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7th July 2006 Archive

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  • AMD's Q2 revenue forecast slides

    The Intel Effect

    Already feeling Intel's heat, AMD today lowered its revenue guidance for the second quarter. The chipmaker now expects a 9 per cent drop in revenue when comparing second quarter results with those from the first quarter. AMD had been forecasting revenue to come in flat or slightly down. On the plus side, the second quarter …

    Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 03:45

  • Lexar recalls burn-hazard FireFly USB drives

    Secure II units too

    Storage specialist Lexar has recalled a number of its JumpDrive USB Flash disks, some of which have been found to overheat and potentially burst into flames. The name of the product: FireFly... Lexar described the recall as "limited" - it only applies to 256MB, 512MB, 1Gb and 2GB drives purchased in the US during April and …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 08:51

  • Beyond ALM

    MKS seems easy to forget - but it shouldn't be

    When I wrote about Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) recently a reader wondered why I hadn't mentioned MKS. Well, the truth was, I'd forgotten about it - and, while I knew it was an interesting and somewhat publicity-shy company with some good products, I didn't think they illustrated anything radical. But I was …

    Developer 7 Jul 2006, 08:56

  • VIA preps UMPC-friendly chipset

    VX700 fits on one chip

    VIA is gearing up to ship a single-chip chipset aimed at ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) at the end of Q3, the company said yesterday. The part will be used in the upcoming DualCor device, it said. The VX700 measures 3.5 x 3.5cm but packs in a UniChrome Pro II graphics core with MPEG 2, MPEG 4 and WMV 9 hardware-accelerated video …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 09:06

  • Stinky databases for tech support tales?

    Letters Plus prior art on bullet passwords

    There are a few sure-fire ways to anger the average Register reader. You could, for example, book him on a three day Microsoft certified basic Office 2003 training course. You could tell him he is being outsourced to Bangalore, or ask him for help accessing the millions of pounds of your Granfather's money left in his bank …

    Letters 7 Jul 2006, 09:08

  • Serco Solutions nabs BT exec

    Public sector focus

    Serco has poached a BT exec to run its IT and business process outsourcing division. Kevin Lavery, the new CEO of Serco Solutions, has a background in local government. Most recently he was director of local and regional government at BT Government. His CV also includes a stint as chief executive at Newcastle City Council. At …

    Public Sector 7 Jul 2006, 09:12

  • IBM to create 300 new Dublin jobs

    Celebrates anniversary with expanded ops

    IBM has announced it is to create 300 new jobs in Dublin within the next three years, bringing the number of staff it employs in Ireland to around 3,500. The US computer giant, which is this year celebrating 50 years in Ireland, is to invest €46 million in expanding its software development operations. It will also be using the …

    IT Director 7 Jul 2006, 09:16

  • Westcoast does Apple

    Three's company

    Westcoast has muscled in on the Apple wholesale market, gaining distribution rights for the vendor’s entire range. This may be unwelcome news for Ingram Micro and C2000, which previously had the UK Apple distie market for themselves. But it will be good news for dealers, who will have an additional credit line to tap and – at …

    Channel Register 7 Jul 2006, 09:24

  • Police expert admits mobile phone forensics barrier

    Absence of operating system standards to blame

    A police digital forensics expert has admitted that some mobile phones are impenetrable to software used by police in forensic examinations. The revelation follows a paper by a Cambridge researcher which originally made the claim. "There are some phones that are not supported by any tools," said Kevin Mansell, a hi-tech crime …

    Mobile 7 Jul 2006, 09:25

  • Lightning lashes iPod-packing teenager

    Did the music player save his life?

    Don't use your iPod in a storm. Castle Rock, Colorado teenager Jason Bunch was wearing his when he was struck by lightning, according to local news reports. He was listening to Metallica, but it is, alas, not known if it was the band's Ride the Lightning album. The 17-year-old was zapped on Sunday afternoon, the Denver Post …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 09:39

  • UK gov waves through McKinnon extradition

    Last chance saloon for 'Pentagon hacker'

    The extradition of "Pentagon hacker" Gary McKinnon has been approved by Home Sectretary John Reid. He is accused of causing more than $700,000 of damage to federal computer systems used by the Department of Defense. McKinnon now has 14 days from July 4 to appeal appeal the decision, which was a rubber stamping of a district …

    Enterprise Security 7 Jul 2006, 09:45

  • Court punishes software sellers 'not lining Bill Gates's pockets'

    'I'll do you an Office without a licence for £85'

    Microsoft has won a judgment against three individuals behind a company which unlawfully sold genuine and counterfeit Microsoft software and certificates. The three were found to be selling counterfeit software and of selling 'loose' certificates of authenticity – i.e. certificates not attached to computers – in breach of the …

    Music and Media 7 Jul 2006, 09:50

  • Gadget uses Skype to send TV anywhere

    Watch out, Slingbox...

