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22nd January 2001 Archive

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  • Intel samples Brookdale

    Mobo makers get first taste of P4 SDRAM chipset

    At least five Taiwanese mobo makers have received samples of Intel's upcoming Brookdale chipset. Brookdale is designed to hook up Chipzilla's Pentium 4 to regular SDRAM. The current P4-supporting chipset, the 850, only works with Rambus' pricey RDRAM. The new chipset is due in the third quarter. However, Asustek, Gigabyte, …

    Channel 22 Jan 2001, 11:02

  • Mass hack takes out govt sites

    IIS flaws used to bring down sites on three continents

    A hacking spree last weekend saw military and government Web sites defaced on three continents in what its perpetrators claimed was the largest mass defacement in the history of mankind. The graffiti artists, known as Pentaguard, took out government Web sites in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States and defaced …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 11:10

  • Creative forecasts Q3 sales drop

    Xmas boost helped Q2

    A last minute Christmas rush helped Creative Technologies beat analysts expectations for Q2, but profit still fell 40 per cent to $26.5 million, down from $44.5 million a year ago. But for the quarter ending 31 March, Creative has forecast sales to slump down to between $260 million and $270 million, compared with $330 million …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 11:11

  • IBM targets post-Napster music biz

    Which it hopes will be just like the pre-Napster music biz

    IBM hopes to leverage Napster-induced paranoia to sell its EMMS digital music distribution system to the world's biggest recording companies. According to Big Blue, it has tailored its software to support Napster's file sharing model. The idea is that MP3s are packaged to allow the copyright holders to specify rules that govern …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 12:02

  • Totalise shareholders get the jitters

    Don't panic

    Totalise has moved quickly to dampen speculation that the dotcom is in financial difficulties. In an email circulated to shareholders, the company said that "a situation has arisen that requires the Company to hold an extraordinary general meeting under section 142 of the Companies Act 1985". In these days of dotcom paranoia …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 12:10

  • Athlon supercomp gets an airing

    Updated Samson has 132 1GHz CPUs

    The Bartol Institute at the University of Delaware is today showing off its clustered super computer based on AMD's Athlon processor. Nicknamed Samson, the machine is expected to rank in the top 200 supercomputers in the world. The machine, which was first unveiled at last year's SC2000 supercomputer show in Dallas, will start …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 12:35

  • Warner Bros bullying children again

    Harry Potter clampdown disgusts all but power-crazed conglomerate

    It's at it again. Actually, it never stopped. Warner Bros/Time Warner is pushing its weight around and sending threatening legal letters to young Harry Potter fans because they have had the audacity to register a domain name with the words 'harry' and 'potter' in it. A 15-year-old Singaporean girl, Christie Chan, has received a …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 12:52

  • Atlantic Telecom sacks 350

    Worse things happen at sea

    Atlantic Telecom Group is to axe 350 jobs in the UK as part of programme of rationalisation designed to save the telco £30 million. The job cuts come as Atlantic focuses on delivering services to the SME market at the expense of its residential business. In a statement, executive chairman Graham Duncan said: "The significant …

    Data Networking 22 Jan 2001, 12:55

  • PlayStation 3 to be Sony's convergence box, not PS2

    Ubiquitous broadband connectivity not here yet

    Sony's PlayStation 2 may not be the digital doorway between the home and a world of online entertainment the company originally planned it to be. No, that role will now be taken by the console's successor, imaginatively known as the PlayStation 3. When the PlayStation 2 was announced back in 1999, Sony predicted a world of …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 13:16

  • PS2 glitches may pummel Sony profits

    22 per cent drop is figure being touted

    Sony looks set to blame poor results at the end of last year on production problems with the PlayStation 2. According to a survey of analysts by Bloomberg, Sony is expected to have been hit by a 22 per cent reduction in net income in the last quarter of 2000, compared to the same period the year before. This means profit of ¥ …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 13:23

