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18th December 2006 Archive

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  • Man granted permit to dump dead gran at tip

    Waste disposal, Cumbria style

    Any reader whose granny has just passed away and who can't really afford a decent send-off should ring Cumbria County Council which recently issued a permit for one chap to dispose of his deceased nan's dismembered body parts at the local tip. According to the Times and Star, 42-year-old Dave Straughton of Workington called the …

    Music and Media 18 Dec 2006, 09:34

  • 123-Reg says sorry

    Delays not connected to office move

    Hosting service 123-reg has put its hands up following a flood of complaints from Reg readers about its email service. "Some 123-reg customers may have experienced intermittent delays in their emails in the last two weeks. We had received a particularly high level of image-based spam attacks over a short period of time," the …

    Telecoms 18 Dec 2006, 10:10

  • iPhone launched... but not by Apple

    Linksys' rebranding coup

    Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome the iPhone from... er... Linksys. Yes, the iPhone has indeed been launched today, as forecast, but it's not the device so many people were expecting. Instead, it's Linksys' new brand name for its range of VoIP handsets. That line-up includes not only a couple of new models but …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 10:12

  • Carbon offsetting: not such a quick fix after all

    Saving planet more complex than planting a tree

    Bad news for buyers of ecological Christmas presents and seekers of environmental quick fixes: offsetting carbon emissions by planting extra trees might not work as well as we had all hoped. It always seemed too easy, didn't it? New research presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union suggests that the carbon …

    Science 18 Dec 2006, 10:13

  • Premium rate messaging set for regulation overhaul

    Ofcom kicks off 'first principles' review

    Ofcom has begun a "first principles" review of premium rate service (PRS) regulation in a move that could change the way premium rate phone and text services are regulated. ICSTIS (Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Telephone Information Services) currently regulates premium rate telephone services …

    Networks 18 Dec 2006, 10:22

  • IBM snaps up Consul

    Risky business

    IBM recently announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Consul Risk Management Inc, a privately held software company headquartered in the Netherlands and with a US base in Virginia. Consul was founded in 1989 and currently has 89 staff in Europe and the US. The company specialises in supplying compliance and …

    Financial News 18 Dec 2006, 10:27

  • Siemens-Nokia networks merger postponed

    Siemens corruption scandal broadens

    The €20bn merger of the Nokia and Siemens networks businesses will be postponed by a couple of months as a result of the broadening corruption scandal at Siemens. The two companies were to merge their telecoms equipment and network activities as of 1 January to close the gap with Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. However, last week …

    Data Networking 18 Dec 2006, 10:31

  • Mobile working scuppers office romance

    Where is the love?

    Northern Ireland workers may end up asking 'Where's the love?', according to a new survey on mobile devices. The study, by communications firm Damovo, found that the increasing use of devices such as laptops and PDAs is allowing people to spend more time working from home, reducing the chances for an office romance. "There is a …

    Small Biz 18 Dec 2006, 10:33

  • CNN cedes Wales to England

    Reporters without borders

    We have some bad news for those of you who woke up this morning thinking you were Welsh: as of right now, you're English, and you'd just better get used to the idea: Yup, CNN last week ceded Wales to England in this story concerning the Suffolk murders. Although the offending map has now been removed, when we rang the Welsh …

    Music and Media 18 Dec 2006, 10:35

  • Nintendo said to profit on Wii production

    Consoles costs under $160 to manufacture?

    Nintendo may well be making so much profit on its Wii console it can well afford to replace broken Remote straps. According to a Japanese publication's assessment of the machine's innards, the console costs the videogames company less than $160 to assemble. In a report published by Japanese business weekly the Toyo Keizai and …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 10:50

  • Home Office bumps up innocents on DNA Database

    Eight times figure previously announced

    Less than two thirds of people whose profile is stored on the National DNA Database are there for having been cautioned or convicted of a criminal offence, Home Office figures have revealed. In response to a parliamentary question, John Reid last week responded that 3,457,000 individuals are on the database, but 1,139,445 have …

    Government 18 Dec 2006, 11:03

  • Fjuckby residents demand rebranding

    NSFW Villagers fjucked off with international ridicule

    The good burghers of the Swedish village of Fjuckby have decided they've had enough of being the butt of fjuck jokes and are demanding a rebrand, The Local reports. The Fjuckers finger globalisation as the principal cause of their woes, which "has led to rude English-language associations that the villagers could do without". …

    Music and Media 18 Dec 2006, 11:45

  • Developing blind

    Open your eyes to the potential of the disabled

    In general, you are not allowed to discriminate against the physically disabled in the workplace. When one thinks of a job in software development, however, one conjures up the image of programmers building applications or writing code in front of a computer screen - tasks apparently relying on good vision. So what must it be …

