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29th June 2001 Archive

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  • UK Govt's stand on spam provokes angry backlash

    Give him a taste of his own medicine, say readers

    The British Government's decision to defend spam has caused outrage among El Reg readers. Yesterday we reported how the UK forged an alliance with France to defend the right for Net users to have to pay for the displeasure of receiving porn, scams, hoaxes, and other dubious "business" propositions via their in-box. The feeling …

    Music and Media 29 Jun 2001, 10:08

  • MS and DoJ: hap-hap-happy as pigs in filth

    Somebody's lying

    If you tend to believe what you hear at press conferences, then you'll have a particularly tough time reconciling the US Department of Justice's satisfaction in the appeals court antitrust ruling alongside Microsoft's equal satisfaction in the same document. Such was the challenge for reporters Thursday: to hear the two …

    Software 29 Jun 2001, 10:09

  • VIA sees C3 emerge as server chip

    US company going to put it into energy-efficient machines

    Like Transmeta and Intel before it, VIA is getting its chips installed into energy-efficient servers. The company yesterday said that US-based server maker Rauch Medien will use its C3 x86-compatible processor for a new family of low-power rack machines. Rauch Medien's Linux-based GreenServ systems typically draw less than 3OW …

    Channel 29 Jun 2001, 10:28

  • 3G phones to become ultimate crime-busting tool

    All thanks to the RIP Act

    The next generation of mobile phones may prove to be the ultimate eye-witness thanks to modern technology and the RIP Act. Under the much-criticised legislation, the police and security services will be able to request all communications data on someone they believe has committed a crime or is going to commit a crime. This …

    Data Networking 29 Jun 2001, 10:28

  • Gameplay non-exec directors ‘resign’

    There ain't nobody here but us chickens

    The non-executive directors of Gameplay have resigned. Why on earth would they want to do that? Well, they made their decision "following the substantial reduction in the activities of the business" - which is a great way of saying that they've got bugger all to do. Gameplay is little more than a name anymore - the vast …

    Games Industry 29 Jun 2001, 10:44

  • Why are we all still using 1984 technology?

    US boffin offers his file wisdom

    Today's computer file system is outdated and dead, and will be replaced by a set-up allowing users to access their data from any Net-connected device. Speaking at PCExpo/TechX in New York, Yale University Computer Science professor David Gelernter, said today's "poor" information management tools were in desperate need of a …

    Software 29 Jun 2001, 10:57

  • Cardiff City ace in “sheep shagging” contract

    Updated Would ewe believe it!

    What could induce a professional footballer to leave Manchester City for Division Two side Cardiff City? Manchester City may have been relegated last season from the English Premiership to Division One, but they've still got the tallest floodlights of any football club in England - something not to be sniffed at. Maybe …

    Bootnotes 29 Jun 2001, 11:21

  • AMD to ship 1.4GHz Athlon MP by August

    Online chip store's catalog says so

    AMD is preparing to take its Athlon MP server line to 1.4GHz real soon now. Certainly, the part has appeared on at least one online chip reseller's price lists. Take a look at ENPC.com, we were told, so we did, and there we found this page. The company is offering a 1.4GHz, 266MHz frontside bus Athlon MP for $309 if you buy …

    Channel 29 Jun 2001, 11:31

  • Bailiffs on the way to Time Computers' shops

    Updated The cheque must be in the post

    A property company has decided to send the bailiffs round to two of Time Computers' shops because the rent has not been paid. The outlets are owned by Peel Holdings, a major property group based in Manchester. A representative from Peel Holdings confirmed the company had made the decision to send the bailiffs round, but couldn' …

    Channel 29 Jun 2001, 12:18

  • MySimon email flame gets too hot to handle

    Just f$%k off d&ck brain

    It's amazing how things can get out of hand on the Net. Take Frank DiMauro of Chapel Hill, NC, in the US. He emailed the CEO of animation studio, Blur, commenting on a TV commercial featuring the cartoon character "MySimon" from the shopping comparison Web site of the same name. Wrote Mr DiMauro: "Some feedback re: my simon …

