17th May 2005 Archive

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HP's Hurd faces first big test - was the Compaq buy a failure?

Answer arrives this afternoon

HP CEO Mark Hurd's first chance to be the anti-Fiorina will arise this afternoon when the company reports second quarter results as the US financial markets close. CEOs rarely relish the idea of lowering expectations or apologizing publicly for past mistakes. Hurd, however, has earned a small excuse window by being an outsider …

Servers 17 May 2005, 05:51
CFL Computer Systems: why it went bust

Comment Mean time before failure

PCA Member CFL Computer Systems of Cowbridge in Wales fought hard to stay in business, but couldn’t overcome a triple whammy of blanket failures of Fujitsu disk drives, then of a particular brand of motherboards, and then of a specific make of power supply units. Bob Lewis, ex PCA Chairman and director of CFL, reckons that call …

Channel Register 17 May 2005, 08:17
Intel licenses next-gen PowerVR graphics core

Eurasia-bound

Intel has licensed Imagination Technologies' next-generation PowerVR chip, codenamed 'Eurasia', along with upcoming a multi-format video codec core, the pair proclaimed this morning. Intel is an existing Imagination licensee, having acquired the rights to use the latter's PowerVR MBX mobile graphics core back in 2003. It …

Mobile 17 May 2005, 08:49
Captain Cyborg gives forth on CNN

Warwick appointed Lizard Army pundit

It was only a matter of time before surgically-enhanced superbeing Captain Cyborg – aka prof Kevin Warwick of Reading Uni – received a visit from the Lizard Army surgical team bearing an explosive cranial implant and a range of anal probes. The former, as all members of the neoLuddite Resistance Army (NRA) know, is the means by …

Odds and Sods 17 May 2005, 09:22
Intel signals end of 400MHz FSB Centrinos

First-gen Dothans for the chop

Intel has formally detailed the demise of the 400MHz frontside bus Pentium M mobile processor. This week it told customers it would no longer supply these chips after 25 November, according to company documents seen by The Register. The end-of-life announcement also takes in Celeron M processors running over a 400MHz FSB, and …

System Builder 17 May 2005, 09:27
Supreme Court okays net wine sales

Interstate trade is go

The Supreme Court decided yesterday to allow US vineyards to sell wine over the internet to punters in different states. Previous laws restricted sales to within the state. The decision overturned laws in Michigan and New York which stopped wine purchases except within the state. Industry observers hope the change will benefit …

Financial News 17 May 2005, 09:31
Scientists reveal Titanic panorama

Fab Huygens composite images

New views of Titan are becoming available now that the Cassini-Huygens image analysis teams have had some time to to examine and interpret the probe's photographic data. The Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer (DISR) captured a long series of photographs as the lander fell towards the surface. The DISR team, which draws on …

Science 17 May 2005, 09:32
Sony details PlayStation 3

Twice the performance of Xbox 360, apparently

Yes, the third-generation PlayStation console will indeed be called the PlayStation 3, Sony admitted last night when it unwrapped its answer to Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Revolution. That the PS3 would use a PowerPC-based Cell processor was already well known, but Sony yesterday revealed the chip would be clocked at 3. …

Consoles 17 May 2005, 10:07
Captain Cyborg - that healthcare program in full

Doctor, who?

Incorrigible self-publicist Kevin Warwick has struck again, easing himself into a spot on CNN's website devoted to "visionaries". It renews a long-standing love affair between the cable channel and the Brummie lecturer. Warwick is to cybernetic research what Hello Kitty is to animal husbandry, but thanks to a gullible media he …

Bootnotes 17 May 2005, 10:15
NYT to charge for full access

Archive charge from September

The New York Times will start charging users for access to its archive and opinion pieces from September. The paper will charge $49.95 a year for access to old stories dating back to 1980. The TimeSelect service will also give access to opinion pieces, news columnists, content from the International Herald Tribune and an early …

Financial News 17 May 2005, 10:16
Climate change boffins get £3.5m boost

Sun comes out for UKCIP

The government has announced more funding for researchers working to understand how climate change will affect the UK. Environment minister Elliot Morley said yesterday that £3.5m has been awarded to Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute for the world-leading UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP). The money will be …

Science 17 May 2005, 10:20
Burgled mum finds stolen iPod on eBay

Inscribed gift leads police to alleged perp

A US mum tracked down a thief who burgled her home after the ill-gotten gains were offered for sale on eBay. Karen Todd, a US Census Bureau computer programmer, spotted a personally-inscribed iPod on the auction site weeks after it was robbed from her Washington DC area home. Todd's home was burgled on 7 April. Thieves made off …

Financial News 17 May 2005, 10:56
Gates pledges extra $250m for world health

Disease-busting spend now $450m

Microsoft supremo Bill Gates used yesterday's opening session of the World Health Organisation's annual assembly to pledge an extra $250m towards global health research. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has already made available $200m destined for 14 “major health challenges” - aka the Grand Challenges Initiative - since its …

Science 17 May 2005, 11:30
Spyware wars

Legislation is not the answer

This story has expired from The Register's archive. You can now find it at its original location on the Forbes.com website: http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2005/05/13/cx_ah_0513diglife.html?partner=theregister.

