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12th May 2006 Archive

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  • Indian IT firms look for data security chief

    Employee database ain't enough

    The Indian IT industry is setting up an organisation to police data security among firms handling outsourcing contracts from countries such as the UK. The move is intended to counter fears raised by reports last year of security breaches involving data held by Indian services firms on behalf of Western banks. The National …

    Management 12 May 2006, 00:02

  • Microsoft playing waiting game against Google

    Patience, my pretty

    Microsoft will beat Google in the online advertising market through sheer tenacity during the next five years, not by offering a new or radically different online strategy, according to chief executive Steve Ballmer. Ballmer, speaking at a Churchill Club lunch in Silicon Valley Thursday (pictured right), promised to " …

    Media 12 May 2006, 00:43

  • Science you can sniff at?

    Analysis My police dog's got no nous...

    Ever wondered where the expression "barking up the wrong tree" comes from? It comes from dogs, who have been getting the wrong end of the stick for donkeys' years. Ironically, it is a dog's knack of following mistaken lines of inquiry that makes it such a reliable police surveillance tool. The police describe false alerts by …

    Security 12 May 2006, 02:02

  • Neptune wooed Triton with magnetic charm

    Stole passing moon from close companion

    A pair of US scientists has come up with a plausible explanation as to how Neptune successfully captured its moon Triton - a process which had previously baffled boffins, who couldn't work out how the moon had lost sufficient energy to settle into a nice, comfy orbit rather than continuing on into the infinite yonder. One …

    Science 12 May 2006, 05:02

  • Digital music nirvana isn't impossible, it just takes longer

    DRM and network barons queer the pitch

    The idea of being able to play your music anywhere, on any device, has become a cliche without quite coming to pass. Viewed from a distance, this looks like one of technology's greatest failures. If you're acquainted with Orb, Sling Media, or MP3Tunes - all of which fulfill that promise to some degree - you'll know how close we …

    Media 12 May 2006, 05:38

  • Poll: 55% break copyright law

    Nation of thieving scumbags put hands up

    A poll has spotlighted the folly of current copyright law in the UK. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents in the National Consumer Council (NCC) commissioned poll thought copying their own CDs was perfectly legal, and 55 per cent said they have done so. However, current law states that it is illegal to rip CDs to any other media …

    Media 12 May 2006, 06:02

  • Crusading veggies steamroll university into web censorship

    'Why vegetarians should be force fed with lard'

    A provocative essay has been pulled from servers by Newcastle University authorities following complaints from vegetarians. Nikolas Lloyd, who was granted IT services as a visiting fellow in evolutionary psychology, has had all his pages taken down and his email access rescinded. Forum members on a vegetarian dating site took …

    Media 12 May 2006, 07:02

  • What's the best way to improve the human body?

    Bodily upgrade

    We humans would look considerably different - both inside and out - if evolution had designed the human body to work better and last longer. Dr S Jay Olshansky of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois in Chicago and two other researchers recently speculated in Scientific American that a human "better …

    Science 12 May 2006, 08:02

  • DfT unaware of IT payout

    What £25m, sir?

    MPs have revealed that the Department for Transport's permanent secretary was unaware it had paid £25m to an IT company for work on the Transport Direct project. The House of Commons Transport Committee's annual 2005 report into the Department for Transport (DfT) said permanent secretary David Rowlands "seemed unaware that …

    Policy 12 May 2006, 08:06

  • Scripting and services top Sun software chief's list

    Interview Pastures Green

    Support for scripting languages in Java, squeezing revenue from a set of long-promised - but strangely MIA - services, and more open source initiatives are among top priorities for Sun Microsystems' newly appointed software chief. Rich Green, recently named executive vice president of software following a two-year hiatus from …

    Developer 12 May 2006, 08:45

  • The quest for ring zero

    'One ring to rule them all...'

    Federico Biancuzzi sits down with French researcher Loïc Duflot and speaks about the System Management Mode attack, how to mitigate it, what hardware is vulnerable, and why we should be concerned with recent X Server bugs. A feature called System Management Mode, included in modern x86 cpus, opens the way to the land of …

    Security 12 May 2006, 08:48

  • Product Red MacBook, iPod due Tuesday?

