1st October 2004 Archive
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Azul reveals supersonic Java machine
DeWitt's multicore diner
As expected, stealth hardware start-up Azul Systems has announced a new type of server aimed specifically at processing Java software. Back in February, The Register was the first to unearth part of Azul's plans. It seemed the company would most likely head the Opteron route at the time, but Azul has now revealed it's using a …
Servers 1 Oct 2004, 00:56
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Budding inventors warned of dishonest promoters
Patent Office advice
Budding inventors are being warned to beware of unscrupulous invention promoters by the Patent Office. Inventions can lead to the beginning of a successful small business, with many able to profit from untapped markets. However, many inventors are putting their faith in less than reputable promoters due to a lack of …
Science 1 Oct 2004, 08:24
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Hardware appliances to rule security roost
Security in a box
Hardware appliances will dominate the European security market by 2008. IDC said 80 per cent of spending in the region on security functions such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems will move onto appliances over the next four years. Ease of deployment and the increase of applications available on specialised hardware …
Enterprise Security 1 Oct 2004, 08:29
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DVD+RW 8x draft spec finalised
Media, drives coming soon
DVD+RW technology guardian, the DVD+RW Alliance, this week issued the final version of the 8x rewrite specification... almost. What was released this week was the final draft version, which presumably needs little in the way of modification before becoming the full 1.0 spec. When it does, disc and drive manufacturers will be …
Storage 1 Oct 2004, 09:19
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Nvidia to launch nForce 4 'next week'
But can ATI get its own launch in there first?
Nvidia's next-generation AMD-oriented chipset family will indeed be called the nForce 4 and is likely to be launched early this month, possibly as soon as Monday. Sources familiar with the chip-maker's plans revealed that the chipsets will support the PCI Express bus and incorporate Nvidia's SLI graphics card-doubling …
System Builder 1 Oct 2004, 09:58
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HP wraps up Synstar purchase
Done and almost dusted
HP is now officially the owner of Synstar, the UK-based IT services group. Today it revealed that it had bought up 92.1 per cent of Synstar shares; it expected to buy up the rest compulsorily by mid-November. It is shelling out £163m (US$293.3m) cash for the business. HP gains 1,500 corporate customers across Western Europe and …
Channel Register 1 Oct 2004, 10:04
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Netflix, TiVo sign VoD alliance
Rent films through your PVR
Netflix, the online DVD rental company, and TiVo yesterday said they will work together to deliver movies digitally down the wires, presumably specifically to the latter's PVR equipment. The announcement was anticipated - as we reported last month. It's an interesting partnership. Netflix has built a solid online brand, while …
Music and Media 1 Oct 2004, 11:09
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India mulls tough ID rules for cybercafés
Response to cybercrime
Internet cafés in parts of India face closure if new regulations forcing them to provide police with names and addresses of all their customers are introduced. Under the new rules, visitors to Internet cafés will have to show their ID cards or be photographed. The governor of Karnataka State in southern India is reported to be …
Telecoms 1 Oct 2004, 11:25
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BBC Tech staff become Siemens workers
Deal done
Some 1440 BBC Technology staff have been transferred to Siemens Business Services today following the completion of a major ten-year £2bn Technology Framework Contract (TFC). The sale of the BBC's tecnology division received ministerial approval a week ago after Culture Minister Tessa Jowell said there was "no legitimate reason …
IT Director 1 Oct 2004, 11:44
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Sony Japan dumps lock-down CDs
Copy-protection? No thanks
One music label, at least, is turning its back on CD copy-protection. Japan's Sony Music Entertainment yesterday revealed it intends to junk its own copy-control system, Label Gate*. The technology was introduced in January 2003, but this month will see the last discs issued with the anti-rip system incorporated into their …
Music and Media 1 Oct 2004, 11:45
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Ghost of US vs MS laments Redmond's 'antitrust immunity'
'Freedom to destroy freedom and competition'
With the expiry of the final appeal deadline in US versus Microsoft this week Andrew Chin, who assisted Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the case, has gone public, describing the outcome as a wasted opportunity on the part of the government. Writing in the Raleigh News & Observer, Chin says the consequence is that there will be …
Operating Systems 1 Oct 2004, 12:03
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DDR RAM Round-up
Group Review Not yet ready for DDR 2? Then make the most of the original
