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6th September 2004 Archive

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  • Pornsters face life in China smut crackdown

    'Severe punishment' for online miscreants

    China is stepping up its hard line against internet pornography by threatening life imprisonment for anyoner caught peddling porn. Ne'er-do-wells involved in the production and distribution of online adult content - including "phone sex" - faces a range of punishments including compulsory surveillance and imprisonment. Those …

    Music and Media 6 Sep 2004, 09:02

  • Top British boffin is a muppet

    Spock beaten into second place

    Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his ginger-haired assistant, Beaker, have been voted "Top Boffin" in a BBC poll run to mark the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA)'s Festival of Science which runs this week in Exeter. More than 40,000 votes were cast, with over a third going to Muppets Beaker and Honeydew. Star Trek' …

    Science 6 Sep 2004, 09:19

  • Ericsson ditches Bluetooth

    Analysis Fragmentation and US indifference

    Ericsson, the inventor of Bluetooth, has ended years of aggressively positioning the short range standard for dominance and has stopped developing new products. This is a sign that the market has become one for volume suppliers, not innovators, but it highlights a broader sense that, while the current generation of Bluetooth …

    Mobile 6 Sep 2004, 09:20

  • Moto, Proview LCD TV pact 'in doubt'

    Quality dispute

    Motorola has rejected the first LCD and plasma TVs produced on its behalf by Far Eastern manufacturer Proview, citing quality grounds it has been alleged. If true, the claim calls into question the US giant's return to the TV market in mid-2004. Motorola signed a deal with Hong Kong-based Proview in October 2003. It has waved …

    Channel 6 Sep 2004, 09:36

  • O2 denies 'overcharging' phone users

    Legal spat with OpenAir gets nasty

    O2 has dismissed allegations that its billing system is up the creek and that it is overcharging customers of its mobile phone service. The claims have been made by mobile reseller OpenAir, which is locked in a legal dispute with the giant mobile operator over the cessation of a contract between the two companies. OpenAir …

    Mobile 6 Sep 2004, 10:11

  • UK gov urges science to engage with public

    And stumps up £1.2m to encourage dialogue

    The UK government will spend £1.2m between now and 2006 to encourage science to engage with the public, the minister for science and innovation Lord Sainsbury announced today. "Sciencewise" grants will fund projects "to facilitate dialogue between scientists and the public" on new technologies which may have "new ethical, safety …

    Science 6 Sep 2004, 10:13

  • Technology credited with cutting retail theft

    First ever fall in European losses

    European retailers are crediting better technology for a fall in the value of goods lost to theft and administrative error. Retailers refer to such losses as "shrinkage" - theft by staff or customers, fraud by suppliers or administrative error. The European Theft Barometer from the Centre for Retail Research, which has run …

    Enterprise Security 6 Sep 2004, 10:18

  • Apple's Jobs 'offered iTunes team-up deal to Sony'

    Rejection was Sony's loss, not Apple's

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs offered his opposite number at Sony, Nobuyuki Idei, the opportunity to offer a version of the iTunes Music Store, Japanese newspaper the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun has claimed. According to the report, Jobs suggested such a deal during the Sony Open golf event, held in Hawaii last January. Idei is - surprise, …

    Music and Media 6 Sep 2004, 10:22

  • Caller ID spoofing service for sale

    Can't stand the heat, please buy my kitchen

    The founder of a US Caller ID falsification service is selling up, just days after setting up in business. Jason Jepson says a death threat was posted to the door of his California home, after the service was publicised. He also received harrassing email and phone messages, the New York Times reports. Jepson's business, Star38 …

    ID 6 Sep 2004, 10:28

  • Nevada nuke test fallout turns up in Hertfordshire

    Soil legacy of 1950s blasts

    Scientists from Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire and the University of Southampton have identified plutonium from 1950s US nuclear tests in British soil, the BBC reports. The team has also pinpointed fallout from Bikini Atoll and Chernobyl. The findings come as part of a soil-monitoring programme which began in 1843 - …

    Science 6 Sep 2004, 10:41

  • Handset makers tout Wi-Fi, GSM roaming spec

    Putative standard for VoIP phones

    Fourteen mobile phone makers, telcos and others announced their intention to publish specifications that they claim will allow 802.11-equipped handsets to make calls via Wi-Fi hotspots. Essentially it's all about roaming. The agreement should ensure that a handset within range of an WLAN access point can dial a phone number and …

    Mobile 6 Sep 2004, 11:10

  • Ofcom sets out stall on VoIP

    Deploys new VoIP prefix, then steps back

    Telecoms regulator Ofcom has welcomed the arrival of Voice over IP (VoIP), aka "Voice over Broadband" down at the telecoms regulator, and promised to stay well out of the way as services develop. Ofcom is also releasing a new code prefix - 056 - for VoIP numbers with no specific location. VoIP providers will also be able to …

    Telecoms 6 Sep 2004, 11:22

  • Suspected GPS stalker cuffed

    Kept close tabs on ex-girlfriend

    A US man has been arrested for allegedly using a GPS tracking device to monitor his ex-girlfriend's movements. Ara Gabrielyan, 32, Glendale, California, was taken in by police late last month on suspicion of one count of stalking and three counts of making violent threats, AP reports. The offences are punishable by up to six …

    Music and Media 6 Sep 2004, 11:27

  • Iomart swallows Easyspace for £10.5m

    Web biz expansion

    AIM-listed Iomart Group plc has gobbled up web host outfit Easyspace Ltd for £10.5m. It's the third web host buy-out carried out by Iomart over the last year or so. In 2003 it acquired Internetters and NicNames as it sought to build on its own web business. Founded in 1997 and based in Surrey, domain names and web hosting …

