18th September 2003 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
BOFH and the Auditor
Episode 21 Expenses fraud? What expenses fraud?
BOFH 2003: Episode 21 Don't you just always get them, people who're sure that the only reason you were put on the planet was to make their life a living Hell. I mean obviously, if you'd annoyed me there might be a bit of friendly unholy retribution, but it's not like I go out looking to be annoyed. As opposed to THIS person. " …
BOFH 18 Sep 2003, 01:20
-
VegaStream goes it alone after £4m MBO
VoIP play
VegaStream was today relaunched as an independent company after completing its management buy-out from Pace Micro Technology. The VoIP (Voice over IP) gateway manufacturer used £4 million of investment capital to cut the corporate apron strings with its old parent. The main investors financing the move were VC firm MTI Partners …
Data Networking 18 Sep 2003, 07:49
-
Windows Small Business Server 2003 released to manufacturing
Free preview kit
Microsoft begins distributing final code for the its Windows Small Business Server 2003 to manufacturing this week. Targeting what it describes as the "underserved" SME market, the software giant said the server OS is designed for small corporate environments where there is little or no dedicated in-house IT expertise. …
Small Biz 18 Sep 2003, 07:49
-
Orange: open to all
More on Treo 600
Orange and Handspring will launch the Palm OS-based Treo 600 smart phone in Europe this October. Orange says that the new Treo 600 smart phone, which features a number of functions designed to improve the user experience, will not be locked. This will allow users to install applications from across the Palm OS spectrum and …
Mobile 18 Sep 2003, 08:13
-
CPW joins new e-shopper safety scheme
Feel assured?
A new scheme designed to give shoppers confidence to buy online has been unveiled today eight months after the collapse of a similar initiative run by the Consumers' Association. Safebuy - which is monitored by the DTI-backed industry self-regulation outfit TrustUK - claims it will fill the gap left by the closure of the Which …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 08:20
-
Kids charities demand ID parade for pre-paid punters
Cite paedo concerns
UK child protection charities yesterday called for the mandatory registration of pre-paid mobile phones amid concern that paedophiles could use untraceable mobiles to access the Web. The Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS), a group of seven leading UK charities, wants to extend the safeguards that apply to …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 09:05
-
Goodbye AOL, hello TWX
What's in a name?
Time Warner will formally give AOL the branding boot today, as its board considers a plan to revert to plain old Time Warner. The stock ticker will revert to TWX, too. It's no surprise, as most of the key AOL management have departed, and the conglomerate earns most of its money from old media, with Warner Brothers studios …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 09:42
-
O2 set to offer N-Gage for £99
First subsidy
Mobile network provider O2 is to subsidise Nokia's N-Gage down to £99.99 as a limited offer, which will see users signing up to a monthly tariff of between £20 and £50. The offer is available only to those who sign up to O2's Pay Monthly Online Tariff before midday on October 6, the day before the N-Gage launches worldwide, and …
Mobile 18 Sep 2003, 09:43
-
Blaster trial set for November 17
Minnesota teen pleads not guilty
The Minnesota teenager accused of unleashing a variant of the Blaster worm pleaded not guilty yesterday to a federal charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. Jeffrey Lee Parson, 18, of Hopkins, Minnesota, said little during his first appearance in a Seattle courtroom yesterday other than to confirm his …
Malware 18 Sep 2003, 11:05
-
US IT jobs under fire
Under pressure
IT employment in the US is coming under increasing pressure due to greater offshore outsourcing of contracts and the continued practice of hiring IT staff from overseas. The concerns for the future of IT jobs in the US were raised by the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), which found that unemployment …
Hardware 18 Sep 2003, 11:11
-
EU patent legislation will ‘destroy small business’
Will the last person out of Europe switch the off lights?
The European Parliament will devastate the continent's small and medium-sized businesses if it adopts legislation that will force firms to apply for patent protection on all software they develop. This picture of impending catastrophe is painted by the European Small Business Alliance (ESBA), a newly formed SME lobby, which was …
Small Biz 18 Sep 2003, 11:46
-
emails not 4U
Retailer scraps internal email
Phones 4U has banned its 2,500 staff from emailing each other, Ananova says. John Caudwell, the owner of the mobile phone retailer, reckons the move will save his employees three hours a day (three hours?!) and his company at least a £1m a month in time saved. Caudwell told the Press Association: "I saw that email was …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 11:57
-
Oi! *Nix admin, get patching
Sendmail, openSSH and DB2 vulns
It's become a busy week for *Nix sysadmins with the release of patches over the last few days to resolve vulnerabilities with popular applications including Sendmail, openSSH and DB2. Those *Nix techies enjoying a sense of schadenfreude as their Windows sysadmin colleagues toiled to defend Windows systems against Blaster, Sobig …
Security 18 Sep 2003, 13:01
-
UK to trial evoting – again
Once bitten...
