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10th July 2006 Archive

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  • Google - cult or corporation?

    Inside the black box

    Is Google a cult, or is Google a corporation? It's hard to tell, and from the company's official literature it seems like it would really, really like to have it both ways. There's a big difference. Cults demand obedience, while corporations are obliged to be accountable. It's tricky to reconcile the two. And while it ponders …

    Media 10 Jul 2006, 01:51

  • ICO hits personal data service

    Puts stop to free 'people search'

    The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has clamped down on a website that was illegally using information from electoral registers. It has ordered the b4usearch.com to stop using personal information from registers published before 2002, after finding the site in breach of the Data Protection Act. Electoral registers …

    Media 10 Jul 2006, 07:59

  • Discovery cleared for landing

    Hurrah!

    The space Shuttle Discovery is fit to return to Earth, NASA says, after the inspection of the heat shield found no problems with the insulation. The crew completed the inspection of the craft on day four of the mission. NASA engineers on the ground have been reviewing the footage of the Shuttle since then, both from the launch …

    Science 10 Jul 2006, 08:07

  • FCO takes on Murray and the blogs over Murder in Samarkand

    Return match for former ambassador

    The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office is following up on its earlier moves against former ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray with the threat of an injunction. Alongside the publication of his book, Murder in Samarkand, last week Murray posted a collection of supporting documents on his web site (here); the current FCO action …

    Media 10 Jul 2006, 08:23

  • Researchers look to predict software flaws

    Vulnerability formula

    Want to know how many flaws will be in the next version of a software product? Using historical data, researchers at Colorado State University are attempting to build models that predict the number of flaws in a particular operating system or application. In an analysis to be presented at a secure computing conference in …

    Software 10 Jul 2006, 08:28

  • SWIFT: the challenges of being multi-national

    Comment Confidentiality vs law

    The recent disclosure in a US newspaper that, post 9/11, SWIFT responded to compulsory subpoenas from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury by "providing limited sets of data" is embarrassing for both SWIFT and the US Government. This is, principally, because, although SWIFT …

    Business 10 Jul 2006, 08:49

  • HMRC sets out standards for VAT software

    Useful

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has launched new guidelines for businesses wanting to use technology to file their VAT returns that it reckons could reduce errors in VAT reporting by as much as 25 per cent. The guidelines, published under the funky-sounding title "Publicly Available Specification 76", or PAS 76 - VAT for short, …

    Policy 10 Jul 2006, 08:58

  • Orange agrees to resolve router snafu

    Rightly so

    Orange has said it will resolve the case of a customer forced to honour a 12-month broadband contract, despite being downgraded to dial-up after a software update crippled her wireless router. The saga began in May when the customer was knocked offline during the roll-out of a firmware update to her Livebox router. The …

    Broadband 10 Jul 2006, 09:20

  • Second analysts forecasts iPod hold-up

    New Nanos knocked back two months, market watcher predicts

    A second analyst has forecast iPod delays. Late last week, Baird analyst Tristan Gerra added his voice to American Technology Research market watcher Shaw Wu to tell investors higher-capacity iPod Nanos will not appear as early as expected. As early as analysts and casual observers anticipated, that is. Apple has given no …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 09:37

  • Google ordered to disclose advertiser information

    Ad copyright complaint

    Google has been ordered to disclose the identity of one of its advertisers. The High Court has issued the ruling to assist a potential copyright infringement case. Google had declined to reveal the identity of the advertiser to Helen Grant, who had complained that a Google advert led to a service which she claimed violated her …

    Media 10 Jul 2006, 09:40

  • Apple delays Scandinavian iTunes reaction

    August extension

    Apple has been given more time to defend the Digital Rights Management (DRM) in iTunes, which has fallen foul of Scandinavian regulators. It now has until 1 August to prepare its case. The Norwegian Ombudsman ruled in June that the terms and conditions for iTunes were unlawful and have to be changed. The body gave Apple until 21 …

    Media 10 Jul 2006, 09:48

  • Sony readies 4GB MemoryStick Pro Duo

    Summer debut

    Sony will this Summer ship a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo memory card, the company announced today. With the company's array of MemoryStick, Pro, Duo, Pro Duo, Micro, Tiny and High Speed variants, the "revitalised" packagin design Sony promised is probably more welcome than the higher storage capacity. The 4GB Pro Duo offers a …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 09:57

  • Beware, beware, the auditor's coming

    Comment Actually, treated right, auditors are often pussy cats...

    "Know thy enemy." For developers, try talking to an IT auditor sometime. For a start, your application increasingly risks being audited against regulatory requirements, governance good practice and the like (possibly requirements that weren't mentioned when you built the app) - and if it fails, your name will be mud and your …

    Developer 10 Jul 2006, 10:08

  • Diode dearth to hinder Blu-ray Disc drive launches?

    Sony wants them all for PS3, report alleges

    Will Sony's PlayStation 3 production ramp limit the ability of optical drive vendors to ship sufficient Blu-ray Disc writers? That's effectively what a report from the Far East today reckons. At issue is the supply of the diodes used to generate the blue-light laser beams used to read and write data in Blu-ray Disc drives. …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 10:19

  • Asus unveils Core 2 Duo mobos

    Deluxe and vanilla models announced

    Asus has formally announced its first two motherboards to support Intel's upcoming Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Duo desktop processors aka 'Conroe', though the P965-based boards may also play host to a number of older CPUs, right back to the P4. Asus' two boards are the P5B and the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP. Both use Intel's P965 North …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 11:01

  • EU to settle roaming debate

    Crunch meeting this Wednesday

    The EU Commission is poised to make its long-mooted swoop on the mobile industry this week, forcing operators to cut roaming charges, according to weekend reports. On Wednesday, Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding will present the plans the mobile industry has been lobbying hard to have canned. AFP …

    Mobile 10 Jul 2006, 11:01

  • AMD shuffles 'Brisbane' roll-out?

