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26th August 2005 Archive

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  • State won't get on its Cantonese to keep Lenovo's jobs

    Officials decry 'pay to stay' demand

    A pair of Durham County officials have criticized Chinese PC maker Lenovo's attempt to pump the region for funds to keep around 2,000 jobs in North Carolina. Beyond asking for cash, new roads and other perks, Lenovo has made the unusual demand that the county subsidize Chinese language classes at local universities. In addition …

    Management 26 Aug 2005, 00:09

  • File swapping MSPs - the future of digital music?

    We talk to the pioneer

    Don't expect Bono to descend from a cloud. Or orgasmic praise from the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg. When PlayLouder quietly rolls out its music service in the UK, it won't initially match the razzle-dazzle of the iTunes Music Store launch, Rhapsody or the other million dollar marketing blitzes. But the initial, low- …

    Media 26 Aug 2005, 02:28

  • Cell chip mysteries revealed

    It's all about helping the Fire Brigade...

    The much-anticipated Cell processor just got a little less mysterious, as IBM unloaded a heap of documentation for the public to peruse. Free registration is required to download the 331-page Cell Broadband Engine Architecture overview, the ABI, and guides for Assembly language and C/C++ programmers. But the Cell's chief …

    System Builder 26 Aug 2005, 07:25

  • Mobile operators face unexpected rivals

    VoIP undermines revenue assumptions

    A new study from the OECD predicts that increased use of internet telephony will result in lower revenues for both fixed-line and mobile operators. According to its latest report, the number of fixed phone lines in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries fell for the first time in 2003 as mobile …

    Mobile 26 Aug 2005, 07:42

  • Unions order workers to sit on their arses

    Employee welfare, UK style

    We at El Reg have decided we rather like the TUC after it warned that the health of thousands of workers is at risk due to to excessive standing. According to the BBC, the TUC reckons 200,000 workers blow two million sick days a year due to leg trouble. Accordingly, the British economy could benefit from more sitting down. …

    Bootnotes 26 Aug 2005, 08:02

  • OFT shuts down matrix scheme website

    Unlawful lottery

    Those behind a website promoting a fraudulent “matrix” scheme have given binding undertakings to the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that they will no longer promote "free" iPods and other gadgets that were subject to conditions akin to pyramid schemes. Mobiles4all Ltd had promised consumers the chance of getting “free” iPods …

    Media 26 Aug 2005, 08:07

  • PlusNet disconnects dissident subscribers

    Stirs hornets' nest of aggro

    PlusNet has cut-off two disgruntled subscribers after accusing them of waging an “aggressive” campaign of emails and forum postings complaining about the broadband provider. The postings covered a range of alleged failings by PlusNet, but initially centred on demands the firm inform all its customers about the launch of a cut- …

    Broadband 26 Aug 2005, 09:54

  • US preps airborne laser weapon

    Handy, fridge-sized fun

    Those clever chaps at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have apparently overcome the traditional impediment to a useful airborne laser weapon - it's so big you need an airliner to carry it. The spawn of DARPA's High Energy Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) programme, on the other hand, come in a …

    Science 26 Aug 2005, 10:02

  • Cheshire hands IBM £800k to join up health services

    Three-year deal

    IBM is to develop a so-called Single Assessment Process (SAP) application for Cheshire's social care and health organisations. The deal, which is worth £793,475, will run for three years and includes application development, hosting and licensing fees. The system, which IBM will host in Warwick, will roll out to 1,000 health …

    Policy 26 Aug 2005, 10:37

  • Dutch TV hits sperm-spattered low

    Donor sought for live insemination

    Dutch TV has hit a new low as viewers prepare to vote on which of five innovative pilots they would like to see developed into a full-blown series. Among the front-runners in cable channel Talpa TV's tapestry of televisual trash is I Want Your Child And Nothing Else which features a woman looking for a sperm donor. Potential …

    Bootnotes 26 Aug 2005, 11:02

  • Ye Bastarde Operatore frome Helle

    Episode 25 A Tragedie in two Actes

    The Shakespeare Revival Company celebrates the 441st anniversary of the year of Shakespeare's birth with this, THE TRAGEDIE OF YE BASTARDE OPERATORE FROME HELLE ACT I. Scene 1 - The HR Tea Room. Enter three female HR Consultants HR1: When shall we three meet again? HR2: This afternoon at the pub? HR3: Yep, I'm free. HR1: …

    BOFH 26 Aug 2005, 12:02

  • NRA probes Japanese sex android

    Black ops team confronts Osaka cyberminx

    We're obliged to neoLuddite Resistance Army (NRA) monitors world-wide who have - over the last month - alerted the Montana command bunker as to the potential threat of the Japanese cyberminx, aka "Repliee Q1Expo", which is an animated, lifelike representation of a human female which many of you suspect might form part of the …

    Science 26 Aug 2005, 12:02

  • Are women safer surfers than men?

