18th July 2006 Archive
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Microsoft buddies up with open source rival - true
Moment of Xen or weakness?
Microsoft's tolerance for Linux expanded today via an alliance with open source server virtualization backer XenSource. Microsoft has pledged to let "Xen-enabled" Linux guest operating systems run on top of the virtualization software that will ship with "Longhorn" Server and to provide technical support for the guest OSes. The …
Servers 18 Jul 2006, 05:57
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LaCie Safe 250GB biometric hard drive
World Exclusive Review Fingerprint security
You don't have to have filled you hard drive with scandalous shots of your holiday to the fleshpots of the Far East to want to keep your files safe from prying eyes. Depending on your operating system, you can use built-in tools or third-party apps to protect the information on your computer, but what about back-ups and live …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 07:02
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UK gambling boss arrested in Dallas
Faces racketeering charges
Shares in online gaming firm Betonsports have been suspended this morning to allow markets to digest news that David Carruthers, the outspoken chief executive of Betonsports, has been arrested in Dallas. Betonsports shares fell almost 17 per cent yesterday on news of his detention. The news hit the whole sector - most online …
Financial News 18 Jul 2006, 08:01
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Suited phoneys vs honourable technocrats
Comment Tales from the airshow
Smart suits, I've come to understand, are a sure sign of a business involving a bunch of phoneys. After this year's visit to the 1950s (otherwise known as the Farnborough Airshow) I've also discovered something just as important: I'm allergic to these guys. Aircraft are expensive, and once you've got the basics right (get off …
IT Director 18 Jul 2006, 08:05
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Discovery touches down in Florida
NASA prepping for next mission
Shuttle has landed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, after nearly a fortnight in space, and with one crew member less than when it took off. The European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter was not jettisoned unceremoniously when his team (Germany) exited the World Cup, but is now staying aboard the International …
Space 18 Jul 2006, 08:29
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Apple to announce movie rentals next month?
Last-minute developers conference keynote unveiling
The Mac Pro may not be the only thing Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference next month: he'll pull the rabbit of iTunes Music Store movie downloads out of his hat too, one Apple-watching website claims. It's not exactly a developer-centric announcement, of course, but with all the press …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 08:59
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Yes! It's the all-out nuclear war USB hub!
Bad day at work? Then destroy the planet
Had enough of being beaten into the submission by other USB Missile Launcher-wielding workmates? Just had a bad day with the boss? Then it's time to fall back on the ultimate sanction: the USB nuclear armageddon button. One push and... boom. The unit - which conveniently doubles up as a four-port USB hub during peacetime - …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 09:30
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Sky crashes into free broadband
Murdoch's on the line for you
Sky is the latest company to get on the convergence wagon by offering broadband internet access alongside other comms services. Aimed at existing Sky customers the service will be "free" - if you spend enough money on other Sky services. Punters can sign up to one of three packages - max, mid or base with download speeds of …
Telecoms 18 Jul 2006, 09:39
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The UK office: hotbed of Bacchanalian lust
Work-based rumpy-pumpy epidemic
It's official: the UK office is a steaming cauldron of sexual desire in which colleagues exchange flirtatious emails and smouldering looks as a ritual prelude to forming the work-based beast with two backs. That, at least, is according to research by the Aziz Corporation, which concludes that not only have one third of Brits …
Small Biz 18 Jul 2006, 09:43
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Brussels to send 'crats into the real world
The coup de grâce for a struggling SME?
The European Commission would like its bureaucrats to have a better understanding of the real world, so it plans to send them them out on a terrifying expedition into the land of the SME. With a turn of speed typical of the Commission, over the next three years some 350 senior EC officials, up to and including Commission Vice- …
Small Biz 18 Jul 2006, 09:47
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Intel to cut Celeron D prices in July, October?
Model number 360 coming in August
Intel will introduced its latest Celeron D budget desktop processor on 27 August - the day it ships 'Tulsa', the 65nm dual-core Xeon MP, incidentally - before slashing the line-up's prices on 22 October, it has been claimed. The August arrival is the 3.46GHz, 533MHz frontside bus, 512KB L2 cache Celeron D 360, DigiTimes …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 09:49
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Intel to fork 'Conroe'
Low-end E4000 series to join mainstream E6000 line-up
Intel looks set to fork its 'Conroe' Core 2 Duo desktop processor line-up in much the same way it's going to split its 'Merom' Core 2 Duo mobile family in two. Recently leaked roadmaps show a Core 2 Duo E4300 turning up in Q1 2007. The Merom split separates out mobile Core 2 Duos with 2MB of L2 from those with 4MB of cache. …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 10:07
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AMD plans July, October price cuts - report
Just like Intel, apparently
Details have emerged of the wide-ranging price cuts AMD is expected to implement later this month in response to Intel's launches of 'Merom' and 'Conroe' - the chip giant's next-generation architecture mobile and desktop Core 2 Duo processors. On the mobile side, only the Athlon 64 4200+ and 3800+ will get cheaper this month …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 10:43
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Curse of Blunkett strikes Home Office minister
Government mounts live test of 'fool-proof' ID system
Joan Ryan, Home Office junior minister i/c ID cards, has not exactly gained glowing reviews of her performance defending the wretched things in the Commons yesterday. And on top of all that hard-won opprobrium, she seems to have inadvertently called down the Curse of Blunkett on herself. The Curse of Blunkett is one of the most …
Music and Media 18 Jul 2006, 10:44
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SanDisk preps 4GB SDHC memory card
Bundles USB adaptor
Solid-state memory specialist SanDisk will this month ship its first 4GB SD card, based on version 2.0 of the SD standard, also known as SDHC. The company said it plans to bundle the card with a compact USB adaptor - handy given the paucity of devices with SDHC slots. The 4GB card delivers a minimum data-transfer rate of …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 10:59
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Multivalued datatypes considered harmful
How dangerous can a data type be?
