12th November 2004 Archive

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Dell booms in record Q3

Disciplined and rolling in cash

Dell's third quarter earnings results proved duller than its products. The company produced record revenues yet again. Dell bagged $12.5bn worth of gross revenue in the period - an 18 percent rise over the same quarter a year ago. Dell's net income came in at $846m in the third quarter, beating out the $677m reported last year …

Business 12 Nov 2004, 00:14
Intel dauphin Otellini becomes king

Grove quits the board

Intel's board has given the go ahead for the long anticipated shift in power from current CEO Craig Barrett to current President Paul Otellini Come May 18, Otellini will take over the chipmaker and become its fifth ever CEO. He'll be the first Intel chief not to have a background in engineering. Otellini arrives as a marketing …

Business 12 Nov 2004, 00:14
The case of the incredible, disappearing website

There's a moral in here somewhere

An online art news site, operated by a poacher-turned-gamekeeper in the illicit art trade, has been disappeared from the web, following a court injunction issued by a state court in Ohio. James E Ferrell, founder of propane distributors FerrellGas, and Bruce Ferrini, an art dealer, sought an injunction against Michel van Rijn …

Music and Media 12 Nov 2004, 09:25
Nice article, a*sholes...oh, wait...

FoTW An odd one, this

FoTW has now become completely automated. They flame us about stuff they think we might write, but haven't... Mr. Greene, You always have time for an anti-Bush article, no matter how unrelated to technology! So when an actual murderer and international terrorist dies, you can't come up with a single thing to say? I can't …

Letters 12 Nov 2004, 09:40
The great blue vs. red state debate

Letters Caution: rude words enclosed

Right - it's Friday, and we promised you a dissection and statistical analysis of your responses to the flame-bait that was the New Democrat Outreach Program's Reach out and Sneer piece. We had a big mailbag, almost half as big as that for our Haiku competition, earlier this year. But no more, thanks: this correspondence is now …

Letters 12 Nov 2004, 09:48
Fast24 completes MBO

Uh-huh...

Suffolk-based ISP Fast24 Ltd has split from its parent company following a management buy-out. Financial details concerning the MBO were not disclosed. The broadband ISP with dial-up and web host punters was launched by Lark Computers in 2000. It later separated from its parent after turnover outgrew Lark. Since then, the ISP …

Telecoms 12 Nov 2004, 10:07
Micron employees fixed DRAM prices

Feds found evidence, memory maker admits

Micron has effectively admitted that it has in the past engaged in schemes to control the price of memory chips. However, it also said it was co-operating with the US Department of Justice price-fixing probe into the DRAM industry - co-operation that it believes with not leave it open to "prosecution, fines or other penalties …

Channel Register 12 Nov 2004, 10:21
Chinese Government nets 'Internet Villain' gong

That'll look nice on the mantelpiece

The Chinese Government has romped home to scoop Future Publishing's first ever "Internet Villain" award for its hard line against the online world. With its crackdown on online porn, political censorship and its decision to close thousands of internet cafes, authorities in China have managed to beat some of the net's nastiest …

Music and Media 12 Nov 2004, 10:46
Defendant: Microsoft source code sale was a setup

'They're using me as an example'

A 27-year-old Connecticut man facing felony economic espionage charges for allegedly selling a copy of Microsoft's leaked source code for $20 says he's being singled out only because the software giant and law enforcement officials can't find the people who stole the code in the first place. "They're using me as an example, to …

Music and Media 12 Nov 2004, 10:50
BOFH: The hostage's guide to lift imprisonment

Episode 39 Stay calm, conserve bodily fluids

>BIMM< . . . >BIMM< . . . >ERRRRrrr< "Bugger," the bloke next to me sighs as the lift stops suddenly. "MMmmm," I say disinterestedly, unfolding my newspaper. . . . "Do you know when the lift will start again?" he asks. "Sometime after people realise that the lifts are taking a while to turn up." "Can we raise the alarm …

BOFH 12 Nov 2004, 11:08
Dell 'to add' AMD CPUs to product line - CEO

Yes, but when?

