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3rd July 2006 Archive

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  • An audience with Bill Gates

    Imagine Cup blog Into America

    We've been quiet recently... Perhaps a-little too quiet... Not without good reason though, for this week we jetted off to Sunny Seattle. And yes it really is sunny! Why? To give a presentation to Bill Gates, someone important enough to convince us to make sure our demo worked without a flaw. As fun as playing demo roulette is, …

    Developer 3 Jul 2006, 06:29

  • Ruby on Rails

    Tutorial Simpler than J2EE

    Ruby is an object oriented scripting language. Rails is a Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework based on Ruby and used for developing web applications. An advantage of Ruby on Rails over J2EE is that it requires less code and doesn’t require any configuration files, except for a database configuration file. A Ruby on Rails web …

    Developer 3 Jul 2006, 06:32

  • Nominet signs up to ICANN

    And joins ccNSO too.

    In a hugely significant move, .uk registry Nominet has signed up to internet overseeing organisation ICANN and put to bed a historic battle between the US not-for-profit company and managers of country-specific internet domains. The decision to go through with an "exchange of letters" where ICANN recognises Nominet as the owner …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 06:34

  • US government funds social network snooping

    Citizens under scrutiny

    The US government is funding research into social networking sites and how to gather and store personal data published on them, according to the New Scientist magazine. At the same time, US lawmakers are attempting to force the social networking sites themselves to control the amount and kind of information that people, …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 08:04

  • Shuttle mission postponed 'til Independence Day

    Stormy weather in Florida

    The launch of space Shuttle Discovery has been delayed by bad weather for the second day in a row, and mission controllers have said they won't try for another launch until Independence Day. The launch was scrubbed with two hours and 11 minutes left on the countdown, after the mission's seven-strong crew had been in their …

    Space 3 Jul 2006, 08:16

  • File sharing damages insurer plans international expansion

    Start-up a protest against Swedish copyright laws

    The Swedish company which offers insurance against file sharing law suits will expand into other Scandinavian countries. Founder and owner Magnus Brath told OUT-LAW that "very similar" legal regimes in Denmark and Norway make a move likely. "There are of course different laws in different countries but it seems like we should …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 08:25

  • AT&T privacy policy overreaches, lawyers say

    What's yours is mine

    A recent change to AT&T's privacy policy for broadband and video users is overbroad and likely will leave the courts or Congress to decide whether the company's practices are standard or sinister, legal experts said. The policy change, which comes as the telecommunications giant is defending itself in court against multiple …

    Telecoms 3 Jul 2006, 08:39

  • Sky clears upgraded Sky+ PVR problem

    Firmware downgrade posted

    UK satellite TV broadcaster Sky last week quietly released a firmware downgrade to fix dozens of old Sky+ boxes rendered inoperable by a firmware update transmitted earlier in the week. PVRs affected include almost all machines equipped with upgraded hard drives. The original update was sent out in the small hours of Thursday …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 08:51

  • Bulldog up for sale

    Give the dog a bone

    Cable & Wireless is to sell its residential broadband business Bulldog. The telco provider announced less than a month ago that it was pulling out of residential broadband, but promised continuing support for existing customers. At the time, the firm said it would concentrate on selling wholesale broadband services to other …

    Telecoms 3 Jul 2006, 08:58

  • MySpace, a place without MyParents

    Comment Parental supervision - the real issue

    Like, ohmigod! Have you heard? About MySpace? LOL MySpace is the second most popular web property in the world. Since appearing in January 2004, the site currently has 87m accounts, and it's adding around 270,000 new users a day. Of those 87m, about one-fourth are minors. In fact, the site grew 752 per cent in one year, one …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 09:10

  • Centerprise makes a disaster recovery

    Old PC and services firm parries market forces

    Centerprise, the veteran British PC manufacturer, has bucked the market decline that has seen its old school rivals Elonex and Granville go bust in the last year, by buying its way into the services market. Acquiring the Continuity Group for £1.5m in February 2005 gave Centerprise a whopping 180 per cent increase in operating …

    Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 09:48

  • Microsoft signs Motorola as vital ally in fixed-mobile convergence

    New partners could pitch against Cisco and Nokia

    When Motorola ended its joint project with Cisco, focused on enterprise fixed/mobile convergence, earlier this year, it said it was moving more directly to full unified messaging. Now the full context becomes clear, with the handset maker signing up with Microsoft to support the Windows giant's enhancement of its unified …

    Mobile 3 Jul 2006, 09:51

  • E7even goes titsup

    Bargain basement ISP pays for poor customer service

    E7even, the unpronouncable broadband ISP, is no longer providing its customers with internet connections. On logging in to their account on the Maidstone, Kent ISP's website, customers are offered trite advice that E7even will no longer provide any service. The Register was contacted by disgruntled E7even customer Dan on …

    Telecoms 3 Jul 2006, 09:59

  • Oz PM piles into Big Brother

    'Get this stupid programme off the air'

    Australia's normally restrained prime minister John Howard has enjoyed a moment of angry enlightenment in demanding that the Down Under version of human zoo Big Brother be taken off the air. His attack came following police investigations over the weekend into allegations of sexual assault on the show "after a female contestant …

