12th July 2002 Archive

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USA Today swats hack attack – but not entirely

Er, you missed a bit...

USA Today experienced a hacker attack last night, which took it out of service for three hours. The pub manfully 'fesses up in a front page piece here, wherein it says normal service resumed around 2am US Eastern Time. Um, up to a point, people. Unless the stolid scribes from AP have been smoking something, there currently …

Security 12 Jul 2002, 07:40
Dell ups Q2 forecasts

Different planet, obviously...

The markets were presented with a rare spectacle yesterday, when a tech company warned that its financial results will be better than expected. Dell Computer Corp announced yesterday afternoon that both sales and earnings for its second quarter will be better than it predicted in May. However, the announcement could still …

Business 12 Jul 2002, 08:27
Fujitsu plans cuts, predicts two more years to recovery

CFO paints gloomy picture

Fujitsu Ltd is planning job cuts and believes that the market will not recover for another two years. The Tokyo, Japan-based computer giant said the WorldCom scandal and concerns over the US economy, will almost certainly mean further restructuring this year, despite the fact that its profit target remains on course. …

Business 12 Jul 2002, 08:31
KPNQwest heads for final shutdown

Good bits sold, customers gone, goodnight then

The future of the KPNQwest network looks bleak, after the Customer Support KPNQwest foundation decided to withdraw its support for the operation from 23.00 hours tonight. The foundation was co-founded by Dutch carrier KPN NV to enable the bankrupt network to continue operating while possible buyers were found. Yesterday …

Music and Media 12 Jul 2002, 08:33
IBM sell first Regatta-H iSeries monster server

Customer wants four - didn't TJ Watson say something about that once?

It might have the highest price tag of any OS/400 server yet built, but IBM Corp has already sold its first iSeries Model 890 "Regatta-H" server. The first iSeries Model 890 is going to Apria Healthcare , a home healthcare equipment and services provider based in the Los Angeles suburb of Lake Forest. One of the driving …

Hardware 12 Jul 2002, 08:37
Last call for Star Wars console competition

Closes Monday, so get your skates on

It's your last chance to win an original Star Wars console courtesy of AMD and Rackspace Managed Hosting. The competition closes at 10am GMT on Monday 15 July, so you'd better get your skates on. All you have to do is click here, and you'll be asked to complete a survey and then enter some details. That will suffice to enter …

Site News 12 Jul 2002, 10:42
EMC And Accenture – The Switzerland of Storage

Vendor independent consulting

EMC and Accenture have joined together to create Information Solutions Consulting, a new business targeted at bringing "end to end, platform independent storage consulting services" to the market. The five-year agreement will see the new group set up as a new unit within EMC but separate from the core EMC professional services …

Hardware 12 Jul 2002, 10:48
Nanotechnology may be over-hyped

Small-minded nonsense

Nanotechnology will require sustained investment over at least the next decade, as well as more commercial applications, if it is to deliver on its initial promise. Nanotechnology, which is the design and manufacture of extremely small electronic circuits and mechanical devices built at the molecular level of matter, has been …

Hardware 12 Jul 2002, 10:50
One in ten workers squeezed out at Juniper

Financial results are healthier, though

Juniper Networks yesterday announced plans to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce following the completion of its Unisphere Networks acquisition from Siemens. The company, which is second-placed behind Cisco System in the high-end routing market, hopes to save around $7m per quarter through the redundancies. News of the job …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2002, 12:02
RIM unleashes more lawyers on Good

Defending the Blackberry

From Europe, it might look like two bald men fighting over a comb, but the fight between Research In Motion and Good Technology is deadly earnest. RIM escalated its suit yesterday against the new arrival - which in March began to produce an always-on communicator and middleware very similar to the successful Blackberry device …

Mobile 12 Jul 2002, 12:05
MS to use PEAP for home wireless security?

It's tagged as a possible for a 'future XP client'

A little bird suggests to The Register that Microsoft's "more secure than others" wireless products will be using Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP). He further suggests that PEAP support will ship with Windows XP SP1, and although we hadn't heard that as a possible SP1 addition, Microsoft is a supporter of PEAP …

Software 12 Jul 2002, 14:14
Sharp Linux handheld in double bug alert

Zoinks!

