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19th May 2006 Archive

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  • NetSol's email goes titsup

    In brief Customers in the dark

    Network Solutions Inc says it's working to fix an outage which has left its business email customers high and dry for most of today. Readers report the system failed late this morning Pacific Time. A taped message on NSI's support number tells callers - "We are currently experiencing a service issue that may be causing delays …

    Telecoms 19 May 2006, 00:20

  • Dell: 'We'll cut prices and ... er, cut prices'

    Double-digit profit drop prompts overhaul

    Following one of its worst quarters in memory, Dell has vowed to enact a process of renewal. The company will overhaul its products and customer support services, while at the same time cutting prices in a bid to attract more business in the long-term. As promised, Dell delivered first quarter results well below the company's …

    Hardware 19 May 2006, 00:32

  • MRSA-stomping antibiotic discovered

    Hospital superbugs could be defeated by African soil

    Doctors may have a powerful new weapon in the battle against deadly drug-resistant bugs. A compound isolated from South African soil samples offers potency against all the big hospital killers. Research funded by drug giant Merck screened over 250,000 chemicals for antibiotic activity. The international team, reporting in …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 01:02

  • Vendors can't stop giving at JavaOne

    Our source is your source

    Oracle has used Sun Microsystems' JavaOne conference as a springboard for announcing a number of contributions to open source projects supporting Web 2.0. The database giant said it is contributing its Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) user interface technology to the community, and planned to support open source scripting …

    Applications 19 May 2006, 08:21

  • Last call for feedback on SOA

    Reader study closing today

    The latest Reg Reader study on SOA is closing today, so if you haven't had your say yet, now's your last chance. One of the questions is: How would you sum up the nature of SOA? a) A radical new approach b) An evolution of existing ideas and practices c) A useful reorganisation of existing ideas d) Largely just vendor hype …

    Tech Panel 19 May 2006, 08:40

  • Patent Office to reconsider Amazon's 1-Click patent

    Kiwi lays down challenge to 'have some fun'

    The US Patent and Trademark Office ordered a re-examination of Amazon.com's controversial 1-Click patent on Friday following a New Zealander's discovery of what he believes to be prior art. Peter Calveley is not an aggrieved inventor; he's just having fun. The 35-year-old from Auckland is a fascinating individual. An interest …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 08:45

  • Intel to prune Core Duo prices - report

    Up to 33.6% off

    Intel will cut its Core Duo processor prices on 28 May, an online report has claimed. If true, the move will knock up to 33.6 per cent off the price of the 65nm, dual-core notebook-oriented chips. It also paves the way for the anticipated arrival of the 2.33GHz T2700 next month. According to DigiTimes, which cites sources …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 08:50

  • Dining out on the ID card fiasco

    Angell - or Devil's advocate?

    When they make the film of the great ID card fiasco, it may well open with a dinner at the National Liberal Club, where the Great and Good of the IT industry (and your Register correspondent) warn of impending doom. The Real Time Club has invited Professor Ian Angell of the London School of Economics to dinner to explain just …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 08:52

  • Abit spills Nvidia nForce 570 SLI beans

    Mobo maker announced KN9 SLI board

    Motherboard maker Abit has announced a board based on Nvidia's as-yet-unlaunched nForce 570 SLI chipset. The mobo, the KN9 SLI, supports AMD's upcoming Socket AM2 interconnect and the "newest dual-core AMD processors". According to Abit, the KN9 SLI supports dual-channel DDR 2 SDRAM clocked to 800MHz and a 2GHz HyperTransport …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 09:24

  • The evolution of integration platforms

    Comment MDM + DIP = IMP

    Once upon a time there were ETL (extract, transform and load) tools and then, quite separately, products for data cleansing and matching started to appear. However, it took some time before the vendors of the former realised the synergies that existed with the latter. The (partial) exception was Prism, which developed its …

    Developer 19 May 2006, 09:25

  • SAP boss flirts with... nearly everyone

    Except for Larry

    SAP flashed a bit of thigh today, with one of its co-founders saying the company could just possibly be open to being bought and then detailing his three most likely suitors. And Oracle ain’t one of ‘em. SAP chairman Hassno Plattner, who still owns 12 per cent of the company and is the only founder still involved with the …

    Applications 19 May 2006, 09:42

  • Intel Woodcrest Xeon DP 5100 series to 'ship 25 June'

