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5th February 2001 Archive

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  • Dell squashes cybersquatter

    Korea move

    Dell has succeeded in stopping a Korean computer equipment vendor trading from the Web address DELLKOREA.com. On February 1, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that DELLKOREA.COM violated the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999. The court shut down the Web site and ordered "all …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 09:51

  • PC OEMs can rejoice at McKinley ‘delay’

    Reg debunks latest Itanic rumours

    McKinley, the second IA-64 processor due next year may have been delayed again, suggests chip analyst Linley Gwenapp. He doesn't offer anything to back up his speculation, but the EE Times reports that Intel has pulled a McKinley technical paper it was scheduled to give to a semiconductor conference that starts in San Francisco …

    Channel 5 Feb 2001, 09:53

  • Ideal bags Fujitsu Siemens server exclusive

    Channel Flannel

    Ideal Hardware has won solus UK franchise rights for Fujitsu Siemens server and storage lines. It won the gig in competitive tender against other unnamed channel disties. Aris Corporation, once a big software reseller and training company, and now an e-consulting business, reported UK consultancy sales of $17.0 million in …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 10:02

  • Web Publishers don't give it away

    Reprint and be damned

    .Perhaps as far back as grammar school, you learned that a lower-case "c" with a circle around it - © - meant that what you were reading was not yours. You learned that if you wanted to use any material marked with that symbol, you owed the owner something - though you weren't sure exactly what. All this time later, not a lot …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 10:36

  • HP scales up Euro Linux support

    Unveils 40 Linux printer drivers, pre-installs RedHat

    Hewlett-Packard's announcement of major amounts of Linux support at the New York LinuxWorld Expo was supplemented at the Linux Expo in Paris last week with the announcement of preloaded Linux distributions on some of its server products and the formation of support and training teams throughout EMEA, writes Bruce Tober. In New …

    Software 5 Feb 2001, 11:21

  • Mandrake takes training, support open source

    Selling better in retail than Red Hat, too

    MandrakeSoft, France's long-time favourite boxed Linux distribution in terms of retail sales is now also number one in the US, according to company officials citing PC Data figures at the Third Annual Linux Expo in Paris last week, writes Bruce Tober. As a result of its "phenomenal growth" the company has just opened an EMEA …

    Software 5 Feb 2001, 11:21

  • Dabs makes £1.2m loss

    Back in profit, says MD

    Online IT retailer Dabs.com made a pretax loss of £1.2 million on sales of £86 million for the year ending 31 March 2000. This is the first time the company has turned in a loss in thirteen years of trading. The sales were it's highest ever. MD David Atherton said management accounts for the half year to 30 September 2000 are …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 11:47

  • SIA admits 2001 chip growth forecast won't be met

    Up 22 per cent? Not likely...

    The Semiconductor Industry Association has cut its annual growth projections, claiming that its original outlook for 2001 - specifically, growth if 22 per cent - almost certainly won't be achieved. Global sales during December 2000 reached $17.9 billion, an increase of 21.6 per cent over the $14.70 billion recorded the year …

    Channel 5 Feb 2001, 11:54

  • Penny-pinching HP cuts 10% pensioner discount

    Company sued over axed rebate scheme

    A retired Hewlett-Packard worker is suing the computer giant, claiming it short changed pensioners on a promise to gift discounts for its goods. According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle, the lawsuit, filed by Los Altos resident Mark Leonard, alleges that 3800 Hewlett-Packard workers haven't received rebates since …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 12:05

  • Are you filthy enough to win $10,000?

    Scummy, rotting, nasty, dirty readers need only apply

    It's enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs... for US-based Apartments.com is looking for students to compete in its 2001 Messiest College Apartment Contest. If you've got mould growing on the carpet, beer cans scattered among crushed packets of fags (that's the UK meaning of fags, OK, ie "cigarettes"), empty takeaway …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 12:28

  • Why Microsoft's MSN PC give away didn't work

    It didn't (arf...) have a monopoly of the channel...

