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25th November 2005 Archive

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  • Northamber issues profit warning

    'Especially challenging conditions'

    Northamber today issued a profit warning for its interims, which end on 31 December 2005. In a regulatory news statement, the UK disties said profits will be "substantially below" that of last year's interims. It notes "especially challenging trading conditions that are common across the sector". Also since its last trading …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2005, 09:46

  • Interesting times for EII

    Comment Is that a blessing or a curse?

    The EII (enterprise information integration) market is going through interesting times. This article discusses a number of the things that have happened or that have been reported to me. First, Business Objects bought Mediance, a company of which I had not previously heard. Mediance was active in the EII space but it is by no …

    Developer 25 Nov 2005, 10:29

  • Intel 'to add 946' to Broadwater chipset line-up

    Mainstream-marke chipset family extended

    Intel is to extend its 'Broadwater' chipset family down into the lower reaches of the mainstream market segment at launch, Taiwanese motherboard-maker sources have claimed. The moles, cited by DigiTimes, say Broadwater, which will ship as the 965 and 963 ranges, will also form the basis for a 946 series. Intel's mainstream …

    Reg Hardware 25 Nov 2005, 10:40

  • DWP's computerised call centres 'in meltdown'

    A million calls go unanswered

    Problems with computerised call centres at the Department for Work and Pensions have led to a million calls from first-time claimants not being answered, The Guardian reports. The Liberal Democrats' work and pensions spokesman David Laws said JobCentrePlus officials had written to him saying that the new IT system is so bad …

    Public Sector 25 Nov 2005, 11:19

  • Bolloxed Irish surf Doogle

    Feck, drink, arse, girls, Eurovision

    There's not a lot we can say about this one, really, except that it cheered us up on a nippy Friday morning in November: Yup, point your browser at Doogle and enjoy the very best the Emerald Isle has to offer. Thanks very much to reader Ehtisham Shabir - who describes the service as "surfing for the pious" - for the tip. ®

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2005, 11:26

  • Marconi ups revs in Q2

    Turns in profit as well

    Marconi increased revenues for the three months to September, the UK telecoms equipment maker reported today. Its Q2 results published today revealed that revenues from continuing operations in the second quarter were £312m, up from £285m in the first quarter and £305m last year, as lower revenues from network services were …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2005, 11:38

  • Chav gadget returns

    MP3 shades back with a Thump

    Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour Gizmoville for the oddest digital goodies, Bayraider keeps tabs on the best and worst of eBay and HippyShopper has all your ethical goodies. Chav gadget returns Not put off by being voted as our ‘Chav Gadget of 2005’, Oakley has struck back with a sequel to its …

    Peripherals 25 Nov 2005, 11:53

  • BOFH: Woah there, Crash Gordon

    Episode 32 Percussive maintenance

    "WOAH THERE, Crash Gordon!" the PFY shouts as our engineer prepares to put our system back together "How's about you go get another disk drive!?" "Huh?" the engineer asks blankly. "I just replaced it." "Yeah, then you dropped the drive and the tray off the desk onto the floor!" "It won't harm the disk, they're rated to 9 Gs …

    BOFH 25 Nov 2005, 12:02

  • Cohen ends legal bid for itunes.co.uk

    'Might against right'

    The long-running dispute over the ownership of the domain itunes.co.uk is over. In the summer, one-time teenage dotcom entrepreneur Ben Cohen sought a Judicial Review to try and overturn Nominet UK's ruling forcing him to hand over the itunes.co.uk domain to Apple. But the judge dismissed the case noting that Cohen's company, …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2005, 12:03

  • Japan greenlights second landing attempt

    In brief Take two

    Japan's space agency (Jaxa) said yesterday that it will try for another landing with its Hayabusa probe. The attempt was scheduled to take place this morning. The spacecraft is on a mission to collect a sample of the asteroid Ikotawa and return it to Earth. Yesterday, Jaxa said the probe had touched down on the asteroid, but …

    Science 25 Nov 2005, 12:04

  • Symantec refuses to sell audit tool outside the US

    Exclusive Return of the crypto wars?

    Symantec has stopped selling a password auditing tool to customers outside the US and Canada, citing US Government export regulations. A Reg reader who works for a large UK supermarket was this month unable to buy a copy of LC 5, a tool developed by @stake prior to its recent acquisition by Symantec. LC 5 is the commercial …

    ID 25 Nov 2005, 12:12

  • Is this the worst corporate video ever?

    Donna Summer crashes headlong into media solutions outfit

    We recently noted that Queen's We are the Champions had been voted the world's most fave song of all time - ever. Reader Ciaran Dolan has just written in to express surprise, if not dismay, that Dutch "media investment management" outfit MindShare's version of the 1983 Donna Summer smash She works hard for the money did not even …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2005, 12:15

  • Lycos loses Dutch ID disclosure case

    Bad day for whistleblowers too?

