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13th November 2006 Archive

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  • 'Take your covenant and shove it', Samba tells Novell

    We don't do patents

    "I am not going to hide behind collective, anonymous responsibility," a French sheep-farmer told a magistrate when he was hauled before the law a few years ago. José Bové was on trial for destroying a branch of McDonalds, and the world was watching. The American junk food chain had made a spectacularly bad judgement to build a …

    Software 13 Nov 2006, 02:19

  • T'is the season to be ripped off...

    Webcast proffers advice to beat the cheats

    Online fraudsters are gearing up for the massive increase in consumer online shopping due to take place over the festive season. One in 10 holiday shoppers can expect some form of spyware, adware, or other internet attack as they conduct transactions on the web, according to net security firm PC Tools. Last year online shoppers …

    Security 13 Nov 2006, 07:02

  • And Thus spake Dumfries and Galloway

    Broadband deal for southern Scotland

    An agreement has been reached to provide broadband to schools, libraries and council offices in the south of Scotland. The South of Scotland Broadband Pathfinder Project has signed a £32m contract with network operator Thus to provide the connections throughout Dumries, Galloway and the Scottish Borders. The project is run …

    Policy 13 Nov 2006, 07:02

  • Sun open sources Java

    Live, be free

    Sun Microsystems is today expected to give-in to years of pushing and open source major elements of Java while hinting at changes to the way Java is certified and tested for compatibility. Sun is breaking open Java Standard Edition (SE), used on the desktop and a foundational element of Java 2 Enterprise Edition for servers, …

    Developer 13 Nov 2006, 09:04

  • Microsoft hops on Bull for clusters

    SC06 Penguin pounding play

    Itanium believer Bull has popped up as the latest hardware vendor to support a cluster-friendly version of Microsoft's Windows operating system. Customers can now purchase Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS) 2003 for Bull's NovaScale R400 clusters. While much of Bull's server efforts center on Itanium, the clusters in …

    Servers 13 Nov 2006, 09:05

  • Deutsche Telekom CEO resigns

    Fierce competition

    Kai-Uwe Ricke resigned as CEO of Deutsche Telekom yesterday. The head of the company's wireless telephony division T-Mobile, 43-year old Rene Obermann, will replace him. Ricke's resignation wasn't a big surprise. On Thursday, the company reported a 20 per cent decline in 3Q profits. Wireless earnings were down and fixed-line …

    Financial News 13 Nov 2006, 09:29

  • IPTV regulation a turn-off for Ofcom

    Not even in standby

    Ofcom will give web-based TV services a free pass, the super comms regulator's executive chairman has said. Existing, licensed broadcasters are already offering programming over the net. At number of web-based TV services are in the offing, including a P2P service from Janus Friis and Niklas Sandstorm, the duo behind Kazaa and …

    Networks 13 Nov 2006, 09:34

  • TV Licensing abandons case against unlicensed TV owner

    Former prisoner not 'technically guilty'

    A former prisoner at the forefront of prison law advocacy has overturned a TV licensing conviction on appeal. John Hirst said he used his television only for watching videos, DVDs and CCTV footage of his own house but was found "technically guilty". Hirst, who tells this week's OUT-LAW Radio about the case, represented himself …

    Media 13 Nov 2006, 10:20

  • Motorola Q Pro prototype pops up on web

    Just like the Q, but black

    Motorola's anticipated Q Pro smart phone has made another, more revealing appearance on the web in a series of pictures that indicate cellco Vodafone may have chosen to offer the Windows Mobile device to its customers. The shots appear in a short report on Czech-language website iDNES. The machine on display is marked " …

    Phones 13 Nov 2006, 10:21

  • ITU elects new boss

    Mali's Hamadoun Touré gets the job

    Members of the International Telecommunication Union have elected Hamadoun Touré of Mali as the organisation's new secretary-general by a majority 95 of 155 votes. He beat Mathias Kurth of Germany into second place after three rounds of voting at the organisation's 17th annual Plenipotentiary Conference in Turkey. Touré said …

    Networks 13 Nov 2006, 10:42

  • Iran throws wobbly at Google Video

    Azerbaijan sovereignty kerfuffle

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin can cross Iran off their holiday destination list following the fun-loving Islamic republic's call for citizens to bombard the company with emails, The Guardian reports. The reason for Iran's ire is the text accompanying this film on Google Video which states: "This video shows Tabriz, a city in …

    Media 13 Nov 2006, 10:47

  • PS2 sales highlight Sony's challenge as PS3 debuts in Japan

    Buyers queue for hours, stores sell out

    Sony's PlayStation 3 got off to a brisk start this weekend when the next-generation games console made its Japanese debut. Reports from around the Net claim numerous retailers sold out of PS3s, but since none would say how many they had to sell, the value of the claim remains dubious. Sony in the past said it would be …

    Games 13 Nov 2006, 10:48

  • To Jalapeño or to Hibernate the data...

    An alternative to OR mapping?

