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30th March 2006 Archive

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  • Joe-job spammers shift tactics to evade filters

    Ricochet

    Spammers are giving the old trick of joe-jobbing a fresh twist in a bid to fox email filters. Conventional joe-jobbing involves forging the sender's email address so that some poor innocent - rather than a spammer - has to wade through bounced messages sent to invalid email addresses. Instead of forging the sender's email …

    Spam 30 Mar 2006, 00:02

  • NASA probes underwater operations

    Called NEEMO, geddit?

    Three astronauts and a doctor are being sent sub-aqua to try out medical techniques in a simulated space environment. Procedures developed by the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project ('NEEMO' - bet that was a red letter day for the agency's pun lab) may one day be used in real space emergencies, the agency says. …

    Science 30 Mar 2006, 00:02

  • IBM offers Sun-only price break on middleware

    Have UltraSPARC T1, will discount

    IBM's software team has cut Sun Microsystems server customers a price break of sorts. Those of you installing IBM middleware on Sun's new UltraSPARC T1-based servers will use a modified per-processor pricing model that attempts to deal with the unique nature of Sun's latest chip. IBM largely relies on a pricing model where one …

    Servers 30 Mar 2006, 00:56

  • Red Hat feels open source certification vibe

    Getting ahead of itself

    Red Hat has yet to release its first run of certified application stacks for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) but already seems convinced it's on to something big. The OS maker has announced that it's looking into two more certification sets. Tim Yeaton, senior vice president for Red Hat's worldwide marketing, said Red Hat could …

    Operating Systems 30 Mar 2006, 01:37

  • Of Infocard: Who keeps an eye on the guardians?

    Why not PGP keysigning?

    Nick Kew has raised an interesting point re: Mary Branscombe’s InfoCard piece. It touches on “quis custodiet ipsos custodies” - who will keep an eye on the guardians? Do you have to have an unblemished reputation in order to manage identity and security? Probably not, in theory – but I bet you won’t get much buy-in from the …

    Developer 30 Mar 2006, 07:34

  • Reports of death of MS Passport exaggerated

    Alive, Alive - ho!

    Another hare started from Mary Branscombe’s InfoCard piece. Chris Overd emails to point out that its first sentence "is rather misleading. InfoCard is not, in any shape or form, a replacement for Microsoft Passport". In support, he points at a blog posting from Trevin Chow here. Well, that seems fair enough, but all I can …

    Developer 30 Mar 2006, 07:44

  • BT Retail to increase call charges

    It might only be a halfpenny, but...

    BT Retail is to increase the minimum cost of all calls from 1 April, according to information seen by El Reg. The minimum call charge on all consumer phone and VoIP calls is increasing from 5p to 5.5p (inc VAT) to bring prices in line with the current evening and weekend tariff of 5.5p for calls lasting up to one hour. …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 08:35

  • Directive to switch off hate TV in Europe

    New rules for audio-visual content

    EU broadcasting regulators last week welcomed the commission’s proposals to update the Television Without Frontiers Directive of 1989, partly because they will help in the fight against the incitement of hatred. Last updated in 1997, the directive was instrumental in ensuring that viewers and listeners in all member states were …

    Music and Media 30 Mar 2006, 08:36

  • BT opens IT helpdesk for home users

    Got a problem? That's £25

    BT's offering punters a new telephone support service to tackle all their IT problems. Called BT Home IT Advisor, the helpdesk service costs £9.99 a month for help on a range of issues such as setting up broadband connections, wireless networking, identifying and removing viruses, and fixing faults. Alternatively, if customers …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 08:42

  • Another delay for .xxx domain

    US concerns quash approval hopes

    Plans to approve the creation of a controversial .xxx top-level domain (TLD) at an ongoing meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in New Zealand have been dashed, according to reports. United Press International says the US Commerce Department has raised objections to the domain, expressing …

    Music and Media 30 Mar 2006, 08:50

  • ID cards sorta compulsory

    It's called a compromise

    ID card opponents lost a key battle in Westminster last night, after a month that has seen the Identity Card Bill tossed between the Commons and Lords. MPs and peers found a compromise over their long-running disagreement over whether ID Cards should be compulsory: they made them sort of compulsory. Lord Armstrong, a respected …

    Music and Media 30 Mar 2006, 08:51

  • Drunk driver fingers Shania Twain

    Telepathic mind control defence

    Here's a top tip if you're ever pulled by the cops while driving your pickup truck down a busy Ottawa street while legless - you can try and avoid criminal charges by claiming that Shania Twain was helping you drive. That's exactly what Matt Brownlee did - and a judge this week ruled that the 33-year-old "was not criminally …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 08:54