    Entertainment 3 Jul 2006, 10:12

  • Scoundrel-outing site sued by alleged scoundrel

    Site accused of malicious gossip, no less

    A man is suing the website dontdatehimgirl.com after three of its members posted warnings to other women, including various unsavoury allegations about his behaviour and conduct. The members who made the comments are also named in the suit. The site was founded by a former Miami Herald columnist, Tasha Joseph, to provide a …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 10:15

  • Cisco complacent on consolidation

    Comment But needs cellular buy

    Cisco is taking a complacent line on the wave of consolidation affecting the telecoms equipment business. The rash of mergers is driven by the shift to all-IP, goes the argument, and that is the area that Cisco dominates, so it will stand to gain some lucrative partnerships among the enlarged telecoms players. CEO John …

    Networks 3 Jul 2006, 10:19

  • W3C guidelines inadequate

    Comment Won't transform mobile web business

    So many of the most disruptive business models based on wireless networks depend on heavy use of the mobile web, that it is easy to forget what an unsatisfactory experience this remains. The new approaches that could shake up the telecoms landscape - epitomised by the advertising-supported free access services favoured by …

    Mobile 3 Jul 2006, 10:30

  • Intel's multiple Meroms pin-incompatible - report

    'Santa Rosa'-era parts to get new pin layout, apparently

    The 'Merom' Core 2 Duo mobile microprocessor Intel will ship with 'Santa Rosa', next year's Centrino upgrade, will not be quite the same Merom that it's due to launch in August. The two versions of the CPU will not be pin-compatible, it has been claimed. According to a presentation allegedly given by Intel to Taiwanese …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 10:39

  • MS says no to Xbox 360 with built-in HD DVD

    Sticking with external unit, employee claims

    Microsoft has "no plans" to offer a version of its Xbox 360 console with an internal HD DVD drive, a company employee has stated in a bid to confound rumours to the contrary. According to the software giant's official Xbox employee blog, the company is "sticking" with the external drive it announced in January this year and …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 10:51

  • NASA's next-gen launch vehicles dubbed 'Ares'

    The Red Planet beckons

    NASA last week announced that its next generation of crew and cargo launch vehicles will be dubbed Ares I and Ares V, respectively. The Ares bit of of the title was inspired by a "pseudonym for Mars", according to associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Scott Horowitz. The "I" and "V" …

    Space 3 Jul 2006, 10:59

  • Hubble's vision saved

    Power problems sorted

    Hubble's bleary eyes can see once more as engineers have managed to get one of its main cameras back online. Late last week, NASA engineers switched over to the space telescope's back up power supply, and reactivated the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which had been out of service for almost a fortnight. Scientific observations …

    Space 3 Jul 2006, 11:03

  • OpenOffice update fixes security bug trio

    Patch availability eases document woes

    OpenOffice.org has released a security update to its alternative office productivity suite following the discovery of three potentially serious security vulnerabilities during an internal audit. Both 1.1.x and the newer 2.0.x releases of the software are affected. Users are advised to update to version 2.0.3 or to wait for an …

    Security 3 Jul 2006, 11:26

  • Boffins build fuel cell to power iPod

    Big, though

    UK energy company Voller has announced a fuel cell-based recharge system for Apple's iPod and other MP3 players. The downside: the thing weighs 9kg and is about the size of a large briefcase or handbag. To be fair, the Voller Automatic Battery Charger (ABC) is intended to supply power to a wide range of devices than portable …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 11:31

  • Consumers ready to cut carbon

    Bring on the green iPod

    Consumers are changing their buying habits as they become aware of the effect gadgetry is having on the climate. A survey of 1,010 adults conducted by the Energy Saving Trust found people are increasingly considering environmental impacts in their electronics purchases. A report from the body familiarly entitled "The Rise of …

    Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 11:33

  • English-born osprey back home after 150 years

    Emotional return

    An English osprey chick has returned to its place of birth in Rutland Water after a 20-month jaunt to western Africa - the first such homecoming to England in 150 years, The Telegraph reports. The two-year-old male, dubbed "R5", migrated from his Leicestershire nest in September 2004, and recently reappeared to the delight of …

    Biology 3 Jul 2006, 11:38

  • Earth in near miss with space rock

    Half-mile asteroid to whizz by at a moon's distance

    An asteroid half a mile long will fly past the earth tomorrow morning, missing us by an astronomical hair's breadth of half a million kilometres or so. The asteroid, dubbed 2004 XP14, had been flagged as a potentially hazardous object when it was discovered in 2004. Australian astronomers have been tracking its approach to make …

    Space 3 Jul 2006, 11:43

  • Palm halts Euro Treo 650 shipments

    RoHS-compliant successor coming in Q4?