    Developer 18 Dec 2006, 11:50

  • Amazon turns off Ireland's electronic Christmas

    WEEE directive is just not fair

    Confusion over the way the WEEE directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is implemented in different European states has prompted Amazon to cease shipping qualifying products to the Repubic of Ireland (IE). A spokesman told The Register: "Amazon.co.uk does not deliver certain items to the Republic of Ireland …

    Financial News 18 Dec 2006, 11:57

  • Hauppauge touts 'world's first' triple-tuner TV card

    Hauppauge is doing a Gilette. Tired of the limitations of two TV tuners, Hauppauge's WinTV HVR-3000 ups the count to three, the first tuner card to do so, the company claimed today. The PCI card has a co-ax input to pick up free-to-air digital satellite and terrestrial broadcasts, and analogue TV transmissions. It'll relay FM …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 12:03

  • iKey Plus portable USB recorder

    Review Connect iPod, press Record

    For budding DJs, or musicians who want to record live sets or gigs, the new iKey Plus portable USB recorder could be just what the beat doctor ordered. Designed to work with - yes, you've guessed it - the iPod, or any other external USB storage device, the iKey Plus can record live audio in MP3 or WAV format without the need for …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 13:15

  • FAA: Space tourists must be told of risks

    One way trip, no refunds

    Caution: this could be a one way trip. This is what would-be space tourists will have to be warned before they set off on sub-orbital jaunts, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said. Following the successful launch of SpaceShipOne, the X-Prize winning craft designed by Burt Rutan, the organisation has now finalised …

    Space 18 Dec 2006, 13:19

  • Hynix clocks 60nm DDR 2 chip to 800MHz

    Cheaper, more capacious DIMMs ahoy, firm claims

    Hynix has introduced a pair of unbuffered DIMMs based on its 60nm 1Gb DDR 2 memory chips, the company said today. The modules are clocked to an effective 800MHz. Two DIMMs were unwrapped: a 1GB part and a 2GB model. Since Hynix won't be bringing its 60nm chip into mass production until some time in H1 2007, the DIMMs could be …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 13:28

  • The Italian Job rated top Brit movie

    'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!'

    A poll of 1,000 UK film buffs has rated The Italian Job as the "all-time favourite British film", The Sun reports. Michael Caine's classic line "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" also secured the "most memorable scene" title. The survey, for some reason carried out by food firm Pork Farms, shows the Turin car …

    Entertainment 18 Dec 2006, 13:31

  • Anti-spam tech reborn as web activist tool

    Phoenix from the flames

    The people behind Blue Security, the anti-spam firm brought down by a rogue spammer earlier this year, have launched a new social action firm. The new company - renamed Collactive - will market tools designed to organise grassroots action by web activists. Collactive is repurposing Blue Security's Blue Frog technology to put …

    Spam 18 Dec 2006, 13:36

  • Asus orders Commando into action

    Overclockers targeted

    Asus has announced its overclocker-friendly Commando motherboard, a product based on Intel's P965 chipset and which allows users to turn their PCs' frontside bus and memory clocks up to 2.28GHz and 1.3GHz, respectively. The Commando supports up to 8GB of dual-channel DDR 2 SDRAM and provides a pair of PCI Express x8 for AMD …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 14:35

  • UK to build world's biggest offshore wind farm

    341 turbines, lots of green 'leccy

    The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has approved a plan to erect 341 wind turbines off the coast of south-east England, The Guardian reports. The London Array wind farm will be the biggest of its kind in the world, spread across 145 square miles, 12 miles off the coast between Margate in Kent and Clacton in Essex. The …

    Financial News 18 Dec 2006, 14:52

  • Worcestershire NHS peddles filth to kiddies

    NSFW Woman's reproductive organs are called what?

    It's enough to have Middle England choking on its cocoa: get yourselves down to Worcestershire Health Authority's Sexual Health Online website, then right click on the fetching graphic of a lady's reproductive bits and check out the image properties: For shame. Given that honest taxpayers' money is being used to peddle this …

    Music and Media 18 Dec 2006, 14:53

  • Yahoo! Messenger! in! security! flap!

