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24th October 2005 Archive

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  • Flaw finders score loyalty rewards from iDefense

    Sharing the bounty

    Security firm iDefense, a subsidiary of VeriSign, announced on Friday the recipients of two rounds of bonuses rewarding the most prolific researchers taking part in the firm's Vulnerability Contributor Program (VCP). The researchers split $40,000 in bonuses: Three people divvied up $10,000 awarded to the top flaw finders for …

    Security 24 Oct 2005, 09:06

  • Marconi sale nears

    Bidders line up

    The race for Marconi is nearly over - bidders have until tomorrow morning to get their offers in. The telco equipment maker has been looking for a buyer since May when it failed to get on BT's supplier list for its 21CN next generation network. Alcatel and Ericsson are still interested in the once mighty British firm, …

    Data Networking 24 Oct 2005, 09:09

  • Office12 includes Business Intelligence

    Don't say bundled

    Microsoft is adding business intelligence software in the next version of its Office software - Office 12 - due in the second half of next year. Office 12 will make better use of Excel spreadsheets to analyse company data. It will be easier to link Excel to SQL servers to get better access to enterprise information. Spreadsheet …

    Applications 24 Oct 2005, 09:34

  • BMC gets even more service oriented

    Which is nice

    Fred Johannessen, VP and program executive of capacity management and provisioning at BMC Software, describes SORM (Service Oriented Resource Management) as the “third leg on our BSM (Business Service Management) stool”. He claims that BMC has strong Process Management capabilities with its Configuration Management Database- …

    Software 24 Oct 2005, 09:52

  • Met police hooks up with commonwealth to fight cybercrime

    Working groups aims to hit hackers for six

    London police and industry are teaming up to fight economic crime. The inaugural meeting of the New Scotland Yard Economic Crime Working Group took place at Lord's Cricket ground in London on Thursday. The Economic Crime Working Group, announced at the Commonwealth Technology Forum in July, will address areas such as cyber …

    Security 24 Oct 2005, 09:53

  • AMD slashes chip prices by up to 25%

    Desktop, mobile lines pruned too

    AMD took the axe to its desktop and mobile processor families this morning, chopping up to 26 per cent off what it charges for its chips. The company reduced prices for its mobile Turion 64, dual-core desktop Athlon 64 X2 series, Mobile Athlon 64 products, and both mobile and desktop Sempron processors. Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 …

    System Builder 24 Oct 2005, 09:56

  • Hynix slams Japan's 27.2% DRAM tax plan

    Inappropriate and unfair, apparently

    Hynix has criticised plans announced by Japanese regulators to slap a 27.2 per cent punitive import duty on its DRAM products as "unfair" and "inappropriate". The intention to impose the levy emerged last week, and follows complaints made in June 2004 by Japanese memory makers. They alleged Hynix had received unlawful financial …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2005, 10:53

  • Contamination delays Venus Express launch

    No new date from ESA yet

    Mission managers at the European Space Agency have postponed the launch of Venus Express, Europe's first mission to our so-called twin planet. The new launch date has not been announced, but ESA says it will be "several days" late. The launch was due to take place atop a Soyuz-Fregat launcher this Wednesday (26 October), but …

    Science 24 Oct 2005, 10:54

  • Goodfellas voted top movie ever

    Citizen Kane relegated to sixth

    Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas has been awarded the top movie ever crown by Total Film - relegating the critics' perennial fave Citizen Kane into sixth spot. Scorsese is also honoured for Taxi Driver at 14th, but Francis Ford Coppola emerges as director of choice with three titles in the top 25 (see below). Naturally, the list …

    Bootnotes 24 Oct 2005, 10:59

  • Virus writers craft PnP botnet client

    Updated Zombie network fails to bite

    Virus writers have created a botnet client that uses a recently discovered Microsoft vulnerability to spread. Mocbot uses the same MS05-039 as the infamous Zotob worm in an attempt to create a botnet of compromised, "zombie" PCs under the control of hackers. Early indications are that the attack is not particular successful. …

    Security 24 Oct 2005, 11:12

  • Virgin and Carphone Warehouse off to France

    Virtual operator deal

    Virgin and Carphone Warehouse have confirmed to the Stock Exchange that they are talking about a possible joint venture in France. A statement was released this morning and more information is expected soon. The joint venture will be branded as Virgin. The two firms are setting up as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator - using …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2005, 11:14

