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10th August 2004 Archive

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  • Roxio sells software core, adopts Napster shell

    Sonic to pay $80m

    Apparently tricked by its own hype, Roxio has decided to sell off its consumer software business and focus instead on the dubious online music market. The company will go so far as to give up the Roxio name, taking on the Napster name of its music division. Sonic Solutions has agreed to pay $80m for Roxio's CD and DVD recording …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2004, 00:20

  • Bitboys offers next-gen mobile 3D chips

    NEC signed up already

    Bitboys, the graphics engine developer once feted as the future of desktop GPU technology, today unveiled its latest mobile phone-oriented graphics processor design. The G32, G34 and G40 - its not clear if Bitboys is retaining its Acceleon brand name for the new parts, but it doesn't look like it - are all OpenGL ES 1.1- …

    Mobile 10 Aug 2004, 09:31

  • Small.biz hub of village life

    Technology key

    Small businesses operating in the countryside are "dynamic, diverse and doing better than ever before", according to a study by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Published last month, An Entrepreneurial Countryside found that small businesses are becoming the hub of village life and important employers in local areas. …

    Small Biz 10 Aug 2004, 09:51

  • Price isn't right for new Bagle variant

    Worm du jour

    Yet another variant of the mass-mailing Bagle worm began spreading widely yesterday. Bagle-AQ (AKA Bagle-AL or Bagle-AC) normally spreads by emails containing an infectious attachment. The attachment name is variable, but always contains the word "price". The attachment is always ZIP, although it could sometimes be encrypted. …

    Malware 10 Aug 2004, 09:54

  • Apple updates Mac OS X to 10.3.5

    Includes PNG vulnerability fix

    Apple has released the latest Mac OS X update, taking the operating system to version 10.3.5. It has also patched a hole in the OS' code for handling PNG graphics files. Mac OS X 10.3.5 improves on its predecessors with improvements to the OS' Bluetooth code for better data transfer performance and its graphics drivers for ATI …

    Mac Channel 10 Aug 2004, 09:59

  • Small.biz: hotbed of sexism?

    Majority of female employees feel harassed

    A massive eight in ten female employees feel that they have been subjected to sexism in the workplace, placing thousands of small firms at risk of legal action, according to new research. A survey by Peninsula found that 82 per cent of women polled had been discriminated against because of their gender. Worryingly, 78 per cent …

    Small Biz 10 Aug 2004, 10:18

  • UK warms to entrepreneurs

    Small biz, big kudos

    A new survey, conducted by the Small Business Service, has found that small business owners are nearly universally admired by the British public: the survey found that 93 per cent of us admire "business brains". Good news indeed for the country's independent IT vendors and contractors, who are often painted with an "Arthur …

    Small Biz 10 Aug 2004, 10:30

  • Price cuts to boost 'lukewarm' Grantsdale demand - report

    Intel gears up for autumn, Xmas

    Intel's 'Grantsdale' chipset family has not proved as tempting for consumers and the vendors who supply them as the chip giant had anticipated, it has been claimed. The upshot will be a series of autumn price cuts designed to boost take-up of the new desktop platform. So say Taiwanese mobo maker and channel sources cited by …

    Channel 10 Aug 2004, 10:35

  • Spanish invoice scam targets UK

    Costa del Packet CD-ROM racket

    UK businesses are being warned to be on their guard against a Spanish firm compiling information for a CD-ROM directory. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) issued a statement today warning companies to be vigilant after receiving a tip-off that UK firms have been sent forms enquiring whether they want to be included in …

    Small Biz 10 Aug 2004, 11:06

  • Jump start your ASP.NET 2.0 development

    Site Offer 30% off comprehensive guide

    The first book to fully reflect the new ASP.NET 2.0 Beta, ASP.NET v. 2.0-The Beta Version identifies powerful new best practices for ASP.NET development. It gives you a jumpstart in creating new applications, optimising their performance, extending them to mobile environments, improving their accessibility, and simplifying …

    Site News 10 Aug 2004, 11:10

  • FCC rejects Buffy screen romp charge

    Vampire slayer cleared of indecency

    The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rejected a complaint by the Parents Television Council (PTC) that an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer contained indecent material. The episode in question - aired on 20 November 2001 - "included a scene in which the characters Buffy and Spike engage in sexual intercourse". …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2004, 11:49

  • Dalek veteran ready for galactic domination

    Old timer volunteers for salt cellar duty

    An Essex man who counts among the proud original operators of the Daleks has volunteered for further exterminatory duties - at the age of 77, the Sun reports. The BBC recently announced that the Daleks would, after all, appear in the new series of Doctor Who following protracted negotiations with the estate of the late Terry …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2004, 12:08

  • Technology pushes women to the edge

    Email and mobiles add to stress levels

    Women in the UK report that technology adds to the pressure they face in balancing work and home lives. According to research conducted for Good Housekeeping magazine, women in the UK feel under increasing pressure to be contactable at all times. The survey revealed that mobile phones and email are just one more thing busy …

    Small Biz 10 Aug 2004, 12:25

  • Sony hints at return to PDA biz... minus Palm

    Watching Symbian, PocketPC sales, apparently

    Sony may be contemplating a return to the European and US PDA markets, with Symbian and Windows Mobile lined up as potential operating systems, according to unnamed company executives. Sony's original announcement of its decision to quit the PDA business came at the start of June. It will launch no new Palm OS-based Cliés in …

    Mobile 10 Aug 2004, 12:33

  • UK gov moves to bust bootleggers

    New intellectual property crime strategy

    The UK government's first intellectual property (IP) crime strategy was launched today by industry minister Jacqui Smith. Described as a blueprint to crack down on the trade in fake goods, the scheme involves closer inter-agency co-operation in the fight against pirates and bootleggers. Intellectual property crime cheats …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2004, 12:54

  • UK gov to moot electronic tagging of dustbins

    At least they don't whine about privacy and freedom...

