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20th April 2007 Archive

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  • Pirate radio: the pros and the cons

    Good for community, bad for emergency services

    A quarter of Londoners living in the boroughs of Hackney, Lambeth and Haringey regularly tune into pirate radio stations, according to new research. Some 40 per cent of listeners told Ofcom, the media watchdog which conducted the study, that illegal radio broadcasts offered more to the community than its commercial and BBC …

    Music and Media 20 Apr 2007, 00:19

  • ICSTIS denies £250K Richard and Judy fine

    We're still thinking about it

    The Sun and the Daily Star are reporting that ICSTIS, the premium-rate regulator, will impose a £250K fine for irregularities in quizzes during the Richard & Judy show. But ICSTIS claims to know nothing about this and says it is still investigating. Channel 4 certainly earned a lot more than that from getting would-be …

    Networks 20 Apr 2007, 00:28

  • What's the real cost of internet video?

    Analysis The economics of prime time

    Can anyone afford to satisfy the demand for internet video? Users want it, but today, the business models give operators the incentive to throttle, rather than encourage, high-bandwidth uses of the internet. MIT calls this the 'Broadband Incentive Problem'. Last July, my company IP Development published research into the …

    Music and Media 20 Apr 2007, 06:02

  • Cable and Wireless asks Bulldog data theft victims to get in touch

    Information Commissioner: 'whodonewhatnow?'

    Cable and Wireless says there is no evidence that credit card details were taken in a data breach that led to complaints from customers who received unsolicited marketing calls. A spokeswoman told The Reg the telco couldn't say what exactly had been stolen. The Guardian reported that unspecified information about 100,000 …

    Telecoms 20 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • Attackers improve on JavaScript trickery

    CanSecWest Obfuscation is my middle name

    As JavaScript becomes an increasingly key component of online attacks, attackers are investing more energy in obfuscation and other techniques to make defenders' attempts at reverse engineering more difficult, a security researcher told attendees at the annual CanSecWest conference on Wednesday. Attackers have adopted the …

    Enterprise Security 20 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • Medion muscles into UMPC market

    Launches GoPal S2310 sat nav device too

    Medion has officially launched its debut device in the ultra-mobile PC arena: the UMPC RIM 1000, first seen at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. At the same time the manufacturer announced its latest sat nav GPS device - the GoPal S2310. The the UMPC RIM 1000 incorporates a VIA C7-M 770 ULV processor - chosen, we were …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 08:51

  • Staff use of Web 2.0 is unseen threat, survey says

    Companies underestimating leak risk

    Over one third of businesses do not monitor their employees' internet use, according to a survey carried out by an information security firm. The research found that companies are underestimating the data risk posed by so-called Web 2.0 sites. Websites based on user-generated content, blogging, or participation are frequently …

    Small Biz 20 Apr 2007, 08:54

  • Suing a cartel should be easier, says OFT

    Competition rules under scrutiny

    Consumers and businesses harmed by cartels and other anti-competitive practices should be better placed to recover their losses, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which launched a consultation (pdf) on changing competition rules this week. The OFT has even pledged to give members of the public access to some of the …

    Small Biz 20 Apr 2007, 09:19

  • Need enhanced data security? Try a condom

    Google recommends prophylaxis

    In these data uncertain times, it's reassuring to know that the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council is doing everything possible to ensure that your personal details are locked down against abuse. For those of you not au fait with the council's invaluable work, its aim is to "enhance payment account data security …

    Security 20 Apr 2007, 09:24

  • ORG plots e-voting observation

    Keeping a watchful eye on things

    Digital rights activist, the Open Rights Group (ORG), says it will be sending 30 observers to monitor the UK's trial of electronic voting technologies in the May 2007 local elections. The team is meeting with the Electoral Commission this morning, where it says it expects its "observer status" will be accredited. The group is …

    Government 20 Apr 2007, 09:55

  • Bell Micro talks up record-breaking Q1

    Stock options practices under review, though

    Hardware distributor Bell Microproducts has said that preliminary Q1 2007 results show the company is in rude health. It expects to see record revenue that could top $1bn, up around 15 per cent on the same quarter a year ago. The firm also said the Nasdaq listing council has "stayed" its de-listing decision, and has given Bell …

    Channel Register 20 Apr 2007, 10:11

  • NASA, DoD in underwater astronaut doc-bot trial

    IP-controlled surgery may give new meaning to the term 'hacker'

    American surgeons will carry out a realistic simulation of zero-gee robotic surgery next month, the Associated Press reports. The US Department of Defense (DoD) "Raven" robo-surgeon is being developed with the intention of treating injured soldiers on far-flung battlefields where no human doc may be available. It reportedly …

    Science 20 Apr 2007, 10:21

  • BOFH: Geeks on heat

    Episode 13 All's fair in love and war

    "So let me get this straight," I say to the PFY. "You want me to give you a reasonable amount of time to make a suave first impression - and engage her in some meaningful conversation about one of her interest topics - then bust in with some huge problem that only you can fix which will make you look like someone pretty bloody …

    BOFH 20 Apr 2007, 10:37

  • Chinese translation software blamed in racist sofa outrage

    'Mommy, what colour is that?'

