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10th August 2006 Archive

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  • Taxman wants power to fingerprint suspects

    Keep PACE with technology, HMRC urges

    HM Revenue and Customs wants stronger powers to investigate tax crime including authority to take fingerprints to avoid delays in finding a police constable, the right to charge suspects, and simplified procedures for obtaining search warrants. A consultation document setting out how the powers and accompanying safeguards used …

    Public Sector 10 Aug 2006, 00:02

  • Intel trims telco fat and sells it to Eicon

    'We'll chew on that'

    Intel continues to carve off its least impressive units. This time around the chipmaker has made a bundle out of its telecommunications business and mailed it to Canada's Eicon Networks. Neither Eicon nor Intel disclosed financial terms for the deal, which will result in Intel's media and signaling assets ending up at Eicon in …

    Financial News 10 Aug 2006, 00:25

  • No special breaks for Windows Vista customers - Microsoft

    A time to gamble

    Microsoft has insisted is Software Assurance (SA) maintenance program is ontrack despite reports its planning incentives for businesses hurt by delays to Windows Vista and Office 2007 and Gartner advising users to bluff Microsoft when renewing their contracts. Sunny Charlebois, Microsoft senior product manager, said Wednesday …

    Operating Systems 10 Aug 2006, 01:37

  • Ancient satire foretold AOL's privacy disaster

    Igor, to the machines! We have a sample...

    "The Internet is becoming more and more widespread and will increasingly represent a scientific random sample of the population" - Joi Ito One thing seems to have been forgotten following AOL's careless, but quite magnificent data dump of the internet's "hive mind" at play this week. AOL's assiduous documentation of the …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 01:40

  • RM buys into music

    All together now: "We don't need no ed-yoo-kayshun..."

    Education IT supplier RM Plc has bought a musical instrument supplier through a subsidiary. TTS Group Ltd, RM's arm that sells bits and bobs for classrooms, acquired Music Education Supplies for £1m. Most of the business of both TTS and its new acquisition goes to primary and nursery schools. RM has been merging its software …

    Channel Register 10 Aug 2006, 04:02

  • Becta to save cash for schools

    New framework to ease 'risk and burden' of ICT

    The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has launched a new ICT Infrastructure Services Procurement Framework. The framework is expected to save "tens of millions" of pounds for education institutions, according to Becta. Around 16 suppliers will handle the framework, which covers system design, …

    Public Sector 10 Aug 2006, 05:02

  • Gates puts $500m into global health fund

    Filling a shortfall

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pumping $500m into the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - its biggest grant to the fund so far. Gates, who is sacrificing day-to-day duties at Microsoft to lead his trust with wife Melinda, called the fund "one of the most important health initiatives in the world". " …

    Business 10 Aug 2006, 08:39

  • Social sites a breeding ground for malware: report

    Harmful software another threat to children

    Social networking sites are behind a surge in viruses, spyware and other "nasty stuff", according to web security firm ScanSafe's monthly report. According to an analysis of more than 5bn web requests in July, ScanSafe found that, on average, up to one in 600 profile pages on social networking sites hosted some form of malware …

    Security 10 Aug 2006, 08:50

  • Terror crackdown at UK airports

    Update Laptops? iPods? No thank you

    Air travellers were being stripped of electronic devices at UK airports this morning after authorities said they had disrupted a plot to blow up as many as 10 US-bound airliners. Authorities have jacked up the terror alert to critical, meaning they believe an attack is imminent. Home Secretary John Reid went on air early this …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 09:11

  • Hyped technologies for 2006

    Gartner tips Web 2.0 for the trough

    Don't invest in a technology just because it is being hyped, and don't ignore a technology just because it is not living up to early expectations. So says Gartner, which today released its annual hype cycle for emerging technologies. The cycle assesses the maturity, impact and adoption speed of 36 key technologies and trends …

    IT Director 10 Aug 2006, 09:17

  • AMD ships low-cost dual-core Athlon 64

    Socket AM2 3600+ aimed at China

    AMD has begun shipping its anticipated budget-priced Athlon 64 X2 3600+, initially pitching the processor at the Chinese market but with a view to offering it across a wider range of geographies in due course. So say distributor sources cited by DigiTimes. The 3600+ is a Socket AM2 part clocked at 2GHz and fitted with 256KB …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 09:21

  • Nvidia posts final Quad SLI drivers

    Ready for owners of two GeForce 7950 GX2 cards

    Nvidia has finalised its Quad SLI drivers and yesterday shipped the software with a new, non-beta WHQL-certified driver package. The 32.8MB download is listed as version 91.45 and is part of Nvidia's ForceWare Release 90. The drivers run under Windows XP, Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows 2000. The update's tweaks …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 09:36

  • Moving capital markets towards their nirvana

    Commoditisation of transparency and speed

    In June 2006 IBM, through the IBM Institute for Value in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), published a research paper "The trader is dead; long love the trader". The purpose was to set out the perceived trends in the Capital Markets business over the next 10 years. The research paper encompassed the views …

