1st December 2006 Archive

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• Who framed Jessica Rabbit?

  Comment One Note on how podcasting doesn't work

  Here's a trick question: would you invent the movie camera if there was no such thing as a movie projector? Or, to make the trick more obvious: would you invent the movie camera, and then prevent anybody from building a projector? Would you create a camera which produced movies that only another camera owner could watch? If …

  Applications 1 Dec 2006, 09:33

• BitTorrent bags $20m, galvanises CEO

  Bram stoked

  BitTorrent said it has secured $20m in venture capital and scotched rumours that founder and CEO Bram Cohen is leaving the firm. The second round funding is aimed at turning the open source peer to peer technology developed by Cohen into a legal and viable content delivery platform. BitTorrent said Tuesday it had signed a …

  Financial News 1 Dec 2006, 10:13

• Second Life equal with First Life

  Survey finds virtual world as important as reality

  Nearly half of all Americans who belong to online communities claim that the virtual world they inhabit is as important as the real world. According to a new study conducted by the USC-Annenberg School Centre for the Digital Future, 43 per cent of those who are part of a virtual community said that they felt as strongly about …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 10:14

• Email pioneer says breakthrough was too much trouble

  'If I'd known I'd never have written that piece of code'

  The man who invented the internet's most popular email routing system says he would never have done it had he known how much trouble it was going to be. Eric Allman, who founded email routing system Sendmail, tells this week's edition of technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio that he would "never have agreed" to the project had …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 10:26

• AMD demos four-core Opteron

  Going native in Barcelona

  AMD has demo'd its upcoming quad-core Opteron server processor, a few days after launching the gamer-oriented Quad FX, which despite its name is a dual-core part. The CPU, codenamed 'Barcelona', was announced in October this year at the Fall Processor Forum. Then, AMD said the chip would incorporate a doubling of the width of …

  Hardware 1 Dec 2006, 10:31

• Internet Archive wins copyright reprieve

  Can now store old computer games and software

  The Internet Archive project has won an exemption from US copyright law, overcoming an obstacle which threatened the entire work of the not-for-profit group. It can now host copies of obsolete computer games and software without fear of prosecution. The Library of Congress has published six exemptions to the Digital Millennium …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 10:35

• Your data is protected: but is it protected enough?

  Storage briefing Big calls for small biz

  You might think your data is protected, but is it protected enough? There are plenty of statistics around on how rarely businesses survive the complete loss of their IT systems and data, but these days, it's not just a matter of business continuity - it's a legal requirement as well. While IT suppliers tend to focus on the US …

  Storage 1 Dec 2006, 10:42

• Data protections are being eroded, says EU watchdog

  'Basic rights need to be guaranteed' in the third pillar

  The EU's data protection watchdog has warned that European officials are in danger of eroding basic data protection principles and has called on them to reconsider their actions. European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx has issued a plea for more care in negotiations over a framework decision on data protection …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 10:44

• Nvidia warned off releasing integrated Intel chipsets early

  Wait a couple of quarters, analyst suggests

  Nvidia is near to launching low-end integrated chipsets for systems based on Intel processors, a US analyst has alleged. However, the company was warned that a near-term release would be "premature" - if Nvidia wants to avoid degrading its gross margins. The claim comes from Pacific Growth Equities analyst Satya Chillara in a …

  Hardware 1 Dec 2006, 10:55

• World of virtual lessons for e-business

  Comment What can we learn from Second Life?

