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30th August 2005 Archive

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  • Zotob suspects arrested in Turkey and Morocco

    Microsoft led hunt

    Law enforcement officials in Turkey and Morocco arrested two men in connection with the recent release of the Zotob worm, the FBI announced Local authorities arrested 18-year-old Farid Essebar in Morocco and 21-year-old Atilla Ekici in Turkey on Thursday, according to the FBI. The U.S. law enforcement agency believes that …

    Malware 30 Aug 2005, 08:55

  • Spyware creator – and his customers – indicted

    Keylogging for stalkers

    The creator and several buyers of a keylogging software package marketed as a means of checking up on loved ones, have been indicted in the US for accessing computer systems without authorisation, the Associated Press reports. Purchasers of the $89 “LoverSpy” software would send their target – a colleague, lover or child – a …

    Malware 30 Aug 2005, 09:08

  • Intelsat picks up PanAmSat for $3.2bn

    Satellite love-in

    Intelsat is to buy PanAmSat for $3.2bn, to form the world's largest satellite operator, providing television and telephony services from 53 satellites. Intelsat, which has 28 satellites, specialises in the provision of core telephony and advanced data services to developing regions around the world. It had revenues of $1bn in …

    Financial News 30 Aug 2005, 09:18

  • ATI predicts sales slide as margins collapse

    'Disappointing and challenging'

    ATI has slashed its Q4 revenue expectations, reversing an anticipated sequential gain into a decline, after its gross margin collapsed during the quarter. When it posted its Q3 FY2005 results in June, ATI forecast Q4 revenues of $550-580m. Yesterday, the graphics chip maker revised that figure to $465-480m, down 15.5-17.2 per …

    Peripherals 30 Aug 2005, 09:29

  • Parliament urged to restrain EPO's software patenting

    Campaigner calls on EU to send 'signal to the world'

    The European Parliament should pass a resolution urging the European Patent Office to ensure that it complies with the existing rules on the patentability of computer-related inventions, according to leading campaigner Florian Mueller. Mueller, founder of Nosoftwarepatents.com, was prominent in the debate over Europe's proposed …

    Developer 30 Aug 2005, 09:32

  • Diamonds lose 'world's hardest' title

    Squished C60 is tougher

    Diamonds have been usurped as the world's hardest material, thanks to researchers in Germany, who have made a new material by compressing carbon-60 molecules. They have dubbed their new form of carbon "aggregated diamond nanorods". The University of Bayreuth team, led by Natalia Dubrovinskaia, have patented their breakthrough, …

    Science 30 Aug 2005, 09:33

  • Powerline broadband on the up-and-up

    Convergence is key

    Broadband over powerline (BPL) is hardly a new approach to bringing high speed access to inaccessible parts, whether these are villages or corners of the home or office. But it has suffered from low vendor interest and various technical hitches, until now, when it is finally taking its place alongside wireless technologies as a …

    Telecoms 30 Aug 2005, 09:43

  • Pipex WiMAX play to shake up UK market?

    Testing, testing

    The UK market for broadband wireless services is set to become highly complex – and a possible proving ground for various technologies and business models – as the main holder of 3.5GHz spectrum, Pipex, shows its hand. Pipex holds the national license for 3.5GHz spectrum but, to date, has scarcely used the asset, leaving the …

    Mobile 30 Aug 2005, 09:48

  • Ireland unveils supercomputing centre

    High end on the South Side

    A new 'supercomputing' centre aims to address the growing need among Ireland's researchers for computational resources The Irish Centre for High End Computing (ICHEC), which will be based in Dublin, is set to begin operations on 1 September, thanks to a €2.6m Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) grant. The centre also received a €0 …

    Servers 30 Aug 2005, 10:01

  • Reading council in audacious recycling initiative

    Ashes to ashes...

    The problem of what to do with clapped-out electronic equipment continues to tax the EU's best minds. The alternatives are straightforward enough: you can take it to be lovingly dismantled and recycled; or you can simply bury it. The former, while highly desirable, is expensive; the latter, an ultimately unsustainable option as …

    Bootnotes 30 Aug 2005, 10:09

  • Oracle ready to save the mobile industry by reducing costs

    Which is nice

    Brandishing its newly-discovered motto: "We're customer-centric", giant software company Oracle is making an all-out bid to take over the running of the world's mobile phone operators, by pulling all their multiple applications into a single stack. The company called a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, to announce its …

    Mobile 30 Aug 2005, 10:23

  • Apple books Freescale

    Wins commitment to supply, not necessarily to buy

    Apple has contracted chip maker Freescale to supply it with microprocessors through to the end of 2008. Freescale - the spun-off Motorola chip division - already provides Apple with G4-class PowerPC chips for the Mac Mini, eMac, iBook and PowerBook lines. Apple, of course, has already signalled its intention to migrate to x86 …

