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11th September 2006 Archive

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  • Canal dreaming: solving the energy crisis

    Comment For a future with computers

    The canals of Great Britain. Falling into disuse. I mean, with an energy crisis looming, and a serious shortage of water in the South East, and a transport infrastructure geared to cheap oil, what possible purpose could an antiquated, Olde Worlde network of canals serve? Apart from freeing up enough electricity to keep our …

    Science 11 Sep 2006, 08:18

  • Social networking site fined for gathering children's data

    FTC dishes out $1m penalty

    A social networking website has agreed to pay a $1m fine to settle with authorities over allegations that it collected, used and disclosed personal details of children under 13. Xanga and its founders Marc Ginsberg and John Hiler have made the payment to settle the case with consumer regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 08:45

  • Sybase's billion dollar baby

    Still around and not standing still

    In the late 1990’s Sybase, like Informix, seemed to be on its way out. While other failing database companies (such as Informix) ended up being acquired, Sybase kept control of its own destiny. This meant overhauling its product portfolio, decoupling its mobile database (SQL Anywhere) and going on the acquisition trail. The …

    Developer 11 Sep 2006, 08:57

  • Campaigner pins latest shooting on video games

    Violent gaming the 'stimuli' behind teenager's actions

    Games campaigner Jack Thompson believes that last week's school shooting in North Carolina was caused by the teenager involved playing violent video games. Thompson is the lawyer behind a suit against Take Two games over its upcoming title Bully. Thompson was talking to OUT-LAW Radio and said he believed that teenager Alvaro …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 08:59

  • Tranny planet gives astronomers a show

    Another day, another gas giant

    Astronomers have found an extrasolar planet that is perfectly positioned to allow a decent analysis of its atmosphere. Most extra-solar planets are detected because they cause a wobble in their star's motion. This planet, orbiting a sun-like star around 750 light years from Earth, was detected because its orbital plane takes it …

    Space 11 Sep 2006, 09:03

  • Swearing firefighters provoke 9/11 'profanity' rumpus

    CBS affiliates pull Twin Towers documentary

    A number of CBS affiliates decided not to broadcast award-winning documentary 9/11 on Sunday amid concerns that "airing profanity, primarily by firefighters during the crisis" might attract the unwanted attention of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Reuters reports. Accordingly, CBS decided to offer 9/11 online, to " …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 09:08

  • Amazon premieres movie downloads

    Beats Apple to the chase

    Online retailer Amazon has launched a new download service for movies and TV shows, pre-empting the expected launch of a similar service by Apple this week. The announcement of the service, called Amazon Unbox, is set to fuel further competition between the two firms. Apple is expected to announce the launch of a movie download …

    Financial News 11 Sep 2006, 09:13

  • HP board meets today to decide chairman's fate

    Dunn-snooping

    The HP board of directors is meeting again later today to decide the fate of chairman Patricia Dunn. Dunn is in the firing line after apparently approving investigations into HP board directors' and another investigation into nine reporters, following concerns about information leaking from board meetings. The gumshoes …

    Financial News 11 Sep 2006, 09:28

  • Mobile ad spend to skyrocket

    $11.35bn by 2011, report says

    Worldwide advertising spend will reach $11.35bn by 2011 on mobile channels alone, according to a new report. A strategic report released by Informa Telecoms and Media, entitled "Mobile Advertising Services: Generating revenue through subsidised content", predicts the next 12 months will mark the beginning of a sharp upturn in …

    Mobile 11 Sep 2006, 09:37

  • NBC to milk soccer moms with iVillage

    Well iNever

    American TV network NBC is trumpeting its grand designs for iVillage, the women's lifestyle site it splurged $600m on in March. NBC chief executive Bob Wright told the Financial Times iVillage would be the linchpin of the network's online strategy, as MySpace is for News Corp. One thing NBC shares with the Murdoch operation is …

    Entertainment 11 Sep 2006, 09:42

  • Atlantis heads for space at last

    A 'majestic' launch

    NASA managed to get Shuttle off the ground yesterday, and in the nick of time too. Any later and they'd have had to postpone the launch to avoid messing up the Russians' schedule for visiting the International Space Station. And while debris did fall from the craft during the launch, engineers who reviewed the launch footage …

    Space 11 Sep 2006, 09:46

  • Police cuff two in hoodie website probe

    Suffolk's 'Chantry Boys' brought to book

    Police have arrested two men as part of an investigation into a "hoodie" website on which Ipswich's "Chantry Boys" posted videos of themselves terrorising their home patch, Suffolk's Evening Star reports. According to the paper, "a 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and a 20-year-old man has been arrested …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 09:48

