2nd June 2006 Archive

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US pro-stem cell mission ready for fight

Bush set to veto crunch Senate vote

A cross-party American delegation has cautioned the US is lagging on embryonic stem cell research, and medical progress is suffering worldwide as a result. The group, currently visiting the UK, appealed for President Bush to withdraw a threat to veto a Bill set to be revive the impoverished American stem cell research community …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 08:46
Vodafone records largest loss in European history – shares rise

Behemoth pays for past excesses

Vodafone this week paid the price for its buccaneering past, writing down assets to create the biggest loss in European corporate history. The largest mobile phone company in the world also caved in to shareholder demands to return more cash to them, and committed to what appears to be a ruinous dividend policy, that will …

Financial News 2 Jun 2006, 08:47
Cablevision suit a test case bound to happen

Fair use?

The underlying principle of fair use in copyright law is that if a piece of work is copied, "the author doesn't suffer loss and the copying person doesn't gain". The legal action this week, filed by the studios to stop Cablevision using network DVRs, attempts to apply a completely different definition to the thinking that …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 08:49
AMD runs out of magic rabbits and embraces 'Raiden time'

Beware the slideware

The glory days when AMD could make bold proclamations about 64-bit and dual-core advances over Intel have passed. Intel's imminent catch-up effort with the "Core" line of chips has made it impossible for AMD to trounce its rival on a grand scale. Instead, we're left with both AMD and Intel hitting the slideware harder than ever …

Servers 2 Jun 2006, 08:50
Getting your site sorted for IE 7

Just how bad will it be?

After five years of tweaking the hacks that make your site look the way it's supposed to in IE 6, the CSS changes in Internet Explorer 7 are probably going to cause you some more pain. Fixing bugs doesn't usually cause complaints, but the CSS bug fixes in IE 7 change behaviours web coders have come to rely on. Workarounds like …

Developer 2 Jun 2006, 09:04
Virgin hires robot doctor

Telemedicine is the new black

Virgin Atlantic is buying telemedicine machines that will help cabin staff diagnose sick passengers with the help of doctors on the ground. The machines take blood pressure and pulse readings as well as video footage. This is sent back to the ground using Virgin's existing satellite phone system. The information goes to a …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 09:15
Dr Who makes you fat

Geek TV Shock revelation: the World Cup will too

Following our revelation that the upcoming collision of Doctor Who, Lost, 24, Big Brother and HD footy will make you ill from schedule stress, Geek TV can now confirm that telly also makes you fat. No! Yes! In a shock new study, the British Dietetic Association reports that the youth of today likes a nice sit down in front of …

Bootnotes 2 Jun 2006, 09:16
ATI RD600 chipset to support auto-overclocking

Up to 1.5GHz FSBs, apparently

ATI's upcoming RD600 chipset will ship as the CrossFire Xpress 3200 and, like Nvidia's nForce 500 series, support automatic overclocking, according to online reports. The chipset will run the frontside bus at up to 1500MHz, leaked presentation slides posted on a DailyTech report show, while the PCI Express bus can run at up …

Hardware 2 Jun 2006, 09:29
Morgan Stanley takes domain name from cat

Terrestrial moggy slinks off with tail between its legs

A cat has lost its bid to retain a controversial domain name after a multinational investment bank took it to the National Arbitration Forum. Baroness Penelope Cat of Nash DCB, who is listed as the owner of mymorganstanleyplatinum.com and was given some assistance in the case by Michael Woods, lost control of the domain to …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 09:36
Captain Copyright© captivates Canadian kids

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Those readers who have kids and are waiting with tredipation for the day when their offspring ask the question every parent dreads will be relieved to know they can now direct inquisitive minds to a Canadian website guaranteed to take the embarrassment out of that most sensitive of subjects. So, when little Jonny finally asks " …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 09:44
Europeans rail against SMS and email tax plan

Proposal dumped - but for how long?

A storm of protest is building up against a proposal by Alain Lamassoure, member of the centre-right European People's Party, to introduce a tax on SMS text messages and emails as an alternative source of revenue for the EU budget. Even though the proposal, which included a tax of 1.5 eurocents on text messages and a 0.00001 …

Data Networking 2 Jun 2006, 10:04
Texas wants P2P border surveillance

CCTV footage available for all

The governor of Texas is spending $5m installing web cameras along the state's border with Mexico so ordinary web surfers can get involved in stopping illegal immigration. The idea is that a "virtual wall" will be created by putting night-vision cameras and motion sensors on private land near the border. Illegal immigration and …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 10:16
BBC presenter in psychedelic blouse outrage

Blinded viewers grope for phones

This just in: BBC presenter Kate Silverton was forced into an on-screen apology to viewers after her "psychedelic" blouse had Middle England choking into its Coco Pops. Silverton hit the sofa on BBC Breakfast yesterday in an ill-advised and potentially lethal lime green and yellow blouse/scarf combo, prompting outraged viewers …

Bootnotes 2 Jun 2006, 10:18
BOFH: Union 'negotiations'

Episode 19 'It's not about the money'

As fate would have it, I've been asked by the unions to see what I can do about getting the computer support staff an across-the-board salary increase. After lengthy protestations about my unsuitability for the job I'm eventually convinced that I may have something to offer by the impassioned pleas of the union delegate. The …

BOFH 2 Jun 2006, 10:34
AOL plots UK ISP sale

European review hits Blighty

The break-up of of AOL's European activities could see Time Warner ditching its UK ISP operation. With 2.2m subscribers, AOL is the UK's third biggest ISP. The sale plan comes out of investment bank Citigroup's continental review of AOL for the media giant. Noises out of AOL say Citigroup are briefed to look at all options for …

