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7th September 2001 Archive

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  • HP-Compaq merger – readers speak their minds

    'Sheesh! How completely wrong can you be?'

    Princess Fiorina kisses the Ugly Frog HP to buy Compaq for Battle of the Bulge The HP-Compaq merger is the story of the week, and employees from all parties affected by it have something to say about our coverage. First the ones we can't use. DEC stalwarts have employed gallows humour to deal with life for the past decade - …

    Letters 7 Sep 2001, 05:56

  • Reg ‘hippie tree-huggers’ take a hammering

    Cisco defenders out in force

    Cisco Borgs are super frugal Morten Pederson didn't find Cisco cost cutting satire funny. the reg's bunch of fucking hippie tree-huggers are at it again. try to get through your skull that cost saving measures reduces job cuts. in case it hasnt appeared on your radar yet (which seems quite likely) we're in the middle of a …

    Letters 7 Sep 2001, 05:57

  • ‘Just stop acting like some conclusive bumpkin’

    More Stephen Hawking madness

    Stephen Hawking predicts cyborg ascendancy The truth about the DivX revolution Harsh but fair? This comes from a reader helpfully identifying themselves only as 'cyberplasm'. i was sorry to read your brash juvenile comments on science and hawkins, here is my response: i was surprised to come across two inanely waffling …

    Letters 7 Sep 2001, 06:02

  • FOTW Hawking stalking

    How would we like a wheelchair and a nappy?

    Stephen Hawking predicts cyborg ascendancy Ever pictured larger-than-life New Yorker and Reg reporter Thomas C. Greene in a nappy? (that's a diaper to American readers). After reading Thomas' article on Stephen Hawking, reader Simon Wells got mad, bad, and bravely dared to go where no man has gone before. Or since, presumably …

    Letters 7 Sep 2001, 06:14

  • SanDisk con scribe needs a slap

    Readers Letters Discipline Reg style

    SanDisk redefines 'megabyte' in capacity con The following kind words on how to improve the performance of Register reporter Tony Smith come courtesy of reader Larry Knibb. Subject: Tony Smith's little-eye on the world! Maybe you can slap some sense into Tony Smith as regards the "SanDisk in Redefining Megabyte Shocker …

    Letters 7 Sep 2001, 06:28

  • Vodafone 3G phones won't give you video

    So what's the bloody point then?

    Vodafone's 3G phones won't provide consumers with one of the main selling points of the next-generation technology - video - because its network will not be able to support the speeds required. In a FT story today, it was revealed Vodafone is only guaranteeing 64Kbps on its 3G phones - not enough for streaming video. As such …

    Data Networking 7 Sep 2001, 10:50

  • Apple a ‘cash machine’ – CFO

    Inventory shrinking, cash-pile growing

    Apple is sticking to its previous forecasts of a small increase in Q4 sales and shipments over Q3, accompanied by a slight increase in earnings, CFO Fred Anderson tacitly said yesterday. The company's fourth quarter end on 30 September. Actually, what he said was: "We give guidance once a quarter and if you don't hear from us, …

    Mac Channel 7 Sep 2001, 10:55

  • First Quicksilver Power Mac G4 server slips out

    AppleStore offers 733MHz box without fanfare

    Apple is replacing its old Graphite Power Mac G4 servers will up-to-date Quicksilver models, as predicted, but sooner rather than later. Having recently dropped the dual-processor servers from its online store in the US and UK, Apple has now replaced the 533MHz single-CPU box with a 733MHz machine in the US. As we went to press …

    Mac Channel 7 Sep 2001, 11:03

  • Intel Q3 sales to hit $6.5bn – CFO

    If September's sales ramp like they've done before...

    Intel CFO Andy Bryant last night reiterated the company's forecast that its Q3 sales revenue will fall within his previously stated $6.2-6.8 billion range, probably just below the midpoint figure of $6.5 billion. There's a caveat, however. Bryant said that that target will be met only if sales in September follow the pattern …

    Business 7 Sep 2001, 11:10

  • BT gets ready to terminate Net access abusers

    You've been warned...

