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12th November 2001 Archive

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  • MS promotes Linux from threat to ‘the’ threat – Memo

    Exclusive And urges sales reps to tattoo their butts

    "Linux is the long-term threat against our core business. Never forget that!" Microsoft Windows Division Veep Brian Valentine exclaims in a confidential memo to his Sales Brownshirts obtained by The Register. (our emphasis) The core outrage from Valentine's perspective is all these Sun and IBM shops migrating in droves to the …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 07:25

  • Azlan seeks EC clawback

    Duty calls

    Azlan looks set for a useful windfall following a European Court of Justice ruling over the classification of data networking equipment for importation duty purposes. The networking distributor today said that "in anticipation of this ruling (announced in May this year) we submitted material prospective claims between 1998 and …

    Channel 12 Nov 2001, 10:05

  • AMD mobilises notebook lines

    Two new SKUs

    AMD today launches two top-of-the-range notebook CPUs - the 1.2GHz mobile Athlon 4 and the budget 950MHz mobile AMD Duron - and a customer. Compaq will use both parts in Presario 700 notebook models this quarter, flogging the consumer oriented line online and through Built for You kiosks housed in the stores of friendly US …

    Channel 12 Nov 2001, 10:35

  • DCC disties hold their own

    UK up, Ireland down

    SerCom Distribution, the IT wholesaling arm of Irish conglomerate DCC, today reported H1 sales up 11 per cent to E363.7m (H1 2000: E327.9m) and operating profit up 13 per cent to E13.2m (2000: E11.6m)for the period ended September 30. There are no individual breakdowns for the four operating businesses in SerCom; two UK disties …

    Channel 12 Nov 2001, 11:19

  • Vanguard shuns DRAM biz

    Second tier squeeze

    Vanguard, the Taiwanese DRAM producer, is to stop making own-brand products, the company confirmed today. Spokesman Jay Tsai told Bloomberg that the company will "look for a niche" as a chip foundry. Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's biggest chip foundry and an investor in Vanguard, has transferred production of logic chips to …

    Business 12 Nov 2001, 12:15

  • FRIACO a ‘national disgrace’ – Cloud Nine

    Mud slinging gets mucky

    The boss of a Basingstoke-based ISP has slammed Britain's wholesale unmetered Net access product, FRIACO, as a "national disgrace". On Friday Emeric Miszti, the head of business-based ISP Cloud Nine, alleged that a change to the Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination (FRIACO) platform has led to a worse service for …

    Music and Media 12 Nov 2001, 12:33

  • WinXP piracy report – from Bangkok to Bristol

    Seen for £10 in UK

    You don't have to travel to Singapore or Thailand to pick up a cut-price pirated copy of Windows XP - they're on sale in the UK. Microsoft's Windows XP Pro has been spotted at a British computer fair, priced at £10. Not quite the sub-£2 level available in Asia, but very cheap all the same. The XP deal was not on widespread …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 12:56

  • IT hacks ‘sceptical’ about UK's digital future

    Thank heavens for small mercies

    IT journalists are sceptical about the Government's digital plans for the future, according to research from those boffins at MORI. It seems a majority of the 70 IT journalists quizzed by researchers questioned the Government's ability to put Britain on the digital map. They also reject the idea that Britain is a leading …

    Music and Media 12 Nov 2001, 12:57

  • FriendsReunited installs libel panic button

    Will teachers sue?

    The immensely successful FriendsReunited has fallen foul of teaching unions because users are slagging off their former teachers. FriendsReunited enables users to find and make contact with old school friends. You visit the site, search the list of schools, of which there are more than 40,000 listed, and name yourself in the …

    Music and Media 12 Nov 2001, 13:02

  • dabs.com sponsors space ‘cement mixer’

    Thunderbirds are go!

    dabs.com is expanding horizons beyond the earth's atmosphere. The online IT retailer has struck a "major sponsorship deal" with Cheshire-based Starchaser Industries Limited. Starchaser (motto: The Sky is not the Limit) intends to be the first private organisation to fly people into space. At stake is the "X Prize" - a ten …

    Bootnotes 12 Nov 2001, 13:30

  • Apache 2.0 ready for prime time

    Covalent aims high

    A packaged version of Apache 2.0, the latest version of the Web server, is generally available today - ahead of its release from the Apache project. Covalent Technologies, whose staff include several members of the Apache core team, is selling the open source Web server along with extensions to improve the reliability, …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 13:38

  • Pet vs Pet: MS opens .NET benchmarking wars

    Updated How fast is that doggy in the window?

