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17th March 2005 Archive

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  • 'Get a lawyer!' Sun tells developers

    Pick a license. Any license

    "People struggle with what open source means, because there are all these licenses," said James Gosling Wednesday, as Sun unveiled two more. It brings the number of Sun Java™ licenses to four. Sun calls this "simplifying" the process - and acknowledges that the current community source license, SCSL, is horrendously complicated …

    Developer 17 Mar 2005, 09:18

  • Google's X Files disappear

    Apple suspected of spoiling 'jaunt'

    Google has unceremoniously, and without comment, yanked its latest labs "project" after less than twenty four hours. In 'Google X' a software engineer had replaced the main text navigation bar on the Google home page with a Mac OS X-style dock. A row of eight icons zoomed and shrank as the mouse hovered over them, the row itself …

    Mac Channel 17 Mar 2005, 09:42

  • Matsushita readies iTunes-friendly music player

    AAC audio supported

    Japan's Matsushita has introduced an iTunes-compatible digital music player with an expandable storage capacity provided by SD cards to its D-Snap line of devices. We say 'iTunes-compatible' but don't assume Apple has licensed the FairPlay DRM technology it uses to protect iTunes Music Store songs from duplication. Matsushita's …

    Peripherals 17 Mar 2005, 10:31

  • BT automates talking book production

    It's good to talk

    Blind and partially sighted people in the UK could soon have better access to a wider variety of books and publications thanks to a prototype voice synthesiser developed by BT. The software, dubbed Laureate, will work in conjunction with EasePublisher, an application that converts plain text to electronically navigable books, …

    Applications 17 Mar 2005, 10:35

  • Voda punter receives mobile manhood snap

    Mobilephoneco investigates

    Vodafone has launched an urgent investigation after a member of its customer support staff sent a picture of his penis to a customer's mobile phone. Abi Penny, 21, called Vodafone after struggling to send a piccie to one of her chums, reports The Sun. But the guy at the Scottish call centre started flirting with her, reports …

    Mobile 17 Mar 2005, 10:42

  • Why power plants need anti-virus

    Analysis Symantec's cyber-security power pitch

    Utility companies are been urged to review cyber security risks as the industry moves over from proprietary technologies to cheaper Windows-based systems. Attendees at an Industrial Cyber Security Conference in London on Tuesday 15 March were told that the control systems of utilities are becoming open to the kinds of attacks …

    Security 17 Mar 2005, 10:59

  • Chip and PIN: Caveat vendor

    Comment 'Cardholder not present' liability

    I have recently been working on a study into electronic payments. I have also looked at the internal systems of one of the card issuers, and have been looking at the experiences of a start-up business. My conclusion is that whilst ecommerce is a win-win situation for the big banks and card issuers, it is a case of pity the poor …

    Small Biz 17 Mar 2005, 11:08

  • Philips claims 'super Flash' memory breakthrough

    Finds CMOS-friendly phase-change material

    Scientists at Philips have developed a material for non-volatile memory chips that's not only better than Flash in almost every respect, but keeps on getting better the smaller you shrink the memory cells. Philips' material operates on the same principle as rewriteable DVDs - its physical state can be changed back and forth …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 11:43

  • Cyber cops foil £220m Sumitomo bank raid

    Israeli man arrested over thwarted heist

    A hi-tech bid to steal £220m ($423m) from the London offices of the Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui has been foiled by police. A gang of cyber crooks compromised Sumitomo's computer systems in October 2004 prior to an unsuccessful attempt to transfer money to a series of 10 accounts overseas, the FT reports. Yeron Bolondi, 32, …

    Security 17 Mar 2005, 11:51

  • World cools to big bad Wolfowitz

    Fiorina out of frame for World Bank chiefdom

    There has been a mixed international reaction to the announcement that US president George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz as next head of the World Bank. Bush described the hawkish US deputy defence secretary - an enthusiastic proponent of the war in Iraq - as a "compassionate, decent man". UK foreign secretary Jack Straw …

    Financial News 17 Mar 2005, 12:10

  • Enta runs MS Small Business Server promo

    Building confidence

    Enta has launched a three-month campaign to teach dealers how to work-up sales opportunities with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) and Intel. The Telford-based IT distie, says the idea is to build confidence in both Enta and Windows SBS. It is running a series of adverts, electronic marketing and a limited …

    The Channel 17 Mar 2005, 12:25

  • 'Desperate' Qwest ups bid for MCI

    Bidding war continues

    Qwest looks set to cough up more cash in a bid to secure the acquisition of MCI, according to reports from the US. Sources maintain that the US telco has found an extra $550m to snap up MCI. Although this has yet to be confirmed officially, a statement by Qwest chairman Richard C Notebaert yesterday suggests that the company is …

    Financial News 17 Mar 2005, 13:01

  • UK DrinkorDie members convicted of software piracy

    Questions raised over costs of hi-profile trial

    Two UK software counterfeiters who styled themselves as "latter-day Robin Hoods" were convicted of software piracy offences this week. Steven Dowd, 39, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, and City bank worker Alex Bell, 29, of Chafford Hundred, Essex, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud between 1997 and 2001. The jury …

    Software 17 Mar 2005, 13:17

  • Black holes in production in New York

    Here's one they made earlier

    Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York have created a very short-lived, very tiny black hole, or at least, a fireball that behaved quite a lot like one for a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. The scientists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) fired beams of gold nuclei into …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 13:21

  • Silicon Valley pleads for Federal aid

    Our standard of living under threat, say CEOS

    The US government must pump more money into nanotechnology research to ensure future generations of Americans can drive ever bigger cars. That was the message the Semiconductor Industry Association and assorted chip execs brought to Washington Wednesday as they argued for more Federal R&D funding to ensure the US keeps its …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 14:00

  • Appeals court hits redial on mobile phone lawsuits

    State law needs to be resolved

    The mobile phone industry faces fresh challenges in the US after appeal judges on the fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated five class-action lawsuits claiming that manufacturers have failed to protect consumers from dangerous radiation. The suits were originally filed in five state courts, before being referred as a …

    Mobile 17 Mar 2005, 14:08

  • T-Mobile delays 3G Wi-Fi phone debut

    MDA IV held back to await Windows Mobile 2005?

