26th April 2007 Archive
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TJX finds self at bottom of 300-bank pig pile
'Negligent misrepresentation' in data handling has its costs
Associations representing almost 300 Northeastern banks in the US say they are suing TJX Companies to recover tens of millions of dollars in damages resulting from a data breach that may have exposed more than 45m credit and debit card numbers to thieves. Additional organizations from all over the country are likely to join the …
Enterprise Security 26 Apr 2007, 01:06
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Piloting Adobe Apollo
An insider's look at the Apollo roadmap
Adobe's senior product manager for Apollo, Mike Downey was in London last week. We met him at Adobe's Regents Park offices, and in a wide ranging conversation we talked about the past, the present and the future of Apollo. Downey worked with some of the most senior engineers in the company to develop Apollo: “It's the highest …
Developer 26 Apr 2007, 06:02
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A modern-day Gerstner is needed to cure all of Microsoft’s ills
Analysis Time for Ballmer to move on...
Later today (Thursday) Microsoft will release its figures for the past quarter, and there’s more than a good chance that financially speaking, things will be pretty much okay. But no better than that. Increasingly there is an opinion forming that Microsoft is nearing an inflexion point in its success and that both success and …
Software 26 Apr 2007, 06:02
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Amazon flows into digital music sales
As it announces doubled Q1 profits
Online retailer Amazon looks set to take on Apple in the downloadable music market, with plans to launch its own iTunes rival. Reports claim Amazon is being tempted into the digital music market by EMI's agreement to sell tracks free from digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. The retailer is believed to be interested in …
Music and Media 26 Apr 2007, 08:39
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Defective automatic trousers hurl pilot from plane
Rogue expando-pants amok in Wallace & Gromit style devastation
A Swedish pilot was flung out of his aircraft by a malfunctioning pair of hi-tech trousers, it has been revealed. The incident, which took place last week, was reported in The Local yesterday. It seems the stick-jockey in question was a Swedish air force officer flying a Saab Gripen fighter. Fighter pilots typically wear a "G- …
Science 26 Apr 2007, 09:06
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Gowers considered cutting music copyright to less than 50 years
But decided it was not 'politically prudent'
Andrew Gowers considered shortening the copyright term for music to less than 50 years in his Treasury-commissioned review of intellectual property, but pulled back from the plan because it was "politically prudent" to do so. Gowers was speaking exclusively to weekly technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio on World Intellectual …
Law 26 Apr 2007, 09:10
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Acer recalls 27,000 Sony laptop batteries
Caution not combustion behind the move
Thought the Great Sony Battery Recall of 2006 was past history? Think again. Acer's US operation last night said it was asking 27,000 customers to return Sony-made laptop batteries for a free replacement. Acer stressed it had received no reports that any of its machines have gone up in smoke in the way that laptops from Apple …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 09:14
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Is the mainstream ready for SaaS?
Comment Yes, but IT departments must recognise this
In the world of IT, we are constantly debating the latest trends and developments. Usually, although granted unsurprisingly, these deliberations revolve almost exclusively around the features of a particular technology, more often than not taking the form of "is technology/solution XYZ ready for adoption by mainstream customers …
IT Director 26 Apr 2007, 09:21
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How did we all end up with Windows?
Reg Reader Workshop The Microsoft 'default' phenomenon
It's amazing how many people who have Microsoft Windows everywhere look flummoxed when asked whether Windows is their "standard" for desktop computing. The reason they are thrown by this question is typically because they haven't thought about it that way before. In all likelihood, they never actually made a proactive decision …
Business 26 Apr 2007, 09:32
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0wning Vista from the boot
Interview The VBootkit authors speak out
Federico Biancuzzi interviews Nitin and Vipin Kumar, authors of VBootkit, a rootkit that is able to load from Windows Vista boot-sectors. They discuss the "features" of their code, the support of the various versions of Vista, the possibility to place it inside the BIOS (it needs around 1,500 bytes), and the chance to use it to …
Security 26 Apr 2007, 09:51
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Blue Sky squeezes GPS onto a SIM
Dawn of the next killer app?
