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11th February 2005 Archive

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  • MPs heading for electoral online disaster

    Will they have learnt lesson from 2001?

    A huge number of MPs risk breaking electoral rules in May if they don't get to grips with the Internet. Under Electoral Commission guidelines, once Parliament is dissolved for the election - expected 5 May - they lose the right to call themselves MPs. As the Commission may clear in the last election in 2001, this also applies …

    Public Sector 11 Feb 2005, 08:11

  • Cell chip critics hear Itanic seagulls

    Letters This hardware's only as good as the compiler

    Readers have responded to the prospect of the IBM/Sony Cell chip with measures of skepticism and enthusiasm. The former by far outweighing the latter. "I haven't been so excited about a new chip architecture since ... Transmeta!" writes Bruce. "And look how that turned out!" Referring to the Cell chip's ability to scavenge for …

    Letters 11 Feb 2005, 08:19

  • Google to Wall St: our CFO couldn't make it. So meet the Chef

    Let them eat pork tenderloin

    The next time Google invites Wall Street analysts to a six hour financial presentation, it may as well direct them to a point in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. Microsoft already has a wonderful MapPoint "drowning service" that will show them precisely how to get there. That surely was the unspoken sentiment behind Google' …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 08:20

  • Dell sets $80bn goal

    And why not?

    Dell, the world's biggest PC maker, yesterday proclaimed its intention to become an $80bn a year business. In a conference call to accompany its Q4 FY05 results, CEO Kevin Rollins said he wants to reach the target within the "next several years". Dell has some way to go: for the most recent financial year ended January 28, it …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 08:38

  • PalmOne settles WLAN gaming patent clash

    Who fragged who?

    PalmOne has come to an out-of-court accord with Peer-to-Peer Systems (PTP), the technology holding company that sued the PDA pioneer in January 2003 alleging patent infringement. Terms of the settlement were not made public - or, rather, they'll tell you but you won't be able to tell anyone else. Back in 2003, PTP claimed that …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 09:32

  • Real relaxes media player tech licence

    Helix untwisted

    RealNetworks has relaxed commercial license terms to encourage more device makers to support its technology, which would in turn widen the potential customer-base for its content services. Under the new licensing regime, third-parties are able to take any part of Real's Helix DNA playback system, including the various codecs …

    Applications 11 Feb 2005, 09:52

  • Apple iPod Shuffle

    Review Random fandom?

    Many people listen to their digital music in no particular order at all: album tracklists are becoming a thing of the past, 'shuffle' play (making random selections from a huge collection of hundreds or thousands of songs) is the norm, and to hell with imposed order. Apple, with the iPod Shuffle, says that's how life should be …

    Reviews 11 Feb 2005, 10:38

  • US man cuffed over Valentine's net suicide pact

    Allegedly recruited 32 volunteers online

    Police in the US have arrested a man on suspicion of arranging a mass Valentine's Day suicide via the net. Gerald Krien of Klamath Falls, Oregon, used an internet chat room to arrange the mass killing, said police. He was arrested on Wednesday and his computer seized for further examination. Thirty-two people across the US and …

    Music and Media 11 Feb 2005, 11:38

  • Man charged in DEC hacking case

    Unauthorised access

    A London man has been charged over an alleged attempt to hack into the website of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Daniel James Cuthbert, 28, of Whitechapel, east London, was charged yesterday with a single offence under Section One of the Computer Misuse Act. He's accused an "unauthorised access" on 31 December to the …

    Enterprise Security 11 Feb 2005, 11:40

  • Lastminute.com loss statement boosts shares

    Results better than expected

    Shares in Lastminute.com gained almost six per cent yesterday, as the company reported better than expected results for the quarter ending 31 December. Takings were up more than 80 per cent at £264.4m, and gross profit was £43.7m, up from £25m a year ago. The company reported a loss of £1.8m, more than the £1.1m in the same …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 11:43

  • Sullivan tells of WorldCom fraud fears

    Trial continues

    WorldCom called off merger talks with Verizon in 2001 amid fears that its accounting fraud would be uncovered, former CFO Scott Sullivan has testified. Once again in the witness stand, Sullivan - who has already pleaded guilty to his part in the fraud - said both he and former chief exec Bernie Ebbers were worried the scandal …

    IT Director 11 Feb 2005, 11:49

  • MSI K8N Diamond SLI mobo

    Review The gamer's best mobo?

    PCI Express has changed the world of computer graphics. It has also enabled Nvidia to resurrect an almost legendary graphics technology: SLI. Although Nvidia announced SLI many months ago, it still seems to be one of the most discussed technologies of the moment, writes Lars-Goran Nilsson. Affordable retail SLI motherboards …

    Reviews 11 Feb 2005, 13:07

  • Dating scammers fined £68k

    Psst! - someone fancies you

    Five companies have been fined a total of £68,000 for running bogus telephone dating services. Some 400 people complained about the con after receiving a spam telling them they had an admirer. People were then invited them to call a premium rate number to find out who it was. Despite claiming that the identity of the alleged …

    Spam 11 Feb 2005, 14:06

  • Orange preps latest own-brand smart phones

    SPV M500 and SPV M2500 in the pipeline

    Orange looks set to become the latest mobile phone network to rebrand HTC's 'Magician' compact PocketPC-based phone, according to its Dutch website. The network is also preparing to release the keyboardless version of HTC's 'Blue Angel' PocketPC phone, which Orange already offers as the SPV M2000, other sites suggest. It's not …