  • Duke Nukem fans bite back

    Comments taken out of context, apparently

    On Friday, 19 January we published the article Duke Nukem on screenshot search and destroy, written by freelance journalist Andrew Smith. We've had some complaints - three to be precise, two of which are from games sites - concerning the story. Our critics say that comments on the Planet Crap forum concerning the unauthorised …

    Software 22 Jan 2001, 13:49

  • Orange gets cheaper by the day

    Shares at a knockdown price

    Orange still seems determined to go ahead with its 10-15 per cent float, even though it is likely to be valued at less than half of what was expected in May 2000. In fact, it is so determined that large investors are being offered a five per cent discount in the hope of shoring the float up. It is expected to be valued between …

    Data Networking 22 Jan 2001, 14:00

  • Lexmark profits fall 45%

    Printer people suffer the same as PC vendors

    Lexmark has provided proof that printer firms got hammered as much as PC vendors in the fourth quarter of 2000. Profits for the quarter fell 45 per cent. After one-off charges the company earned $55 million, compared with $99.7 million for the same period a year earlier. Back in October the company warned it was going to …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 14:46

  • Toshiba samples 30GB micro-drive

    Small drive, big capacity

    Toshiba is shipping samples of its new 30GB hard drive in a 2.5in form factor. The drive has two 15GB disks, each with an areal density of 26.7Gb per square inch. Toshiba said that it is also shipping the 15GB platters singly, in samples. Both models, the 15GB and the 30GB, run at 4200rpm, have an average seek time of 13ms, …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 15:42

  • Le Freeswerve, BTInternet go unmetered

    Services kick in this week (hopefully)

    Both BTInternet and Le Freeswerve are expected to launch their all-you-can-eat-for-just-one price Internet services later this week. If all goes well, Le Freeswerve will go live on Wednesday. BTInternet will launch its product by the end of the month, although it could be ready as early as Friday. Both products are based on BT …

    Data Networking 22 Jan 2001, 16:10

  • Barrysworld goes titsup.com

    Can't find a buyer

    Online gaming site Barrysworld.com has posted notice of voluntary liquidation. The site has run out of money and it's been unable to persuade its shareholders to shell out more cash in what is a horrible investment climate. The four-year-old site will stay up and running (with luck) until the end of this month and there is a …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 16:19

  • Dell issues Q4 profit warning

    Doom and gloom from Texas

    Dell today admitted its fourth quarter won't be up to par, blaming sluggish PC sales growth. The direct-selling PC giant said it now expects earnings of 18-19 cents per share, down from its forecasted 26 cents. Dell lowered sales targets for the period, which ends on Friday, to between $8.5 billion and $8.6 billion - up 25-27 …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 16:29

  • ISP Sniffs Out cheap Net access

    The FRIACO love-in gets steamier

    UK ISP Sniff Out today confirmed it would launch a 24/7 unmetered Net access on 14 February. The 24/7 unmetered service is called SmartTime and retails at £13.99 a month. However, don't be put off by the ISP's launch date. Apparently, the fact that the service goes live on Valentine's Day is neither here nor there. It was …

    Data Networking 22 Jan 2001, 16:41

  • Socket-A indulgence at Dr Tom's

    HWRoundup How to win at games, and other useful stuff

    At Tom's Hardware today, the doctor teams up with Patrick Schmid to look at the best option for those on a budget that still precludes DDR. The consensus seems to be that a SDRAM Socket-A mobo is the thing to have, and they've looked at six, based on the KT133A chipset. Anandtech welcomes the new KT133A board from ABit with …

    Hardware Roundup 22 Jan 2001, 17:18

  • Interference clouds future of multi-billion police radio project

    Could jam hospital kit or nobble breathalysers

    The future of a £2.5 billion project to provide British police with a radio network has been thrown into doubt amidst fears that the technology could interfere with hospital equipment and even breath test devices or speed detection kit. Early trials of the equipment have led police forces to advise officer to switch radios off …

