30th June 2003 Archive

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AMD ships eight-way 64-bit Opteron

Workstation version released too

AMD today began offering the four- to eight-way system-oriented Opteron 800 Series and the Opteron 100 Series for single-CPU servers and workstations. Both families were announced last April when AMD also launched and began shipping the Opteron 200 line for dual-processor systems. Why the delay? Perhaps to allow AMD to launch …

Channel 30 Jun 2003, 07:50
MyOrigo builds motion sensitive phone

Touchy Feely

MyOrigo has unveiled what is said to be first motion-controlled smartphone on market, which will be on sale in the UK this autumn. The phone, called mydevice, is powered by Tao Group's multi-media software platform "Intent" and makes use of motion-controlled and touch-sensitive technologies. Intent allows the device access to …

Mobile 30 Jun 2003, 08:16
HP greets Madison with Integrity

Fingers crossed

Hewlett-Packard has greeted Intel's new Madison chip with a host of new servers and a new brand. HP has laid out an aggressive roadmap for servers based on Intel's latest 64bit chip. Right off the bat, HP said it plans to add Madison to existing two processor and four processor systems, On top of that, HP will roll out 16 …

Servers 30 Jun 2003, 08:18
Madison puts on its floaties but can it swim?

Itanic's third act

Intel is hoping the third installment of the Itanium saga has a happy ending. Ladies and gentlemen, the Madison processor has arrived and just in the nick of time. Intel is looking to the third generation of its 64-bit Itanium family to turn around what has been a difficult start for the chip. Yes, it's Madison that is to …

Servers 30 Jun 2003, 08:19
Dell goes a bundle with T-Mobile hot spot subs

US-only gig

No announcement for Europe yet; but T-Mobile is going hell for leather for WiFi alongside its mobile phone service in the US, promoting it jointly with Dell. Get them hooked early is the plan: Dell is taking on the role of hard-sell foot-in-the-door salesman with a T-Mobile hotspot subscription built into all new notebook …

Wireless 30 Jun 2003, 08:30
PetCo plugs credit card leak

Flea in ear

Pet supply retailer PetCo.com plugged a hole in its online storefront over the weekend that left as many as 500,000 credit card numbers open to anyone able to construct a specially-crafted URL. The pet site was vulnerable to the same kind of SQL injection vulnerability that lead to an FTC complaint against the fashion label …

Security 30 Jun 2003, 08:36
Oracle: 'spend less, know more'

How can we be number two and doing so badly?

Last week's Oracle Apps World conference brought a host of announcements that indicate that the vendor is executing on its plans, writes Fran Howarth of Bloor Research. Oracle was able to point to significant take-up of its outsourcing, iLearning and mid-market offerings, showing that, as predicted, Internet business …

Hardware 30 Jun 2003, 08:45
Mindjail worms way through IRC

Minor irritation

A recent post on Bugtraq (27/06/03) introduced the world to a new worm currently slithering its way through IRC. Mindjail is a new variant of Backdoor.SdBot code that once activated installs a backdoor into infected systems. IRC channels are scanned by bots seeking users, who are then spammed with the following messages: 1. " …

Malware 30 Jun 2003, 08:53
ZoneAlarm bells ring over freeware vuln

Working on patch

A recent post on Bugtraq has revealed a serious flaw in the core design of the freely-available personal firewall ZoneAlarm running on MS Windows. Thanks to the Win32 ShellExecute function in Windows, ZoneAlarm could theoretically be tweaked into opening an unsecured Internet connection and leaking information into web servers …

Security 30 Jun 2003, 09:21
Lesbian pregnant using web-sourced sperm

Fish and bicycle

A Liverpool Lesbian has fallen pregnant using sperm she bought from an Internet sperm donation service. Jaime Saphier, 26, is expecting a baby in January in one of the first such pregnancies in the UK. Saphier and partner Sarah Watkinson, 31, paid the Man Not Included web site to match them with a sperm donor and provide …

Music and Media 30 Jun 2003, 11:14
World chip sales up in May

SARS effects decline

Sales of semiconductors around the world grew two per cent in May, rising $240 million to $12.5 million over April's $12.26 billion. May 2003's sales were almost ten per cent up on the same month last year, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported this past Friday. The SIA quickly leapt on the year-on-year sales …

Channel 30 Jun 2003, 11:41
Fujitsu and Nokia team up for mobile services

Data driven from server to smartphone

Fujitsu and Nokia today announced a deal to jointly develop and market mobile enterprise services targeted at corporate clients. The companies will develop services and packages using Nokia's range of business terminals and platforms, and tap Fujitsu's capabilities in consulting, systems integration and managed services. …

Hardware 30 Jun 2003, 11:45
AOL's Connie given the push

good.bye

Connie, the annoyingly prim face of AOL UK for the last five years, has been told her (virtual) services will no longer be required by the company. The ISP has decided that the image of Connie, designed to make newbies (and parents) comfortable about venturing onto the Web, has passed her sell-by date. Karen Thomson, head of …

Music and Media 30 Jun 2003, 15:38
IBM admits Madison exists, beefs up Xeon line

What's the x455?

IBM continues to give Itanic a feeble second billing in its Intel server line. On a day when other vendors celebrated the arrival of Madison, Big Blue went out of its way to play up some Xeon speed-bumps. The new x445 high-end Xeon-based system stole the show in IBM's press release with the Madison-based x450 being relegated to …

Servers 30 Jun 2003, 17:44
VMware makes going virtual easier

Find your Control Center

VMware is looking more and more like a first-rate enterprise software maker. The virtual machine specialist has followed big boys such as Sun, HP and Veritas with a new product that lets users manage numerous servers from one console. The VMware Control Center product has entered beta testing and should start shipping later …

Servers 30 Jun 2003, 21:15
Virus writers boost output in 2003

Mid-term report

Virus writing over the first six months of this year has increased sharply. Anti-virus firm Sophos has detected 3,855 new viruses in the first six months of 2003, up 17.5 per cent on the same period last year. Since January 2003, the single most prevalent virus was the Bugbear-B worm, accounting for almost 12 per cent of …

Malware 30 Jun 2003, 21:20
Those Red Hat Linux book winners in full

You lucky, lucky devils

Thanks to all those many readers who entered our competition to win a copy of Red Hat Linux 9 for Dummies signed by none less than Jon 'maddog' Hall himself. Well, the Vulture Central competitions directorate have spent the entire weekend writing names on little pieces of paper and sticking them into an enormous hat, and here …

Software 30 Jun 2003, 22:30
Non-EU net firms fail to register for VAT

Boston e-party looms

UK Customs and Excise expects at least 80 per cent of online trade from non-EU companies operating in Europe to follow new VAT laws due to come into effect tomorrow. Although e-commerce giants like eBay and Amazon and ISPs like AOL have all registered to pay VAT there are concerns many smaller firms are either ignorant of the …

Small Biz 30 Jun 2003, 22:40
Court gives Intel spammer all clear

E-mail away

The great Intel spammer Ken Hamidi has been given the all clear to mail away courtesy of the California Supreme Court. In a tight 4-3 decision, the court went against previous rulings and said Hamidi is free to complain about Intel via e-mails sent to his former coworkers. What is more interesting than the decision, however, is …

Music and Media 30 Jun 2003, 23:36