5th June 2006 Archive

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VMware goes way beyond the VM

Microsoft can only dream

VMware has armed its largest product release in company history. The server virtualization specialist looks to extend its lead over Microsoft and a host of other rivals with a revamp to its flagship product and a number of upgraded and new management packages. Beyond the product refreshes, VMware has also altered the way it …

Servers 5 Jun 2006, 07:42
Phishers aim to hook MySpace users

Anti-social networking

Security watchers have discovered a phishing attack targeting users of MySpace, the social networking website. The attack comes in the form of a hyperlink sent to potential marks in an AOL instant messaging message. Users who follow the link are taken to a bogus website that spoofs the MySpace.com login page. The ruse is …

Spam 5 Jun 2006, 07:45
Councils give identity fraudsters a helping hand

Con-servatory application

Local planning authorities are giving identity criminals "all they need" by posting applicants' personal details online, according to the UK's fraud prevention service Cifas The organisation said planning authorities were publishing applicants' personal details, including names addresses, telephone and signatures, on the web as …

ID 5 Jun 2006, 08:34
YouTube gets an upgrade

Everyone's a channel now

YouTube got an upgrade on Friday - it has added a tab of channels - and any user can set themselves up as a channel. You can choose the colours of your channel, link to content you like as well as put up your own content. The idea is that similar channels, or users, will link to each other so creating groups of similar or …

Financial News 5 Jun 2006, 08:47
English Judge OKs software patent case

Says has 'real prospect of success'

The exclusion of computer programs from the patenting process will be tested in a Court of Appeal case that could turn UK patent law on its head. Lord Justice Jacob has given permission for an appeal to be heard over an online system of document assembly that was previously ruled to be excluded from the patent provision. …

Software 5 Jun 2006, 08:55
Call centre surveillance trained on police

Assisted 'death by KPI'?

Software used to monitor the phone conversations of staff working in call centres will be used to tap police calls with the public and hold force operators to performance targets. Nice Systems, an Israeli intelligence software firm, is tendering with three British police forces for the sale of a system that will automatically …

Public Sector 5 Jun 2006, 09:30
Cybersecurity contests go national

Those dratted kids

It has all the makings of a B-movie plot: A corporate network targeted by hackers and a half dozen high-school students as the company's only defense. Yet, teams of students from ten different Iowa high schools faced exactly that scenario during a single night in late May in the High School Cyber Defense Competition. The …

Enterprise Security 5 Jun 2006, 10:05
Containing the employee IT threat

Quocirca's changing channels Monitor and control

Avoiding bad publicity, protecting brand name and maximising customer confidence are all high on the list of worries of businesses when considering their ability to comply with the various laws and regulations that govern them. Some businesses pay lip service to some regulations and others find ways around them altogether ( …

Channel Register 5 Jun 2006, 10:10
Voda dogged by reports of shareholder revolt

Not happy

Vodafone chief exec Arun Sarin is facing a challenge from some of the firm's biggest institutional shareholders who are concerned about boardroom splits at the top of the giant cellco. The Sunday Times reports that the shareholders plan to lobby other investors to back an "owners revolt" that could unseat Sarin and three or …

Mobile 5 Jun 2006, 10:13
Pirate Bay resurfaces, while protesters walk the street

The hunt continues

Pirate Bay, the controversial Swedish BitTorrent site that was closed last week by Swedish police, has reemerged in the Netherlands. The site was temporarily available at an untitled IP address, but is now running again at its original address, thepiratebay.org. Fredrik Neij, one of the three people behind the site, told …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 10:21
ECS heralds 'Broadwater' mobos

Computex 2006 Confirms no IDE on ICH8 South Bridge?

Intel's 'Broadwater' chipset family isn't out yet, but that hasn't stopped Elitegroup (ECS) telling the world it will show off a range of motherboards based on the new platform here at the Computex show in Taipei. ECS's line-up includes boards based on Intel's 965P, 965G, 946PL and 946GZ chipsets - the 'P' parts without an on …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2006, 10:26
BBC seeks webcam footie pundits

'Well, Gary, the lads gave it 110 per cent, but...'

