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27th March 2007 Archive

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  • Netezza stock on the block

    Seeks position as cash warehouse

    Data warehouse appliance maker Netezza seeks $100m with an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. Netezza filed the IPO registration statement with the SEC on Friday. The company's stock will likely trade under the symbol "NTZA." Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters on the deal. Although revenue has …

    Servers 27 Mar 2007, 00:01

  • Bertelsmann settles over naughty Napster

    AT&T goes free with 'Napster the Good'

    The large music labels today received a three-pronged reminder of what could have been. First off, EMI and Bertelsmann settled a long-running dispute over Bertelsmann's investment in the naughty Napster – aka the Napster people used. Neither party released details about their arrangement, but, as a point of reference, …

    Law 27 Mar 2007, 01:08

  • Bulgarian 'stole $350k' from Americans in eBay scam

    Whistling down the wire fraud

    A Bulgarian woman has been arrested and charged with participating in a scheme that used eBay to scam Americans out of at least $350,000. Her alleged fraud is similar to dozens of scams found on the auction site daily. Mariyana Feliksova Lozanova, a.k.a. "Gentiane La France," a.k.a. "Naomi Elizabeth DeBont," was indicted for …

    Crime 27 Mar 2007, 01:15

  • Microsoft’s software factories

    We talk to Jack Greenfield about the future of Visual Studio

    At Microsoft’s Architect Insight conference in Wales this month, Microsoft software architect Jack Greenfield tells us about a BMW factory which rarely makes the same car twice. It is an example of mass customization, handling millions of variations within an automated process. Could the same apply to software development? “I …

    Developer 27 Mar 2007, 06:02

  • No 10 urged to throttle 'unlimited' broadband claims

    Fair use still ain't fair

    A petition on the Downing Street website is urging Tony Blair to put a stop to broadband advertising which trumpets "unlimited" broadband, despite reining in users with usage limits. At time of writing, the petition, which is open until 10 June, had just over 1,500 signatories to the statement: "We the undersigned petition the …

    Telecoms 27 Mar 2007, 07:02

  • Make way for the 64 bit revolution

    Let the memory live again

    Cast your mind back 15 years, if you can. Believe it or not, that was when the IT industry suddenly started to get excited about 64 bit computing. IBM (in conjunction with Apple and Motorola) had already embarked on the design of the 64 bit Power PC chip and Digital announced the 64 bit Alpha chip (you remember Digital, …

    Developer 27 Mar 2007, 09:22

  • Nintendo acts against Wii modchips?

    Console internals rejigged

    Nintendo is reportedly tweaking the Wii's internal workings to prevent the use of console modification chips. According to Taiwanese retailers cited by local newssite DigiTimes, the latest Wiis sport a modified motherboard intended to make it harder if not impossible to add existing modchips - at least not without damaging …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 09:38

  • Canada sticks the boot into Neteller

    As it gets stuffed by Turkey

    Money transfer group Neteller, which at one time serviced about 85 per cent of online gambling transactions, has been forced to pull out of Canadian and Turkish markets after garnering attention from regulators. The group said any funds customers had deposited in their e-wallets would be safe, and could still be used for non- …

    Law 27 Mar 2007, 09:39

  • The Doors open online

    'I use iTunes and stuff'

    The remaining members of The Doors have decided to break on through to the digital side as the band made its back catalogue available online on Monday. All six albums recorded by the Los Angeles group, led by the late Jim Morrison, are being made available for download for the first time. The release marks the fortieth …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2007, 09:45

  • Businesses show renewed confidence in IT

    Quocirca's changing channels What a difference a year makes...

    Selling pricey IT solutions to enterprises has never been easy. To get sign off on large projects often requires getting board level approval as well as getting all the influencers in the IT department on your side. So any indications that IT departments are getting a bit more power in this process should be welcome news to …

    IT Director 27 Mar 2007, 09:54

  • It's as easy as A, B, C#

    Site offer Scrub up your programming prowess

    C# has enjoyed huge success since its launch, firmly establishing itself as the premier language for development on Microsoft's .NET 2.0 platform. With the launch of the .NET 3.0 extensions in early 2007, the limits of this language are being extended, and it is becoming even more powerful leveraging these new extensions. …

