21st November 2005 Archive

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C2000 welcomes email plagiarists

Distie round-up Northamber takes on Tandberg

Computer 2000 has launched a demand generation service, which will enable resellers to rebrand vendor promo emails as their own and send to their customer lists. The service is called Clic2Channel and it has gone live, after being "piloted with excellent results". Tandberg, the storage hardware vendor, has signed up Northamber …

Channel Register 21 Nov 2005, 07:02
TechScape: Are you being Served?

Comment A Yankee in the Court of BT

Tired of being treated like the vendor is your customer? Tired of surly service reps treating you shabbily and ignoring your complaints? Fed-up with having the line “accidentally” cut-off when you’re trying to get some satisfaction? Well, I am too. This is the column for you, then. The British don’t know how to complain. Not …

Small Biz 21 Nov 2005, 07:02
Online poker firms at daggers drawn

You rotten, cheatin', low-down...

Empire Online is considering legal action against PartyGaming after takeover talks between the two fell through. The online poker firm said it had terminated talks because PartyGaming's revised valuation was far too low. The original offer would have valued Empire Online at ten per cent of the total share capital of the merged …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 09:33
Computacenter founders may buy back firm

MBOs all round...

Computacenter founders Peter Ogden and Philip Hulme have offered to buy the company back from its shareholders. Computacenter shares jumped six per cent on Friday on rumours of the management buyout. The board of Computacenter issued a statement that it had received a prelimary proposal from a group led by Peter Ogden. The bid …

Channel Register 21 Nov 2005, 09:37
RM ups profits on flat revenues

'Tough market'

Schools provider RM posted flat turnover but a ten per cent increase in profits for the year ended 30 September 2005. The prelimary results reveal turnover for the period was £263m, the same as last year, but profits were up 11 per cent to £12.8m, from £11.6m in 2004. Profit before tax but after goodwill payments was £5.5m, …

Channel Register 21 Nov 2005, 10:15
Dell 'sourcing AMD-based PCs from Taiwan'

The last in line finally succumbs?

Dell has contracted three Taiwanese manufacturers to supply it with PCs based on AMD processors, the Asian press has claimed. According to Chinese Language newspaper Economic Daily News this past weekend, Asus, Quanta and Hon Hai Precision (aka Foxconn) are all developing AMD-based systems for Dell. Their specialisms suggest …

PCs 21 Nov 2005, 10:19
Intel files for 'Intel Core' trademark

Re-branding claims confirmed?

Intel has formally applied to trademark the phrase 'Intel Core', a key component of what is believed to be its forthcoming move to re-brand its processor product lines. The trademark registration request - serial number 78714166 - was filed on 15 September 2005, but according to the US Patents and Trademarks Office website is " …

Reg Hardware 21 Nov 2005, 10:22
Intelligent design 'not science', says Vatican astronomer

While Cardinal warns of evolution-as-dogma

Intelligent Design is not science, and has no place in science lessons, according to the Vatican's chief astronomer, the Rev. George Coyne. According to the Italian news agency, ANSA, Father Coyne was speaking informally at a conference in Florence when he said that intelligent design "isn't science, even though it pretends to …

Science 21 Nov 2005, 10:46
Intel 65nm 'Yonah' to ship at 2.16GHz

To be named the T2600, apparently

Intel's upcoming 65nm, dual-core notebook chip, 'Yonah', will ship as the Pentium M T2600, computer manufacturer moles have claimed. The sources, cited by Japanese-language website PCWatch, claim the T2600 will be clocked at a mere 2.16GHz. It will be accompanied by the T2500, T2400 and T2300 - all dual-core parts, hence the '2 …

PCs 21 Nov 2005, 10:59
Demon scores broadband ton

100,000 not out

Demon - the internet business owned by Scottish telco Thus - has more than 100,000 broadband punters, it reported today. The increase of 30,000 or so high speed net users on the year helped push broadband revenues up 24 per cent to £17.4m. Snag is, the telco continues to be hit by a fall in narrowband revenues as punters ditch …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 11:11
DVD Forum approves twin rewriteable HD DVD formats

HD DVD-RW now HD DVD-RAM, HD DVD-RR now HD DVD-RW

Re-recordable HD DVD discs will be branded 'HD DVD-RW', the DVD Forum confirmed at its most recent steering committe last week. But in a move which would seem to be calculated to win support from as many firms as possible, the Forum also said re-writeable discs will be branded 'HD DVD-RAM'. They were originally supposed to be …

Peripherals 21 Nov 2005, 11:15
Insuring IT security

Quocirca’s Changing Channels What is a premium service?

