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20th September 2001 Archive

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  • USA is playing into bin Laden's hands

    Analysis 'Operation Infinite Justice'

    There are a number of new tragedies the USA may invite in its response to last week's suicide hijackings in New York and Washington, the most ironic of which would be to give Osama bin Laden exactly what he wants. The response now has a name. It's being called 'Operation Infinite Justice'. It promises to be a broad-based, long- …

    Assault on America 20 Sep 2001, 00:09

  • WinXP faces muted launch, slow sales?

    NY gig may go ahead, but it'll be a tricky one if it does...

    Microsoft is planning to go ahead with the launch of Windows XP in New York on October 25th, but will be discussing the matter with the mayor and city officials first, company CEO Steve Ballmer said at a software industry lunch in Chicago yesterday. The company had intended the launch to be the usual raucous, overblown tub- …

    Software 20 Sep 2001, 08:03

  • Nimda worm tails off

    But virus still scanning systems

    The spread of Nimda, the hybrid worm that affects both email users and Web sites, appears to be subsiding. But the effects of the most sophisticated virus yet unleashed are still been felt across the Internet. Nimda (Admin spelled backwards) exhibits many of the traits of the Code Red worm combined with the email- spreading …

    Malware 20 Sep 2001, 08:40

  • Compaq cluster makes Top 10 benchmark

    32-node monster

    A Compaq Proliant server cluster is capable of running up a billion transactions a day - apparently a first in TPC-C (Transaction Processing Council) validated benchmark. In real life, this is equivalent to the requirements of "more than triple the transactions handled daily, worldwide, by a large consumer credit card payment …

    Hardware 20 Sep 2001, 09:13

  • 3Com takes $19m hit on stuffed Euro inventories

    An extra 1,000 staff get the bullet

    3Com is canning 1,000 more staffers than it thought it would when it launched its restructuring plans last year. So its Q1 losses have quadrupled but the cost cutting is going well. The total job cull is going to be 6,000 since November 2000, half of its workforce. For the quarter ended 31 August 3Com said its loss widened to …

    Business 20 Sep 2001, 10:31

  • Intel kills 2GHz server-oriented Xeon

    Updated 0.18 micron chip dropped in favour of faster, 0.13 micron Prestonia with bigger cache

    Intel has pulled the plug on its dual-processor server-oriented 2GHz Xeon chip, after last month delaying its release for what the company described at the time as extra validation work. Instead, the chip giant will focus its efforts on the chip's successor, the 0.13 micron die-shrink part, codenamed Prestonia but which will be …

    Channel 20 Sep 2001, 10:37

  • Security firm caught out by Nimda

    Tut tut tut

    Here's an embarrassing one, security firm Alternative Computer Technology appears to have got infected with the Nimda virus which not only infects Windows PCs but also sticks itself on Web servers, so some browsers pick it up automatically when they visit an infected site. As a Web security firm though, you'd expect ACT to know …

    Malware 20 Sep 2001, 10:47

  • Eidos revenues down, losses up but optimistic

    Mind you, it always says that

    Computer games developer Eidos has announced another set of disappointing quarterly results but reckons that good times are just ahead. Revenues fell 27 per cent year-on-year to £12.2 million but pre-tax losses narrowed from £22.3 million to £15.4million. The company also managed to improve its margins by 12 per cent so losses …

    Games Industry 20 Sep 2001, 10:56

  • VIA tries to stop P4 sales

    All about swapping integers and floating-point numbers, apparently

    VIA has coughed up more details about the patent infringement action it's taking against Intel in retaliation for the chip giant's own allegations that VIA has violated Intel intellectual property. It wants the chip giant to not only to cease the sale of the P4, but pay hefty damages to both VIA and its subsidiary Centaur. VIA …

    Channel 20 Sep 2001, 11:32

  • Ecommerce heats up in August

    UK leads Europe in e-sales

    Ecommerce activity in the UK continued to grow during August in spite of the continued gloomy economic outlook. According to the latest stats from NetValue, the number of secure connections on ecommerce Web sites - an indication that trading is taking place - jumped from 4.41 million in May to 4.96 million in August. The …

    e-Business 20 Sep 2001, 11:44

  • Vodafone seizes control of Japan Telecom for £1.8 billion

    Not entirely unexpected

    Vodafone has increased its bid for world domination by paying £1.8 billion for a controlling stake in Japan Telecom and its J-Phone mobile subsidiary. The money has got it an extra 21.7 per cent in the company (that's a 29 per cent premium on the shares) - providing the all-important 66.7 per cent stake, which means it can hire …

    Business 20 Sep 2001, 11:49

  • VIA cans 800MHz C3

    Literally

    In a bid for a little publicity for the chip, big in China but not too popular throughout the rest of the PC using world, VIA is offering its 800MHz C3 in a "special edition" metal can aimed at individuals building their own PC or upgrading an existing processor. The 'Cool Chip in a Can' edition will be sold initially in Japan …

    Channel 20 Sep 2001, 11:50

  • Dell offers 2GHz Xeon workstations

    But Intel hasn't launched the chip yet...

