27th July 2001 Archive

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FBI cyber-brainiacs infect themselves with SirCam

Yet request more money from Congress

We've long been at a loss to identify a single job that the FBI's elite Net-security squad at the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) performs adequately. In May the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) released a scathing report cataloging NIPC's chronic dysfunction, so it was with delicious irony that on …

Security 27 Jul 2001, 08:02
Watchdogs file Win-XP complaint with Feds

'Unfair and deceptive trade practices' cited

Watchdog groups the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Junkbusters have filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), asking that the launch of Win-XP be postponed due to privacy threats. Redmond secretly intends to track and profile millions of Netizens with its .NET initiative, via its Passport …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 09:33
More jobs to go at BT

1,500 at BT Ignite offered voluntary redundancy

BT has upped the number of job cuts to 6,000 from a previous 5,000. The new cuts will come from its Internet services arm BT Ignite where 1,500 people will be offered voluntary redundancy. A spokesman told us: "Our intent is to reduce the number of people in BT Ignite through natural wastage, re-skilling and targeted voluntary …

Business 27 Jul 2001, 09:48
Microsoft reshuffles Windows roadmap, full .NET delayed?

Pin the tail on the web services donkey

Microsoft will fire out an intermediate release to Windows XP and push back Blackcomb, which was supposed to include full .NET plumbing, to 2003 or 2004. With XP set to become Microsoft's primary consumer OS revenue stream, it's hardly surprising that the release schedule synchronises more closely with the 'fling something out …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 09:52
Scoot lives to fight another day (or two)

End game approaches

Scoot.com has staved off collapse - for an entire month. The stricken firm, an online Yellow Pages-type operation, has sold its 50 per cent stake in Scoot Europe to Vivendi for 1 Euro, removing itself from any further funding obligations for the enterprise. It is paying E1m to Vivendi for services supplied by the French giant …

e-Business 27 Jul 2001, 09:53
Infineon samples low power Mobile-RAM for PDAs

Follows Micron's BAT-RAM

Infineon has at last begun sampling the 128Mb Mobile-RAM chips - low power SDRAM parts developed specifically for PDA applications - that it announced last February. M-RAM samples had been scheduled to ship during Q2. The M-RAM chips draw only 20 per cent of the power consumed by a standard 3.3V 128Mb SDRAM part, the chip maker …

Channel 27 Jul 2001, 10:08
NEC feels the pain

DRAM dropped in Scotland

NEC has said its Q1 profits have plummeted 72 per cent due to falling chip demand and flat panel display price drops. It has posted net income of 800 million yen ($6.46 million), down sharply from 3 billion yen ($20 million) posted a year earlier. But sales were up 6 per cent to 1.12 trillion yen ($9 billion). The company has …

Business 27 Jul 2001, 10:23
Fujitsu plans on sacking thousands

Major restructure

Fujitsu has said its is going to lose ¥220 billion ($1.78 billion) for the year and axe thousands of jobs. But it is planning a major restructure and has said it's going to take a ¥280 billion ($2.26 billion) special loss for the first half of the business year to next March to pay for it. Fujitsu has reported a loss of ¥55.4 …

Business 27 Jul 2001, 10:55
SGI to axe a quarter of its workforce

Drastic measures follow huge loss, shrinking sales

SGI most recent results, for its fourth fiscal quarter, may have met the company's expectations but they are still sufficiently poor to force the company to expand its cost-cutting programme - by laying off 1500 staff in addition to the 1000 already sent pink slips. For the three months to 30 June, SGI lost $69 million a little …

Business 27 Jul 2001, 10:57
Upbeat Qualcomm still minting it in

The barmy army marches on

Qualcomm lost its President and COO and shelved plans to spin off its chipset business this week, but the telecommunications industry's answer to Millwall FC, "No one likes us - we don't care", is in the kind of financial shape many would envy. The company reported pre-tax earnings of $268m on pro forma revenues of $640 million …

Business 27 Jul 2001, 10:57
NTL warns of 5000 UK layoffs

Spending spree takes its toll

NTL has warned it will slash up to 5000 jobs in Britain over the next two years. The UK cable operator is set to axe up to 2500 during the next year, with the remainder going by the end of 2003. The staff reduction plans were revealed by NTL UK MD Stephen Carter yesterday - he said that, if everything else remained constant, …

Telecoms 27 Jul 2001, 11:03
AMD to take Mobile Athlon 4 to 1.3GHz by year's end

Durons to speed up to, to 950MHz

AMD is set to accelerate its mobile Athlon 4 processor to 1.1GHz in the coming months, with 1.2GHz and 1.3GHz versions of the chip coming in Q4. The chip maker will also ship a 900MHz version of its mobile Duron during Q3, followed by a 950MHz part in the December quarter. Like the Athlon 4, these top-end Durons will be based …

