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15th June 2006 Archive

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  • Google buys SGI . . .'s property

    One darling to another

    Full of cash and tired of paying rent, Google has moved to purchase the property that makes up its sprawling Mountain View headquarters. As many of you know, Google currently inhabits the remains of SGI's once glorious headquarters. The ad-broker-cum-beta tester has been leasing land and buildings stretching from Amphitheatre …

    Financial News 15 Jun 2006, 00:28

  • Elonex: administrators lay off 28

    Official statement

    Deloitte and Touche have confirmed they are administrators for computer maker Elonex Plc and that 28 people have been laid off. Neville Kahn and Nick Edwards were appointed administrators for the the Northwest London-based vendor on 12 June. In a statement sent to The Register, the administrators said: "The administrators are …

    The Channel 15 Jun 2006, 08:57

  • Jeffrey Archer wins JeffreyArcher.com

    Bad faith judgment

    Politician, novelist, lord and perjurer Jeffrey Archer has won his namesake dotcom - JeffreyArcher.com. The controversial Tory peer took legendary cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to WIPO on 5 April, a single panellist was appointed on 18 May, and the decision made on 1 June after Burgar failed to respond to the complaint. Burgar was …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 09:02

  • RIAA claims illegal file sharing 'contained'

    'We're winning the war'

    The record industry's battle against illegal file sharing is continuing, with the industry claiming it is winning the war. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), illegal file-swapping is being "contained". The industry group says illegal file trading is now flat, while legitimate digital downloads …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 09:05

  • A postcard from JBoss World 2006

    The first conference after the sale of JBoss to Red Hat

    "A sigh of relief" is how Marc Fleury describes reaction to the purchase of JBoss by Red Hat. And this seems fair enough. As an exit strategy this one lets "JBoss, a division of Red Hat" continue on its way, but with more money and international support ("out of the gates", Red Hat is starting on translating JBoss material into …

    Developer 15 Jun 2006, 09:12

  • Greenies meet to improve climate predictions

    Making fundamental research pay

    Research and government groups will meet this week to discuss how they can better collaborate to improve the application of climate change research. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is holding a conference today and tomorrow with the Met Office and the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF …

    Science 15 Jun 2006, 09:17

  • Drains blocked? Try sardines

    More Tesco product search merriment

    Any reader who is currently experiencing blockage problems with his or her drains and thought that the solution involved either industrial quantities of caustic soda or some bloke from Essex sporting a white van, Dagenham cleavage and hugely impressive lengths of rod, is directed to Tesco's online tentacle which is offering an …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 09:22

  • C2000 rejigs marketing

    Channel veteran crossing channel

    Nigel Judd is leaving Computer 2000 to look after marketing for parent company Tech Data Europe. Judd was previously marketing general manager at C2000. His new post is marketing services director EMEA at Tech Data Europe. Judd has been at C2000 for eight years and spent eight years before that at Ingram Micro. He will be …

    The Channel 15 Jun 2006, 09:24

  • Cybersquatters must be punished

    Comment It's eviction time

    The .eu domain name has been hailed a success because 1.5m variants were snapped-up within a week of the public launch – which is rather like saying that people love cough medicine because it sells well in winter. As a consequence of Britain's 300,000 .eu registrations at the time of writing, how many .co.uk or .com names will …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 09:32

  • Morse loses finance head

    -... -.-- .

    Technology services group Morse is saying goodbye to its chief financial officer Stuart Cruickshank. Cruickshank has resigned from the job and leaves the board of directors and the company with immediate effect. Cruickshank joined Morse in July 2005. He was previously finance director at games company Eidos. Morse director of …

    The Channel 15 Jun 2006, 10:31

  • Satanic Sheffield feline hailed as hero

    Spooky stuff

    A Sheffield cat has been hailed as a hero, because it seems to be able to predict its owner's epileptic fits. Cat owner Michael Edmonds suffers from complex epilepsy and often has no warning of an impending fit, the BBC reports. However, his cat, which was dumped in a river when it was a kitten (this will be significant later …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 10:35

  • AOL mulls sale of European access business

    Maybe, maybe not...

