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13th April 2007 Archive

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  • Cisco wireless products suffer multiple vulns

    These bugs can bite

    Cisco Systems is reporting multiple vulnerabilities in three popular wireless products that can unleash all kinds of nastiness, including denials of service, privilege escalation, information disclosure and the ability to gain full administrative access. The flaws reside in Cisco's Wireless Control System (WCS), Wireless LAN …

    Enterprise Security 13 Apr 2007, 00:34

  • Citrix goes whole hog with virtual Windows

    Made to order Vista

    Citrix Systems has tossed its code into the virtual desktop market. The company this week pumped out Citrix Desktop Server 1.0. The software covers the whole spectrum for sending Windows out from the data center to a user's desktop, including virtual machines, blade PCs and terminal services. Like a number of vendors, Citrix …

    Servers 13 Apr 2007, 01:10

  • Sun buys MIA SavaJe's IP

    Mobile match

    Sun Microsystems is purchasing the IP assets of mobile Java platform specialist SavaJe, which went dark in unexplained circumstances last year. In a brief announcement, Sun promised to provide further details at next month's annual JavaOne Conference in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in …

    Mobile 13 Apr 2007, 01:15

  • ESA spies space tsunami

    We're in it for the pictures

    Have you ever heard of a space tsunami? Neither had we, but apparently they are common and are the forces responsible for making the Earth's aurorae dance. These magnetic substorms, as they are known, are complex events that take place at altitudes from 100km to 150,000km. ESA says trying to understand such phenomena with a …

    Space 13 Apr 2007, 05:02

  • Games swap site goes live

    Anyone who's thought of flogging their old games on eBay or Amazon and found prices too small to be worth the hassle may care to try new website Infinite Continues, a kind of Multicoloured Swap Shop for games. Well, without Keith Chegwin and Noel Edmonds, of course. The site formally launched this week after six months' …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 08:02

  • Are songwriters double-dipping?

    Column When a performance isn't a performance

    Should songwriters get paid for a public performance when you download a song? Thanks to a New York legal case, we'll soon find out. In the United States, three organizations license "public performance" rights for music on behalf of their music publisher and songwriter members: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Typical public …

    Music and Media 13 Apr 2007, 08:28

  • AMD to brand ATI Radeon 2000 series for HD era

    R600 details finalised as launch nears

    AMD's 'R600' graphics chip will ship as the ATI Radeon HD 2000 series, the company has apparently revealed. Note the expulsion of the 'X'. The chip will contain 320 unified shaders and is capable of 24x anti-aliasing. So claims website DailyTech, citing the vendor itself. The GPU can connect to memory across an eight-channel …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 08:39

  • Sony revamps satnav line-up

    Scenting summer and out to appeal to anyone who got lost or stuck in traffic during the Easter break, Sony has pointed the way to a major refresh of its Nav-U satellite navigation kit range. The new line-up comprises four models. The NV-U52 contains 512MB of on-board memory, enough for maps covering a single country. It has …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 08:43

  • Linux and Solaris face off

    Some reader experiences

    Earlier this year, we asked our readers why people thinking of Linux aren't also thinking of OpenSolaris (or vice versa), now that both are pukka OSS operating systems. Well, one reason that people might choose to miss out on OpenSolaris is because we're (in general) a conservative lot – once bitten, twice shy – and a lot of …

    Developer 13 Apr 2007, 09:05

  • Samsung says 'yes' to dual HD DVD, Blu-ray player

    Didn't appear in 2005, 2006; will ship in 2007

    Samsung's on again, off again plan to produce a player that can handle both next-gen optical disc formats - HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc - is going to happen after all. The Korean giant today said it will ship such a machine in the US in time for Christmas. Dubbed the Duo HD player - the more prosaic model number is BD-UP5000 - …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 09:10

  • Vonage chief walks

    Adios

    Troubled telco and broadband provider Vonage has lost its chief executive. Michael Snyder has quit as CEO and resigned from the board of directors. Vonage chairman Jeffrey Citron is stepping in as interim chief exec while the company looks for a replacement. The company also announced prelimary results for the quarter ended …

    VoIP 13 Apr 2007, 09:17

  • Public private partnerships no panacea, report says

    Magic bullet not quite on target

    A report on public private partnerships says they are not a simple solution to improving government assets. Public private partnerships (PPPs) are being hindered by unproven ICT systems and specification changes, which disregard time or budget implications, according to a survey of PPP specialists by financial market …

    Public Sector 13 Apr 2007, 09:20

  • Google offers UK payments

    Checkout checks in

    Google is launching its payment system, Google Checkout, in the UK. The service is aimed at merchants rather than for person to person payments and will compete with PayPal and traditional credit and debit cards. The service has been available in the US since June 2006. Customers use their Google ID - from signing up to …

    Financial News 13 Apr 2007, 09:37

  • Wi-Fi equipped iPod on the horizon?

