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7th November 2003 Archive

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  • Anti-FoTW: Love amongst the neurons

    Letter "11-dimensional belief system :-o"

    Bill Softky's two part article on new approaches to neuroscience [pt 1, 2] provoked a fascinating mailbag, more of which we shall produce very soon. But it also brought a few new insights to the field of neuroscience from amateurs which can only be characterized as "truly original". However, there's no mistaking the good …

    Letters 7 Nov 2003, 07:16

  • Borland: you only live thrice

    Catch the third wave

    The CEO of Borland Software believes the company is ready to catch its "third-wave". While observers have widely debated whether Microsoft, nearing the end of its 20s, is entering corporate middle age, CEO Dale Fuller says Borland is nowhere near a mid-life crisis and is instead moving into a new era of innovation. But there …

    Software 7 Nov 2003, 09:40

  • Mobile games revenue leap like leaping salmon

    Ten-fold jump

    The mobile games market, valued at €0.2bn in 2002, will grow massively to nearly € 3bn in 2008, forecasts consulting firm Analysys. Mobile gaming will be key in driving growth in the mobile content and entertainment services, with nearly 80 per cent of gaming revenue (€2.4bn) derived from downloadable games, according to the …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2003, 09:58

  • Open source movement screws up again

    But that doesn't mean it won't win

    It’s a sad fact of life that those in charge are often the last to see the inevitable. And this had been ably demonstrated yet again over an issue set to blow up in the next few months: the sudden u-turn by the World Intellectual Property Organisation over a meeting to discuss the issues surrounding “open and collaborative …

    Software 7 Nov 2003, 10:04

  • ATI wins Samsung digital telly deal

    Chosen for Roku's 'HDTV TiVo' too

    Samsung has signed ATI to provide decoder chips for the next generation of its digital TV sets. The South Korean electronics giant will use ATI's Xilleon media processor and Nxtwave digital signal demodulator part in future screens, though neither company said when such products will come to market. Earlier this week, ATI's …

    Channel 7 Nov 2003, 10:31

  • AMD adds 525KB L2 Athlon 64s to roadmap

    Newcastle, Winchester

    AMD's anticipated introduction of low-end Athlon 64 chips next year appears to confirm reports that it will indeed deliver future Athlon XP parts using crippled versions of its Hammer core. Earlier this year, AMD roadmaps began to show two products, codenamed 'Paris' and 'Victoria', which featured 256KB of L2 cache. Fabbed at …

    Channel 7 Nov 2003, 10:51

  • IBM outsources PowerPC production to Samsung

    Would-be licensee?

    IBM has offloaded some of its PowerPC production to Samsung, according to a Taiwanese chip design source close to IBM. However, said source admitted the production volumes were "small", in a DigiTimes report. Mac users need not worry in any case. With the exception of the Power Mac G5's 64-bit PowerPC 970 processor, every …

    Mac Channel 7 Nov 2003, 10:54

  • BOFH on the pull

    Episode 27 Coo er gosh, I luv gurls

    BOFH 2003: Episode 27 So the PFY's been showing off to a couple of the more attractive young ladies in the new employees induction course, and I have to admit that he's doing well. So well in fact that I have a twinge of remorse about locking his swipe card out of the cafeteria when everyone was watching. But the twinge passed …

    BOFH 7 Nov 2003, 11:28

  • AMD updates public roadmap

    New desktop, mobile server CPUs for 2005

    AMD has updated its public processor roadmap, adding a host of new desktop and server products and fleshing out its plans for more notebook-friendly mobile Athlon 64 chips that its current line-up. The new chart also clarifies the positioning of a number of products that had already appeared on internal roadmaps. 'San Diego' …

    Channel 7 Nov 2003, 11:59

  • Your 99c belong to the RIAA – Steve Jobs

    Apple makes nothing from iTunes store

    Wasn't the Internet, this weightless kingdom of bits and bytes, supposed to make distribution costs just vanish? Apparently not. At an Apple financial analyst conference on Wednesday CEO Steve Jobs admitted that Apple makes no revenue from the online download service, the iTunes Music Store, that he launched in April. As iTMS …

