19th March 2001 Archive

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DVD descrambler encoded in ‘illegal’ prime number

When mathematicians go bad

The Pythagoreans were reputed, whether rightly or wrongly, to be a shamanistic cult which jealously guarded the higher mysteries of mathematical knowledge to maintain social power and political influence in their day. Of course they weren't as advanced as we are; so we have every confidence that the liberal spirit of scientific …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 07:56
Micron subpoenas Intel in Rambus suit

HWRoundup Flotsam and jetsam from the World Wide Ebb

While yours truly was ducking from buckets of vitriol being flung by irate Ramboid shareholders, young JC spotted on the Rambus Site that Micron, which also has litigation with Rambus, has issued a subpoena "on custodian of records of Intel Corporation". That happened last week. --------------------cut here------------------- …

Hardware Roundup 19 Mar 2001, 10:14
Intel beats AMD to 1GHz mobile

Gigglehurts wars in miniature

As exclusively predicted here in July last year, Intel duly introduced its 1GHz mobile Pentium III, a 0.18 micron number which a rack of tier-one vendors rushed to support. The chip, which uses Speedstep technology, will appear in 20 notebooks from the likes of Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq and so forth. This may well be a tough …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 10:53
Palm launches m500, 505

Successors to Palm V, Vx here at last

Palm today unveiled its latest high-end PDAs, the m500 and m505, in the run-up to CeBit, as expected thanks to leaks from the company earlier this year. The new machines, the successors to the Palm V family, herald not only true support for USB, but the first use in a Palm of the Secure Digital Card expansion system and the …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 10:54
Evesham rolls 1.33GHz Athlon out door

Double data rate ink

UK PC manufacturer Evesham confirmed today that it is ready to ship a 1.33GHz AMD Athlon machine that uses double data rate (DDR) memory. There's no Palomino core yet, as far as we can tell. The indications are end users will have to wait a while for that. That follows an eagle-eyed Reg reader spotting a review of the machine …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 11:14
Email is ‘third revolutionary step in human communication’

A linguistics professor claims

Email, or communication using Internet technology, is the third revolutionary step in mankind's ability to communicate, the first two being learning how to speak and how to write, a leading authority in linguistics claims. Speaking today on Radio 4's Start the Week, Prof. David Crystal, argued that email is unique in that it is …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 11:37
How to get back your nicked mobile

The Met starts new ad campaign

The Metropolitan Police has launched a new radio campaign aimed at tackling the huge increase in mobile theft in London. Last year, 10,000 mobiles were stolen and two-thirds of those were nicked or robbed from kids. The Met has clearly decided its advice to avoid using the mobile in public is unlikely to find many converts so …

Data Networking 19 Mar 2001, 11:44
SiS touts transition DIMMs

184-pin SDRAM to pave way for 184-pin DDR

Taiwan's Silicon Integrated Systems has launched its SDRAM-to-DDR transition memory scheme, designed to work with the Tualatin-supporting SiS635T chipset and its Athlon equivalent, the SiS735. The memory technology, SDR/DDR Share Mode, is based on 184-pin DIMMs capable of holding PC-133 SDRAM or DDR memory. The DDR DIMM spec. …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 12:15
Future in red, not dead

£3.5m losses grow to £59.3m

Bath-based publisher Future Network has reported pre-tax losses of £59.3m for the year 2000, up from just £3.5m in 1999. The company was hammered by a slump in computer games magazine market and a downturn in online and new media advertising. It forecasts hefty losses for the first half of 2001. In February, Future announced …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 12:24
BT board in ‘debt crisis talks’

Come on, it's only £30 billion

BT has called an emergency board meeting to discuss ways of reducing its lumbering £30 billion debt, according to the Sunday Times. The meeting has been called following last week's tech shares crash. BT had hoped that a partial float of BT Wireless (as well as selling off non-core assets and floating part of Yell) would yield …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 12:49
Intel cans second fab expansion