    Mac Channel 30 Aug 2005, 10:23

  • IT contractors 'neglect insurance'

    Repeat after me: 'I am not an employee'

    Nearly two-thirds of IT contractors believe they do not need any insurance cover, according to a new study. Research from JSA, an accountancy firm which specialises in contractors, found an overwhelming attitude among independent IT contractors that they are never likely to run into trouble with tax authorities. The problem …

    Small Biz 30 Aug 2005, 10:32

  • UK.gov to ban violent porn

    Extreme measures

    UK ministers are considering plans to make downloading violent sexual images from the net a criminal offence. Distributing footage depicting rapes or other so-called extreme pornography is illegal (under the Obscene Publications Act 1959) but current laws do not allow prosecution for simple possession. This contrasts with laws …

    Music and Media 30 Aug 2005, 10:56

  • ATI preps 'five' AMD Socket M2 chipsets

    But there's confusion over the release timing

    ATI will next year launch five chipsets targeting AMD's upcoming M2 interconnect, if Taiwanese sources are to be believed. M2 is expected to debut Q2 2006, according to AMD roadmaps, in versions of the dual-core Athlon X2 and the single-core Athlon 64 FX, codenamed 'Windsor' and 'Orleans', respectively. M2 is a 940-pin …

    System Builder 30 Aug 2005, 11:00

  • Infineon chips in with Xbox 360 security part

    MS' console a Trusted Platform?

    Infineon will provide memory chips and a wireless controller for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, the two companies both said yesterday, but it's the "advanced security chip" it will also produce that will cause more controversy. Infineon said the security chip was "a custom implementation of Infineon’s proven authentication …

    Consoles 30 Aug 2005, 11:03

  • Whining American eBays 'devil doll'

    'Julie' conjures apocalypse and toxic mold

    Those readers who think that Hurricane Katrina is just about the worst thing that can happen to an honest, God-fearing American would do well to consider that your house blowing down is as nothing compared to the terrible calamity which has befallen the owner of the "Julie" devil doll - a porcelain manifestation of pure evil now …

    Bootnotes 30 Aug 2005, 11:38

  • Job cuts loom for Legend

    ISP reports 'downturn in trading'

    Staff at Lancaster-based ISP Legend Communications have to decide by today whether to accept voluntary redundancy. Letters were sent to all workers last week offering them the chance to bail out of the company. But the letter warned that if enough people did not accept the voluntary offer then the ISP would be forced to make …

    Telecoms 30 Aug 2005, 11:44

  • Rio owner quits MP3 player market

    Not profitable enough, says D&M

    Rio owner D&M Holdings is to quit the mass-market portable music player market, the company said on Friday. The announcement comes as no surprise given that it sold its Rio division's technology and people assets to SigmaTel in July. At the time, D&M said it was still "examining additional strategic options for Rio", but …

    Peripherals 30 Aug 2005, 11:47

  • Ingram Micro Europe talks up mobility campaign

    Dedicated business team

    Ingram Micro Europe has set up a business team to drive sales of mobile phones and other wireless products. Team members are Mark Moons, who joins the distie giant from Dangaard Telecom, and Remco van der Panne, an internal appointment. They will work with in-country marketing bods and vendor partners to work up tasty bundles …

    Channel Register 30 Aug 2005, 11:49

  • eBay in bare-knuckle gypsy fight kerfuffle

    Gloves off in violent DVD punch-up

    The Belfast Telegraph and Sinn Fein are leading a campaign to KO eBay auctions of DVD bare-knuckle gypsy-on-gypsy fight action. The newspaper has already provoked eBay.co.uk to pull two auctions for such material, although there is plenty of raw footage still available to eager punters, such as this sale (soon to be counted out …

    Music and Media 30 Aug 2005, 12:00

  • Censorware software fails to cut it

    No panacea for net ills

    Parental control software is only partially effective and needs to be supplemented by parental supervision of their children's online activities, according to a study by Computing Which?, the consumer magazine. Computing Which? tested six popular child safety (AKA censorware) packages - Net Nanny 5.1, AOL 9.0, Cyber Patrol 7, …

    Applications 30 Aug 2005, 12:19

  • Dixons buys Equanet

    Folding into PCWB

    Dixons Stores Group has bought Equanet, one of the UK's bigger independent resellers, for an undisclosed sum. No jobs cuts are expected, reports CRN, the UK channel magazine. DSG is already one of the UK's biggest resellers in the SME business market, through its PC World Business division. Equanet, which will become a part of …