Just as we were predicting the end of SIM technological development, along comes a technology which really could be a killer application - a complete GPS system embedded inside one. At the SIMposium in Berlin, Blue Sky Positioning announced it has developed a complete GPS system, including the antenna, which physically fits …
Mobile 26 Apr 2007, 10:04
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T-Mobile calls up cut-price Sidekick iD
And Hiptop 3 arrives down under
T-Mobile has started selling a cut-down version of its Sidekick 3 consumer-friendly email phone that strips outs the camera, Bluetooth and a GSM frequency to knock a hundred bucks off the price. Dubbed the Sidekick iD, the pitch is that this is not only the cheapest Sidekick yet but the most customisable: the coloured …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 10:18
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Samsung 'world's thinnest' phone goes on sale
Samsung has been showing off its ultra-slim Ultra Edition 5.9 phone at every opportunity it gets, but the 5.9mm-thick - don't ever put it your back pocket - handset has finally gone on sale, in the firm's native Korea. Samsung reckons the phone, more prosaically known as the SCH-C210 in Korea, is the thinnest in the world. …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 10:39
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Trend Micro overhauls EMEA channel programme
Announces strong Q1 performance too
Trend Micro has shaken up its EMEA channel programme in the hope of simplifying the business and forging better partner relationships in that region. The security software firm, which today announced strong Q1 results, said the newly created Affinity Partner Program should offer increased value for its partners. It aims to …
Channel Register 26 Apr 2007, 10:51
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Toshiba HD-XE1 HD DVD player
Review Tosh brings in 1080p on a budget
After the big bang of the HD disc format war, the dust has settled a little. There are players available on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD sides and now manufacturers are expanding their product lines - adding a feature here and an enhancement there. Since the launch of the Toshiba's relatively bargain priced HD-E1 player, a …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 10:59
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Wal-Mart orders 2m HD DVD players from China
Big boost for Blu-ray rival?
US retail giant Wal-Mart is to fill its North American store shelves with a 2m low-cost HD DVD players, a move that could help kick up a gear consumer interest in the next-gen optical disc format. According to a report by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News, local operation Fukuhiko Electronic will make the players, …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 11:08
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Ass kickings abound as angry mob vents spleen
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A feel good moment We'll start with an obligatory pat on the back for the channel. Let's face it, if we don't tell you guys you're great, who will? And so we go to the news that worldwide PC shipments grew nine per cent in the first quarter of 2007. Dell held on to number one spot but HP shipments were up 28.7 per cent and …
Channel Register 26 Apr 2007, 11:20
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Sony spies Eye toy for PS3
Hip, hip, array
Sony will bring the PlayStation 3 version of its Eye web and gaming cam to market this summer time. The T-shaped unit has a bigger microphone than image grabber, thanks to a noise-cancelling four-microphone array. Why take four microphones into a video chat when you can take one? The new Eye can compare the signals from …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 11:34
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IPRED2 passes, with tweaks to protect personal copying
File sharers in the clear?
The European Parliament voted yesterday to pass legislation that could still see people copying music or movies for their own personal use stand in the dock alongside hard-nosed counterfeiters and commercial copyright blaggers. The Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED2) has been designed to criminalise …
Law 26 Apr 2007, 11:56
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Adobe open sources Flex
The Mozilla Public Licence is Adobe's Flexible friend
Flex, the Adobe tool for delivering Flash applications that mixes ActionScript and an XML page layout language, will be completely open source by the end of 2007, with much of the code available now. With Flex at the heart of Adobe's Apollo rich internet application platform, this release marks a significant change in Adobe's …
Developer 26 Apr 2007, 11:59
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Hackers debut spam and virus sandwich
Stock spam points to drive-by download
Hackers have combined spam and malware together in a single email threat. Email security services firm MessageLabs has intercepted emails that are both spam and links to download viruses. Cyber-criminals have long used email viruses to create botnets to send spam, but this is the first time MessageLabs has seen virus links …
Security 26 Apr 2007, 12:06
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Hitachi says it did ship 1TB HDD in Q1
Just in case you missed it...
