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29th May 2001 Archive

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  • Bring on the Little Guys

    Trade Show 6 Let's try something new

    Later we cruised around Las Vegas. Williams and I tried to find ways to scare Jason. It all came to an end when Williams drove up on the sidewalk and then hit the breaks. The car slid to a stop and Williams screamed, "let's kill some pedestrians!" As people scurried away, Williams muttered, "these people have no idea who I am …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • Sex and Trade

    Trade Show 5 Embrace the Hackers

    The limo rolled up to the Casino and Frank opened my door and grinned. When I got out I had to step around a punk with blue hair wearing a woman's leopard-print shirt. He was screaming and crying and his legs bent as he sagged against his girlfriend. She slapped his face. "Get with it!" she snarled. Later in a conference called …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • Linux saved my Life

    Trade Show 4 Confessions of a Pornographer

    In the morning I discovered that Mike left me behind at the hotel, which was in the middle of the desert, 20 miles from Vegas in a one traffic light town called Jean. Collins was fond of trading inconvenience for expense, and this hotel represented the epitome of that logic. The clerk informed me that there was no Vegas-bound …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • Linux Media Arts Cuts the Fat

    Trade Show 3 Never too weird

    Las Vegas, April 21 - Here at the National Broadcast Association Expo, Linux Media Arts (LMA) melts away the glutton. While the gamblers cash in their 401Ks and vendors hock $50,000 DV editing stations, LMA gives away its software and sells a 24-hour service contract delivered through workstations running the rock-stable Linux …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • I was a Teenage Hacker

    Trade Show 2 More broken parts

    Jason Howard is a teenager. He was attending the expo with his mom, Meridyth Howard. She earns a living producing wedding videos. Adam Williams is a genXer and my age. He has written a powerful non-linear video editing application for Linux called Broadcast 2000. The software has no frame size limitations and supports unlimited …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • Open UK Apple Stores now, demand 66% of users

    Overwhelming support for retail chain

    Two-thirds of UK Mac users want Apple to open High Street stores in this country immediately. That's the result of a poll conducted by Macworld UK. The survey was conducted through the magazine's Web site, so it may not be the most scientific piece of market research. However, over the survey had over 1000 respondents. And with …

    Mac Channel 29 May 2001, 09:03

  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (The NAB edition)

    Trade Show Hunter S. Linux

    "Where have you been?" yelled Mike, founder of Vidux, "we've been waiting outside on the curb for hours!" It was 3pm on April 22, 2001 and Mike had just stormed into the press room at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas. I was freelancing for Linux Journal, trying to scare up some quotes from media …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:04

  • Intel slices up to 38% off PIII, Celeron prices

    The cuts keep coming

    Intel pruned its prices this weekend, as expected, chopping between 38 per cent and just five per cent off what it charges for members of its Pentium III and Celeron families. Desktop CPU New Price ($) Old Price ($) Decrease (%) 1GHz PIII 193 225 14 933MHz PIII 183 193 5 850MHz Celeron 86 138 38 …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 09:38

  • Eidos confirms rights issue

    Good time to raise capital?

    Eidos today confirmed that it is in the "late stages of arranging an equity issue for cash at a deep discount to the share price prevailing at the close of business on 25 May 2001". The games publisher issued the statement to the London Stock Exchange, following a leak of the plans in The Sunday Times. According to the paper …

    Games Industry 29 May 2001, 09:52

  • Opera to be default browser in Symbian ref designs

    The 'other' browser is now the rival browser...

