14th July 2005 Archive
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AMD shrugs off Intel shackles for ace Q2
Chips up. Flash down
AMD shot right past analysts' expectations during the second quarter to post a profit and sparkling processor sales. Not bad for a company alleging that Intel has an illegal stranglehold on the processor market. Opteron, Opteron, Opteron was the key message from management. Sales of AMD's server chip shot up 89 per cent year- …
Servers 14 Jul 2005, 03:06
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Microsoft's 'Chimney' stuffed by TCP/IP settlement
Alacritech - one of many
Microsoft has settled a patent dispute with networking start-up Alacritech. The deal will see the companies cross license some technology and have Microsoft pay Alacritech an undisclosed sum. We know, we know. Microsoft pays off smaller firm is a familiar plot line. Alacritech specializes in making TCP/IP offloading technology …
Storage 14 Jul 2005, 04:14
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HDS intros midsize storage controller
Good Lord!
The decline of big iron in the storage department accelerated this week as HDS announced a cut-down model of its virtualising storage controller, able to manage both HDS and non-HDS arrays. Called the TagmaStore NSC55, the device is aimed at midrange buyers, but HDS admits it will also appeal to larger organisations - …
Storage 14 Jul 2005, 06:02
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Dell: why Customer Care had to die
Forums full of people with problems - now all gone!
We notice that you were very interested by the news that Dell has closed its customer support boards (on the US site). We had asked the company itself to explain why; and within just two days of our urgent request, it managed to unburden itself of the following response, which we quote in full. "Effective Friday, July 8, 2005 …
IT Director 14 Jul 2005, 09:14
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Shuttle grounded
Here we go again...
Sadly, Shuttle did not launch yesterday. NASA says that a faulty fuel gauge is to blame - it showed a fuel tank to be nearly empty, when in fact in was nearly full. This could cause the engines to cut out at the wrong point of the Shuttle's ascent, mission controllers explained, which would, clearly, not be a good thing. NASA …
Science 14 Jul 2005, 09:20
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TransFlash becomes MicroSD
Memory card body adopts SanDisk spec
The SD Association (SDA), the organisation that oversees the SD memory card format, has formally taken on board the TransFlash specification and renamed it MicroSD. TransFlash was developed by memory card specialist SanDisk - who, as you can imagine, is cock-a-hoop over the news - and has been adopted by some of the mobile …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 09:45
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ISPA contacts Bulldog over spike in customer complaints
'Customer service issues'
The UK's ISP trade group has contacted Bulldog over an increased number of complaints about its broadband service, The Register has learned. ISPA contacted Bulldog - the local loop unbundling (LLU) operator owned by telecoms giant Cable & Wireless - a couple of weeks ago to discuss a spike in complaints it had received. The …
Telecoms 14 Jul 2005, 09:48
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Hillary Clinton demands GTA smut enquiry
Grand Theft Auto menaces family values
Senator Hillary Clinton has jumped nimbly on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas rumpy-pumpy outrage bandwagon by demanding an investigation into the game's torrid sex scenes as unlocked by Dutch modder Patrick Wildenborg. To recap, Wildenborg's "Hot Coffee" mod apparently disables the game's "censor flag", thereby allowing …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 09:51
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Morse flogs French business for €1 (and then some)
Upbeat trading update
Morse has sold its French subsidiary, Morse France SAS to Opengate for €1 – and maybe €1m in performance-related cash in the period to 30 June 2007. It is taking an non-cash charge of €7m on the disposal. Morse France turned over £11m in the most recent quarter – just under 10 per cent of group revenues. So the sale price looks …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2005, 09:53
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C2000 extends credit lines for SME resellers
£11.5m bonanza
Computer 2000 is doubling credit lines to 1000 smaller resellers. And the Tech Data-owned distie is making credit lines of £5000 available to another 1,300 dealers who previously had cash with order or credit accounts. The group comprises resellers which currently do "relatively small amounts of business with the company on a …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2005, 10:37
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Palm
Oneregains old handleEyes multi-OS future?
