2nd January 2004 Archive

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Defences lacking at social network sites

Security, 1997-style

Services like LiveJournal and Tribe are poised to be the next big thing on the Web in 2004, but their security and privacy practices are more like 1997, writes Annalee Newitz. Brad Fitzpatrick is president of LiveJournal.com, a social discovery Web site where over 1.5 million users post diary entries they want to share with …

Security 2 Jan 2004, 10:56
Bosses tell staff to hang up when driving

Blanket ban

Seven in ten small businesses plan to impose a blanket ban on staff using mobile phones for business purposes while driving, according to new research. The survey, conducted by vehicle management firm FleetLine, found that half of those quizzed said that they would even try to ban employees from using their mobiles while …

Small Biz 2 Jan 2004, 13:05
Net pedants savage The Return of the King

Movie Mistakes moves in for the kill

We're obliged to movie monitors Movie Mistakes for updating us today on the terrifying catalogue of errors which plague the latest LOTR epic The Return of the King. This motley crew of net pedants recently trashed Matrix Revolutions for the greater good of humanity. Were it not for their latest and seasonal piece of charity, we …

Bootnotes 2 Jan 2004, 16:48
Russians punt $40m space honeymoon

No zero-grav nookie, though

Those of a romantic bent and a generously-proportioned wallet might like to consider the possibility of a honeymoon in space. The Russian Rosaviakosmos space agency and US outfit Space Adventures are offering newly-weds the chance to celebrate their love in a zero-gravity, $40m trip-of-a-lifetime to the International Space …

Bootnotes 2 Jan 2004, 16:48
Kev Warwick cyberkiddie no closer to activation

15 months on and little Danielle still untagged

Although he's been a bit quiet of late, it's good to see that Kevin "Captain Cyborg" Warwick continues to generate the sort of coverage his ground-breaking work deserves. The abduction and murder of Soham schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells prompted the visionary boffin to offer the chance to microchip a child, although …

Bootnotes 2 Jan 2004, 16:48
Nigerian 419ers surface in Baghdad

Urgent assistance required to relocate Saddam's millions

There appear to be no depths to which Nigerian 419ers will not go in order to feed their lust for riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. Indeed, they are now masquerading as coalition troops stationed in Baghdad who claim to have unearthed one of Saddam's treasure hordes. It's sort of like "Kelly's Heroes" but relocated …

Bootnotes 2 Jan 2004, 16:48
David Blunkett bombs on celebrity Mastermind

Humiliating display of ignorance by ID card visionary

Home Secretary David Blunkett - he of the compulsory ID card scheme - has well and truly established his credentials with a disastrous performance on celebrity Mastermind. Blunkett scored a miserable eleven, notching up just two correct answers in the general knowledge section. Presumably, one of these was a firm "yes" to the …

Bootnotes 2 Jan 2004, 16:48
Reader flak brings down flying car

Letters Boeing's Sonic Cruiser also grounded

Letters Thanks very much to all those readers who wrote to correct a shameful error in yesterday's Wright Brothers' centenary provokes aviation speculationfest. Andrew Wren outlines the case for the prosecution: No doubt I'm the 439th plane geek to point this out, but Boeing canned the Sonic Cruiser last year in favour of the …

Letters 2 Jan 2004, 16:49
Letter Am I Patched Or Not?

A reader writes: Maybe I'm just behind the times - it's quite possible, since I rarely boot into Microsoft Windows, but I just downloaded the latest (9!) Critical Updates for Win2K, of which one caught my eye: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-050 Certificate Validation Flaw Could Enable Identity Spoofing (Q329115) Technical …

Letters 2 Jan 2004, 16:49
US judges blast music labels' attack on ISPs and users

Find another way to sue

A US federal appeals court has dealt the RIAA a long awaited kick to the groin in its pursuit of file swappers, saying the music label lobby group can no longer force Internet providers to turn over their customers names. The Friday ruling from a three-judge panel hearing the case for the Court of Appeals in the District of …

Music and Media 2 Jan 2004, 16:50
Apple to sell software downloads?

