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22nd August 2001 Archive

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  • MS stalks US local government

    Checks out licence status

    Microsoft has issued letters to 650 US local government authorities, asking them to conduct "voluntary software audits", according to information obtained by LinuxWorld.com The letters appear to form part of a campaign to persuade municipalities in America to adopt easy-to-adminster enterprise licensing contracts, which also …

    Software 22 Aug 2001, 07:37

  • Intel eases XScale into Symbian phones

    More horsepower

    Intel is to provide hardware kits to help Symbian licencees produce 2.5G and 3G phones using the former's XScale processor. The XScale (nee StrongARM) chip underpins Chipzilla's PCA mobile platform, and since Intel wants to commoditise the handset business the news is no great surprise. A similar helping hand is likely to be …

    Personal 22 Aug 2001, 07:40

  • Apple eases QuickTime plug-in pain

    Change those EMBED tags, folks

    Apple is providing an ActiveX plug-in that will allow users on Windows to view QuickTime media in Internet Explorer 6 after all. Microsoft's decision to drop support for the Netscape browser plug-in API in version 6 of its browser has had the effect of breaking existing QuickTime configurations on Windows PCs. The change also …

    Software 22 Aug 2001, 07:42

  • AOL bins 1700 jobs

    Worst kept secret of the year?

    AOL is to slash 1700 jobs in a bid to make it more efficient, the Internet giant confirmed yesterday. The cuts were widely predicted but much worse that reported previously. Some 1200 jobs will go at the company's online operation. A further 500 jobs will be lost at its Netscape-Sun alliance. The job losses will cost media …

    Business 22 Aug 2001, 08:38

  • Baltimore unveils lifeboat plan as 220 crew drowned

    Aims to save £72m a year

    Internet security firm Baltimore Technologies is to sack 220 staff and to sell off its content security business The job cuts form part of a restructuring plan which is designed to save Baltimore £72 million a year, far more than the £14 million target set last month. Around 1,150 people work for Baltimore, Europe's biggest …

    Business 22 Aug 2001, 08:45

  • MS to mark Friday XP RTM with vapid chopper stunt

    Incoming! Another one of those self-congratulary press releases with usual suspect quotes...

    We suspect the sub editors may have been less than kind to the redoubtable Joe Wilcox of CNET. A story yesterday leads in with the bizarre claim that on Friday Bill Gates and Jim Allchin will deliver XP gold code to OEMs by helicopter, but then when what we presume is the true voice of Joe kicks in, it seems they'll just be …

    Bootnotes 22 Aug 2001, 08:48

  • Virgin.net goes unmetered

    About time too

    Virgin.net has confirmed it is to launch an unmetered Net access service in October. Called 24seven and based on the wholesale unmetered Net access product FRIACO, the service will cost users £15 a month. There's nothing remarkable about Virgin.net offering - except for the fact that it's taken the company so long to put …

    Music and Media 22 Aug 2001, 09:17

  • Serious Outlook hole patched

    MS Bug Roundup ActiveX threats, memory leaks, cross-site scripting and more

    MS has patched a serious vulnerability in Outlook 2002 by which an attacker could take over one's machine. At issue is an ActiveX feature, the Outlook View Control, which enables mail folders to be viewed via Web pages. In Outlook 2K the flaw doesn't give up control, but could allow for minor mischief. MS suggested a workaround …

    Software 22 Aug 2001, 10:10

  • IBM may sell Nintendo's PowerPC chip to others

    First ones all going into GameCubes though

    IBM is considering shipping the PowerPC-based processor it designed for Nintendo's upcoming GameCube console as a standalone product. Discussing the chip's internals at processor professionals' conference Hit Chips, held each year at Stanford University, California, IBM staffer Peter Sandon said Big Blue has the right to sell …

    Channel 22 Aug 2001, 10:10

  • Apple posts Mac OS 9.2.1 upgrade

    Very big download for so few changes

    Apple has released the latest version of the classic Mac OS, 9.2.1, though as yet the company hasn't said in detail what the upgrade will do. As per all classic Mac OS updates of late, 9.2.1 "improves Classic application compatibility in Mac OS X". It also provides "additional hardware support for Macs capable of running Mac OS …

    Mac Channel 22 Aug 2001, 10:14

  • Motorola moots Semicon Products Sector sell-off

    Apple lined up as PowerPC buyer?