    Apple will bring out an iPod with Wi-Fi wireless connectivity on board during the latter half of the year - if the latest whispers coming from Taiwan's electronics manufacturer community are to be believed, that is. So claims local newssite DigiTimes today, which mentions moles from contract manufacturers Foxconn and …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 09:46

  • Accused Pentagon hacker prosecution could backfire

    Analysis US military security still poor after 'biggest' hack

    Accused Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon is continuing to fight against extradition to the US after losing an appeal last week. Only the Law Lords now stand between the Scot and a US trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging 97 US government computers between 2001 and 2002 and causing $700,000 worth of damage, in what US …

    Security 13 Apr 2007, 10:06

  • Qantas jet almost rammed by sky-hog glider pilot

    Mystery birdman wreaks havoc over Adelaide. Sort of

    A Qantas jet had to swerve out of the way of a sky-hog hang glider in the vicinity of Adelaide, Australia, according to reports. The incident actually took place in February, but has only been picked up by the Australian media in recent days. The Sydney Morning Herald quotes a Qantas spokesman as stating that "a hang glider …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 10:07

  • Brazilian airline takes off in Second Life

    Free flights in saddo paradise

    Brazilian airline TAM has announced it will offer free virtual flights in saddo paradise Second Life, Reuters reports. The airline said yesterday the jaunts will set off from Berrini Island - where avatars will be greeted by "a virtual pilot and a flight attendant" - to islands called England, Milan, New York and Paris. A …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 10:08

  • Hot or not? Nimble vs Bebo

    New social networking site attempts to woo punters

    A new social networking website - originally begun as a graduate project by a DIT student - is primed to go head-to-head with Bebo in a bid to attract users. Nimble.ie is an online community which, like MySpace, enables web users to get - and stay - in contact with friends and family. The online community provides an easy way …

    Entertainment 13 Apr 2007, 10:11

  • Global warming threatens Aussie plonk

    Vineyards may head south to cooler climes

    Global warming may compel Australian wine producers to shift their vineyards to cooler climes, The Telegraph reports. As temperatures rise - by an estimated 1.5°C to 2°C in the next 50 to 100 years - and rainfall decreases, a southward migration of vineyards may be in order, experts predict. Mark McKenzie, executive director of …

    Biology 13 Apr 2007, 11:04

  • German boffins make sperm cells from bone marrow

    What future for boners?

    Scientists in Germany have managed to coax stem cells drawn from bone marrow to grow into immature sperm cells. The team says if these so-called spermatagonial cells can be matured, the work would have massive implications for fertility treatments. The research team isolated mesenchymal stem cells from samples of bone marrow …

    Biology 13 Apr 2007, 11:06

  • Swiss turn Titanic into timepieces

    Liner's steel plate used for luxury wristwatches

    If you've got between $7,800 and $173,100 to spare and fancy owning a piece of history, Geneva watchmaker Romain Jerome has just the thing for you: a watch incorporating steel and coal from the Titanic. Watches in the "Titanic-DNA" collection are made from gold, platinum and steel, the latter coming from a 1.5 kg piece of the …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 11:08

  • LG offers taster of candybar Shine

    Metal mobile to appear in all form-factors

    LG has introduced a candybar incarnation of its Shine slider phone. The new model - dubbed the KE770 - is 9.9mm thick, just shy of the regular Shine's 14mm waist. Otherwise the specs remain pretty much the same, LG indicated when it showed the new handset off in Russia today. Expect it to pack in a 262,144-colour, 240 x 320 …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 11:43

  • World's biggest tiger stages a clawback

    Siberian population 'finally stabilised'

    The threatened Amur tiger - the world's biggest* - has staged a bit of a comeback in its native Siberia, with the population "finally stabilised", according to the WWF. The Amur population, which by the 1940s was represented by just 40-odd individuals in the Russian wilds, is now estimated at 480 to 520, The Telegraph reports. …

