8th March 2004 Archive

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EDS to sue NHS over nixed email deal

Campaign for hearts and minds takes bizarre twist

Much-loved IT services behemoth EDS is to sue the NHS for cancelling an contract to manage email for 1m staff. An internal NHS email seen by The Register states: "The contractual relationship between the NHS Information Authority(NHSIA) and EDS as supplier for the NHS's centrally managed e-mail and directory services is to end …

Hardware 8 Mar 2004, 09:28
FTC appeals against Rambus ruling

Wants commissioners to chuck out appeal verdict

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is to consider reinstating anti-trust charges made against Rambus. Last month, a Federal judge tossed out such allegations. FTC lawyers now want the organisation's five commissioners to overrule the court's decision, and have given notice of appeal. On 17 February, Judge Stephen J McGuire …

Channel 8 Mar 2004, 10:31
Corpse pics earns cop the sack

'Crass stupidity'

A policeman has been sacked after taking photos of two corpses while visiting a hospital mortuary. The probationary Pc - who has not been named - used a camera phone to take the snaps while visiting Derriford Hospital in Plymouth as part of an induction course. He was rumbled after others heard the sound of the camera phone …

Mobile 8 Mar 2004, 10:46
ATI to boost chip supply by month's end

Chairman pledges

ATI has pledged to ease the tight supply of its graphics chips by the end of the month. Company chairman and CEO KY Ho told reporters in Taipei last week that the shortage would be resolved shortly, according to DigiTimes. Mobility parts in particular should be widely available, thanks to the company's decision not to lower Q2 …

Channel 8 Mar 2004, 10:49
Psion shareholders are revolting

Symbian stake is family silver

Psion's sale of its stake in Symbian to Nokia could be stopped by angry shareholders who remain unconvinced that the sale is a good deal for the business. One institutional investor, Phoenix Asset Management, which owns 13 per cent of the company, has already said it will vote against the proposed sale. David Sharman is a …

Mobile 8 Mar 2004, 10:50
Russian arctic boffins safe and sound

Successful helicopter airlift from remains of base

The 12 Russian scientists stranded on an arctic ice floe have been rescued. Two helicopters made the 1600km round trip from Spitzbergen to collect the dozen boffins - plus two dogs - after most of their base sank into the Greenland Sea last Wednesday. Operating at extreme range, the two choppers braved temperatures of -25 …

Science 8 Mar 2004, 10:52
Acer Aspire 1705SCi

Review Too big to be a laptop?

It's hard to know exactly where to start when reviewing the Acer Aspire 1705SCi, since it's such a strange mix of positives and negatives. A laptop the size of a suitcase, boasting some truly exceptional specifications and yet some basic errors. In fact, is it even a laptop? asks Gordon Kelly. After all, how do you define a …

Reviews 8 Mar 2004, 11:47
Inside the mind of the gay sheep

Boffins seek reason for ovine homosexuality

Absolute proof that scientific research budgets are not always squandered on sniffing around the Martian surface or making particles go really fast comes with the latest findings of a team from the Oregon Health & Science University School. Indeed, proponents of the theory that there may be structural differences between the …

Science 8 Mar 2004, 11:49
Opportunity knocked by Martian rock

NASA investigates probe drilling failure

Mars rover Opportunity has ground to a halt on the Red Planet's surface after failing to drill into an interesting-looking rock. NASA scientists will run tests today to investigate the problem. The drilling target, known as Flat Rock, was not even scratched when the rover tried to bore out a sample. All its tools appear to be …

Science 8 Mar 2004, 11:51
Carphone Warehouse buys Spanish telco

Euro expansion

The Carphone Warehouse is to bring its own brand of discount telephony services to consumers in Spain following the acquisition of alternative fixed-line telco Xtra Telecom. The residential service is to be modelled on The Carphone Warehouse's talktalk service in the UK and should be up and running in Spain within the next six …

