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19th August 2005 Archive

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  • ESB project planned by Apache

    Exclusive Strategy or sucker?

    The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is drilling deeper into infrastructure software with plans for an open source enterprise service bus (ESB) project. ASF is next week expected to announce the ESB project, backed by a brace of software vendors and led by integration specialist Sonic Software. A source familiar with the …

    Applications 19 Aug 2005, 02:43

  • Google wants $4bn more

    Going shopping?

    Google plans to raise $4.185bn in new capital by offering 14.2m new shares, boosting its short term cash pile by around 75 per cent. In addition to working capital, Google cites "possible acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets" as reasons for the share issue in a SEC-1 filing. On Monday the …

    Financial News 19 Aug 2005, 06:32

  • Regulator limits BT wholesale network charges

    £100m-a-year savings, maybe

    Communications watchdog Ofcom has published details of controls that will be placed on BT’s wholesale network charges for narrowband products from 1 October for the next four years. It hopes the cost of making telephone calls and dial-up internet connections will fall, as the price charged by BT to other service providers for …

    Telecoms 19 Aug 2005, 07:29

  • Salesforce.com claims 300,000 subscribers

    CRM of the crop

    Online customer relationship management (CRM) provider Salesforce.com reported revenues of $71.9m for its second quarter, up 77 per cent year-over-year. The company announced on Thursday that earnings per diluted share for its second fiscal quarter ended 31 July rose to $0.04, a 300 per cent increase compared to the $0.01 …

    Financial News 19 Aug 2005, 08:14

  • Costs outweigh security concerns for small.biz

    Not entirely surprising

    The daily cost of business support has edged out security issues as the top concern of IT managers at UK small businesses. A survey by Computer Associates (CA) found that 27 per cent of IT managers worry about the day-to-day costs of supporting business priorities, slipping ahead of traditional fears of security breaches. Some …

    Small Biz 19 Aug 2005, 08:16

  • Apple patch fiasco invites trouble

    It's just a matter of time...

    According to the Apple website, Security Update 2005-007 was released to the public on August 12, 2005. And, as with all of their recent security updates, it is available to all Apple customers free of charge. I'm sure none of you reading this article will argue with me about that being a good thing. For those of you that …

    Operating Systems 19 Aug 2005, 09:53

  • Microsoft winning big in local government

    Shift from mainframe to Windows

    Microsoft seems to have been the main beneficiary of the UK government's drive to put council services online. Research from the Society of IT Managers (Socitm) reveals that local authorities are increasingly opting to use Microsoft Windows applications, particularly in new installations. The research also revealed that …

    Operating Systems 19 Aug 2005, 10:08

  • Mio preps Bluetooth GPS PocketPC

    Successor to the 168 series?

    Mio's next GPS-enabled PocketPC will feature Bluetooth 1.2 wireless connectivity, according to the Bluetooth Qualification Program (BQP) website. Dubbed the A201, little else is known about the device beyond the fact it has a built-in GPS receiver, as per Mio's current GPS PocketPC offerings. The product qualification filing …

    Mobile 19 Aug 2005, 10:11

  • Orange reveals M5000 3G smart phone

    But where's the Wi-Fi?

    Orange UK has added the eagerly anticipated Orange SPV M5000 3G smart phone to its website. The M5000, better known as the HTC Universal, is listed simply as "coming soon" - no further pricing or availability details are given. The carrier confirms the device will support Bluetooth and tri-band GSM/GPRS connectivity in …

    Mobile 19 Aug 2005, 10:30

  • NASA berated for poor attitude to safety

    And Shuttle's launch delayed again

    Some members of a safety taskforce has accused NASA of cavalierly rushing to get Shuttle back in orbit. In their report, a group on the taskforce said NASA managers showed the same "disturbing" behaviour, including poor leadership and smug management, that contributed to the loss of Columbia, in 2003. The group now berating …