  Many of us who are active on the internet, giving our views on what is happening, are used to getting "flamed" (having hostile messages about us posted online). Just say something negative about Linux and see what gets put into Slashdot.org. But things have got a bit scarier over the past few months, as people start confusing …

  Financial News 1 Dec 2006, 10:55

• US DoJ probes GPU biz antitrust allegations

  AMD subpoenaed

  The US Department of Justice is investigating claims of anti-trust activity in the graphics chip and add-in card markets, it has emerged. AMD yesterday said it had been subpoena'd by the DoJ as a result of its acquisition of ATI. The chip maker stressed the DoJ has not made any specific allegations against it or against ATI. …

  Hardware 1 Dec 2006, 11:17

• PDFs open critical hole in Internet Explorer

  Botnet surprise

  A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe's Acrobat and Reader software which affects Internet Explorer users. As well as causing crashes, the frailty could allow a botnet to take control of the whole computer when a PDF is opened within Explorer. The hole is present in Acrobat Standard and Professional versions 7. …

  Security 1 Dec 2006, 11:18

• Quanta preps Apollo PDA phone for O2

  US regulator spills beans

  Mobile phone network O2 is preparing what appears to be a mid-range Windows Mobile 5.0-based PDA phone, made not by its new XDA partner, Asus, but by Quanta. Apollo's specification, revealed in documents submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission, centres on a 2.7in, 240 x 320, 262,144-colour display - though it' …

  Phones 1 Dec 2006, 11:50

• Second Life escapists told to wake up

  Child poverty deaths shame Sadville

  An anti-poverty campaign has reminded the inhabitants of Second Life that while they fanny about wasting time and money hiding from their own trivial worries there are people are dying unnecessarily in the real world. The World Development Movement (WDM) has loaded a digital counter into Linden Labs' virtual world which tallies …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 11:58

• BOFH: IT services review

  Episode 40 'Lending a hand' to the CEO

  "What's this about?" the PFY asks, tapping his screen curiously. "What?" I ask, looking up from the internals of my desktop machine mid-harddrive installation. "The review of IT services." "What review of IT services?" "There's a review of IT services across the company," the PFY says. "What does it mean?" "Ahhhh..", I …

  BOFH 1 Dec 2006, 12:02

• Can you really see the Great Wall of China from the Moon?

  Space myths

  Also in this week's column: What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome? Are secretive people more of less healthy? How far can the naked eye see? Can you really see the Great Wall of China from the Moon? It is one of the greatest urban myths that astronauts can see the Great Wall of China from the surface of the Moon. They …

  Science 1 Dec 2006, 12:15

• How far can the naked eye see?

  Star gazing

  Also in this week's column: What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome? Can you really see the Great Wall of China from the Moon? Are secretive people more or less healthy? How far can the naked eye see? The human eye can see an almost unlimited distance. Looking up into the sky on a very clear night, the Triangulum Galaxy can …

  Science 1 Dec 2006, 12:15

• Are secretive people more or less healthy?

  Coming clean is good for you. It's no secret

  Also in this week's column: What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome? Can you really see the Great Wall of China from the Moon? How far can the naked eye see? Are secretive people more or less healthy? Psychological research shows that keeping secrets, especially distressing ones, can make the secret keeper sick. But we do …

  Science 1 Dec 2006, 12:15

• What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome?

  Down the rabbit hole for this one!

  Also in this week's column: Can you really see the Great Wall of China from the Moon? Are secretive people more or less healthy? How far can the naked eye see? What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome? Asked by Sheena Roberts of Dublin, Ireland Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AWS) is a neurological condition where a person …

  Science 1 Dec 2006, 12:17

• Sony management shuffle dooms PlayStation 4?

  Hirai promotion signals shift to software, analyst claims

  Sony's move to promote Kaz Hirai, yesterday head of the US wing of the company's Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) division but now President and COO of the global SCE operation, means the consumer electronics giant may never produce a PlayStation 4 console. So claimed Nomura analyst Yuta Sakurai in a Financial Times report …

  Games 1 Dec 2006, 12:21

• Jittery yanks warn of Jihadist internet threat

  It could happen when you least expect it

  An internet "Jihadist" has posted a message to an Internet chat room that suggests people who are angry about the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay should retaliate with cyber-security attacks on its stock market and banking web sites in the run up to Christmas. The Associated Press news wire reported that the warning was issued …

