11th November 2005 Archive

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What is Web 2.0? You redefine the paradigm

Friday Poll Results Collective intelligence - It's not just for badgers

Three weeks ago we asked you - what does "Web 2.0" mean? What is it, really? No one who promotes the buzzword seems to be able to explain it. Even after a few mystical incantations of "collective intelligence" - we were none the wiser. So we opened the floor to Register readers - the people who keep the machines running …

Music and Media 11 Nov 2005, 01:59
Tinfoil hats attract mind-control signals, boffins learn

Government conspiracy suspected

Wearing a tinfoil hat to deflect government mind-control radio waves is even more foolish than most people think. According to several (apparent) students from MIT who tested several hat designs, there was "a 30 db amplification at 2.6 Ghz and a 20 db amplification at 1.2 Ghz, regardless of the position of the antenna on the …

Mobile 11 Nov 2005, 02:05
Dell slows down in third quarter

PC sales tank

Dell waddled through a sticky third quarter in which the company met lowered revenue totals and coughed up hundreds of millions for faulty products and layoffs. In its worst quarter in recent memory, Dell posted revenue of $13.9bn - an 11 per cent year-over-year rise. The hardware maker once suggested that revenue for the …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 02:38
BBC film exposes phone scam misery

Makes uncomfortable viewing

The shady world of rogue diallers and premium rate phone scams comes under the spotlight today following an investigation by the BBC's Money Programme. The half-hour film reveals how criminals exploit premium rate services and run rings round regulator ICSTIS. Programme makers managed to track down and interview someone who has …

Telecoms 11 Nov 2005, 07:02
Apple's lockdown patent lacks method and apparatus

Something funny happened on the way to the USPTO

Apple faces an uphill battle to get a crucial patent application accepted, say senior systems experts who have reviewed the proposal. Apple filed the application in April 2004, and it was published by the US Patents and Trademarks Office last week. If it works as described, the technology will be a key factor in ensuring Mac OS …

Personal 11 Nov 2005, 08:35
Just in from Gizmoville

Tech Digest Samsung's mobile frenzy and more

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. Now Samsung has a skinny phone Earlier in the week it was Motorola, today it is Samsung’s turn to grab the mobile spotlight. It …

Peripherals 11 Nov 2005, 10:08
Plusnet turns to Tiscali for LLU

Unbundled broadband on trial

PlusNet is to piggyback onto Tiscali's unbundled broadband network in what's believed to be Tiscali's first deal as a wholesale LLU provider. As part of the trial Sheffield-based Plusnet will be looking to test ADSL2+ technology to provide punters with speeds of up to 24 meg. The tie-up with Tiscali mirrors a similar deal …

Telecoms 11 Nov 2005, 10:11
ATI to ship chipset updates 'by end of year'

Coming sooner than expected?

ATI will release its next members of the Radeon Xpress family by the end of the year. So internal documents seen by Anandtech indicate. The site suggests ATI will offer the RS485 and RS490 North Bridge parts in the same late 2005 timeframe. The RS485 is said to be a tweaked version of the already-shipping RS482. Both parts …

Channel Register 11 Nov 2005, 10:24
Yahoo! pulls! out! of! race! for! AOL!

Thanks! for! telling! us!

Yahoo! has dipped out of a possible tie-up with AOL after the pair couldn't agree terms, the WSJ reported yesterday. The giant portal with its distinctive "!" admitted that the bosses of both companies had met last month to discuss a possible deal but that there wasn't enough common ground. Yahoo! made no formal offer, it said …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 10:25
Asus GPS PDAs hit UK streets this month

Windows Mobile 5.0 included

Asus will this month ship its latest GPS-oriented PocketPCs in the UK, the MyPal A632 and A636. Both devices feature an integrated GPS receiver with the rotate-and-fold antenna mounted on the side of the handheld rather than the back. The receiver is powered by SiRF's Star III chip. The bundled route-planning app is Destinator …

Mobile 11 Nov 2005, 10:46
Apple quietly bundles anti-scratch case with iPod Nano

Now you can keep it with your keys

Apple has apparently begun bundling a soft fabric slip-case with its iPod Nano, recent buyers of the diminutive digital-music player have claimed. According to a forum post on iPod fan website iLounge, the new cases are white and stamped with the iPod logo. Essentially it's the same type of case that ships with the new video …