It may at first seem a little odd that with DDR 2 on the verge of a consolidated mainstream push, some manufacturers are still making a significant play for regular 'old' DDR users, but perhaps on closer inspection it's not as odd as it seems. DDR 2 is the future, of that there's little doubt, but for the time being at least the …
Reviews 1 Oct 2004, 13:07
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UK backs Aurora Euro space programme
I'd like a return ticket to Mars, please
The UK will support the European Space Agency's Aurora programme. At a press conference in London this morning, Lord Sainsbury, science minister, announced that PPARC, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, would commit £5m to Aurora's next phase. Aurora is a pan European bid to explore the solar system, bring …
Science 1 Oct 2004, 14:08
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BT scales back wholesale broadband price rises
But not by much
BT has reduced the level of proposed price hikes for some of its wholesale broadband services following pressure from the industry and concerns that ISPs could go bust if they were allowed to go ahead unchecked. However, the reduction in the amount extra ISPs will be charged is only small and still means that small ISPs face a …
Telecoms 1 Oct 2004, 14:13
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UK music biz set to sue file-sharers
'Benign neglect policy' toward P2Pers to end
The UK music industry has been threatening local file-sharers with Recording Industry Ass. of America-style lawsuits since late last year, but it finally seems to be gearing up to take action. Industry sourced cited by today's Times newspaper claim that the writs will start to fly within the next month as the UK's answer to the …
Music and Media 1 Oct 2004, 14:14
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UK banks launch anti-phishing website
Anti-fraud advice for consumers, businesses
The use of malicious code and phishing scams to extract confidential account details from consumers have cost British banks more than £4.5m over the last 12 months. This is a tiny fraction of the £402.4m lost through credit card fraud in 2003, but banks today stepped up efforts to help consumers protect themselves from online …
ID 1 Oct 2004, 15:11
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Peoplesoft sacks Craig Conway
Share price soars
The Peoplesoft board has fired CEO Craig Conway, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to lead the company. In a statement, the board thanked Conway for his contribution to the company, but said that the decision to remove him had been taken unanimously. The founder and chairman of the comapny, Dave Duffield, will take …
Financial News 1 Oct 2004, 16:18
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NASA rules out Beagle resurrection
Static landers are soooo last season
NASA has rejected Professor Pillinger's proposal that the Beagle 2 science package should have a place on the US' mission to Mars in 2009. At a press conference this morning, Professor Colin Pillinger said that the instrument package had been ruled out last week because, as a static lander, it didn't fit with NASA's philosophy …
Science 1 Oct 2004, 16:27
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USAF plans space wars, world's space hardware gets nervous
'So what do we do if Galileo's threatening American lives?'
A new US Air Force doctrine document on counterspace operations reveals that neutral, commercial and third party space hardware could be on the target list. The document, says Noah Shachtman in Wired, suggests the Air Force sees it as its duty to "slap down other countries' space efforts, should the need arise," and will be …
Science 1 Oct 2004, 17:03
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McAfee in BitDefender virus slur spat
Cross contamination
McAfee has distanced itself from slurs against rival AV firm BitDefender contained in sponsored ad links on Google.com. The Romanian firm was unsurprisingly upset at having its products referred to as a "virus" in ads that linked to a page offering McAfee anti-virus software (screenshot here). To make matters worse the …
Malware 1 Oct 2004, 17:37
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Sun lassoes Longhorn-sized supercomputer win
UT gets visual
Sun Microsystems and the University of Texas have teamed to create an UltraSparc-powered giant that will crunch 3D tasks for the school. The system dubbed Maverick - also the name of one of Sun CEO Scott McNealy's sons - is based around a 64-processor Sun FIre E25K server. In the world of RISC computing, few systems are larger …
Servers 1 Oct 2004, 18:28
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RIAA hunts down more file-trading scum
Gets them where they study
The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) knows how to kick off the back-to-school season with a splash, sending out another load of lawsuits to collegians everywhere. The music-labels' front man sued 762 more file-trading evil-doers, pushing its grand lawsuit total well over 5,000. The focus of the latest batch of …
Music and Media 1 Oct 2004, 19:29
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Sun Thumper server plans excavated by The Reg
Exclusive Opteron is go go go
Sun Microsystems has an all out Opteron onslaught planned for next year that could include attacks on both the server and storage sides of the house, The Register has learned. For years, Sun has promoted the idea of a data center-in-a-box centered around its UltraSPARC-based servers. CEO Scott McNealy has been the leading …
Servers 1 Oct 2004, 21:05