You might not have realised it, but Hitachi did get its 7K1000 1TB hard drive out of the door during the first quarter of 2007, as it promised to do when it launched the product. But it admitted the product had not reached "critical mass" until this month. Indeed, of the online retailers we checked with today - all of whom …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 12:11
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Taiwan mislays millions of honeybees
'Volatile weather' to blame for mysterious disappearance?
Taiwan's beekeepers are reporting the mass disappearance of millions of honeybees, Reuters reports. According to the country's TVBS television station, around 10 million bees have gone awol in the last two months, with farmers in three regions reporting heavy losses. One beekeeper on the northeast coast told the United Daily …
Biology 26 Apr 2007, 12:11
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Sony ships 'world's smallest' HD camcorder
Another day, another superlative...
Soon to arrive in the UK is Sony's new Handycam HDR-CX6EK - the world's smallest and lightest HD camcorder, according to the Japanese electronics giant. Features include 10x optical zoom and AVCHD 1080i recording on a Memory Stick. Depending on your prefered picture quality mode, Sony claims it's possible to save up to 2 …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 12:19
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Boffins develop DIY musical Wi-Fi robot kit
Google/Microsoft alliance behind mooted droid-army fifth column
Academics funded by a sinister triumvirate of global corporations intend to see Wi-Fi-controlled robots in every home, school, and office across the free world. In a particularly cunning twist, the professors and their shadowy backers intend that this mechanoid fifth column be assembled DIY-style by innocent dupes - perhaps …
Science 26 Apr 2007, 12:45
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Peer calls for UK cyber-crime portal
Is e-crime treated seriously by police?
A parliamentary committee set up to look at trends in cybercrime is considering the establishment of a website allowing people to report electronic crime. Lord Broers, chairman of the science and technology select committee, said the idea is one of several his committee is considering in its study on e-crime, which is due to …
Public Sector 26 Apr 2007, 12:49
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IBM mainframe ties the knot with video game chip
Virtual 3D environments get souped up
Computer giant IBM is set to reveal a new project which will merge business mainframes with the microchip used in the latest Sony PlayStation. IBM and multiplayer online game firm Hoplon Infotainment have teamed up to integrate the Cell game console processor with Big Blue's mainframe computers, according to reports. The two …
Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 12:57
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AMD Radeon HD 2900 XTX tested on web
Little benefit over XT
Two days ago, AMD's upcoming ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT was given an early and unscheduled trip through the latest benchmarking software. Now it's the turn of the Radeon HD 2900 XTX. Website DailyTech took a sample of the XTX card with a core clock of 750MHz and 1GB of GDDR 4 clocked to 2020MHz and ran it against an Nvidia GeForce …
Reg Hardware 26 Apr 2007, 13:04
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Spinal Tap resurface for Live Earth
Dials to 11 to save the planet
Cult rockers Spinal Tap have agreed to reform for Al Gore's Live Earth concert in July, the Telegraph reports. The band has been keeping a low profile since releasing its 1992 record Break Like the Wind, but is still fondly remembered for its legendary 1984 contribution to the rockumentary genre This is Spinal Tap. Agreeably, …
Entertainment 26 Apr 2007, 13:51
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Super-Earth orbiting red dwarf
No, not the TV series...
Astronomers have discovered the most Earth-like exoplanet yet. The world, which orbits a red dwarf star, is about five times as massive as Earth, and thanks to its position, should be capable of holding liquid water. The researchers made the discovery using the 3.6 metre telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile …
Space 26 Apr 2007, 14:05
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Police charge stripogram cop impersonator
Boys in Blue unimpressed by student's uniform
A 24-year-old stripogram has been charged with wearing police uniform and equipment in the street, the BBC reports. Aberdeen uni genetics student Stuart Kennedy, who supplements his grant by getting his kit off for cash, was spotted by two real Boys in Blue in Aberdeen's Bon Accord Street on 17 March, while en route to a …
Bootnotes 26 Apr 2007, 14:06
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Welsh boffins build 3D solar images
Wales 1: NASA 0
Welsh boffins have beaten NASA to the punch and produced the first three dimensional images of the Sun from NASA's STEREO mission. A team of engineers at See3D, a spinout company from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, has developed software that processes the data from STEREO in real time - creating 3D pictures within 30 …
Space 26 Apr 2007, 14:09
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Japanese actress caught in sheep 'poodle' scam
Wondered why new pet didn't bark
A Japanese actress inadvertantly blew the lid off a scam which had duped thousands of women into buying coiffured sheep in the belief they were poodles, the Evening Standard reports. Maiko Kawakami appeared on a TV talk show with snaps of her pet, and admitted she wondered why it "didn't bark and refused to eat dog food". She …
Bootnotes 26 Apr 2007, 14:16
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Antarctica frozen out of internet revolution
Who's got the most interweb superhighways?
