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16th July 2002 Archive

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  • MS to ship Media Center ‘special edition’ of XP in Q4

    It's that remote control unit called Freestyle really...

    Ah, the perils of automation. At 0512 GMT this morning a Reuters story headlined "Microsoft to release new multimedia edition Windows XP" winged its way to the company's customers. And then about 30 minutes later a bulletin from Reuters headlined "TECH-MICROSOFT-XP ADVISORY" seems to have headed to the same customers, saying, er …

    Software 16 Jul 2002, 07:19

  • Gweeds gets killed

    Letters Too easy by half

    My recent item entitled "Security industry's hacker-pimping slammed" has generated damn few page hits but a vast flood of e-mail. What I reported, essentially, is that my boy Gweeds stood up at H2K2 this past weekend and excoriated the security establishment for selling out 'old-fashioned' (possibly fictional) hacker ethics for …

    Security 16 Jul 2002, 07:30

  • Yahoo! censors portal, kisses Beijing's ass

    Mmmm, good!

    Yahoo! has caved in to Chinese government intimidation and agreed formally to refrain from "producing, posting or disseminating pernicious information that may jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability" or spreading "superstition and obscenity," such as religious beliefs, say, or fair political analysis. The …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 08:33

  • Peru mulls Free Software, Gates gives $550k to Peru Prez

    Funny old life...

    The Register's department of strange coincidences can't help noticing that yesterday Bill Gates met Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, and graciously donated around $550,000 worth of money, software, and consulting to be used by Peru for education and e-government. You may recall a while back somebody impersonating the Prime …

    Software 16 Jul 2002, 09:39

  • TFI wants suspended ISP service ‘to be sorted’

    The Free Internet liquidation has 'no bearing'

    A director of UK ISP thefreeinternet.net (TFI) has told The Register that he is doing everything he can to resume a Net access service for his customers. The ISP suspended its service last month leaving tens of thousands of users without Net access. TFI blames the downtime on a dispute with its carrier, NTL, and insists it is …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 10:08

  • O2 security bubble pricked

    Lame coding error gives up u/n, pw

    O2 has plugged a serious security hole which left its customers' account and billing details open to attack. Users logging onto O2's (formerly Genie's) Web site are led to believe that their user name and password are sent securely using HTTPS. However, Paul Mutton (aka Jibble) yesterday created a Web page which provides …

    Security 16 Jul 2002, 10:10

  • Fears emerge over Intel job cuts

    Fab 17 for the chop?

    The weak outlook in the PC market could lead Intel to announce layoffs and cost cutting when its Q2 figures are released on Tuesday. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett is scheduled to speak to Intel employees after the close of the US stock markets, just as Intel discusses …

    Channel 16 Jul 2002, 10:57

  • IBM sends Shark into feeding frenzy

    Storage price wars

    IBM yesterday unveiled the latest iteration of its Enterprise Storage System, commonly known as Shark. The product has been comprehensively upgraded since the last release from the firm. But this isn't the time to judge technical competence between the vendors, this year it's all about price. And IBM is coming out fighting. Its …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2002, 10:58

  • Reg Hackerettes – The jury delivers its verdict

    You spoke, we listened

    Thanks to all those Hackerettes who answered our call regarding optimum sizes for a women's-fit Hacker t-shirt. And very entertaining reading it made too. Firstly, shame on all those men who insist that the ideal size is tight, and preferably wet. That's hardly constructive, is it? Neither is advising us to order size sixteen …

    Site News 16 Jul 2002, 11:00

  • Banks seal Energis takeover

    Norman conquest

    A consortium of banks has bought ailing alternative telco, Energis, it was confirmed today. Chelys - a company chaired by Tory MP and one-time ASDA boss, Archie Norman - has bought the UK business of Energis plc after it ramped up debts of £690m. As widely reported in the press over the weekend, Chelys will pump £150m of cash …

    Business 16 Jul 2002, 11:07

  • Microsoft lifts veil on Corona media platform

    Ooh, you tease

    Doing the dance of the seven veils with its technology as usual, Microsoft Corp released a few more details of its "Corona" streaming media platform yesterday, saying the public beta of the software will be launched in Los Angeles on September 4. And, in an announcement that required no drum-roll, the company revealed …

    Software 16 Jul 2002, 11:32

  • Liberty Alliance unveils secure sign-on specs

    Authentic

    Liberty Alliance duly unwrapped its version 1.0 specifications yesterday, outlining a standard for federated network identity sign-on as a secure method for identifying individuals using any manner of internet-connected devices. The first phase of work undertaken by Liberty Alliance in its first year has focused on the use …

    e-Business 16 Jul 2002, 11:33

  • Microsoft backs Web services security standard

    Security Assertion Markup Language

    Microsoft Corp is supporting a multi-vendor web services security specification, opening the door on interoperability with rivals, Gavin Clarke writes. The Redmond, Washington-based company said it will adopt Security Assertion Mark-up Language (SAML), officially launched yesterday, as it relates to WS-Security - developed …

    e-Business 16 Jul 2002, 11:33

  • Unisys takes high and middle roads with new ES7000s

    Twin product streams

    Enterprise server maker Unisys Corp will today unveil that it has broken the ES7000 server line into two separate product streams so it can better target midrange and enterprise customers who have different scalability and pricing needs. Unisys, which was the only major server vendor offering servers based on processors …

    Software 16 Jul 2002, 11:33

  • NAI sweetens McAfee.com bid

    A spoonful of sugar makes the poison pill go down

    Network Associates Inc said yesterday it is prepared to raise the amount it is offering to buy the 25% of McAfee.com Corp it does not already own by 15.5% in order to get approval from a Special Committee of the anti-virus firm's board. The company said it is prepared to offer 0.9 NAI shares, versus the previous offer of 0 …