    MSN claims to have recruited 500,000 new subscribers in Q4 2000, and MSN is pulling the $400 hardware rebate it offers new subscribers in March. What do these two things have in common? The $400 rebate is available only for people signing up with MSN for a three year contract, and when all of the numbers are counted up doesn't …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 12:30

  • Why you should quit your job and work for Microsoft

    Or even better than that, Cisco

    No matter what job you currently have, you should quit and sign up with the Beast of Redmond because it's the second-best company to work for in the UK. That is, according to the Sunday Times' 50 Best Companies to Work For in 2001 survey. Incredibly, tech companies storm the chart - six in the top 15 alone. And American …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 13:21

  • Dubya Death Threat: CIA see through fake email ploy

    'Terrorists' given a good talking to

    Two bored 15 year-old students faced the full wrath of the CIA after sending phoney death threats via email to President Dubya. The boys had used faked email addresses to avoid detection, a ploy that bought them a couple of days grace. However, as soon as the CIA managed to trace the source of the "terrorist threat", to a …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 13:28

  • MS confirms Whistler is Windows XP

    Stands for bitter eXPerience

    Microsoft has confirmed the official name of Whistler will be Windows XP, and the next version of Office, code-named Office 10, will be known as Office XP. Quoting from the press release: "The XP name is short for "experience," symbolising the rich and extended user experiences Windows and Office can offer by embracing Web …

    Software 5 Feb 2001, 13:50

  • Le Freeswerve says sorry…

    ...for raising false hopes

    Britain's biggest French ISP, Freeserve, has brushed off concerns that it is bodging the roll-out of its 24/7 unmetered Net access product. Le Freeswerve won't say how many people received notification that they had successfully signed up to its AnyTime service - only to be told it was a mistake. Talk about getting someone's …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 15:01

  • ATI ships Radeon Mobility

    Power throttling tech cuts consumption to 0.5W

    ATI has begun shipping is Radeon Mobility notebook-oriented graphics chip, following the part's launch last November. Back then, ATI was pretty tight-lipped about what the new chip would actually offer, except in broad terms. It turns out that the company has focused tightly on power consumption, figuring the chip's Radeon core …

    Channel 5 Feb 2001, 15:19

  • Amazon vows to drop dud lines

    Bezos said it needs to 'Get the Crap Out'

    Amazon.com will trim back its inventory of unprofitable lines in an attempt to turn around its financial fortunes, according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ has obtained a copy of a company wide email, charmingly entitled: "Get the Crap Out", sent out by chief executive Jeff Bezos, where he addressed the reasons why the …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 15:42

  • Register screensaver challenge

    Get your big bad vulture logo here

    In response to readers' requests for a bigger vulture logo, we've made one available here. That should do ya. You can also access the logo from the main screensaver challenge story, which has full details. Check it out here. ®

    Bootnotes 5 Feb 2001, 15:42

  • More mobile madness: fines, lashes or jail

    Now everyone wants us to stop using them

    There was a time when everyone in the world was telling you to get a mobile phone - and so, being the sheep we all are, everyone did. Inevitably, there was a backlash. But now, it's turned serious. Low-level abuse At Nottingham Trent University, if a librarian or other member of staff hears your phone going off in the main …

    Bootnotes 5 Feb 2001, 15:55

  • MS testers shout ‘Linux’ over Whistler copy protection

    Row breaks out over Product Activation

    Microsoft's Product Activation technology has triggered a row in the company's official Whistler beta newsgroups, with testers threatening defection to Linux or piracy over the matter. The irate testers - who, as far as we know, haven't actually been hit by a real live Product Activation Whistler build yet - seem to have been …

    Software 5 Feb 2001, 16:23

  • Why XP is the perfect name for Windows

    Airforce used it for crash and burn planes

    Whistler and Office 10 will be officially sold as Windows XP and Office XP respectively. XP stands for experience in Microsoft's book, but maybe the US Army Airforce's use of the two letters gives a more appropriate explanation. The letters XP were used by the US Army Airforce (later USAF) to designate experimental pursuit ( …

    Bootnotes 5 Feb 2001, 16:29

  • Computers are making us stupid

    So stupid that people now reckon PCs are our friends

    Computers in all their various guises are making us stupid because we're relying on them too much instead of giving our own brain cells a workout. That, at least, is what researchers from a Japanese university are saying. Of course, the headline-grabbing conclusion is drawn from exceedingly flimsy evidence - out of 150 people …

