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4th May 2004 Archive

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  • IBM puts new DB2 up for inspection

    Have a look at that Geodetic Extender

    The next version of DB2 has inched closer to public consumption with IBM today releasing an open beta of the database that shows off a host of new features designed to save administrators time and keep the software up and running. The latest iteration of DB2 for Windows, Linux and Unix - code-named Stinger - has arrived with a …

    Applications 4 May 2004, 00:00

  • IBM's Power5 pops up first in new iSeries

    Threads a'plenty

    IBM's much-anticipated Power5 processor made its first appearance this week in a new line of iSeries servers. With this latest kit, IBM is doing its best to convince customers that the venerable iSeries (AS/400) systems can go head-to-head against traditionally cheaper Intel-based servers. To make its case, IBM is offering the …

    Hardware 4 May 2004, 07:43

  • Lastminute founder injured in Morocco

    Nasty car crash

    Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com, has been seriously injured in a car crash in Morocco. She was travelling with friends in a four-wheel drive near Essaouira when the accident happened. The car was travelling off-road and hit a tree, no other vehicles were involved. The two other passengers were not seriously …

    Bootnotes 4 May 2004, 08:30

  • AMD swaps Sanders for Ruiz

    Boardroom shuffle

    AMD has promoted its president and CEO, Hector Ruiz, to the position of chairman of the board, formalising a plan that's been in place for some time but was officially announced last February. AMD's colourful co-founder and former chairman, Jerry Sanders, is now chairman emeritus, though he is retiring from the company board. …

    Financial News 4 May 2004, 08:48

  • Sasser worm creates havoc

    Blaster Mk II hits railways and banks

    European sysadmins returning to work after a long Bank Holiday weekend are in for a nasty surprise with the appearance of a fast-spreading Blaster-like Internet worm. Sasser exploits a recently-announced serious Windows vulnerability - a buffer overrun in Windows' Local Security Authority Subsystem Service. The fix for this bug …

    Malware 4 May 2004, 08:57

  • Have sex, save the planet

    Rainforest needs you - so get naked

    The days of raising funds for charitable causes by running the London Marathon dressed as a chicken may be over. Hot on the heels of Mathieu Guitard's recent request that concerned citizens subscribe to porn websites and thereby fight the terrible scourge of psoriasis, we have the quite remarkable www.f**kforforest.com (warning …

    Bootnotes 4 May 2004, 08:59

  • Vodafone brings 3G to Europe

    Well it does if you live in Germany or Portugal...

    Vodafone has gone live with 3G services in Germany and Portugal. Handsets go on sale at Vodafone stores today. The telco is offering services on Samsung handsets but hopes to add a SonyEricsson handset soon. Services are to be extended and improved gradually. More handsets and services should be available later in the year. …

    Mobile 4 May 2004, 09:04

  • Mobile graphics drives chip market growth

    Big year-on-year gains

    Mobile graphics chip shipments outperformed the sector average during Q1, showing year-on-year growth almost three times that experienced by the desktop graphics chip market, figures from market watcher Jon Peddie Research show. Mobile chip shipments were up 29.1 per cent on Q1 2003's total, compared to year-on-year growth of …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 09:10

  • Trade body talks up global chip sales

    Recovery drives optimism

    The world chip market will grow by more than 20 per cent this year on the back of "a broad-based recovery", the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said yesterday, effectively raising its global growth forecast from its previous prediction of 19.4 per cent. Lending weight to the SIA's revision, the World Semiconductor …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 09:31

  • Tom Siebel steps down as CEO

    Holds tight to chair

    Tom Siebel is stepping down as CEO of Siebel System, but he is holding tight the chairmanship of the company he founded. His replacement is Mike Lawrie, head of sales and distribution at IBM. Lawrie's arrival has prompted a round of musical chairs to fill the vacuum created by his departure. Doug Elix, head of IBM global …

    Applications 4 May 2004, 09:39

  • Shell signs 'Mother of all outsourcing deals'

    $1bn Indian gig

    In what the Indian press is calling "the Mother of all outsourcing deals", Shell has signed up IBM and Wipro to offshore parts of its IT department. Indian papers claim the deal is worth more than $1bn, which would make it India's biggest ever single contract win. As first revealed here, Shell plans to cut between 1,900 and 2, …