    Special edition Motorola SLVR certainly

    Will next Tuesday, 16 May see the debut of the much-touted red iPod? Let's string together a series of coincidences and see if it will. We've no evidence - think of the exercise as a thought experiment. Apple was rumoured to announce its new Intel-based MacBook this week, on Tuesday. A variety of sources say the launch will now …

    Hardware 12 May 2006, 08:52

  • Prison for privacy crooks

    ICO calls for clampdown on data black market

    Information commissioner Richard Thomas has called for prison sentences of up to two years for the illegal buying and selling of personal information. He made the call along with the presentation of a report on the issue to Parliament on 12 May. This is based on concerns that confidential information can too easily be obtained …

    Security 12 May 2006, 09:08

  • Nvidia posts record quarter

    Income down, though

    Nvidia yesterday reported record revenues for the first quarter of its 2007 financial year. Sales totalled $681.8m, up 17 per cent on the year-ago quarter's $583.8m and 7.6 per cent up on the previous quarter's $633.6m. However, GAAP net income was down sequentially, falling 7.5 per cent from $98.1m (26.5 cents a share) to $ …

    Hardware 12 May 2006, 09:14

  • BT batphone to be repackaged for big biz

    Holy Fusion

    BT is to unveil a new corporate-strength version of its Fusion batphone early next year. The BT Fusion phone is already being flogged to end users and small firms. But it seems big business likes the idea of a phone that can hop between mobile and Wi-Fi networks, helping to cut the cost of using a cellphone. But they also want …

    Mobile 12 May 2006, 09:17

  • Software asset management becomes an ISO standard

    Good practice benchmark set

    A new international standard has been produced to enable organisations to prove they are performing Software Asset Management (SAM) to a standard sufficient to satisfy corporate governance and to aid industry and vendors with software compliance. Published by ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and IEC ( …

    Management 12 May 2006, 09:35

  • Dell unveils mutant XPS gaming PC

    X-Men movie tie-in

    Dell yesterday unwrapped a special "collector's" edition XPS gaming PC designed to cash in on the hype surrounding the third X-Men movie, which opens in cinemas later this month. Like the XPS 600 Renegade system announced earlier this year, the X-Men model is expected to cost a whopping $10,000. The new machine sports Dell' …

    Hardware 12 May 2006, 09:50

  • Hands on with Microsoft Team System

    Is integration sometimes tighter than you’d like?

    Historically, Microsoft has shown little interest in application lifecycle tools. The company was content to make Visual Studio extensible, and have third-parties fill the gap between a single-developer IDE and a manageable software development process. The one concession to team development was Visual SourceSafe, a bundled …

    Developer 12 May 2006, 10:02

  • O2 and Telefonica cut roaming charges

    'Bout time, too

    O2 and Telefonica Moviles are following in the footsteps of other mobile operators by slashing the cost of making and receiving calls when travelling abroad. Spanish firm Telefonica's two mobile subsidiaries - O2 and Telefonica Moviles - announced new roaming packages known as "My Europe" on Thursday. The move follows similar …

    Mobile 12 May 2006, 10:06

  • Homechoice yet to hit play on network roll-out plans

    On hold or not?

    Homechoice is trying to flog a "white label" version of its broadband TV service amid speculation that the national rollout of its network is on hold. Last November Video Networks - the firm behind Homechoice - announced plans to roll out its IPTV network beyond London and Stevenage during 2006, increasing the network's …

    Broadband 12 May 2006, 10:18

  • Sony PS3 sports PSP-like user interface

    Multi-user ready, too

    Sony's PlayStation 3 presents a user interface based on the one the company developed for the PlayStation Portable, complete with Games, Music, Movies and Photo settings - and a multi-user system, it has emerged. A picture snapped of the PS3's UI by T3 magazine shows a more graphically impressive version of the familiar PSP …

    Games 12 May 2006, 10:21

  • Please don't floss with screwdrivers, dentists beg

    Shock survey revelations

    In news that will no doubt amuse our American readers, a survey has shown up the British approach to flossing in all its ham-fisted glory. As well as screwdrivers, ingenious dental daredevils confessed to jamming knives, scissors and needles between their teeth, the BBC reports. At the less lethal end of spectrum, people …

