The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

28th February 2001 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Intel cash to smooth Rambus production, take-up

    Intel Developer Forum As P4 volumes rise, so will RDRAM shipments, says Chipzilla

    Intel Developer Forum, San Jose Intel has declared itself satisfied that there will be enough Rambus RDRAM out there this year to match the chip giant's "very aggressive" ramp of Pentium 4. It's certainly no coincidence that memory maker Kingston today said it intends to spend $15 million, boosting RDRAM RIMM production …

    Channel 28 Feb 2001, 02:27

  • e-district.net calls in fraud squad?

    It gets worse...

    The crisis surrounding e-districtict.net appeared to worsen today after the Times reported that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been called in to investigate the irregularities at the British dotcom. Yesterday, e-district.net confirmed that CEO, Stephen Laitman, had been dismissed amid allegations that he inflated usage and …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 08:55

  • Rubus shuts up shop ‘up North’

    By 'eck, lad

    E-business consultancy Rubus is to close its Manchester office because there simply isn't enough demand from companies "up North". Eighteen people will be offered other positions in the company "down South" at offices in Bracknell and London. There will be no compulsory redundancies as part of the decision, the company said. …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 08:57

  • InfiniBand now boasts Added Modesty

    Intel Developer Forum Jack of all switches?

    Intel Developer Forum, San Jose The first real InfiniBand kit should be in the channels by the end of the year, Intel's Jim Pappas told us this week. Chipzilla will also be opening porting labs in Hillsboro Oregon fairly shortly, and this week showcased a full InfiniBand rig on its showcase floor. But in contrast to ten months …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 09:02

  • Gilmore, Hedrick differ on anti-CPRM gameplan

    How to unfirewall the Napster firewall

    Opinions are diverging on how to fight CPRM, the stealth copy control mechanism that promises to "firewall Napster at your PC", in the words of a Sony executive. IBM withdrew its proposal to the T.13 hard drive standards committee last week, and Phoenix's generic proposal was introduced and rejected. It's on the agenda for the …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 09:10

  • US pulverized as appeals court denounces Judge Jackson

    MS on Trial He did a bad, bad thing

    Day two's oral arguments before the Washington appellate bench culminated in a surprising onslaught of denunciations and acrimonious commentary on Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's various crimes and misdemeanors. At issue were Jackson's colorful statements to the press following the trial, like those comparing Microsoft to the …

    Software 28 Feb 2001, 10:25

  • Whistler – Skins Head Luna Stomp

    New Look+feel for world+dog

    Stardock, the high priest of Windows eye candy, yesterday offered to give Whistler users a decent choice of themes with the announcement of WindowBlinds XP. The "upgrade" permits the WinXP Luna to be hacked beyond recognition, much like Stardock's current WindowBlinds. Microsoft's Visual Styles keeps the same buttons in the …

    Software 28 Feb 2001, 10:48

  • Do not feed, poke or disturb the Itanic user

    Intel Developer Forum Privates on Parade

    All is well with IA-64, and to prove it Intel produced a panel full of happy Itanic users at IDF yesterday. It was a small room, and quite full, but the six guinea pigs were safe: members of the assembled press were only allowed to submit written questions on white pieces of card. These cards were handed from one PR to another, …

    Channel 28 Feb 2001, 11:28

  • Red Hat buys professional consulting firm

    Beefs up services that go with Linux deployments

    Linux vendor Red Hat has announced the acquisition of a professional consulting firm in an all stock deal valued at around $47 million. Planning Technologies has more than 200 professional engineers and consultants and specialises in infrastructure consulting. Its main expertise is in helping its clients, which include AT&T, …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 11:30

  • Eidos profits hit by PlayStation delays

    Expects return to profit by April 2002

    UK games maker Eidos saw profit tumble 52 per cent in the third quarter. The London-based company, the brains behind games heroine Lara Croft, saw net profit fall to £7.3 million for the three months ended December 31. This compared to £15.4 million the previous year. Sales dropped 15 per cent to £83.5 million. For the nine- …

