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12th September 2005 Archive

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  • UK.gov backs SMEs for public sector contracts

    Small is beautiful

    The Government has given its strongest show of support yet towards helping smaller suppliers win more business in the public sector IT marketplace. Alun Michael, the small business minister, has "urged" councils to open their doors wider to small firms and take advantage of the expertise, innovation and value for money gains …

    Small Biz 12 Sep 2005, 07:02

  • China blocks Skype, VoIP

    But is it for the money? or the politics?

    China Telecom is the country's largest wireline phone company, with the bulk of the broadband customers; and those customers are now finding they can't use Skype to call ordinary phones, using SkypeOut. But it may go further, and VoIP may be blocked generally. Reports from the FT suggest that this "won't affect" PC to PC calls …

    VoIP 12 Sep 2005, 07:36

  • US takes estate agents to court over internet policy

    Realty check

    The US Justice Department last week filed an antitrust suit over a real estate industry rule that it considers unfair to online estate agents and consumers by allowing estate agents to opt-out of having their properties exhibited on internet listings. This policy prevents consumers from receiving the full benefits of …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 07:46

  • On Open Source data warehousing

    Greenplum position

    YI greeted with some scepticism the initial launch of Greenplum earlier this year (here and here) and was unconvinced about the future of an Open Source data warehousing model. Nevertheless, the company has pushed ahead with its plans and has made a number of significant advances. To begin with, it has simplified its …

    Applications 12 Sep 2005, 08:52

  • Mobile fraudsters sentenced

    22 years for VAT scam

    Four people found guilty of VAT fraud were sentenced for a total of 22 years at Maidstone Crown Court late last week. The four fraudsters engaged in missing trader fraud, where goods are sourced VAT-free from within the EC and sold on with VAT added. The trader then disappears before paying the Inland Revenue the VAT. For two …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 08:59

  • Intel slashes 2MB Xeon DP prices

    Up to a third off

    Intel yesterday pared back its price list, chopping up to 34.1 per cent of what it charges for its top-end Xeon DP processors. The cuts affect Xeons with 2MB of L2 cache - essentially the CPUs derived from the Pentium 4 6xx family. The four processors are clocked at 3, 3.2, 3.4 and 3.6GHz, and all have an 800MHz frontside bus …

    PCs 12 Sep 2005, 09:01

  • France Telecom to blow €1bn on LLU

    Orange Bon Bon

    France Telecom (FT) plans to blow more than €1bn installing its kit in incumbent telcos' telephone exchanges so it can provide broadband services direct to customers. Some of that cash is to be spent in the UK but FT is also eyeing up other European countries for further investment in local loop unbundling (LLU), reports The …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 09:48

  • UK Govt wants you to lurve ID cards

    Minister embarks on charm tour

    The UK government has said it will go on a "charm offensive" this week, aimed at winning the general public around to the idea of a national identity register and identity card. Home Office minister Andy Burnham is kicking off a seven day tour of the country today with a stop at Manchester Airport. He said he wanted to persuade …

    ID 12 Sep 2005, 09:52

  • Mozilla disables IDN to guard against Firefox flaw

    The fix is in

    Mozilla developers have acted quickly to release a workaround for Firefox hours after the public disclosure of a potentially serious security vulnerability in the browser software on Friday (9 September). The security flaw stems from a bug used in code to parse certain URLs which might be used to crash vulnerable systems or, at …

    Enterprise Security 12 Sep 2005, 09:56

  • eBay buys Skype

    Talking telephone numbers

    Online auctioneer eBay is buying VoIP provider Skype for $2.6bn. A statement on eBay.com confirmed the takeover. EBay will pay $2.6bn in a mixture of cash and shares. Bonus payments of a further $1.5bn will be made if Skype hits certain targets. Skype launched in beta in late 2003 and now claims over 53m registered customers …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 10:02

  • Oracle boss buys off insider trading claims

    Cash to charity to drop case

    Oracle's boss Larry Ellison has agreed to pay $100m to charity to settle a case accusing him of insider trading. The lawsuit alleged that Ellison sold $900m of Oracle shares in early 2001 - before the company put out a profit warning which sent its shares tumbling. Ellison successfully defended a similar case in Delaware so it …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 10:09

  • Battling nonagenarian grabs burglar by 'nads

    Fighting crime, Lithuanian style

    Editorial note: No IT angle here, but plenty of entertainment from our ocassional series on criminal mishaps, blagging catastrophes and ne'er-do-well stupidity in general. Those who like their burglars grasped firmly by the testicles, read on. Those readers searching for something more technology-orientated, there's a piece on …

