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30th January 2007 Archive

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  • ICO approves council tax data share

    And issues disclosure 'guidance'

    The Information Commissioner's Office has given a green light to councils sharing council tax information. Launching new guidance named The use of personal information held for collecting and administrating council tax yesterday, the ICO said: "Council tax information, such as residents' names and addresses collected by …

    Public Sector 30 Jan 2007, 10:10

  • BeOS: the Mac OS X might-have-been

    Forgotten Tech The multimedia OS that debuted years before Vista

    As World+Dog gets its head around Windows Vista, lets look back at an operating system that might have been a contender, very nearly becoming Apple's next-generation OS and, but for Linux, almost certainly the key alternative to Windows in the x86 world. Ladies and gentlemen, who remembers the Be OS? BeOS development stretches …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 10:12

  • Boffins boot up shoe database

    Footwear archive to track crims

    British scientists have scored another first in the battle to beat international crime, launching a database of shoe types. The UK’s Forensic Science Service’s Footwear Intelligence Tool will bring the same sort of techniques used in analysing DNA found at the scene of a crime to identifying the footprints at a scene of a crime …

    Public Sector 30 Jan 2007, 10:22

  • Paris: 'stop exposing me'

    Looks to pull website displaying her personal bits

    Paris Hilton is going after the website that is displaying possessions she forgot to reclaim from a storage lockup, saying she was “appalled” her personal items were being exploited for commercial gain. The parisexposed.com site includes personal photos and videos, as well as Hilton’s passport. It was launched last week by one …

    Entertainment 30 Jan 2007, 10:45

  • AMD Fusion to target laptops at first

    Performance-per-Watt pitch

    AMD's 'Fusion' processors, due to ship around two years from now, will initially target mobile machines as the chip maker pitches the product's superior performance-per-Watt characteristics, it revealed this week. Speaking at a chip design conference, AMD's Chief Platform Architect, Steve Polzin, said of Fusion: "Our plan is …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 10:52

  • Tech industry most trusted in Ireland: survey

    Government doesn't fare so well

    Would you buy a used car from this man (right)? You would if he worked in the technology sector, according to a new survey. Technology is the most trusted industry in Ireland according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual global survey of opinion formers. The survey found 72 per cent of Irish opinion leaders expressed a …

    IT Director 30 Jan 2007, 10:54

  • Outsourcing won't save you money

    Demand for cheap labour is driving salaries up

    Although the outsourcing market has matured rapidly in the last couple of years, we still encounter many companies that see outsourcing as a cost-saving exercise. These companies are often the ones who then lay blame at the outsourcing provider's door, saying the savings weren't big enough (if they existed at all), that the …

    Business 30 Jan 2007, 11:20

  • EU Parliament votes today on new IP laws

    Updated Will downloaders go to jail?

    The European Parliament's committee for legal affairs meets today to vote on proposals for criminal penalties to be imposed on those who infringe intellectual property (IP) rights. The vote today will determine whether or not a person who downloads a single unlicensed track of music could be sent to jail. The scope of the …

    Law 30 Jan 2007, 11:50

  • Hubble's main camera dies a death

    Advanced camera shall survey no more

    Hubble's main camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACFS), has shut down following an electrical failure. The camera went offline last year after a problem with its power supply. That was eventually resolved, but this time most of the the damage looks permanent: NASA says only one of the ACFS's three sub-cameras is likely to …

    Space 30 Jan 2007, 11:52

  • Firefox 2.0: happier browsing, but secure?

    Review The jury's still out

    It's long past time to bother telling anyone how much better than IE Firefox is. Faster, smaller, more responsive, with tabbed browsing and useful extensions galore. It's also lot more secure than IE, partly because it's open source, and particularly because it's not integrated with the underlying OS. Firefox's security bugs …

    Applications 30 Jan 2007, 11:59

  • 'Hobbit' islanders given species claim boost

    Brain strain

    Another salvo has been fired in the row over whether the remains of the Indonesian "Hobbit" people actually represent a separate species, or just malformed Homo sapiens. The bones, unearthed from the Liang Bua limestone cave on the island of Flores caused a sensation when they were first revealed to the world in 2004, but have …

    Biology 30 Jan 2007, 12:08

  • Verizon turned down iPhone's advances

    We're just not meant for each other

    Verizon Wireless was the first company offered exclusive access to the iPhone, but turned Apple away because of problems with the proposed business model. Cingular had no such reservations, and will be selling Steve Jobs' "revolution" later this year. Verizon Communications president and chief operating officer Denny Strigl …

    Mobile 30 Jan 2007, 12:36

  • Intel to take axe to Core 2 Quad pricing on 22 April?

