29th March 2007 Archive

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Florida data center loses its cool

Faulty chiller knocked nerve center offline

A Florida data center serving the state's main website and 4,500 government employees has been restored after a failed air-conditioning chiller took down the system. The crisis began on Monday evening when workers discovered a leak in the massive chiller that cools the $30m, 1,200-server data center in Tallahassee. …

Storage 29 Mar 2007, 00:02
HP ProCurve dangles free Gigabit switch chassis

...If you buy the port modules to go in it

HP ProCurve has renewed its low-end stackable and chassis switches. Its range now starts at 50 quid with a fan-less, therefore silent, eight-port unmanaged Fast Ethernet switch, and runs up to chassis bundles that include a free chassis capable of hosting 188 Gigabit Ethernet ports at around £33 a port. The new models include …

Storage 29 Mar 2007, 05:02
Making Progress in a pragmatic way

Building and testing SOA organically

One of the interesting messages that normally comes out of discussions about SOA is that it gives developers and architects the environment in which they can transform the traditional "IT silo" infrastructure that is the norm in most enterprises. Yet according to Giles Nelson, director of technology for enterprise …

Developer 29 Mar 2007, 07:02
New York online gambling racket goes postal

House of Cards Squawking like canaries on crack

America's online gambling purges continued at the state level today, as a major bust in the New York City area snared over 60 individuals, with more to come. According to Gambling911.com, the gambling ring operated in conjunction with Costa Rican online service provider 50ksports.com. The arrest list is a veritable who's who …

Law 29 Mar 2007, 09:03
Apple Windows-on-Mac tool now works with Vista

So much for the Leopard delay claims

Apple has updated its Boot Camp beta software to support Windows Vista. So much for claims that Mac OS X 10.5 would be delayed to ensure Vista compatibility. The new release, version 1.2, not only adds support for the 32-bit version of Vista but also implements a number of interesting tweaks, including the ability to use the …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 09:03
ICANN fires back with stern threat of legal action...again

Lisbon 2007 ICANN still shooting blanks?

Without any fanfare, or even notice of an ongoing lawsuit against itself, ICANN posted another letter to RegisterFly on Wednesday giving it notice (again) of an intent to pursue legal action against the disintegrating registrar. This was not posted in the blog section, where one would expect to find it these days - it was …

Law 29 Mar 2007, 09:08
Why can't a computer be more like a brain?

Or even better?

Why can't a computer be more like a brain? Jeff Hawkins asked at Emerging Technology this week. Hawkins is most familiar as founder of Palm and Handspring and creator of the handwriting recognition system Graffiti. His other long-term interest is neuroscience, and he believes he has the answer to that My Fair Lady question. …

Science 29 Mar 2007, 09:23
AMD launches laptop-friendly 690 chipset

Variants offer HDMI, Display Cache tech

AMD has rolled out the notebook-centric version of its recently released 690 integrated chipset. Like the 690V, the M690 incorporates an ATI Radeon X1200-branded, X700-class graphics core capable of driving HDMI and DVI outputs to external displays. It also supports an x16 PCI Express connection for an external GPU. The GPU …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 09:25
SiS flags down Intel 1333MHz bus

Core 2 Quad chipsets coming

Chipset maker SiS has licensed Intel's 1333MHz frontside bus technology, allowing it not only offer product that supports the higher bus speed but also to support the chip giant's Core 2 Quad four-core processor. SiS didn't say how long its licence lasts but claimed it was a "long-term" deal. Its announcement came on the same …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 09:41
Business Intelligence - live on El Reg

Reg Reader Workshop Reader feedback via video

The results are in. Following the resounding response from our recent Business Intelligence Reader Survey, we're proud to present the findings – via succulent, saturated Vulture Vision. We parked Reg hack Tim Phillips, Freeform Dynamics' Dale Vile, and Microsoft's David Hobbs-Mallyon in a swanky studio and told them to have a …

