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18th May 2001 Archive

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  • Microsoft co-opts Caldera, Torvalds in Shared Source offensive

    Divide and Annoy

    We thought it was a slip of the tongue, but no - it's official! Microsoft today enshrined 'Shared Source' in pride of place on its website, and called on its lead punch-bag Craig Mundie to renew his assault on software libre. This time, Mundie used space offered by the CNet/ZDNet empire as a bully pulpit. There's little new to …

    Software 18 May 2001, 03:44

  • Smoking pistol unravels VeriSign domain name stitch-up

    Something funny happened on the way to the DoC

    Against all expectations, the cosy deal which obligingly extends registrar VeriSign's .com domain monopoly for another six years (and its .org and .net franchise for another five) appears to be unravelling in the spotlight. An incriminating email reprinted on the ICANNWatch weblog appear to show ICANN's counsel Joe Sims …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 08:11

  • System Builders Summit, Monte Carlo Nvidia's GeForce 6 and 10

    Nvidia's president and CEO has delivered a tantalising glimpse of the kind of performance he expects future generations of Geforce boards to give. Addressing a group of European System builders, Jen-Hsun Huang's made a presentation which included slides suggesting the GeForce 6 will be out in 2003 and built using 100 million …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 09:25

  • WebTop CEO tending his hanging baskets

    Now's the time to do it

    Andy Mitchell, CEO of search outfit WebTop and the former boss of AltaVista UK, is on "gardening leave", according to some well-placed gnomes tucked away in the herbaceous borders. It appears Mr Mitchell was effectively sent home on full pay when WebTop was effectively merged into knowledge management outfit, Smartlogic, with …

    e-Business 18 May 2001, 09:27

  • Health warning for Windows Media Player upgraders

    Don't install dodgy software originating from... er, us, says MS

    Microsoft has warned that traces of the 'illegal' copy of Windows Media Player 8 could botch the authorised upgrade from Media Player 7 to 7.1. The contraband, beta Version 8 is deemed 'illegal' - it's the one that's only supposed to be bundled with Windows XP/2002, and that isn't out yet. Enterprising users disentangled the …

    Software 18 May 2001, 09:27

  • Palm halves Q4 revenue guidance, doubles loss

    Calls off Extended Systems merger too. Oh dear

    Palm has canned its plan to buy Extended Systems after admitting that its Q4 revenue will be half what the PDA maker had originally expected. Palm previously said its revenue for the three months to 1 June would come in at $300-315 million, down a little on the $350 million it posted for the same period last year. Yesterday, …

    Business 18 May 2001, 10:12

  • Transmeta wins Sharp support

    All major Japanese notebook players now offering Crusoe kit

    Sharp yesterday said its latest notebook for the Japanese market, the Mebius PC-SX1-H1, will be powered by a Transmeta Crusoe CPU and ship at the end of June. As Transmeta was quick to point out, the Sharp deal mean that Crusoe is now supported by all the major Japanese notebook vendors. It won Toshiba over earlier this month …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 10:49

  • Dell warns of lower Q2 sales

    Meets Q1 forecasts

    Dell met sales forecasts for the first quarter, but warned revenues would drop in the second quarter due to the weak US corporate market. The Texas PC seller yesterday reported earnings of $462 million, or 17 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 4 2001. This compared to $466 million, or 17 cents per share, for the same …

    Business 18 May 2001, 10:56

  • Chinadotcom slashes 500 jobs

    What a miserable start to the day

    NASDAQ-listed Chinadotcom is to slash some 500 jobs in its bid to break even, the company announced today. This latest round of job cuts is in on top of redundancies announced in March when the content and e-services company said its headcount would reduce from 2,417 to less than 2000 by Q2. The job losses will bring …

    e-Business 18 May 2001, 10:57

  • Death of Web ‘inevitable’

    So long and thanks for all the clicks

    The World Wide Web's days are numbered, Forrester Research claims. The Internet may have taken off, mostly around the Web, but the next step of its evolution will see expansion beyond the browser, the company reckons. The Web's replacement is an executable Net with throwaway code downloaded as and when you want to use it as …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 11:11

  • System Builders Summit, Monte Carlo Hard drive bloodbath (who's left standing?)