  • Nokia staff jacked by Ernst & Young laptop loss

    Exclusive Sun, Cisco, IBM and BP welcome the Finns

    When Ernst & Young loses a laptop, it doesn't mess around. The Register has learned that the same missing system with personal information on Sun Microsystems, Cisco, IBM and BP workers also contained data on Nokia's US staff. A Nokia source notified us that he received a letter from Ernst & Young detailing the accounting firm' …

    ID 30 Mar 2006, 09:02

  • First phase of public service transformation underway

    Plans for 'radical change' laid out till 2011

    The Cabinet Office has published its Transformational Government implementation plan, outlining a range of targets for July 2007. Among its priorities are for government departments to plan for more data sharing, the creation of a UK geographical information system strategy, and the incorporation of service transformation into …

    Public Sector 30 Mar 2006, 09:09

  • Navman intros 'navigation-by-pictures' GPS kit

    Hardware gets 'serious' styling

    Navman today revamped its dedicated GPS navigation kit, launching three new low-end, mid-range and top-of-the-line models - the latter with a 4in widescreen display, the first in a device of its class, the company claimed - along with an RDS traffic data system and a new look that places some clear blue water between Navman's …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 09:31

  • The man behind OSSTMM

    Federico Biancuzzi sits down with open source manual creator Pete Herzog

    Pete Herzog, founder of ISECOM and creator of the Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM) talks with Federico Biancuzzi about the upcoming revision 3.0 of the OSSTMM. Could you introduce yourself? I'm Pete Herzog, managing director of ISECOM. I live in a small town in Catalonia just outside of Barcelona. It' …

    Security 30 Mar 2006, 09:50

  • Japanese tune into quasar encryption

    Randomness makes for secure comms

    Japanese scientists are proposing the use of random radio pulses emitted by quasars as "one time pads" for the encryption of sensitive messages, New Scientist reports. Ken Umeno and his chums at Tokyo's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology reckon quasars could be useful in cryptography because "the …

    Science 30 Mar 2006, 10:08

  • Trojan row over spouse monitoring software

    FlexiSPY

    A commercial product that records information about an individual's mobile phone calls and SMS messages before sending them to a remote server has been labeled as malware by security researchers. FlexiSPY is described by Finnish anti-virus firm F-Secure as the first Symbian Trojan spy. The firm behind FlexiSPY, Thai-based …

    Malware 30 Mar 2006, 10:16

  • AMD readies Opteron 2xx, 8xx speed bump

    Last Socket 940 fling before Socket F debuts?

    AMD will next week take its single-core Opteron 8xx and 2xx families to 3GHz and speed-bump the dual-core line-ups, it has been claimed. The move will see the arrival of Opterons with model numbers 256, 290, 856 and 890. According to a report on Chinese-language website HKEPC, the 256 and 856 single-core chips will be clocked …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 10:16

  • Chinese invade Antarctica

    'I name this island...'

    Chinese researchers just back from a four-month jaunt to Antarctica's eastern extreme have announced their intention to name 46 newly-surveyed islands after notable "scholars, politicians, emperors and artists", Reuters reports. Accordingly, a new map due to hit the streets in 2007 will feature a veritable land mass of new …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 10:17

  • Packet-sniffing techie uncovers spousal infidelity

    Warning: technology can end your relationship

    Technology has been instrumental in ending yet another long-standing relationship. Hot on the heels of tales of a woman who blames a bug in Firefox for exposing the flaws in her relationship with a fiancé and a man whose relationship was hit by the spam filtering shortcomings of Thunderbird, comes the story of a software …

    Enterprise Security 30 Mar 2006, 10:21

  • AMD re-schedules dual-core Turion 64 debut?

    Back a month to join Socket AM2 Athlons, mole suggests

    AMD may have put back the release of its anticipated dual-core Turion 64 X2 mobile processors to June, sources cited by website DailyTech have alleged. If the chip maker does indeed delay the chips' debut, it's also likely to reschedule the release of the parts' single-core siblings, the report claims. The story's source said …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 10:34

  • Techscape: what in the world is going on?

    Opinion The state of tech

    What in the world is going on in the tech sector? I'm a little concerned, and perhaps you are too. Even if you're not, in such a rapidly changing industry, it's worth stopping every now and again to have a look at the overall picture. So, where have we been and where are we going? The computing sector was plugging right along …

    Business 30 Mar 2006, 10:42

  • Tories promise to ditch ID Cards

    A liberal conundrum?