Business 29 Mar 2007, 09:43
Walmart puts out for online gaming

House of Cards Virtual benefits abound

The online payment processing industry took it in the chops again this week, as the Electronic Clearinghouse, Inc (ECHO) settled with the US government over allegations that it profited from online gaming transactions by supplying Neteller with payment processing services prior to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling …

Law 29 Mar 2007, 09:45
EC broke rules over passenger data, Parliament told

As data sharing deal nears renewal

The European Commission "clearly breached" its obligations when it agreed a passenger data sharing scheme with the US, the European Parliament has been told. The opinion was given just as negotiations on a new deal are begun. It also emerged that the US does not believe that it needs a new data sharing deal in order to demand …

Law 29 Mar 2007, 09:49
Retailer offers DAP-disclosing Easter Eggy

When I was a kid, I'd be lucky if an Easter Egg had a few Smarties inside. Offspring are more spoiled these days: now they find MP3 players inside their seasonal confections. The brainchild of UK digital media player specialist Advanced MP3 Players, the foil-wrapped egg comes in a golden presentation box. Tear it open and …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 09:59
Ten jobs that robots are eyeing up

Sadly, not the England football manager...

Honda's Asimo robot is living the high life right now. Not only is he wowing the crowds at consumer technology shows, he's also the star of several Honda TV adverts. But what if it all goes wrong? What if Honda dumps Asimo the way Sony ditched its QRIO humanoid robot when it decided to shift its R&D budget elsewhere? …

Science 29 Mar 2007, 10:02
Family converts dead dad into diamond

Fitting memorial for 'diamond geezer'

A Blackpool family has created a "fitting memorial" to deceased dad Mick Egan - by converting him into a synthetic diamond, the BBC reports. Egan died last year of a brain haemorrhage and his wife Susan decided on a novel way of preserving his memory. A US company extracted carbon from Egan's ashes, heated it to create graphite …

Science 29 Mar 2007, 10:04
Developers' secure-coding skill put to the test

Flaw reduction push gets industry backing

A coalition of security companies and organisations announced a plan this week to create assessment tests that would certify programmers' knowledge of secure-coding practices. The groups, led by the SANS Institute, aim to create a set of four tests covering major programming languages that could give companies a tool to …

Security 29 Mar 2007, 10:09
Dell pricks up its ears

Pre-installed Linux soon coming to a desktop near you

Hot on the heels of our Dell story yesterday, the computer maker has announced plans to release PCs and laptops that ship with the Linux operating system. Desktoplinux.com was given the nod by Dell yesterday, which indicated its intention to provide home users with pre-installed Linux on a select range of its PCs and laptops …

Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 10:36
Critics swarm new GPL draft

How free is free under GPLv3?

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has been accused of working to prevent co-operation between the free and proprietary software sectors, thanks to new terms in the latest draft version of the GNU GPL. Unsurprisingly, the speediest criticism came from Microsoft, whose deal with Novell prompted the inclusion of the …

Software 29 Mar 2007, 10:42
US loses top tech spot

As Denmark climbs to number one

The US has slipped down the rankings of technology nations, falling from the top spot to number seven in the latest rankings from the World Economic Forum. In 2005-2006, the US was number one followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Iceland. But this year's Global Information Technology Report puts the US in seventh place. The UK …

Science 29 Mar 2007, 10:44
Nokia gushes over colourful phone threesome

An 'artful balance between technology and nature'. Apparently

Nokia introduced a trio of colourful, consumer-friendly handsets today, connecting its XpressMusic line to 3G networks and its L'Amour - urgh - phones to CDMA carriers. But what caught our eye was the budget, voice-centric 5070. It's aimed at kids, of course, though Nokia must also have its eye on wrinklier generations or …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 10:56
Motorola Motofone F3 e-ink handset