Broadband 2 Jun 2006, 10:51
Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman phone

Review The iconic music phone series' latest addition

The W810i is Sony Ericsson's latest Walkman model, but it shares most of its features with the older K750i and the W800i. There are some major enhancements, especially if you intend to use it as your MP3 player. The play controls have been vastly improved and there's now a dedicated button that launches the Walkman music player …

Phones 2 Jun 2006, 12:24
NZ brawl handbag commands tear-jerking price

What a bunch of flankers

Bidding has spiralled out of control on New Zealand auction website Trademe.co.nz as punters scramble for the now famous handbag used by ex-All Black captain Tana Umaga to reprimand Chris Masoe in a Christchurch bar in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The auction, posted last Friday by the entrepreneurial owner of the fashion …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 12:34
eBay taps Opera to go mobile

It ain't over till the fat lady bids

eBay is piloting a scheme to bring its Online Marketplace service to mobile users in Germany. Using a customised version of Opera's Mini mobile web browser, eBay and Opera are creating a means for people to sell, bid and buy items using mobile phones. Opera gets paid based on the volume of web transactions such as bids made on …

Mobile 2 Jun 2006, 12:37
Database security via event stream processing

Peace of mind

I wrote recently about the potential for using event stream processing (or complex event processing) for database security. This is precisely what Symantec will be offering later this summer (the exact date has yet to be announced). Moreover, this database security product, which will also provide auditing capability, will be …

Developer 2 Jun 2006, 12:42
What's happened to whistling?

Interesting twitterings

Also in this week's column: Whatever happened to the gay gene? What lies without: Life on the human body What are tag questions? What's happened to whistling? Why do humans whistle? Whistling is the uttering of a clear sound by blowing or drawing air through puckered lips. "Whistling" is from the Old English hwistlian …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 13:44
What lies without

Life on the human body

Also in this week's column: Whatever happened to the gay gene? What's happened to whistling? What are tag questions? What lies without: Life on the human body The skin of the human body is alive with life - microscopic life of all kinds. In his classic work, Life on Man (1969), Theodor Rosebury estimates that there are …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 13:44
What are tag questions?

Right, sure...

Also in this week's column: Whatever happened to the gay gene? What lies without: Life on the human body What's happened to whistling? What are tag questions? We know that "um", "er", and "ah" are called fillers and are used in conversations to keep the listener listening while the speaker searches for the next meaningful …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 13:45
Whatever happened to the gay gene?

The great debate: genetics or environment?

Also in this week's column: What lies without: Life on the human body What are tag questions? What's happened to whistling? Whatever happened to the gay gene? Asked by Alex Walsh of St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Is homosexuality caused by genetic or environmental factors? Is there a "gay gene"? This debate is well into …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 13:46
Bladerunner chases VAT robot through Web 2.0

Letters No Natalie Portman though, sadly

It's official: AllofMP3.com is illegal, according to the music biz. This analysis found little favour with Reg readers, as the following emails demonstrate: So, the only decent mp3 download site is deemed illegal. This is a sad day for music. One can only hope that the music industry takes note of what allof mp3.com were …

Letters 2 Jun 2006, 13:53
Asteroid Itokawa just a big lump of rubble

Not solid, as previously thought

Asteroid Itokawa - subject of a 2005 visit by Japan's Hayabusa probe - is nothing more than lump of rubble, new studies have shown. The fact that the 535-metre asteroid is not solid as previously assumed has come as a bit of a surprise to those examining the Hayabusa data, New Scientist reports. Photographs reveal the body's …

Science 2 Jun 2006, 14:10
HTC buys handheld customer

More than half of Dopod acquired

HTC is to take a majority stake in Chinese handset vendor Dopod, the phone manufacturer announced today. Dopod will become a subsidiary company, HTC said, describing a move that will bring the maker a step closer to offering handsets under its own name. To date, HTC has designed and manufactured Windows Mobile-based devices …

Mobile 2 Jun 2006, 14:25
The art of software testing

Book review A look at the 2nd edition of a classic

I've had a soft spot for Myers' book ever since it first gave me an insight into the economics of testing some 25 years ago. Its essential thesis is that you can't test everything, in practice; so you have to allocate the limited resources you always have to maximise the defects found per euro. There's no point in wasting …

Developer 2 Jun 2006, 14:33
Dell hooks up with Skype

Marriage of convenience

Computer giant Dell has announced that it has paired off with global internet communications company Skype in the latest tech sector marriage. News of the happy union comes hot on the heels of Dell's recent infatuation with Google, and search engine Yahoo's hook-up with Skype's parent company, eBay. The Skype nuptials mean …

Mobile 2 Jun 2006, 14:34
Java licence issues still have a part to play

Five years to Java on Linux, next is Java open source

The law, some say, is an ass and it is quite possible that mule-like legal stubbornness has lain at the heart of the time it has taken for Sun Microsystems to get Java on Linux. According to Sun chief open source officer Simon Phipps, resolving the legal issues around the Java licence took five years, which is why he is not …

Developer 2 Jun 2006, 15:23
Piratebay operators hope to win compensation

Updated Police website hacked

The Swedish web operators behind raided site Piratebay.org will seek damages from the Swedish authorities if they can prove their innocence, according to a statement on the site earlier today. The statement, which promised that the site would be functional again within a day or two, said that those behind the site "can receive …

Media 2 Jun 2006, 15:27