13th May 2004 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
Lawyers claim earth, sky and moon from Microsoft
That will be $258m, please. Oops, we forgot the expenses
Ordinary punters in California are entitled to a voucher after Microsoft settled a class action suit in the state. But lawyers who successfully pursued the case want a little more - $258m plus expenses. That works as a $3,000 an hour for the lead attorney and $2,000 an hour for the other 34 lawyers and $1,000 an hour for …
Operating Systems 13 May 2004, 08:50
-
Europe slips behind on nano technology
Big rewards hang in the balance
More investment in nanotech research is needed in Europe if it is to become a world leader in the field, according to a paper published yesterday by the European Commission. Research must be better co-ordinated across member states, with more money going towards training and infrastructure, it recommends. The document outlines …
Science 13 May 2004, 09:30
-
Capgemini succumbs to rebranding madness
LogoWatch Whalesong, joss-sticks, synergy, thrust
We have just received word of a nasty outbreak of whalesong-driven rebranding madness at none other than Capgemini, the artist formerly known as Capgemini, Ernst, Young, Cuthbert, Dibble & Grubb - or something like that. Yup, the Strategy Boutiques have been hard at it, and there is more than a suggestion of joss-stick scented …
Bootnotes 13 May 2004, 09:32
-
DiData back in the black
South African reseller scrapes into profit
Dimension Data has produced interim profits of $9.9m (H1 2003: -$4.5m) on turnover of $1.18bn for the six months to 31 March, 2004. The networking equipment reseller said improved demand for services had driven growth but the environment remains tough. Growth was strong in the US, Australia and Asia but more weaker in Europe …
Channel 13 May 2004, 10:00
-
BT to slash LLU costs
Claims it will lead to greater competition
BT is to cut the cost of local loop unbundling (LLU) in the UK in a move it claims will increase infrastructure competition. The UK's dominant fixed line telco is to slash the cost of some products by up to 70 per cent as part of a phased series of cuts, the company anounced today. Prices are to fall by around 35 per cent from …
Telecoms 13 May 2004, 10:04
-
Telewest cuts losses
Half a million broadband customers..
Telewest reduced net losses for the first three months of the year to £36m, from £187m lost in the first quarter of 2003. Q1 turnover was up £9m to £344m compared to the three months ended 31 March 2003. The company claimed its highest ever average revenue per user of £45.05 a month or £541 a year. Household churn is less than …
Financial News 13 May 2004, 10:25
-
Child porn case highlights browser hijack risks
Cautionary tales
Browser hijacking programs can redirect users to pornographic websites. But could these malicious programs also lead to false accusations of possession of child pornography? Malware such as CoolWebSearch (AKA CWS) can change browser start-up and search pages and generate pop-up pages - often punting illegal pornographic …
Malware 13 May 2004, 10:28
-
Official secure music scheme to kill all non-compliant formats
It was five years ago today... 13 May 1999
Orwellian futures, dark enclaves and "Millennium Triggers" - it was all go back in 1999 as the music biz sought a way to stop punters raping and pillaging its product. Read on: Official secure music scheme to kill all non-compliant formats By Tony Smith Published Thursday 13th May 1999 11:52 GMT The music industry has …
Music and Media 13 May 2004, 10:29
-
Exam cheats reveal MMS killer app
Similar to 'phone a friend'
A California high school student spurred a ban on mobile phone use when he was caught cheating on an exam using his camera phone. The student took a picture of the exam paper and was trying to send it to a friend when he was caught. School administrators described the incident as a "flagrant violation" of school rules, and …
Mobile 13 May 2004, 10:31
-
IBM throws weight behind server-managed clients
Thick client bad, thin client bad?
To understand the logic behind IBM's latest strategy announcement - centering on the concept of server-managed clients - you've first got to look at the downside of both thick and thin clients. Thick clients are bad because of the challenges with distributing code, the high cost, both to IT and the end-user, of management and …
Applications 13 May 2004, 10:34
-
Sage: more acquisitions ahead
Must buy to maintain growth
While Sage's H1 results seem strong, if the three acquisitions it has made since last September are stripped out, organic revenue growth was only three per cent. Flat results from existing operations in its North American business should be a particular concern. As well as a decline in the value of the dollar, Sage also …
Financial News 13 May 2004, 10:44
-
US to ban up-skirt voyeur photos
Stealth porn clampdown protects privacy
The US moved closer today to banning so-called "up-skirt" photography, under the proposed Video Voyeurism Prevention Act. The bill specifically bans deliberately taking pictures of an unconsenting "individual's naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast...under circumstances in which that …
Mobile 13 May 2004, 11:13
-
Lastminute losses lessen
Confident on year...