Peripherals 11 Nov 2005, 10:48
Boeing 777 breaks non-stop flight record

11,664 nautical miles in 22 hours

A Boeing 777LR (Longer Range) airliner yesterday broke the world record for the longest distance travelled non-stop by a commercial aircraft when it landed at London's Heathrow after a marathon 11,664 nautical mile, 22 hour, 42 minute flight from Hong Kong. The 777 left Hong Kong at 10.30pm local on 9 November, travelling east …

Science 11 Nov 2005, 11:04
Iomega touts anti-shock micro HDD

Credit card-sized

Iomega has brought the "drop-shock technology" increasingly finding a place in notebook hard disk drives to its line of compact external HDDs, the company said yesterday. The new Micro Mini Hard Drive line comprises a pair of drives, one offering 4GB of storage, the other 8GB. Both connect to a host Windows, Linux or Mac system …

Peripherals 11 Nov 2005, 11:13
Busy signal at 911?

Emergency callers left hanging on

A software update on Monday night left Louisville residents unable to call 911 for help. For 2 hours the 32 phone lines were jammed, with dispatchers unable to disconnect the calls they had taken previously. The error was related to the enhanced 911 system, designed to show dispatchers the addresses and telephone numbers of …

Applications 11 Nov 2005, 11:42
Mac anti-rip code surfaces on Sony BMG CD

Kernel extensions installed

Sony BMG's controversial DRM code controversy may have now spread to Macs. According to long-running Mac user website MacInTouch, at least one CD distributed by the major label includes a Mac OS X application that purportedly installs a pair of extensions to the operating system's microkernel. MacInTouch correspondent Darren …

Mac Channel 11 Nov 2005, 11:44
Sony BMG faces digital-rights seige

Ripped over anti-rip rootkit

The criticism of music giant Sony BMG Music Entertainment and its surreptitious copy protection software went up an octave this week as attorneys and law firms readied nearly a half dozen legal complaints against the company on behalf of consumers. Ten days after two security researchers took Sony BMG to task for its invasive …

Security 11 Nov 2005, 11:56
Emmys to honour mobile content

Small, small screen awards

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - the body responsible for dishing out niche-market Emmys, including those for daytime TV, sports and news - is to honour original mobile content with a new category of award, the New York Times reports. Although the US demand for mobile entertainment is small - there are an …

Mobile 11 Nov 2005, 11:58
BOFH: Hi Honey I'm home

Episode 30 The Bastard returns from his travels

"WHERE THE **F#@K** HAVE YOU BEEN?" the Boss screams at me the moment I try my key in the door to mission control. "Uh... On holiday?" I respond, noting two things - (a) my key doesn't fit and (b) the door's new. "You should know, you signed the leave form! Or you could have asked the PFY." "Oh I was on holiday too," the PFY …

BOFH 11 Nov 2005, 12:02
SMS.co.uk sale fails to attract winning bid

:-(

The sale of the domain sms.co.uk has suffered a hiccup after bidders failed to match the reserve price. When sms.co.uk was put up for auction last month those behind the sale were optimistic that it could net more than £100,000. At the time David Carter, director of Hollywood Internet Ltd - one of the companies helping to flog …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 12:33
Pensioners in drunken elk terror ordeal

Armed police defend old people's home

Armed Swedish police were this week obliged to confront a herd of drunken elk which had surrounded an old people's home in Östra Göinge, near Malmö, the Guardian reports. The elk, however, were unimpressed by the Boys in Blue and their dogs, and dispersed only when gun-toting hunters attended the scene, according to Swedish …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 12:47
Court restrains US spyware outfit

600 blogs hit by free download scam

A US operation which allegedly hit 600 blogs with spyware attached to free downloads has been temporarily shut down by a Los Angeles court pending further action by the Federal Trade Commission. According to a CNET report, California-based Enternet Media disseminated its spyware via an affiliate programme in which webmasters …

Security 11 Nov 2005, 13:57
Bird flu flamingo culled in Kuwait

First H5N1 case hits Middle East

A migratory wild flamingo discovered last week on a beach in Kuwait was carrying the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, the BBC reports. It is the first confirmed case of the disease in the Middle East. The milder H5N2 strain was found in an infected falcon in a shipment at Kuwait Airport. Kuwait Public Authority for …

Science 11 Nov 2005, 14:01
Kelly Brook nude beach romp splashes onto net

Attempted movie cover-up fails

Brit actress Kelly Brook is getting more exposure on the web this week than she might like after website What Would Tyler Durden Do? (NSFW) posted nude scenes from her movie Three for the benefit of the internet viewing audience worldwide. According to WWTDD: "This is one of the clips from the movie Three, the movie Kelly is …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 14:09
Copper supplies drugs to schoolgirl, 10

Accidentally, but still...

