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15th May 2001 Archive

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  • Could Bill Gates write code?

    Yes. And then some, Altair BASIC dis-assemblers reckon

    Even if you've been following our saga of Micro-Soft's 1975 Altair BASIC here and here, - one question remains unanswered. Was it any good? Reuben Harris has been disassembling a binary with some help from Monte Davidoff, the third author of Altair BASIC (along with Gates and Paul Allen) and who we interviewed here last week. …

    Software 15 May 2001, 00:04

  • Mob phreakers rule Vegas phone network

    Adult 'room service' market hacked and locked

    Eddie Munoz knows a secret about Las Vegas. As the operator of one of the city's oldest in-room adult entertainment services, Munoz knows Vegas is a town fuelled by the unceasing buzz of money and vice. When he was at the top of his game his phones rang 100 times a day, and he dispatched private nude "dancers" (prostitution is …

    Music and Media 15 May 2001, 03:22

  • Sun claims UK server crown

    Declares war on IBM

    Sun Microsystems has claimed that it has surpassed IBM in revenues from server sales in the UK despite the fact that it trails to Big Blue globally. Based on figures obtained from Gartner Dataquest for last year, Sun said that it has grown faster than any of its competitors in Western Europe. In the UK, Sun posted 52 per cent …

    Business 15 May 2001, 03:27

  • AMD samples 1.5GHz Athlon 4

    Desktop PC Palominos gallop on

    AMD has begun sampling its 1.4GHz and 1.5GHz Athlon 4 processors based on the company's new Palomino core. The chips, designed for desktop PCs, are due to ship in volume early next quarter, but chipset vendors have now received pre-release silicon for testing, Taiwanese Web site DigiTimes reports. The site's moles claim AMD …

    Channel 15 May 2001, 08:46

  • VIA whips cover off Athlon 4 chipset

    Updated Doubles up as Duron part too

    VIA unveiled today its first chipset designed specifically for AMD's mobile Athlon 4: the long-awaited Twister K. Officially dubbed the ProSavage KN133, the product incorporates S3's Savage 4 graphics acceleration core and VIA's KT133A North Bridge. Together, they provide 200MHz and 266MHz frontside bus speeds and support PC- …

    Channel 15 May 2001, 09:18

  • LineOne bosses to head Tiscali's UK ISP

    So who's the weakest link?

    The board of recently acquired LineOne is to head-up Tiscali's operation in the UK as the Italian ISP moves to create one single branded operation in Britain. Insiders have told The Register that Mary Turner, the current MD of LineOne, and all but one of the current board of will run the enlarged ISP made up of World Online UK …

    Music and Media 15 May 2001, 09:42

  • Win2k SP2 code final – and now official?

    Updated Sort of... We've got a new download link for you, anyway

    The Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 code currently available seems to be official after all, despite some Microsoft claims that it's not yet official, and that it's only probably completely finished. One of The Register's spies tells us that the code is already being publicised at the site for Microsoft Servicedesk One Premier …

    Software 15 May 2001, 10:22

  • Baltimore slashes 250 jobs as losses grow

    PKI pickle

    Security firm Baltimore is going to slash 250 jobs as Q1 losses have grown to £71.9 million, up from £7.5 million a year earlier. The rise has been put down to marketing and acquisition spending. The company is also closing offices and expects this, alongside the job cuts, will mean savings of between £30 million to £35 …

    Business 15 May 2001, 10:32

  • This looks like a BOL lock up

    Online bookshop to be folded into book clubs

    It looks like it's the end of the road for online bookseller BOL.com as a standalone business. German media giant Bertelsmann is going to fold the company into its book club arm according to the FT. The move will probably mean job cuts and restricting access to Asian sites to just members of its book clubs. BOL won't be floated …

    e-Business 15 May 2001, 10:57

  • Energis earnings up, losses up

    And CEO Grabiner off to find life

    Energis, the UK business telecoms company, has announced an increased pre-tax loss for the year of £100.6 million but a 50 per cent increase in earnings, 70 per cent increase in turnover and a step up in operating profit from £9.1 million last year to £47.0 million. Despite sure signs that Energis is fit and healthy - and may …

    Business 15 May 2001, 11:30

  • DiData profits rocket

    Cisco's woes won't hit, says networking reseller

    Networking reseller Dimension Data Holdings has reported a 68 per cent rise in profit for the first half of its financial year. The South African-based company, which is listed in the UK and is Cisco's biggest reseller outside the US, said it made a pre-profit of $159.6 million before exceptional items for the six months ended …

    Channel 15 May 2001, 11:53

  • Intel confirms Itanium release

    Close enough for us

    Don't take anyone else's word for it, Intel itself has finally admitted that its Itanium processor will 'ship' at the end of this month. Well almost. Let's just say it's going to ship before the 6 June. That's the day Paul Otellini, executive veep and general manager of Intel's Architecture Group, will be in London to outline …

    Channel 15 May 2001, 12:48

  • MS signs up for European privacy ‘Safe Harbor’ scheme

    Policies entirely consistent already, claims a spoke

    Microsoft is to sign up for the Safe Harbour data protection agreement between the US and the European Union, according to an announcement made by company director of corporate privacy (oh yes, there is one) Richard Purcell in Brussels today. Purcell says Microsoft is able to sign the agreement because "our company privacy …