    FX-64 and FX-66 pipelined

    AMD will extend its Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 line-up in Q3 with the debut of the 5200+, allegedly leaked roadmaps now turning up on a variety of websites reveal. The 65W TDP part will be joined by the 125W TDP Athlon 64 FX-64 the following quarter. Both parts are to be fabbed at 90nm. The anticipated 65nm version of the 5200+ …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 11:37

  • Half of ICT firms suffer security breach

    Internal threats rise

    Over 50 per cent of ICT firms reported a security breach in the last 12 months, according to a survey conducted by business advisory firm Deloitte. Of the reported security breaches, one-third resulted in significant financial losses for the affected firms. Among those companies whose security had been breached in the last 12 …

    Security 10 Jul 2006, 11:55

  • iSoft delays results again

    Condition now critical

    Software supplier iSoft upset the City yesterday when it announced it would delay reporting its annual results indefinitely, saying it needed more time to sort things out with its bank, and time to hammer out the details of its future contract with the NHS's National Programme for IT. This is the second delay within a month and …

    Business 10 Jul 2006, 12:02

  • Panasonic to ship 103in monster TV by year's end

    Big screen, bigger price

    Panasonic will begin selling its 103in plasma TV by the end of the year, less than 12 months after the monster monitor - claimed to be the world's largest - was first demo'd in public, the company said today. The 2.3 x 1.3m colossus weighs 215kg and has a full 1080i HD resolution. It has a brightness of 3000:1. Panasonic …

    Hardware 10 Jul 2006, 12:26

  • O2 to offer Motorola's i-mode SLVR

    L7 coming later this month

    UK carrier O2 is to add Motorola's L7 handset - aka the SLVR - to its selection of i-mode phones later this month, Reg Hardware has learned. O2 currently offers an i-mode version of Motorola's L6 alongside three Samsung handsets equipped with the yellow 'i' button, the Z320i, S500i and S400i. The 'L7 i-mode' - to give the …

    Phones 10 Jul 2006, 12:59

  • BPI: ISPs must give filesharers the boot

    Put your house in order

    Music industry body, the BPI, is demanding that two ISPs close the accounts of 59 internet users after it presented them with what it calls "unequivocal evidence of copyright infringement" on their accounts. BPI said that although its own campaign against filesharers is going tremendously well (action taken against 139 …

    Networks 10 Jul 2006, 13:08

  • PS3 to play all PSOne, PS2 games

    Sony guns for full backward compatibility

    Sony's PlayStation 3 will play almost every PlayStation game, a senior IBM staffer has claimed. It's not clear how many PSOne titles won't play, but according to Tom Reeves, VP of semiconductor and technology services at IBM, even 40 of them was too high a number for Sony. In an Electronic News interview, Reeves said: "Sony …

    Games 10 Jul 2006, 13:28

  • EMC misses Q2 target

    Storage Trezeguet

    EMC will fall short of its quarterly target, the storage blimp revealed today. Preliminary numbers show Q2 brought in $2.575bn, missing the $2.66bn forecast it made in April. The news is embarrassing for EMC finance chiefs, given they made a point of reiterating their conservative predictions to a disappointed Wall Street in …

    Data Center 10 Jul 2006, 13:48

  • HP sees EPIC time for Microsoft

    HP sees Montecito as a lever on Microsoft

    Montecito, the dual-core implementation of the Itanium processor, formally arrives this month and its chief protagonist, HP, is expected to launch a revamped range of Integrity servers using the processor early in Q4. Said to be a `significant revision’ of the Integrity range, it is likely to include further expansion beyond HP- …

    Developer 10 Jul 2006, 13:58

  • DWP launches new IT infrastucture

    'Powerful speakers' to drown out angry divorced fathers

    Civil servants at the Department of Work and Pensions were told today they are to get all-new new computer gear as the much criticised organ bids to slash £1bn from its annual expenditure through modernisation. An internal email, kindly forwarded to the Reg, advised staff the department was going to be the government's "early …

    Business 10 Jul 2006, 14:02

  • EC to raise MS fine?

    Patience is wearing thin

    The European Commission is planning to raise the cap on the amount it will fine Microsoft for failing to comply with its anti-trust ruling from €2m to €3m per day, according to Reuters. The news service cites an unnamed diplomatic source, speaking ahead of a meeting of regulators in Brussels to decide how much the software …

    Data Center 10 Jul 2006, 14:03

  • Online gambling addict destroyed building firm

    Demolition derby

    A junior accountant has confessed to stealing in excess of £1m from his employers in order to bankroll his spiraling gambling addiction. Bryan Benjafield, 23, stole a small fortune from construction industry firm Charminster of Dorchester, Dorset, between January 2004 and October 2005 while working in its payroll department. …

    Security 10 Jul 2006, 14:11

  • Trade Commission probes Nokia

    Qualcomm calls for ban on Nokia imports

    The US International Trade Commission is investigating Nokia over allegations that it infringed Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm complained to the ITC in June and is asking for an exclusion order to stop imports of infringing Nokia products, and a cease and desist order to stop Nokia selling handsets it has already imported into the …

    Mobile 10 Jul 2006, 15:02

  • NZ spectrum debate highlights WiMAX regulatory dilemma

    Wireless frequencies become prime real estate

    An obscure spectrum debate in New Zealand highlights the dilemmas that will be faced in many countries as broadband wireless frequencies become prime real estate instead of neglected side streets. The country's Ministry for Economic Development (MED) is threatening to take back blocks of 2.3GHz spectrum currently held by …

    Broadband 10 Jul 2006, 15:02