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20th March 2006 Archive

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  • COBOL Resartus

    Comment Revisiting the re-tailored COBOL universe

    COBOL, the Common Business-Oriented Language, was one of the first signs (somewhat after LEO, the world’s first business computer in 1951) of the acceptance of computers as a routine business, as opposed to scientific or engineering, tool. The design of COBOL was strongly influenced by FlowMatic, developed through the 1950s …

    Developer 20 Mar 2006, 07:02

  • Camelot fined £90k for online lotto snafu

    Small bug, not many dead

    Camelot - the outfit that runs the UK's National Lottery - has been fined £90,000 for getting some customer charges wrong in 2004. Its online subscriptions system lets players pay for lotto games online and even set up direct debit agreements for repeat draws. However, its regulator, the National Lottery Commission, found that …

    Financial News 20 Mar 2006, 07:02

  • Phew! Google saves US netizens from Gov snoops

    What's wrong with this headline?

    Hurrah! Google has made the internet safe for US citizens! Or at least that was what the company implied late on Friday evening, after a federal judge ruled that the company didn't have to turn over a sample of anonymized search queries to the US Department of Justice, and only needed to provide a sampling of websites it …

    Music and Media 20 Mar 2006, 07:43

  • Salesforce.com warms to Eclipse

    Sharing is good

    Salesforce.com is releasing a version of its AppExchange toolkit on the open source Eclipse framework to attract developers to its new services marketplace. The company is expected to launch its free AppExchange Toolkit for Eclipse, while also announcing membership of the open source tools organisation at EclipseCon in Santa …

    Developer 20 Mar 2006, 08:02

  • TeliaSonera joins Freemove Alliance

    Comment But is it enough to rescue the group?

    Finnish operator TeliaSonera has made a number of moves recently to compensate for its small home customer base by forming a web of roaming alliances abroad. First came Wi-Fi oriented partnerships with NTT DoCoMo of Japan and others, with TeliaSonera the first European operator to trial WLan/cellular convergence using …

    Mobile 20 Mar 2006, 09:31

  • London boroughs not sold on small.biz

    Oh woe is SME

    London boroughs must do more to boost the number of smaller businesses selling goods and services to local councils. The conclusion comes from a detailed review conducted by Harrow Council in conjunction with the London Centre of Excellence into local authority "selling to the council" web pages. The report finds that while …

    Small Biz 20 Mar 2006, 10:02

  • AMD grew sales 50 per cent year on year

    Letters Spansion factor 'hides' expansion between 2004 and 2005

    Last week, AMD appeared to have slipped in the world chip rankings, according to numbers provided by market watcher iSuppli. Not so, said AMD. With the inclusion of figures from the spun-out Flash memory division Spansion - absent, we should say, through an error of ours, not iSuppli's - the chip maker's ranking would have been …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 10:13

  • Acer 'readying' HD DVD notebook

    Following Toshiba's lead?

    Acer is to join Toshiba next month and offer a high-end notebook with an integrated HD DVD drive. So claims Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times today, according to a DigiTimes report. Alas there are no other details: will the machine be offered in the US, Europe or both, for example? But it doesn't come entirely …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 10:30

  • Brain Academy 2006 launches geek hunt

    Precocious pubescents win prizes

    Brain Academy, the competition for budding computer scientists, has opened its doors once again. This year's theme is the interface of compsci and the entertainment industry. University of London organiser Dr Paul Curzon said: "Most of us use computer science in our day to day lives without even realising it; and our innovative …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 10:38

  • China loosens VoIP rules

    Not a lot, just a bit

    Chinese regulators are treading carefully when it comes to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone calls. Two companies have been awarded the right to conduct limited trials of the technology, but full licences won't be given out until 2007. China Telecom and China Netcomn have been granted permission to conduct testing, and …

    VoIP 20 Mar 2006, 10:42

  • Bus driver sacked for playing PSP

    Grand Theft Auto, naturally

    A bus driver has been sacked after passengers complained he was driving the bus while playing a portable games machine. Steve Allcock was playing Grand Theft Auto on his PSP. Passengers could clearly hear the sound effects from the game while he drove the bus from Accrington to Blackburn in Lancashire. When the bus company …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 2006, 10:46

