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26th September 2005 Archive

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  • Be 24 meg broadband is go

    You taking the bee?

    'Be' - the local loop unbundling (LLU) broadband ISP - goes live today offering net access of speed of up to 24 megs for £24 a month. The service is available in parts of London where the LLU operator has already installed its kit in BT exchanges. Be has trialled the service over the last couple of weeks and reports that its …

    Telecoms 26 Sep 2005, 06:55

  • Tiscali in UK consumer data security breach

    Re-grade site login goes awry

    Tiscali has apologised after a data security breach left the name, address, contact information and product order of random customers displayed to other subscribers of the ISP onFriday. The UK ISP sent out an email to its customers to accompany the launch of new broadband products offering them the opportunity to re-grade their …

    Telecoms 26 Sep 2005, 06:56

  • Dolphin assassins menace Gulf of Mexico

    Rogue cetacean death squad may be armed

    Heavily-armed, frightened, and confused. No, we don't mean the Bush Administration, but a group of killer dolphins trained by the US Navy and lately washed into the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Katrina, if The Guardian is to be believed. According to an Observer report by Mark Townsend Houston, Navy dolphins trained to shoot …

    Bootnotes 26 Sep 2005, 08:24

  • Amstrad pulls em@iler from shelves

    No more retail for integrated device

    Amstrad's integrated 'phone and email device is being withdrawn from retail sale after poor sales this year provoked the company to pull the emailer. Amstrad shifted 61,000 units during the year - which Amstrad described as: "currently the worst high street retail market for many years". The board is writing off £5.7m to cover …

    Peripherals 26 Sep 2005, 08:33

  • Murdoch faces fight for MySpace

    Rival bid from shareholder

    Rupert Murdoch has a fight on his hands to get control of InterMix - the company behind blog host MySpace - after Murdoch's NewsCorp offered $580m or $12 a share to buy it in July. Brad Greenspan, founder and former boss of Intermix, has launched a rival bid for his old firm. He owns ten per cent of the company already and is …

    Financial News 26 Sep 2005, 08:39

  • GI Janes in Iraq DIY smutfest

    Warzone porn and gore online

    When you're not getting shelled or shot at, war can get deadly dull. Fortunately, America's gals in uniform overseas appear to be having a rollicking good time, and no doubt enjoying numerous material perks as a result of being in short supply and high demand, and naked. The evidence is visible at now that's f**ked up, an …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 09:25

  • The ugly truth about coopetition

    Quocirca's changing channels Nasty word, necessary evil

    There is an ugly word used to describe the fact the rivals in business some times have to find a way to work together – coopetition. In the ICT industry everyone knows that, on occasions, competitors have to hold their noses and talk to each other. But this distasteful process can be avoided to a greater or lesser extent, …

    Channel Register 26 Sep 2005, 09:40

  • Award nominations for anti-patent campaigners

    More exciting than Pop Idol

    Florian Mueller, best known to Register readers as one of the leaders of the campaign against the European software patent directive, has been nominated for the European of the Year award, run by the magazine European Voice. Mueller, who founded the campaign group NoSoftwarePatents, is nominated in two categories: "Campaigner …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 09:43

  • China hits blogs where it hurts

    New regs fight 'unhealthy news'

    The Chinese government is taking action against bloggers and other sources of online news. The new censorship means any organisation or individual must register with the authorities before providing news or operating an email distribution list. Portal sites are asked to give priority to government-approved copy rather than …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 09:57

  • Free MCP IT training for London-based biz

    Site offer Under 250 employees? Click here

    The powers that be at El Reg have got together IT training network Internet Exchange to offer 50 London-based professionals - working for firms with 250 employees or less - the chance to enjoy some free Microsoft Certified Professional IT Training. The reason for this sudden burst of generosity is that Internet Exchange has …

    Site News 26 Sep 2005, 10:02

  • Apple scraps with War Child over charity album price

    Record pulled while price-tag fixed

    Apple clashed with kids-caught-in-conflict charity War Child last week when it appeared to go its own way on album pricing. The iTunes Music Store initially sold the new War Child album, Help: A Life in the Day, for two pounds less than the price demanded by the charity. When the organisation made its displeasure known, the …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 10:04

