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27th September 2006 Archive

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  • Red Hat grapples with Wall St over JBoss

    Not a good Q2

    Red Hat was grilled by Wall Street today on plans its for JBoss after profits took a nose-dive in Q2. Chief executive Matthew Szulik fielded question after question on finances, business and technical tactics for the recently acquired company by an analyst crowd clearly trying to figure out its impact on Red Hat. Analysts were …

    Financial News 27 Sep 2006, 02:06

  • Eat less fish, urges WWF

    European extinction warning

    The WWF has warned European consumers that continuing to tuck into fish captured by "illegal, destructive or wasteful" methods will drive stocks to the brink of extinction. A WWF report - entitled Fish Dish – exposing the unacceptable face of seafood - examines six popular European dishes, including cod and chips and plaice …

    Science 27 Sep 2006, 08:34

  • AA man restarts car with cyberdog

    Canine va-va-voom

    Long-term readers will recall the case of little Oscar Webster - the cyber-infant who swallowed the coded radio transponder of his mum's Ford Focus, thereby immobilising the vehicle. Dogs, too, have a taste for chips, the BBC reports. Juliette Piesley, 39, had "changed the battery in her electronic key fob but was then unable …

    Science 27 Sep 2006, 08:42

  • Sun shines brightly for broadband

    ComReg report shows strong summer uptake

    ComReg has released its quarterly report which shows strong broadband take-up over the summer months contributed to total telecoms revenues of €1.06bn for the period. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) official figures show 372,200 Irish broadband subscribers by the end of June, and ComReg officials said the …

    Broadband 27 Sep 2006, 08:49

  • CfH to improve NPfIT training

    Mobile units to address skills shortage

    Connecting for Health (CfH) is to tackle training shortages for NHS staff to support the roll out of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). PC Coaching is to be the sole provider of mobile training units and trainers to aid the programme. It has signed a two year framework agreement, which will be managed by CfH's Education …

    Policy 27 Sep 2006, 09:04

  • Report finds worldwide explosion of FOI laws

    But 'culture of secrecy' still prevails

    Almost 70 countries have now adopted freedom of information (FOI) laws, according to civil liberties group Privacy International. Over half of those have been adopted in the last 10 years, according to a survey just published. "The previous two years have been an exciting time for those promoting and using the right of access …

    Media 27 Sep 2006, 09:21

  • 'Comedy terrorist' storms Hitler art sale

    'Offensive' auction protest

    Aaron Barschak, the "comedy terrorist" who famously gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party, was yesterday ejected from a sale of Hitler artworks after "disrupting" the bidding, the BBC reports. Barschack and "a man dressed as Hitler" stormed the auction of 21 paintings and two pencil drawings attributed to the late …

    Bootnotes 27 Sep 2006, 09:24

  • MS releases emergency IE fix

    Zombie Armageddon averted

    Microsoft has broken its normal release schedule to publish a security patch to address a critical vulnerability in Internet Explorer that has become the target of widespread hacking attacks. A security bug in the Vector Markup Language (VML) component of IE has been used to infect users visiting specific pornographic, or other …

    Security 27 Sep 2006, 09:56

  • Apple sues more pods

    That's our word

    Apple is taking action against more companies it believes are using the word "pod" unfairly. The company behind two services - Podcastready and Mypodder - has received cease and desist letters ordering it to stop using the phrases which, lawyers claim, consumers could confuse with Apple products. Infostructure Solutions and …

    Media 27 Sep 2006, 10:09

  • French surgeons prep for zero-grav surgery

    Benign tumour faces weightless extraction

    French surgeons will today board a modified Airbus A300, dubbed "Zero-G", to carry out the world's first weightless surgery on a human, the BBC reports. During a three hour flight above south west France, the sawbones will use 20 second periods of weightlessness - provided by the aircraft flying parabolic curves - to remove a …

    Science 27 Sep 2006, 10:17

  • Eye-Theatre video glasses for iPod

    Review Goggle Earth

    I've wanted to try a truly personal video system - forgot the clunky VR headsets of yesteryear - since I first saw one faked up on Blake's 7 in the late 1970s. Watching a movie on an iPod means holding the player up to your face for hours at a time. It would be so much better to clip on a pair of video specs, sit back and relax …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 11:02

  • ASA calls time on alcopop ads

    Authority shows its WKD side

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a series of TV ads for "alcopops" WKD and Smirnoff Ice, citing "new rules and Guidance Notes" which came into force on 1 January 2005 "as a result of widespread concern about drinking behaviour among young people, including excessive or binge drinking and anti-social behaviour …

    Bootnotes 27 Sep 2006, 11:56

  • Software as a service - can value outweigh price?