    Biology 13 Apr 2007, 12:14

  • Evil twins spread zombie plague

    Sdbot and Gaobot infections behind most botnets

    The Sdbot and Gaobot malware families are responsible for most botnets worldwide. The two strains were responsible for 80 per cent of detections related to bots during the first quarter of 2007, Spanish anti-virus firm Panda Software reports. Other culprits, although on a lesser scale, included Oscarbot, IRCbot or RXbot. The …

    Security 13 Apr 2007, 12:19

  • PlusNet just wants to be loved - again

    Analysis The long and winding road back

    Beleaguered ISP PlusNet is attempting a comeback with a suite of new deals, backed by its new owner BT. PlusNet's 200,000 subscribers were picked up by BT at the tail end of a year which saw its long standing good reputation dismantled at its own hand. Technical cock ups, followed up with terrible customer service resulted in …

    Telecoms 13 Apr 2007, 12:58

  • Loutish users scupper collaborative technology

    Socially inept choose the wrong comms tools - report

    Collaborative technologies are failing because too many users are socially inept and have poor manners, according to a report from the Leading Edge Forum, a consortium of CIOs and academics. The problem comes because users don't know which tools to use for which purposes, and don't consider the other people involved, so if …

    IT Director 13 Apr 2007, 13:01

  • China cracks down on net porn

    Cyberspace contaminated, young minds perverted

    China's Ministry of Public Security today announced a six month crackdown on net pornography, AP reports. The campaign will target "cyber strip shows and sexually explicit images, stories and audio and video clips" according to state news agency Xinhua. Zhang Xinfeng, a deputy public security minister, declared: "The boom of …

    Law 13 Apr 2007, 13:04

  • Feds hail trials of new nuke-sniffing tech

    Neutron beams probe cat litter, bananas

    Officials at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hope to upgrade America's defences against smuggled nuclear weapons or materials in the near future, after successful tests at the New York container terminal. Vayl Oxford, chief of the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, told reporters that trials had gone well. …

    Government 13 Apr 2007, 13:18

  • US nailguns itself towards extinction

    The human cost of DIY

    The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has demanded that more be done to make DIYers aware of the dangers of nail guns following a massive rise in injuries provoked by the tools. Indeed, the CDC says that since 1991, nail gun-inflicted injuries have risen by 200 per cent, averaging 37,000 victims a year between 2001- …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 13:22

  • Arrests follow punch-up at Cyprus convent

    Two stabbed as priests and nuns wade in

    A brawl at a Cyprus convent has resulted in two people being stabbed and two cuffed, Reuters reports. The unseemly scuffle - in which "priests and nuns were involved" - broke out last night at the Metamorphosis tou Sotiros convent, south east of Nicosia. According to police, it was provoked by "a power struggle between rival …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 13:24

  • Roaming cuts by summer, but other price rises on cards?

    EU shows resounding support for mobile price controls

    The EU's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has voted overwhelmingly in support of the proposed cap on EU-wide roaming charges, fixing the price at €0.40 for outgoing, and €0.15 for incoming calls. While the EU generally tries to avoid interfering with prices, especially in competitive markets, the feeling was that …

    Mobile 13 Apr 2007, 13:41

  • Why the PS3 might share the same fate as the PSP

    Opinion Will the Wii beat the PS3 like the DS Lite trumped the PSP?

    Especially with the recent indicators that the Wii is outselling the PS3, I'm beginning to think I'm seeing the PSP vs the DS again, but writ large. On the one hand you've got the Wii, a game console with a unique control system. Its graphically superior Sony competitor, the PS3, is more expensive, pumps out better graphics …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 13:46

  • Visa hit by transactions failure

    Friday 13, unlucky for some

    Credit card giant Visa's authorisation system has been suffering from a system failure since the early hours of this morning, leaving some merchants unable to authorise transactions. One Reg reader alerted us to the issue which could prevent thousands of online Visa card transactions from being processed today. An email from …

    Channel Register 13 Apr 2007, 13:49

  • HD hackers stay ahead of AACS

    Register Hardware The week's hottest personal technology stories

    Register Hardware - it's just like The Register, only harder - brings you the hottest personal technology news and reviews every day. HD DRM under strain Just days after the organisation behind HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc's AACS copy-protection technology said it had patched a hole exposed by hackers earlier this year, their …

    Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 14:02

  • Servers go to trailer parks in Iceland

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

    Easter ID theft While we in the UK were taking a break on Good Friday, thieves in Chicago walked into the headquarters of Chicage Public Schools and stole two laptops which contained names and social security numbers of 40,000 teachers. Ouch. Authorities have apologised and are trying to get the information back. Sun Fujitsu …

