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11th May 2001 Archive

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  • Tom specs out the Tyan Athlon dualie

    Aren't beta testers great?

    Tom's Hardware Guide is running a little scoopette on its newspage, courtesy of a friendly beta tester hailing from an Midwestern US university. The site has obtained details of the spec of the forthcoming Tyan dual Athlon mobo. Here's some of the beef: Dual Athlon-C Motherboard Tyan Model S2462UNGM (Thunder K7) AMD 760MP …

    Hardware Roundup 11 May 2001, 08:41

  • Infogrames sales rise 12%

    Driven by V-Rally

    French publishing giant Infogrames has said Q3 sales have stormed up 12 per cent. In a statement published in the French paper Les Echos, the company said the titles 'Final Fantasy IX' and 'V-Rally' had helped pump up revenues to 139.5 million euros ($123 million).from 124.3 million euros ($109.3 million) a year earlier. In …

    Games Industry 11 May 2001, 09:21

  • Apple sacks iServices staff

    Just departmental tweaking, Mac maker claims

    Apple sacked a "handful" of staff from its iServices division yesterday but denied the move was the start of a wider redundancy programme. The exact number of workers that have received pink slips isn't known. Apple won't say, and CNET, which broke the story, describes it as a "small number" and a "handful". Given such a low …

    Mac Channel 11 May 2001, 09:45

  • Apple to launch Mac OS X Server 2.0 next week

    Mac Rumour Roundup New servers too, sources claim

    Apple will unveil a major new version of Mac OS X Server at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, sources cited by Think Secret have claimed. The Mac maker will also announce new servers to go with it. About time, you might think. Mac OS X Server originally shipped way back in 1999 as part of Apple's plan to show that …

    Mac Channel 11 May 2001, 09:56

  • Microsoft rolls out volume software ‘leases’

    File under "simplifications and improvements"

    Redmond made it official late Thursday; volume licenses are going to be leased to businesses, in three-year chunks, effective 1 October, according to its new Enterprise Agreement Subscription scheme. This means that when the lease period is up, your MS Magic Stuff will stop working and you'll have to ante up again. Come on, you …

    Software 11 May 2001, 10:11

  • Oftel burdened with broadband complaints

    It's no yoke

    Oftel is currently investigating five complaints concerning wholesale DSL services and local loop unbundling (LLU) in the UK according to the latest update from the telecoms regulator. One of the investigations is based on allegations that BT is abusing its dominant position in relation to wholesale broadband services. Another …

    Broadband 11 May 2001, 10:13

  • Redstone bean counter is out the door

    Needed a bean recount

    Redstone Telecom has seen the back of its finance director, saying he had provided a potentially misleading representation of the company's cash reserves. The company needs more money than it had been letting on. Alan Harrold was out the door yesterday after quick and dirty board meeting. "He felt he had to resign," said chief …

    Broadband 11 May 2001, 10:15

  • Click here if you want to know more about the BOFH licensing Bill

    Face your assassin

    We've had a load of emails from concerned BOFHs, asking us to supply more information on the Bill passed through Parliament this week that legally requires sysadmins to have a licence to work. It was an oversight on our part not to supply links to Parliament's Web site for the Bill, called the Private Security Industry Bill. …

    Business 11 May 2001, 10:40

  • Sun McNealy's pay down 98% this year

    Lean times for IT bosses

    Sun Microsystems boss Scott McNealy expects to receive only his basic salary this year, as the slowdown in the IT market means top execs will have to forgo their usual stratospheric bonuses. Today's Financial Times reports that McNealy, who received a $4.7m bonus last year will receive nothing this year. "I'm basically working …

    Business 11 May 2001, 10:42

  • Intel pegs 27 May for Pentium III, Celeron price cuts

    Desktop, mobile reductions pave way for 0.13 micron Tualatins

    Intel's price-cutting programme continues apace, with the next round of reductions due on 27 May, as we first revealed earlier this year (see Pentium 4 price blitz to push out PIII). Last month's Pentium 4 spring sale saw Intel's previous price cuts torn up, but the strategy continues, just with new pricing targets. The latest …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 10:54

  • Solaris/IIS worm hits 9000 boxes in 48 hours

    Off to a good start

    The quite reliable hacker tracker attrition.org is reporting that nearly nine thousand machines had been auto-defaced by the sadmind/IIS worm as of Tuesday, making it one of the most effective little scripts ever loosed on the Net. Attrition has posted the IPs of all the boxes known to have been hit, and mirrored the default …

    Media 11 May 2001, 10:55

  • MS licensing switch to trigger mass upgrade to Win2k, WinXP?

    This is just so sneaky...

    Microsoft yesterday hit enterprise customers with the expected licensing bombshell, but the big news turned out to be the "simplification" of the company's licensing programmes, rather than subscription-based pricing. That is in the deal, and no doubt we'll be hearing more from it, but the major bottom line of the changes seems …

    Software 11 May 2001, 11:04

  • Ronnie Biggs makes crime pay. With T-shirts

    Banged up back in Blighty but online merchandising continues

    The Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs, who arrived back in the UK four days ago after 36 years on the run, is trying to make ends meet by selling autographed T-shirts, baseball caps and photographs off his Web site. Mr Biggs, 71, set up the Web site last year in the hope of getting his version of events to a wider audience and of …

    Media 11 May 2001, 11:15

  • Want to know how to crash the Internet?