  • Phishers target Yahoo! Photos

    Updated Picture teaser tempts unwary

    Internet crooks looking to capture login details of Yahoo! accounts are changing tactics. Phishing attacks that attempt to capture a user's Yahoo! ID and password by tricking the gullible into handing over their credentials to fake sign-in pages have been around for months if not years. Recently, though, these phishing sites …

    ID 26 Sep 2005, 10:09

  • AOL UK 'sorry' for network bungle

    20,000 to get money off bill

    AOL UK is coughing up more than £100,000 in compensation after a bungled network upgrade left around 20,000 punters without broadband. The ISP said it would give £5 credit to those hit by the glitch as "a goodwill gesture". The £5 credit will appear on accounts when the next bill is due, AOL UK said in an email. Last week, AOL …

    Telecoms 26 Sep 2005, 10:11

  • Motorola to ship Q 'Blackberry-beater' early

    Debuting December, claims CEO

    Motorola has brought forward the release of its would-be Blackberry-beating smart phone, CEO Ed Zander revealed on Friday. When the mobile phone company launched its Q smart phone in July, it said the QWERTY keyboard-equipped device would ship Q1 2006. According to Zander, speaking to reporters at a Churchill Club event held …

    Mobile 26 Sep 2005, 10:40

  • Euro email storage scheme 'illegal', warns official

    Proposal fails to impress Data Protection Supervisor

    The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has said that he is not yet convinced by the arguments put forward in favour of a European directive on data retention, and has set out strict conditions any such law would have to meet if it's to be considered acceptable by his office. EDPS Peter Hustinx published his commentary …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 10:51

  • O2 i-mode service to start 1 October

    DoCoMo spills beans ahead of launch

    UK mobile phone network O2 will today announce it will begin offering i-mode services on Saturday, 1 October. So claimed i-mode creator NTT DoCoMo, somewhat stealing the thunder from O2's official launch, which takes place this afternoon. O2 will offer the service via four handsets, two from NEC and two more from Samsung. …

    Mobile 26 Sep 2005, 11:15

  • BT disses Dixons' 'Freetalk'

    Plans to plug own VoIP services

    Dixons has yet to confirm details of its anticipated VoIP offering, Freetalk, but the service is already causing a stir. The electrical retailer set up Freeserve - now called Wanadoo and owned by France Telecom - in 1997. Almost overnight it became a massive success, attracting a million users in just a few months. The …

    VoIP 26 Sep 2005, 11:24

  • Developing World must cut mobile taxes

    Mobiles boost development

    Governments in the developing world should cut taxes on mobile handsets to help the poorest take advantage of the technology. So says the GSM Association, after studying the mobile-phone markets around the globe. The GSMA survey found that in 16 of the poorest 50 countries taxes make up more than 20 per cent of the total cost …

    Mobile 26 Sep 2005, 12:04

  • Deutsche Telekom 'eyeing up O2'

    Here we go again

    Deutsche Telekom (DT) - which owns cellco T-Mobile - could be prepared to pay up to £18bn for UK telco O2, according to the The Business. Market whispers have become increasingly louder over recent weeks, reports the Sunday newspaper. And it quotes Andrew O'Neill, an analyst at Bernstein Investment Research and Management who …

    Mobile 26 Sep 2005, 12:06

  • US Army goes shopping for anthrax

    Would you like that giftwrapped?

    The US Army has asked companies to bid for contracts to produce large quantities of anthrax and equipment to produce other unnamed biological agents, according to New Scientist, but has not said what it needs the facilities for. Alan Pearson, programme director for biological and chemical weapons at the Center for Arms Control …

    Science 26 Sep 2005, 12:10

  • Sales up but profits down at Sophos

    In brief Investments take bite from cash

    UK-based security firm Sophos announced plans to launch centrally-managed client firewall and adware detection and removal products on Monday as it reported an increase in annual turnover of 19.2 per cent to £66.2 million ($122.6 million USD) for the year ending March 2005. Although Sophos exceeded its growth expectations its …

    Security 26 Sep 2005, 12:45

  • Chickens find home online

    Finally a use for broadband... and Weston-Super-Mare

    A West Country website is having to upgrade equipment to keep up with demand for its streamed videos of chickens. HenTV is run from a garden just outside Weston-Super-Mare. The site includes a gallery of chicken pics as well as the all-action live webcam. This carries still shots of chickens engaged in chicken-like activities …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 14:51