    Quocirca's changing channels Saasing it all out

    Software as a service (SaaS) has been one of the most widely talked about topics in IT circles over the last few years for a number of reasons. Rightly, one of these reasons has been the benefits SaaS can deliver to businesses; another has been the hard work of some of the leading proponents of this delivery model in getting the …

    Applications 27 Sep 2006, 12:06

  • Firefox 2.0 RC1 unveiled

    Under starter's orders

    Mozilla released an "almost ready" version of its upcoming Firefox 2.0 browser on Tuesday. Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 is described as a preview of the final version of the much anticipated browser. The release is targeted at web application developers, testers, and ordinary users interested in getting a sneak peek at the …

    Applications 27 Sep 2006, 12:13

  • T-Mobile launches Motorola KRZR in the UK

    And the Samsung E870 in champagne

    T-Mobile is the first network in the UK to announce the new Motorloa KRZR - or the K1 as it's also known. Just 4.2cm wide, this slimmed down version of the RAZR offers superior features such as a two megapixel camera and Bluetooth wireless stereo. At a mere 10.3 x 42 x 1.6cm, the KRZR is a dinky phone, but it's still quite …

    Phones 27 Sep 2006, 12:26

  • Convergence, or just a tangled mess of ideas?

    Mobile Workshop What is it that matters to you?

    The word "convergence" is responsible for a lot of confusion in the industry. In some circles it means the coming together of all voice, video and data on an IP network with delivery based on the circumstances or "presence" of the user. In others, it's about getting mobile and fixed line communications working together more …

    Mobile 27 Sep 2006, 12:45

  • Nokia shows hand with music download service

    Bowie to godfather new offspring

    When content services find themselves unable, or unwilling, to sign deals with the big labels then they traditionally label themselves "indie" and try to turn failure in to feature by claiming to highlight new talent and promote new producers. Such a façade generally lasts until some big labels are signed up, or the business …

    Mobile 27 Sep 2006, 12:58

  • MS accuses DRM hacker of source code theft

    Hunt for copy-protection nemesis goes legal

    Microsoft has launched a lawsuit against the unknown hacker who created a program to strip DRM code from Windows Media Player files. The FairUse4WM system removed copyright protection from music files downloaded through subscription services such as Napster and Yahoo! Music. The software has the ability to strip DRM from files …

    Security 27 Sep 2006, 13:46

  • LogicCMG gets euro tax deal

    QA and QC at the EC TCUDG

    LogicaCMG was crowing today that it had a won a €14m, five year contract to support quality assurance and control of EC’s tax and customs directorate. To be honest, we’re not sure tying yourself into the Taxation and Customs Union Directorate General is anything to celebrate. Logica said large parts of the Directorate’s IT …

    The Channel 27 Sep 2006, 14:18

  • Redmond execs bang Vista drum

    You'll love it

    The endless delays to Vista may end up improving the product and its simultaneous launch with the new version of Microsoft's Office Suite will make life easier for corporate IT departments, Microsoft execs insisted this week. Chris Capossela, VP of Microsoft's information worker product management group, and Mike Sievert, VP …

    Applications 27 Sep 2006, 14:40

  • Tiger Tanaka dies at 84

    'Welcome to Japan, Mr Bond'

    Actor Tetsuro Tamba, who played Japanese Secret Service supremo Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice, has died aged 84, the Hollywood Reporter reports. The paper states the "actor's representatives said he died as a result of heart failure after a bout of pneumonia". According to the BBC, Tamba appeared in over 300 films. He …

    Bootnotes 27 Sep 2006, 14:41

  • Thong-wearing burglar nailed by video evidence

    You've been framed

    A Kentucky ne'er-do-well who decided it was a very bright idea to video himself carrying out a burglary while dressed in only a thong, is safely behind bars after leaving vital evidence at the scene of the crime, Associated Press reports. Rodney McMillen, 36, of Covington, broke into a woman's flat in early hours of 20 …

    Media 27 Sep 2006, 14:42

  • Europe's central banks caught in US spy scandal

    Called to account over post-9/11 snooping

    The European Central Bank (ECB) knew the US was conducting a secret probe of the world's private financial records without official oversight but failed to tell privacy authorities. The central banks of the G10 countries might also be implicated in the scandal because they were told about the US snooping of transactions …

    Media 27 Sep 2006, 15:06

  • Microsoft backup beta is go

    NYC Sanitation Dept's backup choice

    Microsoft has unveiled a public beta of version 2 of its System Centre Data Protection Manager - continuous backup software for storage kit. Microsoft only caught on to continuous backup last year. With the new version, it's claiming seamless tape-to-disk recovery on Windows-based storage gear of all sizes, extending coverage …

    Applications 27 Sep 2006, 15:15

  • Virtual pet craze moves to mobile

    It's a dog's life

    Not content with friends and work colleagues interrupting you with calls and texts? Or maybe you work alone and have no friends? In either case, what you need is a virtual pet to look after, and what better place to find one than on your mobile. Bandi, the company responsible for Tamagotchi, has created My Little Dogs for …

