22nd October 2004 Archive

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IBM gives in to call for Liberty services for all

Joins the 'other' alliance

IBM has given in to industry and customer pressure and joined the Liberty Alliance. Big Blue issued a note to analysts on Wednesday, notifying them of its change of heart. The behemoth, working on its own web services specs, swallowed some pride and joined a group backed most prominently by rival Sun Microsystems and other …

Developer 22 Oct 2004, 07:24
Security Report: Windows vs Linux

An independent assessment

Executive Summary Busting The Myths Myth: There’s Safety In Small Numbers Myth: Open Source is Inherently Dangerous Myths: Conclusions Based on Single Metrics Windows vs. Linux Design Windows Design Windows has only recently evolved from a single-user design to a multi-user model Windows is Monolithic by Design, not …

Security
Chip makers' efforts fail to cut excess inventory

Q3 figures show stockpiles still rising

The volume of excess chip inventory in the channel during Q3 was higher than expected, market watcher iSuppli has revealed, despite aggressive attempts to eliminate the stockpile. iSuppli had previously anticipated some $800m worth of unused semiconductors would be taking up storage space in chip manufacturers, distributors, …

Channel Register 22 Oct 2004, 08:40
Amazon profits up (but not enough for Wall Street)

Pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap

Amazon made net income of £54m in the third quarter ended 30 September 2004 on net sales of $1.46bn. This compares with net income of $16m and net sales of $1.13bn for the same period last year. But dealers on Wall Street were not impressed with the results and pushed Amazon shares down almost nine per cent in late trading. …

Financial News 22 Oct 2004, 08:45
BOFH: How to survive a Boring Geek Alert

Episode 36 Every man for himself

"So he says: 'You'd think Nicholas would have shown us his chopper last nig...' look out!" the PFY says dropping to the floor like a stone while pressing the lockout footpad under his desk. Trusting the PFY's visual acuity, I hit the floor as well, looking at the CCTV screen to see what horrified him so. Boring Geek Alert!!! …

BOFH 22 Oct 2004, 08:49
Wi-Fi trade body approves first WLAN mobile phones

Interoperability assured

The Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) has certified the first devices the integrate 802.11 wireless networking with mobile phone network communications for their successful interoperability with other WLAN products. The organisation also extended a hand to the mobile phone industry with a promise that it will explore its particular needs …

Wireless 22 Oct 2004, 09:12
Cisco buys 'network bouncer' firm Perfigo

No jeans, no trainers, no unpatched XP kit

Cisco yesterday announced plans to acquire privately-held network security firm Perfigo for approximately $74m in cash. The acquisition, which is subject to various standard closing conditions, is expected to close by the end of January 2005. Perfigo's CleanMachines access control technology provides "endpoint policy analysis, …

Enterprise Security 22 Oct 2004, 09:37
Yahoo! acquires searchable email outfit

Looking for a Google grabber?

Yahoo! has bought Stata Labs for an undisclosed amount of money. Stata makes Bloomba - an email client which allows you to search emails and their attachments. It also makes spam filter SAproxy. Stata Labs email client Bloomba and its spam filter SAproxy will no longer be offered for sale. Customers who bought either piece of …

Telecoms 22 Oct 2004, 09:38
Life is good for shiny, happy PeopleSoft

Solid results at 'healthy and vibrant' company

PeopleSoft proved that the unwanted attentions of Oracle are not scaring off too many customers. For the third quarter ended 30 September 2004 PeopleSoft brought in total revenue of $699m, up eight per cent on the previous quarter and up from $624m for the same period last year. Pro forma net income was $62m, up 22 per cent …

Financial News 22 Oct 2004, 09:45
Stop calling George 'Dubya', you a**sholes

FoTW A Republican writes

We are a fairly hardy bunch, here at The Register - virtually flame-proof, in fact. So, Flame of the Week has to be pretty impressive, one way or another. This week's flame has not been chosen because of its terrifying power, no. (It'll take more than calling Lester Haines an "assshole" (sic) to get through the layers of …

