12th January 2001 Archive
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HP slashes Q1 forecasts
Growing uncertainty
Hewlett-Packard issued a profit warning for its first fiscal quarter today. The US computer firm said worsening economic conditions and slowing demand from consumers and corporates, especially in the US, meant sales and profits for the quarter ending 31 January would miss forecasts. It cut its earnings per share forecast to 35 …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 00:33
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Borland Interbase backdoor exposed
Open source reveals foolishly hardcoded password
A back door password has been hidden in Borland/Inprise's popular Interbase database software for at least seven years, potentially exposing tens of thousands of private databases at corporations and government agencies to unauthorized access and manipulation over the Internet, experts say. Analysts report that the account …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 05:45
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No hardware problem Nvidia says
Quaking in our boots
Sources at Nvidia and a number of gaming sites are saying that there is no hardware problem with GeForce 2 cards, and that there is a fix for the glitch we wrote about yesterday, although not from Nvidia itself. Web site NV News, took time out to talk to The Whole Experience's Patrick Moynihan, who helped program the DMZG ( …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 10:43
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Vizzavi upgrade still not fixed
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Vizzavi is still being plagued with technical problems three weeks after it embarked on a platform upgrade. Users have complained that they have been unable to sign in to the Euro portal causing some to consider quitting the service altogether. One comment in the uk.telecom.mobile newsgroup summed up users' experience: "Seems …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 10:54
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Nvidia GeForce 2 DXTC bug exposed
Texture compression glitch in hardware not drivers
In the last few months I have run many test and benchmarks on PC video cards. Although Voodoo 5 is now, unfortunately, passing into history, my attention was grabbed by two cards in particular: the GeForce 2 and ATI's Radeon, writes Fuad Abazovic. While many hardware sites and magazines have looked at these cards in some detail …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 11:08
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We know what Ginger is
Do you want to know about the next revolutionary technology leap?
It'll changed the world. It is stunning. Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos think it's revolutionary. Abook about it has been given $250,000. VCs are throwing money at it. But just what is Ginger? No one seems to know, and the press - IT ones in particular - have been going mental over it. What could this contraption from 49-year-old …
Bootnotes 12 Jan 2001, 11:16
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Intel's involvement in the Xbox
Like, for example, building, designing it...
Micron is cock-a-hoop about the contract it has blagged from Microsoft to stick its double data rate memory into the Xbox, but Intel is even happier because it is designing and will help build the beast. (Flextronics, a Singapore firm, is doing much of the actual bodywork, if you see what we mean.) You can see just how happy …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 11:22
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ATI exceeds expectations
But warns of tough times ahead
ATI did a little better than its own predictions and analysts' expectations would have led us to believe when it released its Q1 2001 fiscals yesterday. The graphics chip company made a profit of $11.8 million or five cents a share, above the three cents a share Canadian analysts had anticipated and Wall Street's four cents a …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 11:36
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Computacenter promises it will hit 2000 targets
That's £54 million profit
Computacenter has calmed investors by giving analysts a soothing briefing yesterday and saying it would definitely hit 2000 pre-tax profit targets of £54 million. The firm's shares hit a four-week high on this. The stock is 75 per cent below its February peak. Chief exec Mike Norris said the company had not lost credibility …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 11:41
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Gateway slashes workforce after poor results
Weak demand will leave swollen inventories
PC manufacturer Gateway will lay off ten per cent of its workforce globally - some 3000 people - and announced fourth quarter results well below previous estimates. In a statement, Gateway blamed a slow down of demand for PCs and increased pricing pressures for its disappointing results Gateway reported a loss of $94.3 million …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 11:46
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Head of titsup ISP hounded by angry customers
Lone crusader threatened with Human Rights Act
Power to the people!* Meet the modern-day Wolfie Smith: Mike Ashworth. Mike was a little incensed to find his ISP, IG Click, had gone titsup.com. Not only that but he is owed money and would like it back - as would hundreds of other customers. He was even more incensed when the company stopped taking phone calls and didn't …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 11:54
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Govt to let minor crime be reported on the Net
What if your PC's been nicked?
Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has commissioned a Web site which will allow people to report minor crimes online. The statement was made in a written Commons answer yesterday. It's all part of a vision to deliver police services electronically, he said. "I believe that the public should be able to interact with their …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 12:38
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Porn cartoon sackings fight to keep jobs
Royal & SunAlliance overreacted to Simpsons smut, say they
The ten employees fired at insurance company Royal & SunAlliance for forwarding "lewd" Simpsons cartoons are willing to take their case to court if an internal appeal doesn't reinstate them. The company stunned many when they decided that emailing the cartoons was a sackable offence. Firms have been making examples of various …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 12:44
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Sony admits some PlayStation 2s ‘not up to standard’
Confession is good for the soul
Sony's desperate pre-Christmas attempt to meet demand for its PlayStation 2 console appears to have angered as many punters as it satisfied. In its rush to get consoles to buyers, Sony didn't pay sufficient attention to quality control. And, according to today's Sun and a report on the BBC's Weekend Watchdog programme tonight, …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 12:51
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Sony boss – Microsoft has lost it
The long and winding Road Back
Sony boss Nobuyki Idei believes that Microsoft doesn't know what its future business model should be, and will be overwhelmed by smaller and more nimble competitors. The depth of antipathy between the companies, and Idei's disdain for Gates, emerges in pre-publication excerpts from a new book on Microsoft. In candid remarks …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 12:52
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Readers give us a kick in the Balkans
Slovenia, Slovenia, wherefore art thou Slovenia?
