16th March 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Old adware habits hard to break for AT&T and Travelocity

Still defiling net

AT&T Wireless and Travelocity have continued to pay for ads that get served up by some of the net's more notorious networks despite a legally binding promise to refrain from pitching crud to web denizens. Adware buster Ben Edelman came to that conclusion after meticulously documenting ads being displayed on computers sullied by …

Spyware 16 Mar 2007, 00:28
MySpace-hosted malware exploits QuickTime flaw

French band wants to know its fans better

A security researcher has documented malware that uses a vulnerability in Apple's QuickTime movie player to make a computer download and run a Javascript. A MySpace account promoting a French music group is exploiting the flaw to siphon information about users visiting the page and send it to a remote server. (Note: The hole …

Enterprise Security 16 Mar 2007, 04:01
Blog: Housebuilding as a metaphor for software development

Software is a thing called Comfort

I've long believed that when you start a project you worry about the technology and whether it works. but in the post-mortem afterwards, you find that most of the real issues were to do with project management. Even technology failure can be mitigated, if the project is managed properly. Sometimes the right course is to cancel …

Developer 16 Mar 2007, 07:02
Sony unveils a 3D MySpace with games

Socialise in your PS3

The new Sony Home PS3 network promises to be a bit like playing Doom on a computer, where the monsters you meet are being driven by real people, and it conjures images of the internet space novels Snow Crash and Neuromancer, where players interacted fully in virtual worlds. The new Sony Home feature was described this week by …

Music and Media 16 Mar 2007, 09:02
NZ council sues self and wins

And loses

A New Zealand council has taken itself to court and successfully been fined $4,800, the New Zealand Herald reports. Waitakere City Council decided to take action "in the name of even-handed administration of regulations after it failed to get consents to move six houses". Specifically, it "brought the charges after learning it …

Law 16 Mar 2007, 09:10
Carnivore ATM bites Florida kiddie

RoTM Firefighters battle rogue cash machine for four hours

A light-fingered Florida nine-year-old has learnt the hard way that you don't mess with ATMs after getting bitten by an Orange County carnivore cash machine. According to a chilling video report on WSMV Nashville, what for Angelica Santiago should have been a routine trip to the store with her parents ended as a four-hour …

Rise of the Machines 16 Mar 2007, 09:58
Why did your emplyees ejactulate into my grandmother's milkshake?

McDonald's responds to customer query

We never thought we'd say this, but it's big up rispek today for McDonald's UK for the candid way in which it deals with challenging customer queries. Try this poser: So now you know. This and other revelations can be found at the burger monolith's "Make your own mind up" customer interface. Just stick "milkshake" in the …

Small Biz 16 Mar 2007, 10:12
Domain tasting makes WIPO sick

Speculative registration a threat to brand owners

The fairness of the domain name system is being undermined by a new practice that turns domain names into commodities for speculative gain, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which oversees many domain name disputes. The number of domain name disputes resolved by WIPO last year rose by 25 per cent …

Law 16 Mar 2007, 10:15
Cricinfo bats against Sky in copyright dispute

Simulation could be hit for six, expert says

A cricketing website has found what it hopes is an inventive way to bypass copyright laws to show users action from the Cricket World Cup. Despite the fact that Sky Television has the exclusive rights to broadcast the live action from the West Indies, Cricinfo.com is using computer animation to provide ball-by-ball coverage to …

Law 16 Mar 2007, 10:26
Mio marches on with new GPS launches

CeBIT Four new personal navigation products announced

Three products in the new range - the C320, C520 and C520t - feature a 4.3in widescreen display and split-screen view, while the entry-level C220 retains a standard 3.5in screen. All four products feature the MioMap 3 software, in addition to speed camera alerts and 20 channel SiRFstarIII GPS receiver. The 2cm-deep …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 10:27
The top 25 UK web 2.0 start ups

Tech Digest Watch out Silicon Valley - the Brits are coming!

