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27th February 2006 Archive

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  • Lawsuit claims Micron fixed memory prices

    After the period probed by the DoJ, too

    US memory maker Micron has been hit with a class-action lawsuit that alleges the company and some senior executives conspired with other DRAMurai to fix prices between 24 February 2001 and 13 February 2003. That conspiracy, the complaint claims, resulted in Micron posting false and misleading financial results during the cited …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 09:53

  • The Computer - An Illustrated History

    Book review Coffee table book for computer geeks?

    Remember coffee table books? Glossy, well-produced art books that are never actually read, but left lying around to show how cultured you are. This illustrated history of computing is such a book (it could make you look both techie and cultured, a good trick if you can pull it off), and it's almost big and solid enough to make …

    Developer 27 Feb 2006, 10:21

  • Google Video censors Iraq footage - for US only

    Updated Censorship comes home?

    Google's video service appears to be blocking US viewers from seeing an innocuous piece of Iraq footage that Google delivers to internet users in the rest of the world without any problems. The footage shows US military personnel detonating a roadside bomb in a controlled explosion. It's accessible from everywhere except the …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 10:40

  • French farmers suffer bird flu woes

    Deadly disease digest

    French poultry farmers are starting to feel the pinch as the effects of the bird flu crisis hit home. Holland, Hong Kong and Japan have all banned French poultry imports after a turkey farm in Ain department was decimated by the virus last week - despite its flock being kept indoors. Domestic sales are suffering too as alarmed …

    Science 27 Feb 2006, 10:48

  • C&W braces itself for 'year of hell'

    Jobs on the line

    Workers at Cable & Wireless (C&W) are bracing themselves for another round of job cuts as execs prepare for a "year of hell". An internal memo from UK boss John Pluthero seen by the Sunday Times talks of a massive shake-up at the business that will test the resolve of the most loyal employees. The business today is in "bad …

    Networks 27 Feb 2006, 10:55

  • Adventures with a Nigerian email fraudster

    Book review Scamming the scammers

    We've all had an email from the nephew of a recently-murdered diamond mine owner. Or the daughter of an imprisoned army general. Or anyone else in west Africa with access to a vast fortune – if only we can help them release the cash. Most of us recognise the Nigerian email scam and delete the messages. A few poor souls get …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 11:00

  • Intel specs up next-gen chipset GPU

    Viiv friendly

    The successor to Intel's Graphics Media Acceletor 950 core will bring DirectX 9 Pixel Shader 3.0 and HDMI support, superior de-interlacing, and improved colour callibration to the integrated graphics engine family, which will be touted as supporting what Intel now calls its Clear Video Technology (CVT). So suggest …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 11:19

  • Epson sues inkjet cartridge importer Medea

    Alleges patent infringement

    Epson last week began legal proceedings against Dundee-based printer cartridge importer Medea International, claiming the company is violating its intellectual property. However, it's unclear which of the importer's products are actually alleged to infringe Epson patents. Medea sells the inkjet cartridges under the Inkrite …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 11:20

  • US paras fingered over gay porn

    Makes a change from torturing Iraqis...

    Seven US soldiers have been charged over offenses linked to their appearance on a gay porn site. The men are charged with "sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex for money while being filmed", Reuters reports. One is also charged with adultery. Four of the accused have already received "nonjudicial" punishment - they were …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2006, 11:26

  • Perpetual motion with Apache

    Column A tale of Apache support

    When you hang around in an Apache support forum, you get all sorts of questions. At best, some really interesting discussions; at worst irrelevant nonsense. But always, a stream of newbies with FAQs. To be clear, when I say newbie, I mean exactly that: someone who is new to a particular subject. Most of them are on the learning …

    Developer 27 Feb 2006, 11:39

  • Triple threat to Mac OS X largely academic

    But more likely...you have been warned

    At first blush, the past two weeks have not been good for the image of Apple's Mac OS X: Public descriptions of two worms and a trivial exploit for a serious software issue in the operating system appeared on the internet. However, the three programs are hardly a threat to systems running Mac OS X, according to security …

