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1st June 2007 Archive

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  • Dell begs gamers for forgiveness with free boards

    Tell your friends

    In "the very near future," an army of Dell technicians will descend upon customers who last year purchased the Dell XPS 700 gaming rig. Their mission will be to upgrade the XPS 700 systems for free with a new XPS gaming motherboard and to offer customers the choice of an even better future motherboard with a quad-core chip at a …

    PCs & Chips 1 Jun 2007, 00:37

  • Brocade profits McDisappear

    Overworked PR team in critical condition

    Brocade is ending a big week overflowing with product announcements, stomping on is partners' toes and a healthy federal pay-off with something very small: Profits. Brocade's net income took a dive in their second quarter, as the data storage equipment maker continues to suffer from acute financial indigestion after eating …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2007, 00:58

  • Qualcomm IPR gravy train hits the buffers

    Comment Biter bit

    Qualcomm had yet another setback in the courtroom this week, as Broadcom was awarded $19.64m in damages for incorporating Broadcom technology in its baseband chips and software. The award came from a Jury trial in the US District Court in Santa Ana, California, which also found that three Broadcom patents are valid and that …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2007, 03:12

  • Royal Society unearths top secret nuclear research

    75 years of the neutron Only 66 years late

    In his long-awaited energy white paper, published this May, Tony Blair opined that energy could be "as important to our future as defence". According to secret documents, sealed during World War II, and unearthed by the Royal Society this year, it was ever so. The papers have lain forgotten on a shelf in the Royal Society's …

    Physics 1 Jun 2007, 09:07

  • Rome's atmosphere shows signs of cocaine

    Airborne nose ajax drives la dolce vita

    Scientists from Italy's National Research Council (CNR) have discovered an even greater threat to Rome's population than getting run down by a Lambretta: particles of cocaine and marijuana in the atmosphere, centred around the city's Sapienza university. According to Reuters, the boffins sampled the air in Rome, the southern …

    Science 1 Jun 2007, 09:15

  • Iberian lynx offered motorway reprieve

    300km highway plan binned

    The Spanish authorities have binned a plan to drive a 300km motorway south from Toldeo to Cordoba because the highway would have threatened the endangered Iberian lynx, Reuters reports. The planned route would have sliced through several protected areas, including the Sierra Morena mountains, where some of the last 250 to 350 …

    Biology 1 Jun 2007, 09:23

  • Bankers see public sector as fraud target

    Better information sharing needed

    A top official from the banking industry has said the public sector is a major target for online fraud. Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, said areas such as tax credits have become major targets for fraudsters and there needs to be better information sharing between the public and private …

    Public Sector 1 Jun 2007, 09:28

  • The Reg is recruiting

    Sales genius required

    The Register is a market leading news source for a discerning IT professional readership. It has the largest reach of any technology publication, and is seen by leading vendors as a key site for the promotion of their products and services. For these activities to work so that they are a) effective and b) don't annoy our …

    Site News 1 Jun 2007, 09:35

  • Personal numbers must carry cost warning, says regulator

    Rip-off alert will give you a chance to hang up

    Telecoms regulator Ofcom has ordered that from September, callers to so-called "personal numbers", which start with the digits 070, must hear a warning on the call's cost for free before being connected if the call will cost more than 20 pence. The regulator also said it is considering scrapping the 070 numbers because users …

    Networks 1 Jun 2007, 09:46

  • 40% of kids regularly visit forbidden sites

    Many parents unaware of their nippers' online jaunts

    Children under the age of 16 are regularly visiting websites that have been prohibited by their parents, divulge personal details to strangers, and meet up with people they met online, according to research published today. Online identity firm Garlik commissioned research among 500 children aged 8-15 and 500 parents across the …

    Security 1 Jun 2007, 10:00

  • Insecure plug-ins pose danger to Firefox users

    Add-ons add security threat

    A security weakness in the update mechanism for third-party add-ons to the Firefox browser could give an attacker the ability to exploit unsecured downloads and install malicious code on the victim's computer, a security researcher warned on Wednesday. The vulnerability affects any third-party add-ons that use an unsecured …