    T-Mobile's German operation has put back the release of its clamshell 3G-enabled Windows Mobile smart phone to the Autumn, according to the company's web site. The MDA IV, made by Taiwan's HTC and also known by its codename, 'Universal', was originally due to ship in the Summer, T-Mobile said when it announced the handset early …

    Mobile 17 Mar 2005, 14:16

  • EU fusses over cyberhumans

    Ethical implications of techno-implants

    The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) has called for regulation of the field of "information and communication technologies" (ICT) implants in humans, citing privacy and data protection concerns surrounding the burgeoning technology. An EGE presentation to the EU today claims: "ICT implants, due to …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 14:25

  • Olympus m:robe 500i media player

    Preview Too gimmicky?

    Olympus is a camera company, isn't it? Not if its latest product is anything to go by. Deciding that the MP3 player market might be the place to make a quick buck, the imaging company that has in the past brought us gems like the One system and the Mju is now trying its hand at portable media players, too, writes Stuart Miles. …

    Reviews 17 Mar 2005, 14:28

  • Hydrogen cars by 2012 says DaimlerChrysler

    Going green

    DaimlerChrysler has announced that it will be ready to launch its first hydrogen-powered car by 2012. A company spokesman made the announcement in tandem with Shell Hydrogen at a hydrogen car technology exhibition in Brussels. The company has already begun tests on 60 Mercedes A-class vehicles in Japan, Germany, Singapore and …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 15:23

  • Oz BitTorrent sites close on raid fears

    Cut and run

    Australian BitTorrent sites have started to shut down in an attempt to protect themselves from increasingly aggressive tactics employed by the Australian music industry anti-piracy operation. Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), which was instrumental in the local music business' legal action against Kazaa owner Sharman …

    Media 17 Mar 2005, 15:41

  • Virgin Mobile slags off easyMobile...

    easyMobile slags off Virgin Mobile...

    Virgin Mobile and easyMobile appear to be locked in a slanging match as they seek to rubbish each other's service. Last week Virgin Mobile delivered a number of verbal punches following the launch of Stelios' latest no frills venture. It claimed to have uncovered a string of "hidden nasties, making a complete mockery of …

    Mobile 17 Mar 2005, 15:59

  • GFI Informatique pulling out of UK, Northern Europe

    Lack of critical mass

    GFI Informatique is moving ahead with its plan to offload its Northern European operations, the French services group said as it announced its 2004 results this week. However, writing down goodwill on the Northern European operations has cost it dear, with a €29.8m charge for goodwill amortization putting a hole in its 2004 …

    Financial News 17 Mar 2005, 16:55

  • Say what you like about Saturn: its moons really have atmosphere

    Cassini gets interested in Enceladus

    Cassini has found another Saturnian moon with an atmosphere: this time, it is Enceladus. The discovery was made during two recent flybys by the NASA space craft. On the first fly-by, the team noticed a striking signature in Saturn's magnetic field. On the second pass, they noticed that the field was actually deflected by the …

    Science 17 Mar 2005, 17:06

  • Dell quits 'white box' PC biz

    'Punters want our name on the front'

    Dell will no longer sell resellers unbranded PCs, and hasn't offered any so-called 'white box' machines since the beginning of the year, the PC giant has admitted. The bottom line: customers prefer computers with the Dell name on the front, not someone else's, the company said - or rather, it would prefer buyers to have a Dell- …

    Channel 17 Mar 2005, 17:10

  • Thieves raid BT exchange

    £100k worth of kit nicked

    BT has tightened security at its telephone exchange in St Albans after thieves nicked £100,000 of computer and IT gear. Three laptops, a load of chips and a "large computer" were filched, reports The Herts Advertiser. The crooks used a ladder to get into the first floor of the exchange, but cops are still scratching their …

    Broadband 17 Mar 2005, 17:35

  • The strange decline of computer worms

    Bots, IM and email attacks in the new world of malware

    Computer worms are becoming less commonplace as virus writers diversify their malware spreading tactics to create the maximum effect for the least possible effort. Email-borne worms, such as NetSky, Bagle and Sober, remain perennial favourites with malware authors but Slammer-style worms are becoming rarer, according to anti- …

    Security 17 Mar 2005, 17:45

  • 'We must now embrace the tele-phone' - dotcom pundit

    A wire-less speaking technology, apparently

    A year ago Intel demonstrated a small contraption that allows people to talk to each other - even if they're not in the same room, without using wires or string. At the time we saw no possible use for such a device. Dogs, as we know, love fetching sticks - but this seemed to be much too fragile for robust outdoor activity. Intel …

    Bootnotes 17 Mar 2005, 23:26