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1st April 2005 Archive

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  • 'White Bud' guerilla targets one iPod at a time

    Save a life - and stop crime

    When we suggested that iPods need Health Warnings recently, little did we know that concerned citizens have already taken action. So let's hear from Euan Lindsay, who has targeted fellow students at Glasgow University. Campuses are becoming hotbeds of iPodism, with students wandering around like farts in a trance. Enough's …

    Mac Channel 1 Apr 2005, 00:14

  • BBC throws strop at 'Ceefax Google'

    Dutch website lets users browse Auntie content

    A Dutch consultant has provoked the anger of the BBC by creating a website which lets users browse Ceefax, the broadcaster’s popular teletext service. The BBC has demanded the closure of the site, claiming copyright infringement. Hendrik Noorderhaven, a former candidate for the European parliament, started the website two years …

    Media 1 Apr 2005, 06:26

  • Bush twins to join Air Force tech unit in Iraq

    1 April exclusive In harm's way

    First daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush will be assigned to a high-tech unit in Iraq, the Air Force Human Resources Command has confirmed. Having finished basic training at the Officer Training School (OTS) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, they are scheduled to receive advanced training in telecommunications at the School of …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 06:26

  • Deficient Veritas delays year-end fiscal report

    This feels so familiar

    Veritas has delayed the filing of its year-end financial forms with a US regulator after discovering "controls over financial reporting" that were not up to snuff. Veritas hopes to hand in the 10-K filing for 2004 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission by April 11. It had previously looked to meet an already extended …

    Storage 1 Apr 2005, 06:27

  • Tempel-1: iceberg or galactic rubber ball?

    April Fool special Deep Impact team ponders comet's composition

    NASA's Deep Impact probe launched successfully on 12 January, on a mission to more accurately understand the properties of comets. Its target is Tempel-1 - chosen because although it might be rock and ice like most other comets, scientists have reason to suspect that much of its structure is highly elastic frozen cross-linked …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 07:00

  • US regulators take action over ID theft

    Daddy was a bank phisher

    US banking tegulators, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and so-called "thrift institution" regulators, have instructed banks to develop procedures to promptly advise federal officials and customers of suspected cases of identity theft. This growing type of fraud costs consumers millions, even billions of pounds - the true …

    Security 1 Apr 2005, 07:15

  • Red Hat Q4 sales soar

    Profit kicker

    Red Hat is to buy back more shares after reporting a record fourth quarter. The Linux distro pulled in revenues of $57.5m for the three months to 28 February 2005, 56 per cent up on last year, and net income of $11.8m, 200 per cent up on Q4 04. Enterprise subscription revenue was $45.4m, 92 per cent higher year on year. …

    Operating Systems 1 Apr 2005, 08:13

  • German court to examine Lufthansa attack

    June swoon

    After more than three years of investigation, a court in Frankfurt has set a June date to decide whether a short but effective online attack against Lufthansa's website was illegal. The main suspect, Andreas-Thomas Vogel, says it was only an 'activist demonstration'. On June 20 2001 Vogel released software to automatically …

    Media 1 Apr 2005, 08:15

  • Security and interop issues cause EU biometric passport delays

    Begs for deadline extension

    The European Union has asked the US to put back its biometric passport deadline for another year, citing "data security and interoperability of reading devices" as issues that still needed to be resolved. Meanwhile, data security is becoming a major issue in the run up to the planned rollout of US biometric passports later this …

    Media 1 Apr 2005, 08:48

  • BT faces fading market share

    One.Tel 'dismantling BT's line rental monopoly'

    BT should see its dominance of the UK's residential fixed line market evaporate over the next ten years according to boffins at Research Analysis and Knowledge Management. They predict that BT Retail's share of the UK's fixed line market will fall from 82 per cent to 45 per cent over the next decade as increased competition …

    Broadband 1 Apr 2005, 08:51

  • Intel heeds Japanese antitrust probe warning

    But denies accusations

    Intel has agreed to abide by the recommendations of Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), the chip giant said yesterday, though it maintains that the accusations of anti-competitive behaviour levelled against it are false. It also accused the JFTC of "misrepresenting" its business practices and failing "to take into account the …

