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27th June 2006 Archive

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  • NetApp aims at SMBs

    Opens the Vault

    NetApp has launched a new SMB storage box, the StoreVault S500, which the company reckons is the first all in one NAS solution accessible for smaller budgets. NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven said: "Other vendors push customers to purchase multiple products to do SAN and NAS or make an up-front technology choice even as iSCSI and …

    Storage 27 Jun 2006, 00:02

  • Flu-related flapping begins

    A new unit of terror

    The bird flu hysteria-mongering has begun, as a doctor prepares to tell the British Medical Association that preparations for a flu pandemic are "woefully inadequate" and could lead to "1,000 September 11ths". Quite what he means by this is something of a mystery, since we know of no correlation between sick birds and the …

    Biology 27 Jun 2006, 06:02

  • Child porn convictions to be reported to banks

    Data protection amendment

    Police will be able to pass details of child pornography offenders on to banks so that offenders' credit cards can be revoked. The Home Secretary has issued an order for the amendment of the Data Protection Act which will be read in both houses of Parliament. The order was requested by credit card issuers and is the result of …

    Music and Media 27 Jun 2006, 08:51

  • Publisher in £80,000 font raid

    Software audit finds 11,000 unlicensed typefaces

    A publishing firm fell foul of the law by using unlicensed typefaces worth £80,000, according to licensing lobby group the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The publishing firm had claimed to be using just one font but in fact was found using 11,000. The publisher was the subject of a BSA enquiry after an ex-employee tip-off …

    Music and Media 27 Jun 2006, 09:01

  • Wiltshire eyes up flexible working

    £12m IT contract inked

    The county council has signed a £12m deal to improve its IT services. The deal will allow the council to steam ahead with its plans to provide more joined up and flexible services to local people and help its staff work more flexibly. Changes to the IT infrastructure will also make it easier for "people to contact the council …

    Public Sector 27 Jun 2006, 09:13

  • Server vendors prepare for 120W 'Clovertown'

    Xeon 5100-oriented systems designed for successor chip

    Early indications that Intel's upcoming four-core 'Covertown' server processor will consume up to 120W have been confirmed by sources from within Taiwan's motherboard-manufacturer community. And they claim systems made for the dual-core 'Woodcrest' Xeon have been designed with Clovertown's thermal envelope in mind. The claims …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 09:15

  • USB drives pose insider threat

    The latest 'Trojan horse'

    In a recent test of a credit union's network security, consultants working for New York-based security audit firm Secure Network Technologies scattered 20 USB flash drives around the financial group's building. Each memory fob held a program - disguised as an image file - that would collect passwords, user names and …

    Enterprise Security 27 Jun 2006, 09:41

  • Borneo's 'chameleon' snake shows its true colours

    New species of colour-changing serpent

    Biologists in Borneo have discovered a new species of snake boasting chameleon-like, colour-changing abilities, Reuters reports. The 50-cm venomous animal - a member of the Enhydris genus - was captured in the Indonesian Betung National Park's wetland and swamp forest area, and has been dubbed the Kapuas mud snake after the …

    Biology 27 Jun 2006, 09:45

  • IBM takes a stab at SMBs

    Comment Announces sharp new server offerings

    IBM has announced new BladeCentre and server offerings targeting SMBs who are seeking enhanced management capabilities. Among the announcements were the IBM Server Connectivity Module for IBM BladeCentre, which delivers Ethernet interconnectivity between the processor blades, management modules, and the external network …

    Storage 27 Jun 2006, 09:55

  • Cisco invests in NeoPath

    Comment Corporate dance

    NeoPath Networks, a startup provider of file storage virtualisation, has announced it received $11m in a funding round that includes Cisco Systems and previous investors August Capital, DCM-Doll Capital Management, and Gabriel Venture Partners. NeoPath indicates it will use the funds to continue customer and partner growth and …

    Storage 27 Jun 2006, 10:05

  • Solar simulation right on the money

    Expect better space weather forecasts

    California scientists have for the first time created a computer simulation that can accurately model the solar corona, or outer atmosphere of the sun. The researchers at Science Applications International say the breakthrough should lead to dramatic improvements in the accuracy of space weather forecasts, helping scientists …

    Space 27 Jun 2006, 10:14

  • Crap website? Try feng shui

    Or vaastu shastra, if you're desperate

    Is your website underperforming? Does it lack spiritual balance? Do you have the sneaking suspicion than an inauspicious alignment of html elements may be to blame? Fear not - help is at hand in the form of Web Vaastu, a book by Indian cybermystic Dr Smita Narang which uses the "the ancient philosophies of vaastu shastra and …

    Music and Media 27 Jun 2006, 10:17

  • Personal computer failure rates reduce

    Is the kit more reliable - or users more careful?

