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18th June 2003 Archive

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  • Golden Palace starts U.S. Open streaker service

    The Skye is the limit

    An otherwise dull U.S. Open golf championship was livened up this weekend by a voluptuous streaker who has since been turned into a Web service. During the final round of the tournament, a lass made her way onto the 11th green to present eventual winner Jim Furyk with a pair of roses. Such a nice gesture might go unnoticed were …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2003, 00:00

  • Red Hat turns a profit once again

    Back in the black

    Red Hat managed to wring a profit out of its first fiscal quarter, posting solid year-on-year growth. The Linux maker made $27.2 million in revenue for the period which ended on May 31. This marks a 39 percent increase over the $19.5 million posted in the same quarter a year ago. The strong quarter pushed Red Hat into the …

    Software 18 Jun 2003, 00:53

  • And here's who will be running the Internet for the next three years

    ICANN's loaded nomination game rolls snake eyes. Nineteen times

    ICANN has announced who will act as its Board Directors for the next three years. Meeting all expectations, its independent Nominating Committee has chosen people already well known and connected within the ICANN community amid several executives from multi-national corporations that help fund ICANN. However, critics' …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2003, 08:34

  • US lobby pushes hard for ‘location snooper’ phone technology

    Three-legged stool

    The influential CTIA - Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association - is focusing its considerable influence on people who are dragging their feet on the so-called E-911 bill - which mandates that all 911 emergency calls should carry accurate details of where the caller is. Last week, the CTIA issued a statement praising …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 08:50

  • Bluetooth to outship Wi-Fi five to one – report

    Exclusive So much for the hotspot hype, says Forrester Research

    Bluetooth will become the dominant wireless technology, building market share by stealth as the Wi-Fi hotspot bubble bursts, market watcher Forrester Research has forecast. It's undoubtedly a contentious claim. Wi-Fi is being backed by some of the IT industry's biggest names - Intel, Apple, Cisco et al - not to mention a host …

    Wireless 18 Jun 2003, 08:51

  • SAP takes the floor

    'We have no time to play these games'

    Today, at its annual US Sapphire conference, SAP laid out its roadmap for the coming three to five years, writes Fran Howarth, of Bloor Research. Consolidation was a big theme. But the consolidation that it was mainly talking about related to significant take up of its NetWeaver integrated integration and application platform …

    Hardware 18 Jun 2003, 08:54

  • US hits Hynix with 45% DRAM duty

    Punitive tariff decided and applied

    The US government has begun levying a punitive 44.71 per cent duty on every DRAM product Hynix imports into the country. Hynix CEO E J Woo condemned the imposition of the tariff as an "outrageous act aimed at a hidden agenda". The duty is less than the 57.4 per cent originally suggested by the Department of Commerce after it …

    Channel 18 Jun 2003, 09:22

  • Sony preps ZeroConf-style Bluetooth tech

    Proprietary though...

    Bluetooth must become much easier to use if consumers are to adopt the wireless connectivity technology - that's a belief widely held by members of the Bluetooth community. Now Sony reckons it has the solution. The Japanese giant this week revealed a new technology, dubbed Feel, which allows Bluetooth devices to connect …

    Wireless 18 Jun 2003, 09:55

  • 10 ISPs hit by ADSL power failure

    And if one ISP accidentally falls there'll be nine...

    Monday's power failure in Ealing which led to broadband services going titsup hit ten ISPs and not just BT Openworld, BT Wholesale confirmed today. Although BT OhIdoliketobebesidetheseaside was the worst affected, punters of other ISPs (Demon and PlusNet are thought to be among those hit) were also hit by the outage. A …

    Telecoms 18 Jun 2003, 10:03

  • ‘JavaServer Pages Developers Handbook’ at 30 per cent off

    Site Offer Build JavaServer Pages 2.0 apps with IT-minds

    This week's featured offering from Reg associate IT-minds.com is a comprehensive developers guide to building applications with JavaServer Pages 2.0. JavaServer Pages Developers Handbook gives practical, in-depth implementation advice on building robust JSP applications. Learn how to use JSP within enterprise Java applications …

    Software 18 Jun 2003, 10:07

  • Guardian promotes spam in article attacking spam

    Oops

    A Guardian article attacking the latest spammer tactics gives out mixed messages about the junk mail menace. Although the article condemns the emerging practice among lowlife spammers of commandeering home PCs using Trojans to send out porno email, links at the bottom of the article helpfully point to a firm that sells email …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2003, 10:08

  • Handspring outs Treo 600

    Sneak Peek

    Handspring is set to unveil its new Treo 600, a slimmed-down version of its combined phone and organiser, expected to sell in Europe and the US later this year. The company, which is in the process of being acquired by industry rival Palm, is aiming at the enterprise market with the Treo 600 line, a smaller, more phone-like …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 10:15

  • PC builder takes 419ers for £171

    Gotcha!