    Mobile 27 Sep 2006, 15:21

  • Gaming firms feel the pinch

    Losing execs and share price

    Authorities in Louisiana are warning executives working for online gaming companies to stay away from the state or risk arrest. Police told the FT they had four arrest warrants ready for workers at Sportingbet - the company's chairman was arrested earlier this month. Sportingbet finance director Andy McIver told Reuters: "I'm …

    Financial News 27 Sep 2006, 15:43

  • LaCie Silverscreen TV-ready HDD reborn as iZak

    Media playback straight off the drive

    Storage specialist LaCie hasn't done much with its Silverscreen media-playback hard drive of late, so it's fallen to another supplier to attempt to attract the digital media generation in an external hard drive that can play as well as store music and movies. Enter iZak, a 40GB hard drive - there are 80GB, 100GB and 102GB …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 16:02

  • Intel preps Pentium E1040-friendly chipset

    IDF 945GC to debut next year

    Intel's upcoming 'Conroe'-based Pentium processor, the E1040, will be supported with its own 945-series chipset, reports coming out of Taiwan claim. The part will also be pitched to customer who buy the Core 2 Duo E4000 line. Like the Pentium E1040, the 945GC chipset is due to ship in Q1 2007. It will support a maximum …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 16:21

  • Sapphire adds DVI output to integrated-graphics PCs

    Targets Intel chipsets, would-be Viiv boxes

    Sapphire today rolled out a trio of graphics cards based on ATI's latest chips, the Radeon X1900 XT 256, X1650 Pro and X1300 XT, but more interesting is the company's ADD2 card - a x4 PCI Express card that connects a desktop PC's integrated graphics engine to a DVI port. Sapphire said the part requires the presence of an …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 16:41

  • Sharp shows off three-picture display panel

    No more arguments over who watches what

    Japan's Sharp today demonstrated an LCD panel capable of displaying three different full-screen images simultaneously. Which of the three you see depends on which way you face the display. Dubbed the "triple-view liquid crystal" display, the system uses a parallax barrier to angle the light from the three images to the …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 16:59

  • Intel orders software makers to obey Moore's Law

    IDF Get with our 2014 program

    Once in multi-core processor denial, Intel has well and truly moved past the anxiety that follows abandoning the "boost GHz at all costs" mentality that served the company well for so long. So firm is Intel's new multi-core embrace, that it now even accepts the idea that non-Intel architecture products may soon find a place on …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 17:36

  • Nokia presses play on XpressMusic kid-friendly phones

    For the 'young and sociable'

    Nokia has launched its anticipated XpressMusic handset line, rolling out three similarly styled handsets, including a revival of its 3250 twist phone.   The XpressMusic line-up also comprises the 5200 and 5300, both slider phones of the same design. All three are aimed at "young and sociable" consumers, the Finnish phone …

    Phones 27 Sep 2006, 17:42

  • AMD ordered off US front in Intel suit

    Delaware judge limits scope of anti-trust case

    Intel's lawyers will have their laptops searched at one less airport, after a US district judge limited the scope of AMD's antitrust action against the company. In a motion filed with the Delaware Court, Intel sought to have AMD's US suit, alleging monopolistic conduct in the microprocessor market, dismissed on the grounds …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 18:14

  • Nokia taps the Wisdom of Experts

    Analysis Collective intelligence?

    Nokia is defying the conventional wisdom of Silicon Valley with its new music service. And that's probably the coolest thing about it. The phone giant's Music Recommenders service, as we reported here, uses 40 well known independent record stores to nominate their favourite new releases. That's going to count for a lot more …

    Mobile 27 Sep 2006, 18:19

  • Intel readies SSE 4 for 2007

    IDF x86 ISA to be extended with application-specific opcodes too

    Intel has said it will extend the x86 instruction set with even more Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), this time pledging to add a further 50 instructions to the ISA - the largest number of extra program codes the chip giant's added to the x86 lists since the introduction of SSE 2 with the debut of the Pentium 4 in December 2000 …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 18:21

  • Naive 'hacker' escapes punishment

    Hanging on the telephone

    Here's a cautionary tale for would-be penetration testers: get permission from a bank before you try to bill them for helping to identify and fix the security short-comings of their services. New Zealander Gerasimos Macridis, 39, learnt that lesson the hard way after his attempts to help the country's Reserve Bank in improving …

    Security 27 Sep 2006, 18:22

  • Visual Studio fix foxed by Windows Vista

    Compatibility issues

    A delayed update to Microsoft's application development suite looks unlikely to fully work with Windows Vista. Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack (SP) 1 beta has been kicked out the door with the knowledge taht a "few compatibility issues" exist with the current Windows Vista code base. Due out in the first half of 2006, the …