    BTinternet has issued a final warning to some 270 Net users it claims are abusing its dial-up service and will terminate their accounts if they do not curtail their online activities. It's understood that users could be booted off within a fortnight unless they heed BT's warning. In an email sent out last night the ISP said: " …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 11:35

  • Hynix rids itself of LCD plant for $650m

    Chipping away at the debt mountain

    Troubled memory maker Hynix has flogged off its LCD operation to a Taiwanese company for $650 million. As the deal stands, the buyer, Cando, will take 80.1 per cent of the business; Hynix will hang on to the remaining 19.9 per cent. The two companies are mulling over the final details of the plan. The sale will bring Hynix …

    Channel 7 Sep 2001, 11:48

  • Microsoft preps ‘Xbox 2’ as home entertainment hub

    Surprise, surprise, surprise...

    Microsoft is already putting the finishing touches to its next home entertainment product: a more multimedia, less games-oriented alternative to Xbox, codenamed HomeStation. So, at least, claim unnamed sources cited by PC Format magazine in the UK, and apparently confirmed by other deep throats "close to Redmond". The plan …

    Personal 7 Sep 2001, 12:00

  • The insider's guide to the ICANN meeting

    Exclusive diary from Andy Duff of New.net

    For the next four or so days, we will be offering you an exclusive insider's guide to the ICANN meeting in Uruguay. It should prove an interesting meeting and is sparking more press interest than ever before as people finally wake up to the realities of the situation. Our man in Montevideo is Andy Duff, the Director of Policy …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 12:21

  • AOL UK shuts down Netscape Online

    50 jobs to go

    Fifty jobs are under threat at AOL UK following a decision to scrap its subscription-free ISP Netscape Online. Staff were told yesterday of the possible cuts and won't know if their jobs are safe for another month or so. Some 30 jobs could go in London with a further 20 positions under threat in Dublin. AOL UK said it hoped …

    Business 7 Sep 2001, 12:25

  • First-e goes titsup.com

    E-Bank is E-Sank

    Online bank first-e is to shut up shop after failing to attract enough customers. The operation, owned by Paris-based Banque d'Escompte, will close its UK and Germany operations next month. Banque d'Escompte, which will continue its offline banking operations in France, yesterday signed an agreement with SelfTrade UK, owned by …

    e-Business 7 Sep 2001, 12:29

  • Afilias founder company quits over .info cock-up

    Top-level domain shambles

    PSI-Japan, one of the main founder members of the Afilias conglomeration chosen to run the new .info top-level domain names will sell its entire stake in the company in response to its bungled handling of the "sunrise" registration period for trademark holders. A study of 11,000 registered names by DomeBase.com Webmaster Bob …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 12:37

  • Euro spam vote in limbo

    Consumers lose out

    The European parliament has bungled its latest attempt to outlaw spam. Yesterday MEPs voted in favour (259 for, 210 against and 6 abstentions) of an amendment that would have prohibited the sending of unsolicited email without prior permission. The so-called "opt-in" system is favoured by many who have lobbied against spam and …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 12:41

  • Guernsey retailer jailed for Sunday trading

    Machine dispenser escapes scot free

    A Guernsey retailer has gone to prison as part of his stand to change the Channel Islands Sunday Trading laws. Tony Brown has already served nine days of a 50-day sentence for Sunday trading. He opted for chokey instead of a £500 fine and is currently out on appeal. He has said he'll serve the rest of his sentence if his appeal …

    Channel 7 Sep 2001, 12:48

  • Linux Trojan spotted in the wild

    Fear not, gentle reader

    A Linux-based Trojan, which security experts believe may have originated in the UK, has been spotted on the Net. Remote Shell is similar to Back Orifice on the Windows platform according to vulnerability assessment services firm Qualys. According to Qualys, the trojan is similar to Back Orifice on the Windows platform and in a …

    Malware 7 Sep 2001, 12:58

  • MS PocketPC 2002 kills Hitachi, MIPS support

    ARM-only from now on

    Microsoft has dropped support for two of the three processor platforms using the PocketPC operating system. The latest version of the OS, announced yesterday, will run on ARM-based CPUs but not Hitachi's SH-3 or MIPS chips. Hewlett-Packard immediately ditched the Hitachi processor and flung its arms around ARM. It announced the …