Online travel agent lastminute.com halved losses for its second quarter ended 31 March 2004. It recorded EBITDA losses of £1.5m compared with £3.1m in the second quarter of 2003. Total transaction value, based on passenger departure dates, was up more than 90 per cent to £178.8m compared to £92.2m for the second quarter of 2003 …
Financial News 13 May 2004, 11:44
-
German police raid five homes in Sasser case
Dragnet widens
German police have widened the hunt for the vandals responsible for the distribution of the infamous Sasser and NetSky worms by raiding the homes of five new suspects. All are close to the home of Sven Jaschan, the prime suspect. Last Friday, 18-year-old Jaschan was arrested in the village of Waffensen near Rotenburg, in …
Malware 13 May 2004, 11:46
-
BT cleared for line rental hike
No immediate action from Ofcom
Ofcom is to take no immediate action against BT for putting up the cost of line rental for an estimated nine million consumers in the UK. The communications regulator had launched an "urgent" investigation into allegations that its new phone tariffs - which included the scrapping of its standard rate line rental - were anti- …
Telecoms 13 May 2004, 12:07
-
BT wins interconnect appeal
Vodafone out of pocket
The Competition Appeal Tribunal - the court which regulates regulators - has ruled that Oftel (now Ofcom) overstepped its authority when it ordered BT to cut fees it charges mobile operators to link radio base stations to their mobile telephone exchanges. The case centred on whether these "back haul circuits" could be considered …
Telecoms 13 May 2004, 12:09
-
Student uncovers US military secrets
'Felt-tip pen' censorship cracked
An Irish graduate student has uncovered words blacked-out of declassified US military documents using nothing more than a dictionary and text analysis software. Claire Whelan, a computer science student at Dublin City University was given the problems by her PhD supervisor as a diversion. David Naccache, a cryptographer with …
Science 13 May 2004, 12:14
-
FBI anti-terror network scares experts
'Not on a path to success'
The FBI's Trilogy project - a plan to replace ther Bureau's existing local and wide area networks - has been slammed by technology experts from the National Research Council. The NRC said the $600m project was "not on a path to success" and failed to adequately support the FBI's focus on terrorism since 9/11. The report calls …
Public Sector 13 May 2004, 13:39
-
Data transfer without tears
Stob Or cheese. Of any description
Ms Stob claims that old comedy sketches, written in the pre-PC era, need to be ported to a safe, modern and familiar environment in order properly to be enjoyed by safe, modern and familiar IT staff. She offers this classic example… — Thanks for that, Peter. Excellent. An excellent meeting. I look forward to pushing …
Bootnotes 13 May 2004, 14:31
-
Ofcom hails BT wholesale price cuts
Adjudicator hired to bang heads
Ofcom has welcomed BT's plans to cut charges for rival operators to access its network. It says that local loop unbundling (LLU) can deliver competitive broadband markets in the UK. Today BT said it would slash the cost of LLU by up to 70 per cent in a move that could spark the creation of new and possibly cheaper broadband and …
Telecoms 13 May 2004, 14:32
-
SpamCop gets gagging order lifted
Twist in SpamCop versus Spam King lawsuit
A temporary restraining order against SpamCop which stops it from forwarding complaints to ISPs against bulk mailer OptInRealBig was lifted on Tuesday. Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of the US District Court for the Northern District of California lifted an order she had imposed only the day before on the anti-spam service. She …
Spam 13 May 2004, 14:55
-
Business slow to embrace wireless
Confusion, fear, security concerns
Enterprise wireless technology is here. It has been here for a while now and it is not going away. Given the obvious truth of this statement, it may seem surprising that companies have on the whole failed to embrace wireless technologies in more than a cursory fashion. Despite the fact that productivity, total cost of ownership …
Wireless 13 May 2004, 15:36
-
Industry warms to BT's LLU price cuts
Room for further reductions, though
BT's decision to cut LLU costs has been - broadly speaking - welcomed by the industry. Bulldog Communications - one of the few operators in the UK currently involved in local loop unbundling (LLU) - has applauded the cost reduction and BT’s apparent commitment to reduce costs further later this year. However, Bulldog reckons …
Telecoms 13 May 2004, 15:54
-
Good for you, good for Microsoft - here comes WinXP SP2
You know it makes sense...
Microsoft is setting itself challenging - although as yet unspecified - targets for deployment of XP SP2 by the end of the year, and is aiming for 'sustained' awareness activity lasting a full year after it's released. The company is still going through a tooth-sucking process in deciding whether or not it can afford to give it …
Business 13 May 2004, 16:02
-
MS roadmaps Longhorn Server and beyond to 2/4 year beat
Now predictable - but only as a prediction
Microsoft's Longhorn schedule has in the past couple of years been vagueness bordering on chaos, ETAs for Longhorn the client being things largely things you'd deduce from the hints execs dropped in presentations, while even the existence of the server version has been the subject of conflicting public hand-wringing by the High …
Servers 13 May 2004, 16:56
-
Red alert over Symantec firewall flaw
Four bugs rated as 'potentially devastating'
Four new vulnerabilities have been identified in Symantec's personal firewall products. Symantec warned yesterday that hackers could exploit the flaws to render targeted systems inoperable or execute remote code with kernel-level privileges. The problems were discovered during product testing of Symantec's client firewall …
Enterprise Security 13 May 2004, 21:04
-
Survey finds most professional geeks are men
Shock results stun world
Men are still grossly over-represented in the IT sector, occupying eight of every ten UK positions. Pay rates are skewed too, with men in IT earning significantly more than their female counterparts. The picture is not particularly surprising: women in IT are more likely to be in co-ordinating or administrative roles - while …
IT Director 13 May 2004, 21:09
-
McDonald's breaks IT barriers with McAsian web site
Asians love green tea and fries
Is it possible that McDonald's - a brick-and-mortar burger seller - has outclassed its corporate peers in the IT sector with the most profound use of the Internet yet? Yes. When we first stumbled upon McDonald's I-AM-ASIAN website, we thought it was a slightly racist, bizarre locale, promoting the central role hamburgers play …
Bootnotes 13 May 2004, 21:10
-
New flaw takes Wi-Fi off the air
Jam today and jam tomorrow
A newly-discovered vulnerability in the 802.11 wireless standard allows attackers to jam wireless networks within a radius of one kilometre using off-the-shelf equipment. Affecting various hardware implementations of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard - including widely used 802.11b devices - the flaw was found in the …
Wireless 13 May 2004, 21:29
-
Dell beat itself in the first quarter
We'll print HP into submission
Dell today posted strong first quarter results, showing gains across all product lines and geographies. Dell's performance has started to become a bit ho-hum with the company consistently growing faster than rivals. For the first quarter, Dell reported revenue of $11.5bn - a 21 percent year-over-year gain. This total beat out …
Financial News 13 May 2004, 23:11
