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4th May 2006 Archive

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  • Bot software looks to improve peerage

    P2P botnets will be 'hard to stop'

    Peer-to-peer technology appears to have resurfaced in a worm last weekend. The worm, dubbed Nugache and classified also as bot software, attempts to infect systems through email, America Online's instant messaging network, and network shares on vulnerable computers. Once it compromises a computer, the program uses a seed list …

    Malware 4 May 2006, 00:02

  • Full-up Google choking on web spam?

    Buddy, can you spare a server?

    Webmasters have been seething at Google since it introduced its 'Big Daddy' update in January, the biggest revision to the way its search engine operates for years. Alarm usually accompanies changes to Google's algorithms, as the new rankings can cause websites to be demoted, or disappear entirely. But four months on from the …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 01:06

  • Borland axes fifth of workforce

    300 to go

    Borland is cutting 20 per cent of its workforce, with the axe falling heaviest in sales and marketing, under a restructuring designed to focus on profitable markets. The company is releasing 300 workers, mainly in "go to market" activities, with plans to shutter offices in at least some of the 29 countries it currently operates …

    Software 4 May 2006, 01:09

  • SecurID takes backseat in Windows Vista

    Death of passwords postponed

    It was cheered, specifically by employees of RSA Security, as the means to provide secure login to PCs running Windows Vista, finally dispensing with passwords and helping lock down enterprise networks. Two years later, though, Microsoft has abandoned plans to provide native support for RSA's SecureID token-based authentication …

    Hardware 4 May 2006, 01:19

  • Apple sues itself in the foot (again)

    Legals gun for deep links

    Apple Computer's legal policy of shoot first, and ask questions later, has got the company into trouble again. Apple's lawyers have gone after the popular humor community site Something Awful for posting a link to one of Apple's own internal service manuals. The link resolves to a third party website, and was posted in a useful …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 04:14

  • If software vendors made everything else

    Comment Atishoo atishoo, who cares if it falls down

    So what is it about quality? We all want it, we all expect it in other products that we buy and yet a goodly number of us try to cut corners on delivering it given half a chance. That is how it seems from a couple of responses to last week’s Blog piece `Unbreakable’? Software? Harr! I made the silly mistake of suggesting that …

    Developer 4 May 2006, 06:41

  • Biting the legacy bullet

    Sometimes you have to call time

    Developments in the areas of XML-based web services standards, middleware technology and portal frameworks have provided lots of possibilities for extending the life of legacy systems such as old mainframe, AS/400 and first generation UNIX applications. We can now wrap these up in a standard access layer, re-label them “heritage …

    Hardware 4 May 2006, 06:43

  • Trolltech sees a billion Linux phones

    Qtopian visions

    If Linux is to grab a significant chunk of the mobile phones business in the coming years, as supporters hope, then much of its fate is in the hands of Trolltech. The Norwegian software house is best known among software developers, for its GUI toolkit - rather unfairly, as it's been playing in the embedded arena for six years …

    Mobile 4 May 2006, 06:48

  • Microsoft expected to buy Massive

    Move may trigger in-game advertising chase

    Just three week’s ago Faultline said the US in-game advertising networks were so well established that instead of Microsoft and Sony building their own networks, they would do better to buy the existing players. Microsoft has now moved for market leader Massive Inc, which already delivers advertising into 70 games, many of them …

    Business 4 May 2006, 08:30

  • QIT: quantum hope or quantum hype?

    Certain uncertainty surrounds quantum information technology

    Quantum information technology (QIT) is here already. Judging by the impressive turn out at the Cambridge-MIT Institute's recent Industry in the Quantum Age chinwag session at the Royal Society, it's here to stay. Also clear, though, is that despite repeated forecasts that we're on the precipice of a revolutionary base jump, …

    Physics 4 May 2006, 08:37

  • French court drops DRM interoperability provision

    Fairplay

    A higher French select legal committee has dropped the contentious provision from its copyright law that would have placed the onus on companies using DRM on music services, to license it to other equipment makers. Although the law has more debating stages, its real aim was to catch France up with the World Copyright Treaty ( …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 08:41

  • Intel asks judge to dismiss AMD complaint

    AMD vs Intel Overseas sales not a matter for the US court, chip giant claims

    Intel has called on Delaware District Court Judge Joseph J Farnan to dismiss the overseas element of the legal action brought against it by its arch-rival, AMD. The move had been expected: Intel's lawyers announced last month they would make the request. AMD's response could have been forecast too: it said the move was an " …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 08:52

  • RIM countersues Visto over patent spat

    Demands non-infringement ruling

    Research in Motion (RIM) has countersued Visto, the wireless email specialist that formally accused it of intellectual-property infringement on Monday. RIM's complaint demands the Dallas court declare its products do not incorporate technology detailed in Visto's patents. RIM is alleged to have infringed Visto patents 6,023, …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 09:04