    A Toronto family has been left traumatised after a software translation error led to the dark brown upholstery of their new sofa being labelled "nigger brown", AP reports. Doris Moore explained that it was her seven-year-old daughter who first spotted the offending tag. She recounted: "My daughter saw the label and she knew the …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2007, 10:55

  • Lyrid meteors to sear Sunday's skies

    A show for insomniacs everywhere

    Mark your diaries now for some shooting stars this weekend, as the annual Lyrid meteor shower is coming to town. The Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, with records going back to 687BC (thank you ancient Chinese astronomers). The number of meteors in any shower has diminished over the years, but it could still …

    Space 20 Apr 2007, 10:58

  • Alcohol boosts health benefit of fruit

    Strawberry daiquiris all round

    Researchers from Kasetsart University in Thailand and the US Department of Agriculture Research Service have rather agreeably found that alcohol boosts the antioxidant properties of some fruit, the BBC reports. While investigating ways of keeping fruit fresh during storage, the scientists found that "treating strawberries with …

    Science 20 Apr 2007, 10:59

  • And the centre of your desktop is...

    Reg Reader Workshop The poll results are in

    Well, if ever there was any doubt that what's going on with the desktop is a hot topic among IT professionals, put it to one side. We had an overwhelming response to our reader poll in this area with over 4,800 of you participating, so thanks to those who took the time. The first thing we learned from the poll was that …

    Business 20 Apr 2007, 11:28

  • Lloyds TSB certificate glitch sparks concerns

    Trust no one

    Online banking customers logging onto the Lloyds TSB website on Friday morning were confronted by potentially confusing warnings about a security certificate. Consumers were greeted with a "website certified by an unknown authority" pop-up message for *.clickshift.com after accessing online.lloydstsb.co.uk. The domain …

    Enterprise Security 20 Apr 2007, 11:36

  • Oracle shuts Windows on data integrity drive

    Multivendor data checking spec will be Linux-only

    Oracle has slammed a window in Microsoft's face, by ensuring that a new enterprise data integrity checking scheme for mission-critical applications will run only on Linux. The database company has linked up with Emulex, LSI, and Seagate to standardise the way that their technologies check for data corruption. The four …

    Servers 20 Apr 2007, 11:45

  • 'Mary Celeste' yacht mystery puzzles Oz

    Abandoned vessel adrift off Queensland

    Australian air and sea rescue services are searching for the three man crew of a "ghost yacht" found adrift off the North Queensland coast, the BBC reports. The 12 metre catamaran - thought to have set sail for Townsville from Airlie Beach* on Sunday - was spotted from the air on Wednesday. However, rescuers could only reach …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2007, 11:50

  • Kremlin touts plan for Siberia-Alaska tunnel

    Digging for victory?

    Russian civil servants are touting a colossal infrastructure project in which Alaska and Siberia would be linked by the world's longest undersea tunnel. A widely-reported "pre-feasibility" study by the Russian Academy of Sciences is to be considered by Kremlin, US, and Canadian bigwigs at a conference next week. The centrepiece …

    Science 20 Apr 2007, 12:40

  • ESA gives MoonTwins project to UK firm

    Brace yourself for the acronym attack

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has asked aerospace company Astrium to design a moon landing mission dubbed "MoonTwins". The mission would put two landers on the moon, one at each pole. There they would conduct experiments and try out technologies that might later be used in ESA's planned missions to Mars. Speaking to the BBC …

    Space 20 Apr 2007, 12:41

  • Handwrite onto your BlackBerry

    You want me to sign where?

    BlackBerry Pearl users can now transfer handwritten notes into their handhelds using a digital pen and paper. The technology is aimed at uses such as form-filling - write on the form, tick a box and the written data is sent first to the BlackBerry's screen for you to check, and then back to base over the mobile network. It …

    Mobile 20 Apr 2007, 13:09

  • Dutch escort agency to service geek virgins

    'A lot of demand' from IT sector

    God alone knows it's going to be difficult, but we promise we will keep an absolutely straight face as we report that Dutch escort agency Society Service has set up a special service for geek virgins looking for that elusive first sexual encounter. Sociology student Zoe Vialet set up the agency last year, Ananova reports, and …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2007, 13:22

  • Click fraudsters flick industry the finger

    Bots still faking it with online ads

    Incidents of click fraud have escalated despite the attempts of search engine giants such as Google and Yahoo! to stymie the growth of the problem. Click fraud occurs when someone deliberately hits adverts on a website to push up costs for a rival firm. Click Fraud Network, which monitors online activity in pay-per-click …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2007, 13:28

  • UMPCs: still a gimmick despite Intel's best efforts?