    AOL may be prepared to flog the internet access part of its business in Europe, but insists its whole operation is not up for sale. Comments made by chief exec Jonathan Miller yesterday have helped shed light on AOL's future strategy in Europe following the review of its business by bankers Citigroup. Speaking yesterday, …

    Broadband 15 Jun 2006, 10:40

  • Small.biz slams union's 'sickie' advice

    World Cup skive rumpus

    The UK's Federation of Small Business has taken exception to an article by union Amicus which the former reckons is advising employees on the best way to throw a sickie during the World Cup. The offending "World Cup fever" piece kicks off with: "So you want to watch the World Cup, but you are meant to be at work when it's on: …

    Small Biz 15 Jun 2006, 10:59

  • Finding bugs with FindBugs

    But we never write poor code, do we?

    A good compiler does more than simply refuse to compile syntactically incorrect code. Most modern compilers can issue warnings about many different types of potential problem, from reporting on the use of deprecated libraries and packages, to sounding alarm bells about uninitialised variables, or ignoring return values from …

    Developer 15 Jun 2006, 11:32

  • BSG prepares for losses

    Core strategy late developer

    Business Systems Group Holdings PLC predicted choppy waters ahead when it published its annual results today, charting losses after four consecutive years of improving conditions. Results for the year ended 31 March 2006 showed another good year for the group, with revenue up 17.5 per cent to £34.6m and profit before tax up …

    The Channel 15 Jun 2006, 12:02

  • Attack code follows patch update

    Patch Tuesday leads to Virus Wednesday

    On Tuesday, Microsoft released patches to fix 12 security vulnerabilities involving Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Media Player, Word, and PowerPoint. On Wednesday, code appeared online to exploit these holes. Although the code is circulating, there are currently no reports of it being used in an actual attack. In a …

    Security 15 Jun 2006, 12:03

  • UK LLU hits half million

    Wow

    It's official - there are now half a million unbundled telephone lines in the UK and that number is growing by 20,000 new lines a week. So says BT Openreach - BT's access services division - which reckons the LLU market is beginning to mature. With nearly twenty operators providing unbundled services from almost 1,000 local …

    Broadband 15 Jun 2006, 12:08

  • The Reg is recruiting

    Vulture seeks newshound for meaningful relationship

    The Register is looking for a reporter to join its London editorial team. The Register is the UK’s biggest technology and science news website. We’re also pretty big in the US, Canada, Europe and India. We are looking for someone with at least two years’ experience reporting on the technology, science or business sectors. We’re …

    Site News 15 Jun 2006, 12:14

  • NHS IT fiasco claims scalp at iSoft

    iSoft CEO resigns after calamitous start to the year

    iSoft's CEO has stepped down after the firm was caught up in the NHS IT fiasco. In a statement to the City yesterday, Tim Whiston said: "I have become increasingly concerned that my continued role with the Company may represent a source of negative speculation and comment, being an unhelpful distraction to those within it." As …

    Policy 15 Jun 2006, 12:41

  • Hibernating rover spots new meteorites on Mars

    Opportunity: 1, Spirit: 2

    The Mars Rover, Spirit, has found what seems to be a pair of iron meteorites in the Gusev crater, where it is currently waiting out the Martian Winter. These are the second and third space rocks to be found on the red planet. The first was discovered by Spirit's colleague, Opportunity, in January last year. The researchers' …

    Science 15 Jun 2006, 12:42

  • Sony unveils world's smallest projector

    If only I had bigger pockets...

