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9th April 2007 Archive

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  • What would a 'software guarantee' look like in practice?

    Staged payments

    I commented favourably on Managed Object's "software guarantee" here - but also commented that such a "guarantee" has to be worded carefully if it isn't to have unintended consequences. Well, Managed Objects has sent me a sample contract which it would use as a basis for "milestone payments" from its customers. Milestone …

    Developer 9 Apr 2007, 06:02

  • Chemical weapons are not WMDs

    Comment Let's all calm down a bit, shall we?

    I remember the last time I handled a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). It was in 2003, not long after the invasion of Iraq. I was serving as a bomb-disposal officer in the British armed forces. I was dressed in a full protective suit and gas mask, and a boffin from Porton Down stood next to me, likewise clad. The hot sun …

    Science 9 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • DRM-free music: EMI calls the tune and Apple takes the credit

    Comment Dangerous times for the record labels

    Having been a big believer in DRM and its necessity, although dismissive of its inflexibility and lack of sophistication, we, Rethink Research, have to interpret the big news of last week that EMI will offer its catalog DRM-free, as at least dangerous and potentially disastrous. But that's only if it is looked at in the long …

    Music and Media 9 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • IBM and Higgins

    Age, shoe size: IBM thinks you should only disclose as much of your identity as you want

    Although IBM was one of the original backers when the Higgins identity project started up last year, the company is only now contributing its first code, something it’s been working on since early 2000. The first technology is an ‘identity mixer’ that will let users pick and choose what information to disclose about …

    ID 9 Apr 2007, 08:02

  • AMD's Q1 revenue goes missing

    Cost structure and large bunny blamed

    AMD has walloped investors with its second revenue warning in as many months. The chip maker today revealed that it expects first quarter revenue to come in at $1.23bn. That's miles away from a onetime forecast of revenue between $1.6bn and $1.7bn. A price war with Intel and falling channel sales are both to blame for the first …

    PCs & Chips 9 Apr 2007, 14:38

  • Birthplace of Silicon Valley in shambles

    Shockley pitted

    The birthplace of Silicon Valley has been closed. Mountain View residents passing by 391 San Antonio Road - the original site of the Shockley Semiconductor Lab - will find the building is now off-limits. The International Produce Market that had been operating on the site has been boarded up with no word provided as to what …

    Bootnotes 9 Apr 2007, 15:41

  • Vendors causing confusion on business intelligence

    Reg Reader Workshop Is the marketing getting out of hand?

    The term “business intelligence”, “BI” for short, is one of those phrases that pretty much everyone working in IT will have heard of, and the concept is fundamentally very simple. It’s simple enough, in fact, that even Wikipedia is able to sum it up reasonably effectively as “a business management term which refers to …

    Business 9 Apr 2007, 17:30

  • Absolutely SFW

    Stob A sermon on modern safety

    Before I start, please take a moment or two to identify your exits, in the unlikely event of the alarm sounding during this article. These are clearly marked with a blue underline like this (nb this is not an actual exit, but just a demonstration of what an exit would look like if this were an exit. Do not click on this), and …

    Verity Stob 9 Apr 2007, 17:43

  • John Awesome's porn crime-spree busted

    Maintenance worker games NYC bank account

    Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely, but too well — Shakespeare, Othello: Act 5 A former New York city maintenance worker was arraigned Saturday for stealing thousands of dollars for internet pornography under the alias "John Awesome". …

    Crime 9 Apr 2007, 18:20

  • Laptop thefts expose 40,000 Chicago teachers

    Identity crisis

    A thief walked into the headquarters of Chicage Public Schools (CPS) on Friday, April 6 and grabbed two laptops containing the names and social security numbers of 40,000 teachers. The CPS has released an image of the suspect captured by CCTV and is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thief …

    ID 9 Apr 2007, 19:08

  • SGI hires serial CEO

    McKenna wants to spend more time with something

    Dennis McKenna lasted all of 14 months as CEO of SGI. The server maker today tapped Robert "Bo" Ewald as its new chief. Ewald used to head up Linux Networx, Scale Eight and E-Stamp, so he's quite familiar with CEO duties. The hardware buff also once worked as COO of both SGI and Cray. McKenna guided SGI out of bankruptcy and …

    Storage 9 Apr 2007, 21:31

  • Xyratex to vendors: dense RAID is 4U

    Bigger box, packed to the brim

    OEM storage supplier Xyratex is adding a larger, much denser RAID system to its product line. The F5404E 4Gb FC-SAS RAID system is a 4U chassis holding 48 drives for up to 36TB of near-line storage. The appliance is the only 4U box in Xyratex's 5000 RAID line. It offers dual controller with a 512MB and 1GB of cache and hot …

    Storage 9 Apr 2007, 21:53

  • Senator demands US create morally superior light bulbs

    We'll not follow China, Bush

    Somebody pull out the red, white and blue paint. Light bulbs have turned patriotic. US Senator Barbara Boxer today urged Silicon Valley's leaders to think of energy in nationalistic terms. This fine country has the strength, talent and will to curb its energy hungry ways and become a model for the rest of the world. Anything …

    Science 9 Apr 2007, 23:17