Web 2.0 isn't just about startups in California hoping to get bought by Google - even if it can sometimes seem that way. There's loads of sparky Web 2.0 startups here in the UK, even if they don't fall into a lazily-definable scene, trend, or movement. With no agenda other than they're interesting, here's 25 UK-based startups …

Small Biz 16 Mar 2007, 10:29
Tax credits portal to reopen in 2008

Troubled system resurrected

The paymaster general has told MPs the online tax credits system, once a target for criminals, is to reopen next year. The troubled online system for the delivery of tax credits is be brought back into service, a hearing of Parliament's treasury committee has heard. Dawn Primarolo, paymaster general at HM Revenue and Customs ( …

Government 16 Mar 2007, 10:31
CeBIT Acer sends mini PC into the living room

Acer is to offer a living room-friendly version of its business-oriented mini PC, the Veriton 1000, the manufacturer revealed today. The standard Veriton is a compact, slimline system designed for call-centre desks and the like. But an Aspire-branded version with the management features swapped out for consumer-targeted …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 10:50
HP Sauce goes Dutch

Unsavoury end to UK production

The UK has capped its final bottle of HP Sauce, the BBC reports. The classic accompaniment to the Brit bacon sarnie will in future have a distinctly Dutch tang, with production shifting to the Netherlands since the Birmingham operation was "not viable", according to Heinz. The Aston factory's last shift ended at 6am today after …

Bootnotes 16 Mar 2007, 10:56
Microsoft moves further into the Content Intelligence space

Comment BPIO is go

In my previous article The Content Intelligence (CI) market: to be or not to be? I debated whether or not the CI market was in a state of readiness for lift-off. When Microsoft enters a new market, lift-off is pretty much assured, and the CI market is no exception. Recently Microsoft explained its Business Productivity …

Developer 16 Mar 2007, 11:07
Exam cheats get gadgety

Turn over your mobiles now

More than 1,000 teenagers were caught using "mobile phones or other electronic communication devices" during exams last year, according to a Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) report released today. The total number of candidates collared with "unauthorised material" was 1,906, but this figure included those nabbed …

Mobile 16 Mar 2007, 11:08
Elton John menaces Tobago

Could turn island gay, archdeacon claims

Sir Elton John may be banned from performing a forthcoming gig on the Caribbean island of Tobago for fears the musical Friend of Dorothy could turn the whole place gay, The Sun reports. Sir Elton is slated to take to the stage at a jazz festival in April, but his imminent arrival has ruffled a few feathers on an island where …

Entertainment 16 Mar 2007, 11:11
iLuv woos with DVD-playing add-on screen for iPod

iLuv wants you iPod owners to open your heart to its i1055, a gadget that transforms Apple's icon music player into a big-screen portable movie viewer. No videos on your iPod? Don't worry, the i1055 is a DVD player too. The i1055's display is a full seven-incher, placed alongside the unit's controls. The iPod docks …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 11:11
Headphone wearing dinobots will raise our children

CeBIT FSC's research reveals society's ideal digital home

The children of the future will be raised by robot dinosaurs, will only communicate with their parents via blogs, and their best friends will be people they've seen on YouTube. At least that's one way of looking at the technology future sketched out by Fujitsu Siemens after a year's worth of trend tracking by research agency …

Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 11:48
BOFH: The new geek on the block

Episode 10 Defending the sanctity of the computer room

>Swipe< >bip< >bip< >bip< >bip< >BEEP-BEEP-BEEEEEP!< >Swipe< >bip< >bip< >bip< >bip< >BEEP-BEEP-BEEEEEP!< >Swipe< >bip< ... >bip< ... >bip< .... >bip< >BEEP-BEEP-BEEEEEP!< "There's something wrong with the door," the Boss announces. "Which door?" the PFY asks, apparently oblivious to the fact that the Boss is standing …

BOFH 16 Mar 2007, 11:55
Rock rolls out Meivo VoD HD TV

Vista inside

We've heard of big-screen PCs with built-in TV tuners, but here's an attempt to do it the other way round. Notebook specialist Rock has put the PC into the TV, and is pitching the hybrid as a handy way to view web-sourced video-on-demand content. Meivo clips a Core 2 Duo-based Windows Vista computer on the back of a 22in, 1, …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 12:01
Ubiquio 701 ultra-mobile PC

Review The UMPC finally beats the laptop?