    We're still a while away from a pocket projector, but Sony's new pint sized offering isn't far off the mark. At 410cc it fits easily in the palm of your hand and would tuck away into most brief cases or handbags. The projector uses 14 LEDs as its light source, which means it will draw a fairly small amount of power compared to …

    Hardware 15 Jun 2006, 13:46

  • The truth about Windows Vista hardware

    Come on, you know you want it

    No doubt you've visited the Microsoft Windows Vista webpage, and possibly you've run the evaluation tool to check whether your PC is able to run the version of Vista that will fulfil all of your needs. In which case, the odds are that you're sitting there chuffed to mint balls, happy that your 800MHz CPU, 512MB of memory and …

    Hardware 15 Jun 2006, 14:03

  • Secret UK report points to existence of 'Aurora'

    Skies fill with hypersonic black helicopters

    A recently-declassified UK government report into UFO sightings is causing a bit of a kerfuffle after conspiracy theorists spotted what they believe is a reference to the legendary "Aurora" - a mysterious US black project which has been feeding the secret tech rumour mill for years. The first clue from the 2000 report - …

    Science 15 Jun 2006, 14:35

  • Creative steps on iPod

    Ridiculous patent gives it a chance for a bite of Apple

    US trade authorities have started investigating a complaint against Apple that could have its iPod banned from sale in the United States. The International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to launch the investigation in response to a complaint by Creative Labs that the Apple iPod infringes one of its patents. The investigation …

    Hardware 15 Jun 2006, 14:39

  • Piratebay sails back to Sweden

    And raises finger at Motion Picture Ass. of America

    Swedish BitTorrent site Piratebay has moved home after a brief sojourn in the Netherlands. And it is sending a subtle message in its reverse DNS which reads: "hey.mpaa.and.apb.bite.my.shiny.metal.ass.thepiratebay.org.". Which almost sounds like a quote from Bender, the Futurama robot. The Piratebay moved to the Netherlands …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 14:42

  • HTC launches its first Windows 3G phones

    Migrates Qtek brand

    HTC, the Taiwanese ODM company that designs and builds a huge number of Windows mobile phones, has launched two 3G models under its own brand. The company has sold phones under its Qtek brand for some time, in addition to the phones it sells to network operators such as Orange and T-Mobile, but it now plans to migrate Qtek …

    Phones 15 Jun 2006, 14:48

  • ID cards good for tracking immigrants, says Blunkett

    And everybody else, of course...

    The 'tracking' capabilities of the UK ID card system, hotly disputed by Home Office ministers whenever the notion is floated, have been commended by no less a person than former Home Secretary David Blunkett. Speaking on the Today programme yesterday on the subject of amnesties for illegal immigrants, Blunkett said "it's …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 16:10

  • Vodafone's Orb trial - the worms under the walled garden?

    TV everywhere

    TV everywhere Is this the beginning of the end for the telco's walled garden? Vodafone's German operation has launched an experimental service that may, if it's successful, usher in a new era of thinking for the cellular operators. Vodafone MeinPC uses Orb's software to allow 3G customers to access the photos and MP3s that …

    Mobile 15 Jun 2006, 21:03

  • Gates to spend more time with his vaccines

    Chairman leaving full-time Microsoft role

    Chairman Bill dished out a stunner on Thursday, saying he will give up day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft in July of 2008. Over the next two years, Gates will hand over his full-time duties to a couple of lieutenants and prepare for life as a professional humanitarian. Microsoft revealed the two-year transition process …

    Management 15 Jun 2006, 21:46

  • Phone vendors agree to agree on Linux API

    Ganging up on Nokia, MS

    An alliance of handset vendors wants to create a common API for Linux phones. It's mostly a Japanese-flavored crew, dominated by NTT DoCoMo and its key suppliers NEC, Panasonic and the Korean giant Samsung. But Motorola, whose official phone strategy appears to be "we'll try anything", is also one of the founding five. The …

    Mobile 15 Jun 2006, 22:54

  • Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief

    It can seriously damage your grades

    "the stupid media watches everything I do now" - Jimmy Wales Wikipedia co-founder founder Jimmy 'Jimbo' Wales has warned students not to refer to Wikipedia, reports the US education weekly The Chronicle. Wales said that he gets about 10 e-mail messages a week from students who complain that Wikipedia has earned them fail …

    Media 15 Jun 2006, 23:51