9th March 2005 Archive

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Foreigners gain thousands of jobs on Dell US staff

El Salvador lives the American Dream

The Texan flavor that once permeated Dell has been totally overwhelmed by the rich tastes of India and Central America. An amazing 30,600 of Dell's 55,200 workers are employed in foreign countries. Dell could find only 24,600 positions in 2004 for US workers, despite incredible incentives from states such as North Carolina. …

Management 9 Mar 2005, 01:14
Server outage leaves Sidekicks stranded

You don't have mail

Server trouble left many Sidekick users without their data yesterday. Danger's phone is a thin client, and data is stored on servers at the carrier. Danger itself manages the server, and the carrier business is its principle revenue stream. Outages were reported from all over the continental United States. Danger, which sells …

Mobile 9 Mar 2005, 01:17
MS opens South Korea phone R&D lab

Seoul searching

Microsoft has opened its first mobile technology R&D facility outside the US, setting up shop in Seoul to tap local software expertise. The South Korea Mobile Innovation Lab will be funded to the tune of $30m over the next three years, the software giant said, local newspaper the JoongAng Daily reports. Some 30 staff are …

Mobile 9 Mar 2005, 08:11
Xbox2 goes core to core to core with PS3

Specs leak

Microsoft's second version of its Xbox console will feature a CPU with PowerPC cores, according to GameSpy, which claims to have scooped the specifications. Expectations that the console would be formally announced at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco this week were quashed last month. Xenon, as it's codenamed, …

Consoles 9 Mar 2005, 08:14
Contentguard boss sues shareholders MS, Time Warner

Illegal enrichment

The DRM tollbooth is proving so expensive that even the tollbooth staff are unhappy. Contentguard founder and CEO Michael Miron has filed suit against the company's two majority shareholders, Microsoft and Time Warner, alleging that they "enrich themselves at the expense of the company and its employee shareholders." Both …

Media 9 Mar 2005, 08:15
Qualcomm unveils next generation boss

Son of previous boss...

The new boss of Qualcomm is taking over the job from his father. Paul Jacobs is Qualcomm's new chief executive, replacing company founder, and his dad, Irwin Jacobs. He also joins Qualcomm's board of directors. From 1 July Irwin Jacobs will step down as chief executive but remain chairman and Steven Altman will be promoted to …

Financial News 9 Mar 2005, 09:35
eBay does small ads

Craig's list type sites for six countries

eBay has launched classified ad websites in Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The sites are all branded Kijiji - Swahili for village. They resemble CraigsList sites, in which eBay bought a 25 per cent stake in last August. The sites are organised around cities - so kijij.fr is split into sections for Bordeaux, …

Financial News 9 Mar 2005, 10:33
Siemens ungags talking SMS

CeBIT 2005 Animated Instant Voice Messages

Siemens is to introduce a new mobile service called Animated Instant Voice Messages at CeBIT, which kicks off tomorrow in Hanover, Germany. The software will convert an SMS message into speech and synchronises it with an animated character other users can see on their screen. These animations could be fantasy characters or …

Mobile 9 Mar 2005, 10:45
The Art of Computer Programming

Site offer Invaluable resource at 30% off

Donald E. Knuth is known throughout the world for his pioneering work on algorithms and programming techniques, for his invention of the Tex and Metafont systems for computer typesetting, and for his prolific and influential writing, most notiably The Art of Computer Programming. This multivolume work on the analysis of …

Site News 9 Mar 2005, 10:49
US super-pirates plead guilty

FBI's largest-ever probe yields three

Three men have pleaded guilty to copyright charges following the Justice Department's largest-ever investigation into computer piracy. Albert Bryndza, 32, from New York, Seth Kleinberg, 26, from Los Angeles, and Jeffrey Lermanm, 20, a student from Long Island all admitted distributing thousands of X-box and Playstation games. …

Media 9 Mar 2005, 11:40
Wanadoo UK slips open silky VoIP kimono

'Fantastic technology', enthuses chief exec

Wanadoo UK - which had some 700,000 high speed net users - has cut the ribbon on its new voice over broadband service. For £4 a month, Wanadoo broadband punters can make free calls to UK landlines during evenings and weekends. The ISP, which is owned by France Telecom also maintains that the cost of other calls made using its " …

Broadband 9 Mar 2005, 11:46
UN approves human cloning ban

Purely symbolic victory

The UN general assembly yesterday voted 84 to 34 in favour of a nonbinding statement calling for a total ban on human cloning. There were 37 abstentions, Reuters reports. The result will please the US which backed the Honduras-proposed measure, recently approved by a UN committee after much bitter debate which saw the UK slam …

Science 9 Mar 2005, 11:47
EC launches 'Your Europe' portal

Electronic pan-European business service

The European Union has launched a new website to help businesses find information about trading with EC countries. The site also gives advice on bidding for public contracts, getting products certified and country-specific information. You can choose from Europe-wide information or search a specific country for information on …

Small Biz 9 Mar 2005, 12:40
News is free with Register Mobile

Site news Content on the move - for nothing

We are delighted to announce today that we have tweaked, overhauled, improved and generally raised to a new level of magnificence our Register Mobile News service - and you can get it right now for absolutely nothing. That's right - top-quality Reg content delivered direct to your smartphone, wireless PDA or WAP phone for nil …

