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4th January 2006 Archive

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  • Is it SOX or socks behind drop in class-action lawsuits?

    Hard to tell yet

    Call it post bull-market blues or the responsibilities demanded by Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), but the number of class-action lawsuits against public companies is dropping. Lawsuits from disgruntled investors in 2005 stood at 176 - a fall of 17 per cent compared to the previous year, according to the Stanford Law School and …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2006, 01:22

  • Analyst cheers Google with $600 per share target

    'You can do it!'

    Google and its cavalcade of adoring analysts look set to pump 2006 full of the same unbridled optimism that dominated 2005. Or so we predict after seeing Piper Jaffray analyst, Safa Rashtchy, hike his target on the ad broker up from $445 to $600. And, why not? The analyst expects "new initiatives, in particular Google's ad …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2006, 01:29

  • Former cyber security chief tapped as new CEO of spook op

    In-Q-Tel Yoran he's been hired

    The spookiest venture capital firm on the planet has hired a new CEO. In-Q-Tel - the CIA's venture capital unit - has tapped Amit Yoran as the successor to Gilman Louie, according to a report in the Washington Business Journal. The well-credentialed Yoran previously served as the first head of cyber security for the Department …

    Security 4 Jan 2006, 08:09

  • Sober up as Christmas viruses spiral

    Unwanted gifts

    The number of virus-ridden e-mails in Ireland reached record levels in December, according to statistics from hosting firm IE Internet. According to the firm, 23.4 per cent of the e-mails it intercepted during December contained an attachment with malicious code. The firm attributed the sharp increase in virus levels, up from …

    Security 4 Jan 2006, 10:12

  • AMD in LIVE! sticker frenzy

    Promises a Sin City in every room of your house

    AMD made a grab for the pre-CES limelight today announcing plans for media center desktop and notebooks under its LIVE! branding. But while the vendor is extending its professional AMD LIVE! brand to consumer devices now, the devices themselves won’t appear till the middle of the year. The LIVE! stickers will be slapped on …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2006, 11:12

  • PC World 'misled' punters over discount lappy

    'Happy New Year' from the ASA

    PC World has been ticked off for not having enough stock to meet a promotion for a cut-price laptop. The computer retailer - part of DSG International, which includes Dixons and Currys - ran a national press ad that told punters they could: "SAVE UP TO £140 ON LAPTOPS ... Packard Bell ... MODEL: R4650 ... USUAL IN-STORE PRICE £ …

    The Channel 4 Jan 2006, 11:16

  • Blue Coat dons Permeo

    End-point security play

    Security supplier Blue Coat is to buy privately-held end-point security specialist Permeo Technologies in a $60.8m cash-and-stock deal ($13.4m cash and $47.4m in Blue Coat stock). The acquisition, announced Tuesday, is designed to supplement Blue Coat's existing line of ProxySG proxy security appliances with technology designed …

    Security 4 Jan 2006, 11:22

  • Boffins hop onto King Kong bandwagon

    Giant apes? It's all true-ish

    Scientists have jumped neatly onto the King Kong bandwagon by offering amazing-ish insights into the truth behind the giant ape myth, Reuters reports. No, it's not that any film left unsequeled for long enough will eventually re-emerge from the cutting room as a bloated, three-hour monster, but rather that "animals on islands …

    Bootnotes 4 Jan 2006, 11:24

  • Symantec acquires IMlogic

    I'm (security threat) free

    Symantec announced a deal on Tuesday to acquire instant messaging security specialist IMlogic. Financial terms of the acquisition, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, were not disclosed. As the use of IM in corporations grows so too is the the number of security attacks targeting Instant messaging networks. …

    Security 4 Jan 2006, 12:04

  • Cheerleading can kill: official

    When pom-poms attack

    We're not quite sure what to make of this one, but feel it is in the public interest to report that any reader interested in taking up cheerleading as a fun alternative to IT would do well to check that their health insurance policy covers them for dangerous sports. That's because a report in the journal Pediatrics shows that …

    Bootnotes 4 Jan 2006, 13:05

  • E-tailers report 'bumper' Xmas

    Shoppers flock online

    There are signs that online retailers have experienced another bumper year, as shoppers turned their backs on the high street in favour of the net. Of course, the true picture of what happened this year won't be known for some time until the release of official figures and trading updates from retailers. However, there are …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2006, 13:48

  • CES 2006: the first gadgets land

    Weird shades from Moto, high def cams and more

    Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour Gizmoville for the oddest digital goodies. CES 2006 Oddities The New Year’s hangover has been and gone and Christmas is but a fading memory which means it is must be time for the traditional first week of January jaunt to Las Vegas for the CES show. The world’s …