Letters 22 Oct 2004, 09:46
Intel 'ends' chip digital TV tech work

Liquid Crystal on Silicon too expensive, apparently

Wave goodbye to the era of cheap, large-format high-definition digital TVs. Intel has apparently cancelled its LCoS chip development programme. Intel announced its LCoS - Liquid Crystal on Silicon - initiative in January 2004. Its plan was to put it tiny LCD on a chip. The image would then be optically magnified and projected …

Peripherals 22 Oct 2004, 09:51
AT&T restructuring swallows $7bn

The price of change

Giant US telco AT&T revealed the cost of its restructuring - $7.1bn in the three months ended 30 September 2004. In the third quarter of last year the firm made income of $418m. The telco blamed an $11.4bn reduction in the value of its long-distance network for the loss which works out at $8.95 per share. Excluding …

Telecoms 22 Oct 2004, 10:05
AMD to revive information appliance concept

'Emma' to herald cheap net access for developing world?

AMD's 'Emma' - a low-cost information appliance designed for the developing world - looks set to be formally unveiled next week, according to a variety of reports on the web. Actually, 'Emma' may be the Geode-based, x86-compatible SoC that the appliance is based upon. The device itself is a highly compact unit - along the lines …

PCs 22 Oct 2004, 10:25
O2 in SMS contraception harassment rap

Take ur pill now

The perils of automated text services by which mobe operators send regular, user-defined set reminders are not something we'd particularly considered - until we heard the story of stereo_steve and his "Massive O2 problem". Read on: Your gonna laugh when you hear my situation! but its causinng me alot of grief. Sometime around …

Bootnotes 22 Oct 2004, 10:27
Safer Apple-lifting is new Reg reader pastime

Letters We've seen the future, and it has a writ on it

Apple's kind-hearted advice to owners of its shiny new iMac has gone down a storm with Reg readers this week. Guidelines for moving the computer included a reminder to Apple owners to "make sure all cables and cords are disconnected". Useful, indeed. One, rather pedantic, reader wrote to chastise us for including the phrase " …

Letters 22 Oct 2004, 10:29
IBM advances in storage arms race

TotalStorage DS6000 and DS8000

If there is one certainty today in the wonderful world of Information Technology it is that competition between vendors in almost all areas is still fierce. This is especially so in the area of storage platforms where a relatively small number of vendors dominate, at least in a marketing sense, the market. Last week witnessed …

Servers 22 Oct 2004, 10:32
Egg finally flees France

An oeuf is an oeuf

Online bank egg has finally rid itself its unloved French subsidiary. The credit cards and loans part of the business will be sold to Banque Accord for £96m in cash. The deal is subject to regulatory approval but has been approved by unions. 66,000 customers will see their accounts move with net assets of approximately £141m. …

Financial News 22 Oct 2004, 10:34
Crackers force apology from Euro 2004 Swiss ref

Goal outrage official's website hacked

Crackers have broken into the website of Euro 2004 ref Urs Meier and posted a fake apology for a controversial ruling against England during a vital knockout game. Meier's decision to disallow a headed goal by Sol Campbell in the closing minutes of England's quarter final against hosts Portugal made him a scapegoat in some …

Music and Media 22 Oct 2004, 11:02
Intel kills 1066MHz FSB 130nm P4EE

Desktop roadmap Faster bus to debut with first 90nm Extreme part

Intel has cancelled the 3.63GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, originally due to ship early Q4 2004, according to roadmap information released this week. As we reported yesterday, the chip giant's latest roadmaps push the first 90nm P4EE out to early Q1 2005. Last August, the 3.73GHz part was scheduled to ship late Q4 2004, after …

PCs 22 Oct 2004, 11:03
Navman PiN GPS PocketPC

Reg review Is an integrated antenna enough?

