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2nd August 2001 Archive

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  • Senator's Net-legislation would jail school-kids

    Has he got your attention, voters?

    A low-brow publicity stunt masquerading as a legislative measure called the School Website Protection Act of 2001 by US Senator Robert Torricelli (Democrat, New Jersey) would define criminal hacking as any action, even a harmless action, which "affects or impairs without authorization a computer of an elementary school or …

    Security 2 Aug 2001, 06:48

  • And then there were two open source .NET clones

    Three's a crowd

    The first and original effort to make a software libre implementation of Microsoft's .NET runtimes is to join forces with one of the newcomers. Portable.NET will now co-ordinate its work with DotGNU, launched last month, under the GNU umbrella. That other major project to create an open source platform for the Microsoft CLR, C …

    Software 2 Aug 2001, 09:35

  • Civilians at risk from unexploded WAP 2.0 specs

    Multimedia and push get the treatment

    Undeterred by the failure of WAP in Europe - and as a brand it's so poorly regarded that it appears to have sunk in transit across the Atlantic: WAP services are not branded as such in the United States - the WAP Forum on Tuesday published revision 2.0. It resembles the carpet bombing tactics used to demoralise civilians in …

    Data Networking 2 Aug 2001, 09:50

  • Code Red Tribulation is nigh, Steve Gibson warns

    Run for your lives -- the Internet's crashing

    The first Angel blew his trumpet, And there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, Which fell upon the Earth....    --Revelation 8:7 Techno-hypemeister and headline glutton Steve Gibson has joined the Electronic Pearl Harbor dog and pony show alongside numerous clueless mainstream press columnists, bellowing and trumpeting …

    Malware 2 Aug 2001, 09:54

  • Washington mobilises against Code Red resurgence

    Patch that box - now

    The Code Red worm is expected to re-awaken tonight (8:00 pm EST), and the media have been asked to help spread the word. During a press conference in Washington yesterday, Ron Dick, head of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), gathered a panel of security specialists from various government agencies …

    Malware 2 Aug 2001, 09:54

  • Guardian lauds our skeptical Code-Red coverage

    One good plug deserves another

    Guardian Unlimited columnist Neil McIntosh shares our view that the Code Red worm will have little effect on the cyber-comings and goings of the average Netizen this month, despite dire warnings promulgated through much of the mainstream press. Indeed, CNN was reporting hysterically yesterday that all users of Microsoft …

    Malware 2 Aug 2001, 09:54

  • Intel chalks up win for ultra-dense blade server

    Crusoe castaway by low-power start-up

    Transmeta isn't having it all its own way in the ultradense server market it's been pivotal in creating. San Jose start-up Amphus yesterday announced ultra dense 336-way servers based on Intel processors. Much of the preliminary work was done with Crusoe, but the press statement is very gung-ho about the choice of Chipzilla as …

    Hardware 2 Aug 2001, 10:19

  • Time outsources on-site support

    Lays off engineers

    Time Computers has outsourced its onsite support operation to Surrey based Linetex Computers. Time did have 14 field service engineers carrying out support, but made nine of them redundant on Tuesday 31 July. Lintex'says: "We don't support networks - we support businesses. "Our range of services is focused on the core support …

    Channel 2 Aug 2001, 10:22

  • Apple holds fire on iMac 2 until economy's right

    Consumers' wallets just not ready for it yet

    Apple appears to be holding back the release of its next-generation iMac because the market just isn't ready for it yet. The completely redesigned consumer computer, equipped with a built-in LCD screen, was expected to be launched at Macworld Expo New York last month. Of course, claims that Apple is developing an LCD iMac have …

    Mac Channel 2 Aug 2001, 10:25

  • Telewest signs up 1000 BB users a week

    Reports increased revenues as losses widen

    Telewest is signing up a thousand new broadband customers a week it revealed today. In the three months to June, Britain's second biggest cableco gained a further 13,000 subscribers bringing the total number of blueyonder broadband users to 38,000. Add on Telewest's dial-up consumer base and the cableco boasts almost 300,000 …

    Music and Media 2 Aug 2001, 10:38

  • SirCam worm enjoys virus gang bang

    Double the fun, double the infection

    Some copies of email attachments infected with the prolific SirCam worm also carry copies of other viruses, security experts have warned. MessageLabs, a managed services firm that scans its users email for viruses, said it has intercepted more than 100 emails doubly infected emails which have the potential to trip up the …

    Malware 2 Aug 2001, 11:12

  • Free Internet Group calms nerves over network disruption

    Okay?

    The Free Internet Group (FIG) has moved to ease fears about the future of its ISP service. Users expressed concern after they received an email warning of "major disruption to [the] Internet service throughout August". They believed the email was effectively saying that FIG was shutting down for the month. Not so, FIG MD, …

    Music and Media 2 Aug 2001, 11:16

  • Microsoft enlists Psycho Killer to promote WinXP

    'I can't seem to face up to the Findings of Fact...'

