1st September 2003 Archive
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We are all time wasters now
Time Bandits
One in three small business owners and managers are setting a bad example to their workforce by wasting time on the internet and sending humorous emails rather than working. The new survey, by Bibby Financial Services, reveals that 34 per cent of company bosses admitted to browsing various websites for their own entertainment …
Small Biz 1 Sep 2003, 08:11
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Hacking by subpoena ruled illegal
Fishing tripped
Issuing an egregiously overbroad subpoena for stored e-mail qualifies as a computer intrusion in violation of anti-hacking laws, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, deciding a case in which a litigant in a civil matter subpoenaed every single piece of e-mail his courtroom adversary sent or received. Alwyn Farey-Jones was …
Media 1 Sep 2003, 08:12
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Motorola picks Linux for phone of the future
Chinese Opera
The fact that Motorola is selling its stake in Symbian (the corporation) doesn't mean that Motorola is stopping selling Symbian (the software) in its phones. But it does mean that Motorola thinks the future in phone software is elsewhere. Linux, to be precise. The company will be carrying on with its licensing of Symbian, with …
Mobile 1 Sep 2003, 08:18
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France Telecom mops up the Orange minorities
Well that's the plan
France Telecom today confirmed its intention to buy out minority shareholders in Orange. It is offering €7.1bn in new shares and treasury shares in France Telecom. The telco notes that this represents a premium of 21 per cent on Orange's average price over the last three months - but swapping shares in a mobile network operator …
Mobile 1 Sep 2003, 09:09
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AOL and Dixons confirm ISP distie deal
Rumoured to cost £100m
It's been confirmed that Freeserve is to lose its favoured place in Dixons' stores trumped by rivals AOL UK. Financial details surrounding the deal were not disclosed although some sources claim it will cost AOL around £100 million for the privilege of flogging its ISP services in Dixons' stores. AOL will become the preferred …
Media 1 Sep 2003, 09:11
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Intel to base convergence efforts in Asia-Pacific
South Korea joins the crew
Intel chief Craig Barrett rounded off his trip to the Far East last week by promising that the company will set up an R&D centre in South Korea. That's in addition to the R&D facility it's planning to establish in Taiwan, announced exactly a week ago, and the joint R&D project it's partnering with Chinese PC maker Legend on, …
Channel 1 Sep 2003, 09:20
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Palm issues, sells shares for $19.1m
Follows last week's $18m issue
Palm sold $19.1 million worth of shares on Friday, just a week after offloading $18 million. In both cases, Palm sold 1.2 million shares - all of them freshly issued common stock - in the first instance at $15 a pop to a single unnamed institutional investor, and this time round at a price of $15.90 per share to a number of …
Mobile 1 Sep 2003, 10:36
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US software sales start picking up
Hint of an upturn
Encouraging signs for software sales Monday 1st September 2003 Times have been bad for many businesses recently, but the enterprise software sector has been especially hard hit, writes Fran Howarth of Bloor Research. A large part of the reason why the sector has fared worse than might have been expected is that so many …
Business 1 Sep 2003, 11:00
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Panasonic intros credit card camcorder
Reg Kit Watch Plus: Turn your Palm into a radio
Panasonic announced three products based on SD Card technology, at the Consumer Electronics Show IFA in Berlin last week. All three devices are small enough to fit in a trouser pocket: the world’s first MPEG2 SD camcorder, the world’s thinnest digital camera, and an all-rounder product with functions for taking films, taking …
Personal 1 Sep 2003, 11:04
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Apple ‘will not participate’ in Boston Macworld
Stands firm as IDC shifts show from NYC
Macworld Expo organiser IDG World Expo has confirmed its decision to site next summer's show in Boston rather than New York, the event's home for the past few years. The announcement came this past Friday, just ahead of the self-imposed 1 September deadline revealed by company chief David Korse in August. Apple was quick to …
Mac Channel 1 Sep 2003, 11:06
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Bath church casts net, catches 500
Watchers or worshippers?
