14th July 2006 Archive
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VMware rubber stamps 'free' Server product
Good to slice
VMware has officially joined the great virtualization software giveaway. The company this week peeled the "beta" label off VMware Server and put the fully cooked version of the product up for download. Customers have been able to download the beta version of VMware Server for the last five months. During that period, VMware …
Servers 14 Jul 2006, 00:58
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Intel 'Conroe' Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme
Review Intel's next-gen architecture - it's here
It's been a month and ten days since Reg Hardware previewed Intel's Core2 Duo processor, but now we have the official, shipping, ready-to-slap-in-your-PC product. So is it really as good as the early numbers indicated? Read on, read on... To test its new baby, Intel sent out one of its own D975XBX motherboard with a beta BIOS …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 05:02
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Indies, songwriters want jaw jaw with ISPs
Not war war
Indie labels, songwriters and publishers hailed Wednesday as a landmark day for digital music - the first sign that many of the warring parties within the music business have agreed on something. A London conference brought together representatives who are more used to squabbling: the Association of Independent Music (AIM), …
Telecoms 14 Jul 2006, 07:36
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Microsoft to foot consultant recruitment bill for UK dealers
Wanted: 400 bodies
Microsoft Business Solutions is to foot the bill for recruiting 400 new consultants for its UK partners, to combat a severe skills shortage in the channel. The pressure is on for Microsoft to get enough capacity in its reselling channels before its Dynamics business software strategy gets off the ground in six months or so with …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2006, 07:58
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Microsoft to Google: get your tanks off our lawn
Enterprise search is not for the likes of you
Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer, fired a shot across Google's bows yesterday, warning the company to steer clear of enterprise search. "Enterprise search is our business, it's our house and Google is not going to take that business," Turner told 7,000 delegates attending Microsoft's Worldwide Partner …
Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 08:04
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Cisco equipment at heart of £9m alleged scam
Warranty shenanigans
Co-ordinated raids by police on both sides of the Atlantic have resulted in the capture of two Russians suspected of operating a warranty scam using Cisco equipment. The two Russians, a man aged 46 and a woman aged 23, were questioned by police, said the Daily Telegraph. The suspected fraud was said to be worth £9m. The raids …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2006, 09:10
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Computing VAT regime will be turned on its head, says EU Commissioner
Stop the Carousel, We want to get off
VAT on mobile phones, computer chips and other digital goods will not be charged between businesses under new rules about to be approved in Europe. Tax commissioner Laszlo Kovacs has said the plan will be approved in the next two weeks. The plan is designed to combat a crime dubbed 'carousel fraud'. Criminals have been moving …
Small Biz 14 Jul 2006, 09:18
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AMD to complain about Intel in Germany
AMD vs Intel Anti-competition allegations again
AMD will formally complain to German anti-trust authorities about alleged attempts made by Intel to stop certain retailers selling PCs based on AMD processors, the chip maker said yesterday. Earlier this week, it emerged an unknown company has already filed a formal complaint about Intel with Germany's Federal Cartel Office ( …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 09:42
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Microsoft Live could use channel
Upheaval still inevitable
Microsoft's plan to sell its software direct over the internet is still so green that the software giant might employ channel partners to operate it outside the US. Microsoft president Steve Ballmer announced this week that the iCRM system would be sold direct to customers over the wire from Q2 next year. The vendor hopes to …
Channel Register 14 Jul 2006, 09:46
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Secret court secretly reviewing secret wiretaps
Washington Roundup White House gets custom legislation
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (Republican, Pennsylvania) has crafted proposed legislation, pre-approved by the White House, enabling the FISA star chamber court to rubber-stamp the NSA's massive, warrantless wiretap program, and decide that it is constitutional. Clearly, the Republicans don't want the …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2006, 10:14
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California to sue DRAM makers over price-fixing claims
Will file lawsuit with 33 other states
Seven of the world's biggest memory makers today face an antitrust lawsuit from 34 US Attorneys General who claim the companies conspired "to fix DRAM chip prices, artificially restrain supply, allocate among themselves the production of DRAM chips and markets for the chips, and rig bids for DRAM chip contracts" between January …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 10:31
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eBay in wing-mirror reflectoporn shocker
Updated BMW accessory with added va-va-voom
We at Vulture Central know only too well that eBay will pull without mercy any auction it considers is sullying the good name of the world's premier tat bazaar. Indeed, this reporter has established a lucrative sideline in eBay auction killing, which is why this story is being written by his assistant while he takes a dip in …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2006, 10:44
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Sony, Samsung confirm 8G LCD deal
$1.9bn plant to begin production in 2007
Samsung and Sony today announced an agreement to build an eighth-generation LCD plant, confirming claims made last month that the pair were near to signing just such a deal. The two companies said their LCD joint-venture, S-LCD, will invest KRW1.8tr ($1.9bn) - with each parent contributing half - in the facility, which will …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 10:48
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BOFH: Go on then, subcontract us...