    Mac Channel 7 Nov 2003, 12:11

  • Microsoft ends silence on hotmail domain SNAFU

    Now sweet, but short

    Microsoft has at last commented on the blunder that resulted in its lapsed hotmail.co.uk domain being snapped up by a private individual. The person - who asked not to be named - then tried to alert Microsoft to the slip and hand back the domain, much like any decent person would if they saw someone drop a handkerchief, or a …

    Media 7 Nov 2003, 12:14

  • Canadian ‘419er’ arrested

    The Reverse Sting

    A Canadian man has been arrested for advanced fee fraud following a sting operation instigated by a Connecticut woman fed up with receiving scam emails. Like many other people, Heidi Evans was constantly barraged with dubious emails purporting to offer millions in exchange for helping to transfer vast funds from Africa. …

    Security 7 Nov 2003, 12:18

  • Sony, Bertelsmann agree to merge music labels

    Will the anti-trust troops say yes?

    Sony and Bertelsmann have agreed to merge their two music operations into a single business and potentially create the world's largest music label. Both will each take a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture, to be called Sony BMG - if the move wins the support of US, European and other nations' regulatory authorities. The JV' …

    Business 7 Nov 2003, 12:38

  • BT ‘bemused’ over broadband complaint

    Power play?

    BT claims it is "bemused" by a report that utility Scottish & Southern - which is trialing broadband over power lines - is to have words with the new communication regulator, Ofcom. S&S appears concerned about BT's move to convert Stonehaven's phone exchange to ADSL earlier this year. Stonehaven, Scotland happens to be one of …

    Broadband 7 Nov 2003, 12:43

  • Germans love eBay

    Bigger than Quelle

    Internet auctioneer eBay is exceptionally popular in Germany, CEO Greg Whitman told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung yesterday. After only four years on the German market, eBay generates more revenue online than KarstadtQuelle Group, Europe's largest combined department store and mail order group (Sales of €15.8bn in 2002). …

    Media 7 Nov 2003, 12:45

  • Linux kernel backdoor blocked

    Hints at smarter hacks

    Software developers on Wednesday detected and thwarted a hacker's scheme to submerge a slick backdoor in the next version of the Linux kernel, but security experts say the abortive caper proves that extremely subtle source code tampering is more than just the stuff of paranoid speculation. The backdoor was a two-line addition …

    Security 7 Nov 2003, 13:06

  • Nintendo resumes production of GameCube

    Factories back on-line

    GameCube consoles are once again rolling off the production lines in Japan as global demand for the system finally outstrips the backlog of units which had built up at Nintendo's warehouses. Recent price-drops combined with the roll-out of key software titles for the machine in all three major markets have given the GameCube …

    Personal 7 Nov 2003, 13:14

  • Rio Fuse 128MB MP3 player

    Reg Review Nice face, shame about the limited drag-and-drop

    Like Creative's MuVo NX, the Rio Fuse is one of the new generation of solid-state MP3 players that plug directly into a host computer's USB port, Flash drive style. There are good reasons for bringing the world of Flash 'keychain' drives and MP3 players together: it allows quick connections and the easy transfer of files - just …

    Reviews 7 Nov 2003, 13:33

  • What does C have in common with a scalding cup of coffee?

    Opinion Security's Brewing Mess

    In 1992, a seventy-nine year old woman sued the McDonald's fast food chain after spilling the entire contents of a cup of coffee in her lap, causing third-degree burns over six percent of her body. Several days in the hospital, intense medical treatments, and a jury trial later, the woman won her case and a $2.7 million dollar …

    Software 7 Nov 2003, 14:39

  • Help! my Belkin router is spamming me

    Nagware promotes censorware

    The marketing geniuses at Belkin, the consumer networking vendor, have dreamed up a new form of spam - ads served to your desktop, by way of its wireless router. Uh Clem. a former Belkin wireless router user, was perplexed to find machines on his network redirected to an ad for Belkin's new parental control system, following a …

    Broadband 7 Nov 2003, 14:47

  • Intel launches Mobilized Software Initiative

    Based on XML, Wi-Fi

    Intel has launched its Mobilized Software Initiative, which aims to “change the way the industry thinks about the internet”. Previewed at its Developer Forum in September, the initiative has won the support of various big names including Microsoft, Sun, HP, IBM, Adobe and Macromedia. Intel is aiming to repeat its success of …

