21st March 2006 Archive
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God smiles on Sun and delivers grid computing miracle
Let there be CPUs
At long last, Sun Microsystems will fire up its retail grid computing service and give any US customer access to a supercomputer class system. Casual Sun observers will be scratching their heads right about now, believing that Sun had already announced such a service a long time ago. That's correct. Sun first "launched" its $1 …
Data Networking 21 Mar 2006, 02:17
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Sun bangs NetBeans drum
Support for $99
Sun Microsystems hopes to take some of shine off this week's EclipseCon open source conference by unveiling new NetBeans tools and support for Java developers. Sun is offering developers using its Java programming tools paid per-incident online support for its NetBeans, Java Studio Creator, Java Studio Enterprise, Sun Studio 11 …
Software 21 Mar 2006, 08:02
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EDS wants MOD pound of flesh
Gov evasive over IT hiccup
US IT services giant EDS is seeking compensation from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) after being given bum orders for the delivery of a £2.3bn contract. In the firm's annual report, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week, it said it was trying to get "adjustments" to compensate for the "financial …
Public Sector 21 Mar 2006, 09:11
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First Minister of blogging
Webspace to air David Miliband's views
David Miliband has prompted a heated debate by becoming the first government minister to launch his own blog. It is hosted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where Miliband is Communities and Local Government Minister. Miliband says the aim of the blog is to "help bridge the gap – the growing and potentially dangerous …
Public Sector 21 Mar 2006, 09:38
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The podcasting rule book
Licensing scheme launched
The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society and the Performing Right Society have launched a licensing scheme for music podcasters. The MCPS and PRS plan to assess the operation of the licence and update the scheme early next year. Podcasting is the creation of audio (or video) content for download to a mobile device or …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 09:52
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Fujitsu to pay Rambus for third-party DRAM purchases
Prosecution immunity?
Rambus has licensed its memory technologies to Fujitsu, presumably allowing the Japanese vendor to buy DRAM from any company it cares to without the fear that Rambus' lawyers will come knocking on its door because it has bought allegedly unlicensed product. How else are we to explain the royalty mechanism behind the deal? " …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 10:11
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Generalissimo Blairo 'fesses up on loans
Two IT chiefs among loans-for-lordships scandal
The executive chairman of Capita and a boss of London Bridge software are among those named today for lending the Labour Party some £14m. Because the money was lent, rather than donated, it was free of the usual rules governing donations. The banana republic behaviour was kept secret from the party treasurer Jack Dromey - he …
Public Sector 21 Mar 2006, 10:16
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Tech bubble banker gets retrial
Frank Quattrone back before the beak
A US appeals court yesterday overturned the prison sentence imposed on one of the biggest cheerleaders for the dot-com boom of the late 90s. Frank Quattrone ran Credit Suisse First Boston's technology and internet business and took Amazon, Netscape, and others public. He was convicted of obstructing justice and witness …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 10:18
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Dutch coffee shops introduce fingerprint ID
Dope testing
Some Dutch coffee shops, which sell marijuana in small quantities for personal use, are introducing fingerprinting technology to check the age of customers. The shops are not allowed to sell to anyone under the age of 18. Coffee shops currently require photographic ID for proof of age. The first coffee shops to use turnstiles …
ID 21 Mar 2006, 10:36
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Intel lining up Q3 Pentium D price cuts?
Clearing the way for 'Conroe'
Intel hasn't launched the dual-core Pentium D 960 yet - it's due late April, we understand - but already it's planning to cut the processor's price, sometime in Q3, according to the latest claims coming out of Taiwan's system builder community. Sources cited by DigiTimes allege the 960's price will fall from $530 to $316 in …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 10:39
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Gold in the BI hills
Comment Savvy developers are keeping beady eyes on the BI job market
Organisations are rarely short of data, but the information it contains is often elusive. Business Intelligence (BI) gives the business user an amazing tool: it turns data into information, making BI an area of huge growth and one where skilled developers are in short supply. It is worth knowing the job roles in a standard BI …
Business 21 Mar 2006, 10:41
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Ofcom proposes to free BT from price controls
Competition rules
BT could be free to charge what it likes for phone services such as line rental and call charges if proposals to scrap 22 years of price controls get the go-ahead. Regulator Ofcom says there is now sufficient competition in the UK's telecoms sector to release BT from its price constraints and allow the market to work without …
Telecoms 21 Mar 2006, 11:38
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Philips turns on feature-filled Media Centre system
But where's the digital TV tuner?