Review Can a phone this basic, this cheap be any good? Yes it can

Spiritual successor to Motorola's budget C113 handset, the new 'Motofone' F3 has clearly been designed with developing markets and the more technophobic among us in mind. All you get is a very basic phone that does nothing other than make and take calls and texts, and work as an alarm clock. That's it. No, really, that is it …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 10:59
Conspiracy theorists: Feds, web hosts conspire against us

And the Illuminati are in on it too

When Alan Watt's website Cutting Through the Matrix went offline in February, he knew it was because someone "at the top" decided he was getting too close to the truth. Watt is one of several "esoteric researchers" (call them conspiracy theorists) who believe Big Brother is telling Yahoo!, Google, and other companies which …

Law 29 Mar 2007, 11:07
PeakStream puts apps development on Windows

HPC on a PC

High Performance Computing (HPC) may for many developers reside at the far distant end of their everyday event horizon, but both the hardware and software technologies involved continue to creep into the mainstream of information processing. For the everyday developer, however, getting to grips with exploiting that software …

Developer 29 Mar 2007, 11:47
Falling debris was no space plane, says NASA

Go about your business

NASA scientists have poured cold water on the theory that a plane en route to New Zealand narrowly avoided a collision with flaming Russian space junk. The pilot of the Chilean commercial jetliner reported seeing the debris as they entered Kiwi airspace. Australian reports suggested that pieces of a Russian satellite could be …

Space 29 Mar 2007, 11:49
Cisco wraps up against VoIP DoS bugs

You've been served

Cisco has updated its Unified CallManager and Presence Server software following the discovery of flaws that might be used to crash vulnerable systems. CallManager versions 3.3, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.0, as well as Presence Server version 1.0, are affected by a number of security bugs. The vulnerabilities involve unspecified errors …

Enterprise Security 29 Mar 2007, 11:50
European Commission beats telco open access drum

BT: a model free market?

The European Commission has reiterated its determination to see the remaining closed telecoms networks broken open to broadband competition. In an interview with the Financial Times, telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding pointed to the type of separation of equipment from business functions enforced upon BT in the UK by Ofcom. …

Networks 29 Mar 2007, 12:13
Tower of Google uses stats for translation

Number crunching our way to understanding

Google dreams of a world where hundreds of languages can be simultaneously translated by machines which compare texts using statistics rather than applying grammatical rules. Statistical machine translation uses a computer to compare two documents - one in the original language and one translated by a human. It finds patterns …

Software 29 Mar 2007, 12:44
BAE offers super-intelligent underwater robot

Claims revolutionary breakthrough, but then calms down

BAE Systems this week unveiled its underwater mine-clearance robot, the "revolutionary" Talisman M. In a Tuesday release, Andy Tonge, project manager for Talisman, is quoted as saying his baby can "can perform the type of dangerous roles currently performed by service men and women throughout the world - locate, identify and …

Science 29 Mar 2007, 12:57
VoIP providers reined in by regulator

999 rules loom

A new set of rules aimed at VoIP operators in the UK was unveiled by Ofcom today, which could lead to UK internet telephone users winning rights to access emergency services. A public consultation last year echoed international concerns that VoIP users were often unable to contact emergency services and were unaware of the fact …

VoIP 29 Mar 2007, 12:59
Dimension Data integrates MS end-to-end service

Hopes for 'technology maturity'

Dimension Data has integrated Microsoft's end-to-end service management system into its Global Services Operating Architecture (GSOA). The IT infrastructure providers beta-tested Microsoft's System Centre Operations Manager 2007 for six months before fully integrating the service into its GSOA. Dimension Data hopes the …

Channel Register 29 Mar 2007, 13:00
US to issue Star Wars stamps

The Force is strong in this one

The US is to issue stamps marking three decades of Star Wars films. Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Yoda are among the set of 15 characters featuring in a set of Star Wars-themed stamps. All 15 stamps, each costing 41 cents, go on sale from 25 May, shortly after the US postage rate is increased to 41 cents. The US Postal Service …

Entertainment 29 Mar 2007, 13:01
Spotting tomorrow's criminals in today's pushchairs

