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9th May 2006 Archive

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  • Intel axes Glasgow labs

    First for the chopping block?

    Intel is to bring the shutters down on its Glasgow operation in what may be the first of a series of cuts. The 17-strong design team were called in by managers this afternoon to be told the company had failed to find a role for them in a year-long review. Intel said the staff will have the chance to enter its internal …

    IT Director 9 May 2006, 00:02

  • Bill Coleman's $1bn gamble

    Into the Valley Checking in with Cassatt

    Anyone gullible enough to believe vendor press releases would wonder why Cassatt even exists. It's a software start-up trying to compete in a server virtualization market dominated by the likes of IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems. And, in fact, these massive companies have already solved the virtualization problem, according to the …

    Servers 9 May 2006, 01:03

  • T-Mobile UK ships 'Super 3G' data card

    But no commercial HSDPA service...

    T-Mobile UK today introduced a wireless data card for notebook computers that supports the HSDPA download acceleration technology for 3G networks. But while the card is available immediately, the HSDPA service will not go live until "the summer", a spokeswoman said. The Web 'n' Walk card provides tri-band GSM/GPRS network …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 06:02

  • McAfee warns over Apple virus risk

    Reasons to be fearful, part II

    Anti-virus software firm McAfee has identified Mac OS X as a growing target for malware attacks. According to McAfee Avert Labs, Mac platform vulnerabilities increased by 228 per cent in the past three years alone, from 45 found in 2003 to 143 in 2005. McAfee didn't say how many of these bugs were critical, preferring to let …

    Malware 9 May 2006, 06:02

  • Oracle and CC eye ISVs

    And open a showroom

    Computacenter has opened a "migration centre" at its Hatfield Headquarters, from where it will give support to small software firms that want to base their systems on Oracle software. The reseller is aiming to have 12 independent software vendors (ISVs) seek help at its centre in switching to the latest Oracle platform, either …

    Channel Register 9 May 2006, 07:02

  • SOA skills attract higher salaries

    The path to riches?

    An interesting analysis has just been posted on ITJobsWatch suggesting that jobs advertised in the last three months asking for SOA knowledge and experience offer on average a 27 per cent higher salary than equivalent positions requiring more traditional “processes and methodologies” skills. Compared to the same period last …

    Tech Panel 9 May 2006, 07:27

  • Do pheromones work in human sexual attraction?

    Vomeronasal organ: dead or alive?

    Asked by Lisa McMillan of East London, United Kingdom This question never seems to go away. Most scientists would say that there is little evidence that humans rely very much upon pheromones as a sexual attractant. Pheromones are special chemicals produced by animals that serve to direct behavior, including sexual behavior. In …

    Biology 9 May 2006, 08:02

  • Microsoft man's shadow over bankrupt SGI

    Analysis Belluzzo era left few options

    Got $18m to spare? That's the market capitalization of one of Silicon Valley's most glamorous companies this morning, after Silicon Graphics Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The size of SGI's debt - at $664m it's twice the value of its assets - is enough to deter all but the most determined bargain hunter. Apart from a …

    Servers 9 May 2006, 08:22

  • Sony confirms 60GB hard drive for PS3

    Unveils old-look, new-tech controller

    Sony will launch the PlayStation 3 console in Europe on 17 November, pricing the next-generation console and Blu-ray Disc player at just €499 (£342). As expected, the 'banana' controller unveiled by Sony last year has gone, replaced by a more classically styled motion-sensing wireless gamepad. The console also sports a hard …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 09:10

  • TfL shelves Oyster e-money

    Reconsiders 'uneconomical' plan

    Transport for London (TfL) has taken a step backwards in its plans to extend the use of the Oyster smart card to payments in shops. A TfL spokesperson told Government Computing News that it has decided it is "not economical" to carry on with the plan it has followed over the past year. In July of last year it announced a …

    Financial News 9 May 2006, 09:26

  • Microsoft sets Live Messenger Beta free

    Cutting the cord

    Microsoft revealed it will extend its VoIP service to cover 11 countries next week as it made its Windows Live Messenger Beta available for download today. The move comes a week after Skype announced its latest software, and as Microsoft overhauls its MSN service. Microsoft’s offering features a tie-in with US phone giant …

