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24th February 2003 Archive

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  • Swarm Radio – a cheaper, faster 'casting tech

    CodeCon and more

    The technology behind the next generation of file sharing legal battles was unveiled at CodeCon today. Brandon Wiley describes Alluvium as "Peer to Peer radio" - which it is, but it also blurs the distinction between streaming and downloading once and forever. So what is it? To begin with, Alluvium "streams" Ogg. It's an …

    Software 24 Feb 2003, 08:21

  • Ethical wireless hacker is innocent

    Houston courts: you have a problem

    A Houston ethical hacker accused of breaking into the wireless network of a Texan court has been acquitted of all charges. Stefan Puffer, 34, was charged in July 2002 on "two counts of unauthorized access into a protected computer system and unauthorized access of a computer system used in justice administration", the Houston …

    Security 24 Feb 2003, 08:23

  • Big Sage dealer buys smaller Sage dealer

    Apex takes on Orlando IT

    Apex Business Systems, the UK's biggest Sage reseller, has merged with Orlando IT, a rival, in a deal "said to be worth over £9m". Why so coy - surely the press release writer knows how much the gig is worth. And is it a merger - useful for tax purposes - or is Apex buying Orlando IT? No jobs are lost in the deal: Orlando IT's …

    Channel 24 Feb 2003, 08:44

  • MobiliX retires, TuxMobil emerges

    Adjust your bookmarks

    The mobile open source project formerly known as MobiliX has a new name - TuxMobil. The change comes at the behest of a German appeal court, which earlier this month ruled against Werner Heuser, owner of the "MobiliX - UniX on Mobile Devices" project, in a long-running trademark dispute with the firm behind Asterix and Obelix …

    Software 24 Feb 2003, 08:49

  • Microsoft approval sought for Xbox Linux project

    Snowball chance in Hell

    The team working on getting the Linux operating system to run on Microsoft's Xbox has made a bizarre plea to the software giant - requesting that it support their efforts by digitally signing the operating system so that it can run on unmodified Xboxes. At present, Linux can only be run on Xboxes which have been modified to …

    Personal 24 Feb 2003, 08:58

  • Egg mulls US expansion

    Losses narrow

    Egg - the UK-based Internet bank owned by Prudential - is looking to crack the US market. The outfit is researching the possibilities of expanding into new countries and has already gone some way to test customer opinion in the US. News that Egg remains committed to developing a global business comes as the bank reported …

    Business 24 Feb 2003, 10:33

  • Centerprise hires 300 South Walians

    New factory

    Centerprise, the Basingstoke-based PC contract manufacturer, is kitting out a new factory-cum-warehouse in South Wales, and is hiring almost 300 new staff. The expansion is part-financed by grant-aid from the Welsh Assembly Government, but Centerprise is committing at least £11.5m of its own dosh into the plant, sited in …

    Channel 24 Feb 2003, 10:52

  • Google pulls sick site, following Chester protests

    People Power

    Google has removed a perverted Web site from its search listings following a public outcry from people in Chester. There was outrage when it was discovered that anyone innocently tapping in "Chester Guide" into the Google search engine was met with a site dedicated to picking up small girls. The site - run by someone calling …

    Music and Media 24 Feb 2003, 11:38

  • Sun and Sybase: more than marriage of convenience

    Briefing Note Needs support

    Sun MicroSystems and Sybase have a sufficiently strong partnership that they go around doing joint briefings, yet it hardly gets much publicity, writes Phil Howard. Why is this? I had better explain what their partnership entails. Around 12 months ago, Sun published a reference architecture for using its hardware in conjunction …

    Hardware 24 Feb 2003, 11:39

  • NTL settles Vodafone ‘overcharging’ row

    Friends again

    NTL and Vodafone have come to an "amicable" agreement over allegations that the cableco overcharged the mobile phone giant for the rental of fixed line telephony services. Vodafone launched legal action against NTL last year. At the time, NTL warned that if Vodafone's legal action was successful it could have an "adverse effect …