  • NZ ordered to increase broadband competition

    LLU given green light

    The Kiwi government is planning to drive through a series of measures to force incumbent telco Telecom New Zealand to unbundle the local loop and increase competition. A raft of proposals - including LLU, increased regulation, and the promotion of investment by rival operators in fibre, wireless and satellite networks - are …

    Telecoms 4 May 2006, 09:16

  • Sky names HD launch day

    But Telewest/NTL gets Lost and Desperate Housewives in high def

    After months of speculation Sky has officially confirmed that its HD service will start broadcasting on Monday, 22 May. On that date the first of the 40,000 telly addicts who have signed up to the HD service will have their system installed. Sky has also revealed what HD punters will be watching in the first week on its HD …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 09:25

  • Democrats push for action on stem cell bill

    Request prompt Senate debate

    US Senate Democrats have attempted to inject some life into an ongoing campaign to allow federal funding of embryonic research with a letter to Majority Leader Bill Frist asking him to add stem cells to a list of health-related issues due for debate next week. The US House of Representatives last year passed a bill allowing …

    Biology 4 May 2006, 09:32

  • Neuros tells PSP users 'don't run firmware 2.7'

    Video playback breakdown

    PlayStation Portable owners who use Neuros Technology's MPEG-4 Recorder 2 to record video for playback on their consoles are being warned not to apply Sony's latest PSP firmware, version 2.7. Neuros claims the update prevents the PSP playing video recorded on its device. “We don’t think Sony did this on purpose, but, for now …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 09:41

  • MS throws hat into paid-search engine ring

    adCenter squares up to Google and Yahoo!

    Microsoft is taking on the great Google Money Machine with an inhouse answer to Google Adwords. Step forward Microsoft adCenter, launched yesterday to pump out all-paid search traffic on MSN and other Microsoft online properties in the US. Microsoft’s adCenter replaces Yahoo!'s Overture as the paid-for search engine on MSN. The …

    Financial News 4 May 2006, 10:03

  • Woman eBays groping slimeball's jacket

    How not to pick up women in Chicago

    Any reader who has ever tried to pick up a woman in Chicago may already be aware of the techniques which are absolutely guaranteed to result in abject failure - or worse. For those of you yet to make a pitch to Illinois' fairer sex, these no-nos include: sliming all over your intended victim; blatantly grabbing her breasts; …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 10:05

  • Early MacBook Pros hit by battery glitch?

    Charge plunges for some users

    Apple has apparently added battery problems to the list of woes potentially affecting its MacBook Pro notebook family. Online reports allege a small number of early versions of the Intel-based machines may have shipped with troublesome batteries. Apple is said to be replacing the power units on a customer-by-customer basis. …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 10:23

  • FTC sues over mobile phone records sale

    No-questions-asked trade outrage

    A US consumer watchdog has launched a series of lawsuits designed to frustrate the controversial sale of consumers' telephone records to data brokers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking a permanent injunction against five web-based operations over the practice. It also wants the courts to seize profits made from the …

    ID 4 May 2006, 10:42

  • ATI Radeon X1900 GT slips out early

    Week ahead of time

    ATI's upcoming Radeon X1900 GT GPU appears to have slipped out early. Boards based on the chip aren't expected to arrive until 9 May, but at least one store from the US retail chain Best Buy put a handful of the units on sale this week, an online report alleges. And Digit-Life.com has the pictures to prove it. The box-shot …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 10:45

  • AOL still on the slide

    Customers and revenues fall

    AOL is still struggling to make up lost revenues as subscribers continue to flee the service. The internet giant has lost more than three million customers over the last year as the number of US subscribers fell to 18.6m - down 835,000 over the last three months alone. Publishing Q1 results for the three months to March, AOL ( …

    Telecoms 4 May 2006, 10:56

  • Toshiba pegs laptop refunds on England World Cup win

    Offers 66% off purchase price

    If England wins the 2006 World Cup, Toshiba will refund 66 per cent of the purchase price of many of its Centrino Duo-branded Satellite, Satellite Pro, Portégé, Tecra and Qosmio and notebooks, the company has announced. You have to buy the machine first, of course, and to have done so between 27 April 2006 and 8 June 2006. …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 11:10

  • Scientists moot Romulan-style cloaking device

    Cunning 'anomalous localised resonance' plan

    Two mathematicians have boldly gone where no boffin has gone before and described the theoretical possibility of a cloaking device, the BBC reports. However, before the Trekkies among you don your Romulan cozzies and rush for a copy of the Royal Society publication in which Nicolae Nicorovici and Graeme Milton expound their …

    Physics 4 May 2006, 11:31

  • ATI, Nokia converge on phone multimedia

    Heralds major Imageon design win?