Channel 27 Jul 2001, 11:35
Matrox RT2500

Review Video-editing tool

If you want an example of how far consumer technology has advanced over the last few years then look no further than the world of digital video (DV). Compare, for example, the dodgy picture quality of the first batch of home video camcorders with the pristine images that you can now get from DV cameras costing as little as £500 …

Personal 27 Jul 2001, 11:37
DRAM scammers target UK trade

Let’s be careful out there

DRAM scammers seem to have got hold of a copy of the trade publication Computer Trade Only and are phoning up advertisers trying to buy memory on stolen credit cards. Most memory dealers will have been stung at least once in the past with a dodgy plastic purchase, but we’re just letting you know there’s a little fresh activity …

Channel 27 Jul 2001, 11:54
BT cuts price of DSL, gets arse in gear

Has the monster telco turned over a new leaf?

BT has come good on its suggestion last month that it would cut the price of ADSL, by announcing a £5 a month cut in its IPStream 500 broadband service today. The service will cost £30 a month from 1 September. Plus, despite media reports today, it would appear that the monster telco is changing its tune and starting to help …

Telecoms 27 Jul 2001, 12:03
Intel to launch enhanced mobile Pentium III CPUs on Monday

0.13 micron Tualatin arrival imminent

Intel is expected to launch its first mobile Pentium III processors produced using a 0.13 micron process on 30 July - this coming Monday. Based on the Tualatin core, the mobile chips will debut at 866MHz, 933MHz, 1.0GHz, 1.06GHz and 1.13GHz and ship as the Pentium III-M. Intel will price the parts at $251, $284, $401, $508 and …

Channel 27 Jul 2001, 12:04
IT worker faces jail for installing screensaver at work

15 years of porridge for taking part in distributed computing?

A US computer consultant faces up to 15 years in jail after installing screensavers on computers at work. David McOwen, who fitted the client software while employed at a college in Georgia two years ago, is also in line to receive a damages bill of up to $415,000. McOwen worked at DeKalb Technical College, Georgia, and …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 12:36
Symantec fails to stop SirCam

Baltimore's MIMEsweeper also blows it

The SirCam worm has revealed weaknesses in anti-virus protection relied on by many firms as a first line of defence against viral infection. It's been discovered that both Baltimore Technologies MIMEsweeper content filtering software and Symantec's perimeter protection product, Norton Antivirus for Gateways v2.x, fail to block …

Anti-Virus 27 Jul 2001, 12:40
Purchasing holds B2B market steady – but i2 doesn't notice

Vendor Blender

Purchasing must rank alongside human resources as one of an organisation's most dull activities. But since the New Economy made anything that entails email interesting, purchasing is a hot topic - especially now that they've given it a new acronym - B2B. It's when one company buys stuff off another company. And apparently, …

e-Business 27 Jul 2001, 13:04
All hail Halle Berry!

Readers praise the two sole highlights of 'Swordfish'

Can you hack while getting a blow job? There's nothing like a film review to kick off a bit of hot email action. Rob Blincoe's thrashing of Swordfish prompted Chris Jones to offer this analysis: Personally I liked Swordfish, so I thought I'd list some points where I disagree with your review. - I want to see Halle Berry …

Letters 27 Jul 2001, 14:00
You all excited about Big Brother tonight?

Then get a life - like these people

Tonight will see the UK joined together in celebration because it's the final day of Big Brother [who's it gonna be? Rod, Jane or Freddy?] But while the vacant drones jump up and down in excitement, a core group of people - clearly pigeonholed as those with autonomous thought - will be simply delighted that it's over and sanity …

Music and Media 27 Jul 2001, 14:25
Transmeta hit with second securities fraud class action

Claims Crusoe isn't as fast or as power friendly as promised

Transmeta has been hit with a second securities fraud class action suit filed on behalf of shareholders frustrated with the company's ability to ramp up clock speeds. The suit, filed by Washington, DC legal firm the Law Office of Mark McNair, alleges Transmeta issued "false and misleading statements about its Crusoe line of …

Channel 27 Jul 2001, 14:35
Linux PS2 website speaks with forked tongue

Clear as mud, apparently

PS2 Linux Kit heading for the US? On the subject of the Japanese website illustrating the PS2 gear in question, Eugene Magnier would like to clarify the linguistic situation: I just wanted to note that, while you say: "If you find yourself interested in the PS2 Linux Kit, the official (Japanese) website is here. They're not …

