12th May 2005 Archive

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UK unis flaunt new computer science courses

Fancy doing a degree in games development?

It is exam season, and naturally universities across the land are gearing up to attract the next wave of students to their courses. Computer science departments are no different. Some are adding to their postgraduate portfolio, while others are trying to tap into new trends and attract a more diverse mix of students. The …

Developer 12 May 2005, 07:30
Wired News hack in fake-sources brouhaha

Comment Just a bit of harmless colour

Freelance journo and frequent Wired News contributor Michelle Delio is in a bit of a bind, after her editors found it impossible to confirm numerous quoted sources in her stories. As of 9 May, Wired News has amended 24 of Delio's stories in which sources could not be identified. In March, MIT's Technology Review pulled two …

Music and Media 12 May 2005, 07:32
IBM has moment of SOA clarity

Think modular, not monolithic

IBM's head of software hit the SOA trail Wednesday, bringing IBM's version of "clarity" to the debate on SOAs and encouraging ISVs to turn their applications into modular suites. Steve Mills spoke to journalists ahead of a customer event in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, to press the line hat IBM has a lead in Service …

Developer 12 May 2005, 07:40
Open source ahoy!

Black Duck joins US Navy push

An open source software license compliance start-up is to participate in a US Navy project on expanded use of open source software. Black Duck Software has joined the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) to advise on a three-year R&D program exploring the use of open source in the Naval Oceanographic Office's web services, …

Operating Systems 12 May 2005, 07:43
Next Microsoft Office due in 2006

Stop using Office 1997, won't you?

Microsoft has at last named a date - of sorts - for the next release of Office. Known generally as Office 12, the updated version of Microsoft's suite is coming next year, Bill Gates says. Until now Microsoft has kept mum on Office 12, referring only to availability during the vague "Longhorn wave" of products. Gates, Microsoft …

Applications 12 May 2005, 07:46
Napster's Q4 loss swells as costs surge

Renting music ain't easy

Napster's loss nearly doubled during the fourth quarter despite a solid rise in revenue. The music rental company brought in $17.4m during the fourth quarter - a 188 percent year-over-year rise. Napster's net loss, however, swelled from $12.2m in last year's Q4 to $24.1m this year. Napster spent a whopping $16.3m on sales and …

Financial News 12 May 2005, 07:48
Need a brothel? Ask Google

More UK map merriment

Our recent revelation that Google maps in the UK had redrawn the entire world according to George Bush provoked much merriment among Reg readers. Naturally, some of you then got down to pushing the fledgling system to its absolute limits. Try this top effort from Andy at the Raster Vision Team: In regard to your article about …

Bootnotes 12 May 2005, 08:35
Dutch anti-piracy unit targets ISPs

Name file-sharers or else

The Dutch Protection Rights Entertainment Industry Netherlands (BREIN) has launched its largest round of lawsuits yet targeting 42 individuals suspected of illegally swapping copyrighted music. However, in order to identify the song swappers, BREIN will sue five Dutch ISPs who so far have rigorously refused to co-operate. Eight …

Telecoms 12 May 2005, 08:36
419ers invade Skype chat

Do these people never give up?

Nigerian 419 stories are like London buses - you wait ages for one and then a whole rack of 'em turn up at once. And indeed the following has just rolled in from reader Paul Garnett, who received a very tempting offer via Skype chat: My name is Mrs Michelle Francis, I am a senior partner (Attorney) in the firm Martinmoore law …

Spam 12 May 2005, 09:13
Intel restates Q1 earnings. Upwards

Tax burden reduced

Intel increased its previously reported Q1 FY2005 earnings this week, thanks to a reduction in the quarter's tax bill. According to filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Intel's Q1 tax bill was $24m lower than it had expected. The upshot: Intel raised its earnings by a cent a share, from 34 cents to 35 …

Financial News 12 May 2005, 09:14
Travelocity buys Lastminute.com for £577m

Hooks up with Travelocity

Lastminute.com is to be snapped up by US travel giant Sabre for £577m, the one-time dotcom darling confirmed today. News to the buy-out comes less than 24 hours after Lastminute.com announced it had "received an approach which may or may not result in an offer being made for the Company" - prompting shares to rocket more than …

Financial News 12 May 2005, 10:16
Shuttle launches first Media Center barebones

Small form-factor for the living room

Small form-factor PC specialist Shuttle launched its latest barebones system this week, pitching the product at system builders keen to enter the media centre market. The XPC SB83G5M is Shuttle's first barebones rig designed specifically for Windows XP Media Center Edition, the company said. The unit employs Shuttle's Silent X …

PCs 12 May 2005, 10:17
DDR 2 output jumps in April

Almost half of the DRAM biz by year's end?