  • Europe looks to adapt to climate change

    New climate programme launches today

    European authorities are launching a new programme to investigate ways that the continent can reduce its greenhouse emissions, and adapt to the effects of climate change. The second European Climate Change Programme kicks off today at a conference in Brussels. One of the main aims will be to advocate for a "meaningful global …

    Science 24 Oct 2005, 11:17

  • NTL unveils Sky+ rival

    Tech Digest Cable guys get PVR

    Top stories on HDTV UK NTL unveils Sky+ rival Following on from its merger with Telewest a few weeks back, cable company NTL is finally starting to rev up for its upcoming battle with Sky, and anyone else for that matter, in the HDTV and personal video recorder markets. On Saturday the company announced details of its soon-to- …

    Peripherals 24 Oct 2005, 11:28

  • IBM seeks mid-market relevance

    Quocirca’s Changing Channels Express Managed Services are go

    As part of its drive to make itself more relevant in the mid-market IBM has launched three new, what it calls, IBM Express Managed Services (IEMS). These are in addition to a couple of existing services, one of which IBM is keen to remind us of and another which it would prefer to sweep under the carpet. All these services are …

    Small Biz 24 Oct 2005, 12:00

  • Original atomic keyring resurfaces

    Cash'n'Carrion Tritium-powered joy in pink and green

    Last week, Cash'n'Carrion got a call from the purveyors of the legendary atomic keyrings to say that they had unearthed a stash of the original GlowRing X2 in their tritium-powered novelty warehouse at an undisclosed location in the south of England, and did we fancy taking them on? Well, it was an offer we couldn't refuse, …

    Site News 24 Oct 2005, 12:06

  • Dutch plan for prison call centres slammed

    Cell phone operation

    A plan by Dutch justice officials to establish commercial call centres in jails was greeted with disbelief last week. The Dutch Association of Cell Centres deemed the plan "totally unacceptable", in particular if inmates are drafted in to sell insurance policies, such as theft coverage. A government spokesman has dismissed the …

    Management 24 Oct 2005, 12:09

  • Apple sued over Nano scratches

    Would-be class action claims foul play

    Apple knew its iPod Nano was susceptible to scratching but chose to ship the product anyway - so claims a lawsuit filed against the Mac maker last week. The complaint was filed in US District Court in San Jose California by Seattle-based lawyers Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro (HBSS) on behalf of California resident Jason Tomczak …

    Mac Channel 24 Oct 2005, 12:11

  • Aussies fine illegally-parked corpse

    Dead man in car gets parking ticket

    Melbourne council is unlikely to collect a parking fine imposed on a 71-year-old man for exceeding his alloted time in the car park of the Croydon Market shopping centre since he had lain dead for "several days" in the vehicle when an enforcement officer moved in. The man had been reported missing nine days previously and was …

    Bootnotes 24 Oct 2005, 12:14

  • RIM faces US Blackberry injunction

    Case will continue while Supreme Court ponders

    NTP is to ask a US District Court to confirm an injunction banning the sale of Research in Motion's Blackberry devices in the States after the US Court of Appeals threw out a request to put the legal fight on hold. RIM has asked the Court of Appeals to suspend the case against it while the US Supreme Court ponders whether it …

    Mobile 24 Oct 2005, 12:39

  • Michigan PC glitch lets prisoners out early

    Database unlocking

    A data processing glitch in Michigan has resulted in the early release of some inmates and the prolonged incarceration of others. The cock-up came to light after a state audit revealed errors in the release date of 23 prisoners between October 2003 and March 2005, local broadcaster WLNS reports. Eight prisoners doing time for …

    Management 24 Oct 2005, 12:58

  • Hubble seeks breath of fresh air in lunar soil

    A far cry from the intergalactic deep-field

    The Hubble Space Telescope has joined the hunt for sources of oxygen on the moon, and it is already proving its worth. NASA has been imaging the moon's surface using Hubble's ultra-violet imaging systems, and has already discovered deposits of ilmenite, a mineral containing titanium and iron oxide. Two of the deposits are at …

