The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

21st February 2005 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • IBM does grand dance for bland drives

    ILM facade

    IBM last week did its best to roll a number of disparate storage product upgrades under the singular ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) umbrella. Always ambitious, Big Blue deserves credit for trying to find a theme where no theme existed. "Clients are no longer buying individual storage products, but rather complete …

    Storage 21 Feb 2005, 08:20

  • Orange sues Stelios for 'passing off'

    Lawyer-happy man faces lawyers

    Mobile operator Orange is suing EasyGroup to stop it using the colour orange when it launches mobile phone services next month. Ironically Stelios launched a raft of lawsuits when he started his chain of internet cafes. He sued various firms with the word "easy" in their names. They were accused of "passing off" or confusing …

    Mobile 21 Feb 2005, 10:32

  • Hundreds face tax bills for online ciggies

    Michigan smokes out scammers

    Residents of Michigan who bought cigarettes over the web in the last four years are facing tax bills for their purchases. Tax demands averaging $2,500 are being sent to 553 people. The letters went out last week and residents have until mid-March to pay up. Michigan has ordered 13 online tobacconists to hand over details of …

    Music and Media 21 Feb 2005, 10:44

  • Ladbrokes barred from net games in Netherlands

    Dutch bookies only please

    The Dutch Supreme Court has prohibited Ladbrokes from offering web-based gambling services in the Netherlands. Last year, Ladbrokes was ordered to stop offering sports bets to consumers in the Netherlands. To prevent compulsive gambling, the Netherlands has a complex licensing system containing a raft of restrictions and …

    Music and Media 21 Feb 2005, 11:15

  • Paris Hilton's Sidekick hacked

    No, not Nicole Richie

    Paris Hilton's address book, famously kept on a T-Mobile Sidekick, has been popping up all over the internet after someone managed to figure out her password. The Drudge Report says that it has confirmed the authenticity of many of the numbers, presumably a polite way of saying they've been crank calling Anna Kournikova and …

    Security 21 Feb 2005, 11:32

  • Open Source catches download stats fever

    Comment Big figures, but what do they mean?

    You may remember that at the height of the dotcom boom, various dotcom start-ups were claiming large volumes of website visitors (eyeballs), and the figures they gave, which were probably accurate at least within reason, supported ridiculous stock prices – until it eventually became clear that, eyeballs or no eyeballs, these …

    Operating Systems 21 Feb 2005, 11:38

  • Apple resists mobile MP3 ambush

    iPod v phones in UI war

    Last week's 3GSM Congress was awash with phones with a new set of controls: "play", "pause", "FF" and "rewind" - the music phones. Is a oneGB SD chip really a threat to the market leader, the iPod? Apparently, Apple isn't taking the chance; it's going to counterattack in the next two weeks, with a colour iPod mini. The reports …

    Mobile 21 Feb 2005, 11:44

  • Lastminute asks FSA for fax-checking probe

    Duty to its shareholders

    Lastminute.com has called in the Financial Services Authority to investigate an anonymous fax that has been doing the rounds in the city. The fax, titled "Running on Empty", seeks to cast doubt on the company's financial health. It claims that Lastminute's falling margins and dwindling cash reserves could prompt a new round of …

    Financial News 21 Feb 2005, 11:59

  • Business managers and IT managers: together at last

    Starting to agree at least

    IT managers and business managers are learning to love one another, according to research from Accenture. The IT department and other parts of the business have not always shared the same goals. But now a vast majority of both camps believe that better technology use has helped productivity in recent years. The survey found 76 …

    IT Director 21 Feb 2005, 12:10

  • UK channel chaps required for reader survey

    Reg Reader Studies Give forth and win Reg goodies

    Our latest exercise in Reg reader feedback is for you chaps battling away out there in the channel - and offers one lucky UK channel bod the chance to secure a Cash'n'Carrion goodie bag. Quite what said bag will contain we are not yet sure, but rest assured that it will be mouth-watering selection of top-class apparel. You know …

    Tech Panel 21 Feb 2005, 12:44

  • Toshiba turns up heat at flash chip plant

    NAND demand outstripping capacity

    Toshiba admitted yesterday that it is struggling to keep up with demand for flash memory after announcing plans to accelerate production at its latest fab. At the same time, according to Reuters, the Japanese company is upping the amount it will spend on new chip manufacturing capacity this year by 13 per cent to 203bn yen ($1. …

    Financial News 21 Feb 2005, 13:36

  • Anti-Blair site sparks real-world row

    Angry councillors, censorious ISPs and boycotts

    A satire site mocking Tony Blair has become the centre of a bizarre row that has pitched Labour councillors against militant bloggers and seen wild accusations thrown at both the Labour party and one of the country's biggest ISPs. Backing Blair, which we linked to last week, was apparently pulled offline on Monday by its ISP, …

    Music and Media 21 Feb 2005, 14:08

  • Customs loses VAT weapon

    Legal decision goes against 'em...