    ATI may have scored a major design win for its mobile phone graphics chips: the world's leading handset maker, Nokia. The pair today announced they are to make it easier for developers to create multimedia material for phones, giving content creators a "12-18 months" heads-up, presumably a launch target for ATI-powered Nokia …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 11:46

  • IT spend failing to support UK.biz

    BCS book fingers business shortcomings

    British businesses are failing to develop IT systems that support business objectives, according to a new book from the British Computer Society (BCS). Many firms are failing to get the most out of technology and wasting money because of poor planning, the BCS tome - snappily titled Business Analysis - concludes. Integration …

    Hardware 4 May 2006, 12:01

  • Chris Eccleston linked to remake of The Prisoner

    I am not a Time Lord, I am a free man

    Former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston has been "linked" with the lead role in a remake of The Prisoner, the BBC reports. Sky One is planning a six-part "thrilling reinvention" of the 1969 cult classic, as director of programmes Richard Woolfe breathlessly put it, adding: "If Doctor Who set the standard, The Prisoner raises …

    Entertainment 4 May 2006, 12:03

  • BT exchange reopens after asbestos scare

    Backlog clears

    A BT exchange in Isleworth, West London, is now up and running again after the discovery of asbestos in the building. Following an asbestos alert on 25 April, BT engineers were barred from entering the exchange until a specialist team of contractors had cleaned the premises. The all-clear was given last weekend, and since then …

    Telecoms 4 May 2006, 12:17

  • Sun sues Azul, using Tremblay Gambit

    Check Marc, Java boys

    Sun Microsystems has done the expected and countersued server appliance start-up Azul, and this time it's personal. Broadly, Sun has charged Azul with patent infringement around the way its servers process Java software. Sun has paid particular attention to any of its patents that touch on "transactional memory" and " …

    Servers 4 May 2006, 12:18

  • Wayne Rooney 'hits roof' over fiancée's txt from '5am'

    'Who's this Sam?'

    This is very silly indeed: currently crocked Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney reportedly "hit the roof" when fiancée Coleen McLoughlin got a txt msg apparently from someone called "Sam". According to Ananova, McLoughlin told Marie Claire magazine: "He went on, 'Who's Sam? Who's this Sam?'" McLoughlin then had to explain …

    Bootnotes 4 May 2006, 12:31

  • Sonic ESB chosen for BT Integrate

    More endorsement for the ESB

    Sonic Software has just had a rather nice endorsement for its ESB (Enterprise Service Bus): BT Global Services is using it in its BT Integrate distributed integration appliance. This seems to be a practical realisation of an idea I first saw mooted (and demo’d) by Data General last century – a smart box in the corner of your …

    Developer 4 May 2006, 12:41

  • Sony delays Blu-ray Disc movie launch

    First titles out in June, not May

    Sony's US home video division has put back the release of pre-recorded Blu-ray Discs by a month because machines capable of playing them will not be available until 20 June. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) had originally intended to ship the discs on 23 May. "The majority of our retail base and hardware partners have …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 12:45

  • Schools fail to renew ageing PCs

    But pupil to computer ratio falls

    Schools and colleges have more computers but many face a growing problem in renewing their IT equipment, a new report reveals. Around half of schools do not have a policy in place for replacing old or broken workstations, according to the first annual review of the government's strategy for technology in education in England. …

    Public Sector 4 May 2006, 13:11

  • Orange UK to axe 2,000 jobs

    They'll be treated with 'respect and dignity' though

    Orange is to axe up to 2,000 jobs in the UK as part of the cellco's plans to merge with sister company Wanadoo. Around 15 per cent of the workforce is to be cut as the Wanadoo ISP sheds its name and becomes part of Orange to create a single telecoms firm. The changes are part of a NExT (New Experience in Telecoms) strategy …

    Mobile 4 May 2006, 13:17

  • Kazakh heavy metal virusmonger avoids jail

    Slapped wrist for axe man

    A former heavy metal guitarist has escaped jail after been convicted of running websites that distributed an estimated 4,000 different computer viruses. Sergey Kazachkov, the former lead guitarist of Kazakhstan rockers DLM turned science student, received a two year suspended sentence after confessing to running a brace of …

    Malware 4 May 2006, 14:00

  • Ageia PhysX physics accelerator chip

    Review Very special effects?

