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9th August 2006 Archive

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  • Lords rule on 'grossly offensive' phone calls

    Man's messages to local MP 'insulting and perjorative'

    A man who ranted and shouted in telephone calls to his MP should have been convicted for using racist terms that were "grossly offensive". The offence is a necessary limitation on everyone's right to freedom of expression, the House of Lords has ruled. Mr Collins, 61, made a number of calls over a two year period to his local …

    Music and Media 9 Aug 2006, 08:14

  • Sybase touts distributed data integration

    Suite success

    Sybase is combining integration, search and workflow under a strategy geared towards improving the way customers retrieve information from distributed sources. The company has announced Sybase Data Integration Suite, combining features from acquired and existing Sybase products onto a single metadata model and repository. …

    Applications 9 Aug 2006, 08:29

  • Chinese man trademarks Zidane headbutt

    Mark up for grabs for $125,000

    A Chinese entrepreneur has registered an image of French captain Zinedine Zidane headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi in last month's World Cup final as a trademark for clothing, shoes, hats and beer products, according to reports. Zhao Xiaokai hopes to sell the mark for US$125,000, reports Chinese news site Xinhua …

    Music and Media 9 Aug 2006, 08:32

  • Cheshire's particle accelerator gets £2m cash injection

    Putting Britian on the science map, DTI says

    Scientists and engineers developing a new prototype particle accelerator at Daresbury Lab in Cheshire, will get an extra £2m from the government, the DTI announced yesterday, to add to the £14.8m already ploughed into the scheme. The goal is to develop a world-class scientific research facility that will enable scientists to " …

    Physics 9 Aug 2006, 08:39

  • Parallels updates Mac OS X virtualisation tool

    Pleades Vista, 'fast' 3D support

    Windows-on-Mac software specialist Parallels has updated its Parallels Desktop virtual machine software, offering the new version in a pre-release test-only form. The upgrade packs in more than a dozen new features and fixes, the company said. Those features most likely to appeal to Mac users keen to run Windows XP, include …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 09:09

  • Sage still taking buyer's medicine

    Goes to Florida for £297m surgical graft

    It's been over a month since we last wrote about a Sage acquisition and, frankly, we were getting antsy. Imagine our relief, then, when the news arrived that the business management software firm is to swallow Florida-based Emdeon Practice Services (EPS) for £297m ($565.9m). EPS's revenues were £160.3m ($305.4m) in 2005, …

    Channel Register 9 Aug 2006, 09:18

  • Social enterprise deal for HP and Curam

    Team up to take SEM to the public sector

    Curam Software and HP announced a global agreement on Tuesday to provide Social Enterprise Management (SEM) packages for public sector agencies worldwide. These SEM solutions will comprise of hardware, software, and web services designed to assist social enterprises - such as non-profit organisations, civil society groups, and …

    Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 09:22

  • IBM moves further into applications

    Comment Swallows Webify

    Last week IBM announced the acquisition of Webify Solutions, a 120-person privately-held company based in Austin and Mumbai, India. Webify will become part of IBM's Software Group as part of the WebSphere brand, but there is also a strong IBM Global Services element, which WebSphere GM Robert LeBlanc characterised as "unique" in …

    Applications 9 Aug 2006, 09:32

  • Dell exec confirms AMD notebooks for October

    AMD agrees

    Dell has confirmed it intends to launch AMD-based notebooks, and that it may do so as early as this coming October. The laptops will be based on Sempron and Turion 64 X2 processors, the company said, and fitted with 15.4in displays. Such a move was suggested last week by Taiwanese notebook industry moles, but the confirmation …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 09:38

  • Orange mobile network goes AWOL

    Updated Pops out for a KitKat

    Orange mobile phone subscribers were left stranded last night, as the network took an unscheduled nose dive into obscurity. To compound the problems, the outage seemed to affect Orange's customer services numbers as well. Customers trying to contact the operator were unable to get through, even when calling from a landline. …

    Mobile 9 Aug 2006, 09:45

  • T-Mobile Germany unveils 'super 3G' Vario II

    Fast-download smartphone

    T-Mobile has announced its intention to ship an own-brand version of HTC's TyTN, also known as the Orange SPV M3100. The German carrier's incarnation of the HSDPA-enabled 3G device will be called the MDA Vario II. The Vario II will provides 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and GSM/GPRS/EGDE connectivity in addition to 3G networking, T-Mobile …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 10:13

  • Babycare guru demands closure of 'defamatory' site

    Mum's the word

    Babycare expert Gina Ford is threatening to sue UK parenting site Mumsnet and its ISP after allegedly defamatory comments were posted about her on the site. The postings have been removed, but Ford's lawyers are demanding that Mumsnet's ISP take the whole site offline. Ford is no stranger to controversy - it is fair to say she …

