21st April 2005 Archive
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Ballmer: Interoperability, interoperability, interoperability
CEO makes nice with Linux. Just
Steve Ballmer has played-up interoperability between Windows and other operating systems, notably Linux, to bolster Microsoft's credentials as a provider of management software. Speaking at Microsoft's Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ballmer on Wednesday presided over a series of cross-platform demonstrations that …
Software 21 Apr 2005, 03:35
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Tridgell demos Bitkeeper interoperability
Easier than you think
Samba man Andrew Tridgell has publicly demonstrated how to interoperate with the proprietary Bitkeeper source code management system. It's so easy, you'll be able to do it yourself wearing boxing gloves. Bitkeeper is at the heart of the conflagration which saw Tridgell, one of the most senior and widely respected open source …
Music and Media 21 Apr 2005, 03:55
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The dual-core x86 server era begins thanks to AMD
Intel left with not so magical Unicore
Two years ago, AMD had everything to prove. It had a brand new server chip prepared for a market smothered by its main rival. It had IBM on its side with one Opteron-based server, but that was its only big server partner. It had a funky new 64-bit design that Intel deemed silly and before its time. The only thing AMD had a lot …
Servers 21 Apr 2005, 04:02
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AMD plays catch up with dual-core desktop and notebook chip
Intel wins where it barely counts
Along with the release of its dual-core server chip, AMD today has announced the imminent availability of dual-core chips aimed at desktops and notebooks. Come June, AMD will rollout the Athlon 64 X2 chip for desktops and large "desktop-replacement" notebooks. It seems that AMD managed to push up the release date of this dual- …
PCs 21 Apr 2005, 04:45
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General election debate misses purpose of ID cards
What of the database?
Information published by Government Departments since February shows that the database which underpins the ID Card is central to the Government's aim to deliver efficient and effective public services in general. This purpose, which is far wider than the narrow objective of establishing identity in order to access public …
Public Sector 21 Apr 2005, 06:37
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Phone DRM: the most expensive royalty operation ever
Analysis And that's after the 'climbdown'
We think the MPEG LA and the group of consumer electronics groups that it represents, who claim essential patents for the OMA DRM system, have pulled off something of a coup. Initially they appeared to be in retreat over the slashing of their license terms this week from $1 per handset down to $0.65 and from 1 per cent of all …
Mobile 21 Apr 2005, 07:19
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Borland splits Together for Visual Studio .NET
Don't expect VSTS plug-ins from partners this year
Borland Software is updating its application design and modeling tools for .NET to bolster customers using an increasingly dated version of Microsoft's developer suite. The lifecycle management specialist has launched two role-specific versions of its Together Unified Modeling Language (UML) environment for Microsoft's current …
Music and Media 21 Apr 2005, 07:20
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US mobile carriers shun iTunes
Analysis Playing the long game?
Apple's early lead in music downloads is costing it potentially more lucrative wins with the mobile carriers. Business Week reports that the carriers have ganged up on Apple, with Sprint PCS and Verizon among the networks who have passed up the opportunity to carry Motorola's iTunes phone. This hardly counts as the most …
Mobile 21 Apr 2005, 07:52
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Not as guilty as he looks? The Met chief, Labour and ID cards
Analysis Spare a copper...
Does Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair vote Labour? After his comments in support of ID cards last weekend quite a few people seem to think so, and he has deservedly come under fire for leaping into the political arena by supporting Labour's anti-terror programme in the midst of an election campaign. Nor do …
Music and Media 21 Apr 2005, 08:17
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Playboy in PSP porn punt
When Sony met Totty
Soft pornmonger Playboy has further expanded its portfolio of e-smut services with the announcement that PSP owners can now avail themselves of the very best in widescreen naked fillies. Hottish on the the heels of Hef's "iBod" photo initiative - launched last December - comes "Cyber Girl of the year Amy Sue Cooper, …
Consoles 21 Apr 2005, 09:28
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Optimize your Linux Performance
Site offer Top tuning primer at 30% off
Superior application performance is becoming increasingly crucial - and in today's complex production environments, it's tougher to ensure, too. If you use Linux, you have extraordinary advantages: complete source code access, plus an exceptional array of optimization tools. But the tools are scattered across the internet. Many …
Site News 21 Apr 2005, 09:29
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EU trade chief's 'side-trip' included Paul Allen's New Year party
A private matter, no antitrust fluids exchanged...