    Bootnotes 12 Sep 2005, 10:14

  • Time drags on for Granville administrators

    But local politicians make a good sideshow

    There is still no end in sight to the administration of Granville Technology, six weeks after the company behind the Time and Tiny computer brands collapsed. A spokesman for the administrators, Grant Thornton, told us: "It is a very complicated administration." He explained that when it went into administration, Burnley-based …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 10:28

  • SEC rejects Cisco option option

    Think again

    The Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected attempts by Cisco and other tech companies to reduce the impact of new accounting rules on share options. The SEC ruled that share options must be accounted for against profits. Share options - where employees are given the chance to buy shares at a set price over a period of …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 10:39

  • US fertility doc in web Lothario scandal

    Married doc wooed, then got sued

    A Manhattan "reproductive endocrinologist" is being sued by two irate net lonely hearts who were duped by the online Lothario into believing he was single, Reuters reports. The women's lawsuits - filed in Manhattan Supreme Court - claim Dr. Khaled Zeitoun, 46, used mind games "to entice them into sexual relationships with tales …

    Bootnotes 12 Sep 2005, 10:45

  • OneTel could be flogged

    EasyNet denies interest from Centrica

    Centrica - the UK company that owns utility British Gas - is looking to flog its OneTel telco business, according to The Sunday Times. The paper reports that Centrica - which has more than a million telephone and internet punters - has received interest from a number of outfits keen to make a bid for the telco. No-one from …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 11:17

  • Politicians schedule 'space wars' meeting

    United Federation in waiting?

    Politicians from ten countries are set to meet in Washington DC this Wednesday, to discuss the future possibility of deploying weapons in space. Sci-fi as it may sound, the question of space weaponry is one that is being considered quite seriously by the US air force, which argues that weapons are needed to protect satellites …

    Science 12 Sep 2005, 11:25

  • MS pulls upcoming Windows security patch

    Quality of mercy

    Microsoft has pulled plans to release a critical Windows security patch on Tuesday citing quality concerns as the reason behind the late withdrawal. Last Thursday Microsoft announced its intent to release a solitary patch in September as part of its monthly patch cycle but by Friday afternoon the software giant had second …

    Security 12 Sep 2005, 11:44

  • Gizmondo preps widescreen console to rival PSP

    No US launch yet and already taking up future models

    Gizmondo maker Tiger Telematics will next year offer a widescreen version of the handheld games console, the company's CEO has revealed, the better to compete with the PSP. "We're looking at bringing out future generations early next year, a widescreen version of our device that's not dissimilar in the size to the screen of the …

    Consoles 12 Sep 2005, 12:12

  • Intel orders ATI, SiS chipsets to bolster mobo biz - report

    Third-party parts to replace Intel's own

    Intel is said to be looking to ATI to keep its foot in the low-end desktop motherboard market. According to a report in Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times today, Intel has ordered RS480-based PCI Express chipsets from ATI to bolster its entry-level offerings. Sources cited by DigiTimes claim the chipset in …

    System Builder 12 Sep 2005, 12:31

  • Developing with Workload Automation

    Fitting into your busy schedule

    Gartner thinks that schedulers will be taken more seriously if they're called Workload Automation Brokers - but don't let that put you off. Gartner has renamed its "Event-Driven Job Scheduling" category as the "IT Workload Automation Broker" category, in a report entitled "Gartner Hype Cycle for IT Operations Management, 2005 ( …

    Developer 12 Sep 2005, 12:41

  • Adobe joins developer shift

    Developers eased towards `business’

    The latest version of Adobe’s LiveCycle document management server offers a useful example of the changing role of software developers. It illustrates how the term `application development’ is drifting away from technology-oriented code-cutting and towards becoming a branch of business management. LiveCycle is aimed at managing …

    Developer 12 Sep 2005, 12:49

  • UK LLU still facing difficulties

    'Operational problems persist'

    The number of unbundled phone lines in the UK has topped 100,000, according to the latest stats available. In his latest update Telecoms Adjudicator Peter Black said that the number of lines unhooked from BT's network and rewired to a rival telco now stands at 105,00 with numbers growing by 4,000 a week. Local loop unbundling …

    Networks 12 Sep 2005, 13:07

  • Gateway rides Comet back into UK

    Widens eMachines availability too

    Gateway is to return to the UK PC market, the company said today. The company has had a foot in the UK market for a 18 months or so, thanks to its acquisition of eMachines, which has been selling PCs here since 2000. Gateway itself quit the UK four years ago. Gateway will offer notebook and desktops systems through UK High …

    PCs 12 Sep 2005, 13:19

  • Humanity fingered in pre-industrial pollution racket

    Slash and burn

    Humanity has been affecting the climate for longer than previously imagined, according to scientists studying the history of the planet's atmosphere. Researchers at New Zealand's National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) examined tiny air bubbles trapped in ice cores drilled in East Antarctica. They found that …

    Science 12 Sep 2005, 13:26

  • Sapphire Radeon X550 low-cost graphics card

    Review Cheap as chips?