    Analysis It's the battery life, stupid

    Intel's ultra-mobility chief, Anand Chandrasekher, when questioned by Register Hardware this week, was suspiciously unwilling to say how long machines based on the firm's new Ultra Mobile Platform (UMP) will run between battery charges. How long you can use UMPCs for is as crucial to their success as the ability to run a …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 13:44

  • Dodgy accountants sup Um Bongo from exposed holes

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

    Valve blows a data gasket Several reminders about the importance of data protection this week, from either side of the Pond. In the UK, the TV company behind such hit series' as Grange Hill, Brookside, and that cipher for modern despair Hollyoaks, was revealed to be exposing the CVs of thousands of job applicants going back …

    Business 20 Apr 2007, 13:49

  • Nokia boosts downloads with low-cost 3G phone

    Nokia looks set to bring high-speed downloading to the masses with a low-cost phone equipped with the latest 3G High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology. It can pull down songs and videos at up to 3.6Mbps. The 86g Nokia 6120 runs the Finnish phone giant's S60 user interface on a 2in, 240 x 320, 16m-colour …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 14:05

  • Disgruntled techie attempts Californian power blackout

    Counter-terror feds swoop after data centre sabotage

    A cheesed-off American IT worker was seized by an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force on Wednesday for attacking the Californian electric power grid. Lonnie Charles Denison, of Sacramento, allegedly meddled with computers at the California Independent System Operator (ISO) agency. He is also accused of making a malicious bomb threat …

    Crime 20 Apr 2007, 14:12

  • Bull goes industrial with software factory

    Open source code fuels distributed development

    French IT giant Bull plans to turn software development into an industrial process with its software factory announced earlier this month. The factory approach combines Bull's Novaforge development toolkit with its network of service centres to create a framework for distributed development. "We want to achieve three tasks …

    Developer 20 Apr 2007, 14:18

  • Intel extends market share gains

    AMD's share back to where it was in Q3 2005

    Intel once again increased its lead over arch-rival AMD during Q1, as its share of world x86 chip sales rose above 80 per cent - the first quarter it's done so since Q3 2005. The figures come from market watcher iSuppli, which put Intel on 80.2 per cent and AMD on 11.1 per cent. AMD's share fell from 15.7 per cent in the …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 15:10

  • IT firms compromise on global injustice

    Unions sceptical

    IT firms agreed with unions and governments to root exploitation out of their global supply chains after an historic meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva this week. The ILO has never tackled the IT industry before, but its size, the relocation of its manufacturing base to Asia, and emerging stories …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2007, 15:20

  • BT buys more of Latin America

    Comsat deal takes 21CN south of the border

    BT is buying itself a bigger footprint in the fast-growing Latin American market by purchasing network provider Comsat International. BT says the acquisition will help it extend its 21st Century Network (21CN) services portfolio into the region. Latin America is a major growth area for BT - it has a regional NOC in São Paulo …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2007, 15:22

  • Talking and driving more dangerous if you're alone

    Mobile phone use twice as dangerous as talking to passengers

    A new study published in the latest edition of Accident Analysis & Prevention has found that talking to passengers in the car is less dangerous than talking on a hands-free phone. The study is a follow-up to one published two years ago that established that drivers chatting on the phone were more than four times more likely to …

    Mobile 20 Apr 2007, 15:23

  • Stolen laptops fuel industrial espionage fears for UK software firm

    All hands to the pump

    A UK-based hi-tech firm that's become the victim of "industrial espionage" is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for stealing its computer hardware. Thieves who stole a number of laptops from VBi Triscan Systems also lifted hard disks from the fuel management firm's servers sometime …

    Enterprise Security 20 Apr 2007, 15:27

  • Netgear SPH200D Skype/DECT phone

    Review New, all-white phone's all right

    The manifest destiny of VoIP phones is surely the ability to use one wireless handset to make and receive calls via either the internet or a regular landline with the very minimum of fuss, bother and, more importantly, without a PC poking its nose into the equation. The DECT phone group test back in March took a look at …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 15:36

  • Immigration and broadband suffer unpopular limitations

    Letters And we're moving to France

    Lots to get through this week - so let's get right to it and address the burning issues of your day. First up, the old "risky business" attack on open source, as brought up in an article on software compliance: Oh dear, a rather unfortunately phrased boo-boo in this story. No doubt a small army of malodorous T-shirt clad …