    Opera Software has won itself a key role in the forthcoming wireless Internet wars; the company has signed up with Symbian, which will now include Opera's browser in its reference designs for Communicator devices. This does not of course mean that all companies licensing Symbian's designs will use the default browser, but quite …

    Software 29 May 2001, 09:59

  • Bell Microproducts buys Dutch storage biz

    European expansion

    Bell Microproducts has bought a high-end "storage solutions provider" in the Netherlands. Touch The Progress (TTPG) turned over $55m in 2000 and is profitable. It employs 65 people and has offices also in Belgium, Germany and Austria. TTPG will become part of Bell Europe, joining UK-based fellow subs Ideal Hardware and Rorke …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 10:13

  • DiData buys US Cisco trainer

    Buy Buy Buy

    Dimension Data has bought Colorado Computer Training Institute, a Cisco networking training firm based in Denver, for $11m. This works out at one time last year's sales - 60 per cent is to be paid in cash upfront. The rest is performance based and will come in cash and shares over the next 16 months. CCTI will become part of …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 10:27

  • Chip-making kit spending slides

    Taiwan cuts spend 44.5 per cent, US 15.7 per cent

    Nothing says quite so much about the state of the semiconductor industry - or at least the outlook for the immediate future - as the money manufacturers spend on chip-making kit. No surprise, then, that spending on equipment was way down during the first three months, according to the latest data from Semiconductor Equipment …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 10:33

  • Yell sold for £2.14bn

    What a palaver

    Cash-strapped BT today confirmed that it has sold Yell for £2.14 billion. BT will use the money from the sale - which is considerably less than BT had hoped to get - to reduce its £28 billion debt mountain. Part of the reason for the lower price tag lies in the recent announcement by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that will …

    Business 29 May 2001, 10:35

  • Easy CD Creator affecting Win9x machines as well

    What's left?

    It gets worse. A number of people have been in touch to say that it's not just Win2K machines that are being affected out by the installation of Roxio's Easy CD Creator. We've had four reports of the software affecting Windows 98. Most have pointed the finger at either the Take Two or Direct CD modules, although with Win2K at …

    Software 29 May 2001, 10:51

  • Linux hackers fall victim to crackers

    SourceForge servers compromised

    The servers of open source development site SourceForge have been compromised. Active subscribers to the site, which is owned by VA Linux, received the following terse message from its administrators. "This week, one of our systems was compromised. We have promptly taken the necessary steps to correct this situation," the …

    Security 29 May 2001, 10:54

  • Brits polish mobiles in preparation for BBC's ‘Joy of Text’ show

    D U WAN2CIT?

    Text messagers will next month get the chance to share their addiction with the nation as the BBC hosts an interactive show dedicated to SMS. "The Joy of Text" will be a full Saturday night extravaganza, hosted by Ulrika Johnsson and an as yet unannounced male presenter, on the impact texting has had on Brits. Kicking the …

    Data Networking 29 May 2001, 11:11

  • Vodafone abandons buying frenzy for profits

    Pre-tax profits rise 30 per cent

    Vodafone Group today said it would abandon its acquisition frenzy to concentrate on profits and Net phones. The British company hit reduced forecasts for the year ended 31 March 2001, with pre-tax profits up 28 per cent to £7 billion. Continental Europe was the biggest earner, accounting for £3.5 billion, while the US and UK …

    Business 29 May 2001, 11:22

  • Global chip biz to decline 13.5% during 2001

    Will grow 13.9% next year, says industry stats body

    The world chip market will contract this year, falling back in on itself after last year's explosive growth. So reckons the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organisation, an industry-backed number-cruncher. WSTS yesterday said its latest projections will see the market shrink by 13.5 per cent this year to $176.69 billion, …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 11:45

  • Tiscali to launch mobile phone service

    Diddle-ee, diddle-ee, diddle-ee, you're sacked

    Tiscali UK is spreading its wings and is looking to offer mobile phone services in the UK and Europe. Speaking to the Times, Renato Soru, the head of the Tiscali Group, said the branded service would be launched in the UK later this year by utilising the existing network of one of the four big mobile phone operators. The …

    Business 29 May 2001, 11:55

  • Acer, Trident intro mobile Tualatin chipset

    0.13 micron Pentium IIIs sampling now then?