    Music and Media 29 Jun 2001, 12:24

  • Usenet creator dead

    RIP Jim Ellis

    One of the two men behind Usenet, Jim Ellis, has died aged 45. He died at his home in Pennsylvania yesterday morning after losing his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Jim, together with fellow Duke University graduate Tom Truscott, came up with concept of Usenet - basically linking two computers together to share information …

    Music and Media 29 Jun 2001, 12:32

  • How MS is winning the court war by losing all the battles

    Still guilty in detail, but what's to be done? And when?

    Yesterday's appeals court ruling on the antitrust case was a pretty substantial victory for Microsoft, but oddly enough it consists mainly of a big stack of defeats for the company. The appeals court has agreed with the majority of the content of the district court's findings of fact and conclusions of law, yet has nevertheless …

    Software 29 Jun 2001, 13:26

  • Britney gets hacked!

    Boy responsible strokes own ego

    BritneySpears.com has been hacked and displays nothing but the message: "britney got hacked http://www.digit-labs.org/britney.htm gtx wouter". Go to the Web page mentioned and you'll find some self-regarding nonsense that starts: "My love for britney is stronger than your security". The boy declares himself to be 18 years old …

    Security 29 Jun 2001, 14:59

  • Orphans of Compaq's Alphacide bolt for the exit

    Could the last AXP user please turn out the light?

    Sales reps from Sun Microsystems and IBM can start counting their bonuses already, if detailed accounts of Compaq's customer reassurance blitz received by The Register are accurate. Compaq reps went on the offensive after Monday's decision to hand development of the Alpha team over to Intel, and to standardise on Intel's IA-64 …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:01

  • Sysadmins waste 75 days a year on site visits

    ...Remote software firm claims

    IT support staff waste up to 75 days a year on travelling to off-site locations to physically fix PCs. So says Vector Networks... a developer of remote PC support software. Obviously, the ideais that corporates should buy more remote software, and Vector has commissioned a survey of 250 IT managers, each responsible for …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:01

  • Stratus applies fault tolerant tech to Wintel boxes

    No longer faulty-tolerant?

    High-end server manufacturer Stratus is shipping its first server based on Intel chips and Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system. Stratus is known as a niche supplier of fault-tolerant systems based on PA RISC chips. These run either HP-UX or its own proprietary VOS operating system. With these servers it uses redundant …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:02

  • How to trace stolen notebooks over the Net

    Nice little earner

    Software which pinpoints the exact location of laptop thieves via the Net is due to land in Europe by the end of this year. The software, developed by US company zTrace, activates a tracing technology when stolen laptops are connected to the Internet. Computer owners sign up to zTrace, then notify the company if their machine …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:02

  • Novell loves AMD MP

    Certifiable

    Novell has certified AMD's new server platform. So now you know that NetWare is fully reliable and interoperable on the AMD Athlon MP processor and the AMD-760MP chipset, AMD's multiprocessing platform for one- and two-way servers. Tyan, the Taiwanese mobo maker and AMD client firm, hailed the Novell certification as " …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:02

  • Apple iBook

    Review Notebook

    Apple's iBook has undergone a significant redesign of late and the result is a laptop that's sure to appeal to a wide range of users. Gone are the bright colours of previous models. In their place is a lighter, smaller machine that won't embarrass you when you're seen with it in public. At 2.2kg and just 3.4cm thick, the iBook …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • NEC Powermate i-Select XL3 A1300

    Review Desktop PC

    Not to be outdone by other 1.3GHz Athlons, NEC's Powermate i-Select XL3 A1300 has a couple of extra tricks up its sleeve. Built around a 1.3GHz processor and 256MB of DDR (double data rate) RAM, its WorldBench 2000 score of 182 is more than respectable. NEC has also managed to bundle two firsts into this Power system - a new …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Palm to give $2.3m of unsold PDAs to education

    Intel at it too

    The great Palm inventory clearance continues, this time with a donation of $2.3 million worth of PDAs to US schools, colleges and universities. Oh, the move is nicely spun as a philanthropic gesture - and we applaud Palm for handing the kit over to folk who can make use of it rather than dumping the machines in landfill - but …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Phoenix BIOS mobos phoning home?

