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17th June 2005 Archive

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  • Users hunt for missing 64-bit kit from AMD and Microsoft

    Promo stunt turns ugly

    AMD and Microsoft want nothing more than to tell you about the wonders of 64-bit Windows computing. The problem is that they've run out of cheap, promotional hardware used to lure customers to their shared North American Tech Tour events, leaving many users questioning whether they'll attend the 64-bit marketing love fests. …

    Servers 17 Jun 2005, 00:27

  • Computer 2000 shows off HP kit

    Demo centre opens to resellers

    Distributor Computer 2000 is opening a demo centre for HP blade and storage gear so resellers can show customers shiny kit in action. The centre will showcase HP kit including ProLiant servers, blade servers, storage servers and a tape library. It has already been used by some of C2000 favoured resellers and is now available to …

    Channel Register 17 Jun 2005, 08:57

  • Eircom launches sometimes-on broadband

    Flexible entry

    Eircom has launched a new 'time-based' product offering high-speed internet access for €1 per hour as part of its drive to get more people to switch to broadband. The "Eircom Broadband Time" service is aimed at dial-up users who have yet to be persuaded that broadband is for them. The product, which will be normally priced at € …

    Telecoms 17 Jun 2005, 09:28

  • BBC green lights Doctor Who series 3

    Dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, wee-yah

    The BBC confirmed this week that a third series of Doctor Who - plus a second Christmas special - has been commissioned. The first series of the revived Doctor Who concludes at Saturday (18 June) with the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, squaring off against the Daleks in his final appearance as the eponymous Time Lord. …

    Bootnotes 17 Jun 2005, 09:53

  • World chip glut to hit 'marginal' levels in Q2

    Research pronounces inventory correction over... almost

    The chip industry's stockpile of unsold product will fall to "marginal" levels by the end of the month, market watcher iSuppli said yesterday, citing preliminary research data. Come the close of Q2, the value of excess semiconductor inventory in the supply chain will have fallen to $500m, down 21 per cent on the $630m worth of …

    Financial News 17 Jun 2005, 09:57

  • Ofcom threatens BT - report

    Utter tosh, says BT

    Ofcom is reportedly threatening to refer BT to the Competition Commission as the two sides continue to thrash out an agreement over access to the telco's telephone network. BT has until the end of June to introduce greater competition and transparency at the giant telco. If Ofcom remains unconvinced that BT is prepared to offer …

    Financial News 17 Jun 2005, 10:08

  • SMS - Belgium's first line of defence

    We r @wr – hd t chcl8z

    Belgian interior minister Patrick Dewael intends to warn every Belgian resident via SMS in times of national emergency. Apparently, Belgium is the first European country to use cell broadcast for this purpose. Cell Broadcast is a mobile technology that allows messages to be broadcast to all mobile handsets and similar devices …

    Bootnotes 17 Jun 2005, 10:30

  • MS boffins use bluetooth for love bites

    Gadgets a-go-go at MS research HQ

    Scientists at Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSRC) are working on a range of new technologies and gadgets that might find their way into our lives. They've come up with a message board that you can send text messages to, a whereabouts clock that keeps track of where family members are, and in collaboration with Vodafone, a …

    Bootnotes 17 Jun 2005, 10:42

  • IBM licenses Rambus XDR interface

    Preparing PlayStation 3 parts?

    IBM has licensed a key component of Rambus' XDR memory technology, the XIO memory controller interface cell. It's perhaps no great surprise. Sony is an XDR licensee and is to use the high-speed consumer electronics-oriented memory technology in next year's PlayStation 3 console. The 256MB of XDR DRAM in the machine will be …

    Peripherals 17 Jun 2005, 10:56

  • If it's Friday it must be Gizmoville

    Tech Digest Gotta get me one of those...

    Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour the world of gadgetry for the oddest digital goodies, while Bayraider keeps tabs on the best - and worst - of eBay. Obligatory iPod accessory of the week If you're the kind of person who prefers to be eased into the day by a lovingly chosen collection of your …

    Peripherals 17 Jun 2005, 11:10

  • Nominet faces judicial review over itunes.co.uk ownership

    Domain squabbles

    Benjamin Cohen is seeking a Judicial Review over Nominet's recent ruling which forced him to hand over his itunes.co.uk domain to Apple. In March Apple was awarded control of the domain iTunes.co.uk, even though it was registered before the Mac maker announced its online music service. Cohen registered "itunes.co.uk" on 7 …

    Music and Media 17 Jun 2005, 11:16

  • Machine defends rampaging robot

    FoTW Insults Reg hacks

    This week we ran a short news item about a robot that had gone on a rampage at a California hospital. The evil being, we explained, went bonkers, and refused to do its job of dispensing pills, instead preferring to terrorise the patients, and break in to private medical examinations. Not everyone appreciates our efforts to …

    Bootnotes 17 Jun 2005, 11:22

  • Adware makers exploit BitTorrent

    Sadly inevitable

    A row has broken out after a marketing firm was caught hiding adware in files distributed on the BitTorrent file sharing network. P2P applications such as Kazaa have been bundled with various adware packages for some time, to say nothing of the increased use of P2P networks as a distribution network by virus writers, but …

