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16th October 2006 Archive

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  • EMC and SenSage offer data retention fix

    Dealing with those pesky EU regulations

    EMC, Intec and SenSage have joined forces to develop what they reckon is a cost effective solution for ISPs and telcos needing to deal with the requirements of the new European directive on data retention. The directive, which has been described by critics as knee-jerk legislation, says communications companies (mobile and …

    Networks 16 Oct 2006, 08:31

  • Five arrested over D-Link router theft

    Rogue routers for sale online

    Five people have been arrested by Kent police in connection with stolen D-Link routers. D-Link warned last week that 7,200 wireless starter kits had been pinched en route to its European logistics company and were being offered for sale online. The kit is worth some £350,000. But on Friday Kent police said they had arrested …

    Data Networking 16 Oct 2006, 08:36

  • Spammers issue exploding ARSS alert

    Pump and dump email hits rock bottom

    We're obliged this grey Monday morning to reader Andy Cook for bringing to our attention a delightful piece of spam which brings a whole new meaning to the term "pump and dump": Enough said. Get in there quick before ARSS blows. ®

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 08:37

  • IM gains traction on Wall Street

    But 'prejudices' could slow uptake

    Some months ago I wrote a feature (Instant Messaging (IM) services for transmitting securities orders?). It appeared that there was some push for adoption of this medium for transmitting securities orders in the US markets. However, there were a number of technical and regulatory compliance issues to be addressed before IM for …

    IT Director 16 Oct 2006, 08:43

  • Sharp asks laptop owners to return 28,000 batteries

    Meanwhile, Fujitsu increases the size of its recall

    Sharp has become the latest laptop maker to ask its customers to return Sony-made notebook batteries. Its recall of some 28,000 power packs came as Fujitsu increased the size of its own battery recall by a further 51,000 units. Sharp's recall focuses on its home market of Japan. Fujitsu's recall is worldwide in scope. Sharp …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 08:52

  • Webcasting is next frontier for sports

    Shifting the goalposts

    The internet is becoming a powerful broadcasting tool for sports organisations and television channels. "New media sportscasting is becoming increasingly important to the sports industry as part of the marketing mix ensuring brand development and introducing new channels for revenue growth," said Darach Deehan, chief executive …

    Telecoms 16 Oct 2006, 08:54

  • Nvidia's three-GPU mobo spied on web

    Caters for visuals and physics

    Nvidia's nForce 680i SLI chipset for Intel processors has leaked out online, with a piccy of the part surfacing on a variety of websites. The chipset is expected to target the chip giant's upcoming quad-core processors, the 'Kentsfield' Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad. Little is known about the board's feature-set, but the …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 09:17

  • iSoft costing Staffs hospital dear

    £16m hole in accounts

    University Hospital North Staffordshire has been left with a large hole in its accounts thanks to the failed installation of an iSoft computer system. The multi-million pound deficit occurred because the computer system failed to properly bill primary care trusts for patients the hospital treated. The contract is not part of …

    Channel Register 16 Oct 2006, 09:44

  • SmartCaddie UMPC updated with Intel CPU

    Celeron M replaces VIA chip

    The world has another ultra-mobile PC design. Japanese vendor PBJ today unveiled its SmartCaddie EX UMPC, though the unit's not due to ship there until early December. The new model is essentially an Intel-based version of the model PBJ launched last April. So out goes the VIA C7-M processor and in comes a 900MHz ultra-low …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 09:45

  • 419 scammers launch shipping sites

    Fake escrows on the rise

    Nigerian 419 advance fee fraudsters operating from Amsterdam and Rotterdam have created copies of the websites of express transportation company DHL and Lufthansa Cargo. The idea is to lure victims into paying transportation and advance fees for used motorbikes and cars that are never delivered. Now that many people are …