    We still don't know

    Last Tuesday we were following with great interest a thread at DSLReports expressing concern about the PhoenixNet-enabled BIOS, which automatically connects users to Phoenix servers to enable downloads of (presumably updated) files. Several commentators were confused about how to enable and disable the service, and found that …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Palm knuckles up to Gartner, sucks up to Big Biz

    Vibrant, Growing yet Balanced

    Palm CEO Carl Yankowski today tried to reassure investors that Palm is not losing its grip on the handheld market. While the industry waited for Palm to reveal its fourth quarter earnings, due this afternoon, Yankowski kicked off the keynote speeches at this week'sPC Expo trade show, now merged into Technology Exchange Week New …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Sony DSC-P1

    Review 3.3 megapixel digital camera

    Sony has always had a knack when it comes to consumer devices, and the DSC-P1 is no exception. Small, capable and easy to use, it stands out as more than just a PC peripheral. The DSC-P1 is a 3.3Mp (megapixel) camera, allowing a maximum resolution of 2048x1536. As usual, images can be stored as either JPEG or TIFF files. …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Maxtor plans 137GB+ hard drives

    ATA Boy!

    Maxtor today set out its stall in the heavy duty hard drive market, saying it planned to surpass the 137GB interface for ATA drives by the end of the year. The vendor has joined forces with other IT companies, such as Compaq, Microsoft, VIA Technologies, ONTRACK Data International and StorageSoft, to support the latest standard …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Bluetooth fillip for Palm

    With some help from TDK

    Ahh… the sounds of summer in England. The thwack of leather on willow, the chirping of grasshoppers in a green meadow, and the gentle snoring of odd-job man Lester behind boxes of unsold Register merchandise. It's lovely, and there are other treats to returning to Yoorp too. For a start the phones interoperate – which is a big …

    Data Networking 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Fancy a 1GB flash disk the size/weight of a plastic lighter?

    Plugs straight into the USB port

    Fancy a 1GB flash memory disk that plugs straight into your USB port and is the size and weight of a plastic lighter? It'll set you back £990.95 ex VAT, and you can't get it off a bloke standing outside the tube station holding a tray, but it is on sale in the UK. The downside is a read transfer rate of 750KB/second and a …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die

    US Army 'SmarTruck' takes up fight against deranged villainy worldwide

    You know how it is. You're out for a quiet drive in the country, maybe heading for the golf course or the roulette wheels of Monte Carlo. The next thing you know, you've been picked up by a giant magnet slung under a helicopter, slapped about a bit and then strapped to a table by a deranged lunatic who intends to cut you …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Compaq displays upcoming Evo notebook

    PC Expo

    Compaq today displayed its upcoming Evo notebook, weighing around 3lbs and offering up to eight hours of battery life. Hungry hacks descended on the press lunch at TechX in New York to watch Compaq VP of desktops and portables Ken Willet show off the Evo N200. The laptop, based on the Intel's promised Ultra Low Voltage mobile …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Fujitsu-Siemens B Series Bluetooth

    Preview Power notebook

    Fujitsu-Siemens will soon be updating its B Series range of laptops to incorporate Bluetooth functionality, available either as an option via USB or built-in. We looked at some early prototypes of the latter to see how they performed. It's still early days for Bluetooth consumer devices, despite the fact that the technology has …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Compaq launches smart card keyboard

    More PC Expo delights

    Compaq has launched a "smart card" keyboard for its Presario desktop PC range. The Smart Credit Card Internet Keyboard is optional on Compaq's Presario 5000 and 7000 series PCs. It looks similar to the regular Presario keyboards, but has a slot on the right hand side where smart cards can be inserted and read. The cards, …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • I use a Bluetooth headset and I'm no Nathan Barley, claims reader