    Microsoft will bundle music by former Talking Heads front man David Byrne with Windows XP. The song 'Like Humans Do' is culled from Byrne's solo album 'Look Into The Eyeball'. Byrne has also recorded a live concert at Redmond in The Beast's WMP format, to be broadcast here later today. Byrne doesn't take his own endorsement …

    Software 2 Aug 2001, 11:21

  • ATI preps A3 alternative to Nvidia's nForce

    Due Q4, it's been a long time coming

    ATI will launch against Nvidia's nForce chipset in Q4 with a graphics-oriented offering of its own, codenamed A3. So the company has told mobo makers, or so claims Web site Xbit Labs, citing information leaked to a second, Ukrainian site. According to that data, A3 will support the Pentium III and AMD's Athlon. Maybe, but we …

    Channel 2 Aug 2001, 11:53

  • Sony censured for fair-trade violation

    Shouldn't have restricted sale of PlayStation games

    Sony's bottom was smacked today by Japan's Fair Trade Commission for breaking the country's trading regulations. The FTC censured Sony for forcing retailers to stick to Sony-approved prices and to buy product through Sony-approved distributors. The consumer electronics giant also tried to stop distributors selling direct to the …

    Business 2 Aug 2001, 12:11

  • Quark denies making ‘bug-free’ claim for Carbonised XPress

    All a terrible misunderstanding

    Quark says it never promised that the next version of Xpress would be bug-free, as Macworld UK reported, and that it's all a terrible misunderstanding. Macworld's Jonny Evans tells us that production gremlins were to blame for the claim that appeared before Macworld Expo, and no Quark rep said that. Here's what Quark's Glen …

    Mac Channel 2 Aug 2001, 12:20

  • Buffer overflow bug shakes Quake

    Network gamers asked to upgrade

    A security flaw involving the server software that allows Quake III players to play the popular shoot-them-up over a network has been reported. According to a posting on respected security mailing list BugTraq, a buffer overflow vulnerability in Quake III Arena Server could allow a malicious users to crash a system hosting the …

    Security 2 Aug 2001, 12:23

  • Visioneer PrimaScan Colorado 2600U

    Review Scanner

    The PrimaScan 2600U offers an excellent combination of price, ease of use and quality. It may never live up to the quality settings of the more expensive models, but it performs well enough given its hardware specifications. The 42-bit colour depth is impressive and the 600x1200dpi (dots per inch) optical resolution ensures …

    Personal 2 Aug 2001, 12:28

  • June chip sales slide

    Down 8.8% on May

    Worldwide chip sales slumped to $11.60 billion in June, down 8.8 per cent on May's $12.71 billion. But compared with June 2000 sales of $16.74 billion they bombed 30.7 per cent according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Economic slowdown and excess inventories are blamed for the lower sales. In Europe …

    Business 2 Aug 2001, 12:42

  • IT companies urged to help human rights in China

    2008 Olympics should bring around Net change

    A human rights group has called on computer and Internet companies involved in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to use their influence to bring about reform in China. Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said: "This is one area where human rights and corporate interests should coincide "More people will use …

    Business 2 Aug 2001, 14:42

  • Fujitsu bows out of desktop hard drive fight

    We had money on Samsung/Western Digital

    Fujitsu is ditching the desktop hard disk market to concentrate on the notebook and server sectors where it believes it can make more money. The company will quit making desktop hard drives later this year. Mike Chenery, VP of Fujitsu Computer Products of America, acknowledged things had been difficult because of low margins, …

    Business 2 Aug 2001, 14:44

  • UMC reports first loss in over ten years

    Will get worse before it gets better

    Taiwanese chip foundry UMC saw profit turn into a massive loss during its most recently completed quarter, the second of its current fiscal year. And the company warned of worse to come. UMC lost NT$1.85 billion ($53.36 million) - NT$0.16 a share - during Q2. Factor in profits and losses from various subsidiaries, a one-off …

    Channel 2 Aug 2001, 14:50

  • IBM's low pay drove me to start stripping

    Russ Meyer star chose blue films over Big Blue

    Kitten Natividad, buxom star of the Russ Meyer's films Up!, and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens, ditched work at IBM as a key punch operator in 1969 to start stripping. "I discovered that the sister of one of my neighbors made a living as a stripper and earned $300 a week which was twice as much as I made," she writes …

    Bootnotes 2 Aug 2001, 15:04

  • Code Red hysteria – $8.7bn in damage estimated

    Countdown to Armageddon Here comes the charade of quotes

    The Reuters wire service is reporting that Code Red has already cost an estimated $1.2 billion in damage, and may top out at an incredible $8.7 billion when its bitter reign of destruction finally ends. Citing one Michael Erbschloe, vice president of research at IT efficiency clearinghouse Computer Economics, Reuters reckons …

    Malware 2 Aug 2001, 15:24

  • Tomb Raider maker apologises to real-life archaeologist

    Game doesn't contain any archaeology, apparently

    Eidos, the publisher of the Tomb Raider series of games, has been forced to apologise through the pages of French newspaper Le Monde to French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur for giving a character in the game almost the same name. Tomb Raider IV features a French archaeologist called Jean-Yves, apparently. Empereur has done a …

    Bootnotes 2 Aug 2001, 16:05

  • Be sacks 28 staff

    Relying on a takeover now sales team's gone?

    Ailing alternative operating system developer Be is ridding itself of a third of its workforce, a week after reporting apparently improved quarterly results. Some 28 staff will be sent pink slips. Workers being give the old heave-ho include what's left of Be's sales and marketing teams, and some admin and engineering positions …

    Software 2 Aug 2001, 16:08

  • DoJ can't block WinXP launch

    Motion denied

    Both Microsoft and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) were disappointed Thursday, as the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied their separate motions prior to their return to do battle in district court. The Department had sought to have the case expedited so that it could get MS into court soon enough to seek an …

    Software 2 Aug 2001, 19:35

  • Microsoft drops eleventh hour app blocking into WinXP

    Here's the banned list

    Although Release Candidate 2 (RC2) of Windows XP is billed as a bug fix, it actually implements a long-promised feature that disables current versions of some users' most trusted software. At the eleventh hour, Microsoft has turned on "Driver Blocking", and RC2 refuses to install a host of third party applications including …

    Software 2 Aug 2001, 19:43