Getting a little chilly down there, Satan? Yes, infernal ice-skating may soon become possible, following Dell CEO Kevin Rollins' admission that the computer giant is close to signing up AMD as a processor supplier. Speaking in an Infoworld interview, Rollins said: "My guess is we're going to want to add that [AMD] product line …

Servers 12 Nov 2004, 11:10
Belgians moot computer licensing

Just like the TV

Two Belgian politicians are pushing for a system of compulsory computer licenses to be introduced in Belgium, expat website Expatica reports. Socialist Valerie Deom and State Minister Philippe Monfils of the centre right Mouvement Reformateur party believe that by introducing computer licenses they can combat illegal copying of …

Music and Media 12 Nov 2004, 11:47
Q: What does risk mean to you?

The changing face of threat

All businesses face risk of some sort. Traditionally, the risks facing organisations have tended to range from incidents such as a fire in a building or production line, or environmental factors, such as damage sustained by flooding or storms. In past years, such physical risks made up nearly 100 per cent of the major risks …

Security 12 Nov 2004, 11:50
Microsoft's Google-killer arrives with a 'whuh?'

Better than Google, except the results stink

Google's executives might be sleeping a little easier this weekend after Microsoft unveiled its much-hyped new search engine. It's fast, slick, and comes with a raft of interesting new features: confounding some expectations as surely as it confirms others. In short, Microsoft has produced a search engine that's better in almost …

Music and Media 12 Nov 2004, 12:01
Hynix, Micron neck-and-neck in Q3

DRAMurai jostly for second place as Samsung grows market share

Having fallen behind South Korea's Hynix in Q2, US memory maker Micron managed to draw level with its rival during Q3 despite an almost negligible increase in overall DRAM sales. So market watcher Gartner Dataquest's latest figures show. Q3 worldwide DRAM revenues were up just 0.2 per cent on Q2 to $6.9bn, but up 39.7 per cent …

Channel Register 12 Nov 2004, 12:03
Brace yourselves for Xmas spam surge

Stay alert

PC users are being told to stay alert in the run up to Christmas, as research shows cyber-crime is increasing and getting 'smarter'. Crimes committed over the internet or through email have rocketed in recent years, with spammers and code writers constantly coming up with new ways to breach IT security. Despite conservative …

Spam 12 Nov 2004, 12:05
Dating website dumps serial shagger

Former miner bedded 100 lonely hearts

A web dating agency has dumped a 55-year-old male subscriber after he indulged in a five-year debauch which resulted in 100 notches on his bedpost, UK tabloid the Daily Mirror reports. Llanelli-based former miner Clive Worth arranged 119 dates via DatingDirect.com - most of which ended in rumpy-pumpy. Sadly for Worth, the …

Bootnotes 12 Nov 2004, 12:06
Trojan targets UK online bank accounts

Cyber-mugging

Virus writers have created a new Trojan horse capable of helping crooks to break into the accounts of British internet banking customers. The Banker-AJ Trojan targets users of UK online banks such as Abbey, Barclays, Egg, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide and NatWest. The malware records passwords and keystrokes once users of …

ID 12 Nov 2004, 12:30
Sony Ericsson V800 3G handset

Review The phone 3G was made for?

Vodafone's launch of its 3G service is good news for the UK 3G scene. No longer does 3 have to carry the lantern. But aside from the parties, aside from the huge amount of cash spent on the launch - not to mention getting the licence in the first place - is it any good and, more to the point, will consumers actually find it …

Mobile 12 Nov 2004, 12:51
Vodafone leads charge in 3G offensive

Analysis Payback time

After the phoney war of the operators’ launch of 3G data cards in Europe, the real battle commences for the mass 3G market, with Vodafone leading the charge. The company went live with its phone service in its native UK and 12 other countries this week, with CEO Arun Sarin saying this was "payback time" for the £7bn invested in …

Mobile 12 Nov 2004, 13:01
New Reg newsletter redefines choice paradigm

Site news All the news - just how you like it

We've just completed a major overhaul of our Reg newletter to drag our email news alert service kicking and screaming into the new millennium. After weeks of tireless work by an elite team of coding troubleshooters, we have improved, extended and refurbished the service to such an extent that even battle-hardened Vulture Central …

