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17th April 2007 Archive

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  • Fantasy Baseball meltdown irks

    ESPN and TQ Stats to be avoided

    The meltdown of ESPN's Fantasy Baseball site is prompting aneurysms among its more passionate users after the service informed them they'll have to start their games from scratch. The irony was all the more bitter in the wake of glitches that disrupted Fantasy Baseball players on a competing service called TQ Stats. ESPN's …

    Media 17 Apr 2007, 01:33

  • Sun thrusts four-socket Xeon blade at Intel fanboys

    IDF While MS reveals 'Viridian'

    Sun Microsystems and Microsoft today did their best to wow Intel's customer base with a pair of sneak peeks into their upcoming products. Sun, appearing here at the Intel Developer Forum, revealed an Intel-based blade server and a two-socket system. The four-socket blade server will fit into Sun's existing Blade 8000 chassis …

    Servers 17 Apr 2007, 05:06

  • Fabric7 ripped apart

    Exclusive x86 SMP dream dies again

    Big Opteron metal start-up Fabric7 has shut down, The Register can reveal. Fabric7 appeared in late 2005, hoping to throw Linux (and Windows) and Opteron at the highest-end data centers tasks. It shipped eight-socket and fourteen-socket systems inside a chassis packed full of networking gear. Selling the flashy systems, however …

    Servers 17 Apr 2007, 06:16

  • IDF Intel intros top-gun gaming PC platform

    Chip colossus Intel looks set to create a Centrino-like platform for desktop gaming later this year when it brings 'Skulltrail' - a high-end gaming PC design - to market. Skulltrail is based around two of Intel's four-core Core 2 Extreme processor and connects them to up to four PCI Express graphics cards, some used for …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 06:24

  • Intel pulls up SoCs for TV appearance

    IDF Inside your (next) telly

    Chip giant Intel wants to get inside your TV. Today, it launched its first system-on-a-chip product - its first since the ill-fated 'Timna' - but this one aimed at tellies and set-top boxes. The product's called the CE2110 and it combines a 1GHz ARM processor, chipset and a basic graphics engine. By combining the three on a …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 06:36

  • Future PCs to integrate powerline Ethernet

    IDF HomePlug AV on board

    How is a home computer going to connect to the internet in 2008? Intel has been keen to tout the as-yet-non-standard 802.11n as the future of wireless connectivity, but it's now factoring in powerline Ethernet too. It plans to integrated the HomePlug AV 200Mbps powerline standard into next year's desktop designs. The feature …

    Broadband 17 Apr 2007, 08:01

  • Symantec puts lace on system recovery line

    Now more system recovery-er

    Symantec has launched a major upgrade for its Windows-based bare-metal system restore software with Backup Exec System Recovery 7.0. Backup Exec System Recovery is disk-based restoration software that can perform full recovery to both similar and dissimilar server hardware. Symantec says BESR can restore a server's operating …

    Storage 17 Apr 2007, 08:02

  • Intel pushes next-gen Centrino at compact desktops

    IDF Not just a mobile product, you know

    Intel formally offered up its upcoming 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptop platform as the basis for future small form-factor systems. Intel has been pitching Santa Rosa as a foundation for SFF PCs for over a year now, touting the platform's key mobile-friendly feature - low power consumption - as an enabler for compact, fixed- …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 08:28

  • Those 'Penryn' details in full

    IDF What Intel said (again) at IDF

    'Penryn', Intel's upcoming die-shrink-plus Core 2 processor architecture, may have been high on the chip maker's agenda at its Developer Forum this week, but it said nothing new about the technology. Need a refresher? Here's what Register Hardware knows about the 45nm CPU... Intel 45nm CPUs to clock above 3GHz Upcoming Core …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 08:46

  • NPfIT condemned in MPs' scathing report

    NHS IT - overbudget, overdue and over here

    The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a damning report into the NHS's overdue and over budget National Programme for IT (NPfIT). The group of MPs conclude that the system is late, suppliers are struggling to deliver, medical staff are sceptical of the entire project, and there is still no clear idea of how much it will …

    Policy 17 Apr 2007, 08:49

  • Mainframe now obsolete for data warehousing

    Reg Reader Workshop Let Intel inherit the earth?

