The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

20th May 2004 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • OD2 halves music download prices

    But only if you buy in bulk

    On Demand Distribution (OD2) slashed prices by up to 50 per cent this morning, in a bid to pre-empt the announcement of rival digital music distributor Napster's UK launch date today. OD2 is one of the longest-running players in Europe. Its technology powers music download sites run by third-parties, including MyCokeMusic, high …

    Media 20 May 2004, 09:05

  • Apple creates separate iPod business unit

    Expects big things from little player

    Apple has spun off its iPod into a division of its own, separating the portable music player from the company's Mac hardware operation. The restructure will see former hardware engineering chief Jon Rubenstein take charge of the iPod business. Timothy Cook, until now the company's worldwide sales and operations chief, will …

    Mac Channel 20 May 2004, 09:10

  • US boffins charged with parity violations

    Seeking lost bosons

    Boffins testing the strength of the 'weak' charge of electrons have seen parity violations in electron-electron scattering for the first time. The results could eventually lead to a better understanding of why things have mass. In very simple terms, parity is a measure of the left-right (or mirror) symmetry of nature. Its …

    Science 20 May 2004, 09:27

  • Symantec acquires Brightmail for $370m

    Hybrid defences, market dominance play

    Symantec is to buy email filter firm Brightmail for approx. $370m cash. It is to integrate Brightmail's anti-spam software into its own line of gateway appliances to create hybrid defences against junk mail and viruses. The two firms are already partners, with Brightmail using Symantec anti-virus software for its service and …

    Security 20 May 2004, 09:34

  • MS ships Mac Office 2004

    A few good mendings

    Microsoft yesterday began shipping the Mac version of Office 2004, but with development of its VirtualPC x86 emulation software still incomplete, the software giant was forced to offer just two of three versions planned. As with any major upgrade to an established personal productivity package, stand-out features are few. …

    Mac Channel 20 May 2004, 09:47

  • 'Deceptive duo' hacker pleads guilty

    Benjamin Stark in plea bargain deal

    A Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to charges stemming from his role as one half of the high-profile hacking team "The Deceptive Duo", responsible for obtaining sensitive information from government systems, and defacing dozens of governmental and private websites with patriotically- …

    Security 20 May 2004, 10:27

  • Buy my digital nervous systems, Gates tells CEOs

    It was five years ago today... 20 May 1999

    MS supremo Bill Gates has never been shy of expounding his dream of a better, more caring world. Back in 1999, he used a CEO summit to plug his own particular vision for human advancement. For shame: Buy my digital nervous systems, Gates tells CEOs By Graham Lea Published Thursday 20th May 1999 08:08 GMT Earlier this week …

    PCs 20 May 2004, 10:28

  • BT confirms customer exodus

    'New wave' compensates for core revenue shortfall

    BT is losing between 50,000 and 100,000 residential customers a month, the UK's dominant fixed-line telco finally confirmed today. This loss of customers even takes into account all those punters who return to the company each month - something BT is keen to brag about in its ads. This erosion in BT's core customer base, as …

    Broadband 20 May 2004, 10:31

  • Finance houses struggling against hackers

    Defences inadequate, says Deloitte

    Financial institutions are losing the war against hackers, according to a new survey out this week. The majority of finance houses (83 per cent) quizzed by management consultant Deloitte acknowledged that their systems had been compromised in the past year, compared to only 39 per cent in 2002. Many of the resulting security …

    Security 20 May 2004, 10:35

  • 'Spot the terrorist' system was pitched to Cheney by Jeb Bush

    Is MATRIX really deloaded?

    A 'terrorism scoring' system which is now claimed to have been dropped was a key factor in selling the controversial MATRIX system to the US Justice Department, claims an Associated Press report. MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange), was originally intended as a (as its name suggests) mechanism for US States …

    Media 20 May 2004, 11:55

  • Patriot missile: friend or foe?