Palm, ladies and gentlemen, is now Palm again. When the Nasdaq market opens for business later today, the company's stock will be traded under the PALM symbol. While the company's web site had been updated this morning with the new logo, the homepage's title still said "PalmOne, formerly Palm", so presumably it will soon be …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 10:49
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Orange UK launches smart phones
M500 for business, C550 for pleasure
Mobile phone network Orange this week launched its much-anticipated SPV C550 and SPV M500 smart phones, a week after the company posted details of the handsets on its website. The C550 will be promoted under Orange's Great for Music label - no surprise given the HTC-developed handset's focus on music playback, with separate …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 10:51
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Michael J. Fox makes stem cell plea
Doc Hollywood backs research bill
Michael J. Fox has thrown his weight behind a campaign to persuade US president Bush to drop his opposition to an embryonic stem cell bill seeking to allow an expanded research programme, Reuters reports. The bill would quash limits Bush imposed in August 2001 (a stop on any further federal-funded stem cell research outside …
Science 14 Jul 2005, 11:34
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VeriSign snags iDefense for $40m
Managed security services play
Net infrastructure firm VeriSign has bought security intelligence firm iDefense for $40m in cash. iDefense's 45 employees will join VeriSign in a move designed to bolster its managed security services offering with proactive threat warning and security remediation advice. iDefense is best known for its controversial …
Security 14 Jul 2005, 11:36
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Ebbers weeps as sentence handed down
25 years for $11bn WorldCom fraud
Bernie Ebbers wept in court as he was told he faced 25 years in chokey for orchestrating the world's biggest securities fraud at WorldCom. The man behind the $11bn (£5.8bn) con that helped make WorldCom "become synonymous with fraud" was visibly shaken when the sentence was handed down yesterday, according to those in court. …
Telecoms 14 Jul 2005, 11:45
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MP3 is ten years old today
The file extension, not the format
Happy Birthday, MP3 - today, you are ten years old. Yes, on 14 July 1995 Germany's Fraunhofer Institute chose to use the .mp3 extension for files holding audio data encoded using the MPEG standard's Audio Layer 3 specification. The MPEG Audio Layer 3 codec was standardised in 1992. Fraunhofer researcher Juergen Zeller broke …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 11:59
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UK ministers push for data retention
Put worries about cost and liberty aside
UK ministers have gone on the offensive in Europe in a bid to persuade MEPs to push through laws on data retention. The draft legislation in question was put forward by individual member states, rather than the commission, in the wake of the Madrid bombings. It would require communications service providers to keep rather …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2005, 12:17
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Azlan puts planets into orbit
Gonna make you a star-e-ar-e-ar
Azlan has reorganized its business development programme around a series of “planets” which it says will help any reseller become a master of the universe. Each planet will encompass all the distributors’ resources - marketing materials, training, education, pre-sales support – for a given technology area. Azlan stretches the …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2005, 13:34
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Kiwi punts pornographic citrus fruit
Juicy NZ auction site action
Those readers old enough to remember UK TV show That's Life - a strange melange of consumer rights investigations and "hilarious" off-the-wall items fronted by an enormous set of teeth operated by someone called Esther Rantzen - will doubtless recall the programme's penchant for "comedy vegetables" shaped in suggestive forms to …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 13:40
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easyMobile wins 'bad faith' domain case against Carphone
'Laughable' apparently
The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) has been accused of setting up a web site in "bad faith" against rival no-frills cellco easyMobile.com. CPW - which is behind discount mobilephoneco Fresh - registered the domain easiermobile.com as part of its response to the launch of easyMobile.com back in March. But easyMobile.com - backed by …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 13:44
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In case of emergency, dial 'ICE'
Simple and smart idea for your mobile
In view of the recent events in London, East Anglian Ambulance Service have launched a national "In case of Emergency (ICE)" campaign, with the support of Falklands war hero Simon Weston and in association with Vodafone's annual life savers award. The idea is that you store the word "ICE" in your mobile phone address book, and …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 13:52
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One in three medical studies is dodgy
Results exaggerated, or just flat out wrong
A major review of medical research has revealed that in nearly one-third of cases, research results were found to be potentially exaggerated, or were totally contradicted by later studies. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined research findings published in three medical journals …
Science 14 Jul 2005, 14:08
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One third of Americans believe in ghosts
Spooky survey
A Gallup poll has revealed that 32 per cent of all adult Americans believe in ghosts. Nineteen per cent aren't so sure, while a level-headed 48 per cent dismissed the idea outright. Mildly interesting, we're sure you'll agree. The poll did, however, discover that 37 per cent of our American cousins say houses can be haunted (16 …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 14:15
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Slot machines in 3D?
No glasses
Are Philips' 3D multiview displays going to end up in Vegas? Casino mogul Steve Wynn - the man behind luxurious casinos such as The Mirage, Bellagio and Treasure Island - has apparently expressed an interest in using the Dutch company's 3D colour displays in slot machines, all the better for his customers to watch their money …
Peripherals 14 Jul 2005, 14:50
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US legal music downloads up 187%
CDs ripped, so online buying starting in earnest?