    Security 1 Jun 2007, 10:06

  • Nicaragua puts the squeeze on 'poison' Chinese toothpaste

    Diethylene glycol menace spreads

    Nicaraguan authorities have seized 40,000 tubes of Chinese "Excel" and "Mr Cool" toothpaste which contain potentially-lethal diethylene glycol, AP reports. The products - recently pulled from Panamanian shelves following a consumer tip-off that they contained the cheap glycerine substitute - were probably illegally imported …

    Science 1 Jun 2007, 10:16

  • ET fires laser weapon on Google Maps

    Extraterrestrial Street View shocker

    It appears that pretty much everyone in the world has given up any pretence at working and is currently scouring Google Maps' new Street View facility for entertaining revelations. Indeed, hot on the heels of yesterday's Las Vegas hot babes thriller, we're pleased to offer an astounding image posted to Gizmodo by one sharp-eyed …

    Science 1 Jun 2007, 10:17

  • Yahoo! Europe! upgrades! ad! platform!

    No! really? Yes! really!

    Yahoo! Europe is starting a staged upgrade of its sponsored search advertising platform - the project previously known as Panama. From today, advertisers will start to receive emails explaining features and offering the chance to upgrade. But the system is rolling out in waves over several months and advertisers will get two …

    Applications 1 Jun 2007, 10:50

  • LG U970 Shine mobile phone

    Review Why do new products sound like WWII submarines?

    Part of LG's Black Label series (sounds like a whisky), which also includes the KG800 Chocolate, the U970 features a brushed metal casing and a mirror effect display that makes it look more like an exquisite sculpture than a 3G, 2-megapixel camera and MP3-enabled phone. The U970 has a slider style handset, which opens with …

    Reg Hardware 1 Jun 2007, 10:58

  • BOFH: PFY spreads his wings

    Episode 19 And promptly has them clipped

    Sometimes things get a little crazy - no one knows that better than me. Take bastard rivalry for instance, with the PFY and I staking the company's wellbeing against a paltry couple of pints... "Ten quid says the server will clap out once the temperature hits 80," the PFY says. "You're on!" I blurt, knowing full well that I …

    BOFH 1 Jun 2007, 11:02

  • Spyware mum foils pervert

    Key logging app exposes child abuse offender

    Keylogging software helped a UK mum warn police about a US-based predator who was grooming her 15-year-old son for child abuse. Jason Bower, 26, of Hudson Falls, New York, was arrested as he boarded a plane en route to meet the teenager in England last November. In court on Wednesday, Bower pleaded guilty to "engaging in …

    Security 1 Jun 2007, 11:38

  • Belgian army faces hairy caterpillar horde

    Blowtorch weapon versus lepidoptera menace

    Belgian soldiers are to be deployed in the country's forests to combat the menace of hairy caterpillars, Reuters reports. The procession caterpillars - so named because of their habit of marching in convoy - boast long toxic hairs which provoke dermatitis and respiratory problems in humans and account for around 80 per cent of …

    Biology 1 Jun 2007, 11:39

  • 10 signs you're in a tech bubble

    Welcome back to 1998

    From Wall St to Silicon Valley, experienced finanical types and entrepreneurs are privately conceding the obvious: we're in a tech bubble. The only doubts are over whether we are in 1998 or 1999 again. Certainly, we're in the middle of one the longest running bull markets for sometime. Just three of the past 15 bull markets …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2007, 11:45

  • LiveJournal says sorry for blanket sex-talk censorship

    'Well, we really screwed this one up...'