    If you aren't a gamer, integrated graphics may seem the best imaging option to choose for your next PC. Integrated graphics engines may be cheaper than add-in cards, but they can hit system memory performance hard, and since on-board graphics are usually only available on budget chipsets and motherboards, you may also miss out …

    Reviews 12 Sep 2005, 13:29

  • Chinese bats harbour SARS-like virus

    Unmasking Bat-man virus...

    Researchers at the University of Hong Kong hunting for the source of the human SARS virus have found a close relative of the disease in Chinese bats. The team has urged caution in handling the mammals: bat meat is regarded as a delicacy in parts of Asia, and their droppings are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The …

    Science 12 Sep 2005, 13:35

  • Oracle conquers Siebel at $10.66 a share

    Buying like it's 1999

    Larry Ellison buried another pile of hatchets this morning when he sealed Oracle’s acquisition of Siebel Systems for $3.61bn. Oracle CEO Ellison claims the deal “vaults” the database vendor into the number one position in the CRM market and moves it closer to being the world’s number one applications player. Redwood Shores’ …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 14:25

  • DRAM price slide over, says Micron CEO

    Margins bouncing back, too

    Don't expect memory to become any cheaper this year, memory maker Micron has warned. "DRAM prices have come back a little bit," said Micron CEO Steve Appleton in an interview with Reuters. "Although [prices] are not that strong, we expect them to be stable or improve for the rest of the year." Appleton based his prognosis on …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 14:32

  • Samsung to ship 16Gb Flash chip next year

    Flash to replace all other media, company claims

    Samsung will launch a 16Gb NAND Flash late next year, the company confirmed today. The part will provide 2GB of storage capacity in a single chip, which will be fabbed using 50nm process technology, Samsung said. Samsung isn't the only NAND Flash maker working on 16Gb chips, but the capacity's debut wasn't expected until 2007 …

    System Builder 12 Sep 2005, 14:43

  • Man arrested over Ashes email death threats

    In brief Silly mid-off

    Police investigating email death threats against members of the Australian cricket squad arrested a 32 year-old from Stoke-on-Trent today. The man was reportedly arrested after being traced through his email address. A police spokesman told the BBC the man was arrested on charges of making threats to kill and released on police …

    Bootnotes 12 Sep 2005, 14:44

  • BT looks to light up broadband black spots

    Trials announced

    Broadband have-nots in Northern Ireland and Yorkshire are to take part in trials designed to wire-up parts of the UK currently without DSL. Trials are due to begin this month at four sites in Yorkshire and five in Northern Ireland with BT installing its kit in street cabinets nearer to punters' homes and businesses. By …

    Telecoms 12 Sep 2005, 14:49

  • Ebay's plans for Skype

    Paying telephone numbers for telephone numbers...

    Ebay has definite plans for what it is going to do with Skype, and Meg Whitman, eBay's president and CEO, is equally sure about what they are not going to do. Whitman, on a conference call today, made it clear that the company is not interested in widening its appeal by becoming some kind of portal. She said eBay had succeeded …

    Financial News 12 Sep 2005, 15:00

  • Bango calls on PayPal

    Mobile content payment a go-go

    Mobile content provider Bango has done a deal to allow mobile users to use PayPal accounts to pay for content. Users will be able to pay for games, ringtones, videos and wallpaper using pre-approved PayPal payments. Existing PayPal account holders will have to activate their accounts by visiting bango.net Providers can sign up …

    Mobile 12 Sep 2005, 15:08

  • Astronomers witness earliest ever star death

    Gamma rays everywhere

    Astronomers have identified the most distant ever gamma ray burst, a cosmic event that took place when the universe was a mere 900 million years old, less than seven per cent of its present age. A team of Italian astronomers made the final observations with the ESO Very Large Telescope, and was able to confirm that the burst …

    Science 12 Sep 2005, 15:16

  • 3 UK confirms mobile web plans

    Yeah, yeah but what's happening in The Ashes?

    3 UK has confirmed plans to give its mobile phone users access to the web. From mid-September punters can cough up £2.50 a month to use their 3G handsets to access online content. Up until now Hutchison-owned 3 has tended a "walled garden" of content for its punters. Now, though, its punters can download 5 meg - around 500 …

    Mobile 12 Sep 2005, 15:48