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6th February 2001 Archive

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  • Kansas killer lured victims through the Net

    S&M, torture, death

    The Kansas man accused of killing women he met through the Net led a double life as a "master" of domination, a US court heard today. John Robinson allegedly lured one of the women, Suzette Trouten, into becoming his employee and sex slave before her body was found in a barrel on Robinson's property last June. Police later …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 00:20

  • Intel touts Alpha, IBM designs to beat 'hotter than reactor'chips

    Updated Multiple cores, SMT brewing in Chipzilla labs

    Chips will be as hot as nuclear reactors by the end of the decade... and as hot as the surface of the sun by 2015, if they continue on their current design path, according to Pat Gelsinger, Intel's architecture chief. Obviously something's got to give if these thermal problems can't be solved: which he characterises as "no …

    Channel 6 Feb 2001, 00:45

  • Woundup XPerience triumphs over hope

    And holograms a go-go...

    As reported yesterday, Microsoft has officially announced the names for both Whistler and Office 10. After much speculation from Paul Thurrott and Chris Pirillo, the names have been confirmed by Microsoft. I received an e-mail from a Microsoft spokesperson last Friday stating that the "XP" name was just speculation and that the …

    Software 6 Feb 2001, 09:56

  • Corel Linux sale ‘best thing’ for OS, claims exec

    Company Linux chief talks to Reg

    Corel's recently announced spin-off of its Linux distribution is the "best thing for Linux", according to Rene Schmidt, Executive VP for Corel's Linux Product Group. Of course, it could also be said to be a very good thing for the company as well, writes Bruce Tober. "With our spin-off, Corel is unleashing the power of Linux," …

    Software 6 Feb 2001, 11:01

  • Letsbuyit gets $49.6m backing

    Ex-hacker Schmitz not involved

    Letsbuyit is safe for the time being. It has secured a E53 million ($49.6 million) investment from a consortium of backers. The flamboyant former hacker Kim Schmitz, who got a load of publicity by suggesting he'd cough up some cash to help the business, is understood not to have put his hand in his pocket this time. He had said …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 11:07

  • BellSouth hangs up on payphone business

    This is starting to look like a trend...

    The mobile revolution has found another victim in BellSouth's pay phone network. The baby bell has said it will take all of its 143,000 pay phones out of service by 2002. The company said that increased competition from cell phones, calling cards and toll-free numbers had hit the business hard, although it declined to give …

    Data Networking 6 Feb 2001, 11:08

  • Apple cuts cost of Cube – again

    Got to get rid of 'em somehow...

    Thousands of unsold Power Mac Cubes will be used to repair dwindling polar ice caps in a bid to reverse the effects of global warming and help clear out Apple's warehouses. Well, maybe not, but the Mac maker has again cut Cube prices in another desperate bid to stimulate demand for the stylish but little-loved computer. The …

    Mac Channel 6 Feb 2001, 11:50

  • Pace Micro buys digital TV technology firm

    Acquires French-based Xcom Multimedia for up to £22m

    Pace Micro has agreed to acquire digital television technology firm Xcom Multimedia in a mixed cash and equity purchase worth up to £22 million. Initially, Pace will pay £18.1 million for Xcom including £800 000 in cash, with a subsequent payment based on Xcom's financial performance up until the end of 2002. French-based Xcom …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 11:59

  • Toshiba slashes proft forecast by 30%

    Weak chip prices, slow notebook sales

    Toshiba has slashed its full year profit forecast by 30 per cent because of weak memory chip prices and poor notebook sales in the US. PC sales estimates have dropped to ¥720 billion ($6.3 billion) from ¥810 billion ($7.03 billion) for the year to March 31. Chip revenues have been dropped to ¥1,120 billion ($9.77 billion) from …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 12:17

  • FTC to investigate Rambus

    Commission to probe Rambus' dealings with JEDEC

    Hyundai's battle with Rambus took on new dimension yesterday when it emerged that the US Federal Trade Commission is to investigate claims that RDRAM maker mislead JEDEC, the memory standards body. That allegation is central to Hyundai's contention that Rambus has been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour, primarily by …

    Channel 6 Feb 2001, 12:22

  • Evergreen puts brakes on wannabe overclockers

    New BIOS lock for AcceleraPCI upgrades

    Evergreen Technologies has released an AcceleraPCI upgrade for Pentium systems that includes a BIOS lock that prevents unauthorised access to the configuration options. The company developed the lock after requests from a school district in Virginia for something that would prevent deliberate and accidental tampering with …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 12:48

  • BT has £900 commonsense failure

    It may be physically impossible but that's what our computer says

    Does BT's greed know no end? The company that spend millions persuading customers it loves them has had a major commonsense failure with a £900 bill sent to Edward and Patricia Curtis in Cornwall. According to the Daily Mirror, the Curtises were shocked when their usual £100 bill came in at £900. The reason for the rocketing …

    Bootnotes 6 Feb 2001, 12:50

  • AMD claims chip sales growth to beat industry average

    Down but not out in 2001

    AMD admitted yesterday that it too will be hit by the global downturn in the chip market, but it's not going to be as badly off as its competitors. Speaking at a Banc of America securities and investment conference in San Francisco, AMD's VP for External Affairs (whatever that is), Ben Anixter, said that while analysts are now …

