4th October 2005 Archive
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Scaling the heights of Microsoft Management
Playing with the big boys now
Last week Microsoft hosted the "Best of Microsoft Management summit 2005" at its UK headquarters in Thames Valley Park, marking the first time it has run such an event in the UK. And very good it was too, with authoritative speakers from the US: Kirill Tatarinov, corporate VP of Microsoft's Windows and Enterprise Management …
Software 4 Oct 2005, 07:12
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Yahoo! follows Google into print minefield
No explosions, yet
Unlike Google, Yahoo! has set off into the book scanning minefield without detonating any explosions. But that might be because it hasn't, as yet, gone near a mine. Yahoo!'s own book scanning plans went public today with the announcement of the Open Content Alliance, of which it is a founding member. The OCA includes Adobe and …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2005, 07:20
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Wi-Fi a basic human right, says SF Mayor
Like gay marriage, but for bloggers
Newt Gingrich once proposed giving laptops to the homeless - at the same time as he was axing food and medical services for the poor. Now San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom has borrowed a page from his playbook. Wi-Fi is a 'fundamental right', Newsom said today at a press conference. The city wants to see an "affordable" Wi-Fi …
Wireless 4 Oct 2005, 07:23
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HP goes a bundle with Netscape
Remember the Browser Wars?
All new HP desktops and laptops sold in the US and Canada will come with pre-installed Netscape browsers. Users will be able to choose between Netscape and Internet Explorer. The announcement harks back to the mid-90s when Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape battled for market share. But it is a battle that IE had won - …
Software 4 Oct 2005, 08:55
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Can writing software be a crime?
Depends if you're the government
Can writing software be a crime? A recent indictment in San Diego, California indicates that the answer to that question may be yes. We all know that launching certain types of malicious code - viruses, worms, Trojans, even spyware or sending out spam - may violate the law. But on July 21, 2005 a federal grand jury in the …
Malware 4 Oct 2005, 10:05
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Pipex gets tough with bandwidth hogs
Sort it, or else
Pipex has given its broadband punters just two weeks to rein back their net usage or face having their connection "traffic managed" during peak times. The ISP - which has more than 215,000 broadband users - sent out emails last week telling users of its plans to "manage our network during the busiest periods and to provide a …
Telecoms 4 Oct 2005, 10:08
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Toshiba asks US to ban Hynix Flash imports
Patent clash
Toshiba has taken its patent violation claim against Hynix to the US International Trade Commission (ITC), asking the organisation to block the import of allegedly infringing NAND Flash - the kind of memory found in MP3 players like the iPod Nano - products into the US. The complaint, noted in an Associated Press report, …
System Builder 4 Oct 2005, 10:11
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Finnish copyright protestors to lay siege to MPs
Demonstration outside Parliament
Opponents of Finland's proposed copyright laws are hoping for a good turnout today for a demonstration outside Parliament. Protestors are calling for the law's opponents to be outside the Helsinki Parliament building at 13.00 Finnish time. Along with protestors, organisers want members of parliament and the media to come along …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2005, 10:37
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AMD quietly unveils ML-42 mobile CPU
Turion and on and on...
AMD has updated its price list to include the Turion 64 ML-42 mobile chip. The processor is one of the 35W Turions, and is thought to be clocked at 2.4GHz and contain 1MB of L2 cache, though as yet AMD has not posted the chip's specifications to confirm these figures. The ML-42 is one of a number of new Turions forecast on AMD …
System Builder 4 Oct 2005, 10:49
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Space scientists seek sprites, elves and jets
Going on a lightning hunt
European space scientists are planning to put special cameras on board the International Space Station (ISS) to take a closer look at the phenomenon of giant lightning. The different types of giant lightning go by exotic names: red sprites, blue jets and elves. Instead of striking downwards, from the clouds to the ground, it …
Science 4 Oct 2005, 10:52
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Zombie bots clog internal networks
The enemy within
A significant chunk (12 per cent) of all scanning attacks found on a broadband service provider's network are launched from the machines of its own subscribers. That's according to a study by traffic management firm Sandvine which says its findings dispel the idea the broadband security involves only policing the borders between …
Malware 4 Oct 2005, 10:54
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UK online ad market spend sets new record
£1bn and counting
Spending on online advertising in the UK looks set to top £1bn in the UK for the first time, fuelled by increased use of broadband. In the first six months of the year internet advertising expenditure hit £490.8m - up 62 per cent compared to the same time last year - while for the year to June ad spend was £865m. According to …
Financial News 4 Oct 2005, 10:59
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Google and Sun: press conference at six
Speculation at midday...