    Or are online polls all meaningless?

    Today we bring you another daft, self-serving survey of Internet users that marketing types have used to generate some headline grabbing statistics. In this case, the shocking news that men are more likely to be victims of online scams and viruses than are women. This conclusion, arrived at by promotional bods at StreamShield, …

    Security 26 Aug 2005, 13:43

  • Cut-off customer threatens PlusNet with DPA

    Says provider breached own Ts & Cs

    One of the subscribers cut off from PlusNet this week has threatened to take the broadband provider to the Data Protection Agency for breaching its own privacy guidelines. Wade Womersley says PlusNet informed him by phone that it planned to terminate his account, breaching the company’s own terms and conditions. In a letter to …

    Broadband 26 Aug 2005, 14:12

  • Fat is a technologist issue

    Letters As are plagues, currency and triffids

    Let's kick off with an easy one. How fat is fat? New figures from the states suggest fat is really quite fat and likely to get fatter, as obesity levels soar. However, the ever sceptical Reg reader is not taking this kind of statistic waving lying down. Not when there are generalisations to be made, and bizarre experiments to …

    Letters 26 Aug 2005, 15:36

  • 3 counting on outsourcing IT

    Siemens in frame?

    Three UK - the 3G mobile outfit owned by Hutchison Whampoa - is looking to outsource its IT development work to Siemens, sources claim. At this stage it's not known how far negotiations have progressed. Staff have yet to be told of the changes although insiders say that an official announcement is due shortly and could be made …

    Mobile 26 Aug 2005, 16:05

  • Shooting stars suspected of climate meddling

    Have you seen this asteroid?

    Meteors might play a bigger role in regulation of our climate than previously thought. The latest observations of an asteroid disintegrating as it entered the atmosphere suggest that the resulting cloud is composed of larger pieces of material than expected. The asteroid released as much energy as a nuclear bomb on its way …

    Science 26 Aug 2005, 16:08

  • High-end Unix servers resilient in Q2

    IBM holds, Dell grows

    Server makers enjoyed a relatively quiet and consistent second quarter with sales rising close to 6 per cent and the top seller rankings staying the same. Total sales for Q2 hit $12.2bn, which marked a 5.6 per cent year-over-year rise and the ninth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, IDC said. As has been the case for years …

    Servers 26 Aug 2005, 18:59

  • How Napster and DRM arrived at University of Washington

    Opinion Cautious experimentation

    The stereotypical question one gets asked at the beginning of a new school year is, "What did you do during your summer vacation?" Me? I've spent a good part of the summer working on an agreement to bring a commercial music downloading service from Napster to the students living in residence halls at the University of Washington …

    Media 26 Aug 2005, 18:59

  • Nokia, Moto lead strong mobile growth

    But 3G isn't compelling

    Falling prices of mobile handsets worldwide contributed to 21 per cent sales growth year-on year-in Q2 2005, Gartner reports. Every region except Japan saw sales rise, although hi-tech South Korea was becalmed. Nokia continued its recovery by taking 31.9 per cent of the market, up from 29.6 per cent a year ago. Motorola …

    Mobile 26 Aug 2005, 20:35

  • Seagate shares dive on iPod flash rumor

    In Brief Platter matter

    Shares of Seagate sank on Friday on word that Apple would replace the disk maker's components with flash memory in lower-end iPods. Investors dropped Seagate more than 5 per cent to $17.22, at the time of writing, on more than twice the usual trading volume for the company. The fall came as research firm iSuppli earlier in the …

    Financial News 26 Aug 2005, 20:39

  • Novell profits vanish in Q3

    Linux biz plods along

    Novell still looks like the little engine that can't after reporting a drop in third quarter revenue and income. The software maker posted revenue of $290m - down from $305m in the same period last year. Not good. Add to that a stunning fall in net income to $2m from $24m in last year's third quarter, and the company's …

    Financial News 26 Aug 2005, 23:35

  • Google - the new Microsoft?

    Analysis The March of Progress (pt.94)

    Google is the new Microsoft, reckons author Gary Rivlin in a New York Times article provocatively titled Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain. SiliconValley sources quoted by Rivlin compare Google's ruthless and paranoid culture today with the Microsoft of old, bemoan its influence on the recuitment market, …

    Media 26 Aug 2005, 23:44