    Channel 6 Feb 2001, 12:51

  • Online betting nobbles Coral results

    Eurobet needs some Deep Heat up its backside

    UK bookies Coral lost £52.3 million last year, mainly thanks to the soaring costs of marketing its Eurobet Internet gambling site. Coral made a gross profit of £162 million but operating costs leaped to £166 million, up from £77.3 million in 1999. The company paid £4 million for Eurobet. According to the Telegraph, Morgan …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 13:22

  • Dr Tom's GeForce2 MX gang bang

    HWRoundup Five cards in hot sweaty action

    Transcend's TS-ALR4 DDR mainboard gets a thorough inspection by the team at BXBoards. The guys reckon that the extra couple of weeks Transcend spent working on the board, based on the AliMagik 1 Chipset, paid dividends in terms of performance. They reckon it has a bit more whizz to it that Iwill's KA266-R. Read the rest of it …

    Hardware Roundup 6 Feb 2001, 14:37

  • VIA's January sales up 92%

    Doesn't mean it's bucking the industry trend

    VIA sold NT$3.08 billion ($99.6 million) worth of chip and chipset designs last month - nearly double the sales it achieved in January 2000. Back then, the company notched up sales of NT$1.61 billion ($52.06 million). That makes for growth of 91.36 per cent. The latest figures represent a month-on-month gain of a little over …

    Channel 6 Feb 2001, 14:44

  • One2One launches ‘unmetered’ mobile service

    In the 'limited useage' sense of the word

    One2One has launched an unmetered mobile service, Precept Max, in an attempt to usurp the landline as people's main form of phone communication. The service is the first of its kind and will cost you £75 a month. For this you get "unlimited" free phone calls all day every day. One2One reckons it will most benefit those that use …

    Data Networking 6 Feb 2001, 14:58

  • Yankee Lieutenant-General calls Japs ‘wimps’

    Email stirs up a bit of trouble down in Okinawa

    An email sent by the head of US military forces on the island of Okinawa (just south of Japan), in which he called local Japanese officials "nuts" and "wimps", has created a bit of a stink after it was leaked to the Japanese media. According to the BBC (although who knows where they nicked it from), Lieutenant-General Earl …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 15:36

  • Sportal cuts 10% of staff

    25 to go in London

    Sports content site Sportal is axing 10 per cent of its global workforce today. Around 25 people are expected to lose their jobs from the London office. The job cuts follow a round of funding in December, which came under the condition, that the company cut overheads. Sportal has not said how much money it got, but it believes …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 16:29

  • WIPO still kissing famous people's arses

    Venus Williams and Nicole Kidman win domains

    WIPO has again decided that famous people by dint of being famous have every right to any URL that includes their name. Even if that name is spelt incorrectly. This time it's tennis players Venus and Serena Williams and actress Nicole Kidman. Aside from a purely ideological opposition to WIPO awarding names without due regard …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 17:09

  • Loony in botched fake massacre threat

    All in an AOL chat room, apparently

    A police investigation into threats in an AOL chat room to "shoot up" a school degenerated into farce when it was revealed that the complainant had sent the messages to herself. A 15-year-old student at Osbourne High School in Manassas took transcripts of the conversations in the chat rooms to police, claiming that two of her …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 17:28

  • Verizon tells New York to quit DSL whingeing

    'Why not have a go at the cable companies?'

    A group of Silicon Alley cats have drawn up a 'Broadband Bill of Rights' in a bid to make Verizon accountable for the city's dire DSL service. "Companies are going out of business and we believe, in part, it is Verizon's fault," said Bruce Kushnick, executive director of research outfit New Networks Institute. Kushnick was …

    Data Networking 6 Feb 2001, 17:45

  • Virgin online train ticket system derails

    It's the Railtrack effect

    Virgin's much-vaulted online booking service for train tickets has been down all day and still isn't working. The derailed service at www.thetrainline.com and www.virgintrains.co.uk is just the latest disaster to hit the UK rail system, which is arguably the worst in the world at the moment. The VirginTrains site appears to …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 17:53

  • German ISP uses file-scanning crawler to bust pedos

    Raus! Raus Pervertieren....

    German ISP Uni-X is using a Web crawler called Perkeo to scan news groups for paedophilia and inform federal police where to find the vile material. The German Feds (Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden) can then contact whoever is hosting the filth and attempt to obtain the poster's identity. Thus far the scheme has yielded one creep …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 18:13

  • Verizon hit with another DSL lawsuit

    Big Apple lawyers limber up

    Verizon faces another class-action lawsuit in the US over its DSL service. This time the case is being brought by New York law firm Stamell & Schager, who claim the monster telco is fair game due to allegedly misleading punters through its marketing of the high-speed Net service. The motion was originally filed on behalf of …

    Media 6 Feb 2001, 20:51

  • Amazon to collect donations for poor Web sites – at a price

    Buddy, have you got a few hundred bucks to spare

    Amazon.com today launched a system to let surfers throw cash at their favourite sites. The 'honour system' is based on Amazon's 1-Click technology, and lets users registered on the dotcom's database make donations - as low as $1 - to their preferred corners of cyberspace. Amazon gets 15 cents per payment, plus 15 per cent of …

    Business 6 Feb 2001, 21:45