Site News 9 Mar 2005, 13:04
MS launches real-time comms package

Web chat, IM, VoIP, frogs and stuffed pigs

Microsoft Tuesday unveiled a major push into communications software that allows office workers to stay in closer touch with integrated web conferencing, internet telephony and instant messaging tools. The software giant announced an updated version of Microsoft's Live Meeting web conferencing and collaboration service; …

Applications 9 Mar 2005, 13:52
Reed subsidiary hack exposes 32,000

Feds investigate Seisint breach

A subsidiary of Reed Elsevier has been hacked potentially compromising records relating to 32,000 people. The FBI and Secret Service are investigating how hackers got access to databases owned by Seisint - part of Reed's LexisNexis business. The breach was revealed after a customer complained about a billing error. The …

Security 9 Mar 2005, 13:57
BT workers' union rejects 'derisory' pay offer

Members' mood 'pretty hostile'

BT staff could be balloted on industrial action if the giant telco continues to dig in its heels over the latest pay claim from the Communications Workers Union (CWU). The CWU - which represents around 54,000 of BT's 100,000 or so workers - wants an eight per cent increase in wages for its members. BT has rejected this offer …

Broadband 9 Mar 2005, 14:01
Boffin honoured for necrophile gay duck paper

Ig Nobel Laureate UK tour kicks off

A Dutch researcher has been honoured for his illuminating research into necrophiliac gay ducks - a hitherto unprobed side of animal behaviour which rather eclipses recent work on homosexual sheep and stroppy cows. According to the Guardian, Kees Moeliker's paper "The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard anas …

Science 9 Mar 2005, 14:02
BitTorrent gets major revamp

Version 4.0 coming at ya

BitTorrent, the popular file sharing program, has been spruced up with a new user interface and queuing features. Version 4.0 of Bram Cohen's official BitTorrent client, the first major upgrade since 3.4.2 in Spring 2004, also remembers what users were doing before a restart. The feature allows users to more easily pick up where …

Applications 9 Mar 2005, 14:29
eBay fraudster faces possible jail

'Extremely serious' outlook for Welsh teen

A 17-year-old lad who admitted ripping off people by selling them non-existent goods via eBay could be jailed. Judge Roderick Denyer told the teenager at a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday: "I take an extremely serious view of defrauding on the eBay and it clearly raises the possibility of a custodial sentence." The …

Financial News 9 Mar 2005, 14:34
Beer not fattening: official

Excellent - make mine a pint

Those of us who like a few pints already know that beer fights cancer and is an absolute life-saver in an avalanche emergency situation, but what about the apparently proven effect of ale on the old waistline, eh? After all, anyone who has ever been on a package holiday to the Spanish costas can attest to the terrifying …

Bootnotes 9 Mar 2005, 15:02
BMC unites channel programme

One world, one programme

BMC Software is replacing its many faced channel programme, a legacy of the firm's various acquistions, with one unified scheme. In recent years BMC has bought Marimba, Magic, IT Masters and Calendra and each of them came with their own channel partners. Resellers complained that selling solutions with more than one BMC product …

The Channel 9 Mar 2005, 15:25
UK IT market tops Europe league

And beats US too...

The market for Information and Communication Technology is back to growth across the world. Europe is growing faster than the US and the UK is growing faster than the rest of Europe. But China is growing fastest of all. According to figures from trade association Intellect, the European ICT market will grow by four per cent …

The Channel 9 Mar 2005, 15:51
RSA invites speaking proposals

Have you got the right stuff for Vienna gig?

Put your thinking caps on, RSA this week opened up a call for papers for the RSA Europe Conference. More than 1,000 attendees are expected to descend upon Austria's Vienna Centre from 17-19 October to hear about the latest advances in information security. Interested parties are invited to submit speaking proposals. If you …

Security 9 Mar 2005, 16:11
MS skips patch Tuesday

No news is good news

Microsoft passed on this month's instalment of its regular patch release cycle. Patch Tuesday brought no security updates in March, unlike February when the software giant issued 12 new advisories and a major revision of an earlier notice. Although there were no new patches, Microsoft updated its malicious software removal tool …

Security 9 Mar 2005, 18:01
Oracle's bid for Retek leaves SAP speechless

Coders code coded attack

SAP has yet to match Oracle's bid for retail software vendor Retek. Oracle this week made a $525m offer for Retek, topping SAP's $496m offer from last week. "Regarding yesterday’s announcement by Oracle related to Retek, SAP has no further comment at this time," SAP said, before commenting further. Without directly addressing …

Applications 9 Mar 2005, 20:42
US OKs IBM PC deal

Lenovo to go

Having swept the lampshades for bugs, and checked the car park for underground tunnels, the United States Treasury has agreed to allow IBM's sale of its PC business to Lenovo without further hindrance, and without comment. The 12-man Committee on Foreign Investments (CFIUS), which reports to the Treasury, had launched an …

Financial News 9 Mar 2005, 21:14
Lucent is ready to manage your storage - true

With EMC's help

There will soon be a new and unlikely storage company in town - Lucent. The networking company has confirmed that it has a hosted storage service pilot program underway. Lucent has set up a data center in tandem with EMC that provides storage systems and networking gear to customers. The pilot could go live as an actual service …

Storage 9 Mar 2005, 22:34