    Software 15 May 2001, 13:15

  • ATI Radeon 2, 3 details leak

    Big things coming

    Some interesting components to ATI's Radeon roadmap appear to have leaked out of the company. The information centres on the upcoming Radeon 2 - aka the R200 -and the rather further off Radeon 3, codenamed the R300, according to the eUniverse Games Web site. According to the site, ATI will offer samples of the Radeon 2 this …

    Channel 15 May 2001, 13:48

  • Gameplay: what they got for their £1

    One hell of a headache, that's what

    Gameplay's Boxed Games business in the UK lost an estimated £6.4 million before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation during the eight months ending March 31 2001. The business is valued at around £1 million - which is why it was picked up for the nominal sum of just £1 today as part of a management buy-out (MBO). …

    Business 15 May 2001, 14:10

  • Porn-happy Judge puts 13-year-old boy on sex register

    Young boy nobbled for paedophilic photos

    A Judge has told a 13-year-old boy, found guilty of possessing over 300 obscene pictures, that an interest in porn is healthy. It didn't stop him giving the lad an 18-month supervision order and putting him on the sex offenders' register for two-and-a-half years though. Odd it certainly is. The boy, who can't be named for legal …

    Music and Media 15 May 2001, 14:14

  • Sony, AOL to bring Net to PlayStation 2

    Japanese giant starts to move against Microsoft and Xbox

    Sony has recruited AOL to provide Net access for its PlayStation 2 console, clearly part of its strategy to fight Microsoft's Xbox if the timing of the announcement and the schedule for the services the partners will provide are anything to go by. The pair's announcement came this morning, ahead of the big splash Microsoft is …

    Music and Media 15 May 2001, 14:16

  • Titsup Madge.Web staff to be saved

    'It's not a dotcom venture with no revenue'

    The fate of Madge.Web and its staff looks set to be sealed by the end of next week. Receivers Price Waterhouse Coopers expects to name a preferred bidder for the UK company next week. It also hopes to save all 170 British jobs at the Web hosting company, which fell into administration last month. A PwC representative said …

    e-Business 15 May 2001, 14:32

  • Fantasy election provides help for floating voters

    If only it were real

    El Reg has got more e-lection fun - but this time it's serious. Not content with running a "Fantasy Mayor" game last year to help Londoners decided who their new mayor should be, now the politicos at New Statesman Online are behind something similar for the general election. Those behind the Fantasyelection2001.com site reckon …

    Music and Media 15 May 2001, 15:42

  • Apple unwraps long-awaited retail plan

    Updated Will open 25 stores this year

    Apple has launched its chain of High Street retail outlets with the promise that it will open 25 stores across the US throughout the year. As the Mac maker confirmed last week, the first store to open will be at Tysons Corner, McLean, Virginia, and it will go live on Saturday. So too will store number two, in Glendale, Los …

    Mac Channel 15 May 2001, 15:44

  • Leading security expert on the end of DDoS attacks

    Steve Gibson not a happy bunny

    Renowned private security expert Steve Gibson has been subject to two major denial of service attacks in the past fortnight. The target is Steve's Web site www.grc.com, standing for Gibson Research Company. The site sells a range of security software designed by Steve himself, as well as a large amount of practical advice on …

    Security 15 May 2001, 15:48

  • Dynamic pricing hits PC market

    IBM, Compaq, Dell, HP all trying it

    PC vendors are planning to introduce dynamic pricing to shift inventory online. IBM, Compaq, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are among those "actively investigating" dynamic pricing models, according to a report by InfoWorld. IBM has already started dabbling - after running a pilot program in Europe it expects to begin a similar …

    Business 15 May 2001, 16:02

  • AMD to announce Dell design win for Athlon 4

    Last Intel-only PC vendor to cave in, predicts analyst

    AMD has finally won over Dell. The PC vendor will end its exclusive use of Intel CPUs in June when it announces that it will use AMD's mobile Athlon 4 in an upcoming high performance laptop. That, at least, is what Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Eric Ross claims to have been told by sources. In a pro-AMD report issued to …

    Business 15 May 2001, 16:06

  • Yahoo buys ancient WSJ FrontPage ‘backdoor’ report

    Based on a true story....

    Yes, there is a screwy dll which makes it possible to attack MS Web servers running FrontPage extensions. And no, there isn't any bloody backdoor password scheme as the supremely venerable (just ask them) Wall Street Journal reported last April. However, Yahoo Business News thinks it's got a real inside track into this, and …

    Security 15 May 2001, 19:41

  • Confusing MS security bulletin aided IIS worm

    Exclusive: No wonder so many machines got hit

    The sadmind/IIS worm, which has been defacing Microsoft IIS machines so prolifically during the past ten days, might be getting a little help from a poorly-worded MS security bulletin. The worm infects Solaris boxes up to version 7 by exploiting the sadmind vulnerability, then scans for IIS machines susceptible to the folder …

    Software 15 May 2001, 20:20