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30th January 2006 Archive

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  • Apache 2.2: new goodies from an old friend

    Our Apache wiz looks at what is new in version 2...

    Of course, you know this anyway. But just for the benefit of any long-term residents of Planet Amnesia, Apache is the software that powers most servers on the web - including, naturally, El Reg. And in December, Apache marked its tenth birthday with its first major new release in a little over three and a half years. So, what's …

    Developer 30 Jan 2006, 08:48

  • Good worms back on the agenda

    But are good viruses possible?

    ARLINGTON, Virginia - A researcher has reopened the subject of beneficial worms, arguing that the capabilities of self-spreading code could perform better penetration testing inside networks, turning vulnerable systems into distributed scanners. The worms, dubbed nematodes after the parasitic worm used to kill pests in gardens …

    Malware 30 Jan 2006, 10:16

  • Vodafone besieged by short termists

    Just when it needs lateral thinking

    Just as the US mobile carriers are turning in storming performances, Vodafone is under unprecedented pressure to dump its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless. Arun Sarin, defending his own CEOship in the face of mounting shareholder criticism, claims this would be the wrong time to get out of Verizon, since there would be …

    Financial News 30 Jan 2006, 10:25

  • Dell: no Intel exclusive

    Definitely maybe

    It's official: Dell doesn't have an exclusive deal with Intel, and has an open mind on using AMD processors in its products. So said company chairman Michael Dell last week when cornered by a Reuters reporter at the World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland. "Sure," he said when asked if the company might offer Opteron …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 10:27

  • Netgear's newest MIMO Wi-Fi gets full test

    Result: wakes up neighbours, useless at WEP

    The test is a disaster for the IEEE and 802.11n. The good news is that the new Wi-Fi MIMO technology really does reach throughput speeds of 100Mbps. The bad news: it utterly crushed a neighbouring network that used standard 802.11g. The review is an astonishingly thorough technical analysis, complete with every kind of test of …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2006, 10:40

  • Services market back to growth

    Budgets under pressure

    The IT, software and services market is heading back to growth - but growth tempered by a strong focus on cost-cutting. The impact of offshoring and budget cutting means growth will fall to less than five per cent over the next three years. The market will remain very price sensitive and public sector spending will fall to …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2006, 10:43

  • Smartfundit.com launches software financing market

    Comment Ready for a subscription revolution?

    Traditionally organisations have "bought" the software they use, although the range of licensing options available can be enough to confuse anyone. However, on both sides of the IT world (vendor and customer), surprisingly little attention has been given to acquiring the right to use software on a "subscription" basis rather …

    Software 30 Jan 2006, 10:54

  • Third of employers feel pressured to offshore

    Cut costs and tackle skills shortages

    Almost a third of UK organisations feel under pressure to take some of their business offshore to cut costs and tackle skill shortages, according to a new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This pressure has led to the offshoring of around 30,000 jobs a year since 2000, according to CIPD, …

    Developer 30 Jan 2006, 11:21

  • Irish Greens in stew over GM spud

    Blight-resistant tuber controversy

    Ireland's Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a request from German chemicals giant BASF to conduct field trials of a genetically-modified, blight-resistant potato, Reuters reports. BASF has created several strains of blight-resistant spud since 2003 when researchers discovered a Mexican wild potato, which is …

    Science 30 Jan 2006, 11:37

  • 'RFID tag' - the rude words ID card ministers won't say

    Lengthy descriptions of duck, but no d-word. ..

    When it comes to RFID, is MP Andy Burnham lying or drowning? If it's lying, then in principle the Home Office Minister is no more lying than other people are - the US Department of Homeland Security, the EU's Justice & Home Affairs Committee and impressive numbers of RFID, sorry, contactless, proximity chip vendors. But if he's …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2006, 11:41

  • Spain arrests six in net pervert crackdown

    Door closed on 62 child abuse forums

    Six people have been arrested in Spain in a crackdown targeting the exchange of images of child abuse that has also led to the closure of 62 so-called "internet communities". The operation follows a year-long investigation that focused on 2,870 net users in 40 countries (including Spain) who were suspected of exchanging …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2006, 11:41