Philips has begun pitching its entry into the Media Centre PC arena to UK consumers, touting its MPC9350i as the ultimate home entertainment rig, offering music and movie playback, twin TV tuners, hard disk-based PVR functionality, wireless internet access and more. The MPC9350i is part of Philips' Showline range. It's got …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 11:38
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Mobile users diss premium content
We'll have it - as long as it's free
Mobile users will use almost any kind of media content on their phones, but they won't pay a premium for it. Operators should view mobile content as a way to reduce churn rather than as a new revenue stream, according to a worldwide survey from accountants KPMG. Forty per cent of those questioned said they would not pay a …
Mobile 21 Mar 2006, 11:50
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Adware backers named and shamed
Follow the money
Large corporations and dot.com firms are funding the distribution of software that loads invasive pop-up ads with their advertising dollars, according to a report by the Centre for Democracy and Technology. The US consumer rights organisation named and shamed a number of firms over the practice, including Club Med Americas, …
Malware 21 Mar 2006, 12:02
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ID cards to spur e-signature take up
Public sector to the rescue
ID cards programmes and e-government initiatives are hoped to spur the development of an electronic signatures market across the EU, according to the European Commission. The commission is concerned that low take up of e-signatures across Europe is slowing down trade in goods and services online. It wants the public sector to …
ID 21 Mar 2006, 12:08
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Boffins build see-through chip
Transparently
Scientists at the Oregon State University (OSU) have produced the world's first "completely transparent" integrated circuit using inorganic materials. The see-through transistor technology will revolutionise electronics, allowing circuitry to be integrated into items like windows, bottles, glasses and car windscreens. It will …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 12:22
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Google Finance beta lives
Looks like a portal, smells like a portal...
Google has launched a beta version of its finance portal - it looks like Google news with some market report charts stuck on top. But if you search for a company you'll be taken to a page that looks more like a traditional finance portal. It shows a graph of recent share price movements, a company overview, related news items …
Financial News 21 Mar 2006, 13:51
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Archbishop of Canterbury backs evolution
Well, he is a Primate
The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned the teaching of creationism in schools. In an interview with Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, Dr Rowan Williams said the Biblical creation stories do not belong in the same category as evolutionary theory. He explained: "My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of …
Science 21 Mar 2006, 13:54
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Telcos will have to fight for IPTV success
No guarantees for IPTV
BT will have to work hard to make its newly announced broadband TV service BT Vision a success, according to a report by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. Incumbent operators in France, Spain, Iceland and Sweden are already kicking off their own commercial IPTV services, and BT is due to begin trials shortly ahead of a …
Telecoms 21 Mar 2006, 13:57
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DiData is Cisco God
For a year
Dimension Data bagged three gongs yesterday from Cisco at the data networking vendor's annual partner summit in San Diego. The company has been named Cisco Global IPC (Internet Protocol Communications) Partner of the Year, Cisco APAC (Asia Pacific) Partner of the Year (Datacraft Asia) and Cisco Emerging Markets Partner of the …
Channel Register 21 Mar 2006, 14:08
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LG to ship GSM-flavoured Chocolate in Europe
Award-winning LG5900 handset coming soon
LG is to bring its popular 'Chocolate' mobile phone to Europe in May, the company said today. The handset, also known as the LG5900, is a dark-brown - hence the more casual moniker - slider phone with a touch-sensitive keyboard outlined in red. The product has won a variety of awards for its looks. Chocolate is 1.5cm thick and …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 14:09
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Samsung unveils 32GB Flash-based 'HDD killer'
Designed for notebooks
Samsung has launched what it reckons its the world's first 32GB NAND Flash-based hard disk drive replacement unit. The company claimed the so-called "solid state disk" can access data three times faster than an HDD can and write files one-and-a-half times more quickly - though we don't know what HDD spec it was comparing its …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 14:25
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UN sounds biodiversity mayday
Human impact 'equivalent to asteroid strike'
Human activity is causing the biggest loss in biodiversity since the extinction of the dinosaurs, a UN report says. Released to mark the start of the UN environment programme meeting in Curitiba, Brazil, the Biodiversity Outlook 2 calls for rapid and decisive intervention to avert further species loss. A flock of worrying …
Science 21 Mar 2006, 14:26
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All eyes on CCTV
New advice for electronic rozzers due this summer
The Information Commissioner, which watches the CCTV watchers, said its updated advice for CCTV operators has been given a due date in the summer - six months late. A burgeoning of the high-tech surveillance systems that are being appointed sentinel over our public spaces has overwhelmed the authority charged with keeping them …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 14:33
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UK peerage for sale on eBay
Enter the House of Lords for £1.5m
In light of the Lord Chancellor's recent announcement that all loans to the Labour Party will soon have to be declared and will be capped at £500k, this may be your last chance to gain that well-deserved peerage by the back door and with no questions asked: a seat in the House of Lords for a modest £1.5m. Here's the …
Bootnotes 21 Mar 2006, 14:34
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Western Digital Raptor X 150GB HDD
Review A hard drive with a view
The Western Digital Raptor, possibly the most talked about hard drive among the PC performance community, but why would you even consider buying a 36 or 74GB hard drive? Well, most people wouldn't, but with the introduction of the latest Raptor products Western Digital has remedied this problem to a certain degree by upping the …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 14:56
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Don't break DRM even if it 'threatens lives'
Copyright cartel opposes DMCA exemptions plan
Copyright holders have collectively objected to proposed exemptions to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in cases where copyright software causes security and privacy harm. Lawyers for the pigopolists (including the Business Software Alliance, Motion Picture Ass. of America and Recording Industry Ass. of America) …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 15:02
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Price war looms if BT price controls relaxed
Fight, fight, fight, fight...
