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5th October 2001 Archive

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  • Zero-Knowledge bags anonymity service

    So long and thanks for all the quips

    Zero-Knowledge Systems' Freedom Network, an Internet privacy service that many believed would make on-line eavesdropping all but impossible, will cease to exist 22 October, the company announced Thursday. The Montreal-based privacy and security company notified its subscribers of the change in a curt support notice on the …

    Data Networking 5 Oct 2001, 06:15

  • Did Captain Cyborg implant a dog tracking chip?

    Photographic evidence

    We've often pondered exactly what the magic chip that Kevin Warwick believes transformed him into a cyborg is. To reiterate, Kev claims the chip implanted in his arm (put under several millimetres of skin for nine days) enabled the doors of his office to open for him, turn his computer on and switch lights on and off. We …

    Bootnotes 5 Oct 2001, 06:51

  • Palm, Symbian postpone developer shows

    Fear of Flying

    Both Palm and Symbian today announced that their respective annual developer conferences would be postponed until next year, citing travel concerns in the wake of the WTC and Pentagon terror attacks. PalmSource was due to take place in San Jose in three weeks, but Palm said "travel concerns" had obliged the company to postpone …

    Software 5 Oct 2001, 06:52

  • Gateway US sales fall

    September 11 blamed

    Gateway is in the mire. The Pan-US PC maker issued a profit warning yesterday, saying it will lose more money than previously expected in Q3, because of September 11. The attacks have hurt demand, the company says. "We saw a pretty significant impact to our demand in the consumer segment. We saw impact to our demand in the …

    Business 5 Oct 2001, 07:19

  • Compaq recalls fiery laptop adapters

    All 1.4m of them

    Compaq has issued a recall and replace notice for 1.4m faulty laptop AC power adapters, after five caught fire. No-one was hurt, but it would not do for Compaq to torch its customers. (Very bad for business and for legal costs as anyone who remembers the exploding Ford Pinto will know.) Compaq says it is making the worldwide …

    Personal 5 Oct 2001, 07:46

  • MSN UK offers flat-fee service

    We can't work this one out

    MSN is to offer flat-fee Net access in the UK for the first time - although the portal and Net services outfit insists it has no intention of attempting to become a major player in the ISP market. After all, it abandoned that strategy ages ago and is now only a serious competitor in a handful of countries such as the US and …

    Music and Media 5 Oct 2001, 07:49

  • Atlantic Telecom shares suspended

    Uh oh...

    Business telecoms and broadband outfit - Atlantic - has had its shares suspended on the London Stock Exchange "pending clarification of its financial position". It's not known when the company will make a further announcement about its future. Last month the troubled outfit - which has debts of around £200 million - put itself …

    Business 5 Oct 2001, 08:30

  • http:// theregister…

    For wwwisk averse readers

    Many of you have expressed irritation at your inability to log on from http://theregister.co.uk/And our complete inability to alter this unhappy state of affairs. We've got our fingers out at last: calling all wwwisk-averse readers... http://theregister.co.uk/. ®

    Site News 5 Oct 2001, 08:37

  • Dell keeps the faith

    Clings onto profits

    Dell's third quarter financial results are on track. The company projects earnings of 15 to 16 cents per share, on revenue between $7.2 and $7.6 billion. CEO Michael Dell said the company's strategic, operating and financial position "is better than it's ever been". He also says it has benefited from customer confusion …

    Business 5 Oct 2001, 10:21

  • Energis exits local loop debacle

    Blames BT

    Energis has pulled out of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) in a move that has further dented the Government's vision of a genuinely competitive "Broadband Britain". The telco blamed the decision on the high cost of LLU and BT's massive head start for its decision, although it did say that would continue to review its position. …

    Telecoms 5 Oct 2001, 10:24

  • Price war exacts AMD toll

    Sales down. Losses up

    AMD warns that its third quarter loss will be far larger than previously projected, due to weaker than expected sales. The new figure is expected to be between $90 and $110 million (excluding restructuring and one-time charges, which will add about $80-110 million to the bill). The profit warning comes at a time when the …

