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1st May 2003 Archive

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  • Cisco embraced by EMC, spurned by Dell

    Swapping switches

    Cisco Systems found itself at the heart of two announcements this week but only once by choice. In a widely anticipated move, EMC said it will start reselling Cisco's MDS 9000 series of SAN switches later this quarter. The Cisco gear will fall into EMC's Connetrix switch line and be co-branded by both vendors. This deal adds …

    Data Networking 1 May 2003, 00:58

  • iPod users bitter over limited 1.3 software update

    Demanding iPod 2.0 features

    Owners of original iPods are getting decidedly miffed with Apple, if discussions on the Mac maker's own support bulletin board are anything to go by. At the heart of the argument is the recent iPod system software update 1.3, offered to owners of existing iPods to provide their portable players with support for the AAC audio …

    Mac Channel 1 May 2003, 07:06

  • SARS suspends key Taiwan trade show

    Computex postponed

    Computex, one of Asia's biggest computer shows and where all of Taiwan's mobo, chip and chipset vendors come together, has been postponed because of attendees' fears about the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus*. The Taipei-based show was due to run from 2-6 June, though whether it would take place or not has been …

    Channel 1 May 2003, 07:28

  • Symbian the backstreet driver

    Growing product pipeline

    Symbian is predicting a big year for devices based on its mobile device operating system but is preparing to take a back seat to let its partners and licensees fire up the smart phone market. Development costs for Symbian-powered devices are high, but if current growth rates continue the money should prove well spent. Symbian …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 07:34

  • Egg has found that France is, indeed, a different country

    Oeuf sur le visage

    Egg, the banking subsidiary of UK life insurer Prudential, expanded into France in 2001 following a successful three years' operation in the UK where it has been one of the leaders, if not the leader in UK Internet banking, writes Bloor Research's Bob McDowall. It has announced that it will take a year longer than expected to …

    Media 1 May 2003, 07:39

  • SCO builds Web services framework

    Wheelers for Dealers

    SCO, the corporate parent of UnixWare, OpenServer, and OpenLinux, yesterday announced a framework to let developers and customers use its products to take advantage of Web services. SCOx is designed to let VARs and developers Web-enable existing applications based on SCO products. SCO plans to demonstrate the complete SCOx …

    Data Center 1 May 2003, 07:50

  • What's the difference between a viral attack and a scan?

    Answers on a postcard to Infosec organisers

    Infosec exhibitors were yesterday urged to check their systems for a virus after the performance of the security conference's network took a severe hit. Exhibitors received an advisory from eForce, which is responsible for the networking and security of Olympia, Infosec's venue, that warned of an attack linked to a Trojan …

    Security 1 May 2003, 07:52

  • TSMC posts mixed Q1 results

    Up and down

    TSMC saw wafer sales slide quarter-on-quarter during the first three months of 2003, but achieved a modest increase over the same period last year. During Q1 2003, TSMC achieved net income of NT$4.36 billion on sales of NT$39.33 billion. Sales were up 9.9 per cent on Q1 2002's NT$35.79 billion, but income was well down (33 per …

    Channel 1 May 2003, 08:14

  • RIAA messaging gambit faces countermeasures

    'Education tool'

    To the Recording Industry Association of America, sending threatening messages to online music swappers is a potentially effective way to educate the public that trading copyrighted material is wrong. But to security geeks in the file trading community, the technique is just another volley in the electronic war with peer-to-peer …

    Security 1 May 2003, 08:31

  • Will he bomb? Kissinger keynotes CA World

    So you are paying too much for middleware...

    Indicted (albeit only by Christopher Hitchens) war criminal Henry Kissinger is to keynote Computer Associates CA CA World 2003 in Las Vegas in July, speaking on the subject of "Lessons for a rapidly changing world." Old Henry certainly knows a thing or two about changing the world rapidly, having facilitated the invasions of …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2003, 09:31

  • Creative launches £40 USB Sound Blaster module

    Reg Kit Watch Plus: HP's new Compaq notebook

    MP3 Creative has launched Sound Blaster MP3+, a USB-powered audio playback and recording system. The £39.99 unit is the size of a pack of cards and is essentially an alternative to a Sound Blaster add-in card. Suitable for notebook and desktop use, it packs in digital and analogue audio in and out, and can handle 16-bit sound …

    Personal 1 May 2003, 09:42

  • Telewest jumps in Q1. Or does it?