Analysis We can predict outcomes and change them, says Blair crime review

The Government's efforts to spot and intercept potential criminals during childhood, which first broke surface last summer, have come into sharper focus with the publication of this week's policy review, Building on Progress: Security, Crime and Justice,. "Universal checks throughout a child's development," says the review, will …

Government 29 Mar 2007, 13:28
Fawkes, Phoenix potty over ICM, as PC World goes to dogs

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Web driver's licence please One thing you can say about fraud, there's a lot of it about. A study sponsored by the government found more than one in 10 people had experienced online fraud with an average loss of £875. Many wanted some kind of web surfing driver's licence to help them understand security better. A few …

Channel Register 29 Mar 2007, 14:05
iTunes tempts single-buyers with album-purchase carrot

No more paying for singles twice

Bought a single from iTunes? Want to buy the rest of the album? Well, you always could, just by buying all the other tracks one after the other, but Apple has finally added a button to do it with a single click. Actually, this new Complete My Album is more useful than it sounds, given the number of albums that contain long …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 14:15
MPs pay themselves £10,000 website allowance

Short debate that one

MPs have voted in favour of a government proposal to give each of them £10,000 to spend on websites to give the public more of an idea of what goes on in Parliament, the BBC reports. House of Commons leader Jack Straw told MPs: "The purpose of this allowance is to contribute to better public understanding of what this …

Government 29 Mar 2007, 14:58
Vodafone.net's connection woes continue

Voice network playing up too

It seems that Vodafone's email service is still not working for everyone. Anyone using Firefox as their internet browser is continuing to experience intermittent problems with Vodafone.net which, as we reported last week, had been down for at least five days due to "a simultaneous hardware and software failure". For some …

Mobile 29 Mar 2007, 14:59
Teens get way harsh on MySpace

Airing dirty laundry in public

Breaking up might have been hard to do when Neil Sedaka sang about it, but thanks to Sir Tim Berners Lee, it is now as easy for teenagers to break up with each other as it is for them to microwave a junk food sausage. Yes, the latest thing to do is to break up with your beau on his or her MySpace page. It is a far cry from the …

Bootnotes 29 Mar 2007, 15:08
China bans mucky text messages

No more handheld filth

Chinese police are warning mobile users to think again before sending pornographic pictures or text messages from their phones. Anyone caught sending explicit messages could face a fine of 3,000 yuan ($388) and up to two weeks in prison. If you are caught selling mucky mobile content you could spend up to three years in prison …

Mobile 29 Mar 2007, 15:10
Apple TV-to-SD TV adaptor price cut 40%

Only viable option?

Would-be Apple TV buyers looking to hook the iPod-style set-top-box to a standard-definition telly will be pleased to hear one of best ways of hooking the two up together is now rather cheaper. J S Technology this week knocked the price of its component-video to RGB converter from £150 down to £90. In addition to RGB Scart …

Reg Hardware 29 Mar 2007, 15:18
Singapore invests in TIA snake oil

Comment Poindexter's dream comes true

Retired US Admiral and convicted felon John Poindexter has been a busy man since Congress scrapped his Total Information Awareness (TIA) system and punctured his Orwellian dream of linking every government database imaginable in pursuit of evildoers, as Wired News reports. Indeed, the Iran-Contra scandal alum has got a seat …

Government 29 Mar 2007, 15:21
Enterasys aims for the core

But what comes after gold, platinum and diamond - adamantium?

Enterasys has added an uprated set of Distributed Flow Engine (DFE) blades to its Matrix N-Series secure chassis switches, with the aim of selling the devices into core networks within large enterprises. Called Diamond DFE, the new blades are a combination of switch, NAC (network access control), and firewall. They can …

Data Networking 29 Mar 2007, 16:12
Amazon: is this the best deal ever?