    Music and Media 9 Aug 2006, 10:23

  • Accessing DB2 UDB with PHP (Part 2)

    Tutorial Using PHP with IBM's DB2 universal database

    As mentioned in the previous tutorial on PHP/DB2, PHP is widely used in web applications and most web applications have a database component. The PHP extension for DB2 database provides access to one particular widely-used database from a PHP script. In this part of the tutorial, we shall install the DB2 extension, install …

    Developer 9 Aug 2006, 10:41

  • Sainsbury's cans DVD rentals

    Not pukka

    Sainsbury's is dumping its online DVD rental service. The website will be hauled down tomorrow, with punters redirected to Sainsbury's erstwhile partner in the venture, Lovefilm. The supermarket said although the offer of unlimited rentals, priced from £7.97 per month for one DVD at a time, had been a hit, a review had said it …

    Financial News 9 Aug 2006, 10:43

  • UK retailer touts ultra-slim monolith MP3 player

    2001 inspired?

    UK digital music player retailer Advanced MP3 Players has brought to Britain what could be the first device to mount a serious challenge to Apple's iPod Nano for size and slimness. The Mcody M20 weighs a mere 31g and is just 7.5mm thick - and looks like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Alas, that's a whole half a …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 10:51

  • Barclays to launch two-factor authentication

    Card readers secure online banking

    All online banking customers of Barclays will be issued with handheld card readers next year that will read their bank cards and generate one-time passwords to better secure their transactions. The announcement came in an interview between director of online banking Barnaby Davis and Computing magazine last week. Barclays is …

    Security 9 Aug 2006, 10:57

  • Elonex creditors back administration

    Unsecured creditors will get less than 20 per cent

    Administrators for the defunct PC maker formerly known as Elonex Plc* held a meeting for creditors yesterday in London. The British PC sales arm of Elonex went down owing over £17m in June. At its creditors' meeting, trade creditors holding about £1.4m of Elonex debt voted to accept administrator Deloitte & Touche's proposals …

    Channel Register 9 Aug 2006, 11:04

  • Three quizzed in Royal phone tap probe

    Noise on the wire

    Police have arrested three men - including a reporter from the News of the World - as part of an investigation into allegations that the phone calls of staff working for Prince Charles were intercepted. The trio, which include Royal correspondent Clive Goodman, were arrested at addresses in south London on Tuesday morning. The …

    Music and Media 9 Aug 2006, 11:42

  • Logitech revamps wireless music kit with full remote control

    Four-room ready too

    Mouse-maker Logitech has souped up its Wireless Music System PC-to-stereo link-up set, adding a slick screen-equipped remote control to the rig and fitting the hi-fi hook-up end with a docking cradle for the remote. Dubbed the Wireless DJ Music System, the set also includes a USB-connected wireless adaptor that transmits …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 11:44

  • Brits adopt 'safe surfing' habits

    Confidence grows but viruses remain a problem

    Nine in 10 Britons take security precautions when surfing online, according to a new survey which goes against previous research that suggested Britain was a nation of cyber-security slackers. The upbeat poll of 2,000 Brits, commissioned by the British Computer Society (BCS), also found that 92 per cent of online shoppers take …

    Security 9 Aug 2006, 12:16

  • US Senator claims campaign site 'hacked'

    Or something

    A spokesman for US Senator Joseph Lieberman (Democrat, Connecticut) added a twist to the state's Democratic primary election by claiming that their website was hacked, presumably by plumbers associated with challenger Ned Lamont. "Voters cannot go to our website. They cannot access information," Lieberman campaign manager Sean …

    Enterprise Security 9 Aug 2006, 12:30

  • Sprint makes $3bn WiMax play

    Drafts in Intel, Motorola and Samsung as cheerleaders

    Sprint Nextel has cosied up with Intel, Samsung and Motorola as it prepares to rollout what it says will be first nationwide WiMax 4G network. The US telco will put the wireless broadband network together across its 2.5GHz spectrum holdings, which it says will reach around 85 per cent of households in the top 100 US market. It …

    Data Networking 9 Aug 2006, 13:16

  • Boffins sketch solution to bulging moon problem

    Use them new-fangled Computerers? Lawks, no, sir...

