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19th July 2006 Archive

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  • Microsoft discovers secret to impressing Wall Street

    Obfuscation

    Microsoft has changed the way it breaks out its financials in a shake-up likely to accentuate the positive and shield loss-making activities from close scrutiny. The company said Monday it is consolidating seven existing operating segments into five, to "further align the company around three new operating divisions" created …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 01:07

  • easyGroup wins easy.com appeal

    An 'easy' day at the office

    The London High Court has upheld a previous ruling that gave multi-national conglomerate easyGroup intellectual property rights to the easy.com trade mark. In March, easyGroup, parent of easyJet, easyMobile, easyCruise and many other "easy" brands, won a trademark for easy.com. But ISP Easynet, the internet service provider …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 07:02

  • Garage door remote triggers man's erection

    Hard luck for implant chap

    An anonymous Merseyside man who had an implant to "help with erection problems" has found he becomes uncontrollably aroused every time his neighbour pulls up in his 4X4, the Scottish Daily Record reports. The spontaneous hardening is due not to a Liverpudlian all-terrain fetish, but rather to the car owner's garage door remote …

    Bootnotes 19 Jul 2006, 07:02

  • Microsoft gets hands on Winternals

    A fine fellow

    Microsoft has acquired Winternals Software to boost system back up and recovery in Windows. Winternals co-founder and chief software architect Mark Russinovich will join Microsoft's platform and services division as a technical fellow. Bryce Cogswell, Winternals co-founder and chief technology officer, is joining Microsoft's …

    Operating Systems 19 Jul 2006, 08:13

  • Chinese black helicopters circle Google Earth

    Mystery military project wows the crowd

    Those among you who like your skies darkened by black helicopters are invited to mosey on down to the remote Chinese village of Huangyangtan which hosts what must be the strangest military installation ever spotted by the Google Earth Community: Zooming in for a closer look, we have what appears to be a 900x700m scale model …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 08:35

  • Future iPods to morph into games consoles?

    Rumour mill spins on alleged Nintendo, Nvidia deals

    An analyst has claimed Nvidia has won the contract to supply Apple with graphics chips for future video-centric iPods. The claim comes as another, less reputable source alleged upcoming iPods will play old Nintendo games. American Technology Research market watcher Satya Chillara this week told clients Nvidia has beaten …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 09:10

  • Storage resellers called to show some Bakbone

    CMS spiffs up for a Harley

    CMS Peripherals is running a big channel sales spiff for Bakbone storage software. The grand prize for the five-month promo – called Route 66 -is a Harley Davidson, and unspecified prizes will go to second and third places, as well as to the top dealers of each month. Reseller can track their progress at www.rideroute66.com. …

    Channel Register 19 Jul 2006, 09:25

  • mBlox fined over misleading spam

    Blames Carphone Warehouse and Stealthnet

    The premium rate phoneline regulator - Icstis - made two separate rulings against mBlox this week and fined the transaction network firm a total of £14,000. The first judgment involved promoting adult services. Icstis found the material was misleading - especially over its use of the word "FREE". The second judgement concerned …

    Mobile 19 Jul 2006, 09:37

  • Sony preps 'PC-less' DVD burners

    Straight from camcorder to disc

    Sony today pledged to ship this autumn a pair of DVD writers that will burn content straight from camcorders, cutting computers out of the digital media loop. One of the two machines can also pull pictures off digital cameras. The two DVDirect devices - the VRD-MC3 and VRD-VC30 - sport USB 2.0 and Firewire ports, along with …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 09:44

  • LogicaCMG hails IT outsourcing wins

    Offshore banking business

    LogicaCMG today trumpeted some big contracts wins in The Netherlands and France. In a half-year trading statement today, the company said the IT services market "remains strong", pointing to its success in winning outsourcing deals with ING, the dutch banking group, the Netherlands Workers Insurance Authority, and two - as yet …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 09:51

  • Software! miss! sours! Yahoo!

    Numbers look flat

    Yahoo! lost the confidence of investors last night, despite posting solid earnings that were firmly in line with the company's predictions. The results for Q2 2006 came in as expected, with revenues of $1.12bn after traffic acquisition costs (TAC) had been deducted, up 28 per cent from a year ago. Gross revenue was up 26 per …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 09:54

  • Samsung ramps up 1GB Flash chip output

    Touts 8GB package

    Samsung has begun mass-producing 8Gb - 1GB - NAND Flash chips fabbed at 60nm, the company announced this morning. It also said it will offer an 8GB chip formed from two 4GB packages mounted one on top of the the other. Each 4GB unit comprises four of the 8Gb dies. Samsung will be pitching the parts at media-player makers, and …

    Storage 19 Jul 2006, 10:07

  • BetonSports stops taking bets

    But where's the founder gone?

