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25th August 2006 Archive

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  • Pentagon hacker says charges have been manufactured

    Claims US arguments 'falsely constructed'

    The hacker at the centre of an extradition storm after he broke into the US Military and NASA computer systems has said the charges against him in the US have been manufactured to ease his extradition there. "For it to be extraditable under their computer laws in America you have to have caused $5,000 worth of damage and lo and …

    Enterprise Security 25 Aug 2006, 07:02

  • Email archiving moves to the mainstream

    Quocirca's changing channels Keeping everything 'on the record'

    The need to archive data has been around as long as computers have stored information. Although it is sometimes muddled with backup, part of the reason for archiving data is to make backups more efficient - put stuff that is not used in to long-term safe storage from where it can be retrieved in the, often unlikely event, that …

    IT Director 25 Aug 2006, 08:02

  • Phishing frauds target adult webcam site

    iFoes

    Phishing conmen have cast their nets wider in an attempt to dupe users of an adult webcam site. Instead of attempting to trick online banking customers into handing over sensitive personal information, the latest phishing scam focuses on iFriends, an online videochat community which claims to have more than two million …

    ID 25 Aug 2006, 08:26

  • AOL big four media deal tramples long tail

    Comment All the content you want. Repeated

    AOL has become the latest service provider to deliver one in the eye for the long tail theory and sign a deal with big media, trading guaranteed hits for market share. AOL will deliver TV shows and full-length movies from 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers Home …

    Music and Media 25 Aug 2006, 08:40

  • Reg hacks eat babies' souls

    FoTW While inciting terrorism, naturally

    As is the local custom, Thomas C Greene is in hot water again with some readers displeased with his recent analysis of the threat posed by terrorists knocking up liquid explosives in aircraft toilets. This provoked one particularly fine response from "phil pappa" which pretty well accuses Mr Greene of being a card-carrying …

    Letters 25 Aug 2006, 08:43

  • Three UK & Ireland enjoy healthy results

    Revenue and customer base on the up

    Three UK and Ireland has announced revenue of just over £700m for the six-month period ended 30 June 2006, up 16 per cent on the preceding half year. The mobile operator also said it had a total of 3,750,000 customers as of 23 August 2006, a rise of four per cent compared to the prior six month period. Three reported that the …

    Mobile 25 Aug 2006, 09:01

  • Hollywood demands 64-bit PCs for HD DVD, Blu-ray playback?

    If you want to use Windows Media Player, certainly

    Windows Vista will not play HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc media out of the box on 32-bit systems, Microsoft has admitted, but third-party software developers may support next-generation optical disc playback on such machines - if Hollywood lets them. Speaking in Australia this week, Microsoft Senior Program Manager Steve Riley …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 09:10

  • Data proposal prompts legal warning

    UK law change could violate human rights

    The government has been warned it could face legal problems over a proposal to change the rules on data sharing. An expert on international law has said it could violate the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said there is already considerable scope for sharing under …

    Public Sector 25 Aug 2006, 09:12

  • VIA to ship its first DirectX 9 Intel-oriented IGP next month?

    P4M900 finally makes it to market

    VIA will next month ship its P4M900 chipset, it has been claimed. The integrated part was announced in May this year, but VIA didn't specify when the product would be made available to motherboard makers. According to Chinese-language website HKEPC, the chipset will ship in September. The P4M900's key introduction is the …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 09:43

  • CA and Cybermation and workload automation

    Comment Let's see what the two can do

    While I may focus on data and things to do with data, my tastes tend to be more eclectic than that so, from time to time, I dabble with other things that interest me. One of those other things happens to be what used to be Cybermation, before CA acquired it recently. Why did I get interested in Cybermation? Well, I thought it …

    Developer 25 Aug 2006, 09:51

  • Canadians enjoy winter sun on Google Earth

    Two seasons for the price of one in Edmonton

    Scientists reckon global warming has resulted in our weather becoming increasingly unpredictable, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in Canada's Edmonton, where locals venturing outside have to decide whether to slip on a pair of Bermudas and slap on the suntan lotion, or deploy the puffa jacket and snow boots: Well …

    Music and Media 25 Aug 2006, 10:16

  • IE 7 release closes on finishing post

    MS lays the groundwork for final browser release

    Microsoft released a release candidate for the next version of its browser on Thursday. Internet Explorer 7 RC1 for Windows XP features improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility over beta versions of the software. Tweaks to the software include a final sprucing up of the user interface and …

    Applications 25 Aug 2006, 10:19

  • Vertu Constellation to be observed in October?