    Science 19 Aug 2005, 10:40

  • China cracks down on cavorting net floozie

    'Hibiscus' nipped in bud

    The powers that be in China have cracked down on a cavorting net floozie who has become national celebrity due to her suggestive online posturing. Shi Hengxia - aka "Sister Furong" (Hibiscus) - first appeared on two Beijing university internet bulletin boards after apparently failing to gain a place at either. She stuck up pics …

    Bootnotes 19 Aug 2005, 10:50

  • Exploit for unpatched IE vuln fuels hacker fears

    Brace for impact

    Microsoft is investigating an IE security bug amid fears that a hacker attack based on the vulnerability is imminent. A flaw in Microsoft DDS Library Shape Control COM object (msdds.dll) is at the centre of the security flap. Security researchers warn that msdss.dll might be called from a webpage loaded by Internet Explorer and …

    Enterprise Security 19 Aug 2005, 11:04

  • Apple reshuffles China chiefs

    Senior heads roll

    Apple has parted company with the head of its Chinese operation and an Asia-Pacific VP, according to local reports. According to a report on Chinese-language news service Sina, Apple China General Manager Li Bin and Asia-Pacific VP He Zhongqiang left the firm yesterday, along with the head of Apple's channel team and a number …

    Financial News 19 Aug 2005, 11:23

  • Cambridge engineers moot 'silent' plane

    Handy

    A research group at the University of Cambridge is working on a radical new aircraft design it says could eventually reduce the noise pollution in areas around airports to virtually nil. The silent aircraft initiative, a joint research project between Cambridge and MIT, began in 2003. The stated aim of the group is "to discover …

    Science 19 Aug 2005, 11:28

  • BOFH: Drunk gravity

    Episode 24 E=mc2 + beer - work

    "So will the games embargo affect our drunken-ET tournament tonight?" the PFY asks. "Drunken ET?" a helldesker asks, sniffing out a game discussion (as they tend to do) from across the building. "Yeah, you know, 10 pints in two hours followed by a long and involved campaign in Wolfenstein Enemy Territory" "Two hours? So you …

    BOFH 19 Aug 2005, 12:02

  • Yahoo! to keep music prices low

    Tightens screw on Napster, Real and co.

    Yahoo! has confirmed it will maintain its low music subscription charges as its Yahoo! Music service moves out of its testing phase. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Yahoo! marketing chief Cammie Dunaway said the trial pricing plans would stand. YM was launched in May, and offered monthly unlimited-download …

    Financial News 19 Aug 2005, 12:59

  • Hermstedt Hifidelio wireless music centre

    Review Time to scrap that PC music hub?

    Germany's Hermstedt isn't a name you'd usually associate with hi-fi or digital music. The firm is better known for its ISDN-based file-transfer solutions for media companies, so the Hifidelio Music Centre marks something of a departure - I suspect the hand of a company staffer who had the product developed because he or she …

    Reviews 19 Aug 2005, 13:45

  • Secure Computing snaffles Cyberguard

    Bride becomes bridegroom

    Secure Computing has announced plans to acquire rival security firm CyberGuard in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $295m. The deal allows Secure Computing to expand its portfolio to include CyberGuard's all-in-one security appliance and web filtering products as well as expanding its market footprint. The …

    Enterprise Security 19 Aug 2005, 13:46

  • Anarchist clown cuffed after virtual dragnet

    Krusty the bicycle thief snared on net

    A clown who stole a man's bicycle at last year's Burning Man counterculture festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, breaking the poor chap's arm in the process, was tracked to a medical centre in Seattle by internet sleuths and eventually persuaded via bulletin board to give himself up. Victim Dennis Hinkamp told the Reno …

    Bootnotes 19 Aug 2005, 14:06

  • Bond's Lotus Esprit voted top movie car

    The Car Which Outacted Roger Moore

    The subaquatic Lotus Esprit which completely outacted Roger Moore in the 1977 James Bond outing The Spy Who Loved Me has been voted the most memorable car in film history in a poll by UK DVD rental outfit Lovefilm. The souped-up DeLorean from Back to the Future came second, followed by Starsky and Hutch's Ford Torino, VW Beetle …

    Bootnotes 19 Aug 2005, 14:42

  • Massive IT overhaul in prospect for UK schools

    De-Capitation?