Google and Sun are holding a joint press conference this evening to head off an orgy of speculation not seen since Ginger/Segway threatened to overload speculation networks earlier this century. Top of the charts this lunchtime are suggestions that the two could be collaborating to distribute Sun's Star Office - the company's …
Hardware 4 Oct 2005, 11:58
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Americans joined at the hip to tech
TV, internet and phone junkies
The average US citizen spends an astounding - or alarming, or both - nine hours a day in front of the TV, surfing the internet or jabbering away into his or her mobile, research from Indiana's Ball State University has shown. However, none of these is apparently enough for-tech addicted Americans, who spend 30 per cent of this " …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2005, 12:06
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Disabled woman sues RIAA
Computer snooping claim
Justice can sometimes be poetic: the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has sued 14,800 people for using peer-to-peer networks, is itself being sued. An Oregon woman is using anti-gangster RICO laws to countersue the organisation which spends its time suing individual file sharers. She denies ever having …
Malware 4 Oct 2005, 12:11
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Katrina web scammer arrested
Bogus mercy flights
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with four counts of fraud after receiving $40,000 (£22,700) in donations to fund mercy flights to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. But Gary Kraser never made those flights even though he told visitors to his AirKatrina.com web site harrowing accounts of trips he had made. According …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2005, 12:13
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Albatron launches Socket 754 SLi mobo
Multi-GPU graphics for Sempron systems
Albatron today announced its latest AMD-oriented Socket 754, ATX motherboard, the K8NF4X-754. The board is based on Nvidia's nForce 4 4x chipset which can provide SLi if the board's two PCI Express x16 slots are suitably populated, though in SLi mode one slot drops down to x4 performance. The board also has two basic PCI …
System Builder 4 Oct 2005, 12:22
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Taiwan huffs and puffs at Google Earth
We're a country, godammit
Taiwan has become the latest, er, country to go whining to Google Earth - not because the entertaining online service reveals high-res pics of air bases packed with black helicopters, but because those tiresome Americans insist on calling it "a province of China". Oh dear, oh dear. A suitably indignant Taiwanese government has …
Bootnotes 4 Oct 2005, 12:49
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MS 'quits' music licensing talks
Major labels' royalties too high, apparently
Microsoft could be the first victim of the major record labels' attempts to force up digital music prices. According to a Wall Street Journal report today, the software giant last week pulled out of content licensing talks with all four major recording companies: EMI, Universal, Warner and Sony-BMG. The paper's unnamed sources …
Financial News 4 Oct 2005, 13:09
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Hack attack linked to annular eclipse
Proof of hacker lycanthropy links?
Are hackers affected by lunar cycles? The question arises after we were sent a screenshot of the defacement of space.com yesterday morning. The attack happened hours before an annular eclipse reached Europe. Coincidence? We think not. There's a lot of talk about zombie bots (PC infected by malware and under the control of …
Enterprise Security 4 Oct 2005, 13:28
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World chip sales up 3.2% in August
What price Katrina and Rita, though?