Some 500 worshippers flocked to take part in what was billed as the UK's first Sunday Service Webcast yesterday. Telewest teamed up with St Philip and St James Anglican Church in Bath to webcast the service, which was viewed by people as far away as Japan. Around 170 people attended the service in person. Except for a 30- …
Media 1 Sep 2003, 11:10
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Sobig beats Blaster in Top of the Viral Pops
August is worst month ever, ever, ever
Sobig eclipsed Blaster in the August viral charts. More than a third of support calls (37.6 per cent) logged by AV firm Sophos in August involved Sobig, twice as many (18.8 per cent) as that received about the prolific Blaster worm. Managed services firm MessageLabs has blocked more than 12.8 million Sobig-infected emails, …
Security 1 Sep 2003, 11:17
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Freeserve in ‘no risk’ BB offer
Breaking up [with Dixons] is so very hard to do
Freeserve today announced a "no risk" offer for its broadband service - on the same day that news of its distribution deal with Dixons had finally collapsed. Punters signing up for Freeserve's broadband service will receive their modem and connection kit for free, and will be charged £27.99 for the first month's fee. If they …
Broadband 1 Sep 2003, 11:23
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Sex, lies and Data Protection Act leave SMEs in peril
Show Me the Money
Firms trying to protect themselves against claims for sex discrimination by completing equal pay questionnaires submitted by employees risk falling foul of the Data Protection Act, legal experts have warned. UK commercial law practice Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) said the danger - which is most acute for small companies - …
Small Biz 1 Sep 2003, 11:38
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Freeserve makes first (monthly) profit
Dixons? Pah!
Freeserve has made its first profit, the ISP revealed today. Exact details were not revealed but it seems that during August, Freeserve made more cash than it spent. The use of black ink comes a month before the ISP celebrates its fifth anniversary. A spokeswoman for the ISP told The Register that Freeserve doesn't expect to …
Media 1 Sep 2003, 12:02
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Telstra plays host to world's largest party line
Crossed line cock-up
Thousands of subscribers to the Telstra mobile network in Australia become unwitting participants in other callers' conversations last week. Subscribers were also given access to the voicemail of other users due to a mysterious snafu, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Telstra said the crossed line cock-up affected thousands …
Mobile 1 Sep 2003, 12:11
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Hardware sales carry on falling at Morse
'Challenging year'
It's been another tough year for Morse, with the mid-range reseller recording a 24 per cent drop in sales to £351.3m for the 12 months to June 30 (2002: £465.2m). The company also fell deeper into the red with net losses, after restructuring costs, of £14.1m (2002: -£140,000). At the heart of its sales problems lies a huge drop …
Channel 1 Sep 2003, 12:44
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Mobile calls at landline prices
Coming soon
mQuery has developed a software tool that will let mobiles function as landlines. The Irish company is to begin trialling its new Cicero application with customers, after signing a partnership with a fixed-line carrier. A full commercial launch could take place as soon as the first quarter of 2004. Cicero, formerly called Open …
Broadband 1 Sep 2003, 14:12
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Freeserve mulls Wanadoo rebranding – again
'Never off the agenda'
In what appears to be a monster U-turn Freeserve is once again considering plans to ditch its brand and replace it with the livery of its French parent Wanadoo. In January, Freeserve confirmed that it had ditched plans to scrap its famous Freeserve brand. The idea to rename Freeserve Wanadoo had originally been floated by chief …
Media 1 Sep 2003, 16:58
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Parson not dumbest virus writer ever, shock!
Those who got caught and those who got away
Security experts are expressing caution about the FBI's confident prediction that it will catch all the culprits behind the two viral epidemics which ravaged the Internet last month. Although quick to praise to authorities for nabbing Jeffrey Lee Parson, 18, on suspicion of writing a copycat version of the Blaster worm last …
Security 1 Sep 2003, 20:04
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CD-Rs deliver degrading experience
Back to tape?
Keeping data CDs in the dark for two years isn't a good idea. According to the Dutch magazine PC Active some CD-Rs degrade in months, even at room temperature without sunlight. PC Active tested data disks from 30 manufacturers that were recorded 20 months ago. Several data CDs developed serious errors, or became virtually …
Personal 1 Sep 2003, 20:32