  • OGCbs extends consultancy options

    Door opened to more competition

    OGCbuying.solutions is planning a new framework agreement for consultancies. The procurement agency for the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) posted a notice that it has opened a new procurement for consultancy solutions. This follows the creation of a framework for IT consultancy and service providers under the Catalist …

    Public Sector 11 Sep 2006, 09:57

  • Apple to launch movie downloads site?

    iMovies could be coming to a (very small) screen near you

    Apple will debut a new video download service tomorrow, if the rumours currently spooling around the industry proves correct. An invitation to the latest Apple conference was sent out to a select bunch in the media with the tagline “It’s Showtime”. Speculation is rife that Apple could also launch a new iPod with a wider screen …

    Entertainment 11 Sep 2006, 10:11

  • IBM beefs up storage portfolio

    Ups stakes in the storage race

    IBM recently released details of enhancements covering a huge swath of its storage platforms, including enhanced disk solutions for organisations ranging from SMBs to large enterprises, as well as a data retention system, and a new warranty offering for the IBM System Storage DS6000 series. Two new top-of-line models, the IBM …

    Storage 11 Sep 2006, 10:12

  • BenQ unwraps 22in widescreen display

    Rapid-response for graphics heavy apps

    BenQ is adding a 22 inch LCD monitor to its range this month. The FP222W monitor features a five-millisecond fast-response time, a high 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+) resolution, and the company's digital enhancement technology. The 22 inch widescreen also allows people to simultaneously view two applications, which each have a 4:3 …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 10:47

  • Napster UK to give away free MP3 players

    For Napster to Go users only

    Napster UK is giving away free MP3 players to all new subscribers of its portable music service. Anyone taking out a three-month Napster to Go subscription from 14 September will receive a 512MB Sandisk Sansa m230 that stores up to 240 tracks at a time. Napster's portable music service allows people to fill an MP3 player …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 11:18

  • Vodafone jumps into broadband game

    Mystery package

    Vodafone has thrown its hat into the fixed-line broadband market courtesy of a deal with BT Wholesale. The company expects to have the service up and running by the end of the year, in addition to its mobile offering. However, customers will have to wait to see what kind of services will be available. For now, the company is …

    Telecoms 11 Sep 2006, 11:35

  • Sony unveils 'intuitive' digital camera

    Touch-tastic

    Sony's latest addition to the Cyber-shot family is now shipping with a touch screen display. The DSC-T50 screen has a whole three inches of scratch-resistant finger pad, which has "intuitive" menu options that allow for fewer physical buttons on the camera body. As the top of the range in the T-series, it has a 7 Megapixel …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 12:29

  • Cops cuff craigslist hookers

    Hey girlfriend

    A vice investigation prompted by classified ads on craigslist has led to 12 women being charged with prostitution offences in Bucks County, Pennysylvania. The women's posts advertised "girlfriend experiences" and asked for payment in "ro$e$" or "125 donations." Undercover officers arranged to meet the women in motels along the …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 12:49

  • Telecom Italia makes surprise shift to web content

    Teams up with News Corp, Sky Italia

    Telecom Italia plans to distribute music, movies, and television over its broadband internet service in a radical departure from its core business. Negotiations have been taking place between Telecom Italia chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera and his News Corp counterpart Rupert Murdoch on a content deal with Sky Italia. An …

    Mobile 11 Sep 2006, 13:02

  • London SMEs: yet more free MCP training

    Site offer 50 further places up for grabs

    London SMEs with less than 250 employees have a further chance to get their staff some free training action which includes any one Microsoft Certified Professional course and one exam towards the MCDST, MCSA 2003, MCSE 2003 and MCDBA.NET. Yup, it's the return of the El Reg/Exchange Group freebie, which proved so popular last …

    Small Biz 11 Sep 2006, 13:20

  • Greenpeace issues toxic sex toy warning

    'Crystal Jelly Double Dong' off the menu

    Greenpeace Netherlands has issued a statement warning sex toy lovers not to shove the "Spectra Gel Anal Plug" or the "Crystal Jelly Double Dong" where the sun don't shine, according to an eye-watering report on Expatica. The reason behind the shock advisory is not the possible risk of ending up in hospital with a dildo stuck …