    Planetary scientists trying to work out why our moon has a bulge on one side think they have come up with an explanation based on classical mechanics, rather than a complex computer model. The researchers, based at MIT, have invested much pencil lead in concluding that the very young moon must have orbited Earth in a very …

    Space 9 Aug 2006, 13:29

  • MS releases dirty dozen

    Nine critical fixes star in August Patch Tuesday update

    Sysadmins can look forward to booking some overtime this month after Microsoft release 12 patches as part of its regular Patch Tuesday update cycle. Redmond describes nine of 12 patches as critical. Three of these patches cover browser-related vulnerabilities, three involve Windows security bugs, while another is designed to …

    Security 9 Aug 2006, 13:54

  • Vodafone customers to pay extra for Extra

    Mobeco pulls MMS from cut price pack

    Vodafone is pulling picture and video messaging from its "extras" packs from 1 September, meaning customers will be paying full price for their MMS messages. Vodafone Extra Packs allow customers to pay a chunk of money up front (amounts between £3 and £40) then use that money for discounted messages, internet access, and video …

    Mobile 9 Aug 2006, 14:08

  • Sony Ericsson M600i smart phone

    Review Sony Ericsson challenges RIM's BlackBerry

    UIQ never really took off as an alternative to Nokia's Series 60 Symbian user interface and only Sony Ericsson and Motorola UIQ devices have ever made it to the European market. But Sony Ericsson has finally brought its first UIQ 3 device to the market, the M600i. This is the first of three new UIQ 3 smart phones to arrive this …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 14:18

  • Cisco turns up profits despite set top box buy

    Sales rise set to cheer investors

    Cisco brought a little sunshine to an often dreary summer earnings season with its fourth quarter results. Revenues reached $7.98bn, up from $6.58bn for the same period a year ago. Analysts were expecting a lower haul of $7.92bn. The Q3 acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta, which gave it a tasty slice of the burgeoning set-top box …

    Financial News 9 Aug 2006, 14:25

  • Sony shuffles Sports Walkman brand into iPod era

    Tube-like DAP gets jogger-friendly features

    Sony this week pitched its new, tubular digital music players at joggers, offering one under the old Sports Walkman brand and equipping it with the kind of features iPod owners who've splashed out on the Nike+iPod gizmo get. The S2 Sports Walkman ship in 1GB and 2GB versions. Each is fitted with Sony's G-Sensor movement- …

    Reg Hardware 9 Aug 2006, 14:47

  • ICSTIS speaks out on latest Big Brother voting furore

    'Please leave us alone'

    ICSTIS, the premium phone line regulator, has been deluged by complaints from disgruntled Big Brother chumps fans following the reentry into the human zoo of four already evicted housemates. The gripers say they were misled by the show, having thought they had paid for the pleasure of seeing the gormless wannabes turfed out …

    Telecoms 9 Aug 2006, 15:56

  • Windows Live suffering from 'paralysis,' says Microsoft Ex

    Technorati RSS feeder walks

    Microsoft's "prestigious" Windows Live project has suffered a minor set back with the exit of ex-Technorati geek Niall Kennedy after just four months. Kennedy is leaving Microsoft to run his own company and has fingered a combination of bureaucratic inertia, attention defecit disorder and budget cuts at Microsoft as extra …

    Operating Systems 9 Aug 2006, 18:14

  • US football through the Net Neutrality looking glass

    FCC, big cable, and net newts again

    Speedy action by the FCC proves that new legislation is needed - because the FCC can't act speedily, campaigners claimed this week. Huh? It's net neutrality, as channelled through the spirit of Lewis Carroll. On July 13, US telco regulator the Federal Communications Commission approved the transfer of Adelphia, a bankrupt …

    Telecoms 9 Aug 2006, 18:33

  • Dead geeks depend on the kindness of strangers

    Into the Valley Will a wooden Jobs be so lucky?

    Critics will argue that being made out of wood and having a GPS unit strapped to your bum counts as a blow to one's dignity. Register readers, however, see the woody GPS strap-on as a point of pride. Many of you will recall that six, wooden Silicon Valley icons - Lee de Forest, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, William Shockley, …

    Bootnotes 9 Aug 2006, 19:22

  • Idioms wilt as heatwave humour drought worsens

    Letters The Vest is the Best

    It must be the heat. As the record-breaking summer of 2006 continues, sense of humour downtime is causing havoc all over the internet. Most dramatically, it seems, in drought stricken parts of the Mac community - where nothing as much as a lame pun has been sighted in weeks. And so our attempt at merry making - based on a …

    Letters 9 Aug 2006, 19:31

  • Borland on black track, says CEO

    Balls in the air

    Borland Software's chief executive has re-committed his company to fourth-quarter profitability, despite moving deeper into debt on increased sales. Borland saw its net losses increase 6.6 per cent to hit $19m, or $0.25 per share, while net revenue increased 15 per cent to $76.9m during its second quarter ended June 30. …

    Financial News 9 Aug 2006, 22:58