    Letters 20 Apr 2007, 15:51

  • RIM explains BlackBerry failure

    Upgrade to non-critical system led to critical failure

    Research in Motion (RIM) has issued a statement explaining that its network failure earlier this week was down to the introduction of an improved caching system, which shouldn't have impacted regular operation, and the failure of its backup systems. Only users of the Canadian Network Operations Centre were affected by Tuesday's …

    Servers 20 Apr 2007, 15:52

  • Airwave strike threats as Macquarie takes over

    Aussie subtlety could leave coppers radio-less

    O2's owner Telefonica has flogged emergency services radio outfit O2 Airwave to the Australian banking and telco group Macquarie - and the new owner has promptly pissed off Airwave's staff so much that some are threatening to strike. A strike at Airwave would interrupt the push-to-talk radio systems used by the police and other …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2007, 15:54

  • Russians crack OpenOffice security

    Software utility unlocks locked documents

    OpenOffice users who've locked their files and forgotten the password - or who have a document but not the password for it - can now crack their way in, thanks to a toolkit from a Russian developer specialising in password recovery. Unsurprisingly called OpenOffice Password Recovery, its developer Intelore claims it can even …

    Enterprise Security 20 Apr 2007, 17:11

  • On the Office format wars

    Analysis Politics and ODF vs OpenXML

    The usual trouble with politics is that the people the process is supposed to defend are usually the ones to suffer most at the hands of those manipulating the political process. It looks as though this is the case in the arm-wrestling that is still going on between Microsoft and IBM and the standardization of OpenMXL and Open …

    Applications 20 Apr 2007, 17:21

  • Texas Senate waves through cell phone wiretapping bill

    Harder to buy pre-paid cell phones, easier to bug

    A bill extending wiretapping provisions to cell phones and covering a wider range of crimes - including kidnaping, human trafficking and money laundering - has been approved by the Texas Senate. Only murder, drug-related crimes and child pornography investigations are covered by existing lawful interception laws in Texas, AP …

    Law 20 Apr 2007, 17:38

  • Panasonic CF-Y5 Toughbook laptop

    Review A Navy SEAL of notebooks... a lumberjack of laptops

    The CF-Y5 sits at the executive end of its Toughbook range, which if you're actually a stubble-sporting, rugged type, is realistically nearer the bottom of any table of toughness. So you won't be able to drop it down a crevice in the Antarctic and still expect to send an email. But if you fancy yourself as one among the …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2007, 18:41

  • Nokia plunders Motorola's market share

    Mobile phone market growing more slowly lately

    Nokia increased its share of the global mobile handset in the first quarter of 2007 but growth in the industry has slowed considerably. A total of 252 million handsets were shipped worldwide in the quarter, up 12 per cent on the same period in 2006 according to Strategy Analytics. This was the first quarter in almost two years …

    Mobile 20 Apr 2007, 19:52

  • Cheaper phones crimp Nokia profits

    North America remains indifferent to company's charms

    Profits were down at global mobile phone giant Nokia yesterday although quarterly sales remained strong. First quarter financial results for the Finnish giant show net profits stood at €979m, down seven per cent on close to €1.05bn last year. This is despite a four per cent increase in sales compared to last year with overall …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2007, 20:05

  • Satnav hacking made simple

    CanSecWest Create your own traffic jam, bull fight or air raid

    A pair of hackers have demonstrated a way to spoof travel information messages displayed on satellite navigation systems used by Italian drivers to bypass accidents, traffic jams and plot the most efficient routes from one point to another. The hack is so simple it's hard to believe no one has shown it off before. It uses …

    Security 20 Apr 2007, 21:19

  • Dell offers XP again amidst Vista complaints

    Users ask to party like its 2001

    Dell is to once again offer Windows XP on new systems, responding to online customer complaints. The decision reverses a Vista-only policy the PC seller has moved to since the release of Microsoft's latest OS. The move is a reaction to online complaints at Dell's recently-launched Ideastorm website. At Ideastorm, users can …

    PCs & Chips 20 Apr 2007, 22:59

  • Safari zero-day exploit nets $10,000 prize

    Pwn'd in 12 hours

    A New York-based security researcher spent less than 12 hours to identify and exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Apple's Safari browser that allowed him to remotely gain full user rights to the hacked machine. The feat came during the second and final day of the CanSecWest "pwn-2-own" contest in which participants are able to …

    Security 20 Apr 2007, 23:38

  • Overland feels overstaffed

    Reducing 14 per cent of its workforce

    Overland Storage is to eliminate 14 per cent of its workforce to reduce costs. The move, announced today, will see 54 jobs go in a re-org which includes other spending cuts still to be formulated. Reductions are being made across all functions of the San Diego-based data storage company. Overland expects to save $5.5m per …

    Storage 20 Apr 2007, 23:53