3rd March 2005 Archive
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Adobe opens source code kimono
Would you Adam and Eve it?
Adobe lost many friends in the open source community four years ago when it decided to prosecute Russian developer Dmitri Sklyarov under the DMCA, for publishing details of how to circument eBook encryption. But while it's a little late for an olive branch, the software giant's decision to release code under the OSI-compatible …
Software 3 Mar 2005, 08:47
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Verizon: Qwest can talk to Verizon bride MCI
But don't exchange phone numbers
Qwest won't give up in its bid for the spammer's favorite telco, MCI. Qwest wooed the fallen giant before Christmas, only to see Verizon win MCI's heart last month. Despite offering a higher dowry ($8bn to Verizon's $6.7bn), the MCI board prefers Verizon - largely because its balance sheet is a lot healthier. Now Verizon says …
Financial News 3 Mar 2005, 08:50
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IBM's Opteron ruse falls to long-term Intel love
IDF Spring 05 Together forever
Not too long ago, IBM stood proud with AMD at the Opteron processor's unveiling. It was the only major server vendor to do so, and many perceived the move as a shot at Intel. A lot, however, has changed since 2003. IBM last month announced its new Hurricane chipset for the xSeries line of servers. The product garnered a lot of …
Servers 3 Mar 2005, 08:51
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Intel determined to dominate storage market
IDF Spring 05 Have disk, will travel
When thinking of storage vendors, Intel isn't usually one of the first names to pop in someone's head. The big daddy of silicon hopes to change that over the coming years and has put two of its top executives in charge of a major storage push. "Intel's silicon penetration in the storage market is not where we want it to be," …
Storage 3 Mar 2005, 08:54
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GlobalFlyer on a wing and a prayer
Goes for glory, despite fuel worries
Steve Fossett has decided to attempt the last part of his round-the-world adventure between Hawaii and the west coast of the US - despite concerns that he does not have enough fuel left to make land. At 0330 GMT this morning Fossett told mission controllers he would "go for it" rather than aborting the mission at Hawaii, even …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 09:51
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Google AutoLink: enemy of the people?
Don't be evil ... mostly
Success sometimes makes people do funny things, things that may seem bizarre, childish, or even foolhardy to others. To those undergoing the new brush with wild success, however, their actions make complete sense. For instance, several years ago a retired former construction worker named Phil Lee won the lottery in British …
Security 3 Mar 2005, 10:37
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Minister confirms commitment to broadband
Funds forthcoming, future bright
"We are determined to commit funds to broadband," government minister Nigel Griffiths told the Access to Broadband Campaign conference in London yesterday. Griffiths, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Construction, Small Business and Enterprise, was challenged to say what the Government was doing to bring about the …
Telecoms 3 Mar 2005, 10:54
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Astronomers identify mysterious 'burper'
Radio wave burst from unknown object
US astronomers reckon they may have identified a previously unknown type of space object after recording an unusual and potent burst of radio waves from the centre of our galaxy. Scientists have nicknamed object GCRT J1745-3009 a "burper", Reuters reports. Lead boffin Scott Hyman explained: "An image of the Galactic center, …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 11:11
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Appeals court hits rewind in Microsoft Eolas case
Reverses $565m penalty
The US Court of Appeals breathed new life into Microsoft’s patent spat with Eolas Wednesday when it reversed part of a lower court ruling in the case and sent it back for a new trial. The decision reverses a $565m penalty slapped on Microsoft after a district court jury found the software giant infringed an Eolas patent …
Applications 3 Mar 2005, 11:51
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Ebbers was 'leader of the con'
And he lied too say prosecutors
WorldCom boss Bernie Ebbers was accused of lying to the jury yesterday as the fraud trial surrounding the $11bn (£5.8bn) collapse of the giant US telco entered its final phase. Assistant US Attorney William Johnson rounded on Ebbers' testimony that the former head of the telecoms giant and the man accused of masterminding the …
Telecoms 3 Mar 2005, 12:04
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UK Wi-Fi hotspot users offered free Skype calls
Out of pocket onto the net
Internet telephony firm Skype is partnering with Wi-Fi hotspot provider Broadreach Networks to offer free net telephone calls. The deal, which launched Thursday 3 March, will allow Skype users to make free Skype calls in 350 ReadytoSurf fixed and Wi-Fi wireless Internet locations across the UK. Broadreach hopes that after …
Telecoms 3 Mar 2005, 12:08
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Scientists slam US plasma weapon
Pulsed Energy Projectile 'torture' rumpus
Scientists have reacted angrily to the revelation that the US military is funding development of a weapon intended to deliver an "excrutiating bout of pain" from over a mile away. The "Pulsed Energy Projectile" (PEP) device "fires a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something solid", the New …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 12:34
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Strathclyde, London fingered for 8 meg trial
It could be you
BT will recruit up to 2,000 businesses and consumers to take part in a trial of its new higher speed internet service, the former monopoly announced today. From next month broadband users in the Strathclyde region of Scotland and in Greater London will be able to take part in the pilot to test whether DSL lines are able to …
Telecoms 3 Mar 2005, 12:42
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Sony slays Beatles-Metallica hybrid
Beatallica offline after legal threat
Sony has countered a possible threat to its rights to the Beatles' back catalogue by ordering Milwaukee-based Beatallica to close its website and cough up unspecified damages, Reuters reports. Beatles-Metallica fusion outfit Beatallica had been wowing online audiences worldwide with compositions such as "Leper Madonna" and "Got …
Music and Media 3 Mar 2005, 13:52
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ID fraud rife in the UK - Which?
