22nd January 2002 Archive

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Microsoft's crucial new hire

Incoming Security Czar will make or break credibility

Bill Gates' recent company-wide memo outlining Microsoft's vision for Trustworthy Computing has generated lots of attention, both good and bad. To some, it is more Microsoft rhetoric wrapped inside a public relations campaign designed to postpone accountability for producing secure products until they can get .NET out the …

Software 22 Jan 2002, 07:16
SGI shoots the messenger

3D patent transfer undeniable

According to our favourite Chinese proverb: "When the finger points at the moon, the idiot points at the finger." Well, SGI still won't return our calls, but it has sanctioned its marketing staff to roam online fora to diss The Register. Over at Vis-Sim.org one Juliana Slye - a product manager at SGI - does her best to rubbish …

Software 22 Jan 2002, 07:40
Amazon expected to post first-ever profit

A bit of a fudge, though

Today, the bellwether internet retailer Amazon.com Inc is expected to post a net profit for the first time ever when it reports its fourth-quarter financial results. This would be a serious bonus for the entire internet sector as it will be the first time a publicly traded pure-play dot-com retailer has declared a profit. …

e-Business 22 Jan 2002, 07:46
$10bn European storage services market by 2005

IDC report

Global technology watcher International Data Corp has released its predictions for the storage services market in Europe over the next three years, with the expectation that it will reach $10.5bn by 2005. According to IDC, the storage services business in Europe will grow at 8 per cent year-on-year. Higher value services …

Hardware 22 Jan 2002, 07:53
NTL CEO set to lose control

Barclay Knapped

Banks look likely to force the end of Barclay Knapp's tenure as CEO of UK cable company NTL Inc. They are demanding that he sell his controlling 51 per cent equity stake if an interested buyer can be found that can inject new funds into the company, Patrick O'Brien writes. Liberty New Media, AOL Time-Warner, Microsoft, …

Business 22 Jan 2002, 07:58
Cloud Nine blown away, blames hack attack

Shut down

Basingstoke-based ISP Cloud Nine has closed its operation this morning after being hit by a crippling security attack. The denial of service attack was so bad the ISP says it will have to rebuild its network. But CEO Emeric Miszti told The Register that the disaster cover insurance that Cloud Nine has in place will not cover …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2002, 11:52
Europe foots the X-Box bill for Microsoft

Afterthought

It's no great secret that most of the gaming industry views Europe as something of an afterthought, despite the fact that we're already the world's second biggest market for video games and still growing fast. The latest company to catch flak over this attitude is Microsoft, whose Xbox is (finally) launching in our neck of the …

Personal 22 Jan 2002, 12:29
Enjoy our IBM/Sun spot the difference challenge

Workstation airbrushed from history

We have an added bonus today for those readers who enjoyed Thomas C. Greene's recent IBM pr gaffe story. To recap, one of IBM's research boffins was pictured on the company's website using a Sun workstation for his earnest and ground-breaking research. Embarrassment indeed for IBM, and malicious pleasure for Reg readers. …

Bootnotes 22 Jan 2002, 12:31
ATI ships Radeon 7500 All-In-Wonder (in North America)

PC dinners

ATI is shipping the All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500 in North America. Carrying a list price of $199, the multimedia graphics card is choc-ful of PC-on-TV features. This includes a Windows-based program guide from Gemstar-TV Guide GUIDE Plus+ system. This purports to offer "all the benefits of a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) without …

Personal 22 Jan 2002, 12:55
Rudderless Palm splits with a flourish

Phlegm, Inc.

Former PDA idol Palm Inc has spun off its software division Palm Soft - led by former AT&T research chief and Apple veteran David Nagel - which will now report earnings separately from the hardware business. Less than ten per cent of Palm's overall business comes from software licensing, but it's been obliged to make the split …

Software 22 Jan 2002, 13:03
Northern Light has new owner

Simply divine

Last week, Northern Light, the well-regarded search engine business, annnounced the closure of free facilities for consumers. Instead it was to concentrate on supply its technology on fee-paying corporates. And so it is - only the technology has been sold to another company, in an all-stock deal. The price was not disclosed. …

e-Business 22 Jan 2002, 13:32
How Microsoft drove me to Linux

A journey of self-discovery

I bought my first computer in 1988. It was an Amstrad PC2286. It came equipped with a 12.5 MHz '286 (no slouch by any measure of the day), an entire megabyte of RAM, an immense 40Mb RLL HDD, MSDOS 4.01, and a most peculiar OS called Windows-286. Ah, the manual. It told you everything you wanted to know. I curled up with it in …

Software 22 Jan 2002, 13:33
Freeserve queries ‘leading ISP’ claims by AOL

Snitches to the SEC

Hostility between the UK's top ISPs took a new twist today after Freeserve confirmed that it has filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against AOL Time Warner. Freeserve alleges that AOL Time Warner misled investors earlier this month when it reported in a financial press release that "in the UK …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2002, 13:34
Linux to help police with their enquiries?

Desktop feasibility study for open source OS

An influential UK police advisory body has embarked on a three-month feasibility study on using Linux on police force desktops throughout England and Wales. The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), a government body which provides information technology, communications systems and services to the police, is …

Software 22 Jan 2002, 15:17
John Lewis to can buy.com

Bye

Never knowingly undersold British retailer John Lewis is to close Buy.com in the UK after experiencing a bumper Christmas in its own Web site. The department store's site - Johnlewis.com - took 1,000 orders a day in the run up to Christmas and on the back of this success feels there is little point running Johnlewis.com and Buy …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2002, 15:19
Kimble/Schmitz deported

Clown prince

Kim Schmitz, the founder of a group that made unsubstantiated claims to have hacked a Sudanese bank with bin Laden accounts, faces insider dealing charges in Germany after his fast-track deportation from Thailand. Associated Press reports that Schmitz (aka Kimble) arrived back in his native Munich earlier today and was promptly …

Security 22 Jan 2002, 15:47
Dear colleague – I saw this and thought of you

Competition Win a Reg shirt for someone you really don't like

Let's face it, life's a struggle. You get up, you go to work, you get paid. You're not appreciated, you're in debt, the dog needs an operation and then, to cap it all, your wife runs off with the bloke from sysadmins. So, what are you going to do? Punch him at the office party? Pour paint stripper over his car? No, don't be …

Bootnotes 22 Jan 2002, 16:05
Lucent in pit, stops digging

Looks up from 'low point'

Lucent has reported narrower losses with its first quarter results but warned it will still have to shed more jobs to get back on track. The struggling telecoms equipment manufacturer today reported pro forma revenues of $3.5 billion for the quarter, slightly ahead of the $3.1 billion to $3.4 billion it expected in its December …

Business 22 Jan 2002, 16:59
Wanadoo looks to broadband in 2002

Promotion

European ISP Wanadoo is confident that broadband will make an impact to the French-owned business in the coming year. Commenting on the publication of Wanadoo's results, chairman and CEO Nicolas Dufourcq said the company would "promote (the) widespread take-up of broadband services" during 2002. But will this promotional …

Telecoms 22 Jan 2002, 17:00