28th May 2004 Archive

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Itanium and Opteron show spotty sales

Xeon unscarred by 64-bit rivals

Like Macaulay Culkin after the reality of puberty set in, the Itanium and Opteron processors are suffering from growing pains. Try as they might to conquer the server market, the 64-bit processors from Intel and AMD have yet to show serious gains. The latest server data from Gartner shows that only 6,281 Itanium boxes and 31,184 …

Servers 28 May 2004, 03:14
Are you a winner in the T-Mobile, Cingular spectrum swap?

Merger fall-out: prices to rise

Yesterday's deal between T-Mobile and Cingular ends a three-year-old joint venture between the two rivals and will have significant effects on subscribers in California and New York - but not necessarily for the mobile phone user. The two carriers have run a network sharing agreement which gives T-Mobile's Californian …

Mobile 28 May 2004, 03:17
California votes for Google mail safeguards

Landmark legislation

The Californian state Senate has voted to introduce safeguards on email services that, like Google's Gmail, scan incoming and outgoing email for specific terms in order to display advertisements. Google views its new email service as an extension of its advertising business. Despite intensive lobbying, and the full weight of …

Music and Media 28 May 2004, 03:17
Dell flies the flag for Fibre Channel

Lines up with EMC to give SCSI storage a good kicking

Dell is championing Fibre Channel in its fight back against iSCSI and NAS, with its launch of a £5899 (E8499) low-end SAN kit which includes a Brocade switch, two QLogic host adapters and a new Dell-EMC storage subsystem based on Serial-ATA hard disks. "We are taking Fibre Channel to new markets in smaller businesses and …

Storage 28 May 2004, 08:20
Intel grabs 21 June for Grantsdale launch

Alderwood, 775-pin Pentium 4s, too

Intel will ship its Pentium 4 chipset, 'Grantsdale', as the i915 family on 21 June, alongside a set of 775-pin processors, sources familiar with the chip giant's plans have claimed. As reported by Xbit Labs, the sources say Intel will formally announce the i915 name next week at Computex, re-christening its high-end P4 chipset …

Channel 28 May 2004, 09:14
C&W buys Bulldog

If you knew LLU, like Bulldog knew LLU

In Brief Cable & Wireless has bought Bulldog, the British ISP, for £18.6m. Set up in 2000, Bulldog has carved out a broadband niche, often using its own equipment to act as principal supplier, rather than as a simple reseller for BT Wholesale. The firm has installed its own gear in 38 BT exchanges in central London, installed …

Data Networking 28 May 2004, 09:16
IBM exec outlines MS plan to throttle...

It was five years ago today... 28 May 1999

...well, take your pick. In this case, it's OS/2 - IBM's ill-fated OS, now remembered with fondness by those who think that the Hillman Avenger is a classic automobile*: IBM exec outlines MS plan to throttle OS/2, Lotus By John Lettice Published Friday 28th May 1999 10:02 GMT IBM exec Garry Norris yesterday detailed a …

Channel 28 May 2004, 09:17
Ordering Pizza in 2019

Letter The future, with Blunkett's ID cards

Our thanks to Nick Ricioppo for this contribution. Ordering Pizza in 2019 Operator: "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. May I have your..." Customer: "Hi, I'd like to order." Operator: "May I have your NIDN first, sir?" Customer: "My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it's 6102049998-45-54610." Operator: "Thank you, Mr. …

Letters 28 May 2004, 09:24
ATI may announce Axiom next week

Alternative PCI Express graphics module to Nvidia's MXM

Having roundly trashed Nvidia's PCI Express graphics module format, MXM, ATI will tout one of its own, dubbed Axiom, The Register has heard on the grapevine. The specification could be revealed as early as next week. That some such system was on the cards was signalled to us earlier this month by an ATI spokesman who told us: " …

Channel 28 May 2004, 10:12
Doctor Who fans applaud new assistant

Get behind the sofa - it's Billie Piper

Doctor Who fans are apparently beside themselves with excitement at the news that former popstress Billie Piper will become Doctor Who's new assistant for the scheduled return of the roving Time Lord. Piper will star as Rose Tyler alongside established thespo Christopher Eccleston when the series returns in 2005. This has …

Bootnotes 28 May 2004, 10:14
Intel to ship 64-bit Prescotts on 1 August

For workstations, not desktops

Intel will formally announce 64-bit Pentium 4 processors on 1 August - just over a month after launching the first Xeon CPU with its EM64 technology. So claim sources "familiar with Intel's plans" via a timetable leaked to Xbit Labs. The 1 August date is well ahead of Intel's broad desktop release timeframe, which pegs the …

Channel 28 May 2004, 10:30
Secure router revenues are up - but for how long?