    Java is an excellent Object Oriented language that allows developers to write sophisticated, powerful, enterprise scale applications. Such applications typically involve a large amount of data that must be stored somewhere for future use. That is, the data in the objects within the JVM must be persisted using some form of …

    Developer 13 Nov 2006, 11:08

  • Asus to launch gamer-friendly laptops this month

    One for Nvidia fans, the other for ATI buffs

    Asus has launched the two gamer-oriented notebooks it was reported to be readying last month. As expected, the two models - one with green optical highlighting, the other with red - target fans of Nvidia and AMD ATI graphics, respectively. They also sport first-person shooter-friendly keyboard markings. The G1 is a 15.4in …

    Hardware 13 Nov 2006, 11:18

  • Teen breaks SMS world speed record

    160 characters in 41.52 seconds

    A 16-year-old Singaporean student yesterday broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest SMS when she entered 160 characters in just 41.52 seconds, Reuters reports. Ang Chuang Yang claimed the title in a Singapore Telecommunications-sponsored competition, wresting the crown from previous holder Ben Cook who in July managed a …

    Mobile 13 Nov 2006, 11:26

  • FreeBSD 6.2 nears release

    Interview Robert Watson on the new security event auditing system

    The upcoming release of FreeBSD 6.2 includes the new security event auditing system, that "permits the selective and fine-grained logging of security-relevant system events for the purposes of post-mortem analysis, intrusion detection, and run-time monitoring analysis". Federico Biancuzzi interviewed TrustedBSD project …

    Developer 13 Nov 2006, 11:38

  • Telecom Italia jumps on Qualcomm platform

    Fancy a BREW?

    Telecom Italia mobile operator TIM is set to launch a range of games and services based on Qualcomm's BREW platform. BREW - Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless - is Qualcomm's way of delivering and running applications and services to phones. Initially, only two handsets will support the services. The Samsung Z630 will be …

    Mobile 13 Nov 2006, 12:01

  • BT's boost for Indian telecoms

    Jubilant venture...

    BT has joined forces with New Delhi-based company Jubilant Enpro Pvt Ltd in a move which signals further investment and expansion in the Indian telecoms market. The newly formed BT Telecom India Pvt Ltd has also applied for national long distance and international long distance licenses with the Indian Department of …

    Networks 13 Nov 2006, 12:06

  • NHS IT chief failed computer studies course

    Mother grasses up Granger

    NHS IT supremo Richard Granger, whose leadership of the Connecting for Health fiasco pockets him a cool £280,000 a year, failed his computer studies course at Bristol Uni, his mum has revealed. According to The Evening Standard, 62-year-old retired teacher Mary Granger explained: "He was disappointed when he failed his computer …

    Management 13 Nov 2006, 12:14

  • Sage pays £20m for payment processing firm Protx

    Front office links to back end

    Business and accountancy software firm Sage has stumped up £20m ($38m) in cash to acquire UK merchant services firm Protx. Protx, which was established in 2001, provides online payment services for small and medium businesses (SMEs) in the UK, with a customer base of over 10,000 businesses (growing by 350 a month). The firm is …

    Security 13 Nov 2006, 12:37

  • European Mars mission delayed

    Mission might be getting bigger

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has elected to delay the launch of its next Mars mission, ExoMars, by two years. The decision, taken to allow more time to test key technologies, gives ESA scientists extra time to lobby for an expansion of the mission, which could almost double its cost. ExoMars is Europe's first planned rover …

    Science 13 Nov 2006, 12:45

  • iHome eyes road warriors with portable iPod alarm clock

    Tick-tock

    iHome's iH5 iPod alarm clock has found its way into many a posh hotel room, but today the company launched a portable version for folk who want clock, dock and speaker set they can take with them. The iH26's speakers fold down for easy transportation - iHome's bundling a case, along with an international power adaptor. The …

    Hardware 13 Nov 2006, 13:22

  • Japanese eBay PS3s marked up 300%

    And it's all thanks to Chinese migrants, apparently

    What was the easiest way to get a PlayStation 3 on the day of its Japanese launch? According to one guy who braved the rain and the cold this past Saturday, the best thing to do is pay a Chinese migrant cash to queue up for hours on your behalf. According to a correspondent of website Kotaku who claimed to have been present …

    Games 13 Nov 2006, 13:55

  • ISP bundles £500 PC with broadband packages

    LG flat-panel monitor too

    Pssst! Want a free PC? Then have a word with UK ISP Redten. It's offering customers who take up its £20-a-month 8Mbps 'unlimited' ADSL broadband package a gratis desktop computer and monitor together worth £500. At that kind of price, you wouldn't expect a top-of-range specification and you're not going to get one. Still, it' …

    Hardware 13 Nov 2006, 15:10

  • Sony's PS3 purchased, pulled apart

    Screwdrivers at dawn

    All it took was a Torx wrench. Yes, the first PlayStation 3 autopsies are already starting to appear as console fans with more money than sense take Sony's next-generation machine apart to expose Cell processor, Blu-ray Disc player, Seagate hard drive and assorted chippery. First up, DailyTech's disassembly includes some …

