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7th November 2005 Archive

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  • Boffins chase 'hydrino' super power source

    Quantum theory called into question, apparently

    Dr. Randall Mills, a Harvard medic by training, is claiming to have built a prototype generator that can produce 1000 times more heat than normal fuels, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper. The trick, he says, is the use of a new form of hydrogen - we can hear your collective eyebrows raising - which he calls the …

    Science 7 Nov 2005, 08:02

  • A new category of storage reaches Europe

    Analysis Isilion scales walls of fortress Europe

    It is not everyday that a vendor comes to Europe with the message that they offer a totally new concept in storage. Such an event occurred last week when Isilon announced that it would be offering its clustered storage solutions to the European market in partnership with Zycko. Isilon is not a name that is well known outside of …

    The Channel 7 Nov 2005, 10:25

  • Skype explains why security evaluation omitted bug reports

    Analysis Security research and marketing don't mix

    The recent emergence of two sets of serious security vulnerabilities in Skype, the popular VoIP communications software app, couldn't have come at a worse time for the firm. Disclosure of the security flaws came days after the publication of a security evaluation of the Skype that wrote about its security model in glowing terms …

    Security 7 Nov 2005, 10:43

  • Apple Intel PowerBooks 'to debut Q1 2006'

    Widescreen, 13in x86-based iBook just after

    Apple's notebook lines look set to spearhead the Mac maker's shift to Intel processors next year, with the launch of updated PowerBooks and iBooks coming in the Q1/Q2 2006 timeframe. So claimed "extremely reliable sources", cited by AppleInsider, though the report is short on detail. Updated PowerBooks are likely to be …

    The Channel 7 Nov 2005, 11:04

  • Hong Kong man jailed for movie sharing

    BitTorrent user gets three months in chokey

    A Hong Kong man has been jailed for three months for the unauthorised sharing of movie files using BitTorrent. Chan Nai-ming, 38, was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty of copyright infringement at an earlier hearing last month. He was found culpable for uploading three films - Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss …

    Media 7 Nov 2005, 11:09

  • ITV favourite for Friends Reunited buy-out

    Bolt on for broadband TV apparently

    The auction to acquire Friends Reunited could be about to close after reports that ITV has agreed to stump up more than £150m to buy up the old school chum network. So, why is the UK commercial broadcaster so interested in Friends Reunited? Well, according to The Sunday Times, ITV wants to explore other revenue-earning …

    Financial News 7 Nov 2005, 11:11

  • Palm plans low-price Treo smart phones

    Going 3G, too

    Palm will push its Treo smart-phone family into the mid-range next year, according to one Wall Street analyst's report on the company's upcoming product plans. The $200 mid-range Treos will appear mid-2006, Caris & Co. analyst Susan Kalla wrote last week, according to a Forbes.com report this weekend. Nothing else is known …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2005, 11:25

  • Pennsylvania intelligent design trial winds up

    Judge will rule by year-end

    Lawyers in the Dover Intelligent Design case brought their arguments to a conclusion on Friday, leaving Judge John Jones to decide whether or not the teaching of intelligent design in public schools is allowed by the US constitution. In Dover, Pennsylvania, 11 parents are challenging in court the local school board's decision …

    Science 7 Nov 2005, 11:46

  • MS favourite for slice of AOL

    Says NYT

    Microsoft looks favourite to take a slice of AOL, according to a report by The New York Times. Last week, Time Warner confirmed that it was holding "exploratory" talks with a number of operators over the future of its AOL internet division. Chief exec Dick Parsons admitted that the internet giant was "holding exploratory …

    Financial News 7 Nov 2005, 12:01

  • Xbox 360 to top PS3, analysts opine

    Tech Digest Well, it'll be cheaper...

    Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour Gizmoville for the oddest digital goodies, Bayraider keeps tabs on the best and worst of eBay and Propellerhead answers your PC queries. Xbox to beat PS3 says analysts Analysts at Merrill Lynch believe that the Xbox 360 will win the next console war, because of …

    Consoles 7 Nov 2005, 12:11

  • Qualcomm sues Nokia in patent spat

    Alleges GSM, GPRS, EDGE intellectual property infringement

    Qualcomm today accused Nokia of patent infringement after filing a complaint against the Finnish phone giant in the San Diego US District Court on Friday. The allegation comes a week after Nokia and five other mobile phone, network and chip companies formally complained to the European Commission about Qualcomm's approach to 3G …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2005, 12:13

  • Samsung challenges Japanese fuel cell tech

    South Korean cell 'smaller, generates more energy'

    Samsung has developed a prototype notebook-oriented fuel cell which it claims last twice as long as rival systems. It's lighter and slimmer too, the South Korean giant said this weekend. Samsung claimed the cell squeezes 200 Watt hours of energy out of each litre of fuel it consumes, South Korea's Joong Ang reports. That, it …

    PCs 7 Nov 2005, 12:39

  • China plans moon-walk for 2017

    Hunting helium-3

    China is planning to send a manned mission to the moon as early as 2017, according to reports, to investigate the amount of helium-3 in the lunar soil. China first put humans in space in 2003, and has recently completed a second, longer, manned stint in orbit. Following the success of the latest mission aboard the Shenzhou 6 …

    Science 7 Nov 2005, 12:42

  • Two million Brits bullied at work

    Costs UK biz dear

    Two million Brits have been bullied at work during the last six months, the TUC has claimed - and UK biz loses 18m working days a year as a result, unions claim. A TUC survey uncovered a litany of abuse ranging from verbal to physical assaults. TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, told the BBC: "These figures suggest that …

    Management 7 Nov 2005, 12:48

  • Linux worm targets PHP flaw

    DON'T PANIC

    Virus writers have created a Linux worm which uses a recently discovered vulnerability in XML-RPC for PHP, a popular open source component used in many applications, to attack vulnerable systems. XML-RPC for PHP features in many web application including PostNuke, Drupal, b2evolution, Xoops, WordPress, PHPGroupWare and TikiWiki …

    Security 7 Nov 2005, 13:06

  • GM rolls out leg-shaking wireless Cadillac

    CD player, tints, GPS, threat assessment algorithm

    General Motors last week unveiled its vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) wireless comms set-up which allows cars equipped with the system to communicate and issue proximity warnings to attention-deficit drivers. The protype system, fitted to Cadillac STS sedans, uses a GPS antenna and wireless antenna to receive and broadcast positional …

    Bootnotes 7 Nov 2005, 13:09

  • Regulator fines Welsh firm £100k

    'Simply unacceptable' premium rate scam

    A Welsh phone company has become the latest outfit to be fined £100,000 for ripping off phone customers with a dodgy prize scam. Mobile Entertainment Group, which is based in North Wales, had the plug pulled on its service after premium rate regulator ICSTIS received ten complaints from punters who had received an unsolicited …

    Broadband 7 Nov 2005, 14:32

  • Creative targets Xmas with colour-screen MP3 player

    JPEG-tastic?

    Creative has launched its bid to grab the attention of digital music player buyers this Christmas: the 20GB hard drive-based Zen Sleek Photo. The photography side of the story is told by the player's 262,144-colour OLED screen on which to display digital images - JPEGs only - transferred to the device. And to add a personal …

    Peripherals 7 Nov 2005, 14:32

  • Alienware Aurora 5000 gaming PC

    Review Too short?

    Alienware is still fairly new to the UK market and up to now has stuck to its guns and produced only very high-end, and very expensive, PCs. But Alienware isn't only well known for its high-end, high-powered gaming systems, but also for its large, stylish cases. That's why I was both pleased and disappointed with the Aurora …

    Reviews 7 Nov 2005, 14:55

  • Dutch record companies say no to podcast licence

    Only if DRM is in place

    Dutch record companies have refused to contribute to a uniform podcasting licence proposed by the Dutch collection organisation for composers, lyricists and music publishers BUMA. They are only interested if some form of DRM is in place, a spokesman for Dutch Association of Phonogram and Videogram Producers (NVPI) told Dutch …

    Financial News 7 Nov 2005, 14:58

  • Whippersnapper launches UK airline

    Teenager takes to the skies

    A 19-year-old pilot launched his own UK airline today as he took the controls of a BAE Jetstream 31 between Southampton and the Isle of Man - the maiden flight for a business Martin Halstead hopes will carry 75,000 punters in its first year. The "baby Branson" thought up the idea for Alpha One Airways while sitting in a coffee …