Wanted: one disruptive vendor

Soaring sales of secure routers helped the enterprise router market grow at a lick in Q1. But the market remains soft. Worldwide enterprise router revenues were £1bn in Q4, eight per cent up on the previous quarter. Annual revenues are forecast to grow at a not-exactly-booming 13 per cent between 2003 and 2007, according to …

Data Networking 28 May 2004, 10:43
We salute Web antidote to 'Big Brother'

Introducing 'Watching Paint Dry'

Those UK television viewers who are already considering leaving the country for the duration of Channel 4's fifth outing of human zoo extravaganza Big Brother may not have to jump on a plane after all. Mercifully, there is an alternative to the mud hut in Sudan for those who wish to avoid the daily work ritual of "Hey, did you …

Odds and Sods 28 May 2004, 10:44
Buffalo spammer jailed

Three-and-a-half to seven years for Mr Carmack

A New York State man who sent at estimated 850 million spam emails using accounts he opened with purloined identities was imprisoned for up to seven years yesterday. Howard Carmack, AKA the "Buffalo Spammer", must serve a minimum of three-and-a-half years in prison following his March conviction for spamming-related offences ( …

Spam 28 May 2004, 10:45
Software pirates stole my stealth plane

Letters So lay off Senator Alston, ok?

Yesterday the aviation industry launched a project to develop a quieter plane. An investment of £2.5m over three years, they said. Our survey said: Howdy Folks, The answer already exists, the B-2. Since this is a joint production of Boeing and Northrup-Grumman (or did someone swallow them up), it would be instructive to look at …

Letters 28 May 2004, 11:09
iRiver readies 'PC-free' colour music, photo player

Reg Kit Watch H300 is its own USB host

Far Eastern portable digital music player maker iRiver will next month ship the successor to its H100 series of music products: a new, colour range that also offers the ability to display still photography. The H300 series will comprise two models, one with a 20GB hard drive, the other with a 40GB unit. Content is displayed on …

Mobile 28 May 2004, 11:14
Brits move into edible Colombian ant market

E-commerce at its best

Those readers with a penchant for history will certainly know the story of the redoubtable Henry Wickham - the man who in 1876 "took" 70,000 rubber tree seeds from the Amazon, thereby laying the foundation for the British domination of the world's rubber trade. Well, we're very pleased to report that the sort of spirit which …

Financial News 28 May 2004, 11:53
AMD pitches Athlon 64 at Media Center PC makers

Wants more 64-bit games, too

AMD is trying persuade a number of PC makers, including HP and Gateway, to build its 64-bit processors into future Media Centre PCs instead of Intel's chips. It also wants the likes Atari and Ubisoft to create 64-bit versions of their games and bundle them on such systems. So said AMD Athlon 64 product manager John Crank in an …

Channel 28 May 2004, 12:15
First 64-bit Windows virus sighted

Rugrat poses no immediate risk

Anti-virus researchers at Symantec yesterday spotted the first virus capable of infecting 64-bit Windows systems. Rugrat was created to prove a point rather than to be released into the wild. The proof-of-concept virus poses no immediate risk to Itanic users, but as the population of IA64 systems grows that risk of 64-bit worms …

Anti-Virus 28 May 2004, 12:19
DoCoMo hunts for UK partner

This i-mode thing is really good, really

NTT DoCoMo is talking to three mobile network operators about taking its i-mode content platform for the UK, the FT reports. DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile operator, has made a series of hugely expensive minority investments in overseas mobile networks, now mostly written-off, to promote i-mode. This platform for data services …

Mobile 28 May 2004, 12:29
Would you trade your password for chocolate?

