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6th January 2005 Archive

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  • Patriot Act used to quell laser pointer terror

    Don't look now

    A New Jersey miracle man has been charged under the Patriot Act for allegedly shining a laser into two pilots' eyes. David Banach could face up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for disrupting the operator of a mass transportation vehicle - a charge covered under the controversial Patriot Act - and lying to the FBI. …

    Bootnotes 6 Jan 2005, 00:51

  • It's official: storage is the new chips

    5GB flash, 10GB microdrives announced

    As the world's largest gadget show opens in Las Vegas this week, the storage announcements will be more eagerly awaited than usual. In the past it used to be the semiconductor designers who were the physicists of IT, the scientists supreme. With good reason: not only was chip design and manufacturing immensely difficult to do …

    Storage 6 Jan 2005, 09:27

  • Apple confirms MacWorld rumors with fresh lawsuit

    Point legal dept at feet, take aim, fire

    Apple has confirmed the veracity of reports detailing its MacWorld announcements in the most expensive way possible - by filing a civil lawsuit against the website which published them. ThinkSecret published two scoops describing Apple's plans for Q88, a sub-$500 headless Mac to ship in the first quarter of the year, and iWork …

    Mac Channel 6 Jan 2005, 09:34

  • Tiscali UK slips open broadband price promo kimono

    Ooh la la

    Tiscali UK has unveiled a nationwide ad campaign in the national press to plug a series of New Year deals for its broadband and internet services. The ever increasing competitive market is cited as the main reason for the price cuts, with the ISP keen to hang on to existing customers and attract new ones. As a result, existing …

    Telecoms 6 Jan 2005, 10:44

  • Fujitsu in the frame for massive Lloyds TSB deal

    Up against IBM

    Lloyds TSB, the retail bank, is set to award a multi-million pound IT systems contract to Fujitsu Services, according to Computer Weekly. The magazine reports that IBM was also bidding for the work. In December last year, IBM won a £500m contract to provide Lloyds TSB's network and VoIP services for the next seven years. The …

    Hardware 6 Jan 2005, 10:46

  • Tsunami relief donors under cyber-attack, says FBI

    Trojans and 419ers mobilise

    The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that Netizens wishing to help victims of the recent tsunami, and who attempt to donate money online to relief organizations, may themselves become victims of a browser exploit that will infect their boxes. Characteristically short on specifics, the Bureau fails to mention …

    Enterprise Security 6 Jan 2005, 10:47

  • US goes on Xmas e-spending orgy

    Santa blows $23.2bn online

    According to the holiday e-spending report from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen//NetRatings, US online consumers blew $23.2bn in the run-up to Christmas - a rise of 25 per cent from a year ago. Most of the cash went on clothing, toys, video games and consumer electronics, while items like jewellery, flowers and …

    Small Biz 6 Jan 2005, 11:40

  • Sky charges for repairs to non-faulty digiboxes

    Exclusive Bug in our software? That's £65 please

    British Sky Broadcasting has denied accusations that the company tried to profit from a known software fault in its digital video recorders, after customers were charged £65 for engineers to visit their homes. A recurring fault in the Sky+ system software causes recordings to fail for no apparent reason. The bug eats up space …

    Personal 6 Jan 2005, 11:42

  • Boffins to filter duff sperm

    Sorting the sheep from the goats

    Australian scientists from the University of Newcastle in New South Wales reckon they have built a machine that can sort duff sperm from the sort of virile, thrusting, genetically-superior seed required for successful IVF. The device is, according to a BBC report, "based on the principle that the sperm with the most negatively …

    Science 6 Jan 2005, 11:42

  • Aussie crooks recruit teen phishing mules

    Cyber-Fagins

    Phishing fraudsters have sunk to a new low in seeking to recruit Australian school and college students as "money mules". These hi-tech Fagins - Australia-based crooks with links to Russian and Malay crime gangs - have established a network of students able to funnel money from compromised accounts overseas. To date, 61 victims …

    Enterprise Security 6 Jan 2005, 11:58

  • China fearful of net

    Can 'unsettle a country's foundations'

    China shows no sign of easing up on its tough stand against the internet after an article in the country's leading Communist Party magazine warned that the net threatened the culture of China. The piece in Seeking Truth magazine - written by the country's top cultural official and picked up by news agency AFP - claims that the …

    Music and Media 6 Jan 2005, 12:50

  • MS on digital content deal rampage

    TiVo, MTV and FOX Sports all signed up

    Microsoft has announced deals with TiVo and MTV to provide content for Windows mobile devices, such as portable media centres and some smartphones and Pocket PCs. The company has also launched its own MSN Video Downloads service, which will make clips from sources including FOX Sports, MSNBC and Food Network available to its …

    Personal 6 Jan 2005, 12:56

  • Council suspends CCTV Peeping Toms

    Allegedly spied on woman's flat

    Police are investigating a a trio of municipal "Peeping Toms" from Sefton, Merseyside who reportedly trained a street safety CCTV camera on a woman’s flat in Liverpool's Bootle district, UK tabloid the Sun reports. The three have been suspended "pending a full internal investigation into alleged breaches of the council’s …

    Security 6 Jan 2005, 12:56

  • Microsoft UK fires seven over staff purchase abuse

    Exclusive Baker 'shocked to hear of abuse by trusted co-workers'

    Microsoft UK has sacked seven employees and called in police following the "alleged abuse of [its] employee purchase programme". The giant software company declined to go into details about incident citing legal reasons but confirmed that seven people had been dismissed. The alleged abuse is understood to involve the …

    Security 6 Jan 2005, 13:55

  • eBayer bids $20k for Texas snowball

    A 'wonderful piece of history'