    Business 24 Feb 2003, 13:10

  • Citibank gags crypto researchers

    The Phantom (withdrawal) menace

    The High Court in London has imposed an injunction on Cambridge University security experts who claim to have uncovered serious failings in the system banks use to secure ATM PIN codes. The gagging order, preventing public disclosure of cryptographic vulnerabilities, was made at the request of CitiBank and Diners' Club against …

    Security 24 Feb 2003, 13:16

  • VCISP.NET in 419-style solicitation shocker

    Reg ISP comes over all Lagos

    The marketing tentacle of the mighty Register is always on the look-out for novel ways to sell products to our loyal readers, but some at Vulture Central feel that its latest strategy to give away free dial-up email accounts at VCISP.NET is a punt too far. For those who have not heard of the snappily-titled Vulture Capitalist …

    Site News 24 Feb 2003, 13:29

  • Program hides secret messages in executables

    CodeCon Hydan seek

    Netizens with extreme privacy needs got a new tool for their cyber utility belts recently with the release of an application that lets users hide secret messages in virtually any executable computer program, without changing the program's size or affecting its operation. The tool is called "Hydan," an old English word for the …

    Security 24 Feb 2003, 14:02

  • Introducing the Lovgate.C Trojan

    Mass mailer worm

    Yet another mass mailing email worm is spreading across the Net today. Lovgate.C is a mass-mailing virus which incorporates its own SMTP engine and (of particular concern) a backdoor key-logging component. The virus, and its previous variants, normally arrives as an email with an infectious .exe attachment. Finnish AV firm F- …

    Malware 24 Feb 2003, 14:17

  • theregister.com goes live

    Activation

    Hello there; we switched on theregister.com last week and plenty of you seemed to have found out already, judging from the traffic figures. So why did it take us so long to put up theregister.com? Well, the URL was owned until last year by someone else, a domain broker, who flogged it to us for a very reasonable sum Right now …

    Site News 24 Feb 2003, 14:48

  • Microsoft devs Windows Rights Management Services

    Tool to plug corporate leaks

    Microsoft outlined plans on Friday (Dec 22) to develop technology which controls what users can do with sensitive business documents. a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/rm" target="_blank">Windows Rights Management Services (otherwise known as RMS (...RMS??? ed), a new technology for Windows Server 2003, will …

    Hardware 24 Feb 2003, 16:12

  • 20 more exchanges to get ADSL

    Demand for broadband

    Another20 exchanges are to be converted to ADSL during May as part of BT's ongoing scheme to respond to hotspots of demand for broadband. So far, 23 exchanges have been converted to ADSL as part of BT's pre-registration scheme. A further 135 are currently being upgraded. Oh, and there are around 25 exchanges that are within a …

    Telecoms 24 Feb 2003, 16:15

  • Hopes dashed for UK IT jobs recovery

    Sits Not Vacant

    Hopes that the UK's IT jobs market might be making a recovery were dashed today following confirmation that the number of vacancies suffered their worst drop since the economic slowdown began 18 months ago. The number of vacancies slumped 38 per cent in the last three months of 2002 according to the CWJobs UK Quarterly Regional …

    Business 24 Feb 2003, 16:17

  • World's biggest Luddite bares teeth in IT jobs spat

    The Not so Lucky Country

    Senator Richard Alston, Australian folk hero and the world's biggest Luddite, is squabbling again, this time with the Australia Computer Society (ACS). Last week the organisation said the jobless rate was 11.9 per cent. Wrong, according to Senator Alston, the country's pugnacious minister for Communications, Information …

    Business 24 Feb 2003, 17:54

  • Aggressive pricing set for SonyEricsson P800

    Thanks to Smartphone Warehouse

    Carphone Warehouse has set aggressive pricing for the much-anticipated SonyEricsson P800 smartphone. You can snap one up here, with contract, for £249. Or £329, depending on your contract. I've had one for two weeks now and while there's room for improvement in some areas, I think it justifies the term 'revolutionary'. It …

    Data Networking 24 Feb 2003, 18:31