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17th September 2004 Archive

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  • DTI calls women back to science and technology

    Where did they all go?

    The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is to spend £4m in encouraging more women to pursue careers in science and technology. It says the UK economy is losing out because women with science qualifications too often leave the field. The money will fund a new UK Resource Centre for women in SET (Science, Engineering and …

    IT Director 17 Sep 2004, 06:19

  • New e-minister urged to intervene in broadband row

    If he has the 'energy'

    Mike O'Brien - the new part-time ecommerce minister who replaced Stephen Timms in last week's mini Government reshuffle - has a tough job on his hands. His main role will be as Energy Minister formulating the UK's strategy at a time of rising oil prices and increased fears over global warming. "I will also be responsible for 'e …

    Telecoms 17 Sep 2004, 06:23

  • Paradise Computers goes titsup

    Falls foul of HP over grey broking

    Paradise Computers has filed for insolvency, following a dispute with HP over grey broking. Telephone calls to the computer dealer's London office are met with hold music. The Birmingham office has an answerphone which no-one appears to be answering. According to industry sources, HP and police officers raided the company …

    Channel 17 Sep 2004, 06:42

  • Sign the Cybercrime Convention, urge secureocrats

    Not so fast, say critics

    Politicians, police and representatives from business are gathering in Strasburg this week to push forward international efforts to combat cybercime. A key aim of the three-day conference is to encourage more countries to sign up to the Council of Europe's Cybercrime Convention, the first international treaty to address …

    Enterprise Security 17 Sep 2004, 06:52

  • German lawyer arrested in piracy crackdown

    Customers could be next

    German police have arrested a 46 year-old lawyer who, along with two brothers from Thüringen, offered illegal software, games and movies through the high speed download service Ftpwelt.com for over a year. Details will be revealed during a press conference today. The German Society for the pursuit of copyright infringements e.V …

    Channel Register 17 Sep 2004, 06:56

  • SP2 on XP Home

    Review Security opportunities missed

    Our previous article on the security disappointments of SP2 drew considerable criticism because we cited very poor service to the security needs of home users, although we tested it on XP Pro. In fairness, we felt it reasonable to repeat the procedure on XP Home, and note any differences. As before, we evaluated SP2 on a single …

    Enterprise Security 17 Sep 2004, 07:06

  • easyMusic picks Wippit for pre-Xmas launch

    'easyJet for iPod generation' service

    Stelios Haji-Ioannou's upcoming easyMusic digital download service will be delivered by UK online music pioneer Wippit, the two companies announced today. Ironically, Wippit's own a la carte download service was described by CEO Paul Myers as "easyJet for the iPod generation" around the time of its launch in March this year. …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 08:38

  • Cornice countersues Western Digital

    Chuck out WD's patents, HDD maker asks court

    Mini-hard drive maker Cornice has hit back against rival manufacturer Western Digital's allegations that the company violated WD patents with a lawsuit of its own. Filed this week with the US District Court for central California, Cornice's countersuit asks the court not only to rule that no such infringement has taken place …

    Storage 17 Sep 2004, 08:56

  • FSB FUD over FOI, you cry

    Letters The postbag, and your miscellaneous musings

    This week we've seen some serious debate about the freedom of information act. We ran a this story outlining the concerns the Federation of Small Business have about the impact the act will have on its members. As can sometimes happen some of you felt there was more to the story than the FSB suggested: Companies are not covered …

    Letters 17 Sep 2004, 09:01

  • Smart telescopes probe galactic mysteries

    Wherefore art thou, gamma ray bursters?

    Astronomers in the UK have launched an observation project on a global network of telescopes that will be controlled by intelligent software, rather than human intervention. Dubbed RoboNet-1.0, the project maintains continuous 24-hour monitoring of certain phenomena, and respond automatically to sudden changes in a patch of sky …

    Science 17 Sep 2004, 09:12

  • ATI to unveil Athlon 64 PCIE chipsets 'this month'

    One part with graphics, one without

    ATI will launch its first Athlon 64-oriented chipset later this month, a company official has revealed, and become the first company to formally announce PCI Express support for the processor. According to Reuven Soraya, ATI's director of platform product marketing, cited by DigiTimes, the part is currently dubbed the RX480 and …

    System Builder 17 Sep 2004, 09:18

  • AMD sneaks out Sempron 3000+

    Desktop model with 512KB cache

    AMD this week added a 3000+ rated processor to its 32-bit Sempron desktop chip line-up. The $123 part was added to the company's price list without fanfare. Unlike previously announced Semprons the new part contains 512KB of L2 cache - the others have 256KB. Indeed, the older Sempron 2800+ is, like the new model, clocked at …

    System Builder 17 Sep 2004, 09:37

  • Symantec snags @stake

    Consultancy play

    IT security giant Symantec yesterday announced an agreement to acquire security consultancy @stake for an undisclosed amount. Symantec said the deal, expected to close in October, will allow it to expand its existing security services and consultancy businesses. @stake supplies security auditing and analysis products alongside …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 09:51

  • Iomega readies wireless SOHO NAS kit

    But minus best Wi-Fi security system

    Iomega will next week ship a pair of wireless-enabled Network-Attached Storage (NAS) units pitched at homes and small offices, the company said yesterday. The NAS 100d features an integrated 802.11b/g adaptor, but as yet the machine doesn't support the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) specification, viewed by the Wi-Fi Alliance as …

    Storage 17 Sep 2004, 10:07

  • EDS hit by US Airways' Chapter 11

    Forecast slashed

    EDS (Electronic Data Systems) warned yesterday that its third quarter earnings would take a significant hit from US Airways' Chapter 11 filing on Sunday. The company slashed its forecast by almost a third following the news. In previous forecasts EDS said it expected to lose between 23 and 33 cents per share in the second half …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 10:21

  • Sony 'PStwo' to kick PS2 out of PS3's shadow?