World chip sales hit $18.6bn in August, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said today. August's total was up 3.2 per cent - an increase the SIA characterised as "sharp" - on July's $18bn, and just 1.7 per cent above the year-ago figure, $18.3bn. Those figures represent World Semiconductor Trade Statistics' three- …
Financial News 4 Oct 2005, 13:50
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Ingram punts wireless
Pan-Euro marketing
Ingram Micro is running a pan-European marketing campaign to encourage resellers to: "Get Mobile, Stay Connected". The campaign offers reseller education as well as sales and marketing support. It will run in 14 countries until the end of the year and aims to encourage resellers to sell mobile and wireless equipment. Ingram is …
Channel Register 4 Oct 2005, 13:51
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eBay fraudster to repay £70k
Faces stretch behind bars
A convicted eBay fraudster has been ordered to cough up £70,000 or face an extra two years behinds bars. Surrey-based key cutter and engraver Simon Hurley flogged counterfeit merchandise via the popular auction website. Investigators reckon that between March and December 2003 he flogged some 6,000 items pocketting almost £105, …
Financial News 4 Oct 2005, 13:53
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Microsoft to 'embrace' open source
Unless it's Linux, of course
When Microsoft's global head of platform strategy (a job title otherwise known as Chief Linux Slayer) says he wants the company to embrace open source, you could be forgiven for wondering if he is perhaps tiring of the executive life, and trying to get himself dismissed from his post. But in fact this is Microsoft's latest …
Operating Systems 4 Oct 2005, 15:06
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Mobile phone socks pull up in UK
Handy for scratch-proofing iPod Nano screens too
We always thought Apple's iPod Socks were a silly idea, but the recent controversy over scratched Nano screens may persuade the case-less to reconsider investing in something soft to cushion their favourite portable music player's display. And now mobile phone owners similarly concerned about grazing their handsets can do the …
Mobile 4 Oct 2005, 15:23
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IBM pumps Unix line full of Power5+
The plus doesn't stand for more GHz
IBM is aiming low with its highest-end processor to date. The company today kicked off the release of the Power5+ chip by announcing three new systems that slot into the low-end of its Unix server line, a new workstation and a server aimed at researchers. The lower-end servers coupled with a surprisingly slow introductory Power5 …
Servers 4 Oct 2005, 15:36
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The iPod Nano: scratchy, but slinky and you love 'em
Letters Apple, you have mail
An iPod special, today, in recognition of the thousands of words you have sent us with your stories about scratched screens, the wonder and horror of using a mobile phone instead of an iPod to listen to your music, and your thoughts on just how much it costs to build an iPod Nano. Without further ado, let us move to the …
Letters 4 Oct 2005, 16:35
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Sun could be next exhibit at Computer History Museum
G-thanks, Google
With just a couple hours to go before the Sun and Google press conference, industry speculation continues to run hot and heavy around what the two companies might reveal. As usual, however, El Reg has outclassed rival publications and moved past the gossip to nail what will be announced. Many reckon Sun and Google have some …
Bootnotes 4 Oct 2005, 16:50
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Kaspersky in heap-based buffer overflow vuln
Oh no! Not the heap-based buffer overflow vuln!
Users of Kaspersky anti-virus were warned this week of a potentially serious security vulnerability. The bug - unearthed by security researcher Alex Wheeler - involves a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability related to the processing of malformed CAB archives. This security defect might be exploited to allows arbitrary code …
Channel Register 4 Oct 2005, 19:40
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Earthlink wins Philly Wi-Fi gig
Revenue sharing deal. Now stop giggling
ISP Earthlink has won the contract to provide a citywide Wi-Fi network for the city of Philadelphia, beating out Hewlett Packard at the final stage of the municipal beauty contest. Earthlink will provide both a retail service to city residents - costing $10 to $20 a month, depending on household income - and resell a higher …
Wireless 4 Oct 2005, 19:43
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Sun and Google tool around together
Microsoft safe for now
Despite what Google-intoxicated hacks would have you believe, Sun and the search engine company have not created a stunning anti-Microsoft alliance. They have not teamed to end Office's dominance. They haven't done vast amounts of business together. No, Sun and Google have paired to promote the Google toolbar as an option when …
Software 4 Oct 2005, 19:52
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The Hollywood crisis that isn't
Analysis Everyone panic - that's an order!
Barely a week has gone by without reports of Hollywood's great box office slump of 2005. So our thanks go to screenwriter John August for pointing out that on closer examination, the 'slump' is as elusive as missing Weapons of Mass Destruction. "Every Monday brought new speculation about just what was causing the downturn, and …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2005, 20:31
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Ireland counts the cost of MIT Media Lab fiasco
$40m down the bog
The Irish government invested $40m of taxpayers' money in MIT's Media's Lab Europe - and has bugger all to show for it. A report by the Republic's public auditor-general also reveals that Media Lab executives awarded themselves large severance pay-offs when the money was running out, and refused to refund public money as the …
Science 4 Oct 2005, 22:11
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iPod Nano vs washing machine: who wins?
Power spin cycle
With surprising regularity, Britain's Daily Mail, a mid-market tabloid, runs a heartwarming story about a puppy or kitten that has survived some awful domestic appliance encounter (trapped in the washing machine/freezer/breadmaker) and is photographed, bedraggled, in the aftermath. Everyone go "Awwww!" And now we bring you El …
Mac Channel 4 Oct 2005, 22:12