    Financial News 1 Apr 2005, 09:02

  • Samba, Soccer and Open Source

    Comment Brazil's cheap PC initiative

    Since the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil has gradually become a beachhead for Open Source, and consequently a thorn in Microsoft's side. Soon after his election, President da Silva appointed Sergio Amadeu, an academic and Open Source enthusiast, to head Brazil's National Information Technology Institute …

    Operating Systems 1 Apr 2005, 09:06

  • Another approach to federated query

    On Callixa and data agents

    The vast majority of vendors supplying federated or EII (enterprise information integration) platforms employ the same paradigm. This can basically be described as a view or virtual schema builder at the front end, with an optimiser and a cache in the platform. Now, there is not much disagreement about the front-end but there …

    Developer 1 Apr 2005, 09:12

  • Apple founder Jobs joins IKEA

    April Fool Special From flatpack to backpack - we reveal the designs

    IKEA's flatpack days may soon be a distant memory, as Apple and Pixar founder Steve Jobs turns to his latest challenge. Inter IKEA Systems BV will employ Jobs as "acting CEO", from next month. The technology icon will maintain his twin CEO roles at Apple Computer Inc. and Pixar Inc. but will also take command with a wide-ranging …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 09:54

  • IVF clinics may tag embryos

    My first RFID

    The UK body which regulates IVF treatment is considering tagging embryos to prevent the sort of fiasco which saw mixed-race twins born to white parents after the wrong sperm was used to fertilise the mother's eggs. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) now wants to label all material - sperm, eggs and embryos …

    Science 1 Apr 2005, 09:54

  • Transmeta replaces CEO amid major restructure

    Big Sony deal boosts tech licensing play

    Transmeta last night began its transformation from a chip maker to a processor technology developer, a move heralded by the replacment of president and CEO Matthew Perry, almost three years after his appointment to that role, and the loss of 67 jobs worldwide. Hints that the company might shift from producing and selling …

    Financial News 1 Apr 2005, 10:10

  • AMD to bring forward dual-core Opteron debut?

    Two-core chips coming as server chip turns two...

    AMD may be about to bring forward the launch of its dual-core Opteron server processors by a quarter. So suggest sources from among Taiwan's server manufacturing community, but there's circumstantial evidence to support the claim, too. According to a DigiTimes report, which cites the aforementioned Taiwanese sources, the dual- …

    Servers 1 Apr 2005, 10:15

  • Police quell Bangladesh mobe riot

    Cut-price phone promotion ends in anarchy

    A cut-price mobile phone promotion in Bangladesh ended in anarchy after application forms for the Teletalk Bangladesh deal ran out, provoking a riot in the capital Dhaka. Thousands of people who had queued in inclement weather expressed their dissatisfaction with the cock-up, and were baton-charged by police for their trouble. …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2005, 10:27

  • New UK agency to target net paedophiles

    Co-ordinated assault

    The government is setting up a new agency specifically to target paedophiles who use the internet to share child porn, and to "groom" children. The Centre for Child Protection on the Internet, announced as part of the government's digital strategy for Britain, will work to support existing child protection agencies. It will be …

    Policy 1 Apr 2005, 10:35

  • UK commission rejects infant DNA profiling

    'Ethical, legal and social concerns'

    The UK's Human Genetics Commission (HGC) has advised against a proposal to profile the DNA of every newborn infant. Although the HGC conceded that such a scheme might have benefits including allowing the advance planning of medical treatment, the ethical, legal and social concerns currently outweighed these. HGC chairwoman, …

    Science 1 Apr 2005, 11:01

  • Ex-ATI CEO insider trading hearing postponed

    Other accused settle with Ontario Securities Commission

    Former ATI CEO K Y Ho will now have to wait until 11 April to hear what action the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) may take against him after it examines allegations that he engaged in insider trading. The OSC this week adjourned a hearing into the matter, scheduled after OSC investigators accused Ho, his wife Betty, one- …

    Business 1 Apr 2005, 11:06

  • MS takes rod to phishers

    117 John Doe lawsuits against scammers

    Microsoft has upped the ante in its campaign against phishers by filing 117 so-called "John Doe" lawsuits. Microsoft attorney Aaron Kornblum issued a statement saying: "We must work together to stop these con artists from misusing the Internet as a tool for fraud," Reuters reports. The software giant said it was filing the …