    Developer 27 Mar 2007, 09:59

  • HTC unveils Windows Vista handheld

    Vendor Shifts up a gear

    Mobile device maker HTC has shifted up a gear and announced a handheld based not on Windows Mobile but Windows Vista. Dubbed Shift, the sub sub-notebook boasts the full array of wireless connectivity, including 3G HSPDA. Shift is essentially a step up from the X7500 Advantage HTC unveiled in February this year. The new …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 09:59

  • RM satisfied by performance

    Meets expectations

    RM PLC has said it is on course to hit its trading expectation for the six month financial period ending 31 March. The UK-based firm, which provides educational products to schools, universities and colleges, said "it is not yet clear" what the suspension of the BBC's free online education service, BBC Jam, will mean for the …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2007, 10:09

  • Boffins pave the way for DNA photography

    Metamaterials make super lenses

    Scientists working in the US have developed a lens that could one day allow people to take optical pictures of things as small as a molecule of DNA. Two groups have come up with different solutions to a problem that was first posed in 2000. Each has built a so called "magnifying super lens" using metamaterials, that is …

    Physics 27 Mar 2007, 10:22

  • Sony Ericsson reveals its first 'super 3G' phone

    Sony Ericsson this week took the wraps off not only its latest Walkman-branded slimline slider phone but also its first handset capable of accepting high-speed HSDPA downloads. The W580 is a 1.4cm-thick device with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity. It sports a 2in, 240 x 320, 262,144-colour display and a two-megapixel …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 10:42

  • AMD 690G integrated chipset

    Review The best integrated graphics money can buy?

    AMD's new 690 chipset comes in two varieties. There's the vanilla 690V with an integrated ATI Radeon X1200 graphics core that only supports a VGA connection, but the one that interests us is the 690G with Radeon X1250 graphics. This core supports both analogue and digital connections, and that gives the motherboard manufacturers …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 11:02

  • Atos to 'explore strategic options'

    Touts for bidders

    French IT services group Atos Origin has responded favourably to expressions of interest and invited private equity buyers to take a closer look. The firm released a statement yesterday confirming that its management team has "decided to explore strategic options to support the execution of the transformation plan, to further …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2007, 11:04

  • Samsung doubles solid-state drive capacity

    Now at a whopping 64GB

    Samsung has upped the capacity of its Flash-based SSD line to 64GB, offering the unit in the media player- and notebook-friendly 1.8in form factor. The 64GB drive is faster than its predecessor too, with maximum read and write speeds of 64MBps and 45MBps, respectively - 4.3 and 6.4 times greater than a typical 80GB hard disk …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 11:10

  • New Jersey mulls driver text ban

    Bigger fines, more powers for the coppers

    Authorities in New Jersey are considering making it an offence to send text messages while driving. Under existing state laws, it is an offence to use a mobile phone while using the highway, but police may only pull someone over if they are breaking another road rule. The proposed laws would allow police to stop someone just …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2007, 11:40

  • Oz vigilantes capture Toadzilla

    Poisonous amphibian the 'size of a football'

    Australian environmental group Frogwatch has captured one of the largest cane toads ever seen Down Under - a 40cm long, 1kg monster boasting a body "the size of a football". Frogwatch operatives snared the beast yesterday during a "Toad Buster" raid on a pond outside Darwin, The Independent reports. The voluntary organisation …

    Biology 27 Mar 2007, 11:42

  • GPL 3: Open source to open closed shop

    Delayed license release goes public

    The open source movement will tomorrow publish the next public discussion draft of its free software license, GPL 3.0, after cloistered talks over patent challenges from software corporations delayed its release. Free Software Foundation (FSF) licensing compliance engineer Brett Smith said in a statement yesterday: "We had …

    Software 27 Mar 2007, 11:44

  • GSK runs out of juice over Ribena claims

    I don't see any vitamin C in here...

    GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of iconic English thirst-quencher Ribena, has been squeezed before an Auckland (NZ) court for misleading consumers about the levels of vitamin C in the local version of its blackcurrant drink. The company admitted to the Auckland District Court that it misled customers about the vitamin C …

    Science 27 Mar 2007, 12:01

  • Bold Gaza croc-smuggling ruse ends in failure

    Suspicious border guards pull snappy dresser

    Guards on the border between Egypt and Gaza who pulled up a "suspiciously fat" woman found three crocodiles strapped to the would-be smuggler's waist, The Scotsman reports. A spokeswoman for the European observers who run the crossing explained: "Even though she was veiled and covered, even with so many clothes on, there was …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2007, 12:02