  • Ask Jeeves where the dole office is

    Butler mascot for the off

    Jeeves - that butler mascot of search site AskJeeves - is to be pensioned off. Exactly when he'll be shown the door has yet to be decided but it seems that the cold hearts at Inter-Active Corp - which acquired the search engine earlier this year for around £1bn - are worried that users are "confused" about the butler and what …

    Telecoms 26 Sep 2005, 14:57

  • Four arrested in '£6m' phone scam probe

    Investigation continues

    Four men have been arrested in connection with a premium-rate phone scam that police reckon could have netted an estimated £6m. The four - two from Cambridge and two from Basingstoke - were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud customers of the telephone network, police said in a statement. The investigation is …

    Networks 26 Sep 2005, 15:18

  • Limewire preps 'piracy-prevention' barriers

    Keelhauled client

    LimeWire developers are working of code modifications that will prevent users of future versions of the popular P2P client from sharing copyrighted works. Future versions of the software may check to see if material presented for sharing is copyrighted before blocking sharing if no suitable license can be found, Slyck reports. …

    Music and Media 26 Sep 2005, 15:20

  • Salty seamen's erotic viewing blocks emergency radio

    Oops

    The crew of a fishing boat was whiling away a few lonely hours on the high seas watching a saucy film, not realising that they had left the radio transmitting on the emergency channel, thus blocking all Mayday radio comms for a 30-mile radius. As the salty seamen settled down to watch Crash - a tale involving people who find …

    Bootnotes 26 Sep 2005, 15:25

  • Watford Electronics saves Tiny from knackers' yard

    Aims to support warranties

    Watford Electronics has scooped up the assets and trading rights of Tiny Computers and Tiny.com from the administrators. Terms are undisclosed. Shiraz Jessa, MD of the UK PC maker and IT retailer, says the company intends to support "all existing Tiny customers. We're asking all customers who have an outstanding warranty to …

    Channel Register 26 Sep 2005, 15:51

  • Python movies secure best spin-off crown

    Star Trek beams in at third spot

    The Monty Python films have been voted the best TV series spin-off in a poll of readers of the BBC's listing magazine Radio Times. Mission: Impossible was second, with Star Trek in third. Fourth place went to the 1993 offering The Fugitive, while Batman came in fifth. Other spin-off faves included The Addams Family, The X-Files …

    Bootnotes 26 Sep 2005, 15:58

  • Intelligent design meets evolution in court

    Survival of the fittest?

    A court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is set to hear a case that could have implications for the teaching of science across America. A group of parents from the nearby town of Dover is taking legal action to overturn a decision by the local school board to allow the teaching of the Intelligent Design theory in science classes. …

    Science 26 Sep 2005, 16:27

  • The 5:01 to Gizmoville is now ready for boarding

    Tech Digest Gadgets to grab

    iPod Accessory of the Week: PodGear PocketParty speakers for iPod Nano Barely two weeks after the iPod Nano's launch and accessories are starting to emerge. The PodGear for the Nano is a mini hi-fi system that doubles as recharger. The <a href="http://www.podgear.net/products.html" target="_blank" company assures us that it's …

    Peripherals 26 Sep 2005, 17:02

  • Intel and Dell update server gear with promises and rhetoric bump

    Single-core brotherhood still looking ahead

    Intel and Dell - aka the Brotherhood of Single-Core Chips - continue to flail about, issuing statements that promise they will eventually ship systems with dual-core server processors. The statements appear to be InDell's best attempt at calming customers' nerves, while competitors and their customers turn to rival gear based on …

    Servers 26 Sep 2005, 19:04

  • AMD counters Intel with speedier Opterons

    Waiting for Xeon

    AMD today won a round of its ongoing chip marketing battle with Intel by pumping out a new fleet of speedier dual-core Opteron chips. Intel did its best to counter the move with a couple of variations to its single-core Xeon line but obviously fell short of its rival. Customers can start buying 2.4GHz versions of the Opteron …

    Servers 26 Sep 2005, 21:23

  • Club opens for recovering Itanium server sellers

    12-step program to redemption

    "Hello. My name is SGI, and I'm an Itanium user." So we imagine the beginning of the first Itanium Solutions Alliance (ISA) meeting. This organization of Itanic backers officially came to life today, bringing with it years of sorrow and dashed sales dreams. All the big server vendors are there. Well, except for IBM, Dell and …

    Servers 26 Sep 2005, 22:16