If yes, click here sharpish

OK, security pros, let's talk just amongst ourselves for just a minute. You might have seen that recent news item that reported that 70 per cent of people would willingly trade their computer password for a bar of chocolate. I don't know about you, but that left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Even worse, 34 per cent would give …

Enterprise Security 28 May 2004, 12:29
NEC sub defrauds US gov

'fesses up and pays fine

NEC Business Network Solutions, a subsidiary of NEC Corp, has pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding the US government, and will pay a $20.6m fine to settle the case. The company was charged with collusion and wire fraud, according to Reuters, and admits to rigging bids and allocating contracts for projects in the privately …

Data Networking 28 May 2004, 12:38
A tag too far - Blunkett's satellite tracking plans

UK becomes 'prison without bars'

UK Home Secretary David Blunkett is planning a radical extension to existing electronic tagging and monitoring systems, floating the use of satellite tracking to monitor the movement of sex offenders, and the deployment of lie detector tests to check that the subjects aren't breaking the terms of their release. The satellite …

Music and Media 28 May 2004, 13:06
Lindows wins some in the Netherlands

Minor victory

Lindows has won the latest round in its trademark fight with Microsoft, with a Dutch court ruling that it can keep its name for general corporate purposes in the Netherlands. The Linux distro had lost an earlier case in the Netherlands over the use of the Lindows name and had to change the name of its operating system and its …

Operating Systems 28 May 2004, 14:25
Spamhaus assaults 'Great Wall of Spam'

Spamhaus.cn open for business

Anti-spam organisation Spamhaus is opening up operations in China with the launch of a new site, Spamhaus.cn, this week. For some time China has acted a 'safe-haven' for spammers offering so-called bullet-proof hosting - in reality, unscrupulous ISPs who pull the plug on spammers when enough complaints are received by their …

Spam 28 May 2004, 14:56
TIA lives? Report lists US gov 'dataveillance' activities

Multiple Total Information Awareness?

A report on US government data mining indicates that the Total Information Awareness project, cancelled last year, is in some senses alive and well. The General Accounting Office lists a total of 199 projects, 122 of which use personal information and 54 of which use data from the private sector. The largest number of the …

Music and Media 28 May 2004, 15:52
Mac OS X update fails to fix vulnerability

Apple gives lessons in security mismanagement

A major revision of Apple's Mac OS X operating system released this week fails to come bundled with a vital, recently-issued security fix. A security patch (2004-05-24) which guards against a vulnerability in the Help viewer sub-system is absent from the Mac OS X version 10.3.4, despite claims to the contrary by Apple. Reg …

Security 28 May 2004, 16:37
Emergent cheese-sandwich detector enlisted in War on Terror

Technology on Trial How not to win

It's very bad luck for USA Today that on the very same day they reported the profound failing of the FBI's digital and computer analysis systems in the Madrid bombings, they published a column suggesting that just such technologies could prevent such attacks in future. Uncritical gee-whizz columns about new technology are …

Music and Media 28 May 2004, 19:51
Online dating firm patents cupid's arrow

TrueLove: patent pending

The US patent office has outdone itself this week, awarding dating company eHarmony a patent covering online matchmaking. In patentese, US patent no. 6,735,568 describes a computer implemented method for "identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship". In real terms, this amounts to a series of …

Financial News 28 May 2004, 20:34
Web-cheat student to sue university

They should have stopped him sooner, he says

A student who was booted off his degree course for plagiarism is to sue the university. He says tutors at the University of Kent should have spotted what he was doing and stopped him sooner. Michael Gunn, a 21-year-old English student, freely admits using material downloaded from the Internet to complete his assignments. He …

Music and Media 28 May 2004, 20:36
Europe sticks up two fingers at ICANN budget

You ain't getting the money, son

The proposed 2004-5 budget for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has hit a snag - the rest of the world is refusing to pay its share of the bill. ICANN last week proposed a budget of $15.8m for next year, nearly twice as much as its current annual expenditure. However, the Council of European …

Financial News 28 May 2004, 20:54