    If you're as tired as we are of looking at the heavens with boggle-eyed disbelief that yet another half-wit has been taken to the cleaners by Nigerian advance fee fraudsters, then take heart at the following story. It recounts how Clinton of Best Price Computers not only led the scamming ne'er-do-wells well and truly up the …

    Channel 18 Jun 2003, 10:29

  • XML shows promise, but …

    Don't underestimate its problems

    Extensible Markup Language (XML) is everywhere, writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols. It's the basis of the new middleware, Web Services. It's the format of choice for both Microsoft's new Office products and .NET services. And every Java vendor worth their salt is working with it. Indeed, IBM's program director for emerging e- …

    Software 18 Jun 2003, 10:31

  • HP preps 1.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 PC

    Spec. revealed

    HP has begun building PCs based on AMD's upcoming Athlon 64 processor. One machine, the model t182k, is detailed in a support document uncovered on HP's web site. it's not hard to find. We hopped over to hp.com, did a search on 'Athlon64' and up popped a link to the PDF almost immediately. The t182k features an Athlon 64 3100 …

    Personal 18 Jun 2003, 10:33

  • Powergen denies ties with powergenitalia

    Double entendre r us

    There's been much hooting and sniggering in the last couple of days following reports of the curiously-named "powergenitalia.com". So has someone at the giant energy company's Italian division messed up by registering this Web site? It seems not. A spokesman for PowerGen told us: "This site has nothing to do with us at all. We …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2003, 11:28

  • Finns develop motion-controlled cellphone UI

    Not Nokia

    Finnish mobile phone developer MyOrigo has launched what it claims is "an entirely new concept" for mobile phones: a book-like user interface that can also be controlled by the motion of the user's hand. The technology is incorporated into MyDevice, the company's reference platform, a prototype handset that provides tri-band …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 11:30

  • Whalesong-driven rebranding madness spreads to Spain

    LogoWatch Quarantine fails to contain Strategy Boutiques

    Well, despite the best efforts of the Spanish, it appears that the highly-infectious tendency to compose florid eulogies to corporate logos while listening to whalesong and engulfed in a joss-stick fuelled haze has crossed the Bay of Biscay and now threatens to ravage the entire Iberian Peninsula. The first reported case comes …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2003, 11:35

  • NetSec scoops up Defcom

    Escape Hatch

    London-based security consultancy Defcom Information Security has been bought out of administration by US managed security services firm NetSec. Financial terms of the deal, announced today, were not disclosed. The newly acquired business will operate under the name of NetSec, and continue to deliver professional security …

    Security 18 Jun 2003, 11:42

  • Mac accessory e-tailer hires Yoda as blurb writer

    'Be superior in the anti-bacterial going out bad-smelling performance'

    Owners of Apple's 12in PowerBook G4 who've become fed up with the notebook's ability to get very hot indeed in the region of its hard drive - underneath the left-hand side of the wrist rest - may be interested in this little offering from online retailer NewColorShop.com. It appears to be a mat that's fixed onto the wrist rest …

    Mac Channel 18 Jun 2003, 12:05

  • Law Society of Scotland buys ‘cybersquatter’ domain (redux)

    The Reg: inaccurate or prescient? The latter

    The Law Society of Scotland has just been confirmed as the new owner of Lawscot.co.uk, five days after it branded our story that revealed it has paid £10,000 for the domain "inaccurate". The Law Society has been chasing the previous owner of the generic domain, Tommy Butler, through its own law courts to take hold of the domain …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2003, 12:12

  • Cracker spills the beans on PDF flaw

    CERT alert leaks. Again

    A confidential security alert from security clearing house CERT has once again been leaked onto a full disclosure mailing list ahead of schedule. The premature disclosure of information on security risks involving PDF files on *nix platforms comes after a spate of similarly leaked alerts back in March, including information …

    Security 18 Jun 2003, 12:55

  • Infighting killed Sony's first games handheld

    1998 portable gaming plans unearthed

    PlayStation Portable (PSP) is not the first time that Sony has developed a handheld gaming system, it has emerged, with a Japanese business publication revealing details of the company's one-time plans to release a portable platform in 2000. According to the report, which appeared on the Nikkei BP news service, a project …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 13:41

  • Oracle ups Peoplesoft offer to $6.3bn

    Playing to win

    Oracle has upped its hostile offer for Peoplesoft to $19.50 a share. This values its target at $6.3bn, a whopping $1.2bn higher than its opening shot and a premium of 29 per cent higher than Peoplesoft's closing share price on the day before its bid was announced. According to Peoplesoft, Oracle is simply trying to undermine it …