Editor's ID easily lifted by cheeky researcher
A quarter of UK adults have had their identity stolen or know somebody who's been a victim of growing crime, a study by Which? published Wednesday reveals. The Consumers' Association magazine reckons identity fraud is the country's fastest growing crime, costing the economy an estimated £1.3bn a year. As part of its …
ID 3 Mar 2005, 13:55
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Stripper flogs breast implant on eBay
Tawny Peaks' peak peaks at $10k
Former stripper Tawny Peaks has jumped nimbly on the ridiculous eBay auction bandwagon by offering one of her silicone breast implants to a mam-crazed public. Peaks' 69-HH peaks made the news in 1998 when she was accused of assaulting a man at a bachelor party with her überjubs. The victim claimed to have suffered whiplash …
Bootnotes 3 Mar 2005, 13:59
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ISS resupply runs on rails
Successful docking
ISS residents Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov can look forward to bit of light unpacking after the unmanned Progress resupply vessel successfully docked with the station earlier today, Reuters reports. The payload includes 160 days' worth of food, 494 kilograms of water, and 175 kg of fuel for the station's Russian thrusters …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 14:03
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GlobalFlyer over continental US
Passes south of LA
According to the Virgin GlobalFlyer website, Steve Fossett and GlobalFlyer have reached the continental US and are passing just south of Los Angeles en route to Salina, Kansas. This seems to indicate a good chance of success for the round-the-world adventurer, despite earlier worries over fuel levels. The website also notes …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 14:04
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Nildram moves to head-off broadband hogs
C'mon now...
Nildram is clamping down on broadband hogs by imposing new usage caps for its consumer high speed service. Although the Pipex-owned ISP doesn't detail the extent of the problem, it does say the introduction of a fair usage policy will "address the issue of heavy Internet usage". Nildram - which has 40,000 broadband punters - …
Telecoms 3 Mar 2005, 14:34
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Ireland withdraws grants for €1.6bn Intel fab
Wafer plant still go, says company
In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, the Irish government said that it would withdraw its proposed funding for a €1.6bn Intel plant in Leixlip, Co. Kildare that is set to create some 400 additional jobs. The decision follows apparent concerns from Brussels indicating that the backing may not be allowed under EU rules. Intel …
Financial News 3 Mar 2005, 14:55
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MS-DOS paternity dispute goes to court
Paterson sues Harold Evans
The parentage of the MS-DOS operating system is to be decided in court. Tim Paterson, who sold the Intel-compatible operating system 86-DOS (aka QDOS) to Microsoft in 1980 is suing author and former Times editor Harold Evans, and his publisher Time Warner, for defamation. Paterson's work became Microsoft's first operating system …
Operating Systems 3 Mar 2005, 14:58
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US spamming conviction overturned
Little Sister cleared of junk mail rap
A US judge has dismissed a spamming conviction after concluding that there was no "rational basis" for the jury to return a guilty verdict. Judge Thomas D. Horne said jurors must have been confused by technical evidence when they decided Jessica DeGroot, 28, had violated Virginia's new anti-spam law, AP reports. But the Judge …
Spam 3 Mar 2005, 15:10
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Chip glut ebbs
January sales down on December
The chip industry has dragged itself through the silicon glut it fell into last year, the Semiconductor Industry Association declared yesterday. Worldwide chip sales in January were $18.4bn, the trade group reported Thursday, up 17.5 per cent on the year, but down 0.5 per cent sequentially. The group described the sales slip …
System Builder 3 Mar 2005, 15:33
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GlobalFlyer enters New Mexico
It's looking good
Steve Fossett and GlobalFlyer have just entered New Mexico after traversing Arizona. The Virgin GlobalFlyer website shows the aircraft not far south of the New Mexico/Colorado border, on a bearing of 75 degrees at 214 knots and an altitude of almost 45,000 feet. Reports suggest that Fossett should land in Salina, Kansas at 1. …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 16:19
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PC tax could replace TV licence
Digital Britain 'greatest ever challenge' for BBC, says minister
The BBC licence fee could eventually be replaced by a tax on having a PC instead of owning a TV, according to a Green Paper delivered this week. The government plans to retain the license fee for at least ten years but ministers are looking ahead to a time when high-speed broadband connections routinely deliver digital …
PCs 3 Mar 2005, 17:38
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GlobalFlyer triumphs
Safely back to Kansas
Steve Fossett and GlobalFlyer landed in Salina, Kansas at 1:50 p.m. local time (1950 GMT) having successfully completed the first solo round-the-world circumnavigation without refuelling. The success comes despite having lost 2,600lb of fuel which resulted in some debate over aborting the mission at Hawaii. In the event, …
Science 3 Mar 2005, 21:06
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Napster ups revenue forecast
Subscriber growth
Napster expects to report revenues of $15m for the current quarter, $1m more than it previously forecast, the company said today. The digital music company attributed the gain to "exceptional demand" for its subscription services, in particular Napster To Go, during the fourth quarter, which ends 31 March 2005. We'd hope there …
Financial News 3 Mar 2005, 22:56
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Portable player drive interconnect spec completed
IDF Spring 05 CE-ATA finished after just six months' work
The minds behind the portable consumer electronics-specifc version of the ATA storage interconnection system have completed the final 1.0 specification, they announced today. The publication of the CE-ATA spec, just six months after the project was launched - progress categorised as "remarkable" by CE-ATA working group chairman …
Storage 3 Mar 2005, 23:14
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UWB tech groups combine forces
IDF Spring 05 The MBOA ♥ the WiMedia Alliance. True.
Ultrawideband (UWB) industry groups the WiMedia Alliance (WMA) and the Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA) are to merge, the better to drive the adoption of their shared viewpoint on how UWB connectivity should be delivered. The WMA was formed in September 2002 to promote the development of small-area networks for video transmission …
Peripherals 3 Mar 2005, 23:43