    Motorola has threatened to sell off its semiconductor unit - the division behind the PowerPC and Palm's Dragonball CPU - if the financially troubled operating can't turn itself around. "No segment of the company is sacred in terms of being protected from its obligation to contribute to that level of financial return," Motorola …

    Mac Channel 22 Aug 2001, 10:18

  • Apple returns to UK expo scene

    Steve Jobs only going to Paris, though

    Apple is to once again attend a UK Mac show, having at last signed itself up for this year's MacExpo. It's been some time since Apple last exhibited here in the UK - 1997 to be precise. Since then it has promised to attend various shows, including one of its own devising, but has always pulled out at the eleventh hour. Last …

    Mac Channel 22 Aug 2001, 11:15

  • Hackers deface World Cup Web site

    S'kiddiots attack soccer - is nothing sacred?

    S'kiddies have defaced the official home page of Japan's World Cup organising committee with an obscene message. Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that Jawoc.or.jp was defaced with an obscene message that said "*uck Japan hack by Chinese GX boy", which has led the site being taken temporarily offline while the damage is fixed …

    Security 22 Aug 2001, 11:35

  • Sony to upgrade Palm-based PDA to 32-bit colour

    PalmOS 4.5 to do the trick, apparently

    Sony will unveil the latest addition to its Clié range late next month, according to sources cited by Web site PDA France. The new machine will be called the PEG-N750C and is essentially an update to the PEG-N710C launched earlier this year. The new model sports a faster, 66MHz CPU and 16MB of RAM. It also has a 32-bit colour …

    Personal 22 Aug 2001, 11:40

  • People hate email

    Fairy nuff

    Email is the least favoured form of business-to-consumer communication, according to The Henley Centre. Only two per cent of those quizzed for its report, The Lonely Customer, said they wanted to find out about a new product by email. A whopping two-thirds of people said they preferred to get their information by traditional …

    e-Business 22 Aug 2001, 11:41

  • Leaked James Bond script is kosher

    But it is only the first treatment

    A script for the upcoming James Bond film - the super-spy's twentieth - leaked to Web site www.Bond20.com is the real thing. It is however only the first treatment and changes are likely to happen between now and the final shoot. We spoke to the man behind the Web site, Frenchman Nicholas Drapier, who told us the script had …

    Music and Media 22 Aug 2001, 11:47

  • Sharp launches next-gen Zaurus, promises 3G wireless version

    Linux-based model coming too

    Sharp said today that it is producing a handheld based on the next-generation of its Zaurus PDA and incorporating support for 3G wireless technology for Japanese cellular telco NTT DoCoMo, but it wouldn't say when it will ship. "We are developing a 3G PDA for DoCoMo but can't say when it will come out," said Yoichi Sakai, Sharp …

    Personal 22 Aug 2001, 12:10

  • European Micro Plc to go into liquidation

    All part of EMH being stuffed

    European Micro Holdings (EMH) is to liquidate its debt-ridden UK-based distributor European Micro Plc which is going to leave it without an operating business. EMH, the broker of top brand computer hardware, has had major debts called in by a major shareholder. EMH is expected to default - which will mean it will lose its …

    Channel 22 Aug 2001, 12:12

  • HP to launch secure Linux today

    Updated Linux penguin battle hardened by boffins

    Hewlett-Packard has launched a secure version of Linux later in a departure from the normal approach of partnering with Linux distributors, such as Red Hat. HP Secure OS Software for Linux, which is based on the 2.4 kernel and costs about $3,000, News.com reports. According to HP, its OS prevents unauthorised communication …

    Software 22 Aug 2001, 12:16

  • Acer Labs backs AMD HyperTransport

    Can couple it to Pentium 4

    Acer Labs has given AMD's HyperTransport the thumbs-up and will support the point-to-point bus technology in future south-bridge chips. It isn't saying which chips will contain HT, of course, but that didn't stop both AMD and the quasi-autonomous HyperTransport Consortium from praising Acer Labs' decision. The chipset maker's …

    Channel 22 Aug 2001, 13:42

  • Evesham Axis 1400

    Review Budget PC

    The £1199 Evesham Axis may come with a Budget PC price tag, but its list of specifications would comfortably slot into our Power category. It hits the ground running with a blistering AMD Athlon 1.4GHz processor, and never really slips out of top gear. The 256MB of ultra-fast DDR memory is equally impressive, while the 40GB hard …