    Routing vulnerability could trigger widespread outages

    Cisco has issued an alert warning that a vulnerability in a commonly used routing protocol can be used to bring down service provider's core Internet infrastructure. The vulnerability concerns BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), which is used for exchanging routing information between gateway host on the Internet, and can be …

    Security 11 May 2001, 11:24

  • Birds sing mobile phone tunes

    Diddle-ee, diddle-ee, diddle-ee cock-a-doodle -squawk

    Birds in Denmark are warbling new hi-tech songs after learning and picking up tunes from mobile phone ringtones, according to the Danish Ornithological Association. Well you could have knocked us down with a feather when we heard that. This gem landed on Vulture Central's desk yesterday afternoon headlining a press release …

    Bootnotes 11 May 2001, 11:26

  • Intel 0.13 micron Tualatin Pentium IIIs to ship late June

    And prices will fall early July

    Intel will ship its 0.13 micron version of the Pentium III - codenamed Tualatin - next month, according to the latest leak of the chip giant's pricing plans. From the various roadmaps we've already seen (see Chipzilla gears up for 2GHz-plus PCs and Chipzilla readies 1GHz Mobile PIII), we were expecting Tualatin to ship in …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 11:33

  • EB buys its way into Scandinavia

    Mostly Denmark

    Electronics Boutique, the US retail giant, is opening up in Scandinavia, on the back of acquisition. The company has bought seven stores in Denmark and one in Norway, all of which will be rebranded as Electronics Boutique. The company has hired David Wilson, formerly merchandising exec at Game plc, the UK retail chain, to …

    Games Industry 11 May 2001, 11:45

  • Rambus prayer

    Hymn for the duds

    Thanks to our reader who sent in this version of the Lord's Prayer, reworked for Rambus. The author wants to remain anonymous, but he is already working on updating the lyrics to his Rambus version of Don't cry for me Argentina. ® Rambus prayer Our father Who art in Paradise Valley Barrett be thy name Thy will be done, in …

    Bootnotes 11 May 2001, 12:28

  • Stabbed Nortel COO retires

    So who will replace John Roth?

    Nortel COO Clarence Chandran's life was turned upside dowhen he surprised three burglars in the house in Singapore he was living in at the time. In the ensuing struggle, Chandran was stabbed in the neck and upper abdomen. That was in 1997. Four years later, those wounds have brought Chandran's career to a premature end. …

    Business 11 May 2001, 12:40

  • Accreditation schemes are crap – D-Link

    We can do better, Taiwanese firm claims

    D-Link, the Taiwanese networking vendor, is looking for 30 resellers to join its new streamlined partner program. Vendor accreditation programes have become too confusing and too complicated, the company claims. "Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards have become no more than pieces of paper." Provocative, heh? The company says that …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 13:27

  • WinXP morphs from Win2k to Win 2002

    It's perfectly logical and not confusing really...

    The client version of WinXP may be called WinXP, and the server version may be called Windows 2002, but as the production artwork comes together in the builds, the family designator of "2002" is starting to get foregrounded. Or alternatively, as our tech sources would have it, the marketing droids are all over the shop when it …

    Software 11 May 2001, 13:35

  • Call yourself an innovator? Tap Syscap for a Channel back slap

    I'd like to to thank...

    Syscap, the IT lease financing company, is backing a new UK channel award, which will dish out gongs to Technology Innovators, on a monthly basis, culminating with a winner of the year. In other words, it's pretty similar to Reed Business Information's VAR of the Month/Year scheme which has been running since the dawn of time …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 13:53

  • Mobo makers sniffy about 100MHz FSB 1GHz PIII

    Designed to take on gigahertz Duron?

    Taiwan's mobo makers aren't too keen on Intel's plan to ship 1GHz and 1.1GHz Pentium III processors designed to work with a 100MHz frontside bus. They fear the part - presumably designed to broaden the Intel's appeal at the low-end of the PC market - will have the reverse effect, according to a DigiTimes report. The part is …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 13:58

  • WorldCom trains managers to axe staff

    No doubt humanely and compassionately

    Managers at WorldCom are undergoing one-day training sessions in order to learn how to make people redundant. According to details seen by The Register ten dates have been set aside for managers to learn the skills necessary to manage the redundancy programme. The last scheduled date for management training is Thursday, May 24 …

    Business 11 May 2001, 14:11

  • US video games market soars

    So where did the advertising go?

    The $6bn US video games market grew 18 per cent in unit shipments and 5 per cent in sales value in Q1, compared with the same period last year. But growth was patchy across product lines. Console sales were up 146 per cent in unit terms year on year and 49 per cent in dollar value, market research firm NPD reports. The market …

    Games Industry 11 May 2001, 14:19

  • Time Computers and its secret CEO

    And why is it selling its new call centre?