    PCs are more reliable than they used to be, market watcher Gartner has claimed. Desktops and notebooks bought in the period 2003-2004 were more likely to experience hardware failures than those purchased in 2005 and 2006, the researcher said this week. Gartner records a hardware failure as any incident that requires a …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 10:24

  • Kiwi Telecom to split retail and wholesale operations

    Wants to promote competition

    Telecom New Zealand (Telecom) has announced plans to create an "independent wholesale operation" in a bid to promote telecoms competition. Today's confirmation that Telecom plans to separate its wholesale and retail operations follows growing speculation about the future of the Kiwi incumbent after the government raised …

    Telecoms 27 Jun 2006, 10:38

  • MDM - a strategy for IBM

    Comment 'You're on the right track, but...'

    This is the second article of two stemming from IBM's recent European MDM (master data management) conference. In the first article I discussed how I disagreed (at least in part) with the view of MDM that was put across at that conference. This article concentrates specifically on what IBM is doing in this space. In Harriet …

    Developer 27 Jun 2006, 10:46

  • Symantec turns off on security appliances

    80 jobs scrapped

    Symantec is scaling down its hardware offering by pulling the plug on a range of network security appliances. The vendor will stop designing and making the Symantec Security, Symantec Network Security 7100 and Advanced Manager 3.0 products. While it will continue to develop the software underpinning the devices, it is …

    Data Networking 27 Jun 2006, 10:55

  • Sony unveils Flash-based UMPC

    What, no hard drive?

    Sony has extended its Vaio UX ultra-mobile PC line by introducing a model that drops the hard drive in favour of a Flash-based storage unit. There's a catch, of course: the machine's storage capacity is down to 16GB from the 30GB of the HDD-based original. The Flash versions' other specifications match those of the UXs Sony …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 10:57

  • Toshiba open to re-opening HD DVD/Blu-ray merger talks

    No more chance of success than last time...

    Toshiba has once again said it's open to the development of a single, unified next-generation optical disc format to end the battle between the HD DVD format it backs and the Sony-led Blu-ray Disc camp. "We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise," …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 11:25

  • Brits offered wireless-stereo PMP

    No PC? No problem

    UK retailer Advanced MP3 Players has launched what it reckons is a portable media player capable of "taking on the big boys" - a wireless PMP that never needs to be connected to a host computer and can show movies for eight hours solid. The iubi Blue stores content on a 30GB hard drive and shows it on a 4.3in, 480 x 272 LCD …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 11:55

  • EC polishing big stick for Microsoft

    Fines in the offing

    The EU looks set to come down hard on Microsoft after deciding the software company has breached the 2004 anti-trust settlement. The FT reports that the commission has drafted a decision which says Microsoft had not fully adhered to the 2004 ruling. The ruling is due to go to member countries before being unveiled on 12 July …

    Software 27 Jun 2006, 12:10

  • BT wants more women engineers

    Oh, yes it does

    Openreach - BT's access services division - has launched a major recruitment drive to tempt more women to become phone engineers. According to correspondence published recently by regulator Ofcom, BT has a shortfall of several hundred engineers needed to carry out essential work. The "Open2all" initiative unveiled today is …

    Telecoms 27 Jun 2006, 12:13

  • Plane pollution worse by 2050

    Growth outstripping engine improvements

    As the Supreme Court weighs into the climate change debate stateside, new research from the UK indicates that aviation will account for five per cent of the world's CO2 emissions by 2050. The industry is currently responsible for only two per cent of global carbon emissions. The findings, published by climate modellers at …

