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27th October 2005 Archive

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  • Napster has 'nothing' to sell you

    Monday nothing, Tuesday nothing, Wednesday and Thursday nothing...

    Earlier this month, Napster began a billboard campaign making a virtue of its greatest shortcoming: that you don't get to keep any music. If you rent music from Napster, the music disappears when the relationship ends. If you want your music to last for life, you need a lifetime subscription to Napster. Several other companies …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 00:01

  • Red Hat CEO decries open source pretenders

    Desktop Linux is like teenage sex

    Red Hat is shying away from taking "control" of its relationship with customers and instead hopes to become a thought leader that champions innovation through freedom of the community. Matthew Szulik, Red Hat chief executive, chairman and president, said Wednesday it was wrong to think companies like Red Hat could control what …

    Operating Systems 27 Oct 2005, 00:15

  • Supremes shun RIM appeal

    The big shutdown looms

    The prospect of Research In Motion's Blackberry network falling silent in the US drew a little closer today as the country's Supreme Court denied a request to intervene in its patent case. RIM had asked the Supremes to stay an injunction which would close down the network. Chief Justice Roberts refused the request, but the …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 00:20

  • Why Wikipedia isn't like Linux

    Letters And why Britannica isn't sweating

    We have more letters for and against Wikipedia. There's much less snarling and YDGIs ["You don't Get It!"] from the project's supporters this time. Here, we'll discuss a much-quoted comparison by enthusiasts of "collective intelligence" between Wikipedia and Linux. But first we asked the Encyclopedia Britannica if it was …

    Letters 27 Oct 2005, 00:39

  • Judge blasts MS bid to monopolize music devices

    Purely accidental that

    Some flunky lacking an adequate grasp of Microsoft's deep commitment to fair business practices innocently wrote an offensive license forbidding non-MS media formats on portable devices compatible with Windows media, the company explained to miffed anti-trust judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly during a status hearing Tuesday. …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 02:58

  • Gates' DoJ testimony for sale on eBay

    Rewind those golden anti-trust moments

    What could be better than having to sit through hours of butt-numbing depositions from Microsoft executives during the company's antitrust dust up with the US Department of Justice (DoJ)? How about watching them on TV all over again? Or at least watching Microsoft's chief software architect Bill Gates' notorious 1998 deposition …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 03:03

  • Government IT review could scrap industry council

    UK's e-gov boss completing strategy

    The talking shop that has wrestled with some of the most stubborn disagreements between government and the IT industry faces being annexed or disbanded by e-government boss Ian Watmore. The fate of the Senior IT Forum is still being decided in talks between its co-sponsors, trade association Intellect, the Office of …

    Public Sector 27 Oct 2005, 08:02

  • Rules for RFID chips in US passports

    Toothbrush, travel soap, clean underwear, new passport?

    OUT-LAW News, 26/10/2005 The US State Department on Tuesday set out rules that will govern the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in US passports. The passports, which will be piloted from December, are due to be issued in the US from October 2006, according to reports. RFID chips consist of a microchip and a …

    ID 27 Oct 2005, 08:46

  • Web defacer sentenced, facing deportation

    Still that NASA business though...

    Rafael Nuñez-Aponte will soon be going home to Caracas after spending seven months in a U.S. jail for compromising a computer belonging to the Department of Defense, but only if the National Aeronautics and Space Administration decides not to pursue charges against him. Last week, a U.S. district court sentenced the …

    Enterprise Security 27 Oct 2005, 09:06

  • BBC suspends Blackberry network after mixed-up emails

    'Obscure bug' blamed for e-crossed lines

    The BBC has suspended its Blackberry email service after a bug in Research In Motion's server software mixed together snippets from different messages between senior executives. The bug meant chunks of messages were reaching the wrong recipients. Among the portions of messages scrambled by the electronic crossed line was a …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2005, 09:29

  • AMD prunes Athlon 64 prices

    Up to 20 per cent off

    AMD has decided to charge less for its Athlon 64 desktop processors, just three days after implementing a range of reductions across its other desktop and mobile product lines. Whether AMD is doubling up the newspaper headline opportunities the price cuts provide or someone simply forgot to enter the changes into the pricing …

    System Builder 27 Oct 2005, 09:30

  • Intel to ship VT P4s on '13 November'

    And a faster Celeron for Xmas

    Intel will release Pentium 4 processors equipped with its Virtualisation Technology (VT) in just over two weeks' time, it has been claimed. The P4 662 and 672 have been on the cards for a Q4 2005 launch for some time, but now a launch date has emerged, sources from among Taiwan's motherboard makers have claimed. That date is 13 …

    PCs 27 Oct 2005, 09:36

  • UK launches major net security awareness campaign

    Joe Public invited to Get Safe Online

    A major UK government campaign to help consumers and small businesses protect themselves from internet security threats launches in the UK on Thursday. The 'Get Safe Online' campaign aims to arrest the growth in computer security risks that threaten to slow down the rise of ecommerce. The scheme - backed by the launch of a www. …