    Losses up, customers down

    Telewest turned in Earnings Before Bad Stuff (EBS) of £105m for Q1, a 15 per cent advance on the same period last year. Throw in the Bad Stuff - interest, depreciation, amortisation - and net losses were £187m, up 13 per cent on Q1, 2002 (-£166m). Turnover was flat at £335m (Q1 2002: £334m). Most of the losses are attributed to …

    Business 1 May 2003, 09:47

  • I will kill you if you stop this email

    Updated Chain letter makes offer you can't refuse

    Among this morning's stampede of spam at Vulture Central came a very nasty twist on the old chain letter. Such letters were wildly popular here in UK some years back. The unsolicited mail usually suggested that if you forwarded copies to ten of your friends and family, great fortune would follow. If not, you'd be dead in a week …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2003, 09:49

  • Klez-H remains top nuisance

    As porn dialler climbs April viral charts

    Klez, yet again, is the most-reported viral menace on the Internet. The virus accounted for 12.7 per cent of support calls in April to AV firm Sophos. April marks the fifteenth month on the trot that Klez-H has appeared in Sophos' top ten chart. The only new entry on Sophos' April chart is Datemake, a type of malware known as …

    Security 1 May 2003, 09:51

  • Autonomic Computing – the IBM blueprint

    Broad Brush

    IBM has been talking about autonomic computing for well over a year. This month it issued a 40-page blueprint (pdf), so what is it, why do we need it, how does it work, is it important and have IBM got it right, asks Peter Abrahams, of Bloor Research? Autonomic computing is IBM's term for the ability of systems to be more self- …

    Servers 1 May 2003, 10:05

  • Game Group goes gangbusters

    Record profits in 2002

    Leading UK videogame retail chain Game Group produced record pre-tax profits of £33.1m on sales up 23 per cent in 2002. In a year which saw the group dispensing with its Electronics Boutique branding on its stores in favour of the Game livery, the chain increased its turnover to more than half a billion pounds - rising from £ …

    Channel 1 May 2003, 10:26

  • China fears shatter Hutch Global Crossing bid

    Retires gracefully

    Hutchison Telecommunications has withdrawn its offer to buy a 30.75 per cent in Global Crossing, the death-bed US telco, citing difficulties over US regulatory concerns "within a reasonable investment timeframe". And as owning a minority investment is not core to the company it's handing over its rights to buy the share to ST …

    Business 1 May 2003, 11:06

  • London jamcams go dark for May 1 demo

    A bit of a habit

    This is getting to be a bit of a habit: some of Central London's 'jamcams' - webcams to monitor the traffic - are down today, "operational reasons so that maintenance can be performed". Entirely coincidentally, the webcams that need to be maintained are lined along the major routes for today's annual May Day demofest. Even …

    Media 1 May 2003, 11:44

  • Dell onto a Good Thing

    Delves into BlackBerry territory

    Computer maker Dell has said that it will enter another sector of the handheld market, a move that could spell bad news for Canada's RIM. The Texas-based company will begin selling handheld devices made by start-up Good Technology in the coming months. The product will be targeted at corporate users, connecting them to office e …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 11:55

  • MS Smartphone to hit 28m units in 2005 – oh, really?

    Just click your ruby slippers, sweeties...

    Microsoft may only have shifted tens of thousands of its smartphones so far, but a total of 1.6 million will sell this year, and by 2005 the platform will be selling 28 million units, representing 5.8 per cent of the total handset market. Or at least, so says a new report, Microsoft Smartphone Dissected, from Edge Consult. Well …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 12:14

  • Smartphone sales leapt 438% during Q1

    But still a long way behind PDA shipments - for now...

    Global mobile phone handset sales grew during Q1 2003 as consumers upgraded their old phones for new devices offering colour displays, digital cameras and PDA functionality, market researcher IDC reports. But while Q1 shipments were up 16.6 per cent to 107.6 million units on the same period last year, they were down 12.4 per …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 12:29

  • First pictures of a personal mobile gateway phone from Samsung

    Every horse

    Samsung is backing every horse in the experimental battle to produce a next generation mobile device; and recently, it became the first mainstream phone builder to produce a PMG - a Personal Mobile Gateway. Our picture shows the first model to emerge from Samsung, due for sale some time later this year. The phone is a half-way …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 13:16

  • Apple Music Store sells four songs every second – report

    Update Not bad money

    Apple's online Music Store sold around 275,000 tracks during its first 18 hours of operation, Billboard magazine's online news service has claimed. That works out at over four tracks sold every second. Now, Apple is charging punters 99 cents per track. It would be interesting to know how much of that goes to artists (performers …

    Mac Channel 1 May 2003, 13:53

  • SuSE 8.2 approaches computing Nirvana

    Review Thanks in part to KDE 3.1

    There's a lot to like in SuSE's latest edition, 8.2, and little to complain about. There are security enhancements and graphics tweaks partly due to KDE 3.1, and major administration bonuses in YaST-2. It's clear that SuSE has worked hard to accommodate the corporate desktop market as well as the home user since edition 8.1, …