    BetonSports has complied with a Department of Justice indictment and stopped taking bets late last night. A message on the homepage says: "In light of court papers filed in the United States, the company has temporarily suspended this facility pending its ability to assess its full position. During this period no financial or …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 10:13

  • Even greater errrror massages of our time

    You sent us your favourites

    Much fun was had last week when the Fish4 jobs website temporarily sank beneath the waves with only a very amusing error message bubbling to the surface. Seems the site was taken out by the failure of "a very expensive piece of Sun hardware". When the engineer showed up to fix same, he'd not brought the parts he needed. Fish4' …

    Letters 19 Jul 2006, 10:19

  • Earth's writhing magnetic field could aid fusion research

    Null points for ESA's Cluster

    The European satellite constellation Cluster has reported a first - it has seen a region of the Earth's magnetic field spontaneously reconfiguring itself. As well as breaking new scientific ground, the findings could have a practical application for scientists working on new ways of generating energy. In space, magnetic field …

    Physics 19 Jul 2006, 10:42

  • Iomega blesses second-generation Rev drive

    Doubles capacity to 70GB

    Iomega yesterday doubled the capacity of its Rev back-up system to 70GB and began shipping both 2.5in disks and drives - internal and external - worldwide. The newly available Rev drives connect by USB or ATAPI, Iomega said, but it promised to offer Firewire and SATA versions later this year. The new drives will read and …

    Storage 19 Jul 2006, 10:44

  • Zen and the art of software configuration management

    Comment Less is more

    In the software development world, less would appear to be more. Attention continues to swing towards lightweight development methodologies such as extreme programming and agile development, and scripting languages such as Javascript and the three Ps of the LAMP stack—that's PHP, Perl and Python—are increasingly popular. Indeed …

    Developer 19 Jul 2006, 10:46

  • Nordic file sharers form pressure group

    'Don't touch our internets!'

    Following the raid against the popular Swedish file sharing website The Pirate Bay (Piratbyråns), several Nordic organisations have launched an international pressure group The Pro Piracy Lobby, which is seeking "common ground for further discussion and cooperation". The founders of the alliance, including Artliberated Network …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 10:56

  • China eyes Red Planet

    Extends space exploration plans

    China's ambitious space exploration plans - already encompassing the Moon - also extend to Mars, the Xinhua news agency announced today. The country intends to launch its first $175m lunar probe next year, Reuters reports. The year-long mission to gather "three-dimensional images and data on the moon's surface and environment" …

    Space 19 Jul 2006, 10:58

  • Wick Hill wins Ultimaco gig

    UK exclusive

    Wick Hill has won UK solus rights for Ultimaco, the data security software company. Ultimaco Safeware claims nearly three million installations for Safeguard Easy, making it - the vendor says - the world's best selling laptop and PC data protection software. ® www.wickhill.com

    Channel Register 19 Jul 2006, 11:01

  • Sony, Samsung show off Blu-ray PC kit

    Burning passion

    Sony will ship its anticipated internal Blu-ray Disc burner in the US in August, the electronics giant's North American division said yesterday. Separately, one the company's Blu-ray backing chums, Samsung, unveiled its first PC with an integrated BD-ROM drive. Sony's BWU-100A was announced back in March, when the company …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 11:21

  • UK online sales top Germany

    Billions spent online last year

    The UK is Europe's biggest market for online retail - beating Germany into second place for the first time. Total online spending in the UK is £6.69bn (€9.79bn) compared to £6.63bn (€9.71bn) in Germany. Increasing use of broadband was credited with helping the increase in the UK. Internet sales grew by 51 per cent compared to …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 11:26

  • IT girls calendar provokes unholy e-rumpus

    Screen Goddess site hit by DoS attack

    An unholy rumpus has broken out over a "controversial calendar showcasing the sexy side of women who work in the IT sector", The Age reports. The Screen Goddess 2006 collection features IT gals flaunting themselves in various movie-related poses, such as that of Kim Sheree, CEO of ICT Ecosystems, seen here as Marilyn Monroe. It …

    IT Director 19 Jul 2006, 11:31

  • Ofcom ends BT price controls

    Update: Free to float, or sink...