    Its buffer floweth over

    Yahoo! Messenger users have been warned to update their IM software following the discovery of a serious security bug. The vulnerability - which involves an unspecified buffer overflow bug in the IM client's YMailAttach ActiveX control - creates a potential means for hackers to take control of Windows (and only Windows) PCs. …

    Enterprise Security 18 Dec 2006, 14:57

  • Kingston swallows call centre firm

    JAMmy b*stards

    East Yorkshire telco Kingston Communications has bought IP-based call centre software firm JAM IP for £2.56m. The privately-held Berkshire-based outfit will fit into Kingston's Affiniti enterprise reselling and consultancy business. JAM IP develops and consults on applications for IP contact centre management such as screen …

    Financial News 18 Dec 2006, 14:58

  • LG launches 'TVPC'

    LG has jumped into the PCTV market, offering a widescreen display with what is essentially a notebook computer built into the chassis. You can tell LG's approaching this convergence thing from the opposite direction to everyone else: it calls its product a TVPC. The DA70 is based on an 1.73GHz Celeron M 430 processor, 1GB …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 15:00

  • Orange SPV M700 3G PDA phone spied on web

    France Telecom has the gen

    HTC's P3600 compact 3G PDA phone has gone on sale on the Orange mobile phone network as the SPV M700. Well, that portion of the network that extends across France, at the very least. Orange owner France Telecom is currently touting the Orange-branded handset, which has yet to appear over here. The M700 sports quad-band GSM/ …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 15:24

  • NEC recalls fire-risk desktop PCs

    Almost 15,000 machines affected

    NEC Japan has asked anyone who bought in a Valuestar H all-in-one desktop PC manufactured between November 2003 and June 2004 to contact the company for a free replacement after two of the machines caught fire, the company said today. The machines are believed to have contained faulty power supply units which produced …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 15:54

  • Panasonic pitches 'safe' lithium-ion laptop battery

    Contains 'thermally resilient' layer

    Panasonic parent Matsushita today announced what it claims is a "safe" lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The secret: inserting a layer of heat-resistant insulating material to prevent fire-starting internal short-circuits of the kind that ignited a number of notebooks this year. Typical lithium-ion batteries embed the …

    Reg Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 16:31

  • HDS grabs for the middle

    Multiplying tentacles

    Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) continued its drive to broaden its reach by announcing a suite of new software for mid-sized storage operations - small fry compared to its traditional base in big enterprise. HDS's new mid-sized solution packages aim to take advantage of the raft of software refreshes from Microsoft due to hit in …

    Storage 18 Dec 2006, 16:40

  • John Doe blogger named Person of the Year

    Wiki-fiddlers - it's your hour

    Few publications in the world take themselves as seriously as Time magazine, and Christmas each year finds it at its most unctuous and self-important, as Time chooses its "Person of the Year". This year, the award for newsmaker of 2006 is given to "You" - the internet user. But perhaps not you or me. The kind of internet user …

    Music and Media 18 Dec 2006, 16:57

  • 100m US records exposed by security blunders

    ID theft milestone reached

    The total number of US customer records compromised as a result of security blunders has hit the 100m milestone. The running total of potential compromised records recorded by the US Privacy Rights Clearinghouse since February 2005 reached this milestone with news last week of the loss of a laptop by a Boeing worker, a breach …

    ID 18 Dec 2006, 17:00

  • 2007 - a good year to go iSCSI?

    Executive briefing Download our report here

    It has been a long struggle, but with IP-based SANs finally achieving parity of sorts with Fibre Channel SANs, 2007 could at last be "The Year of iSCSI". So with the hype (mostly) behind us, it is time to look at who is using iSCSI - among both users and suppliers - and what they are doing with it. It is more than just a SAN …

    Storage 18 Dec 2006, 18:12

  • IBM builds Second Life store for Circuit City

    Avatars show where the work is

    IBM has cut a deal with US electronic gizmo retailer Circuit City Stores to build a virtual store on one of the private fiefdoms it occupies on Second Life. There, virtual visitors will, in the form of their on-screen avatar, be able to go down the aisles of the store and examine products. The products can then be or ordered via …

    Developer 18 Dec 2006, 18:18

  • Giving some Juce to cross-platform tools

    Hands on Juce in the spotlight

    Last month I looked at Qt, the popular C++ cross-platform framework which underpins the KDE desktop, and a whole lot more. This time, I'm continuing that same theme by taking a look at another cross-platform C++ library called Juce (OK, no jokes about Apple Juce!) Chances are pretty good that you've never actually heard of …

    Developer 18 Dec 2006, 18:20

  • Rob Enderle weighs in on NY Times ban

    Comment They need help

    Ashlee, I read you piece (NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories) over the weekend and man did you hit a chord with me. I sweat this stuff. I’m accused quite often of being a Microsoft shill and, as you point out, there is actually a cottage industry that has cropped up making that accusation to keep me from …

    Hardware 18 Dec 2006, 18:31

  • Halliburton loses software patent appeal in UK

    Less than patently obvious

    England's Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that two software-related patents were invalid. Oil giant Halliburton's attempts to patent in the UK a software system for designing drill bits has failed. The company has been in dispute in the US and Europe over the drill bit designing software, and won its US case. There it …

    Applications 18 Dec 2006, 19:12