Sharp's Linux-based Zaurus handhelds have two security bugs. The first vulnerability could give a remote attacker full control of the Zaurus filesystem, including the ability to overwrite files and/or programs with trojans. The Zaurus SLD-50000D and SL-5500 devices are designed for consumers but if used in business, the …

Personal 12 Jul 2002, 14:18
BTo in business broadband promo

Strings attached naturally

BT Openworld - BT's mass market ISP - is offering business customers £130 cash- back for companies that sign up to any one of its three 'multi-user' Broadband PLUS products. The promo applies to all orders placed until September 30 with installation taking place before October 31. The offer covers the purchase of BTopenworld's …

Telecoms 12 Jul 2002, 14:19
Norwegian gov ditches contract with Microsoft

'Unfortunate deal,' says minister

The Norwegian government has terminated its contract with Microsoft, with employment and administration minister Victor D Norman commenting that the deal had been "unfortunate," and that the injection of competition could mean cheaper and (cruel cut) higher quality solutions. The contract with Microsoft, as we understand it, …

Software 12 Jul 2002, 15:04
EU recycling rules to hit PC makers

Rubbish

A report by Gartner predicts that new EU recycling rules will raise the production costs of PCs and lead to faster consolidation in the European PC industry. The report refers to two recent EU directives aimed at managing electrical and electronic waste. The Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive requires …

Business 12 Jul 2002, 15:20
Three domain name scams

Bogus renewals, bogus directories

Barely a day goes by when Vulture Central doesn't receive an email from readers warning about some domain name scam or other. Like haemorrhoids, these cons are a pain in the arse. Trouble is, no matter how painful they are, they're a part of Net life. So, here's El Reg's guide to the top three domain name scams - just so as …

Music and Media 12 Jul 2002, 15:31
Calling all Reg Hackerettes

Vulture Central seeks guidance on sizeable problem

The success of the Vulture Central Hacker range of IT leisurewear has led many female readers to request, nay demand, that we produce a shirt specifically for women. Well, we've tracked down a suitable women's fit t-shirt and the screen-printing presses are ready to roll. However, there's just one minor snagette: What size …

Site News 12 Jul 2002, 15:33
UK broadband take-up doubles

Ooooooooooh!

Three per cent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK have signed up to broadband, according to the latest stats from telecoms regulator Oftel. According to Oftel, 8 per cent of businesses that currently access the Internet do so by using a DSL or cable modem connection - that's around 3 per cent of all SMEs. On …

Telecoms 12 Jul 2002, 15:35
Cash'n'Carrion down for stocktake

Back on Monday, proceeded by fanfare of trumpets

Sincere aplogies are due to all our customers this weekend as our Cash'n'Carrion Reg shop is shut down for a frantic weekend stocktake. After one year of relentless e-commerce, we need a couple of days to take stock and recharge our merchandising batteries before bearing the Vulture Central banner once more unto the breeches of …

Site News 12 Jul 2002, 22:43
Ogg Vorbis goes gold

Sounds good

Ogg Vorbis, the open source audio compression format, went gold today. With the release of the first full version, developers can create hardware or software products to encode or decode music files without restrictions, royalty payments, or limits on distribution. For music fans the hope is that major hardware vendors will …

Software 12 Jul 2002, 22:45
RedHotAnt boss jailed for 5 years

Worldcom, Level 3 stung in ISP collapse

Kevin Wall - the former boss of ISP RedHotAnt - was jailed today for five years for his part in a £1.3 million VAT fraud. Wall, 29, of Hythe in Kent, was also disqualified from being a company director for ten years. JAK Productions Ltd was forced into liquidation by MCI WorldCom, which was owed £5.5 million for telecoms …

Music and Media 12 Jul 2002, 22:46
Linux attacks on the rise?

Anecdotage

Attacks on Linux and open source Web applications appear to have risen sharply this year, while attacks on Windows systems are markedly down. That's the conclusions of a study by security consultancy mi2g after it compiled a database on attacks culled from data from defacement archives (such as alldas.org), hacker bulletin …

Security 12 Jul 2002, 22:49
BOFH and the God of Workplace Harmony

Episode 14 Sacrifices must be made

BOFH 2002: Episode 14 "..and so we're looking to identify problems in the workplace that could lead to illness, injury or personal discomfort," the Human Resources Health and Safety Droid burbles happily to the majority of the IT Dept. Sigh. It's the same thing every year - we're obliged to attend an Occupational Health and …

BOFH 12 Jul 2002, 23:27