    RAF Tornado downed, questions unanswered

    Our recent story on the 2003 friendly-fire incident which saw a US Patriot missile down a RAF Tornado with the loss of both crew members, prompted several reader comments on the weapon's chequered history. Long before Gulf War II, there was considerable concern and doubt surrounding the Patriot's reliability and performance. …

    Science 20 May 2004, 12:00

  • Ultimate geek challenge at IPSC

    Do you have what it takes?

    The 2004 Internet Problem Solving Contest (IPSC) kicks off this Friday. Hundreds of programmers from around the world will compete to develop the most efficient and elegant ways of solving a set of problems. In true geek style, competitors battle for bragging rights, not a prize. This is the sixth year in a row the contest has …

    Science 20 May 2004, 12:18

  • Nildram to offer PAYG broadband

    ISP round-up

    Bucks-based ISP Nildram has added new "pay-as-you-go" broadband products to its existing stable of ADSL offerings in a bid to cash in on demand for entry-level services. Its "dslSurf500" product costs from £19.49 a month and comes in two flavours based either on the amount of data used or time spent online. For this price, …

    Broadband 20 May 2004, 12:20

  • The Number & BT in DQ supremacy spat

    Both claim directory top dog status

    Hostilities between two of the UK's big directory enquiries (DQ) operators have broken out again over which one can claim to be number one. The Number has published independent research (which it commissioned incidentally) which shows that its 118 118 service has achieved a market share between 36 per cent in November 2003 to a …

    Broadband 20 May 2004, 12:25

  • Napster UK goes live

    Launches well ahead of key rivals

    Napster stole a march on its rivals today by launching the UK incarnation of its online music service immediately - rather sooner than the "end of summer" timeframe it had previously provided. Napster UK is online now and ready for business, CEO Chris Gorog said in London this morning. "We believe the Internet distribution of …

    Media 20 May 2004, 12:43

  • Rivals 'welcome' Napster to UK

    Worried? Us? Oh no... er...

    Napster's UK launch almost certainly appears to have the fledgling music download market's existing British and European players worried. How else can we explain the raft of press releases issued this morning offering comment on the event? As we reported earlier, Europe's chief digital music distributor, OD2, today launched a …

    Financial News 20 May 2004, 13:26

  • Where'd we put 'em? US to buy Stealth bomber detecting radar

    Stymies sale to China

    The one country that surely doesn't need to find out where Stealth bombers might be is buying a radar system that is claimed to be able to detect them. The USA is reported to be negotiating to buy a set of Vera radars from the Czechs, the quid pro quo being that a deal to sell them to China does not go ahead. Vera is the …

    Bootnotes 20 May 2004, 13:30

  • I Know You Have Porn on your PC

    Cash'n'Carrion The return of ITMugs

    Good news this afternoon if you're a bit challenged in the drinking receptacle department - Cash'n'Carrion is announcing the return of ITMugs, suppliers of quality mugs to the IT elite. ITmugs offers the discerning beverage taker a range of witty slogans to compliment the Java and Hobnobs, including the "HTTP 404 Coffee Not …

    Site News 20 May 2004, 13:33

  • BT signs global network deal with Manpower

    Just the job

    Recruitment outfit Manpower has signed a $73m (£41m) deal with BT to upgrade and manage its worldwide data network. The five-year deal will see BT migrate Manpower on to a fully managed, global Wide Area Network (WAN) covering 3,200 sites in 63 countries and should generate "significant savings" for the recruitment group. BT …

    Data Networking 20 May 2004, 13:35

  • US lubes passports with RFID snake oil

    Opinion Mark of the Beast

    As we reported recently, the US State Department will conduct a trial of biometric passports this Fall, with any eye toward moving to full production in 2005. This scheme is supposed to help officials catch evildoers who are too thick to get biometric passports issued to themselves under false identities. It will, of course, be …