    Only four players will be left in the PC/server hard drive market in three years time. Or so IBM reckons. Big Blue forecasts a major punch-up, with Samsung and Western Digital ending up as casualties. Hitachi can get the hell out of the mobile hard drive business as well. This world view comes from Paul Griffin, IBM's EMEA VP …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 11:22

  • Murderer confesses on Anandtech forum

    Community up in arms

    Anandtech community member Dennilfloss has dramatically confessed to the murder of another member, single mother Nowheremom, on the tech site's forum. Dennilfloss developed a relationship with Nowheremom over the Internet and arranged to meet her in real life. He did so and the two hit it off. Members were shocked, however, …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 11:58

  • Evesham boss bags Porsche

    System Builders Summit, Monte Carlo But he's already got a penis extension

    What a jammy git. Evesham.com boss Richard Austin is leaving the IFE/System Builders Summit in Monte Carlo as the proud owner of a £40,000 Porsche Boxter. Evesham had managed to flog enough Nvidia cards in the couple of months before the system builder event to win Austin a place in a grand car key draw. Instead of winning …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 12:00

  • Sports sites step nearer the gallows

    Big three to dominate

    Dotcoms were this week warned to expect more casualties in the saturated UK online sports market. In five years' time the sector will be dominated by a handful of sites, according to Forrester Research. It warns that betting revenues won't be enough to save many sites, stating that by 2006 only 15 per cent of their revenue …

    e-Business 18 May 2001, 12:02

  • Head of Excite Italy to run Tiscali UK

    Everyone say 'hi' to Sergio Cellini

    Tiscali SpA has appointed the current head of portal Excite Italy to run Tiscali's new unified operation in the UK. It's not known when Sergio Cellini will take up his role as Managing Director of Tiscali UK but it's likely to be after June 1 - by which time all the jobs cuts at Tiscali UK's operation will be finalised. After …

    e-Business 18 May 2001, 12:08

  • Telewest loses 170 jobs

    Hang on, they must be round here somewhere

    Telewest is to shed 170 jobs in its bid to rationalise its call centre operation in the UK. Staff were told of the job cuts late yesterday but it's taken until lunchtime today to get a response from the cableco. As part of the reorganisation two call centres will shut bringing the total number of call centres in the UK to …

    Business 18 May 2001, 13:29

  • AMD says 1.4GHz Athlon due ‘early June’

    It's official

    AMD has confirmed that it will announce a faster desktop Athlon next month. All of which was largely expected, of course, but it's nice to get it straight from the horse's mouth. The confirmation came from an AMD spokeswoman in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reports. "The product will be announced early in June," she said. Now, we were …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 14:11

  • Alcatel in ‘advanced talks’ to buy Lucent

    $40bn deal on the cards

    France's Alcatel has inched nearer to its buyout of Lucent Technologies, a deal now worth more than $40 billion. That's according to the New York Times, which today reports that the two are in "advanced talks" over the deal, which will be almost a total stock agreement. The agreement would represent a 20 per cent premium over …

    Business 18 May 2001, 14:33

  • The 2001 Daftas Longest Email Disclaimer

    UBS Warburg and its incredible 1081 words

    There was absolutely no competition in the Dafta Longest Email Disclaimer category. UBS Warburg runs hurtling through the tape with this: This report has been prepared by the division, group, subsidiary or affiliate of UBS AG ("UBS") identified herein. In certain countries UBS AG is referred to as UBS SA, which is a translation …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • The 2001 Daftas Most Incomprehensible Disclaimer

    Rathbone Investment Management speaks with forked tongue

    If you thought that brevity and clarity might be considered essential in the international dissemination of information via email, think again. Still, it's nice to see that Rathbone Investment Management continues to use legalese as its first language: Rathbone Investment Management Limited will not generally act on e-mail …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • The 2001 Daftas Most PC Disclaimer

    London Borough of Southwark lays it on the line

    They don't muck about down at London's Southwark Council. Quite right too: Southwark Council routinely monitors the content of e-mail sent and received via its network for the purposes of ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures. Employees must never send or store e-mails or attachments that are obscene, indecent, …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • The 2001 Daftas Best Bi-Lingual Disclaimer

    So, what's the Welsh for 'email'?

    If you're ever stuck in Aberystwyth and in desperate need of accessing you email, this might contain some useful vocabulary: Mae'r e-bost hwn yn hollol gyfrinachol ac mae ar gyfer defnydd y derbynnydd/derbynwyr yn unig. Ni ellir derbyn yr e-bost hwn fel archeb am nwyddau na gwasanaethau. Rhaid defnyddio ffurflen archebu …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • The 2001 Daftas Best Spoof Disclaimer

    'No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email'

    We reckon that this one has being doing the rounds for a while, but let's not let that spoil our enjoyment: IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • The 2001 Daftas Special Award for Best WWW Disclaimer

    off-road.com goes off the rails

    Is there anything in the following which suggests that off-road.com are attempting to avoid possible litigation?: Important Disclaimers - Please Read Activities and vehicle modifications appearing or described in this publication and it's pages may be potentially dangerous. We do not endorse any such activity for others or …

    Bootnotes 18 May 2001, 14:38

  • Readers' Letters The Email Disclaimer Awards 2001

    And this year's 'Dafta' winners are...