    Fancy turning your copy of Skype into a watch-anywhere TV viewer? Now you can, courtesy of Japanese company Novac, which today announced a box that turns any suitably-specified PC into a machine for beaming TV shows to anyone on the internet. The key is in the software. The box itself is an analogue TV tuner - not digital, …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 09:53

  • Hampshire fails on crime recording

    Blames IT

    The county's police force has blamed its poor ranking by official auditors on IT problems. A joint report, Crime Recording 2005, by the Audit Commission and Wales Audit Office has labelled Hampshire as one of just two police forces that are performing poorly on recording crime. Hampshire ranked "poor" and "fair" in two key …

    Public Sector 7 Jul 2006, 09:58

  • Siemens rejigs SBS (again)

    Scale back

    Siemens is to restrict its loss-making IT services arm to industries that the wider group operates in. In an internal memo seen this week by Heise.de, the German online publication, employees were told: "SBS (Siemens Business Systems) will only be accepting a few specific new projects in industries that Siemens does not serve …

    Channel Register 7 Jul 2006, 10:19

  • England's World Cup verdict: 'unfocused, jerky, inadequate'

    And that's just the mobile videos

    "You had to wait 10 minutes or so for clips - even of the penalty shoot-out," complained self-appointed mobile TV referee David Frodsham [right] of Argogroup. He used his proprietary Monitor Master system to compare clips from T-Mobile, 3 and the BBC over ADSL. Amazingly, the ADSL stuff was only marginally better than the …

    Mobile 7 Jul 2006, 10:23

  • AMD, ATI agree acquisition deal?

    Approach with caution...

    AMD has reached an agreement with ATI to buy the graphics chip company. An official statement will be made shortly - if, that is, you believe a report on a Chinese-language website citing a single source said to be close to the negotiations. We're taking this with a big pinch of salt. The unnamed source, cited by Sohu.com, …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 10:24

  • Show your staff what they spend on company mobiles

    'Companies wasting millions each year'

    Large organisations "are wasting millions each year by not providing staff with access to their business mobile phone bill," according to Matt Atkinson, head of AKJ. The company is launching a "Mobile Management program" to demonstrate just how much is wasted through ignorance. Atkinson says that in many organisations with …

    Business 7 Jul 2006, 10:32

  • Cisco buys Meetinghouse to bolster wireless security

    Network bouncer software controls access

    Cisco is to acquire privately held wireless security firm Meetinghouse Data Communications for $43.7m in cash and stock. The deal, announced on Thursday, enables the network giant to bolster its security portfolio with the Meetinghouse's client-side wireless security software. The technology (based on the 802.1X standard) …

    Data Networking 7 Jul 2006, 10:58

  • BOFH: Champion of culture

    Episode 22 Get rid of what to cut costs?

    "I don't know what to say," the PFY sniffles as the Boss breaks the sad news to him. "Will it be...quick?" "It'll over in no time," the Boss reassures him. "And how is everyone taking it?" "Apart from you, pretty well actually," the Boss replies. "But why?" the PFY bleats. "Its time had come - we all knew that. It's just …

    BOFH 7 Jul 2006, 11:02

  • Windows genuine disadvantage

    Comment A step too far?

    A recent lawsuit filed against Microsoft should have all companies reexamining their privacy policies to determine what information they are actually collecting about customers and what they can possibly do with it. What would you call a computer program that surreptitiously installed itself onto your computer, collected …

    Applications 7 Jul 2006, 11:19

  • Some mammoths had 'ginger gene'

    Look out for woolly bullies

    Ancient DNA has revealed some woolly mammoths had ginger or blonde hair thanks to the mutant gene which causes fair hair in humans. Reporting in Science, researchers at the University of Leipzig extracted fragile fragments of mammoth DNA from a sample taken from a 43,000-year-old bone found in Siberia. The team was able to …

    Biology 7 Jul 2006, 11:59

  • Sky launches video recording via text

    Geek TV Plus the best of this weekend's viewing

    Sky subscribers can now text instructions to their Sky+ boxes from anywhere in the world, thanks to a new service that makes your remote look as slick as the penny farthing. The service, which launched yesterday, is available to all Sky+ customers. Once users have registered their mobile phone numbers on the My Sky section of …

    Entertainment 7 Jul 2006, 12:00

  • Elonex sketches phoenix PC plan

    Vision of company as a household name

    Afic founder and managing director Yuval Ella aims to turn Elonex into a household name by sticking the company's badge on a range of other electrical gadgets. Speaking after he closed the deal to buy the PC maker out of administration, the Israeli businessman said he was also considering launching Elonex Plc into PC …

    Channel Register 7 Jul 2006, 12:03

  • Chav heartland in BT exchange fire

    Meltdown due to Big Brother voting?