    Mobile 11 Feb 2005, 14:10

  • Middle Earth for sale on eBay

    Get in there before Sauron does

    Do you have unusually pointy ears, are your feet larger than average and slightly hairy, do you wander around caves, muttering to your self about nasty little hobbitses? If so, you might be interested in this lot, up for auction on eBay. Planet-Tolkien.com, the place where people dream in High Elvish, is up for sale. The seller …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 14:17

  • The BOFH guide to equal opportunities

    Episode 5 Affirmitive action

    Things are looking good. It's a dull day with nothing on and I might even get to slide off home early, once I can get rid of this woman from the HR department who wants a favour… "..and so we'd like you to help with the selection and interview process of the new Consultant for the Finance area," the HR woman drones. "Really, …

    BOFH 11 Feb 2005, 14:18

  • Lizard Army develops copulating robot

    Plus, kamikaze SUV totals Houston home

    We're obliged this week to vigilant members of the neoLuddite Resistance Army (NRA) who have monitored with alarm the news that a South Korean professor claims to have developed artificial chromosomes which will eventually lead to emotional, self-reproducing cybersexpots. Kim Jong-Hwan of the ITRC-Intelligent Robot Research …

    Rise of the Machines 11 Feb 2005, 14:18

  • UK firms warned of corporate hijack risk

    Companies House database scam

    UK firms are urged to look out for an emerging scam which specifically targets the Companies House database. Early Warning, the online fraud prevention group, says it is easy for fraudsters to change the registered office for the limited company whose details they have obtained. Armed with the details of a particular limited …

    Small Biz 11 Feb 2005, 14:25

  • Apple announces 'two for one' stock split

    Shares near all-time high price

    Apple will next week issue a second share for every single share currently outstanding, the Mac maker announced today. The two-for-one split will take place on Friday, 18 February after the close of trading on Nasdaq, with the shares re-entering the market on Monday, 28 February. There are currently some 900m AAPL common shares …

    Financial News 11 Feb 2005, 14:32

  • Verizon close to MCI deal - report

    What it is to be popular

    US telecoms giant Verizon Communications Inc. could be on the verge of buying MCI Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper reports that the two companies are nearing a deal although they have yet to finalise the acquisition price or the appointment of senior execs. Details of a possible …

    Telecoms 11 Feb 2005, 15:23

  • Real may or may not mature on Linux

    Desktop Summit Just wants to be embedded

    In the coming months, Real Networks plans to float a new version of its media player for the Linux operating system that includes more of the features found in the standard player. This "experiment" will give Real an idea as to how practical its fully-fledged media services can be on the open source OS. Linux/Real zealots out …

    Applications 11 Feb 2005, 15:28

  • Nominet wins case against Domain Registry Services

    Domain invoice scam canned

    Nominet UK has won its legal action against bogus invoicing scam outfit Domain Registry Services after the .uk internet domain name registry took civil action against Peter Francis-Macrae and his company Ultra Technologies Ltd. Francis-Macrae was found liable of copying and using records from Nominet's WHOIS database to send …

    Music and Media 11 Feb 2005, 16:24

  • Ariane 5 ECA launch is go

    Second time lucky for heavy-lift launcher?

    The European Space Agency's Ariane 5 ECA rocket has been greenlighted for blast-off tomorrow from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. The 50m (160ft) high vehicle will carry an XTAR-EUR telecommunications satellite, the Sloshsat-FLEVO experimental mini-satellite - designed to "investigate the dynamics of fluids in weightlessness …

    Science 11 Feb 2005, 16:28

  • Browser holes, hackers and rampaging botnets

    Letters Wild, wild world

    This week we found out, all over again, that clicking on links can be a dangerous business. As John Leyden wrote on Monday, "A security loophole in Mozilla and Firefox browser could be used to spoof the URL displayed in the address bar, SSL certificate and status bar. The vulnerability also affects Opera and Konqueror." So what …

    Letters 11 Feb 2005, 16:33

  • Patch now against virus-writing clowns

    F-Secure vuln is no laughing matter

    F-Secure yesterday urged users of its anti-virus products to apply security patches following the discovery of potentially serious security vulnerability in 18 of its products. The security bug - unearthed by security researchers at ISS - involves flaws in the processing of ARJ archive files by an antivirus library that give …

    Malware 11 Feb 2005, 16:58

  • EMC preps iSCSI binge

    I, I, I Clariion

    EMC looks set to roll out a new fleet if iSCSI systems, but the boxes will arrive with an unflattering sales pitch - half the performance at all of the price. A sales document making its way around the web shows EMC prepping the Clariion AX100i and CX500i for sale in the near future. In March, it will also roll out the Clariion …

    Storage 11 Feb 2005, 17:24

  • Opera to MS: Get real about interoperability, Mr Gates

    Opera CTO Hakon Lie responds to Bill's clarion call

    Last week Bill Gates got the interoperability religion. Allegedly - given Microsoft's long and sometimes less than constructive history in the field of interoperability, a certain amount of scepticism is perhaps appropriate. Hakon Lie, Chief Technology Officer of long-standing Microsoft competitor Opera Software, welcomes Gates …

    Operating Systems 11 Feb 2005, 18:00

  • Linux maker sprouts MP3 server

    Desktop Summit iTunes ready

    If you can't beat them or join them, then do something weird. This appears to be the rallying cry accompanying the launch of Linspire Five-0. The operating system, due out this quarter, will ship with a number of additions you might expect from a version of Linux aimed at average consumers. Things such as improved music, photo …

    Operating Systems 11 Feb 2005, 20:07