    Many would have argued in the past that a data warehouse was not a "real" data warehouse unless it existed the in big iron mainframe number crunching environment. A bit of a generalisation maybe, but when you look at where many of the big banks, insurance companies, retailers and telcos stick their transaction data for analysis …

    Business 17 Apr 2007, 08:53

  • Data collation can evade Data Protection Act

    Court of Appeal overturns data processing ruling

    The selection and collation of information from several files held on a person does not necessarily count as processing of personal data, according to the Court of Appeal. The activity can escape the remit of the Data Protection Act. The Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision on the issue of the creation of personal …

    Law 17 Apr 2007, 09:27

  • 'Cops help kill 32 Students', claims furious blogger

    Anger follows tech college massacre

    Blogs written by students at Virginia Tech University have expressed fury at how police and university authorities dealt with the shooting there yesterday. Yesterday morning a man shot 32 students at the Virginia campus before killing himself. A male and female student were shot at a hall of residence early in the morning. Two …

    Law 17 Apr 2007, 09:30

  • What can service data objects do for your SOA system?

    Column Data without frontiers

    In the last two columns, I looked at how you can build services within a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using the Service Component Architecture (or SCA) framework. In the second of these two columns, I hinted that you could use another tool called Service Data Objects (SDO) in conjunction with SCA. In this column and …

    Developer 17 Apr 2007, 09:33

  • Norwegian liberals call for relaxation of copyright laws

    Say yes to file-sharing

    The Liberal Party in Norway has backed the legalisation of the sharing of copyrighted material for personal use. It is the first mainstream European political party to adopt a pro-file-sharing stance. The Venstre, or Liberal Party, is the country's seventh largest party and holds 10 of the Norwegian Parliament's 169 seats with …

    Law 17 Apr 2007, 09:35

  • Chocolate the key to uncovering PC passwords

    Sweet talk and sweets is all it takes

    Three years since the last time they pulled this stunt, cheeky researchers can still wangle IT passwords with free chocolate and flirting. A train station survey of 300 office workers carried out by Infosecurity Europe researchers in London revealed the disturbing statistic that 64 per cent would hand over their office computer …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 09:44

  • Mobile operators giveth and taketh away

    Tourists to shoulder the cost of EU roaming cuts

    In much the same way as some firms try to pass on savings to customers, mobile phone networks look set to pass extra costs on to certain consumers. A study by Informa Telecoms & Media, entitled Global Mobile Roaming: Business Models and Forecasts in the Evolving Environment, has found roaming price levels for non-Europeans …

    Mobile 17 Apr 2007, 10:01

  • Software compliance is not just about licensing

    Comment What about reusable code?

    For many companies, software compliance is just about making sure that all copies of a particular application in use have a valid vendor licence. There's plenty of software around to try and ensure that all licences are valid and all users covered, to stop organisations like the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) from …

    Small Biz 17 Apr 2007, 10:29

  • Pipex counts cost of competing with the big boys

    Acquisitions hit profits, sell-off moves 'on track'

    Pipex told investors today its underlying profits suffered in 2006 because of borrowing to pay for rival ISPs Bulldog and Toucan, and home phone outfit Homecall. Pre-tax profits, hit by bigger interest payments, sank to £4.8m, from £5.1m a year earlier. Margins fell away too, from 46 per cent in 2005 to 38.2 per cent last year …

    Broadband 17 Apr 2007, 10:30

  • Commercial child abuse websites growing

    Thirty per cent growth

    The number of websites making money by selling pictures and videos of children being sexually abused is continuing to grow. There was a 34 per cent increase in reports made to the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) hotline - 31,776 reports in 2006. These reports led to confirmation that 10,656 URLs on 3,077 websites contained …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 10:33

  • UK's bumblebees face extinction

    'Devastating' effect on agriculture to follow

    Several UK bumblebee species are heading inexorably for extinction, scientists have claimed, part of a process caused by "pesticides and agricultural intensification" which could have a "devastating knock-on effect on agriculture". According to Professor Dave Goulson, director of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust at the …

    Science 17 Apr 2007, 10:36

  • Intel picks VIA's Mini ITX for cut-price PC mobo

    IDF Target is emerging markets, not case-modders

    Intel has indeed thrown its weight behind rival chip maker VIA's Mini ITX motherboard form-factor, as reported back in January, though the bigger company wasn't exactly going out of its way to reveal its new compact mobo's origins. Intel's entry into the Mini ITX arena is the Desktop Board D201GLY, which it's pitching at …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 10:53

  • Gravity-B proves Einstein right

    To within one per cent, anyway

    The first data from Gravity Probe-B has confirmed that Einstein was a pretty clever chap who knew what he was talking about when it came to space, time, and the universe. The team working on the mission have demonstrated the so-called geodetic effect, the amount by which the Earth's mass distorts local space time. So far, the …

