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22nd March 2002 Archive

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  • Scientologists gag Google

    The DMCA kills again

    Web search outfit Google has caved in to demands from the 'Church' of Scientology demanding that it delete URLs from its database directing Web surfers to certain pages maintained by Xenu.net, a well-known CoS critic. In this case the dreaded Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has provided the pretext for censorship. …

    Music and Media 22 Mar 2002, 07:11

  • Hello WinXP SE: Microsoft reshuffles roadmaps, again

    Exclusive Longhorn delayed - Blackcomb MIA?

    Microsoft has reshuffled its roadmaps once again, and begun briefing partners and customers to expect an interim upgrade to Windows XP, dubbed XP "SE", in the first quarter of next year. This buys more time for the Longhorn team to complete the complex task of implementing a native database file store, which Jon Honeyball first …

    Software 22 Mar 2002, 08:20

  • DRM hardware law gets new life, new name

    Relax, it's for your own good

    A piece of legislation proposed by Hollywood sock puppet Sen. Fritz Hollings (Democrat, South Carolina) requiring all electronic devices to contain copy-protection has finally been introduced, after being renamed to sound like something positive. Previously known -- accurately -- as the Security Systems Standards and …

    Music and Media 22 Mar 2002, 09:03

  • Captain Cyborg Lives!

    Robots 1: Humans 0

    Kevin Warwick, the nutty professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, has moved one step closer to man machine mind meld. He's had a microchip implanted into his arm, in a "ground-breaking attempt to create the world's first integrated data link between man and computer". "If successful, the experiment...will show …

    Bootnotes 22 Mar 2002, 10:06

  • Dixons sues Time over ComputerWorld name

    Trademark spat

    The Dixons Stores Group has fired off solicitor's letters to the Time Group telling it not to rebrand its shops as the The ComputerWorld. This name is too close to that of Dixon's PC World chain and could cause confusion, DSG claims. Time has already renamed its Burnley branch The ComputerWorld and intends to have 150 stores …

    Channel 22 Mar 2002, 10:46

  • BTo botches billing for cut price DSL

    Credit promised for next bill

    BTopenworld has promised to refund its broadband customers after its billing system failed to charge users the new lower rate for the ISP's DSL service. Earlier this month BTopenworld said it would cut the cost of its service to £29.99 a month following a cut in the wholesale price for DSL. In an email to its consumers the ISP …

    Telecoms 22 Mar 2002, 10:48

  • AT&T launches m-mode (like i-mode but different)

    On streets in April

    AT&T Wireless Services Inc will launch a wireless data service based on NTT DoCoMo Inc's wildly popular i-mode in April, company spokespeople told ComputerWire yesterday, Kevin Murphy writes. To be branded m-mode, the service will be somewhat different to its Japanese counterpart, tailored to US market demands and the …

    Mobile 22 Mar 2002, 11:39

  • Micron sees sales slump, vague on Hynix progress

    Signs of DRAM life

    Micron Technology Inc pointed to signs of life in the memory market when it released its second quarter results yesterday. However, the Boise, Idaho-based company gave little indication of progress in its protracted takeover talks with foundering rival memory giant Hynix. Sales were down 39.4% to $645.9m in the quarter to …

    Channel 22 Mar 2002, 11:39

  • Oracle disputes analyst criticisms on overcharging

    Who? Us?

    Oracle Corp has fallen out with research firm Meta Group Inc over allegations that the database vendor is overcharging some of its customers. Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle has taken umbrage with Meta's assertion that some customers are being overcharged for batch-feeding Oracle's eponymous database management …

    Software 22 Mar 2002, 11:40

  • Legend boosts made-to-order in anti-Dell effort

    Snapping at Legend's heels

    Legend Holdings Ltd, China's biggest computer manufacturer plans to build up its made-to-order business as a means of warding off increased competition from overseas players, and from Dell Computer Corp in particular. "The configuration market will be very important to Legend because we expect by 2003 about 20% of our …

    Personal 22 Mar 2002, 11:43

  • Mobile phones more dangerous than drink driving

    One for the road?

    Using a mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than being drunk behind the wheel, according to new research released today. Boffins at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire found that driving is impaired more by using a mobile phone than by being over the legal alcohol limit. The results found that drivers' …

    Data Networking 22 Mar 2002, 11:44

  • eMachines wins Dixons PC deal

    Centerprise switch

    Dixons has switched its main supplier of own-brand Advent PCs from Centerprise to eMachines because of the latter's record on quality. Dixons' PC World chain has relaunched its Advent PCs this month with a new design and chassis. The range is aimed at confident second time buyers who are comfortable upgrading their machines and …

    Personal 22 Mar 2002, 12:05

  • Criminal case against ORBZ spam blacklist dropped

    Battle Creek holsters legal guns

    The City of Battle Creek, Michigan, has agreed not to pursue criminal charges against the administrator of spamlisting blacklisting service ORBZ, which led to the withdrawal of the service earlier this week. The move lets Ian Gulliver, the administrator of ORBZ.org, off the hook for allegedly causing a major slowdown of its …