    Stellar street

    Nokia's luxury-phone subsidiary, Vertu, will launch a new line-up in October, it has been claimed - an allegation backed up with leaked publicity shots of the expensive handsets. The upcoming phone will be called Constellation. Specifications remain vague, but it's expected the Constellation series, which comprises four …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 10:27

  • iSoft lives to restate another day

    Long-awaited results show massive loss

    iSoft today revealed a cataclysmic loss but says it has gained enough breathing space to restructure the business back to profitability. However, the NHS software provider's financial results contains a thicket of provisos and material uncertainties, with the company noting in the accounts that some of these could cast doubt on …

    Financial News 25 Aug 2006, 10:28

  • Manchester 'DIY devil bomber' kept explosive in family fridge

    No evidence of intent to harm, says police source

    A Manchester court case this week revealed chilling evidence of the devastation that can be caused by home-made bombs. Or, possibly, the case merely provided further evidence of the press' and security services' tenuous grasp of the science of bomb-making. According to today's Times, a former student "kept a bottle of his …

    Music and Media 25 Aug 2006, 11:19

  • Permission to DNA test French Elvis?

    Letters Not without our trusty bacteriophages

    Let's get off to a flying start and dive straight into the murky deep end of the gene pool and consider the question of home DNA tests. New laws mean running DNA tests without the consent of the person whose DNA you are trying to match could land you a spell in chokey: Thats interesting, does it apply to the police as well. As …

    Letters 25 Aug 2006, 11:19

  • Pioneer BDR-101A internal Blu-ray disc burner

    Review Europe gets its first retail BD-R/RE drive

    It's now well over five months since we reviewed the pre-production version of Samsung's Blu-ray drive and there's still no sign of retail units. Fortunately, if you really must have a BD drive for your PC right now, Pioneer has the goods and you can have one today - if you can afford it... The Pioneer BDR-101A looks very …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 11:27

  • Plextor preps 'world's smallest' external DVD writer

    Bus-powered

    Plextor this week launched what it claims is the world's smallest DVD writer, a slimline external unit aimed at notebook users. Weighing in at just 250g, the drive is a mere 1.6cm high and barely bigger than a disc. The PX-608CU supports all the many DVD recordable and rewriteable formats, including dual-layer media. Speeds …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 11:56

  • Iomega ships 320GB eSATA hard drive

    High-speed interface

    Iomega has begun shipping its first external hard drives equipped with an eSATA port for direct connection to a PC's Serial ATA bus, the storage specialist announced this week. No eSATA port on your PC or Mac? Don't worry, Iomega's bundling a suitable PCI add-in adaptor. The drive also has a regular USB 2.0 port too. eSATA …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 12:27

  • MS finally patches IE patch

    If at first you don't succeed...

    Microsoft released a hotfix for a previous IE patch on Thursday after it emerged its initial security update caused almost as many problems as it was intended to solve. The software giant's MS06-042 patch, a cumulative update for Internet Explorer, first issued as part of Redmond's regular Patch Tuesday Update cycle, unwittingly …

    Enterprise Security 25 Aug 2006, 12:28

  • Sickly health providers, lawyers, and why the Taliban are barred from eBay

    To subscribe to The Register's weekly newsletter - seven days of IT in a single hit - click here

    Four more laws It might be August, but lawyers don't have a silly season. This week has seen three interesting legal cases. First up, the Securities and Exchange Commission took action against a scam that makes up 15 per cent of all spam emails – pump-and-dump emails – and no that has nothing to do with penis enlargement. Mr …

    Business 25 Aug 2006, 12:31

  • What makes a good swimmer?

    Freestyle

    Also in this week's column: What is the seven year itch? What conditions disqualify you from donating blood? What is diptheria? What makes a good swimmer? Asked by Carl Smiles of North York, Ontario, Canada The best swimmers tend to be tall and thin with long arms, long legs, long feet, and long hands. The size of their …

    Biology 25 Aug 2006, 12:36

  • What is the seven year itch?

    Are relationships doomed at seven years?

    Also in this week's column: What conditions disqualify you from donating blood? What makes a good swimmer? What is diptheria? What is the seven year itch? Asked by Jody Baktoo of Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia A comedy classic film, The Seven Year Itch (1955) starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, and directed by …

    Biology 25 Aug 2006, 12:36

  • What is diptheria?