Security 17 May 2005, 12:56
PalmOne promotes Colligan

CEO role no longer 'interim'

PalmOne's Ed Colligan has joined the ranks of interim CEOs who become the real deal. The PDA pioneer announced yesterday its decision to give Colligan a seat on the board, to drop the 'interim' from his job title and to issue him with a new set of business cards.* Colligan took over the company's key role on 25 February …

Business 17 May 2005, 13:36
BBC's iMP offers week-long repeats

P2P network trial

The BBC is extending a trial it ran last summer to test its interactive Media Player (iMP) which will let UK residents watch repeats of TV and radio programmes. 2004 saw a technical pilot used by 1,500 people. The new trial will run from September until December and 5,000 people will get access to a wider range of BBC content …

Data Networking 17 May 2005, 13:41
Death to legacy networks

Ethernet to drive ATM to extinction, survey predicts

The majority of UK organisations (70 per cent) are searching for more cost-effective and flexible networking technologies to replace ATM, frame relay and leased line links, according to a survey of IT directors published on Monday. Viatel, the networking firm which sponsored the study, said its research "highlights the imminent …

Data Networking 17 May 2005, 13:44
BT and Sony offer free music downloads

Promo

BT has done a deal with Sony to give all new subscribers to its broadband service free music downloads. Between 10 May and 24 June customers ordering BT Broadband through the Sony website will be entitled to 30 vouchers for free music downloads. The vouchers can be exchanged for tracks downloaded through Sony’s Connect service …

Telecoms 17 May 2005, 14:25
Web-surfing German destroys flat

Insect spray + internet = explosion

A web-surfing German with an serious bug problem completely decimated his flat when a spark from his computer ignited fumes from several cans of industrial-strength insect spray, Ananova reports. Walter Mueller, 36, from Schleswig-Holstein, closed the windows of his apartment, set about the six-legged critters with said spray, …

Music and Media 17 May 2005, 14:34
Computer 2000 adds Asus

Signs up board maker

The UK arm of Tech Data, Computer 2000, has signed up Asus, the board and graphics card maker. The distie will offer the full range of Asus kit with immediate effect. John Osbourne, general manager of C2000’s component business, said Asus offered some of the best value components available. The addition of Asus, along with …

Channel Register 17 May 2005, 14:35
Phishing gets personal

Harpoons replace trawlers in hunt for victims

Fraudsters are using stolen information to lure victims into divulging additional sensitive information in a new form of phishing attack. These so-called personalised phishing attacks target individual named accountholders at specific banks, according to anti-fraud software firm Cyota. Crooks are using real information about …

Spam 17 May 2005, 14:36
PalmOne Treo 650 smart phone

Review The best smart phone yet?

PalmOne's Treo 600 was an impressive smart phone but, for me at least, failed in two important respects: it didn't have Bluetooth, and PalmOne hadn't quite managed to abolish the stylus. Yes, Graffiti was gone, but you still needed to reach for the pointer, particularly if you were coming to the machine as a PDA user. The …

Reviews 17 May 2005, 15:12
PalmOne leaks LifeDrive pic ahead of launch

Exclusive Whoops

PalmOne confirmed the existence of the LifeDrive Mobile Manager today, when it inadvertently included the new PDA on its web site ahead of the product's formal launch. A number of Register readers alerted us when the LifeDrive cropped up on PalmOne's online store on the special offers page. The one-off deal touts free overnight …

Mobile 17 May 2005, 15:33
Court rules for German ISPs in P2P identities case

Can withhold alleged filesharers' details

ISPs in the state of Hamburg can't be forced to provide customer data to record companies, even when illegal copying is suspected, at least for now. The Higher Regional Court in Hamburg has ruled that there is no legal basis for demanding customer data. ISPs, the court argues, aren't part of the criminal act. They merely provide …

Music and Media 17 May 2005, 15:39
IBM and Red Hat to browbeat Sun Solaris users for free

Pay attention, Wall Street

IBM and Red Hat ganged up on Sun Microsystems today by opening something the vendors are calling a "Solaris to Linux Migration Factory." This factory isn't a standalone operating system sweatshop but rather a combination of services and software designed to make it easier for customers to kick Sun's flavor of Unix out of their …

Servers 17 May 2005, 15:44
Mistrial in Overture ad patent dispute

Collapse

A patent infringement dispute between Overture Services, a subsidiary of Yahoo!, and rival FindWhat.com has ended in a mistrial after a California jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case over a method of ranking search results. The dispute dates back to January 2002 when Pasadena-based Overture, formerly known as GoTo, …

Enterprise Security 17 May 2005, 17:06
Revenge motivates insider hacking attacks

Appetite for destruction

Thirst for revenge against the boss fuelled the majority of insider hacking attacks, according to a US government survey published this week. The idea that a negative work-related event, such as a dismissal, triggered most insiders’ actions comes as no great surprise. But the details unearthed in a study of 49 hacking incidents …

Enterprise Security 17 May 2005, 17:42
IBM outfits blade servers with cheap middleware for the masses

Websphere in a box

Trying to drive blade servers down market, IBM has created new packages of its software and the compact servers aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses. IBM today announced this "Business-in-a-Box" idea that pairs its wide range of lower-priced Express middleware with its BladeCenter chassis and servers. Hoping to make life …

Servers 17 May 2005, 17:43
New HP CEO coasts through mediocre Q2

Warns of large and lumpy future

Did Carly Fiorina leave new CEO Mark Hurd an HP on the verge of collapse? Not at all, as evidenced by second quarter results that saw most of HP's main businesses turn profits. Ominously, however, management warned that significant layoffs could be on order in the months to come. HP posted revenue of $21.6bn in the period - a …

Financial News 17 May 2005, 23:11
Microsoft hunts web nasties with honey monkeys

The Exploit-Net

Researchers for the software giant are building a system of Windows XP clients that crawl the web finding sites that use unreported vulnerabilities to compromise unsuspecting users, writes SecurityFocus's Robert Lemos. Researchers at Microsoft are creating their own version of a million monkeys to crawl the internet looking for …

Security 17 May 2005, 23:34