    Security 20 May 2004, 13:36

  • We see no mobile data killer app: IDC

    Don't believe the hype

    There will be no single killer app for mobile data, according to analysts at IDC. We should add, before all the operators start to panic, that this is because there will be several important factors driving revenue to such an extent that by 2008, the mobile consumer applications market will be worth just under $8bn in Western …

    Mobile 20 May 2004, 13:57

  • Italy approves 'jail for P2P users' law

    Download songs and spend up to three years in prison

    Italy has made transferring content via the Internet without the permission of the copyright holder a criminal offence The Italian parliament yesterday voted in favour of imposing jail sentences of up to three years on anyone caught uploading or downloading unauthorised copyright material to and from the Net. The move comes in …

    Media 20 May 2004, 14:10

  • Jail terms for tourists buying pirate CDs in Greece?

    Crackdown on the low tech stuff

    Holidaymakers in Greece could face a spell in jail if they're caught buying pirate CDs, the BBC reports. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) has warned that it will be pushing for prosecution of buyers of pirate CDs, and stressed: "This is not a symbolic measure." Greece is top of the IFPI's hit …

    Media 20 May 2004, 14:24

  • USAF in secret garage door jamming trials

    Motorola RF madness

    The USAF has successfully deployed a two-way radio garage door jamming system at its Eglin Air Force base in Florida, according to the state's news-journalonline. The $5.5m Motorola system is apparently keeping garage doors firmly shut in the surrounding Niceville, Valparaiso and Crestview communities. Although technicians have …

    Bootnotes 20 May 2004, 14:29

  • EMC goes low with new NAS head

    Cheap path to Windows

    EMC has announced plans to roll out a new storage system designed to keep Windows users happy by linking lower-end hardware with higher-end kit. Come June, EMC will ship the NetWin 110 NAS Gateway - a follow on to the larger NetWin 200 released last October. The two boxes are the only members of EMC's NetWin family of products …

    Storage 20 May 2004, 14:52

  • Wanadoo UK offshore threatens 200 jobs

    Tech support off to Mumbai

    Wanadoo UK is shunting its tech support operation to India in a move that could threaten the jobs of more than 200 staff in Sheffield. Workers at Capita - which recently took over the contract to run call centre operations for Dixons including narrowband support for Wanadoo UK (formerly Freeserve) - were told today that the ISP …

    Broadband 20 May 2004, 15:56

  • Universe very big: official

    78bn light years and growing

    Ripples in the microwave radiation afterglow left by the big bang reveal that the universe is at least 78bn light years across. Researchers led by Neil Cornish, a physicist at Montana State University, think they have at least partially answered one of the most fundamental questions in cosmology: how big is the universe? Until …

    Science 20 May 2004, 16:29

  • 'Not the sharpest of knives' - praise heaped on Linux study author

    Tanenbaum speaks

    Previous suggestions that the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution would be publishing excerpts from its damning indictment of Linus Torvalds today would appear to be inoperative. According to the AdTI front page free copies are available for "Tocqueville supporters only", the study will be available for purchase from around 20:00 …

    Operating Systems 20 May 2004, 17:11

  • Can Sun mature from Xeon boy to x86 man?

    Fowler struts his stuff

    Sun Microsystems' newest EVP John Fowler has either an incredibly easy or incredibly difficult task ahead of him. It all depends on your perspective. Earlier this week, Sun officially placed Fowler in charge of Network Systems. The new role thrusts Fowler, a software specialist, into the uncomfortable position of shepherding …

    Servers 20 May 2004, 18:22

  • US airport fake ID study 'was found in al-Qaida cave'

    Mica wants biometrics, fast

    The US House Aviation Subcommittee yesterday heard how congressional investigators used false IDs to gain access to a series of federal buildings and two commercial airports, and how a copy of the report detailing their success was later found in an al-Qaida cave in Afghanistan. The investigators were 100 per cent successful in …

    Media 20 May 2004, 21:47