    Not content with tagging people, the UK government is proposing to move swiftly on to trash. According to a story in this week's Sunday Times, a "clean neighbourhoods" bill to be introduced this autumn will include provision for local councils to charge householders by how green their household refuse is, and to charge them for …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2004, 12:59

  • Tiscali UK in free calls offer

    More BT bashing

    Tiscali UK is stepping up its assault on the UK's discount telephony market and is introducing a new package offering free weekend calls and no minimum contract. Like all fixed-line telco services, Tiscali UK claims its calls are cheaper than BT's with punters able to shave off up to 5 per cent on calls to mobiles and up to 85 …

    Telecoms 10 Aug 2004, 14:18

  • Phishermen attack on a viral scale

    Scam email levels rise dramatically

    The prevalence of some phishing attacks are beginning to rival even high-level viral outbreaks, according to email filtering firm MessageLabs. For example, MessageLabs recently identified a new phishing attack directed at a well-known US bank and its customers. Within the first five hours of its appearance, MessageLabs had …

    Spam 10 Aug 2004, 14:21

  • Apple iTunes catalogue tops 1m songs

    But not in the UK

    Apple's iTunes Music Store now offers over one million songs, though while the company's UK arm was quick to trumpet the passing of that particular milestone today, it only applies to the US store. Still, it's an impressive target, and we eagerly await the addition of sufficient songs to take the UK, French and German stores …

    Financial News 10 Aug 2004, 15:01

  • Computer KOs Gloria Estefan live show

    Machine intelligence?

    Gloria Estefan last night cancelled her live show in Dallas after a computer crash "affected the production and its special effects". According to Gloria's lovely site: "Engineers guarantee that the system will be repaired by tomorrow allowing the tour to continue on schedule in Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday, August 12th." That …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2004, 15:07

  • Stelios confirms no-frills mobile outfit

    The Danish connection

    EasyGroup has confirmed that it plans to team up with Danish telecoms outfit - TDC - to launch a low-price mobile phone outfit in the UK with the option to roll-out the service in a further 12 European countries. TDC will launch a discount mobile company in the British market using the easy brand later this year, it's been …

    Mobile 10 Aug 2004, 15:17

  • UK's youth boards pirate ship to bootleg island

    Hoist the Jolly Roger

    New research conducted by YouGov has discovered that the youth of the UK care not one whit for the authenticity of the goods they purchase and that almost half own something pirated or counterfeit. In fact, of the 18-29 year-olds surveyed, 44 per cent had bought a fake, and only eight per cent thought their family and friends …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2004, 15:37

  • Intel's package looks fine to us

    Letters And AMD is not an experiment

    Our recent story on Intel's hush-hush marketing plan around its new 64-bit Xeon processors managed to anger Intel and AMD fans at the same time, which is no small feat. Loyal readers trounced El Reg for discounting the practicality of Intel's "complete package" campaign. In addition, stating that AMD needs Dell as an Opteron …

    Letters 10 Aug 2004, 15:53

  • OpenGL 2.0 launched with built-in shader language

    Pixel programming part of full spec.

    OpenGL 2.0 was formally launched today and with it the completion of the graphics API's Shading Language specification for vertex- and pixel-shader programming. OpenGL Shading Language was approved by the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) in June 2003 as an extension to OpenGL 1.4, which has since been updated to version 1 …

    Applications 10 Aug 2004, 15:59

  • Trojan dialler afflicts Symbian smartphones

    Cracked Mosquitos game harbours malware

    Malicious code that dials premium rate numbers without a user's consent has been found in a cracked version of Mosquitos 2.0, a popular game for Symbian Series 60 smartphones. Illicit copies of the game circulating over P2P networks contain Trojan dialler software, according to reports. As a user is playing a game, the …

    Malware 10 Aug 2004, 16:07

  • Earth to disappear from alien radar

    SETI project a big waste of time?

    The Earth is gradually vanishing from the view of any aliens that might be looking for us, because we are using fewer technologies that leak radio waves into space. This is the view of one of the pioneers of the SETI project, Frank Drake. (SETI stands for Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, in case you just crash landed …

    Science 10 Aug 2004, 16:31

  • Four Florida officials fired over Xbox slaying

    State set ex-con free

    Four Florida corrections workers have been canned after they failed to put an ex-con thought responsible for the recent Xbox slayings in jail before the killings could occur. Florida whacked one probation officer and his three supervisors on Monday for allowing Troy Victorino to violate his probation and then go on allegedly to …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2004, 16:58

  • Cisco turns revenue switch higher in Q4

    Inventory concerns

    Cisco Systems bounded to a strong fourth quarter, reporting double-digit growth and improved sales in its core business. Cisco posted $5.9bn in revenue for the period ended July 31. This total was a 26 percent rise over the $4.7bn posted in the same quarter a year ago. Cisco's income grew at an even stronger clip - 42 percent …

    Data Networking 10 Aug 2004, 21:50