Business 8 Mar 2004, 12:10
Virgin to open music download service

MusicNet bags second big-name customer

Virgin is to launch a music download service in August. Richard Branson will join Apple, Napster, MusicMatch, BuyMusic et al when he opens Virgin Digital (VD)- the front end for online distribution company MusicNet. MusicNet was formed in April 2001 by Sony, Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and Warner Music Group as a digital …

Music and Media 8 Mar 2004, 12:27
March is crunch time for Mobile-Fi

IEEE meeting critical for 802.20 standard

This week's IEEE meeting will be critical for the future of the proposed 802.20 Mobile-Fi standard for IP-based mobility. The group will elect a new chair, and the choice is widely expected to determine the speed of progress of the specification and its potential to develop alongside the increasingly overlapping mobile WiMAX, …

Wireless 8 Mar 2004, 12:42
Wireless industry intellectually challenged

Analysis IP issues overshadow technology debates

The wireless industry has reached that stage where intellectual property issues threaten to overshadow real technology debates. Too many bright start-ups, many facing shake-out and failing to gain significant market presence through effective sales, are turning instead to their patent portfolios and the 'Qualcomm model' of …

Wireless 8 Mar 2004, 12:45
EC to fund Euro 45nm process with €24m grant

Building 'Euro CMOS backbone'

The European Commission (EC) is to grant €24m ($29.7m) to Europe's semiconductor makers to aid the development of CMOS process technologies at 45nm and beyond, it was announced today. The EC funding will be used to launch NanoCMOS, a project which aims to "pioneer the necessary changes in materials, processes, device …

Channel 8 Mar 2004, 13:05
Toxic PCs destroy life as we know it

We love landfills

A United Nations research group has called on member states to reduce the environmental damage caused by computer kit. Gram for gram, computers create more pollution than cars according to the UN research, they contain many toxic chemicals and because of the short life of much of the equipment, create mountains of waste. The …

Personal 8 Mar 2004, 13:41
EC rejects MS claim over OEM T&Cs

Muster buster

The European Commission has dismissed claims by Microsoft that it had approved a no-sue-on-patents clause in OEM Windows contracts with PC makers. In 2000 the EU looked at contracts between Microsoft and manufacturers. It decided that, because Microsoft changed the offending clauses, there was no need to take further action. …

Channel 8 Mar 2004, 13:58
Beware sober worm bearing gifts

Fake MyDoom security fix on the loose

Watch out for a virus which poses as a security fix for the infamous MyDoom worm. Sober-D arrives in the form of an email with the subject line "Microsoft Alert: Please Read!" and an attached Zip file with a malicious executable. Users who are duped into running this payload get their PCs infected by the virus and contribute to …

Anti-Virus 8 Mar 2004, 14:04
Kazaa fails to overturn music biz data seizure orders

Info acquired during raids can be used in court

An Australian court has rejected an application by Kazaa owner Sharman Networks to overturn information seizure orders granted to music industry anti-piracy investigators. On 6 February, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), an organisation sponsored by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), raided the …

Music and Media 8 Mar 2004, 14:57
No Xbox 2 revelations at GDC

Final hardware specs still undecided

Reports suggest that Xbox Next's hardware will not be unveiled at the forthcoming Game Developers' Conference. Microsoft's chief Xbox officer, Robbie Bach, will take to the stage at the GDC on 24 March to discuss the new console - but may limit himself to games and some technical aspects of its format. The suggestion comes …

Personal 8 Mar 2004, 15:09
Teens get classes in Tolkien's Elvish

Ed'i'ear ar' elenea!