European trade commissioner Peter Mandelson enjoyed drinks with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and schmoozed with the stars on the Caribbean island of St Barthelemy at the New Year, it has emerged. Mandelson is one of a number of EU commissioners (all of them, actually) refusing to give details of hospitality they may have …
Bootnotes 21 Apr 2005, 09:31
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Bulldog to extend reach of unbundled broadband
C&W to invest £190m in next gen network
Cable & Wireless is looking to go head-to-head with BT after announcing plans to extend the reach of its broadband service to a third of the UK. Through its Bulldog subsidiary, C&W has already installed its gear in 320 BT exchanges as part of its local loop unbundling (LLU) plans and expects to have 400 up and running by the end …
Telecoms 21 Apr 2005, 10:08
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More from Gizmoville
Tech Digest The week's coolest gadgets
The Register may cover everything most sane people would ever want to know about technology, but for certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scours Gizmoville for the rest: Obligatory iPod Accessory of the Week: C Ronson iPod Hoodie As we know sadly all too well the iPod is now on its way from being the cutting …
Peripherals 21 Apr 2005, 10:26
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NASA postpones Shuttle flight
Safety first, ladies and gents
The Space Shuttle's return to flight has been delayed by a week, NASA managers said yesterday. Fortunately, the scheduled launch window is big enough to accommodate the delay: it originally ran from 15 May to 3 June, but NASA now says 22 May is the earliest possible date for a launch and warns that there could yet be further …
Science 21 Apr 2005, 10:32
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PlusNet racks up 100k broadband punters
Appoints new COO
PlusNet has around 100,000 broadband punters, the Sheffield-based ISP revealed yesterday. At the end of March the ISP had 98,125 broadband users - up from 57,673 at the same time in 2004. Publishing a trading update for the three months to the end of March, PlusNet reported that revenues for Q1 was £8.2m - up 34 per cent on the …
Telecoms 21 Apr 2005, 10:36
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PC-WARE buys Austrian reseller
Microsoft specialist adds another country to its bow
PC-WARE, the German-owned reseller which specialises in flogging Microsoft licences, is buying an Austrian reseller for an undisclosed sum. Datacontract (Vienna) is a corporate dealer employing 20 people and has sales of €30m a year. Currently it focuses on selling hardware and services - it is a reseller for IBM and Fujitsu …
Channel Register 21 Apr 2005, 10:53
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Smile: you're under global surveillance
Report details infrastructure, launches campaign
A newly-published report warns that a global infrastructure of registration and surveillance is emerging through the efforts of groups such as the EU, G8 and ICAO. According to the report, which was produced by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Focus on the Global South, Friends Committee (US), International Civil …
Music and Media 21 Apr 2005, 10:56
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TSG secures £25m facility for takeover trail
Lloyd TSB bankroll
Technology Services Group (TSG), the Newcastle-based accounting software reseller, has signed a £25m facility from Lloyds TSB Corporate, to bankroll further growth. Set up two years ago by Sage co-founder Graham Wylie, TSG has bought several small dealerships, mostly northern or Scottish, to build a branch network serving small …
Channel Register 21 Apr 2005, 11:19
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Warez site riddled with mobile malware
Crack, crack your smartphone's dead
A search of sites hosting cracked versions of apps for Symbian phones has unearthed 52 "previously unidentified Trojans", according to New Zealand-based mobile anti-virus specialist Simworks. Other anti-virus experts reckon that the infected files found by Simworks are more properly described as repackaged versions of previously …
Malware 21 Apr 2005, 11:23
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Mine landfill for renewable energy, report
Load of old rubbish
Rubbish dumps could supply up to a fifth of the UK's electricity, enough to power two million homes, by 2020, according to a report from UK engineers and green-energy lobbyists. Peter Gerstrom, chairman of the Institute of Civil Engineers' board of waste management, warned that on current form, the UK will not meet EU targets …
Science 21 Apr 2005, 11:41
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Colt takeover rumours 'unfounded' says boss