    Science 24 Oct 2005, 13:15

  • Novell job cuts by 31 October - reports

    Trick or...trick

    Novell is preparing to lay off as many as one in five of its staff, according to reports. About 20 per cent of Novell's 5,800 staff could lose their jobs. An announcement is expected before the end of its financial year - 31 October. Novell's non-core products are likely to be hit hardest. ZDNet predicts Novell's Extend …

    Management 24 Oct 2005, 13:35

  • Cisco targets emergency staff with IP radio

    Sierra, Oscar, Delta, Oscar, Foxtrot, Foxtrot

    Cisco is offering emergency services and big enterprises which use push-to-talk radios a way to integrate the devices with the rest of their communication systems. The system will convert radio signals into IP packets and route them over the IP network. That means that radio communication, which usually uses a proprietary …

    Data Networking 24 Oct 2005, 15:03

  • Apple admits SuperDrive 8x media reliability glitch

    Problem acknowledged, but where's the solution?

    Apple has finally coughed to the existence of a glitch numerous PowerBook G4 owners have been pointing out for months. Says a recently published Apple Knowledge Base entry: "Some earlier PowerBook G4 computers that have a SuperDrive with a 2x [sic] DVD-R write speed may not be able to burn 8x DVD-R media reliably. Because of …

    Mac Channel 24 Oct 2005, 15:10

  • Most DNS servers 'wide open' to attack

    Wibbly Wobbly Web

    Four in five authoritative domain name system (DNS) servers across the world are vulnerable to types of hacking attacks that might be used by hackers to misdirect surfers to potentially fraudulent domains. A survey by net performance firm the Measurement Factory commissioned by net infrastructure outfit Infoblox of 1.3m internet …

    Security 24 Oct 2005, 15:30

  • Guardian explains its vanishing ricin story

    Not totally convincingly...

    Things certainly move fast in the news business - six months after 'disappearing' a particularly valuable article on the ricin 'conspiracy' trial from its web site, the Guardian has put it back, and taken a stab at explaining itself. But it has not, we fear, been entirely successful. We covered the original disappearance here, …

    Media 24 Oct 2005, 16:08

  • Biometric ID - are they counting on your fingers?

    Letters Readers give it the eyeball...

    Three ID card-related stories in the past week drew attention to the issues of accuracy and security in biometrics. Slightly unexpectedly, Jerry Fishenden added Microsoft to the ranks of those critical of the UK ID card scheme, worrying that it could actually increase ID fraud. Jerry, whose full article can be read here, is …

    Letters 24 Oct 2005, 16:45

  • VMware sets partitioning software free . . . as in beer

    Look and touch but don't create

    VMware continues to step up pressure against rivals by maturing its partitioning play at a quick clip. The company this week hit out against Microsoft and Xen by releasing a free tool for running virtual machines on Windows and Linux PCs. Modeling itself on the likes of Adobe or Macromedia, VMware has put out the VMware Player …

    Servers 24 Oct 2005, 17:44

  • DEC veterans prepare chip challenge for Intel, AMD, IBM and Sun

    PA Semi Powers up

    If you were contemplating starting an IT company, deciding to go up against the likes of Intel, AMD, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Toshiba, Sony and TI with a new processor probably wouldn't seem like the smartest or most feasible idea. In fact, you'd likely characterize the idea as ludicrous with a dash of hopeless. That is unless you …

    Servers 24 Oct 2005, 21:23

  • Wikipedia: magic, monkeys and typewriters

    Letters Special We just 'Don't Get It'

    Smart mobs? Wise crowds? An open access internet encyclopedia that heals itself? File it all under 'flying saucers', say Register readers. But something is changing since we last wrote about Wikipedia a year ago. Even project founder Jimmy Wales has been obliged to admit its entries are "a horrific embarrassment". Readability …

    Letters 24 Oct 2005, 21:42

  • Intel delays and slows dual-core Itanium

    Quality issues and price/performance woes

    Intel has ripped open another huge hole on the troubled ship Itanic, saying that the dual-core Montecito chip won't arrive until mid-2006 and will come in much slower than expected. Just two weeks ago, Intel told reporters that Montecito would begin shipping at the end of this year and ramp to volume in the first quarter of …

    Servers 24 Oct 2005, 23:12