    Science 17 Apr 2007, 10:56

  • Anteater kills zookeeper

    Abdomen ripped open in 'unusual' attack

    An Argentinian zookeeper has died as a result of an anteater attack, Reuters reports. Melisa Casco, 19, died following an operation to amputate one of her legs. She worked as at Florencio Varela zoo outside Buenos Aires as "part of a conservation and reproduction project involving endangered giant anteaters". The "unusual" …

    Science 17 Apr 2007, 10:57

  • Asbo-breach OAP jailed

    Octogenarian 'neighbour from hell' gets six months

    The 81-year-old "neighbour from hell" who was found guilty of harrassment and six breaches of an Asbo after making her neighbours' lives "a misery" has been jailed for six months, the BBC reports. Dorothy Evans, of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, failed to appear in court yesterday for sentencing, "claiming she was unwell and in …

    Law 17 Apr 2007, 11:04

  • Phishers spread their nets

    Fewer attacks target more institutions

    The percentage of US-hosted phishing attacks dropped from 74 per cent in February to 55 per cent in March, according to the latest online fraud report of security firm RSA. Last month also witnessed a "dramatic increase" in the number of brands targeted by email scams, from 153 in February to 202 in March, even as the number of …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 11:10

  • Intel confirms programmable, multi-core chip

    IDF Larrabee vs GPGPUs: it's war

    Intel claims to have ended the GPGPU era before it even started with the revelation of a new multi-core processor design called Larrabee. At the Intel Developer Forum today, Intel server chip chief Pat Gelsinger confirmed the long rumored processor. He described Larrabee as a multi-core, programmable part that will use a …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 11:22

  • Clarity shareholders call for boss's head

    Want new boss and finance director

    Clarity Commerce Solutions has vowed to fight rebel shareholders calling for changes to senior management. A former chairman of the company and individuals representing 13 per cent of Clarity's share capital are calling for an extraordinary meeting to remove current chief executive Graham York. Earlier this month Clarity …

    The Channel 17 Apr 2007, 11:37

  • Businessman takes NatWest for £35k

    Bank settles over 'rip-off' charges challenge

    A Norfolk businessman has received a cheque for £35,987.94 from NatWest after challenging the bank over charges levied for bouncing his cheques, The Telegraph reports. The anonymous entrepreneur suffered cash flow problems after starting up his window and conservatory business eight years ago. Over 28 months between 2000 and …

    Small Biz 17 Apr 2007, 11:39

  • Astronaut runs Boston marathon from space

    Four hours, 24 mins

    NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has completed the Boston Marathon in an unofficial time of four hours and 24 minutes, despite being strapped to a treadmill in orbit on the International Space Station. Williams qualified for the Boston Marathon with her three hour 37 minute run in the 2006 Chevron Houston Marathon. She said she …

    Science 17 Apr 2007, 11:40

  • Intel gives up on super-charged 'Gesher'

    IDF Call me 'Sandy Bridge'

    El Reg has forced Intel into another awkward chip name change, the company confirmed today. 'Gesher', its next-gen 32nm microarchitecture, is no more. Intel first talked up Gesher during last September's IDF (Intel Developer Forum), using the name to describe an upcoming 32nm processor that will use a fresh microarchitecture …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 11:52

  • DXG dishes out 5Mp camcorder with games

    Computer games on your camcorder? That's just crazy

    California-based DXG has launched a new ultra-compact digital camera/camcorder that doubles as a portable entertainment centre. The DXG-589V features a 3in LCD Screen that rotates to a Gameboy-style shape for playing 20 built-in video games. The DXG-589V features a digital camera (up to 10 megapixels) and VGA camcorder ( …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 13:07

  • MSI NX8600GTS graphics card

    Review Surname T2D256E-HD-OC, in case you were wondering

    Nvidia stole a march on ATi when it launched the DirectX 10 GeForce 8800 GTS and GTX chips back in October 2006. Even though the G80/8800 was a powerhouse of a chip we wondered who exactly would spend the thick end of £400 on a single graphics card or £800 on a pair of the things in SLI. While the performance of 8800 was …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 13:13

  • BT readies 'on the night' 21CN mass migration trial

    As in 'we hope it'll be alright'

    BT will begin trialling mass migrations to its new unified network in a series of acid tests in Swansea this summer. The telco says it has proved the technology behind its £10bn nationwide 21CN project in two small South Wales towns, Wick and Bledinog. Now it has to demonstrate that it can move people over to wholly IP-based …

    Networks 17 Apr 2007, 13:14

  • Capgemini union backs below inflation pay rise

    Hard nut to crack

    Unionised IT workers at Capgemini are to ballot on whether to accept a below-inflation pay rise after backing down from strike action on a contract that is set to earn the company £1.1bn in profit. The union voted in March to take industrial action in protest at a 2.35 per cent pay offer that Capgemini made to staff on the £8bn …