    Applications 9 May 2006, 09:36

  • Museum unscrambles secret agency's past

    Inside the NSA But recent activity still matter of national security, natch

    A few of us got through the metal detectors before the National Security Agency (NSA) realised we were in the wrong place. We had arrived, expunged of all electronic devices from mobile phones to cameras, at the Visitors' Centre, a security outpost for visiting security personnel, instead of the National Cryptologic Museum 370 …

    Enterprise Security 9 May 2006, 09:38

  • Dim galactic dwarves lurk around Milky Way

    Dark matters

    Astronomers have discovered two new dwarf galaxies in the Milky Way's immediate neighbourhood. The dim clusters are both around 640,000 light years from our Sun, Reuters reports. One of the new boys is located in the constellation Canes Venatici. The other, found in Bootes is the least luminous galaxy yet discovered. In …

    Space 9 May 2006, 09:43

  • Sage sales leap in H1

    Buys yet another business

    Sage, the UK's biggest software group, has turned in a good first half, with pre-tax profits up 19 per cent to £113.7m (2005: £95.8m) on sales up 18 per cent to £455.9m (2005: £385.6m). Organic growth - i.e. sales with new acquisitions stripped out - was five per cent. Claims by many analysts that the company would buckle under …

    Channel Register 9 May 2006, 10:01

  • Northerners love shopping online

    Maybe it ain't so grim up north after all

    Northerners are the UK's biggest online spenders. So much so, they'd even be happy to buy a house or a car online rather than just run-of-the-mill books, CDs and other bibs and bobs. That's according to research by ecommerce outfit SciVisum, which found that three quarters of UK punters shop online, spending on average £89 a …

    Financial News 9 May 2006, 10:02

  • ATI sued over HDCP compliance claims

    Company misled consumers, lawsuit alleges

    ATI has been hit with a Class Action lawsuit alleging the company deliberately misled consumers by claiming a number of its graphics cards complied with the HDCP anti-piracy system, when in fact they weren't. The complaint, filed in San Jose, California, was made by Stanley Batsalkin and Kenny Vargas on their own behalf and …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 10:12

  • Dual-CPU Linux games console to ship this month

    GP2X pitched at music, movie fans too

    The successor to the Linux-based GP32 handheld games console will launch in the UK on 18 May, promising to bring gamers a gadget capable not only of playing native games and well-known titles under emulation, but also movies, music, and picture slideshows. The GP2X contains two 240MHz processors, 64MB of RAM, and 64MB of …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 10:13

  • NetApp guns for EMC and HP

    Undercuts rivals

    NetApp has extended its enterprise storage range with a brace of flagship systems. Scalable to 500TB, the FAS6030 and FAS6070 are principally aimed at reducing the cost of ownership of high-end fibre channel storage gear. NetApp says its rivals' kit is up to 260 per cent more expensive to own. They also make the standard …

    Storage 9 May 2006, 10:30

  • NTL confirms 6,000 job losses

    Yesterday it was just 'speculation', staff told

    NTL has confirmed it is to axe around 6,000 UK jobs while outsourcing a "significant number" as part of its merger with Telewest. In a statement today, NTL chief exec Steve Burch said the cableco is to "accelerate our integration program" so it can save £250m a year by the end of 2007. "Part of this process will involve …

    Financial News 9 May 2006, 10:43

  • Nvidia to launch nForce 500 chipsets this month

    Debut coming 23 May, apparently

    Nvidia will formally launch its nForce 500 series of chipsets for both Intel and AMD processor on 23 May, online reports citing internal company roadmaps claim. The graphics chip maker revealed the existence of the chipsets back in March. According to a DailyTech report, Nvidia recently told its partners the nForce 550, 570, …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 10:44

  • EDS's RAF pay system struggles to take off

    Exclusive Services' shared services need servicing

    RAF personnel have spent the last six weeks pulling their hair out over problems with pay and benefits brought about by the bodged implementation of an EDS computer system. Since it went live at the end of March, thousands have been on the receiving end of processing errors in the payroll system. Instigated by the Armed …

    Public Sector 9 May 2006, 11:05

  • BitTorrent to sell Warner movie downloads

    P2P company goes commercial

    Warner Bros is to use BitTorrent technology to deliver movie downloads, the Hollywood Studio's home entertainment division announced today, just a week after it was alleged that Apple will use the same system to power its upcoming movie download service. This summer, Warner will make around 200 titles - among them Harry …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 11:27