$500m plan postponed indefinitely

Intel has suspended its second fab upgrade in a week. Having put a $2 billion expansion of its Leixlip, Ireland fab on hold until 2003, Chipzilla has canned a $500 million upgrade programme at its Hudson, Massachusetts plant, aka Fab 17. Two parallel upgrades, costing $1 billion, at the same fab will continue. They will allow …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 13:04
AOL UK delivers racial slur by post

Slipped through the net

AOL UK has sent out one of its flat rate Internet access CDs addressed to 'Mr Jungle Bunny'. The recipient, Peter Alleyne, is black. According to Matt Peacock, AOL's PR boss, the address must have been collected automatically, and it believes that someone who knew Alleyne created an account using the racist term of abuse and …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 13:14
ALi ships Tualatin-supporting chipset

Will arrive in volume in time for 0.13 micron PIII

Acer Labs (ALi) today took the wraps off what it reckons in the world's first Pentium III chipset capable of supporting both SDRAM and DDR memory. Actually that's probably not a first, so ALi qualifies the claim by saying it's the first to do the SDR/DDR thing and support "future Pentium III" processor's - the 0.13 micron …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 14:31
Intel's McKinley gets Rambus support

And Foster Quad in full flood

Sources close to Intel's plans in Israel told The Register today that the 870 chipset which will support the IA-64 McKinley platform, will have a Rambus interface. That will come as a boost for the memory IP firm, which last week saw its share price plummet as a result of pre-trial decisions made in a Virginian court. …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 14:56
Major UK software pirates found guilty

Profits of £1.5m

The National Crime Squad and Microsoft have secured guilty verdicts on a London-based four man software counterfeit crew. The gang recorded profits in excess of £1.5 million. Three of the four men are awaiting sentencing next month after being found guilty by an Old Bailey Jury on Friday. The fourth jumped bail and legged it …

Security 19 Mar 2001, 14:59
Intel to delay Israeli fab plan?

Local officials seem to think so

Intel's planned new plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel may be the next victim of its fab expansion slowdown, according to a local government source cited by business paper the Globes. Intel last week confirmed that it had put construction plans on hold in Ireland and Massachusetts. The unnamed Israeli local government source may be …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 15:46
World's fastest ever CD-RW drives!

Feature leapfrog

Yamaha has unveiled the world's fastest-ever CD-R and RW drives - the CRW2200 series - offering 20 times writing, 10 times rewriting and 40 times reading and ripping. It didn't actually unveil it - that's just cliched journalese - but it is 14 per cent faster than its previous series (the 2100). And, of course, it will be out …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 16:02
Watch someone die online!

"Master Magician" tells you when

An American magician claims he will broadcast a person dying online next week. Self-proclaimed "Master Magician and Paranormalist" Jim Callahan is urging surfers to log onto his site on March 27 to watch the free "Dying Cam" event - part of a freaky Carnival of Wonders series. No details are available as to who this soon-to-be …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 16:24
Pittsburgh to get Apple store in ‘two months’

So claims site search agent

Apple is looking for retail sites in Pittsburgh in order to open "three or four" stores in the area, according to the guy who is finding the locations on the company's behalf. "We've been looking for the appropriate locations," claimed one Herky Pollock, executive VP at CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, cited by the Pittsburgh …

Mac Channel 19 Mar 2001, 16:27
Palm damns NCR patent suit as baseless

We'll fight The Cash - Palm exec

Palm has responded to NCR's patent infringement claims with a firm 'it's a load of old bollocks'. Not that the company's General Counsel, Stephen Yu, put it in quite those terms, but that's what his legalspeak adds up to. "Palm will defend itself vigorously," he said, following co-defender Handspring's statement last week that …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 17:10
Real sues Lockstream over trade secrets

...which we had all along - defendant

Real Networks is suing a former employee alleging theft of source code, according to court filings seen by the Seattle Times. Lockstream hired Chad Storey, a team leader at Real, late last year. By doing so, alleges Real, Storey broke an agreement not to work for a competitor for twelve months after leaving Real. Lockstream …