    The Channel 17 Apr 2007, 13:23

  • Rok raises another $7m

    Prepares for narrowcast IPO

    While network operators are evaluating technologies for broadcasting TV, Rok Entertainment is betting on narrowcast as the future and has just raised $7m with a view to an IPO later this year. Broadcast technologies have been getting all the attention lately, but Rok argues that at home customers are getting used to watching …

    Mobile 17 Apr 2007, 13:25

  • BT forgets to bill for internet access

    Thousands get bumper bill six months later

    BT has admitted that a glitch in its systems meant thousands of punters weren't billed for dial-up internet access and indirect international calls for three months last year. But don't worry. The telco is simply adding the outstanding amount to this April's bill. Calls made to 0844, 0845, and 0870 numbers between August and …

    Broadband 17 Apr 2007, 13:50

  • IntelSat up for grabs

    Largest satellite operator gets $6bn offer

    IntelSat is looking for a new owner after receiving an offer of $6bn from private equity firm the Blackstone Group, according to the New York Times. The world's largest commercial satellite operator has, reportedly, hired Credit Suisse to search for potential suitors. A consortium of private equity companies paid $3.1bn for …

    Financial News 17 Apr 2007, 13:51

  • A Linux for the rest of us?

    Zero config distro tailored for newbies

    Serial entrepreneur Peter Dawe, who helped bring the internet to the UK, is launching a "safe" Linux distro tailored for the technophobe. The idea behind his BabelLinux distro is to give users a free, go-anywhere bootable OS, which is likely to be attractive to operators of public internet PCs. BabelLinux is tailored for …

    Operating Systems 17 Apr 2007, 14:05

  • Grange Hill firm's website exposed thousands of CVs

    H♀lly♂aks in the sh**ty

    Lime Pictures had been mistakenly displaying thousands of individual applicants' personal details on the job section of its website. We reported yesterday on what initially appeared to be an isolated incident affecting just one applicant. The Grange Hill and Hollyoaks TV production company had been contacted by a concerned Reg …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 14:20

  • Consumers baulk at returning to hacked stores

    Breach of trust

    Consumers are wary about returning to shop at retailers that have been the subject of security breaches, according to a new study. The survey of 1,200 UK consumers revealed that the majority would take their business elsewhere in the event of loss of customer data as a result of a security breach or hack attack. One in seven …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 14:35

  • P2P pinball lawyers say ignorance is no defence

    Unwitting filesharers told to pay up

    The lawyers pursuing 500 file sharers for allegedly distributing illegal copies of computer game Dream Pinball 3D have accepted that some of its targets may have been unaware their machine was being used to distribute illegal software. However, alleged perpetrators will still be charged £300 on the assumption they were guilty …

    Law 17 Apr 2007, 14:51

  • Blu-Ray disks hacked by sweet talking teenagers

    Letters While politics and humour are banned

    Fury swept the blogosphere today with accusations over how police and university authorities dealt with the shooting of 32 students at Virginia Tech University yesterday morning: Mis-directed anger and frustration... Gotta blame someone and the killer is dead, so blame the university and cops. Perhaps they could have responded …

    Letters 17 Apr 2007, 15:44

  • 2.0'Reilly quietly rips up blogna carta

    Civilisation of blogs 'misguided'

    A mooted "blogging code" which has attracted broad media attention in the last week, is set to be ditched by its author, tech conference magnate and web 2.0 investor Tim O'Reilly. In an interview with Wired on Friday to promote his latest web 2.0 conference, O'Reilly said: "I've come to think the call for a code of conduct was …

    Media 17 Apr 2007, 15:46

  • N Korea preps nuclear reactor shutdown

    Satellite images indicate imminent action, spooks claim

    North Korea may be preparing to shut down its main nuclear reactor, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Although the reactor at the Yongbyon facility "remained in operation today", as The Telegraph explains, South Korean sources suggest "a high possibility that movement of cars and people at the site recorded in …

    Science 17 Apr 2007, 15:49

  • Redundancies loom in Pipex customer service

    Exclusive Bridal diet

    Pipex is cutting its broadband customer service staff, sources reveal. The Register has learned that the firm told 19 staff today at its Welwyn Garden City site their jobs were at risk. Pipex announced disappointing annual results this morning and has been the subject of sell-off talks for some weeks. Dominic Crolla, Pipex's …

    Broadband 17 Apr 2007, 15:57

  • Pentax Optio E30 compact digital camera

    Review 7-megapixel camera for less than £100. Yes, less...