  • Oz registrar closes John Howard satire site

    Iraq 'apology' blocked at PM's behest

    An Australian domain name registrar has bowed to pressure from the office of PM John Howard and shut down a satirical website resembling that of the Oz supremo and carrying an "apology" for the war in Iraq, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Veteran satirist Richard Neville's johnhowardpm.org - registered with Melbourne IT and …

    Music and Media 20 Mar 2006, 10:47

  • Net video confirms Xbox 360 hack

    Coder pledges not to release modified firmware

    A video has been posted on the web that appears to confirm claims that the Xbox 360's anti-hack security system has been... er... hacked. The video shows a console with its lid off playing a copy of a game. Claiming they're more interested in hacking than piracy, the collaborative effort led by an individual known only by the …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 10:55

  • More PS3 details emerge

    Games Digest Free multi-player gaming on the cards

    Sony Computer Entertainment's president, Ken Kutaragi, announced a raft of new details about the PS3, PSP and PNP at a press conference in Tokyo last week. The big announcement, that the PS3 will launch in mid-November in Japan, the US and Europe simultaneously, has already been covered by Reg Hardware. But more interesting is …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 11:02

  • Belgians implant RFID chip in tooth

    Absolutely dental

    Belgian scientists at the Catholic University of Leuven have embedded an RFID chip into a tooth to show how detailed personal information can be stored. Patrick Thevissen and his team adapted a tag which vets already implant into animals. If you lose your chipped dog, vets can retrieve the pet's home address from the device. …

    ID 20 Mar 2006, 11:02

  • PSP 'base pack' to ship Wednesday for £149.99

    £12 cheaper on the Continent

    Sony has revealed it will demand punters pay a penny under £150 for the basic PlayStation Portable package when it launches here on 22 March. Announced last week, the box contains just a PSP and a mains adaptor, unlike the bundle-heavy Value Pack that launched in September 2005. A Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesman …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 11:35

  • Earth may have 'infected' Titan with life

    Panspermia postulations

    The various meteoric slappings sustained by Earth over the millenia may have seeded other parts of the solar system with life, if calculations by Canadian scientists are to be believed. Planetary scientist Brett Gladman and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver worked out that for material to be thrown …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 11:36

  • Vodafone eyes fixed line service

    To expand or not expand, that is the question

    Vodafone is looking to branch out into the fixed line world to offer voice and broadband products alongside its own mobile services, The Business reports. According to an interview with Vodafone boss Arun Sarin, it seems likely the telco will resell wholesale voice and broadband services rather than buy a service provider. It …

    Mobile 20 Mar 2006, 11:39

  • Personal CD players ejected from RPI basket

    MP3 upstarts get the nod

    The personal CD player has been ejected from the "shopping basket" of goods and services used by Government statisticians to measure the rate of inflation. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has decided that personal CD players, introduced to the Retail Price Index (RPI) basket of goods in 1998, are no longer …

    Financial News 20 Mar 2006, 12:00

  • Aussies hit cane toads for six

    Howzat!

    Wind in the Willows fans look away now. Residents in Australia's Northern Territory have begun staging mass exterminations of invading cane toads, the BBC reports. Local government last week backed a series of events under the banner: "Not In My Backyard". Federal MP Dave Tollner stepped up with slaughter tips: "I suggested …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 12:12

  • South Park declares war on Scientology

    'The war for earth has just begun!'

    South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have all but declared war on the Church of Scientology following member Tom Cruise's successful move to have episode Trapped in the Closet pulled from US screens. Comedy Central canned a repeat of the offending programme due to air last Wednesday, provoking the show's creators to …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 2006, 12:17

  • Philips to fix 12,000 plasma TVs

    House calls planned

    Philips said last week it needs to fix 12,000 46in and 50in plasma TVs in the US to prevent them from potentially overheating, though it claimed the faulty screens do not pose a fire risk to owners and their homes. The consumer electronics giant would not say how much it will cost to carry out repairs to all those PDPs, each …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 12:27

  • South Korea sacks cloning prof

    Woo-suk says adios...