    IT Director 10 Aug 2006, 09:53

  • Intel cans 3GHz, 3.2GHz Pentium D CPUs

    8xx and 9xx versions EOL'd

    Intel has told its customers that from 15 December they will no longer be able to order Pentium D 830, 840, 930 and 940 processors because demand for said chips has now shifted to other products. The 3GHz and 3.2GHz, 90nm and 65nm products will still be shipped to customers out through to February 2008 in the case of tray- …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 09:54

  • VIA unveils 19W fanless mini-itx mobo

    EPIA EK arrives August

    VIA will this month ship its EPIA EK Mini-ITX mobo, pitching the product at enthusiasts, system builders and OEMs keen to construct near-silent x86-compatible machines. The motherboard provides six-channel audio, plus MPEG 2 and 4 decoding hardware, and yet consumes no more than 19W of power, the company claimed. The EPIA EK …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 10:02

  • Two charged in Royal phone tap probe

    Phreaking serious

    Two men have been charged with intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages following an investigation into allegations that the phone calls of staff working for Prince Charles were illegally accessed. News of the World Royal editor Clive Goodman, aged 48, from Putney, and Glenn Mulcaire, aged 35, of Sutton, south London, have …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 10:02

  • Welshman in 12 pint cider binge goat death ride

    Kid-napping ends in tragedy

    A partygoer drank 12 pints of cider, stole a goat from a smallholding and took it on a backseat joyride in a Volvo he TWOCed from a nearby farm. The goat, an 11-month-old called Snowy, died two days after her white-knuckle ordeal. The joyride ended when the sozzled Swansea man piled the car into a stationary tractor and was …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 10:18

  • 3dfx's quad-GPU Voodoo5 board offered to bidders

    Never-released 6000 card eBayed

    A never-shipped 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP graphics card has popped up on eBay to tempt fans of historical GPUs. Speaking of fans, this boy has four of 'em, one each for the four VSA-100 graphics chips the board sports - along with 128MB of frame-buffer memory. The full-length card requires a 3.3V AGP slot should the successful …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 10:24

  • Sprint says yes to US-wide WiMAX network

    Comment Major victory for Motorola and Samsung

    So there really is going to be an honest to goodness broadband wireless WiMAX network in the US, with tons of spectrum and an national reach, thanks to Sprint’s decision, leaked earlier yesterday that it will use the fledgling technology for an all purpose US wide network costing $4.5bn. The decision is a body blow to …

    Telecoms 10 Aug 2006, 10:27

  • Flaw exposed in HSBC's online banking

    Bank says customers are 'adequately protected'

    Researchers at Cardiff University have uncovered a flaw in HSBC's online banking security process that has left over three million customer accounts vulnerable to attack over the last two years. The researchers found that anyone using the attack would have guaranteed access to an account within nine tries, The Guardian reports …

    ID 10 Aug 2006, 10:27

  • Sony Ericsson readies 3G media phone

    Push email, blog apps on board

    Sony Ericsson this week launched a mainstream 3G phone, touting the handset as a media-friendly business-oriented device - it's got push email support on board - that's no bigger than an average GSM/GPRS-only machine. The candybar K618 sports a 1.9in, 176 x 220, 262,144-colour display. There's a two megapixel, 2.5x digital …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 10:53

  • Cellcos face challenge from satellite, cable cos in AWS auction

    Analysis Top 10 bidders commit $4bn in upfront fees

    One of the US's largest ever spectrum auctions kicks off this week, with 168 companies listed as applicants for a share of the AWS (Advanced Wireless Spectrum) band, which could support 3G or other broadband wireless services. Auction 66 is for 1,122 regional licenses in the 1710-1755MHz and 2110-2155MHz bands. The seemingly …

    Telecoms 10 Aug 2006, 11:11

  • FSP Booster X3 GPU-friendly power supply

    Review Some extra juice for your graphics cards

    Upgrading your PC? Want to fit two graphics cards, but you don't have a powerful enough power supply? Well, PSU-maker FSP may have just what you need. The Booster X3 is a supplementary PSU that slots into a 5.25in drive bay and is used exclusively to power your PCI Express graphics cards... The X3 is about the size of a …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 11:19

  • Magistrate rejects ex-Brocade chief's dismissal application

    Heading towards trial

    An attempt by former Brocade executives to have the charges against them for stock option irregularities dismissed was denied by a federal magistrate. They are the first high-profile targets of a massive SEC investigation linking dozens of firms to the practice of backdating options. Ex-chief executive Greg Reyes and ex-human …

    Storage 10 Aug 2006, 11:35

  • Babycare guru fires back at Mumsnet

    Denies she is trying to close the site

    Childcare guru Gina Ford says she is not seeking to close down the Mumsnet website, but has merely acted to defend herself from what she describes as a "long-running campaign by which Mumsnet published very serious and offensive libels about me". She has threatened to issue a writ in the High Court if the site does not deal …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 12:07