    Science 12 May 2006, 10:31

  • Motorola finally ships iTunes phone in UK

    RAZR V3im brings jukebox app to Brits

    Motorola has at least allowed UK consumers to buy a handset that incorporates Apple's iTunes music software. Phones made available in the US with iTunes have to date shipped over here without the application. The new phone is the RAZR V3im, a updated version of the V3i Motorola launched in the UK earlier this year. You can …

    Phones 12 May 2006, 10:49

  • Stem cell 'fraud' scientist faces jail time

    Korean genetics debacle heads for court

    Hwang Woo-Suk, the disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist is to face criminal embezzlement and ethics charges, prosecutors have announced. Government officials said in February that it was unclear how he had spent $2.6m, of the $33m in government funding, and $6.4m in private donations he received, AP reports. Detailing …

    Science 12 May 2006, 10:58

  • Tiscali UK joins millionaire broadband club

    Presses on with LLU

    Tiscali UK has joined the exclusive "millionaires" club after revealing that at the end of March it had more than 1.08m broadband users. It joins NTL/Telewest, BT, and AOL as one of only a handful of ISPs to have notched up a million broadband subscribers in the UK. Orange, the new name for Wanadoo and Freeserve before that, …

    Broadband 12 May 2006, 12:23

  • Oh look, Big Brother's back

    Tech Digest With secret celebs and golden tickets too

    Can we get the Big Brother stuff out of the way first, please? At the time of writing, the wily eBayer who’s flogging a BB Golden Ticket out of a KitKat that he hasn't bought yet has seen bids shoot to £1.67. Hey, don’t laugh. You can get two KitKat Chunky three-packs for that. Meanwhile in Elstree, the BB house has been swept …

    Bootnotes 12 May 2006, 12:40

  • Councillor barred for slating IT dept

    'You are the servants', said former Captain

    A Chichester councillor was so rude to IT staff that he was suspended from his elected office, an official report revealed yesterday. The local government Adjudication Panel, which hears cases of misconduct brought against local government officials by ethics officers, published the reasons behind its decision to suspend …

    Policy 12 May 2006, 12:52

  • Naked Natalie Portman fights for equal pay

    Letters The inverted pyramid paradox syndrome

    It's official: women in IT get paid less. That's according to a survey by Intellect, which says "this is just one of the reasons the IT sector is still struggling to recruit women to work in the industry". Another gem from the department of the fairly bleedin' obvious?: It is well known in HR circles (I've had extensive …

    Letters 12 May 2006, 13:13

  • NZ 'definitely not for sale'

    Ocker* tries to flog God's Own on eBay

    An Australian man, obviously a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock, tried to flog off Aotearoa* on online auction site eBay. Bidding started at just one cent, and 6,000 hits and 22 bids later, only AUS$3,000 was offered for the "half gallon, quarter acre, pavlova paradise" before eBay pulled the auction. "Clearly, New …

    Media 12 May 2006, 13:22

  • Teen accused of 'email bombing' faces retrial

    Case tests UK denial of service laws

    A teenager accused of crashing the email server of his former employer with millions of junk mail messages, is to face retrial. David Lennon, 18, allegedly used a bulk mailing package called Avalanche to bombard the email servers of his former employers Domestic and General Group with approximately five million emails in early …

    Media 12 May 2006, 13:40

  • Celebrity monkey fans wowed by new genus

    Baboonacy

    Zoologists have described the first new genus of African monkey in 83 years. The new species, named Rungwecebus kipunji, is so different from other monkeys that a new grouping had to be specially created. Rungwecebus kipunji (pictured) was first described in 2005 from two sightings in Tanzania. Based on photographs, it was …

    Science 12 May 2006, 13:42

  • Russian MP3 sales site 'more popular in UK than Napster'

    Study claims AllofMP3.com second only to iTunes

    A Russian company labelled by the music industry as as an "unlawful" operation was nonetheless second only to iTunes as the favoured destination of UK digital music buyers during April 2006, figures from UK-based market watcher XTN Data reveal. According to XTN, Apple's iTunes Music Store accounted for 44 per cent of music …

    Media 12 May 2006, 13:57

  • French concessions on DRM not enough for Apple

    Time for Le Crunch

    Moves by French politicians to soften plans that will force Apple and others to open up DRM to help consumers do not go far enough, industry representatives have claimed. The interoperabilty bill was passed yesterday by the upper house of the French parliament. Under the relaxed proposals, rather than force Apple and others …