    Business 5 Oct 2001, 13:02

  • Beenz.com sold in multi-million dollar deal

    Bless

    Beenz.com, the defunct online loyalty currency, is funct again. The company has been acquired by US-based marketing services agency, Carlson Marketing Group. The exact financial details were not revealed other than it was a "multi-million dollar" deal. Once finalised, Carlson will acquire beenz.com lock, stock and barrel …

    e-Business 5 Oct 2001, 13:07

  • Government cock-up over online PIN numbers

    Code for access to tax returns sent to wrong address

    The Government may have sent out hundreds of activation PIN numbers for its online gateway to the wrong addresses. Reg reader Ed Hoppitt was very surprised when he received a letter from UK Online at his single detached house in Suffolk addressed to a Mr GJ Worthington and containing an activation number for the government …

    Music and Media 5 Oct 2001, 13:21

  • Finnish city plans switch from Windows to Linux

    Cites cost of new licensing regime...

    Finnish local government is leaning away from Windows and towards Linux, according to Helsingin Sanomat, the country's largest newspaper. The city of Turku, population around 200,000, has reacted to Microsoft's latest licensing changes by kicking off a study of Linux alternatives. And, according to the paper, other Finnish …

    Software 5 Oct 2001, 13:26

  • NatWest replies to browser banking debacle

    Old versions of Netscape are OK

    NatWest has got back to us over its decision to prevent access to its online banking service for the latest version of Navigator, Mozilla and Opera over security concerns. An official statement read: "NatWest takes the issue of Internet security extremely seriously. Therefore, our policy is only to add browsers to our approved …

    Music and Media 5 Oct 2001, 14:43

  • WinXP activation harmless, cuddly, says MS chief. Again.

    Tell the call centre the dog ate your Dell and they'll believe you. No, really...

    Microsoft Windows Product Activation chief Allen Nieman was in London this morning for city number five on his tour of Europe, evangelising his baby. WPA is simple, unobtrusive, doesn't invade your privacy, almost cuddly and much misunderstood, apparently. Nieman's been telling everybody precisely this ever since WPA appeared …

    Software 5 Oct 2001, 15:06

  • Irish punters call for Net boycott

    Just for one day

    Irish Internet users are threatening a one-day Internet blackout by means of registering their frustration with incumbent telco Eircom. Eircom recently released a broadband service - it costs IR£61 a month, £166 to install, has a 3Gb per month limit on it and is available only in certain parts of the country. A group of …

    Telecoms 5 Oct 2001, 16:45

  • Digital right lobbyists picket UK record stores

    Saturday swap shop

    The Campaign for Digital Rights (CDR) is planning a "day of action" tomorrow against record stores all over the country to complain about copy-protected CDs. Protestors plan to hand out leaflets against the technology outside HMV and Virgin stores in Birmingham, Brighton, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Newcastle …

    Music and Media 5 Oct 2001, 16:50

  • Sun Micro Cuts 3,800 Jobs

    Historic layoffs

    Sun Microsystems became the latest company to add to the economic gloom by cutting 9 per cent of its 42,000 staff, an unprecedented number in the company's history. As a result of the job cuts and a reduction in facilities capacity, Sun will take a $500m charge this quarter. The company stressed it has $6 billion in the bank, …

    Business 5 Oct 2001, 16:52

  • Uninterruptible power to the PC

    Radical new research

    A company has come up with a radical new concept for making "an old PC an object of consumers' interest"... by banging a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) underneath the PC box. This saves a "lot of space and reduces or even totally removes cable connections" and is designed by a compny called Atelab, whose Web site reveals …

    Personal 5 Oct 2001, 17:11

  • Microsoft plans Java counterpunch for .NET

    How many Beans make five?

    We're receiving credible reports that Microsoft will shortly unveil Java language support to .NET, alongside its home-brewed Java clone C#, and VB, in a project that goes under the internal name of "Java.NET". Sun and Microsoft have been sparring over Java for several years. Microsoft's foray signals a shift in its approach to …

    Software 5 Oct 2001, 19:15