Episode 23 But pay the price
"I have a little job for you," the Boss burbles handing a wadge of paper to the PFY. "A...computer room fit out," the PFY says with disdain, eyeing the papers in the manner generally reserved for the observance of dog excrement on one's footwear. "What's the catch?" "No catch - I thought you'd find it interesting." "I didn' …
BOFH 14 Jul 2006, 11:02
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Can leaving a baby to 'cry it out' cause brain damage?
Parenting practice
Also in this week's column: The Minamata disaster - 50 years on Is there any evolutionary advantage in snoring? What is deep vein thrombosis? Can leaving a baby to 'cry it out' cause brain damage? Asked by Christine Koch of Strathfield, NSW Australia Research suggests that allowing a baby to "cry it out" can cause brain …
Biology 14 Jul 2006, 11:16
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What is deep vein thrombosis?
'Economy class syndrome' uncovered
Also in this week's column: The Minamata disaster - 50 years on Is there any evolutionary advantage in snoring? Can leaving a baby to 'cry it out' cause brain damage? What is deep vein thrombosis? Asked by David White of Ramsgate, South Africa Deep vein thrombosis (aka deep venous thrombosis) or DVT is the formation of a …
Biology 14 Jul 2006, 11:16
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Is there any evolutionary advantage in snoring?
Who nose?
Also in this week's column: The Minamata disaster - 50 years on What is deep vein thrombosis? Can leaving a baby to 'cry it out' cause brain damage? Is there any evolutionary advantage in snoring? Asked by John Edwards of Hitchin, United Kingdom We have addressed snoring many times in many ways. Points we have not made …
Biology 14 Jul 2006, 11:22
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FujiFilm fetes face-detecting digicam
Eyes, check. Mouth, check. Yes, it's a face...
Fujifilm will this autumn ship a digital SLR camera equipped with a face-spotting feature to help snapper's take better people pictures, the company announced this week. It also unveiled its latest compact digicam, a 6.3 megapixel machine with an ISO 3200 rating. The FinePix S6500fd sports a six-megapixel sensor too. The …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 13:00
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Readers with plenty to hide poo-poo global database
Letters Plus: nukes, typos and terrible punning
The European Commission finally grew a pair and announced the fine it is imposing on Microsoft for failing to comply with its 2004 anti-trust ruling. Here's a suggestion for Steve and Co to consider: Hi, Couldn't resist this. Microsoft should first bend over, smile sweetly, pay the fine. Then, refuse to sell any software to …
Letters 14 Jul 2006, 13:02
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French poor to get net for €1 per day
Cut-price PC plus broadband
The French government has announced its intention to provide 1.2m of the country's poorest citizens with a computer and broadband connection for €1 per day. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin heralded the bold plan - part of France's committment to make public services available online - at a Interministerial Committee for …
Telecoms 14 Jul 2006, 13:06
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File-swappers' identities protected by Dutch court
Privacy laws
A Dutch appeals court has thwarted attempts by the Dutch anti-piracy organisation BREIN to get the identities of file-sharers from five ISPs, including Wanadoo and Tiscali. The court found that the manner in which IP addresses were collected and processed by US company MediaSentry had no lawful basis under European privacy laws …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2006, 13:11
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The Minamata disaster - 50 years on
Lessons learned?