    Malware 17 Jun 2005, 12:44

  • BT - an apology

    Ongoing confusion over BT Fusion

    Earlier this week The Register reported on the launch of BT's new mobile-cum-landline phone - BT Fusion. At the time we said the name was dreamt up by those free thinkers at its "creative boutique". However, we now accept that this was wrong and the brand name was actually dug out and reprocessed by the telco's "Recycling Old …

    Telecoms 17 Jun 2005, 12:47

  • HP iPaq 'Treo' to ship 1 July

    Singapore gets Mobile Media Companion first

    HP is to ship its eagerly anticipated PDA phone, the iPaq 6515 Mobile Media Companion on 1 July, the company's Singapore website has revealed. The 6515 is HP's Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition-based alternative to PalmOne's Treo 650 communicator. The wireless device features quad-band GSM and GPRS phone network support, with …

    Mobile 17 Jun 2005, 12:53

  • UK trojan siege has been running over a year

    "State-sponsored or highest level organized crime"

    One of the UK's most secretive security organisations is hunting down a gang of high tech criminals in the Far East that has been attacking the computer systems of Government departments and multi-national companies to steal secrets. The gang, which many experts say is either being headed up by a computer master criminal or a …

    Security 17 Jun 2005, 13:40

  • Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' in depth

    Review Part three: Mail, Safari and security

    Mail 2.0 Mac OS X's Mail app has been my preferred email tool since I started using the operating system back in the Public Beta days. I never got into Microsoft's Entourage, despite being an Outlook Express user up until that point. Mail has nicely evolved as my own email usage has grown, first with the addition of solid …

    Mac Channel 17 Jun 2005, 13:54

  • Criticality and support of email: The survey

    Reg reader studies See the light

    The longest day of the year is almost upon us, and what better way to make use of those extra day light hours than to click a few keys and fill in our latest reader survey. What better antidote to cavorting druids, new age travelers and King Arthur impersonators could there be than pondering “The Criticality and Support of …

    Tech Panel 17 Jun 2005, 14:14

  • Hit squad set up to combat DP breaches

    Who thought data protection could be so exciting?

    UK businesses that fail to adhere to data protection laws face criminal prosecution following the creation of a new hit squad. Earlier this week the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) - custodians of the UK's data protection laws - set up a new Regulatory Action Division (RAD) to finger companies that illegally store …

    IT Director 17 Jun 2005, 14:21

  • Focal iCub iPod 2.1 speaker set

    Review Just too good for its target market?

    With demand for iPod accessories reaching fever pitch it seems there's no stopping manufacturers from claiming their generic audio products are really for the add-on market. French outfit Focal seems to have taken this claim to the extreme with the iCub, a high-end 2.1 speaker system it's pitching at MP3 player owners. The …

    Reviews 17 Jun 2005, 14:25

  • Ssshhh! Opera slips out security update

    No big drama over JavaScript bug

    Opera users are urged to update their browser software following the discovery of a security flaw that creates a means for hackers to read local files using a form of cross-site scripting attack. The vulnerability stems from a failure by Opera to restrict JavaScript privileges, for example, when "javascript:" URLs are opened in …

    Enterprise Security 17 Jun 2005, 14:28

  • Brits abroad warned: Don't become enemy spy

    MI5 warns Brits on the piss...

    Summer's here and the time is right to consult the internets for travel advice and holiday tips. There is a new entrant this year and it's not another pesky dot-com start-up but the UK's very own security goons MI5. The secret service is warning Brits travelling abroad for work or holidays to be aware of the danger of being …

    Bootnotes 17 Jun 2005, 14:34

  • Scottish reseller sold to Sopra

    Auld alliance...

    Scottish consultancy Newell & Budge has been sold to French firm Sopra for £45m. The deal is described as a merger and the new firm will trade as Sopra Newell & Budge in the UK. Ann Budge and Alison Newell started the business in 1985. Newell retired in 2001 and an MBO gave many staff an equity stake in the firm. It should make …

    Channel Register 17 Jun 2005, 14:57

  • Red Hat and Novell salivate as Navy learns to count servers

    499,997, 499,998, 499,999 . . .

    Lick your chops, Red Hat and Novell, because the owner of the world's second largest network is looking to standardize on one flavor of Linux. So says Capt. Chris Christopher, a top dog in the Department of the Navy's Program Executive Office for Information Technology, in a recent interview. The Navy has just used a new IT …

    Servers 17 Jun 2005, 15:58

  • GAO gives US.gov D- for security

    Holes inside the Beltway

    US federal agencies are poorly prepared in withstanding spyware, spam or phishing attack, a government audit has concluded. A survey by the Government Accountability Office published this week reveals a lack of coherent security planning among as many as 20 federal agencies. "Many agencies have not fully addressed the risks of …

    Security 17 Jun 2005, 16:03

  • Open BSD honcho channels Ballmer in Linux tirade

    It's garbage, De Raadt explains

    Open BSD honcho Theo De Raadt claimed that Linux is a hopeless jumble of "cheap little hacks" and has become "garbage" during an interview published at Forbes.com. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is," he said. "And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and …

    Servers 17 Jun 2005, 20:42

  • Larry Ellison branded storage absent at Oracle

    CEO can't sell himself on new kit

    Larry Ellison has poured millions into his personal storage start-up Pillar Data, but it turns out that not even Larry's Own is good enough for Oracle - at least not yet. Oracle is sticking with Network Appliance and EMC for the time being instead of picking up competing systems from Pillar. That's a tough rub for a company …

    Storage 17 Jun 2005, 21:51