    Media 12 May 2006, 14:15

  • O2 explores fixed line options

    Punters want converged services, says cellco

    Mobile outfit O2 - which was snapped up by Spanish telco Telefonica for £18bn last year - has confirmed it is chewing over the idea of entering the fixed line telecoms market in the UK. Earlier this month, it was reported that O2 was sniffing around Bulldog - the LLU operator owned by Cable & Wireless (C&W) - and Tiscali UK, as …

    Mobile 12 May 2006, 14:20

  • Elonex Artisan VX Viiv media centre PC

    Review Viiv arrives in the UK

    Elonex might not be the first brand you think of when you're going to buy a computer and even less so as a supplier for your next PVR/DVD recorder. But Elonex has been making some excellent Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) PCs for quite some time. Its latest mode, the Artisan VX, is one of the first Intel Viiv-branded PCs …

    Hardware 12 May 2006, 15:01

  • Sony UK to ship white PSP next week

    Out on Monday, etailers suggest

    Sony looks set to ship its glossy white version of the PlayStation Portable in the UK early next week, if a number of the country's biggest retailers are anything to go by. The special-edition handheld console will ship in the Value Pack bundle configuration. Almost all the online retailers we checked with this afternoon have …

    Games 12 May 2006, 15:25

  • Euro judges back HMRC on VAT fraud

    But legit traders given lifeline

    UK customs authorities struggling to contain ballooning VAT fraud have won a partial victory in the European Court of Justice. In a preliminary ruling yesterday, the judges decided that traders caught up in carousel frauds could be held liable for unfair VAT anywhere in the trading chain, if they had “reasonable grounds” to …

    The Channel 12 May 2006, 15:33

  • NSA data trawl furore

    Spy on the wire

    The NSA has compiled phone records of tens of millions of Americans as part of its efforts to combat terrorism, according to an investigation by USA Today. The data - obtained from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth - included records of numbers dialed, the duration and time of calls. The content of calls was not involved in the …

    Media 12 May 2006, 15:37

  • MSN Europe re-loads Loudeye/OD2 for digital music

    Handy, given song seller's shift away from US

    Microsoft's European MSN operation has re-signed Loudeye subsidiary OD2 to run its digital music downloads service. OD2 currently sells music on MSN's behalf in 13 European countries, where MSN Music has attracted "hundreds of thousands" of buyers. Earlier this month, Loudeye announced quarterly sales of $8.4m, $6.4m of which …

    Financial News 12 May 2006, 15:38

  • T-Mobile unveils England-backing World Cup phone

    Which is unpatriotic, considering it is German

    T-Mobile UK has launched a special edition Samsung phone to celebrate England's latest attempt to avoid being ignominiously knocked out of the World Cup tournament. Hoping to rekindle the team's fomer glories, the handset is preloaded with a video clip of Geoff Hurst's winning goal in 1966. The Samsung E370: Three Lions …

    Phones 12 May 2006, 16:00

  • Kodak photo sharing service fined over spam campaign

    Not a pretty picture

    Kodak's online picture sharing service has been fined for promoting its product using junk mail. Two million messages, sent on behalf of Kodak Imaging Network (formerly Ofoto), failed to include a valid-opt mechanism or a valid physical postal address, as required by law among other violations of the US CAN-SPAM Act. US …

    Security 12 May 2006, 17:29

  • Wells Fargo fesses up to data loss

    Lightning strikes twice for HP man

    At least one poor Hewlett Packard employee compromised by Fidelity's March laptop loss has now been told Wells Fargo lost his personal data, too. The staffer received a note this week from Wells Fargo, saying the financial institution had lost a computer packed full of sensitive data such as customers' names, addresses, Social …

    Security 12 May 2006, 19:05

  • Justice Dept slams 'Machiavellian' Microsoft

    Monopoly's anti-trust compliance sucks - DoJ

    The US Department of Justice says Microsoft is doing a lousy job complying with the anti-trust settlement, and quoted Machiavelli to support its case for an extension to the monitoring program. As of 1 February, over 700 issues remained outstanding out of over 1,000 submitted to the monitoring committee, which was set up to …

    Media 12 May 2006, 22:46