Software 19 Mar 2001, 17:27
Dow Jones Average collapses to 0.20

Down 99.999 per cent

Reader Toby Doig nearly had a heart attack this morning when he visited Datek to check out his share portfolio and found that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had taken the full brunt of the stock market wobble and slumped just over 10,000 points to stand at 0.20 (down 99.999 per cent, roughly). Fortunately for Toby and …

Bootnotes 19 Mar 2001, 17:27
Websites forced to identify forum posters

It's the Law

UK Websites and ISPs could now be forced to disclose the details of anonymous forum posters, following a High Court ruling involving Totalise, the ISP, and investor sites Motley Fool UK and Interactive Investor International. In a judgment from February, but appearing only now in the law reports, Totalise successfully obtained …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 17:39
AMD PowerNow! wins EPA gong

Twinkle, twinkle, Energy Star

AMD has been patted on the back by the US Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts to promote energy-saving technologies. In particular, the EPA likes AMD's PowerNow! power-preservation system, due to debut real soon now in Chimpzilla's Palomino-based Mobile Athlon, and its AMD-760 chipset, which hooks the CPU into the …

Channel 19 Mar 2001, 17:56
Warner Bros scraps Harry Potter legal actions

Regrets any misunderstandings

Warner Brothers appears to have extended the olive branch to the operators of all Harry Potter fan sites, following its decision to withdraw from legal action against 15-year-old Claire says it regrets "any misunderstandings resulting from Warner Bros.' recent actions". In recent months, fan sites which incorporated the name …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 18:12
OnStream runs out of steam

Files for Chapter 7

Storage outfit OnStream has shut its doors and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to a recorded message on the privately owned Colorado and Dutch-based outfit's switchboard today, "OnStream has ceased operations. No further calls will be accepted". OnStream's product line manager Scott McClure confirmed the company had …

Business 19 Mar 2001, 18:16
Hong Kong ISPs slam encryption demands

Sounds familiar

ISPs have warned Hong Kong officials that their plans to crack cybercrime will harm the country's reputation. The Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA) has voiced concerns about proposals to give law enforcers access to encryption keys. "We have to be very careful of controlling or even taking away the …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 18:20
Pay-to-Play: Microsoft erects .NET tollgate

How Hailstorm pays the Bill

Some of Microsoft's .NET vaporware precipitated today, in the form of a HailStorm. HailStorm is the first piece of .NET to be pushed into public view, and at last we can see how some of the loose ends around .NET and Microsoft's Great Plains purchase are beginning to come together. The services are slated to go live in beta form …

Software 19 Mar 2001, 19:17
Microsoft nein danke: snoop scares dog US IT in Europe

And really, it doesn't matter how true it is

IDG's Berlin bureau today secured a denial of Der Spiegel's 'Bundeswehr to ban Microsoft software' story. But actually, it looks to us like one of those denials - the ones that deny something slightly but materially different, while tacitly confirming the original story. And a closer examination of the role of Buckley, Colorado …

Software 19 Mar 2001, 19:41
TechWeb = TechLoser

Bring on the empty portals

CMP Media is turn flagship IT site, TechWeb, into a shell for its offline publications. The monster IT publisher said today that TechWeb would "migrate to align with the BTG's integrated media brands", resulting in 33 jobs "impacted". CMP will create much of Techweb's content through its magazines - and the site itself will …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 22:42
Website names sleepy Yorks town as tops for cottaging

On Ilkley Moor ba t'at

Residents of a sleepy Yorkshire town are upset after their local toilets were named on a Website as a prime spot for gay sex. The public loos in Riverside Gardens, Ilkley, were described as a daytime cruising place for "mature guys" on a Website that lists the world's top cottaging locations, The Wharfedale Observer reports. …

Music and Media 19 Mar 2001, 22:42