    Financial News 6 Sep 2004, 11:30

  • Cisco resellers get incentive rebates

    Money for pre-sales work

    Cisco will reward resellers for investment they make in pre-sales especially to small and medium businesses. The Opportunity Incentive Program gives financial incentives to dealers securing sales in the commercial market - including medium enterprises, mid-market and small & medium businesses. A pilot programme run in France, …

    Channel Register 6 Sep 2004, 11:35

  • Swede snared in UK snowmobile parking blitz

    £90 fine for offence in Warwick, in June

    A London outfit responsible for collecting parking fines for offences around the UK has pulled off the most audicious try-on of recent times - demanding a £90 penalty from a Swedish sewage engineer for illegally resting his snowmobile in the centre of Warwick in June. Euro Parking Collections (EPC) sent the notice to Krister …

    Bootnotes 6 Sep 2004, 11:38

  • Samsung shows 'world's first' hard drive phone

    1.5GB handset for the price of two 8GB iPods

    Samsung has shown what it claims is the world's first mobile phone that incorporates a hard drive. The SPH-V5400, unveiled today in Japan, includes 1.5GB of hard disk storage. That's barely more than you can get from a SD or CompactFlash card, but it's a start, presaging the day when handsets are as much iPods as phones. The …

    Mobile 6 Sep 2004, 11:42

  • Apple 'signs second iPod supplier'

    Asustek joins Inventec

    Apple has reportedly signed up Taiwanese contract manufacturer Asustek to punch out iPod Minis in a bid to increase supply and meet strong demand for the player. According to a DigiTimes report, citing "market sources", Asustek has already received its first order from Apple. Apple's prime iPod manufacturing partner is …

    Mac Channel 6 Sep 2004, 12:15

  • UK 'nation of computer buffs'

    Broadband growth soars

    The UK has become a nation of computer buffs, according to the British Computer Society (BCS). Its survey of 2,180 adults found that three quarters of grown-ups can use a PC to acess the net, while two-thirds have gone online to shop. However, half of those quizzed were hacked off with the complexity of IT, while seven in ten …

    Music and Media 6 Sep 2004, 12:52

  • OSS torpedoed: Royal Navy will run on Windows for Warships

    Combat management contractor opts for Win2k as base OS

    Almost three years ago the naval systems arm of major UK defence contractor BAE Systems took the decision to standardise future development on Microsoft Windows. an immediate effect was to commit BAE's joint venture CMS subsidiary, AMS, who specialise in naval Combat Management Systems, to implementing a Windows 2000-based CMS …

    Operating Systems 6 Sep 2004, 13:15

  • Aussie crossbow target saved by mobile phone

    Heroic mobe takes bolt during assault by drug dealer

    An Australian man who was attacked by his drug dealer wielding a crossbow escaped with his life only because his mobile phone took the full force of the bolt, the Herald Sun reports. Michael Brown, 33, came out of the December 2002 assault by dope dealer Robert Troy Scanlon virtually unscathed after his selfless cellphone's …

    Mobile 6 Sep 2004, 13:51

  • Million more in ADSL reach

    BT extends broadband today

    A million more homes and businesses should be able to get broadband from today after BT lifted line limits and extended the reach of its broadband service. Until today, anyone further than 6km from their DSL-enabled BT telephone exchange was probably unable to hook-up to the service. BT has ditched this limit and also increased …

    Telecoms 6 Sep 2004, 13:57

  • Nvidia 6800 Ultra head-to-head

    Review Leadtek vs AOpen

    If 'the way it's meant to be played' is Nvidia's marketing mantra, then the ATI equivalent right now has surely got to be, 'it was never meant to be this way', writes Benny Har-Even. It seems a long time ago since ATI proudly made its pact with Valve to give away Half Life 2 with each Radeon 9600 XT and 9800 XT card sold. …

    Reviews 6 Sep 2004, 14:37

  • Pregnant employees treated like dirt

    Congratulations - you're fired

    Research from the Equal Opportunities Commission and shopworkers union Usdaw shows the levels of discrimination suffered by pregnant women in the UK. Problems include dismissal, redundancy, forced resignation or being denied training. Nearly a quarter of women who made formal claims of pregnancy discrimination were dismissed …

    IT Director 6 Sep 2004, 14:45

  • Investors fret about IT security

    More honoured in the breach

    The lack of a fully-documented information security policy in halfo of the FTSE 350 companies interviewed by LogicaCMG is worrying for investors, who regard security breaches as one of the main factors that would impact their assessment of a company. Just over half of the FTSE 350 (53 per cent) believe the IT department should …

    Enterprise Security 6 Sep 2004, 15:12

  • 60 real ale pubs to get Wi-Fi

    Cheers to Shepherd Neame

    Sixty Shepherd Neame pubs in Kent, Surrey, London, Sussex and Essex are to get hooked up to wireless broadband by Christmas as the brewery expands its award-winning rural broadband project. It was drinks all round in June as three pubs celebrated after Kent-based Telabria - which uses the pubs as the "hub" of its RuralMesh …

    Wireless 6 Sep 2004, 15:26

  • Top security graduates offered bursaries

    Whizzkids click here for (ISC)2 cash

    IT security certification body (ISC)2 is offering bursaries to four of the most promising post-graduate information security students next year. Available worldwide, the four one-year scholarships offer of up to £7,036 ($12,500) each to full-time post-graduate students pursuing an advanced degree in IT security at any …

    Security 6 Sep 2004, 16:51