    Speeds'n'feeds leaked, allegedly

    Intel will launch 'Woodcrest', the Xeon DP server processor based on the chip giant's 65nm next-generation architecture, on 19 June and ship the chip almost a week later, on 25 June, Taiwanese motherboard-maker moles have claimed. The new chip will debut as the Xeon 5100 series. According to a leaked presentation slide posted …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 09:52

  • Tesco offers rum as contraceptive

    Teen pregnancy explosion explained

    Anyone wondering why the UK's sink estates are full of 12-year-olds pushing prams while their asboed-up 15-year-old boyfs throw fridges onto decorated war veterans from the top of abandoned 1960s tower blocks, should look no further that Tesco's ecommerce tentacle for the shocking answer: That's right: even those bowed-legged …

    Bootnotes 19 May 2006, 10:06

  • Gremlins halt BT's 8 meg upgrade

    Yet another cock-up

    The migration of thousands of people onto higher speed broadband services has been put on hold after BT admitted that a key system has been floored by a software glitch. ISPs have been gearing up to begin the mass migration of punters onto BT's new DSL Max service, which gives broadband users speeds of up to 8 meg. But …

    Telecoms 19 May 2006, 10:14

  • Apple countersues Creative

    Lawsuit alleges infringement of four iPod patents

    Apple has responded to Creative Technology's patent infringement allegations by claiming the MP3 player maker has violated its own intellectual property. It has filed a formal complaint against its rival in the Wisconsin District Court. Creative's own complaint was filed Monday, 15 May, the same day Apple launched its …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 10:23

  • Web vigilantes seek MS anti-piracy quarry

    Stoned customers fight back

    Earlier this month we reported on an audacious Microsoft anti-piracy initiative which consisted of sending customers a stone in a box. Now that's an awful lot of people, so where exactly did MS dig up this mineralogical resource? A good question, and one being posed by Stones Reunited - an online resource hewn from raw html by …

    Applications 19 May 2006, 10:25

  • Poll: reliability key to storage end users, vendors coming up short

    Cheers Sherlock

    Storage vendors are landing short of the mark when it comes to providing answers to their clients' storage needs. A Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) survey has shed light on the challenges faced by network professionals. The poll of more than 70 small, medium and large enterprises found that more than 70 per cent …

    Storage 19 May 2006, 10:26

  • First Big Brother golden ticket surfaces on eBay

    Updated KitKatastic offer pulled at £10m

    It was only a matter of time, and here it is: the first Big Brother golden ticket has been duly extracted from a KitKat bar and immediately placed for sale on eBay: BIG BROTHER GOLDEN TICKET FOUND IN A KITKAT BAR BEFORE ABOUT 10 MINUTES AGO!!! FIRST ON EBAY!!!!!!! I DONT WANT TO GO IN THE BIG BROTHER HOUSE SO I AM OFFERING …

    Entertainment 19 May 2006, 10:30

  • Dr Who episodes now online

    Geek TV Battlestar Galactica too...

    "Forward-thinking is part of Sci Fi's DNA," says Sci Fi Channel president, the bodaciously-named Bonnie Hammer. Roughly translated from Bonnie’s native Klingon, this means: "Geeks will be geeks". Sci Fi knows that its viewers are emotionally troubled by switching off their PCs to watch ye olde television, so it's adding full " …

    Entertainment 19 May 2006, 10:54

  • BOFH: Power down blues

    Episode 17 Averse altruism

    So I get into work to find out that one of the cleaners has switched my bloody desktop off overnight, again, in the interests of power saving. No matter how many times I tell them not to the order is countermanded by the head of the cleaning staff, whose extensive and ongoing work with the intricacies of the playstation has …

    BOFH 19 May 2006, 11:02

  • Telcos wish to deny mass snooping

    'Compassionate totalitarianism' proves tricky for the private sector

    BellSouth has demanded that USA Today must retract its story fingering the telco in the Bush Administration's mass domestic dragnet of phone records. "BellSouth insists that your newspaper retract the false and unsubstantiated statements you have made regarding our company," the company demanded in a letter to USA Today …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 11:21

  • Slovenian brewer reveals miracle properties of beer

    Quaff 'liquid bread', live forever

    The beer drinkers among you already know the truth - the nectar of the gods fights cancer and heart disease, promotes intelligence and a slimline physique and bestows riches upon the quaffer. Pretty conclusive evidence for the miracle properties of beer, you might think. Sadly, though, there are still some (our news editor …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 11:25

  • Symantec moves to slap Redmond with Vista injunction

    Fight, fight, fight!