    Sysadmin defends style choice

    A reader strongly disputes our claim that wearing a wireless Bluetooth headset makes you look like a chump. Yesterday we reported how impressed we were with the progress Bluetooth had made, having used the TDK's Blue5 Palm sled, Nokia's Connectivity Battery, and Ericsson T39m (and not 29m, as we said earlier) phone. But we were …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:03

  • Videologic VividXS

    Review Kyro II-based graphics card

    Compromises are never easy to accept, and while Nvidia's GeForce 3 technology is expensive, the sub-£100 alternatives of ATI's Radeon VE and the GeForce 2 MX cards aren't more tempting. Be thankful, then, for Videologic's VividXS, a 32MB card that offers near-GeForce 2 GTS performance at almost half the price. Although …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:04

  • Don Capellas justifies Compaq Alphacide

    It's that essence rare

    Compaq boss Mike Capellas has issued a long justification for murdering the Alpha chip, in a memo obtained by occult semiconductor site Thee Enquirer. Capellas paid the chip - and its gifted designers - the kind of icy tribute that Cosa Nostra elders give at funerals of recently butchered kin:- "The essence of Alpha will live …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:04

  • VA Linux quits hardware ahead of PC bloodbath

    Only CmdrTaco can save us now

    When we heard rumours late last week that VA Linux would be pulling back from the hardware business, we scoffed. Instead we mused what kind of new and freaky hardware VA would move into next, and who would take the expensive and peripheral OSDN websites off its hands, and for how much? But with a PC price war looming, the boys …

    Hardware 29 Jun 2001, 15:05

  • BT to offer free voicemail from Monday

    The person you are calling is not available at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone.

    BT is to offer free voicemail services for its retail customers from Monday as part of its bid to "add value" to its fixed line service. The service - "BT Answer 1571" - is a watered-down version of BT's existing network-based Call Minder service and will be offered free of charge to all 20 million residential customers. BT …

    Business 29 Jun 2001, 15:44

  • Microsoft fails to renew its digital certificate

    Hardly encourages e-commerce, does it?

    Microsoft has forgotten to renew the digital certificate on one of its ecommerce sites. secure.microsoft.co.uk allows developers to purchase pre-release software, but its Verisign-supplied digital certificate expired last Friday (June 22). A secure connection can still be established with the site but by confronting …

    Security 29 Jun 2001, 15:48

  • High street TFT displays hit £299

    The start of the mass market

    The UK's biggest computer retail chain, PC World, is starting to punt out 14.1-inch no-name TFT monitors for £299. This is slightly below what the off-the-page/Internet boys are selling similar product at but they'll price match instantly. PC World's previous lowest price TFT display was £349, so even though the cost of TFT's …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 15:59

  • Online brigands take to billing fraud and identity theft

    Modern-day pirates

    Billing fraud and theft of people's online identities can be expected to proliferate as carriers make heavier use of the Internet instead of conventional circuit switched networks. That's one of the conclusions drawn from a report by industry analysts Aberdeen Group which warns of an increase in fraud as telcos begin rolling …

    Security 29 Jun 2001, 16:40

  • The Easy way to donate money to charity

    And other associated tales

    This week, we've been covering the Easy Group's attempts to take over domain names beginning with "easy" because it feels they are all businesses piggy-backing on its success. It would seem that you the readers are not in complete agreement with that position. Can't think why. Still if you can't beat them, join em, we say. …

    Music and Media 29 Jun 2001, 16:53

  • Ericsson denies existence of second Symbian phone

    But we know better

    Ericsson is finalising its second Symbian based smartphone, the R580, while insisting to the press that the product doesn't exist. Unfortunately the product has already been trailed by Ericsson, and Swedish web site, mobil.se has run successive stories on the R580. And Ericsson briefings have already boasted about the secure …

    Personal 29 Jun 2001, 16:55