Dust off your 'cams and get ready for your close-ups, armchair Lawrensons: the BBC wants your punditry. If you know your J Jenas from your A Cole and you're handy with a webcam, you can join the live debate on the Beeb's new daily show My World Cup, which starts on Tuesday 6 June. According to the Beeb, the webcam debates will …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 10:37
Line unbundling nears 500,000 milestone

Splendid

Almost half a million phone lines have been unbundled in the UK as take-up of local loop unbundling (LLU) continues to accelerate. The latest monthly report from the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) reveals that the number of unbundled lines is now more than 471,000 with numbers growing each week. While the …

Telecoms 5 Jun 2006, 10:41
VIA to push thin-client concept at big business

Computex 2006 Low-power processor play

VIA is to launch a marketing programme that hopes to persuade big business it needs thin-client PCs rather than full-spec desktop systems. Dubbed the Connected Client Initiative (CCI), the scheme will be launched in Taipei later this week. VIA's pitch is that thin clients are ideally suited to slot into server-hosted " …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2006, 10:49
Samsung to swap Intel for AMD in next UMPC?

Desperate to get the price down, a company insider claims

Samsung's second-generation ultra-mobile PC will drop the current model's Intel chippery in favour of cheaper AMD silicon, according to a company insider. Samsung hopes a much lower price will kick-start the UMPC market this autumn. According to a Korea Times report, which cites an unnamed "Samsung official", the use of an …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2006, 11:11
Government mulls mind expanding drugs, man

Soma time

New Labour's top science advisor has told government a new generation of brain function-enhancing pharmaceuticals are set to change how people live their lives over the next 20 years. In a presentation to ministers at Downing Street, Sir David King said “recreational psychoactive substances” will be used by healthy people to …

Biology 5 Jun 2006, 11:25
Unipalm changes name

Computerlinks conquers all

Security distie Unipalm is changing its name to Computerlinks to align itself with the group it joined in 2000. Computerlinks marketing manager Mark Elsworth said: "This name change is a natural progression as we have been a key part of Computerlinks since we joined the group in 2000." He said the company's training arm is …

Channel Register 5 Jun 2006, 11:56
Aussie council deploys Barry Manilow sonic weapon

Merciless assault on tearaways

An Australian council has decided to deploy the ultimate rowdy youth repellent - piped Barry Manilow backed by a further selection of "daggy" melodies. The radical sonic attack plan is designed to drive the ne'er-do-wells from a car park in Rockdale, Sydney, where they have been "revving their engines and generally annoying …

Bootnotes 5 Jun 2006, 13:03
UK podcasters push for better licensing

Music Alliance urged to tweak rule book

Podcasters have met the Music Alliance in an attempt to get performance fee collectors to reconsider their rules on using licensed music in downloadable audio. The UK Podcasters Association (UKPA) was set up to counter a Music Alliance scheme it describes as “unworkable”. Its membership is drawn from the several hundred small …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 13:09
Firefox vuln fails to imperil World Cup

Just update it

The Mozilla Foundation last week fixed multiple vulnerabilities in its popular Firefox web browser. The bugs in the open source browser affect Mozilla Firefox 1.x and Mozilla Firefox 0.x. Unpatched systems are vulnerable to cross-site scripting and HTTP response smuggling attacks and other flaws. Users risk having their system …

Enterprise Security 5 Jun 2006, 13:14
Journalists' union calls for boycott of Yahoo!

That'll hurt 'em...

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is calling for a boycott of Yahoo! because of its "unethical behaviour" in China. Yahoo! has been criticised for cooperating with Chinese law enforcement. It has given details of at least three people to Chinese authorities who were subsequently imprisoned. The most recent of these was …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 13:46
Thus group sells off Dutch Demon

ISP to get UK-focused

Thus, the company behind the Demon brand, has agreed to sell its Dutch arm to telco Royal KPN NV for £47m. The deal is now before the Works Councils of both firms for rubber-stamping. The Demon ISP has 77,000 subscribers in the Nertherlands and brought in £19.8m over the past year with EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, …

Telecoms 5 Jun 2006, 14:16
MPs call for DRM warning labels

Smoking this CD while pregnant...