    South Korean cloning researcher Hwang Woo-suk has been dismissed from Seoul National University for his role in falsifying results. Woo-suk was suspended by the university in February. University directors met last week and decided to sack Woo-suk and another professor involved the cloning research. Six other professors have …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 12:57

  • Quark unveils new, new logo

    LogoWatch No 'uncanny' resemblance to Scottish Arts Council graphic

    Quark has thrown in the towel on the "fresh, inviting, and open" logo it unveiled last September to the usual over-excited fanfare of trumpets - only to find the new brand frontage bore an "uncanny" resemblance to that of the Scottish Arts Council. No matter, pull a few previously-rejected alternatives from the waste paper bin …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 2006, 13:17

  • Nvidia pitches physics-on-GPU code

    Games to get more real?

    Nvidia will this week show in-game physics code calculations being run on a graphics processor, the first time this has been done in public, the company claimed today. When the technique is implemented in future games, the benefit for players will be more realistic virtual worlds, Nvidia said. The process uses code from …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 13:20

  • BT names IPTV service

    Prepare for an injection of BT Vision

    BT has revealed the name of its new TV service, which is due to be launched later this year. It's to be called "BT Vision". And the giant telco is really pushing hard to plug the service. "If you thought BT was just about telephones and broadband then think again," says the blurb on the telco's website dedicated to BT Vision …

    Telecoms 20 Mar 2006, 13:21

  • Missing volcano worker 'presumed dead'

    'No chance' of surviving NZ eruption

    Hopes for missing conservation worker Mark Kearney on the New Zealand volcanic island Raoul are slim. Kearney was part of a New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) team carrying out routine monitoring when Raoul unexpectedly erupted on Friday. His father Ray said: "Mark was basically sitting on a bomb when it exploded." …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 13:50

  • 3 users get Hotmail on the move

    MSN Messenger too. Lovely

    Microsoft and Hutchison 3G have announced a deal that will make it easier for 3G users to access MSN Messenger and Hotmail on the move. The mobile telco will make both services available on its portal. MSN Messenger clients will also come pre-installed on 3G mobile phones from 3. As part of the global agreement, the MSN …

    Mobile 20 Mar 2006, 14:07

  • ATI unwraps first 1GB graphics card

    FireGL family updated

    ATI today unwrapped its latest pair of workstation-oriented graphics chips - including what it claims is the first ever board to support one gigabyte of graphics memory. The FireGL parts are also the first products of their class from ATI to support Shader Model 3.0. The 1GB FireGL V7350 is accompanied by the V7300, a 512MB …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 14:17

  • Forgotten password clues create hacker risk

    Crackers play battleships with user credentials

    Security flaws in the "forgotten password" feature of ecommerce websites leave half the UK's online retailers open to attack, according to security consultancy SecureTest. It warns that the log-in process of many transactional websites can be subverted by a "brute force" or enumeration attack. In a survey of 107 popular online …

    Enterprise Security 20 Mar 2006, 15:36

  • UK online net spending soars

    As overall ad spending slows

    The amount of cash spent on internet advertising in the UK soared last year, according to figures compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) on behalf of the Advertising Association (AA). The trade group says spending on online advertising in the UK rose 73 per cent during 2005, taking ad revenues to £1.13bn - way …

    Financial News 20 Mar 2006, 15:38

  • Fears for Balkans Eurovision war

    Musical flashpoint in Serbia-Montenegro

    Relations between Serbia and Montenegro are at present rather strained after the withdrawal of their joint entry for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC reports. Earlier this month, Montenegrin band No Name won the Belgrade shoot-out to decide who would represent the fun-loving pair of Balkan states in Athens in May. A …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 2006, 15:43

  • Verisign buys mobile publisher

    Crazy Frog keeps growing

    Verisign has bought mobile content and billing company m-Qube for $250m. m-Qube works with companies such as CBS, Nickelodeon, Reuters and Public Enemy to make and distribute mobile content and charge for it. The m-Qube deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006 and to have no effect on earnings for the full year …