    Atichoo!

    Also in this week's column: What is the seven year itch? What conditions disqualify you from donating blood? What makes a good swimmer? What is diptheria? Asked by Andrew Wallace of Edinburgh, Scotland Most doctors in developed nations have never seen a diphtheria case. It's a wonderful thing that we've come so far. …

    Biology 25 Aug 2006, 12:37

  • What conditions disqualify you from donating blood?

    Safety while saving lives

    Also in this week's column: What is the seven year itch? What makes a good swimmer? What is diptheria? What conditions disqualify you from donating blood? Asked by Patricia Lowe of Boston, Massachusetts, USA Some people are disqualified from donating blood because they have diseases that are transmissible via blood. …

    Biology 25 Aug 2006, 12:41

  • Apple gearing up to ship Conroe-based Macs?

    Circumstantial evidence

    Is Apple about to upgrade its Mac Mini and iMac consumer computers? One blogger reckons so after a big order for Mac Minis was rejected by his usual supplier. The reseller told him he would be able to order the kit from 5 September onwards. What makes the posting worthy of note is that the same thing happened some seven …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 13:22

  • Toshiba's Zune-branded player made public

    'Hello from Seattle...'

    The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a Toshiba-made digital media player that look exactly like the pics that have surfaced of Microsoft's Zune gadget. The test filing confirms the device comes pre-loaded with an 802.11b/g wireless network adaptor - and clearly show the Zune logo. Look familiar? …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 13:52

  • Visual Studio's lifecycle database tool goes live

    It's Data Dude

    At Tech Ed this summer, Microsoft talked about a new product that brings application lifecycle management to database development. Application lifecycle management has been around for years allowing application developers to check code out from a central repository and enjoy the luxury of knowing that they are the only …

    Developer 25 Aug 2006, 14:19

  • Are Google's glory days behind it?

    Interview Colly Myers on the rise of AQA

    Answers service AQA is two years old this summer, and finds itself in the happy position of not only being profitable, but something of a social phenomenon in its home country. A book based on the service, The End Of The Question Mark is due to be published in October, drawing the questions Britons ask, and the answers AQA …

    Applications 25 Aug 2006, 14:42

  • Paris Hilton jumps the shark

    Brit pensioner 10 times more popular

    Earlier this week, Paris Hilton launched her own video channel on YouTube to promote her new music album. This seemed like a marketing wonk's dream - Paris is of course infamous for her mucky video appearances, and YouTube is full of mucky videos. But at the time of writing poor Paris is being soundly beaten by a British …

    Entertainment 25 Aug 2006, 14:54

  • Fugitive CEO tracked down to Sri Lanka after Skype call

    Ceylon so long

    A hi-tech chief executive turned fugitive has been tracked down in Sri Lanka by a private investigator after 10 days on the lam. Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, 54, faces fraud charges over a stock options scandal involving the voicemail software firm he founded, Comverse. According to Israeli reports, Alexander was tracked down after …

    VoIP 25 Aug 2006, 15:12

  • Asus announces GPS-equipped UMPC

    Biometric security, too

    Asus has hopped on the ultra-mobile PC bandwagon, going beyond the near-standard UMPC spec with an integrated fingerprint scanner and a built-in GPS receiver with a fold-out antenna. The handheld computer even has its own webcam. The R2H's display is a 7in LCD 1,280 x 800 job. Inside beats the 900MHz heart of an ultra-low …

    Reg Hardware 25 Aug 2006, 15:16

  • EU may be powerless to stop US snooping

    But what about the Belgians?

    A trans-Atlantic dispute over US snooping on international financial transactions is turning into a full-blown test of legal authority, with US security interests on the one side and European privacy guardians on the other. The Europeans believe this could also be as much a test for international business as international law, …

    Music and Media 25 Aug 2006, 15:39

  • Is that a VMware CTO and Transmeta CEO at your start-up?

    Spot the executive

    We'd like to welcome all the chip and server fans out there to a fresh edition of "spot the executive." This week we'll be taking a look at the talented workers at two of our favorite start-ups - Nuova Systems and Montalvo Systems. Cisco earlier this month laid a golden egg all over Nuova's brass. It handed the hardware upstart …

    Servers 25 Aug 2006, 19:08