    The Conservatives will scrap ID Cards if they win the 2010 election, shadow home secretary David Davis promised last night. The House of Lords and the Commons cobbled a quick compromise together to end their protracted dispute over the Identity Cards Bill in time for their Easter holidays, which settled on ID cards being sort …

    Music and Media 30 Mar 2006, 11:12

  • Thus integration going to plan

    Which is nice

    Plans to fold Your Communications and Legend Communications into Thus are going just swimmingly. Two months ago, Thus announced plans to splash out more than £70m on the pair to bulk up its business. And it seems Thus, which is perhaps best known for its Demon internet brand, is happy at the way the integration is proceeding. …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 11:34

  • Asbo total hits 7,356

    You know when you've been asboed

    The Home Office has revealed that a total of 7,356 Asbos (AntiSocial Behaviour Orders) have been slapped on English and Welsh miscreants since their introduction in April 1999, the BBC reports. Home Office Minister Hazel Blears called antisocial behaviour a "harrowing experience" which "no-one should have to endure". The …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 11:35

  • IPTV set for £1bn future

    But there are buts...

    Broadband TV could become a billion pound industry in the UK if providers get it right, according to research outfit GfK NOP. A survey of 1,600 people found that one in three UK broadband users would be interested in downloading content. However, IPTV providers need to remember that viewers won't be prepared to pay through the …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 11:43

  • SMBs eye up big boys' storage

    Conflicting needs

    Small and medium sized firms are ready to stump up big bucks for higher end storage set-ups, if the latest research from IDC is anything to go by. The latest report on storage from the analyst house predicts that SMBs will take an increasing share of spending on advanced storage systems as their own needs become more …

    Channel Register 30 Mar 2006, 12:12

  • Nintendo Revolution chip specs leak

    CPU, GPU clocked 50 per cent higher than GameCubes, apparently

    Nintendo's Revolution console will be powered by a 729MHz processor - 50 per cent more clock cycles than its predecessor in the GameCube - and a graphics chip set to run at 243MHz, it has been claimed. The details come courtesy of IGN which claims to have got the numbers from game development studio sources. As Nintendo has …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 12:13

  • MS, EC trade slaps on way into anti-trust hearing

    Brad Smith arrives mob-handed

    Microsoft and European competition officials were less than civil to each other on the way into a two day anti-trust hearing in Brussels today. At the same time, Microsoft released a statement on behalf of six of its partners who believe it is, indeed, a paragon of openness and cooperation in precisely those areas where the …

    Operating Systems 30 Mar 2006, 13:04

  • UK.gov html all over the place

    Many sites not W3C compliant, to boot

    Sixty per cent of UK government websites contain html errors, while 61 per cent do not comply with World Wide Web Consortium guidelines aimed at making sites accessible to disabled people, the BBC reports. That's according to a probe by Southampton University's Adam Field, who said of the W3C issue: "There is a big push within …

    Public Sector 30 Mar 2006, 13:09

  • Blue Peter ID cards no joke

    £900 eBay bid bursts the dam

    It was meant to be a joke, but reality has turned out to be stranger than science fiction. Blue Peter producers are indeed considering introducing ID Cards for kids. The corporation felt compelled to act to stop the sale on eBay of the Blue Peter badges that it awards to kids who impress the cameras with charitable gestures or …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 13:11

  • ParACCEL up and running

    The new boy on the data warehouse appliance block

    ParACCEL is the latest company to announce that it is joining the data warehouse appliance mêlée. That said, and before I discuss ParACCEL, another company that is rumoured to be about to enter the market is Dataupia — more on that when it actually makes any announcements. ParACCEL isn't actually an appliance vendor per se, …

    Developer 30 Mar 2006, 13:39

  • Top bean counter to quit C&W

    So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye...

    The top bean counter at Cable & Wireless (C&W) is leaving the firm as part of far reaching restructuring at the head of the alternative telco. Group CFO Charles Herlinger will only get his leaving present at the end of May once he's completed the last set of accounts. His departure is part of an overhaul of the telco announced …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 14:11

  • O2 confirms XDA IQ smart phone

    Launch imminent

    UK cellco O2 is preparing to extend its XDA smart-phone line-up with a model designed around the traditional candybar form-factor rather than the more PDA-styled devices the range has so far delivered, the company told Reg Hardware today. The new handset, the XDA IQ, will ship in April, a company spokesman said, but we …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 14:12