    Acer Labs and Trident today jointly announced a notebook-oriented chipset that supports DDR and SDR SDRAM, integrates 3D acceleration, and supports Intel's Tualatin 0.13 micron Pentium III-family processor even though said CPU hasn't been officially launched yet. The chipset, the CyberAladdinT, is a first, the partners claim, …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 12:21

  • Meet the HP Server

    Reblanding on back of Itanium launch

    Hewlett-Packard is re-branding its servers under the single moniker HP Server with the launch of hardware based on Intel's Itanium processor. The strategy is designed to allow multiple server platforms (based on either Intel or HP PA-RISC processors) to integrate across a range of operating systems including Windows 2000, HP-UX …

    Business 29 May 2001, 12:22

  • Banks sued over dotcom float fix allegations

    Net investors not happy. But we knew that

    A group of New York banks face legal action after allegations of dotcom flotation rigging. At least 21 lawsuits have already been filed against ten banks in courts in Manhattan, today's Times reports. Angry investors claim that the IPOs of dotcoms such as Marketwatch.com, MP3.com, DoubleClick and Ariba were a fix. Experts …

    Business 29 May 2001, 12:24

  • $1 billion lawsuit for world's first Jail-cam

    Offended that millions saw them on the lav

    The world's first Jail Web cams - installed and hyped by the living embodiment of James Bond sheriff J.W. Pepper, Joe Arpaio - is at the end of a $1.38 billion lawsuit. It was filed on Friday at Maricopa County Superior Court and concerns the various Web cams installed in the local jail available on the Crime.com site. The cams …

    Music and Media 29 May 2001, 12:26

  • Codebreaker II The torture ends

    The winners, the solution, the whole shooting match

    Well, it's been a long, hard slog for our Reg codebreakers. After weeks of sleepless nights and hair-tearing angst, 32 bright sparks eventually cracked our code. Readers will recall that the prizes consisted of 10 copies of In Code, by Sarah Flannery. However, so impressed were we by your efforts that we have decided to award …

    Bootnotes 29 May 2001, 12:34

  • ATI talks up Truform, next-gen rendering tech

    Doesn't talk chips, though

    ATI whipped the lid off its next-generation 3D graphics technology today, Truform. And rather clever it sounds too. Truform essentially allows the look of 3D models to be improved with the addition of some extra data. A traditional approach to making a 3D model look more realistic would be to add more polygons to make the model …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 13:20

  • AMI sells RAID biz to LSI Logic

    Lock, stock and barrel

    American Megatrends International (AMI) is selling its RAID controller business to LSI Logic for cash. But for how much - it ain't saying in this press release announcing the deal. LSI is taking on more than 200 AMI employees. The deal is expected to close by the end of Q2. ®

    Business 29 May 2001, 14:15

  • Channel Business buys IT Europa

    Consolidation

    BPL, the owner of IT pub Channel Business, has bought IT Europa, the channel research/newsletter business. Terms were undisclosed. Max Hotopf, founder and owner of IT Europa, is taking " a much-needed sabbatical". But is he coming back? Computer Trade Only, the UK's leading print publication for system builders, is also up for …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 14:33

  • Nvidia to rush in Crush next week

    UK, Taiwan launch on Monday

    Nvidia's Xbox-derived, AMD Athlon 4-oriented Crush chipset will be unveiled on Monday 4 June at Taiwan's Computex show next week. Not coincidentally, Nvidia is hosting a product launch here in London on 4 June. The show's taking place on British warship HMS Belfast, presumably to symbolise what Crush is going to do the …

    Channel 29 May 2001, 14:53

  • MSN goes on the offensive to steal AOL users

    $50m ad campaign in the offing

    MSN has launched an ad campaign to steal any AOL sufers thinking of defecting after AOL's proposed price hike. The Microsoft ISP has set aside $50 million to woo AOL users, and is offering them three free months of service, plus a guaranteed rate of $21.95 per month until January 2003. All AOL customers in the US have to do is …

    Music and Media 29 May 2001, 14:55

  • HP wears Itanium underpants and sings the Intel song

    First IA-64 workstations and servers due in June

    Hewlett-Packard has announced a range of servers and workstations to coincide with today's launch of Intel's much-delayed Itanium processor. HP's first Itanium-based systems include the HP Workstation i2000 with up to two processors, the HP Server rx4610 with up to four processors and the HP Server rx9610 with up to 16 …