    Announcement could come next week

    Sony is believed to be preparing a more compact version of its PlayStation 2 console intended to give the platform mid-life boost in much the same way it did with the original PlayStation. Sony announced the PSone in June 2000, initially alongside the original console, but later, once the PS2 was widely available, in place of …

    Consoles 17 Sep 2004, 10:31

  • Mandrakesoft offloads shares to go shopping

    Acquisitions on the horizon

    Mandrakesoft shareholders have given the company the green light for a stock sale that will raise up to $7.3m. A vote on Monday approved the sale of up to a million shares at €6, or $7.31, per share. The stock is being sold as a private investment in public equity, and investors will largely be existing shareholder, the company …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 11:09

  • 9 out of 10 cats prefer CDs to downloads

    And so do their owners

    Not only is the CD format alive and well, but it's emerging from the "online" revolution looking healthier than ever. 92 per cent of DRM-store downloaders surveyed by Entertainment Media Research prefer the plastic platters to their MP3 downloads, Revolution magazine reports. It supports the theory that online downloads are …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 11:52

  • 11 charged over 'biggest-ever' MS piracy bust

    Operation Digital Marauder

    Eleven people from across the US were indicted on Wednesday over alleged software piracy offences following the largest seizure of counterfeit Microsoft software to date. FBI officers seized $80m worth of pirate Microsoft software in series of raids last month following a two-year investigation into a US-wide software piracy …

    Channel 17 Sep 2004, 11:55

  • PFY proves self abuse cures male-pattern baldness

    Episode 31 Breaking news from the proxy server

    BOFH 2004 Slow weeks are bad for systems people, you end up having to make your own fun. To pass the dull week, I challenge the PFY to make me a truly inventive mod for our proxy server. The stakes are a night of drinking at the other person's expense. Like I said, it passes the time... Two days on, he's ready for his demo, …

    BOFH 17 Sep 2004, 11:57

  • Don't price Wi-Fi to death, operators warned

    As if they care

    Mobile phone networks have been warned not to harm their future revenues with data tariffs designed to give the ailing WLAN hotpot business a death blow. AT&T Wireless, which now boasts EDGE-speeds on most of its stateside GSM/GPRS network, recently launched an all-you-can eat data plan for $24.99. By comparison, WLAN provider …

    Wireless 17 Sep 2004, 14:01

  • ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0

    Review Quality telly for your laptop?

    It's been pretty lean pickings of late for laptop owners and technophobes interested in watching television on their PC. Whether you're unwilling to open up your PC, or a laptop owner who didn't have that option, you were forced to purchase an external PC TV card. And these - to be quite honest - have tended to be rather naff, …

    Reviews 17 Sep 2004, 14:29

  • Nose-controlled mouse not to be sniffed at

    Letters Reg readers applaud sillytech

    More letters! Mostly about the very bizarre, we thought, notion of using your nose to control a mouse pointer. Seems you lot think this is a fine idea. We'll we still think it's silly, but we'll hear you out: What's this rubbish about blinking for a mouse-click? The most intuitive would be to tap the right side of your nose …

    Letters 17 Sep 2004, 14:49

  • ATI HyperMemory revives little-used AGP 2x feature

    Dedicated video RAM, no! Main system RAM, yes!

    ATI has re-invented AGP, or at least a key feature of that mid-1990s bus standard, for the PCI Express era. Dubbed HyperMemory, ATI's "innovative technology" allows its video chips to use system memory instead of dedicated video RAM on the add-in card. Register readers with long memories will recall this ability to use main …

    Channel 17 Sep 2004, 15:10

  • FTC backs spammer bounties (false)

    Analysis: Red Herring report

    A program to encourage members of the public to become "bounty hunters" tracking down email spammers received the luke warm backing of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday. In as far as it wants to do anything (and we think it'd rather do nothing), the FTC wants to create an elaborate spammer supergrass scheme with …

    Spam 17 Sep 2004, 20:01

  • Web's most famous hooker kills blog

    Book deal and Johns beckon

    "Don't ever turn down pleasure because you were afraid of what other people might say," writes Belle de Jour on her blog. The London call-girl this week delivered that parting wisdom, as she put an end to her famous online diary. No more whips, no more chains, no more homemade S&M devices. A tragedy? Probably so. Belle's last …

    Music and Media 17 Sep 2004, 20:10

  • Former Enterasys chief pleads guilty to fraud

    Pumped fiction

    The former chief executive officer of networking firm Enterasys this week pleaded guilty to fraud over an illegal scheme to talk up the firm's share price three years ago. Enrique “Henry” P. Fiallo, 52, of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud. He …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2004, 20:28