    Personal 22 Aug 2001, 13:47

  • Ableauctions to buy iCollector

    Antiques meets bankrupt stock

    British auction site iCollector is set to be acquired by American site Ableauctions.com for $14 million (£9.6 million) in shares and deferred shares. Perhaps suitably, Ableauctions makes its business by buying goods off bankrupt companies and then selling online. iCollector is somewhat classier and sells antiques and the like …

    e-Business 22 Aug 2001, 14:09

  • The real Windows interface

    Just a bit of fun

    You'll like this. An interactive Shockwave movie that threatens to offer you the Windows RG (really good edition) OS. It has all your favourite MS items, like crashing, eating huge chunks or memory, tons of error messages and so on. The site it's hosted on is the NewGrounds portal - which you may heard of, but we hadn't. It …

    Bootnotes 22 Aug 2001, 15:00

  • IT courses to be compulsory in China

    Education director speaks out

    China is to make IT a compulsory school subject for children as young as five. Director of the department of basic education Li Lianning said that by 2005 IT would be mandatory course in all secondary schools, and in primary schools located in cities and other developed areas. Lianning was speaking at the fourth e-9 …

    Music and Media 22 Aug 2001, 15:04

  • It's the L7NUX number plate for sale, not L1NUX

    But the cops don't mind you tweaking the 7

    The L7NUX number plate is up for sale on eBay UK - not L1NUX as we reported earlier. The number plate is pictured on the eBay site with a severely stunted 7, which makes the plate read LINUX. However the owner of L7NUX, John Leitch, says he has had "no problems with police etc etc." Well maybe that's because he hasn't been …

    Bootnotes 22 Aug 2001, 15:07

  • ExciteAtHome ditches Ernst & Young

    Breaking up is so very hard to do

    ExciteAtHome has dumped Ernst & Young, the auditors who said they had "substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern". The pair split up on August 15 - five days before the publication of a report, which cast doubt on ExciteAtHome's financial future. The timing of the split doesn’t look good for …

    Telecoms 22 Aug 2001, 15:09

  • Chelsea heads the Premiership Net tables

    Updated More guff survey results from publicity hungry company

    Chelsea is set to win the Premiership league - in terms of the Internet anyway. In the second survey we've seen so far on football team Web sites in the UK Premiership league, Chelsea loaded faster than any others - in just 0.7 seconds. There are some that believe it will win the football as well, but the bookies aren't giving …

    Music and Media 22 Aug 2001, 15:12

  • SonicBlue launches 'sub-$100' MP3 player

    By all of one buck

    Portable digital music players are finally moving away from the 'ridiculously expensive' price bracket and into the 'affordable' range, if SonicBlue's latest launch, the $99 Rio One, is anything to go by. That's still a lot to pay when you consider you can pick up a good Walkman for 20 quid, but it's definitely improvement over …

    Personal 22 Aug 2001, 16:03

  • AMD trims prices by up to 49%

    Updated Sneaking cuts in ahead of Intel

    AMD cut its prices yesterday, getting in ahead of Intel, which is expected to make major cuts to the Pentium 4 line next Sunday, 26 August. Intel will knock up to 55 per cent off P4 prices - AMD came close with cuts of up to 49 per cent. Here's how the new price structure - based on AMD's official pricing as of 20 August 2001and …

    Channel 22 Aug 2001, 16:27

  • Dmitry hearing postponed

    DMCA case rumbles on

    A pre-trial hearing involving the case against Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, who is charged with offences under the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), has been postponed. California-based support site, Sf.freesklyarov.org, reports that a fresh date for the hearing has yet to be set but is expected to …

    Security 22 Aug 2001, 16:48

  • Welcome to Cliterati.co.uk

    Text porn site for Women

    Next week will see the launch of a British text-based porn Web site for women. Cliterati.co.uk promises sex stories, fantasies, news, tips and online shopping. But there will be no dirty pics on show. "The web is full of porn but there's very little out there for the discerning woman," an early version of the site states. " …

    Music and Media 22 Aug 2001, 17:08

  • More on the PCs for Kids / Microsoft battle

    We still say get out while ahead

    Following yesterday's story on Australian charity PCs for Kids and its ongoing argument with Microsoft over licences for the Windows OS it ships with second-hand computers, we have had a number of responses. Most agree with us that trying to push Microsoft's hand can only mean trouble, although some felt we had unfairly …

    Software 22 Aug 2001, 17:16