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12th April 2005 Archive

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  • Bully Oracle beats SAP to Retek

    And for just $670m

    Oracle will complete its showy acquisition of retail software maker Retek on Tuesday, beating out rival SAP. Oracle currently holds 94 per cent of Retek's outstanding shares, giving it enough clout to close the acquisition, it said on Monday. All of the remaining shareholders will be offered $11.25 per share in cash tomorrow …

    Software 12 Apr 2005, 08:31

  • China goes native on procurement

    Local software for local people

    China is changing the rules for government departments which want to buy software produced outside the country. Government purchasers must define software vendors as "domestic, non-domestic and preferred domestic", according to the FT. Under new rules government departments wishing to buy foreign software will have to get …

    Software 12 Apr 2005, 08:57

  • Intel touts Celeron M for WinCE

    Banias for set-top boxes

    Intel continues to recycle its older notebook and desktop products into the consumer electronics market. Yesterday, at Intel Developer Forum Taiwan, the chip giant introduced a 'new' chipset aimed at set-top boxes. The 854 supports the 130nm, 600MHz Ultra-Low Voltage Celeron M processor across a 400MHz system bus. The chipset …

    PCs 12 Apr 2005, 09:29

  • Met Office powers up new supercomputer

    Many, many, many flops

    The Met Office has broken out its shiny new supercomputer and has started using the NEC beast to produce its weather forecasts. The machine will run atmospheric models capable of producing forecasts five days ahead. It will also support the development of climate simulation and ocean-atmosphere models used in climate research …

    Science 12 Apr 2005, 09:32

  • Apple iPod Mini 6GB

    Review Best iPod yet? Best MP3 player yet?

    In a hundred years' time, if there one object was to be chosen to represent the Western world of the early 21st Century, the iPod would be a strong contender. Once merely a music player it's become the 'must have' fashion accessory of the moment. And even with its ubiquity, there's no backlash yet in sight, writes Benny Har-Even …

    Reviews 12 Apr 2005, 09:53

  • Claranet to buy VIA NET.WORKS

    Lays down big depost

    VIA NET.WORKS, Inc. - the business-focused telco in Europe and the US which recently said it was facing an "urgent liquidity problem" - has agreed to be rescued by UK ISP Claranet for $27m. Yesterday both companies said they had signed a letter of intent for Claranet to snaffle up VIA NET.WORKS. Although it is still early days …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 10:41

  • IFPI drafts 'code of conduct' for ISPs

    Just another day in the fight against copyright infringement

    Not content with creating a continent-spanning lawsuit-sharing network using special P2P (person to perpetrator) technology, the record companies' consortium, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) now wants your ISP to sign up to a new "code of conduct" that it has helpfully drafted with the help of the …

    Public Sector 12 Apr 2005, 10:57

  • HMV swaps digital music partners

    Signs MusicNet

    UK music retailer HMV is to ditch its digital music partner Loudeye subsidiary OD2 in favour of MusicNet, it emerged last night. HMV announced a massive relaunch of its digital download store last December. The retailer vowed to spend £10m in a bid to catch up with higher-profile providers like Apple's iTunes, Napster, …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 11:03

  • Government IT contracts can make you cry: official

    EDS and CSA bring a tear to the eye

    Research commissioned by the Department of Work and Pensions into the workings of the Child Support Agency reveals staff are still struggling with EDS's new computer system dubbed CS2.* The report called Child Support Reform: The views and experiences of CSA staff and new clients was carried out by Bristol University. The …

    IT Director 12 Apr 2005, 11:22

  • Ibas buys computer forensics rival Vogon

    No hideous poetry involved, thankfully

    Ibas, the data recovery and computer forensics firm, is to buy its main European competitor, UK-based Vogon International. The earn-out deal specifies a minimum price of £4m ($7.5m) and a maximum of £9m ($17m). Vogon will continue as a separate firm until the end of the year, with the integration with Norway-based Ibas kicking …