North America and Europe still dominate the internet, despite Asia's economic furnaces in China and India. Research by clumsily-named geolocation outfit IPligence found the US racked up more than 55 per cent of total global IP addresses. Europe tails it with about 21 per cent, while Asia, by far the biggest and most populous …
Data Networking 26 Apr 2007, 14:23
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eBay, PayPal face court action
Class action alleges unfair monopoly
eBay warned shareholders yesterday that it is facing a possible class action suit in the state of California and is likely to be hit by more patent cases. The suit alleges that eBay and PayPal acted "to improperly 'monopolise' the forms of payment that sellers can use on eBay". The plaintiff claims treble damages and an …
Financial News 26 Apr 2007, 14:24
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UK police can crime reporting website
Build it and they won't come
The UK government has confirmed that a national crime reporting website is no longer in operation Home Office minister Tom McNulty has said that the www.police.uk website is currently out of service due to low usage figures. He was responding to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Tom Watson on 24 April 2007. Watson asked …
Public Sector 26 Apr 2007, 14:30
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Sourcefire eyes acquisitions
Nothing to Snort at
Security vendor Sourcefire, which went public last month, said tougher corporate governance regulations are making it more difficult and more expensive to float. Sourcefire represents a rare example of a security firm staging an IPO, a feat only a handful of firms have succeeded in doing in the last five years. A more frequent …
Financial News 26 Apr 2007, 14:42
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Arrest Richard Gere, orders Indian court
Cuffs readied after Shilpa Shetty kiss outrage
An Indian court has issued arrest warrants for Richard Gere and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, Reuters reports. The Jaipur court's action came in response to a complaint by local lawyer Poonam Chand Bhandari regarding Gere's "repeated kisses on Shetty's cheeks at an event to promote AIDS awareness in New Delhi" earlier this …
Entertainment 26 Apr 2007, 14:47
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Who star to make beautiful music with girlfriend's dog
Barking all the way to the bank
Guitar smashing English rocker and internet enthusiast Pete Townshend has said he might use sounds made by his girlfriend's dog to create digital music. "I as a composer would try to get something out of this dog that would give me the chance to turn the dog into music," he said. "I might listen to the way it breathes, I might …
Music and Media 26 Apr 2007, 14:58
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Alpha gets RAD for Web 2.0
The big IDEa
Web 2.0 is no different to most other new technologies in one significant respect: in the rush to arrive at something that achieves tangible results, there is always the chance that a hotch-potch of different, often incompatible technologies get banged together. It is only later that the difficulties in making them work together …
Developer 26 Apr 2007, 15:08
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DoH's latest d'oh!