    Data Networking 22 Jan 2001, 17:41

  • Cemeteries get hooked up to the Net

    Surfers get chance to mourn en masse

    Surfers too busy or far away to make that all-important funeral will soon be able to mourn en masse via cyberspace. From next month, the bereaved will get to watch their loved ones' burials in the Americas and Europe by simply logging onto www.vidaperpetua.com.br (Perpetual Life). The site's owners claim to have gained the …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 17:47

  • ISPs face prosecution over babies for sale sites

    Govt. by knee-jerk

    The government (UK) has unfortunately spelt out the degree of its Internet ignorance today with a knee-jerk political reaction to the Net baby adoption debacle. Department of Health minister John Hutton - responsible for child protection, apparently - has started spouting nonsense about how ISPs will be criminally responsible …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 17:53

  • Windows to go 3D… but not in Whistler

    Spearing Metaphorical Shear

    Does Microsoft have a UI spring surprise up its sleeve? Redmond has been telling closed beta test groups that new icons notwithstanding, the Whistler UI isn't finished yet, leading to some rampant speculation that the converged Windows desktop could see a major overhaul between now and its final release. Well, from our …

    Software 22 Jan 2001, 18:02

  • Women lack confidence and men lie

    About computer skills this time

    Women have less faith in their computer skills than men, according to a survey of undergraduates in the US. Men are more likely to rate their computer expertise as "above average" than women, despite near identical experience and frequency of use. The researchers also noted that women were much less likely to spend time in chat …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 18:04

  • Register Tariff 2001

    We'll do anything for money

    Welcome to the improved Register Tariff 2001. Our existing customers know that we will do anything for money. Now we've made it even easier for busy executives to avail themselves of this facility. You know it makes sense in today's hectic dog-eat-dog business environment. All you have to do is select one of our four …

    Bootnotes 22 Jan 2001, 18:06

  • Scientologist Web site rips off urban75.com

    Moneyed cult gets hip in the worst way

    A group of addiction treatment 'experts' called Narconon, which has ties to the controversial Church of Scientology, has performed a wholesale rip-off of the popular urban75 Web site, which is devoted to raves, general partying and mirth-making, photography, sport, satire, and common-sense advice for drug users along the lines …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 18:56

  • MS opens up on Whistler copy protection

    No privacy invasion, no plot, no hassle - honest...

    The product activation copy protection system that will ship with Whistler and Office 10 will form the basis of a "cross product" protection system for Microsoft software, and the signs are that the company will move heaven and earth to make it stick. Speaking to The Register earlier today Microsoft product manager, licensing …

    Software 22 Jan 2001, 19:46

  • Lights go out on UltraSPARC III supply

    Volume production next quarter

    Production delays have left Sun Microsystems behind schedule in fulfilling orders for servers based on the new UltraSPARC III processor. Visitors to Sun's online ecommerce site are told that they have a wait on their hands if they want to buy either a Sun Blade 1000 workstation, featuring a 750Mhz UltraSPARC III processor, or …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 20:09

  • Concentration camp victims sue Yahoo!

    Symbolic damages sought

    Yahoo! faces the wrath of the French again - this time the dotcom's chief is being sued for one franc over allegedly justifying war crimes. French representatives of former inmates of Nazi concentration camps filed the suit against Yahoo! chairman Tim Koogle today. The group wants to see the US portal humiliated. It is asking …

    Music and Media 22 Jan 2001, 20:13

  • Flashcom trades DSL customers like chattels

    Indebted

    US ISP Flashcom.com has been forced to flog most of its DSL customer accounts in an effort to stem losses. Debt-ridden Flashcom has already lost control of more than half of its accounts to wholesale service providers Northpoint Communications and Rhythms NetConnections - who have shifted users to different ISPs. The company is …

    Business 22 Jan 2001, 21:28