    Symantec is suing Microsoft over the Volume Manager software it acquired in its Veritas purchase last year. The suit was filed yesterday in the Seattle district court. The security firm is after Microsoft for unspecified damages and an injunction that could halt the release of Vista and the Longhorn server suite. The case …

    Operating Systems 19 May 2006, 11:30

  • MS posts PC Vista-viability tool

    Can your box run the next version of Windows?

    Microsoft has specified what kit you'll need to run Windows Vista, with and without the upcoming operating system's fancy Aero user interface. It has also posted an application that will assess your system for its Vista suitability. To get Vista's full array of graphical geegaws, you'll need a Premium Ready PC. To qualify, …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 11:31

  • Virgin Mobile offers free beer and kebabs

    Form an orderly queue here

    Virgin Mobile is offering its gig-going punters free beer and kebabs this summer as part plans to be nice to its customers. Virgin Mobile punters attending certain youth-oriented events will be invited to text the word "beer" or "kebab" to a short code number. In return, they'll receive a text containing a voucher for two free …

    Mobile 19 May 2006, 11:34

  • EU regulation attacked as censorship

    Update Television rules for all media

    Libertarians have got a bee in their bonnet over European Commission proposals to regulate commercial audio and video broadcasts over the internet and mobile phones. EU commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding was forced to defend herself against accusations of censorship during a press conference in …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 11:55

  • Japanese lab recreates Mona Lisa's voice

    'Leo, how long do I have to sit here?'

    A Japanese laboratory claims to have recreated the voices of the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci using "methods employed in criminal investigations", Physorg.com reports. It's all pretty simple: the Japan Acoustic Lab "analyzed the skeletal structures of the historical figures' faces" and extrapolated the dulcite tones from …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 13:03

  • Which comes first: imagination or fantasy?

    And what's the difference between the two?

    Also in this week's column: What are chromosome abnormalities and how often do they occur? What is the difference between a chromosome and a gene? Which comes first: imagination or fantasy? Asked by Mike Valentine of Fort Mill, South Carolina The word "imagination" comes from the Latin word imaginare and means "to form an …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 13:06

  • What is the difference between a chromosome and a gene?

    The basis of all life

    Also in this week's column: What are chromosome abnormalities and how often do they occur? Which comes first: imagination or fantasy, and what's the difference between the two? What is the difference between a chromosome and a gene? Asked by Lynn Davis of Casper, Wyoming This topic gets very complicated very quickly. Here …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 13:07

  • What are chromosome abnormalities and how often do they occur?

    A dip into the gene pool

    Also in this week's column: What is the difference between a chromosome and a gene? Which comes first: imagination or fantasy, and what's the difference between the two? What are chromosome abnormalities and how often do they occur? Asked by Lynn Davis of Casper, Wyoming Each of our chromosomes has a specific and proper …

    Biology 19 May 2006, 13:14

  • Intel EOLs virtualisation-friendly Pentium 4s

    Farewell, P4 662, 672

    Intel is to discontinue production of its two Virtualisation Technology-equipped Pentium 4 processors, the 662 and 672, the chip maker has told its customers. The two 90nm, LGA-775 chips only debuted in November 2005. Intel documentation seen by Reg Hardware doesn't reveal why the parts are being pulled, but it reveals the …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 13:15

  • LibDems attack NHS IT programme

    Call for independent review

    Speaking in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats claimed the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), said to be the world's largest civil IT project, was failing to meet the government's own targets. Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, said health secretary Patricia Hewitt's claim that the project will …

    Public Sector 19 May 2006, 13:27

  • Brocade results set to warm Wall Street

    But what about the GAAP?

