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27th March 2002 Archive

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  • Taking James Gosling to task – your letters

    That seals it...

    A terrific response to our James Gosling interview, and not one of you mentioned asparagus… Subject: Why X ? A: X is free Sun wanted money It's simple: Sun wanted money for NeWS Pay Sun for every workstation or do your own thing. Not really all that hard for a Corp like Digital to make up its mind. (Sun did try and free …

    Letters 27 Mar 2002, 01:04

  • Microsoft .NET promo reveals personal info

    Shared sauce

    Microsoft has adopted an unusual approach to community building - by disclosing the personal information of thousands of applicants for a Visual Studio web promotion. Despite being alerted to the privacy breach, the personal details of several thousand individuals are still online. The site, hosted by Washington DC-based …

    Security 27 Mar 2002, 02:32

  • Panel debates Samaritan-hack amnesty

    Hack-and-tell: a crime or public service?

    Do good intentions count in a network intrusion, or should well-meaning hackers be prosecuted just like any other computer criminal? A panel of information security experts chewed on that issue at a security conference here Monday -- and for one of them, the question was more than academic. "Obviously, nobody wants to be …

    Security 27 Mar 2002, 05:51

  • BTo slashes broadband satellite prices

    Cheaper rural access

    BTopenworld is cutting the price of its broadband satellite service with the rollout of the technology throughout the UK. The service, already trialled in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Northern Ireland, allows companies in areas without wired broadband coverage to benefit from always-on Internet access and download …

    Telecoms 27 Mar 2002, 06:54

  • AV vendors sell ‘blunt razor blades’

    Analysis Three years after Melissa has anything improved?

    On March 26 1999, the Melissa virus crippled tens of thousands of messaging servers worldwide in a few hours and sent a security wake up call to corporates and AV firms. Three years on, John Leyden wonders if anything has changed following the outbreak. Today marks the third anniversary of the outbreak of Melissa, the first …

    Malware 27 Mar 2002, 06:58

  • Sun grapples with Java portability for Web services

    It's a thorny issue

    The thorny issue of Java application portability has resurfaced after Sun Microsystems Inc launched test software and online services to verify ISVs' applications built on the enterprise specification conform to latest community specifications, Gavin Clarke writes. Sun used its annual JavaOne developer forum in San …

    Software 27 Mar 2002, 07:37

  • Suffer not the little children – McNealy

    The first hit of heroin is free

    Scott McNealy was a worried man yesterday. Not over Sun Microsystems Inc's financial performance. Instead, Sun's chairman and chief executive is postponing retirement to battle Microsoft Corp and protect his children's future, Gavin Clarke writes. Speaking at Palo Alto, California-based Sun's JavaOne developer conference …

    Software 27 Mar 2002, 07:37

  • Korean vendors pump up DRAM prices

    Milk it while you can

    Korean DRAM makers are hiking production in the face of an apparent revival in the sector. According to the Korea Times, Samsung Electronics expects demand to increase 40% to 45% this year, and will increase its total DRAM output by 50% this year. It plans to up production of 128Mb DRAMs by 62.5% this year, and at the same …

    Channel 27 Mar 2002, 07:37

  • Nokia's OMA may take on wireless interoperability burden

    WAP fiasco avoidance

    The Nokia Corp initiated Open Mobile Architecture (OMA) group could take on some of the responsibilities of a standards body in its quest to achieve complete interoperability among wireless applications platforms and devices and to prevent a repeat of the WAP fiasco, Tony Cripps writes. Dr Sami Inkinen, VP technical …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2002, 07:38

  • EC to cut mobile phone charges – FT

    Call termination fees

    The European Commission is to pull the cosy price rug from mobile network operators, by ordering them to cut high call termination charges, the FT reports. This is the fee which mobile operators impose on callers connecting from fixed line networks to their mobile networks. The EC reckons that the prices, which can account for …

    Data Networking 27 Mar 2002, 08:14

  • EC to clear ‘most’ of Infineon DRAM aid package

    Competitive

    The European Commission is expected to approve "most" of a EUR220m aid package granted by the German government for Infineon's new EUR1.1bn DRAM plant, competition spokesman Michael Tscherny told reporters yesterday. Discussions are continuing over a EUR40m slice of the subsidy, but the rest is expected to be approved formally …

    Channel 27 Mar 2002, 08:31

  • Philips wins $5bn Dell supply gig

    Dell wins Philips PC supply gig

    Dell has awarded a component supply contract to Philips, worth up to $5bn over five years (the deal assumes annual sales growth of 25 per cent). Philips will furnish Dell with CRT and LCD monitors, and storage devices etc, and it is rewarding Dell for its largesse by making it preferred supplier worldwide for PCs and servers. …

    Personal 27 Mar 2002, 08:51

  • Apple discovers Bluetooth, hikes Mac prices

    iPod, LCDs refreshed

    Apple announced a slew of product refreshes at MacWorld Japan overnight, but the news that will be greeted with most relief, we suspect, is that it's finally announced Bluetooth support. Bluetooth-equipped phones are becoming ubiquitious at the high-end in Europe, and although interoperability concerns have dogged the …

    Mac Channel 27 Mar 2002, 10:05

  • Benchmarks demolish Apple speed boasts

    New kit bested by ancient PIII

    As of this morning, thirty one entries have been submitted to the SPEC performance list for the year so far. But if you're wondering why Apple hasn't yet dispatched its latest "workstation class" G4 hardware for examination by the council, in what is the industry's most respected set of benchmark tests, C't has the answer. The …

    Channel 27 Mar 2002, 10:14

  • Mac performance: up to snuff or up the duff?

