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12th July 2004 Archive

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  • 419 scam 'bank' bites the dust

    Plug pulled, justice done

    Sadly, the United Mercantile Credit & Investment Bank (UMCIB) - an online front for a UK-based 419 advance fee fraud gang - has shut up shop. Following our investigation last week - Anatomy of a 419 scam - which chronicled how the scammers had taken a US citzen for $1,000 using a combination of email, telephone calls and their …

    Music and Media 12 Jul 2004, 07:56

  • Apple, Swatch to make e-mail watch

    It was five years ago today... 12 July 1999

    Is the email watch to the 1990s what the flying car was to the 1950s? Trumpets are blown, predictions made, expectations raised: Apple, Swatch to make e-mail watch By Mike Magee Published Monday 12th July 1999 07:41 GMT A Swiss site is reporting that Apple and Swatch have launched a watch that allows you to read your email. …

    Mac Channel 12 Jul 2004, 07:57

  • Intel Grantsdale hitting demand for low-end GPUs?

    ATI, Nvidia reportedly reducing output

    Is Intel's i915G chipset - the integrated version of Grantsdale - hitting Nvidia and ATI's share of the low-end graphics market? This appears to be the case, if report that the two graphics chip specialists have cut their entry-level part wafer-starts is accurate. According to Taiwanese industry sources cited Nvidia has cut …

    Channel 12 Jul 2004, 08:57

  • Ebbers sued for $400m

    WorldCom wants its money back...

    Bernie Ebbers, disgraced ex-CEO of WorldCom, is being sued for $400m by the firm he used to run. WorldCom, which now trades as MCI, filed documents in the New York Bankruptcy court for repayment of a $408m loan made to Ebbers. He is believed to have returned some of the money with the proceeds of share sales. The company is …

    Telecoms 12 Jul 2004, 09:12

  • BBC Tech strike over outsourcing

    Staff not happy...

    BBC Technology staff have voted in favour of taking industrial action to show their opposition to the sell-off their department to Siemens. Bectu union members voted five to one in favour of industrial action. About a quarter of BBC Technology's 1400 staff are Bectu members. The union wants a delay to the sale, a three-year job …

    IT Director 12 Jul 2004, 09:13

  • MS cheers as Amazon offers 'iPod killer' Media Centers

    Store taking orders - but when will it ship them?

    In a desperate bid to drum up early enthusiasm for its 'iPod killer' Personal Media Center handheld video player technology, Microsoft announced that Amazon.com has begun taking orders for the devices. And, indeed, enter 'Creative Zen Media Center' into the website's search box and up will come the company's $500 20GB video …

    Mobile 12 Jul 2004, 09:53

  • CyberGuard bids for Secure Computing

    Consolidation play

    Security vendor CyberGuard yesterday launched an unsolicited offer to buy rival Secure Computing with a one-for-one stock exchange transaction offer. The bid - which values Secure Computing at approximately $278m - comes days after Secure posted a profit warning, blaming weak government sales for lowered Q2 revenues of between $ …

    Enterprise Security 12 Jul 2004, 09:57

  • 419 'bankers' back in business

    UMCIB is dead - long live Trans-Atlantic Private Bank

    The 419 scammers who have just lost their online presence in the form of United Mercantile Credit & Investment Bank (UMCIB) certainly don't mess about when it comes to getting back to business. We're obliged to the reader who has just alerted us to the Trans-Atlantic Private Bank - another bogus mercantile entity courtesy of …

    Music and Media 12 Jul 2004, 10:44

  • BT rivals demand Ofcom action

    Wholesale package not 'fit for purpose'

    Five rival telco providers have written to Ofcom complaining that BT is not offering a wholesale line rental package which is "fit for purpose". Carphone Warehouse, Centrica (One.Tel), Phones 4 U, Telco and Vartec say that they cannot properly compete because BT does not offer good enough service for a mass market product. …

    Telecoms 12 Jul 2004, 11:05

  • UK Wi-Fi network wins 'significant' VC funding

    3i cash to help The Cloud sell to service providers

    UK Wi-Fi provider The Cloud has secured its latest round of funding, from VCs 3i and Accel Partners, the trio announced today. Terms of the deal - how much cash the VCs are putting in and what proportion of the company they get in return - were not disclosed. The level of funding was described as "significant... enough to fund …

    Wireless 12 Jul 2004, 11:32

  • Prince Charles gives forth on nanotech

    No grey goo apocalypse, but caution required

    The Prince of Wales has called for greater consideration of the social, environmental and ethical implications of nanotechnology. He says that at this early stage of research, risk assesment must keep pace with commercial development. Writing in the Independent on Sunday, HRH seems content to acknowledge that the technology has …

    Science 12 Jul 2004, 11:37

  • Sacked clerk hits bosses with 5m emails

    Spam tsunami swamps insurance company

    An unnamed 17-year-old clerk who was given his marching orders from UK insurance company Domestic & General responded by bombarding his former employers with 5m emails, the Sun reports. The youth was sacked for failing to fill in a time sheet and promptly downloaded an email "bomber" which he used to unleash the tsunami over a …

    Spam 12 Jul 2004, 12:20

  • Gizmondo pushes Button after Jordan F1 deal deflates

    From Gametrac to pit-lane

    Tiger Telematics, the developer of the oddly named Gizmondo 'N-Gage with GPS' handheld games console, last week announced the endorsement of Chicane, a Formula One racing game being developed exclusively for its gadget, by British F1 driver Jensen Button. Button, who came fourth in this weekend's British Grand Prix at …