Microsoft hacked in the Balkans Mobile phone brings down Slovenian Plane Hello Slovenia - London Calling Well, is it or isn't it? Is Slovenia in the Balkans or is it in fact somewhere else entirely? Readers like Keith Meldrum were quick to point out our geographic and journalistic inadequacies: On Thursday your half arsed …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 13:38
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Reg in bed with reds?
Linda Harrison appears before Star Chamber
Flame of the week - Linda Harrison is a commie Our Linda got well and truly roasted for her recent piece asking why Michael Dell had got share options. Our flamer found an ally in Spokey: While I deplore the tone of this week's flame, I must concur in general with the sentiments. I see a remarkable (and depressing) amount of …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 13:42
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Beware Greeks bearing Greeklish
'Lips' Leyden gets all tongue-tied
Poor old John 'Lips' Leyden. No sooner has he recovered from being called a moron, than he's got the Greeks on to him. His piece Geeks garbling Greek, heirs to Aristotle complain provoked a flurry of Hellenic linguistic clarification. Dr Savas Parastatidis wasted no time in setting us straight on the whole issue: I just read …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 13:45
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Oi, McCarthy – No!
Reader gets surly over Hurley burly
Liz Hurley tries to sue domain name company Some people have suggested that Liz Hurley's a talentless strike-breaking clotheshorse. Fergus Gray isn't one of them: Your item on Liz Hurley is total shit. Can you explain to me why it is that people have the right to make money out of someone else's name but the person who did …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 13:48
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Borland exposé ‘irresponsible’
And as for hacking Microsoft...
Borland Interbase backdoor exposed Irresponsible, us? Absolutely, according to a letter Drew Cullen recently received from Ian Whitcombe: I have been an avid reader of your site for a while now and have always found it informative and professional. However, I was extremely shocked when reading your article on the Borland …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 13:53
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How to write a Flame of the Week
Our no holds barred guide
Recently we've seen a new trend in flames sent to Vulture Central. Namely, that people are trying to become Flame of the Week - often telling us about in the same email. Rarely do these "flames" make it past even the most cursory glance, although some creative efforts will find their way into Readers' Letters. This don't stop em …
Bootnotes 12 Jan 2001, 13:56
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Reader boycotts Sun Alliance
Obscene email sackings provoke wrath
Royal & Sun Alliance sacks ten over obscene emails It looks like Royal & Sun Alliance has gone too far in sacking ten of its employees for circulating smutty Simpsons cartoon. Not only has the company lost some staff, it's also lost a potential customer in Paul Barclay: I can't believe these poor people have lost their jobs …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 14:42
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‘Xmas’ is offensive, Christian claims
But the Church of England says not
Did you know that 'Xmas' was offensive to some Christians? Granted it does look a little ugly, but it comes in handy for headlines, where space is at a premium. Our anonymous correspondent says we should look to the coveted AP style guide, which we have no intention of doing, as we covet neither this guide nor our neighbour's …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 14:44
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Flames: Example from a veteran
Mad Michelle a beacon of reason
If you're thinking of submitting a flame, and have been reading Kieren McCarthy's essential guide, you might like to see a recent example from Michelle Mulqueen, a right regular little ranter. She doesn't like what we have to say about titsup, sorry, breathe.com: hahahahahahaha so yet again you are proven to be a complete tit …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 14:48
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Fun ways to void your warranty
HWRoundup And Nike makes its Roundup debut
Icrontic want to show you how to separate the BIOS chip from a KT7. Why would you want to do this you may ask? Well, as with all such things, because you can would feature heavily in the list of reasons, and all in the name of cooling, warranties be damned. Go here for the rest. Nike and the hardware roundup. Not the most …
Hardware Roundup 12 Jan 2001, 15:39
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California cuppa crisis
A right pot boiler
California power crisis send Intel Bunnypeople east "As California Goes Dark, boiling a kettle takes even longer for our US readers..." Naturally, they weren't going to let it go at that. If you ever wanted to know about watts, amps and kettles, the Reg can deliver. John starts thre ball rolling with: When it comes to boiling …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 15:41
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Fat pipe straddles pond
Capable of a minimum of 3.2Tbps
Cable & Wireless and Alcatel are joining forces to build a transatlantic IP cable, nicknamed Apollo, to meet the rising demand for bandwidth. The cable will stretch 13,000km under the big pond. It will run in two paths, according to C&W. Each leg will contain four fibre pairs capable of a minimum of 3.2Tbps. On this side the …
Data Networking 12 Jan 2001, 15:47
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Readers' letters Reg style wins plaudits