    Bootnotes 5 Feb 2001, 17:01

  • Kids charity canned by PlusNet

    Shame

    It's emerged that one of the victims of PlusNet's giant cull last week which saw 1,100 users kicked off the service for alleged abuse was a children's charity. Penny Rollo, who runs Project HappyChild, is disappointed with the way she's been treated but is more concerned that Project HappyChild remains operational. She's still …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 17:04

  • Gameplay denies Wireplay ultimatum

    CEO chats with Reg

    Gameplay has denied that it has given its multi-access games service, Wireplay, just three months to turn a profit or face the axe. Sources close to the company claimed that Wireplay would be scrapped if it didn't make any money by June. However, CEO, Mark Bernstein, told The Register that this was simply "incorrect". He also …

    Games Industry 5 Feb 2001, 17:13

  • Software company beats M$ to Xbox trademark

    Little-known, loss-making vertical market software biz calls foul

    Xbox Technologies has pipped Microsoft to register its name as a trademark - a move that could force the software giant to change its console's moniker before its launch later this year. The current owner of the Xbox brand is - or, rather, wants to be - a Florida-based umbrella organisation for a number of small software …

    Software 5 Feb 2001, 17:15

  • Canon enjoys 91% net profit boom

    Printer sales healthy, fax market tough

    Canon went public with its full year results in Japan this morning. The company announced a six per cent growth in sales to 2.7 trillion yen ($24 billion). Operating profit, pre-tax income and net income were all up on 1999 figures. Net income showed a 91 per cent increase over the year before, reaching 134 billion yen ($1.17 …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 17:17

  • Bouncers used at GamePlay

    'Sorry mate, you can't come in here to be made redundant wearing jeans...'

    GamePlay hired "club-style bouncers" to help prevent any "bovver" at its offices on Friday, according to insiders at the troubled company. We're not sure if they were dressed in black-tie or whether they blended in with baggy T-shirts and fatigues. Either way, they stood there looking menacing, "glaring" at people - no doubt …

    Bootnotes 5 Feb 2001, 17:37

  • Congress sets date for ICANN review

    ICANN should expect a hard time

    The US House Committee On Energy and Commerce has released its schedule of events and its much-heralded review of ICANN's global top level domain selection. It will take place this Thursday in Washington, starting at 10am. Chairman of the committee, Billy Tauzin, sent the top man at ICANN, Mike Roberts, a letter on 12 January, …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 18:09

  • Deutsche Telekom probed over ADSL prices

    Offering Net access at below cost

    Fresh from its scrap over flat-rate Net access, Deutsche Telekom is being probed by Germany's telecoms watchdog for allegedly offering high-speed Net access at prices below cost. Regulator RegTP said today the investigation followed concerns by the regional and local telecoms businesses (Breko) regarding the telco giant's ADSL …

    Data Networking 5 Feb 2001, 18:17

  • Geocaching game makes geeks sane and fit

    Just do it

    You have a serious problem. You're overly fascinated by technology -- addicted even. Yet you know in your gut it's cripplingly unhealthy, sitting alone in front of a monitor hour after hour while your muscles atrophy and your social skills deteriorate. When you're not working you're playing, but here again D&D warps your mind, …

    Music and Media 5 Feb 2001, 19:14

  • Capellas puts the fun back into Compaq

    Crazy Guy

    Compaq CEO Michael Capellas breezed into London last week and made a special effort to speak to... Sunday Business. We'd link to the interview if the newspaper had a website, but it doesn't appear to, so we won't. Here then is The Vulture's Digest version. Capellas wants George Dubya to cut income tax: "It's got to be precise …

    Business 5 Feb 2001, 19:21

  • AT&T touts Net, phone deal for $7 a month

    Price war is declared

    Telco and cable giant AT&T has launched a deal in the US to give home users unlimited Internet access for $7 a month. The AT&T 7/7 Offer is a phone and Net package - surfers have to switch to AT&T WorldNet for their ISP. They also have to use AT&T as their long-distance phone company, and will get state-to-state long-distance …

    Data Networking 5 Feb 2001, 21:49