16th July 2004 Archive

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Welsh distie Redstar goes titsup

Falling star

Welsh components distie Redstar Marketing has gone titsup. A terse message on the firm's website states that it has ceased trading. Redstar went into administration on 9 July with the immediate loss of 12 jobs. Four workers have been kept on short-term by administrators PKF. Keith Morgan of PKF told El Reg the decision for …

Channel 16 Jul 2004, 08:19
RIAA praises 'magnificent' P2P

Then asks Senate to kill it

An open letter to the Senate from Recording Industry Association of America chief Mitch Bainwol praises peer-to-peer technology as "magnificent". But this isn't a change of heart: the RIAA is rallying support behind Orrin Hatch's INDUCE Act. Bainwol paints critics of the bill - which makes manufacturers of devices such as the …

Music and Media 16 Jul 2004, 08:23
NEC declares Teraflopian war

We will never give up

Dr Takemitsu Kunio, head of NEC's research and development in Tokyo, said the company would "never give up" in the battle for supercomputer supremacy. Speaking at a press conference, marking the 10th anniversary of the company's research labs in Bonn, Kunio dismissed suggestions that IBM would soon knock NEC from the top of the …

Servers 16 Jul 2004, 08:28
Nokia warning send shares falling

How low can you go?

Nokia yesterday warned that earnings will continue to decline in 2004, sending the company's stock sharply lower. The mobile phone maker said that earnings per share will be between €0.08 and €0.10 in the third quarter, substantially below last year's €0.17 figure and well behind expectations of around €0.14. It also said that …

Financial News 16 Jul 2004, 08:43
Show me the way to go (for e-biz advice)

Little businesses are ignorant

Small businesses aren’t fully embracing the technology that could help them run more efficiently because they don’t know how to use it or where to go for help. An annual survey of over 4,000 businesses in London by Business Link for London, revealed that businesses as a whole are increasingly incorporating technology into their …

Small Biz 16 Jul 2004, 09:06
Charges against Amsterdam 419ers dismissed

Evidence rejected

The Dutch Department of Justice yesterday suffered bitter defeat in a court case against thirteen West African men, who allegedly sent thousands of 419 or advance fraud fee letters through the Amsterdam cable network of UPC. The court ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to link the suspects individually to the scams. …

Spam 16 Jul 2004, 09:18
eBay to explore music downloads

Tracks not allowed to be re-auctioned

eBay is to offer a trial digital music download service, allowing third-parties to piggy-back their own music offerings through its web site and payment system. The pilot programme will last six months, and begin when eBay has chosen a number of music-provider partners. It's presumably hoping they will come and offer their …

Financial News 16 Jul 2004, 09:34
MSN buys Lookout for Outlook

In brief Search play

Microsoft has bought a search firm called Lookout, for an undisclosed sum. Lookout specialises in search for Outlook, and Microsoft is to incorporate the technology into its MSN business. MSN is gunning for much bigger search revenues and claims a $100m investment on search. This month it revamped its search website, clearing …

Financial News 16 Jul 2004, 09:55
Bagle copycat builds Zombie attack network

Apprentice worm

Virus writers have released a new version of the Bagle worm, on the back of the source code released into the wild earlier this month. Bagle-AF (AKA Bagle-AB or the 'Apprentice' worm) is spreading quickly across the Net, following its release yesterday. Most anti-virus firms rate it as medium risk. The new Bagle worm was made …

Anti-Virus 16 Jul 2004, 10:09
Moody's junk-rates EDS debt

EDS disagrees

Moody's cut EDS's debt rating to junk bond status yesterday, which means the computer services firm's cost of borrowing has just gotten higher. Also, it may find it that much harder to win mega-outsourcing deals, as customers want to see a completely pukka balance sheet, if they are to commit their IT to another business. Moody …

Financial News 16 Jul 2004, 10:43
Inaccessible, trademark infringing and on the Web

Letters Cinematic madness engulfs mail bag

Upset abounds this week. Warner Brothers' attempts to claim ownership of the word 'Shire' certainly stung some of you into action. But we'll get to that once we've had a glimpse into the mind of the technically able cinema goer. Yes, we're talking about Odeon's website: Congratulations for pointing the finger at Odeon Cinemas …