    ID 16 Oct 2006, 10:16

  • HSBC customers in cash machine hell

    Exclusive Accounts frozen, cards eaten

    HSBC's cash machine service turned on customers this weekend with many people complaining that their accounts were held hostage and others saying ATM boxes ate their cards. The issues also extended to HSBC's credit cards with thousands of people affected, The Register can confirm. Reports of the HSBC failures flooded The …

    Data Networking 16 Oct 2006, 10:23

  • Samsung to launch Symbian 'super 3G' phone tomorrow

    HSDPA slider pitched at smart-phone buyers

    Samsung will tomorrow take the wraps off its HSDPA-enabled SGH-i520 handset, one of the few handsets we've seen coming from the South Korean giant that's based on the Symbian operating system and Nokia's Series 60 (S60) user interface. The 1.8cm-thick SGH-i520 will be pitched at the European market, Samsung said, and buyers …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 10:23

  • UK businesses slow to go green

    Obvious envy shortage

    One third of big businesses in the UK are failing to make proper plans for their environmental impact, according to the British Standards Institute (BSI). The BSI surveyed 100 budget holders in FTSE 250 companies. It says the vast majority of businesses recognise the importance of the decade-old environmental standard ISO 14001 …

    IT Director 16 Oct 2006, 10:30

  • Spyware infection prompts McDonalds MP3 recall

    Bitter aftertaste to Coke promo

    McDonalds Japan has launched a recall after discovering that MP3 players it offered as a prize were loaded with a particularly nasty strain of malware. Up to 10,000 people might have been exposed to the problem after claiming a Flash MP3 player pre-loaded with ten tunes and a variant of the QQpass spyware Trojan. Punters …

    Malware 16 Oct 2006, 10:40

  • Apple's Jobs not in a stew over Zune

    Hi-Fi more important than Wi-Fi

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs is - surprise, surprise - unfazed by Microsoft's would-be iPod killer Zune. Earphone sharing will prove a more potent force for social networking than the iPod rival's much-touted wireless song-sharing feature, he reckons. In a short Q&A with Newsweek, Jobs professed to be unworried by Zune: "I've seen …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 10:46

  • UK.gov may allow data sharing on 40 million bank accounts

    Without permission

    The government is considering allowing banks to share data on up to 40 million bank accounts without account holders' permission. The plan is one of four being considered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In a move to counter what it calls the UK's over-indebtedness, the DTI wants to share information on 40 million …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 11:07

  • Sapphire offers prizes for bare box-art lookalikes

    Get kit off, win kit

    Graphics card maker Sapphire is offering consumers the chance to win big prizes this Halloween, and all they have to do is get their kit off. Yes, Sapphire wants its users to dress up - or maybe that should be dress down, right down - as the nude but tastefully tackle-less bloke seen on its packaging. To be fair to Sapphire, …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 11:31

  • UK govt plans to hobble FoI, while hailing its success

    Keeping costs down

    The Department for Constitutional Affairs is considering changes to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act that would make it easier for public sector organisations to refuse requests on grounds of unreasonable cost. The government has hailed the first year of the legislation as a "success". Central government received 34,000 FoI …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 11:44

  • Secret Service grills MySpace teen

    Now she's fighting back

    Not satisfied with creating militants abroad, the US has decided to nurture homegrown government haters. California teenager Julia Wilson has dedicated herself to organising student protests against the Iraq war in an act of retaliation against a firm visit from the Secret Service. US investigators last week pulled the student …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 11:48

  • Irish take dim view of 'immoral' domains

    No porn.ie for you, sunshine

    Here's a Monday afternoon poser: what's the difference between www.murder.ie and www.porn.ie? Well, according to the owner of sex.ie, the former is an acceptable domain name according to the IE Domain Registry's naming policy, while the latter is proscribed under said policy's validity guidelines. Specifically, the rules state …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 11:53

  • Retailer puffs Burning Love fluffy iPod pouch

    Tickled pink

    As if Apple's iPod Socks didn't provide sufficient snigger material, along comes new UK online retailer MP3 Additions with line in digital music player pockets it calls the "Burning Love Pouch". It claims they're the "most original and funky iPod holders on the market today". Well, one pouch, the "cotton candy", is pink and …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 12:22