British parents today face a terrifying new obstacle to understanding their children: JRR Tolkien's Elvish. Students at Turves Green Boys' Technology College in Birmingham can now avail themselves of courses in the language, which are said to "boost their self-esteem" and "develop some very complex skills", according to special …

Bootnotes 8 Mar 2004, 15:12
Victim's mother seeks ban on violent Net porn

Daughter fell victim to Web-addicted murderer

The mother of murdered schoolteacher Jane Longhurst has today launched a national petition calling for tighter regulation of pornographic content on the Internet. Seventy-two-year-old Mrs Longhurst wants certain adult pornography, such as that showing violence towards women and necrophilia, outlawed in the same way as images of …

Music and Media 8 Mar 2004, 15:16
UK drivers flout mobile ban

Ten per cent still on the blower

One in ten drivers still routinely use mobile phones while driving, despite being well aware of the ban introduced late last year. The law on mobile use changed in December and drivers caught making a call while driving face a £30 fixed-penalty fine or up to £1,000 if taken to court and convicted. Although 99 per cent of …

Mobile 8 Mar 2004, 15:28
UK credit card fraud down 8%

But cardholder-not-present theft on the up

UK credit card fraud has fallen for the first time in eight years, thanks mostly to a clampdown on European counterfeiters. Losses to credit card theft fell 5 per cent to £402.4 million in 2003 (2002: £424.6m), the annual Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) survey reveals. The headline figure hides uneven …

Business 8 Mar 2004, 15:56
McData and Brocade puff patent peace pipe

Lawsuit? What lawsuit?

McData and Brocade have flipped an existing disagreement over switch technology on its head by agreeing to refrain from suing each other on patent matters for three years. The two storage switch companies signed a confidential agreement last week, which puts an end to McData's 2002 lawsuit against Brocade. At the time, McData …

Storage 8 Mar 2004, 16:07
Tesco offers online DVD rentals

Classics by post at a price tba

Supermarket chain Tesco is to rent DVDs via a website. The business will run along similar lines to Netflix - the US company which has picked up over 2m customers. The Tesco project is in partnership with Video Island. Customers will have a choice of 15,000 titles. For a fixed monthly fee they can choose two, three or five DVDs …

Music and Media 8 Mar 2004, 16:15
Blunkett appoints police IT supremo

Big challenges ahead

Home secretary David Blunkett has appointed Chris Earnshaw chair of the Police Information Technology Organisation. Earnshaw will immediately succeed the outgoing chair, Sir Edmund Burton. Home Office minister Hazel Blears thanked Sir Edmund for his work over the last three years. In January, Blears ordered a review of PITO. …

Hardware 8 Mar 2004, 16:46
S&P drops Sun to junk status

Tough road ahead

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services last week dealt Sun Microsystems a blow by cutting its corporate credit rating to junk status. In a research note, the credit rating company warned that Sun will have trouble boosting revenue in the near-term and that it faces tougher competition that ever before in the server market. "The …

Business 8 Mar 2004, 16:49
Linux kernel vuln reloaded

Escalation of privileges

Security researchers have discovered a potentially serious security vulnerability within a Linux kernel memory management module. The vulnerability is not remotely executable but it does allow privilege escalation. A hacker who obtains access to a local PC could be able to root a box. At fault is a bug with the mremap(2) …

Security 8 Mar 2004, 20:51
Dell deepens ties to VMware

EMC in disguise

Dell has expanded an agreement with VMware to ship more of its software with Dell servers and storage. Dell will now offer a broad portion of the VMware product line on various pieces of hardware, adding to a previous reselling agreement. This move is an obvious nod to EMC, which recently acquired VMware. And Dell is never one …

Storage 8 Mar 2004, 20:56
IBM – EDS: merger report dismissed

Too small to be a monopoly

Reuters reported early on Friday, 5 March that Electronic Data Systems "was in talks to sell all or part of itself" to IBM. IBM and EDS spokespeople refused to comment on the report. EDS is most likely to dispose of its product lifecycle management software unit (PLM) and IBM is already a prominent player in this sector. The …

Hardware 8 Mar 2004, 20:59
EU funds to fuel Eastern Europe tech boom

Virtuous circle

the IT market in Eastern Europe will grow three times faster than in Western Europe until 2007, according to Gartner. Eastern Europe currently accounts for less than 8 per cent of the European IT market, but this is to increase to around 10 per cent in the next few years. Gartner says that this will be made possible by …

Channel 8 Mar 2004, 21:20