There is little difference between the aims of IT security and insurance. Businesses make investments in both because they know they have to and it would be irresponsible not to. IT security products are purchased to protect against threats that it is hoped will never occur. In the same way, when we insure our houses, we do not …

Security 21 Nov 2005, 11:41
Patchy response to reducing security exposure

Firms struggle to keep up with hackers - survey

Enterprises have improved their patching practices over the last 12 months but two out of three (70 per cent) are currently vulnerable and in jeopardy of potential exploit or attack, according to a study by on-demand vulnerability management firm Qualys. Qualys's third annual Laws of Vulnerabilities research shows organisations …

Enterprise Security 21 Nov 2005, 11:56
Atsco warns on foreign BOFHs

Onshore offshoring...

ATSCO, the lobby group for temp agencies, says 22,000 "foreign" IT staff were given visas to work in the UK in the last year. Atsco defines "foreign" as outside the EC, and Indian workers made up 85 per cent of successful visa applications between June 2004 and June 2005. In second place is the US with 1,081 successful …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 12:07
Where have all the physics teachers gone?

Long time passing...

The government must take urgent action to combat a chronic shortage of physics teachers, the Institute of Physics said today, as a report links a steep decline in the number of A-level physics students with a lack of expert physics instructors coming into the profession. The report, written by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr …

Science 21 Nov 2005, 12:14
Rogue diallers fingered by Ofcom

Better late than never

Ofcom is looking to clamp down on rogue diallers by closing existing loopholes. Existing Premium Rate Services (PRS) regulation only applies to rogue diallers using 09 premium rate or international numbers. Instead, Ofcom is proposing to take action against any rogue dialler - software that hijacks computers and dials …

Telecoms 21 Nov 2005, 12:17
Chinese float liquid condom concept

Johnny Be Good

China's first liquid condom went on sale today after the country's health and drugs administration formally gave the hi-tech prophylactic the thumbs-up, the China Daily reports. Dubbed the Nanometer-silver Cryptomorphic Condom (NCC), it's designed for female rather than male usage. The condom-in-a-can is essentially an …

Bootnotes 21 Nov 2005, 13:02
Gaffer tape defeats Sony DRM rootkit

Updated D'oh

Sony's controversial DRM technology - which installs rootkit-style software when users play Sony BMG CDs on Windows PCs - can be defeated easily with nothing more than a piece of masking tape, security researchers have discovered. Sony BMG has endured a public-relations and legal nightmare after it emerged digital rights …

Security 21 Nov 2005, 13:09
Review ZyXel ZyAir AG-225H Wi-Fi sniffer

There may be plenty of wireless hotspots in the UK but they're not always that well advertised, making it a real pain for mobile workers looking for a quick Internet fix. Windows XP and its zero configuration wireless features make life a lot easier but this still means firing up your notebook to see what's available. ZyXel's …

Reviews 21 Nov 2005, 13:17
Londoners, roll up for your free leadership training

Site offer Training places

El Reg has teamed up once again with Internet Exchange to offer 50 readers free training online. This time around, Internet Exchange has secured funding from BusinessLink London to deliver free leadership and management training worth £1,000 to directors or senior managers of small and medium-sized businesses (under 250 …

Site News 21 Nov 2005, 13:39
French woman tried to pop out for mid-flight ciggie

I'm gitane out of this plane, RIGHT NOW

A French woman nearly disappeared in a real cloud of smoke when she tried to open the door of an airliner so she could pop out for a mid-flight fag. The BBC reports that Sadrine Helene Sellies has an acute fear of flying, and on a long flight from Hong Kong to Brisbane, resorted to a traditional Gallic remedy – sleeping tablets …

Bootnotes 21 Nov 2005, 13:41
Cellcos failing deaf people, says charity

Ofcom urged to bring about change

Ofcom has come under fire from the RNID - the charity which represents nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK - for failing to enforce legislation that would improve the lives of disabled people. As a result, the charity claims, deaf and hard of hearing people are being treated like second-class citizens and are …

Mobile 21 Nov 2005, 13:54
Nigerian fraud duo jailed for 37 years

Please excuse the manner of our sentencing...

Two Nigerian fraudsters have been jailed for a total of 37 years following their conviction for involvement in what has been described as the biggest scam in the West African Country's history. Emmanuel Nwude was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and Nzeribe Okoli to 12 years imprisonment after they plead guilty to conspiring …

Spam 21 Nov 2005, 14:15
ITU refuses to accept net governance agreement

Head claims ITU will be in charge in five years

The ITU has refused to accept the internet governance consensus reached after torrid negotiations during its own summit process, further damaging its credibility in eyes of the net community. Speaking at the closing press conference for the World Summit in Tunis, ITU secretary-general Yoshio Utsumi said that while it would …

Music and Media 21 Nov 2005, 14:30
Reg saves World Summit with multi-million-pound commitment

Not a pointless exercise after all

The Register has put its money where its mouth and saved the World Summit from being branded a waste of everyone's time. Yes, the United Nations has added our "commitment to provide the peoples of the world with excellent IT news coverage" to its official list of projects achieved under the WSIS process, called the Golden Book …