    With the release of the Optio E30 camera, Pentax has provided consumers with high resolution at a small cost. It might be packing the ability to capture seven-megapixel images, but you can snap up this snapper for less than £100. Even though Pentax has packed in the extra resolution, the company hasn’t felt the need to go …

    Hardware 17 Apr 2007, 16:18

  • EMC posts record Q1 revenue

    Company borging for fun and profit

    EMC's first-quarter net income rose to $312.6m or 15 cents per share from $272.5m last year in a record Q1 for the data storage company. Revenue rose to $2.98bn from $2.55bn last year, exceeding analysts' average predictions of $2.94bn. Growth in Asia-Pacific and Japan operations and an increased demand for EMC's software …

    Financial News 17 Apr 2007, 18:27

  • Facial recognition 'proven' as airport crowd filter

    In theory

    Facial recognition cameras have been proven as a means of spotting wanted people in crowds, claimed LogicaCMG. However, the proof was limited and the owners of public venues have proven reluctant to pay for the technology because they believe their business is entertainment rather than security. LogicaCMG achieved an average …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 19:51

  • Borland bails out of California, moves HQ to Austin, TX

    Texas hold 'em

    Borland Software is moving its management and operations team out of Silicon Valley and into Austin, Texas. The company, which re-located to its current Cupertino HQ from across the Valley just a few years back, is shifting up 200 of its 1,168 staff to Austin, Texas, by the end of this year. Those waving adios to CA are back- …

    Software 17 Apr 2007, 20:01

  • Adware poses as ActiveX control

    PCs smited by bogus smut-surfing tool

    Security researchers have discovered samples of adware posing as ActiveX controls that allow voyeurs to watch online smut. The ploy used by ImageAccesActiveXObject represents a new tactic in the battle to infect users' PCs, according to anti-virus firm Panda Software. The malware infects Windows PCs when users visit hacker- …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 20:05

  • US judges reject net radio appeal

    It isn't looking good

    Three hanging judges looks set to set to throw a noose around internet radio in the United States. The Library of Congress' Copyright Royalty Board yesterday rejected an appeal by webcasters to review new rates for commercial webcasting. The Board also rejected a request to postpone the May 15 deadline for the introduction of …

    Media 17 Apr 2007, 20:08

  • California Senate fights RFID tracking for schoolkids

    Are you Sarah Connor? *Beep* Move along.

    California's state Senate has struck a major blow against the enemies of mankind in the inevitable war against The Machines. Legislation approved Monday would prohibit public schools from requiring the implementation of radio-wave devices that broadcast students' personal identification and monitor their movement around campus …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 21:29

  • ISP ejects whistle-blowing student

    BeThere's damage control found lacking

    A 21-year-old college student in London had his internet service terminated and was threatened with legal action after publishing details of a critical vulnerability that can compromise the security of the ISP's subscribers. BeThere took the retaliatory action four weeks after subscriber Sid Karunaratne demonstrated how the ISP …

    Security 17 Apr 2007, 22:02

  • Google's Schmidt dismisses DoubleClick envy

    Web 2.0 Expo 'Give me a break'

    Eric Schmidt today brushed aside competition and privacy concerns stemming from Google's $3.1bn DoubleClick purchase. Google's chief executive said it was false for search rival Microsoft and telecoms giant AT&T to claim the DoubleClick marriage damages the competition and raises anti-trust issues, as advertisers and media …

    Financial News 17 Apr 2007, 22:25

  • Presentation boost for Google Docs & Spreadsheets

    Web 2.0 Expo PowerPoint free

    Google is to round out its online applications suite with presentation software in its latest strike against Microsoft Office. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt Tuesday unveiled a Docs & Spreedsheets add-on, giving users a way to present information and create slide shows. Schmidt called presentation the "killer app" for …

    Applications 17 Apr 2007, 22:29

  • High fiber diet gives Intel 'regularity' needed to beat AMD

    IDF Smooth and prosperous

    Intel yesterday wowed server enthusiasts with some Metamucil inspired messaging and a host of new goodies designed to expand the chipmaker's reach. We'll hit the goodies first and then return to the Metamucil and Intel's regularity. The initial item to jump out at us came during server chip chief Pat Gelsinger's keynote. The …

    Servers 17 Apr 2007, 22:32

  • Intel stems sales decline

    Chip sales down, but profits up

    Intel announced a profit of $1.61bn in the first quarter, or 27 cents per share. The number is up 19 per cent from the same quarter last year. The Santa Clara-based business also posted a slight curb in the steady loss of sales it has faced since 2005 to rivals such as AMD. Revenue fell less than 1 per cent from Q1 last year …

    Financial News 17 Apr 2007, 23:25