    BT's Bluebell Hill exchange in Chatham, Kent, caught fire on Wednesday, putting 20,000 lines in jeopardy. The blaze began at around 11am and caused extensive damage to the power room, though the actual telecoms gear escaped relatively unscathed. When the mains was lost, back-up generators quickly cut-in, but were themselves …

    Telecoms 7 Jul 2006, 12:05

  • IT upgrade confuses child jab programme

    MMR muddle

    An overhaul in NHS IT systems has been accompanied by a possible fall in child vaccination rates. As part of a £6.8bn upgrade to health service IT systems in the UK, 10 of 31 London health care trusts have installed software to manage child jab programmes. The software was designed to help hospitals to manage the delivery of …

    Public Sector 7 Jul 2006, 13:17

  • House style

    Stob Hands off the keyboard: it's in crash

    I'm not usually a great one for American TV comedy, the cartoons excepted. But recently I came upon a wonderful thing called House, featuring Hugh Laurie as the eponymous hero, a consultant at a New Jersey hospital. Laurie is an effective counter to that arch-enemy of all American hospdrams, Doctor Mawk. The first pleasure to …

    Verity Stob 7 Jul 2006, 13:39

  • USB missile launches detected on multiple fronts

    Updated Yes, it's WAR!

    What have we done? Today, we began receiving sporadic reports of the outbreak of hostilities between rival factions within the nation's offices and workplaces, all following our coverage of the USB missile launcher gizmo yesterday. Reg Hardware, is seems, may have contributed to a major dip in the country's productivity as …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 13:41

  • Nintendo Wii to make a splash early?

    Production start claims point to September/October release

    Nintendo will release its next-generation games console, Wii, much earlier than the company has previously announced, it has been claimed. The company is already punching out Wii hardware, it's said, and that means the firm is out to get to market well ahead of Sony. American Technology Research (ATR) analyst PJ McNealy this …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 14:04

  • What colour is the most sexually attractive?

    Raunchy red or bold black?

    Also in this week's column: Is Friday the 13th bad for your health? Is heart rate correlated with birth order? Cross-cultural dispatches from the gender wars What colour is the most sexually attractive? Asked by Nicci Vallencia of Denver, Colorado There is much behavioural science research showing the most popular skin …

    Biology 7 Jul 2006, 14:15

  • Is heart rate correlated with birth order?

    Beating to a different tune

    Also in this week's column: Is Friday the 13th bad for your health? What colour is the most sexually attractive? Cross-cultural dispatches from the gender wars Is heart rate correlated with birth order? Asked by Lotti Otunnu of Lagos, Nigeria Those who continue to believe that heart rate is correlated with birth order …

    Biology 7 Jul 2006, 14:15

  • Cross-cultural dispatches from the gender wars

    Worldwide snippets

    Also in this week's column: Is Friday the 13th bad for your health? What colour is the most sexually attractive? Is heart rate correlated with birth order? Cross-cultural dispatches from the gender wars 1. Among the Native American Navajo, cultural tradition assigns gender to the rain. Male rain is the brief, drenching, …

    Biology 7 Jul 2006, 14:16

  • Is Friday the 13th bad for your health?

    Spooky stats

    Also in this week's column: What colour is the most sexually attractive? Is heart rate correlated with birth order? Cross-cultural dispatches from the gender wars Is Friday the 13th bad for your health? Asked by Tanya Applegate of Ithaca, New York Superstitions have existed since humans became humans. Research backing …

    Biology 7 Jul 2006, 14:18

  • Phone maker VK declared bankrupt

    Competition too strong

    South Korean handset maker VK has been declared bankrupt after it failed to pay its creditors, local media reports reveal. Trading in the company's shares has been suspend pending a de-listing on 22 July. According to a number of South Korean newspaper reports today, VK owed its creditors KRW1.78bn ($1.90m). Last week, an …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 14:39