    Science 27 Jun 2006, 12:14

  • Centerprise opts out of Elonex bidding

    Other suitors still haggling

    Centerprise has passed on the opportunity to buy fellow British PC manufacturer Elonex Plc out of adminstration. Acquisitive PC and services company Centerprise put in a bid for the North West London-based vendor, had it rejected, and decided not to haggle. Centerprise CEO Richard Pursey said: "We put in a bid for Elonex we …

    Channel Register 27 Jun 2006, 12:22

  • Oz censor offs Reservoir Dogs game

    Too much tomato ketchup, apparently

    Australia has effectively banned Eidos' upcoming Reservoir Dogs game. The nation's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), which vets all movie, video and game releases, has not granted the title a certificate, and the game can't be sold without one. According to a local newssite APC report, there's no game …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 12:26

  • German T-shirt hawker set to sue bear hunter

    Bruno's cottage industry blown away

    An enterprising German businessman says he will sue the hunter who killed Bruno the bear, now his souvenir T-shirt racket has been shot down too. Munich ursine apparel magnate Peter Nesselthaler had hundreds of shirts printed bearing Bruno's likeness and the challenge to bungling Bavarian wildlife authorities "you'll never …

    Bootnotes 27 Jun 2006, 12:26

  • Competition World Cup Camera Phone Contest Gallery

    Welcome to the Reg Hardware World Cup Camera Phone Contest winners gallery. We'll be posting all the winning entries here every day throughout the remainder of the 2006 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament... Wednesday, 29 June 2006 Lawrence Duru took this shot on a Nokia 8800 on the Hohenhollernring in Cologne after Italy beat …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 13:11

  • Microsoft talks unified comms for Office 2007

    Email and voice together, at last

    Microsoft has announced integrated software intended to turn the upcoming Office 2007 into a platform for unified voice, email, IM and video communications. Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's business division, named six client, server and device products plus alliances with Hewlett Packard, Motorola and Siemens as part of a …

    Software 27 Jun 2006, 13:41

  • Sony, Samsung LCD JV 'to build 8G plant'

    Deal almost done

    Sony and Samsung's LCD partnership will extend to the eighth-generation panels after the pair agreed to put up the cash for a new plant in South Korea, it has been claimed. According to industry sources cited by South Korean newssite Digital Chosunilbo, the two panel partners are about to shake hands on the deal which will …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 13:48

  • Building cohesion into programming

    Time is of the essence

    There are many reasons for getting cohesive. The principle of locality, which is normally considered with respect to locality of reference when using resources such as memory, can also apply to the organisation of APIs and classes and the partitioning of packages, components and header files. This criterion for cohesion is …

    Developer 27 Jun 2006, 14:10

  • Computer Software Group buys Laserform (the company)

    Gets legal

    Computer Software Group (CS Group), the acquisitive VAR, has bought its second software-for-lawfirms specialist. This time around it has bought Laserform, an apps developer for law firms, for £4.8m - £4.3m cash and £500K in shares. Laserform also has £1.5m in cash, so that brings down the effective purchase price to £3.3m. …

    Channel Register 27 Jun 2006, 14:45

  • Nortel to axe 1,100 jobs

    Cost-cutting

    Nortel is to axe 1,100 jobs as part of a range of measures to cut costs and increase productivity. The telecoms equipment maker didn't specify where the axe would fall except to say that the job cuts would be made "globally". The Canadian networking giant said it plans to ditch around 1,900 positions in all. At the same time it …

    Data Networking 27 Jun 2006, 15:13

  • Bird flu triggers gameplaying apocalypse

    Letters EU/MS lawyers shall inherit the Earth

    Let's kick off today with the utter silliness that surrounds the video game, Left Behind. Regular readers will remember, perhaps, that allegations were floating around that the game contains code that sends information about the player back to the company promoting it. This seemed perfectly in keeping with what many of you …

    Letters 27 Jun 2006, 15:18

  • Belgium adopts open office doc format

    Edging away from Microsoft

    Belgium has become the first country to mandate the use of the OpenDocument format (ODF) for office files, albeit tentatively. From September next year software in all Belgian government departments must be able to read ODF files. If the experiment is successful, ODF will become the standard interchange format - although …