    Hardware 18 Jun 2003, 14:04

  • Microsoft's Tanager phone breaches patent too – Sendo

    Given the bird

    Hugh Brogan, boss of British phone manufacturer Sendo, says that Microsoft is continuing to infringe its patent in Tanager, Redmond's latest smartphone reference design. "We have seen Tanager and yes, we believe that is also infringing," he told us today. However he couldn't say whether Tanager would be embroiled in the …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 14:06

  • FindWhat.com buys Espotting for $163m

    Hands across the water

    US pay-per-click outfit - FindWhat.com - has coughed up $163m (£97m) to buy UK-based performance-based marketing outfit Espotting Media. The deal - made of 8.1 million in shares, $27m in cash and some other odds and sods - has been approved by both boards and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Both sides claim …

    Business 18 Jun 2003, 14:20

  • Oracle, Peoplesoft stumble in ERP market

    Declining share

    Oracle and Peoplesoft may be locked in mortal combat, but they have something in common. Both saw their share of the Worldwide Enterprise Resource Planning market fall in 2002. Worse, their market share fell against a backdrop of a sector decline of nine per cent in new license revenues from $5.5bn to $5bn for the year. The …

    Hardware 18 Jun 2003, 14:43

  • Fujitsu Siemens wins £2m server gig at Manchester Uni

    Mad for it

    Fujitsu Siemens has won a £2 million contract to supply the University of Manchester with servers as part of an ambitious server consolidation project ahead of a major expansion to the uni's student population next year. The PRIMEPOWER SPARC-based UNIX servers and Intel-based PRIMERGY servers will provide networked e-mail, …

    Servers 18 Jun 2003, 14:55

  • US Senator would destroy MP3 traders' PCs

    Orrin Hatch goes off his meds

    The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah), thinks it would be a fabulous idea if copyright owners could remotely destroy computers that contain pirated material, the Associated Press reports. "I'm all for destroying their machines," Hatch said during a Committee hearing Tuesday. "'If you …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2003, 14:59

  • Intel readies 875P server chipset

    Canterwood-ES

    Intel will launch a server version of its i875P chipset in the autumn, the company said today. The announcement was made at the end of a news release boasting that the chip maker has shipped one million chipsets for servers based on its Xeon and Itanium processors since it re-entered the market in early 2002. The upcoming …

    Hardware 18 Jun 2003, 15:28

  • IBM keeps the AIX flag flying

    Buffs mainframe and RISC servers

    IBM has taken its sweet time bringing the z990 mainframe and refreshed p690 to market, but the high-end kit has now arrived and is on sale. The z990 had its coming out party in May with IBM showing its largest mainframe to date. The system holds 32 processors and has all the reliability features expected of a mainframe. The …

    Servers 18 Jun 2003, 17:50

  • 'Umble, Very 'umble Nokia bids to be the next Sony

    Analysis Games and gadgets R'Us

    Hearing Nokia's senior management profess to approaching new markets with "humbleness" for the fourth time before breakfast on Monday almost made me wish I was listening to Dr. Irwin Jacobs. Well, not quite - but it did bring to mind a whizz-bang presentation the Qualcomm CEO gave at a financial analysts' conference several …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2003, 17:55

  • Fresh variant to tedious worm bores users into submission

    Low risk, but bloody annoying

    Virus writers have released yet another variant in what we must now refer to as the Sobig series. Sobig-D, which first appeared today, is a little different from its predecessors the Sobig-B (support@microsoft.com) and Sobig-C (bill@microsoft.com) worms. This time around infectious emails sent out by Sobig.D appear to come from …

    Malware 18 Jun 2003, 20:51

  • Regulation drives storage complexity – Yankee Group

    Simple stuff out

    Storage infrastructures are about to get a whole lot more complex, according to a report from the Yankee Group. It fingers regulatory and compliance pressures as the main drivers behind the adoption of a multi-layered approach to storage, with different types of storage offering different cost per GB, access speed, quality of …

    Storage 18 Jun 2003, 21:17

  • Freechariot goes titsup

    CC payments firm collapse

    Freechariot, the UK credit card payment services firm, has ceased trading. Management's decision last week to pull down the shutters on the business is likely to leave the many small traders who relied on its services out of pocket. Bolton-based insolvency practioner Ratcliffe & Co is convening a meeting of shareholders and …

    Small Biz 18 Jun 2003, 21:23

  • Connecticut Yankee enters King Larry's Court

    State sues over PeopleSoft bid

    Connecticut's Attorney General plans to file suit against Oracle on Wednesday, charging that a takeover of PeopleSoft would cost the state millions. Connecticut happens to be a PeopleSoft customer. The state signed a large, five-year deal with the software maker in 2002 - part of a $100 million computer system upgrade. A …

    Hardware 18 Jun 2003, 21:24