    IT Director 4 May 2004, 09:44

  • Gates pays $800k for stock violations

    Bill unaware - cash pile now semi-autonomous

    Witness box watchers know that Bill Gates is no stranger to unawareness when it comes to culpability, so will be unsurprised to learn that he was personally unaware of two stock transaction violations perpetrated by Cascade Investments, his investment company, on his behalf. Nor is it unusual for money to be paid on his behalf …

    Software 4 May 2004, 10:06

  • Hynix leads Q1 DRAM sales charge

    Double-digit sequential gains

    DRAM makers Hynix and Infineon made big gains in the memory market during Q1, beating an industry average sequential growth rate of 6.6 per cent while the other key players lagged behind it. That, at least, is what market watcher Gartner's numbers show, and who are we to argue the point? The numbers from both companies were not …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 10:07

  • BT faces £15bn network bid - report

    'Rumour and speculation,' says telco

    BT faces a £15bn bid for its UK network, The Observer reports. Private equity groups such as Apax, Permira and Babcock & Brown could be getting ready to make a bid, according to the newspaper. The firms could make a bid for BT's network even if Ofcom doesn't rule in favour of a split, it claims. The report, which does not cite …

    Telecoms 4 May 2004, 10:22

  • Nvidia preps mid-range GeForce 6800 part

    GT eyed

    Nvidia is planning to broaden its NV40-based GeForce 6800 line in a bid to compete more effectively with products based on ATI's R420 chip, which is expected to launch today as the Radeon X800 Pro. According to a company presentation foil posted at German site ComputerBase, Nvidia is planning to add a GeForce 6800 GT to its …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 10:59

  • Red moonlight to bathe UK

    Brits to enjoy lunar eclipse, weather permitting

    Those Brits lucky enough to be standing under clear skies tonight* will be able to enjoy a total lunar eclipse which will turn the Moon a delicious shade of red. By the time the sun sets in the UK, the partial phase of the eclipse will be well under way: it begins at 19:48 BST, with totality occuring at 20:52 and lasting until …

    Science 4 May 2004, 11:02

  • The Web as historical record

    Rosetta Stone or writing in the sand?

    I spent some of last weekend researching for an article about Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). The term is used very widely in the industry today and when it is used, the writer assumes that the reader understands the term, and understands it in the same way as the writer. As we all know all terms in our industry have a …

    Music and Media 4 May 2004, 11:08

  • 'Deceptive Duo' hacker charged

    US 'patriot' in the dock

    A Florida man has been charged in federal court in Washington DC for his alleged role as one half of the high-profile hacking team "The Deceptive Duo" - responsible for defacing dozens of governmental and private websites with patriotically-themed messages exhorting the US to shore up cyber defenses. Benjamin Stark, 22, faces a …

    Enterprise Security 4 May 2004, 11:08

  • Thus swells - thanks to ADSL

    'Key milestones' passed

    Thus, the telco best known for its Demon Internet brand, now generates more revenue from its broadband punters than it does from its dial-up customers. Describing this transition in revenue source as a "key milestone", the company reported turnover from its Internet division grew 10 per cent last year to £99.1m, as the number …

    Financial News 4 May 2004, 11:27

  • The Wi-Fi user as wireless felon

    Outdated US legislation needs attention

    Before Wi-Fi can fully fulfil its promise, there is the small matter of a raft of outdated legislation to be dealt with - some of which threatens the innocent user with an appearance before a judge. A local Washington DC television news station wanted to do a Wi-Fi "hack". Its plan was to sit in a local coffee shop (named after …

    Wireless 4 May 2004, 11:31

  • Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes

    Site Offer And save cash on books right now

    If you often find yourself sitting at work, staring out at of the window and fiddling absent-mindedly with your desk tidy, then why not make a lazy ten minutes work for you? Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes has established itself as the gold standard for introductory SQL books, offering a fast-paced accessible tutorial to …

    Site News 4 May 2004, 11:48

  • Bsquare Power Handheld

    Reg Review WinXP in the palm of your hand

    Bsquare's pitches its Power Handheld as the next stage in the evolution of wireless computing, but the machine is something of a throwback to the early days of handheld machines. Mobile computing buffs will surely go all misty eyed as they recall the likes of the Poqet PC, the Atari Portfolio, the Olivetti Quaderno, the HP 200LX …