  • Wobbly Belgian politico becomes YouTube star

    TV interview suggests robust election victory celebration

    Belgian politico Michel Daerden has become an overnight net celeb after YouTubers flocked to enjoy footage of him either completely rat-arsed or suffering the effects of "a psychomotor disorder" during an interview with French-language broadcaster RTBF. French-speaking socialist party member Daerden hit the small screen last …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 12:39

  • Brits bin their identity as ID thieves prosper

    Just shred-it

    More Brits than ever are placing themselves at risk of identity fraud, despite awareness campaigns warning them of the dangers. Organisers of the second National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, which begins on Monday, hope their educational campaign will finally get the message across. The campaign, backed by the Metropolitan …

    ID 16 Oct 2006, 12:52

  • NEC packs up Packard Bell

    Hui buys veteran brand

    Lap Shun Hui has scored a success in his battle to collect the great PC brands of yesteryear by buying Packard Bell from NEC. NEC revealed the sale of its European PC operation earlier today but is keeping quiet on how much it got for the operation, Reuters reports. The news agency said Packard Bell turns over around $1bn a …

    Channel Register 16 Oct 2006, 14:01

  • Cisco gains patent on 'triple play'

    Time to pay up, partners

    Savouring the broad and bold nature of the US patent system, Cisco appears to have received the rights to the "triple threat". The US Patent Office granted Cisco's request in July, and the patent at hand is as vague as you might fear. Filing 7,075,919 covers a "system and method for providing integrated voice, video and data …

    Data Networking 16 Oct 2006, 14:05

  • Reuters embeds reporter in Sadville

    Really

    It has been brought to our attention that we have failed to cast our usual withering scorn on the news that Reuters has assigned a full-time reporter to Second Life, the alternative universe in which people can live out their dreams of being a furry penis. Or something like that. Perhaps we misunderstood. We do like to keep …

    Entertainment 16 Oct 2006, 14:22

  • McData offers $1.1m to keep CEO sweet

    Stick around, fella

    McData plans to shell out more than $1m to keep its current CEO once the company links up with fellow storage switch maker Brocade. In a regulatory filing last week, McData revealed that CEO John Kelley will receive a handsome $1.1m payout to stay loyal to BroData. To receive the full lump, Kelley must agree to certain terms, …

    Storage 16 Oct 2006, 14:35

  • Mozilla brainstorms Firefox 3.0

    Wish-list goes live

    The final version of Firefox 2 isn't available for download yet, but developers at Mozilla are already asking the community for suggestions on features they'd like to see included in the next version of the browser, Firefox 3.0. Mozilla has established a "feature brainstorming" wiki where users can post a wish-list of hoped-for …

    Applications 16 Oct 2006, 14:49

  • Larry Ellison's Linux nears release – pundit

    Not so stable but looks great in a Tux

    Wall Street continues to drool over the idea of Oracle producing its own line of Linux software for reasons unclear to us. Last week, Jeffries & Co analyst Katherine Egbert fired off a research note, claiming that "our independent checks in the past two weeks indicate that Oracle seems to be close to introducing its own …

    Operating Systems 16 Oct 2006, 15:00

  • Microsoft agrees to release Vista interop info

    Allegedly...

    Microsoft has agreed to release more technical information to security companies so they can make their products work with Vista, Microsoft's next operating system due early next year. Microsoft earlier said it had already released APIs - the information software developers need to make products which will interoperate with …

    Developer 16 Oct 2006, 15:04

  • Unpaid TV licence fells Swedish politician

    And Pirates fail to impress at the polls

    Two high profile Swedish ministers have resigned from office over allegations of tax evasion, and bizarrely, failure to pay their TV licences. Swedish Culture Minister Cecilia Stego Chilo resigned on Monday, following Trade Minister Maria Borelius's resignation last week. The resignations come just days after the new four-party …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 15:33