    Business 29 May 2001, 15:04

  • Dotcom adverts plumb new depths

    Enough is enough

    It had to happen. Dotcoms, desperate to sell their product by whatever means available, have stepped over the line dividing legitimate advertising from flagrant abuse of personal liberties. At 6.00pm on Friday 25 May, the staff of Vulture Central decanted en masse to local hostelry the Old Monk. This ritual 'production meeting …

    Bootnotes 29 May 2001, 15:17

  • Tyan dual Athlon 4 mobo goes on sale

    Turns up on PriceWatch

    Mobo maker Tyan has shipped - or is about to ship - its AMD760MP-based, multiple Athlon 4-based motherboard, the Thunder K7. The board has turned up on PriceWatch for $575. AMD is expected to introduce the 760MP and the workstation/server version of the Athlon 4 on Monday 4 June. The long-awaited 760MP will allow Athlon to …

    Business 29 May 2001, 15:20

  • How much will 3G cost?

    £10 billion says Vodafone

    Vodafone CEO Chris Gent has been brave (or foolish) enough to put a figure on how much 3G phones will actually cost his company in terms of rollout. £10 billion, he says, over five years. God only knows how he came to this figure, but he knows a thing or two about a thing or two, so we'll go with it for the meanwhile. At least …

    Data Networking 29 May 2001, 15:40

  • Opera to challenge e-envoy over UK govt ‘Windows tax’

    Deeply techie Norwegian ear-bashing incoming...

    Opera Software, owner of one of the browsers (which is more or less, all of the non-Microsoft ones) currently barred by the British government's prestige "Government Gateway," proposes to take the matter up with the UK's e-envoy, Andrew Pinder. Pinder's office is responsible for the commissioning of the site, gateway.gov.uk, …

    Software 29 May 2001, 15:59

  • EMC to chop 1,100 staff

    Storage giant reveals all

    EMC today warned it would lay off more than 1,000 staff amid general cost cutting at the storage giant. EMC plans to chop its workforce by around four per cent, or 1,100 people, "over the course of the next several weeks". The move will leave the company with the same number of employees it had at the start of the year. In an …

    Business 29 May 2001, 16:05

  • Criminal Law Review tears strips off RIP Act

    Academics hate it as much as we do

    The academic paper Criminal Law Review has laid into the widely criticised RIP Act, arguing that it "falls far short" of its intended aim. In what is an unusual departure from dry objectivity, the article - called "BigBrother.gov.uk - State surveillance in the age of information and rights" - makes several damning conclusions …

    Music and Media 29 May 2001, 16:42

  • Sun Microsystems ‘bans’ the Internet

    Cost-cutting will leave staff offline

    Sun Microsystems has told it employees NOT to use the Internet in an effort to shave a few dollars off its phone bill and thereby make its annual results look a bit better. The cost-saving measure would be an unusual step for any firm to introduce, but for Sun, whose motto is: "The Network is the Computer", you've got to wonder …

    Business 29 May 2001, 16:48

  • Mobo sales fade away in May

    TWP revises PC shipment forecasts

    Thomas Wiesel Partners, the New York investment bank, is revising its PC shipments forecast downwards to just two per cent for the year, compared with previous estimates of five per cent. TWP now reckons PC shipments will total 133m units in 2001, against its previous forecast of 136.5m units. The cut follows "channel checks" …

    Business 29 May 2001, 19:07

  • Microsoft! Beware of Greeks (reading maps)

    Cyprus is not amused

    Microsoft has fallen foul of the government in the Greek-speaking part of Cyprus. And all because roadmaps of the country as featured on AutoRoute Express fail to show the political reality of the divided country. Although the maps display a red line to represent the demarcation between Greek and "occupied" Turkish-speaking …

    Software 29 May 2001, 20:00

  • Lucent jilts Alcatel at the Altar

    What would the neighbours think?

    Lucent and Alcatel have called off their merger talks, the pair announced today in a terse but cordial joint statement. But why? It appears that Lucent was worried that the deal would be perceived as a takeover, rather than a merger, according to sources cited by WSJ.com. Also, Lucent wanted a stronger representation in an …

    Business 29 May 2001, 22:05