    After almost three years of long-lasting legal procedures, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled today that Dutch ISP Lycos must reveal the name of an anonymous website owner who ridiculed a part-time stamp trader. However, there is little Lycos can disclose other than a fake address that the website owner once provided. Dutch citizen …

    Music and Media 25 Nov 2005, 13:31

  • HTC confirms HSDPA 3G handsets will ship H2 2006

    Exclusive GPS on roadmap

    Smart-phone specialist HTC will ship devices that support the High Speed Data Packet Access (HSDPA) 3G data-speed booster in H2 2006, the company confirmed today. Speaking to The Register at the formal opening of the company's European operation, HTC President Peter Chou confirmed speculation that HSDPA support is indeed on the …

    Mobile 25 Nov 2005, 13:46

  • Judge gives Kazaa deadline to end pirate file-shares

    Implement copyright filter by 5 December or shut down

    Kazaa owner Sharman Networks has just 11 days to implement anti-piracy technology or be shut down, the Australian courts have ordered. Australian Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox has told the company it must filter out unauthorised copies of copyright works by 5 December. However, the hearing didn't go entirely against Sharman …

    Music and Media 25 Nov 2005, 13:51

  • Manufacturer loads Trojans onto HDDs

    I-O Data apologises over 'Troy wooden horse type' virus kerfuffle

    Japanese peripherals manufacturer I-O Data Device has offered product exchanges after it discovered it had shipped out a batch of hard discs contaminated with viral code. Portable hard disk drives in I-O Data's HDP-U series might be infected with the Tompai-A, a worm that gives hackers backdoor access to compromised machines. …

    Channel Register 25 Nov 2005, 14:12

  • Intel juggles 'Cedar Mill' P4 model numbers

    Roadmap 6x3 series 'downgraded' to 6x1?

    Intel's 'Conroe' processor, the multi-core desktop CPU derived from the company's next-generation notebook chip, 'Merom', will ship in Q3 2006, according to the latest leaked roadmap. The roadmap confirms the arrival of the Pentium Extreme Edition 955, the 65nm, HyperThreading-enabled 3.46GHz dual-core processor already …

    Reg Hardware 25 Nov 2005, 14:36

  • US moves forward on data privacy

    Draft law heads for full Senate hearing

    A draft US law to increase the security and privacy of personal information held by companies took a step forward last week, when it was approved by the influential Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill includes a duty to disclose security breaches. The draft Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2005 will now move forward …

    ID 25 Nov 2005, 14:43

  • Switching telcos/ISPs to get easier

    Ofcom to consult world + dog

    Switching phone and internet providers needs to be made a lot easier if consumers and businesses are to benefit from increased competition in the UK's telco sector. Regulator Ofcom is due to kick-off a consultation before the end of the year to find out how switching suppliers could be made hassle-free. El Reg understands that …

    Networks 25 Nov 2005, 14:49

  • Amazon triumphs in 1-Click patent defence

    IPXL appeal rejected

    Amazon.com has successfully defended a claim that its famous 1-Click payment feature infringed another company's patent for an electronic fund transfer or transaction system. IPXL Holdings had been seeking around $50 million in damages. Amazon.com's 1-Click system allows customers to make repeat purchases at a website with just …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2005, 14:51

  • Leaving Las Vegas

    CA World 2005 diary The buffet of earthly delights

    Motorcycle daredevilry marked the opening the CA World conference in New Orleans five years ago - in the shape of former chief exec Charles Wang jumping though a paper hoop emblazoned with an IBM logo. New CEO John Swainson was content to simply walk on stage to open last week's CA bean in Las Vegas. Over the intervening …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2005, 15:33

  • Boffins quantify beer goggles phenomenon

    I've had sixteen pints. You're lovely

    Researchers at the University of Manchester have discovered that the legendary "beer goggles" effect, by which previously-monstrous members of the opposite sex become strangely attractive after a skinful of lager, is not just down to the sheer volume of booze consumed. Light levels in the establishment in which the beer is …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2005, 15:39

  • Fujitsu execs take pay cut after Tokyo exchange crash

    Humble apologies

    Fujitsu is to dock the pay of senior executives after the Japanese computer giant took the blame for a software glitch that forced the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) to suspend trading earlier this month. The exchange was only able to operate for 90 minutes on 1 November due to bugs with a newly installed transactions system, …

    IT Director 25 Nov 2005, 16:37

  • Readers suffer transatlantic sense of humour collapse

    Letters Affected population in quarantine

    We are a nation of fakers, it is true. A recent survey has unmasked us as such, pointing out that plenty of us have misused identity documents, conned security guards, lied, cheated, stolen and eaten our grandmothers: Interesting statistics - I feel that perhaps they are a little on the small side - a quick straw poll of my …

    Letters 25 Nov 2005, 17:00

  • Voda's Blackberry alternative hits the UK

    Juicy

    Vodafone UK’s announcement of its own branded Blackberry alternative for the mainstream market might seem like old news. Based on technology from Visto, other subsidiaries in the group launched what is being referred to as “Vodafone Business Email” a few months ago. Quite why the UK part of this cellco giant was later to market …

    Mobile 25 Nov 2005, 17:19

  • Apple readies Rome retail site

    All roads lead to...

    Apple has begun recruiting staff for its first store on mainland Europe. Apple Italy is looking for the usual range of shop assistants and tech support personnel for a Rome store due to open some time next year. Apple currently has four stores open in Europe, all in the UK. Since the first one, on London's Regent Street, …

    Mac Channel 25 Nov 2005, 17:22

  • Swisscom's Eircom deal lies in tatters

    Govt says 'no' to take-over

    Swisscom's plans to acquire Irish incumbent Eircom have been ripped to shreds after the Swiss government said it would not allow the telco to make overseas investments for at least the next 12 months. If the Government sticks by its decision it means that Swisscom's plans to acquire Irish incumbent Eircom now lie in tatters. …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2005, 17:24

  • Music biz to 'hijack' Europe's data retention laws

    From terrorism to filesharing

    The entertainment industry is trying to commandeer the proposed European directive on data retention to help it prosecute filesharers in the European Union, it has emerged. The newly-formed Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA), an informal grouping (it says) of companies including Sony BMG, Disney, EMI, IFPI, MPA and …

    Music and Media 25 Nov 2005, 17:40