22nd February 2007 Archive

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Microsoft supports rival SWsoft by answering the phone

'Is that you, Serguei?'

Microsoft continues to make nice with non-VMware entities in the server virtualization market. The software maker this week, for example, firmed up a support deal with SWsoft that will see its rival's customers gain access to Microsoft's own army of Windows Server experts. Under the terms of the arrangement, SWsoft will keep …

Servers 22 Feb 2007, 00:04
Salesforce.com profits plunge, commits to investment splurge

Builds own sales army

Marc Benioff delivered a spirited defense of Salesforce.com's growth and spending plans today, after announcing income plunged on surging sales. The Salesforce.com chief executive told Wall Street he is investing in R&D and building an international sales army to winkle Oracle and SAP out of major corporate accounts like Dell …

Financial News 22 Feb 2007, 01:56
Veritas digs out $30m to bury dotcom ghosts

Creative accounting, as well as resume writing

Veritas today put to bed an interminable accounting scandal dating back to the dotcom bubble, and the reign of its disgraced CFO Kenneth Lonchar. The SEC said Veritas will dish out $30m to investors who were fiddled by the firm's shady numbers in the first half of the decade. In May 2005 Veritas said it was ready to cough …

Financial News 22 Feb 2007, 01:57
GPL advocates urged ~~told~~ to pay for love

Comment Freedom is just another word for $7,000

The folks looking after the general public license (GPL) are fond of portraying themselves as the humble shepherds of the free and open source software movement. Their job, among other things, is to provide an open and transparent means for protecting the freedom to review, copy, tinker with and redistribute code. So fervent …

Applications 22 Feb 2007, 02:14
Registerfly files suit against ousted CEO

ICANN snaps to attention

The split between the founders of Registerfly.com, the leading domain name registrar, took a tawdry turn last week, as court documents filed by John Naruszewicz and Unifiednames, the corporation that owns Registerfly.com, made some shocking allegations against ousted CEO Kevin Medina. The complaint seeks compensatory and …

Law 22 Feb 2007, 02:44
eBay security conspiracy catches on with readers

Letters Backdoor man

Our story reporting the abundance of people who believe there is a secret backdoor in eBay's network appeared to touch a nerve. Please continue to send tips to your reporter at the link above. Very interested to read your article, Dan. My eBay account has been hacked twice. Luckily both times eBay picked up on it quickly and …

Letters 22 Feb 2007, 02:52
Microsoft fights AT&T before US Supremes

Judges weigh IP liability

A US court case that threatens to ramp-up damages against US technology companies which lose patent infringement suits has entered its final stages. US Supreme Court justices today heard arguments that Microsoft broke the terms of a patent infringement suit brought by AT&T because it sold copies of Windows in markets outside …

Law 22 Feb 2007, 04:55
Google to charge to keep balls in the air

Adds Docs & Spreadsheet to Apps, spells out SLA

Google will try to chill Microsoft’s post-Office launch glow today, adding Docs & Spreadsheets to its apps suite and pitching a pay per seat version of the bundle to corporate customers. Google will charge companies, or individuals, $50 a seat per year for its Google Apps Premier Edition suite. Likes its free stable mate, PE …

Applications 22 Feb 2007, 05:02
TV show delays drive Oz viewers to distraction

Taking matters into their own hands

Australian TV viewers are waiting longer than ever to view their favourite overseas produced televisions shows, driving them to use BitTorrent and other internet-based peer-to-peer programs to download programmes from overseas, prior to their local broadcast. According to a survey based on a sample of 119 current or recent free …

Law 22 Feb 2007, 06:02
BPI seeks damages from CD WOW!