  • Cast iron robotip: France to win World Cup

    Who wins? A toy decides

    England's inevitable whimpering limp back to Blighty aside, the World Cup is always a relatively unpredictable affair, a fact which sends the bookies cackling all the way to the nearest Fabergé egg dealer every four years. But no more. Step forward Unazukin, "a small fairy. Usually...under the big mushroom in the woods," …

    Science 7 Jul 2006, 14:45

  • Microsoft appoints new UK boss

    Changing of the guard

    Microsoft has appointed a new boss to runs its UK operations. Gordon Frazer will become Microsoft UK's managing director on 31 July, after relocating from South Africa, where he served as the software giant's general manager for the last four years. Frazer replaces Alistair Baker at the helm of Microsoft's UK subsidiary. Baker …

    Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 14:50

  • Commission talks MS sanctions next week

    Wednesday is D-Day for Microsoft

    The European Commission has confirmed it will be meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Microsoft appeal and decide whether or not to fine the company for failing to comply with the 2004 anti-trust decision. European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said: "The commission on Wednesday should be discussing the Microsoft issue and …

    Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 15:00

  • Bexley NHS searches for lost data

    Patient data is safe and sound

    Bexley Care Trust is still looking for the email and schedule data it lost after its servers had a seizure and its backup system went into a coma over a week ago. In a statement issued to The Register, a spokeswoman for Bexley said: "Work is being done to retrieve the data. "No clinical information or patient records were …

    Public Sector 7 Jul 2006, 15:22

  • Exabyte to sell out

    Independent tape maker calls in bankers

    Magnetic tape and drive maker Exabyte has put itself up for sale after CEO and finder Juan Rodriguez resigned. Formed in 1985, the firm's stock has plummeted from $15 in 2004 to 10 and a half cents at close of dealing on Wall Street on Thursday. It has made losses six years running. The board has appointed St Charles Capital …

    Storage 7 Jul 2006, 15:34

  • Slim Devices' Squeezebox supports Rhapsody DRM

    Plays protected tracks for the first time

    Slim Devices has added support for the Real Networks' Rhapsody digital music download service to its Squeezebox network music player. The deal will allow the device to play DRM-protected tracks purchased from the service. To date, the Squeezebox has been only able to play DRM-free AAC and WMA tracks in addition to the MP3 and …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 15:35

  • Phone phishers target PayPal

    Sneaky lure

    Hi-tech fraudsters are attempting to trick PayPal users into calling a phone number and giving over sensitive credit card account information. The tactic follows the same patterns as a recently detected "phone phishing" attack targeting customers of the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust. The attack on PayPal shows that the approach is …

    Security 7 Jul 2006, 15:48

  • Print Screen button enables HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc duplication

    Recipe for RSI?

    HD DVD movies can be copied, and all it takes is the presses of a single button on any PC's keyboard. Well, lots of presses. Lots and lots of presses. Lots and lots and lots of presses. Yes, keep hitting that Print Screen button and, according to Germany's c't magazine, one the movie's finished playing, you'll have enough …

    Reg Hardware 7 Jul 2006, 15:51

  • Google, Apple and a Goth

    To subscribe to The Register's weekly newsletter - seven days of IT in a single hit - click here

    Google whacking is the new Google whacking Everyone loves Google. Except the people who hate it. This week German experts said voluntary arrangements with search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo! To restrict content were not enough. The conference in Berlin heard arguments in favour of strong government regulation of all …

    Business 7 Jul 2006, 16:14

  • Google founders spar over 'party plane'

    Giant Brin needs a giant bed

    Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin need more adult supervision than previously thought. While the two billionaires agree that they both love colored balls, they can't agree on what types of beds should be placed in their Boeing 767 wide body corporate jet. Brin and Page broke out in a dispute over whether or not Brin …

    Bootnotes 7 Jul 2006, 20:44

  • Intel to ship Montecito five-pack on July 18

    Bull in Intertanium heaven

    It has taken so long for Intel to shove the dual-core Montecito version of Itanium out the door that few secrets remain about the chip. In fact, no secrets remain thanks to Intel's friendly customers. Intel will launch Montecito on July 18. That's more than a year after Montecito was originally meant to ship, and the delay has …

    Servers 7 Jul 2006, 22:01

  • Sun 'lets down' users with UltraSPARC IIIi+ delay

    Serrano still not cooked

    It seems we missed a few details during yesterday's dig into Sun's upcoming server launch. Thankfully, our dear readers were here to help. We talked about the upcoming Sun Fire V215 and V445 servers but left out the V245 system. All three of these boxes will replace systems (the V210, V240 and V440) running on the UltraSPARC …

    Servers 7 Jul 2006, 22:31