platform for retail investors, is to acquire the Swedish online retail IPO outfit, EPO.com, for an undisclosed sum. The all-share deals values EO shares at £1.50 each. All we have to do now is find out how many EO shares there are out there. To date, EPO has had a …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 13:49
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Class action tilts at NSI domain name hoard
It's dead, you can't have it
Aggrieved wannabuy domain name punters are invited to join a lawsuit to force Network Solutions International (NSI) to release its hoard of expired and pdomain names. Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton (HWN&N) is seeking affidavits from people who have unsuccessfully tried to register expired domain names with Network Solutions. The …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 13:49
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Pentium 4 Linux problem all Chipzilla's fault, apparently
Forgot to tell anybody. But now SuSE runs too...
Intel seems to be largely to blame for the fact that many Linux distributions won't install on the Pentium 4. According to the latest Linux 2.2.18 kernel notes, Chipzilla's big mistake was to break the usual pattern in CPUID model numbering without telling people - or at least without telling them loudly enough. According to …
Channel 13 Dec 2000, 13:49
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Govt slags off Oftel – between the lines
Effective competition - not
Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers delivered a a vote of no confidence in the telecoms regulator yesterday following the announcement of the shake up of the communications industry and the creation of a new super regulator, Ofcom. In a statement Byers said: "We now live and work in a new world where TV, telecoms and the …
Data Networking 13 Dec 2000, 13:55
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Xmas draw – time's up
Deadline expires for our Yule bonanza
It's been quite a fortnight in the Vulture Central competitions department. Thousands of Reg readers finally entered our monumental prize draw already, and we've now got to pick some winners. We have been kept hugely entertained by the numerous miscreants who have submitted multiple entries. Last week, Benjamin Knigge and Martin …
Bootnotes 13 Dec 2000, 13:58
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Britain the best Net country in Europe
And that's sort of official: more survey gubbins
We don't like surveys, but when two of our favourites - Forrester and MMXI - tell us that Britain is leading the way in Europe when it comes to the Internet, we forget our pervasive cynicism and put on the patriotic hat. Because that's just what the good ole UK is doing. We have 12.5 million people connected to the Internet, …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 15:05
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Software fault forces Ford recall
110,000 Explorers need reprogramming
Car giant Ford has instigated a recall of 110,000 Explorer and Mountaineer sport utility vehicles because of a programming glitch in the car's cruise control equipment. A month ago, Ford denied claims in a UK TV show that cruise control problems had caused a number of Explorers to accelerate suddenly without warning. At the …
Software 13 Dec 2000, 15:11
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Intel Irish fab to slip a year
Updated But goes straight to 300mm wafers
Chipzilla has delayed starting production at its new Fab 24 in Leixlip, Ireland, by 12 months to the second half of 2002. Plans for the $2 billion, 135,000sq ft fab were unveiled in June when it was announced that the factory would be used principally to build Pentium 4s on a 130nm process. But a slump in chip demand has given …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 16:09
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Amazon in BSA anti-piracy love in
Not like those other horrid auction sites
The Business Software Alliance has issued an anti-piracy code of practice for Internet auction sites and has awarded its first merit certificate to goody two-shoes Amazon.com. "It is always a deep honor to be recognized for the thing we care about most - the customer experience," gushes Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith, who's …
Software 13 Dec 2000, 16:24
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Blackmailer posts credit card details on the Net
Hackers mock site's lax security
A computer cracker lifted 55,000 credit card numbers from Creditcards.com and then posted the information on the Internet after an unsuccessful attempt to blackmail the credit card processing firm. The New York Times said it had been told by "a person close to the investigation" that an intruder contacted Creditcards.com after …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 16:37
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Super regulator won't censor Net
Well, that's what Ofcom says now...
The new super regulator - the Office of Communications (Ofcom) - will continue to wage war on illegal material on the Net although Government preference appears to remain in self-regulation. It seems Ofcom does not want to be a heavy-handed regulator - at least when it comes to Net content. For example there's no mention of …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 16:44
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EZBid goes titsup.com
Auction site going going gone
It is becoming increasingly clear that if you are not eBay, or a white-labelled Fairmarket auction (like MSN and ZDNet) then you should leave well alone. Take a look at EZBid.com, the US online auction business, which has gone titsup.com. The Seattle-based firm is shutting its doors to new lots as of December 15 and has put its …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 16:54
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Govt's wish is Net for all
With an election on the way, this brings a tear to the eye
The Government intends to make the Net available to every single soul in Britain by 2005, according to the Communications White Paper published yesterday. In what is merely a reaffirmation of policy already published by the Government, it claims it will meet it its pledge for universal access thanks to a range of initiatives …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 16:56
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What if you build a hub and no one turns up?