'Flagrant and systematic breach'

The British recording industry has taken online retailer CD WOW! to court, claiming that the company is breaking a previous court-ordered undertaking not to sell cheap CDs imported from Asia. CD WOW! agreed in 2004 to stop selling CDs in the UK which were imported from south east Asia. Though the CDs were genuine, their sale in …

Music and Media 22 Feb 2007, 08:02
Jesus appears atop mobile phone mast

Ugandan second coming wows the crowds

Large crowds gathered yesterday around a mobile phone mast in the northern Ugandan town of Gulu after locals spotted Jesus Christ atop the structure, Kampala's The Monitor reports. Witness Eric Odongo, who claimed he "first saw clouds on top of the mast and that Jesus appeared to be standing amidst clouds", told the paper: "I …

Mobile 22 Feb 2007, 09:44
ViSOR numbers creep towards 100,000

As Pito looks to share data with other gov depts

The number of records on the Violent Sex Offender Register is on course to reach 100,000. Tom McArthur, director of operational services for the Police Information Technology Organisation (Pito), said the number of records is increasing and data from the prison and probation services is now added to the register. Speaking at …

Government 22 Feb 2007, 10:13
Apple and Cisco kiss and make up

Agree to share iPhone name

Apple and Cisco will have products on the market called "iPhone" at the same time, without suing each other. Instead, they are going to work towards interoperability in other areas to prove they are now best friends. The announcement came last night in a joint statement, with Cisco giving up its claim that having two products …

Financial News 22 Feb 2007, 10:21
Cisco pays $135m for Reactivity

Fourth buy of the year

Cisco is continuing its buying spree, paying $135m in cash and options for Reactivity. The 56 person company, founded in 1998, makes XML integration products. The devices work on most platforms to make service oriented architecture easier to implement. Cisco has strengthened its application business with a string of recent …

Data Networking 22 Feb 2007, 10:22
Mobile operators taken to task on roaming

Accused of 'twisting the truth'

Mobile operators have been accused of "twisting the truth" by a major European consumer lobby group investigating roaming charges. According to BEUC, mobile customers shouldn't pay more than €0.33 per minute on roaming charges. The figure was calculated by doubling the mobile termination rate of the larger networks, and adding …

Mobile 22 Feb 2007, 10:28
Wi-Fi terror menaces Vancouver

City cops braced for laptop jihad

International terrorists with a grudge against the winter sports community are believed to be clearing their diaries in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Vancouver. It is feared that the miscreants may be plotting nefarious uses for the city's mooted free/low-cost wireless network. The Vancouver …

Crime 22 Feb 2007, 11:06
NZ fishermen hook 'biggest ever' squid

10-metre, 450kg colossus

New Zealand fishermen have landed what experts reckon might be the biggest squid ever snared - a 10-metre-long, 450kg example of "colossal" Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. The behemoth was captured in Antarctic waters after a two-hour battle. The species can grow to a similar length to the giant Architeuthis, an example of which …

Biology 22 Feb 2007, 11:41
Capita ups turnover

World's favourite outsourcer

Capita shares took a beating this morning, falling nearly four per cent, despite its posting strong prelim results. For the year ended 31 December, 2006, the company increased turnover by 21 per cent (16 per cent organic and five per cent thanks to acquisitions) to £1.74bn, and profits before tax were £200.1m an increase of 18 …

Channel Register 22 Feb 2007, 11:43
First female Turing Award winner named

Computing gong for Fran Allen

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Frances E Allen as the recipient of the 2006 A M Turing Award. Allen was cited for contributions that fundamentally improved the performance of computer programs in solving problems, and accelerated the use of high performance computing. Allen is an IBM Fellow Emerita …

Software 22 Feb 2007, 11:47
Mexican students adopt robobabies

Computerised deterrent to teen pregnancies

The Mexican state of Chihuahua has formulated a cunning plan to reduce the area's soaring teenage birth rate - obliging youngsters to look after wailing, burping robobabies, Reuters reports. Pairs of high school students aged between 13 and 17 adopt the computerised "RealCare babies" for two or three days, during which they are …

Biology 22 Feb 2007, 11:54
Road pricing - Blair's shock 'privacy guarantee'

Stronger than the usual 'safeguards'?