    Security 12 Apr 2005, 11:27

  • Physicists freeze light, propose optical CPUs

    Chilling out at Harvard

    Scientists at Harvard University have discovered how to freeze light, so that it can be used to build an optical computer, theoretically capable of processing information ten times faster than traditional electronics. The researchers, led by Prof. Lene Hau, has calculated that controlled, coherent processing with light can be …

    Science 12 Apr 2005, 11:33

  • VIA uploads graphics core driver source code

    Calling Linux users

    VIA has posted open source drivers for its graphics chipsets, part of its project to encourage the use of Linux with its EPIA embedded x86 platform. The chipset maker said it had made driver code available for S3 Graphics' UniChrome family of graphics cores integrated into its CLE266, CN400, PM800 and PM880 North Bridge …

    PCs 12 Apr 2005, 12:14

  • Fibernet dips on tough outlook

    Revs up, losses down

    Shares in Fibernet dipped this morning after the UK alternative telco warned of tough times ahead. Revenue for the six months to the end of February increased from £18.4m last year to £24.2m which helped narrow pre-tax losses from £3.9m to £1.9m. Chief exec Charles McGregor said that the company has delivered an "encouraging …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 12:21

  • New wave of lawsuits to hit 'illegal song-swappers'

    IFPI lashes out

    The record industry is targeting nearly 1,000 people in a new wave of lawsuits against alleged "illegal song-swappers" in actions in 11 countries in Europe and Asia. Following its first year of legal actions in Europe, which resulted in 248 people paying fines or facing "sanctions", the International Federation of the …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 12:34

  • Netizens learning to tolerate spam - study

    Part of the fabric of life

    The amount of spam reaching Netizen inboxes is still on the rise, yet fewer people are offended by it than were a year ago, a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found. The results indicate that 53 per cent of email users say spam has made them less trusting of email, compared to 62 per cent a year ago; that …

    Spam 12 Apr 2005, 12:37

  • Intel offers $10,000 for safe return of missing Moore's Law

    Looked behind the sofa cushions, guys?

    Intel has lost Moore's Law and is offering a $10,000 bounty to anyone who can provide information leading to its return. The loss of the Law comes as a tough blow to a company that has built its entire business around the fulfilling this single hypothesis, famously postulated by the company's co-founder, Gordon Moore, in 1965. …

    PCs 12 Apr 2005, 12:42

  • Google.co.uk goes local

    How Google wants to get even closer to its customers

    Rumours that Google UK is planning to take on local area information suppliers such as the Yellow Pages at their own game were confirmed as fact this week. Head of Google Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Holger Meyer, went on-the-record and stated that the UK was to receive a new "local" button to its search engine "later in …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 13:12

  • Italian smut virus scammer jailed for 14 months

    Pronto pronto

    A 39-year-old Italian man convicted of running a porn dialler scam was last week jailed for 14 months on fraud and virus distribution charges. The unnamed perp was also fined €3,000 by a Milan court, after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate virus writing scam designed to fleece gullible Windows users. The case marks …

    Malware 12 Apr 2005, 13:20

  • Nanotech's grand challenge is sustainable development

    Big things expected of small science

    The developing world stands to gain most from nanotechnology through its advances in energy storage and production, according to a report. In a poll of 63 experts in the field, nanotechnology's potential to transform food production was also highlighted. The Canadian Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) asked the panel of …

    Science 12 Apr 2005, 13:37

  • Cash-for-votes site launched

    'X' marks the spot

    A new web site has been created for people who want to buy and sell votes in the upcoming general election. Whether it's a genuine bid to raise some extra cash or a satirical comment about the state of British politics, the site is likely to stir up more controversy. Last week, eBay began deleting auctions selling votes after …

    Public Sector 12 Apr 2005, 14:12

  • Introducing the 'Matrix' laptop-triggered landmine

    WLAN killing system bound for Iraq

    The US Army will by June deploy in Iraq its "Matrix" system of remotely-detonated landmines, despite widespread concerns about the technology. The Mosul-based Styker Brigade will, according to Yahoo! news, be able to control individual devices from a laptop via a WLAN set-up. The Army reckons Matrix will eliminate accidental …

