18th October 2004 Archive

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Doctors give sickly outlook for NHS IT

You're sick, very, very sick

Doctors working within the NHS have delivered a damning prognosis for the future of the government's planned upgrade to its IT systems. Seventy five per cent of doctors questioned for Radio 4's File on Four are worried the new system will be a failure. A measly seven per cent believe they have been consulted properly about the …

Public Sector 18 Oct 2004, 08:18
Much smoke to BPI's fileshare suits, but where's the fire?

Analysis Slurry with infringe on top

As we've learned recently, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has finally decided to bite the bullet and sue a first batch of 28 illegal filesharers in the UK. In doing so, it's following the example of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has mounted a series of high profile strikes. The BPI remains …

Music and Media 18 Oct 2004, 08:31
LTO bids to regain its pace

Storage Expo WORM and a spec for LTO-4 due this year

With the first LTO-3 drives now appearing, the LTO Consortium says it will add WORM capabilities "soon" and has confirmed its plans for another three generations of the Ultrium tape format. In a direct snub to Quantum's DLTice technology, which is already available and allows normal media to be WORMed and reused, LTO's upcoming …

Storage 18 Oct 2004, 08:45
Intel slashes Centrino prices

Pentium M, Celeron M discounted too

Intel yesterday cut the prices of its Pentium M and Celeron M mobile processors, and its Centrino bundles, knocking up to 31 per cent off the cost of CPUs and associated components. The cuts affect the standard CPUs - Ultra-low Voltage and Low-voltage parts were not included in yesterday's round of price cuts. The reductions …

Market News 18 Oct 2004, 09:22
Intel to maintain 775-pin P4 prices to 2005 - report

Despite proximity of faster, cheaper AMD rivals

Intel will not be cutting the price of its Socket T Pentium 4 chips before 2005, the chip giant has told customers. So claim Taiwanese mobo maker sources cited by DigiTimes today. Intel last lowered the prices of its 90nm, 775-pin P4 line on 22 August, and it was anticipated that the chip maker would do so again, later this …

System Builder 18 Oct 2004, 09:45
Watch out, there's a scammer about

Govt launches consumer help site

The British government has unveiled a new website to help punters "wise up to scams". Coinciding with the beginning of National Consumer Week, the consumer direct site has been created to provide help and advice for anyone who has been the victim of a scam. The site contains info about a range of stuff including premium rate …

Spam 18 Oct 2004, 09:53
AT&T to deploy WiMAX in 2006

AT&T Wireless grows close to Aperto

Many of America's former Baby Bells are now looking to integrate mobile and wireline operations and move to a broader, multi-network platform for the future, embracing VoIP, mobility and filling broadband gaps with wireless. SBC is unexpectedly proving itself the most aggressive of all with its hotspot strategy and now moves to …

Mobile 18 Oct 2004, 09:57
Montavista claims real time support for Linux mobile

'Linux set to assume the role of a universal platform'

In the cellphone world, Linux has been caught uncomfortably between two worlds. It is not as high level as SymbianOS or Windows Mobile, requiring significant work by handset makers to provide a full application downloading platform; but it lacks the full real time support of the proprietary, native cellphone operating systems. …

Mobile 18 Oct 2004, 10:11
Football League clubs to offer Wi-Fi

'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go

Wi-Fi is coming to the terraces, it emerged today, when the UK's Football League (FL) announced it has signed wireless service provider The Cloud to install WLANs at every one of its soccer stadia over the next three years. Not that fans will get access, at least not at first. The scheme focuses on providing wireless …

Wireless 18 Oct 2004, 11:05
Too few games could set back PSP launch - Sony exec

Signs of a delay, or just managing expectations?

Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) will miss its Japanese shipment schedule if games developers don't get titles finished in time, a company executive confessed last week. Interviewed by Japanese site PC Watch, Izumi Kawanishi, who runs Sony Computer Entertainment's network systems division, indicated that the end-of-the-year …

Consoles 18 Oct 2004, 11:07
Griffin radioShark

Reg review Fin Mac Cool

Griffin Technology has been offering a nice line in Mac accessories for over ten years now, but it's only in the iPod era that its add-ons have become seriously cool. Its iTrip - a beautifully designed, AA battery-sized FM radio transmitter - has become one of the key accessories every iPod user should own. But Griffin …

Reviews 18 Oct 2004, 11:25
Amex prevents punters gambling online

Cites fraud concerns

Two major credit card companies have taken steps to prevent their punters from using their cards to gamble online. American Express and Citigroup took the decision to block the use of their cards because of concerns over fraud and fears that people might run up debts. The Financial Times reports that similar measures have been …

Financial News 18 Oct 2004, 11:50
Cisco, IBM and MS in network security love-in

Approval for Network Admission Control

Computer Associates and IBM have both signed up to Cisco's Network Admission Control program over the last few days - proof that the company is enjoying success with its new scheme to stop computer worms running rampage around corporate networks. Microsoft is also reportedly poised to come on board. Worms like Blaster and …

Enterprise Security 18 Oct 2004, 11:58
WiderWeb promises accessible net

Sorts wheat from chaff for surfing joy

Moore Innovations has launched WiderWeb, a DTI-backed web accessibility tool that can transcode a website into a more accessible format, in real time. Web accessibility is something of a controversial issue among Reg readers, with the severity of complaints running across the full spectrum: everything from the everyday …

Music and Media 18 Oct 2004, 12:07
The BOFH mobile comms quiz

How sad is your workplace?

It's mobile, it's comms, it's great - you know it, your geeky users want it. But then people are rarely happy. They want 802.11b and they want it yesterday, and you're the one who's supposed to have installed it. Yesterday. However, as a seasoned computing veteran, before you put your budget where someone's mouth has been, just …

BOFH 18 Oct 2004, 12:17
12 arrested in HK phishing scam

Six charged with theft

A dozen people have been arrested in Hong Kong in connection with a banking phishing scam. Six of the suspects, including a Russian man, have been charged with theft amid allegations that they hoodwinked HK$600,000 (£47,000) in an internet banking scam. If found guilty, the suspects face up to ten years in jail. According to AP …

Spam 18 Oct 2004, 17:13
Government FOI Act chief trails Data Act 'reform'

DPA is 'almost incomprehensible'

Government constitutional affairs secretary Lord Falconer has described the Data Protection Act as "almost incomprehensible" and says that there are "medium term" plans to simplify the Act and its treatment of personal information. The Act was brought in in 1998 by the then-new Blair government, but its near incomprehensibility …

Music and Media 18 Oct 2004, 17:39
Veritas puts finishing touches on i3

Gets precisely synthetic

As promised, Veritas has prepped a new release of its i3 management software that will tie into existing applications and give customers sophisticated tools for checking on the performance of server and storage systems. Come November, Veritas will roll out Version 7.0 of the i3 package it acquired in its 2002 buy of Precise …

Storage 18 Oct 2004, 21:12