    Letters Putting the Squawk into SPEC

    Subject: SPEC2000 g4 benchmarks article I had a couple objections to your article because I think it made some errors by omission in three areas. The first is the comments about OS latency, the second is relative floating point performance and SSE2, and the third is P3 vs P4 in real world scientific apps. As background, I do …

    Letters 27 Mar 2002, 10:14

  • A fresher Linux for Macs

    One button madness

    A fresh version of the leading Linux for Macintosh computers, Yellow Dog, is now available for download from TerraSoft Solutions. Although Mandrake and SuSE both offer distros for PowerPC, TerraSoft is the only vendor to focus solely on Mac. (We're trying really hard not to say that they're a "pure play" here, as it's one of …

    Mac Channel 27 Mar 2002, 10:15

  • A free Easter bunch of fives from IT-Minds

    Competition Win a copy of 'PHP and MySQL Web Development'

    This week's reader offer from Reg associate IT-minds bookstore carries an extra punch. In celebration of all things open source, the bookstore is offering 20 per cent off an incredible 23 titles and is further giving readers the chance to win one of five copies of PHP and MySQL Web Development by Laura Thomson and Luke Welling …

    Business 27 Mar 2002, 10:23

  • Intel exec laughs off MS cannibalism charge

    Trial motormouth alert...

    Microsoft attorney Dan Webb yesterday engaged in the somewhat redundant exercise of trying to prove that former Intel exec and trial star witness Steve McGeady was biased against Microsoft. This is about as difficult as trying to prove the Pope's Polish, and Microsoft really should not be paying Dan wages for this kind of stuff …

    Software 27 Mar 2002, 10:50

  • MS judge to weigh broadening of case

    Will consider evidence on new platforms

    After delivering warnings last week against the unsettling States' broadening their case to the extent that they would, in effect, be starting a new liability trial, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has cheered them considerably by allowing them to put forward information on new technologies and devices. This doesn't mean she is …

    Software 27 Mar 2002, 10:54

  • Drive-by hacking linked to cyberterror

    Updated ICC misses the mark

    The most comprehensive study of the insecurity of wireless networks in London to date has discovered that 94 per cent are leaving their networks open to drive-by hacking. This possibly worthwhile survey is undermined by the cyberterrorism FUD spin put on the release. A seven-month investigation of 5,000 wireless systems was …

    Security 27 Mar 2002, 12:44

  • Time slams Tiny credit card firms

    Mexican stand-off

    Time Group today called on credit card companies to honour up to approx. 80,000 support contracts frozen through the collapse of Tiny Computers. Time bought the assets of Tiny Computers in January, the day after its rival collapsed into receivership. Without credit card firm backing, The system builder says it is no longer …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2002, 13:28

  • Dolby is sound on MPEG 4, gets thumbs up

    MPEG-LA gets it in the neck

    Dolby has updated its audio streaming standard, MPEG AAC, with the release of Version 4. The company is offering an easy upgrade from MPEG 2 AAC, and a licensing model based on size of customer, rather than usage, and an annual cap on payments. (Here are the licensing terms.) Also the AAC patent license treats PC devices as a …

    Mac Channel 27 Mar 2002, 14:28

  • Amiga returns with AmigaOne PPC hardware

    This month's comeback announcement...

    Back from a triumphant Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco where he publicised Amiga Anywhere, Amiga CEO Bill McEwen has posted an update on progress with Amiga hardware and AmigaOS 4 and 5. At the very least it will bring a nostalgic tear to the eye, if you encountered Amiga the first time around, and it might even …

    Personal 27 Mar 2002, 15:36

  • NTL redlines £11.1bn

    That's £3,700 per customer

    NTL, Britain's biggest cable operator, today announced net losses a whopping £11.1 billion ($15.86 billion) for the year. The telecom operator's revenue for the year was £2.57 billion, compared to £1.886 billion for 2000. The firm is struggling under the burden of an estimated debt of £12 billion. NTL made exceptional 2001 …

    Business 27 Mar 2002, 23:00

  • Operation Enduring Valenti

    The battle for all your electronic gear

    The United States is engaged in a war against oppressive regimes run by ignorant fanatics barely able to comprehend the intricacies of modern society. Through actions favoring the ruling class, secret midnight deals, and restricting public distribution of information, citizens in these societies are unable to evolve and live …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2002, 23:02