  • Ofcom fudge fails to protect consumers from mis-selling

    'Cannot guarantee any of the information'

    Ofcom has made a half-hearted attempt to name and shame telcos that have been reported for slamming and other mis-selling. The communications regulator has published a document entitled "Information about per-provider slamming and mis-selling complaints", after being forced to reveal the data to the Mail on Sunday following a …

    Telecoms 9 May 2006, 11:36

  • Pantech fingers writing for faster phone texting

    Digital technology

    South Korean mobile phone maker Pantech has demo'd a handset with what it calls "finger writing recognition", a feature the company described as "unique" and which it reckons could revolutionise text entry on phones. The PG-2800 supports text entry in the usual way, but the clamshell handset's touch-sensitive keypad also …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 11:56

  • Chip sales to grow 10% in 2006

    Bumper year forecast as demand for electronics soars

    Global chip sales are set to grow by a thumping 10 per cent this year as demand for portable electronic devices takes hold. According to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), market demand for gadgets will continue to bump up microchip spending from last year's $228bn - a surge that will be felt throughout …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 12:03

  • Botnet master jailed for five years

    Resident Evil

    A California man has been jailed for almost five years for running a zombie network of compromised PCs. Jeanson James Ancheta, 21, of Downey, California, used the botnets he controlled to display cash-generating adverts and as a resource he "rented" for hackers and spammers to run either denial of service attacks or junk mail …

    Enterprise Security 9 May 2006, 12:10

  • Sony sets up summer photo printer line-up

    Dye-sublimation

    Sony will ship its latest photo printers into the US and Europe this summer, the company said this week, touting the two new machines' ability to churn out "lab quality prints that last", in part thanks to the special laminate coating the printers apply. Two new models were unveiled: the DPP-FP35 and DPP-FP55. Both use four …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 12:21

  • Jellyfish: nature's quickest on the draw

    Even faster than Rolf Harris

    The sting of a jellyfish has been shown to be one of the fastest processes in the whole of biology. Using a super-fast camera technique German researchers have found it can fire off in just 700 nanoseconds. The team, writing in Current Biology, calculates that the acceleration is equivalent to 5,410,000 times gravity. Its …

    Biology 9 May 2006, 12:24

  • VAT scams 'cost UK £5bn' in last fiscal year - claim

    HMRC says 'No way'

    HMRC has rejected claims that carousel VAT fraud cost the UK £5bn in the last financial year and could hit £7bn in the current year. The Guardian reported today that figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest the problem , worth £1.1bn and £1.9bn in 2004-2005, had ballooned and the final figure for the just finished …

    Channel Register 9 May 2006, 13:51

  • Sugababes go mobile!!

    Revolving door social housing girlband hawk mobile TV doc

    Oh. My. God. Epoch-defining news out of the Sugababes camp. The girls have signed a deal with O2 to allow the great unhosed the chance to download reality TV-style episodes from their super-exciting lives to mobile phones. Big Brother factory Endemol will be producing the fascinating interactive glimpses into the showbiz magic …

    Mobile 9 May 2006, 13:53

  • Why faking fingerprints with toe prints is a bad idea

    Jamaican jailed after failing to fool US customs

    A Jamaica man who tried to surgically replace his fingerprints with skin from his feet in a failed bid to enter the US illegally has been jailed for 13 months. Marc Terrance George, 41, was jailed last week after earlier pleading guilty to illegal entry after deportation, AP reports. George went to extreme lengths to avoid …

    ID 9 May 2006, 13:57

  • Women still vexed over IT pay gap

    'Never mind love, stick the kettle on'

    Half of women in the IT industry believe they're not paid as much as men. A survey by UK hi-tech industry trade body Intellect found that six in ten women believe their firm does not have a transparent pay structure providing clarity on matters such as how salaries, bonuses, and perks are awarded. Two thirds of the 433 women …

    IT Director 9 May 2006, 14:03

  • Maxtor Shared Storage Plus NAS box

    Review An easy-to-use networked back-up drive for home or the office

    With more and more data ending up on your PC, from your music collection to your photo library, not to mention work and applications, it's more important than ever to keep your computer backed up. Hard drives fail, they get dropped, they get nicked. Most of us would be made pretty miserable if our data went up the Swanee too …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 15:08