    Developer 27 Sep 2006, 18:27

  • IDF Fall 2006 - Complete Coverage

    IDF All the stories, all the insight

    Click here for our full coverage of this autumn's Intel Developers Forum, held in San Francisco. Mobility Taiwanese firm pips Intel to tilt-and-angle laptop display Intel intros next-generation Centrino Duo platform Desktop Intel: 'Nehalem-C' out, 'Westmore' in Intel's quad-core Core 2 Quad exposed Intel readies SSE 4 …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 18:38

  • Of IBM's Cell-Based Blade

    Comment Circuitous route to launch

    IBM has announced its first computing solution based on the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE), namely the IBM BladeCenter QS20. This solution targets computationally intense workloads such as 3D animation rendering, compression, encryption, and seismic and medical imaging, to help companies create and operate highly visual, …

    Servers 27 Sep 2006, 18:42

  • 'Get on our bus' – Intel calls out to partners

    IDF Fresh PCI Express too

    Like a psychiatric patient experiencing a breakthrough, Intel has opened up in a big way, allowing third parties to plug into its processor architectures on two new fronts. Most immediately, Xilinx and Altera will start crafting FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) that connect to the front side bus on Intel's server chips. …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 20:26

  • Intel's quad-core Core 2 Quad exposed

    IDF

    Read Reg Hardware's complete IDF Fall 06 coverage here

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 20:44

  • Oracle refreshes Berkeley DB

    Still no stack

    Seven months after purchasing Sleepycat Software, Oracle has updated the newest member of its embedded database family. Oracle Berkeley DB Release 4.5, released today, adds multi-version concurrency control, enables upgrades without the downtime, and provides a replication framework for users to quickly build highly available …

    Developer 27 Sep 2006, 21:02

  • Intel intros next-generation Centrino Duo platform

    IDF Santa Rosa blooms

    Intel has formally announced 'Santa Rosa', the next generation of its Centrino notebook platform, which will incorporate 802.11n Wi-Fi, 'Robson' NAND Flash hard drive cache and GMA X3000 integrated graphics. It's no surprise that Santa Rosa will feature Core 2 Duo, but this one can run on an 800MHz frontside bus. However, the …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 21:41

  • Packard Bell to push BT broadband

    Locked and loaded

    PC supplier Packard Bell are to jointly market BT has signed up Packard Bell, the retail PC maker, to preload its broadband software on all new desktops and notebooks in the UK Packard Bell will promote BT's broadband packages through its website and through other promotional channels: early sign-ups will receive a free Packard …

    The Channel 27 Sep 2006, 21:50

  • Taiwanese firm pips Intel to tilt-and-angle laptop display

    IDF Product demo'd months before Intel concept machine shown

    Intel Mobility VP Dadi Perlmutter today showed off a concept notebook equipped with a special 'slide up and tilt forward' display. The mechanism mounts the laptop's screen on a stand that allows it to be raised and angled. Cute, but Taiwanese laptop maker Dialogue showed the same concept off almost four months ago. As Reg …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 22:17

  • Intel: 'Nehalem-C' out, 'Westmere' in

    IDF Codename musical chairs

    Intel is playing musical codenames again. Having spent the last six months calling the 32nm die-shrink of its 45nm 'Nehalem' microarchitecture, 'Nehalem-C', the technology is now being called 'Westmere', according to Mooly Eden, Intel's Mobility division general manager. Following revelations that the chip giant's 32nm …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 23:03

  • Ex-Comverse boss arrested in Namibia

    From The Fugitive to The Prisoner

    Police in Nambia have arrested Jacob 'Kobi' Alexander, the ex-CEO of Comverse Technology, the voicemail software maker, who fled the US he was charged with fraud over backdated stock options. Alexander, 48 was last spotted in Sri Lanka ten days into his two-month sojourn as The Fugitive, after using Skype to make a voice call …

    Management 27 Sep 2006, 23:04

  • Itanium powers world's fastest Solaris box!

    IDF The shock, the horror

    No IDF would be complete without a healthy dose of Sun Microsystems bashing. Intel has come a long way since the days when St. Fister had to compare Itanic boxes against 400MHz UltraSPARC IIi systems. Yes, Intel can roll out real benchmarks now that show its paper dominance over Sun. Server chief Pat Gelsinger today took the …

    Hardware 27 Sep 2006, 23:27

  • US phishing ring members admit fraud charges

    Earthlink investigation

    Three members of an American phishing ring pleaded guilty in Connecticut today to fraud charges over spam emails and "aggravated identity theft". The admissions, from Charlie Blount, Jr, of Branford, Connecticut, Thomas Taylor, Jr and Richard D'Andrea, both of West Haven, Connecticut, prompted an exuberant press release from …

    Security 27 Sep 2006, 23:54