Ofcom's plan to scrap price controls for BT after 22 years of having its hands tied could lead to a price war, industry watchers said today. And while that could be good news for consumers in the short term, a price war could see some competitors losing out and sparking another round of consolidation. "It is unclear how BT …
Telecoms 21 Mar 2006, 15:39
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Handheld Xbox: third time lucky for MS iPod killer scheme?
Comment Lest we forget PMC - oh, I see you have...
World+Dog is this week feverishly reporting on rumours that Microsoft is hard at work on an iPod killer. Or it may be a PlayStation Portable killer. Or perhaps a PMC killer. No, wait a moment, PMC - aka Portable Media Center - was Microsoft's last attempt at an iPod killer, and just look at what that did to restrict Apple's …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 15:57
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Computer games push up UK inflation rate
MP3 players and music downloads added to national shopping basket
The UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) has placed Apple's iPod and the some of the company's iTunes Music Store downloads in the standard shopping basket the organisation uses to monitor the cost of living in Britain. Each year the ONS lists a stack of goods it uses to track prices and thus inflation. This year, the ONS …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 16:20
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Clara.net boss blasts 'ridiculous' publishing laws
'Tube geek' case exasperation
Clara.net managing director Steve Rawlinson has branded existing laws which hold ISPs responsible for content they host as "ridiculous". Speaking to the Register about the case of "Tube geek" Geoff Marshall's blog - hosted by Clara.net and the subject of legal wranglings with Transport for London - Rawlinson reluctantly advised …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 16:27
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Deutsche Telekom fingers Microsoft for IPTV
We'd pay to watch that
Deutsche Telekom (DT) is hooking up with Microsoft as part of plans to roll out broadband TV (IPTV) in Germany later this year. The service is to be carried via a new VDSL (Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line) network capable of bandwidth up 50 meg and has already been tested by boffins at the giant telco. The IPTV service …
Telecoms 21 Mar 2006, 16:46
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Novell puts Netware on life support until 2015
Open source and wireless star in Utah
Novell will support Netware, the veteran, nay ancient, network operating system, until at least 2015. By which time, presumably everyone who ever used the system will be retired or dead. Speaking yesterday at the company's annual Brainshare conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Novell CEO Jack Messman said said the firm would …
Data Networking 21 Mar 2006, 17:44
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UK parents offered kid-friendly MP3 player
Playground-proof and eardrum-safe
German MP3 player specialist Maxfield has launched a digital music player for kids. Pitched at children between the ages of six and 12, the primary colour player sports a playground-safe water-resistant shell and limits the decibels lest the young ones' passion for loud metal play havoc with their wee ear-drums. The Max-Joy …
Reg Hardware 21 Mar 2006, 18:43
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French struggle to get US visas
War on Terror keeps Cheese-eating surrender monkeys at bay
The US Embassy in Paris is struggling to deal with a huge increase in demand for visas because the French government has missed Bush's deadline for biometric passports. From last October the US government requires all newly-issued French passports to contain biometric data. Unfortunately, the French government got involved in …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 18:55
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Ingram Micro gets into people trafficking
A distie's got to do what a distie's got to do
Ingram Micro is setting up an recruitment and temping agency for channel customers in its US homeland. And why not? Margins on people are better than on hard drives, and the mean time before failure is much greater, typically. Also, US employment law should also mean lower returns than for just about any kit you could think …
Channel Register 21 Mar 2006, 19:24
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France votes for DRM interop
And new fines for breaking it
It's the "dawn of an equitable internet", says French culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. The nation's parliament has backed a bill to mandate interoperability between competing lock-down software restrictions on digital media. The lower house voted 296 to 193 in favor of a draft law that would force, for example, …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 19:25
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Introducing the UK Imagine Cup Team
From Hull and Back
Welcome to the first blog entry from team ‘Three Pair’. Team who? To introduce ourselves, we are a team of three students who all attend The University of Hull on various computer-related courses: James Lissiak, Tom Randell and Andy Sterland. On 10 March, after a day of presentations and camera interviews, it was announced that …
Developer 21 Mar 2006, 19:45
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Google's deceptive do-gooder claims turn dangerous
Analysis At risk youth
Google likes to attach a greater social significance to its varied work as an advertising broker. The best and most obvious example of this policy comes from the "Do No Evil" stamp placed on financial statements. Time and again, however, Google's actions demonstrate that there is no greater good at hand. Google is little more …
Music and Media 21 Mar 2006, 22:25