The Downing Street road pricing petition, which closed on Tuesday night, has had an immediate but largely unnoticed effect. It appears to have wrung a reasonably firm privacy commitment from Tony Blair. We should stress at this point that it is only a reasonable commitment, not an absolute one, but although there is wiggle- …

Government 22 Feb 2007, 12:52
Ex-judge jailed for child abuse

Vigilante hacker claims scalp after six year legal wrangle

A former senior judge from California has been jailed for 27 months for possession of child pornography in a case initially based on evidence from a vigilante hacker. The sentencing of Ronald C Kline, 66, on Tuesday brought an end to six years of legal wrangling over the admissibility of evidence obtained after Kline's PC was …

Crime 22 Feb 2007, 13:12
Egyptian blogger jailed for four years

Insult Islam at your peril

An Egyptian blogger found guilty of insulting both Islam and the country's president has been jailed for four years, Reuters reports. An Alexandria court sentenced former law student Abdel Karim Suleiman for eight articles he wrote in 2004. He had been in custody since November last year over the polemical outpourings which …

Operating Systems 22 Feb 2007, 13:17
C2K offers online Microsoft licenses

First distie to offer Open Value

Computer 2000, the UK arm of Tech Data, is the first distie to offer resellers Microsoft's Open Value Licensing programme through a website. Resellers can access Open Value Licensing through C2K's License Online service, which lets resellers build quotes and order licenses online. Open Value licenses account for 40 per cent …

Channel Register 22 Feb 2007, 13:25
What's happening in the world of data warehouse appliances?

Comment Releases and re-launches

Quite a lot has happened in the data warehousing appliance (DWA) space recently, so here's an update. Perhaps the most significant event has been the latest release by DATAllegro. In product terms the most interesting part of this announcement is the introduction of compression. IBM, of course, introduced this last year and …

Channel Register 22 Feb 2007, 13:33
Biscit says no trouble at the mill

As executive director departs

Internet Service Provider Biscit has insisted it is "business as usual" after its chief executive left the board. The firm has also denied speculation that it has been undergoing financial problems after refund cheques to customers bounced. The firm also laid off some staff in January The company today announced the departure …

Telecoms 22 Feb 2007, 13:46
US killer robots take jobs from flyboys, dolphins

Breadline for Flipper

"Team Warrior", a killer robot manufacturing alliance led by General Atomics of San Diego, CA, announced yesterday that its Warrior Extended Range/Multi Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System (ERMP UAS) would enter production for the US Army, another step in the US forces' ongoing effort to automate most military activities. …

Science 22 Feb 2007, 14:05
Europe beams out UWB roadmap

Agrees on the need for harmonisation

The European Commission has taken the first steps towards an EU-wide license for Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio communications, by agreeing that such an approach is necessary and laying down the basic pattern of adoption. UWB has enormous potential as a cable-replacement technology. It offers huge amounts of bandwidth over very …

Wireless 22 Feb 2007, 14:48
Data watchdogs write then bury transparency plan

We'd love to tell you about it. But we won't

European privacy guardians committed themselves to transparency and openness last week - but haven't gotten round to telling anyone yet. The Article 29 Working Party, which is made up of representatives from all of Europe's data protection authorities, had formally adopted a declaration of transparency at its meeting last …

Law 22 Feb 2007, 14:53
Iraqi bombers use chemical-based psych strikes

Industrial chlorine cylinders make comeback

US military spokesmen in Baghdad yesterday indicated a new trend in bombing attacks by Iraqi insurgents. A pickup truck loaded with chlorine gas cylinders and explosives blew up in the southwest of the city, killing two Iraqis and wounding many more, according to the BBC. Other attacks involving chlorine took place on Tuesday …

Science 22 Feb 2007, 15:21
Symantec subscription glitch derails users

False early expiry flap

Symantec has apologised after a glitch with its software resulted in "small group" of its customers been falsely advised that their software subscriptions had expired early. The early renewal alert SNAFU affected an unknown number of users of 2006 versions of Norton products. Users of 2005 and the latest (2007) versions of …