DDR 2 SDRAM accounted for 23.5 per cent of the world's DRAM production last month, market watcher DRAMeXchange reports. This is 2.6 per cent more than the previous month, and 6.6 per cent up on the start of the year. Regular DDR output fell 2.4 per cent between March and April, but it's still the manufacturers' favourite, by a …

Channel Register 12 May 2005, 10:19
BCS on renewed professional standards campaign

To paraphrase: be reputable, join the BCS

The British Computer Society (BCS) is continuing its efforts to define a decent set of professional standards for the IT sector with a new programme it says will put the industry on a par with governed or regulated professions such as engineering, or practicing medicine. The organisation has formed a steering committee of …

IT Director 12 May 2005, 10:52
Hitachi ships 'world fastest' 100GB notebook HDD

Watch out, Seagate

Hitachi yesterday claimed the notebook hard drive performance lead as it shipped what it reckons is the world's fastest 2.5in HDD for mobile applications. The 100GB Travelstar 7K100 spins at a desktop-standard 7200rpm. Hitachi says its own benchmarks show the drive operates seven per cent faster than 3.5in 7200rpm, 2MB cache …

PCs 12 May 2005, 11:00
TechnoDepot issues severe date warning

Cash'n'Carrion Essential kit for harassed team leaders

Those readers who have the onerous task of project managing teams of slackers might like to deploy the latest t-shirt from TechnoDepot: the rather tasty "Warning: Dates on calendar are closer than they appear". There's very little we need to add, really, except to say that this delicious bit of apparel goes out for £12.76 (£14. …

Site News 12 May 2005, 11:03
Heat treatment straightens out MARSIS boom

Sorted

Flight controllers on the Mars Express mission successfully deployed the troublesome first boom of the MARSIS experiment. All it needed was a little bit of heat. When the first antenna began to open on 4 May, all but one of the 13 segments locked into position correctly. One section, probably the 10th, had unfolded, but was not …

Science 12 May 2005, 11:05
Nintendo 'Revolution' to take place mid-2006

Memory supplier spills the beans

Nintendo's Revolution console, its answer to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, will ship mid-2006, a component supplier has revealed. Everyone knows IBM is supplying Nintendo with processor technology, while ATI is contributing Revolution's graphics engine. Less well known is MoSys - aka Monolithic Systems - which provides the …

Consoles 12 May 2005, 11:08
Police tackle Companies House database scam

Anti-hijack campaign

The Metropolitan Police Service has launched a campaign to highlight the growing problem of "company hijacking" – where criminals fraudulently change a company’s official registration details with Companies House in order that they may impersonate it. The fraudsters can then use and abuse the targeted firm’s credit rating, …

Small Biz 12 May 2005, 11:31
Apple fixes critical iTunes bug

MPEG-4 peril alert

Music fans were this week urged to update their iTunes software following the discovery of a serious security bug that creates a means for hackers to take over vulnerable systems. A bug in code used by iTunes 4.X to parse MPEG-4 files means that maliciously-crafted media files can crash vulnerable versions of the application. …

Security 12 May 2005, 12:10
Future buys Cheatplanet.com for £4.6m

US games sites

Future plc - the Bath-based publishing empire behind such titles as .net, Max PC and Digital Home - has snapped up US gaming web Cheat Planet for £4.6m ($8.7m). Cheatplanet.com - which used to be owned be Echo Software and Hardware - is a top-five games site in the US, apparently, attracting 6.1m visitors a month. The site …