    Peripherals 4 Jan 2006, 14:00

  • Korean stem cell team 'coerced' to provide eggs

    TV claims add to Hwang Woo-suk's woes

    Disgraced Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk's woes multiplied last night with the revelation on MBC TV that he had allegedly "coerced" female colleagues into providing eggs for cloning research, Reuters reports. Hwang, who resigned before Christmas amid serious doubts about his claims to have produced tailored embryonic …

    Science 4 Jan 2006, 14:28

  • BidPay.com closes its doors

    A 'strategic decision'

    BidPay.com - the online money transfer service backed by Western Union - has pulled the plug on its service. A note on its web site reads: "Effective December 31, 2005, BidPay.com, Inc. will be discontinuing operations. As a result, BidPay will no longer offer payment services to the online auction industry." According to …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2006, 14:48

  • Joint force for UK piracy crackdown

    The benefits of joined-up government

    Immigration, social security and trading standards officers have joined forces for a crackdown on traders who sell counterfeit goods in British markets. A multi-agency plan is being drawn up after a series of four raids, dubbed Operation Dawn, on North London's Wembley Market during the run up to Christmas. Between 50 and 70 …

    Software 4 Jan 2006, 15:00

  • iPods can damage hearing, says deaf rock star

    Well, maybe, shouts Pete Townshend

    Who guitarist Pete Townshend has sort-of backed recent sensational claims that iPod headphones can permanently damage your hearing, the BBC notes. Giving forth on his website, the sexagenarian guitar worrier declares: "I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf," …

    Bootnotes 4 Jan 2006, 15:18

  • Strategy Boutiques: click here for instant bullshit

    Incubate mission-critical users

    Regular readers will know that we at El Reg do like a bit of Strategy Boutique speak: the kind of incomprehensible drivel which emanates from rooms filled with joss-stick smoke and whalesong as the marketing boys work themselves up into a Powerpoint-driven frenzy of obfuscatory jargon. We're delighted, then, to point fellow …

    Bootnotes 4 Jan 2006, 15:35

  • Postconditionality is dangerous to your English

    You are an erudite lot

    In my recent piece on M and Mumps I included a throwaway remark on “post conditionality”, which has generated some correspondence. Here’s an example in M, courtesy of my M-speaking correspondent, Tommy Martin: S:X=5 Y="TEST" S:$D(Y) Z="ALPHA" I A=2 D SUB SET if X=5 Y="TEST" SET if Y exists in any form Z="ALPHA" IF A=2 DO the …

    Developer 4 Jan 2006, 16:08

  • Skype aims for mainstream with new products

    Fad gadgets

    VoIP giant Skype has announced a number of partnerships with telephony gadget manufacturers in a bid to reach a wider market with its internet telephony service. In just one of the partnerships announced, the voice over internet protocol (VoIP) provider has linked up with Panasonic to release a cordless telephone which allows …

    VoIP 4 Jan 2006, 16:20

  • BlackBerry squeezed by DoS security bugs

    Three vulns but only one fixed

    Research In Motion (RIM) has warned of a trio of vulnerabilities in its popular BlackBerry software that create a means for hackers to launch denial of service attacks. Patches are available to defend against only one of the vulnerabilities, but RIM has issued advice on how to guard against attack from the other two. The most …

    Mobile 4 Jan 2006, 16:26

  • Mailbox Internet to close London office

    Jobs a casualty of move

    Mailbox Internet - one of the UK's oldest ISPs - is closing its London office just three months after being bought by Leeds-based 186k. Staff were told just before Christmas that the Fulham office is due to close within the next couple of weeks. Of the 16 people who worked at Mailbox, six employees declined an offer to stay …

    Broadband 4 Jan 2006, 16:29

  • Sex chat doctor faces GMC hearing

    'Katie Beckinsale' on gross misconduct rap

    A fitness-to-practise panel of the General Medical Council yesterday heard how Dr Thomas Dent posed as a teenage girl named "Katie Beckinsale" and used this false identity to chat with 26 genuine teenage girls using "indecent language about sex and underwear". According to the Independent, Dent - a GP and director at the …

    Media 4 Jan 2006, 16:40

  • Sophos appoints new CEO

    Changing of the guard

    UK security firm Sophos has appointed a new chief exec. Steve Munford is stepping up from chief operating officer to head the firm as a replacement to Sophos's co-founders and former joint CEOs, Dr. Jan Hruska and Dr. Peter Lammer. Both Hruska and Lammer will remain on the company's board. Munford first joined Sophos in 2003 …

    Security 4 Jan 2006, 16:54

  • Google denies plan to enter dying, low-margin PC biz

    Will focus on easy money for now

    Google has quashed a rumor that it plans to enter the ultra low-margin PC business. The denial will surprise few given the speculative nature of the original LA Times piece that made the Google PC claim. In a 2006 technology predictions story, the Times declared, "Sources say Google has been in negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2006, 18:48