Also in this week's column: Is there any evolutionary advantage in snoring? What is deep vein thrombosis? Can leaving a baby to 'cry it out' cause brain damage? The Minamata disaster - 50 years on It is now 50 years since the most horrific mercury poisoning disaster the world has ever seen took place in Minamata, Japan. …
Biology 14 Jul 2006, 13:11
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Networking sites could help hackers
Social climbing
Professional networking sites are unwittingly providing hackers with the possible means to carry out sophisticated social engineering scams, a UK security consultancy warns. SecureTest was able to produce a comprehensive personal profile of an internal employee in a short time using data from social and professional networking …
Security 14 Jul 2006, 13:17
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Griffin iTrip to be UK street-legal by year's end?
UK authority formally proposes legalisation
UK communications regulator Ofcom had finally formally proposed the legalisation of low-power FM transmitters typified by Griffin Technology's iTrip, used to beam whatever an iPod's playing to a nearby radio. The agency said it hopes it could have a Europe-wide legislative framework in place by the end of the year. Use of the …
Reg Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 13:26
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Kinderstart stopped in its tracks
Judge dismisses anti-trust case
A US judge has sent Kinderstart back to the drawing board, after dismissing the education website's anti-trust lawsuit against Google. Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California in San Jose dismissed all nine counts of Kinderstart's complaint, all centred on claims of monopolistic practices by the search giant, …
Music and Media 14 Jul 2006, 14:09
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Typepad goes titsup again
Panic in Blogosphere
Blogging service Typepad suffered an outage yesterday that left some of the web's keenest information nodes disconnected for 10 hours. "We experienced a database problem and needed to take the system offline to repair it," Typepad explained. But Typepad failed to inform its users that posts they were making during the downtime …
Business 14 Jul 2006, 14:26
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World Cup streaming fails to score
Geek TV Everyone opts to watch it on telly instead
Red cards for the "experts" who predicted that the web would go into meltdown during the World Cup, thanks to the bazillions of fans watching the live stream. Turns out that no one was interested in watching footy online. Well, one in 10 was interested, and he'd only got lost when Googling that rude film with Lea off Big …
Entertainment 14 Jul 2006, 14:33
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The English: 'bebados arruaceiros e nojentos imbecis'
FoTW A Portugeezer writes
In 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras as a result of a bit of argy-bargy at a World Cup qualifying match, in what came to be rather splendidly known as The Soccer War. Fast forward to 2006, and it looked for a while as if England - to avenge the Cristiano Ronaldo/Wayne Rooney outrage - might be obliged to restore national pride …
Odds and Sods 14 Jul 2006, 14:38
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Inventory woes hit EMC profits
Gear shift slippage
Inventory problems have pushed down profits at storage powerhouse EMC despite increased quarterly sales. For the quarter ending 30 June (Q206), EMC recorded sales of $2.57bn, 10 per cent higher than the $2.34bn it posted over the same quarter last year. EMC's net income for Q206 fell to $279m from $293m in Q205. EMC warned on …
Hardware 14 Jul 2006, 14:51
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Human error, sweet music, and more bleeding football
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Like Humans Do It was a great week for human error. First up was PlusNet, which managed to lose several hundred gigs of customers' emails. At the time of writing, PlusNet had got many people's email accounts back up and running and is hoping to restore everything. But PlusNet did do a pretty job of telling its customers what …
Business 14 Jul 2006, 20:31
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America's libido can't afford a Bill Gates University
And ninthly Give me Carnegie or give me death!
Here are a few farmers in trucks buying up supplies and groceries and transacting a little business. At ten o'clock the women come in armies, with shopping bags, their children trailing alongside. The bars open, men gulp a morning beer, the bartender mops the mahogany, there's a smell of clean soap, beer, old wood, and cigar …
Bootnotes 14 Jul 2006, 22:34