    Biology 11 Sep 2006, 13:33

  • Samsung touts 'first of its kind' memory device

    And pushes PRAM into the limelight

    Samsung has developed a 40-nanometer memory device, which it today claimed is the first of its kind. The 32Gb NAND flash memory can be used in memory cards with densities of up to 64GB. One 64GB card can store over 64 hours of DVD resolution movies (about 40 movies) or 16,000 MP3 files (1,340 hours). The flash device uses …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 14:08

  • C2000 courts SMEs

    Smaller resellers get own account team

    Computer 2000, the UK arm of Tech Data, has set up a team to focus on helping smaller resellers grow enough to reach Managed Accounts status. The team will work with about 50 dealers at a time, and aims to aid them to upgrade their status in about six months. C2000 sales director John Doughty said it was a common barrier for …

    Channel Register 11 Sep 2006, 14:45

  • Sub £200 HD-DVD drive for Xbox 360?

    With two free movies

    Microsoft could ship an HD-DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360 at £199 in time for Christmas, reports suggest. According to games news website GamesIndustry.biz, the company is planning to "price the standalone HD-DVD drive at £199 and to package it with two HD-DVD movies". The report added Microsoft is set to bundle the …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 14:45

  • Goldilocks time for retail broadband

    Analysis Too big, too small, just right?

    There are two main problems facing the retail broadband market: it isn't great to be small, unless you are really small, and it isn't easy to be big, unless you are really big. For example: Pipex spent £24m expanding its customer base last week. Its acquisition of Bulldog's customers and the Toucan service make it the sixth …

    Telecoms 11 Sep 2006, 14:56

  • BBC staff in Ozzie bin Laden video spoof outrage

    Heads likely to roll - boom boom!

    BBC senior bosses are today reportedly "grilling" members of the BBC London news team who produced a "tasteless" spoof video version of (Is This The Way To) Amarillo? to mark a colleague's departure for Al-Jazeera International. The skit features, according to The Daily Mail, "journalists, including transport correspondent …

    Entertainment 11 Sep 2006, 15:00

  • Software pirate gets seven years

    iBackups sunk

    The owner of one of the largest software piracy websites in the US has been handed a record sentence of seven years in prison. Nathan Peterson, who ran the illegal website iBackups, copied and sold upwards of $20m worth of computer software. He used Google ad words extensively to help generate visits to his website. High- …

    Channel Register 11 Sep 2006, 15:16

  • TWIN DVD arrives

    HD-DVD and DVD on a single disc

    Toshiba and Memory Tech have developed a DVD disk with a third level of storage, which means it can record DVD and HD-DVD formats as well as a large amount of other information. This means filmmakers can put two editions of the same film on the same disk - standard definition and high-definition - without worrying about …

    Reg Hardware 11 Sep 2006, 15:37

  • Guns N Rollers airport terror t-shirt alert

    Welcome to the bungle...or appetite for disruption

    Keen security personnel at Birmingham International Airport ordered a man to turn his t-shirt inside out because it bore a drawing of two crossed guns. Staffordshire design engineer Dave Osborne was wearing a Guns N Rollers t-shirt. Guns N Rollers are a team in "an all-female roller derby league located in Portland Oregon", …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 16:28

  • German police seize TOR servers

    Anonymising service flushed out

    Prosecutors in Germany have seized 10 servers which hosted the anonymising service TOR. The action has raised fears of a wider clampdown against the service, which provides a way for people to browse the internet anonymously. The seized machines are assumed to be TOR exit nodes. But according to at least one blogger, the …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 16:43

  • Headmaster justifies fingerprinting pupils

    'We don't have to ask parents'

    The headmaster of Porth County Comprehensive School in South Wales has defended fingerprinting all 1,400 of his pupils days after their parents were told about the scheme last Wednesday. Children had their fingers scanned for a system that will replace the old fashioned school register with biometric scanners in every class …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 16:54

  • Probe into Dell accounting widens

    Dude, you're not getting a filing

    Stumbling computer maker Dell has been forced to delay a second quarter financial report and to put its stock repurchase program on hold as it deals with federal and state accounting probes. Dell last month revealed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had started looking into its past financial statements. The …

    Financial News 11 Sep 2006, 18:29

  • Net prankster lays bare 'Casual Encounters'

    NSFW Shame, humiliation, filth and fury

    A Seattle programmer who posed as a women looking for casual sex and published the email addresses, photographs and telephone numbers of the men who responded has earned himself instant notoriety. Jason Fortuny described the exercise as "The Craigslist Experiment", after posting to the thriving part of the commercial bulletin …

    Music and Media 11 Sep 2006, 21:07