    So great was the response to our recent appeal for the world's longest email disclaimer that we have decided to celebrate the best of the bunch in six categories. The organisations responsible will be awarded a coveted Vulture Central 'Dafta' for their contribution to international timewasting: Longest Disclaimer Most …

    Letters 18 May 2001, 14:50

  • Intel backs Linux everywhere

    Even on high-end networking kit

    Intel has made its strongest commitment to developing Linux for the telecoms market to date, outlining what it sees as priorities for the development of the open source operating system. Howard Bubb, general manager of Intel's converged communications division, told delegates at Intel's Developers Forum in Amsterdam this week …

    Data Networking 18 May 2001, 15:02

  • Asus shows off its first Athlon 4 notebook

    Competes 'directly with desktops'

    Asustek is showing off its first Athlon 4 notebook - an Athlon 4 beast with an Nvidia GeForce 2 GO included. Asus demoed an engineering sample at the IFE/System Builders Summit in Monte Carlo. The company has only one model, it comes with a 15.1 inch screen, and director Wilson Wei said it competes directly with desktops. ®

    Business 18 May 2001, 15:06

  • ASP Industry and WIPO parade dispute resolution policy

    Needed, but WIPO's Internet track record is poor

    The ASP Industry Consortium and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have announced the set of recommendations and guidelines for the ASP market they have been jointly working on for nearly a year. The guidelines are greatly needed as the application service provider (ASP) market takes off. Basically, if you don't …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 15:48

  • Intel takes on Risc in telco market

    Chipzilla relishes prospect of uphill struggle

    Intel is positioning its Pentium III chips as a viable alternative to Risc processors in powering carrier-grade servers for the telecommunications industry. Chipzilla has signed up Hewlett-Packard to help it develop servers that meet stringent telecoms standards including the Network Equipment Building Specification (NEBS) in …

    Data Networking 18 May 2001, 15:50

  • NASA's Space Launch Initiative blasts off

    $4.8 billion SLI will 'significantly improve life on earth'

    NASA has awarded contracts for the development of a new generation of reusable space vehicles. The Space Launch Initiative (SLI) - which is aimed at improving safety and drastically reducing the cost of space operations - offers the possibility of a full-scale vehicle within five years. The initial contracts - …

    Business 18 May 2001, 16:01

  • Crucial drops DDR price pants

    PC2100 same price as SDRAM

    Crucial.com, the retail arm of DRAM maker Micron Technology, has cut volume prices on PC2100 DDR modules to bring them into line with PC133. There's no way that the two cost the same to produce, can there? Crucial says there's not much in it. The combination of increasing DDR output by Micron, the inherent cost benefits in …

    Channel 18 May 2001, 16:31

  • Intel talks 4G/next-gen mobile phone chips

    Look at the bandwidth on that

    Intel has indicated that its wireless Internet on a chip could be available in as little as a year. As previously reported, Intel yesterday announced the development of an experimental chip that features a microprocessor, flash memory and analogue communications circuits on a single slab of silicon. According to Chipzilla, the …

    Data Networking 18 May 2001, 16:36

  • McVeigh death T-shirts for sale on eBay

    Capitalist punishment

    A range of Timothy McVeigh T-shirts, the majority revelling in the man's planned execution by lethal injection planned for 11 June, has popped up on eBay for between $10 and $15. McVeigh, 33, pleaded guilty to the Oklahoma bombing in which 168 people died, including 19 children. One T-shirt available on the online auction site …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 17:08

  • Iris recognition is best biometric system

    The eyes have it

    Iris recognition is the top biometrics ID technology, British researchers claim. The technology beat six other biometric systems, including facial recognition, fingerprint, and vein and voice recognition, in a study conducted by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) on behalf of the Communications Electronics Security Group. …

    Security 18 May 2001, 17:10

  • US fraudster sent to jail after refusing to give up the Net

    Idiot

    A San Diego man has landed himself a one-year jail sentence after refusing to give up the Net. Manuchehr Riazati collected more than $2,500 through selling computers and electronic items via online auctions. But he failed to deliver the goods after receiving the cash. Yesterday he was found guilty of two misdemeanour counts of …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 17:34

  • Censorware outfit targets cDc's anonymity app ‘Peekabooty’

    No good deed goes unpunished

    The press has been blissfully buzzing lately with rumors and long-shot speculation about a privacy/anonymity application called Peekabooty, which white hat group Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) is developing for roll-out at this year's Defcon convention in Las Vegas this July. It certainly didn't take long for UK-based security/ …

    Music and Media 18 May 2001, 17:36

  • Ailing Palm faces the Crusher, denies quitting OS business

    Landfill option for inventory glut

    Palm Inc saw a third wiped off its stock price at one stage in trading today after acknowledging that it was "more or less dramatically changing our business model." The company announced higher losses and lower sales than expected, and the company walked away from its proposed merger with Extended Systems, an enterprise …

    Software 18 May 2001, 22:59