  • Ofcom confirms continued cellco dominance

    But operators still face significant challenges

    An interesting press release was issued today by UK regulatory body Ofcom in relation to mobile call termination charges. For those unfamiliar with this area, the practice being referred to is mobile operators cross charging other networks for the privilege of routing calls to their subscribers. These charges are in turn passed …

    Mobile 30 Mar 2006, 14:33

  • Power cut hits Plusnet

    Site down

    Sheffield-based ISP Plusnet has been hit by a power cut this afternoon that has floored its website and affected web-based services such as email. The power failure happened at around 1pm and appeared to take out a couple of other businesses operating on the same business park. At this stage it's not known what caused the power …

    Telecoms 30 Mar 2006, 15:12

  • Navicore Personal 2006/1 smart phone GPS

    Review Upgrade time?

    It's only been around eight months since Navicore launched its GPS-driven smart phone-based route-planning and navigation application in the UK, but the company has already updated Navicore Personal with the latest maps and a handful of new features, some making it easier to use, others providing more travel information to the …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 15:21

  • Minister pledges no complete DNA database

    Population spared fingerprinting

    The Home Office minister responsible for science has said the National DNA Database will never be extended to cover the whole population. Andy Burnham, visibly relieved by the ID card compromise, made the pledge at a meeting of top academics working in forensics. He said he didn't think there was a debate to be had on a …

    ID 30 Mar 2006, 15:23

  • Alcatel signs up to MS dewormer tech

    It's NAP time

    Microsoft has signed up another network vendor to its Network Access Protection (NAP) scheme with the addition of Alcatel to the ranks of supporters of the technology. NAP, due to ship with Longhorn in 2007, provides a policy enforcement bolt-on to Windows that allows admins to restrict access to networks to machines without up …

    Malware 30 Mar 2006, 15:25

  • SKY TV crashes in NZ and Oz

    What's that Skippy? They've lost the signal on the Optus B1 Satellite?

    SKY viewers in Australia and New Zealand have lost their TV service following a snag on the broadcaster's satellite. Tens of thousands of TV viewers lost their signal at around 7pm on Thursday night ("Down Under" time) and at the moment there is no estimate as to when the service will be up and running again. In a notice on …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 15:30

  • O2 to offer Palm Treo 650 smart phones

    Exclusive Smart-phone maker wins second big European carrier

    Palm has won the support of another major mobile phone operator for its Treo 650 smart phone, Reg Hardware can confirm. O2 today told us that it will shortly begin offering the handset to its business customers "from next week". The deal is an important one for Palm, which this week celebrated the tenth anniversary of the …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 15:35

  • GNER inter city trains to get Wi-Fi by August

    Arriving nine months ahead of schedule

    UK rail operator GNER this week said all its East Coast Mainline trains will provide passengers with Wi-Fi internet access this summer. GNER began trialling on-board Wi-Fi in December 2003 and has since equipped ten of its Mallard-class trains, which run between London King's Cross and Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh. …

    Wireless 30 Mar 2006, 16:04

  • Judge quashes MS bid to subpoena Oracle and Sun

    Refuses to annoy the EC

    A Californian judge has thrown out Microsoft subpoenas asking that Oracle and Sun Microsystems hand over documents to support its case against the European Commission. US District Judge Patricia Trumbull granted motions from Sun and Oracle to quash Microsoft's subpoenas and to also vacate an earlier order that had allowed …

    Music and Media 30 Mar 2006, 18:35

  • VXers add rootkit tech to MyDoom and Bagle

    Stealth code goes mainstream

    Virus writers have begun adding rootkit functionality as a component of commonplace malware such as MyDoom and Bagle. Rootkit technology is designed to hide the presence of malware on infected systems. Originally the technology featured only as a component of more sophisticated and exotic forms of malware. Now the technology has …

    Malware 30 Mar 2006, 18:40

  • Dutch offered Harry Potter 4 pay-to-own download

    Windows DRM leaves iPod owners out in the cold

    Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has become the second major home video giant to offer pay-to-keep movie downloads. Today, it announced Dutch consumers will be able to download Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the very day the DVD goes on sale in the Netherlands. The download version will be made available from Midnight …

    Reg Hardware 30 Mar 2006, 19:41

  • Rural BOFHs face FBI threat menace

    It's in the registry, stupid

    Administrators everywhere should prepare for a whole new class of user request classifications. Common request tags such as "Priority," "High Priority," and "Dear lord, this is an EMERGENCY!!" have proven insufficient for some. In fact, one IT expert continues to extoll the virtues of the "I'm calling the FBI now if you don't …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2006, 19:41