Puts private doctor details on the web
The Department of Health (DoH) has apologised for its latest IT blunder - publishing private details of applicants for junior doctor posts on an unsecured website. The Medical Training Applications Service (MTAS) is the computerised HR system for students and junior doctors. But applicants for the foundation course - the first …
Public Sector 26 Apr 2007, 15:09
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VMware goes public with $100m plea
Costs and CEO salary way up
VMware has titillated Wall Street once again with its plans to go public. The software maker today dished up its hopes to pull in $100m from an IPO. In February, EMC revealed plans to sell 10 per cent of VMware to commoners - or, more accurately, really rich guys working on Wall Street. VMware, a maker of server …
Storage 26 Apr 2007, 15:43
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Orange boss walks out
Replaced by half a CEO from HP
Orange boss Sanjiv Ahuja has walked out of his "operational responsibilities" as CEO, remaining as chairman of the UK board. He's replaced by Olaf Swantee an ex-Compaq customer services VP with HP. "After four fabulous years with Orange, I want to let you know that I am stepping down from my role to take on new challenges …
Mobile 26 Apr 2007, 15:45
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Hawking is leaving gravity on a jet plane
Back again in 20-40 seconds
Stephen Hawking is going to be sent up on the vomit comet, a specially modified plane that allows its passengers to experience weightlessness. The trip is courtesy of operating firm Zero Gravity, which has waived its normal $3,000 fee for the good professor. Passengers on the specially modified Boeing 727 experience free-fall …
Space 26 Apr 2007, 15:46
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Pentagon 'hacker' questions US cost claims
Infosec Gary McKinnon pops down to Infosec
Accused Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon appeared on a hackers' panel at the Infosec show on Thursday. McKinnon is continuing to fight against extradition to the US on hacking offences after losing an appeal last month. Only the Law Lords now stand between the Scot and a US trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging 97 US …
Enterprise Security 26 Apr 2007, 16:08
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Website offers virtual substance abuse, P2P pressure
No activity too mundane for doleful online saddos
Online game universes continue to move forward in their attempts to offer intense human experiences to isolated dorks who refuse to leave their bedrooms. The latest trend now appears to be online drug-use. MIT's Tech Review reported last Friday on RedLightCenter.com, a site which until now has focused on web-pimp functions. …
Bootnotes 26 Apr 2007, 16:11
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HP clusters up blade boxes
One rack: made to order
HP's clusters-in-a-can now come equipped with cClass blades. Customers can purchase a Cluster Platform Express system with up to 48 nodes comprised of Xeon- and Opteron-based blade servers. HP also has both Infiniband and Gigabit Ethernet available for networking with these systems. HP, and its main rivals, have been selling …
Servers 26 Apr 2007, 17:53
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American boffin touts sugar-fuelled mobile phones
Gadgetry to run on spuds, Coke, even dead flies
Fuel-cell researchers are working on portable electric power sources running on a wide range of unconventional fuels, but like all academics they disagree. Many have seen the future of fuel cells as a hydrogen-driven one. Hydrogen-fuelled devices offer at least one big advantage, in that they would emit only water vapour as a …
Biology 26 Apr 2007, 17:57
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Google glitch loses user data
Updated Malfunctioning personalized homepage has users fuming
[This story was updated on April 27 to indicate that Google says it has resolved the problem and was able to restore user settings. Users posting on Google discussion groups would seem to confirm this.] Google users are going ape crap after settings and data they've amassed over months have suddenly gone missing from their …
Applications 26 Apr 2007, 19:00
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North Carolina residents still want their $280m back from Dell
Challenge court's no-backsies ruling
The fight over a $280m-plus incentive package to lure Dell into North Carolina has entered the state's second-highest court. Attorneys have asked the N.C. Court of Appeals to reinstate a lawsuit over the legality of a massive golden handshake proffered by the state to the computer manufacturer. Under the state constitution, …
Channel Register 26 Apr 2007, 19:55
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Websense buys Surf Control
Larded up with debt
Websense is bulking up to take on the big IT security vendors by buying Surf Control, the British censorware developer, for £201m ($400m) cash. It is also bulking up the debt side of its balance sheet, as it is borrowing money to help pay for Surf Control. Post-acquisition Websense expects to have $180m-$200m in debt and cash …
Enterprise Security 26 Apr 2007, 21:51
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Microsoft feasts on Vista coupons for record quarter
Profits up 65 per cent
Microsoft posted a 65 per cent boost in its third-quarter net income thanks in large part to revenue from major new releases and upgrade coupons that promoted them. Both profit and sales for the period that ended in March surpassed analyst estimates. Shareholders welcomed the results by driving shares up almost five per cent …
Financial News 26 Apr 2007, 21:59
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Court sez music downloads aren't performances
ASCAP sings the blues...
ASCAP isn't enjoying the tune that came out of a federal district court in New York yesterday. The court ruled that music downloads don't constitute performances of copyrighted works, and are merely mechanical reproductions of the copyrighted material. This denies ASCAP any entitlement to collect royalties for downloads as they …
Music and Media 26 Apr 2007, 23:29