  Security 1 Dec 2006, 13:01

• Vista, VoIP and a load of old Polonium

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

  Yes, there’s only been story in the news this week. Rogue Russian agents have apparently been racing around the UK, knocking off ex-KGB spies, and endangering sushi chefs, flight attendants and Italian Academics, using rare radioactive isotopes. The fact that it was Polonium 210 that was used to permanently shut-up former KGB …

  Business 1 Dec 2006, 14:22

• Fujitsu shows world's smallest optical spot

  But don't laugh - it could boost hard disk capacities ten-fold

  Fujitsu has demonstrated what it claims is the world's first optical device capable of producing a beam less than 100nm across. The company's computer products group plans to use the new multi-layered optical element in hard disks - it says that thermally-assisted recording (TAR) will be key to the next generation of high- …

  Storage 1 Dec 2006, 14:33

• Apple: the Conservative Party of tech

  Big print computing

  Despite its carefully spun marketing conceit that it's the tech brand of choice of the young and groovy, Apple's strongest market is among pensioners according to research. Almost half of Apple's base is 55 and over, said analysts at MetaFacts. That's almost double the proportion of older users who bat for the IBM-compatible …

  Operating Systems 1 Dec 2006, 15:23

• London's hotspots unfit for voice

  Two-thirds won't give you a decent line

  Most of London's wireless hotspots can't support more than one voice-over-IP call at a time, according to a survey by WLAN analysis specialist AirMagnet. The company surveyed 15 hotspots around Oxford Street and the City last month. It said that 11 of them suffered from coverage problems that prevented multiple simultaneous …

  Broadband 1 Dec 2006, 15:27

• Vodafone loses signal

  Short mess(aging) of an upgrade

  Vodafone lost its UK network this morning after trying to upgrade its SMS software. Customers of the mobile telco weren't able to make calls between about seven and nine am this morning. An unspecified number of customers where affected, Vodafone told us, but it wasn't a peak time of day. Another 50,000 customers weren't able …

  Mobile 1 Dec 2006, 15:39

• Feds implement mass passenger data trawl

  Introducing the 'Automated Targeting System'

  Whenever the US government runs afoul of public opinion with some data-mining scheme threatening to invade the privacy of millions, it changes the name and then goes ahead as planned. We had the "Total Information Awareness" (TIA) federal scheme to mine official and commercial databases, which morphed into the MATRIX, an …

  Media 1 Dec 2006, 16:14

• SanDisk 4GB SDHC memory card

  Review High capacity, low speed?

  The organisation that oversees the SD memory card standard announced the SD High Capacity (SDHC) format back in January, but it's taken the best part of eleven months for cards based on the specification to make it to market. There have been a fair few announcements of SDHC products, particularly in Japan, but the first to …

  Hardware 1 Dec 2006, 16:50

• US government approves dotcom contract

  And lays groundwork for almighty Net row

  The United States government has approved a revised contract for ownership of the dotcom registry, solving one of the biggest problems at the heart of the internet, but also lighting the fuse on an almighty international argument over Net control. The Department of Commerce announced yesterday that it has amended and then …

  Financial News 1 Dec 2006, 16:51

• SCO shares collapse under weight of ruling

  $1.20 to go

  SCO Group shares went south in a hurry during Friday's trading, as investors reacted to the company's legal misfortunes. SCOX dropped 40 per cent to $1.20 per share, at the time of this report. That's well off a 52-week high of $5.23 and light-years away from the more than $20 per share price SCO enjoyed a couple years back. …

  Financial News 1 Dec 2006, 18:59

• 888's mobile betting moves could touch US

  MGM rumors swirl

  British online gaming company 888 PLC is close to reaching an agreement with European wireless carriers to provide gambling services via cell phones - a move that could have consequences on the US’s bid to quash the online gambling industry. According to Reuters, 888 “is in the final stages” of planting its services in the …

  Mobile 1 Dec 2006, 20:31

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• ← 30th November 2006
• 2nd December 2006 →