Plan predates iTunes Music Store

Apple's scheme to turn its operating system into a commercial opportunity appears at long last to be coming to fruition. Mac OS X 10.3, aka Panther, has software purchasing options programmed into Software Update, Apple's patch provision system, Mac Rumours reports. Within the program's code includes text to support an offer …

Mac Channel 2 Jan 2004, 16:50
Amazon pays libel damages again over Northern Ireland book

Third time around

Amazon.com has publicly apologised for distributing a book that contained a series of false allegations about killings in Northern Ireland. Seven retired police officers won the apology - and undisclosed damages - after Amazon distributed the book The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland by Sean McPhilemy. …

Music and Media 2 Jan 2004, 16:50
DVD Jon wins again

Acquitted for second time

An appeals court in Oslo today upheld Jon Lech Johansen's earlier acquittal on all counts of alleged copyright violations, the Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten reports. Johansen, 20, was alleged to have broken the law by writing and publishing a DVD descrambling program, DeCSS, so that he could watch films he owned on a …

Music and Media 2 Jan 2004, 16:50
Jane Doe ruling limits effect of RIAA legal defeat

Verizon appeal a small, pyrrhic victory for file-sharers

On Friday, the DC federal appeals court ruled that the recording industry's efforts to subpoena the names and addresses of ISP Verizon's customers who were using P2P file-sharing networks to download and upload copyrighted music were unlawful. However, the decision rests on a narrow reading of the federal Digital Millennium …

Music and Media 2 Jan 2004, 16:50
IT grads face ‘grim’ future

Nightmare scenario

IT graduates face a "grim" future as the UK's jobs market continues to show little sign of improvement. A report by specialist publishers, GTI, does not make chirpy reading for IT grads looking to enter the world of work. Says its Graduate Trends Survey 2003/4: "This year sees once again the nightmare scenario of thousands of …

Business 2 Jan 2004, 16:51
PalmSource forecasts Q3 breakeven

Big loss on rising revenue in Q2, though

Palm OS owner PalmSource yesterday reported revenues of $16.8 million for Q2 2004, its first fiscal quarter as company in its own right. That figure marks a 13 per cent increase over the same period last year, at which point PalmSource was operating as an independent business within Palm, now renamed PalmOne following last …

Mobile 2 Jan 2004, 16:51
Sage buys ACCPAC for $110m

CA finds a buyer

Sage is to buy ACCPAC, the accounting software arm of CA, for $110m. The Newcastle, UK vendor said its new acquisition will help its US subsidiary, Best Software, grow SME market share in North America, Australia and South Africa. ACCPAC brings to the party 600 employees, 540,000 customers and 7,000 dealers worldwide. According …

Small Biz 2 Jan 2004, 16:51
SCO pesters Fortune 1000 for money (again)

DMCA threatened

The SCO Group has sent another letter to Fortune 1000 companies, requesting that they stop using Linux, or reach an agreement with the Utah company over what it claims are copyright "binary interfaces". "Any part of any Linux file that includes the copyrighted binary interface code must be removed," according to the demand. The …

Software 2 Jan 2004, 16:51
Mythic sues Microsoft over Mythica

Names too close - unlike Lindows/ Windows...

Microsoft was sued again this week. Game developer Mythic Entertainment has accused the Beast of Redmond of infringing its trademark and engaging in unfair competition. This past Friday Mythic filed a complaint with the US District Court for Eastern Virginia. It claims that Microsoft's up-coming online multiplayer role-playing …

Software 2 Jan 2004, 16:51
Euro Q4 sales boom points to record Xmas notebook sales

October, November sales well up on 2002

Christmas 2003 may be shaping up as a boom time for notebook sales, with early figures suggesting high demand for portable PCs, market watcher Context has said. According to Context research, UK retailers and mail order suppliers sold 31 per cent more notebooks in November than they did in the same month last year. For the UK, …

Personal 2 Jan 2004, 16:52
Barrysworld is back… sort of

Are you ready for Freddy?