US music downloaders paid for 158m songs during the first six months of 2005, almost three times the number acquired legally in H1 2004. However, the figures, from Nielsen SoundScan, reveal that the growth in legal downloads has yet to compensate the music industry for falling CD sales. Sales of albums were down seven per cent …
Financial News 14 Jul 2005, 14:57
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One third of surveyees lie in surveys: survey
While 30% of US believes in haunted medical labs
It's official: the El Reg silly season has officially begun, meaning that hard-core tech news and stuff about fabs knocking out chips must give way to rehashed surveys distributed by over-excited PR bunnies - as today's front page demonstrates. A quick survey of Vulture Central reveals that 30 per cent of all Reg staff reckon …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 15:01
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Lawyer pegged for key role in Homeland Security revamp
Ex-NSA bod get DHS policy czar nomination
George W. Bush has picked a technology lawyer to serve as assistant secretary of Homeland Security (DHS). Stewart A. Baker, of Virginia, currently a partner with Washington legal firm Steptoe & Johnson, has been nominated to take charge of policy formulation at the department. Baker's career spans periods as general counsel ( …
Public Sector 14 Jul 2005, 15:16
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Oz music hyperlinker guilty of copyright infringement
Linking amounted to piracy, says judge
An Australian man has been found guilty of copyright infringement for posting links from his website to other websites offering illegal music downloads. Stephen Cooper, who ran a site called mp3s4free, was ordered to pay costs, as were fellow defendants Chris Takoushis, of ISP Comcen, and Liam Bal, a director of E-Talk …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2005, 15:26
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Ditch the remote, get a robot
Bone idle? Click here says Philips
Philips wants to ditch the remote control. Instead, you have to talk to a dialogue system, or Smart Companion, as the Dutch consumer electronics giant calls its newest invention. The Smart Companion will act as a friend in the home and, according to Philips, provide an easy-to-use interface to the digital world. During its …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2005, 15:31
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Samsung SPP-2040 dye-sub photo printer
Review Stitch this, inket...
Better known for its laser printers, Samsung is the second major manufacturer to produce a photo-printer based on dye-sublimation technology. Its SPP-2040 is a direct competitor to Canon's Selphy CP-500 and even appears to use the same print engine and consumables, writes Simon Williams. The SPP-2040 starts out looking like a …
Reviews 14 Jul 2005, 15:38
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Planetary three-sun baffles boffins
It shouldn't happen to an astrophysicist
A Caltech researcher has identified a planet that has three suns. We wondered immediately if it was in a galaxy far, far away, but sadly for headline writers everywhere, the four-body system lies a mere 149 light-years hence, well within our own Milky Way. The system, known as HD 188753, is located in the constellation Cygnus. …
Science 14 Jul 2005, 15:58
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Voda's Scottish 3G network wobbles
Not that you'd notice
Vodafone's 3G voice service has been floored in certain parts of Scotland today following some sort of technical glitch. Details of the problem are still sketchy but it's understood that punters have been unable to make voice calls on parts of Voda's 3G network in Scotland for much of the day. A spokeswoman for Vodafone told …
Mobile 14 Jul 2005, 16:23
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Oz ISP, employee and principal held liable for copyright breaches
Analysis Money well spent
Another day another copyright battle! Australia’s Federal Court has handed down its decision in Universal Music Australia v Cooper (the ComCen case). While no final orders has been made, Justice Brian Tamberlin found for the recording industry applicants on all counts, in what has been described by the recording industry as a “ …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2005, 20:26
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Flaws in BT chat sites expose users
Oh dear
A third party website allowing unrestricted access to Oceanfree and IOL chat sites could enable visitors to view the IP address and domain names of the sites' 'chatters.' Through the use of a third party website, industry experts have discovered a method for logging into BT Ireland's Oceanfree or IOL chat sites without …
Enterprise Security 14 Jul 2005, 20:46
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Desktop port proliferation a security risk?
Oh no! Not the desktop port proliferation!
Software maker Opera's decision to support BitTorrent has added to some security experts' worries that applications which require open connections through firewalls are becoming increasingly popular. Last week, the Norwegian company revealed that its latest technical preview adds support for downloading BitTorrent files, or …
Enterprise Security 14 Jul 2005, 21:38