Increasingly developers are required to write applications that interact with database engines – typically Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL or Access. In many ways the database engine is pretty much immaterial; no matter what the flavour it’s still simply a matter of tables, columns, rows and a variety of data types; text, memo, …
Developer 18 Jul 2006, 11:10
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Cingular claims US first with HSDPA handset
Data-tastic
Cingular yesterday claimed a US first for its new HSDPA phone, a skinny black clamshell from LG, dubbed the CU500. Cingular boasts that its new phone breaks the speed barrier, but given Joe Public's indifference, nay hostility, to mobile data, few people will be aware that there is a speed barrier to break. Still customers can …
Mobile 18 Jul 2006, 11:13
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Microsoft keelhauls 26 pirates
Files suit against resellers
Microsoft has set the lawyers on 26 computer dealers for allegedly selling pirate software. The software giant has filed suit against 26 US resellers it accuses of pirating software or pre-loading hard disks with dodgy copies of Microsoft products. Lawsuits were filed in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio …
Channel Register 18 Jul 2006, 11:17
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Judge slashes Rambus damages award
Hynix should pay $133.6m not $306.5m, court suggests
Hynix will not have to pay Rambus as much for infringing the memory technology company's patents as it had expected to after the judge presiding over the case slashed the damages awarded against it. Judge Ronald Whyte of the Northern District of California yesterday said Hynix should pay $113.6m rather than the $306.5m a jury …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 11:17
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Channel 4 to televise UK's first 'Masturbate-a-thon'
NSFW US degeneracy crosses the Pond
Not content with dragging the good old US of A straight down to Hell with its public displays of mass masturbatory degeneracy, the San Fran-based Centre for Sex and Culture - organiser of the legendary "Masturbate-a-thon" - will in August travel to London for a similar event in which Brits will be invited to tug the trouser …
Entertainment 18 Jul 2006, 11:56
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Fujitsu Siemens unveils 'lightest, smallest' sat nav box
Pocket Loox N100 series unveiled
Fujitsu Siemens today unveiled its latest Pocket Loox PDAs: a pair of models featuring integrated GPS receivers, route-planning code, a music player app and full personal information management functionality all in a unit weighing just 110g - a record, the company claimed. The N100 series comprises the N100 and N110. Both are …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 12:31
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Anyone for Cider?
Imagine Cup A taste of our preferred development tool
We recently spent a week at the Microsoft Technology Centre in Reading. We had a great time, including an all-night code/debug-athon and copious amounts of Coca Cola. There were experts on hand and we had the opportunity to seek advice and some invaluable guidance from them. Martin Grayson one of the user interface/user …
Developer 18 Jul 2006, 12:45
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DTI backs unmanned aircraft programme
Tech eye for the public service guy
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is to provide funds for the development of unmanned aviation vehicles to support public services. The DTI announced that it would provide £16m to support a national programme for the safe operation of unmanned aircraft in civil airspace without the need for restrictive or specialised …
Public Sector 18 Jul 2006, 12:57
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Where's my 3.5G handset?