A Lincolnshire mum has been left "annoyed" and "gobsmacked" after her 10-year-old daughter returned from school with a bag of amphetamines - courtesy of the local Old Bill. Now, we can think of several sink estates where parents would be delighted if their kids came home with speed in their satchels, but Amanda Butterfield …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 14:34
Good work so far on efficiency.gov, more to be done

Des Browne talks gains

The UK government is making good progress toward meeting the targets outlined in the Gershon efficiency review, but the hard work is still to come. To meet targets, government departments and local authorities need to share best practice, so that everyone can gain from it. Speaking at the OGC's annual conference on efficiency …

IT Director 11 Nov 2005, 14:56
Don't fancy being tagged? Wear a skirt

Fashion-conscious teen avoids 'stupid' accessory

A teenager charged with GBH who failed to comply with the conditions of her bail has escaped being tagged after successfully convincing magistrates that the ankle-borne electronic device would look "stupid" with her preferred choice of attire. Skirt-wearing 18-year-old Natasha Hughes, accused of grevious bodily harm against …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 14:56
419ers ejected from Gaza Strip

Ah, bless

Here's some more hot-off-the-presses sizzling 419 action to round off the week - this time from the Gaza Strip: My name is MRS LIGI SOLOMON; a contractor from ISREAL The statistics shows that the Economy of your country is getting better and will be more profitable in few years to come.I am interested to invest in your …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 14:59
C&W absorbs Energis

£600m deal done

Energis is now officially owned by Cable & Wireless (C&W) following the completion of the £600m acquisition today. From Monday, Energis boss John Pluthero takes on a new role as executive director of the Cable & Wireless UK business. While the deal means that C&W should be able to compete more effectively with BT, it will also …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 15:09
Google marks Armistice Day

Makes amends for St George's Day outrage

We at El Reg have been known to take the ocassional pop at search monolith Google - especially regarding its erratic policy of marking anniversaries and commemorations with a make-over of its logo. Regular readers will, of course, remember the 2005 St George's Day outrage which had old boys spluttering with barely-concealed …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 15:14
Club 3D ships 'fastest' Radeon X1800 XT-based board

Goes like the proverbial off a shovel, apparently

Graphics card company Club 3D today said its 512MB Radeon X1800 XT-based board is now available to gamers across Europe. The chip itself is clocked at 625MHz, and with the half a gig of GDDR 3 clocked to 750MHz (1.5GHz effective), Club 3D claimed the board was "the fastest VGA card available to buy". The Radeon X1800 XT …

Peripherals 11 Nov 2005, 16:16
PartyGaming grabs MultiPoker.com

House is getting fuller

PartyGaming - the online gaming outfit - is forking out $14.5m to snap up a Scandinavian poker outfit. MultiPoker.com uses PartyGaming's online poker playing platform, and has some 255,000 registered players in Scandinavia. The deal means that PartyGaming gets the whole shebang - business, assets, player database, brand and …

Financial News 11 Nov 2005, 16:21
Darkness falls on despairing (and bogus) IT pros

Letters And we witness a catastrophic sense of humour failure

The bogus Lord BOFH has kept you all agog this week. This, for the uninitiated, is the story of a man who assumed the identity of a dead baby. Catch up on the details here before you take a stroll through your fellow readers' thoughts on all things Buckingham related: "Bogus Baron?" Please, "Ersatz Earl." Joe Well, …

Letters 11 Nov 2005, 16:53
US DoJ offers to jail copyright infringers

Attorney General floats tough new law

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has proposed tough new copyright enforcement laws that would criminalise consumers simply for trying to make unauthorised copies of music, movies and software, whether they are successful or not. Dubbed the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005 (IPPA), the bill, which has yet to be …

Music and Media 11 Nov 2005, 17:11
BBC unwraps new series' Cybermen

'I know that object'

The BBC has revealed what the major villains from next season of Doctor Who will look like. Yes, that's right, the Cybermen have a new design, the latest in a long line of silvery, cybernetic fashion statements that the monstrous Mondasians have been attempting to foist upon Earthlings since the late 1960s. Gone are the loose …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 17:12
Big Google is much worse than Big Oil

And ninethly Tell your senator

Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency - Raymond Chandler Keep your friends close and your herpes closer. That's a maxim I've always lived by. I've found it to be rewarding, and suggest you adopt it as well. Plenty of groups often forget who their friends, enemies or …

Bootnotes 11 Nov 2005, 21:52