    Security 27 Oct 2005, 10:15

  • BOFH volumes 1, 2, 4 & 5 hit UK shores

    Cash'n'Carrion And volume 3? Don't ask

    The tramp steamer bearing the long-awaited BOFH volumes finally docked in Blighty earlier this week packed to the gunwales with Bastard literature. Strangely, though, there was no sign of volume three - an absence so mysterious that we can only conclude that something not unrelated to the Marie Celeste, Bermuda Triangle and …

    Site News 27 Oct 2005, 10:16

  • Prometheus guilty of remote ring disruption

    Blames gravity

    Saturn's F-ring is being twisted into its contorted shape by the gravitational effect of the moon Prometheus. The F-ring is riddled with unusual structures and distortions, like knots, kinks and clumps, but now astronomers have shown how some of these effects can be explained by the gravity of the small moon. Prometheus …

    Science 27 Oct 2005, 10:25

  • Calyx makes its move into the UK market

    £2.5m foothold

    Calyx has bought ITS Technology Services, a UK-based voice and data networks firm, its third acquisition over the past four months and its first in Britain. Calyx paid £2.5m (€3.68m) for the company, £1.88m of which is to be paid in cash with another £120,000 in shares. An additional £500,000 will be paid six months from the …

    Financial News 27 Oct 2005, 10:49

  • Samsung samples GDDR 4 chips

    Ultra-fast graphics memory coming next year

    Samsung has begun providing graphics card companies with samples of GDDR 4 memory chips, the South Korean giant announced this week. The 256Mb parts can transfer data at up to 2.5Gbps, up from the 1.6Gbps achieved by graphics memory currently on the market, but Samsung said it was already gearing up to offer samples capable of …

    System Builder 27 Oct 2005, 11:19

  • Vodafone UK deploys mobile-vending machine

    Manchester trial for Quickphone kiosk

    Vodafone UK has deployed two vending machines which will allow panic-stricken and mobileless punters in Manchester to buy a handset with a quid's worth of credit. The mobilephoneco hopes that its "Quickphone" kiosks will become familiar sights across the UK, telling the Telegraph that they can be installed "anywhere, as long as …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2005, 11:28

  • 419ers form Irish football squad

    In Bangkok, naturally

    Talented, young and fit football hopefuls who fancy a training trip to Bangkok before challenging for the Irish league need look no further than Doyles FC, which is currently looking to expand its international roster: FROM:THE PRESIDENT DOYLES FOOTBALL CLUB DUBLIN RE:FOOTBALL PLAYERS NEEDED. Dear, I know you must be very …

    Bootnotes 27 Oct 2005, 12:00

  • Orange unveils latest smart phones

    HTC's Wizard and Tornado rebranded

    Mobile operator Orange today launched its latest own-brand smart phones, both running Windows Mobile 5.0 and manufactured by Taiwan's HTC. The candybar SPV C600 is the successor to the SPV C500, improving on the older model with the addition of a 320 x 240 colour display and a 1.3 megapixel digicam. The C600 contains 64MB of …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2005, 12:04

  • Student satellite launch a success

    Getting high, 21st century style

    The first European satellite to be designed and built by students has launched successfully from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia's northern spaceport. After blasting off atop a Kosmos 3M launcher, the satellite was in contact with ground control by 10:29, central European time. Also on board the Kosmos rocket were satellites …

    Science 27 Oct 2005, 13:22

  • Malware authors unleash bird flu-themed Trojan

    Sick twist to social engineering

    Today brings further proof that no human disaster these days arises without been exploited by internet ne'er-do-wells. Hot on the heels of a spam campaign punting Tamiflu, the drug believed most effective at protecting humans from the potentially-lethal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, comes a piece of malware designed to tap …

    Malware 27 Oct 2005, 13:37

  • Falling margins, prices push Maxtor into the red

    Q3 reverses Q2 trend

    Maxtor fell back into the red during its third fiscal quarter, it admitted this week, after a brief foray into profitability during Q2. The hard drive maker reported revenues of $926m for the three months to 1 October 2005, only fractionally higher than Q2's $925m, and fractionally down on Q3 FY2004's $927m. Maxtor shipped …

    Storage 27 Oct 2005, 14:16

  • Software glitch blamed for CryoSat loss

    Rockot still ok to fly again

    Officials investigating the loss of the CryoSat mission have revealed that a software glitch in the on board flight control system on the new, upper stage of the rocket was to blame. There is no fault with the Rockot launcher itself, Russian officials said, which means it has been cleared for future flights, the BBC reports. …

    Science 27 Oct 2005, 14:30

  • Gizmondo executives quit under cloud

    Swedish criminal convictions revealed

    A number of senior executives at Gizmondo Europe quit the company last week ahead of the US launch of the firm's handheld games console and amid allegations in the Swedish press that some had criminal pasts. Carl Freer and Stefan Eriksson tendered their resignations on 20 October, a document filed with the US Securities and …