    Music and Media 22 Mar 2002, 12:07

  • DRAM price hash makes Komplett famous in UK

    Defensive positions

    Four hundred people ordered 512MB DRAM for the imaginary price of £13 per module this week from Komplett.co.uk, according to sales director Per Anders Tveit. But only 20 people had their orders shipped before the error was spotted and transactions cancelled by the online reseller. The proper price was £106 - leaving the …

    e-Business 22 Mar 2002, 14:09

  • Bill Clinton virus proves user security sucks

    Saxophone-playing cartoon screensaver

    Virus writers have disguised a malicious worm as a screensaver promising to make fun at the expense of former US president Bill Clinton. Caric-A, which is spreading on the Internet to a modest extent, normally arrives in an email with the subject "bill caricature" and an attachment named "cari.scr". If the recipient is daft …

    Malware 22 Mar 2002, 14:12

  • PlusNet and Nildram update DSL prices

    Next!

    Sheffield-based ISP, PlusNet, has confirmed that the price of its single-user DSL service will cost from £22.99 a month. This price is based on an annual contract and users also have to pay £58.75 to activate the service. It's also offering punters the chance to reduce the cost of their service still further by joining PlusNet …

    Telecoms 22 Mar 2002, 14:47

  • Cyborg strip-searched by Air Canada

    Are we allowed to say 'anal probe'?

    Canada's answer to Captain Cyborg is suing Air Canada for CAN$1m for hurt feelings, loss of incomes etc, after he was stripsearched and missed his flight. Professor Steve Mann of the University of Toronto, who describes himself as a cyborg, attempted to board a flight at St. John's, Newfoundland wearing "computerized glasses, …

    Bootnotes 22 Mar 2002, 15:25

  • Review Email2go: The Motorola A008

    The A008 is the device you buy if you can't afford a Blackberry. It does more, including being a mobile phone. The Motorola A008 has the best sound quality of any mobile phone, with its large size there's more room for the speaker. The only thing the Blackberry does better is email, but since Email is the Blackberry's reason …

    Mobile 22 Mar 2002, 16:30

  • Review Email2go: Handspring Treo

    The Treo starts from a position of strength. Handspring uses the Palm OS which is the most popular PDA operating system in the world and has a vast amount of software available. Handspring has also got a lot of experience with mobiles, thanks to the Visorphone add-on which is available for existing Handspring PDAs. One shrewd …

    Mobile 22 Mar 2002, 16:30

  • Review Email2Go: Blackberry RIM

    The Blackberry does exactly what its makers claim. It is the best possible device for receiving and replying to corporate email while on the move. It will sync with corporate calendars but there is no spreadsheet, POP3 email, web or WAP browsing. Even voice is a coming-soon extra. You can edit text but it's not a word …

    Mobile 22 Mar 2002, 16:30

  • Email2go: battle lines and reviews

    Simon R. surveys the scene

    Email has become a major part of daily life. It is now such a common form of communication you really do suffer if you can't get your email when you are away from your computer. Text messaging helps fill the gap, but only for socialising-it isn't the same kind of business communication as an email. A device in your pocket …

    Mobile 22 Mar 2002, 16:48

  • Quad Sledgehammers out by June 2003 – AMD

    Ace reporting

    Nailing down a release date for Hammer, AMD's upcoming x.86-compatible CPU, is harder than wrestling with jelly. In this week's Upside.com interview with Jerry Sanders (linked ad nauseum elsewhere), the AMD chairman refers to a 2003 launch for Hammer. This would represent a little bit more slippage. However, the company has …

    Channel 22 Mar 2002, 18:41

  • Encryption patent firm stakes claim on industry

    Patently questionable

    A previously unknown Californian firm which has obtained a patent for application-independent file encryption is seeking to enforce licensing from other companies in the security industry. The move has spurred anger among vendors hit by patent infringement claims; they say they will contest the action vigorously. Maz …

    Software 22 Mar 2002, 21:52

  • Nokia US communicator set for summer release

    Faster, roomier, more Operatic than Euro debutant

    The much anticipated Nokia 9290 communicator will finally be available "in the summer", Nokia US told us today. The phone giant had earlier promised a release in the first half of this year, so if you can find one before June 30, we guess that promise could still hold good. Kinda. It's the first of a flood of rich color, …

    Personal 22 Mar 2002, 22:33

  • Oracle double-dipping drives Reg readers to penury, open source

    Multi-perplexing

    Register readers have confirmed Meta Group's reports of Oracle demanding steep multiplexing license fees from users. Patrick Wheeler is an IS manager for a US-based interactive TV company which aggregates data from millions of clients into several middle tier servers. These servers feed an Oracle database, but only after at …

    Hardware 22 Mar 2002, 22:58