In fact, we're total class
We can't write for toffee. It hurts, it really does. You spend years in expensive private schools, reading great works of literature, honing your linguistic skills, and then some nutter takes a hatchet to your painstakingly developed style. Some of our readers, however, show that they are people of linguistic sophistication. …
Letters 12 Jan 2001, 15:50
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Class action lawsuit filed against VA Linux
Legal action follows regulatory probe into tech IPOs
A class action lawsuit has been launched against VA Linux on behalf of shareholders who feel they were deceived by the company during its initial public offering (IPO) last year. The lawsuit, which also names the lead underwriter of the flotation Credit Suisse First Boston and VA Linux executives including Larry Augustin and …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 16:37
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Superman soldier suits by 2010
Underpants can be worn outside or inside
The US military is developing a powered exoskeleton that will enable its soldiers to walk further and lift heavier weapons than an un-suited human could. The project is part of a $50 million research program into ways to improve speed strength and stamina of the soldiers, according to the BBC. Project co-ordinater, Dr Ephrahim …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 17:16
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Spammer wrecks UUNet email service
Crucify them (the spammers, not UUNet)
UUNet customers have been left stranded without access to their email for the last 36 hours after the outfit took a "very big hit" from spammers earlier this week. Users of MSN, Pipex, and Gateway's ISP plus some corporate customers, among others, have been hit by the incident. According to Richard Woods of UUNet in Cambridge …
Music and Media 12 Jan 2001, 17:21
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Microsoft up to its old tricks
This time it's PlayStation bashing
Microsoft is a loveable, caring company and would never try to sabotage its competitors (ignore that Judge Jackson - he's just bitter). Unless of course the company owns the market-leading product in a market MS has just entered. What are we talking about? PlayStation 2. The Sun ran a story on its front page this morning about …
Bootnotes 12 Jan 2001, 17:49
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The solution to RIP, email sackings and Big Brother
Or we could just run around in a frenzy for another year
The last six months have been a terrible time for Internet users in the UK. The RIP Act is obviously the worst of it - the government has given itself almost unbelievable powers of access to people's communication and then gone out of its way to make it as non-answerable to the public as possible. Guidelines for using RIP still …
Bootnotes 12 Jan 2001, 17:58
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Prostitutes used to tempt IT staff into jobs
BOFH boffing
What would sway you to take a job? Pay? Benefits? The challenge? A good hard shag from a prostitute? If the latter tops your list of criteria for accepting a new job you could be luck. We've had a reader write in suggesting hookers are being used by recruitment agencies to secure they get the right man for the job. (I know it …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 18:20
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MS: ‘you need to buy Whistler because Win-9x sucks’
Now you're talking
When MS moved from DOS to Windows, they did indeed roll out a new operating system (admittedly dependent on DOS, but different enough). Now they're trying it again; but as we've pointed out many times, the only thing 'new' about Win-9x's replacement, Whistler, is that it might be a Windows consumer OS which actually works as …
Software 12 Jan 2001, 20:16
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MS swats 38 antitrust suits
Consumer argument rejected
Microsoft today escaped forking out wads of cash when a US judge dismissed damage claims against it in 38 class-action antitrust suits. US District Judge J Frederick Motz said Microsoft could not be sued by consumers who did not buy Windows operating systems directly from the software giant. He rejected arguments that punters …
Software 12 Jan 2001, 21:40
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Tech pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87
RIP
One of the earliest pioneers of what today is called the New Economy, Hewlett-Packard co-founder William Hewlett, died in his sleep of natural causes Friday at the age of 87. He and his late partner, David Packard, started the company in 1938 in a leased garage with less than $600, and developed it into a corporation worth …
Business 12 Jan 2001, 21:46
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Kenneth Starr joins anti-Microsoft forces
'I did not have relations with that operating system'
Famously tight-lipped former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr has joined an anti-Redmond lobby group on the the day that the US Department of Justice defended Judge Jackson's indiscreet post-trial comments about Microsoft. The legal briefing (PDF format) filed by the combined DoJ plus States prosecution team spends much of its …
Software 12 Jan 2001, 21:47
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US files MS antitrust brief
About what you'd expect
The US government has filed its rebuttal to Microsoft's November brief seeking an appeal of Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's intolerable antitrust ruling. In it the government, predictably, contradicts most of Redmond's equally predictable complaints. For one, the government flatly denies one of Microsoft's most crucial …
Software 12 Jan 2001, 22:34