That's that then
Colt Telecom dismissed speculation about its future as "unfounded rumours" as it unveiled its first quarter numbers today. Unveiling the figures, Chief exec Jean-Yves Charlier was quizzed about whether the alternative telco had been approached by potential bidders to buy-out the company, following a report two weeks ago that …
Financial News 21 Apr 2005, 12:05
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Peeping Tom Trojan suspect cuffed in Cyprus
Knickers in a twist in Nicosia
A 45-year-old man from Cyprus was arrested Monday on sexual harassment charges after allegedly hacking into a webcam in order to take illicit pictures of a young woman in her bedroom, the Cyprus Mail reports. The unnamed suspect, a computer technician from Nicosia, Cyprus, is alleged to have spied on the 17-year-old girl …
Malware 21 Apr 2005, 12:30
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Outsourcing UK public sector services - the moral hazards
Comment Providers should not have full ownership of intellectual property
Recent estimates by Kable, an organisation which provides technology research and analysis on the UK government and public services sector, suggest that almost one fifth of public sector services (£60bn) could be delivered through outsourcing to private and voluntary bodies. Principle sectors targeted for this treatment appear …
IT Director 21 Apr 2005, 12:37
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Orange and Microsoft push data at business
Have a smartphone, here have another
Orange and Microsoft are partnering on a series of offers to tempt businesses small and large into trusting their corporate data to mobile devices. The UK tie-up higlights the sort of marriages of convenience we are likely to see more of, as vendors, operators, service providers and systems integrators scramble for a piece of …
Mobile 21 Apr 2005, 13:28
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Smart phones make inroads in business
Converged devices on the rise
Businesses around Europe are increasingly adopting mobile devices and seeing them as central to their IT strategy. That's according to the latest survey from research firm IDC, which indicates that mobile device penetration in companies in Western Europe will increase significantly during 2005. While the research firm points …
Mobile 21 Apr 2005, 13:34
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Theorists dazzled by 'perfect' liquid
Quarks + Gluons = new state of matter?
US Researchers say they have created a new state of matter at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The scientists used the machine to hurl gold ions at other gold ions and, in the manner of particle physicists, they watched to see what happened next. The resulting mix of quarks and …
Science 21 Apr 2005, 13:36
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Tories board hi-tech battle bus
'Roaming tactical unit' hits the road
If you've ever wondered just how it is that Michael Howard and Oliver Letwin formulate on-the-fly policies regarding Council Tax while tirelessly gladhanding in different parts of country during the the no-holds-barred slanging match which is otherwise known as a "pre-election campaign", then brace yourself for a comms kit …
Bootnotes 21 Apr 2005, 13:45
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Man executes Chrysler
RoTM™ Newsflash Reg salutes NRA hero
Those readers who have written over the last couple of weeks to demand an update on the latest position regarding the Rise of the Machines™ should rest assured that tomorrow will see a new exposé on the burgeoning technical uprising which is so chilling that the text has been written in three separate parts by a trio of hacks …
Rise of the Machines 21 Apr 2005, 14:18
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Amenworld workers strike over proposed VIA sale
Just say 'non'
Workers at European web hosting outfit Amenworld have been on strike for last week or so after discovering that parent company VIA NET.WORKS has signed a letter of agreement to be snapped up by UK ISP Claranet. Staff claim they only found out about the deal after reading press reports and are outraged at the lack of …
Telecoms 21 Apr 2005, 14:22
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Apple's Big Virus
The influence of the 'Mac culture'
After your identity has been stolen, your bank accounts compromised, 53 critical patches and 27 reboots later, when will you decide that you've had enough? Back in 1984, William Gibson's Neuromancer had an incredibly bleak view of our future with technology -- from social decay to daily security breaches based on greed and …
Malware 21 Apr 2005, 14:22
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Database misuse: who watches the watchers?