    Security 1 Apr 2005, 11:10

  • Qwest ups bid for MCI - yet again

    That's it

    The bidding war for MCI continues to show no sign of running out of steam following Qwest's decision to sweeten its offer yet again for the US telco. The wedge on the table currently stands at $8.9bn. In a letter to MCI, Qwest chief exec Richard Notebaert accused the telco of "complete abdication of its duties to act in the …

    Financial News 1 Apr 2005, 11:53

  • PalmOne 'Life Drive' photos surface

    Analysis Points to the next stage in the PDA's - and the PC's - evolution

    PalmOne's speculative hard disk-equipped PDA, said to be dubbed the 'Life Drive', took a small step closer to become a real product this week when pictures of the device were posted on the web. But the pictures, and the rumoured specification of the device in them, point to something more significant that merely the next …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2005, 12:06

  • Why Fiorina wasn't the right man for the HP CEO post

    And ninethly Hurd is a cut above

    Jealousy is indeed a poor medium to secure love, but it is a secure medium to destroy one's self-respect. For jealous people, like dope-fiends, stoop to the lowest level and in the end inspire only disgust and loathing - Emma Goldman There's nothing sexist about admitting defeat. Congratulations to HP's board for recognizing …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 14:30

  • Hardware is secure (false)

    Voodoo security lambasted

    Hardware devices are far from a panacea for information security problems but users are continuing to place too much faith in marketing claims to the contrary, the Black Hat conference was told this week. Technology has moved on but hardware devices are far from totally secure. "Most, if not all, hardware solutions are open to …

    Security 1 Apr 2005, 14:39

  • HP iPaq hx2750 PocketPC

    Review Fingerprint security, anyone?

    When it comes to choosing a PocketPC it seems like there's little or no need to look elsewhere than HP's iPaq line-up. The company has dominated the market since day one and today it boasts a range offering something for everyone, writes Stephen Patrick. The hx2750 is the replacement for the old and, so it seems now, unwieldy …

    Reviews 1 Apr 2005, 14:52

  • Privacy 'Dark Ages' force activist rethink

    Resistance isn’t futile

    Privacy activists need to change tactics to adapt to changing public attitudes, a leading campaigner said Thursday. Simon Davies, a director of Privacy International, said campaigners need to win the argument by force of evidence rather than assuming that people naturally guard their privacy against government encroachment, an …

    Security 1 Apr 2005, 14:59

  • 16 scammers fined £1.3m

    Premium rate watchdog acts

    Sixteen premium rate services have been fined a total of £1.3m following a crackdown on rogue operators over the Easter weekend. Last week ICSTIS warned punters to be on their guard against dodgy operators using illegal Automated Calling Equipment (ACE) after receiving credible market intelligence that scamsters were to step up …

    Broadband 1 Apr 2005, 15:06

  • Cisco to merge with Nabisco

    April Fool special Cracker-packet giant forged in San Luis Obispo

    Cisco Systems and Kraft Foods shocked investors today with an unlikely mega-acquisition that will see Cisco buy Kraft's Nabisco unit for $15bn. Perhaps even more surprising, former RJR Nabisco and IBM CEO Lou Gerstner has come out of retirement to head the new firm tentatively called NaCisco. Cisco and Kraft announced the deal …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 15:22

  • .Net report slammed again

    Chairman of key committee demands investigation

    The report that decided ownership of the .net registry has come under heavy criticism for a second time this week. The chair of the committee that actually decided the report's methodology and criteria, Philip Sheppard, has demanded an investigation into what he has called "a fundamental contradiction between the dot net …

    Media 1 Apr 2005, 16:13

  • Coming months 'critical for LLU'

    OTA speaks

    The next few months will "prove critical for LLU deployment", according to the man responsible for ensuring that local loop unbundling works in the UK. In his latest industry update, Telecoms Adjudicator Peter Black said that more exchanges are coming online, quality is improving and new automation processes that should speed …

    Broadband 1 Apr 2005, 16:23

  • April Fool rages at El Reg

    FoTW This is a beauty

    We would like to begin this Flame of the Week by calling the attention of the reader to the date. Yes, today is 1 April. The Fool's day. The day of pranks, cons, japes and other assorted jokes. Having established that, we would recommend that before reading any further, you all pop along to this nice little story about the Bush …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2005, 16:26