    Games 13 Nov 2006, 15:44

  • IPTV/VoD: Get up to speed

    Industry comment Fast track your knowledge

    The industry and its technology moves so fast that it is easy for information to become outdated and for people to lose track of all the things they need to know. This document is a typical briefing sheet supplied in the workshop that covers all the main points that are essential for any executive or technician to understand …

    Broadband 13 Nov 2006, 15:48

  • Allchin backs away from Vista anti-virus claims

    Child's play

    Outgoing Windows development chief Jim Allchin has apologised for the confusion he created in comments taken to mean Vista was so secure it might be possible to run the software without any anti-virus installed. Responding to questions from reporters about whether Vista would be more secure than Windows XP SP2, Allchin said his …

    Security 13 Nov 2006, 15:53

  • Jeff Bezos builds space ports, not relationships

    Texan community in collective huff

    Locals in Van Horn, West Texas, have been unsettled by the arrival in Culberson County of Blue Origin, the space tourism company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos. According to the Wall Street Journal, the billionaire started buying up land in the area three years ago so he could build the first commercial space port. …

    Science 13 Nov 2006, 15:59

  • Cray's 2009 odyssey begins with Opteron shock

    SC06 Meet Speedy and Snoop Friendly

    Cray has prepped two new high-end computers to satiate customers as it moves toward a grand but unproven future. The high performance computing specialist has started hawking its Cray XT4 supercomputer and XMT "platform". Both products fit into Cray's "Rainier Program" in which the company has started to meld the bits and …

    Data Center 13 Nov 2006, 16:11

  • Tyan unit to push personal supercomputers

    SC06 As the Typhoon turns

    Tyan thinks that personal supercomputers may help it form a more direct relationship with end users. The company on Tuesday plans to reveal a new OEM division dedicated to selling its Typhoon personal supercomputers to engineers, software developers, researchers, and demanding business customers. The TyanPSC division approach …

    Data Center 13 Nov 2006, 16:18

  • Climatologists hit the skies to talk global warming

    Leaving on a jet plane

    A group of climate scientists from the UK's Met Office have flown to Nairobi to meet colleagues from around the world to discuss climate research and present their most recent findings. They have taken with them an imaginatively titled report detailing the predicted effect climate change will have on the developing world (It's …

    Science 13 Nov 2006, 16:24

  • eBay redirection ruse reloaded

    18 month-old security flaw still remains unfixed

    A redirection script error on eBay's site remains open to abuse 18 months after The Register first reported it. The flaw - actively exploited in phishing scams since February 2005 - creates a means to make fraudulent emails look more convincing. Shortly after publishing a report on the problem, eBay assured us that it had …

    Security 13 Nov 2006, 16:38

  • Keep your shirt on

    Air guitar gets licked

    You can now make music as you strum the air thanks to those well-known lovers of rock... er... Australian scientists. A t-shirt has been created at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) which picks up air guitar gestures via sensors in the elbows and sleeves. As you rock out the sensors …

    Bootnotes 13 Nov 2006, 16:42

  • Shock record industry poll: Brits like British musicians

    So we should extend copyright? Pull the other one, Cliff

    The British Phonographic Institute unleashed a classic piece of leading questioning in its bid to keep Cliff Richard in botox until the next Millennium Prayer is due. The record industry body has been lobbying hard for the Treasury's Gowers Review of intellectual property to recommend extension of coyyright on sound recordings …

    Media 13 Nov 2006, 16:49

  • Singapore teen faces jail for 'stealing' neighbour's Wi-Fi

    Chokey for bandwidth bandit

    A Singapore teenager charged with hopping onto his neighbour's wireless internet connection faces charges punishable by up the three years' imprisonment. Garyl Tan Jia Luo, 17, is the first person to face charges under Singapore's Computer Misuse Act, the Straits Times via AP reports. The teenager also faces a possible fine of …

    Security 13 Nov 2006, 17:23

  • Easymobile hangs up, stranded by supplier

    Titsup for Stelios moby venture

    Easymobile - the mobile wing of Stelios Haji Ioannou's easyGroup - is closing. Customers have until midnight on 13 December to move their phone service. A message on the website says:"easyMobile.com in the UK was set up as a partnership between TDC (the telecom company from Denmark) and easyGroup (Stelios' investment vehicle). …

    Mobile 13 Nov 2006, 17:36

  • Nvidia readies five more G80-based GPUs?

    ForceWare spills the beans

    At least five more G80-based graphics chips are on their way from Nvidia, if entries in the latest driver package to leak out of the GPU maker's labs is anything to go by. According to an NGOHQ report, one of the files inside the ForceWare 96.94 package refers directly to the G80-200, G80-400, G80-600, G80-850 and G80-875, …

    Hardware 13 Nov 2006, 18:17