We do
Misuse of database information by insiders happens everyday, and there's little we can do about it. Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies? Two groups of people will understand the meaning of this phrase. Those classically trained with a few years of Latin at some point during their education will be one group - and then there's …
ID 21 Apr 2005, 15:26
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Man unearths MoD secrets at rubbish dump
Ditched laptop security breach
A Hampshire man has found sensitive Ministry of Defence plans on a laptop he was given at a rubbish dump. Martin Dunn, 31, was foraging for computer parts when a woman gave him a bag containing a laptop she was about to ditch, The Sun reports. A subsequent investigation of the PC revealed "70 top-secret files" giving details of …
Security 21 Apr 2005, 15:31
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Pope gets emailed up
pope@benny16.com
The Pope has kicked off his pontificate by setting up a direct email link via which the faithful can contact His Holiness on pressing matters of faith. The e-Pope's addy can be found here by clicking on the "Greetings to the Holy Father" link. Or simply send a note to benedictxvi@vatican.va. Alternatively, Catholics with a …
Bootnotes 21 Apr 2005, 15:32
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Congress confuses file sharing with manslaughter
One file = three years
Making a movie available electronically prior to its release can now result in a three year sentence, thanks to the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act approved Tuesday by the House. The Senate has already passed its own version, and the final bill is expected to be signed by the President. The bill also calls for three …
Music and Media 21 Apr 2005, 16:01
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20 busted in e-pharmacy takedown
Bitter pill to swallow
Twenty people have been arrested as part of an international crackdown on the sale of prescription drugs online. The arrests - in the US, India, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean - formed part of a year-long investigation targeting e-traffickers who distributed drugs using "rogue" internet pharmacies. Drugs shipped by these …
Financial News 21 Apr 2005, 16:04
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The M25 area road price plan - a power play from Mayor Ken?
And tags get green light. Depending...
Transport for London is pitching to make London the testbed for large-scale road charging with a plan to "halve"* congestion within the M25 area. Government modernisers poised to welcome the latest radical initiative from Mayor Ken Livingstone, Prophet of the Congestion Charge, should however take a deep breath and prepare to …
Public Sector 21 Apr 2005, 16:40
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One and a half cheers for WiMAX
Europe cautious over next-gen wireless tech
WiMAX - the broadband wireless wide area networking technology - may fail to take off in Europe because of unresolved regulatory and technical standards issues. In contrast to the enthusiasm from leading suppliers such as Intel, and early success in north America, delegates at a conference in London this week struck a cautious …
Wireless 21 Apr 2005, 17:59
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TSA squanders millions of US tax dolllars
Magic gizmos desperately wanted
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is squandering many millions of dollars on unnecessary comfort items and decorations, failing to detect weapons and explosives at airport checkpoints, and demanding enormous investments in high-tech gear that it hopes will compensate for its palpable deficiencies, according to …
Public Sector 21 Apr 2005, 19:47
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Investors unmoved by eBay results
Double digit growth, but shares stagnant
Shares of eBay were stagnant one day after the company posted banner first quarter results. Investors, otherwise up on tech shares during Thursday's trading, appeared concerned by eBay's second quarter predictions that were just at or below analysts' expectations. The world's biggest flea market posted first quarter revenue of …
Financial News 21 Apr 2005, 19:51
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Hynix makes $185m price-fixing confession to US DoJ
Memory is all too good
If nothing else, the US DoJ (Department of Justice) is remarkably good at nailing foreign memory makers for price-fixing. Hynix Semiconductor, it emerged today, is the latest firm to plead guilty in a far-reaching DRAM scandal and has agreed to pay the DoJ a $185m fine. The charge against Korean Hynix is the third-largest …
Financial News 21 Apr 2005, 20:56