The Government is to press ahead with more evoting trials in 2004 despite mixed results during local elections earlier this year. Trials are due to take place for next year's European Parliament elections. No doubt it's hoped that the trials will go some way to help cure voter apathy and increase turnout from the disappointing …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 13:05
-
IP-based monitoring cameras come out to play
Sony and Cisco are watching you
Sony and Cisco Systems have teamed up to play Big Brother with the development of IP-based surveillance systems that target the increasingly security-conscious education sector. The faintly Orwellian partnership, which combines Sony's IP video monitoring cameras, servers, NAS storage and Real Shot management software with Cisco …
Data Networking 18 Sep 2003, 13:11
-
Extropian co-founder locks horns with Orlowski
Letter When did you stop abusing your niece
From Max More, Chairman, Extropy Institute As one of the two founders of Extropy Institute, I have to set the record straight on some aspects of Andrew Orlowski's story, "Meet the 'transhumanists' behind the Pentagon terror casino". From start to finish, Orlowski's agenda shows through clearly. He talks of Extropian "disciples …
Letters 18 Sep 2003, 13:51
-
Which school of journalism did you go to, Moron?
FoTW Guiness v. shandy
From Michael Bailey, UK Kieren, In your article titled We’re stuck with ICANN: Official You mention "anyone that has seen the rise to power of the New Labour government in the UK and its subsequent rejection of every principle that people voted for will be more than a little sceptical". What gives you the slightest hint than …
Letters 18 Sep 2003, 13:57
-
Tiscali UK gets new boss
Mary Turner named
Mary Turner, the former MD of Lineone (remember LineOne?), has been appointed boss of Tiscali UK. She replaces Sergio Cellini as CEO of Tiscali UK following Mr Cellini's move to become MD of Tiscali Italy. Ms Turner, currently the MD of Tiscali UK's consumer business, joined the Italian-owned ISP in 2001 when LineOne was …
Business 18 Sep 2003, 14:33
-
RIAA 'encouraging stalkers, molesters' – telco
No judge was harmed in the production of this subpoena…
US telco giant SBC has hit back at the Recording Industry Association of America's legal blitz against music lovers. In testimony before the Senate this week, SBC's counsel Jim Ellis said that the RIAA was making an end run around the constitution by issuing a blitz of subpoenas with no judicial oversight. Ellis argued that …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 14:41
-
Europeans not taking the tablets
Clear as mud
Tablet PCs are not selling in large quantities to Europeans, except in some vertical sectors. So far so unsurprising. However, sales are not continuing to ramp up, which maybe is a little surprising, for the form factor that many forecast will one day become the PC of choice for home users. Tablet sales in Western Europe peaked …
Personal 18 Sep 2003, 15:00
-
H&R Block adopts Athlon XP for 15,000 PC refresh
HP gig
AMD has scored a big win with a big US firm and quite rightly has issued a press release to trumpet its success. The big US firm is H&R Block, the tax software business, which has selected Athlon XP-based HP d325s to populate 15,000 desktops. That's a big refresh by most standards, and especially sweet for AMD: hitherto, …
Personal 18 Sep 2003, 15:12
-
National ID cards – a privacy side-issue?
It's the record, stupid...
