15th August 2002 Archive

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Windows Apache security bug revealed

Serious hole, easy fix

Default installations of Apache on Windows are susceptible to a bug discovered by Italian researcher Luigi Auriemma, Apache.org reports. According to a PivX advisory, non-Unix platforms like Windows OS2 and Netware are vulnerable, but Unix versions are not. Details are sketchy to discourage immediate exploitation, but the …

Software 15 Aug 2002, 02:11
Dell mocks MS' mandatory-OS regime

Virtually naked machines going out the door

Dell has devised a cute trick to accommodate its big corporate customers without crossing its Lord and Master, Microsoft, which has decreed that all OEM computers shall be shipped with operating systems, according to a recent Cnet article. To make life easier for big shops using Linux, which can be installed on any number of …

Software 15 Aug 2002, 08:42
Get connected with IT-minds.com

10 networking titles at 30% off

If you need to make a few connections then where better to start than with some of the latest networking titles from Register associate IT-minds.com. Take a look at some of our key titles from Cisco Press - available to you as always at a 30 per cent discount - or check out Uyless Black's MPLS & Label Switching Networks title …

Site News 15 Aug 2002, 08:50
AOL reveals accounting for barter deals

Classification errors

America Online's problems continued to mount yesterday as it revealed in an SEC filing that it may have improperly recognized $49m in revenue, and that further questionable transactions may yet be uncovered. The admission came as parent company AOL Time Warner Inc said its CEO Richard Parsons and CFO Wayne Pace had …

Site News 15 Aug 2002, 08:51
Dell and Red Hat plan Linux migration services

Altogether now

Dell Computer Corp has signed a new agreement with Linux distributor Red Hat Inc through which the two companies will jointly deliver professional services designed help enterprise Unix users migrate to the Linux operating system. The agreement extends existing partnership agreements between Austin, Texas-based Dell and …

Site News 15 Aug 2002, 08:53
IBM name calling at LinuxWorld

'We're the first and still the best'

IBM is playing a game of "who backed Linux first", by branding a slew of big-name rivals "Johnny come latelys" to the open source operating system. The normally reserved computing and services giant yesterday used the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, California, to underline its own Linux credentials, …

Site News 15 Aug 2002, 08:53
The Future of 24/7 Computing is…

...Shut for maintenance

Yesterday, visitors to Microsoft's ASP.Net site were greeted with the following message: . This is the future of 24x7 computing? More likely, it's 24/7 computing - 24 divided by 7 is about 3-and-a-half. OK, so it's a low blow. We thank reader Russell Ritchie for bringing it to our attention. ®

Bootnotes 15 Aug 2002, 09:34
IBM confirms 15K job losses

SEC filing

IBM is cutting more than 15,600 jobs worldwide in its computer services and microelectronics divisions, due to lower demand for its products and services. According to documents that IBM filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 1,400 of the job losses will take place in the microelectronics division, but the …

Business 15 Aug 2002, 12:18
Vodafone fails to make Irish 3G payment

Seeks one month delay

Vodafone has failed to make the deadline for a €44m downpayment to the Irish government for its 3G licence, The Irish Times reports. The network operator has asked for a one month extension while it consider if it actually wants to build a 3G network in the country. According to Vodafone, it will face no financial penalties if …

Mobile 15 Aug 2002, 12:20
Bill Thompson answers critics

Constitutional heretic says Palladium inevitable

Writing in The Guardian newspaper today, Bill Thompson describes the reaction to his provocative essay Damn the Constitution: Europe must take back the Web that became the most talked-about tech piece last weekend. Since this produced a huge and varied mailbag: spanning the extremes of vilification and enthusiastic support, I …

Music and Media 15 Aug 2002, 12:39
Startup fends off Sun in domain dispute

David.biz topples Goliath.com (more info added)

Sun Microsystems has failed in its bid to wrest control of the domain esun.biz from small UK start-up Esun Limited using the STOP proceedings. Under STOP, .biz registry Neulevel's Start Up Opposition Policy, a party which believes it has intellectual property rights to a particular domain name can apply to have that name …

Music and Media 15 Aug 2002, 14:28
FoTW: "You will be executed in secret. LOL"

Letters A quick and easy solution to uppity Europeans

Not all the responses to Bill Thompson's essay were as thoughtful as the ones we published here, in The Meatspace Mailbag/ Such as this one. To: Bill Thompson You sir, are a dickhead, and an intellectually dishonest one at that. Presumably, you hate the US so much that you will keep your pussy little ass in the UK instead of …

Letters 15 Aug 2002, 14:28
Vendors seek grey market whistleblowers

Talking tough

The Anti-Gray Market Alliance, an association of mostly IT hardware vendors, has introduced a web drop for snitches, where "consumers and business customers can now quickly report incidences of suspected fraudulent sales, illegal brokering or counterfeit goods". This is a most peculiar definition of the grey market, the …

Personal 15 Aug 2002, 15:44
Sony confirms PS2 online plans

Network adapter

Sony is set to launch its online gaming offering for the PlayStation 2 in the USA on August 27, with the release of the official PS2 network adapter and some of the first titles to support online play - giving it a headstart of over two months on Microsoft's competing Xbox Live service. The online plans for PS2 all revolve …

Personal 15 Aug 2002, 16:21
Thieves raid Taxan UK warehouse

Make away with £175k+ monitors, ATI cards

A gang of thieves stole more than £175,000-worth of kit from Taxan UK last night. The 'highly professional' outfit disabled the alarm system and phone lines at the monitor maker's Bracknell, Berks warehouse, and helped themselves to 150 15in TFT monitors and more than 3,000 ATI graphics cards. The gang clearly knew their …

Channel 15 Aug 2002, 16:33
IBM takes eLiza to low-end servers

Little server, heal thyself

IBM today launched a range of Intel-based servers designed to relieve reliability and manageability headaches for small businesses. The IBM eServer x205 integrates IBM's Project eLiza technologies which help IT managers predict and repair potential problems without taking the server offline or shutting it down. IBM Director, an …

Servers 15 Aug 2002, 19:20