    Channel Register 30 Aug 2005, 12:21

  • The many benefits of SSO

    Quocirca’s changing channels Single sign-on hits the mid-market

    Single sign-on (SSO) can benefit the ease of use and security of IT in any organisation that expects its employees to use multiple applications, often from multiple locations. Until recently, it was mostly enterprises that have made use of SSO, but a new appliance, launched in Europe this year makes it practical for the mid- …

    ID 30 Aug 2005, 12:42

  • UK Gov must meet biometric standards on ID cards

    Well, that's something

    Any national identity card introduced in the UK will have to meet new international standards for biometrics. The standards body, BSI, has published a set of four new BS ISO/IEC 19794 standards, covering the science of biometrics, using biological characteristics to identify individuals, according to reports. The standards …

    ID 30 Aug 2005, 13:28

  • NZ to get next generation phone network

    You lucky people

    Telecom - New Zealand's incumbent telco - is to blow US$220m on a new digital phone network. The first residential phone users are due to be migrated to New Zealand's next generation network by early 2007 with all 2.2m punters shunted across by 2012, the company announced today. By replacing Telecom's existing traditional …

    Telecoms 30 Aug 2005, 13:43

  • Stolen Windows source code fence pleads guilty

    He's been a very naughty boy

    A Connecticut man faces up to 10 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to selling illicit copies of Windows source code. William P. Genovese, 28, of Meridan in Connecticut, this week confessed to unlawfully distributing stolen Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 source code over the net, CNN reports. He was caught last year after …

    Operating Systems 30 Aug 2005, 14:16

  • EU invests in stem cells for the real world

    Out of the lab, into the surgery

    The EU has committed $32m of funding to a research consortium that aims to commercialise stem cell tissue engineering technologies over the next four years, according to reports. The project, named Systems Approach to Tissue Engineering Products and Processes (Steps), will build on a solid foundation of research to learn how to …

    Science 30 Aug 2005, 14:59

  • Chinese go mental for nude web chat

    New net menace threatens society

    Pity if you will the poor old Chinese authorities in their fight to stem the tide of internet-provoked social destabilisation. First up, you've got Sister Furong flaunting herself like a two-bit hussy, then there's the thousands of addicts relentlessly gaming themselves into online degeneracy. But it gets worse. One researcher …

    Bootnotes 30 Aug 2005, 15:03

  • Orange offers cut-price broadband

    First move for Wanadoo's Orange makeover

    Orange has teamed up with sibling Wanadoo to offer its new punters 2 meg broadband for £9.99 a month. The deal marks the first step on the path to rebrand Wanadoo under the Orange livery as part of a massive makeover announced in June by parent company France Telecom (FT). As part of FT's NExT (New Experience in Telecom …

    Telecoms 30 Aug 2005, 15:13

  • Zotob arrests throws open trade in compromised PCs

    Diabl0-ical

    One of two men arrested last week over the Zotob worm outbreak has been linked to the creation of 20 other viruses. Farid Essebar, 18, a Russian-born Moroccan resident, was arrested by investigators last Thursday, less than two weeks after Zotob worms exploited recently-discovered Windows flaws to disrupt high profile …

    Security 30 Aug 2005, 16:08

  • StorageTek shareholders cheer Sun buy

    Show us the money

    StorageTek shareholders appear thrilled to turn the company into a division of Sun Microsystems, voting today in favor of the acquisition. More than 99 per cent of investor votes went to approve Sun's $4.1bn takeover offer for the tape storage giant. Only .33 per cent of shares voted to block the meger and just .46 per cent …

    Financial News 30 Aug 2005, 19:54

  • Creative Technology beats Apple on MP3 patent

    Play this, sucker

    Creative Technology has been crowing after it was awarded a patent for MP3 player interface technology used by devices like rival Apple's popular iPod. Creative, maker of the Creative Zen and Nomad Jukebox MP3 players, said Tuesday it was "very excited" by the patent award, adding this "recognized" the company's innovation in …

    Peripherals 30 Aug 2005, 20:02

  • Fujitsu turns green over Opteron workstation

    AMD gabs all about it

    AMD has done a bit of public relations dirty work on behalf of a partner by issuing a press release celebrating a new Opteron-based workstation from Fujitsu Siemens. The Celsius V830 runs on the dual-core Opteron - Models 275, 270 and 265. The usual workstation crowd of graphics freaks and engineers are expected to use the box …

    Servers 30 Aug 2005, 20:36

  • Windows Vista in your Christmas stocking?

    Not this year

    Microsoft has apparently put a date on the release of the next version of its Windows client, Windows Vista. Users can expect Windows Vista to ship by November 15, 2006 - just in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season, according to WindowsITPro. Microsoft will no doubt hope to cash-in on a consumer PC buying frenzy during …

    Operating Systems 30 Aug 2005, 22:48