    Business 13 Apr 2007, 14:02

  • Stripping Belgian lager girl off UK shelves

    Removable swimsuit beer label ruled offside

    A Belgian lager whose label features a buxom lass in a removable swimsuit* has been removed from sale in the UK, The Publican reports. Rubbel Sexy Lager - brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe - violated The Portman Group's Code of Practice, the Independent Complaints Panel ruled, because "the name of the drink and the swimsuit were …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 2007, 14:13

  • Researchers serve up obesity gene

    Not the same as having fat bones, though

    Researchers have identified a variant of a gene that, should you be blessed with two copies, makes you prone to retaining extra weight. Those with one copy of the mutant FTO gene are 30 per cent more likely to be obese, while those with two copies, the researchers say, are 70 per cent more likely to be dangerously overweight. …

    Biology 13 Apr 2007, 14:50

  • Router technology creeps into the space age

    IRIS project opens up IP routing over satellite

    US military boffins are planning to put a satellite-based router into orbit. The three-year Internet Routing In Space (IRIS) project is due to see a satellite that will aid military communications launched in the first quarter of 2009. Satellite operator Intelsat will handle the management of the project with Cisco supplying …

    Data Networking 13 Apr 2007, 15:22

  • House-trash party girl blames 'hackers'

    MySpace invite turned family home into bomb site

    An English teenager whose house was trashed after she posted a party invite on MySpace has blamed computer hackers for the gatecrashing debacle. A 17 year old from Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, took advantage of her parents being away over Easter to invite a few friends – say 60, plus DJs – to an informal get together at …

    Crime 13 Apr 2007, 15:54

  • Orange suspends extranet after attack

    Enable disabled

    Orange has had to suspend access to its "Enable" system since last Thursday when it became aware that a third party was trying to access the credit checking and connection management system. In a statement, Orange said someone tried to get in to the system, which is designed for internal and external sales people. Orange wouldn …

    Mobile 13 Apr 2007, 15:55

  • CBS signs online partners

    Buddies up with AOL, CNet, Microsoft and Sling

    CBS has signed agreements with a bunch of online partners to distribute its shows over the internet. The "CBS Interactive Audience Network" includes deals with AOL, Bebo, CNet, Comcast, Joost, Sling Media, and Veoh. All content will be supported by advertising and free to the consumer both in the US and internationally. Ad …

    Music and Media 13 Apr 2007, 15:55

  • Indian tiger starts to waddle

    Infosys drops to fourth gear

    Indian outsourcing giant Infosys has posted year end results that show how its growth is still constrained by a lack of resources. At least that's the story the firm gave in January, and it happens to concur with the complaints emanating from its rival multinationals on the subcontinent. It's only a spot of indigestion, …

    Financial News 13 Apr 2007, 16:00

  • Future warfare and all that Jizz

    Letters and introducing the flash moon

    This week, the MOD took to gazing into a crystal ball, and came up with a number of scary sounding predictions for what the future might hold. Many of you felt that this shameless pilfering of the best of cyberpunk might have been better avoided. Perhaps the MOD's think tank could lend its future diagnosticator to Des Browne …

    Letters 13 Apr 2007, 16:13

  • Virgin sees Sky in court

    Bluff called: turns out not to be bluff

    The spat between Virgin Media and BSkyB took another turn yesterday when Virgin Media launched a High-Court action accusing Sky of breaching the 1998 UK Competition Act. Virgin had threatened to see Sky in court if its rival didn't back down on pricing within 30 days: Sky has always said it would be happy to return to the …

    Telecoms 13 Apr 2007, 16:31

  • Killer virus hoax panics Pakistan

    Sinister message rattles mobile users

    Mobile phone operators in Pakistan have been deluged with calls from concerned users after they received a hoax message claiming a killer virus was being transmitted via their handsets. The message claimed that 20 people had already succumbed to the deadly plague, and proved so effective that some mosques in Karachi began …

    Wireless 13 Apr 2007, 16:33

  • New Laws of Robotics proposed for US kill-bots

    Droid-on-droid mayhem OK'd; machines to ask before snuffing humans

    A new set of laws has been proposed to govern operations by killer robots. The ideas were floated by John S Canning, an engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre, Dahlgren Division – an American weapons-research and test establishment. Mr Canning's “Concept of Operations for Armed Autonomous Systems” presentation can be …

    Rise of the Machines 13 Apr 2007, 17:05

  • Vendors oversell Business Intelligence (now there's a surprise)