    Core 2 Duo line-up adjustment due then too, it's claimed

    Intel is set to slash the price it charges for its quad-core processor, the Core 2 Quad Q6600, on 22 April, Asian industry moles have claimed. The April quarter should also see the arrival of further Core 2 Duo and Core 2-derived Pentium processors. The Q6600 currently costs $851 when sold in batches of 1,000 CPUs, slightly …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 12:53

  • Sapphire unveils AMD's unannounced X1950 GT

    Underclocked X1950 Pro arrives

    AMD's anticipated ATI Radeon X1950 GT graphics chip has come to market on a board built by Sapphire, announced yesterday. AMD has itself yet to formally signal the part's arrival. The X1950 GT is essentially an under-clocked X1950 Pro. Both contain 36 pixel shaders in 12 parallel pipelines, eight vertex shaders, a 256-bit …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 13:21

  • Intel said to have Extreme-brand laptop CPU in the pipeline

    Targeting gaming notebooks

    Intel is said to be preparing a pair of dual-core Core 2 Extreme processors specifically developed for gamer-friendly notebooks, the first coming in Q2/Q3, the second arriving as a follow-up in Q4. So claim Taiwanese motherboard-maker moles cited by Chinese-language site HKEPC. Codenamed 'Merom XE', the two 65nm parts will …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 13:28

  • Swedes to open embassy in Second Life

    Virtual 'House of Sweden'

    Sweden has announced its intention to be the first nation to have an embassy in Second Life, Reuters reports. The virtual consulate - based on the country's new embassy in Washington - will be rather brilliantly known as the "House of Sweden". Olle Wastberg, general director of the Swedish Institute, explained: "It will have …

    Entertainment 30 Jan 2007, 14:34

  • Apple colours iPod Shuffle line-up

    Blue, green, pink and orange models added

    Apple has released its iPod Shuffle in four more colours. There's no change to the specifications - they're all still 1GB models offering up to 12 hours' music playback time and retailing for $79/£55/€79. Now, though, they match the iPod Nano line-up... almost. Where there's a black Nano, there's an orange Shuffle. …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 14:37

  • Evesham Solar Storm Windows Vista PC

    Review Evesham ships its latest Core 2 Duo rig. Guess what, it runs Vista

    By current standards the Solar Storm is very conventional and uses a Core 2 Duo processor, as Intel's silicon offers both superb dual-core performance as well as value for money. In this case it's an E6400 model that runs at 2.13GHz on a 1,066MHz FSB. There are two 512MB PC2-5300U modules to give 1GB of dual-channel memory, and …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 14:38

  • Microsoft researcher Jim Gray lost at sea

    Pacific search

    California coastguards are searching for Microsoft researcher Jim Gray, who was reported missing at 8.30pm on Sunday after failing to return from a solo boat trip. An experienced yachtsman, Gray sailed early Sunday from a marina near Fort Mason in San Francisco, The San Jose Mercury News reports. He had told family he planned …

    Software 30 Jan 2007, 14:52

  • My big, fat, lily-white Second Life

    NSFW Column Would any black resident please stand up?

    Roleplay in Second Life begins with the creation of one's avatar, or one's primary character. For many residents, the avatar, while certainly a character, also reflects something of the owner's real-life self. Sometimes this will involve a desire or a curiosity for which real life offers no route to satisfaction or exploration …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2007, 15:11

  • Apple posts $2 802.11n Wi-Fi patch

    Update free with upcoming base-station box

    Apple has posted software that will allow Macs with 802.11n-capable Wi-Fi adaptors to support the latest incarnation of the as yet non-standard next-generation wireless networking technology. And yes, the company wants $1.99 or £1.25 for it, depending on your location. The update is being hosted by Apple's online store. …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 15:13

  • Acquiring Code Craft

    Book review How to be crafty, and good, at coding

    Books on programming language x, technology y, and methodology z are 10 a penny. Bookshop shelves groan under the weight of books promising to teach programming x, y or z in 21 days, 7 days, 24 hours, 10 minutes, 30 seconds... Developers are not exempt from the lure of instant wisdom and there are plenty of publishers and …

    Developer 30 Jan 2007, 15:13

  • Vista launches to muted applause

    MS says the 'Wow' starts now - audience says ssshhh...