    Palm will ship no further Treo 650 smart phones into Europe, the company said last week. The reason: the handset doesn't pass Europe's Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation, which came into force this past Saturday. Speaking during the company's quartely earnings announcement, Palm officials said European …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 11:56

  • Elonex deal hits the doldrums

    Administrator: A couple of problems to iron out

    The fire sale of Elonex has been delayed while the administrator deals with unforeseen "problems" unearthed as it prepared to close a deal to sell the defunct British arm of the PC manufacturer. Neville Kahn, joint administrator for Elonex and partner and Deloitte Touche, said: "We've not been able to close the deal because we' …

    Channel Register 3 Jul 2006, 12:15

  • WiMAX in the UK. Here's why it won't fly

    Comment Spectrum is rare

    WiMAX is another specification that has come out of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in the US, like Wi-Fi which comes under the 802.11 group. There are two variants of WiMAX, 802.16d which covers fixed installations and 802.16e covering mobile use. Fixed means point-to-point or point-to-multipoint …

    Wireless 3 Jul 2006, 12:25

  • Intel EOLs Socket 478 Celeron Ds

    Farewell

    Intel has formally forecast the demise of the Celeron D 310,345 and 350, among the last of its 478-pin processors. Come 3 November, no one will be able to order any of these chips from the manufacturer, which expects to have shipped the last ones by 3 February 2007. The 90nm CPUs incorporate 256KB of L2 cache and run over a …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 12:59

  • Floating bed demoed in Amsterdam

    Add to wishlist

    How often have you lain in bed at night, cursing the fact that the very piece of furniture upon which you are resting your weary head is somehow despoiled by its crude and ugly legs that rest on the floor? Well, fret no more. A Dutch architect has designed a floating bed which hovers 40cm from the floor, thanks to a couple of …

    Physics 3 Jul 2006, 14:09

  • Windows Genuine Disadvantage malware sighted

    Topical malware tomfoolery

    Perfidious virus pushers have created a worm that poses as Microsoft's anti-piracy program, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). The Cuebot-K worm spreads via AOL instant messenger in the guise of WGA. The timing of the release of the malware coincides with controversy over a feature in WGA that meant that the anti-piracy program " …

    Security 3 Jul 2006, 14:14

  • Storage giants square up to build standards

    Let battle commence

    The storage world is still digesting the news that Aperi will now develop under the auspices of the Eclipse Foundation. The announcement came hot on the heels of news of Sun's defection from the Aperi project to join a rival effort to create standards for storage management interfaces. IBM's statement on Aperi says: By using …

    Storage 3 Jul 2006, 15:03

  • Royal Society's Summer Exhibition

    Diary marker Four days of riotous research

    The Royal Society's Summer Exhibition kicks off this evening and is set to showcase some of the most interesting research going on in the UK. Exhibitors have been drawn from a range of disciplines, including physics, biotech, space and environmental science. Research projects on show include the physics of invisibility, X-ray …

    Science 3 Jul 2006, 15:05

  • UK music biz wins right to sue AllofMP3 here

    Difficult battle ahead, even if BPI is victorious in court

    Britain's recording companies - major and minor - will be able to sue controversial Russian digital music site AllofMP3.com in the UK, the English High Court has ruled. The judgement was granted to music trade body the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), which claims the low-cost music site is operating illegally. AllofMP3. …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 15:06

  • Ukrainians punt free energy generator on eBay

    Self-destructing 'electro power source'

    Here's one for the technically-minded among you to ponder: a Ukrainian "free energy electro power source" which has popped up on eBay. Quite how the 100kW+ wonder machine works is anyone's guess, and the vendors are remaining pretty tight-lipped on the matter. It doesn't run on petrol or diesel, but does consume 1200m3 of air …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 15:42

  • Foiled computer blaggers jailed for 38 years

    You're nicked!

    A group of seven men have been jailed for a combined total of 38 years over a failed raid of a Gloucester-based computer reseller. The London-based gang were arrested by armed police last December in the process of attempting to break into the warehouse premises of Comstor UK in Cirencester, Gloucester. The Christmas Eve raid …

    Music and Media 3 Jul 2006, 15:43

  • MS demos Vista, Office 2007... on a Mac

    Apparently

    Microsoft has apparently taken to demo'ing Windows Vista on... er... an Apple MacBook Pro. That at least is what a series of shots taken by Belgian photographer Pieter Baert at a presentation the software giant made at its Belgian HQ, near Brussels, last month. The MS staffers were showing off Office 2007 too - again, running …

    Reg Hardware 3 Jul 2006, 15:48

  • Nokia updates Linux tablet

    VoIP and Google added

    Nokia has made a major update to the Linux PDA it doesn't want you to think is a Linux PDA, the 770. Available for free download, OS 2006 edition introduces version 2.0 of Nokia's Linux platform, Maemo. Included are system level performance improvements, support for VoIP clients, and Google Talk. There's a full feature list …

    Mobile 3 Jul 2006, 15:58

  • Rank outsider sues Google over zero score

    From Kinderstart to Kinderstop

    Google has defended its right to rank web pages in any manner it likes in a groundbreaking court case over its search engine results. The search giant is being sued in California by a parenting website which claims it lost most of its traffic when its ranking dropped to zero. The site, Kinderstart.com, claims that it was …

    Financial News 3 Jul 2006, 18:52