    There's a new sheriff in town at Time Computers. Staff say the two brothers who founded the business, Tahir Mohsan and his half-brother Dr Tariq Mohammed, are no longer calling all the shots. That role is taken by a mystery gentleman called Brian Lynn, the new CEO (not MD, as we reported earlier). Lynn actually took over three …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 14:44

  • Intel sues Intelsat

    Doesn't like satellite company's name, uses of 'Intelnet' brand

    Chip maker and litigious trademark fan Intel has finally decided to sue Intelsat to prevent the satellite telecoms company from using its name in the US and the UK. Like Intel, Intelsat - the working name for the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation - has been around for years. Arguably, it's been around …

    Business 11 May 2001, 14:45

  • So what's the future of Future BT?

    The jury's still out. And that's the problem

    The multiplicity of announcements from BT yesterday still has analysts, investors and reporters scratching their heads over what the future holds. Right now, "future" is a big word for the lumbering telecoms giant. The announcement proper at BT's headquarters yesterday was held in a futuristically decorated part of the building …

    Business 11 May 2001, 14:52

  • Intel's Tualatin inspires reader to rhymin'

    Coppermine couplets

    Our little item of Rambus poetry seems to have inspired those of our readers with a lyrical bent to knock out some new rhyming couplets. We quite liked this one from Rory McCormick, composed in the light of Intel's plans to cut Pentium III prices to pave the way for the Tualatin version of the chip. Tualatin's release is known …

    Bootnotes 11 May 2001, 15:04

  • OFT rules on BT's Yellow Pages business

    Raises doubts about sale

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ruled today that BT's Yellow Pages business should be subject to a cap on advertising fees for four years from January 2002. The decision from the OFT was supposed to help clear the way for the sale of BT's Yell business raising an expected £3 million towards BT's £30 billion debt mountain. …

    Business 11 May 2001, 15:21

  • Virus writers frustrate hunt for missing child

    Updated Missing five year-old found dead

    Virus writers have reached a new low by frustrating a Net campaign to find a missing five year-old Canadian girl. A man who sent out emails inviting friends to send back information on missing toddler, Jessica Koopmans, has being shocked to learn that several people have received messages that mimic his, but contain a computer …

    Media 11 May 2001, 15:49

  • Gameplay still mum about future

    Who pressed the mute button?

    There's still no word about the future of multi-platform games outfit, Gameplay. At the beginning of April the troubled dotcom announced it was up for sale. By the end of the month it revealed it had received "indicative and conditional offers from third parties for all or parts of the group". Since then, though, nothing. Well …

    Games Industry 11 May 2001, 15:51

  • Why BT is unbelievably Net stupid

    What's the first thing you do when you rename your business?

    It would hardly have escaped your notice but BT has restructured itself again by splitting in two. All the mobile companies will be demerged as BT Wireless and everything else will be rebranded Future BT. Now here's the question: If a huge part of your business is going to be Internet related, what do you do when you rename …

    Business 11 May 2001, 15:53

  • DiData snatches Proxicom from Compaq

    Compaq won't fight

    Compaq has decided to pass on Proxicom, the computer services firm that it was going to buy just a week ago. Q will avoid a bidding battle with Dimension Data, the Anglo-South African networking equipment reseller. On Tuesday, DiData launched a counterbid for Proxicom, valuing the company at $376 million - 30 per cent higher …

    Channel 11 May 2001, 16:35

  • Cisco exec backs Hubbardist courses

    100% Proficiency

    A senior Cisco official has lent her name to an article which praises training methods based on the teachings of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard. In a publication called Government Technology Cisco's training manager for Worldwide Manufacturing, Peg Maddocks, enthusiastically backs Hubbardist training methods. Maddocks is …

    Business 11 May 2001, 16:56

  • MS DDoS 2.0 – it was Bloomberg what done it, people say

    IDG entirely exonerated in WinXP conference meltdown shock

    Our sources on the WinXP teleconference DoS story get back to us, sounding worried and shamefaced and stressing that it wasn't IDG that published the phone number after all. You'll recall that Jim Allchin's big announcement of the release date of WinXP yesterday was somewhat blighted by huge numbers of people dialing in, thus …

    Software 11 May 2001, 17:43

  • Microsoft Altair BASIC legend talks about Linux, CPRM and that very frightening photo

    A very rare interview with Monte Davidoff

    Twenty six years ago the microprocessor revolution found a software catalyst - a tiny BASIC interpreter that ran in 4K of memory. You've probably heard of two of its three authors - Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who'd incorporated the company 'Micro-Soft' in Albuquerque the same year. The third man, Monte Davidoff, isn't nearly as …

    Software 11 May 2001, 18:51

  • DVD judges want free-speech arguments

    Is DeCSS 'expressive'?

    Judges hearing the appeal of 2600 publisher Eric Corely aka Emmanuel Goldstein, who was barred from posting or even linking to the DeCSS utility last summer by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, have asked for additional written arguments on whether the lower court violated Corely's First Amendment rights. The Second Circuit US …

    Media 11 May 2001, 21:00