    Telecoms regulator Ofcom has removed retail price controls on calls and line rental for BT customers from 1 August. BT has had its retail prices controlled since privatisation 22 years ago. The regulator says it can make the change because competition is working. Ofcom's statement said: "The removal of retail price controls is …

    Telecoms 19 Jul 2006, 11:34

  • BT and Sage collaborate to track call costs

    Talking telephone numbers

    BT and Sage are planning to integrate BT's Billing Analyst software into Sage's MMS accounting package. The idea is that small and medium sized businesses will be able to use the two packages together to keep a closer eye on their phone bills. The forthcoming hybrid will allow businesses to see exactly who is making those …

    Small Biz 19 Jul 2006, 11:38

  • YouTube wanders into copyright mire

    Big issues loom as US news service sues

    Video upload site YouTube is being sued by a US television station which says it has breached its copyright, but leading intellectual property lawyers say that the site is almost certainly protected under existing laws. YouTube hosts uploaded video clips of up to 10 minutes in length, and as well as amateur videos it hosts …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 11:53

  • SK nixes LG 3G license

    Government boots out CEO for heel-dragging

    The South Korean government has rescinded LG Telecom's 3G operator rights and told CEO Nam Yong he must leave his post because of the firm's failure to develop 2Ghz wireless technology. Reuters reports Korean operators have been reluctant to implement their synchronous CDMA licenses while the trend globally has been toward …

    Mobile 19 Jul 2006, 11:57

  • Oracle unleashes security horde

    Fixes for 65-strong swarm of bugs

    Oracle's security organ has splurged 65 patches on customers in its quarterly update. The new code papers cracks in the firm's database, application server, and e-business suite products. Many of the problems are caused by a proprietary networking protocol called Oracle Net which has come under scrutiny from security types …

    Enterprise Security 19 Jul 2006, 12:00

  • Doctors attack NHS IT system

    Patient confidentiality at risk, say concerned sawbones

    Doctors have spoken out against the controversial £12.4bn NHS IT system that is over budget and behind schedule, claiming that patient confidentiality is being put at risk by the system. Writing in the British Medical Journal, a series of doctors have said that it is unwise to put the medical records of the entire population on …

    Public Sector 19 Jul 2006, 12:07

  • EU sues France over illegal France Telecom aid

    The mother of all tax breaks

    The European Commission is taking France to court for failing to claw back illegal state aid granted to France Telecom in 2002. In August 2004, the Commission ruled that the French government had handed its favourite telco a hidden subsidy worth between €798m and €1140m. This was disguised through preferential tax treatment …

    Mobile 19 Jul 2006, 12:37

  • Sony production partners punching out PS3s?

    Taiwanese sources say 'yes'

    PlayStation 3 games consoles are rolling off production lines run by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Asustek, if a number of local reports are to be believed. Production began at the start of the month, they allege, albeit in small volumes. Asustek wouldn't comment on the claims, apparently, but the manufacturer was said to …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 12:44

  • NAO says HMRC over-sweetened IT suppliers

    Millions paid in aid - but systems still failed

    HM revenue and Customs may have been too generous in giving £52m in aid to its IT suppliers when it transferred computer contracts worth £3bn from EDS to Capgemini, said the National Audit Office in a report today. The department gave financial aid to its old and new suppliers in 2003 to ensure the transition from one to the …

    Public Sector 19 Jul 2006, 12:49

  • Online fraudsters love webmail - true

    Easier to block accounts linked to spamming than fraud

    Online fraudsters favour easy to set-up webmail accounts when perpetrating online fraud. Yahoo! accounts come first in a list of the top ten email addresses used by online card fraudsters compiled by Early Warning UK, a scheme set up to help retailers avoid credit card fraud. Early Warning has established a database of …

    Spam 19 Jul 2006, 12:59

  • MySpace to songwriters: sell more shirts

    Rupert won't pay

    It must suck being a MySpace representative at a music biz gathering. The most popular web site in the United States owes its phenomenal success to a canny exploitation of music. But while sound recordings command a performance royalty - the rules are optional in the exciting world of new media. So while composers get rewarded …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 13:07

  • Bush to veto stem cell bill

    'The simple answer is he thinks murder's wrong'

    George W. Bush has indicated he will block the Senate's decision to allow state cash to be used to fund research into using embryonic stem cells to tackle disease. Despite strong public support and the Senate's 63 to 37 backing, the Whitehouse has said Bush would swoop quickly to crush plans to loosen restrictions. Spokesman …