    Hardware 7 Sep 2001, 12:59

  • Sega aims to take 15% of Japanese, US markets

    We'll be world's largest games developer, exec promises

    Sega aims to grab a 15 per cent share of the game software market in Japan and the US during the 2003-4 business year, and 12 per cent of the European arena. COO Tetsu Kayama said that Sega's goal "is to become the world's largest game software provider". In order to achieve this, the company reckons it will have to sell 25 …

    Games Industry 7 Sep 2001, 13:29

  • Acer TravelMate 210

    Review Budget notebook

    Acer is a big player in the notebook market, making products for many better-known brands. And, despite a fat-cat customer base, it also has some genuine bargains for the more cost-conscious buyer. We tested the TravelMate 210, one of Acer's low-cost models, to see what sort of a notebook you get for under £650. As you might …

    Personal 7 Sep 2001, 13:39

  • Security found wanting in Outlook Express 6

    Lookout virus blocking fails to impress

    The security features of Outlook Express 6 can be easily fooled, according to this posting on security mailing list BugTraq . By embedding a file within an HTML frame in an email, hackers can bypass the dangerous file attachment type security feature of Outlook Express 6. The vulnerability, which remains unconfirmed and is in …

    Security 7 Sep 2001, 14:45

  • UMC's August sales up… just about

    Still a long way to go to make quarter's sales target

    Taiwan's UMC, the world's second largest chip foundry, behind TSMC, saw sales rise last month by a meagre 0.7 per cent over July's figure. Compare August 2001's sales to those the company made a year ago, and the comparison is much less flattering. UMC sold NT$9.83 billion ($284.52 million) worth of chips in August 2000 - this …

    Channel 7 Sep 2001, 14:47

  • ICANN: Mexican stand-off in Montevideo

    ICANN meeting All smiles before tomorrow's bloodbath

    In this, the second part of our exclusive diary from the ICANN meeting in Uruguay, top man at New.net Andy Duff goes on a tour of the troops and catches a lift ride with one of the enemy before the festivities kick off tomorrow. Steve Chadima [Head of marketing at New.net] sat beside a member of the Governmental Advisory …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 15:11

  • Intel to launch i845 ‘Brookdale’ on Monday

    Dell's done it already

    Intel will make the second of two moves to drive the Pentium 4 into the mainstream and low-end of the PC market on Monday when it formally launches its i845 chipset. The chipset, which tells Rambus to take a hike and picks up PC133 SDRAM instead, has been shipping to the trade for some time now. This enables PC vendors and the …

    Channel 7 Sep 2001, 15:44

  • PowerVR preps Kyro Linux drivers

    But will it release the source code?

    PowerVR, the company behind the PowerVR Series 3 graphics chip, better known as the Kyro and Kyro II, is developing Linux drivers for the part. The only trouble: it can't make up its mind whether it should release them under an open source licence. The drivers are an off-shoot of the company's Linux development work for the …

    Software 7 Sep 2001, 16:21

  • The Cisco Intrusion Undetection System

    Apply Service Pack now

    Cisco has issued an alert for its Intrusion Detection System (IDS), one day after launching an enhanced security portfolio. IDS inspects network traffic and raises alerts for suspect traffic, such as that generated by the Code Red worm. However, it can be fooled by hackers who encode packets using " %u", a non-standard form for …

    Security 7 Sep 2001, 17:05

  • Activists slam Cyveillance May Day Bomber claims

    And pour scorn on The Guardian

    A Guardian story published this week on Net intelligence outfit Cyveillance has sparked a furious response from the online Independent Media Centre. It claims the newspaper has been suckered. The Guardian piece consists of an extensive interview with the managing director of Cyveillance, Andrew Muir. A range of facts, figures …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 17:27

  • MS urged to delay licence (to print money) changes

    Brit Biz cries enough

    UK user groups have urged Microsoft to push back its licensing scheme revamp to give UK businesses time to get to grips with the changes. The request was sent off in a letter to Neil Holloway, Microsoft UK MD, last week. It was signed by Elite, the British Computer Society's forum for IT directors, Imis, the IT management …

    Software 7 Sep 2001, 17:36

  • Uefa rules streaming video offside

    Technology not ready

    European football governing body Uefa is to provide live audio-streaming reports and comprehensive results coverage for important games on its website. But Uefa.com will offer a selection of video clips only. It has no interest in showing the time-delayed broadcast of games (introduced this season by English Premiership clubs …

    Music and Media 7 Sep 2001, 17:43