    Major changes planned to address fundamental problems Sweeping reforms are on the way to give schools a better deal on the £180m they spend each year on management information systems. Becta, the Government's lead agency for ICT in education, has called for a complete overhaul of MIS provision in schools amid serious concerns …

    Public Sector 19 Aug 2005, 15:01

  • World's greatest hardware guru retires

    The Loon finds his hedge

    Regular Register readers will recoil from the same rush of sadness that hit us earlier today after learning that Merrill Lynch's star hardware analyst Steven Milunovich will retire in September. Dignitary? Luminary? Oracle? Power broker? Server sleuth? Storage stalwart? It's almost impossible to find the right word or even …

    Financial News 19 Aug 2005, 15:13

  • SHA-1 compromised further

    Crypto researchers point the way to feasible attack

    Crypto researchers have discovered a new, much faster, attack against the widely-used SHA-1 hashing algorithm. Xiaoyun Wang, one of the team of Chinese cryptographers that demonstrated earlier attacks against SHA-0 and SHA-1, along with Andrew Yao and Frances Yao, have discovered a way to produce a collision in SHA-1 over just …

    Enterprise Security 19 Aug 2005, 15:22

  • Windows Vista P2P engine causes concern

    Just testing, says MS

    Windows Vista comes equipped with its own, under-the-hood P2P networking system, it has emerged. The code's presence was detected after a number of beta testers spotted unexpected levels of network traffic coming in and out of machines loaded with the preview code Microsoft released last month, News.com The P2P sub-system …

    Operating Systems 19 Aug 2005, 15:27

  • Apple extends iMac G5 warranties

    Cover for power and video problems

    Apple has extended the warranty period for all first-generation iMac G5 desktops to two years. Alas, it's not a sign of the company's faith in the machines' manufacturing quality, but a response to problems with their video and power sub-systems and unnamed components within them. The warranty extension, which provides for the …

    IT Director 19 Aug 2005, 15:31

  • The mysteries of shootings, volcanoes and flying spaghetti monsters

    Letters Paging Mr. Hubbard...

    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the game that some seem to think is imbued with mythical powers of monster creation (maybe this is a mod we haven't come across) is still hitting the headlines, and probably checkout registers of stores across the land. Most recently this has been courtesy of lawyer Jack Thompson, who says there is …

    Letters 19 Aug 2005, 15:57

  • Man mugs online game characters

    Sells virtual goodies for cash

    A Chinese exchange student has been arrested in Kawaga prefecture, southern Japan, on charges of using software "bots" to mug characters from Lineage II and then selling the ill-gotten gains for cash, the Mainichi Daily News reports via New Scientist. The audacious blag relieved several gamers of desirable online goods, …

    Bootnotes 19 Aug 2005, 16:02

  • ATI to drop Down Under next week

    Australian gardeners beware

    So what is ATI planning to launch next week? We've got one or two guesses of our own, but we'd love to hear from the horse's mouth what it's going to reveal to "the media, distributors, resllers and related industries" on Friday, 26 August 2005 at 6PM. The event we've heard about is taking place in Olympic Park, Sydney. …

    Peripherals 19 Aug 2005, 16:05

  • Finnish security exec arrested over bank hack

    Wi oh WiFi

    The data security chief at the Helsinki branch of financial services firm GE Money has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal €200,000 from the firm's online bank account. The 26 year-old allegedly copied passwords and e- banking software onto a laptop used by accomplices to siphon off money from an unnamed bank. …

    Enterprise Security 19 Aug 2005, 16:21

  • Sun's Opteron Becky Boxes to arrive next month

    Exclusive Right on time

    It took 18 months for it to happen, but the hand of Bechtolsheim is about to touch Sun Microsystems. Sun next month will announce and ship the first of its Opteron-based servers designed by company co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, The Register can reveal. The systems are meant to make Sun a serious player in the x86 server market …

    Servers 19 Aug 2005, 22:28