Security 22 Feb 2007, 15:55
Quantum crypto backdoor closed

Cambridge boffins patch photon-splitting vuln

Researchers believe they have secured a potential backdoor in a cryptography technique known as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The QKD method involves the use of laser diodes to transmit crypto keys along fibre optic lines as streams of light quanta – individual photons. Any attempt to eavesdrop on the transmission involves …

Enterprise Security 22 Feb 2007, 16:07
Canon fires off volley of new cameras

From printers to projectors, cameras to camcorders

This morning in London, Canon proudly showed off its Spring collection for 2007, comprising of no fewer than 43 new products aimed at both the consumer audience and professional user, from printers to projectors, cameras to camcorders. The products announced include the quite spectacular EOS 1D Mk III digital SLR camera, …

Reg Hardware 22 Feb 2007, 16:17
Pentax pushes out new products

Seems to be the day for digital camera launches

Pentax today announced the latest additions to its Optio compact digital camera range: the A30 high-end digital compact and the W30 that features waterproof functionality enabling use for photography and videos at depths of three metres. Both feature enhanced digital SR (shake reduction), with the A30 sporting 10 megapixel …

Reg Hardware 22 Feb 2007, 17:52
TJX security breach fears grow

How deep does the rabbit-hole go?

TJX, the US retailing giant,says a hacker intrusion against its credit card transaction processing system is more serious than first reported. The breach, detected in December 2006, affected systems handling debit and credit card transactions as well as cheque purchases and refunds at the company's TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods …

Enterprise Security 22 Feb 2007, 19:23
Closed Skype wants open networks

Pot, dial Kettle

eBay's proprietary VoIP service Skype wants the Federal Communications Commission to change its rules on how cellular networks operate. It's demanding that the US regulator extend a 1968 legal decision, which permitted any device to be attached to the AT&T network, to apply to mobile operators. It also wants a new industry body …

VoIP 22 Feb 2007, 19:36
Mandriva courts 419 scammers

Go East and then West, young penguin

Mandriva has moved to open a direct sales channel to the 419 scammer set. Okay, okay. The Linux maker actually pitches its new African headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria as one step toward bridging the so-called digital divide. "The goal of Mandriva West Africa is to provide local distribution of Mandriva Linux and other integrated …

Channel Register 22 Feb 2007, 20:07
Canadian geeks snub Sun's McNealy

Would prefer a RIM job

For Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy, it could be the ultimate disgrace. A group of Canadian technophiles has organized a Geeks on Ice hockey tournament and not invited the technology world's most famous puck-hunting executive. Instead, the Geeks on Ice crew have tried to convince RIM CEO Jim Balsillie to attend their gig …

Entertainment 22 Feb 2007, 20:28
Sun's top Solaris sellers bail out

Exclusive OS under attack from families

A pair of Sun's top Solaris executives have scurried right on out of the company, The Register can reveal. Solaris VP Tom Goguen will leave the company for "personal and family reasons," and Sun's director of Solaris marketing Chris Ratcliffe has also departed for "family reasons." Those damn families sure do take a toll on the …

Servers 22 Feb 2007, 21:20
Man pleads guilty to spreading Trojan via IRC

Up to five years in prison

A Washington-state man pleaded guilty to one felony count of computer fraud relating to charges he spread malware to users of an internet relay chat (IRC) channel. He faces up five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in early May. Using the user ID Fyle, Richard C. Honour infected IRC users with a program …

Anti-Virus 22 Feb 2007, 23:01
Sun's servers resurgent in 2006 - Gartner

Dell's pungent

Sun Microsystems used 2006 as a throwback session by pushing its sales way higher while rivals were happy to exit the year with any kind of growth. Fresh data from Gartner reveals that Sun's server revenue shot up 15 per cent ($5.7bn) during 2006. The company was the only major vendor to enjoy significant sales gains. IBM ($16. …

Servers 22 Feb 2007, 23:09