    Reviews 4 May 2004, 12:27

  • Here's locking down you, kid - MS hawks vision of DRM future

    Catalyzes recurring revenue model, it says here

    Microsoft has taken the wraps off its next generation Digital Rights Management software, designed to allow digital music and video to get into consumers' hands without actually escaping. The technology previously known as Janus "will make new scenarios possible, such as protecting, delivering and playing subscription-based or …

    Music and Media 4 May 2004, 13:01

  • ATI launches R420

    Radeon X800 Pro, XT Platinum Edition launch this month

    ATI today began shipping its next-generation graphics chip, the R420, as the Radeon X800 Pro, with a faster version, the equally anticipated Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, to ship later this month. As expected, the R420 supports up to 16 pixel pipelines arranged in four banks of four. The X800 XT will provide the full array, …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 13:02

  • Blank media levies: record once, pay thrice

    Opinion Levy, content, royalty

    We have often heard that the idea of charging levies for empty digital media is a way around having to bother solving all those complex digital rights management (DRM) problems. In fact we’ve even heard people express as radical an opinion that perhaps what we should all do is leave ALL entertainment content without any form …

    Music and Media 4 May 2004, 13:02

  • ATI confirms no Shader 3.0 in Radeon X800

    Future is 3Dc 'normal map' compression

    ATI is banking on new texture map compression technology to drive demand for its Radeon X800 graphics chips - aka R420 - rather than support for the DirectX 9.0 API's most up-to-date shader systems. And, as anticipated, the Radeon X800 Pro, which ATI launched today, does not support DirectX 9's Pixel Shader 3.0 - unlike its …

    Channel 4 May 2004, 13:03

  • Check Point raids SSL VPN party

    Late entrant looks to secure top billing

    Check Point Software has launched its first serious assault on the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) appliance market. Called Connectra, the appliance integrates technology from Zone Labs to check that devices connecting into a corporate network are free of spyware or Trojan infection. The security vendor …

    Enterprise Security 4 May 2004, 13:18

  • Red Hat hits the desktop

    'Bout time too, say analysts...

    Red Hat is launching a version of its software for ordinary business users. Red Hat Desktop includes the Mozilla browser, OpenOffice and an Evolution email client. It will be available for download in mid-May and ais imed at academic, enterprise and government clients. Customers pay $2,500 per year for ten Red Hat desktops, ten …

    Applications 4 May 2004, 13:33

  • BOFH: Beware Mad Ron bearing Linux

    Episode 14 Bright spark

    BOFH 2004 "Yep?" I ask, as the boss rolls into mission control with a perplexed expression on his face. "It's my machine," he says, "Got a bit of a problem accessing the I.T. Management share and I need to pick up this month's budget figures." "And you're logged into your machine ok?" I sigh, looking vainly around for the PFY …

    BOFH 4 May 2004, 14:31

  • ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition

    Review Nvidia GeForce 6800 killer?

    There's always been pretty heavy rivalry between ATI and Nvidia, but this time around it seems a lot more tangible. With both companies launching completely new parts at roughly the same time, it's understandable that there was a lot of pressure going around in both camps, writes Riyad Emeran. By the time ATI was getting into …

    Reviews 4 May 2004, 14:32

  • UK's 118 DQ services get better

    'Still room for improvement'

    The UK's 118 directory enquiries (DQ) sector appears to be getting its act together in response to a rash of bad press following deregulation last August. According to DQ industry research outfit, 118tracker.com, operators have begun to improve the accuracy of the information they're dishing out. The UK's 100 or so DQ operators …

    Telecoms 4 May 2004, 14:40

  • Pulse~Link secures $30m UWB funding

    WLAN, cable and power line initiatives

    Pulse~Link, the San Diego UltraWideBand outfit pioneering UWB implementation across WLANs and via cable TV networks and power lines, has secured $30m to continue work on this "Software Defined Cognitive Radio Ultra Wideband solution". The company raised the funds through an institutional private placement led by Mobile …

    Wireless 4 May 2004, 14:41

  • EU probes music licensing

    'Anti-competitive' royalty system

    Sixteen national organisations that collect royalties on behalf of music authors may be in breach of European competition law. EU regulators are examining the so-called Santiago Agreement that allows societies to grant "one-stop" copyright licences to on-line commercial users for the downloading and streaming of music. However …

    Music and Media 4 May 2004, 14:42

  • Plane-spotters recruited in War on Terror

    Do you have a licence for those binoculars, sir?