Letters 16 Jul 2004, 10:52
Oxford Uni hacks-to-hackers land in hot water

Punishment looms

Two Oxford University student hacks who turned hackers to expose IT security shortcomings at the University face possible suspension for their efforts. First-year students Patrick Foster and Roger Waite could be fined £500 or suspended by University authorities after they broke into University systems and published an account …

Enterprise Security 16 Jul 2004, 11:59
Excel ate my DNA

Autoformating black hole

Genetic research is being hampered by a smart formatting function in Excel, according to US researchers. The problem, which can cause medically important genes to be hidden from view, is widespread, and has affected some public databases, including the gene expression data on the NCBI LocusLink database in the US, the …

Applications 16 Jul 2004, 12:17
IEEE groups fight for control of key standards

Analysis Pace quickens

This week’s IEEE summit highlighted the breakneck pace of change that is driving innovation in wireless, but also threatening to break its standards process apart. Political wars rage in areas like UltraWideBand and fast Wi-Fi, but more fundamental debates are taking place over how different specifications should coexist and …

Wireless 16 Jul 2004, 12:58
Will the first Linux carwash clean up?

Inside Toronto’s pioneering computer outlet

Trading has started slowly at the world’s first Linux-only computer shop and carwash. The pioneering retail concept has only been open a week, and is selling “a few systems a day”, says co-founder David Silverman. Plus lots of carwashes. Sub500.com is the brainchild of Marc (32) and David Silverman (37), carwash owners, …

Operating Systems 16 Jul 2004, 13:41
MS wins $4m from spammer scammmer

Ad-ware peddling cybersquatter

Microsoft has won a $3.95m judgement against a California man who used a combination of cybersquatting and spamming tactics to scare vulnerable users into downloading adware. Daniel Khoshnood of Canoga Park, California, ran a pair of spam campaigns last year to coax consumers into running a toolbarwhich claimed to automatically …

Spam 16 Jul 2004, 15:29
Sendo X: phone meets PDA, MP3 player, light sabre

Review OK, maybe not the light sabre...

The more attentive Register reader will no doubt be aware of this writer's obsessions (well OK, bigotry) on the subject of PDAs, form factors and mobility. They may also recall my joy when Psion finally mobile-enabled the netBook, and the sad death of said netBook the following year at the bottom of a sauvignon- and broken glass …

Mobile 16 Jul 2004, 15:29
Dell boosts Q2 earnings on tax break

So begins the Kevin Rollins Band

Kevin Rollins began his first day as Dell's CEO with a bang, giving the all clear for the company to raise its second quarter earnings forecast. Dell is now looking to post per-share earnings of 31 cents. This is 2 cents higher than previous expectations and 29 percent higher the the earnings per share posted in the same …

Financial News 16 Jul 2004, 16:52
US nuclear lab suspends secret work

Missing discs prompt shutdown

Classified work at a key US nuclear weapons research lab has been suspended after sensitive data was reported missing. The unprecedented stand-down at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, began at noon yesterday after two important storage devices went unaccounted for during a 7 July inventory check. Officials refused to …

Security 16 Jul 2004, 16:59
Airport snoop system thrown in $102m garbage can

CAPPS II snafu

The US government has scrapped a controversial $102m airline passenger screening system in favor of an as of yet undefined new system. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge gave word this week of his department's flip-flop on the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening Systems, or CAPPS II, project. CAPPS II was once meant to …

Public Sector 16 Jul 2004, 20:40
World's best-dressed Linux backer leaves Sun

Gets embedded at MontaVista

Peder Ulander, one of Sun Microsystems' Linux desktop leaders, is leaving the company for a much smaller organization - Linux seller MontaVista Software. Ulander is easily the best-dressed member of the Linux community - think a young, open source-leaning Jerry Sanders. And, hey, he can afford nice clothes. Ulander arrived at …

Software 16 Jul 2004, 21:59