    LiveJournal has apologised after taking down 500 discussion groups it felt were too sexed up. The purge was intended to wipe out discussion of paedophilia, rape, and sexual violence, the firm says. Ironically, journals run by people who work to support victims of sexual abuse also got caught in the cleansing. Barak Berkowitz, …

    Law 1 Jun 2007, 12:05

  • Korean schools to deploy robot chaperones

    Teenage lusts curbed by remorseless German technology

    Korean educational authorities have a bold new plan to curb the ever-rising tide of teenage lustfulness. Students at a middle school (ages 13-15) in southern Seoul are to be watched by robots from this week in a trial security project. The robot in question, the OFRO, was designed in Germany but is made in Korea by DU Robo. It …

    Public Sector 1 Jun 2007, 12:07

  • Reg reader to eat catfood for charity

    Meningitis Trust to benefit from much meowing

    We know what a big-hearted bunch you lot are, so open your wallets today in support of the chap who has promised to eat catfood if he gets more than £1,000 in sponsorship for the Meningitis Trust. There's more to it than that, though - once the total hits a grand, the bloke will "dress as a cat, go to a supermarket, buy the cat …

    Site News 1 Jun 2007, 12:08

  • EMI and YouTube shake hands and hips

    'Authorised' videos are Ok Go

    EMI has signed an agreement with Google's video-sharing website YouTube to allow its users to view "authorised" videos and recordings from the music firm's roster of artists. It's the last of the Big Four to do so, with Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner having already jumped on the bandwagon in an attempt to claw back control of …

    Music and Media 1 Jun 2007, 12:14

  • Cat owner protests against privacy-invading Google

    Tabby 'wants to be alone'

    Google has raised fresh privacy concerns in the US, thanks to its new Street View service on its maps. It is apparently not enough that the advertising broker would like to find your next job for you, or tell you what you might want to do at the weekend, now it wants to peer into your living rooms. Oakland California resident …

    Law 1 Jun 2007, 12:17

  • Enron emails inspire GCHQ spooks

    Software to nanny for cagey corporate cops

    Geeks at GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), the UK's spook-infested listening station, are using the infamous Enron email trail to develop software that will monitor people's emails and stop them sending incriminating or confidential messages. The first findings from the research will be presented in August by Neil …

    IT Director 1 Jun 2007, 12:18

  • Bush hugs trees in sudden policy U-turn

    Tree-noshing beetle plague in rainless Belize as NASA predicts more rain

    US President G W Bush, previously renowned for his resistance to carbon-emissions control, yesterday appeared to execute a policy U-turn. The American leader called on the world's main economic powers - and thus, main greenhouse-gas belchers - to come together on long-term goals to limit atmospheric change. The main thrust of …

    Science 1 Jun 2007, 12:38

  • Binary interfaces in component development

    Part 1: Use shared objects but don't get binary interfaces?

    Compatibility is a huge problem in software development. It's often cited as an argument against Linux; there's no guarantee of forward compatibility to ensure the applications of today will work in the Linux of 2010. Multinational corporations such as Microsoft and Sony spend millions trying to ensure that new versions of …

    Developer 1 Jun 2007, 12:45

  • Dell cuts, Google hits the street and robot-moths are go

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

    Dell cuts to save Dell has laid off a whole bunch of staff in an effort to cut costs and get its business back on track. The company is moving away from its "direct sales only" mantra in order to fight back against HP. One in ten jobs are to go. Patently absurd A group of small British businesses are taking action to change …

    Business 1 Jun 2007, 13:11

  • Tiscali locks down contracts after email disaster

    Updated Complaints roll in to ISP trade body

    Tiscali says that broadband customers left fuming by its week of undelivered email remain bound by their contracts, and should accept that email is a free extra. Spokeswoman Jody Haskayne told The Reg: "They have a contract with us and they are obliged to pay us." Customers who want to switch to another provider because of …

    Telecoms 1 Jun 2007, 13:55

  • Hardy perennials dominate virus chart

    Darling botnets of May

    May's virus charts were a throwback to the end of 2005, with old favourites such as Netsky, Bagle, and Sober once again dominating run-downs of the worst malware menaces. Netsky-T and Netsky-Q, which occupy first and second places in Kaspersky's chart, have been among the leaders for some time. The Bagle-GT variant has been …

    Malware 1 Jun 2007, 14:03

  • Twitchers in a flap over 'cock' gagging

    RSPB neuters forum

    Bird botherers down at RSPB forums are in a flap over the avian conservation charity's censoring of the word "cock". Furious cock commenter JohnD, of Holmfirth, challenged moderators: "When is it not in order to refer to a male bird as a **** and a femail [sic] as a hen? It's censorship that is just silly," the Evening Standard …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 2007, 14:31