  • Readers stuff Peppers

    Letters Little sympathy for sobbing rockers

    Pity if you will the poor old Red Hot Chili Peppers - reduced to making a tearful appeal to fans not to download illegal copies of their new album, Stadium Arcadium, released today: Tell you what, Chili Peppers. I'll not only not download your new album, but I won't buy it either! How's that? Feeling better already, aren't you …

    Letters 9 May 2006, 15:09

  • Geeks imperiled by e-thrombosis

    E-economy class syndrome

    A programmer has warned how a marathon 12 hour sit gave him a blood clot that could have killed him. Chris Simmons, 42, was rushed to Bristol Royal Infirmary after a thrombosis travelled to to his lung. The BBC reports him saying: "I was sat at my desk and suddenly I was hit with the most excruciating pain in my lower back, I …

    IT Director 9 May 2006, 15:11

  • Team Three Pair, the return

    Reviewing the development plan

    Finished, all finished! Unfortunately, we're not talking about the Digital Recovery Environment (DRE). On Tuesday 2 May we finished the last of our exams, and to celebrate we went on a trip to Thames Valley Park (TVP), Reading; home of Microsoft UK. We'd been invited down to spend some time with the academic team doing some …

    Developer 9 May 2006, 15:14

  • Tom Cruise sues for TomCruise.com

    Little Tom has big fight on his hands

    Scientologist Tom Cruise has taken the owner of TomCruise.com to domain name arbitrator WIPO to win it back. The Hollywood star, and lead of recently released Mission Impossible III, is a bit slow off the mark - the domain was registered in November 1996, and other super-celebs have been going to WIPO for years trying to win …

    Entertainment 9 May 2006, 15:37

  • T-Mobile UK says 'no' to VoIP

    Try it and we may chuck you off the network, warns carrier

    T-Mobile UK has taken against Skype and other VoIP applications - at least as far as its new Web 'n' Walk Professional mobile internet access airtime package goes. According to the company's service terms and conditions, it's none too keen on instant messaging either. A quick read of the carrier's Web 'n' Walk Professional …

    Reg Hardware 9 May 2006, 15:42

  • German internet cannibal sentenced to life

    Techie meat is murder

    The German cannibal who ate a computer engineer has had his sentence extended to lifetime imprisonment for murder, Bloomberg reports. His victim had replied to a posting seeking a "well-built male" for "slaughter and consumption". Armin Meiwes, 44, was found guilty of manslaughter in 2004 in a case that tested the German legal …

    Music and Media 9 May 2006, 15:42

  • Open source gang forms to battle IBM, BMC and CA

    Will talk Big Blue into submission

    A group of open source software vendors has teamed up with the hopes of ending the systems management dominance enjoyed by the likes of IBM, HP, BMC and CA. The companies today have formed the Open Management Consortium (OMC), hoping to get out the message that open source management tools have matured to the point where they …

    Servers 9 May 2006, 18:21

  • Stealing cars: have laptop, will travel

    It could be yours in just 20 mins

    Thieves with laptops are able to steal cars in around 20 minutes by breaking the software locks used in modern keyless entry systems. These systems require only the presence of a key fob to start engines. Without secondary mechanical protection devices it then becomes possible for thieves to lift cars, providing they have …

    Security 9 May 2006, 21:55

  • Windows Vista - not so clear after all

    And you thought Clippy was annoying

    An irritating interface could be just one of the factors that hurts uptake of Windows Vista in the enterprise, challenging Microsoft's ambitious rollout goals. Yankee Group has said "quite a bit of work" remains to be done to the Windows Vista interface, judging by the currently available beta, and advised customers to wait for …

    Operating Systems 9 May 2006, 22:26

  • Microsoft develops new SOA acronym for financial services

    IVCAFs IBM and Gartner

    With IBM and Gartner preparing to evangelize SOAs at the analyst's Symposium and IT/expo next week, Microsoft has got off to an early start by announcing an architecture targeting developers and integrators in financial services. The Microsoft Insurance Value Chain Architecture Framework (IVCAF) 1.0 contains tools, libraries …

    Applications 9 May 2006, 22:44

  • A neutral net is a neutered net?

    Verizon waves the shroud

    So-called "network neutrality" legislation hampers innovation and harms business and the public, Verizon's chief spokesperson said this week. Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive VP of public affairs, said in a speech that efforts to legislate against discrimination would hamper the take up of multi-tier network applications such as …

    Telecoms 9 May 2006, 23:58