    Customs and Excise's ability to counter missing-trader or carousel fraud suffered a blow late last week with an adverse decision from the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice. In October 2003 Bond House Systems, a large computer component wholesaler, lost a case against Customs which led Customs to withhold the …

    Financial News 21 Feb 2005, 14:53

  • Nokia enters the data dispenser biz

    Beaming in to M2M

    Every bar has a condom dispenser. Why doesn't every store have a data dispenser? Because you don't want to shag a computer, of course. But this is an idea that remains largely unexplored. At 3GSM last week, Nokia tiptoed into a market that one day might be enormous: the "proximity server". If you've attended a tech conference …

    Mobile 21 Feb 2005, 15:19

  • Microsoft v EC: peace unlikely

    So says the judge...

    There is little hope of an early settlement of Microsoft's legal dispute with the European Commission. In March last year the EC fined Microsoft €500m for anti-competive behaviour and ordered it to offer a version of its operating system without a bundled media player. Microsoft is appealing the decision and is due back in court …

    Software 21 Feb 2005, 15:24

  • Scientists scan for nukes with space rays

    Like Superman, only better

    US scientists plan to harness the by-products of cosmic rays to detect hidden nuclear material, probe Mexican pyramids and predict eruptions in volcanoes in Japan. Several research groups speaking at the annual meeting of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), suggest using muons, charged particles …

    Science 21 Feb 2005, 15:31

  • UN committee backs human cloning ban

    Stem cell advocates blast 'political' vote

    A UN general assembly committee has backed a proposal to ban all forms of human cloning. The "nonbinding statement" - proposed by Honduras, backed by the US and carried by 71 votes to 35 with 43 abstentions - will now go before the full UN assembly, Reuters reports. The decision comes at the end of four years' heated debate into …

    Science 21 Feb 2005, 15:39

  • BOFH books back at Cash'n'Carrion

    Cash'n'Carrion Hurrah!

    We have some tasty news today for all BOFH fans. You demanded 'em and now you've got 'em - Bastard Operator from Hell books one and two now (re)available at Cash'n'Carrion for just £7.99 apiece. (No VAT on books, natch). Alternatively, you can get both for a sysadmin-pleasing £13.99. As the blurb says: more BOFH than you can …

    Site News 21 Feb 2005, 15:40

  • Intel brings 64-bit to desktop

    Throws its cache around

    Intel has rolled out its last full slate of single core Pentium 4s for the desktop as it gears up for the debut of its dual core line sometime in the second half. Monday's launch saw updates to the Pentium Extreme Edition line, aimed at gamers and power users, and the Pentium 4 6xx range aimed at the volume business and …

    PCs 21 Feb 2005, 16:38

  • Digital memories: we can forget them for you wholesale!

    Analysis Who'll mind your photos?

    A Brazilian activist, who we'll keep nameless, had been keeping your reporter up to date with his work. He was on a mission to install computers in rural areas of the country, but hadn't been able to offer a single reason why anyone should use one - let alone why the communities should be getting computers rather than say, a new …

    Music and Media 21 Feb 2005, 16:59

  • I'll show you mine if you show me, er, mine

    New crypto for Wi-Fi

    Security researchers have developed a new cryptographic technique they say will prevent so-called stealth attacks against networks. A stealth attack is one where the attacker acts remotely, is very hard to trace, and where the victim may not even know he was attacked. The researchers say this kind of attack is particularly easy …

    ID 21 Feb 2005, 17:11

  • Telstra ticked off over broadband competition ruck

    AUS$6.5m rebate is enough says regulator

    Australia's incumbent telco is to repay AUS$6.5m (£2.7m) to rival broadband operators over allegations of anti-competitive behaviour. The ruling by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brings to an end a year-long investigation that could have seen the telco shouldered with fines of around AUS$350m (£146m) …

    Telecoms 21 Feb 2005, 17:16

  • NASA bumps return to flight

    Is it me, or am I badly lit?

    NASA's long awaited return-to-flight shuttle mission has been pushed back by three days because of concern over lighting conditions during the launch window. The launch of the Discovery was slated for 12 May 2005, but will now take place on 15 May. The space agency grounded all shuttle flights after the loss of the shuttle …

    Science 21 Feb 2005, 17:18

  • Who needs 3G? 'Son of DAB' unleashes TV for phones

    3GSM For the broadcast model, use broadcast, check?

    This year's 3GSM 'desperate characters in search of a revenue stream' script had a lot to do with mobile video, and like most of these scripts it had a lot to do with shedloads of infrastructure plus a seasoning of wild optimism. 'We've got this 3G thing, apart from not having finished rolling it out yet,' the script runs, 'and …

    Mobile 21 Feb 2005, 17:47

  • Moto exec drops AirPod hint

    An iPod, with added Bluetooth?

    A Motorola executive has hinted that Apple will deliver a wireless iPod. This is hardly a surprise, as wireless transmission technology fulfills the promise of the portable music player, making this solitary, anti-social device into the social hardware it should be. It's also one of the most popular feature suggestions ever …

    Mobile 21 Feb 2005, 20:39