    Mobile 20 Mar 2006, 15:46

  • The science behind the human guinea pig drug trial

    Two still critical and questions to answer

    The race is on to nail down the cause of the catastrophic immune response of the six seriously-ill drug trial volunteers. Doctors at Northwick Park Hospital say two men are still critically ill, and that it is too early to comment on their prognosis. Three of the four who have shown signs of recovery are now off organ support …

    Science 20 Mar 2006, 16:15

  • 'Tube geek' in trouble again

    TfL goes after ISP

    Geoff Marshall is in trouble with London Underground again - and this time Transport for London is going after his internet service provider. After comments he posted on his blog about ongoing trouble with Transport for London he was contacted by someone at Clara.net - his ISP. We left messages with Clara.net but haven't heard …

    Telecoms 20 Mar 2006, 16:26

  • CCTV staff quizzed over nude art shoot footage

    Spencer Tunick close-ups 'offered in pubs'

    Tyneside police are investigating two civilian CCTV staff as part of a complaint into the "possible misuse" of "close-up" footage of naked participants in Spencer Tunick's mass nude shoot on the banks of the Tyne last July. According to the BBC, officers are probing "reports of snapshots being offered in pubs". Northumbria …

    Music and Media 20 Mar 2006, 16:31

  • MS lawsuits aim to reel in phishers

    Hook, line and sinker

    Microsoft has announced plans for legal action against more than 100 online fraudsters in Europe and surrounding regions. The action, part of the software giant's Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative (GPEI), is part of a wider scheme to fight online scams through consumer protection, partnerships and prosecution. The first 53 …

    ID 20 Mar 2006, 16:39

  • Three bidders interested in Phones4U

    Decision time for Caudwell, says report

    Phones4U boss John Caudwell is nearing a decision about the future of his business almost six months after putting his entire telecoms empire up for sale. The Sunday Times reports that Caudwell has received three bids from private equity outfits, valuing the business at around a billion quid. Caudwell is expected to select one …

    Financial News 20 Mar 2006, 16:45

  • A life of service

    Comment SOA - new developers start here

    While pundits argue about when Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) will take over the world, there is a reasonable consensus that this is the way much of the business IT implementations world is moving. Given that, the world of the applications developer is liable to change, with perhaps the most important aspect being the …

    Developer 20 Mar 2006, 16:54

  • Euro trade body launches 'official' HDTV logo

    Mismatch with 'HD Ready'?

    The European Information and Communications Technology Association (EICTA) today announced yet another logo that it hopes will help clear confusion from the minds of consumers as they migrate from traditional television into the HDTV era. However, the move may well have the opposite effect. EICTA's HDTV logo joins the HD …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 2006, 16:54

  • HP ships its golden 'Arches' for Itanium servers

    Waiting for Montecito

    Of all the Itanium server vendors, HP has the best story to tell and that story got better on Monday. HP announced a fresh fleet of Integrity servers outfitted with a new chipset, and it promoted a number of more advanced software features for the kit. HP has started flogging new midrange and high-end Integrity systems. The kit …

    Servers 20 Mar 2006, 17:34

  • Dell seeks (another) 10,000 Indians

    Sturdy, talented hands apply within

    Despite mounting complaints about poor customer service, Dell plans to double its workforce in India over the next three years and bulk up its call center operations in the country. Dell continues to baffle once loyal customers with its fondness for the Bangalore set. While hiring more affordable customer service …

    IT Director 20 Mar 2006, 22:28

  • Oracle has great Q3, if database growth doesn't concern you

    Oh yeah. And SAP stinks

    Oracle today turned in a good looking third quarter to investors. That is if you discount the database maker's unimpressive database sales growth. Oracle showed off revenue of $3.5bn for the third quarter. That total is up 18 per cent from the $2.95bn reported in the same period last year. Larry's House also delivered an …

    Financial News 20 Mar 2006, 23:39