Site News
WISPs blaze trail for WiMAX

Analysis 802.16 at the ready

The WiMAX community has been awash for some time with optimistic predictions about the technology's prospects in the WISP world. A quarter of US wireless ISPs will migrate to WiMAX in 2005-6 and a further 25 per cent in 2007-8, according to ABI. Broadband is now offered by 92 per cent of rural service providers, with 22 per cent …

Mobile 12 Nov 2004, 13:46
Giving voice to the mobile workforce

Mobile, fixed, VoIP or coverged?

When your seven year old daughter asks: "Why is Grandma's phone attached to a piece of wire? Is so she doesn't lose it?", it draws your attention to the to the fact that there is a whole generation who won't need to make the transition from wired to wireless - wireless is all they will ever have known. Cellular communications …

Mobile 12 Nov 2004, 14:21
Say hello to the 'time bomb' exploit

Danger UXB

Prepare yourself for "time bomb" exploits that attack web-based systems at a pre-determined time. A recent whitepaper, Second-order Code Injection Attacks, by UK security consultancy NGS Software (NGS) explains how new techniques for attacking web-based applications alter the security landscape. Gunter Ollmann, professional …

Enterprise Security 12 Nov 2004, 15:12
NASA scramjet goes for Mach 10 burn

Monday launch for third X-43A

NASA's X-43A scramjet will on Monday undergo its third test flight during which scientists will attempt to push the vehicle to Mach 10. The X-43A is an air-breathing supersonic ramjet, which ducts air directly from the atmosphere, mixing it with hydrogen before combustion. The forward speed of the vehicle provides compression, …

Science 12 Nov 2004, 15:12
Mars Express sends postcard from Phobos

Mars moon in all its hi-res glory

Photographs taken by ESA's Mars Express spacecraft show the surface of Mars moon Phobos in greater detail than ever before. The images offer for the first time an unblurred continuous view of the moon's surface at the highest resolution. The 10 images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the spacecraft, …

Science 12 Nov 2004, 16:11
Anti-virus outfit defends job for VXer

Zoner Software speaks

Czech company Zoner Software has explained why it employed a prominent former virus writer to develop anti-virus software on its behalf. The firm - whose main business is graphics and multimedia - hired Benny, one-time member of the 29A virus writing group, to develop security software to protect servers run by Zoner's Internet …

Anti-Virus 12 Nov 2004, 16:17
Sun's Linux wins right to be considered in Japan

They're on a list, and they want to tell us all about it

Sun Microsystems has opened a second front for its Linux-based desktop operating system in Asia with a Japanese win of sorts. Sun's Java Desktop System has been picked as one open source OS of preference during a competition held by the Information-technology Promotion Agency in Japan (IPA). This clears the way for Sun's …

Operating Systems 12 Nov 2004, 21:01
Florida e-vote conspiracy theories grow

Touch screens OK, optical scanners a puzzle

There's been a good deal of Internet chatter about the possibility that the Florida vote was rigged, although optical scan machines, not touch-screen systems, are suspected. A pair of charts provided by Kathy Dopp breaks down the county vote in relation to registration rolls. Before the election, everyone in the tech press (El …

Public Sector 12 Nov 2004, 21:08
Dell, AMD make Friday bull run

Shares soar

Shares of Dell and AMD scrambled higher Friday with investors patting Dell on the back for a solid quarter and others buying into speculation that AMD will swallow large gobs of Intel's server processor market share in the months to come. Dell's share price soared right past its previous 52-week high of $37.80 to $40.44. …

Channel Register 12 Nov 2004, 21:38
That's enough peace - Novell sues MS just one more time

'Ransack the church' suggested in WordPerfect war

This week Microsoft's lead counsel stressed that the company's antitrust woes were receding into ancient history, as he tried to bounce the EU into dropping its sanctions against the company. But like the Whack A Mole game, another antitrust suit has popped up today. Novell has sued Redmond over anti-competitive behavior …

Software 12 Nov 2004, 22:40