    Brocade's latest set of financials exeeded analysts' expectations yesterday, sending shares in the storage firm up 8 per cent on the Q2 news in pre-Wall Street opening dealing. Net revenue hit a record $182.7m in the three months to April 29, compared to $144.8m in Q2 2005, up 26 per cent. The bottom line fell though. Brocade …

    Financial News 19 May 2006, 13:48

  • NAO urged to investigate identity fraud

    Gov depts under fire for lax security

    An MP has called upon the National Audit Office (NAO) to look into allegations that organised criminal gangs paid civil servants to steal thousands of people's identities from government databases. Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk and member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, has written to NAO head John Bourn, asking …

    Public Sector 19 May 2006, 13:50

  • Sky HD installs delayed

    Viewers face World Cup misery

    Sky has delayed the installation date for thousands of its customers who are hoping to tune into High Definition (HD) TV in time for the World Cup. Supply problems with its new HD box means that 17,000 installation dates are being rescheduled to cope with the shortfall. Sky is blaming the delay on "an unforeseen and very late …

    Entertainment 19 May 2006, 13:52

  • US State Dept pulls Lenovo PCs

    Spy fears prompt disconnections from secure networks

    The US State Department has yanked computers made by China's Lenovo from networks that provide access to information vital to national security, it has emerged. The move follows fears the kit could be used by China to spy on the US. The department ordered 16,000 PCs from Lenovo earlier this year. Some 900 of these machines …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 13:59

  • Government wants encryption key offence in force

    Return of the RIPA?

    The government plans to bring into force a controversial power that can require the disclosure of an encryption key on pain of five years' imprisonment. The power has lain dormant for six years; but its time has come, Home Office Minister Liam Byrne said. In 2000, government passed the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, …

    Public Sector 19 May 2006, 14:03

  • .xxx registry sues US government

    Alleges DoC hiding extent of net interference

    The company behind the unsuccessful bid for a new .xxx domain for internet pornography, ICM Registry, has embarked on a legal fight-back. ICM will file a suit against the United States Department of Commerce in the Washington district of Columbia later today, in order to gain access to information withheld by the department in …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 14:20

  • Acer n311 Wi-Fi PDA

    Review A feature-rich PDA - but is it worth the asking price?

    The introduction of the smart phone may be slowly killing off the PDA, but there are times when you need the larger screen of the handheld. The Acer n311, part of the n300 series, offers plenty of other interesting features too, but are they enough to make you want to splash your cash? The n311's stand-out feature is its …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 14:32

  • GPU shipments up 25 per cent in Q1

    Intel, ATI, Nvidia gained, while VIA and others lost share

    Intel grew its share of the graphics chip market during Q1, along with ATI and Nvidia, the latest figures from market watcher Jon Peddie Research reveal. The losers were VIA, SiS and Matrox, all of which registered sequential market-share declines. Intel's share of the 74.9m GPUs that shipped in Q1 rose from 37.5 per cent in …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 15:09

  • Parkies get police intelligence

    Off the grass, John Bull of 73 Green Drive, or I'll tell your mum about your ASBO

    Police intelligence records could be opened to frontline council workers under a draft plan being considered by Downing Street. Park keepers, housing officers, neighbourhood wardens, and other council workers could access intelligence databases to find out about people in their borough, the Guardian newspaper reported today. …

    Music and Media 19 May 2006, 15:17

  • The UK's Imagine Cup team on film

    Imagine Cup Mark Johnston and Kevin McDaniel pay a visit

    Yesterday we had a visit from our main man at Microsoft, the guy himself, Mark Johnston! Mark spent the day with us going over our entry and discussing how we were managing our daily development plan. We talked about our presentation and what we need to put into it. He also kindly reminded us of the hundreds upon thousands of …

    Developer 19 May 2006, 15:32

  • Demise fears boosts traffic for AllofMP3.com

    Downtime cheaper than advertising?

    What's the best way of boosting your share of the music download market? For Russian song supplier AllofMP3.com, three days' downtime appears to be the best bet, it seems. According to online traffic data, the website's share of the internet audience more than doubled as news of its possible demise broke. Data derived from …

    Reg Hardware 19 May 2006, 16:00

  • Dell takes care of Wall Street, not customers with AMD move

    Analysis Opteron distraction

    Dell's decision yesterday to start shipping an AMD-based server sent a strong signal that investors and not customers come first for the company's current management team. At face value, we'll grant you that such a statement seems odd. After all, it's the customers and not investors that will be buying Dell's new four-chip …

    Servers 19 May 2006, 17:08

  • Apple shunned superstar chip start-up for Intel

    Exclusive PA Semi has the goods

    Did Apple make a mistake by switching to Intel? We may never know, but Apple had more options than has been previously reported, The Register can exclusively reveal. A chip start-up that created a high performance, low power processor compatible with existing Mac software had been working closely with the computer company for …

    Hardware 19 May 2006, 21:21