    Dell has begun offering its Precision 530 workstation with Intel's unlaunched 2GHz Xeon processor, as we predicted yesterday. To date Intel has only said that the chip will ship sometime in Q3. The basic workstation ships with a single 1.5GHz Xeon for £1365 exc. VAT, but according to the PC vendor's UK Web site, buyers can …

    Hardware 20 Sep 2001, 12:22

  • Upgrade your MS apps before 1 October – Gartner

    $500K savings if you've got 5,000 seats

    Businesses are being urged to upgrade Microsoft software by 30 September because MS is ditching its most widely used upgrade path on 1 October 2001. The call to upgrade comes from industry analysts Gartner as a response to changes in licenses that Microsoft announced in May 2001 coming into effect on 1 October. On that date, …

    Software 20 Sep 2001, 12:24

  • Intel's Server Roadmap

    Updated Bye-bye, 2GHz server Xeon

    So farewell, then, the 2GHz 0.18 micron Foster Xeon, knocked on the head because a faster, 0.13 micron version with more cache is coming within three months of its once-anticipated launch. The canned server-oriented Xeon is, of course, identical to the 2GHz Xeon Intel is soon to launch for the workstation market - and not so …

    Channel 20 Sep 2001, 12:59

  • Western European server revenues fall

    IBM is top dog

    The decline in server sales spread from the US to Western Europe in Q2, with factory revenues down 8 per cent on the same period last year, IDC says. Q2 factory gate revenues were $3.2bn (Q2 2000: $3.7bn), But sales in Western Europe held up rather better during the quarter than the US, where revenues plummeted 25 per cent, and …

    Hardware 20 Sep 2001, 13:55

  • Nimda worm runs riot on IT sites

    Microsoft, Dell, NTL and INS caught with pants down

    The IT industry has done a poor job in protecting its Web servers from the effects of the Nimda worm. That's the conclusion we draw from evidence that Web sites belonging to Dell, Microsoft, NTL and corporate ISP C&W INS all show tell-tale traces of Nimda infection. As previously reported, Nimda (which affects both Windows PCs …

    Malware 20 Sep 2001, 14:24

  • US homes upgrade to broadband

    4m in six months to June

    More and more US households are ditching their second phone lines and replacing them with broadband services or mobile phones, according to a survey from Gartner. Analysts found that almost six per cent of all US households between January and June this year replaced a second phone - used for dial-up net access or a fax machine …

    Telecoms 20 Sep 2001, 14:29

  • Horizon reports tale of two halves

    Order pipeline

    Horizon, the Anglo-Irish Sun reseller, has reported a pretty good year, with sales for the 12 months to 30 June 2001 up 38 per cent to EUR409.5m and EBITDA up 15 per cent to EUR18.5m. But as with rival Morse, it was a tale of two halves, with the second half suffering what Horizon describes as "an environmental downturn". And …

    Channel 20 Sep 2001, 14:29

  • Email churn surges into the tens of billions

    Data management headache

    Although it might seem like everybody you know sends you email everyday, as well as lots and lots of people you don’t know, apparently you ain’t seen nothing yet. IDC is claiming that email volumes are going to soar to staggering levels over the next few years as more and more people move online and businesses increasingly turn …

    Music and Media 20 Sep 2001, 14:52

  • Palm unwraps m125 PDA

    World+dog already peeked under covers

    Palm finally unveiled its m125 PDA this morning after a false start earlier this week. As expected, the device brings m50x-family functionality to the m10x series. So there's a 33MHz Dragonball VZ processor, SD card slot, Universal Connector, Palm OS 4.0 and USB cradle. 8MB of memory complete the spec. As per the piccies that …

    Personal 20 Sep 2001, 15:08

  • TerraCam USB TerraTec

    Review Webcam

    Some webcams try to incorporate all the functionality of small digital cameras. They come with batteries and internal memory, so they don't have to be tethered to a PC. These additions push the price up and often result in a product that's a bad digital camera with webcam capabilities rather than a value-for-money webcam. The …