    Microsoft thinks .NET is now mature to be put in the front line of the benchmarketing wars. Not that "mature" is ever a word you can use in the context of benchmark battles. The Beast has taken aim at a piece of sample code devised by Sun and used principally to demonstrate the portability of Java2 Enterprise Edition, which Sun …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 13:43

  • SiS climbs into Rambus bed

    All licensed and above board

    It appears almost impossible to keep a secret if you are an IT company operating in Taiwan - great for hacks and stock rampers - but sometimes crap, if you are the company concerned. In today's example, the *news* is that Silicon Integrated Systems, known to all and sundry as SiS, has licensed Direct RDRAM memory technology …

    Channel 12 Nov 2001, 14:55

  • Redbus Interhouse slips on flat market

    Remains upbeat long term

    Shares in Redbus Interhouse slipped 18 per cent (2.75p) to 12.75p by lunch following the announcement that turnover was flat amid difficult market conditions. Turnover for the third quarter skipped in at £2.31 million - down a smidgen on the £2.35 million from the previous quarter. The company reported a loss of £1.24 million …

    Business 12 Nov 2001, 14:57

  • Jet crashes in New York

    Terrorism unlikely

    Terrorism is unlikely to be the cause for the New York air crash. An American Airlines Airbus A300 jet crashed in the New York suburb of Queens at 9.15AM EST today with up to 246 passengers and nine crew were on board. The plane had taken off from John F. Kennedy airport, less than ten miles away, and crashed into buildings, …

    Assault on America 12 Nov 2001, 15:11

  • Palm offers synchro stinko replacements

    m500 and m505 affected

    Palm is offering replacement handhelds to users who have run into problems synchronising data between new m500 and m505 models and their PCs. The cause of the glitch is yet to be determined, but users have the consolation that they can swap any faulty devices free of charge. The number of affected users is n0t yet known. A Q+A …

    Personal 12 Nov 2001, 15:53

  • Guerrillas attack Philippine mobile phone facilities

    Services disrupted

    Marxist guerillas have attacked mobile phone facilities in the Philippines, threatening guards and dousing buildings with petrol. The attacks, believed to be the work of the New People's Army, disrupted cellular telephone services in five northern Philippine provinces over the weekend Associated Press reports. No-one was hurt …

    Data Networking 12 Nov 2001, 16:14

  • MS Tablet PC: 70 per cent hype, 30 per cent snake oil

    And somewhat beneficial to Redmond's profit margins, we expect...

    Bill Gates got another chance to wave Tablet PC prototypes about at his Comdex keynote last night, and he got to announce some more partner companies for the project too. But isn't it time we asked a few questions about the Tablet PC? Such as, what is it, what's so special about it, and why is it taking so long? The answers to …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 16:54

  • Personal firewalls are ‘futile’

    Harry Homeowner at risk

    Security researchers have highlighted a potential shortcoming with personal firewall products. To alert users of the presence of a Trojan or privacy threatening program running on their systems, personal firewalls have been adapted so they monitor and block outbound traffic (as well as blocking inbound network traffic). If a …

    Security 12 Nov 2001, 18:51

  • Watergate jailbird sees God in Windows XP

    Divine Intervention

    A fascinating meditation on the divine origins of Microsoft's Windows XP reaches us from the former Watergate jailbird turned fundamentalist Christian, Chuck Colson. Colson was Richard M Nixon's Special Counsel, and in 1974 served seven months for obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal. Since then, he's rehabilitated …

    Software 12 Nov 2001, 18:52

  • DRAM prices rise

    Too early to call it a trend

    Memory prices are climbing. The spot market saw a slight price rise on Friday, and the movement has continued through today. Prior to this, the trend for the last year has been steeply downward. The price of a 128Mb chip has leaped from around $1.20 to $1.70, and so the memory brokers have started reviewing their prices. …

    Channel 12 Nov 2001, 18:54