Dearth of devices hampers growth of next-gen technology
The number of 3.5G mobile broadband subscribers globally will soar from around 2.5m to more than 300m in 2011 despite a shortage in compelling devices, according to a new study. Mobile operators are looking to supercharge mobile data access speeds with technology that puts 3G on steroids, offering download speeds of anything up …
Mobile 18 Jul 2006, 13:46
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Elonex: the end of an era
Analysis IP riches sustain founders
The reaction of many people in the PC business to the news that Elonex Plc (UK) was in administration was a shrug: Elowho? The brand name and some assets of the veteran PC were picked up last month by Afics, a cartridge recycling firm, which is still mulling over whether it will sell Elonex-branded PCs. So now seems an …
Channel Register 18 Jul 2006, 13:46
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Turn off the aircon and take off your clothes
UK unions' heatbusting call
As UK temperatures head for a possible all-time high, British unions have called for UK companies to adopt a more relaxed dress code, the BBC reports. Allowing workers to remove their clothing would, the TUC argues, permit a cranking-down of the air contitioning which - while quite possibly preventing a serious outbreak of …
Small Biz 18 Jul 2006, 14:02
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Monster roadsigns block Channel Five
Good news for Bucks residents
Residents close to a Buckinghamshire A-road are up in arms at giant roadsigns which are not only ruining views of the countryside but, far worse, blocking reception of Channel Five. According to a report on This is Local London, the powers that be in Bucks erected the monster signs along Bradenham Road, near Wycombe, in an …
Entertainment 18 Jul 2006, 14:12
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Flash drives to rule laptop market (one day)
Solid state of affairs
Flash-based solid state drives could become the dominant storage device in laptops. It's early days yet: the first laptop with an SSD drive, built by Samsung, launched only last month. So when will we wave goodbye to hard drives altogether? Not today, not tomorrow, but by 2013, the SSD share of the mobile computer market could …
Storage 18 Jul 2006, 14:23
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My mobile is...a...um...
Consumers unaware of their phone's make and model
Mobile phone operators are missing an opportunity to sell high-cost multimedia mobile services because more than half their customers don't have a clue what phone they are using, according to research. A survey of 761 mobile phone users aged 15 and over, commissioned from Ipsos MORI by LogicaCMG, found that 49 per cent of …
Mobile 18 Jul 2006, 14:30
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All forms of life wound up by same key
Studies unravel DNA replication
You have more in common with E. coli than you may think. US researchers have demonstrated that DNA replication is triggered in exactly the same way whether you happen to be a bacterium, an archaeum or a eukaryote (that's modern bacteria, old bacteria, or cells with a nucleus, to you and me). The Berkeley-based researchers …
Biology 18 Jul 2006, 14:39
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Sony unveils 1080p HD LCD TV, 80GB twin-tuner DVR
Freeview bonanza
Sony has launched a slimline DVR that allows viewers to watch one Freeview channel while recording another on the box's built-in 80GB hard drive. The consumer electronics giant also introduced the first of its 1080p HD Ready Bravia LCD TVs into the UK. The SVR-S500 ships with an easy-to-use on-screen user interface, Sony said …
Reg Hardware 18 Jul 2006, 14:42
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Round up the youthful suspects! Govt to target crime at birth
Children, the country's future... lab rats
Children's Minister Hilary Armstrong was due today to outline what could become one of Project Blair's most ambitious, misguided and hubristic projects yet. The Government will attempt to identify children at risk of failure, violent behaviour or criminality at birth, and take the necessary corrective actions to steer them onto …
Music and Media 18 Jul 2006, 15:36
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Google-based malware search tool surfaces
Malicious code mining fails to undermine society
The creator of the Metasploit hacking tool has released code that can be used to find malicious software using specially-crafted Google search queries. The malware search engine created by H.D. Moore can be found here. Google's search engine indexes not only file types such as PDFs and HTML files (for example), but executable …
Security 18 Jul 2006, 15:52
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Moving airbases, codebreaking and supermodel behaviour
Letters Miracles aplenty
The faithful gather to worship at the altar of Ballmer in Boston. Perhaps we missed the importance of Microsoft's relationship with its partners. You were quick to set us straight: I find your lack of faith...disturbing. Microsoft understands the importance of third-party developers, and in fact has opened new markets to some …
Letters 18 Jul 2006, 16:01
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Open source blamed for malware development
Sauce for the goose
Malware authors are adopting open source development models to develop more potent threats. It's well known among security experts that botnet clients such as SDBot are written in a modular framework that allows hackers to add features that, for example, facilitate its spread through IM networks or add more potent attack …
Enterprise Security 18 Jul 2006, 18:04
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Intel hopes users see more than double with Montecito
Tired of me, myself and HP
"They can take our revenue, but they'll never take our freedom!" That seemed to be the message handed out by Intel and friends today as they dangled the new dual-core Itanium 2 processor in front of press and analysts at an event here in San Francisco. Despite HP eating up 90 per cent of all Itanium server shipments, Itanic …
Servers 18 Jul 2006, 18:47
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Microsoft and Nortel unite on communications
Can you hear me now, Steve?
Nortel has signed a four-year deal with Microsoft for the development and installation of integrated voice and data communications products running on Windows. Under the Innovative Communications Alliance, Microsoft and Nortel will form joint teams to develop products due in 2007, cross-license intellectual property and …
Data Networking 18 Jul 2006, 23:07
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Server misfire dampens IBM's Q2
Profits up, hardware stuck
IBM could solve two problems at once by getting its global services division to fix the server division's manufacturing woes. The IT giant today reported that weaker services revenue coupled with a derailed server supply chain hurt second quarter revenue. All told, however, IBM beat out analysts' expectations and pleased …
Financial News 18 Jul 2006, 23:37