It's almost a year since Intel and Microsoft launched the Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) as a new category of handheld computer. Chip maker VIA touted an early reference design, but its offering was quickly eclipsed by Samsung's Q1 UMPC. But the VIA machines didn't disappear entirely and has now popped up again, this time as the Ubiquio …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 12:02
Ballmer says Google growth strategy 'insane'

Tech world amazed by relative politeness

Chair-flinging Microsoft kingpin Steve Ballmer has continued his public campaign against Google, characterising the search firm's growth strategy as "insane." The famously irascible billionaire, currently fourteenth on the Forbes' richest-yanks-on-the-planet list, made the remarks during a talk to Stanford Business School …

Software 16 Mar 2007, 12:13
Readers win with Reg Hardware

Last week, Register Hardware offered its readers the chance to win a Nokia E65 smart phone... We've already announced two of the winners - Philip Taylor and Sanjit Sousa. They'll be receiving their E65s shortly. So too will Wednesday's winner, Dave Hayzen-Smith, along with Hans-Ulrich Kuhn and Jenny Price, whose names came …

Reg Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 12:16
Wiki elevated to Oxford English Dictionary

Read it and weep

It's official: "wiki" is now a fully-fledged member of the English lexicon, according to the latest update of the online Oxford English Dictionary (OED). OED chief editor John Simpson said in a statement: "Words are included in the dictionary on the basis of the documentary evidence that we have collected about them. A while …

Bootnotes 16 Mar 2007, 12:17
Researchers take internet back to the drawing board

Schtop, this internet is not ready...

The internet as it stands has numerous shortcomings, so researchers at Stanford University have gone back to the drawing board in an effort to design a better system of communications. In an overview of the project, the researchers explain: "We believe that the current internet has significant deficiencies that need to be …

Enterprise Security 16 Mar 2007, 12:24
The devil is in the data sharing

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

The Register Weekly Digest has been put together to make your life easy. It gives you a buffet of all the week's news in one easy-to-swallow email. It also comes as a PDF so you can print it out and take it away with you. We serve it up every Friday. The links to the full news stories are there if you've got the time to read …

Business 16 Mar 2007, 13:05
CeBIT clips vulture's wing

CeBIT blog As furry purple letters spell trouble

Things just aren't as big as they used to be at CeBIT. The trade show has slipped down the industry's to-do list almost as quickly as it has vacated the number of the halls it used to pack out. Even Greenpeace couldn't be bothered turning up this year to harangue show goers and point out how much rubbish they're creating. When …

Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 13:50
SMEs still in dark over WEEE

Red tape should be mainly suppliers' problem, though

SMEs remain wildly ignorant of new electronic equipment disposal regs, according to a leading UK IT reseller. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation passed another significant milestone this week. The deadline for kit producers to join a disposal compliance scheme was 15 March. A survey conducted by …

Small Biz 16 Mar 2007, 14:42
Skype does directory enquiries and dirty chat lines

Value-added VoIP

Popular VoIP service Skype has launched two new services, Skype Find and Skype Prime. Both are available worldwide and both services are currently in beta testing mode. Skype Find, a business recommendation service, allows users to search for a service within an entered location, and see a listing of local companies that can …

VoIP 16 Mar 2007, 14:48
Phoenix makes tentative offer for ICM

Conditions apply

Phoenix IT Group, a publicly-listed managed services company, has tabled a conditional offer to buy business continuity firm ICM Computer Group. The firms announced in January that they were chatting. Phoenix has put in an offer equating to 415 pence per share. At the time this article went to press, ICM last closed trading …

Channel Register 16 Mar 2007, 14:50
HP models security and trust

Pitching at security soup to nuts

Implementing sensible security measures is still one of those decisions that remains on the "what we should do next" list within many enterprises. That is certainly the view of Martin Sadler, director of the Trusted Systems Lab at HP's research laboratories in Bristol. "Generally speaking there is still a low level of …

Developer 16 Mar 2007, 14:53
Will Net Neutrality kill Web 2.0?

Rerouting round the net

Networks need to get smarter, says PacketExchange's Kieron O'Brien, in a sharp counterpoint to the "Net Neutrality" hysteria. PacketExchange bypasses the congestion of the internet by offering its customers a private end-to-end network. Some of its customers, such as Nokia, Microsoft, and cable ISP Telewest (now owned by Virgin …

Telecoms 16 Mar 2007, 14:59
CeBIT 2007: The package

These are a few of my favourite things

Several vultures descended on Hannover this week to bring you the latest news on all that's new and exciting in digital IT and telecoms. From mini PCs and new Commodore gaming machines, to dino robots and roaming, it's all right here. Unwrap and enjoy. CeBIT clips vulture's wing Things just aren't as big as they used to be …

Hardware 16 Mar 2007, 15:09
Liberty, equality and Big Brotherhood

Letters Anyone for Wang seasoning?