    Games Industry 28 Feb 2001, 11:56

  • Compaq batteries could still blow up your notebook

    Updated Reg suffers acid flashback

    Compaq has admitted it has had very few responses to its recall of dodgy notebook batteries. Compaq was forced to recall 54,075 batteries for its Armada E500 and V500 notebooks back in October because it found they could short-circuit, overheat and burn out your notebook. The company's (unnamed) battery manufacturer said it …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 12:00

  • New Palm ‘imminent’ – next week, in fact

    Updated m105 - the m100's big brother - out on 6 March

    Palm is set to announce a new handheld, a more powerful version of its entry-level m100 model, destined to replace the IIIxe. And we've just heard from Register readers that UK computer supplier Misco has the new machine in its latest catalogue. We haven't seen it ourselves, but the catalogue apparently claims the device will …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 12:22

  • Tiny joins unmetered Net deal herd

    £14.99 looks like the basic market offer

    Tiny Online is to scrap its existing Net access packages after just two months for an unlimited service for £14.99 per month. From April 1 the ISP will offer the "T:Surf Plus" FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) service to UK punters. The company is buying the FRIACO service direct from BT. The offer replaces …

    Music and Media 28 Feb 2001, 12:55

  • No ABC, no online ads: the money men

    Why? Because everyone's fudging the figures

    A lack of accountability is top marketers' main concern when taking ads out on Web sites. So says some research just released by the Marketing Forum. At its bash in September, senior marketing bods filled out forms stating their main worries when dealing with the online world. A quarter of them "strongly agreed" that …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 13:43

  • Internet vandals create new Love Bug variant

    Fails to cause much harm

    A variant of the infamous Love Bug has appeared on the Internet showing that computer vandals and virus writers are still trying to adapt old code in fresh attacks. However the outbreak of the worm, which has been christened Myba by Russian antivirus firm Kaspresky Labs, has been contained so that it doesn't pose a particularly …

    Security 28 Feb 2001, 13:45

  • Nike blames ebiz software on earnings shortfall

    Nothing to do with 'sweatshop' email doing the rounds

    Nike has blamed i2 Technologies' e-commerce software for messing up its earnings. The sportswear company has claimed problems with the $400 million implementation of its supply chain management system caused major order delays and inventory stockpiles. Philip Knight, Nike's chief executive, told analysts: "My immediate …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 13:50

  • Too much security is holding back ecommerce

    Says security arm of firm that spilled customer details onto the Web

    Excessive security is holding back ecommerce, according to the security arm of a firm which not so long ago became centre of a high profile security breach itself. Evidian, a subsidiary of Groupe Bull, has completed a survey of 40 blue chip companies and found that two in five of them think complicated security is "the most …

    Security 28 Feb 2001, 14:59

  • Activists target bank's Web site in animal rights protest

    Attempt 'virtual sit-in' using Floodnet

    Hacktivists have targeted the Web site of a US investment bank which saved a controversial drug testing company from liquidation with an attack designed to make its site unavailable. The Web site of investment bank Stephens, which provides finance for Huntingdon Life Sciences, was yesterday subject to an attempted "virtual sit- …

    Security 28 Feb 2001, 15:09

  • Online supermarkets worse than the real thing

    Mouldy tomatoes and stale bread

    Doing the weekly shop on the Net isn't all it's cracked up to be, according to survey by Which? The consumer watchdog checked out the four main supermarket sites - Asda, Iceland, Sainsbury's and Tesco. It sent out 25 volunteers to make a total of 40 online supermarket sweeps. Most were disappointed, and complained about slow …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 15:13

  • Compel confirms desktop biz sale talks

    Interim results put on the back burner

    Compel has confirmed it is in talks to sell its desktop services business. The UK reseller was yesterday rumoured to be planning to offload the division to Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH). Today Compel chose not to reveal which prospective buyer was involved, only revealing that it was in "advanced discussions relating to …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 15:53