    Consoles 27 Oct 2005, 15:22

  • Schizophrenics fall for no illusions

    Paranoid? Its all about context

    The paranoia, or sense of persecution, experienced by some schizophrenics could be due to a problem they have processing contextual information, according to researchers at University College London (UCL). Researchers at the London university found that schizophrenics are not fooled by visual illusions that easily trick non- …

    Science 27 Oct 2005, 16:16

  • Sun begins CFO hunt after surprise retirement

    McGowan sets himself

    Sun Microsystems CFO Steve McGowan will retire at the end of the company's fiscal year after a relatively brief run as top financial officer. On Nov. 1, Sun will report its first quarter 2006 results, so McGowan will still be around for close to 9 more months. Sun has launched a search for his replacement. The company provided …

    Financial News 27 Oct 2005, 16:18

  • Gates pitches child protection tech to French

    Paris match

    Bill Gates dropped into Paris this week to discuss combating online child abuse with French ministers. French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy met the Microsoft founder on Monday to hold talks1 on the development of criminality on the net, child pornography and the struggle against online paedophilia, AFP reports. Microsoft …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 16:21

  • North Carolina buys more jobs with handouts to Chinese

    Lenovo warms to millions in tax breaks

    North Carolina has agreed to pay Chinese computer maker Lenovo millions of dollars to build a new research and development center in the state. This handout goes to a company which is largely owned by the PRC and builds on a growing tradition in North Carolina to woo businesses with massive amounts of cash. Up front, Lenovo …

    Channel Register 27 Oct 2005, 18:00

  • Google targets Craigslist, eBay for destruction

    Soft flabby underbelly

    Internet advertising has taken a $2bn chunk out of the $19bn classified advertising business in the US, and Google wants in. Screenshots of the company's secret weapon to achieve this goal, Google Base, finally surfaced this week. Google denied that this glimpse of its secret under-construction destructor fleet implied that a …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2005, 18:58

  • Sun freezes hell, gets IBM to sell Solaris on blades

    Shiver me servers

    Sun Microsystems has managed to nurture a blade server business, only it's on a rival's hardware. IBM today has become the first major server vendor - other than Sun - to ship Solaris x86 on its mainstream systems. (Yes, we know Compaq once sold Solaris x86. Thanks for the memories.) IBM has agreed to sell Sun's operating …

    Servers 27 Oct 2005, 19:59

  • Baby Bells emulsify back into AT&T

    Competition, US-style

    Back in January 1982, the US Department of Justice announced the dawn of a new era of competition. The national phone monopoly AT&T was to be broken up, creating seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) to compete alongside the phone veteran. It was the second anti-trust agreement in AT&T's history. The "Death Star" has …

    Financial News 27 Oct 2005, 20:03

  • Shareholders call Sun management to heel

    Rewards-based system

    Senior management at Sun Microsystems has failed to persuade shareholders to reject a change to the company's corporate governance that cedes greater control to investors during a hostile take over. Shareholders have reportedly thrown-out Sun's so-called poison pill defense against take-overs. The ballot against Sun's poison …

    Financial News 27 Oct 2005, 20:12

  • Microsoft deals out round two of executive shuffle

    Don't get too comfortable

    A month after radically overhauling its business and reporting structure, re-organizational spasms are still being felt through Microsoft's corporate body. Bob Muglia was on Thursday named senior vice president of Windows server and tools, taking over from veteran Eric Rudder. Muglia, previously senior vice president of the …

    IT Director 27 Oct 2005, 21:15

  • Chip start-up Montalvo looks to speed mobile devices

    Shhh. Don't tell

    Another chip start-up has popped up in Silicon Valley apparently promising to deliver more horsepower to the mobile device market. Montavlo Systems, based in Santa Clara, is in deep stealth mode at the moment, but The Register has obtained information stating that the company is working on a low-power x86 chip meant for mobile …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2005, 21:56

  • AT&T lifts kimono on WiMAX trials

    WiMAX World Cock-a-hoop about cheaper local loops

    AT&T did its bit to puncture the WiMAX hype today, while providing an update on three of its trial WiMAX deployments. Behzed Nadji, AT&T's Chief Architect, debunked stories about 70 Mbit/s throughput over distances of 70 miles for WiMAX. "There's little reality to that," he said. A range of 3 to 5 miles and 2 Mbit/s was closer …

    Wireless 27 Oct 2005, 22:35

  • Fixed WiMAX emerges from Slough of Despond (official)

    WiMAX World It's progress

    Yankee Group's VP Berge Ayvazian gave the analyst company's summary of how far WiMAX has inched along the Hype Cycle - that's The Gartner Group's Hype Cycle. And it's a tale of two WiMAXii. Ayvazian said that mobile WiMAX was still stuck in the Slough of Despond. Actually, according to Gartner's Hype Cycle (this really exists …

    Telecoms 27 Oct 2005, 22:41