    Mobile 12 Jul 2004, 12:25

  • Mozilla takes bite out of IE

    Security concerns drive browser defection

    For the first time since Microsoft saw off rival Netscape in the 1990s Internet Explorer's virtual stranglehold on the browser marketplace has loosened. IE's share decreased slightly from 95.7 per cent to 94.73 per cent in the month up to 6 July, according to Web metrics firm WebSideStory. Mozilla was the main beneficiary of …

    Applications 12 Jul 2004, 12:27

  • Sony delays UK, US PSX launch

    PS2-based PVR slides into 2005

    Sony had delayed the launch of the PSX in the US - and possibly the UK too - until 2005 in a bid to make the technology more "feasible" for Western buyers. The admission was made in press interviews with Dick Komiyama, head of the company's electronics unit on Friday. The PlayStation 2-cum-TiVo debuted in Japan in December …

    Consoles 12 Jul 2004, 13:06

  • Swansea IT jobs are 'safe', says council

    But outsource-threatened staff ballot for strike action

    Swansea Council has responded to threatened IT staff strike action which the Reg revealed last week. The council is considering outsourcing all staff in an effort to save money. The latter complain that they were not consulted before an advert was placed in magazines inviting offers for the business. Ballots for industrial …

    IT Director 12 Jul 2004, 13:36

  • Travel to the stars for $1,000

    It's a one-way trip, though

    If you are planning your funeral and would like to go out with a bang, then why not consider a quick cremation, followed by one one-way trip for your ashes to the inexorable vastness of space? For a mere $1000, you too can have a gram of your mortal remains blasted skyward courtesy of Houston-based Space Services. Send seven …

    Bootnotes 12 Jul 2004, 14:04

  • Nvidia preps Media Center PC bundles

    Wants to sign up system builders

    Nvidia is pitching system builders keen to move into the Media Center PC market with a series of bundles designed to make knocking out MCPCs more straightforward. Each package comprises a GeForce 6800 or FX graphics chip, nForce 2 or 3 chipset, Nvidia TV tuner card, and the company's DVD playback software plus control utilities …

    Channel 12 Jul 2004, 14:27

  • Sony Vaio VGN-S1VP notebook

    Review Sony's best yet?

    It seems like Sony has a never-ending stream of slimline notebook computers in its stable. Just when one has bolted free, another one slips its rope and makes its way into the market place. It was only a matter of weeks ago that I reviewed the VAIO X505VP, but already a new thin, light and desirable notebook from Sony is in my …

    Reviews 12 Jul 2004, 14:46

  • X-prize race hots up

    Canadian challenge to SpaceShipOne

    The race to get an astronaut and privately-owned rocket into space is hotting up. The Ansari X-prize will give $10m to the first team who can get a spaceship able to carry three people into space - defined as 100km above earth. They must return safely and repeat the feat within two weeks. Last month Mike Melvill was the first …

    Science 12 Jul 2004, 15:07

  • Huge comms satellite ready for lift-off

    Six tonnes of broadband-delivering kit

    The Ariane 5 rocket is set to blast off early tomorrow morning, and will carry the biggest ever commercial telecoms satellite into orbit. The 5,950 kg Anik F2 satellite is set to launch at 00:43GMT, from French Guiana. Once it is in its geo-stationary orbit it will provide broadband Net access, distance learning and online …

    Science 12 Jul 2004, 15:19

  • French bid to boost open source

    New license given cautious welcome

    In a bid to boost the spread of open source software in France, a group researchers has announced a new software license which they claim is compatible with the Free Software Foundation's GNU general public license (GPL). The authors, whose work has been funded by three government bodies, say the licence is necessary because of …

    Developer 12 Jul 2004, 16:12

  • Pssst, wanna spam mobile phones?

    Chancer makes an offer you can refuse

    Mobile phones are becoming the latest target of junk mailers whose cynical attempts to enrich themselves at the cost of wasting everybody else’s time apparently know no bounds. One chancer spammed world+dog last weekend with an offer to teach his elite cell phone spamming skills to a few chosen individuals in exchange for the …

    Spam 12 Jul 2004, 16:19

  • Scientists horrified by Bush's Bad Science

    She blinded me with politics

    What started as a group of 62 scientists fighting what they saw as Bad Science being practiced by the Bush administration has now bloated to a body with more than 4,000 whitecoats calling for change. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), in a new report, has again expressed its feeling of "embarrassment and disgust" over the …

    Science 12 Jul 2004, 17:21

  • MSN search guru 'stole AltaVista code'

    More Borlandgate than Watergate

    A Microsoft employee arrested by the FBI for stealing AltaVista search source code works for MSN's Search team, the Seattle Post Intelligencer has revealed. Laurent Chavet was arrested for accessing AltaVista computers after he left the company, between March and June 2002. However, the story is more Borlandgate than Watergate …

    Music and Media 12 Jul 2004, 21:31

  • Windows XP SP2 slips into Fall

    As we told you here

    As we warned you in April, Microsoft has again delayed Windows XP Service Pack 2, the most significant revision of the Windows code base since its launch in 2001. The work now being scheduled for completion and an RTM (release to manufacturing [alternative etymology]) in August means a Fall ship date. Microsoft will be relieved …

    Operating Systems 12 Jul 2004, 22:50