    Applications 27 Jun 2006, 15:38

  • Police hold three in spam Trojan bust

    'MOOP' members cuffed in UK and Finland

    Police in Finland and the UK this morning arrested three alleged members of a group dubbed "MOOP" suspected of delivering trojans via spam emails to gain access to confidential information stored on "thousands" of corporate machines, the Metropolitan Police's Computer Crime Unit has confirmed. The three men, a 63-year-old from …

    Malware 27 Jun 2006, 15:57

  • Gravity wave detector is go

    All bets are off

    A key prediction of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is set to be tested, as a German/UK research group powers up its gravitational wave detector GEO600 for an 18-month stint of continual operation. Gravitational waves are a consequence of the equations of Einstein's famous theory. He predicted that two stars in orbit …

    Physics 27 Jun 2006, 15:59

  • HP gives new blades a clustered makeover

    Software layered on an Infiniband foundation

    The high performance computing (HPC) crowd should be pleased to see HP making the most of its new blade server line. HP today unveiled its latest take on the cluster-in-a-can concept with a blade hardware and software pairing aimed at researchers and large businesses. Earlier this month, HP popped out its c-Class blade line, …

    Servers 27 Jun 2006, 16:05

  • Take Two subpoenaed for GTA clandestosmut

    'What did directors know?', asks DA

    Take Two Interactive, the publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series, has been ordered to hand over documents by New York District Attorneys. A Grand jury investigating the "hot coffee" cheat has issued two subpoenas demanding documents relating to the hidden x-rated scenes. Take Two wrote in a statement to investors: "The …

    Music and Media 27 Jun 2006, 16:08

  • Desktop Linux relies on the kindness of strangers

    Distos key to Portland Project

    An OSDL project to simplify porting and integration of applications with Linux desktops is gambling on support from Linux distros and other community standards efforts. Organizers of the Portland Project, released to beta this week, are talking to Linux providers to achieve distribution with their desktop software, and the Free …

    Operating Systems 27 Jun 2006, 16:17

  • Intel sells XScale business to Marvell for $600m

    Wants to push x86, not ARM, for handhelds

    Intel is to flog off its XScale processor operation, the chip giant said today. The move paves the way for it to push low-power x86 CPUs at mobile phone and PDA makers. The buyer is comms chip company Marvell Technology Group, which is paying $600m cash for the product line and taking on "certain liabilities". The deal covers …

    Reg Hardware 27 Jun 2006, 16:25

  • AT&T launches IPTV

    Pricey, but with cheap broadband attached

    AT&T has at last launched its delayed internet-based TV service - but only in San Antonio, Texas. Verizon took its own baby steps into IPTV last autumn, also choosing Texas for the launch of its own offering, called Fios TV. AT&T, in its previous incarnation as SBC, had originally scheduled the launch of IPTV for Q4 2005. A …

    Telecoms 27 Jun 2006, 16:44

  • Jobs to unleash Leopard on Microsoft

    Doesn't change spots, or act

    Steve Jobs will use Apple's annual developer conference for a second time as a launch pad to exploit Microsoft's discomfort over further delays to Windows Vista. Chief executive Jobs will use August's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) to stir simmering tensions by previewing Apple's next operating system, OS 10.5, …

    Operating Systems 27 Jun 2006, 20:23

  • Cisco doubles up on Infiniband gear

    Ethernet management marriage too

    Cisco Systems has spruced up its line of Infiniband switches with a bandwidth double-up and new management software links that let customers control both Ethernet and Infiniband switches from one spot. The new Cisco SFS 7000D Series DDR (double data rate) switches boast a boost in bandwidth from 10 to 20 Gbit/s. The systems are …

    Data Networking 27 Jun 2006, 21:15

  • IBM and HP the most loved x86 server vendors of all - study

    Sun ho-hummed, Dell scorned

    In the good old days, IBM workers would crack open their songbooks and sing about the wonders of Big Blue. These days IBM's x86 server customers are the ones humming away with pride, according to a new study from the Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG). Grand vendor that it is, IBM has managed to please data center operators across …

    Servers 27 Jun 2006, 23:30