    Malware 27 Feb 2006, 11:41

  • Vodafone takes £28bn hit

    Warns of tough times ahead

    Vodafone expects to reduce the value of its assets by between £23bn and £28bn, it said, as its nears completion of its budget for next year. Announcing the massive hit, the mobile phone giant said: "Vodafone now expects the outcome of this review of the carrying value of its assets will be a material impairment in the carrying …

    Mobile 27 Feb 2006, 11:43

  • FTC settles with CardSystems over data breach

    Forced to tighten security measures and undergo audit

    A payment processor that exposed 40m credit cards to the risk of fraud when a hacker took advantages of security failures has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges. Independent security audits will now be required every other year for 20 years. CardSystems Solutions and its successor Solidus Networks (which …

    ID 27 Feb 2006, 11:49

  • Enigma message cracks under distributed computing

    Code breaking help sought

    A distributed computing project has been set up that aims to crack unbroken Enigma ciphers dating back to World War II. One of four unbroken Nazi codes has already succumbed. The M4 project is seeking help from the net community in breaking the other three codes. Computer users interested in getting involved can download a …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2006, 11:51

  • MS, Intel gear up to unveil ultra-mobile tablet PC

    Taking the fight to Apple's iPod and Sony's PSP?

    Microsoft's so-called Origami Project, due to be launched on Thursday, appears to be its early version of the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) concept Intel has been touting of late, if an allegedly leaked Flash version of a promo video of the product is anything to go by. Quite apart from being a potential iPod competitor, the device …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 12:05

  • BT plays down 'free broadband' report

    Signs up Powerpuff Girls

    BT has played down reports that it is planning to offer its punters "free broadband" when its new 21st Century Network (21CN) is rolled out over the next couple of years. The Mail on Sunday ran a story saying that once 21CN was up and running punters would get a "broadband dialtone". But a spokesman for the UK's dominant fixed …

    Networks 27 Feb 2006, 12:07

  • Would you buy food off eBay?

    Thought not...

    Trading standards officers are demanding tighter regulations for websites which sell food products after they found three quarters of food for sale on eBay fails relevant hygiene and packaging laws. Investigators bought 89 products, 65 of which were unfit for sale in a British supermarket (73 per cent). Faulty labelling was the …

    Financial News 27 Feb 2006, 12:13

  • Politically motivated attacks soar in 2005

    Turkey tops cracker chart

    Web server attacks and website defacements rose 16 per cent last year, according to an independent report. Zone-h, the Estonian security firm best known for its defacement archive, recorded 495,000 web attacks globally in 2004, up from 393,000 in 2003. Mass defacements (371,000) were by far the largest category in 2005. More …

    Security 27 Feb 2006, 13:40

  • Dutch police target 23 Nigerian gangs

    Only the beginning?

    Dutch police say they are targeting another 23 Nigerian gangs after the arrest of 12 suspects as part of a joint US/Dutch investigation into 419 money-making schemes. Four chief suspects will be sent to the US for prosecution, where they could face up to twenty years of jail time if convicted. Eight others will be prosecuted in …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 13:45

  • Sony unveils shake-resistant Cyber-shot cameras

    6-8mp digital SLRs and compacts too

    Sony this weekend unveiled a trio of anti-shake digital cameras with widescreen picture support, including its latest shot at budget digital SLR supremacy and additions to its Cyber-shot W compact series that takes the line-up to 8.1 megapixels. The SLR-style H2 and H5 offer image capture resolutions of 6.0 and 7.2 …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 14:11

  • Agitating Java and testing Windows

    Combining manual and automated testing

    Test-driven development is only as good as its tests, and therein lies the problem for many developers. Recently, D Richard Hipp, who is the main author of the Sqlite open source database, analysed his source code. He calculates that 59 per cent of his code base is devoted to testing, covering 97.4 per cent of the code. …

    Developer 27 Feb 2006, 14:19

  • Sony, NEC to merge optical drive teams

    Blu-ray backer forms JV with HD DVD supporter

    Sony and NEC are to merge their respective optical drive divisions into a single ¥220bn ($1.9bn) jointly owned company, Sony NEC Optiarc, the two Japanese giants announced today. The move may pave the way for reconciliation between the two next-generation optical disc formats, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. Sony will be the bigger …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 14:44