Earlier today, we asked if online gaming community Barrysworld, now known as Game.net and due to be shut down by parent company Game Plc next month, could once again rise Phoenix-like from the ashes, as it did three years ago. We were doubtful. And wrong, we're pleased to say. Co-founders Tony and Ben - aka 'TedTheDog' and 'DBs …

Personal 2 Jan 2004, 16:52
Orange takes steps to block mobile spam

Forward it to the operator for disposal

For those who haven't registered with the Telephone Preference Service - offered by the Direct Marketing Association in the UK - "cold calling" by sales offices can be a real nuisance - but text-spam can be downright expensive. The more honest ones, says Orange, are at least up-front about the fact that they are going to cost …

Mobile 2 Jan 2004, 16:53
BOFH and the Boss' space problems

Episode 32 Put the tape safe WHERE?

BOFH 2003: Episode 32 Some days just nothing goes according to plan... The Boss is on the prowl for office space, and as usual we're being targetted simply because we have the appearance of consuming a reasonable amount of space. "It's not like you USE the tape safes," the Boss blurts, on the defensive. "The tapes are just …

BOFH 2 Jan 2004, 16:53
Toshiba e800 Pocket PC

Review 640 x 480 display, anyone?

Toshiba has built itself a reputation for producing highly serviceable, well put together PDAs with a serious leaning towards the business user. This is not to say that Toshiba ignores consumers, but rather that it sways product design and marketing towards the corporate sector, writes Sandra Vogel. This market focus is in part …

Mobile 2 Jan 2004, 16:53
Boingo expands hotel WLAN coverage

Adds 200 sites; 800 more coming by end 2005

Boingo has added a further 200 sites to its aggregated network of Wi-Fi hotspots courtesy of a tie-in with Arescom, a supplier of in-room Internet and entertainment systems for hotels. The extra sites will not only be made available to Boingo subscribers but to the company's wholesale partners, it said. Arescom's in-room …

Wireless 2 Jan 2004, 16:54
MP fingered for ‘Net Villain’ award

Boo, hiss, he's behind you, etc

One of the UK's most Net-savvy MPs is in the running for the tongue-in-cheek-mixed-with-more-than-a-hint-of-venom 'Internet Villain' award this year. Anti-spam campaigner Derek Wyatt is on the shortlist for the Internet Villain award, for "lowering [the] level of informed debate on the Internet generally and spam in particular …

Music and Media 2 Jan 2004, 16:55
Spammers not deterred by Can Spam Act

Same old tactics

As expected, spammers don't seem too impressed with the US Can Spam Act, which was enforced on January 1. Nor have they changed their tactics. The US Can Spam Act attempts to regulate rather than ban the practice of spamming, but it outlaws so-called fraudulent spam, where spammers use open relays/proxies to send their messages …

Security 2 Jan 2004, 16:58
BT trims rural BB wholesale prices

Still looks expensive

BT is cutting wholesale prices for ISPs running rural ADSL broadband services. The aim is to encourage the conversion to ADSL broadband of 600 small exchanges which have no trigger target set under BT’s broadband demand registration scheme - In other words, in areas where BT currently deems ADSL commercially unviable. In July …

Telecoms 2 Jan 2004, 16:59
Court slams HP Israel ID card bid

Not so smart

HP has lost a potentially lucrative bid to become the major supplier of smart identity cards in Israel after a court tossed out the company's proposal, saying it did no adhere to local laws. The Jerusalem District Court on Thursday blocked HP's deal with the Interior ministry estimated to be worth between $22 million to $44 …

Security 2 Jan 2004, 17:30
Music sales are on the mend

Suing consumers pays

Despite launching a legal assault against its customer base, the recording industry appears to be benefitting from increasing music sales once again. While 2003 music sales were flat overall, the record labels enjoyed a healthy spike in the fourth quarter, hinting that the industry doom and gloom so often suggested by the RIAA …

Business 2 Jan 2004, 18:45
Sun and IBM to lead 64-bit boom – analyst

On AMD's back

Sun Microsystems and IBM are the two hardware vendors best positioned to capitalize on a second 64-bit computing rush, according to one of the industry's most optimistic analyst firms. A major shift from Intel's 32-bit processors to x86-64-bit chips from both Intel and AMD is about to occur, and Sun and IBM are set to outpace …

Servers 2 Jan 2004, 23:07