Last week's decision by the UK cabinet to delay legislation on the introduction of a national ID card was made largely on the grounds of cost and doubts about the technology, but in a useful roundup of who's for and who's against, and why, today's Guardian reports that some "principled opposition" also exists. Unhelpfully, the …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 15:31
-
Linux mobile phones get v7 suite boost from OpenWave
Third force widens its net
Openwave Systems today gave Linux-based mobile phones a shot in the arm with with the release of a Linux version of Openwave Phone Suite v7, its modular suite of mobile phone applications. Openwave positions itself as the 'third force' in mobile phone software, and the Linux implementation is intended to build on this. Openwave …
Mobile 18 Sep 2003, 16:18
-
Sun shocks showgoers with layoffs
1,000 culled
Putting a big damper on its user conference, Sun Microsystems has confirmed that it will layoff close to 1,000 workers. Sun is looking for most of the cuts to take place by the end of September, reducing its workforce to around 35,000. The company said the layoffs are in "targeted areas" and aimed at improving profitability. …
Business 18 Sep 2003, 16:21
-
Sun's Mad Hatter chosen for Telstra's Linux switch
Telco to go for MS-Sun hybrid
Australian telco Telstra will be one of the first major customers to roll with Sun's Mad Hatter Linux desktop, according to a report in The Australian. Telstra has been trialling the product, released this week under the much more boring name of Sun Java Desktop, following its decision last year to investigate Linux systems as …
Software 18 Sep 2003, 17:00
-
UK Govt fouls up anti-spam plans, say experts
No criminal sanctions. 'It's a cock-up,' says Spamhaus
The UK Government's plans to tackle the spam nuisance have received a hostile initial response from industry experts. Communications Minister Stephen Timms today outlined measures to update existing legislation to give phone and Internet users more control over how their personal details are used. The revised rules, which will …
Music and Media 18 Sep 2003, 18:18
-
Palm's first phone – what's the Treo 600 like?
First impressions
Orange gave pride of place to Palm's first genuine smartphone this week, as the long-awaited Treo 600 made its debut in London. The Treo was developed by Handspring, the company started by Palm founders Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky, who are returning home as Handspring merges with Palm. Palm's hardware division will …
Mobile 18 Sep 2003, 18:21
-
Jobs threat at Telewest Business
Organisational changes
There are fears of further job losses at Telewest's business division after call centre staff in Peterborough were told that the operation is due to be switched to Sheffield by December. According to insiders, around 30 staff - who handle voice and data enquiries from Telewest's business customers - will be affected by the move …
Business 18 Sep 2003, 18:24
-
Sun releases low end kit – Opteron box on the way
Something old, something new
Sun Microsystems has released several new low-end systems hoping to keep up pressure on rivals with low pricing on 64bit gear. Before jumping into the new kit, however, we thought it appropriate to deliver an update on an as of yet unannounced system. Sources have confirmed that Sun will ship an Opteron-based workstation. …
Servers 18 Sep 2003, 19:34
-
Intel announces death of copper
IDF New WLAN standards to deliver wire robustness, scalability
Intel CTO Pat Gelsinger today pledged to enhance WLAN standards and the technologies they encompass to such an extent that copper cabling can be eliminated as a network medium. "Ultimate vision that Intel has is that we want to make wireless the access technology," he told Intel Developer Forum attendees. "Simply put, [that …
Wireless 18 Sep 2003, 19:47
-
Melissa author helped Feds track other virus writers
A snitch in time saves jail time
David Smith, author of the Melissa virus, assisted computer crime authorities in the investigation and prosecution of other virus writers. Within weeks of Smith's arrest by the FBI in 1999, he was using a fake identity to communicate with and track virus writers around the world, according to court documents released yesterday …
Malware 18 Sep 2003, 19:48
-
Intel: putting feathers in Veritas' cap
Big win
Intel has launched the dual Xeon-based SBXL52, the first item in its Enterprise Blade Server family. Chip giant Intel has chosen to bundle Veritas' OpForce server deployment software with the blade servers that it launched yesterday. Veritas beat off competition from several rivals to win the deal, and in doing so has scored an …
Storage 18 Sep 2003, 20:16
-
Sun's Fowler puts Gwana-gwana on hold for Software Express
Solaris on tap
John Fowler, CTO of software at Sun Microsystems, has a unique quality among tech executives. When he enters a room, the Gwana-gwana level actually goes down. Fowler is the type of executive that reporters love and PR specialists hate. This, of course, makes him a prized "briefing opportunity" at Vulture Central. Fowler's job …
Hardware 18 Sep 2003, 20:54
-
Red Hat boasts strong Q2
Server sales on the rise
Red Hat continues to ride the growth of Linux on the server, as second quarter revenue for the company surged. Red Hat reported revenue of $28.8 million for its second fiscal quarter of 2004, which marks a 36 percent year-on-year increase. The Linux maker also posted $3.3 million in net income versus a $1.9 million loss in the …
Software 18 Sep 2003, 22:32