    Reg Reader Workshop Unrealistic expectations

    The BI jargon mini-poll results are in and they make interesting reading, with lessons in there for both vendors and IT departments. Over eighty per cent of those who gave us their feedback believe that vendor marketing material is often too idealistic and generating unrealistic expectations amongst business users (Figure 1 …

    Business 13 Apr 2007, 17:51

  • Kumar to return $800m to CA shareholders

    Assuming he lives to be 250 years old

    Sanjay Kumar, the disgraced former CEO of Computer Associates, is to pay $798.6m in restitution to victims of the company's $2.2bn accounting fraud. Well, he would if had the money... Kumar will liquidate his assets and family trusts to pay at least $52m before being whisked off in August to begin a 12-year prison term. CA …

    Financial News 13 Apr 2007, 18:49

  • WD touts quieter, smoother drives for video

    Bidding for the DVR and set-top box business

    Audio-video drives are back on the menu, with Western Digital bringing out a range of IDE and SATA hard disks that goes to a chunky 500GB – enough for up to 30 hours of HD video, reckons WD. The drives include a number of tweaks and new technologies to optimise them for AV applications. WD claimed that they can deliver smooth …

    Reg Hardware 13 Apr 2007, 19:24

  • Unified storage combo binds NAS, SAN and DR

    Nexsan and Reldata ally for low cost network storage

    Nexsan and Reldata have linked up to produce an IP-based unified storage system that offers both SAN and NAS capabilities, and will be sold by both companies' dealers. According to Reldata boss Dr Boris Anderer, the joint product - called Unified Smart Storage - is a complete system in its own right, not merely a bundle. He …

    Storage 13 Apr 2007, 19:25

  • US agencies cybersecurity defences are outstandingly mediocre

    From Dunce's cap to C- in one bound

    Information security procedures in federal government have improved, albeit modestly. An annual computer security report card on 24 federal agencies released Thursday rated average security at "C-minus for 2006 compared to D+ in 2005. So instead of been sent to bed without their pork supper, Federal IT managers have earned a …

    Government 13 Apr 2007, 19:39

  • Pork-stuffed Cray parades CEO and product

    Interview Slow smoked profit

    Cray's Peter Ungaro has become fully emergent. Not so much like a fluff-filled executive at a Web 2.0 start-up, but more like a CEO of a manly supercomputing firm ready to brag about his company's latest accomplishments. Since taking the helm at Cray in 2005, Ungaro has, for the most part, been tucked away at the …

    Servers 13 Apr 2007, 19:47

  • Of HP's Virtual Connect

    Comment Young Blades

    HP announced last month the availability of Virtual Connect, virtualization technologies to simplify the connectivity and management of its BladeSystem c-Class architecture. HP Virtual Connect modules separate server management from LAN and SAN management without introducing another network or disturbing existing network …

    Channel Register 13 Apr 2007, 20:09

  • Net does its part to bring down American Idol

    Have you?

    Given the dearth of creativity and talent on American Idol, you'd think the show by now would have suffered a fate worse than the Hindenburg. Alas, the series is in its sixth season, so a handful of altruistic souls have taken to the net in a campaign to torpedo the show. Among the more amusing sabotage attempts is the …

    Entertainment 13 Apr 2007, 20:19

  • DiData sells sub-scale Swedish sub

    Home is where the money is, which is not Sweden

    Dimension Data has sold its Swedish operations to Cygate, a subsidiary of TeliaSonera. Terms were undisclosed, which means that the sale price was nothing to write home about. According to DiData, its Swedish business was sub-scale and it has prioritised its investments in other market. The South-African owned reseller says it …

    Channel Register 13 Apr 2007, 21:14

  • Attacks exploit Windows DNS server flaw

    Only workarounds for now

    Attackers are targeting a flaw in the DNS service for Windows server OSes that could hijack the computers that run them, Microsoft warns. The software behemoth advises admins to employ workarounds pending completion of its investigation. The vulnerability affects Windows 2000 Server, Service Pack 4 and SP 1 and SP2 versions …

    Enterprise Security 13 Apr 2007, 22:36

  • Calif. techies sue AT&T and Yellowpages in overtime spat

    Exempt? We don't think so!

    Two California computer support technicians have launched a class action suit against their employers, AT&T and Yellowpages.com, for classifying them as 'managers' or 'engineers' to avoid paying overtime and meal breaks. Today, Chris Shoff and Richard Traister filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing AT&T and …

    Law 13 Apr 2007, 23:26