    Software 1 May 2003, 13:56

  • FIPR highlights e-voting risks

    Trojan horses, proxy votes

    Electronic voting systems such as those being trialled in today's local government elections could lead to major problems and undermine public confidence in the electoral process, an UK Internet think-tank warns. The UK government plans to introduce e-voting in the general election after next. Byt the Foundation for Information …

    Media 1 May 2003, 14:03

  • Customs wins £13m VAT carousel case

    Computer components dealer mulls appeal

    HM Customs and Excise has won an important tribunal victory in a £13 million case involving computer components and disputed claims of tax fraud. The complex case revolved around whether business transactions entered into by Bond House Systems, a large computer component wholesaler, amounted to economic activity or an attempt …

    Channel 1 May 2003, 14:26

  • Girls: are you lonely, frustrated, desperate?

    Not desperate enough for this eBay geek date offer, trust us

    Any female readers who currently find themselves single, and unable to find the greasy-haired, pizza-encrusted programmer of their dreams, will doubtless be rushing like a Rwandan who's won a trolley dash in a machete warehouse to bid for "a DATE with 4 complete and utter geeks". Yes, the bidding presently stands at £31 at the …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2003, 14:50

  • London to premiere txt-dance theatrical fusion

    Texterritory v.2.3 'first manifestation of Audience Interactive Media'

    A refreshing alternative to the Spanish theatrical filthfest XXX - currently corrupting the minds of London theatregoers who have been dragged kicking and screaming into the auditorium to witness an orgy of Iberian depravity - comes in the form of Texterritory v.2.3. According to the press release, Texterritory is a landmark …

    Mobile 1 May 2003, 15:08

  • Thus slashes SME broadband tariffs

    Passing on BT cuts

    Thus has slashed charges on Demon ISP broadband services for small business, following cuts in BT's wholesale pricing. Demon Express Plus will be reduced from a monthly fee of £75 to £45 and Demon Express Pro from £150 to £79. In addition, Thus is halving connection costs for both services to £125 even though BT charges for set …

    Broadband 1 May 2003, 15:22

  • NZ.gov coughs up NZ$1m for newzealand.com

    Bureaucrats pay price for bullying

    The New Zealand government has come under fire for spending $1 million of tax-payers money on buying the domain NewZealand.com from previous owners Virtual Countries. That's one million New Zealand dollars, but it still equates to a healthy £350,000. The figure only came to light this week following an angry parliamentary …

    Media 1 May 2003, 16:01

  • BOFH, The Boss and Operational Euphemisms

    Episode 7 Dirty business, this computer game

    BOFH 2003: Episode 7 ORDINARILY, I am not one to counsel The Boss in times of mental torment. To be honest, I see my role more as a FACILITATOR of torment, but this time I'm going have to break my informal rules and find out what's upsetting him. This could be an unwise choice, but sometimes a good turn needs to be done, and …

    BOFH 1 May 2003, 16:15

  • Welsh nationalists in CAB hoax outrage

    Sons of Glyndwr deface source code

    It appears that Welsh nationalists have launched an offensive on the source code of the Citizens Advice Bureau website. (Update: it's a hoax site.) Yes, the Sons of Glyndwr have been busy behind the scenes on the site's page which encourages citizens to E-mail your MP! Fax your MP! Let your voice be heard!. Here's a screengrab …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2003, 16:38

  • Sex.com conman continues ludicrous legal fight

    Now appealing to US Supreme Court

    The conman found guilty of fraudulently stealing domain Sex.com and ordered to pay $65 million in damages has continued his farcical legal fight with a plea to the US Supreme Court. Stephen Michael Cohen, filed the appeal on Wednesday after both a San Francisco court in 2001 and the US Court of Appeals last year rejected his …

    Media 1 May 2003, 20:18

  • Sugared water Apple censors Miles Davis

    Puritans

    The dismal little online music shop that Steve Jobs opened on Monday has already received its share of lukewarm reviews. One reader, describing the paucity of music available, compared it to "an airport bookstall, only without the gum and cigarettes". It's certainly innovative: instead of taking out a monthly subscription to …

    Mac Channel 1 May 2003, 21:56

  • Tanglewood to run 10x faster than Madison

    Let Shavano go

    Intel's Paul Otellini gave the first indications of the performance expected out of the Tanglewood processor, during the Windows 2003 Server launch yesterday. Otellini, president and chief operating officer at Intel, noted that the dual core Montecito processor set to arrive in 2005 will out perform upcoming Madison chips by …

    Servers 1 May 2003, 22:09

  • RIAA cashes in on file-swapping students

    And you thought college loans were bad

    The RIAA has tacked on $59,500 to the amount four college students must pay in addition to their student loans. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) settled on this amount as part of a lawsuit it filed aginst the students last month. The music-label backed organization could have sought as much as $100 million …

    Media 1 May 2003, 23:17