  • NK nukes: We're all (not) going to die

    Analysis The wrong monster

    Just when we all got comfortable with the idea of Islamofascists bringing down the curtain on humanity's dominion over the Earth, those wacky North Koreans come along and put everyone's pet Apocalyptic theories into disarray. And boy, is it getting complicated: we've got people trying to blow up airplanes with KY jelly and …

    Security 16 Oct 2006, 15:40

  • EU plans to block terror sites, but doesn't know how

    Commission at 'early stage' of bafflement

    A meeting of EU interior ministers held in August in the wake of the 'liquid bomb plot' arrests called for the acceleration of European plans to tackle terrorism, and as part of these, for measures to "tackle the use of the Internet by terrorists to radicalise young people, spread messages of hate and plan mass murder" (see Home …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 15:41

  • Media companies put the squeeze on GooTube

    YouTube, YouPay

    Mark Cuban was labelled a "Cassandra" for his skepticism about Google's takeover of revenue-free video sharing site YouTube. But the thing about Cassandra that people often forget, is that Cassandra was right. Cuban's skepticism looks a lot more justified today. The Wall Street Journal reports that a group of the largest media …

    Financial News 16 Oct 2006, 15:42

  • Google's ads could kill YouTube

    Valley Justice One lawsuit at a time

    Google's intention to drive advertising profits through the acquisition of this year's hottest web property may actually be the move that ends up killing the golden GooTube. YouTube recently answered a copyright infringement complaint brought against it in a federal court in California and presented an argument that, while …

    Financial News 16 Oct 2006, 16:27

  • IBM/Lenovo, Apple top support firm's hardware reliability ratings

    Rescuecom survey quite so clear cut?

    Who makes the most reliable computers? Lenovo, closely followed by Apple, if you believe online service and support company Rescuecom's latest reliability audit, derived from more than 20,000 calls made by the firm's customers during the second quarter this year. Rescuecom assigned a reliability rating to computer vendors. …

    Reg Hardware 16 Oct 2006, 17:00

  • McAfee opens data-theft snooping service

    Bolt-on acquisition

    McAfee, the US security software firm, has stumped up $20m cash for Onigma, a developer of data theft monitoring software. This will form the basis of McAfee Data Loss Prevention, a new host-based service helping enterprises to spy on staff and contractors in case they leak company info or indulge in some intellectual property …

    Enterprise Security 16 Oct 2006, 17:56

  • Wal-Mart loses case for control of boycottwalmart.com

    WIPO does not swallow 'confusingly similar' claim

    The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart has failed in its attempt to gain control of the web address boycottwalmart.com. An arbitration panel has ruled that it was unlikely that visitors would be confused and think that it was a Wal-Mart site. Domain name disputes are settled by the arbitration panel of the World Intellectual …

    Music and Media 16 Oct 2006, 18:38

  • TomTom takes Garmin to court (again)

    Design issues

    TomTom, the Dutch navigation specialist, is taking US rival Garmin to court in The Hague on Thursday. The company claims that Garmin is copying the look and feel of its GPS based portable navigation systems. Garmin and TomTom are chief rivals in the booming car navigation market. TomTom has a 30 per cent market share in …

    Mobile 16 Oct 2006, 20:34

  • Wired editor smokes out MySpace pedo

    Top-notch journalism

    Hats off to Kevin Poulsen for one of the best articles in tech journalism you will read this year. The one-time hacker extraordinaire, and now senior editor at Wired, combined investigative reporting and code-writing skills to collar a predatory pedophile reaching out to teenage boys through MySpace. Andrew Lubrano, a 39 year- …

    ID 16 Oct 2006, 21:22

  • Samsung has bloody good quarter

    Confounds expectations

    Samsung has reported a 16 per cent increase in profits for the third quarter of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005. The Korean electronics giant posted net profit of 2.19 trillion won (€1.83bn) for the three months ending 30 September. This is far higher than analysts' expectations of a net profit of 1.89 trillion won …

    Financial News 16 Oct 2006, 21:44