  • Ofcom cuts mobile charges

    Number porting consultation announced

    Ofcom has announced new pricing controls for mobile phone operators which cut the amount they can charge for carrying calls made from other networks. From April 1 O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone will be limited to levying 5.1 pence per minute, while 3G-only network 3 will be allowed to charge 5.9 pence per minute. The rules …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2007, 12:10

  • Security can boost privacy

    No trade-off needed, say academics

    Increased security need not lead to an erosion of personal privacy, according to an optimistic study by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The academics and security consultants behind the Dilemmas of Privacy and Surveillance report, released this week, reckon it's wrong to believe that increased security means more collection …

    Security 27 Mar 2007, 12:38

  • easyJet.com files elderly passengers under 'livestock'

    Refreshing honesty

    A round of applause for easyJet.com today for confirming many passengers' suspicions as to how airlines view their customers. Try this answer to a query regarding "assistance", paying close attention to the category from which it comes: Splendid. Just give 48 hours' notice and easyJet.com will indeed be happy to help granny …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2007, 12:54

  • De-scratch your DVDs for $250, firm offers

    Stuck with a stack of CDs and DVDs that no longer play properly because they've been scratched? US company VenMill claims to have the answer: a disc repair system that does away with the disc-denuding abrasives of old. And that's especially important now we're entering the era of high-def optical media - all inherently more …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2007, 13:05

  • IBM jumps on board the mortgage ship

    As everyone else jumps off...

    Just as the US mortgage biz flushes itself down the toilet, IBM has said it will offer software and computers that will help process wannabe homebuyers' applications. Based in North Carolina, IBM Lender Business Process Services Inc will include consultancy, mortgage processing, and management of home loan paperwork on behalf …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2007, 13:10

  • Geneticists report 'semi-identical' twins

    Egg and sperm three-way

    Geneticists in the US have discovered a previously unknown kind of twins they have called semi-identical. The twins are identical on their mother's side, but only share half of their father's DNA. The discovery, which has been published in the journal Nature, has prompted some to suggest that the current classification system …

    Biology 27 Mar 2007, 13:17

  • Ofcom bankrolling mobile operators, alleges BT

    EU examining new charge regime 'extremely closely'

    BT has slammed Ofcom's new controls on mobile operator charges, accusing the regulator of continuing to subsidise 3G licence debts racked up in boom-era spectrum auctions. The telco is unhappy the controls are not more stringent, because they set the wholesale termination charges it has to pay operators for calls to mobiles. …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2007, 13:34

  • Cluster spies turbulent reconnection

    Plasma is as plasma does

    New data from the European Space Agency's Cluster satellites show a magnetic reconnection event taking place, even in the turbulent plasma around our planet. Magnetic reconnection happens when magnetic field lines reconfigure themselves: breaking and reconnecting with other nearby field lines. The phenomenon can be found in …

    Space 27 Mar 2007, 15:07

  • Tech Data abandons Middle East

    Expects up to $7m loss

    Tech Data, the world's second biggest technology distributor, is withdrawing from the Middle East with Aptec stepping in to fill the hole left in the region. In a filing made to the Securities and Exchange Commission Tech Data said that it expects to see a loss of up to $7m for the first half of fiscal 2008 because of the …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2007, 15:16

  • Brussels downbeat on US passenger snoop plan

    PNR deal yet to take off

    Transatlantic talks over the US grab for European personal data in its war on terror are floundering, the European Parliament heard yesterday. US negotiators have told the Europeans that an agreement over its demand for Passenger Name Records isn't necessary, possibly putting a deal beyond the reach of the German Presidency …

    Law 27 Mar 2007, 15:35

  • Blair crime policy review proposes fingerprint activated iPods

    Biometric-bonkers wonks ahoy..

    The iPod mugging has become one of the top crimes de nos jours, but despair not, worried teen victim - the Tony Blair crime policy legacy is poised to come to your rescue. With fingerprint activation of MP3 players. The suggestion makes a brief (which is the good news) appearance in the second of Blair's policy reviews, …

    Government 27 Mar 2007, 15:43

  • Blunkett mobilises sheep army to fight global warming

    Letters Pick and mix

    There's a virtual buffet of letters this fine Tuesday, so we've selected a few choice cuts to tickle your taste buds: For starters, broadband's not unlimited if there's a download limit you say, fairly, likening the sorry scenario to an eating establishment: OK, let's say I run a restaurant. Let's say I have in a group of lads …