  • Kingston pulls plug on IPTV service

    Neither tuned in nor turned on

    Kingston Communications, the Hull-based telco, is pulling the plug on its broadband TV service because not enough people watch it. Launched in 2000, Kingston Interactive TV (KIT) offered dozens of channels via a set-top box and an ADSL connection. At its height KIT Digital TV boasted 10,000 subscribers, but today only has …

    Networks 27 Feb 2006, 15:17

  • Boffins tout world's first single-chip digital microphone

    Akustica develops MEMS-on-standard-CMOS process

    US start-up Akustica today launched what it claims is the world's first micro-mechanical digital microphone chip that can be manufactured using standard chip-making processes. Pitching the part primarily at PCs, the company said the new part is sufficiently inexpensive to make microphone arrays in notebook screens and desktop …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 15:36

  • NSA searches for advanced data mining tech

    Silicon Valley shopping spree

    The National Security Agency (NSA) visited Silicon Valley this month on the hunt for private sector technology to beef up its already formidable snooping and signals intelligence portfolio. Data mining technologies to search for connections between seemingly unrelated snippets of information was top of the NSA's shopping list, …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 15:41

  • TerraTec Cinergy 2400i DT dual-tuner card

    Review Digital TV on your PC... times two

    Digital terrestrial TV is slowly but surely winning viewers over from analogue transmissions in Europe, and with all analogue signals scheduled to be switched off in the UK by 2010 and replaced by DVB-T, it's time to start thinking about how you might want to make the switch... If you've got a Windows XP Media Center …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 16:10

  • Germans want to charge Google

    Sound of sabres rattling...

    The boss of Deutsche Telekom is the latest to claim that companies like Google, which take advantage of high-speed networks, should help pay for them. DT CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke said: "Customers should not be the only ones to pay for this new world. Web companies that use this infrastructure for their business should also make a …

    Data Networking 27 Feb 2006, 16:24

  • NTP, RIM spar over proposed tech licence

    US Patent Office issues rejection notice

    NTP today accused Research in Motion (RIM) of misleading customers and carriers by claiming it has not proposed a licensing agreement the two companies could sign that protects mobile phone networks from future legal action. "RIM's public assertions that NTP has not proposed a licence that protects its carriers is both …

    Reg Hardware 27 Feb 2006, 16:41

  • Animal testing supporters go on offensive

    Plan for London demo

    This weekend saw a shift in Britain's increasingly fraught battle between the research community and animal rights extremists. Saturday's widely-reported Pro-Test march in support of Oxford's new animal lab marks the first time the first time the pro-testing lobby has taken off the mute button. It sought to show that people do …

    Science 27 Feb 2006, 16:46

  • US stops joining the worldwide web - official

    Flatlining in Flatbush

    Internet usage in the US has flatlined, with a third of the country's households stubbornly refusing to sign up. And don't expect any sudden surges of interest - only two per cent of US citizens surveyed by Parks Associates plan to sign up this year. This leaves 36 per cent of US households without an internet connection at …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 18:28

  • Yahoo! link confirmed in second Chinese dissident case

    'Auxiliaries of Beijing'

    Court papers about cyberdissident Li Zhi confirm that Yahoo! collaborated with the Chinese authorities, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. Yahoo! and local competitor Sina both provided evidence that allowed the Chinese to imprison Li. Li, a 35-year-old ex-civil servant from Dazhou in south west China, was …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2006, 18:29

  • Women kept in their place by new study

    Fat cat men can relax

    The toothless recommendations made by the Women at Work Commission today have achieved equality of a kind - they have been roundly condemned by almost everyone. Equality campaigners hoped the WWC's report, "Shaping a fairer future", would persuade the government to make equal pay audits (EPAs) compulsory at corporations. In its …

    IT Director 27 Feb 2006, 19:09

  • Sun says, 'No THX' to HTX

    'Our slots will stay free'

    Sun Microsystems won't ship servers with support for technology that gives Opteron-based systems a performance advantage over Xeon-based rivals. In so doing, Sun goes against a path being carved out by smaller server makers and competing Tier I vendors such as HP and IBM. Sun's upcoming line of Opteron servers will not have HTX …

    Servers 27 Feb 2006, 23:09