    Personal 20 Sep 2001, 15:12

  • Reg's ‘Dickless Armchair Warriors’ go to battle

    Letters Special Attack on America

    Assault On America I just wanted to recognize The Register for not placing banner ads on the pages dealing with the apparent terrorist attacks in the US.  It is a very kind gesture, thank you.   Bob Strusa OK, now for the vitriol. Andrew Orlowski, Are you a shithead, or what? It's amazing how the technophiles of the …

    Assault on America 20 Sep 2001, 15:13

  • IT security budgets soar

    Defensive Posture

    IT security sales will triple in value to $21 billion by the end of 2005, compared with the $6.7bn recorded in 2000. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)of 25.5%, according to IDC which makes the forecasts. Driving the security sales bonanza is the "growing corporate appetite for remote LAN, Internet, extranet/ …

    Security 20 Sep 2001, 15:19

  • Mac OS X 10.1 to ship next week as planned

    Dual-processor servers too, we hear

    Apple Expo Paris may have been cancelled, but Mac OS X 10.1 will be launched next week, we understand from sources close to the company. The latest version of Apple's next-generation operating system was expected to have been the highlight of CEO Steve Jobs' keynote at the Paris show. When Apple cancelled the event in the …

    Mac Channel 20 Sep 2001, 15:43

  • Is there a plan to DoS defacement sites off the Internet?

    Stopping s'kiddies getting any publicity

    Is there a co-ordinated attempt taking place to force defacement archives off the Internet? After Safemode.org told us that a distributed denial of service attack against it had caused its ISP to drop it, the question needs to be asked. The attack against Safemode.org, as described to us by its admin and co-founder Mystakill, …

    Security 20 Sep 2001, 16:17

  • DIY e-biz ROI flatters to deceive

    Bring on the Consultants!

    Just how well is that e-business project going? What exactly is the return on the investment (ROI)? If you are, in common with 80 per cent of so big companies, calculating the ROI in-house, you could be deluding yourself. Companies assess their e-business ROI through rose-tinted glasses, consistently reporting better results …

    e-Business 20 Sep 2001, 16:21

  • Microsoft blesses XP skins

    Antidote to Dayglo Luna Hell

    Microsoft will bless leading third party skinning software WindowBlinds at a media event in Michigan on Monday. It's a diplomatic triumph for Stardock, which we've likened before to one of those strange organisms that thrives on the edge of underwater thermal vents, where survival is generally regarded as impossible. Life is …

    Software 20 Sep 2001, 16:35

  • Tight-arse Liverpool supporter tries to blag e-season ticket

    Only thing is he works for the Daily Telegraph

    Yesterday was a bad day for Liverpool supporters for two reasons: one, a lacklustre performance against Borussia Dortmund produced a 0-0 scoreline and made the task of getting through the Champions League first round that much harder. And two, the Liverpool FC Web site's free e-season ticket finished and informed fans they'd …

    Bootnotes 20 Sep 2001, 16:42

  • Nimda inspires Sophos to song

    A Nimda Day (the virus spreads tonight)

    People have long being inspired to song through love, passion or (as the Reg Anthem competition found out) frustration with Microsoft Windows. Now a virus outbreak has sparked musical creativity. This is the ditty we hear is being sung around the tech support desks at anti-virus vendor Sophos... To the tune of The Lion Sleeps …

    Bootnotes 20 Sep 2001, 16:52

  • Captain Cyborg becomes a film critic

    Reads his inane dribblings on Spielberg's AI

    Is there no end to Captain Cyborg's talents? Self-publicist supremo, confused lecturer, technology Cassandra and now film critic to boot. Yes, Kevin Warwick has cropped up in today's London Evening Standard offering his "expert" opinion on the intelligent life-forms featured in Steven Spielberg's new Film AI. It's almost too …

    Bootnotes 20 Sep 2001, 17:19

  • Feds complain Bin Laden not using hi-tech equipment

    Ah! The mind of a mad genius

    Osama Bin Laden is evading detection by not using modern telecoms equipment, the US intelligence services have told the press. "He switched off a lot of communications technologies," a US intelligence spokesman said. "Now it is other people talking for him. In an innocuous conversation, you can't pick that out." Osama is so …

    Assault on America 20 Sep 2001, 17:23

  • Americans want Uncryption

    Key escrow rides again

    Three in four Americans favour tough anti-encryption laws, in the wake of last week's terrorist atrocities, a survey finds. Seventy-two per cent believe anti-encryption laws will be "somewhat" or "very" helpful in combating terrorism, according to the survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The survey found …

    Security 20 Sep 2001, 22:13