Right, it is Friday which means it is time for some letters. So let us waste none of your valuable "winding down for the weekend" time, and crack on, shall we? First up, the National Audit Office would like to speak to you, our beloved readers: "Sir We are at a loss to understand the Kablenet article "MPs criticise NAO's …

Letters 16 Mar 2007, 15:12
RSA unwraps small business authentication appliance

Network bouncer

RSA is looking to cater for the needs of smaller businesses with mobile workforces with a new version of its authentication appliance range. The RSA SecurID Appliance 100 provides two-factor authentication for up to 100 users. Two-factor authentication is based on something you know, such as a password, in combination with …

Small Biz 16 Mar 2007, 15:20
Horizon digests year of feasting

Burp

Horizon Technology Group has been showing off after a year of gorging on high-margin acquisitions. The firm's preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2006 show a 29.8 per cent in profit after tax and a 49.8 per cent jump in revenue. It acquired three firms in the year - IP networking reseller Equip, Irish SAP …

Channel Register 16 Mar 2007, 15:56
Beeb shuts down Jam education website

Internet no place for free stuff, says EC

The BBC has suspended its free online education website after complaints from commercial providers. BBC Jam offered resources and assistance to school children aged five to 16 based around the national curriculum. It went online in 2006 and was rolling out service incrementally, aiming for full coverage in 2008. The site has …

Music and Media 16 Mar 2007, 16:00
Plastic surgeon sucks out belly dancer's buttock

£12,000 damages for half-arsed liposuction

A German belly dancer who checked into hospital to have her thighs trimmed ended up with just one butt cheek after the plastic surgeon hoovered out her right buttock, Ananova reports. Julia "Cleopatra" Meyer, 38, of Munich, said of her liposuction ordeal at the Berlin Charité hospital: "I had been unhappy with my saddlebags, …

Entertainment 16 Mar 2007, 16:05
Google phone - it's for real

Think referrals

A Google executive has confirmed the existence of one of its best-kept secrets. The advertising giant is designing a mobile phone, according to the company's Iberian chief. Spanish IT site Noticias quotes Isabel Aguilera, Google's chief for Spain and Portugal, as explaining the move as a way of extending the "information …

Networks 16 Mar 2007, 16:16
BT announces escape route for Biscit customers

MACs available on special helpline next week

BT today announced a bail-out process for customers trapped aboard the foundering ISP Biscit Internet. From next Monday, Biscit DSL customers will be able to call a special helpline set up by BT to obtain a Migration Authorisation Code, or MAC. This can then be given to a new ISP of the customer's choice, simplifying the …

Telecoms 16 Mar 2007, 16:28
Martian pole capped by planet swamping ice sheet

There's ice in them thar hills

The southern pole of Mars is hidden beneath a "deep and wide" layer of ice - enough that if it melted*, it would cover the whole planet in a sea 36 feet deep. Shallow for a sea, but still a fair quantity of aqua. The findings are published in the 15 March online edition of the journal Science. Lead author Jeffrey Plaut said: " …

Space 16 Mar 2007, 16:43
Cingular escapees win $160 each

California claws back $18.5m for unfair termination payments

Cingular Wireless will cough up $18.5m to settle a long-running dispute with California utilities watchdogs, who said it applied unfair fees when customers left its network. Some of the cash will go towards refunding about 115,000 Californians who were charged when they wanted to leave their contracts. They will get an average …

Wireless 16 Mar 2007, 21:22
Prosecutors swoop on Cisco reseller fraud (again)

SMARTNet dragnet widens

Federal prosecutors in California have indicted four former employees of a defunct networking resellers for allegedly scamming Cisco's replacement parts program. which could land them long jail terms. The four, who worked for Minnesota firm Interlink Communications Corp, are accused of conspiring to defraud Cisco's SMARTnet …

Channel Register 16 Mar 2007, 21:51
Apple to unbackdate (some) stock options

Tax pity on the peons

With a huge tax mess looming for recipients of Apple's backdated stock options, the Cupertino firm has told the SEC it is offering relief for some those affected. Option holders have until April 16 to take up an offer which will modify the exercise price to the share price on the day the grants were actually finalised. …

Financial News 16 Mar 2007, 23:39