    Broadband 7 Nov 2003, 15:05

  • IBM and HP take phony benchmark war up several notches

    Winning times

    IBM and Hewlett-Packard have both registered benchmark wins this week for their server lines, IBM on High Performance supercomputing tasks and HP on high throughput transaction rates, running under Oracle. IBM made great noise and bluster about its new 1350 AMD Opteron powered 1350 supercluster, benchmarking a 48 way …

    Servers 7 Nov 2003, 15:05

  • MS phone chief departs

    Juha moves on, mulls buying a Nokia

    Juha Christensen, Microsoft's executive VP with responsibility for smartphones, is opting for a quieter life. From the end of this month he'll no longer have to endure ear-splitting motivational talks from Steve Ballmer, Microsoft confirmed today, as he's leaving the company. Christensen arrived with a bang three years ago. At …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2003, 16:11

  • BOFH and the government contract

    Episode 26 The name's Bofh. James Bofh...

    BOFH 2003: Episode 26 "I still don't see why this should affect myself and the PFY," I blurt as the boss hands over a lengthy questionaire. "I've told you already, it's something to do with a contract that we're signing - some defence department thing." "A defence department thing?" the PFY burbles cheerily. "Does that mean …

    BOFH 7 Nov 2003, 16:24

  • Penn State students revolt against Napster, DRM invasion

    Take your fee and shove it

    A small faction of anti-pigopolist soldiers have launched an attack against Penn State University's new campus-wide music deal with Napster. Seniors Joe Jarzab and Chad Lindell have peppered the Penn State campus with flyers, urging students to boycott buying music and to block the music labels' domination of music royalties. …

    Media 7 Nov 2003, 16:26

  • MS releases Office 2003 bug fix

    File corruption problem patched

    Microsoft this week released a critical update to fix a bug with its newly released Office 2003 suite. The flaw revolves around a problem that occurs when users try to open or to save a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 file, Word 2003 file, or Excel 2003 file that includes an "OfficeArt shape" previously modified and saved in …

    Software 7 Nov 2003, 16:30

  • MPs prepare for broadband inquiry

    Seconds out...

    The UK's leading names in broadband are limbering up for a star billing in front of a all party parliamentary committee next Tuesday. On the agenda is an inquiry into the state of "Broadband Britain" with BT, Oftel, AOL UK, Freeserve and others slugging it out to put forward their positions. The Trade and Industry Committee, …

    Broadband 7 Nov 2003, 16:32

  • BT ordered to stop ‘dirty tricks’

    Phone switching grief

    BT has been ordered to stop using "dirty tricks" to persuade customers from switching phone providers. In a ruling published today, Oftel upheld a complaint from Thus and Broadsystem Ventures Ltd, and so preventing BT from using information about the transfer of customers to alternative telecoms suppliers such as One.Tel, …

    Business 7 Nov 2003, 17:26

  • Open source not ready for desktop, IBM told UK government

    Remind us - who's running the OSS pilots?

    The UK government has a 'level playing field' policy for use of Open Source Software, but although it is supposed to be considering "OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements", this does not seem to have produced much in the way of significant deployments or contracts. And who is to blame for this apparent lack …

    Software 7 Nov 2003, 19:02

  • Gartner feels the PC sales vibe

    Hikes 2003 forecast again

    Market researcher Gartner has upped its PC sales forecast, predicting a double-digit rise in shipments for 2003. Gartner is now looking for 164.3 million units to be shipped in 2003, which would be a 10.9 percent year-on-year rise. This is the second recent shipment hike from Gartner. The company forecasted an 8.3 percent rise …

    Personal 7 Nov 2003, 20:19

  • AV vendors shun MS bounty hunters

    Blazing Saddles

    Anti-virus vendors are resisting any involvement in Microsoft's scheme to offer rewards for the arrest and conviction of virus writers. This week Microsoft placed two $250,000 bounties on the heads of the virus authors responsible for unleashing the infamous Sobig and Blaster worms this summer. The application of Wild West- …

    Security 7 Nov 2003, 21:14