    Accelerating game physics is a hot topic for gamers. The concept of using add-on hardware - be it GPU or even a new kind of dedicated physics processing unit (PPU) - to speed up physics calculations that would otherwise have to run on the CPU is back at the forefront of developers' discussions... The idea isn't new - games …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 14:00

  • June US debut for Nintendo DS Lite

    iPod-like trim

    Nintendo's redesigned handheld games console, the DS Lite, will go on sale in the US on 11 June, the company announced today. The new version will retail for $130, and will be available in a single colour: glossy white. The DS Lite weighs in at 218g, less than the standard DS' 275g. It's smaller too: 13.3 x 7.4 x 2.2cm to 14. …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 14:22

  • Teachers strike threat over kid's mucky snap

    Pesky camera phones

    Teachers at a school in Newcastle upon Tyne are being balloted on strike action after a pupil who snapped a picture of a female teacher's cleavage on his mobile phone was allowed to return to class. The snap was taken as the teacher leaned forward, and subsequently sent to other pupils, reports The Telegraph. The boy was …

    Public Sector 4 May 2006, 14:38

  • 'Buy our PCs or founder,' Dell tells nations

    WCIT Survival of the Dellest

    The Dell model isn't just about removing the middle man and creating an efficient business. When it comes to developing nations, the Dell model is one where the countries create policies that make buying computers, servers and storage easy. "All governments should set an ambitious goal that anyone in their country that wants …

    Hardware 4 May 2006, 14:49

  • Please don't download our album, sob Red Hot Chilis

    Emotional appeal for more riches

    Mainstream rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers have resorted to emotional blackmail to prevent their fans from downloading illegal copies of their new album before it is released on 9 May. Flea, their much-admired bassist, and a man who, like the other "peppers", is wont to make an exhibition of his naked torso, told fans in a letter …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 15:09

  • VESA completes DVI successor

    DisplayPort 1.0 finalised

    The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has unwrapped the final version of DisplayPort, the monitor interconnect it hopes will succeed DVI by adding HD audio as well as picture signals, and support for higher resolutions and refresh rates than are available today. DisplayPort is designed to support both internal …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 15:15

  • Traumatised email servers mark Love Bug anniversary

    Six years ago today

    Thursday 4 May marks the sixth anniversary of the spread of the infamous Love Bug (AKA ILOVEYOU) worm, a mass mailer that infected numerous Windows computers worldwide. Even those not infected directly found their email inboxes filed with junk, an experience that was to be repeated several times over subsequent years. The Love …

    Malware 4 May 2006, 15:24

  • BOFH 2006: Lock, stock and barrel

    Episodes 1-10

    17 minutes of goodwill Episode 1 Happy New Year The way of the hammer Episode 2 Engineers are great! 'Did you know..?' Episode 3 Yes, we did - we're Systems and Network Automated attendant abuse Episode 4 'I'm sorry, that serial number is not recognised' Headhunted Episode 5 A wonderful opportunity BOFH takes a leaf …

    BOFH 4 May 2006, 15:25

  • Blue Security offloads DoS attack onto blogs

    Junk mail registry cops flak

    A denial of service attack against Blue Security, distributors of a controversial anti-spam system, has taken the firm's site offline. Mistakes in the firm's response to the attack are been linked to a traffic flood that took numerous blogs offline too. Blue Security has established a ‘Do Not Intrude Registry’ (akin to the Do …

    Channel Register 4 May 2006, 16:18

  • Gates: 'We'll keep Google honest'

    Homeboy Bill

    Bill Gates has promised to keep Google "honest" by pushing the internet rival to "to better" despite coming late to the internet services market with an unfinished offering. Hosting a summit of some of MSN's largest advertisers, who will no doubt want to know why MSN's traffic is increasing while revenue from ads is falling, …

    Music and Media 4 May 2006, 19:22

  • Muni Wi-Fi KO'd by wrong kind of hills, trees, rain

    Who knew?

    Google's launch of a Wi-Fi network in its home town of Mountain View may be delayed, according to reports. The company is scrambling to build more transmitters than it originally planned, notes eWeek's Ben Charny. It's typical of the delays in getting municipal Wi-Fi projects up and running. Bouyed more by evangelism - and …

    Public Sector 4 May 2006, 21:26

  • Apple heads for new carrier collision

    Wireless iPod patent uncloaked

    The US Patent and Trademark Office has published two patent applications today which offer some clue to the future shape of the iPod, and also Apple's ambitions as a digital media distributor. As well as an intriguing glimpse of what a wireless iPod could do, it potentially sets Apple on a collision course with the major …

    Reg Hardware 4 May 2006, 21:28

  • US in open source backlash

    WCIT Think of the children

    The US has fallen way behind other nations with regard to its embrace of open source technology, and the situation may only get worse. Open source coders face their grandest test to date as organizations place more and more scrutiny on the origins and value of FOSS (free and open source software) products. That's the word that …

    Servers 4 May 2006, 22:57