    A BBC report provides a treasurable example of how identity-based restrictions on the populace can and will be presented as beneficial. And indeed, how you can be induced vet yourself - first, they came for the plane-spotters, as someone so nearly said. As you'll see from the BBC report, the police and British Airport Authority …

    Music and Media 4 May 2004, 14:43

  • UK e-gov 'needs shaking up'

    Global report finds little change

    The UK has slipped one spot to ninth place in an annual global ranking of e-government maturity. Canada retains its place at the top of the table, with a "maturity rating*" of 80 per cent. Singapore and the US followed with 67 per cent each. The report, produced by the consultancy firm Accenture, found that the UK's progress …

    Public Sector 4 May 2004, 14:56

  • Sony opens US music download store

    Connect to MiniDisc

    Sony today launched the US version of its Connect online music store with the promise of "a better selection than any other legal download service". Better does not necessarily mean more, of course. Sony touted Connect's database of 500,000-odd tracks from major and independent labels, which is rather less than the 700,000 on …

    Financial News 4 May 2004, 15:00

  • EDS Abbey flagship project in doubt

    Exclusive Banking on Pune?

    Abbey, the UK retail bank, is keen to get out of its outsourcing contract with EDS, according to a confidential presentation seen by The Register. EDS is considering offshoring the project to try and save it and as many as 500 UK jobs could be lost as a result. The joint venture, valued at $390m, was hailed as the future of …

    IT Director 4 May 2004, 15:16

  • Napster to team up with Dixons

    Retail giant to detail tie-in this week

    Napster will this week announce a partnership with UK high street electronics chain Dixons in a bid to raise its market profile ahead of its anticipated British launch this summer. Details of the tie-in are unclear, with sources simply pointing to some kind of deal between the two companies, a Sunday Times report indicated this …

    Financial News 4 May 2004, 15:21

  • Beagle 2 was 'poorly managed'

    Damning report into failed Mars mission

    The ill-fated Beagle 2 project faces heavy criticism when the European Space Agency (ESA) publishes the results of its inquiry into the loss of the craft. According to The Sunday Times, the report will say that the project was "poorly managed, inadequately funded and left itself too little time to test landing systems". …

    Science 4 May 2004, 15:40

  • BT and HP in $1.5bn back-scratching deal

    'Mutual growth opportunities'

    BT and HP have confirmed a $1.5bn (£840m) deal that will see both companies work closer together to "address mutual growth opportunities in the global information and communications technology (ICT) marketplace". Kicking off the new friendship, both companies have signed managed services agreements with a combined value of $1. …

    Telecoms 4 May 2004, 15:44

  • Veritas gives products second billing to tired hype

    Veritas Vision Witness CommandCentral

    A bit of boredom and a bit of spice marked Veritas CEO Gary Bloom's opening speech here at the Veritas Vision conference. The boredom charge may come off harsh, but the accusation is most certainly apt as Bloom spoke with massive "Utility Now" signs surrounding him on stage. The utility computing message is all well and good, …

    Servers 4 May 2004, 18:43

  • We've seen worse than Sasser - MS

    Clean up gets underway

    Microsoft is considering automating the process of cleaning up systems infected by the Sasser worm, which spread like wildfire across the Internet over the weekend. The software giant has already released a cleaning tool that can be downloaded manually. Microsoft may put this into automatic updates, depending on the "level of …

    Malware 4 May 2004, 18:46

  • Gates pitches Windows Concept as home hub of everything

    Same old story?

    Keynoting WinHEC today Bill Gates unveiled something you might refer to as what the Windows Media Center PC did next - the Windows Concept PC. This modest effort pitches itself as the centre of digital home entertainment (including TV and Personal Video Recorder capabilities), the media management brains behind content streaming …

    Operating Systems 4 May 2004, 20:49