    All is evidently well in the wonderful world of eBay - a fact confirmed by the (quite literally) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a Texas snowball. Yes indeedy, for bids in excess of a very, very cool $20k, you can commemorate the historical meteorological events of Xmas 2004 which turned parts of the Lone Star State …

    Bootnotes 6 Jan 2005, 13:58

  • Sims 2 hacks spread like viruses

    Surprise, surprise

    Players of Electronic Arts' enormously popular simulated life game are complaining that their artfully-crafted homes and mansions are beginning to resemble the Twilight Zone, thanks to an artifact of the game's design that causes hacks to spread like viruses from user to unwitting user. Entire neighborhoods of Sims are being …

    Malware 6 Jan 2005, 14:18

  • Cliff Stanford trial date set

    Updated Redbus Interhouse founder

    The trial of Cliff Stanford, founder of Demon Internet and Redbus, on charges of blackmail and "email poaching" (originally scheduled to begin 10 January) has been put back to 28 January. Stanford along with co-defendant George Liddell are accused of conspiring to intercept emails sent to Redbus chairman John Porter during a …

    Music and Media 6 Jan 2005, 14:20

  • ISS plumbing plays up again

    Oxygen generator on the blink

    The International Space Station's troublesome Elektron oxygen generator is playing up again - despite a recent attempt by a relief crew to repair the Russian-built apparatus. In October, Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao brought a kit of spares for the ailing machine which broke down completely in September. The problem was …

    Science 6 Jan 2005, 14:39

  • China rejects Siemens phone business

    Ningbo Bird not interested in deal

    Rumours that Siemens was planning to offload its loss-making hardware division to China were dispelled today by the prospective partner company, Ningbo Bird. The Chinese manufacturer said that it was not considering buying the division from Siemens, and added that neither had it been approached by Siemens about such a deal. …

    Mobile 6 Jan 2005, 15:34

  • Nvidia unveils mainstream GeForce 6 mobile GPUs

    CES 2005 First TurboCache chips for notebooks

    Nvidia has introduced its first mobile graphics chip with its AGP-style TurboCache memory management system. The GeForce Go 6200 is pitched at mainstream thin'n'light notebooks, addressing the market segment below the gamer-oriented systems the already-available GeForce Go 6800 is intended for. Like the 6800, the 6200 - along …

    System Builder 6 Jan 2005, 17:51

  • Fossil finally ships Palm OS PDA wristwatch

    CES 2005 Second-generation model launched

    Watch maker Fossil has formally revived its previously ill-fated Palm OS-based PDA wristwatch project - a year after it appeared to kill off the product before it even shipped. Featuring a redesigned casing, the Wrist PDA launched this week nevertheless remains true to the previous version's spec. Once again, there's Palm OS 4. …

    Mobile 6 Jan 2005, 18:21

  • Toshiba to ship 2GB 'phone HDD' by month's end

    CES 2005 Announces 4GB version for mid-year release

    Toshiba said today it will begin shipping its mobile phone-oriented 2GB, 0.85in hard drive at the end of the month. A 4GB version will ship mid-year, the Japanese giant said, with 6GB and 8GB drives shipping in 2006. Toshiba announced the drive family in September 2004, though at the time was unwilling to specify a …

    Mobile 6 Jan 2005, 18:48

  • Laser 'marksman' should join Bin Laden hunt

    Letters Get him on Our Side

    As reported yesterday, there is a man in New Jersey being publicly flogged for allegedly beaming a green laser into the eyes of two jet pilots. The fellow - David Banach - claims to have been pointing out stars to his young daughter and to have accidentally hit the plane with his beam. The Feds, however, have lobbed very serious …

    Letters 6 Jan 2005, 20:17

  • Transmeta touts Media Center PC design

    CES 2005 Courts CE vendors with 'fanless' reference platform

    Transmeta today took a leaf out of rival x86-compatible CPU maker VIA's book and launched a fanless reference design to help it pitch its processors at home entertainment systems companies. Dubbed the 'Digital Entertainment Center' (DEC) the new system is based on Transmeta's Efficeon chip, which the company claims provides the …

    System Builder 6 Jan 2005, 20:23

  • Toshiba unplugs stereo 'phones with Bluetooth

    CES 2005 Wireless hi-fi

    Toshiba has unveiled a pair of wireless headphones that hook up to a host PC across a Bluetooth 1.2 link. Designed for the company's Qosmio home entertainment-oriented laptop range, the 90g (3.2oz) 'over-the-ear and round-the-back-of-your-head' 'phones will also work with any notebook or desktop that sports a Bluetooth 1.2 …

    Peripherals 6 Jan 2005, 20:56

  • Archos preps Linux, Wi-Fi enabled portable media player

    CES 2005 What, no host computer? No, and no PDA either

    Archos further loosened the ties between portable media players and PC hosts today with the launch of its first Wi-Fi enabled device. The Pocket Media Assistant PMA400 also marks the French electronics company's move to Linux as the foundation for future personal media players. The PMA400 stores movies, music and photos on a …

    Mobile 6 Jan 2005, 21:24

  • eBay aims to thwart phishing

    My Messages heading for the UK

    eBay is rolling out a private messaging service to customers to make it easier to distinguish official announcements from fraudulent 'phishing' emails. The service - dubbed My Messages - offers a read-only inbox for logged-in users. Sending trading and account information to this location rather than via conventional email …

    Spam 6 Jan 2005, 23:21

  • eBay bids for PC recycling glory

    CES 2005 Assembles PC coalition

    eBay is to tackle "e-waste": obsolete PCs that poison the environment when dumped in landfills. At CES yesterday the online auction giant announced the Rethink Initiative, to promote re-use and recycling. The centrepiece is a website that helps consumers and businesses learn about product disposal options, such as recycling and …

    IT Director 6 Jan 2005, 23:38