  • Board change at Compel

    Old timer clocks out

    Compel announced today that Paul Berry has stood down from the board after 13 years at the company. Berry would be leaving the company on 31 August to join a non-competing firm, said a statement. Neither Berry nor Compel boss Neville Davis were available to comment. ®

    Channel Register 10 Aug 2006, 12:38

  • BlackBerry hacking peril exposed

    Blackjacking circumvents corporate defences

    A hacking program, due to be released next week, will demonstrate how to use a connection from BlackBerry devices to potentially bypass enterprise security defences. Jesse D'Aguanno, director of security research at German firm Praetorian Global, gave a presentation on how to use the BlackBerry environment to circumvent …

    IT Director 10 Aug 2006, 13:16

  • Intel posts Linux-friendly GMA 3000 drivers

    Start of an 'ongoing commitment' to open source plaform, apparently

    Intel has released open source drivers for the GMA X3000 and 3000 graphics engines it's building into its G965, Q965 and Q963 chipsets. According to the company, the drivers provide both 2D and 3D rendering under Linux. The chip giant said the release represents "the beginning of an ongoing commitment" to open source …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 13:53

  • Fibre break cuts off O2 customers in South East

    Fewer bars than Salt Lake City

    O2’s network in London and the South East had a major wobble today following a fibre break near one of its switching sites in London. Customers in London and the South East were treated to "now you see 'em, now you don't" signal bars on their handset screens this morning as the O2 network in the region yo-yo-ed. The operator …

    Mobile 10 Aug 2006, 14:05

  • Hauppage takes aim at Slingbox with TV Anywhere

    Cheaper, but not digital

    Hardware sites appear to be going crazy for Hauppage's TV Anywhere, a system that brings together the company's USB-connected TV tuner and Orb video streaming software, all for just £100. However, we don't think Sling Media, make of the Slingbox, needs lose any sleep over it just yet. Over here, the Slingbox is more expensive …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 14:16

  • Neuros brings SD card support back to MPEG 4 Recorder

    Memory Stick not lost

    First Neuros' MPEG 4 Recorder had an SD card slot. Then it got a Memory Stick slot instead. Now it's got the SD slot back, fortunately without losing the PSP-friendly Memory Stick compatibility. The company is offering the MPEG 4 Recorder 2 Plus, just like its predecessor but now fitted with a multi-format card reader which does …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 14:40

  • Samsung shows 'first' 3in VGA digicam viewfinder LCD

    Based on TV tech

    Samsung today said it has developed the world's first 3in 640 x 480 LCD panel for digital cameras. DSC support means it's capable of connecting using the ITU-R601 standard, a 30Hz system chosen by camera makers even though, in Samsung's words, it's "incompatible with LCDs, which normally run at 60Hz". Makes you wonder how …

    Reg Hardware 10 Aug 2006, 15:07

  • Four 'naked civil servants' fired by RPA

    'There have been incidents involving faeces'

    The inquiry into reports of shenanigans at the Rural Payments Agency has resulted in four staff being booted out of their Newcastle jobs. A further five have received written and verbal warnings. The controversy was sparked by reports of staff vaulting filing cabinets nude, which the investigation said were derived from a prank …

    Public Sector 10 Aug 2006, 15:11

  • Skype malware scam targets Turkey

    The Keyser Söze of spyware

    Spyware authors have crafted a new attack that poses as an invitation to Turkish people to try Skype, the popular IP telephony application. Instead of being able to download the popular VoIP application, punters responding to Turkish-language emails containing the bogus offer will be directed towards a fake site. This bogus …

    Malware 10 Aug 2006, 15:18

  • IBM files away FileNet for $1.6bn

    Information game

    IBM has made its third software acquisition in two weeks, buying FileNet for $1.6bn in cash to beef up its "information on-demand" strategy. Ownership of FileNet, a provider of business process and content management software, will help IBM address growing opportunities in software, services, new partnerships and industry …

    Financial News 10 Aug 2006, 18:16

  • Is the US finally fixing its patent system?

    Valley Justice Or is the little guy just getting hosed?

    You're going to need to read the next sentence twice: The US patent system looks to be improving. Two US Senators introduced a bill on August 3 designed to change some fundamental features of the US patent system and bring the regime into step with the rest of the world. With the introduction of the new bill, Senators Orrin …

    Music and Media 10 Aug 2006, 18:32

  • Yanks not impressed with UK terror emergency

    Comment More red-mercury fantasy, or Katrina-like indifference?

    US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appeared relaxed, even amused, during a Washington press conference where he explained the American response to the UK airport terror emergency. A few security inconveniences will be put in place until the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) figures out how better to deal …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 2006, 19:29

  • Cisco rewards friends with $50m investment

    Nuova spins-in

    Cisco has lined up yet another "spin-in" by shelling out a $50m investment for start-up Nuova Systems. Nuova is comprised of a number of former Cisco executives. Many of them came from Cisco's first ever acquisition Crescendo, while others were involved in Cisco's acquisition of Fibre Channel switch maker Andiamo. The Andiamo …

    Financial News 10 Aug 2006, 22:50