    Bootnotes 7 Nov 2005, 15:29

  • Geac acquiesces to $1bn buyout

    Cash pours in through Golden Gate

    Enterprise software supplier Geac Computer Corporation has been bought by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1bn. The agreement, which is subject to standard closing conditions including the approval of regulators and Geac shareholders, is expected to close in the first calendar …

    Financial News 7 Nov 2005, 15:40

  • Satellite shows Greenland's ice sheets getting thicker

    All down to more snow falling, it seems

    While the edges of the glaciers are melting, the ice sheets in Greenland's interior are getting thicker, according to satellite data collected over the last 11 years. On average the ice sheets have got thicker by about six centimetres each year, the researchers say. The researchers, based at Norway's Nansen Environmental and …

    Science 7 Nov 2005, 16:46

  • Asteroid hunters honour gay Bulgarian gypsy singer

    The body formerly known as 2005 UT12

    A recently-discovered asteroid in the Taurus constellation is to be named after a Bulgarian transvestite folk singer, Ananova reports. The reason? Well, it was a Bulgarian team which spotted the body and, as a spokesperson explained: "We want to name the asteroid after the folk singer Azis, who is quite famous here." Fair …

    Bootnotes 7 Nov 2005, 16:47

  • Danon takes senior job with JP Morgan

    Capgemini unpleasantness was so last month

    Pierre Danon - the former head of BT Retail and until recently COO of Capgemini - has got a new job. He's been named as a "senior advisor" with investment bankers JP Morgan offering advice to companies in the telecoms, media and tech sectors. In particular, his views of the industry will be sought as the sector goes through a …

    Financial News 7 Nov 2005, 16:49

  • Pictures of booze can make you feisty

    You lookin' at my pint?

    The link between alcohol and aggression is well studied, but did you know that you don't even need to drink the stuff for it to have an effect on you? According to research to be published in Psychological Science, just looking at pictures of alcohol is enough to increase aggression. Researchers at the University of Missouri- …

    Science 7 Nov 2005, 17:06

  • Say hello to Windows Defender

    Redmond's praetorian guard

    Microsoft is to re-christen its anti-spyware software, currently a beta product still in development, as Windows Defender. On debut the product will protect against a range of threats including rootkits and keystroke loggers as well as spyware applications, according to a posting on a Microsoft engineering teams' blog. …

    Security 7 Nov 2005, 17:22

  • Throwback keyboard delivers sounds and feel of yesteryear

    Review Turn your Fs to Ps

    The Avant Stellar keyboard stands as a major throwback in a PC industry that thrives on making devices smaller, sleeker and quieter. Creative VisionTechnologies has created a keyboard that's clunky, loud and heavy. And it may be exactly what you're looking for, especially if reprogramming keys is your thing. Old-timers will …

    Reviews 7 Nov 2005, 21:33

  • Mobile data too complex, too flakey - poll

    Price and problem overload

    Punters are giving flaky mobile data services the cold shoulder, a survey has revealed. 64 per cent of those surveyed gave up after one or two attempts with the services, while only two per cent said they'd seek help from the carrier. Asked what would encourage them to use more mobile data, 53 per cent said lower pricing, 43 per …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2005, 23:40

  • MS targets developers with familiar integration and scale pitch

    Ballmer - our sum is bigger than our parts

    Microsoft has finally launched updates to its Windows developer tools and database, using a worldwide event to challenge competitors and any perceptions you might have that Microsoft is still not "enterprise-ready". Microsoft's corporate point man Steve Ballmer presided over the launch of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and …

    Applications 7 Nov 2005, 23:49

  • Yahoo! ties up TiVo, eyes cellphone

    Yodelling ringtones

    Web portal Yahoo! is to launch an own-brand cellphone, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. Nokia will provide the phone, and Yahoo!'s DSL broadband partner SBC (soon to be AT&T) will provide the service through its Cingular network. It marks a change of strategy for Yahoo!, which has so far been happy to work …

    Mobile 7 Nov 2005, 23:52

  • BizTalk 2006 Server to bundle adaptors

    One-stop-shop

    Sixteen application and technology adaptors for rivals' and partners' business applications are being bundled with the next edition of Microsoft's BizTalk Server. Microsoft has bundled adaptors for Oracle Database Connector, Oracle Application Suite, PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems with the BizTalk Server 2006 community …

    Applications 7 Nov 2005, 23:54