  • Mozilla quashes Firefox JavaScript peril

    Vista stability also improved by critical browser update

    Firefox users need to update their browser software following the release of updates designed to fix multiple security vulnerabilities. Security bugs in the JavaScript engine used by the popular open source browser might be exploited to corrupt system memory, a type of attack that could allow hackers to inject hostile code onto …

    Security 1 Jun 2007, 14:37

  • Power firm plans low-energy credits

    Don't flick that switch

    UK energy supplier Scottish & Southern Electric (SSE) is to offer credits to customers who cut their energy use or install low-energy appliances. It also wants to cut the carbon footprint of the power it generates by 20 per cent over the next nine years. The credit scheme, which will come in later this year, will be for …

    Small Biz 1 Jun 2007, 14:46

  • Tom Cruise causes Wi-Fi humour blackouts

    Letters Pass us the coffee, would you?

    Want to be in complete control of your computer? Put your hands in the air and wave 'em around a bit. That'll do the trick. Well, maybe it is a bit more complex than that. But really, as Microsoft proposes a hand waving, Minority Report-style computer interface, all we care about is that Tom Cruise stays in the Scientology …

    Letters 1 Jun 2007, 15:24

  • Why does CSC want to stop the rescue of iSoft?

    There may be lawyers ahead

    iSoft and IBA Health, the Aussie firm which has offered to bail out iSoft, have issued a joint statement suggesting they may take legal action against CSC's blocking of the deal. The rescue bid was approved by iSoft's board of directors in mid-May and offered both a takeover and refinancing package. But earlier this week CSC …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 2007, 15:26

  • Space powers join forces to hit Moon and Mars

    Play nice, boffins

    As NASA greenlights its next Shuttle launch (8 June, for those keeping track), 14 international space agencies have agreed to cooperate on a rather more grandiose mission: bringing samples of the Martian surface back to Earth. The group, which includes NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has published a document, entitled …

    Space 1 Jun 2007, 15:30

  • VAT 'reverse charge' scheme kicks off

    Mobiles and chips no longer a tasty little earner for fraudsters

    As of today mobile phones and computer chips will be subject to a new fraud-busting VAT accounting scheme called "reverse charge". The new scheme has been introduced by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in a move to stamp out Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud (MTIC). MTIC, which is more often referred to as carousel …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 2007, 15:45

  • Dr Who saves Thailand from evil canine unmentionables

    Comments Candid Martha Jones shots leaked on Google Maps

    It's Friday again, and time for another batch of comments. Your televisions are quite dear to you, as evidenced by how worked up some of you got over our first bit of news. Doctor Who is to get the axe at the end of this series. Or not. Maybe. Anyway, The Sun reported it, so it must be true. You were divided, but those who …

    Letters 1 Jun 2007, 17:11

  • Google: We like the web the way it is

    Google extends standards to the industry

    “We feel very strongly about this being an industry effort and being a standard. We want this to be the one way that developers can add offline capabilities to their applications,” says Jeff Huger, Google’s VP of engineering, during the keynote for the company’s global Developer Day. Google Dev Day. Of course there's a box …

    Applications 1 Jun 2007, 18:06

  • Cloudmark takes anti-spam to the edge

    Content filtering at the network edge to keep spam off the core

    Anti-spam developer Cloudmark claims its high-volume content-filtering email gateway could prevent almost all unwanted email from reaching a network's mail servers. Many carriers and large enterprises run basic filters and throttles at the network edge, because if they can reject spam there, it takes a pile of dirt off their …

    Data Networking 1 Jun 2007, 19:51

  • Why Microsoft's innovation is only Surface deep

    Comment Smoke and mirrors

    [ Microsoft calls its multitouch user interface Surface Computing "a new paradigm". We asked a British pioneer in the field to examine the claim. - ed.] This week Microsoft demonstrated a 'multi-touch' coffee table user interface it calls Surface Computing, and it got the BBC - and some Register readers - very excited. "The …

    PCs & Chips 1 Jun 2007, 22:08