  • Opera for Linux: We wish them luck but…

    Review Tempered at Newsforge

    I finally got around to a full day of playing with the (proprietary) Opera Browser 5.0 Linux beta. It's the fastest browser I've ever used in any operating system, but I'm not ready to spend $39 or look at annoying ads in return for using it. And with (free, Open Source) Konqueror steadily improving, Opera may never be able to …

    Software 28 Feb 2001, 16:10

  • Possible GeForce3 benchmarks located

    HWRoundup Dr Tom, Anand etc. don't hold back

    So, the GeForce3 est arrivé, but where are the benchmarks? Well, Nvidia doesn't seem to have sent out many samples, and the question of what to test it on is also an interesting one. Kyle over at [H]ardOCP reckons the situation is akin to trying to compare a dragster car with an Indy racing car. Quoth he: "The dragster is …

    Hardware Roundup 28 Feb 2001, 16:50

  • Last day of BSA unlicensed software truce

    Fines kick in tomorrow

    Today is the last chance for businesses in five US cities caught with pirated software to escape prosecution. The Business Software Alliance's month-long software piracy truce, affecting Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and Denver, runs out in a few hours. Through the scheme, which is the third software truce put into …

    Business 28 Feb 2001, 16:54

  • SMS: sack me surreptitiously

    Modern communication. Ain't it great?

    Office admin Zoe Halls was sacked by a text message sent from her boss to her mobile phone. "We don't need you in at work tomorrow, I'll phone you AM to explain - John", the SMS message said. The message arrived on Sunday night, just weeks before Zoe's three-month probation was due to finish at Highway Glass - the Derby based …

    Data Networking 28 Feb 2001, 16:58

  • Amazon launches free music download service

    Fans to 'tip' groups

    Amazon has launched a Free Music Downloads community that will let fans 'tip' their favourite artists. The system will offer thousands of MP3 and Liquid Audio downloads, including free music from groups such as the Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, and aged rockers the Eagles. Fans will also get a chance to hear independent …

    Music and Media 28 Feb 2001, 17:13

  • The FortuneCity UK death lowdown

    No support for Web site shell

    Well, seeing as FortuneCity's UK management doesn't seem inclined to return our phone calls, we have had to rely on more surreptitious methods to find out what is going on. About 25 staff have been made redundant, including production, support, content provision and managers. They're all getting one month's pay and some of …

    e-Business 28 Feb 2001, 17:16

  • Active Directory bug fix put back until Whistler

    Part of plan to make MAD a key reason to adopt XP

    An important bug involving the operation of Active Directory won't be addressed until Microsoft releases the next version of its operating system. The flaw, which carries security implications, involves the necessity for administrators to change the details of an entire user group, or attribute, to add or delete a single user …

    Software 28 Feb 2001, 17:44

  • Big Blue preps 700MHz G3 PowerPC

    PPC 750CXe revision ups bus spec. to 133MHz too

    IBM has begun sampling a revised PowerPC 750CX, the G3-class processor that ships in two of the latest generation of iMac - or in only one of 'em if you live outside the US (see Apple fobs off non-US iMac buyers with lesser CPU). The 750CXe primarily adds support for bus speeds of 133MHz. However, it does pave the way for the …

    Mac Channel 28 Feb 2001, 18:55

  • Appeals court poised for shock ‘MS entirely innocent’ ruling

    Crap defence at trial was brilliant strategy after all, apparently...

    Examination of the documentation of the Microsoft trial surely leads any reasonable person to the conclusion that Microsoft is guilty as hell: of setting out to destroy Netscape, of threatening Apple until it toed the line, of ruling the PC OEMs with a rod of iron, and of much else. But similar examination of the appeals court …

    Software 28 Feb 2001, 20:32

  • P4 sold out in retail last December – Intel

    Intel Developer Forum Helps if you don't ship too many...

    Intel Developer Forum, San Jose We'd like to be the first to congratulate Chipzilla [are you mad? Ed] for bucking the trend of weak, nay abysmal PC sales last Christmas. Despite the downturn, Intel OEMs were able to sell all the Pentium 4 machines they pumped into the US retail channel in December, so the company's architecture …

    Channel 28 Feb 2001, 23:05