  • Mars takes centre stage in IMAX spectacular

    NASA rovers' footage hits the big, big, screen

    Last Friday saw the premiere of Roving Mars, an IMAX spectacular created from material recorded by NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers on the Red Planet. The rovers' principal scientific investigator Steven Squyres, who also narrates some of the film, told Reuters: "I've kind of had this picture of what Mars really looks like …

    Science 30 Jan 2006, 11:45

  • Relisys goes into administration

    Monitor maker displays For Sale sign

    Monitor maker Relisys has gone into administration. The Manchester-based company's phones have not been answered for the last two weeks and its website went offline a week later (it's back now). PKF Accountants are handling the administration. A spokesman for PKF said: "John Newell and Kerry Bailey are handling things - it …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2006, 11:58

  • Intel Core Duo hit by USB battery drain bug

    Microsoft driver blamed

    Intel may be off the hook as the source of a bug observed by reviews that significantly reduces the battery life of Core Duo-based notebooks - apparently it's all Microsoft's fault. Or is it? The glitch was first noted by Tom's Hardware Guide last week. The site identified a persistent power drain whenever USB 2.0 devices are …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 12:24

  • VIP buys Realtime Distribution

    Distie consolidation

    UK distie VIP is buying Huntingdon-based Realtime Distribution - best-known for supplying gaming components. With an annual turnover of over £200m, VIP will keep Realtime trading under its own name and retain its current directors. VIP Computer Centre Ltd chairman Jatti Sahni said: “There is a great deal of synergy between VIP …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2006, 12:34

  • Face and fingerprints swiped in Dutch biometric passport crack

    Chip skimmed, then security breached

    Dutch TV programme Nieuwslicht (Newslight) is claiming that the security of the Dutch biometric passport has already been cracked. As the programme reports here, the passport was read remotely and then the security cracked using flaws built into the system, whereupon all of the biometric data could be read. The crack is …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2006, 12:38

  • Net gene tests dismissed as 'snakeoil'

    'Waste of money' say scientists

    Scientists have warned punters to avoid DIY gene tests currently enjoying a bit of a boom on the internet, because there is no evidence they work, The Guardian reports. Tests including those the makers claim can "measure a person's risk of developing intractable diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's" are increasingly …

    Science 30 Jan 2006, 12:57

  • Elcom goes the way of all resellers

    That's IT services, not funeral services

    In the 80s it was 'he who dares, wins'. In the 90s it was 'get big, get niche or get out'. At the turn of the millennium it was going to be 'services, services, services.' Then the dotcom boom turned everything upside down and the word was that everything you knew about business and everything you had built was worthless. …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2006, 13:01

  • MS source code fence jailed for two years

    'Joke' backfires on illwill

    A Connecticut man was jailed for two years on Friday (27 January) after pleading guilty to offering stolen copies of Windows' source code for sale online. William Genovese, 29, of Meriden, Connecticut, pleading guilty in August 2005 to trade secret offences over his attempts to sell purloined copies of the software blueprints …

    Software 30 Jan 2006, 13:06

  • Sony admits Connect Player 1.0 music software 'problems'

    Investigating performance issues

    Sony has apologised for problems some users have experienced with its Connect Player utility when the jukebox software is used with the firm's NW-A1000, NW-A3000 and NW-A608 digital music players, launched last November. Quite a few UK-based Walkman owners have complained on bulletin boards and to Sony directly that running the …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 13:43

  • Macally readies iPod Nano dockable headphones

    Plug and play

    Don't want to carry your iPod Nano in a pocket or around your neck? Then how about carrying it on your head? Accessory maker MacAlly has announced a set of cordless headphones that incorporate their own iPod Nano dock. Like Macally's older Shuffle-connectable headphones, the mTune-N's right speaker sports a slot for the music …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 14:30

  • T-Mobile USA makes unprecedented network expansion

    Mind the gap then close it

    The gap between T-Mobile USA and the other national carriers, Cingular, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, has widened following the past year’s wave of mergers in the US mobile market. Now the German owned player is looking to narrow the gulf somewhat by expanding the reach of its network through roaming deals, as a …

    Mobile 30 Jan 2006, 14:45

  • Time Warner embraces P2P

    My enemy's enemy is my friend

    Time Warner (TW) is embracing peer-to-peer technology to distribute films and other media in Germany. Despite leading the digital rights charge against Napster, the firm can now see the benefits of the technology. From March, when the service should launch, Time Warner will offer a selection of films including Batman Begins and …

    Financial News 30 Jan 2006, 15:21

  • Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom nine-megapixel camera

    Review Can it compete with budget SLRs?