Financial News 12 May 2005, 12:12
US mag reveals PalmOne LifeDrive specs

Launch imminent

PalmOne's LifeDrive is real, and has had its second outing ahead of next week's formal launch on 18 May, courtesy of US publication Laptop Magazine. Of course, LM could just be flying a kite, but the inclusion of high-resolution pictures suggests PalmOne conived in their publication. Magazines frequently get kit early, in order …

Mobile 12 May 2005, 12:49
Boingo hops onto Boeing Connexion

In-flight Wi-Fi roaming

US Wi-Fi hotspot aggregator Boingo has added Boeing's in-flight connectivity service, Connexion, to its list of roaming partners. Connexion isn't cheap - access for a full six-hour plus flight will set you back $30. With Boingo selling a 24-hour pass for $10, that's potentially a big saving. We note Boingo's small print that " …

Wireless 12 May 2005, 12:51
AOL offers free email

Whatever

AOL is jumping on the webmail bandwagon. From today it's begun beta testing aim.com - its free web-based email service - available to all net users and not just those dwindling numbers of AOL subscribers. This week it reported that 2.3m subscribers went AWOL last year. Anyhow, the service is available via AOL's Instant …

Telecoms 12 May 2005, 12:53
Nvidia to launch G70 'at Computex'

ATI said to be focusing on SLi-rival

Nvidia's next-generation G70 graphics chip will be unveiled next month at Computex in Taipei, Taiwanese motherboard maker moles have claimed. A variety of sources, cited by DigiTimes, reckon the G70 will be fabbed at 110nm by TSMC and deliver double the performance of the GeForce 6800. But while Nvidia may plan to launch G70 …

System Builder 12 May 2005, 13:07
Men chattier than women

Weird survey findings

Women prefer to use text messages to keep in touch with friends, while men like to pick up their phones and make a call. New research from consumer group Mintel found that men are twice as likely as women to talk on their mobile phones. The researchers have classified people according to the type of use they make of their …

Mobile 12 May 2005, 13:39
Dixons to outsource tech support to LogicaCMG

'Premature' says Dixons

Dixons is on the verge of outsourcing its internal IT support in a bid to improve the service and save cash. Although contract negotiations have yet to be finalised, IT support services outfit LogicaCMG has been tipped as front runner for the deal. And according to insiders, the paperwork could be inked by the end of the month …

IT Director 12 May 2005, 16:08
MSN on the alert with MessageCast acquisition

No figures made public

Microsoft has bought MessageCast, the messaging and alerts technology startup that provides the foundation for its MSN Alerts service, for an undisclosed sum. MSN's Alerts has been based on MessageCast's technology since 2003, but this move will allow Microsoft greater access to the technology, and means the alerts service will …

Software 12 May 2005, 16:08
HP thins UK support contract - sends hundreds of jobs to India

Exclusive Hurding to Bangalore

Hundreds of technical support workers in the UK will lose their jobs by October as a result of HP's decision to move more work to India, The Register can reveal. In a game of offshore the outsourcer, HP has decided to cut off much of the work done with services outfit twenty4help and shift it over to a "global partner" in India …

IT Director 12 May 2005, 17:50
Massachusetts fires legal broadside at spam gang

... as failed junk mailers escape FTC fine

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly obtained an emergency court order on Wednesday shutting down dozens of websites allegedly operated by a sophisticated ring of Boston area spammers. The group are allegedly behind millions of unsolicited, deceptive email messages touting unapproved counterfeit drugs, pirated software, and …

Spam 12 May 2005, 18:41
UK.gov warns over VPN crypto flaw

Remote access snooping risk prompts yellow alert

Firms using IPsec VPNs for remote access could be vulnerable to hacker attack because of cryptographic weaknesses in key sub-protocols, a UK government UNIRAS alert warns. The UK's National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre (NISCC) describes weaknesses in the certain configurations of IPsec VPNs as "high risk". The …

Enterprise Security 12 May 2005, 18:47
Dell keeps double-digit growth groove going in Q1

On storage. On notebooks

Strong sales of storage systems and laptops carried Dell to a solid first quarter. The hardware maker posted revenue of $13.4bn - a 16 per cent year-over-year rise - in the period. Dell also reported a 28 percent rise in net income to $934m up from the $731m reported one year earlier. "We are pleased with our performance this …

Financial News 12 May 2005, 23:12