    Letters 27 Mar 2007, 15:49

  • Watermark buys Cedilla

    MS Dynamics dealer consolidation

    Cedilla Systems, the Manchester reseller, is selling itself to a Dutch dealership. Watermark, which dubs itself the leading Microsoft Dynamics partner in Europe, aims to complete the takeover in June. Manchester-based Cedilla is best known for supplying REgenerist software based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It had a turnover …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2007, 17:26

  • Sun NEBS Opteron box

    Look but don't buy

    Sun Microsystems has pumped out its first Opteron-based rack server aimed exclusively at the hardened telco crowd. The hardware maker today heralded the release of the Netra X4200 M2 system – a NEBS 3 version of the X4200 M2 server released last October. Give credit to Sun for keeping the naming simple. With the new Netra, …

    Servers 27 Mar 2007, 17:36

  • Beer reporter drinks crow

    Letters Beer aficionados demand clarity

    Mother always said never trust a professor of beer-ology. Or, she certainly would have if she wasn't drunk all the time. Brew fans were shocked and appalled (Shocked. And. Appaled.) when a Register report on a UC Davis beer lecture made a sweeping judgment that could turn any beer nut sour. The offending sentence (and lager …

    Letters 27 Mar 2007, 17:37

  • One in ten Brits is victim of online fraud

    Surfing proficiency test idea surfaces

    More than on in ten (12 per cent) of UK internet users fell victim to fraud over the last 12 months. A study sponsored by the government and industry online safety campaign, Get Safe Online, found that on average users lost £875 as a result of these scams, which hit an estimated 3.5m of the UK's 29m adult internet users. The …

    Crime 27 Mar 2007, 18:00

  • Start-up goes mad over Windows app for multi-core chips

    PeakStream's beta love for Redmond

    Software start-up Peakstream has fired up a Windows beta of its code meant to make programming for a wide variety of multi-core processors as easy as, well, programming for single-core chips. Coupling the phrases “software start-up” and “beta program” does not usually end in much excitement. In Peakstream's case, however, you' …

    Servers 27 Mar 2007, 18:10

  • Software is never done… Or is it?

    The Agile Iconoclast gets things done

    The notion of doneness pervades everything we, as humans, set out to achieve. Want to send a manned rocket to Mars? It’ll be done when it’s done. Composing a new symphony? Can’t wait to hear the finished piece. Want to create a payroll system for an automotive company? Better deliver it on time, otherwise they might grow tired …

    Developer 27 Mar 2007, 19:59

  • Sun creates new chip unit out of Yen

    Open means open for business

    Looking to up interest in its processor business, Sun Microsystems has formed a separate microelectronics unit. The aptly named Microelectronics group will be run by Sun's former UltraSPARC chief David Yen. Ex StorageTek exec Jon Benson will take over Yen's current duties as head of Sun's storage business. Sun has surrounded …

    PCs & Chips 27 Mar 2007, 21:59

  • Best Buy swallows Speakeasy whole

    Last bastion of independence, ISP gets borged

    Best Buy, the giant electronics retailer known for interminable waits to get time with a salesperson, is acquiring Speakeasy, an ISP popular with the techno-elite for its flexibility and attentive customer service. The companies are promising Speakeasy will remain independent, but some of the ISP's customers are ruing the union …

    Financial News 27 Mar 2007, 22:30

  • University website peddles Adobe warez

    Get it while it's hot

    Get it while you can, folks: everything you need to install a pirated version of Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional on your Windows-based PC. The package, complete with a serial number, comes - wait for it - courtesy of the home page of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California's Irvine campus …

    Applications 27 Mar 2007, 22:37

  • ITT fined $100m for shipping night vision goggles to China

    Begins studying better goggles

    ITT illegally exported military night vision goggles to China. For good measure, it supplied some classified technical data about a laser counter measure known as a "light interference filter". Now it is paying the price for its skulduggery: a whopping $100m fine. The US defense contractor also sold the goggles to Singapore and …

    Government 27 Mar 2007, 23:35

  • HP looks to teach Acer about Texas Justice

    Fires off PC patent suit

    Hewlett-Packard has sued Taiwan-based PC maker Acer for alleged infringement of five U.S. patents related to PC technology. HP hopes to block Acer from selling products stateside allegedly using HP's technology, including notebooks, desktops and media center systems. The five patents involve processor tweaks, power- …

    Law 27 Mar 2007, 23:44