Once known for its expensive, dedicated in-car satellite navigation systems, Navman has found itself moving increasingly expanding downmarket over the last year or so. Look to the likes of Germany's Medion for the reason: its combination of low-cost PocketPC devices and wired GPS receivers has taken the European PDA market by …

Reviews 22 Oct 2004, 11:27
TI launches 'digital TV on a phone' scheme

DVB-H chip due late 2006 in time for broadcasts

Texas Instruments yesterday pledged to allow mobile phones to pick up and show digital TV broadcasts, with the goal of putting the technology in consumers' hands by the end of 2006. TI's goal is to extend its single-chip radio transceiver technology - already used in a Bluetooth part, and soon to appear in a GSM radio - to …

Mobile 22 Oct 2004, 12:00
Cassini approaches Titanic flyby

Moment of truth for Huygens team

This time next week, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft will be making its closest approach to Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The craft will come within 1,200km of Titan's surface, and space scientists are eagerly awaiting the data it will send back. Launched in 1997, the Cassini-Huygens craft has travelled 3.5bn kilometers from …

Science 22 Oct 2004, 12:49
SAP ups profits

Rude health

SAP software brought in €491m for the third quarter of 2004 ended 30 September, up 13 per cent from the same period in 2003. Total revenues were €1.8bn, an 11 per cent year-on-year increase at constant currencies (excluding the impact of shifting currencies). Software revenue in Europe was €249m, up from €201m in the third …

Financial News 22 Oct 2004, 12:51
Three-quarters of Brit workers drunk after lunch

'I'm just nipping out for a sarnie and six pints'

An alarming 76 per cent of employees are coming back to work drunk after taking a "liquid lunch", according to a new survey carried out by Peninsula employment law constancy. The results show that an increasing number of employees are consuming alcohol during their lunch break - a trend that could harm the reputation and …

IT Director 22 Oct 2004, 14:18
Naked News flashes onto European mobile phones

US must wait for kitless coverage

For any Register readers still pining for the visual delights provided by Live TV! - particularly the stripping news and weathergirls - help is quite literally at hand. Canadian company Naked News is bringing its unrivalled coverage to European mobile phones. That's right naked ladies, no fellas yet, in the palm of your hand. …

Mobile 22 Oct 2004, 14:39
MPs slam government over EDS secrecy

CSA IT controversy rumbles on

The committee of MPs investigating the failure of IT systems at the Department of Work and Pensions has reacted angrily to the government's response to their highly-critical report. Back in July the committee published its report into the Child Support Agency system provided by EDS. It described the project rather unkindly as " …

Public Sector 22 Oct 2004, 14:59
Phreakers will rape and pillage your mobile

Java flaws to blame, claims security bod

Phreakers could seize control of users' mobile handsets, send arbitrary messages or render phones unusable because of a brace of Java-related security vulnerabilities, a security researcher warns. The problems have been demonstrated on a Nokia 6310i handset and might also apply to other phones running flawed implementations of …

Mobile 22 Oct 2004, 15:04
Windows v Linux security: the real facts

Report Nicholas Petreley stacks them up

Considering the publicity that has surrounded - and, despite super new security-focused Service Packs, continues to surround - Windows security issues, Microsoft's determination to demonstrate that Linux is less secure than Windows shows a certain chutzpah. The company has however had some support here; Forrester, for example, …

Software 22 Oct 2004, 15:30
DDoS vigilante militia could tackle net porn, says pundit

Brainstorm of the week You look like a fish with your mouth like that

Considering events earlier in the week, this possibly is not an absolutely ideal time for us to find some blockhead commending the efficacy of DDoS attacks as a mechanism for eradicating anything. We have however been able to draw on our legendary supply of patience, fairness, balance and integrity prior to arriving at a …

Bootnotes 22 Oct 2004, 17:41
Spitzer the Blitzer goes after music label payola

This is for the children

The music labels, accustomed to bullying teenagers, appear to have pissed off the wrong man. New York attorney general Eliot "The Blitzer" Spitzer has served up subpoenas to the major labels, as he digs for information on their relationships with promoters who are thought to pay radio stations to play certain songs, according to …

Music and Media 22 Oct 2004, 17:43
IBM touts poor man's blade server box

Cheaper, more basic

IBM next month will add a new, lower-cost blade server chassis to its product line, hoping to attract mid-sized customers to the compact servers. IBM has not surprisingly put the new BladeCenter chassis under its Express line of hardware and software products aimed at SMBs. These products tend to have less features than IBM's …

Servers 22 Oct 2004, 20:18