Music and Media 21 Nov 2005, 14:41
Napster launches XM tie-in software

Hear a song on the Net then buy it

Napster and satellite radio company XM today provided the first glimpse of the results of their strategic alliance, announced in July. XM's 5m US subscribers can now grab a public beta release of the XM+Napster software that connects Internet-streamed radio broadcasts to digital music downloads. The application tunes into and …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 14:43
This is how a government-filtered internet looks

Quite dull really

There been alot of argument in Tunis during the World Summit over the fact that the government filters internet access to remove websites it doesn't like. We thought we'd show you what it looks like if you're on the end of it. As such, here is a screengrab of the Swissinfo.org site as seen from the Tunisian perspective. It is a …

Music and Media 21 Nov 2005, 14:56
Light regulation will beat child porn, says trade minister

UK government view on the Net's problems

Light-touch regulation, minimal legisation and a close working relationship with business is the answer to the net's problems, not least child pornography, according to UK secretary of state for trade Alun Michael. Speaking to us at the World Summit, where he was the UK government's most senior representative, Michael said that …

Music and Media 21 Nov 2005, 14:57
Sky demos HDTV in UK

But no hard news on launch date or pricing

The UK’s first and best blog devoted to High Definition TV - HDTVUK . From the makers of Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny. Sky demos HDTV Well the big news from Sky on HD is that there is no news, not yet anyway. The satellite broadcaster treated journos to a coffee or two in the wonderful Bar Italia – the place where John Logie …

Telecoms 21 Nov 2005, 15:04
Apple to spend $1.25bn to secure Flash supply

Five vendors to ship it chips until 2010

Apple has come clean on the much-rumoured but until today officially unconfirmed Flash memory supply deals it's banking on to continue pumping out iPod Nanos and Shuffles. The company also revealed it has sold more than 30m iPods since the player launched in November 2001. iTunes has sold more than 600m downloads. The Mac …

Peripherals 21 Nov 2005, 15:09
Lockheed pulls out of CSC buy

It was on, now it's off

Defence contractor Lockheed Martin is pulling out of discussions which could have led to it buying Computer Science Corporation (CSC). The defence supplier was leading a posse of private investors including Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group and Warbug Pincus. The original claim was that Lockheed would pick up the government …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 15:19
Apple iPod sales pass 30m

That's a lot of white MP3 players

Apple today said it has shipped more than 30m iPods since it launched the first member of its MP3 player family back in November 2001. That leaves it with just over a month to sell around 7m more - if it's to meet the 37m target set by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster earlier this month. "We expect the iPod to continue to …

Peripherals 21 Nov 2005, 15:28
Infinium CEO quits after 14 weeks

Bachus bails

Kevin Bachus, the ex-Microsoft Xbox chief who took charge of online games service Infinium Labs in August, has quit the company after barely three months on the job. Stepping in to fill the now-vacant CEO post is Greg Koler, who was head of Infinium's European operations. Koler is now Interim CEO. He's also the company's CFO …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 15:44
No .eu domain for the Swiss

EU says roll over and die

The Swiss won't be able to register for the ".eu" web domain when the European Union (EU) begins accepting registrations for internet addresses next month, even though the country is in the heart of Europe. EU regulations prohibit non-members from registering. Only people resident within the EU or undertakings having their …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 15:52
Inter-Mediates goes bust

No Christmas cheer for this retailer

Another British software and games vendor has gone to the wall - thanks to the grim retail environment. Inter-Mediates Ltd, which traded as Special Reserve, is going into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation. A creditors meeting will be held 5 December. There will be a sale of remaining assets but creditors are unlikely to get much …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 15:59
Intel and Micron form Flash firm

Chip JV to punch out product for Apple

Intel and Micron are to form a third company to make NAND Flash memory chips, the two companies announced today, almost as soon as Apple said it was paying $1.25bn to secure Flash supplies through 2010. Apple's largesse will be spread among five chip makers - Intel, Micron, Samsung, Toshiba and Hynix. Apple didn't say how the …

Financial News 21 Nov 2005, 16:03
Nuclear power: splitting the Cabinet?

Energy policy this week's hot topic

The Cabinet could be headed for an embarrassing split over nuclear power as the UK establisment frets over the country's energy policy. Margaret Beckett, secretary of state for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), has warned that concerns about nuclear power have not all been resolved. She argues that in particular, the …

Science 21 Nov 2005, 16:30
Match.com accused of faking romance

Email female

Match.com has been sued by a man who says the online dating agency wrote him romantic emails and even sent him on a sham date with an attractive employee to encourage him to renew his subscription, Reuters reports California-resident Matthew Evans filed the suit in a Los Angeles District Court, and believes the actions …

Music and Media 21 Nov 2005, 17:59