    Fujifilm's FinePix S9500 Zoom is a nine megapixel all-in-one 'bridge' camera with a long 10.7x optical zoom lens and SLR-like styling. With its design and features, Fujifilm is clearly targeting buyers of budget digital SLRs, quoting LCD-based composition, a tilting monitor, movie mode and no concerns over dust getting on the …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 15:22

  • RIM defeats intellectual property firm

    InPro, in Germany, not the more famous one...

    Research in Motion (RIM) has prevailed in a patent infringement legal battle in Germany, the company said today. Like its better-known fight with US intellectual property holding company NTP, RIM's tussle with Luxembourg-based InPro centres on allegations that it used, without permission, technology patented by InPro. However, …

    Mobile 30 Jan 2006, 15:26

  • iSoft shares take a tumble

    Health provider takes turn for the worse

    Health provider iSoft saw its shares plummet this afternoon on news that profits will be hit by delays to Government improvements to NHS IT. The company told the Stock Market today that revenues would be some £55m lower than expected because of delays to the NHS programme for IT. Despite reassurances that the rest of its …

    Financial News 30 Jan 2006, 16:28

  • MS to omit anti-virus from Vista

    Testing times for next-gen OS

    Microsoft will omit anti-virus protection in Vista, the next version of Windows, which it plans to ship late this year. As with previous versions of Windows dating back to Windows 2000 at least, Redmond is promoting Vista as a landmark improvement in Windows security. Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platform products …

    Malware 30 Jan 2006, 16:36

  • Tree-hugging telco makes carbon neutral bid

    Manchester just got greener

    Manchester telco Your Communications has laudably decided to become a carbon neutral outfit by handing out 25,000 bags into which customers and employees can pop their old mobile handsets for recycling. For every customer who hands over a defunct handset or swaps to the company's e-billing system it will "dedicate a tree to a …

    Mobile 30 Jan 2006, 16:38

  • ICANN releases new dotcom contract

    Big changes made to VeriSign agreement - but are they enough?

    Internet overseeing body ICANN has released a revised contract for all dotcoms which it hopes will finally end a huge legal fight at the heart of the internet. Significant changes have been made to the deal - which will hand control of all dotcom domains to current owner VeriSign until 2012 - following widespread criticism from …

    Financial News 30 Jan 2006, 17:11

  • i-mate extends Jam PDA phone line-up

    The joint is jamin

    PDA vendor i-mate has posted details of its latest model, the Jamin - also known as the HTC Prophet - on its website ahead of next week's anticipated launch date. According to the site, the Jamin is a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE PDA-style smart phone running Windows Mobile 5.0 on a 200MHz Texas Instruments …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2006, 17:35

  • Security vendors open another front against spyware

    Singing from the same songsheet

    The three biggest anti-virus vendors have teamed up with testing labs to develop standards for spyware detection. Trend Micro, Symantec and McAfee are joining forces with ICSA Labs and Thompson Cyber Security Labs in a bid to standardise methods for sharing spyware samples and testing anti-spyware products and services. The …

    Malware 30 Jan 2006, 18:31

  • Vendors hold Itanium bake sale

    Bull commits $175m to promote HP gear

    A cavalcade of the Itanium processor's biggest supporters gathered last week at a fundraiser for the struggling processor. At stake is the processor's very existence, and the vendors vowed not to let their warm, large friend die before meeting its full potential. The Itanium chip is the last of a rare breed known as "single- …

    Servers 30 Jan 2006, 22:36