Astounding discount offer

Amazon today pushed the boat out - a nanometer or two - with this outstanding offer for UK customers: At time of writing, the promo appears to have been pulled. But our thanks to the 20 readers who tipped us off. ®

Bootnotes 29 Mar 2007, 18:06
Indiana man jailed for selling counterfeit software on eBay

Why are we not surprised?

An Indiana man bought some counterfeit Rockwell Automation software on eBay, set up the CD-duplicator and sold the disks on, you guessed it, eBay. Now he's paying the price: 27 months in jail, forfeiture of computers and CD duplicators, a $2,000 fine, two years of supervised release, and an order to make restitution of $5,200 …

Small Biz 29 Mar 2007, 18:44
US gov kicks out Sprint, doles out $20bn to rivals

Notice to quit

Sprint Nextel was the big loser in the $20bn telecomms contract dished out today by the US government. AT&T, Verizon Business and Qwest all won a slice of the humongous deal, the biggest telco contract ever. But Sprint was notably excluded from getting to make cash angels in the executive lounge today. Agency spending is …

Telecoms 29 Mar 2007, 19:01
Intel frees up $275m after settling with the tax man

Audit saga continues

Intel will stash away an “extra” $275m this quarter after settling with the IRS. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) sent Intel a note this week, saying it has closed the books on an audit for the chip maker's 1999 to 2002 tax returns. As a result, Intel will fork over $275m less in tax payments than it had planned. In addition …

Financial News 29 Mar 2007, 19:30
Naming some identity standards

Politics could be the biggest identity issue

Confused about how the emerging identity standards and systems fit together and which to work with? You're not alone. There's a lot of talk – and quite a few demos – of interoperable identity systems, but how do you know how well they really fit together? That's what the ITU focus group on identity management (FG IdM) was set …

Developer 29 Mar 2007, 20:14
Use case driven object modelling with UML: Theory and practice

Making software from use cases

While the methodology wars continue to flourish, and advocates of this process versus that process slug it out to show that they alone are following the one true path, there is one technique that all seem to agree on: the use case. While extreme programmers prefer the term user story, (and still others talk about storyboards …

Developer 29 Mar 2007, 20:39
TJX lost up to 45.6m card numbers

King of breaches

TJX has taken the crown for presiding over the largest credit card heist ever, with a tally of 45.6m numbers lost to unknown thieves who intruded on the US-based retailing giant's networks over a span of 17 months. Personal information, often including social security numbers, for at least 451,000 was also lifted. There's no …

Enterprise Security 29 Mar 2007, 20:40
Evidence of accounting chicanery at Dell

Restatements possible

Dell says an audit committee convened to probe its bookkeeping has found evidence of misconduct and accounting errors that may result in restatements to previous financial results. The preliminary finding, which also disclosed potential deficiencies in the company's financial controls, is the latest announcement to raise doubts …

Financial News 29 Mar 2007, 22:16
Supermicro's IPO not so super

Fat cats saddened

Server seller Supermicro has endured a most modest IPO. The vendor offered up 8 million shares of common stock at $8 per share. By the end of the day's trading, Supermicro's stock (SMCI) rose 9.5 per cent to close at $8.76. That's a healthy enough IPO for a hardware vendor but hardly the stuff of which dreams are made. …

Servers 29 Mar 2007, 23:40
Red Hat deflates Wall St expectations

Fails to show us the money

Wall St Linux darling Red Hat was down in after hours trading Thursday after reporting a sharp drop in income on sales that grew less than expected for the fourth quarter. Shares fell by almost two percent to $23.14 after the vendor reported a 25 per cent drop in total income to $21m for the period ended February 28, on …

Financial News 29 Mar 2007, 23:47
ICANN urged to cut phishing trawl with banking domain

.Safe harbour

Security watchers are calling on net governance body ICANN to adopt a new top level domain name to be used exclusively by registered banks and financial organisations. A .safe or .sure domain name would give consumers increased piece of mind that they are dealing with a legitimate financial institution while potentially making …

Crime 29 Mar 2007, 23:53