8th January 2003 Archive

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SGI finds 2,048 uses for an Itanic

Biggest Linux supercomputer

If anyone can find a use for an Itanium chip, it ought to be SGI. Although the processor remains stillborn as a commercial computing proposition, the benchmarks are impressive and improving, and SGI's technical computing customers typically need a much smaller working set of software to get their work done. Still, it's …

Servers 8 Jan 2003, 04:28
Dixons chokes on Christmas turkey

Customers stay away in droves

Shares in Dixons slumped in early morning trading after the high street electrical retailer revealed it had experienced a very unhappy Christmas. Dixons' share price slipped 20 per cent (29p) to 118p after the company admitted that sales in December were "below expectations". This was due mainly to weaker sales of games …

Channel 8 Jan 2003, 10:32
StorageTek numbers boost prospects for storage recovery

EMC coat-tails

Storage Technology Corp has joined EMC Corp and McData Corp in announcing preliminary fourth quarter results that are significantly better than expected, marking another indication that the fourth quarter may turn out to have been better than expected across the storage sector. StorageTek said that for the three months ended …

Storage 8 Jan 2003, 10:41
Cisco recruits IBM for storage attack

Operation SAN Storm

Cisco Systems Inc is about to begin its assault on the turf currently dominated by McData Corp and Brocade Communications Systems Inc, and has at last recruited IBM as the first vitally-needed ally to resell the SAN switches and directors it first unveiled last summer. The MDS 9000 series of Fibre Channel and IP switches and …

Storage 8 Jan 2003, 10:41
Cray preps X1 succesor

$45m share issue

Cray Inc may have only recently released its flagship X1 supercomputer, but it is already making plans to follow it up with a machine that currently goes under the codename "Black Widow". According to Seattle, Washington-based Cray, Black Widow will be instruction set compatible with X1 and is expected to have a peak …

Servers 8 Jan 2003, 10:42
Sage begins European expansion with Concept buy

French play

Accountancy software vendor Sage Group Plc has paid 4.7m pounds ($7.5m) for Paris, France-based Concept Group, which supplies treasury, cash management and financial consolidation applications for small and medium-sized businesses. The deal, which could see Sage paying out an additional 1.8m pounds ($2.9m) over the next three …

Business 8 Jan 2003, 10:42
Start-up marries blogs and camera phones

Is there no escape?

A Dublin-based start-up is to offer software to mobile operators that will enable mobile phone users to create and maintain Weblogs or "blogs" using only their phones. NewBay Software, a privately funded company headed by former Baltimore Technologies executive Paddy Holahan, is aiming to capitalise on the explosive growth in …

Mobile 8 Jan 2003, 11:03
Ireland set for flat-rate Net by June

Eircom expected to fight

Flat-rate Internet should become a reality in Ireland by the end of June, after ComReg said it would force Eircom to sell the service to other telecoms. The widely expected move follows years of bitter disputes over the provision of wholesale FRIACO (Flat-Rate Internet Access Call Origination), with entrant telecoms, lobbying …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2003, 11:12
Vodafone throttled for throat sweet stunt

You must be choking

A toddler from Essex nearly choked after swallowing a lozenge included in a Vodafone mailshot. The child's parents complained to the advertising watchdog because they said the throat sweet could easily fall into the hands of young children. The mailshot was offering customers free calling time and exclaimed: "Soon there'll be …

Mobile 8 Jan 2003, 12:16
I am Centrino™, son of Banias

LogoWatch Intel's flight of fantasy

Well, it's official - Intel has formally announced that as of right now Centrino™ mobile technology is the new brand name for its forthcoming wireless mobile computing technology. Lovely. For the record, the technologies represented by the Centrino brand will include a microprocessor (formerly code-named "Banias"), related …

Bootnotes 8 Jan 2003, 12:44
Department of Homeland Security cast in privacy role

As Bush ditches plans to guide business on security

The Bush administration has pared back the number of government initiatives on computer security in revised plans that give more responsibility the newly created Department of Homeland Security. Earlier proposals to consult regularly with privacy experts on the civil liberties ramification of security plans have also been …

Business 8 Jan 2003, 12:55
Mandrake 9.0: It takes two, baby

Review Thumbs-up from Tina

Review The first thing I noticed about Mandrake 9.0 Linux is that the goofy cross-eyed penguin is gone. Mandrake is pointing itself in a more sophisticated direction - it's not drab like Red Hat, but elegant and inviting. It looks expensive. Mandrake 9.0 is, in fact, not expensive at all; it's free if you're willing to take …

Software 8 Jan 2003, 12:58
Misleading anti-Sun ad lands HP reseller in hot water

ASA takes issue with Itanium claims

Lancashire-based HP reseller PSL has earned itself a rap on the knuckles by advertising watchdogs for a direct mailing campaign rubbishing Sun Microsystems' products, strategy and business. In a mail-shot sent to IT directors, PSL made unfavourable comparisons between HP's existing technology and Itanium roadmap and Sun's …

Channel 8 Jan 2003, 13:02
College girl's breasts in your hands

Transform itty-bitty boobies to big tatas (o)(o)!!!

Those readers who still have a bit of Xmas charity in their wallets might like to consider the heartbreaking appeal of college girl Michel, a lady very much in need of a new-year boost. Michel, 24, has launched a website asking for contributions to transform her "itty-bitty boobies" from a modest 34A to a mouth-watering pair of …

Bootnotes 8 Jan 2003, 13:46
Workers revolt at Time

Company rejects grievances

Time Computers has strongly rejected a list of grievances made by a group of call centre staff critical of the company's pay and working conditions. In an email outlining their workplace gripes the group - which calls itself "The 'Independent' Time Employee Forum" - is demanding increased wages and an end to working practises …

Channel 8 Jan 2003, 14:44
NTT Docomo slashes 3G capex

'No time for recklessness'

NTT Docomo is taking an axe to capital expenditure in 2003, following disappointing take-up of its FOMA 3G service. "Reckless spending on network expansion won't help promote" such services, DoCoMo CEO Keiji Tachikawa told Bloomberg. "We'd better focus more on returns on investment." In its next financial year starting April, …

Mobile 8 Jan 2003, 14:49
Americans give thumbs up to biometrics

Fear over identity theft spurs wider acceptance

Most Americans are willing to accept increased use of biometric technologies by private sector firms, providing proper privacy safeguards are applied. That's the main finding of a study funded by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics and developed by lobbyists Privacy & American Business (P&AB). Although consumer experience with …

Security 8 Jan 2003, 15:45
UK school plans retinal scans in the dinner queue

Is this really necessary?

Retinal scans are to be used by a Sunderland school to identify pupils. From next September, the Venerable Bede Church of England Aided School is to use the technology on school kids withdrawing books from its library or obtaining meals at the school canteen. Ed Yates, headteacher of the 900-pupil school, told the BBC that …

Security 8 Jan 2003, 17:21
AMD, IBM pool chipmaking development

Makes sense

AMD and IBM are teaming up to develop chipmaking processes for use in new high-performance processors. IBM is of course a major semiconductor player and a powerhouse of materials and processor design. But like AMD, it is a minnow compared with Intel. An AMD-IBM combo should mean that both can now comfortably, or less …

Channel 8 Jan 2003, 18:22