Presswatch: 4 February 1999

Nortel Networks' latest release of its BayRS operating platform has been marred by criticism from Lloyd's, the insurance giant, over the vendor's previous failure of quality control. Last year Lloyd's was frustrated by three aborted upgrades from earlier versions of BayRS. It asserted that Bay should concentrate on getting each version of its software right first time. 'It hasn't affected the stability of our network or caused downtime. We're confident that with Bay's help the upgrade will work next time, but they should get it right first time. We had to warn the 100 or so user companies three times and cancel three times,' said Lloyd's.
Network News, 27 January

Windows leaves a vapour trail
A report from Giga Information Group describes Windows 2000 as vapourware, points out that companies therefore have to go with NT 4.0, and concludes that 'a wholesale migration to Windows NT Server 4.0 will cost, on average, two to three times more than upgrading to Netware 5.0'. Giga's data is based on NT's performance 'when installed as the enterprise operating system across the entire corporate intranet/extranet'. As far as Giga is concerned NT remains a 'superior departmental server' - bad news for Microsoft and good news for Novell.
The Register, 26 January

No global league table
A group of the world's leading financial institutions has decided not to publish its assessment of which countries have done enough to prepare their computers for the year 2000. Global 2000, which groups 250 of the world's biggest banks, insurance and securities companies, had initially planned to issue public ratings of each country's readiness. The group has decided that doing so could discourage some countries from co-operating over information about millennium testing.
The Financial Times, 1 February

Chips taken four times a day
The pharmacy of the future is likely to measure just under 2mm and be implanted under the skin or swallowed, according to researchers who have unveiled its prototype. The pharmacy-on-a-chip can be programmed to release precise doses of different drugs at the times they are needed. The silicon chip contains chemical reservoirs, each the size of a pin-prick, and able to hold only 25 nanolitres.
The Daily Telegraph, 28 January

Pentium owners feel the burn
Intel is to burn serial numbers into the silicon of its Pentium III processors, due to ship in the next few months. The idea of serial numbers raised some eyebrows among civil liberties groups in the US, but owners of Pentium III-based systems will be able to disable the feature. The serial numbers will allow enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to identify individual machines, and should make tracking inventory easier. The numbers are among the features, including a random number generator and cryptographic acceleration, that Intel plans to introduce in new processors and chipsets this spring. By 2001, Intel plans to have enough security features in its processors to accomplish a truly trusted electronic transaction.
IT Week, 25 January

A thoroughly modern manner of communication
Question: Is email socially acceptable? I am sending this question to you by fax, which I assume is perfectly acceptable for business, but not social correspondence. Answer: Email is professionally suitable, but not socially so, unless there is no alternative. There is still no substitute for a real letter written with a proper pen and sent through the post. Your feelings about faxes, which occupy a similar position when it comes to manners of the written word, are spot on.
Morgan's Modern Manners, The Times, 23 January

A light-hearted remedy for the millennium bug
The Chinese government has dismissed as 'a joke' widespread press reports that on 1 January 2000 its airline bosses will all be required to be on board an aeroplane. Zhang Qi, chairman of the ministerial working group for solving the year 2000 problem, said an employee of the Chinese air traffic authority, CAAC, had obviously made the remark at the expense of the group in question.
Heise Online News, 15 January

Windows 2000? Don't hold your breath ...
Microsoft has admitted that it would not be unreasonable to expect the already delayed Windows 2000 to ship up to nine months after the release of its Beta 3 version - therefore, in January 2000. The company has confirmed that Beta 3's release had slipped to April, fuelling industry predictions that the final version's shipping date would be pushed into 2000. Microsoft UK's Windows product manager, Francis Reay, said: 'It is possible it could be nine months after the Beta - not an unreasonable amount of time, but we don't want to leave the impression it is going to be nine months.'
Network Week, 27 January

Safe, secure and state-of-the-art
The residents of Highland Park, Texas - which include Ross Perot and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones - are used to possibly the safest streets in Texas. Soon they will have one more reason to feel secure. This spring, each citizen will receive a pocket-sized 911 device. In an emergency, citizens can push a button on the PS-911 to call the police. Within seconds, officers will have photo identification of the citizen, and will be able to pinpoint his location to within 10 feet. Police officials say the device shows how state-of-the-art electronics can enhance personal security. Others contend it is just another sign of the advantages which wealth can buy. But as America enters the early stages of a technological boom in personal security, experts are saying the have-nots as well as the haves are likely to benefit. 'The private-security industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. We're only at the beginning of this,' says James Copple, executive deputy director of the National Crime Prevention Council.
Nando Times, January 26

When they were up they were up ...
The number of IT jobs advertised at the end of last year fell for the first time in six years, the latest Computer Weekly survey reveals. The number of jobs on offer in the last three months of 1998 fell by four per cent from the same period of 1997. The fall follows an otherwise record year for IT jobs, with a quarter of a million advertised vacancies - up by a third from 1997. But a slowdown in demand for IT staff to work on year 2000 and Emu projects suggests that demand is now falling to normal levels. The banking and year 2000 sector, probably the most year 2000-compliant, has shown one of the lowest growth rates, up just nine per cent from last year.
Computer Weekly, 28 January

Some stories have been edited for length.