The UK's All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) has published a report on Digital Rights Management that calls for clearer labelling of content so consumers know what they can and cannot do with material they buy. The report says: "There is a significant mismatch between what consumers believe they ought to be permitted …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 14:33
UK island seeks beer-loving monarch

Unusual situation vacant

If you're bored senseless at work and fancy a complete change of scenery coupled with immediate elevation to the monarchy, have a shufti at the website of Barrow Borough Council which is offering one lucky chap or chapess the chance to become the "King (or Queen) of Piel". The Piel in question is a 20-acre plot "situated off …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 14:37
Intel liable for busy worker's depression

'Company clearly had resources to help'

An Intel employee who became depressed when her workload increased due to corporate cost cutting has won compensation from the company in the High Court. The employee, referred to in the case as Mrs D, worked in the finance department and was responsible for integrating the payroll functions of a series of acquired companies …

IT Director 5 Jun 2006, 14:42
Taiwanese man spends three months in net cafe

Then drops dead

A Taiwanese man who spent three months in an internet cafe following a row with his missus finally succumbed to a fatal combination of fatigue, lack of sleep, cigarette smoke, and instant noodles last week when he suffered a heart attack, according to Dutch news site NRC. Hsu Tai-yang, 37, turned up at the RS Cyber Cafe in …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 14:56
Microsoft and Adobe get the lawyers out

Portable legal document format

Microsoft is digging in for legal action from Adobe after the two fell out over the inclusion of a "save as pdf" feature in next year's Office suite. Microsoft associate general counsel Horacio Gutierrez told the Reg: "We've been discussing this for several weeks, and of course have been partners for many years, but talks have …

Applications 5 Jun 2006, 15:12
World Cup by broadband endangers networks

BBC imposes penalty on UK PLC

Fresh from been accused of creating optical damage to viewers as a result of presenter Kate Silverton's psychedelic blouse, the BBC is being charged with jeopardising corporate networks, and by implication the UK economy. The British broadcaster plans to offer broadband-connected office workers the chance to watch World Cup …

IT Director 5 Jun 2006, 15:32
PGP launches network storage crypto

Data scrambler

PGP has added another layer to its encryption platform by launching NetShare, which scrambles data headed to and from networked storage. PGP says authorised users will be able to access their data from the desktop as normal, and IT administrators will no longer require the right to view files to maintain the network. The …

Storage 5 Jun 2006, 15:35
Contrite former spammer touts anti-spam services

Poacher turned gamekeeper

A prolific spammer has agreed to sell his house to settle a million dollar fine levied after Microsoft and the State of Texas sued him over his prolific junk mail activities. Ryan Pitylak, 24, of Austin, Texas, is selling his $430,000 house, a BMW luxury car and other assets to help pay the fine and legal bills after settling a …

Spam 5 Jun 2006, 16:19
9/11 conspiracy movie taken off the web

Copyright infringement claims

Two French filmmakers, who accompanied New York firefighters into the World Trade Centre on 9/11, are threatening to sue the makers of 9/11 conspiracy web documentary Loose Change, claiming the movie infringes their copyright. Loose Change, one of the top downloads on Google Video and YouTube, is an 81 minute long documentary, …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2006, 16:57
Film triggers global warming to Al Gore

Review An Inconvenient Spiel

As An Inconvenient Truth started, our worst nightmare seemed all too near. The movie opens with Al Gore's nasal drone serving as the voice over. Images of a river and forest dominate the screen as Gore becomes consumed with cheesy hokum and talk about his long lost days sitting on the riverbank, chewing cud and communing with …

Entertainment 5 Jun 2006, 19:06
Toshiba touts 200GB notebook drive

Perpendicular recording boosts laptop storage

Toshiba has claimed a first with its MK2035GSS 2.5in notebook hard drive which uses perpendicular recording technology to achieve a massive 200GB of storage. It's a twin-platter/four-head design which means that the MK2035GSS delivers the highest areal density yet achieved in a commercial hard drive of 277.1Mb per square …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2006, 23:44