Letters 27 Jul 2001, 14:39
Jam tomorrow for broadband suppliers

Too late for Adaptive

Yesterday, Adaptive Broadband, a California maker of wireless broadband equipment, went bust. The company filed for Chapter 11 and is winding down operations. Maybe someone will buy the technology. A lot of US broadband service providers are suffering, and consolidation galore is forecast. However, the market does appear to be …

Telecoms 27 Jul 2001, 14:41
BT will fail 20ft ADSL challenge

Nah, sorry mate, more than my job's worth

BT cuts price of DSL, gets arse in gear So, BT is to partly convert some of its exchanges into luxury flats. You'd imagine, then, that it would be pretty easy to get ADSL run up to your new penthouse suite. Not so, says Colin MacDonald: Ha, I bet they *still* claim that they're too far away from the exchange to get ADSL. " …

Letters 27 Jul 2001, 14:45
The most ridiculous computer application in the world?

Quite possibly

You're gonna love this one. Some Texan professor has built a computer that can tell suicidal tendencies in poets. Yep, by analysing the works of famous poets, the computer has found differences in the way they used the language than those that didn't top themselves. Apparently, suicidal poets used "I", "me" and "my" more than …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 14:49
Logitech mouse is female – official

It never had balls in the first place

Logitech flogs 500,000 emasculated mice Logitech's ball-less cordless MouseMan Optical has proved a hit with punters - the company has sold more than 500,000 of them. Eleanor Durrant would, however, like to set the record straight on the gender of this technological wonder: I'd like to tell your editor it's not an ' …

Letters 27 Jul 2001, 14:50
867MHz Power Mac G4 clocked to 1GHz+

Not for the faint-hearted

A Japanese 867MHz Power Mac G4 owner claims to have souped his machine up to 1.067GHz with a simple (ish) flip of a few resistors on the new machine's motherboard. On the underside of the Mac's processor daughtercard is a set of four resistors marked R1, R3, R5 and R7, respectively. Connected to two of them are circuit-making …

Mac Channel 27 Jul 2001, 15:00
Readers' Letters Oi, Blincoe, suck on this!

Swordfish blowjob controversy reaches climax

Can you hack while getting a blow job? Well, it looks like our beloved news editor Rob Blincoe should lay off the film reviews for a while. His analysis of hacking 'blockbuster' Swordfish found little favour among Reg readers, notably Jonathan Wilson: Oi!!!, it's a fucking wicked movie and your just jealous cuz you ain't …

Letters 27 Jul 2001, 15:05
AOL-Time Warner first in there following MS step-down

Icon hell

Microsoft's step-down over forcing PC companies to put its icons on Windows desktops and Start menus has been immediately snapped up by - guess who? - AOL-Time Warner. In a bid to relieve criticism of its practices, the Beast of Redmond told computer companies that they no longer had to feature Explorer and related icons on …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 15:18
Suicidal GPRS pricing puts 3G at risk

Official

GPRS is a flop so far, and astronomical pricing models introduced for such 2.5G services are putting the 3G adventure at risk. That's what analysts Yankee Group conclude after a new study of the European GPRS tariffs. Telcos pricing models vary widely, as the report entitled Mobile Data Pricing: Will European Consumers Pay a …

Data Networking 27 Jul 2001, 15:53
Today is Sysadmin Day

Shower your BOFH with gifts

System administrators - often taken for granted or ridiculed for their techie habits - today get their chance to feel loved. July 27 has been named System Administrator Appreciation Day (as in 'Happy SAAD Day'?). This is "a special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation" of the...person who really …

Bootnotes 27 Jul 2001, 16:00
Top US execs pressure Congress to withhold Net privacy law

We'll do it ourselves, you can trust us say IBM, GM, Amazon

Top execs from IBM, General Motors, Amazon.com and Proctor & Gamble put pressure on the US Congress not to draw up legislation aimed at protecting customers' privacy while shopping online. The companies argue they can look after people's privacy themselves. At the sixth and last hearing on information privacy by the sub- …

Music and Media 27 Jul 2001, 16:37
Four new ways to stuff someone's Win machine

MS Bug Roundup: Media Player threats, memory leaks, social engineering and more

We've seen another spike in Microsoft security bulletins during the past few days. Funny how these things seem to run in cycles.... First up, a nifty hole which affects RPC (Remote Procedure Calling), which is used chiefly to support distributed applications. In this instance, a malicious RPC request can cause a denial of …

Software 27 Jul 2001, 18:57