    Bootnotes 12 Apr 2005, 14:58

  • Indies plan assault on UK singles chart

    It ain't secure, and we're gonna prove it

    A UK independent record label boss has warned that indies may this week launch an assault on the UK singles chart to prove that it is not secure following the incorporation of downloads into sales figures. The plan is simply to download specific songs as many times as possible to improve their chart position - an armchair …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 15:15

  • eBayers demand money for old rope

    Approx 1 metre, used

    Ta very much this afternoon to wags Bob & Paul who send news of perhaps the ultimate antidote to preposterous eBay auction syndrome. Regular readers know the score - mad people punting voodoo cuddly toys or 24 small Asian children or offering their todgers as advertising space for thrusting dotcoms. Well, we applaud the …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2005, 15:16

  • HP hit with a Moody...

    Agency cuts rating

    Credit agency Moody's is cutting its rating outlook for Hewlett-Packard from positive to stable. The analysts are worried about HP's longer-term performance and the increasing risk of competition. Moody's says HP's performance in the enterprise market is: "below expectations, inconsistent and subject to strong competitive and …

    Financial News 12 Apr 2005, 15:35

  • Bush Admin demands more banking data

    A piecemeal approach to Total Information Awareness

    The Bush Administration plans to extend its mighty neural networks to international banking in hopes of discovering terrorist activity, the New York Times reported in its Sunday edition. The scheme would allow the US Treasury Department to maintain databases of international money transfers to and from the USA, creating an …

    Public Sector 12 Apr 2005, 16:02

  • EU's data retention laws could be illegal

    Bureaucratic hiccough

    Proposed European legislation on data retention may be illegal, according to lawyers at the European Council and Commission. The offending sections of the proposed framework agreement on data retention are the requirements the law would impose on communications service providers. The legal eagles argue that such rules should be …

    Mac Channel 12 Apr 2005, 16:09

  • Apple: Mac OS X 10.4 to ship 29 April

    Cue thousands more bad Tiger puns...

    Apple will ship the next major release of Mac OS X on Friday, 29 April, the Mac maker said today, 24 hours or so before it announces its Q2 FY2005 results. Mac OS X 10.4, aka Tiger, will go on sale on the aforementioned day at 6PM. Apple neglected to say which time zone it's working to, with both the UK and the US press …

    Mac Channel 12 Apr 2005, 16:09

  • BMC apologizes for poor Q4 with massive job cuts

    12 per cent of staff sent off

    Management software maker BMC will can almost 12 per cent of its workforce in a bid to please investors with improved profitability. In addition, the company revealed preliminary fourth quarter financial figures well below previous expectations. BMC provided word of the firings on Monday, saying between 825 and 875 staffers ( …

    Applications 12 Apr 2005, 16:20

  • Ethernet forum plots death of SONET

    Telco-grade Ethernet standard unveiled

    Cheaper bandwidth at higher speeds is promised with the introduction Tuesday of a new telco standard 'Carrier Ethernet'. The standard is backed up by an international certification programme from trade association the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). Carrier Ethernet promises wide area networking scalable beyond 10Gbps using …

    IT Director 12 Apr 2005, 16:27

  • Mixed messages over cheap broadband offer

    Huh?

    UK Online's headline-grabbing offer of entry-level broadband for under £10 a month has caused a stir among UK punters keen to snap up the offer of cheap broadband. Tempted by high-speed net access for under a tenner a month, many readers who contacted El Reg were disappointed to find out that the service is only available in …

    Telecoms 12 Apr 2005, 16:39

  • UK to use passports to build national fingerprint database

    ID card scheme, or parliament, not needed, apparently...

    Mandatory fingerprinting of new UK passport applicants is to begin next year, as a "building block" for a future ID card scheme, according to a Guardian report The Government's ID Card Bill was spiked after the election was announced, but the Government is said to contend that as passports are issued under royal prerogative, it …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2005, 17:32