    Biology 19 Jul 2006, 14:28

  • RFID chips could aid surgical litter-bugs

    Medics demand small spongeworthy wand

    RFID tags could be used to make sure surgeons don't leave anything behind in patients they have been operating on, something which happens roughly once in every 10,000 operations. A common thing to be left behind is a sponge, so the usual practice is to count the number of sponges before and after surgery - hoping that the …

    Biology 19 Jul 2006, 14:40

  • Child abuse downloaders could lose UK payment cards

    Ripped up

    UK-based downloaders of child abuse images could lose their credit and debit card facilities under measures agreed in Parliament on Wednesday. The Data Protection (Processing of sensitive personal data) Order 2006 will allow card issuers to hand on data on customers cautioned for, or convicted of, buying indecent images of …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 14:54

  • CoPilot Live 6 for Symbian

    Review Sat Nav for your Series 60 phone

    ALK Technologies' CoPilot Live has been at the forefront of Windows Mobile-based satellite navigation software for some time, but it's a relative newcomer to the Symbian operating system, offering a version of its route-planning application - now at version 6 - for Nokia's Series 60 user-interface only this year... UK carrier …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 14:57

  • UK ponders personal carbon allowances

    Putting the cart before the low-emission horse, say Greens

    The government is ready to consider introducing personal, tradable carbon allowances, the environment secretary will say this evening, as part of its efforts to persuade members of the general public to reduce their energy consumption. The move has been described as "a good idea whose time has not yet come" by environmental …

    Science 19 Jul 2006, 15:14

  • Indian bloggers switched off

    Government blamed

    Indian bloggers have reacted with fury to government orders that ISPs block access to certain sites. Last week the Department of Telecommunications told Indian ISPs to prevent access to 17 websites or blogs which they did not like. Our calls and emails to the Department yesterday were not returned. But it seems some ISPs …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 15:22

  • Symantec: Vista probably 'less stable' than XP

    Beta blockers

    The networking technology underpinning Windows Vista may be less stable on release that that behind Windows XP, according to an analysis by security firm Symantec. Microsoft has re-written its networking stack for Windows Vista in order to allow for "easier maintenance, improved performance, and improved stability". But an …

    Enterprise Security 19 Jul 2006, 16:28

  • Old net geezers play trip-you-up

    Comment Neutrality! Nyah!

    The rolling net "neutrality" debate brought two of the internet's most distinguished elder statesmen together in mortal combat this week. The two gentlemen, Vint Cerf and Dave Farber, said they agreed on most things. But where they didn't, they tried to pull the chair away just as their opponent tried to sit down. Farber is a …

    Music and Media 19 Jul 2006, 16:38

  • Stoic Napster troubled by Grecian formula

    The rise and rise of eMusic

    Last autumn, Napster launched a striking advertising campaign. It drew inspiration from, of all places, the stoic philosophers. The most memorable slogan was "Have Everything, Own Nothing", and we asked the company about it at the time. Did Napster mean what it said? Yes, insisted Alan Cohen, Napster's chief marketing officer …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 18:16

  • Dell Falls for AMD - analyst

    Santa not so kind to Intel

    Forget a four-way flirtation. Dell is set to go the whole hog with AMD, according to a new report from Merrill Lynch. The financial analyst firm has Dell shipping PCs and notebooks with AMD Inside during the fourth quarter. Such a move would build on Dell's decision in May to add AMD's Opteron chip as an option for high-end, …

    Reg Hardware 19 Jul 2006, 18:17

  • Intel tops Q2 profit collapse with pessimistic forecast

    From bad to bad

    Intel today dealt shareholders a shocking blow when it revealed second quarter results. The chip maker suffered a 60 per cent profit slide, while revenue dropped 13 per cent. The financial figures confirmed the gains AMD has made against its rival. For the second quarter, Intel reported revenue of $8bn and a profit of $885m. …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 21:13

  • Apple soars on iPod sales

    You love 'em, Apple loves 'em

    Strong iPod sales helped Apple Computer claim its second highest quarterly sales and earnings figures ever, with a 48 per cent profit jump. Apple shifted 8.1m iPods during the three months to July 1, 2006, a surge of 32 per cent over the same period last year and beating analysts' expectations of 7.5m units. The results led …

    Financial News 19 Jul 2006, 23:13