    Business 16 Jul 2002, 11:35

  • HP pulls plug on enterprise software lines

    No Net Action

    Hewlett Packard Co finally yanked the plug on its doomed NetAction Java and web services middleware yesterday. Palo Alto, California-based HP said it will discontinue the HP NetAction Application Server, NetAction Web Services Platform and Web Services Registry products. HP cited "heavy losses" for its decision to exit. …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2002, 11:36

  • Nvidia intros nForce 2

    The chipset formerly known as Crush 18

    Nvidia today unveiled its second-generation AMD-oriented nForce chipset, codenamed Crush 18. The product is aimed specifically at a low- to high-end PCs, but it also gives an interesting picture of the second-generation Xbox's capabilities. The nForce 2 family comprises four parts: two versions of Nvidia's Media Communications …

    Channel 16 Jul 2002, 11:42

  • US Congress approves life terms for crackers

    Bill aims to turn ISPs into snitches

    The US House of Representatives has approved a bill which raises the penalty for computer crime to a maximum of life imprisonment. Crackers who put lives at risk, either knowingly or through "reckless" behaviour, could be sent to jail for life under measures in the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, which the house yesterday …

    Security 16 Jul 2002, 12:32

  • MPEG 4 is go (licence fees capped)

    Apple dances Quicktime 6 gig

    A few weeks ago Apple effectively signalled that it had agreed licensing terms over MPEG 4, when it released a 'preview' of Quicktime 6.0 (which incorporates the video standard) in advance of any public accord with the MPEG-LA. Now, the full version is out, to coincide with the publication of the definitive license terms, and …

    Mac Channel 16 Jul 2002, 14:01

  • UK2.net suffers outage

    Like an 'alien abduction'

    UK2.net - which claims to be the "UK's biggest host" - fell over yesterday afternoon, causing disruption for thousands of its customers. According to a statement on its message board, the company suffered an "unusually long network outage [yesterday] afternoon between, roughly, 1:45pm and 4:15pm." "This was caused by an as yet …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 14:02

  • Soft landing for firms caught in Web host fallout?

    Silver lining

    A US technology consultancy firm is touting a 'soft landing' for companies whose web hosts have gone tits up or fled the scene. RampRate offers to "identify and weave together disparate, best-of-breed infrastructure technologies" to enable rapid migration from Web hosting companies that have abruptly left the business, to …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2002, 14:19

  • PC makers to start taking the Tablets

    Mira Image

    The punters are not buying desktop PCs; they are beginning to lose interest in buying notebooks; corporates are still flocking to Dell but staying away in droves from PC resellers. What is a poor PC maker to do? Answer, according to In-Stat/MDR, is to extend into new markets with different format mobile devices - tablet PCs, …

    Personal 16 Jul 2002, 16:04

  • IBM, Intel, telcos mull US-wide WLAN service

    Nothing decided

    IBM and Intel are drawing up plans with telecom companies to set up a network of wireless data hot spots in the US, according to reports. Talks about Project Rainbow, which would allow laptop and handheld users easy access to the Web from public places like airports, have been underway for the last eight months, the New York …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2002, 16:16

  • We don't need no stinking ID cards

    Privacy International FAQ

    On July 3, the Home Office began a six-month consultation (PDF) on whether or not ID cards should return to the UK. So, come December, we can expect the consultees to conclude that there is overwhelming support in the country for the introduction of ID cards, or entitlement cards, in govspeak. The Register is agin it, four man …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 16:39

  • Sun UK resellers under email siege

    And told to stay away from France

    Sun Microsystems' hard-pressed UK reseller channel suffered another indignity today, when the company messed up its email group pricertool_external_emea@sun.com, apparently by making it an outside-world addressable alias. We'll let one reader take up the story: It all kicked off when Sun sent an email warning of an impending …

    Channel 16 Jul 2002, 17:26

  • Frethem worm poses as Password file

    More shenanigans

    If you get an unsolicited email today regarding 'Your Password' resist any temptation to click on the attachment. It's more than likely to contain a variation of the latest email-aware worm, Frethem. Frethem, is a family of email-aware worms, which normally arrives in an email with the Subject line: "Re: Your password!", a text …

    Malware 16 Jul 2002, 17:34

  • Govt unveils plans for eDemocracy

    Just 'elastoplast for sickly politics'

    The Government is looking at ways it can use technology to reform the way people influence the running of the country. Publishing a consultation paper today, the Government hopes it will "invigorate debate" and "enhance citizens' involvement" in the democratic process. The document In the service of democracy examines two …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 17:36

  • Snouts in the honeypot

    Get your Digital Ant Farm here. Only $50K

    [SCENE: A small but elegant office. Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" plays softly in the background. A man in a red power tie sits behind a solid oak desk, gently rubbing the top of a Montblanc pen across his upper lip while peering intently at his computer. The early afternoon peace is broken by heavy footsteps. A highly agitated man …

    Security 16 Jul 2002, 18:33

  • HP suspends 100+ UK staff in email porn probe

    Exclusive Firing squad

    HP has suspended more than 100 employees on full pay in the UK and Ireland pending an investigation into the misuse of its corporate email system to circulate pornographic material. Fifteen people were dismissed on Tuesday morning for gross misconduct, sources told us. HP, however, tells us this figure is inaccurate and that " …

    Music and Media 16 Jul 2002, 18:43

  • Ballmer 'fesses up to Linux/Windows cost FUD

    Just can't keep that myth alive

    Windows is a lot more expensive to run than Linux, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has finally confessed. Despite Redmond's heroic efforts to defeat common knowledge with elaborately-rigged total cost of ownership 'studies', innuendo, FUD and outright distortions, the rhetorical power of common experience has become too powerful, …

    Software 16 Jul 2002, 19:23