    Vista has been delayed so many times that the audience didn't seem surprised that the start time slipped back by twenty minutes. About two hundred journalists and Microsoft partners gathered at the British Library conference centre for the launch event this morning. Bill Gates finally arrived on stage looking surprisingly …

    Software 30 Jan 2007, 15:29

  • South Korea collars 'spam' duo

    No dog puns, please

    Two computer programmers have been arrested in South Korea on suspicion of unleashing a torrent of spam on the country between September and December last year. Police allege that the two men - a 20-year-old and 26-year-old - sent some 1.6 billion unsolicited emails aimed at obtaining financial information for resale to loan …

    Spam 30 Jan 2007, 15:31

  • UK procurement contract review drags on

    Still none the wiser

    The government has broadened its review of contractual terms that it recommends are used by public sector buyers when implementing IT projects. In August 2005, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), the government's procurement sheriff, conceded to industry pressure and agreed to review the new model contract terms it …

    Public Sector 30 Jan 2007, 15:53

  • Smut, trademarks and Orville's lament

    Letters And just quis custardies Destiny Welles?

    Last week, Microsoft confused us all by announcing it had no incompatibilities in its shiny new OS, except the ones it put there itself, that weren't there at all, but were still a grave threat to us all. Still with us? No? Not surprising. Was it all about content? Oh we give up. Over to you: The thing that continues to …

    Letters 30 Jan 2007, 16:11

  • Vista and British Library put da Vinci online

    Digitised notebooks freely available for six months

    Microsoft and the British Library have digitised two of Leonardo da Vincis' notebooks. British Library CEO Lynne Brindley said to celebrate the consumer launch of Vista it would offer free access to two da Vinci notebooks - one owned by the library, and one from Gates's private collection. The British Library has created an …

    Applications 30 Jan 2007, 16:15

  • Surfcontrol finding channel waters choppy

    Especially on the western side of the Atlantic

    Silicon Valley/Congleton/wherever-based net security firm Surfcontrol said its plan to become a channel-led services outfit was on track as it announced its Q2 numbers on Thursday, despite registering a $400,000 loss - the same as a year ago. Revenues were up 26 per cent to $31.6m and channel billings now make up 79 per cent of …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2007, 16:29

  • Samsung unveils spin-screen camera-cum-media player

    Samsung has launched a digital camera that's as much a portable media player as it is a picture taker. Dubbed the i7, the snapper has a screen that can rotate to choose which of the device's features you want. It'll even double up as a guide book for your travels. The i7 has a seven megapixel image sensor with 3x optical …

    Reg Hardware 30 Jan 2007, 16:30

  • Getronics hands apps development to India

    MindTree gears for expansion

    Dutch IT services giant Getronics has handed its software application business over to an Indian outsourcer, allowing it to move its developers into its expanding consulting division. MindTree Consulting, a $100m mid-tier outsourcing firm based in Bangalore, India, already has 100 people working on applications business …

    Channel Register 30 Jan 2007, 17:22

  • You'll have SCO to kick around for another year

    Survival code

    The SCO Group has promised to stick around for at least another year. The Unix software maker this week dished out a year-end filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its financial state. Things continue to look grim for SCO as it burns through cash and suffers from dwindling software sales. Still, SCO …

    Servers 30 Jan 2007, 19:58

  • MySQL bites Oracle before Oracle bites it

    Gets your retaliation in first

    In a pre-emptive strike against Oracle, database vendor MySQL has launched its first site-wide license and support package, pricing it the same as a single Oracle CPU database license. MySQL Enterprise Unlimited costs $40,000 and beefs up earlier support by throwing in 100 hours of free consultative" support plus monthly …

    Applications 30 Jan 2007, 21:29