Hyperchannel flannel
Hyperchannel has scaled back operations and is changing its business model, after failing to attract the support of IT disties, MicroScope reports. The company has made 12 people redundant and closed down some local offices on the Continent, Hyperchannel originally positioned itself as a B2B trading hub for the channel, but …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 17:11
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The year is 2020 and it's a digicrime nightmare scenario
Says govt thinktank
A government think tank, Foresight, has produced a report on the future of crime in a world that has gone online. The world of the criminal will be radically changed by new technology. Rather than nicking your car stereo, the thief of 2020 will be after your whole digital persona. Electronic theft and fraud will happen faster, …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 17:13
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IGClick ditches unmetered Net access
Same old excuse - blames punters for using it too much
Another whinging ISP, IGClick, is to can its unmetered Net access service blaming punters for using the service too much. No one from the ISP bothered to answer the phone when The Register called this afternoon. It just rang dead - which is nice. Great customer service. Not. Instead, the ISP hid behind a statement posted on …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 17:15
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Sun is top dog in Unix market
Server sales on the up across all platforms
Sun Microsystems is keeping ahead of its competitors in the Unix server market according to the latest figures from market analysts IDC. An IDC report on the server market, released today, shows Sun is ahead of Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Compaq in terms of both shipments and revenues. Sun has 39 per cent of the Unix server …
Business 13 Dec 2000, 17:22
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Orange now not charging for 0800 calls
But will start again in January
Orange has caught a bit of flak this week when it came to light that it had started charging for 0800 data calls, without informing customers. The charges kicked in on 1 December but went unnoticed until this Monday. Unsurprisingly, Orange customers had something to say about this. Orange quickly told those who complained that …
Data Networking 13 Dec 2000, 17:27
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US Supremes hand White House to Dubya
'We had to, honest....'
The US Supreme Court issued an unsigned ruling late Tuesday night which found by a margin of five to four that the state-wide manual re-counts ordered by Florida's Supreme Court violate equal rights on grounds that there is no consistent standard for judging whether a vote was cast; and remanded the case, with considerable irony …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 17:31
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FTC mulls wireless privacy
While cops quietly cheer
Government-mandated technology capable of determining a mobile phone user's physical location dominated a daylong conference about privacy and security issues in the wireless industry, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington Tuesday. "It's a level of information that hasn't heretofore been available," acknowledged …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 17:54
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P4 party people
HWRoundup Xmas gaming and mobo raving
Planet Hardware has finished its review of the P4. After all the confusion over at Dr T's, this lot reckoned they'd wait until all the votes were recounted. Click here to get the rest of their thoughts on the beast. OC Workbench has put a review of the AOPEN AK73Pro together. It seems that AOpen's investment in the old R&D …
Hardware Roundup 13 Dec 2000, 17:59
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Ofcom – all mouth, no trousers and very hard to swallow
Can't you just taste the fudge?
Despite the rhetoric from Government spinsters, Ofcom - the new super regulator that will oversee Britain's communication industry - will be an impotent regulator unable to deal with the likes of BT. The Communications White Paper acknowledges that it is important that Ofcom has "sufficient powers to carry out its duties" and …
Data Networking 13 Dec 2000, 18:03
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Verizon digs out from spam blizzard
Will angry ISPs give us a break?
Major American ISP and Gargantuan telecomms generalist Verizon (a monstrosity produced by the marriage of Bell Atlantic and GTE) was deluged with so much spam last week that its servers were unable to function at times, and left customers with something like a 24-hour e-mail delivery delay. It just so happens that The Register' …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 18:54
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Spoofed story pokes fun at Gore
Veep hijacks truckload of ballots - allegedly
A subtle method to produce spoofed news stories so that they appear to come from reputable news sources has been used to poke fun at Al Gore. At first sight, any user pointing their browser at this site would think CNN had a world exclusive on the Vice President's attempt to hijack a truck full of ballots in a bizarre attempt …
Music and Media 13 Dec 2000, 20:39
